Friday, 2 August 2019

Warhammer Araby 9th Ed 1.1 out now!

I could tell that this book is rather old, as there was a lot of minor things that needing fixing throughout (as in, nearly the whole layout is brand new from scratch). I have also gone over the book to fix a lot of lore inconsistencies, for those that care about that stuff (which includes myself). So overall, the book has an extra 12 pages and looks a bit more polished, along with all the rule changes. Enjoy!

  • New Special Character: Khalil al-Zahir, Great Sultan of Araby (lore written by Stefan Wolf).
  • New Special Character: Abdul Alhazred, the Mad Sorcerer (from Mordheim)
  • New Special Character: Khar-mel the Djinn (from Mordheim)
  • New Core unit: Tribal Skirmishers (javelins and slings).
  • New Core Unit: Sipahi (medium cavalry, armed with spears, shields, light armour and optional bows).
  • New Special Unit: The Silent Guard (light infantry with spears, light armour, shields, unbreakable).
  • New Rare Unit: Cannon (just a normal cannon like the Ottomans had).
  • New Rare Unit: Pegasus Guard (Arabyan version of Pegasus Knights, mounted on Radiant Pegasi from Storm of Magic).
  • New Genie types: Marid and Dao.
  • Araby is now a Neutral faction (being more self-serving like the DoW or Norse, plus slavery and invading the Old World isn't all that nice).
  • Removed Sultans, Caliph renamed to Emir (as fits the lore better).
  • Renamed Viziers to Sorcerers, can use lore of shadow.
  • Hashishin cannot take hand crossbows, start with throwing weapons, have Dodge (4+), can take 50 pts of artefacts, 110 pts.
  • Genies must be summoned by passing a Ld test.
  • Genies no longer perform Wishes (while a funny trope, it does not really fit with their "elemental Daemon" lore). Each Genie now instead can cast one spell based around their element.
  • Genies are Unstable.
  • Araby uses bows rather than short bows to represent recurve bows.
  • Removed Scare Horses rule (added little, and was just a can of worms in regards to what a "horse" is).
  • Removed Bred for Speed special rule.
  • Barding is free.
  • Warriors of Araby cost 4 pts.
  • Dibbukim no longer forces re-rolling to wound against them, clarified how they work with the command group.
  • Bowmen can take crossbows, have same stats as Warriors, 6 pts.
  • Camel Riders do not have Ambushers or Hit and Run attack.
  • Desert Riders start with hand weapon, 11 pts. Champion has A2. Can wear light armour. Have the Quick to Fire rule rather than Expert Horse Archers.
  • Corsairs 5 pts. Use bucklers instead of shields, have the Ambushers special rule instead of Slavers.
  • Slave Guards are Unit Size 20+.
  • Mamelukes have BS4, can upgrade to heavy armour. Cannot have lances.
  • Janissaries start with shields, 7 pts. May take magic standards up to 25 pts. Can wearheavy armour.
  • Naffatun Siphon is now described in the bestiary rather than the army list.
  • Naffatun cannot wear armour.
  • Flying Carpet Riders do not have a Champion option, W1, 13 pts.
  • Bladedancers have W1, Dodge 5+, Unit Size 5+, S3, 12 pts, moved to special.
  • Dervishes WS5, I5, A2, no longer counts as being in soft cover, 14 pts.
  • Basilica Cannon renamed to Monster Bombard, follow the same rules as Hellhammer Cannons.
  • War Elephants have I2. Spiked Tusks doubles successful Hits rather than +1S. Clarified Stampede. Have 5+ natural armour.
  • Roc has S6, T6, W6, A5, 230 pts. Have a Drop Attack, allowing them to pick up and drop MI, MC and MB units to their death on other enemy units.
  • Salah ad-Din no longer has the Scriptures of the Prophet magic item, instead allows any core unit to deploy as ambushers. Cost 265 pts.
  • Malik Ibn La'Ahad 205 pts.
  • Fixed Curse of the Genie (the old version actually works the opposite as intended).
  • Mirage now causes a Stupidity test that forces the target to move towards a marker.
  • Dancing Scimitar moves to another unit within 8" on a 3+, boosted version 16+ to cast.
  • Sunstrike has a 24" range.
  • Sandstorm no longer inflicts damage.
  • Lamp of Ala ud-Din summons a Genie for one whole turn rather than giving out wishes.
  • Plenty of new art.
  • Renamed Mulhaed al-Quyat to Mullah Aklan'd, since Mulhaed al-Quyat was never an official character (appearing in a fan-made supplement for WFRP), and Mullah Aklan'd was an official character appearing in 1984).
  • Renamed Ormazd into "The One" (or "The One True God"), since Ormazd, like Mulhaed al-Quyat, was never an official god, but made for a fan-made WFRP supplement for 1st ed. "The One" is also the main Arabyan God in the Mordheim expansion "Relics of the Crusades".
  • Renamed Jasmine Silverveil to Layla bint Suraya (which is the name of the Hell Dorado model the artwork is based on) and completely changed her lore and rules. Several people have mentioned that she feels like a rip-off from Disney's Aladdin, though the name actually comes from a miniature from Reaper Miniatures called Jasmine Silverveil. But yeah, consider it more original now, I guess.
  • Renamed Sinba'ahd to Sindibadu, which is the Arabic version of the name (and a little more "original" to most Westerners I could imagine).
  • Ka-Sabar removed from the lore, since it was retconned to be a Tomb Kings city in their 8th ed book (though it was clearly an Arabyan city in 6th ed).
  • Additional, more consistent lore throughout. Removed lore of fighting Undead after the Night of the Restless Dead, since lorewise, it only lasted one night.
  • Added headings.
  • Added version number.

