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AIdenNicol444

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Everything posted by AIdenNicol444

  1. Yeah the Priests are only in this list because im only taking a fun list, the event doesn't count towards national / global rankings as it's a charity event for the Cancer Foundation, so everyone is just rolling up with snacks and fun lists. Also that one guy who's taking 2 Engines of the Gods.
  2. Event Preparation: ChariCon Upper Hutt First event with "New Skaven" This coming weekend the Wellington Region in New Zealand (The Capital Region, the Best Region, the Once-and-Future Region) is playing host to a new style of event called ChariCon. The astute among you will notice this word is a mash-up of the words "Charity" and "Convention", which believe it or not is no mere coincidence. 100% of the proceeds and revenue generated by registrations and various charity raffles and the like over the weekend will go towards Cancer research, and the tournament doesn't count towards the National Rankings so a huge portion of new players are coming along to get their feet wet and the established players are treating it as an excuse to run fun, non-optimized lists and have a good time just socializing. What better opportunity to take my new army for a spin in a tournament style event without causing my ranking to suffer when I inevitably crash and burn? The list I'm taking is largely things that I already have painted, given my work and home lives have been extremely hectic the last few weeks I didn't want to gamble on having painting time. I got my Gnawholes purchased and I have will need all of the roughly 12 minutes spare time I get each week to get them at least drybrushed. With the next few events being only 1250pts till Notorious Grand Tournament in May my stock of 100 Plague Monks painted to a high standard will get me through painting rubrics, but I'm working on the remaining 60 for the big event. I padded the numbers in the list with some Plague Censer Bearers, which aren't exactly top tier but I converted my own out of Stormvermin and so help me I will run them at least once this year. Without further ado, I present the list: Allegiance: PestilensMortal Realm: UlguLeadersPlague Furnace (180)- General- Trait: Master of Rot and Ruin - Artefact: Liber Bubonicus Plague Priest (80)- Artefact: The Foul PendantPlague Priest (80)Battleline30 x Plague Monks (210)- Foetid Blades30 x Plague Monks (210)- Foetid Blades30 x Plague Monks (210)- Foetid Blades5 x Plague Censer Bearers (60)5 x Plague Censer Bearers (60)BattalionsCongregation of Filth (160)Total: 1250 / 1250Extra Command Points: 1Allies: 0 / 200Wounds: 122 Before anyone asks, no Warscroll Builder hasn't been updated with the Skaven stuff yet I just tweaked it in a word document, I imagine it could be a while before it's updated. To start, one can clearly see the absence of the Verminlord Corruptor. I opted to take the Plague Furnace kitted out with both the Artefact and Command Trait that boost it's prayer effectiveness, in the hopes of getting an early Neverplague. The issue with taking the Corruptor is a small scale game is you need to give him a lot just to make him capable of praying, while the Plague Furnace benefits much more from it at this game size. The two priests on foot are there for two reasons; Hero models for Three Places of Power, and absolutely abusing the prayer mechanic (as always). I've given one The Foul Pendant to deal with non-optimized casting given the event is running Realmsphere rules and each army with a wizard will have access to an extra spell. Three units of 30 Plague Monks are just plain here to party and not go anywhere thanks to Altar of the Horned Rat + Plague Altar making sure they don't take casualties from Battleshock and have a bit more durability. Given they aren't units of 40 I had to select command options rather than just taking them all like the good old days, and opted for Banner of Contagion (6's to wound inflict 2 damage instead of 1) and Bale-Chimes (6's to hit are resolved at -1 rend). I opted not to take the Doom Gongs (+1 to Run and Charge) as i'll need to spend my excess Command Points on SOMETHING, or the Icon of Pestilence (roll a dice when a model is slain in combat, on a 6 the cause takes 1 mortal wound) as I plan to hit first and inflict massive casualties, rather than putting efficiency into being on the back foot. The Plague Censer Bearers are here, good for them. They'll either get set up in bubbles around the Plague Priests to keep them alive or used to push the Plague Furnace around. Perhaps used as a wall or some other suicidal task befitting a unit of their... pedigree. Congregation of Filth remains the mainstay Clan Pestilens battalion, even without providing re-rolls to charge. The 6+ ward save (a save that works against both unsaved wounds AND mortal wounds) is neat and it's wholly within 18" requirement is nothing to worry about. This combined with the fact Plague monks now have a 6+ armor save makes them doubly durable against no-rend attacks. I may be taking a risk taking it at 1250pts given it's 160pts not being spent on more bodies, but risk is the only way to test results. The plan with the army is relatively straightforward. Surround the Plague Furnace with two flanks of Plague Monks heavily buffed up and charging forward forcing the enemy's attention, while the rest of the army pushes up the other part of the board and forces them to split their forces. The Plague Priests will get stuck in on the front lines using Lead from the Back to remain healthy despite being in the thick of it, and the Furnace will (ideally) hang close enough to it's units of Monks that it doesn't awkwardly come to a halt. Looking forward to really stress-testing the list and having a great weekend rolling dice and pushing toy soldiers around for charity, see all of my NZ peeps there.
