As you may have spotted in my AoS meta post on Sunday, Woehammer are branching out into Age of Sigmar competitive player ratings.
I will track the rankings of players for all tournaments using the General’s Handbook Pitched Profiles 2022-23 Season 1.
Competitive Player Ratings
The player ratings are based on the Elo system used in Chess*. For those interested in math(s) the K factor we’re using is 20. Players begin with a rating of 1,000 and will gain or lose points based on their opponents rating. For example, someone who beats an opponent with a higher rating than themselves will gain more points. Likewise, a high rated opponent will lose more points if the lose to someone rated less than themselves.
Top 10 Age of Sigmar Player Ratings – Worldwide
Woehammer – Worldwide Top 10 Ratings
You can see in our worldwide leaderboard that the English are currently dominating. This is purely due to the fact that 50% of the tournaments so far have taken place in England. As more tournaments take place and players begin to attend more than one tournament, the ratings will really start to show.
I’ve included armies in this first draft, as all the players have only played a single tournament and therefore have only used one army. I will remove these in the future and it will show just the players names.
Top 10 Age of Sigmar Player Ratings – England
Woehammer – England Top 10
Speaking of England, here are the Top 10 Age of Sigmar player ratings. Some familiar names are already appearing on this list, such as Freddie Leggett and Baz Norman Jr who were both involved in the tSports Champions events over the last month or so.
Top 10 Age of Sigmar Player Ratings – Scotland
Woehammer – Scotland Top 10
England and Scotland are the only two countries with enough players so far to complete a top 10 Age of Sigmar player ratings for them. But in the future top 10’s will be done for regions (Europe, North America etc) rather than countries.
I’ve included the Spreadsheet of all tournament matches that have taken place so far under the new General’s Handbook. This includes the full ratings of all players that have played so far.
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the South Coast Series July that took place in Bournemouth, UK on 9th and 10th July. It involved 40 players from the world over, vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Slaves to Darkness – Damned Legion: Host of the Everchosen (Sixth Circle) – Mortal Realm: Aqshy – Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak – Triumphs:
Leaders Archaon the Everchosen (860)** – Aura of Chaos: Tzeentch – Spell: Binding Damnation Chaos Lord (120)** – General – Reaperblade & Daemonbound Steel – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch – Spell: Mask of Darkness Chaos Sorcerer Lord (135)** – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch – Spell: Mask of Darkness
Battleline 3 x Varanguard (280)* – Ensorcelled Weapon and Warpsteel Shield – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch 3 x Varanguard (280)* – Ensorcelled Weapon and Warpsteel Shield – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch 8 x Iron Golems (75)** – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
Units 9 x Untamed Beasts (70)** – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch 9 x Untamed Beasts (70)** – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
Endless Spells & Invocations Chronomantic Cogs (40) Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
Brett: A return of a list that became common in AoS 2.0 with Archaon and Varanguard taking the tournament 5/0. Really demonstrates just how Archaon can dominate a lot of the board but don’t discount the Endless Spells either. With 3 wizards in the list (thanks to Arcane Tome) they are always going to be an option. Cogs offering rerolls for casters making Purple Sun, with it’s debuffs and wound potential more reliable, much more reliable.. Marking Archaon with Aura of Chaos – Tzeentch is a great way to increase his and the armies durability. So this list is all about durability and being hard to shift. Making the Varanguard Bounty Hunters improves one of their weaknesses (damage output) and is a solid move for removing MSU Galletian Veteran units. With both the Iron Golems (keep them stationary on a home objective in cover) and Untamed Beasts there are plenty of Galletian Veteran units in the army and 2 teleports (Mask of Darkness) to get them where they need to be. 6″ pregame move and the ability to run and charge make the Untamed Beasts unpredictable with a very long threat range. It would be great to see how the list plays into Nighthaunt. A very solid performance against some of the newer books we can only assume that Archaon wrecked face. 5/0 is an amazing performance with one of the older books and a range of characters that everyone knows well.
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Allegiance: Nighthaunt – Procession: Scarlet Doom – Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Krulghast Cruciator (150)** – General – Command Trait: Ruler of the Spirit Hosts Awlrach the Drowner (175)** Guardian of Souls (150)** – Lore of the Underworlds: Seal of Shyish Spirit Torment (115)*** – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of the Underworlds: Shademist Spirit Torment (115)***
Battleline 30 x Bladegheist Revenants (525)* – Reinforced x 2 20 x Bladegheist Revenants (350)* – Reinforced x 1 10 x Bladegheist Revenants (175)*** 3 x Spirit Hosts (125)**
Brett: What a horrifying list to face. Multiple small heroes including 3 that return models every turn and some of the best data sheets in the book (Bladegheist and Banshees). On top of that Krulghast is there to reduce the damage of incoming attacks. The big block of Bladegheist is nightmarish, on the charge they are putting out 90 attacks. This list is a strong 5/0 contender but I wonder about the battalions.
We more often see larger units of Bladegheist in Bounty Hunters but there are good reason to use Expert Conquerors. It would be very hard to take an objective off 30 Bladegheist backed by a Spirit Torment or Guardian and Banshees to steal spells. It would be interesting to see Awlach in action with this force offering a solid teleport ability throughout the game. The bigger blocks of Bladegheist would be a nasty threat even without their support heroes or after missing a charge. Taking down DoK confirms the horde meta is here. Notable that the list only lost to Sylvaneth.
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Allegiance: Sylvaneth – Glade: Heartwood – Season of War: The Reaping – Mortal Realm: Ghyran – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Alarielle the Everqueen (840)* Arch-Revenant (120)* – General – Command Trait: Warsinger – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of the Deepwood: Treesong
Battleline 6 x Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatbows (460)* – Reinforced x 1 5 x Tree-Revenants (110)* 5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*
Brett: Pregame move, teleports and movement buffs, all kinds of shenanigans are possible with this list including the endless spells. Crucially you need to get the best from (buffed) Alarielle and the Kurnoth (1300 pts – you have to) but with the ability to deploy aggressively, then redeploy, and the change away from one drop lists there are some real benefits to being Sylvaneth. The only loss (to Slaves to Darkness) would have been a very interesting with Archaon facing Alarielle in a titanic struggle. Varanguard are well matched to Kurnoth as well. Long range shooting is still a problem for a lot of lists notably Nighthaunt, Daughters of Kaine and Beasts. The Kurnoth bring some serious hurt, particularly with an Arch-Revenant giving +1 to wound rolls, and Alarielle only adds to the pain. The tree-revenants provide some screening and the ability later in the game to teleport away as well. Great performance with the new book and some familiar faces, it’s great to see a podium finish so soon after release.
