#125: Daughter of Khaine Battletome Review

So, I find myself eating my words tonight.

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

#124: Festering of February Game 3 - Skaven Pestilens vs. Slaves to Darkness

After my absolute rinsing in Game Two, I was sitting level in the middle of the pack with a major win and a major loss. It was honestly anybody's guess who I would be facing, and there were a few other armies on a win and a loss that would have been very brutal matches. As fate would have it, I was drawn to face a Wildling-themed Fatesworn Warband from Slaves to Darkness.

Darkoath Warqueen (General)
Chaos Sorcerer Lord on Manticore (Chaos Talisman)
Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount
Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount
Slaughterpriest (Allies)
Slaughterpriest (Allies)
1 Chaos Chariot (Battleline)
1 Chaos Chariot (Battleline)
1 Chaos Chariot (Battleline)
1 Gorebeast Chariot
1 Gorebeast Chariot
1 Gorebeast Chariot
1 Gorebeast Chariot
Chaos War Mammoth
5 Wrathmongers (Allies)
Fatesworn Warband

With enough chariots to make Boudica green with envy, my opponent had an very low-drop army of single models, almost completely negating the effects of Battleshock. While I was confident that I could kill just about everything in his army on its own (there was obviously a slight degree of concern about the Mammoth), I knew that if he hit my lines too hard with the Gorebeasts and Mammoth, he was going to mash my rats with impunity. I was also acutely aware of the mortal wound potential of the Slaughterpriests.

The scenario was Scorched Earth, which was great for me! I had the bodies to hold down my objectives, and if I could just hold the line, and break the wall of chariots, perhaps I could push for my opponent's objective and flood it with bodies to burn it. On the downside, there was an absolute ton of Mystical Terrain throughout the battlefield, so it was inevitable that someone's unit was going to start drooling. 

I decided to deploy my Arch Warlock on the left flank, as I knew he was probably my best shot at putting some hurt on the Mammoth. I couldn't let that thing hit my lines at full health! He was also close enough to the objective that his Balewind would zone out half of its control area. Even though he couldn't hold it, he could close off a large area near it, making it harder to grab. 

My opponent deployed his army in two main battle groups. The Warqueen and Wrathmongers offered support to the Mammoth and three chariots...

...while the Sorcerer on Manticore (converted to be riding a big ol' grizzly bear!) commanded the right side of the board. 

My opponent, knowing that he needed the charge, and potentially the double turn, gave me priority. My centre pushed forward, tripping over itself a little but also very aware of how close it was coming to the very long threat range of the chariots. The Furnace got Rabid Fever off on both 40-man units, and the catapult managed to plink a couple of wounds off the Manticore, but little else occurred on the right flank. 

 On the left flank, it was all business. I managed to pop a super-prayer with the decrepit Priest lurking in the woods, and with no enemies in range, I was content to take the bonus to prayers. The Catapult and Arch-Warlock put in work, though, taking 8 wounds off the mammoth! An excellent start.

In a terrifying burst of speed, the Mammoth slammed into my army and went to work on the Monks. Despite having a still-terrifying damage output potential, my opponent rolled the single worst round of attacks I have witnessed and killed a total of six Monks... Who then piled in and attacked before exploding, chipping yet more wounds off the towering behemoth. 

In an equally disastrous spate of bad luck (with a little help from my Bale-Chimes), several of my opponent's charges failed, leaving two of his chariots unsupported and in a real spot of bother. Aware that this was their moment for glory in the eyes of Chaos, the two chariots went to work. One managed to bump off a few monks, while the other fell painfully short of trampling a Priest. 

While the Verminlord and his underlings managed to dispatch of the chariot in their face, the double turn was upon me! Single models began to slam into my lines, dishing out damage left, right and centre, but my line held. 

The central conflict quickly turned into a wild brawl, with both sides taking a horrific amount of punishment. I was extremely lucky to have been out of range of both Slaughterpriests, and my opponent had, thanks to his low model count, left his objectives wide open, ripe for the claiming...

Retribution was swift from the Skaven horde. All three units of Monks popped their Books of Woes, with each unit having at least four enemy units in range. Mortal wounds were handed out in volume, chipping wounds off just about every chariot and character on the board. The Priest on the right hand side of the board, quietly underachieving until now, launched a Pestilent Breath at the trio of characters to the rear and rolled some of the hottest dice of his miserable life. The Sorcerer suffered yet another two mortal wounds, while both Slaughterpriests took three wounds each! 

The left flank was fairing no better for my opponent. Having suffered terrible losses, the Monks showed signs of crumbling, but the minions of Khorne fell first. The Wrathmongers had buffed not only the Mammoth, but the Monks as well, and were punished for it under a flurry of blades. The Warlock added his considerable weight to the conflict, dishing out yet more damage, as well as finally being able to use his shooting attack to melt a Wrathmonger's face off. Even with the hardest work, and best laid plans, my opponent couldn't outnumber me to control the objective.

I managed to double turn my opponent back, and this allowed me to completely swing the flow of battle to my advantage. His main charge had shattered against my army (in reality, I assume many of the chariots simply got too many monks jammed in the wheels and broke down), and my counter-offensive was brutal. Another barrage of prayers, spells and catapult fire allowed me to start removing key models from my opponent's army, and clearing whole areas of the board. 

In easily one of the most memorable moments I have been lucky enough to have in gaming, the monks finally managed to slay the Mammoth. I won the roll off to decide which way he fell, and chose to suffer more casualties by hitting my own unit. This was completely worth it, however, as the Mammoth also came crashing down on the wounded Warqueen, smashing her into oblivion in a moment of cinematic tragedy. 

With the core of my opponent's army broken, I went on to push forward, slay all in my path, and burn one of his objectives to claim the major win. 

This was a great game to finish the tournament on. I think even if I'd been bulldozed, it still would have been a great game. With the mindset that neither of us were in the running for winning the event, it allowed us to relax, have a laugh and enjoy the game in all of its comedic calamity. 

