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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6262968" data-attributes="member: 42582">I tended to envisage the phalanxes in question as containing 20 to 50 hobgoblins, depending on size (huge or gargantuan). When I used them, they could regen hp by soaking a nearby hobgoblin minion; I know others have used an approach where on its "death" the swarm triggers the appearance of a handful of minions in its space.The benefit of using a swarm rather than 20 to 50 hobgoblin minions is that it makes managing the round, modelling force multiplier effects, etc much easier. For instance, I can just give the phalanx a "Phalanx rush" power to enable it to make a Reach 3 close blast attack with push that also lets it shift up to 3 sq into the area of the blast. This is much easier to adjudicate than rolling 20 hobgoblin attacks, deciding which ones "aid another", etc etc.I know that D&Dnext eliminates some of the reasons for not using minions in these cases via bounded accuracy; but the issue of 10s of NPC actions, force multiplier issues and the like are still in play.When the "minions" would be mechanically more complex, like vrocks, the use of a swarm as the relevant mechanic becomes even more attractive.</blockquote>