Initital Impressions - Beast Herds 0.99.0

The goat-headed children of the Dark Gods have always appeared to be rather an ill-fitting concept.

 

The physical manifestation of that which goes bump in the night is hard enough, but to also have to represent the threat the bestial fury of nature untamed represented to isolated human settlements is a tough ask (I like to picture it as the set from Sleepy Hollow, but with slightly less Johnny Depp and a dash more naked bipedal goat dudes).

 

Everything has always been problematic for these poor guys – just ask anyone who still remembers the Old Game. In the old background stories there was a lot of what can probably be best defined as Hentai (the writers were, after all, heavy metal dudes (and should therefore be trusted only slightly more than Country fans)) – there was a lot of random mutations, weird tentacles and all that good stuff.

 

At some point it turned out that Beast Herds were actually secret racial supremacists, brutally putting down anything that wasn’t directly related to the Goat, Cow or Pig families. One assumes countless screams echoed into silence as they butchered the mighty Rabbit clans that must surely have existed (philosophers remain divided about whether a hypothetical scream that no one heard in a forest makes any sound). And don’t you *DARE* say that they are the same as Vermin Swarm, but, you know, goats (and therefore more stupid).

[You may think I jest – but seriously, there is a pack of goats terrorising a town in New Zealand – these boys play hard-core.]

 

Pureblood FTW!

 

As things settled down the tentacle goodness became vague memories, and the racial purity became the accepted norm (these goats have good PR), and the approach to using Beast Herds on the table slowly started to stabilise.

 

Putting comparative power levels to one side, the Dark Conclave of the Faceless TM pending (who, it is rumoured, employ the same PR agency as these goats) appeared to have get the flavour just about right.

 

 

Brutal combat power (I have been head-butted by a goat, it was not as funny as it sounds), arguably similar in its application style to Orcs, but with the added dimension of a heavy utilisation of the Ambush mechanic to try and recreate the enveloping nature of hunters closing in on prey. Come to think of it though, two things come to mind:

•             Whoever lets a Giant (even if he is sober!) creep up behind their army needs to fire their scouts; and

•             Seriously – who taught goats to eat meat?!

I have not paid much heed to the various changes leading up to the release of 0.99.0, but my overlying feeling going in is that, fundamentally, Beast Herds may be the single most brutal combat army in the game. An army that has wide access to combat rerolls that combines bulk with teeth will always have the potential to completely remove opponents from the table. They will, of course, have some bad matchups, but the DNA here is impressive.

 

 

BEAST HERDS

 

 

Goats go to war!

 Primal Instinct – a weird combination of the film Basic Instinct and the game Killer Instinct – brutally sexy.

Drunkard – a rule written by people who have played the Irish at the ETC (and proof, (at last!) that Dwarves can hold their drink better than goats.

Pack Tactics – this is a nice touch. You would think this fitting for a sneak attack of a wolf (or velociraptor), but actually it’s always the goat you don't see that gets you…

Looted Booze – thankfully only works one way. If they had a drink that turned you from drunk to sober they could make a nice little profit.

Blood Offering – this is an interesting one. Reroll a panic at the cost of a wound is one of those rules you hope to never have to use, but *could* save you a game. Nice (some other races could thematically have similar come to think of it).

Forest Strider – not listed at the beginning, but strewn throughout the list. A very powerful ability if you think about it for a sec.

Half Horse – ok…

 

Armoury:

So, seriously, these goats could make a killing selling their weapons technology other armies.

A Staff that gives you either the benefit of a Great Weapon or Heavy Armour is some ninja baddassery (eat your heart out Donatello), and an Axe with a shield tied to the end of it has to be a good thing too…

 

Totems:

This is a very cool concept. I approve [sighs of relief all round]. A bunch of bound spell options – all of which are brilliantly synergistic with the “I am going to come over there and do bad things to you” approach to life that these (presumably kiwi) goats hold dear.

 

Magic Items:

Does The Impaler seems tad nuts, or is it just me? A bolt thrower that always hits on 3+ and is also a (foot) lance on the charge? Hard not to like.

