2.0 updates - brief thoughts

 Now that 2.0 is out and the dust has settled a little bit I think it is worth a few brief thoughts.  Firstly I think W'adrhun came out of the update in a very positive place.  Basically all of the characters got options rolled into their costs making them effectively cheaper and the change to stat by stand rather than by individual model was relatively positive for W'adrhun with a number of regiments picking up an extra wound and or extra attacks. The Scion of Conquest in particular benefits from the character changes as all the spells are available without cost increases.  The updated supremacy abilities are all also quite viable.  The Matriarch Queen and the Chieftain are my picks for the most interesting with the Queen winning out slightly on how powerful I think the Fanatic special rule can be.

Game-wide most elite units got a little less elite with those changes but both Chosen of Death* and Chosen of Famine were among the very few that kept 8 attacks per stand and, like all infantry, no longer degrade with lost wounds.  The Apex Predator did pick up some fairly substantial decreases with the changes to rider, the hide of the silent hunter, and just in general feeling a little less bulky than before.  The Drum Beast got an entire redesign and looks like it will eventually be a common sight in W'adrhun lists and will now be a combo kit to the Tontorr.  I for one am very excited to see what it ends up looking like.  More Dinos More Better I'm sure.

As far as the chant mechanic goes there are enough changes for it to be worth it's own post when I get some time to note down thoughts.  Redesigned Famine seems to be in a very good spot and Death remains very solid.  The loss of turn 1 tokens is a fairly big early game change but the availability of Fanatic does provide some opportunities for early chant utilization.  Leveraging that particular rule does seem like it will be important moving forward.  There are still plenty of tricks available and if anything the effect of the chants particularly at tier 3 got stronger.

In general I think ranged attacks got more powerful with the 2.0 update and the W'adrhun ranged** pieces all got quite a lot of improvements.  Hunters are now viable flex choices with decent shooting and 5 melee attacks per stand for anything seeking to run into them and Slingers leveraging their ability to inflict resolve tests at range and the new torrential fire seem very potent.  Both went from niche pieces to regiments I think should have some priority in list build. 

*I intend to explore the potential damage output and sustain of Chosen of Death in the relatively near future

**Check the list section for a framework of a ranged heavy build