Category Archives: Declan Waters

Book Reviews, Declan Waters

Book Review – Robots in Space, The Secret Lives of Planetary Explorers

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By Ezzy Pearson

In our occasional series of looking outside the Worlds of Warhammer, I present for your reading pleasure – the story of man’s first explorations into space from M3.20. Written by remembrancer Ezzy Pearson.

Space Robots… a precursor to Warhammer 40k if ever I did see it!

Space may be the final frontier, but we no longer have to explore it on our own… we have robots to go out into the great dark abyss and do our bidding!

Dr Ezzy Pearson brings us the history of these Robots, their adventures, failures and successes. Pearson brings them to life and imbues them with goals and personalities, turning them into remote-human explorers… from those who are destined to die in the atmosphere of planets and moons, to those trundling around long beyond their expected time.

We couldn’t have learnt what we know about Space without these plucky explorers and this book is a superb, heart-felt, and well-written homage to them.

Dr Pearson takes us through the history of Robots in Space with the Moon, Venus and Mars and our solar systems neighbours a little further away – comets, asteroids, and the moons of the Gas Giants. The book covers much I didn’t know and all of it was interesting. It shows the importance of collaboration, teamwork and the army of people who work to get space exploration right… but also reflects on the failures and how the space agencies pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get going on the next mission(s). A moral for us all!

You’ll have to make your own minds up if the Great Expansion or the Wars of Unification were a good thing, but it is always good to know how and where we started, and why Holy Terra is the centre of the galaxy!

We always encourage people to shop at local bricks and mortar stores, but if your friendly local book store doesn’t have this available, we have a UK Amazon affiliate link & a USA Amazon affiliate link for which Woehammer receives a small commission.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

— Declan

Black Library, Book Reviews, Declan Waters, Games Workshop

Book Review – Broken Realms: Morathi

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By Games Workshop

Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.

But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it. Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)

Over a year on since the release of the Broken Realms books are they good and essential, or pretty eye candy for the completionist… read on!

Morathi, High Oracle of Khaine, sets her sights upon the greatest prize of all – the power of a goddess! As furious war consumes the Mortal Realms, the shadow-wreathed empire of Hagg Nar makes its ambitious play for power. The cruel and boundlessly cunning Morathi, ruler of the Daughters of Khaine, desires to claim her rightful place as a goddess – but to do so she must sacrifice her past, forge bitter new foes, and spill the blood of rivals and allies alike!

The Mortal Realms will never be the same again. In Broken Realms: Morathi, a new era begins for Warhammer Age of Sigmar, bringing with it seismic shifts in the status quo, epic stories, and new rules for your army however you prefer to play. Part narrative supplement, part rulebook, this first Broken Realms book allows you to immerse yourself in the Mortal Realms fiercest conflict yet.

The first in the Broken Realms series begins with the Story of Morathi, the Herald of Khaine, and includes a number of other related stories.

As a gaming book this had enabled the authors to add narrative battle plans, and the rules writers to change some warscrolls, and update points. It’s a well put together book with – as you might expect – lovely artwork, which advances the story significantly. Indeed this is one of the advantages of the these books – they can advance the overall narrative of the Age of Sigmar in a way that Black Library novels are rarely permitted to do.

Unfortunately, I can’t get past the price, which if you buy all 4 books in the series will be £100 – a significant investment if you want to keep up with the lore (as I do), and a reason why many people won’t be able to. GW do need to consider how to release the narrative elements of these books at a much more reasonable price.

A good book, and probably essential to those using Morathi, but for others it’s difficult to recommend just for the lore advancement – especially as the plot has probably been spoilt for you by now – especially if you watch the Warhammer+ Loremaster series.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

— Declan

Age of Sigmar, Declan Waters, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Tournaments

Tournament Preparation – The Nameless King (One Day – AoS)

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Tomorrow (January 29th 2022) I’ll be going to my first 1 dayer event this year. I love one dayer events – I get to try out new stuff have a bit of fun and still have Sunday available to be at home and spend some time with my family.

