Wednesday, May 31, 2017

NICON 2017 - Grand Alliance: Chaos List Overview

The final list overview post for NICON. This was hard work, but I hope it has proved useful. I will be doing the draw this week and emailing the participants. Over the weekend I will do some Facebook Live videos on the Age of Sigmar New Zealand Community, so go join if you want to see the action!

Previous list overviews can be found here:


Getting right into it then. I saved this Grand Alliance for last because it is arguably the most complicated. I would like to state again that I am not looking at the Allegiance abilities, but I may add some hints along the way, as some of the lists heavily lean on them for their tricks.


Grand Alliance: Chaos


Adam P - Daemons of Khorne

The General
Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage - the one with the big axe. Command ability allows any unit within 8" to re-roll charge rolls. If the axe attack rolls 6 to wound, it will dish out mortal wounds to those nearby. He can re-roll hit rolls of 1 if he charged that turn.

The Battalions
  • Council of Blood - Contains the three Bloodthirsters that are not his general. In each Hero phase, one of them gets to pile in and attack. If he kills a hero or monster or wipes out a unit as part of this attack, a second Bloodthirster gets to pile in and attack. If the same thing happens, the third Bloodthirster gets to attack. This is nasty, as he can attack with these guys as normal in the combat phase. Be careful what they get into - if they can wipe them out in one turn, the damage output is going to be amazing. In addition, each Bloodthirster can use their command abilities!
  • Blood Host of Khorne - Contains the rest of the army. In each of his own hero phases, D3 units  that are near the enemy can pile in and attack with one weapon. So between these two battalions, that's a lot of double rounds of combat. This is particularly nasty on Skarbrand...
The Army
Taking Skarbrand and four other Bloodthirsters is quite an investment, but Adam can still field 40 Bloodletters and 10 Flesh Hounds. Whittling the rank and file down might be an option to prevent objective victories, but you're going to need to think about how to manage those big choppy guys that can get multiple rounds of combat in. Looks like a fun army to play with! This atrmy also has the Bloodtithe mechanic, where every unit that gets wiped out will give Adam 'currency' with which to activate more and more powerful abilities and rules.

Aiden N - Nurgle, with a side of Skreech

The General
The Glottkin -  hard to kill and big. He heals, reduces hit rolls, deals mortal wounds when they charge, and most importantly have a spell that adds 1 to the wounds characteristic of all models in a unit. Crucially, this can be cast on any friendly unit, not just daemons. His command ability gives Nurgle units extra attacks in a 14" radius. A suspiciously Khorne-like ability, but one that will serve him well.

The Battalions
  • Foulrain Congergation - Consists of a Plague Priest and three Plagueclaws. The Priest adds 1 to the wound rolls for the Plagueclaws in the shooting phase as long as they are within 13". The Plagueclaws Starting stats hit on 3+, wound on 3+, rend -2 with D6 damage. So, yeah, these are potent. What's more, if one of the Plagueclaws hits an enemy unit, the other catapults get to re-roll failed hit rolls against the same target.
  • Congregation of Filth - Consists of a Plague Furnace and two units of 20 Plague Monks. So long as the Plague Monks have the full 20 models and are within 13" of the Plague Furnace, they can re-roll charge rolls. The Monks also get a special save on a 6+ when they suffer a wound or mortal wound near the Furnace.
The Army
Skreetch has  some great rules. Each turn he can pick one of the Skaven Clans, and gains a special ability depending on which one he picks. These effects include making him harder to shoot at, healing him, bonuses to wound rolls, extra weapon damage, bonuses to hit rolls, and bonuses to casting rolls. He has access to the Dreaded Thirteenth spell, which targets a unit within 13". He rolls 13 dice, and each roll of a 4 does a mortal wound. As there are no Reinforcement Points in this list, the ability to then set up a new Verminus unit nearby will not apply. Plague Monks which fight better than you would think for rats with diseases. Plaguebearer daemons, which reduce incoming hit rolls and have a special save on a 5", with re-rolled save rolls when near the Glottkin. Four units of 10 will take a bit more than usual to clear. Especially with the Glottkin spell on them. As the only player running Nurgle at NICON, I don't really know what this says about him. Or us, for enabling him. I hope he makes a speedy recovery, and wish him the best of health.



Byron A - Khorne

The General
Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury - it's the one with the whip and the axe. Other abilities involve killing things in various ways. The only proven counter to a daemon of fire and shadow with a whip is to lure him onto a bridge and then crack it with your staff, plunging both it and you into the abyss. You could always attempt to fetter its fury instead, but either no-one's tried it or it doesn't work, so YMMV.

The Battalions
  • Dark Feast - A battalion with background fluff that is kind of yuck (in a Hannibal Lector kind of way), and that shouldn't have any effect on Deathrattle or Nighthaunt units in my opinion.
  • Gore Pilgrims - All I know about pilgrims is that they like to tell each other stories on the way to their destinations (look it up, people). I assume the "Gore" part refers to their concerns over climate change, which might not be of much help in game, but you might learn a thing or two along the way.
The Army
Maxing out at 8 heroes, we have Skarbrand, the Blirster, a Bloodsecrator, a Slaughterpriest, a Bloodstoker, another Slaughterpriest, Valkia the Bloody, and another Slaughterpriest. Two units of Blood Warriors, a total of 50 Bloodreavers, 2 Khorgoraths, and 5 Wrathmongers. All names that indicate to me that they are really nice guys looking to make lifelong friends. However long you would like to define 'life'.



Dan M - Daemons of Khorne

The General
Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster - Bloodflail guy. His command ability allows Khorne Daemons nearby to run and charge in the same turn and add 1 to charge rolls. A movement buff - keep an eye out for these, I'll come back to them. There are a couple of mid range shooting attacks to watch out for. He is extra good at attacking monsters, and has a good unbind roll.

The Battalions
  • Blood Hunt - Contains the general, Bloodcrushers and Flesh Hounds. An enemy hero gets picked out, and this battalion gets a free move towards that hero. They also get +1 to wound rolls against heroes, and if the unit has not lost any models, can re-roll failed wound rolls as well. So, another movement buff.
  • Murderhost (x3) - Each one contains one of the Bloodletter heroes and some of the Bloodletters. Allows all units near the hero to move 2D6" after set up. Another movement buff! Seeing the pattern?
  • The Reapers of Vengeance - Contains all the other battalions and anything else in the list that doesn't fit in (Daemon Prince I think). Remember the ability in the Blood Hunt that lets it's models extra movement towards an enemy hero? Now the whole army has it.Also gives the Bloodcrushers some impact damage when they charge on a 2+ instead of the usual 4+. And they will be charging.
The Army
Movement buffs and a one-drop deployment means it is likely Dan will turn-one charge you. You can either stand up to it and counter attack, or you will not. Either way, a nice quick game!

