9th Age Phoney War - Saurian Ancients

 

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 8^th edition book came out. In the end I probably used them for most of my 8^th 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 8^th 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 8^th 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, 9^th, 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 9^th 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

9th Age Phoney War - Highborn Elves

In culinary establishments of a certain pretentions (or aspirations of grandeur) you are often served a palate cleansing sorbet between two flavoursome courses to allow you to fully appreciate other aspects of the meeting.  This refreshing morsel is nothing to write home about (no one congratulates a chef on the quality of his sorbet), but then again, who doesn’t like a bit of sorbet?

 

As the keen eyed reader will undoubtedly have gathered – yes, High Elves are the aforementioned sorbet. Nice, clean, and, I’m afraid to say, rather lacking in flavour.

 

The Grimdark that GW does so well, and has left its traces on almost the entire Warhammer world, left High Elves completely untouched. They are, in many ways, the purest ‘High Fantasy’ army out there – classic elven tropes throughout. Under any objective measure, they were, quite simply, rather dull.

Now, don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t all bad. Some of the fluff was fine (even good at times). Some of the art was fantastic. Fundamentally they suffered gravely from ‘Mary Sue’ syndrome – being the best at everything is, at the end of the day. High Elves had, arguably, four even vaguely interesting characters (Teclis, Eltharion, Alith Anar and Imrik)… and nothing else.

 

It is important to note that, as with that sorbet served to you delicately by a waiter who somehow makes it politely known he despises you, a lack of flavour is by no means a bad thing in itself. In a world full of bright colours and meaty flavours, relaxing with a bunch of dress wearing elves for a while is no bad thing – I know I have been drawn to them for periods for this very (subconscious) reason.

 

Just as a critic will not wax lyrical about his mid-meal sorbet, I too shall leave my thoughts on High Elves there – there is not much to say. It’s the ‘High Fantasy’ elven ideal. If you like that, great.

 

I had no doubt that scheming powerbrokers controlling the 9^th Age would have no trouble adapting these Ultramarines of Warhammer into the new game in their reincarnation as Highborn Elves. And I wasn’t wrong. Within the parameters of the new game things seemed to work as they should. The ones with bows shot things, the big burning birds swooped down and caused devastation to infantry hordes, the chaps on Dragons were suitably dragony. They even did some very cool things – giving axe-wielding woodsmen skirmish made a lot of thematic sense; the master swordsmen of the magical tower became true embodiments of martial skill that they are meant to be (of course,  this made them over powered in the game, but that’s why they are releasing these balancing mechanics).

From a personal point of view Highborn Elves seemed to have a lot going for them (elves generally getting bucket loads of special rules for what seemed no cost helps of course). Crucially, they all have what I consider the single most powerful rule in the game – Lightning Reflexes. Factor in other cool things like a ward-save totting, potentially reincarnating Lord on a big flaming monster, and I thought they were a-OK. Sure, they seemed to lack the power of some of the DE lists I have seen, but that’s ok. Solid (rather vanilla) army.

 

What awaits the secret scions of Guilliman?

 

•“Last of Their Kind” was added to reduce flying monster spam (a trend throughout the project). The rule limits the number of dragons and phoenixes available to the HBE player to max 2 in any combination.

Not close to convinced that flying monster spam was the power build with the book, but that’s ok.

 

•The Lion Fur Cloak was deemed problematic because it was under-costed (especially good with Master of Canreig Tower) but also because it breaks the theme of the army. The 6+/5+ innate defense gave HBE characters access to better armour than what armies that are considered to be the well-armoured have access to. Heavy armour + Lion Fur is in fact better armour than the plate armour of DH, EoS, and WDG. The Elven characters come with other great properties and are therefore not supposed to excel at defense.

Not sure a solution is mentioned here, but yes, highly armoured Elven characters have been amongst the most unforgivable of recent shifts.

 

Honours

•Master of Canreig Tower saw a price increase and One of a kind restriction to reduce the number of duplicate spells which could be spammed. This was demonstrated to be taken in preference of an Archmage was and often an auto-include.

