Slann
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In the tradition of the mighty user Boq and his magic item thread on the LM items and the BRB weapons, talismans, and armor (put in the Tactica Index), here is a thread where I rated BRB Magical Standards. I’m using the same star system.
Just for a recap. We have two units that can take magic standards, Temple Guard and Cold One Cavalry. We have three BSBs options (Skink Chief, Scar Veteran, Slann), granted magic standard BSBs are not viewed as a great choice for non-Slann, at least we have three BSB options. Many armies only have one.
For completeness I’m tossing in the LM Standards from Trouble Joe’s review. Available in the Tactica index, stickied on the Tactics page or right here:
http://www.lustria-online.com/threads/lizardmen-magic-items-review.7118/
EDIT: Trouble Joe used a 0 to 5 scale not a 1 to 5 scale.
The rates are - * = bad
** = not recommended
*** = ok
**** = good
***** = amazing
Rampager’s Standard *** = A useful power, but it’s a little expensive in my humble opinion. The price makes it a BSB only option. I’d really like to give to Cold One Cavalry, but I can’t, so I’m stuck using the Huanchi’s Blessed Totem as a poor man’s Rampager.
Wailing Banner ** = No thanks. Cold One Cavalry already cause fear and Temple Guard can cause Terror for half the cost by giving the unit champion the Terrifying Mask of EEEE!
Ranger’s Standard *** = Potentially useful for Cold One Cavalry if you have a lot of terrain to deal with. It’ expensive though, you have to save at least two cavalry from dangerous terrain tests to pay for this. I think this has a use for people who are very brilliant at setting up terrain and planning around it. I am unfortunately not very brilliant with terrain.
Razor Standard *** = I am fond of this when I play non-Lizardmen. It’s a good way to make soft hitting units a bit deadlier. The two main consumers of magic standards on our army list, Cold One Cavalry, and Temple Guard do hit pretty hard and get at least -1 to enemy armor saves. It’s overkill in most situations where you aren’t fighting very low AS targets, but it’s far from useless, just a little pricey.
War Banner **** = +1 CR has saved my tail on more than one lost combat. Having to roll one less Ld is handy with cold blooded. It’s also ten points cheaper for us than most other armies.
Banner of Swiftness *** = If you are planning an Fast Attack army, this is a very handy standard. You can boost your Temple Guard to M5 so to better keep up with the Kroxigor, Skroxigor, Cold Ones, and Stegadons. It’s cheap enough that you can also give it to Cold One Riders for an extra slight push to movement regardless of whether you are running a Fast Attack list or a balanced list.
Lichbone Pennant ** = Magic Resistance is less powerful than in past editions, but it applies to the whole unit. The Lichbone Pennant is fairly inexpensive. I’d take it in Storm of Magic, but I don’t see much call for this in normal games.
Standard of Discipline ***** = Practically a must have for armies with bunkered Slann. We have the only character that can be the general and BSB. If you give this to the Slann (or your Temple Guard), it boosts the Slann’s leadership to 10. Since he is the general and is the unit, the limitation of not using the general’s leadership does not apply. Rerollable Ld 10 with coldblooded and Stubborn means your Temple Guard will almost never break. Re-rollable Ld 9 is pretty dependable for Temple Guard though, so the real benefit is that the Ld 10 applied to the rest of the army.
Banner of Eternal Flame **** = Enough armies have regenerating or flammable units that I like to take this for all comer’s lists. It’s also good for scenarios in which you expect to be assaulting buildings. The Banner is cheap enough that if you don’t have a target that is vulnerable to fire, you are only out 10 points. Be careful if you are playing High Elves, Chaos Dwarfs or other armies that have fire resistant units though. In that case the Banner becomes a liability.
Gleaming Pennant ** = This is cheap which is nice, but it doesn’t stack with the BSB. If you plan to have your Cold One Riders run outside of BSB range, this might be handy. If you have a very large army and/or wide deployment zone it might be handy to give to a unit you expect to put on the periphery. Unless we can throw magic standards on Core units when we get our new book, I don’t see a lot of call for this item though.
Scarecrow Banner * = It’s cheap, but we don’t have a lot of things we can give magic banners too. Cold One Cavalry already cause Fear to all units anyway. It’s a little too weak to prevent a skink or Saurus BSB from taking magic items just for this. That leaves Slann or Temple Guard. Most flyers tend to be overpowered mounts for lords (that cause Terror) or light distraction units like Terradons or Harpies. Temple Guard don’t gain much causing Fear versus light flyers. Against powerful flyers the Banner is more to avoid Terror tests and Temple Guard with Slann are immune to psychology anyway. There are better 5 point magic items for LM than this.
