Stormcast Eternals 3.0 - There is no "a" in Vindictors

[CommissarRotke]

anyone else get the Thunderstrike battlebox? I've heard some people getting duplicate sprues, and I was wondering if you had an issue, was it easy to tell? I took my sprues out to make sure I had all the bases and bodies but didn't think to check for duplicates!

[Lord Krungharr]

I think it's a good reason to put.a diamond necklace on my Draconis 💎

[Tizianolol]

hi guys, i have a question about evocators. Celestant arching arc ability : its mw at 4+ for every model in My unit or enemy unit?

[Marcvs]

34 minutes ago, Tizianolol said:

hi guys, i have a question about evocators. Celestant arching arc ability : its mw at 4+ for every model in My unit or enemy unit?

Your unit (that is, the unit of evocators)

[Lord Krungharr]

Someone in my local group is taking this list to an upcoming tournament.  Submit your eye-rolls now!

Lord Imperitant (general, master of magic, arcane tome, lightning blast, fuelled by Ghurish rage)

5x Knight Vexillors w Meteoric Standard

5x3 Annhilators

1x3 Annhilators w big hammers

everblaze comet

bloodthirsty

Holy Command: Steadfast March

I was trying to think of things that could withstand the impact of this army.  I'm thinking Stormcast w some Gryph Hounds and some shooty stuff, and then ally in some Phoenix Temple Guard for their 4+ ward save.  Dampen the effects of deepstrike and charging w the Temple Guard, intercept Deepstrikers w (insert best shooty options here), and what to use to get back to take care of all the Knights-Vexillor?  

Deploying against the Annhilator spam is tough too; how can most armies limit one unit to over 20" apart?!  Kinda why I think the Phoenix Guard screens are key.  Hopefully they'll still be in the next Cities tome, I like them, despite being Aelves.  

[CommissarRotke]

On 3/11/2023 at 2:38 PM, Lord Krungharr said:

5x Knight Vexillors w Meteoric Standard

this is not a typo? he's taking FIVE meteoric standards?

[Marcvs]

10 minutes ago, CommissarRotke said:

this is not a typo? he's taking FIVE meteoric standards?

believe it or not, a relatively common list these days

[Lord Krungharr]

Yeah, we were all like WHOA.  Seems really hard to deploy against.  Guess a Beasts of Chaos army could null deploy, ambush everything and give Stormcast the first turn...that could work.

[RedemptionUK]

On 1/23/2023 at 2:34 PM, CommissarRotke said:

anyone else get the Thunderstrike battlebox? I've heard some people getting duplicate sprues, and I was wondering if you had an issue, was it easy to tell? I took my sprues out to make sure I had all the bases and bodies but didn't think to check for duplicates!

What duplicate sprues? It looks like I've got 2x sprues for both vigilors and vanquishers and the 2 dragon sprues look the same. Should they be different?

[CommissarRotke]

1 hour ago, RedemptionUK said:

What duplicate sprues? It looks like I've got 2x sprues for both vigilors and vanquishers and the 2 dragon sprues look the same. Should they be different?

sprues for vigilors, vanquishers, and dragons should ALL be different sprue numbers and therefore no repeating bits.

i was able to keep the duplicate sprues of both infantry units after getting 2 sealed boxes as recompense, but i would love to trade someone who got the inverse sprue duplication that i got (to fix both our problem)

edit: for example the Vanquisher sprues I got both had the unit banner and a bunch of shoulderpads.

Edited March 14, 2023 by CommissarRotke

[Colzerino]

Is this the right place for a massive noob to enquire: I believe we recently got allowed to only have thunderbolt volley work on minimum units? Is it still worth taking do folk reckon? Are people still fond of longstrike raptors? Or are judicators with crossbows a better pick now?

Also - mega basic question. Where do I find the rules for Sworn Bodyguards? Everything is so disparate rules wise. Thanks!

[Dogmantra]

28 minutes ago, Colzerino said:

Is this the right place for a massive noob to enquire: I believe we recently got allowed to only have thunderbolt volley work on minimum units? Is it still worth taking do folk reckon? Are people still fond of longstrike raptors? Or are judicators with crossbows a better pick now?

