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I want to field a support General for my army, I plan on putting him and a B.S.B with the Standard of Discipline and put him at the center of my armies advance, probably with great swords (Leadership 10 rer-ollable leadership bubble ) I was thinking of giving the General the silver horn (Bound Spell that causes a board wide instant rally) Then appropriate armor and weapons so he can lead from the front. At higher point values I will put him on a Griffon to jump the bubble up further. He isnt made for combat, but I want him to at least be able to hold his own against rank and file troops ( I am throwing a Speculum wizard to accept challenges in his place as well as buff the units around the central unit)

Ehh I think LD 9 reroll is sufficient most of the time. I Find the arch lector much better at support roll with his dispel dice and hatred

Can you give a BSB a magical standard and another magic item? thought it was one or the other?

The unit would be the core of my army, giving a leadership bubble and being nasty and whatnot. The unit includes, The General, a BSB with the Standard of Discipline and appropriate armor and weapons, and a Battle Wizard with Van Horstmanns Speculum. The General and BSB would cause the bubble of leadership, keeping the rest of the army in line up until combat. The Wizard would either use support magic or offensive magic, but his role in the unit is to protect the General from any nasty Heroes or Lords, acting as a bodyguard as it were, stealing their profile and allowing the rest of the unit to deal with the heroes or lords unit. The rest of my points for Heroes would be spent on either Captains or Priests to lead my units from the front.

A thought just occurred to me. I can cut out the BSB and use the Generals Ancestral Heirloom to give the unit he's in the Banner of Discipline, giving me more Heroes to put up the front (or maybe an Engineer for my artillery battery)

Does the empire have no units other than the BSB who can have a magic banner, cuz that would allow your BSB to be more survivable.

As stated before, the General has the Ancestral Heirloom rule, which lets a unit of state troopers (half my army choices ) Take a magic standard worth up to 50 points. I may stick with the BSB bearer as a part of the armies core so that all my unit can get a reroll.

But you could have the unit banner and the BSB, and nice deffence gear.

I really dont want the Generals unit to be a powerhouse, its a command and control unit, not a deathstar. Its tempting though.

Well, bear in mind that the BSB is one of the top targets in your army. Removing those bloody rerolls to Ld tests is pretty huge, so generally you want him to at least have a ward save or something, particularly if he is going to be rolling with a general who is leading from the front. Those war machines love hitting guys in the front

Few problems:
1. Standard of Discipline cannont be combined with Inspiring Presence and the +1 Ld is only for the unit it's in (both mean that there's no +1 Ld 'bubble')
2. When you say "Support General", do you mean your one and only General is playing a supporting role or that you're taking a secondary General of the Empire (who is not the Army General - and therefore has no Inspiring Presence 'bubble' rule)
3. You want a Lord, a Hero with BSB AND a Mage in the same unit but you're worried about making a deathstar?
4. in reference to

Sanctus-Malas wrote:...put him on a Griffon to jump the bubble up further...

If he's on a Griffon he leaves the bubble behind
5. in reference to

Sanctus-Malas wrote:...a unit of state troopers (half my army choices )...

Only one unit of state troops gets a magic standard though... not half your army

1. Standard of Discipline cannont be combined with Inspiring Presence and the +1 Ld is only for the unit it's in (both mean that there's no +1 Ld 'bubble')

I was looking to laugh at the Standards of Discipline's no Inspiring Presence rule because the unit itself cannot use the Inspiring Presence, but everyone else can. As long as the General stays in the unit, he is able to use Inspiring Presence on everyone else, just not the unit he is with (and even then they can still use his leadership because he has the highest leadership in that unit). Because the General is a part of the unit, he gets +1 to his Leadership, making him leadership 10, and therefore has a leadership 10 Inspiring Presence.

When you say "Support General", do you mean your one and only General is playing a supporting role or that you're taking a secondary General of the Empire (who is not the Army General - and therefore has no Inspiring Presence 'bubble' rule)

Just the one General, if I was to field a second Lord, it would either be a Wizard Lord or a Templar Grand Master.

You want a Lord, a Hero with BSB AND a Mage in the same unit but you're worried about making a deathstar?

You make a fantastic point good sir, maybe I will turn the BSB into a good challenge fighter and remove the Wizard (let him do his nefarious deeds elsewhere.

If he's on a Griffon he leaves the bubble behind

Actually, his inspiring presence rules range is increased from 12 inches to 18 inches because he is on a monstrous creature. I can also still keep him in the unit, but I have to displace quite a few models to make room.

Only one unit of state troops gets a magic standard though... not half your army

I know that, I meant half the choices I can take are State Troopers. Only one can take a Magic Standard (I should have worded that better).

On a monster, the General cannot join units. So it's 12" and safe, or 18" and living on the edge.

IMO, target saturation is the way to go.
Great Swords, up front and center, with a warrior priest (1+ armor, re-rolls saves, great weapon).
Behind that put on one side the BSB into a unit of halbardiers, give him full plate, shield, banner of sigismund (stubborn)
And on the other, the General (also in a halberd unit), dragon helm, full plate, shield, holy relic, crown of command.

You place the BSB and general so that they can't be charged (front of the unit behind great swords).
When you do get charged; Surprise, they are all stubborn. You can reform facing the enemy in horde formation (with the general/bsb not in the fight).



-Matt

Personally I find that an AL is much the better option. You dont need the ld10 in my opinion. Sure the general has better hitting power, but if you are using him purely as support I would say go for an AL instead, cant beat an unbreakable unit