PJetski

Shooting has been the meta since 2nd edition began, you guys are just catching up now

Heres a stupid list Stormkeep - Astral Templars Steam Tank with Commander - Staunch Defender, Mirror Shield Steam Tank with Commander Lord-Ordinator Knight-Azyros Liberators Liberators Liberators 3x Gyrocopter Grundstok Gunhauler Grundstok Gunhauler Grundstok Gunhauler Celestar Ballista Celestar Ballista Celestar Ballista Celestar Ballista 1980/2000, 15 units (3 COS), 390/400 ally points

Dracoths were already good in Astral Templars, but now you can give them Staunch Defender too Astral Templars Frostheart Phoenix - General: Staunch Defender, Artefact: Mirror Shield Lord-Castellant Lord-Ordinator Knight-Incantor - Spell: Celestial Blades 1x6 Desolator 3x5 Liberator 4x Ballista 1980/2000 Hmm maybe ballistas arent the best choice here, you don't get to deep strike or use the 5" move command trait if you take Staunch Defender

I saw a robin this morning, the squatting of Cities of Sigmar is 100% confirmed now

Big base to spread staunch defender, fast and durable (usually 3+, 4+ ignore, lots of wounds) and the -1 wound aura

The battalion uses any JUSTICAR unit so you can also use vanguard raptors. Hurricanes don't have the range to make use of the anvils command ability. +1 hit is still somewhat useful for Longstrikes to mitigate the common hit debuffs. Judicators have both the range and always benefit from +1 hit, but they don't move Aetherwings. With Staunch and Stand Fast Liberators have +2 to saves all the time so you may not even need Aetherwings any more Bringing a Cities unit as your general allows you to take Staunch Defender even if you pick a stormhost (somebody please correct me if I'm wrong about this) so I hope everyone has a frostheart Phoenix ready to go. This book is a big deal for competitive stormcast!

20 Judicators with +1 hit is really good for Anvils

It's pretty easy to get 1+ saves rerolling 1s on liberators now. Doesn't do much to stop mortal wounds but if people are wasting 10 mortal wounds to kill 5 Liberators then you're probably going to win the game

Your uncle seems quite credible

Have to wait for Broken Realms: Morathi to be released before I know for sure how I want to modify the list

Im updating my anvilstrike list with a frost phoenix, replacing evocators with retributors, and replacing longstrikes with judicators

Incorrect. MA units are part of your army, they are not allies, so they benefit from your allegiance unless a rule specifically restricts them from an ability. MA units are able to pick spells and prayers since neither of those require the STORMCAST ETERNAL keyword to be acquired. MA units can learn and use any of the prayers and spells in the Stormcast battletome. For example, if you include a Battlemage he would learn any spell from the Lore of the Storm or Lore of Invigoration because the Spell Lores page says "each WIZARD in a Stormcast Eternals army" and a MA Battlemage satisfies that condition because he is a WIZARD in a Stormcast Eternals army. MA units can be selected to benefit from spells and prayers unless there is a keyword restriction. For example, you can use Divine Light on a MA unit because it does not specify any keyword restrictions, but you cannot use Translocation because they specify a STORMCAST ETERNAL.

You are treated as a STORMCAST ETENRAL when selecting that unit to benefit from command abilities, not command traits or artefacts.

Staunch Defender and Warding Lantern both only effect the save rolls for STORMCAST ETERNAL units.

COS units added to your army are not allies, therefore a COS Leader unit added to your army in this way can be your general just like any other Leader. When you select a Stormhost only STORMCAST ETERNALS units get the associated <STORMHOST> keyword so the COS unit does not gain this keyword. A <STORMHOST> general has to take the stormhost command ability, but if you don't have the <STORMHOST> keyword then you don't have to take that ability. Therefore, if a COS unit is your general through Stormkeep then it can take whatever command trait you want. Stormhost artefacts work the same way. Finally, none of the Stormcast command abilities have a STORMCAST ETERNAL keyword restriction, so they can be given to any model that is your general. Therefore if Stormkeeps work with Stormhosts (and that seems to be the case right now, but it's not confirmed yet) then you can make a COS unit your general and have them take Staunch Defender (and an artefact, like mirrorshield) even if you take a Stormhost.

Nothing else really stands out as worthwhile yet. The most exciting thing is having access to Staunch Defender and Mirrorshield while getting a Stormhost. Liberators with Staunch Defender are actually worth using as a battleline 3+rr1 shield wall for only 90p per 5 models, especially if you can get them in cover. Dracoths (especially Fulminators) with Staunch Defender, worn by a very durable and fast big monster with a mirror shield, and Warding Lantern are an absolute nightmare for a shooting meta. It's also very strong against alpha strikes that don't spam mortal wounds. If the Stormkeep rules do indeed stack on top of our current rules then this is a very exciting update for our poor outdated army.

Yes, for the most part. There are some COS units that only gain battleline in a Cities of Sigmar army specifically, but there are many units that are general battleline in any army. I was hoping to bring a block of 30 Phoenix Guard alongside a Frost Phoenix general but they only gain battleline in a COS army.

Based on the article today I think Stormcast are going to be broken into Stormkeep which focus on defense and shooting, and Stormriders (or some other name) that focus on deep strike and attacking. It would allow them to finally solve the problem of deep strike + shooting combination without having to gimp both of those strengths. This would be a perfect parallel to their design on Seraphon in their recent battletome, letting one faction focus on mobility and summoning while the other gains raw power and defense. It also makes sense from a narrative perspective - Stormcast aren't just guerilla warfare shock troopers any more.

I'm not so sure that Stormkeeps and Stormhosts are mutually exclusive. It could be a faction split like Coalesced/Starborne for Seraphon. You can't use any Stormhost command abilities on a COS unit because it doesn't gain the appropriate <Stormhost> keyword, but you can make the COS unit your general and avoid having to take the required artefacts/command traits from a Stormhost. This means you can take Staunch Defender as Anvils

As per the FAQ allies can be targetted by spells learned from allegiance lores (as long as the spell doesn't mention specific keywords for its targets) so it stands to reason they still count as units deployed on the table for purposes of Scions of the Storm.

Evocators, Dracolines, and Dracoths (Desolators and Fulminators) are the only Stormcast melee units worth using. If we are in a shooting meta then Fulminators are a great choice.

Another thing I would like to see in the new edition is a change to the definition of "wholly within". First, and most obviously, the term "wholly within" needs to be clarified in the core rules instead of buried in an FAQ. Second, instead of requiring every part of every model to be in range, it should just require that every model in the unit is in range of the source. For most units this will be a marginal gain of an inch or two based on their base sizes, but this would have a significant impact on models with large bases like monsters or heavy cavalry. It is clunky and awkward to keep models on large bases wholly within range of some tiny support hero, especially if the range of the ability is only 6" or 9" and your model is on a 5"+ base.

Good theory! The chitin seems to match with magmadroth scales.

Anvilstrike is still oppressively strong against any melee army, but it gets checked by Seraphon, Tzeentch, and KO. It was great in the 2019 meta which was dominated by melee armies but in 2020 there are loads of shooting/magic armies that can kill your Longstrikes and/or Evocators before they can do significant damage.