Warlocks
Bradigus Thorle, the Runecarver
I'm not actually completely sure what I want here. I actually love a lot about this guy. With Synergy he can become personally very dangerous. I love the utility and creativeness of Mystic Wards as well. Rift is ok, as is Battering Ram. I LOVE that he's actually limited to only having Wolds in his battlegroup and I hope that there is more limiting like this potentially down the road for some others as I think it opens up a lot of options for building unique Warlocks.
Biggest thing here is the obvious one, I think that his theme force needs a massive overhaul and/or just needs to go away entirely. We don't know how they're handling themes yet, so I'm not going to speculate much more than that. I think that adding in some sort of compelling spell in place of either Rift or Battering Ram would be great, but I'm not sure what I'd want that to be. I think if Battering Ram were to stay I'd want it to gain +2" on the range.
How the mighty have fallen. Bradigus himself isn't hugely different from his MK2 incarnation actually. One of my predictions did come to pass, which is that Battering Ram gained 2" on the RNG which actually makes it a spell that could be interesting. Mystic Ward took a hit as its not battlegroup and is a model in the battlegroup, which is a sad change in my opinion as I really loved that spell as it was. Theme forces we obviously know have changed, so that is gone too. Synergy is limited to a +3 bonus, which is still pretty good I would say.
Really the change that makes him an unfortunate choice now is that Wold Guardians gained the rule Sturdy which says they can't be pushed. While that might be good in other places, its an awful rule with Bradigus because his feat specifies push. So, as of right now, the models that work with Synergy and the feat are Woldwatchers, Woldwardens and Megalith. I feel like we need to see some new Wolds released soon to help him fit a bit better.
Baldur the Stonecleaver
I don't know what to do with Baldur1, his feat is ostensibly pretty good at hoping you can make the first strike or keeping someone from getting much into a zone. However, too many things in the game (Ghostly, Incorporeal, Flight) that ignore it and it gets kind of frustrating. Rapid Growth allowing you to drop a 4" forest anywhere is very strong. Stone Skin is a very frustrating spell because of the SPD debuff making it so that you can't utilize the fact that you have a STR buff. My only other wish is that Kreoss1 doens't have Purification any more because the most annoying thing I can think of is how Baldur SHOULD neutralize Kreoss' knockdown feat, but doesn't because of Purification.
So, while I was right that I didn't know what to do with Baldur1, it turns out basically nothing was changed, but he still gets a lot better. Most of the models which had spells that target friendly models or benefit friendly models are now changed to be Friendly Faction as they're trying to emphasize faction options and have mercs/minions be their own thing, so there were some changes to him in that sense. Sadly, Kreoss1 is basically still the same (though Purification costs 4 now) which is immensely annoying.
All that said, Stone Skin is now a fantastically good buff because SPD penalty doesn't stop charging. We have a lot of really great targets for this spell in my opinion with this change and I'm just starting to think about it more now. I do think his feat is still pretty great, given that a lot of shooting and a lot of warjacks might be a strong presence in the game soon, his feat will hold almost all of that back, including a colossal.
Baldur the Stonesoul
The rock of Circle himself. I see Baldur continuing to be a defensive Warlock, but he may get a bit better at it. I'd probably enjoy it if his feat wasn't just a repeat of his signature spell, but its not a bad feat by any means. Really, I just want to see more work to differentiate him from Bradigus.
No real changes for this guy other than most things changing to be friendly faction instead of friendly. Crevasse got a buff as well, it basically doesn't care about the facing on the boxed model when you're targeting the spray. That's a really good change, probably better for Mohsar though.
Cassius the Oathkeeper Wurmwood, Tree of Fate
I'm actually hoping for the most part that Cassius doesn't really see any change. He's one of the most interesting, well balanced but powerful options that Circle has. The only thing that might be helpful is if there is an easier way to utilize his feat since right now it sort of requires constantly measuring out 10" since there isn't a template or ring I've ever found to make that any easier.
I was hoping for him not to change, and in many ways he didn't, while he still massively changed! First the biggest change being that Wurmwood is the warlock now and Cassius is a solo that comes with him. Massive change to reflect the fluff, love it! Wurmwood went from FURY 6 up to 7 but changed to only be able to store 3 souls at a time. I think that's a good trade off for consistency. Gained the spell Rapid Growth which is a great spell for him and in general (plus its fluffy).
The feat went from being a 10" forest to being a 14" forest! While I had hoped for something that was easier to handle on the table, its still a massive buff. Even more of a buff is that Eyeless Sight now doesn't ignore forests, which puts Wurmwood in a place where he can now play into Legion and a couple of other things that would have been terrible for him before.
Cassius being a solo who Wurmwood can channel through is going to be great, since he can run to position, be used for spells, and then be safely moved back to be by Wurmwood. Looking forward to giving this a go in MK3!
Grayle the Farstrider
This is the guy that I have the most hope for! He's already so close to being a fantastic character, but it seemed like they had the kid gloves on when they were designing him. If you look at some of the melee assassins they developed more into MK2 (Butcher3, Makeda3 and Aurora for instance) you can see more of what he could be! First thing I'd do is add either +1 or +2 to the power of his melee attacks, and potentially give him +1 MAT (though that's less necessary).
I think that I would keep Storm Rager, even with my proposed changes he's still only getting to POW 13/14 weapon master which is yes good, but is what you need for him to be strong enough to matter. Without that, Morvahna2, Kromac2 and Bradigus are always just more personally dangerous, which kind of doesn't make much sense to me. The next thing is that he needs at least one spell that is more compelling either for infantry or for his battlegroup in place of Awareness. It seems pretty apparent that his thing is sort of melee hunting and melee prowess from the fluff, so lets bring that out more! Gallows seems like a fine spell, especially if our Geomancers get any better than they are. Wind Blast is alright, wouldn't be sad to see it go. Adding in something like Silence of Death perhaps might make a lot of sense. Marked for Death could be a fluffy spell for him too.
Biggest thing that I said needed to happen did, which is that he traded Awareness for a relevant spell in Death March. The other important change is that he now has Tactician for Wolf Sworn which is all of the Reeves, Wolves, Skinwalkers, Morraig, Death Wolves and War Wolf solos. That creates a lot of interesting opportunities to use the Skinwalkers defensively and then attack through them. Windblast improved too, now it flat-out says that if you're standing in it you can't shoot. Given that a 5" AOE is not something that a huge base can get out of without running its a massive benefit. Morraig can even give him +1 to his attack rolls. I'm really excited to see how he may perform on the table with a lot of these changes!