  3. Hey man, yeah the list here isnt actually the one that was taken. I realized almost immediately after posting this I had one too many allies and combined the two units into one and problem solved. Not sure however where you got the only one realm artefact deal, as they are subject to the same rules as ones allegiance artefacts. If you were only allowed one out of all of them, why would they have artefacts that do the same thing in different selections? Especially given Ignaxs Scales and Thermalrider Cloak feature together in many top lists.
  4. the perk of being this dedicated to your niche faction and producing content for it is you have a monopoly on consultancy
  5. No problem man, i have a mega pestilens primer in the pipeline covering every model from how best to equip them, how to paint them easily, a review of their rules, how they work in a larger army, the works. This thing is a monster and my goal is to drop it on Saturday when the book releases.
  6. I know, that comment predates the release of the new warscrolls, which I have by the way reviewed in their entirety over on AOS Shorts if you're interested.
  7. I imagine the Plague Scroll will just be very similar to before, a once-per-game activation. I like that they're keeping those to the unit leader only to be honest, the banner providing double damage on 6s makes me so hard i can hear the Dark Souls soundtrack coming from my pants.
  8. I'm inclined to agree, Skryre now play very similar to Fantasy Battle days where they would either kill the enemy, or die and kill the enemy. It just isn't for me as I'm already gambling too much with a low-save, little insurance army to worry about them also blowing up. Skryre will really benefit from being able to take other clan stuff, but having to take at least 60 clanrats for their battleline in exchange for that variety may counterbalance that. I'll be interested to see if the Skryre players continue with their big battalion, which is confirmed as a returning feature.
  9. Gidday Axter, always a pleasure to meet someone who started out at the beginning like I did. I've got an enormous (15 pages!) article half typed currently on how to get the best out of the Pestilens clan in the new rules set to release the day of the book ideally, so keep an eye out for that.
  10. At the time of writing I didn't want to talk about that from the spoiler release, as there may have been multiple allegiance rules I couldn't account for. Now that I have all the info, I'm confident in saying Moulder is every bit as strong and viable as the other clans.
  11. Skaventide Warscroll Changes All Clans Covered Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls. Presented here for you, by popular demand, is a total recap of the changed to all the Skaven scrolls laid out by Games Workshop. To the regular readers you will notice the Pestilens scrolls are in here despite already having been covered in a separate article. This is so anyone seeking a total guide doesn’t have to jump between the two. If you’re Pestilens supremacist or an enterprising Nurgle Maggotkin player perusing new options, go check out the separate article if you like. Now on to the meat of things. Masterclan Seeing a few significant changes to the head honchos, and most if not all of them good. Let’s get stuck in with the rulers of the Rat-Race. Grey Seer – increased to 120pts from 100 · Unique spell replaced with Wither, a powerful short range debuff. · Warpstone mechanic reworked to be more risk/reward. · Can cast 2 spells now. · Command ability has been removed. Finally the Grey Seer actually behaves like the erratic uber-caster he is meant to be. 2 spells is a great buff considering the Lore specifically for Grey Seers and the Warpstone mechanic is neat and thematic. Screaming Bell – Remained at 200pts · Confers battleshock immunity to nearby units. · Can’t move without being pushed now. · Same 2 spell buff as the Grey Seer on foot. · Peal of Doom reworked slightly. · Cracks Call range shortened. · Now has a 5+ ward save I was sold from the first point and this thing just gets better as you go down. Everything about the bell is neat and it’s thematic and most importantly, powerful. Verminlord Warpseer – Remained at 260pts · Doom Glaive damage is d3 instead of 3 but attacks 6 times instead of 4. · Now has a 5+ ward save. · Has the ability to accrue extra Command Points. · Command Ability now confers Battleshock Immunity. · Unique spell does d6 damage to target, rather than d3 or 3 to a flyer. · Received the new Verminlord bravery debuff effect. Another big winner, the Warpseer will find himself in a similar position to the Fungoid Cave Shaman, a powerful utility character that can farm command points and therefore get allied to everything that can take him ideally. Lord Skreech Vermining – Remained at 300pts · Same Doom Glaive change as Warpseer. · Thirteen Headed One mechanic reworked so all options are viable. · Now can cast 2 spells instead of one. · Verminlord bravery debuff effect added. · Thirteenth Dreaded Spell unchanged. My favorite Skaven character, Verminking received only a handful of changes specific to himself but they’re highly impactful. His access to 2 spells instead of 1 works well with his Knowledge of the Arcane rule to let him really lay the magical pain. Otherwise Skreech remains a reasonable option for Mixed Skaven, and a bit outclassed by the Warpseer for ally potential. Thanquol and Boneripper – Remained at 400pts · Warpflame mechanic changed to anti-horde