Hey all,
Having recently got my hands on the new Monstrous Arcanum book, I thought I'd give everyone a rundown of the new bits & gribblys contained within it's utterly fantastically illustrated pages.
To start with, we’ll run through the new Magic & Mythic Items. You’ll also see I’ve included a poll on this thread – simply choose which of the below items you actually think you’ll use.
I’ve tried to write my below comments on each item as impartially as possible, without favouring the viewpoint of any one army over another (which I’ve now found is harder than it sounds!). Never the less, they are just my opinions, so feel free to disagree!
Whilst it’s difficult to fully judge an item without its point value, I obviously can’t give them – as a compromise I’ll list whether an item’s cost is Low (1-30), Mid (31-60) or High (61+) (Mods – feel free to adjust/remove this if it’s in danger of breaking any rules)
Magic Items –
Basilisk Blade – Mid cost – Weapon – Auto wounds on a ‘To Hit’ roll of 4+, Armour piercing, On a ‘To Hit’ roll of 1 user suffers a wound.
Looks great as an offensive weapon, particularly against high toughness/low armour enemies (of which this book has quite a few). However, the risk of rolling 1’s to hit could put some people off – minimise this risk with re-rolls (however you get them).
The Pinion of the Phoenix – High cost – Talisman – Grants 5+ ward, When it’s bearer is killed they returned to life with full wounds but item is destroyed.
Here’s looking at you Carstein ring. Great looking item, but cost is a major issue. It’s hard to see why you’d choose taking this over more standard magic equipment combos that cost the same & offer better protection.
The Lash of Itzaotyl – Mid cost – Weapon – ASF, Ld test for any large target hit by the lash – if failed they can take no action or attack for the remainder of the turn & are treated as having WS1 if attacked.
Interesting weapon. Good for holding up monsters almost indefinitely. Would need to be given to a character with either: high strength attacks, a large number of attacks or the correct support (i.e. a unit with one or both of the previous).
Faithless Charm – Low cost – Talisman – ASF & Killing Blow. If wearer fails any Ld or Break test then they lose ASF & gain ASL & Frenzy that can’t be lost.
A bargain way to gain both ASF & KB. The bearer would need to be kept near/be a bsb for the safety of re-rolling those tests. A must have item for any character that doesn’t need to take either test (ITP anyone?
)
Wyrmscale Armour of the Deep – Mid cost – Magic Armour (Heavy Armour) – Wearer gains Sea creature special rule (but may still march on land normally), 3+ ward vs flaming attacks
Having never seen a map that contained enough water to make the Sea Creature rule worth it, I can’t see the value of this item. The Dragonhelm or Dragonbane Gem gives a better ward vs. flaming for a much-reduced cost.
Scintillating Shield – Mid cost – Magic Armour (Shield) – Ranged attacks are –1 to hit, If hit by Basilisk’s or Cockatrice’s gaze attacks roll a d6 – wearer will either suffer normally, attack will have no effect or be reflected back.
Again, there are far better options. With the almost certainty that your characters are going to be in a unit, there’s no need for the –1 to hit from shooting & aside from the small chance of instant death, the Gaze attacks aren’t that scary.
*Side point* – The D6 result listing in the book has results for 1-4 & 6. If someone from GW or Forgeworld is reading this allow me to offer a new item:-
Proof Reader – 0pts – Checks documents to ensure silly errors don’t occur in final print versions.
Review – A must have. It’s always worth the cost.
Warpscale Pendant – Low cost – Talisman – 4+ ward vs. all Warpstone weapons, a Warpfire Dragon’s breath attack & MR(2). Bearer must pass a T test at start of battle or suffer a wound with no save of any kind allowed.
A good choice if you’re facing off against Skaven. Cheap enough to let you combine it with reasonable armour & weapons.
Cold Iron Blade – Mid cost – Magic Weapon – CC attacks are at +1 strength, attacks targeting ethereals have HKB.
I’m struggling to see the particular value of this item. The Sword of Might will give you the +1 strength at a much lower cost & although the HKB vs. ethereals is a nice addition, do you really need it? Unless you know you’re going to be facing off something particularly evil (the Dread Saurian w/ ethereal upgrade) I’d give this a miss for something nastier.
Sacrificial Banner – Low cost – Magic Standard – All models with unit type ‘Monster’ within 24” gain Berserk Rage (part of Frenzy rule) & must declare a charge against the bearer’s unit. Charge cannot be avoided with a LD test.
FW really need to work on their wording. All monsters within 24”? Friend & Foe? Really? Sigh. A great item if used correctly & can be used in a variety of different ways if you’re smart about it.
Marius's Combo of the moment - The Lash of Itzaotyl and the Sacrificial Banner - Come here my pretties, *whip-crack*, aww, poor monster can't attack us. :devil2:
That’s all the new Magic Items – The three remaining are of the Mythic variety & so require a different standard to work with (they’d all be High cost using the method above!).