21 comments:

  1. -The Blade Mistress doesn't have 3 attacks.
    -Why are cannons are Rare unit instead of Special?
    -I kinda think that Khalil al-Zahir should be WS6, I6, A4.
    -Jaffar nerfs your entire army, forcing them to cluster together. I think he should spread his Despot trait to every character in his army so they all cause units within 12" to re-roll failed psychology tests. Any unit that isn't within 12" of a character in his army suffers a -1 ld penalty. This opens new strategies with him.
    -Layla Bint Suraya still has the title as Princess of Araby. Also, her rules sometimes use her previous name. I also think she should be T4, I5.
    -If regular troops can now take Crossbows then Emirs, Shiekhs and Janissaries should have access to those.
    -Perhaps move Quick to Fire from Desert Riders to Sipahis and move Sipahis to Special.
    -What's the point of limiting the Heavy Armor option for Janissaries based on equipment?
    -If Janissaries and Mamelukes can have Heavy Armor then Palace and Pegasus Guard should as well.
    -Mamelukes can't wield Lances so I don't think Pegasus Guard should be able to as well.
    -Page 106 says that Cannons, Monster Bombards and Rocs are special units.
    -Why do Arabyans get to give their artillery so many extra crew?

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    1. Forgot some things:
      -Frequent references to Caliphs in the book despite being changed to Emirs.
      -Emirs and Shiekhs could have access to Javelins and Slings for small games where a lot of Tribal Warriors are used.
      -I think that War Elephant crew should be able to upgrade their bows to crossbows or handguns, which would be 5pts.

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    2. - Will fix.
      - Because gun powder is still pretty rare in Araby.
      - He is the Great Sultan, so not really the type of guy who fights himself in battles.
      - Don't really like that idea. Most armies work around clustering the army around the general, an army with Jaffar simply gains extra bonuses for being near, and suffer more from being far away, much like the Undead.
      - Will fix. She is supposed to be I5, but T3 fits better with her appearance.
      - Not really, crossbows, slings and javelins are not the go-to weapons of commanders. Don't think I have ever seen that depicted for them.
      - That would make the Desert Riders be just normal fast cavalry rather than among the best in the world. Sipahi in special would also compete with Mamelukes, which are simply the better option.
      - That's based on history, and is explained in the lore. Janissaries only wore armour when engaging in close combat.
      - Not really; this is based both on models and art. 15th centuary Ottomans were pretty heavily armoured for their elites, the Arabs less so. Mamelukes can be built as heavy shock cavalry, the pegasus guard are intended to be more like harassers.
      - Will remove lances from them.
      - Will fix.
      - Why not? Mainly based on model available, will likely to the same for other armies.
      - Changed some of them, but Caliphs still exist in the lore, they just don't lead the armies into battle.
      - Bows are more iconic for them, crossbows was not really used with war elephants, and handguns are only used by the janissaries.