Kaya the Wildborne
Always just a little bit plain in my opinion and only really had Occultation to make her list builds interesting. I'm not actually too sure there's a ton that needs to be done here. She has a unique spell in Spirit Door and Spirit Fang can be good too. While I'd love to see her actually improve, I'm not sure how you do that without totally re-doing her from the ground up, which I'm just not sure that I see happening.
Her feat was cleaned up a bit (no limit of 3, just add as many fury to the beasts as she wants and remove up to 6 mid-activation) and she gained a point of ARM. However, Spirit Fang gets a lot worse since the SPD debuff doesn't stop charging any more. I'm not sure she's bad, but there isn't much here that is compelling me to want to play her.
Kaya the Moonhunter
She has been a solid warbeast caster, the problem is that she does so little for anything else that its the only thing you want to play with her. A lot of hubbub has been made of Shadow Pack, but I think it fits here. I could see Alpha changing to a Field Marshal, but that's not really a huge deal either.
She loses Alpha which is kind of a downer, but is otherwise still sporting much the same package. Shadow Pack remains, but is now a 3-cost, non-upkeep spell. That one is a mixed blessing, as it now can't be Purified or removed by almost any means, its also going to be a huge drain for her and might keep her from being able to put out a Dog Pile or cycle around Forced Evolution if she needs to camp. Also the changes to place effects almost always saying "completely within" now is a somewhat limiting factor on her feat since there's only so much space 3" around her. I think she's still very solid.
Kromac the Ravenous
I'm not actually sure if this guy needs any changes either. I've always though he should have +1 POW on his weapons in beast form, but he's probably pretty close honestly. I'd like to see his feat become a bit more interesting, but overall he seemed to have a solid kit that supports beasts pretty well. Don't see that changing a whole lot. Mostly just hoping more beasts become more compelling with him.
Almost unchanged in the new edition. One minor unfortunate change being that Warpath now costs 3 instead of 2 so you can't get all 3 upkeeps out on turn 1 anymore without using the feat. Otherwise, everything more or less works as it did. He was strong before too, still feels like he'll continue to be strong now.
Kromac, Champion of the Wurm
As the most recent warlock before the edition change I don't see a lot of changes for him. Guessing that he gets something to compensate for Terror going away, but it'll be a small something. His package is otherwise pretty defined, fun to play, and strong.
Given how recently he came out, he actually changed more than I thought. Lost Primal Howl altogether, which felt sort of disappointing to me since I've abused that spell quite a bit in MK2. He also lost Aggravator but picked it up as Field Marshal: Hyperaggressive which is quite nice. Also picked up a new spell called Vengeful which gives a model Retaliatory Strike. Carnage is now a 2-cost spell down from 3 which also helps quite a bit.
The biggest change comes from a small change in his feat if you ask me. Instead of the automatically hitting on the charge part of the feat, he now just casts Carnage for free. I've read a few complaints about that, but in my opinion this is a flat-out upgrade. Rarely are there times where I only needed to hit on the charge and not with subsequent non-charge attacks, which means that if I actually NEED to care about their DEF then I'd still need to cast Carnage anyway. Its much more consistent now in my opinion.
Krueger the Stormwrath
He's always been about throwing as many POW 10 (lightning) damage rolls on the table as he can. Problem is that this has started to be less and less effective over the course of the game. I know a lot of people look to the Storm Raptor to help this with his animus, but I'm not sure that's a great pairing. He's already got two signature spells in Lightning Tendrils and Tornado, so I'm not sure there's much to look forward to there. I could see Tornado getting a bit of a re-work potentially, but we'll see. I'd love to see Chain Lightning become a spell that does 2d3 leaps instead of 1d6 so that you can at least count on making 3 damage rolls. I'd also love it if Deflection didn't have the "Warrior model" clause in it because I can't think of why it should when it doesn't for Deceleration.
Lightning Tendrils will be interesting to see how its handled. In MK1 it just added 2" to melee range. In MK2 it gave "Reach". Since nothing has Reach now, hard to say what it will do. Will it double your range? Set it to a fixed 2"? Add 2"? I don't know, all of them are interesting though.
So, some things were fixed a bit. Chain Lightning was traded out for Forked Lightning which is RNG 8, does a POW 12 on the initial and then d3 leaps at POW 10. Tornado has some text that was cleaned up. Lightning Tendrils remains with wording to clarify that you just change the weapons to 2" RNG. Deflection got a major upgrade to Gale Winds which is very reminiscent of his MK1 spell that worked similar, while its a 4-cost, non-upkeep, it does remove clouds and give all Friendly Faction models +3 DEF vs Shooting/Spells. That's a fantastic defensive measure, and he still has Skyborne for that turn where he needs to be DEF 20 I guess.
Krueger the Stormlord
I have loved this guy for basically all of MK2, I've not played more games with any other caster. He's powerful, he has a lot of great abilities, and I'm a fan. Personally, I hope they don't change anything about him. Practically, I think something is going to change. Could be a simple rules change that a SPD-debuff doesn't actually prevent charges anymore. Maybe if everything has 360 LOS that TK isn't as strong. In general I think I'd enjoy Gallows being 2d3" instead of 1d6" but I don't know that I actually anticipate that change happening. Storm Wall is the spell that I've really relied on him for and I hope that one doesn't see any major changes.
When you were thinking, "who needs a buff?" as MK2 was coming to the end, I'm pretty sure that Krueger2 wasn't anywhere near that list. That said, he got one! SPD debuff not preventing charges anymore is a big of a hit I would say, but manageable. He did however pick up a new spell in Rebuke which is an upkeep that prevents orders, power attacks, special attacks and maybe one more thing I forget, so that's a great help. Instead of having Inspiration to prevent fleeing he now has a rule that gives Friendly Faction models in his 9" CMD immunity to lightning. Looking like we've certainly not seen the last of this guy!
