Retribution Warcasters

Thyron, Sword of Truth

• Model loses the following abilities: Cleave and Field Marshal [Cleave]
• Model gains the following abilities: Side-Step and Field Marshal [Side-Step]
• Model loses the following Spells: Assail, Ground Zero
• Model gains the following Spells: Flashing Blade, Fury
• Feat text changed to
  Thyron and friendly Faction models beginning their activations in his control range gain an additional die on melee attack rolls. Additionally, while within Thyron’s control range, friendly Faction non-warcaster warrior models gain Killing Spree. Blades of Vengeance lasts for one turn. (When a model with Killing Spree destroys one or more enemy models with a melee attack during its Combat Action, after that attack is resolved the model can advance up to 1˝ and make one additional melee attack.)

DEV NOTES: We wanted to create more separation between the upcoming Falcir and Thyron by really emphasizing his role as having pure melee dominance over Falcir’s more layered & varied approach. Thyron should heavily push melee mobility, raw melee accuracy, and improved damage output for both his army and himself.

His new spell list provides an excellent damage buff to any model/unit in his army while his updated feat means that any low- or mid-ARM enemy models in his control range are in danger of being quickly dispatched by the likes of Mage Hunter Assassins or other similar melee threats.

Garryth, The Blade of Retribution

• RAT increases to 7
• Model gains the following abilities: Dual Attack, Reposition [3˝], and Field Marshal [Reposition 3˝]
• Model loses the following spells: Heightened Reflexes, Psychic Vampire, and Sentry
• Model gains the following spells: Crippling Grasp, Gate Crasher, and Perseverance

DEV NOTES: As a Mage Hunter assassin ’caster, Garryth 1 was lacking the tools he needed to properly threaten and assassinate the enemy. Our goal here was to increase his personal threat—give him more to do once he got into combat while retaining some level of army support. We don’t want him to just be a super solo that doesn’t help out his army in any way.

The increase in RAT, the addition of Dual Attack, and the addition of the Gate Crasher spell mean that Garryth can threaten up to 17.5˝ (with Mirage upkept on himself) as long as he has someone to Gate Crasher into. Once he Crashes in, he can use Dual Attack to make all of his remaining melee and ranged attacks before buying more. Combined with his feat, this makes Garryth a significant threat to ’casters that get too close to him.

We swapped Heightened Reflexes for Perseverance, as we felt most of Garryth’s armies benefited more from having access to the ARM buff than the no-KD / no-stationary buff. Garryth is also the third ’caster ever to receive Crippling Grasp, joining the ranks of both Deneghra 1 and Arkadius. With Reposition, Garryth and his battlegroup can harass the enemy with ranged attacks and spells while backing up to key positions, and all of this while setting up to go in for the kill on later turns.

Retribution Units

Mage Hunter Infiltrators

• Unit gains the Ambush and Reposition [5˝] abilities
• Unit PC reduces to 8 for minimum unit and 13 for maximum unit

DEV NOTES: We looked at the “Mage Hunter Package” across the board, trying to determine exactly what was missing from the mainline troops and solos. Ultimately, we felt that the Mage Hunters were missing an element of mobility and types of forward deployment. We see the Mage Hunter units and solos as the archetype of “assassin scouts.” They should start the game closer to the enemy through abilities like AD and Ambush and keep themselves safe through combinations of Reposition, Stealth, or other movement tricks. There are special exceptions, of course, but in general, we wanted a primarily Mage Hunter army to feel like it starts the game with a table position advantage, ready to strike early against key targets.

For the Infiltrators, we determined Ambush was the best way to put this unit in the “ready to strike early” spot we wanted, and we’ve had loads of data on this ability on this unit from previous editions. What the unit lacked was some much needed mobility and a points decrease based on their overall damage output

Mage Hunter Strike Force

• Unit gains Advanced Deploy
• Unit’s Crossbow ranged weapon gains Damage Type: Magical

DEV NOTES: We like the Strike Force overall, but as noted above, we felt they lacked some of the pre-game positioning, simply because AD was tied to their Command Attachment. While the Command Attachment is great, we want players to feel like they have the option of taking a unit without it and have that still be a viable choice. Giving the unit baseline AD and magical crossbows is a strong move toward that, we feel.

