Forehead

I see potential in the new book. I cant see us going 5-0 or 4-1 often as we're now very squishy but some of our stuff can hit hard. The lads on magmadroths got a serious tune up and the additional wounds in lofnir will go a long way. Vulkite with axes on the charge, beserk fury and the right rune/runefather ability will make them into missiles - 8/8.5 pts per wound is not bad. Some of the artefacts look amazing and the infernoth is incredbile for 70pts. Not sure why the runemaster didnt get the retinue ability but the improved save on the foot smiter is appreciated. Playstyle needs to change to deal with the shift from durable to more output but i like it and am eagerly awaiting picking the book up next week.

Hearthguard are the bodyguard/elites in the lore so I'm still holding out for them tanking wounds for foot heroes within 3" and it makes the wholly within 9" ward change make sense and still playable. I also anticipate moving to vulkite meat-wall lists as again this is also true to the lore, not 25+ HGB and no vulkites of recent times. I don't understand how the aurics are going to be playable though so we'll wait and see. Particularly keen to see what happens with the lodge rules. Overall, I remain positive but I got the last call wrong before Fury of the Deep 🤷‍♂️

I agree that defensively the VB shield option is tough with battlesmith, RSmiter on MDs nugget, prayer of ash, all out defence and being in cover all being options for extra save stacking. Just fundamentally underwhelming in attack which is disheartening. I also massively agree that the new book will add things on top of this that should make them playable. We'll see how i get on next week at a one dayer with these new rules and points!

Also cant believe i missed the vulkite attack nerf, 1 attack each at 3s and 4s with -1 rend is hopeless and not remotely worth the 170 points. Almost no point doing beserk fury if you're unlikely to do more than 1 wound to a unit as well. Tough times to be playing fyreslayers until the book then.

Has anyone seen the speculation that Vulkites with shields are dropping to 1 attack each in melee???!?!?!?! Please tell me this isn't true, otherwise this is an obscene and unnecessary nerf. @Lord Krungharr - the points are about to change on HGB, AHG and Vulkites with the new box.

I called you all salty buggers earlier in the week and said wait until the scrolls and points. I just wanted to say sorry, i got that one pretty wrong. We've clearly been given a full on slap in the face from GW and none of it really makes any sense to me. This looks to have really crippled the army. At least we have a glimmer of hope with the possibility of a new book. For example maybe sworn defenders applies to all hearthguard as an allegiance ability. Clutching at straws but still hoping.

Just a note that we've not seen his warscroll or his points you salty buggers ;). Although, given I love magmadroths he does appear to be little use to me!

What do people think for the new box if it is FS vs IDK as predicted? New hero + what else?

Definitely worth getting the forge even with only one priest as you can blow the forge for the boardwide 6+ save and then just move away and forget about it. Gyrobombers struggle with the shorter move but copters have plenty of play and are worth a look.

Nope, sadly not. Only Fyreslayers units get the Greyfyrd lodge keyword which is referenced in that command ability and Gotrek doesn't have the Fyreslayers keyword.

Are the magmadroths built or on sprue? If the sprues are untouched you'll also have the runefather, runeson and runesmiter. 3 MDs is not too many as you can take up to 5 (in Lofnir). I have been getting good results with 4 MDs but I think 2 is possibly the most efficient/competitive option as the more HGB you have the better chance you have of winning in general.

Quick addendum. I've just seen that duplicating mount traits has been stopped in the latest FAQ. Unkillable Magmadroth horde was short-lived but wonderful.

What factions were you playing before fyreslayers? Would help to understand how you're playing. I've steered clear of Hermdar so am probably not best qualified to help but have recently switched from Vostarg to Lofnir with some quite good results. I have to admit I have struggled to get any value from Runesons on Magmadroths so switched these out after a while. Now 3 RFathers on Magmadroths each with the reduce rend by 1 mount trait and a RSmiter on MD with the reroll saves of one bubble has proven really difficult for opponents to deal with. Icon of Ancestors on the Battlesmith is part of my list and with him alive I am tough as hell, without him I am burning through CP. I played Sylvaneth last week which had two warsong revenants and gotrek but no Alarielle and I was taking mortals to the face until the Magmadroths melted the screens with roaring fyrestream and smashed through. I stayed away from Gotrek as expected. I suspect much will depend on the battleplan as well as the list and the opponents playstyle so maybe not worth over thinking and just get some more reps in with the ginger lads. Are you running Warlord and Hunters in the Heartlands battalions?

I would declare that the future of Fyreslayers is in more gender representation. A big grandma figure, the RuneMama. Maternal master of magmadroths, dishing out buffs to both the existing MDs and the mini-MD cavalry unit I dream of existing in the future. On a 40mm base she could also be riding the mini-MD mount on it's hind legs.

The pair of runesons have been underwhelming, will see how the trio go as it keeps the rerolls going for longer plus i'm hoping three thrown javelins with the rerolls could do some work but i still have a wait for the final MD to be delivered. The HGB in HitH have proved effective so this is tempting.