focus. · Can mix and match whichever weapon options he wants per arm. · Command ability changed. · Received the Monster keyword. · Unique spell changed to anti-hero spell. · Arkhan the Black level casting buff from Staff of the Horned Rat. The cockroach of the Skaven clans, no amount of stepping on this little monster will ever keep him down. Thanquol emerges in the new book as one of the strongest named characters in the game with a swathe of devastating abilities that keep him strong in all phases of the game. Looking good, Prophet of the Horned One. Masterclan Verdict The Masterclan are looking fantastic after their changes. Im definitely convinced these guys are the undisputed masters of Blight City. There are two big Skaven players in NZ, myself and Mr Mitch Harty (twitter handle is bitch_party), and he’s always been a Thanquol man while I’ve been an adherent of Skreech Verminking. We both came out well from this but Mitch is definitely laughing his way to the bank. The Clans Verminus The soldiery of the rat clans, Verminus bring cheap chaff infantry and heavy hitting elites supported by small affordable leaders and the dread Verminlord Warbringer. Let’s dig in. Verminlord Warbringer – Decreased from 280pts to 260pts · Standard Doom Glaive change. · Verminlord bravery debuff added. · 5+ ward save added. · Punch Dagger has the chance to massively increase damage on a 6 to wound. · Receives combat bonuses for nearby rats rather than for charging. · Command ability is now wholly within. · Can now cast 2 spells. · Death Frenzy spell upgraded to target d3 units instead of just one. This guy saunters in and single-handedly makes Verminus Allegiance viable. We don’t even have the full picture and I can safely, SAFELY say this is a thing and this guy will lead it. Fantastic changes across the board that turn this lad from a brutal close combat sledgehammer to a powerful leader and support character… and a brutal close combat sledgehammer. Clawlord – Remains at 100pts (Renamed from Skaven Warlord) · Scurry Away mechanic replaces original retreat after fighting ability. · May only take the Warpforged weapon option now. · Command ability unchanged. Losing the other weapon options isn’t exactly a big deal as no one ran them anyway. Scurry Away isn’t as good as the old ability where he would fight then have a chance to run immediately after, but at least Scurry Away isn’t on a dice roll. In Verminus armies this guy can take a command trait along with every other Clawlord, so that should be quite interesting. Clanrats – Remains at 120/200pts · No longer receives combat buffs for being a large unit. · Shields now work against any damage rather than turning off against damage higher than 1. Changes to these guys are more in the Allegiance Abilities for the army than on their scroll. They still retreat and charge which is all anyone ever wanted from them anyway. Stay golden pony boy. Stormvermin – Remains at 140/500pts · Exact same shield change as Clanrats. · No longer get buffs for outnumbering their opponents. The changes to these are more in line with the fact that they are receiving so much else from the rest of the army with battleshock immunity, buffs to hit and wound and rerolls being thrown around hard and fast. Stormvermin are an expensive unit that require support to be good, but when they are supported there won’t be much this deadly utility unit can’t do. Clan Verminus Verdict A solid, well rounded series of warscrolls that are now believable as their own real, tactical force rather than just that time I took 1600pts of Clanrats and Warlords with 2 Screaming Bells allied to cheese a local store event. I look forward to seeing people crying on twitter as they realize how much detail their 89th Stormvermin actually has on the model. The Clans Pestilens My once and future army. My hard-cover Pestilens battletome was bought a week after their release, and it’s no secret my desire to play and win the army borders on the fanatical and unhealthy. I’ve annoyed many a person with constant deranged rants about why its fair the Plague Monk warscroll has more words than the Old Testament and I feel not just qualified but entitled to review and break down this section of the clans. Verminlord Corruptor – Increased to 260pts from 220pts · Unique Spell changed so that it does more damage, but no longer spreads. · Plaguereapers don’t reroll all their hits anymore but inflict mortal wounds on unmodified 6s to hit. · Plaguemaster now does AoE mortals around the Verminlord rather than tick off creatures that have already been hurt by it. · Received a 5+ ward save. · Received a passive bravery debuff to nearby enemies. · Command ability now grants rerolls rather than additional attacks. Big Cheese himself came out looking pretty good. Can’t help but feel that Plaguereaper change will have an FAQ saying he can’t take the Sword of Judgement on top of that ability so goodbye to that. His prior weaknesses (no rend, terrible survivability) have been fixed, and his strengths (two casts, high attack volume) made it through unscathed. Good changes, though I will miss his old unique spell even if it wasn’t exactly good. Plague Furnace – Remained at 180pts · Altar of the Horned Rat now just makes anything wholly within 13 inches ignore Battleshock. · The wrecking ball does far more damage but is a single target instead of AoE now. · The Plague Monk crew actually have attacks now. · It has the same ward save as the Verminlord Corruptor. · It has keywords that prevent it from