X-Wing Review

Hold on tight, prepare to read.

There are 5 things that makes X-Wing one of the best miniatures games I've ever played.

Simple and Clean

X-Wing has one of the smoothest rulesets I've ever played in a minis game.  There's only a few phases in the game and generic special rules that you have to follow and that's pretty much it.  Movement is completely dictated by visual aids and helped along with pre-determined measurement sticks.  Everything that you want to do is printed out, provided and helped along on the tabletop so you clearly see what's going on at all times.  I find this to be the future of miniatures gaming in general.  Warmachine has battle tokens to symbolize exactly how many Focus a Warcaster has, and if he casts something, you place the corresponding spell token down on the table.  Warhammer recently came out with magic spell cards that you can put near a unit being afflicted by a spell.  Anything that helps the player visually is extremely important in speeding up gameplay as well as keeping the game itself organized.  X-Wing takes it one step further in that you don't need a ruler to play the game.  You simply pull out a flight stick and move the distance in your speed dial, or measure with a range stick how many dice you can throw in attack.  It's simple, clean and effective.

The game itself is easy to setup and plays fast.  You can play most games no matter how grueling in under an hour.  Part of this is because there's no ruler to calculate every single inch or half inch, and everything is in front of your face so it's impossible to forget.  This is extremely attractive for the modern gamer because you can build a list, put your models on the table and get to playing right away.  It plays smoother, faster, and you can fit more games in the same time you would another minis game.  To make things even easier, you don't even need to paint the minis because they come pre-painted.  I checked out some of the minis in person recently and they're pretty damn good for the price you pay for it.  You can always re-paint them if you don't like how they look after all.  X-Wing, in this regard, is more than just a miniatures game, it's the Steam-equivalent of what miniatures game should be in the modern era.  I don't need to construct or paint anything, I can simply open up the box of minis and put them straight onto the table.

Personality and Depth

When I say the game is simple to play, I don't mean it's shallow.  One of the biggest concerns that I have with any game going in is the skill cap.  If I'm going to be invest time, effort, and most importantly, money into a hobby, I want it to be worth my time.  As a hardcore gamer, the hobby side of things is already taken care of so I'm thankful the minis I put on the table won't look like ass.  With that out of the way, I can focus on the core gameplay mechanics and rip it apart from top to bottom.  Out of the five games I've played so far, there is a huge amount of depth lying underneath the easy to learn ruleset.  This, my friends, is how you know you got a winner.

One of my favorite games ever created is Pokemon.  On the surface level, it's easy enough that even a child can understand it:  Fire burns grass and water puts out fire.  A lot of people stop right here and that's perfectly fine.  If they want a game that they can go around and collect Pokemon with their friends, good for them.  However, if they really want to dig into the game and find out the inner workings of it, they'll find something so alien and unfathomable that it'll be like playing something completely different.  Now enter the world of competitive battling:  Tiers, EVs, IVs, natures, breeding, and specific movesets that shapes and molds an entirely different metagame.  To me, this is where the game really begins.

X-Wing is no different in that regard.  Despite having a remarkably simple ruleset, there's a near infinite level of possibility and customization.  We all know there's several different kinds of ships that's used to shoot down other ships.  What we need to realize is that there's several ranks to these spacecraft with different pilot skills, different ships have different maneuverability, unique pilots have their own special rules, modifications, weapon upgrades, elite pilot skills, the list goes on.  All of these elements come with built-in or added points costs, so list design is very thought-provoking and fun.  In a standard tournament point range of 100 points, you can do virtually anything you want with the options presented to you.  This is where the game truly becomes challenging as you're customizing your playing experience based on your personal preferences.  No other minis game in the last decade presents itself this way in my honest opinion.  This game truly exemplifies the meaning of "easy to learn, hard to master."

Action and Reaction

I'm not going to lie when I say this, but I'm pretty done with the my-turn-your-turn ideology of gameplay.  It's an awful system to begin with and one of the reasons why games like that don't sing to me the way they used to.  As an competitive RTS player at heart, I enjoy live action where you can make important decisions in real time.  Since you can't really do it in a miniatures game, you have an action/reaction system instead.  When your opponent does something to you, I want to be able to answer back instead of just pulling models off the table.  This is just a method of gaming that I like and I understand that it is not the same for everybody.  Infinity has a similar system via AROs and honestly, that's the only thing I like about that game.  In short, there's nothing more insulting than watching your opponent total you without being able to do anything in response.  That's one of the reasons why I've shied away from Warmachine and one of the reasons why I think Seize the Initiative is the worst thing to happen to 40K.  Sure, you can do the same thing to your opponent, but that's no way to enjoy a game.

One of the best gameplay features from X-Wing is how it incorporates Pilot Skill into how players act and react in a game.  When the round starts, pilots with the lowest skill moves first, followed by the pilots with higher skill.  Whether or not this shows the rookie's inexperience and eagerness for battle is up to your imagination.  The fact is, this happens to the entire board and both players activate their pilots in corresponding order.  Because the action phase happens immediately after a single pilot makes his move, the higher skilled pilots can react to how aggressive the lesser skilled pilots are and adjust their actions accordingly.  If a lower pilot overextends, a higher skilled pilot might want to kill him right away.  Should the pilot who moved first anticipate this, he might want to Evade during his action phase.  When it comes down to the combat phase, the pilots with the highest pilot skill shoots first before going down the skill tree.  This not only portrays the experience of the pilot, but it helps maintain the fluidity of active gameplay.  Regardless of how you look at it, both players are constantly moving their ships around during the movement phase.  This makes the game much more enjoyable for both players because they're both actively playing the game.