Seems sensible

 

•High Warden of the Flame: Bestowing Divine attacks to the unit he joins was considered a bit too good and overstepping existing item, so it got swapped for another weaker unit buff ability (magic attacks).

Magic attacks by themselves seem rather dull (though my pet wraiths are feeling very victimised)

 

•Queen's Companion: Added poison darts & scout to make the unit unique.

Sure, why not?

 

•Royal Huntsman saw a swap in rules and will benefit from being the only character with access to Lion Fur (because he’s a Huntsman). Added immunity to fear and terror for him and the unit he joins. He'll no longer be able to do multiple wounds on chariots, but instead focus strictly on Monstrous/Monster hunting.

Makes thematic sense (and as I have mentioned before, that’s the most important of all the sense to make)

 

•Prince of Ryma: As the flying circus is a specific play style, it was important not to remove it as an option for players: therefore, theHonourwill counteract the default restriction on the Last of their Kind rule so someone wishing to focus on this style can still do so.

Ummm. Ok… I am not going to point out how ‘Southlands’ was a play style for Lizardmen for decades, and there seems to have been no consideration for allowing them to continue to do so, because I would sound bitter if I brought that up. Just as well I didn’t.

 

•Order of the Fiery Heart: Removal of Fire Phoenix from mounts as it overshadowed the dragon mounts by a long shot, removal of damage and missile keywords for casting into CC he is part of is a big thing, as it goes well with the warrior mage image as well as adding the option to purchase the Dragon Armour.

Sad sad times. I liked the Fire Archmage on a Fire Phoenix. I mean, sure, I love the idea of casting fireballs into combat with an armoured dragon riding fire wizard (I am not sure there is much in the game I like the sound of more (other than truly cool vampires), but still, I feel sad about the ikle fire phoenix.

 

Units

•Some of the Core units were slightly tweaked in the points domain to encourage smaller units. Sea Guards lost Quick to Fire in exchange for a new rule, as it was observed of being the go to choice of core infantry. No big changes were done since the Citizen Spears and Citizen Archers were at the desired power level, so Sea Guard had to be tweaked to fit in.

Sure, why not.

 

•Swordmasters: A change to their Sword Sworn rule, as it was seen as problematic, but they still keep their role as anti-infantry shock troops. They now ignore Parry and Distracting rules, which gives them a steady damage output against their intended targets.

Sensible – these have officially (the internet being as official as it gets) *broken* Warhammer at least twice before, and I heard a lot of tears about them in 9^th Age too. Steady damage output is massive in the world of distracting and parry, so it sounds like they will still be good.

 

•The loss of skirmish for QG was implemented as they were too good in shooty avoidance lists, as well as a price increase for longbows so as not to be an no brainer auto include. Gained access to a 25 pts magic banner.

Ummm. Sounds a bit painful, but sure. I hear they were good.

 

•The Sky Sloop was deemed too weak and uninteresting. It used to be a mobile shooting platform that did not bring anything of great value to the army, so its design got a little twist. The Sky Sloop will have Volley Gun option only, but it is increased in strength and reduced in number of shots - although its keeps AP(1) - so in terms of shooting power it is around the level of the RBT, with a preference for heavily armoured targets. Secondly, the chariot's base strength was raised so that it can work as an actual CC support unit. Thirdly, since it is not a well protected model(T4 W4 AS 5+), it got theHard Target special rule to be able to survive in hostile territory a bit and kept Quick to fire as to remain a solid shooting platform.

The greatest design change, however, was giving the Sky Sloop buyable options to become sort of a buff wagon:

•Storm Pennant is giving the model lightning attacks in CC (both impact hits and regular attacks), and the bound spell (Thunderbolt) at PL(5) for increased ranged damage potential.

•Aldan Warhorn is a passive aura effect that reduces WS of all enemy units within 6" of it, providing an edge for our CC units as both a defensive and offensive boost, depending on the situation.

•It kept the option of being a mounted option, but only for characters with the Fleet Officer Honour, and it lost the 5++ save.

Flat out very cool. Awesome model, awesome concept – I would love it if it ends up being taken as a result of this. Quite exciting really.

