Up until recently I tried to use magic weapons (eg Gold Sigil Sword) to overcome the Lizards lack of initiative, and therefore always being hit first. However I see a lot of people on here have used magic allowance for armour/other protection and gone with Great Weapons instead. Being a noob to Lizards (come back after a 25+ year break) I wondered why? I've only experienced one game where something like Armour of Destiny might have helped (but I'm barely in double figures for number of games played). Up to now I've wanted to hit first, or at least at the same time, as my oppos, but looks like most people take the view "I'll take your best shot, survive it and then it's my turn....." Would welcome your thoughts.
Re: Advice re Arming Oldbloods / Scar Vets with Magical Item Because our Saurus Characters are tough with their T5 and can very easily get the best amount of armour save possible in the game. To top it off we add an additional layer of protection (4+ ward) and in the case of an oldblood maybe also the dawnstone to be truly tanky. As in this motherfvcker won't die. Anyway reason for great weapon is because we can't really compete in terms of initiative anyway, so taking a GW is basically only and improvement with no drawbacks. S7 is very very good. Especially at smashing up armored units. If I were to stay at S5 with a magical weapon I'd probably take piranha blade but only on an oldblood. I usually just take treat weapons, but then again I don't play a lot of etheral units..
Re: Advice re Arming Oldbloods / Scar Vets with Magical Item I've allways favored the Dualing Blades, they have the great ability of improving your offence and defense, moreso if you take Glittering Scales for the -1 to geting hit.
Re: Advice re Arming Oldbloods / Scar Vets with Magical Item Gary, Welcome back to Lizardmen. Since you've been gone, a lot has changed. Initiative is both more and less important now. In character combat, it is more important, since you may get to kill even a charging foe before he swings. That's neat. Again regiments, it's less important since enemy models benefit from stepping up and extra ranks of fighters. So, since most enemy characters are probably still going first even with your sword, it's not much help there and since most regiments can take your damage and still fight with full effect, it's not much help there either. I prefer the +2 Attacks sword instead, along with a great armor and ward save. With predatory fighter and +2 Attacks, he can wade into huge blocks of enemy troops and survive while killing more of them per turn than he otherwise would.
Re: Advice re Arming Oldbloods / Scar Vets with Magical Item In a nutshell, it's all about efficiency. Scar Vets and Oldbloods can cheaply, reliably achieve some of the best defense this game has to offer - and can do it over multiple characters (know many other armies whose 4th most defensive character can have a 1+/5++ with 1 re-roll at T5, while still toting 4 Strength 7 attacks?) Think of it like this - what does it take to strike first? Always Strikes First (ASF)- A special rule which we can only access through 1 Magic Weapon or 1 Lore of Light Spell (Birona's). Taking the magic weapon negatively effects the output of the character while also putting a dent in his ability to take defensive items (less so for an Oldbood, but it still does). Even if you have ASF, what does that get you? It allows you to swing before opponents who themselves don't have ASF (if they do have ASF you both swing simultaneously). For a tournament player such as myself, that's not a good enough reason. With 3 Elf armies toting ASF virtually across the board, and 2 of them (DE and HE) performing well in the current meta (though this could be region-dependent), in addition to anyone else who might have ASF (Keeper of Secrets or Quickblood Vampire anyone?) - the advantages aren't good enough to outweigh the drawbacks. Also, to truly take the best use of ASF, you'd ideally like to have Initiative 5 or 6, so that you can get re-rolls to hit against most other non-ASF opponents. High Initiative Items - Again the question is: how do you get high initiative? Gold Sigil sword is nice, but suffers the exact same problems as the Sword of Swift Slaying (ASF) - if you run into Elves, or other ASF opponents, the benefit is largely lost (although taking away an opponents re-rolls is nice, don't get me wrong). If you could get high Initiative without having to spend Magic Weapon, Armor, or Talisman points, it might be worth it. In fact, there is a Potion in the Enchanted Items section that grants +3 Initiative for one use. This items has some value on a non-GW character. JustDaly uses this item on a Halberd wielding Scar Vet to allow him to poke Flaming Attacks (given by another Scar Vet - BSB with Banner of Eternal Flame) through on a Re-genning unit before his Piranha Blade guy opens up them. So, assuming you can't go first - what gear do you take? Great Weapons - For a relatively cheap cost, you give your Scar Vet or Oldblood (who is likely striking last anyway) +2 Strength. You can do this without using up Magic Item points and, if mounted on a Cold One, can still achieve a 1+ armor save with a small investment in some Magic Armor. The strength boost makes it easier for the Vet/OB to wound AND cuts down on the likelihood that the opponent will save the shot with his own armor. Again, efficiency. Armor and Talismans - An Oldblood on CO can achieve a 1+ with just light armor or a shield. You can do this via magical and non-magical means (Charmed Shield with a Piranha Blade being a favorite of mine). A scar Vet can achieve the 1+ with Heavy Armor or Light Armor and a magical helm, or light armor and a shield, etc (all on CO of course). And THEN you can spend points on talismans that can do anything from re-roll armor to provide a 4+ ward. There are many combos that can fit under 50pts, and some even better ones that fit under 100. You can have a 1+ re-rollable save for only 35pts of magical gear on a CO scar vet (who also has light armor). My High elf heroes would KILL to get defense that cheap while maintaining a strength of 6 or higher. It's really all about the BRB magic items and how they combine with the basic 3+ or 2+ starting points that Scar Vets and OB's mounted on Cold Ones start at. Overall - At the point a model has T5, a 1+ save and either a 5+ ward or better, or a re-roll on their save, or is making the opponent -1 to hit (Glittering Scales on an OB), you are likely going to get to swing at least one round with your character. There are exceptions (Mindrazor on Elves, or just about anybody, or Savage Beasts on a non-GW character) - but these require spells to be cast - and you generally have a chance to defend against those. Good luck!
Re: Advice re Arming Oldbloods / Scar Vets with Magical Item Wow. You've really put some thought into this... Could this go into the tactica index maybe? It seems pretty helpful for newcomers.
Re: Advice re Arming Oldbloods / Scar Vets with Magical Item In my opinion, you have to be very unlucky to lose your +1AS and ward save character in 1 turn. Could be a problem with Vampire Lords, but otherwise, I wouldn't be all that worried to be honest. I sometimes take Fencer Blades instead, because I like WS10, and sometimes, as most of my local meta is full of elves, VC and TK, the S7 attacks just seem kind of pointless, as I am STILL wounding on 2s most of the time, and armour isn't really that great of an issue. Of course, if you often face Dwarves or Chaos, high strength becomes far more important.
Re: Advice re Arming Oldbloods / Scar Vets with Magical Item First time back on the forum for a few days. Just wanted to say thankls to all the contributors. I'm convinced GW is the way to go. My boy plays DE and Beastmen, my local group are varied (WoC, Bretts, OnG, HE, WE, Dwarves). With only 8 CoC at the moment I probably need a handful more to get me a bus with the characters in it.
Re: Advice re Arming Oldbloods / Scar Vets with Magical Item I just won 8 painted cold ones on ebay so I'm stoked to try this new bus love which is all the rage. I run my SV super cheap, 115 or 120 GW, CO, Dragonhelm, Luckstone or GW, CO, Gamblers Armor