A Song of Ice and Fire: Neuheiten
CMON schicken neben einer Söldnertruppe und Leibwechsler für das freie Volk auch die Wardens aus dem Baratheon Starter auf die Schlachtfelder von Westeros.
A Truly Garish Unit
The war in Westeros has made it possible for people to make a lot of coin by selling their services to any military organization who wishes them to fight on the front lines. Westeros’ mercenary companies have a long tradition, each wanting to distinguish themselves, and The Bloody Mummers are certainly skilled at getting seen. Their garish clothing certainly makes them stand out from the crowd, but they’re no clowns. Opponents see their bright colors and painted faces as a warning sign. Like a deadly poisoned frog or caterpillar might put on a bright display to show how dangerous they are, so do the Bloody Mummers. In this article, we take a look at their mainline troops, the Skirmishers, and see what they will soon be bringing to the battlefields of Westeros.
The Bloody Mummer Skirmisher are a dedicated melee unit that costs a moderate 6 points to field. They have a Speed of 5 which is fairly average and so they should be able to get to the enemy about as fast as most units. However, they are lightly armored, having only a 5+ Defense Save. Their Morale value also shows that they are dedicated to money, not necessarily the cause that their army fights for, so it’s a modest 7+. However, enemies should be wary of taking them on in melee. While the Skirmishers might look like a soft, easy unit to attack, their Parry Special Ability will make opponents pay when they miss. The rule states that when attacked with melee, enemies that roll a 1 on their attack suffer 1 Wound. That’s a direct Wound and not a hit, so it would go through enemy armor with ease. The Skirmishers are not a unit to just attack offhand, and enemy commanders will have to weigh the pros and cons of what could happen to an expensive unit should they roll poorly.
On the offensive side of things, the Skirmishers are well-practiced with their Mummer’s Blades, hitting on a 3+ and rolling 7 dice when at full ranks. The Skirmishers are also adept at ambush tactics and using their lightly-armored frames to make speedy strikes at their opponents. When attacking with their Mummer’s Blades, if their target hasn’t yet activated yet that round, the target becomes Weakened. This means that the Skirmishers also somewhat dictate the flow of battle and may force an opponent to activate a unit they might not otherwise want to yet. And, of course, pairing Weakened with their Parry special rule just plays into the Skirmisher’s player’s hands, potentially causing more Wounds right back at the enemy that’s attacking them.
Overall, the Bloody Mummer Skirmishers are a control unit that will cause a lot of headaches for opposing commanders. What might seem like a straightforward unit has a lot of hidden depth and complexity. Enemies are best leaving the Skirmishers at more than arm’s length, lest they find a unit stuck in with a rather prickly foe.
The Bloody Mummer Skirmishers will be available later this month.
Getting Back to Nature
The Free Folk are very much in tune with nature. Unlike the more urbanized groups to the south, the Free Folk look to the wild not with trepidation or a sense of trying to control it. Instead, they live in tune with it. Among them, there are those who can expand their consciousness and reach into the minds of other living creatures. They’re called the Skinchangers and when they are found on the battlefield, it’s not because of anything they are doing, but because of the animals that they bring along with them. Soon, Free Folk commanders will be able to recruit these powerful individuals for their forces. The Skinchangers box isn’t a unit to itself, but an elaborate Unit Attachment with several options open when building a force. Let’s take a look at just how this unique box set works.
Inside the Skinchangers box, players will find two sculpts of Skinchanger model along with six other models, two wolves, two eagles, and two bears. The humans in the group are the actual Unit Attachments. They cost 1 point apiece and ignore the usual Unit Attachment rules (so a unit can have a different Unit Attachment as well as a Skinchanger assigned to it). However, a unit can only have 1 Skinchanger at a time. When deployed, the player chooses to have the Skinchanger bonded to an eagle, a wolf, or a bear. Each Skinchanger can be bonded to a different animal, but once the choice is made, it will remain that animal for the entire battle. Each animal has a different ability that comes into play at different times.
Both the wolf and the eagle come into play at the start of each round when their respective cards are attached to enemy units. The Free Folk player attaches the card to the enemy unit and the respective model is placed next to the enemy unit as a reminder to both players the rules it has in effect. The eagle allows units to roll an extra Charge Distance die when charging the attached unit. The charging unit also ignores Dangerous, Rough, and Hindering terrain keywords. The eagle basically guides the Free Folk forces in, making their charges more reliable and letting them move swiftly and safely over terrain. Meanwhile, the wolf is constantly nipping at the heels of the unit it’s attached to. The wolf causes that unit to suffer an additional Wound whenever it rolls a 1 when making Defense Saves. A round of bad rolling and the unit can suddenly lose quite a few extra members due to the snapping jaws.
