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Is it a good idea to put a stave in a terminator squad? A Paladin squad? On a Librarian or Techmarine?

Depends on what you want that squad to be doing...if you plan on turning the squad into a dedicated assault unit then yes it is worth the points cause it can soak Powerfist attacks like nobody's business. However on something like an IC I would bother with it. It's too many points in one area to justify it IMO.

The Paladins in a Draigo list should have one somewhere in there, but everywhere else I think it is situational. Not bad, just situational and dependent on your strategy

Librarian is generally the only one it is good for, since he is slamming out powers left and right and is likely to peril.

Paladins it isnt a bad idea to parry a powerfist swing, some people will argue this, I think its situational and would only pick up one for every other squad or so.

Grundz wrote:Librarian is generally the only one it is good for, since he is slamming out powers left and right and is likely to peril.

You mean while in CC... and since the stave only works in CC while the Librarian is in CC, he gets a 2++ versus perils? If true, that is a very nice bonus!

Stavkat wrote:

Grundz wrote:Librarian is generally the only one it is good for, since he is slamming out powers left and right and is likely to peril.

You mean while in CC... and since the stave only works in CC while the Librarian is in CC, he gets a 2++ versus perils? If true, that is a very nice bonus!

RAW this is true, he would get a 2++ versus perils in close combat.

I don't know if its worth the points to put on a librarian, though that is obviously where it does the most good. I started out running one in a squad, but it's just not worth the cost in my opinion. If I was going to put one in a squad anywhere though, I'd put it on the Justicar.

It isn't worth it. Independent characters can take sword for free, which makes the iron halo save a 3++ in close combat, which is almost as good, and it doesn't cost 35 points. Still not neccisary on a paladin squad either, because you often have a sword-wielding independant character with them.

Eh? In CC, the character cannot take wounds allocated to the squad...

The only model in my GK army that has a warding stave is my librarian. If I had techmarines I would fit them with staves as well. Other than that those are the only staves you will find in my army.

In order of importance, I'd say:

Techmarine (no built-in invulnerable and should only be taken for his grenade options, meaning he's going to be in CC a lot)
Librarian (his sword makes him a 4++ in CC, but going to a 2++ is fantastic and will make people think twice on how they charge/react)
Paladins (Powerfists can hurt quite a bit. Yes, a sword wielder gets a 4++, but I'd rather have a better chance to save and replace the sword with something a bit more useful)
Strike Squads/Interceptors (Honestly, giving these guys an Invulnerable save can give them a big boost against hidden Fists. Certainly not the top choice though, but the only other one worth considering I think)
Terminators (Again, the sword gives them a 4++, and they don't have to worry about ID like Paladins, so that's why they get put down here)

As was said already, Grand Masters/Brother-Captains don't need it thanks to the 3++. The only other weapon to consider for them is a Halberd for a bit of a boost. Purifiers can deal out so much damage that hidden Fists shouldn't threaten them too much.

I'm not saying those last three should always have the stave, but they are the only other ones worth putting one on IMO.

Warding staves are expensive, but they're also worth it IMO. I'd normally give it to expensive units such as librarians or paladins. Don't give it to Grandmasters and Bro-caps. With the sword, they already have a 3++ for free.

I also give it to about half of scoring units for some more resilience. For instance, if I run 4 units of purifiers troops, I'd give 2 of them hammers and 2 of them staves. It's not really necessary to give them to a non-scoring unit as it's not as important if those units live or not. But you do want your troops in an objectives game to be able to stick around.

It also works great against Perils in combat - hammerhand and cleansing flame as well as librarian psychic powers.

Well, what I have heard is that it has been made for use in the new ed where you can assign more than one wound to a specific model. Not sure though.

IMHO, warding staves are used for beating GK mirrors, the same you need psychotrokes and rad grenades in mirror matches.

Let me put it this way, if two 10 man GK termies would start a slug fest, the one with the warding stave will always win.

I think I will start equipping my paladins with one or two.

Blackmoor wrote:I think I will start equipping my paladins with one or two.

Each squad can only take one

I only run them in my purifier squads, so that if I run into a squad with one or two power weapons, or a furioso dread I have at least one invuln to allocate to.

The Librarian needs one if he's going to get into close combat (and generally speaking he wants to be if possible to protect him from fire if the combat is ongoing) because usually the enemy wants to eliminate him fairly early if he can so he will be a target otherwise and 4++ isn't really good enough with only 2 wounds and T4. 2++ makes him very hard to kill.

Paladins should have one per squad if they are troops, if elite choices it's probably not worth it as you'd really want your other troops squads to have them in preference.

A close combat Techmarine absolutely must have one.

Any troop choices that are likely to end up in assault should have one but points won't allow ever squad to have one so jv2's 50% rule seems sensible. I think though probably only two troop choices really need them if you're running more than 4 units of troops unless they're all melee-centric units. The exception might be terminator squads as they might rely on their halberds to reduce enemy attackjs enough that a stave isn't worth it.

Personally I would take a stave on a GM or Captain but I can't forsee andy situation where a captain would be my HQ chouice and I think Crowe, Mordrak or Draigo or Coteaz are better HQ choices for most armies than a 'straight' GM.

Artemo wrote:...would be my HQ chouice and I think Crowe, Mordrak or Draigo or Coteaz are better HQ choices for most armies than a 'straight' GM.

I don't know many, whether homo or hetero, I feel like a GM could be useful. If you don't have the points for Draigo or don't want him or Paladins, a GM is cheaper, still grants Grand Strategy, isn't saddled with non-scoring Ghost Knights, and can take crazy grenades....