Let’s dive into all the leaked info on Helsmiths today! At first reveal, I convinced myself I didn’t need to get them. Chaos Dwarves were my 2^nd army back when I was a wee lad… and despite needing to proxy almost the entire army, I have fond memories of sitting on the floor moving my infantry around whilst bombarding the enemies with rockets and cannons. I’ve still even got some of my old models packed away in a box somewhere!

So today… I’m going to go through what looks to be the rules as according to leaks. Now these are a bit of a collection of some different leaks I’ve managed to lay my eyes on and now that most of the book has leaked out onto the internet I figured I’d pull all these notes together and set them free!

Warning:

This is all based on a couple of different leak sources (reliability unclear) so things may not match up 100% to the released book.

Desolation and Daemonic Power Points

We have to talk about DPP to start with since it’s core to the army but on the other hand… this seems to be the least consistent… we’ve got Warcomms explanation which doesn’t fit with the other couple of leaks. So I’ll try and lay out how it seems to be right now.

So planning around collecting and how to use these best is going to make a serious difference in tight games (if this info is correct because under this system it won’t be many that we’re getting each turn).

Start of any turn, opt army (opt means once per turn)

Pick a terrain feature or objective that does not have a friendly desolation token and is contested by a friendly HoH unit that is not in combat to be the target (as noted above, if this can be more than one desolation marker a turn, then there will be a lot more to go around).

Give that target a desolation token

So to get our economy rolling, we need to be next to different terrain at the start of each turn… easy to begin with but if we want to get lots of DPP, then we will need to push forward

Next step is to remove all the DPP from the units who have them and distribute them up to a max of 3 per unit

Command ability is: 3 or fewer DPP, give 2 DPP to a unit, otherwise just 1. That’ll play at effectively 1 CP down but some of the abilities are worth a CP

Early game, effect will be beneficial but not game deciding… in games of attrition, this will make  a bigger effect towards the end of the game when you can stack full 3 DPP on multiple units

Can conditionally gain more DPP via an artefact and one of the units too

The DPP then have different benefits for each unit (abilities are on their warscrolls) with some definite winners and losers for these. Like Hobgrots! Big losers, no DPP for Hobgrots!

Massive side thought: I hope we get a few more Hobgrot units and can run a hobgrot army at some points. But Fittsy, why not just play GSG and run wolves… fair point but I still want rebel hobgrots!

Second side thought: This is going to be a bit of a pain to manage each turn… personally I’m definitely going to have in mind conditions under which I’ll want to have it on certain units or not so that I don’t have to think too much during the turn.

Battle Formations

All need 3 DPP on the units to activate. In summary they are:

• +3 rally dice for infantry -> meh
• +2” move for cavalry -> spicy as with 3DPP Bull Centaurs get +3” to charge too
• +1 to cast, unbind, banish and chant -> good if running Uruk Wizards/Priests
• +1 attacks for war machines -> slightly more interesting as the Tauruses are War Machines too

BUT! You need 3DPP to get at these benefits so it’ll be 1 unit maybe 2 from 3 onwards

Heroic Traits

We’ve got 3 to choose from here and they’re some interesting options:

Pick a visible enemy unit in your hero phase within 18” add +1 to wound rolls for combat attacks

                This looks solid, no roll to get it off. Wish it was both hero phases but I like this one.

A complicated conditional shooting attack (trigger an infantry unit wholly within 12” not in combat), then they can shoot an enemy unit who charged but only hit on 6s

                Hard pass for me… this is too tricky for me to pull off

Pick an Automaton unit during deployment, becomes the “bodyguard” it gets first strike when within combat range of the hero, if hero is infantry, it gets a 5+ ward

                Really cool. This is the sort of thing I’ll take for PtG and could have play in certain lists. This first strike is really good on the fight twice against heroes Big Fella as the strike first cancels the strike last on the second attack from them

