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Stormcast Vanguard


StoneMonk

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Looked for a thread for this and didn't find one. Please point me to it if my eyesight is bad. Figured we could start talking about the units and lists and role in the game here.

 

Vanguard Palladors - So I'm geeking over the new Gryph-chargers of the Pallador unit, the paint jobs on the GW site are out of this world. They've also got some really cool rules to boot. The Wind Aetheric move creates some alternative movement than lightning strike type, while still being able to set these babies on the board in deployment which I like.  The gryph-charger profile is similar to dracoth, but with better rend. And they mortal wound on a 6. No breath weapon but the movement is boss. So it seems like you could equip them with spears for an elusive shooty unit as you get to throw spears and shoot bolstorm crossbow. Or give them axes if you want them in combat. So the best answer is both. :) 

Vanguard Hunters - I like that setting them up in pursuit means they have flexible movement, are restricted when they come in, but won't be left behind by Palladors. But not having them on the board for setup means Palladors are gonna get shot at. So getting them on the board to run and shoot first turn and be chaff may not be bad. I'm into the Axe aesthetic, and it's easier to buff 'to hit' to make that 3+ 3+ - no rend on these guys means you're looking for the weight of numbers.

Vanguard Raptors / Longstrike - I don't usually field a lot of ranged stuff, but these guys are cool with their monopods. 30" range if they don't move, great rend, and a chance to mortal wound. And some anti-charge rule that makes them interesting. Not a lot of shots so may need a big unit and focus on monsters and heroes?

Vanguard Raptors / Hurricane - 18" range but if they don't move, 9 shots each, so a unit of 6 is 54 shots. That -2 charge modifier is crazy new and tasty as well.

Aetherwing - Beautiful models. So the Watchful Guardians seem to make them a versatile backfield chaff unit. Alternatively, since they can retreat and charge, they could be a harassment unit. I've not played anything with that mechanic so maybe you have better ideas of how to use these offensively?

Gryphounds - rules all stayed the same for these. As singles they are great defensive partners for the raptors and anything setting up nearby. But their ability to charge in, attack, and then run off is cool - but if you rull a 4 or lower you're still in combat pile in range. So you gotta hit 5+ to stump the enemy unit, or use it to pull the unit in a new direction? Will be hard to pin these dogs down.

Knight Aquilor - Truly an amazing model. He has the Astral compass rule like the hunters. He has the Winds Aetheric and Aethereal strike like the Palladors. And his command ability lets him take any Vanguard unit (not gryphounds) off the table and into pursuit for mid-late game movement. I don't know another hero that works so specifically and broadly with this many units. Obviously a +1 to hit or save buff works with ANY stormcast, but again, this is so specific. So keen to field this guy.

I'm most interested in running Palladors as the stars of this release. 

The Vanguard Angelos battalion is what I'm most interested in. Palladors and Hunters. Palladors go from 6d6 to 9d6 Wind Aetheric move - I love the potential of a 9" or 54" move - so swingy for such a powerful ability - as it should be. Hunters get the ability to shoot when they come in from pursuit in the movement phase, and then shoot again in the shooting phase. I think some flanks will get cleared quick. You can field this at 1000 points, but you only get one unit of 3 Pallador, and have to take 3 battleline - so not sure it's worth it.

The Vanguard Justicar battalion looks cool if you like the shooty stuff. The Vanguard Auxillary chamber is impossible to field under 2000pts, maybe at 2500 but not sure if there's enough Palladors in there to be cool :)

What units have you jazzed and why?

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Like you I am loving the palladors. I would love to pair these with my lord celestant on stardrake in the storm heralds formation but I'm still trying to figure it out.

I actually love the rules and models for everything this release and am deathly afraid I NEED 3 of each box (6 for the raptors!) bar the Lord Aquilor.

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Well, I'm excited.

The only thing that saddens me is how the auxiliary chamber is a fraction over 2000pts. It wont stop me from building one though. I Just have to work out how best to field all the new Vanguard models in lower points games. I currently plan on only buying Vanguard models for now.

