#192: Wrath of the Everchosen Book Breakdown

Chaos, baby!

Anyone who's ever had a conversation with me remotely related to Warhammer will know what a Chaos fanboy I am. Aside from my Ironjawz, I've played Chaos almost exclusively for the duration of Age of Sigmar.

So, when a new supplement drops, jam packed with fresh new rules for all four gods and an undivided daemon force...

Yeah, I'm going to buy it.

Wrath of the Everchosen is a blanket expansion for Chaos. It has new sub-factions  for the big four gods and one for STD, as well as a specific army (battalions and all) just for Be'Lakor (everyone's favourite Daemon Prince). So I'm going to go through each allegiance, look at what's new, whats good and bad, and if this book is going to give you anything exciting. Let's start with Khorne.

KHORNE

  So, the trimmings were pretty light for Khorne in this book. There's one Mortal-focused and one Daemon-focused sub-faction.

The Flayed benefits (if we can call it that) mortals. The over-arching ability is that if a Flayed unit kills a hero or monster, they get +1 save for the rest of the battle. It's... ok. You get a command ability that hands out a +1 to Hit to a unit wholly within 12" in the combat phase that also must have charged that turn.The trait is a re-roll 1's aura for Priests attempting prayers, and the artefact you HAVE to take is +2 to charges. 

The artefact is nice, but the rest is disappointing. You're going to get a lot more mileage out of the benefits of Gore Pilgrims, which then frees up your sub faction for something useful.

The second sub-faction is The Baleful Lords, which is focused on one thing; running five Bloodthirsters. Rule of cool? Yes! Is it practical? Not really. Is it better than only running four Bloodthirsters in Reapers of Vengeance in a Tyrants battalion? 

No. 

TZEENTCH

Following the same pattern as Khorne, Tzeentch got a mortal and a daemon sub-faction. Neither are terrible, but both are overshadowed by the existing Battletome. The Unbound Flux is still trying to convince Tzeentch players that they should take combat artefacts in a shooting/magic army, but Maddening Cascade definitely builds into the right direction.

The Cult of a Thousand Eyes is focused on mortals, which are by far the weaker half of the Disciples of Tzeentch book, and while it has some perks, they're not nearly enough to convince me. 

Tzeentch sufferes the same problem as Khorne, where neither new sub-factions can compare to existing hosts like Eternal Conflag, Duplicitous Host, and so on. 

SLAANESH

When you think of Slaanesh, do you think to yourself, "They need more support?". No? Well, they're getting it anyway! 

There's a new sub-(sub?)-faction for each of the Hosts. From what I can gather, you pick one of the three Hosts (Invaders, Pretenders, Godseekers), then have the option to go another layer in, and get more rules while getting locked into certain traits and artefacts. So if you're fielding a Godseeker Host, you can choose to give them the 'Scarlet Cavalcade Godseeker Host' keyword as well to open up new abilities. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how I'm reading it. 

Let's go through these, then. 

The LURID HAZE is an expansion on Invaders. And it's not bad at all. Invaders is definitely the least common of the three hosts, and it's been handed some useful tools. The Oil of Exultation is the compulsary artefact that hands the bearer an extra wound, which means extra depravity and a marginally longer lifespan. 

The command trait is a passive 12" (wholly within) aura that lets you re-roll run rolls for friendly units, which is useful! The command ability is fantastic as well. You can add 1 to save rolls for one friendly unit in the combat phase! There's a limit to once per turn, so you can't spam this ability, but with all the "You Strike Last" locuses floating around, you can maximise returns on this ability for the units that will potentially be hit hardest. 

The biggest thing for Lurid Haze, however, is the ability to pick up D3 units AFTER deployment, and put them in reserve to come on a board edge 6" on and 9" from enemies. This is incredibly good, because you don't have to put units in reserve, and only have to make that decision after deployment is all said and done. This forces your opponent to spread thin and zone out without knowing if he or she is wasting all that effort and resources against units that aren't ambushing. The Invader Host definitely has some tools to play an interesting angle! 

