We’ll have another go, shall we? GW tried to dump a load of obsolete junk from their warehouse introduce mercenary units a few years ago with…um, limited success. The pregame move Marauders were popular but the rest sank without trace, so today we’ll be taking a look at the recent Regiments of Renown release, and whether they’re worth bothering with this time around.
The jist of it is that you get a couple of units bundled together in a Regiment: they bring their normal warscroll rules, plus an extra Regimental rule or two that’s unique to them, and you get a points discount for your trouble. The rub is that you can’t take them in their own army, so they’ll generally be lacking in other keyword synergies.
One important thing to note – which is easy to miss if you only skim read the pdf – is that these Regiments all go in their own Core Battalion, which is Unified. So they have to go into their own little one-drop, meaning your army will never be lower than two drops total, any shooting units can’t go into Sharpshooters at time of writing.
Can I even buy these things?
Here in sunny Australia you can. They’re all in stock right now on our webstore:
But I don’t live in Australia
Well, you have my commiserations. But check your local GW page to see which ones they do have in stock – and I’ve also seen a few warming the shelves in local FLGSs.
Beyond that, these models aren’t difficult to get hold of in general: as a Kruleboyz player for example, I’ve already got a whole bunch of starter set Boltboyz lying around. I can either top up the Regiment by buying a Beastskewer Killbow, or convert one up from a spare Big Stabba stick or whatever else I find in my bitz box.
Point is, the rules are relevant whether or not the bundled kits are available – so let’s dive into them, shall we?
DESTRUCTION (by Peter Atkinson)
BIG GRIKK’S KRULESHOTS
Do you know why Allies are even a thing in Age of Sigmar? Specifically to give Ironjawz access to shooting*. So remember that next time some Destro tourist whinges about “not why they play the army” – for those of us who live and breathe this shit, day in and day out, we’d quite like something called The Cannon of the Sky Titans to be pretty fucking epic, thank you very much.
Now with that off my chest, let’s take a look at GW’s latest attempt to shift a bunch of unsold Dominion sprues give Destruction players something to do outside of combat. It’s legitimately exciting – or at the very least, interesting – for Team Green to have some dakka on tap, especially for armies like Sons of Behemat who were largely ringfenced until now.
What does it do
It does dakka. Mortal Wound shooting is usually bullshit, and if you want in on that, here’s your chance; while you won’t be bludgeoning entire units off the board, it could be just the tool you need to pluck out Grinkrak from distance.
But in answer to your question, it does shooting at not-quite-artillery range, effectively bringing the Venom Encrusted Weapons along for the journey. It also has a pretty neat rule for dogpiling a Monster with all of your dakka, giving you extra shots if you don’t crap out with the Killbow first time (big if right there). GW are absolutely terrified of giving this thing 2 shots, though, so it only works for boosting your Boltboyz and not vice-versa.
Is it value?
Rocking in at AUD $155 full retail, that’s a pretty chunky saving on paper: the Boltboyz cost AUD $84 per kit, plus $59 for the Killbow, so you’d be looking at $227 for the lot, which represents a mighty saving of 32%.
On paper. Reality is, there are loads of spare shooty boyz floating about from Dominion sets, which crashes their second hand value; so you’ll get a bargain on them if you look around.
In points terms, you’re paying 310 for the package which means you’re effectively wearing 70 points for the Killbow, which is 30 points below the full à la carte. Is it even worth that, with its single shot? Debatable. It’ll never be one for the faint-hearted, but there does come a point where the risk-reward kicks in.
Is it any good?
You know what? I think it is. It’s a tricky package to fit into lists, but it’s interesting enough that it’s got the cogs whirring, and I’m keen to grab a Killbow so I can at least have access to it.
I do believe GW were a bit too tight on the range for these weapons, which limits them quite heavily. But if nothing else, the Killbow terrifies the Surehammer players, and anything that can get them stressing is fine by me. As a package, those points might squeeze out the screens it so desperately needs; but I’m not ready to give up on it just yet.
