Musings about the "New" Vampire Units in WD 379

Posted by Ranillon on 21. August 2011 12:28

Since I personally own a Vampire Counts army (it's my oldest and therefore least well done so I admit I don't play it often) and that our main "demonstration" army for Warhammer here at 40KOrigins is likewise VC I was naturally quite interested in the "official" update to the army book that came with White Dwarf 379.  Since I've been thinking about it anyway I figured now would be a good time to reveal my thoughts in a new blog post.

The Zombie Dragon/Terrorghiest

Naturally, given that it's (drawn) picture is on the front cover and that inside there are impressive images of it the new combination Zombie Dragon/Terrorghiest kit is the first thing that grabs your attention.  Looking like a partially digested flying lizard badly needing a visit to the local beauty salon, this new model is quite impressive.  By choosing between two sets of heads and a few other similar bits you can turn it into either a classic Zombie Dragon or into the new Terrorghiest.  In terms of appearance both make for great centerpieces, but in terms of rules there are important differences.

The Zombie Dragon uses the rules already found in the VC book -- flying, terror, breath weapon, 6 toughness, nasty stats, and a 5+ scaly skin armor save.  The Terrorghiest has the same basic abilities and is in fact rather close to the Zombie Dragon is many ways, but it does switch out the breath weapon for a death shriek that can be used every round (instead only once in the cace of the breath weapon) and 6+ regeneration for the scaly skin.  Beyond that the Terrorghiest suffers from a WS of 3 and one less strength and attacks, but then again receives +1 Initiative and Wounds. 

"Say, does anyone have a really big breath mint?"

However, perhaps the biggest difference is that the Terrorghiest is 50 points less despite being roughly as effective.  That's 50 points that can instead be used for, say, vampiric powers for the rider -- which in this case is limited to a vamp with the Ghoulkin power -- or other units.  Obviously then, the Terrorghiest is a possible mount for your "Ghoul King" vampire lord, but you can also purchase it as a rare choice.  Either way it makes for an attention grapping model and thus is worth taking you best effort to paint up well.

The lower cost of the Terrorghiest is potentially more vital than you may think.  Given that the minimum price for a vamp lord on a Zombie Dragon is 480 points and that your points ceiling for Lord characters is 25% of your army trying to take one for your typical 2000 point force is already barely doable.  Note that's without any of those extra magic items or vampiric powers that turn your vampire lord from badass to living god -- an important consideration as his effectiveness and survival is key to you winning the game. 

By comparison, taking a Terrorghiest as a mount gives you more points to work with under the cap (although half of it does admittedly have to go toward Ghoulkin so you'd want to take an army that could utilize it well) while be about as overall effective.  Likewise, unlike the Zombie Dragon you can take also take a Terrorghiest as a rare choice.  Thus, unless you are going to go around playing high point games where you can comfortably get away with a ~600 point vampire general, I'd recommend using the new kit to do up a Terrorghiest.

The Tomb Banshee

Now is when we get to the worst "new" unit in WD 379 -- the nigh worthless Tomb Banshee. 

You think I am being a bit harsh?  If anything I'm being nice -- the original Banshee was already not worth the points, but this new hero choice version is even more expensive (at a whopping 95 points!) while otherwise not having been upgraded at all!  She has the stats of an Empire spearman except for an extra wound, being a little faster, and having a lower leadership.  Without any special melee attacks you can't expect her to do anything in close combat, which is the prime reason for including a character in a unit.  Yet, even with her ethereal nature you don't dare use her as a lone character as she'll be an instant kill thanks to combat resolution if charged by an enemy unit of any size and/or ability.

 
"Stop!...In the Naaaame of Deathhhhhhhhh!  ...Before I eeeeat your heart!"

