I love Tom saying "nah my hobby has been just putting my unbuilt boxes vaguely near my desk". Honestly, not-hobbying for a bit can be such a freeing thing. Nothing motivates me to hobby like not hobbying for a week.
That red is GLORIOUS! I would love to see a small breakdown of how you did the larger armor panels like that and pushed them further than the clan rat cloth. It is really truly striking - Well done Vince and thanks for the review as always
I'd make a case for lil' Nagash manifestation, you'd use it with a shooting army because you count models that were slain this phase, not just counting those slain by the manifestations shooting attacks. Can have purpose, especially if you want to advance on an objective or kill target shutting off Unleash Hell/Counter-charge/Defense like you said.
Marked for death seems to be good for finishing off a non hero monster/ single model unit, as a unit with 1 wound left has not had any models slain technically
My idea for the underdog mechanic would be to allow free commands for the person who is getting doubled. Scrap the idea of not being able to take a battle tactic entirely and just make the double turn give fun, in-game resources for the opponent.
This GHB sounds a lot better than the 3rd edition ones. Not only has the number of good battleplans gone up, but the seasonal rules are just a little extra spice instead of meta warping monstrosities. Only thing that bothers me is that they didn't manage to balance the manifestation lores a bit better. Sounds like we will be seeing the same two lores for the most part. (At least those two contain some of my favourite endless spells.) Considering that they were willing to change core rules with their Battle Scrolls in 3rd edition, I really hope that they change the Underdog from 1 VP difference to 5 VP difference as soon as possible. That should fix most of its problems. And sounds like a more realistic approach than toning down half a dozen individual boni.
I’m getting really excited to play some AoS 4, thanks for all of the coverage you’ve been providing for the new edition. I’ve heard a lot of people talking about playing conservatively to stay just behind their opponent’s score to get the underdog. I don’t think this is going to be a consistently viable strategy but more of an opportunistic play. If both players are trying to take advantage of this strategy each turn then it becomes a race to the bottom where very few points are being scored. Considering how swingy this game can be with very clutch dice rolls happening most turns, if someone can consistently play perfectly each turn to stay a point or two down and not get burned by a couple of bad dice rolls, I think that’s a game that player could easily just win playing to max out their score each turn and denying their opponent’s battle tactics.
What is maximum dimensions of small and medium terrain features used in the General's Handbook? It looks like small features have a diameter of 6 inches, while large features have a diameter of 12 (or 9?) inches. But thats just my guess.
The description of the GHB made it sound like the core rules would be in here too. I’d like a printed copy of them, but not enough for a $70 core book. Plus, I’ll be fine with the pdf. I’d get this just as a cheaper spiral bound edition.
i might be contrarian, but limited resources was by far my favourite battleplan from last year. i admit that i play AoS way more than the average player, but i think having 1 battleplan that really rewards long term game planning is fine. this as like a game 4 of a GT is just fine imo. but i agree that there isnt one that i feel like is super bad, like nexus collapse was this past ghb
When it comes to eternal spells, do you get the impression that the correct answer is if your faction has their own eternal spells then in most cases they will be the best choice rather than the universals?
Thanks for the info and insights. I wonder if there was a 5 point difference for determining the underdog it would be less problematic. It would definitely be an easier change than re-wrihting all the battle plans. Would that change your ranking of these battle plans at all Vince?
I'm gonna take plenty of inspiration from your army, they look lovely! Quick question, is it NMM on the armor for the Rat Ogres or have you mixed some red with true metallics? And... will we get a detailed video like you did for the test model (Clanrat/Bombardier)? As always, thanks for the amazing content!
Based off the ossiarch rumours I've heard - Morghasts are even more beastly than now, immortis guard substantially nerfed - if nagash is actually viable, points depending. Reinforced units of morghast to send in, nuke something, die and get resurrected to try again. I am aware that combo is probably half to 66% of the army, but man, that does sound fun.
Pretty sure you should do underwater bases for your skaven… didn’t they flood skavenblight by opening a gnawhole under the sea and exposing the idoneth?