Now I will put a big asterisk against this whole thing, and reiterate that these shooting units are hobbled under the current GH because they can’t target Gally Champs. You can’t put them in Sharpshooters either, so you’re really only targeting named characters and Monsters until we roll over to the next Handbook. That puts them in a tricky spot currently, but I’ve assessed them today on the assumption that the big restriction will be lifted in a month or so, at which point they become much more relevant.
Where would you use it?
In a word: Big Waaagh*. Giants want screens, not so much pepper shots – gimme the Hobgrots and we’ll have a fuggin party. That being said, I’d give it a crack in Sons for a casual game, no worries.
Ironjawz have this thing on serious upgrade watch. There are a couple of occasions where you really, really need to reach something outside of combat: the Krulghast kinda switches your army off, for example, and there’s not much point fighting anything with Death Frenzy on it. So once we move on from the current Handbook, and you can actually use the damn things to sHooT thE HEroEs, they’ll be in serious consideration for my Ironjawz lists.
Finally, it gives your Troggs something to do early game. If you don’t have the drop, it’s generally way too easy for your opponent to give you first turn risk-free, while you slowly plod up the board. Your main play in this space currently is to hopefully cast Hand of Gork with minimal to no bonuses, and then hope you get lucky with the 9” charge on your units that can’t even issue themselves CAs to reroll. That’s a mug’s game, so while it’s hard to argue that it outcompetes Dobby and a unit of Fellwaters (for example), I do like having the opportunity to participate in the game from Round 1.
Is there any bullshit?
I guess having Not Giants in your Giants army is kinda bullshit? Otherwise, the Killbow gets the Leader Battlefield role and the Hero keyword, which is kinda quirky. At time of writing, the only Warclans-specific Heroic action it can profit from is that thing in Big Waaagh to get you some Waaagh points, but keep an eye out in case they forget about these guys in future and they accidentally get something bent like shooting in the Hero Phase.
This does also mean they don’t take up an Artillery slot. That’s generally a bad thing, because Killbows would typically slot neatly into a Battle Regiment, but it does mean you can ram your Big Waaagh army full of Five Killbows if you want to go for a true noble endeavour: Big Grikk in the Hero slot, then 4 regular Killbows in your Artillery slots. Be aware, however, that they are Unique and therefore do not qualify as GCs in the current Handbook – meaning they can still be sniped themselves.
Now speaking of Big Waaagh, that’s the big one: these dudes can go in their own army. All of these Warbands are banned from their own faction, but in Big Grikk’s case, that specifically applies to Kruleboys armies; BW are good to go.
In a Big Waaagh army it really is quite the bargain, because you get access to the full suite of buffs from the Croc, the Shammy and so on. The joy from Big Waaagh is generally in the list writing, and that’s where I’d be focusing my efforts if I wanted to run these guys at a tourney right now. 2x 3 Boltboyz is a solid inclusion, so a discounted Killbow and the anti-monster rule is pretty compelling.
Sample List
Big Waaagh (now) and Ironjawz (soon) are probably the most competitive homes for Big Grikk; Gloomspite just squeeze him out with too many efficient and important pieces of their own, although you certainly write a good list in that space.
Today I’m following my heart, and exploring what a Sons list would look like, because it’s about time I put them back on the table:
Allegiance: Sons of Behemat
– Tribe: Stomper Tribe
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders
Warstomper Mega-Gargant (450)*
– General
– Command Trait: Monstrously Tough
– Artefact: Club of the First Oak
Warstomper Mega-Gargant (450)*
– Artefact: Amulet of Destiny (Universal Artefact)
Warstomper Mega-Gargant (450)
Big Grikk’s Kruleshots (310)
Battleline
1 x Mancrusher Gargants (150)**
1 x Mancrusher Gargants (150)**
Core Battalions
*Bosses of the Stomp – Magnificent
**Footsloggas – Swift
Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Total: 1960 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 146
Drops: 6
I’ve touched on this before, but we’re effectively looking at 90 wounds across those first two Megas:
The twin babies and our shiny new Dakka boys lift the quality of life (and gameplay) by giving you something to do other than standing around, and by giving your opponent something easy to kill.