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The Vanguard-Palladors are probably my favourite out of all the new models; they look awesome, and that ability looks great fun. I think they would work really well in just about any Order army, harassing the enemy, ganking war-machines and grabbing elusive objectives. I will definitely have to pick a couple of boxes up at some point to add to my burgeoning Order army. Just a bit worried about those ankles...

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What's great about the auxilary chamber (and the named chambers) coming in over 2000, is that you have treasures to unlock for even bigger games of AoS. 

At 1000/2000 I think the Angelos Conclave is my favorite. And I'm eager to play the Palladors with so much movement potential. I wonder if spears may be better for harrasing as you'll get more shots in the shooting phase and trying to stay out of combat as much as possible.

Those beaks and claws do want to tear at the enemy though...

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I'm also keen to have an army consisting of solely Vanguard Chamber.

I really like the idea of 'backup' animals, like the Aetherwings, with their charge blocking.

likewise, if a Lord Castallent is with a group of Gryph-Hounds, (5 for example), do they all receive the additional attacks against the same target? Similarly, I assume units of Hunters near that same group of Gryph-Hounds would receive the shooting attacks against summoned units, etc that 'set up' within 10 inches?

 

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In general I feel a mainly Vanguard army will play extremely fluidly. With a Lord-Aquilor as your general you have massive scope to do all kinds of movement shenanigans.

Some that spring to mind:

  • Angelos Battalion at 2,000. 3 units of Palladors, 3 of Vanguard hunters. Lord Aquilor as general. The army is quick beyond belief, able to get into or out of trouble with huge movement.
  • Unit of aetherwing protecting hurricane crossbow Raptors. Crossbow shoots unit closing on it, aetherwing chaffs it, the -2 to charge makes it even harder to get behind the chaff.
  • The Auxiliary Chamber at 2,500 will be a shooting machine of doom. The longstrike crossbows become murder machines with the Chamber + Justicar bonuses, Palladors become supreme light cavalry (Riding the Aethyr does not stop shooting, can get yourself in the perfect position to shoot up whoever you feel like shooting).

I also think that outside of a Stormcast army the vanguard units bring some interesting options to a mixed Order army. With a Lord-Aquilor as your general your battleline can be filled with Vanguard hunters who are fairly unique in what they offer. Vanguard-Palladors also provide a heavy hitting fast cavalry option to any order army.

Also, Aetherwings and Gryphhounds are cool so... why not field them?

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I'm totally getting a Lord Aquilor, a set of Vanguard Palladors, a box of Vanguard Hunters and the Gryph-Hounds, maybe even some Aetherwings.

Then I'm mixing them in with the 1000 points of Stormcast I already have! Should take me to 2000 or close enough...

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I was on the fence with Stormcast but this release pushed me right over!!!

 

Ordered Aquilor and 2 x boxes of palladors and picked up some hunters. Unfortunately I won't get any painting or assembly done this weekend as I'm out of town but I'm dead keen to get these bad boys on the table.

 

ill be running a full vanguard force, aesthetically they are what I've wanted with Stormcast

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20 hours ago, StoneMonk said:

What's great about the auxilary chamber (and the named chambers) coming in over 2000, is that you have treasures to unlock for even bigger games of AoS. 

At 1000/2000 I think the Angelos Conclave is my favorite. And I'm eager to play the Palladors with so much movement potential. I wonder if spears may be better for harrasing as you'll get more shots in the shooting phase and trying to stay out of combat as much as possible.

Those beaks and claws do want to tear at the enemy though...

I think the Spears versus Axes quandary is one that we'll probably have to leave to trial and error. I'm a bit torn with regards to that one myself, as the Spears probably means that they will be safer, but then they are pretty tough as fast cavalry units go, and the Winds Aetheric should allow them to blink to safety if things get a bit dodgy. Really looking forward to trying them out though. 

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I am hyped by this release.

