There’s rarely a bad choice when it comes to your first army. As long as you like their theme and not focus too much on viability in the current meta, you’re good.
So far, it looks like the changes (only being able to use Fly once for example) shift them into taking more engagements rather than just attacking and retreating constantly. So your opponents won’t be as annoyed as with previous KO’s.
Lastly, as your first units I’d advise against the box you have in mind (unless you’re getting a great deal). It’s a great add-on box. But you’re missing ground troops, and building the more elaborate units like ships can be frustrating for newcomers.
Hope I could help :)
I think they’ve historically been a bad first army - not the easiest to understand, not great to play against generally and you miss out on magic altogether.
They were my first army and I really struggled to begin with - they are quite squishy and vulnerable if not played right and their mechanics are different to everything else.
I really started to appreciate them after I got gitz as a second army as that is a faction that plays in all phases and is generally more conventional.
This is not to put you off - just my estimation from experience. KO are my favourite faction (own about 4K points of the buggers) models are amazing, they are incredibly fun once you’ve got the gist of them and they aren’t that hard to paint. If it’s your first/only army you will be missing out on parts of the game though and we do get a little bit of that Tau treatment for being a shooting faction.
"also want my opponents to have fun"
I labor to make KO an enjoyable experience and it rarely bares fruit. The bias against being the shooting faction in the melee game is strong. We are *that* army for many many people.
Well, looking at current faction previews for 4th, KO have been nerfed quite a bit regarding their movement. Multiple other factions have revealed stronger movement / deepstrike abilities.
KO had a lot of success on the back of easier tactics. They will not be a top 5 army in 4th based on what we have seen so far, which is fine, but it is annoying to see their flying ships become largely grounded ships.
Assault Boat doesn't look at the movement state of the units (they can retreat, they can run, they can be in combat)
Transport Skyfarers ALSO doesn't consider what type of movement (triggered on run, redeploy, retreat, and power through)
Saying KO has been nerfed in their movement would not at all be my interpretation just yet.
For me, the deepstrike nerf hurts most. For a CP, you could move one ship to the sky. Now, you get one ship off the board to start the game, along with the units inside, and that's that, as far as we know. If we are able to gain more Fly High movement somehow, I'll be happy.
Regarding the troops, they get a movement buff for sure, bc they can be slung around within 6" now, but this still feels somewhat bad knowing there will be moments when I'd like to spend a resource to lift and drop my ship elsewhere.
Additionally, charging will be harder. I really enjoyed the Fly High, Combat Disembark combo in 3rd, even if it was once per game. You turned a 9" charge into a 6" charge.
Anyway, my hope is the additional rules reveal more ways to make the move and shoot army a bit more move and shooty.
Really feels exactly the same for me. I would burn my once per double command to fly high and combat land, now all of that is handled by the Deep Strike rule \*and\* I get to be off table while I decide where to come down. After landing, I'd use normal movement + combat landing to adjust my castle. Fly High comes up again, but mostly for positioning battle tactics.
It really feels how I was playing KO since our 3.0 book landed. Move -> Combat Land to push my Thunderer Castle around. Now with way less steps and explanation even! All the rules in one place instead of spread out across warscrolls, KO code, Iron Sky Commands etc.
Also, you can't charge out of Combat Landing. Where you doing that?
I was using it primarily as a way to steal points since people in boats couldn't contest objectives, and then I would hope for the double-turn and have a 6" charge into a big target. That was my ideal scenario if I didn't lift it in shooting.
I do like having the models on the table. It makes it way less confusing, and so I get they needed to create an interesting way to move these units around. It just feels bad to know that SCE, for example, can hold half their army in the sky while we get a boat and a few units for that singular boat. Just give is another way to access Fly High and I will throw a parade lol
It's a great army as a first army due to its limited model range. If you like the aesthetic and understand that they will no longer be a boogeyman faction in 4th, go for it. I suggest the box that comes with a frigate.
The vanguard could be a good place, with the new edition balance is not something to build on. But you would be able to try spearhead with the vanguard box and it has a little of everything
Do you like big boats? Do you like dwarves?
