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Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Order/Idoneth Deepkin

2021-11-06T08:11:28Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD: /* Eidolon of Mathlann */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Idoneth Deepkin|Logo=Fucking_Idoneth.jpeg|Alliance=Order|Motto=Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters.}}

The [[Idoneth Deepkin]] are a faction which sees [[GW]] re-envision sea elves for the [[Age of Sigmar]] setting. Tragically lacking souls (so they've come to steal yours), the Idoneth are an army that rewards careful placement of models, a variety of units that provide rapid mobility and negative modifier shenanigans and some of the best allegiance abilities in the game.

==Why play Idoneth Deepkin?==

They are elves unique to AoS, and a rare example of sea elves with fleshed out lore and playstyle.

For more points:

'''Pros'''
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you want to play with [[Dark Eldar]] in a fantasy setting. Or you like the [[Dark Eldar]] playstyle but want a group that aren't [[Asdrubael Vect|huge]] [[Haemonculi|assholes]].
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you want to copy 40K's system of character protection (one of which is the, here ironically named, [[Fish of Fury]]).
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you love sea life!
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you love an army built around speed, speed and '''MOAR SPEED'''! An all-cavalry army not only benefits those who like all-cavalry armies, but every unit has the fly special rule. Combine this with the right Enclave and you'll outrun everybody but [[Nighthaunt]].
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you wanted more Dark Souls in your Age of Sigmar.
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Nearly all of your melee units hit like a runaway freight train.
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because [[Teclis]] wasn't a big enough [[Eldrad| dick]] already.
* Did I mention they are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters?]]
* You saw the 2018 Aquaman movie and like how the Atlanteans' armies look in battle.
* Uh, [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters!]]

'''Cons'''
* You're the only army with a Battletome from AoS FIRST EDITION (the other is getting a new battletome next), so... two editions behind at the moment, and with 3E shaking up things AND some of the original warscrolls outdated on the Battletome... yikes.
* Namarti units are quite fragile.
* Their bravery is mediocre, and they mostly lack the high wounds count or saves to take the lumps and keep going unlike their equivalents in other armies.
* Mediocre spellcasting unless you shell out the points (and a lot of money) for an expensive Eidolon of the Sea.
* Your army is mostly monobuild; you will not have a competitive list without the eel riders.

==Rulebooks==
{{AOSRulebooks|tome=Idoneth Deepkin|points=Generals Handbook 2020}}

The Idoneth Deepkin Battletome was released in April of 2018, and as such, this is the second-oldest active Battletome and thus relatively due for an update (only Maggotkin of Nurgle predates this one). That said, it was also the last new battletome released before AOS 2.0, so they very likely had the upcoming game changes in mind when designing this book. It's gotten to the point that the third edition of AOS came out and they ''still'' haven't gotten a new battletome.

==Allegiance Abilities==

===Battle Traits===

*'''Forgotten Nightmares:''' Your '''Idoneth Deepkin''' units can only be targeted with Missile Weapons if they are the closest visible target. Keeps your Heroes safe from shooting, though not from magic. Also note that you can use allies to shield your Deepkin with this as the rule stated that the Deepkin unit must be the closest unit. If there are no Deepkin units in range, then the attack must hit the non-Deepkin unit.

*'''Tides of Death:''' Each round, you get a different ability. After the fourth, it cycles back to 1.
*#'''Low Tide:''' Your units count as being in cover. Helps you advance without making you scramble to terrain.
*#'''Flood Tide:''' After running, your units can either shoot or charge (but not both).
*#'''High Tide:''' Units with this trait fight <s>before everyone else in melee</s> At the start of the combat phase now. Get Shipwrecked, Gristlegore. Also, there's a bunch of abilities that activate during this turn.
*#'''Ebb Tide:''' After falling back, your units can either shoot or charge (but not both).
**It's worth noting here that there are two alternate army list choices that can be made to alter this sequence's order (including taking both together for a third option):
***reversed order (via Tidecaster as General)
***Ebb replaced with Flood Tides (via the Fuethán enclave)
***both options (meeting both conditions)

*'''The Ethersea:''' You get to place up to two Etheric Vortex terrain pieces. Currently, the only existing Etheric Vortex terrain piece is the Gloomtide Shipwreck, which you can either split into two or buy and place two full ships of. The shipwrecks give your units a 6+ Save-after-the-save and have a chance to deal damage to enemies, so they are fairly useful, though less so in a pure Akhelian army. Errata'd so that the shipwreck must be placed more than 6" away from objectives or any other shipwreck.

===Command and Mount Traits===
==== Command Traits ====
#'''Merciless Raider:''' Can reroll run and charge rolls. Interesting for Steed of Tides shenanigans.
#'''Hunter of Souls:''' Reroll 1s To Wound. Shame this doesn't work on a mount's attacks, but still nice.
#'''Unstoppable Fury:''' During High Tide, your General adds +2 to his attacks. Again, shame this doesn't work on mounts, but it still makes an Akhelian King terrifying.
#'''Born From Agony:''' Your general has 2 more Wounds. Always nice to shrug off an additional Arcane Bolt.
#'''Nightmare Legacy:''' Enemy units within 12" take -1 Bravery. Not a strong effect, but in a fairly large bubble, so it evens out.
#'''Lord of Storm and Sea:''' +2 Bravery for Idoneth Deep in units wholly within 12". Since your units aren't exactly blessed with great Bravery, this is pretty nice.

==== Mount Traits: Deepmare ====
With Broken Realms, we got Mount Traits for Deepmares. Yes, Volturnos' mount Uasall can take one. One Deepmare may take one trait, for every battalion one additional Deepmare may take a different trait, so no trait twice and nobody gets two traits.
#'''Swift-finned Impaler:''' If the roll on the Deepmare Horn ability is 6, you do D6 instead of D3 Mortal Wounds.
#'''Savage Ferocity:''' Both Deepmare attack profiles get 1 extra attack.
#'''Voidchill Darkness:''' We got a winner lads, as every enemy model within 3" get to subtract 1 from their hit rolls.

==== Mount Traits: Leviadon ====
Also from Broken Realms, one Leviadon may take one trait, for every battalion one additional Leviadon may take a different trait, so no trait twice and nobody gets two traits.
#'''Ancient:''' You ignore rend of -1, but not -2 or more. This makes the Leviadons shiny new shell even harder to crack.
#'''Denizen of the Darkest Depths:''' One extra free Mortal Wound for the impact damage. Specifically states that you still do this extra Mortal Wound if you failed the roll to trigger Crushing Charge.
#'''Reverberating Carapace.''' Increase the Void Drum's range from 12" to 15".

===Artefacts===
'''Akhelian Artefacts''' 
Can be given to an Akhelian Hero (so far only the Akhelian King, because Volturnos can't get one):
#'''Sanguine Pearl:''' Gives a 5+ save after the save in melee
#'''Potion of Hateful Frenzy:''' Once per game active in the hero phase to get + 1 to hit and +1 to wound for a round. Then they take 1 mortal wound in the following hero phase. Your personal super sayajin mode. Combine with ''Unstoppable Fury'' to make your King utterly terrifying for one turn. And don't forget to draw your Falchion to make the most out of it.
#'''Ankusha Spur:''' +3" to movement and the mount rerolls 1s <s>to hit</s> To Wound after the Errata because someone realized that the King's aura already gives him the 1s To Hit thing regardless
#'''Armour of the Cythai:''' Enemy gets -1 to hit if they target the bearer in melee. You're probably better off with the pearl.
#'''Bioshock Shell:''' Once per battle at the start of the combat phase you can inflict D3 mortal wounds on each enemy unit within 3". You have so few ways of dealing Mortal Wounds that this is interesting. That said, is it really worth running this on a 230 point King?
#'''Abyssal Blade:''' You can improve the rend characteristic of 1 weapon carried by the bearer. Also increase the damage of that weapon by 1 if targetting SLAANESH. Too situational, but interesting.

'''Idoneth Artefacts''' 
Can be given to any Idoneth Deepkin Hero:
#'''Rune of the Surging Tide:''' Use at the start of hero phase once per battle. It has 2 modes: adds 1" movement to all friendly deepkin or takes 1" from all enemies until your next hero phase. Neither a big buff nor a big debuff. Kinda like a mini Chronomatic Cogs.
#'''Black Pearl:''' It is the fastest ship with Johnny Depp usually as the captain. Oops, wrong universe. I mean it gives a 6+ save after the save.
#'''Lliandra's Last Lament:''' Once per battle you can have all friendly deepkin completely within 18" skip their battleshock test. Very interesting, especially when running a big unit of Allopexes.
#'''Terrornight Venom:''' Pick a weapon. You can reroll wound rolls of 1 for that weapon. Also gives a permanent -1 to bravery to things wounded by that weapon. Not many weapons worth using it on.
#'''Cloud of Midnight:''' Once per battle at the start of any phase the bearer cannot be targetted for attacks, spells or abilities for that phase. They also cannot use attacks, spells or abilities that phase either. Due to a new FAQ when you activate this artifact the bearer is not counted for the Forgotten Nightmare rule.
#'''Whorlshell:''' Once per battle at the start of your hero phase you can pick an enemy HERO within 9" and roll 2d6. If you beat their bravery they get -1 to all hit rolls for the rest of the game. Since most Heroes you'd want to do that to have high Bravery... just take Brain Barnacles instead.

'''Isharann Artefacts''' 
Can be given to any Isharann Hero:
#'''Steelshell Pearl:''' Gives a 5+ save after the save against missile weapons. Interesting if you want a cheap sacrifice to soak up fire thanks to ''Forgotten Nightmares'', but other than that, it's useless precisely because of ''Forgotten Nightmares''.
#'''Mind Flare:''' Once per battle at the start of combat pick an enemy unit within 3". They get -1 to hit for that phase. Meh.
#'''Dritchleech:''' All Wizards except Idoneth Deepkin get -1 to casts while within 18". Interesting, but remember that this will affect allied Wizards as well.
#'''Auric Lantern:''' At the start of your shooting phase pick an enemy within 18" in cover. They dont get cover until your next shooting phase. Not too great, since your shooting isn't exactly stellar. Except the debuff is not limited to ranged attacks; it is just applied in the shooting phase!
#'''Disharmony Stones:''' Once per battle at the start of your hero phase you pick up to 2 enemy heroes within 12" and then the opposing player must make a choice. 1) they roll a dice for each hero picked on a 3+ they take a mortal wound. 2) They roll a dice for each hero picked and on a 5+ they take d3 mortal wounds. 3) Each hero picked takes d3 mortal wounds. Then roll a dice, on a 4+ the bearer of this artifact takes d3. Be very careful with these, as they might end up doing nothing or doing something and hurting you as well. Also worthless against armies without many Heroes.
#'''Brain Barnacles:''' Once per battle at the start of your hero phase pick an enemy hero within 12" and roll 2d6. [[Awesome|If the roll is equal or greater than the distance between them then that Hero gets -1 to hit and spell cast for the rest of the game]].

