Evening, all.
It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the Chaos Grand Alliance. There's plenty of flexibility, there's a unit for almost every role and there are enough Battletomes to keep them current and competitive (for the most part... poor Skaven). But while most armies see the tabletop every now and then, regardless of how obscure, we're here to talk about the rarest army in the entire game.
The Legion of Azgorh.
That's right, in case you've been living under a rock, or perhaps just missed it in the onslaught of information and releases leading up to AOS2 and beyond, Choas Dwarves got an update. And what an update it was!
In a pseudo-Battletome release, Forgeworld dropped a PDF (which can be found for free on the Forge World website) with updated scrolls, as well as brand spankin' new allegiance abilities, artefacts and warscroll battalions! And because Duardin aligned with Chaos are clearly the coolest Duardin in all the realms, I'm here to break this PDF down and talk about what's good, whats changed, and why they're a viable competitive army in the current meta. Yep, I said it. I think these guys are poised to kick some ass and take some names.
While I will refer to the older scrolls occasionally, this is not going to be a direct comparison back, as it's not really relevant what they used to do. We live in the now!
ALLEGIANCE ABILITIES:
We'll kick things off with the Allegiance Abilities, as that's the lens through which we'll inspect the rest of the army. The first rule is Blackshard Armour. This used to only affect the infantry and characters, and gave you a re-roll of 1's to saves against shooting; not bad, but hardly game-changing. Well, hold onto your pants, because this has all changed. Every unit in the army, every hero, every war machine has Blackshard Armour now, and here's what it does. A model with this armour can ignore the first wound they suffer in the shooting phase, as well as the first wound they suffer in the combat phase. This would be a solid artefact for any other army, and Chaos Dwarfs get it on every single unit. Wow! While it doesn't sound like much, that's a ton of damage mitigation. There's just a heap of wounds that will be inflicted, that make it past armour saves, that will be ignored. Yes please.
The second battle trait is Burning Skies. This is a little more situational, as some armies will be largely unaffected, but it's a handy little board control ability. If an enemy unit with the Fly rule moves more than 6", there's a decent chance they'll be copping some volcanic mortal wounds to the face. This probably won't win you the game, but mortal wounds are mortal wounds, and flying units are usually pretty high-value targets. This will be particularly annoying for Nighthaunt, who's speed and army-wide Fly ability will make them second guess how aggressive they want to be.
Every Legion of Azgorh wizard also knows the Fireball spell. In the light of Arcane Bolt's tone-down, this spell is brutal. If it's a single model, you're going to chip a mortal wound off it. However, the bigger the unit, the more poor fools get caught in the ensuing inferno. If the target has ten or more models (so, a lot of units...), it's eating D6 mortal wounds! Brutal. Oh, and it only casts on a 5, so there's now very little incentive to ever cast Mystic Bolt.
The army gets three new command traits to pick from. Contemptuous is a nice little re-roll for wounding, but there are other, more efficient ways to include this in your army, so it's a hard pass from me. Relentless gives you the chance to pile in and attack twice on a Hero or Monster, and while it's a little situational and requires some luck, a Taur'Ruk could get some use out of it. But hands down the best of the bunch is Grotesque; a flat -1 to hit in combat makes your general far more survivable than he already was with Look Out, Sir and Blackshard Armour.
Lastly, there are three new artefacts and they're all good! Considering the battalions we'll be covering later in the article, it's likely you'll be taking at least two of these, so I'm glad there aren't really any duds.
The Black Hammer of Hashut gives one weapon on the bearer re-rolls to hit. The more you hit, the more you kill, and with some pretty intimidating weapons on several heroes, this isn't at all bad.
Then we have the Armour of Bazherek the Cruel, for when you absolutely, positively do not want your character to die. This artefact gives the bearer a 5+ wound negation that stops wounds AND mortal wounds; essentially a Nurgle save. Combine this with Grotesque and Blackshard Armour, and all of a sudden, it becomes REALLY hard to make wounds stick. You have to get past the hit modifier, past his save, past his artefact save at least twice, because the first one is going to be ignored by the Battle Trait.
