Back in November, I wrote a whole article on why no one was playing Daughters of Khaine (#108 for those who are curious), and why other equally unsupported armies were getting more table time than the angriest ladies in all the realms. And I'd pretty much resigned myself to the fact that they were probably never going to get their own Battletome.
But, boy, did GW make me look the fool...
Not only did they get their fancy new book, but they got just a ton of releases! So, let's break this down. I'm going to try and avoid covering ground I've already covered, but a lot has changed. I'm going to review the Battletome in the same format as my Legions of Nagash review, so if you love or hate the current way I do it, let me know!
ALLEGIANCE ABILITIES:
Well, this is where it all kicks off. Daughters got some fantastic buffs with the two abilities they get from the Allegiance. The first is Fanatical Faith. This rule gives every DoK model in your army a 6+ wound negation mechanic on a 6+. Considering that most other armies have to take an artefact or a spell to gain a similar thing (Nurgle being a glaring exception to the status quo), this is pretty solid. Not broken, but solid.
The second ability is Blood Rites. Basically, as the game unfolds, the army gets an ever-increasing set of buffs and re-rolls. There's no dice or change required; the bonuses just come into effect, which is fantastic, and puts a lot of pressure on your opponent to make moves early in the game, and potentially make a mistake trying to press the advantage before the girls get too... ragey. There are, of course, ways to manipulate this table and escalate things before the allotted turn, but that's not an easy decision to make, as you'll soon see.
Next, there is the command traits (some more useful than others) and three (yes, three) tables of Artefacts; one generic set, one for priests (Slaughter Queens and Hag Queens) and one for wizards (Bloodwracks). There are just a ton of absolute kickers in here, but you can't have them all. In fact, its a really, really tough pick. The Blood Sigil and Iron Circlet are both standouts for the Queens, while it's hard to look past the Crystal Heart or Rune of Ulgu on your casters. There is a degree of risk with the Crystal Heart, but the reward is worth it!
The Queens got a fancy table of Prayers, all of which are fairly practical; naturally some will see more use than others, but I think that opinion will vary from player to player. What's really awesome to see is the Lore of Shadows make its triumphant return, complete with a few classics like Pit of Shades and Mindrazor! With limited options when it comes to Wizards, players are going to have to be resourceful and really think about their combos. Mindrazor has quickly become a fan favourite, but I don't think its going to make or break the army. It casts on a 7, so isn't always going to go off, and with few wizards, whoever has Mindrazor is quickly going to find themselves public enemy #1.
I think this section of the battletome contains the hardest decisions a player will have to make in army construction. There are so many great options and combos, but very limited availability.
TEMPLES:
For those of you who haven't yet read the book, Daughters armies can now be organised into Temples in the same manner as Kharadron Sky-Ports and the likes. While you don't HAVE to pick a Temple, or paint your army in a specific Temple's colour scheme, they can add a lot to the army. There are four in total, each giving you significant benefits to your army, but also forcing you to take either a Temple-specific artefact or command trait, whether you like it or not. Having talked to several new converts to the army, the two favourites seem to be Hagg Nar and Khailebron, and I'm inclined to agree that these seem the most versatile.
At first, Khailebron seemed like a no-brainer as the top pick. The army has a flat -1 to hit in the shooting phase... Cunning Deceiver, eat your heart out. Your General also has to take a command trait, "Mistress of Illusions" that allows you a cheeky teleport for a unit within 7" at the start of the Hero Phase. With this specifically happening at the start of the phase, this means it happens before spells and prayers, and with all of your prayers having a range of 14", it does limit just how ridiculous you can go with buffing a unit and slingshotting it across the board. There's still the 9" no-go zone around enemy units, but that's pretty standard these days. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic tool for board control and objective grabbing.
The temple also gives you the option to expand the size of your Temple Nest, making this a naturally favourable Temple for snake armies, as it allows you to fit all of your Battleline units into the Battalion. But more on that later...
