Hello! Welcome to my new series of “Pimp my warband” articles. This series aims to re-visit some of the older warbands and try to imagine what they would look like if they were released in season 4 or later. I will provide you my ideas on what stats fighters would have and the faction cards they could use. LCDs will not be added to the models.
The goal of this exercise is purely to perform some fun brainstorming and see how those warbands could be re-imagined. They might feel a bit overpowered (or underpowered), but the balance cannot be achieved as a one-man exercise with no extensive playtesting to follow. So please bear this in mind! I will also focus on a single warband at the time. If you would like to see some specific warband re-done - let me know in the comments.
First to be pimped up are…the Fastriders. One of my all-time favorite warbands and a member of a venerable Shadespire club.
The Fighters
First of all, let’s take a look at the fighters. Were their stats sufficient for modern WHU? I’ve done a comprehensive overhaul - not only adjusted stats if necessary but also added/changed mechanics and inspiration where I saw it fit. Having said that I would like to present to you the new Farstriders!
Sanson Farstrider
Sanson has been a solid fighter from the start. He’s got a decent move and great range thanks to his Boltstorm Pistol. His melee attack profile is fairly accurate and has decent damage on it.
There are two changes, however. First of all, Farstrider is now a hunter. The second change is his inspiration mechanic - he will become inspired after he has done an attack action with range 1 and range 3+ in the same action phase.
Those changes are to reflect who Vanguard Chamber members are - supreme rangers and hunters, known to strike swiftly and with unmatched ferocity. Farstrider will inspire if he will rain bullets on his targets to soften them up and then follow up with close combat hoping for a kill. His hunter keyword could only help him at this task opening up access to hunter-related tech cards.
Once inspired Farstrider gains one additional rule - the target of his Star Falcon successful attack action becomes a Quarry until the end of the round. Sanson has chosen his prey and a Falcon is pointing at it for other hunters to follow.
Almeric Eagle-Eye
Almeric has received the same upgrades as Farstrider has - he’s now a hunter and he inspires after performing both range 1 and range 3+ attacks in the same action phase.
On top of that, he has received a minor speed bump going up to a movement of 4. It’s hard to speak about swift as a wind ranger if their speed is 3… so we’re fixing it a little bit.
The inspired side retains the speed bump and a hunter keyword. I have felt that no other changes were necessary for Eagle-Eye.
Elias Swiftblade
Elias follows the suit by becoming a hunter and receiving new, refreshed inspiration mechanics. On top of that, he has received the same treatment as Eagle-Eye and got his movement improved to 4.
Overall I feel that the Farstriders have decent stats. I have always felt that their speed is rather lackluster and doesn’t fit the fantasy of rangers. Their range 3 attacks were nice to balance the low speed, but it’s not that huge advantage nowadays. On top of that, I always felt that their inspiration mechanic is really bad. It’s slow and it’s fairly bad for slow fighters who even deployed very offensively could struggle to get it done.
To address those issues they’ve received a speed bump going up to movement 4. They’ve also got a new inspire mechanic that does incentivize them to use their full kit of attacks. Ferocious assaults and surgical strikes are something that is a strong vibe for Vanguard Auxillary Chamber and this mechanic is meant to reflect that. Get a flurry of attacks, soften the target with your shots before closing in for the kill, get rewarded with extra survivability that might be needed during the ensuing brawl.
Hunter keyword is there to help them benefit from extra tech like Snare, Hunters Talisman or The Hunt Advances, etc.
Faction Cards
Fighters alone are not something that is a deciding factor in a game of Underworlds. They’re important, but warbands might struggle to get the wins without good support from cards. Early warbands - especially from the Shadespire era tend to suffer from the poor support in their in-faction card pool. To address this issue I’ve gone over their faction cards and I’ve tried to see which ones are still good to take and provide the rest as slightly reworked, or completely new objectives and power cards.
Faction Objectives
Behead the Beast - classic objective, but this time made a surge.
Punishing Volleys - another re-invented objective. Apart from being a surge now, it also requires only making three or more attacks in a single action phase. They don’t have to be successful anymore to make it more reasonable.
Intervention - another slightly adjusted objective. Currently, it only requires a friendly fighter instead of being scored by the leader only.
Ranger strike - no changes here.
Tireless Hunter - a first brand new objective. You can score this by performing both range 1 and range 3+ attacks with a single fighter in a single action phase. This could be nicely coupled with attempting to inspire one of your fighters.
Cull The Beast - Another completely new surge. To score this your warband has to take an enemy fighter marked by Sanson as a quarry out of action.
Lightning Advance - no changes here
Sigmar’s Finest - again, this is just fine as it is
Close With the Enemy - this one has changed to be an in-faction version of the Unafraid. I believe this fits the fantasy of the warband well.
Sigmar’s Tempest - make four attack actions in a single round to score this nice and easy glory. This is similar to Keep Chopping, but it is a bit improved to be on par with more modern end-phase objectives.
Always Watchful - fairly easy, passive glory generation is always nice.
Target Rich Environment - what’s better for a hunter than a place where there is no shortage of quarry? This can be scored thanks to your opponent playing power cards or via tagging the targets with Farstrider’s Star Falcon attack.
