Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

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Saintofm
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Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

Post by Saintofm »

Since I am getting back in the game, and since the PDFs are free for everyone, why not take a look at them, and see how the new stuff works.

Keep in mind this me before my first game so this is my guessamacation.

Lets start with the Obvious, our Army, and lets go with 6 minies.

Malekeith, Malus, Dreadlord, Dreadlord on Black Dragon (apparently different), and Dreadlord on Cold One (also different), and Master on Dark Steed.

Malekeith: "Pitiful." The hissing voice of the master of the dark elf said as he gently carressed the cheek of a high elf princess. Before another tear fell, a snap of his iron fingers let her lovly head roll across the red marble floor of her throne room.


Malekith here is a badass I have to admit he never looks stronger. His main attack with his famous hits and wounds on a hits 2/3 of the time as it dose hit and wound with 4 sides of the dice respectuly. It has -1 rend so making the typicle 4+ save for most eros, monsters, and eleites down to a more managable 5, and mostly ignoring anything else from the rest. Should it get pased saves it couses 3 wounds.

In perspective a typical mini (say a goblin archer, Human hand Gunner, or elvin swordsmen) one hit can mean 3 kills if I am understanding the wounding correctly, and he has 3 attacks: A potential of 9 wounds. Even if a unit goes beyond 10 minies that is quite a dent. Something bigger, say a mounted knight (2 wounds) the dent is lessen, but still a number fallen. This goes don further

Between dragon and the rider, Malekeith gets 14 wounds, meaning he is going to stay a while, with a 4+ save to also keep him around. At 9 Bravery also means he will be sticking around. His armor also provdes great durability, halving all wounds and mortal wounds inflicted on him that round, rounded up.

Then there is the dragon. The dragon is usually the epitome of this is going to hurt in most cultures (most cultures having something akin to an angry large reptile) and this is no exception.

Seraphon has two main forms of attacks; at full health, there is 6 attacks at have a 4+ hit and 3+ wound and a -1 rend, and can cause 2 wounds. If one gets through, its 2 dead elves. If all of them get in, 12.

His second is his massive maw deals 3 attacks, that at 3+ and at full health wound on 4 and cause D6 wounds at rend -2. This means if and when it gets through you can have as little as 3 dead elves and as many as 18. In my mind I am seeing him belching his acidic breath between snacking on those tasty nights.

All round up, at any given round you can get up to 24-49 wounds. While half will probably hit and get through the saves, its still means this is a good way to kill a mini.


If you get board in the shooting phase, take an enemy unit within 6 inches, and every mini has o not role a 6 or take a mortal wound (one without saves).

Magic wise, he is a what I will call my Lord Level Wizard. Normal one (sorceress, mage) can cast a spell a turn, and lord levels (Supreme Sorceress and Archmage) get 2 spells a game. Besides arcane bolt and spell shield, he has the Soul stealer spell. Its fairly easy to cast from a quick rundown on the Dungeons and Dragon's dice roller, pick a unit within 14 inches and that unit dakes D3 mortal wounds. Every wound inflicted heals Malekeith which is important as the more damage he takes the less inches he can travel, the fewer attacks with claws and weaker bites Seraphon can make.

When making his commands, any of his minions within 20" do not have to take a battle test (he's scarier).

Overall: i do not know how well this will play out in a game, but this seems like they made the image of an unstoppable monster with an equally difficult to fight. Once in combat, he is pretty intimidating. However he can be made an easy target because of this. A couple of good shots from a warmachine and he might as well be a fly pinned to the wall.

But if you want to not be the king, why not someone that wants to be one.

DreadLord: I love the smell of Witch Fire in the morning. It smells, smells like Victory.

Dreadlords come in a variety of of forms. On foot, you can give them a 2 hand weapon chill blade with 3 attacks but wounds on a 3+, and causes D3 wounds and has -1 to rend. The other hand you can have an Exile blade which gives him 6 attacks, but wounds about half the time, no rend and one attack, but you can pair them them up and rerole 1's. You can instead give them a tyrant shield that reroles saves which gives them better protection.