Unless they’re running Chosen, Bloodletters, Squigs, Daughter of Khaine, Ironjawz or a whole bunch of other stuff, in which case your entire army is easy to kill. Such is the life of the Mega-Gargant player.
*Not sure if it’s still available on Warhammer TV anywhere, but watching Pete’s batrep with Ironsunz and allied Gitmob artillery back in the day was still one of the best streamed games I’ve seen
** “But Big Waaagh is two words”…yeah, well so is Fuck You
CHAOS (by Patrick Neven)
Hey gang, Patrick here looks like good ol’ Clickbait Pete, editor in chief of this fine blogsite? had the bright idea of reviewing Gee Dubs’s Regiments of Renown as a launch article. I lost the office game of who touches their nose last and the Chaos regiments fell into my lap. As a general rule I don’t approve of mercenary type units that cross multiple factions. If they are any good they tend to be too good and act as an unwelcome bump for powerful armies. (I’m looking at you Krondspine.) If they suck they fall into a narrative fun list limbo which is fine but kind of meh from a competitive standpoint. The happy medium was something like Gargant mercenaries which were fun for a lot of armies and provided a genuine bump for some lower tier armies. Big Drogg Fort-Kicka in Nighthaunt being the prime example. In any case you can pretty much guarantee that ideas launched outside the normal run of battletomes receive even less than the usual tin standard of GW playtesting so fuck ups can be expected. Still, allowing for my prejudices lets see what we have with the Chaos regiments.
THE COVEN OF THRYX
Consisting of the Tzeentch endless spells, 10 Pink Horrors and a Magister this is the most unusual Regiment of Renown and it’s actually kind of interesting.
Is it Value?
In Australian Dollarydoos the set retails for $118 while it’s individual components come in at $160 so it’s pretty good value. Useless for a Tzeentch player who already has the endless spells but an absolute steal as a starter set for newcomers to the faction. I’m no marketing genius but the idea of bundling some starter crap together alongside the Vanguard boxes seems like a good one to me. (Faction terrain, Judgements and the big axe Slaughterpriest using Khorne as an example).
In points terms it’s kind of difficult to say. The regiment costs 300 while its components come in at a whopping 540 points, but the Horrors don’t split and you only get one guy to cast the endless spells. What they’re really worth is anyone’s guess; the rules are a little odd with this one.
How it works
So after set up but before the first turn starts the Magister can automatically summon one of his endless spells which can’t be dispelled for the first battleround. Afterwards the Magister and Horrors go about their Tzeentchian business, possibly summoning additional endless spells or whatever. When one of the Horrors gets killed within 12 inches of the Magister you can yank an endless spell that’s already on the table and summon a different one to take effect immediately. Actually pretty cool when you consider that nothing is stopping you from blasting your own Horrors with damned terrain, endless spells or whatever.
The basic play with the unit is bringing up the Burning Sigil of Tzeentch before the first turn, clipping your opponent and putting it in his way. (The relevant rules are opposite.) Unless they have something that eats endless spells they are probably going to take some mortals and generate a spawn or two.
The spell is a serious pain in the dick for some armies. (Khorne however will thank you for the Bloodtithe.) From then on it is a bit catch as catch can. The Regiment rules inspire visions of gleefully swapping out your endless spells and blasting your opponents; the reality will be somewhat different.
For starters, as near as I can figure the regiment does not alter the fundamentals of endless spells. You can still only cast one a turn with your Magister and you can’t use one that has been dispelled in the same turn. It does override the restrictions on one spell per wizard, so you could argue that the regiment overrides those core rules but you’d need a soft-headed TO to make that one stick.
