When a dog bites a man it is not a story, but when a man bites a dog it is a headline! Change dog with bloodthirster and man with anything availible.
In fluff terms you have to look at story. A named Carnosaur will beat an unnamed Bloodthirster and visa versa. If both are named, then the Carnosaur probably had a rider. Is the Carnosaur avenging a rider? Then the Carnosaur will probably win. If the Carnosaur is avenging his rider who was trying to avenge his city or his Slann lord then the demon has no chance. All the things I just said work if the Oldblood is avenging the Carnosaur too. Narratively, the duo should not win intact. If the Old Blood AND Carnosaur survive as victors that means narratively the pair is going to have to fight something nastier. Also fluffwise a greater demon is more likely to die the longer it rampages. Few people want to read about a demon incursion that's stopped a few minutes or even a few hours in. Logically if the Carnosaur is being buffed with magic, his odds of winning go up, but a Bloodthirster is thematically tied to Khorne so in the narrative it'd be awkward if a Bloodthirster died due to a magic trick unless a Tzeentch demon was behind it. These are just rules of thumb, I'm working on a fluff piece where a Bloodthirster is avenging his own destruction at the hands of the Southlands Lizardmen. He's been destroyed and reformed dozens of times in his existence but the Lizarmdmen bug him the most. When they killed him, he was nickeled and dimed to death by about a hundred darts, arrows, and javelins. He views this as particularly ignominious. I have yet to decide what will happen to my Bloodthirster the second time around. His name his Locklirist of the Hated Lash. Remember a named character is harder to kill than an unnamed one.
I agree, named things are hard to kill, unless you are Gotrek. Named, unnamed, anything going up against him loses. Probably because he got drunk at a convenient time. Fluffwise, that breakdown sounds about right, if both OB and carnie survive that means coming up next is... 2 bloodthirsters! Or something... however, I have to point out the basic rule of fluff with respect to things like chaos and tyrannids. Bad guys have to lose. You wouldn't be hearing about the story if they won, you'd be dead.
A question that is often hotly contested on the Vampire forums is the similar question: Take all the named characters in Warhammer that currently exist (or have existed, to taste), and put them in a series of duels 1 vs 1. Who would win? (Purely based on fluff, since most lack rules in game. Or the rules are stupid) In other words, who is the greatest warrior in a game based upon great warriors?
Sigmar. Sigmar would win, unless the freaking enormous numbers of named characters in warhammer meant that by the time it got to the final he would have died of old age. He is armed with The warhammer, the one the game is named after and is basically the merging of Jesus and Thor, single handedly bitchslapped Nagash, Chaos and pretty much everything else just requires a stern look from him. However, long term Nagash wins as the only undead able to raise himself, and thus is the only true immortal in the game. On the other hand, in a crunch wise (ie in game, ignoring fluff) touranment I think Kroak might have a reasonable chance of placing highly due to a 3+ ward and ability to spam deliverance and generally ruining everyone's day.
Actually having Kroak win first off isn't a long shot. He just isn't as much interested in the affairs of mortals as Sigmar, but any Slann wields far greater power than Sigmar in therms of raw power they're just reluctant in it's use. Besides, Kroak IS immortal, it is said in his 8th edition text that he is fated to die only when the universe ceases to exist, i'd say that goes as immortality.
I agree that Sigmar would be a hot contender, but I think the following could give him a run for his money: Abhorash The progenitor of the blood dragon vampires, and by many asumed to currently be the greatest warrior to walk the earth. An ancient immortal whose sole interest is war. Anaerion A warrior who single handedly pulled the elven nation together, drew the widowmaker, and fought back chaos from consuming the entire world. And the sword of khaine is arguable the most powerfull weapon in existance, apart from Khornes own sword. Orion A wordly avatar av the elven god of the hunt. Although he sucks in the game, the fluff describes him as a being of such pure fury most mortals start to hemmorage from just being to close to him. Legitimate badass. I agree that Nagash and Kroak would be hot contenders for magic, but I restricted it to "warrior" As for the OP question regarding a carnosaur vs BT... I agree with the whole idea concerning named characters and cause for the battle. Kroq-Gar and Grymloq facing a random bloodthirster would mean the bloodthirster was about to get whooped, but Skarbrand facing random dino and rider would mean the lizardman was about to get a whooping. In a purely fluffy fight between an ancient saurus oldblood on a carnosaur versus a bloodthirster, I do belive the Lizards would have a fair chance to pull through.
There's also Archaeon - unless he's a wuss like his predessecor what' his name of the BRB great battle example who really "just" wanted revenge for some random burned village. The full favor of the chaos gods does give some neat benefits like immortality, supernatural strength and reflexes... stuff like that.
Abhorash maybe, but I would put money on him getting a face full of Thor-hammer Anaerion, nah. Just 'cos... well elves are pretty good but they inevitably fuck it up somehow. Plus they are dicks. Orion, well if you are gonna allow gods, I'd back Athel-Loren itself (it's sentient, it counts) as it is arguably the most powerful force outside of albion in warhammer. Alternatively, one of the chaos gods, or the great horned one, or sotek Or Grimnir, the dwarven god of badass-in-chief. He pulled a Leman Russ, wandered off into the chaos wastes to get on with the job of killing every last one of them. If the pairing was rigged right then the brettonians Green Knight could do well as he supposedly banishes evil foes as soon as they touch him, meaning even if they hit him, they die. You didn't restrict it to warrior, just to duels, you can duel with magic. And mazmahuti has his cobra mace and nagash has the sword of EATING YOUR SOUL so they count anyway.
Orion isn't a god. He's just infused with the power of the god Kurnous, much like Archaon is infused with the power of the four wackadoodles.
Well regarding the BT, it would depend on the strength of chaos at the time, is Morrislieb in ascendance, is chaos pouring into the world from a rift, the poles or tainted shrine or nexus? How many souls died a horrible and loopy death in the fight, further feeding the daemon! Is he particularly in favour, has he fought the lizardmen before, has he woke up on the wrong side of the helforge and in a REALLY bad mood? Also you cold gear the OB to go big game hunting to stand a better chance. If it a puffy piece, is it an ambush, is it an uninterrupted duel, or just one big swirling melee where everybody is hacking in? Has the battl Rae for a w hole and the mortal OB and mount tired? And, more importantly, what mood the dice gods are in, and if any player is stupid enough to say "Anything bar a one"
What about malekith? Wasnt he usable at somepoint? I feel like a crazy scarred semi invincible elf king with a huge ancient dragon would be pretty deadly and i personally hate elves but he sounds like a badass
This is my vote for overall winner. OB on carno vs. Bloodthirster...I'm going to pick Bloodthirster assuming both are unnamed characters (per special named character discussion above).
Aenerion Hands down hwe was fighting Greater deamons not Orc Warbosses. Although if we allow casters Kroak banished 12 Bloodthirsters and a demon army While dying. He wins.
Btolboa - he didn't survive (well he might have) - but he might have - and he eradicated a temple city, every inhabitant, and the army besieging it and still the spell is visible and "functional" at it's epicenter :3