Useful noble / highborn builds

[unicorn]

Alters

Anvil alter highborn
Alter noble, Sh, Crown of Command (stubborn), Amaranthine Brooch (3+ WS against non-magical), Warriors bane (simply cheap magical attacks), Glitering scales (-1 to be hit in CC) - 283 pts
Super anvil unit. Ld10 stubborn, with 5+ armor and 3+ "false" ward (yes, 4+ true ward should be better, but I am using him in cooperation with the healer weaver who have this item on), and -1 to be hit (so all units hitting him on 5+ or even 6+) and can be heald? He need to be aware of some elite units with magical attacks; and he need to be aware of enemy killing characters, yes. He can be killed by magic, but that is why there is l4 WoWE healer in the army. But usually he is in the fight with enemy unit since turn 2. He have 4+ "look out" ward plus 3+ "false" ward against shooting in 1st turn or 2 when near my dryads/dancers. And holding the large block in the middle of enemy army stuck since turn 2 can be horrible disruption of your opponents plans.
Can also have GW instead of Warriors bane for more killing power in exchange for -1AS and Strike last.

Killing machine alter noble
Helm of the Hunt, Strength Potion, Rageth's Wildfire Blades
6 flaming attacks on charge, can make them S7

Devastating alter highborn (275 pts)
armour of destiny (5+ Armour, 4+ ward), ogre blade (+2 s), potion of foolhardiness ( devastating charge and immune to psycho ( 1 use ))

Alter Highborn The Dead Maniac, LA, Sh - 251 pts
* Sword of Bloodshell (+3A), HotH, Potion of Strength
Have huge 9 attacks on charge; and once per battle can make them to be S7. Great for hunting monsters, especially in cooperation with Beast mage he can take down nearly anything on charge. That S4 A9 stats makes him good as supporting chargerer against infantry blocks as well - it can easily happen that when well-paced on the flank, only 1 model will be able to strike back after his "slash dance."
His survivability is other issue though; but this is what Life mage can help him with a lot. I believe this build will work nice on Eagle as well - will loose 1 attack for not being alter, but will get 3+ armor and will be immune to Stomp.

Can Opener Highborn
2+ amour save, sword that ignores armour saves, depending on personal taste 2+ward vs flaming attacks or ItP and devastating charge (once only)
Hunting knights or supporting attacks vs other units with high armour save (surprise ). Weakness is everything that negates armour or high strength attacks.

WRs

WR noble on Stag
Glitering Scales, -1 to hit
Fimblewinter shard, -1 to hit plus 6' stupididty to forest spirts
He is -2 to hit in combat. from anyone. On Charge have 5 st 5 attacks. I place him in a unit of treekin with a champion. He is made to give treekin a anti-magic save.

Anvil WR highborne on Stag
4+ ward item, Crown of comand, Helm of the Hunt
Th Lord goes in a unit of treekin to make them Stubborn. With a life Weaver and 2 treeman and a BSB makes for a good anvil unit. Hard to kill and and almost never runs

wild rider noble (210pts)
stag
-spear of twilight (confers killing blow), helm of the hunt (since he can finally take it!)
purpose
Fluff! Always 6 Attacks on the model in total (and doesn't stag confer another stomp vs infantry?)
Another unit that can flank (and with 4+AS followed by 5+/6+ward) a bit survivalbility. Apart from that it simply looks awesome on the battlefield
4 attacks with killing blow might also be a nice support for other units when challenging strong characters.. and Ini6 still lets him go first against many opponents
weaknesses
Since loosing fast cavalry of joining, not recommended for joining wild riders. And since lone, any shooting becomes deadly. Helm can also be exchanged for potion of strength, giving some more punch against monsters (only recommended for taking the last 2 wounds). Apart from that, possibly using a highborn and giving him a 2+ armour item instead of the helm and re-roll failed armour saves might also be a good character for challenges.. if netlings are already used somewhere else

