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Sons of Behemat

2021-10-20T11:50:48Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:2856:4F7E:4B0F:5F97: /* Named Gargants */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Sons of Behemat|Logo=Kraken-eater.jpg|Alliance=Destruction|Motto=Big and friendly these giants are not...}}

{{Topquote|We had common cause once, little man. No more. Now the Sons of Behemat march. Kraken-eater. Warstomper. Gatebreaker. Mancrusher. Bonegrinder. All as one. Behemat calls.|The Kraken-eater Baran to a Freeguild Captain and former ally.}}

{{Topquote|Disasters are called natural, as if nature were the executioner and not the victim.|Eduardo Galeano}}

{{Topquote|There is only power. Power is of the individual mind but the mind's power is not enough. Power of the body decides everything in the end and only might is right.|T.H. White, "The Once and Future King"}}
The '''Sons of Behemat''' are Gargants (known as Giants outside of copyright speak), the offspring of the titular [[Godbeast]] Behemat; colossal forces of nature that terrify foes and (their few) friends alike. They are driven by their wanton need for inflicting mass carnage and proving themselves as the true champions of Gorkamorka. Despite this, other factions will often hire the services of the Sons of Behemat as living siege weapons.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4RyrcmRUNM&feature=share This is likely what a gargant invasion would look like.]

==History==
===Age of Myth===
[[File:Behemat teaser.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Note that the [[Stormcast Eternals|Stormcast]] are literally immortal, yet they're still scared shitless by this absolute unit. Then again, Warham’s giants tend to stuff smaller foes in their trousers, so it's understandable]]

In the beginning, there was a titanic godbeast known as Ymnog, Grandfather of Gargants. According to the Gargant Matriarchs (no model exists cause no one wants to see what saggy Gargant tits look like in plastic), Ymnog created the Mortal Realms when he threw a punch so hard that he shattered reality into earth, sea, and sky. After drinking and eating entire sections of the cosmos, Ymnog laid down to take a nap, where his drool would flow down into the Realms and become the first rivers. Inside his stomach was born Behemat, who brewed a lake of moonshine in his father's guts, causing him to retch him into his mouth, where Behemat then broke his father’s teeth to escape, the shards of his teeth supposedly becoming the first mountains. Behemat landed in the Mortal Realms and became the progenitor of the Gargant race and personal right hand to the god of destruction [[Gorkamorka (Deity)|Gorkamorka]] (mostly because the Greenskin god was the only thing bigger than him), while Ymnog would end up being killed by Sigmar cuz he was a titanic monster and the Hammer god wasn’t gonna let him roam around his new home.

It is said the gargants were created from Behemat's vomit after he went on a binge-eating spree that caused the extinction of several species of cattle. Countless deeds are attributed to Behemat by his Sons, most of which double as their explanation for the different races (known collectively as “pipsqueaks”, “little men”, or any other short demeaning term), like the [[Idoneth Deepkin]] being an Aelven civilization that Behemat drowned after causing a massive flood, the [[Fyreslayers]] being born when the World Titan stomped out some volcanos and saw these angry short guys come out to yell at him, and the denizens of Shyish being mostly skeletons because Behemat ate all the meat in the Realm of Death. Naturally this is all just mythical nonsense passed down by the Gargants, but they serve as a good example of how they view the world around them, a product of Behemat’s achievements.

Trouble started to brew for the Gargants during the tail end of the Age of Myth. Trying to find a way into the Mortal Realms, [[Tzeentch]] whispered lies to Gorkamorka, making him envious of his champion, as Behemat enjoyed so much freedom under the green god’s rule, while Gorkamorka himself was stuck under Sigmar’s thumb. So Big G ordered Behemat to recreate some of the god of destruction’s greatest feats...and he did, though some were by accident. Then came the big one; Behemat had to recreate the duel between Sigmar and Gorkamorka. So after armoring himself with an entire mountain, Behemat bellowed a challenge to the Hammer God...and nothing happened. So he started stomping on the local sigmarites which caused the Lord of Azyr to come rocketing down from the heavens and knocked Behemat out cold, putting him in a millenia-long coma in the region known as the Harmonis Veldt in Ghyran. While he was asleep, his body would become covered by earth; his skull becoming the mountain of Tor Crania, his mouth becoming the Titansmawr (from which more gargants would occasionally crawl out), the Sweatswamp forming around the location of his left armpit, and so on. This pretty much makes him the [[Mythology#Norse_Mythology|Ymir]] of the Mortal Realms.

===Age of Chaos===
Despite their forefather taking a big snooze, the Gargants were mostly unfazed, continuing their own isolationist lives or rampaging in the hordes of Gorkamorka. This would not last, as the Age of Chaos happens and everything gets ruined. The Ruinous Powers and their servants were quick to fall upon the Gargants, seeing them both as prestigious monsters to slay for glory and destructive weapons of mass mayhem. The ones that weren’t slain in droves or hid themselves away become Chaos Gargants (willingly or otherwise) who tromped alongside the Slaves to Darkness in agony.

===Age of Sigmar===
The Age of Sigmar proved to be one of the most important parts of the race’s history. During the Realmgate Wars, as part of Archaon's plan to corrupt the godbeasts to Chaos, he sent the Maggotkin of Nurgle and the Skaven to corrupt Behemat, whose sleeping place was already corrupted by Nurgle into what is now known as the Scabrous Sprawl. The plan was for the Skaven to drill into his bones to awaken him, the Maggotkin to corrupt him with Nurgle's taint, and for him to be persuaded to join Archaon's side by being told half-truths about Sigmar killing his father Ymnog (which he technically did). Although the Stormcast Eternals attempted to stop this, they were too late and were forced to invoke the power of the Great Bolts (the same weapon Sigmar used to kill Ymnog) to put down Behemat before he could be fully corrupted. Many of the gargants native to the Sprawl felt lost after witnessing the death of their god-progenitor, and were taken in by the Oakenbrow Sylvaneth and became eventual allies of them. Meanwhile countless more became solitary drunkards called Aleguzzlers, and found “employment” with the [[Gloomspite Gitz]], on account of the Grots’ copious amounts of fungus booze and cold dank caves to sleep off their roaring hangovers.

Since the death of Behemat, his Sons have been noted to have been getting bigger, more violent and more intelligent, leading to the evolution of so-called "Mega-Gargants", colossal both in size and aggression. Just the thunderous sound of a Mega-Gargant’s footfalls will draw even the most reclusive of Gargants from miles around to join together. Tribes will form around these massive warriors who then proceed to mold the Gargants under his command into terrifying natural disasters.

And with the Mega-Gargants seemingly becoming bigger and bigger with each day, it seems likely that there will come a time when a new World-Titan will emerge...

===Broken Realms===
When the God of Earthquakes [[Kragnos]] broke free from his mountain prison and started to sprint towards Excelsis, several territorial Mega-Gargants noticed the colossal centaur creature and instantly challenged him for daring to enter their turf. All but one, a Kraken-eater called Derko Walrusbiter, were slain, and Kragnos kept marching on with his new follower in tow. They picked up more Gargants along the way before colliding with Waaagh!Gordrak and the two parties merged together under Kragnos’ command to tear down Excelsis. The Mega-Gargants were instrumental in tearing down the great walls that defended the city, however it was just as likely that their fallen corpses become brand new walls. Derko Walrusbiter gathered a Stomp of other Kraken-eaters and appeared out of the water and marched on the Excelsis harbor, but they were soon surrounded by the surprise arrival of a Black Ark carrying Morathi-Khaine and her [[Daughters of Khaine|wych aelf worshippers]], the goddess herself putting down Derko. Kragnos was lured through a portal to the other side of Ghur and the destruction horde was scattered.

===Era of the Beast===
Kragnos’ revival has caused a surge of feral energy from Ghur to waft out into the realms and drives all the races of destruction into a frenzy. The Sons of Behemat, though incapable of understanding what actually happened, refer to this event as the Great Stomp and roam far and wide to exercise their newfound energy. More than a few Stomps have taken to following the lead of Kragnos, though others are still content to follow their own blunt ideas.

==Religion and Culture==
[[File:BehematStormcast.jpg|800px|thumb|center|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OkpRK2_gVs/ SIE SIND DAS ESSEN UND WIR SIND DIE JAEGER!!!!!]]]
The Sons of Behemat don’t really worship [[Gorkamorka (Deity)|Gorkamorka]], whom they call the Godstompa, as they do “highly revere” him. In fact, they only seem to acknowledge the green god because Behemat did, who seems to be the real center of Gargant society. The Godstompa himself is said to be a massive yellow-nailed bare foot that flattens entire cities where ever he treads (watching the orruk shamans cast the Foot of Gork spell only strengthens this notion for them). When the Godstompa is split into “Gorkfoot and Morkfoot”, the Gargants state that one is “stompy but kicky” and the other is “kicky but stompy”. This fixation on feet forms the cornerstone of Gargant culture and how they view other races (Example: they’re not fond of the [[Slaves to Darkness]] not cuz they’re Chaos worshippers, but because their spiked armor makes them unpleasant to squash).

This foot fetishism also bleeds into their tribal organization. A tribe of Gargants is called a Stomp (most civillized races call them Catastrophes, but the average gargant can't pronounce that word), with the leader being known as the "Big Heel". Subordinate Mega-Gargants are thus "under the heel", while the tribe's Mancrushers are referred to as “footsloggas” (larger Mancrushers who lead their fellows are said to be "toeing the line"). Wherever a Stomp roams, the Gargants will leave their mark in the trails of ruin and destruction they leave behind. Frontier towns and outposts are reduced to rubble. Holy forests are uprooted and turned to splinters. All of which they do out of boredom and complete disregard for anything made/honored by the pipsqueaks. Such devastation is most commonly found in [[Ghur]], where Gargants are so common that all the natives have learned to recognize and fear the tell-tale thumping of their footprints that can be heard for miles around. Gargants won’t give anyone smaller than them (meaning everyone) the time of day unless they are at eye level with the beasts, usually standing on a cliff or some tower/war machine. Though this can prove a successful means of diplomacy, it’s just as common for the Gargant to mindlessly grab the diplomat and devour them.

Since Behemat was the Champion of Gorkamorka, his Sons now strive to fill the gap left by their forefather’s death. This is best exemplified by their correlation of size equaling strength, or “Mightier Makes Rightier” as they say. The biggest have the authority to boss around those smaller than them and (most of) the giants just accept it as fact. Though when two Gargants of similar size meet, they are bound to begin wrestling with each other to assert dominance. Sometimes they will instead do a series of “strength challenges” to determine who’s in charge, though this often still leads to the participants grappling on the ground. The aforementioned challenges are usually done in large open area or the ruins of a nearby city that was stomped flat by the Gargants to serve as their playing field.

Gargants have a vague sort of connection to the various [[Orruk Warclans|greenskin]] [[Gloomspite Gitz|factions]], likely due to Gorkamorka’s role in their origin. Whenever a Waaagh! is called or the Bad Moon looms in the sky, it’s quite common to find the lumbering giants following the greenskin hordes. The maniac energies that swell during such times is contagious to the Gargants, though not to the same extent as Orruks and Grots. It’s described as the Gargants wanting to show the yelling hordes at their feet who’s really the biggest and baddest. At the height of their fervor, tribes of Gargants will break out into a full on sprint and crush entire battlelines with their feet alone before crashing into battlements with club and girth. The only exception to this ‘working well with Greenskins’ philosophy are the Kruleboyz, who the Gargants despise for their slippery scheming and dirty tricks. As for the other destruction race, the [[Ogor Mawtribes]], Gargants have a healthy respect/fear of them. They acknowledge their larger size and strength compared to other pipsqueaks, and have seen more than a few of their kind be consumed alive by the ravenous gluttons or blasted apart by their cannons.

Most other realm-shaking events that defined entire factions weren’t acknowledged by the Sons of Behemat, deeming them as quite literally beneath them. Only three events have shaken their race as a whole, the Age of Chaos, Behemat's death, and after that the arrival of the [[Nighthaunt]] processions. The Mortarch of Grief [[Lady Olynder]] effortlessly slew a Mega-Gargant and his Stomp, allowing the survivors to tromp away to spread fear of her legions. Sure enough, rumors spread across the Gargant tribes of ghostly beings that stomping couldn't hurt or kill. Confusion led to terror, and terror became a reality when similar battles occurred where the Sons of Behemat, now dreading the Nighthaunt, found that their foot falls and club swings held little purchase against the ghosts. Things have gotten better though as new tales spread amongst the tribes of how the Bjarl Stomp worked with the ghost-hunting [[Bonesplitterz|Drakkfoot Warclan]] to put down an army of Nighthaunt at the Asp River.

===Gargants as Mercenaries===
Starting in the Age of Chaos, Gargants began to sell their bulk to various warring factions for the promise of food, loot, and a good scrap. This can be traced back to the very first Gargant Mercenaries, a trio of hairy bruisers called the Grugg Brothers. They were in an alliance with the Ogors of the Meatfist Mawtribe at the time, and started to take note of how the Ogors worked for other races and were getting paid for it. The Grugg Brothers were further tutored by the Maneaters of the Gutstuffers company, teaching them rudimentary tactics such as attacking early in the morning when enemy forces are tired and making battle plans before hand. When the Gargants inevitably parted ways with the Mawtribes, they spread their knowledge to the other Stomps and word quickly spread of a new lucrative way of life. This knowledge has since been known to the more cunning Gargants as the “Great Secret”. When it comes to acquiring the services of a Gargant, humans are usually the chosen diplomat since duardin are too short for the giants to take seriously, and aelves use too many big words that confuse and frustrate them. The destruction races naturally don’t have this problem.

===Favored Pastimes/Gargant Games===
*'''Horse-punting''': Players kick a horse and see which one goes the farthest. Bonus points are awarded to the horse that lands on an unsuspecting pipsqueek.
*'''Boar-scoffing''': Pig eating contest...with full sized hogs.
*'''Wakebelching''': A game played by more “civilized” Gargants (meaning the ones who work for Order factions). Each player takes turns burping loudly in the dead of night in the middle of a settlement. The Gargant who woke the most people/gets the most angry shouts of protest wins.
*'''Manskittles''': Bowling on the battlefield. Gargants will take a boulder, dead animal, or whatever else is on hand and hurl it at a shield wall to see how many bodies are sent flailing about.
*'''Tank-tipping''': Like cow tipping, but with Steam Tanks. It was first played by the Warstomper Nagbog and his Stomp who fought against Commodore Bonn Jensen’s Iron Squadron of Greywater Fastness. Onlookers of the massacre could’ve sworn they saw flying Steam Tanks that day.
*'''Rumble''': Football/soccer but with explosive volcanic boulders. Unusual for including willing participants from other races. The Ogors of the Boulderhead Mawtribe regularly migrate through the Adamantine Mountains in Aqshy, where they encounter the native Aridian Stomp. Both sides agree to play this game of Rumble (throwing and/or kicking boulders towards the opposing team’s side) to determine if the Ogors can pass through for free, or if they have to kill half of their beasts and mounts as payment to the Gargants.

==Types of Gargants==
Each “species” of Gargant has a very fairy tale like name, likely given to them by the terrified victims of their rampages.

*'''Mancrusher''': The OG Giant is now the most commonly seen species of the giant race, as well as the shortest (keep in mind that a ‘short’ Gargant can still punt a Sigmarine like a football). Mancrushers were originally wayward Aleguzzler/Chaos Gargants who happened to find a Mega-Gargant to follow around. When in the presence of a Mega-Gargant, they become eager (if a little clumsy) followers, ready to take orders and do whatever their bigger bosses want. This tiny level of “discipline” arguably makes them more dangerous as they can now make unified charges with their fellow Gargants and throw boulders at enemies in a crude firing line. They’re also oddly sober when compared to other Gargants, though this is because their bosses hog most of the booze they come across. In a strangely wholesome twist on the normal method of Destruction aligned recruitment (the weak being subjugated by the strong), Mancrushers will often willingly join the Mega-Gargants cause they admire them as big brothers in a sense. They will wait for the big lugs to fall asleep and then camp out around him. So when the Mega-Gargant wakes up, he’s got a full tribe of loyal bruisers ready to please him...get your mind out of the gutter [[Slaanesh]].

*'''Kraken-eater''': A sea faring variety known for their greed and territorial natures. Granted, what they deem as “their territory” is everything in seeing distance. They like lugging around ship cannons to use as blunt instruments as well as colossal fishing nets stuffed full of hapless victims and fish. Lots of fish. Kraken-eaters are also noted for being older than most gargants, being basically grouchy senior citizens who yell at everyone to get off their lawn. Though the more “tame” ones are capable of holding a “pleasant” conversation with other factions that hire them, making them the prime choice for Order factions when they want a Gargant mercenary. This still won’t prevent them from working with another faction to stomp on their former allies though. They lead pseudo crime-syndicates called ''Taker Tribes'', where they boss around Mancrushers to steal all the loot they can find and fight against anyone who comes onto their turf.

*'''Warstomper''': The epitome of the Gargant race and warmonger by any other name. Above all other sub-species, Warstompers love collecting trophies and trinkets from their flattened foes, using them to decorate their grotesque forms. The most intelligent of their kind display a malevolent level of cunning, actively trying to stop wars from ending so they can keep on fighting. To do so, they will join the losing side to drag out the war, kill surrendering troops, and hunt down and consume peaceful ambassadors. This makes them very popular among Chaos hordes who see the Warstomper as a gift from the gods. Expectedly, as they accumulate chaos runes and other mutations, Warstomper can slowly be warped into fully Chaos aligned creatures. Gargants led by a Warstomper are referred to as a ''Stomper Tribe'' and act as walking natural disasters who live only for the thrill of active combat.

*'''Gatebreaker''': These bitter big boys have an obsession with tearing down strongholds, and then using the wreckage as armor and weapons (some even appreciating the irony in these makeshift armaments). This obsession originates from a [[Beasts Of Chaos|loathing of all civilized life]], seeing them as the reason why Behemat is dead. Gatebreakers often wear crudely made cowls out of looted flags and banners in the style of an executioner’s mask, as they see themselves as the executioner of the cities they destroy. Gatebreakers are commonly found among death armies, as they often leave the best spoils to the Mega-Gargants, though staying around a bunch of smelly necromancers and vampires will occasionally twist the Gatebreaker into a thoughtless thrall who can survive on little to no sustenance. They lead the aptly named ''Breaker Tribes'', cults of personality where the Mancrushers seek to emulate their boss’ loathing of civilization and specialize in tearing down fortifications and other symbols of order.

*'''Bonegrinder''': The largest and rarest of all Sons of Behemat, twice as tall as the common Mancrusher and still head and shoulders bigger than the other Mega-Gargants. These absolute behemoths see themselves as the reincarnations of Behemat and try to bully everyone into serving on them hand and foot. So why don’t they lead the Gargant Stomps? It’s unclear (aside from a lack of official tabletop rules), though a likely explanation is a combination of their supreme levels of clumsiness and being incredibly dull, even for a Gargant. The few times they do show up though, it’s a sure fire sign that this Stomp means business.

