Maogrim

I'm looking to go Ymetrica, but I have virtually no experience whatsoever. Most LRL players seem to agree that Ymetrica lost a lot of its effectiveness since you can't run the Alarith Temple Batallion anymore. And they weren't even considered to be that good when you still could. Stoneguard seem resilient, but also slow and Wardens outclass them damage-wise because of the Sun Metal weapons. Spirits of the Mountain however look to pretty good because of the new monster rules (and Heroic Actions in case of Avalenor. The coup de grace of aelvendom still seems to be armies focussed on Sentinels and Wardens, probably led by the Archmage.

Khainite Shadowstalkers are basically what Umbraneth were supposed to be. They were even called Umbraneth in an early preview, if I remember correctly.

So, I don't know if this bothers anyone but me, but...why is Lyrior the Warden of Ymetrica? Ymetrica is one of the four Tecleian Nations while Lyrior is described as not only one of Tyrion's favored generals, but the figurehead of the Tyrionic Nations according to the lore. He does nothing of particular value for his keyword, nor does the keyword do him any favors. He is no Alarith and Alarith units do not benefit from his spell. They should have just left out the nation keyword like with Eltharion or put him into Alumnia. That would have made so much more sense. Now you might say "Yea dog, G-dubbs needed his blue-white color scheme repesented in his keywords, innit?!", to which I answer: "Lo' and behold, they changed the twins' keyword for lore-reasons."

First of all I think you are really hung up on that "sub-dom" phrase of yours. I personally have no idea what this has to do with foot-long sandwiches or family. Secondly: A shooting unit can do just these two things: Move and shoot. A wizard can potentially do a lot of things. Dealing mortal wounds via Arcane Bolt, protect a friendly unit, teleport another unit around, summon minions etc. Hence the thought that you would need more reliable protection against a potentially game-changing, crucial effect is feasible. Thirdly: Yes, Teclis invalidates your cheap 1-spell casters. But that's just one character in the game. And so does also being murdered by teleporting Bloodstalkers, far-reaching Sentinels and lots of other possibilities for deadly alpha strikes that have no issue with killing support characters in turn 1 before you have even had a chance to think about what to cast.

Greek mythology is actually a pretty good example for my point. The gods often held a grudge against each other and plotted. But they usually didn't just just 'nope' each other's curses but instead gave their followers or chosen heroes the tools or help to overcome their foes advantages. Pretty much how it works in AOS, if both sides bring priests. I wasn't at any time arguing against your idea of shortening their range of unbinding (I actually think that's a good idea!) but against the general assumption that it's wrong for legendary or god-like wizards to be great in their field. Say your opponent brought Teclis. That's, as others have already pointed out, more than a third of a 2000 points list. And if you aren't ready to bring a similar amount of point-wise dedication to your magic phase then, yeah, he deserves to dominate. Similarly, if a Daughters of Khaine army just brings five Snake Ladies with bows, you can't ask them to dominate the shooting phase like 40 Vanari Sentinels do. And those 40 Vanari Sentinels are also covering basically the whole table. Other armies might have less range, but greater mobility on their shooting, which will make it similarly (almost) impossible to hide. Now you will say: "But their shooting doesn't negate my shooting. I still get to shoot." And that is a fair point. But Teclis or Kroak don't negate all your magic automatically. You can get spells through if you diversify your magic portfolio, so to speak. And even without spending as many points.

I think you have a few misconceotions here. First is the narrative nature of how magic usually works in fantasy settings. Wizards use energies that are there and weave them into patterns to create effects. These patterns can be unwoven (unbound) by opposing wizards. In contrast priests and clerics pray to their gods for aid. If succesful the prayer reaches the deity's ear and heart and they grant a fraction of divine power. How are opposing priests able to interact with that?! Yell so loud that the deity can't hear the priest? Launch a smear campaign that the priest is in fact a heretic or a satanic pizza child trafficer?! Secondly physical attacks and bodies are the bread and butter of the game and will ultimately make or break it. Teclis and/or Kroak can't generate the amount of attacks and damage that their points value in troops can generate. Nor can they absorb so much damage or hold as many objectives. Even if you can't compete in the magic there is still combat, shooting (arguably equally if not more dominant than magic!), prayers and command abilities, the latter of which can also summon troops (in certain armies) and can't be unbound every turn.

