Post by droopingpuppy on Mar 11, 2017 16:44:25 GMT
I post the old post of mine again. I can't access for my post in PP forum but I still have old data with fixed grammar which praetordave was given to me. Again, thank you very much!
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I have been thinking about Stormblade Infantry in the new edition.
First, I will skip the part about positioning or formation, because MadJack already made a great tactica in MKII era. Although their ability has changed, the idea of positioning or formation still works except for their RNG 0.5 Melee range in MKII.
-2017.03.12: With removal of PP faction forum, Madjack's good tactica is lost as well. But anyway I was wrote about the basic formation.
I am not good at English so sorry for the broken English. And thanks to praetordave of PP forum, who was fix it.
I am not very skilled, but I have used them in the MKII era so I have had some experience with them. Although they have been tweaked somewhat, their main purpose remains unchanged.
Stats and Abilities
Basic Unit: Only 6 troopers, 1 Leader and 5 Grunts. Same price as a minimum unit of Trencher Infantry.
-Stats: SPD: poor, MAT: good, RAT: poor, DEF: poor, ARM: good, CMD: moderate.
-Advantages: Combined Melee Attack , Immunity: Electricity .
-Weapon:
--Ranged Weapon: RNG poor, ROF 1, POW: Good.
--Melee weapon: RNG 1, and POW: capable. Leader has RNG 2 melee weapon (only for him, and every other models in the unit cannot have it).
Leader has an ability that gives +2 to RNG and +2 to melee and ranged attack damage rolls for the other troopers in the unit within 5" of himself.
Officer & Standard Bearer: Command Attachment.
-Stats: Officer has +1 MAT/RAT. Standard Bearer shares the normal grunt statline.
-Advantages: same as the base unit; in addition, the Officer has 'Jack Marshal and Officer.
-Weapon: same as the basic unit.
Officer has Granted: Assault and Iron Zeal(once per game, gives +3 to ARM and immune to knocked down and Stationary to the unit for one round). The Standard Bearer is considered a Stormsmith Stormcaller when using a Surge or Triangulation Stormcall, is a Standard Bearer and has Take Up.
Storm Gunner: Weapon Attachment.
-Stats and Advantages are same as the basic unit.
-Weapon: Ranged weapon has medium RNG and POW equal to the troopers. Melee weapon is identical to troopers.
Ranged attacks made by the unit during their activation automatically hit the same target already hit by the stormgunner.
Summary
They are the basic Weapon Master unit in Cygnar, similar to Knights Exemplar, Doom Reavers, Bane Thralls, and Dawnguard Sentinels. They are slow, a bit fragile, and hit hard.
While they have other advantages, Stormblade Infantry have a ranged weapon, though their RAT and RNG are poor. However, if you are able to bring up their RAT and/or RNG, they can earn their points back.
Role
Anti-Armor Melee Unit is their primary role, and it is their most important. They can cripple or even destroy ARM 20 or less jacks and beasts with ease. They can chop so called 'heavy infantry' (non-cavalry 3-6 man units with damage boxes) too. They can cause serious damage against ARM 21-22 too, and you don't see a warjack/warbeast with ARM 23 or more very often.
Also, if you can afford a ranged accuracy buff, they can kill infantry without needing to get into melee with them. Because of their fragility, it is good to have a bit of distance between the enemy following the attack. After all, if you don't need to charge, or cannot charge, you are better off shooting. So, with an accuracy buff they can kill infantry and jacks/beasts alike. It doesn't mean that they are not good at killing infantry in melee, since their MAT 7 is enough to hit most troopers.
They are bad at standing their ground or taking the front, due to their victim stats and slow speed. If you have need for such a role, you’re better checking out Trencher Infantry or Sword Knights. Stormblades can withstand some attacks with a buff, but they are not well suited or costed for that.
You may use them to fuel a Stormclad. While not very effective only for this, a minimum unit can earn 10 points when you do this well. But I recommend trying this only if you have two or more Stormclads.
Their Officer is a 'Jack Marshal but he have no Drive. So you are better off giving the jack to Archduke Alain Runewood instead if you need a marshaled warjack. Just keep in mind that he can take control of an autonomous warjack or wake up an inert warjack.
What size unit is necessary to use them properly? - The uses of the Attachments.
At the very least a minimum unit can do enough work to earn their points (10). They will not do a great job, but they will do well considering their points. I don't recommend providing buffs to a minimum unit. If used as a minimum unit, use them as a focus battery for a Stormclad or use them as a counter assault force.
If you have enough points and you want them to take some part in your list, the first thing to do is to add the Command Attachment. The Officer is the basic requirement to use them well, for he gives both Assault and Iron Zeal.
Assault is good to give them more threat range, only making ranged attacks when they fail a charge but still giving you more options. It also slightly helps to crack armor too. An unboosted POW 14 shot causes about 1.555 average damage to ARM 20 target. It may be viewed as superficial, but remember that the Officer grants Assault to the unit and the model still makes the ranged attack even if it failed the charge. Only about five troopers(and RNG 2" Leader) are able to make it into melee against a 50mm based model reliably, but all of them are able to make a ranged attack. If you add all the attachments, a Stormblade Infantry unit will have 11 troopers. If you can keep all of them alive, when you order them to charge a target the whole unit can cause about 12 damage solely through ranged attacks, assuming 5+ to hit. If some of Storm Gunners are already hit the attack then it is automatically hit instead, so the expected damage output will be much higher. With assault, their actual damage output is much higher than you imagine.
All Stormblade Infantry have Immunity: Electricity, so don't worry about missing the attack and hitting your peers. Just shoot them anyway, unless there will be another friend without immunity nearby.
Pop Iron Zeal as soon as they get into range of taking some hits. Pop as soon as possible and reduce the initial losses.
The Stormblade Storm Gunner is also great, though not required. If you add one or more of them, you can have longer RNG and he helps them concentrate on a target with the ranged attack. Although their RNG is too short to easily make use of auto hits, automatically hitting is still a good effect. Once I have fry an enemy caster by use this, killed him even before any of them are making the charge attack. Consider the Storm Gunners additional bodies, since you cannot add more grunts.
Fix their victim stat
The first thing to do when you are using them is help them survive.
Firstly, a 12/15 unit is not frontline survivable. For units, the most important thing to help them survive is DEF. ARM is not helpful unless it is at least 17 or higher. ARM 13~16 only provides blast protection, nothing more.
For example, against a RAT 5 POW 11 attack, a 12/15 model is hit on a 7+ (58.333%) and damaged on a 5+ (83.333%). So the target will be dead around 48.611%.
Consider, a 13/11 trooper is hit on an 8+ (41.666%) and killed outright on a hit, but they are killed about 41.666% so it is survives slightly better than our poor Stormblade Infantry.
Against RAT 6 POW 11, 12/15 model is hit on a 6+ (72.222%) and damaged on a 5+ (83.333%) = 60.185% to be killed, but 13/11 model is hit on a 7+ so 58.333% to be killed. For 13/13 trooper it is reduced to 58.333%*97.222=56.712.
Against RAT 6 POW 10, 12/15 model is hit on a 6+ (72.222%) and damaged on a 6+ (72.222%) = 52.16% to be killed, but 13/11 model is hit on a 7+ so 58.333% to be killed. For 13/13 trooper it is reduced to 58.333%*91.666%=53.472%.
