Warhammer - Dwarfs 1.61 out now!

Not a huge update here either, but it does change a few important things. First up, Natural Resistance has been replaced with Magic Resistance (1). This means Dwarfs in other armies also benefit from it, and is in line with how TOW works as well. 

I've also removed a bunch of special characters that had barely any unique rules or items - these can pretty much be built using the existing options anyway, so were pointless to keep from a gameplay perspective.

The rest of the changes are pretty minor overall, mainly fine-tuning some rules and adding more options. Thanks to my Patreons for your continued support!

 
Patch notes:

• Ancestral Grudge does not include Trolls.
• Removed Natural Resistance. All Dwarfs instead have Magic Resistance (1).
• Rune Lore: A unit can only be under the effect of one Rune at a time.
• Added Runic Tattoos for Slayer Characters.
• Added new Engineering Runes.
• Increased the cost of great weapons.
• Renamed Lords to High Thanes.
• High Thanes have Royal Clansmen: You may upgrade one unit of Dwarf Warriors with heavy armour for +1.5 points/model for each model with this special rule in your army.
• Runelords and Runesmiths may take heavy armour.
• Adjusted cost of armour for High Thanes, Thanes, Runelords and Runesmiths.
• Brewmaster does not have the Beer Gut special rule. Costs 70 pts.
• Brewmaster may take a Beer Cart mount. A Beer Cart allows the Brewmaster's Beer Casks special rule to affect all friendly units within 6", rather than just the unit they are with.
• Strike the Runes: Instead of using the Runes from their Rune Lore special rule, a model mounted on an Anvil of Doom can use the following Ancestor Runes once each at the start of each of your turns.
• Anvil Guards have hand weapon, heavy armour, shield.
• Ancestor Rune of Valaya: Choose one friendly Dwarf unit within 24". The target regains D3+1 Wounds' worth of models slain earlier in the battle, just like a summoning spell.
• Dwarf Warriors cannot take heavy armour by default.
• Quarrelers and Thunderers cost 12 pts.
• Underground Advance: When they enter the battle in the Remaining Moves sub-phase, they do not move onto the board as reinforcements in the normal way. Instead, when a unit of Miners enters the battle, place a small marker (such as a coin) anywhere on the battlefield, but not in impassable terrain or within 1" of a deployed unit. 
• Miners may take a Miner Cart. A Miner's Cart is a Shrine which is placed in the second rank of the unit rather than the first. A unit with a Miner's Cart can use Blasting Charges every turn rather than just once. However, if the Miner's Cart is destroyed from a close combat or missile attack, place the large round template on top of it before removing it. All models under the template suffer a Strength 4 Hit with the Armour Piercing (1) and Flaming Attacks special rules. 
• Longbeards have the Hatred special rule, costs 14 pts.
• Troll Slayers and Giant Slayers have hand weapons by default, cost 8/13 pts. Can choose additional hand weapons and/or great weapons for additional cost.
• Firethrowers cost 45 pts. Firethrowers have a Unit Strength of 2.
• Drakefire pistols have 9" range.
• Gyrocopters and Gyrobombers have Quick Turn: A model with this special rule may pivot on the spot like a Lone Model despite being a chariot.
• Brimstone and Clatterguns have Rapid Fire.
• Karaghul, the Wyrmslayer Blade: Magic Weapon. Felix only. The Wyrmslayer Blade gives +2 Attacks. In addition, Felix must always declare a charge against Draconids if it is possible to do so. Against Draconids, the Wyrmslayer blade allows Felix to re-roll failed rolls To Hit and To Wound.
• Slayer Pirates cost 14 pts.
• Josef Bugman may take a crossbow.
• Burlok Damminson costs 120 pts. Must take Burlok's Ingenious Offensive New-matic Integrated Constrictor Arm or Range Finding Optics + Rivet Gun.
• Burlok's Hammer is inscribed with the Master Rune of Swiftness and a Rune of Fire.
• Removed Kragg the Grim, Brok Stonefist, Drong the Hard, Helgar Longplaits, Kadrin Redmane, Krudd Mad-Mattock, Skag the Stealthy, Grung Grudge-Bringer & Crazed Khargrim 

Warhammer - Dark Elves 1.72 out now!

