Hello everyone!
Finally, the day has come. Legion CID has started! My dragonspawn models haven’t seen the table for waaaaay too long! It’s time to refresh my memory and take a quick dive into the proposed changes. Obviously, I am interested in your perception of the adjustments PP has come up with. I will go through the changes in the order they are presented in the PDF and chew them over one by one. Then I will try to rank those changes into three tiers to sort out my thoughts and show how do I feel about them.
In the following article I plan to give a first try to build new lists and adjust the lists I already tried but I need to digest the CID first, give me some time π
First of all, where is Nephlim Soldier???
Ok, now let’s get to the CID:
Nephlim Protector
Just a simple 1 point drop. Meh, his animus just doesn’t feel right, to be fair, especially on a model with MAT 6 PS 12. I very seldom considered him as a reliable choice, especially when Valkiries came out (Shield Guard). Guard dog is a great ability, however a different animus would be great. What about an interesting rule on his melee attack that would work well with the current animus, like knock down? This model needs more love.
Reak
Oh, what a pleasant surprise! Honestly, I didn’t expect him to be part of this CID. Although, after thinking about that for a while, when you compare him to other similar beasts in the game, like Gorehound for instance, the 2 point drop seems fair. Taking him with the brand new Blarchon or any other warlock really, seems to be a great idea.
Teraph
That’s another great change! Gaining flat continuous fire and some sort of additional on hit effect like Burning Ground is spot on. I would kindly accept a slight RAT increase but in all honesty, the beast is worth considering now, not an auto-include though. Combining his animus with Burning Ground may surprise your enemy for sure. Taking him with any fire/ranged supporting warlock is a good idea. Take him with Kallus2 and see the world burn! I always thought that said warlock needed a reliable source of cont. fire effect, now here you have it. However, he feels a little bit overpriced for what he does. Reload [1] would be great for example, as paying 9p for a single shot is not going to convince too many players to use him.
Angelius
It took some time to have the points drop on this one but better now than never, right!? I believe he almost is on the satisfying level of balance. He still is expensive, he still is a glass cannon, sure, but a cheaper one π On the other hand, I wouldn’t be too concerned of not getting a MAT increase, as I believe it is a part of the model concept of having this heavy hitting glass cannon beast. Just take Yssylla or revised BFS for the sweet puppet master π Take one, two or even three, why not, with a warcaster that can provide some sort of protection / board control. I cannot wait to use them in my revised Thagrosh2 list.
Carnivean
Do you feel he still is behind other baseline heavy beasts in the game like I do? Getting the points down is always welcome, chain attack is fine too. There are ways of increasing his survivability and extending his threat range, but honestly he feels poor on his own. I’d rather have the point cost stay the same and get +1 SPD or any other base stat increase for the whole chasis. I wouldn’t cry if he stays this way, though.
Blighted Nyss Archers & UA
Next please!
Well, given that Beth will still have the corrosion spell, taking the Archers with her seems to be obvious, don’t you think? Especially in infantry oriented meta (PKs, Doomreavers). I love the change, it appears that we might see some infantry now. Plus, vet leader for Blighted models? Why not!
Blighted Nyss Legionnaires & Captain Farilor
Losing Iron Zeal and gaining Battle driven means you need to rely on your enemy killing your models in order to get that sweet ARM and STR bonus, what doesn’t sadden me at all. With SPD 5 they were the saddest unit in the entire game, now after gaining a slight speed buff with the rest of the changes I will give them a chance. I love the aesthetics and I was really hoping for an improvement. This is an improvement for sure. Now, I would consider taking them with a similar looking Kryssa for example. However, I am afraid they still might not be able to find their place in the lists.
Blighted Nyss Swordsmen & UA
Oh, how I like the changes to the UA. Blade Shield will increase the unit’s survivability significantly, combine them with Fyanna2 and never lose a single Swordsmen to shooting again. All the prayers seem to be useful and have its niche, with Draconic Fervor on top. They now look like a decent melee unit one would like to have in some lists.
Blighted Nyss Hex Hunters & Bayal
Flat Stealth is obviously better than Prowl only! I don’t think there’s much more to be said here.
