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So the Namarti Thralls page says any model can be an icon bearer. An icon bearer gets an extra attack. There are no restrictions in the rules or battletome to how many models can be an icon bearer.

Therefore, just add an icon to your models and make all your Namarti thralls 3 attacks base, with their special rule for 4 attacks or 2 damage.

Secret Namarti Thralls Buff

This has been talked about pretty extensively in different places.

Yes, the rules don't specify how many icons you can have.

The box only comes with 2 icons per 10 guys.

My guess is that it will be clarified in an FAQ soon and probably limited to either 1 per squad or 1 per 10, or maybe, at best, 2 per 10.

Personally, I'm not going to go out of my way to convert up a bunch of icons for something that's probably going to be nerfed in the next month or so.

There's a lot of places in AoS where obvious RAI is used in place of RAW. It's so pervasive most players don't even realize they are doing it, let alone where. There hasn't been a single AoS tournament that did not use RAI>RAW in some way (and this is excluding explicit house rules).

One example is musicians and standard bearers in units. Most players treat this as permitting one of each per unit, but in reality every single model (even the unit leader) can be both a musician AND a standard bearer, do not have to be modeled to represent it, and can use any type of equipment option for the unit regardless of what the model actually has.

but then the question what is rai in this case?, is the icon intended as a champion for the unit and as such 1 per unit or as a more generic upgrade as 2 icons come in the box, so 2 per 10 or what?, it talks about bearers in plural but theres no indication as to an upper limit, not even in the fluff, its about as unclear as it gets

Well rai is either:
-They are unit champions and you get one per unit
-They are 'special weapons' like moonclan netters and you get 2 per 10

I'd say look at the various pictures and see how many they put in units.

My understanding is you have to have the bit represented. Got an icon on it? It’s an icon bearer. I actually like having two per unit, and I have the models to do it. So why not? I like the look, 2 isn’t OP, and there is nothing to discourage it except old-WHFB mindset. I liked/loved WHFB. But this game is not that game. If you have an icon for each thrall, go ahead and do it. Just have it modeled on in some way.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
My understanding is you have to have the bit represented. Got an icon on it? It’s an icon bearer. I actually like having two per unit, and I have the models to do it. So why not? I like the look, 2 isn’t OP, and there is nothing to discourage it except old-WHFB mindset. I liked/loved WHFB. But this game is not that game. If you have an icon for each thrall, go ahead and do it. Just have it modeled on in some way.

That is entirely reasonable and I would even say it's silly to play otherwise. But it isn't RAW, which is exactly the point about RAI overriding RAW in many instances.

" There is an option for an icon bearer – they have a specific head, and a large mathlann slave rune which forms part of their neck crest."


this is from the gdub webstore where it describes what comes in the box, they also posted on facebook that it was a error and will be addressed in a faq, that however is 2cnd hand from order community, I havn't seen the post (not active on facebook :3 )

neither of these things really effect the thread much peeps do what peeps do until gdub puts the big red stamp on it but I thought i'd share in case anyone here was interested

Yeah...they didn't post anything about it "being an error". Someone asked if it was an error, and they said they were getting a lot of questions about it and they'd pass it along for the errata/FAQ.

Probably 1/unit but I wouldn't be surprised to see 1/10 or 2/10 either.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
Probably 1/unit but I wouldn't be surprised to see 1/10 or 2/10 either.

Honestly, I made a suggestion to them that the two different icons(and they are different--just slightly, but enough so that one could make an argument for it) be turned into two different icons for the purposes of rules.

Make it so that one grants a bonus attack on the charge, the other grants a penalty to enemy Bravery.

That would make the unit much stronger.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
That would make the unit much stronger.

It would but my suggestion is provided they make the Icon Bearer be one per unit.

And I'm a bit unconvinced that Namarti are going to be the end all, be all in terms of Thralls. They have to get in there after all, and that can be a bit rough without a lot of setup or the other person not having missile troops or spellcasters.

What I mean is that +1 attack on the charge would warrant a point increase, that's a bigger buff than +1 attack on two models per ten in general (let's be honest, no one* is trying to run an icon on every model) and a particularly strong buff in the context of the allegiance. The -1 bravery, eh, that's not really an aelf thing; the current re-roll battleshock is a better fit.

*Other than TFG

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
What I mean is that +1 attack on the charge would warrant a point increase, that's a bigger buff than +1 attack on two models per ten in general (let's be honest, no one* is trying to run an icon on every model) and a particularly strong buff in the context of the allegiance.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you the one arguing that Namarti are strong but only in large numbers?

Those points add up. They add up quick when we're talking 140 for 10 models with a 5+ save, 1W, and a Bravery value of 6. Yeah, we know that Soulrenders can bring them back and I know that everyone's saying Mor'phann will be "the new hotness" but what happens when you're dealing with something that can dish out Mortal Wounds or that doesn't care about your -1 Rend on your Lanmari Blades?


And sure, +1A on the Charge is a Big Deal. But that's what would make it so that the opponent has to actually charge you.

The -1 bravery, eh, that's not really an aelf thing; the current re-roll battleshock is a better fit.

I never said we'd get rid of the reroll to Battleshock.

In general, I don't think it has to be "an aelf thing". It would be an Idoneth thing. I was genuinely surprised that Thralls and Reavers didn't have some kind of Bravery modifier like Dark Riders do.

