Mastagasus

Caiaphus · Post by **Caiaphus** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 2:40 pm

Within the warhammer Empire community, there is a common tactic called 'Captagasus'. Captagasus is basically just a caption kitted out on the back of a Pegasus. Useful for march blocking, taking our warmachines, that kind of thing. There are other variants of this, though for the point of this discussion theyare irrelevant, so I won't mention them.

I have been thinking of applying this tactic to Dark Elves. I have picked up an older Dark Pegasus, and have stuck an old cold one knight on the top of it.

I was thinking with a sea dragon cloak, shield (maybe even enchanted shield or shield of Ghrond, for extra protection) Deathpiercer, the killing bow lance and a crossbow, he (or she) could be a severe threat to lone wizards, war machine crew, and in a pinch could be used for a pretty devastating rear charge.

However, all this would be quite pricey (roughly 180 points) and it might be that Dark Elves have other things in the list which would do the job just fine, namely harpies or shades, or manticores, which have the added bonus of causing terror. Though, you could just give the Mastagasus(tm) the death mask, though he (she) would lose a whole heap of killing power and/or protection.

Thoughts? Is this a viable tactic?

Mayordaley · Post by **Mayordaley** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 5:26 pm

If you are looking to do it on the cheap, consider this. A BsB on DS, with SoM, PoK, and full mundane armour. This guy will do whatever it is you need him to do; hunt warmachines, marchblock, or rear charge. I believe that there is a D.R.A.I.C.H. article on the "unkillable" BsB. I hope that this helps a little bit.

Kurze · Post by **Kurze** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 5:48 pm

I've used a Master on Darkpeggi with reasonable sucess.

Lance, Heavy armor, crossbow, Cloak of Hag Graef and the ROH.

Works better on a DS though, even though the Peggi can fly, the steed cannot be shot out from underneath him!

If only Morathi could ride a Darksteed....

Tethlis · Post by **Tethlis** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 8:32 pm

Indeed, the Ring of Hotek is a pretty ideal choice for a Pegasus-mounted character. Not only you can redeploy the character to bolter a section of the table getting hit by magic, but you can also park the character within 12 inches of an opposing caster lord to keep the pressure on. BSB can increase his static combat resolution when tackling small units, or get you to the section of the table that needs Break-test rerolls the most. I also really like Lifetaker on this sort of character; the point cost is a bit awkward and makes some great wargear combinations unavailable, but it's incredibly lethal against many armies.

Smiler6310 · Post by **Smiler6310** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 9:17 pm

I sometimes run a very similar build to Kurze. I use;

Master
-RoH
-AoD
-2 RHB
-Lance
-Dark Pegasus

For a reasonable cost (if 200pts counts as reasonable!

) you get a very mobile WM/Mage hunter with a 1+AS. This guy can also be an absolute nightmare for vunerable lone characters or high level enemy mages who will suffer in the Rings presense. I also use 5 harpies to 'escort' him behind enemy lines.

Caiaphus · Post by **Caiaphus** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:19 am

Well, my regular opponents are either Chaos (Corn) or VC magic heavy, so I suppose I can change swap outs accordingly.

The RoH with deathpiercer when I'm against VC, and the extra protection of the shield of Ghrond or the Enchanted shield when I'm against Chaos.

I do like the idea of making him (her) a BSB, but that seems to have an aweful lot of eggs in one very frail basket.

Though the harpy bodyguard is also a good plan. This may be a perfect excuse to model some cool looking armoured harpies :twisted:

Also, ruleswise, is it possible to give him a magic lance, and then a mundane great weapon? I know that normally the magic weapon prevails, but it seems silly to continue to use a dirty great heavy lance after you have charged.

Xzazzarai · Post by **Xzazzarai** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 4:08 am

Caiaphus wrote:Also, ruleswise, is it possible to give him a magic lance, and then a mundane great weapon? I know that normally the magic weapon prevails, but it seems silly to continue to use a dirty great heavy lance after you have charged.

Yes you can give him both but you have to use your magic weapon - The Lance.
Allso, keep in mind that lances are useable by mounted characters only, so if the peggi is killed, the lance goes down with it.
At this point you are free to use your Great Weapon.
Further more, if you only have mundane weapons, for example a lance and a GW, you can chose which one to use, but you have to stick to that choice during that combat, you can't switch while engaged!

Anther thing to keep in mind is that a GW only gives +1 str for mounted characters!

Slortor · Post by **Slortor** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 7:19 pm

so giving a halberd is the better option because you still get +1 Strength using two hands, but you strike in normal initiative order rather than last

Ehakir · Post by **Ehakir** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 11:02 am

Unless you plan on getting the pegasus shot underneath your hero, in which case the halberd would give you +1 str, and the great weapon +2, as you are on foot then...

Slortor · Post by **Slortor** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 6:08 pm

personally I'd still take the +1S with I7 against +2S with I0. Easier to just kill the enemy than worrying about surviving to hit them at all

Bounce · Post by **Bounce** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:17 am

I have used 2 Peggy Masters in my army with mixed success.
The rpoblem is they are very fragile to somethings but pretty tough to others.
War Mahines in particular can dish out a lot of damage against a Peggy Master while being ineffective vs Harpies and the like.

Thus a Peggy master works well in tandem with some Dark Riders, Harpies, Shades rather than alone. When used right they can be mega annoying and very dangerous to any small unit.

Post by **Dyvim tvar** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 6:54 am

I use a master on a pegasus every single time I play. All I give him is full armor, a lance, and the Ring of Hotek -- and a pair of handbows if I can spare the points. With hatred and a mundane lance, he hits plenty hard enough to take out war machine crews and fast cavalry. As Bounce notes, the key is to use them in conjunction with another unit (typically harpies). I like to threaten things like organ guns and hellblasters with a unit of harpies and the pegasus master right behind. If the harpies get blasted, it just opens up the charge lane for the master.

Sulla · Post by **Sulla** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 7:41 am

In the 6th edition list, they were one of the most reliable nobles you could make.

In this edition, they hit even harder due to hatred and awesome magic items, but they are also less neccessary than they used to be because the rest of our list is far more functional than in 6th.

Basically, if you want one, take one; it doesn't weaken your list in the slightest, and either with just mundane equipment, or with various comboes, he can be very useful.

Me personally, I ripped my nobles off my 2 peggies and placed sorceresses on them.