The Nameless King is and event being run by Boards and Swords which is a gaming store based in Derby. They run regular one day events and are only 75 minutes away from me… so a great local tournament.

I have said previously that I would bring Gloomspite Gitz to a one-dayer, but after my success at March to War with the Big Waaagh I want to see whether I can do well in a 20-0 system with them. At March to War I went 4-1 but took a ‘sit-back’ approach, which doesn’t always work for a 20-0 system. Sure, I can win, but can I win by enough?

Without any further ado, the army:

Allegiance: Big Waaagh!
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)*
– General
– Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth fist
– Command Trait: Touched by the Waaagh!
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Mount Trait: Weird ‘Un
– Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork
Orruk Warchanter (115)*
– Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat
Wurrgog Prophet (150)*
– Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz
– Lore of the Savage Beast: Power of the Were-boar

Battleline
10 x Orruk Brutes (320)**
– Jagged Gore-hackas
– 2x Gore Choppas
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Orruk Brutes (320)**
– Jagged Gore-hackas
– 2x Gore Choppas
– Reinforced x 1
5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)***
– 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers
5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)***
– 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers
5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)***
– 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers

Units
3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)**
– Pig-iron Choppas
2 x Savage Big Stabbas (80)*
2 x Savage Big Stabbas (80)*

Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Hunters of the Heartlands
***Ironjawz Fist

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1970 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 152
Drops: 11

This is almost the same army as I took to March to War so to get an idea of how it works look here!

All Change…

… or not! The only change here is dropping the Marshcrawler Sloggoth for 2 x 2 Big Stabbas.

2 x 2 Big Stabbas… with a couple of conversions in there!

I raided my Gargants Bitz Box to find two big weapons for my second set of Big Stabbas and I think they work a treat. But… why Big Stabbas? During March to War I found that I reached the +1 to hit threshold a lot earlier than I had anticipated (by turn 2 most of the time). And so I have decided to replace him. I still have only a few Kruleboyz painted and I haven’t settled on a scheme so it was either 2 x 5 Ardboyz, or 2 x 2 Big Stabbas… as it gave me an excuse to get painting I’ve picked the Big Stabbas.

8 wounds for 80 points, 6+/6++ save means that an opponent will need to dedicate resources to killing them, and they can be teleported by Hand of Gork if required. At bravery six, they are unlikely to die to battleshock – they’ll either die or be alive!

During March to War I found my lack of rend a bit of an issue, so 3 attacks, 3+/3+/-2/2 is not a bad damage profile. With a 3″ range they can also hide behind units and still attack if the front unit is charged. Da Final Fling is also a great bonus few damage especially if I have to play a Seraphon monster list or the Sons of Behemat.

My only two other changes were switching out Smelly Un for Weird Un (4+ mortal wound save vs spells) and giving the Wurgogg a spell to slightly boost the movement and charge of the Big Stabbas.

As always I’ll let you know how I get on –

— Declan

Black Library, Book Reviews, Declan Waters, Games Workshop

Book Review – Cadian Honour

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By Justin D Hill

Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.

But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it. Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)

This week our book review returns to the world of Warhammer 40k and the cutting edge of the ongoing story – the Fall of Cadia! This is the second book in the series, and whilst the first tried for an all-spanning global conflict this one is much more about the hero – Minka Lesk.

For ten thousand years, Cadia stood as a bastion against the daemonic tide spewing forth from the Eye of Terror. But now the Fortress World lies in ruins, its armies decimated in the wake of Abaddon the Despoiler and his Thirteenth Black Crusade. Those who survived, though haunted by the loss of their beloved homeworld, remain bloodied and unbarred, fighting ruthlessly in the Emperor’s name.

Amongst them is the indomitable Sergeant Minka Lesk. Sent to the capital world of Potence, Lesk and the Cadian 101st company soon discover that a rot runs through the very heart of the seemingly peaceful world. Lesk knows she must excise this taint of Chaos, for it is not only her life and those of her company at stake, but also the honour of Cadia itself.