'''Arcane Artefacts''' 
Can be given to any Idoneth Deepkin Hero who's also a Wizard, so Tidecaster and Aspect of the Sea only:
#'''Arcane Pearl:''' Gives a 5+ save after the save against mortal wounds. Combines nicely with both the Aspect of the Sea's inherent toughness and the Tidecaster's Spirit Guardians. If you dont need another realm, pick Aqshy and get the 4+ mortal wound save item from there (Malign Sorcery Realm Artefacts are no longer valid in competitive play though).
#'''Sands of Infinity:''' Once per battle you can make a spell last for 2 rounds instead of one. You must use this before the cast and unbind roll. Very nice.
#'''Coral Ring:''' Gives 1 reroll for casting and 1 reroll for unbinding for the game. More reliability is never a bad thing.
#'''Bauble of Buoyancy:''' Gives fly and doubles their run roll. Just in case you want a Tidecaster to keep up with an Akhelian army. Consider picking up the Thermalrider Cloak from Aqshy instead (again, Malign Sorcery Realm Artefacts no longer valid).
#'''Kraken Tooth:''' Once per battle in your shooting phase pick an enemy unit within 12" and visible. Roll a dice and: 1: bearer suffers d3 mortal wounds, 2-5: enemy suffers D3 mortal wounds, 6: Pick 1 enemy model in the unit. If the wound characteristic is less than 10 they are slain. If it is 10+ they take 2d6 mortal wounds. The kraken does not mess around.
#'''Augury Shells:''' Once per battle at the start of the hero phase you can roll 2d6. You can choose to use that result for your casting roll or your enemies unbinding roll on spells cast by the bearer during that phase. You must choose to substitute the roll before rolling for the spell/unbind. Very nice. A terrible roll you can give to the opponent and a good one you keep to yourself. Again, more reliability.

===Lore of the Deep===

#'''Steed of Tides:''' Casting Value 5. Pick a friendly hero that is not a monster within 6". Remove them from the table and set them up within 24" of their original spot and outside of 9" of enemies. This counts as their movement in the movement phase. The Hero does not need to be an Idoneth Deepkin.
#'''Abyssal Darkness:''' Casting Value 5. Friendly deepkin are treated as being within cover while wholly within 9" of the caster until your next hero phase. Entirely worthless on your first turn <s>and worthless on any other turn if you have a Leviadon</s> This is no longer true. In fact, imagine Ishlaen Guard with a Leviadon plus this spell. Damn near impregnable.
#'''Vorpal Maelstrom:''' Casting Value 6. Pick a spot within 18" of the caster that they can see. Roll for each enemy unit within 3" of that spot, if the dice is less than or equal to the number of models in that unit they take d3 mortal wounds.
#'''Pressure of the Deeps:''' Casting Value 7. Pick an enemy they can see within 12" and roll a dice. If you beat their wound stat they are slain. Interestingly you pick a ''model'' with this, not a unit. So just point at that icon bearer in the Pink Horror unit to seriously piss your opponent off.
#'''Tide of Fear:''' Casting Value 6. Pick an enemy the caster can see within 12". Until your next hero phase that unit gets -1 to hit and to bravery. Nice, but remember that your Aspect of the Sea can do that to D6 units. Better yet, combine the two to make sure one enemy unit in particular is utterly screwed.
#'''Arcane Corrosion:''' Casting Value 6. This auto targets the closest enemy. Measure the distance between the caster and that unit. If the distance is: 12" or less: 1 mortal wound. 13-24": 2 mortal wounds. 25-36": 3 mortal wounds. 37-48" 4 mortal wounds. Such a weird spell. Interesting in that it is a damage spell that can be used turn 1, as most damage spells have too short a range for that to work, but ''Arcane Corrosion'' can't just be used turn 1, it's practically guaranteed to do quite a bit of damage then.

===Isharann Rituals===
Deepkin can cast 1 ritual a turn. At the start of your hero phase you declare which ritual you wish to cast, pick an ISHARANN HERO that is more than 9" away from an enemy and roll 2d6. On a 10+ the ritual succeeds and if not then nothing happens. You get +1 if the caster is within 1" of a Gloomtide Shipwreck, +1 if the caster is a PRIEST (i.e. a Soulscryer), +1 for each non priest Isharann heroes within 3", and +2 for each priest Ishaaran hero within 3". This is not a spell and cannot be unbound. They have no range, they simply affect the game. Be aware that mathematical your have to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-4-gLlF0uw fish] for at least a +3 for a better then 50/50 chance. So if your planning on needing a ritual to go off try and get at least two priests and keep them close to keep a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-4-gLlF0uw floating] +3 to cast them that can be further increased by more heroes or a Shipwreck if you desire.

The 3 Rituals are:

#'''Ritual of Erosion:''' Until your next hero phase your enemy does not get a cover bonus. Your go-to if you don't have an Eidolon around. No cover does horrible things to bulwark armies like Eternal Guard-Wanderers and Freeguild.
#'''Ritual of Rousing:''' Heal 1 Wound on each EIDOLON and they can reroll all failed hit and casting rolls until your next hero phase. In case you didn't realize, this is horrifying on an Aspect of the Sea with his two spells per turn.
#'''Ritual of Tempest:''' Until your next hero phase enemy models cannot fly. Unless the table is littered with terrain, this really only helps against Kharadron,gloomspite (squigs) and Nighthaunts, but it can be very good against. Although, shutting down your opponents ability to fly over your units means that they are going to have to fight through the rest of your army.

==Warscrolls==
===Named Characters===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Volturnos.pdf Volturnos, High King of the Deep]:''' [270 pts.] An Akhelian King +1. For a measly 40 points more, Volturnos gets another swing with his weapons and far better buffs, such as the reroll-aura being extended to 18" and all Deepkin within that bubble also getting +1 to Bravery. But the real kicker is his shield: Whenever he's affected by any spell, you can choose to roll a D6 and on a 3+ that spell doesn't affect him (but works normally on everything else). Not only does that keep him relatively safe from enemy debuffs and damage spells, it also means you can drop ''Vorpal Maelstrom'' on top of him when he's surrounded by enemies. After Broken Realms: Morathi, he now gets potential access to a Deepmare Mount Trait, finally balancing out some of the downsides to having to take a named character as your general for his superior High Tide Command Ability.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Lotann.pdf Lotann, Warden of the Soulledgers]:''' [70 pts.] Aka Octobro. With a fairly standard Hero statline but slightly above-average damage output thanks to the Ochtar, he's not too shabby on his own. Especially his 5+ Save-after-the-save is appreciated since he can't take Artefacts. But what you really take him for is his buff, giving Deepkin in general +1 Bravery and Namarti in particular the ability to reroll 1s To Hit in a <del>massive</del> completely within 12" bubble. Note that his bubble doesn't specify melee, so feel free to use it to boost those Reavers' shots. That said, if you play mostly Akhelians, then the Akhelian King does the buffing better.

===Heroes===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_King.pdf Akhelian King]:''' [230 pts.] As mentioned above, the generic Akhelian King pales in comparison to Volturnos, but that doesn't mean he's bad. He's worse at everything, but can take Traits and Artefacts, which can combine to make him either tougher or killier or supportier than Volturnos, though never all three (there is also nothing stopping you from taking one alongside Volturnos if you really want to). Whatever you pick, the Akhelian King is always a fast, reasonably tough and extremely killy Hero who provides good support to your Akhelians. His main weapon is either a Greatsword or a Bladed Polearm; the latter is better provided you can keep charging (perfect time to take advantage of Ebb Tide): 2", -2 Rend, and trades one attack for dishing out 3 damage instead D3 when he charges. If you can't reliably charge each time, the Sword and Spear actually mathhammer out to very similar damage (we are talking fractions here). One other thing he has over Volty is that you can stow the Shield and Draw the Falchion. This lowers his Save to a 4+, but gives you 3, 3+/4+/-/1 Attacks when when you really want to make sure something is dead.
**(Note: Realm Artefacts from Malign Sorcery are now invalid)... Make Volturnos jealous of your prowess by giving your Akhelian King the Incandescent Rageblade from Aqshy. Having 1 of the bearers melee weapons scores 2 hits instead of 1 PLUS an extra attack profile that can be buffed by either the King's own Command Ability and/or the Unstoppable Fury command trait (in High Tide only) will please you.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Isharann_Tidecaster.pdf Isharann Tidecaster]:''' [100 pts.] A fairly survivable support caster with access to a number of very interesting spells. All in all, you only pick the lass for two reasons: One, you want a Wizard but don't have enough points for an Aspect of the Sea. Two, you take her as your general, because she can reverse Tides of Death. Combined with the Fuethán turning ''Ebb Tide'' into ''Flow Tide'', this will give you a very fast, very aggressive army.
**Another use, that pairs well if your going to have her sit out of combat and only included because of her ability to flip the tide, is to give the Arcane Corrosion spell, and use her as a little impromptu artillery piece. Putting her in the back corner and spamming the spell makes her an effective choice for throwing some MW downrange.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Isharann_Soulscryer.pdf Isharann Soulscryer]:''' [130 pts.] Count von Count here is a support character through and through. Fragile, with only milquetoast attacks, but blessed with a combo of bonus effects in that he can outflank along with 2 other Deepkin units (3 if you choose the Briomdar enclave) and on top of that the ability to add 3 to Deepkin charge rolls so long as they charge the one unit he points at. Also allows for some targetting shenanigans with ''Forgotten Nightmares'', as you can force your opponent's backfield fire support to shoot your nigh-invulnerable Ishlaen Guard. Be aware that his special rule, seeker of souls, makes it so that Idoneth units within 12” have to charge the unit marked with this ability if they are going to charge anything this turn. You cannot opt out of this bonus, as every unit within 12 of the target must add 3 inches to their charge.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Isharann_Soulrender.pdf Isharann Soulrender]:''' [80 pts.] The Soulrender wants to be a hybrid Hero killer/buffer. The latter role he pulls off remarkably well, reviving D3 plus however many models his Hook killed that turn Namarti models at the end of your battleshock phase. The former role... eh. His two hook attacks are fairly decent, with a rule that makes it better against Heroes, but it will take some prior damage for him to take down any Hero with 2 damage 2 attacks, even with the fish pitching in.

===Eidolon of Mathlann===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Eidolon_of_Mathlann_Storm.pdf Aspect of the Storm]:''' [330 pts.] With Broken Realms the Eidolons were finally revamped and since GW doesn't like updating the warscrolls on their site, that one is now out of date. The Aspect of the Storm remains the melee fighter he already was and his tricks are essentially the same. With 12 Wounds and a 3+ save he is happy to get stuck in there and with his two weapons in hand he is sure to bring the hurt. On the charge he is allowed to heal D3 Wounds, gains a fifth attack and one extra damage on his Spear and for the kicks he gets to retreat and charge again. His Stormshoal fish keep their attack, but now also provide him with a 5+ shrug. Pulling an enemy hero into the deeps no longer makes that hero worse at hitting and instead allows the Eidolon to hit on 2s with his own weapons and the Stormshoal on 3's. Why make the return of the enemy worse, if you can finally kill him outright? Lastly, his Drenched with Hate ability allows to add 1 to all wound rolls for friendly Idoneth wholly within 18". At 330 points, this Eidolon is finally playable, blends lesser units and Heros with 8 or less wounds will fold before his awesome power.
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Eidolon_of_Mathlann_Sea.pdf Aspect of the Sea]:''' [355 pts.] You guessed it, this warscroll is now also out of date. Like his more murderous brother he got blessed with a 5+ shrug. He retains his vital +3 Bravery bubble, now as wholly within 18". Still very important to keep those Namarti where they are ought to be. The new Dormant Energies rule finally allows rerolls for all his magic rolls instead of only one, and if you don't use any of these rerolls in your hero phase, he gets D3 wounds back. Nice. His Weapons remain untouched, so while he wont kill as hard as the Aspect of the Storm, he still makes a good account of himself. As a Wizard, he casts and unbinds twice and boasts two spells. One either puts D3 Mortal Wounds on an enemy heals a Idoneth unit for D3 wounds, not bringing anyone back from the dead though. The other punishes D6 enemy units with a -1 to hit and Bravery until your next hero phase. He'd also dropped down to 330 points, but was pumped up a bit to 355. He too is finally playable, his biggest weakness being the short range of his spells.