Mohsar the Desertwalker
As I understand it Mohsar has struggled in MK1 and MK2 to really find a place, and his character is so amazing that its always been unfortunate to me. I hope he gets some love, and the first place for that I think needs to be his feat, its hot garbage about 80% of the time due to more than half of the game being Warmachine and the amount of fury management on the Hordes side. I sort of like what it aims to do, I just think it needs to be more relevant somehow. After that I'm expecting some changes to Pillars of Salt because right now they're extremely un-intuitive to the game because you have to know the structure rules, which are fairly convoluted themselves. Sands of Fate is a pretty unique spell so I don't know that I see that going away. Mirage I would love to see changed so that you don't have to upkeep the spell to get the effect. I actually like Sunhammer quite a bit (more than most do).
I'm not actually sure what he needs as he's amazingly close to being in contention for a top spot, but a re-work of Pillars (like maybe just make them ARM 25 with one wound and none of the other rules?) and a relevant feat could go a long way.
Lets see, they did manage to clean up Pillars of Salt, they're just treated like a huge base, and got a bump to ARM 20. Not sure if that's enough, we'll see. Crevasse was mildly improved, which for him could be strong, we'll have to see on that. His feat added a chang to stop Power Up on the Warmachine side so its nice that it does something to that part of the game. I do wish there was a bit more new things with Mohsar, but I think he comes out of it alright.
Morvahna the Autumnblade
From what we've seen so far it seems that upkeep removal might be getting toned down, that is only good for Morvahna1. She's actually a lot of fun and a very strong warlock ... if there isn't much in the way of spell-hate out there. If the spell-hate goes down, her stock rises. Her spell list actually gels really well, so I hope really not a lot about it changes. Her feat timing was always a bit clunky I felt, but that had more to do with Bloodtrackers being such an optimal choice with her I think. Removal of fleeing is also a massive boon to her army. Not sure I really think changes are needed here, but the ones around her seem to bode well.
One big buff and another nerf, but I think she's in a good place. The nerf is essentially that models returned to play, almost across the entire game, no longer can make combat actions when they return, so Regrowth will take a bit more planning and nuance to master. On the other hand, she gained an ability that lets her take d3 damage if a spell of hers would be forced to expire so that it does not expire. She keeps Sac Pawn, ARM buff. Influence did to up to 2 fury, but now you can use it to force a ranged attack which can be pretty nice. Good changes for this lady.
One big buff and another nerf, but I think she's in a good place. The nerf is essentially that models returned to play, almost across the entire game, no longer can make combat actions when they return, so Regrowth will take a bit more planning and nuance to master. On the other hand, she gained an ability that lets her take d3 damage if a spell of hers would be forced to expire so that it does not expire. She keeps Sac Pawn, ARM buff. Influence did to up to 2 fury, but now you can use it to force a ranged attack which can be pretty nice. Good changes for this lady.
Morvahna the Dawnshadow
A lot of folks seem to think she's going to be hit pretty hard with the edition change. Her package is so well thought out from looking at it that I'm just not sure that I agree that much will change. Could be that her re-rolls are CMD, or certainly seems fine to say they can't be transferred. Wouldn't shock me if Purification goes away in general either, not just on her. Some of the changes to the number of wounds on heavy infantry will impact how much her feat can swing as well, which seems alright. Time will tell here.
Definitely got some of these changes right, re-rolls are now CMD and can't be transferred. Purification was changed to a spell that works similarly but the controller can keep the spell alive by taking a d3. Feat was changed to say trooper model, so no more bringing back War Wolves or Gallows Groves for some out of activation nonsense. I do think she still has quite a few builds that will be good, but I think you see more units with her now is about all.
Light Warbeasts
Wild Argus
Here is a beast that needs a role. One of two things needs to happen with this piece. Either it needs to have a more prominent place in battle if its to become a melee light OR it needs to provide more utility in some fashion. With the Moonhound being more utility and the Winter Argus being the ranged piece, I'd probably suggest that melee is his place. If that's the case, lets make him MAT 6 and at least POW 13. I don't think it needs its current animi, so perhaps it has an animus that also helps it in melee of some variety?
He needed a role, and he got one. While we didn't gain Pathfinder across the board, we did get it on all of the Argus models. Traded out the previously never used ranged attack and moved that ability to an amazing animus! If you can get an Argus within 2" of something, he can make it DEF 5 and prevent it from charging, running and some other stuff. Otherwise, SPD, DEF and ARM on the Argus "chassis" was swapped with the Griffons which makes sense I think. Expect to see this guy more!
Argus Moonhound
I actually think this light is one of the better examples of having a good, support/utility role in the faction. Unique animus for certain. Mark the Target is a great utility rule. Hunting Howls was always pretty tough to get into position with unless you used Acceleration from a Rotterhorn I felt, but overall I think that was alright too. Not sure this model really needs any changes, which is great!
Subtle changes here and I like them a lot. Kept Mark the Target which is great, lost the current animus, but gained the removal of Stealth back as the animus. This is a great change because as I was saying Hunting Howls was hard to get in position with before because you couldn't charge even. Well, now you can, so it should actually become more beneficial.
Winter Argus
I have always liked this model and felt that it has potential. The two ranged attacks seem like they have some promise. The animus makes him pretty tanky too. Problem being that you can't really effectively use the beast without filling it up on fury and at a two cost for the animus it basically was stuck either using that or spraying. If its to keep its animus completely as-is, then I think it needs to cost 1 instead of 2. If its getting an animus that can be more utility, such as it not being just range self. I think going to at least RAT 5 would be helpful as well.
He used to have a tanky option to go to DEF 15 ARM 16, but that's not the case as the animus changed to be basically the Winter Troll's animus and the rest of the rules are mostly the same. I do like the sprays, but at RAT 4 they're just not great. Animus isn't stellar for reasons to take him.
Gorax
Oh the Gorax! Primal is in many ways what defines Circle. It allows us to successfully assassinate most of the things we send in, but it has also been quite limiting. He is one of the few original lights we had with open hands, that's always been great. I think I'd like to see Primal either go away or not define the game so much that the Gorax was required for Circle. This requires such an overhaul of so much of the faction that I'm not really sure how to look at it.
So, I didn't want a Gorax to be mandatory anymore, and I don't think that it will be even though it has more to do with another beast and less with him. He got nerfed though, lost a fury, lost a MAT, basically retained everything else. Probably still some places he's a good fit, but mostly not expecting that he'll be so ubiquitous as before.
