Privateer Press has finally released Domination, the first Hordes expansion book since MKII. This has also caused me to constantly pour over the book constantly trying to figure out every possible combination for each model in the book as well as determine the worth of the book overall.
I have to say that I am really pleased with Privateer Press once again. The book adds a lot to each Hordes faction with two Warlocks, a Character heavy Warbeast as well as well as each faction's new and original Battle Engine. Each faction also received a unique add-on from a unit attachment to a new unit to an additional light Warbeast. Now I will be the first to admit that there are some bad things in this book but I feel that is pretty much expected in any book.
Trollbloods:Starting off we see Trollbloods who gained a plethora of interesting models to add to their faction. Trolls got two very interesting and solid Warlocks that I think add something new to the faction in many ways. Jarl allows for Trolls to play a very fast and upfront game and
he is able to use his feat to deny the enemy a turn of charging and shooting. Epic Grissel is a bit of a quandary since she has a short spell list and few ways to support her army. Her feat is rather poor but I feel that she has potential.The Storm Troll is a light with a lot of potential and I think he gives Trolls an easy and invaluable way to kill high def infantry which is something that they have been hurting for. Rok is the new character heavy and he is rather interesting. Like all Dire Trolls he hits like a ton of bricks but that's all he really does. You can argue that he isn't worth the extra point over an Earthborn. His animus however is Primal and considering how much Trolls have a problem hitting the enemy I think that the MAT buff makes him worth while.
The first Battle Engine of Hordes deserves some mention of course. With an AOE 5 gun and the ability to trample infantry like no ones else can it is also capable of threatening heavy infantry. Overall the War Wagon gives Trolls a rather viable ranged platform that can compete with the bomber. An excellent addition and one of the best engines released so far.
Overall I give the Trolls a solid B+ with their releases. The reason they didn't score higher is because there were a few things that I was unimpressed with like the Scattergunner UA and eGrissels feat.
Circle Orboros:
As a Circe Orboros player I am very disappointed and I have to say that we got the short end of the stick here. While there are some spectacular releases, the failings of Epic Baldur are too significant to ignore. The addition of a Warlock is considerably more powerful than the addition several Warbeasts or solos and affect the faction overall in more ways as well. As a result having a Warlock who is flat out bad is really a punch in the gut for Circle.
However after we move past Baldur we find some amazing new Beasts like the Scarsfell Griffon and Ghetorix who have a lot of potential for damage and both fit into Circle perfectly. The Griffon is a flying little monster that let's you annoy your enemy by getting behind their lines and wreaking havoc while Ghetorix runs up and destroys or or two heavy beasts a turn. Both are things that Circle either wanted or things that we can enhance and have fun with.
The new solo, Gallows Grove, also gives Circle a lot of help by granting them Arc Nodes for all of those amazing spells that your enemy hates. These little guys are cheap and very effective at getting where you want them but don't expect them to make it to late game since they have rather poor defensive stats.
I have to give Circle a flat C for this book because of eBaldur and to a degree the Celestial Fulcrum which I am not a fan of really.
SkorneNow here is where the stuff gets good. Starting with Naaresh and then Epic Hexeris both of whom are extremely powerful caster that do two very different things. Naaresh gives Skorne one of the best spells in the game, Iron Flesh, while supporting his beasts with an extremely interesting feat. eHexeris is one of the more powerful spellcasters I've seen released in awhile. He has a combination of a powerful feat, several good abilities and an excellent toolbox of spells.
We then get to see an interesting group of Warbeasts from the Cyclops Raider to Tiberion. The key thing is the Raider who has the infamous animus Farstrike. This allows Skorne players to bring their ranged models like Raiders, Cannoneers and Catapults and give them the ability to shoot farther than some Cygnar models. The Archidon is the new flying Beast for Skorne that is a combination of an animus slave for sprint and a forward attacker. At 7 points he does a lot and is capable of hunting down things from jacks to casters. Tiberion represents the classical paradox of unstoppable force meets an immovable object. He has all of the resilience of a Titan Sentry combined with the hitting power of a Gladiator. Combined with his animus of Bump you can't kill him easily and that's what Skorne wants in a beast.
