Legions of Death - Without the Necrons

As usual I would like to thank like to thank the reviewers that submitted their initial reviews in an extremely timely fashion, the rest of this week is busy so I appreciate the flexibility in getting this out in a timely manner.

Asklepios couldn't join us today but the reviewers from the Grim Darkness of Distant Russia have returned. New blood is always welcome, if you are interested in submitting a review in the future let me know. Due to the size of the pack we are breaking it up like we did with the 'Nid box. First up are the neutrals and existing factions, next will be the warlords and their signatures, finally we will see all the regular necron cards. Finally as the card images aren't up on the site yet, I can't link to the but will update this as soon as they are.

I will also take a minute to get on my soapbox and encourage everyone to report all the games you play at 40kconquest.blogspot.com. The more people we have reporting games, the more accurate it is. You can also go there to see stats on games others have reported to see if anything we say in these reviews turn out to be true or not.

Ratings

The rating scale as follows was offered to reviewers:

1- Very poor - Very bad for the foreseeable future, but may become a usable card one day in the meta.
2- Bad - Not a good card to play generally, but may have its role in some very specific deck builds. Not likely to be seen in a tourney winning deck.
3- Average - Will make some tourney winning decks, but not in every deck it is eligible for. Think hard before including.
4- Strong - Almost certainly a strong include for almost every deck that is eligible to include it.
5- Excellent - A definite auto-include of exceptional strength.

For Warlord cards, we use other Warlords as point of comparison, and account for their signature cards in their strength.

For Signature cards, they are rated in isolation, as if they were a Loyal card you could choose to include or not, but at the fixed number of cards required by the Squad.

Also note, that in terms of multiples included, a card does not have to be a 3x to be a 5/5 auto-include. Some cards are clearly designed to be included fewer times, and cannot be rated less strong because of this.

Synopsis

Backlash 4.2
Freebooter Kaptain 4
STC Fragment 3.6
Goff Brawlers 3.4
Standard Bearer 3
Venomous Fiend 3
Average 2.8
Defense Battery 2.6
Ravenwing Escort 2.6
Air Caste Courier 2.4
Nightshade Interceptor 2
Treacherous Lhamaean 1.8

Swarmling Termagants 1.2

Reviews

Freebooter Kaptain
Kingsley - 3/5
The Kaptain is a solid situational player for many decks, offering decent stats for cost and an ability that can negate most common command units. Counter-deploying a two for two with this guy is a strong play. While not flashy or amazing, I predict this will see play in several decks.

Steinerp- 3/5
I’m torn the ability is really, really good and it has a good stat line and the ally trait, although a negative isn’t that bad. But I really question how much this guy will see play. My guess is not much. 3 cost is a pretty big tempo hit.

Corvus – 4/5
If he cancels a single enemy command icon he's providing respectable stats for his price, and when he blanks entire enemy armies in 1the late game he'll be even better. Cost curves that make him less likely to sabotage your own command game make him slightly better but probably aren't necessary. I expect him to sneak into quite a few competitive decks as time goes by.

xRAVEx - 4/5
Solid body, that spoils your opponent's economy. Forget abouth these bloody traders/pirates/biel-tan guardians, etc. His ability always works, even if Kaptain is exhausted. What's even better - not every WL can snipe this unit. Perfect for expensive factions like SM/Orks/Chaos and all elite decks

NecRus888 - 5/5
An awesome unit for all the fractions without cheap cappers. Orks and Chaos are celebrating! Kaptain's stats are solid, so he can protect himself. The art is also marvelous.


Backlash
Kingsley - 4/5
Backlash is potentially a very high impact card, especially for Elite decks. Elites have often had trouble dealing with strong counters like Sicarius's Chosen and Klaivex Warleader, and this shuts those options down nicely. However, not all effects you might want to stop are targeted (Fury of Sicarius and Indomitable, for instance), making this less than complete protection.

Steinerp- 4/5
As Shadowsun players already know there are a lot of events and abilities in this game that don’t target (must say “target” in the action) and that will cause frustration. I’ve only gotten the second half of the ability to trigger once so far but it still provides solid protection vs. things like Inquisitorial Fortress and and will have a copy or two in most decks with 6 or more elites.

