Idle Chat: Hero's on Monsters

[ZealousJ]

Hey all.

I was just wondering what everyone's opinions were on generals riding around on the backs of monsters.

They've always been part of the game but they seem to be getting more and more prevalent.

I completely understand peoples liking them. It's nice to have your general be as large and imposing a centre piece for your army as possible.

That said, I've never taken to them. For one I like my general to be a leader, either directing the battle from the back or charging in with the troops to set an example. I've also got a preference for simply posed but well sculpted character models.

Also, i tend to prefer my monsters to be their own thing, and I don't feel I'm getting good aesthetic value combining two pieces of my army in this fashion.

Finally, i find most of these sculpts to look a little goofy in as much as sitting atop a thirty foot flying monster with a long sword just looks awfully impractical.

This is all just personal taste though and I was curious to see how others felt about this.

Am i in the minority?

Cheers!

Johnny

 

[Nubgan]

I have never thought of it from the impractical stand point before, I think the only one that might actually be able to hit something from the back of the monster its on is the Maw Krusha Orruk.

From a 'rule of cool' stand point however they do look fantastic, and been as I build/paint more than I play I will probably always take the model, I do wish I could have a decent list with a Stardrake in though.

On a side note, this topic does remind me of this however:

 

[Captain Marius]

I like to mix it up, whether its a general on foot in the middle of the line, on cav leading a flank attack or holding the second line, or indeed on a monster tearing things up! I love the variety of armies you see with all these options readily available.

[Siegfried VII]

Well apart from the obvious rule of cool reasons many people prefer their generals on monsters for their survivability. Characters on foot with 5 wounds tend to evaporate quickly and no one wants their glorious leader to die horribly in the first turn of combat...

[Galas]

Its depend of the personality I give my generals.

My empire (Freeguild) army general is based in a general like this

 

But I'm be honest... I always like my general on foot with his mount separated, like a guardian-pet. I don't know why. I prefer the mental image of my general killing enemies and ordering his gigant beast "Kill da golden stuntie!" and the monster charging and devastating the enemy lines.  Like the Ogre Hunter with his Sabretooth, you know? But with dragons!

Obviously from a gamey point of view the most optimal is had your general on top of the beast but... meh.

Meh!

[Lucio]

I like mounted generals, but prefer to see my Heroes on monsters, rather than the General for similar reasons. You want your general with your troops, using their command abilities to bolster the ranks. On a giant monster, you should be charging forwards to inflict as much damage as possible for the big investment.

[Davariel]

I always seem to end up with lots of characters on foot or horseback! Heroes on monsters are great centrepieces for a lot of reasons and probably better rulewise these days, but I always find that it's the little guys who have more personality and... well, character.

I think I like the little guys more because the emphasis is on the actual character themselves and not their gigantic mount. This is perhaps my biggest critique of the new Archaon model - the Everchosen himself, the destroyer of the Old World and the most feared man in the realms is... kind of lost amongst all the monstrousness and detail of his mount, without much presence of his own?!? Doesn't really do him justice IMO!

[CentralKarma]

I like my general to be carried into battle on a giant, golden throne, by 4 of his soldiers.  If the High King is unavailable, I like the look of a general on foot, fighting shoulder to shoulder with his troops.

10 hours ago, Galas said:

"Kill da golden stuntie!"

^This is horrible advice

[MrCharisma]

I can't justify my general being on foot, often the warhorse does more wounds than he does 

[BrAiKo]

See this is why I like Chaos, so I can pick one of the five greater daemons as general and not have to worry about these thoughts.. ?

[deynon]

I like adapting... or better to say. To small incursions when theoretically you have to infiltrate as idea I prefer on foot. But when it's about batles...I like on big monsters^^

In my case is even easier cause or they ride on the head of the monster so they can grab evything  or they have a lance so they anyway reach every point (GKoTG/DZ or VLoDZ).

I like to have a solid general and such is a hero riding a monster and moreover is's a fulcrum in the battle. It's a heavyweight in battle and in the vision on the field and I like such a thing.

[CoffeeGrunt]

I find that you're kinda forced into taking a Hero on Monster as the points/size of the battle goes up, because 3 Wight Kings and a Banshee can't equal the Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon for durability and smashing power, plus a really nice Command Ability. The foot Generals get lost as the game gets bigger, because while giving a Deathrattle unit +1 Attack is really good at 1000pts, at 3000pts it's pretty irrelevant.

I do think GW is too enamoured with their big setpiece models though, I mean I don't understand why you can't field Alarielle or Archaon separate from their mounts to make them useful in smaller games and give a bit of unit variety.

[Menkeroth]

Good question indeed. I like all my and future heroic models, it's just the case of a specific one how it would look best. Generalissimo of your army and the most powerful character is more likely to fight on a mount, it's good from all points of view, but his lieutenants can easily fight on foot as well as mounted.

On 07.03.2017 at 0:50 PM, CoffeeGrunt said:

I mean I don't understand why you can't field Alarielle or Archaon separate from their mounts to make them useful in smaller games and give a bit of unit variety.

 

It just does not suit them, they are too epic and cool to fight small skirmishes.

[Killax]

All is cool, not every model is one you need to like or see as practical.

Now I play Khorne and like GDs but cant wait for the FW Khorne Lord on Dragon.

Centerpiece models can be cool.

[Arkiham]

my archaon is on his base. in front of Dorghar. 

he flies into combat on him and hops off to fight, that or the monster is obviously more animated and youd expect to see it fighting more fluidly, the rider attacking things as the monster goes into bite or something 

[Baardah]

On 7.3.2017 at 3:45 AM, Davariel said:

I always seem to end up with lots of characters on foot or horseback! Heroes on monsters are great centrepieces for a lot of reasons and probably better rulewise these days, but I always find that it's the little guys who have more personality and... well, character.

I think I like the little guys more because the emphasis is on the actual character themselves and not their gigantic mount. This is perhaps my biggest critique of the new Archaon model - the Everchosen himself, the destroyer of the Old World and the most feared man in the realms is... kind of lost amongst all the monstrousness and detail of his mount, without much presence of his own?!? Doesn't really do him justice IMO!

I agree with this,but a way around it is to paint the mount kind of monochrome and then use a bright color on the rider. I've seen this done by painting archaon  in fiery red armor and Dhorgar painted almost entirely black but with a lava glow seeping from joints,eyes and mouth. It really made the rider pop!!

[Dorimant]

On 03/06/2017 at 0:34 PM, ZealousJ said:

...

Finally, i find most of these sculpts to look a little goofy in as much as sitting atop a thirty foot flying monster with a long sword just looks awfully impractical.

 

That is why I quite like the mounted Runefather. A 15' axe on a 4' Duardin seems silly, like he heard Archimedes's saying about a big enough lever to move the world and set about forging it. On the back of a 20' lava beastie though it gets right down to head height.

[Menkeroth]

True!  old GW method - after all, two-handed blades of the swordmasters also look too big and heavy for them, and yet they manage to deflect shots in mid-air! Just like in movies sometimes  or a gigantic lance for a vampire-lord on zombie dragon, but here it's as you say - quite fitting.