==Named Gargants==
*'''King Brodd''': The self-professed “Last True Son of Behemat”, King Brodd is the absurdly strong and intelligent master of the Gargant Stomps native to the Scabrous Sprawl. He claims to have crawled out of the Titansmawr fully grown and declared himself leader. After pulverizing all belligerent challengers, he has cemented his rule and stated his ambition to reclaim his ancestral home of Tor Crania from the vile Cygors and other [[Beasts of Chaos]] that toppled it. Brodd never goes anywhere without two things; a crown made from the skull of a mouldragon he killed bare-handed, and a massive granite pillar that serves as his personal weapon and symbol of his right to lead the Sons of Behemat. During the Realmgate Wars, Brodd was caught up in a massive explosion which slew Stormcast, Gargants, and Beastmen, for miles. The Gargant King survived this and would later witness the death of Behemat at the hands of Sigmar’s champions. Now King Brodd is on a ruinous path of vengeance against the Stormcast Eternals. His hatred from the Azyrites has led him and his stomp to working with Gordrakk, who has his own beef with Sigmar. But King Brodd is fiercely independent, even refusing to bow to Kragnos’ will when the Drogrukh escaped his magical prison, as he deems Behemat to be the only lord Gargants should revere.

*'''Bundo Whalebiter''': Mercenary Kraken-eater who can ally with the forces of Order. The Idoneth artifact that hangs from his ear is filled with Aetherquartz and increases his intellect to where he can use ancient strategies like “patience” and may even be able to read. He’s even smart enough to know when he’s being cheated in a deal by the [[Kharadron Overlords]]. Bundo’s now signature ear piece has since been mimicked by other Gargants...to varying levels of success. He has his own tribe called the Rondhol Stomp that has terrorized its way across the continent of Rondhol in Ghur, sometimes with the assistance of the grots of the Undersnapperz tribe.

*'''One-Eyed Grunnock''': Mercenary Warstomper who can ally with the hordes of Chaos, who in turn highly seek after him to aid them in battle. Originally known as Grunnock Battle-krasha, he decided to try and topple the Ivory Citadel of the Ossiarch Bonereapers. Not too long after his initial (and failed) attack, he witnessed the Bonereapers trying to make peace with the Kharadron Overlords. Outraged by the prospect of no more fighting, he bullrushed the two parties and squashed the Arkanaut Admiral and Liege Kavalos in charge of the two armies. He took a full fusillade of aethershot to the face that destroyed his eye, and from then on he became One-Eyed Grunnock, seeking endless war to subdue his roaring headache. Grunnock has a crude understanding of how important regiments and formations are in combat, so he specializes in disrupting said ranks with earth shaking stomps and jumps.

*'''Big Drogg Fort-Kicka''': Mercenary Gatebreaker who can ally with the processions of Death. A native of Hallost in the Ossiarch Empire, his main reason for allying with Death armies is that he hopes to gain the attention and trust of Nagash...so he can club him in the back when the god of death isn’t looking. Despite this, Big Drogg is still seen as a traitor and outcast by other Destruction factions, especially after he turned on an Orruk horde when Mannfred von Carstein bribed him with three barrels of royal blood. His oral hygiene is so atrocious that his rotten breath has become its own form of attack, wiping out hordes of enemies that dare to stray too close to him.

*'''Brawlsmasha''': Mercenary Bonegrinder who can only ally with fellow Destruction factions. It’s rumored that this Titan was found as a baby by an Ironjawz Warclan and decided to raise him as a living weapon. Now fully grown, he wields the gargantuan Mega-Club of Gork to flatten entire regiments and inspires all Orruks around him to greater acts of violence.

*'''Argol Brightfist''': A mysteriously benevolent Mega-Gargant native to the fallen continent of Donse in Ghur. Those who have seen him will take note of the mish-mash of colorful rags that adorns his body. He leads a motley Stomp of Gargants against the forces of Chaos that decimated their home millennia ago and slew their ten elder Gargants. On occasion, he will lend a stomping foot or two to anyone who is assailed by the Slaves to Darkness. Because of his unique disposition, the Grand Conclave of Excelsis has petitioned many adventures to go in search of Argol in hopes of securing his services in the fight against Chaos.

*'''Baran''': A Kraken-eater who once helped the Freeguilders and Kharadron hunt down a lake monster that was scoffing down ships. Pretty cool and bro-tier for a Gargant, explaining a bit about his people to a Freeguild captain and even giving the guy a sword for "helping" kill the kraken (the dude leaped off a Kharadron Ironclad and stabbed the Kraken in the eye, losing his sword. So no surprise the Kraken-eater thought he was a cool dude). Baran later met the same Captain on the other side of the battlefield, and ignored a heartfelt plea for friendship to prevail in favour of picking up said Cpt and squashing him like an overipe grapefruit. [[Grimdark|The power of friendship at work people.]]

*'''The Murgg Brothers''': Broguph, Slorgo, and Mangor are a trio of Warstompers hired by [[Skragrott|Skragrott the Loonking]] to aide in his siege of the Tuskvault, a Stormvault rumored to contain a shard from Gorkamorka’s own club. Skragrott had amassed a massive contingent of different Destruction factions, so much so that he convinced the Fist of Gork [[Gordrakk]] himself to lead it. The siege was thwarted by a combined effort of Sylvaneth, Fyreslayers, and Stormcast, with an enraged Mangor unintentionally bringing down a whole mountain that buried the Tuskvault once more. Shortly thereafter, Gordrakk (forcefully) recruited the Brothers for his own campaign; marching on the free city of Excelsis.

*'''Old Ropey''': A horrifying and enigmatic Mega-Gargant that stalks the blighted isle of Decrepita in Ghyran. He’s named so for the ropes of mouldering flesh that hang from his belly and drag along the ground where ever he roams. The unfortunates who are caught by Old Ropey are wrapped up in these rotting muscles where they are slowly absorbed into the Mega-Gargant like an undead fungus. Alarielle has sent numerous Glades to put down this living(?) ghost story, but no one can ever seem to find Old Ropey...unless he wants to be found.

*'''The Arbalester Gargants''': Back in the Age of Myth, Teclis and his mage students cast a petrifaction curse on some gargants on the Shyish island of Arbalester. They then triggered a rockslide that buried the behemoths up their heads and left. Over the years, the now mysterious Arbalester Heads are considered one of the strange natural wonders of the Realms...until Nagash’s Necroquake happened and undid the Gargants’ bindings. Now grown into Mega-Gargants, the throughly pissed brutes bellowed and ordered the nearby tribe of Savage Orruks to help dig them out. Since then, the Bonesplitterz Warclan has used their new found allies/objects of worship in a glorious Waaagh! that saw them claim multiple islands to the east of the Ossiarch Empire. Seem to be a reference to the Moai, or Easter Island heads.

*'''Derko Walrusbiter''': An elderly Kraken-eater who swore fealty to Kragnos after the End of Empires slew all his nephews and younger mates. Being the first Mega-Gargant to follow Kragnos, Derko took up a sort of spokesperson position for the rest of the Sons of Behemat. He took part in the Siege of Excelsis where he was convinced by Skragrott the Loonking to move ahead of the main horde and gather fellow Gargants to ambush the Excelsis harbor. His Stomp of two dozen Kraken-eaters consisted of many old allies and rivals of Derko, such as Long Dobb, Grottob the Gullet, and the female Mega-Gargant Drukka the Siren and her many sisters. They soundly razed the Excelsis harbor and all seemed great, until the ambushers were ambushed themselves by the Daughters of Khaine aboard a Black Ark. Derko Walrusbiter had the “honor” of persisting at the talons of Morathi-Khaine, his death dispersing the remainder Gargants.

==Music to Listen to While Playing these Big Lads==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRja4HUsRu0&ab_channel=GerzamT= Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man’s Chest - The Kraken]: Hans Zimmer doling out a healthy serving of goosebumps once again.
*[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oULBLox0zLg= Neon Genesis Evangelion “Decisive Battle”]: For the madman who will undoubtably paint some Evangelion Gargants.
*Anything from the Godzilla films, the Heisei era and GMK specifically stand out.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:BoL0PjL5oXMduBJl.jpg|A Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant.
</gallery>

{{Template:Playable Factions in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar}}

[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]

Sons of Behemat

2021-10-20T11:49:19Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:2856:4F7E:4B0F:5F97: /* Named Gargants */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Sons of Behemat|Logo=Kraken-eater.jpg|Alliance=Destruction|Motto=Big and friendly these giants are not...}}

{{Topquote|We had common cause once, little man. No more. Now the Sons of Behemat march. Kraken-eater. Warstomper. Gatebreaker. Mancrusher. Bonegrinder. All as one. Behemat calls.|The Kraken-eater Baran to a Freeguild Captain and former ally.}}

{{Topquote|Disasters are called natural, as if nature were the executioner and not the victim.|Eduardo Galeano}}

{{Topquote|There is only power. Power is of the individual mind but the mind's power is not enough. Power of the body decides everything in the end and only might is right.|T.H. White, "The Once and Future King"}}
The '''Sons of Behemat''' are Gargants (known as Giants outside of copyright speak), the offspring of the titular [[Godbeast]] Behemat; colossal forces of nature that terrify foes and (their few) friends alike. They are driven by their wanton need for inflicting mass carnage and proving themselves as the true champions of Gorkamorka. Despite this, other factions will often hire the services of the Sons of Behemat as living siege weapons.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4RyrcmRUNM&feature=share This is likely what a gargant invasion would look like.]

==History==
===Age of Myth===
[[File:Behemat teaser.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Note that the [[Stormcast Eternals|Stormcast]] are literally immortal, yet they're still scared shitless by this absolute unit. Then again, Warham’s giants tend to stuff smaller foes in their trousers, so it's understandable]]

In the beginning, there was a titanic godbeast known as Ymnog, Grandfather of Gargants. According to the Gargant Matriarchs (no model exists cause no one wants to see what saggy Gargant tits look like in plastic), Ymnog created the Mortal Realms when he threw a punch so hard that he shattered reality into earth, sea, and sky. After drinking and eating entire sections of the cosmos, Ymnog laid down to take a nap, where his drool would flow down into the Realms and become the first rivers. Inside his stomach was born Behemat, who brewed a lake of moonshine in his father's guts, causing him to retch him into his mouth, where Behemat then broke his father’s teeth to escape, the shards of his teeth supposedly becoming the first mountains. Behemat landed in the Mortal Realms and became the progenitor of the Gargant race and personal right hand to the god of destruction [[Gorkamorka (Deity)|Gorkamorka]] (mostly because the Greenskin god was the only thing bigger than him), while Ymnog would end up being killed by Sigmar cuz he was a titanic monster and the Hammer god wasn’t gonna let him roam around his new home.

It is said the gargants were created from Behemat's vomit after he went on a binge-eating spree that caused the extinction of several species of cattle. Countless deeds are attributed to Behemat by his Sons, most of which double as their explanation for the different races (known collectively as “pipsqueaks”, “little men”, or any other short demeaning term), like the [[Idoneth Deepkin]] being an Aelven civilization that Behemat drowned after causing a massive flood, the [[Fyreslayers]] being born when the World Titan stomped out some volcanos and saw these angry short guys come out to yell at him, and the denizens of Shyish being mostly skeletons because Behemat ate all the meat in the Realm of Death. Naturally this is all just mythical nonsense passed down by the Gargants, but they serve as a good example of how they view the world around them, a product of Behemat’s achievements.

Trouble started to brew for the Gargants during the tail end of the Age of Myth. Trying to find a way into the Mortal Realms, [[Tzeentch]] whispered lies to Gorkamorka, making him envious of his champion, as Behemat enjoyed so much freedom under the green god’s rule, while Gorkamorka himself was stuck under Sigmar’s thumb. So Big G ordered Behemat to recreate some of the god of destruction’s greatest feats...and he did, though some were by accident. Then came the big one; Behemat had to recreate the duel between Sigmar and Gorkamorka. So after armoring himself with an entire mountain, Behemat bellowed a challenge to the Hammer God...and nothing happened. So he started stomping on the local sigmarites which caused the Lord of Azyr to come rocketing down from the heavens and knocked Behemat out cold, putting him in a millenia-long coma in the region known as the Harmonis Veldt in Ghyran. While he was asleep, his body would become covered by earth; his skull becoming the mountain of Tor Crania, his mouth becoming the Titansmawr (from which more gargants would occasionally crawl out), the Sweatswamp forming around the location of his left armpit, and so on. This pretty much makes him the [[Mythology#Norse_Mythology|Ymir]] of the Mortal Realms.

===Age of Chaos===
Despite their forefather taking a big snooze, the Gargants were mostly unfazed, continuing their own isolationist lives or rampaging in the hordes of Gorkamorka. This would not last, as the Age of Chaos happens and everything gets ruined. The Ruinous Powers and their servants were quick to fall upon the Gargants, seeing them both as prestigious monsters to slay for glory and destructive weapons of mass mayhem. The ones that weren’t slain in droves or hid themselves away become Chaos Gargants (willingly or otherwise) who tromped alongside the Slaves to Darkness in agony.

===Age of Sigmar===
The Age of Sigmar proved to be one of the most important parts of the race’s history. During the Realmgate Wars, as part of Archaon's plan to corrupt the godbeasts to Chaos, he sent the Maggotkin of Nurgle and the Skaven to corrupt Behemat, whose sleeping place was already corrupted by Nurgle into what is now known as the Scabrous Sprawl. The plan was for the Skaven to drill into his bones to awaken him, the Maggotkin to corrupt him with Nurgle's taint, and for him to be persuaded to join Archaon's side by being told half-truths about Sigmar killing his father Ymnog (which he technically did). Although the Stormcast Eternals attempted to stop this, they were too late and were forced to invoke the power of the Great Bolts (the same weapon Sigmar used to kill Ymnog) to put down Behemat before he could be fully corrupted. Many of the gargants native to the Sprawl felt lost after witnessing the death of their god-progenitor, and were taken in by the Oakenbrow Sylvaneth and became eventual allies of them. Meanwhile countless more became solitary drunkards called Aleguzzlers, and found “employment” with the [[Gloomspite Gitz]], on account of the Grots’ copious amounts of fungus booze and cold dank caves to sleep off their roaring hangovers.

Since the death of Behemat, his Sons have been noted to have been getting bigger, more violent and more intelligent, leading to the evolution of so-called "Mega-Gargants", colossal both in size and aggression. Just the thunderous sound of a Mega-Gargant’s footfalls will draw even the most reclusive of Gargants from miles around to join together. Tribes will form around these massive warriors who then proceed to mold the Gargants under his command into terrifying natural disasters.

And with the Mega-Gargants seemingly becoming bigger and bigger with each day, it seems likely that there will come a time when a new World-Titan will emerge...

===Broken Realms===
When the God of Earthquakes [[Kragnos]] broke free from his mountain prison and started to sprint towards Excelsis, several territorial Mega-Gargants noticed the colossal centaur creature and instantly challenged him for daring to enter their turf. All but one, a Kraken-eater called Derko Walrusbiter, were slain, and Kragnos kept marching on with his new follower in tow. They picked up more Gargants along the way before colliding with Waaagh!Gordrak and the two parties merged together under Kragnos’ command to tear down Excelsis. The Mega-Gargants were instrumental in tearing down the great walls that defended the city, however it was just as likely that their fallen corpses become brand new walls. Derko Walrusbiter gathered a Stomp of other Kraken-eaters and appeared out of the water and marched on the Excelsis harbor, but they were soon surrounded by the surprise arrival of a Black Ark carrying Morathi-Khaine and her [[Daughters of Khaine|wych aelf worshippers]], the goddess herself putting down Derko. Kragnos was lured through a portal to the other side of Ghur and the destruction horde was scattered.

===Era of the Beast===
Kragnos’ revival has caused a surge of feral energy from Ghur to waft out into the realms and drives all the races of destruction into a frenzy. The Sons of Behemat, though incapable of understanding what actually happened, refer to this event as the Great Stomp and roam far and wide to exercise their newfound energy. More than a few Stomps have taken to following the lead of Kragnos, though others are still content to follow their own blunt ideas.

==Religion and Culture==
[[File:BehematStormcast.jpg|800px|thumb|center|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OkpRK2_gVs/ SIE SIND DAS ESSEN UND WIR SIND DIE JAEGER!!!!!]]]
The Sons of Behemat don’t really worship [[Gorkamorka (Deity)|Gorkamorka]], whom they call the Godstompa, as they do “highly revere” him. In fact, they only seem to acknowledge the green god because Behemat did, who seems to be the real center of Gargant society. The Godstompa himself is said to be a massive yellow-nailed bare foot that flattens entire cities where ever he treads (watching the orruk shamans cast the Foot of Gork spell only strengthens this notion for them). When the Godstompa is split into “Gorkfoot and Morkfoot”, the Gargants state that one is “stompy but kicky” and the other is “kicky but stompy”. This fixation on feet forms the cornerstone of Gargant culture and how they view other races (Example: they’re not fond of the [[Slaves to Darkness]] not cuz they’re Chaos worshippers, but because their spiked armor makes them unpleasant to squash).

This foot fetishism also bleeds into their tribal organization. A tribe of Gargants is called a Stomp (most civillized races call them Catastrophes, but the average gargant can't pronounce that word), with the leader being known as the "Big Heel". Subordinate Mega-Gargants are thus "under the heel", while the tribe's Mancrushers are referred to as “footsloggas” (larger Mancrushers who lead their fellows are said to be "toeing the line"). Wherever a Stomp roams, the Gargants will leave their mark in the trails of ruin and destruction they leave behind. Frontier towns and outposts are reduced to rubble. Holy forests are uprooted and turned to splinters. All of which they do out of boredom and complete disregard for anything made/honored by the pipsqueaks. Such devastation is most commonly found in [[Ghur]], where Gargants are so common that all the natives have learned to recognize and fear the tell-tale thumping of their footprints that can be heard for miles around. Gargants won’t give anyone smaller than them (meaning everyone) the time of day unless they are at eye level with the beasts, usually standing on a cliff or some tower/war machine. Though this can prove a successful means of diplomacy, it’s just as common for the Gargant to mindlessly grab the diplomat and devour them.

Since Behemat was the Champion of Gorkamorka, his Sons now strive to fill the gap left by their forefather’s death. This is best exemplified by their correlation of size equaling strength, or “Mightier Makes Rightier” as they say. The biggest have the authority to boss around those smaller than them and (most of) the giants just accept it as fact. Though when two Gargants of similar size meet, they are bound to begin wrestling with each other to assert dominance. Sometimes they will instead do a series of “strength challenges” to determine who’s in charge, though this often still leads to the participants grappling on the ground. The aforementioned challenges are usually done in large open area or the ruins of a nearby city that was stomped flat by the Gargants to serve as their playing field.

Gargants have a vague sort of connection to the various [[Orruk Warclans|greenskin]] [[Gloomspite Gitz|factions]], likely due to Gorkamorka’s role in their origin. Whenever a Waaagh! is called or the Bad Moon looms in the sky, it’s quite common to find the lumbering giants following the greenskin hordes. The maniac energies that swell during such times is contagious to the Gargants, though not to the same extent as Orruks and Grots. It’s described as the Gargants wanting to show the yelling hordes at their feet who’s really the biggest and baddest. At the height of their fervor, tribes of Gargants will break out into a full on sprint and crush entire battlelines with their feet alone before crashing into battlements with club and girth. The only exception to this ‘working well with Greenskins’ philosophy are the Kruleboyz, who the Gargants despise for their slippery scheming and dirty tricks. As for the other destruction race, the [[Ogor Mawtribes]], Gargants have a healthy respect/fear of them. They acknowledge their larger size and strength compared to other pipsqueaks, and have seen more than a few of their kind be consumed alive by the ravenous gluttons or blasted apart by their cannons.

