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Author Topic: Ethereal units and counters  (Read 2612 times)

Offline bengo2105

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Ethereal units and counters
« on: October 10, 2015, 12:00:19 PM »
Recently played gain at VC and had a hard time fighting the ethereal units, what are the top tips for fighting year out? I thought it was flaming attacks but I believe this was a previous edition of my imagination.  :dry:

Online Fidelis von Sigmaringen

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Re: Ethereal units and counters
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2015, 01:05:58 PM »
Your imagination, I think. BRB p. 68: "Ethereal creatures can only be wounded by spells, magical attacks and magic weapons or effects. This is not to say that Ethereal creatures cannot be beaten in close combat by mundane troops, because combat results are not wholly dependent upon casualties."

In the case of Undead Ethereals, the latter refers to their Unstable special rule (BRB p. 78): "Unstable units that lose a combat suffer one extra Wound for every point by which they lose the combat, with no saves of any kind permitted against these wounds." So simply winning combat will kill Ethereals.

However, for the Empire, spells are really the preferred option. These can be ranged attack spells,directed against the Ethereals, or augment spells, like the Flaming Sword of Rhuin, which, cast upon e.g. a Hellblaster, would make its attacks magical.
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Offline CarolineWellwater

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Re: Ethereal units and counters
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2015, 01:38:22 PM »
(( bengo2015,

Overall, I'd have to say "Magic", which'll probably get a "Duh, I knew that" from you.  But, anyway, as Fidelis von Sigmaringen said, with our lack of troop types or options that have magic-attacks built in, our primary way of dealing with Ethereals is Magic. 

I would say that Fire and Metal do pretty well against Ethereals, as both offer Augments that make mundane attacks Magical.  Fire has Flaming Sword of Ruin (one of my favorite spells in the game), while Metal offers Enchanted Blades of Albion.  The Battle Prayer Soulfire can also offer up to 3 hits against Ethereals as well.  Any light-cast Magic Missile (even Feast of Crows) can do a number on Ethereals, as they tend to rely on their Ethereal-ness to survive, and not Toughness or Armor Save or Regeneration.

For backup, Ethereals are usually on the pricier side, and... aren't all that sturdy.  Don't forget, Ethereals don't tend to have Banners or Musicians in their units.  So... if you tie, you win because of the Rockin' Drum Solo your Musician gives, and cause one Wound on the Ethereal due to Unstable.

Anyway, just some quick thoughts. ))

Offline bengo2105

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Re: Ethereal units and counters
« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2015, 04:52:02 PM »
That's great, I didn't focus on the spirit hosts as the opponent had hex wraiths and they really buggered up my plans, my options to help deal with them were limited. But I'll take a fire wizard along for he journey instead of an artillery piece. That should sure up my defences.