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Nikobot

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  1. Nikobot
    yes agree, power creep is increasingly making this so. its probably just a difference of still needing a seriously decent unit to take out the fiends, whilst virtually any unit can take out the others. so the enemy at least has to use the right unit to deal with them, but yeah, if it is the right unit then they do get neutered. with their wound count, ablative wounds and decent save, they at least have a decent level of resilience. what fiends do need in skaven 2.0, is a decent change to their warscroll to incentivise people to take melee builds. they certainly dont hit hard enough to be compared vs dedicated melee options currently, and they are fine as utility, but the game revolves around finding units to get a job done, and you only ever see 1 loadout. so given creep is in fashion, would be good to see the melee fiends get a bit tastier. id like to see each fiend loadout have an overcharge, like the doomflayer fiend can overcharge and does an extra D3 attacks, but the unit takes D3 wounds on a 4+ if he does or something... so you can think about overcharging each fiend in given scenarios and might lead to people thinking about different builds. Grinderfist overcharge to tunnel on a 2+ instead of 3+ ? etc
  2. Nikobot
    The main difference I see between fiends vs acolytes/ratlings/jezzails/HPA is resilience. They are a lonely island in Skaventide in that they can actually cop a bit of punishment and still do a job. Thanks for your math breakdown, always great to see comparisons like that to help visualise 😊 All of those units have decent to great damage potential, but how they would go vs the shooty / magic lists is what makes fiends more reliable. They are being figured out now and the drop to 6 unit size is seeing them less threatening these days I agree. They can still earn their points, but aren't as scary. Ratlings/Jezzails cant get hit at all or die, and you need to be careful with Vigor or MMWP, and acolytes are short ranged and squishy, and as you pointed out once they drop below 20 they are losing usefulness. I can comfortably see 1 seraphon turn plinking off 3x ratlings with spells we will struggle to unbind, and 40x skinks shooting off most of 30x acolytes... Same thing happens with KO, or Tzeentch, or CoS. Possibly fiends would get neutered too, but its just easier vs these squishy guys. Also, fiends can still ball in combat and people think twice about charging them unless its the right unit. Whilst you would throw any unit you could at ratlings/acolytes/jezzails.
  3. Nikobot
    He can do 1 prayer per turn from the Plague Priest on foot warscroll - Disease-Disease and Pestilence-pestilence No he cannot trigger the great plagues. it needs to be a CLAN PESTILENS PRIEST and he is not
  4. Nikobot
    @Gwendar Just perused your batrep log. You legend. Love the reports, keep them coming! 👍
  5. Nikobot
    For 260pts, he is ok, but I also mourn the loss of heightened utility, even if you had to pay more. I'd pay over 300pts happily if he could take "call" a unit through, as I think that would open up some great tricks, or if he could deplo unit with him maybe. He does have the option to normal deploy too. yes, and only at the start of the battle yes, it falls away pretty quick, he really needs to get in first.
  6. Nikobot
    I think that is currently the role of verminlords in general is utility, jacks of all trades, no specialist death engines here... its tricky putting them into lists sometimes and feeling like you will kill something decent with them. They all have great spells, but take a lot of effort/committment to get them to become dangerous, if at all. i dont know if i would waste a gnawbomb on him, if you are going through that trouble... you would just skitterleap him! Gnawbomb is best reserved for a unit of fiends or monks.
  7. Nikobot
    He's all right for his points, only 260pts. I'm merely commenting on the loss of a real sweet ability that could add more tactically to Skaven. But he can do some work if he gets the drop on someone
  8. Nikobot
    Gnawholes just seem to have a lot more potential for interaction that goes beyond 1 or 2 cool/gimmicky tricks, like whack-a-mole with the WLV. The jezzails prob are 1 of the best uses of them, and beyond that it tends to be requiring combined efforts, in concert, to get some real mileage out of them, e.g. combo of gnawhole and/or successful teleport and/or warp grindering a unit close to screen etc In future it would be nice to see a few more options to enhance this sort of play, which i think can be satisfying and rewarding, but at the moment is limited to being mostly gimmicky, such as: - Verminlords getting a spell deck and 1 of those spells being able to open a gnawhole like the gnawbomb for 1 turn - Warpgnaw verminlord being able to "call" a unit through a gnawhole, i.e. opposite to a hero sending one now, they help a unit through from the destination end without need of a hero at the gnawhole of origin - Warpgnaw taking a unit with him at deployment again Things like this could really setup some great opportunities for strategy and rewarding tricks Yes those are 2 good options for the Deceiver, i can see ... Coup De Grace or Deadly Strike... on an umodified '6' do a flat 3 MW and possibly 7 attacks. Would really bolster confidence in being able to assassinate a minor hero, especially once the Deceiver has taken some damage. I agree night runners are probably my preferred option as well in that capacity.