Eagles

Monster Hunter Highborn (301pts)
Sword with +3 Strength, Amaranth brooch (3ward vs non-magical), Eagle, LA, Sh, potion with crushing attack and immune to psychology
purposes
Hunt Monsters, support fights vs monstrous infantry by flanking, WM hunting, smash chariots (S7), march blocking, eating archers for breakfast
weaknesses
magic (almost no save); canons (if you're unlucky with your ward of fight magical ones); regiments (4 attacks S7 won't do much against 3 ranks, banner and so on); enemy characters (mostly kitted out with magical weapons)

BSBs

BSB, LA, Stone of rebirth (2+ WS if on 1 wound), wildfire blades (+1A and fire attacks), dragon helm (+1AS, 2+WS against fire) - 143 pts
relatively typical BSB. With stone of rebirth, he is very survivable, and even more against fire-based attacks. The wildfire blades are there not only for +1A, but mainly because the fire attack on I7 can cancel the regeneration for rest of the attacks his unit will throw out.

BSB Noble ~ 142
- Sword of Might, Stone of Rebirth (used SoCM in 7th), Light Armor
The Stone of Rebirth is a much better item after the 8th edition FAQ. He will survive quite a few wounds, assuming he doesn't get killed by something that causes multiple wounds or killing blow. The three S5 attacks will help get rid of a few enemies, and are particularly helpful against those ethereal foes. With the Stone and a decent strength value, this Noble can be handy in a challenge (so long as he's not going up against an absolute monster).

Noble /w glittering scales and fimbulfwinter shard and shield. (142 pts)
only hit on 6+ vs WS1-6 modells. and a 5+ AS/6+ WS in close combat just for good measure. In a unit of Eternal Guard with the Razor Standard, so he are still decently killy

Waywatchers

Waywatcher Noble w/ The Horn of the Asrai, A Muster of Malevolents (160 pts)
This one's experimental, but it's fun when it works. You deploy the Waywatchers in a wide line roughly 15" from your opponent's battle line and pull several units out of position on their first turn with The Horn of the Asrai. With multiple chargers coming their way, you get a choice of targets to hit with your Stand and Shoot, which will always count as being made at short range because of the Muster of Malevolents.

"Plain" ones

Noble, GE, LA, Sh - 183 pts
* HotH, HoDA
Good old "eagle alter". But in this edition much better (apart from TLOS issues). 3+ armor save (4+ in combat), 3 wounds, S6 (yes, strike last, but still S6); plus Stomp against infantry? One of the best HoDA wielder in this edition I believe

Lord Raimie
Armour of Destiny- (Who can say no to heavy armour & a 4+ ward?)
Amber pendant - Lord Raimies old favourite
A great darn weapon just to ram the point home with.
Ironcurse Icon A 6+ ward for my unit against them darn warmachines could make the difference. Asyendis bane And a magical bow to round it of with.

Spirit Sword

Alter Highborn, light armour, spirit sword, shield of ptolos (1+ armour from missile attacks), potion of fool hardyness (+1 attack, IP on charge one use only), 2+ ward from flaming attacks or 5+ ward against flyers 273
Very survivable from shooting (especially with the infamous flaming banner and if he's close to units), warmachines are a bit of a problem though. In combat he REALLY needs to kill the monster (with his 6 attacks) because he probably won't survive the return attacks (especially with the thunder stomp and breath attack (the last is countered by the ward from flaming attacks)). This can change if you have some buffing spells though (especially beast magic has some really helpful spells, but life too) so he really benefits from a weaver together with him (you can have a lvl 4 weaver with 35 points in items together with this character). The 5+ ward from flyers can be enough to keep him alive against a dragon so a life mage can heal him up so that can be an alternative.

Dragon

Combat Dragon Sheild Price: 568
fimblewinter shard (-1 to hit rider/mount, Armor of Destiny (HA with 4+WS), Callach claw, Shield
3+AS, -1 to hit both rider and Dragon, and a 4+ ward for the rider. -1 leadership on a wound from the rider for the combat round. He hits with other units. good at flanking. He is good at killing small groups while taking little hits in return.

The secound one is a Anvil Dragon, Price: 577
La, Shield, Spear, Crown of the Command (stubborn), Talisman of Preservation (4+WS), Helm of the hunt
3+AS 4+WS Stubburn, + 1 WS +1AT in the charge. On charge Rider has 4 St 5 At. Run this guy in wuth treeman or treekin and you have very solid line.

