Generals handbook 2017

[El Syf]

https://www.warhammer-community.com...erals-handbook-2017-july27gw-homepage-post-3/
So having gone through the article it looks like we are getting some good stuff, Night haunt in particular just got more interesting with hex wraiths counting as battle line if you have that allegiance. Also there is a rather vague mention about bloodlines! But I'm trying not to get to excited about that. We still need our wizards to be able to cast more spells than summoning and the two anyone can get. But it seems pretty good so far.

 

[Sception]

No allegiance-level spell lores, which is a huge disappointment to me.

Everything in the deathlords faction got at least 20 points cheaper, up to Nagash who is 100 points cheaper.

Ghouls get a variety of faction traits which should let you tailor your army a bit. Looks pretty fun. Reference to some sort of feeding frenzy rule not yet shown.

hexwraiths are battle line for nighthaunt armies - possibly instead of spirit hosts?

Nighthaunt armies get a 'deep strike' option that lets their units set up anywhere from reserve so long as a wraith or banshee is on the table. Need to roll a 3+ for each unit, though. Wouldn't shock me if this replaces their summoning spells.

soulblight will get bloodlines, to be previewed in a future article (necrarch-esque and blood-dragon-esque options mentioned)

apparently units will get a points discount when taken at their max size. If skeletons remain as they are, that would be pretty disgusting, though I fear we'll see the existing 'hoard bonus' for skeleton warriors nerfed in some way, either in this book or a future one.



Not too much info. None of what's there is bad exactly, but I'm mostly disappointed about what isn't there - spell lores in particular.

 

[El Syf]

I'm hoping you can take hexwraiths and spirit host as battle line, getting a mourngul shortly so nighthaunt is looking better all the time.
Most of the spell lores have been battletome specific though and we only have flesh eater courts as it stands, we will probably get something if and when we get a battletome for another faction.

 

[Sception]

The only such battletome we even expect any time soon is deathrattle, and they don't have any wizards. The units that would most want a lore are necromancers, and they're not in a big enough subfaction to get a tome... ever.

 

[Unas the slayer]

leaving aside the lack of Deathrattle, which is a big disappointment, the other news are exciting.
Especially given that lately i'm playing both soulblight (see my last BatRep) and Nighthaunt.

I really hope they will keep spirit hosts as battleline for nighthaunt... to have only a battleline would be very bad.

 

[Sception]

I mean, nighthaunt already has only one battle line, you'd just be trading a good unit for a mediocre one.

Honestly, the most exciting bits in the article are allies and max unit discounts, and neither of those are even specific to Death.

 

[Alabaster427]

leaving aside the lack of Deathrattle, which is a big disappointment, the other news are exciting.
Especially given that lately i'm playing both soulblight (see my last BatRep) and Nighthaunt.

I really hope they will keep spirit hosts as battleline for nighthaunt... to have only a battleline would be very bad.

A plausible reason for leaving Deathrattle out is that they are going to get their own battletome later on (still hoping for this year, possibly around Shadespire drop). FE already has a book and there's no real need for Nighthaunt or Soulblight to have their own tomes.

 

[Alabaster427]

I just hope Tomb Kings aren't getting axed. I didn't see a section about compendiums in the Table of Contents, but that could be because they decided to put the compendium points in the pitched battle points under each allegiance like they should have done in the first place. I need those catapults...

 

[Infernal Skull]

I just hope Tomb Kings aren't getting axed. I didn't see a section about compendiums in the Table of Contents, but that could be because they decided to put the compendium points in the pitched battle points under each allegiance like they should have done in the first place. I need those catapults...

In the table of contents that they previewed, the Death points section is only two pages, which is the length of what it was last time without any of the TK stuff. I'll bet they dropped the TK stuff from the points listings altogether, even the stuff that they previewed points for. Remember, those points were a trial example and "subject to change." Eliminating them from the listing is indeed a change from what was previewed.

At the very least, they will only list the TK units with updated points, and leave the remainder "available" in the previous Handbook. And by "available" I mean "eventually out of print." And in the 2018 book there will be zero TK stuff.

The only hope at this point is that some of the TK staples like archers and chariots get rolled into a Deathrattle book with new models.