The story of Cadia’s soldiers continues despite the destruction of Cadia. Cadian Honour follows Minka Lesk and the world of Potence.

This is more of the same from the Warhammer 40k universe, but there’s is nothing wrong in knowing that the story is mostly the same as it’s like a new coat in the same design as the old one!

What makes this stand out is having a female lead for the story – which is great – and many of the Cadian Astra Militarum being females as well. It does look like Black Library is trying to get a broader range of characters (as opposed to white male) into their books and this is a good example of it working.

Minka Lesk is a believable hero and I found myself engaged in her story to survive and possibly lead the Cadian troops to some sort of victory – even in the Galaxy spanning war. Games Workshop & Black Library do seem to be bringing us more female leads and this can only be a good thing – more of the same please!

One of the benefits of this book is you don’t have to have read Cadia Stands either – my advice, just dive straight in here!

Rating: 4 out of 5.

We always encourage people to shop at local bricks and mortar stores, but if your friendly local book store doesn’t have this available, we have a UK Amazon affiliate link & a USA Amazon affiliate link for which Woehammer receives a small commission.

— Declan

Declan Waters, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Warmaster

Getting Started in Warmaster

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Warmaster is a set of fantasy miniatures wargame rules developed by the same company as produced Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000 and Lord of the Rings miniatures rules.

Board Game Geek Summary

It has been given a rating of 7.2 on BoardGameGeek from 450+ ratings.

I was going to write an article about Warmaster and how to get started, but Iain has done such a great job on YouTube I’ve decided to steal link to all his shows instead.

But before I start – Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.

But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it. Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)

For those who don’t know, Warmaster is a 10mm fantasy game (with an ancients version) which is commonly played on a 6′ x 4′ board to points values of 2,000 points. It was written by Rick Priestley and is going through something of a renaissance thanks to a number of 10mm designers releasing models for resin printing – either home printing or through a retailers like Excellent Miniatures.

The original… now changed slightly in Warmaster Revolution

Iain Standing has produced 10 videos explaining Warmaster Revolution (a version of Warmaster maintained by a committee).

1. Getting Started

2. Moving Forwards

3. Hitting Your Targets

4. Getting Stuck In

5. Up Close & Personal

6. Winners and Losers

7. Confusion

8. Characters & Flyers

9. Magic

10. End Game

Iain also has loads of great videos on most of the armies you can play.

If you’re interested in getting into Warmaster (or returning to it!) I can’t suggest you start anywhere else but these excellent collection of videos.

Cheers Iain!!

— Declan & Eeyore

Age of Sigmar, Army Lists, Declan Waters, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Tournaments

Top Three Lists from Tempest (AoS)

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Scott runs a lot of tournaments up in Stirling, Scotland at Common Ground Games. Unfortunately I’ve not been to one yet, but it’s definitely on the list of places to go! Warmaster is also run up there.

His latest tournament has just finished, and he has been posting the results – and lists – online via his twitter account and on Tabletop.to.

So before you continue with this article, pop onto Twitter and give Scott a well deserved follow! https://twitter.com/_wee_men

…

Welcome back!! I hope you liked Scott’s feed – it’s full of great coverage from the event and well worth a read. I followed along all weekend to the trials and tribulations of the competitors.., and the Dragons!!

