Monstrous Cavalry with multiple riders

[Houghten]

As far as I know, only one example of a three-part Monstrous Cavalry exists: Naestra and Arahan riding Gwindalor.

Normal Monstrous Cavalry are damaged as a single model that uses the highest Wounds characteristic of the rider or mount, but how does that work when there are two separate riders? The twins each have two wounds, where the eagle has three. Do the twins both get an extra wound off the eagle? Is everybody just treated as one model with three wounds, making the Conjoined Destiny rule slightly worse than if they were on foot? Or would it be one model with four wounds, because "the rider" is two riders and between them they've got four but the MC rules only cover "the rider"?

I can't be the first person to think about this; Great Eagles have been MB since 8th dropped. Or does everybody just use Cethin-Har instead?

[Chronowraith]

The monstrous cavalry rules are pretty clear on this. You always use the highest single Toughness and Wounds stat. Since the eagle has 3, you would use that. The model would also be T4. The twins on the eagle would be monstrous cav while on the dragon would be characters on a ridden monster. It's weird but to me it's also pretty straightforward.

[Houghten]

It's not just weird, it's counter to good sense. The twins would literally be better off having Gwindalor shot out from under them and hoofing it, only that can't happen.

[Chronowraith]

Agreed, it's bizarre but for once GW rules are actually pretty obvious... even if they are counter-intuitive.

[Theik]

I personally disagree with using the wounds of the eagle, as that defeats the point of the twins' rule. There is even an extra line to allow their mount to regain wounds.

As such I think the best way to treat the critter would be to use it as a mini-monster. Follow the rules for allocating wounds as if it were a monster, but use the rest of the monstrous cavalry rules.

An alternative would be to use 4 wounds (the twins combined have more health than the eagle) and to restore it to 4 wounds if its wounds are 2 or less at the end of the phase but hasn't died yet.

[Chronowraith]

I personally disagree with using the wounds of the eagle, as that defeats the point of the twins' rule. There is even an extra line to allow their mount to regain wounds.

As such I think the best way to treat the critter would be to use it as a mini-monster. Follow the rules for allocating wounds as if it were a monster, but use the rest of the monstrous cavalry rules.

An alternative would be to use 4 wounds (the twins combined have more health than the eagle) and to restore it to 4 wounds if its wounds are 2 or less at the end of the phase but hasn't died yet.

Except the eagle is a monstrous beast and the BRB states that monstrous beasts acting as a character mount work like monstrous cavalry. It is an awkward situation that GW will have to FAQ because right now, the rules don't support it.

Also, you wouldn't use 4 wounds for this mount as, again, the BRB is specific when it states that the highest value for Wounds (and toughness) is used. That means the highest single value. The twins are both 2 wounds each while the eagle has 3. So according to the rules as written (since nothing in the twins entry countermands this) you are stuck with 3 wounds.

Again, I think GW dropped the ball here. The rules simply don't make sense as written because if you go with the eagle you are losing out on the twins unique rule (and a spare wound).

[Theik]

Except the eagle is a monstrous beast and the BRB states that monstrous beasts acting as a character mount work like monstrous cavalry. It is an awkward situation that GW will have to FAQ because right now, the rules don't support it.

Also, you wouldn't use 4 wounds for this mount as, again, the BRB is specific when it states that the highest value for Wounds (and toughness) is used. That means the highest single value. The twins are both 2 wounds each while the eagle has 3. So according to the rules as written (since nothing in the twins entry countermands this) you are stuck with 3 wounds.

Again, I think GW dropped the ball here. The rules simply don't make sense as written because if you go with the eagle you are losing out on the twins unique rule (and a spare wound).

By their rules however, it is impossible to kill one twin without killing the other, so they effectively have 4 wounds, which is more than the 3 wounds the eagle has. However, I agree with you that the rules weren't made to encompass this odd hero and that they'd have to FAQ it to make it make any sense.

[lattd]

I just play it as each rider gets an extra wound? It makes the twins quite hard to kill.