Against RAT 6 and POW 10, higher ARM stats have a better result. But with higher POW or lower RAT, units with higher DEF will survive better. DEF 13/ARM 11 units have similar or a slightly better result than 12/15. And most frontline unit's stats are 13/13, or 13/14. Only a few of them have 12/14 or 12/15, but such models have an ability or order to make up their poor basic defensive stats.
It will not be a good idea to expect them to have a frontline unit's stats. Usually, the units with 13/18 or 12/18 without any buffs have weapons that struggle to destroy a heavy easily. But 12/15 without any buff is poor.
Anyway, they are the melee unit that must be exposed to the enemy eventually. You will not expect them to be the vanguard, but still expect to take heavy fire. And you will need to buff them well.
Your first thought may be of Arcane Shield. While ARM 15 doesn’t mean much by default, with Arcane Shield, it is quite usable. However, casting Arcane Shield off your Journeyman Warcaster means that your warjacks will not have +3 ARM. So you will need a warcaster that has Arcane Shield so your Journeyman Warcaster can cast it on your warjacks. Actually Blur is better, because more DEF is usually better than more ARM and ARM 15 usually don't fear for blast damage without High-Explosive. Deflection is also good too... but we lost it.
The next step is to hire Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord. Giving either Concealment or Tough to a 12/18 or 15/15 unit is never a bad choice. If they expect heavy fire, then you will need to hire him.
You may order them to take cover, but if you do then you will need Pathfinder. To alleviate this, bring either Rhupert Carvolo or Archduke Alain Runewood.
The alternative to buffing them directly is to simply put them behind others. If they cannot be seen, then the opponents will have difficulty killing them and you don't need to spend more points on them. I recommend doing this when you use a minimum unit, but it works just as well on a unit with full attachments.
You may use a Smoke Wall from Trencher Infantry. While effective, the minimum unit costs 10 points, and when they pop smoke they cannot shoot. You will need them to screen the rest of your army as well.
Putting them behind other durable stuff is another solution. Set them behind a unit of Sword Knights, or behind some warjacks, and they can then retaliate against an enemy who dares to charge your frontline models.
You can just choose to shoot the enemy instead too. If you are able to kill the enemy that is most deadly to Stormblade Infantry first, they will not be dying to shooting. It isn’t very easy, but it is not impossible either.
And remember that you will suffer some acceptable losses anyway. They are a melee unit, and these attacks are designed to be powerful considering that melee is much more dangerous because of losing members before they charge, slower than with ranged attacks. Even if you lost about half of the troopers, they are still able to output a good amount of damage.
Fix their horrible RAT
They don't actually need an accuracy buff against armor or slow, heavy infantry. Usually they have DEF 12 or lower, and RAT 5 scores 7+ against DEF 12, so they need the buff only if the enemy has cover.
But against DEF 13 infantry, 8+ to hit (41.666%) is not useful considering their short range. There are not many of them, and their RNG is 6, so anything they can't kill on your turn will be able to move closer and kill them. So what they shoot, they need to kill.
Rangers can fix their aim regardless of what caster you are bringing. You can just order one of them to make a suicidal run. Personally I don't like this tactic, and the module will be too expensive if you only want to up their accuracy. You will have more shooters, right?
Deadeye is a good tool to fix them. Temporal Barrier is also good. Knocking down the enemy is another solution, you can cast Earthquake or shoot with an Avenger to easily get knock down, although the buff spell (or Temporal Barrier) is generally a better and easier fix.
It is odd, but you can use a Storm Strider to fix their RAT. It is very expensive so you can't bring it just for the buff, but the Storm Strider is very good with Nemo3's feat so you may want to bring one with him. +2 to ranged attacks against an enemy model within 10" of it is not that bad of a buff if it is followed by two POW 15 attacks with 3d6 damage roll, and 2d3 electro-leaps.
You may be tempted to increase their range with Snipe, but remember that you cannot cast any other defensive upkeep spell on them at the same time. If you want to do it, then use Iron Zeal in the same turn.
Caster Choice
They don’t have many casters that can use their full potential. So, let's check who can fix their problem areas.
Good casters: Have a defensive buff, and able to make up for their crappy RAT as well.
Stryker1: He can cast Blur on them to protect them, and knockdown the enemy by Earthquake to allow them to hit easily. Feat's defensive effect is not so bad either. As you know, he works well with almost all Cygnar models, and Stormblade Infantry are no exception.
Caine1: He also has Blur, and also able to fix their accuracy by Deadeye. His feat is good at clearing a bunch of enemy infantry, so he can help them concentrate on dealing with armor, while Caine is happy to see more armor crackers because he has almost nothing to deal with models with high ARM. It is a very good combination. Both of them will like each other very much.
Haley1: Arcane Shield is an OK spell for them, and Temporal Barrier and Feat: Blitz are really good for them. With Temporal Barrier, they can make up their crappy RAT and it will reduce the enemy’s ability to charge them next turn after they finish shooting.
Also, with the feat they can advance then shoot with an additional attack! My Stormblade Infantry actually have not made many melee attacks since they like shooting so much in this combination. It is an odd combination, but it works really well. She is one of the best casters for Stormblade Infantry. Remember that you must choose not to make a charge on the feat turn if you want to use their ranged attack.
-2017.01: She no longer protects them from the enemy charges, so be careful. Still she can give them accuracy fix as well as protections, but losing -2 SPD debuff really hurts.
Haley3: Temporal Distortion makes up their crappy DEF and RAT all at once. Also unlike most DEF buff spells, it also works in melee too! It is a fantastic spell for them. Also she can Revive some grunts so you may Take Up Standard Bearer.
OK casters: Have a defensive buff so you can use them as anti-armor specialists, but they lack a RAT fix. Note that Stormblade’s primary role is to crack armor, so it is not bad to use them without much ranged attack support, however you just don't use their full potential.
Stryker2: Deceleration is better than nothing. But that's about it. Though he can cast Positive Charge.... Well, his feat is actually good for them, able to push through and chop the second line.
Nemo1: While +2 ARM is worse than +2 DEF, it is better than nothing. I don't think that he needs them, though, since warjacks fill the same role.
Nemo3: Electrify is better on warjacks to prevent the enemy warjack from getting too many melee attacks in, but +2 ARM is better than nothing. 12/17 is not that good but still able to survive. Also his feat is not that bad against enemy armor either, since it makes their ranged attack just as deadly as their charge attack. It is actually a good combination if you only aim to take out the armor. And if you have a Storm Strider then they may kill infantry too.
Brisbane: Has no buff but he can shield them with Foxhole. It is common to see a Ranger unit so you may use them, though I think that it is somewhat odd.
Sturgis1: Has Arcane Shield so at least he is able to run them. Feat will give some more threat range too. But that's all.
Maddox: Has no ways to fix their accuracy, but Dauntless Resolve is really good so you don't need to hire Carvolo or he can put concealment on them. If you have an Avenger then they are quite usable with her. They also welcome Relentless Charge too. The feat is very good with them as well. Actually she is a good caster for them. She is just barely below the good casters group.