 

[Unas the slayer]

In the table of contents that they previewed, the Death points section is only two pages, which is the length of what it was last time without any of the TK stuff. I'll bet they dropped the TK stuff from the points listings altogether, even the stuff that they previewed points for.

That would be another hard blow for my poor TK...

 

[Eyeless]

if they really axe TK from competitive play i'll consider stop playing altogether. i'm already fed up with all the new releases being op so much that the old armies don't even stand a chance against them.

Edit: i found an official comment from their part on their facebook page, but what it means exactly i don't know. Here's the comment:

"Warhammer Age of Sigmar Don't worry guys,
If you have a Compendium-based army, you'll still be able to use it after this book comes out."

 

[Unas the slayer]

"Warhammer Age of Sigmar Don't worry guys,
If you have a Compendium-based army, you'll still be able to use it after this book comes out."

That's good to hear, and I want to believe it, but i think I'll wait until I'll see it.

 

[Alabaster427]

I think one thing that will definitely happen is that the most recent warscroll trumps older versions in Matched Play. In the newer battletomes, that's clear, but in the older ones like FEC (which I don't own, so I'm not 100% on) they don't. As far as I can tell, I can still use either version of the Crypt Ghouls, Horrors, and AGKs, being the ones in the Death grand alliance book and the FEC book.

I'm glad they're limiting artefacts to only one copy per army and I REALLY hope they either fix or nix the Ring of Immortality.

 

[Eyeless]

That's good to hear, and I want to believe it, but i think I'll wait until I'll see it.

According to their latest comments, compendium armies won't be in the book, however they'll still be playable and still have points for matched play with some of them revised. My guess is that these would be an FAQ or a downloadable in a similar.

 

[Alabaster427]

A little birdy told me that Deathless Minions is getting reduced from 10" to 6". Can anyone confirm or refute this? I really hope it's not true. That would be a huge nerf for Death.

 

[Unas the slayer]

Really hope this is not true.
People complain about deathless minions, but in not-Death armies there are A LOT of abilities that negate wounds and mortal wounds at 6+, and they don't rely on a nearby hero.
To nerf our main trait would be ironic, especially seeing the huge buffs that other armies are going to receive.

For example, Seraphon are going to be crazily empowered (not that i dislike it, since I play also them).
Just the new confirmed Allegiance abilities for Seraphon:
They can try to teleport one unit each turn to a location at least 9'' from the enemy (TWO units, with the right command trait)
or
Slann can unbind anywhere on the battlefield.



Speaking of Seraphon & Death... lizzies get at least a new artefact : Roll a dice when the hero loses last wound, on a 3+ place it back on the board within 12″ (and more than 3″ away from enemy) with D3 wounds, no summoning points needed as happens before removed from play.

Does it sound familiar?
I truly hope that they will fix the Ring of Immortality in a similar way.

 

[Oppenheimer]

It is true, however there is a trait that extends it. But there's no longer a trait that makes it 5+.

Also Deathlords are useless as allies. I heard that allies get no benefits from alliegance abilities of the main faction and cannot be your general.

I was going to run Neferata at the head of a soul blight army but not anymore. Now she can tag along as a brute but cannot use her amazing command ability or get the 6+ save from the soul Blight alliegance (all alliegances appear to have some variation on the 6+ save that Death GA gets)

 

[Alabaster427]

It is true, however there is a trait that extends it. But there's no longer a trait that makes it 5+.

Also Deathlords are useless as allies. I heard that allies get no benefits from alliegance abilities of the main faction and cannot be your general.

I was going to run Neferata at the head of a soul blight army but not anymore. Now she can tag along as a brute but cannot use her amazing command ability or get the 6+ save from the soul Blight alliegance (all alliegances appear to have some variation on the 6+ save that Death GA gets)

That's all true, but you can still run grand alliance Death which still has its own traits and artefacts. I probably won't be changing my list at all. That being said, a Nighthaunt list can have a deepstriking Mourngul on a re-rollable 3+, so there's that. I just need more hexwraiths and spirit hosts.

 

[Eyeless]

i heard that re-animating models in a unit like the deathrattle banners now cost points as well. can anyone confirm this?

edit: i got the handbook and can confirm that this rumor was fake.

