We met Brand’s Oathbound over the weekend, a fearsome band of fur-clad warriors sworn to resist the pious weaklings of the perfidious lightning god. But mighty as they are, these heroes are but the vanguard for the Darkoath tribes – who now muster in great throngs as the Sigmarite cowards quail behind their crumbling city walls.
It truly is a host – this huge launch box contains 27 miniatures, a battletome supplement, four warscroll cards, and all the tokens needed for any budding follower of the Dark Gods to re-reclaim the Realms from the Azyrite lickspittles.
Let’s take a closer look at these burly barbarians – and uncover their haircare secrets.
Darkoath Chieftain on Warsteed
Rocking a very on-trend off-the-shoulder fur coat – all the better to flex his pecs with – it’s the Darkoath Chieftain. An avid collector of mouldering heads, this guy is as good at fighting as he is at ignoring the smell of decaying flesh. He’s a grim reflection of the Freeguild Cavalier-Marshal, who’s clearly too puny to enter battle without both shoulders draped in armour.
The Chieftain has numerous options – he comes with three heads, plus two for his steed and a choice of sword or axe. Whatever headgear you choose, a magnificent mane of hair cascades manfully yet artfully down that rippling bare shoulder of his.
Wilderfiend
The all-pervasive allure of Chaos is too strong for some Darkoath heroes to resist, and the Wilderfiend is what becomes of a powerful mortal champion whose ambitions outstripped their abilities. They earned the enmity of their dark patrons for breaking one of their oaths, and were changed forever as a result.
Each tribe is watched over by the Wilderfiends they once called kin – they are both monsters and sentinels, who must be satiated with sacrifices and trophies. Perhaps their greatest shame, however, is that their once lustrous locks have been shorn forever by the cruelties of their transfiguration.
Wilderfiends are – both literally and figuratively – beasts in combat, setting about with their flesh-tearing maw and razor-sharp claws. The miniature comes with a cavalcade of cosmetic choices, including heads, tusks, trophies, and horns. These are not friendly fellows.
Darkoath Marauders
Below the mighty heroes and monstrous failures of the Darkoath tribes are a bevy of fearsome mortals jockeying for glory and fighting for their families. These are the Marauders, musclebound men and women with salon-quality hair and relatively few clothes. Let the Freeguild Steelhelms keep their stuffy jerkins and breastplates – the Darkoath worked for these gains, and they’re going to show them off.
Darkoath Marauders can wield spears or a variety of one-handed raider weapons, and they may be joined by a champion, musician, and icon bearer. There are five male bodies and five female, with over a dozen shields and 30 different heads to make each raiding force unique.
Darkoath Fellriders
Horse masks are very in this season, and the Darkoath Fellriders are cantering into view with some of the finest equine accessories in all the Mortal Realms. Fellriders ditch the clunky armour of Freeguild Cavaliers, instead operating as light cavalry who soften the tribe’s enemies up with a volley or two of javelins, or charge in to finish them off with lethal broadswords.
This is a versatile kit with a variety of heads, shields, peytrals, and horsey face-masks, plus a choice of javelins or blades for the whole unit – and parts to build a champion, a musician, and an icon bearer.
Battletome Supplement: Darkoath
This 28-page supplement to
Battletome: Slaves to Darknessexpands upon the existing Darkoath options, and includes the four new Warscrolls from the army box, the lore of the Darkoath, and plenty of brilliant art and photography. The Darkoath follow Chaos Undivided, and may be included in your existing Slaves to Darkness armies.
The set also contains the same four warscroll cards and a set of tokens. All three of these items are only available in this set – but the battletome supplement will be available as a free PDF download shortly after launch.
Combine this army set with the existing Darkoath – the Darkoath Savagers for Warcry, the Gnarlspirit Pack for Warhammer Underworlds, the Darkoath Chieftain, and the Darkoath Warqueen – and you’ll have a war party fit for the ruinous powers. You may even wish to throw Torgar Split-Eye into the mix as a unique Chieftain, should you have been lucky enough to pick him up at official Warhammer events last year…