But as I almost had my mind made up about the top of the Temple ladder, I started thinking more about Hagg Nar. The command trait gives your general a 7" bubble that lets units take their Fanatical Faith rolls on a 5+ instead of a 6+... considering there's a prayer that lets a unit re-roll failed Faith saves, there's a lot of practicality in this.
Units from Hagg Nar also get stronger Blood Rites, where the third tier of buffs gives them re-rolls to all missed hits (shooting and combat), instead of only re-rolling 1's. Again, you can modify the table so you don't have to wait until turn three to get this, and again, it's just a straight buff that your army gets. I genuinely believe that unless you're running a snake army, Hagg Nar may be better suited to an all-comers list. The increased Fanatical Faith and the army wide buff to hitting stuff is far more beneficial to the traditional Witch Aelf army; you can toe-tap the bubble on the general, and maximise that damage mitigation! Not all armies will try and shoot at you, but all armies will try and wound you...
And if you're hankering for some teleporting action without using Khailebron, there are Battalions in the book that let you do that, too!
BLOODSHIELD:
This rule has had a pretty significant change. Where it's old function has been pretty much replaced with Fanatical Faith, Cauldrons now emit a bubble that offers +1 to the saves of any unit wholly within range. This is a really important rule, because it's obviously a huge benefit for your army, but the range decreases the more damage it takes, and units must be wholly within. Daughters players need to make sure not to over-extend, as all it will take is one overzealous berserker lady to pile in too far to lose the bonus. That said, there's not really a downside to Bloodshield, as its basically a free Mystic Shield aura that you should make the most of, but is not mutually exclusive with actual Mystic Shields. Stack those save buffs!
TEMPLE NEST:
Now, it's not uncommon at all to see Cauldron Guard in many lists at the moment, because not only is it cheap, but it contains all the stuff you're probably going to have in your traditional Daughters list anyway.
As a side note, the most expensive warscroll battalion is 120 points; ridiculously cheap when compared to other recent Battletomes, such as Maggotkin. But I digress...
The new, shiny toys for Daughters include the Melusai, which come in two varieties. The Blood Stalkers offer a valuable source of high-quality shooting. Originally nicknamed "Slitherfires", I don't think they're even close to the obscene power of Skyfires. They are, however, going to be putting out consistent damage all game, even chipping a sneaky mortal wound off here and there.
Then there's the Blood Sisters. These reptilian ladies are a really, really solid unit. They have two wounds each, have very reliable mortal wound output, can fight in two ranks, have a ton of attacks and some cheeky rend to boot. Oh, and they're pretty fast! You can take a unit of twenty for under 500 points, which sounds like a heap, until you read what Temple Nest gives them. It essentially rolls your General and Battleline into a neat little package with some supporting fire from the Stalkers.
You only get one special rule from the Battalion, but it's a doozie. Every roll of a one for hits aimed at a unit from the battalion in the combat phase suffers a mortal wound after all it's attacks have been made. Let that sink in...
Your Blood Sisters charge in. They cause mortal wounds with their Crystal Touch attacks. They cause a bunch of wounds with their spears. Then they get hit back, and yeah, some of them will die (you're still playing Daughters of Khaine...), but the enemies will cause another batch of mortal wounds to themselves! This is all before you put any buffs or prayers on them (Catechism of Murder and Martyr's Sacrifice spring to mind). They're also Bravery 8, so there's a bit of mileage to be got out of Mindrazor. Rend -2 Damage 2 on their spears is nothing to sneeze at, and a 2" reach means they'll be fighting in two ranks, despite their base size. And to top it off, if they're the target of Mystic Shield and a Bloodshield, they're wandering around the board with a 3+ before even considering Fanatical Faith.
I think the Snake list has some serious legs to stand on (pun fully intended), and I think the primary reason we won't see it at every event is the prohibitive financial cost of said army. But I'm sure someone will drop bulk coin and do the army, and I hope they do well with it, because it's super duper cool!!
MORATHI OR NO MORATHI?
