The developers have continued to release in-development updates for the community, with Starks being a main focus over the last week. Universal rules like Sentinel and Shield Wall have changed which will impact every faction. We will be breaking down these changes and the possible impact of the changes if they were to be finalised.
What’s Happening?
If you didn’t catch the last article, one of the lead developers for the ASOIAF: Miniatures Game has been releasing test versions of Units, Commanders, and Tactics Cards that will be coming in the next update which is said to be delayed until 2026. They have mainly shown off Boltons but have sprinkled in a little Stark showcase. In this article we will be going over the units for houses Mormont, Reed, and Tully, as well as the final Commander for the Boltons; Steelshanks Walton.
Mormont She-Bears
Decrease Final Rank Attack Dice, Rework Resolute Strikes and War Cry.
Mormont Bruisers were not taken too often, but were taken to help dish out a few tokens whilst being a more survivable unit for precious Rickon. They aren’t the best and need some slight tweaks to improve them. War Cry took a big hit a few seasons ago, dropping it from two tokens on a morale test to one, and now becomes worse with it requiring the opposing unit to make a morale test but for the two tokens.
The game has been crawling to a point where morale is nothing unless you get unlucky or have multiple negative effects. Everything tends to have good morale, or if it has bad morale it is unlikely to be taken or is patched up with an attachment. Add in cards which can reroll or auto-pass and this becomes worse and worse by the second. However, if there are sweeping changes across the game that brings morale stats down, then this may be better.
In addition to this nerf depending on how you look at it, the combat potential of the unit went down. They are worse on final rank, and no longer gain +1 to hit per rank destroyed. Instead they move to a support role and get to heal a wound or remove a condition token from a unit in long range for each condition token on the enemy unit they are attacking. This is a good change and if War Cry didn’t change I think a lot of people would be talking about the unit now. Removing tokens is a rare and powerful ability which could be clutch in a lot of situations.
Mormont Bruisers
Increase Movement, Decrease Morale, Remove Mace & Spike, Gain Counterstrike and Taunt.
Bruisers are not a unit taken that often due to the strength of other options in the Stark roster. But they were still a decent 6pts unit designed to take down the enemy whilst their combat became better quality over time. They have the same identity to Umbers in that regard and the playtest has them changing to condition token focus. The changes here are really bad and will result in them being taken far less than they already are.
If you were to swap Taunt for Mummer’s Blade you would have Bloody Mummer Skirmishers exactly, which are incredibly bad and is the reason the developers have already reworked them. Changing Mummer’s Blade for Taunt doesn’t change that. Disrupt and Counterstrike does not balance out the terrible defence stats, these (just like Mummer Skirmishers) will perish to the first thing that touches them.
Taunt is interesting to force the opponent to have to deal with this annoying speed bump that will not do a big enough dent to make a fuss. It is purely a 6pts speed bump that will go in the bin. Can I ask why the 2pts cheaper Free Folk Raiders have the same defence stats with their t-shirts when these guys have armour and shields? This is one of the playtests you realise you got completely wrong and should take back to the drawing board.
It is a mixed bag with the Mormonts, but it is not looking good. I like that the changes are trying to give them a different identity rather than being the same as Umbers but it needs to be developed a bit more. It feels like the developers want Mormonts to be in a support role and that direction is an interesting path for the game.
Crannogman Trackers
Decrease Attack Dice, Hidden Traps Buff, Gained Skirmisher.
Crannogman Trackers have not featured too much in Stark lists this season, but are a strong 5pts support option with a lot of flexibility to make up for their awful defense stats. Whilst they retain their flimsiness they offset it with the incredible array of abilities to make an impact on the field, but to further balance these incredible abilities the middle rank attack dice for the ranged attack went down and the full rank attack dice on the melee attack went down.