Most other realm-shaking events that defined entire factions weren’t acknowledged by the Sons of Behemat, deeming them as quite literally beneath them. Only three events have shaken their race as a whole, the Age of Chaos, Behemat's death, and after that the arrival of the [[Nighthaunt]] processions. The Mortarch of Grief [[Lady Olynder]] effortlessly slew a Mega-Gargant and his Stomp, allowing the survivors to tromp away to spread fear of her legions. Sure enough, rumors spread across the Gargant tribes of ghostly beings that stomping couldn't hurt or kill. Confusion led to terror, and terror became a reality when similar battles occurred where the Sons of Behemat, now dreading the Nighthaunt, found that their foot falls and club swings held little purchase against the ghosts. Things have gotten better though as new tales spread amongst the tribes of how the Bjarl Stomp worked with the ghost-hunting [[Bonesplitterz|Drakkfoot Warclan]] to put down an army of Nighthaunt at the Asp River.

===Gargants as Mercenaries===
Starting in the Age of Chaos, Gargants began to sell their bulk to various warring factions for the promise of food, loot, and a good scrap. This can be traced back to the very first Gargant Mercenaries, a trio of hairy bruisers called the Grugg Brothers. They were in an alliance with the Ogors of the Meatfist Mawtribe at the time, and started to take note of how the Ogors worked for other races and were getting paid for it. The Grugg Brothers were further tutored by the Maneaters of the Gutstuffers company, teaching them rudimentary tactics such as attacking early in the morning when enemy forces are tired and making battle plans before hand. When the Gargants inevitably parted ways with the Mawtribes, they spread their knowledge to the other Stomps and word quickly spread of a new lucrative way of life. This knowledge has since been known to the more cunning Gargants as the “Great Secret”. When it comes to acquiring the services of a Gargant, humans are usually the chosen diplomat since duardin are too short for the giants to take seriously, and aelves use too many big words that confuse and frustrate them. The destruction races naturally don’t have this problem.

===Favored Pastimes/Gargant Games===
*'''Horse-punting''': Players kick a horse and see which one goes the farthest. Bonus points are awarded to the horse that lands on an unsuspecting pipsqueek.
*'''Boar-scoffing''': Pig eating contest...with full sized hogs.
*'''Wakebelching''': A game played by more “civilized” Gargants (meaning the ones who work for Order factions). Each player takes turns burping loudly in the dead of night in the middle of a settlement. The Gargant who woke the most people/gets the most angry shouts of protest wins.
*'''Manskittles''': Bowling on the battlefield. Gargants will take a boulder, dead animal, or whatever else is on hand and hurl it at a shield wall to see how many bodies are sent flailing about.
*'''Tank-tipping''': Like cow tipping, but with Steam Tanks. It was first played by the Warstomper Nagbog and his Stomp who fought against Commodore Bonn Jensen’s Iron Squadron of Greywater Fastness. Onlookers of the massacre could’ve sworn they saw flying Steam Tanks that day.
*'''Rumble''': Football/soccer but with explosive volcanic boulders. Unusual for including willing participants from other races. The Ogors of the Boulderhead Mawtribe regularly migrate through the Adamantine Mountains in Aqshy, where they encounter the native Aridian Stomp. Both sides agree to play this game of Rumble (throwing and/or kicking boulders towards the opposing team’s side) to determine if the Ogors can pass through for free, or if they have to kill half of their beasts and mounts as payment to the Gargants.

==Types of Gargants==
Each “species” of Gargant has a very fairy tale like name, likely given to them by the terrified victims of their rampages.

*'''Mancrusher''': The OG Giant is now the most commonly seen species of the giant race, as well as the shortest (keep in mind that a ‘short’ Gargant can still punt a Sigmarine like a football). Mancrushers were originally wayward Aleguzzler/Chaos Gargants who happened to find a Mega-Gargant to follow around. When in the presence of a Mega-Gargant, they become eager (if a little clumsy) followers, ready to take orders and do whatever their bigger bosses want. This tiny level of “discipline” arguably makes them more dangerous as they can now make unified charges with their fellow Gargants and throw boulders at enemies in a crude firing line. They’re also oddly sober when compared to other Gargants, though this is because their bosses hog most of the booze they come across. In a strangely wholesome twist on the normal method of Destruction aligned recruitment (the weak being subjugated by the strong), Mancrushers will often willingly join the Mega-Gargants cause they admire them as big brothers in a sense. They will wait for the big lugs to fall asleep and then camp out around him. So when the Mega-Gargant wakes up, he’s got a full tribe of loyal bruisers ready to please him...get your mind out of the gutter [[Slaanesh]].

*'''Kraken-eater''': A sea faring variety known for their greed and territorial natures. Granted, what they deem as “their territory” is everything in seeing distance. They like lugging around ship cannons to use as blunt instruments as well as colossal fishing nets stuffed full of hapless victims and fish. Lots of fish. Kraken-eaters are also noted for being older than most gargants, being basically grouchy senior citizens who yell at everyone to get off their lawn. Though the more “tame” ones are capable of holding a “pleasant” conversation with other factions that hire them, making them the prime choice for Order factions when they want a Gargant mercenary. This still won’t prevent them from working with another faction to stomp on their former allies though. They lead pseudo crime-syndicates called ''Taker Tribes'', where they boss around Mancrushers to steal all the loot they can find and fight against anyone who comes onto their turf.

*'''Warstomper''': The epitome of the Gargant race and warmonger by any other name. Above all other sub-species, Warstompers love collecting trophies and trinkets from their flattened foes, using them to decorate their grotesque forms. The most intelligent of their kind display a malevolent level of cunning, actively trying to stop wars from ending so they can keep on fighting. To do so, they will join the losing side to drag out the war, kill surrendering troops, and hunt down and consume peaceful ambassadors. This makes them very popular among Chaos hordes who see the Warstomper as a gift from the gods. Expectedly, as they accumulate chaos runes and other mutations, Warstomper can slowly be warped into fully Chaos aligned creatures. Gargants led by a Warstomper are referred to as a ''Stomper Tribe'' and act as walking natural disasters who live only for the thrill of active combat.

*'''Gatebreaker''': These bitter big boys have an obsession with tearing down strongholds, and then using the wreckage as armor and weapons (some even appreciating the irony in these makeshift armaments). This obsession originates from a [[Beasts Of Chaos|loathing of all civilized life]], seeing them as the reason why Behemat is dead. Gatebreakers often wear crudely made cowls out of looted flags and banners in the style of an executioner’s mask, as they see themselves as the executioner of the cities they destroy. Gatebreakers are commonly found among death armies, as they often leave the best spoils to the Mega-Gargants, though staying around a bunch of smelly necromancers and vampires will occasionally twist the Gatebreaker into a thoughtless thrall who can survive on little to no sustenance. They lead the aptly named ''Breaker Tribes'', cults of personality where the Mancrushers seek to emulate their boss’ loathing of civilization and specialize in tearing down fortifications and other symbols of order.

*'''Bonegrinder''': The largest and rarest of all Sons of Behemat, twice as tall as the common Mancrusher and still head and shoulders bigger than the other Mega-Gargants. These absolute behemoths see themselves as the reincarnations of Behemat and try to bully everyone into serving on them hand and foot. So why don’t they lead the Gargant Stomps? It’s unclear (aside from a lack of official tabletop rules), though a likely explanation is a combination of their supreme levels of clumsiness and being incredibly dull, even for a Gargant. The few times they do show up though, it’s a sure fire sign that this Stomp means business.

==Named Gargants==
*'''King Brodd''': The self-professed “Last True Son of Behemat”, King Brodd is the absurdly strong and intelligent master of the Gargant Stomps native to the Scabrous Sprawl. He claims to have crawled out of the Titansmawr fully grown and declared himself leader. After pulverizing all belligerent challengers, he has cemented his rule and stated his ambition to reclaim his ancestral home of Tor Crania from the vile Cygors and other [[Beasts of Chaos]] that toppled it. Brodd never goes anywhere without two things; a crown made from the skull of a mouldragon he killed bare-handed, and a massive granite pillar that serves as his personal weapon and symbol of his right to lead the Sons of Behemat. During the Realmgate Wars, Brodd was caught up in a massive explosion which slew Stormcast, Gargants, and Beastmen, for miles. The Gargant King survived this and would later witness the death of Behemat at the hands of Sigmar’s champions. Now King Brodd is on a ruinous path of vengeance against the Stormcast Eternals. His hatred from the Azyrites has led him and his stomp to working with Gordrakk, who has his own beef with Sigmar. But King Brodd is fiercely independent, even refusing to bow to Kragnos’ will when the Drogrukh escaped his magical prison, as he deems Behemat to be the only lord Gargants should revere.

*'''Bundo Whalebiter''': Mercenary Kraken-eater who can ally with the forces of Order. The Idoneth artifact that hangs from his ear is filled with Aetherquartz and increases his intellect to where he can use ancient strategies like “patience” and may even be able to read. He’s even smart enough to know when he’s being cheated in a deal by the [[Kharadron Overlords]]. Bundo’s now signature ear piece has since been mimicked by other Gargants...to varying levels of success. He has his own tribe called the Rondhol Stomp that has terrorized its way across the continent of Rondhol in Ghur, sometimes with the assistance of the grots of the Undersnapperz tribe.

*'''One-Eyed Grunnock''': Mercenary Warstomper who can ally with the hordes of Chaos, who in turn highly seek after him to aid them in battle. Originally known as Grunnock Battle-krasha, he decided to try and topple the Ivory Citadel of the Ossiarch Bonereapers. Not too long after his initial (and failed) attack, he witnessed the Bonereapers trying to make peace with the Kharadron Overlords. Outraged by the prospect of no more fighting, he bullrushed the two parties and squashed the Arkanaut Admiral and Liege Kavalos in charge of the two armies. He took a full fusillade of aethershot to the face that destroyed his eye, and from then on he became One-Eyed Grunnock, seeking endless war to subdue his roaring headache. Grunnock has a crude understanding of how important regiments and formations are in combat, so he specializes in disrupting said ranks with earth shaking stomps and jumps.

*'''Big Drogg Fort-Kicka''': Mercenary Gatebreaker who can ally with the processions of Death. A native of Hallost in the Ossiarch Empire, his main reason for allying with Death armies is that he hopes to gain the attention and trust of Nagash...so he can club him in the back when the god of death isn’t looking. Despite this, Big Drogg is still seen as a traitor and outcast by other Destruction factions, especially after he turned on an Orruk horde when Mannfred von Carstein bribed him with three barrels of royal blood. His oral hygiene is so atrocious that his rotten breath has become its own form of attack, wiping out hordes of enemies that dare to stray too close to him.

*'''Brawlsmasha''': Mercenary Bonegrinder who can only ally with fellow Destruction factions. It’s rumored that this Titan was found as a baby by an Ironjawz Warclan and decided to raise him as a living weapon. Now fully grown, he wields the gargantuan Mega-Club of Gork to flatten entire regiments and inspires all Orruks around him to greater acts of violence.

*'''Argol Brightfist''': A mysteriously benevolent Mega-Gargant native to the fallen continent of Donse in Ghur. Those who have seen him will take note of the mish-mash of colorful rags that adorns his body. He leads a motley Stomp of Gargants against the forces of Chaos that decimated their home millennia ago and slew their ten elder Gargants. On occasion, he will lend a stomping foot or two to anyone who is assailed by the Slaves to Darkness. Because of his unique disposition, the Grand Conclave of Excelsis has petitioned many adventures to go in search of Argol in hopes of securing his services in the fight against Chaos.

*'''Baran''': A Kraken-eater who once helped the Freeguilders and Kharadron hunt down a lake monster that was scoffing down ships. Pretty cool and bro-tier for a Gargant, explaining a bit about his people to a Freeguild captain and even giving the guy a sword for "helping" kill the kraken (the dude leaped off a Kharadron Ironclad and stabbed the Kraken in the eye, losing his sword. So no surprise the Kraken-eater thought he was a cool dude). Baran later met the same Captain on the other side of the battlefield, and ignored a heartfelt plea for friendship to prevail in favour of picking up said Cpt and squashing him like an overipe grapefruit. [[Grimdark|The power of friendship at work people.]]

*'''The Murgg Brothers''': Broguph, Slorgo, and Mangor are a trio of Warstompers hired by [[Skragrott|Skragrott the Loonking]] to aide in his siege of the Tuskvault, a Stormvault rumored to contain a shard from Gorkamorka’s own club. Skragrott had amassed a massive contingent of different Destruction factions, so much so that he convinced the Fist of Gork [[Gordrakk]] himself to lead it. The siege was thwarted by a combined effort of Sylvaneth, Fyreslayers, and Stormcast, with an enraged Mangor unintentionally bringing down a whole mountain that buried the Tuskvault once more. Shortly thereafter, Gordrakk (forcefully) recruited the Brothers for his own campaign; marching on the free city of Excelsis.

*'''Old Ropey''': A horrifying and enigmatic Mega-Gargant that stalks the blighted isle of Decrepita in Ghyran. He’s named so for the ropes of mouldering flesh that hang from his belly and drag along the ground where ever he roams. The unfortunates who are caught by Old Ropey are wrapped up in these rotting muscles where they are slowly absorbed into the Mega-Gargant like an undead fungus. Alarielle has sent numerous Glades to put down this living(?) ghost story, but no one can ever seem to find Old Ropey...unless he wants to be found.

*'''The Arbalester Gargants''': Back in the Age of Myth, Teclis and his mage students cast a petrifaction curse on some gargants on the Shyish island of Arbalester. They then triggered a rockslide that buried the behemoths up their heads and left. Over the years, the now mysterious Arbalester Heads are considered one of the strange natural wonders of the Realms...until Nagash’s Necroquake happened and undid the Gargants’ bindings. Now grown into Mega-Gargants, the throughly pissed brutes bellowed and ordered the nearby tribe of Savage Orruks to help dig them out. Since then, the Bonesplitterz Warclan has used their new found allies/objects of worship in a glorious Waaagh! that saw them claim multiple islands to the east of the Ossiarch Empire. Seem to be a reference to the Moai, or Easter Island heads.

*'''Derko Walrusbiter''': An elderly Kraken-eater who swore fealty to Kragnos after the End of Empire slew all his nephews and younger mates. Being the first Mega-Gargant to follow Kragnos, Derko took up a sort of spokesperson position for the rest of the Sons of Behemat. He took part in the Siege of Excelsis where he was convinced by Skragrott the Loonking to move ahead of the main horde and gather fellow Gargants to ambush the Excelsis harbor. His Stomp of two dozen Kraken-eaters consisted of many old allies and rivals of Derko, such as Long Dobb, Grottob the Gullet, and the female Mega-Gargant Drukka the Siren and her many sisters. They soundly razed the Excelsis harbor and all seemed great, until the ambushers were ambushed themselves by the Daughters of Khaine aboard a Black Ark. Derko Walrusbiter had the “honor” of persisting at the talons of Morathi-Khaine, his death dispersing the remainder Gargants.

==Music to Listen to While Playing these Big Lads==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRja4HUsRu0&ab_channel=GerzamT= Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man’s Chest - The Kraken]: Hans Zimmer doling out a healthy serving of goosebumps once again.
*[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oULBLox0zLg= Neon Genesis Evangelion “Decisive Battle”]: For the madman who will undoubtably paint some Evangelion Gargants.
*Anything from the Godzilla films, the Heisei era and GMK specifically stand out.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:BoL0PjL5oXMduBJl.jpg|A Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant.
</gallery>

{{Template:Playable Factions in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar}}

[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]

Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Death/Soulblight Gravelords

2021-10-20T10:43:57Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:2856:4F7E:4B0F:5F97: /* Army Building */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Soulblight Gravelords|Logo=Gravelords.png|Alliance=Death|Motto= VLADDY DADDY}}

Darkness falls across the land and the midnight hour is close at hand. Time to remind the Mortal Realms of the Vampire Counts of old with their successors, the Soulblight Gravelords.

==Overview==
Classic undead army, rebranded with new skeletons, zombies, and plastic blood knights!

==Why Play Soulblight==
You want a resilient army made up of undead troops and vampire generals.
===Pros===
*The army is tenacious. It has multiple army wide mechanics for resurrecting fallen troops and Bravery 10 across the board. Soulblight Gravelords can feel impossible to hurt most of the time, you simply resurrect big chunks of your army for free every turn, and heroes who don't die in one turn can make full recoveries just by staying on the offensive.
*Lots of different play styles, depending on which Bloodline you choose.
*Lots of new models, particularly if you want to play the Vyrkos Dynasty.
*Tons of magic, and often on particularly resilient characters.
*Mortal Wound dispensaries everywhere. Between the Bloodseeker Palanquin, Mortis Engine, Zombies, Terrorgheist, Grave Guard, Wight Kings, and all your magic, you'll have lots and lots of ways of poking your enemy with annoying mortal wounds.

===Cons===
*Almost zero units with ranged attacks. Magic helps fix this, but at the end of the day you still have to get in range of your enemy to start hurting them, which can be frustrating because...
*Much of the army is slow, and barring a couple teleports you have pretty mediocre movement shenanigans.
*You need to protect your heroes far more than other armies. Losing a Loonboss in Gloomspite Gitz sucks, but he's cheap and shitty and was mostly there to provide command abilities. Losing a Vampire Lord hurts because not only did you pay a decent chunk of points for them, you've also lost a wizard, a source of resurrecting, and a decent combat lord who ALSO provided command abilities.
*You are relying pretty heavily on characters to get shit done. Basic zombies, even in a big horde with a Corpse Cart or two nearby won't have the sort of killing potential to be a big threat; it's only after you buff them with heroes that they start being truly scary. This ends up with the eternal balancing act of having enough bodies on the board to buff, versus the expensive heroes who buff them. While we're better off than say, Nighthaunt about this, we still can struggle with affording all the heroes and units.

==Allegiance Abilities==
===Battle Traits===
*'''The Unquiet Dead''': Place four gravesites; two in your deployment area, and two outside your deployment. They must be more than 1" away from terrain or objectives. One of your {{AOSKeyword|Summonable}} units for every unit that you regularly deploy can be set up in reserve and pop up within 12" of one of these gravesites, so long as there are no enemies within 9". These gravesites also act as focuses for some of your other traits.
*'''Deathless Minions''': The Gravelord version of the classic 6+ death save after the save . All Soulblight Gravelords units wholly within 12" of a gravesite or friendly hero can make a 6+ save after the save to ignore a wound or mortal wound.
*'''[[Recursion|Endless Legions]]''': This lets you respawn your destroyed zombie or skeleton units with the {{AOSKeyword|Summonable}} keyword wholly within 12" of one of your gravesites at the end of your battleshock on a 5+ die roll, with a +1 for each enemy unit you destroyed earlier that turn. They only come back at half strength and must be placed at least 9" from enemies as well.
*'''Locus of Shyish''': Gravelords get to resolve their lore spells (NOT their warscroll spells, arcane bolt or mystic shield) twice if they get an unmodified 9+ on their cast roll, provided it's not unbound.
*'''Reanimated Horrors''': Non-death models within 6" of your {{AOSKeyword|Deathrattle}} or {{AOSKeyword|Deadwalker}} units get a -1 to their bravery, or -2 if they are within 6" of two or more of them.
*'''Deathly Invocation''': Gravelords Heroes can heal a number of {{AOSKeyword|summonable}} units within 12" of d3 wounds/equivalent models. The Mortarchs get four units, vampires can do three, while wights and necromancers can top off two. Unfortunately, a unit can only benefit from this once per turn, and can't get the healing if they were already healed by Nagash's beefed up version of this ability in the same turn.

