A biting halberd

[raccoonhat]

Hey everyone,
I was fighting someone yesterday who had a biting halberd. He never used it but mentioned it after the game. He claims that the biting blade can be added to a normal halberd as an upgrade. It does say in the rulebook that a biting blade does not have to be a blade, it can also be hammer for instance. I did not interpret this as a way of upgrading other weapons nor have I ever read anything about that on any site.
Do you guys and girls have an opinion on this?

Thanks,
Raccy

[Cold Phoenix]

I'd say that you can't do it. One of the first rules in the Magical Weapons section of the main rulebook is that "Unless otherwise stated, a Magic Weapon is treated as a hand weapon, and follows the rules for such". I'm not aware of any rule which allows you to combine the rules of a magic item and a mundane weapon such as a Halberd. Thankfully. A Saurus Oldblood with a GW that does d3 wounds (Piranha Blade + Great Weapon) or gives + 3A (Sword of Bloodshed + Great Weapons) would be terrifying.

[SpellArcher]

I agree with Cold Phoenix, pg 173.

While a magic weapon can be an axe, hammer etc. it certainly doesn't count as a Special Weapon such as a Halberd.

[Asurion Whitestar]

Did your opponent mean he can upgrade his halberd via his army book? Like an option? What army was he playing?

I'm not aware of any army that has that though...

[raccoonhat]

He was a dirty rat!
But was referring to the standard rulebook.

[Ferny]

I agree with the other posters. However, the 'biting halberd' effect can be achieved by equipping a model with a regular halberd and joining a unit/BSB with the Razor Banner (though note that the banner does not stack with magic weapons, so if either the sword of might or the biting blade or whatever were being carried by the hero rather than a mundane weapon, the extra -1AS from the banner would not stack). I quite like the idea of my PG having biting halberds...

[SpellArcher]

Why wouldn't Razor Standard affect magic weapons Ferny?

[Ferny]

Does it? I thought banners and weapons don't stack (e.g. flaming banner/star lance doesn't give a flaming starlance).

[Cold Phoenix]

Does it? I thought banners and weapons don't stack (e.g. flaming banner/star lance doesn't give a flaming starlance).

As I understand it, the Banner of Eternal Flame doesn't affect magical weapons and spells because of this sentence in the Flaming Attacks rules:

Unless otherwise stated, a model with this special rule has both Flaming shooting and close combat attacks (though any spells cast by the model are unaffected, as are any attacks made with magic weapons they might be wielding).

The rules for the Armour Piercing special rule and Razor Banner don't contain any similar qualifiers.

[raccoonhat]

So nobody has ever seen anybody who uses a biting halberd and nobody believes that we can do it according to the rules? Good enough for me!
Thanks

[Optimistic]

So nobody has ever seen anybody who uses a biting halberd and nobody believes that we can do it according to the rules? Good enough for me!
Thanks

There is no "Biting Halberd". A magical weapon, as others highlighted, is ALWAYS a hand weapon, unless other wise specified. Look at Caddy's weapon (though i dont recall if GW forget to label it correctly again in the new book lol) for an example of a magical Halberd. If a magic weapon is anything other than a basic hand weapon, it must be specified in the weapon's profile, ie Caddy's phoenix blade, which says its a halberd and then gives its additional special rules.

Magical weapons and the flaming banner don't stack, I'm pretty sure the razor standard does however, have to check on that one.

[Prince of Spires]

Caradryans weapon is just a normal magical handweapon that gives +1 S this edition. GW seems to be trying to get rid of special magical weapons this edition. I see them less and less.

@raccoonhat: Your friend simply misunderstood the part you sited about a blade not having to be a blade. What is meant by that part or the rule is that you can model the weapon on the model wielding it how you like. So you don't have to give a character a lance to be able to say that he is using a starlance. You can simply call it a staraxe and give your character a big axe. That doesn't mean you get to apply the rules to other weapons. The entries listed are weapons in themselves, not additional rules for a weapon.

If you want futher proof, read the complete rule under "what's in a name?" on p501 (big BRB) of which you cited a part. After the part that a sword does not have to be a sword but can also be an axe, it goes on to say "We can simply assume that his axe, hammer or other suitable hand weapon has the same properties and is, for example, an 'Ogre Axe'. (emphasis mine)

So you always use a handweapon as starting point and can't replace that with a halbert for instance.

As for the razor standard, that does also affect magical weapons. It doesn't mention anywhere that it does not (unlike with flaming attacks). So it does in this instance. Note that only close combat attacks get armour piercing. So no AP reaver bow.

Rod

[wisetiger7]

Caradryans weapon is just a normal magical handweapon that gives +1 S this edition. GW seems to be trying to get rid of special magical weapons this edition. I see them less and less.

To further back up this claim, also look at the definition for Star Lance. Magic Weapon. Mounted character only. The Star Lance can only be used in a turn in which the bearer makes a successful charge... blah blah blah. It no longer says it is a "Lance" plus magical effects. It's simply a hand weapon with magical effects. Though it is called a Star Lance, it is not a Lance, as referred to under the Special Weapons section of the BRB.

edit: whoa. I didn't know you changed your name Rod. I did a double take when I quoted you and was like "Who the eff is Prince of Spires?!?"

[John Rainbow]

Tangential but I think this also clears up the issue of switching to different weapons after charging and using magical 'lances' i.e. equipping a noble with both a Star Lance and a GW.

[Prince of Spires]

edit: whoa. I didn't know you changed your name Rod. I did a double take when I quoted you and was like "Who the eff is Prince of Spires?!?"

Lol. Yeah. Changed it around the release of the End Times book. I felt it was time for a fluffier name

Rod