As crazy as it might seems gloomspite is really balanced.
We got infantry grots, archery grots, mounted grots of the light and heavy variety, elite trogs, two spell lores, many flavors of monster and even anti-monster artillery thanks to regiment of renown.
Why does this sound like a Monty Python sketch?
You got your stabby Grots.
Stabby, shooty Grots.
Stabby, shooty, ridey Grots.
Grots, shooty, ridey and Grots.
Grots, stabby, Grots, Grots, ridey and Grots.
Grots, Grots, Grots, stabby and Grots.
Grots, Grots, Grots is also my favourite Mötley Crue song too
I would say of the factions both Lumineth Realm-Lords and Ossiarch Bone Reapers operate their armies with a wide spread variety of units and function like an actual military.
> I think the Freeguilds would probably be very balanced?
Definitely not. The Freeguilds, how I adore them so, are cobbled together mercenary companies and state armies and militias all at the same time. Due to this convoluted, contradictory nature they are pretty weird.
You might have a Freeguild that specializes in being Demigryff Knights and nothing else, there's a lot of these. Or one where you just came a bunch of slum dwellers, tenants, or criminals some sticks. Others hyper fixate on being spearmen or working with the Collegiate or using Ironweld weaponry.
All in all Freeguild subfactions, which are the Freeguilds themselves, are just whatever sort of soldiery a city, commander, official, or merchant manages to cobble together, get a charter for, and legalizes as a military guild.
Only the big major guilds like the seventeen of Hammerhal Aqsha field enough regiments to be anything resembling balanced... in theory. In practice they each specialize in different things from being front line infantry to heavy cavalry. So they're not balanced either. For a loreful balanced Freeguild army a commander would have to hire units and guilds of several organizations to cobble together. The best example of this, probably unsurprisingly, is "Black Pyramid" by Josh Reynolds.
Do you think, with the way the new Cities previews have been presented, that this will change in the new tome?
My feelings are that the new miniatures are leaning towards a more uniformed and “standing Azyrite army” aesthetic than the more varied and eclectic nature of the Freeguilds. Do you think the lore will update to reflect this, with Cities forming more uniform state armies to take and hold territory instead of relying on guild forces?
Nope. The Cavaliers they just showed explicitly aren't uniformed in a way a commander of a standing army would prefer.
Unique heraldry, helms, head dangles, masks, one person is wearing an animal skull instead of a helmet. I do believe the presenters even said they are supposed to come off as being from all over the place.
Also they literally still call these forces Freeguild
Archers aside (Please GW, I beg you!), the Ossiarch Bonereapers are generally capable of fielding well-balanced forces, especially the Mortis Praetorians. There are two exceptions I can think of to this rule: The Staliarch Lords who field disproportionately more cavalry than other subfactions and the Petrifex Elite who field more heavy infantry and constructs than other subfactions. And technically the Ivory Host field far more marine forces than the others but they’re basically THE OBR maritime subfaction unless you homebrew your own.
As crazy as it might seems gloomspite is really balanced. We got infantry grots, archery grots, mounted grots of the light and heavy variety, elite trogs, two spell lores, many flavors of monster and even anti-monster artillery thanks to regiment of renown.
Why does this sound like a Monty Python sketch? You got your stabby Grots. Stabby, shooty Grots. Stabby, shooty, ridey Grots. Grots, shooty, ridey and Grots. Grots, stabby, Grots, Grots, ridey and Grots. Grots, Grots, Grots, stabby and Grots. Grots, Grots, Grots is also my favourite Mötley Crue song too
You sir just made my day.
Thanks, I was worried I’d come across too crazy haha
I would say of the factions both Lumineth Realm-Lords and Ossiarch Bone Reapers operate their armies with a wide spread variety of units and function like an actual military.
Except archers.
> I think the Freeguilds would probably be very balanced? Definitely not. The Freeguilds, how I adore them so, are cobbled together mercenary companies and state armies and militias all at the same time. Due to this convoluted, contradictory nature they are pretty weird. You might have a Freeguild that specializes in being Demigryff Knights and nothing else, there's a lot of these. Or one where you just came a bunch of slum dwellers, tenants, or criminals some sticks. Others hyper fixate on being spearmen or working with the Collegiate or using Ironweld weaponry. All in all Freeguild subfactions, which are the Freeguilds themselves, are just whatever sort of soldiery a city, commander, official, or merchant manages to cobble together, get a charter for, and legalizes as a military guild. Only the big major guilds like the seventeen of Hammerhal Aqsha field enough regiments to be anything resembling balanced... in theory. In practice they each specialize in different things from being front line infantry to heavy cavalry. So they're not balanced either. For a loreful balanced Freeguild army a commander would have to hire units and guilds of several organizations to cobble together. The best example of this, probably unsurprisingly, is "Black Pyramid" by Josh Reynolds.
Do you think, with the way the new Cities previews have been presented, that this will change in the new tome? My feelings are that the new miniatures are leaning towards a more uniformed and “standing Azyrite army” aesthetic than the more varied and eclectic nature of the Freeguilds. Do you think the lore will update to reflect this, with Cities forming more uniform state armies to take and hold territory instead of relying on guild forces?
Nope. The Cavaliers they just showed explicitly aren't uniformed in a way a commander of a standing army would prefer. Unique heraldry, helms, head dangles, masks, one person is wearing an animal skull instead of a helmet. I do believe the presenters even said they are supposed to come off as being from all over the place. Also they literally still call these forces Freeguild
Archers aside (Please GW, I beg you!), the Ossiarch Bonereapers are generally capable of fielding well-balanced forces, especially the Mortis Praetorians. There are two exceptions I can think of to this rule: The Staliarch Lords who field disproportionately more cavalry than other subfactions and the Petrifex Elite who field more heavy infantry and constructs than other subfactions. And technically the Ivory Host field far more marine forces than the others but they’re basically THE OBR maritime subfaction unless you homebrew your own.