Bad casters: No defensive buff so you need to use Arcane Shield off the Journeyman Warcaster and your jacks are not able to have it.
Stryker3: No defensive spell means that their victim stats become a liability. If you aim for the melee damage buff, then check out Sword Knights, Trencher Infantry or Storm Lances instead.
Haley2: No accuracy fix, and no defensive buff as well. With removal of Deflection, she can't do anything for them.
Caine2: Has really nothing to do with them. What he can do is... just clear the enemy that is able to harm them. The funny thing is that he is actually able to do so by Trick Shot and True Sight. Also, you may cast Fire for Effect on one Storm Gunner then make Assault to enjoy a barrage of auto hits. I don't think that you can use them with him well, but you may do it if you are very skilled.
Nemo2: Do you really think that not being charged will protect them from bullets? Also he likes having many warjacks under his command, so you will not have enough space to field them.
Darius: Hey, didn't you have some jacks to take out the armor? He has nothing to support other than his battlegroup. If you want a support melee unit, then Sword Knights will be much better. Just skip them unless you have some Stormclads.
Kraye: Can only give them Pathfinder, but you can take Carvolo or Runewood instead. If you really want Pathfinder from the warcaster, go Maddox.
Sloan: Same as Darius. She doesn't care for anything other than her battlegroup. And she deals with enemy armor herself so she needs something to deal with infantry or a good jammer.
Blaize: She doesn’t have much to do with them besides the feat and Crusader's Call, and we are not the faction that likes quantity over quality when it comes to melee attacks. Cygnar is the faction that likes quality over quantity and ranged attacks, so she is not suited to us at all.
Jakes2: Feat is not so bad with them, but she has nothing to protect them and is not able to give an accuracy fix. But because she is very starved for focus, taking some Stormclads and a minimum Stormblade Infantry unit to fuel them will be not so bad either.
Also, Stryker1, Caine1, Sturgis1, and Maddox have Snipe. I don't think that you will cast it on them often, but maybe it will be a good tool for a last resort, desperate assassination run, or one shot buff with Iron Zeal in turn 2.
Other Support
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord: As above, he will be a requirement for using them. Both buffs are good, and usually concealment will be better in range and Tough will be better in melee. Also, when you use Iron Zeal they are not knocked down, so it is not bad to put Tough on them and enjoy 5+ to keep them alive.
Archduke Alain Runewood: The next choice after Carvolo. He can give them Pathfinder, or stand up them after Tough and charge them without a problem.
Ragman: If you need more damage output, he is not that bad. Note that Dark Shroud just reduces the enemy's ARM, so if they make a successful charge and are in the Dark Shroud bubble, their ranged attacks also do serious damage.
Firefly: It will increase the damage output of the ranged attack. Even an unboosted POW 16 damage roll will cause damage to an enemy jack/beast.
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress: For only 3 points you get +2 to charge range toward an enemy. She is a cheap and very effective model. Not so good model that she is required, but she will earn her points back well.
-2017.01: She is 4 points now, but still she is good.
Trencher Chain Gun Crew: While they don't help the fragile Storm Knights survive shooting, they can keep Stormblade Infantry from being charged.
Avenger: It can knockdown some enemies and allows the enemy to be fried by Stormblade Infantry's ranged attack. Also, they are not able to retaliate against them with a melee attack next turn either.
Stormclad: Actually it doesn't support them, but it is not a bad idea to take it. Remember that Stormclad functions totally fine without any Storm Knight, it is just an additional benefit.
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt + Captain Jonas Murdoch: This module is too expensive, but they will help you to one round stuff. Usually melee attacks don't need them and you are better off using them in ranged games. Anyway, they are cheaper than a full unit of Silver Line Stormguard and they have longer range.
I don't think that Storm Strider is useful in general and because its point cost is very high, I don't recommend it to help their accuracy problem. But if you have some reason to take it, then it can be a capable buffer.
Stormblade Captain is not useful with them, despite his name. What he can do is Tactician, but it has almost no benefit for them. Most target of Stormblade infantry have at least medium based or larger, so small based Stormblades doesn't block line of sight of themselves at all. For a Jack Marshal, you are better off taking Runewood, and for support you are better off taking Carvolo or Runewood, but he can't help them at all, and costs more than these support options. Just skip him.
Take Up
Don't use Take Up on the standard unless your warcaster is Haley3. Actually, the Standard Bearer has the same weapon that the Grunt has so it will not reduce their performance right now. But the real problem is, using Take Up reduces the number of Grunts, and only Grunts are able to become the new Leader model by Field Promotion and the unit can only have 5 Grunts.
If your models are dying out then there is a chance to lose your Leader model so you need to have enough Grunts. They need the Leader model to function well, for both ranged and melee. P+S 13 melee weapons are not that good against enemy armor. Also Conductor is almost useless considering their position, and Standard Bearer is not needed considering Electrical Arc, so you don't need to keep him alive.
Just take him at the tip of the spear and hope that the opponent will aim for him first before the other troopers. Because he is the Attachment model with proper weapons, the opponent may aim for him if no other troopers are within 1" of him so nobody is able to Take Up the standard. That is actually good bait to keep your Grunts around longer.
But with Haley3, you can keep more Grunts by Take Up provided you constantly Revive the lost Grunts. After all total 5 Grunts + Standard Bearer is more than just 5 Grunts.
Also, Storm Gunners don't have Take Up.
Formation
You are better taking only some of them on the frontline, and take the rest at the second or third line, and have some space between the lines (and the models within the same line need to have some distance between each other, as below) so you can charge the enemy that kills the frontline troopers by charge.
Also, keep the 5" bubble only if they are about to charge. In the early turns, just keep them spread out and don't worry about Electrical Arc. Even with ARM 15 blast protection, it is not good allowing more damage rolls. You only need to care about it when they are charging, both for the frontline troopers and the rear troopers to make sure that they get +2 to damage rolls on the Assault shots. So, it is better to set the Leader at the middle of their formation.
With 1" melee range, about 5 of them are able to concentrate their attacks on a single 50mm base model. The first three will be base to base with it and have some gap with each other, and the following two are charging and make the attack through the gap made by the front troopers. The Leader model will make the attack behind them thanks to his RNG 2 melee weapon, so that about six of them are able to attack a single target. You will need at least 3-4 troopers to cause serious damage to the target.
Because they have no Take Up and they have good RNG, you are better off setting Storm Gunners at the back. Also put the Officer behind the Leader, since he grants Assault. But if you have to sacrifice either Leader or Officer, then loose the Officer first. Your Leader model must be the last model on the table to work well.
When they charge, concentrate attacks on a hard target. If they charge a unit with damage boxes, send about two troopers per enemy if they have 8 boxes, and it will be fine to just send one if the target has 5 damage boxes. Don't use Combined Melee Attacks since it reduces the damage output greatly, and only use it when you will need an 8 or more on the attack roll, usually only against warcaster/warlocks.
When they are not able to reach the target but still need to attack them, then charge them anyways and use Assault to make the ranged attack. It is a last resort, but is still much better than running like other typical melee units do. Assault gives about +5 inches of threat range over the other units with SPD 5 and melee RNG 1. With some accuracy fix (or knocked down target) they even fry the enemy casters too. It is plan B for most times, but it is an advantage that they can actually make it. Remember, an additional option is never be a bad thing in this game.