===Troops===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Namarti_Thralls.pdf Namarti Thralls]:''' (Battleline, NAMARTI, 120, Min:10). Namarti Thralls are the quintessential aelven infantry: Extremely fragile and insanely killy. Seriously. Wildwood Rangers wish they were this scary. They attack with the standard elite infantry profile of 2 attacks 3+/3+/-1/1, but with the bonus of adding another attack against 1 Wound models and adding 1 to the damage against models with 4 or more Wounds. However, they also run around with 1 Wound, a 5+ Save and a paltry Bravery of 6. They also have Icon Bearers who gain one more attack and lets them reroll battleshock. Updated FAQ states that you can have 1 Icon bearer per every 10 models. The only thing that holds them back is that their weapons only have 1" of range, so you need to be careful with how to place them.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Namarti_Reavers.pdf Namarti Reavers]:''' (Battleline with an Isharann Hero as general, NAMARTI, 115, Min:10). Namarti Reavers are fast (8" and rerolls run) and equipped with really weird bows. At 18", they get one shot at 4+/4+/-/1, which isn't exactly stellar. At 9", they instead get three shots at the same profile. Still not incredible, but that sure is a lot of shots. And if they get into melee? Each of them has a Sword-Liberator's worth of attack. So these are Archers that are only effective at extremely short ranges. Think of them as less versatile but more killy Shadow Warriors and you're not far off.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_Ishlaen_Guard.pdf Akhelian Ishlaen Guard]:''' (Battleline with an Akhelian Hero as general, AKHELIAN, 155, Min:3) . Defendy cavalry. Huh. Ishlaen Guard is fast and has decent damage output, but their true strength lies in their shields. [[Awesome|They ignore Rend]] and gain +1 to their saves when they charge, which they will since they move 14" and reroll charges thanks to their musician. So the opponent has to throw Mortal Wounds at them just to reliably get past their saves and even then each of the buggers has 4 Wounds.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_Morrsarr_Guard.pdf Akhelian Morrsarr Guard]:''' (Battleline with an Akhelian Hero as general, AKHELIAN, 195, Min:3) Same basic profile as the Ishlaen, but with 1 less attack on the weapons and no ability to ignore Rend. This seems lacking, especially considering they cost thirty points more. But then you notice that their spears gain Damage 2 and -2 Rend on the charge and that they can, once per game, drop 0.83 Mortal Wounds per rider on whatever pisses you off and you realize that they are wall breakers instead of walls. That said, just because they're missing the defensive abilities of the Ishlaen, that doesn't mean they're frail, as they still rock 4 Wounds with a 4+ Save. Got jacked up to 170 points in GHB 2019, not enough to make a massive difference.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_Allopexes.pdf Akhelian Allopex]:''' (AKHELIAN, 110, Min:1, Max:3, Website Warscroll no longer up to date.) DUUNNN DUNNN… DUUUUNNNN DUUN… DUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDUN... Chariots in all but name. 14" flying, 8 wounds, 4+ save and no longer a Monster, so let's get to cover. Each has two riders, one who swings a sword and one of which mans the gun. One option is the Razorshell Harpoon, blasting away four shots 3+/3+/-1/1 Damage. The other is the Retarius Net Launcher, who slings out 1 shot 3+/3+/-/1. While that damage is worse than the Harpoon, you only need to hit your target for the prize - your fancy new rule "Entangled" triggers and the hit unit cannot pile in this turn. This means you get to take a nice old bite out of their flank with basically no return. Nice. The ranged options can be mixed within one unit now. In Melee the Crew stabs and prods the enemywith 6 attacks, hitting and wounding on 3s bcause you are aelves, but no rend. The shark itself doesn't have fins anymore and the bite changed a lot. It is now 3 attacks, 3+/3+/-2/2 Damage. If any enemy unit within 3" has suffered wounds or lost models this turn you get an extra bite, so let the crew swing first if you failed your shooting. Very nice with a Soulscryer. Finally, they can be taken in units of up to 3, which is very risky due to Bravery 6, but with a potentially huge payoff. In exchange, units of them make for an incredible target for the Akhelian King's Command. It'd be wasted on a single Allopex but on a unit of three? Oh dear. Just make sure you use Inspiring Presence on them until ''High Tide'' rolls around. Now at 110 points, so you can consider this living cruise missile.

===Behemoths===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_Leviadon.pdf Akhelian Leviadon]:''' [340 pts.] Sea turtles, mate! Blessed be Morathi's treacherous ways, because finally the Leviadon has a warscroll that wasn't left in some half-baked beta state! The warscroll on the Website is currently not up to date. A fixed 10" flying move, a massive 16 wounds and a initial save of 2+ make this a tough shell to break. "Initial save?" you ask? Why yes, for as long as he only suffers 8 wounds this turtle now has a 2+ save, after which it starts to degrade increasingly fast to a 3+, when he has suffered 12 wounds it's a 4+ and on it's last fin it's save is a sad 5+, but at this point he is dead anyway. The weapons that this beast can bring to bear however will make damn sure that whoever breaks it's carapace will pay dearly for it. Its Razorshell Harpoon Launchers buffed to 8 Attacks 3+/3+/-1/1, delivering Dakka from 24". Its crew rather inconsequentially poke six times with no rend, and the real hurt comes from the turtle itself. Its fins cleave four times with 2" 2+/3+/-1/ starting at four damage a swing, that's sixteen wounds you can punch in somewhere. Its bite decided that it's old swingy ways are for losers, so it got two attacks, hitting on 2s, degrading as the Monster takes damage, wounds on a fixed 2+, -2 rend and three damage. No more sadness with a D6 roll for the damage done. In addition if you roll an unmodified hit roll of 6, you do 3 Mortal wounds now, or 6 if the target is a fellow Monster. And the Attack sequence actually ends now! Amazing! After you make a charge move you already do damage. Like the Deepmare of your Kings, you roll a D6, on a 2+ the charged unit suffers D3 Mortal Wounds or D6 if the unit's models only have 1 wound. This butchers small models, so Clanrats beware. We are not done yet. The old useless cover of the Void Drum is gone, now instead IDK units with 8 wounds or less and wholly within 12" just get +1 to their save. This is better than cover and stacks with it. If your Ishlaen Guard are here Turn 1, they have a 2+ unrendable save. Close by Namarti benefit even more, gaining +1 to hit in the Void Drums bubble, which is clearly intended to make them more of a viable choice. 340 points, Monster and a Behemoth.

==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.
===From Battletome Idoneth Deepkin===
*'''Royal Council:''' (610pt. min.) [Battalion: 140pt.]
''Requires an Akhelian King (Or Volturnos), a Tidecaster, and a Soulscryer. ''

Adds a new Command Ability, if the Akhelian King is the general. You can add 3" move until next hero phase for 3 friendly Idoneth Deepkin within 12" of the Akhelian King. The Soulscryer and the Tidecaster have to be within 3" of the Akhelian King to use this. Effectively nerfs the Soulscryer's ability to outflank because he needs to be within 3" of the King to use the Ability of this Battalion (unless you take an extra Soulscryer via the Ionrach enclave). Either way, taking the King as general means you can't reverse the tides with the Tidecaster.

*'''Akhelian Corps:''' (830pt. min.) [Battalion: 100pt.]
''Requires a Akhelian Leviadon, 2-4 units of Akhelian guards and 1-2 units of Akhelian Allopexes''

You can reroll a hit, a wound, a save, a run or a charge roll for one unit of this battalion wholly within 12" of the big turtle per phase.

*'''Namarti Corps:''' (660pt. min.) [Battalion: 100pt.]
''Requires a Isharann Soulrender, 2-6 units of Namarti Thralls and 2-4 units of Namarti Reavers''

The Soulrender resurrects 3 models instead of D3 with his Lurelight ability.

*'''Alliance of Wood and Sea:''' (1410pt. min.) [Battalion: 140pt.]
''Requires (deep breath....) a Isharann Tidecaster, 2 units of Akhelian guards, a unit of Akhelian Allopexes, a unit of Namarti Thralls, a unit of Namarti Reavers, and some Sylvaneth - a branchwych, 2 units of Dryads and a Treelord Ancient''

The Sylvaneth in the Battalion benefit from Emissary of the Deep Places regardless of your chosen Enclave.

Essentially a full Start collecting box of Sylvaneth, plus 4 more dyads. Also smart to buy one Awakened Wyldwood since the Treelord Ancient's ability Silent Communion gives you one per battle despite your Sylvaneth otherwise not having access to tree generation. Ideal for an existing Sylvaneth players wanting to ''branch'' out to something new (pun intended). But does it work as an useful army?

Other useful considerations would be that the two Sylvaneth Wizards in the Battalion don't have access to non-Warscroll spells, and especially considering that the one spell on the Treelord Ancient's scroll depends on Awakened Wildwoods to be useful, it's probably wise to take at least one Sylvaneth Endless Spell (or generic one for that matter) to give them something to do. Furthermore, Dryads are one of those units that doesn't perform well at their MSU size of 10 (getting a +1 to Save for 10+ models), so you should go ahead and plan on at least two units of 20 models (if not 30). Additionally, the added artefact you'll be getting from this Battalion will be wasted if you don't take at least one additional Idoneth Hero (since these Sylvaneth still count as Allies for the purposes of doling out artefacts). Finally, since the Allied Dryads don't actually count as Battleline (despite what Azyr says), you'll either need another unit of Namarti (if you take the Tidecaster as your general), or one of the Akhelian Kings (to make the Eels Battleline). Essentially, the Battalion is more for flavor, as it's super limiting of what you can actually end of taking in a 2000 pt army, but it could still be fun (especially if they update the Sylvaneth scrolls).

You could add two units of Kurnoth Hunters as allies (given anyone playing this will most likely have some lying around), but they wouldn't get the Tides Of Death (unless you went Ionrach).

===From Battleforce Boxes===
*'''Deepsurge Raiding Party''' (660pt. min.) (not legal in matched play)
''Requires an Isharann Tidecaster, 1 unit of Akhelian Allopexes, 1 Unit of Akhelian Morrsarr Guard or 1 unit of Akhelian Ishlaen Guard, 1 unit of Namarti Thralls, 1 unit of Namarti Reavers ''

This gives the Tidecaster the ability to negate the first wound allocation to a model from the battalion instead of itself.

===From Broken Realms: Morathi===
*'''The Bloodsurf Hunt''' (570pt. min.)
''Requires an Akhelian King, 1-2 units of Akhelian Allopexes, and locks you into the Ionrach Enclave''

Kind of an interesting battalion choice, if you've ever looked at your sharks and wanted them to be meat shields for your glorious King. The Akhelian King model becomes a named character, Nemmetar, and gains the Lord of Storm and Sea command trait. Nice. BUT ALSO add 1 to hit rolls for your sharks' Barbed Hooks and Blades while wholly within 12" of Nemmetar. In addition, on a 2+ you can swap wounds from Nemmetar to Allopex units from the same battalion while they're within 3" of him. It may seem counter-intuitive to have your super killy sharks taking wounds for your Akhelian King, but if you're using Nemmetar as an anvil and Allopexes as a hammer with maybe a Leviadon backing them both up for +1 to saving throws...well, suffice it to say that you will have Nagash himself weeping that you got a First Cohort battalion that can actually be used.

==Super-Battalions==
===From Battletome Idoneth Deepkin===
*'''Phalanx:''' (3710pt. min.) (30810pt. max.)!!! [Battalion: 120pt.]
''1 Royal Council, 2-4 Akhelian Corps, 2-4 Namarti Corps''

The big one. Once per battle you get an additional High Tide.