Prediction and Bluffing

Going back to Pokemon, one of the most difficult things to master in that game is prediction.  Prediction is a skill that only experience or instinct can leverage and once mastered, will give you an edge over your opponent.  If I predict my opponent will switch out his Pokemon right now, I'll be able to setup this ability that'll allow me to sweep his team.  Does he go for it?  Only experience will tell him what to expect, and sometimes he will guess wrong and it'll mean his downfall.  This is a chance that every competitive player has to take, but he'll be able to make more educated guesses the more he plays the game.  At the end of the day, prediction adds another layer of strategy where lesser game systems don't provide it at all.

Now enter X-Wing, where the entirety of the Planning Phase is based on prediction, anticipation, and guesstimation.  Every single move you make on the battlefield before your pilots even start turning is made with a movement dial placed face down.  Each type of ship has its own movement dial and thus, every ship's ability to maneuver is different.  An X-Wing will not be able to pull off the same maneuvers as an Tie Fighter and that's something both players will have to learn.  The best example I can give here is that: You have two Tie Fighters closing in on your tail and you're down to your last hull point.  Your ship is already turning soft left, so do you want to hard bank right to try to throw them off?  Maybe if you fly straight ahead you can gain some distance between them.  What if you preform a Koiogran Turn right now and go out guns blazing?  Now imagine the same situation with different pilot skills on the table where movement actually happens in ascending order.

The morale of the story is:  The X-Wing decided to bank hard right and the Imperial player predicted he would.  Not only did they go in the right direction, but they closed the distance and ended up with +1 attack dice for being in range 1.  Hmm.. gg wp.

Fun and Immersive

Probably the biggest draw that any game has going for it is simply; how fun it is to play.  This is incredibly subjective and normally compounded over several different things.  For me, I think the game is awesome.  The ruleset is easy to learn, but the game itself is hard to master.  Prediction is one of the key driving forces to how movement is dictated and it can either be a boon or fatal flaw.  I love skirmish style games and having the ability to play multiple games in the span of a single WHFB game is very appealing.  The buy in cost is also fantastic, although I do hope that FFG put out more stock (stuff literally flies off the shelves, I wonder why).  This is the only game I've played in a while that I can literally go from box to table in a span of a few minutes.  I love the fact I can play with regular pilots as well as the more famous pilots that we see in the movies e.g. Vader and Luke.  I love the customization options and the ability to customize my ships with the pilots that I like, and have them behave exactly how I want.  Most of all, I love the alternating gameplay where both players are immersed in the fantasy that is flying around the galaxy with starfighers.  As a hardcore gamer, this is the perfect game for me.

My friend and I talked about how this game translates the fantasy onto the tabletop, and I think it's near flawless.  A lot of the unique pilots have skills that fits them very well in their each unique way.  This gives them personality, character and the desire for players to make them want to succeed on the table.  I just love how Imperial pilots are more about the individual skill of the pilot themselves and how synergistic the Rebel pilots are with each other.  Sure, a Tie Swarm will look pretty epic, but so is Biggs' heroic sacrifice so Wedge ends up killing everyone.

The best way to describe it is:  If you took a photostory of a game of X-Wing being played and played it back without hands, rulers or dice, it would look like a scene from Star Wars.  In that respect, I think this game nailed it.

Dark Elves: Unit Review

What did the horse say?

Competitive unit review of the new Dark Elves book.  This review will focus on how Dark Elves will preform from an external balance point of view.

LORDS and HEROES

Malekith - 2/5
Just way too expensive for what he does.  The guy is 510 points and is basically a lesser version of Teclis and a lesser version of Tyrion mixed into one character.  This lack of focus and the fact his primary abilities are kind of gimmicky makes him a poor choice overall.  Oh, you can also take him on a his dragon for an absurd amount of points if you really want to.

Mortahi - 3/5
Not the greatest character, but for her points, she's not bad at all.  She's basically a Supreme Sorc that has more lore flexibility and can fight on her Dark Peggy.  The fact she's packing some powerful weaponry, an innate 4+ ward and MR2 (2++ vs. magic missiles), and she has everything built in nicely for her cost, I say she's a solid choice.  If you want to go the flying route, I know I would rather have Mortahi over a standard Supreme Sorc because of her extra special rules.  At 375, if you're going for the peggy spellcaster, there's no better option.

Hellebron - 4/5
The reason why I don't rank her higher is because she has absolutely nothing defensive about her anymore.  She lost Parrying Blade and gained some useless S4 backlash in return, but the damage and toolbox has increased dramatically.  Coming in at 310 points, she packs 5 base + Super Frenzy + D3 attacks for a total of 10 possible attacks at WS7 I9 ASF Poison S10 with re-roll 1s to wound.  If that's not crazy, I don't know what is.  She comes with Warcry which is super Fear on -3 Ld., Witchbrew which makes her and unit of Witches get super Frenzy (+2 attacks), and Rune of Khaine which is what gives her +D3 extra attacks.  Hellebron also gives magic protection in her unit in an rather unique way:  All magic spells targeting her unit gets +4 to dispel, so if you have a Supreme Sorc in your army you get +8 to dispel on the unit.  Not bad per se, but I would rather see MR3 personally.

