Post by stonecutter on Feb 16, 2013 15:30:31 GMT -5
I've played against the new WoC several times now over the past two weeks and the army got a very nice update that made some things better and some things worse. Surprisingly, the better things are also the new models that cost a lot of $$$ :lol: I have yet to have a chance to memorize the codex but here are my observations IIRC:
The Better:
1) Warriors - they are slightly cheaper when unmarked but the new marks are now paid for on a per model basis which equates to about a wash in most instances although it will shave a few models off a horde. The big difference is the mark. Nurgle is now a straight -1 to hit and definitely one of the best marks to take in the army so I would expect to see more of them.
2) Hellcannon - it now has an official ward save which, when coupled with the monster and handler ward save, makes it pretty tough to take out. It also has magical attacks.
3) Skullcrushers - more expensive, T4 rather than T5 and need to buy the no-brainer cheap upgrade for +1S and magical attacks but gained an extra wound to make up for it. The juggers are also +1 S on the charge so these are very nasty monstrous cav.
4) Demon Prince - went from absolute garbage to pretty amazing when marked with Nurgle as the extremely high WS and nurgle will mean anything but elite troops are hitting on 6s. Most importantly, the DP is unbreakable so no breaking it in combat or grinding it down through static combat res like other daemons. Furthermore, it can take a mix of magic items and gifts of chaos that can make it much better both in the offence and defence.
5) Big Monsters - a couple of new monsters along the lines of a terrorgheist in terms of danger but vulnerable due to low LD and ability to panic them. If they are fielded, you can expect to see doubles or a mix of 2+ so that at least one makes it across the boards to wreck the enemy.
6) Dragon Ogres & Ogres - DO's got cheaper and better weapon options such as halberds. Given the other army choices, they are still a sub-optimal choice. Chaos ogres are much cheaper (in line with current OK units), get impact hits and can be marked so I would expect to see them fielded, especially if the WoC player also owns an ogre army!!
7) Daemonic gifts - are in addition to magic item allotment and there are a lot of really good ones for very few points.
8) Chariots - now a core choice but expect to see the upgraded gorebeast version instead. For just a few more points than the old chariot, it has an extra wound, more S5 attacks, T6 and KB on the impact hits. Toss in a mark of nurgle and it will be quite a tough nut to crack.
9) Daemonic attacks - not only are these now magical but they also apply to all of the models attacks including stomps & thunderstomps, etc. Ironically, this is in direct contravention of the general FAQ on the same issue which stated that such special rules did NOT apply to stomps and thunderstomps. It will be a big plus when WoC are going against vamps or wood elves (not that they needed any help with the latter!!).
10) Character mounts - all the daemonic mounts now grant magical attacks and they are inexpensive for what they are doing. Again, nurgle appears to be a great choice for a hero level character since it will grant two extra wounds but the flying Tzeentch disc and jugger are also solid choices.
Worse:
1) Marauders - way more expensive and seriously so when a mark is added. WoC players will likely still field them because they own so many of the models but they will have to chop the horde in half to do so!
2) Chaos Knights - even more overpriced and an insane choice when the skullcrushers are available.
3) Eye of Gods/Warshrine - IIRC, the gifts now only apply to characters and champions, not units. Also, with favour of the gods gone, the roll cannot be modified as before. However, there are options that allow rolling three dice and picking the best two. While it may be better for characters, at least the chosen star is no longer impossible to grind down.
4) Magic items - puppet, favour of gods, banner of rage, etc. are gone. However, a chaos gift allow re-rolls of ward saves of 1 so a new version of the dark elf Chuck Norris is available (i.e. 1+ AS followed by 3+WS that re-rolls any 1s) with plenty of points left over to take the crown of command and a magic weapon. Good news again is that this is unlikely to be anyone other than a wizard using the combo.