Bethayne, Voice of Everblight (1)
Her new old feat makes her queen of Oracles. Give her Hex Hunters, BFS or any other magic oriented unit and they will do the work. Although I don’t get why it does affect only warrior models. I love Deceleration, Throne of Everblight loves it even more. However it doesn’t give a lot to the paper-armoured models with magic abilities (apart from Throne, sure). Blood Thorn is my new favourite spell if it comes for the upgraded old units. Archers spreading corosion – now it make sense. I also like the idea of Corrosion everywhere, what combined with Blarchon’s Meltdown and Virtue Champion’s Caustic Presence abilities can make the dream come true. There is much to discover!
I like the changes introduced to Bethayne, but I do not feel like she is the flesh melding killer that jumps into her beast to kill things; she feels more like a support warlock who is casting spells and staying out of trouble for the majority of the game (I think she is supposed to feel this way). It would be great to increase her potential to splash things, teleport around and spread havoc. A spell that would change an enemy infantry model into an Incubus would be great but one can dream π It’s just wishlisting and whining, don’t get me wrong, she will be used for sure!
Belphagor
As for a beast of cost around 7-8 he seems decent. I like the idea of giving Blood Boon to Belphagor, now you want to kill things. However, he still is an important piece of your BG, so I wouldn’t risk losing him too early. I still have a feeling he could be something more than only an arc node.
Annyssa Ryvaal
Points dropping on the model that you actually have to pay for, instead of getting it for free in the theme force, always pleases me (in the armies that I own, bruuh).
Proteus
Slight improvement – very welcomed. I love the new sculpt and I want to use him more often.
Archangel
That was the change I was still waiting for, together with my Archangel hidden in the box. Being 15″ away from your target means he might even survive after opening fire π the beautiful model and a selling point of the army deserves more table time, doesn’t he? I didn’t like the random number of shots on such an expensive model and change to ROF 3 is fair. POW increase seems to be reasonable, he is the dragonest dragon we have!
Zuriel
Point cost change is great, but I would rather heave him hitting harder, than getting the cost decrease. PS 16 on a normal attack feels sad. I get the idea of the beast with two ninja swords sweeping through infantry, but facing a high-armoured model (sometimes heavy infantry even) means he should run the other way. That’s not the place where we all would like him to be. I’d love him to be the agile beasts he was supposed to be, maybe Side Step?
Blackfrost Shard
Nice change, but they’re still an expensive Kiss of Lyliss trio. Now, when they might compete with a trio of Virtues I don’t think they will find place in many lists.
Kryssa, Conviction of Everblight
Loooook at her! From a model that everyone tried to forget about (and probably lost) to a warlock worth considering. Energizer is something I am the most excited about here. Previously, she was just boring with nothing outstanding. Now she increases damage potential and extend threat ranges of her Battle Group. On top of that, she gives Tough to all warrior models within 9″. Great changes, especially if you take into account that she is a Battlebox warlock. A good start with dragonspawn adventure. I might consider taking her with Nephlim Soldiers spam.
Azrael
21 points was absurd, to be honest, and Azrael deserves the cost decrease. On the other hand, having only a single melee attack feels sad, what does he do with that other hand?! Come on, use it! He needs this one additional attack at least, for the cost of 19 points.
Craelix, Fang of Everblight
Getting cost decrease is nice, however you are probably still taking him for free, aren’t you? Now, that taking Archers in an option, he will finally benefit from their presence.
Yssylla
She has 3 nice spells and a cool ability that will probably make me cry when I would be too greedy and miss the first spell. Another model spreading corrosion and making enemy Infantry live miserable. She is not a must have but a nice addition to your list when you have a free slot.
Bethayne, Pride of Everblight
She is a Virtue warlock, so don’t forget about the free cloud each turn thanks to Virtue Champion’s ability. Her feat seems to be very strong at first glance. Having a herd of Shredders or any other cheap warbeasts to absorb the damage seems to be obvious. In the post-feat turn turn those Shredders still alive into fury batteries.