Next, we have the FAULTLESS BLADES for Pretenders. Faultless Blades got some spicy rules. The main ability gifts Pretenders units +1 to hit Heroes if they charged that turn. Slingshotting your Keeper into some poor wizard just got even more excessive! The compulsary trait gives units wholly within 12" a 6" pile-in instead of only 3" (keeping in mind, you still need to be in combat, but a flying keeper can comfortably leap screens now!). The artefact gives one weapon +1 to wound against enemy heroes. 

You can see the duellist theme coming through, nice and strong...

Lastly, is the command ability, Armour of Arrogance. You can put it on a unit in the combat phase, and the first two wounds allocated to that unit are negated. That is fantastic! Again, it's very specific that this command ability can only be used once per turn, but plonk it on your buffed up Pretender Keeper and send her into the biggest, baddest unit in the enemy force and you're golden!

Godseekers landed the SCARLET CAVALCADE. This one is a bit of a mixed bag. The compulsary command trait and artefact give you 12" auras of Re-Roll Battleshock tests and +1 Bravery respectively. This seems a little counter-intuitive, as everything is already ridiculously high bravery. The main ability lets you roll a single charge roll for two units with 10 or more models and within 6" of each other. This seems weird as well, as there's no bonuses or benefits from this ability. If you fail the charge roll, you've failed it for both... There are lot of conditions for an ability that's good if it pays off, but if it doesn't, its going to hit you hard.

Then there's the command ability. You can throw it down on a friendly unit, and every successful save of a 6 by that unit bounces a mortal wound back at their enemy. Especially in a glass cannon army like Slaanesh, I really don't like abilities that require me to take bulk damage to get any mileage out of. Perhaps on a sacrificial hero that's looking to farm as much depravity as possible on the way out, but I think it's safe to say Godseekers got the least impressive set of new rules. 

All in all, Slaanesh has done pretty well. The new sub-factions won't be for everyone and won't work for every list, but there's definitely some play in Lurid Haze and Faultless Blades if people build into them. I don't think the world is ending here, though. Slaanesh have been the 'big bad' for a long time, but I honestly don't think these make things worse. You're giving up some very good artefacts and command traits to unlock them, and it's a price to pay.  

NURGLE

Nurgle are the real winners of this book. As the only Battletome that's still lacking any form of sub-factions, they have everything to gain and nothing to lose. They got four new factions, and it's a testament to internal balance between the four that I'm struggling to pick my favourite. 

The artefacts are all good. From +1 to hit enemies, -1 to hit the bearer, an extra wound or re-roll saves, they're all solid and practical. There are also no keyword restrictions on the artefacts. Doesn't matter if you're daemon or mortal, you can slap it on whoever you please. And with the recent discounts to Nurgle battalions, a second artefact is far more accessible. 

The two Daemon faction abilities let Daemons ignore a point of rend in combat, while the two mortal factions allow Rotbringer models to explode upon death, reliably handing out mortal wounds with their last breath. The Drowned Men leans hard into Pusgoyle Blightlords, giving them more reliable charges and increased potential for Rend (something that Nurgle lacks greatly!), while the Droning Guard gives Plague Drones a better Disgustingly Resilient save and a pre-game move! 

The beauty of these sub-factions is that not only are you gaining far more than you're losing, but they're very flexible. You can mix and match mortals, daemons, or in the case of units like Pusgoyles and Lord of Affliction, both, and reap some pretty great benefits. 

As you can probably tell at this point, I'm VERY excited about Nurgle. As soon as I opened this book, I've been formulating different builds that capitalise on the new bonuses offered by this book! I think Nurgle is the real winner in this book, if only because they started out with less. 

SLAVES TO DARKNESS

Slaves to Darkness also got another faction to go alongside Despoilers, Cabalists etc. And it's designed specifically for those players who love Varanguard, but specifically don't also love Archaon. This army represents the garrison at the Varanguard, and allows you to take Varanguard as your general and heroes. Again, its a Rule of Cool allegiance. Running Varanguard, complete with Varanguard command traits and artefacts is definitely unique! 

