07-22-2010, 08:20 PM
So, with the introduction of 8th edition, many of our (or at least my) hopes have been confirmed as far as new magic items go. No longer are we limited to a dozen or so basic pieces of gear. No, now there are SEVERAL dozen basic pieces of gear to choose from!
Lets break down these items one section at a time.
Magic Weapons
Giant Blade
+3 Strength. This weapon provides a bigger boost than you can achieve with Mundane equipment, but it's points cost puts it out of reach of Hero level characters. Additionally, Strength 7 no longer has the aura it once did, with Chariots no longer being insta-killed by it.
Overall, i would think our lord level fighters could find a better place to spend their points, most likely in armour and unit assisting gear.
Sword of Bloodshed
+3 Attacks. Again, out of the reach of heroes, this weapon will give us Lords with 7 attacks. Unfortunately, with no Hatred, ASF or other rule which allows us to re-roll misses, and a Strength of 4, those 7 attacks will not accomplish a great deal. Perhaps combined with a Potion of Strength this would be worth it, but such a character would have used up nearly his entire magic gear allowance.
Obsidian Blade
Ignores Armour. Using up your heroes entire equipment allowance, this weapon is again questionable on a S4 character. Perhaps best used on Lords with additional magic gear, or on Captains equipped as Knights, as an anti-Cavalry unit.
Ogre Blade
+2 Strength. Leaving precious few points for other options and giving the benefit of a Greatweapon, this is a questionable choice, especially as GWs can now be used mounted to full effect.
Sword of Strife
+2 Attacks. Again, with a S4, Dogs of War characters may not accomplish a great deal with more basic attacks. However, the ability to put this on a Captain creates more use, as it is not such a waste to gear a hero up for anti-rank and file combat.
Fencer's Blades
Granting an extra attack (as long as you are on foot) and a Weaponskill of 10 would perhaps be a boost to a characters defence (making most basic units hit him on 5+), as well as a minor combat bonus. Additionally, this choice leaves enough points to purchase one or perhaps even two other cheap pieces of gear.
Sword of Anti Heroes
Giving an additional +1S and +1A for each hero in contact with the bearer or his unit at the begining of combat has the potential to be a good choice, especialy considering that the benefits of being in contact with even 1 hero give you the advantages of a Sword of Might and a Sword of Battle for 3/4 the points. This item has an increased use in higher points games, as more characters are present, as well as against armies who will contain a high number of cheap characters, such as Goblins.
Spellthieving Sword
Wound a Wizard, he loses a spell. Very situational, and probably not overly usefull. Most wizards will either be beaten/killed in combat, or be able to flat out beat you to death, as is the case with Vampires or Demons.
Sword of Swift Slaying
Always Strikes First. With the new rules for ASF allowing you to re-roll misses if you have a Higher I than your opponent, this weapon has more value. Combined with a Potion of Strength, this could more or less ensure a few good kills against heavily armoured targets, or a wound or two on a powerful (but slow) monster.
Sword of Battle
+1 attack. You can probably find something better to do with these points.
Berserker Sword
Frenzy, which you can't lose. As above, but with the added advantage of being immune to psych. Unfortunately, having only one model in a unit which is ITP does not benefit the unit.
Sword of Might
+1 Strength. Perhaps the best of the cheaper swords so far. +1S allows our characters to wound most RnF units on 2+, as well as ignore their armour, while leaving the other hand free for a shield. Most often you would still be better off taking a Great Weapon or Halberd and spending the points on magical armour.
Gold Sigil Sword
Initiative 10. Great if you already have ASF, otherwise, a captain with I10 is more often than not just a Captain.
Sword of Striking
+1 to hit. Helpful, but not combat changing.
Biting Blade
-1 Armour. Fairly cheap. Most likely better to go for a Morning Star and spend the points on a magic shield.
Relic Sword[i]
Always wounds on 5+, unless it would be better. Interesting, and potentially good, assuming your character is planning on going hunting against models with T6+. If you are, it is cheap enough for you to afford the armour you are certainly going to need to stay alive.