You need to have an endless spell on the table to auto summon one when the Horrors get killed. If your opponent dispels your stuff at the start of his turn and proceeds to waste your Horrors, you get nothing.
I suppose there are masters of magic out there that can come up with a bunch of ploys but my feeling is that you can only really count on this one for the first turn. What you get after that is down to player skill, luck and the match up. Remember Age of Sigmar is a dynamic game.
You’re still getting a unit of Pinks and a caster (who is unique, and therefore not a GC in this Handbook). Pinks aren’t world beaters but Petty Vengeance makes for a mean spirited bit of screening and casters are always useful. This Regiment turns out to be a lot better than I first thought.
Where would you use it?
It’s a bit of a tough one to answer. Competitively it probably won’t see the table as anything but a gimmick play. At present the true Chaos factions have expensive units and strong allegiance abilities which means allied units tend to fill niche debuff or chaff rolls. 300 points is a fair chunk and you aren’t swapping a Maggoth Lord for a bunch of pinks and some endless spells. There are probably a few laughs to be had feeding endless spells to your Cygor or adding Spawn to your BOC Spawn spam but it’s niche work. Skaven have better things to spend their points on.
The best place for The Coven of Thryx is a Khorne list. They have enough cheap units to eat the 300 points and the Regiment fills a lot of roles. You can’t trigger Hatred of Sorcery with friendly spells, but two free Spawn in the first battleround = two free Bloodtithe. A bit of short range dakka from your Horror screen and it’s a Wizard to get that all important Mystic Shield off on your block of Mighty Skullcrushers. Purists may quibble but with a string of anti-magic nerfs there has never been a better time to be a Khorne wizard, just don’t hit that miscast.
HARGAX’S PIT-BEASTS
A Mindstealer, a Fomoroid Crusher and an Ogroid Myrmidon walk into a boxed set. The Tzeentch Regiment turned out to have hidden depths of gameplay and value. Hargax’s Pit-Beasts turned out to be a gold mine of comic material. TLDR: It sucks.
Is it value?
In good old AUD the set retails for 180 while all three components for $231. (I’m assuming the prices differentials are similar, though hopefully less extortionate, in foreign parts). A saving of $51 dollars seems like a good deal except that competitively you won’t find much use for a Fomoroid Crusher, and the Ogroid Myrmidon is the eternal favourite in the “Cool model with useless rules” contest. Seriously GW hates this guy. The models are pretty sweet and the set might represent value to hobbyists.
In game terms the unit costs 290 while it’s components come in at 325. A miserly saving. Assuming you want Kitty Cat and can find a use for the Fomoroid you save 35 points on the Ogroid. Big deal. You wouldn’t take him with his allegiance abilities, without them he isn’t worth the effort to put in your model case. It really is a mystery why one of the best models released for AOS gets such consistently woeful rules.
How it works
Assuming you have nothing better to use All out Attack or All out to Defense on, you can issue it for free to your choice of 10 wound, 5 up save not-really-meant-for-combat units. I’d recommend the Mindstealer, its five damage 2 attacks have -1 rend. Other than that you have a 3 up chance of making a monster fight last if it’s within 3 inches of you at the end of the charge phase. Not bad as a backup on the kitty cat if you field it in a blob of other units, but if the beasts are on their own any monster worth the keyword will absorb their pitiful output and murder them.
The Sphiranx with its fights last ability is actually pretty awesome and a welcome ally in any Chaos list, especially in a Gitz heavy meta but the ability has a 9 inch range. Don’t go into combat. Crushers are blessed with a rule that will force you to deal damage to your own units if they are within six inches of terrain. You might find a use for them wandering around on the flank of your army using its short range shooting attack. The Myrmidon does basic hero damage in combat and doesn’t even count as a GC. Unless you are 100% sure you are going into a Monster Mash this is a waste of points.
What would you use it for?