Price of Failures, I think is on all dreadlords, but please clarified if otherwise. If an friendly exile unit fleas within 3 inches of them, he kills them and the rest shape up becaue of it. They are fleeing, so I guess you probably not going to get them anyways, but it fits the druchii fluff.

Comand Abilitiy: Cruel Tyrant, chose one of your exile units within 14 inches, and they rerole all to wound rolls that round. Not bad all things considered.

Put him on a dragon, you can still have a pair of exile blades, but you can now have lance which gets stronger on the charge with one extra wound in exchange for the blade's many attacks. You still have the dragon, so a large target but one that is one for a reason.

If being in close combat is not your thing, then instead of the lance or shield, go with the repeating crossbow, which has a 16 inch range, and has a half a chance to hit and wound. I think this weapon is better served on foot, and is wasted on a dragon. Seriously, trying to get into battle and let that dragon do his thing. On the other hand it has its moments.

Speaking of which , the command ability: Do not Disappoint me, pick a unit, and they get to rerole 1's to hit. When you test their battle test, role a dice and if the dreadlord on the hungry dragon is within that dice role, they do not need to test.

For a mount more down to earth, you have the hydra blade which is has the attacks of the other sword but has more rending power. However this guy is built for the kill. The bladed barding and its basicly the old ipact hits. Finish your charge, pick a mini, and on a role of 4 and they suffer a mortal wound.

The cold one riding dreadlord, Single Minded Beasts, you can select a unit of knights or cold one chariots within 14 inches, and they get to rerole roles of 1 when charging.

ut for the ultimate dreadlord, Malus.

No Sheild, but the warp sword has another inch of reach then the typicle sword, adn deals D3 wounds, so has some potential. T'Zarkan is the same as always but that means if he missess he is venting D3 mortal wounds on your unit.

As the tyrant of Hag Greif (comand Ability), rerole battleshock tests that are within 14 inches.

In general, the dreadlord has good protection, better with the sheild, but have the potential to be heavy hitters or bladed whirlwinds.

Coldone is the best option I see, but the dragon is still a fricken dragon. That said I think the crossbow is completly wasted on the dragon.

Malus has the best command ability and sword, but the others are serviceable.

Now for the master: "Get off me you stupid peasant!"


He comes standard on the dark steed with a bardbed blade (4 attacks) which can come in pairs if you want on the steed, and the murder banner which gives all exiles in 8 inches reroles of all 1's, but have the ability in the hero phase plant it and not move but expand the radius another 10 inches.

It looks like they are interchangeable with the Dreadlord on the back of the

My favorite is their ability Treachery and Power which fits dark elf mentality and we finally get to see them do their Klingon Promotion. Durring the Hero Phase and holding a standard, and within an inch of our belovid general, role a dice. On a 1, the master is killed instead of the Dreadlord. Any other role slits his rope, and now you are short a mini but you have one with the abilities of the standard and one with the former comand abilities.

I love it but I do not see it being used until end game. A master on a dark steed has 5 wounds, while a lord on the cold one is 6, and only goes up from there. Chances are your new warlord is now a pretty target by the shocked enemy as you made their job easier.

Overal: Malekith is awsome, Malus is servicable.

Dreadlords themselves are a mixed bag. The cold one riding variety is the one I like the most and think is the most well rounded, while the one on foot has the most variety that is still useful.

The dragon rider is great, but the crossbow is still a waste on him and I think it could have been better suited on foot.

The master seems a bit neutered. His none banner ability seems fun, but I doubt I'd ever use it without weakening my army. The battle standard on the other hand, priceless.

So how off the mark am I, and what are your thoughts on the manner.

Until then things I will miss:
Sea Dragon Cloaks.
the loads of magic and mundane items that made creating a hero your own uniqure creation.
Crossbows on things that could use it like the standard bearer on the dark steed or the guy on foot.
Last edited by Saintofm on Sun Feb 07, 2016 10:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

Post by Calisson »

Mallie is especially strong with ability to regenerate wounds.
CO dreadlords super to support COK and COC (which you can take several per unit).

In AoS, there is no longer customization.
Loss of flexibility, gain of time.
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Re: Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

Post by Saintofm »

Time for another 5-7 minies: For the most part it will be a showcase of the spellcasters, and the beastmaster.