In assembling my hunters I've found the possible poses to be cooler than the ones on the box. They are also battleline, giving us a new option for our army core.

The Palladors look amazing. They are the kinds of dynamic, action sculpts that the stormcast needed and it really sets them apart from heavy dracoth riders. The rules look to really capture the feel of light cav. I'm definitely building mine with spears (all 6 with spears I think).

The new heavy crossbow teams look great. I'm actually worried the snipers might be too good at taking out enemy heroes, but we'll have to play to see. The sheer number of dice to-hits put out by the auto crossbows is nuts. I think it's like 9 per model. 

GW is really coming up with some cool mechanics and ideas for this army. I understand why non Stormcast players are jealous. I hope that Bloodbound get a similar expansion.

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ALSO: The new book has spoilers for the remaining chambers. It gives their names and shows each a locked door.

I cannot wait to see what lies within the Ruination Chamber. My hope is some kind of warmachine or maybe large dragon inspired monster.

And if I ever start a tech-death metal band I'll call it the Ruination Chamber.

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1 hour ago, GreenMarine said:

ALSO: The new book has spoilers for the remaining chambers. It gives their names and shows each a locked door.

I cannot wait to see what lies within the Ruination Chamber. My hope is some kind of warmachine or maybe large dragon inspired monster.

And if I ever start a tech-death metal band I'll call it the Ruination Chamber.

Band logo:

coollogo_com-108741535.png.6c80c77abf1fd9c31bfa2729e1dd3b2d.png

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On 02/21/2017 at 4:02 PM, GreenMarine said:

ALSO: The new book has spoilers for the remaining chambers. It gives their names and shows each a locked door.

I cannot wait to see what lies within the Ruination Chamber. My hope is some kind of warmachine or maybe large dragon inspired monster.

And if I ever start a tech-death metal band I'll call it the Ruination Chamber.

If Stormcast are designed around space marine in fantasy, I wonder what a dreadnought will look like in AoS?.....

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On 2/25/2017 at 5:50 PM, Devilsreject said:

Does anyone think that pure vanguard could be competitive in the tourney scene, aux chamber comes to mind for over 2k.

im not very experienced in AoS or SE for that matter but my aim is a pure vanguard force (aesthetically pleasing for my eyes)

Just from running a 1000 pt list vs my own BCR last night I'd have to say IDK.  Taking down a behmoth like Thundertusk was hard enough and his snowball just deletes guys.  If my Knight Venator hadn't managed to get off the Star Fated Arrow it would have been curtains for the SCE.  That being said they did show a lot of potential.  Especially the Lord Aquillor simply picking up a tarpited unit of hunters and popping back up next turn to provide harrasment and objective securing potential elsewhere.  The range of 24" on Lord Aquillor's ability is sort of nuts.  If you can find ways to pack in more ranged mortal wounds (*Cough**Raptors**Cough*) then their may be something to it. 

 

I am still assembling another box of hunters and 2 boxes of Palladors at the moment (So many pieces).  I will report on how they fair in a 2k list this weekend.  Running Lord Pallador w/ a Vanguard Angelos and Vanguard Justicar conclave this Sunday VS BCR list (Frost Lord on SH, Huskard on TT, Beastriders on TT, 1 unit of 4 Mournfang, 3 yettis, Hunter w/ 2x 2 sabretusks in Skal Battalion).  If they can fell the SH and weaken the others while scoring the objectives they stand a chance.  But that is a big if lol. 

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1 hour ago, Lord Aquillor said:

Just from running a 1000 pt list vs my own BCR last night I'd have to say IDK.  Taking down a behmoth like Thundertusk was hard enough and his snowball just deletes guys.  If my Knight Venator hadn't managed to get off the Star Fated Arrow it would have been curtains for the SCE.  That being said they did show a lot of potential.  Especially the Lord Aquillor simply picking up a tarpited unit of hunters and popping back up next turn to provide harrasment and objective securing potential elsewhere.  The range of 24" on Lord Aquillor's ability is sort of nuts.  If you can find ways to pack in more ranged mortal wounds (*Cough**Raptors**Cough*) then their may be something to it. 

