PJetski

Deployment is key. You want your dispel scrolls in range of wizards with spells that can threaten your Longstrikes and you want to wait to drop Longstrikes until near the end (but plan ahead so you dont run out of room). If there is any kind of threat of a turn 1 charge I use a castle deployment. If I don't think my enemy will come that quickly I tend to make sure I deploy Longstrikes within 30" of some kind of useful target. I have a picture here from my last GT (sorry it's blurry) where I was playing against a deepkin Soulscryer list on Duality of Death. You can see the Aetherwings on both flanks ready to intercept the outflank charge, with Liberators on either side just in case. Then I put my Evocators and Longstrikes in the center of that pile, knowing deepkin have no way to pile in and attack again. Against Slaanesh or FEC I would make sure the Evocators are behind the Liberators, possibly even out of range of a double tap to ensure their safety. Ideally you want to have the Evocators within 3" so they can pile in during the enemy turn, then use the anvils CA to pile them in during the hero phase immediately, but that's only useful if you can be sure that they won't hit your Evocators with their second pile-in. It's fine to lose Aetherwings and Liberators if it means you can fight first with Evocators later. Against DOK I would put my Evocators further up because they are a slow melee army and can't stop me from fighting first on the charge. I'm not sure how to do a formal write-up, but I'm always willing to answer specific questions. I'll go through and compile all my posts from this thread into a single blog post that people can link to (Follow the link: https://shiftingobjectives.blogspot.com/2019/10/anvilstrike-tips-faq-updated-oct-25-2019.html)

Allies are based on keywords found on unit warscrolls, not the book those units are in. Fyreslayers can ally with Ironweld Arsenal, so they can use Gyrocopters.

What lucky rolls are you talking about? If you position correctly then no matter how you roll with Aetherwings you get the intended result of stopping their combat for a turn. Woods are not a counter to Anvilstrike. If they are camping in woods then they are not taking objectives, since scenery has to be placed away from objectives. Furthermore, you can easily clear them out with a Heraldor and a charge from Evocators/Desolators.

I run 2 units of Aetherwings. If you position your army in a single group then you only have 2 flanks to worry about. There are 5 rounds in the game, you really only need to be on the objectives on 3 on those 5 rounds to win. Deploy in such a way to avoid the turn 1 deep strike. If they dont come on the table in turn 1 then you can wipe out whatever they left and control the board yourself. You are building and playing this list wrong my dude

No, they don't.... read my post. Slaanesh doesn't care about Aetherwing rolls? Are we even playing the same game? 🤣

How to completely avoid any kind of outflank charge with Aetherwings: 1. Deploy your army tight and put aetherwings on both flanks of your army. 2. Put Liberators as a secondary screen behind the Aetherwings, but make sure these Liberators are 4" from the frontline of the Aetherwings 3. The enemy drops into play >9" from your Aetherwings in the movement phase 4. At the start of the enemy charge phase move your Aetherwings If you roll average (7+) then you can move your Aetherwings within 3" of the enemy unit - now they can't declare a charge at all and spend their combat phase fighting some throwaway birds If you roll low (3-6) then move the Aetherwings away from your enemy. If you did this correctly, there should be no units within 12" of the enemy - now they can't declare a charge at all and they spend their combat phase doing nothing.. Consider doing this even if you roll 7+, as you can keep your Aetherwings alive and use them again later. If you roll a 2 then move the Aetherwings back towards the Liberators but position in such a way that they can't fit their models between the Aetherwings and the Liberators. They can charge you, but they will spend their combat phase fighting only Aetherwings. There are other parts to consider, like how they can fail their charges and how to position a counterattack unit like Evocators based on the enemy weapon range.

How is deepkin "erasing" anything? Why do you not have Liberators and Aetherwings in place on your flanks to guard against the deep strike charges? If you dont know how to block deep strike charges then youre really going to struggle to make this list work. Witches can take the objectives on turn 1 but if theyre sitting in the middle of the board then you have a shooting gallery in front of you. Focused fire from Longstrikes and Evocators can wipe out a block of 30 witches easily. You can easily take one objective back on turn 1 taking almost no casualties, use Aetherwings to block their counterattack and do it again on each turn. Anvilstrike has zero problems against Deepkin and DOK. Are you playing without Aetherwings?

