More Dark Elves rules

Kill everything!

via Geruchteckuche
http://www.magabotato.de/tabletop/item/geruechtekueche-dunkelelfen-erste-bilder
Sisters of Slaughter: WS 6, I 6, A 2 and a 4++ ward.


via Jossy on Druchii.net

• Black Guard are ItP, ASF, Eternal hatred, Stubbord, Murderess prowess
• Stats are 5, 5, 4, 3, 3, 1, 6, 2, 9
• War Hydra is 180 points including fiery roar. Interesting the WD description talks about a lashing tail and poisoned tipped claws (possible upgrades IMO). The WD describes the War Hydra being able to regain wounds during the game, and then goes on to say its like an improved regeneration rule.
• Dreadspears are 9ppm with Shield and spear, whilst rptxbows are 12ppm.
• All Dark Elves all have ASF, Hatred (High Elves), and murderess prowess special rules
• Witchelves also have Frenzy, and Poisoned attacks ontop of ASF, Hatred (HE) and MP. 
• The frenzy is increased to +2 attacks with the CoB apparently (unconfirmed)
• The CoB also magnifies murderous prowess - reroll all failed to wound rolls instead of just 1's
• A High Beastlord has the ability to boost nearby monster units. Unsure of how. Presumably you can still get a beastlord hero as the High beastlord is a lord option.
• The Medusa can be taken on a mount (bloodwrack throne) or on foot (er tail)
• On foot it is 90ppm and is selected from the rare option, has some sort of shooting attack with kb
• I am surprised and happy to see the return of points values in WD battle reports  :mrgreen:
• Edit: Hellbron is included in the CoB model. Yes Plastic Hellbron, alongside a Bloodwrack Medussa, and a Hag...
• I forgot to add, I've had confirmation that Black Guard are on stock run down. That means only one thing...
• The WD also supports this as it mentions several times the "total redesign" of the Dark Elves, with only the CoK and Corsairs being 'sacred'

More via Druchii.net

• The Hydra btw lost its Regeneration. Has the ability to get Lifepoints back. It has d3 attacks + 1 attack for each lifepoint and will cost 160 points. (Without breath)
• cauldron of blood will have a +5 Ward for the Unit its placed inside. It also gives Frenzy (Rage or what ever it is in english) if the Unit already has it, they will get 2 attackes instead of one.
• It also gives something in a range of 6" around the CoB. But forgot what it is sorry.
• The Medusa will have an ability to force Initative tests with models in base contact. And it has Killing blow as a Range attack. I think it was 3 Attacks. 

Dark Elves rules leaks

Dark Elves go!

Dark Elves rules leaks
The lads over at kiwihammer podcast have managed to get their hands on a White Dwarf a little bit earlier than most. They report the following:

New Releases

• The DE Army book is written by Matt Ward
• The largest dual kit is the Cauldron of Blood which allows you to make either a Cauldron of Blood or a Bloodwrack Medusa. You can also use this kit to make the special character Crone Hellebron.
• The next dual kit is Witch Elves and the Sisters of Slaughter – Sisters of Slaughter are apparently the lost daughters of fallen noble houses and look great.
• The new DE Core box allows you to make your warriors with Spears, Swords and Shields or Repeater Cross-bows.
• The Dual Hydra/Kharibdyss kit looks pretty good, there are pictures of the Hydra with different paint schemes that actually look a lot better than the leaked photo we’ve already seen.
• The Special Character Shadowblade  is a single pose figure that will come in a clampack
• There is a Lore of Dark Magic Card set being released.

