Icedales Cult: New version (v2.3b) (01/10/2014) (Download in first post)

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**xalvissx**

Hello guys

This is my first time posting on the forum, so please be gentle

I got the idea for this army from the flash game "Takeover", which you can find here: http://armorgames.com/play/13880/
While the game is simple, the ideas are interesting and hard to bypass.

My favorite army, the Icedales Cult will be the first to be created, followed by the Rivadis Empire, the Crimson Horde and Duchy of Westaria.

The fluff:

Spoiler:

The Rivadis system, located on the uncharted region of Segmentum Pacificus, is embroiled in civil war. First colonized during the Dark Age of Technology, all communication with other human's settlements is cut of during the massive warpstorm that engulfed the galaxy and destroyed the glorious human civilization. The entire intersellar confederation was brought on its knees in a relative short time. At first, the colonists of Rivadis tried to carry out their lives as they knew it, but long-term isolation began to take its toll. During this time, several psykers appeared, and they brought with them great suffering. Worlds after worlds fell to daemonic dominance, and soon anarchy and full scale civil war broke out, eerily similar to the disasters that befell human race during this dark times. Three milleniums passed until one power gathered enough strength to overcome all oppositions and bring prosperity back to Rivadis: The Rivadis Empire.
Formed during M33, the Rivadis Empire was centered upon an Emperor and his nobles. After uniting all rival factions, the Empire set to rebuilt what they had lost. Million perished during this harsh times, however by M35 prosperity had taken hold and colonization efforts had spread out to a group of nearby stars. The empire seemed that its Golden Age was close at hand. But the ruling elite wanted more: they wanted to defeated Death itself. The Damned Empress, Lunia Porcia, ordered a group of psykers to work on how to make her immortal. Rumours swept across the worlds of the empire, that the Empress had turned to vile means to survive old age. A crowd of nobles and citizens gathered outside the palace, demanded an answer. The records are not clear, but it is known that the Empress sent her “corpse-like and soulless” royal guard to brutally suppress the demonstration. Several of the guards were observed gorging on the bodies of screaming demonstrators, and seveal pict-captures showed that even the Empress took part in the carnage !
After the incident, the Empress declared martial law and ruled her Empire with and iron fist. Decay and hunger set upon the land, and people were herded into the palace, never to be seen again. But several of the nations on the outskirt of the Empire rebelled against their cruel ruler. The war has raged on ever since, with no clear winners, since the rebel factions are not united. They fight among themselves even when under attack from Rivadis Empire. But they all have the same purpose: To destroy the rotten empire they once served, and restore the system to its former glory. The Empress are not dead, and she represent the hated figure the rebel factions use to rally people to their course. The war will not end, not until the Empress and all oppositions are crushed.

Faction Fluff:

Spoiler:

Situated on several frozen planets, surrounded by enemies, the Icedales Cult slowly spread, its power ever growing. The superb technology and rapid advancement allow them to beat back any attempt to conquer their holding by massive enemies many times over their size. But the galaxy is a harsh place, and the cult is small. While their Engineer Guild has accomplished marvelous feats of engineering, their scientist have create wonder weapons beyond the wildest dream of their rivals, they still cannot overcome the barbaric and backward neighbors who have turned themselves away from the light of innovation. But the Cult, ever confident in their destiny, consider these small setbacks. In times, the other factions will realize their mistakes, and those who don’t will be crushed under the divine fist of technology.
The Icedales Cult was founded by Grigorii Zepenski, the Forgefather. Grigorii, upon seeing the Empire of Rivadis fall apart, realized the truth. The Empire was destroyed because they refused to go forward and accept that things had changed, trapped forever within their distanced glory. Gathering followers, Grigorii led to the frozen world of Icedales to get away from the madness that befell the inner world of the Empire. There they found what make the Cult different from dozen factions in the Rivadis civil war. Grigorii locked himself in his room with the mysterious little thing. Months later, he emerged, forever changed. He ordered his followers to build many strange machines that, while simple, truly made life better in the harsh iceworld. His followers were astonished, instantly bowed down before him. And so the Cult was borned.
The Cult work like a giant clockwork machine. The leaders are large, important parts, but the lowly members are not underated either. They are like tiny cogs: insignificant but essential to the continuous operation of the whole Icedales Cult. They are fiercely loyal and are treated kindly; they have a significantly more comfortable lives than the lowly peasants who makes up majority of the population in rival kingdoms. The Zepenskis are the head of the entire cult: Every Forgemaster of the Cult hails from the Zepenski bloodlines. Some are great, brilliant scientists; others are just incompetence fools who managed to become leaders just because of their ancestor heritage. Nevertheless, they are important figureheads who rally the cult during these dark times, and due to the Zepenskis effort, the expansion of the Cult are solid, and they have never been stopped. Every time the Forgemaster appears before the population, he always carry a small, strange device, the same thing Grigorii found when he first set foot on the frozen surface of Icedales. It is said that this device contain great power, and the survival of the Cult depends on it.
The Cult are, for the lack of a better word, “obsessed” with technology. Cult members have an insatiable thirst for knowledge, nearly to the point of insanity. They always tinker, always modify their machines to make them operate better (and sometimes result in disasters); their scientists invent new technology every solar cycle, improving the life of people and bringing the Zepenskis closer to the throne of Rivadis. They are not dissimilar, but are also very different from the Adeptus Mechanicus: The Icedales Cult think of technology as a mean for human to “ascend”. It’s remained to be seen if their view are correct, but every years dozens of their new innovation come out from the factories, sowing chaos to the barbaric enemies of the Cults.