===Dynasties===
The fancy name for the five subfactions for Soulblight, each with a full complement of relics and command traits, and all of them have access to at least one special character.

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====Legion of Blood====
Regal and lethal, these schemers are the all around sub faction, though their specialty lies with the Deathrattle.

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=====Traits=====
*'''Immortal Majesty''': D3 additonal models flee if they fail a battleshock test within 3" of any {{AOSKeyword|Legion of Blood Vampire}} units.

*'''Favoured Retainers''': Ignore negative modifiers to hit and wound rolls for {{AOSKeyword|Legion of Blood Deathrattle}} while wholly within 12" of {{AOSKeyword|Legion of Blood Vampire}} or 18" of the general.

======Command Traits======
*'''Premeditated Violence''': Unmodified hit rolls of 6 are 2 hits.

*'''Soul-crushing Contempt''': -1 brave within 3. Synergy with their battle trait, but probably still bad. Secondary opinion, combined with Reanimated Horrors and a bravery-debuffing endless spell like Horroghast or Suffocating Gravetide, you can quickly delete whole units of enemies with a single leadership failure. Plop this on a Wight King for the double stack.

*'''Aristocracy of Blood''': 12" reroll charge aura. This is good.

*'''Aura of Dark Majesty''': Subtract 1 from hit rolls targeting the general in melee. Solid choice.

*'''Walking Death''': If an unmodified wound roll is a 6 for the general, that wound does mortals equal to the damage of the weapon used. Could be good on the Vengorian Lord.

*'''Sanguine Blur''': +3" of pile in while wholly within 12 of the general. Doesn't let a unit fight from further away, but +3 pile in is great just in general, and who doesn't want 9" pile in zombies?

======Artifacts======
*'''Ring of Dominion''': When you fight, pick one model within 3" and roll a dice, on a 5+ you do mortals equal to the weapons damage. You can't pick any weapon that charts or has a see below rule.

*'''Shadeglass Decanter''': After set up, but before first round, pick a hero. If that hero and the bearer are on the battlefield at the start of your hero phase you roll a dice. If it's equal to or greater than the current battle round, the hero takes a mortal. This is hilarious.

*'''Orb of Enchantment''': Once per battle, pick one enemy hero within 3 and roll a dice. On a 3+ that hero can't fight this phase. This is random, once per game, and insanely power. None of those things make for a good artifact of power to pick.

*'''Soulbound Garments''': You're wearing a player character's clothing for some reason, this gives you +1 to save rolls. Nice.

*'''Oubliette Arcana''': Once per enemy hero phase, when they cast a spell and it's not unbound, you can roll a dice. On a 5+ it's unbound. Extra unbinding is always good.

*'''Amulet of Screams''': Once per game when an enemy casts a spell that isn't unbound you can deal d3 mortal wound to them. Trash.

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====Legion of Night====
Mannfred's bloodline are tricksy, with their primary feature being outflank, with some nice command traits and artifacts to strategize around. They pick up an extra battleline in vargheists as a bonus.
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=====Traits=====
*'''The Bait''': +1 to save rolls on the first turn for {{AOSKeyword|Deathrattle}} and {{AOSKeyword|Deadwalker}} units. Since these are likely the first to move into the line of fire, you'll be needing that boost to defense.

*'''Ageless Cunning''': You can set up one unit in reserve for every unit you have placed on the board and bring them in with ambush 6" from a board edge outside of 9" from enemy units at the end of your movement phase. At the start of round 4, units still in reserve are destroyed.

======Command Traits======
*'''Above Suspicion''': Deep strike the general from outflank onto the board anywhere on the battlefield at the end of your movement fase. (Outside of 9 from enemy units like normal)

*'''Swift Form''': 2+ Movement. Good if you’re using the footslogger Vampire for some reason.

*'''Unbending Will''': No battleshock wholly within 12 of the general. Better than it seems, as you're likely to suffer heavy casualties with zombies and skeletons, and even leadership 10 won't save you forever, but this will.

*'''Merciless Hunter''': +1 to wound rolls for general in melee.

*'''Unholy Impetus''': If the general slays an enemy model in close combat, all friendly units wholly within 12" get +1 attack on all their melee weapons until the end of the phase. Changed to wholly within 12 instead of 3, probably your best choice.

*'''Terrifying Visage''': Subtract 1 from wound rolls against the general in melee.

=====Artifacts=====
* '''Vial of Pure Blood:''' Once per battle, in your hero phase, you can say that the bearer will drink from their vial of pure blood. If you do so, add 1 to hit and wound rolls for attacks made with melee weapons by the bearer until your next hero phase.

* '''Shard of Night:''' Ignore the Rend characteristic of missile weapons when making save rolls for attacks that target the bearer.

* '''Gem of Exsanguination:''' Once per battle, at the start of the combat phase, you can pick 1 enemy unit within 6" of the bearer and roll a dice. On a 1, nothing happens. On a 2-5, that unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. On a 6, the unit suffers D6 mortal wounds.

* '''Chiropteran Cloak:''' If the unmodified hit roll for an attack made with a melee weapon that targets the bearer is 1, the attacking unit suffers 1 mortal wound after all of its attacks have been resolved.

* '''Morbheg's Claw:''' In your hero phase, you can say that the bearer will carve sigils into the ground using Morbheg’s claw. If you do so, add 2 to casting rolls for friendly {{AOSKeyword|Legion of Night Wizards}} wholly within 12" of the bearer until your next hero phase. However, the bearer cannot make a normal move, make a charge move, shoot or fight until your next hero phase.

* '''Curseblade:''' After armies have been set up but before the first battle round begins, you can pick 1 enemy {{AOSKeyword|Hero}} on the battlefield. In your hero phase, if the bearer and that {{AOSKeyword|Hero}} are on the battlefield, roll a dice. On a 5+, that {{AOSKeyword|Hero}} suffers 1 mortal wound and you can heal 1 wound allocated to the bearer.

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====Kastelai====
Kastelai are the entourage of Prince Vhordrai in the magically teleporting crimson keep, and seem to be the replacement for the old blood dragons, and similarly lean into blood knights, who they get as battleline.

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=====Traits=====
*'''The Shifting Keep''': Kastelai Blood Knights up to half your unit count can be placed in reserve instead of on the battlefield, and be setup within 6" of any table edge and more than 9" from enemies at the end of your movement phase. The pretty standard rider of them being destroyed if not place by round four also applies.
*'''Might of the Crimson Keep''': {{AOSKeyword|Vampire}} keyword units gain a characteristic bonus when they destroy units; Bloodied Strength: +1 damage to non-mount melee weapons if it was a {{AOSKeyword|Hero}}/{{AOSKeyword|Monster}}, Stolen Vitality: +1 to it's wounds if it had 3+ wounds, or Absorbed Speed: +2" to run and charge for everything else. Infinitely scaling Blood Knights could be kinda scary although suspect these are technically Keywords being added onto the Units Warscroll hence the naming of each type.

=====Command Traits=====
*'''Beacon of Bloodshed''': After the general charges you do d3 mortals on a 3+ to one unit. Combined with Arcane Bolt and Monstrous Rampage, a VLoZD can do 3D3 mortal wounds in the fight phase.

*'''Master of Retaliation''': At the end of the combat phase if this model was wounded and not slain, you pick a unit within 1" and do d3 mortals on a 2+. Trash.

*'''Power in the Blood''': If an enemy is destroyed within 6" of this model he also gets Might of the Crimson Keep even if he didn't kill them. This is bonkers, and will probably be the go to choice.

*'''Rousing Commander''': Once per game at the start of combat you can give all {{AOSKeyword|Kastelai Dynasty Vampire}} units the Bloodied Strength and Stolen Vitality abilities for that phase, if they didn't already have them. This is honestly one of the strongest single turn effects in the game, and might actually get chosen.

*'''Swift and Deadly''': Reroll charges while within 12" of the general. Arguably stronger than Rousing Commander overall because buffs are irrelevant if your units fail their charge rolls. Kastelai armies are based around consistent charging each turn so getting into combat is paramount.

*'''A Craving for Massacre''': Run and charge on the general. Good for getting in there fast, but probably not worth it.

=====Artifacts=====
*'''Sword of the Red Seneschals''': If an enemy model is slain by the bearer's melee weapon, add +1 to wound roll attacks made by a friendly unit wholly within 12" of the bearer until the end of the phase. Does not affect the bearer since the buff happens after the bearer makes their attacks.

*'''Bloodsaint's Shield''': Enemy Wizards within 6" of the bearer subtract -1 from casting rolls.

*'''Standard of the Crimson Keep''': Missile weapons shot at the bearer subtract -1 from hit rolls.

*'''Shard of Grave-Sand''': At the start of the hero phase, the bearer crushes the Shard and adds +1 to Deathless Minions rolls for friendly units wholly within 12". Once per game.

*'''Fragment of the Keep''': Enemy units within 6" of the bearer subtract -1 from wound rolls. Extremely good because all of your units want to be in melee all the time and it's an AOE debuff that can affect multiple enemy units.

*'''The Red Casket''': At the start of your charge phase, you can add +3 to your charge rolls. Once per game.

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====Avengorii====

Monstrous looking vampire-centaurs that only feed on the blood of great beasts. They get battleline zombie dragons and terrorgheist and appropriately have a heavy lean to these monsters.

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

=====Traits=====
*'''Cursed Abominations''': {{AOSKeyword|Terrorgheists}} and {{AOSKeyword|Zombie Dragons}} get to have a mutation. You get 1 per army, and 1 more per battalion you take.

*'''Monstrous Might''': Subtract 1 from wound rolls against your monsters in melee unless the opponent is also a monster. This should help keep your big guys alive for a little longer than normal.

*'''Unstoppable Nightmares''': In the combat phase you can pick one of your monsters to fight at the top bracket. Each monster can only do this once per battle, so having a bunch of monsters is going to be good.

=====Command Traits=====
*'''An Eye for An Eye''': +1 damage until the end of the phase if this model is damaged. Really solid on the Vengorian Lord.

*'''Master of Retaliation''': At the start of the combat phase roll a dice for every enemy unit within 3 of the general. 5+ you take a mortal wound, and can only attack this general in that phase after the general has already fought this phase. This is... weird. It protects you from attacking until you attack, so it makes you want to have him in with a unit to soak damage.

*'''Unhinged Rampager''': Reroll charges for the general. Boring but useful.

=====Artifacts=====
* '''Breath of the Void Maw:''' Once per battle, in your hero phase, you can pick 1 enemy unit within 6" of the bearer that is visible to them and roll a dice. On a 3+, that unit suffers D6 mortal wounds.
* '''Ghorvar’s Collar:''' Once per battle, at the start of the combat phase, you can say that the bearer will don Ghorvar’s collar. If you do so, you can re-roll wound rolls of 1 for attacks made by the bearer in that phase.
* '''The Furious Crown:''' Once per battle, at the start of your charge phase, you can say that the bearer will unleash the fury of the crown. If you do so, after the bearer makes a charge move in that phase, you can pick 1 enemy unit within 1" of the bearer and roll a number of dice equal to the charge roll for that charge move. For each 5+, that enemy unit suffers 1 mortal wound.

=====Cursed Mutations=====
*'''Maddening Hunger''': Once per turn, at the start of the combat phase, you can pick 1 enemy model with a Wounds characteristic of 1 that is within 3" of this model. If you do so, that enemy model is slain and you can heal 1 wound allocated to this model.
*'''Urges of Atrocity''': Once per battle, this model can run and still charge later in the same turn.
*'''Nullblood Construct''': Re-roll successful casting rolls for enemy {{AOSKeyword|Wizards}} within 9" of this model.
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====Vyrkos====

Bestial Fantasy Russian Vampires who run with the pack, especially dire wolves. This is the kind of army that wants plenty of heroes to buff their humanoid and lupine zombies alongside the kind of tactics that wolves would use.

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

=====Traits=====
*'''The Strength of the Pack is the Wolf''': {{AOSKeyword|Vyrkos Deadwalker}} and {{AOSKeyword| Vyrkos Deathrattle}} units within 9" of a {{AOSKeyword|Vyrkos Vampire Heroes}} get +1 to their wound rolls.
*'''The Strength of the Wolf is the Pack''': Those same {{AOSKeyword|Vyrkos Vampire Hero Wizards}} get to reroll cast rolls.

=====Command Traits=====
*'''Pack Alpha''': The general gets to use of their command abilities for free once per turn. Probably the strongest choice and pretty good in an army that will have a lot of command abilities to choose from.
*'''Driven by Deathstench''': You can re-roll charge rolls for friendly {{AOSKeyword|Vyrkos Dynasty}} units wholly within 9" of this general. Also good.
*'''Kin of the Wolf''': Once per battle, at the end of your movement phase, you can say that this general will summon a pack of Dire Wolves to the battlefield. If you do so, you can add 1 unit of up to 5 {{AOSKeyword|Dire Wolves}} to your army. Set up that unit wholly within 9" of this general and more than 9" from all enemy units. Fluffy but Radukar the Beast is simply better at it.
*'''Hunter's Snare''': If this general contests an objective, the number of models this general counts as is equal to their Wounds characteristic.
*'''Spoor Trackers''': At the start of your hero phase, friendly {{AOSKeyword|Vyrkos Dynasty Deadwalker}} units wholly within 9" of this general can make a normal move of up to 3" (they cannot run). Give it to a general that can keep up with their wolves (unless a horde of fast walking zombies is what you want).
*'''United by Blood''': This general can attempt to unbind 1 spell in the enemy hero phase in the same manner as a {{AOSKeyword|Wizard}}. If this general is already a {{AOSKeyword|Wizard}}, they can attempt to unbind 1 extra spell in the enemy hero phase. May see some use in small games.

=====Artifacts=====
* '''Ulfenkarnian Phylactery:''' Friendly {{AOSKeyword|Soulblight Gravelords}} units are affected by the Deathless Minions battle trait whilst they are wholly within 18" of the bearer instead of 12". Give it to a Necromancer sitting behind your line to grant greater flexibility to other heroes or give it to a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon or Wight King leading your more mobile units on the flank.
* '''Cloak of the Night Prowler:''' The bearer can pile in an extra 3" when they make a pile-in move. Situational, but may occasionally allow your flying Vampire Lord to hunt an enemy Wizard behind the enemy line ~~(remember that you have to move closer to the closest enemy model though).~~ In 3.0 you have to end as close to the **unit** as when you started. Not the model
* '''Sangsyron:''' Pick 1 of the bearer’s melee weapons. If the bearer made a charge move in the same turn, add D3 to the Attacks characteristic of that weapon until the end of that turn. Better on a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon.
* '''Vilnas’ Fang:''' Once per battle, in your charge phase, you can say that the bearer will be imbued with Vilnas’ stealth. If you do so, until the end of that phase, add 1 to charge rolls for the bearer for each other friendly {{AOSKeyword|Vyrkos Dynasty Vampire Hero}} on the battlefield. Might be OK on turn 1 if you have a coterie of Vampires and a priority target.
* '''Terminus Clock:''' Once per battle, at the start of the enemy hero phase, you can say that the bearer will stop the Terminus Clock. If you do so, until the end of that phase, subtract 1 from casting rolls for enemy {{AOSKeyword|Wizard}}. Will help you shut down one enemy magic phase.
* '''Standard of the Ulfenwatch:''' Once per battle, at the start of the hero phase, you can say that the bearer will raise the standard of the Ulfenwatch. If you do so, until the end of that turn, each time your opponent spends a command point, roll a dice. On a 5+, you receive 1 extra command point. Pass, until AoS 3.0 brings more command points to the game.

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===Spell Lores===

There are two spell lores to pick from, one for your necromancers and the two Mortarchs, and one for your vampires, with Nagash getting all of them. There is also an additional spell, Invigorating Aura, that ALL your wizards get for free, and may be cast by any number of spell casters in a turn.

* '''Invigorating Aura:''' Casting Value 8. Pick 1 {{AOSKeyword|Summonable}} unit wholly within 18" of the caster. You can heal up to 3 wounds, or return slain models that have a combined wounds characteristic of 3 or less to it. Add +1 to the casting roll for each hero on the battlefield. No unit can benefit from this more than once per turn. Even more healing options is always welcome, especially with deathly invocation only being used once per turn per unit now.