Finn D - Chaos (Tzeentch, Khorne, and some Stormfriends)

The General
Lord of Change - Command ability allows Tzeentch daemon wizards nearby to add one to casting and unbinding. This includes the Tzaangor Shamans. Infernal Gateway is the spell, and can potentially deal heaps of mortal wounds. As a wizard he gets bonuses to magic as you'd expect, and can steal spells. 

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Honorary Swiss Cheese list of the tournament! Finn has selected the finest hot units and thrown them together. The Bloodsecrator adds attacks to the Bloodreavers and Bloodletters, his battleline units. Sayl the Faithless will allow a unit to move real fast and fly.Shamans can reroll casting dice. the Skyfires are the elite unit that can deal massive damage at a great range, and will wreck in combat as well. You will need to deal with these. quickly. The Stormfiends again can do a lot of damage, and are commonly paired with Sayl's spell to get them within range to do some good shooting damage. His army does take up a lot of board space with the 32 and 40 mm bases, so ranged threats will work well against him, as will anything that can neutralise his magic. If you can't avoid or withstand his shooting attacks or have to go for him early, you are going to fare less well.


James P - Tzeentch Arcanites

The General
Lord of Change - As per Finn's list, but this army has the Tzeentch allegiance, and access to some great allegiance abilities and spells. Jim will have some flexibility about what he takes, and it will depend on your own army. So watch out I guess. 

The Battalions
  • Arcanite Cabal - Contains three Tzaangor Shamans. One of them becomes a master. It allows this model to generate a new Destiny Dice every time he spends one on a 4+. When all three are near each other, each gets to cast an extra spell. So that's two spells each.
  • Skyshoal Coven - Contains the Enlightened and Skyfire units. These units can move 9" in the Hero phase, making absolutely sure that you can never escape them. To add insult to injury, if they fly over one of your units there is a change they can drop change-bombs on you dealing mortal wounds.
  • Changehost - Contains the rest of the daemons in his army. This is tricksy. Each hero phase Jim can swap two of these units around. They just swap places. And then he can do it again because he has nine units. Take a moment to consider the possibilities. He can move things in and out of combat, reform sneakily to get things within spell range, take objectives, etc etc.
The Army
I've seen it in action. Large screening units of Horrors, which can shoot and cast magic, and swap places with each other. Skyfires will waste you from afar and Enlightened will waste you up close. They will reach you because they are fast. Possible the greatest trick is Jim's ability to regenerate Destiny Dice. I've seen him spend 30 destiny dice within the first two turns. Once he gets to zero he's in trouble, but that's enough to make some very safe risks and manipulate the game to suit his plans. It's likely you're going to have to just take it as it comes, but if you can stop his magic, take out the heroes, take out the Tzaangor in one round, you might get him on the back foot.




John C - Legion of Azgorh

The General
Bull Centaur Taur'uk - Command ability allows bull centaur units nearby to run and charge in the same turn. Does extra damage when he charges. I hope this army makes you as happy as it makes me. I'm not sure our nation has ever seen a Bull Centaur-based army in a tournament!

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Two Taur'uks, Shar'tor the Executioner himself, This guy is a bug version of his race. He can buff charge rolls. There is a Daemonsmith for a bit of magic, a spell that can reduce enemy shooting and movement. No less than nine Bull centaur renders whose role is fairly straightforward. Battleline is in the form of Chaos Marauders, who are essentially slaves to the will of their dark, bovine masters. The evil Duardin supplement the bulls with a Skullcracker war engine and two Hellcannons. These last ones will hurt. Take them out as quick as you can.

Julien L - Mixed Chaos

The General
Tzaangor Shaman - A low-key choice considering the other epic creatures in his list, I wonder if there are allegiance abilities and artefacts Julien has in mind to use on him...

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
So, one at a time. Skarbrand, for the angry, he will kill stuff. Lord of Change, he will magic. The Changeling, he will be set up in your deployment zone potentially and can slow down your army. This will be really useful against some of those alpha strike armies. You can reveal the Changeling by moving a hero within 3". Deathmaster Snikch, back from the Old World with a new kill contract.He will be hiding in one of the Gutter Runner units, and has a few bonuses when attacking heroes. Sayl the Faithless, to help deliver Skarbrand to his targets most likely. Daemon Prince of Nurgle, not to be underestimated - solid fighter with a good save. Rank and file include Bloodletters, Pink Horrors (who can cast), Marauders (great value chaff), Stormfiends (dakkapew), Skyfires (ranged threat that will hurt a bunch) and Gutter Runners. The assassin rats are going to be objective threats, able to come on the board where you least expect them. I lost a tournament due to these guys, grabbing an objective on the last turn. Julien is a renonwed 40k player who won his first tournament at Equinox, so he has a wiley plan!

Nick H - Mixed Chaos

The General
Verminlord Deceiver - the big assassin rat daemon. Allows Eshin models (just himself) to re-roll failed wound rolls. The Skitterleap wont be of use, as there are no Skaven heroes to swap places with. Does some good bonus damage against units with more than 10 models.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Some big names in this army! Sayl, making his third appearance in a NICON list. Kairos Fateweaver, who can change a single dice roll to whatever he wants, is good at casting. The Glottkin, who has been mentioned in Aiden's list. Clanrats and Plaguebearers make up the battleline, with a big unit of Stormfiends a big investment, for Sayl to teleport within range of targets. A big unit of Warhounds to get across the board or flank if needed, and a Warp Lightning cannon, which can help target hey models. An interesting army that will rely on all the pieces working in tandem, as mixed arms armies do.


Sam W - Tzeentch Arcanites

The General
Lord of Change - he's been covered a few times, but bear in mind that as Sam has the Tzeentch allegiance, this gives him access to the Destiny Dice and extra spells and allegiance abilities. This means Sam can be adaptible depending on his opponent.

The Battalions
  • Multitudinous Host - Contains a Herald of Tzeentch and Horrors of a variety of shapes and sizes. In each of his hero phases, he can add D6 Pink/Blue Horrorss and D3 Brimstone Horrors back to each unit! This will work in the same way as the Skeleton unit standards. He won't be able to increase them passed the starting size, but it will make sure the units are much more durable, forcing his opponent to focus fire. Not always possible with the other nasties in his list!
The Army
Really good variety in this list. Kairos, because awesome. A Gaunt Summoner, who has a spell that deals mortal wounds to each model in a unit on a 4+. Spells like this in previous editions of Warhammer were very powerful, and this will be very effective in some of the horde armies. A Tzaangor Shaman adds even more magic dominance, made even more potent by the inclusion of a Balewind Vortex doubling the range of one of their spells. There are almost 100 Horrors in the list, who will form very effective and durable screens. 6 Skyfires will provide some good shooting support and for taking down key targets. 20 Tzaangors, eight of them with paired weapons. Battleshock will be an issue for them. However, the do get bonuses to wound, and hit, and extra attacks, and extra saves in different situations, so they can pump out some damage too. Going to be a great army to see on the table!

