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thundering

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  1. I definitely disagree with this. I think the 3d-printing studios turn out sculpts/products that exceed GW in almost every way save for the medium being resin rather than hard plastic. Although at least in that sense you're getting a substantial price reduction in exchange for the material change.
  2. Recognizing that there's no truly objective way to evaluate subjective tastes, I will state that it is my opinion that GW miniatures are far from the best. In an effort to lean into branding and IP protection, GW miniatures are very pigeonholed in their designs. Whereas a company like Reaper puts out miniatures that could fulfill a variety of uses (D&D, Wargaming, general hobbying, etc), GW miniatures are strictly for AoS/40k. The kits haven't been customizable for almost a decade at this point. If you were to compare Free Company Militia to a modern GW release they'd appear to be from a completely different organization both in terms of aesthetics and overall function/design belief. When I look at a miniature studio I can't help but look through the lens of what the underlying value prop is, and below I've just sort of rattled off a few along with my cursory thoughts. For a company like Reaper, the value prop of their Bones line is very clear: Cheap, no assembly (or very little assembly) and durable. Which necessitates sacrificing fidelity/sculpt quality. For a company like North Star, the value prop is: Cheap, highly customizable, with a wide variety of options that can be used in skirmish games as well as full-scale wargaming. They're also hard-plastic and can be kit-bashed with other companies also using hard-plasitc. The trade-off is again you're not getting high fidelity in the sculpts, and if you were to use them for individual characters, they probably won't compete with other studio's offerings. For a company like Raging Heroes, the value prop is: Expensive, extremely detailed/intricate designs, and sculpts that can be used across a wide range of tabletop activities (D&D, wargaming characters, etc). The trade-off is you're not getting customization, and you're not getting plastic sculpts. You're dealing with resin, or metal, which for many is a deal-breaker. When I look at GW, I see miniatures that are: Expensive, not particularly customizable, not particularly flexible in their usage, not particularly convenient to assemble. There's almost an absence of "value" in what GW brings to the table from a miniatures perspective. The reality is that the price of an AoS or 40k army at retail price from GW is going to fall somewhere north of $500 USD, and now you're competing with very different types of entertainment valuations or hobby valuations. For $500, you can get anything from an Xbox or Playstation to a high-resolution resin 3d printer. On the subject of creativity and pushing the envelope, I believe that the truly talented up-and-coming sculptors are the ones in the 3dprinting space, which is undergoing a renaissance at the moment. The quality, detail, and look of the sculpts coming out of these independent studios is unbelievable. When I see studios like Archvillain Games putting out monthly releases that continue to push the boundaries of miniature design, I have an impossible time looking at GW's releases, and price points. The cost in electricity and resin to produce a high-resolution 32mm or 40mm model is pennies on the dollar versus Games Workshop, and even factoring in the upfront costs, I believe that buying a 3dprinter and the supporting materials (resin, mixing cups, etc) is substantially cheaper than buying an AoS or 40k army. To close off, I've attached a picture of the GW Abhorrent Archregent next to the upcoming Archvillain Games vampire release to show a sort of apples-to-apples comparison of "the best" as I perceive it.
  3. Between Heroic actions, new default table size, unit coherency changes, unit-size changes, Monster Actions, Command Points, Elimination of army-specific battalions, and so on and so forth. AoS 3.0 is almost as substantial a change from 2.0 to 3.0 as the jump from WhFB to AoS was, in essence creating an almost new game entirely. Given the level of change, coupled with the state of the world, I think it almost impossible to achieve any sort of 'balance' out of the gate. Radical, fundamental changes in gameplay functions coupled with an 18 month moratorium on large-scale in-person interaction/play testing would make releasing a 'balanced' new edition a challenge even for a company with heavily-codified rules to begin with, and GW doesn't have a great track record when it comes to codified, clear, consistent rules to begin with. The end result is a very natural reaction from an established and entrenched playerbase. AoS is very much a hobby, and everyone engages with it in different ways. A reasonable person can make a judgment on whether or not to see a movie from a trailer, or a judgment on whether or not to try a food item after reading the label. They do not have to watch the movie a minimum number of times, or purchase/consume the food item a minimum number of times in order to voice concerns/distaste and its a bummer to see this level of zeal in defending a company from the consumer on behalf of another consumer. I think its perfectly valid for individuals who have seen a radical warping of their previously-enjoyed hobby to voice concerns, especially given that by-and-large, when a new edition of a GW game releases it becomes the de-facto edition du jour. When you enter a game store (if indeed you can given the pandemic) seeking a pickup game, the current edition of any given game is what the default operating assumption will be, and the comments that chime in to the effect of 'just play the old edition then' can't possibly be getting made in good faith.
