Warhammer Underworlds - February 26 - FAQ- What's new?
I’m just going to give a quick run-through of the new changes in this FAQ pack. This is version 1.3 of the Embergard rules, including the Spitewood expansion.
I’ll first run through the warband changes, then the Rivals Decks.
Warbands
Blackpowder's Buccaneers 💪
Blackpowder has gained a buff to his warscroll weapon abilities for 'Swag Blast' and 'Swag Mortar'.
In addition to the already improved weapon abilities, after the attack you can push X other friendly fighters 1 hex and give them a Charge token, where X is the number of Swag tokens you removed.
Commentary – More buffs for my favourite warband! I really like the push, as it means I can reposition my minions without activating them or pull them out of trouble after Blackpowder activates. The ability to give them Charge tokens is also nice, allowing me to reach Charged Out status quickly. A nice change, I’m looking forward to trying it out.
Gorechosen of Dromm 😢
The Gorehulk has had one of his weapon profiles nerfed from Range 2 down to Range 1.
Commentary – I’m honestly pleased with this, as it made no sense for him to reach so far with his bare arms! Range 2 with 3 Damage is gone. Thank you.
Grinkrak's Looncourt 💪
Grinkrak has seen a buff to the 'I Dub Thee' rule. A dubbed fighter now stays Dubbed until the end of the game, rather than just the round.
Commentary – This means the Looncourt can potentially have multiple Dubbed fighters on the board at once, each benefiting from their completed quests.
Hexbane's Hunters 💪
Hexbane’s Hunters have seen a buff to their Inspire mechanic. When either Pock or one of the hounds (minions) dies, Inspire each other Hound (minions) and Pock on the battlefield.
Commentary – A small but useful buff. Any extra chance to Inspire is good.
They also gain a buff to 'Marked for Vengeance': it now grants Grievous to melee weapons, in addition to the existing reroll when targeting the marked fighter.
Commentary – A very tasty buff considering Haskel Hexbane and Amos’ weapon profiles. They can now hit for 3 Damage on already accurate attacks. Watch out for these vengeful Hunters.
Hrothgorn's Mantrappers 💪
Hrothgorn has two buffs: 'More Traps' and 'Surprising Competence'.
'More Traps' now lets you push the gnoblar 1 hex after placing the trap.
Commentary – A small but very useful change. It helps the gnoblar avoid falling into its own trap, or to grab a Feature token without spending a turn or a Power card.
'Surprising Competence' now gives the gnoblar a Guard token after placing the trap.
Commentary – Less exciting than the push, but still nice. Guard on 2 Dodge (Quiv or Bushwakka) is handy for holding tokens and avoiding being pushed into hazards.
Kainan's Reapers 🕐
Several timing changes to 'Dire Ultimatum', 'Monolith Stance', and 'Unrelenting Assault'. These abilities now trigger in your Power Step, rather than after your Action.
Commentary – Mostly a streamlining change, but it does allow you to see your opponent’s power cards before committing to these abilities.
Knives of the Crone 💪
Two changes here: one to the Inspire mechanic, one to 'Foretold Slaughter'.
Inspiration now triggers if 'Foretold Wisdom' is rolled at the start of the first Action step of the Battle Round, in addition to after a successful attack.
Commentary – A great buff. More chances to Inspire, and you can get fighters Inspired before they activate.
'Foretold Slaughter' now gives access to Cleave and Ensnare on your next melee attack instead of Crit Grievous.
Commentary – More reliable accuracy giving more Inspire chances. A nice buff.
Kamandora's Blades 💪
A buff to 'Blood for Khorne'. The Slashing weapon ability now adds Stagger on top of Bleed. If an enemy with Bleed receives a second Stagger, they take 1 damage and lose the Bleed token.
Commentary – Making these lunatics more accurate is terrifying. If they can gain access to Stagger tech (e.g. Raging Tremors), you can create a nasty ping‑damage engine.
Kurnoth's Heralds 💪
Kunroth's Hearalds have receives two changes, both of which are buffs.
Lenwythe now gains 2 Dodge when Inspired, rather than 1.
Commentary – What’s not to like? More dice is always good.
'Precision Volley' no longer has to target a different enemy.
Commentary – You can now focus fire on a single target, fantastic mechanically, especially if you need to drive a particular fighter back, and thematically.
Mollog's Mob 😢🕐
The first is a nerf to their 'Unnatural Hazards' ability: each effect can now only be used once per game.
Commentary - A massive change. Until now every Mollog player picked the Surrounded when adjacent to a friendly Squig (minion) for every round. Now players will have to choose when to use this. Also, this change will mean that it will be harder for Mollog's Mob to score the Deadly Synergy cards. A really good change.
'Infestation' now triggers in your Power Step, not any Power Step.
Commentary – A timing nerf. If you don’t get another turn, you may lose the ability to Raise the squig. Not huge, but impactful for preventing or allow the scoring of an Objective.
Rippa's Snarlfangs 💪
Rippa's Snarlfangs have received a minor buff (but any buff is nice). The 'Snarlfang's Jaw' ability can now be used after a drawn Attack, not just a success. It can also be used to target a different fighter from the original target.