The question on every DoK player's mind... Do they take the super-snake-lady or not? If I'm honest, I don't think I would. Now, don't get me wrong... The model is mind blowing in both her forms, and she's pretty crazy on the table in both her forms, but there in lies the catch. I think it will take a very skillful player to get the full return on the investment. For her to be worth her very hefty price tag, she needs to be fully stretching her legs every phase, making use of every ability, and making sure she's where she needs to be. I have no doubt that some players will crack the code and find their groove using her, and those players will be terrifying. But I think that while she's a brutal commander and wizard in one form, and a one woman wrecking crew in the other, she can't be both at once. There's a tough decision on when to change forms. If Daughters go first and aren't careful, a double turn is going to see her taken off before she's had a significant impact, but I guess that's true of any super expensive model. I don't think she's remotely necessary for most Daughters lists in the same way that Alarielle is not in even half of the Sylvaneth lists you see at events. Not because she's bad, but because other units suit the player or the army far better.
While we're on the topic, I'd like to go on record by saying that I really, really don't like the Iron Heart of Khaine. This is for the same reason that I really, really don't like the Destiny Dice mechanic. In a game of luck, chance and probability, I feel like these are both outside the confines of the game's core foundations. There is great reward with no risk at all. You can throw the Shadow Queen into three Bloodthirsters, knowing full well that it will take four rounds of combat, at minimum, for her to be in any danger of dying. That, to me, is a bit obnoxious. There is no chance at all of her biting the dust before a certain point in the game. Now, no other unit in the game is guaranteed survival. None of the gods, goddesses, greater daemons or mighty heroes are immune to dying in a turn. Even Kroak with his crazy wound-bravery-heal mechanic can be nuked off the board in a single turn. So, why Morathi? She's not a goddess yet; in fact, all of her power is leeched from a dead deity.
I love her story arc and her lore, I love the background behind her drawing power from the Iron Heart of Khaine from unwitting but devoted followers, and I love how she functions on the table with her two forms, but I have great reservations about that mechanic. Am I alone on this? What do you think?
THE BEST UNIT IN THE BOOK:
Ok, now that I've upset every Daughters player with my thoughts on Morathi, what's the standout for me? What's the must have unit in every Daughters of Khaine army? Easy...
Khinerai Heartrenders.
In my opinion, I think these bat-ladies are such good value for 80 points! They can be held in reserve, dropped in whenever you feel they will be of most use, throw some very high quality javelins and then have a decent chance of making a cheeky move either onto an objective, into cover or into a more favourable charging position. I can see this unit being the "fixer" assassin unit tasked with killing support characters or unprotected backfield units that are causing your Witches grief. They will die to a stiff breeze, but you don't play Daughters of Khaine for their health insurance policy. I was interested to see that they're on 40mm bases, which is larger than I was expecting, but having assembled some for a commission, it's entirely necessary to balance them on the table. Such dynamic models!
I think Hag Queens also deserve a special mention. For 60 points, and having prayers and Witchbrew, they're pretty much an auto tag along model for those big thirty strong blocks of infantry. They're such ridiculously good value, and add so much to your army!
SUMMARY:
I think Daughters of Khaine is a fantastic Battletome. There's so much variety and diversity in the model range, and the range is absolutely exquisite! I don't envy Daughters players having to write lists, as this whole army is full to the brim of very tough decisions. The book offers up a ton of options, and indeed, a plethora of play styles, but no matter what goes into your army, this force is built squarely on the shoulders of multiple combos. I don't think thirty Witches Aelves + Mindrazor is enough to win games once people are more familiar with this new foe. An army will need to have plenty of layers and tricks, and can't depend on any one unit on its own to win them the game. There are a lot of moving parts, and I love that it's another Battletome whose strength lies in player ability rather than just powerful rules.
I know that, in the Australian scene at least, there is plenty of hype around this very first Aelf Battletome, and there are a few players from around the country that will doubtless create stunning armies that will impress on and off the battlefield.
Are you excited for this release? Jumping on board? Let me know; i'm fascinated to hear other peoples thoughts on the matter.
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
But, boy, did GW make me look the fool...
Not only did they get their fancy new book, but they got just a ton of releases! So, let's break this down. I'm going to try and avoid covering ground I've already covered, but a lot has changed. I'm going to review the Battletome in the same format as my Legions of Nagash review, so if you love or hate the current way I do it, let me know!
ALLEGIANCE ABILITIES:
Well, this is where it all kicks off. Daughters got some fantastic buffs with the two abilities they get from the Allegiance. The first is Fanatical Faith. This rule gives every DoK model in your army a 6+ wound negation mechanic on a 6+. Considering that most other armies have to take an artefact or a spell to gain a similar thing (Nurgle being a glaring exception to the status quo), this is pretty solid. Not broken, but solid.
The second ability is Blood Rites. Basically, as the game unfolds, the army gets an ever-increasing set of buffs and re-rolls. There's no dice or change required; the bonuses just come into effect, which is fantastic, and puts a lot of pressure on your opponent to make moves early in the game, and potentially make a mistake trying to press the advantage before the girls get too... ragey. There are, of course, ways to manipulate this table and escalate things before the allotted turn, but that's not an easy decision to make, as you'll soon see.
Next, there is the command traits (some more useful than others) and three (yes, three) tables of Artefacts; one generic set, one for priests (Slaughter Queens and Hag Queens) and one for wizards (Bloodwracks). There are just a ton of absolute kickers in here, but you can't have them all. In fact, its a really, really tough pick. The Blood Sigil and Iron Circlet are both standouts for the Queens, while it's hard to look past the Crystal Heart or Rune of Ulgu on your casters. There is a degree of risk with the Crystal Heart, but the reward is worth it!
The Queens got a fancy table of Prayers, all of which are fairly practical; naturally some will see more use than others, but I think that opinion will vary from player to player. What's really awesome to see is the Lore of Shadows make its triumphant return, complete with a few classics like Pit of Shades and Mindrazor! With limited options when it comes to Wizards, players are going to have to be resourceful and really think about their combos. Mindrazor has quickly become a fan favourite, but I don't think its going to make or break the army. It casts on a 7, so isn't always going to go off, and with few wizards, whoever has Mindrazor is quickly going to find themselves public enemy #1.
I think this section of the battletome contains the hardest decisions a player will have to make in army construction. There are so many great options and combos, but very limited availability.
TEMPLES:
For those of you who haven't yet read the book, Daughters armies can now be organised into Temples in the same manner as Kharadron Sky-Ports and the likes. While you don't HAVE to pick a Temple, or paint your army in a specific Temple's colour scheme, they can add a lot to the army. There are four in total, each giving you significant benefits to your army, but also forcing you to take either a Temple-specific artefact or command trait, whether you like it or not. Having talked to several new converts to the army, the two favourites seem to be Hagg Nar and Khailebron, and I'm inclined to agree that these seem the most versatile.
At first, Khailebron seemed like a no-brainer as the top pick. The army has a flat -1 to hit in the shooting phase... Cunning Deceiver, eat your heart out. Your General also has to take a command trait, "Mistress of Illusions" that allows you a cheeky teleport for a unit within 7" at the start of the Hero Phase. With this specifically happening at the start of the phase, this means it happens before spells and prayers, and with all of your prayers having a range of 14", it does limit just how ridiculous you can go with buffing a unit and slingshotting it across the board. There's still the 9" no-go zone around enemy units, but that's pretty standard these days. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic tool for board control and objective grabbing.
The temple also gives you the option to expand the size of your Temple Nest, making this a naturally favourable Temple for snake armies, as it allows you to fit all of your Battleline units into the Battalion. But more on that later...
But as I almost had my mind made up about the top of the Temple ladder, I started thinking more about Hagg Nar. The command trait gives your general a 7" bubble that lets units take their Fanatical Faith rolls on a 5+ instead of a 6+... considering there's a prayer that lets a unit re-roll failed Faith saves, there's a lot of practicality in this.