For the most part: Spell casters I will label in one of two groups: Master and Aprentice, or the Old Lord and Hero. The basic difference between the two is the Lordly Supreme Sorceress can cast 2 spells, and her apprentice casts 1. While that has the standard, some of the spells they have change depending if they are legging it or riding something, with som more useful then other.


Sorceress: Death Caps, Wolfs bane, Chimichangas, blod of innocence. Yep, everything on my list is complete.


On foot, you have something that could be very tough in battle. Her witch staff has a spear’s range, wound’s like it was wielded by the witch king hismself, with a rend, and causes D3 wounds. While she still gets only one attack, the suprising amount of damage makes her viable in close combat.

If she is within 3 inches aof a friendly unit, she may sacrifice one exile (removing the mini) to boost her casting score by 2 points. Good for normal, better for Supreme Sorceress as this will work on both spells. This is standard on the sorceresses.

On foot you get word of pain, which is pretty good. If sucsessful pick an enemy unit and substact 1 from all their to hit rolls until your next magic phase. Great for combat, either up and close or dealing with pesky missile troops.

Now if you want to go big or go home, there is always the Dragon, which gives her Witch Rode standard (same as staff, but with normal range), or the Sword of Ground which gives her 3 ttacks but standard hitting and wounding. The Witch Lash which has a spear’s range, and a easier time to hit but normal wounding.

Her spell in this case is blade wind and, yes, get your evil cackle on. Pick an enemy within 18 inches, and role 6 dice. That’s how many hits you get against them. Roll against the best to hit mele characteristic and you score a mortal wound.

If I get this right this means:

A unit of Barny’s Purple Sourus Warriors (4+) need to hope their enemy doesn’t roll 3’s and lower, while Bobo’s Gobo’s archers are going to hate anything that has a 1, 2, 3, or 4. Very evil spell, just the way we like it.

Put her on a cold one, and give her the most insulting vertion of chill wind. Chill wind got neutered last edition, but now its REALLY sucks. While easy to get off, you role a nmber of dice equl to your casting score (so if you scored a 10 you get 10 dice). For every role of 6, that unit suffers a mortal wound. So wounding is going to be minimal, and you do not hamper shooty units like you used to. The Witch taff makes a return, but she is otherwise not as strong as she could be.

Now for our favorite Premadona, Morathi. She rides a Dark Pegasus which is built like a flying cold one, stat wise. She has 1 more attack, and hits better then a typicle sorceress but wounds like one.

She lacks the sacrificial dagger to do blood sacrifices, but her traditional outfit makers her Enchanting Beuty substact all to hit rolls against her in combat. She also has the full save, while most of the others tend to be 6 or five.

As a lord type, she casts up to 2 spells, which can include Black Horror, which targets a visable enemy within 18 inches and roll a die.
Score of 1: One Mortal wound.
Score 2-3: D3 mortal wounds.
4+: D6. Not as potent as Blade wind, but still fun.

Overal: Sorceress riding cold one, not as good, but on foot or dragon couldn’t be better. Morathi has her moments but is not much different from other sorceresses to make her a must buy.

Now for the Manticor:

The beastmaster: Fido: Sick em!

riding him aint much better then most troops on the ground hitting and wounding wise, but has 3 attacks. His Manticore doesn’t have as many attacks as the dragon nor hits as hard, but certainly can do in a jiffy. His main thing is Spiteful Dominance, which allows a monster you pick within 10 inches of this guy rerole to hit rols of 1. Not bad, but he doesn’t have the full protection, though the Sea dragon cloak does allow reroles of faied saves of 1 against shooting which is better then nothing.

Maybe in a monster heavy game I can see him, but outside of fluff I cannot see much to him as of yet.

Next up, our knightly types:

Cold one Knights and Chariots: With a swift thrust of his lance, Garo the Death of Saints rolled his eyes back in the extacy of the kill. "Oh, that was good." He said in the hushed tones of bedroom voices.

