Did we already know that modifiers are capped at -1/+1?
Bryan: The new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar caps modifiers to hit at +1 or -1, which changes the way competitive Gloomspite Gitz armies play. Gone are the days of grinding your opponent down because they couldn’t hit you. Now, your army can play to its greatest strength – namely access to a wide range of units that give you the tools for all opponents.
If you have multiple stacking buffs and debuffs, do you add them all together before capping them?
So -1+1+1+1 = +1?
That is how it works in 40k. Following normal order of operations.
Did we already know that modifiers are capped at -1/+1?
Bryan: The new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar caps modifiers to hit at +1 or -1, which changes the way competitive Gloomspite Gitz armies play. Gone are the days of grinding your opponent down because they couldn’t hit you. Now, your army can play to its greatest strength – namely access to a wide range of units that give you the tools for all opponents.
If you have multiple stacking buffs and debuffs, do you add them all together before capping them?
So -1+1+1+1 = +1?
In most cases, modifiers are
cumulative. However, some
dice rolls, such as hit and
wound rolls, will specify that
the roll cannot be modified
by more than +1 or -1. When
this is the case, add up all the
modifiers that apply, and if
the total is more than +1 or -1,
treat it as being either +1 or -1
as appropriate.
Just downloaded the rules. Bit surprised there is no "battle pack" included in the core rules. There was last edition. Can you even play a game if you don't have a battle pack?
Did we already know that modifiers are capped at -1/+1?
Bryan: The new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar caps modifiers to hit at +1 or -1, which changes the way competitive Gloomspite Gitz armies play. Gone are the days of grinding your opponent down because they couldn’t hit you. Now, your army can play to its greatest strength – namely access to a wide range of units that give you the tools for all opponents.
If you have multiple stacking buffs and debuffs, do you add them all together before capping them?
So -1+1+1+1 = +1?
that's the way it reads to me
you calculate all the modifiers, and then the end result is modified to -/+1
EDIT: oh hey there new page where this was already answered
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Halos Nach TariffCan you blame me?I'm too famous.Registered Userregular
Yeah, it mostly applies where saves interact with rend I think, you can only get at most a +1 to the actual roll, but if you had a -2 rend versus a +3 save the rend would still get negated.
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Der Waffle MousBlame this on the misfortune of your birth.New Yark, New Yark.Registered Userregular
Saves only have the positive modifier capped, unless I'm misunderstanding you.
The enhancements section is actually pretty interesting. Spell Lore is, as far as I can tell, replacing the boilerplate "wizards know one spell from [faction] lore" which means that, if you wished you could take one of the command battalions and give all your wizards an extra spell.
Battlepack is in the physical book, only 3 missions though. The rest is probably in the GHB
I expected so, but not being in the free version means that you can't actually play the game with the free rules, negating the whole point of free rules.
The pay version is (or was) supposed to expand your options, add points, etc., not be strictly necessary.
Unless I am misunderstanding/overlooking something.
Battlepack is in the physical book, only 3 missions though. The rest is probably in the GHB
I expected so, but not being in the free version means that you can't actually play the game with the free rules, negating the whole point of free rules.
The pay version is (or was) supposed to expand your options, add points, etc., not be strictly necessary.
Unless I am misunderstanding/overlooking something.
There were no battle plans in the old free rules.
The free rules have never allowed for much more structure than throwing some random models down and pushing them together to see what wins.
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Dr_KeenbeanDumb as a buttPlanet Express ShipRegistered Userregular
Battlepack is in the physical book, only 3 missions though. The rest is probably in the GHB
I expected so, but not being in the free version means that you can't actually play the game with the free rules, negating the whole point of free rules.
The pay version is (or was) supposed to expand your options, add points, etc., not be strictly necessary.
Unless I am misunderstanding/overlooking something.
There were no battle plans in the old free rules.
The free rules have never allowed for much more structure than throwing some random models down and pushing them together to see what wins.
