Fyrm

Ya, you do. And I'm alright with that? You're asking for their help, of course you'd give them a little bit of your magic while they're helping you. Can make for some interesting interactions though!

I really hope you're mistaken. I'm not saying you are, but I'd hate to lose actual battalions. The Core Battalions are really trash. I figured I might use them if they end up free, and I didn't have another battalion for the units, but if they're required...

New rules dropped! No GHB, but core rules still. I’m sad I’m losing out on horde bonus for Sisters, as well as big bliss of snek ladies in general. But I’ll find ways to make do I guess. Just depends how many reinforcements we get in the most commonly used battlepacks. double turns still around. Boo. Those are the biggest NPE for me in AoS. They can randomly swing a game out of nowhere, and having to pray to the dice gods that you get one to have a hope is worse in my book from having to focus on upping your game and not having that temptress there. Overall, I’m excited to see the new battle plans [and packs, those could be a big deal or nothing at all], and actually sit down at a table and play.

Well, “cause the land to come alive” feels like maybe they might have some sort of “target terrain becomes woods” ability. Maybe. A bit of a long shot, but a hope. Probably at least something to help with the woods problems.

Fair. Neither of the other BR books seem to have much connection to Soulbound that I know of, but fair.

Well, the reason I bring it up is because, while we definitely need an update, that doesn’t mean GW will give us one anytime soon. Lots of factions have gone without updates for long stretches. the main argument I saw for a BR:Allarielle was that the series was going to be focused around each Aelven god, but Be’lakor kinda raises a question mark to that statement. Sure, the initial information seemed to point that way, but that doesn’t mean it is the case. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

So, with Broken Realms Be’lakor, anyone else beginning to worry we won’t see a BR:Alleirial?

Even with their ability negating the need to use the command ability on them, ya they have great value. Heck, partially because of that! Other temples, they jump to harass mostly. They leave behind everyone else. Here, you can send a unit to escort them. A hero to support or a blob of chaff/bodyguards to help hold a point. Ya, I like that.

So...I just noticed something. HoS seem to have traded their "fight last" ability in for a "no pile in" ability. What would people think of that on our TL variants? It'd be weaker in some ways, useless in some, but in others it could completely negate an attack, and as long as it keeps going continue to negate it. I've seen some people talk about allying in the Sharks for that ability combined with Household, if we could instead just have that baseline on the TL in a Household that might be something? Either way, still think all the other discussed buffs to TL variants should still be on the table, but it got me thinking and I kinda like this version better. It'll mean people won't feel bad for charging in and being told to wait for us to pummel you, but with clever positioning and a bit of luck you can completely lock down someone. And I enjoy Sylvaneth for their interesting and creative play style~

So, I'm curious. Why don't I see many people using Vespal Gem much? Sure, it only helps with Lore spell, but that's still a free Regrowth every turn, that can't be unbound by even Teclis. I feel like that'd be a must run in Gnarlroot, with how much people are saying that unless you have a +2 to cast you'll never get spells off. Put that on the General, and you'll be taking 1 mortal to heal 1d6 and 1d3. No argument. Or Verdurous Harmony for models back and the 1d3 heal.

I'd really like to see special mount trait type thingies for Treelords. Call them "Sprite Traits", representing the sprites that take residence in that Treelord. And then rewrite Oakenbrow to give extra maybe!!! I agree TLA should get something to casting. Second spell/unbind per turn would be the most interesting. Or a bonus based on how many Trees are within 3" could be cool. I feel the items are really on point. Especially for our casters, but there's a lot of really nice one. I feel like they should give some sort of ability to let you turn terrain pieces into Trees. I don't think they should remove the ability to summon them, because most people who'd play Sylvaneth already have a ton lol, but an option to deal with over cluttered tables would be nice. Maybe add it to the spell every Sylvaneth wizard gets? Or perhaps even just add a faction rule that is "Whenever you would summon Trees, you can instead turn another terrain piece into Trees" type ability. It shouldn't remove base rules or traits, and maybe also not on faction terrain? But it would be very helpful. Buff the Bow Hunters!!! I love that model, will likely run them no matter what, but they tend to be a bit weak for their role.

