Review and Tactical Analysis of New Minis

[Chogokin]

Well, one of my christmas presents to myself has arrived, as I celebrate the new year with new Reaper minis. My armies are Nefsokar and Mercenary, so naturally I bulked up my forces with the new figures available. I haven't seen any commentary yet on them, so I thought I'd share some information.

 

Neb'Nesew Ne'Pet, The Lord of the Sky, or That Floating Dead Guy

 

As you've probably seen in the online store, Neb, as I'll refer to him, is one of the new Nefsokar Warlords. He's the floating dead guy. He's a normal human-sized figure, with elaborate robes, and depicted as floating slightly above his base (thanks to some trailing robes). He comes in four parts, not counting the base. The main figure is of the skull-faced man in his robes, holding a staff (which runs behind his back and under his robes) extended in his right arm. His left arm, bent up in front of his face in a mystical gesture of some sort, is separate, but plugs neatly into his shoulder. He has an elaborate decoration hanging from his girdle, which plugs neatly into a small hole in his front robes. Finally, he's got a kind of mystical scarab jet pack, consisting of a scarab-shaped backpack with four extended blade-like wings. This fits into a small hole on his back, and is contoured to fit around a small wedge shape in his upper back. A little superglue should hold everything together without need for pinning. All in all, a really great sculpt.

 

I think Neb should be fun to paint, with lots of detail to bring out, ranging from his elaborate decorations, the folds of his robes, and the metallic wing blades of his backback. My only point of confusion is whether he's supposed to be a fleshy guy with no face, or a fleshy guy with a skull mask, or a dry guy with exceptionally well preserved limbs and just, you know, no face. His exposed arms are quite smooth, and don't immediately say "Mummy Flesh!", although his data card clearly indicates that he is Undead. The card art doesn't really help much. Painter's choice, I guess.

 

Neb is a Cleric Warlord, 3/12, casting power 6. Not as much CP, but with a slightly larger inventory than Fatima. He can also cast Defensive Magic, and he's a Spy and Tactician, with Empowered and Horrid. He has 1 weak melee attack and 1 weak, 12" ranged attack. Not the most personally formidable Warlord, although it should be difficult for grunts to pose a threat to him, as they'll generally be rather terrified of getting near him. Sort of a Support Warlord rather than your Assault Style Warlord. Relatively low base cost at 143 points. I can see a few interesting strategies... fit him out with Teleport spells and a few friendly Avatars... or how about a truck load of Hold spells? The only thing I found disappointing is that he doesn't have any abilities reflecting his flight power. It would be nice if he had Flyer, or perhaps the Non-Corporeal ability to reflect him hovering over obstacles.

 

Senet Net'Merew, Sister of the Desert, or That Chick on a Horse

 

A pretty woman, garbed in long flowing robes, riding a gaily caparisoned horse and carrying a wicked-looking sword. I like the look, although I'm not as carried away with the styling as I was with Neb's. I wish the other Khamsin had this more traditional Berber-esque look, instead of the short tunics and scarves. From a construction perspective, another well-designed figure. Sword, scabbard, and quiver are separate, and fit neatly onto their respective arm, back, and saddle locations with small holes and pegs. I would probably keep the scabbard and quiver separate until painting was finished, and then attach them.

 

The biggest challenges to painting are simply going to be the extensive folds of the robes, and of course doing convincing horseflesh. I actually really like the card art here, which is unusual for me.

 

From a rules perspective, we see some interesting things, which will probably become more clear as the Cavalry rules become available. Senet is Cavalry, obviously, and also has the Mounted and Raider abilities, whatever those are. She's also a Tactician and Warmaster with Defensive Shot. Yep, she's a mounted archer. Typical for Nef archers, she's not very impressive, with 1 RA at RAV 2, Rng 18. With her base move of 12, though, she shouldn't have a problem picking her shots, and unlike infantry archers, she can easily avoid melee if she needs to. She's actually pretty good in melee, though, with MAV 4 and 2 attacks. Rather low DV (10) for a Warlord though. With a base price of 219, and a minimum troop size of 6, you're looking at a significant investment of points in Senet. It'll be interesting to see what the grunt Nef cavalry are like.