Commentary - A nice buff, but any opportunity to get a second bite (pun absolutely intended) of the cherry is welcome. Being able to target a different fighter with the Snarlfang is very useful for spreading damage but also attempting multiple drive-backs.
The Skinnerkin 😐
The Skinnerkin have seen four changes, most are a tightening up (probably two buffs and a nerf) of their warscroll abilities and they have had their Inspiration mechanic nerfed.
To Inspire, the Skinnerkin now need to have (not had) 3 or more Haunch tokens,
Commentary - I think this is a much-needed change, which forces the player to decide if they want to use their haunch counters as a resource to access their other abilities, or save them in order to Inspire.
'Grasping Talons' has been buffed, so that now on a Crit or a Hammer it causes 1 damage and gains a Haunch token. Otherwise, it automatically causes a fighter to be pushed.
Commentary - This ability has massively been improved. It now causes damage and gains a Haunch token 50% of the time, compared to before which was only 33%. Additionally, if it fails to cause damage it will automatically cause a push, which is huge for board control.
'Taste test' has been buffed so that you can inspire any friendly fighter, rather than the one that just used a Core ability.
Commentary - A nice change that allows you to Inspire a fighter before you activate them. This may see more use as players try to Inspire key fighters rather than the whole warband.
'Quick Nibble' has been nerfed, as it can now only be used in your Opponent's Power Step to heal a fighter.
Commentary - A much-needed change. Primarily, the Skinnerkin are now limited to healing a maximum of four times in a round, which is still ridiculous but better than eight (you would, of course, need the Haunch counters)! In addition, the Skinnerkin's opponent now has time to capitalise on slaying injured fighters before they can be healed. Overall, I think this has seriously impacted the Skinnerkin.
The Sons of Velmourn 💪
The Sons of Velmourn have seen three changes.
The first sees a buff to the 'Deadly Command' ability. The change is very simple, Morlak Velmourn no longer removes any Command tokens at the end of the round.
Commentary - This is a huge buff. Once activated, Morlak Velmourn retains his command tokens allowing him to support the other fighters in the warband. As he will no longer lose his command token at the end of round one, he can easily gain a second which can be used to activate Rise Again.
The second sees a buff to 'Rise Again', which is no longer a Core ability, but is now used in your Power Step. In addition, it has become use once per game.
Commentary - Again, I think this a great buff. Yes, it is once per game, but in the past it was never used anyway, as it used up Morlak Velmourn's Command token and an activation. Now, Morlak Velmourn will have spare Command tokens from round 2 onwards and this ability is used in the Power step. Overall, a great change.
The final buff is to 'The Velmourn Curse'. This is still a one-use ability, but it can now be used by any friendly fighter rather than one with a Raise token.
Commentary - Another nice simple rule change, which actually see the ability used in games. Additionally, by removing the Raise-lock, both Jedran and Morlak Velmourn can use the ability.
Overall, a nice set of buffs that will definitely increase the playability of this warband.
The Starblood Stalkers 😢
The Starblood Stalkers have received a slight nerf. They now Inspire after the Opponent's Power step, rather than any Power step, if they hold 3 or more Treasure tokens.
Commentary - An interesting nerf, which allows the Starblood's opponent the opportunity to try and stop the inspire.
The Thricefold Discord 😑
The 'Temptation of Slaanesh' ability has been changed with this update.
When the opponent is tempted with the temptation dice, if they accept, the attacker now takes 1-Damage after the attack is resolved. If they reject the dice, then after the attack is resolved you can pick a friendly fighter that was not the target of the attack and push the fighter 1 hex.
Commentary - I think this is overall, a slight buff. Realistically, all that has happened is that these effects have been swapped around. I do think this change will make it more likely that opponents will reject the dice as they wish to avoid the Ping damage. This will then allow the Discord to access the Push tech and gain greater battlefield control.
The Wurmspat 😭
The Wurmspat have received two nerfs.
The first change is huge and affects the 'Disgustingly Resilient' ability. This ability no long works against attacks with Cleave.
Commentary - Wow! Not only do the Wurmspat lose the effectiveness of their Save against, but now they cannot even reduce damage caused. This could cause a real shift in the Meta.
The second nerf affects 'Grandfather's Gifts'. Firstly, the language of the ability has been tidied up to 'If the attack was successful, give the target a bile token after the attack is resolved'. Secondly, the Bile token the enemy fighter receives provides a -1 Move rather than the old -2.
Commentary - This is not a massive nerf, but it appears to be nice change as the old -2 Move was very oppressive. -1 Move is still going to be very annoying, but it will not feel quite as bad, especially as now a Move 3 (reduced to 2) has a chance of getting out of weapon range.
It was pointed out to me that, because the target is given a Bile token after the attack is resolved it means it cannot be used to 'one-shot' an enemy fighter and inspire. Cheers Jon C.
Xandire's Truthseekers 💪
The Truthseekers have had a single buff in the update. 'Raptors Eye' now provides Taros with a large 3 hex Push after another friendly fighter moves. Taros must end within 2 hexes of that fighter.