Army Special Rules/Points Cost

• Dark Elves now have the armywide special rule of ASF (unsure if this will apply to monsters/cold ones)
• Dark Elves also have Hatred but presumably only in the first round
• Black Guard have eternal hatred
• New Rule called murderous prowess allows Dark Elves to re-roll 1′s to wound. Unsure if this will extend to shooting and magic.
• There is a new Beastmaster Lord Level Character which costs 300 points when naked on a Manticore
• Witch Elves are core and 11 points per model. They can also take magical banners.
• A unit of 30 Spear Elves and of 30 Xbow Elves with Full command costs 390 points. Unsure what options were used but that means the warriors were 12 points per model.
• A DE Sorceress Hero looks to be 80 points
• Cauldrons of Blood still come out of Hero slots and look to have increased in points. They can join units and one of their powers allows a unit to re-roll to wound. In the Batrep a unit with a Cauldron and this buff up deletes a unit of Sobunz.
• Bloodwrack Medusas are rare and have a shooting attack called Bloodwrack Stare. Not sure what it does
• Hydras can now regain wounds in a manner similar to the Slann with the regen power of the old ones. They are now 180 points, have monster+handler but have to buy their breath weapon.
• Lore of Dark Magic – The attribute is called spiteful conjuration and does extra wounds to enemies that have spells cast on them. Unsure of how the mechanic works but could be similar to Tz lore attribute?
• Lore of Dark Magic – Only spell mentioned is called Word of Pain and it reduces WS/BS/I
• A Dreadlord with Heavy Armour and a Shield on a Black Dragon costs 449 points.
• Cold Ones are 30 points and have 2 Attacks, unsure if the cold ones themselves have ASF

Leaked Pictures:

http://loserstudio.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/new-dark-elves-2013-leaked-pictures.html

GDS: Warhammer and Total War

It's hammer time!

One of the most exciting game concepts that I've been looking forward to is the thought of Warhammer being played on the Total War engine.  Personally, I think these two work perfectly with one another because of all the similarities they share.  From a game design standpoint and from a systems/engine standpoint, both games are intrinsically the same.

Let me throw out a few examples.

• First, WHFB and Total War share the same design philosophies and game engine.  Both game systems are based around large-scale combat via troop formations, charging, arrows, and applying swords to face.  Once combat happens, what makes or breaks the army is combat resolution through morale mechanics.  How these morale mechanics are applied depends on how well you maneuver your forces and employ your strategies to the fullest.  This is just how both games were designed on a surface level.
• What do I mean by this?  I mean that armies fight and break depending on morale.  This is active in the Warhammer system via combat resolution and leadership, and this is active in Total War through different morale modifiers.   Being charged in the flank is not as bad as being charged in the rear, outnumbering your enemies (think 7th Ed. WHFB), being surprised via ambush, being on higher ground, are all examples of different modifiers that exist in the Total War system.  Being able to translate Warhammer's combat resolution system would be like a walk in the park because the system is already in place.
• If we look even deeper into the combat system itself, all the necessary components to make a full transition is already there.  Look at Rome2's combat engine for example:  The Melee Attack stat is comparable to Weapon Skill, Melee Defense to Toughness, Weapon Damage to Strength, Armor to Armor, and Health to Wounds.  The concept of Initiative and Attack is lost in the mix, but I wouldn't think it would be too hard to hard-code one unit attacking more frequently than another.  How this would play out with High Elves' having ASF or a Dwarf Lord sporting multiple, slow-attacks because he has a Great Weapon is up to the designers' imagination.
• Both games work off of points calculation in terms of army design.  I would say a 2500 point game of Warhammer is similar to a medium funds army in Shogun2 or Rome2.  It's a fairly medium sized game, but the point is that I have a certain amount of "points" or "funds" to work with to buy all the units for my upcoming battle.  Right now in 8th Ed. Warhammer, we're using a percentage model:  If we're playing 2500 points, 25% of that has to go into Core, or 625 points, 50% is the max allowed in Special, so on and so forth.  This checks and balance system allows us to build more balanced armies than we could in 7th Ed.  Unfortunately, something like this does not currently exist in Rome2 because I can take an army of nothing but Praetorian Guard.  If this was translated into WHFB terms, it would be like taking nothing but Black Guard in my army.  My point here is that if WHFB meets Total War, there would be a checks and balance system already in place, thus simplifying balance design on top of the fact that both games already use the same army purchasing system.
• To expand upon the above point a bit, one of the interesting things that Warhammer can add to the Total War series is variable unit sizes.  Say you have a unit of 160 Royal Spartans for 970 points.  In Warhammer, that would be like taking a unit of 40 White Lions no matter where you go.  Since Warhammer has a unique system where you can take however amount of guys you want to pay the points for, maybe we'll see W:TW adopt something similar.  Instead of 160 Spartans for 970, how about I take 80 for half the points?  That would be an interesting idea as it would appeal more to the casual hobbyist.
• Speaking of causal, let's add customizable colors back into the game.  True to Games Workshop hobbyists everywhere, the army painter system was one of the best things about Dawn of War.  Having this in Total War would not only help tell one person's army from another ingame, but it will help add individuality and uniqueness.