Malus Darkblade - 2.5/5
Not really that great, especially for his points cost.  The reason why is simply because more competitive options exist via the Dreadlord and their damn Sea Dragon Cloaks.  I mean, he has one, but his points cost vs. a regular Dreadlord is a little shoddy, and you know for sure the dude you build isn't going to go berserk and cut down your own guys.  Plus, aside from the 1+ AS, he doesn't have much protection.

Dreadlord/Master - 4.5/5
These guys are basically better versions of the High Elf equivs in every way.  You have ASF, the same stats, but now you have re-roll 1s to wound in CC and have the Sea Dragon Cloak.  In case you guys don't know yet, SDC gives the bearer 5+ Scaly Skin which can be stacked with armor as usual.  This means you have 1+ AS for Heavy Armor, Shield and just being mounted, otherwise you're running 2+ AS for being on foot.  This makes the Dreadlord a much better fighter than their HE counterparts in almost every combat scenario and magic item combination.  For example, you can easily run a 1+ AS with re-roll, Giant Blade and OTS on the same guy, which is not possible for a HE Prince.

Supreme Sorc/Sorceress - 4.5/5
In terms of sheer flexibility, the Dark Elves are incredibly strong now.  All of their mages can take all the book lores as well as having their own Dark Magic.  This itself unlocks a huge array of tactics and strategies that otherwise wouldn't exist.  Where the arcane item selection doesn't stand out like the Book of Hoeth, a few pieces here and there are still pretty noteworthy.  That, and the fact that Dark Magic packs its own test-or-die spell makes DE mages some of the best in the game.

High Beastmaster - 2/5
This guy is pretty much the Anointed of the DE book.  He's very gimmicky in the fact that he can ride a Manticore for free, but his points is already very expensive for someone with Light Armor and Sea Dragon Cloak.  The only way someone is going to run something that costs 300 points before upgrades is if he really likes the fluff or model.  Having +2D3 extra attacks on the Manticore sounds like a lot of fun, but it's a Manticore and it's going to die just like Griffons do to cannons and other dangerous artillery pieces on the battlefield.

Black Ark Fleetmaster - 1/5
He's basically a 3-wound master with a huge gimmick:  Kill someone or stay alive in a challenge and your unit gets Unbreakable for the rest of the turn.  OK sure, I refuse the challenge.  Now you're left out to dry (lol get it?!) with 50 points of magic items that you can spend trying to get a weapon you'll never use or a AS that doesn't matter.  Garbage.

Shadowblade - 2/5
This guy is a shadow (LOL, lovin' it) of his former self.  He can hide from unit to unit and on the turn he comes out, he's falling on you with 4 S8 attacks with +1 to wound and KB.  Too bad he's expensive, is a one-pump chump, and is sure to die after he makes his attacks.  Honestly, you're much better taking a cheaper Assassin.

Lokir Fellheart - 3/5
Not too bad actually, and the funny part is, Lokir has a better chance killing a mage in a bunker than Shadowblade is.  Lokir has something called Daring Leap that allows him to swing at any enemy character model in the same combat.  Since he's a piratelord, he also has Show No Weakness which then allows him to give the unit Unbreakable if he kills them.  With 4 attacks, S4 and re-roll wounds, he can easily kill an unarmored mage just by being in combat with them.  The 2+ AS that he sports ontop of Regen and Terror gives him quite a bit of durability as well.  A better assassin than the greatest assassin for cheaper, that's just sad.

Kouran Darkhand - 2/5
Great stats, ItP, Stubborn, Eternal Hatred, ASF, S6 alway, man, he seems great right?  No.  Not for the points, not even close.  You want fighters to stay alive so they can actually do the fighting.  In an edition where Stepping Up is an actual thing, you don't want to be a fighting character character with little to no armor.  Unless you're bringing the pain like Hellebron, you're going to be overshadowed and frankly, quite useless.

Tullaris Dreadbringer - 2.5/5
Same deal for this dude, except the fact he gets to give Executioners Frenzy.  He's still paper thin, is pretty expensive and doesn't bring anything to the table but killing a few models and dying in return.  Keep in mind that this is a game about points.  You want to maintain a good KDR where you can say with confidence:  This model killed X amount of points back and that's why he's great.  This isn't going to happen if you get hit back and you die horribly, especially when he's not packing ASF to go with that lovely 5+ KB.  The only thing I like about him is that he gives Executioners' Frenzy, which can be good and bad depending on situation.

Death Hag/Cauldron - 3/5
This is going to be a slightly longer one because it has to do with two separate entities.  For the Death Hag herself, I see her simply as a tax so you can access the Cauldron.  She's actually quite terrible herself, having no save of any kind but allowing you to give any unit you want Frenzy or activate Cry of War.  Even though she can take magic weapons, I would just keep her as cheap as possible while getting some utility out of her.  She's going to die, even if the Cauldron is there so why even bother.

