Aakkxxzz

There are plenty of KB things that aren't great, but every army has bad rules/units that aren't used. Just make Hobgrots non-conditional battleline and KB are markedly better. Frees up 200 points per list.

Given all of the global issues with production and shipping, it wouldn't surprise me if GW shifted to a 40k-heavy strategy for 2022 in order to keep revenue on track. Businesses across the board have had to adapt, and they've had to lean hard on whatever's most reliable/profitable. For GW that's 40k. That's my guess, anyway, and my hope. I think they realize the market for AoS can still grow in big ways, but they don't have the resources to focus on multiple things.

Almost all of the HWG stats are pre-FAQ, so take them with a grain of salt. A month from now we should have a better idea of what the post-FAQ meta looks like. My best guess: Drake spam is going to be a consistent 4-1 army with occasional 5-0s. They have some rough matchups but they can dumpster any armies that aren't built to handle them. Sons of Behemat looks like they counter them pretty effectively. Stormcast are going to be a weird army to track, though, because (a) they have a few different really viable builds and (b) the results get skewed by their popularity. Lumineth aren't going to be nearly as dominant. Sentinel point increase hurt them, and the change to Unleash really hurt them. It seems like a lot of people are trying to figure out alternatives to the old Teclis+Sentinels build, maybe there's something out there. Same for Seraphon not being as dominant in the coming months. Salamander and Bastiladon point increases hurt, and the change to Amulet hurt. They'll still be strong but not on top. I would bet they slide into the 55% win rate range, an army that's strong but no longer oppressive.

Been building and testing Big Waagh lists, and am so surprised at how little I see the Breaka-boss on Troggoth getting mentioned or used. Their damage output is insane, especially considering how cheap they are. Better damage potential than anything Ironjaws/Kruelboyz has outside of the Maw-Krusha. In an army that's better suited for castling/counterstrikes than alpha strikes, why aren't more people using them? What am I missing?

I'm not saying that people aren't interested in the hobby for other reasons, like lore or collecting or painting. They absolutely are. And that's the majority of the base; I don't dispute that at all. I'm responding to the argument that they're "playing the most," which they're absolutely not. Not by any measurable related metric. Being interested in models/painting/lore/etc isn't the same as playing games, and it isn't related to rulesets or balancing. That said... totally willing to be proven wrong here. But claiming there's a secret "silent majority" ain't it.

So... Where are all of these people who play Narrative AoS instead of Matched? Judging by amount of representation each mode sees in pretty much any online space (forums, subreddits, Youtube channels, etc), Narrative players look like a significant minority as far as "number of games played" is concerned. There are definitely people who play kitchen-table games, and people who run Narrative campaigns with their friends. There are definitely people who mostly collect models and read books, who might play a game or two with Open rules. But for as often as I hear the argument that "Matched players are the minority," there doesn't seem to be much evidence for it. The people who are actively playing this game, on a regular basis, and playing it the most, are - by a significant margin, I'd bet - Matched players.

They have 9 wounds apiece, their stats don't bracket, and they have a 4+ spell ward. Especially in a drake spam list, they're one of units in the game that are LEAST weak to mortal wounds.