I havent had any problems with the 90 Witches lists, or even the 160 Plague Monk lists. Once you kill their key support heroes the infantry bricks start to run away in droves. I wouldn't say it "barely" counters FEC/Slaanesh - Anvilstrike is the hard counter to any melee army. I'm not sure why you would consider Deepkin a counter? They get tied down by birds and Evocators cut through their whole army like butter. If you think Anvilstrike relies on turn order rolls then you are not building it properly or not playing it properly 🤷‍♂️

99% of the playerbase thinks Stormcast are a mid tier army at best. The rest have seen Anvilstrike in action and know that Stormcast are actually ridiculously strong. I just wish we had more viable units

So how about those rumours

If you need to grab a free objective then I think Faneway Crystal would be better for that purpose, as it doesn't use up a gambit slot. The gambit slots are more valuable to me than the upgrade slots for this warband. I think Double Time only worth a gambit slot if you are running Longstrider/Burst of Speed.

You are running a lot more mobility and objective holding focused cards, so it makes sense that you would be struggling when it comes to kills. The best defense is a good offense. I would swap out cards like Dug In, Countercharge, Double Time, and Aura of Command to focus on more aggressive options. I also really don't like Larval Lance, since it's not really worthwhile until Round 3 and the first 2 rounds (especially the first round!) are much more important for Grymwatch. You can see in my current deck here I have a strong focus on objectives as my primary focus, but there is enough aggression/counter-aggression packed in there to help secure kills and stay alive in the early game.

No, I would play it like controlled aggression. You keep trying to score your deck but you also go in for kills when you can get them. Ghouls without support are not going to get any kills, but once you throw upgrades on them they should be able to get kills against Thorns and Profiteers. The cool thing about Grymwatch is that the consistent high glory they can earn without fighting means the enemy must try to fight you. You let them come to you and then counterattack on your terms.

Hmmm that's not consistent with my experience so far. I have found favourable matchups against Thorns because you have better movement, better damage, and you can bring fighters back. You can play the aggressor to deny them objectives while simultaneously scoring with your superior Surge+objective cards. The Butcher with +1 damage (or a damage ploy) and Crown of Avarice is a nightmare for Thorns to deal with. The matchup against Profiteers is roughly even - they have range, but you have the mobility. The Profiteers don't have the mobility to reliably deny the Grymwatch inspire condition, so if you can avoid letting them shoot you turn 1 then you should be in the clear. It starts to tip in the Grymwatch's favour if they pick the right boards to have good Blocked Hex placement. Aggro Mollog is an interesting matchup. You need to keep the Night's Herald adjacent to Mollog as much as possible. If you get Madness Dart it becomes almost impossible for Mollog to land a blow. The best thing about Grymwatch is that they can switch to aggression fairly easily if you stuff their deck with damage ploys.

