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Nico

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  1. The Event I've consistently enjoyed @Chris Tomlin 's events and this was to be no exception. The laboratory doors under the South London Legion were sundered as five of us made the journey west to sunny Cardiff - Rob Bradley @leonardas , Alex Clark, Tom Lambert, Ben Savva and I. Two Tzeentch armies, Stormcast, Darkling Covens and Clan Skryre made quite a concoction. There were 80 odd opponents and we had the new GHB 2017 to sink our teeth into. I was happy as my list had actually gotten cheaper - Acolytes, Sorc on Manticore and Fatesworn, as well as some of my summoning options like Plague Toads. 20 Bloodletters had unfortunately gone up to 220. We would be playing the new Battleplans. Talk of the forums and amongst us was about the horrific quadruple Warshrine stacking 4 5++ ward saves on 90 Bodies. Fortunately our fears proved to be somewhat overblown. Kairos and Fatesworn Friends Rather than going down the well-trodden paths of the Changehost and Skyfire Spam, I decided to blow the dust off that long-forgotten mechanic of summoning - which Tzeentch excel at. I took a 390 summoning pool! Allegiance: Tzeentch Leaders Kairos Fateweaver (340) - Lore of Change : Arcane Transformation The Blue Scribes (120) - Lore of Change : Tzeentch's Firestorm Gaunt Summoner and Chaos Familiars (120) - Lore of Fate : Arcane Suggestion Ogroid Thaumaturge (160) - Artefact : Timeslip Pendant - Lore of Fate : Infusion Arcanum Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch (140) - Lore of Fate : Shield of Fate Chaos Sorcerer Lord On Manticore (200) - General - Command Trait : Illusionist - Artefact : Paradoxical Shield - Mark of Chaos : Tzeentch - Lore of Fate : Treacherous Bond Units 10 x Kairic Acolytes (100) 10 x Chaos Marauders (60) -Axes & Shields - Damned Icon - Mark of Chaos : Tzeentch 10 x Chaos Marauders (60) -Axes & Shields - Damned Icon - Mark of Chaos : Tzeentch 1 x Chaos Chariots (80) -Greatblades - Mark of Chaos : Tzeentch 1 x Chaos Chariots (80) -Greatblades - Mark of Chaos : Tzeentch 1 x Chaos Spawn (50) Battalions Fatesworn Warband (100) Total: 1610/ 2000 Points Leaders: 6/6 Battlelines: 5 (3+) Behemoths: 2/4 Artillery: 0/4 Summoning Pool 390 Combos Fatesworn rend turns the mediocre Slaves to Derping into semi-decent combat units (they would have been better had I remembered that Marauders get +1 to hit on a 4+ and +1 to wound on a 6+ roll!). The requirement for 10 units is painful - I would much prefer smaller bigger units. Chariots (despite @Leonardas 's objections - represent exceptional value at 80 points for 7 wounds (near the Liberator 10:1 ratio) - having models that only die if they take 7 wounds is really helpful. Also both chariots get to be champions. Significantly, Battleline units are not allowed to be under minimum size - which means I cannot get the Ward save on any of the units - this is a shame. Acolytes are and remain utter garbage - 1 attack, 4+ 4+ in both melee and ranged is terrible as is their armour save. I will swap them out for 5 Warriors in future. The particular combo my list relied on was between Kairos and the MantiSorc. The Mantisorc was very tanky - reroll saves of 1, 4, 5 and 6, then a 2+ save with Paradoxical Shield and Oracular Visions plus -1 to hit him with pew pew from Illusionist. He also carried around the Treacherous Bond spell for Kairos to know off him (like a waterboy). Kairos could also cast the Mantisorc's own spell - Wind of