Also - mega basic question. Where do I find the rules for Sworn Bodyguards? Everything is so disparate rules wise. Thanks!

Correct, Thunderbolt Volley only works on minimum sized units now. Still probably the best of all the holy commands, if not top half. Longstrike Raptors are still good but with Galletian Champs being harder to shoot they're not quite as strong and I've seen people using Judicators with Crossbows or Castigators as ranged support more to clear chaff units out of the way than pick off single important targets.

The rules for Sworn Bodyguards are found in the latest General's Handbook, 2022-2023 Season 2, and they are found with the other Pitched Battles rules. To summarise, one of the new core battalions availalble in the current matched play season is called Galletian Command. It consists of a Galletian Champion hero and one infantry unit. The infantry unit is the Sworn Bodyguard, and when either unit in the battalion fights in the combat phase, if it's near enough to the other unit, the other unit can immediately fight also.

[Lord Krungharr]

I went 3-1 with my Dracoth heavy 1K list yesterday at the Adepticon Dawnbringer event...I think we had about 50 players in that one, really good crowd with a wide array of armies.  I had:

Knight Draconis (general, Celestial Instincts, Celestial Menageries trait), Lord Arcanum on Gryph (Arcane Tome, Celestial Blades), Knight-Zephyros (Tuskhelm, Leadership of the Alpha), 2 Tempestors and 2 Desolators (for my battleline in Hammers of Sigmar).

Fought the Hedonites of Slaanesh in the table quarters mission, tabled them turn 4 I think.  I tried and failed to alpha strike his Blissbarbs to death, but he kinda bounced off when charging in with the Painbringers, and the other Blissbarbs shooting didn't do too much.  The Lord of Pain did slay my Draconis....but Cycle of the Storm!  That was great denying him his Battle Tactic  

Then fought the Underguts Ogors, that was closer and I eeked out a 1 point victory that went all the way to turn 5; this was the mission with disappearing objectives (Jaws of Gallet?).  I had to be cagey to avoid the Leadbelchers and Ironblaster, and tried to use some woods to hide.  But I went too aggro turn 1 running and charging (Steadfast March) w my Desolators to kill his Bloodpelt Hunter general....then they ended getting Tyranted and Leadbelched.  But I weathered their storm and circled around to the center with my Zephyros zipping back and forth to score stuff.  In the end I had the Draconis and 1 Tempestor and Zephyros lived to finish off the last Leadbelchers.  Hammers of Sigmar and Cycle of the Storm really saved me this game with a couple key ward save successes.

Game 3 I got tabled in turn 3 vs a massive herd of Squigs and assorted squig riders.  Managed to at least get 3 battle tactics scored, but WOW the squigherd is waaaay O.P. and needs some Errata'ing.  Game woulda been over turn 1 with almost any other army I've ever used, even Sons of Behemat I think.  StD might have weathered since they often have 5+ wards vs MW, but doubtful.

Game 4 was against another Stormcast army w 2x2 Fulminators, Zephyros as the general w Arcane Tome, Vanquishers, Vindictors, 3 shield Annhilators.  I think that was the first mission in the book where the objectives get progressively activated.  He gave me first turn and scored his own objective, so I threw away United Offense, scored nothing, but moved up onto 3 different objectives for later.  He brought up his Fulminators, dropped his Annilators.....and praise be to Sigmar forgot to do their MW bomb effect!   They and both units of Fulminators all failed their charges.  I then got rid of the left unit, and charged my Desolators with Steadfast March into his back center Vindictors, and eventually got rid of them.  My Zephyros went to the right to Desecrate his Lands near the other Fulminators, and I should have put him behind the rock, so he got charged, slain.....and then Cycle of the Storm!  No slain.  He then did it again next round!  Then he teleported outta there.  In the end the Fulminators decided to go ballz to the wall and see what they could kill since it was a losing battle, and they did indeed slay both my Tempestors, and then barely got slain in return, but it was enough.