I think there was at least in 1st edition, but it was pretty much just "go kill each other in X turns".
Battlepack is in the physical book, only 3 missions though. The rest is probably in the GHB
I expected so, but not being in the free version means that you can't actually play the game with the free rules, negating the whole point of free rules.
The pay version is (or was) supposed to expand your options, add points, etc., not be strictly necessary.
Unless I am misunderstanding/overlooking something.
There were no battle plans in the old free rules.
The free rules have never allowed for much more structure than throwing some random models down and pushing them together to see what wins.
I think there was at least in 1st edition, but it was pretty much just "go kill each other in X turns".
Pretty confident there was that in 2nd ed, too.
Ed: They did. Sure, the basic "kill everything" mission, but that's infinitely better than "you need a mission to play the game, but we won't show you one unless you pay us" of 3rd ed.
Battlepack is in the physical book, only 3 missions though. The rest is probably in the GHB
I expected so, but not being in the free version means that you can't actually play the game with the free rules, negating the whole point of free rules.
The pay version is (or was) supposed to expand your options, add points, etc., not be strictly necessary.
Unless I am misunderstanding/overlooking something.
There were no battle plans in the old free rules.
The free rules have never allowed for much more structure than throwing some random models down and pushing them together to see what wins.
I think there was at least in 1st edition, but it was pretty much just "go kill each other in X turns".
Pretty confident there was that in 2nd ed, too.
Ed: They did. Sure, the basic "kill everything" mission, but that's infinitely better than "you need a mission to play the game, but we won't show you one unless you pay us" of 3rd ed.
It's not in the version of the rules in the app, so I guess they might yet add one to the full release website/printed version of the rules.
Hmm, the Mystic Shield spell changing from re-rolling save rolls of 1, to +1 to saves is a bit of a kick in the spectral teeth for Nighthaunt. Their Ethereal ability means their saves ignore modifiers in either direction. Can't use the defensive command ability either.
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
Hmm, the Mystic Shield spell changing from re-rolling save rolls of 1, to +1 to saves is a bit of a kick in the spectral teeth for Nighthaunt. Their Ethereal ability means their saves ignore modifiers in either direction. Can't use the defensive command ability either.
Some armies straight up desperately need a new book to function in this edition. Nighthaunt are going to be one of them.
Hmm, the Mystic Shield spell changing from re-rolling save rolls of 1, to +1 to saves is a bit of a kick in the spectral teeth for Nighthaunt. Their Ethereal ability means their saves ignore modifiers in either direction. Can't use the defensive command ability either.
Some armies straight up desperately need a new book to function in this edition. Nighthaunt are going to be one of them.
ogors are basically take like 3-4 stonehorns and kragnos and just ignore the magic phase right now, everything else is a non-starter with them
EDIT: don't actually take kragnos though, he's about 200 points too much
Hmm, the Mystic Shield spell changing from re-rolling save rolls of 1, to +1 to saves is a bit of a kick in the spectral teeth for Nighthaunt. Their Ethereal ability means their saves ignore modifiers in either direction. Can't use the defensive command ability either.
Some armies straight up desperately need a new book to function in this edition. Nighthaunt are going to be one of them.
ogors are basically take like 3-4 stonehorns and kragnos and just ignore the magic phase right now, everything else is a non-starter with them
EDIT: don't actually take kragnos though, he's about 200 points too much
Yeah but sounds like everything is going up 10-20% ish so he may be about right for 3rd.
For example Archaon is going up to 950, that's an 18.75% point increase.
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
Hero/Monster combos are going to go up a hefty amount. I suspect Teclis is going to end up closer to 800 points.
Hmm, the Mystic Shield spell changing from re-rolling save rolls of 1, to +1 to saves is a bit of a kick in the spectral teeth for Nighthaunt. Their Ethereal ability means their saves ignore modifiers in either direction. Can't use the defensive command ability either.