Chaos, which was a more random Infernal Gateway. The standard strategy was for someone (probably the Gaunt Summoner due to +1 to cast with Blot) to summon 3 Plague Toads. Kairos would then Treacherous Bond to them. Kairos would then thrown himself forward with a shoot me sign on his front and get in the way. Once it was my turn again, he would keep up Treacherous Bond and lash out with Wind of Chaos. I had hoped that the Ogroid would go down in cost, but he didn't - he remains useful as a source of -2 rend melee. He is a beatstick with Infusion Arcanum, but sadly the Windthief was nerfed into obliteration (thanks to Skyfire players - now we have two non-garbage artefacts down from 3) - it should have been amended to only work in our hero phase. I took the double pile in instead, which would be good if he survived a round of combat. Another theoretical combo was using Arcane Suggestion and Kairos's Oracle of Eternity to guarantee -1 armour save for my turn (it should plainly be until the next Battleround - it's a really bad spell in general due to the random effect). The Blue Scrubs were quintessential to this list and frankly any Tzeentch list (bar Skyfire Spam). Definitely the MVP. Summoning The other reason for taking Kairos is that after summoning 20 Bloodletter, he could near-guarantee that they make a successful charge with Oracle of Eternity, which was pretty sweet I thought. I'm glad to say I was way ahead of the pack on #ToadMeta. These are a chore to summon on an 11! More conventional options were Pinks and Blues, a Daemon Prince and a Herald of Tzeentch - who does the sniper role. Kairos and Fatesworn Buddies Daemon Buddies showed up out of nowhere Hobby Hobby-wise, this is my best painted army. I was pleased with how Kairos had turned out in particular with his actual clock face floating on 4 disks as a base; and the summoning out of magic water over my traditional lava bases seemed to work. It's certainly a riot of colour. The water effects do take a while and are painful when they go wrong #FloodASaurusRex. I'd used a combination of Glazing, Loaded Brush and Drybrushing on different models. Part way through the army I obtained Vellejo Metal Colours, which are truly a revelation. There are quite a few conversions other than Kairos - the MantiSorc is a greenstuffed amalgam of a Daemon Prince and a Gorebeast, the Chariots are a kitbash of the Burning Chariots and bits from regular Chariots. The Marauders all have weapon swaps and Tzeentch Shields.
  2. Those look like textbook Clanrats to me. Clanrats have flails like that and Punch Daggers like that too.
  3. Great bat reps as ever! Krunk enters the Durthu land of "nothing more reliable than 3+, 3+...."
  4. Good points Donal - I do own a Troll Hag.
  5. Thanks for the comments and responses. Ironguts seem cheap at that price. However the weak allegiance abilities would hurt. Query whether Warherd do what Gutbusters do more efficiently? I think Thanquol needed a cut, but 400 would be too good. Tele-Thanquol is still a thing with the Deceiver - especially now that Tunnel Skryre is hopefully probibitively expensive. The nerfs to shooting make things like Thanqless more viable. The same is true of Mannderp - the fact that he is no longer costing you the 5++ Ward makes him interesting again as a general. Similarly to Thanqless he isn't going to be tabled turn one by Skyfires as frequently as he was.
  6. The Witch Aelves changes are nice, but ultimately they are dancing about with the Order Allegiance pack which doesn't offer much.