1st Place – Daughters of Khaine – Nathan Watson (5-0)

Allegiance: Daughters of Khaine
– Temple: Hagg Nar
– Mortal Realm: Ulgu
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
– Triumphs: 

Leaders
Bloodwrack Shrine (190)*
– General
– Command Trait: Devoted Disciples  
– Artefact: The Ulfuri  
– Lore of Shadows: Steed of Shadows
Hag Queen (105)*
– Artefact: Khainite Pendant  
– Prayer: Blessing of Khaine
Morathi-Khaine (330)*
The Shadow Queen (330)*

Battleline
15 x Blood Stalkers (540)**
– Reinforced x 2
20 x Witch Aelves (240)**
– Sacrificial Knives and Blade Bucklers
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Witch Aelves (120)*
– Pairs of Sacrificial Knives

Units
5 x Khinerai Lifetakers (90)**

Endless Spells & Invocations
Heart of Fury (55)

Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Hunters of the Heartlands

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 3 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 101
Drops: 8

Nathan is rocking Morathi and the Bow Snakes and clearly did a lot of work here. The secret to Morathi’s success is no secret – she’s a beast! Being able to dish out good damage, knowing all the spell lore (interesting boost in the latest FAQ), and only taking 3 damage per player turn means that you can use her to block, kill big stuff and generally get in the way. If you’re opponent has no shooting she’s even better as she won’t suffer early wounds.

In AOS she is great and the FAQ made her stronger!

A word of warning though – this is not a pick up and play army… practice, practice, practice is the order of the day with this. There’s not many wounds available (101) and not a great save across the rest of the army.

Congratulations to Nathan.

2nd Place – Stormcast Eternals – Luke Garside (4-1)

Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals
– Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Beast Master
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

Leaders
Knight-Draconis (300)*
– General
– Command Trait: Battle-lust
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Mount Trait: Thunderous Presence
– Spell: Thundershock

Battleline
2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)*
– Drakerider’s Lance
2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)*
– Drakerider’s Lance
2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)*
– Drakerider’s Lance
2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)*
– Drakerider’s Lance
2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)*
– Drakerider’s Lance

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 101
Drops: 1

Stormcast Eternals are lucky enough to have a great Warscroll and the ability to make it into battleline. And Luke has done this shortly after the models were released over the Christmas break. Stormdrake Guard have a mortal wound shooting attack, great movement, and decent combat output. And they can survive! At 340 points they are exceptional value despite the massive points increase before they were released.

This army is relatively simple… go forward … kill the world … don’t die!

But that’s doing Luke a dis-service and you have to play well to get a 4-1 with such other great armies around (*Edited – thanks to John B below!)

It will take time for the AoS community to work out how to deal with this, but they do seem very, very good and it’s difficult to see them not winning a 5 game tournament in the very near future.

3rd Place – Stormcast Eternals – John B (4-1)

Allegiance: Cities of Sigmar
– City: Living City
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Freeguild General on Griffon (290)*
– General
– Lance
– Command Trait: Ironoak Artisan
– Artefact: Spear of the Hunt
– Mount Trait: Soaring Guardian
Celestant-Prime, Hammer of Sigmar (325)*
Branchwraith (95)*
– Lore of Leaves: Lifesurge

Battleline
10 x Ironbreakers (115)*
10 x Ironbreakers (115)*
20 x Freeguild Crossbowmen (210)*
– Reinforced x 1

Units
10 x Shadow Warriors (120)*
4 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (460)*
– Reinforced x 1

Behemoths
Celestial Hurricanum (230)*

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 1960 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 111
Drops: 1 

John B has another 1 drop army but very different from the Dragon list. I’ve seen similar, but never anything exactly like this… and it’s good! The Fulminators have a mortal wound shooting attack (see above!), the Celestant-Prime can arrive on the table on the game when needed and he has reach with the Crossbowmen.

It’ll be interesting to see this live to see how it plays… I’ve got little idea!

Wildcard! – Skaven – Cara Newby – 3-2

Peter Atkinson of Twitter, and Plastic Craic fame suggested that we pick a fourth army for our top three articles as an interesting list, one to watch for the future, or just because we like it.

I’ve chosen a Skaven list by Cara Newby.