Some armies straight up desperately need a new book to function in this edition. Nighthaunt are going to be one of them.
ogors are basically take like 3-4 stonehorns and kragnos and just ignore the magic phase right now, everything else is a non-starter with them
EDIT: don't actually take kragnos though, he's about 200 points too much
Mega-gargant perhaps instead?
Sic transit gloria mundi.
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Der Waffle MousBlame this on the misfortune of your birth.New Yark, New Yark.Registered Userregular
Hmm, the Mystic Shield spell changing from re-rolling save rolls of 1, to +1 to saves is a bit of a kick in the spectral teeth for Nighthaunt. Their Ethereal ability means their saves ignore modifiers in either direction. Can't use the defensive command ability either.
Some armies straight up desperately need a new book to function in this edition. Nighthaunt are going to be one of them.
ogors are basically take like 3-4 stonehorns and kragnos and just ignore the magic phase right now, everything else is a non-starter with them
EDIT: don't actually take kragnos though, he's about 200 points too much
Yeah but sounds like everything is going up 10-20% ish so he may be about right for 3rd.
For example Archaon is going up to 950, that's an 18.75% point increase.
Word was everyone but Soulblight and and Slaanesh getting some points hikes.
Hmm, the Mystic Shield spell changing from re-rolling save rolls of 1, to +1 to saves is a bit of a kick in the spectral teeth for Nighthaunt. Their Ethereal ability means their saves ignore modifiers in either direction. Can't use the defensive command ability either.
Some armies straight up desperately need a new book to function in this edition. Nighthaunt are going to be one of them.
ogors are basically take like 3-4 stonehorns and kragnos and just ignore the magic phase right now, everything else is a non-starter with them
EDIT: don't actually take kragnos though, he's about 200 points too much
Yeah but sounds like everything is going up 10-20% ish so he may be about right for 3rd.
For example Archaon is going up to 950, that's an 18.75% point increase.
Word was everyone but Soulblight and and Slaanesh getting some points hikes.
Yeah I read this too. I suppose my main point is after this Kragnos might be appropriately pointed.
Might be.
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Halos Nach TariffCan you blame me?I'm too famous.Registered Userregular
With the new CAs, monster, and hero abilities Kragnos honestly might not be too far off the mark now. He's still a little slow, and the lack of mortal wound defence is certainly a weakness, but hero monsters did get better under these new rules.
I heard that DoK stuff is being bumped up 10-15% across the board, with Morathi going up to 660, which, as a DoK player, honestly still feels pretty low, but I guess we'll see, presumably there's an FAQ coming with the GHB to address some of the faction interactions with the new stuff.
I don't particularly care for the Kragnos model (Halos is right in that he doesn't fit in with the ogres, and no cool conversion possibilities). I do like the mega-gargants though; I wonder if they might be worth including (and thus buying and converting).
Oh, wow. The new Stormcast battleline unit also does mortal wounds on sixes, plus mortals on 5+ when slain? So both new armies in the big box are MW machines. Hrrrm
unrelated: As you can use abilities in your opponents turn, where for example does it state in which order command abilities are used? Does the player whose turn it is issue all commands first and than the other player? I can only find 1.6.2 that talks about simultaneous effects being applied, not what the order of issuing commands is.
Oh, wow. The new Stormcast battleline unit also does mortal wounds on sixes, plus mortals on 5+ when slain? So both new armies in the big box are MW machines. Hrrrm
unrelated: As you can use abilities in your opponents turn, where for example does it state in which order command abilities are used? Does the player whose turn it is issue all commands first and than the other player? I can only find 1.6.2 that talks about simultaneous effects being applied, not what the order of issuing commands is.
You play a separate game of AoS to determine who goes first. If the situation arises in that one, you play another game of AoS to determine the answer to that question. Etc.