Shrieking Blade
Cause Fear. Perhaps the single BEST choice available from the list, though the reasons may not be immediately apparent. First of all, EACH round of combat, enemy models in contact with the bearer must pass a Ld check, or have their ENTIRE units WS reduced to 1. This means that the sword is actually a powerful DEFENSIVE tool, and should often find itself sitting with the Paymaster, a character who is not expected to reap a heavy toll on the enemy, and so very little by taking it.
Tormentor Sword
Giving a monster or character stupidity if you wound them is probably not very useful. At least it's cheap!
Warrior Bane
Monsters/characters lose one attack for each unsaved wound, down to 1. Well, as most characters have 1 more attack then wound, this doesn't seem very helpful, and since you are going to be a S4 character fighting monsters, many of which this weapon has no effect on (giants, hellpits, ect). Again, cheap, but probably better to save the points.
Magic Armour
Armour of Destiny
Heavy Armour, 4+ Ward. Although this seems to be a simple no brainer choice for the maximum of character protection, it is actually far from. Considering that it uses up a Hero's entire magic gear allowance, a better choice would be a Talisman of Preservation, combined with an Enchanted Shield and mundane Heavy Armour, which would provide the same ward save and, for 4 pts more, an better armour save, as well as spreading your protection over 2 magic items, making it more difficult to nullify both.
For Lord choices, who may want to leave points open for a different Talisman, this choice would work much better.
Trickster's Helm
+1 armour, enemies re-roll succesffull wounds. Again, using up the entirety of a heroes magic points allowance, this item is not ideal on a Toughness 4 character. Combined with a potion of toughness, it could go a long way to making a Lord capable of standing up to a charge from even the most devastating monster.
Armour of Silvered Steel
2+ save, cannot be improved. A solid choice for characters on foot, but more often than not a feat that can be replicated with a combination of mount and mundane gear. This armour would combine will with either the Luckstone, or the Dragonbane Gem, to offer some protection against character killing Lore of Metal spells.
Armour of Fortune
Heavy Armour, 5+ ward save. Again, a 5++ save talisman and Enchanted Shield would be a better choice overall, but by putting the two together points are left open for another talisman. Unfortunately, no other Talismans combine well with this item.
Helm of Discord
+1 armour, 1 enemy character in contact must pass a leaderhship test, or not attack. Using up most of a Heroes Points allowance, this item takes effect less than 50% of the time, and has no additional effect on monsters or basic troopers. Probably better to just go for a better armour save and more general protection.
[i]Glittering Scales
Light Armour. -1 to hit the character in Combat. A solid choice, making most basic troopers hit your character on 5+, and more or less ensuring that enemy characters hit on, at best, 4+. Unfortunately it limits your overall save, and is probably best combined with a barded mount for those shots that do get through.
Shield of Ptolos
Shield. 1+ against shooting. An interesting choice. Generally, shooting attacks that can pick out characters don't care about armour (cannons, stone thrower hits, ect), so this item would see the most use on characters who are going to go it alone, such as a Captain mounted on a Pegasus.
Spellshield
Shield. magic Resistance 1. Again, it would seem that an OBsidian Trinket combined with an Enchanted Shield would be a better option.
Gamblers Armour
Heavy Armour, 6+ ward. As above, but with the Talisman of Protection and Enchanted Shield.
Dragonhelm
+1 Armour, 2+ ward against flaming attacks. Although at first it would seem that an Enchanted Shield and Dragonbane Gem would be better, the Dragonhelms additional +1 armour save leaves these choices about equal, but both hands free for a great weapon. I expect this item to see a fair amount of play, especially on Captains riding Pegasi, as it allows them to reach the 2+ armour save of normal heavy cav, as well as leaving the Talisman slot open, and allowing them to ignore two entire lores of magic, as well as providing that unlikely, but potentially awesome boost against flaming characters and gear. Suddenly a Captasus can straight up stomp a unit of Flamers.
Enchanted Shield
The much talked about Enchanted Shield. For its price, not much can compare.
Charmed Shield
Ignore the first hit on a 2+. This item is INCREDIBLE, though it is more or less wasted by allowing the character holding it to fight Rank and File troopers who do not really threaten them. It's power lies in it's versatility, as it allows the wielder to ignore the first 'hit', not 'hit in close combat', meaning that a stray Cannonball is ignored just as easily as an impact hit. Additionally, many, though not all, spell effects cause hits as well. Really, for it's points and situational usefullness, this item is without compare.