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Army Faction: Fyreslayers – Subfaction: Greyfyrd – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Battlesmith (150)** – Artefacts of Power: Nulsidian Icon Auric Runefather (125)** – General – Command Traits: Blood of the Berzerker – Artefacts of Power: Axe of Grimnir Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (320)** – Wyrmslayer Javelins – Artefacts of Power: Master Rune of Unbreakable Resolve – Mount Traits: Coal-heart Ancient
BATTLELINE Hearthguard Berzerkers (480)* – Karl – Berzerker Broadaxe Vulkite Berzerkers with Bladed Slingshields (160)* – Hornblower of Grimnir – Karl – Fyresteel War-pick and Bladed Slingshield Vulkite Berzerkers with Bladed Slingshields (160)* – Hornblower of Grimnir – Fyresteel War-pick and Bladed Slingshield
OTHER Gotrek Gurnisson (485)** Grimwrath Berzerker (105)** – Artefacts of Power: Draught of Magmalt Ale
CORE BATTALIONS *Expert Conquerors **Warlord
TOTAL POINTS: 1985/2000
Brett: Eschewing the more popular Magmadroth builds comes at cost but what a thematic list this is. A tide of marking norse dwarves with your favourite hero from the before times (Gotrek) ready to wreck pretty much everybody. And particularly rats, which for the most part don’t move too quickly so were vulnerable to what this list brings. 3/5 is great with an off meta list like this one. Fyreslayers are let down by their 4″ move and they still seem a little expensive per unit. The battle against Maggotkin would have been a stand out since both are slow moving but against a Great Unclean One or Glottkin I think this list is a little short of firepower.
The overall results show that points matter still with both 1 and 2 being the highest point scorers, next highest is 8th though. At least within this tournaments catchment there is a very healthy meta with 8 different factions in the top 10. Seraphon and Daughters of Khaine are unusually low with 2 Sylvaneth, with different subfactions, in the top 5. Interesting to watch the rest of the performances across the weekend to see if this is a prelude to the Wood Elves rising. Don’t picnic too close to the trees just in case?
Here are the AoS Meta Stats for all the Grand Tournaments that have taken place between Monday 27th June and Sunday 3rd July 2022. These are all the GT’s that I can locate on Tabletop.to or BestCoastPairing, if you know of any others please send me a link and I’ll add them.
Once again, another quiet week, with only 3 Grand Tournaments. Two of these were run using the new GHB, while the other was just a little event called the World tSports Champions…..
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Grand Tournaments
Ranked from largest to smallest.
From the Ashes – Scotland/UK 22 Players – Generals Handbook: Pitched Battles 2022-23 Season 1
As promised last week, I’ve changed the stats to reflect the last four weeks of GT’s that we’re aware of at Woehammer. Also if you read all the way to the end of the article I have a little surprise for you!
485 players took part in 16 GT’s over the last four weeks.
Grand Alliance
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
4+ Wins
Chaos
56.7%
94
19.38%
6
27
Order
50.7%
218
44.95%
8
34
Death
45.8%
82
16.91%
2
11
Destruction
45.0%
91
18.76%
0
8
Chaos continue to lead the way in the win rates. While Order pick up the most number of armies represented, most 5-0’s and most 4+. When you compare army share to the number of battletomes each Grand Alliance possess you can see that Order are overrepresented, while Chaos are vastly under represented:
Grand Alliance
Battletomes
Battletome %
Actual Rep %
Order
9
37.50%
44.95%
Chaos
7
29.17%
19.38%
Death
4
16.67%
16.91%
Destruction
4
16.67%
18.76%
What can we take away from this? Perhaps that Order factions are more appealing than Chaos? New players gravitate towards Order? The Chaos range needs updated miniatures? Or all of the above?
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Faction Stats
The below stat show the results for those factions represented by 5 armies or more only.
Faction
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
0-5 Losses
Beasts of Chaos
67.1%
14
2.89%
2
0
Legion of the First Prince
61.5%
13
2.68%
0
0
Slaves to Darkness
61.1%
6
1.24%
0
1
Seraphon
59.7%
30
6.19%
5
2
Blades of Khorne
56.7%
6
1.24%
0
0
Maggotkin of Nurgle
56.6%
35
7.22%
3
2
Bonesplitterz
55.4%
10
2.06%
0
0
Cities of Sigmar
54.2%
24
4.95%
2
1
Daughters of Khaine
52.8%
22
4.54%
0
2
Nighthaunt
52.2%
32
6.60%
1
2
Idoneth Deepkin
51.8%
23
4.74%
1
0
Flesh-eater Courts
51.7%
6
1.24%
0
0
Lumineth Realm-Lords
51.5%
21
4.33%
0
0
Kharadron Overlords
51.4%
7
1.44%
0
1
Sylvaneth
49.1%
11
2.27%
0
1
Sons of Behemat
48.5%
21
4.33%
0
1
Soulblight Gravelords
47.1%
28
5.77%
1
1
Stormcast Eternals
47.1%
60
12.37%
0
4
Ogor Mawtribes
47.1%
28
2.89%
0
1
Ironjawz
44.7%
16
3.30%
0
1
Kruleboyz
44.3%
11
2.27%
0
1
Hedonites of Slaanesh
44.3%
7
1.44%
0
0
Skaven
43.0%
9
1.86%
1
0
Big Waaagh!
41.3%
8
1.65%
0
0
Fyreslayers
39.5%
20
4.12%
0
2
Gloomspite Gitz
30.9%
11
2.27%
0
1
Ossiarch Bonereapers
28.2%
16
3.30%
0
2
Factions in Bold are those with 3rd Edition Battletomes published before or during this time period
I’ve highlighted all those faction win rates in red which are outside of the parameters that players have stated would make the game roughly balanced (45-55%).