<tabs>
<tab name="Lore of Vampires">
# '''Blades of Shyish:''' Casting Value 5. Roll a dice for each enemy unit within 12" of the caster. On a 3+ that unit suffers a mortal wound. Not terrible on Vampires with large bases; a VLoZD can cover a lot of enemy units within 12" on a 130mm base.
# '''Spirit Gale:''' Casting Value 5. Pick 1 enemy unit wholly within 18" and roll 2D6. If the roll is greater than that unit's bravery, that unit suffers a number of mortal wounds equal to the difference between the unit's bravery and the 2D6 number rolled. Meant to stack with the army's bravery debuffs; has the potential to be devastating to small elite units.
# '''Soulpike:''' Casting Value 6. Pick a unit wholly within 18". If that unit tries to charge, roll a number of dice equal to the charge value. For each 4+ the unit suffers a mortal wound. The real power of this spell is making your opponent reconsider whether it's worth charging your unit, not the actual damage it inflicts.
# '''Amethystine Pinions:''' Casting Value 5. Add +6" to the caster's Move characteristic, which is great for throwing your vampires into the thick of it from far. Does not stack with Locus of Shyish.
# '''Vile Transference:''' Casting Value 7. Pick an enemy unit within 3". Roll a number of dice equal to the unit's wounds characteristic. For each 6, the target suffers 1 mortal wound, and you heal 1 wound. Looks pretty terrible at first glance, but it's meant to be used on enemy heroes and monsters where you might not trigger The Hunger because you didn't kill the model in a single round of combat.
# '''Amaranthine Orb:''' Casting Value 6. Pick a point within 9" of the caster, and draw an "imaginary straight line" from the point to the caster. Roll a dice for each unit the line passes by, and on a 2+ that unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. Does not work on Death units so feel free to draw a line over your own units. A risky choice in tournaments since you cannot alter your list once it's submitted and Death is a very popular faction.
</tab>
<tab name="Lore of Deathmages">
# '''Overwhelming Dread''': Casting Value 5. One enemy unit within 18" takes a -1 to hit until your next hero phase. A cheap and decent debuff for your hordes.
# '''Fading Vigor''': Casting Value 6. One enemy unit within 18" loses one attack from their melee weapon until your next hero phase. Another debuff, but a lot less generalized. Might be useful for zombies or skeletons, who are expected to last longer and would already topple over from a stiff breeze.
# '''Spectral Grasp''': Casting Value 6. Select one setpiece within 18" of the caster. Until your next hero phase, all enemies within 3" of that setpiece has their movement halved. One of those spells that's really dependent on how the arena is laid out, ranging from crippling to utterly useless.
# '''Prison of Grief''': Casting Value 6. Pick one enemy unit within 6" of the caster; any time this unit plans to move, they must roll a d6 and stay paralyzed on a 6". Great for foiling jukes and making sure that your guys get the first hit in.
# '''Decrepify''': Casting Value 6. Select one enemy hero within 18" of the caster. This hero loses one attack and reduces the damage value by 1 for one melee weapon.
# '''Soul Harvest''': Casting Value 7. All enemy units within 3" suffer d3 mortal wounds immediately. For each hit that isn't saved, you can roll a d6 and restore a wound to the caster on a 5+. Ultimately, this is more of a hinderance than a means to actually clear units. If you're lucky, you might have actually popped a Liberator or a chaos warrior, but you won't actually win a fight against them as a measly necromancer. (But Mannfred might)
</tab>
</tabs>

==Warscrolls==

===Leaders===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Vampire_Lord.pdf Vampire Lord]'''(140 pts): The average vampire is pretty potent for a warrior with flight, a modest weapon with -1 Rend and the ability to heal d3 wounds whenever it kills an enemy model in combat - meaning that you might actually be able to hang on even if you just kill a few models in a mob each turn. It's also a wizard with a command ability that gives one summonable unit extra attacks, which you'll need because those goons are going to go down quickly.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Vampire_Lord_OnZombieDragon.pdf Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon]'''(435 pts): Lost a lot of it's healing ability with Chalice of Blood being gone but The Hunger being buffed to D3 instead of 1 could make up for it. Also lost Dread Knight Command Ability (not sure why it has no Command Ability presume AOS 3.0?), Blood Boil renamed to Curse of Exsanguination but remains the same. As for the buffs Deathlance Charge got a damage increase from 1 to 2 dmg and improved the rend by 1. Ancient shield is now baked into his stats giving VLoZD a +3 Armour Save. All in all VLoZD depending on the Dynasty will still be an absolute killing machine on the charge.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Coven_Throne.pdf Coven Throne]'''(310 pts): You want a hero who does everything? This is the Bad Bitch Wagon. A flying Wizard with mortal wounds, 25 attacks per turn in melee (granted, they aren't the best attacks, but you do get a hell of a lot of them), and an absolutely disgusting command ability. You WILL be using this command ability as often as possible, as it gives a +1 to hit AND wound AND improves armor saves. Plop a Coven throne down next to 10 Blood Knights and they're basically unkillable. Not to mention, the unique spell rolls 3d6 versus a target's bravery, and if they fail they CANNOT target the Coven Throne in any way, with attacks or abilities, until it wears off. The only real downside is that it's an enormous target, and any sane player will throw everything they can into killing the Bad Bitch Wagon.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Bloodseeker_Palanquin_2021.pdf Bloodseeker Palanquin]'''(290 pts): A giant artillery chariot, it's chief weapon instantly deals MWs to all enemies within range (though this range decays with damage), a potent force for an army with no artillery to speak of. The unique spell allows it to suck out more MWs from an enemy hero, and if that hero dies close enough, this can also lead to buffing friendly vampires. Simply put, this shouldn't be your lone hero, it should be accompanying your general (if you're not grabbing a named hero anyways).

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Vengorian_Lord.pdf Vengorian Lord]'''(280 pts): The angrier monster vampire, but actually a bit more defensive than the normal ones or the zombie dragon. Compared to the base vampire, they have an aura for debuffing enemy Rend and a spell to make it easier to harm enemies. If one of your units kills an enemy unit within 12", their command ability helps that unit heal some wounds to keep them running.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Wight_King.pdf Wight King]'''(115 pts): The pure beatstick of the heroes. While the weapon's about as effective as the vampire's, though the wight king also deals a mortal wound on a nat 6 to hit. His command ability's specifically made for skellies, making a {{AOSKeyword|Deathrattle}} unit within 12" re-roll 1s to hit in melee. If you're planning to focus more on the bone-boys, then you'll be just well-served by this guy as you would with a vampire.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Wight_King_On_Steed.pdf Wight King on Skeletal Steed]'''(130 pts): For 15 more points than the footsloger, you get +2 wounds and triple your movement, and swap out the chance at mortal wounds on 6's for more reliably causing them on the charge. Otherwise, he remains the hero of choice for supporting the bonepile and is especially served by joining a pack of black knights.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Necromancer.pdf Necromancer]'''(125 pts): A wizard clad in tatters. Then again, why would he need anymore when he can just have some nearby summonable units soak up the wounds for him. Indeed, he does need them around because aside from summoning them and using them as meatshields, he can also cast a unique spell that can let them fight again, a stark upgrade from the vampire lord's command ability and only casts on a 6+.
====Named Characters====
Nagash and Soulblight named characters with a dynasty (save the Cursed City characters) all have a special rule that allows them to be treated as general in addition to the one that you choose in an army of their dynasty (or any of them for Nagash). You can use this to your advantage if you want to utilize the generic command abilities, or in certain battle plans.
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Nagash.pdf Nagash]'''(970 pts): The supreme lord of the undead has increased in points cost yet again, now a whopping 970. He gets access to all 13 spells in the book in addition to his own, giving him a good versatile selection for him to use, and gives him more flexibility than casters who must select their spell. Beyond that he's largely the same as he always has been, but keep an eye out to which Dynasty that you play him with, as several of their traits are tied to the '''Vampire''' keyword and he will not benefit/proc benefits.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Neferata.pdf Neferata, Mortarch of Blood]''' ('''Legion of Blood''', 365 pts): A lot more direct compared to Manny, and by necessity. Not only can she heal more from killing compared to the average vampire, but she also has a weapon that can insta-kill a model. She also has two tricks that really help her army. First is her command ability, which gives enemy melee attacks within 12" of her -1 to hit with the range now unaffected by how many wounds she takes. Her signature spell also make a friendly unit immune to negative save modifiers; that's right, not rend, but negative save modifiers. Have her cast this and Mystic Shield on Blood Knights for a 2+ unrendable save. This makes her a viable strongpoint for Legion of Blood armies, but also a visible target.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Mannfred_von_Carstein.pdf Mannfred Von Carstein, Mortarch of Night]''' ('''Legion of Night''', 380 pts): The lord of assholes returns, just as dangerous as before. While he's still pretty dangerous between his own weapons and his beastly mount, his role remains being an elusive prick who bounces across the field to pick off the weak bits. Not only can he fly, but he can also redeploy wherever he wants once he's stuck in combat. The moment he kills something with his sword, he can then boost a {{AOSKeyword|Summonable}} unit, and this can stack with his command ability so his lackeys can fight on without his direct intervention.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Prince_Vhordrai_2021.pdf Prince Vhordrai]'''('''Kastelai''', 455 pts): Has had a nerf to Breath of Shyish being a flat 6 MW is now D6 and also now is only usable on a 3+ without the previous modifier of +1 if Vhordrai had slain an enemy model in the previous combat phase. Has had a buff to Bloodlance Charge much the same as VLoZD +1 dmg and added 1 rend and buff to The Hunger being D3 instead of 1. Of note he retains Chalice of Blood which VLoDZ did lose and still retains his Command Ability Fist of Nagash and his Spell Quickblood. Overall Kastelai players may prefer using him over a VLoDZ for the extra few points until AOS 3.0 reveals the new Command Abilities for Generals.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Belladamma_Volga.pdf Belladamma Volga, First of the Vyrkos]'''('''Vyrkos''', 200 pts): Though she can't fly, she's very fast and comes with a whirlwind of attacks thanks to her pet wolves. She's best run with some dire wolves, who can act as her meatshields as well as benefiting from her command ability (which lets them pile in an additional +3", meaning their engagement range is 6"). Also helpful is that she's a powerful wizard with two special spells, one that deals MWs and replaces the slain models with Dire Wolves, and the other making the target friendly unit deal double the hits on a 6+ to hit roll. If you plan on playing her, keep her behind plenty of dire wolves, and grab someone else if you plan on supporting the rest of your legions.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Radukar_The_Wolf.pdf Radukar, The Wolf]'''('''Vyrkos''', 150 pts) now no longer needs to be taken as a complete set with all the other cursed city models so could be brought in on his own. Though a good beatstick you might just be better off just bringing his beast mode variant, as you can't bring them both.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Gorslav_The_Gravekeeper.pdf Radukar, Gorslav the Gravekeeper]'''('''Vyrkos''', 75 pts):

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Torgillius.pdf Torgillius the Chamberlain]'''('''Vyrkos''', 115 pts):

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Watch_Captain_Halgrim.pdf Watch Captain Halgrim]'''('''Vyrkos''', 80 pts):

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Radukar_The_Beast.pdf Radukar, The Beast]'''('''Vyrkos''', 315 pts): Wow what a real melee beatstick this dude is! Can run and charge same turn, 3+/3+ 12 attacks -1 rend 2 dmg or d3 dmg with Piercing Blade (Bloodslick Claws able to do 2x MWs on 6s), pseudo in built Gryph Feather Charm -1 to hit, the generic "The Hunger" all Vampire Lords seem to have now and 12 wounds make him quite tanky as well. His CP abilities are pretty nuts too able to give a bubble of +1 attack to all Soulblight Gravelord units within 18" of him if he made a charge in that turn, notice how it says keyword "Soulblight Gravelords" this actually makes your Blood Knights very frightening with Radukar being able to keep up with them quite nicely being able to run and charge same turn. Summoning 10 Dire Wolves within 12" of him once per battle also quite a neat trick good for outflanking/capturing points but slightly limiting with the 12" bubble and 9" away from enemies. Very amazing points cost for the utility he provides. Also of note Curse City heroes/Radukar the Wolf cannot be in the same army as Radukar the Beasts lore is after Cursed City.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Kritza.pdf Kritza, The Rat Prince]'''('''Vyrkos''', 95 pts): Largely a cheaper Vampire Lord, Kritza trades off a point of armour for an extra wound, and swaps spellcasting for a -1 th hit in melee against him and a rather impressive ability to, when slain, be set up again elsewhere on a 4+ role, making him relatively resilient despite also lacking 'The Hunger'.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Lady_Annika.pdf Annika, The Thirsting Blade]'''('''Vyrkos''', 110 pts): Another lord equivalent, Annika also swaps armor for wound, and her spellcasting for 4+ wound negation and completely healing all wounds when she slays a model instead of d3.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Lauka_Vai.pdf Lauka Vai, The Mother of Nightmares]''' ('''Avengorii''', 285 pts): The new monster as a hero, acting a named vengorian lord. She's very potent, acting as combat superiority between her spell nerfing enemy charges and her aura nerfing enemy rending. She's meant to be crushing the enemy, with a charge bonus like the mounted vampire lord, and the chance to run and charge on the same turn - though this is at the cost of her command ability, which influences friendly monsters.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Prince_Duvalle.pdf Prince Duvalle] & [https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_The_Crimson_Court.pdf The Crimson Court]''' (200 pts): Duvalle is pretty gimped for a vampire, lacking flight or any weapons aside from his sword, though he also comes with a unique spell useful for zeroing in on an enemy unit. His court aren't quite as durable, though one acts as a beef wall and they can effectively hop through terrain so they can kill whoever Duvalle targets.

===Battleline===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Deathrattle_Skeletons.pdf Deathrattle Skeletons]''' (85pts/10, max 30, {{AOSKeyword|Summonable}}): Renamed and remodeled skeletons with mediocre weapons with no rend. Come with the ability to re-roll 1s on their Deathless Minion's checks. Also helping bolster their numbers is the ability to resurrect models slain during the fight phase.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Deadwalker_Zombies.pdf Deadwalker Zombies]''' (115 pts/20, max 60, {{AOSKeyword|Summonable}}): The real disposable fodder, not even getting a save. Fortunately, they have a much larger range to get stuck in and consolidate an additional 3", so they can get stuck in pretty quickly. Also helpful is that they can rise up again from the fight phase very easily on a 2+. They can deal a mortal wound if they roll a nat 6 to hit, and that will help if the enemy in question lacks any sort of protection. However, considering how much of a joke they are in combat, don't expect them to kill much. Alternative opinion: mortal wound on a hit roll of 6 is not a joke. Consider that with 6" pile in it is easy to get large number into combat, with vampire lord buff and/or Radukar buff, a fairly cheap unit of zombies can dish out a scary number of mortal wounds per turn.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Dire_Wolves.pdf Dire Wolves]'''(135 pts/10, max 30, {{AOSKeyword|Summonable}}): These are a solid option, being surprisingly tough with 2 wounds and fast as fuck. Not only are they great at grabbing objectives, but they have the same speed as Blood Knights, making them a suprisingly good option for a Khastelai army. You can also run them with Radukar for some wolf-centric buffs, although it should be noted they don't get buffs from corpse carts anymore. And of course, they're still SUMMONABLE, meaning they get all the same benefits as Skeletons and Zombies. Overall, probably one of the better offensive options for your fodder, although they lack the staying power of Skeletons even with Endless Legions.

===Behemoth===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Terrorgheist.pdf Terrorgheist'''] (Battleline in '''Avengorii''', 305 pts): Big boi, retains the same stats it had before, unfortunately the inability to fish for 6s with Gaping Maw like our '''[[Age_of_Sigmar/Tactics/Death/Flesh-Eater_Courts|FEC]]''' brethren can do kinda makes the points cost potentially not worth it also has no way of healing without investing in Mutations in Avengorii and costs 5 more pts than a Royal Terrorgheist. Interestingly is battleline in Avengorii Dynasty.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Zombie_Dragon.pdf Zombie Dragon'''] (Battleline in '''Avengorii''', 295 pts): A massive monstrosity, now without a vampire riding on top. It retains its multitude of attacks as well as its breath weapon, ideal for dissolving mobs. Of course, its issue is that it's pretty flimsy with only a 4+ save protecting it. Even if it's battleline, this is a hefty investment without any way to ensure its survival.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Mortis_Engine.pdf Mortis Engine]''' (200 pts): For when you want a bloodseker palanquin but lack the spot for another hero or need more mage support. This retains the wail of the damned for popping through the enemy mobs, but is instead more for boosting magic rather than vampires, as all wizards add a +1 for casting within 12" of this engine. It also has a once per game power to release another blast that deals MWs to those within range of it.

===Other===

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Grave-Guard.pdf Grave Guard]'''(Battleline with a '''Wight King''' General, 140 pts/10, max 30, {{AOSKeyword|Summonable}}): Essentially tougher skeletons with a full command group that enables them to charge at 6 or more. While they can't reinforce themselves in combat, they have the option between either a sword and shield (giving them a 4+ save) or a big sword with damage 2, and both weapons deal mortal wounds on a unmodified 6 (wound roll). Since they're still summonable, you can make them a bit more reliable as a bunker against archers.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_The_Sepulchral_Guard.pdf The Sepulchral Guard]''' (80 pts): The Shadespire warband. Though you have plenty of models, you're not going to get much out of them since most of the weapons lack any form of Rend and even a nat 6 to hit just deals an additional hit. Really, they're just a more easily maintained pack of skeletons that can't be summoned. As long as the leader remains, he can raise d3 of his boys each hero phase.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Black_Knights.pdf Black Knights]'''(Battleline in '''Legion of Blood''', 120 pts/5, max 30, {{AOSKeyword|Summonable}}). Your skeletal cavalry, equipped with a full command group and 0 rend weapons. Fortunately, they can deal mortal wounds on the charge, which is what they'll rely on to make the most out of their attacks.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Corpse_Cart.pdf Corpse Cart with Unholy Lodestone]''' (80 pts): A mobile support unit for your necromancers and goons. All of your wizards add +1 to their casting rolls for being '''wholly''' within 12" of this cart, which you'll need because your army depends on those spells. Your zombies also pick up a 6+ save for being within 12" of the cart, the which you'll probably not be needing.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Corpse_Cart_Balefire_Brazier.pdf Corpse Cart with Balefire Braizer]''' (80 pts): While the Unholy Lodestone makes the cart into a support unit, this is more of a debuff unit. Enemy wizards suffer a -1 to casting for being within 18" of this fiend, and enemies within 9" of this cart suffer -1 to wound in melee - not much against dedicated bruisers, but it can be annoying for otherwise normal foot soldiers like Freeguild.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Fell_Bats.pdf Fell Bats]''' (75 pts/3, max 9, {{AOSKeyword|Summonable}}): Roving irritants and screens. They're about as flimsy as zombies with their only redeeming factor being their mobility. Not only can they fly, but they can also retreat and charge at the same turn, making them annoying to catch in a crowded space. Launch a kamikaze attack with them on this big Lumineth archers bunker to have them lose one precious shooting phase.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Vargheists.pdf Vargheists]''' (Battleline in '''Legion of Night''', 155 pts/3, max 9): Some furious monsters that come with -1 Rend so they can at least rip through armor and focus more upon overwhelming enemies with their swings. However, they're glass cannons with only a 5+ save to protect them. Fortunately, you can throw them in reserves and then drop them at a later turn, primed and ready to lash out at whatever they come across.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Blood_Knights.pdf Blood Knights]'''(Battleline in '''Kastelai Dynasty''', 195 pts/5, max 15): The moment we've all been waiting for; Blood Knights, bane of The world-that-was, are reborn in fabulous plastic! Some of the most iconic heavy calvary since Bretonnia got squatted, these guys are both tough and hard hitting, with a 3+ save, 3 wounds and vampire kill/regen, accompanied by quality 3/3+/3+/-1/1 attacks that gets +1 damage on the charge, (along with their mounts trampling, but those rarely amount to much in the long run). They can also go over units in their movement phase, if they start within 3" of one and only over those with 3 or less wounds and without mounts (so for example, Orruk Brutes are game but Kavalos Deathriders aren't) and deal d3 mortal wounds on a 2+ if they do. They are expensive, but worth investing in if you need a good hammer. Special mention should go to Kastelai Blood Knights, who can outflank if set up in reserves.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Kosargi_Nitghtgaurd.pdf Kosargi Nightguard]''' ('''Vyrkos''', 80 pts/2, max 4):

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Vagskyr.pdf Vargskyr]''' ('''Vyrkos''', 115 pts): Essentially an alternative to Vargheists. While it still only has a 5+ save...it now has a 5+ ward, and double the HP. It gets 5 attacks, 4 Vargheist equivalent, and one D3. What really makes it? 3d6 charge roll. The Vargheists are meant to be dropped in as a threat....this is meant as a hunter, preferably screened, that then attacks from out of range and just butcher people. Plus, it's cheaper...and no longer Unique.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Vyrkos_Blood-Born.pdf Vyrkos Blood-Born]''' ('''Vyrkos''', 125pts/3, max 5): Glass cannons, with a 6+ save that's basically worthless...but a nice 5+ ward. Piercing blades get 9 attacks with full people. 3+, 3+, D3, and rend -1. Like Vargheists? They exist as a harrasser. Unfortunately, they're not as good as Vargheists.