Realistically though, I personally was disappointed that the Icon Bearers didn't get something special for the Icons themselves. +1A is neat and all, but it's just +1A.

*Other than TFG

Well, quite.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
What I mean is that +1 attack on the charge would warrant a point increase, that's a bigger buff than +1 attack on two models per ten in general (let's be honest, no one* is trying to run an icon on every model) and a particularly strong buff in the context of the allegiance.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you the one arguing that Namarti are strong but only in large numbers?

Those points add up. They add up quick when we're talking 140 for 10 models with a 5+ save, 1W, and a Bravery value of 6. Yeah, we know that Soulrenders can bring them back and I know that everyone's saying Mor'phann will be "the new hotness" but what happens when you're dealing with something that can dish out Mortal Wounds or that doesn't care about your -1 Rend on your Lanmari Blades?


And sure, +1A on the Charge is a Big Deal. But that's what would make it so that the opponent has to actually charge you.

The -1 bravery, eh, that's not really an aelf thing; the current re-roll battleshock is a better fit.

I never said we'd get rid of the reroll to Battleshock.

In general, I don't think it has to be "an aelf thing". It would be an Idoneth thing. I was genuinely surprised that Thralls and Reavers didn't have some kind of Bravery modifier like Dark Riders do.

Realistically though, I personally was disappointed that the Icon Bearers didn't get something special for the Icons themselves. +1A is neat and all, but it's just +1A.

*Other than TFG

Well, quite.

I was arguing that 30-man Namarti blocks are good for Mor'Fan cheese but I don't recall saying they were only good in large numbers. If anything I think even a 10-man unit can kick ass. Keep in mind these are supposed to be very expensive for basic infantry and semi-glass cannon because that restriction compensates for what is a very strong set of allegiance abilities. As for bravery, it talks a lot about how idoneth are scary but there's nothing that talks about them making an effort to cause fear or intimidate. I think giving them a banner that does a bravery penalty also undermines the theme of armies/units that do have them. Plus re-roll battleshock is better in the context of the unit.

But what I'm getting is that the Thralls should have what they already do, plus +1a on the charge, plus a bravery penalty. They'd simply have to be 160 points for 10 then, which is a lot of ask for a basic troop.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
What I mean is that +1 attack on the charge would warrant a point increase, that's a bigger buff than +1 attack on two models per ten in general (let's be honest, no one* is trying to run an icon on every model) and a particularly strong buff in the context of the allegiance.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you the one arguing that Namarti are strong but only in large numbers?

Those points add up. They add up quick when we're talking 140 for 10 models with a 5+ save, 1W, and a Bravery value of 6. Yeah, we know that Soulrenders can bring them back and I know that everyone's saying Mor'phann will be "the new hotness" but what happens when you're dealing with something that can dish out Mortal Wounds or that doesn't care about your -1 Rend on your Lanmari Blades?


And sure, +1A on the Charge is a Big Deal. But that's what would make it so that the opponent has to actually charge you.

The -1 bravery, eh, that's not really an aelf thing; the current re-roll battleshock is a better fit.

I never said we'd get rid of the reroll to Battleshock.

In general, I don't think it has to be "an aelf thing". It would be an Idoneth thing. I was genuinely surprised that Thralls and Reavers didn't have some kind of Bravery modifier like Dark Riders do.

Realistically though, I personally was disappointed that the Icon Bearers didn't get something special for the Icons themselves. +1A is neat and all, but it's just +1A.

*Other than TFG

Well, quite.

I was arguing that 30-man Namarti blocks are good for Mor'Fan cheese but I don't recall saying they were only good in large numbers. If anything I think even a 10-man unit can kick ass. Keep in mind these are supposed to be very expensive for basic infantry and semi-glass cannon because that restriction compensates for what is a very strong set of allegiance abilities. As for bravery, it talks a lot about how idoneth are scary but there's nothing that talks about them making an effort to cause fear or intimidate. I think giving them a banner that does a bravery penalty also undermines the theme of armies/units that do have them. Plus re-roll battleshock is better in the context of the unit.

A bravery penalty doesn't necessarily have to be "an effort to cause fear or intimidate". One of the warlord traits is basically that the warlord looks scary because of their exposure to Slaanesh.

But what I'm getting is that the Thralls should have what they already do, plus +1a on the charge, plus a bravery penalty. They'd simply have to be 160 points for 10 then, which is a lot of ask for a basic troop.

Well no. I explained this pretty well.

The proposal I made in the email to them was:
Icon Bearers do what they do currently
BUT they have to pick between 1 of 2 Icons.
One Icon grants +1A on the charge while the other grants a penalty to enemy Bravery and the unit can only have 1 Icon Bearer.

Even just +1A on the charge would warrant 150, or still 160 if you keep the re roll battleshock. It also makes an already swingy unit even more swingy, in that they may be totally awesome or die like scrubs. And do Idoneth need their battleline to be MORE elite?

Consider that with three attacks on the charge we are looking at a 10-man unit dealing an average 28 wounds at rend -1 when charging a 4+ wound characteristic unit (of which there are a lot). This is with no command abilities, no buffs, just showing up and charging. But 12 wounds at rend -1 back at them will wipe the unit.