receiving Look Out Sir now. Good lord GW the Plague Furnace didn’t actually need to be stronger. Yeah it can’t benefit from look out sir anymore, but they give it mini Crown of Conquest and a ward save? Like what? This thing only got better. Thank the Horned Rat I have 4. Plague Priest (Both Variants) – Remained at 80pts · Tumbled into one warscroll. · Gained the attack profiles of both original priests. · The Plague Tome once per game activation is gone. · Pestilent Prayers are all reworked (addressed at the bottom of the post) This was always going to happen. Plague Tome + Wither was one of the strongest combos in the Chaos grand alliance, and people were starting to wake up to it. A shame that they had to change him, but it makes sense why they did. A small price to pay for the rest of the changes, as Iskandar Khayon said in Black Legion, a sacrifice is only a sacrifice if it diminishes the giver. Plague Monks – Remained at 70/240pts · All once per game effects removed from command options. · Improved Rend on 6s and rats doing damage when they die left untouched. · Banner now causes 6s to wound to do double damage. · Doom Gong now boosts running and charge rolls. · Rerolls for two swords is still here, as is +1 attack for charging. The meat and bones of the army. This one was always going to get changed due to it being a troop unit with more rules than Kairos Fateweaver. But the changes are for the good… or so it seems. All the changes are really strong and benefit the unit. HOWEVER the warscroll specifies 1 in 20 for it’s command options, which likely means the minimum unit size has been upped to 20. Squashes a few of my tactics and will mean some changes. I will however roll with these changes and no doubt actually be better off with them (ideally). Plague Censer Bearers – Remained at 60pts · Aura of damage effect is slightly better. · They receive bonuses for being near monks at a slightly larger range now. I expected nothing and wasn’t disappointed. I was terrified these guys would be the recipient of random buffing that meant I would need to convert another 20 ****** Stormvermin into these, thanks for actually having my back there GW. Plagueclaw Catapult – Remains at 160pts · Receives artillery bonuses if there is 10 or more models in the unit, instead of more than 10. · Does a bravery debuff to victims. I was afraid this thing would get worse not because I use it (I have 3 fully panted to a high standard and they sit in a drawer somewhere) but because I’ve already ragged on it so hard, I wasn’t sure how I would somehow step that up. Pleased to say… that won’t be necessary. It’s slightly better. Changes to Pestilent Prayers and Noxious Prayers The original prayers on the warscrolls of the Plague Priest and Plague Furnace are now gone. They’ve been replaced with new effects that are fundamentally different with bizarre names. · Disease-Disease! (Formerly Wither): So instead of making it easier to wound the victim ala Wither, this is ow the Gaunt Summoner unique spell on a 6. Boo hiss. · Pestilence-Pestilence! (Formerly Plague Breath): It’s the same as before but the bubble is 3” not 2”. It also doesn’t affect Pestilens units, rather than Nurgle units. Neat. · Filth-Filth (Formerly Bless with Filth): Thank Christ it’s still the same. No changes here, and what a boon that is. · Rabid-Rabid! (Formerly Rabid Fever): Add 1 to the attacks of something nearby. So this is where they shoved the Verminlord command ability. I’ll forever miss the old one of this, my monks fighting after death is a MASSIVE part of my army’s reputation in NZ due to me taking 2 Furnaces and making sure it was always active. Pouring one out for you my lad. Clan Pestilens Verdict With widespread buffs to everything in the army and very few points increases, none of which could be called unjustified, Clan Pestilens is shaping up as the big winner of the clans so far. Saddle up lads, I will be your captain for this journey and the destination is, indeed, the podium. The Clans Skryre Blegh, really wanted to not do this one because of the sheer amount of reading and writing involved. I’ll save you some reading if you’re just here for Stormfiends: Yes, they got nerfed and no, nobody has any sympathy. Arch Warlock – Increased to 160pts from 140pts · Warpflame Gauntlet hits on a 2+ rather than being auto hit. · Can increase the damage of his melee weapon and spell at a risk. This could have gone a lot worse for Skryre players given the popularity of this lad. He’s still an excellent caster and his ability to take risk death to churn more damage is purely optional so really he plays the same as he did before. Also Skryre have their own whole table of spells for this guy to reap. 20pts isn’t much of an increase considering that. Warlock Engineer – Remained at 100pts · Slight rework to risk/reward spell mechanic. Almost entirely the same guy. As ever the devil is in the details and the devil here is Skryre’s new warp lore table. It will be interesting to see if other clans take him purely for that given his affordability. Stormfiends – Decreased from 290pts to 260pts · Can now only take squads of mixed weapons, what the box provides. · Warpflame reworked, see Thanquol and Boneripper. · 6+ triggers are now Unmodified 6 triggers. Damn Games Workshop, I’m not even sure if this was necessary. You could have just changed how warpflame works so a unit of only warpflame wouldn’t be hilariously devastating but sadly, new warpflame on a whole unit of these would be blatantly unfair. I’m