This week is tech week for me at my school. Due to the power outages last week, that means that we actually have two shows being put on this weekend. As the technical director, I'm a bit drained, but I've been striving to make sure that Steam-Powered Gamer gets it's daily article! Today I'm particularly exhausted, but it's time to play around with Baldur the Stonesoul!
With all of the Domination leaks (I posted them
here), one thing that has really struck me is the nay-saying all around. What I mean by that is that
everyone has their own judgments about what is bad or awesome, and the best part is that
it seems like everyone has a completely different opinion! This will probably be the topic of another article in the future, but I'm really fascinated by the fact that I've seen in various forums and blogs people saying that "Proteus is going to be so broken with Legion!", "No, Skorne is getting the best stuff." "Trolls are going to be OP!", "I think Trolls got it the worst", "That's right Circle, I think you got the worst toys", etc. I think it's a sign of great game balance when everyone is bragging or complaining and
there's no consensus.
At any rate, I'm going to take a stab at making a list for eBaldur, since he will probably be one of the early viable casters without any of the new models (sorry Minions!). At first glance, I was a little disappointed by Baldur the Stonesoul, but perhaps I had completely different expectations. Aside from my early hopes for a Wold-Baldur, I was hoping that we might see some interesting spells like
Strength of Granite, Inhospitable Ground, or
Earthquake to represent his fluff. Plus, these spells, I thought, would allow him to feel more like his Primal version but suitably more epic. I can't help but think that as an "epic" warlock, Baldur the Stonesoul feels anything but. Well, it's time to see what he can do and see what kind of list I can make. I guess since we have his tier list spoiled, I will start there at 35 points, and then at 50:
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| Baldur the Stonesoul! |
Baldur the Stonesoul Tier 4 - 35 points
eBaldur (+5)
-Megalith (11)
-Woldwarden (9)
-Woldwyrd (4*)
-Woldwatcher (4*)
Druids of Orboros (7)
Shifting Stones (2)
Shifting Stones (2)
-Stone Keeper (1)
So let's look at this 35 point Tier 4 list for Baldur. There are a couple things that you might notice here. First, is a lack of a Battle Engine, despite his tier giving a specific benefit to them. While I really like the Fulcrum, I'm not sold on Battle Engines in Warmachine, let alone Hordes where you really need 'beasts for fury generation.
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| No one takes this guy! You're joking, right? |
The second thing you might notice is that I actually included a Woldwatcher. I know, right?! The more I thought about it, the more I thought that this guy might actually be pretty useful for eBaldur. First of all is the fact that you need two lights for Tier 4, and you get a cost reduction (my biggest complaint for the 'watcher). Secondly, the Woldwatcher's animus might be pretty handy for eBaldur since he will likely be getting into the thick of it, thanks to his Wurm tokens and defensive spells being able to deliver him into combat. The 'watchers animus might be a little redundant since he has
Roots of the Earth, but the 'watchers animus is as cheap as they come. Thirdly, the 'watcher will be very useful for two entries on its card: it's
Stone Form special action and
Shield Guard. Like I said, Baldur will likely want to be at the front, beating on things with Tritus, so he'll need a bodyguard to make sure that he'll survive any shooting on the way in there. The 'watcher is free to move forward, literally turn into a pillar of stone, and soak up any ranged firepower heading Baldur's way (like pesky CRAs). Not too bad for 4 points. Also, you might worry that he's only fury 2, but Baldur only has 6 fury to play with as it is, so the 'watcher won't be necessary right away for filling up Baldur (the two heavies will do that). He's also not going to be boxing heavies or clearing out infantry, but he'll certainly help deliver the Baldur bomb.
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| Teleporting stones of doom! |
I do want to mention one of my favorite benefits of Baldur's tier: 20" deploying shifting stones! These guys will also be necessary for Baldur, but mostly for their healing capabilities, with Baldur taking damage each turn from the Devourer Wurm. Additionally, Baldur is only FURY 6, meaning that in order to run your constructs at full efficiency, you'll need some serenity from those stones to pull off some of that extra fury. Placing these guys 20" up from the board edge is
huuuuuge because it means that you can position yourself better for serenity or even potentially throw one of your heavies right into the face of your enemy turn two. You can even do it turn one! With Megalith's benefit, you can run him 14" on first turn into the ring of stones and then teleport him
within 8" of his previous location. That means that if you're going second, that places you around
32" from the edge of your board! Is it broken? Probably not. Hilarious? Absolutely! You will more likely use the stones turn two to teleport Megalith (or even Baldur) right into the face of your enemy and then pop your feat to make sure you stay there. Toss in a
Rock Wall and you suddenly are threatening your enemy with an attrition battle that they are not used to when facing against Circle.
