Resilient or Step Aside?

the other day I made some calculations on the two defensive skills which seem -in effect- quite similar. Both help to avoid wounds against cc-attacks. But which one is better at that?

So I wondered which skill would let less wounds through. Here are my results, in case you are interested...

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the attacked model is an orc with T4. T5, if in case of resilient. It's assumed that no armour is being worn). The shown numbers are the amount of wounds that are made against the model in spite of the skill. So low numbers are better.


I) Attacker has higher WS (3+), 1 attack:

a1) S3, resilient: 0.111

a2) S3, step aside: 0.148


b1) S4, resilient: 0.222

b2) S4, step aside: 0.222


c1) S5, resilient: 0.333

c2) S5, step aside: 0.296


d1) S6, resilient: 0.444

d2) S6, step aside: 0.370


e1) S7, resilient (no effect): 0.555

e2) S7, step aside: 0.370


higher number of attacks: wounds increase proportionally but relations between effects of step aside and resilient remain the same.

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II) same WS (4+), 1 attack:


a1) S3, resilient: 0.083333

a2) S3, step aside: 0.111111


b1) S4, resilient: 0.166666

b2) S4, step aside: 0.166666


c1) S5, resilient: 0.2500000

c2) S5, step aside: 0.2222222

etc...

---> against attacks of S3, resilient is better, especially that resilient avoids being critically hit by S3 attacks.

but against attacks of S4 and more, step aside is equally good or better.

the weapon skill and number of attacks did not change the situation relatively...

The fact that resilient is only better against of strength at T-1, this would mean for models at T3 (i.e. humans, elves...) that resilient is in (almost) no case better than step aside, as S2 is quite rare.

In my calculations i did not include the effects of (avoiding) critical hits, armour, attacking weapon etc.. so these factors might affect the interpretation of which skill is better...

(e.g. resilient works still if the model is knocked down. If Step aside then still applies must at least be questioned).

If the attacker is at lower Strength then defending model then Resilent is better. Where the Strength and Toughness are equal then they have an equal effect, but the higher the Strength is vs toughness the better Step-Aside gets.

Neither skill directly stops a crit, but Step-Aside would prevents rolls before the crit is rolled. Resilent shifts the table so it makes lower Strength need a 6 to hit. So with a Toughness of 4 and most oppients having a 3 strength, it effectively makes them not able to crit. But the higher the Strength the better Step-Aside gets.

thanks for this...an interesting read

Lydor wrote:

thanks for this...an interesting read

you're welcome

@rudeboy: thanks for the summary. I felt that I had not put my conclusion properly. This sums it up really well

btw. does step aside really come to effect BEFORE rolling out the crit rather than afterwards? I thought it would be after, as it says "after all other armour saves". And as armour saves are rolled after rolling out the crit, so would step aside, too.

As I’ve played both skills, I see them as equally important depending on each situation. But defiantly, better when combined in defensive tactics. As the Dice Gods usually don’t run in my favor, I see Resilient as an always -1S and Step Aside as an apposing roll (That I’d fail). I’ll use these two in combination with Strike to Injure and Mighty Blow. Depending on how a campaign seems to be going, will determine in which order I may pick them in.

If I have a T4 warrior earn a skill, it will usually be resilient if he can take it. Immunity to S3 Crits in close combat is a good thing. And armor that puppy.

For T3 folks, I generally take step aside.

But the problem is that it is not Orcy to avoid a hit when you can block it with your face!