Because most units are able to be killed by ranged attacks, you don't need to aim for the successful charge all the times. Use Assault and don't worry about failed charges, or simply move and shoot them. But you will need to charge against warjacks and warbeasts.
Maneuver with Haley1
My most used caster is Haley1, and her playstyle will be unique compared to other casters so I will add this too.
They will have Arcane Shield from Haley, then run the first turn. After the first turn, if they can move and shoot the enemy then pop Haley’s feat, cast Temporal Barrier, give them no order and just make them advance and make the ranged attack. Because ranged attacks are able to concentrate a single target and have more threat range, it will be better to make the ranged attack with Feat: Blitz. If you are making more melee attacks then you can end up with some models with an additional attack but no enemy in its melee range. Also, because the Assault attack is not part of the combat action, and making a charge means that they are choosing to not make the ranged attack this turn, it is not good to charge with the feat.
With Blitz you can decimate enemy infantry, and thanks to 6" RNG you can have some distance between the next line of the enemy. You will not have much retaliation. After the feat turn, give them a charge order and end the enemy.
With support from a Firefly, you can kill an ARM 18 heavy easily, and you may cause serious damage to ARM 20 heavy too. Consider just zapping them with the ranged attack too. Anyway, making ranged attack have more threat range and able to be concentrate on a target.
Trick
You may shoot some lightning attacks from behind them and get a back strike bonus. Many lightning attacks also have Electro-Leap or Lightning Generator. It will mitigate the target in melee DEF bonus if it is already in melee. So they may zap the enemy infantry, which allows the Stormblade infantry to charge more important target. Also you may run a model and shoot it with the arced ability, zapping the enemy with high DEF.
If you have to kill a lot of infantry by them, then it is not a bad idea to charge them, kill the charge target by Assault ranged attack, and make the melee attack to the nearby enemy. Use a loose formation to do this. Against normal infantry you will not need the +2 to damage roll.
Storm Division?
Basically, they are never be a staple unit, and you can't also use Rhupert and Runewood in the theme as well. Advance Move to the victim stat unit is no more than a kidding too. But, there are some people that use Storm Lances, and also use Stormblade Infantry as the second wave unit. Because you will not have much other choices in the theme, it is... actually usable. But, without Storm Lances I don't think that it will be useful.
Also remember that the theme force lacks Pathfinder buff other than your warcaster. So, you better choose Maddox and forget about the other casters. Nemo3 can work well with Storm Lances, and with the same points Storm Lances are far superior than Stormblade Infantry for him.
The counterparts
They are not that good of a unit, and we have other good units. You can choose them instead of Stormblade Infantry, so consider the matchup and advantage of each other.
Storm Lances: Also good at ranged and melee, and not fragile like Stormblade Infantry. Though they need Major Laddermore, who can fix their ranged attack roll without the need for help from some specific caster, their RNG is better and they can Reposition back. The one trooper's damage output is the same as one Stormblade Infantry trooper, but Lances have Reach, Electro-Leap on both melee and ranged attacks, and have much longer threat range. But they have large bases and the module is very expensive.
Sword Knights: Not very good at damage dealing, but they are very resilient against melee attacks and they are very cheap. Consider them if you don't need much anti-armor capability but instead need a jammer.
Captain Sam Machorne & the Devil Dogs: They have a better threat range on the charge, gain an additional die on the damage roll against Construct models, so they can crack armor very well. Also they are not fragile like Stormblade Infantry, due to their DEF 13. Although the RNG of their ranged weapon and RAT are poor, some of them can just throw the net and knockdown the enemy instead. You may attach Captain Jonas Murdoch, and give them Assault and one shot immune to blast damage and Cover for one round too.
The problem is, their RNG 4 is not much better than RNG 6, and they are not friendly faction, so you need to take Murdoch too, although he is a very good support model for them.
Horgenhold Forge Guard: While they are not friendly faction models, they don't need to keep the Leader model alive, don't need to be within 5" of the leader, have RNG 2 melee weapon and ARM 16+2 from Wall of Steel. 10/18 is not very different from 12/18 when against RAT 5~6 POW 10~11 attack, so they don't need the buff to survive, and they like Rhupert too. They are not the tankiest unit, but being non-fragile Weapon Master’s is already worth their points.
SPD 4 can be mitigated by their RNG 2, so their melee threat range is nearly the same as Stormblade Infantry, and while Stormblade Infantry on the rear line are able to shoot, the rear line of the Forge Guards are able to make melee attacks instead.
They lack versatility to make ranged attacks and have better threat ranges, and are not friendly faction models, but in melee they are still superior to Stormblade infantry. They are much easier to use than Stormblade Infantry, while also hitting as hard as Stormblade Infantry. So, with the casters that have no ranged accuracy fix and no melee buffs, they are the better choice.
Anyone with a gun: If you just rely on their ranged attack to kill some infantries, then you better take some gunners instead. Although their ranged weapon has good POW and they can expect additional damage buffs in Cygnar, their RNG is too poor to be used as a ranged specialist unit. After all, a charge will cause much more damage.
Bad matchups
All enemy with Blessed ranged attacks are the bane of Stormblade Infantry, for they need the buff spell to survive. So, avoid using them against Protectorate or Retribution. Major Brisbane may have a solution since he gives cover, without using a spell buff for more DEF/ARM. Otherwise you may hide them behind other models.
Protectorate warjacks are usually immune to non-Magical ranged attacks in the early turns too. Also be aware of casters with a dispel method.
They are not very good against hordes of infantry. They are primarily anti-armor specialists. Though they can kill a lot of infantry through Assault + melee attack, it seems that they are jammed by the enemy infantry if you have to assault. It will be fine if you don’t face much armor, since you can handle it with your warjacks.
Any warjack/warbeasts that prevent charging are very tough, since Stormblades rely on the charge to cause enough damage in melee. You may choose to shoot with a buff instead.
Be aware of models with Sniper, for they don't care about ARM at all and slaughter your knights for breakfast. If you have a DEF buff then it will be fine, but if your caster only has an ARM buff, then you will need to request Dirge of Mists from Carvolo.
Many rifles can still kill them, so don't push them into the killbox zone.
Covering Fire is another problem. You may move through POW 10 hazards when they have Arcane Shield, though.
You can't cause any damage against Storm nouns with their ranged attacks, although they can only cause some damage with melee attacks too aside from Stormwall and Hurricane's cannon. It can be a merit, but it can also be a flaw.
Some odd models that remove from play your Leader model by ranged attack or from a distance are very dangerous. The unit needs the Leader model to function well, and if the Leader is removed from play you can't use Field Promotion to bring him back.
Conclusion
Well, they are not that good of a unit, for they need too much care to be useful and they need many buffs to function well. And they require some specific casters too. They need the buff of the warcaster, and they are not the independent module.
I don't recommend them for the beginner for they are not resilient and need many buffs, and their ability to have both melee and ranged attacks is not easy to use. Beginners need some self-sufficient units and not fragile unit.... Yes, it is also true that Trencher Infantry are not that easy to use either.
But it doesn't mean that they are unusable or plainly bad. They can kill the enemy well with the right buffs, and they are one of the few faction units that can cause good damage in melee. With the ranged accuracy fix, they can kill infantry and jack/beast alike. They have good versatility.
