SentinelGuy

They're still reasonably good, but it feels like Hallowheart edges them out a bit thanks to the extra spells and protection.

Aetherwings are still really useful for cheap chaff. Exorcist and Incantor make great spellcasters. Remember though that you cannot take Stormcast endless spells in 3rd ed.

Does flaming weapon work on the whole unit? I thought it only boosted the weapon of the caster.

Unfortunately, you can't use the comet in CoS. Allied and coalition forces cannot take their endless spells. You could in the previous edition, but they've changed the rule.

Only 1 in 4 units can be Stormcast, so I guess they mean most points spent on Stormcast?

The fact that there are now 2 Amber Spear spells makes me question how much the person who worked on Excelsis actually plays CoS. It was a great opportunity to introduce a combat boosting buff spell and they totally dropped the ball and gave us a weaker version of what we already had (and which wasn't used because it's pretty bad to begin with). Why couldn't we have something like this? - The Bear's Anger, cast on 7+, target self only, adds 2 attacks to chosen weapon (mounts unaffected).

You can't use both amber spears (or any spells with the same name). It's in one of the errata documents.

They're a coalition choice in Living City now. They're allies for the others (not Greywater).

I quite like that. I wonder if you could sort of use him as a super assassin because nobody expects him to be any good. Give him the flaming weapon spell, take something else to act as the distraction and then turn him lose. I suppose it could work if you had another threat on the table that couldn't be ignored.

Interesting numbers. If you had to pick a city, spell/s and artefact to make the most of the battlemage on griffon, which would you choose?

Another point on the Fleetmaster - he's at his best in Hallowheart with the access to 2 spells a turn, but don't disregard his use as a general's adjutant in other cities. His price makes him easy to squeeze in if you have a general on foot and need a cheap follower to help get CPs.

To be honest, most of the bad units are only terrible some of the time. Dreadspears and corsairs are excellent chaff units for a very low cost. They're faster than Freeguild and comparable in price. Eternal guard are the best non-elite line infantry, but that comes at a premium price and their buffs require them to stand still. With the objective game being so important now and the cost of everything going up, I think eternals are probably too expensive for such a static unit. You're forgetting wild riders, the best cavalry in the book. Small footprint, hit hard and move like lighting. They're fragile, but also super cheap. These guys are a total sleeper unit in 3rd edition. Even the hated Fleetmaster gets some love in this edition. He's still about as much use as a wet blanket in combat, but he has the ability to take the arcane tome artefact, which makes him potentially our cheapest and toughest elf wizard. If you have limited points available, need an extra leader, and have an artefact slot free, he's the best we have. The 3+ save against shooting makes him more resilient than anything else in that points range. Scourge runner chariots - cheap blocker, useful to fill out battalions, fast objective grabber.

Based on the talk about the flaming phoenix above, I've taken another look at my Hallowheart list to see if I can move bits around and make it work instead for Excelsis. I'm not sure which Grand Strategy works best. Any ideas? Allegiance: Cities of Sigmar- City: Excelsis- Mortal Realm: Ghur- Grand Strategy:- Triumphs: InspiredLeadersAnointed on Flamespyre Phoenix (290) in Warlord- General- Command Trait: Cunning Foe- Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)Celestial Hurricanum with Celestial Battlemage (280) in Battle Regiment- Artefact: Amulet of Destiny (Universal Artefact)- Lore of the Ghurish Heartlands: CowerRunelord (100) in Warlord- Universal Prayer Scripture: CurseAssassin (80) in WarlordBattleline10 x Dreadspears (90) in Hunters of the Heartlands10 x Dreadspears (90) in Hunters of the Heartlands10 x Dreadspears (90) in Hunters of the HeartlandsUnits10 x Irondrakes (160) in Battle Regiment10 x Irondrakes (160) in Battle Regiment10 x Irondrakes (160) in Battle Regiment10 x Shadow Warriors (120) in Warlord5 x Wild Riders (120) in Battle Regiment5 x Wild Riders (120) in Battle RegimentEndless Spells & InvocationsEmerald Lifeswarm (60)Geminids of Uhl-Gysh (80)Core BattalionsBattle RegimentHunters of the HeartlandsWarlordTotal: 2000 / 2000Reinforced Units: 0 / 4Allies: 0 / 400Wounds: 123 The assassin is there to fill out the required subcommander slots to take the battalions. Not ideal, but it is what it is. The other options are a Cogsmith or Fleetmaster and they're both worse if you don't give them artefacts to aid them. The Anointed will have the flaming weapon spell. I've added Geminids to the list so that he can maybe use it to help stop overwatching and counter CAs.