Hidden Traps used to be a choice between hits or a debuff to movement, and now it does both. A strong change since the reduced hits saw the ability no longer worthwhile, I can hear Free Folk players already cheering at the rework. Mark Target stays the same, whilst we see the Skirmisher rule from the Bloody Mummer Skirmishers get added with some tidied up wording.
There isn’t too much to say here but they did get a little bit more survivable thanks to Skirmisher, and can now pivot and march which will help them get to a better position for all of Howland’s tricks. A strong update which may see them taken to the table.
Crannogman Bog Devils
Remove Scout Openings and Swift Retreat, Gain Swift Strike and Poison Traps, Rework Poisoned Tridents and Crannogman Poison, Increase Middle Attack Dice and Decrease Morale.
A lot of changes for the Bog Devils, who were not unpopular but were a niche choice in Stark lists. This is not a rework but it certainly changed how they would complete their expected interaction with the game to make them far more deadly on the battlefield. It is all about Crannogman Poison now which gains an effect of dealing the damage it would normally do when you would gain another Crannogman Poison. So two units of these working together could be deadly.
They do become far easier to kill since they cannot retreat after being attacked and the morale gets worse. But they are going to be leaving combat after they have attacked which makes them great choices for Set For Charge. They are also dealing with both the weakened and Crannog Poison on the attack now rather than just one. They may be better than Greataxes for dealing with armour now especially since these extra wounds will cut through Hardened, Shield Wall, and Resilience. We did see unblockable hits become a thing to replace wounds though so I wonder whether it will be the same here or this will be a rare occasion where it doesn’t change.
Either way, I do believe we are going to see Crannogman lists come to the table as they are looking spicey albeit very easy to kill with the low armour.
Tully Sworn Shields
Decrease Movement, Increase Middle Attack Dice, Rework Shield Wall, Replace Stubborn Tenacity with Reworked Sentinel.
Another unit with a lot of changes but it may finally see them be playable outside of a few niche lists. Making them move five was important to make them playable, so dropping this to four alone would only kill them; however to offset this they have been given Sentinel so they may be faster. They got a little bit better at fighting and Shield Wall now protects them from ranged attacks. They are a tough unit to break and want a combat boosting attachment to be the perfect 6pts infantry unit, if they remain 6pts.
Sentinel has changed and it sparks a lot of worry for the game as a whole. I have beaten this dead horse enough but anything that provides an additional attack or charge in the game instantly becomes one of the best abilities in the game. There is a reason why Sentinel is now showing up everywhere in lists. Adding in the option for a free attack makes Golden Company Crossbowmen the hottest mercenaries on the markets and may decide the whole meta just like the Swordsmen did. Not to mention the other ways you could use Sentinel in other places. This is too much and does not need to be added. Take it away.
Tully Cavaliers
Lance Rework, Replace Rally Banner with Inspiring Charge, Rewording for Cavalry.
Heavy lance cavalry have been a bane on this game for a long time, but the last update saw Starfall Knights and Knights of Casterly Rock find a place in the faction where they are not auto included (or for Starfall Knights auto stay at home). Tully Cavaliers, however, did not get this message. Their Rally Banner ability is far too good and makes them close to impossible to kill especially when a Winterfell Guardian is included. It is not the damage output that is the problem, but the mass healing preventing you from dealing with them.
Now it is all about the healing of other units, so you need to make the right charge at the right time without letting your cavalry die in the process. With the attachments on offer, it will still be tough to remove the unit and the one less attack dice is not enough to make them terrible at damage. They are still just as good as (if not better than) before and it is all because of the healing. Combine this with the Sworn Shields who are tough to kill and doing additional actions, and Tullys may be the top list for Starks.
Lance is still great and I do believe it is balanced now with this new version. But I do hope there are some changes coming to the Starfall Knights, who did not get the ambush update and are one of the least taken units for Martells. They need some love so I hope to see that from the development team.
