Warhammer 40K: Keepers of Secrets Need a Glow Up
Goatboy here and wow did GW hit the Keeper of Secrets with the nerfbat. Here’s what the Slaaneshi sexy cows need to get back in the game.
Goatboy here and wow did my secret sexy cow monsters of awesome get kicked down a lot of notches in the new Emperor’s Children codex. The Keeper of Secrets were so cool and unique but it feels like the sins of a “too strong” Grotmas detachment meant they got hit so hard they are almost unplayable due to costing too many dang points. It is a weird dance to play when trying to “cost” out a big punchy unit and these Keepers of dank dark Secrets paid the ultimate price of two months meta mayhem.
I hate the fact I have to look at them and think – why even bring some of these cool looking models? The hero monster of the Slaanesh Daemons just doesn’t feel that great when you compare it to the other options we have. They don’t fly around the table. They don’t punch insanely hard. They are not even that tough when you compare their points to other big monsters in that range. Really the only thing going for it is that they look pretty cool, have a very nice model, and move pretty fast. So what can we do to fix this up?
Keeper of Secrets – Toughen Them Up
First we can try and toughen them up. I know right now that Feel No Pain looks to be phasing out as a whole amongst armies. It is a real weird rule that if it shows up too much on the table top it can create some upsetting interactions. I won’t say how many times I spiked a FNP roll in a game and had to hear the audible groan of – “Damn you and those Goatboy Dice.” While I would love to just throw it back on the model I don’t think it should be there based on how the game is going right now. This means we have to think of extra ways to let this model be tough.
Keeper of Secrets – Musky Auras!
Step one and I think one of the easiest options is to give Keepers an Aura choice type of rule like you see on some of the other big character monsters. I love the idea of a bespoke set of rules you can “select” with these super characters and thought it could be cool on the greater daemons. I know it makes it a bit harder to play but it would let them feel like heroes. Heck I would like these types of choices for other armies too as it gives almost a “spell” like effect that lets the player have some kind of choice they got to make that isn’t – I’m gonna move here and my Plastic Dudesmen’s gonna punch you for the Emperor.
Let’s let it have two basic “musk” like Auras if they want. Aura one would be the Lone Operative power due to how mesmerizing its form can be and how it could look like a “friendly” unit if too far away. This would let the model not need to be near Be’lakor and create a kind of “stalking” monster aspect in the backfield. It would be an easy way to help “let the monster” survive as it moves up and still let some of the enemy be heroes if they take it out when it gets mixed in. You could then let its second Aura be the whole -1 AP option it has right now so you have to choose to shift it to get more combat out of it if you wanted.
Keeper of Secrets – A Bit More Armor Please
After doing the Aura options I think the next thing is to think about how actual armor works for armies. Right now it is cute to have a 3+ armor but I wonder if throwing all the big “armored” stuff with a 2+ might actually be better. How many times have you seen Morty eat it to a bunch of AP-1 lethal hits? Or Angron for that matter. It isn’t hard to get them to a 3+ when they are big monster that has to get somewhere to get useful. It makes me think that throwing 2+ armor saves on stuff isn’t going to break the game and having it on a Greater Daemon is just a way to let some of the incidental damage fall off of it without needing a FNP.
Keeper of Secrets – Kool-Aid Man Movement!
Finally I think all the greater Daemons should just ignore going thru walls and buildings. How many dang animations have we seen that has a giant jerk of a monster just Kool-aid man thru a wall like it is nothing. Why are these walls sitting on acrylic bases so hard to go thru? Why can’t they just ignore them and go ham through the wall without hoping for some kind of Stratagem that lets you? Heck why isn’t there just a basic one that says “Walls Be Damned I’m Gonna Get Ya!” for 1CP so all armies can feel like an awesome animation. Having something like this would again let giant monsters stage a bit better and cause players to rethink getting too close to ruined building #3 on the tabletop.
Do you think these things would justify the current cost of these bad peeps? Will it keep way too many secrets? Will it wreck the meta in a way that would too good? Or would it just let a big ole Monster actually be worth it to take?
Would these make the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh too good?
