Mini Thoughts - eAbsylonia

The other day PP released the cards for the new Exigence warlocks on their WarRoom app (if you haven't already go get it right now) and completed the set of models for them too by adding a rhino?!? No seriously the Skorne guy is riding a huge (literally) Rhino of Doom. I digress. In a month or so I'll be hanging up my Menofix and getting Blighted as I dive brush first into Legion so the model and rules that I was most interested to see were the rules for Legion's new lady. 

I don't know if you've seen the model yet so:

Nice, right? In terms of the model I'm liking the pose but I'm really hoping that it's way more balanced than it looks. And I mean structurally. Cos it looks like it's going to be pretty top heavy and every hobbyist knows that means she gonna fall over. Lots. And chip that paint job you poured blood, sweat and tears into. Maybe it's deceptive, though, and carefully set up so it all works out nicely. Maybe that's one of the reasons she's on a Medium base now. 

Anyhow model aside the card came out with the new rules which is the main thing, right? Stat wise the Daughter of Everblight gets an extra pip of STR to bring her two claws up to P&S 14 which is always appreciated. The rest of the stats are the same until you get to her defences. One less DEF in exchange for two more ARM and boxes. Interesting but DEF 15 is still pretty solid to be honest and ARM 16 is joint second highest in the whole faction (eThags takes the top spot with 17 but he is a half-dragon monster). Speaking of monsters she still has abomination on there so be careful of where your Shepards go for the game.  Best of all though she gets an extra melee attack at P&S 12. That's 3 initials, baby! That means an extra dose of hurt to whoever she goes for. Still sitting at a reasonable 6 focus which is ok but you'll be wanting some help along. 

As well as the stat changes the special rules have also kicked her up a notch. Resourceful is gone and instead we get Conferred Rage which lets the battlegroup charge and power attack for free. Game changer. I'll let that sink in. Sunk in? Good cos there's more. In addition to that awesomeness if eAbs destroys any enemy models her whole battle group gets +2 SPD and MAT when they activate. This lady is leading a hell of a charge. Mutations are gone and flight is now standard. Duh: look at the wings. Grevious Wounds and Spirit Eater are gone but remember that extra P&S 12 stinger from before that's got a nifty little rule that lets her steal a focus or fury each time it hits. Perfect for assassination runs when your hits strip off their defences before you even roll damage. Lovely. 

Spells? Oh there's spells. First up you get Fortify which we've seen on a few models recently but it's pretty cool so no complaints. +2ARM and un-knockdown-able for it and models B2B for 2 Fury and upkeep. Fair. Next we have the prime model's feat as a spell (thank you) 2 Fury every battlegroup model in CTRL gets d3+1 healing once a turn. (Insert evil laugh). Next up we have a little one Fury throw away called Return Fire. When one friendly model (not battle group and not unit) is targeted by a ranged attack it gets to make one attack (not necessarily at the shooter). Most likely this means one model doesn't get shot for a turn or you make them pay for it if they do. Win-win. Finally nice little ace up the sleeve for 2 Fury there's teleport. Because what a flying SPD 7 dragonspawn loves is that extra 8" of threat (or hiding if you need to). Plus this lets you charge the warnoun get a stinger in to strip them down a bit and trigger Conferred Rage then use the power you stole to teleport out of the LOS of your battlegroup so they can get tidy charges and finish the job. 

Finally we come to the feat. It's... A weird one (to me at least). Her battlegroup gains +2 STR, flight and reach for a round. Opens up a lot of charge lanes and adds a bit of threat range too. But combine that with Conferred Rage and you have a battlegroup of 'roided up monsters that fly, charge for free and potential have +2 to SPD and MAT to boot. That's a pretty scary alpha strike if everything clicks into place (it won't but even 70% is going to mess people up). This does mean that you'll want a healthy sized battlegroup to take advantage but odds are if you're a Legion player you want that anyway!

No news on the App about the theme force yet but I'm hazarding a guess it'll be gribbly focused. 

Overall a pretty nice new addition. A beast heavy caster for a beast heavy faction. Not looking very subtle but who needs subtlety when everyone else's dead? I'm pretty impressed and I'm looking forward to seeing some lists with her in soon. 

-M