At least we can see that Taunt will not be able to take the free maneuver away for cavalry, since you can now make a maneuver before deciding your action for the turn. But the wording for Taunt means you will still take the tokens as you gain them for every action you take until you charge. The wording is weird and I think Taunt needs to change to fix this.
Steelshanks Walton
Replace All Rules.
Currently Steelshanks has Sundering, Iron Resolve, and a new ability called Shared Fear, which makes all enemy units in short ranged panicked when Steelshanks unit fails a panic test. Sundering and Iron Resolve are great abilities to help boost some of the options Boltons have, but Shared Fear is not a great ability. However, Steelshanks makes up for this by having some decent tactics cards whilst not locking out some NCU/Attachment choices in Roose or Ramsay.
The new rules are Seasoned Brutality, Battle-Hardened, and Loyalty In Service. All of these are great and turn a unit into a machine on the tabletop. Battle-Hardened is half of Iron Resolve, and Loyalty In Service is half of Protection of the Crown, both work to keep Steelshanks’ unit around longer. Seasoned Brutality keeps the theme of making the unit better in combat like Sundering did, but ties it to the new faction identity with condition tokens.
Steelshanks in Spearmen could see a lot of dice thrown out due to Set For Charge. Bastard’s Girls with eight dice in combat after their charging volley will make them even more lethal than they already are. But Blackguard is where I would want to put Steelshanks. You could take the zone with Walda Frey, dish out a panic test and weakened token, then have the Blackguard rerolling their 3+ saves, with -1 wound from failed panic tests, horrific visage, and 9 dice hitting on 3s with precision and vicious. It would be a menace on the battlefield. It is a nice feeling when you have multiple goon options for where a character can go unlike Roose who felt like a no brainer in Blackguard always.
Steelshank’s Watch
Replace Taunt.
Taunt is a great ability and you do see it often in Baratheon and Free Folk lists. As a card, only a few commanders have it, and it makes it far harder to predict when a taunt will come into play. Steelshank’s Watch makes an enemy unit in long range of a Bolton unit vulnerable after it has completed an action, but also provides a 2” shift if that unit was Steelshanks’. This could give you some movement that would be crucial for taking objectives or getting into a flank, however it is likely to just be a token which may or may not be that strong depending on what needs tokens.
For example, Zorse Riders get extra keywords for tokens on a unit, so they could get one from their own ability, one from this card, and thus have all three keywords from Motley Armaments. It is not the greatest card in the game, but it could have a larger impact depending on when it is used.
Fear Is Loyalty
Replace Price of Fear.
One of the biggest issues with Boltons is the reliability of your opponent failing a panic test for any of their abilities to do anything. If they pass then it is a waste of abilities. This wouldn’t be a big deal if it wasn’t on so much in the faction, and unfortunately Price of Fear was another effect on its knees begging to be triggered. Although, it was a strong card. Now it is replaced with Fear Is Loyalty; this is arguably worse since while anything that gives you more movement is strong, this now instead just gives you a chance to pass a panic test you may have failed.
If you fail a panic test, you can reroll, although if you fail again you take an additional wound. If it is Steelshanks’ unit then you may put a vulnerable token out in short range. I think this card is really bad considering there are cards in the game that let you reroll or even pass automatically with no negative side effects, why should this card have one? It’s a lame card that may get you out of a pickle, just sad that it has side effects for no reason.
Disciplined Execution
Replace Rush of Aggression.
Rush of Aggression is a powerful card and may be the best card Steelshanks has. Auto six on your charge roll with critical blow was massive for threat range and damage output. The replacement to this is a lot worse since it takes away the threat range and limits the critical blow to only Steelshanks’ unit, although if the defender has already activated then any unit can get critical blow. Highest attack dice is nice to keep the army at a consistent damage output.
We haven’t seen Vargo Hoat’s cards, but I do believe Steelshanks is the worst commander from these reveals. Roose and Ramsay levelled up massively, whereas overall Steelshanks got worse. As an attachment he got better, but the cards are so minor to the game unless a lot of things work out just right for them to be strong. Perhaps the tactics cards need to be looked over again?