Two words. Comedy Gold. From the fluff to the rules, this one is a barrel of laughs.
So old Hargax wanders the lands recruiting monsters to his cause and the best he can come up with is a smartass telepathic cat and a disgruntled stonemason. I’m not surprised he was deposed. The whole gang sound like they should be Pokemon villains not servants of the dark gods. Who would hire this guy?
The unit composition is just plain weird. In the hero phase if the Crusher is within six inches of terrain it automatically deals damage to anything within six inches of that terrain. They can’t wander around together without being slowly killed by the Crusher and they have to deploy within 6″ of each other.
The rules are a mixed bag. The make monsters fight last thing is pretty cool but the command abilities? Who would waste an AoA or AoD on any of these losers? A lot of Chaos armies don’t have much in the way of shooting so I guess the Myrmidon could follow the crusher around to maximise its two 12 inch shooting attacks if he was careful to stay out of range of the terrain damage ability. It would give you something to do while you get thrashed for being silly enough to take this unit.
You do wonder how these things happen? They’re doing Regiments of Renown, someone decides to box up some old Warcry junk, someone who wanted to leave work early that day gets tasked with writing the rules and they churn this out in a huff. You could have given the beasts Monstrous Actions, the Myrmidon a bodyguard save or at the very least made the rest of the unit immune to the Crusher’s terrain ability. There’s a fair chance more thought went into this article than the Regiment itself.
ORDER (by Theo Kik-Jansen)
NORGRIMM’S RUNE THRONG
This winter, GW set out on a mission. Keeping the box-designers busy. The cardboard packaging industry is in ecstacy as yet another set of boxes with arbitrary unit compositions makes it’s way to market. As interested as we are in the latest from the cardboard industry (daily coverage at http://www.cardboardcraic.com), should wargamers be as exited about these boxes? Let’s dive in.
What does it do?
It’s actually a pretty interesting combination on the face of it:
This is a unit designed to work in combination. It’s meant as a shooting and defensive unit. The Rune of Restored Hearth rule suggests you camp this unit on an objective. The Longbeards are the shield, as the have a built in +1 to their 4+ save against melee attacks. Unfortunately they do only have 1 wound and with 100 points for 10 wounds, they’re not leading the charge in terms of efficiency. The Longbeards do also have a trick up their sleeves for the shooting part of their meaning in life: they let the Irondrakes reroll their wound rolls! Spicy.
The Runelord brings a bit of value of his own. First off he can unbind or dispel (only your hero phase) with a healthy +2. That’s pretty sweet for a lot of armies already. Then he is a Priest. On a 2+ he can chant Forgefire, allowing him to boost the rend of the Irondrakes guns!
The Irondrakes are a cool little unit. They have a 16” range gun, standard at 3+3+ -1 rend, 1 damage. That gets turned up to 3+3+ -2 rend, rerolling the wounds. That means on average 15 shots go through. Against a 4+ save, that’s a healthy 10 damage. That’ll kill a 6 wound character with a 5+ ward (or 5 Liberators / a 10 man chaff unit) about 55% of the time. Not too shabby at all.
It looks like we have a shooting fortress situation on out hands. You get a 30 point discount, but gain a drop in a lot of lists. What to do with them though?
Any bullshit?
Not really, if we’re honest. Gone are the days of GW leaving open “friendly units” loopholes. But, Order is a large Alliance, and if there’s anything we’ve learned from the likes of Darren Watson, it’s that there’s always bullshit to be found if you’re willing to take your shirt off and get dirty. First up, you might be thinking about the KO subfaction Barak-Thryng, that grants a MW prayer to the Duardin priest to be chanted on Arkanaut or Grundstok units. While that prayer is great, it does interfere with the purpose of the Runelord in this Battalion, as it needs its prayer for boosting the Irondrake damage. So you’d be better off going for a separate Runelord, saving points and a drop.