I checked with the TO about the Cycle of the Storm rule to make sure I did it correctly, and he concluded with the council and rulebooks that indeed, it's a super ridiculously awesome rule.  I'd almost put another Lord Arcanum on Gryph in the army.  It works so well if the unit being slain is being attacked only by one enemy unit.  Since all the unit's attacks are simultaneous, and each wound is technically allocated 1 by 1, and all excess wounds are lost after it's slain, the Cycle works to restore the slain model with 1 wound and really annoy people over and over again.

I also love the Hammers of Sigmar ward save near objectives, and love the zip-zap teleporting of the Zephyros and Lord Arcanum on Gryphcharger.  Can't wait to upscale my army to 2k with some more Dracoths, some other hero or 2, Liberators maybe, and some allied Tree Revenants perhaps if they fit.

[Dogmantra]

33 minutes ago, Lord Krungharr said:

I checked with the TO about the Cycle of the Storm rule to make sure I did it correctly, and he concluded with the council and rulebooks that indeed, it's a super ridiculously awesome rule.  I'd almost put another Lord Arcanum on Gryph in the army.  It works so well if the unit being slain is being attacked only by one enemy unit.  Since all the unit's attacks are simultaneous, and each wound is technically allocated 1 by 1, and all excess wounds are lost after it's slain, the Cycle works to restore the slain model with 1 wound and really annoy people over and over again.

Unfortunately this is no longer how the rule works - this was one reading of it when the book was first released, but it was FAQed to be more clear that the intent is a single wound blocked, this is the new text of the ability:

Quote

Once per turn, before you allocate a wound or mortal wound to another friendly Stormcast Eternals unit within 18" of this unit, and that wound or mortal wound would cause a model in that unit to be slain, you can say that this unit will capture and return that warrior’s soul. If you do so, that wound or mortal wound is negated.

I do kind of wish it worked like this though, I don't think it would be super gamebreaking.

 

Well done on 3-1 though! I don't want to take away from a great result, and the TO allowed it so as far as I'm concerned you won those victories fair and square.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Dogmantra

[Lord Krungharr]

Aw dang it.  Well, that's much much more limiting that I realized.  This was an event geared more towards noobs...and I'm definitely a Stormcast noob.  Oh well, it probably would have changed a couple things, like in the last game having those Fulminators get a charge off on my Desolators earlier.  But I think I'd still have won based on all the other carnage wrought by my army.  Didn't come into play vs the Ogors.  I think the Lord of Pain actually did do an exact amount of wounds to kill my Draconis game 1 though, so I guess I did that one correctly

I won a Dominion box in the prize raffle.  The Annhilators are pretty neat, and the Lord Imperatant seems useful.  I might keep those, possibly the Knight Vexillor but change the banner to a Meteoric Standard and the sword to a hammer.  Kruleboyz are 😛

 

[JackStreicher]

Alright guys. 
I am a SCE player myself but haven't touched them in months.

Yesterday I tested my SBGL against another player's SCE.

My impression was that SCE are lacking in almost every regard. The only unit that got its job done were the Annihalators.

With most of the Battletomes having been updated to meet the AoS 3.0 standards, how would you rate SCE in general? (not just regarding Tournaments, but as a faction)

Edited April 12, 2023 by JackStreicher

[CommissarRotke]

I'm also curious as it feels like more wards and MW have been given out while our book still remains without real answers to either.

[Marcvs]

4 hours ago, JackStreicher said:

With most of the Battletomes having been updated to meet the AoS 3.0 standards, how would you rate SCE in general?

My problem at the moment is not the power level per se (although I do believe that we're on a descending path) but that the book just feels  boring. New BTs just seem to have such a big bag of tricks whereas we're stuck with a stack of warscrolls.

[CommissarRotke]

11 minutes ago, Marcvs said:

My problem at the moment is not the power level per se (although I do believe that we're on a descending path) but that the book just feels  boring. New BTs just seem to have such a big bag of tricks whereas we're stuck with a stack of warscrolls.

Warscrolls that had abilities removed too... I'd rather not buy 2 tomes in a single edition so I really hope 4.0 gives us the same fluffy treatment as everyone else.

[RocketPropelledGrenade]

I've seen Karazai + Praetors do pretty well as the basis for a list lately, both locally and in a few tournament reports. I think between the massive bench to test new ideas and lists with and the occasional points update to shake things up, Stormcast aren't in a terrible place? They could be doing better, of course, but at least some of the book can do work. Internal balance is awful, but even with half the warscrolls competitively unusable, that's more than some entire factions left to experiment with.