The main thing about the Cauldron is that while it is decent, it's really expensive. If it was a stand alone choice, I would definitely consider taking it, but as of right now, you're subject to the Death Hag tax. If you're going to take a Death Hag, you're essentially 85+ points to something that's going to be drastically expanding your unit of Witches. From my experience, this leads down a very slippery slope. If you take the Cauldron, you want your unit of Witches to be big. You also want to give the Death Hag the BSB because you don't want to pay extra for a Master, and some gear/tools to prolong her existence. Before you know it, you're spending a crazy amount of points to get things going.  If the Cauldron gave the girl on top a 4+ Ward, some form of strong MR, or abilities like last edition, I would strongly consider it.  Even if you were allowed to re-roll wounds for all units with MP and NOT models within 6", I would strongly consider it.  At its current, the Cauldron is simply another player option, but not a must-have like other people are calling it.

Also, I'm currently playing the thing with re-roll all wounds in CC only.  Despite my powergaming roots wanting me to take it with 4x RBTs, I just can't do it anymore.

Assassin - 2.5/5
Just give the guy a Potion of Strength and extra hand weapon and call it a day.  He's not going to survive prolonged combat, and S7 should be enough to make a dent on anything.  Too bad most of his targets are going to be 300+ tooled up lords that's going to smack him in the face and end it all right there.  While the stats are insanely impressive, he's not exactly in the throw-away zone with all things considered.  If ASF canceled with ASF and then followed Initiative order, the Assassin would be stronger.  Unfortunately, going at the same time with a Chaos Lord is not going to do anything but get yourself killed with very little chance of actually killing him.  Frankly, I wish there was a backstab option that'll allow these guys to swing with no fear of retaliation for one round.  Maybe then they'll be worth something.

CORE UNITS

Dreadspears/Bleakswords/Darkshards - 2.5/5
These are your standardized Elven core infantry units.  They can either use their Spears, hack at things with swords, or shoot at things with RXBs.  The Darkshards' Repeater Crossbows now cost 12ppm so the price is a little up there.  I don't expect to see many big units of these anymore, but a few MSU units of 10 might still see use, especially when they can take the Flaming Banner.  As for the Dreadspears, I expect to see them more over the Bleakswords simply because they get more attacks that can re-roll those 1s due to Murderous Prowess.

Corsairs - 3/5
I would take these guys over the above options any day in the week.  They can sport 4+ AS due to their Sea Dragon Cloaks and you can give them 2x hand weapons so they have more attacks.  The 4+ AS is the best armor any field infantry has seen so far and that's one of the reasons why these guys are good.  At 11ppm with AHW, they will fight with Witches over who's the better core unit.  More on that later.

Dark Riders - 4.5/5
The best Fast Cav in the game currently with the option for 4+ AS without movement penalty, RXB, M9 and ASF Spears.  These guys can be anywhere they want, threaten a large array of enemies with good rolling, and are downright the most cost-effective Fast Cav Core to be seen.  The fact that they cost nothing due to Core allowance makes them absolutely superb:  More drops, provides shooting and Fast Cav status on Dark Steeds means DE heroes will be able to travel with them.

Witch Elves - 4/5
Amazing statline for Core with the exception of being Frenzy.  Frenzy can be a good thing and a bad thing, but in the case of Witches I think this is more good.  Having 3 attacks a piece with I6 ASF Poison is kind of ridiculous, especially when you can take a Razor Standard in the unit and getting that nice Armor Piercing damage.  Having innate ITP also makes these guys great monster killers, and as long as you win the chaff war vs. good opponents, you will not be led astray too much.  This is why it's absolutely pivotal Dark Elves have a strong shooting phase.  You want you units to be able to charge the units that they want and not have to worry about damage in return.  One of the best choices for Core in the meta, as the sheer number of wounds you inflict will make them dangerous to everything in the game.

SPECIAL UNITS

Cold One Knights - 3/5
At 30ppm and S6 on the charge, these guys got better I think.  The ASF really helps guarantee those S6 hits and the fact that Cold Ones now have 2A a piece makes this unit very good.  While not as precise and brutal vs. standard line infantry as Dragon Princes, COKs' access to S6 makes them more effective against a broader spectrum of enemies on the battlefield.  Fear is still there as is Stupidity, but having a unit of 5 on the flank is never a bad idea.

Black Guard - 3/5
In another time period, these guys were the king of the battlefield.  Now at 15ppm and S4 with virtually no protection, these guys can't stand toe to toe with anyone.  Remember, this game is all about points in relation to KDR to how units preform on the battlefield.  Being ItP and Stubborn is a great thing, as is re-rolling to hit with ASF and S4 re-roll 1s, but the fact that a Skaven Slave can run up and chop your ass down and remain Steadfast means that fodder will be grinding it out with DE elites.  These guys basically dropped into Sword Master status in terms of cost-effectiveness.

Shades - 4/5
Probably one of the best things to transition over from the previous book.  S5 GWs as I5 is a very welcome addition to Shades considering they've lost nothing in terms of shooting.  BS5, great coverage vs. any unit, Skirmishers who can scout and harass the enemy for days.  If they ever get in a house, these guys will make your life a living hell as no one wants to take a hail of accurate RXB shots to the face.

