Minions 2.0 - Episode 2: The Empire Strikes Back

It seems Exigence has turned my Warmachine life upside down - Pigs actually got good models instead of being a joke for the 3rd time in a row, Troll players are somewhat happy with their releases, Legion not so much and I actually feel like writing things in this blog (a feeling that will surely pass once I hit 100 posts :P)

One thing that is always certain though - Skorne will take Minion stuff and do it better. I am of course talking about the new Skorne Aradus bug heavies.

Aradus Soldier - Swamp Horror 2.0

The Aradus Soldier is basically an improved Swamp Horror, with some minor differences. Let's compare the two.

• Mobility: SPD 3 vs SPD 4, but the Aradus has AD, Pathfinder, and is in Skorne. Huge advantage Aradus.
• Steadiness: A very important category. Both are Steady. Nil.
• Power Attacks: 0 open fists vs 3 open fists. Point Horror.
• Survability: 11/19, 29 boxes vs 10/17, 27 boxes (but access to Spiny Growth). Slight advantage Aradus.
• Ranged damage reduction:, +4 ARM vs -1 die damage, and the Aradus' Carapace also works against backstrikes which combos great with Reach+Pull weapons. Point Aradus.
• Melee output - non-Reach weapons: POW18 vs POW16 Critical Catastrophic Damage. Situational, but slight advantage Aradus.
• Melee ouput - Reach Pull weapons: 2xPOW15 vs 3xPOW12. Situational, but slight advantage Aradus.
• Animi: "RNG6: warbeast gains Snacking" vs "RNG6: model gets reach". Situational and factional differences, but advantage Horror.
• PC - Aradus is 9, Horror is 8. Point Horror.

They are very similar in design - both resistant to ranged damage, both have Pull Reach attacks and a hard-hitting non-Reach attack - essentially in terms of combat they do very similar things. The Aradus wins in most categories (it is a point more for a reason) and is generally a better beast. However the Horror does grant Reach to things which is pretty amazing and the critical effect on the beak can wreck huge bases with a little luck.

Aradus Sentinel - Ironback Spitter 2.0

The Aradus Sentinel is basically an improved Ironback Spitter, with some minor differences. Let's compare the two:

• Mobility: SPD 3 vs SPD 4, but the Aradus has AD, Pathfinder, and is in Skorne. Huge advantage Aradus. If I learned anything from Calaban's Theme Force, it's that ADing Spitters is pretty good.
• Steadiness: Aradus is Steady. Point Aradus.
• Power Attacks: Both have 2 open fists, but Aradus is MAT6/STR11. Slight advantage Aradus.
• Survability: 11/19, 29 boxes vs 10/18, 27 boxes (but access to Spiny Growth). Slight advantage Aradus.
• Anti-free strike mechanics: +4 ARM against free strikes vs attacker takes d6 damage after free strike). Huge advantage Aradus, especially for a ranged beast who wants to disengage from combat.
• Ranged damage reduction: +4 ARM vs Girded. Huge advantage Aradus.
• Melee damage: 2xPOW14 @ MAT6 vs 1xPOW15 + 2xPOW13 @ MAT5.
  Advantage Aradus.
• Ranged damage: RNG10 POW13 AoE3 Non-typed Poison weapon with Arcing Fire @ RAT5 vs RNG 12 POW14 AoE3 Corrosion-typed Cont:Corrosion @RAT 5. 
  Situationally different, but I think the Aradus will have a significant advantage most of time time due to AD, lack of damage type (it can kill Gorman!) and boosted blast damage vs most models is better than 2/3 chance of auto-plink in the majority of circumstances. Point Aradus.
  Also the weapon is called VENOM BLASTER. That's metal as f*ck.
• Animi: Swarm vs Ornery.
  Swarm can be useful if you end up getting jammed up and makes it DEF 13 (respectable). I have never cast Ornery in all my years of playing Spitters - as far as I am concerned the Spitter has no animus. Point Aradus.
• PC: Both 8pts. Nil.

Again, very similar beasts in design - not great in melee, have some free strike protection, some ranged protection, and are primarily about their really good gun. The Aradus Sentinel however, is better in almost every way and clearly a better design. If the Spitter had a really good animus it might be able to compete on some level, but it has no animus.


TL;DR - The Skorne Empire releases Minions 2.1, now extending their improvement of Minion models to heavy warbeasts.

Basically, more reasons to make me sad about Minionhood and make me want to play Skorne who just keep taking Minion stuff and doing it better. I read a good post on some forum a few days ago about Rasheth being the 4-Star of Minions - very accurate!

However I just think about all the baggage playing Skorne entails, with their huge backlog of models and the slippery slope waiting there, and the desire quickly goes away. Plus I hate getting shot :)