Hello Westeros!
It’s here, the new update! And it’s… polarizing?
Let’s start with my main complaint, it will probably not come as a surprise…
WHY OH WHY IS VICTARION, A NAMED CHARACTER, 3 POINTS, WHILE THE WATCH CAPTAIN AND UNSULLIED OFFICER ARE ONLY 2 POINTS, WITH ARGUABLY BETTER SECOND ABILITIES?
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?
…
RAAAAH.
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Ok that’s it for the intro, now let’s check all the factions!
Lannister
The clear winners of the update, hear them roar! Or mostly bark, with the House Clegane Brigands and the Clegane Butcher being finally usable (yeaaaah, my favorite model can come out of the shelf!) and overall really good value!
Sure they lost their insane token generation craziness and Hardened commander, but since it has been spread out to every faction and they got the most boosts in exchange, it’s fine by me.
Addam attachment could finally see some play, Sentinel bringing some welcome movement into the Lannister faction, and I’m betting Joffrey will become one of the most popular commanders now, at least I know I want to play him (and I already enjoyed him in his previous version)!
The Halberdiers and the Honor Guard both costing 1 point less is fantastic as well, between them and the Brigands I will definitely pick up the new starter for some double units…
I saw some people complaining about the faction deck, while I agree some cards are hard to use, I am happy they didn’t change it, that’s what Tyrion is there for, cycle your cards!
Only complaint for the faction: the City Watch wasn’t too good, now it is basically out of the picture, with both Guardsmen and Halberdiers being cheaper.
Starks
…
Well now we know the devs got the Bribery card…
What happened to the poor wolves?
They were already in a bad spot, but now both their strongest unit and their strongest attachment got nerfed (which is okay since it happened everywhere across faction), but in exchange they got… pretty much nothing?
A morale boost on the Bowmen is nice but not game changer and the Bruisers were long overdue a point decrease.
And why remove the “Bullwark formation”, which not only was original but also required so tactical choices, turning the Karstark Spearmen into a very interesting unit to play? Now they have “Hold the Line, which while good, is already present in a few other factions. It’s a shame to have removed one of the most recent abilities for no particular reason, because the gods know Starks needed a lot more areas to be looked at.
Baratheon
Apart from the common nerf to Hardened and Expert Duellist (which is a welcome one in my opinion), the Stags only got two changes: the Queensmen now only cycle “Baratheon Justice”, turning them into an exclusive tokens generator, and the Champions of the Stag got slightly diminished.
Sad, didn’t even get to try the full Stannis cavalry list with 2 Champions yet…
All in all not much to say, I think Baratheons were in a pretty good place thematically and mechanically, so quite happy they didn’t suffer more. I would have liked to see Kingsmen at a 5+ morale, but oh well.
Neutrals
Some nice changes!
“Knightly Vow” makes Brienne quite playable, especially in Starks and Greyjoy factions, the Crossbowmen are finally pla… cheaper, the Flayed Men are more aligned with other heavy cavalry units (maybe we will stop seeing Drogo in them? Pretty please with Khaleesi on top?), Baelish did deserve a small nerf but is still very good, and all the Glory Seekers are now going home after 2 years of faithful service to the highest bidders.
And… that’s it?
No change to the Tactics Deck or a special Neutral rule like so many have asked before?
The Glory Seeker may have been overused, but he was a very good addition to Neutral lists, and its “Rally Cry” suppression somehow managed to hurt the Starks even more, giving them 2 very similar Cavalry attachment instead of 2 widely different ones and removing one of their only sources of healing…
Night’s Watch
Overall a boost, apart from Jon Snow losing Rally Cry.
A welcome higher defense on the Ranger Vanguards (some of the best minis in the game which deserve more play), a cost decrease for Donal and Halfhand, a clarification of Gilly, all good!
Of course, I am still mad at how on earth the Watch Captain only costs 2 points with an ability that will turn Ranger Hunters even more monstrous as before (they charge you, they retreat, they shoot ; you charge them, they attack, they retreat, they shoot…).
Targaryen
Well, same problem with the Unsullied Officer (albeit less powerful than the Watch Captain, he still makes attacking his unit a very punishing experience).
The Bloodriders will hopefully now become Drogo’s unit again, and we might see 3 dragons on the table more frequently!
Unfortunately for the Dragons, they each lost their individuality token-wise, now all giving Panicked tokens, but since it is not recorded in the change log this might be an app mistake.
The 2 main hits to the faction are the obvious “Field Control” card, which with the change to Outflank was maybe not as necessary (Robb NCU says thank you though), and Drogo losing his 3+ kill, which I personally like.
Free Folks
Bye Mance, bye Endless Horde, but helloooooo MAG THE MIGHTY!
Expect armies of giants all around in the weeks to come, for the Chieftain’s Fury just got one activation boost!
Another good news is the change to the Bears, a very welcome one, giving them Charging Volley and allowing them to use both their attacks.
Mance inherited Joffrey’s kingly ability, a welcoming change for a faction full of colorful commanders overshadowed by their leader, and 3 Tactics cards got a bit less efficient, especially Endless Horde, the Free Folks signature card, now not bringing additional activations but making sure you don’t lose any.
Overall good changes, not sure if it will be enough to stop the reign of the furry men, but it should at least provide some diversity in Free Folks lists.
Greyjoys
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(see introduction)
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Apart from that… hmm, incident… some good and some weird changes.
I would say the subtle changes to the Reapers are pretty good, turning them into a more efficient unit straight away, while the Blacktyde Chosen are probably bringing more to the table with a morale bubble than with a rarely happening “Divide the Spoils”.
Erik Ironmaker got a tiny bit nerfed for some reason, which I find really weird since he was never a problem to begin with. Asha got the same treatment as Mance Ryder, losing her morale bubble, which while a bit sad, I don’t find as dramatic as most people do. Granted, I only played Asha commander once last week, so I may not be as attached to her as many.
However I do think Boisterous Charisma is not a bad ability to have on one central unit, and if you really miss that morale bubble, you can still bring the Chosen. Having only used it once I would say it does not make the Greyjoys unplayable as people say.
What I find sad is to have changed the Warcry tactics card to be the same as the order (this applies to Brynden Tully and Marseleen as well). A tactic card should be more powerful, being only used once (or twice) per game in contrast to an order, and this particular one already requires the unit to pass a Morale test. When you compare it to Baratheon Justice… well it doesn’t hold. So it does feel like there was not much thought put into that decision, apart from “oh it’s the same ability and name, let’s put it down too”.
A weird update after a year, which definitely feels half-cooked, I am half expecting them to release a new version later this year explaining the weird choice of calling this one 2021-S02…
Like many, I was not asking for a complete makeover, but some of the changes have been very surprising to say the least, some good some bad.
As someone said on the Facebook group, it does feel like the Lannisters were studied through and through, and time was limited for the rest of the factions.
Still excited to try the new stuff, including my poor expensive Victarion!
I will start by a Vargo Hoat commander in House Harlaw Reapers list, 8 wounds from a Panic test, yes please…
Grob’
Chez Grob 