They say that the best songs (and most Country
music (though a Venn diagram of both will have perilously little cross over, it
has to be said)), are written about heartbreak.
With this in mind I thought the appropriate
thing would be to penning my initial look at the Kingdom of Equitaine book in
lyrical form – perhaps a nice A Capella rap, or a stirring sea shanty?
But no, the purer (duller) part of my soul told
me– that would be selfish. My love for the Kingdom, for all the unbridled
furiously destructive brightness of its heat, was a shallow one. It is not my
place to tarnish the true beauty of the love others have for the fair fields of
Equitaine with my soul-cracking sobs of despair.
You see – other than the look of things
(depending on where you got models from), there was precisely one things that
*really* got me going (and one that I quite liked) from the amassed ranks of
the Kingdom of Equitaine’s warhost. It was with grim inevitability that I saw
the mighty divine hammer of nerfdum strike down these valorous paladins to the
light, casting them down into the muddy shadows - their infamy all the worse
for the still-fresh memories of their recent glory.
For those wondering, my lost love is that cornerstone
of Arthurian legend – the Questing Knight.
The old version, with its ability to skirmish
and a wide range of threats it caused multiple wounds to, it unlocked a never
before understood chamber of joy in my soul. The options offered by the lateral
movement speed of skirmishing heavy knights allowed for never-before seen
technical flexibility. These were, to me, the single most joyous unit I have
had the pleasure to use in this game (or over twenty years of the Old Game).
The most beautiful thing about it all was that they weren’t close to
over-powered, they were just *fun*.
The loss of them as the unit they were hurts me
in a very real way (it has been a very long day to be fair), and I will park it
there – no more need be said.
Knights on a Quest...
The next source of my affection is an
interesting academic study in what I guess we have learnt to call the ‘meta’.
The GrailStar, to me, represented everything
that was the noble Kingdom of Equitaine. The mightiest warriors and heroes of
that fair land, devout in their holy beliefs, patiently waiting for their
general to engineer the true and decisive Alexandrian stroke that would win the
day in a thunderous clash of lance and hoof.
It turns out, if the internet (and the
mouthpieces of the Dark Conclave of the Faceless TM pending)
see this as a far too powerful tool for the horselords of Equitaine (arguments
as to it being ‘boring’ hold less water, as we all find different things
boring). I find this fascinating (even more fascinating that I find the view
over on the VC forums that Vampire Knights and Varkolaks are the otter’s
teeth). The accepted truth in the circles I play (and discuss playing) with
could not be further from the truth. It feels that the frontal power of a fully
operational GrailStar is rather akin to the Spice Girls – you remember they
were a big deal, but upon closer inspection you realise they are not actually
that hot and can easily dealt with (the analogy admittedly falls apart at the
end there).
I can’t really imagine a combat army having a
main combat threat that is any weaker than it, and I can’t imagine an avoidance
army that would care about it. I will leave it in the capable words of my ever
so slightly gruff England team mate who took KoE to an event recently “Grail Star
is a f*****g waste of life”.
Manfully setting aside these painful wounds, I
have to say that the work in v0.99.0 is rather impressive in its scope.
That said from the off as I started reading the
book and I was *extremely* puzzled by the design decision taken here.
I have not had a chance to listen to the audio
sample provided at the sneak peek stage, but it does appear that the powers
that be have decided that they don’t *really* like KoE having knights, and that
what they need to do is take a lot more infantry. This is strange for a couple
of reasons – firstly (and most importantly), is this is directly counter to the
pre-existing views on the matter, and secondly, surely that is the blurring the
lines with the dirty Empire of Sonnstahl?
Setting aside this preconceived notion, I
thought I would have a closer (if still rather quick) look:
THE KINGDOM OF EQUITAINE
- The Blessing has been changed in a very cool way – no longer costing first turn and being flexible as to its actual benefit is great. It would be better (and thematically make more sense) if you got to choose before each game, but one mustn’t look at that ol’ gift horse in the mouth after all. You also don’t seem to lose it for fleeing or declining challenges (not that any knight would ever do either!)
- Lance Formation and Jousting still allow for a lot of lance attacks. Good. That would have been awkward if not.
- No more stompy stomp for the clipperty clops though.
- Serfs now move quicker when near one of their betters. This is good – clearly all the lower classes need is inspirational leadership.
- The Oaths remain broadly the same, in that they are Fealty, Questing and Grail. Questing knights became tankier but cause less damage to more things now, and those puritanical walking (riding) saints no longer have Divine Attacks.