Bastard’s Boys
List Building Changes.
When the new season released in March earlier this year, it negated the free Bastard’s Boy attachment benefit the Boltons had when giving them an edge on the other factions. This has been removed from the Bastard’s Boys and instead they don’t count towards the usual attachment limits but only one Bastard’s Boy can be taken per unit. Further to this, Ben Bones is now considered a Bastard’s Boy.
This is a pretty huge change, especially when all of the Bastard’s Boys (except for Ben Bones) have been reworked, and Boltons struggled to spend the free points of attachments in each list. This is a brilliant way of encouraging creativity with the different combinations you can make for units, whilst also shoring up the lack of 2pts attachments.
Skinner: The least popular attachment was Skinner, but this may be about to change. There are not a lot of places that Boltons can gain rerolls from, but Skinner can provide you with this as long as you have a weakened token in play. On top of this he comes with precision to provide some benefit if you are struggling on weakened tokens. Since Cutthroats are losing their rerolls, Skinner may be brought in to make sure they are dealing damage but he also fits perfectly into a Spearmen unit who can dish out the weakened on the Set For Charge then you can use it on your activation.
Grunt: Grunt is a popular choice for the Boltons since their 5pts units tend not to survive that long. Resilience is an incredibly strong ability and one that they needed to weather the storm of opponents’ best units in the game. Now, it plays more into faction identity with condition tokens and is not a one off defensive buff. He is definitely worse though, purely because of how strong Resilience is.
Sour Alyn: The most popular of the attachments, Sour Alyn increased the combat effectiveness for both melee and shooting units with a drawback if you failed to do enough damage. If he did not change I do not believe people would have batted an eye, but he did get reworked. Now he no longer provides a benefit to ranged units but loses the drawback of the ability. Highest attack dice and critical blow is strong but you will need to attack a unit that has not activated for it to take effect. He is perfect for Cutthroats or Blackguard, although I would struggle to find another place for him.
Damon Dance-For-Me: Damon has Boldness and Courage which is a great ability for any unit he resides in, although he has found himself in the ranged units Boltons have more often than the combat ones. Now he switches this for a unique order that allows his unit to make a maneuver and then become vulnerable. A free maneuver is a massive buff to any unit anywhere in the game, but it will be in addition to another attachment. I can see him in Bastard’s Girls on his own for sure or even with archers since it can give them a deadly threat range. A super powerful ability that for once may be balanced with the vulnerable token coming into play.
I really like the changes for the Bastard’s Boys, but ignoring the attachment restrictions aspect is the biggest change; otherwise we would be talking about which will be left behind. The options it gives list building is nuts.
Dreadfort Captain: Spread Fear has moved on to the Captain and is no longer an order, but loses the added debuffs it would impose. The Captain also makes the unit they charge panicked which can help trigger Spread Fear which has always been the roadblock to the ability. Since I have tried the casino panic test list I can tell you it is not as strong as you think unless you are on a lucky spree, but the panic token alone could be enough to see the Captain taken, although there are far better options.
Bolton Flayer: A complete rework for the Bolton Flayer means that we could see armies with nothing but Flayers in them. Fueled by Slaughter is a strong ability, and if the Flayer remains at 1pts it will be a strong option for the Boltons to pick from. On top of that, Exploit Fear allows you to utilise panic tokens as vulnerable tokens to help you get more kills and boost the Fueled by Slaughter. I like that it ties into the rest of the faction, and is a genuine thought in your mind when deciding on what to bring. It is strong, but it will be competing for space in the faction.
I do not envy any Bolton player trying to figure out the best combination of attachments right now, but I do love that you may spend your actual points on more attachments than just the free ones that everyone gets. These changes spice up the faction and will make Boltons something to consider now when playing ASOIAF.
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