For the underdog "in balance" issue... If you score big one turn then the enemy will be the underdog and scores big and then back and forth... So is it unbalanced or up to strategy
Question about Prismatic Palisade - it states blocking of shooting attacks. Does that include directed spell attacks? I assumed not but seeing what the consensus is with that.
I had a question relating to last week please: the stormcast once per battle bring back a unit half strength says to pick a unit( rather than reference to the player), does this mean it can be used multiple times a battle but only once per unit? Thank you
the presence of battleplan-agnostic battle tactics as executed remains a sticking point for me. it feels like a lot of matchplay games are going to feel a bit samey because there will be general beats you are trying to do for those tactics. The GHB being bereft of extras is a bummer. I am probably skipping buying the big core book because the PTG rules seem really stripped down and not worth looking into. I do not look forward to re-buying the rules multiple times through this edition's lifespan.
Hey Vince, read Goonhammer and they say no foot priests for Skaven. Is that right? Does that also mean no warscrolls for underworlds warbands (thinking Skabbik)? If you can't say, then next week when you cover Skaven would be awesome
Turn 1 battle tactics should be removed so that you can just play your opponent/the scenario. Could pick a grand strat on turn 1 instead (and remove the grand alliance BTs)
The drip feed of info is silly to get web site folks a bonus. I want a Tomb Kings AoS army. Also the rules should put notes in proper places, Retreat is another one a few repeated rules would help clear confusion.
Underdog in Spearhead is the same (see core rules 12.0). it's only when you take the double turn that it's different. If you're the underdog by 5 points or more then you still get to draw battle tactic cards. Otherwise if you take the double you don't get to draw new cards. I've only played one Spearhead game so far and I already hate the way underdog is implemented. I like the concept in theory. I hate that you only have to be down by 1 point. I hate that in spearhead both players can benefit from the underdog bonus (eg scoring extra from certain objectives). I hate that some of the stronget ones is a roll off, especially in the case of the first turn. I hate that the roll off exists at all. I think underdog should be a bonus only for the underdog and you have to be perhaps 6 points under in main AOS and 2 or 3 under in Spearhead to qualify. Or just not use the underdog rules at all... It's possible tournaments will just enforce that. It's certainly one of those rules you can easily cut without affecting the overall game that much. As for the season itself. I do worry if it's a bit too light for a 12 month season. I agree previous GHBs were too heavy for a 6 month season, but I fell like we've tweaked both things too far. These new rules with a 6 month season would have been perfectly fine. If we get 12 new battle plans every 6 months while the season rules stay the same... I'm fine with that too. Otherwise playing the same 8-10 at all events for 12 months might be a bit of a stretch.
And now to the bad news: if I understood correctly, then according to today’s free files for AoS4, I’m really fucked with “Legends” rules: there are not and will not be any Greenskins, Phoenixes, etc. In short, if the miniature has _live_ game, then for other systems there will not even be legends of the rules! I.e in fact, models of one system are categorically banned in others. That is, I have tons of vintage fantasy miniatures on round bases and adaped for the Mortal Realms, and GW now tells me to go play the Old World? Let GW go to hell...! Let's see how 40k players sing when the Leman Rus tank is removed from the Imperial Guard army and left only for the Solar Auxillia in in the Horus Heresy!
Any lingering interest I had in AoS 4 is utterly gone. Battle tactics were the worst part of AoS 3, and now they have even more influence on every aspect of the game. They slow the game down, and in many cases encourage non-interaction and what would be, in an actual wargame, sub-optimal play. Furthermore, they have taken the problem with artefacts in AoS3 (they all cost nothing but there was almost always an obvious best choice so everyone took the same ones) and expanded it to include manifestations. Everything about this game seems like it’s designed to force close games so that there is an illusion of it being an actual wargame instead of what it is: ticking boxes and feeling a little rush every time you score a handful of points for some arbitrary accomplishment. There are so many good miniature war games that I could play (some even made by GW!); it is difficult to see myself spending my time and effort on this one. Sorry to be a buzzkill, but it makes me sad and a little angry that the army I spent so much time on brings me no joy or excitement beyond how it looks in my display cabinet.
I will say, the battle tactics in this edition are better in interactivity, you have more counter play which is good. But I understand what you’re saying.