I’m looking at the bottom of the table as I’m writing this, and its hard not to overlook Fyreslayers, Gloomspite Gitz and Ossiarch Bonereapers with win rates of less than 40%! Gloomspite Gitz are getting their new book this year, so hopefully we’ll see that improve. Fyreslayers have been mugged by Games Workshop rules writers, and it just shows how awful that book is. I feel for long term Fyreslayers players…
At the top of the table Beasts of Chaos now currently lead the way with a win rate of 67.1%! They’ve gone from trash tier to S tier in the space of 3 months. Slaves to Darkness are a bit of an anomaly at the top there, and this is primarily driven by a few high level players who vastly our performed the faction this month, much like Anthony Trentanelli did a few weeks ago with Skaven. Maggotkin of Nurgle and Seraphon win rates have both dropped, but its too early to tell why, as the new rules for Seraphon only really came into effect last week.
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Subfaction Stats
Faction
Subfaction
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
0-5 Losses
Beasts of Chaos
None
70.0%
5
1.03%
1
0
Maggotkin of Nurgle
Drowned Men
68.0%
20
4.12%
2
0
Legion of the First Prince
61.5%
13
2.68%
0
0
Nighthaunt
Scarlet Doom
60.0%
11
2.27%
0
0
Beasts of Chaos
Gavespawn
60.0%
6
1.24%
0
0
Seraphon
Thunder Lizard
59.6%
28
5.77%
4
2
Bonesplitterz
Drakkfoot
58.3%
6
1.24%
0
0
Cities of Sigmar
Living City
57.7%
13
2.68%
2
0
Ogor Mawtribes
Boulderhead
56.0%
5
1.03%
0
0
Kharadron Overlords
Barak-Zilfin
53.3%
6
1.24%
0
1
Idoneth Deepkin
Mor’Phann
53.3%
6
1.24%
1
0
Lumineth Realm-Lords
Zaitrec
52.9%
15
3.09%
0
0
Sons of Behemat
Breaker Tribe
52.8%
15
3.09%
0
0
Idoneth Deepkin
Nautilar
51.3%
8
1.65%
0
0
Ironjawz
Ironsunz
50.0%
6
1.24%
0
1
Daughters of Khaine
Hagg Nar
50.0%
7
1.44%
0
1
Stormcast Eternals
Astral Templars
50.0%
6
1.24%
0
0
Daughters of Khaine
Zainthar Kai
49.2%
12
2.47%
0
1
Stormcast Eternals
Hammers of Sigmar
48.8%
33
6.80%
0
2
Soulblight Gravelords
Vyrkos Dynasty
48.0%
10
2.06%
0
0
Soulblight Gravelords
Kastelai Dynasty
45.5%
11
2.27%
0
1
Stormcast Eternals
Hallowed Knights
44.7%
15
3.09%
0
1
Kruleboyz
Big Yellers
43.4%
8
1.65%
0
1
Skaven
43.0%
9
1.86%
1
0
Fyreslayers
Lofnir
42.9%
7
1.44%
0
1
Hedonites of Slaanesh
Lurid Haze
42.0%
5
1.03%
0
0
Ironjawz
Bloodtoofs
41.7%
10
2.06%
0
0
Nighthaunt
Emerald Host
41.5%
13
2.68%
0
2
Big Waaagh!
41.3%
8
1.65%
0
0
Maggotkin of Nurgle
Befouling Host
40.0%
7
1.44%
1
1
Fyreslayers
Greyfyrd
35.8%
12
2.47%
0
1
Ossiarch Bonereapers
Petrifex Elite
28.8%
15
3.09%
0
2
Gloomspite Gitz
25.0%
8
1.65%
0
1
Factions in Bold are those with 3rd Edition Battletomes published before or during this time period
Maggotkin of Nurgle are a bit of a strange faction. While you have one of the meta leading Subfactions inside the tome with Drowned Men (68.0%, at the bottom of the pack you have Befouling Host (40.0%). It’s not an irregularity either as 7 players have played that subfaction and one claimed 5 wins at an event and another 5 losses. This suggests to me that while Drowned Men is a simple list to play, Befouling Host is completely the opposite and requires good memory and skill from the pilot.
After almost a year of publication now, both Stormcast and Orruk Warclan battletomes are beginning to show a little lag behind the other updated factions (apart from Fyreslayers of course). As the first of the Battletomes perhaps this has played into their stats slightly as the rules writers learn from their mistakes (apart from Fyreslayers of course) when writing the newer tomes.
Scarlet Doom shows that its the faction of choice for a reason in the new Nighthaunt battletome (60.0%) however, its still early days for this battletome and the other factions could be more complicated to pick up and play. However 60.0% win rate for any subfaction is too high and so they may need a future nerf at some point.
Going forwards as the weeks go on, I’ll be keeping an eye out for Grinin’ Blades beginning to get some more play with their updated allegiance abilities after not being placed at all due to all the Kruleboyz players choosing Big Yellers – this will change. I expect to see them nearing the 50% mark and above. Likewise with Skaven, I expect them to begin climbing the rankings as their new rules come into effect.
THE SUPRISE
I said I had a surprise, and here it is!
Woehammer will be doing a player ranking system for the new General’s Handbook based on the Elo system used by Chess.
Who gets ranked?
Everyone who takes part in a two day event using the General’s Handbook: Pitched Battles Season 1 2022-23. Each week I’ll update the scores of the players as they happen and post them in a separate rankings post which will be published every Saturday.
All players will begin with a rating of 1,000 at the beginning of the season, player ratings will be carried over into season 2 and beyond in the future.
I’ve included the current rankings below (there’s only been two GT’s using the new Handbook) which includes everyone at present. However, I will limit this to the top 20 as more players are ranked. The full downloadable player rankings will be available on the site to download next weekend.
The time has come, GHB21 is dead and GHB22 (part one?) is live. The Battleline is back with Galletian Veterans and there are some ‘fun’ FAQs floating about.
But is Battleline really back? Is Purple Sun now essential? Should we ignore everything and go monsters? What changes?
To answer some, all or none of the above I am taking Big Waaagh to Boards & Swords in Derby (UK) this weekend for a two-day Age of Sigmar tournament. This has some basic comp around Grand Strategies and Battle Tactics – Strategies from the GHB22 and max 2 Battle Tactics from books. Given that (some) book Battle Tactics are allowed and Gloomspite Gitz don’t have any… I pivoted effortlessly back to Big Waaagh!
