Mini Thoughts - Colossals Wave 2

I'm sure by now everyone has seen the new colossal designs put out by Privateer Press at the Adepticon 2015 Keynote. Being British and employed I wasn't able to live stream the keynote as I was in the middle of a Friday at work. Thankfully I've managed to catch up through the video posted by Privateer Press of the Colossal announcement (available on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10152618645627050&id=74721417049). First off I'm pretty psyched. I know there's been a bit of negativity from what I've seen, but I'm pretty excited to see the full, proper rules for these bad boys. For anyone who hasn't yet seen the concepts for these guys here you go:

Hurricane

Ok, first off Cygnar. The new colossal for Cygnar looks awesome. No questions. It doesn't have the Storm pods of its predecessor according to the video but since it's Cygnar you can bet that they'll more than make up for that. As it stands so far they've announced it will feature a pair of powerful shots that can also push affected models, making it a great piece for controlling zones and clearing models from flags. Also it has an arc node. A Colossal Arc Node. Let that sink in for a moment. Knowing Cygnar it'll also be able to arc whilst engaged in the same way that a regular colossal can shoot while engaged. 

Victor

The Victor swaps out the heavy cannons of the Conquest for a new gun that fires (at least one) AOE 5 template that cause all kinds of bad juju for your opponent including rough terrain, reducing DEF and cont. fire with its Siege Mortar. the art has some nice secondary weapons like the Conquest but for now it's not clear how, if at all, they'll differ from the Conquest's guns. 

Revelator 

Ok, I'll be honest here's the one I'm most excited about personally, as a Menoth player (I'm bias, sue me). This big guy has the flamethrower nipples like the Judicator but seems to have a much bigger version of the Vanquisher's Flame Belcher (AOE 5, please) on each shoulder. Yowza. It's no secret that the Vanquisher is one of my favourite Protectorate Heavies and ends up in most of my lists, so a mega version? Fine by me. On top of all of that goodness this colossal ignores one of the biggest pains in the game for a ranged list: Stealth. As a Menoth player who frequently faces Cryx across the table I can tell you that ignoring stealth is huge in and of itself. But! But, cherry on the cake? He has some kind of ability that lets your other models ignore stealth too! I'm in love. 

Sepulcher 

Sepulcher is the only Jack to get an actual photo of its model, suggesting that it's likely to be the first to be physically released. This one is described as a 'walking necrofactorum' that collects corpse tokens (probably) to put out even more guys. It's like the giant robot version of a Necrosurgeon that can also tear the enemy apart. I like to think it'll probably have a rule that gets you d3 models for each corpse token or something so you can dudespam your heart out like a good Cryx player. On top of that while the unicorn cannon from the kraken is gone there is still a little gun up on there that probably kicks out some oomph too. 

Helios

Helios is the new Retribution Colossal and the only Colossal (so far) without a 'real' ranged attack. Instead Helios gets a tractor beam that lets it move an enemy model 3" in any direction. Basically it's a super-heavy jack that can cast telekinesis. For free. But better. Plus I doubt those massive fists are ornamental either. On top of that it also has mysterious 'Force Gate' abilities that weren't really explored but sound pretty badass. Shenanigans galore!

Prime Conflux 

The new Convergence goodie is all about electricity. The Prime Conflux is voltaic all over sporting electrical 'defences and offences'. That's not really discussed in any detail on the video. Presumably it's immune to electrical damage. It seemed to imply it would have some kind of shield, perhaps that deals lightning damage to models that attack it? And it also has some intimidating looking cannon on its shoulders. On top of that, like it's older brother, the Prime Axiom, the Conflux can launch servitors. Unlike the Axiom the Conflux has it's own flavour of servitor called 'Ionisation Servitors' that increase electrical damage around them. It's not clear how (cumulative +2? Additional die? Cumulative additional dice? Do they have to be near the shooter like choir or the target like rangers?) but either way it'll help the Conflux to smash face more effectively. 

Summary

Personally one of the most interesting things to note about the new colossals is that they are all more utility pieces than their predecessors. The Conflux's servitors, the Sepulcher's spawning abilities and the Revelator's anti-stealth help to assist your force in doing their thing. Meanwhile the pushes from Helios and Hurricane and the variable AOEs from Victory help to create some very nice board control for their armies. I'm really pleased to see that in these colossals, since the 20 (ish) point investment is much easier to swallow if the result not only has terrifying attacks but also adds synergy with the rest of the field! Hopefully at least one of these monsters will be spoiled in the next NQ and we can see some rules! 

And to add to all that the announcement ended with a promise of a Hoards reveal for Smogcon! New Gargantuans? Let's hope so! And that they and these colossals will be just as awesome as they're promising to be right now!

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-M