Not a huge update here, and not really controversial either! The main stand-out changes are to the Bloodwrack Shrine and Cauldron of Blood. The former has seen a nerf to a -1 penalty instead of -2 since the latter was found too much for many players. The Cauldron has been reworked to a more similar role from 7th ed - instead of having one aura, one unit ability and one bound spell, you now choose one aura ability instead, and the unit gains Stubborn. This also makes it a lot cheaper than before. The rest are minor reworks as shown in the patch notes.

Thanks to my Patreons for your support as usual! Next up: Dwarfs! 

 

Patch notes:

• Models who are Khainites (except models deploying using the Hidden special rule) may only join units which are also Khainites, and models who are not Khainites may not join Khainite units.
• Shroud of Despair is a hex spell that affects all enemy units within 12".
• New Magic Items: Blood Blades and Doomsinger.
• The Darkstar Cloak gives the Wizard +D3 Power dice in each of your Magic phases. Only they may use these extra dice. Costs 50 pts.
• Master renamed to Dreadmaster.
• Slavemaster: Each unit of Slaves must take a leadership test at the start of each of their turns. If failed, the unit will suffer D6 Strength 3 Hits.
• Disciple has Magical Attacks.
• Disciple of Khaine has Orgy of Slaughter: The model and any unit they join gain the Hatred special rule. This replaces Blessing of Khaine.
• Catechism of Murder: This additional Attack cannot generate further Attacks.
• Beastslaver: Unless they are mounted, a Beastmaster can join units of Monsters with the Mixed Unit special rule. A Monster that is joined by one or more Beastmasters, or a Monstrous Creature mounted by a Beastmaster, gains +D3 Attacks.
• Scourgerunner Chariot for Beastmasters cost 50 pts.
• Darkshards cannot take shields.
• Cold One Chariots may be upgraded to a standard bearer.
• Shades may take additional hand weapons.
• Bloodwrack Stare is Quick to Fire.
• Aura of Agony: Enemy units within 6" suffer a -1 penalty to their Weapon Skill, Initiative and Leadership (to a minimum of 1).
• Bloodwrack Shrine costs 135 pts. Has Impact Hits (D3).
• Cauldron of Blood has Impact Hits (D3). Costs 135 pts.
• Altar of Khaine: The Cauldron of Blood has a 4+ Ward save. In addition, any unit joined by it gains the Stubborn special rule.
• Blessings of Khaine: At the start of each of your turns, choose one of the Blessings below. The effect applies to all friendly Dark Elves within 6" and lasts until the start of your next turn. A unit can only be affected by one Blessing at a time. 
• Bloodshield of Khaine: All affected units gain a 6+ Ward save. 
• Fury of Khaine: All affected units gain the Frenzy special rule. 
• Strength of Khaine: All affected units re-roll failed To Wound rolls in close combat.
• Amber Amulet: This item restores 1 Wound lost during the game to Morathi at the start of each or your turns.
• Morathi costs 380 pts.
• The First Sorceress: In addition, she can choose her spells from all the Lores of Magic available to her, in any combination she wishes. Note that she always has the Doombolt of Kharaidon as her Signature spell.  
• Fixed bug with Krethusa missing Hekarti's Blessing.
• Fixed bug with Malus and T'zarkan's Hatred.
• Sisters of the Singing Doom: If Crone Hellebron is included in your army, you may upgrade one unit of Witch Elves to the Sisters of the Singing Doom for a cost of +1 point per model. This unit gains the Fear special rule.
• Ravagers of Rakarth: If Rakarth is included in your army, you may upgrade any Scourgerunner Chariots to the Ravagers of Rakarth for a cost of +5 points per model. These models gain the Poisoned Attacks special rule.
• Blades of the Blood Queen: Tullaris must be accompanied by a unit of Har Ganeth Executioners chosen from the army list at a cost of +1 point per model. This unit has the Frenzy special rule. Tullaris may never choose to leave this unit.

