Hobby Update: Abyssal Harbinger

With the latest Clash of Kings update, Army Standard Bearers (and their functional equivalents) all got Very Inspiring and some kind of aura buff. One of the more interesting updates for me was the Abyssal Harbinger, which now grants Rampage 3. This is a conditional buff, effecting friendly core infantry only, and only in melee combat. As an aura, it won't stack, but overall is still pretty dang interesting to me, so I wanted to hobby up some Harbingers to explore this in the coming months. 

The new Harbinger, from a few angles.

As it turns out, I already have one, done up months ago, and they even have a lute! I wanted at least one more though for some proper testing in multiples though, so I picked up a Tiefling Sorcerer twofer at a local shop after a game, painting up just one of them for now. This mini had a large base with a spectral grouping of snakes that I cut away, but otherwise, there were no changes, conversions, additions, or other kitbashes. The paintjob was quick with nothing too fancy going on, painted to match my Succubi.

Hero slots in an Abyssals list are precious, as the army has a crazy amount of options. Prior to Clash, I didn't think Harbingers were particularly good. While more expensive, Warlocks filled a similar role to Inspire your line, but had better stats, more attacks, had a Unit Strength to score for scenarios, and could even cast a number of spells, including the much-desired Bane Chant. I still think the Warlocks are going to be more effective in the majority of lists, but I think the new Harbingers could work nicely with Multiple Small Unit play for the Abyssals.

As discussed elsewhere, I like this playstyle, but it is quite difficult to pull off in Kings of War, due to the non-linear cost of paying for units when you are building lists. Larger units get a discount, and that adds up quickly, so a disciple of MSU would absolutely need to make the most of their smaller units, or find themselves playing at a significant points disadvantage.

Since one is incentivized to run larger units, I have been thinking that more "elite" armies might be a promising vector to explore my "regiments maximum" MSU playstyle. If your units can't be taken as hordes, then checkerboarding regiments across the field makes slightly more sense! Both Flamebearers and Abyssal Guard top out at the regimental size, and both received a cost decrease in the Clash update as well. The stars are aligning, and I think I need to explore this soon!