Shaun T - Daemons of Khorne

The General
Bloodsecrator - Just how this guy managed to steal the top job from Archaon, Destroyer of Worlds, Grand Marshal of the Apocalypse, is a mystery. We can only assume that Shaun has a dark purpose hidden within the new allegiance abilities his army has access too. This is a good time to look at this model though. He can add attacks to all nearby Khorne units. Which is all of them pretty much. That's nasty, because Khorne units already have lots of attacks that do lots of damage. Archaon himself gets an extra attack to all of his weapons!

The Battalions
  • Murderhost - Contains a Herald of Khorne, the Bloodcrushers, Bloodletters, and Flesh Hounds. Allows these units to move 2D6 before the battle and in each Hero Phase. Because there was no way Khorne was going to let you escape.
The Army
So, Archaon! He is quite expensive, and has some great abilities. Magic doesn't work too well against him, and if he rolls well he can do some damage. He has a good armour save too. Either pin him down or avoid him. His biggest weakness is his large base size. By placing your units sensibly you can stop him landing in key areas. For the rest of it, well it's Khorne. He will come at you, so you can try to shoot him and slow him down, or survive enough to counter attack. try to take out the Priest, the Stoker and the Secrator, as their buffs will make already formidable units very efficient indeed.


_______________________________________________

 That's all the lists done! Here is the draw. I will be doing some updates for the event over on the AOS NZ Facebook group so feel free to join us.


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Sunday, May 28, 2017

NICON 2017 - Grand Alliance: Destruction List Overview

The list analysis continues! See below for the Destruction lists for NICON 2017. Previous posts have looked at Order and Death.




Grand Alliance: Destruction


Carl T - Moonclan Grots

The General
Grot Warboss - this guy has a Giant Cave Squig sidekick and a prodder. His command ability allows a Moonclan unit within 20" to inflict double damage when they roll a 6 to wound. As a four-wound hero, he is quite vulnerable, with some protection from his Dead Tricksy ability, which means attacks that target him count hit rolls of 6 as a roll of 1 instead.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
So. Many. Grots. His grots have grots coming out their grots. No less than 220 Grots on foot. No less than 12 Grot Fanatics hidden away in there to block charges. Two Doomdivers for some ranged damage, 5 Squig Hoppers for some bounce. Two more Warbosses on foor and another Warboss on a Great Cave Squig. And three Grot Shamans, casting Curse of Da Bad Moon - a D3 mortal wound spell that can bounce between enemy units.

 I don't have any good advice for this army besides... kill Grots. Don't forget that large units gain extra Bravery for battleshock for every 10 models in the unit, so don't count on them to be blown away in the breeze unless you kill significant amounts. I have seen some of Carl's models, and they will be a treat for those Oldhammer connoisseurs out there.

Fraser B - Ironjawz

The General
Gordrakk, the Fist of Gork - said to have grown out of one of the knucklebones of Gorkamorka Himself, Gordrakk has potential to wreck armies solo given half a chance. His command ability is used once per battle, and affects one Destruction unit within 20". That unit can roll three dice to charge, and makes 2 extra attacks with each of its weapons. If the unit is part of a battalion, THIS APPLIES TO ALL UNITS IN THE BATTALION. If he starts to kill heroes, his wounds and attacks increase. The Maw Crusha deals mortal wounds when it charges. If this wipes out everything within 3", he can make another charge, and can keep doing this. So throwing chaff at him is not always a good strategy.

The Battalions
  • Ironfist - This consists of all his non-hero models. So 10 Brutes, 20 Ardboys and 6 Gore Gruntas. One of the unit champions gets to add 2 to its wounds. As long as this Bigboss is alive, the battalion can move D6" in the hero phase. This is on top of the allegiance abilities. And remember, Gordrakk's command ability affects the WHOLE BATTALION so watch out for that mighty charge.
The Army
The other units are a Megaboss, who can buff the hit rolls of nearby Brutes, two Warchanters, who can again add one to the hit rolls of a nearby unit, and two Weirdnob Shamans, who have two spells.  Green Puke deals D3 mortal wounds to all units in a straight line, and Foot of Gork does D6 mortal wounds on a unit and can then bounce to another unit, and another. What's more, Fraser is giving them a balewind Vortex, which increases the range of this spell to 36". Potentially devastating.

 Try not to let the Maw Crusha charge you, and bear in mind the Brutes will eat most things they get into contact with.

Geoff E - Moonclan Grots

The General
Grot Warboss - this guy has a Giant Cave Squig sidekick and a prodder. His command ability allows a Moonclan unit within 20" to inflict double damage when they roll a 6 to wound. As a four-wound hero, he is quite vulnerable, with some protection from his Dead Tricksy ability, which means attacks that target him count hit rolls of 6 as a roll of 1 instead.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
More Grots! 160 of the blighters on foot, with 3 Fanatics. Geoff is bringing a couple of units of Sourbreath Troggoths, who regenerate, vomit, and hit like angry green monsters. There is a Mangler Squig unit, which does a lot of damage if it careens into your units, and the maximum five war machines. Three Rock Lobbas and two Spear Chukkas will be great ranged support and will help with key targets. They are also hard to remove, as his opponent needs to destroy both the crew and the machine (separate units) in order to get rid of them. Watch out for getting bogged down if you assault them. Three Moonclan Shamans with the Curse of Da Bad Moon, as described in Carl's list.

Hayden H - Beastclaw Raiders

The General
Frostlord on Thundertusk - a nasty 18" shooting attack. Watch out for it. Command ability allows all Beastclaw Raider units within 14" to re-roll charge rolls. Likely to combo with the allegiance abilities, and could lead to first turn charges. It's what the army does. 

The Battalions
  • Eurlbad - Contains a Huskard on Stonehorn, the Stonehorn Beastriders and the Mournfang packs. Wound rolls of 6 for these units deal a bonus mortal wound to their attack, in addition to the normal damage output. The Huskard has +1 damage to all his melee weapons. Ouch!
  • Olwyr Alfrostun - Contains the Eurlbad battalion and the general. Gives the general two different command traits! The Mournfang gain +1 to hit. All run rolls can be re-rolled. Speedy.
The Army
This is not a subtle army. If you are considering plying Hayden with alcohol, and carefully trying to coax his battle strategy out of him, you can save yourself the time, effort, and hearing damage as he yells in your face. With the now famous warcry "STONEHORN" he will come at you. Lists like this are why you bring cheap, expendable blocking units (chaff) in your army. If you don't have any, try deploying on the table edge. He can deploy his army in one drop, so will likely get to choose who goes first. If he gets double turns it will hurt, but that goes both ways for alpha strike lists. Plan accordingly.

