PJetski

This game looks better every time I see it. I assumed it would be some mobile phone gacha nonsense cashing in on the AOS name but it actually looks good. The developers put a lot of effort into the models and animations, seems they really care about the IP.

The new short story

Are we already at the stage of the preview cycle where people get mad after seeing 0.01% of the rule text?

Have you guys noticed that Gardus is about 10% smaller than regular Stormcast? You can see it here in the comparison between his shoulderpad and a paladin shoulderpad. I wonder if this is a one-off event or if they're modifying the scale of future SCE releases

We'll probably see a proper Gravelords reveal on Monday and the new edition the following Saturday

If you need mobile firepower you should look at getting some Grunstok Gunhaulers - 10 wound flying cannon that can teleport for only 130 points. Combos well with a Lord-Ordinator.

Looks like some kind of bug people (silent people?) to me Im not familiar at all with necromunda

Based on the banners at the top: 1. Sisters of Battle (Full reveal of 2nd wave of releases) 2. Warhammer logo (Boxed games - Cursed City? Maybe something else?) 3. Stormcast (First tease at 3rd edition) 4. Orks (New 40k savage orks) 5. Underworlds (Idoneth reveal, maybe a tease of Season 5) 6. Soulblight Gravelords (Full reveal of the range) 7. No idea about these ones

Kroak, Morathi, Belakor, Gardus Steel Soul, the return of Grungni, and the incarnation of Slaanesh. To battle these realm-ending forces Alarielle sends... the Sylvaneths equivalent of a Heraldor?

I think you've got it backwards... in my opinion rolling for turn order should not be part of matched play any more. I love rolling for turn order, especially with endless spells on the table, but I think the power creep in 2nd edition has ruined that mechanic in competitive games. It was fine when spells weren't wiping out units with each hero phase and shooting was some combination of rare, weak, and with limited threat range. Now the game is full of super long range wizards wiping out units and teleporting cannons. I like using those things, and I like the strategic implications of trying to play around them, but it makes me feel like a ****** when I get two turns in a row and blow my opponent off the table without their interaction. As long as GW keeps writing armies with lethal long range magic/shooting then rolling for turn order will always result in a lot of games - I would even argue that it would be the majority of competitive games - being negative experiences for players. It's not necessarily imbalanced but it's not fun and I think that matters more than balance.

Let's keep slapping bandages on this double turn mechanic!

Obviously I would prefer if Stormcast had stats that matched their lore and the models but they can't release a new special character in 2nd edition that is wildly inconsistent with the current ruleset. If you thought one special character to save a Stormhost and bring it up to top tier competitive play then your expectations were too high. Hallowed Knights special rules are seriously bad and it will take more than one named character to make them viable. Personally I am shelfing my Stormcast until they get proper rules. They can (and hopefully will) rewrite the Gardus warscroll when 3rd edition launches. They just did this exact same thing with Illuminor Szeras and the Plasmancer in 40k; they both had awful rules but they were consistent with the 8th edition Necron codex, and they had rewrites in the 9th edition codex.

What were you guys expecting...? He can't be drastically different from a regular Lord Celestant

I clicked a button that looked like it would enable night mode and now the entire forum looks different. I can't find a way to disable it and go back to how it was before I clicked the button.

It means they can't make a normal move later in the phase, not that they count has having made a normal move. Back when Skyborne Slayers was written they did not have consistent wording on special abilities.