 

[Alabaster427]

Tomb Kings got super nerfed. No more named heroes and all skeleton units lost DEATHRATTLE keyword. However, you can now duplicate Settra (Now called TK on exalted chariot). Carsteins are also gone. Compendium points are updated and new FAQ.
https://www.warhammer-community.com...crolls-and-compendium-pdfsgw-homepage-post-1/

 

[Eyeless]

Tomb Kings got super nerfed. No more named heroes and all skeleton units lost DEATHRATTLE keyword. However, you can now duplicate Settra (Now called TK on exalted chariot). Carsteins are also gone. Compendium points are updated and new FAQ.
https://www.warhammer-community.com...crolls-and-compendium-pdfsgw-homepage-post-1/

this along with the generic death abilities nerf made the faction almost useless. soulblight and FEC got some nice stuff but the rest is utter shit -.-' there goes all motivation out of the window. i don't know if i should start another army or abandon the hobby altogether...

 

[Sception]

The Von carsteins are gone. Tomb Kings lose deathrattle synergy AND their summoning & healing spells AND suffer huge points increases, and none of their bad stuff got any better. Ruler of the night is gone. No faction spell lores for Death. No changes to the rules of three or reserve rules that might favor us. No protection from sniping to let our characters weather the overpowering shooting attacks and laser-targeted war machines currently dominating the game. None of the subfaction rules for the measly three subfactions that got them come anywhere close to making up the gap.

As far as I can tell, and certainly as far as I'm concerned, for the foreseeable future the Death alliance simply no longer exists. My AoS models will be making the transition to long term storage, there's no reason to have them eating space in carrying cases.

 

[Unas the slayer]

Tomb Kings got super nerfed. No more named heroes and all skeleton units lost DEATHRATTLE keyword. However, you can now duplicate Settra (Now called TK on exalted chariot). Carsteins are also gone. Compendium points are updated and new FAQ.
https://www.warhammer-community.com...crolls-and-compendium-pdfsgw-homepage-post-1/

That's an insulting joke.

THey can say all they want "sure, compendium armies will always be playable", and then they give us this garbage...

Yeah, TK are outdated and useless. The sphinx cannot heal no more and the "halve the wounds" is now ridiculous. SSC must wound to inflict the penalty to bravery.

They are turning Death into a poor outcast faction.

 

[Unas the slayer]

this along with the generic death abilities nerf made the faction almost useless. soulblight and FEC got some nice stuff but the rest is utter shit -.-' there goes all motivation out of the window. i don't know if i should start another army or abandon the hobby altogether...

As far as I can tell, and certainly as far as I'm concerned, for the foreseeable future the Death alliance simply no longer exists. My AoS models will be making the transition to long term storage, there's no reason to have them eating space in carrying cases.

yeah, my first reaction is the same...
But I won't give up.

I'm good in this kind of games, so this is just a new challenge. Have you nerfed my fav. armies? don't worry, I'll play with your suboptimal units against your buffed new toys, and I'll teach them some lesson on tactics.
It's not a thing that I'm not used to.... TK were low level tier in 8th.


And you can be sure that in the meantime I'll exploit nighthaunt, just for the sake to play with something that has not been nerfed.

Death is not simple to kill.

 

[Alabaster427]

I'm playing in a GT tomorrow and the TO said this FAQ won't be used. If it is, I'll have to withdraw because I won't have a list in time.

I (unlike many) won't have the book until tomorrow at the earliest and Monday at the latest. So I don't know what's going to happen to my army. Fortunately, I have nearly every Death unit there is, so I shouldn't have to invest much to adapt to the new meta. I do enjoy beating people with tactics, but even if you do beat all of your opponents in a tournament using tactics, you won't win because the other players will have beat their opponents through tabling. I'm optimistic for FEC and Nighthaunt, but skeptical for soulblight. I was planning on making a Deathrattle list, but that's as good as a fart in the wind now. I really enjoy playing amalgam lists, but it appears that's going to be a thing of the past.

Rest in Final Peace: Settra, Khalida, Apophas, Vlad, Isabella, Konrad, Heinrich, and baby Mannfred. You will be missed, avenged, and hopefully resurrected. Say hello to Krell and Zecharias for us.