bsb banner / magical item rule

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fouadgillani
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bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by fouadgillani »

Hi, I'm a noob so please don't mind my silly question.
If I interpret the AB correctly, the bsb can only have a magical banner or any magical item but not both together. Also does this apply to spites
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Shandrakor
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Re: bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by Shandrakor »

For a Wood Elven Battle Standard Bearer you can have any magical banner (no points limit) and up to 50 points of spites (limit of one spite per character for non-branchwraith or treemen ancients). That, or you can have up to 50 points of spite/magic gear and no magical banner.
Well, my ideas for the next book turned out to be a bust.
But it was still fun working on something of this scale.
For those who care:
http://www.asrai.org/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=22620
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Caitsidhe
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Re: bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by Caitsidhe »

What the last person said... :) Spites are NOT magical items and thus you can have them on your Battle Standard Bearer. You are, of course, limited to the 50pt range. I personally like a Battle Standard Bearer with the Spite that makes all the attacks by the unit magical. Forest Spirits already have this perk, but this Spite allows you to give it to regular elves as well. The Spite doesn't differentiate between close combat and ranged attacks. It just says all attacks.
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popisdead
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Re: bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by popisdead »

I recommend Pagaent of Shrikes. Knocking wounds off mages is awesome, especially as miscasting occurs often enough to take a wound off as well.
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Strongbow
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Re: bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by Strongbow »

I usually go the other route. I equip the BSB with the stone or rebirth, for survivability, sword of might...because the best defense is a great offense.

My general concern, however, is to see that the bsb is survivable. The sword of might is really a perk, more than anything else.

What will you put the BSB with? That will go a long way to directing what you should be doing with her, equipment and spite-wise.
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popisdead
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Re: bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by popisdead »

Strongbow wrote:because the best defense is a great offense.
In general I fully agree but I don't think any unit a Wood Elf BSB will be in will survive many charges. I also don't have to move him from his corner hiding spot in the horde :)

I find by the time the enemy hits my Glade Guard unit I've done something wrong in the game.
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Tachunka
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Re: bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by Tachunka »

Usually i put her in a large unit of Glade Guard(20 to 30&Aech) along with my general.
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unicorn
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Re: bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by unicorn »

popisdead wrote:I find by the time the enemy hits my Glade Guard unit I've done something wrong in the game.
For me, it happens pretty often that the enemy manages to charge my GGs.
On other hand, if there is still the BSB inside of this unit, then I've done something wrong in the game for sure. For me, GGs are unit as any else. They should fight, sometimes even must (miners, gorgers...). On other hand, my general (wizard) and BSB are NOT unit as any else. They should not fight, never ever, unless I am 100 % sure I can not loose that fight and I can not loose this 2 guys.

And up to the day, I lost my general once (IF with Throne on, 1, 1+2, 2... Ended up in warp in turn 2 ;) )
Unicorn's conversions (updated 1st Jun)
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BSB, mounted noble, WD noble, Branchie, Alter, Treeman, 12 WR, 10 WD, 10 GR, 10 WW, 5 Dryads, 5 WhR, 6 Tk, Altar of Khaine
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Treeman, 10 WD, dragon lord, Alter, 9 WhR, 5 GR, DE sin, OK Butcher, Beast heroes x5
Kulgan86
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Re: bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by Kulgan86 »

@ Unicorn : what if your opponent casts Dwellers on turn 1 on your general? Or turn 2 when you moved forward a bit...
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unicorn
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Re: bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by unicorn »

Kulgan86 wrote:@ Unicorn : what if your opponent casts Dwellers on turn 1 on your general? Or turn 2 when you moved forward a bit...
It may happen, and this (opponent have dwellers on some strong mage) is one of the situations you should consider to change your usual deployment.
Many players have like "set in stone" deployment, and that is a BIG disadvantage. You need to react upon the battlefield, opponent army, his spells, items... Lore of Beast is not that common, but still if there will be mage with dwelers and I will not be sure I can dispell this spell consistently, I will consider to deploy my general and BSB as lone units, or each one in different unit, depending upon the rest of opposing army.