That is something that I expect to happen, let alone for symmetry to Lumineth Realm- Lords. Light Aelven faction with two gods from the realm of light. Dark Aelven faction with two gods from the realm of shadows. Easy. And then they will put the two factions against each other, just like in ye olden days, and the winner will be Slaanesh... But in all honesty it would rob the Daughters of their identity, and that would be a shame. And to be even more honest: Malerion doesn't deserve Morathi or the Daughters of Khaine. He has done mostly nothing but threaten, humiliate and sl*t-shame his own mother. All the while she, the glorious High Oracle, has staged the greatest coup in the history of the Mortal Realms, snatched godhood from the claws of destiny and went toe to toe with the End of Empires.

I very much unterstand that it's frustrating to be basically magically bullied by Chad-lis, but this is a rather narratively-driven game. Maybe gigabrain toads that have lived for eons and eons as well as Aelven gods of light and magic should be able to shut down your Orruk shaman with 20 years of experience just like that. I think those god-level characters should feel god-like in their field of expertise. All things considered the mortals hold up pretty well on the battlefield.

Oh yeah, you're right about only leader-sorcerers getting the extra spell. Good catch! Still, 4 spells isn't too shabby for a lowly squad sergeant. 😊

See, this is where my perceived invulnerability of Skaven comes into play: If Karl Franz were to be assassinted, the Imperium's enemies would immediately launch an attack because the realm is weakened. So the campaign wouldn't just be about finding a successor but also about desperately defending against outside enemies. If the Skaven Council would be slain, Skaven society would just react as they always do: infighting until successors emerge. But no outside enemy would really threaten them. That's what I liked about Wrath of the Everchosen. Chaos were just as invulnerable as Skaven most of the time, and then Katakros marched in, kicked some ass and made camp. There were finally real stakes for Archaon.

With Chaos Dwarves it's just my love and adoration for real dwarves. I can't stand to see them corrupted. And then with Skaven I feel like we rarely see them lose and even if they do it doesn't seem to matter. They basically always fight on their terms, emerging from tunnels, circumventing city walls and weakening their enemies with diseases beforehand. Their machines can kill multiple warriors with years or decades of training and experience in a single flash, while they don' t really care about their own losses (on a global scale). Sure, civil wars happen regularly but it always ends in the next clan taking control stronger than before. If a powerful, centuries-old vampire or Chaos general dies it matters, because there isn't just the next individual on a similar scale right around the corner. If a temple of Daughters loses it matters because their losses aren't so eaily replenished. With Orruks their losses hardly matter, but at least they regularly get outsmarted.

As others have already said: it's not just Knights, though the appeal of a cavalry army with their unique spear-headed formation was a part of the appeal. And then there's of course the vibe of Arthurian legends with the Lady of the Lake and the ghostly Green Knight. The connection to the Wood Elves and also Ghouls and Blood Dragon Vampires in Mousilion was also interesting. I also always liked the dirty down-trodden peasant side of the army. Skaven and Chaos Dwarves have a lot of character, I give them that. And they do make great villains. But in contrast to Daughters of Khaine, Gravelords or Kruleboyz they are the kind of villain I desperately don't want to see winning.

That point thing is a problem. With the switch to 3rd Edition and the increase in points, many former combinations don't work anymore. Lunineth seems to have it especially bad, since there are no units or heroes under 100 points. E.g. the contents of the launch box set don't fit into 500 points anymore. Another thing about Lyrior: you can't give him Speed of Hysh either. He knows Greater Power of Hysh (plus Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield). The regular Lord Regent could take either Speed of Hysh or Eclipse because Zaitrec, but the other needs to be Greater Power as well. Then he'd also always know Overwhelming Heat because, again, Zaitrec. Similarly all your Vanari units know Bolt, Shield, Overwhelming Heat, and 2 spells from Lore of Hysh as long as the count as Sorcerers.

Hey there and welcome to Enlightenment. Looks very solid, but I don't get Lyrior in your list. If I'm not mistaken he already has the Ymetrica keyword, so he wouldn't get the extra spell, nor would he benefit from the bonus to casting. Take a vanilla Lord Regent instead.

I wouldn't count on them releasing a new Avatar model anytime soon and by soon I mean something akin to a decade. The Cauldron/Bloodwrack set includes such vital pieces to all Daughters players (virtually all the heroines except Morathi and the Ironscale) that everyone buys at least one. And the scuplts still hold up very well. So there is neither need nor incentive for GW to do a new one. But I love your idea. According to the tome Morathi is remaking Khaine statues in her own image, so using parts of her and/or the Shadow Queen would make sense.

