Seems to be about in line with what we've seen from the broken Realms battalions so far. Lock to a specific sub faction, contains a very small number of units, and makes one of those units a named character. The damage had better be a D6, or else it won't be worth using. It's only once per battle, and you still have a chance to roll a one and get nothing. It's also a maximum of three dice. So 0-9 mortals once per battle is just bad. It only locks out your Engine from what I can see. It does not say that you can't shoot with your bastiladon.
Not really something I'd run tbh I feel the thunderquake is a better sub overall though I'd hazard it would be easier to run this new one out
Seems okay. As others have said... That damage tease. Really wish the units included were a little more flexible. Two Basti would have made it neat in my opinion. Edit - Sotek Basti. I mean. Thunderquake is just better for Solardons.
I do think the prime warbeast is nice. Considering the engine has a decent chance of dealing d3 mortals on its own, I would think it should be d6 for the effect
I kinda like it, actually? The more I look at it, the more I think it's really nice to have in a Thunder Lizard list just to get double Prime Warbeasts, along with all the normal benefits of a battalion. The Mortal Wounds are just icing.
I was hoping the battalion was going to make the Ark of Sotek a little bit more viable for the Bastiladon
I like it. I havent played thunderquake because its too much of an points investment. This lets me take the 3 models I normally take in Thunderlizard anyway, get an artifact and command point, and some extra mortal wound abilities for less points investment.
I definitely like the extra Stegadon with Prime Warbeast for sure. I'm just not sure that the once per battle special beam cannon ability is worth it for the cost of a battalion. *If* it's d6 mortal wounds then sure. A chance to truly nuke something. But if you're rolling a maximum of 3 dice, each of which could roll a 1 and get nothing, for a maximum of 9 MW once per game, I'm thinking it would almost always be better to just double-shoot the Bastiladon and hope for some mortals from your Engine roll. If it's d6, then you could still get nothing, but now your maximum potential goes from 0-9 to 0-18, that's quite substantial. It's also not out of the realm of what other units can do in the game already. The Skaven Warp Lightning Cannon, for example, can overcharge whenever it wants and have a chance to do 12 MW automatically just based off a single die roll.
I think what this battalion could be useful for is a t1 nuke of a supporting hero. The 24 inch range is fairly mighty, and gives a 34 inch thread range for a potential snipe. I mean, a t1 Stegadon Cosmic Engine roll is probably less useful then a t2 and on roll. I originally thought this battallion was pretty bad, but I think it might have some use. It may not be the most competitive thing ever, but a free item and a t1 34 inch threat range for some mortals isn't terrible. . I'm willing to give it a shot. The suspected 140 point cost is eh though
This battalion is less than 1k points at least. So there's that. Part of me wishes they had made a named character Engine instead, with the priest being the leader of a pair of Ark Bastilidons with the engine at the fore. I was really hoping this was going to give the included beasties more hitting power in melee, like impact hits for all if nothing else. As it stands, less of a Stampede and more of a shuffle and bang.
wow i wasn't expecting much and im still disapointed. not only is this battalion rigid as any thing it also comes with a hefty tax to even use it.
Just theorising around Kroak. If he were to lose comets call for his own spells, might the Slann become the go-to auto-include? In my eyes they’re strong, but upgrading for 60pts isn’t a hard choice. If that becomes 200-300 points and the decision less clear-cut, we may all be dusting our star masters back off?
Full warscroll of be'lakor isn't super exciting, gets a heal when a unit fails battleshock near him, 2 spell casts and a fairly underwhelming special spell. Doesn't seem amazing at 380 points.
Haha its looking like 2nd rules team came back from vacation and wrote this book. I expect a super tame and lame kroak.