[thinking of running my BSB on a cold one. Anyone recommend a good build? He will likely be running with 9 friends, also on cold ones, but any general builds people have found effective would be helpful!
What points level will you usually be playing at? My two most used Scar-Vet builds are: 1)Trickster's Helm, Light Armor, and a Halberd (you can toss on a shield if you think you really need that extra +1 vs shooting), and 2)Burning Blade of Chotec/Sword of Might, Dawnstone, Light Armor, and a Shield. The BSB is usually number 1, as a t5 3+(1+ on the Cold One) character that you need to reroll successful wounds against is pretty tanky, while number 2 is still fairly tough for his points while dishing out the pain (though to be honest, I run both of them anyway).
BSB on a scar vet? I didnt think many people did that in 8th. The cold one cav already get a magic banner and it will likely mean your re roll bubble is far from the rest of your troops. Scar vets are pretty nice though, here is two builds you will find very common: Scar vet, cold one, LA, charmed shield, dawnstone, burning blade Scar vet, cold one, LA, GW, dragonhelm, amulet of Itzl, firefly venom Both nasty, stupidity is not much of a factor due to cold-blooded. 89% chance to pass
Yeah it's because it's a Carnosaur build, so no Slann. The army has a sturdy horde of Saurus, a bunch of skinks, two Stegs and cold ones. The idea is the there will be numerous targets for shooting and the army will close rapidly and start swinging! I'll need the BSB to help hold the fast moving parts from braking until the reinforcements arrive to mop up. With that in mind I guess it's not the damage the Bsb pumps out, rather his survivability that matters. Army is 2000pts.
Call me crazy, but I usually slap my BSB on my Slann and have him in a nice deep bunker usually near the center of my line. If I were to put my BSB on a scar-vet to put him in a saurus unit I would probably just toss on LA and Great weapon (We usually strike last against most models anyway.) The magic banner I'd give would vary based on what I anticipated facing. At first glance most people like the skavenpelt banner, but I warn that you lose parry save if you're frenzied. Banner of eternal flame is always solid since it chews up regenerators and ethereals like tissue paper. Banner of swiftness bumps the saurus block from M4 to M5 which can get you into the fighting and help you land the charge. Razor Banner is situational. It is a pricey investment but at the same time the -1 AS + an additional -1 from S4 means that you completely negate heavy armor from a unit. None the less, these are the three banners I'd be most inclined to take from cheapest to most expensive.
woah.. nowhere in there did I notice you mention any magic user in that list. If that isn't the case then ignore this post, but if it is the case then please read on. You are forfeiting an entire phase of the game if you have no wizards on the field. Lore of heaven's signature spell is actually a fairly good one as it will deeply impact your saurus survivability. -1 to all To Hit rolls and -1 Leadership until your next magic phase.. thats two full rounds of combat where they are eating a -1 on the roll instead of a -1 to WS (HUGE different) and if you bring the pain that -1 leadership could be the difference in breaking them. In addition, having no wizard on the field means no bonus to dispelling. It would mean rolling on raw dice results which puts you at a huge detriment when facing a level 4 wizard's spells. You can keep your army theme and bring a serious threat to the field by throwing out an EotG. Not only does this give you the chance to have casting, it is good casting. In addition you can provide your side with the beautiful 5+ ward save against ranged attacks, which could save your carnosaur from cannonballs. It is still an ancient stegadon and will bring the pain if you charge with it. AND at that point you could switch it over to the burning ailment and cook enemy units with the lovely d6 strength 4 hits with no armor save AND the potential to hit multiple units, even if they are in close combat.
No I have a level 2 skink priest with the Cube, to shut down that one key phase. Can't fit the Engine in with a Bas, or I certainly would! Have a second build with the engine but no Bsb, which I'm not a fan of running without.
phew, ok.. good stuff. Having a level 2 on foot works just fine.. cube is a great call for the first phase.
