153 replies to this topic

[Stubbdog]

At some point all models go into the removed from distribution list, based on sales. Reptus have been out for a long time now, so their sales I guess have finally dropped to the point where they fit the bill. That does not mean that the faction is going away, nor does it meant that you cannot get those models. It just means that you will probably have to get those models directly thru Reaper (or have your store special order it for you).

[Castlebuilder]

What's the future look like for Reptus?

In my opinion, the only reason sales of the Reptus dried up is because they are such cool minis everybody has already bought them!

I play a snake army. The snakes are fragile, but with just about everything having poison you really get to enjoy how much poison annoys the other player.

[Shakandara]

Ok, first off, every year, Reaper chooses a portion of their catalog to retire from active circulation. The term they user for these models in NIC'd (Not In Circulation). You can always still order these model directly from Reaper, no matter if they were NIC'd in 2000, or last week. This "culling of the heard" is generally done from the least popular/poorest selling models. Not that these models are not discontinued; that generally only happens to Limited Edition sculpts, or things that Reaper produces under license for someone else (L5R, Doom, etc.).

Yes, this process of retiring models from active circulation also applies to the Warlord line, though for a long time very little was NIC'd; most recently, Reaper decided to NIC a bunch of models (mostly from a couple factions) to bring the line's bloated number of SKUs under control. Reptus and Nefsokar were among the two hardest hit in this process.

That being said, this process of removing models from active circulation has absolutely zero impact on the support for those factions in the game. The Reptus and Nefsokar are completely and totally playable under Warlord 2 rules, and should always be so. Anything that you need to add to complete your faction can be bought directly from Reaper or, if you have a very cool FLGS, as a special order from a B2B store that orders directly from Reaper (they can order stuff from Reaper that the big distributors like Alliance won't stock).

Know the rep of The Source from some other locals in your area, I would be very surprised if they were unwilling/unable to special order figs directly from Reaper for you to pick up in-store. Failing that, the online store for Reaper is a click or two away at the top of the page.

EDIT: Aaaand that's what I get for not reading to the bottom of the thread. If nothing else, I hope the above provided a little more details to the how's and why's.

~v

Edited by Shakandara, 29 November 2011 - 03:44 PM.

[TaleSpinner]

Thanks. I do know about NIC, but didn't realize that they would do that to active factions in their games. It seems like a move that would stymie new players who want to play one of those factions. I have no problem ordering from Reaper, but I perfer to go through The Source when I can. I won't special order through them though; they are notoriously bad at getting stuff in via special order and when they do, half the time they lose your order or forget to let you know that it is in. If I have to special order it, I'll just do it myself from Reaper (and I did; in adition to what I got at the Source, I got another $175 worth of Reptus from Reaper waiting to go under the tree. )

Andy

[Warwick]

Do you think an all snake army has enough punch to put up a good fight? I've played a snake-heavy army and got chewed to bits. What if I go "all in"? The Nagndra are some excellent models and look mighty fun to paint. However, my typical play style is focused on elites, solos, and tough troopers in small numbers. Will this transfer to Nagendra, or will I need to borrow a new brain?

[Don Rodolfo Graziani]

Nagendra can be a fearsome opponent to fight. Jason's beaten me repeatedly with them. A good idea would be to field some Spikeshell Warriors to run into B2B with enemy models. With their DR/1, they can really confound an enemy and tie them up. Just be careful. Neither have the damage tracks to take it for long. But the Poison, Disable heavy army can be devestating.

[Warwick]

I have a big unit of Spikeshells, led by the cooler than cool Chhaya. But I want to see what an all snake army can do. Maybe I should just inculde the turtles and go with the flow.

[Stubbdog]

The thing about the ssssnakes is, it just depends on if you are playing againssst undead or consstruct heavy armiessss, as their poisonss have no affect on either. Those games are sssstill winnable, but obviousssly more difficult.

The other assspect of the snakesss is to realize the game percentages... That is, the typical grunt will hit another grunt 50% of the time. So, with that in mind, a MA2 model swinging against a 1 track snake is going to get that 1 hit most of the time just based on the percentages. That is where the disable and poison part come into play so important. The poison says that if both models hit each other one time, then it can still be an equal trade if the poison does its thing. Meanwhile, if you are the attacker and get the disable on them, then that 50% chance of the hit coming back goes down to 25%, so you are more likely to survive the encounter. Basically, you will be more successful when you can be on offense than when you are in defense, so several smaller troops with more init cards seem to work well with the snakes.