BTW, my BSB died few times already, once on dwellers. On the other hand, he was NOT in the unit with my general and my opponent use 6 PDs just on this (twice, as he killed him on 2nd cast), what was working to my advantage in that game.
Unicorn's conversions (updated 1st Jun)
Painted
BSB, mounted noble, WD noble, Branchie, Alter, Treeman, 12 WR, 10 WD, 10 GR, 10 WW, 5 Dryads, 5 WhR, 6 Tk, Altar of Khaine
Finished
Treeman, 10 WD, dragon lord, Alter, 9 WhR, 5 GR, DE sin, OK Butcher, Beast heroes x5
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Tachunka
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Re: bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by Tachunka »

Unicorn, I purposely make the unit attractive and it is deployed to be a magnet for the opponent's best units. Of course, it is screened by a unit of Dryads and flank protection of Treekin and wardancers.
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unicorn
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Re: bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by unicorn »

Tachunka wrote:Unicorn, I purposely make the unit attractive and it is deployed to be a magnet for the opponent's best units. Of course, it is screened by a unit of Dryads and flank protection of Treekin and wardancers.
In that case, you have strategy and that is good for you - because strategy is what win you this game :thumbsup:
For some reason many poeple still think that tactic is the only thing important in WFB :)
Unicorn's conversions (updated 1st Jun)
Painted
BSB, mounted noble, WD noble, Branchie, Alter, Treeman, 12 WR, 10 WD, 10 GR, 10 WW, 5 Dryads, 5 WhR, 6 Tk, Altar of Khaine
Finished
Treeman, 10 WD, dragon lord, Alter, 9 WhR, 5 GR, DE sin, OK Butcher, Beast heroes x5
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Caitsidhe
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Re: bsb banner / magical item rule

Post by Caitsidhe »

The game is always won by a combination of strategy and tactics. Many people confuse them for the same thing but they are most certainly not. One deals with the design and purpose of your units which should be thought out way ahead of all games. In other words, each unit has a job and you should already know how they are going to operate based upon the various opponents and situations on the ground you encounter. You should never have to totally improvise. The other refers exactly to when you do have to improvise. What is the situation on the ground when you arrive. It refers to how you shift your prepared plans to adapt to the realities of what is happening. There are really only three types of players.

1. Formula Planner:
This opponent is good at making lists and planning a grand strategy. They put a lot of apples (if not all of them) in one basket. They know how their list is supposed to play. When things on the ground don't go their way they will make every effort to steer things back towards how the army is supposed to play to maximum effect. They are devastating to play when things are lined up properly but often easy to fluster and predict. Even if they do not telegraph their plans, you can usually figure them out by seeing how they react to things as they will always try to drive things back to their main plan. This is because they rarely have a Plan-B.

2. Improvisation Specialist:
This person usually has a solid list, i.e. the good ones build an "All Comer" type and shoot entirely from the hip. They are great at adapting to what happens on the battlefield but since they generally do not have an overall plan they are often limited to taking advantages of the mistakes other people make. Opponents who don't make any (or much) stall them out. Opponents with a clear vision will drive the initiative of the battle and can attrition this player down. Make no mistake, I think someone who can adapt to the reality of the battlefield is better that someone with tunnel vision, but there are limits to natural talent. You cannot assume your opponent is always going to give you the openings into which you will thrust and shift.

3. The General:
These are your worst nightmare. They have a Plan-A, B, and C. They also adapt quickly and formulate Plans D, E, and F as the game goes on from the bones of their original intentions. They adapt easily because they expect to have to improvise. These guys know their own army well and what is worse they know yours pretty well too. They will push forward on you with an implacable force and simply counter any quick improvisation you make with one of their own. No plan survives battlefield conditions and these guys know it. They thrive on it. Plans on top of plans on top of plans. They aren't really improvising because they kind of thought through lots of different, worse case scenarios ahead of time. That is the gist of it. They plan for the worst and hope for the best. They won't try to wrangle something back into a single plan, which is limiting. They will choose the next best plan for the sake of speed.

Bringing this back to the topic at hand, the BSB is a must because no matter what conditions you find on the field, the benefit the position provides is of equal value. Getting to roll a failed Leadership roll a second time is make or break at the right time. The ability to take a magic banner (Eternal Flame being the most often these days if you don't have another unit with it already) is key. For me, being able to take a Spite that can juice an archer unit to be able to shoot magical attacks is likewise a must. Too many Ethereal and otherwise protected units out there. OPTIONS are key to success. They allow for plan after plan after plan or simply adapting. If you don't have that option your choices drop to a few or none.
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