LEGION OF CHAOS ASCENDANT

The Legion of Chaos Ascendant is a brand spanking new chaos allegiance that encompasses all Chaos Daemons. It harkens back to the old Fantasy days of mixing and matching different marked Daemons into one infernal collaboration of utter destruction. 

Naturally, with such flexibility, the army has opportunities to build some pretty interesting forces. The allegiance abilities give every Daemon a 6+ 'after-save', which is pretty decent. Then at the end of each of your movement phases, you roll 3D6 and if you roll ten or more, you can summon a free unit of infantry from the usual suspects (Horrors, Letters, Nettes and Bearers). It's a pretty reliable summon that your opponent can't really interact with, and if you take the obvious command trait, you only need a 9+ on the dice. 

You only get three artefacts and spells, but there are some gems in there. The Fourfold Blade is basically a Sword of Judgement Lite. Triggering in the same manner as the Sword, but on a 5+ and only doing D3 Mortal wounds, it's not too shabby at all. The spells are a bit unreliable. All three cast on a 7+, which is far less consistent than math would have you believe. And one spell is fantastic (re-roll hits and wounds), but only against DEATH models... Oh.

Again, much of this allegiance has to be read through narrative glasses. It fits perfectly into the story, but doesn't translate as flexibly onto the table. You have an immense amount of freedom when it comes to army construction, but that freedom comes at the price of the synergy that a god-specific army will offer.    

It wouldn't be an Undivided Daemon army without Be'Lakor. He gets his own faction, which is focused on the four infantry battleline choices of the gods. He can bounce damage onto nearby units, use his new command ability to resurrect slain models to those infantry units, and also unlocks a spell which is almost exactly the same as one of the generic Chaos Ascendant spells (pile in and attack when the model is slain), except that it can only affect Plaguebearers, Bloodletters, Pink Horrors and Daemonettes. 

The last piece to the Chaos Ascendant puzzle are the battalions. There is one for each god and encompasses a fair chunk of each army. For example, the Khorne battalion includes 2-3 Khorne Daemon Heroes and 8 BLOODLETTER (keyword) units (which includes Skull Cannons and Bloodcrushers). The other god ones follow suit, changing only their sacred number of troops. Nurgle needs 7 units of PLAGUEBEARER, for example. 

I'm torn on these battalions. They're actually not bad, but require a huge commitment of points, and deny you the variety offered by the army's broad roster of units. If they were available in the god-specific allegiances, they would offer some great one-drop builds, but the battalions require the Chaos Ascendant keywords, so they're limited to this specific allegiance. 

I'll be honest, though. I actually quite like the army. It opens up a huge collection of models under a single banner, and there is definitely some tech in there. 

So, in closing, what do I think of this book? 

I've got to say, I'm pleasantly surprised at the restraint in this book. Chaos Ascendant had the potential to be a bit ridiculous, and while I think there's a lot of strength in variety, I don't think it's as obscenely powerful as some were expecting. There is still plenty of incentive to play a god specific army, with the temptation to cherry pick units being offset by less synergy. 

Nurgle was definitely the winner in this book in my eyes. They've been spoilt, and have received a lot while sacrificing next to nothing. 

Slaanesh got some love, and it will be interesting to see whether players jump on the new sub-factions or would rather the freedom to choose artefacts and command traits. Things didn't get too stupid, and sacrifices need to be made to access the cool new stuff. 

Khorne and Tzeentch were on the lower end of the scale, receiving rules that are unlikely to see much table time in the face of other, more efficient alternatives. That's not to say that Khorne and Tzeentch (ESPECIALLY Tzeentch) are in a bad spot. They just didn't gain a lot from this particular release.

All in all, it seems like a solid, well rounded book with a little smattering for everyone. 

What I'm really looking forward to is diving into the absolute ton of lore that's the main focus of the book! The story is advancing, and with every book and novel that comes out, the Age of Sigmar universe (Multiverse? Realmiverse?) is being explored and fleshed out and I love it! The foundation of stories is being laid, upon which the future timeline will be built. I'm very excited! 

What do you think? Will you buy the book? If you already have, what do you think? Any standouts?

Thanks for reading,

Gabe