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I can't decipher whether or not a model is always armed with all of the weapons listed in their war scroll, and/or whether they use each and every weapon during a combat instance.

For example, a Skaven Warlord has three melee weapons listed; Warpforged Blade, War Halberd, and Barbed Blade.

The description says "Some Skaven Warlords enter battle wielding only a dreaded Warpforged Blade. Others prefer to fight with a pair of Barbed Blades, whilst yet others wield a War Halberd in one hand and a Barbed Blade in the other. Some Skaven Warlords also carry a Clanshield into battle."

So when I put a Warlord down on the table wtf is he actually strapped with?

Do I pick a single one of the listed combinations that "some" Warlords are said to use, and use it all game?

Do I have access to everything and pick one combination each combat?

Do I use every combination every combat?

If I have a pair of weapons do I roll the set of attacks twice (ie, two Barbed Blades = 2x5 attacks or a Halberd + Barbed Blade = 1x3 attacks and 1x5 attacks)?

I tried to look for guidance in other war scrolls, but it's still not clear. For example, Clanrats can have spears or blades; I would assumed you pick a weapon type at deployment and use it all game, rather than rolling for each weapon every combat. But on the other hand, something like a Screaming Bell has three "weapons" (Grey Seer's staff, Rat Ogre's claws, and the Bell's wheels and spikes) and it kind of seems like all of those "weapons" would be used in every combat.

As I see it, it depend on what weapon the figure is equiped. I think you choose wich weapons your warlord got, and he keep it for the rest of the battle.

As I see it walord can have:

-a dreaded Warpforged Blade
or
-a pair of Barbed Blades
or
-a Barbed Blade in one hand and a Clanshield in the other
or
-a War Halberd in one hand and a Barbed Blade in the other
or
-a War Halberd in one hand and a Clanshield in the other

It's what seams logic for me

If your model is modeled with a blade, you have a Warpforged Blade.
If you model is modeled with two blades, you have a pair of Barbed Blades.
If you have a blade and shield - you guessed it, Barbed Blade and Clanshield.
If you have a halberd and blade - yup, there's a warlord equipped with a War Halberd and Barbed Blade

I'll let you try and guess what a model with a halberd and shield is equipped with

Rihgu wrote:
If your model is modeled with a blade, you have a Warpforged Blade.
If you model is modeled with two blades, you have a pair of Barbed Blades.
If you have a blade and shield - you guessed it, Barbed Blade and Clanshield.
If you have a halberd and blade - yup, there's a warlord equipped with a War Halberd and Barbed Blade

I'll let you try and guess what a model with a halberd and shield is equipped with

Yet where in the rules does it say this?

Ok yes, WYSIWYG is a logical way to go, and you can argue that it is the RAI but point me to a section in the rules where it says that all models obey WYSIWYG or to any point where it limits what weapons a model can have. Yes, in the description it says that "some [model] goes to battle with a blood soaked blade of doom and a vicious serrated axe of head slicing" or something along those lines, but surely you are perfectly within your rights to say "well, SOME Skaven Warlords go to battle like that, but mine actually go to battle armed with every single weapon listed here" and if I were to then model my Skaven Warlord with two blades, a halberd and a shield, surely I would qualify for having all those based on WYSIWYG?

You see where your argument falls through here? Yes, reasonable people will be expected to stick with something along the lines of WYSIWYG, and I will probably be doing the same. But absolutely nowhere does it say that this is the case. And, before someone brings out the old "well it doesn't say you can't hit your opponent with a toaster", it would help if the rules made at least some reference to how weapons and equipment work. Aside from pointing you to the options on the warscroll, there is NOTHING. Nothing about how many weapons you can carry, how many weapons you can use at one time, or whether the use of certain weapons stops you from using a shield. Nothing.

People will say that you should go off what's listed in the "Description" section, which, to be fair, is again logical, but, really, that Description section should be used (and is used, for all we know) as simple descriptive fluff and has no bearing whatsoever to the game play. It reminds of those YMDC threads where someone would try and back up their argument using a paragraph of fluff in the model's Bestiary. Just because it says that a model can "cleave an opponent's head off with a single strike" in the description, doesn't mean that it has the Killing Blow special rule. That same logic ought to apply here too.

Yes, I imagine that you'd probably go of the options listed in the "Description" section as that is the fairest thing to do, but do you see how, really, because of GW's dreadful, overly-simplistic rule, you have nothing but logic to back up your argument. I will happily back down if that's the way the thread goes, that people think the best thing to do is use the options provided in the description because I agree that that's the logical thing to do. However, you must surely see how GW's crappy, rushed rules pave the way for what should be stupid, unnecessary arguments and complications such as this one?

