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Factions and play styles...


JPjr

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So, looking at some of the comments in THe RuMOuR THreaD about the BoC battletome and it got me thinking...

Which factions' rules do you think successfully replicate the lore and/or represent how you think they'd fight?

And bonus ball, how important do YOU think that is? Would you prefer a neutral style, so that you can play how you want no matter which army you play, or do you want faction rules to corral or reward you for playing a certain way?

Or do you think this is all nonsense and there's actually no such thing as tactics and strategy in this game bar getting upfront and personal ASAP, hitting the opponent with everything you have in the first round and hoping the gods of dice smile upon you.

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I think Legions Of Nagash hit the mark pretty well.  You have the Nagash and Arkan lists that really hit that vibe of a supreme necromancer controlling a horde of expendable thralls.  So the army really turns into the strategy of dominate the magic phase and board control you to 'death' with debuffs and waves of dudes that are hard to move off objectives.  

However, also within the LoN book you have Legion Of Blood lists that seems pretty thematic as well. Basically monster mash builds with big killy vampire lords on undead dragons flying around and smashing stuff while their undead grunts hold objectives.  So I think its good that the book gives you a viable path to do both.  (Note my one complaint about the Legion Of Blood rule set is that I wish they would have pushed the Bravery Bomb aspect a bit more to make it truly competitive.  I know there is a possibility of abuse there but I love alternate angles of attack like that).

 

As for if I think armies should have a dominate play style, I am of the opinion that there needs to be some options.  I am okay with an army having a core play style that is really pushed as long as there are a couple alternate style builds available.  I think the new Gitz book will eventually fall into this category, with the horde lists based around lots of goblins being the main attrition play style but with other options like a mobile squig build, a mortal wound bomb spider build and elite Troll build existing.      

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I think one aspect is that many armies have a style of battle that I think tends to generally be represented decently well on the tabletop; however it also shows how many factions don't have a single way to conduct war and that how they wage war can vary a lot depending on the situation.

Skaven can run legions of chittering rats at the enemy; but at the same time they are more than capable of using more elite forces; or even running more focused tactical groups. 

Stormcast generally have heavy hitting hard to kill units that run with fewer bodies. Daughters of Khaine are a surgical glass cannon of whirling blades etc...

 

 

I would say about the only thing that doesn't translate is the power of models such as the god units - Morathi, Nagash etc.... are beyond regular powers. Able to wipe out whole armies before them. Even Greater Deamons should be able to cut swathes through most armies until a hero comes to arise to challenge them; even then it can take multiple to bring one down. 

So ilke that we get a compression of powers, which is understandable otherwise the game would be won or lost based on who put what hero down. Even if they went for a warmaster scale that just isn't something a tabletop game can replicate. Even Warhammer Total War isn't really there yet either; though its taken steps in that direction. Even fully unlocked lab mode might only start to get close. 

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Well as a Wanderer Fan-Boy I already quite like how they perform on the Battlefield. I am all for the lore supporting aspect to give as many armies as possible a different flavor :D As far as representing the Lore on the Field of Battle, one could say on the one hand: There is barely any lore for Wanderers - except that they show a tendency of running away from their problems. They die easily and they tend to "melt away" [pun might be intended] (their Allegiance ability) to shoot you even more. On the other Hand - they often get underestimated and then for example the Nomad Prince shreds through the enemy lines with his Starlight Spear.
However the contra points include: (Many points have already been addressed in the "Wanderers Wish-listing Thread".)
-dying easily is okay - but Wanderers should focus on small Unit Counts (troops of 10-20 models)

-Stormcast Vanguard Guys have some neat little tricks that i would like Wanderers to have (run and shoot for ex.)

-against an enemy who wants to be in your face asap the Wanderers should be able to evade

-of course if Wanderers where to receive more tricks, that would require thinking, they would pay for them with point increasings

Further positive points include: Wanderers are more brave than average (as Aelves should be), all but two Units have a shooting attack - its nice to experience this kind of "otherness", personally I like that they have no large Centerpiece Model - it makes them feel like a  humble Warband travelling on hidden Pathways, their magic is thematic and quite good (viridescent shawl artifact is really strong) , the Sisters of the Thorn are one of the few normal units to have the Wizard Keyword - again useful and fluffy,  etc..   
In the lore they are Underdogs and so they are on the table ^^

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Think Sylvaneth hit the nail on the head (which is partly the reason I love them so much) with the fact they're SO movement orientated. Being able to traverse the spirit paths and move through them gives me that feel of the army disappearing and then reappearing through them. I love it!

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