 

Lupine Rager II, or Big Furry Death

 

I was so happy when these guys came out. I've got the Lupine Lord, Shaman, and 4 of the first Ragers, so 4 of these guys fills out my Lupine Merc troop nicely. That said, though, I don't love this particular rendition of a Rager as much as I liked the first. Ben Siens just sculpts differently from Werner Klocke. From a purely thematic perspective, I wish they'd kept Klocke on this group. Rager II is much burlier than Rager 1, standing in an erect posture. General differences: the "sideburns" or cheeks of the Rager II are much bushier than those of the first Lupines, making the head look broader than the originals. This Rager is nearly naked, save for wrist guards, and armed only with claws, while the first Lupines were clothed and used weapons. The style of the fur is different. Whereas Klocke's lupine fur was rather coarse on the body, and flowing and plumelike for manes and tails, Siens' fur is finer, and as I said about the cheeks, bushy-looking, especially on the tail. Possibly more realistic, but also different looking. I'll admit bias, in that I really like the original Lupines. Even so, I think I wouldn't like the Rager II as much even if I were seeing it with fresh eyes, as I think it is rather top-heavy, with an overly large head and gorilla-like shoulders and arms.

 

As far as painting goes, the challenge with wolves is to make them look convincing. You could go for a Confrontation-style, which is completely unrealistic, but distinctive and good-looking, or attempt to replicate the fur patterns of real wolves. I think the latter approach is the one to take with the Rager II, because the fur does look pretty realistic.

 

Ruleswise, what's not to love about a grunt with 2 damage tracks, and 2 melee attacks at MAV 3? Yikes.

 

Well, thank you for reading through this, and I hope it was of some use to the Warlord community.

[Spike]

Very insightful analysis! Inded, what NOT to love about a Lupine Rager...

Especially when their shaman has inate "bless".

[drjsallison]

Very insightful analysis! Inded, what NOT to love about a Lupine Rager...

Especially when their shaman has inate "bless".

 

Testify, sister, testify

[ecs05norway]

Well, one of my christmas presents to myself has arrived, as I celebrate the new year with new Reaper minis. My armies are Nefsokar and Mercenary, so naturally I bulked up my forces with the new figures available. I haven't seen any commentary yet on them, so I thought I'd share some information.

 

Senet Net'Merew, Sister of the Desert, or That Chick on a Horse

 

A pretty woman, garbed in long flowing robes, riding a gaily caparisoned horse and carrying a wicked-looking sword. I like the look, although I'm not as carried away with the styling as I was with Neb's. I wish the other Khamsin had this more traditional Berber-esque look, instead of the short tunics and scarves. From a construction perspective, another well-designed figure. Sword, scabbard, and quiver are separate, and fit neatly onto their respective arm, back, and saddle locations with small holes and pegs. I would probably keep the scabbard and quiver separate until painting was finished, and then attach them.

 

The biggest challenges to painting are simply going to be the extensive folds of the robes, and of course doing convincing horseflesh. I actually really like the card art here, which is unusual for me.

 

From a rules perspective, we see some interesting things, which will probably become more clear as the Cavalry rules become available. Senet is Cavalry, obviously, and also has the Mounted and Raider abilities, whatever those are. She's also a Tactician and Warmaster with Defensive Shot. Yep, she's a mounted archer. Typical for Nef archers, she's not very impressive, with 1 RA at RAV 2, Rng 18. With her base move of 12, though, she shouldn't have a problem picking her shots, and unlike infantry archers, she can easily avoid melee if she needs to. She's actually pretty good in melee, though, with MAV 4 and 2 attacks. Rather low DV (10) for a Warlord though. With a base price of 219, and a minimum troop size of 6, you're looking at a significant investment of points in Senet. It'll be interesting to see what the grunt Nef cavalry are like.

 

I've actually played her, so I have some comments for you.

 

1) Cavalry has been defined elsewhere in the forums, it has two effects: +2 DV vs Ranged attacks, and the model takes up two slots in troop size. Thus Senet and two other Cavalry models makes for her minimum troop.

 

2) The low DV is annoying, especially considering how many ultra-high-attack pieces are hitting the field these days (Hill Giant, anyone?). She does not hit the field without Greater Magic Armor and Divine Favor.

 

3) Don't let the ranged attack seduce you. She's a very multirole fighter and should be employed as such. Use the RA on the closing, but then get in and start killing things in melee. Keep a cleric around with some healing spells, you'll want them badly.

 

'Mounted' is in the book, it increases charge range and may have other minor effects (Shock? I forget offhand).

 

The grunt Nef cav are still in playtest, so I can't comment on them at this time.

[Lord Baasen]

Yup, Mounted gets Shock.

[Qwyksilver]

Raider gives you +2 Dis when breaking base to base contact.