Of course, her only claim to fame is her Ghostly Howl ability, but if you sit down and think about its effectiveness you quickly see it doesn't have much.  To use it she has to take aim at a unit no further away than a meager 8" and then role 2d6+2 and compare that to the target's leadership.  For every point above that she'll do a wound, but the simple truth is that on average that won't be much if anything.  Consider that thanks to heroes or a nearby general and/or their intrinsic leadership score most units  in the game can be guaranteed of at least a 8-10 leadership value.  Since the average result for 2d6+2 is 9 that means that on average she'll do a whopping one wound -- and she could easily do nothing on average, especially if dealing with dwarves or elves.

She'll just target a more vulnerable unit you say?  That's going to be hard when the range of her ability is that pathetic 8".  A smart opponent isn't going to let a vulnerable target -- say, a monster with a low leadership who likes to wander away from his general -- anywhere near a Tomb Banshee.  Or, in the case of horde armies, he'll just send in a huge group of guys who can lose 1-4 soldiers and not even notice.  Worse, since she has to get in so close just to do anything that leaves her much more vulnerable to being charged or becoming the target for special attacks/spells that will ignore her ethereal nature.

Now, compare this to the Tomb King's Casket of Souls that has a similar sort of effect, but is far better at using it.  The Casket makes the target test on 3d6 which means an average roll of 10.5 (that is, alternating between 10 and 11).  Also, due to the differences in probability between rolling two and three dice, it is twice as likely that the Casket will produce a result 11+ than even the 2d6+2 of the Banshee (~50% versus ~25%).  Likewise, the upper limit of the Casket is higher -- you have a 2.7% chance of maxing out the Banshee with a result of 14 while you have a 4.6% of a 16 or better with the Casket. 

Even more importantly the Casket of Souls has a fantastic range of 48" meaning that it is far easier to pick out your enemy's most vulnerable units to be zapped.  And, on top of that there is a 66% chance that after ravaging your first target the attack hops on to another enemy unit within 6" and starts the whole process again!

In short, the clever/lucky use of the Tomb Banshee's howl might get you 1-3 dead enemy soldiers compared to the clever/lucky usage of the Casket of Souls that might get you 6-10 dead!

Admittedly, the Casket of Souls' Light of Death power is a Bound Spell that can be dispelled, but being a spell also has its advantages.  Likewise, the Casket also costs half again as much, but for that you get an extra 1d3 power dice every of your magic phases, a couple of kick-butt guards to defend it, and the ability to blow up in the face of any unit that destroys it (this could also claim any nearby Tomb King unit, but given that the Casket is highly unlikely to die until late in the battle when the TK units have wandered away the risk is minor).  All of that is easily worth the extra points so when comparing Ghostly Howl and Light of Death the latter is clearly superior -- and, more basically, actually useful.

In short, don't use a Tomb Banshee.

Carn Wraiths

By comparison, a hero choice Carn Wraith is pretty good.  He gets everything the Banshee receives (save the howl, of course), but has 3 attacks and a great weapon.  That means that he can regularly kill 1-2 extra enemy in close-combat when leading a unit (which he should always be doing).  That may not sound like much, but as I've learned from experience getting those extra few kills so as to win close combat resolutions is a must have if you want your blocks of skeletons to be successful. 

What you eventually turn into if you have really bad posture

The fact that he always goes last might be a problem if he wasn't ethereal -- being immune to normal attacks means he is far more likely to survive to use his scythe.  You do have to watch for magic using characters aiming for him, but against regular opponent's he does a good job while providing a source of terror to send units running.  Just as importantly he is only 2/3rds the cost of the Tomb Banshee and the de facto cheapest character you can get for a VC army (a vanilla 1st level Necromancer is 5 points less, but when are you going to field one without at least some toys?).  That means you can easily slip him into your army list to help fortify your otherwise vulnerable blocks of skeletons.

New Advanced Orders for Dark Eldar and Tomb Kings

Posted by Ranillon on 26. May 2011 17:46

There is some great stuff coming up for both Dark Eldar and Tomb Kings.  Take a look:

There is more than just these models available, so I suggest you take the chance to visit Advanced Orders for both Warhammer 40K and Warhammer.