Actually, ‘Quite exciting’ doesn’t overly cover it – this idea is pretty awesome

 

Dragons

•Keeping with the traditional image of HE being masters of dragons we’ve worked to make this image a reality on the battlefield. In this update you’ll be able to field the Young Dragons as Monstrous Beasts and therefore be able to utilize armour and equipment from the rider (it's ok dragon lovers: breathe).

This is flat out awesome. Of course in practice this means that Young Dragons will probably suck (that Cabal always has its eyes on that pesky ‘Balance’ they are so keen on), but the visual is cool, and that’s (not to overuse the word), cool.

 

 

So, nothing brain melting here – though I expect a few brains have melted online over the past week or so (I take that as a given though). Seems like they have added some flavour and clipped the odd wing here and there.

Sure, it remains a sorbet, but looks like it will be a nice tasting one at least.

 

Until next time

 

Raf

9th Age Phoney Way - Dwarven Holds

I often find myself reflecting that you can learn a lot (arguably all?) of life's invaluable lessons from within the pages of a good (actually, let’s face it, they definitely don’t have to be good) mystery novel. Sure, the nuances of said lessons will depend on the noir-ness of the work at hand, but some of the hard hitting inescapable truths include:

 

• Eloquent arguments are far more important than evidence - guilty people find it cathartic to readily admit their guilt upon receiving a suitable verbal put down (as opposed to - crazy thought here – calling their lawyer?)
• Protocols are for weak-chinned inept civil servants. To get the job done you ignore all that nonsense (implications on the likelihood of ever getting a conviction are definitely someone else’s problem).
• Hot uptight ladies who don’t like you *will* sleep with you in a matter of days of meeting you.
• A brilliant protagonist will inevitably have to go up against a brilliant antagonist – no noobstomping here.
• NEVER answer the door if an elderly crime novelist and amateur detective decides to visit you.
• Everyone has a dark secret that they would potentially be prepared to kill to protect.

 

This last point, the founding principal of the Agatha Christien school of philosophy, is hitting me far too close to home as I sit down to address the topic at hand:

 

 

You see... Dwarfs were my first love.

 

First encountering them in the very first book I read The Hobbit and broadening out from there into the likes of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, Lord of the Rings and other books that I came across in the sprawling libraries of my family’s house, until, some years later, I walked into Games Workshop in Oxford as an eleven year old and discovered their take on them. Of course, many, if not most, of the depictions of these stout fellows vary wildly, but some of core concepts resonated strongly with me.

 

They are a noble and tragic race (nobility without tragedy is very passé). A people who know their best days are long behind them are far more interesting that the optimism of a glorious future.

They believe in doing things the right way, not the easiest or the cheapest. In this day and age there is a real beauty to this. We are all consumers, and our society builds things to be consumed. Do we build anything now that will last like the wonders of Egypt, Greece or Rome now do? Heck, castles built in far less enlightened times stand proudly to this day.

As with most things, this is probably best summed up by the late, great, Terry Pratchett his Boots’ Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness.

When you boil it down, there is something rather Samurai-esque about Dwarfs. Martial prowess welded in the heart of mountains with unbending iron honour.

 

All in all, they are pretty damn cool (in The Hobbit films a dwarf even pulls a hot Elven lady, so they obviously have game too…).

 

Unfortunately, all the promise that is embodied in the dual aspects of Dwarfish Warhammer lore – the never ending sieges from bestial evil (and the incredible heroics no minstrels would ever learn to sing) on the one side, and the unbowing drive of the High King to set forth and set right the ills done to his people over the eons - has forever been let down by the execution of their rules and the impact of the game mechanics.

 

Far from the martial prowess of one of the most ancient and noble of powers (a race that had driven GW’s very own favourite sons, the Elves, from the shores of the Old World no less)being replicated on the table what we have had is an endless processions of the most boring armies to face ever.

 

The last 8^th Edition book arguably came the closest, allowing some vanguarding, and plenty of helicopters, but it was as subtle and flexible as a yoga-ing longbeard.

 

 

 

I had no hope whatsoever that the 9^th Age cabal (powerful though they unquestionably are) would successfully make an entertaining pie out of the gristle and toe nail ingredients on offer.

 

I was wrong (write it down, take a picture, it happens occasionally).

