What does the Arbalest do? Well, the clue is in the giant crossbow, but let’s look anyway!

New Carnevale models means new Carnevale model rules, and today is no exception!

The Guild have a new character in the form of the Arbalest, as well as some tweaks to existing characters that I think Guild players will really enjoy. And the Unholy Mutations box sees Advanced Hybrids get a bit of a buff too. Let’s get stuck in.

The Guild

First off, lets start with a small but also massive change.

Citizens have received a buff! Not in their stats or points, but in the way Union works.

The adds 1 Attack to a Citizen who has 2 other friendly characters around. The rule used to only take effect if this character was in base contact with 2 others. However, now it works if either this character or its target is in base contact with 2 other friendlies. That’s 2 total, so you can mix and match. So long as there’s a Citizen with 2 other friendly characters total next to them or their target, they get the bonus.

A simple change, but one that makes Citizens all that much more useful.

The Arbalest is a Henchman choice, so while her basic statline isn’t going to dazzle, it’s the utility and ability to take multiples that really help this character.

A couple of Will Points helps her, as does Expert Marksman (1), which allows her to re-roll one attack die when shooting her crossbow. That crossbow is pretty scary on its own, with a massive 15″ range. Get her up on a rooftop and she’ll have a good sight-line to most of the board.

Her biggest strength is that for only 12 Ducats you can up her Attack power using the Union special rule. This previously was only available on Citizens, so adding another character with it helps. And with the changes to Union (see above), the Arbalest gets a lot of chances to use it. If she targets someone in base contact with 2 friendlies, it’s +1 ATT. If she herself is in base contact with 2 friendlies (maybe 2 other Arbalests?) that’s +1 ATT. Maybe there’s one in base contact with her and one next to her target? Also +1 ATT! Lots of options to really boost this character above her worth in Ducats.

Recruiters are next, and they’ve received new weapons! Their regular crossbows have been replaced with Handbows (compare their’s to the Arbalest’s and you’ll see the difference!). The Handbow does have a shorter range – 8″ instead of 15″ – but it loses the Two-handed rule, making it more accurate on Attacks of Opportunity (including Guard). It also gains Penetration -1 which allows the Recruiter to deal with more heavily armoured targets. Usually other Hero choices who are often the ones hunting this support character.

The Recruiter still has its Instigator special rule, which hasn’t changed. But with the changes to Union, giving Citizens and Arbalests +2 ATT instead of +1 has become so much easier!

Finally the Recruiter has had a decent Ducats reduction, coming in at 14 instead of the previous 16. Now they’re support characters that won’t break the bank compared to the more offensive Hero choices in the Guild.

Rashaar

Rashaar have only one change this time round, and it’s a big ol’ buff to the Advanced Hybrids, just in time for their release!

First of all, they’ve dropped 1 Ducat. Always a nice change for Rashaar players!

They’ve also gained 1 Will Point, making them a lot more reliable throughout the game.

Unfortunately they’ve dropped 1 point of Protection, but considering they’re not wearing anything but ripped shorts, that’s pretty fair!

The biggest change comes in their special rules. They’ve lost Fast Swimmer, but instead have gained Water Creature. This change is pretty big! Not only do they gain an inch of movement in the water, but they also cannot be drowned! They are fish people, so that makes sense to me.

These changes mean that Advanced Hybrids suddenly become one of the most flexible units in the Rashaar faction. The move the same speed in water and on land, and are the fastest on land in the whole of the Rashaar! With a 5″ move and a good Dexterity of 4 they’re already good on land. But then add Acrobatic (2) in there and you’ve got a character that is safe in water, good on land, and excellent at climbing and jumping the rooftops. Any Rashaar player will love being able to compete in the rooftop game as well as the water game!

I Want New Rules Now!

That’s good, because they’re available now!

All of these new stats are available on the Carnevale Gang Builder online, and also for download on stat cards in the Resources section of the Carnevale website. Check them out, and get playing!

If you’d like to pick up any of these new models, they’re available to pre-order right now. Pick them up, get some games in, and let us know how you get on! We love showing cool pictures of games in progress, so if you take any, send them in to info@ttcombat.com for us to feature right here on TTCommunity!