Cold One Chariot - 3/5
A good priced S5 T5 chariot with 3+ AS and 4W is very welcome for this army book.  Simply put, these guys make Lion Chariots look like dog crap, especially when you factor in the fact they have Scythes and RXBs as extra bonuses.  A very solid pick for cheap.

Executioners - 4.5/5
The best special unit for Dark Elves right here.  High WS, Ld.9, threatens everything in the game with Killing Blow and re-roll 1s to wound with S6 striking at I5.  At 12ppm, these guys don't get any better than this.  Sure, they fall over to a slight breeze, but their kill potential and range of damage is what keeps these guys in the game.  Smack a SoDiscipline on them and they'll hang tight by matching kills with the opponent's best units and remain equal on KDR.  The fact that DE can now take any lore in the game makes these guys even stronger, since you can buff them to godly levels via magic.

Repeater Bolt Thrower - 4/5
You need these to be a competitive army, simple as that.  I can't say the same for High Elves due to their enormous threat coverage from the Frostheart, but these are an absolute necessity for any competitive DE player.  With so many good units running around with Frenzy, or wants to be Frenzy, picking your charges and negotiating the battlefield via movement is king.  Repeater Bolt Throwers help clear the field of chaff, thus allowing you to move around freely so you can pick your combats.  Having S6 no AS D3 wounds at BS4 also puts the fear of death into popular flying Daemon Princes, who would otherwise be a nightmare to face otherwise.

Harpies - 1/5
Invalidated due to Dark Riders being so amazing.  I guess you can keep a few of these guys around to fly around and be annoying, but there's much cheaper chaff out there so you might as well take the superior Dark Riders.  Plus, you're Dark Elves and you should be shooting in every phase.

Scourgerunner Chariot - 1/5
At 150 points, I don't think so.  Good movement with Elven BS is nice, but suffering the move to hit with long-range penalties is pretty garbage.  Sure, S7 is great, but it needs to hit first and if you're not moving, you're no getting into a good position to make it happen.  I know I'm probably going to regret the day I ignore one of these and eat a bolt to the face, but I'll take my chances and so will other players.  Whenever I see one of these on the battlefield, I know my opponent could of spent points elsewhere that'll be more useful, and guaranteed to do stuff.

War Hydra - 3/5
Alright, I'm going to put these guys as a 3 for right now.  I'm particularly hard on these guys because they're in a very tricky place balance design wise.  Last edition, these guys were the most underpriced monsters in the game, packing a S5 breath for every S and ripping it up with 4+ Regen on top of it.  Now, you got to be very careful how you use Hydras on the battlefield because their play mechanics have been completely redesigned.  Since you can apply a cannonball to a Hydra and have him die instantly, you know for sure he'll be drawing warmachine fire that's otherwise meant for more.. dangerous targets.  Don't get me wrong, the Hydra can still be dangerous because he'll have a buttload of attacks, a S4 breath you can buy, and a potentially annoying regeneration ability (end of your turn, restores a wound for however many wounds lost on a 4+), but Ld. 6 and less protection will see him killed a lot sooner.  This could be a good thing in some cases, but it often results in 160+ points lost with no accomplishment.

RARE UNITS

Doomfire Warlocks - 4.5/5
One of the best things in the army book right here.  These guys have a ridiculous statline and even more ridiculous abilities.  Fast Cav M9 with WS4, ASF, 2 attacks Poison, and comes stock with a 4+ ward (except for Slaanesh).  No Mus or Standard for these guys, but who cares when you count as a Lv.2 Wizard (+1 level for each additional rank) and come with Doombolt and Soulblight.  Being a wizard means you can channel, throw big versions of the spell you're using, but being unique in the fact that when you miscast, you take D3 wounds that can be negated with your ward save.  Their speed, power and potential makes them excellent toolbox units that will see play in every DE army.  Essentially, two in every army will give you more magic missile utility, Soulblight as a toolbox spell, and more channels than you deserve.  At 125 for 5, every competitive player will have two.  And every cheese player will have a big unit with them with a Dreadlord and BSB in tow (until they get 6-dice Choir'd in a tournament and never play again).

Bloodwrack Medusa - 1/5
I'm giving these a pitiful score because they're in a very odd place in the book.  You want them because they do solid damage to low-I, armored units like Mournfangs or the Frostheart Phoenix, but their pitiful range makes them exceptionally bad for that.  Because their ability is only useful against low-I units, this makes them very specialized in their role as well.  With only T4, 3W and no saves of any kind, you can't exactly go about throwing 90 points away for little gain.  I can see what the author was going for, but the points cost is way too steep for what this Ld.2 creature brings to the battlefield.