Knights are, well, knights. Their lances have good range, and +1 to wound on the charge, which will help. Their shields rerole 1’s against missiles and 1&2’s in closecombat. The command option consists of a dreadknight that gets an extra attack, a Standard that add +1 o bravery when testing for battle shock (+2 if close to a hero), and a horn blower that can reroll a single dice to charge. All upgrades are going to be assumed standard fair throughout game until I see otherwise.

Minimum of 5 riders, with 2 wounds each, so they will stick around. They also have a really good movement so see these guys going into the heat of battle fast.

Overal not bad. There is no reason to go massive like in older edditions, and I see 5-10 guys being good enough.

The chariot can have full on units now, so go figure there, with any number of minies. They lack the impact hits of the older edditions, but they can reroll 1’s when wounding. The problem is considering how these things are priced, they are probably going to be suppot at best and probably some kitbashing.

Then there is the psycogy. In older edditions the unholy cross between a komodo dragon and a velociraptor could cause fear, which made it easier to hit the enemy and not be hit back, but came with stupidity where they basicly chased after the little red dot instead of the enemy. While the lack of one is going to be a goddesnd for some, the other will be missed.

Overal: Spell casters earn their keep, save for the one on the cold one.
Morathi is serviceable, but not nessisary.
Beastmaster has some opportunities for bloodshed, but the manti is slightly less in all departments when compared to the dragon, and the rider aint much better then some foot soldiers. Limited to fluff and monster heavy armies.

Knights are ok, nothing much there, but I can’t help but feel the chariot has been given a diservise.

Things I miss: Vast selection of magic
6th and 7th ed chill wind
Impact Hits.
Fear.
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Re: Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

Post by Calisson »

Saintofm wrote:Knights are, well, knights. ...
Overal not bad. There is no reason to go massive like in older edditions, and I see 5-10 guys being good enough.

Actually, for units you desire to go in melee, there are tremendous advantages of going big:
- With a single spell, you can upgrade their save by one, and do it again and again. That is extraordinary on units with already a good save.
And yes, 1+ means total invulnearbility to normal wounds!
The larger the unit, the more the models gaining that resistance.

- Second use of going large: the larger the unit, the more attacks you make before the opponent strikes back.
Yeah, MSU is very hard in AoS...

- Final use: the general may usually buff ony one unit. Better make it count.
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Re: Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

Post by Saintofm »

So taking large numbers is still an option. Given how this game is going to go, what would be a good size then? 10-20?
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Re: Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

Post by Calisson »

My experience is limited but I've found 20 Empire knights to be still too few.
Take all you have in a single unit.
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Re: Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

Post by Saintofm »

Been a week so plenty of time to think about these guys. Unfortunately I was the only warhammer player at my hobby shop that week, so I cannot comment on any first hand experience as of yet.

This one I think we need to go through some of our core troops.

In general, when it comes to Dark Shards, Bleak Swords, and Dread spears they come in units of ten, but have better abilities that boost their ability to hit when they come in 20 or more. I think 25 would be good enough. This will also be one of those units players that have been around for a while will have no problems with as previous editions encouraged us to have these guys on mass but newer players are going to grumble thanks to the current ten mini kit and its pricing. That said:

The Standard, and musican is the same, and for the most part the champion for the most part in all three, though the Guardsmaster of the Dark Shards gets +1 to hit instead.

SO lets go with the heart of our army:

All three had Darksheilds which works exactly like the shields knights have.

For the individual units themselves: Spearmen are a good defensive unit. If they have not moved this turn, get +1 to hit (boosting their hitting chance to 3+). When added with Formidable bastion, where a unit of 20+ gets another +1. Either one lets you a +3 to hit but both allow for hits of +2.

The swordsmen on the other hand is all about getting more attacks. Roll a 6 to hit, get another attack. Have 20 or more, its now on on 5’s and more. They hit slightly better then the spears, and the chance to get extra attacks, make them formidable troopers for an assault.

Dark shards are a different story. They are no longer the close combat brawlers they used to be. The to hit of 5+ for crossbows seems pitiful, but I think most of us were rolling those anyways the last few editions, but as long as the enemy is more then 3 inches away, and the unit has more then 20 minies, you get +1 to hit. In any case I think this balances things out as they do get 2 ranged attacks each, hit as hard in wounding as a mettle shaft entering a skull needs to be, and otherwise ok. Decent range, again I think this is all for the sake of balance.