  4. I'm in the process of assembling Mega Gargants. I know obviously there's still a level of uncertainty owing to the new edition drop, but I was hoping to get some opinions on my list prior to me assembling things and finalizing configurations. Taker Tribe 1x Kraken-eater General; Very Acquisitive - Glowy Lantern 1x Gatebreaker, Amulet of Destiny 1x Kraken-eater 1x Warstomper Where I'm uncertain is the Warstomper. I was originally going to do 1 of each mega G just for variety's sake, but is there a compelling reason to use a Warstomper, especially in a 3.0 environment? Given the decline of hordes, the Warstomper's club seems to not have the same "oomf" or consistency it might've otherwise had, and Hurled Body has always seemed situational. The Kraken-Eater provides a lot of objective/scenario control by virtue of his ability to manipulate objectives and that seems useful at all times/in all matchups. Should I just be going with 3x Kraken-eater 1x Gatebreaker? Due to the point changes, I cannot take a Kraken-eater and 2 Gatebreakers and still fit a 4th Mega G in the list itself. If I were to go 2x Gatebreaker, 1x Kraken-eater, I'd then only be able to put in a pair of smaller Gargants and end up with a significant points deficit that would render me quite sub-optimal on points. Alternatively, I could do 2x Kraken-eaters, 1x Gatebreaker, and a Mancrusher Mob, but I'm not sure what a Mancrusher Mob does that's necessarily better than a Kraken-eater/Warstomper etc. Any input or opinions would be appreciated.
  5. I never really got much input so I'll put it out there again; As someone who already has 12 flayers, do I make 12 more, or make 12 horrors? Or some mixed permutation?
  6. I'm looking for suggestions, regarding what to build. My current FEC collection is as follows: 3x GK on Geist 30 Ghouls 12 Crypt Flayers I'm getting two Carrion halves, so I'll end up having: 2x Archregent 40x Ghouls My question is; do I make 12 more flayers, 12 crypt horrors, some mix of the two, or 9 of one and 3x Courtiers? I've been leaning towards 12 more flayers, to have a really fierce Blisterskin Deadwatch, but I see a lot of posts from people who are lukewarm on Flayers as a unit. Suggestions/reasoning?
  7. I own 20 paladin retributors, and have been running the Gavriel bomb with them. They're just dreadful. Unless everything goes off according to plan (Rets drop in near a big point-heavy target, Gav buffs, they charge and 1-round) then they fall apart. 160pts of Ironjawz will completely maul a unit of 5, and cripple a unit of 10. Paladins just don't have any staying power. They are also mathematically objectively worse than Evocators. There's a reddit thread on the math; in exchange for on average 1.3 mortal wound output, Evocators do double the regular wounds, cast spells, dispel spells, move faster, have higher bravery, and cost less. Anything Retributors did, Evocators do better. My 20 paladins would be better as 20 Evocators 99 times out of 100. 20 Retributors + Gavriel, 980pts, all charging a brick of 30 Vulkite berserkers is unlikely to one-round the unit. You'll be lucky to get 15-20 dwarves depending on ward saves. The dwarves going back into the paladins will do a lot of damage, between rend runes and the like. It also forces you to hyper-commit, and the inevitable 2 other hordes of Fyreslayers will annihilate half your army. Conversely, 400pts of Sequitors with Evocator buffs or Lord Arcanum buffs will grind away 360pts of Vulkite with their eyes closed, and face-tank the return swing beautifully. Heck, even unspported, 400pts of Sequitors will handle a Vulkite brick, unlike Paladins. Retributors simply don't do anything. They're too heavy in points, too slow on the table which mandates they deepstrike and then pray for 9s on the charge, or require outside support to complete it. They have no defensive tech. Rend 1 and its all over for them. And they're so points-heavy that you don't have space for support. 980pts gets you 20 paladins and Gavriel 1320pts gets you two 20 man sequitor bricks, 2x5 Evocators, and the warscroll battalion. This composition will do twice as much as the above composition, has more wounds, more attacks, anti-spell tech, better bravery and mobility. I'm very frustrated with the state of Paladins. Even at 180pts I don't think they swing it. I think Retributors would also need a 3rd attack to really start justifying their existence. Alternatively, make all paladin units 200pts base and give them M5 and a 3+
  8. I'm really stoked to get Hammerstrike working, now that the points have been cut substantially.
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