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| "Baldur come give me a hug!!!" |
Megalith is an auto-include for Baldur for the d3 regeneration and
Geomancy (for
Roots and the occasional
Crevasse), plus the higher ARM and STR is nice, and Megalith's animus will help everyone hit what they're supposed to, as well as helping to prevent getting charged early (something that I will miss from pBaldur). I predict that he will always be your MVP, as he is one of the most survivable heavies in the game. Between auto-regen of d3, 35 damage boxes, and an ARM which will most often be 22 (thanks,
Roots!), he will play the attrition game better than most. Baldur can really keep Megalith alive with
Rock Wall. "Cover isn't such a big deal when there's so much
Hunter out there!" you might say. That's not why it's great. First, models without
pathfinder can't charge over the wall. That's really nice as you can hide Megalith behind it and be safe from most charging models! Secondly, read the rules for linear obstacles and you'll see a nifty little caveat:
models cannot be placed partially on top of a wall. This is huge because you can place the wall so that most models without
Reach won't be able to even swing at him, and Megalith will have +2 DEF against those who can!
Let's look at how the list shapes up at 50 points:
Baldur the Stonesoul Tier 4 - 50 points
-Megalith (11)
-Woldwarden (9)
-Woldguardian (9)
-Woldwyrd (4*)
-Woldwatcher (4*)
Druids of Orboros (7)
-Overseer (2)
Shifting Stones (2)
Shifting Stones (2)
-Stone Keeper (1)
Lord of the Feast (4)
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The Fulcrum looks sweet, but I think that I will
have to pass on playing with it for now |
So what was added? The Lord of the Feast, a Woldguardian, and a Druid Overseer. You'll notice that I still don't think it's the right level for a Fulcrum. Again, as awesome as it is, I don't think it's worth it when, as a caster, fury from your 'beasts is necessary (although I will admit that Baldur can handle it better than most as he's pretty efficient at only 6 fury). I don't think that Battle Engines will work well in most tournaments, but I digress.
I didn't mention the Druids earlier, but I think they'll be really useful with Baldur for their push/pull shenanigans and
Counter Magic is always lulzy for magic heavy armies - especially with a Woldwyrd! The only problem with them in the last list was that they were actually pretty slow compared to everything else! You would probably need to run them first turn just to keep up, so the Overseer is absolutely necessary at this level with so much being so far forward.
The Devouring is also handy for killing off infantry (something that I think that this list does well) as well as
Magic Ability [8].
Also in this list is the Lord of the Feast, everyone's favorite solo! This guy is a great addition to this list. While Baldur might not be able to offer him much besides +3 ARM from roots (ARM 20 LotF? Ew), this guy doesn't really need much support anyway. His job is to cleave through infantry, and he will do just that. If you're fortunate enough to clear out enough models, this guy might benefit from a
Rock Wall, but he will certainly be a big threat for your opponent and that will definitely draw the attention away from Baldur and his other constructs.
Speaking of other constructs, the last guy I added was the Woldguardian. While most people think that this guy was not really useful for pBaldur, I think he will gain some special recognition with Baldur the Stonesoul. Without
Stone Skin to throw around, this guy is going to be our heaviest hitter. P+S 17 on his ram fists, knocking down and pushing around, this guy will be awesome! Since
Roots isn't an upkeep, it's actually going to be more useful than
Stone Skin, in my opinion, because you'll be able to throw out multiple copies, and one on the 'guardian is
hilarious! ARM 23? Yes please! His animus will also be super helpful for keeping Baldur even more alive from shooting, although with the 'watcher around, Baldur won't really need to use it. The +2 SPD on heavies (thanks to Megalith in tier 3) will mean that this guy will actually be able to get somewhere first turn, making up for his lousy SPD. With all of the shifting stones around, he will be able to get where you need him, and with relative safety thanks to
Roots. Also, this guy will be running hot all of the time because he's our heavy hitter and a great counter-charger. That's fine though, because with
Empathic Transference, he can run on full and Baldur can still transfer to him if he's in trouble. I think the Woldguardian is a fantastic addition to Baldur at this level.
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| RAM. FISTS. |
I see Baldur playing a very good attrition game with multiple threat vectors. One of the reasons why I love tier lists is that they exemplify a particular playstyle that the designers feel are suited to that particular 'caster/'lock. In this case my excitement has grown as I've written this, as I think that Baldur will be very interesting and very different from most warlocks in Circle. He doesn't look like much on paper, but I feel like on the table he will be a menace and very difficult to dislodge. Perhaps he might even be able to take down my buddy's ridiculous Harbinger list? We shall see!
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| I hate this chick... |