Kenny T - Bonesplitterz

The General
Savage Big Boss - a big force multiplier. Bonesplitterz are all about overwhelming synergies, and this is where it all starts. After he attacks, another Bonesplitterz unit within 10" can immediately pile in and attack. If they are fighting the same target it could catch you off guard. The command ability allows a unit within 10" to make an extra attack whenever it rolls a 6 or more to hit. This is important, because a lot of the other buffs are focused around giving his units extra attacks.

The Battalions
  • Kop Rukk - Contains the  three Wardokks and three units of Savage Orruk Morboyz. The Dokks get bonuses to casting rolls that increase depending on how many Morboyz are nearby. The downside is that rolling a double kills some Morboyz.
  • Teef Rukk - Contains two units of Savage Big Stabbas. Already nasty, they can now pile in 6"  near monsters and activate twice in the combat phase.
  • Kunnin Rukk - The infamous battalion. Contains the Big Boss general, the Savage Orruks and the Arrowboyz. In each of his hero phases, Kenny picks a unit (Arrowboyz!) within range of his general to either move, shoot or make a melee attack. It can then act normally later in the turn. So that doubles their attacks.
  • Drakkfoot Warclan - Contains Wurrgog Prophet, and all other battalions and units. Spells count as cast if wizards roll a double on the casting roll. The army gains extra magical protection. Lastly, the wizards gain an extra spell - Blood Waaagh!, which allows a unit to immediately pile in and attack as if it was the combat phase. 

The Army
The main thing to worry about is that every model has at least two wounds, even the nasty infantry. And they take up a lot of table space. The other main thing is how many shots the Arrowboyz do. They start with two shots each (so 80 shots). When they have 20 or more in their unit they get an extra shot each (now we are at 120). The Kunnin Rukk lets them shoot in the Hero Phase, so that doubles their shots (to 240). And finally, the command ability allows hit rolls of 6 to become an extra attack. And there may even be more bonuses in the Allegiance Abilities, which I am not covering.

 So how do you deal with this? KILL. THE. WARBOSS. If you can't do that it's going to hurt. 

 The other issue is how many models and how many dice rolls Kenny has to handle. This is an unwieldy army to play with, so consider assisting Kenny with where you can or time will get eaten up!

Matt B - Destruction (Moonclan, Beastclaws, Bonesplitterz)

The General
Frostlord on Stonehorn - Not to be confused with the Thundertusk! The main difference is the mortal wounds he does when he charges, and his lack of shooting attack. HIs command ability allows re-rolls to all charge rolls within 14" for Beastclaw units.

The Battalions
  • Kunnin Rukk - Yep, another one. Again, this applies to 40 Arrowboyz, and again you need to kill the Big Boss to stop them shooting in the Hero Phase. They will not gain the extra attack on 6's though. So small mercies. 
The Army
This army is a very good example of how to use mixed alliance lists. Matt has covered his bases with a fast, hard hitting turn one charge from no less than three Stonehorns, two Moonclan Grot Shamans with their Bad Moon Curse chain spell, and 240 shots from the Arrowboyz. Four units of 10 Savage Orruks is not insignificant either, as they have two wounds each (20 per unit). So, durable, hard hitting units with ranged threat. Mixed arms!

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Saturday, May 27, 2017

NICON 2017 - Grand Alliance: Death List Overview

With one week to go until the event, here is part two of the NICON List Saga!

In Part One I looked at the Grand Alliance: Order army lists, and what to expect from the tournament metagame.

Before kicking into the Death lists, I wanted to briefly mention the time limits at NICON, and give a shoutout to our awesome sponsors.




Prizes at NICON

We are very lucky to have two awesome sponsors this year - Mighty Ape and Gaming DNA. Please go check out their stuff.

There will be no double-ups with the plaque awards.

Here are the awards:
  • First Place Overall
    • "Realm God" Plaque
    • $80 vouchers
  • Second Place Overall
    • $40 vouchers
  • Third Place Overall
    • $20 voucher
  • Favourite Army Award
    • "Grand Panoplist" Plaque
    • $40 voucher
  • Favourite Opponent Award
    • "Arch Manipulator" Plaque
    • $40 voucher
  • Top Scoring Order Player
    • "Prime" Plaque
  • Top Scoring Destruction Player
    • "Megaboss" Plaque
  • Top Scoring Death Player
    • "Mortarch" Plaque
  • Top Scoring Chaos Player
    • "Exalted" Plaque
  • Top Scoring Club or Gaming Group
    • Terrain Kit (TBD)
  • Spot Prizes*
    • 1x Kharadron Overlords Grundstok Gunhauler
    • 1x Kharadron Overlords Arkanuat Admiral
    • 1x Stormcast Eternals Excelsior Upgrades
    • 1x Stormcast Eternals Prosecutors (3 figure boxing)
    • 1x Stormcast Eternals Liberators (5 figure boxing)
    • 1x Quest for Ghal Maraz (book)
    • 1x Treemen Ancient
    • White Dwarf issues
*Each player will get one entry into the spot prize draws. Additional entries will be given out for sharing 'cool stories' from your battles! In addition, each player will receive a Mighty Ape discount voucher.

What a haul!



Timekeeping at a Tournament

When we play Warhammer socially, often the only time limit is just how long we have to get the game in alongside our other commitments. We can let games go on for hours, or even just call it after one or two turns for absolutely massive games. 

At tournaments, the necessity of cramming in enough games to produce a fair result, and things like venue times, means that we have to impose time limits on  each game. For the Warhost sized games at NICON (2,500 points), I have allowed 3 hours per game, with a short break in between. This is slightly longer than Battlehost events (2,000 points at 2.5 hours), and depending on the type of army each player has, it may be a challenge to complete each game within the allowed time.

If your game goes to time, you are asked to finish the turn your're on, or if that will take more than 5 minutes, then "dice down" will be called. Depending on where you are at in your game, an early finish can greatly affect the victory conditions and the outcome.

So my comment about this is to please try to do all you can to finish as many turns as possible. It is part of respecting your opponent. Some players like to take their time to consider their moves. Which is absolutely fine. However, with the time constraints of tournament play, the ability to quickly make decisive decisions is one of the measures of success.

A while ago I did a blog on Tips and Tricks for Tournament Players. The take-away is that by doing some preparation in the lead up to the event, you can save yourself game time on the day. 


Now, onto the Death lists! There are only three Death armies coming to NICON so this will be short and sweet.



