8th Edition Tactica - Big Names (2010)

Mawseeker****The cheapest and one of the best, most  often used on our Bruiser BSB's and being Stupid isn't so bad these days. Also a cheap upgrade for Tyrant's and Hunters- not really used in 8th Ed.

Deathcheater*** Quite useful particularly vs. Chariots and Monsters that throw out a lot of attacks. Also it is in addition to Talismans, Armour and Weapon slots used.

Giantbreaker** This one is quite useful if used in conjunction with weapons that give extra attacks. Also the Character with Giantbreaker get the extra Strength for Impact hits & Stomps which is nice. The downside of taking a Slavegiant is not so bad in 8th Edition as they are much improved with their Thunderstomps. Terror I see as quite good now as the Giants may kill a unit that fails its Terror Test.

Wallcrusher** Can't see much use for this, maybe the Watchtower scenario where the opponent has the building. To expensive for what it does.

Beastkiller* Yet to see this used in 8th Ed especially with all the Magic Weapons available, might be ok on a Monster Hunting Hunter. If a Hunter was allowed a Great Weapon maybe this would be a good Bigname.

Longstrider* Getting the charge is not as important as in 7th Edition and solo characters don't get impact hits anyway.

Mountain-eater* Not very useful making the Ogre get hit on 3+ instead of 2+?

Kineater* Pretty useless in 8th Ed as we tend to get a re-roll for our BSB Panic checks anyway, if it was cheaper maybe? If our BSB is killed or out of range might be useful.

i think wallcrusher has a place.

in a larger game where you might have 2-3 bruisers running around as fighty characters 1 additional Bullcharge could be useful. it certaintly isn't as nice as Mawseeker, but it's still pretty cheap for an extra hit on the charge.

Bruiser (Great weapon, HA, 2 Sword Gnobs, Wallcrusher) 167 pts

fairly cheap. might be nice thrown in with a small unit of flanking IGs.

Ye Grey Templar, I have only used Wallcrusher once in 7th Ed but can see that it may have potential in certain circumstances.

Picture this 3 Bruisers with Wallcrusher in front of 6 Bulls giving 6 Str 7 Impact hits on the charge. This is like 5 auto wounds vs. T5 or lower opponents.

and even better, the bulls get supporting attacks, but all attacks are against the bruisers.

possabilities are coming forth....

(edit because Bob the Butcher beat me to the punch  )

But yea a Wallcrusher Deathstar idea has some merit, i think we jsut need to take it to a bigger extreeme.

You take a unit of 9 bulls or ironguts, set them up 3x4, with a Tyrant, Bruiser and Slaughtermaster in the front rank, all with the wallcrusher bigname.  (Alternately expand the unit sideways to 4x4 and grab a 4th charecter, bruiser or butcher)  Barring further buffs from Gut Magic, the unit will be doing 6 automatic strength 7/8 impact hits on the charge.  (Increased to 8 impact hits if you're working with the wider version)

Against most enemies (like rank and file), that's like 5-6 wounds worth of almost static combat resolution, totally armour piercing, before anything else hits home.  The unit's deep ranks give it a respectable rank bonus and a good chance of negating the steadfastness of the enemy you're barging into.

Against tougher enemies, well imagine how big a chunk that kind of bull charge would take out of a Stegadon or other monster unfortunate enough to get in their way   It'd virtually pulverise a unit of Knights, buffed by gut magic it could maybe even bowl over a steam tank.  (Okay I'm getting ahead of myself)

The biggest drawback to wallcrusher and the only reason I haven't given the build a proper try yet is the 6" minimum charge distance restriction on our bull charge special rule    It's hard enough to garuntee getting a  charge, much less a 6+" distance one.  Also, taking wallcrusher on all your charecters prevents you from taking mawseeker or deathcheater, so it limits your options somewhat.

Wallcrusher is the cheapest way in the game to get an additional attack at +2/3S in the game, 2 attacks really as it autohits. Plus it doesn't take up a magic weapon slot. Plus, this edition is is much easier to pull of bullcharges. A hitty character should have this. It's a winner and my only concern is whether we really need it. Seems like overkill in a unit with 3-4 characters. In a unit with only 1 character I think it is a fantastic bigname and it might even best Mawseeker.

Deathcheater is really nice on solo characters. Used it to good extend on a hunter.

SM can't take Big names, but nice try though. replace with a cheap Bruiser and there you have it.


@Nurglingslayer: what you say about Bull charge was true in last edition, but 8th has increased all armies charge range significantly.

the result is many armies leave greater space between them and the enemy. this makes Bullcharge very easy to get.

the avarage charge range of most infantry is 11-12" Ours is 13" we can be outside of their retaliation and be within easy charge ourselves.

there is no reason we should always be getting a bullcharge off.

SM can't take Big names, but nice try though. replace with a cheap Bruiser and there you have it.

That'll teach me to rely on my memory 

Overall I can't see Wallcrusher being that valuable on a lone charecter in a unit, it still only happens during the first turn of combat if you get the charge.  Even if getting the charge is more likely this edition you're going to end up with situations where you won't and the big name is doing you no good.  I definately wouldn't say it's better than Mawseeker.  1 extra attack of variably high strength, the first turn of some combats to me doesn't compare.  You can expand a unit to have an extra file of 3 bulls (one extra s6 impact hit basically) for less than the cost it takes to add a cheap Wallcrusher bruiser to the unit. 

Conversely you have a point about a unit of 3-4 charecters being overkill.  If I set up a unit with that many charecters in it I've kind of created a deathstar by default.  Still if you can spare the points it's a modest investment for some interesting (and fluffy  ) utility.

On a sidenote, can anyone comfirm what the OP said about Wallcrusher working against units in buildings?  It seems to only say it works against defended obstacles.