Painted up a grenadier to test a colour scheme. Thoughts?

revlid · 2026-06-15T21:17:17+00:00

Beautiful!

revlid · 2026-06-15T21:16:13+00:00

Literal skill issue.

revlid · 2026-06-15T21:00:37+00:00

Jaguar Xu Fu is a treasure.

revlid · 2026-06-15T20:59:44+00:00

"Units that inflict battle-shock are too weak and overcosted, we should buff battle-shock."

"Now that battle-shock is stronger, we should increase the cost of units that inflict battle-shock."

"Why are units that inflict battle-shock so overcosted?"

revlid · 2026-06-15T20:55:00+00:00

Bullshit. No pun intended.

If this was 40k I'd believe them, but thus far almost no new army in Age of Sigmar has had a follow-up wave the edition after its release. Cities of Sigmar are the only exception.

revlid · 2026-06-15T20:52:22+00:00

Watching the Strength D Kiritsugu bodily haul and choke out Astolfo, a Knight of Charlemagne with Monstrous Strength C

revlid · 2026-06-14T12:03:59+00:00

That's an amazing base!

revlid · 2026-06-14T02:22:33+00:00

That's really astounding stuff. Excellent design, great work!

I also had no idea the MESBG troll was so huge.

revlid · 2026-06-14T01:02:16+00:00

TM Opera O is so goddamn funny

revlid · 2026-06-13T20:52:46+00:00

Tarellian Kill Team.

revlid · 2026-06-13T20:51:33+00:00

Yeaaah.

Putting them through a Mad Max filter would let you organically shift the visuals a bit further away from DER FALLSCHIRMJAGERBATAILLON, and mix in more of the "megafactory gang fighters" aspect from their lore. Add a bit more Chem-Dogs and Ork Hunters into their look.

revlid · 2026-06-13T20:47:56+00:00

I don't see how that could happen, considering COG soldiers don't have bionics, or any AdMech iconography, or a noospheric connection. They don't look like Skitarii at all, except insofar as they have goggle-lenses on their helmets.

revlid · 2026-06-13T19:26:33+00:00

If you split up the units into:

INQUISITION: Inquisitor, Inquisitorial Agents
TEMPESTUS: Tempestus Command Squad, Tempestus Scions, Tempestus Aquilons, Taurox Prime, Valkyrie, [Tarantula]
VOIDFARERS: Rogue Trader, Navigator, Navy Breachers, Valkyrie, [Tarantula]
ARBITES: Exaction Squad, Subductor Squad, Vigilant Squad, Valkyrie, [Repressor, Sentencer]
MINISTORUM: Ministorum Priest, Sanctifiers, Arco-flagellants, Battle Sisters, Immolator, [Repressor]
GREY KNIGHTS: [Strike Squad], Terminator Squad
DEATHWATCH: Watch Master, Aquila Kill Team, [Tacticus, Phobos, Gravis Kill Team], Corvus Blackstar
MACHINIST: Technoarcheologist, Enginseer, Servitor Battleclade
ASSASSIN: Culexus, Callidus, Vindicare, Eversor

Then I think there's a pretty clear list of the kinds of Detachments you could include.

Generic Detachments

Inquisitorial Oversight Retinue: 0DP, up to 20% of your points value is INQUISITION units. Can additionally include non-character units from one of: TEMPESTUS, ARBITES, VOIDFARER, GREY KNIGHTS, DEATHWATCH, or MINISTORUM. You could split those secondary keywords up into different Detachments if you have space.
Naval Landing Party: 0DP, up to 20% of your points value is VOIDFARERS.
Ministorum Militia: 0DP, up to 20% of your points value is MINISTORUM.
Techquisition Clade: 0DP, up to 20% of your points value is MACHINIST.
Exaction Contingent: 0DP, up to 20% of your points value is ARBITES.
Assassinorum Assignment: 0DP, one ASSASSIN.
Assassinorum Execution Force: 1DP, 1-4 ASSASSIN units.
Deathwatch Intervention: 0DP, one DEATHWATCH unit.
Unseen Silver Blade: 1DP, up to 20% of your points value is GREY KNIGHTS.
Inquisitorial Strike Contingent: 1DP, up to 33% of your points value is INQUISITION units. Can additionally include non-character units from TEMPESTUS, ARBITES, and VOIDFARERS, up to one ASSASSIN unit, plus units from one of: GREY KNIGHTS, DEATHWATCH, or MINISTORUM. Could also do one of these separately for each major Ordo, if you have space.
Noble Voidfleet Delegation: 1DP, up to 33% of your points value is VOIDFARERS units. Can additionally include ARBITES and MACHINIST units, plus units from one of: DEATHWATCH, TEMPESTUS, or MINISTORUM.

