8th Ed. Equipment for Characters

[Fleetfiend]

So, as a beginner, I am slowly building a 1500 list and I have no idea what to put on my Skink Priest and Scar Vet.

There are lots of things I am mulling over, though I don't know how effective any of them really are in practice.

Skink Priest (General)
Dispell Scroll (duh)
Scepter of Stability
Cube of Darkness
Plaque of Tepok

Scar Vet (BSB)
Trickster's Helm
Crown of Command
Terrifying Mask of EEE!
Sun Standard of Chotec
Venom of the Firefly Frog
Carnosaur Pendant

Both? Either?
Dawnstone
Luckstone


I have a total of 80 points left to spend on items. However, I could always use those points on something else if need be (working army list here). Thoughts? Tips? Generally good builds for these guys?

 

[Qupakoco]

Technically the General of your army is the model with the highest leadership, but the BSB can't also be the General. I'm not sure how that works if you take a Skink Priest and a Scar Vet BSB. I've never considered this before.

Skink Priest
Dispel Scroll: Always good. Usually comes in handy.

Scepter of Stability: I'd rather take the Dispel Scroll.

Cube of Darkness: Always good. It's a serious threat to your opponent. A 50-50 chance of losing an entire magic phase is terrifying. If you are running a tight list, swap this out for the Dispel Scroll.

Plaque of Tepok: I like this one the best for my priests, especially if there is no Slann. Having access to 3 spells is much better than 2 and you won't waste as many power dice.


Scar-Vet BSB
Trickster's Helm: Nah. Leave it in the armory. You are T5 already. Most baddies will have a hard time with that. With such a high point cost I'd rather take the Armor of Destiny, maybe even the Hide of the Cold Ones if you are concerned about his toughness.

Crown of Command: Pretty good for a BSB in a block of Saurus. Just make sure you beef up his armor as much as possible.

Mask of EEE!: Eh, I don't know about this one. Terror is cool, but I'd rather keep my BSB alive than rely on enemy panic tests. WS1 from Fear isn't that horrible anymore either. I'd leave this one alone.

Sun Standard of Chotec: Usually pretty good. Are you planning on facing a lot of shooting? Just remember that you will need to buff up his armor the non-magical way. This is a good choice for Cold One Cavalry, but they can take it without a BSB. Oh, and don't forget that Iceshard Blizzard from the Skink Priest does more or less the same thing.

Venom of the Firefly Frog: It makes Great Weapons or Halberds into things of glory. I usually have this on a cowboy. It is also good for the TG champ since it gives magical attacks (for combating ethereal troops) but preserves the S5 hit from the Halberd.

Carnosaur Pendant: Not a bad item. Use it in tandem with an extra hand weapon or the Sword of Anti-Heroes (or both) for maximum killiness. I don't think I'd be too keen on putting it on my BSB though. Usually you want him to survive the duration of the battle, rather than running headlong into combat with whatever is in his way.

Both/Either

Dawnsotne: Yes. 1+ rerollable armor saves are quite possible in many variations with Scar-Vets. Not so good for a Priest unless he is on a Stegadon.

Luckstone: If you have a couple extra points, sure. Either that or the Charmed Shield.

 

[Rhodium]

"Sun Standard of Chotec: Usually pretty good. Are you planning on facing a lot of shooting? Just remember that you will need to buff up his armor the non-magical way. This is a good choice for Cold One Cavalry, but they can take it without a BSB. Oh, and don't forget that Iceshard Blizzard from the Skink Priest does more or less the same thing."

The SSoC is quite good but I recommend equipping it to cold one cav or a BSB slann because if a BSB scar vet takes it, he can't take any other magical items and you want to give your scarvet protection as you need your BSB to survive the battle.

My usual set up is:
Light armour, shield, dawnstone, dragonhelm and VotFF

So a 2+ re rollable AS, 2+ ward against flaming 6+ parry against non flaming attacks and 4 s5 magical poison attacks.

This is very defensive but often it is key to keep your BSB alive, good for CR and essential for re rolls

 

[Fleetfiend]

Alright, thanks for the awesome input guys. Doesn't a priest have more leadership than a Scar Vet anyways? Totally forgot about iceshard blizzard though.

I was probably planning on having the BSB as a cowboy.

So I'm thinking I might go with Plaque of Tepok and Scepter of Serenity on the Priest (since I can't have two arcane items), and Light Armor, VoFF, and Dawnstone on the Vet. And I think that leaves me another ten points, so I can give the salamanders more snacks or something. Or perhaps tack on a Dragonhelm as well. >:3

Oh wait, the Scepter is an arcane item as well. Deerrrp. I'll come and mess with it some more later.

 

[Rhodium]

Alright, thanks for the awesome input guys. Doesn't a priest have more leadership than a Scar Vet anyways? Totally forgot about iceshard blizzard though..

Nope, ld8 versus ld6

In fact, the only time a general skink priest would pass on his leadership value would be for a monster reaction roll (a sallie/razordons with no handlers or a steg with no riders) because every other unit in the book has Ld6 or higher

 

[Fleetfiend]

Nope, ld8 versus ld6

In fact, the only time a general skink priest would pass on his leadership value would be for a monster reaction roll (a sallie/razordons with no handlers or a steg with no riders) because every other unit in the book has Ld6 or higher

Hmm... you're right, I think I was looking at initiative on accident xD

So I think I may have a wee bit of a problem. It's not devastating, but it definitely makes the priest as a general kind of useless. If it came down to it, do you think it would be better to have no BSB and the vet as general, or BSB and Priesty McWeakface as a general?

