Over the past few weeks, Warhammer Community has been publishing in-depth profiles of every faction currently tussling their way through the Mortal Realms. They’re a great way to figure out whose flag you’ll be flying when the new edition releases soon, but what if you’ve only got 20 minutes and you need to know which ones you like now?
It’s time for the quick-fire round! We’ll be explaining what makes each team tick in a few sentences, and when you’ve found the ones you like, click through to their Faction Focus to see what’s in store in the new edition.
Grand Alliance Order
Immortal champions (more or less) who hit hard, take a lot of punishment in return, and thunder onto the battlefield from the heavens in a flash of lightning. Their elite nature means you will almost always find yourself outnumbered – but seldom outfought – by lesser creatures.
The God-King’s mortal followers prefer to castle up in sturdy defensive formations while capable gunners blast away at enemy formations. They’re no slouch in close combat, however, thanks to their numbers and the fiery demagogues who urge them onwards.
The aelves of Hysh are exceptional warriors and wizards with answers for almost every opponent, but they rely on careful elemental harmonies to match the hordes they face.
The Realm of Life runs through Alarielle’s arboreal spirit legions, allowing them to whisk dangerous forest folk between strategically placed woods, while airborne insectoid cavalry and skilled archers harry your enemies.
The bloodthirsty disciples of the Murder God, the Daughters of Khaine are gladiatorial masters of combat who prize speed and agility over armour, and can weave potent shadow and blood magics to slaughter their foes.
By invoking an aetheric sea to envelope the battlefield, the Idoneth Deepkin send elite aelven cavalry on vicious sea monsters into battle – from Fangmora Eels and Allopexes to giant, shelled Leviadons – while their soul-sick thralls pin the enemy in place.
Fyreslayers search the Mortal Realms for ur-gold, fragments of their dead god Grimnir. Their ferocity and raw strength makes them powerful shock troops, while priests and war-leaders support the battle lines and fire-spewing Magmadroths torch everything they can reach.
The airborne duardin marines of the Kharadron Overlords prize heavy firepower over all else, using their armoured airships to rapidly redeploy across the battlefield while ranks of professional gunners and flying endrineers keep the enemy at bay with constant, overwhelming volleys.
Powerful Slann Starmasters enact the Great Plan to defeat Chaos, leading legions of thick-scaled Saurus Warriors and agile Skinks alongside thundering reptilian monsters. They have specialists for almost everything, with a uniquely cosmic spin on magic.
Grand Alliance Chaos
A fusion of expendable infantry hordes and crazed, arcane science, the Skaven have strength and numbers aplenty – though their unreliable technology is as likely to blow up as it is to work, and their leaders are often too busy backstabbing each other to command their forces effectively.
The savage warbands known as the Slaves to Darkness are those mortal followers of Chaos who pay homage to no one god over others. They run the full gamut of swift, unprotected Darkoath to heavily armoured Chaos Knights, and can deploy some of the strongest individual heroes in the Mortal Realms.
Khorne wants one thing above all – spilled blood – and his most devoted followers are only too happy to oblige. The Blades of Khorne are all about charging headlong into the melee, and despite having few other game plans, they’re remarkably effective at what they do.
The plagues of Nurgle have made his Maggotkin some of the toughest fighters around. They can wade through storms of arrows and musket shot unharmed, and though they move slower than most, their rusted blades and virulent plagues make short work of the enemy when they get there.
Where Khorne is raw strength, Slaanesh is speed and skill. The hedonistic mortals who pledge for the Dark Prince are fast, deadly, and difficult to pin down, and their prideful champions are especially good at out-duelling enemy heroes.
As befit the followers of the Changer of Ways, the Disciples of Tzeentch are some of the strongest sorcerers in the Mortal Realms, and their constant powerful spellcasting is backed up by a strong assortment of ranged fire that few other armies can match.
Grand Alliance Death
Powerful vampiric lords leading masses of undead – what’s not to love? Soulblight vampires are the pillars of this diverse faction and are often powerful both physically and magically, while undead knights and horrifying beasts add some punch to their mobs of skeletons and zombies.
The Ossiarch Bonereapers are the professional soldiers in the Realm of Death, matching the discipline and tactics of mortal regiments with the durability of their artisan-crafted skeleton bodies. When infantry power alone won’t cut it, they can unleash lethal bone constructs to crush the enemy.
Acting more like a swirling cloud of vengeful spirits than a cohesive army, the Nighthaunt specialise in charging into and out of combat in a never-ending swirl of ghostly blades. Though they are fragile and can’t afford to be stuck in a prolonged fight, their ethereal bodies mean many weapons simply pass through harmlessly.
The crazed and blood-hungry monsters that make up the Flesh-eater Courts believe themselves to be shining knights and nobles, kept under a collective delusion by their king Ushoran. They hurl themselves into combat without a second thought for their safety, and their leaders can summon even more ghouls to the battlefield should they need an extra body or ten.
Grand Alliance Destruction
Ironjawz are the biggest and toughest orruks around, clad in heavy plate armour and wielding crude weapons to deadly effect. They put everything into bloody combat where their strength and resilience wins through attrition, and act like a brutal hammer where everything else on the battlefield is a nail.
The brains to the Ironjawz brawn, the Kruleboyz are a devious and cunning culture of orruks who would much rather stab people in the back. They have a balanced roster of troops and monsters that can find an answer for any kind of prey they need to kill, backed up by deadly tricks and swamp magic.
Though grots are weak and puny, the strange mushrooms cultivated beneath the glare of the Bad Moon turn them into fiendish little beasts who throw huge mobs of biting, stabbing troops into battle alongside vicious carnivorous squigs and plodding troggoths.
The gargants of the Sons of Behemat tower over all other factions in the Mortal Realms, crushing lesser mortals underfoot and sweeping aside entire regiments with swings of their crude weapons. This immense power comes at a cost however – it’s rare to have more than a handful on the battlefield at once.
Ogors are extremely durable fighters who augment their natural strength by breaking enormous beasts to their will and charging headlong into battle atop their rampaging mounts. Their thick hides can be difficult to pierce despite their general lack of armour, and any would-be aggressors who fail to make a dent end up flattened in return.
