Freejack02

They have all been Disciples of Tzeentch, operating from the same battletomes with the same allegiance abilities/spells/keywords. It's the same army.

The game needs a way to incentivize NOT focus-firing priority targets (which seems insane, because that's how you efficiently beat armies in this game). I see a few ways of doing that: they can remove the weapons that effectively do that, it can buff those priority targets' defenses to a point where they can't be alpha'd off the table, or it can find a way to reward players for spreading damage out and hitting multiple units. I'd like to see the third option attempted, but it's long been a problem in other games as well and there's not an easy fix for it (DnD character optimization suffers the same dilemmas). I'd like to see an experiment where Longstrikes are weak(er) against a single unit, but get more shots and increased effectiveness the more units they target. I know it doesn't really fit the unit aesthetic, but it would be great to reduce their "problem" damage while keeping up strong overall damage.

They quite literally tried to do that - hero phase heals aplenty and monstrous roars are there to try and make the big bad models stick around longer. Reinforcement rules were put in place to stop people playing large blocks of optimized scalpel-units. Unfortunately, the damage output of our problem children (seemingly Longstrikes and Fulmis atm) overwhelmed the expectations... so they're likely going to be pruned back a bit.

Honestly I feel like this encapsulates why we're getting nerfs (again) this early on in the tome cycle - people are tired of seeing their hard work getting obliterated by Longstrikes and Fulminators immediately. No one wants to bring their big shiny centerpiece models to the board if they know they're just going to be looking pretty from the graveyard for the next 2.5 hours. Any Kragnos, Gordrakk, Alarielle, or Archaon is going to be instantly focused and obliterated; and that's just unfun. You can argue that the tournament environment just has to deal with this (and I agree to some extent), but the problem is just the bad nature of alpha-strikes all around. They tried addressing it with the monster buffs in this edition, but the damage those 2 units can put out immediately is a bit overwhelming. I don't think Longstrikes need a points hike - I think something needs to be done about reinforced Longstrikes with TV. Similar case with Fulminators - something needs to be done about 4 of them being able to ruin whatever they touch on the charge. They gave us a book full of frankly underwhelming choices, then immediately respond with reactive nerfs when people use the stuff that isn't underwhelming. Honestly I think if TV gets adjusted somehow, we'd be perfectly fine where we're at.

I think their takeaway from this will be not to preview amazing new sculpts in May only to release them in December. That, more than anything, is what I think they will blame if the sales aren't up to expectations - the effects of Covid on international production/shipping is just too easy of a scapegoat for them to bother delving any deeper. I'm not expecting any changes to their operations; they'll keep pushing pretty plastic alongside dubious rules, and people will keep buying it.

Refreshing would be actually releasing them balanced in the battletome to begin with. If you are putting the blame for this negative response on the players and not on GW in the first place, you are the reason they keep doing it. Stop sticking up for their no-effort "testing" and rules/balance writing.

A points hike I can understand, a warscroll rewrite would be saddening... especially since we really haven't even gotten to play with them yet. I hope they don't pull a KO Thunderers before the majority even get to test them out...

It's being banned (I assume) because the actual rules text for Translocation hasn't changed, but the effect is now very different (improved). A lot of people believe the current interpretation to be a big oversight when the Movement rules changed and expect it to be FAQ'd to what it was. I personally don't think it needs to be, but I can 100% see why some TOs are making their own change until they're sure it's intended.

Prosecutor Prime's trident isn't an accidental ommision methinks - the hammer Prosecutors specifically cannot benefit from a Grandhammer extra attack on the Prime as well. It seems to be deliberate, but it won't hurt to ask I guess (on both counts)...

It's much, MUCH more likely they just can't write technical rules worth a damn.

Yes, but unfortunately that's all they can get - they have a 4+ listed but taking the shields can give them a +1 bonus. The Javelins on the other hand have a native 3+ that can be buffed to 2+ (which I know it feels odd putting resources into Prosecutor defenses, but here we are). Also the hammers suffer the same Prime issue of no Grandhammer listed as an option, which is why I think it's deliberate and not a mistake. I guess they got tired of the Prime carrying more than 50% of the weight for that unit...

All of my Protectors and Relictors feel really invalid.

If Paladins can make a comeback, Sacrosanct definitely will. I think with so many units and warscrolls it's bound to be cyclical, and being THE army that cycle is fairly rapid. Stick around, enjoy the new stuff, and wait for the old stuff to get reborn.

Dragons apparently.

Isn't this 4 reinforcements when we're only allowed 3? (I'm away from my sources so might be wrong on that). Edit: I think I'm misremembering and we're allowed 4 - Disregard!

Chariot looks neat but is almost too tough at 12w and 3+, I'm afraid of the point cost - also it's insanely durable for a chariot. I'm pretty sure some factions don't have hero models that tanky... Just have to wait for points!

Well, she's not 300 points because of her melee profile - she's tough, can res a lot of our infantry, gives a no-battleshock bubble, has a 12" fly, can snipe out support heroes, and neuters monsters. Honestly she's 1 wizard's cap away from being maybe the coolest swiss army knife in the game. I do agree that she's probably not tournament optimal where you want everything to perform a certain role exceptionally well, but she's not a bad unit by any means (at least in the whopping 3 games I've played of 3.0 so far).

I agree that was the intent - I would not be surprised to see it errata'd to be a single attack to each enemy model within 3" (possibly in addition to a base number). Maybe it will be less effective than I suspect, but I don't think the intention is to JoJo's-turbo-tail Archaon into the dirt because he happens to be sitting next to 30 Marauders.

It's identical to the wording on Decimators - the big difference is those are only 2" with a comparatively small base size... where the Dracothions are expected to be pretty damn big. I could see it getting faq'd because of abuse, but I think the wording is correct. Looks like it was made to be a defensive measure to prevent hordes from surrounding it; but seems to be a pretty terrifying offensive tool as well.

Interesting, it's going to be fun to crash into the most models possible (near a priority target) then use your 15 tail attacks to execute it with extreme prejudice... not a model you want to surround I suppose.

You just made me do a double take and go grab the warscroll cards to confirm... I've been calling them Vindicators this whole time!

Don't be disheartened, it's plenty tasty - people here like to talk in extremes. We'll see what the new book brings, but I think they'll still be completely viable.

Judicators will have to be seriously redone for me to spend 200 on 5 of them. Edit: So I expect they'll be redone to be more of a "heavy artillery" type, but what do we make of "Vanquishers"? New unit or just renamed Hunters; because I noticed they are suspiciously absent among the other Battleline listings.

Why in the hell did they bother updating points in the GHB if the new battletome was just going to update them all AGAIN a few weeks later?

If you think people are going to be maxing Annihilators... well then I completely understand why you think it's a good battle plan.