Warhammer - Bretonnia 1.61 out now!

This is another controversial update, because it's an overall nerf and regression of the army in some ways - but seeing as Bretonnia is widely considered to be one of the strongest armies in the game, it's probably not unwarranted.

The first big point is the Lore of the Lady, which has seen 4 spells removed. Summoning the Fay is iffy due to the Fay canonically being the Wood Elves, the Curse of the Lady is really supposed to be the name for Spiteful Glance, Sacred Lightning is a non-canon spell better suited to Lore of Heavens, and Burning Gaze is literally a Lore of Light spell. As such, the spell lore now instead only have spells fitting the theme of the Lady and Knights, tightening up the design overall.

Truffle Hounds are also gone, being a unit upgrade that has gone through many iterations without really ever working well. They were also never really a fitting combat unit, and were only included because they had an entry in WFRP and because the Men-at-Arms sprue including models for them. However, I've instead included Hunting Hounds as an upgrade to the Squires in special. Hunting Hounds are not something that would be commonly seen in Bretonnia's armies, hence making them a special choice upgrade felt like the best way to balance it out. This also means that Squires stand out a bit more to the Herrimaults, which otherwise had a very similar role.

In the rare section, I've deleted two units: The Spirits of the Fay and the Sacrosanctum. The former is really only based on a short lore-snippet from the 8th ed rulebook talking about "legends of fey spirits appearing from forests, lakes and other natural places to aid the Bretonnians - otherworldly guardians, ghostly bowmen from ages past, the souls of long-lost knights, and even the translucent spirits of the land itself", which means it's not really a normally occurring phenomenon. If anything, it makes the Green Knight feel less special if Bretonnia have a bunch of ghost knights appearing each battle, and Battle Pilgrims already fill the anvil role.

As for the Sacrosanctum, it's completely non-canon, and does not really fit with Bretonnia very well in my opinion - they already have the Grail Reliquae filling the shrine role, and from a gameplay perspective, it was not great either: the +1 Ward save stacking with the Lore of the Lady was not good for balance, Radiant Light is just a generic Light spell, and Renewed Valour giving the Blessing back took away the consequences of playing "cowardly".

For the few players who have models for these units; I'd recommend just keep using the old rules for them, use the Sacrosanctum as a baggage train, or the Spirits as Spirit Hosts or similar. I'm aware the majority of people on Discord who were vocal about the removals might be disappointed, but there's just no way of pleasing everyone, and I'm choosing to tighten up the rules from both a lore and gameplay perspective here.

I hope most of the other changes are appreciated though, and thanks as always for your continued support!

Patch notes: 

