Barbarian Borelord

Okay it looks like this is a question for Games Workshop. I'll ask it next time I see the live chat is online...

Alright. My brother-in-law will be in for a surprise.

How would their anti-wizard bonus work against regular Lumineth units? Because as far as I know only the leader of a Lumineth unit (like a Steedmaster in Vanari Dawnriders) has the wizard keyword. I have ordered these two guys and soon I'll be having a game against my brother-in-law's Lumineth army, so I need to know...

Here's my list: it's mostly based on units I have at the moment rather than what would be super competitive, but I think it may kick a butt or two... Freeguild General with Hawk-eyed and Patrician's Helm 20 Freeguild Guard, sword and shield 20 Handgunners 20 Sisters of the Watch 20 Eternal Guard 10 Phoenix Guard 1 Celestial Hurricanum with wizard 1 Luminark of Hysh with wizard 1 Steam Tank with commander 1980 points. The idea is to have a pike and shot strategy with the melee infantry standing in a chevron shaped line with the Eternal Guard on the left, the Freeguild Guard with the general in the centre and the Phoenix Guards on the right, supported by the aftershave from the Luminark and no battleshock tests from the Patrician's Helm, while the Sisters (shooting with 2+ and 2+), the gunners and the two magic wagons shoot the enemy. The tank stays in the rear so it can charge any flanking enemies but also shoot the enemy with its long distance weapons so it's not useless if there aren't any flankers. If they stay together almost the entire army should benefit from Hawk-eyed, Patricians Helm, Aura of Protection and Portents of Battle. I got a game coming soon, we'll see if it works...

Looks like you're right about that: the Core Rules is talking about battle rounds consisting of two turns, and the Guard's bonusses kick in in the next turn. Thanks for pointing that out. It's probably an obvious thing to veteran players, but then I am still a beginner.

I'm painting Eternal Guards now and I absolutely love how they look. I like to get some ideas on how to use them. They fight better when they haven't moved so I guess they are a defensive unit, but then so are the Phoenix Guard and they're probably a lot better at it. I feel if the Eternal Guards are being charged they die too fast for my liking before they can get their bonusses to work. One idea I had would be to let them act as the Sisters of Avelorn's meat shield: have the Sisters shoot at the enemy and be like 'come and attack me, I dare you!' and when the enemy charges the Guards the Sisters' Loose Until the Last should soften the blow a bit, then in the next turn the Guards unleash Form Fortress of Boughs. But is that worth giving up the Sister's Quicksilver Shot? Second idea would be to put them on the flank and rush toward a victory point somewhere away from where the fighting is the heaviest. Any suggestions?

I decided to contact Games Workshop about this: the reply was that indeed all damage inflicted on LoE that is not listed as missile or melee does full damage. I then suggested as politely as I could that from a lore perspective it isn't very logical if a ghost that takes reduced damage from spears and swords and all that takes full damage from being run over by a tank, and while he takes full damage from a magical spell, that is reduced again if the magic comes from a magical cart. The guy said he would pass this feedback on to the relevant people.

I'm not entirely convinced... This is what Eltharion's warscroll says: 'Ignore modifiers (positive or negative) when making save rolls for attacks that target this model. In addition, halve the damage inflicted by attacks made with missile weapons or melee weapons that target this model (rounding up).' Storm of Shemtek is listed under missile weapons on the Hurricanum's warscroll, as is Searing Beam of Light on the Luminark's. I can't just ignore that...

General Charles Yeager (that's what I call my Freeguild General ) can cast 'hold the line'. Can he cast this on himself if he meets the requirements? I read the battletome very carefully but it doesn't say one way or the other. As for the Light of Eltharion: it says that all damage from melee and missile attacks done to him are halved. Does that mean all the damage that comes from things that aren't listed as such are not? It would mean that spells like Comet of Casandora and Strike of Eagles do full damage, but Searing Beam of Light and Storm of Shemtek do not because despite being kinda magicky they are classified as missile weapons. However the Steel Behemoth ability from the Steam Tank would do full damage since it is not listed as missile or melee. Correct? I'm asking because I'll be playing a game against my brother in law's Lumineths and I rather have clarity on this.

Yes, I heard that too. Still, nice to know that GW is doing good business. Probably the UPS depot at Herne-Börnig, a package of mine was stuck there for over a month as well. I have been told that one of the reasons why it takes so long, apart from all the Covid regulations, is the German 'gründlichkeit' - thoroughness. They still want to do things properly rather than fast.

Wild Riders/Sisters of the Thorn.

Okay. So it's a matter of wait and see... Thanks for the reply.

In your experience, is it indeed temporarily, and if so: how long does it usually take before they're back available? - or does it practically mean you can kiss them goodbye?

I am also planning to invest in the Sisters: thanks for the tips 👍

Wow, awesome! Especially since this pike and shot warfare fits very well with the Empire's -sorry, Freeguild's- renaissance theme! Thanks for the answers!

Another question from the rookie: I was going over the warscrolls and I saw that Handgunners and Sisters of Avelorn can shoot in the enemy's charge phase when an enemy unit ends their charge within 3 inch of them. I figured that was for their personal defense, but then I thought what if a friendly infantry unit can fit in those 3 inch? Can the ranged units sit so close to the infantry units that they can act in their defense when being charged by the enemy? It seems like such an advantage that I want to check if GW hasn't made some kind of rule against it, but so far I have only found rules about the maximum distance between models.

Okay well I got a clear answer as to 'what I missed' and some useful advice as well. Thanks everyone

Gosh, I read that wrong the entire time in the Battletome. Well that really makes things different...

Alright thanks. I'll do some more tests using these suggestions.👍

So I'm a new Warhammer tabletop player (I am actually one of those Total War players who discovered tabletopping through Total Warhammer) and I'm building a Cities of Sigmar army now, I haven't played any tabletop games yet. I got a Helstorm/Helblaster box and have to make the choice between the two. So I have been doing some tests to see how they preformed. I quickly figured out that having a Cogsmith next to them is a must. But even so the Helblaster seems vastly superior. Every test I did with two Helstorms or Helblasters and a Cogsmith vs. 20 Vanari Auralan Sentinels the Helstorms get wiped out in two turns but the Helblasters wipe out the Sentinels in two turns. The Cogsmith's ability to let the Helblaster reroll any attack charactaristic dice minimizes the chance of jamming, so three decks is a safe option. But for the Helstorm the Cogsmith only lets you reroll 1's in the to hit roll, a minimal advantage. And with only 4 attacks and a +5 to hit many Helstorm attack sequences stop before they do any damage. And yet the Helstorm is 10 points more expensive! I refuse to believe that Games Workshop is just being stupid about this, so what the hell am I missing here?? Could it be that Helstorms are only useful in Greywater Fastness?