I was recently reminded that potions need to be declared to be consumed at the start of a turn rather than the start of a phase. Apart from the Potion of Foolhardiness that you would declare consuming before declaring a charge, it seems somewhat difficult to adequately time the right time to use a Potion of Toughness, Strength, or Speed. That's making me question their usefulness. Thoughts?
Change it to declared at the start of a phase in Lizardhammer. (Put that on the list of features to include in Warhammer 8.1: Lizardhammer, the alternative to 9th.)
You're right Scalenex, the potions are a bit inconvenient. They definitely take some planning to fully utilize, they can be effectively used.... 1. in situations with a sure charge, when the oppenent is unlikely to flee (due to fear of being caught) or unable to (immune to psych.) 2. in situations with a pinned unit 3. in subsequent rounds of combat, when you are certain you will survive the first That's why I don't really ever take potions, they are not reliable enough for my taste.
This is the primary reason why I dropped the Potion of Strength/Pirhana Blade Oldblood. Essentially, if I drank the potion in my opponent's turn, they typically just wouldn't charge. If I drank it in my turn, I had to guarantee making a charge (which, according to the gods of fate, is apparently way too much to ask for). IMHO they should last for one full round (ie change wording until "last until the start of the player's next movement phase", much like a hex or augment). That being said, I wholly respect a player who can remember to use them and has the skill to use them accurately. If i remember correctly, Adam Daly used to do this to great success in his Cold One bus lists.
Potion of strenght + piranha blade is golden against multiple wound units. Watch as you vaporize a unit of monstrous cavalry by cutting straight through their armour with S8 and armour piercing. Otherwise I agree it should be at the beginning of a phase and not the turn.
Yeah, as I say, the difficulty is in the implementation. Pinktaco is absolutely right, though: my PotsBlood cut through a unit of 4 Demigryphs like cake, and has smashed Treemen into kindling. He also had the opportunity to off Karl Franz Ascended, but fluffed his to hit rolls
I often just forget them, and they telegraph so much of what you want to do in a turn that your opponent can often twart your potions by simply fleeing. It is one of my more loved mechanics in the game however, they have some use if you are creative. I am thinking about the S potion prianha combo and the Slann health potion build. Things that promote creativity are always good in my book, they maybe should just be slightly buffed to make them better.
They're helpful situational like a lot of things, if you remember to use them! I would bring one my warboss with my OnG's for when I fought armies like WoC and they had a Daemon Prince. He'd charge him, I'd challenge out with my champion. If my manglers couldn't make it that turn, I'd use the potion at the start and challenge again, stalling the DP for another turn and hopefully be able to throw a mangler through after that. The potion of foolhardiness is helpful on a skink chief on a terradon with a magical weapon that wants to charge an ethereal unit. One extra attack and you don't need to worry about fear is nice.
I love my Scar Vet (on foot) with Enchanted Shield, Sword of Swift Slaying and Potion of Strength. First combat phase, my Saurus champion can take any nasty challenges for the team before 'tagging' my newly buffed A4 ASF S8 Scar Vet in to do some heavy lifting. The Scar Vet's 2+AS and T5 pretty much keep him safe during that first round of combat and whilst Saurus may not be the greatest, a block of 30 odd should stick around for more than 1 combat against most stuff. In fact, I pretty much try and take a Potion of Strength in all my lists (it's amazing on a Shadowdancer for example).
That's a good well thought out strategy to make use of the potion of strength. Have you ever used it in conjunction with the Piranha blade on an oldblood? That seems to be the most popular combo for us.
I've not, although i can see the reason for it. My PoS Scar Vet is there to give the SW a bit of bite when they inevitably get into a combat that they can't deal with (it works especially well against monsters)
Im using potion of foolhardiness, 5 point 'filler' for me usually. Its not a big deal if its wasted, but sometimes an extra attack might come handy. Im much more carefull with potion of strength, I preserve it for the 2nd turn, unless I can make an almost sure charge.
It's not too bad but I personally think there are better 5 point options: enchanted shield, charmed shield, ironcurse icon.
For me, these are not better options. In an average list, I take stega helm and AOD before anything else, plus I bring 10 man cohorts as blocks maximum, so there is no point taking ironcurse in the most of the cases