Artefacts

Another 3 to choose from here and they’re pretty flavorful but a bit funny in general:

OPB 3DPP to the unit but no more DPP can be assigned for the rest of the game

                Sounds bad but with Uruk, he can shift those DPP around so it could be used to power up turn 1 or 2

D3 on a 2+ mortals in each of your shooting phases

                This sounds pretty nice to me and will probably be my default choice (points depending)

OPB give a unit a 2+ ward for the turn but they then can’t use any active abilities

                This sounds really interesting… they become immobile blockers, great for holding down an objective BUT! Watch out for ward removals in the game, we’ve got a fair bit of that nowadays. Great for flavour but I wont be taking this one often

Spells and Prayers

I think GW has already covered all of these… so here’s just a quick overview.

First up for spells, we’ve got one on a 6+ which halves moves, one which does serious mortals against high armour targets (it’s an 8+ to cast though but when it goes off, that’s 7ish mortals against a 2+ save, and one on a 7+ which makes terrain obscuring and does mortals against nearby enemies (D3 on a 2+). I like the three spells here for their flavour and each of them feels very chaos dwarfy.

Yay priests…

Horde clearer on a 4+, roll per model on 5+ do a mortal, buffed to on a 4+ for 8+

Give a unit more rend on a 4+, crit mortals on a 8+

D3 mortals and -3 control score on an enemy unit on a 4+, 2 units on an 8+

Now… the one priest we’ve got here has an ability to generate extra ritual points so hitting these 8+s are going to be easier than it looks!

No terrain and manifestations (yet) so we can move onto the units next!

Units

Now… I know I’m meant to pick out a few to cover but it’s only 16 so I’m giving you my thoughts on each of these!

Uruk Tarr

Feels like a good warscroll will depend on points, really good wizard and with DPP plus the subfaction get get to +3 to cast. He’s got the move 2D6 after a charge ability we’ve seen in other battletomes so he’ll get around pretty well. He’s pretty fighty too! We need to talk about his ability to move DPP around in the Enemy Hero Phase… This gives you a lot more value out of the DPP. On the other hand, he looks like he needs the DPP for survivability (gives ward and bonus to cast), so he’s going to be a drain on the economy. Is he a must take? I don’t think so… but he’ll help when starting out with the army to be able to react before the enemies turn, especially if you get double turned.

Other wizard on a Taurus

Do I wish it was a Lammasu? Yes. Do I like this warscroll? Also yes. Real good for bulls enabling the retreat and charge (one of my favourite abilities in AoS). Also has a roll higher than the health of a model and just smash it (end of turn rampage though). Giving it a pip of ward per DPP also good for a 15 health 3+ save model.

Daemonsmith

Cool healing ability that with DPP can be extended up to 24” which is a bit funny

Ashen Elder – a Priest

Is a priest, gets an extra ritual point in X hero phase when next to desolated terrain/objective so probably going to hang back with your war machines. Can also give out an aura of ignore first damage per phase which I’m a big fan of (see the ever-present Kruciator in my Nighthaunt lists) but it starts at wholly within 6” and gets bigger with DPP. Still even if it just effects him, it’s a cool one to have.

War Despot

The disappointing hero… is always control 5 and gives an extra attack to infantry but as we’ll get to, the infantry hit like a wet rag

Infernal Cohort Spears

Best thing on the warscroll is can generate a DPP on a 3+ when contesting an objective you control… so maybe a good screen in front of your war machines

Infernal Cohort Swords

Somehow worse than the spears and run 4 if you roll 1-3. Enough said. Build spears.

Hobgrots

Units of 20, pregame move (for a 5” move) in the deployment phase, could be good for screening your war machines or giving some breathing space and going out and desolating terrain

Infernal Razors with flamers

These don’t look crash hot with a short range and a 3 shots 2+, 4+,-,1 shooting profile. One rend per DPP makes them look better but it’s not where I want to spend my DPP. 5 model base units make this even harder to look good on paper.