 

As with several armies in 9^th Age, my view is largely academic and resulting to watching some games on Universal Battle – I wouldn’t actually interact with people using dwarfs on the table, obviously.

 

 

I think I am slightly in love with this book.

Particularly:

The ability to triple march; to buy Vanguard as an upgrade for a core frontline unit;  a magic system that appears fitting (who ever thought that would actually be a thing); Anvils doing something!; items remaining customisable; and a whole new unit never seen before!

Top that up with:

The ability of Seekers to bring people down in their death spasms; new rules that Daemon Seekers; Skirmishing Seekers!; Vanguarding Seekers!; Vengeance Seekers!  (hint: Seekers are cool!)

And finish it all off with my favourite thing:

The Grudge system that so fittingly picks out key units to be the target of pent up furious vengeance.

 

Of course, fundamentally, this a is M3 army that does not appear all that laterally mobile. Also, pure (boring) economics means that when choosing between warmachines and cool things, you will still see warmachines – but the potential is there – bravo!

 

 

So… the updates. It seams the Cabal wanted to improve infantry and make warmachines effective. I guess I can get behind these things.

 

 

Dwarven Special Rules

•Shieldwall has seen a redesign to make it more valuable against high strength attacks. It now provides a 6++ Ward instead of +1 Armor, which is increased to a 5++ on the turn a unit is charged.

 

Booo. The mathematicians out there may tell me this is better, but for me +1 armour feels so very good.

 

•Hewn out of Mountains changes from a safety net effect to one that instead slightly increases the casting value of all enemy spells. A problem with the old rule was that it would not help an army that already contained Runic characters, and thus would do little to aid it unless characters had begun to die off/lost focus.

 

Sensible

 

•Relentless has changed, in that Dwarves now take LD tests like all others but may triple march even if enemies are closeby. This change was made because it was too easy to hinder under the original rules, which resulted in a trend toward defensive gunlines again. The new rule will promote offensive lists by allowing them to not have to worry about some goblin wolfrider slowing the army.

 

Sensible

 

Magic

•The battle runes have been adjusted so that Runic Smiths may take up to 2 Battle Runes, while Runic Masters may take up to 4 Battle Runes. While it's a nerf for the Smith, the Master becomes more capable of handling a magic phase on his own. Furthermore, it means more spells at a 6-12" range, and items such as the Rune of Brilliance have a greater effect.

 

I was expecting this – seems ok.

 

•The Anvil of Power had too long a range and as such it complemented the defensive gunlines the most. Consequently, the range on all spells have been reduced to 36". Lorewise the Anvil shouldn't be a commonplace sight on the battlefield either, and thus it's been moved to rare. Additionally, the Anvil Runes of Shattering and Storms now have to be bought for a small cost.

 

Both range and slot are changed, and they needed it, so all good.

 

•The same Battle Rune may not be taken more than twice in an army (either by Runic character or Anvil). This change was to reduce spell spam.

 

Good. I hate Spam. I just don’t trust it, whatever my American friends say…

 

Runes

•Some Runes have had the limitation of One of a Kind added. These same Runes have had their costs tweaked to include a Hero version, as well. This change was made because there was a potential for skew builds featuring an abundance of double strength and multi-wounds. One of a Kind was chosen to prevent the spam, but still allow for the bigger effects to be used together.

 

•In a bid to increase the anti-magic of Dwarves, the rune of brilliance now give a bonus to dispelling (at no increase in cost), however it can't go above a +3.

 

Both cool.

 

Close Combat

•The Thane gets LD9 instead of LD10, but becomes cheaper. Additionally, it gains access to an upgrade (which can't be combined with BSB) that grants a unit of Clan Warriors the Thane has joined the special rule of Fight in extra Ranks. With the reduction in cost the Thane becomes a bit more viable for different purposes. With the new hero cost for certain Runes and a Non-BSB upgrade tied to Clan Warriors, we're hoping to make the Thane a presence on the battlefield in his (or her!) own right.

 

Boooo. Thanes should be ld10. End of. Some things are more important than cost balance.

Fight in extra ranks is cool – though not sure cool enough to take Clan Warriors over Greybeards?

