9th New Special Rules

[Amboadine]

Thought I would kick off a thread to start discussing the new 9th army special rules.
Please comment on any balance issues, thoughts, considerations etc so we can feedback to the 9th Age committee.
This is a great opportunity to be able to influence the direction of the new list.

Killer Habits

A model or part of a model with this special rule may re-roll all natural to wound rolls of “1” in close combat.

Master of the Dark Arts

If your army includes one or more models with this rule, add an additional +1 to channel attempts for power dice.

Aura of Despair

Enemy units in base contact with one or more units with this special rule roll an extra D6 for Leadership tests
(excluding break tests) and discard the lowest dice.

Alpha Predator

A Monster with this special rule has +1 Weapon Skill, Initiative and Leadership

Fleet Commander

Models with this Special Rule have a Innate Defence (5+) and may nottake any mount. When a model with this Special
Rule joins a unit of Dread Corsairs, Warriors or Repeaters, the model and all rank and file models in the unit gain
Swiftstride, and enemy units that break from a combat with this combined unit roll an additional D6 for the fleeing
distance roll and discard the highest die.
If the General of the army has this Special rule, one unit of Dread Corsairs may have the Vanguard Special Rule for
1 pts/model.

Beast Commander

Friendly units of Cavalry, Monstrous Cavalry, Monsters, and War Beasts within 12” of a model with this Special Rule
may roll 3D6 for Leadership tests and discard the highest die. Mounted models with this Special Rule roll 3D6 for
Leadership tests and discard the highest dice for Frenzy and Stupidity tests.
At the beginning of every Close Combat round, one Monster or Cavalry unit within 6" of a modelwith this SpecialRule
may gain the Hatred Special Rule for the remainder of the round. If a Cavalry unit is chosen, only the mounts are
affected.

Cult of Blood

Cult of Blood characters and Cult of Blood units containing a Cult of Blood characters gain the
Thunderous Charge special rule.

Cult of Lust

Cult of Lust characters and Cult of Lust units containing a Cult of Lust characters gain the Armour Piercing (1)
special rule.

Blessing of the Dark Gods

At the start of each game turn until the end of that turn, a friendly unit with the Killer Habits special rule within 6” of an
Altar may gain one of the blessings listed below. This range is increased to 12”if itis mounted by a Cult High Priestess.
A single unit cannot be affected by more than one Blessing of the Dark Gods at any time.

Blessings of the Dark God (Blood)

- Hard Cover
- +1 Attack
- +1 to wound in close combat.

Blessings of the Dark God (Lust)

- Ward Save (5+)
- +1 Movement and Strider
- Armour Piercing is increased by +1.

Cult Rivalry

- Cult models may not affect units containing models of another cultwith Inspiring Presence,Hold your Ground,
or Blessings of the Dark Gods.
- Cult Character models cannot join units of a different cult or units containing a character model from a
different cult.

[DarkSky]

Killer Habits - Already known minor buff.
Master of the Dark Arts - Replaces Hekarti's Blessing. Is certainly (much) weaker than the blessing, but combos nicely with Warlocks.
Aura of Despair - First I thought, 'wow' then I read the exclusion of break tests. I only can think of fear and combat reform as tests you do in close combat. So basically it is a: If you have fear, and the other one doesn't the fear test will be much harder. We had that as a 15 point gift of Khaine, so my verdict is: Meh!
Alpha Predator - Ok I guess, the idea is nice, but it doesn't change how a monster is used, so it boils down how appropriate the points cost is.
Fleet Commander - quite cool. We'll see how balancing goes.
Beast Commander - same as fleet commander. My only issue is, that these skills are very cheap and I guess we'll see many armies having both. Especially fleet commander, only to give the innate defense to the char on foot.

Cult of Blood, Cult of Lust, Cult Rivalry - I like the (fluff) idea, but we don't have that many units to actually let these rules trigger. Additionally the Sorceress does not really want to charge into combat to give +1 AP. Would be much better, if more units could buy cult affiliation.

Blessing of the Dark Gods - has been (rightfully) nerfed in 0.9.2 already. Still very potent buffs and I like that it isn't only the attached unit. This gives more decisions and depth to the game.

[toots]

can anyone explain Master of the Dark Arts to me please?!

[Lord Drakon]

can anyone explain Master of the Dark Arts to me please?!