The event as a whole was a really fun, well run day, and all the armies were painted, which is always lovely. There were a few real stand outs as well, that just shone on the table.

Results wise, I came in 4th place, having landed two major wins and several Sports votes. I managed to win Best Sports, which is always a real privilege to win. Sportsmanship, I think is something that I always aspire to compete for, as I think everyone should, but to win it is a bonus! I was also in a three way tie for Coolest Army, but was beaten to the punch by a very cool Squig-heavy Moonclan Grot army (which got my vote). I cast a vote for a Stardrake in the Coolest Model category, and it cleaned up the prize; deservedly so, as it was gorgeous! 

All in all a great event, even considering the absolute massacre of Game Two. 

Next time, I'll be throwing up my review of the Daughters of Khaine Battletome. Keep an eye out.

Thanks for reading, 

Gabe

#123: Festering of February Game 2 - Skaven Pestilens vs. Disciples of Tzeentch

After coming out of Game One with a convincing win, I found myself amongst some of the strongest armies in the pool, and round two saw me face down a Disciples of Tzeentch army. The list is as follows.

Lord of Change (General)
Herald of Tzeentch
The Blue Scribes
The Changeling
Gaunt Summoner w/Chaos Familiars
10 Pink Horrors
10 Pink Horrors
10 Pink Horrors
10 Blue Horrors
10 Blue Horrors
10 Blue Horrors
30 Brimstone Horrors
Multitudinous Host
390 points in Reinforcements

Note on the list: It only came to my attention while double checking points and lists that my opponent's army was one unit of horrors short to meet the requirements of the Host. In our game, this had no impact on the end result, as he didn't end up using all of his reinforcement points and could have just as easily had a unit of 10 Brims at the back of the board with no impact on how the game went. My opponent was very apologetic upon being made aware of this, and I have no doubt that it was a mistake.

This was probably the one army at the event that I didn't want to face, for one reason and one reason alone; the Gaunt Summoner. My army has three massive units of infantry, that do a great deal of the heavy lifting and I knew how brutal the Summoner's arcane barrage of damage can be! But, the draw was the draw and I was determined to give my opponent the toughest run possible with the tools at my disposal.

The scenario was Battle for the Pass, which favoured large units for objective grabbing. If I could keep my big units above twenty, I'd be able to snatch objectives off my opponent (Brimstones aside). My Plagueclaws deployed fairly deep into my deployment zone, making sure to have enough range to hit 3" past the mid-board objectives, meaning any unit cheeky enough to try and toe-tap the objective would be in range. I kept a unit of 20 monks back to screen my Arch Warlock against the Changeling (who ended up deploying in his own zone after all), while the Corruptor held down the other flank. I made sure that my Warlock went down after the Summoner, and measured to put him just inside 36". meaning that when I popped my Balewind, I had the range to hit him (inevitably atop his own Balewind) with both of my damage spells. On my front line, my Furnace held the centre, while a unit of forty monks lined up a mid-board objective each, each supported by a Priest. 

On the other side of the board, rows upon rows of Horrors stared back at me. The council of wizards formed a tight group to benefit from each other's auras. Having beaten my on drops, my opponent took first turn and unleashed hell. The Summoner popped up on his Balewind and hit one unit of monks with Treason of Tzeentch and hit the other with Infernal Flames, just melting huge chunks of the units. Unfortunately for me (and more specifically, my Monks), we were playing under the assumption that Treason triggered on 5's instead of 6's, so when combined with the many other spells coming my way, casualties were unsurprisingly high. After the game was over, we double checked the FAQ, and discovered the mistake. On the right side, Brimstones pushed up to cap the objective, while on the left, a unit of Daemonettes materialised and laid claim to the other. 

I was bloodied, but not beaten yet, as I prepared to unleash the full strength of the crazed rat. The Warlock popped up on his Balewind, and did three mortal wounds to the Gaunt Summoner with Warpstorm. Only two to go; an Arcane Bolt should do the trick! Nope... despite the bonus to cast, I failed to get the spell off. To make matters worse, the Furnace took a mortal wound from a failed prayer and both catapults missed the Brimstones (on a 2+, mind you!). Things were not going according to plan...

 Having found myself in quite the pickle, I began to do what I do best; scrap. Pushing as hard as I could on every possible advantage to try and scrape together some momentum, I tried to make the most of a bad turn and set myself up for a possible double turn. The left hand unit of monks, having survived better than their comrades, got buffed up and launched into the Daemonettes, blitzing the ten models off the table in a heartbeat and taking the objective. The other monks fell short of the charge against the Brimstones, and would have had to kill a large number of them to cap the objective.

Lady Luck was not on my side, and I had to endure another barrage of magic from the Summoner and shooting from the horrors, further crippling my main combat units. With only a dozen models left in the unit, I shredded my way through more than a handful of Brimstone Horrors, and foolishly hit the Blue Horrors as well, opening up the opportunity for my opponent to replenish the Brimstones (back onto the objective), before healing D6 Blues in his following Hero Phase.

The other flank fared slightly better. With superior numbers, and more prayers on them, they managed to carve their way through a unit of Pinks and a unit of Blues, while also putting some hurt on the Brimstones, who healed from the Blues dying. The Priest and Censer Bearers moved up behind them to hold down the objective, and contest against any more sneaky summoning. 

Both Plagueclaws missed again. The Arch Warlock failed to cast both of his spells.

Having survived the worst I could throw at him (not the Plagueclaws... they couldn't throw anything), my opponent went to work, mopping up the rest of my army. The Horrors on the right made short work in shooting down the last few monks, while my larger left flank unit drew the unsavoury attention of the Gaunt Summoner, who unleashed both Treason and Infernal Flames and just wiped them off the board. My Corruptor also got removed from the table, after the Changeling popped up on a second Balewind, nicked the Lord of Change's spell and unleashed Tzeentch's Inferno upon him. When combined with several other spells, the sheer volume of mortal wounds was too much for even Verminous Valour to save him, and he fell. 