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I have been thinking about Stormblade Infantry in the new edition.
First, I will skip the part about positioning or formation, because MadJack already made a great tactica in MKII era. Although their ability has changed, the idea of positioning or formation still works except for their RNG 0.5 Melee range in MKII.
-2017.03.12: With removal of PP faction forum, Madjack's good tactica is lost as well. But anyway I was wrote about the basic formation.
I am not good at English so sorry for the broken English. And thanks to praetordave of PP forum, who was fix it.
I am not very skilled, but I have used them in the MKII era so I have had some experience with them. Although they have been tweaked somewhat, their main purpose remains unchanged.
Stats and Abilities
Basic Unit: Only 6 troopers, 1 Leader and 5 Grunts. Same price as a minimum unit of Trencher Infantry.
-Stats: SPD: poor, MAT: good, RAT: poor, DEF: poor, ARM: good, CMD: moderate.
-Advantages: Combined Melee Attack , Immunity: Electricity .
-Weapon:
--Ranged Weapon: RNG poor, ROF 1, POW: Good.
--Melee weapon: RNG 1, and POW: capable. Leader has RNG 2 melee weapon (only for him, and every other models in the unit cannot have it).
Leader has an ability that gives +2 to RNG and +2 to melee and ranged attack damage rolls for the other troopers in the unit within 5" of himself.
Officer & Standard Bearer: Command Attachment.
-Stats: Officer has +1 MAT/RAT. Standard Bearer shares the normal grunt statline.
-Advantages: same as the base unit; in addition, the Officer has 'Jack Marshal and Officer.
-Weapon: same as the basic unit.
Officer has Granted: Assault and Iron Zeal(once per game, gives +3 to ARM and immune to knocked down and Stationary to the unit for one round). The Standard Bearer is considered a Stormsmith Stormcaller when using a Surge or Triangulation Stormcall, is a Standard Bearer and has Take Up.
Storm Gunner: Weapon Attachment.
-Stats and Advantages are same as the basic unit.
-Weapon: Ranged weapon has medium RNG and POW equal to the troopers. Melee weapon is identical to troopers.
Ranged attacks made by the unit during their activation automatically hit the same target already hit by the stormgunner.
Summary
They are the basic Weapon Master unit in Cygnar, similar to Knights Exemplar, Doom Reavers, Bane Thralls, and Dawnguard Sentinels. They are slow, a bit fragile, and hit hard.
While they have other advantages, Stormblade Infantry have a ranged weapon, though their RAT and RNG are poor. However, if you are able to bring up their RAT and/or RNG, they can earn their points back.
Role
Anti-Armor Melee Unit is their primary role, and it is their most important. They can cripple or even destroy ARM 20 or less jacks and beasts with ease. They can chop so called 'heavy infantry' (non-cavalry 3-6 man units with damage boxes) too. They can cause serious damage against ARM 21-22 too, and you don't see a warjack/warbeast with ARM 23 or more very often.
Also, if you can afford a ranged accuracy buff, they can kill infantry without needing to get into melee with them. Because of their fragility, it is good to have a bit of distance between the enemy following the attack. After all, if you don't need to charge, or cannot charge, you are better off shooting. So, with an accuracy buff they can kill infantry and jacks/beasts alike. It doesn't mean that they are not good at killing infantry in melee, since their MAT 7 is enough to hit most troopers.
They are bad at standing their ground or taking the front, due to their victim stats and slow speed. If you have need for such a role, you’re better checking out Trencher Infantry or Sword Knights. Stormblades can withstand some attacks with a buff, but they are not well suited or costed for that.
You may use them to fuel a Stormclad. While not very effective only for this, a minimum unit can earn 10 points when you do this well. But I recommend trying this only if you have two or more Stormclads.
Their Officer is a 'Jack Marshal but he have no Drive. So you are better off giving the jack to Archduke Alain Runewood instead if you need a marshaled warjack. Just keep in mind that he can take control of an autonomous warjack or wake up an inert warjack.
What size unit is necessary to use them properly? - The uses of the Attachments.
At the very least a minimum unit can do enough work to earn their points (10). They will not do a great job, but they will do well considering their points. I don't recommend providing buffs to a minimum unit. If used as a minimum unit, use them as a focus battery for a Stormclad or use them as a counter assault force.
If you have enough points and you want them to take some part in your list, the first thing to do is to add the Command Attachment. The Officer is the basic requirement to use them well, for he gives both Assault and Iron Zeal.
Assault is good to give them more threat range, only making ranged attacks when they fail a charge but still giving you more options. It also slightly helps to crack armor too. An unboosted POW 14 shot causes about 1.555 average damage to ARM 20 target. It may be viewed as superficial, but remember that the Officer grants Assault to the unit and the model still makes the ranged attack even if it failed the charge. Only about five troopers(and RNG 2" Leader) are able to make it into melee against a 50mm based model reliably, but all of them are able to make a ranged attack. If you add all the attachments, a Stormblade Infantry unit will have 11 troopers. If you can keep all of them alive, when you order them to charge a target the whole unit can cause about 12 damage solely through ranged attacks, assuming 5+ to hit. If some of Storm Gunners are already hit the attack then it is automatically hit instead, so the expected damage output will be much higher. With assault, their actual damage output is much higher than you imagine.
All Stormblade Infantry have Immunity: Electricity, so don't worry about missing the attack and hitting your peers. Just shoot them anyway, unless there will be another friend without immunity nearby.
Pop Iron Zeal as soon as they get into range of taking some hits. Pop as soon as possible and reduce the initial losses.
The Stormblade Storm Gunner is also great, though not required. If you add one or more of them, you can have longer RNG and he helps them concentrate on a target with the ranged attack. Although their RNG is too short to easily make use of auto hits, automatically hitting is still a good effect. Once I have fry an enemy caster by use this, killed him even before any of them are making the charge attack. Consider the Storm Gunners additional bodies, since you cannot add more grunts.
Fix their victim stat
The first thing to do when you are using them is help them survive.
Firstly, a 12/15 unit is not frontline survivable. For units, the most important thing to help them survive is DEF. ARM is not helpful unless it is at least 17 or higher. ARM 13~16 only provides blast protection, nothing more.
For example, against a RAT 5 POW 11 attack, a 12/15 model is hit on a 7+ (58.333%) and damaged on a 5+ (83.333%). So the target will be dead around 48.611%.
Consider, a 13/11 trooper is hit on an 8+ (41.666%) and killed outright on a hit, but they are killed about 41.666% so it is survives slightly better than our poor Stormblade Infantry.
Against RAT 6 POW 11, 12/15 model is hit on a 6+ (72.222%) and damaged on a 5+ (83.333%) = 60.185% to be killed, but 13/11 model is hit on a 7+ so 58.333% to be killed. For 13/13 trooper it is reduced to 58.333%*97.222=56.712.
Against RAT 6 POW 10, 12/15 model is hit on a 6+ (72.222%) and damaged on a 6+ (72.222%) = 52.16% to be killed, but 13/11 model is hit on a 7+ so 58.333% to be killed. For 13/13 trooper it is reduced to 58.333%*91.666%=53.472%.