•The biggest focus of the reviews was to make sure Dwarven infantry is up to snuff, so almost all Dwarven melee units have had substantial price reductions. A low flat cost for the unit and a slightly higher PPM. Certain equipment options have a had a drop in price, as well. This means that small-to-medium sized units are favored since bigger units are less cost effective.

 

Nice.

 

•Seekers were just about the only melee unit not to partake in the melee buffs, and as a result "Yer comin with me" has seen several important changes. Seekers were too strong for both internal and external balance, and have been toned down to become more geared towards hunting monsters. We'll have to see if the collective changes get them to a balanced level, but one thing is for sure: we wont let Seekers sink into obscurity. Some changes include:

•YCMW no longer works on impact hits.

•The unit needs to be 5 wide to make use of the YCMW attack (to prevent congas).

•The max strength of the YCMW blow is 5.

•Skirmishing and Vanguarding have increased in per-model cost, and Swiftstride no longer works against all targets

 

This makes me sad, whilst I understand at the same time it probably makes sense.

 

•As part of the bid to make aggressive armies more desirable and viable, Miners are moved to Special in order to make them a bit more accessible. While they do lose the useful 5+ unit size (increased minimum unit size), their cost reduction for unit and weapon options means they're cheaper now than before. This move also makes it easier to use more Rangers in conjunction with Miners.

 

Love it

 

•Rangers pay more for skirmish, but per model cost has been lowered along with certain weapon options being cheaper. Given a bit more room to play with now that Miners move to Special, Rangers see a cost increase for skirmish but a cost decrease in base PPM (resulting in no change if you still want skirmishers). While still a but of an unknown, Rangers also get slightly cheaper equipment options.

 

Sure I guess?

 

Shooting Troops & Weapons

•Marksmen have had their minimum unit size increased. Forge Guns and Forge Repeaters lose their AP properties. The Wyrmslayer (Forge Wardens & Engineers) goes from S8 to S6. 5-man Marksmen units in Core were a bit too much of a boon for gunlines, creating an abundance of cheap diverters. Wyrmslayers were potentially too powerful, with a Dwarf army capable of putting out very skewed lists easily (an Engineer would almost always auto-buy one, since they can be used while aiding a warmachine).

 

Good!

 

War machines

•Catapult, Cannon and Volley Gun have been moved from Rare to Special and share one slot. Max 2 may be fielded of each. Bolt Throwers move to Rare, and share slot with the Flame Cannon. Depending on how you see it, it's a buff/nerf. Most people used no more than 3 War machines, and thus the move to Special means more Rare allowance opened up. You can also choose to field 3 of the long range War machines to win gunline shoot-outs, whereas before it'd be limited to two. Overall the total number of available War machines have been reduced (From 7 to 5), however we think this change will benefit Dwarf armies when it comes to list variation and competitive builds. Gunlines can still pack enough shooting to remain a daunting task to charge, but it's likely they will need to have more fighting infantry to back them up.

 

More war machines makes Rad a *very* sad puppy

 

Copters

•The base Steam Copter is now cheaper, but has to pay for the Flame Culverin upgrade. Steam Copter units also have an option to buy a bombing upgrade that lets them do 2d6 S3 AP hits to a unit they pass over (note that this is per unit and not per copter, meaning units of copters still only do 2D6 hits). This is because the Steam Bomber in Rare has been redesigned and has lost its capacity for bombing. Still, this mechanic is of great importance for Dwarves to help deal with chaff/avoidance, and thus Copters gained a slightly reduced version of it at a cost.

 

•The Steam "Bomber" has been redesigned to become a tool for melee armies, and looks very different from before. It's now a flying chariot (both rules and base wise) with a fairly high cost. It is tough and durable, with a big focus on grinding attacks but little in the way of shooting. This represents another shift for Dwarves towards taking the fight to the opponent, and it's also a great opportunity for modelling! The current working name is the "Grudge Buster", but that might change if the B&A team find a more suiting name.

 

So excited!

 

 

 

So, overall it all looks good to my inexpert eyes. I am sure dwarf players are busy complaining about something or other, which is undoubtedly a Good Thing.

