From Little Barrera's army...
This is a great article and I completely agree about the need for more games to see how things shake down.
Re: Tomb Kings, I think they'll shoot through the roof once we have a clear idea of the magic. As I consider testing them, it appears that I'd have to roll 2d6 to find the highest dice for my opponent's dispel pool but that the spells still work unless dispelled, as per the army book. That's very, very useful, but there's still numerous questions to answer. It may not be worth trying until the PDF clears it up.
As you pointed out!
I suspect the game will revolve around the horde rules, though I suspect it's the 20mm armies that will use them most while the 25mm focus on linebreakers and multi-charges.
With the Winds of Magic staying consistent regardless of the points value of the game, it's a mistake not to grab every caster you can get your hands on for smaller games, meaning armies that don't rely on uber generals and BSB's have a distinct advantage there. It should shake out as the 'standard' becomes adopted, whatever that will be.
I've heard tell peeps think 2500pts...
Another thought I've had since chatting with the Master Manipulator (every store needs one) is regarding all the new magic options the big book has released for every army. That's going to open up a variety of new options for every army.
Feedback? Thoughts?
I might just have to dig my Warriors of chaos back out and start playing fantasy again. Although I don't think my sorceror spam list is going to hold up in this new edition however...
ReplyDeleteWow (not) Brent, that is lazy...
ReplyDeleteI'm what would be considered a "noob" in the art of Warhammer Fantasy, though I personally can't wait to have my rulebook in my hands.
I'm just glad that the general consensus is that Ogre Kingdoms is now an Mid to Upper Tier army...
Methinks spamming casters is not the way to go, though magic will still be potent in the hands of a few more powerful casters.
ReplyDeleteHorde is cool, but your advantage can be largely mitigated by your opponent fighting on a smaller front or just realizing how cumbersome such a unit will be on the new terrain-filled boards.
I like the equalizers coming out for O&G, Dorfs, WoC and OKs. Time will tell if VCs and TKs will be ok, depends on errata.
Chumby, you sound like the Master Manipulator (every store needs one) - he said pretty much the same thing.
ReplyDeleteHe's also had more time with the book, so there's something to be said for that.
Brent
Then we're both awesome. Go us!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chumby and MM(Esno) - in the main, at least. I see Miscasts as too dangerous to have a bunch of little Casters, and you won't need to spam Scrolls either.
ReplyDeleteNo, I see a slight shift towards shoooting while people try to figure out if it's worth shooting with non-Artillery pieces, and the gradual decline in favour of Fast Cav that can hit relatively hard, like Dark Riders.
But I'm just a Fantasy N00b who's been studying (but not playing) for the last decade, and who has an open PDF of the 8e book in another window. So what do I know?
Tomb Kings don't use a Magic Pool, they just cast at power 2d6 for the low-mage and 3d6 for the high-mage.
ReplyDeleteNasty....at least it seems like that at first I'm not familiar enough to tell.
Cheap casters seem to be very good in 8th, and miscasts are just something that will happen if you're going for the doomsday spells. That said, the Doomsday spells really do terrible things to your enemies, so they are worth it.
ReplyDeleteMagic kills from turn 1 on, not from whatever turn you manage to get through the enemy scroll pile.
Vampires are plenty good in 8th, but not the same as they were previously. Having access to Van Hel's is a bigger deal in 8th than it was in 7th, when there were more movement spells. Yes, the casting rules means spamming on 1 die is no longer a viable choice, so raising armies isn't what it used to be. It also means that Vampire abilities that add dice are more valuable, and that Vampires being able to have 12 dice almost no matter the roll is a much bigger deal (especially with opponents unable to pack 4 scrolls and a reliable number of dispel dice).
Did Vampires take it in the shorts in some of their 7th edition strengths? Absolutely. Other than the occasional ivory tower dweller who thought they were terrible (regardless of how they actually fared on the table), most people could agree they needed some adjustments to be fun to play against. Daemons also received major adjustments from the new edition, but no one is crying much over "ward or regen, choose" and other reductions of their overall power.
I really am enjoying 8th a lot. The game seems more fluid and less fiddly than 7th, and good fighting units actually get to fight now, which is a pleasant change.
And let me say, the decline of the Banner of Hag Graef and the Ring of Hotek as complete game wreckers is a much bigger and more wonderful change than anything affecting Vampires negatively.
JWolf -
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I was actually stunned when I came across the opinion piece saying VC 'was crap then and crap now.' They were always the hardest army for me to play.
We've been having fun with the new game as well. It plays faster and each phase seems like a mini-game. I simply love the magic phase now, which I wasn't a fan of with 7th.
I think you'll find this interesting: Little Barrera is still throwing a single dice for his summoning spells. I thought for sure nobody could get away with that, but he's actually proving us all wrong.
I'll do a post on it this week, so stop by and give me some feedback on what you think.
Brent