Lastly, and in my mind, the artefact you will see in absolutely every list, we have the Chalice of Blood and Darkness. It's a one use item, but when you do use it, get ready to drink the tears of enemy wizards. Every enemy wizard within 30' must roll a dice. On a 4+, they reduce the number of spells they can cast by one. It doesn't say "to a minimum of 1", so you can effectively turn single cast wizards off for a hero phase, and severely cripple more powerful wizards. In an age of endless spells, Spell Portals and Wizard Councils, this is a must-take in every single list. Not only will it shut down a large amount of magic coming at you, but also makes your opponent's dilemma of turning off your endless spells an excruciating decision.
HEROES:
Legion of Azgorh is spoilt for choice when it comes to heroes, so lets break them down.
Drazhoath the Ashen is first and foremost. If you ever wanted and angry wizard on a burning bull, do I have the scroll for you! Weighing in at 320 points (so, in the same bracket as Arkhan the Black), you get a 13-wound 4+ save model with a 5+ after-save that bounces mortal wounds. He can cast twice, unbind twice, can actually fight his way out of a soggy paper bag, has a so-so shooting attack and can move 15" a turn! Now, he can't fly (don't let the model's MASSIVE WINGS fool you!), so there's something to be said about leaving him enough room to actually have an impact on the game, but his signature spell is pretty solid. It casts on an 8+ (ouch), but does D6 mortal wounds at 18". Keeping in mind that he can cast twice, and already knows Fireball, he's actually a potentially lethal caster. To top it off, he has a command ability that lets units from his army ignore Battleshock while wholly within 24" of him. I think he's definitely worth his points, considering what he brings to the army. The army as whole is pretty CP-rich, and doesn't need to expend a lot, so the Battleshock bubble is incredibly good! And considering the range of the aura and the speed of Drazhoath, you're not often going to find units too isolated.
The only other wizard available is the Daemonsmith. These angry bros are essential to the army, as they not only provide magical support, and carry important artefacts (cough*chalice*cough), they fill the role of engineer, buffing all of your war machines. If they've been wounded, they're better at unbinding, and they also carry a hand grenade, that'll be a nasty surprise for anyone who wanders too close to them. Their signature spell is also ridiculously good! With a measly casting value of 6+, Ash Storm has a whopping 36" range, and not only stops the target from running, but slaps a -1 To Hit modifier on them as well, building upon the sheer tenacity of your army. Intimidating ranged units will be at -2 to hit most of your heroes! Splendid.
Continuing on with the Duardin side of things, the Infernal Guard Castellan fills the role of infantry captain. He's fairly straight down the line with his Warscroll. Five wounds, a decent save and low movement are all to be expected. He's actually pretty solid in combat, being able to really dish out some pain against other heroes of equal stature, but his Command Ability is quite cool. He can select an enemy unit (or more, if you have the CP) within 12", and you add 1 to all wound rolls against that unit. This doesn't stack on the one unit, but means you're going to be wounding more, and therefore killing more. The glaring problem with this is that you have to get your Castellan within 12" of a viable target. Easier said than done, when you consider he has a 4" move...
The last Duardin hero is the Battle Standard Bearer. This guy is the reason that Contemptuous is a questionable command trait. He carries the Black Banner of Malice, whic gives +1 Bravery to all units wholly within 18", as well as allowing those same units to re-roll wounds of 1 in combat. He's also fortunate enough to be able to walk around. The banner doesn't need to be planted in the ground and him stand still for it to work. He can follow the main battleline around at will.
Moving over to the Bull Centaur heroes, we first have Shar'Tor the Executioner. He's 220 points, can't carry an artefact or have a command trait, but he's an absolute beat-stick in combat! With five high-quality attacks (-2 rend, damage 3), he's going to hurt someone, and hurt them badly! His command ability is great, too! All centaur units (himself and Taur'Ruks included) can re-roll charge distances and re-roll hits of 1 on their hooves, which go from damage 1 to damage D3 the turn they charge. This can make for a devastating assault!
The generic character for centaurs is the Taur'Ruk. This guy is the foundation warscroll for making your tanky hero. He has the same high-quality profile as Shar'Tor, but can take the artefact armour and Grotesque. He's got one less wound and a less powerful CA than Shar'Tor, but he's also 60 points cheaper. Considering how hard he is to bring down, I think he's worth his points, especially in a Bull Centaur-heavy army!