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  2. Was Araby always part of the none-alined forces? I could have sworn they were part of the forces of order when I visited this site a week ago, though I could be misremembering.

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    1. They were moved from Forces of Order to non-aligned since they are self-serving like DoW and Norse and once had a major war with the Old World. I hope that Mathias plans on making an allies matrix at some point that's more complex than the current one and still using the three levels of alliance.

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    2. They were, it's mentioned in the patch notes.

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  3. Seeing as you probably won't update the 8th ed book in the near future, are there any parts of the 9th ed book that can be 'copied' to an 8th ed list?

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    1. Most of it could be copied straight to 8th ed without any issues, it's only the rules that were wildly changed from 8th ed that might not work.

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    2. Looks like most of it can be copied over. I gotta say, I would have preferred to keep the Sultan - it was a nice, unique kind of Lord and one of the reasons I chose to invest in an Araby army.
      You did not mention Genies being moved to Lords in the patch notes. Was it part of an earlier update or just an oversight?

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    3. They are not lords, just part of the "mounts" section, which is usually found in either in the lord or hero section.

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  4. Nice to see you still chugging along on this. You have a ways to go before reaching Fimir, Gnoblar, and Zombie Pirates. Speaking of Lustria, I have a question regarding the Pygmies. They aren't exactly a major player, but they do deal with the Amazons. According to the wiki, they do have a number of units, spell casters, and monsters (spirits) helping. The Pygmy tribes could be an interesting choice in maybe smaller skirmishes. Thoughts?

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    1. Eh, might make a small (as in very small) list for them, but not more than that. Definitely not at the top of my list of priorities in any case.

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  5. By the way, when making the codexes for the more obscure factions, where exactly do you get the info? The Wiki? official codexes? Novels? White Dwarf? Because in regards to the Fimir and Pygmies, there might be enough to give them a small codex, but it would take some work. But, I'm confident you can pull it off, since you did so with Tilea and Estalia. Good luck.

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    1. A combination of all of them. Fimir will get a smaller list later on, though not a whole army book.

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  6. Just in case no one else in here is saying this, Well done and thank you! This takes a serious amount of dedication and time to pull off and if the odd syntax error or typo pops up it's forgivable! Good work :)

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    1. Glad you like it! I appreciate if any errors are pointed out though so they can be fixed in later updates :)

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  7. Can I just ask why sultans where removed? Also why the huge nerf? Seems a lot of units like camel riders and blade dancers lost there unique status. Just kind of feels like a rehash of Albion but with more artillery. Probably a bit of an over reaction but why nerf the minor factions so hard?

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    1. They did not really fit with the lore, and the holy commands simply felt too good for what is really just a guy shouting some orders. The Sultans themselves do not really go to battle, but part of them is carried over to the new special character.

      Camel Riders hit and run attack did not really serve much of a purpose, and was really just there to give them a rule to stand out rather than actually being useful. Bladedancers were streamlined from being essentialy a "hero unit" (which was unneeded) to a Wardancer version instead. Not sure what nerfs that really constitutes as, they got several points drop or buffs in other places.

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    2. Even if Sultans were not mentioned going to war, I still think you should keep them. I know at least one guy apart from myself who had the Sultan as the centrepiece of his army, so at least for him and me it's a lot to take away, both in how we build our armies and the miniatures we acquired and painted specifically to have a cool and interesting, non-standard Lord.
      Heck, I wouldn't even mind a nerf or rework of the Holy Commands, all I want is to have my non-fightning Sultan on his throne.

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    3. Sorry, but I do want to include things that are not really lore-friendly just for the sake of miniatures. I have a Sultan model myself in the army, but that one still has its uses. You could either:

      1. Use the older rules for the Sultans, if you have an older version of the PDF left.
      2. Use your current Sultan model as the Great Sultan special character, as he is also mounted on a throne.
      3. Use the model as a unit filler.

      That said, I do not have any plans to put them back in the book. The Sultan choice made about as much sense as an Empire Burgomeister leading an army into battle, i.e not much at all. That's also why the Caliph was renamed into an Emir, as Emir is the Arabian version of a military commander, whereas the Caliphs and Sultans are city rulers.

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    4. Ah well, thank you for hearing me out. I will probably keep using the old rules as I play your 8th edition armies anyway.

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