[Madzerker]

I think the second rager was sculpted by Tim Prow (at least that was what it said on the one in my local store and it looks like his style). I didnt like it at all, but then again besides a few of Tim's newer sculpts I have always hated his sculpting style. (I do like his death priest and necromancer and thor though)

[ecs05norway]

Raider gives you +2 Dis when breaking base to base contact.

 

Which makes a lot of sense for cavalry.

 

Judging from the models released so far, most if not all will be two-track adepts, which makes things interesting and makes Raider an even more tactically important SA for them. Most of the time, when they're breaking contact, they'll be wounded and heading off to get healed...

[Storminator]

Raider gives you +2 Dis when breaking base to base contact.

 

Which makes a lot of sense for cavalry.

 

Judging from the models released so far, most if not all will be two-track adepts, which makes things interesting and makes Raider an even more tactically important SA for them. Most of the time, when they're breaking contact, they'll be wounded and heading off to get healed...

 

Not to mention you can disengage, and Shock someone with a charge. This makes disengaging a very good idea.

 

PS

[ecs05norway]

Raider gives you +2 Dis when breaking base to base contact.

 

Which makes a lot of sense for cavalry.

 

Judging from the models released so far, most if not all will be two-track adepts, which makes things interesting and makes Raider an even more tactically important SA for them. Most of the time, when they're breaking contact, they'll be wounded and heading off to get healed...

 

Not to mention you can disengage, and Shock someone with a charge. This makes disengaging a very good idea.

 

PS

 

Especially if you can kill the leader on the first charge.

[Chogokin]

<snip the quote from my original post>

 

I've actually played her, so I have some comments for you.

 

1) Cavalry has been defined elsewhere in the forums, it has two effects: +2 DV vs Ranged attacks, and the model takes up two slots in troop size. Thus Senet and two other Cavalry models makes for her minimum troop.

 

2) The low DV is annoying, especially considering how many ultra-high-attack pieces are hitting the field these days (Hill Giant, anyone?). She does not hit the field without Greater Magic Armor and Divine Favor.

 

3) Don't let the ranged attack seduce you. She's a very multirole fighter and should be employed as such. Use the RA on the closing, but then get in and start killing things in melee. Keep a cleric around with some healing spells, you'll want them badly.

 

'Mounted' is in the book, it increases charge range and may have other minor effects (Shock? I forget offhand).

 

The grunt Nef cav are still in playtest, so I can't comment on them at this time.

 

Thanks for the insight! My estimation is that given the way Senet and friends would likely be used in combat, as a sort of hit and run shocktroop, the low DV isn't a huge disadvantage, and can be compensated for with relatively cheap equipment. I think I'd use her for larger battles, as soon as the cavalry grunts come out.

 

 

On the subject of the Rager II, I'm pretty sure Siens is the sculptor. That's what it says both in the online store and the card. I started work on them last night, and for anyone considering buying the minis, be warned that there are some mold line issues. There are pronounced mold lines on the inner thighs and biceps. These are pretty easy to file away though. There are also mold lines around the tail, and due to the fur detail, these are really difficult to deal with. I made a few passes with my file, but eventually I just gave up. I'll hope that positioning and camoflauge will hide them.

[ecs05norway]

Hm. Speaking of new figures: Has anyone seen or gotten data cards yet for the other new Nefsokar? 'Sokar's Prophet' and 'Sokar's Disciple'?

[efkelley]

Generic cleric and mage elites for all your magic-wielding needs. They're not especially powerful, but they're cheap and the right spell at the right time can make all the difference.

[dewen]

Hm. Speaking of new figures: Has anyone seen or gotten data cards yet for the other new Nefsokar? 'Sokar's Prophet' and 'Sokar's Disciple'?

I have them both. Prophet is a Dmg 0 1 Cleric 2/8 and Disciple is Dmg 0 Mage 1/4. Both are non-unique so its is a nice edition or option to the Prophetess and Netikerti.

[ecs05norway]

Hm. Speaking of new figures: Has anyone seen or gotten data cards yet for the other new Nefsokar? 'Sokar's Prophet' and 'Sokar's Disciple'?

I have them both. Prophet is a Dmg 0 1 Cleric 2/8 and Disciple is Dmg 0 Mage 1/4. Both are non-unique so its is a nice edition or option to the Prophetess and Netikerti.

 

Hmmm. Sounds nice and cheap. Elites, I presume? And how about the CP's?

 

(A mage... hm. 1/4. What could I do with that... well, he'd probably be a better ranged attack than Khamsin Rangers... although shorter-ranged... Slow and Fear are possibilities... have to go back and look at the list of first-level Mage spells again.)