As for the bear, when a player chooses that as the bonded animal, it comes to the board as its own unit with its own movement tray. The bear does not activate on its own. It simply activates after whatever unit its bonded Skinchanger is in. This can give the Free Folk army a strong 1-2 punch with the bear. The bear has a speed of five, Defense Save of 3+, and a Morale value of 2+. It’s a rough and rugged bear that’s ready to fight. The bear also has two wounds, meaning it can take a little bit of a beating before it goes down. It must, however, stay relatively close to its Skinchanger, as it’s automatically destroyed if it starts a round further than Long Range from the Skinchanger’s unit. On the offensive side of things, the bear is armed with nasty claws and a vicious bite. It only rolls one die when attacking, but it hits on a 2+ and doesn’t allow Defense Saves. The bear also has Vicious, which causes the enemy unit to make its Panic Test at -2. Nobody likes a savage bear attacking them.
The Skinchanger box set offers a unique set of options for Free Folk players. With the ease with which the Unit Attachments can be added into a force, many players will see the benefit from having one or two around. Each one of the bonded animals can give new opportunities to an army, letting them charge more reliably, attack more powerfully, or have a giant ally to fight alongside with.
The Skinchanger box set will be available later this month.
The Stag’s Mainline Troops
House Baratheon is the current occupier of the Iron Throne, captured by Robert Baratheon during his rebellion. With his death, there is a question about who should now occupy the seat. While Joffrey is there now, Robert’s brothers, Stannis and Renly, are also claiming to be the rightful heirs, and have taken to the field of battle to assert that right. Unfortunately, they have torn House Baratheon in two, forcing everyone to take sides. However, even with House Baratheon’s great military power divided, one may still have a chance, especially considering how well trained and equipped their troops are. Their mainline troops are the Baratheon Wardens. While the unit was first released in the Baratheon Starter Set, players will soon be able to pick up more units via the release of their individual unit box. Let’s take a deeper look into just what these troops are capable of.
The Baratheon Wardens are an economical unit, having a moderate 5 point cost but looking to have a strong impact on the battlefield, literally and figuratively. House Baratheon is well-known for heavily up-armoring their troops, sending them into combat fully clad in plate mail. The Wardens are no different. They have an impressive 3+ Defense Save, though this does slow them down to a Speed of just 4. They also have a respectable 6+ Morale, showing their confidence in putting one of the Baratheon brothers on the Iron Throne.
Offensively, the Wardens are armed with House Baratheon’s signature weapon, the war hammer. The Wardens hit on a 4+ and roll 7 dice when at full ranks. This is moderate, but the unit’s two special abilities tie heavily in with their melee attack. The first is that if the defender rolls any 1s when they make Defense Saves versus the war hammer attack, the defender becomes Weakened. This means that the enemy can have an even tougher time cracking all that Baratheon heavy armor. However, the unit’s other special ability might see players using that token differently. Target Opening lets the Warden’s player spend Weakened tokens as though they were Vulnerable tokens. While they only hit half the time with their attack, those strikes matter and the impact of a war hammer even against a shield or heavy armor might crack bones underneath. And, of course, if the defender is rerolling Defense saves because of Target Opening, that’s just more chances to roll 1s and gain their Weakened token back again. The unit creates a self-refreshing synergy cycle that can see them take down foes much stronger than themselves.
The Baratheon Wardens might not be the fastest or most accurate attackers on the battlefield, but they are a solid melee troop choice for Baratheon players. Their armor can see them safely through enemy attacks and their combination of abilities on their melee attacks lets the Baratheon player tailor-make their attacks as they need. Against a heavily-armored foe, they might go with making them reroll Defense saves. Against a lightly-armored foe, they can blunt the enemy’s attacks by spending Weakened tokens from them. Either way, the Wardens will prove a good choice to field.
The Baratheon Wardens Unit Box will be hitting store shelves later this month.
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Quelle: Cool Mini or Not
Leider eine relativ uninteressante Einheit für die Baratheons.
Ich denke, dass jeder mit den 2 Einheiten aus der Starterbox (oder den 4, da einige doppelt zugeschlagen) ausreichend versorgt ist. Sentinels oder eine wirklich neue Einheit wären interessant.
Die Mummers kenne ich bis dato gar nicht, habe aber auch nur die Serie komplett gesehen und bin erst bei Buch 2.
Die Gestaltwandler sind optisch wirklich nett. Generell ist das Free Folk recht abwechslungsreich und ansprechend. Aber 3 Armeen plus ordentlich Neutrals sind denn auch genug 😉