The beauty of it is that you have to buy an infinite number of models to resolve the original issue, so GW's shareholders will be ecstatic.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
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PiptheFairFrequently not in boats.Registered Userregular
Hmm, the Mystic Shield spell changing from re-rolling save rolls of 1, to +1 to saves is a bit of a kick in the spectral teeth for Nighthaunt. Their Ethereal ability means their saves ignore modifiers in either direction. Can't use the defensive command ability either.
Some armies straight up desperately need a new book to function in this edition. Nighthaunt are going to be one of them.
ogors are basically take like 3-4 stonehorns and kragnos and just ignore the magic phase right now, everything else is a non-starter with them
EDIT: don't actually take kragnos though, he's about 200 points too much
Mega-gargant perhaps instead?
they're still pretty bad and don't benefit from faction abilities
honestly just more stonetusks or maybe a huskard on thundertusk for some prayers
basically the army is kinda in a terrible place until they do something about powerful casters shutting down spellcasting and also 32mm bases being fucked
With the new CAs, monster, and hero abilities Kragnos honestly might not be too far off the mark now. He's still a little slow, and the lack of mortal wound defence is certainly a weakness, but hero monsters did get better under these new rules.
I heard that DoK stuff is being bumped up 10-15% across the board, with Morathi going up to 660, which, as a DoK player, honestly still feels pretty low, but I guess we'll see, presumably there's an FAQ coming with the GHB to address some of the faction interactions with the new stuff.
kragnos' big weakness is that he does not have fly, unlike the other gods
being shut down by screeners means his big nasty charge ability is pretty meaningless and he gets MW'd to death while fighting 150 points of fodder
Hmm, the Mystic Shield spell changing from re-rolling save rolls of 1, to +1 to saves is a bit of a kick in the spectral teeth for Nighthaunt. Their Ethereal ability means their saves ignore modifiers in either direction. Can't use the defensive command ability either.
Some armies straight up desperately need a new book to function in this edition. Nighthaunt are going to be one of them.
ogors are basically take like 3-4 stonehorns and kragnos and just ignore the magic phase right now, everything else is a non-starter with them
EDIT: don't actually take kragnos though, he's about 200 points too much
Mega-gargant perhaps instead?
they're still pretty bad and don't benefit from faction abilities
honestly just more stonetusks or maybe a huskard on thundertusk for some prayers
basically the army is kinda in a terrible place until they do something about powerful casters shutting down spellcasting and also 32mm bases being fucked
Well, my army is (currently) 3 stonehorns/thundertusks (with any choice of rider/mount), a butcher, and the rest MSU mournfang. So I don't care so much about spellcasting or 32 mm bases.
Dunno how the army performs, though; I've never had the opportunity to try a single game of AoS due to the local club being incompetent and corona.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
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PiptheFairFrequently not in boats.Registered Userregular
Gut magic has 2 extremely good spells and 2 decent ones, unfortunately they’re balanced around always being next to a mawpot and not getting unbound from across the board every turn
I wonder if you can get away with the free rules plus GHB
Table of contents for the general's handbook is up. Looks like you don't need any other book of you just want to play matched play,as far as I can tell. Almost half the book is the core rules.
Hmm, the Mystic Shield spell changing from re-rolling save rolls of 1, to +1 to saves is a bit of a kick in the spectral teeth for Nighthaunt. Their Ethereal ability means their saves ignore modifiers in either direction. Can't use the defensive command ability either.
Some armies straight up desperately need a new book to function in this edition. Nighthaunt are going to be one of them.
ogors are basically take like 3-4 stonehorns and kragnos and just ignore the magic phase right now, everything else is a non-starter with them
EDIT: don't actually take kragnos though, he's about 200 points too much
Mega-gargant perhaps instead?
they're still pretty bad and don't benefit from faction abilities
honestly just more stonetusks or maybe a huskard on thundertusk for some prayers
basically the army is kinda in a terrible place until they do something about powerful casters shutting down spellcasting and also 32mm bases being fucked
With the new CAs, monster, and hero abilities Kragnos honestly might not be too far off the mark now. He's still a little slow, and the lack of mortal wound defence is certainly a weakness, but hero monsters did get better under these new rules.
