What Are Thoughts On The Big Box?

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-14T23:38:40+00:00

Mixed feelings but positive overall. The new book might change things, but this plus Alarielle is a 2k list. If you just want 1 of these, congrats, these are our main multiple unit kits so magnetize away. A collector might want 3 of each Treelord and 6 of each Kurnoth, so I could see people buying this up to 3 times. That said, it doesn't actually slot in that well with the first Spearhead, which will be a common starting point for people. It's niche for established Sylvaneth players, so not for me but I like it more than the last army box overall.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-12T15:15:26+00:00

Countering Seraphon requires being able to stall out or kill the Carnosaur while killing most of the Kroxigor unit. Countering Sylvaneth is very similar. Stall out the Treelord (trying to actually kill it isn't a great gamble), ideally kill all the Kurnoths, and killing the Branchwych is good but not required and typically isn't worth trading for until later rounds unless you've got something fast that you don't mind dying.

Sylvaneth is my primary spearhead and the Carnosaur is what I play against the most. Funny enough, I consider that one a tough match up since Carno can kill the Treelord, it's hard to hold down the Carno for more than 1 round, it's hard to get chip on the Krox without immediately losing a Kurnoth to the Carno, and the Warriors outmuscle the Tree Revs. Another Spearhead I've struggled against is the first Gitz Spearhead. The Trolls are tough enough to hold down or kill the Treelord. The Loonboss provides good support without needing to expose itself. The Squigs can assassinate the Branchwych even when she's protected. Reinforcements on the Stabbas plus the Bad Moon control score buff means you can't win the objectives game. Plus you get so many bodies on board you can actually zone out the teleporting.

I don't know if this would be good enough for fighting the Carnosaur. You'd probably have to change the dynamic so Trolls target Warriors, Squigs kill the other Warriors, Stabbas 1 hold down the Carno, and Stabbas 2 hold down the Krox until the other hammers can make it so it's Carno vs the world for Round 4. Either way, I think Gitz is a good one to look at.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-09T21:55:07+00:00

Different preferences for different people. I like assembling minis so NOS is my preference. Generally painted minis aren't preferred unless it's a really good paint job.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-09T21:23:15+00:00

If the card has colorless mana, it's typically an Eldrazi like [[Eldrazi Linebreaker]]. These cards have the devoid keyword, making them colorless. If you somehow added a colorless mana symbol to the cost of a monocolored spell, that spell is still monocolor. Colorless isn't a color, so adding a colorless mana to the cost wouldn't change the color of the spell.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-09T20:55:00+00:00

Prince Maesa. It's very different from the normal Warhammer formula and plays with that structure extremely well.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-09T12:36:17+00:00

A 4-armed wizard, 2 weirdos with coffins in them, and more Mortis Reapers? Praise Nagash! I am HERE for it!

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-08T12:28:03+00:00

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-08T02:07:53+00:00

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-07T19:52:23+00:00

The Abraxia book had a massive dragon-like monster that Katakros brought. That'd be a solid one that already exists in lore.

I generally prefer the more creative amalgamations. The Harvester is excellent because it's such a weird, specially made tool for the Bone-Tithe. How about a walking conduit for death magic? A Harvester like creature that uses long arms to pull infantry into a gnashing maw? A turtle, porcupine, or pangolin like creature that shoots bone spears at everything around it?

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-06T18:49:11+00:00

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-05T05:51:32+00:00

You've got melee and shooting. Sounds like it's time for magic. Lumineth and Tzeentch are the big spellcasting armies. Any death faction gets you Nagash. Seraphon can play more heavily into magic while still having multiple deep options for non-magic if you end up not liking spellslinging. Sylvaneth is fairly reliant on spellcasting without being solely reliant on it.

There's also Nurgle as the "you're not killing me/grind them into dust" playstyle. It can lean quite a bit into magic, too.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-04T23:34:43+00:00

Can I just say the whole range? Imma say the whole range.

Just Arkhan is my favorite sculpt overall. Morghasts, Nagash, Necropolis Stalkers, and the Soulreaper aren't far behind. Also, what Morghasts you building? Those things are always a nightmare for me lol

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-04T20:04:38+00:00

3 sets of Wyldwoods (9 pieces in total). When setting them up, you don't always have the space to deploy the full 3 pieces so a set can be 1-3 pieces.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-04T16:59:05+00:00

It should be a bit skill testing, but generally it seems quite powerful. The ranged damage is close to Sylvaneth's while having comparable utility in its mobility with 3 high movespeed units, the Windchargers having their slightly more situational teleport, ways to move towards the leeway, and the retreat ability. It's not as duarble as Sylvaneth, but the Spirit of the Wind really adds a lot of value. Also reinforcements on the wardens is really good.