 The Shadow wrote:

Rihgu wrote:
If your model is modeled with a blade, you have a Warpforged Blade.
If you model is modeled with two blades, you have a pair of Barbed Blades.
If you have a blade and shield - you guessed it, Barbed Blade and Clanshield.
If you have a halberd and blade - yup, there's a warlord equipped with a War Halberd and Barbed Blade

I'll let you try and guess what a model with a halberd and shield is equipped with

Yet where in the rules does it say this?

Ok yes, WYSIWYG is a logical way to go, and you can argue that it is the RAI but point me to a section in the rules where it says that all models obey WYSIWYG or to any point where it limits what weapons a model can have. Yes, in the description it says that "some [model] goes to battle with a blood soaked blade of doom and a vicious serrated axe of head slicing" or something along those lines, but surely you are perfectly within your rights to say "well, SOME Skaven Warlords go to battle like that, but mine actually go to battle armed with every single weapon listed here" and if I were to then model my Skaven Warlord with two blades, a halberd and a shield, surely I would qualify for having all those based on WYSIWYG?

You see where your argument falls through here? Yes, reasonable people will be expected to stick with something along the lines of WYSIWYG, and I will probably be doing the same. But absolutely nowhere does it say that this is the case. And, before someone brings out the old "well it doesn't say you can't hit your opponent with a toaster", it would help if the rules made at least some reference to how weapons and equipment work. Aside from pointing you to the options on the warscroll, there is NOTHING. Nothing about how many weapons you can carry, how many weapons you can use at one time, or whether the use of certain weapons stops you from using a shield. Nothing.

People will say that you should go off what's listed in the "Description" section, which, to be fair, is again logical, but, really, that Description section should be used (and is used, for all we know) as simple descriptive fluff and has no bearing whatsoever to the game play. It reminds of those YMDC threads where someone would try and back up their argument using a paragraph of fluff in the model's Bestiary. Just because it says that a model can "cleave an opponent's head off with a single strike" in the description, doesn't mean that it has the Killing Blow special rule. That same logic ought to apply here too.

Yes, I imagine that you'd probably go of the options listed in the "Description" section as that is the fairest thing to do, but do you see how, really, because of GW's dreadful, overly-simplistic rule, you have nothing but logic to back up your argument. I will happily back down if that's the way the thread goes, that people think the best thing to do is use the options provided in the description because I agree that that's the logical thing to do. However, you must surely see how GW's crappy, rushed rules pave the way for what should be stupid, unnecessary arguments and complications such as this one?

Well, I'll ask the opponent to go with RAI (since it's astoundingly clear) for this case, and if they refuse I'll play with somebody else. I won't bother arguing. You raise a point that the ruleset is pretty loosey-goosey, but I think we all already knew that.

Rihgu wrote:
If your model is modeled with a blade, you have a Warpforged Blade.
If you model is modeled with two blades, you have a pair of Barbed Blades.
If you have a blade and shield - you guessed it, Barbed Blade and Clanshield.
If you have a halberd and blade - yup, there's a warlord equipped with a War Halberd and Barbed Blade

I'll let you try and guess what a model with a halberd and shield is equipped with

Rihgu wrote:


Well, I'll ask the opponent to go with RAI (since it's astoundingly clear) for this case, and if they refuse I'll play with somebody else. I won't bother arguing. You raise a point that the ruleset is pretty loosey-goosey, but I think we all already knew that.

It's definitely not as clear as you make it out to be.

Particularly regarding the Clanshield (to stay with the Warlord example). The only thing he description says is "Some Warlords also carry a Clanshield into battle."

Going with your interpretation, that means a Warlord with a shield gets no weapon. The description doesn't describe halberd + shield pairings or blade + shield pairings,

Alternatively, it could mean that any weapon combo could still bring a shield. Any rules regarding a two weapon/one weapon+shield limit are relics from earlier games and/or editions, and there's nothing in the AoS rules that says anything about a limit.

No, because they *also* carry a Clanshield into battle, meaning in addition to the other choices.

Interpreting that "Some Warlords also carry a Clanshield" means "Some Warlords carry a Clanshield" or "Some Warlords only carry a Clanshield" or "Some Warlords instead carry a Clanshield" is silly and being difficult.

So yes, legal loadouts are

Warpforged Blade
pair of Barbed Blades
War Halberd and Barbed Blade
Any of the above + Clanshield

And they could obtain the bonuses for all of them at once, in which case the Warlord has a dagger in the hand that the shield is strapped to, and a halberd in the other hand (or perhaps his shield has a dagger jutting out of it, like a spiked shield).

Ok, yeah.

I made that post because your list of examples concluded with a Halberd + Clanshield build (which would not be an available option, since the Halberd only comes with an off-hand Barbed Blade).

Also, no need for extra spikes and daggers... we're talking Skaven here; the dude is probably wielding the Halberd with his tail.