  7. So the dust is still up in the air, but I'm going to venture forth with some initial thoughts and reactions. The death of alpha strike? One consistent theme is the nerfing/elimination of many of the mobile burst damage combos in the game - KO Khemist stacking, Tretch + Skaven Warlords stacking, Sayl + X alpha strike, Stonelord alpha strike and even Cloak of Mists and Shadows on the Ghoul King on Terrorgheist. There are only a handful of really strong alpha strikes/burst damage melee combos left that spring to mind: Murderhost, Shock Gauntlet Storm Fiends with Packmasters, very expensive Tomb Kings and Warherd, Executioners with the Hurricanum, Skyborne Slayers and Hammerstrike Force. The question this raises is whether the move towards hordes and away from alpha strike means that the meta shifts back towards bunkers (and specifically Order Funlines). I'm concerned about Freeguild getting even more stand and shoot with their units giving out +1 to hit buffs like candy (already a powerful mechanic). The nerf to the Hurricanum is very necessary now. Battalion changes and Hordes Some good news for Death - almost all Battalions got jacked up in cost. This really changes the calculations for listbuilding - now you really have to pay a lot for that second artefact, rather than getting 3 easily. Single drop armies will be much rarer and there is a real trade off between models and battalions. In some cases, the cost increases are offset by cheaper battleline and/or volume discounts on hordes - best example being Sylvaneth. The Big Losers Mixed Destruction - headshots to the Kunning Rukk and a multi-pronged attack on the Stonelord (points vs other big monsters, halving wounds nerfed, Talisman nerfed and possibly the Battlebrew not affecting the mount - this depends on how explicit the reference to the mount should be). Mixed Death - the removal of the 5++ is devastating to Death's survivability. Death still don't have any credible way to reach out at range - indeed they have lost the Cloak teleport too (and Little Mannfred on a Balewind). The only good news for mixed Death is their non-reliance on Battalions, while everyone else is paying significantly more for these. Inherent Battleline - as they don't count as Battleline if they are allies. Effectively only used for Order, Death, Destruction, Chaos allegiance armies. Brayherd - the only positive is cheap as chips Bestigor spam, but the command ability of the general (absent named characters) is dire. They might be able to spam bodies in your face, but not as well as other armies. Kharadron Overlords - death by a thousand cuts for one of the most overpowered armies - the Thunderers are now rifle spam units, who are still decent output for the amount of ship capacity they occupy. Drill cannons have been nerfed by a third. Khemists don't stack and are 40 points more expensive. The Navigator lost his 3D6 unbind (which was a bizarre change). No cost reductions at all is painful (Gunhauler and Frigate). Bow Hunters - just not worth the points. They can at least move out of combat using Navigate Realmroots and still shoot (not a retreat). Crypt Horrors - seem like a bad choice compared to their flying mortal wounding, rending Crypt Flayer cousins. Mannderp - cannot be an ally - still Derpy Mcderp. Skyfires - I still feel 220 would be right - 3 Flies are 220. The Big Winners Daughters of Khaine A big point reduction on 30 Witch Aelves together with the lack of a ban on stacking buffs means 90 bodies with a quadruple 5++ Ward Save is now a thing - that's 80% of damage protected. Even just for the first Battleround this is meta-breaking. They can also spam Battleshock immunity and other buffs. Fyreslayers - the change from the truly dire Order Allegiance pack is immense. The Rune mechanic is exceptional - especially the across the board rend - I also like the extra throwing axe range, since this will buff the damage of 30 Vulkites and 30 Aurics popping up to say hi. Some of the cost reductions have been rolled back, but they are still cheap. The Vostarg Lodge is a win as it means that all your units will definitely be able to fight in melee for a battleround. The other battalion feels like a miss as it neglects the fact that the army can deepstrike with Runesmiters. Battleshock Immunity Bubble is nice. Artefacts aren't great. Freeguild - what was already a decent army has moved from the terrible Order allegiance to an exceptional new Allegiance pack. The battle trait expands stand and shoot options, which is already an infuriating mechanic (small models that can fly can partially mitigate this). They have a carbon copy of the Stormcast's incredibly strong Staunch Defender trait (called Indomitable - only it stacks with cover!) as well as solid artefacts - Armour of Meteoric Iron is a straight +1 save and Writ of Dominion is a once per game aoe wound buff). They also gained a cost reduction to their Griffon, which was already amazing value for 300. Legion of Azgorth - lots of subtle buffs. Cost reduction for the Bull Centaur Renders is strong - 60 