7th Ed. Steg and Venom of Firefly Frog

[GMS]

How about a skink chief on a stegadon with the Venom of Firefly Frog? Rerolling to hit with the giant bow, especially with a 2nd chance to get a poisoned attack with no AS
Would go great with the War Drum of Xahutec.

Samuel

 

[Dreadgrass]

Theres been a lot of thoughts to and fro as to whether the Chief can fire Howdah weapons, and then there'll Im sure be further debate as to whether the venom can be passed to them, as they are not technically "his" weapons.

The only concensus reached is that we need an F&Q to truly sort this problem.

 

[strewart]

Whilst I am in the camp that says he can fire the howdah weapons, I don't really think he can use venom with them not only because they are not directly his but because it takes more than one skink to fire the weapons. Sure he could use one giant blow pipe on his own potentially with venom, but that would not be using it as intended IMO. Of course we will have to wait for the FAQ to know for sure.

 

[GMS]

Strewart, i disagree with you. IF the chief is able to fire a howdah weapon using his BS then his rerolls should also apply.

Samuel

 

[Revered_Guardian]

even if we all disagree it won't be fully solved until a FAQ is created

 

[strewart]

Strewart, i disagree with you. IF the chief is able to fire a howdah weapon using his BS then his rerolls should also apply.

Samuel

I don't remember the exact wording, but it is something like venom of the fire fly frog counts for his personal weapons only. I would say the bolt thrower is not his personal weapon, he just moves over to fire it sometimes. But yeah, it is up to individual interpretation until an FAQ happens.

 

[MovieMunchies]

Exact wording:

All mundane weapons USED by the bearer are coated with this venom.

By this wording, IF the chief CAN fire the Howdah weapons, they would be coated with extra venom.

 

[racknam12345]

I agree with Dreadgrass. The weapon isn't technically the skink chief's, so why would the rule apply to it?

 

[johnh]

Nor is the howdah weapons, I think, "Mundane" weapons. I see mundane weapons as spears, hand weapons, halberds things of that nature, the howdah weapons I would call, at the very least "special" weapons. I think by Mundane weapons they mean weapons that can be added to characters or units, i. e. spears, halberds, great weapons, etc.

Logically, yes, I see no reason why he couldn't smear the venom on the barbs for the giant blowpipes, or the giant crossbow shafts, since he is up there, but...if he did that, from a logical standpoint (and yes I know, logic rarely plays in to GW rules), then it would seem anyone shooting it would gain the benefits. Therefore, I think that is why you cannot say it works.

I do tend to ramble, even when I know what my point is!!! Must be the former teacher in me.

So anyway, I think the operative word is "mundane" and what needs to be defined is...what is a mundane weapon. I know it is "non-magical" but does it include larger weapons that just the normal run of the mill "hand weapons.

That's my 2 cents.
John

 

[Corbechev]

I think by Mundane, games worshop is referring to all non magical weapons

 

[Aranigej]

I think what needs to be defined in order to arrive at an amicable solution are 3 key parts of this clause:

1. "mundane"
2. "used by the bearer"
3. "weapon"

I tend to agree with Corbechev since the word "mundane" in context seems to be refering to a non-magical weapon, but seeing as there is no definition of it it is only a weighted presumption.

Seeing as the description states "all mundane weapons USED by the bearer", I would interpret it that since the chief would be in fact using the bolt thrower himself (he cannot therefore throw a javelin) then he is in fact using the bolt thrower.

Now, can the bolt thrower be classified as a weapon? The rulebook contains a section entitled "weapons" and this gives a rather exhaustive list of what a weapon is. Bolt throwers do not form part of this list, but are rather in the section for warmachines.

Therefore, my interpretation of this is that since the bolt thrower does not classify as a weapon, even though it is mundane and used by the chief, it cannot benefit from the venom of the firefly frog.

 

[strewart]

You have missed one important point though; is it a bolt thrower? It simply in one part of its rules says it 'fires like a bolt thrower', not that it is a bolt thrower. It is called a giant bow so in all respects, it should be treated like a bow, just much larger than a normal bow or even a long bow.

 

[Aranigej]

Your absolutely right there strewart!

In fact, no where doe it state that it is a bolt thrower. It is classified as a giant bow which is not provided for in the rulebook.

Therefore we would surely need an faq on this issue since there are a lot of grey areas.

However, given that it is described by a giant bow (not bolt thrower) and it is considered as a "howdah weapon", then I would allow my opponent to use the venom in conjunction with it.