Melcavuk

I keep cycling through existing factions but the primary issue is finding reasonable mounted heroes to count as, Slaves has mounted Melee heroes but nothing really to suit the Brewer on wolf (he shouldnt be a beat stick hero). Tempest eye Cities can fill out the troops well but again struggles in terms of mounted heroes (they arent durable enough to be stormcast). Currently looking at Legions of Nagash but I'm not sold on it as it feels like I'd be making alot of comprimises, so I've got their own custom allegiance for now whilst I play around with it. Also, adding in Grotrek. Counts as Gotrek if I do run them as Tempest eye, otherwise he's going on a chariot of his own but will have an onfoot version where he might leap off the chariot midgame.

For the past couple of weeks of isolation I've been reinventing Grot wolf riders as a faction for Age of Sigmar under the name of Slavermaw Skavengers, the aim is to design an entirely mounted, fast moving but fragile grot faction. So here's the starting heroes I've worked on.

You gain bonus, by gaining limitation. If you remove limitation, remove bonus. If you can run Stormhost A and still take best command trait, to end up at Stormhost A + command trait A then there will be no reason NOT to pick a Stormhost, as you will only get Command Trait A. By this example event attendance will result in a net reduction in list variation: Currently lists are either HOST A shootcast, or Command Trait A staunch cast. New lists would always be HOST A COMMAND A staunchshootcast. Essentially excerbating existing imbalance by removing limitations, whilst in an ideal world this would promote choice and diversity in a competitive environment you're simply removing limitation to create a single "master" list. As i said if you're narrative gaming its entirely your perogative but in terms of competitive gaming it wouldnt promote the diversity you're aiming for.

And your entire premise is based on a list of perfectly balanced units, command traits and subfactions that dont currently exist. As I have tried to explain multiple times citing examples of what we have now, the restrictions currently prevent cherry picking best of best from every catagory.

In an ideal world all command traits would be equal, and we wouldnt need points because people would be able to have a discussion pregame to create a cool balanced game, and there would be no unit limitations because players would be responsible adults able to pick a cool themed list without gaming the system. This was AoS 1 Ultimately it was found people were unable to do that, so we have post GHB AoS, where restrictions are key.

Additional command traits opens up a whole world of new issues, it means you can end up stacking things that are designed to never be in the same list, from CP farming whilst boosting damage output to multiple massive combat monstrocities. If you want to play narratively there's nothing to stop you using the rule to generate a new general when yours is slain and randomly generating a new command trait for them to reflect the in game promotion, but opening it up to further combinations would just cause more issues (again Staunch defender in every Anvils list as you havent made anything more desirable, you've just let them take more of the already desirable options)

Are you though? You can either take subfaction bonus A which is good, or command trait B which is good but cant do an A+B combo, and infact by the current limitation it means relic X which might not be as good sees more play when you want to take command trait B. By your way of reducing limitation what you're actually cultivating is an even more limited list pool because something will always be "better" in its catagory, advocating free choice all the way across means that you simply take the best from all columns. And 40k is a hot mess right now I'd hate to see traits of that pulled over to "improve" Age of Sigmar. In a perfect world everything would be balanced or atleast equal, which is how AoS was before the implementation of GHB and Points, however players felt that restrictions, pointing, balancing, guides and limitations were needed to make the game enjoyable. Because people want a game to be "competitive" you are forced to bring in barriers and limitations to prevent certain combinations, the other option is to have a far more reduced pool of choices from the outside.

The limited command trait is the current cost of gaining a better battle trait, currently barring a select few factions (feast day FEC) there would be no reason not to take a unique subfaction if you also gained free choice of Command Trait, you gain a bonus but have to have a restriction in order to get it. That is the balance of the extra abilities gained, otherwise every Stormhost will be Anvils of Heldenhammer abilities, with Staunch defender command trait and instead of seeing more variety you end up with the same option chosen as people cherry pick the best of the best.

I'd be happy with shards of Vulcatrix being worshipped by destruction fire centric factions. You could also have fractured avatars of Gorkamorka pulling the Suneater out as its own distinct personality amidsts the ruling pair. That said with so few people running grand alliances these days the fact that alot of the forces are order matters very little when order themselves arent whiter than white, you can still easily play plenty of conflict between the inner workings of Order.

Just about done: Orruk Magmadroth

Some final highlights to do and then the base but I’m happy to call the first Abomination done. In a standard army this guy would make for an awesome General so I’m thrilled I get to field 6 of them as my Goregruntas

And the Weird'un Dok to run as a War Chanter with the Fix it beat.

Mostly stemming from a conversation about how to convert the fantastic new Ghaz model to AoS I've been working on creating a Boss Base for him in the stylings of Katakros but for Iron Jawz, the basic premise to use a Ghazconversion to fill out the void currently left in the base and to have the whole ensemble run as a Megaboss on Mawkrusha (base size matches) renaming and refluffing the abilities as I go in order to explain it. The army premise is Orruks crafted from the dead bodies of fallen Iron Jawz, cleaved apart and crudely reassembled by a menageries of Grots, Hobgoblins and Orruk Weird'uns (weirdly smart but physically weak Ironjawz cast out). The Waaaghlord vomiting souls of vanquished Orruks into these vessels as living embodiments of the Waaagh. The Strongest, The Toughest not by their own hand but by harvesting Prime Orruk corpses. So here's the base so far:

If I can get my Ironjawz boss base done in time it'll be my entry for the month, ultimately it'll come down to when Ghaz releases to convert and paint for it.

