Given the
actual books are about to come out tomorrow, I thought I thought I would keep
this short and by the numbers… and skip directly to everyone’s most hated
reptilian nuisance who have been busy ruining hobbies and confusing people
since they gave up basking in the warm sunlight to go off and throw poison
darts at people.
The
forefathers of Saurian ancients have been near and dear to my heart since I first
sunk into their cold embrace not long before their 8th edition book
came out. In the end I probably used them for most of my 8th edition
‘career’, ruining fun up and down the land using all the many colourful tools
in at my disposal. Retro Temple Guard were shoved in faces; endless ranks of diminutive
javelin-wielding warriors (my vote for the single best model in the game for an
entire edition) brought low many a mighty foe; the tag team of Big Frog and
Little Lizard hovered around on their palanquins and brought ruination to
countless weekends … so much fun was had by me! At my final event of 8th
edition I unleashed eight mighty dinosaur characters on horse-type lizards to
re-interpret fun in a uniquely Toughness 5, 1+ armour save, Strength 7 way. Ah…
the good old days.
The
Lizard-folk, historically, have always been a tricky army. An underperforming
mess in the hands of a mediocre player (or one inexperienced in how to get them
to work), they transformed in the hands of a good player into a force that
could simply answer any question put to them – winning games without ever
having any real threat of losing. The book was flexible enough to ride
out meta and comp trends with barely any diminishing in power. Sure, as the
Elven hordes burst onto the scene in the last days of 8th Edition
things became somewhat trickier, but the fundamentals of the book meant it
could ride even that effeminate wave with gusto.
So effective
were they that, in all honesty, I got bored with them and went back to dabbling
with the sparkling children of the overcast skies.
As you may
be aware, the Old Game dies a brutal (and suitably climatic) death. The
lizard-folk, as had mostly been their wont over the eons, hung out in their
forest and did suitably impressive things far from the eyes of history – but to
no avail.
As the winds
of change blew through our world, and a new, 9th, Age was born, I
was curious to see what was in store for these epic ruiners of fun.
Turns out it
was a good time to be a cold blooded ruiner of fun. Their comparative power was
at its zenith, and boy did the little lizards burrow on the decomposing corpses
of their defeated foes. The Saurian Ancients were, quite simply, brilliant.
Everything
was usable (to a greater or lesser degree). Once again, the fundamentals of the
army made is almost impervious to points-tweaking balance. Exceptional characters.
The best core in the game. Hard hitting combat and shooting special choices. Monsters
to satiate any Godzilla aficionado. The Engine simply breaking the game.
What on
earth, the VC collecting part of me asked desperately, could those shadowy
figures you read about be able to *actually* do to make these boys balanced?
Cometh the time,
cometh what seems to me to be the boldest attempt at force changing a playstyle
I have ever seen:
1) Born
Predator saw some changes affecting several units. Apparently creating a
genetically superior killing machine also involves including various
weaknesses. Being a born predator was a sneaky way to negate at least one
weakness and since the Old Gods didn't want to pay their Warlords and Veterans
anymore Itxy Grub than they already do, they decided one shouldn't be
considered a born predator if using Great Weapons and magical Weapons. This change
will balance Saurian Characters, Caimans (make Caiman halberds more attractive)
and make Skrox units more reasonable. Both the Alpha Carnosaur and small
Carnosaur also lost their BP special rule.
This makes all the sense. In a game without
the sheer number of rerolls that we got in the Old Game, pseudo rerolls on such
devastating models elevated them to a rather rude degree of effectiveness.
2) You wouldn't think it, but the Alpha
Carnosaur suffered from an inferiority complex! The younger Carnosaurs must
learn to restrain themselves and give a fighting chance to other monstrous
beings. As such the younger Carnosaurs will refrain from using their set of
ultra sharp claws in combat and no longer inflict Multiple Wounds (D3). For
this they don't demand the same amount of Itxy Grub and so they got a slight
reduction to their cost. To make things good with the younger Carnosaurs, the
Warlords have decided to give them some attention and will from here on also
ride to war on the younger Carnosaurs.
The Alpha
Carnosaur received a slight nerf to its stats, and the Starfall Shard will only
grant Fireborn and Hard Target. The Old Gods didn't appreciate the Alpha
Carnosaur munching too much on humanoids - the Alpha Carnosaur should instead
be focused on hunting its favorite prey: monsters.
This is a big change – the Alpha Carnosaur
(correctly equipped), could literally take on certain armies by itself (I have
seen it happen). This hitting of big Ol’T-Rex is not surprising. It will be
interesting to see the combos that a Warlord may be able to pull off on a
Monstrous Beast babysaur – but I have to say I have been largely unimpressed
with the Monstrous Beast monster equivalents in the game, despite how good they
look on paper.
3) Moving mountains shouldn't be used to crush
puny humans and the High Borns were jealous. The favored of the Old Gods now
have a more limited allowance for their disciplines and some of them have been
changed. That'll teach them! They can still bring more than one
disciplinethough, so no worries.
That’s fine I guess – I have found magic
rather hit and miss in 9th Age anyway, to the point I was
questioning the necessity of the Big Frog in modern Saurian Ancients lists
(though they were undoubtedly good).
4) The Old Gods are millennia-old and for the
longest time they have dreamed of crushing their opponents with huge units of
genetically superior warriors. As one can understand they were severely
disappointed when they realized their generals fooled around with guerrilla
like warfare. The Skink Hunters have been banished from the core of the army
(and can now be found in special), and to force the cowardly Brave ones into
close combat they've had their poisonedjavelins exchanged with non-poisoned
javelins. Luckily they now come with almost-free poison for close combat and
smaller units may yet again be taken. The clever general will realize this
opens up the opportunity for cheap scoring units.