Rotterhorn Griffon
This is another amazing light that I don't really think needs a lot of changes! If I were being nitpicky I think that I'd love the POW 8 to be POW 10, but with it being boostable I'm pretty ok with it as is too. Has utility and has usefulness against light targets. Perfect!
Acceleration abuse is sadly gone with this guy, however his animus now does the 2" POW 8 (now not boostable) and if he kills a model in melee he gets to do the animus for free. I still like the utility and I think if high DEF troops end up being a thing he'll be good, but so far that doesn't seem as likely in this edition. Also, as mentioned prior, SPD 7 DEF 15 ARM 14 makes more sense for the Griffons.
Scarsfell Griffon
This is the melee light that doesn't seem to know what to do with itself. It has Stealth which normally would be great and Long Leash is really helpful of course. After that though it has sort of low POW initials and an animus that costs too much to do too little. Hunter is kind of cute, but its a fairly corner-case ability when talking about nothing but melee attacks. On top of that threatening only a 9.5" charge isn't anything to write home about either.
Seems like his purpose is to be in melee and be sneaky about it. Stealth should definitely stay. I think again that perhaps +1 or 2 pow could be helpful (or at least all of them being POW 12 would be solid), and maybe another way to speed himself up. Maybe he has an animus that is something similar to Slipstream in Legion, or maybe a more limited Slipstream or something.
Mostly the same, got a little cheaper like all the lights have, which I guess I haven't mentioned until now. Also, swapped out its animus for one that grants it Dodge, which can be amazing. Has Tracker so its one of the few models that can actually ignore forests for LOS. Keeping Stealth and Long Leash along with the SPD/DEF/ARM change has definitely put this guy in a place where I want to try out more of him.
Razorwing Griffon
Amuck is a cute animus, but I'm sort of hoping that it goes away because there aren't really that many good applications for it right now. I'd also sort of like the rules for Trample to just say the model is hit if the movement is restricted so much, then we're talking about a POW 12 autohitting, but if its only fitting the movement requirements that Trample currently does. Otherwise I'm not sure that being the trample bird is really enough for this and he might need to flow the way of being more utility or more melee-oriented.
Went from having 3 initials at POW 12 to 2 at POW 11, but retains the ability to do tramples at POW 12. Amuck means those can still be quite accurate, and they go farther with SPD 7. I don't know of any other changes to Trample, but with DEF scores being lower in most places, I think this is going to be a solid choice.
Woldwatcher
I actually like this guy as he is, though he has caused some problems certainly. Having only FURY 2 has done a lot to keep this guy balanced if you ask me, he's often making a choice of being defensive or offensive. Given his points I don't really think that there is a lot that needs to happen with this guy.
Half point cheaper here, but lost Shield Guard to give it to a big brother. He's probably fine, but not having a cheap Shield Guard is a bit unfortunate. Everything else stayed the same though, so I don't think he's a terrible choice at all.
Woldwyrd
This guy is so close that its ridiculous, I actually love almost everything about him, but he just doesn't quite deliver. In MK1 everyone would play him actually because he had opposite rules as now. His anti-magic was a latent ability and his animus essentially handed out Purgation to other models. I've long found it odd that he is only POW 10 while the smaller Woldstalkers are POW 12. I think increase is POW to 12, and give him Blessed and/or Arcane Assassin and he finally finds his home.
* As I was writing this blog there was an Insider which told us the ROF essentially means "initial ranged attacks" now. This means that, if unchanged, the Woldwyrd can always just shoot three times. If that's the case and he's unchanged that could be pretty solid.
His ROF did indeed stay at 3, so always shooting three times. Lost a fury though to go to FURY 2 so there is some consistency among light wolds. Witch Hunter was cleaned up some as well. Kept the same animus which was tweaked a little bit to. I think with always getting shots though that this is a solid option.
Heavy Warbeasts
Feral Warpwolf
I did say that any other animus would be better, and boy did he get a good one in Primal! If we were going to keep Primal in the faction I'm definitely happy to at least see that I have options in what to take to get it. I can now see a Feral (or two) being a VERY often taken piece with almost anyone in the faction who wants to play Warbeasts. Otherwise the change to gaining 1" of melee puts him in a good place threat-range-wise as well (especially with the Warp SPD option). Great changes.
Pureblood Warpwolf
Was spot on with the prediction of going to 17 points, they didn't remove aiming so he stays at RAT 5. He picked up Assault which was pretty unexpected, but I'm happy to have it. Kept Wraithbane too which can be a pretty helpful animus at times. Only loss was the sort of awkward ability that was never used really to let other beasts Warp Ghostly. Doesn't seem like a big deal. Good changes to the faction.
Warpwolf Stalker
So the biggest thing here is that the Stalker seems like he was the ONLY beast to choose. With his warps, having reach, pathfinder and being generally a good answer for almost all of the different things your opponent sent at you and his Lightning Strike animus, he was ubiquitous. Often the answer was just to bring more of this guy when people needed more beasts. So, while I do hope to play him in MK3 he probably needs to be balanced so that he doesn't overshadow other options. This is one of the reasons that I want to see Pathfinder across the board which will help with some of the problems. The other thing is that Lightning Strike probably needs to be on another beast entirely.
I'm annoyed that he's one of the only living heavy beasts that has Pathfinder and that we have very little ways to hand it out (at least presently). That said, changing Lightning Strike to be Range: SELF seems like a good change really because now you're going to have to be a bit pickier about where he's taken, but he won't just be garbage either.
Shadowhorn Satyr
Satyrs have been sort of referred to as "Medium Warbeasts" with these changes. They got pretty damn cheap, but went down to FURY 3 which is an interesting direction. I'm excited to try him out for only 12 points. He did lose Reversal (definitely was a bit of a gotcha) and Virility was traded for the Beatback animus, though keep in mind Beatback doesn't trigger if the model dies anymore. He also picked up Chain Attack: Throw which is a nice addition I think too. As usual the forums haven't liked this model, but I think it can have a place.