GDS: Rome II MP Balance Proposals

Fix the game man.

Aside from the SP glitches, crashes, progression blockers, and optimization issues, Rome II has some MP issues as well.  I'm talking specifically about the gameplay and how some things are just.. off.  Having played MP since day 1, I'm still sitting comfortably in the Top100 but the game is getting a little stale.  Needless to say, there are some problems.

Pikes are just too good.  They pretty much kill everything in the front and units don't even have a chance to get close.  The major ones that really stand out are Foot Companions and Hellenic Royal Guard.  As if Elite infantry don't already dominate the game, elite pikes simply rule it.

My suggestions, can be a mix, one, or just some.  These are all viable fixes while keeping their intended functionality intact.  The main goal here is to keep pikes the way they are, but make them more vulnerable to flanking and good micro.  Things are a little tricky here because if you press a button, or make an action, the player expects to see movement from his troops.  If the animation and art is already there, the fix post-production has to be smart enough to get the job done with the least amount of time/resources.

My suggested fix will be in green, if I had to choose one.

• Reduce their turn rate in Phalanx formation.
• Reduce their overall speed and acceleration.
• Increase the time it takes them to setup in Phalanx formation.

Being able to take an unlimited amount of "elite" infantry is just strange.  I'm not quite sure what the design decision is about this, but I find it odd that you can take an entire army of Praetorian Guard.  Considering how these units were essentially the Emperor's Bodyguard that stood outside his tent all day, taking an entire army of these guys is just wrong.  Not to mention all Elite Infantry are just insanely good, and make their standard counterparts look like dead weight.

I'm not a personal fan of unit caps because I believe that's a lazy solution to address a generic army building issue.  If some guy wants his army to be super elite, he should have the right do so.  Likewise, if said guy wants his army to be made of nothing but Hoplites, he should.  Player options mean everything in a game where you're told to design your army, and I intend to keep it that way.  The fix here would be something more subtle, with hard caps being the last resort to a tricky fix.  It is indeed the safest way to limit a unit's presence on the battlefield while preserving its function and power.  Increasing the price of said units would be a good soft cap instead of hard cap.

Some ideas would be:

• Increasing Elite Infantry's price by 100.  They're currently in the ~900 range, putting them in the 1000s would be a greater deterrent.  This would act as a soft cap instead of a hard cap.
• Reducing their squad size from 160 to 120.  This would make them more elite in only marginally more effective than their line-infantry counterparts.  Due to this nerf in fighting/staying power, their price would go down to the 800s range.
• Hard cap their availability to 6.  While this certainly makes certain factions weaker, it makes other factions borderline unplayable.  Some factions such as the Averni function entirely off of their elite infantry.  This is a general faction design issue that needs to be corrected if this fix is to take place.

Archer and Skirmisher units are ineffectual.
Either their damage is too low, their armor pen is too low, or their range is terrible, Archer-type units serve virtually no purpose vs. the high-armor elite infantry metagame.  Even vs. regular troops, unless you take a overwhelming amount of ranged firepower, there's virtually no damage being dealt to the rapidly-advancing enemy.  I say rapidly advancing because this game moves a ton quicker than previous titles from what I've noticed.

Regardless, something needs to be done here:

• Increase missile units damage armor penetration.
• Increase missile range.

Now onto some messed up cavalry mechanics.  For one, all the cavalry move at the same speed practically.  Aside from the skirmisher-type cavalry, everyone else chugs along at the same speed.  This largely a design mistake I think and needs to be fixed immediately.

The fix is simple:

• There's 90 armor, 60 armor and less than 60 armor cavalry.  Very Heavy cavalry should run the slowest and fatigue the quickest.  Medium cavalry (most if not all Shock "Lancer" cav) should run faster and fatigue in the middle.  Light cav should obviously move the quickest and fatigue the least.

Lastly, some units are just broken from a technical standpoint.

• Not sure what's wrong with the Chariots or Elephants, but they don't see to be doing what they need to do ingame at all.  Pretty sure their functionality tech or unit AI is just broke.  Fix it.

Remember, I'm not saying implement all of these changes, especially if they double-nerf a unit or invariably nerf a unit.  For example, the worst balance changes happen whenever someone balances a game with a hammer rather than a scalpel.  You gotta test the waters before you make the plunge.

More Rome II ramblings

Thoughts on Rome II after being Top50, now in Top100 because I actually go to work.

