Hear me Roar! The ASOIAF 2023 update is here for the Lannister’s. This article goes over the changes to the forces of the Westerlands/Crownlands and speculates over the future of the game for them. This update was pretty good for the Lannister’s. They need some reworks to diversify the choices of units and Commanders, whilst the very weak tactics deck was left untouched. Let’s dive deeper.
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Do bear in mind the aim of this patch. CMON wanted to change the general rules and then let the meta settle before a big update. Whilst this is not what the community wants after being starved for any form of update for a year, this is what we got. I just hope it is not a year until the next “Update”.
For the Lannister Faction, too many 6pts units needed to be addressed, as well as the hit or miss Base Tactics Deck. All the Commanders needed to be looked at in some form, but mostly a buff to make them useful. I think this faction feels old, it needs a face lift, and this should be focused on the early releases of the faction. For the most part the newer stuff doesn’t need too much attention – apart from the Honour Guard of course, and then there is one of the newer characters that needed to be addressed.
Addam Marbrand
Addam saw a few changes with both his Attachment cards being slightly reworked. The Commander card received the new change to Hardened, reducing its effectiveness whilst Jaime’s Protector ability has been replaced with Sentinel to prevent the many FAQ questions and infinite loops.
I think both changes are welcomed with open arms. Whilst Addam Commander in Warrior’s Sons is still pretty good at sticking around, it is only slightly worse than before. I think this combination will still show up and cause a few issues until the Warrior’s Sons see a change to their Battle Prayer. My tip would be to hit the unit hard initially which is when you will get the most damage or focus the unit down with a few units of your own. Sow Discord worked wonders for me when facing them.
Switching the Protector rule for Sentinel on the Attachment version is wise. Why cause unnecessary issues with trying to figure it out when Sentinel does the same thing, but now for more units and not just Jaime? This is quite a good change and makes Addam more playable in other lists, especially when it comes alongside point reductions making room for attachments in the forces. Sentinel is becoming a more sought-after ability due to the Relentless changes which makes this Attachment most alluring.
The Result: Addam will likely see a drop-in pick rate for the Commander but not due to his rules changing, rather other changes have opened the door for diverse choices.
Champion of the Faith
The Warrior’s Sons attachment, the Champion of the Faith, is affected by the War Cry change. Out of every location where War Cry is present, the Lannister suffers the most due to the pick rate for this attachment being so high.
The Champion is taking to trigger morale tests for the Faith units becoming a source of Faith Token generation for the Faction. Furthermore, having multiple units popping this ability to litter the board with tokens is incredibly valuable. The change is likely to reduce a lot of condition tokens on the field now, but Lannister’s can get tokens quite easily through the likes of NCUs for example.
I do think this change was needed to open list building to other attachments going forward, whilst still producing some tokens and generating fuel for the Faith abilities will keep them relevant. A fair nerfs to the Attachment overall.
The Result: Whilst pick rate will decrease, the attachment keeps its synergy with the Faith sub faction and is likely to only see play with these units. However, none of this should be considered a negative for the faction, and the game.
Points Changes – Cleganes, Halberds, and Honour Guard
House Clegane saw some long-awaited adjustments to points on their units. The light cavalry that was considered to be over costed was reduced to align with other light cavalry, whilst the Clegane Butcher cavalry attachment saw a rework and reduction in points. Initially the Mountain’s Men unit was reduced as well but this was later confirmed to be a mistake and was corrected swiftly.
Clegane Brigands are a glass cannon unit, they hit hard with their rules revolving around morale damage which pairs nicely with the base Lannister Deck. Being 6pts makes them worthwhile for speed but do not get caught as they can fall quite quickly. To offset this, bring a Clegane Butcher by healing through combat. If you are doing attacks with the unit, they will stick around.
It is quite unusual for Clegane’s to get some attention. On one hand it feels like Lannisters were the only faction focused on improving the state of the faction, but both units were quickly pointed out as being useless after the last update, so it is likely this was an obvious change that CMON wanted to do.
Halberds were another joke unit that did not compete against the other 6pts units in the faction. To be fair, very few 6pts units were taken due to the dominance of heavy cavalry. Crossbows are taken due to a need for a ranged unit and the ever-elusive unit Red Cloaks synergise too well with the Lannister Deck to not take. Mountain’s Men and Halberdiers were never going to outperform these units; however Mountain’s Men achieve their role for the points but Halberds don’t resulting in the points decreasing.
This does not make Guardsmen obsolete either, making them a defensive choice to a slightly more offensive unit retaining its own defensive abilities.
Casterly Rock Honour Guard are another joke unit added to the faction. They are widely considered to be the worst looking models in the game with the worst rules possible. Slow and ineffective at combat they will struggle to defeat cheap infantry. I do think a few rules tweaks would make the unit interesting such as not spending the token for a certain effect, and instead this is a buff if the token is present. Reducing them by a point and increasing their move to 5 feels lazy as they are still the worst unit for any role available for the Lannisters, they aren’t even good protectors for the characters they are honour guarding.
The Result: The Clegane Butcher is like a brand-new Attachment added into the game. This will see a lot of play in all the cavalry available for Lannisters. The Brigands are finally being unwrapped and are hitting the table as I write this, and I expect them to be a staple in most armies alongside the Halberdiers who at their points cost are very usable.
The Casterly Rock Honour Guard will see little play if at all. The changes are great and useful, but the unit is still way too lacklustre to be usable. The rule is unique and fun but is out done by everything which wouldn’t be too bad if these weren’t supposed to be the most elite unit for Lannisters.
The King and the Kingsguard – Jaime Lannister and Joffrey
What a resurgence for Joffrey Baratheon. One small change to the Attachment card for Joffrey has seen him turn from a frail glass cannon nervously hiding behind his army, to a loose hound exploding into the opponent’s lines trying to do the most damage without a care in the world. The removal of extra VPs given to the opponent and the Panic explosion is one thing, but to gain a buff that could boost the Kingsguard up into the fray has changed the unit massively.
The Tactics Cards have stayed the same, but Joffrey no longer feels so gloomy to play. Jaime’s Kingsguard Attachment has changed due to Expert Duelist being rolled back. Whilst the change is warranted in other places, this Attachment is taken so little that it won’t affect the faction.
The Result: Joffrey Commander will now show up more frequently with players not feeling like they shot themselves in the foot when fielding him. Alongside Joffrey comes the Kingsguard no longer worried about their 8-wound frailty. A great refresh to the faction taking a bad Commander and making them playable.
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Lannisters received the biggest buff in this update as several units were addressed and changed. I would not be surprised if the play rate for the faction skyrocketed over the next few months, and at the very least the Kevin dominance might be diluted with some Joffrey lists in there. It is nice to see a diverse set of units competing for a space in lists rather than a set go to as well.
I do believe the Tactics Deck is one of the worst in the game and swings wildly depending on the opponent’s morale. Kevin is taking center stage a lot but what do you expect from the pattern of over-picked Commanders which all give free attack actions? CMON really should know by now after nerfing Othell and Relentless that letting armies have multiple free actions will always dominate in the state of the game currently. Bring Kevin down a little bit and raise the other Commanders up.
Lannisters may enter the top three most played factions after this patch due to the changes being overwhelmingly positive in a sea of negative.
Pick up Joffrey and the Kingsguard here to experience the new version of him of the battlefield.
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