Ephilim's Pandemonium

Welcome to our rundown of Ephilim’s Pandemonium. 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, [P]HIL, [B]RIAN, & [S]KYLER

P: As we embark on a new edition of underworlds let's see what the followers of the lord of change himself have transformed into.

WARSCROLl

P: Since all the demons are minions now this inspire is the same as Ephilim's inspire in first edition. Generally, this means you need to protect your inspired minions to get the chance to inspire Ephilim.

D: Makes sense. Potentially good for messing with your opponent's target priority.

P: This is pretty interesting. Instead of getting the inspire at the beginning of the round like it was in first edition you get it after the first activation, yours or your opponents. That can be pretty nice for picking the best minion for the situation, especially when going second. The stagger token is a tax so probably keep that minion in a relatively safe place, at least to start.

D: At least you pick who's inspired, who's staggered now. You can't leverage boosted offensive or defensive tech in that first action step, but you have a little more information to decide? It does potentially make Ephilim's inspire a little harder in later turns, though.

P: Solid. Drawing cards is always good but with the vicinity requirements and needing a minion to die this is more a rubber band to keep you going even if you lose fighters.

D: Yep, can't go too wrong, here.

P: Man, definitely protect Ephilim! A raise every round could be really annoying. I like that they will be vulnerable though so it isn't quite so punishing for your opponent. This gives more fodder for power leech too.

D: Oh snap! I missed that it was every round. Helps protect the inspire for Eph. Plus you still have the power step to manipulate the position of the summoned fighter, at least.

P: So we essentially got Flamespoolers warp flame from first edition as a warscroll ability. Since it only affects adjacent fighters this will be tricky to set up for maximum effect. I would think you just need to use this at the first opportunity because the trigger being after the first action step means it can't trigger after battle rounds 3. Pings, and especially pings that can hit multiple fighters, are massive effects so I think making this tricky to line up is perfect.

P: And here is a much more reliable multi-ping! Still a fun play around though because the minions are an important resource for Ephilim, either to inspire or draw cards, so just diving them into a group of enemies won't necessarily be what you want to do.

D: I dunno, there's some great options there. Bomb Spawnmaw into a crowd and blast for a bunch of extra damage. Bring some pushes and confusion to really set up some punishing 1-2 combos with Shared Mutations and Fires of Change.

FIGHTERS

Uninspired
P: Back to a perfectly reasonable set of stats from first edition, a 3 move, 2 dodge, and 4 health leader is seemingly slightly below what we have seen of some other leaders. The nice thing though is that means Ephilim is only 2 glory. Having a solid ranged attack also helps but neither attack is doing anything crazy.

D: More importantly, Ephilim fuels your Power Leech and Summoned Abominations abilities, so value accordingly!

Inspired
P: Only gaining an attack dice on her ranged attack makes for a bit of an underwhelming inspire, but 3 hammers is very accurate so it should make for a reliable utility attack.

D: FWIW, that's your most accurate ranged attack for Flames of Change, too.

Uninspired
P: Spawnmaw feels perfectly average. 4 move, 1 dodge, 3 health means he likely can tangle with other non elite fighters pretty well, but not for very long. His melee attack is solid but the ranged attack is woefully inaccurate.

D: Spawnmaw having a good ranged attack in first edition= Davy triggered.

Inspired
P: Picking up a dodge and some accuracy makes a world of difference. I think you will need Spawnmaw to be an early inspire to keep him in the fight.

D: As the fighter most likely to get lobbed into the mix, I'd agree.

Uninspired
P: While 3 move, 1 dodge, and 3 health isn't amazing the fact Flamespooler is only giving 1 glory makes his stats a lot more reasonable. His attack is decently accurate as well. You can probably park him on a treasure or other strategic position and fire off some pot shots when the opportunity arises.

Inspired
P: Picking up that extra defense dice is a big deal, but don't overlook the range boost as well. Depending on the opponent Flamespooler may also be a very important early inspire.

D: Whoa, yeah. A great profile for being a treasure turret.

Uninspired
P: Starting at 2 dodge is nice, but only 2 health makes me a bit nervous. Kindlefinger’s melee attack is a pretty weird one but I suppose if you really need to hit 2 damage he gives you a chance. Most often you'll just be firing off some of those sweet finger flames with the pretty accurate ranged attack.

D: I kinda love that this weird model has a weird profile. With guard, he's pretty tough to shift.

Inspired
P: Weird inspire. Bonus move is useful, but having extra range might mean you don't need it. Also, I'm pretty sure the math works out that switching to 2 swords makes the melee attack less accurate? I guess you really never know what to expect when Tzeentch is making the changes!

D: Change! Glorious change! I have no idea what's going on here, but that *is* another range four attack!

Uninspired
P: Hmmm. With flying, 3 health, and a nice 2 damage attack I would have initially thought cruise missile style fighter but that 3 move makes that feel less possible. Still a decent melee threat if anyone gets too close isn't anything to be upset about.

Inspired
P: Getting to 2 dodge with Apo'trax makes it 4 for 4 with 2 dodge when inspired. But with the only other bonus being cleave I'm probably only inspiring this fish fist if I need a can opener for large block fighters.

D: Good tool to have in the box for that purpose, though!

Summary

P: With a plethora of ranged attacks, some situationally powerful fighters, and some interesting but perhaps hard to set up warscroll abilities make Ephilim's Pandemonium truly live up to their mastery moniker. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing these guys in action to better understand what all they can pull off.

The Mortal RealmsNovember 23, 2024Comment