Alright, quick battlereport. Just finished a few moments ago, so still very fresh in mind. She was running Nighthaunt. Olynder, Arkhan, one of those Coach thingies, and a bunch of those sword blender units. And a handful of other mooks. I was running the following. Temple:Khailibron Ironscale: General Whisperdeath Bloodwrack Shrine Shadowstone Mindrazer 20 Blood Sisters 15 Blood Sisters 10 Blood Stalkers 10 Blood Stalkers 5 Khinari Heartrenders Bloodwrack Viper Scathcoven So, I kinda stomped that battle. It was Shifting Obectives. 2 drops, so I choose to go second. They deepstrike and advance to take all 3 objectives first turn, I rush forward and arrow down the sides to soften targets, while the middle gets the 20 with Mindrazer on them [luck there, just barely got the cast off without Arkhan's +2 to unbind stopping it] charge down the middle. I win all 3 flanks, enough to take all 3 objectives myself. No double turn, they buff up Arkhan and drop the rest of their army. Arkhan and Olynder charge into the buffed 20 [down a couple, but still have mindrazer which helps later]. The blenders [forget what they're called, bladeghiests maybe?] crash into the primary objective on one side. Hard. But the Stalkers there hold out, as do the ones on the other side. As for the middle...Arkhan and Olynder end up getting the unit down to 11, but Arkhan dies to they spears and Olynder to their Crystal Touch. The Coach on the other flank gets into the Stalkers, but they hold up too. My turn, I fail Mindrazer, but ironscale to launch the 15 untouched Sisters into the Coach flank. They get all of their models in range for their spears, for a nasty 46 attacks. At that point they call it, because I just have too much still on the board, and they don't really have enough to push me off. Takeaways: 1] Don't underestimate the staying power of a big block of Melusai in a Scathcoven!!! 5+/6++ 2 wounds and ignore battleshock is hard to shift in big blocks. Not at all the wet pieces of paper in my experience. 2] Even without Mindrazer, Blood Sisters hit hard. And with a little luck, getting it off is possible and at that point they can pump out a ton of wounds! And in big blocks, triggering their ability after battle ends with all of them is stronger total damage than during their attack with those in range. Sure, they can't stop attacks from hitting them back, but they can pick off small heroes that only got a few spears into them. 3] They didn't really have a great list for the Bloodwrack to help, and the Harpies weren't really helpful so they were held in reserve all game. Honestly, I'm really happy with the list! Hits hard, can hold decently, and can threaten large chunks of the battlefield. Lots of fun!

So, I’d like to point out that the theme of the Broken Realms is that the Aelven Gods are active. And Alarialle is an Aelven God. I'm not saying we’ll definitely see a Broken Realms Alarialle, but I’d be surprised if we didn’t see something for Sylvaneth in one of these books.

Alright, I’m really annoyed by all the people doomsdaying. Seriously, every time there’s a release in interested in, it always seems like most people, or at least the loudest ones, are screaming that the faction is garbage now. I don’t care anymore. I’ll just be focused on having fun playing an interested game. Which means a snek list.

That would be a huge change! And would likely mean Predatory Endless Spells would need to be changed up, but that would also be in line with our new ones... Ya, I could definitely see it! Edit: Oh, and to help contribute, here's the snek list I'm toying with! I'm not exactly great at all this, but I think it can hit hard. Cobra kai temple Bloodwrack Shrine [general, Crimson Talisman, Mindrazer] Bloodwrack Medusa [Sevenfold Shadow, Mirror Dance] Melusai Ironscale [Shadracar's Fang] 20 Blood Sisters 15 Blood Stalkers 15 Blood Stalkers Balewind Vortex Bloodwrack Viper Scathcoven Extra Command point. Idea is to go hammer and other hammer! Throw Shrine behind enemy lines to cause some damage, hopefully giving Mindrazer before going. Medusa summones the Vortex and uses her teleportation powers to make sure she's always in position to cast as effectively as possible. Ironscale rolls with Sisters to smash some faces in, with the Stalkers providing supporting fire where needed.

Ya, that’s the spirit! Focus on a core of what you enjoy, and mix in just enough of oomph to keep games interesting. That’s how I see it.

Oh! That’s a good point! It’s still the only teleport that works like that to my knowledge, but maybe that’s going to be a new standard going forward? either way, I feel like I’m going to be wishing to go Second often anyways, seeing as I need to protect the snake endless spell. And my control of it. If this line of design is a complicated way to make double turns less appealing...I don’t think it’s that effective, but I suppose it does take some of the bite out of. If they start doing that for other factions, and it’s not just a nerf to us and us alone.