Units from Hagg Nar also get stronger Blood Rites, where the third tier of buffs gives them re-rolls to all missed hits (shooting and combat), instead of only re-rolling 1's. Again, you can modify the table so you don't have to wait until turn three to get this, and again, it's just a straight buff that your army gets. I genuinely believe that unless you're running a snake army, Hagg Nar may be better suited to an all-comers list. The increased Fanatical Faith and the army wide buff to hitting stuff is far more beneficial to the traditional Witch Aelf army; you can toe-tap the bubble on the general, and maximise that damage mitigation! Not all armies will try and shoot at you, but all armies will try and wound you...
And if you're hankering for some teleporting action without using Khailebron, there are Battalions in the book that let you do that, too!
BLOODSHIELD:
This rule has had a pretty significant change. Where it's old function has been pretty much replaced with Fanatical Faith, Cauldrons now emit a bubble that offers +1 to the saves of any unit wholly within range. This is a really important rule, because it's obviously a huge benefit for your army, but the range decreases the more damage it takes, and units must be wholly within. Daughters players need to make sure not to over-extend, as all it will take is one overzealous berserker lady to pile in too far to lose the bonus. That said, there's not really a downside to Bloodshield, as its basically a free Mystic Shield aura that you should make the most of, but is not mutually exclusive with actual Mystic Shields. Stack those save buffs!
TEMPLE NEST:
Now, it's not uncommon at all to see Cauldron Guard in many lists at the moment, because not only is it cheap, but it contains all the stuff you're probably going to have in your traditional Daughters list anyway.
As a side note, the most expensive warscroll battalion is 120 points; ridiculously cheap when compared to other recent Battletomes, such as Maggotkin. But I digress...
The new, shiny toys for Daughters include the Melusai, which come in two varieties. The Blood Stalkers offer a valuable source of high-quality shooting. Originally nicknamed "Slitherfires", I don't think they're even close to the obscene power of Skyfires. They are, however, going to be putting out consistent damage all game, even chipping a sneaky mortal wound off here and there.
Then there's the Blood Sisters. These reptilian ladies are a really, really solid unit. They have two wounds each, have very reliable mortal wound output, can fight in two ranks, have a ton of attacks and some cheeky rend to boot. Oh, and they're pretty fast! You can take a unit of twenty for under 500 points, which sounds like a heap, until you read what Temple Nest gives them. It essentially rolls your General and Battleline into a neat little package with some supporting fire from the Stalkers.
You only get one special rule from the Battalion, but it's a doozie. Every roll of a one for hits aimed at a unit from the battalion in the combat phase suffers a mortal wound after all it's attacks have been made. Let that sink in...
Your Blood Sisters charge in. They cause mortal wounds with their Crystal Touch attacks. They cause a bunch of wounds with their spears. Then they get hit back, and yeah, some of them will die (you're still playing Daughters of Khaine...), but the enemies will cause another batch of mortal wounds to themselves! This is all before you put any buffs or prayers on them (Catechism of Murder and Martyr's Sacrifice spring to mind). They're also Bravery 8, so there's a bit of mileage to be got out of Mindrazor. Rend -2 Damage 2 on their spears is nothing to sneeze at, and a 2" reach means they'll be fighting in two ranks, despite their base size. And to top it off, if they're the target of Mystic Shield and a Bloodshield, they're wandering around the board with a 3+ before even considering Fanatical Faith.
I think the Snake list has some serious legs to stand on (pun fully intended), and I think the primary reason we won't see it at every event is the prohibitive financial cost of said army. But I'm sure someone will drop bulk coin and do the army, and I hope they do well with it, because it's super duper cool!!
MORATHI OR NO MORATHI?