• All archer units are pretty weak in a game where the heaviest of infantry have strong armor, or formations that increases armor.  Not only that, but the units move fast and the range of most missile troops are 125.
• Only really heavy missile based armies have much effect, but a lot of the MP maps have random weather conditions and terrain that reduces their effectiveness (such as fog, rain, heavy brush, dense trees).
• The same applies here for artillery units:  Half of the maps do not favor the use of artillery so they can be a huge points sink.  All you have to do is look at the map, see what you random into, what kind of terrain you'll be fighting in, and adjust accordingly.
• Elite infantry are superior to other infantry:  They have superior stats, strong abilities, resilient to missile troops, are not unit capped, and have the same amount of bodies as a regular unit.  There's no reason to take any other unit.  Just form a line with Royal Spartans, Oathsworn and Praetorian Guard.
• Foot Companion are kind of ridiculous; they hands down beat every unit in the game from the front.  What's their counter?  Flank and rear charges once the pikes themselves have been engaged.  What counters that?  Just a little bit of micro and a IQ over 45.
• Lancer units are pretty trash overall.  Their pitiful melee defense, relatively low armor overall, and their overall impact on the battlefield is not worth their cost.  They will charge into other units, do damage sure, but other units with above average melee defense and armor will just swing back and make up for the damage done.  Once you're in combat, you also can't pull out; you'll lose half of your guys just trying to run out of combat.
• Also, all cavalry run at the same speed from what I've noticed.  The pricing of the Roman units are a joke.  Why would you ever take Praetorians over Praetorian Guard?  Or Evocati Cohort vs. Armored Legionaries?
• So what do we have here?  A game of rock paper scissors where none of it really matters.  If Archers are paper, they sure the hell don't kill the rocks which are all the heavy elite infantry.  If Scissors are the Lancers, then these must be safety scissors because they don't do jack.  And then we have Foot Companions, which might as well be a shotgun assuming you're terrible.

Some of best units in the game so far from what I've noticed:
Foot Companions, Hellenic Royal Guard, Praetorian Guard, Oathsworn, Swordmasters, Royal Spartans, Noble Horse, Aspis Companion Cavalry, Praetorian Cavalry

Playing Rome II

Royal Spartans!

Summer's been pretty dry for in terms of minis, but I have been playing a lot of computer games.  Right now, I'm playing Total War: Rome 2 and I'm top50 on the leaderboards.  The game's pretty buggy right now and there's some issues to be addressed, but I just wanted to drop a line and let you guys know what I'm up to.

As I play more, I'll blog more and more about it.

Bought into Nomads for Infinity

A pretty nice looking army.

A lot of Infinity players in my area lately, so I figure why not.  I like the look of the models the most out of all the factions and I think that's enough to start playing the game.  This is the third time or so I've looked over the game rules in the last couple of years so why not, let's write a list.

 Nomads | 10 models

________________________________________________________

 Reverend Custodier Lieutenant (38|0.5)

 Intruder HMG (44|1.5)

 Intruder Sniper (52|1.5)

 Prowler Spitfire (37|2)

 Zero Minelayer (19|0.5)

 Tomcat Engineer (22|0)

 Tomcat Doctor (22|0)

 Riot Grrl Multi (37|0)

 Wildcat BS (19|0)

 Alguacil Combi (10|0)

________________________________________________________

300/300 points | 6/6 swc

open with Aleph Toolbox  : direct link

What you see here are various tidbits of models I bought to make what I think will be a solid list.  The Reverend Custodier is my Lt. and hacker.  I'm hoping the extra order will help me with hacking and the ODD will give me a little extra protection.  The free Lt. without any SWC is also very welcome.  My main damage dealers come from my Intruders with their MV2, CH and solid BS of 13.  One carries the HMG, the other the Sniper and together with my Spitfire Prowler, they'll be the main damage dealers.  The Zero Minelayer will make his way around the map dropping mines and helping me setup kill lanes while the Tomcats drop in to kill enemy cheerleader/hiding units.  The Riot Grrl is there with her Multi simply because I think her model is cool, and I guess PH13 + Hyper-Dynamics Lv.1 helps too.  Wildcat with the Boarding Shotgun also gives me a Deployable Repeater, and the Algucail with the Combi-Rifle just helps out with maxing out my orders.

There you go, 300/300 with full SWC.  Not a bad list I'd say so myself!