Having recently got my hands on the new Monstrous Arcanum book, I thought I'd give everyone a rundown of the new bits & gribblys contained within it's utterly fantastically illustrated pages.
To start with, we’ll run through the new Magic & Mythic Items. You’ll also see I’ve included a poll on this thread – simply choose which of the below items you actually think you’ll use.
I’ve tried to write my below comments on each item as impartially as possible, without favouring the viewpoint of any one army over another (which I’ve now found is harder than it sounds!). Never the less, they are just my opinions, so feel free to disagree!
Whilst it’s difficult to fully judge an item without its point value, I obviously can’t give them – as a compromise I’ll list whether an item’s cost is Low (1-30), Mid (31-60) or High (61+) (Mods – feel free to adjust/remove this if it’s in danger of breaking any rules)
Magic Items –
Basilisk Blade – Mid cost – Weapon – Auto wounds on a ‘To Hit’ roll of 4+, Armour piercing, On a ‘To Hit’ roll of 1 user suffers a wound.
Looks great as an offensive weapon, particularly against high toughness/low armour enemies (of which this book has quite a few). However, the risk of rolling 1’s to hit could put some people off – minimise this risk with re-rolls (however you get them).
The Pinion of the Phoenix – High cost – Talisman – Grants 5+ ward, When it’s bearer is killed they returned to life with full wounds but item is destroyed.
Here’s looking at you Carstein ring. Great looking item, but cost is a major issue. It’s hard to see why you’d choose taking this over more standard magic equipment combos that cost the same & offer better protection.
The Lash of Itzaotyl – Mid cost – Weapon – ASF, Ld test for any large target hit by the lash – if failed they can take no action or attack for the remainder of the turn & are treated as having WS1 if attacked.
Interesting weapon. Good for holding up monsters almost indefinitely. Would need to be given to a character with either: high strength attacks, a large number of attacks or the correct support (i.e. a unit with one or both of the previous).
Faithless Charm – Low cost – Talisman – ASF & Killing Blow. If wearer fails any Ld or Break test then they lose ASF & gain ASL & Frenzy that can’t be lost.
A bargain way to gain both ASF & KB. The bearer would need to be kept near/be a bsb for the safety of re-rolling those tests. A must have item for any character that doesn’t need to take either test (ITP anyone?
)Wyrmscale Armour of the Deep – Mid cost – Magic Armour (Heavy Armour) – Wearer gains Sea creature special rule (but may still march on land normally), 3+ ward vs flaming attacks
Having never seen a map that contained enough water to make the Sea Creature rule worth it, I can’t see the value of this item. The Dragonhelm or Dragonbane Gem gives a better ward vs. flaming for a much-reduced cost.
Scintillating Shield – Mid cost – Magic Armour (Shield) – Ranged attacks are –1 to hit, If hit by Basilisk’s or Cockatrice’s gaze attacks roll a d6 – wearer will either suffer normally, attack will have no effect or be reflected back.
Again, there are far better options. With the almost certainty that your characters are going to be in a unit, there’s no need for the –1 to hit from shooting & aside from the small chance of instant death, the Gaze attacks aren’t that scary.
*Side point* – The D6 result listing in the book has results for 1-4 & 6. If someone from GW or Forgeworld is reading this allow me to offer a new item:-
Proof Reader – 0pts – Checks documents to ensure silly errors don’t occur in final print versions.
Review – A must have. It’s always worth the cost.
Warpscale Pendant – Low cost – Talisman – 4+ ward vs. all Warpstone weapons, a Warpfire Dragon’s breath attack & MR(2). Bearer must pass a T test at start of battle or suffer a wound with no save of any kind allowed.
A good choice if you’re facing off against Skaven. Cheap enough to let you combine it with reasonable armour & weapons.
Cold Iron Blade – Mid cost – Magic Weapon – CC attacks are at +1 strength, attacks targeting ethereals have HKB.
I’m struggling to see the particular value of this item. The Sword of Might will give you the +1 strength at a much lower cost & although the HKB vs. ethereals is a nice addition, do you really need it? Unless you know you’re going to be facing off something particularly evil (the Dread Saurian w/ ethereal upgrade) I’d give this a miss for something nastier.
Sacrificial Banner – Low cost – Magic Standard – All models with unit type ‘Monster’ within 24” gain Berserk Rage (part of Frenzy rule) & must declare a charge against the bearer’s unit. Charge cannot be avoided with a LD test.
FW really need to work on their wording. All monsters within 24”? Friend & Foe? Really? Sigh. A great item if used correctly & can be used in a variety of different ways if you’re smart about it.
Marius's Combo of the moment - The Lash of Itzaotyl and the Sacrificial Banner - Come here my pretties, *whip-crack*, aww, poor monster can't attack us. :devil2:
That’s all the new Magic Items – The three remaining are of the Mythic variety & so require a different standard to work with (they’d all be High cost using the method above!).
erv:
