The preview for Ankaur Maru is up. All of the Undead players that kept the human half of their core set can rejoice. Ankaur lets you bring them into the fold.

He's also got the potential to throw a bunch of white dice.

I like it. Nothing stands out in particular, but I like it. He will be a worthy foe on the battlefield.

I think his setup ability is interesting. It's quite versatile. It could be really good when more support units come out, because a support unit may not care about being blighted (because it may not be using its actions to attack).

I really like Violent Forces. Gives him more consistent damage with his ranged attack. Meanwhile, adding 4 full trays to an ally at the right time could be amazing!

Soooo... adding trays to a unit would include adding brand new trays to a full strength unit, exceeding whatever point limit you're playing at wouldn't it? Perhaps limited to a max formation size (so no 13+ tray formation of Reanimates, etc.)? Better bring some spares with you!

His army building special might sting those players who swear up and down they're only playing Waiqar

Just now, Daverman said:

His army building special might sting those players who swear up and down they're only playing Waiqar

Haha! Yea, all of the sudden FFG gave Waiqar players a reason to buy out of faction. Who da thunk it?

I'm excited to see AnkaurDaqan and LatariMaru zombie paint jobs!

So, if there are no Unstable runes, can Ankaur still use his ranged attack with 0 dice?

10 minutes ago, Budgernaut said:

I think his setup ability is interesting. It's quite versatile. It could be really good when more support units come out, because a support unit may not care about being blighted (because it may not be using its actions to attack).

Or they brought a War Crier, so starting out with a pair of Blight tokens doesn't suck.

I wonder how that works for the purposes of scoring if through the course of a game he adds on to a reanimate unit and through the runes it fills in?

Still over all, looks like a fun 'hero' to add and I guess we can be happy you can only field at most 2 heros in the 200 pt tournaments. Interesting tho he doesn't seem to be able to be integrated into a unit and must be stand alone...

4 minutes ago, Sherizaahd said:

So, if there are no Unstable runes, can Ankaur still use his ranged attack with 0 dice?

Nope. The attack is canceled. You do, however, know what the runes are before you set your dial.

RRG, pg. 7:
'If a game effect removes dice from an attack such that there are no dice to roll, the attack is canceled.'

1 minute ago, tgall said:

I wonder how that works for the purposes of scoring if through the course of a game he adds on to a reanimate unit and through the runes it fills in?

He adds full trays, so you don't need runes to fill up those trays. I think you'd still score relative to your starting tray size.

His surge ability allows you to remove wounds. It doesn't specify from where. Can he remove wounds from any unit or just himself?

1 minute ago, WWHSD said:

RRG, pg. 7:

10.3 Step 3—Roll Dice: The attacker rolls the dice indicated by the chosen attack profile. • If a game effect removes dice from an attack such that there are no dice to roll, the attack is canceled.

If i wanted to be legalistic I'd say that it doesn't apply because it's not a game effect REMOVING dice, there just weren't dice to begin with, but it seems pretty obvious that it's meant to cancel attacks with no dice regardless of why there are no dice.

1 minute ago, WWHSD said:

Nope. The attack is canceled. You do, however, know what the runes are before you set your dial.

RRG, pg. 7:
'If a game effect removes dice from an attack such that there are no dice to roll, the attack is canceled.'

Does that also cancel any effects of the modifier?

3 minutes ago, Sulfurious said:

Does that also cancel any effects of the modifier?

No, but most of the time the effect is the same as if it were canceled. If Ankaur sets a Mortal Strike modifier but ends up rolling no dice, his attack is canceled and there is no attack to modify. He still has the modifier, he just can't do anything with it.

RRG, pg 7:
'15.2 A modifier is not canceled when the action is canceled. However, movement modifiers and the enhance modifiers have no effect if their corresponding action is not performed.'

Where do the new trays go?

In the pictured example they're added to the back of the unit, but could they be added to the side?

For example, if adding two trays to a 2 x 1 archer unit, it could become 2 x 2 like the example in the article, but could it become a 4 x 1?

2 minutes ago, maxam said:

Where do the new trays go?

In the pictured example they're added to the back of the unit, but could they be added to the side?

For example, if adding two trays to a 2 x 1 archer unit, it could become 2 x 2 like the example in the article, but could it become a 4 x 1?

This is definitely going to need some clarification. Hawthorne keeps you from being able to get more than 4 ranks or 4 columns, I would assume that there is some sort of similar restriction for Ankaur's ability.

3 minutes ago, maxam said:

Where do the new trays go?

In the pictured example they're added to the back of the unit, but could they be added to the side?

For example, if adding two trays to a 2 x 1 archer unit, it could become 2 x 2 like the example in the article, but could it become a 4 x 1?

Without any further information, I would say that they have to at least adhere to one of the units legal formations but even that's up for debate I guess.

I would imagine he will come with a rules sheet that explains it

2 minutes ago, marinegrunt01 said:

I would imagine he will come with a rules sheet that explains it

One would hope!

Oh snap ... it hadn't occurred to me before, but now Ardus can heal (!)

That dial is nasty.

22 minutes ago, tgall said:

I wonder how that works for the purposes of scoring if through the course of a game he adds on to a reanimate unit and through the runes it fills in?

Still over all, looks like a fun 'hero' to add and I guess we can be happy you can only field at most 2 heros in the 200 pt tournaments. Interesting tho he doesn't seem to be able to be integrated into a unit and must be stand alone...

I suspect that both he and Hawthorne will come with infantry Champion cards that allow you to use their unmounted models.

2 minutes ago, maxam said:

Oh snap ... it hadn't occurred to me before, but now Ardus can heal (!)

He'd need a ranged attack to use it though?

Just now, Waywardpaladin said:

That dial is nasty.

Yeah. Take the upgrade that gives you blue runes for attack dice and Brutal 1, dial in the double hits and you are guaranteed 4 damage.

2 minutes ago, Waywardpaladin said:

He'd need a ranged attack to use it though?

Nope. Read Ardus's surge ability again:

He lets you use ranged or melee surge abilities of allies during melee attacks.