And dont forget the doctrine benefits paired up with the Warlord's benefit. I don't like his sculpt all that much, but I love what he can do on the table. Just make sure to use him as a caster first. Earthquakes and similar can be very effective at helping your snakes stay alive.

Personally, I do like matching the snakes up with trolls, turtles, Hydra, and Krungstomper. But, I have played it without those others plenty of times too.

[Warwick]

I'm so used to elites and heroes being able to stand up and fight. Nagendra elites are tissue paper. They hit hard, but they don't last much longer than a normal Nagendra Ranger. That's were my tactics fall apart. I charge a unit of Bear Riders with Crimson Knights or Merc Ronin and at least I kill as many as I lose. Snakes...don't like bears.

[Castlebuilder]

I have had mixed results with my all snake army. Still, I like playing it just to hear the other guy complain about everything having poison!

[Stubbdog]

I'm so used to elites and heroes being able to stand up and fight. Nagendra elites are tissue paper. They hit hard, but they don't last much longer than a normal Nagendra Ranger. That's were my tactics fall apart. I charge a unit of Bear Riders with Crimson Knights or Merc Ronin and at least I kill as many as I lose. Snakes...don't like bears.

Ok, well lets compare there, shall we? Bear Riders and Crimson knights are 61 and 65 point models. Snake Warriors and rangers are 28 and 31 points. Obviously a one to one battle is going to favor those higher pointed models.

The Snake elite is 53 points. It shouldn't mow down a flank of bears but it will go toe to toe matched 1 to 1. With its dodge taking Tasanee up to DV13. And actually, if you can manage it, if you use rush attack then you can do one +1 poison damage, while the bear can only do a single swing in return. If you can do that a couple of times, you can whittle down the enemy fairly good. A DV13 with only single defensive swing coming back at you is nothing to scoff at.

The captain Somchai, again with dodge is DV 13. For only 52 points, he can hit with MAV 7 (using rage) with his poison.

Just don't see how you can complain about those kind of numbers.

I agree with one part, and that is the fact that the soldiers being single track, they can be tricky to play sometimes if you expect them to stay alive as they take out the enemy. But, again, if you are trying to match up a snake warrior against a bear rider, of course the bear rider is going to have the advantage. But, try this one on. If (and it is an "if" considering the bears have DV 12 and the snake warriors have MAV 4) you can run up with a single snake into btb with 2 bears, and happen to get a single hit on each. Then have them both fail their poison roll., then a second snake (from a later activation) could come in and finish both off against the new lower DV of the bears. I would say that it would normal to expect an average 3 snakes to kill 2 bears using that method which is still a good trade off in points. But, yes, you would also have to accept that you would be trading those snakes for the bears not surviving after most likely.

[Shakandara]

How's this for a mostly serpent list?

Reptus - 1000 points

Troop 1
Broodmaster, Dragon Rider w/Troll Hide & Dragon Claw
Couatl x 10

Troop 2
Gam-Nan, Gaan-Hor Elder
Gaan-Hor Warrior x 6

Troop 3
Gam-Nan, Gaan-Hor Elder
Couatl x 6

Troop 4
Gam-Nan, Gaan-Hor Elder
Couatl x 6

Troop 5
Couatl x 6

Troop 6
Crymorian Warrior x 3

Troop 7
Crymorian Warrior

~v

[ApisFurioso]

just finished reading through all the reptus stuff, does anyone have anything new that has worked or not worked.

it seems like there are a bunch of choices, i came looking for something that i could use the medusa or marilith models for have any of yall used those for proxys on some of the snakefolk heros or warlords

[Stubbdog]

Well Marilith is actually a model in the Darkspawn faction. But, obviously, that would not preclude you from proxying it for something of the snakey origin.

I haven't posted a new list in a while, but I still play these bad boys all the time (well all the time being they are included in my rotation of factions I throw down with). Thats the problem with Warlord.. there are just too many fun builds to make to stick with just one.

[Mishra]

The thing I've discovered is that if you are going to run trolls, run two groups of them. They have regen, but if your opponent focuses on that one unit, it can be dead before it gets a chance to regen. Two units seems to do well, and I really like their Nauseating trait. It's amazing how much of an affect it can have.

For the larger monsters, I prefer the dragon turtle over the hydra. My luck with the DT seems to be better with it, but that may just be my imagination.