==Battalions==
They didn't even try this time around, just 4 battalions and one mega battalion. Not even special Battalions for each Bloodline. It's pretty clear why they're so lackluster now that 3.0 rules are out: Warscroll Battalions are no longer allowed in matched play. Sucks, but at least you're not really losing anything important, unlike your flesh-eater cousins.

===Red Banquetters===
'''''2+ each of Vampire Lords and Blood knights, plus either a Coven Throne or Bloodseeker Palanquin (100 pts)'''''

'''The Blood is the Life''': Units here regain D3 wounds per hero phase.

===Deathstench Drove===
'''''1-2 Corpse Carts, and 2 each Deadwalker Zombies and Direwolves (100pts)'''''

'''Nexus of Malevolence''': Any of the battalion's units wholly within 12" of a corpse cart get an extra attack with their melee weapons.
===Deathmarch===
'''''A Wight King, 1-3 Grave Guard, 1-3 Black Knights, and 2+ Deathrattle Skeletons (120 pts)'''''

'''March of the Dead''': The Wight King chooses 3 units wholly within 12" from this battalion to gain 3" movement.
===Fellwing Flock===
'''''2-3 Vargheists, and 2-3 Fell Bats (80 Pts)'''''

'''Swooping Predators''': Battalion units get +1 to hit rolls on a turn they charged.

===Legion of Shyish===
'''''Generic all Battalions 1x Red Banqueters, 1x Deathmarch, 1x Fellwing Flock, 1x Deathstench Drove (60 pts)'''''

'''Horror Unending''': No longer required to roll a d3 for Deathly Invocation will always be 3.

==Army Building==
Given its contents, and depending on the bloodlines that you are going to play, Start Collecting! Flesh-Eater Counts is once again one of the best products [[GeeDubs]] has to offer. Get as many as you need or want for you Battleline Zombie Dragons, Terrorgheists or Vhargheists. While you can't use the ghouls, they have the same base size as zombies, and look zombie-ish...

At the moment of writing this, if your local store still has a Start Collecting! Skeleton Horde, or an even rarer Battleforce with them, you can grab them and get you Mortarch of choice (Mannfred or Neferata) while getting extra Black Knights and Skellies, who also happen to be Battleline choices. Alternatively, if you can find a Start Collecting! Malignants box, you can build your choice of Bloodseeker Palanquin, Coven Throne or Mortis Engine, as well as some Black Knights; you won't be able to use the Spirit Hosts in the army though, unless you take them as Nighthaunt allies, or use them for kitbashing parts.

Some early purchases to consider:
*Some good endless spells are invaluable, especially in a faction with as much magic as SBGL, and a Horrorghast stacks nicely with Reanimated Horrors for a decent, cheap leadership bomb of -3 to 4. Lauchon the Soulseeker is another excellent choice as you don't mind losing a single zombie or skeleton but LOVE the free movement.

==Allies==
*'''Drogg Fort-Kicka''': The Mega-Gargant allocated as an ally for '''DEATH''' armies, he's a big smashy monster with the extra ability to deal out some easy mortal wounds to a bigger unit, and most importantly, the ability to destroy terrain. This includes faction terrain, so send him after that lumineth waterfall and the wizard sitting on it, the priest standing on an altar of blood, or knock a ghoul king off his throne.
**525 is a high cost for an allied monster, though it does make for a good fluffy choice in the monster heavy Avengorii Dynasty.
*'''Nighthaunt''': Sadly, since they rely on 'summonable', and most of your abilities are specifically SOULBLIGHT summonable...not actually a good deal. Still, they have some very nice units...
*'''Flesh Eater Courts''': You share units, they have some nice ghouls that in a pinch can 'counts as' zombies, and they have a powerful wizard AND a spell that buffs the heck out of them? A very nice choice.

==Tactics==

{{Age_of_Sigmar_Tactics}}

Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Death/Ossiarch Bonereapers

2021-10-20T10:28:50Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:2856:4F7E:4B0F:5F97: /* Cons */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Ossiarch Bonereapers|Logo=Immortis-WC2.jpg|Alliance=Death|Motto=The Skeleton War is upon us! We ride against the fuckboys!}}

Get ready to send a chill down your opponent's spine, for this is no time to be humerus. Nagash is rising, and he has a bone to pick with the Mortal Realms!

==Why play Ossiarch Bonereapers?==
* They're SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS!
* You liked playing super-elite units like Blood Knights? Well you now play a different elite FACTION!
* You miss the Tomb Kings and this is as close as it gets for now with a vulture being called a Carrion, undead constructs and a war machine that hurls flaming skulls.
* They collect protection payments of bone like a skeletal version of the Mafia.
* Part of the reason for their existence is to troll Sigmarines.
* You want a sneak peek at what civilization would be like if Nagash wins.

===Pros===
* [[Awesome|'''Immunity to Battleshock!''']]. Not just bravery 10, the Bonereapers do not take battleshock tests. They have no guts, but they're braver than everyone else.
* Excellent at debuffing their enemies in various ways, especially their bravery (spells, Morghasts...)
* Conversely, they have numerous ways to buff themselves.
* Very durable, and various ways to boost that to the point of being arguably the most durable army in the game.
* Bonereaper legions bring awesome upgrades to your skellies. Want to reduce bravery and stockpile RDP? go Mortis Praetorians. Want to worsen the enemy's rend? go Petrifex Elite.
* Point-for-point, they have some of the strongest warscrolls of the game as few units can beat their ossiarch counterpart (Mortek Guard and Kavalos Deathriders are strong contenders for best battleline units in the game).
* They use the Relentless Discipline Points mechanic (also called RDP) instead of Command Points. Things that screw with CP won't hinder them from using Command Abilities.
* [[Awesome|In 3.0 they are the only army that can use command abilities more than once in the same phase due to the relentless discipline points mechanic]].
* They're a Death army that isn't reliant on Heroes. Unit champions have the HEKATOS keyword, which gives a smaller radius of 6+ Deathless saves and allows them to use RDP abilities. Certain elite units are also HEKATOS, so they can function completely independently.
* If you're sick of those magic-heavy armies like Tzeentch's forces, the Lizardmen and the Lumineth, the Null Myriad Bonereaper Legion is for you with army-wide +5 immunity to spells that can be buffed.
* Almost everything is 3+ to hit, with various ways to boost it.
* With the Crematorians Bonereaper Legion, your guys can take enemies down with them when/if they're slain nearby - the more they attack you, the more they die! [[Awesome|Rinse and repeat, since you can bring back slain models!]]
* Nagash and [[Arkhan the Black|bro-tier mini-Nagash]] are part of the army roster; [[Awesome|they also benefit from keywords and Battle Traits]].
* Numerous characters and a unit that can heal anything in your army - including themselves - or bring back dead models from units.
* Our Endless Spells are awesome. Not only that, they're Bonded, so no friendly fire and they're always under the casting player's control. Also no more -1 to cast from the old "Soul-linked" rule.
* If you like bone puns...

===Cons===
* Most of your army is slow. As a result, shooting armies can really hurt Bonereapers (especially the Kharadron Overlords), though there are a few ways to take the sting off.
* Shooting is almost non-existent. Apart from the amazing Mortek Crawler, you only have the Gothizzar Harvester's shooting and Nagash's laser eyes.
* There were several sweet generic Command Point abilities added... that Bonereapers alone are unable to use due to the RDP mechanic (the price Bonereapers pay for being the only ones able to spam CA now). Also, you still gain a regular command point each turn which you can't use... but your opponent can steal.
* The army's quite straightforward and lacking in useful tricks. There's no summoning, deepstrike or special combat mechanics like striking twice. Any decent opponent knows what you will do. There is a teleportation mechanic, but it's very gimmicky, limited and requires a lot of cunning to get something out of it.
* Limited means to deal Mortal Wounds. Ossiarchs tend to bounce on really armored units if stalkers aren't around. This can be mitigated with MW dealers including the Crematorians Legion and anyone with "Kavalos" in their name, but still relies a lot on the dice.
* Magic is average and mostly around buffing allies and debuffing enemies. Sure, Nagash and Arkhan are there, but the magic lore is still unimpressive, especially compared to real magical factions (looking at you, Tzeentch, Lumineth and Seraphon).
* Nagash is overcosted. Despite what he brings, his points cost is way too high.
* No allies apart from the Mega-Gargant Drogg; their foreign policy makes the Daughters of Khaine look like the Stormcast Eternals (can still have mercenaries though - unless you bring Nagash or Arkhan).
* If you know the Greek language, it'll be hard to take any unit or hero with "Kavalos" in their name seriously.
* Hope you like bone puns.

==Rulebooks==
{{AOSRulebooks|tome=Ossiarch Bonereapers}}

==Allegiance Abilities==
===Battle Traits===
*'''Ranks Unbroken by Dissent:''' [[Awesome|Do not take battleshock tests for friendly OSSIARCH BONEREAPER units]]. Yes, you read that right, immunity to Battleshock. Your enemy's only options are killing, flee or be killed. In addition, you do not generate Command Points. Instead, you generate Relentless Discipline Points at the start of each battle round but lose them when you generate your next batch (they should be all spent before that happens).
**Generate a Relentless Discipline Point if:
*** EACH {{AOSKeyword|Ossiarch Bonereapers Hero}} - 1
*** EACH Warscroll Battalion - 1
*** EACH Friendly {{AOSKeyword|LIEGE}} - 1
*** If KATAKROS is the general and on the battlefield - 3
*** Roll a die for each UNIT with the {{AOSKeyword|OSSIARCH BONEREAPERS}} keyword, including the previous {{AOSKeyword|HEROES}}. On a 6, you get 1.
**Unfortunately, you can't use the Generic or Scenario command abilities (rerolling Run, charge, shooting rolls) but you have a ton of CAs that will Guzzle your DP.

*'''Deathless Warriors''': It's Deathless Minions from Legions of Nagash, albeit with a rename. It allows you to ignore wounds and mortal wounds on a 6+. However, you'll be able to get more mileage out of it than other Death armies, as any unit wholly within 12" of a {{AOSKeyword|BONEREAPERS Hero}} or 6" of a Hekatos (i.e: the leader for your battlelines) count for the ability, removing the need to have your Heroes babysitting your units. Units that are {{AOSKeyword|HEKATOS}} (elite bone warriors units) always benefit from the ability, allowing them to strike out entirely unsupported.

*'''Unstoppable Advance (CA)''': In Movement Phase. Pick 1 unit within X" of a hero or hekatos. +3" movement. It can still run OR charge. You cannot pick the same unit more than once per phase.

===Command Traits===

====Liege-Kavalos====
*'''Ancient Knowledge:''' While on the battlefield, get an extra RDP at the start of the battle round.
*'''Immortal Ruler:''' Deathless Warrior trait works on a 5+ for this general. Always good.
*'''Dark Acolyte:''' Becomes a 1 cast/unbind {{AOSKeyword|WIZARD}} with one Mortisan Lore spell.
*'''Peerless Warrior:''' Melee wound rolls of 6 deal an extra mortal wound.
*'''Hatred of the Living:''' +1 to hit in melee (including their mount) against non-{{AOSKeyword|DEATH}} units.
*'''Life-stealer:''' If they kill any models in combat, heal 1d3 wounds at the end of that phase.

====Mortisan====
*'''Ancient Knowledge:''' While on the battlefield, get an extra RDP at the start of the battle round.
*'''Immortal Ruler:''' Deathless Warrior trait works on a 5+ for this general. Always good.
*'''Dire Ultimatum:''' -2 to Bravery for enemies within 12". Although it requires coordinating a couple of units, you can cause a MASSIVE debuff to enemy Bravery by combining this and the Scroll of Command (see below).
*'''Grave-sand Bones:''' Knows an extra spell from the Lore of the Mortisans.
*'''Oathbreaker Curse:''' Every time your opponent gets a CP, on a d6 roll of 6 it is lost. Obviously Katakros does it better, but this does work more than once per turn if your enemy has CP-generating abilities.
*'''Soul Energy:''' You can re-roll casting, unbinding and dispelling rolls, but whenever you do you take a mortal wound.

===Artefacts===
*'''Relics of the Kavaloi (Liege-Kavalos)'''
#'''Mind Blade:''' Pick one of bearer’s melee weapons. If unmodified hit roll is a 6, and target is a hero, opponent loses a Command Point and the hero can’t use command abilities for the rest of the battle. Apart from only working on sixes this is incredible.
#'''Lordly Phylactery:''' Once per battle start of any phase, gain D3 RD points.
#'''Scroll of Command:''' Subtract 2 Bravery from enemy units within 6” of bearer. Only really recommended if you're going for Mortis Praetorians (see their Legion description for more information). Although, a Liege-Kavalos with this, with a Mortisan general with the Dire Ultimatum command trait nearby drops enemy Bravery by a whopping -4!
#'''Grave-sand Boneplates:''' At the end of the combat phase, roll dice for each enemy unit within 3”, on a 4+ that unit suffers a mortal wound. Mediocre.
#'''Marrow Pact:''' Once per battle, in hero phase pick one enemy unit within 6” of bearer. On a 3+, unit suffers D3 mortal wounds, heal the same number of wounds.
#'''Helm of the Ordained:''' Add one to hit rolls for attacks made by {{AOSKeyword|BONEREAPERS}} units and mounts while wholly within 12” of the bearer. One of the best choices for a Liege-Kavalos if including Bonereaper Legion weapons, otherwise it's the best unless you have a very specific playstyle in mind.

*'''Tools of the Boneshaper (Boneshapers)'''
#'''Artisan's key:''' Before using the bearer’s bone shaper ability, roll a dice and on a 4+ either you can pick two units instead of one, or the same unit twice within 6”. The best of the three by a narrow margin.
#'''Lode of Saturation:''' At the start of the Hero phase, choose a unit within 1”, deathless warrior battle trait on 5+ instead of 6.
#'''Crafter Gems:''' Hero phase, heal up to 3 wounds. Once the total wounds healed in the battle is 3 you cannot use it any longer.

*'''Treasures of the Soulmason (Soulmasons)'''
#'''Gothizzar Cartouche:''' +1 to melee wound rolls for units wholly within 9” of bearer if target does not have Death keyword. The best option if you're not facing {{AOSKeyword|DEATH}} armies.
#'''Soul Reservior:''' +2 to cast, but if casting roll is unmodified 10+ artifact cannot be used again.
#'''Thorne of Dzendt:''' +2 to wounds and +2 attacks for mount. A good all around choice, especially for keeping your chair bound wizard safe.

*'''Weapons of the Soulreaper (Soulreapers)'''
#'''Luminscythe:''' minus 1 for hit rolls targeting bearer. +1 casting rolls for bearer for Lore of Mortisans or warscroll spell.
#'''Vial of Binding:''' Once per battle in hero phase, pick enemy model within 12" of bearer and roll a D6. If roll is equal or greater than the wound characteristic they are slain. The best choice if you take a Soul Reaper, and the obvious choice for offensive.
#'''Guardian Reavesoul:''' Negate wound on a 5+ instead of 6+ for deathless minions. Can shatter to negate last wound if about to die. If you're not taking Vial of Binding, this is the go-to choice.

===Spell Lore===
#'''Arcane Command:''' CV5. Gain D3 Relentless Discipline Points. Nice if you've got an extra spell, or had some bad luck with your rolls.
# '''Empower Nadirite Weapons: ''' CV5. Pick 1 {{AOSKeyword|BONEREAPERS}} unit wholly within 24" and visible. Until the start of your next hero phase, the units Nadirite Weapons ability explodes on a 5+ instead of 6, or 4+ if its a {{AOSKeyword|DEATHRIDERS}} attacking with spears after charging.
# '''Protection of Nagash: ''' CV6. 5+ FNP for the caster. If any wounds get through your FNP, and the caster isn't slain, remove them from the battlefield after all wounds have been allocated, and place them anywhere on the board 9" away from enemy models then dispel this spell. Great for getting important casters out of sticky situations, or absolutely hilarious on Nagash if you wanna fuck with your opponent.
# '''Reinforce Battle-shields: ''' CV6. Pick 1 {{AOSKeyword|BONEREAPERS}} unit armed with Shields or Nadirite Battle-shields wholly within 24" and visible. Until the start of your next hero phase, they gain a 5+ FNP but only for mortal wounds. Pair this with a gothizzar harvester, the reroll saves command ability for some truly unkillable troops.
# '''Drain Vitality: ''' CV6. Pick 1 enemy unit within 18" and visible. Until your next hero phase, reroll unmodified hit and save rolls of 6 made by that unit. Situational, it's overall less useful than the other options available. However armies with widespread mechanics revolving around rolling those 6's will hate this, such as the [[Lumineth Realm Lords|Lu-methheads]], the [[Nighthaunt|ghosties]] and [[Daughters of Khaine|Morathi's cheerleaders]].
# '''Mortal Contract: ''' CV7. Pick 1 enemy unit within 18" and visible. For the rest of the '''BATTLE''', roll a die at the end of any phase that the unit dealt damage to a friendly {{AOSKeyword|BONEREAPERS}} unit (but only if it was with an attack). On 3+, the cursed unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. Lawdy, this is probably the most obnoxious spell we can sling, if you can remember who you marked the entire game. Great into low unit-count armies.

===Endless Spells===

An important distinction to note between these Endless Spells and others that exist is that the ones presented below have the '''Soul-Linked''' ability, meaning they always move before Endless Spells without the Soul-Linked ability and are controlled by the casting Player only, meaning your opponent cannot control these Endless Spells to mess with your plans. However on the flip side, the Wizard who cast the spell has a -1 to his casting rolls and cannot cast anymore soul-linked spells while their soul-linked endless spell is up. If the caster dies then the soul-linked spell is also dispelled, so keep him alive if you want the spells to last.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Bone-tithe-Shrieker-en.pdf Bone-tithe Shrieker]''': 30 points, Gives -1 bravery, and +1 to be hit to enemy units within 12" of it. Simple, but effective. Place it just in front of your battle line to make the enemy think twice, or use it to make holding an objective less than desirable.
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Soulstealer-Carrion-en.pdf Soulstealer Carrion]''': 20 points, Gives LOS to the Soul-Linked wizard. You won't be taking it for this. Instead, you'll be taking it for it's actual ability: Soul Thief. Roll a D6 at the end of each Phase if any Chaos, Order, or Destruction models were slain within 6" of it. On a 1 or 2, the Wizard this Endless Spell is Soul-Linked with heals a wound. On a 3 or 4, it does 1 Mortal Wound on each Chaos, Destruction or Order unit within 6" of it, and on a 5-6, it does both effects. AMAZINGLY fun, if you're not playing into Death, so do with that as you will. The COMBO with this spell is to cast it near a horde unit, snipe a model with the nexus in the hero phase, and then also shoot some stuff in the shooting phase with the crawler. This has the potential to produce a multi-phase aoe mortal wound pulsing engine.
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Nightmare-Predator-en.pdf The Nightmare Predator]''': 40 points, Your standard causes Mortal Wounds Endless Spell (dealing D3 Mortal Wounds to all non-bonecasts within 3" of it), but with a twist - when cast, pick an enemy Hero to be marked as it's prey. If this spell gets within range of them, it spits out d6 mortal wounds instead. For it's dirt cheap point cost, this is almost auto-include.