==The Enclaves==
They are akin to the Daughters of Khaine Temples. Each has unique special rules for your army and allows you to upgrade one of your Warscroll Battalions
*'''Ionrach:''' The enclave of magic and allies. +1 to cast and unbind rolls for your Wizards, which, as you know, is invaluable. However, your Command Trait is locked into the Ionrach-exclusive ''Emissary of the Deep Places'', which provides your allies access to the ''Tides of Death'' rules. Great if you have allies (or mercenaries), worthless if you don't. On the flip side, seeing as Volturnos' main drawback as a named general is that he can't take a command trait, if you're already not bringing allies, this is the perfect time to bring him along and minimize that drawback. Doesn't really fit the lore so well, but it is what it is... Also your ''Royal Council'' can have up to 2 Soulscryers and Tidecasters. Also note that with Ionrach, your allies DO NOT gain the benefit of forgotten nightmares (they still screen your Idoneth units however).

*'''Dhom-Hain:''' The enclave of more elite, monster-killing soldiers. Akhelians and Namarti reroll 1s To Hit on the charge. <s>Relatively meaningless as Lotann and the Akhelian King respectively do the same whether you charged or not, but nice if you find yourself outside the relevant bubbles.</s> Lotann and the Akhelian King only do it for units that are WHOLLY within 12 inches of them, and this rule applies to anything not an Isharann or an Eidolon. So if you want to keep your entire, very mobile, army inside a 12 inch bubble, this rule is meaningless, otherwise it's very good. Your Akhelians also reroll Wound rolls against Monsters (not just in melee, so feel free to reroll those wounds on your Allopex and Leviadon's shooting attacks when firing at a monster). Interesting against some armies, worthless against others. Also your ''Akhelian Corps'' can have up to 6 units of Akhelian Guard. Dhom-hain is notable as one of the Enclaves that have no restrictions whatsoever.

*'''Fuethán:''' The most aggressive enclave (including the mounts). You reroll 1s To Wound with your mounts. Also, during ''Flood Tide'' all your units reroll 1s To Hit and ''Ebb Tide'' turns into another ''Flood Tide''. You'll really miss that fall back + charge on turn 4, but in exchange, a Tidecaster can make you super fast by giving you ''Flood Tide'' on turn 1 and ''High Tide'' on turn 2. The Tidecaster has to be the general for that, which locks you out of Akhelians being battleline and lets you not use the command abilities of the Akhelian Kings. Also, your ''Phalanx'' can contain up to 6 ''Akhelian Corps''. Not that you will ever use a ''Phalanx''.

*'''Mor'Phann:''' The death enclave. Your Soulrenders raise an additional 3 models. This is huge and out-Death's Death armies. However, your Tidecasters can't take Lore spells and instead get ''Freezing Mists'', which drastically lowers an enemy unit's Pile In move. Also, your ''Namarti Corps'' can have 6 units of Reavers (errata'ed due to redundancy with 2-6 Thralls already being the base amount for the Battalion).

*'''Nautilar:''' The most defensive enclave. Your units reroll all failed Hit rolls if they were charged that turn. Not that your opponent needed more discouragement from charging your Namarti. Their Tidecasters lose access to lore spells and instead get ''Protective Barrier'', which targets a friendly unit and lower the Rend of any enemy attacking them. Also your ''Akhelian Corps'' can have up to 2 Leviadons.

*'''Briomdar:''' The enclave with the most mobility. Your Soulscryers can take up to 3 units along and place them 18" away instead of 12. Also, your units can move over terrain (but not enemy units) as if they were flying. Not too great since most of your army already flies. Also your ''Namarti Corps'' can take up to 6 units of Reavers. Again, it is notable that the Briomdar have no restrictions to their name.

==Allies==
Note that with an Ionarch army all allies benefit from the ''Tides of Death'' rule, which benefits many allied units in various ways.

*'''Cities of Sigmar''': They offer the widest variety out of all the allies, particularly the aelven forces. Here's a more comprehensive description of what works with Idoneth:
** Word of Pain from a Sorceress helps with -1 to Hit spam in a mage heavy list. (Just remember that they're susceptible to being sniped out).
** Order Serpentis provide expendable cavalry with good saves to soak up fire for your Akhelians. A Black Dragon or War Hydra with Ionrach are good choices for fast heavy hitters and/or shooting.
** While Scourge Privateers would be great thematically, only the Scourgerunner Chariot is really worth considering from this group (and there's a lot of bad blood between the two factions lorewise).
** Shadow Warriors can deepstrike, and (if in cover) outshoot Reavers from afar (though they're less mobile once on the field).
** Wanderers also offer several benefits (though most of the following description is outdated). A unit of 20 Glade Guard in your army provides you with a highly reliable "remove lynchpin" button that will likely enrage your opponents. Sisters of the Thorn are an awesome addition to a Cavalry army and provide a very nice spell to boot. Eternal Guards re-roll saves of 1 and 2 if they are in cover, are as fast as Namarti Thralls and cost 70 points (currently 130) per 10 models (with a super discount at max size). A Waywatcher has the invisible hunter rule, which gives shooting units that target him -1 to hit, and can be given to other Wanderer units within 18" for 1 command point (combine with Tides of Death to make shooty armies cry).
** Battlemages are excellent support units that can be tailored to your needs, and the Battlemage on Griffon packs a punch too.
** Phoenix Temple are amazing. Phoenix guard can eat enemy fire with minimal losses given their 4+ save and a 4+ save-after-the-save. Throw in a Phoenix Guard Anointed and they not only become fearless but the Anointed gives you an extra dispel. The Flamespyre Phoenix is also a great unit, trading the dispel for dropping MW on enemies and a one-use chance to come back from death on a 4+.
** Ironweld Arsenal Gyrobombers are a good and cheap choice for dropping MW on enemy units with their bombs, but Gyrocopters with Steam Guns are both much faster (better able to keep up with IDK flying units) and have a MUCH more potent close-range, anti-horde missile attack.
*'''Daughters of Khaine''': The best option by a long shot. What they bring are cheap and expendable units of 90 points per 5 Harpies that can Deep Strike in, and help block shots for the rest of your army via ''Forgotten Nightmares''. 2 Units of Javelin Harpies, or one unit of Sword Harpies is pretty likely to one shot a 5 wound hero to boot. Doomfire Warlocks are also solid allies for a Cavalry army and easily able to keep up as well as providing good shooting and a source of mortal Wounds. Your best bet here is probably a unit of Khinerai, seeing as how they can deepstrike independently from any other unit, and offer a decently strong enough attack to help shift an chaff unit off a back field objective. It doesn't hurt that they are cheap points wise too. The new Khanite shadowstalkers are quite good as allies, being able to teleport wherever they want. For a hundred points they are an interesting 9 man objective grabber, because sometimes your eels can't quite do it alone.
**'''Alternate Opinion:''' While Daughters of Khaine are indeed an extremely powerful force on their own, they don't make very good allies for a number of reasons. They excel at being an extremely aggressive force when you pile on their faction bonuses (escalating table, 6+FNP, Temple abilities, extra prayers, their NUTS spell lore, not to mention any number of internally consistent abilities and rules) on their own without those they tend towards being overpriced or fragile. While you might get some mileage out of a unit of Khinerai or Doomfire Warlocks, you'd probably be better off with some more Idoneth.
*'''Stormcast Eternals''': For a Namarti-heavy army, Liberators or Sequitors make fantastic cannon fodder when combined with a Lord-Castellant and ''Forgotten Nightmares''. Other than that, Vanguard-Raptors make for some nice budget shooting. Fulminators are a nasty addition to any Cavalry heavy army, and combined with ''Tides of Death'', will get your opponent to flip the table fast. A Knight Azyros can give your units a reroll 1 to Hit for enemies in 10". Also, a Knight Vexillor might use his redeploy ability to make your Stormcasts keep up with your Idoneths. A Celestant-Prime waiting in the heavens to boost his Attacks characteristic and then dropping in on turn 3 in High Tide (if Ionrach) can do all kinds of work. Turn 2's not bad either so that you can take advantage of another Cometstrike.
*'''Sylvaneth''': The only things worth considering here are Kurnoth Hunters for some additional shooting and Tree Revenants for Warmachine hunting without investing hundreds of points into a Soulscryer and an escort. Additionally, you might want to consider their Outcasts Battalion (3 units of Spite-Revenants), which at 280pt for the minimum-sized battalion, will likely remain the cheapest way to squeeze an extra battalion in. That said, it's currently impossible to field this in a Deepkin list in Vanguard and meet all of the faction-units-per-allies-units requirements, so save this for your Battlehost-and-larger games.
*'''Gotrek:''' Despite costing 520pts, Gotrek can be brought as an ally in any Order faction even if that's more than the usual allies allowance. It's worth mentioning for the Ionrach enclave because he'll get the benefit of the Tides. Gotrek's an absolute beast in melee but is let down by his low movement and the fact he can never be teleported/ambushed onto the board etc; however, he would love to be able to run and charge, and retreat and charge, and Ionrach lets him do that.
*'''Bundo Whalebiter''': A Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant mercenary available to all Order factions. Taking him uses up your entire ally points allowance and he ignores any Behemoth or Hero limitations. A big terrifying centerpiece who can kick objectives around and instantly kill models by shoving them into his net. You can choose at the start of the Combat phase for him to fight at the end of the phase, in exchange for re-rolling failed hit rolls. If you want a big monster that isn’t the Turtle, then this is your pick.

===Lethisian Defenders===
From the Forbidden Power expansion, this odd army coalition of Idoneth, Stormcast, Kharadron, Fyreslayers, and a random Excelsior Warpriest (w/Gryph-Hound) offers you new Allegiance Ability synergies on a level somewhere between those of the regular faction-only perks and the super basic list for Grand Alliances. By choosing this allegiance, all of your units gain the keyword LETHISIAN DEFENDER and gain access to a couple unique Battle Traits, a Command Ability, 3 Command Traits, 3 Artefacts of Power, and 3 Prayers (arguably the focal point of the Allegiance). Unlike simply taking allies in an otherwise Idoneth list, which is limited by the 1:4 unit ratio rule and (in Pitched Battles) the ≤ 20% pts rule, this allegiance allows you to take basically whatever you want from the four armies (two of which you previously had no access to without pulling back to basic Grand Alliance: Order), with the following exceptions:

*no Hammers of Sigmar (most Stormcast named heroes) [notable exception being the Celestant-Prime]
*no Vostarg units (Fyreslayers) [but Kharadron named characters are legal]
*not Volturnos [though you can take Lotann]
*Battleline is restricted to the armies' vanilla offerings (Arkanaut Company, Liberators, Vulkite Berzerkers, and Thralls) since you can't take the other options without allegiance to the specific factions). One notable exception here that might (but hopefully won't) be errata'ed is that Kharadron Endrinmasters (w/Dirigible Suits) as your general can currently grant you access to Skywardens and Endrinriggers as Battleline w/o KO allegiance, allowing you the potential to make an all-flying army with balloon-boiz and your Akhelains/Eidolons (plus whatever scattered Stormcast units you like).