Now for the Dark Riders:

They have the same basic 5+ to hit like with Dark shards, have shields, but no real bonuses save for the Champion. The rest of the upgrades also work. They main difference is they get 3 shots. So 5 of these guys means 15 attacks, while 10 means 30. Add the speed of darksteeds, hard hitting close combat abilities (ponies aside), they have a new ability: So Terror and confusion. If an enemy within 14 inches takes a battle shock test, you can make them reroll 1’s. This I think fits their fluff perfectly, and I cannot wait to see how they work in battle.


Overal: The core three (spear, crossbow, and sword) have been greatly impoved, with abilities to improve hits or gain a extra number of attacks. I think their biggest draw back will not effect players likemyself who have been collecting them when their price range and number per unit fluctuated dramaticly between 6th edd and now, but a newer player will not as things are going to be pricy for them and these are units that demand to come in mass. While I think part of the charm of crossbows was that they could fend for themselves in close combat, I think their abilities ballence out.

Dark riders have greatly impoved. They can come in small units, and while there is no bonuses to incentifiise going larger their number of shooting attacks do. That or have sevral small units and let their new ability do all the work.
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Re: Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

Post by Cornix »

Sorry to be joining this thread late.

I have played 20 or so games with my beloved Druchii in AoS now and have tried many (although not all) of the units available. Many of your "guessamacations" are accurate. I will give you my thoughts on the units you've mentioned.

Malekith: you are correct, he is absolutely insane. I think he's probably in the top three most powerful models in the game. Archaon and Nagash are the only two in his league. Malekith is more durable but Archaon deals more damage and Nagash is the best magic caster in the game especially with his summoning potential. Very interested in seeing how they perform against one another. Seraphon in better than a regular dragon as his jaws get +1 to hit over regular dragon. His command ability is suitably powerful essentially meaning your army is immune to battleshock tests. This is so important as Aelves but especially Dark Aelves rely on block units which are susceptible to losing models via battleshock. All in all an absolute power house, if your gaming group is relatively competitive get used to using him often, if not play him too often at the risk of losing friends, he is that good.

Malus: Don't get too used to this guy, many of the characters from the world that was are not being brought back in future rule sets, although the warscroll compendiums will still be usable. He is the ultimate glass cannon, his damage output is vast however he can't take much. If you want someone to run in and kill a load but then die this is your guy. Command ability is solid but if he is your general don't expect him to be around for long.

Dreadlord: Solid support character, choice of weapons depending upon personal taste-chillblade for damage exile blade & tyrant shield for resilience. Command ability is good but due to many of our units caring about hit rolls (I'm looking at you bleakswords and especially executioners) it's not essential. The important thing about him is the price of failure rule. Firstly it is not a command ability so you always get to use it regardless of general. Secondly remember that you get to pick the order in which battleshock tests are made, so if a weaker unit is liable to fail the test take the hit and let your elite troops laugh at their misfortune.

Dreadlord: All round excellent unit, unless Malekith deems the battle worthy of his attention a great pick for general. Again is as customisable as it gets in AoS, my preference is the lance of spite over exile blades but use your favourite. The shield is fantastic, re-rolling saves especially when it starts with 14 makes him very tough indeed and also makes sure he stays closer to peek performance longer. I love the command ability, as I said earlier hit rolls are extremely important for Druchii units so pick your best unit nearby in the confidence that battleshock will be ignored and that your units are much more likely to hit. I often run a unit of 20 shades, starting out picking them and then moving over to the obligatory executioners once the combats get really juicy and you will not be disappointed. My go to general if Malekith is too busy plotting.

Dreadlord on cold one: underwhelming. Has durability especially compared to Malus, but isn't likely to do much. Command ability only useful in cold one heavy armies. If theming list is good other than that I often wouldn't pack him in the case.

Master with battle standard: cool rather than good. Banner of murder is good but in order to gain maximum benefit will need to plant him. Treachery and power is an ability oozing Druchii fluff. If your general is near death keep the master nearby so that if general dies the command ability can be retained, but don't expect to keep it long, not the most resilient of characters.

