The God of Undeath desires only one thing – to turn the Mortal Realms into a still and lifeless necrotopia, expunged entirely of all free will but his own. To establish this eternal and changeless empire, the Great Necromancer employs many forces, and the most uncompromising are the grim legions of the Ossiarch Bonereapers.
The Ossiarch Bonereapers are intricate masterworks of necromancy, raw bone reshaped by cunning magic into components for macabre legionaries, each animated by a careful blend of souls. They operate without dissent, led by generals who do not waver, a perfect and precise weapon that exists only to further the will of Nagash.
They march the Mortal Realms without remorse, conquering kingdoms and imposing the bone-tithe – a levy of skeletal materials, used to fashion more soldiers for this eternal war machine. Living vassals evade this morbid tax at their peril – should the quota not be met, the due is collected by force. You can never escape the tithe.
Overview
Nagash has entrusted much of his dominion to his council of Mortarchs, who enforce his will through their own hosts of mordants, gheists, wights, and other undead servants. The only flaw in this command structure is that his subordinates are bickering, self-obsessed, and compromised by petty ambition or morbid madness, from the lowliest necromancer to the most fearsome vampire.
The Lord of Undeath envisioned a simple solution – a legion of unquestionably loyal servants, purpose-made to serve his will, down to every detail of their bodies and souls. Their forms would be knitted from armoured bone, their spirits shaped from the gestalt souls of warriors whose afterlives were already under his thrall.
To lead this perfect army, Nagash picked a perfect general – Orpheon Katakros. Katakros was a military genius who had thrown back Nagash’s forces time and again during his conquest of Shyish, only to willingly pledge allegiance to the Tyrant of Bones in exchange for an eternity to hone his bloody craft. Imprisoned by the God-King Sigmar during the confusion and treachery of the Age of Chaos, Katakros was freed at the dawn of the Soul Wars by Lady Olynder – and Nagash at last provided him with tireless armies and a physical vessel to match his soul’s uncompromising perfection. Now the Mortarch of the Necropolis, he is a ruthless commander who wields the necrotopian hosts of the Ossiarch Empire with unparalleled skill.
His armies are composed of numerous exacting castes, each a cog in a clinical engine of slaughter. The arcane craft-priests of the Mortisan orders maintain these legions, forging new constructs and blending souls. They also join their creations in battle, repairing damaged troops and hastily fashioning reinforcements from dead foes.
They march with stranger constructs still – Kavalos Deathriders atop chimeric bone steeds, Mortek Crawlers which shower the enemies with necromantic artillery fire, and Gothizzar Harvesters, lumbering abominations that smash through enemy lines and collect fresh bone to be reshaped by the Mostisans.
To this tyrannical empire, the living are nothing more than resources to be harvested, the grisly foundations of an endless paradise of undeath.
Battle Traits
The implacable legions battle with Relentless Discipline, following the dictates of their commanders. In each of the Movement, Charge, and Combat phases, Ossiarch Bonereapers have a choice of two abilities, allowing a single HERO to instruct all the troops around them.
An entire wing of your legion can be synchronised to make an Unstoppable Advance or Re-form Ranks in your Movement phase. In any Charge phase, a bubble of units can launch a Co-ordinated Charge or brace themselves for a Counter-strike. In Combat, troops within range may either Bludgeon their foes or form Impenetrable Ranks to weather the enemy assault.
Battle Formations
As usual, there are four Battle Formations in the Faction Pack. The Mortisan Council that crafts the soldiers and war machines of the Ossiarch Bonereapers reaches new heights when working in concert, their Necrotic Symphony boosting casting rolls.
Other formations employ massed Mortek Crawler artillery in fortified positions to obliterate key targets, tireless cavalry to ride out ahead of their armies, or endless waves of Mortek Guard that grind down the enemy.
Arcana and Incantations
The weapons of the Ossiarch Bonereapers are imbued with Shyishan magic that can devour the very souls of their foes. When a particularly bothersome enemy needs removing, a Bonereaper spellcaster can use their magic to Empower Nadirite Weapons, allowing a friendly unit to inflict critical hits in melee on hit rolls of 5+.
Every nadirite weapon has Crit (2 hits) as standard, so this spell allows your soldiers to punch well above their weight. You can also access spells that will enervate enemies and harry them with clouds of bone shards.
Unit Focus
The Ossiarch Bonereapers relentlessly pursue their task with nary a flicker of hesitation under the ever-watchful eye (figuratively speaking) of Vokmortian, Master of the Bone-tithe.
Given dominion over this task by the Great Necromancer himself, Vokmortian speaks with the Voice of Nagash, sowing doubt in the enemy ranks and exacting a command point cost for an enemy unit using any non-FIGHT CORE abilities, such as moving, retreating, shooting, or charging. He can further bind enemies with a Mortal Contract, causing them to suffer mortal damage each time they target your unit.
Each Mortisan Soulmason that attends Nagash’s vast legions is a master of soul alchemy, adept in manipulating the vital spirit-energies that power the Ossiarch war machine.
They can utilise this anima to cast powerful spells, concentrating on their task as their bipedal thrones march them into battle. Casting Soul-Guide energises your unit’s souls, giving them the vitality to Strike-first in that turn.
Necropolis Stalkers are towering constructs employed as linebreakers, acting with a ferocity that almost appears out of place given their comrades' stoic nature. They cycle through Quadrarch Aspects in battle, each one bringing a single soul fragment of the gestalt to the fore, empowering the Stalker in its current role.
Each face provides a boon for a specific circumstance – such as the Domination Aspect reducing the control score of enemy units in combat with the Stalkers, while the Destroyer Aspect enables their blades to pierce through the most impregnable defences.
The animating powers of the Mortisans are not restrained to recreating humanoid forms – the Mortek Crawler is a siege engine imbued with a crude animus, scuttling into battle under its own will.
Its Mortek crew loads its firing arm with morbid ammunition inscribed with powerful death magic, unleashing a Deathly Barrage designed to pulverise their target and sap their will. Victims have a chance to suffer from Strike-last, with multiple volleys able to inflict the effect more easily.
The Word from the Studio
John: “We wanted Ossiarch Bonereaper commanders to feel like they were playing with an elite army of disciplined soldiers, perfectly following orders, but in a way that was critically and crucially distinct from the living rabble of the Cities of Sigmar. Relentless Discipline is the result – a real toolbox of abilities that lets a commander pick exactly what they need at any time.
“You usually get one ability that works well in your turn and another that works better in your opponent's turn. Picking the right ability at the right time, in the cold and calculating manner of the Ossiarch Bonereapers, will be key to victory and bring you one step closer to ushering in the Necrotopia.”
Spearhead Spotlight
Souls and bones are the two resources that power the Ossiarch Bonereapers, and when they need to persuade recalcitrant subjects to offer up both, they send in a Tithe-Reaper Echelon.
These forces excel in wearing forces down, so that their Mortisan Soulreaper may swoop in and claim a bounty of souls as a Gothizzar Harvest picks through the ruins for chunks of bone. The Soulreaper will keep one unit of Mortek Guard as a Reserve Contingent and conduct their forces with Ossiarch Commands, one of which you’ll pick as your regiment ability, the other three existing as abilities on warscrolls.
At the Soulreaper’s command, units of Mortek Guard will pin the enemy in place with their shields while a unit of Kavalos Deathriders wheels around in a Deathrider Wedge, smashing through their opponents and dealing mortal damage in the process.
Next week, our first Faction Focus will shift to the covens of Witch Aelves and Scáthborn that slaughter in the service of their recently anointed goddess, Morathi-Khaine.