Otherwise, all other units from the four armies are legal, though of course it makes sense to lean in on priests since all priests in your army gain a free prayer that, like most prayers in the game, goes off on a 3+ and can't be unbound. Also, one of the Command Abilities makes your non-priest general a priest as well, or gives a priest-general access to another prayer. Currently, in addition to the Excelsior Warpriest (a fantastically efficient option with a solid prayer of his own and able to unbind one spell per enemy hero phase), the four armies offer us access to the following priests:

*Stormcast: Lord-Relictor, Lord-Veritant (the superior option by far, super anti-Wizard)
*Fyreslayers: Auric Runemaster, Auric Runesmiter (able to deepstrike 1 Fyreslayers unit), Auric Runesmither on Magamadroth
*Idoneth: Isharann Soulscryer (notably lacking a prayer of his own)
*Kharadron: unfortunately no priests (though an Aetheric Navigator really should be)

The Battle Traits for the Army are as follows:
*all units can re-roll Battleshock tests (sadly mostly redundant for all Idoneth squads except Allopexes)
*all Human and Duardin units get +1 to-Hit in melee against enemies that charged them (on that turn)
*all Akhelian units get +1" Move and +1 on charge rolls, but sadly doesn't help non-Akhelians
*Command Ability: only works for Liberators wholly within 12" of a Stormcast Hero (gives them +1 Save in exchange for not being able to pile-in) [meh]

Drawbacks:
*you no longer benefit from any of the army's Allegiance-specific synergies (most-notably here, Tides of Death and Forgotten Nightmares), but you get to have fun allying with Duardin, more Stormcast, and have some Priestly fun!
*there's no specific lore to the army (besides the prayers), but if you want Wizards, you can always take Endless Spells or use the one Realm Spell from GHB20 (same goes for one extra artefact)
*unfortunately, there's no fix if you don't like the 3 Command Traits
*no new Warscroll Battalions, but you're allowed to use any of the existing ones

Ultimately, though most-likely not powerful enough to be competitive, I hope that GW will make more coalition allegiances like this, as it not only mixes things up, but it creates opportunities for you to collect and learn other armies, and it's super fluffy lore-wise. Plus, the Grand Alliances really don't have enough going for them, so this kinda makes up for that, meeting halfway between.

==Army Building==
There aren't a ton of options for building diverse armies since the Idoneth model line consists of 8 Leaders, 5 units with only one unconditional battleline and a behemoth. However with the addition of Enclaves your army will perform a bit differently and allows for a small but not insignificant level of specialization.

===What to start with?===
* As the name suggest, the Start Collecting! kit is a great way to start your collection, giving you 10 Thralls, 3 Eels and one Soulrender.

* Battleforce box being released for Holidays 2018. $170 (USD) will net you a Tidecaster, 10 Namarti Thralls, 10 Namarti Reavers, 3 Eel guard riders of your choice, and 2 Allopexes. Not a bad variety to start with, and is over a hundred dollars in savings, if you can somehow get your hands on it.

*Grab an Akhelian King kit and build either Volturnos or the stock King model. Both are fine, though Volturnos outperforms his nameless counterpart before taking Artefacts and Command Traits into consideration. Either model is a fine addition to your army. Better yet, pick up the Broken Realms: Morathi Battalion Box for the Bloodsurf Hunt, which includes not only the Akhelian King kit, but also two Allopexes, all useable in a new Battalion that's actually solid (especially if FAQ'd out of being subfaction-locked to Ionrach).

{{Age_of_Sigmar_Tactics}}

Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Death/Nighthaunt

2021-11-06T06:52:20Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD: /* 2000 pt. */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Nighthaunt|Logo=LadyOlynderMortarch.png|Alliance=Death|Motto=Wooo!! I'm a ghosty!}}

Get ready to have [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSaqSVi--Ms Grim Grinning Ghosts] playing on a loop because the ghosts of the Mortal Realms have come out to socialize!

==Why play Nighthaunt?==

'''Pros'''
*Army wide Ethereal rule means enemy rend has no effect at all on your save rolls.
*Army wide ignore wounds and mortal wounds on a 6.
*Army wide fly means you pay no heed to the idea of "Battle lines", just go above your enemy and hit them where it hurts.
*Strong leadership and small army size means routing is never an issue
*Dish out mortal wounds like it's nobody's business.
*GW support, with some of the best models released recently.
*You have one of the best mobility in the game. With deep strike, teleportation, and that all of your units fly. You can run around your enemy(or crash into them like a screaming banshee train) with ease! and you're not all that fragile too.
*12 hero options to choose from. Spoilt for choice.
*Your main motivation is hatred of Sigmarines.
*Our army-specific Endless spells have cool models.
*Stupidly easy to paint. Just prime them white and apply some pale shades of greens or blues to give them a [[spook]]y appearance.

'''Cons'''
*Despite perfectly fitting the aesthetic, Mortis Engines aren't Nighthaunt units.
*Our army-specific Endless Spells suck crunch-wise, either being overcosted for what they do or too unreliable.
*Like a lot of Death armies, your heroes are the chain that binds the army together. If they get killed you might as well go back to the grave.
*12 hero options to choose from. Not all of them are good, though, and a third of them are exclusive to the Soul Wars box. If you want to play with them, either find a friend to split the box with, buy the heroes or sell the Stormcast on eBay, or be prepared to start a Stormcast Army too.
*Pray to Nagash for those 10's on the charge, because you're going to need them.
*Eats Mortal Wounds like a chump; you're going to need that 6+ FNP, since that's almost all you get.
*Depending on your opinion of mono-pose models, you will either love or hate the Nighthaunt range.
* They are very bad to transport. Many Nighthaunt models are made with a single small connecting point to the base along with parts that stick out like small bits and weapons. Take a leaf from Sylvaneth (hehe) when it comes to transporting your army anywhere, lest you snap your precious models and doom yourself with trying to superglue a 2mm surface together.
*Ethereal is a HEAVY point tax. You'll feel that all your models are 10-30% more expensive point wise than they would be due to not being affected by Rend. And in some match ups, Ethereal means very little.
*As of 3rd edition (before a potential tome), Nighthaunt cannot benefit from the command ability All Out Defense, so you are missing out on an important command ability that can assist in your paper (or sheet?) thin ghosts enduring big attacks.

==Rulebooks==
The ''Nighthaunt Battletome'' has all the Warscrolls, Battations and Allegiance Abilities.
*This should be supplemented with the Nighthaunt ''Errata'' and ''Designers' Commentary'' from the [https://www.warhammer-community.com/faqs/ FAQs].
*Matched play points are in ''General's Handbook 2019''.
*Alternatively up to date warscrolls can be found in the ''WH AoS'' app. Warscrolls on the GW webstore match those in the Battletome.

As with all factions you'll want:
*The core rules are either [https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Warhammer-Age-of-Sigmar-Rules downloadable] or in the ''Core Book''.
*Games taking place in a Realm need the Realm of Battle rules from the ''Core Book''.
*In you want to take advantage of realm specific artefacts you'll need the Artefacts Of The Realms section from the ''Malign Sorcery'' book.
*Matched play battleplans are split across the ''Core Book'' and ''General's Handbook 2019''.
*''All'' books should be supplemented with any updates from the [https://www.warhammer-community.com/faqs/ FAQs].

==Rulebooks==
{{AOSRulebooks|tome=Nighthaunt |points=[https://www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/e2513c4c.pdf Nighthaunt Errata]}}

==Allegiance Abilities==
===Battle Traits===
*'''Deathless Spirits:''' Each time a '''NIGHTHAUNT''' unit takes a wound/mortal wound, if that unit is wholly within 12" of your general or any other '''NIGHTHAUNT HERO''' it can ignore the wound on a dice result of 6. Given how fragile a lot of your units are, this is a godsend.
*'''Aura of Dread:''' -1 Bravery to enemy units within 6" of yours. Decent, but nothing special.... until you read below.
*'''Feed on Terror:''' If an enemy unit fails a battleshock test, a '''NIGHTHAUNT HERO''' within 6" heals 1 wound. Adds a bit of sustainability considering how you desperately need to keep your heroes... unlive?
*'''From the Underworld They Come:''' For each unit you set-up on the battlefield you can keep them in reserve. Then you can deep-strike them with all of the normal limitations (9" range, can't move yadda yadda). No need to roll a dice now!
*'''Wave of Terror:''' When a '''NIGHTHAUNT''' unit makes an unmodified charge roll of 10+. The charging unit can immediately fight, and can still fight again in the following combat phase.This is fucking illegal and incredibly powerful.
*'''Spectral Summons:''' A Command Ability for your general. At the start of your movement phase pick a friendly '''NIGHTHAUNT''' unit on the battlefield, then teleport it to your general. Entirely within 12" of your general and 9" from any enemy unit. Great to pull a unit away that's been charged by something that's about to wreck them or to charge with something pulled from the backline or to support a unit with another HERO or... you get the idea.

===Processions===
We got subfactions! You don't have to just say your army is "nighthaunt" anymore. With the removal of warscroll battalions in matched play, these are how you will be defining how your army plays. Like many subfactions in different army, the first relic and command trait must be allocated to your army, before you use any others from either our tome or the universal options.
====The Emerald Host====
*Ability: '''The Emerald Curse''' After armies are set up but before the first battle round begins, you can pick one enemy '''HERO'''. For the duration of the battle, subract 1 from save rolls for attacks that target that '''HERO'''.
*Ability: '''Knights of Regret''' Add 1 to the attacks characteristic of melee weapons used by friendly '''EMERALD HOST HEXWRAITHS''' units that made a charge move this turn. In addition, roll a dice before you allocate a wound or mortal wound to your general if they are within 3" of any '''EMERALD HOST HEXWRAITHS''' units. On a 2+, you must allocate that wound or mortal wound to one of those units instead.
*Command Trait: '''Lord of the Host''' Once per battle, you can use the command ability on this general's warscroll without a command point being spent (if the general does not have a command ability on their warscroll, ignore this effect).
*Relic: '''The Traitor Knight's Blade''' Add 1 to the attacks characteristic of the bearer's Sword of Stolen Hours

This behaves like the White Dwarf Battalion of the same name, with the ability to pass off wounds to hexwraiths on a 2+ is simply incredible! Taking Olynder as your general can let you give the relic to a beater like the KOSOES, and have her have her horse host escort our lady down the battlefield, giving away mortal wounds like GW gives us space marines.

====Reikenor's Condemned====
*Ability: '''Unrelenting Taskmasters''' You can re-roll failed hit rolls for attacks made by friendly '''REIKENOR'S CONDEMNED CHAINRASP HORDE''' units and '''REIKENOR'S CONDEMNED GLAIVEWRAITH STALKERS''' units while they are wholly within 15" of any friendly '''REIKENOR'S CONDEMNED SPIRIT TORMENTS''' or '''REIKENOR'S CONDEMNED CHAINGHASTS'''. In addition, each time a friendly '''REIKENOR'S CONDEMNED CHAINRASP HORDE''' or '''REIKENOR'S CONDEMNED GLAIVEWRAITH STALKERS''' unit is affected by the Spectral Lure or Temporal Translocation spell cast by a '''GUARDIAN OF SOULS''', you can return D6 slain models to that unit (in addition to any models returned to the unit by the Spectral Lure spell.
*Ability: '''Acolyte of the Grimhailer''' If '''REIKENOR THE GRIMHAILER''' is included in your army, he is treated as a general in addition to the model that is chosen to be the army general
*Command Ability: '''Death Comes Swiftly''' You can use this command ability at the start of the movement phase. If you do, pick 1 friendly '''REIKENOR'S CONDEMNED CHAINRASP HORDE''' units and '''REIKENOR'S CONDEMNED GLAIVEWRAITH STALKERS''' unit wholly within 12 of a friendly '''REIKENOR'S CONDEMNED HERO''' or 18" of a '''REIKENOR'S CONDEMNED GENERAL'''. Add 6" to that unit's Move characteristic until the end of that phase.
*Relic '''Corpse Candle''' In your hero phase, before this model attempts to cast a spell, you can say that it will snuff out a corpse candle. If you do so, pick either this model or an enemy model within 12" of this model. That model suffers 1 mortal wound. If the mortal wound was suffered by an enemy model, add 1 to the casting roll; if the mortal wound was suffered by this model, add 3 to the casting roll. If the bearer snuffs out the candle in the combat phase, pick the bearer or an enemy model within 12". The model you picked suffers 1 mortal wound. If you picked an enemy model, add 1 to hit rolls for attacks made by the bearer in that phase; if the mortal wound was suffered by the bearer, add 1 to the hit and wound rolls made by the bearer in that phase.

