KoW SALAMANDERS FOR VANGUARD Download Links and Review

[Itepixcauh]

Hello fellow Salamander Enthusiasts!!

Finally Mantic has released the full Vanguard profiles for all the races including Salamanders!

You can download them from the Mantic website HERE or HERE

I will make a full review of the list very, very soon.

 

[Itepixcauh]

SALAMANDER LIST REVIEW

OK, lets dive deep into the list, I'm going to start with the units in ascending level of importance (Grunts, Warriors, Support and Large, Spellcasters, Command) and then I will move into the Spells and Rules:

GRUNTS

1. Lekelidon: So this is a quite strange one, we have a grunt that costs the wooper of 29 points! that is weird, but well lovely that you can literally fill the board with them, it's also on a cavalry base, which is annoying as all my Lekelidons are on 50x50 for KoW. Stat wise, the Ra of 4+ with 2 dice and Piercing (1) makes him a very deadly shooter. His combat is 3d8 which is AWESOME for a grunt but then again it costs 29 points.
   
   The best part is that for 1 Power Die (PD) you can exchange the Piercing (1) to turn him into a Breath Attack, considering Breath Attacks are probably the most powerful thing in the game that can be quite deadly indeed.
   
   
2. Unblooded: similar in stats to an Orc Ax, costing one less point and having one more Nerve (more is worse in Vanguard). I would say it's a solid Grunt. Nothing fancy, nothing wrong.

WARRIORS

1. Prime: Again a solid choice, a very good all rounder. He is a bit more expensive than the Unblooded (not much though) but he gains quite a lot for those 2 points: One less Nerve, he is a Warrior so he is more durable and Headstrong. So if can afford it, go for it without hesitation. He can also choose to swap his normal weapon for a a two handed option which is nice.
   
2. Ghekkotah Hunter: The only Ghekkotah in the list which makes me sad but i will leave that for latter. He is a beast in shooting, I mean 3 dice, 3D8!!! as base with Marksman and Piercing (1)!! not bad at all, granted he shoots on 6+ but with three dice I'm not complaining. He is bad at melee but again that is not his role, he is there to kill at a distance.

SUPPORT / LARGE

1. Corsair: Well, we get into the really juicy stuff here. This are a beast, both in combat and Shooting (2D8 respectively with Piercing and CS) and are Scouts not bad BUT if you have Firebrand in the warband they get Stubborn too!!
   
   I also LOVE the special command rule they have to represent they can use the smoke from their guns to hide themselves BRILLIANT!!! after they shoot they can spend 2 PD to gain Stealthy and Dodge, love it. Activate first and use the gunfire as cover, great!
   
2. Fire Elemental: what can i say probably the best large unit in the game for me, not really good in combat BUT he has the most powerful Breath weapon in the whole game by far 3d8 Breath that hits always on 5+ and can be Piercing (1) for 2 PD YES PLEASE! He also Regenerates and gives you a Red PD on top of that.

SPELLCASTER

1. Mage-Priest: Good PD, white is great. Same exact stats as the Godspeaker from the orcs so its really good for his points as for 2 extra points we get the white PD (godspeaker gets none, that alone is enough) one more spell and the ability to get -2 Ar on command to turn into an Ar +4 rock. Like it a lot.

COMMANDS

1. Battle-Captain: 2 red PD, good stats overall with great Melee and CS (2) with Steady, headstrong and Inspiring so a very solid command option indeed. I would almost aways give him a mount for 5 points (steady and cavalry combined is AMAZING), that is a must if you can afford it (you should)
   
2. Firebrand: Let's start with the cost 54 points, that is a lot, most expensive Command option in the game i think, but you do get a lot in return: Stats are not bad but arent't that great either, average Me, Ra Ar and Wn for a top command leader, again considering the cost is expected, really good nerve of 3+ and again average Ranged and Shoot of 3D8 each with an average white PD. So the fist part is average.
   