So we’re looking for a faction where this shooting fortress concept can shine. The armies that can’t produce a great anvil and are looking for some decent shooting to perhaps clear a screen of get a foot hero off.
And honestly, most Order armies are pretty complete. The armies that spring to mind are Daughters of Khaine and Idoneth Deepkin. The reason why this might work is because it is a self-sustaining block. There are no overlapping buffs, no resources spent, just a blob they better deal with, or they’re losing 30 wounds worth of models by turn 3. And they are pretty tough to deal with, as they are 3 units to clear.
Remember DoK? Wow! That faction did a faceplant if I’ve even seen one. Jezus. Anyway. Daughters can’t really produce an effective screen. Their shooting really requires an all-in approach with Morathi as a buff piece for BowSneks. Nothing gets a grudge going like being hired to fight for some homeless Aelven witches, ammiright?! Without a lot of Fly options, a screen/objective clearer can open up lanes for this army that it would get bogged down by otherwise. Or a screen of dwarves, that sounds like an Aelfen thing to be doing. The unbind can’t hurt in a lot of DoK builds.
While Deepkin can produce a decent shooting castle in their own right, a cav-focussed list can still make use of this same combo. Deepkin can struggle to provide board presence in an offensive list. Making it easier to deploy in deepstrike and still keep pressure on the board, this package also provides a premium unbind, which may come in clutch.
Beyond these options, the Order armies have a lot of tools that have the efficiency of the newer books. The lack of speed and raw efficiency both in wounds and output makes it a narrative option at best for most forces.
Order: ELTHWIN’S THORNS
What does it do?
The Gossamid Archers are actually pretty cool as a concept. They are fast, take up space with their coherency rule and can flee in the enemy charge phase after Unleash Hell. They function as a speedbump stand-in-the-way unit, that are hard to tag. Couple of major flaws though. One: they are very fragile (pronounced in Italian). Charge damage will just stomp them, so better hope that doesn’t happen. Two: they don’t have rend, so the damage comes from the mortal wounds, but with averaging 3,6MW per activation, that’s not denting a Stonehorn in any meaningful way.
The Arch-Revenant is a pretty versatile hero in his own right. One problem though: his command gives +1 attack to melee weapons… Yeah, fart’s chance in a hurricane of hurting anything with those Cruel Talons. Cruel indeed. They also gave him +1 to wound, which loses a lot of effectiveness as the MW are not in addition…
Any bullshit?
Err, I’m struggling here. They fail to provide any Order army with a meaningful addition. Sure, a case might be made for Gossamid Archers as an allied mobile unit, but what’s the Arch Rev doing? And why would you use these to soak up a charge? Besides, they are way too expensive for what they do.
Lovely models though. Great box too!
DEATH (by Peter Atkinson)
VEREMORD’S SHAMBLERS
What does it do
You get some Zombies with their own little buffwagon. The new Zombie kit is universally beloved, while the Corpse Cart either brings a certain old-school charm or is a fugly old piece of crap, depending on your perspective. Nonetheless it does make sense as a bundle, because they’re pretty tightly synergized.
Zombies get a 6++ ward while they’re near the Cart, and the Cart itself gets a 5++ ward in return. Furthermore, the Cart kicks on with its debuff theme by reducing enemy wards by 1 within 12”. The difference between a 5++ ward and a 6++ ward for example is just night and day: and if you don’t believe me, take a look at how the Amulet of Destiny went overnight from being the most popular artefact in the game to being seen more rare than a Tasmanian tiger.
Note also that the new SBGL book has updated these warscrolls, meaning that the Zombies have lost their 6” pile-in and MWs on 6s to hit. What they get instead is a 5+ chance to dish back a mortal wound when they die in melee, and they can still put dead enemy models back into their own unit as fresh, rotten meat on a 2+.