• Lance Formation: When casting a direct damage or magical vortex spell that originates from the Wizard's base, draw this spell from the base of the model in front of the Wizard instead.
• The Army General no longer has to have a Vow.
• Models with the Grail Vow gain +1 Weapon Skill and Attacks (if taken as an upgrade), as well as the Immunity (Psychology) and Magical Attacks special rules. Increased cost accordingly.
• Removed Summoning the Fay, the Curse of the Lady (the name is now used for the Spiteful Glance spell), Sacred Lightning and Burning Gaze.
• The Lady's Gift is the Signature spell. Steed of the Lady is a Lvl 2 spell. The Lady's Virtue of Valour renamed to Chivalric Onslaught.
• Gromril Great Helm is infantry or cavalry only.
• Sirenne's Locket costs 65 pts.
• Banner of Defence: The unit carrying this standard may re-roll failed Ward saves from the Blessing of the Lady against missile attacks.
• New Magic Item: The Grail Banner
• Renamed Lords to Barons.
• Men-at-Arms are Unit Size 15+.
• Bidowers are Unit Size 10+. Slings are free.
• Peasant mob may take shields with spears. May take polearms. Removed Truffle Hounds.
• Fixed bug with Pegasus Knights and Hippogryph Knights missing heavy lances and Fly (8/9).
• Hunting Hounds: Hunting Hounds are War Beasts (Canine). A unit of Squires with Hunting Hounds follows the rules for Mixed Units, with the Squires being the handlers. You may include up to two Hunting Hounds per Squire in the unit.
• Battle Pilgrim light armour costs 0.5 pts.
• Brigands cost 6 pts. Ambushers cost 1 pt.
• Removed Spirits of the Fay.
• Removed Sacrosanctum.
• Bombard costs 90 pts.
• The Beastslayers of Bastonne: If Bohemond the Beastslayer is included in your army, you may upgrade one unit of Foot Knights to the Beastslayers of Bastonne for a cost of +1 point per model. This unit gains the Multiple Wounds (2) special rule. The unit must be equipped with polearms.
• The Companions of Quenelles: If Tancred II is included in your army, you may upgrade one unit of Knights of the Realm to the Companions of Quenelles for a cost of +1 point per model. This unit gains the Immunity (Psychology) special rule and a 5+ Ward save against Flaming Attacks.
• The Girdle gives Morgiana the Fay a 5+ Ward save.
• Suliman may never be the Army General.

Warhammer - Grand Cathay 1.71 out now!

A bit bigger than a typical hot fix, this update changes Cathay's army special rule a lot. Nearly all units now have Will of the Dragon, and it works the same as in TOW. This means that the characters that previously had it has gone down in price.

I've also revised the Yin/Yang aligned lores a bit so they follow the official lore from TWW, which was apparently discussed in some Youtube interviews. As a result, the special characters have returned to their previous magic lores. 

 

Patch notes:

• Will of the Dragons now applies to all units with Yin/Yang: A unit with this special rule may re-roll failed Panic tests caused by friendly units breaking from combat or getting destroyed within 6" of them, or when it is fled through by a friendly unit.
• Nuku Cho’s Crossbow has Rapid Fire.
• Staff of Wu Xing costs 25 pts.
• Clockwork Compass: Once used, all Remains in Play spells within 24" of the bearer that are currently in play are automatically dispelled, and the effects of all other spells within 24" of the bearer immediately come to an end. 
• Seal Of Xing Po: The bearer of this item may choose spells from both the Lore of Yin and Yang in addition to the spells from their other lore. Costs 5 pts.
• Scrolls of Astromancy cost 35 pts.
• The Great Celestial Banner gives a 5+ ward save.
• Lore of Beasts is Yin-aligned, Lore of Heavens is Yang-aligned.
• Dragon-Blooded Shugengan costs 245 pts.
• Dragon Descendant costs 365 pts.
• A Dragon Descendant/Miao Ying/Zhao Ming/Yuan Bao must always be the Army General. 
• Dragon Descendant may not take spears.
• Magistrates may take light armour.
• Jade Warriors cost 3.5 pts.
• Gunpowder bombs: However, if a 1 is rolled when rolling To Hit, the model suffers a single Strength 4 Armour Piercing (1) Hit itself instead.
• Fixed bug with missing S value for Skylantern/Sky-junk.
• Onyx Crowmen may take Leaders.
• Grand Cannon has Thunderous Impact: Place the small round template with the centre where the cannon ball lands before the bounce. All models touched by the template that are not struck by the cannon ball suffer a Strength 3 Hit. Costs 150 pts.
• Wu Xing War Compass is an Arcane Item.
• Miao Ying is a Level 4 Wizard who uses spells from the Lore of Life. Costs 530 pts.
• Zhao Ming is a Level 4 Wizard who uses spells from Lore of Metal. Costs 480 pts.
• Yuan Bo is a Level 4 Wizard who uses spells from the Lore of Heavens and the Lore of Light. Costs 460 pts.
• Fixed bug with Liu Yun having I5 instead of I6.
• Hua Gongzhu has a Celestial blade. Costs 200 pts.