Kharibdyss - 3.5/5
I mean, why have the Medusa when you can rock the K-Beast.  I've pretty much given up trying to spell and say the name, so I'm defaulting to K-something in all my articles going forward.  Regardless of how you say the name, 5 WS5 attacks at I4 S7 Poison is pretty good.  If you hit a single model with all of your attacks, you get a free D6 extra hits at S7.  All in all, this guy is what you want when you want to punch through heavy armor.  If your Witches or Executioners can't kill their given target and need a little more oomph, you send this dude in to scream slimy death into their face.  Abyssal Howl makes it so you have to re-roll successful leadership tests on any unit engaged touching the K-Beast.  This can be pretty good when taking the Terror test and especially helpful if your opponent is forced to break.  In that case, if either test succeeds, Howl will force a re-roll and your opponent won't be able to use his BSB.  At T5, 5W and 4+ AS for only 160 points, I think he's very worth it.  Just gotta be careful about his Ld.6.

Bloodwrack Shrine - 1/5
This is an overpriced piece of garbage with very little battlefield application.  You would think that giant mirror behind the Medusa will amplify her abilities in a BIG way, but no, the rules have to suck.  The only thing this 175 point unit does is give DE MODELS within 6" of it +1 to their leadership and -1 to enemy MODELS within 6" -1.  Sorry, but that's trash beyond belief, even if you're going for some super gimmicky fear-bomb with Cry of War.  I've never been more disappointed in such a beautiful model going to waste, oh wait, there was the Mutalith Vortex Beast.

Sisters of Slaughter - 3/5
Pretty good unit that has to be used like a swift scalpel.  This is one of those units that are very hit or miss depending on matchup.  Vs. armies that have a lot of shooting, these girls are going to die pretty horribly and not be worth the 15ppm you're spending on them.  Against armies with very little, limited or no shooting, these guys can be fantastic.  Whenever they get in combat with someone, they lose their ability to parry and rank bonuses for the purposes of combat resolution.  In addition, if they have higher WS or S than you, you automatically gain +1 to hit and wound.  I would of like this much more if they had higher S than 3, but a good sized unit of these guys can actually grind it out with Nurgle Halberds due to their 4+ Ward in close combat.  Not as reliable as Sisters of Averlorn because they're running around naked and their save only works in CC, but they can be extremely powerful on a flank since all it takes is one sister to negate all ranks.

WHFB Review: High Elves

Long live the Asur!

High Elves were my first army in WHFB and I've played them for 12 or so years now.  I will tell you right now that this is the best book they've had in the last 3 books.  As for the review itself, it will be written with Overall Design, Internal Balance and External Balance in mind.  Check out this earlier post if you don't know the meaning of these terms.

Overall Design

The game design for High Elves is a tricky one.  You have an army filled with T3 5+ dudes but you somehow need them to be "elite".  This poses a problem because the only realistic way of getting this done in a points-based system is by having them be expensive.  You can't have cheap High Elves, it just doesn't make sense.  Their entire fluff is that they're dwindling, everyone else is getting stronger and the only way they can compete is with superior units.

Now, let me come out and say that I thought army-wide ASF via Speed of Asuryan was the best thing to happen to High Elves in 7th Edition.  Please keep in mind that I'm talking about the 7th Edition High Elves book being played in 7th Edition and not 8th.  The reason why this is so is because you can outright justify an expensive army of elite units.  The rule was simple, elegant and rightfully justified the cost of the army to be high.  A lot of people looked at SoA in 8th and blindly hated it because it turned High Elf units into blenders. Well guess what?  That's not what it was originally intended to be.

The 7th Ed. book was designed in 7th Ed. where SoA was meant to be a damage buffer.  It was something that stopped incoming damage so the limited amount of High Elf models can cheat death and stay alive in close combat.  High Elves can't have the resilience of Dwarfs, or the numbers of Skaven, this is just not their way.  The elite units of Asur needed something else to mitigate damage and that was through striking first, killing the enemy before they can strike, and thus reduce that unit's damage.  The coming of 8th's Steadfast, stepping up, and the fact that a Skaven Slave can take down a White Lion meant that the book desperately needed a rewrite.  Well, that and the fact that High Elves sell pretty well.

Enter the new book.  What has changed exactly?  Mat Ward kept ASF on all the units and gave them all Martial Prowess (fight/shoot in one extra rank).  ASF now cancels with the ASL of Great Weapons so units like White Lions and Sword Masters are no longer the blenders that they were the previous book.  Because of these changes, Ward continues the ideology that the High Elves should be few in number, elite, and are a naturally defensive army.  You can see this through Shield of Saphery (High Magic's lore attribute) especially since each successful spell from High Magic increases your ward save by +1.  If you don't have one, you gain 6+ ward.  With a heavier reliance on High Magic to obtain defensive bonuses, players will need to take full advantage of their magic to negate that damage.  Works for me.

I give Overall Design a 4.5/5.  The main philosophies of the High Elves have all been translated smoothly onto the table:  Small in number, superior in skill, reliant on magic, and naturally defensive.  I even read the fluff and checked it for Draigo nonsense.  NP, all clear.

Internal Balance

In the previous book, High Elves had 3 Core choices:  Archers, Spearmen and Lothern Sea Guard.  Now in the new book, High Elves get Ellyrion Reavers and Silver Helms as well.  This suddenly opens tons of player options and so far, no list I've seen looks the same.  There is no obvious choice to make in Core and this is something every player loves.  Books should be made where the options are viable and every choice a difficult one.  There should be no auto-includes.