In a turn full of moments that felt a bit "too little too late", the Arch Warlock FINALLY took the last two wounds off the Summoner and killed him, and one of the catapults found it within themselves to actually hit something and do two wounds that were promptly replenished. My Furnace, knowing that he was on half wounds and was incredibly close to death, ploughed headlong into the Pink Horrors, but failed to do enough to have an impact. Retribution was swift, as the Lord of Change forged a path of destruction, smiting down the Furnace before carrying on and clearing the objective of the Priest and Plague Censer Bearers. With only two Plagueclaws, twenty monks, one objective and no way to claim a lead, the game ended in a major loss.

I'm not going to sugar coat it. This game was rough. In three shooting phases, one catapult hit once, and my Arch Warlock simply barely managed to dish out five wounds in three turns. This resulted in the Gaunt Summoner wreaking havoc unchecked, managing to kill over sixty Monks on his own. I think, even if Treason of Tzeentch was played correctly, the actual impact on the game would have been very similar; the tally would have still been horrific and Battleshock would have cleaned those units off the board regardless. I made a couple of mistakes attacking Blues when Rabid Fever kicked in, which fed the severely damaged Brimstones, but it was a bit of a catch twenty two, where I didn't really have anything else to attack. Multitudinous Host is very strong! Between the splitting mechanic and the replenishing that happens in the Hero Phase (and sometimes the Battleshock phase for Pinks), they're deceptively difficult to get through. 

It was a tough match up, but I was determined to give my opponent a fight, and as much as you can blame bad dice or bad match ups, I refused to accept defeat until the last hope of victory passed into darkness.

With a Major Win and a Major Loss, I found myself in the middle tables, facing down a unique Slaves to Darkness army! Keep an eye out for Game Three, results and overview of the event.

Thanks for reading,

Gabe

#122: Festering of February Game 1 - Skaven Pestilens Vs. Seraphon

The draw for the first round of the tournament was completely random and was announced the day before the event. I had never met my opponent, but saw Seraphon, and knew I was going to be up against it. Seraphon requires some finesse to play efficiently, but when put in the hands of an experienced player, they are truly something to be feared.

To read my list, check blog post #121.

My opponent ended up being one of the venue's Youngblood players, and he was fielding an intimidating list. 

Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur (General)

Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur

Lord Kroak

Engine of the Gods

40 Skinks

40 Skinks

20 Saurus Warriors

10 Saurus Knights

While the Saurus units weren't a major concern, considering how unheathly it is to be in combat with Monks, the rest of the list was a concern. I was delighted to see that Kroak didn't have a Balewind Vortex, but he was still a formidable wizard. The two massive units of skinks were going to be frustrating to whittle down, as they're incredibly hard to pin down. And two Carnosaurs is never a good thing!

The scenario was Duality of Death, so I knew I needed to kill his four big pieces if I had a hope of winning.

My deployment was pretty conventional for the most part. The bulk of my Congregation deployed on the left, with a unit of forty lining up the left hand objective, and supported by a Priest. The Arch-Warlock delpoyed far enough toward the centre so as to be in range of both objectives once he popped up on a Vortex. Then the Furnace and the other unit of forty deployed in the centre, ready to push straight up the middle and hit whatever got in their way first. 

 My right flank consisted of the last unit of monks, the Censer Bearers, a Priest and the Corruptor. My hope was that each flank could push onto an objective, with the middle force serving as reinforcements to whoever was in most dire need. Catapults sat on the back board edge, with more than enough range to hit anything that wandered outside the opposing deployment zone.

My opponent deployed in quite a conservative manner, making sure to wrap his most valuable units in bodies for fear of some unforeseen Skaven trickery. I was very happy to see Kroak as far back on the board as he was, as this meant he wouldn't really be a huge threat until later in the game. But I've faced (and used) Seraphon and their teleporting shenanigans before, and I wasn't about to lull myself into a false sense of security.

Thanks to his Command Trait, my opponent utilised a second teleport in turn to launch both Carnosaurs onto my left flank, leaving one on the objective to start racking up points, while the second slammed into my Monks! Not exactly how I envisioned turn one...

Elsewhere, Kroak and the Engine of the Gods pushed over toward the other objective, while the Seraphon infantry advanced toward the centre of the table. Luckily for me, the Carnosaur absolutely tanked his rolls and did very little damage to me. In return, I managed to put four wounds on the giant dino-rider.

I knew that if I wanted to win this game, I couldn't afford to get bogged down in my own delpoyment zone, so my first turn was pretty active. The Arch-Warlock popped up on his vortex successfully, and unleashed the arcane arsenal into the Carnosaur, chipping another three wounds off him, as well as killing a Saurus Knight as collateral damage from Warpstorm. Both my large units popped their Contagion Banners, and the central unit benefited from the Corruptor's command ability. With the Furnace successfully casting Rabid Fever on both large units, it was about to get bloody.

I made a mistake on my right side, by moving my Censer Bearers before my Corruptor, which meant that his superior movement was hampered, preventing him from reaching the objective turn one. With both objectives outside of my control, things were not looking good. Both Plagueclaws took aim at the Saurus Warriors with limited success. Guess it was down to my Monks to save the day...

And save the day, they did! While taking minimal casualties, they absolutely blended the Saurus Knights, leaving only one standing after Battleshock, while the Saurus Warriors were completely slaughtered. With four attacks each, the Contagion Banner and Rabid Fever, the monks were on a rampage!

The monks on the flank, not to be outdone by their brethren, ripped the wounded Carnosaur apart, leaving the Scar-Veteran on the objective horribly exposed and unsupported. A double turn would really swing the tide of battle, and allow me to capitalise on the momentum...