For those who cannot shake the need for
guerrilla like warfare, the Skink Braves can be made into Skink Hunter
look-a-likes and move in a skirmishformation.
[drumroll]…. Well, gosh and damn. This is
*the* big one for me. This is a bold move – in one swipe they force generals to
look at utilising the rather solid Saurian Warriors as their main battleline.
This will hit some people *very* hard. Others have transitioned to combat Saurian
Ancients a while ago. I am impressed they went there.
5) The Old Gods want their warriors to smash
their enemies in the face, not shoot them from afar! When the Chiefs were given
permission to shoot the big bolt thrower from the back of the Taurosaurs, they
all flocked to Taurosaurs. WHAT?! - TAUROSAURS ARE MEANT TO SMASH FACE AND NOT
HIDE IN THE BACK. The Chiefs may still shoot the bolt thrower if they wish, but
a new breed of BS4 chiefs have been popped in the pools and the old ones are
being sacrificed as we speak to the vengeful Snake Man. Also the Taurosaurs
demanded more Itxy Grub payment for their efforts, otherwise they'd go to their
union dino and complain.
Good. BS5 Bolt throwers should never have
been a thing.
6) Fairness was demanded from the jealous kings. Fairness
will be given. Templeguards will be given more Itxy Grub payment, but only very
little more than what the Veterans among us are used to. Being a Weapons Master
have also been removed from the genes. Smash humanoid faces with halberds,
don't dance around with shields and act all kinds of tanky.
Temple Guard being even more expensive is
rather painful – though I guess you save the points you would have spent on
Weapons Master, so I guess there is a silver-ish lining?
7) MORE FAIRNESS they yelled. The remaining T5 caimans
have all been promoted to Ancient Caimans, leaving the T4 guys as the only
solution. Light Armour was given as an alternative. Meanwhile the Templeguards
were still feeling the heat, and like the Alpha Carnosaur they were quickly
developing an unhealthy inferiority complex. To make sure the scaly generals
would utilize all the special warriors evenly, the Caimans will receive a
bigger payment when used in big units. The bold general who uses these in
small-to-medium units will, however, be rewarded.
This is a Good Thing. The block of T5 Caiman
was an utterly terrifying concept. Making them easier to hurt has to be a good
thing. They still hit like a freight train, which makes me think that,
especially with the right magic support, these guys are not going anywhere.
8 ) The Old Gods weren't happy with the excessive usage
of Skink Hunters and they certain'y weren't pleased with the excessive usage
ofSpearbacks either. 9 Spearbacks in one army was never part of the Grand Plan,
so try 4 for a change! Spearbacks and Salamanders have been merged as one rare
unit. They also now fight with gloves on because someone, somewhere, complained
about their close combat capabilities. S4 should be enough, though. The pointy
ears will cry all the same when you stomp on them.
Goodbye Spearbacks, it was nice to know you.
Time for the mighty Salamanders to get their star role in the line up back. I
never used armies that cared too much about spearbacks in my games vs them, but
have seen them do simply silly things.
9) Just like the mounted Taurosaur, the rare
Taurosaur also demanded more payment. Fine. The Broken Engine has been fixed
and is now "only" Godly, resulting in a less powerful Engine, but
still very valuable. Apparently removing MW D3 from the younger carnosaurs
wasn't enough - dat inferiority complex, tho. No Sharp Horns to the Taurosaurs.
Instead they'll be enhanced with the newest laser guided equipment. We'll deal
with monstrous beings by other means and instead happily use our Laser Guided
Horns (LGH) to munch on humanoids. MW D3 was exchanged to a more reliable
impact hit. Dat Spear of the Stampede, though.
Less powerful Engine has to be a good thing.
Losing sharp horns is painful though, it has to be said. I cant get over
nerfing the Engine being a good thing though, so am in a good mood.
10) Finally some other small, but significant changes to
the Old Gods were deemed necessary:
•The magic
banner was changed, but still very viable with some good synergies. The banner
almost granted Hatred for all rounds of combat, especially against inferior
units hit on 3+. We'll leave the goat guys to have that.
Good!
•Predatory
Roar was apparently too good at crippling the impact of a lance charge (as if
those guys didn't struggle enough) and for this reason it has been changed and
grants the same effect as the magic banner.
Never experienced it, but it did seem like a
devastating power.
•Raptor
Riders received a considerable price reduction to their starting size and a
very slight price increase to the remaining models. They will be cheaper with
small units and still cheaper for big units. With the new banner and roar they
have some good synergies and can be used as reliable shock cavalry. The Old
Gods are satisfied with this and can't wait to bathe in the tears of their
adversaries.
They have to be a *lot* cheaper to really be
viable as ‘shock cavalry’. Have always wanted these guys to be good though, so
am keen to see what happens.
Overall, as you will have been able to see, I
am impressed with the aims here.
An attempt to brute-force gamers long in the
tooth and used to their old school ways of doing things into changing how they
use their army is impressive in its ambition. I like the cinematics of it
myself – big units of Saurian Warriors look far cooler than Skinks after all,
as we all know I am a sucker for cinematic touches :)
Be interesting to see how it all comes out in
the wash in the end – but I would wager that the remaining fundamentals of the
book (by which I mean: Powerful and safe wizards; powerful and tough combat
characters; highly effective flying nuisance characters; tough and reliable
core; cheap and agile chaff; powerful specialist shooting and support elements…
to touch just the tip of that iceberg) will see them safely through into the rarified
air of the highly competitive strata.
We will know from tomorrow – I personally can’t
wait!
Until then
Raf
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