-----End of fluff piece-----

Now to the crunch:

I have finished the PDF file. Enjoy

So, what do you guys think ?

v2.3b

New version:
-Mechanism rule better clarified (A model with Mechanism have Fearless and Adamantium Will special rules. In addition, if the majority of models in a unit have the Mechanism special rule, then successful Wounds scored by attacks with the Poisoned and Fleshbane special rule must be re rolled.)
-Elsa Zepenski now has Shard Pistol instead of CCW
-Behemoth Warbot now has IWND, cost bumped to 235 pts
-Hand Cannon has 6" range, and is Assault 2
-Zodiac launcher loses Interceptor and Skyfire, gain Tracking (choose when to use Skyfire)
-Blast shield should read: " ...the wound is ignored, but the blast shield is destroyed ..."
-Candle of the Void should read "unit" instead of "squad".
-Martial Prowess (Shield Maiden) and Magical Attack (Frost Wyrm) special rules should read "model", not "unit"

**Swastakowey**

I think the gunsmiths need some redoing points wise

maybe 8 points? their main gun is really decent yet they cost the same as the guys above. Other than that its pretty cool.

Id be fine with these rules with those changes.

**xalvissx**

Swastakowey wrote:
I think the gunsmiths need some redoing points wise maybe 8 points? their main gun is really decent yet they cost the same as the guys above. Other than that its pretty cool.

Id be fine with these rules with those changes.

Yes, with 5 points a piece they may be too spam-friendly; I'll pump their points cost up, but 8 seemed a little overpriced.

UPDATE:
- Add Warlord Traits, Allies, HQ and Fast Attack
- Add more wargears
- Improved Layout

**Swastakowey**

Much better, i approve

**Dat Guy**

You want to know what I think? Totally jealous. Nice job, I like how you did the gets hot for their basic shard guns, but honestly I would take it off because you will die way more from that then you think, especially with a 5+ armor even if it was 4+ not worth it unless its really high strength or high AP.

Awesome job on fluff and units though.

**xalvissx**

Dat Guy wrote:
You want to know what I think? Totally jealous. Nice job, I like how you did the gets hot for their basic shard guns, but honestly I would take it off because you will die way more from that then you think, especially with a 5+ armor even if it was 4+ not worth it unless its really high strength or high AP.

Awesome job on fluff and units though.

Thank you for your comment

yes I've thought about that. But IMHO it's more interesting, and players must compare shooting their pistols (lost some expensive Dragon Lancers in the process but gain some advantages) with charging without shooting.

**Dat Guy**

Yeah its going to turn out for a major disadvantage and trouble for you, you would be surprised at how many ones you will roll, also those guns are not worth firing if you are charging anyways so it will always be an auto choice of no.

If you really want it give them a special ability that they only dieon a roll of 1 instead of passing their armor save. Lol you will still be surprised at how often they will die with double 1's.

**xalvissx**

Update:
- Add Psychic Powers
- Banner of Liberation changed
- Shard Weapons no longer have Gets Hot !

I'm working on PDF file of the codex. It should come out next week. Achtung !

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Dat Guy wrote:
Yeah its going to turn out for a major disadvantage and trouble for you, you would be surprised at how many ones you will roll, also those guns are not worth firing if you are charging anyways so it will always be an auto choice of no.

If you really want it give them a special ability that they only dieon a roll of 1 instead of passing their armor save. Lol you will still be surprised at how often they will die with double 1's.

Um, ok, I'll change that.