I like that idea.

I've not fielded him myself (I have a weird aversion to expensive heroes that I just can't shake), but I think having emerald lifeswarm nearby makes him rock solid, and it's now even easier to cast in a CoS list thanks to the errata. You'll want some cheap chaff like aetherlings, dreadspears, corsairs or freeguild with shields, and some fast moving objective grabbers and counter punchers like wild riders or shadow warriors. Get some solid ranged units in there - irondrakes or sisters of the watch with a supporting hero.

If you want to break the purchases up a little, I'd say the GH is more important if you want to play matched games. The main rules from the rulebook are free on the GW site.

That's all very well, but some of us spent the minimum requirement needed for entry years ago. We've been committed to the company and the hobby for decades, back when they fostered creativity and encouraged conversions and kit bashing to enhance the game and the lore. Look at it this way - if I want to play tennis at a club, I can turn up in my cheap supermarket shorts and shirt. I can wear my old shoes and use my dads racket. Yes, I bought new balls because my old ones were worn out and new ones were required. Then I paid my entry fee and now I'm playing. At no point did an umpire go "You have cheap and old gear so please leave. Buy the latest most expensive clothing or don't come back."

I can kind of see why they might nerf SoW if they had concerns about mortal wound spam, but if that was the case they should also have smashed Lumineth Sentinels into the ground. I see no reason for nerfing handgunners really - were they that afraid of long guns?

I mostly agree, but there comes a point when constantly losing with a pretty army kills the enjoyment of the hobby. I've seen so many people drop out after being disappointed with units they had spent hours building and painting. I actually think it's worse now because the prices are so high.

If they didn't intend for it to work exactly like a normal CA (with the exceptions that no point is spent and they don't need to be ordered), why did they bother changing the scroll in the first place?

Standard GW tactic of the past 15 years. Now you need to go out and buy Lumineth Sentinels or Irondrakes. 12 months down the line and they'll change the rules again and you'll need to buy something else. As for the ongoing conversation about people proxying, I long for the day that somebody kicks off about my 5th edition metal wood elf spearmen standing in for dreadspears or eternal guard. They're elves with spears and shields and I'll always make it clear what units are before the game begins. If people are incapable of grasping something so simple then they shouldn't be playing. In the old days there would be jokes about feeling the power of the dreadsock, but not many people probably get the reference now. In my opinion GW needs to be careful as they're starting to sound like they're gatekeeping the hobby. It's going to be hilarious when they start showing all those old White Dwarf magazines with conversions and counts as pictures in Warhammer+, when they're a step away from banning that sort of thing from events altogether.

This is how I'm reading it as well

I may be mistaken but I didn't think you could use coalition endless spells now, so the hive isn't available in Living City

Not being able to use Stormcast or Sylvaneth as general is a bit of a blow. I've just converted up a new thunderwolf riding elf lord which I was going to use as a Celestant on dracoth. Looks like I'll have to use something else as a general now Funnily enough coalition units can't be general, but can be bodyguard or advisor for the extra CPs!

Not much in these updates really, it's mostly just tidying. All they did for CoS was make Freeguild spearmen +1 to wound when charged, and modified the handgunners and sisters of the watch rule. Total letdown. They could have fixed the rest of the useless units while they were at it. It's also impossible to run a Stormcast hero as general unless you play Hammerhal with Aventis.