Way too much CID! :D

Kriel Stone and the new Elder
This is one of those huge changes i was talking about. This affects basically all lists, and it is obviously a positive change. You might want to run the stone on turn 1 if you go first, so you may not get the extra Fury there, but most other turns you might get by by using a normal move and regain (at least) the Fury you spent on activating the aura. D3 might be unreliable, but i do not care tbh. I think the stone was manageable before, and anything that makes it easier is great in my book. I may start including a maxed stone more often now since it will be easier to fuel it with more than 5 Fury.

The new elder is super interesting for sure. He costs 1 more point than the normal elder, and he is much more specialized, but his bonuses are quite impressive under the right circumstances.

+2 STR to northkin warrior models is obviously nice, but it will not affect your beasts or fennblades or the like. This is probably adding up to slightly less damage over all than the normal stone strength, since your beasts will often be contributing a lot to your total damage output. Still, it is nifty for sure, especially for champions.

+1 SPD to northkin models is absurdly good. This means you will want to activate the stone on turn 1 even if you go first, since you can run 2" further up the table. The models has to activate in the aura to start with, and the stone has likely moved up a bit, so the coverage will not be full. It adds +1" of threat to basically everything in your SotN lists though and that is BIG. We have moderate threat ranges on most things, and +1" takes most of our things to average or slightly above. The GK having 1" more threat than the MK is a nice buff for him to be sure for example. In the world of pre-measuring, 1" is a significant advantage, since your opponent has to play around your theoretical max threat a lot.

+2 DMG to cold damage is also insane imo. GK shooting at POW 16, the Winter troll at POW 14 (and at RAT 6 to boot) and the ice troll shooting at POW 15 before Rage is super relevant. But it does not end here. The NK Shamans now spray at POW 14, and that is a really good way of getting rid of high ARM single wound infantry. They often have DEF 12 and ARM 18-20 and POW 14 is WAY better than POW 12 then. This is a real nice buff to our beasts with cold attacks for sure, and those were not super popular, so that is very nice. It also means that this elder does something very different than the normal elder; it supports shooting.

Just remember; if your tech against incorporeal was to remove it with the stone, you need to include something else to handle that if you go with the new elder.


Champions and Skaldi
Now we know why Skaldi makes them Northkin, and it was a really good reason. a 2 point discount on the full unit (making min and max units exactly as expensive per model) probably promotes playing a maxed unit. This is probably what champions needed. They are still pretty easy to kill, and they still are reliant on charging to break high ARM, but with access to +2 STR or +1 SPD and +1 MAT they become a better unit over all. Making them cheaper is probably enough to make them a valuable option.

Skaldi not changing is fine by me tbh. He became better since the northkin tag now became worth something.


Long Riders
+1 ARM makes them very durable. I do not really think this was their problem though. Their damage is mediocre (especially since they can not receive the +2 STR that champions can) and their threat range is also mediocre (since they can not receive the +1 SPD). They need 2" range so that they can actually fit around a heavy to be viable imo. But they ARE strictly better now than before, so if you liked them then, you will like them more now.


Bears!
They seem really strong to me. An old cliche about manufacturing things is that you pick 2 of fast, cheap and good. These guys have all 3 it seems. They can redefine how the faction plays by giving us the option of trying to outflank our opponent with hard hitting troops. Usually i am the one that gets surrounded, but these guys will massacre most flanking units or just threaten the creamy center of the opposing force. They might not come through CID and remain this good. Havent played them (or anything) but they seem very strong.


Pyg Lookouts
Seem more reasonable since they are fast, cheap and bad. Our very own kossite woddsmen. Mark the target means they have great synergy with other ranged options, and they seem very solid. They will surely find a place in ranged focused lists!


NK Raiders
At a glance they are our run of the mill 8" ranged shooting unit, but with AoEs. "whooptidoo". But the fact that they are lighting things on fire, and do fire damage (boosted by oil) means that they can handle low ARM infantry with blasts, high ARM infantry with fire and heavies with boosted POW 12s. AD and pathfinder is really good, and remember that they can get +3 MAT (HH and Fell Caller), +1 RAT (HH) and +2 STR (stone). With quick work they can easily charge something with MAT 9, kill it and then shoot at something else. RNG 8" is the only thing that prevents me from saying they are the best unit in the game i think. 15 pts is not cheap, but i can live with that. They seem like they will be VERY strong. Cant wait to try them out. Maybe Gunnbjorn likes this theme? cycling snipe between these and the HH perhaps?


Fire Eaters
Only second hand changes, but they were already good, and now you get free models for playing them? The HH can make them RAT 7 and give them boosted damage, so you may not actually need to light them up (the HH can help you there in a pinch, but he is not very good at it). These guys getting access to +1 SPD is also significant. Remember how your opponents always ask how far your FEs can threaten, and how they stay outside that range with everything? Now they have to stay 1" further back. My only hope is that they dont get nerfed during CID, but they can probably take an increase in points and still be good.

Pyre Troll
He was used for one thing and one thing only: to light up Fire Eaters. Since that can now be done by Raiders or the HH, both of which are better models i think the Pyre is officially dead. With its current capabilities it needs to be cheaper. At 7 points it would be very intrersting. At 8 it might be playable. Something needs to change though, and just making it cheaper might be boring. Maybe Reload 1?