Greathorn Helm continues to be a Minotaur Lord’s wet dream

Eye of Dominance is one of those 15 point items I have no idea if will end up in lists, but you will definitely remember the day your opponent had it and ruined your day.

Pillager Icon – 18 vanguarding Razortusks? Why not? It’s not like we are vanguarding goats here, relax people!

Dark Rain is, quite simply, an epic pain in the bum (especially if combined with the likes of the Icon above). In the right matchups it can be game over, pretty quick.

 

Lords

Minotaur Warlord – surely a challenger for the title of “best combat character in the game”? Taking away its ability to make Minotaurs core is a Good Thing. I find it hard not to love this chap – but then cows are notoriously sweethearts, so that’s not surprising really.

 

The term ‘Vanilla’ tends to have bad connotations, which is a pity because, effectively used, vanilla can elevate an entire dish. Either way, the Gnarled Soothsayer and the Beast Lord are the vanilla characters in the book, but with a handful of chilli flakes thrown in the turn up the heat. The ninja-staff wielding Soothsayer can ride a chariot (and thereby officially be boss-mode with goat nads hanging out). The Lord, not to be outdone, allows for Ambush roles to be rerolled, and for them to start coming on turn one. This is big – the opportunity cost of Ambush is something easily forgotten in the fun of freaking your opponent out, this counters that.

 

 

Boss-Mode

Heroes

Minotaur Chieftains, Beast Chieftains and Soothsayers are exactly as you would expect them to be – the hardworking chaps who are tasked with carrying banners, dispel scrolls and (presumably) slop buckets. Notably, the Soothsayer, keen to be noticed and one day become ‘Gnarled’ can ambush. The ability to tote totems around is an interesting option for the non-magical fraternity.

 

I should love the Centaur Chieftain. Its special rules kind of say it all

 

“Special Rules:

Drunkard, Half Horse”

 

Adding to this (as if you need to add anything when you open with drunken half horses – that’s a mike drop moment), is the ability to take Centaurs in core if you want this sobriety-challenged equine-featured chap to be your general (there is even a choice to buy him an extra wound and make him feel more general-like). I’m not entirely sure why I don’t love this idea (I think I may be coming down with a cold or something) I know I *should* love it – so let’s pretend I do.

 

 

Core

Wildhorn are your mainstay cattle breed combat block. 5 points a mode for a M5, WS4, T4 core trooper makes my skeletons exceptionally jealous. Smaller units can now ambush. Expect to see a unit of 50 running at you whilst smaller ones pop up next to/behind you – and then pray that the goats are only hungry…

 

Mongrel Herds are the cute itsy ones ranked up. The sneaky ones are Raiders (who have had their minimum size increased to 10, which is a Good Thing).

Feral Hounds… dogs have to be the most widely available, and least useful unit in the game (though ambushing ones could actually have a place to be fair).

 

Beast Herds having chariots has been controversial for some time - devilishly tricky to navigate forest undergrowth on a pig-pulled chariot one would assume? Turns out we were wrong. It’s so easy to bob and weave between trees in fact, that they can field Chariots in units. Because reasons.

 

 

Special

As is the clear intent in the 9th Age style, the big punch is reserved for this slot.

Minotaurs hit as hard as you wold expect - my Ghasts and Vampire Spawn (not to make this *entirely about me) are rather sad about this whole thing, so I will move one.

Longhorn Herds are hobby-ruining S6 delivery engines made flesh. Brilliantly powerful unit (not done the maths to wonder about if actually worth taking, but their power is undeniable).

 

 

Be afraid... be very afraid....

Centaurs struggle for me because of all the cool other stuff there is in the list. Cool though.

Gargoyles. Because this army needs *more* chaff.

Razortusk Herds are the secret weapon of the book (assuming there is something suitably secret about a pig the size of a Fiat hurtling towards you. 35points per model for a 4 Attack, 3 Wound S&T 5 model with M7 swiftstride (and Thunderous Charge) is flat out INCREDIBLE (and that’s before you factor in the magic support and other threats that the Herd will occupy you with. Possibly the best unit in the book.

Razortusk Chariots. As you would expect.

