PJetski

Does "run forward with 3x30 witches" sound like fun to you?

I'm definitely going to start playing AOS again, but I don't like the way the game has been developing since 2.0 launched so I don't know if it will hold my interest for as long as it did before.

Ive seen people play 9 Longstrike + 6 Desolator. Dracoths are really durable and have a cool shooting attack. It's pretty good, but I prefer running Dracolines or Evocators. You will still be bringing 3x5 Liberator and 2+ units of Aetherwings so you don't necessarily need the durability of Dracoths, and they are quite expensive (especially since you need to bring a Castellant)

I havent been playing AOS that much lately, so I can't offer much insight about this I probably won't update my blog any time soon

New models always come with a new battletome, and there were only a handful of armies with battletomes in AOS 1.0. Do endless spells and terrain count? If so, Tzeentch, Fyreslayers , Sylvaneth, etc. would all fall into this category.

Glad to hear it I should give props to @Requizen since we worked on the list for a long time on this forum. His innovation of transitioning from Aetherstrike into 2.0 by bringing a block of Evocators was a major break-through.

The space marine chapters with their own supplement have unique units and distinct playstyles. It wouldn't work with Stormcast because our stormhosts don't really have any kind of strategic identity. If all the stormhosts had unique models and specific playstyles then it would make sense to give them their own supplements.

I haven't heard of such an absurd list, but I think going all-in on shooting like that is a terrible idea. You need a good melee hammer unit that can push forward and clear objectives with charges. You also basically auto-lose if you have a realmscape that hinders shooting, like the LOS blocking terrain in Aqshy or range reduction in Ulgu.

I would prefer if GW wrote rules that make all subfactions viable choices for Matched Play in their own distinct ways. Since they demonstrably don't want to do that - or perhaps they can't do that for a number of reasons - then I agree the short term solution is to make subfactions cost points. The opportunity costs of being locked into specific artefacts/traits is obviously not enough right now. Some of the weaker subfactions can cost zero points.

I would try to categorize them like this: Great - Good internal balance, many top tier builds, lots of variety in list building Hedonites of Slaanesh, Skaven, Slaves to Darkness, Ossiarch Bonereapers, Orruk Warclans Good - Good internal balance, at least one one competitive tournament list, and lots of variety in list building even if some of them aren't the strongest options Fyreslayers, Cities of Sigmar, Legions of Nagash, Flesh-eater Courts Okay - Poor internal balance, little variety in list building, but they can get at least 1 viable build for competitive play Daughters of Khaine, Idoneth Deepkin, Sylvaneth, Stormcast Eternals, Maggotkin of Nurgle, Blades of Khorne, Ogor Mawtribes Bad - Poor internal balance, no powerful meta tournament builds, low variety Nighthaunt, Beasts of Chaos, Gloomspite Gitz I don't think I can accurately rate the new KO and DOT books but my first impression is that KO would be in "Okay" and DOT would be in "Good".

Anvilstrike has been working very well for me. Theyre like LON but with +2 to saves and far fewer bodies. The Guard are a very slow melee unit that dies to Evocators, Cavalry can be tied down with Aetherwings, and while 2 crawlers can be scary at first you can teleport/deep strike shoot them down. The only OBR lists I even remotely struggle against are ones that bring 3 or 4 crawlers, but those get bullied out of the melee meta by melee armies like Fyreslayers and Slaves to Darkness. Most OBR lists are just running guard, cavalry, and harvesters to try to compete with the melee meta. Their heroes do almost nothing and almost aren't worth shooting. The only reason to shoot them is to get rid of their death save right before your evocators charge in for the killing blow, but it's more important to kill the Harvesters in that situation. Remember that Guard only re-roll saves in the combat phase.

More of a fun list You cant be competitive with Fyreslayers without at least 20 Hearthguard in Lords of the Lodge

RAW this is correct, and this is how we play it in my area as well. The order matters. You can't retroactively un-cast Empower if you cast Speed of Lightning later in the hero phase.

My top choices are the Geminids for a long range -1 hit/-1 attack debuff, the Realmscourge Rupture to halve enemy movement with no chance of backfire, and the Aethervoid Pendulum for a shotgun blast of D6 mortal wounds across the enemy army. Being able to drop these at the bottom of a round is great insurance for when you don't get a double turn. Wildfire Taurus could be really good if you use a lot of Skywardens, but it doesn't do much if you focus on shooting units. WLV seems good because it activates in every movement phase, but I think the Comet is too many points for a stationary spell.

woops double post

My top choices are the Geminids for a long range -1 hit/-1 attack debuff, the Realmscourge Rupture to halve enemy movement with no chance of backfire, and the Aethervoid Pendulum for a shotgun blast of D6 mortal wounds across the enemy army. Being able to drop these at the bottom of a round is great insurance for when you don't get a double turn. Wildfire Taurus could be really good if you use a lot of Skywardens, but it doesn't do much if you focus on shooting units. WLV seems good because it activates in every movement phase, but I think the Comet is too many points for a stationary spell.

