BigNStinky

I have found their pose to be open enough to paint fully assembled with little difficulty.

Far as written yes. I don't see any FAQ disallowing it.

Absolutely this. As a BoC player I'd take any new kits but a Kholek kit would be instant buy

Spam is definitely a subjective topic. Most spam people (and by people I refer to people with a similar mindset to me) find bothersome is less when it fits a narrative and more when its just blatantly the best unit in an army repeated X times and it seems to bother people a bit further when it also pushes the narrative out the window. Yes a horde of trolls may be a tons of units of trolls. But are you using JUST rockguts? or are there bog trolls and dankholds mixed in there? Even if you are not most people would be fine with the spam (even the lore purists would be satisfied with a flimsy but plausible reason for it all) as it isn't spam for the sake of putting power on the table. Then look at eels. Put down as many as you possibly can fit. Yes it can be cool and the reason people got into the faction (casualties of their interest in specific units in a faction) however we know for the most part its to put the most powerful unit down as many times as possible as the rest of the book "sucks". Same with various other units people complain about (Hearthguards, Witches, thunderers, Terrorgheists, Keepers/morteks at one point etc. whatever flavor people are up in arms about these days) Yea they're cool. But seeing an army composed of ONLY keepers, ONLY hearthguards ONLY witch elves, ONLY mortek with not just one opponent but over multiple opponents in those factions ad nauseum sure does take away from the narrative angle which I think gets to people over time especially those who play against a wide variety of opponents and can see the common trend among most of them. It definitely makes it harder to take your flimsy narrative wrapper seriously when you face the third or fourth guy in a row who "had a larger than usual gathering of keepers all playing nice together for realsies" back at the height of their power and if you google "tournament hedonites list" its the first one there. yea it definitely sucks to be lumped in with the power gamers who are into winning but that's a risk most people take when they really really enjoy one specific thing. I can't imagine anyone complaining of someones obsession with something like trolls or Steam tanks or Cygors in fact I really love to hear peoples homebrew lore for why/how their specific faction came about particularly when its using something oddball or unique. Really spices up he experience and sometimes it can be very surprisingly adequate on the field. Don't take this as an attack on people who are in it to win it. Its not what I try to get out of the game and I actively avoid it when I can but its not inherently wrong or abhorrent style of play just not for everyone. Which is why you should always have a chat with opponents before you start to make sure you're on the level.

I don't know if a roll off is the answer but some factions (like BoC/Sons of Behemat which I also play) just have 1-2 useable battalions (on the expensive side or NONE in the case of Sons) in a sea of mediocre battalions and could really use the roll off to ever be considered for first turn. I also know I am not alone with many battalions not offering bonuses large enough to outweigh the costs of the battalion (even factoring in the free CP/Artifact which I think need to go to make battalions less of a no brainer for some factions). whereas other factions have incredible battalions (and subfactions!) that are basically free on top of handing them extra CP/Artifacts. And the funny part is I've heard that seraphon have a wide range of useable battalions but also know they are one of the armies that rarely makes use of them. I guess their units are just so good on their own they just don't need them? I know CP is no problem for that faction....

To weigh in I don't know if battalions are the be all issue with AoS list building currently. There are many factions (top ones) that don't utilize them at all. However they do contribute in some way as some factions only BECOME competitive by using a hyper efficient battalion. I would say the issue lies more with (un)intentionally powerful stacking rules synergies and cost efficient warscrolls than with battalions. To see more variety as many have touched on you need to expand the Keyword system so those buffs arent so hyperfocused on one particular portion of a faction. So people don't feel cheated by buying into say Trolls at the same time as goblins and also aren't so wildly under-powered compared to the army that bought into only goblins. I think GW needs to have a long look at how they handle and distribute buffs within factions. Make them simpler buffs and spread them more evenly. Or as I have seen suggested elsewhere start tying inherent buffs to particular keywords (ex: ELITE, BEHEMOTH etc.) to make them stand out from the footies in that they can operate at a similar to buffed level but independently. Whereas the battleline will always need cheerleaders/babysitters.

I am more excited for the rumored white dwarf supplement. A new and different set of tribe rules would be interesting. A battalion or two would definitely boost the power level of the tome but I as a whole don't like battalions/formations at all in AoS (Either must include or overpriced garbage in my experience). As far as points go a 10 drop on the gargants and megas wouldn't be out of place. army can perform though so I wouldn't care if nothing changed at all.

Compared to old fantasy which had years to reach the rules they were at I am overall happy with AoS, Sure its not balanced and yes the tomes definitely seem to creep up in power (usually with the addition of a new mechanic being a bit on the strong side). But the support we receive via points changes and FAQs is light years ahead of fantasy. I still have nightmares about vampire counts leaders kitted to be unkillable and purple sun hurling turbo sorceresses.

As a BoC player the fact that you don't even remember they exist to add to this list (let alone can do well) tells me all I need to know about them getting a tome refresh so they can actually perform beyond bestigors +Ungor raiders. I am really glad the Sons of behemat are out to tide me over for a bit.

As my username suggests. Started a SoB army as of today. I hope to convert and paint every single one by the summer.