Briar Beast. YAY! MORE CHAFF! Ahem… Except, this is actually potentially devastating. Being able to bring it on any turn from any forest on the table will give some gun lines (or light bunkers) the absolute fits.

 

 

Rare

Cyclops are interesting. Other than being grumpy Mediterranean builders, they bring a nice mix of shooting and combat effectiveness. I am not entirely sure how it stacks up when the points get tight against the other options, but very hard to kill artillery is always interesting.

Gortachs are not the most subtle of tools. Fast. Very Strong. Very Tough. Self-Healing… I can see why The Powers limited the total number of Minotaur Lords you can have if you bring these boys to the party (though a Minotaur Lord and two Gortachs seems like an eminently terrifying option).

Jabberwocks are arguably the least weird thing about Through the Looking Glass, but I will admit they are slightly weird. An *incredibly* cheap support monster, this thing definitely has potential.

Beast Giants can ambush, and that makes me love them (from a cinematic point of view if nothing else). Otherwise, they are Giants, and therefore will definitely let you down.

 

 

And there we have it.

 

 

 

I must say I am quite impressed with the finished article. There is a lot of power here, that does without saying, but the thing that appeals to be the most is that, if used to this effect, this army can recreate the mad panic you would assume a sudden assault from hungry goats would be.

 

A tide of tough troops and monsters running at you at speed, forcing target priority decisions.

Units coming on from behind you forcing you to split your focus.

And weird things lurking in the forest ready to pounce should the opportunity announce itself.

All very very cool.

 

I think there are some traps here – the army has an overwhelming number of chaff options for unwary generals to throw points away on. Even little things like that very 9th Age fashion accessory, the Throwing Weapons, are potential points sinks.

 

For me this army probably punches people in the face better than any other army out there, and I would focus on that. There will be bad matchups out there (there always are, especially for combat armies), but there is something noble about a goat punching a man in the face.

 

 

Intial Impressions - Kingdom of Equitaine 0.99.0

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).
  ​
  Lords
  Points 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

   

Intial Impressions - Vampire Covenant 0.99.0

Well, well, well… So that happened.
Such furious geek-fu was unleashed on the universe with the simple act of uploading some pdfs that passers-by would have been forgiven for thinking some plot details of Episode 8 had leaked and we had all found out that someone was someone’s father.

Unlike Star Wars though, the Dark Conclave of the Faceless ^{TM pending} have not been shy about kicking down doors, spilling beer and flat out changing things up. For every coy lip-bite of a point tweak there is a brick of concentrated change – a suitable tool to build a wondrous palace of opportunity or shatter all your crystalline dreams, as ever it does all rather depend on your outlook on things.

The effort that has gone into all these updates is nothing if not impressive. Of course, it should be pointed out that genesis of any good zombie plague or genetically engineered killer shark is a lot of smart people putting a lot of work into something they think is a good idea – it doesn’t always work out that way.



The beauty of an immediate reaction to a release is that it is created in a pseudo vacuum – a sensory deprivation tank allowing you to float in the blissful unknown with only your own personal hopes, dreams and preconceived notions for company.
No one could possibly make certifiably accurate pronouncements on specifics within hours of 16 books being released. But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try – if for no other reason than it gives us all an opportunity to look back at ourselves in the fullness of time and laugh at the foolishness of youth.


I was tempted by kicking things off with a look at the Saurian Ancients – but (spoiler) as expected, they feel generally solid and the sneak peek wails of despair from the cheap seats bored me. Instead, I would embrace my other great love and see if it was just as good as the summer of 1969...


Vampire Covenant

I seem to spend a lot of my time laughing in a suitably superior fashion at the wacky internet and its immediate “OMG THE WORLD IS ENDING!” attitude to, well, everything… I do this, like any proper hypocrite (or upstanding gentleman), in the full knowledge that what I do and what I preach are far from aligned. I blame some distant Scottish roots in my family try, but my default position to change can veer on the side of the stubbornly sour.
Yes, I am great fun at parties.

I have rather publically bemoaned in the past that my own personal view of what the Vampire Covenant army *should* be is rather different to the authors’ (it’s the problem of loving a trope – there are so many interpretations). That said, I kept using it and found things that I enjoyed using.
It will shock no one that, being the eternal optimist that I am, I was terrified of what would be changed.