wounds worth for 640 points with -2 rend, 2 damage. Take a Sorceror Lord as an ally and buff with reroll 1s to hit, wound and save. Slaanesh - so exciting - the triple general trait looks very tasty (e.g. take Archaon as one, but you still get a battle trait) or take two traits on your new shiny Exalted Greater Daemon of Slaanesh. The traits look strong too - especially the copy the Yhettee ability - you can stand out of combat at 4" away until the end of the combat phase (rather than charging), then pile in 6" and smash face. Supremely Vain is also a nice buff. Icon of Infinite Excess is a situational but amazing once per game aoe buff +1 attacks to all models including enemies - or summoned Bloodletters! Breathtaker looks good as a quasi-Forest Dragon toy. Ironjawz - I would defer to @Chris Tomlin 's superior knowledge here and excellent write up here - They have a copy of the (nerfed) Destruction move (a good change as it's much quicker than rolling for a Warmachine, rolling for its crew....), two sweet Battalions, the ability to chain activations if they wipe out enemy units (which creates a good tension between MSU and big units for both you and your opponent). Lastly there are material cost reductions for the Cabbages and Pigs (how are they less than 10 points per model!). Seraphon - look very nasty - can teleport Kroak into the front of your army and then Balewind and aoe spam against them. Same trick with Razordons (which got cheaper). Solid traits and artefacts. Stormcast - the nerf to all the overpowered mixed Chaos, Death and Destruction traits is a big plus for them. The availability of 2+ rerollable saves is a big advantage given the nerfs to burst damage discussed above. The Lord Celestant on Star Drake got a points reduction despite being a popular choice. They benefit the most from allies given their freedom to choose. Prayers appear to work on Allies (unlike Khorne Prayers....) which seems purposively wrong and isn't likely to survive long. Sylvaneth - As discussed, the nerfs to alpha strikes/burst damage melee combos mean that Sylvaneth's traditional grind, chip away and heal modus operandi should be viable (notwithstanding the nerfs to Hunters). Extra Battleline choices make Dreadwood viable. Wanderers - nice board edge mobility with their pew pew. Have a trait called Myst Walker which basically imports the 40K cannot shoot a character rule for your general. The Forget-me-knot allows you to incapacitate a charging Stonelord in the combat phase, which is hilarious. The Viridescent Shawl is decent for -1 to hit vs pew pew and a buff to nearby wizards. Tamurkhan's Horde - have a battalion which isn't pricey. Some units cheaper. Everchosen - source of cheap Battalions and Varanguard cost reduction. However, Archaon not any cheaper. Elite infantry in general - Stormvermin (and the costed the same White Lions!), Phoenix Guard, Bestigor, even Chosen. Jabberslythes - how can they be so cheap! The Rogue Idol - so good you can buy two in a box now. Obvious ally choice. Synergies better with Ironjawz now (Orruks). Troll Hag - cheaper and very solid - good spell! Freeguild General on Griffon - so cheap! The humble Treelord - cheaper. Drycha - got a buff to her aoe ability, so it no longer affects friendly units or here. Also good option vs hordes. Seems like you can pick which weapon she has before the game (e.g. it's not something you select on Scrollbuilder) - logically being a named character she does have the ability to do either and pick for each battle. Spite Revenants - might finally see the table now they are cheaper and battleline. Settra - now generic so trolling with the new Ring of Immortality - still a horrific amount of points. Neferata - now an ally choice. Cheaper. Arkhan - an immensely good wizard and troll. The Exalted Greater Daemons - with the nerf to pew pew and some subtle buffs to their scrolls, these are a real thing now. Mannderp - no longer costing you the 5++ Ward Save if you take as general. His Command Ability is great. I'm ambivalent about Pestilens and Skryre. I think they will find hard counters in the form of rerollable saves; and hordes respectively. The cost increase to Tunnelling Skryre is very welcome. I'm not convinced by Nighthaunt or FEC. The deepstrike ability for Nighthaunt in too risky and not so helpful for non-pew pew units. To be fair the Lightshard is an amazing buff on Spirit Hosts - as they only hit on 5+ Defenders of the Realm Delusion is decent to mitigate pew pew. I think Dark Wizardry is the only decent command trait - as their all important buffs are spells. The artefacts are pretty meh too - probably the gamble on the Chalice for healing D6 wounds. You can bring in a Necbromancer as an ally for Vanhels. As for Soulblight - the fly is nice. Their spells aren't good enough to warrant taking the buff to that (Blood Boil - sigh...). The Saccharine Goblet is a quasi battle brew - probably doesn't buff the mount sadly. The traits aren't great - retreat and charge might be the winner. Mannderp and Neferata aren't soulblight, which sucks.