Combat Support Price:563
Dawnspear, Armor Fortune (HA, 5+WS), Fimblewinter Shard (-1 to hit rider and mount), Shield
3+As 5+Ws -1 to hit. This combo gives every Friendly unit in the same combat with you a -1 to hit them if the lord wounds. A built in -1 to hit from downspear means almost every time -2 to hit the lord and dragon.

As with the new rules and items in 8th edition everything changed, I wish to start thread like this. Please share your favorite noble / highborn builds with others - I will try to update this 1st post with what you posted. I believe this can become great source for all of us who are still learning and searching what will be the best way to field in this new environment.

When posting your build, please do it like this:
Post the character and his equipment (with short notices what each item do - 8th is still new and noone remembers what each item is good for, especially if from a non-english BRB country), total point value, and short description how you use this character and what is he good for.

PLEASE POST LEGAL BUILDS ONLY!

[unicorn]

BSB
BSB, LA, Stone of rebirth (2+ WS if on 1 wound), wildfire blades (+1A and fire attacks), dragon helm (+1AS, 2+WS against fire) - 143 pts
relatively typical BSB. With stone of rebirth, he is very survivable, and even more against fire-based attacks. The wildfire blades are there not only for +1A, but mainly because the fire attack on I7 can cancel the regeneration for rest of the attacks his unit will throw out.

Anvil alter
Alter noble, Sh, Crown of Command (stubborn), Amaranthine Brooch (3+ WS against non-magical), Warriors bane (simply cheap magical attacks), Glitering scales (-1 to be hit in CC) - 283 pts
Super anvil unit. Ld10 stubborn, with 5+ armor and 3+ "false" ward (yes, 4+ true ward should be better, but I am using him in cooperation with the healer weaver who have this item on), and -1 to be hit (so all units hitting him on 5+ or even 6+) and can be heald? He need to be aware of some elite units with magical attacks; and he need to be aware of enemy killing characters, yes. He can be killed by magic, but that is why there is l4 WoWE healer in the army. But usually he is in the fight with enemy unit since turn 2. He have 4+ "look out" ward plus 3+ "false" ward against shooting in 1st turn or 2 when near my dryads/dancers. And holding the large block in the middle of enemy army stuck since turn 2 can be horrible disruption of your opponents plans.

[Kael Khyran]

let's start with the most obvious (added something though):

Alter noble
potion of str - +3 str for 1 round
potion - +1 attack on charge and immun to psychology for 1 round
helm of the hunt
second weapon + magic shield, +2 armor vs ranged and magic
optinal: spear + magical shield, +2 armor
light armor

costs140-150


Here's one that you yourself invented/suggested I think:
alter highborn
stubborn
heavy armor and 5+ ward safe
hand weapon and shield
helm that gives +1 armor safe
annoyance of nettlings

225 points

would only use it in very very specific situations (you know your enemy will bring a chosen chaos warriors with a chaos lord). Engage him as soon as possible and disable him till the end with stubborn/AoN(6+ to hit, I think they have to accept the duell, if they refuse, challenge the champion, one of both will necessarily be khorne lol).you have a 2+ armor safe and a 5+ ward safe with 6's to hit. Keep your bsb near and heal eventual wounds with the lore of life and you will have kept busy a block worth 700-800 points with a 225 pts guy that's not gonna die and mot bring VP to the other player and this at least 9 times out of 10. Rather a desperate idea though lol

Individual points costs edited ~ Beithir

[unicorn]

Alter noble (95)
potion of str - +3 str for 1 round
potion - +1 attack on charge and immun to psychology for 1 round
helm of the hunt
second weapon (+ magic shield +2 armor vs ranged and magic
optinal: spear+ magical shield +2 armor
light armor

costs140-150

This build is illegal, as both potions you put on him are enchanted items.


Here's one that you yourself invented/suggested I think:

alter highborn
stubborn
heavy armor and 5+ ward safe
hand weapon and shield
helm that gives +1 armor safe
annoyance of nettlings

Once again, illegal build. Double magic armor.
Besides, the parry bonus works now differently from previous edition. You will NOT have 2+AS, even with this build.