If it weren't a Carnosaur list, I'd just say 'take the Slann BSB General instead'. The main thing you want with a BSB is resiliance. Hitting power doesn't matter as much, he just has to live as long as possible to provide his buff. Even with Cold-Blooded, re-rolls always help. Scar-Vet w/hand weapon, Armour of Destiny, shield, BSB (163 points) 2+ armour, 4+ ward, he still fights pretty hard for a BSB as well (one of the good things about our Saurus heroes). Don't take magic banners on him, all of our army ones are terrible, and the useful ones for us from the main rulebook can be taken by the unit he accompanies (typically TG or COR anyway). One thing I would suggest is to keep the Old-Blood near, so you can overlap the auras. The advantage to the Slann is that he is both at the same time (unique in Fantasy actually), so you sidestep that whole issue.
A Saurus BSB is still a good idea in lieu of Slann BSB if the Slann doesn't have Temple Guard. If my lone Slann is engaged in closecombat, I don't want it to auto-die if broken. If I'm expecting a lot of enemy artillery, I put a Scar Veteran BSB on foot with the Armor of Fortune, Iron Curse Icon, Shield, and Biting Blade (or Shrieking Blade but when I take the shrieking Blade I question why not just take the Cold One). The Saurus is on foot to keep Look out sir. The armor save is maximum for on foot and the Iron Curse Icon backs up the rest of the unit because all other factors being equal, the BSB's unit will draw the most artillery fire. I still like a Cold One mounted Scar Veteran in most cases, BSB or not. The extra armor save and ability to cause Fear is nice. I pretty much always aim to get 1+ Armor Save. I use Scar Vets all the time and I sometimes go for pure offensive builds, but the BSBs I like to keep alive as long as possible. I put Scar Veterans in my Cavalry units, but I haven't put BSBs there very often. I like to keep my BSBs with the infantry and cavalry by their nature tend to run ahead of the rest of the army. Poor Man’s Scar Veteran BSB Halberd or great weapon, light armor, dragon’s helm, Cold One Gets a 1+ armor save, while giving you the hitting power of a two handed weapon without great cost. Very Poor Man’s Scar Vet BSB Spear, light armor, Cold One, shield Gets a 1+ armor save without any magic items. Max Traditional Defense, expecting high S enemies Great weapon or halberd, Armor of Destiny, Cold One Against high strength attacks rerolling a 5+ AS isn’t as useful as a big ward save. Max Traditional Defense, expecting low S enemies Spear, Halberd, or great weapon, Gambler’s Armor, Dawnstone Amulet, Iron Curse Icon or Potion of Foolhardiness, Cold One Against low strength enemies, rerollable armor saves are fantastic. The above are things I’ve tried with okay success. The bottom two are builds I want to try later based on preventing hits instead of surviving hits. Thinking Outside the Box Defense Version 1 Glittering Scales, Sword of the Hornet, Shield, Cold One The idea here uses Glittering Scales to prevent the Saurus from being hit in the first place. ASF with rerollable hits can theoretically bring down foes before they can hit the Saurus but Initiative is less important in 8th edition than previous editions. It’s good for challenges though, though a Scar Veteran wouldn’t get the rerolls to hit against most characters, due to a fairly low initiative for a hero. Thinking Outside the Box Version 2 Fencer’s Blades, light armor, dragon’s helm, luckstone, Cold One A mounted character can’t have two hand weapons. Paired weapons are not the same as two handweapons, they just require two hands to use, so it’s just like a halberd or great weapon. You can still ride a Cold One and have them. With this build you still have a 1+ AS, rerolls on the first failed save, and most enemies need a 5+ to hit you in close combat.
Hello, saurus BSB is good in 2 options: -Gw +AoD -Gw +Hide of the Cold Ones The first one his much better due to the 4+ ward, but If you face a lot os S4 guys with no killing blow, And you have curse of the mindnight wind, than the party can start
Kinda bumping this thread i guess but i have a question about scar veteran BSB's - It says in the army book (page 93) That if a saurus or skink takes a battle standard they can't take any other magic items. But i see in this tactica that everyone is gearing him up still? Am i missing something? //Chuq
Yes, it doesn't quite say what you think it says: It say if a saurus or a skink BSB carries a MAGICAL banner then they may not take any other magic items ! However just taking a BSB doesn't mean it is a magical banner, you need to also take a named banner from the magical standards section of either the army book or BRB for it to be a magical banner and then you may not take other magical items. All the builds here that you see that have magical items have just a plain BsB upgrade and no magical standard chosen therefore are allowed other magic items
Ah that clears it up. So many rules and such with weird wordings confuse me sometimes Thank you //chuq