Hi guys, I just registered here to post this. I really love the Saurus characters, especially mounted. I was considering today the whole Trickster's Helm vs Armor of Destiny debate, and decided to just mathhammer it out to see what's best where.
Anyways, here's my find:
WHFB 1+ Armor Save Protection.xlsx (24 KB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!tQhSXZQT!IPQ2OThPzNiXxuDooTj2ukPsUh1iXCNu-vbrOs4D_8c
A bit predictable, but I like now that I can see which strength ranges the different items are best against. The values in the tables show the chance for a single hit at the given strength to cause a wound (assuming it's already hit, since neither armor affects that).
As to Oldblood builds, I really want to try running the following:
Oldblood @ 455/457 pts
-Carnosaur
-Armor of Destiny
-Dawnstone
-The Other Trickster's Shard
-Biting Blade/Great Weapon
This guy is aimed to take out elite infantry. With the 1+ rerollable armor save, 4+ ward save, and denying the opponent ward saves as well, he is a beast in combat. I know many people give the Carnosaur hate, but the model is too cool to pass up (I don't mind the D3 wounds either). You could give him a great weapon if -3 to armor saves isn't good enough, and it synergizes well with the Carnosaur's Thunderstomps. Since he's the only model in our army with a shot of ever striking first, -3 is good enough for me, as I will enjoy (potentially) striking before my opponent for once.
Another interesting build is the 9 attack monster, as follows below:
Oldblood @ 275/455 pts
-Cold One/Carnosaur
-Sword of Bloodshed
-Carnosaur Pendant
-Gambler's Armor
Roaring out of the gates with 8 S5 attacks at WS6 and I4, this guy can add a lot to a combat vs some low toughness opponents. He still gets that 1+ armor save, but no rerolls, and this time only a 6+ ward. 'Tis the price you pay for so many attacks, and who doesn't love to bowl nine, yes NINE dice when their single model attacks. You could pair him with a Carnosaur for potentially 14 attacks off one base, 9 WS6 S5, and 4 WS3 S7 causing D3 wounds each. This build is considerably less survivable than my first, but options are always nice.
Lastly, you could throw this guy into a horde you want to hold up for a while to get off some nasty flank charges or something along those lines:
Oldblood @ 275 pts
-Crown of Command
-Trickster's Helm
-Sword of Striking/Talisman of Protection
-Cold One
Since he will probably be charging a unit alone, you may want to consider the Talisman of Protection for that little extra bit of protection with a 6+ ward save. He'll be getting a 1+ armor save though, and since the plan is to chuck him at a block of infantry, you may also consider the Sword of Striking for some 2+ hits with his 5 S5 attacks. The extra hits may also help him with a little combat extra combat res once your flankers connect. With the Crown of Command and Cold Blooded, he should be able to hold in combat for at least one round (especially if you hit the enemy unit in the flank to begin with). Against S3 or lower enemies, they will need about 217
hits to even put a wound on him, while S4 will need ~54 and even S5 would have to hit him about 12 times.
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One thing I forgot to include on the table is effectiveness of each item/combination against killing blow, allows no armor saves, and allows no saves of any kind attacks.
I've reorganized the spreadsheet and added tables for Killing Blow, Allows No Armor Saves, and Allows No Saves Of Any Kind. What I've discovered from this now is that the Trickster's Helm with a ward save is incredibly powerful, so I will be adding a table comparing it against itself with the Talisman of Preservation, Endurance, and Protection. I want to see how far the Trickster Helm can go.
Here's the link to the updated spreadsheet, I also replaced the link at the top of my post.:
WHFB 1+ Armor Save Protection.xlsx (24 KB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!tQhSXZQT!IPQ2OThPzNiXxuDooTj2ukPsUh1iXCNu-vbrOs4D_8c
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I finished the spreadsheet and have updated all links to be the correct version. Once again, I will outline what this document shows. Assuming the opponent has already hit you, each value in my spreadsheet shows the chance that a single hit at the given strength value will wound an Oldblood (or Scar-Veteran, or any 1+ armor save model with T5) armed with the equipment displayed at the top of each column. The general trends are as follow:
-Against S1-S4, the Trickster's Helm is better than Armor of Destiny. They are equal at S5, and from S6-S10, the Armor of Destiny is better protection.
-Against Killing Blow, Allows No Armor Saves, or Allows No Saves Of Any Kind type attacks, the Trickster's Helm is generally better.
-The Armor of Destiny + Dawnstone is the best combination in many cases, except those where you expect lots of Killing Blow or (armor) saves to be ignored. This leads me to believe that the Trickster's Helm with either the Talisman of Endurance or Protection is a decent choice if your Saurus will be assigned to character-killing, in order to allow yourself more than 25 points for a weapon.
WHFB 1+ Armor Save Protection.xlsx (24 KB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!tQhSXZQT!IPQ2OThPzNiXxuDooTj2ukPsUh1iXCNu-vbrOs4D_8c
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Link replaced with newest version, replacing broken link.