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Can Witch Hunters take a great weapon and a brace of pistols? It doesn't say in the book "you may take one" but rather "May be armed with...". I would have thought he can take both, therefore, but when I've seen people talking about him on various sites, they seem to infer he has to pick one.

So?

Don't see why not. He doesn't get an extra attack if he uses the GW, but you can choose which you're using at the start of combat. That's detailed in the BRB.

I doubt anyone would complain, after all, it would mean you just blew points on a witch hunter.

-Matt

WH are very good against certain armies. VC/TK and even some of the herald-based DoC come to mind.

I think he's crap, but then again I think that MR 2 is worth 30pts according to the BRB, so essentially you're paying 20pts for his stats and other abilities...

Which by definition means he's not crap. He's at the very least as good as a unit champion and he can threaten the hell out of one enemy character.

I've had a barebones witch hunter nearly kill a 300 point dreadlord in a challenge. Witch hunters are worth all their points.

DukeRustfield wrote:
Which by definition means he's not crap. He's at the very least as good as a unit champion and he can threaten the hell out of one enemy character.

But how often do you see anyone buying MR? Outside of my lizardmen who drop comets point blank, I don't know anyone who buys MR.
With his base stat-line he's not a threat to any fighting hero, and rank and file are enough of a threat to wizards.
Having 30 points of MR doesn't make that MR worth 30 points.

The build I like on the witch hunter is the Speculum and the extra pistol. The problem with the witch hunter is that you don't have enough magic allotment to buy both defense and offense; it's one or the other. Speculum kind of covers both.

Given that level 2 wizards for support are good, warrior priests for hatred are great, and captains for BSB/Hold the line are also solid. It makes the witch hunter a few steps behind the other options.

-Matt

Rank and file do nothing to wizards until all the enemy rank and file are gone. I.e., when his entire enclosing unit is destroyed. If the wizard is worthwhile, he's not going to be up front for that to happen easily. WH gets past that.

If you're only fighting Ogres or Slann Lizardmen, a WH is a terrible option. If you're fighting VC/TK he's unbelievably good.

His statline is better than any unit he's going to be in. That's not saying much but he's a cheap LD 8 hero. He's like a goblin big boss +- some stats, better gear and the ability to assassinate people for 15 pts.

or take the ruby ring, which thanks to the faq now has sniper and killing blow too...

DukeRustfield wrote:
Rank and file do nothing to wizards until all the enemy rank and file are gone. I.e., when his entire enclosing unit is destroyed. If the wizard is worthwhile, he's not going to be up front for that to happen easily. WH gets past that.

If you're only fighting Ogres or Slann Lizardmen, a WH is a terrible option. If you're fighting VC/TK he's unbelievably good.

His statline is better than any unit he's going to be in. That's not saying much but he's a cheap LD 8 hero. He's like a goblin big boss +- some stats, better gear and the ability to assassinate people for 15 pts.

Rank and file don't put wizards in the 2nd rank, other characters do. A witch hunter gets 3 S4 or 2S6 attacks. That's not overwhelming. His real problem is that he's init 4, meaning that unless he gets really lucky with a pistol shot, any enemy of any real value is going to paste him in combat before he swings. Which is why I think the only way to run him is with the speculum.

If you could put him on a horse, I'd love him.

-Matt

We have enough Lore of Death players in the area that having MR 2 to boost existing Ward saves vs the snipe spells can be handy. Quite a few take a level 1 Fire Mage/Scroll caddy, and the MR can be useful against that too.

I'm not saying I like him, but at 50pts and minimal gear, he's not absurdly bad.

Clarence wrote:
We have enough Lore of Death players in the area that having MR 2 to boost existing Ward saves vs the snipe spells can be handy. Quite a few take a level 1 Fire Mage/Scroll caddy, and the MR can be useful against that too.

I'm not saying I like him, but at 50pts and minimal gear, he's not absurdly bad.

I think a few witch hunters bunkering in a folding fortress add a lot. ~3 of them for 150 points gives you 6 shots + 6 stand and fires every turn. And, deathstars benefit most from MR. It leaves them free to shoot every turn, and don't have to go into combat.

Running him in normal units, you risk unit champs taking him out in challenges and picking up the bonus VP's too.

-Matt

Witch hunters are like lottery tickets. If you were to look at it purely in terms of the likelihood of success they're not a great deal. But if you have some spare points that you won't miss elsewhere in your list, then there's a chance at a spectacular pay off.

When it comes to equipment, nothing really changes the chance of that pay off. I mean, as HawaiiMatt said the Speculum is great, but that's a Speculum that could otherwise be keeping your Wizard or Arch Lector alive. Everything else, even the brace of pistols and the great weapon, are points that aren't really changing the odds of rolling a killing blow. Better to buy the cheapest possible lottery ticket, and figure you won't miss the 50 points if it doesn't win, and just maybe it'll win you a game by itself.

So, to answer the OP's question, you could give them both a great weapon and a brace of pistols. But don't.

 sebster wrote:
Witch hunters are like lottery tickets. If you were to look at it purely in terms of the likelihood of success they're not a great deal. But if you have some spare points that you won't miss elsewhere in your list, then there's a chance at a spectacular pay off.

When it comes to equipment, nothing really changes the chance of that pay off. I mean, as HawaiiMatt said the Speculum is great, but that's a Speculum that could otherwise be keeping your Wizard or Arch Lector alive. Everything else, even the brace of pistols and the great weapon, are points that aren't really changing the odds of rolling a killing blow. Better to buy the cheapest possible lottery ticket, and figure you won't miss the 50 points if it doesn't win, and just maybe it'll win you a game by itself.

So, to answer the OP's question, you could give them both a great weapon and a brace of pistols. But don't.

Brace of pistols gives you 5 lottery tickets instead of 3 (2 shots on stand and fire and 3 attacks in combat vs 1 shot on stand and fire and 2 attacks in combat).
I'd always take the brace.

-Matt

Only if you hit at least at the same time although I think a brace is still adequately priced. A Great Weapon on the other hand just ensures everyone gets his chance to kill him first.

He's FIFTY points, guys. Like less than 10 sworsdsmen with a MR buff, LD, and shootiness.

Yes, he's pretty fairly priced for what he does. He will still die to those 10 Swordsmen and faster than them against almost everything, not contribute to ranks and at best enhance the staying power of the unit just as well.

I'm not saying he's Spawn-class bad but it's 50-60 points for the chance to roll 6's, and being a short-ranged and fragile model, he often doesn't get all that many tries. At the end of the day, I'm happy Crud included the WH because even if he fails and even if he was worse than an alternative, those 55 points aren't going to break a budget.