hoping this leads to greater variety and interaction with Clan Skryre, but it will be a shame if people hang up their fiends for other options. Skryre Acolytes · Can run and shoot now. · Can’t shoot things they can’t see anymore. You were worthless cheap Skryre battleline before Acolytes and that is EXACTLY where you will remain unless the Skryre Battalion brings you fresh spice. No one would take these in mixed Skaven over Gutter Runners, and no one would play Skryre just to have these as battleline. Hopefully you catch this hard pass better than you throw globes. The Weapon Teams (Doomflayer 60pts, Warpgrinder 80pts, Warpflame 70pts, Ratling Gun 80pts) · All overload mechanics guarantee the death of the unit after its attacks are resolved now. · The drill comes up whenever you want but can inflict mortal wounds on the units tunnelling up. · Warpflamer changed to be in line with other warpflame weapons. The only one of these that will see any use outside of being mandatory for battalions is the drill, which now is a lot better given the risk of my 500pt unit of Stormvermin simply never surfacing isn’t a thing anymore. Warp Lightning Cannon – Remains at 180pts · Can double the dice for shooting at the risk of blowing the weapon up. · Now has 8 wounds instead of 6. Being able to choose to double the dice to fire the cannon is pretty awesome, even with the risk it entails. Just remember you have to choose to do it before rolling the power dice… pray you don’t roll a 6. Doomwheel – Increased from 120pts to 160pts · Can double it’s shooting attack at a risk. · Hurts every unit it roams over rather than just one. · Still a chance the enemy can move it instead of you. Look GW you made it better but you didn’t make it 40pts better. I was sold till I saw it can still run over and kill my own things on a bad dice roll and no matter how Skaven that may be, it gets a pass. Warplock Jezzails – Remained at 140pts · 6+ is now Unmodified 6 to hit. No real changes. Convert some up and drop them out a Gnawhole into shooting range. Not much else to say, they’re still good and they will see use. Clans Skryre Verdict Wow Skryre, you are tonight’s biggest loser. All I see here is a faction better suited to being allied than ran by itself. Acolytes are trash, Stormfiends require (shudder) actual skill now rather than just a silly battalion and some dice rolls and the weapon teams will just straight up disappear with one turn of bad luck. The only thing that can salvage this is a solid Allegiance ability and their spell lore to be really good. It’s thematic, but don’t expect pure Skryre on the top tables anymore. The Clans Moulder Ah Moulder, I’ve been looking forward to this. Every Skaven player (and every Skaven player reading this knows this to be true) wants Moulder to be good. And wit an Allegiance ability of their own and a new Battalion, this may not be far from the truth. Let’s see how they fare. Master Moulder – 100pts (New Warscroll) · Whole new unit. · Has the Packmaster whip ability. · Has a command ability that summons destroyed Moulder units to the table. · Powerful range of attacks. Games Workshop you magnificent ******. This with the Packmaster change is exactly what Moulder needed. A powerful support hero that can hold his own with a command ability tailored the clan he belongs to. 10/10, great work. Packmasters – Remained at 60pts, now per Packmaster due to being a unit. · Can now be taken in groups of up to 3. · Same whip effect as the Master Moulder. · Lost a few weapon options. Packmasters now come in… packs? Neat and fun, I like it. A neat and expendable option to roam the table following Ogors and Abominations while the Master Moulder does Master Moulder things. Rat Ogors – Remained at 100pts · 6+ changed to unmodified 6 to hit. · Attacks generate additional hits rather than additional attacks. Nothing significant changed, just rules tweaks for consistency. Hopefully see more use with buffs and their own allegiance rules. If I catch anyone taking these because they have a shooting attack their house is getting shot with a Plagueclaw. Giant Rats – Remained at 60/200pts · Horde bonus now increases weapon range rather than attack bonus. This change makes sense and it’s thematic, and I suppose it’s a good thing that we won’t be seeing Moulder armies with nothing but Giant Rats. That being said, they were always a quiet favourite of mine though I rarely if ever ran them. I see them still seeing a lot of use as an annoying battleshock immune objective camper. Rat Swarms – Decreased to 60pts from 110pts · Rules updated to be similar to restoring dead models to a unit. Was cutting the cost of this unit so dramatically potentially a disaster that will see Moulder players catapulting to the top tables as they drown us in 40mm bases covered in plastic rats they bought from their local Pestilens player? God I hope so. Hell-Pit Abomination – Remained at 220pts · Avalanche of Flesh attack similar to Slaanesh Chariots impact but has a 3” range over their 1” · Warpstone Spikes enable the model to have a chance to straight up ignore magic. Solid changes to a severely underutilized unit. A powerful centrepiece of any Moulder army, I will be shocked if there isn’t at least one in all the Moulder lists to come. Clans Moudler Verdict Damn Moudler, they tweak a few of your scrolls and give you one character and suddenly you’re a real army that poses a real threat. We haven’t even seen their allegiance abilities yet. We will watch your career with great interest, Moulder