Allegiance: Skaventide
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Master Moulder (95)*
– General
– Command Trait: Hordemaster
Master Moulder (95)**
– Artefact: Rabid Crown
Master Moulder (95)**
Master Moulder (95)***

Units
6 x Rat Ogors (285)*
– Mutation: Toughened Sinews
6 x Giant Rats (40)*
6 x Giant Rats (40)*
6 x Rat Ogors (285)**
– Mutation: Insanely Rabid
6 x Giant Rats (40)**
6 x Giant Rats (40)**
6 x Giant Rats (40)***
6 x Giant Rats (40)***
6 x Giant Rats (40)***
6 x Giant Rats (40)***

Behemoths
Hell Pit Abomination (240)*
– Mutation: Toughened Sinews
Hell Pit Abomination (240)**
– Mutation: Best-best Warpstone Spikes
Hell Pit Abomination (240)***
– Mutation: Accelerated Regeneration

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Battle Regiment
***Battle Regiment

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 152
Drops: 3

Cara was 3-1 going into the last round with a chance of a 4-1, and this list is great! Anyone who knows me, knows I love horde armies and this looks like a great example. I played a similar army at a 1 day THWG event last year and they are great at holding objectives, and stopping Cara getting Hold the Line must have been a real challenge.

Added to that the four monsters allow extra points from Battle Tactics including – at least – monstrous takeover. Added to that this must be fun to play against which is always something I look out for in a list.

Well done to Cara for 3-2 with a possible 4-1. I hope I’ll get a chance to see this in the flesh this year.

Thanks to Scott for running the tournament and keeping us all updated on Twitter… looks like everyone had a great time.

— Declan

Black Library, Declan Waters, Games Workshop

Book Review – Cadia Stands

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By Justin D Hill

Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.

But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it. Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)

This week our book review returns to the world of Warhammer 40k and the cutting edge of the ongoing story – the Fall of Cadia!

Does it though?

The problem with Galaxy defining novels, which include a major change in the story, is that they are difficult to write. There are so many characters to include, so many people who are very likely to die, and a bad guy – Abaddon – throwing a space station at a planet…

Hill makes a good stab at bringing together the story of the Fall of Cadia and the attack of Abaddon, but it is too much for one book… starting on the planet with Cadian regiments returning, it takes the reader through the initial attacks, the orbital fights, the invasion of the Black Legion, the fall of Cadia, the flight and start of New Cadia… phew.

A good attempt, but ultimately the scope was just too grand, I struggled to follow the story (and I’ve read the crib-notes from other Warhammer 40k publications), and I’m a fan of the setting. Definitely not one that casual readers will be wanting to pick up.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

— Declan

We always encourage people to shop at local bricks and mortar stores, but if your friendly local book store doesn’t have this available, we have a UK Amazon affiliate link & a USA Amazon affiliate link for which Woehammer receives a small commission.

Check out the Woehammer Book Review Archive for more reviews!

Book Reviews, Declan Waters

Book Review – Erebus, The Story of a Ship

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By Michael Palin

Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.

But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it. Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)

In our occasional series of looking outside the Worlds of Warhammer, I bring you news of a investigation into ships that went missing trying to find the Northern Passage – written by British National Treasure – Michael Palin.

Palin has made himself into a premier travel writer, but he also has links to the Geographical Society and it is these links that start him looking at the story of Arctic and Antarctic exploration by Britain in the 19th Century – in particular the crews and two small wooden ships – Erebus & Terror.

The story fairly wizzes along at a great pace with exploration, daring and danger throughout. The first of the two expeditions – to the Antarctic – is in most ways a success and as both ships return Palin draws on the historical records to tell the story of this adventure.

When he gets to the doomed Arctic expedition of course, there is less information and less story to tell, but Palin continues to tell it well, and brings us up to date with the searches for the ships since their disappearance on the search for the Northwest Passage.

There are times where the history is replaced with Palin’s anecdotes of travelling to the same places 150 years later, but there is no diminishing of the story for this, and – with Palin’s natural humour – adds to the understanding of the reader.

