Humor me for a moment

IMHO, full unit Legionnaires + UA > 2x min units grots + assassin. But I'm not a legion player so what do I know.

Proteus works well will helmouth. People stand base to base to stop them being dragged in by helmouth, but then proteus comes along and ruins their day, changing the angles. He's also a tough nut to crack, plus being Mat7 is a big deal. There is enough damage dealing more or less - proteus fills the gap well.

Legionaires are faster than swordsmen if they get hurt and vengeance is done. If your opponent doesn't proc vengeance then they are slow. I think I prefer double grots and an assassin rather than one of the warlords in this list. Double grots are generally great though in my opinion.

The reason Legionaires got so much hate is:

In Mk2 they were cheap, and in the change over they became expensive and lost, Spellward and Set Defence. They gained a point of armour and their minifeat became +3 not plus 4, but immune to knockdown and stationary. They went up about 10% compared to other units, so people were a bit shocked.

Its MK3 now, and what things used to be shouldn't matter. These guys are good now. Failor is pretty boss, (and when you can get him free is good - but that's just CoD). Are swordsmen better? probably, but With Saeryn and Kallus I've used Legionaires and not been disappointed with them.

They still just don't quite shine. They are middle of the road at best. Idk. They just lack the same factor that units like the Iron fang have. Legionnaires are more flexible in that shield wall cause IFP to walk. But pow 13 crit knockdown is pretty fantastic for an infantry unit. CMa is the same. Price is the same.

Maybe if we could get a solo that could give desperate pace. That'd be great. Or just base Powerful charge. I think that would keep them from falling on their face without sacrificing dice volume to CMA.

Legionnaires are just too expensive for what they do, even by Legion standards (comparing them to other factions is a depressing exercise that I advise against). I'd rather they got additional rules than going down in price, but either would be acceptable - we just don't really need single-wound infantry that doesn't accomplish much while being kind of tanky.

Legionnaires had a lot more value before the lessers were nerfed, as at least then even if they weren't going to accomplish anything with PS 10s, each death was 1/3 of a lesser - but with the lessers being what they are, that further deteriorates their value (which has inconveniently increased, as well). I think in the MK3 redesign, they got hit from too many directions - similar to the Warspears.

Not being able to give them pathfinder (outside of Rhyas) in SR2017 is a whole other issue that hopefully we'll see some tools for sooner than later.

Comparing them to other factions, actually makes me feel a bit better. Vengance is what costs so many points and it is really good.

I think they are the worst vengeance unit except may be Immortals, because they have the lowest power, the others being:

Sentinels, Immortals, Fennblades, Bane Knights (also poor but recently cided), Menoth Cinerators. Tharn Ravagers. I think is about it?

None of those units shine that brightly other than Sentinels and may be Fennblades. I'm not sure Legioniares are much worse.

The easiest to compare:

Immortals
Banes Knights
Fennblades
Legionaires
Sentinals

Legionaires are not much worse than those, except Sentinels, but we know Retribution get all the good stuff. <cry> <cry>

On comparing sentinels and Legionaires...
Sentinels cost 11/18+4 - Legionaires cost 9/15+5
Sentinels have MAT7 - Legionaires have MAT6 and CMA
Sentinels have p+s12wm - Legionaires have p+s10 and UA has wm
Sentinels get relentless charge from UA - Legionaires UA has cleave
--> Legionaires are slightly cheaper, more accurate against high DEF targets but do 5.5 less dmg on atttacks and lack pathfinder on charge. It's obvious that Sentinels are way better than Legionaires. However, the problem with this analysis is that Sentinels are sorely lacking offensive buffs. I mean there are couple of threat extenders in ROS, but that's about it. Legion has multiple casters that increase the dmg output of Legionaires.

On DEF vs ARM on single wound models, I think that ARM is largely irrevelant below 14. Single wound models with ARM 13 or less die very easily to previously mentioned non-attacks. You can avoid some of these effects with good placement and tactics, but this isn't not always possible in a game and eats up your deathclock. ARM15-17 models are good for holding zones and jamming.