Squark

So, for someone starting out, do you think the Start Collecting box is still worth it? It's still cheaper than a box of pigs and the warchanter, but the aardboyz don't work 1-1 with the new kit. I've been thinking of expanding from Kruleboyz to a Big Waagh/Ironjawz force, but I'm at a loss of what to buy.

No, I believe that was in the original reveal.

Especially since the crunchy part of the rulwbooks is increasingly ephemeral rhese days.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Are you asking if the Ironskulls and Mogruk's Krushas can use the Ironsunz Allegiance Ability in a Da Choppas or Bloodtoof army? No, they cannot. Unique characters do not get access to their subfaction's allegiance ability if they're taken in an army from a different subfaction.

Okay, first question; Which variant are the Vanguard-Raptors, Annihilators, and Prosecutors? Their role varies depending on loadout. As far as proxies/purchases go, the main thing I notice is that you're light on ranged units, and you could use a knight-incantor. Having 6 Vanguard-Raptors or 10-15 Judicators is really helpful for list building. If you're looking for a competitive list, this is what I might try. You'd need another box of Vanguard-Raptors and have to use a Knight-Arcanum as a proxy (or just find one online for like ~ $10 USD) Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals - Stormhost: Knights Excelsior - Mortal Realm: Ghur - Grand Strategy: Hold the Line - Triumphs: Inspired Lord-Imperatant (175)* Lord-Relictor (145)* - General - Command Trait: High Priest - Artefact: Mirrorshield - Prayer: Translocation Knight-Incantor (125)* - Spell: Celestial Blades 6 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (480)* - Reinforced x 1 5 x Liberators (115)* - Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield - 1x Grandweapons 5 x Liberators (115)* - Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield - 1x Grandweapons 3 x Annihilators (200)* 6 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (480)* - Reinforced x 1 Celestar Ballista (140)* *Battle Regiment Holy Command: Thunderbolt Volley Total: 1975 / 2000 Reinforced Units: 2 / 4 Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 86 Drops: 1

We can't very well do that without a list of what you have, but sure, go for it.

+1 to wound at the cost of 1" of range- which means about half the unit doesn't get to attack over the first rank's 32 mm base. Hand weapons might have had some utility if Gutrippaz came in units of 5, but as is, they just don't work.

The entire unit. Bring it down refers to destroying units, not models.

Raptors are slightly higher damage, actually. Significantly so vs. Kragnos, which is relevant these days. 6 Raptors+5 Liberators is also slightly cheaper than 15 Longbow Judicators. Combine that with the extra 6" range, and Raptors just have more utility. They do have a couple of awful matchups though like vs. Coalesced and Nighthaunt. And they are made of paper mache vs shooting. But the moment people seem to think that's an acceptable trade-off.

As far as 3rd edition goes, I don't think we saw Keywords or abilities added to the dominion models, but we did see Boltboyz and Gutrippaz get command models added to their warscroll. So I wouldn't get your hopes up for the addition of priest, but also wouldn't be gobsmacked if the keyword was added.

Does anyone who's worked with the Corpse-rippa Vulcha kit know how practical it is to magnetize the rider so it can be run as either Gobbsprakk or a Killaboss?

That's what I did. I also made sure the guy got one of the extra knives from the kit, so he had a backup weapon he could use once he plants the standard in the corpse of a suitable enemy.

I'm iffy about the Thunderstrike Brotherhood box. All of the units in it are missing things- The Prosecutors and Liberators don't have a grandweapon, and the retribuitors are too small to be fielded legally.

They're good at blocking Unleash Hell from more critical targets. The 3d6 charge means you can reasonably charge from Scions of the Storm, and flight allows you to hop over screens.

There are still copies of the 2e Getting Started with Age of Sigmar magazine. I highly recommend picking one up if you can. It includes a knight-incantor mini, which will give you one of our most important Leaders for far less than most other heroes cost. (The new magazine has 1 vindictor and 1 gutrippa, which is a lot less useful.)