This is the one for buffing up a double-reinforced unit of Chainrasp Hordes, as with All Out Attack, they can have 3(rerolling fails)/3/-/1, which is pretty good for our friendly neighborhood tortured souls. Continue to ignore the Glaivewraith Stalkers, as after a few years, they still are unusable. On top of being able to have 2 generals, you are set for a decent horde army that can pop up wherever you want.

Also worth mentioning that this procession doesn't have a command trait you have to take, so you can take the beloved '''Ruler of the Spirit Hosts''' command trait.

===Command Traits===
*'''Hatred of the Living:''' Your general can re-roll all hits unless the target has the DEATH key word.
*'''Terrifying Entity:''' At the start of the enemy movement phase, roll a d6 for each enemy unit within 3" than your general. If the result is equal to or greater than their bravery characteristic, that unit must retreat. Combos with your -1 bravery aura from Aura of Dread. Amazing against mob armies with low base bravery. Get them to retreat and then charge them again for the chance of that tasty, tasty 10+ charge.
*'''Lingering Spirit:''' The general gets +1 wound. Absolute trash unless for some reason you're using one of the more subpar heroes.
*'''Spiteful Spirit:''' If an enemy unit inflicts a wound on your general in melee combat, roll a d6. If you roll a 5+, enemy unit takes a mortal wound after all attacks have been made. Good on a Knight of Shrouds.
*'''Cloaked in Shadow:''' Gives -1 to hit for ranged attacks vs. the General. It's worth noting that with Look Out, Sir! it becomes -2.
*'''Ruler of the Spirit Hosts:''' At start of hero phase, return d3 models to a friendly '''SUMMONABLE NIGHTHAUNT''' unit within 9" of the general. Use on Hexwraiths or Spirit Hosts for maximum wound-return efficiency.

===Weapons of the Damned===
All Artefacts in this list requires you to pick one of the bearers melee weapons

*'''Shadow's Edge:''' An unmodified hit roll of 6 using that weapon deals d3 mortal wounds and the attack sequence ends. Basically gives a '''HERO''' an improved Frightful Touch, note that this does stack if they already have that rule. Kind of wasted on weapons with a damage stat higher than 1, but funny on a Cairn Wraith who can smack down 2+d3 MW each time he get's a 6.
*'''Reaper of Sorrows:''' Before attacking, roll 2D6. If the rolls exceed the target units Bravery then the Rend characteristic of this weapon is changed to -3. Since there is very little overlap between "units with low Bravery" and "units against which -3 Rend isn't wasted", better skip this one.
*'''Balefire Blade:''' Add 1 to the weapon's damage characteristic. Not bad on a Knight of Shrouds on mount, since it give's him a nice flat 3 Damage. If you're taking the Nighthaunt battalion which gives him an extra attack, consider it.
*'''Slitter:''' Every time the bearer is chosen to fight, but before piling in you can roll a dice against a model within 1". If the roll exceeds their wound characteristic, it is slain. Meaning you can pick the model you want to be removed from the unit, not your opponent. This can lead to some very interesting situations, considering the new rules for cohesion...
*'''Headsman's Judgement:''' Add 1 to the hit roll and wound roll. Just in case you'd like your Executioner to be able to pull his weight. Or stop pretending and give it to a Knight of Shrouds.
*'''Shrieking Blade:''' Subtract 1 from hit rolls made with melee weapons against the bearer.

===Relics of the Underworld===
*'''Cloak of the Waxing Moon:''' In melee, the owner's Deathless Spirits save works on a 5+ (normal wounds only).
*'''Pendant of the Fell Wind:''' Add +3" to the movement of any Nighthaunt units wholly within 12" of this character at the start of their phase. Perfect when the 6" Move of Spirit Hosts and Chainrasps aren't doing it for you, or combine with Chronomantic Cogs for Grimghast Reapers who move 13" and then charge 2d6+2".
*'''Dreadbolt Ring:''' If this model inflicts one or more wounds in the combat phase, then inflict d3 mortal wounds on an enemy unit within 3" after this model has finished attacking.
*'''Mirror of Screaming Souls:''' At the start of your shooting phase, roll 2D6 for each enemy unit within 8" of the bearer. If you roll above bravery, 1 mortal wound. Decent on a banshee or durable beatstick.
*'''Midnight Tome:''' The model becomes a Wizard and can cast/unbind once per phase and knows the two basic spells. If the model is already a wizard, it can cast one more spell.
*'''Covetous Familiar:''' At the start of each combat phase, roll a dice for every enemy unit within 3". On a 2+ they take a mortal wound. Better than the Dreadbolt Ring if you wanna get surrounded by multiple units, plus it goes off before anyone attacks.

===Infernal Lanterns===
Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern only.
*'''Lightshard of the Harvest Moon:''' Once per battle, at the start of the combat phase, every '''NIGHTHAUNT''' unit wholly within 12" of the bearer rerolls all to hit when they attack in the combat phase.
*'''Wychlight Lantern:''' Add 1 to the bearer's casting roll.
*'''Beacon of Nagashizzar:''' Add +3 to the heal or resurrect roll when the bearer casts Spectral Lure.

===Notable Artifacts of the Realms===
Blade of Secrets- perfect for a dreadblade harrow unit that can teleport next to a caster and stop a specific spell that is causing your army grief for the rest of the game.

===Lore of the Underworld===
Like several armies you get a set of spells available to any '''NIGHTHAUNT WIZARDS'''.

*'''Soul Cage:''' Casting Value 6. If successfully cast pick an enemy unit within 12” of the caster that is visible to it. Until the start of your next hero phase, that unit fights at the end of the combat phase. In addition, the unit cannot retreat. ''A very nice way to deal with deathstars by using this and charging multiple units at it.''
*'''Spirit Drain:''' Casting Value 4. If successfully cast pick an enemy model within 18” of the caster that is visible to it. Roll number of dice equal to the wounds characteristic of the model. For each roll of a 6+ the model suffers 1 mortal wound. ''A Monster killer if there ever was one. Remember it's the Characteristic, so you can use this on a big beastie on it's last leg(s) to finish it off.''
*'''Lifestealer:''' Casting Value 7. If successfully cast pick an enemy unit within 12” of the caster that is visible to it. The unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. For every mortal wound inflicted in this manner, the caster heals 1 wound. ''This works great with Reikenor the Grimhailer. Snuff out your own corpse candle and cast this spell on a natural 4, and have a guaranteed wound to heal!''
*'''Reaping Scythe:''' Casting Value 4. If successfully cast pick one of this models melee weapons. You may reroll all failed to-hit and to-wound rolls made for that weapon until the start of your next hero phase.''Great on any kind of '''HERO''' that you turned into a wizard since most of them are beatsticks.''
*'''Shade Mist:''' Casting Value 6. If successfully cast pick a Nighthaunt unit within 12” of the caster. Until the start of your next hero phase, subtract 1 from all wound rolls made for attacks targeting this unit. ''Great for changing the odds on a unit's survival and complicating your opponent's targeting decisions.''
*'''Spectral Tether:''' Casting Value 6. If successfully cast pick a friendly '''NIGHTHAUNT HERO''' unit within 12”. That unit immediately heals D3 wounds. ''Mediocre use of a spell slot.''

===Endless Spells===
New to Second Edition, you're the other first to gain Faction Exclusive Endless Spells! These can only be cast by '''NIGHTHAUNT WIZARDS''' or '''NAGASH, SUPREME LORD OF THE UNDEAD'''. However, these are honestly pretty crap if used with Nighthaunt.

* '''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_NightHaunt_Shyish_Reaper.pdf Shyish Reaper]:''' The Shyish Reaper has a move of 8", and damages units by flying over models. The issue is that with its base being nearly 3", it can effectively only move 5", although this can be slightly extended due to it pivoting before it moves. It is more likely to deal damage to stuff with better save characteristics. Think for a moment - what armies around like to field lots of models with a 4+ save or better? Unfortunately, the top of the list is Nighthaunt. This spell is more likely to damage your own units than the enemy, most of the time. Pass.

* '''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_NightHaunt_Vault_of_Souls.pdf Vault of Souls]:''' It's a floating bomb that deals Mortal Wounds, and it explodes into D6 Mortal Wounds when it dispenses 20 of them. With how hard Predatory Endless Spells are to predict, this thing is too likely to turn and explode next to you at a critical moment. It may be worth considering, however, due to how cheap this bastard is, and how good our mobility is. Dropping it off as a parting gift from a deep striking Wizard can be delightfully good as they get snagged by Spectral Summons.

* '''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_NightHaunt_Mortalis_Terminexus.pdf Mortalis Terminexus]:''' It's a big floating Hourglass that either deal D3 Mortal Wounds to everything within 6" or heal D3 Wounds to everything within 6". It does not return dead models. In an army that already has great regeneration, mediocre regeneration that can't restore dead models is not worth taking. Avoid it. The model is cool, though, so use it as a proxy for the Chronomantic Cogs.

Some of the generic Endless Spells are also worth considering.

* '''Suffocating Gravetide:''' Now, let's not kid ourselves. The Suffocating Gravetide isn't strictly GOOD, but what it is is cheap. At 20 points, it's worth tossing in if you have a few points to spare once you've built your list, since they won't do anything for you otherwise. The Gravetide deals D3 mortal wounds to each unit it even slightly passes over, and inflicts a -1 leadership penalty on them, which can synergize with the -1 from Nighthaunt. The Gravetide is also on a pretty big base - it can be useful to plop it right in the way of an enemy unit and block them from getting that critical objective. The fact that the Gravetide provides cover is almost irrelevant to you - units with Ethereal can't benefit from cover, and you'll rarely care anyway.
** It also looks good next to your Nighthaunt, with the same design aesthetic.
* '''Chronomantic Cogs:''' Oh here we go. For a quick refresher, you need to have a WIZARD within 9" of the Cogs to activate them, and when you do you choose one ability to last until your next hero phase. If you slow down time, the controlling wizard can cast one additional spell in your hero phase and re-roll save rolls. If you speed up time, you add 2 to the move characteristic of and charge rolls for ''every unit on the board''. While this doesn't sync with your allegiance ability(the rule specifies unmodified 10+), you still really want to get your charges off, and a +2 is huge, especially if you're going for risky charges from out of reserves.
* '''Aethervoid Pendulum:''' Good for a 50 point spend when you don't feel like the Gravetide but don't have the 50 spare for a command point. The Aethervoid Pendulum avoids the main problem of predatory endless spells by always moving in one direction, which means it's telegraphed, but also means it will never turn against you just because you get a double turn. It deals D6 mortal wounds to anything it flies over or lands 1" from - send it towards the enemy, ideally at an allegiance terrain piece or objective they can't afford to step away from. Even if it doesn't do damage, it crimps your opponent's options, and that's always good.

==Warscrolls==
The common keywords of these warscrolls are: '''DEATH''', '''MALIGNANT''' and '''NIGHTHAUNT'''.