But alas, it was not to be. In fact, I failed to win a priority roll all game long! Kroak was in range of several spells now, and had begun putting the hurt on several elements of my army. My opponent made some mistakes with target priority here, as he chose Plagueclaw, the Corruptor and the Monks as his targets for Comet's Call, leaving the Priest (crucial to the scenario) completely unscathed. I also managed to use Verminous Valor to great effect on my Verminlord, passing off the high-quality damage onto the lowly (and entirely disposable in the eyes of the Corruptor) monks. Rapidly running out of units, my opponent pushed the Engine of the Gods onto the right hand objective, applying a great deal of pressure to my army to get points on the board. The Engine also pulled out some Seraphon sorcery, nuking my Furnace with a whopping 6 mortal wounds! The two massive regiments of Skinks materialised on my back corner, with one of them making a cheeky move after the jump. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the forty blowpipes managed to trim the last three wounds off my Plagueclaw.

In my turn, I was intent on claiming the objectives and putting some kind of numbers on the board. It was 4-0 in my opponent's favour, and I simply could not let him widen the gap any further. I cast Arcane Bolt with the Corruptor and put two wounds on Kroak, while the Warlock was left to cast Warpstorm at whoever was in range, crucially managing to kill the last Saurus Knight who was locking the Monks in combat.. The verminlord also put Mystic Shield on the Plague Priest, who had triggered his Plague Tome on the Engine of the Gods before making a dash for the safety of the ruins (and the glory of the objective). The forty man unit in the centre, swept around to launch an assault upon the cursed Engine, while the Verminlord and his accompanying Censer Bearers made a line for Kroak. The twenty monks at the back made the noble (and fanatically insane) choice to screen my army from the eighty Skinks. Retribution was brutal upon the Blowpipe Skinks, my surviving catapult unleashed a shower of corrosive spew that killed twelve and forced another seven to flee! Excellent. 

When combat rolled around, the odds were stacked against the Engine, and it simply couldn't withstand the onslaught of rats. It fell, and the objective was mine! The Verminlord cursed as Kroak managed to wound the Corruptor (and as a flow-on effect, kill two Censer Bearers... seriously, Verminous Valor is amazing!), suffer seven wounds, then refuse to crumble, heal and teleport away!

On the other side of the board, the second Carnosaur was overrun and slain by the bloodthirsty rats of the other massive regiment. The Furnace had manged to sneak close enough to the objective to claim it the moment the Scar-Veteran drew his last breath. 

Cowering behind his swarms of Skinks, Kroak tried his hardest to kill the Priest, but spells either failed or were out of range. He did manage to cast mystic shield upon himself, but that was little solace for the wasted damage potential. The Skinks had even less luck, failing to wound anything with their shooting. Things were beginning to look bleak for the Seraphon. 

In the dying moments of the game, My Arch-Warlock and remaining Plagueclaw unleashed an avalanche of damage upon Kroak, inflicting another seven wounds in hopes of claiming the huge chunk of victory points that would result in his death. Against all odds, he survived AGAIN, and healed back all of his wounds. My dastardly schemes were foiled. With the clock out of time, our last turn was very much just rolling out the crucial parts of the game, but in the end, I managed to win 12-4, securing a major victory, and losing less than four hundred victory points. 

I had complete control of the left hand side of the board, and managed to keep my Furnace alive (just) on only two wounds after all of the magic and Engine mayhem caused earlier in the game. 

I think my opponent had the tools to beat me. We talked briefly after the game about his list, and I think the verdict was that he was going to drop the Knights, and use the points to flesh out the Saurus and invest in a Balewind. It just makes Kroak so much scarier. As it was, I only ever really needed to worry about being in range of one or two spells, and it allowed me to ignore his damage output for the most part, which is not something you want said about a 450 point model. 

My opponent lost sight of the objective a few times, not in regards to his army, but in regards to mine. Other than the Verminlord, my heroes do not hold up well to damage, and several times, he targeted units of monks with spells and abilities that dish out mortal wounds. If he'd blasted my characters off and clawed a big enough lead, there would have been nothing for me to do but watch. But these things come with experience, and considering how long he's been playing, I think he's definitely going to be a player to watch in the future. 

This left me on a major win with a large amount of victory points, pushing me into the top bracket of players, ready to face down whatever horrific list awaited me in round two...

Thanks for reading,

Gabe

#121: The power of Hobby Democracy and Festering of February tournament prep

Well, the people have spoken. Last week, I put up a poll to decide what my next army painting project would be. With only two possibilities allowed by Facebook, Ironjaws crushed Beastclaw Raiders in popularity, and so my fate has been sealed. My next army will be the ironclad orruks with a severe anger management issue. I'm going to use this to push myself from a painting perspective, especially in regards to free hand painting; something I have always avoided if possible. With the abundance of flat plates of armour, as well as a banner or two, there are plenty of opportunities to stretch my hobby legs and try out some techniques I haven't committed a whole lot of time to.

For all you who voted for Beastclaw Raiders, fear not. I'm sure I'll be tackling them soon enough*.

*subject to awesome new releases and a brutally short attention span

I've settled on a list (in the voting poll post on Facebook) which I'm really happy with, as it gives me a huge variety of units and characters; well, at least in terms of Ironjawz, who are not known for having a whole lot of diversity in units. I'm very much looking forward to painting the Maw-Crusha, as well as the Warboss with the Waaagh Banner, as I think this will almost be the secondary centrepiece model in the army after the General.

But, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Before I kick into them, I have a rat-tag handful of models that need to be painted to finish off my Pestilens. I cannot wait to close the painting door on that army and enjoy painting something other than robed rats.

But, speaking of robed rats, I'll be taking my Pestilens on their first tournament outing of 2018 this coming weekend, at the Festering of February. This is a one-day 2000pt matched play tournament hosted by Warhammer Capalaba, and while there's only a small player pool, it's shaping up to be a fantastic day. I was lucky enough to jag one of the tickets, and as it's not large enough to earn points for the Aus Matched Play Rankings, I figured I'd use this event to fine-tune my list for some of the bigger events later in the year. The core is very similar to what I've used at several events last year.

