Hallo people,

I am thinking of buying two blisters of Giant Spiders but due to their high purchasing cost I need to be sure that I'll be able to get the most out of them in the battlefield. Does anyone have any advice on how to best use them, or have any tactics to offer?

Looking at their stats I see that their defense is pathetic and their fight value not high enough (my main opponents will be Dwarves and Rohan); coupled with their cavalry-sized base means that if they lose a fight I most certainly lose a spider.

Help Boris the Spider achieve world domination!

Their cost (comparably) really isnt that bad, obviously theyre an offense heavy unit, so you need to pick the fights theyre in, and with their speed you ca do that. Keep them away from bows, and watch out for cav as they negate the spider's main advantages

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My main issue is who should be their target, besides banner bearers? It's an imprudent risk to send them against regular troops, and they can't stand their own against heroes.

I'd view them as cavalry: powerful, but need to choose their fights carefully as they are vulnerable as well. Can use their movement to stay out of missile fire and get into the right combats. Not too bad when countercharged either of course, as they don't have actual charge bonuses and have two attacks all the time.
Don't fear too much for losing those models: if they take down two Khazad Guard, they've made their points back (and those are pretty decent targets, as the spiders obviously are great for cracking tough figures, especially without spear support).
Would also not worry too much if they are up against minor heroes: 1vs1 would give both almost equal chances (same number of attacks, same Fight), if you can get two of them in contact, you should likely win combat and 4 S5 attacks with re-rolls will definitely be dangerous. Maybe keep them at a distance until a bit later in the battle, so that heroes will be low on might, targets can be isolated etc. Or of course simply run them to objectives late in the game: they're almost as mobile as flying models, and can kill single models occupying them easily.

You might want to take a peek at the stats of the new Gigantic Mirkwood Spiders before going for their more pansey LOTR like kin!

The base sizes appear to be different for the upcoming models, so the profiles might be as well.

For the LotR spiders, my son has had great luck with the venom-back upgrade, and consistently gets the better of my RoR. They are soft, so give them a good screen, and make use of their low profile to hide behind terrain. Their speed and agility over rough terrain lets you pick your pressure points, and they're especially handy as part of a heroic combat, in the company of a bat swarm, or upgraded by Druzhag.

They're definitely 60mm bases, personaly their stats are what have me intrigued. I would love make a whole spider army

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They could possibly be 50mm? anyway, my current mordor list has 3 and they work quite well on the flanks. Good for cracking D6/7 shield walls. But I also use them in recon to get off the board quickly.

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Thanks for all your input guys. I ended up ordering Druzhag, a blister of Giant Spiders, and the Spider Queen.

Have fun, Druzhag knows how to get the best from his creepy crawlies!