Greeting Citizens!
The latest Combat Card arrives to the rumbling of armoured treads just in time for Tanksgiving. An imposing card in its own right, as is to be expected from the Astra Militarum’s armoured division, Ackerman introduces a new Warlord archetype with his rule synergising around a card Keyword. As a Tank Commander it should come as no surprise that his specialist Keyword is VEHICLES.
Warlord Rule: Armoured Assault
His Warlord rule is Armoured Assault and compared to recent supreme commanders very simple:
“Friendly VEHICLE cards take [75%] less damage during your turn.”
It doesn’t get any more straightforward than that. That said there is more nuance than perhaps first meets the eye. First to address the mechanical side of the rules. This effect is only applied during your turn, so will almost completely nullify any attacks coming in when your opponent attacks back on your turn.
However important to highlight is that this rule isn’t “damage from attacks” but all damage, so any kind of passive or trait effect that would damage your cards during your turn is reduced as well, reducing damage such as Poison or damaging Warlord rules like Logan Grimnar’s cleaving effect.
This means you’re in a position to be more aggressive and foolhardy in your turn than any other warlord. This means you are particularly likely to dominate in an attack type mirror match where swinging with your most powerful attack type should always be “free”.
It also poses a great opportunity to ready with little to no risk at crucial points. As a Vehicle warlord most commonly you will be favouring Range, and a Psychic deck can stop you in your tracks locking you out of the tactical flexibility of readying, but Ackerman can shrug that off when you need him too.
Keyword: Vehicle
Finally the use of the Vehicle keyword does restrict his build options, but as a result the benefit of his rule is very high. The Vehicle keyword is very flexible in the Servants of the Emperor, even allowing some Melee builds rather than the obvious Ranged, as well as several cards below the 30pt threshold, which differentiates if significantly from other similar Warlords like Canis Rex.
Overall Ackerman brings a new flavour and archetype to the Warlord roster, and exemplifies that a good offense is the best defensive with simple but deep play options to explore.
We hope to see you behind the controls this Tanksgiving and crushing the heretic and the alien beneath your armoured treads!
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