- Not too much change in the world of Virtues at face value (though the way they will be used does change). Virtue of Piety’s bonus being capped at 5+ for 60 points seems a tad hardcore for me. Ogre players should keep an eye out on the much discussed Virtue of Might and a certain lance a page later.
- Magic Items are still a thing thankfully. Most of the changes are points tweaks – the Dragon Lance seems overcosted to me for d3 wounds (unless used with a certain virtue).LordsPoints tweaks appear to be the order of the day around here, and who is going to complain about points drops?
- The Grail Damsel has got a lot cheaper – but then you notice the army has lost access to the Path of Light – which is frankly bizarre (can make an easy argument they should have it more than anyone else). I don’t buy balancing arguments at all – plenty of other armies that benefit from it even more still have access to it. Unicorns are a lot cheaper. So life is still good.Heroes
- Paladin spam has been kneecapped, which is probably a good thing. Positive points tweaks for them and their ladies continues this encouraging trend.
- The Castellan keeps its impressively cheap cost, but with a notable stat boost. You also see the first encouragement to take a lot peasants. Your 40 hero points gives any low born peasants he joins Weapon Master (which can actually be a pretty big deal), and if you have an army entirely made up of models who don’t know their place in society you can upgrade him to have the same Ld as a Duke… (that doesn’t feel quite right…)Core
- Knights Aspirants now get Frenzy on the charge [cue evil laughter at all the overrun fun].
- It’s around here you notice that Equitainean horses are really angry, and gain Thunderous Charge… yay I guess?
- Knights of the Realm can now take Morning Stars or Flails… but at the expense of their shields and at a rather steep cost. Interesting choice though.
- Peasant Levy get a massive discount in cost for starting off. Lose their old Battle Hardened option though.
- Bowmen are now capped to 30 models (fine), and may take Crossbows if your army has Crusaders (which means it doesn’t have Knights of the Realm... I am going to need a chalk board with some flow diagrams to see if that’s worth it).Special
- I have cried my tears for Questing Knights. Let us move on (I should point out they can have scout and vanguard… so there, I have).
- Pegasus are still ridden by your common knight alas, though they are marginally cheaper now. Barding remains terrifyingly expensive (but potentially worth it). If Flying units didn’t count as having zero ranks I would love these guyes.
- Yeoman Outriders exist
- Knights Forlorn are very cool. No idea how good they are, but they definitely are cool. The ability to have a decent combat infantry unit ambushing on the board can make things very interesting indeed. I love everything about these guys (just wish they were mounted).
- Peasant Crusaders gives you a stubborn unit for 6 points a model, which does open up options. You could probably do something with paired weapons on these guys to hit at I5… Sprinkle in some magic buffs and profit?
Knights Forlorn?Rare
- Grail Knights. Well you will have noticed I manfully got over the death of the GrailStar earlier. It should be said you *can* join characters to the unit (they just cant be very good ones). Interesting political viewpoint these Grail chaps have, where it appears that insignificant people are pure enough to ride with them, but anyone significant is impure. The Grails themselves seem fine – I think darts of 3 for 90 points could be a thing. Paying 38 points (42 if you want divine attacks) for additional chaps is extremely expensive.
- The Green Knight sitting in the rare slot is cool. I like the idea of him ambushing around. Unfortunately I think that that points investment for a 4 attack unstable model is *very* painful. Will be very cool in some matchups, and gets a bucketful of Cool Points though.
- Warmachines, we are down to scorpions and Trebuchets. Deal with it, this is a Good Thing.
- Sacred Reliquary is in Rare these days. It has suitably Peasant-buffing abilities – Blessing, Fight in Extra Ranks and reroll 1s to wound (combined with some sort of magic buff) could well be useful with a big halberd unit. Seems cool.So, overall, it all seems rather solid. The designers (evil though they are) seem to have gone for a more historical/Henry V at Agincourt/actual crusades approach to this army than the classical view of KNIGHTS!!! And little else.
Peasant Power!Some of the touches are cool (I really do like Forlorn Knights), but I do worry a bit about the differentiation between this army and the Empire – is it just that those imperial guys get gunpowder, better armor and, well, better stuff? I guess I will have to read that book to work it out.The encouragement to go more MSU is cool here, I can picture a nice fully mixed arms force on the table where a good general will get the heavy hitting knights to work alongside the large infantry blocks whilst little darts of Grail Knights, Pegasus and ambushing Forlorn Knights cause all sorts of havoc in awkward places.In short, this has the early feel of an army that will not necessarily be easy to use to fantastic success, but that will reward good play in a satisfying way.And no, I am not over my Questing Knight pain :(Until next time!Raf
No comments:
Post a Comment