you still got the fun on his tale all what he need is rerolls to hit or something. my first thought was about a sunblood, now i realise its only for saurus units! damn!!!
honestly it may be more balanced overall... but we have literally nothing with -3 rend. 1/2 the heals and 1/3 the penetration makes for far less a threat... especially at the increased cost. the 40 points I understand... I just don't like. I was hoping for 36.
I have to agree. For how expensive the model is (points and cash wise) he feels a little underwhelming. I fully realize he’s fairly well balanced but it’s still a little disappointing to see both the battleshock and the rend changes. A Carno is half the size with, arguably, a better battleshock ability
I also think it is a pity that the high rend is gone, but I still think the DS looks OK for his point cost. Primal Presence is unnecessary, we rarely fail battleshock tests anyway. And then they could have made it work for all Seraphon at least, instead of just Skinks. But a Starpriest, Priest, and Astrolith Bearer are still his best friends. I think he will be fun to play if buffed a bit. 420 points means only Seraphon can use him, that's fine. 40 summoning points.... Yeah. It fits the rules I guess but they could just as easily have said "you cannot summon the Dread Saurian" as that is probably the most realistic option. Under perfect conditions (Kroak General + Balewind + Cogs + Astrolith rolling well) you might make it in round two, but then...meh. Probably wouldn't want to risk that. EDIT: wait... does that even work? Let's see.... Kroak using Cogs and casting a BWV leaves him with 5 spells to spend for summoning = 15. +1 because of him being general, and d3 for the Astrolith = 19 if it works perfectly. In the second round he can do one spell more, so you get 22 maximum. 19+22 is 41 so it would work. But you are not allowed to fail your Cogs or BWV and the Astrolith has to roll one maximum and one medium result. And Kroak can do nothing else of course. So yeah, theoretically possible but probably not viable.
There is a Chamon spell called "Curse of Rust" which reduces the save rolls and hit rolls of an enemy unit by one, so that might help him.
You summon the cogs with a skink then start casting with Kroak. You need to roll high on the Astro though, and Kroak will let you reroll it due to his command ability if you get it off. One unfortunate thing about summoning is that it happens in the movement phase so you can't LOSAT the Dread Saurian unless you LOSAT the astrolith bearer then summon him near the astro. Since you can summon near an astro or a slann.
Yeah you need to either port the summoner or the AB to the front if you want to use the Dread Saurian in the round it is summoned. Something to grant reroll of charges would help then.
If you do get one to appear in turn two you will get one out turn 4 as long as Kroak is undisturbed with his shenanigans and the Astrolith gets to roll.
I have a Dread I have built and finishing painting. I see there is still no set base size. I was thinking of getting a wooden oval one about 9" long for him and doing a scenic style with extra Skinks from my Stegadon/Bastiladon kits.
I played with a Dread today and I’m trying super hard to be positive, but he felt sort of like a waste. I had to teleport him away on turn 2 with 2 wounds left and he spent the next few turns regaining hit points. The -1 on the jaws is garbage but the tail attack is super nice when it hits. I appreciated that the healing was consistent but it was a pain only getting it on your hero phase. To be fair I used him with minimal buffs so I don’t feel like I have the right to really complain. Though I will say my opponents monster, a nurgle healing machine, did feel like it outclassed the Dread on every level.
To tell the truth, Dread seems to me more like a hoard-eater than a monster hunter. Hordes with low save will suffer a lot from his 6 damage on jaws and 10 attacks from claws. They could at least leave him with -2 rend on jaws.
I primarily run Thunderquake for my 2k Tournament list. EOtGs with 2 Solar Engine Bastils and bring a crossbow Stegadon as well. I use the Steg usually as my main meele damage dealer and teleport harraser/suicide attacker. That is what I would use the Dread for as well. I have only fought against a Dread once at Bugeater this year and it took 3 of my 4 big dinos to gangup on him and bring him down.
This is a really good point, he could be useful on a teleport to take out heavy shooting units as well. I’ll adjust my strategy to try this and hopefully it’ll feel much better. It would be nice if he had a mortal wound save like The Great unclean one it would lend a little help with hoard control, but I suppose that would be a bit much to ask!
Its mere presence (especially if you start by chomping units away), will also serve as magnet to enemy's big monsters, so your troops should have an easier life
Exactly. I use my Stegadon to divide focus from my Bastiladons as they are the main work horse/range power house/ scary stuff shield for my army. If I can take some focus off them so they can fight stuff one on one with another unit or even gang up on stuff.