Arch Lectors, Warrior Priests, and the Altar of War

[Verchild]

I will preface this with i LOVE the idea of Warrior Priest, in my mind they should be combat monsters working themselves into a fury of death and awesomeness that is barely rivaled by Grimgore himself. Ahem...

I'm at a loss to want to spend the points on them. Their stats are questionably better then a rank and file Chaos warriors, A2 removes that combat monster concept I will forever have in my head, and their only redeeming features are their innate abilities and awesome looks.

That all being said, I will always have one in my army, I feel it adds character to it and they do add a nice boost to my rank and file units.

So Why would you spend points on a ArchLector? other then +1 to both W and Ld, there doesn't seem to be a difference. In my mind thats a lot for 35 points. Also, is a War Altar worth it? Again I get that it looks sweet, but how do you effectively use it? ( Ramming it into a horde of greenskins? Leaving it behind to act as support?


I want to know your opinions, tell me your tales of your Warrior Priests and your justifications on anything more!

[Lord Solar Plexus]

The Waltar is cheaper and better (partly because it is cheaper). It is easily capable of keeping up with infantry. Running behind two parents, it can easily provide hatred to them and two dets to either side, and it does not have to fear being killed in CC. Very few enemy units are even theoretically capable of getting to it through the blocks, and it can hold out for a turn against many flyers or stuff like Gutter Runners.

Looking at the point cost, a budget Waltar comes to some 280 points (models, ward, armour). The AL doesn't need a weapon, and something like 3+ AS, HA, charmed shield, luck shield etc. will do. Two WP's for the hatred mentioned above cost about 140-150 points. Now add the cost for a General, any General, and you're looking at another 150 points at the absolute bare minimum. All these guys get LoS! rolls and bring some more wounds and attacks but that's about it - and if they die to Chaos Warriors while the Altar doesn't, it didn't matter anyways.

Two WP's also get to channel once more and have two sets of prayers, so it's not as if this layout would be completely useless, and the Altar isn't the must-have it was last book. It does however provide you with some impact hits in an emergency, banishment, 18" Ld and perhaps terror, so I believe it really is a wash. You can't usually cast 6 bounds anyways, or only at the expense of your wizard's spells.

I will preface this with i LOVE the idea of Warrior Priest, in my mind they should be combat monsters working themselves into a fury of death and awesomeness that is barely rivaled by Grimgore himself.

Quiet! 99 percent think humans should be weaponless weaklings and the thought of good human fighters makes them cringe.

[calnen]

It's a very solid choice, because of the combos the new book lets you set up. If you've never been charged by a block of Demigryphs with Hatred and rerolls to wound, you're a lucky chap. They make mournfang look like sissies

A war altar is the general in my standard list now. He has a 4+ ward and the charmed shield, and a magic weapon sometimes.

[Wesser]

LOL

The Arch Lector is easily the best general of the three we have. Grand Master, Elector or Arch Lector...of all of them only the Grand Master with Runefang isnt a complete wimp. What you need from your general is LD 9...and not a whole lot more. The Arch Lector provide that in addition to the channeling, prayers and hatred abilities which makes him a far cry better than the count's pathetic hold your ground.

You need the +1 LD in your army, and 35 pts over a WP its a steal under all circumstances.

Empire is an army that relies heavily on crutches as almost all of our units are bad at fighting by themselves. To have an army that can fight you need some combo of WP/AL's, hurricanums and War Altar or your army will be unable to fight its way out of paper back.

There's in other words no sane reason not to always pick the Arch Lector every time. You need LD9 which a wizard lord wont provide, and he's so much better than the 2 other choices that it aint funny.

[Jind_Singh]

Agreed with most here - biggest considerations for BOTH the Priest and Lector...

1) Hatred given to the unit AND detachment they are with
2) Re-roll to wound, or flaming attacks, or 5++ ward save in combat to the unit AND the detachment they are with
3) Channel dice for power/dispel

Those alone are fantastic reasons to include the Priests/Lectors in ANY army!!!

Arch Lector merits

1) +1 leadership - this ALONE makes him a great buy as there is a World of difference between Ld8 and 9 - massive, trust me, I run a pure Goblin army and I struggle with leadership 8!
2) Improved stats for wounds - not so big but it does help
3) 50 points extra allowance of magic items - now we're cooking! Allows us to take great combos like mace of Helstrum with other items for e.g.
4) War Alter - Provides hatred to ALL units within it's range, the prayers affect ALL units within it's range, and the best thing....

Hatred affects ALL units in the range, Demigryphs, characters, rank & file, you name it! Were if the Lector/Priest just join a unit only the rank & filers get hatred but NOT the Characters - this is HUGE BEANS!

The War Alter is also a great unit in itself with terror options, decent toughness/strength, and saves - it's a beast to bring down!

[Vandur Last]

How do people make best use of the 18" hatred/LD bubble?
If you put him between two blocks of state infantry the bubble doesn't extend much further than them.
Perhaps a unit of Knights in the middle screening the WAlter with state blocks on either side?

[Lord Solar Plexus]

How do people make best use of the 18" hatred/LD bubble?

There is no 18" hatred bubble, just a 6" one. As to Ld: By putting units within it like with any other General...?

If you put him between two blocks of state infantry the bubble doesn't extend much further than them.

Why not? Are your units 18" wide? A bus is about 4" wide. Even with more than 1" between units its very easy to fit several units on either side. A horde is 200 mm or 8" wide, so it can conceivably cover two hordes on either side, plus any detachments to their side or front, plus the bunker behind. Not that anyone runs four hordes but hey. I think it is a lot more difficult to provide a BSB re-roll, and that is something everyone seems to assume is always present.

[Vandur Last]

Oh the Hatred is only 6? My bad.

I was thinking that from the width of the parent and detachment, space between each other and the altar and a small allowance for maneuvers and charges... That they'd be stretching that range. But if the Hatred isn't even that long its kind of a moot point. At that distance I'd feel ok just reaching the two blocks with hatred.

[Lord Solar Plexus]

Well, my "calculation" obviously is only true under ideal conditions and maintaining the formation can be difficult. Keeping lots of guys within the Ld bubble I think shouldn't be a problem if you're used to having a 12" one. As to the other effects (prayers have the same 6" bubble as hatred), I tend to run the Altar right behind two blocks which may or may not both have a detachment.