As I'm sure most of us know by now, we have a range of magic Arrows with which to upgrade most of our shooty units.
These are:
Witch's Curse Arrows: Poison (1.5 Slaves)
Moonfire Arrows: Flaming, +1 to wound Forces of Order (2 Slaves)
Starfire Arrows: Flaming, +1 to wound Forces of Destruction (2 Slaves)
Swift Arrows: Multiple Shots-2 (2 Slaves)
Accurate Arrows: Ignore to-hit modifiers (2 Slaves)
Bodkin Arrows: Armour Piercing-3 (2.5 slaves)
Arrows may be given to the following units, priced per-model: Glade Guard, Glade Riders, Deepwood Scouts, Glade Captains & Glade Lords.
That's a lot of options, not all of them good.
Over on Warseer TheKingInYellow did some preliminary mathhammer for a unit of 30 Glade Guard:
Say 3 x 10 BS4 Archers in a wood, so you are getting all 30 shots off, and assuming no other penalties:
Versus Generic Human - T3, 5+ AS
S3 AP - 20 hits, 10 wounds, 8.33 unsaved wounds.
S3 AP with +1 to wound - 20 hits, 13.333 wounds, ~11 unsaved wounds.
S3 AP with Poison - 20 hits - 5 poison, 7.5 wounds, 10.375 unsaved wounds.
S3 -3 AP - 20 hits, 10 wounds, 10 unsaved wounds.
Versus Warriors of Chaos - T4, 3+ AS
S3 AP - 20 hits, 6.66 wounds, 3.33 unsaved wounds.
S3 AP with +1 to wound - 20 hits, 10 wounds, 5 unsaved wounds.
S3 AP with Poison - 20 hits - 5 poison, 5 wounds, 5 unsaved wounds.
S3 -3 AP - 20 hits, 6.66 wounds, 5.55 unsaved wounds.
Versus Frost Phoenix - T6, 5+ AS, 5++ WS
S3 AP - 20 hits, 3.33 wounds, 2.76 wounds after armour saves, 1.84 wounds after ward save.
S3 AP with +1 to wound - 20 hits, 6.66 wounds, 5.53 wounds after armour saves, 3.68 wounds after ward save.
S3 AP with Poison - 20 hits - 5 poison, 2.5 wounds, 6.24 wounds after armour saves, 4.16 wounds after ward save.
S3 -3 AP - 20 hits, 3.33 wounds, 3.33 wounds after armour saves, 2.22 wounds after ward save.
So basically, unless you are looking at generic T3, 5+ AS troops which shouldn't be a problem to deal with anyhow, Poison is at least as good if not better than +1 to wound, and you don't have to choose which side it will work against. It also works against the two neutral armies.
Considering that Poison is the same cost as the +1 to wound arrows, and cheaper than the -3 AP arrows Poison wins out. If you have to kill 1+ AS knights, use Waywatchers!
If you have a unit that will be moving at long range, consider the 'no modifier' arrows:
Versus Generic Human - T3, 5+ AS
S3 AP - 20 hits, 10 wounds, 8.33 unsaved wounds.
-2 to hit S3 AP with Poison - 5 hits - 5 poison, 5 wounds, 4.16 unsaved wounds.
Versus Warriors of Chaos - T4, 3+ AS
S3 AP - 20 hits, 6.66 wounds, 3.33 unsaved wounds.
-2 to hit S3 AP with Poison - 5 hits - 5 poison, 2.5 unsaved wounds.
Versus Frost Phoenix - T6, 5+ AS, 5++ WS
S3 AP - 20 hits, 3.33 wounds, 2.76 wounds after armour saves, 1.84 wounds after ward save.
-2 to hit S3 AP with Poison - 5 hits - 5 poison, 4.16 wounds after armour saves, 2.74 wounds after ward save.
Poison still wins out against high toughness targets but lags behind on more common infantry targets. Maybe a mix of the two, a unit of Poison arrow users as an immobile base so they can hit on 4s and pluck the hard targets, and smaller mobile units with ignore modifier arrows to take out the light infantry.
For my part, I think there's something to be said for multishot Arrows on a large group of Glade Guard. Multihot loses out at range, but close-up it can have a withering effect on the bad guys.
I find myself liking the thought of Poison on such a large unit, too for it's versatility and cheapness.
Bodkins really seem viable only for small units of Scouts and Glade Riders.
Waywatchers are the go-to unit for shooting high-save targets, but I feel I'd still like 1-2 units with Bodkins to pip the last wound off of a crippled Mournfang or Silver Helm bus.