Corvus – 3/5
In a stunning reversal of my usual review complaint, this card is, in point of fact, good against Klaivex. It's playable but I'm skeptical that it will single-handedly make elite decks tick. When it's just trading for an event like Archon's Terror or Suppressive Fire it's only decent. A card this reactive is a tough sell in Conquest.
xRAVEx - 5/5
Meta-changing card. I'm happy it's released now, and hope elites will become more playable

NecRus888 - 5/5
This card was spoiled long ago, and everyone had enough time to evaluate it. It's a must for all elite-heavy decks. It's scary to imagine how someone tries to deal with chaos daemons now. But I suggest not to praise it a lot. It's cool only when it's in your hand, and you have the resources.

Defense Battery
Kingsley - 2/5
A decent situational defender, especially since it can't be removed. That said, this is only really strong in situations where it will trigger more than once, which makes it fairly difficult to use - in the early game, people likely won't move units to planets, and in the late game it might not happen repeatedly.

Steinerp- 2/5
Doesn’t cost too much and has a powerful but limited ability. As with the Kaptain, I don’t see a “home” deck for it right now.

Corvus – 2/5
Unless your opponents have lots of mobile units, you won't be firing a Battery enough times over the course of an average game to justify playing it. Since many of the best current decks run no mobile units at all, I'm not interested.

xRAVEx - 3/5
Finally a card that counters this OP Baharroth! Seriously, now we get even more cards, that allow units to move, so it would be only better. All-star in Zarathur!

NecRus888 - 4/5
I like the concept of planet attaches. It's perfect for dealing with warlord trains. Also very cool against tau and eldar mobile units. And Zara makes it even better!


STC Fragment
Kingsley - 4/5
This card provides more strong support for Elite decks. Its Relic status will impede it for some warlords (most notably Cato), but cheap double reducers are strong. I'm not sure whether Elite decks will prove to be viable, but if so this will likely prove a common piece.

Steinerp - 4/5
When Backlash was previewed Brad said it wasn’t the most popular card in the set by the playtesters. I can only imagine this was that card. 2 point reducer for 1 resource and no need for mechanics like infest, sold. The relic trait is a bigger deal than unique as it hurts this in decks like Cato that want their signature attachment. Elites decks now need to decide how many to run. I think the answer is at least 2 and I wouldn’t argue with someone running 3

Corvus – 3/5
All the supports we've seen that reduce by 2 have some potential, but I've yet to see a truly competitive deck that relies heavily on them. The fact that this nets you a resource on the turn you play it makes it the most exciting of the bunch, but time will tell if there's a dedicated elite deck where it can find a home.

xRAVEx - 3/5
It's a MUST for every elite-heavy deck. I like, that it saves your resources even starting from the turn you played it. Relic trait is a restriction, however currently we don't have many of them

NecRus888 - 4/5
Totally hate 1-discounts, totally love 2-discounts. Solid economy boost for expensive decks. Limited and relic restrictions are ok, can cope with them




Ravenwing Escort
Kingsley - 2/5
The stats here are quite bad for the cost. While the ability can be quite useful, especially in non-Marine decks where you can use Mobile to let this guy throw powerful units into battle, four resources for these stats is really tough. The question here is whether an Elite resurgence will prove enough to get this guy on the field - and I'm not that optimistic.

Steinerp- 3/5
I like the ability a lot but 4 cost is just too expensive.

Corvus – 2/5
I want my 4 cost units to win fights, not play supporting roles that require them to be at other planets. The effect is neat but not well suited to the unit's price.

xRAVEx - 2/5
4 for non-elite with low stats is really bad. The only thing that can save it from binder is the effect. There is no restriction on the number of times you can use it. So you can either move a heavy-hitter in the heat of the battle or prepare your units for some future battle. I think it will see play in Shadowsun and maybe Maxim

NecRus888 - 4/5
I like it very much! The cost is embarassing, but there are so many new ways of board control due to unexpected movements! Need some tests. I doubt we'll see it often, but the card is extremely interesting


Standard Bearer
Kingsley - 3/5
This card is awful in an Astra Militarum deck but can be quite strong in allied builds - especially for Starblaze decks. That said, paying 3 for a 1/2/2 is not very impressive, so you're going to need to get strong value out of the ability in order for this to be worthwhile.