Skaven are just hideous. They are vile and disgusting creatures with vile and disgusting lore and I shall never forgive them for stealing as many fortresses from the Dwarves as they did. I don't know, but, with the exception of Clan Skryre, I hate almost everything about them. If someone enjoys them and Skaven make them happy - I guess I'm happy for you and I hope that you get new fun stuff to play with. But I personally would gladly send Skaven and Chaos Dwarves into oblivion if we could get back Bretonnia and Tomb Kings instead. If reading this made someone sad or angry - I'm sorry! I just felt like I needed to put this out there. And it's not like there's not lots of hating on Stormcast or Lumineth, so.. 😅

Maybe it's just me, but...it would be incredibly lame if Dragons became so common and basically every faction had one. I always liked the old GW slender dragon design. They were an interesting mix between what I envisioned a Germanic Lindwurm to look like, as well as Asian and Western dragons. I'd say the Forest Dragon was my favourite. And I sincerely hope that Lumineth stick to their Aelementiri and don't get dragons. They are similar enough to the High Elves of old as is. And I also hope that Skaven don't get anything ever again, but that might also be just me.

If you're inspired by Gears of War, why don't you try ruins and rubble? That is what I associate with that game, based on my very limited exposure.

What Sect are you planning to go with? And I assume you want the Ironscale to make your Snakeladies Battleline. But wouldn't you also want a Hag Queen or Slaughterqueen to buff your Sisters of Slaughter?

Eltharion and Gotrek going at it together as a super tornado tag team sounds so fun! 😊 It's still so weird that Idoneth are our only allies, and Cities of Sigmar aren't. I imagine a Deepkin General slowly and fearfully approaching the Lumineth army after a successful battle: "See guys?! We're not so bad, right guys? I mean, like, we're all AELVES, right guys? Sooo... No need to genocide us, right? RIGHT?!" Archmage Teclis turns his head towards his unlikely allies, slowly raising an eyebrow. The light eminating from his eyes grows brighter..

It's a difficult topic. On the one hand it's definitely just plain sad when an army's aesthetic and lore really inspire you and then your opponents take the fun out of it by being sour. On the other hand negative playing experiences do exist and it sure is depressing to lose without a chance... Though the latter might often have more to do with your opponent's skill than their army's rules.

That's valid, of course. Just thought you might not have caught the prior conversation.

I think you are confusing the Daughters of Khaine with depictions of WHFB incarnations of Witch Aelves. The tome doesn't include anything about seduction and manipulation apart from Morathi herself. There are no mentions of any form of sexuality. The Daughters of Khaine are a matriarchic society that is built upon worshipping Khaine as a God of martial prowess and sudden assassination. All the higher ranks are held by women; all the manual labor and 'unclean' jobs are being performed by men. The sculpts reflect the daughters being able, athletic and agressive killers; none of their poses are submissive or seductive. So I, as a male mind you, cannot see any overt objectification or sexualization apart from their clothes basically being thong bikinis and thigh-high boots without heels. But the lore clearly states that they don't wear these things to tempt or seduce but to not be hindered in movement and because they enjoy the feeling of their enemies' blood on their skin. And why you are suggesting any of this would cause issues for LGBTQI+ folks out there ... I have no idea.

Ha, thank you for cheering me on, but right now I've got a Lumineth army which is my main project, and I haven't quite decided whether Daughters or Kruleboyz will be second. I have bought the Daughters half of Shadow and Pain, and also the Boyz half of Dominion, so we'll see. Maybe I'll do Khelt Nar for Warcry, but I'm a little averse to buying a box of Witches right now, and as far as I know there are no single Aelf heros on sale for Daughters to try out a scheme. @Chumphammer The Bloodwrack Vyper was discussed between pages 1 and 2, I think.

Hey, thanks for answering! For a moment I thought none would bother. I do have the Battletome and did read it, but since I just got into the game a few months ago and haven't read any of the Black Library stuff I figured there might be more stuff about them out there. Still think it's peculiar since, as I've said, ethnically diverse Aelves haven't been done by GW before, as far as I know. Those are some beautiful Daughters you have there, but they look more like Khailebron to me. Which is the other Sect of Khaine I really like. Personally, for Khelt Nar, I'd stick to the studio scheme, I think. Though green instead of red would look amazing as well!