Talismans
Talisman of Preservation
4+ Ward Save. Probably the best pure defensive item, which is why it's at the top. It leaves just enough points for a single other, small item, usually a piece of magic armour, which makes it great. If you don't know what to give your Paymaster, this and an Enchanted Shield are the default. Alternatively, if you are going to include a fighting lord, this gives him a real chance against others of his kind.
Obsidian Loadstone
Magic Resistance 3. Normally it would be better to take the Talisman to protect yourself, but the real strength of the new magic resistance rules is in the idea of multiple characters worth of gear working together. A Paymaster with a ward save is tougher, but in a unit with a fighter Captain or Wizard holding an item like this, he is near immune to spell damage. Additionally, this item will grant a 4+ ward against spell damage, which can go a long way to increasing the survivability of a unit if you are expecting to take a magical blasting.
Talisman of Endurance
5+ Ward. More points left to spen on armour and tricks, this is about as low as you want to go when purchasing a ward save, as anything less is more or less a waste of points.
Obsidian Amulet
Magic Resistance 2. A bit cheaper, and more reasonable to see on a Hireling Wizard (hero level), it will still stack with even a reasonable ward save to produce a tough to kill through magic character.
Dawnstone
Re-roll Failed Armour. Doesn't use up an armour slot, so that helps to produce a reliable level of protection. It does however use up your chance at a ward save, so that hurts. Probably best combined with the knight style fighter hero.
Opal Amulet
4+ ward on your first wound, one use only. One of my personal favourites. This item is cheap enough to be combined with several others to make a character full of tricks, without being a one trick pony. A Paymaster with this, the Charmed Shield, a Potion of Toughness and a Shrieking Blade is about the best protection we can possibly make.
Obsidian Trinket[/i]
Magic Res 1. This is probably not going to see very much play, as a 6+ save that only works sometimes is not extremely helpful, unless you are running a HUGE unit (more often seen in armies with cheaprank and file core choices)
Talisman of Protection
6+ Ward. not very usefull. You can't do anything but hope it will work for you, and it's not cheap enough to just throw on a character with some points left. Probably bestto leave it at the shop and save your gold.
Seed of Rebirth
6+ Regenerate. So a save, just like the one above, that doesn't help against Killing blow, the one thing you REALLY need that save to do, and is ignroed by flaming attacks, whcich are significantly more common this edition, AND doesn't stack with Magic Resistance. Nope.
Dragonbane Gem
2+ Ward Against flaming attacks. Now THIS item has some real potential. Although it won't help you MOST of the time, since people need to choose their lore before the game, opponenets may just walk into you with a fire mage. Additionally, with banners that grant flaming attacks in the rulebook, flaming is all the more common. Most importantly, this item you to fenearly fearlessly go after some pretty big hitters, such as Tzeentch Greater demons, heralds and Flamers. Most likely to see on a Capptain riding a pegasus, but throwing it on a heavily armoured character to shrug off Lore of Metal spells could REALLY help your survivabilty.
Pidgeon Plucker Pendant
5+ ward against wounds caused by models with the Fly special rule. Extremely circumstancial, but cheap enough to toss on sometimes. If your Captain is planning on making his name by taking out a dragon or similair baddy, this could really help. Of course, if that dragon or other flyer is mounted, you will probably get smoked by the rider.
Luckstone
Re-roll one armour save per game. Again, it uses up your Ward Save slot, and trades that off for a better armour save. Still, if you haven't chosen a Talisman yet, and have only a few points to spare, toss it on, as it will probably help once.
Lets break down these items one section at a time.
Magic Weapons
Giant Blade
+3 Strength. This weapon provides a bigger boost than you can achieve with Mundane equipment, but it's points cost puts it out of reach of Hero level characters. Additionally, Strength 7 no longer has the aura it once did, with Chariots no longer being insta-killed by it.
Overall, i would think our lord level fighters could find a better place to spend their points, most likely in armour and unit assisting gear.