**xalvissx**

UPDATE:
- Add new units to HQ and Elite sections
- Add more options.
- Some rules better clarified

Oh, and I'm still working on the PDF file

**Dat Guy**

Ok I didn't read everything, but I like the glacier armor it sounds cool, as for psyker powers, frostfiend should be warp charge 2 and decrease its attack bonus by -1. Also polar aurora should either decrease its range to a maximum of 18" or if you keep it at 24" it should be warp charge 2.

**Blacksails**

Well, I was thinking of posting here anyways, but I guess you convined me to do so earlier; well, that and its a horrible day for flying anyways so I have nothing better to do.

Let me begin by saying that all of this is surprisingly...balanced.

I don't often say that, especially not for entirely new races.

I won't do this in any particular order because, well, my mind wanders.

Your first warlord trait is the least balanced of the lot, as we don't enitrely know what other units/weapons your army will have. This could be potentially extremely powerful. I'd prefer this to be changed to something else, like a weapon buff (twin-linked or some such) or a once per game ability.

Your basic troops seem pretty fair. Its obvious they're meant to work together, which is cool, and seeing as they're not individually powerful they work out well. At the end of the day, they're guardsmen with a different special ability/weapons. Kind of a different trade off, but nothing appears to be jumping out at me as game breaking.

Your psychic powers are mostly good; Frost Enchantment seems a little overpowered in isolation. I'd have to see what the rest of the army would like in its entirety, but its just bothers me a little. I'd probably drop torrent on Midwinter's Kiss; it'd then become the opposite of one of the Pyromancy powers, keeping it as balanced as possible. I'd also probably make Polar Aurora WC2; again its quite similar to Molten Beam in the Pyromancy table, trading melta for lance and added range. Basically, take the Pyromancy table and simply tweak it. You're using opposite elements, but they'd function very similar on the battlefield.

I'll be back with more when I think more on the HQs, elites, and FA options.

I'd personally like to see the whole army to slap together some army lists.

**xalvissx**

Thank you guys

thanks for thinking highly of me

you are very helpful

So the most OP is Polar Aurora. I was inspired by Tyranid Warp Lance, but forgot that they are 1ed late

Yes, I also changed the first Warlord Trait to once per game, just in case.
And about Frostfiend, Dat Guy, it affects only the psyker, so they are not as powerful as you think

About Frost Enchantment, this is similar to Protect in Eldar codex.
Thank you guys

**Dat Guy**

I think frost enchantment is fine, and about frost fiend I missed thepart about it targeting psyker only, ok it's not to bad then, it should still be -1 to attacks or make it a d3 roll. But yeah polar aurora is to powerful, reduce the range or warp charge 2 would be be the way to go

**xalvissx**

UPDATE:
- Add Heavy Support
- Add Shard Cannon, Rapid Cannon, Carbonite Thrower, Hailshot Cannon, Scrap Saw, Wrecking Ball and Blast Shield
- Changed the name of the Psychic Discipline to Cryomancy
- Some minor changes to existing Wargears

**Dat Guy**

Ok cool like the cryo part as the discipline, saw you changed that power to warp charge 2. I notice currently your psyker is mastery level 1 though, you plan on making another?

**xalvissx**

Dat Guy wrote:
Ok cool like the cryo part as the discipline, saw you changed that power to warp charge 2. I notice currently your psyker is mastery level 1 though, you plan on making another?

Yes, but I am now concentrating on reaching the minimum requirement of a playable fandex, so the second psyker unit must wait. But I warrant that they will be good

**ALEXisAWESOME**

I really like all the thought put into these units, each is well thought out on their own, but where many home brew rules slip up is internal balance. You have done ok with this, but there are some synergetic combos which seem a little to good to me. For example your base troops on their own are fine, but when you throw an Enforcer in there they become crazy good when horded. Its not the normal guys that are mean, its the fact in a unit of 30 you get 3 + Enforcers 'hidden' wanna-be thunder hammers all getting + d3 attacks. Add that to a butt load of initiative 5 attacks and you have a very capable, very cheap unit. I'm not exactly sure how to fix this, maybe you could tone down the + d3 attacks to be a radiating + 1 attack at 12''? I mean for 60pts compare him to other support characters (Haemonculi, Lord Commissar) and what they grant (Ld 10, FnP) to what you grant for their points. Yeah...

Psyker powers could use a shuffle in my opinion, but that's just me. I would make the Primaris the Wind of Ice ability due to it having more utility then Icy blast, and then make Icy blast 1 and Ice Enhancement 4, to represent power levels. I think maybe you could change Ice Enhancement to be something other then C+P of Eldars Protect, how about it grants + 1 T and S but grants fleshbane to flamer type weapons? That, + the Primaris would have great synergy with your base troops. I'd like to see a third HQ unit for variety, such as a cryptek/science/Cryomancy kind of man.

