Noble/Prince on Griffon

[roryday4]

So, I love the model from the Island of Blood kit, and I would really like to use it. I want to know if anyone's had any success with it, and if so, at what points level, and against what force. And please, no one just slam the birdy, I wanna use it so bad

HOWEVER, failing that, I'd like to see if anyone can convert it into a mage on griffon, because a shadow/death mage throwing out spells would be a heck of a lot of fun

[RE.Lee]

I've played a griffon once in 8th ed, against Skaven. Mounted by a noble (BSB) - his kit was Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone, Potion of Strength (I was expecting big numbers of low S attacks, after all). The bird got killed pretty early on (it really is squishy), but the noble kept on fighting on foot. He did well, but succumbed to a ratmen onslaught in the end.

What can I say, its not a massively powerful choice. Keep it hidden and strike at targets that won't hit back. Once you've cleared the chaff, combo charge with a unit of infantry (spearmen might actully work here, for breaking steadfast). The infantry is also going to be a good place to hide the noble, once the Griffon is dead.

[roryday4]

Thanks for the reply!
So the idea is hit low strength stuff? Probably in conjunction with another unit?

[RE.Lee]

The griffon can't take a beating - even clanrats with spears might bring it down over a couple of turns. So unfortunately keeping it safely in combat (like you would a Star Dragon against an army full of cannons) is not really an option most of the time. What kind of gear were you thinking?

[roryday4]

I havent really thought about equipment yet, but I was thinking of a really killy noble that charges into flanks and rears to add combat res and provide re-rolls as and when needed. Throw the enchanted shield on maybe, and possibly heavy armour, alomg with the sword of +2 A? Does that seem at all viable?

[Iamjack42]

I regularly run a Noble on Griffon in any game over 2000 points. I usually give him dragon armor, the Star Lance, Enchanted Shield, Dragon Armor, Potion of Foolhardiness and Golden Crown of Atrazar. I have also made him the BSB and I will give Swiftsense to the griffon if I have the points.

I took him to a 6 game no-comp tournament last August, and can't recall specifics very well, but I do know he was effective against Chariots and t3 infantry (and in the final game he finished off an HPA.

More recently I've used him against Skaven in a couple of 3000 point games. He performed fine, surviving both games and helping to win me significant combats by using his mobility to position for flank charges. He hasn't been a world-beater, but he's not been a liability either.

I find that in most of my games he's ignored because my opponent is more concerned with the phoenix, swordmasters, or white lions. Moreover, since he's relatively small he can hide behind a lot of terrain if using TLOS.

I believe he can be effective as part of an overall strategy. When combo-charging with a Frostheart he can be relatively survivable due to the -1 S. The trick I find is to use him on a flank where he'll minimize return attacks. I think the rest of the list needs to be focused on other scary units to force tough target priority choices upon your opponent. I think that he'll thus be a better part of a combat heavy army than a less aggressive force.

[roryday4]

That sounds like a pretty strong build, I may have to steal that!
That's exactly how I imagined he should be used, hitting flanks and carving up enemies!
And yeah, hopefully my opponent will be too preoccupied wth taking out my WL and DPs
Thanks for the help!

[Eirik]

People will point out that a prince is too much to waste on a griffon, and that if you're going to take the lord you might as well put him on a dragon. You could argue that a prince on a griffon still lets you have a L4 mage with book at 2500pts.

[cptcosmic]

I use a griffon noble on regular basis and I like this highly mobile glass cannon, especially because the IoB unit looks great. the trick is, you have to play warhammer like it is intended to, with terrain thus you can hide him in the early rounds, otherwise you can just hand over the free victory points before the game starts and save yourself the hassle when your enemy fields some sort of shooting

the griffon noble will clear any chaff or small unit alone and greatly assist your units in combo charges over the corner/flank. he greatly benefits from spells that allow him to move around the table like "Steed of Shadows" or "Walk Between Worlds".

[Csjarrat]

I've run that model as eltharion the grim on stormwing before and it worked well.
eltharion is a lvl2 mage which is awesome, and he gives stormwing a 5++ which is also awesome.
take lore of life on eltharion to help heal stormwing (even with a 5++ he's gonna take wounds!)

[Zihark]

I agree with eltharion he is one my fave characters I will try the griffon noble at some point heck I am using the flying chariots as they arent tons of points pretty fast movement and good chaff clearance I also find opponents like to shoot at them rather than my more valuable targets so they make for a good distraction though I think eagles could do a similar job.

Another use for the griffon model would be to use it to represent a noble on an eagle as making a noble on an eagle is expensive.

[PeNo]

I've just finished up painting a BSB on griffon and is looking forward to see how he performs. The main build is a cheaper one with upgrade potential.
Noble with dragon armor, lance, GCoA, Enchanted shield, and potion of foolhardiness. Griffon with swiftsense. And if I have more points I will prioritize Swooping strike on griffon over star lance on noble. This is because Swooping strike will give you +1 strength on 5 attacks and the star lance will get you +1 strength and no armour saves on 3 (4 with PoF) attacks. Actually I don't think I will be buying the star lance for the BSB that often since his main target is infantry so that the griff can utilize its thunderstomp, and then the +1 S and NAS (over a regular lance) will be useless since very few infantry models have more the T4 and AS4+. But with a Star lance or Potion of strength he can also act as a monster hunter.