Ravening Hordes: Dwarfs out now!

Updated 4/1 with bug fixes and tweaks.

A bit later than planned, blame Easter and my girlfriend (but don't tell her that!) if you must! The Dwarf list does not contain too many changes compared to the official book, which was mostly solid. The biggest changes consist of their army-wide rules, as well as moving gyrocopters to rare to avoid the spam that became prevalent in 8th ed. As a whole, the book might be a little bit weaker than before, but it's also a lot easier to actually get your Dwarfs into combat now. The book also include 4 new units, including some that have been highly requested for years (no, not Bear Riders, those belong to Kislev!).

Download 8th Ed

Download 9th Ed

• Ancestral Grudge no longer includes a roll - they simply hate O&G and Skaven. Army-wide Hatred against everyone was just too much.
• Resolute removed.
• Relentless now allows Dwarfs to march 3x their M value.
• Dwarf-crafted special rule removed, did not make a lot of sense to begin with since the penalty for Stand and Fire is due to the enemy barring down on you at full speed, not because your weapon is superior.
• Dwarf handgun added, ignores penalties at long range.
• Magic Item allowance nerfed to 50/100 pts like other armies.
• Anvil of Doom 120 pts. 
• Dwarfs have LA by default.
• Slayer characters can now take Talismanic Runes.
• Engineer have LA.
• Runelords/Runesmith gain +4/+2 to dispel, making runelords more worth taking. Also increased by 40/20 pts.
• You may not have more units of Longbeards than Warriors.
• Hammerers 15 pts. Removed Bodyguard.
• Rangers moved to Special, can skirmish. No longer has crossbows or throwing axes by deafuault.
• Gyrocopter moved to Rare, 90 pts. Can no longer Vanguard.
• Gyrobomber is an upgrade to Gyrocopters.
• Ironbreakers nerfed to Ld9.
• Irondrakes no longer have Ward saves.
• Longbeards no longer Immune to Psychology, Immune to Panic instead.
• Flame Cannon has a range of 12" rather than an unnecessary special rule.
• New unit: Grudgebringer (steam driven Mo)
• New Unit: Deathroller (from bloodbowl)
• New unit: Thunderbarge (Zeppelin)
• New unit: Doomseeker (skirmishing Slayers from SoC)
• Cost adjustment for Runes and magic items, Sceptre of Norgrim added. More runes from previous editions are likely to be added in the full book release.

Alternative Miniatures: Bretonnia

Here's a collection of suitable miniatures for a Bretonnian army:

• TMS
• Norba 
• MOM 
• Gamezone
• Black Tree (Averaign) 
• Black Tree (Hundred Years War) 
• Wargames Foundry (Hundred Years War) 
• Wargames Foundry (Citadel) 
• Casting Room
• Fireforge 
• Crusader (Hundred Years War)
• Crusader (Crusades)
• Perry 
• Front Rank 
• Claymore Castings 
• Old Glory 
• Essex
• 1st Corps
• Gripping Beast 
• Reaper
• Mirliton
• Footsore
• V&V

Warhammer 9th Ed 1.03 out now!

Another smaller update, changing the following:

• Killing Blow ignores armour saves against targets it cannot instantly kill.
• A unit that successfully charge/pursue down a fleeing enemy unit inflict 1W with no saves allowed for each point of US the pursuing unit has. It then stops 1" behind the fleeing unit (if any models survive). If it completely destroys the enemy unit, it may reform as normal.
• Skirmishers now have the Vanguard special rule.
• Sword of Anti-heroes added.
• Trickster's Shard removed.

Another thing that came up in a previous suggestion was GW's giving -1WS rather than losing Initiative, making it a serious penalty that can effect both the requirement to hit and to be hit, rather than just fighting after other models (which does not have much of an effect as long as there is a model in the second rank to step up). What is your general opinion on this suggested change?

Edit: Sounds pretty unanimous: GW's should stay the same, so they will. Thanks for your input!

Ravening Hordes: Wood Elves out now!

Updated 24/3 with bug fixes and suggestions mentioned in the comments.

When the 8th ed Wood Elf finally came out, I was less than impressed with quite a few of the changes to their rules background. Rather than being a third distinctive Elf army with their own rules and magic, GW decided to simply make them a mish-mash of HE and DE. WE got both their Prowess rules while in a forest, and access to both High and Dark Magic while losing their own lore. While I can see the reasoning behind this, it really detracted from their uniqueness and made them feel like the "neutral" Elves in-between the Good and the Evil Elves, rather than their own thing. This was especially nagging since the Wood Elves have never been Dark Elves (since the Sundering occurred after the Wood Elves had already settled in Athel Loren), hence them using Dark Magic and having murderous prowess in the forest just feels tacked on. So with that in mind, this update brings them back to their roots (pun sort-of intended).

