I've often seen the +1 leadership banner in army lists carried by a Slann BSB. The rule for the item states that the unit carrying it cannot use the General's Inspiring Presence rule. The reasoning for giving it to the Slann seems to be that, because he is the army general, he doesn't need to use Inspiring Presence, since he is not using another model's leadership. I would argue that the rule is what allows other units to use his leadership, and that giving him the banner negates this. I may be off base as to why I keep seeing the Slann with the banner, but I otherwise don't see the advantage of making one unit LD10 and everything else LD8 or less. Thoughts?
I would not give him that anyway. I know with cold blooded, it is unlikely to fail a leadership roll (with the bsb anyway), but I will not risk my slann on the off chance that he breaks in combat. It just is not worth the chance to me. I would rather give the bsb to a scarvet and put him in the unit of TG.
The rule is pretty clear as to why the banner on the Slann works. "Models in the unit with the banner cannot use the General's Inspiring Presence rule" That does not say anything about other models outside of the unit, so the standard Insp. Pres. rules function for the rest of your army. The Temple Guard and Slann unit that holds the banner does not need to use the Insp. Pres. rule to have LD10. Page 10, under characteristics tests you always use the highest value, so for any LD test you would need to use the Slanns LD of 10, not the TG of 8. The banner is cheap and makes everything in 12" LD10, I think its very good and if I have the points I take it myself.
LD 10, cold blooded, rerollable, stubborn= 99.8% chance of success. Your slann is more likely to get killed by a spell or by actual combat than he is to die from breaking in combat. He is the by far safest and best protected bsb in the game.
I see where you're coming from, but my take is this: The rule doesn't just pertain to borrowing another model's leadership, it applies to giving it as well. If the general's unit can't use the rule, then the general can't pass his leadership on to anyone. My train of thought is... The Slann is the General +The Slann is a model in a unit with the banner +The Slann cannot use the General's Inspiring Presence rule +The rule is what lets other models outside the unit use the Slann's leadership =No other model outside of the Slann's own unit may use the Slann's leadership That's the way I interpret it anyway, and I'd have a hard time being able to justify using it to an opponent that raised objections. Maybe they'll FAQ this for us; it seems to be along the lines of the Slann being able to use the Arabian Carpet or not.
There is a new FAQ out. Very last page, very last entry of the BRB FAQ confirms that the Slann can use the Standard of Discipline and will grant his LD of 10 to everyone in range. edit: at the moment the Lizardmen FAQ itself has not been updated Q: If the General is in a unit with the Standard of Discipline will he gain +1 Leadership and then be able to pass it onto his unit (because he is in it) as well as other units in range of the Inspiring Presence special rule? (Reference) A: Yes.
Perfect! That clears that right up. Thanks for the research; I'll be trying this in the next tournament.