Sword of Bloodshed
+3 Attacks. Again, out of the reach of heroes, this weapon will give us Lords with 7 attacks. Unfortunately, with no Hatred, ASF or other rule which allows us to re-roll misses, and a Strength of 4, those 7 attacks will not accomplish a great deal. Perhaps combined with a Potion of Strength this would be worth it, but such a character would have used up nearly his entire magic gear allowance.
Obsidian Blade
Ignores Armour. Using up your heroes entire equipment allowance, this weapon is again questionable on a S4 character. Perhaps best used on Lords with additional magic gear, or on Captains equipped as Knights, as an anti-Cavalry unit.
Ogre Blade
+2 Strength. Leaving precious few points for other options and giving the benefit of a Greatweapon, this is a questionable choice, especially as GWs can now be used mounted to full effect.
Sword of Strife
+2 Attacks. Again, with a S4, Dogs of War characters may not accomplish a great deal with more basic attacks. However, the ability to put this on a Captain creates more use, as it is not such a waste to gear a hero up for anti-rank and file combat.
Fencer's Blades
Granting an extra attack (as long as you are on foot) and a Weaponskill of 10 would perhaps be a boost to a characters defence (making most basic units hit him on 5+), as well as a minor combat bonus. Additionally, this choice leaves enough points to purchase one or perhaps even two other cheap pieces of gear.
Sword of Anti Heroes
Giving an additional +1S and +1A for each hero in contact with the bearer or his unit at the begining of combat has the potential to be a good choice, especialy considering that the benefits of being in contact with even 1 hero give you the advantages of a Sword of Might and a Sword of Battle for 3/4 the points. This item has an increased use in higher points games, as more characters are present, as well as against armies who will contain a high number of cheap characters, such as Goblins.
Spellthieving Sword
Wound a Wizard, he loses a spell. Very situational, and probably not overly usefull. Most wizards will either be beaten/killed in combat, or be able to flat out beat you to death, as is the case with Vampires or Demons.
Sword of Swift Slaying
Always Strikes First. With the new rules for ASF allowing you to re-roll misses if you have a Higher I than your opponent, this weapon has more value. Combined with a Potion of Strength, this could more or less ensure a few good kills against heavily armoured targets, or a wound or two on a powerful (but slow) monster.
Sword of Battle
+1 attack. You can probably find something better to do with these points.
Berserker Sword
Frenzy, which you can't lose. As above, but with the added advantage of being immune to psych. Unfortunately, having only one model in a unit which is ITP does not benefit the unit.
Sword of Might
+1 Strength. Perhaps the best of the cheaper swords so far. +1S allows our characters to wound most RnF units on 2+, as well as ignore their armour, while leaving the other hand free for a shield. Most often you would still be better off taking a Great Weapon or Halberd and spending the points on magical armour.
Gold Sigil Sword
Initiative 10. Great if you already have ASF, otherwise, a captain with I10 is more often than not just a Captain.
Sword of Striking
+1 to hit. Helpful, but not combat changing.
Biting Blade
-1 Armour. Fairly cheap. Most likely better to go for a Morning Star and spend the points on a magic shield.
Relic Sword[i]
Always wounds on 5+, unless it would be better. Interesting, and potentially good, assuming your character is planning on going hunting against models with T6+. If you are, it is cheap enough for you to afford the armour you are certainly going to need to stay alive.
Shrieking Blade
Cause Fear. Perhaps the single BEST choice available from the list, though the reasons may not be immediately apparent. First of all, EACH round of combat, enemy models in contact with the bearer must pass a Ld check, or have their ENTIRE units WS reduced to 1. This means that the sword is actually a powerful DEFENSIVE tool, and should often find itself sitting with the Paymaster, a character who is not expected to reap a heavy toll on the enemy, and so very little by taking it.
Tormentor Sword
Giving a monster or character stupidity if you wound them is probably not very useful. At least it's cheap!
Warrior Bane
Monsters/characters lose one attack for each unsaved wound, down to 1. Well, as most characters have 1 more attack then wound, this doesn't seem very helpful, and since you are going to be a S4 character fighting monsters, many of which this weapon has no effect on (giants, hellpits, ect). Again, cheap, but probably better to save the points.