Allegiance: Pestilens

Verminlord Corruptor (General, Vexler's Shroud, Verminous Valour)
Plague Furnace (Liber Bubonicus)
Plague Priest w/Plague Censer
Plague Priest w/Plague Censer
40 Monks (Battleline)
40 Monks (Battleline)
20 Monks (Battleline)
Plagueclaw Catapult
Plagueclaw Catapult
Congregation of Filth (Warscroll Battalion

This left me with 300 points still to spend, with none of my Allies pool used. From there, I began to scour the Skaven warscrolls looking for that perfect element to my army. I toyed with using a Warpseer, or even squeezing in a Deceiver, but what my army lacked was the ability to put mortal wounds out at considerable range from relative safety (as skaven as it gets...). While the Warpseer offers that with his Orb, and comes with a fantastic spell, he kind of has to put himself in serious danger to get the opportunity to fling grenades at people.

No-no, I needed something a little more... distanced.

Two options floated to the surface. The first was a big unit of six Jezzails, who (with help from any Mystical Terrain) were quite capable of punching holes through the head of just about any character on the board. The second was (and I can feel the shudder down your spine, my dear reader, but I'm playing Skaven at the event, and make no excuses!) an Arch-Warlock perched atop a Balewind Vortex. In the end, I leant toward the Warlock, as a friend pointed out just how prone Jezzails were to failing Battleshock, and how reliable a Warlock was at putting out mortal wounds at an extremely long range. With a bonus to cast, and a 2+ save atop the Vortex, I feel like he poses far more of a threat, and has far more utility within the army than the snipers do.

So, I'd spent 240 for the Warlock and the Balewind, which had given me the reach that I needed. This left me with 60 points in change. My knee jerk reaction was to just purchase five Plague Censer Bearers, and be done with it, but upon further thought, I decided to sneak in (literally) a unit of five Gutter Runners. These ninja rats give me that tactical element to let me contest or claim unprotected objectives, assassinate a squishy support character, or tie up a unit and prevent it from being where it needs to be to shift the tide of battle toward my opponent. With these stealthy operatives purchased, my list was rounded out to a neat 2000 points on the dot. Fantastic!

The pool of players is actually a surprising mix of new and experienced players, as well as a couple of Youngbloods testing their mettle. I don't know what all of the armies will be on the day, but I'm expecting three good games. I think a lot of the experienced players are approaching it with the same mindset as myself, more focused on refining their own lists rather than going for the throat with a hectic list. I'm very much looking forward to taking the Pestilens for a run again, and finding my groove before some of the larger events up in Queensland.

The event is next Sunday, so there'll be no blog post Sunday night. But fear not, as I'll be publishing all three battle reports in the following week! See you then.

Thanks as always for reading,
Gabe

#120: Legions of Nagash Review

Evening, everybody!

Well, if you hadn't already guessed, this is going to be a pretty lengthy one. There is plenty of meat on these bones (pun completely intended), and we've got a lot to get through, so pull up a chair, get your snacks and cold beverage ready and let's dive in!

Legions of Nagash has been a long time coming, and I can say with complete confidence that it was worth the wait! This battetome is the business. So, before we go too deep on the different legions and all the flavour elements, let's start at the base level and assess the updated war scrolls.

War Scrolls

There's been a lot of small changes to the War Scrolls, in many ways just making them more relevant, more versatile and more streamlined to the army. Easily the biggest and most notable change comes in the form of Deathly Invocations. This special rule is new, and has been bestowed upon every Death Hero in the Battletome. While it's range (between 6" and battlefield-wide) and number of targeted friendly units (between two and five) vary between each Hero depending on their influence and power within the army, it allows you to automatically heal wounded models, or replenish a number of wounds worth of models to a battle-damaged unit (rounding down to whole models; you cant bring a Black Knight back on a single wound, as it goes by Wound Characteristic, which never changes). This is an absolutely huge change, and follows in the same veins as Maggotkin of Nurgle, by turning off the beaten path and away from the traditional summoning methods we've been used to. All 'Summon X unit' sections have been stripped from the scrolls in place of Deathly Invocation.

While Deathly Invocation sounds very strong, it does have an asterisk or two. Firstly, it only affects units with the Summonable keyword. This keyword encompasses everything you might imagine; Zombies, Skeletons, Dire Wolves, Spirit Hosts, Black Knights, Hexwraiths, Fell Bats and Bat Swarms. This is a really important limitation, as it cannot affect Heroes, Morghasts, Corpse Carts, Zombie Dragons and so on. I'm in complete support of this, as it keeps the theme of the powerful beings holding together and reanimating a shambling horde, without unintentionally creating a system that allows you to heal elite sledgehammer units with limitless impunity. 

The second big (and I mean... BIG) change is that Standard Bearers no longer replenish their units. Instead, the Standard Bearers (the banner models themselves, not their unit) emit a 6" -1 Bravery Aura. What this means is, to keep your hordes sustained, you're going to need several heroes in range to keep that reanimation going! Blocks of Death infantry are still going to be raising as fast as your opponent can kill them, but it's no longer just a built in mechanic. You need to think about which units you need to sustain in order to control the battlefield.

Wight Kings gained Deathly Invocations, but lost the ability to carry a banner. He lost the wound prevention, but gained a cure, so to speak. The Wight King with a shield now just comes with a flat 3+ save (nothing to sniff at), while the Wight King with the Black Axe dons the Barrow Armour, offering him a handy little element of wound mitigation.

Something we all kind of knew was coming (thanks to news around the Knight of Shrouds) was the change to the Ethereal rule for Nighthaunt. Saves could never be made worse (through Rend, etc), but now they can't be made better either. It doesn't matter if your Spirit Hosts are hiding in terrain with a Mystic Shield; they will always have a 4+ save. Modifiers, both positive and negative, are irrelevant to them. While we're on the topic of Nighthaunt, it's worth noting that you can no longer summon Cairn Wraiths and Banshees for cheeky shenanigans.