Grand Alliance: Death



Andrew L - Tomb Kings

The General
Settra the Imperishable - THE Tomb King.  His command ability is pretty epic: so long as Andy holds out his hand and utters 'War' in a commanding tone, he can add 1 to all hit rolls for Death units within 18" of him in the combat phase, and add 1 to wound rolls if they are also Deathrattle. This is a huge force multiplier, and makes Settra a priority target. But that's not all he does. All Mummy heroes within 18" can also use their command abilities. He has a prayer that allows a Deathrattle unit to fly and double their movement distance. He has an extra wound ignore ability on a 5+. If he charges his damage 3 weapon gets an extra two attacks. And if he is slain, the unit that killed him takes D6 mortal wounds. The downside is, Andrew can't kneel during the game or he loses. Settra does not kneel!

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Andy has two other Tomb Kings - one on foot and one on a Royal Warsphinx. This means extra command abilities  - one Skeleton unit can add 1 to hit, run and charge rolls. Another adds yet another +1 to wound rolls for Mummy and Deathrattle units. The Necrotect can add 3" to a units Movement, and allow his catapults to shoot twice. So, lets look at who these buffs can go on. Mostly, it's likely to be the chariots; +2 to hit, +2 to wound (re-rolling 1s), a 26" movement range, which can fly, and then add 1 to charge rolls and re-roll failed charge rolls. This might sound like Andy really wants to charge you with his chariots, and there is a reason for that. They double all their attacks when they charge. They have 5 wounds each, so assuming you can kill some of them, they also return one model per turn back to the unit thanks to the Icon Bearers. And then in the next turn a second chariot unit hits you. Glorious! 

Andy has his bases covered with fast moving shock troops (with good buffs), and his catapults, which reduce Bravery by 2 for battleshock tests. This will be devastating on some armies. A Necrosphynx and Royal Warsphinx to help deal with big gribblies, and which are both hard to kill due to halving all incoming wounds. Lastly, Prince Apophas. I am so delighted to see this guy in a tournament list that I'm not even going to cover him, just so that you will either go and look him up and learn about this awesome character, or you will let Andy surprise you with him on the day!

Brett LF - Nagash Deathmages

The General
Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead - The Big Guy. The internet will tell you he is not viable at tournaments. I  disagree, even at Battlehost sized games. Perhaps I will to a blog about that later. Until then, let's look at what he does. His command ability allows all his units on the table to re-roll 1s for hit and save rolls, and everything is immune to battleshock. I've found the re-rolling ones is not to be underestimated, especially when his own armour save is 2+ with Mystic Shield. It makes Morghast very reliable. Nagash also does a lot of summoning. Another thing the internet will tell you sucks in Matched Play. Again, I beg to differ. I don't know what Brett is summoning with his 320 points but Nagash's ability to double what he can bring out to the table means that he can get units out very quickly, such as a full unit of 20 Grave Guard or 40 Skeleton Warriors to swamp an objective. he can summon heroes if needed. We do know, however, that he cannot summon a Mourngul, which is 400 points. remember that he can react to his opponents deployment and summon some hard hitting units where needed. Seems like a small thing but it's not.

 That besides, you should probably just read his warscroll as there is a lot there. Some nasty spells. And he can use the spells for all other Death wizards on the table, friend or foe.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Brett's battleline consists of zombies. If units of 10 looks unflattering, just consider that Brett can combine them into a unit of 40 in turn 1. Then, with the Necromancer and Corpse Cart buffs, they have +4 to hit rolls, re-rolling 1s. They have +3 to wound rolls, pile in and attack twice in the combat phase, are immune to battleshock, and can gain D6 models back each turn (more sometimes). The Corpse Cart reduces enemy casting rolls, while the Mortis Engines do the same and give a bonus to his own side's casting. Casters are in for a bad time against Nagash. The Mortis Engines also release their once-per-game ability that heals friendly units D3 wounds each within range and damages enemies by D3 within range. Pop both at once could be nasty. Morghast give Nagash yet another +1 to cast when he summons. So now he is at +5, more if he finds Arcane terrain. Only advice I have is watch out for the Morghast, and whatever he summons. Nagash can be hard to kill, and zombies will be hard to move. 


Tim L - Deathlords

The General
Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead - As per Brett's army. Nagash also gets to use Arkhan's spell, and Arkhan gets to use Nagash's spells. I have 300 points of summoning, so not enough for a Mourngul, but enough to get tricky with objectives and/or chaff or another hammer unit, depending on the opponent. Summoning 10 Skeleton Warriors is nice, being able to stop some Stronehorn or other such nastiness from charging Nagash directly. Again, flexibility is the key.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Four units of Morghast, which become Battleline units as my army is Deathlords allegiance. I like the concept more than the army's capabilities, but I came second with this list at Warhost last year in Wellington, so it has its surprises. I also had a lot of luck! Keys to the list are judicious summoning (as mentioned), Nagash kicking some ass and not dying, and Arkhan's Curse of Years triggering full DEATHMODE, which statistically has about a 15% chance of happening each time it is cast. The downside is that Morghasts in units of two are not ideal, and if I can't get first turn against an alpha list, I do not have the benefit of Nagash's command ability or summoned chaff. 

 Also, the metagame has moved on from last year, and some of these new armies will wreak me!

 I am not playing to compete this year, but I always love fielding this army for pure Cool Factor.

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More to come this week with the Destruction and Chaos List Overviews!

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Thursday, May 18, 2017

NICON 2017 - Grand Alliance: Order List Overview

As is tradition, it's time to look at the army list overview for the upcoming NICON event in a few weeks time. For previous events, players have enjoyed these little write-ups. They also serve a useful function for newer players, or those without all the Battletomes.

Sometimes it's hard just by looking at a model list to determine exactly what you are in for. There are so many rules that interact with each other in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar though synergies, or extra allegiance abilities, that it is useful to unpack each list a little bit. I am by no means as skilled as the Dark and Mysterious 'Jim', but hopefully I can help out in some way. I only have time to do this in phases, so I'm going to start with Order and cover the other Grand Alliances in the coming weeks.

So, here is the NICON 2017 List Guide!






The Tournament Metagame

The first thing to appreciate about this Matched Play event is that it uses five out of the six battleplans out of the General's Handbook, randomly determined before each round. This means that win conditions are objectives based, with slight variations in how they are captured, held and scored on depending on the battleplan. Hardened veterans will be familiar with the subtleties and will have optimised their armies to take advantage of this - high movement, plenty of scoring units, durability, and high damage output all do well. If you need to brush up on your win conditions, I have prepared a document to assist you. Read carefully so that you aren't surprised on the day!
Other army elements that you often see are 'chaff' units, to stop first turn charge or alpha strike armies, fast armies to counter gunlines, gunlines to counter chaff. A mix of all the above is where we are headed. Magic is going to be a strong element at NICON, as are mortal wound damage (which ignore armour).