[WinterTalon]

Here is Two I have found intresting.

Noble WW on Stag
Glitering Scales, -1 to hit
Fimblewinter shard, -1 to hit plus 6' stupididty to forest spirts
This unit is -2 to hit in combat. from anyone,
On Charge the with be 5 st 5 attacks

I place him in a unit of treekin with a champion.
Will work with WW . will have to watch out for magical attacks, and enemy killing characters as well.
He is made to give treekin a anti-magic save and to take care number of large attack br rankand fill that only hit on 6's

Secound one is a a Lord anivl Stag
4+ ward item, Crown of comand, Helm of the Hunt
Th Lord goes in a unit of treekin to make them Stubborn.
With a life Weaver and 2 treeman and a BSB makes for a good anvil unit.
Hard to kill and and almost never runs

[lune]

Flanking Alter Highborn (286pts)
Sorry, don't know the english expressions of the new common items yet, so I'm only describing their abilities
Armour that grants 2+AS
Stone of Rebirth (2+ ward save once reduced to 1 wound)
Item that allows re-roll failed armour saves
GW

purposes
Use to chop through smaller knight units, get the bonus for flank or rear (I've just read through the 8th BRB and nowhere is a limitation mentioned how many models you need to get those bonuses - so 1 model already does the job!) in larger fights. Though hitting last, it's pretty unlikely he'll receive any wounds in a fight unless fighting monsters.
When there are no other needs, he can still slaughter warmachine crews, as many of our units.

weaknesses
As mentioned above, monsters with high strength attacks will chop through the armour (mainly S6 or larger amounts of S5)
Canon balls: 1 hit will most likely kill him in an instant
fighting alone: this alter is a supporter for other units, on average granting 3(maybe 4) points CR (1 for flank, 2 through kills, no wounds lost on him in return).
Even with 5 attacks he'll never break even small units alone (steadfast comes to mind).

Monster Hunter Highborn (301pts)
Sword with +3 Strength
Amaranth brooch (3ward vs non-magical)
Eagle
la, sh
potion with crushing attack and immune to psychology

purposes
Hunt Monsters, support fights vs monstrous infantry by flanking, WM hunting, smash chariots (S7), march blocking, eating archers for breakfast

weaknesses
magic (almost no save)
canons (if you're unlucky with your ward of fight magical ones)
regiments (4 attacks S7 won't do much against 3 ranks, banner and so on)
enemy characters (mostly kitted out with magical weapons)

My 2 cents for now - more coming once I'm back from party and hangover

[unicorn]

Stone of Rebirth (2+ ward save once reduced to 1 wound)
Item that allows re-roll failed armour saves

Both this items are talismans.

smash chariots (S7)

S7 no longer destroy chariots instantly

[rhys]

Favourite two combat alter noble builds:

Helm of the Hunt, Strength Potion, Rageth's Wildfire Blades

(like elevens)

Great weapon, potion of foolhardiness, stone of rebirth. (takes quite a lot to kill anyone with the stone)

I'm still considering running a wardancer highborn with blades of lorec, netlings and one of the new ward save items to take on almost any character but havent had a chance to try out yet!

[ring87]

Highborn, Altered Kindred, Glittering Scale Mail (-1 to hit), Crown of Command (Stubborn), Amaranthine Broach (3+ Ward vs non-magical), Great Weapon.

So 9" move to get him where he needs to be. -1 to hit for lone target for BS shooting. Look out Sir on a 4+ when next to infantry. 3+ Ward vs non Dwarven cannons and stone throwers. Stubborn on a 10, 4 Str 6 Great Weapon attacks that go last.

The Idea is to run him next to some infantry and charge a block to:
A: Hold horde blocks in place.
B. Kill Characters (mages)

Challenge and kill the champ roll stubborn on a 10 (Bsb Reroll). Next turn, challenge again, kill the mage or he goes to the back and can't cast if he refuses. Average troopers hit him on a 5 and unless their Demons you get a 3+ Ward Save. So maybe 1 wound at most. Probably none. Even a Hydra would most likely do 1 wound.