The List!
Allegiance: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Demonstration of Strength – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Orruk Megaboss (140)* – General – Command Trait: Touched by the Waaagh! – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork Orruk Warchanter (115)* – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat Orruk Warchanter (115)* – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat Wurrgog Prophet (150) – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Lore of the Savage Beast: Gorkamorka’s War Cry
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 15 x Orruk Ardboys (255)** – 2x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers – 1x Gorkamorka Glyph Bearers – Reinforced x 2 5 x Orruk Brutes (160)*** – Jagged Gore-hackas – 1x Gore Choppas 5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*** – 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers 5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*** – 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers
Units 3 x Rippa’s Snarlfangs (70)*
Endless Spells & Invocations Chronomantic Cogs (40) Purple Sun of Shyish (70) Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (60)
Some of the list is the same as by GHB21 list; there’s a Wurgogg for the staring competition and two casting whilst he gets there, 2 Warchanters, and two units of ten Brutes. They pretty much do the same as they did in GHB21, except they are brutal against other Galletian Veterans (GVs) due to their ‘Bounty Hunters’ Battalions.
The New…
Having already taken some GVs I’ve decided to lean into it in style… so adding 15 Ardboyz (rallying on a 4+ near the Warchanter), 2 x 5 Arboyz for objective capturing / holding and 5 Brutes for a last minute smash! The small units are all Expert Conquerers (counting as 3 models each for objectives) and the large unit is my third (and final) unit in the Bounty Hunters Battalion – for damage 2 v other GVs.
The Ugly…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that some of the Endless Spells have got better!
Do I ignore it, and hope I don’t lose a Maw-Krusha or dive into the madness and take the toys! Well there’s only one option — more toys! Lots of toys!
So I’ve taken a Purple Sun & Chromatic Cogs (probably for the extra spell, but the re-roll charges is not bad for Big Waaagh late game). My slightly left field choice is the Ravening Jaws – I’ve loved the model since it was released and so couldn’t resist adding him to the list!
The Fast…
With all the points being used, I have limited options and have to drop the Maw Krusha. This wasn’t too bad though as – although he is good – I don’t fancy him running around with all the Purple Suns in the game. So I’ve downgraded him to a Megaboss on Foot — allowing me to go back to my favourite unit!
Rippa’s Snarlfang are back, baby… and they still rock. To find out why check out my secret post!
Da Plan
So I don’t really have one. I can do all the Battle Tactics, although the Megaboss may require some Wurgogg assistance if he needs to kill something; and the army is slower without the Gore Gruntas and Maw Krusha – but there’s a lot of 4+ save bodies and a lot of screens. Added to that if I keep 3 units alive (except Rippa) I get my Grand Strategy — don’t mind if I do.
I’ll try to take some photos and notes and let you know how I get on.
— Declan
Postscript (added 10th July 2022)
It’s been pointed out that – whilst I adhere to the 3 Endless Spell maximum – there is an additional requirement of 1 wizard per Endless Spell so this list is illegal! Ooops. Not sure what I’d drop, but I’d probably try to fit in a Weirdnob Shaman for an Ardboyz unit to keep it legal — Declan
Blood Angel Batch Painting from Horus Heresy Age of Darkness Box.
In my continued effort to try to get some Blood Angels for Horus Heresy actually finished, I am continuing to batch paint the models from the Age of Darkness Box. In my last article I got them to Mephiston Red (with some Nuln Oil shading)… what’s next?
Last time I got here:
The Blood Angels from the Age of Darkness Box Sets.
Orange is new…
But I needed to get the highlighting done. As I was around when the original Beakies were released, my normal go-to- method is to use edge highlighting… but it can take a long time and I only needed battle ready. Fortunately I had heard of some people using the hallowed technique of drybrushing for their marines! Strange, but I did some investigation and I found this by Sonic Sedgehammer:
Sonic Sledgehammer with all the advice!
They suggested two levels of drybrushing, but why do two when you can go straight to the end and pick up 1? Fortunately I had Ryza Rust from some Martian terrain I painted that I got as a gift from a friend, so I was ready to go and skip right to the end.
The orange applied! A rough and ready drybrush.
The technique is explained well in the video, but effectively just drybrush the edges only and leave the panels free of highlight. This gives a good overall impression and whilst I may do a bit of tidy up later I’m happy with the results at the table-top level.
Black Legion?
Not quite, but the next colour was Abaddon Black to get some contrasting colours onto the models. For this I wanted to keep it easy (and quick) which is rapidly becoming a theme. Some of the eagle-eyed readers will have noticed the black in the picture above, and that’s what I did. Pick out the joints, the cables and the back of the backpacks.
From behind… with even more Black!
Whilst this may be sufficient I do want to add a little silver here and there, but it is a great start and the models are beginning to look like Blood Angels.
I’m really enjoying the batch-painting and seeing progress each time I sit down even if I’m only able to give 1 or 2 hours at a time. By now I’ve normally got bored and hived off some models, but I’m managing to keep with the 50 done to Mephiston Red level – and now they’re all highlighted and some black sections picked out.
But weren’t there 52?
Well yes, I’ve not done the Praetors but there’s a reason for that. In fact there are a few.
I don’t mind if they take longer to paint – they are characters and should have the glory and attention
I want to do a few more highlights, so I’ll like do some halfway colours on them to get there
There’s so much detail I can’t go into ‘automatic pilot’ with them and because I need to think about what colours I want they will take longer.
So the Praetors are out of the batch-painting process for now, but I’ll go back to them soon as I need them to complete the foot troops before I get to the tank and dreadnought.
What’s Next
Well, I’ve already alluded to it, but I’ll be adding some silver to some of the pipes. I think want to start on the cloth/leather for the Terminators and any that may appear on the Beaky Marines, and then I’ll have to move towards the weapons.
I am pleased with the black so far and the contrast it provides, so it’s likely that they will be black as a base as well — but still time to reconsider.