Winter Troll
Not only did it get +1 RAT and Pathfinder, but it is also a Northkin and can benefit from +1 MAT/RAT from the HH as well as +2 POW from the new elder. He was an interesting option before in PoD, because his animus is actually not bad. It can force opponents to kill him instead of another model to avoid being stationary (and automatically die if it is an infantry model or a high DEF beast basically) which is something i found interesting with Borka 2, Doomy 3 among others. He was also always interesting with Gunnbjorn thanks to Guided Fire and kill shot. I think he will see play in some lists now. He is an interesting option, and i do not think he really competes with the ice troll, since they are good at different things. I really like the change. Pathfinder is probably the pest part of it.


EBDT
Holy moly! I thought he was really good at 15 points and getting a discount will be nice, but perhaps more importantly will allow you to fiddle with points total a bit more by changing one of your maulers to an EBDT or vice versa. Very nice change, though it will obviously be most notable in PoD which allows me to revisit some old lists and reevaluate. Very nice!


Rök
The discount is very nifty, and being allowed with other casters than Borka in SotN is nice too, but I do not value the Primal Animus very highly, so I may not play him outside Borka very often anyway. He does seem really solid though if you have the points. Wonder if they will allow Mulg with non-doomshaper casters in PoD in the future? That would be VERY intresting imo.


GK
Super nice changes for him. Getting +1 to hit from the HH is very nice. Getting +2 DMG from the new elder is superb, and getting +1 SPD from the new elder is also incredible. He has in most cases felt like a sub par MK, but now i think he makes a compelling choice if you want a gargantuan in SotN. Hurrah!


Sea King
WOW. Talk about admitting ones misstakes... 6 points cheaper AND +2" of range on the gun? Remember the Calandra "Mud Wrestling" list with a SK and several EBDTs? that list now got enough spare points to add a kriel stone. i HAVE to try that list out now


Basher
I dont see it tbh. They say they want him to "take buffs well" but he doesnt really seem to with only 1 initial. The Night Troll will do more damage against most things and has stealth to boot. Natural pathfinder is amazing though and the animus is very useful in some match ups. I do not really think he should be played in SotN (too many other compelling options there) but in PoD he can be used as a MAT fixer (more reliable than the NK Shaman) as well as a throw away piece for contesting. He might see some play, but i do not think he is worth it if you do not plan on getting mileage from the animus. He is more a support piece than a fighter.


Ice Troll
Looks very good when compared with an impaler, but everything in the game does tbh. Two of these should be compared with one Bomber instead imo. If you need the Far Strike, you will always take the Bomber. If you do not, and have access to the NK buffs (at least the elder) i think that 2 Ice Trolls make for a compelling choice. A BG consisting of a Mauler, Bomber and two Ice Trolls may be a reasonable thing for many casters. I think he is entirely dependent on having the elder though, and i doubt the NK elder will be used outside SotN, and in SotN you may not want such a big BG, so perhaps seeing an Ice troll just "tag along" in a smallish BG will probably be pretty common. Crit stationary is unreliable, but if you stick it, that changes games tbh. Legion and circle beasts go from being elusive to just straight dead, and it is much rarer to be immune to stationary than being immune to our normal solution to high def: knock down.

Over all he seems very solid if you brought the support he wants.


Hooch Hauler
I have been calling it "HH" but it really should be "HHH" i realize now
This is a model that defines the theme force. +1 to hit to basically everything in the theme means that you will likely try and stick to mostly NK things if you bring this (and you will). Stumbling drunk is incredibly powerful when it works, but it is also super random and it can come back to bite you. Your beast might stumble in to charge range, or outside the stone aura by being shot with a POW 10. The stone might stumble away from your beasts. I think the rule is super thematic and fun, but it is also more random than i want, so i would prefer something else.

If you bring Raiders, this guy has incredible synergy with them. If you can oil something, they will be able to do serious work with effective RAT 6 and boosted POW 12. That is MK croak raiders. the threat range of the oil is reasonable, and if it can hit a target, it will do very serious damage by itself with a boosted POW 16 and two boosted POW 12. That is roughly what a bomber does, and though it shoots 4" shorter, it walks 2" further, so the threat range is totally OK. It is also very durable and you need more than one heavy to get the job done usually. Its free strikes are also amazing, since they knock down, so if you can engage something, it will sort of have to kill your big ARM 21 thing.

One thing to remember is that it does NOT get its own veteran leader, so it is in fact MAT 6 RAT 5.

Pretty sure you are incorrect. Mount attacks are an extra initial attack.

It says under impact attacks that you cannot use your mount attack as normal during an activation where you charge, instead you get impact attacks. There is no indication that this happens out of such an activation.

added the section about units. They seem incredible over all!

I made a mistake about the mount on Borka 2, and clarified it in my post. You can not make your charge attack with the mount (which would have been boosted) but you CAN make impact attacks with it on a counter charge assuming you move at least 3" and contact something. This is great news for Borka!

So everyone keeps talking about impact attacks on Bearka's countercharge. Do impacts not cause knockdown automatically? I think that's how I've played it with the warwagon.

Agree with the solo sections above... also... halfway through this CID process we get our new live theme! Lol.

Get ready to test that within the test in a few weeks. Lol.