Alex. I'm not pretending to of completely absorbed everything, but you have a very good start here and only a few things need fine tuning before you have a full, very well balance homebrew.

**2x210**

I really like this, cool idea and nice job on the rules. Any pictures of the units?

**xalvissx**

ALEXisAWESOME wrote:
I really like all the thought put into these units, each is well thought out on their own, but where many home brew rules slip up is internal balance. You have done ok with this, but there are some synergetic combos which seem a little to good to me. For example your base troops on their own are fine, but when you throw an Enforcer in there they become crazy good when horded. Its not the normal guys that are mean, its the fact in a unit of 30 you get 3 + Enforcers 'hidden' wanna-be thunder hammers all getting + d3 attacks. Add that to a butt load of initiative 5 attacks and you have a very capable, very cheap unit. I'm not exactly sure how to fix this, maybe you could tone down the + d3 attacks to be a radiating + 1 attack at 12''? I mean for 60pts compare him to other support characters (Haemonculi, Lord Commissar) and what they grant (Ld 10, FnP) to what you grant for their points. Yeah...

Psyker powers could use a shuffle in my opinion, but that's just me. I would make the Primaris the Wind of Ice ability due to it having more utility then Icy blast, and then make Icy blast 1 and Ice Enhancement 4, to represent power levels. I think maybe you could change Ice Enhancement to be something other then C+P of Eldars Protect, how about it grants + 1 T and S but grants fleshbane to flamer type weapons? That, + the Primaris would have great synergy with your base troops. I'd like to see a third HQ unit for variety, such as a cryptek/science/Cryomancy kind of man.

Alex. I'm not pretending to of completely absorbed everything, but you have a very good start here and only a few things need fine tuning before you have a full, very well balance homebrew.

Yes ! Finally

This is what I want to know

thank you very much

I know the basis of rule writing but I don't have anyone playtesting for me. Except my boyfriend, but there are only 2 of us. So I'm very appreciated to know any problem may happen during playing.
I've changed the Taskmaster rule for the Enforcer. Instead of granting d3 attacks for units within 6", he now only grants it to the models in unit he is with, and with the condition that they aren't armed with Specialist Weapons. And his point cost is now 70. And of course, I changed Ice Hammer to Specialist Weapon
And about the Psychic powers... I think changing the Wind of Ice to Primaris is somewhat OP, because there isn't only one psyker units in my army list, and army-wide +2 to cover save is too much (we are not Tau Stealthsuit). I'll leave it alone for the time being

and If you can find any issue in playing, could you let me know, so that I can balance it out ? Thanks

Automatically Appended Next Post:

2x210 wrote:
I really like this, cool idea and nice job on the rules. Any pictures of the units?

Thanks you

I have the image of them in my mind :p but I'm a terrible artist. I'm asking one of my friend for help, she is extremely good at painting. And also I don't have many models with me, and they are not suitable for conversion (SoB models) so I can't do anything about it :(

**ALEXisAWESOME**

I was thinking it wouldn't be OP due to the precedent of the Eldar's conceal power being a Primaris. I just think Icy blast is a fairly useless in most situations, while you want a Primaris power to be universally good. I think you could do something with each of the powers. Here is what I wold do with them, but its just to see another persons point of view might help.

Spoiler:

I also think you should do something with your Dragon Lancers, I don't think they are stacking up to the shock troops you obviously want them to be. I think your looking at them with buffed up Rough Riders in mind but I think you should be looking at them with toned down Thunder Wolves in mind instead. They are riding Drakes (Which I imagine you will model them using DE Cold One Knights), not measly horses, they should get T4 and maybe an option for a 3+ save (Option to swap Pistols for shield, + 1 armor and 5 invul?). Think what this army is trying to do, because to me it seems like this army wants to be throwing these guy and Guardian Warbots (Why are they called a squadron, you have no option to buy more then one?) at the enemy, while Gunsmiths take home objective and you throw an Enforcer Blob up field onto middle objective/relic. Your Dragon Lancers need to be shock troops, able to take a hit and be a threat. I would do them like this.

Spoiler:

They are fast, they hit harder and have the option to get a save worth a dam but lose out on an extra attack. Extra attack, T and W is to represent the drake they are riding. Added I is to represent that they are the elite. What do you think?

Alex.

**xalvissx**

ALEXisAWESOME wrote:
I was thinking it wouldn't be OP due to the precedent of the Eldar's conceal power being a Primaris. I just think Icy blast is a fairly useless in most situations, while you want a Primaris power to be universally good. I think you could do something with each of the powers. Here is what I wold do with them, but its just to see another persons point of view might help.