Against RAT 6 and POW 10, higher ARM stats have a better result. But with higher POW or lower RAT, units with higher DEF will survive better. DEF 13/ARM 11 units have similar or a slightly better result than 12/15. And most frontline unit's stats are 13/13, or 13/14. Only a few of them have 12/14 or 12/15, but such models have an ability or order to make up their poor basic defensive stats.
It will not be a good idea to expect them to have a frontline unit's stats. Usually, the units with 13/18 or 12/18 without any buffs have weapons that struggle to destroy a heavy easily. But 12/15 without any buff is poor.
Anyway, they are the melee unit that must be exposed to the enemy eventually. You will not expect them to be the vanguard, but still expect to take heavy fire. And you will need to buff them well.
Your first thought may be of Arcane Shield. While ARM 15 doesn’t mean much by default, with Arcane Shield, it is quite usable. However, casting Arcane Shield off your Journeyman Warcaster means that your warjacks will not have +3 ARM. So you will need a warcaster that has Arcane Shield so your Journeyman Warcaster can cast it on your warjacks. Actually Blur is better, because more DEF is usually better than more ARM and ARM 15 usually don't fear for blast damage without High-Explosive. Deflection is also good too... but we lost it.
The next step is to hire Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord. Giving either Concealment or Tough to a 12/18 or 15/15 unit is never a bad choice. If they expect heavy fire, then you will need to hire him.
You may order them to take cover, but if you do then you will need Pathfinder. To alleviate this, bring either Rhupert Carvolo or Archduke Alain Runewood.
The alternative to buffing them directly is to simply put them behind others. If they cannot be seen, then the opponents will have difficulty killing them and you don't need to spend more points on them. I recommend doing this when you use a minimum unit, but it works just as well on a unit with full attachments.
You may use a Smoke Wall from Trencher Infantry. While effective, the minimum unit costs 10 points, and when they pop smoke they cannot shoot. You will need them to screen the rest of your army as well.
Putting them behind other durable stuff is another solution. Set them behind a unit of Sword Knights, or behind some warjacks, and they can then retaliate against an enemy who dares to charge your frontline models.
You can just choose to shoot the enemy instead too. If you are able to kill the enemy that is most deadly to Stormblade Infantry first, they will not be dying to shooting. It isn’t very easy, but it is not impossible either.
And remember that you will suffer some acceptable losses anyway. They are a melee unit, and these attacks are designed to be powerful considering that melee is much more dangerous because of losing members before they charge, slower than with ranged attacks. Even if you lost about half of the troopers, they are still able to output a good amount of damage.
Fix their horrible RAT
They don't actually need an accuracy buff against armor or slow, heavy infantry. Usually they have DEF 12 or lower, and RAT 5 scores 7+ against DEF 12, so they need the buff only if the enemy has cover.
But against DEF 13 infantry, 8+ to hit (41.666%) is not useful considering their short range. There are not many of them, and their RNG is 6, so anything they can't kill on your turn will be able to move closer and kill them. So what they shoot, they need to kill.
Rangers can fix their aim regardless of what caster you are bringing. You can just order one of them to make a suicidal run. Personally I don't like this tactic, and the module will be too expensive if you only want to up their accuracy. You will have more shooters, right?
Deadeye is a good tool to fix them. Temporal Barrier is also good. Knocking down the enemy is another solution, you can cast Earthquake or shoot with an Avenger to easily get knock down, although the buff spell (or Temporal Barrier) is generally a better and easier fix.
It is odd, but you can use a Storm Strider to fix their RAT. It is very expensive so you can't bring it just for the buff, but the Storm Strider is very good with Nemo3's feat so you may want to bring one with him. +2 to ranged attacks against an enemy model within 10" of it is not that bad of a buff if it is followed by two POW 15 attacks with 3d6 damage roll, and 2d3 electro-leaps.
You may be tempted to increase their range with Snipe, but remember that you cannot cast any other defensive upkeep spell on them at the same time. If you want to do it, then use Iron Zeal in the same turn.
Caster Choice
They don’t have many casters that can use their full potential. So, let's check who can fix their problem areas.
Good casters: Have a defensive buff, and able to make up for their crappy RAT as well.
Stryker1: He can cast Blur on them to protect them, and knockdown the enemy by Earthquake to allow them to hit easily. Feat's defensive effect is not so bad either. As you know, he works well with almost all Cygnar models, and Stormblade Infantry are no exception.
Caine1: He also has Blur, and also able to fix their accuracy by Deadeye. His feat is good at clearing a bunch of enemy infantry, so he can help them concentrate on dealing with armor, while Caine is happy to see more armor crackers because he has almost nothing to deal with models with high ARM. It is a very good combination. Both of them will like each other very much.
Haley1: Arcane Shield is an OK spell for them, and Temporal Barrier and Feat: Blitz are really good for them. With Temporal Barrier, they can make up their crappy RAT and it will reduce the enemy’s ability to charge them next turn after they finish shooting.
Also, with the feat they can advance then shoot with an additional attack! My Stormblade Infantry actually have not made many melee attacks since they like shooting so much in this combination. It is an odd combination, but it works really well. She is one of the best casters for Stormblade Infantry. Remember that you must choose not to make a charge on the feat turn if you want to use their ranged attack.
-2017.01: She no longer protects them from the enemy charges, so be careful. Still she can give them accuracy fix as well as protections, but losing -2 SPD debuff really hurts.
Haley3: Temporal Distortion makes up their crappy DEF and RAT all at once. Also unlike most DEF buff spells, it also works in melee too! It is a fantastic spell for them. Also she can Revive some grunts so you may Take Up Standard Bearer.
OK casters: Have a defensive buff so you can use them as anti-armor specialists, but they lack a RAT fix. Note that Stormblade’s primary role is to crack armor, so it is not bad to use them without much ranged attack support, however you just don't use their full potential.
Stryker2: Deceleration is better than nothing. But that's about it. Though he can cast Positive Charge.... Well, his feat is actually good for them, able to push through and chop the second line.
Nemo1: While +2 ARM is worse than +2 DEF, it is better than nothing. I don't think that he needs them, though, since warjacks fill the same role.
Nemo3: Electrify is better on warjacks to prevent the enemy warjack from getting too many melee attacks in, but +2 ARM is better than nothing. 12/17 is not that good but still able to survive. Also his feat is not that bad against enemy armor either, since it makes their ranged attack just as deadly as their charge attack. It is actually a good combination if you only aim to take out the armor. And if you have a Storm Strider then they may kill infantry too.
Brisbane: Has no buff but he can shield them with Foxhole. It is common to see a Ranger unit so you may use them, though I think that it is somewhat odd.
Sturgis1: Has Arcane Shield so at least he is able to run them. Feat will give some more threat range too. But that's all.
Maddox: Has no ways to fix their accuracy, but Dauntless Resolve is really good so you don't need to hire Carvolo or he can put concealment on them. If you have an Avenger then they are quite usable with her. They also welcome Relentless Charge too. The feat is very good with them as well. Actually she is a good caster for them. She is just barely below the good casters group.
Bad casters: No defensive buff so you need to use Arcane Shield off the Journeyman Warcaster and your jacks are not able to have it.
