Brethren of the Bolt
Welcome to our rundown of the Brethren of the Bolt. Make sure you catch our podcast coverage of the release. For everything out with this release window, follow these links:
Thanks go to GW for providing a review copy to make this content possible.
Introduction
[D]AVY, [B]RIAN, & [S]KYLER
D: Here arrives the electrifying new Order warband doing battle in the Wintermaw. Delightfully deranged- our crew is split on the sculpts, but you gotta admit they’re full of character. The last group of raggedy humans rolled into Ulgu with a couple of dogs and really shook the meta up. Can these fanatics jolt the game with their arrival?
D: An important distinction here is that this is only for attack actions printed on the fighter cards. So no turbo-ing up a super weapon you found along the way. This will create some interesting niche cases where you're making range 1 attack actions, but aren't adjacent, so read cards carefully!
Finally, when taken in context with the fighter cards, there's two ways to re-inspire (other than power cards), though the two will often overlap.
S: All their inspired sides include Stagger on their attack profiles. Hello Opportunistic Reprisal.
D: I knew I could count on you to find Fearsome Fortress synergy.
Inspired
D: We're gonna start inspired, since that's where they begin. Base stats are *fine*. Attack actions are pretty hot, especially with the potential to increase range. That Bolt of Azyr in particular, though if you land it, it may be a little tricky to get Filius re-inspired, since he was probably lobbing at range. Oh! And he's a priest!
Rules question here- if you uninspire from Electrostatic Discharge, that rule references "turn". So if you re-inspire in the power step of a turn where you made a successful attack action, will you immediately un-inspire again?
S: That rules question is a good one... 🙃
Uninspired
D: Muuuch more modest here. Can still lob some Range 3 shots if needed. But quite an offensive drop-off.
S: Keeping range 3 on both sides means he’s going to be your primary inspiration battery for the rest of the party.
Inspired
D: Kinda like Pater Filius' inspired attack action with the modest bonus of Knockback. Good accuracy to start on this crew could be scary to some warbands that are counting on defensive dice more than health to live. Brawler if that keyword starts getting called out on the regular again.
B: With knockback he seems like the proper tool piece for this warband. Attack with a supporting uninspired friendly fighter, assuming it's successful it kills or driveback + knockback for 2 hexes to create safe distance, then the friendly fighter inspires, and Galvic uninspires.
Uninspired
D: At least he keeps two damage. Doesn't feel as rough a cut as Filius, and keeping the one block means he isn't as paper-thin as some of the others.
S: His posture exudes “go ahead, make my day”.
Inspired
D: Two damage scything is the biggest wow here. With some accuracy help that can do some work.
B: I love how the mini has her shirt tails tucked up in her belt so that they don't drag near the ground creating circuit grounds. All the fighters are wearing wooden sandals to keep the charge in their weapons.
Uninspired
D: Oh nooo, find the 'lectricity quick!
S: That thousand yard stare. What did she see on the other side?
Inspired
D: Solid attack, especially for the dangle-bro end of the spectrum. Land it for a nice set up, or follow up once one of your others have staggered the target.
Uninspired
D: And then probably die from the counterstrike. Makes me think this feller and Yakob are maybe going to get missions like "stand over there and remain inspired and/or on an objective".
D: hmmm… I totally missed that this guy was Range 2. With the Holy Vessels rule from their plot card, this is really flexible attack range. This guy’s value jumps quite a bit for me. Worth power cards to regain or maintain inspire.
S: Agreed, range 2 seems to be his schtick in this group. And your Ensnare piece. Love the variety of tools among these aco’lights.
Inspired
D: So nobody goes above two damage to start... but nobody goes below until uninspired. With enough stagger to start cascading hits together if your speed isn't too crippling.
Uninspired
D: I'll just say this dude is sketchy by virtue of this flavor text. Worth mentioning that once you've taken heavy casualties the re-inspire gets harder (or impossible) if relying on the plot card/on-card inspire.
S: Everyone’s got a little something in their kit, like this fella really wants to be Galvic.
Objectives
D: This feels real easy unless you've taken heavy casualties. But should be pretty auto in early rounds.
S: Flex play!! There's more than this one instance in here. Strap in for more of my favorite playstyle. 😉
D: The warband brings a lot of stagger, but I often want to keep attacking the staggered fighter if I can. Has an easier road into Ephilim, fwiw.
