WFB: 8th Ed. Army Reviews – Part 1/3
So 8th Edition is out and the FAQ have been released: Time to look at all the armies in a fresh, new perspective. Going into 8th Ed, some armies definitely got better and others got slightly worse. Balance wise, I don’t think anyone is too boned. This will be part 1 of 3 of my analysis on the different armies of Warhammer.
High Elves
Asur definitely got a sizable boost this edition. Now that it’s official that the entire army fights with ASF with Great Weapons, the combat potential of the army got boosted significantly. Re-rolling to hit with ASF is extremely deadly in any given combat. In addition to this, a lot of the special characters got buffed from the FAQ; Teclis being able to IF on any doubles (miscasting only on 6s) as long as he reaches his casting value, Korhil getting another attack and Caradryan doing D3 multiple wounds. A lot of the older playstyles of the army like Battle Banner cavalry deathstars or Prince on Star Dragon lists will fade away for big blocks of LSG/Spearmen supported by elite infantry. Fast cav Vanguard will put Ellyrion Reavers on the table for harassment purposes and ASF re-rolls will make Sword Masters happy. Although RBTs and Eagles took a pretty sizable hit this edition because of the changes to warmachines and march blocking, High Elf players just need to play outside their comfort zone a little bit and explore other options. Right now, big blocks of elite infantry look like the way to do it, as long as High Elf players make good use of Swift Reform to prevent getting smashed by Stone Throwers. Combat wise, HE shouldn’t really have a problem dispatching lower class infantry because of Elven Spears having Martial Prowess (fighting in 4 ranks total). What HE players should worry about is picking their battles in this edition because stepping up really hurts them in prolonged battles. The HE army was not designed with stepping up in mind and thus even the most elite Sword Master can die to a pesky goblin. With some of the best magic users in all the world, I think High Elves will definitely need to rely on their magic to carry them if they want to be competitive.
Bretonninans
The valiant soldiers of Bretonnia got both better and worse. The sad news first: Steadfast units really hurt the cavalry charges of Bretonnia. Having steadfast on your units because you outrank your opponent means your cavalry hit the enemy, score some kills and that’s the end of it. Your opponent is basically stubborn and you’re stuck in a tarpit with no S5 and an exposed flank. This change hurts cavalry in general in 8th Ed, but Bretonnia suffers the most because their entire army is built to capitalize on their cavalry charges. The good news though; is that Bretonnian Knights gets ranks in 3s and that all Knights on the outer part of Lance formation gets to make its attacks. With this in mind, this means that Bretonninans can still deny ranks on the flank better than other Knights still. On top of this, they have ridiculously cheap infantry, blocks of flaming longbows behind stakes (which now give soft cover), S5/10 Trebuchets, and portable Damsels that can still cast and draw LoS from the 2nd rank of Knights. Pegasus Knights get both stomp attacks and Vanguard movement and the Damsels have access to the improved lores of life and beasts. Take this in combination with some of your more killy Lords and Paladins and Bretonnians are still pretty decent. With the FAQ ruling Virtue of Heroism having Heroic Killing Blow, Bretonninan Lords can 1-shot anything from Treeman to Steam Tank. Although cav heavy armies took a pretty sizable hit, it’s also worth mentioning that Bretonnian Knights can kneel and pray for a 6+ ward/5+ vs. S5 and higher. When you add in a cheap supporting Damsel that can buff your heroes and add to your ward save vs. magic (she has MR1), things start looking a little better.
Tomb Kings
The FAQ has made it perfectly clear that Tomb Kings will now have an unstoppable magic phase. TK magic will never fail, always cast and work the same way that their book has always worked. When you factor in the fact that you can still fail your dispels, lose concentration, have 1 scroll, and only get a max of 6 DD per magic phase, things get a little desperate. On top of this, the Casket has been buffed to T10 and Light of Death can now effect units in close combat. Tomb Kings will scale in power as the points of games increase since they’ll just get more incantations! Expect to see a lot of multi-phased shooting from Screaming Skull Catapults, extra attacks because of Smiting and unbelievable charges because of Urgency. It’s just something you’ll have to take to the face and like it. Although this looks ridiculous on paper, they are not the Vampire Counts of 7th Ed. TK units are still for the most part, quite inefficient for their cost. Aside from a few good things like the SSC, Tomb Scorpion (now with stomp!), killy Lords and free reforming Tomb Guard, TK’s options are pretty narrow. This doesn’t mean they’re not good though! With people taking more and more warmachines, Tomb Scorpions are going to have a field day running amok in their lines. Chariots are also very special to TK because they’re Fast and can be taken as core choices. This gives them the ability to Vanguard move into position and Urgency all day into your flank. Keep in mind that although this is very strong, chariots needs to outrank the opponent to break anything and there’s no auto-break from fear and terror anymore. Combine this with the fact TK now abide by the Unstable special rules, things don’t look as unstoppable as you would of thought. I think TK will be a very good army when played to take full advantage of their magic.
