Army Construction
Either -
1) Two Detachments (meaning you could select two Combined Arms Detachments, etc.)
- Sub-option: If you run 2 Combined Arms Detachments, they must be from the same Faction
OR ...
2) Two Detachments, with a maximum of one Combined Arms Detachment. If a Combined Arms Detachment is chosen, it must be your Primary Detachment
Lords of War
Either -
1) The Following Lords of War are permitted: List TBD
OR ...
2) Lords of War are not permitted
So let's talk about Lords of War, starting with Knights
Knights are going to be allowed, because they aren't Lords of War. OK, next.
Lords of War - Forgeworld vs. Escalation
We're keeping Forgeworld out of the GT and Invitational this year. There's plenty enough new to digest, and the vote went broadly against it back in Jan.
Broadly speaking, some Lords of War were nerfed (D weapon changes), and many were not (those that either have template / ignores cover D, or who relied on other powerful weapons to kill things). Please note - the D weapon nerf is not the decision-point for this. It's more nuanced, in terms of looking at how powerful each model is and how that might impact players who are not prepared. D was a problem b/c it caused you to simply remove large swathes of your army (something that jetseer councils and screamerstars and the like cannot do, and can be actively prevented from doing).
So let's look at the Escalation Lords of War one at a time ...
Baneblade - 525 points (fairly pricey), 9 hp with 14/13/12 av (so exceedingly durable), S9AP2 10" blast and S10AP2 5" blast, neither of which ignore cover
- Verdict in Short: Baneblade isn't a big deal. It would be legal if Lords are legal.
Banehammer - 410 points (fairly cheap for a lord of war), 9 hp with 14/13/12 av (so exceedingly durable), S8AP3 7" blast that causes dangerous tests and does not ignore cover
- Verdict in Short: Like the Baneblade, not a big deal ... would be legal.
Banesword - 430 points, basically a Baneblade light (AP3 instead of 2 on main gun), would be legal
Doomhammer - 420 points; basically a super tough Vindicator on slight crack (ap1 vs 2), would be legal
Hellhammer - 540 points; 7" blast ignores cover ... basically a Deathstrike that's extremely hard to kill and fires every turn reliably. NOPE. Against *most* targets this is effectively a D-Weapon in the old rules (ignores whatever their save is, no, most units don't have invulnerable saves, wounds them on a 2+ and kills most things).
Shadowsword - 455 points, 5" D blast, does not ignore cover, would be fine
Stormlord - 480 point land raider for assault purposes that carries 40 models, with a Heavy 30 (when needed) S6 AP3 gun and 9 hull points? People have already pointed out mini guard blobs loaded with charcters and enginseers/techmarines to make it unkillable. This is a borderline NOPE type model.
Stormsword - 485 points, 10" blast that ignores cover at S10AP1. LIKE THE HELLHAMMER, NOPE.
Thunderhawk Gunship - 685 points, with D weapons that don't ignore cover. Basically OK.
Khorne Lord of Skulls- 888 points is very expensive, but durable with a ton of attacks as the game goes on ... hmmm ... probably fine but ... wait ... A S9 Hellstorm template that inflicts instant death and is AP3. NOPE.
Necron Obelisk - 335 points, and is fine
Tesseract Vault - If you can't figure out the theme yet, large templates or blasts that ignore cover and insta-gib most of what they touch are not OK. This, therefore, applies to the Vault as well with its available Wave of Withering ... and also to the ...
Transcendent C'Tan - This is the biggest "no" out there, with a Hellstorm D, a D "line of pain," and 6d6 krak missile shots, just for starters.
Stompa - Stompas are fine, still.
Revenant Titan - Would either be illegal, or allowed with Sonic Lances banned, which like the Khorne Lord of Skulls are basically old D weapons vs. a wide variety of targets
Tiger Shark - Hitty enough and flexible, but fine otherwise for the points
Harridan - A badass, but fine for the points
So if we legalized Lords of War, it would look something like this on the list:
Baneblade
Banehammer
Banesword
Doomhammer
Shadowsword
Thunderhawk
Necron Obelisk
Stompa
Revenant w/out Lances
Tiger Shark
Harridan
Which brings up the question - how many people would refuse to attend if those were on tables; how many people would refuse to attend if we just made it simpler and said Knights Only // No Lords of War?
That and the CAD question, which I'll address separately, are where we're at presently. We're taking feedback from across the community, so offer yours while you can!