  9. Nikobot
    Agree with these thoughts. Gnawholes are far from an automatic movement advantage or spellcasting buff. Their positioning restrictions really pull you off in directions you probably don't want to be in, either sitting back in your deployment waiting for an opening or trying to get +1 cast with spells that are mostly short range or off to the side of the field not that close to objectives. The enemy is forced to babysit gnawholes in their deployment at times, but you have to sit back to take advantage or crawl up the side with multiple units, and these days, Skaven is bubbling tight behind screens more than a lot of the enemy does. It needs to be quite the orchestrated ballet of movements at times to eeek out any beenfit, which isn't bad, but its benefits are not as transparent as some faction terrain and often goes missed in battles, which is a slight shame. It would be good to see more interaction with them. The Deceiver is the same for me, just feels like paying 320pts for that spell. He "should" kill a 5w hero or wizard, but its close enough to be a concern, and putting him into combat with anything larger without support is risky. He just doesn't have enough bite for a Lord of Assassins in my mind, and skaven doesnt have access to more than 1 artefact usually, but 320pts it shouldnt need an artefact to auto-pop a 5 wound wizard. The spell is great, but a little more kill-kill wouldnt be out of place. A "deadly strike" on 6's to hit or something similar is needed. Night runners i have used simply to push back alpha-striking and gutter runners i have yet to get decent results out of. Im still working on it.
  10. Nikobot
    Commenting on your suggestions : Clanrats - no can't see any drop. Where they are at and how they compare to other average troops, they are fine. Retreat and charge is a great ability. Stormvermin - very hard one, on paper "yes they should drop", but the hidden gem with these guys is 25mm bases + 2" range. It means so many attacks. I can see a small drop being justified, particularly at low numbers where they are weaker (skaventide bonuses/shields) but at unit size 40, they are just a blender. Perhaps 110/420 Clawlord - probably 90pts is justified, but he does have an ace CA. maybe. Rat Ogors - yes possibly 2 for 80-90pts. But really its the allegiance abilities around them that need a boost. Rat Swarms - yes terrible, even at 50 pts you have to search for any value. these need to be summonable. of all the armies that missed out on benig able to summon something... skaven and rats... hello! Deathmaster - needs a CA or a force multipler or something. isnt doing much on the field. 80pts its still not exciting having him in the roster. Again, the allegiance needs some attention. Night Runners - kind of important in this day and age, having a unit that can advance to screen is quite useful. they dont do much in a fight but its their ability that you get them for, maybe 70-80pts SKRYRE - hard one, lots of buffs/synergy, take units from mediocre to insane at times. Doomwheel - is ok at 160pts IMO. possibly 150pts, but no issue with it. Doom flayer - needs a scroll re-write. just never will be taken, does piddly damage, no great way to buff it except MMWP which is wasted on it... or blows up. at 40pts maybe, but a scroll re-write is far better... and something i agree with and have thought myself, unit size 1-3 for this one. warlocks - yes can come down, purely the points they are due their importance with buffing inc MMWP. they are born only to cast this spell. Their lightning is too onerous / hard... 13" and needs LOS... and the overcharge failure penalty should be only if you fail to cast, not unbound as well. they just dont cast anything except MMWP! warp grinder - I'd still pay 80pts. giving any skaven unit deepstrike is big. if it was 60pts, I'd include 2x every game. So, maybe not 60pts Censer bearers - rubbish, scroll re-write. pointless with monks. Never been fielded since the tome was released... by anyone... in the world... the only reason you would take them at points is a cheaper form of chaff... which isnt really what they are meant to be. warpseer - 350pts? ooof, i think he needs consideration at 320pts let alone 350pts. hits like a pool noodle in reality. ok maybe not that bad, but he can hardly be relied upon to kill anything. i think as he is currently 320pts is fine. Battalions they