Sorry, I waffled longer than anticipated. Hope my experiences and input helps solidify your ideas. We have access to some great characters, may they help lead your armies to victory.
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Re: Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

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Here is the continuation of my experience of the units you've mentioned. I will try to be more brief, no promises.

General Principles-virtually all sorceresses are fantastic support characters, all of our specialist spells do damage or are hexes in old terms. Don't underestimate the usefulness of mystic shield (remember they stack) and arcane bolts, very good spells. However in combat they struggle, as they tend not to have many attacks or hit frequently. Get them in cover (preferably arcane) and let them do their thing.

Sorceress: Blood sacrifice is cool, be careful though. It kills a model rather than wounds, so don't use it on CoK or anything too good, also the wound will cause potential issues in battleshock phase. Word of pain is good, just the one damage but the -1 to hit in all phases can be very useful. In the vein of the hexes we all loved from the world that was.

Sorceress on Dragon: For blood sacrifice see above. Bladewind is good, but is better against weaker opposition so pick targets carefully, not often I would use this over arcane bolt. Where the sorceress has downsides is only getting to cast unbind one spell each turn and 5+ save. If compared against equivalent spell casters (HE archmage for example) it doesn't do well. The dreadlord on dragon may only get +1 on save compared to sorceress but the rerolls due to shield make huge difference. People will target her, a lot.

Sorceress on cold one: tougher than sorceress but chillwind is not good. Could not think of many times I'd use it over arcane bolt, perhaps if I wanted to roll lots of dice and had a model I wanted to sacrifice with a dagger.

Morathi: Excellent, more resilient than cold one sorceress extra attack and +1 to hit means not terrible in combat. +1 to cast without killing own models is very useful. Black horror is marginally better than arcane bolt but her main strength is you get both. Only malekith and Morathi get to cast two spells. rare she doesn't make my list.

Beastmaster on Manticore: You are spot on, cool and good in monster themed list but not a dragon rider, obviously both is nice but that depends upon how monster intensive your gaming group is. Also not GW did not give him the fly special rule, guessing this is goingto rectified later but for the moment those wings are just for show.

Cold One Knights: The closest unit we have to an anvil. 4+ save with rerolls very durable. Often my pick if opponents pick blunt as a sudden death victory condition. Do a fair amount of damage on charge but don't expect too much if not charging, exactly as cavalry should be. Very solid unit.

Cold One Chariots: I have not used these, mostly because I don't think they're that good. If you play with them and they perform well please let me know.

Again hope this helps.
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Re: Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

Post by Calisson »

Thanks a lot Cornix for your battle-proven testimony.
Exactly what we needed here.
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Re: Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

Post by Cornix »

You're very welcome.

I have loved every game with them so far. There are several units I've not used yet, a synergistic corsair battleshock army needs to see play and I have used witch elves or cauldron yet. The latter is mostly due to proliferation of Exiled Blood Cult armies in the League I'm playing in. Out of 15 people 6 are using elves one a wood elf/high elf shooting army, one a phoenix themed high elf, 3 blood cults and me using generic Dark Elves.

The high elf player (my Nemesis and one of my best friends) and I have 100% percent records, the league section finishes Sunday with top four going into knockout style finals the Saturday after. Expecting he and I to meet in the finals. I'll let you know how it goes.
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Re: Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

Post by Phox532 »

I have played 3 or 4 games now an my army is set up around Cold Ones. I'll post my 75 wound Army that I normally field under my comments on the units. As a disclaimer here, I am limited in that in my group we can't use named models (this pisses me off cause I want my Helborn).

Dreadlord on cold one: I think that he is a beast off the charge. His re-rolls 1 and 2 is awesome, especially if you can get toeing some cover. I know that in a couple battles in 3 of my four games he save the day for me more than an other unit and his Command is great if you are Cold one focused. If you are to use the Exile WarHost Battle plan, then you looking at some great hits and wound boost to the rest of your Murderous Dion Riders.

Cold One Knights: In my battles the Knights have proved to be the Hammer on the Charge and the most disappoint unit on the field after the charge. Like the Dreadlord I like them fighting on terrain if possible. The Dark Shield help soak on damage when in cover. But they have to have the charge to really do their damage.