Newer armies such as Kharadron Overlords, Blades of Khorne and Tzeentch Arcanites are worth looking into due to the new allegiance abilities that can surprise you on the table if you are not ready to face them.

So, now to the individual lists!



Grand Alliance: Order



Alex C - Sylvaneth

The General
Treelord Ancient - the command ability for this guy is OK, allowing re-rolls of 1 for Sylvaneth units within 10". This will work nicely with the Dryads, who end up with very decent armour saves in numbers. His spell will let Alex set up his Wyldwoods quickly.

The Battalions
  • Household - This one contains the Treelord Ancient, Branchwych and some of the Tree Revenants. Enemy units within 3" of these guys cannot retreat! This gives them some fantastic crowd-control, and stops objective jumping once in combat. These units also gain Bravery when they are near enemies.
  • Free Spirits - Contains the Spirit of Durthu and three units of Kurnoth Hunters. Allows these units to make an extra move in the Hero phase towards a chosen unit.
  • Gnarlroot Wargrove - This requires the Household battalion, and includes all the remaining units. It allows one of her spellcasters to cast an extra spell, and give them access to a spell that brings back models to units.

The Army
First of many Sylvaneth lists! The strategies will be similar, involving teleporting between summoned Sylvaneth Wyldwood. This will give them mobility to move between objectives at crucial times and to get to key targets. This list is very much a 'mixed arms' approach, always a good choice for dealing with a changing metagame.


Amy B - Sylvaneth

The General
Alarielle the Everqueen, the Realm-god of Ghyran herself - her Command Ability allows all Sylvaneth on the table to re-roll wound rolls. Luckily, she can only do this once per battle!

The Battalions
  • Household - This one contains the Treelord Ancient, Branchwych and some of the Tree Revenants. Enemy units within 3" of these guys cannot retreat! This gives them some fantastic crowd-control, and stops objective jumping once in combat. These units also gain Bravery when they are near enemies.
  • Gnarlroot Wargrove - This requires the Household battalion, and includes all the remaining units. It allows one of the spellcasters (other than Alarielle) to cast an extra spell, and give them access to a spell that brings back models to units.

The Army
The Gnarlroot Wargrove spell works well in tandem with Alarielle's spell, which also focuses on healing. Dryads and Tree-revenants are the melee troops, and the latter can teleport to Sylvaneth Wylwoods or a table edge with their Waypipes. Nine Kurnoth Hunters add some decent durable ranged damage. There are Four Wyldwoods on the list, enough for up to 12 Citadel Wood bases - more than enough to overgrow the battlefield, which can slow armies down, and provide teleportation for most of the troops onto objectives.

A very well crafted army for the metagame, and I am absolutely delighted at seeing Alarielle on the table. She is a hefty chunk of points, and needs to make it back by keeping units alive and kicking ass, but it's one of the great things about games this size - seeing all the big toys!


Brook F - Sylvaneth

The General
Treelord Ancient - the command ability for this guy is OK, allowing re-rolls of 1 for Sylvaneth units within 10". This will work nicely with the Dryads, who end up with very decent armour saves in numbers. 

The Battalions
  • Forest Folk - Consists of a Branchwraith and three units of Dryads. It allows the battalion to teleport to near any Wyldwood in his territory (9" from enemy). Another good one to move between objectives to attack or defend, and for getting out of trouble.

The Army
Brook's army focuses on the melee capabilities of the Treelords, Kurnoth Hunters, and some good old fashioned Tree Kin! Some durable units in there with one or two spell tricks up her sleeve. Delighted to have Brook along to join us with her dad for a weekend of gaming!


Craig T - Aelves

The General
Anointed - This Phoenix Temple leader has a command ability that allows fellow Phoenix Temple units within 8" to re-roll failed wound rolls in the combat phase. This will apply to the Phoenix Guard unit and to the two other Anointed flying around on Flamespyre Phoenixes.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Craig's army has a mix of different aelf units - Darkshards, Executioners, Phonenix Guard, Glade Guard,and Wildwood Rangers. The last few units benefit from the Glade Guard battle standard hero, which gives them a wound ignore on a 4+ if they are near. The Phoneixes will be a handful, with a 4+ universal save, and the ability to come back to life with full wounds! And before you ask, this has not been FAQ'd to cost Reinforcement Points (yet) so they get to come back for free. Wiley opponents will find ways to "not-quite-kill" them to avoid them being resurrected onto objectives. definitely the units to watch out for. Some other decent mixed arms capability in the infantry.


Dan S - Sylvaneth

The General
Treelord Ancient - the command ability for this guy is OK, allowing re-rolls of 1 for Sylvaneth units within 10". This will work nicely with the Dryads, who end up with very decent armour saves in numbers. His spell will let Dan set up his Wyldwoods quickly.

The Battalions
  • Forest Folk - Consists of a Branchwraith and four units of Dryads (they get an extra due to the Winterleaf battalion). It allows the battalion to teleport to near any Wyldwood in his territory (9" from enemy). Another good one to move between objectives to attack or defend, and for getting out of trouble.
  • Winterleaf Wargrove - This requires the Forest Folk battalion, and includes all the remaining units. It allows special deployment around Ophidian Archways, which will not come in to play at NICON, as we are not using terrain warscrolls. Dryads make an additional attack when they roll a 6+ to hit. Best of all, all Sylvaneth units can re-roll hit and wound rolls against Chaos units. Thhis battalion also allows Dan to take a non-Sylvaneth Order unit, which will gain the Sylvaneth allegiance. Dan has chosen a Celestial Battlemage on Hurricuanum...

The Army
The inclusion of the Hurricanum is a major set piece. This is going to be a huge force multiplier, as it adds +1 to hit for units up to 10" away (decreases as it takes damage). This makes his Dryad's extra attack trigger on a 5+, or less when combined with any other abilities.

A total of 12 Kurnoth Hunters with Greatbows will be potent ranged support for the Dryads, and are going to lay out a lot of pain. Dan will make good use of allegiance abilities and spells, so also expect some movement shenanigans, and to get through anywhere between 6 and 18 Citadel Wood bases to slow you down!


David C - Duardin (Fyreslayers and Kharadron Overlords)

The General
Auric Runesmiter on Magmadroth - no special command ability, but some other neat abilities. The usual Magmadroth magma attacks, and a Runic Empowerment of a nearby Fyreslayer unit, allowing re-rolls to hit and wound. There is also a once-per-battle ability that grants re-rolls to wound rolls to all Fyreslayers within 10".