Stryker3: No defensive spell means that their victim stats become a liability. If you aim for the melee damage buff, then check out Sword Knights, Trencher Infantry or Storm Lances instead.
Haley2: No accuracy fix, and no defensive buff as well. With removal of Deflection, she can't do anything for them.
Caine2: Has really nothing to do with them. What he can do is... just clear the enemy that is able to harm them. The funny thing is that he is actually able to do so by Trick Shot and True Sight. Also, you may cast Fire for Effect on one Storm Gunner then make Assault to enjoy a barrage of auto hits. I don't think that you can use them with him well, but you may do it if you are very skilled.
Nemo2: Do you really think that not being charged will protect them from bullets? Also he likes having many warjacks under his command, so you will not have enough space to field them.
Darius: Hey, didn't you have some jacks to take out the armor? He has nothing to support other than his battlegroup. If you want a support melee unit, then Sword Knights will be much better. Just skip them unless you have some Stormclads.
Kraye: Can only give them Pathfinder, but you can take Carvolo or Runewood instead. If you really want Pathfinder from the warcaster, go Maddox.
Sloan: Same as Darius. She doesn't care for anything other than her battlegroup. And she deals with enemy armor herself so she needs something to deal with infantry or a good jammer.
Blaize: She doesn’t have much to do with them besides the feat and Crusader's Call, and we are not the faction that likes quantity over quality when it comes to melee attacks. Cygnar is the faction that likes quality over quantity and ranged attacks, so she is not suited to us at all.
Jakes2: Feat is not so bad with them, but she has nothing to protect them and is not able to give an accuracy fix. But because she is very starved for focus, taking some Stormclads and a minimum Stormblade Infantry unit to fuel them will be not so bad either.
Also, Stryker1, Caine1, Sturgis1, and Maddox have Snipe. I don't think that you will cast it on them often, but maybe it will be a good tool for a last resort, desperate assassination run, or one shot buff with Iron Zeal in turn 2.
Other Support
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord: As above, he will be a requirement for using them. Both buffs are good, and usually concealment will be better in range and Tough will be better in melee. Also, when you use Iron Zeal they are not knocked down, so it is not bad to put Tough on them and enjoy 5+ to keep them alive.
Archduke Alain Runewood: The next choice after Carvolo. He can give them Pathfinder, or stand up them after Tough and charge them without a problem.
Ragman: If you need more damage output, he is not that bad. Note that Dark Shroud just reduces the enemy's ARM, so if they make a successful charge and are in the Dark Shroud bubble, their ranged attacks also do serious damage.
Firefly: It will increase the damage output of the ranged attack. Even an unboosted POW 16 damage roll will cause damage to an enemy jack/beast.
Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress: For only 3 points you get +2 to charge range toward an enemy. She is a cheap and very effective model. Not so good model that she is required, but she will earn her points back well.
-2017.01: She is 4 points now, but still she is good.
Trencher Chain Gun Crew: While they don't help the fragile Storm Knights survive shooting, they can keep Stormblade Infantry from being charged.
Avenger: It can knockdown some enemies and allows the enemy to be fried by Stormblade Infantry's ranged attack. Also, they are not able to retaliate against them with a melee attack next turn either.
Stormclad: Actually it doesn't support them, but it is not a bad idea to take it. Remember that Stormclad functions totally fine without any Storm Knight, it is just an additional benefit.
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt + Captain Jonas Murdoch: This module is too expensive, but they will help you to one round stuff. Usually melee attacks don't need them and you are better off using them in ranged games. Anyway, they are cheaper than a full unit of Silver Line Stormguard and they have longer range.
I don't think that Storm Strider is useful in general and because its point cost is very high, I don't recommend it to help their accuracy problem. But if you have some reason to take it, then it can be a capable buffer.
Stormblade Captain is not useful with them, despite his name. What he can do is Tactician, but it has almost no benefit for them. Most target of Stormblade infantry have at least medium based or larger, so small based Stormblades doesn't block line of sight of themselves at all. For a Jack Marshal, you are better off taking Runewood, and for support you are better off taking Carvolo or Runewood, but he can't help them at all, and costs more than these support options. Just skip him.
Take Up
Don't use Take Up on the standard unless your warcaster is Haley3. Actually, the Standard Bearer has the same weapon that the Grunt has so it will not reduce their performance right now. But the real problem is, using Take Up reduces the number of Grunts, and only Grunts are able to become the new Leader model by Field Promotion and the unit can only have 5 Grunts.
If your models are dying out then there is a chance to lose your Leader model so you need to have enough Grunts. They need the Leader model to function well, for both ranged and melee. P+S 13 melee weapons are not that good against enemy armor. Also Conductor is almost useless considering their position, and Standard Bearer is not needed considering Electrical Arc, so you don't need to keep him alive.
Just take him at the tip of the spear and hope that the opponent will aim for him first before the other troopers. Because he is the Attachment model with proper weapons, the opponent may aim for him if no other troopers are within 1" of him so nobody is able to Take Up the standard. That is actually good bait to keep your Grunts around longer.
But with Haley3, you can keep more Grunts by Take Up provided you constantly Revive the lost Grunts. After all total 5 Grunts + Standard Bearer is more than just 5 Grunts.
Also, Storm Gunners don't have Take Up.
Formation
You are better taking only some of them on the frontline, and take the rest at the second or third line, and have some space between the lines (and the models within the same line need to have some distance between each other, as below) so you can charge the enemy that kills the frontline troopers by charge.
Also, keep the 5" bubble only if they are about to charge. In the early turns, just keep them spread out and don't worry about Electrical Arc. Even with ARM 15 blast protection, it is not good allowing more damage rolls. You only need to care about it when they are charging, both for the frontline troopers and the rear troopers to make sure that they get +2 to damage rolls on the Assault shots. So, it is better to set the Leader at the middle of their formation.
With 1" melee range, about 5 of them are able to concentrate their attacks on a single 50mm base model. The first three will be base to base with it and have some gap with each other, and the following two are charging and make the attack through the gap made by the front troopers. The Leader model will make the attack behind them thanks to his RNG 2 melee weapon, so that about six of them are able to attack a single target. You will need at least 3-4 troopers to cause serious damage to the target.
Because they have no Take Up and they have good RNG, you are better off setting Storm Gunners at the back. Also put the Officer behind the Leader, since he grants Assault. But if you have to sacrifice either Leader or Officer, then loose the Officer first. Your Leader model must be the last model on the table to work well.
When they charge, concentrate attacks on a hard target. If they charge a unit with damage boxes, send about two troopers per enemy if they have 8 boxes, and it will be fine to just send one if the target has 5 damage boxes. Don't use Combined Melee Attacks since it reduces the damage output greatly, and only use it when you will need an 8 or more on the attack roll, usually only against warcaster/warlocks.
When they are not able to reach the target but still need to attack them, then charge them anyways and use Assault to make the ranged attack. It is a last resort, but is still much better than running like other typical melee units do. Assault gives about +5 inches of threat range over the other units with SPD 5 and melee RNG 1. With some accuracy fix (or knocked down target) they even fry the enemy casters too. It is plan B for most times, but it is an advantage that they can actually make it. Remember, an additional option is never be a bad thing in this game.
