Making something out of nothing (Can you turn this into a Thug?)

[Stavis_L]

Originally Posted by Foodstamp

MA Man's Bard

I've been kicking around the idea of turning MA Man bards into thugs. Not ranged thugs, but a unit that can mix it up a little up front. How would you turn a bard into a melee thug?

Remember to post a unit you would like to see turned into a thug as well (If you like).

For reference, the wiki article for the bard.

Differences vs. a "generic" unit:

1) Spy (also means highly stealthy)
2) 11 precision
3) 1N magic
4) the "Standard" effect, rating 10
5) MR 12

While these guys are definitely not going to cut it as solo thugs, they can definitely improve the effectiveness of infantry they are mixed in with. Unfortunately, they don't have much armor themselves. So perhaps give them a suit of cheap armor (maybe black steel or copper plate), script barkskin, mix in a clump of infantry, attack closest, and don't worry too much if they die? You could give them a vine shield and they'd survive much better (as would the surrounding infantry), but that's pretty expensive for a thug that you're going to lose a lot of.

Unfortunately, I don't really see it.

As artillery thugs, though, they can script eagle eyes on top of their already slightly higher precision and go to town. You've probably already got lots of longbows as Man (so Bow of War is less attractive), but bards are stealthy, so there's that...probably better to go with Botulf/Vision's Foe/Lightning Bow and put them on anti-large thug/SC duty.