The Coven Throne deserves a special mention, too! This is probably one of the least used Heroes that Death has ever had, but the slightest of tweaks has made it amazing. That tweak? The Coven Throne's command ability is no longer a tie-breaker for Priority rolls (situational at best, downright irrelevant at worst). Now (and hold onto your shorts), the Tactical Insight command ability lets you pick a friendly unit within 12". That unit can re-roll 1's for Hit, Wound and Save rolls until your next Hero Phase! Amazing!

There are a few more units that have a new lease on life (OK, OK, I'll stop...) but I don't to spoil ALL the surprises.

Cough*Corpse Carts with Unholy Lodestones*cough.

Ok, now I'm done.

Magic

Speaking of Corpse Carts with Unholy Lodestones (but seriously, 80 points!), Death gets two swanky new Lores of Magic with which to tighten their cold grip upon the realms. These are split into two tables; the Lore of Deathmages and the Lore of Vampires. Only Necromancers and Deathlord Wizards can use the Lore of Deathmages, which is lucky for everyone who's not a Death player, because that Lore is STRONG! The whole (well, almost whole...) lore is based around dishing out negative modifiers, stripping the damage profile on Hero's weapons, debilitating movement or flat out crippling the ability to charge. A 3" charge might sound easy, but on one dice, all of a sudden, it looks pretty sketchy. The only spell that veers away from the concept of crippling your opponent's dice is Soul Harvest, which allows you to dish out mortal wounds to enemies within 3" and heal yourself. I can't see this being of any use to Necromancers, as it's cast in the Hero Phase, which means you need to be in combat from the previous turn AND survive to even cast it. Seems very situational, and a little counter-intuitive for what is essentially a support caster. Even if it allowed you to dish out mortal wounds to nearby friendly units, it'd have it's use for keeping him alive, but with five other incredible spells, I don't see Necromancers using this one a whole lot.

Deathlords on the other hand, can (and predictably will) get a huge amount of mileage out of Soul Harvest. I can just see Mannfred launching into combat, going on a bloody rampage, then sucking the souls out of his foes before continuing on his path of slaughter. In the context of Deathlords, I see this as having huge potential.

The Lore of Vampires (also accessible for Deathlord wizards) is going to see a lot of use (with its far larger list of canditates for use), and is a little more utility/multi-purpose. Whether you want to materialise wings, siphon the life force out of enemies and into friends or just lob an Unholy Hand Grenade into battle, there's a spell here for you!

The Locus of Shyish is gifted to all wizards as well. You might have already heard about this one on Warhammer Community, but a natural (unmodified) casting roll of a nine or more (that isn't unbound) allows you to resolve the effects of the spell twice. It's nothing to depend on, and you can't do anything to increase your chances, but I don't look forward to being on the receiving end of ANY of these spells twice in a turn! It's important to remember, however, that the Locus of Shyish only affects spells from the Lores of Vampires and Deathmages, so spells found in the War Scrolls are not privy to its benefits.

Legions

The next natural step is looking at the four Legions. Each legion may include any of the units from the Battletome, with the exception of Nagash and the three Mortarchs. Nagash can lead a Grand Host of Nagash, must be the general and can have Mortarchs join him, but the three specific legions can't have Nagash, and can only include their specific Mortarch, who must then be the General. This is hardly a hindrance, and really opens up the Death Grand Alliance for time on the tabletop. Now, units that were previously trapped behind an allegiance barrier are sharing the table in all of their unrestricted, macabre glory!

All four allegiances return with old favourites like Deathless Minions, while also bringing new elements to the game in the form of Gravesites. You can place up to four points (not restricted to terrain pieces or anything like that), and units placed in the Graves before the game starts can be summoned from one of these four points by a nearby hero; no dice rolls, no casting attempts. It's very much in line with how Maggotkin summon units onto the board. Gravesites also emit a replenishing, healing aura in the same manner as Deathly Invocations, making their chosen locations of utmost importance when planning out your path to victory.   

The Legions also gain an additional command ability that let's them summon a unit that's been destroyed previously in the battle. As always, this costs points as it should, but it remains to be seen whether it's going to be of use or not. With much more limited conventional summoning, leaving points in reinforcements specifically for this ability may be a double edged sword, as you're depending on your units getting wiped out to even be able to bring new units on.

With the broader, universal bonuses covered, let's take a look at each legion, and pick out some highlights.

I can see the Grand Host of Nagash being really practical for running those skeleton horde armies. From the bonus attacks from the Lord of Nagashizzar trait, to the damage mitigation for Deathrattle units the Ossific Diadem and (you guessed it...) ANOTHER healing/replenishing mechanic from Legions Innumerable, it's no surprise that massive Deathrattle units can find the emotional support they need to march ever onward in the ranks of the Grand Host.

There's also a cheeky, and frankly pretty scary buff to Morghasts that makes them just a nightmare to get punched in the head by. I wouldn't say it has the most flavour, but vanilla is a flavour too, you know... It is by far the most flexible in regards to list building, as you can take your pick of Mortarchs, but it certainly favours those boots on the ground infantry lists that will surely pose huge problems to players who can't burn through large units fast.

Also, if you have the Battletome handy, have a look at the Grave-sand Timeglass... It's truly is a thing of beauty.

The Legion of Sacrament, war host of Arkhan the Black is all about that Magic! With +1 to cast on all of their wizards, traits to make people wizards or learn more spells, raising freshly slaughtered foes or simply summoning from the graves with an increased range, the Legion of Sacrament know what it's about. Between the bonuses to cast, the chance to double-tap spells with Locus of Shyish and the sheer number of magic users, you can fit into a list, the army is truly terrifying. It doesn't sugar coat or hide behind a thinly veiled guise. If you want to unleash a dark arsenal of magic, this is your legion!

They also get some pretty incredible defensive Artefacts in the form of Wristbands of Black Gold, Azyrbane Standard and Shroud of Darkness. The Black Gem is also a pretty terrifying prospect, having the potential to shatter and instakill multiple models with a single blow! If you face a Death General using the Black Gem, kill it, kill it with fire and do it from outside of eleven inches!