Currently this. Its not possible to get a second artefact without two foot heroes so i may just put as much as possible in a one drop. Aiside from the Runesmiters MD giving out reroll 1s to save i'm not sure whether to use the MD traits for charge mortals or easier flame breath rolls which have a better chance of roasting single models. AHG mainly there to extend the life of the battlesmith. Allegiance: Fyreslayers - Lodge: Lofnir - Grand Strategy: Beast Master - Triumphs: Leaders Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (285) - General Auric Runesmiter on Magmadroth (275) - Runic Iron - Artefact: Igneous Battle-throne Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (240) - Wyrmslayer Javelins Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (240) - Wyrmslayer Javelins Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (240) - Wyrmslayer Javelins Battlesmith (125) Battleline 5 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (125) - Poleaxes 5 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (125) - Poleaxes 5 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (125) - Poleaxes Units 5 x Auric Hearthguard (125) 3 x Aetherwings (45) 3 x Aetherwings (45) Total: 1995 / 2000 Reinforced Units: 0 / 4 Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 127 Drops: 12

Cheers @Oldhat, exciting nonsensical times ahead.

Ok, so 5th Magmadroth has been purchased and is on its way ready for some Lofnir nonsense. Please can someone confirm if I can duplicate MD traits across each MD? I can't find anything that confirms if this is allowed/disallowed. Having 4/5 MDs ignore rend 1 with the other MD behind dishing out reroll saves of 1 seems like a potential build choice but I don't want to spend more time thinking about it if it's not legal.

I think the rerolling all hits from having two runesons together make them more punchy and it isnt limited to melee so the thrown javelins also benefit. Ultimately i think you'd be better off replacing each magmadroth with HGBs or Auric HG but that is boring to me. Run and charge pack of magmadroths is just a lot more fun.

So having played Soulblight last night I have some interesting findings on the quad Magmadroths - They were devastating in dealing with units of infantry, however even with the runesons rerolling hits and using the CP to get +1 they are still really swingy against decent heroes. I could barely scratch the Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon but killed pretty much everything else. The Auric HG blasted off Neferata with the tunnelling into a double turn of shooting. 5 HGBs are great too.

Only thing preventing lofnir is a lack of budget to buy a 5th SC box!

Love this write-up, thanks. I too believe that Fyreslayers have some play in AOS3. Tomorrow night is the first outing for my latest list: Vostarg, Grand Strategy - Pillars of Belief, 2000pts - RFather on MD w/ Vosaxe (General) - RSon on MD w/ javelins - RSon on MD w/ javelins - RSmiter on MD w/ Salamander cloak, Ash-Horn Ancient and Heal prayer. - RSmiter w/ Searing Heat prayer - Battlesmith - 5 x HGB with poleaxes - 5 x HGB with poleaxes - 5 x HGB with poleaxes - 10 x Auric HG - 3 x Aetherwings (allies) - 3 x Aetherwings (allies) Warlord and Hunter in the Heartlands (3 x HGBs) battalions. With Vostarg trait and rune of relentless zeal the MDs are moving 12" + 2, auto-run 6" on turn one, run and charge bubble around the RFather and +1 to charge (or +3 on a roll of a 6 with the rune) so I should be making turn one charges most of the time, if they go first and screen then I've got 4 MDs breath and some javelins to clear them off. The RSmiter on MD is dishing out a save bonus from his MD trait and his artefact with the 5+ FNP should keep him around long enough to be healing himself or the other MDs. The two runesons get reroll hits from vying for glory so all the MDs have to stay together. The plan is to play Fyreslayers like Ironjawz and just run them into things as soon as possible - maximum fun, no idea if it will play well.

I hope Lethis stays a choice but i imagine it will be CoS heavy rather than our current mix of factions. This is probably a good call for balance purposes and i'll wait to see if a mixed duardin book happens in the next 6 months before buying into gyros and irondrakes/breakers. @Tomplex You're still limited to 400 points of allies so if you go over this you wont be legal. https://www.goonhammer.com/ruleshammer-age-of-sigmar-3-0-list-building-changes/

I think the negativity is mis-placed. Yes we can't run big blocks of fight first HGB but frankly that was a negative play experience that needed sorting out, lacked imagination and pigeon-holed the faction - I'm pleased it's gone. I think paired (or even 3) Runesons on MD has mileage here, one can even become a wizard for arcane bolt impact hits on top of stomp and CA charge mortals, at the very least this is amusing to me. Not sure Auric HG are the new best thing though with hitting on 5s for Unleash hell. Needs some play testing for sure but as I also play BoC I can assure you that Fyreslayers are not in a bad place.

The Lethisian dream is over (in matched play). All armies need to be single faction and the list of books where you can get these factions from doesn't include Forbidden Power. I have my last game with my list on Thursday this week then I shall pivot to Fyreslayers until, I hope, there is a duardin equivalent of the Orruk warclans book or some other mash up opportunity.