Strike Force Commander

• Model loses the following abilities: Granted Arcane Ammo, Tactics Advance Deployment
• Model gains Advanced Deploy and Tactics: Reposition [3˝] ability
• Model’s Crossbow gains Damage Type: Magical and Dispel ability

DEV NOTES: With the standard Strike Force gaining baseline AD and magic ranged weapons, this opened up the opportunity for the Commander to provide some different utility to the unit. For starters, we knew we wanted him to grant the unit Reposition so this wasn’t strictly tied to Eiryss 3 (as she’s a character). Now, should a player choose to, they can have two units of ADing Strike Force, both with Reposition, making for a highly mobile ranged threat to the enemy.

Additional, the Commander itself has a Dispel shot, giving a Mage Hunter army additional means to punish enemy upkeeps.

Stormfall Archers

• Unit PC reduces to 7

DEV NOTES: Stormfall Archers perform how we want them to but were a tad bit too expensive for the damage they were bringing to the table, so we’ve reduced their cost.

Ryssovass Defenders

• Unit’s SPD increases to 6
• Unit’s ARM increases to 16
• Unit gains Girded ability
• Unit PC reduces to 9 for minimum unit and 15 for maximum unit

DEV NOTES: Retribution has no shortage of elves-with-swords units, which put the Defenders in a bit of an awkward position. They needed something to define their role as different from the likes of the hard-hitting Sentinels, the Parrying and Cleaving Ellowuyr Swordsmen, the Ambushing Infiltrators, and so on.

For starters, we increased their SPD. It made sense for the Everblight Legionnaires, and it made sense here. At its heart, this is still a unit of weapon masters, but we wanted to give them some defensive tech as their variance from other units. This was accomplished by the giving the unit Girded, so they won’t be picked off with blast damage. Girded can also help keep a key solo hiding among their ranks safe. Finally, given these changes and the major benefit we knew they were going to receive from Aeleth Vyr (see below), we determined they were still overcosted and reduced their cost slightly for it.

House Ellowuyr Swordsmen

• Unit’s ARM increases to 15
• Unit gains the Gang ability

DEV NOTES: Swordsmen were missing two elements: first, their ARM was far too low, especially given they’re clad in armor head to toe. Second, this unit’s key role is rushing toward enemy units or lighter targets and cleaving into them with a mass of attacks. Considering the direction we were going with the upcoming House Ellowuyr Wardens, we felt the Swordsmen needed a bit of help, so the addition of Gang means they can now deliver a solid number of effective MAT 9 POW 14 attacks.

House Ellowuyr Swordsman Officer & Standard

• Officer and Standard’s ARM increases to 15
• Officer and Standard gain Gang ability
• Officer loses Granted: Practiced Maneuvers ability
• Officer gains Granted: Overtake ability

DEV NOTES: The same changes we made to the Swordsmen unit applied here. We felt a unit without the CA is a solid choice, and again we were looking for the Officer and Standard to offer extra value worth the points but not be required. We feel that Overtake on the new Swordsman is an excellent ability, especially when combined with the existing Serpent’s Coil, allowing the unit to demolish an enemy unit, reposition slightly into better positions with Overtake, then use Serpent’s Coil to create a line of very scary Defensive Strikes, especially with Gang!

Eiryss, Mage Hunter Commander

• All of this model’s weapons gain Damage Type: Magical
• Change rules text of Arcane Hemorrhage ability to:
  Arcane Hemorrhage – When this model hits another model with an attack, the model hit loses d3 focus, fury, or essence points on it, and upkeep spells it cast immediately expire.
• Model loses the following abilities: Granted Reposition, Tactics Advance Deployment
• Mode gains the following abilities: Granted Mark Target, Tactics Tough, Attachment Deployment

DEV NOTES: With the Mage Hunter units both gaining access to Reposition and AD/Ambush, Eiryss 3 found herself needing some new Granted and Tactics options as well. To us, this is Eiryss at her most grizzled—she’s come home to fight for the Retribution. and the unit she leads has to include some of the toughest, meanest, veteran Mage Hunters out there.