===Leaders===
====Named Characters====
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Lady_Olynder.pdf Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief]:''' (215pts) First new Mortarch since the End Times. She is all about dealing mortal wounds on the enemy in multiple ways: is surrounded by banshees that deal 6 Spirit Host attacks in melee, once per battle can either heal D6 wounds on herself or deal D6 Mortal wounds on an enemy hero within 6", in every hero phase picks an enemy unit within 12" and inflicting mortal wounds on it on a 2+ roll (the wounds are equal to the roll result) and then heals D3 wounds on herself if she managed to kill at least a model, in shooting phase rolls 2D6 for each enemy unit within 10" and deals them D3 mortal wounds if the result is higher than their bravery, and also adds an extra fleeing model to every enemy unit failing battleshock tests within 12". Her exclusive spell takes an enemy unit and gives it -1 to their hit rolls and +1 to the hit rolls made against it in melee, and her command ability restores a dead model in every SUMMONABLE Nighthaunt unit within 12" - but only if she's your general. If you're looking for a support general it's a toss up between this and a generic general with Ruler of the Spirit Hosts - RotSH can heal multiple models from one unit rather than one per unit, but importantly doesn't use a command point. Olynder isn't really a support unit like her model suggests; she's an assassin that you drop in to your enemies backside or deathstar and wreak havoc upon them with mortal wounds, your other units have better damage-to-point ratio but since her's is almost entirely with mortal wounds you bypass a lot of those 3+/2+ saves with rerolls fuckers that you have a hard time with.
** Be careful using this gal. 7 wounds with a 4+ save and an ignore wounds on a 6 is ''not'' that durable, and the fact that she needs to be fairly close to the fighting just makes her more vulnerable.
**, Unlike the mounted Mortarchs, Olynder isn't a monster and does benefit from the Look Out Sir, which coupled with her unrendable save increases her survivability. She's only just the squishiest Mortarch after Arkhan (healing 2 wounds each time he kills something in combat, potential Ossiarch Legion keyword buffs and rocking a 3 wound auto-heal per turn), Katakros (rocking a combined 20 wounds, superior save and the option to auto-heal 3 wounds on himself a turn), Neferata (superior CC healing to Arkhan and Mannfred, her immune to rend spell and her 1- hit debuff aura) and Mannfred (healing D3 wounds a turn if he kills anything in CC and negating the first wound or mortal wound he suffers in each phase).
**<ASSEMBLY TIP> Gaps ahoy! There is a bulb that helps you to align the 3 pieces that make up her veil and headpiece. Snip that bulb off so you can still get rid of gaps whilst keeping her entire veil as a subassembly for easier painting. Her entire assembly is also resting on one single damned stalk of her gown. Find a way to stabilize her if you don't want to be the one grieving.
**A more viable strategy involving the pale lady now exists via the new Battalion from the White Dwarf. Taking her as your general can help keep her alive thanks to the body guard battalion, which lets her stand around on the field and fight without getting wasted instantly. Plus, her command ability lets you regenerate those Hexwraith body guards, and her spell helps with their subpar accuracy.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Kurdoss_Valentian.pdf Kurdoss Valentian, The Craven King]:''' (180pts) The General Killer. Usurper. Nagash' Monument to Dickishness. A flying beatstick with a very good but unreliable debuff. He has 6 Spirit Host attacks like his wife, his other weapon in melee is the Sepulchral Sceptre, a weapon with 5 attacks on a 3+/3+ roll with -2 rend, each dealing D3 wounds (D6 if you rolled a 6 to wound) and rerolls failed hit rolls against the enemy general. Also, in each enemy hero phase, when they get their command point you can steal it on a 5+ roll, which can take away some armies command abilities. There's really not much else to say about him, fly him into your enemies behind and wreck face.
** When Kurdoss was first resurrected he said "Kurdoss does not serve!", "But neither does he rule!" said the two Servants beside him and they laughed!
** Unfortunately as neat as he is at being a combat character, he does little to nothing for the army outside of CP stealing. Thus he tends to be overshadowed by nearly all the other leaders with the lack of synergy buffs. Plus 7 wounds, even with ethereal, isn't exactly too tough.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Reikenor_the_Grimhailer.pdf Reikenor the Grimhailer]:''' (165pts) Both a warrior and a wizard. Gets a souped-up version of the scythes we saw on Cairn Wraiths, Hex-wraiths and Grimghast reapers, getting the usual reroll on bigger units plus dealing mortal wounds instead of regular one on a hit roll of 6. His spell deals D3 mortal wounds on an enemy unit within 12", plus D3 more if the first ones killed something. When casting, can either deal 1 mortal wound to an enemy within 12" or himself, getting respectively +1 or +3 to the cast roll. Consider using this guy to cast your Endless Spell, just in case your opponent wants to dispel it.
** As this ability targets a specific model in a unit, you can use it to split coherency and open the way to clearing multiple models off the table if you are feeling evil. Use with cogs, do this twice, earn the undying hatred of your opponent.
** Since you no longer have the option to ally in Arkhan outside of a Grand Alliance: Death army, and Arkhan no longer gains the spells of nearby '''DEATH''' wizards, Reikenor is definitely your go-go caster for Nighthaunt.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//aos_warscroll_thorns_of_the_briar_queen_en.pdf The Briar Queen]:''' (175pts) Must include her Thorns of the Briar Queen. The first Mirrorghast Banshee, she's a wizard with 3 ranged attacks with -3 rend, hitting and wounding on 3s... sadly, only doing 1 damage each, breaking the numerical focus. Her melee attack hits at 3", hitting and wounding on 3 as well, -2 rend, doing D3 wounds. Her unique spell hits all enemies 6" of a point 18" away from her; if the roll is either greater than the target's Move value, or a double, it suffers a mortal wound and has halved movement until her next hero phase.

====Others====
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG%20Knight%20of%20Shrouds.pdf Knight of Shrouds]:''' (100pts) Our first genuine commander model. Blessed with the same defenses as a Cairn Wraith but with an additional wound, he's pretty tough. With basically a Vampire Lord's melee profile (Damage 2 instead of D3) he's not a pushover. His Command grants Nighthaunt units WHOLLY within 12" +1 To Hit, meaning he can hit on a 2+ himself and can counteract those pesky To-Hit penalties. In a Nighthaunt army with some allies, he's absolutely fantastic. He's tough as nails and regenerates if you kill an enemy '''HERO'''. It also adds a bonus to Dreadblade Harrow as per the dreadblade warscroll.
**With the release of the new book following AoS 2, this guy has had some ups, but mostly some downs. With Spirit Hosts and Hexwraiths getting MWs only on unmodified sixes, and the rampant nerfing of the Mournghoul, this guy isn't cranking out the MWs like he used to. Plus, with the new book, there's not a lot of units that necessarily need that bonus, or can actually fit with his 12" aura, thanks to the accursed Wholly Within change. Plus, he's only got 5 wounds on a 4+, and his movement is rather pitiful. He may not be the worst hero, but outside of maybe buffing some smaller units, stick to the KoS on mount.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_knight_of_shrouds_knighthaunt_2018.pdf Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed]:''' (120pts) Mounted variant of the guy above. Similar stats, with double the movement and, weirdly, only one extra wound (In contrast to the Grimhailer and other mounted heroes who have 2 more wounds than regular) plus the extra attacks from the spooky horse, and his command ability gives +1 attacks at a Nighthaunt unit wholly within 18" instead. Actually a better general for your Spirit Hosts now that they deal mortal wounds on an unmodifiable 6. It also adds a bonus to Dreadblade harrow as per their warscroll. Also, when comparing him to a Vampire Lord, keep in mind that while a Vampire Lord's ability does last till the end of your next Hero phase, it cannot in any way affect units coming in from deep strike; luckily, since the KoSoES's command ability occurs in the combat phase, he is the perfect front-lines commander to help buff a unit that's coming from the underworld.
*Keep in mind, with the right buffs, the KoS can also be surprisingly killy too. Giving him a decent weapon artifact, and taking him in the right battalion can make him a decent beat-stick, perfect for warmachine or hero hunting.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Guardian_of_Souls_Nighthaunt_2018.pdf Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern]:''' (135pts) First real wizard for the army. His exclusive spell restores d6 wounds to a SUMMONABLE unit within 18" '''or''' resurrects models with a combined wound count equal to the d6 roll, while he also makes every Nighthaunt within 9" add 1 to their wound rolls, which is phenomenal for most units and inconsequential to Spirit Hosts.
**Suffers from the "I'm so good at supporting the army that everyone guns for me" syndrome. Many NH players find their guardians dying real fast when people figure out they're the key to victory! Be sure to surround them with bodies and even then aren't protected from Mortal Wound sniping. You should consider taking two - the aura stacks, which means if you've got two of them on hand your chainrasps are wounding on 2s, but even more importantly, it lets you spread your Guardians out for redundancy and keep from losing your wound bonus, your heals, AND your magic to a single model.
**One thing to note is an artifact, the Beacon of Nagashizzar, which the Guardian can take. It upgrades the Guardian's unique Spectral Lure spell from restoring d6 wounds to D6+3 - it's a lot more reliable. However, the Wychlight Lantern does help the spell itself more reliably go off. Your choice between more models returning, or returning models reliably.

*'''Guardian of Souls with Mortality Glass:''' Same as above, but instead of buffing wound rolls forces enemy units within 9" to roll a single die when charging. He uses the spell Temporal Translocation which on a 6 allows one unit within 24" of the caster to make a normal move of 6" that can be used to retreat but still allows it to charge later in the turn. Great spell on everything other than Bladegheists and Glaivewrath Stalkers with a Deathbeat Drummer (they already can do this). Sadly the model was event exclusive, so good luck getting a hold of it.
**As of the GH19, this poor sap is no longer a matched play unit, due to him lacking a points profile. Still fun to use in regular play, and who knows, maybe he'll get a release with a new book. But for now, he's strictly narrative only.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Spirit_Torment_Nighthaunt_2018.pdf Spirit Torment]:''' (115pts) The sleeper hit of the Nighthaunt hero lineup. He has a 12" aura that lets friendly Nighthaunt re-roll hit rolls of 1, which can make your force significantly better. He has average defensive stats but packs a surprising punch in melee thanks to his chains being a D3 damage weapon. He also heals units or restores models within 6" provided at least 3 enemy models were slain by the beginning of the Battleshock phase (this checks in both your turn and your opponent's turn, so it's potentially 2d3 models per battle round). The Spirit Torment is a must - put him close to where the fighting is thickest, and you'll rarely go wrong.
**However, do consider what you're actually getting here for 115 points; you get some decent, but conditional, regeneration, and a re-roll 1's aura that you can just pay a command point to get anyways. This guy will be frustratingly useless if you can't kill those 3 models per turn, and is most likely best suited to be paired with a unit of Bladegheists, who get to re-roll ALL hits instead of just 1's. Otherwise, stick him with your Dreadscythes or Chainrasps, as they have the most to gain.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Lord_Executioner_Nighthaunt_2018.pdf Lord Executioner]:''' (90pts) Your generic Hero killer. Gets an average weapon that deals 3 wounds if you roll a 6+ to wound, rejects mortal wounds on a 5+ roll and can give -1 to hit rolls at an enemy hero within 3" in melee. That last ability is the only real reason this would be worth taking, and even then he's probably not worth the points.
*What he does boast, however, is being a tougher hero. That 5+ against MW will save your ghostly ass at times, and that -1 against heros can help mitigate flying bricks like Mawcrushas and Keeper of Secrets from totally smashing you.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_dreadblade_harrow.pdf Dreadblade Harrow]:''' (100pts) Mounted lieutenant that can warp on the field instead of moving regularly as long as he's not engaged in melee and a sword that gets different buffs depending on what he does (+1 damage in the turn he charged, +1 attacks in every other turn and can also reroll every 1 to wound if a Knight of Shrouds is within 9" from him). At first, he seems rather pointless aside from flanking long-range artillery or mages. But then you realize that his teleportation trick works at the beginning of the movement phase, much like your deathly summons, and because of this, you pick the order they go off. So say hello to your new Undead Taxi cab.
**Aside from teleportation shenanigans, Dreadblade Harrows are an awkward choice - they don't really offer much damage, they don't have supportability, and they need to buddy up with the Knight of Shrouds to get the most out of them.
**with the expansion of generic command ability. They can reliably deal them out at any time.
** Some conspiracies suggest DBH was supposed to be a unit, not heroes. But some weird book shuffling occurred. After all, it is a little weird to sell 2 heroes in a single EZ to build box

