Artisan of war warlord trait

[Demoulius]

Hey all,

 

I think I probably know the anwser already.... but does anyone use the artisan of war warlord trait?

 

On paper adding 1 damage to a weapon doesent seem that powerfull but when you factor in weapons with very high rates of fire (like stormbolters) or weapons with high AP (thunderhammers, chainfists, etc) I can see this WL trait having some pretty powerfull combos.

 

Thing is compared to the other traits I feel its just....lackluster. Maybe if it also added -1AP it would see the point. But I can see it beeing more usefull in small games. Like maybe 500-1000 pts or something I guess. OOORRRR It could be worth it to take on a smash captain but I take gift of foresight myself to make him last a little bit longer. Personally it doesent really help in keeping him alive but I can count the games that ive played with him on 1 hand so theres that

 

Some fun combos I can see (in small games) that could be pretty powerfull:

ranged

Lietenant/captain with master crafted boltgun that does 3 damage per wound. Only -1ap and 2 shots when rapid firing but a very budget hq.

Plamapistol (or plasmacomponent in a combi-plasma) would do 2 without risking you a instant death on a 1 to hit. With a risky 3 damage per shot.

Stormbolter would do 2 damage but has no AP. But 4 shots when rapid firing.

 

close combat

Furioso with boosted Furioso force halberd does 4 damage per wound. And considering a Liby dread comes with 1 anyway.....

Master crafted power swords would do 3 damage per wound. (can be found on captain on gravis armour and company champion)

Thunder hammers would do 4 damage per hit. OOF.

Crozius would do 3 damage per wound.

Relic blades would do 2-4 damage per wound.

 

I only listed the weapons that I personally think it would be worth it to take the WL trait on and some of these are....Hilariously killy.

 

Anyway, looking forward to what you guys have for input on this

[Panzer]

  

 

Yes, Artisan of War is probably the most used Warlord Trait in the Blood Angels Codex thanks to the Captain Smash build. ;)

[Majkhel]

One od the 2* go-to WLs for the Smash Captain. Consider the number od attacks that he gets ;)

 

*The other being Gift od Foresight

[SnorriSnorrison]

Huh, interesting. Never considered it on ranged weapons.

 

I also use it all the time, even a Sanguinary Ancient gets quite killy with D3+1 damage per hit as your warlord. Generally, you should focus more on close combat, given the Red Thirst. If you want to focus on the shooty stuff more, Space Marines with their doctrines are currently the way to go.

[Vermintide]

The value of this trait is that having extra damage on a weapon means guaranteed additional damage on every successful attack. That tends to work out better than just having extra attacks would, for example.

 

Even apart from the notorious Captain Smash, I think we get a lot of mileage out of it. Smaller points games where you only have a cheap HQ with a power sword? That's still gonna pack a punch at 2 damage.

 

My personal favourite is to give it to my chaplain and make his Crozius into a budget Thunder Hammer

[t-dog1996]

The value of this trait is that having extra damage on a weapon means guaranteed additional damage on every successful attack. That tends to work out better than just having extra attacks would, for example.

 

Even apart from the notorious Captain Smash, I think we get a lot of mileage out of it. Smaller points games where you only have a cheap HQ with a power sword? That's still gonna pack a punch at 2 damage.

 

My personal favourite is to give it to my chaplain and make his Crozius into a budget Thunder Hammer

 

What's kinda funny is that at only 124 points Slam is totally viable in smaller point games. I even once took him in a 500 point scratch game for funsies. In that one he pretty much soloed my opponent's whole army. The rest of the list was just 3 Scout Squads who grabbed objectives, and a Lieutenant with a small Sternguard squad for fire support.

 

Artisan of war is good because it pairs well with our army trait. Ultimately if your 'thing' is that you wound more easily in CC. it stands to reason that anything which makes each wound do more damage is worth it.

Edited September 9, 2019 by t-dog1996

[Morticon]

Where've you been Dem!!

[Demoulius]

Recovering from a burn out mate. Things are slowly getting better that I can slowly start to do fun things again. Painting and modelling has proven to be a great help

 

Honestly I only expected people with smash captains to use this warlord trait. But theory crafting a little bit about its uses is pretty fun

[BAjim]

Artisan of War is one the Blood Angels lesser used warlord traits. When applying it to a combi-weapon I assume that it increases the Damage by 1 of this weapon’s two profiles. That’s the Rule As Written. For example, my Terminator Librarian warlord has a combi-weapon bolter/flamer, and has taken the Artisan of War trait, meaning that any damage output increases from 1 to 2 for both profiles. Am I correct?

[Blindhamster]

bolt storm gauntlet on the gravis captain. its a single weapin with two profiles, RAW it impacts both ranged and melee as its a single weapon.

[Xenith]

It's my go-to trait if my warlord isn't a smash captain, even then sometimes it is, you can use 1cp to give it to someone else. D4 force halberds or hammers one shot support characters, and now outriders, also 2 shot opposing dreads or 3 shot 12W tanks instead of needing 3/4 wounds respectively.