The addition of Tactics: Tough is nice, but it’s not what we consider her defining feature. It’s a good way to keep a couple models in her unit around, though, to continue using what we do consider her defining feature, Granted: Mark Target. This is a huge benefit to so many types of Retribution builds, and it’s especially scary when you Ambush Eiryss 3 in with a unit of Infiltrators. The addition of Attached Deployment allows her to Ambush with the unit, so suddenly your opponent has a load of Tough Mark Target units to deal with, which we’ve seen on units like Pyg Lookouts before. But the Infiltrators can be even more offensively threatening.

We also updated Arcane Hemorrhage both to effect Essence points and to no longer strip all the points off a model hit, given that Eiryss 3 would now potentially be Ambushing into play.

Mercenary Units

Cylena Raefyll and Nyss Hunters

• Unit PC reduces to 10 for minimum unit and 16 for maximum unit

DEV NOTES: We like how the Nyss Hunters perform but felt they cost just a bit too much for what they were doing, so we’ve reduced their cost to match their output.

Retribution Solos

Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios

• Model gains Leadership [Mage Hunter] ability
  Leadership [Mage Hunter] – While in this model’s command range, friendly Mage Hunter models gain Sprint.
• Model PC reduces to 5

DEV NOTES: While many Mage Hunter models tend to deal damage at ranged, there is a good selection of them (’casters such as Garryth 1 or Mage Hunter Assassins) that want to fight up close and personal. Thus far, the support package for these types of Mage Hunters has been a bit lacking, so we deciding to give them a mobile melee model’s best friend, Sprint, via Narn. Afterward, compared to other solos in Faction, we determined Narn was a bit overpriced, and thus we also lowered his cost.

Elara, Tyro of the Third Chamber

• Model loses Convention spell
• Model gains Ghost Walk spell

DEV NOTES: We wanted the “Jr. Elara” to have more universal appeal in Retribution armies, which meant providing her with a spell or ability that benefitted just about any force she was included in. When doing so, had have to be careful to ensure that ability didn’t become too powerful, or suddenly Elara would be a must-have in every list, and the armies that can’t or don’t take her suffer. We felt that Convection was the weakest part of her original spell list, and we’ve dropped it in favor of the more universally useful Ghost Walk, which we feel many armies will benefit from.

Houseguard Thane

• Model’s PC reduces to 3

DEV NOTES: We’re happy with the Thane’s performance but wanted to see armies have a bit of an easier time accessing these models for lists that want to utilize them. We’ve both dropped their points and made them a 2-for-1-requisition option in Defenders, as noted below.

Aelyth Vyr, Blade of Nyssor

• Model’s SPD increases to 6
• Model loses the following abilities: Hard, Last Word, Leadership [Ryssovass Defenders]
• Model gains the following abilities: Dying Breath, Girded, Elite Cadre [Ryssovass Defenders], Veteran Leader [Nyss].
  Elite Cadre [Ryssovass Defenders] – Friendly Ryssovass Defenders models gain Dying Breath.

DEV NOTES: As with the Ryssovass Defenders, we increased Aeleth’s SPD and gave him Girded. We knew we wanted him to provide Defenders—and all Nyss—with a buff of sorts, and that buff wasn’t the existing one. Looking over his old card, it was clear to us how good a Last Word-style ability would be on the new Defenders, given their increased ability to deliver themselves up the board. Last Word itself was too good, though, and often led to messy timing interactions with resolution. So, we dropped Last Word in favor of Dying Breath and the associated Leadership to replace with Elite Cadre for Defenders, giving them all Dying Breath.

