Salamander
airjamy
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Following in the clawprints of @Lizards of Renown i would like to know what you think of the Engine, and if you have any experience playing them. I am actually going to field one in a friendly battle i am playing in two weeks, and i have never ran one, so i am interested in what you think.
I think the Engine is an interesting package, as it has many small buffs and not just one thing that makes you want to take it. To start off, you have to mount it on an Ancient (which is the better of our two flavors of Stegs if you ask me) and it replaces the Giant Blowpipes. The Giant Blowpipes are not all that good if you ask me, not marching to be able to shoot it sort off defeats its purpose, as having your monster in the right position tat the right time seems more important to me than some shots, but it is nice to have in some situations. It offers:
- The Burning Alignment, which is a pretty good bound spell, especially when faced with a lot of chaff. Only needing a 3 to cast makes it castable with just one dice, and against enemies like Elves the D6 S4 flaming hits actually do some damage. It is very variable in its damage output though, and not knowing what range it is (4D6 inches) before you spend your power dice sounds pretty sketchy to me. Also against armies with just a few units, for example a Guttstar, this bound spell is just terrible. I also interpret this spell as not being able to do damage in Close Combat as it is a Direct Damage spell with damage distributed as if it were shooting, if anybody wants to fight me on this, i would love to.
It also has flaming attacks, which is ok i guess?
- The Portent of Warding. 6++ to anything within 6 inches. Also pretty ok. This makes it you can take Spears on Sauri and not feel bad about it IMHO. Also makes it somewhat better against Cannons, you got to love it when you roll that 6 against a cannonball.
- The Arcane Configuration. -1 on all casting values from a lore of your choosing at the start of every magic phase. Multiples of these don't stack. Seems only good on a High Magic Slann (or a BRB lore Slann, but i feel that Wandering Deliberations and High Magic Slann are really the two best choices in all-comers), as Wandering Deliberations obviously uses every lore, making it a only a -1 on only a single spell. It effect seems negligible, this should never affect the amount of power dice you throw at a spell. It also can not put casting costs below a 3, which would be interesting (as you then would be able to cast spells reliably on 1 dice on for example a 2+).
I feel that putting a Skink Priest on the Stegadon with the Engine is terrible and not to be considered, as it does not make the Engine stronger in any way (which is a fluff fail if you ask me) and because it makes your Skink Priest targetable with missile fire (yeah only on a 5+ with random allocation, but still), so i would not expect your Skink Priest to survive the first turn, ever, even against something horrible like Imperial Archers, if your opponent does not like the Priest on the Steg.
If you sum it up, i feel it is at its best when its bound spell is strong, so against Elves or maybe other LM (skinks do not like the Burning Alignment), and bad against cannon armies (Dwarves and Empire), as this is our most expensive monster. So maybe in an Elf heavy meta i would consider this in a competitive list, maybe? What do you think, do you think it is worth it to give up the Blowpipes for it?
I think the Engine is an interesting package, as it has many small buffs and not just one thing that makes you want to take it. To start off, you have to mount it on an Ancient (which is the better of our two flavors of Stegs if you ask me) and it replaces the Giant Blowpipes. The Giant Blowpipes are not all that good if you ask me, not marching to be able to shoot it sort off defeats its purpose, as having your monster in the right position tat the right time seems more important to me than some shots, but it is nice to have in some situations. It offers:
- The Burning Alignment, which is a pretty good bound spell, especially when faced with a lot of chaff. Only needing a 3 to cast makes it castable with just one dice, and against enemies like Elves the D6 S4 flaming hits actually do some damage. It is very variable in its damage output though, and not knowing what range it is (4D6 inches) before you spend your power dice sounds pretty sketchy to me. Also against armies with just a few units, for example a Guttstar, this bound spell is just terrible. I also interpret this spell as not being able to do damage in Close Combat as it is a Direct Damage spell with damage distributed as if it were shooting, if anybody wants to fight me on this, i would love to.
It also has flaming attacks, which is ok i guess?- The Portent of Warding. 6++ to anything within 6 inches. Also pretty ok. This makes it you can take Spears on Sauri and not feel bad about it IMHO. Also makes it somewhat better against Cannons, you got to love it when you roll that 6 against a cannonball.
- The Arcane Configuration. -1 on all casting values from a lore of your choosing at the start of every magic phase. Multiples of these don't stack. Seems only good on a High Magic Slann (or a BRB lore Slann, but i feel that Wandering Deliberations and High Magic Slann are really the two best choices in all-comers), as Wandering Deliberations obviously uses every lore, making it a only a -1 on only a single spell. It effect seems negligible, this should never affect the amount of power dice you throw at a spell. It also can not put casting costs below a 3, which would be interesting (as you then would be able to cast spells reliably on 1 dice on for example a 2+).
I feel that putting a Skink Priest on the Stegadon with the Engine is terrible and not to be considered, as it does not make the Engine stronger in any way (which is a fluff fail if you ask me) and because it makes your Skink Priest targetable with missile fire (yeah only on a 5+ with random allocation, but still), so i would not expect your Skink Priest to survive the first turn, ever, even against something horrible like Imperial Archers, if your opponent does not like the Priest on the Steg.
If you sum it up, i feel it is at its best when its bound spell is strong, so against Elves or maybe other LM (skinks do not like the Burning Alignment), and bad against cannon armies (Dwarves and Empire), as this is our most expensive monster. So maybe in an Elf heavy meta i would consider this in a competitive list, maybe? What do you think, do you think it is worth it to give up the Blowpipes for it?
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you duplicated the same style as my other ones.