The Battalions
  • Forge Bretheren - Contains the general and three units of Auric Hearthguard. Wound rolls for these units increase in rend when they roll a six. The Hearthguard nearby can grant an extra armour save for nearby units.
  • Iron Sky Squadron - Contains the two Frigates and three Arkanaut Companies. Allows the Akanauts to re-roll run and charge rolls when they disembark. Duardin with mobility! The Frigates get an extra attack for all their missile weapons in the first battle round.
The Army
An addition to the above, David has Endrinriggers and Thunderers, an Aether-Khemist for extra buffs, and some Fyreslayer footsloggers. I love the theme, and the mixed arms flexibility of the list.



James C - Wanderers

The General
Wayfinder - the command ability allows Wanderers within 18" to use his Bravery (8). Much more usefully, if those units roll a 1 on Battleshock tests, they can immediately shoot. Though hopefully there are enough models left to do something decent. The downside is that this ability will never work on heroes.

The Battalions
  • Waystone Pathfinders - Consists of everything in the army except Orion. It allows the battalion to deploy in their first Movement Phase (which unfortunately means missing Command Abilities and spells). They can deploy along any table edge (9" from enemies). additionally, one enemy unit within 12" of the Nomad Prince in the Hero Phase can be shot by all units in the battalion as if it was the shooting phase. This could potentially delete units, so be careful about being close to the Nomad Prince!
The Army
A good mix of ranged attacks, melee units and mobility. The risk with range heavy armies is not being able to contest objectives, so if James can balance holding the line with his Glade Guard, Waywatchers and Wild Riders, supported by his ranged units (who can shoot into and out of combat), and canny deployment, it should make for really strategic games.

Orion makes a return to the Mortal Realms, with some abilities that adds reliability to charges. There are several other heroes to add other benefits to the army, including the Spellweaver, who can bring models back to units.

Very satisfying to see players making good use of the 'new' Aelf armies, and I'm hope James' loyalty to the cause will be rewarded with a full army release sometime soon!


James M - Aelves (Wanderers and Order Draconis)

The General
Nomad Prince - the command ability allows Wanderers within 8" to re-roll hit rolls of 1. Could have a good impact over the course of the game given how many shots this could equate to.

The Battalions
  • Waystone Pathfinders - Same deal as James C's above. Good flexible deployment, and the extra round of shooting for the poor target who gets close enough to the Nomad Prince.
  • Dragonlord Host - Consists of the Dragonlord and two units of Dragon Blades. Allows these units to make an extra move once per game in the Hero phase, potentially allowing them to charge during the Hero phase if they are close enough. The Dragonlord may also be able to get an extra shot with the Dragonfire during the Hero phase.
The Army
James M has a great mix of speedy cavarly to contest objectives, a hard-hitting monster, and tons of ranged support. Multiple threats with mobility and the ability to react to his opponents deployment should serve it well. Three Waywatchers boos the shooting and should allow him to deal with moderate amounts of chaff, clearing the road for his knights to charge.


James O - Duardin (Fyreslayers and Kharadron Overlords)

The General
Auric Runefather - allows re-roll of Battleshock tests for Fyrweslayer units within 20". handy for the durability of his rank and file. The Weapon-breaker ability can really upset big units that go after the Runefather. He has a Bravery debuff, and can put out mortal wounds to units around him.

The Battalions
  • Lords of the Lodge - Contains all the Fyreslayer heroes except the Runeson, and includes one unit of Hearthguard Berzerkers. Once per battle, he can add bonuses to the Priority roll equal to the number of heroes in this battalion left on the battlefield. Extremely useful to ensure he gets the initiative when he needs it. Additionally, the Hearthguard can pile and and attack twice each combat phase when they are near a hero.
  • Warrior Kinband - Contains Auric Runeson and three units of Vulkite Berzerkers. It allows the Berzerkers to shoot twice with their axes when they are near the Runeson. Additionally, they can pile in an extra D3 inches when they are near each other. 
The Army
The Fyreslayers have become much more competitive due to a points drop earlier this year. James is supplementing them with some of the brand new Kharadron Overlords, which will no doubt increase his ability to contest objectives, and give him some much needed ranged support. He is bringing along a Frigate and an Ironclad to help transport them around. Absolutely delighted to see these on the table. The only downside is that as he is taking a mixed army, he will have to default to the Grand Alliance: Order allegiance abilities instead of the extra toys available in a Pure Kharadron force. Nonetheless, I look forward to seeing how these guys play!


Jared P - Stormcast Eternals

The General
Lord Celestant on Dracoth - grants immunity to battleshock within a whopping 24". There is now a whole lot of customising Jared can do with allegiance abilities now, but I will imagine this guy will be a combat beast.

The Battalions
  • N/A
The Army
Jared's Stormcast army has a heavy melee focus, but there are two units of Judicators to plug away at chaff and chip away wounds. Watch out for the Fulminators, who will wreck almost anything they hit, and the Retributors, who dish out mortal wounds. There is a Drakesworn Templar on Stardrake giving him a nice big assault unit, a Lord-relictor for a range of buffs, a Heraldor for some damage (good use against Sylvaneth), and the Vexillor, who can teleport one of his units. I love the Vexillor in tournament play for the objective contest, but also for assassination if needed.


Jarrod B - Seraphon

The General
Saurus Oldblood on Carnosaur - command ability allows a Saurus Hero within 20" to add 2 to its attacks for the combat phase. This could also be applied to the Carnosaur itself, whose jaws do 3 damage each... The other notable ability is the Bloodroar, which can cause models to flee from battleshock, whether they fail or not - devastating for multi-wound models.

The Battalions
  • Shadowstrike Starhost - Contains Skink Starpriest, Chameleon Skinks and Ripperdactyl Riders. Allows them to re-roll hit and wound rolls of 1 against a specified unit. Additionally, the Ripperdactyls can swoop onto the table during the game up to 3" of the enemy, giving them a combat bonus in the next combat phase.
  • Bloodclaw Starhost - Contains the general and mounted Saurus heroes, as well as the Saurus Knights and infantry. Allows all these units to make an additional attack with their Jaws and Shields - drastically increasing the combat prowess. Additionally, all the Heroes get to use their Command Abilities! 
The Army
A relatively slow-moving army core, but a very capable melee force. This army has some really nice mobile units and some tank-like Bastiladons. The Saurus ave well armoured too, so the hope is they can assault and hold objectives while picking off key targets. Great to see an Oldblood Army!


Marlin F - Fyreslayers

Note - it has been brough to my attention that the Hearthguard units are not battleline because the army does not have the Fyreslayer allegiance. Marlin is in the process of revising this list.

 The General
Auric Runemaster - no command ability, but turns his Hearthguard units into battleline. He has some cool abilities based around seeking gold, which will give a minor buff to a unit of his opponent, but makes all his units much more effective against that unit. 