Things to watch out for are magic spells targeting him and combat monster characters with magic weapons. For the magic you'll just have to dispel. He should be in combat by turn 2. M9 should get him there quick.

If you are playing higher points have a Life Weaver heal any wounds he gets when ever you cast a spell.

[unicorn]

-1 to hit for lone target for BS shooting.

This is not true in 8th ed anymore

Stubborn on a 10, 4 Str 6 Great Weapon attacks that go last

In fact, 5 S6 attacks

Challenge and kill the champ stubborn on 10 (Bsb Reroll). Next turn challenge again kill the mage or he goes to the back and can't cast.

There is no rule preventing him from casting spells. And especially with TLOS, he will do it easily.

Average troopers hit him on a 5 and unless there Demons you get a 3+ Ward Save. So maybe 1 wound at most. Probably none. Even a Hydra would most likely do 1 wound.

Things to watch out for are magic spells targeting him and combat monster characters with magic weapons. For the magic you'll just have to dispel. He should be in combat by turn 2. M9 should get him there quick.

If you are playing higher points have a Life Weaver heal any wounds he get when ever you cast a spell.[/quote]

[tuku]

alter highborn
armour of destiny (5+ Armour, 4+ ward)
ogre blade (+2 s)
potion of foolhardiness ( devastating charge and immune to psycho ( 1 use ))

total: 275

noble
light armor
great eagle
helm of the hunt (+1 ws, +1 At hen charging)
relic sword ( always wounds 5+ ) ( go for the T10 war machines boo go for the machines )

total: 157 pts

light armor, helm, cavalry = 4+ Sv ( does helm and armour stack? if not light armour is not necessary )

Edited individual points costs ~ Beithir

[JOO]

Is the MGA not allowed anymore or is it just to obvious to put down?

[Minsc]

It's allowed.

Currently I use:
- Noble /w glittering scales and fimbulfwinter shard and shield. (142 pts)
(only hit on 6+ vs WS1-6 modells. and a 5+ AS/6+ WS in close combat just for good measure.)
- Highborn /w Hail of Doom Arrow, Merciw's Locus, Armour of Silvered Steel and a additional handweapon. (246 pts)
(Don't underestimate a 2+ AS when you're most likely to be hit by S3/S4 attacks)

They're both in a unit of Eternal Guard with the Razor Standard, so they are still decently killy with their 3+5 S4 AP attacks.

relic sword ( always wounds 5+ ) 10 ( go for the T10 war machines boo go for the machines )

That seems rather pointless since Warmachines use their crew's thoughness in close combat.

[Kertilien]

BSB:
Noble w/ Shrieking Blade, Charmed Shield, Stone of Rebirth (135 pts)
I find this BSB holds up fairly well while keeping the Eternal Guard Stubborn and supporting them with a cheap Fear-causing item.

Waywatcher:
Waywatcher Noble w/ The Horn of the Asrai, A Muster of Malevolents (160 pts)
This one's experimental, but it's fun when it works. You deploy the Waywatchers in a wide line roughly 15" from your opponent's battle line and pull several units out of position on their first turn with The Horn of the Asrai. With multiple chargers coming their way, you get a choice of targets to hit with your Stand and Shoot, which will always count as being made at short range because of the Muster of Malevolents.

[unicorn]

BSB:
Noble w/ Shrieking Blade, Charmed Shield, Stone of Rebirth (135 pts)

BSB can not have shield, magical or not

[Azaireal]

EG noble on a horse. 92 Points.
EG noble on an eagle, 130 points.

A nice little officer to inspire the troops. If we could get lances, I'd not suggest either.

[Kertilien]

BSB:
Noble w/ Shrieking Blade, Charmed Shield, Stone of Rebirth (135 pts)

BSB can not have shield, magical or not

Sorry, I missed that because our club has a house rule that allows it. I'd probably replace the Sword & Shield with a Potion of Toughness if I was playing somewhere else.

[Minsc]

BSB can not have shield, magical or not

Wrong, BSB's can have a magical Shield.
The rule that prevented them from taking a magic shield unless they could take a mundane one in the 7th Ed. BRB is removed.
The only armour restriction in 8th Ed. is that you have to be able to take any armour at all (and our BSB's can still take light armour) in order to take magical armour, be they shields, helms or regular plate mail.

