CID latest developments

because game balance is a delicate thing, and I wish PP would stop pushing out a new nuclear bomb every two months.
Still, we've already come to the conclusion that it still doesn't look incredible. It's almost funny how easy it is to massively change a model, that ROF1 to ROF2 change on the Pyre makes it significantly better, and now it looks completely overtuned compared to the rest of the elemental trolls.

EDIT: I don't know how I missed it, but the animus also gives the Slag Troll corrosion on the claws. If you're willing to pay the 2 FURY either on the Slag or on your 'caster you can guarantee the bonus dice. It's still not a small investment, but guaranteed MAT6 POW15 weapon master (that's one less POW than Butcher!) is nothing to sniff at.
I'm gonna blame Bundeez for this. It's your fault for saying the animus is poopoo!

The combo can still be problematic to actually get rolling. Native threat range is still 8.5' which is just shy of the worst in the game, investing Ledfoot's slipstream on it can up it to 10.5'. I can sort of see Doomie3 running the Slag with the minifeat, and then you can rush+slipstream, but that's still a lot of investment just to get a model that hits about as hard as a Mauler 12' up the board.

I get that the idea of the slag is that it's a 10 point model that can reasonably kill some things that are 14+ points, but it really suffers from a lack of delivery. There's all kinds of problems with melee lights, which kind of stinks because I really want to like them.

Week2
So far the Barrage Team, to me, presents the only 'question of how to deal with it, for opponents, influencing perhaps significantly how they position backfield support models.
Slag, while potentially decent as a damage dealer when fielded in number, with methods of continuous corrosion, will nearly always be retaliatory rather than proactive due to 0.5" melee with minimal methods of BG-wide threat range increase.

Best VoD warlocks are shaping up to be Farrow. And while I own them, it saddens me that the CID TB warlocks seem to be lagging. For fear that they would be even better, too good, in one of our other themes?

In controlling model interactions via Themes, a stated goal of MK3, it appears PP did not go far enough, and could/ should have limited warlocks/warcasters inclusion in the various Themes for even better control of overall game balance, going forward. I wouldn't have liked it at the beginning of MK3, and might not like it now, BUT seeing new and old warlocks and legacy models revisions held back in CID perhaps by global faction interaction considerations is frustrating, balance-wise. Afterall, most warlock builds appear to settle in 1-2 Themes. And the ability to build rogue remains available for -15 +/- Requisition.

Nope.

Hungerford is super worried about Pulverizer on warrior models, but I don't see the appeal. Better damage buffs exists multiple other places in the faction so it must be the Beat Back. Sure it's a nice tool for scenario but not broken at all imo.

His feat remains one of the weakest defensive ones in the game and Weight of Stone is only cute.

I'll pass

If I for some reason wanted to play old school beast heavy brick, I'd go for Doomshaper first.

Week 2 of the CID it became model/unit.

I played against him last week.  He was in an "All the Runeshapers" list with Janissa.  Certainly had play against a lot of my defensive tech; the Runeshapers (including Ragnor) all getting +1 to hit from Janissa, and magic ignoring Shield Guard meant that he could hit whatever he wanted.  I had a lot of no-KD, which is probably not a matchup you'd play Runeshapers into normally.

I'm sure he's also worried Carver and Brigands in VoD are going to completely steamroll the competitive scene. Y'know, the way Tharn did a year ago.