Source
r/ageofsigmar•
Pork0Potamus

Do I need to have a unit carrying an icon to get the effect of it?

Question

I've recently been assembling a couple units of blightkings and I really enjoy the diversity when it comes to these models, with the exception of my icon bearers and tocsins/musicians which are all the same configuration. So, question is, do I actually need to have a model physically carrying the instrument/icon to get the effect or can I just delegate who is what by announcing it or perhaps by marking the base of who I would use as a stand in.

Posted Sep 9, 2019, 7:30 PM UTC

320
mogaeon•

If you play wysiwyg, yes.

10
Pork0PotamusOP•

In your experience is that the more popular way people do it?

2
Oakshand•

Competitive scene yes. Friendly games maybe 50/50

7
Pork0PotamusOP•

Yeah I kinda figured that'd be the case but I couldn't find any actual rulings on it from my not very extensive Google search, I'm just gonna build them how I want and if it turns out my local scene isn't about it I'll just cut off the hilts and glue them sticking out of their backs or something.

3
Oakshand•

Solid plan lol

3
onczapbloSkaven•

It really depends on your community, but in my experience there's no problem with saying "btw these guys have a banner but I don't have/like the model". Myself, I much prefer playing WYSIWYG but I'm not en asshole about it either

3
doctorpotatoheadChaos•

The icon is the most annoying part since it's so obviously the same between units. The Sonorous Tocsin carrier has a lot of optional parts that have bells on them. For goofs I modeled one of mine with the axe over his shoulder instead of the Tocsin but with the tentacle arm that has a little bell at the end, like he just has a little jingly one.

4
Pork0PotamusOP•

Right? I was planning on using the big axe tiny bells guy as my musician, I mean the dude has like 9 bells on him he's musical af.

1
brodi07•

In a tournament I think it'd probably be a bigger deal but even then if there is something that clearly and visually sets the model apart, I think people are generally ok with it.

2
Pork0PotamusOP•

Think a marking on the rim of the base would be good enough? Figured I could just make a M/I or something.

2
brodi07•

I think so as long as it's consistent across all units. For my 40k guardsmen all my squads have one special weapon guardsman carrying a flamer. Sometimes I don't count it and sometimes I do and sometimes I count it as a plasma gun or something but I'm consistent that if a flamer in this squad "counts as" a grenade launcher for this game it applies to all the squads as well. Just as a courtesy to my opponent I'm going to try to make it as easy as possible to read my army with a glance.

2
Pork0PotamusOP•

That's fair, I always plan to use them, I just feel like in blightkings with the unit count being so low having a giant Bell and standard in each kind of works against how individual all the other models feel. Like they're half rotten chaos warriors, coordination, rank, and file just doesn't fit what I imagine.

2
Sinfullyvannila•

You could model it so that the icon is planted in the ground.

2
Pork0PotamusOP•

Good point I may do that.

1
DRetherMD•

id personally model one with a clear bell. even casual games it can get confusing for you and your opponent deciding on the fly which one is the banner bearer. this is even bigger of an issue with models that can specifically target single models in a unit (like dankholds or stardrake)

ive played a few games where people kept conveniently forgetting what was what and it always seemed to work in their favor when moving around models. same goes for champion models that do an extra attack or whatever.

2
Pork0PotamusOP•

I figured I'd just mark the rim of the bases either with a color or letter to delegate them and if folks weren't cool with that either cut off the hilts and stick the icon/Bell out of their back or cut hilts and glue them to the base. I thought about kit bashing some of the banners from blightlords or maggoth Lord I have but I've not worked with sculpting or green stuff so idk how janky it would look and there's literally no other instrument but the giant Bells for nurgle.

1
DRetherMD•

marking bases is fine for most cases. or maybe just make up some weird nurgle-esque instrument if you want. i think the only problem is when players tend to make up which model is which in the middle of the game

2
Pork0PotamusOP•

Yeah I can definitely see that being an issue, I was thinking I might pick up a bilepiper and try to kitbash it, then use the 4 bells I have unused and smash them all onto one super musical dude for my one unit of 10.

1
FlowersoftheknightIdoneth Deepkin•

I'd take it as an opportunity to go for some conversions. Icons and instruments are pretty cool elements, and individualising those can be a lot of fun.

Especially Nurgle should have plenty of plastic options available.

1
Darkreaper48•

This is considered pretty rude to do to your opponent because then you put the onus on your opponent to remember who is who. You could have two blightkings who look similar and have to remove one due to casualties. Was that the icon bearer? Was it the other one? Due to the way casualty removal works with regards to staying in coherency, you may be in a situation where you are forced to remove either a banner or a drummer. Your opponent may not see that if you don't have them modeled correctly.

Even if it doesn't bother you, it's kind of rude to your opponent to have to say 'oh the guy with the scythe is my banner, and over here the guy with this bell on his armpit is the drummer - and in this squad it's the guy with the bell on his chin' and expect them to remember it.

1