I heard that DoK stuff is being bumped up 10-15% across the board, with Morathi going up to 660, which, as a DoK player, honestly still feels pretty low, but I guess we'll see, presumably there's an FAQ coming with the GHB to address some of the faction interactions with the new stuff.
kragnos' big weakness is that he does not have fly, unlike the other gods
being shut down by screeners means his big nasty charge ability is pretty meaningless and he gets MW'd to death while fighting 150 points of fodder
One of the new generic spells every faction can use lets you choose a unit and give it fly for a turn.
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Der Waffle MousBlame this on the misfortune of your birth.New Yark, New Yark.Registered Userregular
I actually kinda like the generic spell and absolutely have some characters I'd like to grant Fly or +1 damage on.
...or address supercaster meta shutting down your magic though
laughs in Blades of Khorne
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H3KnucklesBut we decide which is rightand which is an illusion.Registered Userregular
Maybe Kragnos could have a special rule that lets him trample over/through units? That'd solve the problem you're saying he should have Fly for, while being very flavorful to the character.
Maybe Kragnos could have a special rule that lets him trample over/through units? That'd solve the problem you're saying he should have Fly for, while being very flavorful to the character.
It's wild, because mega-gargants and 40k knights have that rule, meanwhile the 30 foot tall incarnation of raw destruction has to stop and slap a couple of grots before he can move on
Maybe Kragnos could have a special rule that lets him trample over/through units? That'd solve the problem you're saying he should have Fly for, while being very flavorful to the character.
It's wild, because mega-gargants and 40k knights have that rule, meanwhile the 30 foot tall incarnation of raw destruction has to stop and slap a couple of grots before he can move on
In fairness that screen has to be further away from his base size and positioned well. He's not stopped in one place by two grots being near his base and can pile in however he wants. I've seen multiple bat reps where peoples screens (that take much less room now) get caught out by the thing swinging around them in a pile in to engage something at the back due to their huge base size putting them in reach.
Halos Nach TariffCan you blame me?I'm too famous.Registered Userregular
Yeah, the new pile in rules should not be discounted, you could even technically combo Kragnos with the Bloodgullet Ogor command trait to get him a 6" pile in if you were feeling saucy.
I've been playing AoS: Storm Ground (on the Switch), and I think I've hit the point where I can confidently post my thoughts.
Up front: it's not a smooth game to play. There are very frequent stuttering and slowdown bugs in the game (ie you input an action and fairly often there'll be a ~5 second pause before it executes for no apparent reason). I also had two crashes early on (none lately though), and the Warband outfitting screen has consistently given me issues (where, for example, I'll check a unit's wargear options, then slip over to their skills but it will show me their wargear again). The latter is solved by going back and then selecting the unit again, so it's not game-breaking, but if you're going to play Storm Ground be aware that you'll need a patient and forgiving soul.
As to the game itself, I'd describe it as a turn-based strategy Rogue-like. You start out with a hero and (depending on the difficulty) a couple units and work your way through a series of random-ish missions, looting new skills, wargear, and units along the way. This culminates in a boss-fight mission, that you'll probably die against first time through (if you didn't lose earlier). But in subsequent runs you have all the loot you'd previously gained to pick over to begin the run with, resulting in you getting stronger the more you play and pushing you over the hump to victory.
The battles take place on small areas with hexagonal tiles, with features that can do damage or give boons (or cause instant death - good for knocking tough enemies into). You summon units in, using a resource that increases by one each turn, and half of any of that gets turned into aether which lets you use your units' abilities. It's a good system, and really great to play (coming from someone who loves Fire Emblem and games like that). The enemy warbands can easily mess you up, but due to the Rogue-like nature of the game the occasions where I lost a run had me wanting to dive back in immediately.