just need to be reviewed. Skaven have the worst battalions i can think of out there. But seeing as how they have good variety and good warscrolls and were bringing back shooting with a bang, i can understand not making them exciting at the time, but now its time to review. yes they all need heavy points drops. but really its a whole bunch of unexciting. Verminlords i think their current points are OK, except Skreech maybe 300pts. the Deceiver is a bit soft-hitting for 320pts and Lord of assassins. the others are OK. Personally id like to see the deceiverhit a touch harder and justify 320-350pts. warbringer, warpseer is fine. Corruptor prob needs a bit more hitting power, he is terrible in melee unless he was only intended to taken with the SOJ in which case its a bit OP. Skreech needs a full re-write, make him scarier, 400pts+ justified lord of all VLs. in future, hopefully they get a VL spell list to take a spell each and would deserve a 20-30 pts increase if it was decent. Other Units Stormfiends - prob skaven's most competitive unit right now. i can see this going up to 280pts. but really this is the swingiest scroll out. the benefit from buffs is insane and its just a waste if you dont buff them and take 6. the inability to choose loadouts for specific melee or shooting etc makes them very hard to balance as written. thus there is only 1 loadout and way to run them. a bit of rules refinement would be good. i doubt they will ever get to choose loadouts again, which is a shame as the tactical variety it would bring would be great Giant Rats - not really good at their points, pure chaff unit but really skaven dont have rom for much more chaff with the clanrat tax.
  11. Nikobot
    Don't forget his handy once per game 13" missile auto-hit for d6 mortal wounds.. so auto d6 MWs with a 12" MV + 13" threat range but then you lose the re-rollable save he's a really useful and handy toolkit for the skaven army
  12. Nikobot
    Issue with WLC is trying to get in range of a slaan with a 27" threat range. The slaan can virtually hide as its just a summoning engine. A smart player will deploy out of range and then its an uphill battle from there trying to get him without something else to threaten him e.g. gutter runners etc Might be an idea to place 2 gnawholes up the sides of the board and see if you get an opportunity for him to drift within range of one of those and then slip your WLC through, but a wise slaan should know the main threat on the board and avoid this trap.
  13. Nikobot
    Seraphon is hard at low points because their summoning is flat in power level, it doesnt scale at all. They get virtually the same summoning power at 750pts as what they get at 2000pts and combined with teleport its a pain. We played a 2v2 (1000pts each player) and 1 guy had a slaan summon list with EotG, by T3 the board was flooded in skinks and you could barely move with all the roadblocks or the threat of a backfield teleport onto your objectives. I'd try either to assassinate the Slaan (jezzails, gutter runners, WLC, deciever) or flood the board with clanrats and try take T1 and hold objectives and make him work to beat you. its an awkward game size vs that list.
  14. Nikobot
    Totally agree. Same stuff just keeps kicking around when most people should be able to tell that something with this many moving parts is impossible to balance. In addition, also something that people should think about a bit, balance is counter-productive to selling more models. New armies need to be more exciting and raising the power bar or they don't attract as many sales. Armies that have been released for 2 years need to fall off their perch in order to incentivise people to move on and pay for more shiny new stuff. GW is never going to balance their games because they will make less money. History is testament to this.
  15. Nikobot
    No it's not. It's a setup not a move, so doesn't count as a move except for the fact you can't make an actual move and thus doesn't affect their ability. It was dealt with in core rules FAQ under RESERVES section Q: Some abilities allow you to remove a unit from the battlefield and set it up again, and say that this ‘counts as their move for the movement phase’ (or words to that effect). Do these units count as having made a move for the purposes of any other rules or abilities? A: No, it simply restricts them from making a move later on.