 

I am still assembling another box of hunters and 2 boxes of Palladors at the moment (So many pieces).  I will report on how they fair in a 2k list this weekend.  Running Lord Pallador w/ a Vanguard Angelos and Vanguard Justicar conclave this Sunday VS BCR list (Frost Lord on SH, Huskard on TT, Beastriders on TT, 1 unit of 4 Mournfang, 3 yettis, Hunter w/ 2x 2 sabretusks in Skal Battalion).  If they can fell the SH and weaken the others while scoring the objectives they stand a chance.  But that is a big if lol. 

I have been pondering how to get the new mobile stormcast lists to handle BCR, stonehorns in particular.

Maybe it'll always be a tough list. Regular stormcast against BCR isn't exactly a walk in the park depending on a few factors.

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1 hour ago, Lord Aquillor said:

Just from running a 1000 pt list vs my own BCR last night I'd have to say IDK.  Taking down a behmoth like Thundertusk was hard enough and his snowball just deletes guys.  If my Knight Venator hadn't managed to get off the Star Fated Arrow it would have been curtains for the SCE.  That being said they did show a lot of potential.  Especially the Lord Aquillor simply picking up a tarpited unit of hunters and popping back up next turn to provide harrasment and objective securing potential elsewhere.  The range of 24" on Lord Aquillor's ability is sort of nuts.  If you can find ways to pack in more ranged mortal wounds (*Cough**Raptors**Cough*) then their may be something to it. 

 

I am still assembling another box of hunters and 2 boxes of Palladors at the moment (So many pieces).  I will report on how they fair in a 2k list this weekend.  Running Lord Pallador w/ a Vanguard Angelos and Vanguard Justicar conclave this Sunday VS BCR list (Frost Lord on SH, Huskard on TT, Beastriders on TT, 1 unit of 4 Mournfang, 3 yettis, Hunter w/ 2x 2 sabretusks in Skal Battalion).  If they can fell the SH and weaken the others while scoring the objectives they stand a chance.  But that is a big if lol. 

 

could you tell me your 1k BCR List?

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My 1k list I was using (not necessarily good or anything... just wanted something to smash up against) was 2x2 units of Mournfang, 1x4 unit of Frost Sabre, Hunter as General with Frost Elixir and Everwinter's Master, Beastriders on TT.  I don't typically run Frost Lord on SH in 1k lists as its just a little unfair tbh.  

My hunters did the astral compass setup to pop in behind the TT.  Unit of 5 shot at him and then charged him.  They didnt last long but they did manage to tie him up long enough to keep his snowball from doing too much damage while my Knight Venator widdled him down at range.  

It was an easy cap on objectives too since they had to devote too many bodys (Whole Unit of Sabretusks and 1x2 Mournfang to hold their home onjective. (Take and Hold Battleplan).

SCE ended up tabling the BCR on turn 5 but would have won a minor even if they hadn't.  I still think the Longshot Crossbows are going to be a must if I want to take on BCR at higher points.  

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On 28/02/2017 at 5:34 AM, Lord Aquillor said:

Especially the Lord Aquillor simply picking up a tarpited unit of hunters and popping back up next turn to provide harrasment and objective securing potential elsewhere.  The range of 24" on Lord Aquillor's ability is sort of nuts.

Just picking up on this point. My reading of the Lord-Aquilor's ability is that you take him and a unit off in the Hero Phase, and then they are available to reappear in the following movement phase, so remove the tar pitted hunters pop back in on the movement phase, shoot up and charge a new unit.

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I really like new units, but... well... it's quite hard to mix them into the "old army". 

I own about 4k points of SE and I really would like to use Palladors and Raptors, but I can't see any use for them.