players. The Clans Eshin The sneakiest come last as ever, but no one will call them the least of the lot once they’ve read these changes. Verminlord Deceiver – Remained at 300pts · 5+ ward save added. · Verminlord bravery debuff added. · Can cast 2 spells instead of 1. · Skitterleap is no longer a global teleport and can’t target models with more than 12 wounds. Necessary changes. Deceiver enthusiasts should just be grateful they came out without a point increase. Further increased survivability ensures that this master assassin continues to do what he does best, assassinate. Deathmaster – Remained at 100pts (Renamed from Skaven Assassin) · Throwing stars pop into multiple hits on 6s. · Has a LOT more attacks with Fighting Claws. Largely the same old boy by a different name. He does his job a little better now and with so many attacks with his Fighting Claws, the smart Eshin player will close this guide and start digging through the Realm Artefacts. I recommend starting with Ulgu… Gutter Runners – Remained at 60/200pts · Throwing stars pop into multiple hits on 6s. They remain the once and future premium ally choice as far as Skaven units go. No changes made, no changes necessary. Stay awesome. Night Runners – Decreased from 100pts to 80/280pts · Throwing stars pop into multiple hits on 6s. · They make a 2d6 move now after deployment rather than just a free move. Same as Gutter Runners, the only change necessary was to stop them moving 20+ inches turn one. Otherwise they’re still what they were before, a niche option but a good one. Clans Eshin Verdict Without knowing the Allegiance Abilities of Clan Eshin I’d call these the least stand-alone army with no specific spell lore. They’re niche, but I may yet be proven wrong when the rules are shown. Jesus that was a lot of typing. Tell me your thoughts, yell at me, whine that Acolytes aren’t that bad (they are that bad, shut up). All feedback is welcome as always.
  12. Won't lie to you fellow ratkin I actually forgot that the warscrolls get revealed a week before the book itself due to how the retail website works so waking up here in NZ to all these changes was like Christmas. But the kind of Christmas where you're not sure if the gifts are cool or terrible. Without further ado, let us get stuck into the warscrolls and talk about what’s different, what’s better, and what’s worse. As ever, we still don’t have points so a lot of this is potentially subjective. Verminlord Corruptor · Unique Spell changed so that it does more damage, but no longer spreads. · Plaguereapers don’t reroll all their hits anymore but inflict mortal wounds on unmodified 6s to hit. · Plaguemaster now does AoE mortals around the Verminlord rather than tick off creatures that have already been hurt by it. · Received a 5+ ward save. · Received a passive bravery debuff to nearby enemies. · Command ability now grants rerolls rather than additional attacks. Big Cheese himself came out looking pretty good. Can’t help but feel that Plaguereaper change will have an FAQ saying he can’t take the Sword of Judgement on top of that ability so goodbye to that. His prior weaknesses (no rend, terrible survivability) have been fixed, and his strengths (two casts, high attack volume) made it through unscathed. Good changes, though I will miss his old unique spell even if it wasn’t exactly good. Plague Furnace · Altar of the Horned Rat now just makes anything wholly within 13 inches ignore Battleshock. · The wrecking ball does far more damage but is a single target instead of AoE now. · The Plague Monk crew actually have attacks now. · It has the same ward save as the Verminlord Corruptor. · It has keywords that prevent it from receiving Look Out Sir now. Good lord GW the Plague Furnace didn’t actually need to be stronger. Yeah it can’t benefit from look out sir anymore, but they give it mini Crown of Conquest and a ward save? Like what? This thing only got better. Thank the Horned Rat I have 4. Plague Priest (Both Variants) · Tumbled into one warscroll. · Gained the attack profiles of both original priests. · The Plague Tome once per game activation is gone. · Pestilent Prayers are all reworked (addressed at the bottom of the post) This was always going to happen. Plague Tome + Wither was one of the strongest combos in the Chaos grand alliance, and people were starting to wake up to it. A shame that they had to change him, but it makes sense why they did. A small price to pay for the rest of the changes, as Iskandar Khayon said in Black Legion, a sacrifice is only a sacrifice if it diminishes the giver. Plague Monks · All once per game effects removed from command options. · Improved Rend on 6s and rats doing damage when they die left untouched. · Banner now causes 6s to wound to do double damage. · Doom Gong now boosts running and charge rolls. · Rerolls for two swords is still here, as is +1 attack for charging. The meat and bones of the army. This one was always going to get changed due to it being a troop unit with more rules than Kairos Fateweaver. But the changes are for the good… or so it seems. All the changes are really strong and benefit the unit. HOWEVER the warscroll specifies 1 in 20 for it’s command options, which likely means the minimum unit size has been upped to 20. Squashes a few of my tactics and will mean some changes. I will however roll with these changes and no doubt actually be better off with them (ideally). Plague Censer Bearers · Aura of damage effect is slightly better. · They receive bonuses for being near