AoS: Lord Agragax's Fyreslayer Thread

As far as I can see that is only while they’re within 8” of their altar. Looks like the Battleforge preview is tomorrow, so we’ll be able to see what bonuses we get from our scenery then.

 

I’ve just seen that the Infernoth is actually better than I thought - it moves 2D6” every turn and each unit that is within 3” of it once it has moved gets the lava treatment, not just one, so it can damage multiple units at once. Compared to Spells that damage things as they move over them, the Infernoth is actually better in some ways in that if you roll a really bad roll for its move but it’s still within 3” of a couple of units, it has a chance that it will keep damaging the same units every turn (great for concentrating fire), while Spells that damage things as they move over them will struggle to even reach any unit to move over if a bad movement roll comes up, if that makes sense.

 

The Battleforge rules are up!

On one hand, it’s very handy for priests casting prayers as it boosts all prayer rolls by 1 (The Prayer of Grimnir’s Fury, for instance, can be cast on a 2+ by a priest near a Battleforge), which is great. It’s other ability, on the other hand, is pretty bad - sacrificing the bonus +1 to prayer rolls just to re-roll Save rolls of 1 until the next turn. That can be done already by the Runefather’s command ability (unless they change that as well). If it was re-roll ALL Save rolls for a number of turns, it would be worth it, but it isn’t. Luckily it’s optional so we can completely ignore this pretty poor ability, but that second ability is still a waste. Looks like we’ll have to rely more on prayers than perhaps other armies do as that’s the one thing they’ve done really well with in my view, which could be worse, but I was hoping for more.

One advantage at least, though, is that because our scenery piece isn’t as powerful as, say, the Khorne one, it does mean that we’re effectively less ‘tied’ to it than Khorne priests are with theirs, meaning it’s not so much of a blow if we lose access to it - we can easily deal with the Khorne shrine allowing them to reroll prayers, for instance, by deepstriking a load of Vulkite or Hearthguard Berzerkers with a Runesmiter to a location near the shrine, charging and hacking the Khorne priest on it to death and then just sitting around it waiting for the Khorne player to sacrifice more of his priests or units to try to get it back, while the Khorne player then suffers a huge amount in that he can only get his Portcullis of Doom on a 5+. If he then tried to do the same thing to us, all we’d lose is a +1 bonus to our prayer rolls that are already pretty good.

 

Any player that is atleast somewhat experienced will bubblewrap his khorne altar, so I don't see what you mentionned coming up often. 2nd ability is clearly the weaker of the two, but can be quite effective if we come to lose all our priests and then the Battleforge has no use anymore. Might as well get the little boost.

We still don't have the full picture yet, as we're missing the point costs of the Invocation and also the setup of the Battleforge (I would assume simply wholly within our starting territory, but it might be more restrictive than that).

 

The White Dwarf for this month is Fyreslayer-centred, with rules for Bael Grimnir of Vostarg Lodge as our first non-Shadespire named character, additional Warscroll Battalions, a new Fyreslayer scenario and a story of one of Bael Grimnir’s adventures - don’t miss it my fellow champions of Grimnir @Xasto and @Wazz!

According to the Warhammer Community article, they’re now releasing White Dwarfs in the middle of the month rather than at the beginning so we’ll have to wait another week I imagine, but it’ll then be out until the middle of July.

 

@Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl I know I can't wait! Thanks for the reminder! How are you liking the new book?

 

Haven’t been able to get it yet, but I’m loving all the changes that they’ve put up on Warhammer Community and 1D4Chan have summarised all the new mechanics - 2-wound Infantry is great, prayers are great, Magmic Invocations are great, Hearthguard Berzerkers have been buffed to infinity, Magmadroths have been buffed to bring them up to speed with most of the other monsters in the game and I’m very impressed that GW have brought us back to being an elite army rather than a horde army. Overall I’m very happy with the updated rules.

 

@Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl same here I've got 1 turn with them and it was pretty awesome lol. Hopefully I can get them going at my shops Forbidden Power campaign I'll keep you posted!

 

Very nice!

 

Right then, having read the awesome Fyreslayer material in the most recent White Dwarf, it's time for me to do some analysis as promised:

• The story: The story I thoroughly enjoyed, not least for confirming the existence of female Fyreslayers so that they are no longer having an identity crisis along the lines of the myths Gimli recounted in the Lord of the Rings about the lack of Dwarf women. Also could we potentially be seeing a Fyreslayer queen at some point? Interesting notion and could give some hints at how GW plan to expand the Fyreslayer troop roster after the mass-Battletome-release-frenzy that's been going on at the moment to equalise all the factions with full Second Edition rules.
• The lore: If you've read the first Battletome, some of the lore will already be known, but the lore present in this White Dwarf helps to link up how the Vostarg Lodge was able to survive even though the Vosforge was lost (through one of the last original Runefather's 12 sons continuing the name), as I don't remember that being clearly described in the first Battletome and I haven't got the second one yet. It also takes special care to link Fjul-Grimnir from Shadespire in with the mainstream Fyreslayer fluff, indicating that he's Bael-Grimnir's great grandad who went off to assist Shadespire and lift the dishonour of Shadespire's curse from the lodge.
• Bael-Grimnir: Our first non-Shadespire character, Bael-Grimnir, I think is a pretty good character if you want to run a Vostarg list, and an auto-take if you have an Auric Runefather on Magmadroth as part of your strategy using that Vostarg list. At only 20 points more than a regular Runefather on Magmadroth he has an extra attack on his Grandaxe, breaks enemy weapons on a 5+ rather than 6+, has a 6+ Ward Save (would have preferred a 5+ but 6+ is better than nothing), his own command ability that can allow an allied hero to attack again (much better if you are using a hero-heavy list and I think this can be used on Magmadroth heroes as well) and an extra 6" range for his Magmadroth's Roaring Fyrestream if he doesn't move. This means that, unlike the super-powered named characters other armies can have, he can be easily taken in even a 1000 point game and yet still have room for a decent-sized army to support him. However, the one snag with him is, of course, you can only use him in Vostarg lists - if you're playing your own lodge and want to use relics other than the Vosaxe for varying reasons, you won't be able to take him.
• The Battalions: The new Battalions are variants of the existing battalions found in the Battletome that can only be used in the Vostarg army, with different effects but similar compositions (except that the Lords of Vostarg has to have Bael-Grimnir rather than a regular Runefather). I'd say they are a mixed bunch - Lords of Vostarg I'd say is inferior to regular Lords of the Lodge if the Hearthguard Berzerker unit is a decent size (Bael-Grimnir and a free command ability every turn vs Hearthguard Berzerkers attacking twice), but you get Bael-Grimnir over a regular Runefather. The Vostarg Warrior Kinband I'd say is better than the standard one (an extra attack for your Vulkites over using Berserk Fury twice per game rather than once per game) unless you're against Slaanesh - Berserk Fury twice will be a lot more useful for whittling down those Keepers of Secrets in combat with your suicide-bomb Vulkite units. Both Forge Brethren battalions are about the same - +1 to Runic Empowerment prayer for the Runesmiter in the Vostarg version vs +1 to save for a unit near the Hearthguard in the regular one. The Vostarg one would be slightly better if you're deepstriking the Runesmiter with one of the Hearthguard units behind enemy lines as he'd be more likely to successfully buff them, while the regular one would be better if they are deepstriking nearer your army as support. Finally I think the Vostarg Grand Fyrd battalion is the better one as you get to generate extra automatic hits (not extra attacks) on hit rolls of 6, especially if you're fighting a Chaos faction as you also get to re-roll 1s to wound against them, although a Grimwrath is compulsory with that one.
• The scenario: An interesting scenario for narrative play representing the Fyreslayers launching an assault on an enemy fortification, but I'd say not as thematic as those from the first Battletome (the three scenarios in the first Battletome are worth buying the old Battletome for on their own and look great fun to play both in Fantasy with my regular Dwarfs and AoS).
• The painting guide: Especially helpful as it gives advice on painting Fyreslayers and Magmadroths with the new Contrast Paints.

All in all, even though it primarily caters for Vostarg players specifically, there is pretty much something for all Fyreslayer players in this issue. GET IT IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY GOT IT!

 

The vostarg warrior kinbad is silly good with the buffs your 30 attacks hitting and wounding on 2s with the runeson and vostarg command ability. Throw in a runic empowerment for re roll wounds and fell like a Dok player lol.

 

They were enough to make me try Vostarg over Hermdar lol

 

In fact by this point you're better than a DoK player as you've got better armour and an extra wound for each man in your unit.

 

@Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl you are right! I just didn't want to brag DoK are everywhere! Hahah

 

Well, someone needs to put those Witch Elf tarts in their place - as we are probably the only army that is their equal in combat and has better armour and wards than they do, it's our duty to Grimnir to keep DoK players on their toes

 

FOR GRIMNIR!!

 

Decided to reboot this thread in part out of my annoyance that a bunch of degenerate perverts are getting a second wave of models before us. As GW don't seem to be giving us any attention in the near future, I've decided to take matters into my own hands. Some of you may have seen my skill at writing unofficial warscrolls from one or more of my 'Unofficial AoS Factions' threads. Those who haven't will soon find out about it, for I have had the idea of generating some unofficial warscrolls for new unit ideas I have had to give the Sons of Grimnir some more variety in their unit roster (at least until GW have the sense to actually give us some official new units ), which you, as my fellow Fyreslayer fans, are free to playtest in casual gaming environments. Feel free to even have a go at converting some of these units if you like, I'd be interested to see what you come up with!

I'll list the Pitched Battle points values and base sizes (so you know what size bases to stick your conversions on) here:
[Pitched Battle points values]

Hope you like them and I'd be interested to hear your feedback!

 

Without further ado, here's my first unofficial Fyreslayer Warscroll, for Ungrim, Lord of the Fyre-Realm!

When Ungrim Ironfist awoke in the Mortal Realms, he emerged into a land far different from the world he once knew. Grimnir, one of the three revered Ancestor Gods of the Dwarfs, was alive and strong in this new world...

 

I hope someone at GW reads this and uses it lol. He seems pretty powerful, but not too powerful!