Ghosts? More ghosts? And criminals dying, coming back, dying again, coming back again and bloodthirsty ghosts. Nighthaunt is a bunch of spectral killers in search of those who dare to draw breath in their sovereign lands. When these ethereal hosts fall upon their prey, an eternity of cruelty and horror is bound to follow.
Nighthaunt is a very hard army to master, they are all about tactics and playing the board. Before this new Battletome, we always had to stay within 12″ of heroes to gain benefits, but no more! If you like to play an army that can become very tanky and move around with great speed, dish out nasty damage and look amazing, then the new Nighthaunt is for you!
So let’s get into it.
What’s in the book and what will we be covering?
Beautiful artwork
Lore
Painting Guides
Army Processions
Allegiance Abilities
Army Enhancements
Artifacts of Power
Spell Lores
Path of glory
Warscrolls
All spells and enhancements will be ranked according to my own personal preference and opinion, but let me know what you think in the comments below!
Before I begin, I wanted to clarify that when I discuss anything that involves a dice roll then I will refer to the average dice roll. For example, an average run roll being 3-4″ (average of 3.5 on one die).
This does mean that depending on how lucky your dice rolls are you can achieve more or less than the amount specified. But to keep it simple and for comparison purposes we will always refer to the average.
Possibly one of the most loved units in the Orruk factions. The Rogue Idol looks great as a model and hits like a tonne of bricks on the tabletop. Averaging out at roughly 12.6 on its damage output per turn (15.8 when it charges), plus a 50% chance of doing a mortal wound to each unit within 3″ at the end of the combat phase, it’s hard overlook in a fight. Then even if he is killed by your opponent he still has another 50% chance to do an additional D3 mortal wounds to every unit within 3″ when he’s slain (Ok, that includes yours too, but even so)!
His other benefit is giving nearby friendly casters +1 on their casting roll. This is particularly good for models like Gobsprakk The “That’s right, there’s no bonus to casting!” Mouth of Mork. Your Swampcalla Shamans won’t benefit as much because most of the time you’ll be using them to get poison on nearby units.
He also adds +1 to the Bravery of nearby Orruk units which is nothing to be sniffed at.
He can benefit from the Kruleboyz Command Trait Supa Sneaky meaning he’ll be in your enemies lines in no time of you wanted him there. He can also benefit from the Warchanter’s +1 damage making him particularly tough in Ironjawz and Big Waaagh armies.
Where he’ll really shine is inside Bonesplitterz, Ironjawz and Big Waaagh! armies. If you include him in a Bonesplitterz army you can place him near a Wardokk who can either heal him D3 wounds each turn or give him +1 to his save. Don’t forget that as the Rogue Idol has the Bonesplitterz keyword he can also benefit from exploding 6’s vastly improving his damage output. Similar effects can be done with Ironjawz via the Warchanter as well.
However, I’m going to be controversial here and say that he’s not quite worth his points inside Kruleboyz. In fact if you have 430 points sitting around, you may be better off buying two Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth instead as combined they’ll have much more damage output than the Rogue Idol and will be able to cause many more mortal wounds.
Combinations
Source
Ability
Description
Kragnos, the End of Empires
The End of Empires
If a friendly DESTRUCTION unit is wholly within 12″ of this unit, you can attempt a charge with that unit if it is within 18″ of an enemy unit instead of 12″. In addition, when making a charge roll for a friendly DESTRUCTION unit wholly within 12″ of this unit, roll 3D6 instead of 2D6.
Kruleboyz Command Trait
Supa Sneaky
If the General is on the battlefield at the start of the first battle round, before determining who has the first turn, you can pick 1 friendly KRULEBOYZ unit and set it up again anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 9″ away from all enemy units.
Kruleboyz Command Trait
Egomaniak
If the General is within 3″ of another friendly unit, roll a dice before you allocate a wound or mortal wounds to the General or instead of making a ward roll for the General. On a 4+ pick 1 other friendly unit within 3″ of the General. That wound is allocated to that unit instead and cannot be negated.
Kruleboyz Battle Traits
Kruleboyz Waaagh!
Once per battle, in the combat phase, when you pick a friendly KRULEBOYZ General to fight, you can say that they are calling a Kruleboyz Waaagh! If you do so, pick up to 2 other friendly KRULEBOYZ units wholly within 18″ of that General and that have not yet fought in that combat phase. That general and the units you picked can fight one after the other in the order of your choice.
Gosprakk, the Mouth of Mork
Mouth of Mork
If this unit issues a redeploy command to a KRULEBOYZ unit, you can re-roll the dice that determines the distance the unit that receives the command can move.
Kruleboyz Wizard
Sneaky Miasma
Sneaky Miasma is a spell that has a casting value of 6 and range of 18″. If successfully cast, pick 1 friendly KRULEBOYZ MONSTER within range and visible to the caster. That MONSTER can make a normal move.
Savage Big Boss
Let Me At ‘Em
After this unit has fought in the combat phase for the first time, you can pick 1 friendly BONESPLITTERZ unit that has not yet fought in that combat phase, that is within 3″ of an enemy unit and that is wholly within 12″ of this unit. That unit fights immediately.
Wardokk
Grimdokk Dance
Pick 1 friendly BONESPLITTERZ model within 12″ of this unit and roll a dice. On a 3+, heal up to D3 wounds allocated to that model.
Wardokk
Glyphdokk Dance
Pick 1 friendly BONESPLITTERZ unit wholly within 12″ of this unit and roll a dice. On a 3+, add 1 to save rolls for attacks that target that unit until your next hero phase. A unit cannot be affected by this dance more than once per phase.
Orruk Warchanter
Violent Fury
In your hero phase, you can pick 1 friendly IRONJAWZ unit wholly within 15″ of this unit. Until your next hero phase, add 1 to the damage inflicted by attacks made with melee weapons by that unit. A unit cannot benefit from this ability more than once per phase.
Orruk Warchanter
Fixin’ Beat
This warbeat can be attempted in your hero phase. If the attempt is successful, This unit, pick 1 friendly model within 12″ of this unit and heal up to D3 wounds allocated to that model.
Orruk Warchanter
Get ‘Em Beat
This warbeat can be attempted at the start of your charge phase. If the attempt is successful, pick 1 friendly IRONJAWZ unit wholly within 12″ of this unit. In that charge phase, you can attempt a charge with that friendly IRONJAWZ unit if it is within 18″ of an enemy unit instead of 12″. In addition, roll 3D6 instead of 2D6 when making a charge roll for that unit in the charge phase.