monks at a slightly larger range now. I expected nothing and wasn’t disappointed. I was terrified these guys would be the recipient of random buffing that meant I would need to convert another 20 ****** Stormvermin into these, thanks for actually having my back there GW. Plagueclaw Catapult · Receives artillery bonuses if there is 10 or more models in the unit, instead of more than 10. · Does a bravery debuff to victims. I was afraid this thing would get worse not because I use it (I have 3 fully panted to a high standard and they sit in a drawer somewhere) but because I’ve already ragged on it so hard, I wasn’t sure how I would somehow step that up. Pleased to say… that won’t be necessary. It’s slightly better. Changes to Pestilent Prayers and Noxious Prayers The original prayers on the warscrolls of the Plague Priest and Plague Furnace are now gone. They’ve been replaced with new effects that are fundamentally different with bizarre names. Disease-Disease! (Formerly Wither): So instead of making it easier to wound the victim ala Wither, this is ow the Gaunt Summoner unique spell on a 6. Boo hiss. Pestilence-Pestilence! (Formerly Plague Breath): It’s the same as before but the bubble is 3” not 2”. It also doesn’t affect Pestilens units, rather than Nurgle units. Neat. Filth-Filth (Formerly Bless with Filth): Thank Christ it’s still the same. No changes here, and what a boon that is. Rabid-Rabid! (Formerly Rabid Fever): Add 1 to the attacks of something nearby. So this is where they shoved the Verminlord command ability. I’ll forever miss the old one of this, my monks fighting after death is a MASSIVE part of my army’s reputation in NZ due to me taking 2 Furnaces and making sure it was always active. Pouring one out for you my lad. The Battalions Well, the book isn’t out yet so we can’t really say. I can however say that I know all the Pestilens battalions made it through in some form or another, so all I need to see now is what they actually do. Worry not, I will make another one of these posts as leaks emerge. Well, a lot to take in. Most of it really good news too. Let me know your thoughts and let’s talk pestilence in the Mortal Realms.
  13. You'll find they'll be toned down to compensate for the buff they get for having large numbers, so my previously favored and pioneered tactic of MSU plague monk units roaming the table charging flanks may no longer be as viable.
  14. Didn't expect to be back so soon, but GW is throwing spoilers at us hard and fast and you know i'll be there to catch them. Today's article centred on Skaventide Endless Spells, as well as the Gnawhole terrain feature. As always, I preface this saying we don't have the full picture, any of my predictions could be wrong here based entirely on what we get caster wise and what's big in your local meta. We also don't know the point costs of these (Gnawhole is terrain and therefore free) so that can be a factor. Lets get stuck in with Vermintide. More than just a fantastic video game series, "Vermintide" makes a triumphant return to form from it's glory days in Fantasy Battle and Total War Warhammer, and it's somewhat less glorious days as the Grey Seer unique spell. This thing got an upgrade to say the least, it's a predatory endless spell that can't harm it's own army or even body-block them. The thing is on an enormous base too, so everything about this thing screams choke point blocker. Also it will squeeze out maybe 3 or so mortal wounds on anything that dares to bump and grind against it, nice. At first this was my least favorite, due to it's high casting roll and pseudo Geminids-but-not-as-good deployment. Then after seeing the casting buffs we will have access to in addition to the ones we already have, I changed my mind. The damage on this thing isn't it's draw, though it definitely has potential. The real devil is in the details however. Notice how this doesn't actually fly. Now notice it strips the ability to fly off enemy units. But Aiden, Pestilent Lord of all that Rots, how could that be a good thing when it's immobile? THIS THING IS SOULSNARE SHACKLES BUT IT CAN STOP FLYING MODELS. Cya Bloodthirster. Stop right there Ironclad. Morathi? I hardly knew ye (she will probably just unbind it but still). Worth it. Oh hey you. Now a good parent doesn't play favorites, but I never claimed to be the best. This thing, this prodigal son, this apple of the eye of Skreech Verminking himself. It's crown of conquest at 13 inch range and it flies around the table and ONLY BENEFITS US. Oh but the enemy can take it and move it you say. Well yes they can, but good luck getting it away from everything in our army when it doesn't specify wholly within. Not much more to say, love it. Tunnel Through Reality is fine. It's more going to be useful for moving heroes than units due to the wholly within caveat but that's fine, it does what it needs to do. Aura of the Horned Rat however is quite toasty, free arcane terrain is amazing in an army that (historically) has few actual buffs to cast. It will pair well with Grey Seers and their ability to reroll failed casts to say the least. Also while Deadly isn't the slaughterhouse it used to be, it will be worth keeping note of as a fun extra way of chipping out extra damage. See you all in the next episode, it will probably be next week knowing GW. Then again we also have LVO reveals in less than 24 hours, not that I think anything is coming that will affect us too much. As always, let me know your thoughts and let's get a discussion going.