==<span style=color:Gray>Famous Legions</span>==

For awhile the best Legion was Petrifex Elite, by far. But due to Petrifex spam and the resulting complaints GW jumped them with something even they couldn't take - the nerf-bat. Oh, the old gray Petrifex, it ain't what it used to be... until 3rd edition, where Petrifex gained the ability to reduce rend as a consolation prize. And given that Mystic Shield now gives a +1 to saves bonus... Guess who's back, back again. Petrifex's back, tell a friend. Now it's more even with a wider range of strategies.

<big>Mortis Praetorians</big>
*'''Battle Traits''': '''The Dread Legion''':-1 bravery to enemy units within 12".
*'''Command Trait''': '''Katakros' Chosen''': Once per battle if the general is on the Battlefield, gain D3 RDP points.
*'''Command Ability''': '''Counter-strike''': Pick a friendly unit Wholly within 6" of a HEKATOS or Wholly 12" of a HERO. If charged, they can re-roll hits.
*'''Artefact of Power''': '''Artificer's Blade''': Pick one of the bearer's melee weapons. It has -3 Rend.
The poster boys, the jack-of-all-trades and the best choice if you’re bringing Katakros, otherwise it's decent but not an auto-take. Plus other death armies capitalize on "fear-bombing" a bit more effectively (looking at you, Nighthaunt). Also recommended to take Zandtos if you insist on a Liege-Kavalos unless you have another plan in mind.

<big>Petrifex Elite</big>
*'''Battle Traits''': '''Unstoppable Juggernauts''': Worsen the Rend characteristic of weapons that target Petrifex Elite units by 1, to a minimum of ‘-’.
*'''Command Trait''': '''Mighty Archaeossian''': +2 Wounds.
*'''Command Ability''': '''Bludgeon''': In the combat phase, give a unit +1 rend on one weapon, can't stack.
*'''Artefact of Power''': '''Godbone Armor''': The first wound allocated to the bearer in each '''phase''' is negated.
Makes your entire army (including Nagash) mostly tanky, gives your commander a few extra wounds for a chuckle, lets you put some durability on a caster via the relic (especially useful if you're bringing some Endless Spells), AND comes with a command ability that makes you killy, just to throw your opponent for a loop. Pre-nerf it added +1 to everyone's armor save and was THE choice of Bonereaper Legion. It went from great to meh then good. One of the best choices, but no longer the auto-take.

<big>Null Myriad</big>
*'''Battle Traits''': '''Eldritch Nulls''': Ignore the effects of spells on a 5+.
*'''Command Trait''': '''Unsettling and Sinister''': -1 to Bravery in 3", and -1 to be hit during combat phase.
*'''Command Ability''': '''Holdfast''': Make the battle trait work on a 2+ instead of 5+.
*'''Artefact of Power''': '''<s>Cheese</s> <s>Chad</s> Baleful Blade''': Pick 1 of the bearer's weapons. [[Awesome|Saves can't be made against attacks from this weapon and wounds can't be negated]] (though they can later be healed).
The magic choice. Their innate rules mean you can focus more on offensive magic, and the Artefact is perfect for any combat character... but is obviously best on a Liege-Kavalos. One of the best choices, but if your meta is very magic heavy this is clearly the best. Make those six hallowheart battlemages cry because they can do nothing to you (and then notice that you can't probably do much to them either, so the battle is probably a void of winds of magic).

<big>Ivory Host</big>
*'''Battle Traits''': At the start of each combat phase, any IVORY HOST unit within 6" of an IVORY HOST <i>model</i> that is wounded is subject to rage for that phase. While subject to rage, get +1 to hit, but -1 save. Dependent on having damaged multi-wound models nearby and can potentially really mess your own forces up, but can lead to you hitting very hard. Fortunately, as it's only for the combat phase, you don't have to worry about it when you're being shot at.
*'''Command Trait''': Every hero phase your general gains 1 attack for all his melee weapons on a 5+. Best to have a Liege-Kavalos as your general for this.
*'''Command Ability''': Cancel the -1 save from the battle trait. This is what makes the Ivory host interesting, letting you pull some shenanigans with a screen unit or pulling some clutch damage out at a vital time.
*'''Artefact of Power''': '''Beastbound Blade''': One of the bearer's melee weapons gets +1 attack.
The combat choice, though dependent on good dice rolls, positioning and carefully picking your fights. Decent in and of itself, but very situational and the worst choice crunch-wise compared to the others.

<big>Stalliarch Lords</big>
*'''Battle Traits''': Run and charge. Pretty good for increasing your threat range on a slow army.
*'''Command Trait''': Pick an enemy hero within 3" at the start of the combat phase. Gain +1 to hit against it but -1 to anything else. Pretty situational and lackluster.
*'''Command Ability''': Retreat and charge in the same turn. Good for repositioning or getting your charge bonuses again. Here's looking at you, Deathriders.
*'''Artefact of Power''': '''Nadir-Bound Mount''': Can only be taken by a Liege-Kavalos. They roll D3 additional dice for their Unstoppable Charge ability.
The speedy and somewhat trollish choice. Do you wanna go fast? Do you want a liege or Zandtos to run fast next to fast cavalry? Or if you take a Liege make them hit like a ton of bricks? Then go these guys. They let you skimp out of the costly battalion with their inherent command ability, and make your already fast cavalry even faster. They even pair well with Stalkers, Morghast Harbingers or Harvesters, to just really irritate your opponent.

<big>Crematorians</big>
*'''Battle Traits''': '''Immolation''': When a model dies you get a chance to cause MW to an enemy within 3" on a 5+, with monsters and characters adding 1 to their roll/going off on a 4+.
*'''Command Trait''': '''Wrathful Avenger''': If the general dies, add 2 to the dice roll for Immolation and it does D3 Mortal Wounds rather than 1.
*'''Command Ability''': '''Levelers of Cities''': One friendly CREMATORIANS unit with 6" of a Hekatros or 12" of a hero ignores cover saves.
*'''Artefact of Power''': '''Searing Blade''': Pick one of the bearer's melee weapons and add 1 to the Damage characteristic.
The TRUE trolling choice. Paired with some revives and harvesters, and laugh as your opponent realizes that killing your models meant their guys died and then revived the dudes they just tried to kill, rinse and repeat. Especially lulzy against Sons of Behemat, given how reliant they are on combat... which is ground zero for your skeleton suicide bombers.

==<span style=color:Gray>Warscrolls<span>==
The common keywords of these warscrolls are: '''DEATH''', '''OSSIARCH BONEREAPERS'''

===Leaders===
====Named Leaders====
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Katakros-Mortarch-of-the-Necropolis-en.pdf Orpheon Katakros, Mortarch of the Necropolis]''': (500pts) Like Skarbrand, his attacks get stronger the more wounds he takes. Katakros himself has [[Awesome|Rend and Damage 3]] and he can bop foes with his shield to dole out Mortal Wounds, so he can dish out some hurt in combat, but not until he's taken some wounds representing his companions dying so Katakros himself joins the fray. However, he is one of the slowest characters in the game - 4" move (which doesn’t much matter when he’s on a '''12 centimetre''' base, and you can use the Relentless Advance to boost Katakros' movement to 7") and can't fly, but Mortarch of Necropolis allows Katakros to heal up to three friendly OBR units wholly within 24" of his model for 3 wounds worth on your hero phase. Katakros is a friendly OBR unit within 24" of himself, so he can choose to heal himself for 3 wounds every one of your hero phases. Because he is so slow, he hates cannons even more than his boss so engage shooty armies at your own risk. He's pricey in points and cash, but you get what you pay for - no more no less - as he's a good beatstick and support character, just don't try to send him up against other super combat lords who have a damage of 3 or better because he can easily get his shit kicked in, especially if they have some serious wound negation. If your opponent is fielding a character with either (or worse, both) then make sure to screen him out. It's better to not get him in combat and keep your Relentless Discipline points, heals and Command Point sabotage than it is for you to possibly lose all of those.
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Nagash-Supreme-Lord-of-the-Undead-en.pdf Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead]''': (975pts) Changed from his early forms, Nagash is now '''95''' points more expensive, and no longer loots the spells from all of his Death-based allies. (but he does know the whole spell lore by default.) Instead, he can now restore wounds/models to 5 of his Bonecast Eternals, and can sling Mystic Shield and Arcane Bolt as much as his undead heart (and casting limit) desire.
**As Nagash and Arkhan gain the OSSIARCH BONEREAPERS keyword, they can heal themselves, making them quite a bit more resilient in an OBR army than when accompanying their own legions. Go figure.
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Arkhan-the-Black-Mortarch-of-Sacrament-en.pdf Arkhan the Black, Mortarch of Sacrament]''': (360pts) Much like Nagash, Arkhan is more expensive now, at a "whopping" 20 points more than before. With an extra cast and deny, and the ability to sling Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield like his Boss, (along with learning the whole spell lore,) it sounds like that price increase came with some buffs. However, overall Arkhan's in a slightly more disappointing place. Curse of Years no longer succeeds on 1s, meaning it's slightly more fair, and his command ability has now been limited to one use a turn, spoiling an awful lot of fun that could have been had. Also worth noting that Arkhan is one of the few ways to actually bring back models in the hero phase, and he does it quite well. An extremely strong choice as a recursion and magic defender unit.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Arch-Kavalos-Zandtos-en.pdf Arch-Kavalos Patru Zandtos]''': (220pts) A named Mortis Praetorians Liego-Kavalos, with additional abilities like more damage on the charge, rerolls to wound, and another CA that grants a Praetorians unit the same reroll ability. A good choice for leader - practically an auto-take if you want a Liege-Kavalos in Mortis Praetorians.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Volkmortian-Master-of-the-Bone-tithe-en.pdf Vokmortian, Master of the Bone-tithe]''': (180pts) He is a HOT GARBAGE Wizard that should be very close to the front lines. He has a chance to prevent a model within 3" from attacking him on a 5+ as a defense. He also has a 12" aura of -1 to bravery and -1 to any Wizard attempting to unbind any spell he casts (which improves in that rare instance an enemy General dies near him). His Unique spell can instantly kill any model within 1" of him on a 5+, and the range on it cannot be modified, which can be used to punish any foolish combat heroes or big monsters he ends up fighting - though it is a bit unreliable to make him a dedicated assassin.
**A bit unreliable is the undersell of the century. First, a caster with a terrible save profile has to be within 1" of an enemy. Then this caster, with NO BONUS TO CAST, has to roll an 8 to get this garbage spell off. BUT OH, you say, THOSE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED! Well hold up friend, now you have a 33% chance of the spell actually doing anything. 180 points btw. Overall, he should be in the garbage, or if you insist on running him, standing behind your troops (ideally Immortis Guard or Mortek Guard), providing the debuff and using his 2 spells per turn.

====Generic Leaders====
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Liege-Kavalso-en.pdf Liege-Kavalos]''': (185pts) Your commander on a big-boned mount that gives two guaranteed Relentless Discipline points. Lots of decent attacks, but nothing too nutty. When he charges he has an increased pile in and the ability to fling out some extra mortal wounds. His Command Ability gives a unit wholly within 12" +1 attack. He probably functions best running with some deathriders for a spoopy cavalry wing, though having him roam around your anvils can make for some good time damage output.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Mortisan-Soulreaper-en.pdf Mortisan Soulreaper]''': (120pts) Our CC battlemage, though with his weapon the most he'll be reaping is chaff mobs. His unique spell lets him smack one unit at range, or every unit in CC with him with a few mortal wounds. Probably our worst unit, as outside of his spell-slinging, he's basically a really expensive cairn wraith from nighthaunt. Look elsewhere, unless you really love his amazing model.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Mortisan-Boneshaper-en.pdf Mortisan Boneshaper]''': (130pts) Your only generic hero way to heal units in the hero phase, and part of the <s>glue that holds your army together</s> calcium that strengthens your bone boys. With the ability to restore 3 wounds (or 3 wounds worth of boys (raise 3 Mortek Guard, or 1 Kavalos Deathriders everything else has 4+ wounds)) to a friendly squad and sling a few spells, he feels close to auto-include, especially if you left Nagash or Arkhan at home. His unique spell lets him fling [[Awesome|BONESTORM!]] at an enemy unit, roll for each model within 18" and every 6 deals a mortal wound, a nice anti-horde spell being easy to cast on 5. Keep him out of combat and out of LoS so he can spend your whole game building bonecasts in a dark corner away from anyone else.
** Boneshapers and Immortis Guard are a good match, as they can take wounds for him and he can heal them if they take too many hits.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Mortisan-Soulmason-en.pdf Mortisan Soulmason]''': (140pts) The grand vizier will see you now. He's got a passable melee profile, but that's not why you take him. He's a wizard with 2 casts and unbinds and a unique spell, Soul-Guide, that gives a friendly Ossiarch Bonereapers unit the ability to reroll 1's to hit. Pretty good so far, but it gets better. At the end of your hero phase, on a 2+ cast Soul-Guide more times even if it was already attempted that turn. Basically, bring him when you're spamming catapults (or anything, really) and spread the re-rolling to hit love.
** For extra fun, his potential multiple casts force the enemy to consider whether to unbind these spells or other spells.

===Battleline===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Mortek-Guard-en.pdf Mortek Guard]''': (Battleline, 130/440pts, Min:10, Max:40) Your basic skellies are a decently-protected lot with a 4+ save. Their basic weapons are 2 attacks with -1 Rend sword or a spear, both can double the hits inflicted on a 6+ to hit. The greatblade, on the other hand, trades that for a slightly better wound score, which isn't remarkable but at least keeps the sword's Rend. Their slow speed is helped by their banner giving them +1 to runs and charges, and the +3" move order mentioned above. A good choice for loadout is sword for smaller units and spears for bigger units.
**'''Mortek Hekatos''': This boy is a mini-HQ that gives to your Relentless Discipline pool and keys to a lot of other things. (in big units you have to pack a lot of models very close together to have Deathless Warriors). He's only got an attack more than the base guard, but he also confers a command ability that lets his pack re-roll all saves for the combat phase - much more valuable for their survival.
** With the Petrifex Elite, you can take the spears and use the Petrifex command ability to give them rend, just save the spears for larger units of Mortek Guard.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Kavalos-Deathriders-en.pdf Kavalos Deathriders]''': (Battleline, 180/460pts, Min:5, Max:15) Your basic skellies, but on a horse! When compared to their foot-slogging brothers, these guys have +1 attack and 3 wounds each, the 2 extra pony swings we all know and love (actually, even their horses are on steroids, wounding on a 3+), and a whopping 12" move compared to the former's 4". Not only that, but their spears have exploding hits on a 5+ roll on the charge, giving you a bit more reason to consider selling the rend on your swords.
**'''Mortek Hekatos''': Much like the Mortek Guard, the Deathrider's hekatos has +1 attack with their weapon, but his command ability gives you some mortal wound output on the charge and a double-range pile in. FAQ'd to confirm a unit can only benefit from this once per phase.

===Hekatos===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Necropolis-Stalkers-en.pdf Necropolis Stalkers]''': (180pts, Min:3, Max:6) Speedy, Re-rolling, <s>tyranid warriors </s> skeleton boys. Each turn, these massive lads pick whether they want to re-roll hits, wounds, saves, or add +1 to their weapons' Rend and Damage. While rerolling saves is nice when you get charged by something scary, you'll almost always use +1 rend and damage, as it turns your basic stalker into a stormcast blender, and your unit leader <s>into a literal monster</s> into an equally strong blender as the normal weapons, when enhanced with -1 rend and +1 dmg, are actually stronger than the special weapon, proven by Mathhammer. Their command ability that lets them re-roll run and charge rolls while also ignoring terrain as if they could fly.
** Another option is to run them with a Soulmason equipped with the Gothizzar Cartouche in support which gives +1 to wound rolls. Now, assuming you also have Katakros on the board and you can get Soul-Guide onto your Stalkers then the best Aspect to run is the Destroyer Aspect because this combo would then mean your hitting on 2's and re-rolling 1's '''AND''' wounding on 2's (with spirit blades)
** Upon testing with Mathhammer, in this precise scenario, precision still pulls far ahead if you take 3 of the normal weapons and give them all of these buffs. There is around an average damage difference of 5 per round.
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Immortis-Guard-en.pdf Immortis Guard]''': (180pts, Min:3, Max:12)The Anvil to the stalker's hammer. These guys have a lower damage output, with 2 3+/3+/-2/2 damage (though the base rend 2 is nice), and the ability to bop someone with their shields for a bit of extra damage, with the occasional mortal wound when rolling a 6. Their main draw, however, is their base 3+ save and bodyguard ability. Whenever they're within 3" of a friendly hero, on a 2+ they must eat a wound or mortal wound that would have been applied to said hero. Their command ability lets them immediately pile in and swing again after their first go, but only with their shields. Less than impressive, but nice for positioning. Having two weapons means they get more out of the Liege's extra attack command ability, and with their own on top of that the mortal wounds do become bit more reliable. Unfortunately, OBR doesn't have the luxury to be spending points on these awesome bodyguard chads so these guys have to date never seen any competitive play.

*'''Morghasts [https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Morghast-Archai-en.pdf Archai] & [https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Morghast-Harbingers-en.pdf Harbingers]''': (190pts, Min:2, Max:6) Nagash's angels of death come in 2 flavors, with the archai having a chance to shrug off mortal wounds, and harbingers getting a 3d6 charge. Beyond those differences either one is monstrous combatants, and tough to boot, with 6 wounds 4+ armor and being Hekatos for the death save. They also have a bravery debuff as a bonus. You should always take the halberd for 3 attacks at 3+/3+/-2/3, as they will only do less damage against units with a 6+ save, shown by Mathhammer. You don't want your Morghasts engaging Chaff, as they aren't meant to be wiping chaff for you. Additionally, adding attacks to the Halberd from your Liege is much stronger than doing so to your swords.
** See the above option for Stalkers and apply to Morghasts - you'll lose out on the re-rolling wounds but up the rend to -2 and the damage to 3 (with halberds) so the Mathammer will result in more wounds on average (even if you run swords) - only real issue with this is keep up with the Morghasts on your bone throne.
** Following the Petrifex nerf, these guys just got a bit more viable. They mesh well with quite a few Legions (the Archai save against spells compliments Null Myriad spell nullifying, the Harbingers compliment the Stalliarch rules - and they're probably our best unit against the Kharadron Overlords and more).