Big Waaagh! Battle Traits
Mighty Destroyers
You can use this command ability in your hero phase. The model that issues the command must be an IRONJAWZ model and the unit that receives the command must be an IRONJAWZ unit.
– If the unit that received the command is more than 12″ from all enemy units, you must make a normal move with the unit.
– If the unit that received the command is within 3″ of an enemy unit, you must make a pile-in move with each model in that unit.
– If the unit is within 12″ of any enemy unit and more than 3″ from all enemy units, you must attempt a charge with the unit.
Bonesplitterz Battle Trait
Spirit of Gorkamorka
If the unmodified hit roll for an attack made with a melee weapon by a friendly BONESPLITTERZ unit is 6, that attack scores 2 hits on the target instead of 1 (make a wound roll and save roll for each hit).
Bonesplitterz Battle Trait
Tireless Trackers
After deployment begins but before the first battle round begins, half of the BONESPLITTERZ units in your army (rounding up) can move 5″. If both players can move units before the first battle round begins, they must roll off, and the winner chooses who moves their units first.
Ironjawz Battle Traits
Ironjawz Waaagh!
Once per battle, at the start of your charge phase, you can pick 1 friendly IRONJAWZ general on the battlefield and say that they are calling an Ironjawz Waaagh! Until the end of that turn, add 1 to charge rolls for friendly IRONJAWZ units and improve the rend characteristic of melee weapons used by friendly IRONJAWZ units by 1.
Ironjawz Battle Traits
Smashing and Bashing
In the combat phase, after a friendly IRONJAWZ unit has fought, if any enemy units were destroyed by an attack made by that unit, you can pick 1 friendly IRONJAWZ unit that has not yet fought in that combat phase and that is within 3″ of an enemy unit. That friendly IRONJAWZ unit fights immediately.
Megaboss Command Traits
Mighty Waaagh! Leader
If this general calls an IRONJAWZ Waaagh! You can re-roll charge rolls for friendly IRONJAWZ units wholly within 12″ of them until the end of that turn.
Savage Big Boss Command Traits
Great Hunter
If this general is part of your army, when you use the Tireless Trackers battle trait, you can move eligible units up to 8″ instead of 5″.
Missile Attacks
This unit has no missile attacks.
Melee Attacks
This boy can stomp face! Managing on average 10.5 damage AFTER saves against targets with a 4+ save, everything should be scared of him!
Attack
Av Threat Range
Av # of Attacks
Av # of Hits
Av # of Wounds
Damage Output (Pre-save)
Boulder Fists
17″
2
1.3
1.1
3.8
Stompin’ Feet
17″
10
6.6
4.4
8.8
Boulder Fists (Charge)
17″
2
1.7
1.4
4.8
Stompin’ Feet (Charge)
17″
10
8.3
5.5
11.0
Based on average dice rolls
Looking at the damage after saves:
Save
Boulder Fists
Stompin’ Feet
–
3.8
8.8
6+
3.8
8.8
5+
3.8
8.8
4+
3.2
7.3
3+
2.5
5.8
Amount of damage after saves based on average dice rolls
The chance of this units charge connecting:
Distance
Chance
13″
97%
14″
92%
15″
83%
16″
72%
17″
58%
18″
42%
19″
28%
20″
17%
21″
8%
22″
3%
Chance of making a charge (including movement)
Resilience
With 16 wounds a 4+ save, and a 5+ ward save, he’ll need on average 48 damage from zero rend weapons allocated to it BEFORE any saves in order to have a chance of destroying this in a single turn.
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Coliseum of Sigmar Carnage GT that took place in Florida, USA on 2nd and 3rd July. It involved 9 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Lumineth Realm-lords – Army Subfaction: Zaitrec – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER Sevireth (345)* Vanari Lord Regent (155)* – General – Command Traits: Fast Learner – Artefacts: Gift of Celennar – Spells: Speed of Hysh, Overwhelming Heat, Total Eclipse Hurakan Windmage (120)* – Spells: Guiding Flurries, Overwhelming Heat, Transporting Vortex
BATTLELINE Vanari Auralan Wardens (145)* – High Warden – Spells: Overwhelming Heat, Etheral Blessings Vanari Auralan Wardens (145)* – High Warden – Spells: Overwhelming Heat, Protection of Hysh 2 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (510)* – High Sentinel – Spells: Overwhelming Heat, Lambent Light
TERRAIN Shrine Luminor (0)
OTHER Hurakan Spirit of the Wind (265)* Hurakan Spirit of the Wind (265)*
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1950/2000)
Brett: A list that plays well to Lumineth’s strengths at the moment. The list is doubling down on mortal wounds with no less than 5 sources of Overwhelming Heat (hits do mortals on a 5+ not 6+). Something is always going to be in range. The Spirit’s of the Wind can dart out to make ranged attacks and then fall back to be healed and we all know what Sentinels are like if they can’t be shut down. This list makes that hard by not only providing screening (Warden’s), but Sevireth and the Lord Regent can punish a unit that gets too close. Looking at the matchups and that’s what has happened, with only Nighthaunt able to push Jonathan to a loss through a combination of ignoring rend and their ward save blunting the shooting. Legion of the First Prince may have had the bodies, but is too reliant on it’s Hero units to be really effective into this list and poor Sons. A well deserved win with a faction that is not at the top of the meta showing the overall balance in AoS is pretty good.
