Noob question alert! !! Can the Egg of Quango be used in a challenge? Or does it have to be used as soon as you are in close combat?
The Egg affects an enemy unit in contact with the bearer or his unit. It's hits are resolved against the unit and would not specifically target the enemy character in a challenge. The Egg is cracked open at the start of combat, coincidently at the same time a challenge is issued. A challenge should not have any bearing on whether you can use the Egg, or the fact that it affects the unit (per the wording under the item). The Egg does not work "in a challenge", because it affects the unit. If there is no unit and only a lone character, then the Egg would affect that character whether he is in a challenge or not because he is the unit.
That's actually not correct. Impact hits and the egg go at the start of combat. A challenge happens after impact hits, which would mean it happens after the egg. Stomps and thunderstomps also affect units, but have been FAQ'd to only hit the model in a challenge. If you don't use the egg at the start of the fight, get into a challenge, and have the challenge continue to a 2nd round; you could make a case for the egg at that point hitting the model in the challenge. I would take to your opponent about it before the game, decide how you want it to work, and plan according (ie, use it first round of combat if you don't want the hits going into the challenge).
I would agree with Lizardmatt. Once in the challenge, the Egg would work like a Breath Weapon, which affects only the opponent in the challenge (according to the latest FAQ: "Q: If a model with a Breath Weapon, Stomp or Thunderstomp is in a challenge, can these attacks hit models not in the challenge?(p102) A: No.") Personally, I think impact hits, breath weapons, stomps, thunderstomps, Egg of Quango, etc. should all work the same way in challenges and be allocated to the unit (distributed like shooting distribution rules) instead of the opponent in the challenge, but we should play with the rules GW provides instead of our own personal feelings.
I'd agree with that as well. Since so many things happen simultaneously at the start of combat, you can choose the order. Thus you could issue the challenge, they can accept or not, and then you can release the egg against that fellow. That's how I see it anyway.
Impact hits are a slightly different beast. They only happen the turn you charge, and they explicitly happen before challenges are declared, so there's usually no confusion over them. The only situation I'm not 100% clear on is what happens when a model in an ongoing challenge (established in an earlier turn) is charged by a 3rd party that tries to do impact hits into the challenge. I've read the rules on this a hundred times, but have come no closer to figuring it out. (I'm interested because I really want to charge an Ancient Stegadon into the flank of a demon prince that's fighting a cowboy.)
This is not an entirely correct interpretation either, as the Egg does not make impact hits. The Egg is cracked at the start of combat, which is the same time that the challenge happens. Unless the Egg has the impact hits rule, it does not happen before the challenge, but rather, at the same time as the challenge. You could argue that the Egg could be brought into a challenge into a subsequent rounds, but I don't think the wording of the Army Book supports this. The Egg nominates one unit in contact with the bearer or his unit, and the unit suffers the damage. The character doesn't even need to be in contact with the enemy for the item to work. You nominate a unit, and that unit takes the damage. If the Egg were a breath weapon or stomp attack then I would agree with this. It is not, however, either one of these. It is a magic item, which sets it apart from impact hits/ breath weapons/ stomps. Again, if you follow the wording of the item, you nominate a unit and that unit suffers Xd6 hits. I understand why it could be viewed as something similar to an impact hit, stomp, or breath weapon. It is, however, a magic item and should be viewed as a unique set of rules specific to itself. This is another example, I believe, that the army book's rules were hastily written and open to far too much interpretation. I could be wrong about this interpretation, but I think that an FAQ is needed to clear up some of these issues.
You are correct that the rules are not defined, at the moment, for how the Egg of Quango works in challenges. But given how the magic item works (directing hits in close combat), I fully expect it to follow the same targeting rules as a Breath Weapon, in most close combat respects (including challenges), when the FAQ finally comes out. A logical answer supported by similar official rulings is better than no answer at all. All we can do is do our best to follow the rules, regardless whether the rules be clearly, or unclearly, defined.
This is a bit of a noob question but do the eggs attacks count as magical? I know that normally it has to state that they are magical but with them coming from an enchanted item I'm unsure.
This from the FAQ should answer your question: "Q: What are ‘magical attacks’? (p68) A: All attacks made by spells and magic items are considered to be magical attacks, as are all attacks that are specifically noted as being magical attacks. Shots fired from magical items are also considered to be magical attacks, unless their description specifically states otherwise. Hits inflicted by rolls on the Miscast table are treated as magical attacks." So the answer to your question is yes, hits from the Egg of Quango are magical, as are impact hits from the Sacred Stegadon Helm of Itza.
Changing the topic slightly, has anyone been having particular success w this item? I feel its slightly overcosted for being so random but am interested in hearing other players opinions. For its current cost I think it should be, on a 1 you do d6 str4, on a 2+ 2d6 str5, but thats just unsubstantiated opinion
I've tried it twice so far: once its generated 1s3 hit and the other time 2s4 hits. Sigh. It's staying in my list because even d6 s4 hits has the potential to inflict considerable damage against certain targets before a combat begins, which is especially important for low initiative armies, but I do feel that the randomisation makes it fairly overcosted (much like solar engine bastiladon). It's irritating that this approach is so common in the book - Warriors of Chaos don't have to put up with this crap,and at least the Orc/Skaven stuff is cheap.
I feel it's quite right actually. For it's current cost i mean, since it adds to combat resolution, which can be HUGE!. Don't underestimate the prospect of a skink chief doing a flank / rear / front charge to support something in an even fight and then suddenly you've won combat by 5. I feel it has just the right amount of risk - to reward.
Only problem I have is that even when you have a unit in the front and the skink chief in the rear/flank, the enemy unit is usually going to be steadfast so combat res wont matter. I def like that it counts towards res, and thats the only reason I am really considering the item, but it jsut seems for its cost it should be more reliable. I also try and keep my chiefs dirt cheap, they tend to die even w a 2+ so i try to keep them around 90pts or less. Look forward to trying it out though, it has the potential to lay a down some hurtin!
For ~300 points, you get a chief with egg and extra hand weapon, leading 2 Krox and 21 skinks with full command. Ranked up, you're 6 deep. M6 gives good speed. If you can get a flank charge, you're looking at beating most things, even some very hard things. It's not a bad buy for the points.