Units that have been left behind
Despite some pretty nice updates to older campaigns and rosters alongside the IE launch, there's still a lot left to polish out.
**Speaking from primarily a campaign standpoint, what are some units that have been left behind due to the changing nature of the game, updates to rosters, general power creep, etc.?**
I'll start with a few I feel are among the most striking examples. None of these units have ever been very good, and they've mostly gotten worse over time.
# Goblin Wolf Riders
Thematically a very cool unit, but terrible even at their role. Their main strength - being very fast - hardly seems like one when you realize that every light cavalry unit is now near their level or faster. And Wolf Riders have the worst combat stats and the lowest mass of them all. They actually have one of the lowest total hp values in the game, and a lower individual unit hp value than a Clanrat. The only time these can ever win combat is after the scrap upgrade that gives them bonus vs infantry (at the cost of one that improves armor+speed).
They often can't even be relied on to beat your enemies' weakest units, especially when up against Dwarfs and Elves. Despite their shields they get absolutely decimated on approach by missile fire, and when they make contact their mass and charge bonus aren't nearly enough to make up for their poor combat ability.
You might want to use them similarly to Dire Wolves and like units - causing morale shock on weaker units, and chasing down routers - but they're worse there as well. They don't cause fear, they have a lower charge bonus, worse animations, and less of them seem to be able to attack at once.
The Archer version of these also could use looking at (most other skirmish cav can at least charge a frail unit now and then...), but even as one of the worst ranged units in the game, they're still a ranged unit, and can get *some* value.
# Cold One Riders/Knights (both Lizardmen and Dark Elves)
In spite of the removal of Rampage on these units, they still seem to have been forgotten in recent cavalry rebalancings. They're the speed of extremely heavy shock/monstrous cavalry, but without the mass to back it up. They actually manage to have both lower speed and mass than Orc Boar Boyz (which aren't exactly an amazing unit themselves).
They clearly aren't meant to chase down skirmishing units, so what is their role? Given their AP damage, it seems to be killing heavily armored infantry. But there are two problems with that: 1) They aren't that good at it, lending to their normal-cavalry mass, low unit count, and poor charge bonus, and 2) both factions already have a plethora of AP, infantry-killing options to choose from, most of which are better overall units.
There are two ways to go here: either increase their speed to make them serviceable, versatile cavalry as with the Blessed version and Horned ones, or significantly increase their mass so that actually maneuvering them into position and getting a sick charge off on those Chosen pays off.
# Great Eagle
Eagles may be fast, and they may fly, but much like the Goblin Wolf Riders, they aren't actually good at any of the tasks fast units need to accomplish.
Can Eagles beat dedicated ranged units and artillery crews? Usually. Can they do it before the battle is decided? Not a chance. Can they do it without getting shot to pieces by the enemy's other ranged units? Good luck. At least Feral Manticores - a unit you could argue should also make this list - have some missile resistance!
Honestly, it's even worse than that. Eagles don't even do a very good job at tying those dangerous units down. Artillery often remains firing while being attacked by it, and skirmishers often manage to pull out of combat and leave the Eagle untasked. If you need units to fulfill this role in your army, there are far better units at the same tier. Ellyrian Reavers or Glade Riders (the ranged variants, preferably) will shut down dangerous units much faster, and are far more versatile to boot. They also, notably, cost less.
The only other real use for Eagles I've seen mentioned before is to take out weaker caster lords/heroes, but those are likely to be isolated enough to where nearby spears or ranged units won't ensure the Eagle loses anyway, and in the early game (the only time you'd use these things) encountering them in the first place is pretty rare.
They really need to either have multiple entities so they can actually tie down/kill things more effectively, or to have better animations to either toss more entities around or avoid missile fire through swooping.
# Plague Monks (and Censer Bearers)
The more units that get added to the game, the more pathetic these seem. They were already lackluster next to things like Nasty Skulkers and great weapon infantry. It's just straight-up insulting when you compare them to Daemonettes and the like.
Overall, they've always had an issue with not having a good role in the Skaven roster. They're too frail to hold the line, and they don't have Stalk or enough speed to pull off the powerful flanks many of your other units are capable of. You certainly don't need them to thin out enemy chaff infantry, because you have so many other tools to accomplish that (most of which have the added benefit of not dying while doing so).
It's really a shame, because these guys should be really scary whenever they get into melee (a la Vermintide). They really need to either tear through infantry much more efficiently, or debuff them to an incredible degree.