Magic Armour
Armour of Destiny
Heavy Armour, 4+ Ward. Although this seems to be a simple no brainer choice for the maximum of character protection, it is actually far from. Considering that it uses up a Hero's entire magic gear allowance, a better choice would be a Talisman of Preservation, combined with an Enchanted Shield and mundane Heavy Armour, which would provide the same ward save and, for 4 pts more, an better armour save, as well as spreading your protection over 2 magic items, making it more difficult to nullify both.
For Lord choices, who may want to leave points open for a different Talisman, this choice would work much better.
Trickster's Helm
+1 armour, enemies re-roll succesffull wounds. Again, using up the entirety of a heroes magic points allowance, this item is not ideal on a Toughness 4 character. Combined with a potion of toughness, it could go a long way to making a Lord capable of standing up to a charge from even the most devastating monster.
Armour of Silvered Steel
2+ save, cannot be improved. A solid choice for characters on foot, but more often than not a feat that can be replicated with a combination of mount and mundane gear. This armour would combine will with either the Luckstone, or the Dragonbane Gem, to offer some protection against character killing Lore of Metal spells.
Armour of Fortune
Heavy Armour, 5+ ward save. Again, a 5++ save talisman and Enchanted Shield would be a better choice overall, but by putting the two together points are left open for another talisman. Unfortunately, no other Talismans combine well with this item.
Helm of Discord
+1 armour, 1 enemy character in contact must pass a leaderhship test, or not attack. Using up most of a Heroes Points allowance, this item takes effect less than 50% of the time, and has no additional effect on monsters or basic troopers. Probably better to just go for a better armour save and more general protection.
[i]Glittering Scales
Light Armour. -1 to hit the character in Combat. A solid choice, making most basic troopers hit your character on 5+, and more or less ensuring that enemy characters hit on, at best, 4+. Unfortunately it limits your overall save, and is probably best combined with a barded mount for those shots that do get through.
Shield of Ptolos
Shield. 1+ against shooting. An interesting choice. Generally, shooting attacks that can pick out characters don't care about armour (cannons, stone thrower hits, ect), so this item would see the most use on characters who are going to go it alone, such as a Captain mounted on a Pegasus.
Spellshield
Shield. magic Resistance 1. Again, it would seem that an OBsidian Trinket combined with an Enchanted Shield would be a better option.
Gamblers Armour
Heavy Armour, 6+ ward. As above, but with the Talisman of Protection and Enchanted Shield.
Dragonhelm
+1 Armour, 2+ ward against flaming attacks. Although at first it would seem that an Enchanted Shield and Dragonbane Gem would be better, the Dragonhelms additional +1 armour save leaves these choices about equal, but both hands free for a great weapon. I expect this item to see a fair amount of play, especially on Captains riding Pegasi, as it allows them to reach the 2+ armour save of normal heavy cav, as well as leaving the Talisman slot open, and allowing them to ignore two entire lores of magic, as well as providing that unlikely, but potentially awesome boost against flaming characters and gear. Suddenly a Captasus can straight up stomp a unit of Flamers.
Enchanted Shield
The much talked about Enchanted Shield. For its price, not much can compare.
Charmed Shield
Ignore the first hit on a 2+. This item is INCREDIBLE, though it is more or less wasted by allowing the character holding it to fight Rank and File troopers who do not really threaten them. It's power lies in it's versatility, as it allows the wielder to ignore the first 'hit', not 'hit in close combat', meaning that a stray Cannonball is ignored just as easily as an impact hit. Additionally, many, though not all, spell effects cause hits as well. Really, for it's points and situational usefullness, this item is without compare.
Talismans
Talisman of Preservation
4+ Ward Save. Probably the best pure defensive item, which is why it's at the top. It leaves just enough points for a single other, small item, usually a piece of magic armour, which makes it great. If you don't know what to give your Paymaster, this and an Enchanted Shield are the default. Alternatively, if you are going to include a fighting lord, this gives him a real chance against others of his kind.