Especially with Kragnos's new buffs, going first for Ironjawz is a huge deal. If you let him get the 1st turn and haven't done a good job screening your Megaboss, he will die, Ward save or not. It's also vital for crippling Lumineth before the pansy Aelves can get all their spells up. Stormcast Eternals with Thunderbolt Volley also stand a good chance at crippling you if you let their alpha strike get the first turn. And If you can manage to find a hole in Legion of the First Prince's screens before they get all their command abilities up, well, you might be in for a less miserable time*. Losing the 6++ hurts, but you're losing an awful lot to get it. If you think about it, the Armor of Gork adds about 4-5 wounds to your Megaboss. However, going second can cost you all that and more, which can make it a net loss for you. Bear in mind this depends on your metagame, of course. If you're dealing with a less competitive metagame, you can afford to give up on going first.

2 Stormdrakes is fine. They're fast, reasonably tough, and can output decent damage. I do not, however, reccomend running a Knight-Draconis alongside a single unit. So much of a Knight-Draconis's power is tied up in his once per game double tap with the breath weapon; with obly 2 SDG, he isn't worth it. Just take one more screen of Liberators/Vindictors.

6 Boltboyz for a reinforced unit like the one you have is $90 USD by GW pricing, unfortunately. They're pretty expensive. Aardboyz are primarily a screening unit- With no rend or mortal wound output, they struggle against a meta where you have to plan to fight vs. A 3+ save. They're also a tad awkward in large units because units of 6+ need to be organized into 2 ranks, and with their 1" melee and 32 mm base the second rank can't fight unless you're surrounded (in which case your screen has faild at its job because things are now on the wrong side). That being said, I wouldn't call them bad- I'd gladly pay 5 points to upgrade my hobgrot screens to a 4+ save if I could in Kruleboyz. Going pure Ironjawz isn't a bad idea- Bloodtoofs get Gore-Gruntaz as battleline, which is very handy. The new Ironjawz Waagh! Is also very good; -3 rend Jagged Gore-Hackas is terrifying

Gobsprakk has a couple of issues; He's very vulnerable to being oincushioned by shooting, his casting is unreliable because he has no bonus to cast and can't get Master of Magic, and he has no bonus to dispel other than a once per game RNG effect, so his main selling point is countered by super casters like Nagash, Teclis, and their ilk. In a metagame that isn't heavy on Ranged Attacks and Godhammer, he's probably servicable. But that is the "default" metagame at the moment, so he suffers.

Everything you get in the SC box should come in handy for a Big Waagh like what you want; The Aardboyz provide a cheap battleline to save points for Kragnos, Boltboyz, and the pigs, the Warchanter is critical for those 2 Waagh points and the damage buff, and thw pigs have -2 rend spears you can make 2 damage via said warchanter. In practice I think a lot of Big Waaghs will end up being Ironjawz focused- not just because they're currently the strongest warclan, but because the bonuses for running a Big Waagh encourage you to run straight at the enemy- Which is Ironjawz specialty.

Taking a Knight-Draconis for only 2 stormdrake guard is going to be really underwhelming. I'd replace him with a 3rd batteline unit and use the 150+ points for something else. As for your questions... 1) One unit per turn, but it can be any unit 2) Celestial Vindicators don't work well in an army without at least one good melee hammer (2x Stormdrake Guard is not actually that impressive in melee). I'd look at Hammers of Sigmar perhaps? 3) Plenty of stormcast lists run only 1 wizard. However, if anyone in your local metagame runs Legion of the 1st prince, you NEED a Knight-Incantor. 4) Aetherwings aren't bad, and I don't see a point in going 1-drop for your list. My main concern is the lack of melee power in the list until Celestant Prime comes down. Stormdrake Guard are so expensive- I don't think they can fit in a list with Celestant Prime.