  8. Good stuff! Hoping to see some Rogue Idol goodness on the table.
  9. I hate to say it, but if you're going KO in a competitive event, you need to go Zilfin.
  10. Ok - that is odd. Astonishing if the Frigate doesn't go down. Admiral is expensive for 140 too.
  11. Surely the Clown Car is frequently full of 10 Cannon Thunderers, otherwise why not just take a Frigate and pack that full of Balloons. It's deepstriking just as well as the Ironclad. The small number of KO lists have tended to float into the top 5 at events.
  12. Since DoT arrived, mortal wounds have mysteriously ceased to be damage - so no.
  13. Brayherd buffs look good. I really hope that the anti-cover debuff aura counters Staunch Defender too! Gors look appropriately cheap too.
  14. Actually a huge change to shooting. Thunderers have been hit with a big nerf - no 5 Cannons or 5 Thunderers - a great change in my view. This makes Khemist Spam far less efficient (as a 50% buff to pure rifles, not a 100% buff to pure Cannons). Also deletes Mortar spam! A great change.
  15. Battle Report updated now.
  16. I had an intriguing practice game at the South London Legion against the ever formidable @Leonardas I had played Rob's HDuplicitous before and built lists using it. I knew that even if I could pick off a few casters, their remnants could still wreck me (especially the Gaunt Summoner against a 20 Block of Arkanauts). My list isn't the classic clown car. Instead I fill the Ironclad with 20 Arkanauts and a Khemist and a Navigator (the General) and put it on the board. It then moves up in the hero phase using Zilfin, deploys the dudes and then acts as a shield. I found in a practice game that it's harder than I expected to get full value here. The movement penalty is brutal - going to movement 6" for just 2 extra models really hurts. I'm pondering running the unit as an 18 to prevent this. The ships moves 6", then the Skyhooks can stand 3" away (back edge of base) then the models can move 4" and shoot 24" or 12" for Pistols. The Ironsky Command Battalion gives a 5++ to the heroes as they offload damage onto the Arks. This was a big deal as we were doing Duality of Death - the new Battleplan which resembles 3 Places of Power. The real power in the list comes from the Frigate - packed with 10 Cannon Thunderers and a Khemist and 3 of each Balloonist. The Ironclad ventures out and does some damage, then tries to bait the enemy, then in a later turn, the Frigate arrives as a brutal counterpunch. In an earlier practice game I found that the Last Word plus the bombs from the Ironclad are horrific vs MSU charges (as you can use them each time an enemy unit charges it). I bunkered with the Ironclad well out of the 36" range of a Balewind. Two lines of 10 Arks shielded me against a possible charge. Rob elected not to put the Changeling in my deployment zone. He did his normal square box bunker with heroes well back. He rolled like a boss for DD. I also put my Khemist on the table so that I could buff one unit of Arks if Rob gave me first turn, which he duly did. Ultimately however the plan was to sit back and hope Rob overexposed himself or that I won initiative so I could give Rob the turn and then play for a double. I shot off a pitiful 2 Pink Horrors with6 Skyhook shoots.... I gave Rob the turn. Rob buffed up and put the LoC onto the Balewind via swaps (this needs to be banned in the next FAQ). He killed 9 Arks with Battleshock. His Pinks shuffled toward a fair way as did the Changeling. Rob won the initiative and gave me the turn. In response I buffed the other unit and shot off the Changeling. The lone Ark also derped. Rob advanced the Pinks again and deleted the 10 Arks. Rob won the initiative again and made me go first. I did some ineffectual shooting. However this time I won the initiative and gave it to Rob. Lock and load! Rob took 8 wounds off the Ironclad with spells. Rob still had zero points. In response I moved the Ironclad up and dumped its lethal