Grandad here, playing Circle again and just thinking about this key piece. Game last night against a 50 point jack heavy Anson Durst list and the discussion had afterwards has prompted this blog post. The game was going badly for me, I was using a tier 4 Kromac 2 beast heavy list. I just had forgotten about boundless charge, and lost Gehtorix to a buffed Reckoner, Durst feated which meant even under Kromac's feat my retaliation only got one and half heavy Jack's back. The following Menoth turn saw my army disappear and left me in a precarious position. Quite rightly my opponent was confident of victory, he played well and I had played poorly, I deserved to loose. During my next turn I measured eight inches from my caster, saw Durst was in reach range, then teleported a fury 7 'Mac 2 into an ARM 20 Durst and killed him quite comfortably, with 2 fury to spare. Get out of jail free card played? This left a sour taste in my opponents mouth and I don't blame him.
So even after the recent no double port nerf, the Shifting Stones are still one of the most dangerous units Circle has, possibly one of the most dangerous in the game. The ability to place a piece, circumventing the battle line is very dangerous. The two things I would advise new players about Shifting Stone Teleportation is that firstly, it's always more than eight inches the model moves, account for this. A canny player will have the back of their models base just barely breaking the invisible plane of the Stones triangle. They then can be placed within eight inches, which means the model can be placed measuring from front of base to back of base, effectively adding the base size of the model to the distance moved. A large based model with reach like a Warpwolf Stalker can be placed and still engage a model nearly twelve inches away. Don't be caught out.
Secondly, kill a Stone, always. The above tale should illustrate clearly you must take away this ability, don't give the Circle player a get out of jail free card. I have played veterans who will gladly throw a ten point unit into certain death just to remove the ability to teleport. There is not much a buffed Circle heavy can't kill.
So can Shifting Stones do anything else besides teleport death into the enemy lines? Yes they have a multitude of uses besides teleportation. Beast management is one use. Serenity is useful for taking fury of beasts preventing frenzy checks whilst healing beasts (even constructs) can help with order of activation. In this capacity you will have your Stones following your beasts around like a gaggle of goslings.
Objective/zone contesting. Shifting Stones are a great little unit for holding a zone, once placed, they can keep using healing field to go back to full health and the opponent will not be able to remove them with pot shots, they will have to dedicate resources to removing them.
Road block, my favourite use. I often put Stones in front of models to block charge lanes but they are also great at blocking enemies in, especially annoying jacks with enliven or models with admonition. Positioning Stones around a heavy also means they cant charge until the annoyance is removed and ARM 18 is a quite annoying.
So is there a point to all this rambling? Probably not, but I do not think Shifting Stones are somehow broke or overpowered, their most powerful ability can be neutered by removing one stone, the double port nerf was fair (even if it did remove the eBaldur Lord of the Feast in your deployment zone turn 1 hi-jinx). Every faction has their powerful support pieces, Krielstone,Choir,beastmasters, squire etc. Shifting Stones are just another unit in this mould. I think in a strategy game like warmahordes, dealing with powerful enemy pieces is a central part of the game.
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