Obsidian Loadstone
Magic Resistance 3. Normally it would be better to take the Talisman to protect yourself, but the real strength of the new magic resistance rules is in the idea of multiple characters worth of gear working together. A Paymaster with a ward save is tougher, but in a unit with a fighter Captain or Wizard holding an item like this, he is near immune to spell damage. Additionally, this item will grant a 4+ ward against spell damage, which can go a long way to increasing the survivability of a unit if you are expecting to take a magical blasting.
Talisman of Endurance
5+ Ward. More points left to spen on armour and tricks, this is about as low as you want to go when purchasing a ward save, as anything less is more or less a waste of points.
Obsidian Amulet
Magic Resistance 2. A bit cheaper, and more reasonable to see on a Hireling Wizard (hero level), it will still stack with even a reasonable ward save to produce a tough to kill through magic character.
Dawnstone
Re-roll Failed Armour. Doesn't use up an armour slot, so that helps to produce a reliable level of protection. It does however use up your chance at a ward save, so that hurts. Probably best combined with the knight style fighter hero.
Opal Amulet
4+ ward on your first wound, one use only. One of my personal favourites. This item is cheap enough to be combined with several others to make a character full of tricks, without being a one trick pony. A Paymaster with this, the Charmed Shield, a Potion of Toughness and a Shrieking Blade is about the best protection we can possibly make.
Obsidian Trinket[/i]
Magic Res 1. This is probably not going to see very much play, as a 6+ save that only works sometimes is not extremely helpful, unless you are running a HUGE unit (more often seen in armies with cheaprank and file core choices)
Talisman of Protection
6+ Ward. not very usefull. You can't do anything but hope it will work for you, and it's not cheap enough to just throw on a character with some points left. Probably bestto leave it at the shop and save your gold.
Seed of Rebirth
6+ Regenerate. So a save, just like the one above, that doesn't help against Killing blow, the one thing you REALLY need that save to do, and is ignroed by flaming attacks, whcich are significantly more common this edition, AND doesn't stack with Magic Resistance. Nope.
Dragonbane Gem
2+ Ward Against flaming attacks. Now THIS item has some real potential. Although it won't help you MOST of the time, since people need to choose their lore before the game, opponenets may just walk into you with a fire mage. Additionally, with banners that grant flaming attacks in the rulebook, flaming is all the more common. Most importantly, this item you to fenearly fearlessly go after some pretty big hitters, such as Tzeentch Greater demons, heralds and Flamers. Most likely to see on a Capptain riding a pegasus, but throwing it on a heavily armoured character to shrug off Lore of Metal spells could REALLY help your survivabilty.
Pidgeon Plucker Pendant
5+ ward against wounds caused by models with the Fly special rule. Extremely circumstancial, but cheap enough to toss on sometimes. If your Captain is planning on making his name by taking out a dragon or similair baddy, this could really help. Of course, if that dragon or other flyer is mounted, you will probably get smoked by the rider.
Luckstone
Re-roll one armour save per game. Again, it uses up your Ward Save slot, and trades that off for a better armour save. Still, if you haven't chosen a Talisman yet, and have only a few points to spare, toss it on, as it will probably help once.
Now you can get a properly survivable Paymaster - stick him in a largish unit of Duelists in one of these handy pocket buildings and his unit have -3 to hit from missile fire from Hard Cover + Skirmish and templates/canons only hit D6, which is still nasty, but mostly less than the actual template would have hit via the usual method and - crucially - leaving the Paymaster safe, unless you run low of Duelists. In (ideally avoided) combat you can send off 10 Duelists to die against scary things while having a Steadfast re-rollable Break Test that should see the Paymaster be okay for at least a bit. My favourite equipment for the Paymaster in this set-up would probably be the Obsidian something-or-other (don't have rulebook to hand) that gives Magic Resistance 3 to his unit plus either the just 5 item giving a 6+ Ward for the unit vs War Machines or the +3I potion maybe if you're particularly paranoid about enemy I test magic. Could maybe stick the Wizard Lord in to the unit too to protect him too (it'd be him I'd usually use to bring the Fortress in the first place) unless the opponent has a spell like the Dwellers Below that targets every member of the unit in which case it would still be better to have him separately. Bar that I think eggs in one defensive tower/basket could work well here though.