Revised OBR Wishlisting

[Sception]

OBR has a brand new book, most of which seems quite good. In particular the new battletome squared the circle of bringing the OBR's faction defining relentless discipline rule into alignment with 3rd edition, giving us faction rules that make the army feel and play like they're supposed to again. That alone is enough to call the book a triumph - that they also did a really good job with the warscrolls is just amazing. I'm so, so hype to play games with these rules.


But it's never too soon to start wish listing for the future! So here's my own hopes & dreams:

Points cost adjustments - these are noteworthy, in that we don't need to wait for a new book. OBR are in a weird position with points, in that the army relies heavily on buffs & synergies, which makes them hard to point accurately. 15 points seems like a lot to pay for a single mortek guard, but when they can have +1 to hit and save from katakros, +1 to wound & exploding 5s from a mason, +1 attack from a liege, +1 rend from Bludgeon, and a 4+++ save from a Harvester?  Somewhere in there 15 points per model went from being kind of a lot to an outright steal. Most of our buffing & hero units are priced quite competitively for all they do, so while many of our units /feel/ like they cost a lot of points at first glance, there are only a few that I feel confident saying they're overpriced without first seeing them play out on competitive tables:

• Nagash. This one's easier to judge, since he's deliberately designed not to play into most faction abilities, so it's not a case of his gigantic points cost suddenly becoming reasonable after factoring in this or that synergy like it might be if he could be healed by boneshapers or take advantage of OBR command abilities. I love the new Nagash warscroll, it really feels like Nagash without being as oppressive as some of the pre-3rd edition takes tended to be, but he's /at least/ 100 points overpriced for what he does now, imo.  I mean, compare him to Teclis, or Morathi, or or even Kragnos.
   
• Soulreaper. It's not so much that he can't survive in combat - immortis can keep a foot hero alive for a turn or two pretty reliably - albeit at a significant cost to their own durability. It's just that his conditional extra melee attacks just aren't contributing enough to ever take this guy over a boneshaper's healing or an ossifector's cartouche. I'd love to see this guy redesigned in a way to make him exciting, maybe literally harvesting souls of models he kills to power up his spellcasting? In the mean time, though, a 20 point drop at least is probably necessary for the reaper to be worth considering, because right now he's effectively a single cast foot wizard with no secondary ability, no signature spell, and no artefact to speak of.
   
• Morghasts. Shutting down CAs is very strong, and I understand the devs pricing that aggressively out the gate, but 240 points for 2 morghasts is way too much. Drop them down 20, maybe even 40 points.

beyond that, I'm just not confident saying anything else is too expensive without extensive play data to go on. Again, mortek seem pricey at 150, but they soak up buffs so good. Crawler damage seems low, but with drain vitality + purple sun this army can pretty potentially throw out a -2 penalty to saves at range and maybe that damage isn't too low after all, etc.

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FAQ/Battlescroll updates - there's one specific warscroll rule change I'd like to see that is minor enough that I think the devs could get away making the change via errata or battlescroll update rather than having to wait for a new book.

• Mortisan Ossifector. I think this guy will see ~some~ play even as is just for the artefact + a lore spell, but his signature ability being limited to morghasts (overpriced, fast and maybe deep striking so they may never be in range), crawlers (low damage so the buff doesn't do much for them, back line so may not be in range to buff if you're up front to spread the cartouche aura), and harvesters (alright, but a single model second line support unit isn't making great use of those buffs) makes it just kind of hard to use.
  
  To fix that, I'd like to see the Ossifector's buffs extended to also target immortis & stalkers (ie, 'harvesters, crawlers, and hekatos units'). I think this simple change would take our new hero from a kind of disappointing unit that you maybe run sometimes just for the artefact to something many players will actively want to field, particularly in petrifex style lists.

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Future Book changes to subfactions - While I'm mostly happy with the core rules, and the current subfactions /are/ a step up from what we had before, I'd like to see further revisions here.

• Mortis Praetorians, Petrifex Elite, Crematorians - these are more or less fine as is
   
• Null Myriad: does almost nothing against most enemies, when it is relevant it's too strong, potentially shutting down the core offensive strategy of the entire enemy army. Neither makes for a fun game. Maybe a 12" aura of -1 to cast/dispel/unbind for enemy wizards? Works on more armies since it hits buffing spells, has counterplay options if your opponent can just keep his wizards out of the aura range, relevant to obr casting as it can make their spells harder to unbind once enemy units are in the aura? I don't know, just an example of the kind of direction they could take, exact effect/range/etc would need tinkering.
   
• Stalliarch: any benefit restricted to mounted units only is going to run into issues with the army not having many mounted units and arguably zero mounted hammers. Maybe extend the benefit to "and mounted stalliarch unit, plus any other stalliarch unit wholly within 9" of a mounted stalliarch hero", so that stalliarch soulmasons could extend the benefit to mortek guard, lieges to necropolis stalkers, etc? Keeps the subfaction ability mounted-themed while still making it relevant to non-mounted units. I dunno.
   
