Blazing Assault
Welcome to our rundown of Blazing Assault. Make sure to catch our podcast coverage of the release too. For everything out with this release window, follow these links:
Release Rundowns
Podcast
Thanks go to GW for providing a review copy to make this content possible.
Introduction
[D]AVY, [P]HIL, [B]RIAN, & [S]KYLER
D: The inaugural strike deck! (That’s aggro, for you oldheads out there). This deck should be all about getting in and throwing hands. Kicking butt and taking names. And then forgetting those names because you’re just here to stomp. Did it do the trick? Let’s take a look.
B: Meet your new aggro staple. Breakneck Slaughter without the Plot card as there is a lot of mobility to be had here.
Objectives
D: Kill surge. When I first saw the crown (leader) symbol I thought this was going to be trash, but the second condition opens it up a fair amount. Aggro small guys can eat this up. Stormcast warbands, not so much.
B: Accessible to everyone, best for those pipsqueak warbands. Nice balance zone for this Aggro deck. Good way to avoid dominant big boi Aggro.
D: RIP Duke. You were a real one.
D: Good ol' branching fate, but trivially easy if you're the underdog. A couple of these existing is ok, but these aren't really in the control of well... anybody all that much. The only real counterplay is to kill or isolate fighters on three dice. And that doesn't work once this player is the underdog.
B: A classic that just became a staple. Make sure you have a couple 3 dice stat fighters to start.
D: Two smash fighters with re-rolls are where this gets scored. Poor Emmett had to run with Steady Aim during his Thundrik's run and I could see it jamming him up many-a-time. Okay in a pinch, but cut if you can.
B: A fine example of a Snowball card. Warbands already get rewarded by making successful attacks by wounding/slaying enemy fighters. Cards like this double down on that reward, but also double the pain should your dice not cooperate. Limiting the amount of dice dependent objectives is wise so that even if the dice don't cooperate, you can still score glory. But hey, without classical Crits trumping all successes, maybe this is more viable.
D: Geez. Doesn't need to hit even. No counter-play. Great for just lobbing away with attacks, especially three dice+.
B: If you got large dice profiles, this is great. Otherwise 1 in 6 chance will sting the longer it takes. I see a love/hate relationship with this card.
D: *Technically* possible to counter play this, but only late in the game. Real tasty for ranged fighters that can do this without overextending as much.
B: This is an auto-take for this deck. Be aggressive, checks out with "Blazing Assault".
D: A gambler's card. My first impression of 2E is that damage is down and health is steady or even up, so kill surges are maybe a little tougher? This is going to really want you to win the roll off to feel better about it.
D: Great quote, though.
B: I do love the photo here, using the Krittatok's upward stare at Kainan is so fun.
B: IMO, only take this card if you've got an elite tanky warband.
D: This actually seems pretty darn reasonable for a one glory end phase. Pretty easy most of the time. Might be able to counter play (or might just be real hard to score) in late rounds.
B: This can only be countered by oppressive early success by either player. Or being Chosen Axes with their short movement speed melee. With the new boards I imagine it would be difficult to deny charges all round.
D: Go get 'em Shond!
D: Also very reasonable. Warbands that self damage (Tunnel Pack?) have extra lines of play for this. Not that you build around a one glory end phase, but still.
B: Dependable glory for Aggro whether the dice are with or against you.
D: Whoa. This is one of those weird ones that will just happen in some matchups, and in others will be sketchy, especially late. Although, needing either charges *or moves* means that the opponent will need to be pretty darn static to have this not go off.
B: Can be an auto score in some matchups(Zarbag's). Probably an early cut in Nemesis but I'd say this is a Meta call.
D: As a surge (what up Toyed With?!) this is great. As an end phase... less so. I'm interested to see how often this happens with lower damage and stand fast in the game.
B: Not bad, not great as it's preferable to just remove the opponent's fighters and remove their options. But with attack actions selecting one keyword, you're encouraged here to use an accuracy Cleave/Ensnare/Brutal and not the kill with Grievous.
