Rachmani

Can‘t go wrong with that list. It‘s along the lines of what I would get, too, were I to purchase them again. Gives you a nice range of models to paint & play with and get a feel for them. Baloonboy also gives you free reign over your prefered skyport, which is super cool. The Khemist could probably be something else, but that‘s about it.

Man, I really hope there will be a place for all the different types of armies. Right now I feel a tad overwhelmed by options. Hope it stays that way.

Thanks alot for the fast answers! So the Iron Sky Attack Squadron is better than I remember. It & the Escort Wing look tempting.

Thanks! Did any of the requirements change? I remember that the Escort Wing can now include an Ironclad, but the rest I can‘t remember.

What do the new & improved Battalions do? I thought I had them laid out somewhere but I can‘t seem to find it anymore.

I‘d argue for 2 fumigators & 2 mortars. There is enough model snipe to varant at least two of each.

Are the battalions any good? Atm I‘m planing Urbaz with the escort wing, but given that you have to take the breath of morsomething when going Urbaz, I can either use the no overload (mandatory, imo) or the 5 guys in a gunhauler one.

Oh, that I must have overread. That makes things worse. Or, more precisely amplifies the need to get a reroll from somewhere else - or simply put some more guns to aim at high profile targets. Btw. Have we come to a verdict on special weapons vs. rifles on thunderers? If range is NOT that important I‘d expect 1 mortar, 2 of the others each to be roughly equal when boarded and simply better on the ground. But 6 inches are 6 inches, and they could matter.

Of the top of my head I‘m getting around 12 wounds for 10 thunderers with rifles (22 shots) and the D6+4 2 damage shots from the frigate against a 4+ save (modified to 5+ due to rend). No hit reroll, both reroll wound via aethergold.

So far I‘m leaning towards Urbaz and something along the lines of an ironclad, 2 gunhaulers, a frigate, some arkanauts, some thunderers, an admiral & the new rigger guy. A few ballon boys & that‘s it. Navigator maybe. Some dispell attempt might be worth it. Probably won‘t match pointwise, but I like the composition.

With how they approach aelves, I wouldn‘t be surprised (in the slightest) to see a third duardin faction, closest to the roots, following Valaya.

@WatcherintheWater I agree. On all three parts. That‘s why it‘s in my opinion much more important that an army has rules that you want to play with, that you have fun with. The external balancing can be adjusted, but a boring ruleset you‘re stuck with for a looong time.

The real question is honestly what good rules are. Because I have the feeling that everyone thinks of something else, when discussing good rules.

Khemist will surely get something in return. I don‘t doubt that at all. Now let‘s hope „the new guy“ doesn‘t have to be the general to make Riggers Battleline or we will have a hard time fielding 20 arkanauts & an admiral for all that glorious aethergold combat. I also hope that Ironclad & Frigatte will go up in loading capacity slightly, now that we have an incentive to field bigger units. Edit: or rather don‘t lose movement when fully loaded.

Except it is doubling, at least in most cases. I‘m not even saying a +1A shouldn‘t exist as a buff (many a command ability does that). I‘m specifically saying that a more or less permanent buff that, in most relevant cases doubles the firing rate of the weapons it buffs will automatically lead to a point tax that is unhealthy for the the army that has it. It limits options (because it ups in value every low attack, high damage weapon) per se & becomes mandatory. To the point where you don‘t field certain units without the buff.

That‘s totally fine. Khemist buff is just too extreme. A buff should never double a units output.

I would be happy if our guys were viable shooters without the khemist. He looms like a gigantic point or stats tax over the whole army. As of now every single unit has to be viewed through the lense of the khemist buff. That‘s pretty bad design.

In that case you should define „bad“, as IJ are not a bad army to play - but maybe to collect, given the limited scope of actually ironjaw models.

So... more than just tweaks! I‘m really quite excited. Maybe, just maybe, I‘ll paint another fleet.

I don‘t really get all that pessimism just because of some missing Endless Spells (thank god) & I do think, that the KO still have one of the, if not THE best model range out of all the AoS factions. But, to share some different perspective, I do get that those of us that mainly paint and rarely play are far less excited about new rules, than about new models to spend their time on. And for those people this release (like quite a few before it) seems like a let down. Sure, you can paint another Ironclad, but maybe you‘d rather paint something different within the same aesthetic that you love so much. We should not forget our hobbyists brethren that get the most joy out of assembling and painting miniatures. As for the rest, I‘m kinda glad that nothing changed and every release of every faction (especially Duardin factions who have the best grudgebearers among them) spills doom and and destruction. At least on the internet.

I agree, it‘s mainly tweaks that are needed to boost KOs performance. But I REALLY, REALLY do hope they address some of the issues with the playstyle. Dr Ben & Entombet made some good points. If that, that being a „better“ playstyle, is achieved, KO will be great!

The troggoth was on my list as well!

I chose the Sister Superior. Iconic artwork beautifully transformed into a miniature.

That sounds reasonable. Switching would be a good bandaid fix the different weapons displayed. ofc. You could just rename them to something like „Aether-Arsenal“ and give them one - or two weapon profiles.

That would be both reasonable & a shame. If only because the weapons look sooo different. Would make sense, though.