My first time through I actually did quite well with the tanky Lord-Celestant Freya Skyhelm, getting all the way through the Manse in Shyish to face the Nighthaunt's Lady of Ashes. Unfortunately... she set Freya on fire, picked off my weaker Castigators, Liberators, and Vanguard Hunters, and Freya was unable to catch her before succumbing to the flames. I then lost a couple runs, but gained a bunch of loot. The second time I got to the end I had a bunch of extra skills on Freya (allowing her to deflect one blow, gain health back when charged, and increased damage), some super-beefed up Liberators, and a Knight Incantor. My impenetrable Shield Wall saw me through to victory.
The skills are somewhat balanced in a neat way by increasing the summoning cost of the unit they're put on. So while I'd get a bunch of stuff I could put on my Castigators, for example, I never did because I liked being able to summon them in on turn one. On the other hand, my Prosecutors (who were generally coming in on turn ~4-5 when Freya and her Liberator buddies were surrounded) could comfortably have their summon cost increased if it meant some additional armour.
Upon victory you get a second hero and access to higher difficulties. I'm not yet sure who it is for the Nighthaunt and Maggotking, but for the Stormcast this is Lord-Aquilor Alrik Nightrunner and he plays vastly different to the tanky Freya; teleporting around, setting traps and picking off isolated enemies. I played through the higher difficulty with him, and (in addition to now also fighting against both of the other factions) it totally changed up how I played. I could use Nightrunner to skirt the enemy and pick up loot for a bunch of turns, generating aether and waiting to summon in some really kitted out units. It was risky if he got caught, but very satisfying in the finale when a Great Unclean One summoned in only to immediately eat multiple souped-up Castigator bolts and a couple Knights Incantor using special attacks.
I've poked around with the Nighthaunt and Maggotkin, and all three factions play fairly different to one another. The Nighthaunt seem kind of low health, but can horde up a bit and seem to have a fair few tricks up their sleeves. I'm in the middle of my first Nurgle run, and they are sloooooow in their advance; hard hitting with a ton of health. I just got a Putrid Blightknight though, so having a more mobile unit might mix that up a bit.
The story of the game is pretty slight, but is fantastically executed. Like... I wouldn't even say there is much of a story? Freya has been reforged and is going after the Lady of Ashes - that's basically it. Along the way there'll be random encounters with other characters where there's some smack talk. It feels good, but this isn't a story focused game. All the voice work is excellent though, especially now that I've started playing the Maggotkin who are just the best.
There's also an army painter (which seems to unlock after your first time through the lower difficulty for each faction). It's pretty robust, and while in the past I wasn't the biggest fan of the Stormcast I did find a scheme that I really like (white and jade, like my Sisters of Battle. Don't know why I never considered that before).
//
tl;dr: a really great little turn-based strategy Rogue-like, let down by sizable performance issues/bugs that many people will probably feel are too much to overcome and actually play.
+5
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Der Waffle MousBlame this on the misfortune of your birth.New Yark, New Yark.Registered Userregular
I liked it but dear god it needs some stability patches.
Nurgle is worthwhile for the incredibly overdone voice acting.
Posts
That is how it works in 40k. Following normal order of operations.
One of the annotations to section 1.5.5
Just downloaded the rules. Bit surprised there is no "battle pack" included in the core rules. There was last edition. Can you even play a game if you don't have a battle pack?
that's the way it reads to me
you calculate all the modifiers, and then the end result is modified to -/+1
EDIT: oh hey there new page where this was already answered
The enhancements section is actually pretty interesting. Spell Lore is, as far as I can tell, replacing the boilerplate "wizards know one spell from [faction] lore" which means that, if you wished you could take one of the command battalions and give all your wizards an extra spell.
I expected so, but not being in the free version means that you can't actually play the game with the free rules, negating the whole point of free rules.
The pay version is (or was) supposed to expand your options, add points, etc., not be strictly necessary.
Unless I am misunderstanding/overlooking something.
There were no battle plans in the old free rules.