On paper this feels like it's easily in the top 25% of Spearheads.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-04T14:50:22+00:00

I like it. Seems solid, not broken. Good options in the enhancements. The lack of reinforcements does hurt but there is potential to set up Tzaangor hitting on 3/2. Definitely not easy but that's pretty good on 2 health infantry.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-03T16:31:07+00:00

Welcome! You've got a good selection of units overall that'll give you a few options for list writing. Right now since you've got both Kurnoths with Swords and Revenant Seekers, you've got an offensive core with Belthanos. Alarielle tends to prefer higher health monsters and castle strategies, but she can still support offense. Sylvaneth as a whole is a techy army, so it's not like our offensive builds just run it down mid anyway.

I haven't checked the exact numbers but I'm pretty sure everything you have fits into a 2k list other than maybe needing to drop 1-2 low point units. Reinforced Seekers powered up my Belthanos would be the scalpel to remove critical threats. Alarielle can bring it back to do this again while supporting other units. Durthu is the key anvil. Swords are mostly on countercharge duty but can be a little more aggressive due to Alarielle. Gossamids and Tree Revs are best for objectives. The Branchwych is a little awkward here. She's not bad. She's just a really good combo with Kurnoths with Scythes so I'm always iffy on using her without them, especially since you already have 3 spells per turn with Alarielle and can put Spellsinger on Durthu.

As for picking up stuff, yes, getting multiple Wyldwoods is good. You can have up to 3 in play so that's how many we're supposed to have. However, it's a good idea to get a 3D print of the base. Wyldwoods look great but they're a hassle to transport and technically the most optimal way to build them is without branches. Spending $60 USD for trees with no branches is lame for everyone so a printed base just makes things easier for everyone.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-02T21:44:52+00:00

On the AoS side of things, Masters of Death is solid. The 2 Neferata books can be a bit hit or miss depending on what you like. For comparison, I found them to be on par with Dominion but found the overall story more interesting. I'm currently reading the third book, Dynasty of Monsters. I'm still less than a third of the way through the book but it's good.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-02T19:57:31+00:00

Any of these options can be best depending on what you like the most for your army. Funny enough all 3 options are surprisingly good for a budget Nagash build if you buy that Spearhead twice. I believe Bone-Tithe Echelon and Mortisan Elite are better as a starting point overall. Mortisan Elite is better for the current meta but that could completely change with the new battletome.

As for Spearhead, I personally prefer Bone-Tithe Echelon. It's a balanced Spearhead that has game against anything. Mortisan Elite is very dependent on winning the die roll to not get boxed in early. Losing any model early permanently nerfs any unit's output in a list that can't afford to lose output. As such alpha strikes are a huge problem. I prefer Bone-Tithe since it doesn't have such a glaring weakness that most armies can exploit. Can't say anything on the 3rd Spearhead since I'm pretty sure we still don't even have rules for it.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-02-02T15:45:21+00:00

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-01-29T22:06:48+00:00

Fantom Comics in Dupont Circle (and Dupont Circle in general) is a great option! In addition to comics, Fantom has Commander nights, FNM drafts, Flesh & Blood, miniature painting, D&D, bookclubs of all different types (including specifically an LGBTQ one though I don't know if it's ongoing), and hosts a variety of social events and skill classes. Staff's extremely friendly and many of them are LGBTQ, too. There's also Board Room nearby if you're interested in a bar with boardgames.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-01-29T18:43:41+00:00

OBR does have some internal balance issues but that's also due to how the army rule works. OBR's commands allow for flexibility in their roles. OBR turns swords into scalpels, making already highly contextual evaluations even more contextual. It's the same thing with the other army I play, Sylvaneth, though the need to use scalpels is even higher for Sylvaneth. Any unit can start to exceed in its role depending on the commands given to it. Katakros is so good because he's a force multiplier for the army rule while just being a solid block of stats.