cargo. Inspiring presence went on. The shooting deleted both units of Pinks outright. Rob deployed the Blues at the end of the shooting, but kept them well back so I couldn't make charges (and didn't want to walk into zap range either). On my left I brought on the Frigate and chipped 2 wounds off the General LoC with a Khemist buffed Drill Cannon (knowing that buffing the Aethercannons would be overkill) plus the Volley Gun. Typically the Thunderers derped and barely scratched the Pinks, but the other units cleared up. I left most of the Brims alive so the Riggers could charge, chainsaw and then reach the General if I won the double. I scored one point as my Navigator edged onto the objective. Rob's turn was complex. He knew my Navigator had a 3D6 unbind and that He needed to cast Infernal Flames on the full strength unit of Arks. This was a Mexican Standoff within a Mexican Standoff. Rob used the Herald to chip wounds off the Navigator (which took the Arks down to 14 models). I then forgot which hero he was targeting and didn't even use the unbind before he died. What Rob could have done was zap the Navigator with the LoC on the Balewind and then use Infernal Flames. On the left flank, the LoC used the final DD to charge onto the objective - flying over the Riggers. He derped and only killed 2 of them. However the champion was suffering from Scintillating Simulacra. Nevertheless he lucked out and did 3 wounds. Rob scored 2 points so 1-2 to him. In my turn (bottom of the 4th) I shot up the LoC on the left objective after moving the Frigate onto it. By luck rather than design the killing blow came from the Frigate (so it immediately grabbed the objective). Had it not done so, then Plan B was to charge the Brims and use the back of the base to clip the objective on a move. The scoring always seems a bit fiddly on this Battleplan (e.g. Summoned heroes cannot score as they haven't moved). On the right flank, I shot off the Gaunt Summoner and then charged the Ironclad into the blues to score. This gave me an unassailable lead going into the final Battleround. All in all a real pleasure of a game. My cagey strategy paid dividends this time.
  17. Probably Order Preview. [Sorry memory of a goldfish today.]
  18. Really pumped for this. I've just made payment of the deposit for Only the Filthful - reassembling the team from Firestorm Fours: Only the Filthful Nicholas Ruesink-Brown (Captain) Ben Raven @Thanatos Ares James Grant Tom Lambert
  19. Hi Chris - could you please post up the timings of the final round on the Sunday - sorting out transportation. I don't think I've missed them - but apologies if I have. Many thanks.
  20. Good stuff. What I should have suggested was that for Battleline only you could choose between the old minimum sizes (and not any discount) or the new larger minimum and discount. Definitely not suggesting dumping Battleline requirement totally. Prospect of painting 20 more old Chaos Marauders is a grim one.
  21. There already are Battleline if "General is X" choices - many with themed armies in mind - Juggerlord, Herald on Tzeentch and Karanak for example.
  22. The Order article is now up on the Community site. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2017/08/04/keeping-order-in-the-generals-handbook-2017/ Stormcast can be allies of any other faction (I hope the reverse is not true). There's still no mention of any lores. Fyreslayers seem to be the big winners in terms of what we can see regarding traits. They have 6 once per game, army wide buffs and have to choose a different one each battleround. One of them is extra rend on melee weapons! Dispossessed look like the losers at the moment as one of their traits duplicates their only Battalion. Ominously there's no mention of new lores. Hopefully, that's because Soulblight and Darkling Covens (they are led by Sorceresses!) are getting lores, which is why they are getting specific articles on them.
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