Using the New Grey Knights as Deathwing, Part Two

Posted by Ranillon on 20. May 2011 02:36

Now that we've discussed the basics of using the new Grey Knights as "count as" for Dark Angels Deathwing let's go into more detail.  In particular, let's deal with the problems with doing so.

When Not to Accessorize

The most significant issue with using Grey Knights as Deathwing is one that otherwise feels trivial, even silly.  However, it's apt to cause the most frustration -- namely the fact that the default weapon of Deathwing terminators (a powerfist) is one that Grey Knights can't take at all.  They can use swords, halberds, and staves, but nothing that looks like a large hand.  Reverse this and you face the problem that four-fifths (if not more) of those Deathwing termies you have painted simply aren't outfitted in a way that fits the Grey Knight rules.

Sure, replacing a big glove with a sword/halberd/stave is hardly difficult to do technically.  What's frustrating is that getting the proper weapons not only means converting most of your models, it likewise means either a lot of extra money and/or extra time to get your hands on the weapons that fit.  Worse, it also means you can't easily flip between the Deathwing and Grey Knight rules as one way or the other many of your terminators will be using non-WYSWYG weapons.

Of course, in your average friendly game just noting that everyone with a power fist is in fact using a Nemesis Force Sword (or vice versa) is usually easy to accomplish, but it won't due for more official tournaments.  One solution (besides to only play with one set of rules or another) might be to have switchable hands, but that's a lot of extra work.  Another option could be to mix the two -- say, add the sword blade to the back of the power fit ala Wolverine.  The design would (probably) be close enough to either a power fist of Nemesis sword to get away with it in more official events.  Still, the fact that Grey Knight terminators can't take power fists is an unfortunate (and vaguely odd) omission that'll cause anyone trying to use the same models for both Deathwing and Knights a lot of headaches.

On a related note, while Grey Knight terminators can take hammers they can't take Storm Shields -- so, again, those hammer and shield Deathwing termies you may have (which thanks to the recent update are actually pretty good) will likewise need accessory changes to fit.  Happily, Knights get by default their Nemesis Force Sword that gives you a 4+ (if only in CC) rather than just the usual 5+ invulnerable save for your terminators -- losing 1 point on your save compared to a Storm Shield is balanced out by retaining the ability to shoot.  Likewise, Grey Knights can also take Nemesis Warding Staves to get a 2+ in close combat while Deathwing have no weapons with the same look, but you can't have more than one of the Staves in any group anyway and I don't personally think it's a better choice than other options anyway.

More to come...

Witchfate Tor -- Tower of Sorcery

Posted by Ranillon on 26. October 2010 15:36

Okay, this was just too nifty to pass up reporting -- the new "Witchfate Tor -- Tower of Sorcery" terrain model up for pre-order at GW's website.

The thing is modular with four different levels (counting the top roof) which you can disassemble into different levels.  You may be able to mix and match the levels to some extent.  It is a multipart plastic set needing to be both constructed and painted, but the only indication is the little  logo to one side.  Take that away and you might be tempted to think it is a done deal -- just unwrap and use.  After all, other terrain companies offer such "open and done" models.  Makes you wonder why they leave you confused over this.

Regardless, it is clearly an impressive model suitable for any fantasy setting using models, not just Warhammer.  I will certainly take a closer look when it comes out in November.

Constructed New Bloodcrushers

Posted by Ranillon on 26. September 2010 00:46

I showed you the sprues of the new plastic bloodcrusher set previously, so here are examples of the completely constructed models.  Included are the champion and the standard bearer (the average smuck daemon grunt will all be somewhat the same).  Click on the thumbnails to see larger versions.

The juggernauts were a breeze to put together while the riders were only slightly less so.  All-in-all they are solid and straightforward models, if limited in the posing possibilities (without serious conversion at least).