Spoiler:

Primaris Power
Frost Enchantment, Warp Charge 1, Blessing.

The psyker is augments the bones and bodies of his comrades with the strength and finality of winter.

Frost Enchantment is a blessing that targets any unit with 18''. Whilst the power is in effect, the effected unit have their Toughness and strength increased by one. They also ignore the effects of unwieldy. A more powerful version can be attempted that effects all friendly units within 12 with the effects of this power, this costs 2 warp charges.

(Universally helpful, makes your units more survivable to shooting with +1 toughness and makes your normal guys a real threat in combat. Ignoring unwieldy isn't as great as you'd think, with an average I of 3 you still strike after most things.)

1.Ice Blast Warp Charge 1
The psyker channel his psychic energy into howling gale of cold that frozen the foes where they stand.

Ice Blast is a malediction that targets a single enemy unit within 18”. Whilst the power is in effect, all model in the target unit have -1 Attack and -1 Initiative.

2. Frostfiend Warp Charge 1
The psyker transforms into a shrieking, taloned creature, carried across the battlefield on top of frozen wind.

Frostfiend is a blessing that targets the psyker. Whilst the power is in effect, the psyker have +2 Strength and +3 Attacks and his unit type changes to Jump (Unit)

3. Midwinter’s Kiss Warp Charge 1
The psyker breaths a torrent of cold into enemy’s formation, instantly freezes blood and bones.

Midwinter’s Kiss is a witchfire power with the following profile:
Rng Template; S 4; Ap4; Assault 1, Pinning.

4. Wind of Ice: Warp Charge 1
The psyker sends a wind of snow and ice that disrupt enemy’s aim, protecting his comrade from harm.

Wind of Ice is a blessing that targets a friendly unit within 18”. Whilst the power is in effect, any unit wishing to shoot at a unit with the blessing must roll a dice, on the roll of a 4+ the shooting happens as normal, but if the roll is failed then the unit must snap fire all weapons fired at that unit. (Could go either way, I just would see this as more character full)

5. Grand Transformation: Warp Charge 1
The psyker summons a whirlwind of purest cold that rips souls from bodies

Grand Transformation is a nova power with the following profile:
Rng 6”; S 5; Ap2; Assault d3, Ignore Cover

6. Polar Aurora: Warp Charge 2
The psyker launches a burst of blinding light from his hand, obliterate all stand in his way.

Polar Aurora is a witchfire (Beam) power with the following profile:
Rng 18”; S 9; Ap1; Assault1, Lance, Blind. (Seems appropriate)

I also think you should do something with your Dragon Lancers, I don't think they are stacking up to the shock troops you obviously want them to be. I think your looking at them with buffed up Rough Riders in mind but I think you should be looking at them with toned down Thunder Wolves in mind instead. They are riding Drakes (Which I imagine you will model them using DE Cold One Knights), not measly horses, they should get T4 and maybe an option for a 3+ save (Option to swap Pistols for shield, + 1 armor and 5 invul?). Think what this army is trying to do, because to me it seems like this army wants to be throwing these guy and Guardian Warbots (Why are they called a squadron, you have no option to buy more then one?) at the enemy, while Gunsmiths take home objective and you throw an Enforcer Blob up field onto middle objective/relic. Your Dragon Lancers need to be shock troops, able to take a hit and be a threat. I would do them like this.

Spoiler:

Unit Composition: 4 Dragon Lancers, 1 Kastellan.
Dragon Lancer: WS 4 BS 3 S 3 T 4 W 2 I 4 A 2 LD 8 SV 4+
Kastellan: WS 4 BS 3 S 3 T 4 W 2 I 4 A 3 LD 9 SV 4+
Cost: 135pts.
Unit Type: Cavalry; Kastellan is Cavalry (Character)
Wargear: Shard pistol, Piston Lance, Carapace armour, frag and krak grenade.
Special Rules: Mechanism
Mounted Ferocity: The Dragon lancers inflict D3 Hammer of Wrath Attacks
* Options:
The squad may include up to 5 more Dragon Lancers: 25 points per model

Any model may replace its Shard Pistol with a Glacial Shield, which increases the models armour save to a 3+ and grants a 6+ invulnerable save.

The Kastellan may replaced his Shard Pistol or Piston Lance with:
- Hand Cannon: 5 points
- Ice Hammer: 15 points
Entire squad may take Melta bombs: 30 points
One Dragon Lancers may replace his Piston Lance with Banner of Liberation: 20 points
One other Dragon Lancer may replace his Shard Pistol with:
- Hailshot Blunderbuss: 10 points per model
One other Dragon Lancer may replace his Piston Lance with:
- Ice Hammer: 15 points per model.