Magic has improved in the 9th age to my opinion. There are some major changes

1. you can use maximum of 5 dice for casting and dispelling
2. you can only channel a maximum of one extra dice, this is based on how many casters you have
3. your casters can aid each other, when they aid somebody else they add their wizard level to the casters level to a maximum of 4. This is great for dispelling, as when you have two lvl 2's, you can choose one to aid the other for a total of 4+ to the roll. When one of your casters aid another caster he can't cast any more spells, and he can't aid if he had cast any spells that turn.
4. miscasts are still terrible, but based on how many dice you rolled. Therefore a miscast on two dice (double 6) is not that bad anymore

Our special rule Master of the Dark Arts only applies to the second change. To channel dice in every cast and dispell phase you roll 1 D6. The total of this roll has to be a 7 to get the extra channelled dice. So when you have one caster, this adds +1 to your roll, so you need a 6. When you have two casters, this adds +2 to your roll, you need a five. This special rule Master of Dark Arts always adds another +1 to our roll, so we only need a roll of four with two casters instead of five.

Therefore it is something different that Hekarti's Blessing, as it is only a +1 to get that extra channel D6 in the magic phase, not +1 for casting.

[tehnico]

Killer Habits - Already known minor buff.
Cult of Blood, Cult of Lust, Cult Rivalry - I like the (fluff) idea, but we don't have that many units to actually let these rules trigger. Additionally the Sorceress does not really want to charge into combat to give +1 AP. Would be much better, if more units could buy cult affiliation.

Just a quick exercise. The Razor Standard was (still is) 45 pts. If I path my Oracle for 20pts, and I take a 25 pack of corsairs now, and upgrade them to chosen of yema they get the aura hex and AP for the same price as using the RB on my BSB. Now I take the Icon of the Relentless Company to triple my march rate, and with a fleet commander throw on vanguard for another 25pts. A BSB can stack another banner too. Rerolling wounds of 1 and 2 would be nice, or go with the movement banner for an extra three inches.

I just moved my character supported and buffed Corsairs 27-30" after the first turn. Follow it up with a Cold one knight charge to leverage the Aura buff. I could instantly own an entire flank.

I'm gonna try this, I have a game of 9th after Christmas.

[Diobarach]

There is a lot of scouting out there now. I'm not sure you can be sure of a vanguard anymore. Also if you have I assume at least 2 combat characters in the corsairs (fleetmaster + bsb) you are losing the attacks of the corsairs, wouldn't spearmen be better since they come with AP 1 now (have lethal strike against cav) and can be cheaper. Or do you want the throwing weapons?

I don't understand how the cold knights leverage the aura buff?

[tehnico]

... Also if you have I assume at least 2 combat characters in the corsairs (fleetmaster + bsb) you are losing the attacks of the corsairs...

Am I missing a rule? Sorry this is all new. Does having these guys prevent me from corsair attacks?

...I don't understand how the cold knights leverage the aura buff?

The Aura of Despair causes a reverse cold blooded leadership check on the fear test. I'm suggesting a flank charge with both units to trigger the buff.

[Diobarach]

... Also if you have I assume at least 2 combat characters in the corsairs (fleetmaster + bsb) you are losing the attacks of the corsairs...

Am I missing a rule? Sorry this is all new. Does having these guys prevent me from corsair attacks?

No. But the characters go in the front rank, so you lose 4 attacks with corsairs vs 2 with spears. I suppose the AP banner is for the characters and not so much the corsairs.

...I don't understand how the cold knights leverage the aura buff?

The Aura of Despair causes a reverse cold blooded leadership check on the fear test. I'm suggesting a flank charge with both units to trigger the buff.

Ok, cold ones don't cause fear anymore, so if you have something that cause fear that would make sense, just didn't see how cold ones were triggering it.

[tehnico]

... Also if you have I assume at least 2 combat characters in the corsairs (fleetmaster + bsb) you are losing the attacks of the corsairs...

Am I missing a rule? Sorry this is all new. Does having these guys prevent me from corsair attacks?

No. But the characters go in the front rank, so you lose 4 attacks with corsairs vs 2 with spears. I suppose the AP banner is for the characters and not so much the corsairs.

Oh, I see what you mean. The Characters have the extra strength anyway so it evens out the armour save portion at least. I'm not too concerned about losing buffed Corsair attacks to something even better.

...I don't understand how the cold knights leverage the aura buff?

The Aura of Despair causes a reverse cold blooded leadership check on the fear test. I'm suggesting a flank charge with both units to trigger the buff.

Ok, cold ones don't cause fear anymore, so if you have something that cause fear that would make sense, just didn't see how cold ones were triggering it.

OOOOOOhhhhhhh, I get it. NM then. Just monsters then eh? Dust off the Hydra I suppose. Thanks!

[Diobarach]

Ok, I think I misunderstood what you were going for, good luck in your games.