When to use monstrous infantry instead of monsters?

[ihKu47]

I've played the game a fair bit, but this is something I haven't really gotten a feel for. When is it better to use monstrous infantry instead of single unit monsters? Maybe when the opponent has powerful vs single unit spells? When do you think one performs better than the other.

[ArchAnge1LT]

Monstrous infantry are damage dealers for the most part, but are not frontliners or linebreakers, like single entity monsters usually can be.
They are however, more easy to acquire and upkeep. It still depends a lot on what race we are talking about, since it differs from roster to roster what their single entity monsters and monstrous infantry are trying to achieve.

[Ser Pounce]

Monstrous infantry are good for charging in the back/the flank of your enemy or to support your frontline in crucial points. Monsters are good for breaking through the lines and tanking a lot of punches. Monsters are meant to either break through or get all the attention while monstrous infantry are here to help you win a fight.

At least, that's how I see it ^^

[ihKu47]

Thanks, I think I get it now! I've mostly used normal sized damage dealing infantry for the job that usually fits monstrous infantry (except with the Vampire Counts, and with Lizardmen I've just used more monsters). I'll be more mindful of these tactics in the future!

[Wyvern]

It depends on the flavor of monster/monstrous infantry, but it ultimately mostly boils down to damage vs survivability. Monstrous infantry almost always has higher damage output/higher potential damage output than monsters. Most range somewhere between 800-1200 damage per attack sequence(not counting splash) while most single model monsters range between 200-600. Most monstrous infantry, with very few exceptions(rat ogres as flankers and maybe minotaurs if you mino spam) are supposed to be parked on top of your infantry to dilute the number of attacks they take while pushing to the front to deal their hurt(or in the case of treekin, they dilute the hits that should go into your infantry). Although slower single models function this way too, their DPS is obviously lower. Other single model monsters might function as a linebreaker/serve a specific role like large hunting.

More importantly though, single models dont lose efficiency in a protracted engagement through model loss. That 800-1200 damage might drop fairly low after a lengthy battle, especially depending on luck, whereas a single model at 10hp hits as hard as when its at full.