Throne of Skulls 2012 ethereal threats!

Hey!

With the new vampires counts book coming out I think there will be a larger turn out of Vampires players at the tournament, from rumours and whitedwarf I am quite scared of some of their ethereal creatures and in particular hexwraiths.

I was just hoping to pool some information on what can be used to counter them since ogres are not great for static combat resolution which would otherwise help massively.

So far my only ideas are to have a magic weapon in any large unit and perhaps take a unit of yhetees. Another idea is to simply blast them with fireballs but that can be stopped with good dispelling.

I have also heard an idea from one of my friends that by having a magic banner in the unit that affects the models i.e Razor Standard then the unit gains magical attacks, I looked through the rulebook FAQ and could not find anything to help support this.

Give any more ideas on how to beat ethereal creatures if you can.

Thanks
Josh

Six dice fireballs from a firebelly. At 50 points per Wound with T4 and almost no armour, it's an obvious counter, and you don't even have to change your standard army list.

Magic banners never give magical attacks unless they specifically state they do.

Magical attacks come from magic weapons and magic itself. Unless the banner is activly doing the damage such as a bound spell or a Breath weapon(or own Dragonhide banner) it has no magical attack effect.


I don't think Hexwraiths are going to see massed usage simply because of their expense and the prelevence of Magic missiles. A small unit can get decimated by even a weak magic missile/direct damage spell.

At most you might see one unit of 5ish models meant to be a tarpit to something without magic attacks.

And they are still undead and will still crumble to static combat rez as well.


If you are really scared about it, either take cheap 5 pt magic weapons on your characters or take a small unit of 3 Yhetees.

I have also heard an idea from one of my friends that by having a magic banner in the unit that affects the models i.e Razor Standard then the unit gains magical attacks, I looked through the rulebook FAQ and could not find anything to help support this.

Your friend is mistaken. Magic banners only grant magical attacks if they specifically state the unit gets magical attacks.

Stick with spells for now. If it REALLY becomes an issue in games with the new Vampires then start worrying about adding in some additional things.

Six dice fireballs from a firebelly. At 50 points per Wound with T4 and almost no armour, it's an obvious counter, and you don't even have to change your standard army list.

Better yet - 6 dice fireballs by any character with a ruby ring of ruin. No risk of blowing up.

Hellooooo dragon hide banner, my good old friend! You shall serve me well!

Better yet - 6 dice fireballs by any character with a ruby ring of ruin. No risk of blowing up.

Yup. That said, I don't see that many lists with the ring lately.

What I like is the fact that we really don't need to change our "standard" army lists  to counter what makes people already whine in anticipation of the new book :
- Slaughtermaster with Fencer's Blades in one unit
- Firebelly in another
- Mournfangs with Dragonhide banner.

[X] Counter etheral units.
[X] Laugh at the whine on warseer
[ ] Find a way to stop loving our new book

Hellooooo dragon hide banner, my good old friend! You shall serve me well!

- Mournfangs with Dragonhide banner.

As said by Mercules, magic banners do not automatically grant magic attacks.
Dragonhide does nothing against Ethereals.

Better yet - 6 dice fireballs by any character with a ruby ring of ruin. No risk of blowing up.

That's a waste as RRoR will only give you D6 S4, not really worth 6-dice.

6-dicing a top level Fireball from a Firebelly will give you 3D6 S4, forget the Miscast, that should cripple most Ethereals.

Hellooooo dragon hide banner, my good old friend! You shall serve me well!

- Mournfangs with Dragonhide banner.

As said by Mercules, magic banners do not automatically grant magic attacks.
Dragonhide does nothing against Ethereals.

I think the DHB love relates more to it's breath weapon rather than its effects, which I do believe is magical

I think the DHB love relates more to it's breath weapon rather than its effects, which I do believe is magical

It's not Magical.

If it is please point where it states that it is? 

He's referring to the Breath Weapon. The breath weapon comes directly from the banner, which is a magic item, so I think its fair to say the Breath Weapon is magical.

It's in the BRB FAQ. Attacks from Magic Items (such as the Dragonhide) count as Magical attacks. It doesn't help the unit, but most ethereals won't be in too happy a state after 2D6 Str 3 hits, Charge and Banner!

He's referring to the Breath Weapon. The breath weapon comes directly from the banner, which is a magic item, so I think its fair to say the Breath Weapon is magical.

I got that he was referring to the Breath Weapon, but the last time I checked BW's were not magical.
I wasn't aware of the FAQ Sandals pointed out 

It's in the BRB FAQ. Attacks from Magic Items (such as the Dragonhide) count as Magical attacks. It doesn't help the unit, but most ethereals won't be in too happy a state after 2D6 Str 3 hits, Charge and Banner!

Ok cool, cheers for pointing that out dude I wasn't aware of that FAQ, I really need to keep on top of them!

Ok cool, cheers for pointing that out dude I wasn't aware of that FAQ, I really need to keep on top of them!

It's why I listen to Podcasts and Twitter. At least then someone tells me when they're updated!

Yes, I was referring to the Breath Weapon. Should have made that clear though.