Converting 10 Shredders into Breath of Corruption cannonade sounds funny, but it shouldn’t be too difficult for your enemy to keep his warcaster safe, so I wouldn’t consider this as a reliable option (as long as she keeps BoC, instead of getting sth cheaper).
She can effectively lower enemy ARM by 4 with Dissolve and Transmutation. I can imagine Craelix with Dissolve lowering sb’s STR, ARM and DEF, feels good π
I still don’t know what to really think about her. She doesn’t seem to be Kharchev of Hordes, to be honest. With Mekanoshredder and/or Seraph she doesn’t need threat range extender desperately, but it would be great to have something supporting the whole battle group (apart from healing it). How do you feel about her?
Blight Archon
Finally, the Blighted key word means something. At first I didn’t dig the idea of this Archon being a lesser warlock but with 5 FUR I changed my mind π Meltdown combined with Virtue Champion’s Caustic Presence means that nothing will stop you from spreading corrosion, what is a clear sign to use this pair together.
You probably would want this Archon to have a cheap warbeast, as he will most likely take part in the middle-board brawl, otherwise losing him would mean losing an expensive warbeast. Reak, or Mekanoshredder are beasts I would like to take him with.
Dragon’s Blood is a great spell that you can have in every list now.
Impending doom is ridiculous in a faction that has access to Hellmouths, Gallows etc. I don’t believe Blarchon will keep it, honestly. That is his main selling point, though.
In general, I don’t see the reason not to take at least one with a limited battle group.
Virtue Host
An impressive brand new unit that will benefit from all present corrosion effect. It is a fantastic counter to all single wound infantry spam lists. Thanks to Champion’s Leadership ability, you will almost always have boosted damage roll. The unit is quite expensive for what it has at the moment. An overtake or a different ability improving their mobility would be great.
What do you think if Peel Back the Layers ability would give “additional die” instead of “boosted”?
Virtue Champion
This model has been mentioned a couple of times already. Whenever I will be considering building a corrosion oriented list I will certainly take him.
Also, ARM 18 and 8 wound boxes mean that the enemy would need to put effort into killing him. I think the model is right there where it should be and doesn’t require any changes.
Final thoughts
First of all, why is there no Nephlim Soldier??? I know Will Hungerford said that they are not thinking about adding any models to the CID that are not already a part of it, but do you guys think he is in the right spot? I believe he definitely needs attention and if not now – when?? I heard that this CID was going to bring Nephlims back, but so far I cannot really see that happening.
In general I am satisfied with the adjustments to the already existing options. However, some of them still require further attention. I will be looking forward to the community feedback and upcoming adjustments. As for the new models, I cannot wait to field them (well, maybe apart from Beth2 as she doesn’t seem that interesting at the moment).
I divided the models included in the CID into three tiers:
– Great Tier – I belive those models are the biggest winners of the cycle and stay how they are at the moment, however with a little exception of Blight Archon that I assume is a little bit over the curve.
– Fine Tier – If those models would stay as they are at the moment, I wouldn’t be too mad, but I believe some of them will be underperforming, especially in comparison to what other factions can bring to the table
– Meh Tier – Well, those models definitely need more attention, as I believe they are not in the place they supposed to be. I am a little bit disappointed by the proposed adjustment and will be looking forward to further changes.
Great Tier:
– Reak
– Blighted Nyss Archers & UA
– Blighted Nyss Swordsmen & UA
– Archangel
– Kryssa1
– Blight Archon
– Virtue Champion
Fine Tier:
– Angelius
– Blighted Nyss Hex Hunters & Bayal
– Bethayne1 & Belphagor
– Annyssa Ryvaal
– Proteus
– Azrael
– Craelix
– Yssylla
– Virtue Host
– Blighted Nyss Legionnaires & UA
– Blackfrost Shard
Meh Tier:
– Nephlim Protector
– Carnivean
– Teraph
– Zuriel
– Bethayne2
I hope you enjoyed the brief analysis of the Legion CID week 1. Those are my hot takes after briefly going through the PDF file. I’m going for short holidays today, and after getting back I am planning to dive a little bit deeper into the rules and create a couple of lists that I think might be viable.
Cheers,
Piotr