FAQ/Errata in January!!!

[commandant]

I quite like that the priests don't get dispelling. They are not wizards. They give MR though which is nice.

I suppose does the ability to dispel make up for the massive chance of not getting the spell you want 5/6 of the time

[Tiberius]

Warrior Priests NEED Dispelling. They used to contribute Dispel Dice...there's no excuse for them not to be able to Dispel in this edition.

If Warrior Priests did allow dispels, I think they would have to be significantly more expensive.  I did love when they contributed dispel dice, but they were like 85 points or something if my memory serves me right.

[Dendo_Star]

Yeah, in 7th Edition, they were 90 points. That was peak Warrior Priest time, although granted you could only have Sigmarites.

I must confess, some of my griping about our WPs is because I just DON'T like how Magic is done in this edition. It's blunt, inelegant. Lol although we get the Lore Familiar.

[commandant]

I think magic is better than it used to be but in reality what I would have liked is that a wizard gained a -1 to cast or dispell every time they attempted a spell or dispell. These -1s could go away in your command phase but I thought it would replicate the idea of low level wizards buzzing annoyingly around a high level wizard well.

[Damar]

Warrior Priests NEED Dispelling. They used to contribute Dispel Dice...there's no excuse for them not to be able to Dispel in this edition.

I do not think they need it by default. However, it would be nice if 0-1 WP could buy similiar upgrade like in Slayer Army that a model can dispel as lvl 1 mage. This would mainly help 3/5 of the Knightly Order's lists that lack all wizards but also let you build a thematic grand army while not leaving you entirely defenseless vs. magic.

[Perforated]

Warrior Priests NEED Dispelling. They used to contribute Dispel Dice...there's no excuse for them not to be able to Dispel in this edition.

I've been playing around with a rewrite of the Empire army list that I've been meaning to finish and publish here. But while I get around to that I can share my idea for the warrior priests.

I invented a rule called "Deny the Witch (X)" which was given to all priests/lectors. It reads as follows:

"A model with "Deny the Witch (X)" may attempt wizardly dispels with a dispel range equal to their command range. When attempting a dispel they may add X to their dispel roll."

The idea is that priests get X = 0 and lectors get X = 1.

The short dispel range means that you have to be aggressive with them (which I think makes a lot of sense). Furthermore, their innate magic resistance, means that they can dispel as a level 1 (or 2 for a lector) if the spell targets them or their unit.

[commandant]

I would rather give them a special item (sort of like the wizard's hat but holy).

The Great Book of Unbinding (15 points)
A warrior priest carrying this item may attempt a wizarding dispel for any spell cast within his leadership range.   The wizarding dispel is a L1 for all spells from the Lore of Battle, Illusion or Elemental magic and at +2 for spells from the lore of Demonology, necromancy or Dark magic

Something like this.

[Dendo_Star]

I like these ideas.

[Perforated]

I would rather give them a special item (sort of like the wizard's hat but holy).

The Great Book of Unbinding (15 points)
A warrior priest carrying this item may attempt a wizarding dispel for any spell cast within his leadership range.   The wizarding dispel is a L1 for all spells from the Lore of Battle, Illusion or Elemental magic and at +2 for spells from the lore of Demonology, necromancy or Dark magic

Something like this.

There's plenty of "evil" lores and listing them all (not to mention, keeping things up to date as new stuff comes in) would not be feasible.

I much prefer if it was a baseline ability with a small increase in the cost of the priest.

I do however like the idea of "priest only" items that can act as buffs or extensions of their built-in toolkit.

[commandant]

Making the dispel ability different depending on the lore would be quite important I think in representing the ideology of the priests.   Maybe even a priest of Morr would get +3 against necromancy or something.

The thing is it'd need to be a large increase in the cost of the priest.   The wizarding hat costs 45 points and has the downside of stupid.   Now admittedly it allows you to cast as well as dispel and at an 18 rather than 7/8 inch range.

Therefore I would suggest that what you are suggesting would increase the warrior priest's base points by 15-20.

[Perforated]

Making the dispel ability different depending on the lore would be quite important I think in representing the ideology of the priests. Maybe even a priest of Morr would get +3 against necromancy or something.

It is not maintainable. We had a new "evil" lore as recent as the latest arcane journal. Keeping things simple is key.

The thing is it'd need to be a large increase in the cost of the priest. The wizarding hat costs 45 points and has the downside of stupid. Now admittedly it allows you to cast as well as dispel and at an 18 rather than 7/8 inch range.

Therefore I would suggest that what you are suggesting would increase the warrior priest's base points by 15-20.

You admit yourself. When comparing to Wizarding Hat you don't get a spell, unless you are a lector you don't get +1 to dispel. And the "dispel bubble" is 85% smaller compared to a baseline lvl 1/2.

All of those conditions really constrain the value as you have to be VERY aggressive. And remember, you also cannot dispel if you are in combat. An ability like this would really only come into effect when you position yourself "in the face" of the opponent and dare them to charge you :D

15-20 points would be a massive over-tuning. I'd rather start off at 0 and tune upwards, because too big a cost will risk the priests not being selected anyways.

[commandant]

I think retaining the distinct identity of the different priests is somewhat important. It might be that you define the lores which are considered less evil by the priests by church. So maybe church of sigmar considers x lores to be evil, church of ulric considers y lores and church of morr z and so on.

Otherwise we can just go back to the 6th edition idea of only having Sigmarite priests.