Cheers, at this point I've been hands on with most of the kits across the ranges which helps with conversions as I can usually visualise the end result a lot more easily from the constituent parts. Don't get me wrong there are many failed attempts that never see the light of day.

Post WHTV its time to bring in the true strength of the Vendati Order by way of the Cognizant Legions, those who have suffered at the hands of the arcane, who bear physical, mental or emotional scars and little left in their soul bar the loathing of the arcane, first up are the armoured crossbows, and also a new Duardin Ironsworn

Old World alliance team card pack is almost certainly blood bowl as it refers to a team as opposed to a gang, warband etc Lumineth is cool though

This Wednesday I’ll be on Warhammer Tv talking about all things Midnight City

Brief rundown. The Midnight City are a once reclusive industrial empire, founded long ago in the Age of Myth around the slumbering form of a Goddess. Every cog, every steam tunnel, every artisan clockwork mechanism in the city was engineered to channel the powers of the Realm to restore their Goddess from her Age long slumber, it was these need to innovate, need to create new methods of pulling more power from the very air around them that spurred the cities industry. The contracts they garnered through such innovation when into funding new research into Cog and Steamwork technologies to revive their ward. It was however only as the Age of Chaos dawned that the Goddess awoke, her first breath was said to be the cities last. Every cog froze, every steam tunnel suddenly grew empty, not a sound of the clockwork was to be heard throughout the City. In the first days of the cities death those who only sought to exploit it for wealth abandoned their holdings, fleeing to the safety of Azyr and the riches it might offer their coffers, as days turned into weeks then too did those whose hearts were conflicted, buckling to the need for safety over their love of the city they had dared to call home. Finally came the Heirs of the noble houses, each great house dispatching one heir to Azyr that their lineage might not die with the city they could not bear to leave, it was as these heirs crested the mountain range to the south of the city that they looked back to see their homes ablaze, a piercing beacon of ruin benearth the darkened sky. When the Heirs reached Azyr they spoke of the death of Midnight, a tale cemented by all those who came before them but made all the more real by their description of the flames that claimed the city. As her lie was cemented in the minds of the Azyrite host, and all who might carry rumour out into the greater realms, the Goddess and her remaining loyal populace continued their labours in the hidden under-workshops of the city. It had been they, in the Goddesses eternal wisdom who put flame to all that remained above the streets of the old city, returning the land to the wilds and shadow daemons that any encroaching forces would see little but the gutted husk of the City that once was. With this lie in place, and the populace reduced to number sustainable in the Undercity, comprised of only those with the resolve and vision to see through the plan of their Goddess the innovations of Midnight have continued through the Ages. The Undercity now spreads beneath much of the mountain ranges surrounding the old town, far larger than the husk from which it has risen once more, they produce Cogwork mechanisms the likes of which few others could dare to replicate. As the Age of Sigmar dawned the Midnight City rose phoenix like from the ashes, though hidden they had maintained smuggling routes with local tribes to ferry arms and supplies where needed yet with Azyr open and the seeds of hope growing a new market had been born for their innovations of war. The goddess however remained elsuive, now masquerading as the Midnight Queen those who traded with her city would never have seen even a hint of the divine, a genius in no doubt but mortal. All this has changed with Lethis, unwilling to see another stand alone against the darkened tides the Midnight Host marched forth, the queen resplendant at the head of her cities armies, at the apex of the battle however her true form was unmasked and face revealed to the hosts Azyrite. And now the city lays besieged, the the Azyrite host demanding the Goddess return to the Penumbral jail she once occupied, her populace unwilling to yield she who staved off the darkness and allowed them to prosper. A city alone, The City of Midnight

Assembly of the post throne of skulls additions to the Midnight City complete, 20 Cognizant Repeaters and a Duardin Ironsworn Templar. The closer war pushes to the walls of the citadel the more of the cities creations can be beheld.

First 10 Cognizant Repeaters, artisan in design their repeater crossbows rely on a longer frame and interchangable bolt cartridges to send vicious volleys down field.

The Duardin are coming, the V2 Ironsworn Templar harness is a sleeker beast, with the pilot provided armoured cockpit rather than swaying strapped to the front of it. It also features a more robust hammer instead of the steam lance and a cannonade.

Cheers guys, here's the finished starter warband. Hopefully packed with character for when I get to use them on the table.

Cheers The 2+ to hit is only on the missile attack variant as it is quite literally a cloud of steam and relies on your opponent being within 3 inches (in combat with you) to shoot, however should your opponent have an ability that can charge within your turn (I think khorne here) then yes they would essentially be on a 1+ to hit said unit in the shooting phase of that turn but 1's always miss. Thanks!