Deadly Synergy
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Thanks go to GW for providing a review copy to make this content possible.
Introduction
[D]AVY, [P]HIL, [B]RIAN, [S]KYLER & [Z]ACH
Teamwork makes the dream work, and Deadly Synergy demands the teamwork! What kinds of risks and rewards are there going to be to benefit forcing fighters together?
P: Being united itself is pretty important to this deck. The bonus for being united is a bit odd but it has the benefit of being able to conga line some fighters behind an adjacent fighter to gain flanked when you normally couldn't.
D: Yeah, it's not like Raging Slayers powerful, but it's a handy status on the plot card. Certainly more interesting than a plot card that defines "Tempered" for example.
Objectives
P: A decent amount of work to line up melee attacks with united fighters, but thankfully a 2 glory payout and the attacks don't need to succeed. Overall, I think a solid stretch objective.
D: I think the right warbands will find this pretty doable. Thankfully it doesn't have to be *different* fighters. It's like a 2 glory version of Keep Chopping, with relevant increase in difficulty.
P: Oh the difference one word makes... 3 melee attacks on one fighter is already pretty tough but attacks from 3 different fighters makes this pretty darn impossible for some warbands. At one glory payout I'm leaving this one by the wayside.
D: Hard pass! I'm with you, Phil.
P: I'm not sure on this one... If you have a reliable way to manipulate your opponents position then maybe you can for this, but if you can't then good luck making sure your opponent stands on a treasure token. I suppose pairing this with Pillage and Plunder is one way to force this...
D: What's interesting is that all they have to do is hold it at any point that round. So even Pillage and Plunder decks often at least briefly hold treasure before they delve it. I file this under "gonna try it for sure".
P: While I think keeping fighters united might be difficult, this kind of surge is usually solid so I expect this one to be as well for those warbands that can stand adjacent frequently.
D: This has an added bonus that if the attack was adjacent, you'll have that slightly better defensive buff.
P: Being united can make this easier, but you are still hoping for a result on the die that is 1 in 6. Still, we run cards that rely on rolling crits so I think this can be similarly useful. I'll note that if you don't have flanked this is still scorable, but much harder
P: Immediately makes me ponder the pairing with Wrack for extra setup with Henchman.
P: They keep trying to make cards like this work, but they are so awkward. Either you forego killing a high value target like a leader until this card is in hand or you brick it early to advance your board. Either way you are likely down something. The payout is at least decent but I don't like the opportunity cost.
D: Feels like a Rivals card that gets dumped in Nemesis.
P: This feels very warband specific. Some will be able to position for this pretty easily while for others this will be largely impossible. Your milage may vary.
D: I think the ask is a little too much for one glory. Only taking if I'm pretty desperate.
P: I love that this doesn't require that the attack be melee! It opens up a lot of flexibility to score this, but again warband tools will make or break the ability to reliably be united so I'd say this is conditionally great.
D: Pretty flexible. Not as crazy automatic as something like Get Stuck In, but I'm thinking this makes the cut.
P: A couple things to note with this. In order to score you will need to be united when you land the hit, you can't kill the target, and you have to choose to drive back. However, since all of those are things you'll want to be doing at some point this is a pretty nice score. Extra points for a warband with a few utility attacks that only do 1 damage to make setting this up a bit easier.
D: I can see this being a point of contention at the end of the round. If you include this in the deck, make sure you're tracking this condition throughout, because you could very well surge into it. For 2 glory, I'll take it out for a spin.
P: The no move or charge tokens piece of this makes the setup a little awkward. Some warbands will be able to do so more easily than others but on the whole this is a bit tricky.
D: Doesn't have to be melee at least. But potentially pretty restrictive.
P: As kill surges go this one is pretty solid. If you are taking this deck you can pretty well rely on this happening at some point. I often find kill surges to not quite make the cut though.
D: Feels like your edge case surge. Like the last one you might include in a deck.
P: Ew, no. Most fighters have 1 defense die, some go up to 3 at most. Being able to make this work reliably will be almost impossible just by the pure fact that you are almost always outnumbered by attack dice, let alone needing the positioning requirements and specific die facing in the result.
D: Kinda rough. But if I'm playing something that's rocking two defense dice out of the gate, I'd be tempted. But outside of the underdog situation it feels roooough.
Gambits
P: Why 2 adjacent friendly fighters!! Setting this up would already be a bit of work if it was just needing to be united. Add on top that the extra attack is only allowed for melee and will only do 1 damage and I don't think this is worth a deck slot.
