Hey guys, So what happens if one rolls 14-17 and has no points / units to summon ? Is there a FAQ on it or we just can't utilize it at all ?
In matched play you can't use it at all, skink starseer and slann should help to ensure you have more options though. Slann give you 4 dice and you choose the three, curse of fates will let you +1 or -1 from a roll.
Meh alright. Problem is I won't be having a Slann for a long time - bought lots of models these days and Slann wasn't one of them
Yeah I know that it's a bummer. I have always wanted that FAQ'd so it would default to the next lower spell . Without the support of some re-rolls or flexibility with the Slaan, EoTG is kinda lackluster imo
meh,even other abilities can be fairly lackluster.. the other day I had a match in which it summoned something once then proceeded to trigger abilities too short ranged to hit anything and in the last turn delivered the final blow to the final unit, but that single model wouldn't have been able to win on its own anyway at that point.... without the control of re-rolls or slaann it seems increadibly unreliable.
I wondered about the EotG too lately, because of my Thunderquake Starhost plans. Without a Slann and with the current summoning rules IMO the EotG isn't worth it. I'd probably use a Troglodon instead. I hope magic rules (and especially summoning) gets changed soon, because I feel our most powerful units are really nerfed by the rules since the GHB.
I think the seraphon might probably be the worst hit by the magic & summoning rules. - Summoning is basicly our main gimmick, both in fluff and in actual abilities. Our army is literally the slanns memory made manifest. If there's ever an army who should be summoning reinforcements left and right it should be one headed by a slann. And even the slann can be summoned with an EOTG. We can literally summon our entire collection regardless of what's in it. I don't think any other army is capable of this (even the undead or daemons have some units that can't just be raised or summoned...). Not being able to do that doesn't just take a way a good chunk of our power, it's also just a bit lame - A slann supported by several skinks should dominate a magical battle through arcane vassal. What are most arcane vassals? Wizards. What doesn't work well because of the rule of 1? An army with multiple wizards.... Yes there are some other options than a skink priest, starseer or starpriest, but these 3 are probably the best fit in a general situation. E.g. the skink chief isn't good if your army fields few skinks & the EoTG and troglodon count towards your behemoth limit. Whereas these three would work as vasals regardless of what else you're fielding. - Our spells are lackluster, the 2 basic spells are quite lame, summoning is limited by points & none of our special spells are "amazing". By comparison take the skink priests rites giving everyone near him rerolls. This is a fairly amazing ability & can make our troops nearly unkilleable. In comparison something like summon starlight is more a mild inconvenience than anything else. That's not to say our special spells are bad, but they're nowhere near what you'd expect from an army with some of the best wizards in the universe. We really need a magic update.. lets hope the new rulebook will help.
I really hope so too. Slann should at least be able to reinforce groups up to the starting totals when causalities are suffered. Undead do it so much! Rolling 6 dice and bringing back models on 5 or 6 (averaging two per turn) to bring back models with 4 wounds, like 4 attacks at 2 damage each???? Like wot? I agree that original summoning needed a limit, but I they went about it in a way, like you said, that severely hurt our army. Hope they can find a balance this next go around
Yes, it was necessary to limit summoning, but that was over the top. I think there are two armies where you can really see how severe it was. Death and Seraphon. If I had to point at two units hit most severely by the rules of 1 and the limit of summoning I'd say Nagash and Kroak. I like your idea with the restoring. It would still be less powerful than with Death (where not only wizards can do it but some units do it themselves IIRC) but more along the lines of what I would expect. Point cost for new ones, repleneshing only costs one spell. That would also mitigate some of the severe impact of the rules of one. Because if you cannot cast Mystic shield or Arcane Bolt and have spells left you can just replenish some units. I still think that they should change the wording of that rule of wone to "a spell can only be cast once" instead of "a spell can only attempted once". If it is so important for him and he rolls bad, why not let Kroak try four times to cast his mystic shield or something. Or at least give us (the army with the best casters) an allegiance ability to disable that rule. THAT would be unique
meh, the rule of one is missing the point for magic all that's really needed would be following 1) You can't stack the same buff on 1 target. So there can only be 1 mystic shield on your unit of saurus guard. But if your wizard can cast 2 spells you can buff 2 seperate units 2) Mortal wounds shouldn't be so common that nearly every spell & every ability that deals damage immeadiatly deals mortal wounds. Arcane bolt spam would be completly fine if it did say 2D6 wounds instead of 1D3 mortal wounds. To be honest the biggest issue with Arcane bolt seemed to be how common mortal wounds are in general, thus forcing magic to need them to be competitive compared to "normal" abilities. Combined with the fact that wizards can only cast X spells per turn & they're relativly weak models in every other aspect you've now basicly solved the entire issue... You've solved the spamming of buffs and of mortal wounds. Furthermore fielding enough wizards to consistently buff all your troops would be too expensive. And their ranged firepower is relevant & especially nice in say a pure seraphon army which lacks artillery & archers, but its no longer oppresive.
A FAQ would be nice. Although I've never had a problem if I explain it to my opponent and then ask if we can just let it default to the lower spell, basically anyone that is sporting can see its useless in matched play and has agreed to it.
Meh, even with a sporting opponent that solves 1 unreliable roll at best.. on the whole the unit remains fairly lackluster... I'd wish they'd add some effect to it if the triggered power happens to not have any actual effect.. Even if the guaranteed effect is neglectible compared to the proper effect. At least it'd do something... that or give it a secondary effect... idunno, all seraphon get +1 to hit & +1 to save when near it cuz it gives them visions of the future or something would fit with the fluff... Considering the effects are random & have varying requirements for actually finding a viable target & there's the potential of it exploding in your face it's actually kind of surprising it doesn't also have a decent consistent power to make up for its high likelyhood to not trigger something all that usefull a bit...
Question from a person that hasn't used Thunderquake yet : Won't the slann be too vulnerable to the enemy's spells / attacks while being within range to give the buff? And also, wouldn't at least half of them close to another VP so wouldn't benefit from the buff?
well, usually you keep your dinos' block in a walking castle formation, with the Slann at its centre, thus keeping it safe from CC. When facing ranged attacks, you have the option to take a warden as bodyguard
When I played this comp I did exactly as Killer Angel said. I took an Eternity warden to soak up damage and left another 120 (140?) points available to get a new one if he died. Seemed to work pretty well
Against melee threats you can surround your Slann with big dinos or pop him up on a Balewind Vortex. Against normal ranged shooting you have access to re-rollable saves so unless it is totally ridiculous (Kunnin' Rukk ridiculous) you should be able to survive it. The issue is ranged mortal wounds. I will defer to greater experts on how to survive that - my plan is just to use cheap screening units of skinks.
Against mortal wounds, Eternity warden is almost a must. His rule allows him to intercept wounds on the Slaan on a 2+ and instead, the warden takes a mortal wound. He is, without a doubt, your best defense against them.
Also put master of defense on your Slaan (assuming you are running him as your general) so you can try to also shrug them off on a 6. Will give you one extra (albeit unreliable) line of defense against mortal wounds.