Rare
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Doomfire Warlocks------------------------
Rating: 5/5
Review: Right now, these guys are the best Fast Cavalry in the game. Period.
They are Str 4 base, each guy has 2 attacks, Movement 9, a 4+ Ward Save, Poison Attacks, Always Stike First, and they are a unit that acts as a Lvl 2 wizard know Doombolt and Soulblight. They don't miscast, they just take D3 wounds which they can attempt their ward save against. And for every rank of them you have, they get +1 to casting spells. All of this for just 5 more points than a Dark Rider.
There are a couple of small minor problems with them though. Their Ward Save doesn't work against models with the Mark of Slannesh, not a big deal since Slannesh themed armies aren't exactly popular and their Weapon Skill on them is 4 so they will be rolling on 4+ to hit more often than many of our other elite units. Then there's the small problem they are a Rare choice, and while they are cheap enough to fit in they fill roughly the same role as Dark Riders and those guys will help fill out our mandatory Core. However these are all minor problems which are easy to mitigate.
Currently there's a wealth of possibilities being thrown around on what we can do with these guys. Taking out enemy Warmachines is always a safe bet as well as hitting enemy gun lines. Then there's the idea that we can use them as escorts for our Sorceresses. With a 4+ Ward Save, they should be able to survive a miscast while getting the Sorceress (as well as themselves) close to the enemy to reign havoc. Then there's the thought that a unit of 10 or so of them can even fill the roll of our Cold One Knights and charge into the ranks of the enemy. With a 4+ Ward, 2 Attacks each at Str 4, and the option of casting Soul Blight, they can reliably take out annoying enemy units. And with a movement of 9, they can reliably hit the enemy's flanks or rears without much problem. Did I mention they buff very well too.
Then there's their spell casting abilities. Since they only suffer D3 wounds from a miscast, which they can use their ward save against, they can reliably attempt to cast Doombolt and Soulblight on a large number of dice. This is less good when you consider it's eating up dice your Sorceress can cast, but considering they can get into close range to the enemy in 1 and most of our spells have a range of 18" or less, it's a round of spell casting we might not normally have. Even then, both Doombolt and Soulblight are excellent spells worth throwing multiple dice at and then we don't have to risk a miscast from our sorceress. Remember Doombolt can throw 4D6 Str 5 attacks in its big version, but need 24+ to cast. Basically you need to throw 6 dice to get it off, something the Warlocks can safely do but a Sorceress can't.
Finally it's worth noting that since they don't generate these spells randomly, you can get Doombolt and Souldblight with every Warlock unit. This opens up the possibility of things like moving your Warlocks into position and getting multiple of enemy units with Soulblight, -1 Str and -1T, putting them at a serious disadvantage against our army.
Edit: It has been pointed out that saying they are a viable alternative to Cold One Knights is a bit wishful thinking and that they are competting with the Sorceress for precious power dice. Also it should be noted that any spell they cast can be dispelled while the enemy will have trouble stopping crossbow shots. I still think they're brilliant, but it's worth noting this.
Bloodwrack Medusa---------------------------
Rating: 1/5
Review: Well she's sort of cool. Wish she was called a Gorgon, but I guess GW thinks we don't know Greek Mythology well enough to know that Gorgons are a species and Medusa was a member of that species. Also I wish she just straight up turned units to stone instead of causing them some kind of weird bleeding attack thing. Anyways though,
Her main feature is that she has a range attack that can fire 4 shots of her "stare". It hits with Str4, ignores armor, has killing blow, and you get to replace the targets toughness with it's initiative. In theory this would make her an excellent monster killer, but she is stuck with a range of 12" and a Ballistic Skill of 5. She has 7 movement so getting in close isn't exactly a problem and on average she can hit on 4+ and 5+'s. Not bad. Unfortunately she has Leadership 2 and Frenzy.
So instead of a lone wolf prowling the battlefield and killing off monsters at will, you have a cowardly psycho that will charge the closest enemy to her unless your General is within Inspiring Presence Range. Awesome. This might not be a problem if she was good in Close Combat, but she isn't.
This girl only has 3 attacks, 4 if you count Frenzy at Str 4. No armor, just a toughness of 4. She does get an initative attack where all enemy models in base contact have to take an initiative test or suffer a Str4 hit, killing blow, no armor saves allowed. Unfortunately this attack will now go against the target's toughness instead of initiative, so suddenly she isn't killing enemy monsters anymore.
Overall she's just not worth the hassle to babysit her with your general just to have something to kill enemy monsters. It would have been nice, but her leadership of 2 and frenzy make her too much of a loose cannon to be viable.
Bloodwrack Shrine---------------------------
Rating: 3/5
Review: While the Medusa is pretty useless without her shrine, with it she starts to shine. Now she is a chariot that has Scythed Wheels and can march just like the Cauldron of Blood. In addition to all of her other abilities you also get a nice leadership aura that makes enemies within 6" suffer -1 to their leadership while boosting yours by +1. You also get Terror and a point of magic resistance in the deal.