[Lord Krungharr]

I feel the SCE lacks much of the flavorful synergies some newer tomes have, but many of our warscrolls are still strong on their own without help.  Dracothian Guard are a favorite of mine, all but the Concussors. They need the MW in addition to damage, not instead.    Our CTs kinda stink and are very limited, and the artefacts too.   But yeah, not wanting to buy ANOTHER book so soon.  

[JackStreicher]

2 hours ago, Marcvs said:

but that the book just feels  boring

I feel the same. But this also goes for Daughters of Khaine - They play so one dimensional (the visuals of the army just reinforce that).

SCE don’t have the issue DoK might have, since we‘ve got plenty Warscrolls to choose from. Most are pointed like the army was very elite - which it simply isn’t. Units crumble too quickly to any kind of pressure (MWs simply melt the army)

🤷🏼‍♂️

it‘s a pity. It‘d help if CAs weren’t limited to specific keywords and chambers and if the thunderstrike armour would cause mortals on a 5+

Edited April 12, 2023 by JackStreicher
Spelling

[Lord Krungharr]

For Annhilators is it worth running them in units of 6?  Seems like a no, but wondered what others thought.  I still have the shield ones from Dominion, and they're way cheaper than the big hammer versions, though in regular combat seem kinda meh.  But as a backfield anvil who can drop the bomb, maybe worth taking since they have a 2+ save, plop them in cover, and hold an objective stubbornly?  3 don't seem like enough to do that.

[Dogmantra]

2 hours ago, Lord Krungharr said:

 But as a backfield anvil who can drop the bomb, maybe worth taking since they have a 2+ save, plop them in cover, and hold an objective stubbornly?  3 don't seem like enough to do that.

It's tempting but it's a waste I think, even as a 6 it's only 18 wounds, and they're going to be a magnet for all the opponent's MW output. If dropping to snag objectives with small units is the way to go, I'd either go Gryph Hounds or Castigators. Both dirt cheap, Gryph Hounds get you 12 wounds and 6 bodies for 90 points, Castigators get you a few bodies and some decent shooting.

If you're talking about Grandhammers... I love a block of 6. It is so so overkill a lot of the time but it's also really funny to charge into a Great Unclean One and just take it off the board from full.

Edited April 12, 2023 by Dogmantra

[RedemptionUK]

On 4/12/2023 at 11:25 AM, JackStreicher said:

Alright guys. 
I am a SCE player myself but haven't touched them in months.

Yesterday I tested my SBGL against another player's SCE.

My impression was that SCE are lacking in almost every regard. The only unit that got its job done were the Annihalators.

With most of the Battletomes having been updated to meet the AoS 3.0 standards, how would you rate SCE in general? (not just regarding Tournaments, but as a faction)

Not the greatest list (cobbled together for a game after work) but I played OBR for a fun game with this:

Lord Imperitant
Gardus (I'd just painted him so the sole reason I fancied trying this)
Lord Relictor

3x5 Sequitors
2 x 3 Longstrikes
Annihilators with hammers
Annihilators with shield
Evokitties

Against,

Katakros
Archan
Some small hero

1 unit of mortek
6x Stalkers
2 of the fly things
Immortis guard

 

I was forced to take turn 1, did no damage with longstrikes (trait to reduce damage by 1) and only killed 2 mortek (which were revived). Then he marched over the board, got double and then proceeded to kill most of my army. Oh, and OBR have anti deep strike in their spell lore which also stopped me from really using the annihilators

I know I didn't take the strongest list, but it was a blood bath and I didn't even kill a single model. after the game was over we just played out if I dropped both units onto archan, the grandhammers failed their re-roll 7 inch charge, the shields got in.. the shields came off worse than archan did (terrible rolls on my part).

 

Definitely getting pushed out of playing games and just sticking to painting as it's not even fun how behind we feel in having fun things to do, it's not even that the warscrolls we have are so much better, they can outweigh extra rules everyone else has on top of extra rules for synergies.