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Last night I got a chance to try out a pegasus riding BSB, and I must say that he was immense! The build I was trying out was:

Master (BSB, ha, sh, sdc, pegasus, Soulrender, Pendant of Khaeleth) = 215p

Which means...

Defense:
3 wounds
1+ save vs shooting
3+ save in close combat
Inverse ward save
WS6
Great against leadership and initiative tests
Good against strength and toughness tests

Offense:
3 WS6 S6 AP attacks with hatred
Pegasus adds 2 S4 attacks (S5 charging) and stomp


I opted for the slightly more offensive style pegasus BSB, because his defense is more than enough already. Soulrender gives him killing potential which equals ACR, which is something he can really use.


I find that there are ridiculesly few things he cant at least hold up - any combat seems to be favorable for him! In my last game he ran down a horde of dryads and prooceeded to get charged by an engine of the gods - easily chopping up the skink priest and the stegadon afterwards.

He's prime targets are obviously enemies with little static combat resolution:

Monsters
Characters
Skirmishers
Shooting units
Warmachines
Monstrous infantry
Cavalry

But ranked regiments can also be tied up for eternity:

If he engages them to the front he needs to create 2ACR when charging and 3ACR in following rounds to tie them.

But it is often quite easy (and prefered) to get their flank or rear. In this case he needs to generate only little ACR to tie or even win the battle.

In either case, with good rolls he can win battles even against ranked enemies and possibly break them. With bad rolls he is taking break tests at 7 or 8 with a reroll.

He might take an odd wound, but really: It doesnt happen too often...


It is also important to note that BSBs are VERY important in 8th edition - much more important than the general for high lds armies like elves. If your BSB is on DP he has the mobility to be in the right positions and get out of danger. He has +1 wound and better armour save and is better against toughness tests. And most importantly: Compared to the Cauldron BSB he actually does combat himself, and gets to use both his killing ability and +1SCR.

Some magic can really hurt a DP master BSB, but most of these spells hurt other BSB builds just as much - if not more, and the DP BSB has an extra wound!



All in all, I dont think that even the hydra is a better buy for its points than a master BSB on pegasus for 215 points. He is virtually a menace against any opponent, and the build I have posted here (and other similar builds) are borderline BROKEN in my opinion! He has so many uses, and his ability to deal with "big nasties" are much appreciated in a dark elf force!


I am looking forward to the day I can send him up against a blood thirster and have it tjeck for instability every round the rest of the game. :-)

Keep in mind though, that if he breaks from combat, that's the end of him as he will automatically die and his banner gets captured.

I would say that him breaking from combat is very unlikely unless you are playing him very bad or get extremely unlucky.

i just like to add the dragon helmet in there for the wardsave vs fire and metal snipe spells and then give him a plain of GW instead.

or a 5 pt weapon to be able to hurt ethereals

True. But you don't have dedicate him to every combat. He could still function as a BSB, you can even hide him in a unit. I think this is an ideal build for a BSB now a days. The +1W and +1T for toughness tests is pretty awesome. And if it becomes necessary you can feel free to throw him into a combat where you think he could sway the outcome with little risk to BSB himself. Just my thoughts on it any way.

Cheers

FG

about sending him against a bloodthirster, I personally doubt ye see many of those around, since that is the only demon that wont be able to become a lvl 4 spellcaster as well.

Still, its a nice one to send up against alsmost anything, thou, the same could be said for a non BSB master in unkillable gear, ye lack 1 CR, but also lose a lot of risked VP's, and that 1 pip can be easily gained on a lfank or rear charge

Auere wrote:Which means...

Defense:
3 wounds
1+ save vs shooting
3+ save in close combat

That should be 2+ in CC.

Compared to the Cauldron BSB he actually does combat himself, and gets to use both his killing ability and +1SCR.

The Cauldron also does combat, by giving other units +1A.

Bye
Thanee

Yea, I go Dragonhelm and PoK for mine on a DP. And a Luckstone for the last 5pts for handy uses. I normally like to tie up a big nasty unit with mine, in which case ACR is required since they'll have a SCR of 4 normally. So I guess if you stay away from ranked up enemy units then you're fine.

Is the Luckstone Enchanted? I thought it was a Talisman (like the Pendant).

Bye
Thanee

Luckstone is a talisman = doesnt work. If you fear for metal magic, the dragon helmet could be a good choice in addition to a mundane great weapon. You could leave him there or add potion of foolhardiness if you have a few spare points. It is usually worth it...

Oh it is too Thanee, oh well 5pts spare for a muso upgrade then, thanks for spotting it for me.

With Lore of Shadow you should be able to, on turn 1, move mage forward, position the Peg 12" in front of her and then launch the peg with Steed of Shadows for a 1st turn charge on a warmachine on the opponent's board edge.

Steed of Shadows does not allow a model to charge.

Fair enough.

Till now I didn't try out this one. I love the idea and it fits perfectly in my ultra mobile playstyle. This most probably will be my new black dragon. (Since I don't use the black dragon anymore in the new edition)

Can we still fly a model out of CC using steed of shadow?

nope, steed just allows for a flight move of any character (lost the US1 restriction) like in remaining moves.

and normally you cannot leave combat in remaining moves, so you still cannot with steed.

its nice to to use in combination with smoke an mirrors thou, fly up a sorc on peggy to where you want your ring bearer to be, and smoke and mirror that one without coming in the ring range for a casting. or to make a char in chariot fly for a spot (thou only 10" since a chariot cannot march).

Yea didn't think so, wished you still could like in 7th ed steed of shadow

Cloak of Twilight just became useless for CC assassinations...

Meteor wrote:Yea didn't think so, wished you still could like in 7th ed steed of shadow

Cloak of Twilight just became useless for CC assassinations...

But good for swapping places with a character afterwards though...Cast it, make a flight move of 0" and swap places with a nearby sorceress or dreadlord.

Cloak of Twilight is a bound item, so doesn't have the Cloak and Shadows attribute. You need to cast an actual spell from Lore of Shadow

Are bound items actually unable to use the attribute? thats mighty useless if so, for the ruby ring of ruin would lose its flaming attacks rule.

Dalamar wrote:Cloak of Twilight is a bound item, so doesn't have the Cloak and Shadows attribute. You need to cast an actual spell from Lore of Shadow

Source? I may have missed a rule somewhere.

Don't think there is a source under the bound items section, though maybe if you read the wording strictly for the lore attributes it may point towards that?

Meteor wrote:Don't think there is a source under the bound items section, though maybe if you read the wording strictly for the lore attributes it may point towards that?

Like I said, I may have missed something. However, if the atributes are not part of the spell, it would stop certain spells functioning properly as bound spells; fire and the metal magic missiles spring to mind. The metal spells in particular would do hits with no way of damaging anything.

To be honest, I'm not even sure what Dal meant by "You need to cast an actual spell from Lore of Shadow."

The item says, "contains the Steed of Shadows spell from the Lore of Shadows." Not sure what it's casting if not a spell from the lore of shadow.

I believe he meant you actually have to cast a spell generated from the lores to get the attribute bonus. Thus a bound item containing a spell wouldn't get the attribute bonus is what Dala is getting at I think.

I also agree with your point, particularly with metal damage spells, though is there a bound item that contains such a metal spell?