Steinerp- 4/5
Obviously not a Imp Guard card but effectively adds 2 units to the fight if the opponent is exhausted (or ranged phase tricks). The downside is that if the opponent isn’t exhausted you can’t attack with both unless you outflank’m

Corvus – 2/5
Essentially a combat trick with a small body attached, since deploying him outside of combat is ridiculously inefficient. Starblaze might have a use for him, given enough units with Gun Drones or Ion Rifles that really want to hit twice, but he already has For The Tau'va, and elsewhere Standard Bearer seems a little too situational and pricey.

xRAVEx - 3/5
both SM and Orks have heavy-hitters, who'd be happy to swing the 2nd time. Also a combo with heavy chain-choppa

NecRus888 - 3/5
Good unit. I think SM will like it, especially the decks with empasis on ambushes and other putting into play during combats. Also it can ready your Librarian! Orkls won't have enough resources for it, and its cost exceeds the average cost of useful event.

Goff Brawlers
Kingsley - 4/5
A very solid card. In Ork decks, the stats aren't very efficient but the ability is good for setting up synergy, while outside of Ork decks this has great stats for the cost but an ambiguously useful ability. Note that the ability is optional, so in unfavorable situations you can simply not trigger it.

Steinerp- 3/5
I’ve got nothing bad to say about this card but nothing really good either.

Corvus – 3/5
The base stats are fine given the command icon. The reaction has some synergy with both Ku'gath and Zarathur. Its timing means it's more likely to give a small advantage after a fight has already been decided rather than contribute to the fight, but it's still a nice added bonus.

xRAVEx - 4/5
Decent unit, will be very welcome in Zara and Nazdreg, nice in Straken due to the trait and in Zogwort due to sig.unit.

NecRus888 - 3/5
Cool addition to Zara's deck. 3 hp is enough to survive after the warpstorm. A bit sad, that the ability won't be triggered often, as the unit has to exhaust and then ready. Don't see this unit in any other warlords. The cardpool is growing, and the competition for card slots is very tough


Venomous Fiend
Kingsley - 3/5
This looks like a fairly strong card both inside and outside Chaos decks - with or without Mobile, this is a strong ability, and it has the favorable Daemon and Elite traits. That said, the stats aren't so great for the cost given that the ability is just strong and not outstanding.

Steinerp- 4/5
Decent statline, nice ability. When in the warlord train it can hit 2 units a turn thanks to mobile, three if you have Plannum, 4 if you have Plannum and Carnath

Corvus – 3/5
I've been reasonably happy with Crisis Battle Guard in Shadowsun, so I think this statline paired with mobile is better than it looks. The ability is quite strong – it mops up promoted units nicely and can even trigger multiple times a round if your Fiend starts in your warlord train or uses Plannum.

xRAVEx - 3/5
Currently I can't imagine an ORK/DE deck with chaos daemons, so doubt it will be splashed, but in Chaos it still can trigger the ability via teleportarium or WL train. And Zara can always increase this damage. So I'm sure we'll see it in factions decks

NecRus888 - 2/5
It would be weird to include Slaanesh Daemon in DE decks from lore prospective. And orks simply don't need it, as they have plenty nice in-faction elites for the same cost. The ability works also when moving with the WL from HQ. This ability is interesting, and the stats are solid. The unit can spoil your opponent's life by killing his economy


Treacherous Lhamaean
Kingsley - 2/5
People currently don't play "glass cannons" like Alpha Legion Infiltrator, and this is one of those cards but with a strong downside. I could conceivably see this in Talyesin or Zarathur decks, but aside from that it's not looking great. Note that you cannot sacrifice enemy units, so this ability is not useful in small fights.

Steinerp- 2/5
That interrupt is a killer and it can’t be protected by Dire Avengers, but a 4 attack armourbane for 2 is solid. Maybe this makes craftworld gate good. Ha ha, never mind.

