A Study of Warhammer Troops

The standard trooper of Warhammer is, theoretically, the human.  S3, T3.  Worth
5 points, and everything is worked out from there.  Everything was based on
that simple starting point.  S 3 and T 3 were average, and the combat tables
were constructed accordingly, as were weapons and armour.  Anything with a S or
T of less than 3 was hopelessly feeble, anything more was superhuman, steroid
pumped elite.

Let us now take a look at the army lists, and see how they compare to the
theory...

Orcs and Goblins - 20 units, 8 units with S 4+, 10 units with T 4+
Dogs of War - 15 units, 3 units with S 4+, 3 units with T 4+
WD Dogs of War - 5 units, 3 units with S 4+, 3 units with T 4+
Bretonnia - 8 units, 3 units with S 4+, 0 units with T 4+
Chaos Warriors - 8 units, 8 units with S 4+, 5 units with T 4+
Beastmen - 6 units, 3 units with S 4+, 6 units with T 4+
Daemons - 10 units, 7 units with S 4+, 4 units with T 4+
Chaos Monstrous Host - 4 units, 4 units with S 4+, 4 units with T 4+
Vampire Counts - 10 units, 2 units with S 4+, 5 units with T 4+
Khemri - 5 units, 2 units with S 4+, 1 unit with T 4+
Lizardmen - 8 units, 7 units with S 4+, 5 units with T 4+
Wood Elves - 10 units, 3 units with S 4+, 3 units with T 4+
Chaos Dwarves - 10 units, 2 units with S 4+, 5 units with T 4+
Dwarves - 8 units, 3 units with S 4+, 8 units with T 4+
Empire - 20 units, 7 units with S 4+, 3 units with T 4+
High Elves - 10 units, 1 units with S 4+, 0 units with T 4+
Skaven - 9 units, 5 units with S 4+, 3 units with T 4+
Dark Elves - 12 units, 3 units with S 4+, 1 unit with T 4+

178 units, 72 units with S 4+, 68 units with T 4+

The S of cavalry mounts is used, because they can attack - the T of them is
ignored, because it is never used.  The S and T of chariots from the troops
section (and similar things) is used because they are not limited in the same
way as war machines - theoretically you could have an army full of Wood Elf
chariots...


So, instead of S 3, T 3 being the normal, damned nearly half of all troops have
either S 4 or more, or T 4 or more (and a frighteningly high number have BOTH).
No bloody wonder people refuse to use the basic troops anymore - they are S 3,
T 3, and just can't cut it these days.  All armies can field S 4 units, often
several of each such units, and, of 16 armies, only two do not have T 4 or 
better troops (but as one of them is Bretonnia, I suppose that this is 
acceptable).  So, over the years, GW has introduced more and more above-average 
troops, and now finds itself wondering why it has to force people to use 
anything else...

Admittedly some of the backgrounds require tougher than average troops (Dwarves,
Orcs, some Beastmen) but really, that many...?

The result - light armour and / or shields are almost useless these days, 
halberdiers are incredibly popular (cheap S 5 troops), and basic troops aren't
really seen anymore.  Is this really a good development?  Is it time to scrap
all army lists and start again, re-developing EVERYTHING at the same time so
that the same standards apply to everything?  Or can this just be remedied with
a quick fix such as removing strength modifiers - just the sort of thing which
has caused this problem in the first place?