With Elite Cadre over Leadership, Aeleth didn’t really have a reason to keep units in his CMD range anymore, and we want him to have one. We want him to march up the field protected by troops before he commits to attacking. Veteran Leader [Nyss] was something we felt is an excellent addition to Retribution armies, appreciated not just by the Defenders but by the likes of the Nyss Hunters as well.

Retribution Warjacks

Daemon

• Model’s RAT increases to 6
• Model’s Vortex Cannon gains Reload [1] ability

Sphinx

• Model’s RAT increases to 6
• Model’s Runespear Cannon weapon increases RNG to 12
  

Banshee

• Model’s RAT increases to 6
• Model’s melee weapons lose Critical Grievous Wounds ability
• Model’s melee weapons gain Grievous wounds ability
  

Gorgon

• Model’s PC reduces to 8
• Model’s DEF increases to 13

Hydra

• Model’s MAT increases to 7
• Model’s DEF increases to 13
• Model’s PC reduces to 14
  

Manticore

• Model’s MAT increases to 7
• Model’s DEF increases to 13
• Change rules text on Force Generator ability to:
  Force Generator – This model gains +2 STR.

Hemera

• Model’s MAT increases to 7
• Model’s DEF increases to 13

Aspis

• Model’s DEF increases to 13

Chimera

• Model’s DEF increases to 13

Discordia

• Model’s DEF increases to 13

Griffon

• Model’s DEF increases to 13

Phoenix

• Model’s DEF increases to 13

DEV NOTES: We spent a considerable amount of time reviewing the Shyeel and Vyre heavies and determining how we wanted to create some daylight between the two chassis. Basically, every Ret warjack is a hybrid weapons platform, capable of dealing damage in both melee and at ranged; however, we wanted to further emphasize some differences. We’ve increased the RAT on all non-character Vyre heavies to 6, making them MAT 6 and RAT 6 across the board (and possibly higher on characters). This provides some consistency with the chassis in regards to accuracy, which we felt they desperately wanted.

Shyeel ’jacks received three changes. First, the force field change mentioned below, providing an extra layer of durability. After that, we didn’t want the Shyeel ’jacks to be strictly worse than Vyre ’jacks in combat in terms of accuracy. Leaving them at MAT 6 RAT 5, for example, felt like it put them a bit behind every Vyre option. So, for the heavy chassis only, we increased the MAT to 7. Their damage in melee is typically weaker than that of a Vyre ’jack, but now they have baseline better accuracy, which should help make up for it. The Manticore in particular is a fan.

Additionally, we’ve increase the DEF on all Shyeel warjacks to a minimum of 13. Reviewing their durability with the new force field changes versus Vyre warjacks. We felt they needed this adjustment.

Finally, looking at the various abilities and utility of the ’jacks, we made some small tweaks to several heavies to provide consistency in their output each turn.

Retribution Theme Forces

Defenders of Ios

• Added “Two Houseguard Thane solos” to Requisition Options
• Added “Elara, Tyro of the Third Chamber” to Army Composition options

Core Rulebook Page 58

1. Text under the “Removing Field Damage” section changes to:
   Once per turn during its activation, a model with a force field can spend 1 focus point to remove 5 damage points from its force field damage track unless its Field Generator (G) system is crippled.

DEV NOTES: An often-underutilized aspect of Shyeel warjacks is their ability to regenerate their force fields so long as their Field Generator system is intact. For the cost of 1 focus, a warjack can remove d3+1 damage from its fields, which ultimately has proven to be a bit too unreliable for the focus spent. Risking 1 focus for the potential of healing 2 damage from a field isn’t great value and differs significantly from abilities such as Regeneration on warbeasts, which can immediately fix a crippled aspect.

With so many Shyeel warjacks having Field Dependent rules, keeping the “shields up” and protecting the vital systems of the warjack is a key feature of this style. We decided to remove the variance from force field regeneration and also increase its overall value. This should help make Shyeel ’jacks a bit more durable from turn to turn, ensuring their vital systems remain intact longer.

Theme Forces February 2021 Update:

Game Rules Digest February 2021 Update: