Do you hear the blowing horns? The stomping hooves? The armoured footfalls from untold thousands of black-clad warriors of Chaos? The new Slaves to Darkness miniatures have mustered for their debut on Warhammer+, marching to retake the Realms in the name of the Ruinous Powers, and the forces of Order are scrambling to respond.
The eternal struggle between Order and Chaos has even made its way to Warhammer+ this week, as Si and Ben from Battle Report slug it out in a 1,000-point apiece game of Warhammer Age of Sigmar. To find out more, we spoke to the Spirit of the Mountain – er, Simon – who helmed an army without beards, for a change. The Lumineth Realm-lords from the Great Nation of Zaitrec stand ready to take on Archaon’s vanguard...
What format did you use?
Simon: We played the Won't Back Down battleplan from the General's Handbook Pitched Battle 2022-23 Season 1 book, which meant we'd be facing off along the two narrow edges, fighting for control of six objective markers.
Crucially, the Rally Points rule meant that GALLETIAN VETERAN units would be able to return models far more easily with a Rally command while they were within 6" of an objective they controlled. With Ben's ruinously powerful Chaos Chosen falling into that category, I'd need to watch out for that one…
How did you select the armies?
Simon: We wanted to put all the new miniatures from the Slaves to Darkness Army Set through their paces. With the simple addition of a Gorebeast Chariot, Ben's force rounded out at approximately 1,000 points, so I matched that total with an army of Lumineth Realm-lords. As the Great Nation of Zaitrec, I centred my army around a Scinari Loreseeker with an elite bodyguard of Bladelords, supported by a Vanari host and some Hurakan Windchargers as outriders.
What tactics did you both employ?
Simon: I knew Ben's units would all be devastating in melee, so I had to make the most of the advantages I had – namely some devastating missile units in the form of my Vanari Auralan Sentinels and Starshard Ballista, and my magical arsenal. Ben had to deal with the disruptive effects of my Total Eclipse spell for much of the battle, meaning his Command Abilities cost an extra command point while it was active.
However, Ben's Chosen were augmented by The Rewards of Chaos, meaning they'd be benefitting from a free roll on the Eye of the Gods table at the start of the battle. This made his two units of these deadly killers even deadlier still – so I definitely had my work cut out for me!
Which aspects of the rules stood out?
Simon: The Chosen's Soul Splitter weapons are nasty, especially against one-wound models – like most of my army. The additional mortal wound on hit rolls of 6 really stings! With three Attacks hitting on rolls of 3+, Chosen are an excellent unit to augment with All-out Attack – their 3+ Save works well with All-out Defence, too. You may be noticing a theme here – Chosen really are nasty!
For my part, I found the Perfect Strike profile of my Bladelords incredibly useful. They may only make one attack each, but they inflict a mortal wound on hit rolls of 2+ – perfect for slicing through hellforged armour. This fighting style also means the Bladelords don't need the help of All-out Attack, while your opponent won't benefit from All-out Defence against your attacks.
Can you give us any hints about how the battle went?
Simon: The game pitted a highly aggressive army against a more defensive army, so I knew that Ben was going to dominate the objectives unless I could pull off a sneaky trick or two. No spoilers here, but the game essentially boiled down to whether or not I could damage Ben's elite units enough on the way in to stand a chance of overwhelming what was left. If not, I knew my army would be seriously up against it…
Thanks Simon. Tune in to Warhammer+ today to find out who triumphed and what it means for the Mortal Realms!
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