Dwarfs
Dwarfs got better this edition: Not just by a little, but by a lot. The entire army is still Ld.9 and T4 across the board and now everyone gets their attacks back instead of just eating it. Runesmiths and Runelords keep their Rune Lore which allows them to generate extra DD, Dwarfs get an innate +2 to dispel and still have the ability to take unlimited scrolls because they’re runes. The anvil got buffed with T10 and still gives an extra DD and half the army can take Great Weapons that can now attack in 2 ranks. Imagine playing against a Dwarf list at 2500 points and he tells you that you just lost a power die, he averages 9 DD (MRoBalance anyone?) and has 3 scrolls because he’s bored. Scary 8th Ed. magic isn’t so scary anymore is it? Random charges makes Dwarfs charge 5-15″ and they are no longer the prerequisite slow pokes of the game. To make things even more interesting, Dwarfs can take a magical banner that can make all units within 12″ of it march before his first turn! If you think all Dwarfs can do is drink and shoot then you’re seriously mistaken (for the most part).. especially when half if not all of his rock solid troops are half way across the board on turn 1. One thing’s for sure though, Dwarf shooting got increased across the board: Thunderers can now shoot in 2 ranks, Cannons and Grudgethrowers have no guess ranges and no partials, and Dwarf warmachines is second to none because of their amazing runes. Throw a RoForging and RoFlaming on a Dwarf cannon and you make Treemen/Dragons/Giants/Hydras/HPAs cry all day because your cannons are magical, is flaming and do D6 wounds. Flame Cannons and Gyrocopters have no partials to worry about and Slayers are now the same great tarpits, but with 2 ranks to attack with Slayer axes. The Dwarf BSB also got linearly buffed because all BSBs allow the army to re-roll all leadership based tests. Master Engineers now gets LO,S! and war machine crews are now Stubborn because they want to be. Miners now reliably kill things on the turn they charge and even Longbeard Rangers totting Great Weapons might see play. There’s nothing more to say really.. Dwarfs are quite amazing this edition.
Daemons of Chaos
Although Daemon armies are no longer the win button they were in 7th Edition, they are still a pretty damn good army. Nurgle took a heavy hit this edition because of all the combat being initiative based and regen being differentiated. Tzeentch’s access to Master of Sorcery makes them amazing spellcasters for cheap costs, Skulltaker is still taking skulls for Khorne and Flesh Hounds get 2+ ward vs. magic missiles. When you look at the Daemon army, you’ll definitely see blocks of Bloodletters, Daemonettes and Horrors on the field. Bloodletters are still great rank and file troops since they have high WS, I, KB and Hatred if they have a Herald. Daemonettes get ASF with 2 attacks each with AP from their Herald and Horrors are boosted from having a much greater casting range. Steeds get Vanguard movement, Fiends and Bloodcrushers get stomp attacks, Flamers can march and shoot, and the Greater Daemons are still top notch killers. The Keeper gets ASF I10 re-rolls with S6 AP and the Bloodthirster is well.. a Bloodthirster. Having really high initiative is one of the things that killy Greater Daemons love having this edition.. although TLoS cannons makes them sad inside. Overall, Daemons lost a few things in 7th when they transfered over from 8th just like everyone else. Not being to auto-break units with fear because you killed more models is huge. Having to take 25% min core limits a lot of older cheese builds. The fact that most Daemon core units is also T3 with 5+ means that they suffer the fate of Elven armies; expensive trades in combat because of stepping up. Look at it this way though: No more will DoC players be frowned upon when they take their armies to the table. The cry of Daemon cheese ended the second 8th Ed hit the stores and the FAQs went online. With big units of elite infantry, rampaging cavalry and some of the scariest lord choices in the game, Daemon players will truly have an army that’s terrifying to behold and fun to play.
Stay tuned for the next part of my review. Next in line will be WoC, Dark Elves, Lizardmen, Ogres and Beasts. Until then, feel free to stop by my blog and check out some 8th Ed. action.
