FractalRain

I think the tree is a "bonsai" tree related to Hyshian Aelves!

I agree, Scions of Flame will likely be next year, along with those new Warcry monsters they previewed. Hard to say about Spire Tyrants.....really thought we'd see them when they released a pic of the whole warband, but they weren't in the leaked release schedule. Will have to wait and see!

Regarding allies, I am leaning towards trying out some Tzeentch or Chaos wizard for a nice ranged ability. However, the Darkoath heroes also have nice abilities and many attacks! Up to 1300 pts (6 Dominated territories) I have typically added a few models and always take 1 Fury - the move 8 and fly can be quite helpful at times.

Good changes/clarifications. Lotsa Arrows and Onslaught make a lot more sense now and cover makes more sense. The changes to Burn and Pillage are really good too, as it was hard for the attacker to have a chance in that victory scenario.

That is likely an error, but we'll have to wait and see if the symbol was a misprint or intentional.

Entertaining: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/09/11/monsters-mercenaries-our-favourite-eight-pointsgw-homepage-post-3/

Mercenaries Stormcast Eternals: Knight-Heraldor Knight-Questor Knight-Vexillor Lord-Celestant Lord-Veritant Lord-Castellant Idoneth Deepkin: Isharann Tidecaster Isharann Soulscryer Isharann Soulrender Daughter of Khaine: Slaughter Queen Hag Queen Nighthaunt: Lord-Executioner Knight of Shrouds Spirit Torment Legions of Nagash: Wight King Tomb Banshee Cairn Wraith Necromancer Flesh-eater Courts: Abhorrant Ghoul King Gloomspite Gitz: Fungoid Cave-Shaman Gobbapalooza (probably counts as 5) Ironjawz: Megaboss Weirdnob Shaman Warchanter Bonesplitters: Savage Big Boss Khorne: Exalted Deathbringer with Impaling Spear Exalted Deathbringer with Ruinous Axe Skullgrinder Aspiring Deathbringer with Goreaxe and Skullhammer Slaughterpriest with Hackblade and Wrath-hammer Slaughterpriest Nurgle: Lord of Plagues Lord of Blights Tzeentch: Gaunt Summoner Gaunt Summoner on Disc of Tzeentch Ogroid Thaumaturge Tzaangor Shaman Magister Slaves to Darkness: Chaos Sorcerer Lord Chaos Lord Darkoath Chieftain Darkoath Warqueen Beasts of Chaos: Great Bray-Shaman Skaven: Grey Seer Clawlord Monsters: Chaos Gargant Ghorgon Cygor Skitterstrand Arachnaroks War Hydras Kharibdysses Terrorgheists Zombie Dragons Chimera Chaos Beasts: Chaos Spawns Chaos Warhounds Razorgors

Well, you can climb and fall at the end of your activation. You have two actions per activation. If you happen to climb up a wall, but can't end your move on a 1"x1" surface by the end of your activation, you fall. If you fall 3" or more, you risk Impact Damage and your opponent can move your model. Why would you do this? You might climb and then realize you didn't have enough move to get to a 1"x1" space, or in some cases an opponent is blocking space on a platform and the only way to attack them is to spend 1 action to climb up within striking distance and then a second action to attack. Then at the end of the activation if you are not on a 1"x1" surface, you fall.

I just wanted to chime in on my experience with 2 different Convergence games thus far. The first was my 1st Convergence for the Cypher Lords. It gives you a deployment with everyone on the board and you get 1 VP for every model on elevated terrain (which the setup has lots) at the end of a turn for 3 turns. My opponent ended up being Ironjawz, so it proved to be ridiculously easy for me as I had 10 models and got them all on elevated terrain in round 1. He was slow and was able to take down a model or two, but with 10 models spread over the terrain to prevent him the ability to climb onto the platform made it very hard for him to stop me. Perhaps it was just the match-up, but he only had 5 models vs 10, so he had to come at me and try to whittle me down. My next experience was doing a 1st Convergence for another Ironjawz player last night (just happened to match-up) and the scenario had a decent spread of terrain and required me to deploy 6 objectives 4" away from each other and the board edge anywhere on the table. He only won if he held and burned 3 objectives. We both start with everything on the table. I had 11 models and he had 6. I was able to put all the objectives on my half of the board, with 2 elevated and the rest on the ground. While his abilities gave him some extra movement, he just did not have the movement and models to stop me from holding him up and blocking him. It seemed like it would be a very difficult scenario for the Ironjawz to win, unless you were more generous with objective deployment, as he never even captured one as I always had more models and by the end of turn 3, I had killed all but his leader and he had taken out my raptoryx and 2 models. So, I definitely think there are some faction Convergences which are going to be incredibly difficult or easy based on match-up or how friendly you intend to play . it. It also just so happened that the Twist in both the games above had no impact on the game itself, but there are certainly Twists which can affect Convergences quite a bit.