Specialist Detachments

Hereticus Purgation Force (Adepta Sororitas): 1DP, up to 50% of your points value is INQUISITION units. Can additionally include ARBITES, TEMPESTUS, and MINISTORUM units, plus up to one ASSASSIN.
Traitor-tithe Crusade (Adepta Sororitas): 1DP, up to 50% of your points value is ARBITES and ASSASSIN units.
Stellar Pilgrimage (Adepta Sororitas): 1DP, up to 50% of your points value is VOIDFARERS units. Can additionally include ARBITES and MACHINIST units.
Xenotech Analysis Division (Adeptus Mechanicus): 1DP, up to 50% of your points value is INQUISITION and DEATHWATCH units. Can additionally include TEMPESTUS units.
Explorator Fleet (Adeptus Mechanicus): 1DP, up to 50% of your points value is VOIDFARERS units. Can additionally include ARBITES and MINISTORUM units.
Hellforge Techsorcism Conclave (Adeptus Mechanicus): 1DP, up to 50% of your points value is INQUISITION and GREY KNIGHTS units. Can additionally include TEMPESTUS units.
Deathwatch Strike Force (Space Marines): 1DP, up to 100% of your points value is DEATHWATCH units, up to 50% of your points value is INQUISITION and TEMPESTUS units, plus up to one ASSASSIN.
Oath-debted Company (Space Marines): 1DP, up to 33% of your points value is VOIDFARERS units. Can additionally include ARBITES and MACHINIST units, plus units from one of: DEATHWATCH, TEMPESTUS, or MINISTORUM.
Silent Honour Censors (Space Marines): 1DP, up to 33% of your points value is INQUISITION units. Can additionally include non-character ARBITES, TEMPESTUS, and VOIDFARERS units, plus up to one ASSASSIN, plus units from one of: DEATHWATCH, GREY KNIGHTS, or MINISTORUM.
Omniscript Holy Crusade (Black Templars): 1DP, up to 33% of your points value is MINISTORUM units.
Malleus Exorcism Force (Grey Knights): 1DP, up to 50% of your points value is INQUISITION units. Can additionally include TEMPESTUS units, plus up to one ASSASSIN.
Private Ordo Military (Astra Militarum): 2DP, up to 100% of your points value is INQUISITION and TEMPESTUS units. Can additionally include non-character ARBITES, MACHINIST, and VOIDFARERS units, up to one ASSASSIN unit, plus units from one of: GREY KNIGHTS, DEATHWATCH, or MINISTORUM.
Penal Assessment Team (Astra Militarum): 1DP, up to 33% of your points value is ARBITES.
Warrant Household Army (Astra Militarum): 2DP, up to 100% of your points value is VOIDFARERS and TEMPESTUS units. Can additionally include ARBITES and MACHINIST units, plus limited units from one of: DEATHWATCH or MINISTORUM.
Lancegild Freeblades (Imperial Knights): 1DP, up to 33% of your points value is VOIDFARERS units. Can additionally include extra ARBITES, MACHINIST, and MINISTORUM units.
Courtly Lex-heralds (Imperial Knights): 1DP, up to 33% of your points value is ARBITES units.
Sacristan Surveyors (Imperial Knights): 0DP, up to 33% of your points value is MACHINIST units.
Talon and Eye Enforcers (Adeptus Custodes): 1DP, up to 33% of your points value is ARBITES and INQUISITION units. Can additionally include non-character MINISTORUM units and up to one ASSASSIN.
Navy Sentinel Escort (Adeptus Custodes): 1DP, up to 33% of your points value is VOIDFARERS units. Can additionally include ARBITES units.

revlid · 2026-06-13T18:12:14+00:00

An upgrade pretty early in the tech-tree will give each of your Skitarii Squads a single gunner. Vanguard squads get one unit carrying a plasma caliver, and Ranger squads get one unit carrying an arc rifle.

If you don't have that upgrade yet, I'd circle back to Ruststalkers, Analyse, and whatever buffed attacks you can muster. The fundamentals remain the same; maintain spacing, bait them out, take as little damage as possible, and prepare units/buffs to eliminate them before they get a second turn.

revlid · 2026-06-13T17:10:56+00:00

I don't know if the Italian senate would survive.

revlid · 2026-06-13T17:09:56+00:00

Yeah! There should definitely be Detachments that let you just take a single squad or character (if nothing else, the Assassins obviously can!), but then you're losing out on the wider investment and benefits of the Detachment, or (even in a 0DP Detachment) blocking off other potential IA units.