D: I like the presence of this putting pressure on the opponent to be moving in to your territory, and it adds a little positioning to a deck that otherwise just doesn't really care.
B: Hard to shut this deck out of scoring any glory. Weird seeing old cards score different amounts of glory than before. Just getting used to it.
D: Somehow, Annihilation returned. The only end phase worth more than one glory in this deck, and it ain't good. If you're getting this, you've already got 7 glory for wiping out the other warband. Eesh.
B: Solid photo for Annihilation. Headmen's Curse is such a gem.
B: It's a classic. I would discount it as a massive meta call card, but I was once defeated at Adepticon by a double Annihilation score. (Jim had brought a faction unique Annihilation which I will never forget. I was winning even though tabled. *cry*)
Gambits
D: Okay, a twist on a very simple classic. It's a weird punish for your opponent getting their surges to go off early and making you the underdog. It’s funny that most cards got simpler and this one actually got slightly more complicated.
B: Funny that this does not help if you have Branching Fate in hand too.
D: It does if you have two dice attack actions. Oh wait, you mean, there’s a non-bo if you’re the underdog! Right, right, right. Cool, cool, cool.
D: Heyyyy! Throwback. This one's sane, though. Melee weapon means range 1 or 2, so that's cool. Get +1 damage before you see the dice? First edition, I’d have been less hot on that, and you also do have to give up cleave or ensnare or whatever, but I think damage is a little hard to come by, so I'm for it.
B: Solid aggro staple.
D: Bleed ‘em, Jagz!
D: This is as limited a distraction (push an enemy fighter) effect as you get, and I still take it. Pulling an enemy in for extra attacks? Totally worth it.
B: Push tech? Yes please! Enemy Push tech!? GIMME!
D: Yaaaaassssss! A classic. And hey, Flava Text quiz fans, take note: these multiple prints use different photos and flava text!
B: Welcome back, King.
S: Flava text victim here. Davy must be stopped.
D: A card that was always situationally incredible and situationally dead. High ceiling, low floor. Match it with the right warband and you're doing work.
B: Looking forward to some fun Shenanigans. Domitan's wishes they could take advantage of this.
D: Delightful. One of my favorite gambits of all time. So flexible- bring a fighter from your backline up for a deeper charge than expected. Move laterally. Retreat a vulnerable fighter. Slip an already charged fighter next to someone for an extra stab. So good.
B: Take it.
D: Not the spiciest card out there, but solid. I'm curious how much the extra move is needed now that board set up can't have hard offset or longboard. But... there's still move 3 range 1 fighters, so...
B: Your choice of warband will vary the desire for this card. Mobility is rarely bad. Pretty sure SunTzu said that.
D: On the wings of loooooove
D: Nothing fancy here. Good utility for two dodge fighters. I think this will get poached into other non-aggro builds. If there's enough in this deck to combo, that is.
B: Solid for that turn 1 charge fighter. Also a great olive branch card towards a Nemesis pairing with Emberstone Sentinels.
D: Wow, high cost. Two damage is like a whole successful attack. But extending your threat range on a fighter who looks to be stalled can swing a game. Seems like a pretty well balanced effect, but I'd think this probably gets cut if I have the chance. I'll put this in the "need to see it" category.
B: Love this design. Pushing a fighter beyond their limits to secure victory. GW loves obscure terminology, could've titled this "Rhabdomyolysis".
D: I was going to try to burn Brian for misspelling rhabdomyolysis, but I looked it up and he nailed it.
D: Classic. This is one of the underdog effects that feels well slotted in. If damage is as down as it feels, healing, by extension, is more powerful.
B: Love the Underdog stipulation added to this card. Also love to see Dread Pageant, and I'm enjoying the photography. Sue me.
D: Vasillac didn’t need much encouragement to show a little leg.