• Ivory host - the narrative concept of these guys - that they're all proud and disciplined until you crack their bones and the wild magic of ghur leaks out, causing them to lose their minds and become ravening beasts - is so, so good. But both takes on it so far have been weak, conditional, and imo failed to caputure their loss of discipline. Basing the ability on taking damage that turn is too awkward and unreliable. I'd rather see something like "Ivory host units gain a +1 bonus to wound rolls for melee attacks. However, when counting friendly OBR units for the Relentless Discipline battle trait, do not count any Ivory Host units that are within 3" of any enemy units". So basically they get a sort of pseudo free CA that always applies to all their units in melee and stacks with anything else, but it becomes harder to use other command abilities in a prolonged fight as their bestial instincts take over and discipline breaks down. That's potentially a pretty big penalty, though, so the bonus might have to be tinkered with.

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Future Book changes to existing warscrolls - most significant warscroll changes need to wait for a new book. I'm actually mostly quite happy with the current warscrolls, but there are a few I'd like to see get a serious rethink next time around.

• Soulreaper: As mentioned previously, this guy needs a better reason to put him in combat. I'd like to see some sort of soul-stealing ability, like maybe models he slays give him 'soul tokens' that he can use to re-roll casting or unbinding rolls in future hero phases.
   
• Crawler: IMO the damage is just too low in the current version. I'd like to see more damage, and a fair bit more range.
   
• Immortis Guard: I love their new scroll, but even limited to 1/game I think their double strike CA is too much of an offensive boost on what is supposed to be the kit's defensive build. I'd much rather they had a command ability that reflects their protective role. Maybe 'use this CA when a friendly OBR hero within 3" is targeted by an enemy attack, until the end of the turn when you roll a 5+ for this unit's soulbound bodyguard ability that wound or mortal wound is negated instead of applying it to the immortis unit'. Something like that would help with the current issue where immortis are good on their own but using them for their intended narrative purpose makes them weaker as a nearby hero effectively becomes a gap in their armor.
   
• Morghasts: first, 6 wounds just doesn't feel like enough for these guys. Bump them up to 7. Otherwise, the basic shared 'morghast' stuff of the current warscrolls is good, but the distinction between harbingers and archai still isn't quite right. First, I'd like to see different stats between the units (ie, give Archai -2 Move but +1 save). Second, I'd like the archai signature ability to be better. Maybe also give them extra attacks when near an obr hero (or friendly nagash), in addition to the 5+ ward? or replace the 5+ ward with a +1 bonus to ward saves, and make that also apply to the nearby obr heroes or friendly nagash? I don't know. Deep strike seems ok for harbingers, but the archai's conditional ward just doesn't feel on par in an army that already has a 6+ ward, or 5+ with a command point.
  
  Also I think the 'strike first on a big charge roll' rule can be dropped. Shutting off CAs is a big enough signature ability to give morghasts definition as a broader unit type, and ditching the lottery charge would help provide some slack to reduce their overall points cost and up the effectiveness of archai abilities.

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Future Book New Units/Model Kits - new units especially need to wait for a future book. OBR are such a fantastic concept, such a unique aesthetic, such a defining Age of Sigmar faction. The initial release wave was and remains really strong, but there's so much room left to expand on them.

• Sphinx: OBR are big and slow and tough and a centerpiece monster should share those traits - so not a fast flying dragon lord type monster, but a slow ponderous battering ram (un)living seige engine, like a Mumak in Lord of the Rings or, more pointedly, like a tomb kings warsphinx. Make it a dual kit buildable with either a leige on top turning it into leader/behemoth buffwagon or a howda with a crew of mortek guard (behemoth/battleline-if) as a straight battering ram, maybe with some shooting. Throw in an extra round base to field the hero on foot if you build the mortek crewed version, killing two birds with one stone. Give the infantry liege a ranged version of endless duty to support archers/crawlers, giving him a specialized niche and not just 'cheaper liege kavalos'.
   
• Archers: People have wanted this since the bow guy in the underworlds warband. Would do a lot for the army, adding some reach and a second viable option to support with harvesters. I wouldn't make them battleline, at least not by default, and would keep most of the army's buffs restricted to melee attacks, don't want to make the whole army a shooty army. But yeah, some halfway decent ranged support infantry would be great.
   
• Morghast Hero - named or otherwise: Morghasts are cool, a dedicated morghast hero as almost an undead daemon prince type unit would be super cool. Plus, while I don't think the current morghast models are dated enough to warrant replacement, I would very much like to see what the model studio could do with the concept using their modern tools and methods.
   
• Arkhan? - All three classic mortarchs had scenes in broken realms where their dread abyssal steeds were slain. between that and arkhan's death, there has been some speculation that GW were setting up for future releases separating the mortarchs out in order to get rid of a cross-faction kit. IF we see a new arkhan kit, I'd personally like to see him go back to his old flying four horse chariot, both because I personally think it's super cool and because it would make the model usable in both AoS and the returning Old World game. If the oval base stays the same, then the old model can stay playable for those who already have it.
   
• Walls/Gate/Tower: Every time I see the amazing OBR terrain pictured in GW studio images I die a little inside knowing I can't have it & couldn't really produce anything on that level if I tried to scratch build it. Please! Release these as kits to the public! Make them made to order forgeworld kits with long waiting lists and absurd prices, I don't care, I just want them! Please!
  
  This in particular wouldn't necessarily have to wait for a new battletome & could instead come alongside some campaign featuring seige battles against OBR - possibly a wrath of the everchosen followup.

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Beyond that, obviously if battle tactics and grand strategies are still a thing in 4e, then I hope we'll get better ones then.  I understand the idea that factions should have /some/ weakness, but narratively 'bad at battle tactics' doesn't feel like the right weakness for OBR.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Sception