Corvus – 1/5 (editor’s note, we don’t allow half scores or 0 here so I added a point to Corvus’s original score)
Are you in the market for a unit with no command icon that dies to a stiff breeze and becomes a huge self-sabotaging liability as a matter of course? No? Are you sure? That's a shame, since I'd really like to have opponents put this card in their deck. Quite possibly the worst Conquest card ever printed.

xRAVEx - 2/5
Initially I was impressed with this card, but after some thoughts I consider it to be worse, than I imagined. It's too squishy, especially in our future meta with necrons and their HP-deducting abilities. No one plays Alpha Legion infiltrator, so I don't think this card will see a lot play

NecRus888 - 2/5
A controversial unit. It can be a threat on its own, if you can protect him. But with only 1 hp it's very fragile


Nightshade Interceptor
Kingsley - 3/5
Very bad for Eldar decks, playable but quite expensive for non-Eldar decks that really want AoE. A non-Eldar Bonesinger Choir deck might find this appealing, however - the best option is probably a Morn or Kith Bonesinger deck, where this actually looks quite scary.

Steinerp – 5/5
Eldar get a good AOE even if it costs 6 it has decent stats and 2 hammers. This is a god send for them and really pushes their elite theme. Doesn’t really fit in Tau or Dark Eldar however do to ready access to AOE (Tau) or cost (DE)so this card has minimal usefulness to them but it does have some value. Wait, it loses the AOE in an Eldar deck…

Steinerp – 2/5
On behalf of all the eldar players out there, Screw you Brad.

Corvus – 2/5
Too expensive, and not specialized enough. Having area effect and big combat stats on the same card means that however you end up using it some value is going to waste. Between Bonesinger Choir, STC fragment and Sae'lum Enclave there are lots of potential ways to reduce the cost but I'm skeptical that he's worth the effort.

xRAVEx - 1/5
Eldar don't need it - they have Wailing Wraithfighter (which never sees play actually). Tau have broadside/gun drones for AE, DE don't have AE, but I hardly expect them to start playing it either.

NecRus888 - 1/5
Don't like it. Tau already have their own AE cards, DE usually use cheap units. Necrons don't need it for sure due to the high cost. So I don't see its purpose

Air Caste Courier
Kingsley - 3/5
This is the only of these cards that might actually be better in a "home faction" deck than an out of faction one! If a non-Tau attachment deck ever becomes valid, this card is great - barring that I think this might see the most play in Shadowsun.

Steinerp- 3/5
Of all the cards in this section, this is the one that actually works best in its home faction.

Corvus – 3/5
Great stats if you can cobble together a non-Tau deck that cares enough about attachments. His toughness also makes him a great carrier for cards like Ion Rifle and Drone Defense system. I think he's versatile enough to eventually see play in some form or another.

xRAVEx - 2/5. Useful effect in general, but it doesn't work if the courier comes from hq. But the main drawback is that neither SM, nor Eldar use attachments heavily. Jetbike, which is played a lot in all Eldar decks, doesn't work with courier. So I can see it playable in Shadowsun only

NecRus888 - 1/5
A very odd unit for me. I don't have any clue about means of using his ability. The ability can be interesting, but I doubt it will be useful


Swarmling Termagants
Kingsley - 2/5
I wish this card cost 1 resource, at which point it would be an amazing option for Tyranid decks. At 2 resources the stats just aren't reliably good enough - if Nahumekh is huge in your area this could be quite the thing, but failing that I don't think this makes the grade.

Steinerp- 1/5
What does this get you maybe 2 termagants. Sure you can live the dream vs. necrons and get 8 but that isn’t really a very good dream if you think about it. Move along

Corvus – 1/5
If this spawns a single termagant, easily the most common scenario, it's a waste of a card. If it spawns two... it's still a waste of a card. Since he's only attacking for 1, your opponent can often safely ignore him, which makes him even more of a waste of a card.

xRAVEx - 1/5
Pure crap, can't see any reason to run this card

NecRus888 1/5
Don't like it at all. In most cases it produces only 1 token. In a very rare circumstances, when there are many hive mind units at some planet it can be useful to get one more boosted token, but still it doesn't justify including this card in the deck