I'm not sure if it's an actual issue. The unit will die quite easily which I'm not sure is something you'd want if you have it as a dispel unit. To be honest I haven't actually thought too much about since we have plenty of options in regards to dispelling, however I suppose it is interesting if you want to go ultra cheap on wizards. Just can get away with banner + lvl 2 wizard for 115pts and still have the dispel power of a lvl 4.
You say that, but it's not hard to keep such a unit alive. I do it all the time as a Prirst bunker because it had a small footprint and height, allowing it to hide at the back of your lines or behind terrain. Even easier to do in 9th with the los and terrain changes. Plus it has the mobility to get out of danger. Tbh it works great too with a slann for awesome +6 to dispel, almost negating the need for a scroll (and saving points on a caddy).
Ah. I should really finish reading the rules properly I think that my point still stands though, in that it's disproportionally beneficial towards armies who have access to cheap magic banners. I don't know if other armies are able to take advantage of it as much as the Skinks can though, but there's no other magic banner that has a game wide impact (all others are localised to the unit). It's even pretty good if you're capped at +4, because you have a back up in case your Lv4 fluffs. Or you use aided dispel with the banner instead of your scroll caddy so he can stay available. Dunno, I haven't tried putting a list together yet and just theory crafting, but this jumped right out at me. Might be worth a discussion at least.
The awkward truth is that the magic banner for our skink braves is actually a mistake. Nobody know how it ended up there, but probably a copy/paste mistake from when they updated our book from the old style to the new. The committee decided to let it stay. If it turns out abusive it'll be toned down of course
Uh sorry I meant magic banners on skink braves wasn't supposed to happen. The dispel banner is part of the BRB and not a mistake. I edited my post for clarification.
That's a hard question, but straight up synergy would be: Spinosaurus Roar improving Born Predator in other units. +1 scaly Skin spawning, parry and +1 WS aura from maceosaurus to make saurus warriors an extremely resilient core unit. The other way around: fight in extra rank spawning, spears and poison aura for maximum damage on saurus warriors. Triceratop Godly Engine with monster lists You could use maceosaurus, Godly Engine and Spinosaurus to boost one unit into something ridiculous haha Just what I came to think about
Hey guys, I have a few questions since the giant blowpipes and giant bow on the triceratops count as war machines, does that mean if I roll 2 6s then roll on the misfire chart and roll 1 one does that mean the triceratops whole model gets removed or is it that the giant bow/blow pipes just are not used. Also I do not understand why rolling a 6 is so bad in the 9th age.
So, the Spinosaurus. I've surprised myself in finding that not only am I writing him into some lists, but that it's possible to do so. 120 points (plus upgrades) seems to be the sweet spot, but there's a few comments that I have. The base model seems a little... underwhelming. Yeah, it's cheap and yeah, it's slightly more effective in combat than a Maceosaurus for the same price, but without being nearly as flexible (although Maceo has a few problems of its own). And yeah, it does have a buff. But it's still not great. I can't see people taking the naked variant when +60 points gets you so much more. I think there's a typo with the stats for the Skink Rider. Shouldn't he be BS4 WS2 instead of WS4 BS2? The unit type is Monstrous Cav. Is this intended to get a 3+ armour save (Mount's Protection plus Innate Defence 4+)? Upgrading to Wizard Conclave gets you +1 wound, but the model can't take advantage of that as it uses the mounts wounds. Is that intended? So.... Ward Saves. Hear me out here: both the DE and SE WC units get Ward Saves. Granted, they don't share the defences of the Spino (T5/W5/3+ AS), but they are also both more mobile (faster, Free Reform) and more importantly, are much smaller targets. Now, a 4++ is way way too good, but I think there's an argument to be made in favour of 5++ as part of the Champion upgrade. This is a guy chosen by the Old Ones to go treasure hunting after all, but doesn't have much to show for it except for a big mount and a level 2. Giving him a Ward would bring him more in line with DE and SE, but maybe the Innate Defence should be dropped to 5+ (4+ AS overall) to compensate. The upgrade cost could go up to +80 instead, but at 180 points the Spino is already more pricey than those other two.
I don't have time but: 1) need WS4 on skinks since attackers hit against rider's WS. 2) read large target special rule. 3) yes it is intended. Only the Skink benefits from the champion conclave upgrades.
Gotcha Pinktaco. No Mount's Protection on Large Target. In that case, I would argue for a 5++ as it has "shoot me with everything" written all over it. I know, I know - there seems to be a deliberate design decision that ridden monsters shouldn't get ward saves (hence that 70 point Shield), but this isn't a character upgrade, it's a unit option. Ultimately, other WC units have great protection against their natural counters (being small arms and template weapons vs T3 Elves, which a 4++ shrugs off), and this guy is huge warmachine bait but has nothing going for him other than 5 wounds. Shouldn't the Skink at least get the same BS as all other Skinks (3)? Granted it's only for one javelin shot, but consistency and all that.
The salamanders seem OP to me. The new 8" range is much easier to target with (8" was usually the right range to be for the old sallies), except that now you are guaranteed hits (unless a misfire) and I believe there is a large damage potential given optimal shots. Pair that with a stand and shoot and you could walk two sallies right in front of an infantry unit (beyond their movement ofc) and get 4 spout flames off before they come into contact with you (2 on your turn, 2 for stand and shoot). That's a lot of dead T3. And if said unit does not panic away, it is not like sallies are defenseless war-machines who roll over in CC. Oh yeah, and they cost less too. I have not play tested the stand and shoot (because I did not read the rules thoroughly). I am liking the other changes though. Terra-chiefs are pretty nasty with the +1T, +1W.
You can do some really great things with Pteardactyl Captains. For less than 100 points with a shield, light armour and a lance you get T4 3W 3+AS, packing 3S6 attacks at I6 (!), plus the mount (and drop rocks). Add some cheap magic gear (Dragonhelm or Enchanted Shield) to push that armour save up to 2+ and it’s still only circa 100 pts. 200 points for these two guys with their mobility and 6 S6 attacks, or 6 Cold One Cav with 12 s6 attacks (same number of wounds, same toughness, same AS)? In my mind there’s no competition. It’s tough even to chose Pteradactyl Riders over Captains (more wounds/rocks vs better defence/flexibility). To make things really interesting, you can give one Captain the Tyrannosaur Bow to turn him into a mobile bolt thrower on top of that mobile combat package, and the other can carry the new Quango Egg. Now you’ve got two guys flying around diving cavalry flanks/chaff/war machines/lone characters/chariots, sniping monsters/monstrous cav/infantry/characters, and tag-teaming bunkers. Pteradactyl Captains are the cowboys of the 9th Age.
Salamanders cannot stand and shoot. It was a mistake done by the people updating the style during last update. It'll be removed in the upcoming update.
Skink chief, alpha Pterodactyl, LA/shield and dragonscale helmet = 103pts and have 1+ save and fireborne. 3 S6 attacks + average 5 attacks from the mount with frog rage. Not bad
Dat Frenzy though. Not sure if worth on a ld6 though. Maybe for the egg build, but you don't want your bow skink charging about. Woah just realised you can get a 1+ AS with Pteradactyls. Still frenzy, think I prefer th Pteranadon for that reason alone (though it's not an easy choice so good job on the design)