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Army Faction: Nighthaunt – Army Subfaction: The Emerald Host – Grand Strategy: Take what’s Theirs – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADER Guardian of Souls (150) – General – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Chill Blade – Artefacts: Midnight Tome – Spells: Seal of Shyish Spirit Torment (115) Dreadblade Harrow (145)** – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Spells: Seal of Shyish Kurdoss Valentian (210)** Krulghast Cruciator (150)**
BATTLELINE 1 x Chainrasps (220) Hexwraiths (160)* 1 x Grimghast Reapers (320)* Hexwraiths (160)*
Brett: An Emerald Host list with only 20 Chainrasp? But it also has 20 Grimghast and a host of heroes. What makes this interesting is eschewing Lady Olynder gives the list both Kurdoss and the Dreadblade Harrow (costing an extra 15 points). Great play for mobility because the Dreadblade can stay with the Hexwraiths and issue a command for free. So if the Guardian of Souls issues an All-out Attack to the Grimghast, the Dreadblade can issue the same order for free. The Mourngul is a rarer inclusion and I think still too expensive, but brings some useful abilities, mortal wounds and de-buffs on top of his reasonable damage. This is a very aggressive list with the ability to put out serious damage, the Grimghast will operate at 3 attacks each for most of the game. The Purple Sun is a natural inclusion with this many wizards, and since the new pack is a really useful spell. I expect to see this in a lot of lists (at least 2 here). Strong mobility with the 8″ natural movement for the infantry and the inclusion of highly mobile cavalry the list is good at playing both the mission and the opponent.
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Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals – Army Type: Scions of the Storm – Army Subfaction: Hallowed Knights – Grand Strategy: No Place For The Weak – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER Gardus Steel Soul (150)* Lord-Castellant (155)* – General – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Spells: Celestial Blades – Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur
BATTLELINE 1 x Judicators with Boltstorm Crossbows (380)* – 2 x Thunderbolt Crossbow Liberators (115)* – Liberator-Prime – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Sigmarite Shield Liberators (115)** – Liberator-Prime – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Sigmarite Shield
BEHEMOTH Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)*
OTHER 1 x Stormdrake Guard (680)** – Stormdrake-Prime – Drakerider’s Warblade
Brett: Stormcast making it to the podium with the help of the Incarnate. We have already seen a shift away from hero hammer in a few lists and this is a very clever way of using all of the tools SCE has. The inclusion of the incarnate sees 2 mobile threats on the table in combination with the 4 Stormdrakes. Keep the Incarnate close to the heroes and you can give it both a 3+ save and a 5+ ward making it very hard to lower it’s levels. Your best hope may be a more horde approach, because you wouldn’t want a monster anywhere near the Incarnate in case it levelled, but you need 18 wounds in a turn to force it down a level. Looking at the results that’s happened with Daniel’s loss in Round 2 to the 2nd place Nighthaunt list. The small heroes keep costs down to allow the list to include shooting, dragons and the incarnate. The Liberators are here just as the cheapest battleline. The Storm drakes in bounty hunters is a terrifying prospect – 36 D2 -1 and 16 D3 -2 attacks in melee (no rend against Nighthaunt though). The Judicators shouldn’t be ignored either, they get 2 hits for every successful attack, Unleash Hell from this unit, say protecting the Incarnate and Heroes, would be devastating but limits the Incarnate’s mobility. A good solid and a little counter intuitive list.
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Army Faction: Idoneth Deepkin – Subfaction: Nautilar – Grand Strategy: The Creeping Gloomtide – Triumph: Inspired x2
LEADERS Eidolon of Mathlann Aspect of the Sea (325)* – General – Command Traits: Endless Sea Storm – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome – Spells: Steed of Tides Akhelian King (250)* – Bladed Polearm and Falchion – Mount Traits: Voidchill Darkness Isharann Soulrender (120)*
BATTLELINE Namarti Reavers (170)** Namarti Reavers (170)** Akhelian Leviadon (500)*** – Mount Traits: Ancient Namarti Thralls (390)*** – Icon Bearer
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
Brett: Our last instalment had an Idoneth list on the podium, here we see another variation that didn’t quite make it. I feel like this is more of an Idoneth list with the Leviadon and bigger heroes (Eidolon and the Akehlian King). The new book seems to favour the smaller infantry units though, to me that feels more like Daughters. Anyway back to the list, the combination of Eidolon and the Leviathan gives some really strong mid board threat, forcing your opponent to decide if they want to play into it (and get shot) or play the fringes. The Purple Sun is an unusual inclusion for Idoneth but that shows just how strong it is. Underlining how useful the Arcane Tome is, there are no wizards in this list but there is an endless spell. I would prefer Master of Magic as the trait to ensure I could get the Sun out. Looking at the scoring for the overall tournament I wonder if the lack of bodies (800 points in 2 models) made playing the mission more difficult. A very flavourful list that still performed well in this format.
Looking at the overall placings it’s interesting to see that 3 and 4 out scored the top 2 who took the tournament on wins. Does this suggest a change with the new Battle Tactics/Grand Strategy where consistently scoring the same points is more difficult and there are a lot more swings?
Declan ‘The Best Big Waagh Player In The World’ Waters is often credited (by me) as the player who put Big Waagh on the map in 3rd Edition, but he’s not exactly bad with his other armies either. So we decided to squeeze some insights on 20 years of competitive play, the future of the game, and his own personal philosophy on having a good time!
Declan winning something – again.
Danny:The big recent news is you’ve made it into the Tsports Champs event [since time of asking, Declan finished 14th, going 2-3 – with all three losses to Seraphon, the poor bastard] – have you decided what to run, and what are you hoping to get out of the event personally?
Declan Waters: I’ve been playing tournaments for 20 years and always brought slightly suboptimal armies trying to get those 3-2s. Most people in the hobby knew I could play but that I wouldn’t bring the latest filth! At one tournament a top player turned to me on day 1 after I went 3-0 with Goblins and said ‘what are you doing up here’ 🤣
With the Covid break we had some players leaving and some new join the scene and my preferred army (Gitz) had gone so far behind I was losing to new players with Seraphon and Daughters, despite [me] knowing the game better. In fact, I helped teach some of them the core rules knowing my poor Goblins couldn’t compete!
So I made the decision that I should probably show the new players that I could play… I took Ironjawz with some success but then tried Big Waaagh and went 4-1 then 5-0.
But to qualify is amazing – I’d love to bring the Gitz but it seems unfair to the Big Waaagh who got me this far so I’ll probably allow them out to play.
The Gitz! And some friends.
I can imagine you saying “i’ve forgotten more AoS rules than you’ll ever know…”20 years is a lot of experience – in high level terms, how have you seen the game and the community evolve in that time?
The game has gone from rare releases (you could easily wait 10 years for a new army book) to rapid fire (3 LRL books in no time is crazy!!) This means that keeping up with what’s new is difficult, so I think barriers to entry are increasing.