[unicorn]

BSB can not have shield, magical or not

Wrong, BSB's can have a magical Shield.
The rule that prevented them from taking a magic shield unless they could take a mundane one in the 7th Ed. BRB is removed.
The only armour restriction in 8th Ed. is that you have to be able to take any armour at all (and our BSB's can still take light armour) in order to take magical armour, be they shields, helms or regular plate mail.

Wrong. Our own AB prevents him from taking shield at all.

[Eleven]

I'm with unicorn on this one. The Armybook is pretty clear: "...nor may he use a shield." The idea is that he needs all his strength to carry the banner so he cannot burden himself with a shield of any kind. At least that's how I interpret it.

[The Golden Arrow]

And everyone knows that dark and high elves are so much stronger than us...

I still see no spirt sword highborns, a shame on you Here are some builds using the new magic items:
Alter Highborn, light armour, spirit sword, shield of ptolos (1+ armour from missile attacks), potion of fool hardyness (+1 attack, IP on charge one use only), 2+ ward from flaming attacks or 5+ ward against flyers 273

Very survivable from shooting (especially with the infamous flaming banner and if he's close to units), warmachines are a bit of a problem though. In combat he REALLY needs to kill the monster (with his 6 attacks) because he probably won't survive the return attacks (especially with the thunder stomp and breath attack (the last is countered by the ward from flaming attacks)). This can change if you have some buffing spells though (especially beast magic has some really helpful spells, but life too) so he really benefits from a weaver together with him (you can have a lvl 4 weaver with 35 points in items together with this character). The 5+ ward from flyers can be enough to keep him alive against a dragon so a life mage can heal him up so that can be an alternative.


Another build with a steed mounted noble to protect him from shooting (in glade riders) and thunderstomp even though he loose an attack for the sword. Also with 3+ armour and 5+ ward he's pretty survivable for a wood elf.
Highborn, elven steed, shield, heavy armour with 5+ ward, potion of fool hardyness, 2+ ward from flaming 266

In this edition he can also be placed on an eagle giving him an extra wound and flying (plus a massive 2 S4 attacks and stomp against hydra handlers if you kill the hydra

[Beithir Seun]

We interrupt this topic to bring you a message from your Moderators:


As this topic has now generated two reports about the posting of individual points costs, I will issue a general "warning"

Please do not post the individual costs of any model, item or equipment. This is a breach of GW copyright.

If you need to post points costs, only post the overall combined total of the build in question.

Regular programming can now be resumed

[Minsc]

Wrong. Our own AB prevents him from taking shield at all.

That seems both true and extremely stupid. (Due to a different wording - if it would've just said "can't buy a mundane shield" like it does in every other 6th Ed. AB we would be able to 'legaly' buy shields.)
That's about as big a oversight as the fact that Steamtanks still are immune to Pit of Shades for some reason.

Thank god my gamingclub has houseruled old AB's to be able to buy mundane equipment as normal.

[ring87]

A word of advice don't use the Spirit Sword. A bad rolls kills the genral of your army. I have done it.

Can Wood Elves Take Magical Heavy Armor?
There is an armour, "Armour of Silvered Steel" that is not classified as Heavy, Light or otherwise. 2+ save is nice.

Unicorn: My Altered Lord build was leagal (and it's a really good build). Perhaps I got some of the old rules that now don't work now -1 to hit for lone target est. I forgot the +1 attack for an altered but my points still stand. Silly things happen when writing quickly on an internet forum. I think it's pretty lame to correct every little thing someone posts. It makes that person say "why bother". And cheapens that persons post.

Our Bsb still can't last in combat. The Stone of Rebirth helps but it says one use only in the book so how long until it's FAQed. I would still would try and kep him out of combat if you can.

[Beithir Seun]

Ring87, you seem to have a chip on your shoulder. Unicorn has not corrected "every little thing" in your post at all. If you have a problem with people commenting on your posts then I suggest you refrain from posting until you can accept that other people may have opinions of their own about what you write.