 

Until next time!

 

Raf

9th Age Phoney War - Ogre Khans

The lumbering linesmen of the old Warhammer universe, Ogres always existed in a weird place. A novel concept when they were first released, they were hit hard by that most terrible of afflictions – Designer’s Fear.

You can see why of course. An army where the basic core unit was a special unit in other armies… cue visions of endless scenes of victorious belching ogres feasting on, well, everything… it must have given the writers nightmares (well, having met some of the design team over the years, they probably giggled, but the point stands).  I liked the idea of self-comping armies designed so you could never quite find the points for the optimal loadout, but that only works if all armies have the same cross to bear. The ends may not justify the means, but the aim never justifies such lacklustre execution.

 

I have always been a proponent of the utterly heretical (post internet forums) view that ‘fluff’ is the most important aspect of any game or faction therewithin. Without some hook that makes you fall in love with your little toy soldiers you have little to get you through the long lonely nights of the relative power decline all books go through, lost in the formless and uncaring meta wasteland. Without something to love there is nothing to stop one from hopping from army to army, chasing the magic dragon that lives on the cutting edge of the meta, forever just beyond your grasp. People that do so are, after all, no better than 40k players who paint their Space Marine armies in some generic mishmash of colours and decide what Chapter they will be depending on the most recent release. Yes, these are the very worse of people.

 

Why do I bring up the grim spectre of 40k on these hallowed pages? Because the poor fat balding ogres suffered brutally in the fluff as well as in the design. It all had the feeling of a movie franchise that went on for a film too long. In films they end up going to space, or adding a baby. In this case the world was all set, we knew where everyone was – where on earth could the Ogres come from? Ummm… The other side of the world? Sure, why not (why not? Because none of the more interesting civilisations hinted at from that part of the world ever got any love, but I’ll let that drop). Cool – we have somewhere where they can fit on this map… what are their characteristics? Oh gosh… no idea… hmmm they’re fat – maybe they are hungry all the time? Genius – print it!

 

The sad fact of the matter is that, for me, there was not really enough to them for their own army – the lack of actually distinct unit choices highlights this. They would have been a cool Dogs of War type book.

 

My personal Ogre baptism was very much 8^th edition, when they burst onto the scene like a herd of stampeding buffalo.

 

Whole new concepts were introduced – Monstrous Cavalry units of 3 or 4 models that could destroy entire infantry hordes; highly accurate cannons that could ride on the back of powerful chariots (they mugged some Giants you see); “Gutstars” that could (at the time) go toe to toe with anything in the game. It was quite the education (as with most lessons, it wasn’t that fun, but you ended up wiser)

 

Of course, a lot of these lessons, and relative strengths, had more to do with the mechanics of the game than anything cool about the Ogres themselves, but for a good while they terrorised the tables of the UK scene, and one assumes there was a suitable amount of belching.

 

Playing Lizardmen for about half of 8^th Edition I never really rated Ogres (after the initial shellshock wore off), and found them extremely dull (other than the really cool and hyper efficient ultra MSU builds that the internet would go apoplectic telling us all could never work, yet did). I was curious, therefore, to see what those shadowy powers* within the 9^th Age’s inner sanctum would do with them.

*seriously, they are everywhere, you have been warned

It has to be said - my experience of the Ogre Khans book is highly limited – almost entirely based on talking to players (and not always paying that much attention, an Ogre is an Ogre right?) and watching games (lots of fat hairless dudes running across a table) than facing them myself.

That said – I am very impressed with what I have seen so far. All the little touches (yetis becoming so much better; the cold cow seeming to do its job better; bombardiers seem quite terrifying; hunters becoming even cooler than their already cool old selves), combined with a shift in how the game works (no more Purple Sun > Army fears, no more character wall nonsense) seemed to make a lot of things viable. The Names and the ability to take Marked Ogres also seemed cool.

As with all armies that seem to rely primarily upon getting across the table and throwing their bellies at you (admittedly rather a niche), the starting assumption is that they have some bad matchups, and this seems to be borne out by anecdotal evidence.  

