Banshees...trash or treasure?

[Neferata]

I just thought I'd start this topic because there have been some very heated debates at my gaming club as to the usefulness of banshees. I personally am not the biggest fan of them, as they are situational, and not very useful against a number of armies (high leadership/immune to psych).

What do ya'll think of them. Also, there's been a player at my club that has assured me that if banshees howl into close combat, any kills it makes are added to combat resolution. I looked it up and couldn't find anything even implying this. If it is true, could someone please give me a reference.

[DavidWC09]

No, the howl casualties don't count towards CR for exactly the reason you mentioned. It's not in the rules. Besides, the howl comes in the shooting phase, unlike impact hits which are calculated in the combat phase.

I tend to agree with you about the banshee's usefulness. Most of my regular opponents either don't mind a few casualties (skaven, goblins) or are ItP (CoS, various Chaos, banner of "Screw You Vampire Counts" or some such).

When I do take them, I like to take two, along with spirit hosts. For those foes who are vulnerable, three ethereal units, two of which can cause big hurt, cause a lot of problems.

[greymeister]

Highly situational, and that usually means something I don't like taking. I've never had one actually make it's points worth back, and all it takes is a unit with 2 ranks and a banner and the Banshee is doomed to CR if it gets charged.

[Stunted_Merc]

Again, Situational, though I've taken out a unit of Black Orcs with one before. I find them good in mixed or small armies, O&G they are ideal against. Spirit Hosts I prefer more, especially against forces I know won't field magical weaponry (Again, a lot of O&G).

[The vampire Lestat]

I like them, they're quick and its usually pretty easy to keep them from getting charged, and with their invulnerability to standard missile fire they can be a great distraction and small unit killer. I take out such things as artillary crew and ofcourse heavy cavalry and when my opponent knows this it forces him to maneauver units to counter and with the Banshee's movement speed and maneauvering it can take several units to corner her properly (if used correctly) as well as ignoring serveral psychology boosters people usually take for granted, such as banners and cold-blooded etc.
Banshee's arn't as straight forward to use as alot of the VC list and I enjoy just for that, it can get boring just plowing your units into the nearest enemy and watching the fear take hold.

[Pazuriel]

Yes they are siuational, and have special strengths against some armies.
I take them when I face low Ld armies, and they really excel against O&G for example.
The point is: If you face an army like O&G, take them. If not, dont.
"Know your enemy" is the key here of course.

[DavidWC09]

And now they can be marchblocked, which severely limits their mobility.

[Fat_Badger]

I quite enjoy the banshees most of the time. I won't take them ever vs Dwarves or Elves, but they definitely have proven useful in many games. Certainly there have also been games where they don't inflict a wound, and yes that's dissapointing. However there's also a pretty big psychological factor involved. Many opponent overestimate the banshee, and will go to great lengths to destroy or avoid them.

Also a unit with a possible 12 inch move that can go through all sorts of terrain is a wonderful marchblocking tool.

So.... yeah Banshees are situational, but for the most part I find them useful. I don't think they've ever directly won me a game, but they will on occasion panic units of fast cav, or even heavy cav if your opponent lets you. They can knock your opponents rank bonus down by 1 before a combat starts as well.

[Sylvester]

Yes, they can be useless in some battles. I have to admit I don't like the comments stating that people don't take them against certain armies. But I like lists to take all comers and hate to make lists based on a certain enemy. I take the Banshee. She can do a lot of things while she makes opponents do think different. Even if she doesn't kill anything just the opponent working around her makes her worth it. Now for people not to take her because they feel she doesn't work against certain armies that's fine but to state that you don't take her against dwarves or elves just because she might not be as effective is cheesy. How would you as a VC player like it if your opponents ajust their list right before a battle to make everything immune to fear because they are going to play against VC?

[Fat_Badger]

If I'm making an army to challange all comers, I will definitely include at least 1 banshee. (for tourney lists and whatnot). However at our game store the other big gaming set up is a weekly league, in which you are notified of your opponent a week in advance, and a challenge board, in which you are more or less suposed to tool your army to beat the person you challenge.