So, we now know for sure that our Predatory Endless Spells can backfire. That is unfortunate. Not too surprising, but unfortunate. Which is a pity, because the snake looks like it’s very good. Maybe have a Bloodwrack Shrine Jump behind their lines to throw it where it can’t cause you harm? So worst case they move it off somewhere a later turn? Also...is it just me, or is the Khailebron CA worded oddly? You teleport at the end of the movement phase, and can’t move in your next movement phase? So if you use it in turn one, you can’t move turn two? That actually sounds really bad. I’m glad we got a lot of nice teleportation options for our heroes I suppose, but it looks like our troops won’t be as free ranging as before.

So the TP is a Command Ability now? Well, that's alright. Makes more sense honestly.

We don't know that our Endless Spells can backfire yet. I admit it looks very likely, but we only know 1 ability of each. Maybe they have rules that only DoK players can move them, like Bound? So you have to worry about how you place and move them as they can backfire if you aren't. And you have to worry if infighting/mirror matching. Or maybe they'll have a separate rule for DoK immunity. Honestly, as I've gone on I've found the rules previews to be less and less appealing, just due to the fact of how useless they are. Giving just a trickle of rules only serves to get people angry because clearly this is all there is to it. Now, giving the lore? Giving images of well constructed and painted models? Stories? Maybe it'd be neat to get a general Battle Report that's more dramatized than mechanically reported? Like, I'm super hype for that new Snake spell!!! [Yes I play DoK because sneks, lol]. Looks gorgeous, evocative description of how it does what it does. If I can fit it into a list without too much trouble it's going in. Am I happy it has a neat effect? Well, I don't really know how neat its effect is yet, but if it is then great! But I feel like GW would do better giving less scraps of rules and more fluff focus.

Interesting! Thanks for the info!!! Very good to hear that the sneks aren’t completely useless, they still work for killing stuffs. and very good job, congrats on first place!

I’m glad you got some testing in, even if the results aren’t looking good. More testing is definitely needed.

I still think the changes to Blood Sisters won’t play out as bad as everyone is theorizing, but we shall see! I hope to get some table time soon. I’ve always just shrugged and accepted that an all snek list would be a little under powered, so maybe it’s just my bias, but I’m really excited to try out the new Stalkers and Crystal Touch rules. And the Ironscale. I still can’t bring myself to try anything in the Morathi book. But we shall see!!!

Whether it triggers at the end of the activation or the end of combat, the enemy can remove casualties such that they are safe from it. Unless it happens first, that difference won’t matter much for that trick. Happening before pile-in/the start of combat could cause it to be wasted as well, and after pile-in but before attacks could knock some spear attacks out. I think any wording of this ability would be awkward and create feels bad moments. While other ones would probably be better for most scenarios, I can’t see a way to work this as an ability that would work cleanly. I also think we may want to play with them a bit. At first I too was disappoint with it, but the more I think about it the more I’m warming up to them. Idk, maybe I’m just a Melusai fanboy, but I don’t think it’s as bad as everyone’s making it out to be. You only need one of them within 1” of one enemy model to get all hits from the unit in. So pulling casualties such that you can’t use it would requiring pulling out one to two ranks. I feel like killing that many models would mean you’re getting rid of that unit in battle shock. Or you had a bad pile in and wouldn’t have gotten many attacks in anyways. And losing models before the end of the combat does make it feel bad...but unless you have every single snek in there you’re still getting more hits in. Let’s say you have a block of 20, and you got 10 within 1”. Then the old way would get you 10 hits. With the new way, you need 11 losses before you’re rolling less dice. Any less, and you’re either rolling equal or, more likely, more! Now, you did less damage before they could attack. Maybe. If you always attack with your sneks before your enemy can attack into them. Also, as has been said, there are a few other tricks you can do with this way. So ya, I think this may not be as bad as people are making it out. I’m actually a little excited to play some games, and watch to see if I’m getting more or less damage with this version!!!

I’d say mixed should be good. You probably can’t keep your entire army in her bubble anyways. So just keep the Melusai as her murder squad, and it should all be good!