This guide follows the same structure from my previous magic weapon article: The rates are - * = bad ** = not recommended *** = ok **** = good ***** = amazing Armour of destiny *** - Good option for a solo oldblood but just too expensive if he's in a unit Tricksters helm **** - brilliant going up against infantry with a carnosaur. Just watch them try and wound you! Armour of silvered steel ** - ok for most other armys but with lizards it would be far cheaper to get a simple 1+ armour save, for us it is far too expensive for what benefit it gives. Armour of fortune *** - Similar to armour of destiny, good for solo, bad in a unit Helm of Discord ** - very situational, quite useful against skaven and other armys with low leadership Glittering scales **** - cheap, and amazing in some combinations (Sword of Striking) Shield of Ptolos *** - good against shooty armies but, again, it is still quite easy to get a 1+ armour save on an oldblood/scar-vet anyway. Spellshield ** - don't see why this is this the same price as 6+ ward armour, as it is basically the same but only works against magic. Gamber's armour ** - meh, if you can't get anything better its alright Dragonhelm *** - situational but when it's effect comes into play its awesome enchanted shield ***** - love this item! For 5 points and some light armour you can get a nice, simple 2+/1+ armour save and can't really go wrong . If you've got five points left over this is a worthwhile investment. Charmed shield ** - ok but not that useful when you can get an enchanted shield Hope this helped!
Good points again. Although I would disagree on some of the items. I think dragonhelm is easily worth four stars. It is cheap item that gives you +1 to asv. Very good item with saurus on cold one wielding a two handed weapon. Charmed shield is also worth more. I'd say four stars to this also. Can you think of a better item for dodging a cannonball? Almost a must have on cold one riding saurus with a hand weapon. You're wrong on the enchanted shield. Because we find it in our own book we must use the point value given there. This means we can't buy it for 5 points. Also because of the higher pricing the dragonhelm is more valuable item. BR Agrem
i must say i disagree on many points here too. i sat down and did the maths for all armours and armour/trinket combinations, so i know the numbers. it seems to me like you are mostly guessing, or going on some sort of "gut feeling". That doesnt really work here tbh. also, i think you are too lenient on some items. armour of silvered steel is BAD. it is BAD BAD BAD, especially for LM. giving it 2 stars while giving armour of destiny 3 is an insult. glittering scales is good, i agree, i use it often, but it isnt as good as one might think. same goes for trickster helmet. Armour of destiny will preform better than both against everything but the most menial opponents, but you will be more or less invulnerable to those anyway. all in all i appreciate the effort, but it would be great with some more motivation for the ranking then your personal feeling
I think you dismissed the magic heavy armours a bit too quickly, although I accept the point about them being better when on their own. They give a ward and increase the armour save by two points while only costing one magic slot. This allows a scar vet to have a GW, a ward and 1+ AS in close combat. At 2k it allows you to have three of them plus an old blood with the same. The other interesting thing about the charmed shield ( if its the one that discounts the first hit?) is that the wording of the item is that the character has to "bear" the shield rather than "use" the shield, therefore if he "bears" it slung on his back while fighting with his GW in combat, he should get to discount the first hit even if he doesn't get the boost in AS.
I'd also like to add my two cents. My favorite Oldblood on foot combo from the old book applies here. If you are facing very strong enemy characters your armor save will be mostly for naught. Fencers Blade plus Glittering Scales is a good way to keep your Oldblood from being hit at all.
I agree, the fencers blades + glittering scales is a great combo, especially since now with PF getting that +1A means more chances to roll those 6s. My only problem with the combo is that it leaves him very unprotected from things that auto hit. Either magic weapons (that hit automatically or re-roll misses) or special abilities which do damage to models in base contact. But if he is mounted on a cold one, you can give him the dawnstone for a nice 1+ re-rollable which helps.