Editing Warhammer Army Project/Cathay/8th (section)

=== Special Units ===
The Cathayan special units are quite interesting, fulfilling several disparate roles and filled with strange units.

*'''Emperor's Guard:'''The simplest of the special units, these guys are only pseudo-elite infantry. A definite step up from the imperial infantry, at WS4, I4, and L8 with stubborn, these guys are here to hold the line. They only have Heavy armor and halberds, and they can take a magic banner up to 50 points. Of the elite choices, these are the guys you really wanna max out. With halberds and Iron Discipline, you'll get lots of decent strength attacks and they'll be able to power through many engagements through the combat resolution bonuses, and at a reasonable 10 points each it won't break the bank.

*'''Swordsaints:''' Your true elite infantry, these guys are the next step above the Emperor's Guard, with WS5, S4, and 2 attacks each, these lads will tear through most targets. With two attacks and strength 4, they'll chop through light infantry, but they can also take on other elites with their armor-piercing Cathayan long swords and killing blow. They also have iron discipline but are 13 points so it will be more costly if you want to take advantage of it. The main disadvantage of this unit is durability. While the longsword gives them a 6+ parry, with only heavy armor and no option for a shield, ranged fire is the arch-enemy of this unit. However, if you're using the lore of Yin and Yang on your wizard, a shroud of darkness will keep enemy firepower off these guys, and path of light will get them to the enemy faster.

*'''Nightblades:'''Ninjas! In...Fantasy China...? Come on Matthias. Historical nitpicking aside, these guys are alright (the basis of ninjutsu did migrate through China before reaching Japan). They fulfill a similar role to the monkey warriors but are much better in melee with a better weapon skill, T3, two hand weapons, and poison in melee. They also possess scout, which the monkey warriors do not. However, they still aren't excellent in melee, and at 12 points a model with throwing weapons they don't have as good shooting weapons as monkey warriors. To me, this unit's job can be done by hill tribesmen and monkey warriors, which are cheap enough for you to take both for the same price and importantly do not compete with, in this user's opinion, better special options. TL;DR: They're not bad per se, but not optimal.

*'''Celestial Dragon Monks:''' Shaolin Monks! Now we've got our stereotypes straight! This unit is a strange one, as its role is rather unclear. It's a skirmisher unit with no armor and strider...with a chaos warrior statline and immune to psychology. Ain't that a kick in the head? At 15 points a model they're expensive, but in addition to their beastly statlines, they can pick one of five stances that boosts their abilities every turn.
**Black Tiger: +1 attack
**White Crane: Always Strikes First
**Fanged Snake: Killing Blow
**Great Dragon: +1 Strength
**Preying Mantis: 5+ Ward save
**These stances allow the monks to adapt to a variety of situations, meaning they'll be useful no matter what they're facing. These guys will absolutely mulch infantry with Black Tiger, have three attacks each, and did I mention that the unit champion has a Strength 3 breath weapon? Elves? See how green they get when you throw out ASF against them. Are some enemy elites getting you down?  Throw some killing blow in there. I don't think I need to explain how +1 strength or a 5+ ward save is useful. Its main weakness is it's complete vulnerability to ranged fire. Skirmisher will help a little, but they have no armor and that ward saves only works in combat. So get em in combat quick.

*'''Wu Xia:''' Good luck finding models for these guys because they are WEIRD. Wandering vigilantes that ride giant fuck off frogs into battle. +1 for creativity at least. These guys are monster Cav, but frankly, they don't fight like it. The rider is essentially an inner circle knight with heavy armor and a lance/halberd combo weapon. The frog...well, it's not that strong. Only strength 4 and two attacks, poison is good but not enough to make up for it. It's slow too: only a 6-inch movement. The unit has iron discipline despite getting very little use out of it. The big advantage to this unit is its special rule great leap: the unit can move up to 6", bypassing any terrain less than 4" and any enemy units that aren't large, '''even when charging'''! This allows them to bypass chaff units that are often the bane of elite units like this. However, with their intensely mediocre stats and mediocre save, there's no guarantee they'll even win once they get to their target. At 42 points, I'd take the equivalent in dragon lancers every time.

*'''Bastion Chariot:''' A big beefy chariot. What more do you want? It's got four horses and three crew, t5 and 5 wounds, and you can take them as a mount for your commander. Take a few and smash some stuff up.

*'''Foo Dogs:''' "Hey look at that cool statue-OHGODITSEATINGMEPLEASGODNO!!!!" Monstrous beasts, they are a very solid choice with a different role from most. They come in units of 3+, so no singular models to catch charges or lone wizard hunters like razorgors. These guys honestly function like the monster cav in the way that the Wu Xia doesn't. They have three attacks each at S4, WS4, and cause fear, but their big pull is their durability. A 3+ Scaly skin, toughness 5, magic resistance, and UNBREAKABLE means these guys aren't going away anytime soon. These guys will hold up an infantry block for ages, and they're damn hard to take out before they get to melee. Great unit, take it and watch your opponent weep as they fail to kill your doggies.

*'''Terracotta Warriors:''' Living stone warriors come to kick your ass! They're strength and toughness 4 with halberds, magic resistance, and unbreakable, at 9 points a model! Seems broken until you see their big downside: unstable, and leadership 3 at that. That's right, your magical stone badasses crumble like basic skeletons if they lose a fight. They are excellent fighters for their cost, with the only downside being the lack of armor saves, but with unstable and no method of resurrection like the undead armies, they'll completely collapse in an unfavorable matchup.

*'''Field Engineers:'''Essentially skaven weapon teams, these guys can be attached to any non-skirmishing infantry unit, and up to 2 can be taken as a single special choice. They can take firebombs for mobile and cheap, if short ranged, firepower, skyrockets for longer ranged, Harding hitting shooting, dragons breath for an S4 breath weapon, or even a hand mortar for a mini mobile stone thrower!

*'''Stormhurler Ballista:''' The last special choice, it's a generic bolt thrower with an alternate fire mode of 6 crossbow shots. Simple.