UNITS:
Let's start with the basic infantry. Infernal Guard Ironsworn are really, really good. While they have the standard dwarf problem of 4" move, the musician gives them bonuses to run, and the banner increases their bravery. Where they get good is their 4+ save, -1 rend on all of their weapons, and shield that bounce mortal wounds. They're also only 90 points per ten, or 240 points for a unit of 30. That is incredibly cheap. The champion did lose his grenade from the last scroll, but it's a minor change that cleans up the new warscroll.
Next are Fireglaives, the ranged infantry with their Pyrelock rifles. They're identical in almost every way to Ironsworn, except that they swap the mortal wound-bouncing shields for mortal wound-inflicting guns! 6's to hit will inflict a mortal wound in addition to the actual damage caused by the attack, which has streamlined the scroll nicely from iterations in the past.
Both of these units are Battleline for the army.
Bull Centaurs are your heavy shock cavalry (can you call them cavalry if the rider is also the mount? Maybe, they're just big, angry, fast guys...). They carry the same shields as the Ironsworn and sport Rend -1, damage 2 weapons. With five wounds each, they're tough to shift, but they're 180 points for three models, so it's an investment to take a decent unit of them; an investment you want to build around.
The last unit is the K'Daai Fireborn. The models for these guys are unreal, and they give you some much-needed speed! Movement 8" and run & charge allow them to be where you need them to be. Their save can't be modified, which is nice, and their attacks have a 3" reach and D3 damage, so they can actually beat down on low save units.
WAR MACHINES:
Let's be real, you don't take Chaos Dwarfs and leave all the war machines at home. These are some of the most lethal war machines in the game, and have had the fortune of not only combining the profile of the crew and machine into one, but sitting under that 8-wound threshold that allows them to benefit from cover.
We'll start with the Magma Cannon, because this model should be in every army. With a 2+ save in cover against shooting, and no deterioration chart, the Magma Cannon takes some effort to destroy. Its 18" range is increased to 24" if there's a Daemonsmith nearby, and it straight up murders things. It doesn't roll to hit, bypassing Look Out, Sir and any other negative modifiers. It doesn't roll to wound. You just pick a target, roll a dice, and on a 3+, it suffers that many mortal wounds. Boom. If the target has 10 or more models, you add 1 to the roll, meaning less chance of failure and the potential to do 7 mortal wounds per shot. In the current meta with -1 to hit modifiers being very much a common sight, this war machine is a must-include in my eyes. And I don't mean just one...
The Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher is similarly hard to kill, except that it has the luxury of a 36" range and ignoring line of sight. With bonuses for targeting units with 5 or more models, and an extra shot from a nearby Daemonsmith, its worth all 120 points!
The last "Artillery" war machine is the Dreadquake Mortar, with a 40" range, ignoring LOS, and with 10 wounds (missing out on that cover bonus). This is the most expensive and least useful of all three war machines. It only hits on a 4+ (3+ with a Smith nearby), and has a single attack unless it wants to risk D3 mortal wounds for a second shot. IF you hit and wound, you do have Rend -2, which is nice, but D6 damage. If you've used a D6 damage profile before, you know full well how underwhelming that can be sometimes. For me, the Mortar just doesn't stack up to the far more reliable Magma Cannon or the far cheaper Deathshrieker.
The next two war machines are Behemoths, rather than artillery, which means they're not competing for slots with Magma Cannons. The Iron Daemon comes with a pretty nasty Rend -2 shooting attack, while the Skullcracker is built for one thing and one thing only; pulverising everything it touches! Both come with 11 wounds and a 3+ save, and start with a 10" move characteristic, giving you some valuable assault units, but they aren't just a blunt force tool. They can also tow artillery pieces behind them, giving the shorter-ranged Magma Cannon movement 10" rather that its pretty pathetic movement 3". There is no negative repercussions for moving with war machines, so it means you can quickly redeploy your Cannons and threatun heroes and monsters that your opponent perhaps thought were safe!
BATTALIONS:
In this most recent publication, there are three Warscroll Battalions available to the Legions of Azgorh, and depending on what you prefer, one of them will fit your list. There's one for Bull Centaurs, one for War Machines, and one for massed infantry.