  15. Monks are already pretty great, I have a feeling the OP unit in the book is going to be OP due to how it interacts with new spell lores and the Gnawholes. Wouldn't be surprised if its Stormvermin or heaven forbid, Rat Ogors
  16. I like your optimism but I think that would be a bit silly. If they did however, well it goes without saying what that would mean.
  17. Hey there fellow Acolytes, figured I might as well do some posts relating to the rules spoilers we will be getting leading up to the battletome. To preface this, it's important to acknowledge all rules we are shown are in a vacuum, we have no idea what other changes may be coming that supplement or affect these rules. But that being said, let's dive straight into it. Kicking off strong. Now "Overwhelming Mass" is exactly the sort of thing I expected with a new Skaven book, it both rewards and strongly pushes taking large unit sizes, which often with Pestilens I wasn't wont to do due to it potentially setting up a bad battleshock. THAT BEING SAID, I think it is extremely, EXTREMELY unlikely the Plague Monk warscroll hasn't had more than a few changed to accommodate this rule. "Strength in Numbers" is also here making a return. I've sung this one's praises in previous blog posts before, it's neat it's clean and it does exactly what you need it to do. Glad you're still here with us buddy. Well well well. "Lead From the Back" is one hell of a rule. Sylvaneth Superstar Lee who I play regularly has started making a habit of shooting his allied Deepkin eels across the table at me and assassinating Priests / heavily damaging Furnaces, and this will provide some insurance against that. It also helps to negate the drawback of the Priests needing to be right in the thick of it with their 13" range prayers. "Scurry Away" is neat as hell. If the enemy doesn't activate into it in time, the Plague Priests and Plague Furnaces can just LEAVE the combat instead of fighting. If the Verminlords get this I'll be shocked, but if they do I'll be a very happy man. This one is a spell for Grey Seers specifically, but it's not far fetched to imagine we will be making a greater use of those under the new ruleset. "Splinter" is funny as hell, you can either use it to casually remove that Daemon Icon Bearer and prevent them from cheesing their way through the battleshock phase, or you can shoot for the moon and try get that cheeky 3+ and knock off a Blood Knight. It's neat and has decent enough utility. On top of all this there were a few little hints scattered throughout the article. "Pestilens players will find their allegiance abilities familiar" implies the return of Echoes of the Great Plagues, but given they gave us 4 other allegiance rules I wouldn't be surprised for it to be a little diminished. The confirmation that every clan has Command Traits and Artefacts means there's a good chance our existing ones have been reworked somewhat to accommodate the new rules. I imagine we'll have a few days of Flesh Eater Courts spoilers (boo, hiss, who cares) interspersed between glorious Skaven rule releases, so i'll check back in a few days when we have more info. As always, leave your thoughts below.
  18. I remember yes, you certainly will I'm just waiting for the post release hype to die down. God knows my phone hasnt stopped for days.
  19. the only self improvement I need is a battletome, it drops a week before a charity tournament event so I'll be getting some early practise in. I plan to heavily cover the Pestilens section and at least feature the rest
  20. then you shall be punished for your perfidy, the only allies skaven can trust are other skaven. And even then its pushing it.
  21. Family, work, bettering myself, firing enormous lasers at the moon, it takes a lot of time my friend.
  22. A Duardin Skrimish warband? Would you mind telling me your address? I assure you it has nothing to do with the Plagueclaw Catapults being aimed at you
  23. So i guess by the 60 notifications and 13 (a good omen) missed messages I woke up to on here it finally happened. Pestilens review of the book to come, I plan to leave the rest of the content to more educated minds than me. See you all then
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