Gnarlhorn Satyr
So, he's the MK2 equivalent of 6 points (12 in MK3) retained everything on his card expect -1 SPD, -1 FURY and traded Bounding for Earth's Blessing. Another of our interesting "medium warbeasts" he occupies an interesting space. He hits certainly harder than a light warbeast, but harder than any light certainly would. Still excels at slams. Can he trade up with Primal enough? Maybe? Are slams more valuable than throws from the Shadowhorn? I'm not sure. It does seem like the space he occupies is cheap heavy that specializes in slams and hits harder than a light. Time will tell beyond that.
Riphorn Satyr
I wanted to differentiate him, and I think maybe they did, just not in a way I had expected. -1 SPD and -1 FURY like the Gnarlhorn, but also -1 POW to all the attacks which puts them at POW 15. Retained the animus (though it costs 1 now) as well as aggressive, and the chain-attack all for 14 points. I think he's in just about the right place to start off trades probably. He's going to get 7 attacks which sure are all POW 15, but throw Primal in there and the free charge and he's going to be able to take down most standard heavy beast or jacks. He's also going to be ARM 19 for them to kill, and while he will frenzy, if your opponent can't kill him that's a huge boon.
Woldwarden
He ended up in a strange place. Basically is a full point cheaper, but Geomancy is now changed so that he always uses a Magic Ability [6] instead of the Warlocks Fury stat. That part is ok, but the other change is that they can't cast upkeep spells. That part means that they're mostly going to be using Geomancy to make attacks since key spells like Curse of Shadows, Affliction, and so on can't be cast by them. Still POW 15s, FURY 3. Animus now doesn't allow him to move after either, which is definitely a downer. Not sure how many lists are going to need/want what he's bringing to the table.
Wold Guardian
SPD 4 was something when I started into Circle that I thought I'd NEVER want to play this guy. I quickly learned that Shifting Stones can make that some what irrelevant. ARM 20 and I think 30 wounds does make him one of the tankier options in the faction. The animus is good as well. POW 17 and only FURY 3 though definitely left him wanting in the fact that he's supposed to be the heavy hitting Wold. POW 17 with no way to buff that is just not enough to get it done. There's a new Stoneshaper solo, so if that guy buffs damage then the POW 17 might be sufficient, but if not, for this guy to see play he needs to hit harder.
Gained damage boxes, traded Flesh of Clay for Irresistible Force, traded Girded for Shield Guard and traded Empathic Transference for Sturdy and went down a half point from MK2. I'd call this all neutral in changes except for how much he hurts Bradigus lists because of Sturdy. POW 17 is still not on the great side of damage either, but if we can find the right number of buffs/debuffs it can probably work. I still have hopes for the Stoneshaper helping too.
Megalith
My biggest complaint is that this model needs a repose I think (I'm working on it soon). He's a bit costly at 11 points today for being a heavy that only brings POW 16, but as far as how he debuffs DEF and movement I think that he's pretty good as-is. I'd say he's a decent candidate for a slight point adjustment.
Mentioned the hit Geomancy took, but he's a Magic Ability [7] which is great. That said he did get a full point cheaper (20 points in MK3) and did get a bump in his STR which takes him up to POW 17 in melee. He is otherwise unchanged, which I think puts him in a good place in the faction right now.
Ghetorix
What does the angry Warpwolf who has everything really need? Well, other than the fact that all Tharn in the game have Pathfinder and for some reason he lost it when he sipped the druid kool-aid and forgot, I'm not actually sure that a whole lot needs to change with this guy. He fits a niche, and costs more points for it.
I wasn't sure what he needed, but I think he got it. First fantastic change is that he traded out Warp Hyperaggressive for Warp Murderous which is amazing. Next he gets Overtake when he's with Kromac, which is great both rules and fluff-wise. He has Spiny Growth, which is now RNG: SELF as his animus and gives up Ornery which is a much better animus even though its at the cost of Unyielding. I don't see Kromac leaving home too often with out this guy.
Brennos the Elderhorn
No one has more room in Circle to grow than this model. Personally when I saw him I was hoping that he might be a beast that had two animi and that maybe one of them was some kind of offensive debuff. I think with Primal being the big deal that it was that putting more ARM debuffs out there didn't work. I do really like Primal Magic. I think his ranged attack was decent, though I don't think there's any reason that it couldn't be at least POW 12.
So what do we do? His POW isn't that high (even with Mage Killer). His DEF/ARM is abysmal. Primal Magic is good. Gun is alright. Animus is interesting. His MAT/RAT is subpar. Huh. I'd like to see focus being on utility. Less points, more utility. Maybe have some sort of effects that can used with the gun in addition to Thunderbolt. Keep Sacred Ward. Maybe allow him to cast more than one animus in a turn. I would also have given him a different, offensive animi of some kind and then made him FURY 5. I'm sure a lot of this won't happen, but improving any of this would be great.
He had room to grow and boy did he! Down a half point, up a MAT an ARM, down a SPD maintains FURY 4. Got Arcane Suppression as an animus, which is a solid one. Lost mage killer and the ranged attack, gained a POW on the weapon which is magic and blessed. What he really gained was a Spell list! He has Magic [7] and can cast a RNG 10 POW 14 AOE 4 which enemy models can't make ranged attacks while touching. Purifying Prayer and Condition do give him a tiny amount of support as well. You will be seeing this guy now!
Gargantuans
Storm Raptor
Having never put him on the table makes it hard to say what needs to be done here. The obvious complaint has been his MAT 5, which I'd happily love to see be MAT 6. Aside from that, hard to comment on something which hasn't hit the table yet.
Placeholder - Haven't seen a full spoiler
Woldwrath
He's already in the "good in the right list" position just for the fact that he brings a fantastic gun that is respectable into Circle and then is hard to deal with later. He's just not quite there though for a lot of the same reasons that other gargantuans weren't. Spell Ward was very limiting overall, especially when his animus makes you want to bring Druids anyway, changing that to Sacred Ward would be great. In the old RPG he also had a regeneration ability which I feel like he could bring back. Druid's Wrath always felt alright, though a bit clunky to execute honestly. I think the biggest thing that would help is a second gun to shoot and removing the Storm Generator rule and just making it drop a single template. I'd obviously welcome a bit more pow out of those fists too, but not sure we'll see that.
The changes here are fantastic. He got the Sacred Ward change that I had hoped for which gives him the ability mostly to get more ARM, but potentially something for offense too. Gun stayed with only one shot, but now its an AOE 5 which leaves a big lightning storm in play. Oh, and he gains Hyper-Regeneration allowing him to repair himself d3 every turn. Good odds we see more of this guy in MK3.