So, if you’re looking for a book outside the genre and fancy something a bit different you won’t go far wrong with this. I really loved it.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

— Declan

We always encourage people to shop at local bricks and mortar stores, but if your friendly local book store doesn’t have this available, we have a UK Amazon affiliate link & a USA Amazon affiliate link for which Woehammer receives a small commission.

Check out the Woehammer Book Review Archive for more reviews!

Declan Waters, Dreadmund, Hamsfans, Peter Holland

Merry Chistmas!

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Merry Christmas from everyone at Woehammer! We hope that the Red Gobbo brings you all that you wish for and more!

To celebrate Christmas I thought I would look back over our first few months as a site and revisit our most popular posts to date!

Top Three Lists from Leicester GT 4/5th December 2021

This was out first post to reach over 2,000 views and was on the very popular subject (as you’ll see) of AoS competitive army lists.

WD148 Battle Report – Warhammer Fantasy (The Battle of Blood Keep)

Next up was one of our earlier Classic Battle Reports from White Dwarf, this time from White Dwarf 148 and the Battle of Blood Keep.

Top Three Lists from the Everwinter Grand Tournament (Boston, US) 11/12th December 2021

A more recent post this time, with the top three competitive lists from the Everwinter Grand Tournament in the US.

Top Three 40k Lists from the West Coast GT (Bohus, Sweden) 11/12th December 2021

Our first (and to date only) 40k competitive list review also came in December with the coverage of the three lists from Swedish West Coast GT.

Warhammer 40k Battleforce Boxes – How much and whats in them?

Our final top 5 post was about the Warhammer 40k Battleforce Boxes, how much they would cost and what your got inside them.

Black Library, Book Reviews, Declan Waters, Games Workshop

Book Review – Gitslayer

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By Darius Hinks

Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.

But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it. Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)

The Bad Moon is rising and Gotrek Gurnisson once again finds himself in the middle of the action, fighting his greatest enemies and trying to find his doom – although in the Age of Sigmar – his doom finding is a little more limited and currently is based around him wanting to remove the Fyreslayer rune from his chest.

The latest in a (very) long series of books!

Darius Hinks has once again been given the job of adding to the saga of Gotrek and his new companion – Maleneth Witchblade (an Aelf). If you read my review of Dominion, you will know that I like his writing, and this novel is no exception. This being a Warhammer Age of Sigmar novel I’m not pretending that it is a classic to rival some fantasy epics from yesteryear but it is a good fun yarn, with plenty of combat, some character development for Gotrek, Duardin and (more importantly than all that…) Gitz!

It won’t surprise regular readers to hear that I love the Gitz (Goblins) since I started Warhammer Fantasy Battle back in the late <cough> 1980s. Since then the little goblins (or Grobbi to Gotrek) have seen new developments, have conquered the World’s End Mountains, made Scrappa-spill and started to control the Bad Moon… all while worshiping Mork (or possibly Gork). And it is great to have them here.

The Gotrek books often spend a large number of pages building character and giving background to the ‘Big Bad’ of the book and Gitslayer is, fortunately, no exception. Unlike Dominion where the Kruleboyz were only seen from the viewpoint of the humans and Stormcast, or Gloomspite where the Gitz got limited ‘screen time’, Gitslayer puts them front and centre.

There are descriptions of mushrooms, magic, bottles, potions, squigs and, of course, the Bad Moon itself; all coming together to threaten the Kharadron Overlords who have promised to help Gotrek remove the rune from his chest. These descriptions are fabulous and I won’t spoil any of the fun of reading them for the first time, but if you like Gitz this is a great book and succeeds where Gloomspite failed.

The main character remains Gotrek, but we know how it is going to end, as he searches for his Doom, or Felix, or both. We know he’ll upset some locals, get drunk and then save the day… but still we read for the journey. And Gitslayer delivers on this journey.

Love it!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

We always encourage people to shop at local bricks and mortar stores, but if your friendly local book store doesn’t have this available, we have a UK Amazon affiliate link & a USA Amazon affiliate link for which Woehammer receives a small commission.

— Declan