Retribution Initial CID thoughts – Week 1

Retribution Initial CID thoughts – Week 1

I haven’t been posting much recently since I’ve been on WTC lock down, but with the Retribution CID finally going live yesterday I thought it as good a time as any to put a post up with my thoughts. As ever, all opinions are my own, but please feel free to let me know if you disagree.

Lord Ghyrrshyld, the Forgiven

At the end of last year I ranked all 12 Retribution casters and put my blog’s namesake right at the bottom of the pile. That won’t be the case any longer. A new Feat and a rewriting of his spell list has made him a genuinely interesting looking choice that I will definitely be looking to test at some point. The 4 new spells he’s picked up are Dauntless Resolve an amazing defensive upkeep, Freezing Mist for the cloud wall Ret always wanted, Hand of Ice a straight up armour debuff and Light of Wrath as a dual purpose nuke and Stealt removal/DEF debuff. Wow, it is an incredible spell list. He also keeps Ghost Walk (Yay) and Revive (Meh). His Feat has been reworked too, now causing stationary to enemy models when they destroy a model in his control, as well as collecting souls from fallen models to be used as Focus next turn. It is still early days, but he looks great to me and I can’t wait to get him on the table.

Ravyn, The Eternal Light

Another caster being given a new lease of life with the CID. Gaining Sprint and Weapon Master really lets her get some work done without immediately dying afterwards, and her new spells Countermeasure and Open Fire are really strong, though the latter may run into the issue of being able to shoot into deployment zones on turn1 that has always been toned down in previous CIDs.

Daemon

A reduction to 14 points is actually pretty decent, and is enough to make me start to look at putting some paint on mine. The gun has some interesting uses, and can move your own models around a bit, and Blessed weapons are always useful. Not going to grab any headlines during the CID cycle, but a good change.

Gorgon

Went down a point. Still rubbish.

Hyperion

Range 12 on the Starburst is a nice buff. I still refer the defensive abilities and utility of Helios but this is certainly an improvement.

Hypnos

Unlike some of our character Jacks, Hypnos didn’t get released into any themes, and as I’m not a fan of Ossyan this change doesn’t affect me too much. Still, a point drop is definitely a good thing.

Imperatus

Regular readers will know that I play Vyros2 in Forges a LOT, and until fairly recently have had Imperatus in the list. I dropped him a couple of months ago and honestly haven’t looked back. A MAT buff and pint drop probably doesn’t get him back into the list, as I don’t think he solves Vyros’ problems, but him having the Legions theme opened up to him does present some opportunities with a threat extending caster like Elara or Thyron, possibly even marshalled onto a Scyir for some really impressive threat ranges.

Moros

Moros has always been hamstrung by Garryth, but at least now has a place without him in Shadows. A speed boost and Parry help as well. Some interesting assassinations might be possible with that gun

Phoenix

Always felt a little overcosted at 18 points, so a drop along with a MAT buff is a great change. It has a lot of rules on its card but can never use all of them, so feels pore appropriately costed now.

Dawnguard Trident

The big shock inclusion for the CID is our second battle engine and it brings a whole lot to the party. It gains power tokens in the same way as the Storm Strider, and can us them to boost its Momentum melee attack, it’s 3D3 range 12 Pow 13 guns or, most excitingly, place a nearby model 2” in the same manner as Slipstream in Legion. I think this thing maybe has one too many rules, and may not make it through CID in this capacity, but there is a lot to be excited about here. PP have warned about a long wait for the actual model but it looks like it will be worth it.

Destors and Destor Thane

As anyone who frequents this blog often will know, I am already a big fan of Destors, and these changes make them really very potent. It makes their infantry clearing a bit more reliable, their support removal super reliable, and helps them dink a few more points off heavies, but where it makes a huge difference is when they go up against light jacks and on assassination runs, where the extra reliable hitting POW 14 will be a huge deal. I still don’t think that max units is the way to go with them, but as support units they look like they will now be doing a lot of work.

Invictors and UA

Not the most glamourous of changes here, but Reposition 3 and a point reduction feel like exactly what these guys needed. They are one of the very few units that I have never put on the table, but am tempted to do so now, especially under a caster that can boost their ranged output.

Sentinels and UA

Sentinels were easily worth 18 points, this seems like a very odd change. I’ll take it though…

Battle Mages, Artificer and Magister

All of the Shyeel models gained Set Defence as a new standard rule, with the Battle Mages and Artificer losing Force Barrier to compensate. Obviously for the Magister this is a straight buff, which is great, but for the rest the picture is more complicated. I think that this is a real loss for the Battle Mages, who relied on Force Barrier to deliver themselves, but they have at least dropped a point and become FA:U, which leaves some interesting options. The Artificer gained the ability to give Force Barrier to a unit within 6”, which is an interesting change, especially with it being opened up to the Legions of Dawn theme. These are interesting changes that feel like they need a lot of looking at going forward.

Mage Hunter Infiltrators

Up a couple of points and gain Combo Strike. An interesting change, and would certainly mix up the Elara2 list I was running a bit back, they would get up to P+S 16 with combo strike, gang and Scything Touch which is a pretty respectable number. I like Infiltrators a lot, but mainly liked them for being very cheap. Now that they’ve lost that tag it will need to be seen if they can get enough work done to justify the extra points.

Mage Hunter Strike Force Commander

Now gives the unit magic ranged weapons. Pretty cool. Will help against Gremlin Swarms, Machine Wraiths and the like, as well as giving a few more options into Menoth. A nice change.

Stormfall Archers

Became a Houseguard unit. Means they can gain buffs from the Thane to ignore Stealth or gain Desperate Pace. Useful.

Defenders of Ios

Just changed so that instead of just all Halberdiers gaining Advance Move, one melee unit gets to move for each Houseguard unit taken. In simple terms: take Rifle Teams or Stormfalls, Advance Move Ellowuyr or Ryssovass. A nice change.

Forges of War

Threshold for free cards moves up to 30, but you can now take a Shyeel unit for free. This is a pretty big change and allows a lot of extra stuff, I’m not sure it’ll stick. Also we can take Elara1 now, so that’s something.

Legions of Dawn

Gained Imperatus and some support solos. Still looking like this will be our first major CID theme. Having access to the Lys Healer is good though.

Shadows of the Retribution

Gained Moros and the Lys Healer, and can now take command attachments for free, which may convince me to get Eiryss3 onto the table at some stage. It’s a shame there is no Artificer in here but I can understand why.

So that’s our lot, I like the changes on the whole and I think it will open up so many options within the faction. The obvious things are the reworked casters, but there are bound to be so many great combinations that are now opened up. Go, play games, test things and report back to the CID forum. This is a great opportunity.