I think anything which adds options for people to enjoy the game is good! I think most of the concern stems from balance (of those items coming in the book and the perception that the non-Chaos warbands may not be as balanced), having to spend more money so soon, and disappointment for not getting the other 2 Chaos warbands or AoS warbands first. All are valid feelings/concerns. Personally, I think we need the FAQ out shortly to help answer some outstanding questions and potentially balance the current set of warbands (as needed)! Would it great to have the other warbands out first? Sure, but Monsters and Mercenaries is something which can be added at any point, so they don't "have" to be out before this expansion. It is also something in which people can add stuff from their own collection or encourage them to work towards something as they play games. I am personally looking forward to the day when we have rule sets for all AoS warbands. Not necessarily because I want them in the 8-points, but because then we can use this nice, tight, fast-paced rules set to play skirmish games anywhere in the Realms, with whichever armies we want to tell the story.

In case it helps you budget/plan, the new Monsters and Mercenaries book is $25! Not a bad price and I'll definitely be getting one as I am looking forward to more narrative campaign fun.

Ah, but the realms being what they are allow the possibility of other substances of bone. Think of petrified skeletons - they have a wide range of colors. Perhaps the bones were taken/tithed from certain areas in a realm and when left out were transformed into another mineral/color? Perhaps the creatures the bones are from (stonetusk creature has stone skeleton) have bones made from another substance. Lots of ways to justify it in AoS.

Got a question for you fellow Cypher Lord players! We started our local league and it has been a blast! I have Dominated a territory and can now add 50 pts to my list and can take a Thrall. That effectively netted me 75 points to add to my list (I started at 975 pts). Looking at the options, I can afford a Fury, or a Mindbound (standard). Looking at the stats, the Fury is 70 pts and has move 8 with fly, but all it's other stats are similar or worse than the Mindbound (move 5 and 75 pts). I can see situations where having move 8 and fly would be very useful, but others where a double nets us fly anyway and I'd want more attacks and health. Which would you take and why? I'll try with each and see how it goes.

Let me state that you make some great points for allowing the climb-attack being intended to fight platform denial strategies! However I did want to ask how you handle the "falling" bit. In most cases, when you climb-attack, you are falling less than 3", so you won't take Impact Damage, but it sounds like you still treat it as "falling" and your opponent moves your model? Thanks!

Yeah, I think they were going for the old Wardancer look, but painting them that color they get a fyreslayer feeling.

Also, this paragraph seems to suggest alternating activation to me - underline is my emphasis: "So here, our opponent (red dice) has 3 singles – 2, 3 and 5 – meaning they win the initiative, as well as triple 4s, while we have a double and a quad. During the battle round, when it’s our turn to activate one of the fighters from our warband, we can choose to spend either that double or quad to unleash an ability. "

Yes, thank you for the correction! Fat finger error on the Thunderers.

Just wanted to state that based on the rumored points changes, your list will have more room! Frigate supposedly down to 200 pts, Thunderers down to 8- pts (for 5), and Khemist back down to 140 pts.

I think people mention Katophranes, because some of the art is suggestive of TK, like this: Might be a great way to add some TK flair to Deathrattle.

Truthfully, he is cheaper than another Khemist! You could substitute another hero of your choice, but having at least 2 heroes is good, in case the scenario requires them. He also adds some small melee ability and a group-wide ignore Battleshock, if you think you'll need it. In our store campaign, he has a free artifact which bumps his save to 2+, so I also use him to tie up enemy units threatening objectives!

My only hesitation is the frigate. While the mobility is nice, the frigate is as an expensive lead weight at 1000 pts. My preferred 1k list is: 1 Admiral 1 Khemist 20 Arkanauts with 6 light sky hooks 10 Arkanauts with 3 light sky hooks 5 Thunderers - all rifles or 4 rifles with 1 fumigator (to help reduce incoming attacks) 6 Endrinriggers I typically go Urbaz for the Khemist's ability to buff two units. Usually both squads of Arkanauts until the Endrinriggers need a buff on their saws. I will use the Endrinriggers to counter-charge or grab objectives while the main mass moves steadily towards the objectives. You can also use command points to get the auto-6 for running when you need to grab objectives late game.

Hmmmm....not sure why that is, but I know my local stores have some in stock. Perhaps check eBay, online retailers (other than GW), or Amazon?

Regarding FEC for both queries above - they have some nasty tools now. That Archregent can use a command point to summon 20 ghouls or 3 crypt ghouls/flayers. So keep in mind that the player could effectively summon some nasty stuff every turn. Also, the ghouls get many many attacks, especially when ghasts/spells/chalice are used on them and they are in large numbers - so while they have weak saves, they hit hard. The FEC also have new Battleshock-manipulating tools with many abilities/units which drop Bravery -so make sure you understand what causes Bravery penalties so you can mitigate the damage or save your command points for auto-passing tests.

Thank you for sharing your list, your pics, and your thoughts! I like Barak Urbaz for many of the same reasons you listed. One comment I had about the Earbuster is that the trick is to use it after you have shot a unit. For example, if you shoot a small squad of AC into a unit of 20 models and kill 8 models, then shoot it with the Khemist with Earbuster and kill 1 more model, then all 9 casualties are counted for that immediate Battleshock test (all casualties for that phase). Then of course they take another Battleshock test at the end of the turn. So maximize the damage on the unit, then hit it with Earbuster. It works really well against those high Bravery armies to get rid of models.

Actually, the Skaven equivalent in 40k are the Hrudd - rat creatures which manipulate time/space. Ratlings are the halflings of 40k.