===Behemoths===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Gothizzar-Harvester-en.pdf Gothizzar Harvester]''': (200pts, Behemoth) Big guy has 10 wounds and a 4+ save. Has good damage potential with 4 solid ranged attacks and a BUNCH of 2 damage melee swings, with a choice between bludgeons or sickles. These weapons have the exact same melee stats, but different effects. Bludgeons do 2 mortal wounds on unmodified hits of 6 instead of normal damage, (basically giving the guy a Nighthaunt's frightful touch) while the sickles get +1 to hit against units with 5+ models. The Bludgeons are the better choice, as there are other ways to boost hit rolls and Mortal Wounds are useful whoever you're up against. More importantly than that, this guy is another source of precious calcium/healer. Each time any models (friend or foe) die within 3" of him, he can heal an Ossiarch Bonereaper unit within 6" on a 4+. The heals he gives depends on the wounds characteristic of the model slain. It's worth noting he can do this to himself, making his relatively fragile 10 wounds and 4+ save last a little longer.
**For the Crematorians, this guy makes the list even more trollish. Camp him by your Mortek Guard, and when they die and cause mortal wounds, he can heal them right back up. Free mortal wounds, anyone?
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-Mortek-Crawler-en.pdf Mortek Crawler]''': (200pts, Artillery, Behemoth) The most trolltastic catapult in all of AoS. With a nice 36" range and solid durability, it starts as a remarkably strong springboard for the absolute terror of its ammo types. Once per battle, you can fire a different choice of ammo from two different options and their effects are trolltastically memeable.
**Necrotic Skulls: Your normal shots. You're getting a pretty hefty 3 2+/3+/-/variable shots that start at 5 damage, and dips down to 1 as the model takes damage. Great as a general all-rounder, and in MOST scenarios is strictly better than going for one of the situational special shots below.
***Just to reiterate however: 3 shots at 5 damage initially. Although lack of rend hurts, this is a horde killing volley beyond compare, particularly as their hit and wound rolls are so good.
**Cauldron of Torment: the first of the meme shots. Instead of firing like normal, you roll a dice for every model in the target unit, and whenever you meet or beat their '''UNMODIFIED''' Bravery, one model is slain. "But Anon," you reply, "lots of units have high Bravery! That's not good," To which I say, sure, you're right. this isn't good against undead, Stormcast, or Chaos, but do you know what it IS good against? grots, where you wipe half of whatever squad you fire at. Or freeguild, where you gun down a third of whatever unit you want in a ghostly fog. And we're STILL not done with this bad boy.
**Cursed Stele: Does your local meta not really do hordes? Or do they just love low model-count armies with high leadership? Well, have I got a unit for you! Instead of shooting normally, pick a model within range (so, characters, banners, unit leaders, etc.) and roll 2d6. If you roll equal to or higher than their wound stat, the guy dies (with some modifiers, starting at -3 to your roll, slowly turning to +3 as you lose wounds). This right here is disgusting. With an average roll of 4, you kill support heroes about 60% of the time or get to guaranteed snipe off important banners or unit champions whenever you're feeling cheeky. Worth noting that forcing support heros to make saves or take 5 damage from the normal shot is often also enough to kill the hero outright. Did that daemon prince swoop in and drop you to 1 wound? Wouldn't it be great if his failure meant your average roll is now a 10 and insta-gibs the winged sexy, sexy biscuit daemon? (Lovely to consider, but the 6" minimum range on the Crawler's attacks means if it's in melee it's been neutered - protect at all costs!)

===Scenery===
*'''Bone-tithe Nexus''': (0pts) Your mandatory accompanying setpiece is a giant monolith surrounded by bones upon bones. In truth it acts more like a sentry that can chuck out one of four different Punishments each turn: -1 to hit, MW Sniping, causes problem for a wizard, or Can't run and only roll 1d6 for charges. The physical footprint of this thing is BIG. You're supposed to place the terrain before defining and placing any of the game's (neutral) terrain. Placing the damn thing can therefore be problematic in organized events, where terrain is pre-set before the game starts.

==Battalions==
Due to how Battalions are now universal, expect see the whole lot of this on the trash bin outside of narrative games. Bonus rules, traits and doodads are going to be likely added to the faction rules as default.
<big>'''Ossiarch Cohort'''</big> 100 pts (min points: '''4450''')
''Katakros, Zandtos or Liege Kavalos, 1-3 Mortek Shield-Corps, 1-3 Kavalos Lances, 1 Mortisian Trident, 1-2 Katakrosian Deathglaives, 1 Aegis Immortal, 1 Mortek Ballistari''
* The Super Battalion.
For putting together all that dough together your general generates 1d3 additional RDPs at the beginning of your hero phase.

<big>'''Aegis Immortal'''</big> 80 pts (min points: '''690''')
''1 Archai, 2 Immortis.''
The ARCHAI from this battalion has the SOULBOUND PROTECTORS ability from the Immortis Guard warscroll. In addition, if you use the SOULBOUND PROTECTORS and the roll is a 5+, the wound/MW is negated instead of allocated to a unit from this battalion. Solid choice, pun intended, the only drawback is if you want a more offensive playstyle since this is defensive-based and you're focused on bubble-wrapping a character.

<big>'''Katakrosian Deathglaive'''</big> 80 pts (min points: '''690''')
''2 Stalkers, 1 Morghast Harbinger''
After units are set up but before the first battleround, if all units from the btn are WHOLLY WITHIN 12" of the Harbingers, you can move any of them up to 6" The best name for a Battalion in all of AoS. Useful for strategic positioning and claiming objectives, it's a decent choice. One foe it does help against is Kharadron Overlords, positioning your Morghasts and Stalkers to better catch their fliers. Especially useful in Stalliarch Lords as those units can then run and charge after. This is OBR's best way to alpha strike.

<big>'''Kavalos Lance'''</big> 120 pts (min points: '''680''')
''Arch-Kavalos OR 1 Liege-Kavalos, 2 Kavalos Deathriders.''
Units from this battalion can retreat and charge if wholly within 12" of the Liege when the charge roll is made. In addition, once per turn, you can use the Deathrider Wedge CA for a unit from this battalion without spending RDP. Pretty good, especially if you bring a spellcaster with Empower Nadirite Weapons, more so if you're running Petrifex to give the weapons extra rend. Just remember it's a waste of points if you're using the Stalliarch Lords legion because they do this but better and for free.

<big>'''Mortek Ballistari'''</big> 100 pts (min points: '''760''')
''1 Boneshaper, 1 Mortek Guard, 2 Crawlers.''
Roll a die before you allocate a wound/MW to a Crawler from this btn while it is within 3" of the Mortek Guard unit from the same btn. Add 2 if the Crawler is within 3" of the Boneshaper from the same btn. On a 4+, it is instead allocated to the GUARD instead of the CRAWLER. A decent way to keep your crawlers alive, but this will likely just result in your opponent blowing up entire units of guard instead, which likely means you lose the game.

<big>'''Mortek Shield-corps'''</big> 120 pts (min points: '''630''')
''Either Volkmortian, a Boneshaper, a Soulreaper OR a Soulmason, and 3 Mortek Guard.''
Once per turn, you can use Shieldwall for one unit in the battalion without spending RDP. The cheapest option, and a decent choice, making your Mortek Guard that much more durable and freeing RDP to be spent elsewhere. It's a good safety net if a unit loses their Hekatos. A valid option if you find yourself having the points to spare and want another artefact, as you will likely be running these units anyway. Pro-tip; as is, don't take Vormortion with this battalion, he's not worth it here.

<big>'''Mortisan Trident'''</big> 110 pts (min points: '''700''')
''1 Boneshaper, 1 Soulreaper, 1 Soulmason, 1 Harvester.''
EACH Mortisan from this battalion can attempt to cast 1 extra spell if WITHIN 18" of the harvester AND the harvester is within 3" of any enemy units. Very situational and not very impressive for the points. Simply needs a lot of specific conditions to occur for this to even be activated. For example, unless you are charged turn one, this ability will not be active as your harvester won't be within 3" of any enemies.

<big> '''Vokmortian’s Retinue''' </big> 120 pts (min points: '''840''')
''Volkmortian, 1 Mortek Guard, 1 Stalker, and 1 Archai.''
The exclusive battalion from Feast of Bones. At the start of your hero phase, you can return 1 slain model to a unit within 8 inches of Morty.
This battalion, and it's older dreadier brother, is the armies only reliable method of bringing back dead Stalkers and Archai. It does require you to run Vokmortian, who is probably the worst unit in the entire army, so that's quite a downside to dream this big.

<big> '''Vokmortian’s Dread Retinue''' </big> 130 pts (min points: '''850''')
''Vokmortian, 1-3 Mortek Guard, 1 Stalker, and 1-2 Archai or Harbingers, in any configuration.''
One of the battalions from May 2020's issue of White Dwarf. This battalion must be taken with the Mortis Praetorians legion. Comes with the same ability as Vokmortain's Retinue, but also gives you a start of game ability to hurt the chances of a single enemy hero hitting Vokmortian. Because you can take Harbingers instead of Archai with this battalion, which opens up returning Morghast Harbingers to play, this battalion is much better than the regular Retinue. However, it still requires you to pay for Vokmortian, the overcosted caster with a terrible warscroll spell and no natural bonus to cast.

<big> '''Harvester Scythe Corps''' </big> 100 pts (min points: '''660''')
''2 Kavalos Deathriders and 1 Gothizzar Harvester.''
One of the battalions from May 2020's issue of White Dwarf. This battalion must be taken with the Mortis Praetorians legion. Battalion lets you add one to wound rolls for the Harvester if within 12 of the dead ponies. Decent if you need to generate the RDP and the artefact, but if you are taking a pair of Deathriders, you might as well be taking a Liege and going for the Kavalos Lance battalion, which also doesn't restrict you out of the better legions.

<big> '''Vokmortian's Tithe Legion''' </big> 110 pts (min points: '''5640''')
''This list of other battalions: 1 Vokmortian's Dread Retinue, 1-3 Mortek Shield Corps, 1 Mortisan Trident, 1-2 Katakrosian Deathglaives, 1 Aegis Immortal, 1-3 Kavalos Lances or Harvester Scythe Corps in any configuration, 1 Mortek Ballistari, 1 Harvester Scythe Corps.''
One of the battalions from May 2020's issue of White Dwarf. This battalion must be taken with the Mortis Praetorians legion.
The boring part of this battalion is that you probably won't ever get to field it, and even if you do, the abilities from it aren't the best. You get to generate an additional D3 RDP per hero phase, and you get to take '''any number of''' Nighthaunt allies, without them counting against ally rules. Super battalions are fun, but this one means that outside of the nearly 6k points you have to spend on it, you also need Nighthaunt to make use of it. It's a good goal for a collection, though.

<big>'''Horrek's Dreadlance'''</big> -- pts (min points: '''---''')
''1 Arch-Kavalos (Horrek), 2 Kavalos Deathriders.''
A battallion from Broken Realms. This battallion must be taken with the Stalliarch Lords legion.
The Arch-Kavalos is a named character (Horrek) and has to be the first '''LIEGE''' to take an artifact and take the Nadir-bound Mount (his legions artifact), if he is chosen as general he has the Twisted Challenge Command Trait (His legion's again).
This battallion allows you to regain the RDP you spent on Rally Back (The Stalliarch Lord's unique command abilitty) on a 4+.. It is extremely boring and probably not worth the cost since you can just spend the battallion cost on another unit of deathriders.

==Army Building==
=== Getting Started ===
When getting started with the Ossiarch Bonereapers, it's important that you understand the direction you want to take your list in. If you are going for competitive, you're going to be making the most out of Mortek Guard, while if you are going for fun and cool, you have a lot of fun and cool options.

If new to the game, look out for a Feast of Bones set half, as it can be a great start to your Ossiarch Army. Another way to start would be with a box of Mortek Guard and a Liege Kavalos, as this gives you a little bit less than a Start Collecting worth of points, but a lot of cool units to start working on.

=== Currently Competitive ===

The best lists right now center around the fact that Mortek Guard units are incredibly over-statted for their points cost. As for which Legion, following the nerfing of Petrifex in 2.0 and the slight buff in 3.0, Mortis Praetorians and Petrifex share the top spot.

==== Heroes ====

A Petrifex-aligned Liege-Kavalos is a mainstay in the General position, as the Mighty Croissant command trait and Godbone Armor artefact make it a 9 wound, ignoring first wounds of every phase monster, along with the extra RDP generation for being a liege and a penalty to rend rolls making the Liege basically indestructible, as Nagash would want. The other best hero seems to be the Soulmason, as it has great casting for the points, and really fills out the support role of your army.

You can also build Nagash or Arkhan centric lists, and those typically look like Nagash/Arkhan, blobs of 30 guard and a support unit or two. Taking Arkhan and Katakros together is a potent alternative to taking Nagash, especially following Nagash's points increase and Katakros' points drop.

==== Battleline ====

Mortek Guard, usually a pair of 2 30 blobs are great (and also almost half your army, so its probably best to run them in smaller groups to have more board presence.) Then, fill out the battleline with some of those dead ponies. Seriously, Mortek Guard are only 140 points right now, can be given exploding 5+s and additional rend (in Petrifix Elite.) They're practically the backbone of any Ossiarch army.

==== Other Models ====

Necropolis Stalkers are your can-openers, popping heavily armored units. They can also move as if flying, opening up more options, and are cheaper than the other Hekatos units.

Gothizzar harvesters can be run as a one of per blob of Guard you manage to field. This means that your Mortek Guard is going to have a 4+/6+/4+ save, which is equal to about a 13.88% (or a "1.25+" save equivalent) chance to wound. Per model. That's like having a 0.83+ save.

Mortek Crawlers can be utilized to constantly rampage as your large blobs of guard gum up the board, create incredibly tough tar pits, and slow down enemy units. Another benefit is that if a cheap unit is used by your opponent to attempt to capture an objective, you might be able to wipe it out before it gains any points if you notice it soon enough and identify that part of your opponent's game plan.

==== Spells ====

There are several good spells that you can take, although overall the spell lore is kind of boring. Empower Nadirite Weapons is the best spell in the lore, mainly because most lists are running blobs of 40 Mortek Guard and the spell makes them table. Arcane Command can be taken on a second support wizard, as can Mortal Contract, depending on who you think you might be facing. Reinforce shield walls can also be a decent spell, especially if you are combining several layers of saves to make Mortek Guard the ultimate pit of bone.

==== Using Battalions ====

Because of the ability to increase RDP generation, there are some ways you can use cheap battalions to increase the amount of RDP you have, and lower the amount you need for specific units. One of the best and cheapest battalions is the Mortek Shield Corps battalion, which requires one of your 3 Mortisans or Vokmortian and 3 units of 10 Mortek Guard, allowing you to use one of the CAs on the Mortek Guard for free, once per turn. It also presents you with an additional RDP per turn. The shield wall ability allows you to reroll saves, which means that your 4+/6+ save turns into a 4+/4+/6+ save. Now, add in one of those Harvesters, meaning that you have a 4+/4+/4+/6+ save, or a 10% chance to fail incoming non-rend armor saves. That means that for every 20 armor saves, less than three should convert to a wound.

The Kavalos Lance battalion makes use of a pair of the fantastically modelled (by Nagash or GW) Kavalos Deathriders, and a Liege Kavalos. This battalion allows you to make up some of the difficulties of movement that the Ossiarch are presented with, and the additional RDP are always great for the +3" movement.

Another interesting battalion to consider taking is the Mortisan Trident Battalion, which would be how you go about building a strong Magical Ossiarch Bonereapers army. With the current state of Tzeentch, however, this army might be a bit rough to play. This battalion requires you to take all three Mortisans, as well as a Harvester, allowing you additional spell casts, when close to the harvester. That battalion and an Arkhan would allow you some crazy amounts of spells, and if you can take full advantage of that, you might end up thrashing a lot of armies that can't deal with heavy spell usage. Sadly, a lot of your spells work much better when you have a lot of your points in Mortek Guard, who are core to any army you create.

Other battalions can be taken solely for RDP generation and the artefacts you can take, seeing as your first artefact will generally have to be the specific legion artefact. Both Boneshapers and Soulmasons have decent "tools" for their artefacts, but they are not necessary, so don't feel forced to take a battalion for some bad models.

==Tactics==

===Mr. Arkhan’s Wild Ride===
Take Arkhan the Black as your general, along with two Gothizzar Harvesters and a buttload of Mortek Guard. Finally put them all under the Crematorians legion. Your boney boys will proceed to explode in the faces of the enemy and then be brought back to un-life from the ashes thanks to the Mortarch and Harvesters’ restoration abilities. Is this trolling? Yes. Is it fun? ''Oh yes.'' Also take a Mortisan Boneshaper as a cherry on top for extra heals and RDP, plus an Endless Spell or two.

* Nerfed slightly in December 2019 Errata. Now Gothizzar Harvester ability only triggers "each time a model is slain within 3" of any models with this ability." No double dipping on the Gothizzar heals anymore by choosing to remove a model within 3" of both. Personally, I'd say this is a good thing since this formation would be pretty much unbeatable without enough ranged firepower/artillery to snipe the 10 wound Gothizzars out of the Mortek blob (and in a single shooting phase to prevent 6 wound auto-heal from Arkhan and the Boneshaper).

===Trolling with Catapults===
Take a Soulmason as your general and put him in a massive blob of 60 Mortek Guard with 4 Mortek Crawlers behind. With some amazing dice rolls (which can be helped by using the Soul Resevoir artefact) the Soulmason can give all 4 Crawlers rerollable hits of 1. The Guard can block any incoming attackers whilst the catapults bombard your enemies from across the table. Even if your skellie dudes are taken out and the enemy damages your Centipedes of Doom it just means that their characters are more likely to be decimated by the most trolling shot in AoS, the Cursed Stele. So just sit back, relax and watch your enemies die before they even reach you.

Alternatively, take 2 of Ballistari battalions. Lose the Soulmason but gain some mad defenses.

=== Feast of Bones upgrades ===

If you started with the Feast of Bones kit, there are several ways to build the army. The first is the (maybe subjectively) best, which is to go with the Rule of Cool - buy the cool models. Run 3x10 Mortek Guard to get Battleline out of the way, and then take advantage of how cool Morghasts are to scare your opponents.

Starting with Vokmortian, 10x Mortek Guard, 3x Necopolis Stalkers, and 2x Morghasts, and the Vokmortian's Retinue battalion, you can instead use the Dread Retinue Battalion, to use Morghast Harbingers instead of Archai. Or, get a second unit of Stalkers and create the objectively coolest battalion, the Katakrosian Deathglaive. Add in some more guard or Kavalos Deathriders, and whatever else you want that you like. That's it. It's the rule of cool. With Morghasts - the coolest rule of cool unit.

The other way is to move to a more competitive list, but sadly, the Feast of Bones units aren't great. Vokmortian is pretty bad, as are Morghasts, relative to what is offered in the army, although they can be used as a tool. You can run Vokmortian as a Boneshaper, especially if you figure out a cool conversion for it. Then, add in a Soulmason and another support HQ or Liege, and a lot of Mortek Guard. Add in a few Gothizzar Harvesters and/or Crawlers, and you have the fundamentals to a competitive list.

==Allied Armies==
No Allies. Nope, none. Nighthaunt hate your guts. The army formerly known as Legions of Nagash hate your attitude. Not even the Flesh Eater Courts is crazy enough to be your friend. Don't like it? Go play Stormcast, and go fuck yourself while you're at it.

There is... one... however...

*'''Big Drogg Fort-Kicka''': A Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant available to all Death factions as an ally. Functions like Gotrek in the Order factions where he uses up your whole allies allowance in exchange for a very destructive monster of a unit. His most important feature is the ability to destroy terrain, including faction terrain. He also has a unique breath attack that attacks one unit within 3" at the end of the combat phase; roll a dice for each model in the unit and deal 1MW on a 6+.

{{Age_of_Sigmar_Tactics}}