Grotmas Calendar 2025

[Karhedron]

  

2 hours ago, Moonstalker said:

I think I'm feelin the points drops more than the detachment.  Grey Hunters getting a hefty points drop is really welcome.

 

Not hefty enough for me IMHO. They are still more expensive than Intercessors and worse. They are 5 points more than a 10-man Intercessor squad but the Intercessors get 2 AGLs as well as choice of melee weapons on the Serg. Grey Hunters get no special weapons and only Power Weapon/Fist on the pack leader. Intercessors get Sticky Objective which is always nice to have somewhere in your army.

 

The real crunch is that Hunters are fixed at 10-man squads. I almost always run my Battleline units at MSU. I can't remember the last time a saw a Marine army with a 10-man Battleline squad. Certainly no one runs them that way at tournaments.

 

Intercessors get 4 S4 Ap-1 shooting attacks and 3 S4 AP0 melee attacks. Hunters get 3 S4 AP0 shooting attacks and 4 S4 Ap-1 melee attacks. Sounds balanced on paper but it really isn't in practice. Both units can usually shoot in the first turn but the Hunters will be lucky to get into melee until T2. In practice this means that Intercessors are likely to get to use their stronger profile more often than Grey Hunters.

 

Basically, Hunters need to come down to at least 150 points before they are even worth considering. If GW actually wanted to make them good they should also be available in 5/10 squad sizes (also Blood Claws should be 10/15/20).

 

2 hours ago, Moonstalker said:

+1 to wound strat would be more interesting if it was usable in melee as well as shooting.  As-is, maybe good for Grey Hunters?

 

Battle Instincts can target any ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit, not just SPACE WOLVES. This means any shooty unit can be dialled up 11 with this Strat. Plasma Inceptors would be a really nice call with this.

 

2 hours ago, Moonstalker said:

So-so on the reactive move, maybe it saves what remains of a unit from being shot a second time/finished off, but activating after shooting has been finished and being random movement does not fill me with joy.

 

Most reliable use for this is to jump back into a Transport in your opponent's turn.

Edited yesterday at 04:28 PM by Karhedron

[Moonstalker]

I agree that Grey Hunters need more help, but getting them down so they're at least close to Intercessor points is a start.  Making them 5/10 man is what would really make them viable.  Overall, though, what I was trying to communicate is that I'm just not feeling the detachment that much.  Competitively I'm not sure it actually bumps off Stormlance or Gladius.  I'd love to be wrong - my hot take certainly missed that Battle Instincts can target more than just SW units - but I'm just a bit underwhelmed by it.  Like it feels like it has some tools that we needed, but not always enough of them, or usable in the right places/times/combinations.

 

The terminator captain enhancement really has me frowning.  For one, it doesn't have great implications for our ability to mix SW/AA units/leaders in the future.  But it really feels like a huge point sink for some questionable utility.  115 points to Rapid Ingress a second unit on turn 2?  A free AoC use?

[SvenIronhand]

15 minutes ago, Moonstalker said:

For one, it doesn't have great implications for our ability to mix SW/AA units/leaders in the future. 

I think it indicates the opposite, actually. Why give us that option if it was going to be all SW, all the time?

[Moonstalker]

2 minutes ago, SvenIronhand said:

I think it indicates the opposite, actually. Why give us that option if it was going to be all SW, all the time?

 

Ideally we'd able to do it more freely.  Having it be an enhancement for one unit in one detachment is not great.  Says they want it to be rare and costly.

[HeadlessCross]

5 hours ago, Moonstalker said:

I agree that Grey Hunters need more help, but getting them down so they're at least close to Intercessor points is a start.  Making them 5/10 man is what would really make them viable.  Overall, though, what I was trying to communicate is that I'm just not feeling the detachment that much.  Competitively I'm not sure it actually bumps off Stormlance or Gladius.  I'd love to be wrong - my hot take certainly missed that Battle Instincts can target more than just SW units - but I'm just a bit underwhelmed by it.  Like it feels like it has some tools that we needed, but not always enough of them, or usable in the right places/times/combinations.

 

The terminator captain enhancement really has me frowning.  For one, it doesn't have great implications for our ability to mix SW/AA units/leaders in the future.  But it really feels like a huge point sink for some questionable utility.  115 points to Rapid Ingress a second unit on turn 2?  A free AoC use?

The idea is you'd combine that free Rapid Ingress along with Logan's free drop on T1 and shove a ton of Terminators to the front really quick. 

 

You can also bring them back into reserve with the one enhancement. I think this could easily be equal to Stormlance and Gladius Wolves. 

[Indy Techwisp]

Today's Grotmas offering was a Horus Heresy Traitors Painting Guide.

 

The teaser for tomorrow's article indicates it's AoS rules for the Warhammer Quest minis:

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Tomorrow on the Grotmas Calendar, a band of heroes threaten to break free from the Jade Abbey…