Just for a recap. We have two units that can take magic standards, Temple Guard and Cold One Cavalry. We have three BSBs options (Skink Chief, Scar Veteran, Slann), granted magic standard BSBs are not viewed as a great choice for non-Slann, at least we have three BSB options. Many armies only have one.
For completeness I’m tossing in the LM Standards from Trouble Joe’s review. Available in the Tactica index, stickied on the Tactics page or right here:
http://www.lustria-online.com/threads/lizardmen-magic-items-review.7118/
EDIT: Trouble Joe used a 0 to 5 scale not a 1 to 5 scale.
troubled_joe said:
The rates are - * = bad
** = not recommended
*** = ok
**** = good
***** = amazing
Rampager’s Standard *** = A useful power, but it’s a little expensive in my humble opinion. The price makes it a BSB only option. I’d really like to give to Cold One Cavalry, but I can’t, so I’m stuck using the Huanchi’s Blessed Totem as a poor man’s Rampager.
Wailing Banner ** = No thanks. Cold One Cavalry already cause fear and Temple Guard can cause Terror for half the cost by giving the unit champion the Terrifying Mask of EEEE!
Ranger’s Standard *** = Potentially useful for Cold One Cavalry if you have a lot of terrain to deal with. It’ expensive though, you have to save at least two cavalry from dangerous terrain tests to pay for this. I think this has a use for people who are very brilliant at setting up terrain and planning around it. I am unfortunately not very brilliant with terrain.
Razor Standard *** = I am fond of this when I play non-Lizardmen. It’s a good way to make soft hitting units a bit deadlier. The two main consumers of magic standards on our army list, Cold One Cavalry, and Temple Guard do hit pretty hard and get at least -1 to enemy armor saves. It’s overkill in most situations where you aren’t fighting very low AS targets, but it’s far from useless, just a little pricey.
War Banner **** = +1 CR has saved my tail on more than one lost combat. Having to roll one less Ld is handy with cold blooded. It’s also ten points cheaper for us than most other armies.
Banner of Swiftness *** = If you are planning an Fast Attack army, this is a very handy standard. You can boost your Temple Guard to M5 so to better keep up with the Kroxigor, Skroxigor, Cold Ones, and Stegadons. It’s cheap enough that you can also give it to Cold One Riders for an extra slight push to movement regardless of whether you are running a Fast Attack list or a balanced list.
Lichbone Pennant ** = Magic Resistance is less powerful than in past editions, but it applies to the whole unit. The Lichbone Pennant is fairly inexpensive. I’d take it in Storm of Magic, but I don’t see much call for this in normal games.
Standard of Discipline ***** = Practically a must have for armies with bunkered Slann. We have the only character that can be the general and BSB. If you give this to the Slann (or your Temple Guard), it boosts the Slann’s leadership to 10. Since he is the general and is the unit, the limitation of not using the general’s leadership does not apply. Rerollable Ld 10 with coldblooded and Stubborn means your Temple Guard will almost never break. Re-rollable Ld 9 is pretty dependable for Temple Guard though, so the real benefit is that the Ld 10 applied to the rest of the army.
Banner of Eternal Flame **** = Enough armies have regenerating or flammable units that I like to take this for all comer’s lists. It’s also good for scenarios in which you expect to be assaulting buildings. The Banner is cheap enough that if you don’t have a target that is vulnerable to fire, you are only out 10 points. Be careful if you are playing High Elves, Chaos Dwarfs or other armies that have fire resistant units though. In that case the Banner becomes a liability.
Gleaming Pennant ** = This is cheap which is nice, but it doesn’t stack with the BSB. If you plan to have your Cold One Riders run outside of BSB range, this might be handy. If you have a very large army and/or wide deployment zone it might be handy to give to a unit you expect to put on the periphery. Unless we can throw magic standards on Core units when we get our new book, I don’t see a lot of call for this item though.
Scarecrow Banner * = It’s cheap, but we don’t have a lot of things we can give magic banners too. Cold One Cavalry already cause Fear to all units anyway. It’s a little too weak to prevent a skink or Saurus BSB from taking magic items just for this. That leaves Slann or Temple Guard. Most flyers tend to be overpowered mounts for lords (that cause Terror) or light distraction units like Terradons or Harpies. Temple Guard don’t gain much causing Fear versus light flyers. Against powerful flyers the Banner is more to avoid Terror tests and Temple Guard with Slann are immune to psychology anyway. There are better 5 point magic items for LM than this.
