CA2018 Preview - Matched Play

People are calling them 'formations', but they don't really resemble them very much.

Basically, you pay 1-3 CP to make one of your detachments a 'specialized detachment'. It gives every unit in that detachment an additional keyword. Every unit with that keyword gets access to a new warlord trait, relic, and handful of additional stratagems. That's it. So far, I haven't seen anything game-breaking in the leaks of these 'formations' so far.

@krayd wrote:

People are calling them 'formations', but they don't really resemble them very much.

Basically, you pay 1-3 CP to make one of your detachments a 'specialized detachment'. It gives every unit in that detachment an additional keyword. Every unit with that keyword gets access to a new warlord trait, relic, and handful of additional stratagems. That's it. So far, I haven't seen anything game-breaking in the leaks of these 'formations' so far.

The Windrider Host warlord trait gives a bonus to Windriders in close combat. Windriders, not Shining Spears.

Game-breaking they are not.

Yeah that confused me, none of the units included will really benefit from the WL trait unless you're taking a supreme command of Autarch Skyrunners with Laser Lances and you dont expect the enemy to try and fall back themselves. Maybe a warlock conclave that is trying to avoid being shot at inbetween psychic phases? I dunno hit and run isn't great at the moment.
Whatever nimble escape is it better be good for 2cp considering Ork blitz brigades get a "disembark after moving" type stratagem for 2cp and the relic sword will have to be better than a laser lance to stand a chance of being used.

They are fundamentally different if you havent been keeping up with them. They are "Specialist detachments"

Its more like a bonus <trait> for a specifically built detachment, its a minor added rule, with 2 stratagems, a WL trait, and a relic. You need the WL trait and relic to even work well.

I wouldnt fear them just yet.


https://whc-cdn.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/PreOrderPreview-Dec02-p178-179-Content.jpg

Yeah I've been following it closely it's more that the WL trait isn't particularly useful for the unit choices (if they're falling back it's because they don't wanna fight) and 2cp is considered expensive from what we have seen of other "formations"

Here is more information about it

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/12/05/5th-dec-xenos-specialist-detachments-rules-previewgw-homepage-post-4/?fbclid=IwAR0Km2-aqAqFGQ2ntuXRH6-6o6DS5_nMq7bjRUFulykiOaG6KBjGVMujzzs#utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=40K&utm_content=40KNihilusPreviewXenosDec5

The thing that's really worrying me, as we get closer to finding out what the changes in CA actually consist of, is that I fundamentally don't trust GW to change the right things with their balancing. Chapter Approved 2017 was horrendously disappointing - we were crying out for buffs to stuff like Reavers, and they decided to alter the Court of the Archon and nothing else?

We could be looking at something really stupid like Archons getting a point rise because they appear in all of our lists.

To be fair, we had a dex coming out shortly.

My biggest beef is them not addressing soup

So it looks like Formations grant your warlord access to different warlord traits and artefacts.

I look forward to them using this opportunity to finally give Archons wings or to let us have a Succubus who didn't forget how to ride a bike.

Perhaps I'll celebrate by riding a winged marshmallow around the rings of Saturn.

The first CA rumours that mention us are claiming that we have literally no changes.

Which is a... pleasant surprise? I guess?

For reference:

Quote :

Here come some leaks:
Knights had 0 points changes. There is no section for them at all.
Chaos knights got point drops They’re cheaper than imperial. Double Gatling Knight is about 100 pts cheaper. Avenger Gatling cannons dropped 20 pts each. There’s a chaos knights index inside CA
all the greater demons dropped by 100 pts or so
Demons in general went down “a ton”
No changes to tzaangors
Cultists are 5 points.
Dark Eldar: 0 changes
Shining Spears and reapers up a small amount, “everything else” is cheaper. there are no “new rules” that nerf soulburst or anything
Harlequin fusion pistols dropped to 7 pts
Tau got drops. Everything is dirt cheap.
"The 8" are laughably bad
It looks like grey knights and Tsons are still on baby’s first smite
GK terminators are cheap now
Death Guard players are gonna be happy
Blight haulers are down 30 pts, among other things.
Marines are cheaper, Primaris in particular
guardsmen are 5 pts

Yeah, would’ve been nice for beasts to get better but can’t complain about no nerfs

I'm just hoping we get a beast related specialty detachment in the next Vigilus book If those leaks are true, maybe one for Incubi too to make Drazhar and incubi a bit... more.

What makes me dubious about the veracity of the leaks is that reapers were already upped in price, I wouldn't expect them to go up again.

Spears and Reapers are still the go-to Ynnari units, so I can definitely see them getting tweaked.

Fusion Pistols getting buffed if Neurodisruptors don't get touched is pretty frak wacky, though.

Yeah that struck me as odd too, maybe as an apology for neutering harlequins in the charge phase they wanted to buff their shooting.

Well, if Dark Reapers have gone up, it has to be in terms of wargear price increases - the leaked scan still has them unchanged from the last FAQ.

https://imgur.com/gallery/PVf1Vsr

Edit: Dark Reapers look unchanged. Some of these point costs are just reprints from the last FAQ, which makes sense, because it is still different from the printed codex, and this way, you don't need two CA books to keep track of changes.

More leaked scans:

https://imgur.com/gallery/MwSHi52

https://imgur.com/gallery/EI4FM48

https://imgur.com/gallery/kTqk7Pz

Thanks for the scans!

My death guard friends are unimpressed haha

We really do have no changes.

Bloody hell, I wasn't expecting that.

Hmm... interesting to see these scans.

The Drukhari player in me is at a happy medium - nothing got more expensive, but on the other hand, nothing got cheaper.

The Thousand Sons player in me, on the other hand, is smiling from ear to ear...

We have to have a section in there somewhere, it just hasn't been shown yet.

Might dust off my scatbikes.

@TeenageAngst wrote:

We have to have a section in there somewhere, it just hasn't been shown yet.

I don't think so. It seems to have been done alphabetically and it goes from Deathwatch to Genestealer Cults on the same page.

Well that's strange.

Not sure if no news is good news considering the drastic price drops elsewhere.

Only dark Eldar is a 400 pt verification of the tantalus.

I'm actually shocked we have no changes. I expected us to get whacked, actually. Everyone locally (and it's an aggressive meta) is pretty terrified of Dark Eldar. If I saw the scan I expected, I would not have even cried (at least out loud) about more costly changes to either or both of our big guns, the Ravager, even the Raider. I expected a change to Prophets of Flesh. I would have put money on it.
No change, then? Okay. I guess that's really good news.
However, the other edge of the sword is that Drazar is still unplayably idiotic. My 30 Incubi will still be waiting for 40k 9th edition. And the animal list I enjoyed the first couple of weeks after the Index dropped will still be wondering why they're not seeing the table.

Harlequin: Fusion pistols cheaper by 2 points, huh? Hmmm...that might be a slightly big deal. *IF* we ran big numbers of Troups. 3 units of 5, all tricked out with Fusion pistols nets me 30 more points...Good, I guess? Uh, thanks? They forgot how to acrobat but they found the last K-Mart in the universe with a blue light special on Fusion Pistols. Cool.

All Fusions Pistols for Eldar are 7pts vs. 9