As we advance through the book and check out some of the old units, you will see plenty of old favorites.  Many of the units haven't changed at all, and for the units that got worse, their points cost was decreased.  For the units that either got better or haven't changed in usefulness, their points didn't move.  Finally, for the units that suffered previously, their points were lowered while their stats were improved.  All of these were done with only minor adjustment in points, no large leaps or uncalled for moves.  Teclis has been brought down in power but saw his points decreased slightly, and Book of Hoeth now has new functionality for a more affordable price.  Even units like the Sword Master gained the ability to Deflect Shots with his sword because you know, it's fluffy.  For the first time in a long time, I haven't seen game balance this good in terms of unit layout and pricing.

When we look at the new units, we have to evaluate how they fit in comparison to other choices in the book.  There is quite a bit of uproar on many gaming forums right now because no one can agree upon a single list.  Every new unit in the book seems to be balanced out nicely in points vs. their abilities.  The Anointed is a more expensive Prince with good unit buffing stats, but he's not as good in melee and lacks the Ld.10 a Prince can offer.  The Loremaster is a Lv.2 who knows all 8 signatures with the stats of a Noble, but he can't ride a barded steed or cast as well as Lv.4.  There is literally no obvious choice and that's something very rare when it comes to an army book.  Even the mighty Frostheart Phoenix who can give units -S and ASL have to compete with the havoc it's fiery brother can cause, especially when an Anointed can take him as a mount and erupt come back on a 5+ instead of 6!

Internally, this is the best book I've seen in 8th Ed. by far.  Not only will people have a different list, but they'll have a different list layout as well.  Different core, different special choices, and even different rare.  The only thing stopping me from giving this a perfect score is the fact that some magic items are "off": 4.5/5.

External Balance

Overall, I'd say this book is good and will probably fall into the middle-high tier with 8th Ed. books in mind.  There's a ton of options to make viable and competitive builds, but there are some definite hits and misses.  For one, the Banner of the World Dragon has the community in an uproar.  While not overpowered in the sense that it's just too good in all match-ups, it's a poorly designed item.  The BotWD can be taken on almost every Special choice because of its price, and it gives the entire unit a 2+ ward vs. magical spells, attacks and weapons.  Against someone like Daemons of Chaos who all have magical attacks, this one item basically shuts down their entire army.  Sure, spells like Dwellers Below still gets around it, but the fact that it's utterly imbalanced vs. some armies and useless vs. others makes it the one hit and miss in the book.

High Elves, in short, will go back to their roots with this new book in terms of external balance.  I can personally see 4 main archetypes rise up from the ashes sort of speak and these are it:  Monster mash with a Prince on Star Dragon, multiple Phoenixes and maybe even a Noble on Griffon.  Magic heavy lists running an Archmage or Alarielle, with special infantry blocks and Phoenixes as support.  Cavalry-centric lists with Silver Helms, Ellyrion Reavers, Dragon Princes led by a Prince on barded steed.  Lastly, we might see shooty heavy lists with Archers, RBTs, Sea Guard, Lothern Sky Cutters, and some other units.  Sure, we might see some cheese builds arise such as Alarielle in a unit of White Lions with the Banner of the World Dragon spamming High Magic, but realistically, you'll probably just get kicked in the throat.

Other than that, I'd say the book's designed well to compete vs. the rest of the 8th Ed. books.  That's basically what I'm looking at these days as the golden age of balance.  You can't really compare the book to something like Dark Elves where you triple their magic items at a quarter of the cost.  That's just a byproduct of an era of gaming no one wants to remember.  3.5/5 from me - with the Banner of the World Dragon docking a whole point.  What were you thinking Mat?

Conclusion

The best book of 8th Ed. so far in terms of the solidity of design, great internal balance and decent external balance.  Questionably Mat Ward's best work ever.. which makes me question the outcome of the last Daemons book even more.  Have it at folks!

6th Ed. CSM book review

Ready for Eternal War!

Originally posted by me on BoLS.

I'm just going to go out and say it, I love Phil Kelly.  This man has brought us many great works and the new Chaos Space Marine codex is no different.

He leaves his trademark design elements in the codex because he allows you, the player, the ability to customize your army as you see fit.  The best thing about all of his books is that he gives you options.  Options that can be kept cheap, so you can field of what you love, and options that can gear your army out to the teeth but at a competitive price.  This is why I believe Phil Kelly is the best GW designer.

+++Disclaimer+++
This is long!
Be prepared to read :)

This review is not going to be a direct compare and contrast of the old CSM book.  I will still compare a little bit here and there, but the reason I'd like to avoid this is because this is the first codex to be written in 6th Ed.  If we think back to what GW designers did with 8th Ed. Fantasy, we might assume that this codex is what's going to determine the scale of power and direction that future 40K books will be written.  Whether or not this is true is unknown until the next couple of books come out.

Let us explore some of the options in the new CSM book shall we?

Played some Dust Warfare today

I finally got to test out Dust Warfare today and I'm quite pleased with the result.  The game was very brief for 150 points on both sides and it gave me a pretty good idea of how the game functions.