Cold One Chariot: I have had mixed success here. In 2 games it was awesome and really did some major damage on the charge and was great at pinning units down like skinks and dwarf hammers, in the other to games it died in turn one to dwarf artillery and then in turn two to a giant. So here you could be right it not that great.
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Saintofm
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Re: Thoughts on New Eddition Units.

Post by Saintofm »

Good to know. Thank you all for the comments and insights, and I will hope to get a chance to break mine in.

Speaking of break, its been a while since we looked at some units and we need something for those that want to talk like a pirate.

Corsairs, I love them, one of my favorte units. I will not commplaine too much about pricing as I have a unit of 40 of them and half of that is pewter, so their pricing and the amount you get for that has always been an issiue.

In any case they come in one of two varieties: Armed with a repeting handbow which works like a crossbow for darkshards but the range dropped to 9 inches. Its that or the standard 2 hand weapon attack. I have mixed feelings as the weapon in the off hand is a little weaker but it gives it a bit of realisom in there as again, off hand. The Wicked Cutlas is average for elves to hit and wound while the vicious blade wounds on a 5+. Still an extra attack, and I can't help but feel this is so the unit is not overpowered.

Unit upgrades are standard, Reavers get +1 to hit with anything, and the unit has a save of 5+ and seadragon cloaks which I drooled over on the Beastmaster on Manticore a few posts ago. Standards and Hornblowers are standard.

The Fleshing steel rule allows the unit to rerole 1's to hit if the have more then 20 guys, so anther unit that is go big or go home.

I am happy to report a variation of the Slaver's rule is back with Ravager's and Slavers: For each enemy model that is fleeing within 6" of the unit you get to role a dice. On a 6 anotherr mini also flees but is taken captive.

In SHort: Still one of my favorite units in the game, sea dragon cloaks are awsome as is their Ravagers and Slaver's Rule. I have mixed feelings about the off hand weapon, and I think the unit's steep price tag will prevent newer players from taking advantage of Flensing Steel rule.

Charecters are also good here, espesialy the Fleetmaster. Now he is the intimidating badass I think GW was going for when they first introduced him. The Black Ark Cutlass has alot of attacks and hits easy but wounds average. That said Murderous Swashbuckler allows this guy to reroll failed hits with the cutlass. The Murder hook though packs a punch and even has some rending to it.

His Comand Ability is also good, allowing one exile unit within range to rerole hits of 1 (1 and 2 it its a corsair unit).

Again, nothing wrong with him, and GW has finaly done him justice.

Lokhir never seases to disapoint. I don't think he's ever been bad really. 7th ed when he was introduced he was taylored made for dealing hoards; this was toned done a bit for 8th edd but he still had it in him to take on units that came in mass. Now he's more a brawler for other heros.

5 attacks that are easy to hit and average to wound are decent enough. Red blades allow him to reroles failed hits, and between a sea dragon cloak and a Kraken helm that heals a wound each of his hero phases, he is going to stick around.

Daring leap continues 3 editions in a row, going Earl Flinn to reach his foe to go from 6" from an enemy hero to to half an inche from one.

The Comand ability though is just strait evil, and I love it. Should he use it, every enemy mini that is fleeing and is within 6" of yours truly, a Fleet Master, or a unit of Corsairs has to roll a dice. On a 4 or higher that unit looses another mini as they run and get captured. Combine this with what corsairs, harpies, and dark riders have and you can see a few more units breaking all togeather.

Speaking of Harpies, they have no number cap, but need a minimum of 5. While they can fly around, be your skirmisher screen, and take on shooty units with more ease now, you may want to have a few units just flying around as Prey Upon the Weak Rule wokes like the Ravagers and Slaver's rule. So these lovly ladies have only impoved, and most of us are big bashing anyways so can't complain there.

Reapers have never been better. SO long as they have both crewmen still alive and well, you have a 4+ to hit range attack that is easy to wound and has rend that fires 12 shots. The Reaper Bolts rule allows 6's to wound go from one damage to 2 so while limited has the potential to deal some serious damage to a enemy unit. By itself or paired up, I can't wait to used these guys again.
Who needs sanity? I have a Hydra
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