The internet tells us that they are below the aimed-for power levels and, this will shock you coming from me, the internet is not always the aggregated thoughts of a mass of gibbering gibbon brains rendered in binary, so I was keen to see what treatment they got from the mailed fist of 9^th Age authority.

 

 1. Core. Despite the previous efforts made by the ABC to make Tribesmen as attractive as Bruisers, these had failed since most lists still included the S6 bunker. Although we had negated Ogres Parry for months, we felt it was time to allow this army to have it too (considering Parry was nerfed last release and that we had to increase the overall power level of the army). Therefore we added Parry to the existing Ironfists rules to stopTribesmen from getting hit on 3+ constantly, where as Bruisers will still get hit on 3+. With heavy armour (4+ armour save) and a maximumunit of 14 tribesmen, we now feel they can challenge Bruisers as the go to choice in Core. More armour, parry, more attacks, more wound-count, hitting a lot earlier... lots of reasons to take them over bruisers now. Additionally, we gave Scraplings the option for Parry as well by separating spears and shields as options (this was an oversight by the ABC in December).

 

Love it – its fundamentally hard to make something that is not the S6 unit in core as attractive as something that is, but they are trying. 14 Ogres is a *lot* of Ogres (if that needs to be said). As for parrying scraplings – I have visions of my Vampire Knights being as useless at killing them as they have been at killing skinks recently – but I realise sulking about parrying scraplings is not the manliest thing in the world, so I’m not going to. Honestly.

 

 2. Great Shaman. With the change in magic we realized this guy was way over-costed and decided to make him quite a bit cheaper (compared to other level 4 mages his price was uncalled for, especially when compared to some like an Anurid High Priest). In order to fully justify his entire price drop we made some nerfs to some stats to do with his offensive combat abilities, as we want this guy to cast spells and fight only when strictly needed. We also freed up the option to take Alchemy and Fire by not being forced to take Fire Blessings, just as an option.

 

Nothing but good news from a competitive point of view (thematically I liked the fire blessing requirement, but hardly a big deal).

 

 3. Bombardiers. These guys were not too popular in 8th and theyre still not very popular in 9th outside of gunlines. Some complained they were too expensive and didnt put out enough damage while others complained they were too strong in combat due to Halberd use of their handcannons. We decided to make them more shooty orientated and less combat-fit by adding/removing a couple of rules. Mixed with a small price drop and we feel they should be a very viable option now in both gunlines or in mixed lists.

 

This isn’t surprising really (though I generally hate any changes that make things shootier, primarily because I don’t like getting shot).

 

 4. Sabretooth Tigers. We hadnt realized that the army's main diverters were no where near as effective now as they were before in 8th. This is mainly due to them having to take Terror Tests, where in 8th they didnt (and for a good reason). With the overwhelming abundance of Monsters in 9th (all Terror causers) you basically almost always had to take a Hunter in order to give them LD9 (and then keep him alive and keep him within LD range of all 3 tigers) or else they would flee from Terror most times and were almost useless (LD5 no rerolls only if no Hunter is around). This proved to be a huge issue as Ogres were being left without diverters, and the lists that included tigers were being funneled into obligatory Hunters. We have now made some changes to prevent this from happening. Also, to make them playable as a big unit we increased the maximum number per unit.

 

I like the idea of tigers running in fear from bigger monsters they are trying to divert, has a nice cartoony feel to it, but I can see the gameplay issue. Have always wanted to see big units of these guys, though I still doubt I will.

 

 5. Yetis. These guys have been completely redesigned; having finally found a place in the army. They were the most underused option and rarely fielded options for years, only recently being taken alongside the Wildheart big name. Even as small units they were still being out-shined by Mercenaries and especially Tusker Cavalry. The new design will change all of this, and hopefully encourage players to field Yetis in their future battles.

 

Very intrigued! (Though in all honesty, any excitement for these and the sabretooth tigers will probably depend on someone out there making better models for these guys…)

 

A rather welcome, if anaemic, list of updates here – I am intrigued to see if this means they are not changing all that much, or if the balancing of other armies will have the result of lifting the comparative power of these boys. I have been broadly impressed with what has been done so far, so I have no reason to doubt the continued success here.

 

 

Until next time.

 

 

Raf