Monsterpocalypse: Top 3 Dynamic Update Changes We’re Excited For
With the release of the Monsterpocalypse Dynamic changes imminent, we’re talking about our favorite 3 confirmed changes so far!
Faye and the team at Privateer Press have been giving us some great spoilers of things to come. You can check them out for yourself here and here. The changes so far have been right on point, fixing some needed problems and opening up the potential for a ton of new styles of play. Let’s jump into my top 3 changes so far!
#3 Rise of the AAAPEs
Oh poor poor AAPEBOT, from the beginning the only truly memorable thing about this model was the name. For 2 points you had access to Flak Field[1]…which wasn’t good for much except in the exceedingly rare case you faced down a bunch of DEF 1 aircraft. Then Anti-Air, which doubled up on the killing aircraft rules – except that aircraft are one of the easier units to take out from a DEF standpoint. All in all the AAAPEBOT just simply wasn’t worth paying 2 points for. But now…
Behold AAAPEBOT 2.0! With a bump in SPD to 5 and an additional Blue die, these stats are starting to look like a 2pt model. In addition, Flak Field got a bump to [2] allowing AAAPEBOT to remove all DEF 2 units, greatly expanding its capabilities. Is the new meta AAAPEBOTs all around? Definitely not. But this previously maligned robot ape now has a place in your list and that makes me happy.
#2 Fall of The Krackenoctus
From Krackenoctus’ release, this monster has been the golden child to which all others were compared. DEF 9, 12 life, multiple attacks, Grappler, Waterlogged, and Super Damage capabilities. All great rules/abilities packed into one angry squid creature, the only potential weakness being that Krackenoctus was a little slow. This is finally being addressed, but in a way that is keeping Krakenoctus still a very dangerous and meta-relevant monster. The only changes are in Alpha form, but I’m including both so you can get the complete picture.
In Alpha Krackenoctus has lost a blue dice on the Brawl and more important is now DEF 8. The difference from 8 to 9 is huge in this game. Against a monster with 12 health, missing an early Power attack by 1 felt disastrous and could seemingly put you out of the game right off the bat. The other huge change is the swap of Lightning Attack for Onslaught on the Brawl. I like this change as it tones down the raw power of being able to Fling then Power attack, while still retaining the option for a double fling turn – which is still a phenomenal ability. All in all, we’ve got a toned down overachiever while keeping some signature awesome abilities.
#1 Sunset on the Sun Industries Building
Finally, we arrive at my favorite change so far. While I liked what the Sun Industries building was doing thematically, on the table it created its own meta that was incredibly powerful and often near impossible to prevent. The previous problem rule was Underground Network, and by bringing 3 or 4 of these buildings in your list you could typically guarantee getting a problematic model into your opponents base on turn 1. This would often snowball and create a hole from which the opposing player could never really recover from. So let’s see what Sun Industries brings to the table now.
The removal of Underground Network has given way to Action: Ambush which will allow a unit to do a new type of advance called a ‘full advance‘. This is a pretty simple concept that basically lets a model immediately move up to their speed and doesn’t count as their move action that turn. This will effectively grant a unit a double move, which is still very powerful, but will cut down on a lot of the crazy random models popping out on turn 1 on the opponent’s side of the board. This seems like a good change and while you aren’t going to be bringing 4 of these buildings anymore, having 1 in your list is still a great include.
The other change is to Shadow Screen, now requiring the building to be secured. This opens up some nice counterplay options and now you can’t just hang out next to an unsecured building and be automatically protected from nearly all Blast attacks. Another solid change.
Wrap Up
By raising up the underachievers and tightening down the meta-defining powerhouses the overall game opens up. More models and play styles become relevant and creativity in list building gets a breath of fresh air. I think these changes are showing that Privateer is taking a reasonable approach to their changes and working to preserve the original intent/thematic design on the models. I’m definitely excited to see the Dynamic Update in its entirety.
What are you most excited for in the dynamic update? What model do you think needs tuning, up or down, the most?