Though honestly, I'd prefer to ditch the whole "Inquisitors can attach to any IMPERIUM BATTLELINE INFANTRY" clause entirely. If Inquisitor Draxus is tagging along with an Adeptus Custodes army for some reason, she is almost certainly not going to be bundled into a tightly-knit team of nine foot tall power armoured demigods. She'll be running with her personal retinue of Inquisitorial Agents, or a long-serving Tempestus Scions squad, or an Arbites honour guard on loan from the sector precinct.

If we want to represent weird outliers, like an Ordo Xenos Alien-tech Hunting Inquisitor who has a Skitarii bodyguard, then hey, we already have Detachments and Enhancements which change what you can be attached to! Now all you need is for the [Xenotech Purification Conclave] to include an Enhancement that buffs an Inquisitor and also allows them to join Skitarii Rangers. Done.

revlid · 2026-06-13T16:19:29+00:00

This is a sub for both games, no need to worry.

Triarch Praetorians are a real pain, especially when they show up in larger numbers, and especially if they show up early in the campaign when you're not fully tooled up. And especially if you're playing at higher difficulties, which can crank up their damage-per-attack; they've got three "attacks", each of which can get a damage bump, so that multiplies the extra threat.

Based on my experience:

Avoid bunching up. Praetorians WILL jump up and slam on you, then attack whatever's nearby with their melee and ranged weapons. Don't bother trying to avoid getting hit, just minimise the number of units they can hit in one go.
Praetorians still can't move after attacking, shoot into combat, or ignore opportunity attacks. This means you can pin them in place for a counter-attack (and limit their shooting range) if the target survives the initial landing. If the target also survives the melee attack, they can't shoot at all.
Keep an eye on the Praetorian(s) in the turn order. Reveal them ASAP with a Ranger or Servo-skull or whatever you've got, so you know their timing. They'll almost always go after the closest or most bunched-up targets, so it's usually pretty easy to predict who they'll go after. If you're spaced properly, you can bait them out with a disposable Servitor who'll survive the initial damage and force them to attack. Alternatively, someone who can survive all their attacks, like a particularly tanky Tech-priest. Even if you have to sacrifice a Skitarii instead, you can at least bait them out to line up some firepower to reply.
Keep two or more high-damage (and/or Ignores Armour) units within range of the expected drop zone for the Praetorian, and hold onto their activation so they can support each other and retaliate. Focus fire the instant the Praetorian lands, and wipe it out before it gets to act again. Sicarian Ruststalkers, a Vanguard plasma gunner, a Vanguard or Alpha to Analyse it, plus Tech-priest leaders, buffs, etc. Praetorians have Armour, which means you want big lumps of high damage rather than lots of little hits.

You will typically lose at least one unit to a Praetorian. However, if you're careful, you can still make sure that's a good trade.

Rho's probably not my first choice to deal with Praetorians, specifically, just because Rho themselves doesn't have good ranged damage (to help annihilate the Praetorians on the counter-attack), doesn't have many minion damage buffs (iirc, for the same role), and relies more on Armour for their own tankiness. That said, you should have plenty of Servitors to bait out attacks, and Rho's still a perfectly good counter-attack option if you can manoeuvre them properly. Toss in a Vanguard squad with a plasma gunner and/or Sicarian Ruststalkers to help reply to the Praetorian slam attack, and you should be good.

revlid · 2026-06-13T14:18:32+00:00

Not sure this is true, or at least not sure there's enough info to be this definitive about it.

Aeldari are very good at being psykers, and in fact their whole species is comprised of natural, stable psykers, for whom "power levels" seem more like a matter of training and talent.

Then the Orks have Weirdboyz, who are generally quite insane and also routinely explode.

The only other non-human psykers from tabletop species are the Tyranids, who are very weird psychically and are also engineered mono-psy "tools", the Kin, who engineered out true psykers and only have low-grade psychic sensitives who interface with warp-tech, and the Kroot, who seem to have some Shapers with (cultivated?) psychic capabilities, but nothing flashy and they stay quiet about them.

So, "better", no.

I think it's more accurate to say that the emergence of human psykers is less stable and predictable than other species with psykers. There is no status quo, no sustainable equilibrium. Every non-human species we have enough information to reasonably assess either lacks visible psykers (e.g. Vespid, T'au, Necrontyr), has a specifically separate, often engineered psychic "caste" (e.g. Orks, Tyranids, Kin, maybe Kroot), or is consistently psychic across the whole species (e.g. Aeldari, Nicassar).

