Question #1: can Heroes join units??? Are my War Machine-consulting Engineers consigned to their fates?
Question #2:
Say with Empire's State Troop Detachment's Stand Together, Fighter Together ability, Greatswords' Oathsworn Honour Guard ability, & a Hurricanum's Portents of Battle for +1 to hit, then do GS's always hit in this setup?
GS 4+ To Hit
ST, FT: +1 to Hit
OHG: +1 To Hit
PoB: +1 to Hit
so rolling even a 1, +3 = 4.
If we're NOT staying on topic in this thread after all, well then have my non-salty 2 cents;
My particular group of buddies is largely curious/open-minded/possibly optimistic to play-test this after our next 8th Ed. tournament,* which may be our last (if we like AoS enough to skip North Star 8th Ed. in the fall.) Change *can* be a good thing! I'm still trying to wrap my head around setting up games quickly & relatively fairly, other than an eyeball test. Magic & movement phases should be quicker in AoS.
I know how easy it is to be cynical in this day & age, but this might bring more fun people into the game, push out some WAAC try-harders to WarmaHordes/whatever, & hopefully bring in enough new blood to offset whatever schism occurs within the community. It looks like an easier hobby/game to get into now, which is what they're shooting for, rather than trying to endlessly wring blood from old stones.
Me personally; my FW Manaan's Blades might see some action finally, with swords/boards looking decent for State Troops! Freikorps Militia might be worth a damn now, while, sadly, Witch Hunters prolly aren't. Marius looks tougher & less loony, Kurt Helborg looks more viable alongside his Reiksguard, though is still missing a shield, Karl Franz remains solid, Griffons look better, Balthasar slightly less, Markus Wulfhart buffs his Archers better, Grand Master lost his Runefang, while his Inner Circle Knights are only +1 Bravery over Empire Knights, Demigryph knights have viable cavalry halberds, Flagellants look intriguing, Battle Prayers & Light of Banishment/Storms of Shemtek/Searing Beams of Light can't be EZ dispelled/unbinded anymore, the new War Altar deserves its own thread to unpack, & so on, & so forth. Hopefully more *give than *take.*
* Lady of the Lake if anyone listens to LakeSwatt podcast or games in/near Minnesota, USA.