Zikkit's Tunnelpack
Welcome to our rundown of Zikkit’s Tunnelpack. 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
S: Zikkit’s zany crew of zesty-rock demolitionists! This crew features a zoom-happy kill-wheel, a boom-zappy warp-drill, an explosive zero-hero, a zone-controller grenadier, and… Krittatok who we’re worried about dearly, please call your mother already. Let’s dive in!
WARSCROLl
P: After any action step huh? That means you will be able to inspire pretty freely with this warband but at the cost of fighters so you might need to sacrifice some rats to get your best ones up and running. Very skaven!
B: The inspire is reminiscent of Thricefold Discord's internal strife. Yet it's appropriately Skaven here. Should've been called, "Better you than me"
D: Making it after an Action step means you can’t cheat out an inspire with self-damaging power cards too.
P: This is a weird ability. The fact it can only be used once you are charged out and it has a 50/50 chance of killing the fighter you use makes me think this is only good as a desperation play for an extra charge. Anything else you can just do as part of the charged out rule and don't need to risk a fighter.
S: It has the potential to be incredible story fuel. Imagine you’re on your last fighter (maybe Rittak), each Action step you just keep Charging them, and they somehow keep surviving the 50/50, and that wins the game… this will happen somewhere, and it’s going to live in the memory of those players forever.
P: Moving for free after your activation can be huge for so many strategies. This feels like one you will want to use every game for so many different things. Finding the right time to get the most out of this will likely be the difference in many games.
S: Absolutely, an out-of-sequence move always has so many applications. Previously you’d generally think through that decision space across a single round (or two at most) as you tried to free up your hand to get to more of your deck, but this is available tip to tail.
P: Having your choice of cleave, ensnare, and brutal is nice but I'm not sure it's worth the risk of blowing up one of your fighters... It is very skaven though! I suppose there is the upside that hurting your own fighter can let you inspire so there is that at least.
D: You’d almost like to see this repeatable with that potential downside. If you do damage yourself though, you should be able to trigger an inspire, at least.
P: Oh boy, Tik Tik is a literal time bomb! If your opponent lets this get to round there there is a pretty solid chance of doing two damage. I think you will have to balance when to use this because your opponent might play around it pretty hard. Round two is probably the most likely time to trigger it for most enemies to hit while still getting multiple dice. Just be careful, two hexes is a big bubble and it can hit friendly fighters.
S: And there’s a push-pull with potentially needing to use it earlier to get another fighter inspired.
FIGHTERS
Uninspired
P: The main rat, Zikkit, has a nice stat line of four move, two dodge, and four wounds which is much of what we have come to expect from skaven leaders in past warbands. A bounty of three seems to be the standard for a leader, or at least it is in the Embergard box. The attack profiles are decent but not amazing. Having the range two will likely come in handy but being only one damage will limit how often you reach for that attack.
B: Fascinating if we see Range 2 (spear/glaive) type weapons now deal 1dmg at range 1. A fitting and narrative balance.
B: Putting Zikkit on Guard when he's forward deployed could be a great defensive bastion to hold an objective. Though that may lead to fewer inspires.
P: All stats aside, steampunk mining rats with wildly unstable warpstone drills is a pretty amazing piece of Warhammer!
Inspired
P: With a pretty easy inspiration, Zikkit can nab a defensive boost to block instead of dodge and an extra attack dice for each weapon profile. This should make Zikkit pretty hard to shift and he can threaten quite well against most fighters.
B: Accuracy and defence increases on inspire is great. Two block had the chance to be a tank and absorb/deny the opponent successful attacks.
Uninspired
P: Who would have expected the mini doom wheel to be movement three? Either way though Rittak having one block and four health makes this a pretty tough rat who can take to the front lines without too much concern. Being two bounty and having a whopping three damage is likely to make this guy a priority for your opponent!
Inspired
P: That's more like it! Going all the way up to move five will get the three damage where you need it when you need it. Switching to two dodge and three swords is something of a side grade in this edition but it does allow for some spikes in successes to deny your opponent completely. I think Rittak would be the first fighter I try to inspire for this warband.
D: Yeah, I think this suggests a playstyle where Rittak and his Killwheel are held back until the battlelines are joined, then use the boosted move to rocket in with increased speed to deliver that juicy three damage attack.
Uninspired
P: Krittatok has the same move, defense, and health as his gas masked compatriot but is much more of a frontline fighter trying to reach out and tickle someone with those nasty claws. Being three swords with crit grievous will probably make this rat feel a bit swingy where he does a lot of work some games and others just can't find those crits.
Inspired
P: An extra defense dice is great for a melee only fighter. Getting to roll the grievous into the base damage if his claws is also a big plus.
Uninspired
P: Our little bombardier, Nitch, is going to be able to threaten most of the board with range three and four move. His one dodge is going to make him a soft target but being three wounds should keep him alive through most attacks. Overall, this rat feels like a utility piece to try and drive other fighters out of position than to really threaten kills.
Inspired
P: More defense and attack dice are never a bad thing to gain but I think you prioritize other fighters to inspire first.
Uninspired
P: Oh no, poor Tik Tik! Getting the unfortunate job of being a homing device for a grenade does mean this minion is our first zero glory fighter. His four move and two dodge should keep people from wanting to try and take him down, despite his ability to kaboom! His actual weapon profile feels a bit like an afterthought to give him a bit part until the wick is lit.
Inspired
P: I don't think there is really much point in inspiring here, but if you really get down to it going to two hammers should allow Tik Tik to more reliably drive fighters out of position.
Summary
S: Out the gate, their Inspire condition sets the tempo and delightfully keeps its foot on the gas for the rest of the match! Tik Tik is always an interesting proposition. And each fighter inspiring to 2-Dodge amps up survivability as well. Both Zikkit’s Tunnelpack and The Emberwatch feel like excellent fits to live in a core box, as they’re beginner-friendly in all the right ways; easy to pickup and get playing, bring different things to teach new players, and yet have plenty to master. Zikkit’s are great fun, and getting damaged/dying to inspire does a great job of offsetting that on average more of them will be dying across games with their core box cohabitants. I’m looking forward to all of the explosive stories this crew will bring about!
—
Excited for Zikkit’s Tunnelpack? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below or join the conversation on our Discord!