Finally we have the Venerator Slingers and the Animantarix. The slingerstarpit that is capable of hurting Jacks quite easily. The Animantarix is pretty crappy since it is too slow and it doesn't have the ability to put out enough damage output for its points. Since you will probably take this instead of a Beast you also lose an animus as well as damage output.
I'm gonna give Skorne an A because of the amazing casters and beasts. Everything else is just gravy when you consider it.
Legion of EverblightAh the Legion of Everboken, no I mean Evercheese, no I mean Everblight. Well my slip of the tongue aside let us move on with the review.
The two Legion Warlocks, Kallus and Epic Vayl, are both very interesting and I personally prefer Kallus out of the two. Kallus is an anomaly that is rather welcome in Legion because he wants you to run infantry heavy in a faction that requires you run beast heavy. While he doesn't want you to run pure infantry machine he does want more than the normal Striders or Raptors that you tend to see in most lists. Epic Vayl is a spell caster extraordinaire with an amazing spell list that continues the hit and run theme that she has in her Primal form. Both are powerful and welcome additions to the faction if you ask me.
For the Legion beasts we have the Naga Nightlurker and Proteous. The Naga is an excellent little light that hands out magical weapons while destroying heaving infantry and beasts at range with its crit poison. Its animus is amazing since it gives Blessed and Magical Weapons which is something Legion has been lacking before hand. Proteous is a bid odd since he isn't a dedicate melee beast but he wants to pull the enemy towards him and get them away from everyone else. I think he is good for getting jacks and beasts out of control area and then wrecking them. At 11 points he may seem a bit costly but I think its up to personal opinion.
The new warlock attachment for Legion is the succubus and I must say that it is pretty nice. It does two very key things for Legion: one it gives for a free upkeep and the second is she hands out a free animus a turn. Legion play beast heavy and often times relies on their animi so having a free on a turn is easily worth 2 points. Next is Captian Farilor, the Legionnaire attachment. For three points he might seem expensive but he gives Legionnaires a mighty boost that helps them stay on the board longer which is something you really want in a cheap tarpit unit. He is also no slouch in melee and is capable of ripping apart heavy infantry on the charge with ease.
The Throne of Everblight is the last and final Battle Engine of the book and it is an extremely interesting one. Despite the fact that it is a SPD 5 model it is actually rather fast since it has a 4" reach on its melee weapons, a rather rare and powerful ability. Also it has a magic ability [7] and two spells that are both capable of destroying infantry quiet easily. While it is somewhat hard to keep alive it is very deadly and has a lot of utility built in. One of the better BEs to me.
I'm gonna give Legion the first and only A+ of the book due to the amount of quality pieces they gained and how each one is valuable and a welcome addition to the faction.
Minions
Hmm, bacon. You know its kind of annoying how the group that "Isn't a faction" has the most things to talk about since they affect all of the factions. However I am only going to be looking into the Gators and Pigs as a faction rather than as a group of hire-ons.
Gators, I think, got the better of the two with a very solid caster in Maelok the Dreadbound and the Swamp Horror which gives them an excellent heavy that helps support their beasts in many ways and it has the best animus in the game (you can't argue, I'm right on this one). They also got a new light in the Boneswarm which while it may seem lackluster it is a 4 point light beast (which is very rare) and it is very capable of holding a control point or standing in your enemies way. Finally we have the most game changing piece and that is the Witch Docter who is (on an in-faction scale) very amazing due to his ability to hand out undead for Maleok to take advantage of with his feat.
Pigs got the short in of the stick, I am sorry to say. While Sturm and Drang are the most interesting Warlock to come out in a very long time they are undefined and in a way they have a useless spell list. Also the Road Hog is a bit over-costed for what it does. There is good news in the character solo Targ who makes War Hogs even more amazing by keeping them alive or making sure they wreck something. Think of him as a mix between the two kinds of Vassals.
Conclusion:
Well it took me awhile to get here but I have finally finished part one of my review. I will go into Domination in-depth and I will go faction by faction as well. I hope you all learned something new and please feel free to email me with questions. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and see you next time.
