Well it's been a little less than a week since Oblivion dropped and I've been mulling over what to play for the next few months and I've reached a decision...
Legion!
So why Legion over Trolls and CoC? Well I've got a few reasons and it's easier to start with the reasons I'm not going with Trolls or CoC rather than what I'm going for in Legion.
Why Not CoC?
Convergence was what I was playing before Oblivion and it's what I have been inclined to keep with after the changes, but there are some things that made me decide shelving them for a bit.
The Dynamic Update changes for CoC were pretty minor beyond the (massive) theme changes, only the Colossal's got points drops and the Developers stated that they want to do more, especially with the medium based infantry (which I love), but they can't really test that until all the new stuff that is coming in a few months is also being tested. As such things are mostly the same, though we're far more likely to play in Clockwork Legion, even for Vector heavy based lists.
In the Steamroller I went to a few weeks ago I played two DI lists in my pairing and while I could manage threat ranges to get up on attrition, I had trouble contesting with new scenarios and lost on scenario before I could capitalize on the attrition win.
If you're in DI, you've got no screen of infantry or much in the way of throw away items, and our heavies are still pretty expensive for what they do.
The other changes that have me excited to play CoC is the Void Archon in Clockwork Legions being in the theme - except it will not pre-release at Gencon and so I'm waiting till October before I can really start playing the lists I want to be playing anyway. By that point we will be very close to the CoC new CID
The final reason I'm putting my CoC down for a bit is because I just know that major changes are coming to the faction in a few months and it feels kinda meh to play them in their current state when everyone including the developers knows there are problems with things as they are and the changes are a short time away. So why not take a change of pace with stuff I already own?
Why Not Trolls?
Trolls are interesting to dojo for me, because the faction revolves around so many different buff pieces which I just like the general approach of, it's just that there are two main problems I see.
First and foremost is the Krielstone and SR2019. With one third of scenarios having very wide spread zones, and those being "new" scenarios more likely to see play in events, Trolls are going to suffer, especially the kind of brick list I typically enjoyed.
I went and mapped out what it would look like with a max (barring spending an additional 9 points on sorcerers) stone aura would look like if it could stand in the center of the table. The results are not very consistent.
The other problem I have is that the infantry units are just...not great. Fenns + UA are 20 points and our mainline gun units that I'd want to run are only RNG 8 (Highwaymen or Raiders). That's not inspiring. The beasts are also just very expensive, 19 point Bombers are rough. Our lights are also pretty expensive for what they do. Compare that to beasts in Grymkin or WM heavies and it's just painful.
Again this seems to be something that is recognized as a bit of a problem by the Devs with the idea that after a while Trolls will get looked at in more depth.
No More Support Taxes!
One thing I learned from playing Clockwork Legions in events (and what I know from Trolls), is that I'm kind of just tired of paying for support that is effectively essential to my army functioning but generally doesn't do much else. Especially when said support requires a tight spacing.
Clockwork Legions troops are not very great, because they can recur. The medium based troops are very expensive and not great, because they can recur. But then I also have to pay 16 points...in order to recur. That's kind of a double whammy. I also need to stay moderately tethered to the Foundries for it all to work. It hurts the more you spread out, because canny opponents will overload on one flank to fill the foundries covering that flank and start permanently killing models. So unless you can have a nice bunker in the center, the strength of recursion can be more easily mitigated.
The Krielstone is very similar, and once you're out of the stone, which can happen if you're looking to build high threat range lists, our beasts really suffer compared to what they cost.
I'm just...tired of having to take expensive support and want a change. This brings me to...
Why Legion?
Most support is caster driven, so I always have it until the game is over. When there is support taken, it's generally self sufficient. If I take Anyssa with Raptors, the Raptors aren't completely screwed if she's gone and she can just follow them around. If I take a Grotesque Assassin with Grotesque Raiders, it similarly just is tethered to that unit, not my entire force.
The other sad thing is that if I want to play a brick/aura list, I have options to do that. Primal Terrors with a Blightbringer provides a similar experience, and while it costs 20 points more than a Krielstone, it also is much harder to kill, is a melee anchor for late game, and has a decent gun turn after turn.
Similarly I could play Thags1 with his aura and some Carniveans to put out an ARM22 brick of heavies.
There's also the fact that guns not only abound in this faction, but they're far longer range as well. Strider Rangers got buffed, and with Ravens of War opening to all beasts again, we have good shooting options plus Hellmouth's to give scenario presence and tools to give advantage in heavy trades.
Oh and there's the fact that everything has flight or pathfinder. I loathe not having that, especially on heavies. Eyeless Sight is also nice to avoid any cloud problems and stealth issues, plus the faction brings a lot of boostable sprays to the table as well.
Beasts are expensive except for rare cases, but the character beasts in Legion are particularly compelling.
There are certainly weaknesses, particularly to guns, but there are some answers that can be taken to account for that.
Plus when I was going through to look at models I saw my old stuff and was reminded of how much I liked the look of them.
So for at least the next few months, I'm back on Legion!
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