They are fast, they hit harder and have the option to get a save worth a dam but lose out on an extra attack. Extra attack, T and W is to represent the drake they are riding. Added I is to represent that they are the elite. What do you think?

Alex.

Hmmm...Interesting. I'll really have to consider these. My Dragon Lancers are based on Rough Riders, but it seemed that they cannot do well in the role I want them to be. Do you have the stats of Thunder Wolf Riders or Cold One Knights or FW Tallarn Mukaali Riders with you ? I know I'm not allowed to ask question about rules, but I don't have SW codex, or Dark Elves Army Book with me now. I could use some inspiration from them

Your version of Dragon Lancer are fine, but if I have more people to help me, I'll think less of my units being OP. May I replace Glacial Shield with Blast Shield ? They basically do the same thing. And I have option to buy Guardian Warbots in squad of 3, they are there in the unit entry

Your Psychic Powers are good, but I'll modified them a bit. How about Frost Enchantment adds +1 T, but have the drawback that flamer weapons wound on 2+ (Your suggestions earlier). I want my psychic powers to be as simple and easy to use as possible. And Wind of Ice only affects units more than 12" from the target units ? Line Infantry with T4 and enemies can only shoot at them on 4+ seem a little OTT, and if it only affects units more than 12" from the target units, I won't have to explained how it works against Overwatch

Automatically Appended Next Post:
UPDATE:
- Add Battle Acolyte Squad (FA)
- Add Barbed Mace and Candle of the Void
- Fix grammar and rule mistakes

**xalvissx**

UPDATE:
- Add Shield Maiden (Elite)
- Add Shock Shield, Optic Implant, Screamer and Harp
- Myrmidon squad now have an option to take Harp
- Forgemaster and Forge Enforcer now have an option to take Optic Implant.
- Guardian Warbots now have Optic Implants as default, and can replace it with Screamer

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh just fixed the rule and grammar mistakes of Shield Maiden squad, sorry

**xalvissx**

UPDATE:
- Add Frost Wyrm (HS)
- Shield Maiden squad no longer have Mechanism
- Harp now only allows re-roll run distance

**xalvissx**

MASSIVE UPDATE:
I've finished the PDF file. Took longer than I thought, but I've finished nonetheless. Now my fandex need playtesting to balance it out

I'll list the new updates here:

* Psychic Power: Cryomancy
- Wind of Ice is now Primaris power
- Ice Blast is No1 and Frost Enchantment is No4
- Polar Aurora now has Blind and its range reduced to 18"

* HQ:
- Forge Enforcers now can take Hailshot Blunderbuss
- Add Technomancer
- Add Command Squad, Outrider Squadron and Iron Sentinel Cohort (Do not take up an HQ slot)
- Shield Guard now only allows player to re-roll failed Look Out, Sir

* Elite:
- Shield Maiden squad can now take Candle of the Void
- Shield Maiden squad now have Martial Prowess instead of Shield Guard

* Fast Attack:
- Dragon Lancer Cohort now costs 25pts/model with vastly improved stats
- Dragon Lancer Cohort can now take Blast shield.
- Remove Battle Acolyte
- Add Wolfborn Auxiliary Cadre

* Heavy Support:
- Guardian Warbot Squadron can now take Aurora Cannon
- Twin-linked missile launcher's price dropped
- Add Siege Artillery Cohort

* Range Weapons:
- Full lore for each weapon
- Add Aurora Cannon
- Add Juggernaut Cannon
- Add Shatterstorm Rockets
- Add Wolfborn weapons
- Add Zodiac Launcher

* Melee Weapons:
- Full lore for each weapon
- Add Wolfborn Claymore
- Add Wolfborn Kris

* Equipment:
- Full lore for each equipment
- Add Brass Totem
- Add Crescent Breastplate
- Add Med-pack

**ALEXisAWESOME**

Had a look through and it all looks very good, I like the new additions giving the cult some very good heavy support. On the run through though I did see a few things, for example how the Dragon Lancers work with the blast shield. I'm not sure how much I like how he wound ignoring mechanic works. For example why would it save you from a Battle Cannon shot? Or a Necron Flux Arc? I'm also thinking it might slow the game down recording who has and hasn't got their shield up. Maybe you could make it like a combat shield? +1 Armour save AND a 6+ invulnerable (Last hope...) all for 5 pts. Cheap, has advantages and disadvantages with the I and A drop (Which you realise only effects the Sarge, because the extra attack from the Charge is added after all other modifiers) but losing out on the pistol attack. Also Absolute Zero seems a bit nasty, would WS 1 and BS 1 work, because otherwise if you charge them they can't even hit you back or fire overwatch.

I like the Wolfborn theme, thinking the dire wolves should probably be beasts though. Also thinking the Icy Aura seems a bit clunky, when you have a 30 man unit that's a lot of rolls before the fighting even starts. I don't know, maybe roll it up into having defensive grenades or something less clunky?

Very good, definitely one of the better fan dexs I've seen

**xalvissx**

ALEXisAWESOME wrote:
Had a look through and it all looks very good, I like the new additions giving the cult some very good heavy support. On the run through though I did see a few things, for example how the Dragon Lancers work with the blast shield. I'm not sure how much I like how he wound ignoring mechanic works. For example why would it save you from a Battle Cannon shot? Or a Necron Flux Arc? I'm also thinking it might slow the game down recording who has and hasn't got their shield up. Maybe you could make it like a combat shield? +1 Armour save AND a 6+ invulnerable (Last hope...) all for 5 pts. Cheap, has advantages and disadvantages with the I and A drop (Which you realise only effects the Sarge, because the extra attack from the Charge is added after all other modifiers) but losing out on the pistol attack. Also Absolute Zero seems a bit nasty, would WS 1 and BS 1 work, because otherwise if you charge them they can't even hit you back or fire overwatch.

I like the Wolfborn theme, thinking the dire wolves should probably be beasts though. Also thinking the Icy Aura seems a bit clunky, when you have a 30 man unit that's a lot of rolls before the fighting even starts. I don't know, maybe roll it up into having defensive grenades or something less clunky?

Very good, definitely one of the better fan dexs I've seen

Thank you for a very constructive comment

Yes I admit that the Blast shield is a bit wussy, so now only the Guardian Warbot can buy it

its rule is now better clarified (The first time the bearer takes a wound that he cannot take armour save against or fails his armour save, the wound is ignored, blah blah , this also works against weapons that cause Instant Death)
Yes I have also added Glacial shield

+1 Sv and 6+ Invulnerable save with some drawbacks, mainly -1 A, -1 I and cannot claim +1 A bonus for being armed with 2 CCWs
Icy Aura is also changed; it now reduce Attacks by 1 instead of Initiative (to a minimum of 1)
About the Absolute Zero rule, I think it's fine the way it is. You can only buy it for 60 (!) points on a model that costs 150 pts but is only moderately survivable (T6, 3Ws and 3+ Sv is not that great). The weapons on Guardian Warbots are also mostly short-range, so if someone lets the Warbots close in, they deserve it :p

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Very minor update:
- Add Deepstrike and +1 I to Outriders
- Fix some Grammar errors
- Icy Aura now reduces Attacks by 1 instead of Initiative (to a minimum of 1)
- Add Glacial shield
- Forgemaster, Forge Enforcer, Dragon Lancers now have option to take Glacial shield.

**SisterSydney**

Lots of cool stuff here. To start with, the most important thing is this army has a unique and consistent feel -- which having an established model from the videogame obviously helps with, but translating that into a completely different game system can't have been easy.

A few scattered comments pending a more thorough review:

- This army strikes me as mostly shooting-oriented with a significant melee element (may 60:40 shooting:melee), plus a lot of invulnerable saves -- but little heavy artillery and no tanks, just two types of Monstrous Creature (the big robots and the wonderful Wyrm). Is that a fair description of the overall play style you're going for? It's very distinctive.

- HQs are primarily about buffing other units, not just about being beatstick combatants themselves. I heartily approve. Leaders that actually lead are rare in this game.

- Cool that each of the three HQs gets its own very distinct bodyguard.

- Outriders are "Jet pack cavalry"? AWESOME. I don't think there's such a thing in any published army but it's completely legal. Now the two types' benefits may be somewhat redundant....

- Feels a bit like Eldar in that units tend to be specialized either for melee or shooting. I especially like the balance of one melee Troop (the spearmen) and one shooty Troop (the gunsmiths).

- Frost Wyrm is very unusual for WH40K and thus very interesting. A Flying Monstrous Creature that's not a dumb brute but a highly intelligent Deep Striker that can gain Psyker powers? I like.

- Not sure how the Wolfborn auxiliaries work; they're like a mini army list in themselves, and rather than coming up with a separate auxiliary rule, you may want to make them a separate army that can only ally with Icelanders (as Battle Brothers).

- A lot of 0-1 units. GW has tried to move away from that in recent years.