The free rules have never allowed for much more structure than throwing some random models down and pushing them together to see what wins.
I think there was at least in 1st edition, but it was pretty much just "go kill each other in X turns".
3DS: 1650-8480-6786
Switch: SW-0653-8208-4705
Pretty confident there was that in 2nd ed, too.
Ed: They did. Sure, the basic "kill everything" mission, but that's infinitely better than "you need a mission to play the game, but we won't show you one unless you pay us" of 3rd ed.
It's not in the version of the rules in the app, so I guess they might yet add one to the full release website/printed version of the rules.
Some armies straight up desperately need a new book to function in this edition. Nighthaunt are going to be one of them.
ogors are basically take like 3-4 stonehorns and kragnos and just ignore the magic phase right now, everything else is a non-starter with them
EDIT: don't actually take kragnos though, he's about 200 points too much
Yeah but sounds like everything is going up 10-20% ish so he may be about right for 3rd.
For example Archaon is going up to 950, that's an 18.75% point increase.
Mega-gargant perhaps instead?
Word was everyone but Soulblight and and Slaanesh getting some points hikes.
Yeah I read this too. I suppose my main point is after this Kragnos might be appropriately pointed.
Might be.
I heard that DoK stuff is being bumped up 10-15% across the board, with Morathi going up to 660, which, as a DoK player, honestly still feels pretty low, but I guess we'll see, presumably there's an FAQ coming with the GHB to address some of the faction interactions with the new stuff.
unrelated: As you can use abilities in your opponents turn, where for example does it state in which order command abilities are used? Does the player whose turn it is issue all commands first and than the other player? I can only find 1.6.2 that talks about simultaneous effects being applied, not what the order of issuing commands is.
You play a separate game of AoS to determine who goes first. If the situation arises in that one, you play another game of AoS to determine the answer to that question. Etc.
The beauty of it is that you have to buy an infinite number of models to resolve the original issue, so GW's shareholders will be ecstatic.
honestly just more stonetusks or maybe a huskard on thundertusk for some prayers
basically the army is kinda in a terrible place until they do something about powerful casters shutting down spellcasting and also 32mm bases being fucked
kragnos' big weakness is that he does not have fly, unlike the other gods
being shut down by screeners means his big nasty charge ability is pretty meaningless and he gets MW'd to death while fighting 150 points of fodder
Well, my army is (currently) 3 stonehorns/thundertusks (with any choice of rider/mount), a butcher, and the rest MSU mournfang. So I don't care so much about spellcasting or 32 mm bases.
Dunno how the army performs, though; I've never had the opportunity to try a single game of AoS due to the local club being incompetent and corona.
Table of contents for the general's handbook is up. Looks like you don't need any other book of you just want to play matched play,as far as I can tell. Almost half the book is the core rules.
One of the new generic spells every faction can use lets you choose a unit and give it fly for a turn.
yeah the generic spells are a good addition to the game
they don't fix kragnos or address supercaster meta shutting down your magic though
laughs in Blades of Khorne
It's wild, because mega-gargants and 40k knights have that rule, meanwhile the 30 foot tall incarnation of raw destruction has to stop and slap a couple of grots before he can move on
In fairness that screen has to be further away from his base size and positioned well. He's not stopped in one place by two grots being near his base and can pile in however he wants. I've seen multiple bat reps where peoples screens (that take much less room now) get caught out by the thing swinging around them in a pile in to engage something at the back due to their huge base size putting them in reach.
Up front: it's not a smooth game to play. There are very frequent stuttering and slowdown bugs in the game (ie you input an action and fairly often there'll be a ~5 second pause before it executes for no apparent reason). I also had two crashes early on (none lately though), and the Warband outfitting screen has consistently given me issues (where, for example, I'll check a unit's wargear options, then slip over to their skills but it will show me their wargear again). The latter is solved by going back and then selecting the unit again, so it's not game-breaking, but if you're going to play Storm Ground be aware that you'll need a patient and forgiving soul.