Here are my thoughts:

• The game runs very smooth.  The dice rolling is very straight forward, the model rules are very straight forward and the weapon rules are... very straight forward.  There's special rules to remember, but the easy rolling keeps everything moving at a good pace.
• With that said, we were able to play a 150 point game in a short amount of time.  There were 4 units on each side with 1 Light walker for each player.  We were both pretty familiar with the rules from reading them over, but we were still new at playing.  I think more experienced players can play a 300-point tournament game in ~2 hours without a problem.
• To go with the above, the ~2 hours of playing will be highly interactive, engaging and will not be boring for either player.  The reason this is so is because of the reactions (and therefore, decisions) the opposing player gets to make when you do something.  E.g. There was one time a unit of allied close combat troops (flamers and shotguns) got too close and I reacted by moving away.  Even though that's one less action for me, it prevents them from tearing me up damage wise.
• Another time that keeps the game moving is lethality and damage.  Damage in this game is no joke.  If your infantry is marching out in the open and you get lit up by a unit with multiple machine guns, you're done.  Lethality is similar to that of Infinity (and therefore realistic damage) where you best be jumping from cover to cover if you're planning to live.  Using LoS blockers such as buildings and wide flanking attacks will serve you much better if you don't want your units being shot up.  You should only lose infantry if you're charging in heroically and giving your other units a chance.  Things really get busy once you hit the 16" range.  Weapons start opening up, units start dying and the battle really starts moving forward.
• Suppression is also super important and love the idea of it.  By shooting your opponent's units, you are limiting his options in the next few phases.  You are putting a strain on his troops and forcing him to make decisions to keep his units combat effective.  Since this game is reactionary, each and every action you make as a player is important, even the ones that inflict no "real" damage.
• Now that I've seen 150 points, I want to see 300 points immediately.  I want to start buying models, I really do.  I'm almost begging FFG to take my money, but the fucking dipshits don't know how to properly release a full-fledged miniatures game.  I want to buy Markus, plain and simple.  The same reason I want Heavy Laser Grens and just Totenmeister by herself.  Why don't I have the option to do this?  I'm practically begging FFG to take my money but they're not giving me the option to do so.  I find that to be utterly, and I mean utterly ridiculous.

I'll add some more thoughts tomorrow if I come up with any, but overall I want to play again.  Now.

Some thoughts on Dust Warfare

Let's do this.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

I was reading through my Dust Warfare rulebook today and I just wanted to share some thoughts on the book.  I will talk about the gameplay design, the units, initial thoughts on unit design/balance, some theorycrafting and some random shit that'll probably pop up in my head as I write this review.  Keep in mind this is not a gameplay review.  I have not played the game yet but I'm hoping that I'll be able to this coming Tuesday because my friend's got an assload of minis.  This review will primarily capture what I think of the rules.  Alright, let's begin.

I read the background fluff on this once and I was decently impressed.  Historically, it's got all the right pieces in place with some major alterations done to fit the theme of this alternate reality WWII world.  I'm not a huge fluff fan, but I'm a huge historical buff.  In terms of connecting major historical events with the storyline, kudos to FFG for not fucking it up too badly.

Empire Review Podcast

This is my first attempt making a podcast and I did it on the fly.  By fly, I mean I just turned on the mic and started speaking into it with no rehearsal or cuts, so pardon my hesitation (and cursing) at times.

Click here for the download.

Please leave any feedback you have for me here!  I was doing the talking with the old Empire book opened and the new one as well, so I was going back and forth.  Don't worry though, the emphasis is still on the new book.  I was going to mention that even though Light and Heavens Wizard Lords can ride on the Luminark and Hurricanum, they are still available in the Rare choices for all.  Somehow, I managed to forget mentioning that in the podcast.

Enjoy!

WHFB Review: Empire

The coolest guy in town!

In the last couple of days, I've seen the majority of the internet shit a brick over the upcoming Empire book.  By this, I mean that they were dreading the latest creation by Robin Cruddace.  Given the fact that Cruddace doesn't have the best track record, and the fact that the majority of the core units for the army has been increased, I can see why people have been crying virtual tears.  However, not all is doom and gloom.  There is a lot of flavorful changes in here and I think this army book will be fine for 8th Ed. standards.  By that, I mean a fun and balanced book.  Let's begin.

8th Ed. Vampire Counts Army Book Review

Possibly the worst cover art I've ever seen.

To start things off, I'd like to say that I'm very happy with the new Vampire Counts book.  It's a solid army book with lots of different options and has tons of versatility.  One of the things I enjoy the most when reading new army books is judging its internal balance:  The book must be interesting enough that there's multiple viable builds possible.  What can I say?  Phil Kelly wrote the book and the man is capable of delivering awesome material.

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for... the book review.  To start things off, let's talk about the spcial rules and work our way down to special characters, lords and heroes...etc.

New Necron Codex Review

Well guys, it's been quite a long time since I posted.  I had a lot of chores with the new house, threw a house-warming party, got a new position at work, worked ridiculous hours at Blizzcon, then got sick after Blizzcon.  In short:  Shit's been really crazy lately and I haven't had time for any minis gaming.  It's alright though, I received the new Necron codex this weekend and this review will hopefully nail all my thoughts on the book.

First, some self-made rankings and numbers:
Overall Power: 7
Internal Balance: 8
External Balance: 7
Creativity: 9
Fluff: 9
The verdict:  A solid 8