Yes since you control both effects you can choose the order they are applied

This is exactly the kind of stupid gimmick list I was talking about earlier! I think I would try running it with some Lord-Arcanum on Dracolines instead because -Pride Leader makes all DRACOLINE hit on 2+ without having to spend a command point with Gardus or get him into melee -Multiple wizards is always good -Multiple Cycle of the Storm is good -Cycle of the Storm + Martyrs Strength combo is good, especially with multiple Cycles -Multiple heroes on flanks with spirit flasks can wipe out key units before they have a chance to attack 1. Make your general a LADracoline and give him Martyrs Strength 2. Charge in 3+ LADracoline with Saintly Assault active. Position them such that the Arcanum with Martyrs Strength is within 3" of other LADs. 3. Use Spirit Flasks with all 3 LADs to deal a bunch of mortal wounds to the enemy, and kill your general LAD. Fight with Martyrs Strength (with +1 attack from Saintly Assault). 4. Prevent the mortal wounds from Spirit Flask with Cycle, heal a wound instead. Apply the next wound, "die" again, fight with Martyrs Strength again. Repeat for each Cycle of the Storm you have. This all happens at the start of the combat phase, you can even activate it in your opponents turn! It's a shame that the Pack Alpha command ability only works on EVOCATOR units Maybe a mix of Arcanums and Celestants? The Stormkeep battalion Wardens of the Stormkeep might be worth using with Gardus - you can use the extra command points to make a unit run & charge without having to bring a Heraldor. Putting Martyrs Strength on a Drakesworn Templar would be really good - piling in multiple times (especially with Cycle) to trigger Cavernous Jaws and Sweeping Tail multiple times. I wish the Skybolt bow worked on DRACOTH units and not DRACOTHIAN GUARD... who designed this stupid battletome

That's not entirely correct. If you bring a CITIES OF SIGMAR PRIEST as part of the Stormkeeps allegiance then you can give them a Stormcast prayer since that unit is part of your army and not an ally, and the Prayers do not require the STORMCAST keyword. Since Bless Weapons does not require the STORMCAST keyword you can use it with any PRIEST. Translocation does require a STORMCAST PRIEST though. edit: Should have refreshed the thread before posting

Why take the Hurricanum?

Why not both? Grombrindal could be the herald of Grungni's return.

Gardus is powerful compared to other Stormcast, the problem is that Stormcast are not what they should be. To be fair, if they have plans to rewrite Stormcast rules to make them more elite then they wouldn't release a 3rd edition model into the current 2nd edition ruleset. It would be very strange if Gardus had a 3rd edition statline that was drastically stronger than a regular Lord-Celestant. In the past GW has released models right before a new edition with bad rules consistent with the current edition, and then later updated those rules after the new edition launched proper. The most prominent example of this are the Necrons in Indomitus. If you want to discuss what Stormcast could be like if their rules matched their models better, check out my thread here:

Warhammer has never been a balanced game with a tight rule set... look somewhere else (video games, card games, etc.) if you really want that. Im not trying to be a ****** here - it has been proven time and time again that Games Workshop generally does not write good rules for their miniature games. You are only setting yourself up for disappointment if you want Warhammer to be a deep, balanced, and satisfying strategy game. I think Underworlds is the only exception and it only became a tight rule set after 3 iterations.

Gardus is good, despite the 5 wounds and 4+ save and low rend/damage weapons. I would go so far to say that he is easily the best Stormcast hero warscroll, especially since he is only 110 points (there isn't much competition for that title). His 4+ save doesn't really matter that much because you don't need him to survive more than one turn. Re-rollable charges (great for scion drops) and +1 attack for all heroes around him that doesn't cost a command point is a great ability. I could see some kind of gimmick list with a bunch of mounted heroes like LADracoline, LAGC, LCDracoth, Stardrake to repeatedly attack with Martyrs Strength + Cycle of the Storm combo. It's not a meta breaker but it's playable and distinct from other Stormcast lists. I don't see him being impactful enough to ever justify playing Hallowed Knights in a competitive game. Playable and good for casual games, which is a fine place to be for a special character. His base stats are bad and not representative of what Stormcast should be, but that's consistent with every other Stormcast warscroll. There's a chance it will be rewritten with 3rd edition battletome like they did with some of the Necrons from Indomitus.

He has an alternate "helmet" build so it would make sense that he could be a generic Lord-Celestant. They did the same thing with Neave Blacktalon in 2017.