Here are my impressions after the first week, testing it against both control and aggro playstyles. Overall I found that this warband must inspire on round 1 or it falls behind very quickly. The additional stats are necessary to keep up with other warbands in round 2 and 3. You need a deck that can reliably keep enemies out of your territory in the first round, so late game cards like Larval Lance, Inspired Attack, Denial, etc. can't be clogging up your opening hand. It may seem like you want to place boards first so you can get 3 objectives, but this warband has enough mobility to score objectives even when placing second. Against aggro you want to place second because the lane control is too important for a warband with 7 fighters that start with bad stats - you want to take away as many advantages as possible from an aggro warband. Lethal hex placement is very important. Use it to create a chokepoint for enemies coming into your territory so you can score kills while pushing them out, or place it in front of your objectives so you can threaten kills if they come to push you off. Place it 3 hexes away from your objectives to limit Profiteer/Farstrider shooting options. Cards I found to perform well, as expected: Most of the objectives Most of the upgrades Pit Trap, Snare, Encroaching Shadow - Most of my kills were from lethal hexes or these ploys. These were invaluable against 4+ wound fighters, and against weaker fighters (Chainrasp, skeletons, etc.) it allowed me to use my 1 damage fighters to score kills. Seized Weapon - It's a damage ploy that doesn't take up a ploy slot. Awesome! Cards that worked better than expected: The bats - This fighter is not just a danglebro! Starting with 3 health makes him a good damage sponge, and his high movement and flying lets him leap over the frontlines to grab objectives Scrum - This card is incredible. I am going to slam this into so many decks that I make from now on Appaling Visage - Not only can it guaranteed push people out of your territory to get the inspire, but it can also push them into lethal hexes. Sometimes two! Transfixing Stare - This was incredibly important to shut down aggressive melee warbands like Stormcast Madness Dart - I was on the fence with this one, but af Survival Instincts - Permanent guard isn't just good for staying alive, it's also great for standing on objectives Crown of Avarice - I knew this would be good, but sticking it on Night's Herald with his -1 dice ability made him a real nuisance Cards that worked worse than expected: Conquering Heroes - This was too risky against aggressive warbands and didn't offer enough glory against control Ghoul Pack - This is harder to do than it seems (defintiely much harder than Scrum) and there are better Surge cards out there Shifting Madness - Either the easiest objective or the hardest objective. I prefer consistency, and this feels like a high roll card to me Upper Hand - Banned cards don't perform very well! Lethal Ward - This is the worst damage ploy card, and with Seized Weapon there is enough instant damage in the deck Irresistable Prize - It's a lot better to make the objective move where you want Strident Summons - I didn't use it once across 10+ matches. You can't respawn your best fighters, and the free ghoul in round 2 and 3 was usually enough. Spectral Armour - Survival Instincts seems to be better, but I like the combination of these two cards together Faneway Crystal - I never found that I needed the extra mobility to score objectives. The game is all about controlling the center of the board now; flank attacks are not as useful any more. It's not worth diving that deep with the Duke, and without ranged attacks the rest of your fighters are very limited in their aggressive potential with this card Spirit Bond - This is unfortunately the 4th best choice for a restricted slot Cards I swapped in: Path to Victory - Big glory gain and it is a lot easier than trying to score Tactical Supremacy Combination Strikes - I'm not 100% sold on this one but I can't think of a better one Pack, Advance! - I can't believe I didn't have this one before. Not only can you immediately change the entire board state, but you can use it to do stuff like push an enemy off an objective then push a ghoul onto it to score In the Name of the King and/or Swift Capture on your turn. Combat Drill - This card pulled everything together. It helps score Keep Them Guessing, it gives you support on attacks, it allows you to charge your Duke for his Range 2 attack and immediately put a wall unit in front (like the Night's Herald for his -1 Dice ability!). This card is so good that I'm considering running Recycled Riches just to get it back in my hand Frenzied Search - The condition of holding an objective is almost passive, and discarding the worst card in your hand to dig 3 deep is a small price to pay for a huge benefit. I can comfortably run 22-24 card decks when Frenzied Search provides so much card cycling. Restless Prize - This card has helped me score objectives while playing safe against aggro and steal objectives from other control warbands. I highly recommend running this card because it's like the oil you need to keep your decks running squeaky clean. Sudden Growth - This was necessary to keep the Duke alive in some matchups, and in other matchups it was used to make my respawned fighters even harder to remove. I wish I could run another one. I'm going to do more playtesting this week and post an updated decklist after that.

How about 40 Arkanauts buffed by Hawk-eyed (+1 wound), Hurricanum (+1 hit), and a Khemist (+1 attack)? That's 24 Skyhooks at 3+/2+/-2/D3 (with +1 hit against HERO/MONSTER). When the enemy gets closer you switch to buffing Pistols and unleash 12 Skyhooks and 84 pistol shots at 3+/3+. They cost 480 for the squad (+140 for the Khemist), but they're also battleline.

