Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hopefully the title encapsulate the question.

I am tweaking a unit of WoC and was thinking halbreds + shields.
The shields are purely for surviving until I get in to CC, as I can't use them in combat, so would having an incurs token be just as effective? Obviously assuming that the character remains in unit.

The ironcurse icon only works against warmachine fire iirc. Most war machines will hit with sufficient strength to bypass shields. Some warmachines outright deny armour saves.

The icon is a ward save and unaffected by high str but remember it only works on warmachines. Regular shooting will bypass it and that's where the shields might be handy.

Really the two items serve 2 different purposes.

Shields and the Ironcurse Mark don't work even sort of alike.

A shield gives you +1 to your armor save against shooting. Once you're in combat, it gives you a +1 to your armor save and a parry 6+ ward save only if you're using it (if you're using your halberds, you can't use your shield and don't get the parry save or the armor bonus).

The Ironcurse Mark gives you a 6+ Ward against war machines. This means if they shoot you with a cannon, that unit gets to take a 6+ ward against it. In close combat, it's the crew hitting you, not the war machine weapon itself, and it doesn't apply.

Your opponent is going to shoot his cannons at the most threatening thing they need taken down. If this means your warrior block, you need to revise your army. The Ironcurse Mark is better served in a unit of Knights with the Mark of Tzeentch, because they're actually tough to crack and need the power of a cannon to hurt them. Letting the knights have a 5+ Ward against war machines is more useful. The only time a cannon should be firing at your warriors is if everything else is already in combat. By this point, you're probably close enough they're going to grape shot you anyway, which is only S5 (meaning you have a 5+ armor against it).

My other units are all fairly protected against shooting, hence putting in the warrior unit. I was misremembering the shield rule I think - was thinking parry acted as a ward against shooting too.

I hope this unit never gets close to grape shot, as it is my mage bunker, but small arms fire might still hurt a bit.

Knights with MoT actually want the Blasted Standard, its far more effective at stopping shooting of any kind than the Ironcurse Icon is.

Bow/Crossbow/Handgun/Pistol shooting isn't covered by Ironcurse Mark either.

Grey, there's no reason not to have both for the extra 5 points. Gotta have something there when you roll that 1.

Of course