- Support weapons: instead of making weapons "Assault" AND "Cumbersome," which takes away most of what an Assault weapon does, just make them "Heavy" -- I think the in-game effect is identical without adding any new rules.

**xalvissx**

SisterSydney wrote:
Lots of cool stuff here. To start with, the most important thing is this army has a unique and consistent feel -- which having an established model from the videogame obviously helps with, but translating that into a completely different game system can't have been easy.

A few scattered comments pending a more thorough review:

- This army strikes me as mostly shooting-oriented with a significant melee element (may 60:40 shooting:melee), plus a lot of invulnerable saves -- but little heavy artillery and no tanks, just two types of Monstrous Creature (the big robots and the wonderful Wyrm). Is that a fair description of the overall play style you're going for? It's very distinctive.

- HQs are primarily about buffing other units, not just about being beatstick combatants themselves. I heartily approve. Leaders that actually lead are rare in this game.

- Cool that each of the three HQs gets its own very distinct bodyguard.

- Outriders are "Jet pack cavalry"? AWESOME. I don't think there's such a thing in any published army but it's completely legal. Now the two types' benefits may be somewhat redundant....

- Feels a bit like Eldar in that units tend to be specialized either for melee or shooting. I especially like the balance of one melee Troop (the spearmen) and one shooty Troop (the gunsmiths).

- Frost Wyrm is very unusual for WH40K and thus very interesting. A Flying Monstrous Creature that's not a dumb brute but a highly intelligent Deep Striker that can gain Psyker powers? I like.

- Not sure how the Wolfborn auxiliaries work; they're like a mini army list in themselves, and rather than coming up with a separate auxiliary rule, you may want to make them a separate army that can only ally with Icelanders (as Battle Brothers).

- A lot of 0-1 units. GW has tried to move away from that in recent years.

- Support weapons: instead of making weapons "Assault" AND "Cumbersome," which takes away most of what an Assault weapon does, just make them "Heavy" -- I think the in-game effect is identical without adding any new rules.

Yep

thanks for the detailed review

Not much people can post that much in just one pass

The playstyle is just like you said, shooting with melee elements throw in

It's more fun and require tactical consideration to make it work, not just "move...shoot...move...shoot" or "charge them"

The Jet Pack Cavalry is... around for a while

Nurgle's Plague Drone for example

About the unit limit: I did it to prevent people from spamming artilleries and auxiliaries, but still allow them to take a varied and competent army list with different unit for FA, HS, .v.v. Each consists of 1-3 small units all by themselves; If I take away the limit, then it's possible to make 27 artillery pieces AND 195 Wolfborn models run around the tabletop

The Cumbersome rule helps the troops to move and fire at their full bs, but doesn't allow charging. I make up the rule because "Heavy" seems too much. My army doesn't have any transport, so they are very slow. It's not fair to make them even more static

They are similar to British troops of the 19th century in term of tactics. ("The thin red line...")

Yeah, I've thinking of the Wolfborn a lot lately. If I make them Battle Brother, then they can only be taken in game of 2000 pts or more, leaving the FA slots with only Dragon Lancers, but the Auxiliary rule is also seemed redundant

I'll keep thinking about that

**SisterSydney**

The Cumbersome rule helps the troops to move and fire at their full bs, but doesn't allow charging. I make up the rule because "Heavy" seems too much...

Ok, now I see: The difference is a Cumbersome unit can still move and fire at full BS without having Relentess -- which would also let it charge -- or Slow & Purposeful -- which is hugely restrictive.

Yeah, I've thinking of the Wolfborn a lot lately. If I make them Battle Brother, then they can only be taken in game of 2000 pts or more....

No, I don't think that's how allies work: You can use them in games of any size (BRB p. 109).

In fact, you can spam them freely as allies, which you may not want, but which I think is a fun option: You can run a straight Icedale army with a smattering of auxiliaries or a crazy force of furious furries. Why not give players the choice?

**xalvissx**

SisterSydney wrote:

No, I don't think that's how allies work: You can use them in games of any size (BRB p. 109).

In fact, you can spam them freely as allies, which you may not want, but which I think is a fun option: You can run a straight Icedale army with a smattering of auxiliaries or a crazy force of furious furries. Why not give players the choice?

Hmm...Sound good. Look like I'll make an entire new army of savage Wolfmen

I want the Wolfborns in my armies to be something between Battle Brother and Ally of Convenience

but If I have time I'll make a new army list for them

It'll (maybe) come out after Rivadis Empire

Automatically Appended Next Post:
UPDATE:
- Add weapon and unit summary.
- Wounds taken as a result of failing Arcane Mechanika test now must be allocated evenly between all models in the units.