 

[Rhodium]

Nope, ld8 versus ld6

In fact, the only time a general skink priest would pass on his leadership value would be for a monster reaction roll (a sallie/razordons with no handlers or a steg with no riders) because every other unit in the book has Ld6 or higher

Hmm... you're right, I think I was looking at initiative on accident xD

So I think I may have a wee bit of a problem. It's not devastating, but it definitely makes the priest as a general kind of useless. If it came down to it, do you think it would be better to have no BSB and the vet as general, or BSB and Priesty McWeakface as a general?

Depends on what other units you are taking,
Saurus, cold one cav and temple guard gain nothing from a scar vet general either, so a BSB is much more useful
Skrox gain one Ld point but I would argue a re rollable ld7 is better than a single ld8

It is the skinks/sallies/stegadons that suffer from the low ld bubble with a skink general. Because they are often small units they need to take panic tests more often, but equally they are more expendable than a saurus block.

Because a bsb is so useful, and a general isn't essential in this case I would stick how you are, just keep the priest safe at the back, but as your only magic caster and the fact he is t2 you should be doing that anyway!

 

[Fleetfiend]

Depends on what other units you are taking,
Saurus, cold one cav and temple guard gain nothing from a scar vet general either, so a BSB is much more useful
Skrox gain one Ld point but I would argue a re rollable ld7 is better than a single ld8

It is the skinks/sallies/stegadons that suffer from the low ld bubble with a skink general. Because they are often small units they need to take panic tests more often, but equally they are more expendable than a saurus block.

Because a bsb is so useful, and a general isn't essential in this case I would stick how you are, just keep the priest safe at the back, but as your only magic caster and the fact he is t2 you should be doing that anyway!

Alrighty :3 Thanks so much for the help!

 

[gapton]

Isn't it true, for Lizardmen at least, that a BSB cannot carry other magic items, with the Slann being the only exception?

Also, you can only select one magic item from each category, right? So if a Skink Priest carries the Plaque of Tepok he cannot take the Cube of Darkness.

 

[Fleetfiend]

Isn't it true, for Lizardmen at least, that a BSB cannot carry other magic items, with the Slann being the only exception?

Also, you can only select one magic item from each category, right? So if a Skink Priest carries the Plaque of Tepok he cannot take the Cube of Darkness.

I'm pretty sure that a BSB can carry other magic items, because I see tons of lists that have them with 'em.

You're right about the other though. And besides, I don't think a Cube and Plaque fit into it's maximum point limit for magical items. I wasn't specifically planning on using those together anyway (though it would be awesome if you could... )

 

[Switchblade]

After doing alot of reading, and a helpful user on these boards clarified, you can be a BSB and have magical items, as long as you don't actually take a magical banner. Interpret the rules as you will, but at my local game shop, we houseruled it to where BSBs cannot have magical items. Also houseruled it to where Crumble for VC and TK is actually scary!

 

[Durandal]

Interpret the rules as you will, but at my local game shop, we houseruled it to where BSBs cannot have magical items.

Why, precisely?

 

[Qupakoco]

Yah, that seems like a silly house rule. Fluffy-wise the Battle Standard is supposed to inspire the army and be carried by an exceptionally skilled warrior. It makes sense to me that a General would want to kit out his BSB in order to guarantee his survival. And non-fluffy-wise the BSB is worth gobs of points.

 

[Rhodium]

After doing alot of reading, and a helpful user on these boards clarified, you can be a BSB and have magical items, as long as you don't actually take a magical banner. Interpret the rules as you will, but at my local game shop, we houseruled it to where BSBs cannot have magical items. Also houseruled it to where Crumble for VC and TK is actually scary!

Given the importance of a BsB, by making them much more killable it must alter the game massively, it also will favour armies that either have inherently high Ld or leadership tricks like cold blooded.

Fro examples high elves, this would make thir BsB a two wound toughness 3 model that only has 4+ armour save worth 215 points, this model would die very quickly and could not be used in a front line unit. Which is completely different to what a normal high elf BSB is used for.

"Interpret the rules as you will," this suggest there is some ambiguity in the rules, there are no. We arent interpreting them differently to you, you are changing them (which you are entitled to do)

 

[Fleetfiend]

I think the confusion may be from this, on page 93 of the army book:

Battle Standard Bearers:

One Slann Mage Priest, Saurus Scar-Veteran, or Skink Priest in the army may carry the Battle Standard for +25 points. A Saurus or Skink Battle Standard Bearer may not me the army's General, though a Slann may be.

The Battle Standard Bearer may have any magic banner at the points cost listed. A Saurus or Skink Battle Standard Bearer who carries a magic banner cannot carry any other magic items. A Slann however may have a magic banner (any points value), as well as his normal 100 points of magic items.

So if a Vet or Priest has a magical banner as the BSB, they can't have any other magic items besides.

 

[Durandal]

So how is that entry open to interpretation, or a cause of confusion?

 

[Fleetfiend]

I'm pretty sure that it was just a poor choice of words.

 

[Hebus]

Nope, that's the case for any army. A BSB can have magical item OR magical banner, but not both.
There's no interpretation, no poor choice of word. That's the case since at least 5ed...

 

[Fleetfiend]

After doing alot of reading, and a helpful user on these boards clarified, you can be a BSB and have magical items, as long as you don't actually take a magical banner. Interpret the rules as you will, but at my local game shop, we houseruled it to where BSBs cannot have magical items

I think what he said was actually correct, sans the rule interpretation part. It seems fairly clear that by magical items he actually was talking about magical banners (though I can't really speak for him and I'm not sure where he went xD).

ANYWAYS.