Blunderbusses

And now we get a profile that looks a lot more interesting! For a reinforced unit, it’ll be 18” 11 attacks at 3+, 2+,-,2 but no shoot in combat. With an all out attack and some DPP they’ll definitely sting when they hit. They can also give out strike last on a 6+ (add one to the roll  for each model you kill). So I might buy two boxes of these for running a shooting focussed castle.

Bombard

30” range does a bit of damage… with DPP on it, it can give units nearby no commands on a 3+. I like this one for the range and the ability which both have value against different types of lists and with a 2+ to hit (for units 5 or more over 12″ away) on 4 shots, it’s going to be relatively reliable for plinking those annoying teleporting units and other crap which score objectives and tactics.

Deathshrieker Rockets

OHHHHH YES! 24” 3 shots 4+,2+,-2,D3+2 damage anti-warmachine and anti-monster plus (opt army), you can make it flat 5 damage against monsters and war machines. I will have one of these in my lists! Also just because of good memories of the old one in the Old World. It also has a cool splash damage effect with DPP.

Anointed Centaurs

You’ve probably already read about their strike first on the counter charge… now having tried to make that work for me with KO and the frigate, this is good, primarily from a psychology perspective for your opponent. Otherwise, they’re not bad and hit slightly less well than the Bull Centaurs. Both Centaurs get +1 to charge per DPP so you can definitely throw a unit up into the enemy’s face turn 1 if you want. Health 4 control 1… that part didn’t excite me much.

Bull Centaurs

Yum yum yum… 4 attacks each, 3+,3+,-1,2 +1 damage on the charge and crit mortals. They’re also doing mortals on the charge. To get value out of them… there’s going to be a very Daemonsmith on Bale Taurus shaped tax to get them the retreat and charge. But hey, that warscroll looks pretty good too.

Dominators with flamers

This warscroll  has a really interesting ability, they get +2 ranged attacks per enemy unit targets when they split their attacks… which could be a shitload of attacks. But then they’ve only got range 8” so they probably aren’t hitting many units. Still not a bad warscroll if you build into the war machine side of things. They appear to have +1 to ranged and melee on their warscroll per DPP so that could be a nice place to use the DPP. Guess the writers did these early and got tired by the time they got to the infernal cohort.

Dominators with maces

10 wounds on a 2+, fight twice when in combat range of enemy heroes, could be a bodyguard unit. I like them.

Have we got Combos?

Definitely yes, Daemonsmith on Bale Taurus and Bull Centaurs for Retreat and Charge.

Priests can nicely buff some of our units with the crits etc.

Bodyguard and fight twice Dominator… nice for a bit of fun

Uruk and the trait to get 3 DPP in a turn

I don’t see a need to lean hard into one side or the other in general which has a benefit for list building. As soon as we see points, I’ll be back with some list options for you… I wonder how many Bull Centaurs I can fit in a list 😉

General Impressions

Don’t forget everyone, points make armies… the KO book looked pretty good but then we’ve had really generous points on them which gives them an edge over a lot of other armies.

Not an elite army. Where are my 2 health for duardin GW? How do the Bull Centaurs come in at 4 health? Have you seen bulls? I’ve seen bulls and even without half a duardin on top, I’d rate them at 5 times the health of a Cities human. At least they can lay the smack down!

Am I still hyped? Yes. It definitely isn’t what I thought it would be after their descriptions. I sort of like the range of units available here and it does feel like a new army. Will the bookkeeping be a shit to keep track of? Very much yes, this feels like some strange combo of old Lumineth and Ossiarch Bonereapers. There are some nice looking warscrolls in here (and a couple of really shit ones, sorry Infernal Cohort) and I’m looking forward to getting my grubby little hands on these fellas and painting them up! After these leaks, I think I’ll be leaning a bit more towards Dominators and Bull Centaurs supported by some artillery and I’m excited to see how they play on the table in the end!