5) Magic lores - very much in keeping with current books that are less powerful than the big 8 IMHO but a few pretty neat spells. To make up for it, marked casters now still have access to other lores. With Gateway, treason and several other killer spells nerfed, the overall impact is a less threatening magic phase.
The Better:
1) Warriors - they are slightly cheaper when unmarked but the new marks are now paid for on a per model basis which equates to about a wash in most instances although it will shave a few models off a horde. The big difference is the mark. Nurgle is now a straight -1 to hit and definitely one of the best marks to take in the army so I would expect to see more of them.
2) Hellcannon - it now has an official ward save which, when coupled with the monster and handler ward save, makes it pretty tough to take out. It also has magical attacks.
3) Skullcrushers - more expensive, T4 rather than T5 and need to buy the no-brainer cheap upgrade for +1S and magical attacks but gained an extra wound to make up for it. The juggers are also +1 S on the charge so these are very nasty monstrous cav.
4) Demon Prince - went from absolute garbage to pretty amazing when marked with Nurgle as the extremely high WS and nurgle will mean anything but elite troops are hitting on 6s. Most importantly, the DP is unbreakable so no breaking it in combat or grinding it down through static combat res like other daemons. Furthermore, it can take a mix of magic items and gifts of chaos that can make it much better both in the offence and defence.
5) Big Monsters - a couple of new monsters along the lines of a terrorgheist in terms of danger but vulnerable due to low LD and ability to panic them. If they are fielded, you can expect to see doubles or a mix of 2+ so that at least one makes it across the boards to wreck the enemy.
6) Dragon Ogres & Ogres - DO's got cheaper and better weapon options such as halberds. Given the other army choices, they are still a sub-optimal choice. Chaos ogres are much cheaper (in line with current OK units), get impact hits and can be marked so I would expect to see them fielded, especially if the WoC player also owns an ogre army!!
7) Daemonic gifts - are in addition to magic item allotment and there are a lot of really good ones for very few points.
8) Chariots - now a core choice but expect to see the upgraded gorebeast version instead. For just a few more points than the old chariot, it has an extra wound, more S5 attacks, T6 and KB on the impact hits. Toss in a mark of nurgle and it will be quite a tough nut to crack.
9) Daemonic attacks - not only are these now magical but they also apply to all of the models attacks including stomps & thunderstomps, etc. Ironically, this is in direct contravention of the general FAQ on the same issue which stated that such special rules did NOT apply to stomps and thunderstomps. It will be a big plus when WoC are going against vamps or wood elves (not that they needed any help with the latter!!).
10) Character mounts - all the daemonic mounts now grant magical attacks and they are inexpensive for what they are doing. Again, nurgle appears to be a great choice for a hero level character since it will grant two extra wounds but the flying Tzeentch disc and jugger are also solid choices.
Worse:
1) Marauders - way more expensive and seriously so when a mark is added. WoC players will likely still field them because they own so many of the models but they will have to chop the horde in half to do so!
2) Chaos Knights - even more overpriced and an insane choice when the skullcrushers are available.
3) Eye of Gods/Warshrine - IIRC, the gifts now only apply to characters and champions, not units. Also, with favour of the gods gone, the roll cannot be modified as before. However, there are options that allow rolling three dice and picking the best two. While it may be better for characters, at least the chosen star is no longer impossible to grind down.
4) Magic items - puppet, favour of gods, banner of rage, etc. are gone. However, a chaos gift allow re-rolls of ward saves of 1 so a new version of the dark elf Chuck Norris is available (i.e. 1+ AS followed by 3+WS that re-rolls any 1s) with plenty of points left over to take the crown of command and a magic weapon. Good news again is that this is unlikely to be anyone other than a wizard using the combo.
5) Magic lores - very much in keeping with current books that are less powerful than the big 8 IMHO but a few pretty neat spells. To make up for it, marked casters now still have access to other lores. With Gateway, treason and several other killer spells nerfed, the overall impact is a less threatening magic phase.