Once again, the game has changed and 3.0 is here. Big changes happened… up til now, the warscrolls and the majority of our battletome are still valid, so this thread still contains many things that are still going on. Sadly, many things are no more. Seraphon battalions are gone, staking command abilities is gone, bonuses to to hit, to wound and saves are capped at +1 / -1. The army is the same, but the way we play it is going to be a totally different beast. Once we were used to stack command abilities to reach full potential, now a unit cannot be issued with more than a single command ability and we are still limited by the number of buffs. If you have skinks that hit at 5+, no way to have them hit at 3+. Now, this won’t stop us to continue to stack effects. Stackin is vital. Just to be on the same page, let’s recap some rules and how they work, so you can know where i’m heading to. By new core rules, things as to hit and to wound cannot exceed +1 or -1, and you can buff a unit with just a single command ability, BUT you can stack 2 sources of +1 to hit, to overcome a malus. (source: page 4, bottom left: "some dice rolls, such as hit and wound rolls, will specify that the roll cannot be modified by more than +1 or -1. When this is the case, add up all the modifiers that apply, and if the total is more than +1 or -1, treat it as being either +1 or -1 as appropriate." So, if your stegadon chief is charging something that gives a -1 to hit, makes sense to use a Their Finest Hour (heroic action) combined with All out attack (Command Ability), to overcome that malus and still have that sweet sweet +1 to hit. The same reasoning must be used for bonuses to saves. A save roll cannot be modified by more than +1, but (exception to the rule) can be modified by more than -1. If i stack bonuses to have a +2 to saves (Their finest hour + All out defence), i will only have a max +1. But rend modifies my save roll. If i have a +1 save, a rend -3 will impose a -2 to my save… but if i have a +2 to save, a rend -3 will impose just a -1. That’s because to hit, to wound, save and rend works in the same way. They are all modifiers (positive / negative); in the section 13.3 of the core rules, they are all treated in the same way: A hit roll cannot be modified by more than +1 or -1 (this is an exception to the principle that abilities take precedence over core rules). A wound roll cannot be modified by more than +1 or -1 (this is an exception to the principle that abilities take precedence over core rules) A save roll cannot be modified by more than +1 (this is an exception to the principle that abilities take precedence over core rules). The save roll is modified by the attacking weapon’s Rend characteristic. Save rolls can be modified by more than -1. When I talk about maluses / bonuses it’s just because it intuitive, but these terms don't really exist, they are not in the core rules. They are all modifiers that happen after the roll Stacking different sources of the same bonus, even to things that in the end cannot go over +1 / -1, is going to be crucial. So, here we are. - to stack bonuses and effects is how you make a unit work at full potential - staking is complicated: things must be activated during different phases of the game - sources are immensely important: different sources stack on command abilities - with AoS 3.0 there are new sources of effects that there weren’t before For these reasons, i have compiled some reference charts, with all the bonuses granted by CA, spells, prayers and so on. The goal is to have a guide which should be helpful to: - build buff strategies and pick the right units in your army - remember what things you can / must do in each phase (remember: this thread is a wip. If you notice something wrong or believe that something can be added, PM me or discuss it in the thread)
This section covers the Enhancements and, lastly, the Endlass Spells, which you may or may not pick ENHANCEMENTS You can pick for free one for each type, additional ones can be picked only if you meet requirements: the most common requirement is to field the Core Battalion/s "Warlord" (at least 1 commander, 2 sub commanders, 1 troop) and / or "Command Entourage" (at least 1 commander, 2 sub commanders), using the "magnificent" ability Cannot be given to named characters. The winners: Prime Warbeast (Thunder Lizard) is the staple for your chief on stegadon, which is already buffed by the monster ability and the faction / subfaction goodies Ancient Knowledge (Dracothion's tail): you just combine 2already good command traits. What's not to like? Old and Grizzled (Fangs of Sotek): cp on a 3+ is nice Arcane might: for your Slann if you're not running Dracothion's Tail Battle Lust: reroll run and charges for a carnosaur sounds pretty good The winners: Amulet of Destiny: 5+ ward on a hero on dinosaur is great Ixti grubs: similar to command trait for slann, but if you're running a Slann and your general is a saurus on carno... Incandescent rectrices / Godbeast pendant: to have a 50% chance to bring back you big hero on monster is golden Cloack of feathers / Sacred stegadon helm: defensive items are good, and these come with additional benefits All subfaction items: well, some of them are not great, but if you take the subfaction you must take the relevant artefact... SPELLS: our casters are not the melee type, so Flaming Weapon is not that great, fly is nice (we have Slann's command ability, though), Ghost mist is situational but can be tricky PRAYERS: this is where the gold is. head 1d3 is strong but most of all Curse is the real winner. Sure, it comes with lots of condition (your priest must be near the combat, it goes only 1/2), but when it works id shread the target to pieces. Because the nice thing is that you inflict the MWs but the combat sequence does not end. TRIUMPHS: i believe that inspired is the best pick here: we don't have many sources to have that +1 to wound, unless you're using a Sunblood (and only for saurus) or Their finest Hour. BTW, with Inspired and Finest hour, you can give +1 to wound to a hero for 2 rounds. ENDLESS SPELLS
For your convenience, in this post i've added the files (pdf and word-zip) of the various charts, so you can download the and use at your own convenience (for example, just copying the ones you need for reference for a certain list)
This is awesome! Thanks for your great work! A question, would you be able to do an addition which includes the grand strategies and battle tactics? I've compiled all of these images into a pptx/pdf (which I can share if it's ok with Killer Angel) and it's just so very handy to have a printable summary of everything you need to keep in mind to play.
Sure, go for it! Grand Strategies and Battle Tactics eh?... I'll work on it. In the moment real life stops strangling me.
I just wanted to check in case I have been using this wrong, in the enhancement section, is it once per battle or once per battleround that you get a free use of "Herald of the Old Ones" from the "Master of Star Rituals" Command Trait?
Awesome work! Thanks! It'll help me a lot - I tend to forget about half of what I could use per phase
Thanks! Keep in mind that some of those things are outdated: i should delete (or better: review) the whole section of the Endless Spells. BTW, here's the OP of the thread with the complete review of the Seraphon, if you need further help. The op contains all the links to the various arguments, including battle tactics and grand strategies for the current season of war. Hope it helps.
Thanks for the headups. I think I'll use Your work as a template for making reference sheets for my current army builds as You suggested and update what's necessary while doing so Still awesome work, thanks for Your effort.
ANNOUNCEMENT Sooner or later, it was doomed to happen. With the new battletome, our army has been completely rewamped. Old units are gone, new units enter the fray. Rules, stats and abilities are changed... the charts with all the bonuses detailed in this thread are no more valid. This thread has been a useful tool in the last 2 years, but it's time to let it go. from now on, this thread will be no more among the sticky ones.