The Blackshard Warhost is built on the back of Ironsworn and Fireglaives, and gives them a boost to their bravery. They also re-roll hit rolls of 1 if they haven't moved that turn. This formation is good, because it covers your Battleline requirements, cuts down your deployment drops, and gives you a Command Point and an Artefact. The actual bonuses from the battalion are fairly so-so. With such low movement to begin with, you don't really want to be standing still, particularly with Ironsworn. They need to be pushing up the board, and ensuring they have an impact on the flow of the game. The bravery bonus is also made significantly less important if you're including Drazhoath in the list, as he allows them to ignore Battleshock anyway. Worth taking for more of a practical list building perspective, but the battalion itself doesn't offer much in the way of rules.
Hashut's Wrath Artillery Train has me torn. It allows you to treat all units from the Battalion to act as if there is a Daemonsmith within 3" allowing them to act at full capacity without having to be babysat by the Daemonsmith. But you MUST take at least one Iron Daemon, and there's no option to take Skullcrackers. This, to me, is still a fantastic Battalion, as it allows you some flexibility with your Smith, and encompasses all the artillery pieces you were already going to include in the army (because let's be real, if you're not taking two Magma Cannons, what are you even doing...). This formation allows your Iron Daemons to tow Magma Cannons 10" and still shoot 24", as they no longer care about outrunning the Smith. It's also the cheapest of the three Battalions, weighing in at only 120 points. Great Value.
While the first two have had previous iterations, this last Battalion is brand new. The Execution Herd is all about Bull Centaurs. To run it, you need Shar'Tor, a Taur'Ruk and three units of Bull Centaur Renders. This covers all three of your Battleline if you make Shar'Tor your general (which is a no-brainer in this battalion). If you're going in on Centaurs, I'm of the mind that you might as well go all in. All the bonuses to them from heroes are Auras, so you might as well get the most out of it and jam as many centaurs into those auras as humanly possible. The battalion rules are also pretty great. You mark an enemy unit for death at the start of the game, and all units from the battalion re-roll hits against it. Once that unit's dead, you can pick a new unit and keep rampaging. Super solid!
THE DOWNSIDES:
There are three significant downsides to this army.
Firstly, and most glaringly obvious, is the model range. The army is purely Forge World, and its not what you'd call a budget army. The models are actually pretty cool, and if you're not opposed to working with resin, then you'll have no problems, but if it's out of the question, your only real choices are third party miniatures (of which I'm yet to see a suitable range), or convert, convert, convert! With more Duardin models available than we've ever had before, and with a kit for almost every possible bit, converting an army isn't a terrible idea, but can often end up costing you as much as the Forge World models anyway.
Secondly, Chaos Dwarfs have all the same drawbacks in gameplay that all the other dwarfs have. They're slow. And unlike Kharadron Overlords, Fyreslayers and Dispossessed, they have zero movement tricks up their sleeve. There are no avenues for unconventional deployment or reserves. If you want something on the other side of the table, you're going to have to march over there and get it. Or ride a steam engine of death... But there's no flying in the army, which means punching through every unit that is thrown in front of you. Artillery can compensate for that a little, taking out key elements from a distance, but bodies will need to hit the ground to win games.
And thirdly, emblazoned on the first page of the PDF is that big, dirty word... COMPENDIUM.
This is a brand new document, and it's important to keep in mind that these models are still 100% available. It should also be noted that Forge World seems to march to the beat of their own drum, so I'm honestly not expecting them to "Bretonniate" the Legion of Azgorh anytime soon. But, it's something to keep in mind.
SUMMARY:
This was a big boost for the Legion of Azgorh. Great allegiance abilities, artefacts and command traits, coupled with the new rules and endless spells, have made the army far more viable, despite a few adjustments to scrolls that could be seen as toning back. All in all, the document and the army are very streamlined with plenty of cool options and units. I don't think they're in that upper bracket of armies, but they're viable. They lack any kind of summoning or healing mechanic, but I think in the hands of a good player, they could be incredibly effective. And with the meta in the place that it's in, and knowing that obscure armies have been very successful in the past, they're so crazy that they might just work...
I, for one, would love to see the army on the table.
What do you think of the new rules? Are they good enough to entice people into the army that's been lurking in the shadows for years? Or do you think they're irrelevant and and should be going the way of Tomb Kings? Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