The question on every DoK player's mind... Do they take the super-snake-lady or not? If I'm honest, I don't think I would. Now, don't get me wrong... The model is mind blowing in both her forms, and she's pretty crazy on the table in both her forms, but there in lies the catch. I think it will take a very skillful player to get the full return on the investment. For her to be worth her very hefty price tag, she needs to be fully stretching her legs every phase, making use of every ability, and making sure she's where she needs to be. I have no doubt that some players will crack the code and find their groove using her, and those players will be terrifying. But I think that while she's a brutal commander and wizard in one form, and a one woman wrecking crew in the other, she can't be both at once. There's a tough decision on when to change forms. If Daughters go first and aren't careful, a double turn is going to see her taken off before she's had a significant impact, but I guess that's true of any super expensive model. I don't think she's remotely necessary for most Daughters lists in the same way that Alarielle is not in even half of the Sylvaneth lists you see at events. Not because she's bad, but because other units suit the player or the army far better.
While we're on the topic, I'd like to go on record by saying that I really, really don't like the Iron Heart of Khaine. This is for the same reason that I really, really don't like the Destiny Dice mechanic. In a game of luck, chance and probability, I feel like these are both outside the confines of the game's core foundations. There is great reward with no risk at all. You can throw the Shadow Queen into three Bloodthirsters, knowing full well that it will take four rounds of combat, at minimum, for her to be in any danger of dying. That, to me, is a bit obnoxious. There is no chance at all of her biting the dust before a certain point in the game. Now, no other unit in the game is guaranteed survival. None of the gods, goddesses, greater daemons or mighty heroes are immune to dying in a turn. Even Kroak with his crazy wound-bravery-heal mechanic can be nuked off the board in a single turn. So, why Morathi? She's not a goddess yet; in fact, all of her power is leeched from a dead deity.
I love her story arc and her lore, I love the background behind her drawing power from the Iron Heart of Khaine from unwitting but devoted followers, and I love how she functions on the table with her two forms, but I have great reservations about that mechanic. Am I alone on this? What do you think?
THE BEST UNIT IN THE BOOK:
Ok, now that I've upset every Daughters player with my thoughts on Morathi, what's the standout for me? What's the must have unit in every Daughters of Khaine army? Easy...
Khinerai Heartrenders.
In my opinion, I think these bat-ladies are such good value for 80 points! They can be held in reserve, dropped in whenever you feel they will be of most use, throw some very high quality javelins and then have a decent chance of making a cheeky move either onto an objective, into cover or into a more favourable charging position. I can see this unit being the "fixer" assassin unit tasked with killing support characters or unprotected backfield units that are causing your Witches grief. They will die to a stiff breeze, but you don't play Daughters of Khaine for their health insurance policy. I was interested to see that they're on 40mm bases, which is larger than I was expecting, but having assembled some for a commission, it's entirely necessary to balance them on the table. Such dynamic models!
I think Hag Queens also deserve a special mention. For 60 points, and having prayers and Witchbrew, they're pretty much an auto tag along model for those big thirty strong blocks of infantry. They're such ridiculously good value, and add so much to your army!
SUMMARY:
I think Daughters of Khaine is a fantastic Battletome. There's so much variety and diversity in the model range, and the range is absolutely exquisite! I don't envy Daughters players having to write lists, as this whole army is full to the brim of very tough decisions. The book offers up a ton of options, and indeed, a plethora of play styles, but no matter what goes into your army, this force is built squarely on the shoulders of multiple combos. I don't think thirty Witches Aelves + Mindrazor is enough to win games once people are more familiar with this new foe. An army will need to have plenty of layers and tricks, and can't depend on any one unit on its own to win them the game. There are a lot of moving parts, and I love that it's another Battletome whose strength lies in player ability rather than just powerful rules.
I know that, in the Australian scene at least, there is plenty of hype around this very first Aelf Battletome, and there are a few players from around the country that will doubtless create stunning armies that will impress on and off the battlefield.
Are you excited for this release? Jumping on board? Let me know; i'm fascinated to hear other peoples thoughts on the matter.
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
Good review, as a Dark Eldar player I find myself looking at the range for potential conversions. Unfortunately I made the decision in january to start a goblin army....you can imagine how I felt when not only Daughters of Khaine but Idoneth Deepkin were announced! I agree with you on the Morathi iron heart thing, the no risk but great reward mechanic means no matter what your opponent can do she's going to around for 4 turns and that just doesn't seem right.
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