And how about the Corpse Cart? Well he’s here to help the Zombies, giving them MWs on 6s to wound (not to hit, and wholly within 12”). And as mentioned above, this piece is there to debuff as much as to help out the Zombies: the Balefire loadout (which this one has to take) subtracts 1 from enemy casting rolls within 12”.
Is it value?
Bearing in mind the SBGL book just dropped, you’re getting 115 points of chaff with a 70 point buff piece. That means the 180 points for the package represents a measly 5 point discount, but that’s honestly still not bad. Despite the pathetic discount this is a price point where you can slot them easily into most lists, so it does give you something to work with.
In dollar terms:
- If they are sold out in your territory, then I would suggest buying a kit of Deadwalkers and converting up a Corpse Cart.
- If they are still available, then I would suggest buying a kit of Deadwalkers and converting up a Corpse Cart.
I’m not even gonna bother working out the dollar discount for that thing – I’d rather set about it with a hobby saw and a can-do attitude.
Is it any good?
You know what? I quite like this one. A chaff screen is almost always worth its points, and Zombies aren’t half bad as chaff goes. 115 points for 20 bases is a cracking start, and 20 wounds with a 6++ ward won’t automatically die to everything. Buffed Chosen? Sure, but there’s a lot of other stuff in this game that they will bog down for a turn.
The Corpse Cart is crazy fragile – as it should be given its price point – with 6 wounds on a 6+ save. So the 5++ ward will help a lot with either keeping it around for a couple of turns, or at least drawing disproportionate fire for something so cheap.
One thing I really like (which is right there on the Cart’s warscroll) is the neg 1 to cast for your opponent. You’d be amazed how often this came up with the old Bad Moon Battle Trait and it can massively put your opponent on tilt when it does cost them an important cast (or brings it down low enough that you pull off the unbind).
All in all it’s a neat little package of screens that are a bit more irritating to get rid of than they should be, some surprising mortal wound output and a couple of trolling debuffs that will be absolutely clutch about twice per tournament.
Where would you use it?
Any Death army that wants screens might want to take a close look at these. FEC springs to mind: 160 points equates to 20 Ghouls, and the extra 20 points to switch them out for 20 Zombies plus a Corpse Cart feels like decent value.
Nighthaunt are probably happier with their own units, but OBR is another one where you might like the Regimental chaff more than your own Mortek Guard. 150 points only gets you 10 bases on the table, and while the Mortek are more durable, they don’t offer as much screening and board control. So if you’ve got your Battleline sorted elsewhere, these guys could be worth the 30 point upgrade.
More broadly, the Corpse Cart offers a fun hobby opportunity: raid the bitz box and see what kind of horrible mess you can construct on a 105x70mm base. And you’re gonna love that ward fuckery if you play against Stonehorns or Nurgle a lot locally. Or Bonesplitterz, I guess, if they hadn’t been completely smashed out of the meta by GW’s ridiculously over-zealous nerfbat.
Is there any bullshit?
I don’t know if you’d call it bullshit, but the splashback mortals from the Zombies work in nicely with the ward-reduction from the corpse cart. That Stonehorn won’t enjoy copping a bunch of damage on his own turn, just for the privilege of killing a chaff screen.
The Verdict
So there you have it! In terms of power level, we’ve tried to place these units in the context of the armies that can use them and what they bring to each other. For universal options, the main thing you want to see is that they have a reason to exist, moreso than being insanely powerful, and in that context I think GW have understood the assignment.
A bit of a mixed bag – as expected – but if you have most of these models already lying around, there’s certainly an interesting list or two you could put together here, and there’s way more to get your teeth into than the 2019 vintage Mercs.
Don’t forget this month’s Listbuiding Challenge centres around Regiments of Renown, so if your creative energy is pulsing, punch out a list or two and fling it through to plastic.craic@outlook.com or maybe even slide into my Twitter DMs, you saucy devil. And if you think we’ve done someone dirty or missed a trick, that’s your perfect opportunity to show us what we’re missing.
Looking forward to seeing what you all cook up.
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