S: Solid surge given each fighter and the power deck bring stagger tech.
+Makeshift Bombardment to unlock happiness. (Yeah, so I'm not going to be able to not talk about Fearsome Fortress while covering these fellas)
D: We know, Skyler. We know.
D: Seems pretty easy again, and a lot of overlap with Batteries of Faith. If you're taking one glory end phases, they better be reliable, and this feels like it probably is.
S: That -or- statement is super generous. Rewarding a successful attack as an additional way in and rejecting failed attacks for bringing shame to Sigmar!
D: Ayyyyy, Path to Victory, but even better! Yes please! It's agnostic as to how or when the enemy went down. Tasty.
S: Told you there was more. Swoon!
D: Well... with single dice defensive profiles, this is definitely happening. Skyler salivates at the Fearsome Fortress overlap.
S: So like, you're not wrong... on either account.
D: Hrmmm. The first portion is pretty likely to happen with the defensive profiles and lower health totals on some of the fighters, so that's not a super big issue. If they were inspired, then it's just Dominant Position, which is cool?
S: What a weird card! I guess the counterplay here is to never let the Bolty Bros hold more than you regardless of who among them has been taken out.
D: The attack profiles aren't super rad on the un-Inspired side, so not crazy hot on that part, but I think you'll be finishing off folks with a ploy fairly often due to your lower damage, higher accuracy starting attacks.
Quick check- three gambits deal damage in this deck. So... maybe not too shabby.
S: But also not too electrifying either. Could be in the running for a card swap from your pairing.
D: So... this kind of harkens back to Change of Tactics from the very early days. Not 100% if the tempo is worth it, but a guard action, then charge scores this reliably. With three move, though you're a little more deniable than some.
S: No actions on their upgrades, so that last inclusion is meant to open this up for cards you pair in.
D: This has a push-pull to it of how hard you work to re-inspire. Even if you don't have this in hand, you could surge into it. Positioning agnostic makes it easier too. I'd try this one out for sure.
S: Absolutely the kinda card you've gotta test and feel out to get a better value read on. Initial read is promising though.
D: Note- after a couple games, this is pretty solid, only getting risky in R3 where casualties have mounted.
D: Two glory surge is, as we say at WTH, always worth a second look. Easiest to set up with longer range attacks because you can have some open spaces so... Hi Pater! And Arcus, I gotta admit, I just noticed you have Range 2.
S: I mean what are you even doing if you don't give this one a spin? I'll add that due to fighter count, Wounds, and Defence values this is a card that will be better drawn early game opposed to once you start losing fighters.
D: It’s such a good get in the early game, I’m going to be consistently tempted.
D: Three glory is a big payout. Whether these slender ladies and gents can survive in those spots is a little more questionable.
S: This is a tall order. Like two dudes stacked in a trenchcoat tall.
D: These are the attacks you're most likely to land. Could get you jammed up later if you're having trouble sparking back up. Still a kill surge, so consider looking elsewhere first.
S: As far as kill surges go though, this is about as appealing as they come.
Gambits
D: Pretty lukewarm to start. Helps set up Blessed Fulmination, but feels like an early cut to me.
S: Yeah, positionally you'd think a fighter inspiring adjacent to an enemy would in most cases have just been part of an attack against that same enemy who would commonly already be staggered as a result.
D: Get a surprise inspired attack boost? In a lot of cases that's better than +1 dice for these guys.
S: Really helpful I imagine as you lose fighters too (as more fighters alive means more opportunities to line up inspires).
S: Also the uninspire piece can be circumvented if you play this in the final power step.
D: There’s other power cards that play off of inspiring/uninspiring if you really want to get up to shenanigans.
D: Oooooo! Must take. This is an extra on-demand, reaction speed damage. Only use it when you need it. Love it.
S: Woof. Always assume this is in hand when opposing this warband.
D: Ah yes. Absolutely take. With Move 3, you'll need some help. This can set up some re-inspires too.
S: Word. Easily a staple.
D: Especially like this for Tazat's scything, but this can make some hyper-accurate attacks too.
S: Solid accuracy piece. Salvageable too!
D: Came for the dad joke, stayed for the move tech. A little restricted because of the Charge caveat, but good in Rounds 2 & 3 to poke and get out of dodge.