  16. Nikobot
    That's correct
  17. Nikobot
    the giant rats are nothing but wounds now, id recommend some smaller units as speed humps/screens stormfiends without skryre buffs are probably not the greatest, i wouldnt expect too much from the shooting rat ogres + packmaster's +1 hit + rabid crown can do some heavy damage if you are trying to include spells and are thinking masterclan general.. then OK. otherwise consider, drop a lot of Giant rats+bell, bring in 3x20 clanrats to meet battleline, include a warlock and now you can seriously buff your fiends, if you make him general then even more so... i know its not pure moulder then, just ideas
  18. Nikobot
    It's not just how things are costed currently, but how they are costed as new tomes get released. How are our costings going to look after another 10 tomes drop? Take DoK right now. With the release of 3-4 new tomes witch elves aren't feeling as threatening as before as there are some counters available. If they got a points increase say 4 months ago it probably would have been in the order of 60-80 pts per 30.. now, that might be considerably hurting their chances as an army to compete. Is just an example that as new things get released, the game and the relative power levels within it may change.
  19. Nikobot
    @Kramer some nice ideas After seeing what the current skaven book yielded, i actually felt that the best thing might be the same again, but when they can commit resources to a model refresh and expansion. It would be huge, but they could effectively fully update a real great and exciting part of AOS lore in skaven and expand even further - old model refresh - battletome refresh - expanded allegiance abilities and options for sub-clan creation that melds clans like DoK temples etc, moulder/skryre, eshin/verminus, pestilens/moulder etc - expand each clan by a few heroes and units with the main focus being the cross-clan collaboration e.g. eshin/verminus elite killers, skryre/moulder exploding rats and mechanized upgrades for mutant, plagued rats and rat ogres etc Sounds too huge to happen maybe
  20. Nikobot
    Id rate skryre and moulder as most potential.. crazy inventions and crazy mutants, and they do collaborate from time to time!!
  21. Nikobot
    Eshin is a hard one to really give their own expansion to when you compare a movey/stealthy army that is mostly combat.. compared to guns/explosions/crazy inventions or plagues/prayers/fanatics from skryre and pestilens.. there seems to be a bit more meat to build on there that would make an exciting focus. Also both are acknowledged in the new Skaven book as the 2 big players in Skavendom and who have had the most influence historically and continue to do so..
  22. Nikobot
    Corruptors old CA was good. Plague monks were mostly ran with foetid blades before. On the charge they'd get +1 attack with their blades and re-rolls. They still get rerolls so the corruptor CA doesn't look great... But now monks with staves get +1 attack with all their melee weapons on the charge. Monks with blades 2 att and staves 1 att.. charging +1 att each.. noxious prayer +1 att each and corruptor CA for rerolls... 7 attacks per monk with rerolls to hit... Worth it.
  23. Nikobot
    What about potential variants on existing kits in DOK cauldron-of-slaughter style? Think there is any scope or GW will utilise the existing kits to create more unit variants? Here's a few potential ideas... Thanquol & Boneripper Thanquol on foot --> Venerable Grey Seer - a senior grey seer like the arch-warlock is to a warlock Boneripper standalone --> Stormfiend Juggernaut/Prime - the pinnacle of Moulder/Skryre collaboration!! a standlone behemoth that doesn't have to be unique. Doomwheel Doomwheel hero variant --> Could be a unique character or just a hero but using the same kit as an upgraded hero version Stormvermin Deathvermin variant --> supposed to be the most elite stormvermin, could they use the same unit and allow 1 unit to be nominated as Deathvermin? Warp lighting cannon Engineer with spyglass/dumpy on foot --> Engineer Acolyte - a 3w mini-hero that buffs weapons teams and war machines, but doesn't cast spells Plague Furnace Plague acolytes + warpstone brazier --> Clan Pestilens plague fumigator. A shrine to the horned rat to buff prayers Verminlords Mixing and matching some vermin lords arms/heads to create to new variants Hellpit abomination Hellpit variants - utilising the additional arm in the kit to create 2 variants a bit of variety ok some of these may be a stretch, but maybe there is some potential we may see arise there based on precedent
  24. Nikobot
    on the GW website, there are : - 2x types of verminus warlord - 2x types of skryre warlock (not inc arch-warlock) - 2x types of eshin assassin - 2x types of pestilens plague priest (furnace and standalone) - 2x types of grey seer (bell and standalone) - 2x types of packmaster (standalone and 1 inthe box with ogres/rats) Will each one of those represent a different type of hero with different options/abilities/command abilities/spells/prayers and points costs? I think it might. Gosh i hope the freaking arch-warlock gets a CA! More-more-more something dangerous and destructive!!
  25. Nikobot
    they might not be your allies... could just be your other units haha
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