That’s probably just about enough waffle to get going – let’s right in dive in:

Special Rules

• (From rulebook) Hold Your Ground. Now keeps bigger units alive longer against hyper damage-dealing opponents.

• Master of Undeath. No longer are our generals cowed by tradition and forced to take invocation (you can sub-contract out the creation of the army I suppose). This sounds like a buff, and in the context of the cost of magic levels for a Vampire Lord, it undoubtedly is. Personally though, it’s a big nerf as I liked the flexibility of the old lvl2 set up with a shadow spell and invocation.

• Wail of Woe (the new Banshee scream) got a *very* interesting change. Gone is the messing around with leadership (and the endless complaints from WDG players about that one time, seven years ago, when a Banshee’s scream actually did something to them). Now we have what amounts to a *very* short ranged magic missile. D6+2 S4 hits is decent chaff clearance – so I am inclined to like the change straight off. No longer being able to Wail into combat is a big hit, and we have lost another tool (however ineffective) for dealing with heavily armoured opponents. I wasn’t taking Banshees before, I *could* be tempted now (but probably not).

• Awaken is now limited to doubling the size of the original unit. This is a big change that completely changes how I have to look at building lists. There is probably a sound external balance argument here, but it’s an obvious (and very painful) nerf.

• Reaper got a whole lot more powerful as you only have to pass over an enemy unit with one model to allow your whole unit to attack.

Bloodlines:
These have been nicely clarified to make it clear when you can mix bloodlines, and points-tweaks aplenty are to be had all over the shop.

• Brotherhood of the Dragon remain the martial chaos warrior wannabes, with limited changes

• Von Karnstein keep their generalist role – the Ancient Blood Power giving the Lord a Bound Thunderbolt is a great addition – I have always been a fan of Storm Caller (in the right matchup Hard Target alone will be worth 65 points). The Swiftstride power is sensibly nerfed to stop other Vampires benefiting.

• Lamia have misplaced their throwing knives somewhere, which is a pity. That said, the new mechanic where their challenges have to be accepted is brilliant. Commandment remains at the heart of infantry star’s dreams and they can now use Mesmerizing Gaze to cast Lurid Delusions. Some powerful (if hard to pull off) combos can be had with the mysterious ladies of the night.

• Strigoi keep their role (in my mind) as the “obvious” choice, but now with the added bonus of being able to have Beastial Bulk and stop feeling inadequate next to Ghasts. This one has me all sorts of excited.

• Nosferatu pay slightly less for all the levels, and can finally give the Vampire Covenant Magic Flux dice altering mechanics (in a very dangerous way if overused of course). This is the one thing that may make me consider taking these least sexy of all the vampires (not that I find blood sucking dead things sexy or anything, but if you *had* to rank them…)

Magic items

• Eternal Ring is an interesting new (and expensive) addition to the ranks. A one off 2+ ward after the first failed armour save in the game, and immunity to lethal strike and multi wounds. In the exact right situation you will rejoice, but it is punitively expensive.

• Staff of Gerhard the Black is a cool touch supporting the invocation spam approach (which has been rather hurt by the Awaken rule, but still). Not entirely sure its worth 50 points and an arcane slot, but cool.

• Banner of the Barrow Kings drastically dropping in price is a Good Thing

• The Black Standard of Zagvozd is interesting. 35 points cheaper is great news. No longer protecting against magic… will have to see how the magic meta ends up to work out if I approve or not.

Magic Lore
Wont go into detail, but suffice to say I have to say a huge well done to the guys who have been working on tweaking this thing, it looks like a very good lore now.

Lords


Vampire Counts* stayed roughly the same, except that the Court of the Damned and Shrieking Horror options became more expensive. Because reasons.
Necromancer Lords got slightly cheaper (including the Cadaver Wagon option). We like cheaper.

Heroes


Vampire Courtier*, Necromancer, Barrow King** and Fell Wraith stay pretty much the same.
*to be fair, the changes here come in the bloodline section.
**Unliving Shield got a whole lot better though.