Breaking Things Down by Unit Role (Using the American Letter grade system) Melee Screen/Battleline: Liberators with Shields/Vindictors A, Sequitors C, Vanquishers F Ranged Units: Judicators (both varieities)/Vanguard Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows A, Castigators B-, Celestar Ballista/Vigilors C, Vanguard-Raptors with Hurricane Crossbows F Melee Hammer units: Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers, Fulminators A, Concussors/Protectors B, Retribuitors C, Evocators (mounted or unmounted), Desolators D-, Decimators F Miscellaneous units: Stormstrike Chariots A, Aetherwings A, Tempestors A, Prosecutors B, Praetors B-, Annihilators with shields C, Vanguard-Hunters D, Gryph-Hounds D, Vanguard-Palladors D Stormdrake Guard are in a weird place. They can certainly be potent, but they're also very hard to fit into your list (Hence their absence here). As for the heroes... I'm reluctant to go through the truly staggering list we have. Instead, I'll just highlight the Stand-out units -Knight-Incantor: The De Facto wizard. No special casting, but their dispel scroll is key for disrupting certain lists like Legion of the First Prince. Can be gotten cheaply if you can find a copy of the 2nd Edition Start Collecting Age of Sigmar Magazine. -Lord-Arcanum on Tauralon/Aventis Firestrike: Deluxe Wizard. It's a monster, can cast and dispel, and hands out a +1 to hit pulse every time it moves. If you want to cast more spells without adding a whole new hero, the 40? point upgrade to Aventis Firestrike is worth it for Hammers of Sigmar -Lord-Relictor: By far the best priest. Can very reliably use Stormcast prayers, all of which are excellent. You might even want a second. Unfortunately, only available in the Start Collecting: Thunderstrike Brotherhood box, which is otherwise awkward -Lord-Imperatant: Specifically used to make Annihilator charges reliable. In that capacity, he's solid. -Bastian Carlathos: Hammers of Sigmar specific. He's got a lot of nice tricks, but we need an FAQ to clarify a lot of what he does, unfortunately. -Gardus Steelsoul: Has an excellent 5+ ward aura. Fantastic. The only downside is he's very squishy vs. ranged attacks. -Knight-Judicator: shrug-worthy on his own, but he's had proven success when spammed. -Lord-Castellant: Handing out an un-dispellable +1 to save each turn is excellent when used with Large blocks of Vindictors or Protectors. -Celestant-Prime: Sometimes you just want a big hammer that can make a 12" charge, no randomness involved. -

I don't see Longstrikes as an issue, at least in a vacuum- Our dedicated ranged units actually have decent internal balance apart from the mess that is Hurricane Raptors and the bizarre points jump that the Ballista got. Longstrikes the most popular because of their comparitvely low cost and self-sufficiency, but they also have more bad matchups than the other options, and are made of tissue paper. The issue is Thunderbolt Volley, but at the same time that's also a symptom of certain DPS checks in the metagame. The one place Longstrikes are a problem is due to a greater issue in AoS of haves and have-nots- If your opponent's army doesn't have access to passable ranged damage or a mobile unit that can bypass screens, Vanguard Raptors don't have to care about their weaknesses. But there's enough ranged combat in the game right now that at this point what GW needs to do is make sure every army has a way to interact with shooting/spell damage.

Adding another magnetizaion question; Has anyone magnetized Judicators? How would you go about it, since they use different left arms for bows and crossbows, but there's not enough pauldrons to magnetize 20 left arms with weapons attached? I suppose I could try ordering spare pauldrons.

As far as a second Kruleboyz wave goes... I have mixed feelings. We definitely have holes that need filling, but when I look at the other Warclans it feels like they need new units even more than we do. I wouldn't mind if each of the warclans got a new kit or two, maybe with a Leader option included. Maybe Kruleboyz cavalry with a new Break-Boss or Killaboss option, a Murknobs unit for Elite Badstabbas, some big Bonespliterz in the vein of brutes and the aforementioned Murknobs (Perhaps handing out a desperately needed casting bonus to nearby Bonesplitterz wizards?), and perhaps some sort of siege engine like a giant battering ram for Ironjaws?