The Legion of Sacrament also gets a pretty nifty Warscroll Battalion based around Arkhan and a Mortis Engine, which further empowers the magical potency of your army! It's nice and cheap too, at only seventy points (a huge drop in what we've seen in recent battletomes), but it won't be for every Sacrament army. It will all come down to your specific build.

The Legion of Blood is definitely more focused on Vampires and Bravery bombing your opponent! Neferata's minions follow down the Soulblight path (without actually being Soulblight), with every vampire in your army getting an extra attack for each of their weapons as a static buff, as well as a -1 Bravery aura for every unit from the Legion of Blood (units with banners are walking around with -2!!). With traits like Soul Crushing Contempt, and units like Banshees and Terrorgheists, I could totally see some terrifying combos involving dropping bravery through the floor and then nuking a unit with screams and howls.

There are also some very handy artefacts for mitigating opposing magic in the form of the Amulet of Screams and the Oubliette Arcana, both capable of crippling opposing wizards, either with a flat out shutdown, or mind-wiping an opposing wizard of their knowledge of spells! The Orb of Enchantment is probably my pick, however. Once per game, you can reveal the Orb to an enemy hero within 3', and that hero will see visions of enrapturing possibilities. you can effectively turn the hero off for a turn. No piling in, no attacking and no abilities can be used. That is crazy! There are no dice involved, there is no chance or luck. It could be a Stardrake or even Archaon himself; it doesn't matter. If you can get the bearer of the Orb into combat with them, they're going to derp out and stand dumb-founded while the battle rages around them.

 The Command Traits also offer a tough choice, because there is a wealth of great traits to choose from, between the mobility bonus from Sanguine Blur to the defensive mechanic of the Aura of Dark Majesty. Walking Death is also an extremely, EXTREMELY scary ability that will make your opponent think twice about trying to slay your general in combat!

There's also a cheeky Battalion for the Legion of Blood, which contains Neferata and her coven of Vampires. Again, I don't think it well see much play in a competitive environment, as you're very much pushed toward a certain build that may not be optimal, but it's definitely nailed that 'Rule of Cool'.

Lastly, we have the Legion of Night; Mannfred's own host of undead minions, and this legion is focused on board control. Deathrattle units in your own territory (not always to be confused with your deployment zone) gain a flat +1 to their save as they form a bulwark upon which your opponent's army can shatter, which is incredibly cool, because this still allows terrain and Mystic shield to benefit them! With The Bait, unit placement and movement is very important, because the rules are very clear that your unit must be wholly within your territory to gain the bonus, so make sure there are no stragglers or overly ambitious skeletons making a dash out of the 'green zone'.

But you don't take the Legion of Night for The Bait, regardless of how practical it is. You're taking it for Ageless Cunning, which allows you to place up to three units in reserve to be set up on a table edge at the end of any of your movement phases, giving you another huge tactical tool in your arsenal. This is really useful, as there are no limitations on what units can or can't be put in reserves. It could be sixty Zombies to mob an unguarded objective, or a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon to blend his (or her) way through anything close enough to poke holes in.

I think, in regards to Traits and Artefacts, there are some great options, but I just can't seem to look past Morbheg's Claw. This fantastic little talon lets the bearer scribble some stick men and sketches on the ground. If the bearer doesn't move, charge or attack in that turn, you can add 2 to casting rolls for all friendly wizards within 12" of the bearer! That's huge! Looking at other units in the army, the Mortis Engine and Corpse Cart with Unholy Lodestone (there it is again!) can layer another two auras for a whopping +4 to cast for your little council of Necromancers.

What? Legion of Sacrament is the magic heavy Legion? Mannfred would disagree.

Skeletons

Deathrattle plays a huge role in the new book, and appears to be the building blocks of the army in every way. They got their own Warscroll Battalion (actually, it's the third rendition of this Battalion with one on the app and one in the Death Grand Alliance book), and it's really solid. It gives you (say it with me now!) yet another way to bring back infantry and cavalry models back to the fold. You can automatically return a single model to every unit from the Battalion that's near the Wight King, but that's not all. The Wight King also gives nearby units a 4" move in the hero phase, giving them some much needed speed! This is your plug and play Skeletal Horde.

Summary

I think this is a really solid Batlletome. It feels like a dark, spooky twin brother to Nurgle. Life and Death jokes notwithstanding, while they have similarities in being able to interact heavily with the table itself and being pretty sturdy, they are both very different. Where Nurgle is a tough-as-nails, low model count army, Legions of Nagash is an implacable horde of infantry supported by lots of characters (but seriously... lots of characters) and ever-replenishing magics keeping the army sustained in its perpetual hunger.

I think that the Legions are very well balanced, as there's not one that's just blatantly better than the others. I'm leaning toward Legion of Night as my favourite, but each build will benefit from a different Legion.

Deathly Invocations is a great change, and I think it adds a great deal to the army. You have to think about it more than Banners required, but you can also stack a significant amount of healing on multiple units with Heroes that were gonna be in your army anyway.

And I think that, once again, the strength of the Battletome is going to be in its combos and it's players. A savvy and cunning Death general will be a truly ominous foe. It's less about 'auto-includes' and more aimed at designed a well oiled machine of war. In short, I love the Battletome. The artwork is beautiful, there's a great portion of the book dedicated to the other two ways to play, and all of the Warscrolls have had lots of time and attention lavished upon them. I would have loved to see a few new kits (Oh, for a Zombie Giant!), but at the same time, I think there is so much to explore in the army now that it probably doesn't NEED new kits to be beautiful and current.

Well... Zombies aside.

So there you have it. Hopefully, this was an enjoyable read for you. While I'm by no means a Death expert, I'd love to see what your plans are if you're planning on taking your shambling hordes to battle! Favourite Legion? Go-to general? Must have combo? I haven't scrupulously covered absolutely everything (every trait, artefact, spell and allegiance shenanigans) because, well, half the fun is reading through all the cool new stuff for your army. But I hope that this post has piqued your interest, and I can't wait to see your Legions in action; slow, shambling action, but action nonetheless.

