With Battletome: Fyreslayers up for pre-order this weekend, it’s time to brush the ash off your battleaxes, polish your ur-gold runes, and yomp heartily into battle.
We’ve already covered the Lofnir lodge’s latest trick – an army of Magmadroths that can spew even more powerful jets of fire over their opponents. We’ve also revealed how ur-gold is getting even shinier, as Fyreslayer heroes have learned to empower themselves at will with mystical runes. Now it’s time to check in on the Battlesmith.
Like many of his kin, the Battlesmith is a lover of telling tall tales.* In battle, he holds aloft an icon of Grimnir and recites the glorious deeds of his fyrd, inspiring allies to fight as furiously as their long-dead patriarch and march victoriously back to the lodge.
These bombastic ballads set ablaze the ur-gold runes of Fyreslayers wholly within 12”, inuring them to incoming damage with a 6+ ward.** Once per battle they can go even harder on the recitations, tossing in a few spicy synonyms and adjectives to give one unit a 5+ ward.
This mobile ward bubble means you’re free to hurl your Auric Hearthguard into combat, knowing full well that you can keep them alive even without a Rune of Fiery Determination. They just need this stunty songster to keep bellowing, in order to weather the meanest barrage of hobgrot bombs.
Not that dying is so bad for a Fyreslayer. A glorious death is their raison d'être – Vulkite Berzerkers and Grimwrath Berzerkers even get to take another swing at their foes when they die. This reckless behaviour does mean that your army of hot-headed duardin can eventually start looking a little ragged, but that’s where the Battlesmith’s Bard of the Lodge ability comes in.
Not only does the Battlesmith’s performance supercharge the Rally command, as a TOTEM he can issue it to units that are 18” away, giving him plenty of scope to influence your entire frontline. After all, who doesn’t want to see Berzerkers fighting, dying and fighting again, then returning to the fray in a fresh blaze of fury?***
With the new Auric Flamekeeper primed to gather ur-gold from fallen friends, Fyreslayer armies now have a toasty cornucopia of heroes who make death seem more like an inconvenience. By combining their benefits and synergies, you can turn your incandescent infantry into a fire that never dies.
The full rules will be available very soon – alongside reference cards and themed dice – as Battletome: Fyreslayers is up for pre-order this Saturday.
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* It’s the only tall thing about him.
** Are they enthused, or just numb from hearing Grimnir’s Greatest Hits for the thousandth time? Mortal Realms scholars want to know.
*** Their enemies probably don’t want this to happen. These duardin have BIG axes.