Except for the starter set - Alanis Sallustis v The Bloody Cardinal. From what I've heard, the balance there was not great - and for quite a while I did not hear of anyone with the Abyssals being able to beat the basileans.
Well Mantic must have heard this as well, because with the new release of these two companies in their own company boxes (instead of just in the 2 player starter), they have updated the cards for both companies. The new v1.1 cards can be downloaded off the Mantic site (or you can order nice printed ones for only $5 from the mantic web store). Not only that, but the rules and all the cards are now available in the companion.
Unfortunately what they didn't do was to list what has changed. So here are the changes I have found, card by card, line by line (with some of my own commentary)
Basileans
Alanis Sallustis : no change
Watchmen of Tarisios : Sh reduced from 4+ to 5+
- with the +1 bonus for not moving, being able to shoot on a 3+ is simply too powerful.
Guardians of Tarisios: no change
Gnaeus's Lions: Me reduced from 3+ to 4+. De decreased from 5+ to 4+. Att increased from 8 to 10. Ne decreased from 16+ to 14+
- huge change to the cavalry unit. They got hit with the nerf bat everywhere, but got 2 more attacks to balance that
Faction Orders: Heaven's Blessing - changed from increasing Defense to increasing Nerve.
- no no more De 6+ cavalry.
Righteous Resolve: Lowered Unit Strength increase from +2 to +1
- another good balance change. When playing any scenario that uses unit strength - being able to make a unit US 4 (the cav, again) was ridiculous when no unit in the game is more than US 2 naturally. It is still a very powerful command, but not quite as overwhelming.
Forces of the Abyss
The Bloody Cardinal: Champion rule: Feast & Famine - change range from 9" to entire table.
- Basically Dread if you know Kings of War, but now instead of 9" it is the entire table. Very big change.
Cackling Choir: no change
Macabre Missionaries: Me increased from 4+to 3+, Att decreased from 10 to 8, Ne increased from 12+ to 13+
- big buff to the monstrous infantry unit, making them a force to be feared.
The Slithering Bishop: Add the Pathfinder special rule.
- allows this model to be the beast it appears by not being hindered by difficult terrain. Also means it can sit in cover to help protect it from shooting, without any penalty when charging out.
Faction Orders: No changes
So nerf to Basileans and buff to Abyssals. Like any other changes, these need to be looked at together, not just individually. It does sound like a good chance for The Bloody Cardinal to finally compete with Alanis Sallustis and the all the other companies. Basileans will have a bit of a harder time across the board, but they were one of (if not the) strongest companies before.
Only time and games will tell.
Because it is all fun and games . .
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