Core


Zombies slightly cheaper, but punished by Awaken.
Skeletons got rather interesting… double their starting size, but now with access to Halberds. There will be some potential here (even if the cautious part of my brain screams that shields are probably better). With the right magic and character support, these could be a thing. Its important to note: VC finally got Strength 4 in core!
Ghouls are interesting. Sure, increased initiative (which works well with certain support pieces), but a hike in points for additional models feels painful. Of course, my calculator tells me a full unit is only marginally more expensive than it used to be, so I can’t really complain too much.
Dire Wolves got cheaper if you want to be the guy with more than minimum sized units. The ladies like that.
Bat Swarm stayed the same

Special
Barrow Guard. You can’t accuse the Faceless ones of not working to make these chaps more attractive. Sure, they hiked up the great weapon costs, but a full blown unit with the Banner comes out at 25 points cheaper than it was before. Drop to Halberds and you save yourself a while necromancer’s worth. Tempting, though infantry blocks continue to worry me.
Barrow Knights have got a lot cheaper for the first 5. This does actually tempt me as far as pseudo disposable scoring units go…
Ghasts have got a bit cheaper, but I only expect to see them because of the cool new Strigoi.
Vampire Spawn, Phantom Hosts and Great Bats are basically the same (though the armour piercing on the ghosts is a nice touch)
Varkolak is basically what it was before. The internet was obsessed with these guys. For a shocking twist on proceedings, the internet was pretty wrong there. I didn’t like them before, and I definitely don’t like them any more now.
Cadaver Wagon is the source of Wake the Dead around these parts. I love the concept, I just find that the list runs out of points well before I get to add one of these in, and I am not seeing much sign of that changing.
Court of the Damned. Well this seems like an unmitigated and highly impressive waste of points if you are not running a Lamia list. If you are running such a list, it does seem to have potential, though the bubble effect is very small, and 235 points is asking a great deal…

Rare


Vampire Knights are one of those units that kill my trust for public playtesting. There were not all that good for their costs at all, but you kept hearing stories of the endless devastation they have caused (probably in lands where the humble shield has yet to be discovered). Imagine my shock to discover they have made the unit more expensive… It’s rare that I am speechless…
Wraiths. You know the bit near the beginning of John Wick where the bad people kill his dog and you know no amount of brutal revenge is going to get the cute little guy back? I feel the same about Wraiths. Wraiths with 2 wounds were a usable unit. Still highly fragile a lot of the time, but solid enough to take a couple of hits before going down (or to buy them enough time to hide wimpering in a corner in almost half the matchups). I appreciate they are cheaper, but 1 wound makes it very hard to justify it for me – that’s two magic missiles to potentially remove the whole unit. With the new sweeping attack rules there could be space for the mounted ones though.
Winged Reapers. These guys with paired weapons can open a case of whoop ass and hand out the refreshments. They are *super* expensive though.
Shrieking Horror. I guess these have become mathematically better to justify the cost increase? Given the mobility issues with the model I don’t like the threat profile will enough at all on this thing.
Altar of Undeath. I love these chaps, and have made my peace with having to choose regen or damage. Brilliant, well pointed, support unit for certain list types.
Coach. Have always has a soft spot for the coach. There is a reason I haven’t run it in 9^th, but I do have a soft spot for it.

Mounts
Monstrous Revenants got some cool upgrades. I haven’t been a fan of the 9^th Age breed of Large Target Monstrous Beasts mounts, but there could be some potential here.



So, there you have it, my initial gut reaction to the new book.
I may sounds negative on aspects of it, but that’s mostly because they hit some stuff I have enjoyed using, and I am selfish
It is immediately abundant that there are several builds that should work, and I look forward to testing a number of different things out. I enjoy the fundamental question I am having to deal with right now – what bloodline do I go with?! For me all (except the Brotherhood of the Dragon) look eminently usable.
I think I have an idea of what I will trying out at our England practice weekend coming up (Spoilers: I’m off to buy some steroids for my strigoi vampires), will report back on thoughts when, you know, I have even the beginnings of a clue as to what I am talking about!

Until next time.

Raf