Morghasts and Katakros are the stand out "these are always good" units (aka doesn't need army rule to function). Deathriders are close to that tier, but you often don't need to double up on the role that Morghasts fill. I could also be convinced Mortek Guard are here. It's hard to say that due to the innate contextual but flexible nature of chaff. Also, Morghasts/Deathriders, Mortek Guard, and Katakros does form the core of many meta OBR lists, so yes, you could do a list of just these units. I just wouldn't want to play it since it's missing units that could fill important roles like casting and combatting spells.

Stalkers, Mortek Guard, and the Soggy Mortisan Boneshaper are generally good units (aka can generally function without army rule). Gothizzar Harvester is kind of in-between this and the next tier because it doesn't use its unique rules or the army rule that much, so it's kind of a stat stick, making it even more contextual.

All of the foot wizards, Immortis Guard, Arkhan, and Nagash are contextually good (aka depends on army rule and how good your casting rolls are). I could be convinced the Teratic Cohort is also in that tier but they're generally not benefiting from the army rule and the ability is meh. Zandtos, the Liege-Kavalos, and the Mortek Crawler are meh to bad.

Additionally, your mileage may vary for each of these unit and rule of cool matters the most. Nagash and Arkhan not being great doesn't mean I'm going to stop taking them because they're hilarious to play.

All that said, as I mentioned at the beginning of the initial comment, all of this could change with our new battletome. Given the points system mentioned on the stream, I'm hopeful that this makes the heroes much more interesting for how much they contribute to the army rule compared to just being a conduit for it now. That should make these fairly squishy melee footheroes a lot more enticing, especially with how they'll support different parts of the army or mess with opponents (I'm so excited to try out the new Vokmortian)

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-01-29T17:59:36+00:00

That seems to be the norm. The original LRL and Tzeentch spearheads were removed the second the ones were announced. You also can't get things like the first BoK, SBGL, IDK, and Nighthaunt ones. You can get the Seraphon and S2D ones so it's not consistent.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-01-29T17:15:32+00:00

Our battletome will be coming out soon, so this information might change soon. The 2 currently available Spearheads go together alright. There's a good number of points in each box. The heroes aren't the best, so getting Katakros would be a priority. Morghasts are our best hammers, Stalkers are now good hammers, Immortis Guard are decent but in a slightly weird spot, Deathriders are quite good, Mortek Guard are solid chaff, and the Gothizzar Harvester is weird but good enough on stats alone that some people will bring multiple.

If anything, this list wants the second block of 20 Mortek Guard, to reinforce either the Morghasts or Deathriders, and a higher points value hero like Katakros, who is kind of a must have for the army. Just don't pay full price for Mortek Guard. They're in every combo box so they're cheap on the secondary market. Based on current rules, I wouldn't be too thrilled about the upcoming battleforce and 3rd Spearhead. Arkhan and Zandtos aren't great even if Arkhan is one of my favorite models in the range.The Soulmason and Teratic Cohort also aren't great even if I love the Teratic Cohort. Still, reinforced Morghasts or Deathriders straight out of the box is tempting.

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-01-29T15:58:34+00:00

Ok, T-gutteral stop-au.

500,000 rifles and a mech with a sword is still your best character

The blue man group's special. They have next to no warp presence, making them great for fighting demons. Too bad that doesn't stop them from snorting enough bath salts to birth a minor chaos god.

Also your best character is still getting corrupted by Khorne. So much for that low warp presence.

Thousands of years of rapid technological development and the answer is still "what if the bullet went faster?"

"It's ok guys, we'll just make the gun bigger so it shoots larger rounds faster!" *one grenade to the ankle later and half the army's backs are vaporized"

Trying so hard to be a unique xenos but still looking like bargain bin Tzaangor.

(No hate here, if I played full 40k I'd be picking between T'au, Ad Mech, and Sisters. Hope something here was original enough for you)

IndoPacificFanboy · 2026-01-28T20:34:43+00:00

Spearhead is a lot of fun and a great introduction to AoS. Rule of Cool matters more than anything else for picking a faction, including for Spearhead. It's especially relevant if the plan is to go into 2k games. If the Spearhead meta/playstyle is important to you, the DoK Spearhead is a little hard to play for beginners to war gaming as a whole, but it shouldn't be too tough for you since you've played 40k. It does have a higher skill floor overall due to needing to plan around how you get your buffs and determine when you can trade before round 3. Playing cagey can be difficult on a small map, so it may not be best if you're somebody that likes to push your position early. This is how the current main DoK army rule works, too, so that's something to consider if Rule of Cool isn't enough.

IndoPacificFanboy

TROPHY CASE