And this is it for the objectives. As you can see we’re having here a mix of objectives that reward making attacks and positioning well. I believe they all go well together and can be scored utilizing the strengths of the warband. Some of the old objectives have been adjusted to make them more reasonable. A few had to go because they were not something worth fighting for (Eternal Supremacy I’m looking at you).
Now, let’s move on to the power deck!
Faction Gambits
First of all - some of the ploys would remain in and unchanged.
Lightning Blow - no changes here. An option to get an extra point of damage - especially nice for those ranged attacks.
Rangers, Advance - a staple for Farstriders. One of the best pushes, so no reason to do anything with it.
Rapid Volley - having the ability to do more attacks is amazing. Fits well into the flurry of shots fantasy.
Retribution - again, extra attacks are super valuable.
Warning Cry - this is a pretty decent defensive option for inspired Farstriders, so it stays.
Raptor Strike - amazing ping damage, stays in as well.
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And now let’s venture into the new stuff for them. Those are the 4 brand-new ploys to be added to their toolkit.
Astral Compass - it’s their in-faction version of Hidden Paths. This card gives them the ability to ambush an unsuspecting enemy with a deadly attack. Thanks to their range 3 attack option it’s very difficult to avoid the attack entirely - most often your opponent will be able to force your fighter to shoot him instead of smacking him with a melee attack action.
For Sigmar! - this card allows triggering Sanson’s ability to mark enemy fighters as a quarry without making an attack. In addition to that, the next friendly attack against the target of this ploy will receive an accuracy bonus. This could help to go for a kill, but also could be used to score objectives.
Longshot - use your fighter to make one, very long attack action at the cost of not being able to activate him after that. This is kind of a charge equivalent, as it gives you an extra threat range at the cost of gaining the charge token. But the advantage is that you can reach your target from the relative safety of staying at the long distance.
Windrider - this card allows making some positioning plays. It’s especially nice when facing a defensive opponent who deployed far away from your fighters.
With this, we have our 10 faction gambits. I believe those deliver a fairly good mix of mobility, accuracy, and extra attacks for a swift and surgical warband I would like Farstriders to be.
Next on are…
Faction Upgrades
As with the ploys - I’m first going to present you the set of upgrades that I feel still have a place in the warband and I’ve chosen to leave them unchanged.
Flashing Handaxe - a very decent attack action upgrade - cleave helps its accuracy and has 3 damage on it. It might not be an optimal choice, but it’s a fairly good option to improve Farstrider’s melee.
Furious Blow - this is a very nice upgrade to put on inspired Eagle-Eye. 2 shield defense makes defending an attack very possible. And being able to punish your attacker for failing his attack makes Eagle-Eye a less feasible target. Also getting more attacks out of your fighters is always good.
Lone Warrior - this is a fairly decent defensive option. It’s especially good for when your fighter is inspired. It’s not as good as Guard, but still, it’s a decent survivability boost.
Overcharged Boltstorm Pistol - super accurate range 3 attack action. Get this if you want to land those attacks. Might be especially devastating with Gloryseeker against warbands like Krusha. Those 3 hammers and cleave make hitting them easy.
Swift Stride - +2 Move is always a big thing. It allows you to reach almost anyone on board. And enables you to score the whole speed package easily.
Well-Timed Lunge - another 3 damage attack action with cleave. Good especially in a block heavy meta.
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With those six upgrades, we’re done with the things that I’ve decided to leave untouched. Next, we’ve got 4 brand new faction cards you can use to upgrade our fighters.
Nemesis - a new +1 damage card that is very powerful thanks to no range restriction. The downside is that it works only against a single fighter chosen when this card is applied. Yes, you can reliably hit your target for 2 damage with your ranged attack. But this also will make your fighter a priority to be dealt with.
Royal Breed - add accuracy to Farstrider’s Star Falcon attack action. Good for crit fishing to increase damage!
Suppressing Fire - you can turn one of your fighters into a suppressing fire turret. With this, all the enemies within 3 hexes from that fighter are considered to have one less supporting fighter to reflect being wary of incoming salvos. This is good versus swarms like Kainan or Gitz who like to swarm and/or utilize supports.
Tireless Hunt - after making a charge action you can use this upgrade to get an extra ranged attack with this fighter. It can be a good option to finish the target of your charge off or start killing the next target.
Final Thoughts
And that’s the list! The theme is fairly obvious - tool those guys to be a whirlwind of death that wants to go in and kill their targets. Their 4 wounds and decent defense grants them a good brawling potential, however, they have to be very surgical at applying their great offensive potential - getting killed is still a very real possibility.
With improved speed, easier and more interesting inspiration mechanics, they would be up there and fighting their enemies in no time. Their faction cards would allow them to cut their enemies hard and fast, but at the same time, this is getting them into harm’s way. So the smart play would be to know when to stay back and shoot and when to close in for a kill.
Below is a sample deck I’ve built for them. By all means, it is not something that has been min-maxed, but it should illustrate a sample offensive build for this re-imagined version of the warband.
What do you think about this version of the classic warband? Did you enjoy my idea of improving them? What would you do differently if you’d be given the opportunity to work on a project to refresh this warband? Let me know!
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