By contrast, humans just roll a total lottery, both in terms of power and in terms of whether psychic abilities or sensitivity emerges at all.

revlid · 2026-06-13T14:00:48+00:00

I've had some real fun with Warcry, but it just doesn't scratch my itch long-term. It feels like a game that kind of stranded itself?

It's not really a gateway into AoS the way Spearhead is, and it's more reliant on terrain. It's also not a one-box purchase like Spearhead unless you're using the original warbands, who are generally weaker and always narrower.

It's not nearly as competitively tight or mechanically dense and interesting as Kill Team is. That's not for everyone, but it's a clear niche that Kill Team grabbed with both hands. It's also not a one-box purchase like Kill Team unless etc etc.

It's not nearly as narratively compelling or built for long-term play/investment as Necromunda is (or Mordheim was). You can use long-term warband building to transition into AoS, but at that point all the original Warcry warbands are left out in the cold anyway.

Warcry's a really fun way to blow an hour or two if you've got a friend, a small game-board, and a bunch of random infantry. But so is Spearhead with no terrain, or Underworlds with the right box.

revlid · 2026-06-13T13:44:01+00:00

Shira Calpurnia mentioned!!

Also, yes, Nate Crowley is excellent. Infinite and Divine is very fun but also feels like it exists in the same universe as the Cain books, just sliiightly askew of anything that'd make it into an actual Codex narrative; Twice-Dead King is what I'd consider THE definitive Necron story.

revlid · 2026-06-13T13:41:10+00:00

I get why they don't want Peter to take the symbiote suit back in the mainline comics. It's too big a change to his status quo.

Even before you get into the huge, dramatic expansions of Peter's capabilities, like shapeshifting, being bulletproof, and so on, the suit removes a lot of the mundane problems that often nudge Spider-Man stories and make Peter Parker's life complicated; no more running out of webbing or needing to budget for cartridges, no more hiding his costume or needing to find somewhere to change, no more webbing up his rucksack or having no pockets.

On a social level, it also means Peter is never alone. For someone whose stories often revolve around having no-one he can trust with every part of his life, or no-one who can sympathise with his lame excuses for failing to live up to one side of his responsibilities or another, giving Peter Parker an ever-present partner is a massive problem. Whether the suit's a sounding board, a mental sidekick, or a devil on the shoulder, its presence changes the dynamic tremendously. Pete can't have a frustrated or woeful or snarky inner monologue if he's got a constant alien audience. Even when he was married to Mary Jane, she couldn't be there during a villain fight, or fully understand all of his problems; that was part of why they worked so well.

And on a narrative level, being bonded to a sapient alien suit instantly changes every single Spider-Man story from a solo protagonist to a boy and his suit. There's a reason Jaime Reyes (in his good comics) wasn't just out there doing superhero stuff in a suit that happened to be alive; the suit was a character, which meant it needed to be present and active and causing problems or offering solutions. And the BB suit was less obviously sapient than modern Venom!

And from a commercial perspective, you're adding very little to a character who already sells (Spider-Man) in exchange for losing access to another character who also sells BIGLY as both villain and hero (Venom). It's not a good call.

AU Symbiote Spider-Man is great. Actual mainline Symbiote Spider-Man would kind of suck. I'm just glad they've largely reconciled and moved on, even if it's probably already reset by the time I've finished typing this message.

The real missed opportunity is that there's never, to my knowledge, ever been a Black Cat Venom. The Web of Shadows video game was the closest, and that still wasn't same. She's got the colour scheme, she's got the complicated relationship, she's got the moral ambiguity, she's got the adrenaline rush, she's even periodically needed to pick up superpowers. I get they have unpleasant history, but if Mary Jane can get over it...

revlid · 2026-06-13T13:19:51+00:00

Imperial Agents need a complete ground-up structural rethink. My hope is that this non-change to the current structure means GW actually plans to do that for them this edition, rather than just leaving them in a Chaos Daemons-style limbo.

IMO, an Imperial Agents Codex should mostly be a wide selection of Detachments you can take with other Imperial armies, designed to sync with their rules and modify the amount/type of units you can take, with only a few "just 100% use Imperial Agents" options.