The Battalions
  • Lords of the Lodge - Contains all the Fyreslayer heroes, and includes one unit of Hearthguard Berzerkers. Once per battle, he can add bonuses to the Priority roll equal to the number of heroes in this battalion left on the battlefield. Extremely useful to ensure he gets the initiative when he needs it. Additionally, the Hearthguard can pile and and attack twice each combat phase when they are near a hero.
  • Warrior Kinband - Contains Auric Runeson and three units of Vulkite Berzerkers. It allows the Berzerkers to shoot twice with their axes when they are near the Runeson. Additionally, they can pile in an extra D3 inches when they are near each other. 
The Army
Another army that has benefitted form the points drop, and Marlin has supplemented them with some Irondrakes for some ranged support, and some air support from the Ironweld Arsenal. The sheer amount of heroes will post a big problem for his opponents in some battleplans - the Grimwrath Twins will surely forge some legends at NICON!


Nick J - Mixed Order (Darkling Coven, Scourge Privateers and their Slaves!)

The General
Black Ark Fleetmaster - an inexpensive choice points-wise, his Command Ability will allow one Privateer unit to re-roll all their failed hit rolls. This will be the Scourgerunner Chatiots.

The Battalions
  • Thrall Warhost - Contains the Sorceresses and all the infantry units. Nick will pick one of the Socerecess to be the Warhost master for each game, likely the one on the Black Dragon due to her mobility. In each Hero phase, one of those infantry units within 12" of the master can charge and then pile in and attack. In the Hero phase. This doesn't stop them charging or attacking later in the turn either. So watch out for this on the Black Guard and Executioners, as they could very quickly roll up a battle line.
The Army
Nick has a good number of bodies on the table to set up decent board control. The Helstorm Rocket Battery will combo with the Celestial Hurricuanum to make it more reliable. the Grimwrath Berzerker will be a tank like normal. A nice balanced list, with fast elements, shooting support, and force multipliers. I expect Nick will surprise some with his artillery support and Thrall abilities!


Rex F - Sylvaneth

The General
Treelord Ancient - As per the comments from Dan's list - the command ability for this guy is OK, allowing re-rolls of 1 for Sylvaneth units within 10". This will work nicely with the Dryads, who end up with very decent armour saves in numbers. His spell will help set up Wyldwoods quickly.

The Battalions
  • Household - This one contains the Treelord Ancient, Branchwych and some of the Tree Revenants. Enemy units within 3" of these guys cannot retreat! This gives them some fantastic crowd-control, and stops objective jumping once in combat. These units also gain Bravery when they are near enemies.
  • Free Spirits - Contains the Spirit of Durthu and three units of Kurnoth Hunters. Allows these units to make an extra move in the Hero phase towards a chosen unit.
  • Gnarlroot Wargrove - This requires the Household and Free Spirits battalions, and includes all the remaining units. It allows one of her spellcasters to cast an extra spell, and give them access to a spell that brings back models to units.
The Army
Similar to Amy's army, but with a Spirit of Durthu to add some combat punch, and some extra movement abilities. Rex has opted to include a Loremaster as his Order unit option, which gives him access to a spell that allows a model to re-roll all failed hit and wound rolls - this will be brutal on the Spirit of Durthu! Rex has armed some of his Kurnoth Hunters with melee weapons, so he will have a stronger combat focus that the other Sylvaneth lists. Movement shenanigans and summoning woods are taken as granted!


Shalom W - Sylvaneth

The General
Treelord Ancient - As per the others - the command ability for this guy is OK, allowing re-rolls of 1 for Sylvaneth units within 10". 

The Battalions
  • Free Spirits - Contains the Spirit of Durthu and three units of Kurnoth Hunters. Allows these units to make an extra move in the Hero phase towards a chosen unit.
The Army
Similar to Amy's army, but with a Spirit of Durthu to add some combat punch, and some extra movement abilities. Expect a lot of trees being summoned, some durable support from the Hunters, and of course, heaps of healing! Watch for the Spirit of Durthu's ability to shield Alarielle from harm, giving her more turns to make her presence felt.


Shaun B - Stormcast Eternals

The General
Lord Celestant on Dracoth - As per Jared's list. This guy will be a beast! His command ability is really nice for his multi-wound infantry.

The Battalions
  • Lords of the Storm - Contains all the heroes. Gives all his units 1 Bravery when near one of the heroes. There is also a special mortal wound attack against a nearby enemy unit when three heroes are near each other. Situational but could come in handy!
  • Hallowed Knights Warrior Chamber - Contains all units in the army. Gives them an extra save against magic spell effects (5+). They add 1" to run and charge rolls. And lastly, when a Hero dies, they can get a round of combat in before they are removed.
The Army
This is a full toolbelt. Very good mixed arms selection with solid, fast melee units (Fulminators and Palladors), Liberators to hold objectives, and Raptors for mobile strike team. The heroes add a lot, with TWO Heraldors, the long range Venator, and some top-notch defence buffs from the two Castellants. Shaun has shown he knows how to play to the objectives, so this is a threat list!


Stefan M - Stormcast Eternals

The General
Lord Celestant on Dracoth - As per the other SCE lists!

The Battalions
  • Hammerstrike Force - Contains two of the Paladin units (probably Retributors?) and the big unit of Prosecutors. The Paladins will deploy form the Celestial Realm during a movement phase, 6" away from the Prosecutors. This can place them quite close to enemy units! If you manage to kill the Prosecutors first, they can only set up 9" away from the enemy. the Paladins also get +1 to wound when they land 12" away from Prosecutors.
  • Celestial Vindicators Warrior Chamber - Contains all the units. It allows them to re-roll hit rolls of 1 if their unit loses any models. Certain weapons can re-roll all hit rolls. There is also an additional command ability available for the Lord Celestant, adding 1 attack to specific unit weapons.
The Army
Another great mixed arms list. There is a focus on missile attacks, and Stefan has brought along the mighty Celestant Prime, which is a mid-late game clean up tool. 15 Paladins will form the bulk of the melee punch.


Thomas L - Seraphon

The General
Slann Starmaster - command ability gives units within 10" the ability to fly and re-roll failed save rolls in the shooting phase. The Slann also has a selection of buffs to macig or movement or combat.

The Battalions
  • Eternal Starhost - Contains the Eternity Warden and Saurus Guard. Gives the Saurus extra save near the warden. If they don't move, their polearms gain D3 damage in the combat phase!
The Army
This army has Kroak, who will become the center of Thomas' plans. The guy has amazing spells which can do a ton of damage anywhere on the board. Armies who can reach him or pour enough shooting into him early will do well. An Engine of the Gods will provide some other up front damage, with some sneaky Skinks and Chameleons to get some board control. Magical aspects of the list will come in handy against the magic metagame. Thomas also has a decent sized reinforcement pool, and could summon heroes or units to help with objective play or as needed to secure his battleline.

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A massive thanks to out sponsors for NICON - Mighty Ape and Gaming DNA!




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