Lucur

I don't think it is, last time i checked, Lord-Celestant on Stardrake had the Lord-Celestant keyword.

That's kind of the point though, give gav 3 CP and you literally cannot fail that charge, even on snake eyes ; )

When i decided to get into AoS i looked at what models i liked the most, then having a look at the armies those models were in. If i didn't like the range mostly, that's a no. I then checked the internet's opinion on playstyle and competitive stuff. From there i picked a first few units i wanted to collect. Then i looked at opportunities to get stuff cheap. The first core i built (1k list) i played for about 15 games, never changing lists so i could be sure that a) i knew my stuff and b) i could point out whether a unit performed because of my actions, enemies intervention or overall dice. From there i took what i like, avoided the current cookie cutter and now i am the proud owner of some 3500 pts of Stormcast. I need to paint more and buy less stuff... Nice threat btw, got me thinkig a bit and revel in the hobby!

Skyborne Slayers looks like fun, but i guess a gav drop is more competitive and has the same means of counterplay, Skyborne merely narrowing down the distance that needs to be screened, while not being concerned with charges happening over 12". I thus think the two are pretty comparable with Gav being a slight bit stronger and Skyborne being a bit more fun and stylish if you enjoy strike chamber models.

As a current meta thing, IP doesn't do that much, as any army vulnerable to battleshock has other means to negate battle shock (looking at you, Verminlord Warpseer!). I don't like the "nope" feel of it, imo there should be a roll or a scaling effect of some sort involved, instead of an autopass. Reroll seems to weak, a fixed number seems to arbitrary, changing the roll to a 1 is the most compelling proposal i've heard so far (and shouldn't trigger abilities like daemons getting models back, because it's not an unmodified roll. Those rules are worded that way, right? RIGHT??? ^^). Maybe ignore battleshock on a 4+ or some such could work.

I like the approach with Hurricane Raptors, but i think a unit of twelve is very clunky to handle with the Aquillor's teleport CA (which also costs a CP you'd rather shoot with). You also don't have any stopping power on the board (where most Anvilstrike lists would fit 10 Evocators). I'd also miss an Incantor or two for unbinds. So i guess i advocate against the ballista bomb? ^^

The difference between swords and staffs isn't that high though, swords even have better variance. In the end staffs are mostly better due to 2" reach. And that there is the big advantage

Funnily enough i started SC for the same reasons as Mark. I was undecided between Idoneth, Sylvaneth and Stormcast, when i started just as AoS 2 hit. The starter boxes were so cheap to get going compared to even SC boxes, i'm a general sucker for knights in shining armor and you can ally SC to any other order army (or vice versa). At that point it was the rational thing to get golden boys. Because it is ever so rational to start another warhammer army. Right? RIGHT?

If your enemy gets a double turn every game you should turn your dice on the other side when you put them in the oven

I'd assume it works similarly to the free cities now, just with more/ better allegiance, artefact and command abilities.

I strongly disagree. If your 260 pts unit of Sequitors gets ground down by a hundred and then some points of clanrats or plaguemonks, they're weak. When they can't hold an objective against skinks because large base and low model count, they are weak. When they get shot up and mortal wound spammed, the same amount of cheap horde bodies was half the cost. Once you pass a certain point of power in lists and play, Sequitors are overcosted for what they do or overshadowed for things other units do better.

That's the typical issue of casual vs pro-gameplay though. In a non optimized list with not overly competitive generals, Sequitors seem very strong. Once you take them to a more competitive environment, they become far weaker. I don't mean to come down on anyone here, please don't take offense (I'm not a real tournamemt player due to lack of time myself, just take a lot of interest in the scene) It's similar to many a video game, say LoL, where a champ can have an overall average winrate of 40% but is a 100% pick and ban in pro games because coordination and deep understanding of mechanics are at work. Casual players would call for buffs, pros for nerfs. It's the same with Stormcast, in an average beer and brezel game, they seem inherently strong. In a GT they are overcosted annoyances.

@tom_goreIn my experience Hammers of Sigmar is okay as a Stormhost. The 6++ is weaker than Staunch Defender, but it helps. The +1 bravery saved my butt more times than i could count, but it doesn't feel impactful. If the 5+ revive goes off on a unit of Sequitors, it might be game-winning, but is unreliable at best on a 5+. The purely competitive choice would probably be Staunch Defender and an actual artefact maybe an argument could be made for Anvils or Astral Templars, too.

Aetherwings are wonderful, Prosecutors add a bit of ranged damage, Palladors would be a bit of a stretch, though they at least can do some damage in melee to backline units and heroes without crumbling. Don't forget a castellant would bring his good boy, too. So yeah, a Castellant and a squad of Prosecutors seems good to me.

Put the Sequitors in 1x20, the Evocators in 1x10 the Liberators in 2x5 and drop one Incantor. Leaves you with 220 points for something mobile for objectives. The Ordinator starts to pay off from 3 ballistae up, when at one or two, an extra ballista adds more damage (on average and assuming the Ordinator does nothing but buff).

Against 2+ saves blades are better, against 3+ sv blade and stave are equal, against anything else staves pull ahead. The blades have an advantage in variance, as they have more 1 damage attacks (you can't do just 1 damage with a stave attack, it's 2 or 0). Overall staves are the better choice, lightning arcs will take care of armored targets, the reach is nice and anti horde is not something that comes easy to most SC lists. That went longer than i intended...

Wouldn't a Heraldor make sense for the occasional t1 charge?

Imo if you run phalanx you want to run larger Sequitor squads to benefit from reroll everything more. If you're only running min squads the battery is the better choice (although the equal amount of points in ballistae and Ordinator is more efficient).

Just browsed tha Vanguard-Palladors warscroll, is it possible (raw, i'm not considering moral issues here ) to use the lunar blade after a shooting attack with an enemy within 1"? Because, that's what i read there.

I'm not saying anyone should intend to use Liberators to deal damage, i'm just saying the difference is negligible between hammers and blades. And, in strange circumstances, the blades could pull ahead (though hammers typically do better thanks to lltt). Also i'm a mean advocatus diaboli kind of person, for arguments' sake

Empower and Celestial Blades, though i'm not sure Empower can be cast on Liberators (and too lazy to look it up ). Nor do i think it should, it's more efficient on units that actually deal the damage. Looked it up, Empower can be cast on Redeemers, which Liberators are. There you go, swords are better now!

Swords ARE better if you have access to buffs that concern the wound roll. Hammers are better if you have buffs to your hit roll. As Liberators have lay low the tyrant, inherently they sometimes come with a hit buff built in, so hammers is the standard choice (besides the cheap models from sc and old starter coming with only hammers and shields). At the end of the day the damage output of a squad of Liberators is negligible and whether you do an average .2 or .22 damage per attack is no difference, so go with what you prefer the looks of. They're only there to take up space, tick battleline and hold out until damage can be directed at their adversary from elsewhere.

I don't understand why we shouldn't get Palladors, while Deepkin get Ishlaen Guard, though.

Regarding your second game, note that the Umbral Spellportal can only be used once each phase to either transport and endless spell or use for range of a cast. It sounds to me like he flung his entire arsenal through, which is a common mistake, but still illegal. If he did use it properly, let's pretend i never said a thing

Considering the price hike, i've just been to a local store and seen the email. It'll come on monday and for SCE only Evocators (40 - 45€) and Neave/ Zephyros goey up a small margin. Some terrain stuff, too, but i dont remember details there.