As to the game itself, I'd describe it as a turn-based strategy Rogue-like. You start out with a hero and (depending on the difficulty) a couple units and work your way through a series of random-ish missions, looting new skills, wargear, and units along the way. This culminates in a boss-fight mission, that you'll probably die against first time through (if you didn't lose earlier). But in subsequent runs you have all the loot you'd previously gained to pick over to begin the run with, resulting in you getting stronger the more you play and pushing you over the hump to victory.
The battles take place on small areas with hexagonal tiles, with features that can do damage or give boons (or cause instant death - good for knocking tough enemies into). You summon units in, using a resource that increases by one each turn, and half of any of that gets turned into aether which lets you use your units' abilities. It's a good system, and really great to play (coming from someone who loves Fire Emblem and games like that). The enemy warbands can easily mess you up, but due to the Rogue-like nature of the game the occasions where I lost a run had me wanting to dive back in immediately.
My first time through I actually did quite well with the tanky Lord-Celestant Freya Skyhelm, getting all the way through the Manse in Shyish to face the Nighthaunt's Lady of Ashes. Unfortunately... she set Freya on fire, picked off my weaker Castigators, Liberators, and Vanguard Hunters, and Freya was unable to catch her before succumbing to the flames. I then lost a couple runs, but gained a bunch of loot. The second time I got to the end I had a bunch of extra skills on Freya (allowing her to deflect one blow, gain health back when charged, and increased damage), some super-beefed up Liberators, and a Knight Incantor. My impenetrable Shield Wall saw me through to victory.
The skills are somewhat balanced in a neat way by increasing the summoning cost of the unit they're put on. So while I'd get a bunch of stuff I could put on my Castigators, for example, I never did because I liked being able to summon them in on turn one. On the other hand, my Prosecutors (who were generally coming in on turn ~4-5 when Freya and her Liberator buddies were surrounded) could comfortably have their summon cost increased if it meant some additional armour.
Upon victory you get a second hero and access to higher difficulties. I'm not yet sure who it is for the Nighthaunt and Maggotking, but for the Stormcast this is Lord-Aquilor Alrik Nightrunner and he plays vastly different to the tanky Freya; teleporting around, setting traps and picking off isolated enemies. I played through the higher difficulty with him, and (in addition to now also fighting against both of the other factions) it totally changed up how I played. I could use Nightrunner to skirt the enemy and pick up loot for a bunch of turns, generating aether and waiting to summon in some really kitted out units. It was risky if he got caught, but very satisfying in the finale when a Great Unclean One summoned in only to immediately eat multiple souped-up Castigator bolts and a couple Knights Incantor using special attacks.
I've poked around with the Nighthaunt and Maggotkin, and all three factions play fairly different to one another. The Nighthaunt seem kind of low health, but can horde up a bit and seem to have a fair few tricks up their sleeves. I'm in the middle of my first Nurgle run, and they are sloooooow in their advance; hard hitting with a ton of health. I just got a Putrid Blightknight though, so having a more mobile unit might mix that up a bit.
The story of the game is pretty slight, but is fantastically executed. Like... I wouldn't even say there is much of a story? Freya has been reforged and is going after the Lady of Ashes - that's basically it. Along the way there'll be random encounters with other characters where there's some smack talk. It feels good, but this isn't a story focused game. All the voice work is excellent though, especially now that I've started playing the Maggotkin who are just the best.
There's also an army painter (which seems to unlock after your first time through the lower difficulty for each faction). It's pretty robust, and while in the past I wasn't the biggest fan of the Stormcast I did find a scheme that I really like (white and jade, like my Sisters of Battle. Don't know why I never considered that before).
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tl;dr: a really great little turn-based strategy Rogue-like, let down by sizable performance issues/bugs that many people will probably feel are too much to overcome and actually play.
Nurgle is worthwhile for the incredibly overdone voice acting.
also fuck "Let Fly my Vengeance"