Units
Shifting Stones
THE unit in Circle, what's going to happen here? I'm sort of hoping ... nothing really. The change to Teleportation last year seems to be a pretty good one. The big thing that I'm seeing that might change is based on some of their re-tooling we could see Shifting Stones get +1 FA to account for the third unit in Bradigus' army. Also, since each unit can take a UA now, I would expect he might be seeing some changes as well. Is Stealth too good? Maybe his CMD will get smaller?
Biggest change here is that the stones now place completely within 8" instead of within 8" which effectively was a 10" place for large bases. Because of this it makes me less sure of what lists they will go in, because 8" is the minimum that almost anything in the faction could just charge. That said they are only 3 points in MK3 which is a bit cheaper, they have a CMD of 5 w/out the UA which is nice, and healing field now goes out 2" instead of 1". The UA took something of a hit, only giving out Prowl instead of Stealth and being down 1 CMD. However he does have a spell to just gain 4 ARM which is great, and Rockhammer is still there. Probably not something for every list anymore, and that's ok.
Sentry Stone & Mannikins
I'm pretty sure I'm stealing this from someone else, but I'd love it if these were better than they are now, without being ridiculous like they became in the Bradigus theme force. Problem is that I have no idea how to go about accomplishing that. I might have said initially that they could be a different fury management tool for Circle, but with them saying those things are being toned down I sort of doubt it.
I am a big fan of the changes to this unit. Became 5 points in MK3 which is down a bit, and the Stone can spend a fury to place a 3" forest around itself. It can always place 5" now which is fantastic, and it spits out a Mannikin every turn which can act right away. With significantly fewer models seeing through forests, and a Stealth ARM 18 model is tricky to kill. Mannikins now just attack, but that's fine. Expect to see more of this.
Druids of Orboros
The other most iconic unit in Circle. One cool thing is that being able to bring another Overseer if you're bringing an additional unit is nice. They were sort of a pricey unit before, so I'm not sure where that'll land. It could be neat with the Storm Raptor if they added a Lightning-based attack, but I'm not going to hold my breath there. I'd overall like to see Camouflage get better as there were just too many things which ignored it in MK2 if you ask me.
This unit was changed a lot. Vortex clouds now go away when the Druid dies, the Druid is now DEF 13 but has Prowl instead of Camouflag. Forcebolt which used to help pull you closer can now only push away, no Medicate, no Counter Magic. Dropped to Magic [6] but gained an 8" attack that causes knockdown. The UA brings Sacred Ward, Apparition and the ability to cast Elemental Immunity and he's a Magic [7]. Druids unit got a bit cheaper, UA is basically the same. Not sure what place they will or won't have. Interesting changes, gives them a different role I think, but I'm not sure what it is just yet.
Druid Stoneward & Woldstalkers
Beginning of MK2 we didn't see these guys, then Pagani started to play them in lists and we saw them kind of everywhere for a year or two, and then they started to disappear. I'm not actually sure what I would change here though. I don't really like playing a single unit of them because I think what they do is neutralized too easily. I'd be happy if their guns change to be a lightning-based attack maybe, or to have elemental options perhaps.
Basically the unit is unchanged. The Woldstalkers gained Gunfighter and Zephyr no longer ignores Free Strikes. Points are basically the same too. Seems fine for me and for this unit.
Blackclad Mist Riders
I'm not going to say much on this, because these models aren't even out yet. Its been announced that all cavalry are now FA:2 so that's definitely a new development, but that's about it.
Currently no info, will return to these when I know more.
Tharn Bloodtrackers
Most seen combat infantry in the faction, and for good reason, they're a fantastic unit. I think that Prey is definitely something that keeps them in check. I'm honestly not expecting much of a change to this unit, I've always felt that it was good but not over the top really.
The base unit is effectively unchanged, points are the same, stats the same, Prey, etc. Nuala changed a bit, now she's a weapon master in melee, gained Parry too. Instead of Reposition she now grants Swift Hunter and still does Tactics: Quick Work. Largely they're the same unit they always were.
Tharn Bloodweavers
Solid toolbox sort of unit with having Dispel on their melee attack and the ability to hit living models really hard. I always sort of wished that they had some more movement shenanigans, but they do get Killing Spree from a well placed Night Witch now. I think they're more-or-less alright as they are, but any little tweak to them would be a boon.
So, they got cheaper at 8 MK3 points, but they lose Blood Spiller (additional die vs living) and Dispel for Grievous Wounds and Life Stealer as options. Otherwise they're basically the same. Losing the options that I took them for before makes it hard to determine where they will best fit. However, they're very cheap and do have some interesting versatility for very inexpensive points. Night Witch still gives them Killing Spree as well, which means they could potentially just mow through a unit if they can hit enough.
Tharn Ravagers
At the time of this writing we already know that they are getting a points reduction and their UA is going to have a mini-feat Overtake and Vengeance. Hopefully the latter is "tactics" and not "granted" or whatever the equivalent is in MK3. We know too that they're the offense based med-based troops for Circle, but with only 5 wounds I do hope they get some buff so that they can actually get to the fight.
Some big changes happened here. The base unit is mostly the same, except less points, and they gained a point of ARM and Tough, though no more Powerful Charge. Heart Eater now allows for you to get tokens from Undead models though, so that's a boon! The UA is pretty different now though, no more Brutal Charge or AD, but instead they have a mini feat granting Overtake and they have Vengeance which now only requires them to be damaged in order to trigger. Oh, and the weapon attachment, that guy is a solo now. Seems like they're in an interesting place, not sure how much of them I expect to see/play just yet.
Tharn Blood Pack
I actually really have liked these guys, but not really played them much at all. RNG 12 POW 13 should be a big deal. The problem that I was having though is that without being able to boost their damage, they're only one higher than things like a Reeves 2-man CRA or a Woldstalker shot, and they cost a lot more for what they do. However, they're solid in melee of course when they get in there and mix it up due to being MAT 7. I'd really just love to see them have a way to consistently get fed corpses.
