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Hi Dakka. I have been wondering a lot on how to equip my Minotaurs lately. They are already at 55 points when you get them, and not very survivable, so I think it's best to keep them cheap.
To begin with, I plan to run three together with a fairly cheap Doombull (Heavy armour, shield, Ramhorn helm, Gnarled Hide, Ironcurse icon) at 1500 points, but I will probably expand to six Minotaurs later on.
In my army I also field a Wargor BSB, a level 2 Bray-shaman, 20 AHW Gors, 28 Ungors with spears, 2 Tuskgor chariots and 20 Bestigors.

Minotaurs already have a bunch of str 5 attacks, but I think that what my Beastmen army needs are more high strength attacks, so I plan on equipping them with great weapons, although I find it very expensive, making each Minotaur cost 63 points. The reason why I think I need higher strength is because my local metagame consists mainly of Dwarfs, WoC and Ogre Kingdoms. Minotaurs already have poor initiative (3), so upgrading them with AHWs have no other advantages over GW other than cost and 1+ attack IMHO.
I dont plan on upgrading them with any part of the command group, because I find 10 points for a musician, 20 points for a champion and 20 points for a standard bearer simply too expensive. They are definitely a hammer unit when paired with the doombull, so the 1+ to combat res woulden't make a difference, because they should kill their way to victory each round of every combat, if I maneuver them correctly that is.

So do you think that GW's only is the right way to go Dakka? Fellow Beastmen players, how do you equip your Minotaurs?
Thanks in advance!

I have found the additional movement benefits of a Musician to be helpful regardless of the unit.

Heya,

I am trying to run two blocks of 6 minotaurs with extra hand weapons and no command at the moment (in 2000 points). My meta is against Lizardmen and WoC right now, and I am focusing on trying to get some models across the table vs. Lizards. My opponent recently discovered Razordons, and his luck with the artillery dice has been outstanding so far, cutting my forces to pieces as I try to close. I upped to 6 to add some ablative wound armor, and find the strength 5 hits in storms does the trick just fine when they make it to combat. Of course, I beat Lizard initiative with a 3 most times, so that helps.

I too find the command group absolutely over costed for no benefit. Either I get there and blend them for the win, or I don't get there at all. Standards don't help, and 20 points for 1 extra attack just doesn't work out well (when I got it for 4 points by taking the extra hand weapon...). The only time I might take a Bloodkine is if I also wanted to give him a magic weapon.

True, the only thing I might ever take besides AHW or GW's would be the musician for the bonuses he provide. I decided on GW's for my unit because one more str 5 hit from each minotaur in the front rank would not make as big a difference as a boatload of str 7 attacks, although GW's cost twice as much.

Razordons, just be happy he hasn't discovered what skinks do to minotaurs and what salliamanders do to the rest of your army.

That being said minso are indeed best with either AHW or GW. Keeping them safe from shooting can be done with magic (not guaranteed) or via target saturation (most people will shoot for that fat monster first).

I would have to say that, overall, I'd rather less attacks that wound and go unsaved more often over the potential for more wounds.

Mino's with great weapons are a waste on hordes of slaves or gobbos. But they are anyway. I think big ol' axes makes them the most versatile, but I'm not 100% confident of the costs.

What about reg'lar old minotaurs with no upgrades? Also, the musician seems like a solid choice, for fast reform and all (as long as a BSB is nearby, anyway).
The bloodkine's one and only use is to challenge super choppy characters so that more minotaurs survive to swing at the unit. Unfortunately, the number of enemies that could take out multiple minotaurs is pretty slim...
Then again, if you kit out a mino character to have tons of attacks, a Bloodkine could take the challenge to let your character swing at rank and file...

I like the GW's just that extra strength can be devestating when you really need it, as far as other upgrades go I'll pretty much echo everyone else here and tell you to go with the musician, they're almost always worth it.

I think that 4 points for an extra str 5 attack is worth it, as thoose last attacks might just win the Minotaurs the combat vs. medium sized rank and file units, giving them even more attacks, because cheap minotaurs already have next to no static combat resulution.
I also think that Minotaurs can get a decent mileage out of shields too when not run together with a Gorebull or Doombull, because they only gain frenzy and loose their parry save after they have won their first combat, after which they no longer need that much protection. Shields are worth their points because they are protecting the expensive and vulnerable minotaurs against some of the strength 3 shooting and strength 3 close combat attacks that they are so vulnerable to with their meagre toughness of 4.
IMHO Minos should therefore never be taken bare, as any of the weapon upgrades will increase their effectiveness versus the things you want them to kill.
Taking a Bloodkine in a unit of minotaurs when fielding a Doombull kitted out for maximum attacks is a great idea! Many of the good magic items depend on the number of enemy models in base contact (slug skin, brass cleaver) or the number of wounds the Doombull can save with its armour (ramhorn helm), so getting challenged by a puny unit champion for just a single round would spare the enemy 10-15 dead T3 models. This idea is so great that I will probably take a Bloodkine in my mino unit for 2000 or 2500 point games.
My unit will probably end up having a kitted out Doombull, a Bloodkine, a Musician and a regular minotaur with GW in the first rank for maximum impact hits and stomp attacks and have three minos with GW's in the second rank.

Well, all the upgrades do improve minotaur effectiveness, of course. They're upgrades. The issue I have is: do they improve their effectiveness for their points?

Shields just don't seem to. 5+ armour and a 6+ Parry (until you lose it) for 24pts. So you'll save an extra four wounds before the unit dies, assuming S3 enemies and that you're winning combat. I just dunno...

The champion thing is an old dirty trick. You want a champion in a tar pit unit so he can challenge that beast of a character, and you want a champion in your killy unit to get your beast of a character a-chewing on their ranks. 20pts for the Mino. champ is steep, though, so it's not as obvious a choice as, say, a Pawleader.

I have to admit that shields are probably the weakest of the three upgrades that each individual Minotaur can take, as upgrading a hammer unit with defensive upgrades doesn't make a whole lot of sense

I agree that 20 points is steep for something you just want to accept a challenge to avoid something else accepting it. At such a high points cost, it should at least give something besides +1 attack and the ability to choose from 25 points of gifts of chaos.
It could, on the other hand, also be used the other way around, to protect a caster or Gorebull BSB from a challenge by a killy enemy character, but then again, a Bloodkine with great weapon is already at a whopping 83 points for a unit champion, so you might just want to make a pass on that, unless your caster is really expensive, and it is vital for your strategy to have him in your Minotaur unit.

I think that making a unit more defensive is a legit strategy; there's nothing wrong with trying to be balanced rather than going all or nothing.
...but shields on minotaurs is just too many points for what you get (basically, a 6+ Ward...for a little while).

Champions are great for protecting characters and all that, but it seems the Bloodkine's one and only use seems to be making sure that your character with 10 attacks gets to swing into the ranks. For an extra 20pts, it might win you a combat. But then again, it may not.