Download 8th Ed 

Download 9th Ed 

• ASF removed. 
• Lore of Athel Loren back, with a new spell and lore attribute (both based on Storm of Magic). 
• WE mages lose access to fire, metal, heavens, death, high and dark magic.
• Marksman Prowess replaces Forest Stalker, allow re-rolling 1's To Hit with missile weapons.
• Blackbriar Javelin no longer armour piercing, gain quick to fire.
• Asrai spears removed (why would their spears be armour piercing, when other elven spears are not?)
• Arrow of Kurnous removed (abstract rule with no purpose, that also makes no sense. They suddenly forget to pick out characters after this first shot?)
• Glade Riders are no longer ambushers by default (why would they be, they are missile cavalry!). Can take LA and shields (if people are using the old models).
• War Hawks are no longer Armour Piercing or have the KB rule (makes no sense since eagles or griffons don't have these rules), 2W each, 38 pts.
• War Dancers nerfed to 4+ Ward save.
• Sisters of the Thorn moved to rare.
• Wild Riders ride Elven Steeds by default, can upgrade to Steed of Kurnous. Only Riders are frenzied.
• New special unit: Meadow Chariots (from 4th ed).
• New special unit: Alter Kin (MB, shapeshifting elves)
• New core unit: Spite Swarm. Upgrades for these will be included in the full release.
• New hero: Beastmaster.
• Treeman Ancient limited to Lvl 2 Wizard. 
• Shadowdancer can take 50 pts of magic items. 
• Unicorns are WB, not MB.
• Moonfire, Starfire, Swiftshiver arrows are removed (the latter because Waywatchers already have it by default).
• Waywatchers may now take enchanted arrows.
• Eternal Guard weapons added, shields free. 
• Acorns of Ages moved to Ariel, Rhymer's Harp added. Cheaper magic items in general.
• Branchwraith no longer a Wizard by default, 65 pts.

Ravening Hordes - Dark Elves out now!

One day earlier than planned! The Dark Elf list features a few more changes compared to the High Elf one, including 3 completely new units. In general, more units have gone down in price (mainly because DE had a lot more units that were frankly not worth taking) and more of them have switched sections. City Guard are most likely to be included in the full release of the book.

Download 8th Ed

Download 9th Ed

8th Ed Changes:

• ASF removed.
• Fleetmaster special rule changed to allow ambushers and re-roll failed pursuit rolls.
• Doomfire Warlocks nerfed to S3.
• Sisters of Slaughter moved to special.
• War Hydra moved to rare, have normal regen, 175 pts.
• Kharibdyss S6, T6. Feast of Bones works on all attacks as long as you hit.
• Manticore Frenzy by default, 125 pts.
• Dark Pegasus replaces Impale with Impact Hits (1).
• Dark Steed can take barding, no longer Fast cavalry by default.
• Reaper Bolt Thrower moved to special.
• New Hero: Disciple of Khaine  (DE warrior priest, gains bonuses from causing wounds).
• New MB: Arachne (half spider, half dark elf).
• New Mo: Avatar of Khaine (mentioned in 8th ed BRB).
• Beastmaster moved to hero.
• Witch Elves moved to special, can take LA.
• Cheaper Dreadspears and Bleakswords.
• Sea Dragon cloak only protects against missile attacks.
• Black Guard moved to Rare (and should now be worth taking since ASF is gone)
• Re-tooled Magic Items, Executioner's Axe replaces Gem of Spite.
• Cheaper chariots.
• Cheaper Harpies, can now take a champion.
• Champions can no longer take magic items (same for HE).
• Cheaper Cold One knights.
• Cheaper Shades.
• Cheaper Medusa.
• Cheaper Bloodwrack shrine.
• Cheaper Corsairs.
• Cheaper Masters and Dreadlords.
• Sorceresses can only use Fire, Shadows, Death or Dark Magic (being the evil SoB that they are, DE with Lore of Life is just wrong).

Warhammer 9th Ed 1.02 out now!

Small update here, changing the following:

• Strider counts terrain as open ground, rather than ignore dangerous terrain. This allows you to march through forests.
• Monsters and chariots taken as mounts that are also available as rare or special choices counts towards the special or rare limit of duplicate choices.
• Characters on chariots or flying monstrous mounts may join units of chariots or flying monstrous mounts.

Ravening Hordes - High Elves out now!

Updated 10/3 with bug fixes.

As promised, the next Ravening Hordes book! The High Elf book was mostly solid, so the amount of changes is rather low compared to the Empire book. The main change is the removal of ASF and retooling of Martial Prowess, meaning your characters will now benefit from it similarly to the DE book, and it also partially covers the loss of re-rolls from ASF. In general the book is somewhat weaker than before, with only a few units going down in price with some going up and most losing some damage output. Nothing major that will unbalance the whole army though.

For the 9th Ed book, you will have more expensive troops, but most will also have better armour saves with medium armour for spearmen, and heavy armour (4+) for the elites. In addition, their missile attacks have gotten a boost due to their Multiple Shots from bows.

Next week: Dark Elves!

8th Edition update:

• ASF removed
• Martial Prowess = re-roll 1's To Hit.
• Elven bows added. 
• Dragon armour does not grant ward saves.
• Shadow Armour, Star Lance, Armour of Caledor removed (moved to special characters).
• World Dragon banner nerfed to spells only.
• Anointed of Asuryan moved to Heroes, does not grant Ward saves.
• Warriors (shields, 2HW's) added. 
• Spearmen, Sea Guard, Reavers can have heavy armour (8th ed).
• Silver Helms have shields by default.
• White Lions have LA by default.
• Swordmasters 14 pts (8th ed).
• Cheaper Shadow Warriors.
• Cheaper Lion chariots. 
• Cheaper Dragon Princes.
• Phoenix Guard moved to rare.
• Bolt Throwers moved to special.
• Skycutter moved to rare.
• Frostheart Phoenix is an upgrade to Flamespyre Phoenix. Blizzard Aura only effects models in base contact.
• Merwyrm added.
• Handmaidens of the Everqueen made a rare unit.

Download 8th Ed 

Download 9th Ed