D: I think the setup is the part that bumps it for me. I'm totally on board for the melee/one damage portions. But even in horde warbands, this really wants a big portion of your models in one spot.
P: While the name is funny, the effect isn't. Yes, this helps with scoring if you aren't adjacent, but more than that it allows a single fighter to provide flanked for a turn and that is quite powerful in attack or defense.
D: If it didn't generate the flanked condition, I'd be a hard pass. I'm still a little shaky, but if you included any significant portion of this deck's objectives, I get more interested.
P: Short list this for restricted card in the deck! Yikes. There are some very scary weapon profiles out there that you will feel like you are getting away with something being able to swing them with another fighter in your warband.
D: Oh man, the ceiling is really high on this. And there's some good weapon upgrades in this deck too! It's really fun to think of the options. Pegz swinging Blackpowder's cleaver. Spiteshroom whacking with Mollog's club. Night's Herald borrowing Gristlewel's big ol' femur.
P: Dang, this is great if you can manage the positioning without losing anything in the process. The underdog piece of this feels downright ridiculous for a swarm warband.
D: Another one with a high ceiling, and a floor that could make it just totally bricked.
P: Sooo just make one dice a success if you have some support? I'll take it!
D: Even better, you can see the dice roll first. Saucy.
P: Pretty neat way to pass off a good defense characteristic. Kinda love that it is a surprise too, your opponent will have to gamble that you don't have this if they haven't seen it yet.
D: More high ceiling stuff, but I feel like it'll be dead in quite a few scenarios. Pairs nicely with Impossibly Quick on someone in the back line.
P: Always nice to see sidestep reprinted. No complaints.
D: Always a pleasure to see you, Sidestep.
P: Probably hard to set up most of the time but if you can get two adjacent fighter next to the same enemy you can pass off the attack to the more desirable target.
D: Wow! I know I'm a broken record here, but yeah, the ceiling is once again, super high with this. And the floor is real low.
P: Okay, +1 attack is good but why the anti synergy with the rest of the deck? Worth noting if you get down to a single fighter you can't even play this anymore.
D: What a weird choice to make and include...
P: Man that is pretty great as defensive boosts go since we have seen precious few on ploys this edition. The fact it is all united fighters is pretty wonderful in my opinion.
D: This feels like a pretty tasty include to me.
Upgrades
P: Why in Sigmars name is this only one glory?! So no one can ever not be driven back by a fighter with this upgrade and, if I'm reading this correctly, cannot trigger standfast? Yeesh.
D: It's like a repeatable pseudo-confusion. Slam this into a deck. Figure out the interaction with Stand Fast later...
P: Yikes, even without the grievous this is a scary weapon. Very appropriate that this costs 2 glory. I think this could easily be both an accuracy and damage improvement for many fighters weapons.
D: A real boss weapon upgrade, in a deck that is likely to be taken by horde warbands who *want* weapons. Spicy.
P: Another welcome reprint. Get this on a fighter with range great than 1 and start surfing around the battlefield.
D: I'm a huge Duellist enjoyer. If you get one push out of it, it's another sidestep, and I'd take that in a heartbeat.
P: Crazy accurate attack! Likely best to use for positioning since you should rarely not be able to drive back with this weapon.
D: About as accurate as you can get, especially once you're flankng/surrounding.
P: Yeah, say no more. Get in the deck.
D: If you don't need this, you're probably already winning.
P: Saaaaame. Always good. Also, who lost an eye?
D: Cool, gross, useful.
P: Pretty amazing repositioning if you can keep united fighters. Even if this was just sliding around a fighter you started adjacent to, you should be able to really position extremely reliably.
D: Expensive at two bounty. But boy, lots of possibilities.
P: Not quite certain on this one. Plus move is nice but having to start adjacent to benefit and playing a deck that needs adjacency makes this really feel like it is working against you.
D: Not... awful, but I'm with Phil. I think this gets cut for something in your other half of the pairing.
P: Removing move, but not charge is odd but I suppose that can help warbands with ranged attacks charge after a simple repositioning move?
D: I guess. I might be missing a corner case that makes it really useful, but seems too specific to earn a slot in most decks, I'd expect.
P: Hidden aid plus anyone?
D: Yeah, on first pass, I dismissed this, but it's Hidden Aid, but y'know.... even better.
Summary
Find some friends and get the combos going. This deck feels like it has a lot of potential, but I think only certain warbands will have the requisite synergy to get the most out of all these cards. For those that do, this could be a new staple that pairs well with a number of other options. Just have to deal with that pesky plot lock!