Upgrades
D: Meta call, right? Pretty modest or situational effect. I think with the wording, this helps on offense and defense though? So... wait... does scything still exist? That would have been the juiciest use case.
B: Solid option for a deck like this.
B: Gotta point out as the first time I'm looking at the new Upgrade cards, they did away with "spent" glory, yet the Upgrades have a spent glory icon at the bottom. I'm sure its meant to differentiate it from the glory earned on Objective cards and reduce confusion, but Unspent/Spent glory will remain in spirit.
D: Mannok referencing Stealer's Wheel not on my bingo card.
B: Wow thank you for that Davy. That's in an upcoming flava quiz for sure.
D: I’ll wait until you forget.
D: I like this better than Brawler. Accuracy boost and defensive boost based on position. Helps with Perfect Strike.
B: A minor accuracy bonus, and a likely cut. Fighters like Mollog will love this.
D: Take it! An accuracy boost, and in this deck, helps with Branching Fate, Perfect Strike, and Critical Effort. High priority upgrade!
B: *Add to cart*
D: Oh snap! Note the two glory. I like the extra "levers" the design space has to balance a card like this. Grievous as a rule (instead of +1 damage) means you can't stack with other effects. So get your accuracy from dice rather than cleave if you can.
B: 100% agree Davy.
First Edition's Great Strength prints were just too good and made all other +1Damage cards secondary. I'll love to see how they distribute damage in different ways in future decks.
D: Range agnostic makes it slightly better. And I *think* ensnare and cleave get more mileage now that crits don't trump all else. You get more outta cleave, though...
B: An early cut candidate.
D: Oh hai, Cleave. A fine card, made dramatically better by including Grundan.
B: Will the God Sworn Hunt love ever make sense? No. Cleave makes sense though.
D: Godsworn Hunt love will be here until the eventual heat death of the universe, Brian. Make your peace with it.
D: Has often felt like a great utility upgrade in first edition. I think the ability to dance after a swing is really elevated by charges not preventing activation anymore. As usual, the mileage for this one is really elevated by having Range 2+ attack actions. If you're trying to make it to feature tokens or such, this really opens options. I'm a big fan.
B: Buy now! Push tech is always a win for me. The power deck here is really juicy.
D: Huh. In first edition, I'm pretty interested. Does damage get high enough to matter in second edition? In combination with extra health and healing, you can really protect a fighter. Worth noting that it's no more than three damage in a *turn*, so if someone is generating attacks or damage in the power step this caps that too.
B: I feel like this is worth two glory to prevent large fighters equipping it early, but I think 3-4 wound fighters would've appreciated some clause to get access at one glory.
D: Classic card, classic effect, classic name. Now that bounty doesn't have a Large Fighter "tipping point" it's even better. Even moreso with the more moderated damage values. Worth all two glory, IMO.
B: Always a strong choice in the deck options. That photo is sick too.
D: Obviously good- but for two glory, I generally will like Accurate better. But you may need to get a fighter up to three attack dice, just to be able to score Branching Fate if you're not the underdog. Plus if we're not crit-fishing to hit in second edition, then total quantity of offensive successes has more meaning than we're used to. Notice this one doesn't help ranged attacks though!
B: We're going to have to start considering/counting the glory cost of our Upgrade decks. This card becomes a much harder take if you're also taking 2 to 3+ upgrades which also cost two glory each.
Summary
D: Well there you have it. Some absolute staples- meat and potatoes cards like Great Strength, Great Fortitude, Determined Effort, Sidestep. The objective deck carries three (!) different surges that are wanting you to roll particular things. They’ll feel silky smooth when dice cooperate, and aggravating when they don’t. From a rivals perspective, this is effectively an 11 glory deck with one spacer (Annihilation). I like the conservative approach of not overly rewarding a deck that’s already got a game plan of farming bounty anyways. Looking at it through the Nemesis lens- it has those aforementioned power card staples to recommend it. Where you find ways to fill out the objectives will make a big difference.
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