It will be interesting to see each Death player's take on the book and watch certain combos rise to the top. I'd love to know your thoughts!

Cheers for reading,
Gabe







   

#119: Unlocking your true Portent-ial (WARNING: Puns ahead)

What is even happening?

We're a month into the year, and already, we are on the brink of a global narrative campaign, we're about to have Legions of Nagash unleashed upon the game, and Daughters of Khaine are coming in hot after that.

So yeah... its going to be a big year for Age of Sigmar, and we're only a month in. Looking back to last year, where Stormcast, Tzeentch, Khorne and Overlords got a Battletome update, it feels like this year is going to be dedicated to either new armies, or revamping (eh? re-VAMP-ing? get it!) older, neglected factions that didn't receive the love they deserved in the General's Handbook.

Legions of Nagash was a little bit of a surprise to me. I mean, we all knew there was going to be a Death Battletome eventually, but I was fully expecting it to be an expansion upon Deathrattle into a filled out faction with perhaps some new kits, or even giving Deadwalkers some love (because we all know Zombie Giants would be amazing!). But instead, GW has essentially released a Battletome for the entire Grand Alliance, with the exception of Flesh Eater Courts, who fill the Allies role for LoN.

Legions is almost the best case scenario (almost, but more on that later) for Death Players. Let's be real; the majority of Death Players were playing Grand Alliance Death anyway. There are, of course, plenty of FEC players, and new life was breathed into certain factions (these puns are coming thick and fast today, and I make no apologies) with the GHB17, but competitively, mixed Death seemed to be the strongest and most viable. I'm personally not a Death player, so correct me if I'm wrong in any of this. The combining of the armies means that so many models have launched back into the category of viable! I see this as being fantastic, and very themed, as you can now build one of several legions with all of the flexibility you desire.

The reason that I say 'almost the best case scenario' is because of one thing. The Knight of Shrouds.

"But, Gabe," I hear you say. "How is a new, awesome model with awesome rules a bad thing?".

That's exactly it. He's the only one. That character model is the first Death model to be released for the entire Grand Alliance since the birth of AOS, and while I know Death got lots of new models during the End Times, it's still disproportionate to literally every other Grand Alliance! Even the Ironjawz release had a heap of new models.

Don't get me wrong... the model is amazing! Not only is he a total bad ass model, but he fills the gaping General-shaped hole in a Nighthaunt army. No longer is your army led by a low-wound character with no command ability. He synergizes perfectly with the army, and I'm expecting to see him in every Nighthaunt army at every points level. That said, I'm interested to see where those minor GHB17 factions lie in regards to the Legions. Will they just become redundant in the shadow of the new Battletome, or will they have a niche spot? Time will tell.

Speaking of new models, the four new characters coming out look amazing! The Knight of Shrouds is stunning, and suitably creepy! His ominous helm and ancient longsword give him an air of terror that perfectly suits the Death aesthetic.

The Lord-Ordinator is a bit of an unusual one. I think a lot of people were hoping it would be an elf or a dwarf (even a human) instead of a Stormcast hero, this is probably the least Stormcast-y SCE model we've seen yet. Instead of the traditional head-to-toe plate armour, he's bare-armed and bareheaded, and his role as an engineer is clear just by looking at him. He wears robes and is adorned with tools and instruments of his trade. The duel-weilded hammers are also very reminiscent of Warrior Priests of the wold that was. I personally love this new direction, as well as his synergy and support role with war machines. I do think it's interesting to see a character dedicated to 'War Machines' specifically. We've not seen a model with the War Machine keyword released since the dawn of AOS, but I hope it's a unit type that we see return to the game with new models, no matter what race it's for. There's something awesome about crewed war machines raining death from afar!

The Darkaoth Warqueen is absolutely amazing as a model! Her beauty is perfectly balanced with the raw aggression present in the pose and the armament of the model. I can see this model being the foundation for perhaps a Valkia conversion, or simply as a stand alone character. I'm hoping that she and the Darkoath Cheiftain are glimpses of a more fleshed out faction in the future, that encompasses the Marauder aspect of the Chaos faction, steering away from the "viking" look and more toward  a barbarian aesthetic. A guy can dream, right?

Lastly, and by far the most exciting in my mind, is the Fungoid Cave Shaman. Moonclan Grots, while a much-beloved faction, have been scraping out a path to survival in the game since well before End Times. And while the range is fairly broad (when you include all of the Squigs and Forge World models), it was one of the surprise omissions from the GHB17. This came as quite a surprise to everyone, but hopefully this is a good thing. The Cave Shaman is very blatantly a Moonclan Grot, but the design is very different; hopefully a sign of things to come. While he's adorned in black robes, wields a sickle and has cresent moon icons like every other Shaman before him, there's no mistaking that he's decidedly higher-fantasy than his predecessors. from the weird brain-squig to the critter on his staff, the vials and pouches to the mushrooms growing on him, he looks far more "fantasy" than any other goblin released so far.

I'm hoping that these characters are heralds of future releases. I'd be totally OK with new Moonclan, Darkoath and Stormcast Engineers! Give me a Stormcast ballista... I'd be all over that!

And I haven't even mentioned the new Daughters of Khaine, yet! I did a full piece on looking at why no one was playing them in issue #108. And let's jsut say, judging by the hype, people are gonna be playing them left, right and centre! But that's a whole topic for another blog!

In summary, I can't wait to get my hands on the new books coming out on Saturday. Malign Portents is shaping up to be a huge story arc, and another big advancement in the Age of Sigmar. I think between this and Daughters, we're about to see a huge shake up of the game (again!), and I dunno about you but I can't wait. The game is always shifting and advancing, and it shows in everyone's face. We're all excited for every release, and Death has been coming a long way off! I hope it pleases the masses, as I think the book alone will give new life (you thought I was done with the puns, didn't you...) to an old, but beautiful range of models!

Are you jumping aboard the Death train or will you wait for the angriest ladies in all the realms?

Thanks for reading,
Gabe