Treewalker is basically the same, but Heart Eater now only works for melee. They kept their defensive profile, but with 5 boxes and tough not too. Lost Assault and Battery and now just have Assault, but went down to RNG 10. I'm not sure what their thing is right now, POW 13 is decent, but its only ok with out a boost. No freebie attacks when returning with Morvahna2, no boosts with the ranged attack, etc. Feels like they need a UA or something, not sure they're on my short list for trying just yet.
Tharn Wolf Riders
I'm really hoping that a little something is done to them for them to see play AND for them to be differentiated more from Bloodtrackers. I really do think that Assault is a good rule for the, its fluffy and strong overall. I'd like to see them lose Prey and gain some other buff to their offensive output honestly. Prey is a great rule, I'll be alright if it stays, but I think for them to really find their own place that they need some different buffs. The rest of the rules I'm pretty happy about, though, I do love the idea of Howl from MK1 coming back which allowed for them to always be considered in CMD basically.
Well, they did lose Prey, so that makes sense on that side. All of the POWs stayed the same, but cavalry are all the same now. That means they can make Impact attacks if they'd choose, they also can add in a mount attack in melee like before. Cavalry charge is now boosted to hit rather than +2 which is a nice addition. They also go to weapon master in melee now in addition to the throw. Also randomly acquired Annoyance which might matter on occasion and are 11/18 points-wise which is a slight discount from MK2. Now that they're FA:2 I think they get really interesting with the potential of two SPD 9 units on the table harassing the opponent.
Reeves of Orboros
So maligned for so long, I have enjoyed them with Morvahna2, and I've felt a few times that they might be good with some other warlocks as well, but never got around really to trying too much. Love the synergy with Warwolf solos though. I do think that CRA was overcosted on a lot of units, this being one of them. I'm ok with them staying as is if points are adjusted. That said, for the love of the Devourer I'd like to see their UA actually matter. Swift Hunter is a good ability, Ranked Attacks isn't poor, but all of that for 2 points is terrible.
Another thing that would be helpful is if Nyss Hunters are toned down a bit, or their cost adjusted up (or the same if Reeves go down). Comparing the two units in MK2 was painful for the faction-purist sort of folks.
Bad thing, they went from POW 10 to POW 8 ... and its nothing but good news from there. They now just have ROF 2, so they always shoot twice. Still have Hunter (but now it ignores concealment and cover), still have CRA, still DEF/ARM 13/13, still RNG 12 oh and they cost 10/16 points! Such a good unit now. The UA also brings another two shots, Go To Ground and War Tempered which lets them volley a big CRA into melee when they need to too! Definitely thinking these will get table time!
Wolves of Orboros
They're actually a decent 4/6 unit in MK2 its just that rarely is that what Circle wanted or needed, and its hard to keep 13/13 troops alive sometimes to see battle. Being able to just stock add a UA to each unit should help though. Also, if they're going to pierce the thickest armor maybe at least get them to POW 10 base?
Largely unchanged, but now they're Wolf Sworn, along with Reeves, Skinwalkers, Morraig, War Wolves, Grayle and Skinwalkers. There's a bunch of synergies with that which bear mentioning. Kept basically the same rules, they're even a bit cheaper now. UA added in Reposition [3"] while keeping Power Swell. Probably the cheapest bodies that can be added to a list still and can get a few things done.
Warpborn Skinwalkers
The only thing here we know for sure is that they're the defensive-based unit as far as medium based troops go, and that they'll only have 5 wounds in MK3 almost certainly. I think with their UA that they were pretty on point honestly. Might be nice to see them get another point of ARM though if they're losing wounds.
One of the few units to keep 8 wounds, they clearly went the defensive route with these guys. Odd one is losing Pathfinder but gaining Relentless Charge which feels like they just wanted to add a rule to the back of the card for removing Relentless Advance, but ok. Still DEF 12 ARM 16 w/ Unyielding which is good. The Alpha now has a mini feat which says within 3" of them no orders and no spell casting, as well as giving them Gang. Oh, and they heal d3 damage every turn now too, so they stay up in the fray even longer. Being Wolf Sworn also gives them great work with things like Morraig, War Wolves and Grayle. Love these changes.
Death Wolves
Our character unit which has only been out for a little while. I really hope that they don't change because they have thus far been amazing for me as I've played them.
I didn't expect it to be all that likely they could get better, but they did. Dropped to 9 MK3 points, and lost all of the "Granted" rules basically and gained them back as always rules. They did lose Gang as a result of that, but the POW increased to accomodate. Tala went to 1" melee range which is amazing, as well as being bumped to POW 12. POW 14 for the 2" axe and even up to POW 11 for the one with two claws. Still Overtake and Prowl. They don't start the game with any corpses any more, but they may still be able to get them from friendly models, and they can definitely get them from undead now too. Definitely a fan of the changes to this unit.
Solos
Druid Wilder
If there are no rules changes we already know that Condition is going to take a hit, so that would set her back a little. That said, I am normally taking her for Spirit Tap so that's fine. If we get some new, different or better animi that aren't self I think she'll become pretty useful still, and I'd maybe see her going to 3 points (so 1.5 in today's numbers).
She lost both Condition and Spirit Tap, but gained Medicate and Shepard's Call which can remove a fury from any number of friendly beasts within 3" of her, so that's an improvement. She retained Herding, though I rarely used that. The bigger deal is that she has Arcane Support now to help her Warlock upkeep a spell for free. Since so many animi are now RNG: SELF its good that she has something new that she can do, though I can see that there are times I might want to put out something like Primal and have to have my Warlock do it. Still she's saving the Warlock at least 1 fury, which is a good deal certainly. I foresee her making it into a lot of lists.
Blackclad Wayfarer
Always felt like one of the best balanced 2 point solos in MK2. It has a pretty functional spell for attacking, has some synergy for other things in the list, has some interesting utility movement-wise. Also has a solid statline and some decent defensive tech. Can't say that I have a lot of thoughts on him changing.
Spell list stayed the same, gained Battle Wizard, traded the immunities for Prowl and stayed at 4 points. Still MAT 7 POW 10 with reach. Arguably, without character restrictions, Lanyssa Ryssyl might be a better option at a point less if Hunter's Mark is the biggest thing you're looking for. That spray is still decent though too so it depends on your purpose. I think he's in an alright place.