Mobility is not everything, especially since we can drop our units on 3+ roll everywhere on the table. 2 days ago I played 3 matches. Deep striking my Judicators and sniping heroes/artilery (crew) was really fun and effective. I also had Hammetstrike (2x5 Retri, 1xPros with hammers) and they was really really effective. For me it's hard to imagine choosing Palladors instead of Paladins (point cost is the same), because they're not really effective.

Using Hammerstrike + Lord-Vexillor is very powerfull right now, and the new range of units works good only if you want to use pure Vanguard Chamber. It's not really cool for people like me, because it's like buying a completely new army. And if I would like to collect a new army, I would choose something else. :D

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42 minutes ago, Heksagon said:

I really like new units, but... well... it's quite hard to mix them into the "old army". 

I own about 4k points of SE and I really would like to use Palladors and Raptors, but I can't see any use for them.

Mobility is not everything, especially since we can drop our units on 3+ roll everywhere on the table. 2 days ago I played 3 matches. Deep striking my Judicators and sniping heroes/artilery (crew) was really fun and effective. I also had Hammetstrike (2x5 Retri, 1xPros with hammers) and they was really really effective. For me it's hard to imagine choosing Palladors instead of Paladins (point cost is the same), because they're not really effective.

Using Hammerstrike + Lord-Vexillor is very powerfull right now, and the new range of units works good only if you want to use pure Vanguard Chamber. It's not really cool for people like me, because it's like buying a completely new army. And if I would like to collect a new army, I would choose something else. :D

I do think pure vanguard will be a great force with a very different playstyle. Right now I'm going to try out (similar situation to you) a few token vanguard units (aquilor and raptors) in a mainly traditional sc list. Will grow it from there.

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8 hours ago, Heksagon said:

I really like new units, but... well... it's quite hard to mix them into the "old army". 

I own about 4k points of SE and I really would like to use Palladors and Raptors, but I can't see any use for them.

Mobility is not everything, especially since we can drop our units on 3+ roll everywhere on the table. 2 days ago I played 3 matches. Deep striking my Judicators and sniping heroes/artilery (crew) was really fun and effective. I also had Hammetstrike (2x5 Retri, 1xPros with hammers) and they was really really effective. For me it's hard to imagine choosing Palladors instead of Paladins (point cost is the same), because they're not really effective.

Using Hammerstrike + Lord-Vexillor is very powerfull right now, and the new range of units works good only if you want to use pure Vanguard Chamber. It's not really cool for people like me, because it's like buying a completely new army. And if I would like to collect a new army, I would choose something else. :D

The reason to use Palladors over Paladins is the cool factor... The Palladors are some of the best GW models ever made in my opinion.  The only reason I picked up SE in the first place. ;)

And it is nice to drop units on the 3+ but pallys are doing much for speed after they hit.  I prefer a more mobile strat and love the maneuverability of the gryphs.  

 

7 hours ago, Turragor said:

I do think pure vanguard will be a great force with a very different playstyle. Right now I'm going to try out (similar situation to you) a few token vanguard units (aquilor and raptors) in a mainly traditional sc list. Will grow it from there.

Right now I am sitting at : 

1x Lord Aquilor

1x Lord Castellant

1x Knight Venator

20x Vanguard Hunters

6x Vanguard Palladors

9x Vanguard Raptors w/ LSCB

9x Aetherwing

13x Gryph Hounds.

 

My hunting party is almost complete!  Looking to add in 2x more knights kits for the Vanguard Auxiliary Chamber at 2500.  

 

14 hours ago, mhsellwood said:

Just picking up on this point. My reading of the Lord-Aquilor's ability is that you take him and a unit off in the Hero Phase, and then they are available to reappear in the following movement phase, so remove the tar pitted hunters pop back in on the movement phase, shoot up and charge a new unit.

That's how it works!  And it feels so good.  I popped them out of a unfavorable combat that my opponent over-committed to and popped up on the other side of the board and shot and charged.  The ability to get where you need to be and away from places that quick is insane.  I almost want to put all 9 Raptors with Longstrike in one unit and have them just port around sniping down HVTs. 

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