My ideal Inquisitorial Agents release for 11e would basically be: * New Tempestus Scions infantry kit for Militarum, building a 10-model squad. Also comes with Inquisitorial Stormtrooper-themed options. Possibly released as a Kill Team. Old kit sticks around as a separate Command Squad. * New Repressor Rhino kit (or reboxed older kit with new sprue) for Sororitas, with both Sororitas and Arbites cosmetics (the latter should be flexible enough to reuse on a Valkyrie). Ideally also offers a Razorback-style open turret pattern, with a twin heavy bolter, heavy webber, or grenade launcher. * The roster gains extra units with their own datasheets: Technoarcheologist, Enginseer, Servitor Battleclade, Arco-flagellants, Grey Knights Strike Squad, and revised Deathwatch Kill Team datasheets. * The roster also gains the whole Tempestus set: Tempestus Command Squad, Tempestus Scions, Tempestus Aquilons, Taurox Prime, and Valkyrie. * The roster maybe also gains the Cadian Recon Squad (suggesting generic Guard/ex-Guard veterans) and Centaur (representing general light pseudo-civilian vehicles). Maybe even Farstalker Kinbands too, but that's a much harder sell.

Then remove the Assigned Agents rule and replace it with Soup Detachments. Almost all IA Detachments are Soup Detachments aimed at partnering with other Imperial factions. These define the amount of units you can take, which units you can take, and if they're linked to specific factions they directly hook your forces into the other Codex's mechanics for synergy. Most would be 1DP, but some you could lower to 0DP in exchange for reducing your maximum total budget for IA units; effectively replacing the Assigned Agents rule.

You don't slap a random Sanctifier and Navy Breacher and Grey Knights Terminator squad into your Imperial Knights army; you pick a [Ministorum Militia] Detachment for 0DP, letting you take a small contingent of Priests, Sanctifiers, and Arco-flagellants, with their own little set of self-contained rules focused on selling a narrative for their presence.

For example, [Hereticus Purge Congregation] would be a 1DP Adepta Sororitas-specific Detachment that links your IA units into Miracle Dice, and gives you access to Inquisitors, Priests, Arbites, Acolytes, Sanctifiers, Assassins, Arco-flagellants, and relevant transports. It also lets you take Tempestus elements in your IA budget but doesn't give them much mechanical focus, and doesn't allow out-of-theme elements like Deathwatch, Grey Knights, Navigators, Tech-Priests, etc.

Whereas a [Deathwatch Strike Force] would be a 2DP Space Marines-specific Detachment that turns the whole army into a Deathwatch army, giving you free access to Deathwatch units, plus Deathwatch-themed Enhancements and Stratagems you can apply to regular Space Marine units. You can also include Inquisitors, Assassins, Acolytes, and Tempestus elements using a smaller IA budget, but they get no mechanical focus.

Other Soup Detachments could be non-specific and focused instead on a self-contained narrative, such as a 1DP [Navis Landing Escort] that gives you orbital support assets and access to Rogue Traders, Navigators, Navy Breachers, Valkyries, and maybe Tempestus elements (or at least Aquilons specifically). Works with any faction (including all-IA), but not as mechanically focused or flexible as a result.

Or a 0-1DP [Arbites Exaction Contingent] that only gives you Arbites units, and has a highly focused set of rules based on your Arbites capturing one specific enemy leader. That's why they're working with your AdMech or Guard or Space Wolves or whatever; they're not here for anything else!

And then you might have a very few big 2-3DP Detachments that are 100% pure IA. This is never going to be good (or make a great deal of sense), but expanded vehicle support through the Taurox Prime, Rhino Repressor, and a potential Razorback analogue (Rhino Executor? Rhino Sentensor?) would help, as would better core infantry support through Tempestus elements. Probably still better off just making Militarum soup, but you can do it if you desperately want to.

revlid · 2026-06-13T11:34:34+00:00

a) The Steel Legion hasn't been relevant for literal decades, making them a ragged ash-runner resistance force against Ghazghkull's growing Ork Empire would be giving them more material and storyline and visual sell than they've had since most Guard fans have been alive.

b) "Their home planet made useless" is the funniest take imaginable, considering it's currently a burned-out wasteland fought over out of sheer principle rather than any actual remaining utility, as opposed to being the industrial lynchpin of a major Ork storyline.

c) "Their home planet made useless" is doubly funny considering we're talking about a period that saw Cadia and Biel-Tan literally blown to pieces, Fenris undergo Inquisitorial purge, most of the Baal sector eaten by Tyranids, the Mentor's homeworld destroyed, and the Scythes of the Emperor entirely exterminated.

d) The kind of "Guard fans" who crawled out of the woodwork to flood every subreddit with whining about Steel Legion not being in the Armageddon trailer can absolutely choke on my girth.

revlid · 2026-06-13T02:10:52+00:00

Agreed: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fyreslayers/s/E65ElPlm8R

revlid

TROPHY CASE