Because most units are able to be killed by ranged attacks, you don't need to aim for the successful charge all the times. Use Assault and don't worry about failed charges, or simply move and shoot them. But you will need to charge against warjacks and warbeasts.
Maneuver with Haley1
My most used caster is Haley1, and her playstyle will be unique compared to other casters so I will add this too.
They will have Arcane Shield from Haley, then run the first turn. After the first turn, if they can move and shoot the enemy then pop Haley’s feat, cast Temporal Barrier, give them no order and just make them advance and make the ranged attack. Because ranged attacks are able to concentrate a single target and have more threat range, it will be better to make the ranged attack with Feat: Blitz. If you are making more melee attacks then you can end up with some models with an additional attack but no enemy in its melee range. Also, because the Assault attack is not part of the combat action, and making a charge means that they are choosing to not make the ranged attack this turn, it is not good to charge with the feat.
With Blitz you can decimate enemy infantry, and thanks to 6" RNG you can have some distance between the next line of the enemy. You will not have much retaliation. After the feat turn, give them a charge order and end the enemy.
With support from a Firefly, you can kill an ARM 18 heavy easily, and you may cause serious damage to ARM 20 heavy too. Consider just zapping them with the ranged attack too. Anyway, making ranged attack have more threat range and able to be concentrate on a target.
Trick
You may shoot some lightning attacks from behind them and get a back strike bonus. Many lightning attacks also have Electro-Leap or Lightning Generator. It will mitigate the target in melee DEF bonus if it is already in melee. So they may zap the enemy infantry, which allows the Stormblade infantry to charge more important target. Also you may run a model and shoot it with the arced ability, zapping the enemy with high DEF.
If you have to kill a lot of infantry by them, then it is not a bad idea to charge them, kill the charge target by Assault ranged attack, and make the melee attack to the nearby enemy. Use a loose formation to do this. Against normal infantry you will not need the +2 to damage roll.
Storm Division?
Basically, they are never be a staple unit, and you can't also use Rhupert and Runewood in the theme as well. Advance Move to the victim stat unit is no more than a kidding too. But, there are some people that use Storm Lances, and also use Stormblade Infantry as the second wave unit. Because you will not have much other choices in the theme, it is... actually usable. But, without Storm Lances I don't think that it will be useful.
Also remember that the theme force lacks Pathfinder buff other than your warcaster. So, you better choose Maddox and forget about the other casters. Nemo3 can work well with Storm Lances, and with the same points Storm Lances are far superior than Stormblade Infantry for him.
The counterparts
They are not that good of a unit, and we have other good units. You can choose them instead of Stormblade Infantry, so consider the matchup and advantage of each other.
Storm Lances: Also good at ranged and melee, and not fragile like Stormblade Infantry. Though they need Major Laddermore, who can fix their ranged attack roll without the need for help from some specific caster, their RNG is better and they can Reposition back. The one trooper's damage output is the same as one Stormblade Infantry trooper, but Lances have Reach, Electro-Leap on both melee and ranged attacks, and have much longer threat range. But they have large bases and the module is very expensive.
Sword Knights: Not very good at damage dealing, but they are very resilient against melee attacks and they are very cheap. Consider them if you don't need much anti-armor capability but instead need a jammer.
Captain Sam Machorne & the Devil Dogs: They have a better threat range on the charge, gain an additional die on the damage roll against Construct models, so they can crack armor very well. Also they are not fragile like Stormblade Infantry, due to their DEF 13. Although the RNG of their ranged weapon and RAT are poor, some of them can just throw the net and knockdown the enemy instead. You may attach Captain Jonas Murdoch, and give them Assault and one shot immune to blast damage and Cover for one round too.
The problem is, their RNG 4 is not much better than RNG 6, and they are not friendly faction, so you need to take Murdoch too, although he is a very good support model for them.
Horgenhold Forge Guard: While they are not friendly faction models, they don't need to keep the Leader model alive, don't need to be within 5" of the leader, have RNG 2 melee weapon and ARM 16+2 from Wall of Steel. 10/18 is not very different from 12/18 when against RAT 5~6 POW 10~11 attack, so they don't need the buff to survive, and they like Rhupert too. They are not the tankiest unit, but being non-fragile Weapon Master’s is already worth their points.
SPD 4 can be mitigated by their RNG 2, so their melee threat range is nearly the same as Stormblade Infantry, and while Stormblade Infantry on the rear line are able to shoot, the rear line of the Forge Guards are able to make melee attacks instead.
They lack versatility to make ranged attacks and have better threat ranges, and are not friendly faction models, but in melee they are still superior to Stormblade infantry. They are much easier to use than Stormblade Infantry, while also hitting as hard as Stormblade Infantry. So, with the casters that have no ranged accuracy fix and no melee buffs, they are the better choice.
Anyone with a gun: If you just rely on their ranged attack to kill some infantries, then you better take some gunners instead. Although their ranged weapon has good POW and they can expect additional damage buffs in Cygnar, their RNG is too poor to be used as a ranged specialist unit. After all, a charge will cause much more damage.
Bad matchups
All enemy with Blessed ranged attacks are the bane of Stormblade Infantry, for they need the buff spell to survive. So, avoid using them against Protectorate or Retribution. Major Brisbane may have a solution since he gives cover, without using a spell buff for more DEF/ARM. Otherwise you may hide them behind other models.
Protectorate warjacks are usually immune to non-Magical ranged attacks in the early turns too. Also be aware of casters with a dispel method.
They are not very good against hordes of infantry. They are primarily anti-armor specialists. Though they can kill a lot of infantry through Assault + melee attack, it seems that they are jammed by the enemy infantry if you have to assault. It will be fine if you don’t face much armor, since you can handle it with your warjacks.
Any warjack/warbeasts that prevent charging are very tough, since Stormblades rely on the charge to cause enough damage in melee. You may choose to shoot with a buff instead.
Be aware of models with Sniper, for they don't care about ARM at all and slaughter your knights for breakfast. If you have a DEF buff then it will be fine, but if your caster only has an ARM buff, then you will need to request Dirge of Mists from Carvolo.
Many rifles can still kill them, so don't push them into the killbox zone.
Covering Fire is another problem. You may move through POW 10 hazards when they have Arcane Shield, though.
You can't cause any damage against Storm nouns with their ranged attacks, although they can only cause some damage with melee attacks too aside from Stormwall and Hurricane's cannon. It can be a merit, but it can also be a flaw.
Some odd models that remove from play your Leader model by ranged attack or from a distance are very dangerous. The unit needs the Leader model to function well, and if the Leader is removed from play you can't use Field Promotion to bring him back.
Conclusion
Well, they are not that good of a unit, for they need too much care to be useful and they need many buffs to function well. And they require some specific casters too. They need the buff of the warcaster, and they are not the independent module.
I don't recommend them for the beginner for they are not resilient and need many buffs, and their ability to have both melee and ranged attacks is not easy to use. Beginners need some self-sufficient units and not fragile unit.... Yes, it is also true that Trencher Infantry are not that easy to use either.
But it doesn't mean that they are unusable or plainly bad. They can kill the enemy well with the right buffs, and they are one of the few faction units that can cause good damage in melee. With the ranged accuracy fix, they can kill infantry and jack/beast alike. They have good versatility.