Commentary - 'Raptor's Eye' used to provide a reroll if the target was within 2 hexes of Taros, but this has been lost to be replaced with the push. I think I like the push as it allows you to move Taros to occupy Feature tokens deigning them from your opponent without wasting activations. Additionally, you can reuse this ability in theory every turn to access supports. Overall, I like this change to one of my old favourite warbands.
Zarbag's Gitz 😢
The Gitz have taken another nerf, although they still remain very strong (if not, broken). Now, both of the squigs, Bonekrakka and Gobbaluk, now each give up 1-Bounty.
Commentary - The GItz are now the only warband to give up a total of 9-Bounty if they are all slain. In practise, what this actually means is that it is worth trying to kill the two squigs, which are both effective fighters. Previously, if you attacked and killed the sguigs, yes, they were dead and not attacking you, but you received 0-Bounty. This felt a little like wasting a turn. Now, not so much. I don't believe this is Meta breaking, but I appreciate it.
Zikkit's Tunnelpack 😢
I am not sure why Zikkit's Tunnelpack has been hit with the nerf bat!
'Warp-charged' has been changed so that when a weapon is chosen as part of an attack, you then inflict 1 damage on the attacker (i.e. your own fighter), then the weapon has Cleave, Ensnare and Brutal.
Commentary - Previously, this ability granted the same weapon abilities, but after the attack you used to have to roll an attack die and on a Sword or a Crit (33% chance) your fighter took 2-Damage. Now, however, the damage is reduced but automatic and, importantly, it goes off before the attack. No longer can a player use a vulnerable fighter to activate this ability. Also, I liked the unpredictability of the previous version, it was thematically very Skaven. Life is cheap after all, yes-yes. Overall, an odd choice.
Spiteclaw's Swarm
Spiteclaw's Swarm has received two buffs.
The first sees an improvement to 'Scheming Pack'. Friendly schemers' melee weapons now have Grevious, rather than Crit Grevious, when attacking targets that are Flanked or Surrounded.
Commentary - This is a great buff that provides an excellent reliable damage spike to your schemers (Spiteclaw and Krrk).
The second buff is to 'Out my way, fool-things' which sees the ability change to being useable with a friendly fighter and an adjacent fighter.
Commentary - This is basically a warscroll based 'Confusion'. Previously, this ability had to be used with two friendly fighters. Now, it can be used to reposition an enemy fighter. I like how it can be used to grab Feature tokens or set up Flanked or Surrounded attacks. Just note it is used in your Power Step. Overall, great a free Confusion!
Zondora's Gravebreakers
This is an interesting buff to 'Undying Love'. Firstly, the Surge icon has been removed and has been replaced with Use this in the Power step. Nothing special here.
Secondly, the ability has been changed to once per battle round instead of once per game!
Commentary - This is a great buff, increasing the players focus on Zondara and Ferlain. As this ability is now once per round, you can get a lot more utility out of it.
Rivals Decks
Raging Slayers 😕
Raging Slayer has had a couple of changes to the Plot card.
First, 'Raging Charge' has changed. it now reads ' Immediately after picking a friendly fighter to Charge or picking a friendly fighter to attack if they already had a Charge token at the start of the turn, you can give that fighter and/or another friendly fighter in the same territory each a Rage token. Fighters with Rage tokens are enraged.
Everything new is underlined.
Commentary - This is a buff, because it allows you to spread Rage tokens around your warband so that you can more easily score your Objectives and utilise Power cards. This will make scoring the Surges 'Blinded by Rage' and 'Co-ordinated Assault'.
Secondly, when using 'Raging Strike' the enraged fighter can change a successful result to a Critical Attack result.
Commentary - Overall, this appears at a first look to be a nerf. Previously, whenever I used this deck, I was taking it to access the reroll 'Raging Strike' used to provide. Now, it provides the upgrade of a success to a Crit. This is an interesting ability with warbands that have access to lots of Crit weapon abilities, or those warbands that need to access Overrun. However, for straight-up Strike warbands, I think I prefer rerolls to improve my chance of actually landing a successful hit.
Having played a game with it, the ability to increase the chance of Overrun and prevent Standfast appears to be the hidden gem of this change. Maybe, this is a buff in disguise.
Realmstone Raiders💪
Realmstone Raiders has had a new rule added to the Plot card.
'Store' in place of a Raid, you may instead reveal an Emberstone card from your hand, then put that card at the bottom of your Power deck. This card has not been raided.
Commentary - This new rule allows you to return Emberstone cards from your hand back to your deck. This is very useful to allow you to keep scoring the deck's Objective cards. Overall, it is a buff, and a welcomed one, which makes the deck more playable. However, nothing gets around the fact that the deck requires too much bookkeeping.
Conclusion
Wow, that is a lot of changes for me (and you) to get your head around. Overall, many of these changes are buffs and should see the less played warbands appear more frequently in the Underworlds. I do not think any of them are over the top, but time will tell. The warbands that have been hit with the nerf bat do appear to have been brought back towards the chasing pack.
I think the big winners are the Sons of Velmourn. The big losers are the Wurmspat have been tamed the most. Anyway, I hope this shake-down of the FAQ has helped. Let me know your thoughts or if I have missed anything.
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