Still, I like the fluff, love the model, and think the rules are fine. So you can't assault the turn you arrive? They give you a 2 shot S6 attack to compensate. Sure CC would be better but 6 S6 shots from 3 lictors aren't bad.
The deployment rules are great - just stay 1" away from any other model and you can place them wherever you want with no deviation. Buh-bye AV10.
The pheromone trail rule is kind of useless as the +1 doesn't kick in until the turn after the Lictors arrive. I suppose they had to do that though. The Hive Commander rule grants +1 to reserve rolls, as does the Swarmlord. Adding +3 to reserve rolls would be nasty. It would have made the Lictors much more useful had GW just given the Swarmlord Hive Commander and allowed the Lictor's +1 to kick in even if it is not on the table. That would make a lot more sense fluff-wise too.
Still, the Lictor gets some great special rules, is S6, and has 3 wounds/3 attacks. I'm happy.
Eldar have some of the same problems - too many good elite units. Wraithguard, for example, are excellent. But they aren't as good as Fire Dragons against 95% of the targets out there, so they're not commonly taken.
ReplyDeleteAnd Ork players often disregard Kommandoes, Burnas, and Tankbustas just because they can't imagine taking the field without three Loota mobs.
It's the downside of the 4th/5th Ed Force Org charts. There's something to be said for the old-school approach of simply giving out a min/max number of squads for each unit. So great units don't take up squeezing out the merely "good" units.
PS: Agnes and I "lol"ed at your title.
ReplyDelete:) I live to amuse others.
ReplyDeleteI like your point about the old school approach to controlling the composition of an army. I had forgotten it was like that waaaay back in the day. Seems like there is a middle ground.
At some point I guess we all need to figure out how we have fun as individuals and not let the internet tell us how to have fun. So a unit isn't optimal - maybe I'm not out to win every game. I have no problem with the super-competitive folks out there but some of us get enjoyment out of the game through modelling, the fluff, or just having a good time with friends regardless of the outcome.
Agreed. My first 1,000 points is almost entirely derived from internet conventional wisdom: (“Get Avengers, Dragons, and Serpents.”) The only exception was the Pathfinders, which seemed like a safe bet against Necronoob - my high-toughness, well-armored nemesis. Looking forward to 1,500 points, I have to decide whether to keep following that line (“Fire Prisms and War Walkers,” is the latest advice), or strike out on my own. It would be nice to paint some new Aspect Warriors, rather than more tanks. But this is what I signed on for with Mechdar…
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