Tharn Ravager Shaman
I had to add this entry because the model that was the weapon attachment for the Ravagers is now a solo. Good way to handle him I think. Has Heart Eater still, POW 12 reach in melee with MAT 7 still. However, trades the ranged attack for Magic Ability [6] and Battle Wizard. Now brings one of three options for spells. He can do a Chain Lightning, has a spell that prevents Knockdown for Tharn in his 6" CMD range or he can hand out magic weapons. All good abilities, and one will have uses. Slighty more expensive than he was before, but definitely with more utility.
Tharn Ravager Whitemane
Another model that never lived up to its hype really, and much of that I account for the fact that it was too swingy. If your opponent had a pile of non-Tough, Living, DEF 13 or less, ARM 17 or less models that were all about 3" apart, you'd own them. The problem is that none of that was what dominated the meta competitively (minus the ARM part). With the Ravager unit gaining Overtake from their Command Attachment, I'm not sure that I see him keeping Overtake. Tactician is a decent rule, but its not enough to justify a 3 (6 in the future) point investment generally.
Got a bit of a reduction, kept most of the same rules other than Tactician being removed in favor of the much better Veteran Leader ability for Tharn Ravagers and Crit Grievous on the axe. Decent changes.
Reeve Hunter
You basically never saw this model played, and the reason being that it seems to be sort of slightly above average at a bunch of things, but not really good at anything. Its comparison point is probably the Strider Deathstalker in Legion, which is RAT 8, Stealth, RNG 12 POW 10 with Sniper. The Reeve Hunter is better in melee and can produce more attacks, being that its RAT 7 same gun, but also has Quick Work and two melee attacks (if charging one at MAT 8 otherwise MAT 6). Theoretically you could live the dream of killing 6 models in a turn (I actually did once). However, POW 10 often come up short with the amount of ARM out there, RAT 7 would come up short with too much DEF up there. Same for the melee attacks.
I'm not really sure what I want here though. Camouflage needs to be a bit of a better rule in general which would help this model and the Reeves too. Its clear that this guy is intended to be a combat solo, but we seem to have a bunch of those and most do it better. He's got a lot of potential, but it might require an entire overhaul.
This guy got all sorts of better. Got the ROF 2, RNG 12 POW 8 shot that the Reeves have, but at RAT 7. His sword gained weapon master, he has Assault and Sprint, while retaining Quickwork, giving Quickwork to Reeves and kept Hunter and AD. Talk about a solo that can mix it up, this guy has it all. He'll be making some lists!
Gallows Grove
Cute little bark-node. Not sure here what to do, I like them alright as-is, and think they might still be only a single point (so effectively a 1/2 point) if they don't change at all.
Stayed 2 points, but Entropic Force is now 5" which is a good boon for us. I think this is a good change and will keep them in the lists that want them.
Tharn Bloodweaver Night Witch
Released just before the edition change, I'm not expecting too many changes for this model honestly. I like the model as it is, and its already a pretty good model. I'm hoping that since you could play three of them with Kromac2 that you still are able to field three of them (I also incidentally own three of them) but we'll see. If not its not the end of the world.
FA didn't increase, but that's ok. Otherwise this model is unsurprisingly unchanged.
War Wolf
Mostly unchanged except that now Sic'em can be triggered from any Wolf Sworn model, which can be pretty fantastic! Looking forward to some new combinations of things with these.
Lord of the Feast
So, for the record, this guy is pretty alright as is. If his rules don't change at all I'd love to see him at 7 points (effectively 3.5) based on how I've played him. That said, if I'm going to dream, this is the guy that I might just do it with. In Wild Adventure, which is an add-on for Iron Kingdoms RPG: Unleashed, there are a couple of changes and I'd love to see them maybe hit him here. First is a good change which is just that he goes from POW 13 to POW 15 on his melee attack. I've felt for his points that his POW only being 13 was a bit low given that you pay so many points for him, so this would be a great change.
The other thing is that he has a rule called 'The Offering' which he can utilize if he has five corpses in the RPG and it gives all Circle Orboros / Devourer Worshippers within 5" of him +2 STR, SPD, DEF, ARM and they gain Berserk. I would translate this to a mini-feat in the table top game if we were to get it, and it would obviously being something that would have to dramatically change his point cost. That said, I like the idea of a big buff being handed out by a character solo, and the bubble is big enough to matter, but not so huge as to not require strategy.
None of my nonsense happened, but he did go to 6 points, went down to 1" melee range. Gained the ability to heal with Corpses which is nice. He can also make ranged attacks in melee now along with having thresher on his melee. Not clear if he can use Thresher and the bird attack though because of how things are worded. If he can preload up on corpses like it currently seems, he'll be a monster I think.
Wolf Lord Morraig
I've struggled to find a home for Wolf Lord Morraig for most of MK2. Its really hard for me to want to play him without Wolves of Orboros just because of how hard he hits. Cleave was always sort of an awkward rule so I'd be ok with that being streamlined into just getting a second attack. I'd be pretty alright with him being a bit more valuable stand-alone as well. I'm not sure there's a ton here I think needs to change, I haven't really played him enough to nitpick. Anything that happens here will excite me.
Veteran Leader for Wolf Sworn is a great change, especially for one less point from MK2. Lost weapon master and 1" of melee range, but gained a SPD. The rest is essentially unchanged, which is great. Definitely see him being a relevant factor in any Wolf Sworn type of builds.
Una the Falconer
Sadly, I'm expecting Watcher to get "fixed" so that you can't just keep making movements if you don't make the attack. That'll make me a bit sad because I really loved that ability and I felt it lent itself towards some pretty awesome plays. That said, the rest of her kit is great and I'm hoping there's effectively no change to it.
Got a little cheaper, but she doesn't reduce the cost for her beasts which she's now required to have at least one of. Watcher was replaced with Guardian Beast which only allows for one 6" move and attack, so that's a decent enough fix. Mild improvement to the RNG on Dog Pile. The rest is about the same.
Battle Engines
Celestial Fulcrum
Our battle engine is already so close to being amazing that them mentioning tweaking them upwards is fantastic news. Longer range on the two non-spray attacks would go a long ways, as would more access to Fury than it has now. Excited to see what happens with this!
Called this one, longer range was added to both non-spray attacks, as well as another point of ARM and some clarification on how it can make ranged attacks when its in melee and so forth. All good changes for the mere 0.5 point addition.