S: That pun is too well grounded.
D: Gambit speed inspire seems worth it in general. Extra bump is gravy.
S: This one doesn't force any uninspiring either.
D: Fine if you survived and are adjacent. Maybe good to help Arcus and Jakob survive counter-punches with one block instead of one dodge?
S: Also works well as a placeholder for a different card entirely.
D: Hmmmm. Just denying seed glory from early kill surges and bounty feels really tempting. If you're struggling to be inspired later in the game, this really slows down, though.
S: Would be entertaining if that Charged token is the last one you need to start reactivating other fighters.
D: Nice range. I'd be tempted to set up kills more than finish them with this if there's a chance to re-inspire with the subsequent attack.
S: Read my mind.
Upgrades
D: Sweet. I like that it keeps your Priest game-plan available. In faction Great Fort is a great starting point.
S: Backup leader is really becoming a more seen effect. Nothing to dislike here.
D: Hmmmmm. So this makes a lot of your gambits just not work on this fighter, but some of the inspired attack profiles make this pretty tempting.
S: So inspiring an inspired fighter is permitted by the core rules (nothing happens) but this would prevent you from playing cards that require an un-inspire. Unleashing His Fury, Ultimate Resistor, & Fulminating Blast are straight out. Bolt From The Blue may have a case for playability, because the un-inspire piece is postponed to be processed later and not at the time it's played.
S: Regardless of blocking some card access, being able to stay inspired would have clear benefits to keeping your threat level up.
D: When playing one of the “inspire then uninspire later” cards, you could play the gambit in question, then drop this on to stay powered up.
D: Encouraging the enemy to make sure to one-shot you, I see.
S: Generally see myself leaving cards like this at home but I'll give it a try to see if I can make the dissuasion aspect work for me.
D: Guard on only one die isn't going to set anyone's hair on fire. Unlike this dude's hat. The only thing that make is a little more tempting is the multiple objectives that care about holding.
S: And tempted I am. (Without their objective suite, I'd normally pass on this.)
D: That's pretty cool.. You're a little fragile anyways, but if you can yo-yo inspires this helps (see the gambits that inspire, then uninspire).
S: This is rad. I feel like some games this will do a lot of work.
D:What?! Yes. Yes please. Only needs to go off once or twice to feel valuable and could do more than that.
S: Sign me up!
D: Uh, wut? I think I actually like this a fair amount. Really helps with your low move and setting up re-inspires.
S: What a fresh piece of tech! One that feels right at home here. Fighter unrestricted too.
D: Well that's weird. I love the idea of attacking through a giant conga line and zapping Deintalos from half a board away.
S: Oh hell yes! Taking their schtick and cranking it up to 11.
S: You know that sinking feeling you get when you realize you've accidentally set yourself up for some ideal scything? This card seeks to remind you of that feeling in a new way.
D: Rippa players can tell you this is nice, but this one needs a *successful* attack action, which mitigates it a little. But being able to stack on one (who is likely staggered) or spread around the love is nifty.
S: Modifiable and repeatable too (no auto-break built in). There are going to be games where this is just explosive.
D: I'm not sure quite how far the healing can go in a warband with so many 2 and 3 wound fighters, so I'm not super crazy about it, but fair enough.
S: If I had a nickel for each healing upgrade in this warband, then I’d have 2 nickels… which isn’t much but it’s weird that it happened twice!
Summary
D: So many cool tricks with this warband. Pings, healing, pushes… much of it triggering off of inspires and un-inspires, which themselves have a bunch of manipulation. And that’s before we get into adjusting the range on your attacks. The biggest risk I’ve found so far is that you get so wrapped up in pulling off an awesome Rube-Goldberg play that you fall down a bit on some of the fundamentals. As for pairings- I think they have solid enough fundamentals that you have access to several options- the range limitations of Tooth & Claw’s accuracy and damage boosts are less of a big deal when you can zap through your own (or even enemy) fighters, while Opportunistic Reprisal may be enough on its own to make you look at Fearsome Fortress. There’s a whole lot of depth on this warband to explore and I think they’ll be really rewarding for folks who take that deep dive.
S: Hello new muse…
B: Skyler, I’m appalled! No pointy ears in sight!