[Perforated]

I think retaining the distinct identity of the different priests is somewhat important. It might be that you define the lores which are considered less evil by the priests by church. So maybe church of sigmar considers x lores to be evil, church of ulric considers y lores and church of morr z and so on.

Otherwise we can just go back to the 6th edition idea of only having Sigmarite priests.

I'm really not interested in creating extremely granular rules for different priesthoods. If you want to do that, please, by all means :)

And you are still suggesting the same thing: Put all spell lores into categories. And my answer there is the same. It is not scalable.

I'm under no illusion that my ideas will actually make it to the designers desks. But, my philosophy with my rewrite is to work within the existing framework to as great an extent as possible.

I find that it makes it easier for others to digest and accept.

[Tiberius]

I am going to be very happy even with just the leadership change.  All the other stuff would be cool, but leadership is the key thing holding them back.  For me it's not even just that the prayers are more consistent, though that is great.  It's that they can actually be leaders of the troops.  A Lector can be a reasonable general for an army again.

And even without dispel abilities, the magic resistance plus an Altar with witch bane with an 18 inch radius will do some work, especially with the higher casting values.  Just have 1 level 1 in the bubble for dispel purposes only (which of course, are not affected by witchbane) and you should have some good safety.

[Damar]

This could be an interesting rule to add in view of rumored LD boost.

Cult Army: If your army's general is Lector of Sigmar or High Priest of Ulric, then a single Warrior Priest (of the same deity as general) can be your battle standard bearer instead of Empire Captain, for the normal +25pts cost.

[Perforated]

I really do hope that there is more coming for Empire than a priest Ld buff and a flagellant toughness buff.

The former will be great as it makes priests and lectors actually viable choices. I believe the Ld buff for Captains and Generals need to stay the same as there is otherwise a risk that they will be pushed out by warrior priest/lectors.

The flagellant toughness buff is also welcome, but it really won't do much unless something else also happens. They compete in the rare slot and to be frank, they don't really hold a candle to the competition. I would love it if they were lowered into special, and/or be possible to take as core if the army includes a priest/lector of sigmar.

I would also really like if the "Feel no pain" rule gave them regen instead of a ward save. That way they would synergize a lot better with priests and the Harbinger of Doom character.

Other things I'd like to see:

• Veteran state troops should be dropped by one point.
• Handguns should be a free replacement, not a one point upgrade.
• Reduce archers to six points per model and make "skirmish" and "move through cover" a one point upgrade instead of being baseline.
• Do something about the inner circle knights. They are so badly out-competed by Demigryph knights. And it's not like DGKs are undercosted. And it isn't really that ICK are greatly overcosted either.
• Give Empire an army special rule that gives them better detachments (make it their schtick).
• Reduce the base cost of the grand master and chapter master to offset the cost of their (cheapest) mount.
• Reduce free company to four points per model, and include light armour in that cost.
• All crew on the war wagon is BS 4, and all melee crew members also come with a handgun.
• I don't know what, but do something about the Helstorm.
• Drop great cannons to 110 points per model.
• Drop mortars to 75 points per model.
• Greatswords become Heavy Infantry and gain Veteran as baseline at no added cost.
• Allow Greatswords to be detachments.
• Give Pistoliers Reserve Move (at least as a paid upgrade), also allow them feigned flight as an upgrade.

[Dendo_Star]

This could be an interesting rule to add in view of rumored LD boost.

Cult Army: If your army's general is Lector of Sigmar or High Priest of Ulric, then a single Warrior Priest (of the same deity as general) can be your battle standard bearer instead of Empire Captain, for the normal +25pts cost.

WHOA!

[Perforated]

This could be an interesting rule to add in view of rumored LD boost.

Cult Army: If your army's general is Lector of Sigmar or High Priest of Ulric, then a single Warrior Priest (of the same deity as general) can be your battle standard bearer instead of Empire Captain, for the normal +25pts cost.

Probably won't happen for the Grand Army. But I'm really hoping for a Sigmarite AoI where that would happen. And an Ulric one as well to keep those heathen bastards from frothing at the bit ;)

[Damar]

Fiery Heart KO is technically a Sigmarite army. It is not very good but priest and flagellant buffs will apply to it..

[Tiberius]

The dumb thing about the Fiery Heart order is that it is redundant with the Hammer of Sigmar!  They should be the ones benefiting most from a Warrior Priest in their ranks!

[Mr.Carloff]

Other things I'd like to see:

• Veteran state troops should be dropped by one point.
• Handguns should be a free replacement, not a one point upgrade.
• Reduce archers to six points per model and make "skirmish" and "move through cover" a one point upgrade instead of being baseline.
• Do something about the inner circle knights. They are so badly out-competed by Demigryph knights. And it's not like DGKs are undercosted. And it isn't really that ICK are greatly overcosted either.
• Give Empire an army special rule that gives them better detachments (make it their schtick).
• Reduce the base cost of the grand master and chapter master to offset the cost of their (cheapest) mount.
• Reduce free company to four points per model, and include light armour in that cost.
• All crew on the war wagon is BS 4, and all melee crew members also come with a handgun.
• I don't know what, but do something about the Helstorm.
• Drop great cannons to 110 points per model.
• Drop mortars to 75 points per model.
• Greatswords become Heavy Infantry and gain Veteran as baseline at no added cost.
• Allow Greatswords to be detachments.
• Give Pistoliers Reserve Move (at least as a paid upgrade), also allow them feigned flight as an upgrade.

Agreed! Got mine here https://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php/topic,57255.0.html