For AoS I remember v1 ‘the wild west’ where Mo saved us all with a point scheme because games workshop only did wounds! So a 14 wound Gigantic Spider cost the same as 14 Goblins! And armour value was ‘free’. It really was strange and a lot of good friends went to 9th age. I dabbled a bit in it as well, but there were as many rules changes there as AoS and my beloved Goblins got hammered again and again! So I switched to just AoS.
For the community it’s been a quantum leap forward, with the ease of communication from the Internet, YouTube channels and podcasts. In 2002 when I played at the Bristol Big Uns there were 4 tournaments – 2 in Bristol and 2 in Nottingham ran by WPS (Warhamer Player’s Society) – now there can be 4 a weekend!
Young whippersnappers don’t know how good they’ve got it!So can we double down on this thought process? As a great player who deliberately avoids ‘the latest filth’ – what’s your advice for people who may want to run fluffier stuff but that might still end up playing 6 dragons and long strikes etc?Or in other words, how do you avoid being frustrated with people who do lean hard as possible into non interactive games?
It’s very difficult and I think it’s definitely something that tournament organisers could help with by giving an indication of what they might expect. We had dragons at a local 1 dayer recently which was completely inappropriate but having said all that, at a big enough tourney you won’t actually fight much filth… that’s the joy of Swiss [pairings]. I’m a fan of comp though like ‘Timmy comp’ when organisers would just say no to lists that were un-interactive! But that doesn’t happen in AoS.
The world’s best Big Waagh in action.
What I do is make myself little objectives either narratively or (in a 20-0 system or tiebreak) to try to get as many points as I can. For example, I had great fun at BoBo last year despite playing with Gitz because it was 20-0, so even if I was losing I could play for tournament points and get higher up the table. I got quite a few 7-13!
But the key is… know what to expect. Have a look at The Honest Wargamer stats for your army. If a 1-4 is good aim for 1-1-3 not 5-0. And don’t blame your opponents for your poor army (it’s difficult!) I find talking about ‘GW design’ means I can laugh with my opponents about some of the poor things jn the army (Gitz).
That said, Big Waagh are good, and I’ve only played Gitz in 2, 5-game tournaments in AoS 3 because of the book.
For new players I would say have a look at which armies are doing well and pick something in the top third. It is much more fun to have an army that can compete rather than playing with one hand behind your back!
Awesome advice. That was a slightly selfish question too.
People (including our own website) often talk about specific rules/units – which is essential, of course, but what do you think are some of the most fundamentally important aspects to playing Warhammer? For instance – is it in probabilistic thinking? Having a plan and sticking to it? Staying calm?
Scenario! Always play the scenario. Read it, check both players understand it and remember it! There’s no point killing Archaeon if the Varanguard are holding the key objectives. Along the same vein, build your list to get battle tactics. I’ve won loads of games because people have tried to kill the Maw Krusha because its big rather than the warchanter on an objective!
Age of Sigmar isn’t about killing things (unless you take Dragons and Raptors) it’s about movement and placement.
With Thondia, we’re seeing the introduction of narrative Seasons for AoS – but models like the Incarnate bleed into mainstream matched play and unless i’m misremembering, we’re looking at 2 GHBs a year now.
I have a couple of questions about that – the first one is simply how do you feel about it?
It’s not good in my opinion.
GW have always said they are a miniature company who make rules but it’s getting expensive for the rules with a main system reboot every 3 years, army books and 2 GHBs. It seems a change aimed at the small number of people who play lots. In a normal year I play at 4 tournaments and 2 GHBs makes those tournaments a lot more expensive.
There also seems to be a refusal to have narrative only models which would give more design space. I like Gotrek as a model for example but making matched play rules that match the novels is very difficult.
It would be better if he were narrative only and then you could send an army of Gitz at him (for example) and they could still make him even better than now.
I get you. So some models are hampered by having to ‘make sense’ in matched play, stopping them from actually ‘making sense’ narratively?It feels in general like 3e is doing a much better job at making good rules that also feel fluffy though
Obviously the nightmare scenario is anything resembling the state 40k is in right now. So my next question – do you think more ‘matched play or death!’ players should try narrative?
I don’t think there are many matched play or death players… but narrative is something you have to want to play! There are some great events which are narrative or semi narrative where scoring encourages non standard or ‘weak’ armies but if that’s not your idea of fun I would definitely not want to force anyone! That said if you’re bringing the top tournament army to a small one dayer at your local club… then maybe a quick rethink… or try out some other toys!
Last question – James Workshop tells you he’ll grant you one AoS wish. What do you wish for?
Gitz to be playable as Gitz, Troggs, Squigs, Spider or soup! Remove the keyword bingo!! 🤣🤞
Blood Angel Batch Painting from Horus Heresy Age of Darkness Box.
As regular readers of my Hobby Updates will know, I have picked up an Age of Darkness box set and am painting mine as Blood Angels. The Sons of Sanguinius have been my favourite for many years, and there was never any question what I be painting for my first Horus Heresy Army (Ignoring my Epic / Space Marine ones!)
Sprays before Nuln Oil
In the last article I had sprayed most of the models in TT Combat Spray Black & then Red. The above picture shows what they looked like.
Nuln Oil on right
I then drenched the models in Nuln Oil. If you’re reading this 2 weeks from now (so mid July-2022) the old Nuln Oil. It gives a very dark undertone, but I wanted to use it instead of pin highlighting. If you are include pin highlighting (putting Nuln Oil only into the recesses) is slower but neater!
Tactical Marines and 2 Praetors with Mephiston Red
I have then added 1 coat of Mephiston Red to all the foot troops (52 models) from the Age of Darkness box set. This takes off some of the gloss of the Nuln Oil and the TT Combat Seriously Red spray, and gives the models a nice clear and smooth coat. Whilst I may build up the red on the Praetors a little more, the troops are done with red at this stage.
Heavy Bolters… to the fore!
The Blood Angels from the Age of Darkness Box Sets.
What’s Next
Next up is highlighting the armour with Wild Rider Red. I need to be a little careful here as it is a very bright orange and if I apply too much it’ll look odd. I just want to add a little highlighting to the armour before proceeding with the weapons and other non-red items.