How are you getting your Thunderers to wound on 2+? They normally wound on 4+ and Hawk-eyed only adds 1 to that roll. It's also worth noting that the Runelords rend prayer stacks, so that extra 110 points could be another Runelord for another +1 Rend on the Irondrakes.

Nah Gavriel lists became obsolete long before GHB2019, even before the Fight First meta, and even before AOS 2.0. Turn 1 charge lists have always been easy to counter with just some basic positioning. If you play against people that know how to screen against the deep strike charge and keep key units back for a counterattack then your list quickly falls apart and fails to do anything.

Dracoline + Ballista core is one of the lists I was talking about a year ago when people were telling me that Gavriel was the best Stormcast list. I'm glad people are (finally) catching on!

Here are my first impressions: PROS: 7 fighters, 3 of them can be respawned Fighter card action (Great for Keep Them Guessing) The Duke is a great fighter, inspiring to 2/3 Smash with Range 2 and Cleave Everyone inspires at the same time Great inspire condition Fast! Move 4 base, everyone inspires to 5, and bats are 6 Loads of great objectives that don't rely on getting any kills Faction version of Defensive Strike Surge Supremacy Can score Longstrider and Burst of Speed with the right gambits CONS: 7 fighters means you have to fill every starting hex Ghouls are fragile; you will feed your opponent glory a steady stream of glory all game long Rebound, Last Chance, etc. have rotated out of the game so your tools to deny kills are few and far between You must respawn ghouls that have died at the start of your turn, even if you don't want to Ghoul respawn location is randomized Only 2 competent fighters, the rest heavily depend on attack upgrades Rely on gambits for action economy An upgrade that does 1 damage immediately No wizards No Range 3 attacks No baseline Cleave or Knockback for What Armour? and Get Thee Hence It seems like the Grymwatch easily slot into a control playstyle. In the first round you want to try to score some positional objectives while keeping the enemy out of your territory in the first phase, then in rounds 2 and 3 you can go on the offensive. You want to absorb charges with your ghouls then riposte with the Duke and Gristlewel then riposte. Unfortunately their damage is pretty poor so you will be relying heavily on gambits to deal the extra damage you need for kills, but you also rely on Gambits for added mobility. It will be easy to keep slower warbands out of your territory because Move 3 doens't allow them to get very far, but faster warbands (and Mollog) can get deeper into your territory. I think upgrades that give your minions Knockback (Mutating Maul, Hammer of Scorn) become more important when you need to push fast warbands out of your base, but I'm not sure if they can make the cut when there are so many good faction upgrades. I have attached my first draft of a deck, let me know what you think

The way you phrased it seemed to suggest you were saying it was illegal in all matched play

It is legal since it has points in GHB2019 and a warscroll, but it can't be used in a Cities of Sigmar army - it can only be used in an Order army or as an ally in a Stormcast army.

The LOC warscroll was written in AOS 1.0; it is poorly worded and not consistent with the AOS 2.0 ruleset. For example, you can't change the "result" of one dice in a 2d6 roll, because a 2d6 roll is a single roll of two dice and not two rolls of 1d6 added together. The problem here is that "modifier" is not clearly defined by GW anywhere, but they tend to go for a literal definition, ie. anything that modifies the dice rolls is a modifier. Happening before other modifiers doesn't mean it's not a modifier, just that it's a different type of modifier. When a LOC casts a spell that has some kind of effect on a roll of a double you would check the unmodified dice rolls to determine if it was a double, not the value shown after Mastery of Magic changes one of the dice. This is because MOM is a modifier.

You are correct that it would not work, but not totally for the right reason. "Unmodified" means the roll before any modifiers. Changing the result of a dice roll with Curse of Fates is a kind of modifier. The same thing can be seen with a Lord of Change changing one dice to match the second - this counts as a modifier, too.

Maybe it's intentional that nothing should be able to tank 3 combat phases and 2 shooting phases Maybe focused fire is what the designers intended to be the counter to healing. Nothing should live forever, stalemates and tarpits are boring