In a nutshell: Mr. Flexible. He can cast just about anything you'd want him to, and is the only herald in the army who can use daemonic gaze and warpfire. An excellent shooting combination against infantry, sadly it's in an army that doesn't really need this. If however you need a kitchen sink, he probably has one somewhere and is never really useless.
Pros: He can use Bolt and Pavane, which for most or all Daemon armies is invaluable. He can of course use any shooting attack, but those are the ones you'll most often call upon him for. Flexibility is his best asset, not out and out kill factor.
Cons: Sadly, he's a 2 wound T3 independent character and cannot be mounted on a chariot. So his survivability and mobility are limited, and you pretty much have to bring a Horror unit to ensure he survives beyond the turn he drops. That significantly increases your cost from 130 to 250 or more. He can be used successfully with the Changeling Horror unit as your 'sole' unit, just remember when you drop if there are any blast or templates in range on the other guys turn, you are probably going to get fried in your deep strike formation.
Tactics: Always Bolt first. Then try to Pavane. He might Pavane again if you go first, and that's illegal...so his ability is wasted. Never really hurts to Bolt something! If you are going for a shooting barrage from him, use Daemonic Gaze (far) or Breath of Chaos (near) first. Then go with Pavane or Warpfire, if you don't get the first power again. Do yourself a favor and do not try to Pavane then Breath of Chaos. A sneaky git trick is to knowingly suicide him, much like a Tau Melta/Flamer HQ suit, by putting him right in the middle of the enemy army. Toss out aura of decay twice in a horde army and people start getting annoyed! Aura + breath of chaos is also just as annoying, if not a bit more so.
Final word: He is totally dependent on shooting. If he gets tied up, he's done. He cannot have the power weapon upgrade, so is not exactly awesome in CC and with his attendant horrors, will fold under pressure from everything but basic Tau and Grots. Going solo = dead.
The Blue Scribes
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6 comments:
Why is it illegal to use pavane twice? He has We Are Legion, so can fire at 2 different units, so if you Pavane first, it is most certainly NOT wasted.
It's all about reality?
If you jump him next to a squad to flame it, you want to flame it twice if possible but getting a fail on the re-roll isn't terrible, you can cast something else.
If you pavane said unit first, you HAVE to fire at a different target and cannot flame the target in front of you.
NOT wasted? REALLY? Sure as shit seems so, since his real power lies in flaming twice or bolting twice.
Give me a good reason to pay 30 more points for 2 pavanes on a less survivable guy than 3 pavanes on the masque. So he can hide in a unit?? Buy a chariot herald instead if you want a survivable character, doesn't take much to fry a bunch of T3 guys.
Now to the illegal part--if as so often happens, your only legal target is 18" away and you pavane it first...what are you going to do with his second attack if it's pavane? Much better to fire a flame attack or a bolt and if you kill that target (or don't get another one) then pavane.
It's never wasted then, and you'll never run into the situation where you pavane'd first and got it again without valid targets in range.
Please remember this is a guide for less experienced players. If vets can't figure the above out on their own, they aren't vets, right?
Sometimes you have to point out what's obvious to you as it may not be to everyone else.
Have you tested out putting the scribes in something other than horror units. I've hadd some success putting him in flamers (of course he does always die when you do, but it makes the unit as a whole a little more survivable). But I'm also curious if you've put him in screamers, they seem to be almost the perfect babysitters for him.
I think in flamers, you are just spending a lot of points for extra flamers...and why do so? 2 flamers is cheaper than he is.
I think in screamers, he can sit back and fire and be more survivable...but you've got a unit that can no longer go fast nor actually perform much of a role other than as an escort, better only by being higher toughness...but the more you take, the more useless guys you've got doing nothing.
In short, in a Horror unit he gives the Horror unit a threat other horror units won't have--namely, one or possible two breath weapons...or against Marines at range, 6 S5 AP3 shots are possible as they march in then you flame them. I like having the jump out effect available but only on this guy, who can fire two useful attacks before getting dragged down.
In every other situation, I'd much rather have a tzeentch herald on a chariot.
It's one less kill point.
It takes 10 wounds to drop him, but he has the mobility to stay away.
Oddly enough, the ability of the blue scribes is a hindrance not a bonus--the other heralds, you get what you pay for, but with the scribes...you sometimes pay for what you get. Randomness is bad in miniature games, and should be avoided if possible.
If you really just have to have him, or already own the model...stick him with Horrors. That's the best place for him.
"Sadly, he's a 2 wound T3 independent character and cannot be mounted on a chariot or a disk."
The scribes are on a disk -- as they are jump infantry and have the extra attack in their profile. Too bad you can't get em a chariot though.
--winterman
Yep he is, not sure why I wrote that. Oh yeah, late nights and lack of sleep.
Thanks captain obvious!
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