Hi all, I saw this toss up in someone elses post and started to really think about it, just wanted to get peoples opinions on what would be a better all-rounder weapon... for a similar points investment you get either +1 strength (and thus -1 to Armour save) or -2 to armour saves and flaming attacks? Personally If the flaming attacks wasn't so major these days then Id take the strength for the bonus on the "to wound" rolls as well as the -3 Armour Save (strength 6) as opposed to strength 5 and -4 to Armour Saves. However, with the amount of regen and the few tough flammable opponents around (yes, Im looking at you Tomb King and you Treeman Ancient) I think Id tend to the Burning Blade... What are peoples thoughts?
i play against wood elves a lot so i would go for the flaming attacks but all depends who your facing.
I always use the Sword of Might, as I don't often play against opponents with regenerating troops and my main opponents have lots of Heroes which are immune to flaming attacks. And really who doesn't like a Saurus hero with S6? Cheers, Bez
I was hit by this decision not long ago myself, and when I really put some thought in to it really seems to depend on what I was fighting. If it was something with a lot of high Toughness models, like Ogre Kingdoms, I'd probably take the Sword of Might. Where Toughness isn't an issue but armour might be, I'd go with the Burning Blade, especially if your opponent is playing an army with flammable models.
It seems to me that the sword of might is a more versatile choice, easier to wound and only slightly easier for the target to make its save. However, consider the saurus warriors base strength of 5 it is strong enough to wound the vast majority of CHARACTERS 50% of the time, let alone standard units. So, my thoughts are take the Burning Blade on your scar-vet and leave the sword of might for the skink chiefs, after all the main reason to up a vets strength is to pop chariots and the sword of might can't do that and a great weapon with venom is 4 points cheaper.
The main reason I prefer the Burning Blade is simple... the majority of troops in the game are Toughness 3. Strength 6 does nothing to help you wound Toughness 3 beyond what the base strength of 5 offers (you wound on 2's either way). On the other hand, there are a ton of models that can get 3+ armor save or better. Heavy armor plus hand weapon and shield gets 3+. Knight units are typically 2+ or 1+, the same with characters. I'll take the flaming can-opener every day of the week!
Actually, this is an interesting discussion....I always though the Blade was pretty much a no-brainer, but there is some merit to the good ol Sword of Might. With the abundance of hydras & vargulfs, not to mention T4 AS1 cavalry out there, I lean toward the Burning Blade...but I'd be royally screwed if a HE character throws up a challenge!
If you are fighting High elves, you will usually wind up with Lore of Beasts to use against the Star Dragon. Should your BBoC hero be on foot, you can throw Bear's Anger on him and get rid of the flaming attack factor, as well as making him into a killing machine (even more than he is now).
I'm always tempted to run an oldblood with hide of the cold ones, jag charm, chotec or ench shield and a beasts slann in a 3k game. He'd be like a fear causing yet stupid dragon or star dragon with loads of S7 attacks with a high WS and T7 with a 2+ save. Also very unexpected.