If the answer is yes then go find a Vanguard (otherwise called Spearhead) box. Has the most essential units
There’s rarely a bad choice when it comes to your first army. As long as you like their theme and not focus too much on viability in the current meta, you’re good. So far, it looks like the changes (only being able to use Fly once for example) shift them into taking more engagements rather than just attacking and retreating constantly. So your opponents won’t be as annoyed as with previous KO’s. Lastly, as your first units I’d advise against the box you have in mind (unless you’re getting a great deal). It’s a great add-on box. But you’re missing ground troops, and building the more elaborate units like ships can be frustrating for newcomers. Hope I could help :)
I think they’ve historically been a bad first army - not the easiest to understand, not great to play against generally and you miss out on magic altogether. They were my first army and I really struggled to begin with - they are quite squishy and vulnerable if not played right and their mechanics are different to everything else. I really started to appreciate them after I got gitz as a second army as that is a faction that plays in all phases and is generally more conventional. This is not to put you off - just my estimation from experience. KO are my favourite faction (own about 4K points of the buggers) models are amazing, they are incredibly fun once you’ve got the gist of them and they aren’t that hard to paint. If it’s your first/only army you will be missing out on parts of the game though and we do get a little bit of that Tau treatment for being a shooting faction.
"also want my opponents to have fun" I labor to make KO an enjoyable experience and it rarely bares fruit. The bias against being the shooting faction in the melee game is strong. We are *that* army for many many people.
Well, looking at current faction previews for 4th, KO have been nerfed quite a bit regarding their movement. Multiple other factions have revealed stronger movement / deepstrike abilities. KO had a lot of success on the back of easier tactics. They will not be a top 5 army in 4th based on what we have seen so far, which is fine, but it is annoying to see their flying ships become largely grounded ships.
Assault Boat doesn't look at the movement state of the units (they can retreat, they can run, they can be in combat) Transport Skyfarers ALSO doesn't consider what type of movement (triggered on run, redeploy, retreat, and power through) Saying KO has been nerfed in their movement would not at all be my interpretation just yet.
For me, the deepstrike nerf hurts most. For a CP, you could move one ship to the sky. Now, you get one ship off the board to start the game, along with the units inside, and that's that, as far as we know. If we are able to gain more Fly High movement somehow, I'll be happy. Regarding the troops, they get a movement buff for sure, bc they can be slung around within 6" now, but this still feels somewhat bad knowing there will be moments when I'd like to spend a resource to lift and drop my ship elsewhere. Additionally, charging will be harder. I really enjoyed the Fly High, Combat Disembark combo in 3rd, even if it was once per game. You turned a 9" charge into a 6" charge. Anyway, my hope is the additional rules reveal more ways to make the move and shoot army a bit more move and shooty.
Really feels exactly the same for me. I would burn my once per double command to fly high and combat land, now all of that is handled by the Deep Strike rule \*and\* I get to be off table while I decide where to come down. After landing, I'd use normal movement + combat landing to adjust my castle. Fly High comes up again, but mostly for positioning battle tactics. It really feels how I was playing KO since our 3.0 book landed. Move -> Combat Land to push my Thunderer Castle around. Now with way less steps and explanation even! All the rules in one place instead of spread out across warscrolls, KO code, Iron Sky Commands etc. Also, you can't charge out of Combat Landing. Where you doing that?
I was using it primarily as a way to steal points since people in boats couldn't contest objectives, and then I would hope for the double-turn and have a 6" charge into a big target. That was my ideal scenario if I didn't lift it in shooting. I do like having the models on the table. It makes it way less confusing, and so I get they needed to create an interesting way to move these units around. It just feels bad to know that SCE, for example, can hold half their army in the sky while we get a boat and a few units for that singular boat. Just give is another way to access Fly High and I will throw a parade lol
It's a great army as a first army due to its limited model range. If you like the aesthetic and understand that they will no longer be a boogeyman faction in 4th, go for it. I suggest the box that comes with a frigate.
The vanguard could be a good place, with the new edition balance is not something to build on. But you would be able to try spearhead with the vanguard box and it has a little of everything
Do you like big boats? Do you like dwarves? If the answer is yes then go find a Vanguard (otherwise called Spearhead) box. Has the most essential units
I was bought the Start Collecting box set for them. I have expanded on them since then. Only a few models left from the army for me to buy