   Special rules are great 6th Sense, CS (1), Regen (7+), Scout and Vicious. Good selection overall, but again she is VERY expensive so let's see if the special rules can justify her cost. She gets FOUR which is amazing, although the last one is irrelevant as it only matter for campaign games, so lets see she has 3:
   
   • Riposte: no cost, if the enemy fails all his melee dice against Firebrand she can retaliate FOR FREE, wow, against grunts and low tier warriors, she can retaliate like a madwoman-lizard-thing. This is also made far better with the next rule.
   • Fancy Swordplay: +1 to the oppponents melee stat when attacking Firebrand. So basically she is quite hard to hit and if you miss she will retaliate you for free! that's very, very powerful, specially against warriors and grunts.
   • Rapid Fire (2): She can shoot twice at two different targets for the cost of 2PD, considering how well she shoots... that is two dead bodies.
   
   So overall costly but worth it, also don't forget that having her will make your corsairs Stubborn too! so if you add her, you are going to want to have at least 2 Corsairs, more is you can afford them.

WARBAND SPECIAL ABILITY

1. Honour (1): Salamanders only, Pass a fallback Check automatically if failed.
   
2. Flames (1): Salamanders only, gain Bloodlust and Smash for the round.

Again very disappointed those rules exclude Ghekkotah, but they are really good for someone that isn't me so great rules overall.

SPELLS

1. Flame Tongue (Short): Range 3", 1D8, Breath, Piercing (4) ,yes you read that correctly Piercing (4), with range 3 you really have to be in a dangerous situation to use it but that can be very dangerous, as it can quite reliably put a wound anywhere.
   
2. Shimmer (long): -1 to hit your models in a 9" bubble (NINE INCHES!!!) from the caster, that is huge. Must have this spell, it provides a huge protection bubble. AMAZING

Overall, I'm sad that you cannot build a Ghekkotah based list, but the list is very good and quite powerful, probably one of the most powerful gunlines in the game, One Lekelidon, 4 Hunters, a Fire Elemental, a Mage-priest with Fireball, Heal and Shimmer and a mounted Battle-Captain in case something gets through and you have a quite deadly gunline of a list. Tons of shoots with 3D8 and Piercing (1) with quite a lot of Breath attacks in there... Love it, sounds like a plan to me.

 

[Cinnabar]

Fantastic write-up. I find it really interesting that Lekelidon are grunts. Seems like they are going to be glass cannons. Also, I’m kicking myself for not picking up Firebrand in the Kickstarter. Looking forward to trying them out.

 

[Itepixcauh]

Fantastic write-up. I find it really interesting that Lekelidon are grunts. Seems like they are going to be glass cannons. Also, I’m kicking myself for not picking up Firebrand in the Kickstarter. Looking forward to trying them out.

I don't like her model at all so I don't really care. As always all my band will be GW and skink based...

PRAISED BE SOTEK!!

So Hunters, Lekelidons, Fire Elemental (Kroxigor) and heroes (no choice there but I'm still using Skink models)

 

[Hellbender]

I've just started looking at these lists and its a shame there is no Corsair warrior option. We like to do a Vanguard game then the main battle, using the campaign hook in the Vanguard scenario. In narrative terms it would be really nice to have the Corsairs as your Vanguard unit for the main battle and so have list based on them for Vanguard.

So I think I may have to go with a Ghekk / Corsair / Firebrand list using the Ghekks as rank-and-file Corsairs plus a Fire Elemental for some punch. The NorthStar snakemen have plenty of conversion potential for a pirate themed warband.

 

[Itepixcauh]

I've just started looking at these lists and its a shame there is no Corsair warrior option. We like to do a Vanguard game then the main battle, using the campaign hook in the Vanguard scenario. In narrative terms it would be really nice to have the Corsairs as your Vanguard unit for the main battle and so have list based on them for Vanguard.

So I think I may have to go with a Ghekk / Corsair / Firebrand list using the Ghekks as rank-and-file Corsairs plus a Fire Elemental for some punch. The NorthStar snakemen have plenty of conversion potential for a pirate themed warband.

Yes I also think Ghekkotah are the best basic Troop we have. It would be cool if Firebrand made the Corsairs Warriors instead of Support but, what can you do?