On their warscroll

The Mortar can spike higher, and most of the game is 4+ or worse saves, so that puts the mortar ahead of the rifles for me. Also worth noting that a Mortar is the optimal choice for a squad of 5, and I reckon most people will just combine multiple 5man squads together rather than building their models with 20man efficiency in mind. Another question is whether or not Fumigators are worth running. It's only enemy models within 3" of the Fumigator, not enemy units, so you're not guaranteed to catch everything in that small aura. It keeps peak efficiency even while garrisoned, but the 9" shooting range on the Fumigator means you can't use it after Flying High, so is the loss of shots in those scenarios worth it? I think this one will definitely be answered only through playtesting. I think when you stack the Fumigator with other hit debuffs (like Geminids from Spell in a Bottle) then it definitely starts to really become worthwhile.

It seems like Mortars and Sweepers tend to do more damage than the Rifles on average, so if you can reliably deal with the shorter range you should use the special weapons instead.

According to many retailers the Paladins box is being taken off store shelves, to be either moved to direct only or discontinued entirely. I wonder if this means we will get a new Start Collecting?

Gunhaulers seem pretty good now. I'm not sure I would ever take an Ironclad over 2 Frigates, unless it was to protect 20 Thunderers... but I think it would make more sense to split them into 2 Frigates instead.

There could still be a vague trailer teasing what is to come next for AOS. They like doing that sort of thing.

3rd update! https://imgur.com/a/zdDQQ8J Major changes since the last update: Shock and Awe updated Knight-Vexillor updated Lord-Relictor now has the TOTEM keyword Prayers updated Treasured Standards updated Mystic Lights updated Celestial Staves updated More mount trait updates Lord-Veritant can now dispel, and has +3 to dispel an endless spell near a gryph hound Lord of the Host is now a command ability known by every Lord-Celestant "Once per turn, if this model is your general, you can use this command ability at the start of the hero phase. Until the start of your next hero phase, add 1 to save rolls for friendly STORMCAST ETERNAL units while they are wholly within 18" of this model." Lord-Celestant on Dracoths command ability has been changed to Shield Wall "You can use this command ability at the start of the movement phase. If you do, pick any number of friendly STORMCAST ETERNAL units wholly within 18" of this model. Until the start of your next movement phase, the picked units cannot run or declare a charge, but they can re-roll save rolls of 1. If a unit already has an ability or effect that allows them to re-roll save rolls of 1, they can instead re-roll all save rolls." Lord-Celestant on Dracoth has a new ability: If this model is your general and on the battlefield at the start of your hero phase, gain 1 additional command point. New named character: Lord Victrian Cyrocco, Lord-Celestant of the Royal Victrian Chamber of the Tempest Lords Small point tweaks (Judicators, Gryph-Hounds, Dracolines, Castigators, Lord Celestant on Dracoth) Let me know what you think!

On the topic of SCE rules, if you haven't seen it yet you should check out my thread about a Stormcast Battletome revamp project:

So with the recent FAQ clarifying Longstrike range in the hero phase, I wanted to re-open the discussion we had a long time ago about 9x Longstrikes vs 20x Judicators in Anvilstrike. Longstrikes Pros: Rend-2 and mortal wounds make focused fire more reliable ~9% more damage on average vs 4+, ~25% more damage vs 3+ Aetherwing control Longer stationary range, dont have to commit to any engagements Mortal Wounds against enemies that charge you? Smaller footprint than 20 Juds Judicator Pros: Battleline, effectively saving you 100 points on Liberator tax Way more wounds, 40 instead of 18. Special weapons are the last to be removed. Fairly similar damage, but it can spike way higher because of Shockbolt bows Can take anti-horde Thunderbolt Crossbows instead of Shockbolt bows (though they are only 18" range) Roughly the same damage vs 5+ saves, ~20% more damage against 6+ saves The biggest downside I can see is that Judicators cant control aetherwings, you would have to bring some Hurricanes if you want them... but maybe we dont need aetherwings... maybe we can run a unit of 6x Desolators to act as an anvil instead? Can you make Anvilstrike work like this: Incantor Azyros Heraldor Relictor Castellant 2x5 Liberators 1x20 Judicators 1x6 Desolator 2000/2000 This list is much stronger against shooting and mortal wounds, but I'm worried that without the Aetherwings we won't be able to stop mega fast double tap fight first armies. Furthermore, I like having those units of Aetherwings and Liberators for objective control. What do you think?