It's still not all that great, and without the Ward Save that the Cauldron of Blood provides it's juicy target for enemy artillery. However the Shrine makes the Medusa useful and the leadership ability combos nicely with all of our other new anti-leadership abilities.
If you have the right combo in mind, the Bloodwrack Shrine can be pretty awesome. Just make sure you have those combos in mind before grabbing it.
Sisters of Slaughter---------------------------
Rating: 5/5
Review: So the Wyches from 40k have entered the world of Fantasy. Hurrah, all we need to do is start feeding the souls of our slaves to Slannesh and we can complete our transformation to being the Dark Eldar
Anyways the Sisters of Slaughter are a new unit that has three major selling points. First is that so long there is one enemy in close combat with a higher Weapon Skill or Strength than the Sisters, the Sisters get +1 to both hit and wound. So if they get into close combat with Saurus Warriors or almost any unit with a Character, they'll be reliably hitting on 2+'s and wounding on a minimum of 5+. Not to shabby.
Next is that the Sisters get a 4+ Ward save in close combat, a life saver that can help them take on some of the toughest foes in the game and have a shot at holding their own. The only draw back is like their Wych cousins in 40k, they don't get it against range attacks or spells. So unless you get them into Close Combat fast, basic shooting and spells can slaughter your defenseless and expensive elves with ease.
Last is the interesting ability, possibly their best ability, that one unit in base contact loses all of their rank bonuses. They still get steadfast, but otherwise they lose all of their rank bonuses. So if you have 3 ranks of sisters before close combat, you'll have a combat resolution of 3+ to start. Throw a Warbanner and the Battlestanard with them and it becomes a 5+. As has been suggested by Scyloc, if you put them with the Bloodwrack Shrine, they'll also help break the enemy by taking away -1 leadership.
All of these abilities together mean that while they don't have any high strength attacks, they can reliably win combat and break enemy units so long as they get into close combat. It's a common problem in our army, but these girls are so expensive that their deaths will mean a lot more than the end of a unit of Witch Elves. They have to stay alive.
One last note on these girls is that they are the bane of the Skaven. The ratmen rely on their rank bonuses in order to up their leadership. Once the sisters get into close combat with them, the leadership of their units drop to 7 even if they are in range of their general. If the general isn't there or you get Shroud off, it falls even further. This means so long as you can get the Sisters into Close Combat with Skaven blocks, they'll start crumbling fast. All those 100 man blocks of Slaves we know and love can easily be taken down by the Sisters so long as they get into close combat with them, making them a Skaven player’s worst nightmare.
Other armies that have trouble with them in theory would be the Undead and Daemons. Both armies lack shooting and once the Sisters get into close combat, their bonus combat resolution will start causing them to crumble or go unstable much faster than other units can. It's not as bad as with Skaven, but it's worth noting.
In short, they are a great unit and I'm certain they'll get more popular as we use them more and more.
Kharibdyss
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Rating: 4/5
Review: The much talked about KRib monster and potential replacement for the War Hydra.
So the KRib is a deathmachine with Str 7 and 5 Attacks. It also gets an additional D6 attacks provided all of it's previous attacks hit. It also has Poison Attacks which give it an additional edge in Monster vs Monster fights. Overall its pretty handy for killing those heavily armored Chaos Warriors or hurting Monsterous Cavalry.
However it's big selling point in my mind is that it has an ability that causes the enemy to have to reroll successful terror leadership tests. So any enemy units that are away from their General and BSB can be nicely scared off by our Krib without a fight, something made better if combined with our wonderful Shroud spell. It doesn't work against anything immune to psychology or that has fear, but there should still be plenty of targets in the game that shoudl be easy to kill.
So if it's so awesome, why did I only give it 4/5? Well as I learned in my test game, the Krib is pretty easy to kill.
Unlike a lot of monsters in the game, it has pretty weak defenses. It only has Toughness 5, a 4+ Armor Save, 5 wounds, and no regen. A couple of solid artillery hits and your KRib will be gone before it can even hurt anything. That and in close combat, unless you choose your battles carefully, the enemy should get a few wounds through every time and slowly whittle away it him.
Then there's the problem that it has Leadership 6, so it's susceptible to panic and can easily break in Close Combat if it loses. So you will want to make sure it's in matchups it will reliably win or make sure your general is near him at all times.
It does have Imitative 4, so it won't be taken down easily by Pits of Shade or Purple Son, so that's some small comfort. This should mean it will strike before its enemies in close combat, guaranteeing some damage.
With careful planning and possibly a Sorceress of Life, the Krib is pretty awesome. However it requires that extra planning and preparation or else it are just free points to the enemy. It's why I put it on an equal playing field as the Hydra, despite popular opinion, because the Hydra can get back its wounds and is now a Special Choice. I will admit though it comes down to play style and how you are building your army.
Still for all my criticism, it's an awesome monster and a welcome addition to our army.
There is no such thing of defeat, just the postponement of victory.
, but not here.
