If you play war, or have checked the site, then you know that the night of murder is coming! In the spirit of the game, I decided to make a hobgoblin assassin. Well, he’s not sculpted yet. But i think that I’ll start by making the rules.
The assassin may be taken as a hero choice, If he is the general, then hobgoblins count toward the maximum for core units.
Hobgoblin Assassin
M-WS-BS-S-T-W-I-A-LD
4 4 3 4 4 3 4 3 9
Equipment: Two hand weapons, light armor, Talisman of the warp.
Special rules: Squirmy!, This is MINE!, Dodge.
Talisman of the warp: Stolen, or a gift from Daemon smiths, the talisman of the warp enables the hobgoblin assassin to jump in and out of the warp. To use the talisman, roll a D6. If 1-5, then it can be used as normally, Allowing the hobgoblin to move up to 24", in any direction. If a 6, then it fizzles, crackles madly, and the hobgoblin takes a wound. No saves allowed.
Squirmy!: The hobgoblin doesn’t ever join in groups, As they are to blood thirsty to stay in line. They are subject to “Frenzy”, in addition.
This is MINE!: When the assassin kills a hero, He may opt to take the hero’s Armour or weapon. Armour may not stack, and the hobgoblin may not steal anything from Ogres, as he would have a hard time lifting it.
Dodge: In addition to being Squirmy, The hobgoblin is also very alert- He has a 4+ Ward save.
Im still deciding on the points, what do you all think? Remove something? Add something?
Try taking the Skaven Assassin stats deducting from it the stats of a normal Clanrat then adding the difference to a base Hobgoblin profile and see what you have.
The Skaven Assassin and a Hobgoblin Assasin would likely have the same teachers in Cathay.
I don’t think any assassin has a 4+ dodge ward save any more, I could be wrong though. He obviously shouldn’t be dodgier than an Elf or Skaven. However, he should definately have poisoned weapons and maybe throwing daggers.
It’s also difficult to imagine a Hobgoblin, assassin or not, who would be on foot and be frenzied instead of prefering to hide behind someone else. If it is a capable Hobgoblin, chances are he’d either prefer to hide behind many other boyz or at least stab someone in the back and then run away. The looting seems about right though.
Well, I like the stats idea- But ill have to find a copy of the newer codex. I like the 5+ dodge, being he cant be in a group. Either way, he is still being developed.
A Hobgoblin who has the same bonuses to stats as a Skaven Assassin has over a Clanrat would have the following profile:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
5 6 5 4 4 2 6 3 8
It would come with 2 hand weapons, throwing daggers (all of which is poisoned), 4+ dodge, Scout and maybe a special ability or two such as the ability to steal another hero’s items if it kills the hero like discussed early.
It could start with a unit (like the Sneaky Gitz), but other models don’t benefit from its Leadership.
In general I think the idea of Hobbo Assassins very cool! When I read this I automatically get a detailed imagine how this would look like. Pretty cool :hat off
But the rules are a little… hard, isn’t he? He is super fast, hard to hit, harder to wound and can steal magic items. It’s about time that I played my last Warhammer game and he is definately worth a field test, 'cause the rules look interessting. And maybe he is not that hard like it looks on the paper ^^.
Well, it’s a nice idea that every assassin has a talisman, like kind of a sign of their cult. But it makes him impossible fast ^^. A flying movement would be enough, and even this is fast. Any maybe this special movement sould be just once per game and the risk should be higher… roll 1 and he is just gone… dissapeared in the Warp…
4+ ward save for because of his reflexes are damn high, too, imho. a 4+ ward save isn’t that common. He has no armor, but 5+ should be enough. Oh yeah, and I thing an armour, even a light is too heavy for an assasine ^^. But I don’t know if Skaven assassines have armours, too…
I like the looting rule It’s hard, but too cool to remove ^^
Well, that he allways walks alone because of his bloodlust… I don’t know, this sounds more like a berzerker than like a sneaky, quiet killer. Why don’t you use the general assassine rule with the hidden unit member? he could hide in Hobbo and Gobbo units and as a crew member of the BTs… would be a nasty surprise.
Don’t missunderstand me, I do not complain or something, the assassine is a really stylish idea, I like a lot. But these things I mentioned are more… hints you should think about ^^. The less mighty rules a unit has, the enemy can say against it and your chances are higher to use it against friends :). A cheap model with balances, basic rules is more powerfull than a monster with tons of new own special rules, imho
A lot of the benefit you get from a normal military is the leadership boost to everything within 12". 1-2 points may not seem like very much, but actually when you look at what that does when you roll a 2d6, each point of increased leadership can cut your chance of breaking in half.
On 2d6 there is
1 way to get a 12 (Automatically succeed)
3 ways to get an 11+ (12/13 chance for success)
6 ways to get a 10+ (10/13 chance for success)
10 ways to get a 9+ (13/18 chance for success)
15 ways to get an 8+ (7/13 chance for success)
21 ways to get a 7+ (1/2 chance for success)
26 ways to get a 6+ (1/3 chance for success)
30 ways to get a 5+ (1/6 chance for succes)
33 ways to get a 4+ (1/13 chance for success)
35 ways to get a 3+ (1/36 chance for success)
36 ways to get a 2+ (0 chance of success)
So you can see, it is a bell curve. Your leadership going up from 6 dramaticaly lessons your chance of failing the tests. Once you get below six, it becomes increasingly impossible to pass.
Someone who can ride their wolf out the night before and blow up the enemy’s gunpowder supply, cut the chains that would bring up their draw bridge or stab the enemy wizard or commander in the back before the rest of the boyz come riding in?
It seems like it could be a natural progression of the Sneaky Gitz.
It’s actually REAL easy to kill a single model that doesn’t join a unit. Almost comically so.
Point one squad of archers, crossbowmen or handgunners and they evaporate instantly. Of course, the exception to this is if the hero is riding a monster.
Within a squad you either have to shoot the entire squad apart or charge it. Then you either challenge the hero (bad idea in this case) or you break and overrun the squad.
But since the Assassin will get to rip into your unit back, it might be very hard to win that combat and overrun the squad.
It’s hard, but too cool to remove ^^