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG%20Cairn%20Wraith.pdf Cairn Wraith]:''' (70pts) The Cairn Wraith was an important forerunner in the aesthetics of the Grimghast Reapers, Reikenor, and lots of other Nighthaunt units. Unfortunately, the fact is that the Nighthaunt update kind of left the Cairn Wraith behind, as it no longer has a niche of its own. But what it still has going for it isn't completely useless; this guy may not be precisely tough or extraordinarily deadly in melee, but what he does bring is a good close combat profile and a incredibly small base; this sucker is on a 25mm round, for some ungodly reason, making it him easy to hide in a horde. Coupled with a 2" range, this guy can sit comfortably in a unit of 20 or so chainrasps, and when they're charged, this guy can help support them via CP abilities while still knocking back some wounds. Plus, while this guy only has 4 wounds, this can often cause an opponent not to throw as much damage at him as they probably need to, or perhaps too much.
** Another neat trick with the Cairn Wraith has to do with his Frightful Touch ability; If you have a spare artifact with no where to go, toss him the Shadows Edge. Now, every time you roll a 6 to hit, this dude is popping off 2+d3 MW. While not exactly reliable, this will suddenly make a Character most people ignore suddenly far scarier.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-tomb-banshee-en.pdf Tomb Banshee]:''' (80pts) For all intents and purposes, a Banshee is more or less a Cairn Wraith with much weaker attacks (though at -2 Rend, that's pretty decent) and a scream attack that causes damage off of Bravery. The Tomb Banshee fills an interesting role in the army, capable of being played both offensively defensively. Thanks to the 10' range on her scream, she can deepstrike in and still fire off a scream; while this is less effective against Death and Celestial Seraphon, this is still a great way to throw some wounds at the enemy with a lucky roll. This can also be especially deadly if you roll high against a misplaced Skaven or Goblin hero. Defensively, she is a nice way to add some punch to what may normally be a lack luster combat unit like Chainrasps or Spirit Hosts. Simply placing her behind them, and firing off your scream can chip away even at the mighty Stormcast or Chaos Warriors.
**is a great choice when facing Skaven, Grots, Khorne, Warclans or Cities of Sigmar. And she should be heavily considered if your running bravery reducing endless spells. Her mobility and scream power is not to be ignored.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/BR_Belakor_Warscroll_Krulghast_Cruciator_eng.pdf Krulghast Cruciator]:''' (120pts) New Nighthaunt hero. They died during torture and in undeath they became torture technicians who inflict pain on those who defy Nagash. They have a Ranged attack with low damage but good to hit/wound/rend, he upgrades the Deathless Spirits save of units wholly whithin 12" to 5+ (side note, like the Daughters of Khaine ability, he only upgrades the normal 6+ to a 5+ for NORMAL WOUNDS, not MORTALS (side side note, recently FAQ'd so this does affect mortal wounds) if he manages to inflict a wound with it and it is not negated. Kinda boring, not too impactful and his attack is only 12" so the added resilience only works if you are already close to combat.

===Troops===
====Battleline====
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-nighthaunt-spirithosts-en.pdf Spirit Hosts]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', '''Battleline''' only in a '''Nighthaunt''' army, 125pts, Min:3). Compared to other swarms, Spirit Hosts have fewer Wounds, but way better attacks and a 4+ unrendable save, which makes them pretty tough against anything but Mortal Wounds. Effectively, they have a rather low damage output, but the vast majority of their damage is in Mortal Wounds, which makes them great, especially against stuff with big saves and high rend. Be'lakor in particular hates these things with a passion. Their Frightful Touch ability got changed to on work on an ''unmodified'' roll of 6, less synergy but you don't get fucked by hit penalties anymore. Your main reason for taking these guys, however, is their ratio of wounds per model, which when paired with some of Nighthaunt's ability to resurrect entire models, becomes a very lucrative way to bring back wounds. However, keep in mind that a unit of 3 Spirit Hosts is only 40 points away from 20 Chainrasps. Unless you're investing in the requisite abilities, Chainrasps have them beat in points per wound. When you use these guys, make sure you're respawning them, as well as using their 4+ effectively. Also, don't forget that you can almost always count on at least 1 MW per Spirit Host base. This may not seem like a lot, but with a WoT charge, you can effectively get 6 guaranteed MW on a unit just from 3 Spirit Hosts.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Chainrasp_Horde_Nighthaunt_2018.pdf Chainrasp Hordes]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', '''Battleline''', 95pts, Min:10) The actual troops for the army, thanks to the new edition. Classic swarmy troops that deal a huge bunch of attacks, also reroll every 1 to wound as long as they're more than 10. Get a bunch of heroes around them to buff their attack stats and enjoy. These guys are your bread and butter horde choice, providing a more numerous battleline. While Grimghasts are deadlier, and Spirit Hosts are both tankier and resurrect wounds more efficiently, Chainrasps have them both beat on cheap bodies. These are the guys you want to stick on objectives and control the board, and while they certainly aren't on the level of Grimghasts, they do have the potential to deal a bit of damage from sheer weight of attacks. But just make sure that your giving them proper hero support; an unsupported horde of Chainrasps will vanish under a dedicated assault, and bravery 10 only gets you so far in Battleshock. And speaking of Battleshock, your Chainrasps are only Bravery 6 without your Unit Leader AKA Candlabra man. Things that can snipe specific models can make your battleshock test even more painful. A Guardian of Souls is never a bad support choice for these guys, and Shademist is a superb choice if your casting on the first turn.
**When running these ghosts, your going to want to really pick a role for them and stick with it. 10 Chainrasps serve as a cheap battleline filler, and a decent screen. If you're going for a bit more of an offensive bent to them, using them in 20 with a buffing hero can see them do a bit of damage. A unit of 30 can really clog up the board and reliably take regeneration, your over units flying over the chainrasp fence to strike when an opportunity arises.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Grimghast_Reapers_Nighthaunt_2018.pdf Grimghast Reapers]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', '''Battleline''' only in a '''Nighthaunt''' army, 155, Min:10) Band of scythe guys. A troop with a slightly worse version of the Cairn Wraith's scythe, while the leader gets a bell that deals a mortal wound for each model it killed with regular wounds. This unit is a flying blender, so it's no wonder they're your most expensive Battleline. Hordes beware.
**These guys have gotten into a weird position; in LoN and LoG, they're undeniably the best possible choice for an elite blob of anvils that can also grind through enemy units, and then come right back thanks to healing. However, in Nighthaunt, their worth is much more questionable; point per point, they fall behind units like Bladegheists when it comes to damage dealing when on the charge, and against elite units, Dreadscythes are more powerful thanks to the extra attack and bonus damage while also being slightly cheaper. Another knock against them is the fact that their horde bonus only hits at 30; It is nearly impossible to get 30 Grimghasts wholly within our range. Overall, if you run these guys, use them as a horde killer, and keep them in blocks of 20 for better buffing.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_hexwraiths.pdf Hexwraiths]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', '''Battleline''' only in a '''Nighthaunt''' army, 150pts, Min:5) Kinda average but can still be useful in certain situations. They hit with a bunch of decent attacks, and have a decent chance to damage enemy units they move over the top of by dealing a mortal wound on a roll of 5+ for each Hexwraith that flew over them and are very fast. Do not forget that you cannot end your movement within 3" of the enemy, so think of this ability as 12-3" if you intend to charge the enemy after that. They are also very durable and have a solid if a bit lackluster, weapon profile. These bois are your artillery killers. Fly them right over enemy battle lines and crush enemy archers and the like. You take these guys as a tactical option, rather than as a beat stick.
**One of the few units that can cause damage while retreating, which is done in the movement phase. Flying over a unit or two (don't forget your D6 run while retreating) counts for triggering their special ability.
**If taken in the battalion with the black coach, these guys get an even better chance to strike during the charge phase since they only need an unmodified 9+ charge roll. Another synergy comes with the Black Coach, as it too restores models, not wounds, to a unit. Thus, you can get anywhere from 2 to 6 wounds back per Black Coach.
**In the white dwarf battalion, these guys do become a more viable combat unit, perfect for harrying flanks or hunting down really obnoxious targets like Skyefires or Skaven Warmachine units, while also serving as an awesome bodyguard unit. With a buff from a Knight of Shrouds, you can have each Hexwraith hitting with 4 attacks each with their scythes, and 4 attacks with their horse on the charge; at first, this may not sound like a lot, but in a bigger unit, you can slam an opponent with 80 attacks from just a unit of 10 Hexwraiths. On average, a unit of 5 KoS-buffed Hexwraiths on the charge will do about 4 MW before even factoring in their regular attacks. Not bad for a unit that's also there to take wounds for your boss.

====Others====
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_NightHaunt_Glaivewraith.pdf Glaivewraith Stalkers]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', 65pts, Min:4) These guys are Bladegheists, but worse in every way. They do reroll every failed hit roll in the turn they're engaged in combat (either if they're the ones who charged or not), and they also can get a drummer to retreat and charge in the same turn. Take note that at 15 points, 6" move and 1 wound a piece, these guys are slightly cheaper then everyone but Dreadscythes, but are by far worse. With a weapon profile thats the same as Chainrasps, these guys are by no means elite. If you must use them, your best bet is running them at max size as a way to try to get the best use out of WoT with their retreat and charge ability.
**Opinion: Never take them. Period. Grimghast reapers do more damage, Bladegheists are faster and do their retreat and charge stick better, and Dreadscythes are cheaper for a better profile. Not to mention the pokey sticks aren't battleline and move slower for almost the same price per model. As a comparison, for 3 points more per model you can bring bladegheists instead.
**Consider: By simply clipping off the horse face to leave an empty cowl and turning the blade 90 degrees, you can turn these guys into more Grimghast Reapers. Probably a better use of the model.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_NightHaunt_Mymourn%20Banshees.pdf Myrmourn Banshees]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', 75pts, Min:4) Little tykes that can unbind spells and get an extra attack each if they succeed into doing it (But if you do it on an Endless Spell, they also suffer d3 wounds and basically die a lot). Since they each have 1 attack that does D3 damage, you effectively double their damage output any time you unbind a spell. Also, since spells are one of the main ways of dealing Mortal Wounds, and since Mortal Wounds are the only way to reliably kill your spooks, the fact that these ladies can unbind them makes them a must-have for your army. However, with only 4 models and a 4+ save, they're fragile - run them in blocks of 12 with healers or not at all.
**These ladies can kill; that's for certain. The problem is getting them to the right time and place to do so, without having them get killed before they get there. Like said above, they get crazy good with buffs, so make sure to use your deepstrike and Spectral Summons ability to help keep them alive. Another thing to look out for is their 4+ to hit; this sucks ghost balls. Always make sure they're either in Spirit Torment, KoS or any other re-roll or hit modifier range.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Chainghasts.pdf Chaingasts]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', 75pts, Min:2) Spirit Torment's best friends. If they're within 12" from him, they extend his "everyone within 12" rerolls 1 to hit" ability by also emitting it. In melee, their scourge weapons dishing as many attacks as there are enemy models in the range. One of not very many NH units to get a shooting attack, and a fairly decent one at that.
**Their role is to boost the Spirit Torment's aura across half the table, and they're good at it. Use them for that and plink with their shooting weapons while spreading the re-roll love to your units. (Let it be noted that unless you got the Soulreach Grasp for your Black Coach, it is the ''only'' shooting weapon any of your units get). However, in a pinch, these guys can do quite a bit of work in melee as well; throwing them against 28mm hordes can really let them shine, and in cases like Plague Monks, these guys can soften the blow for units that come after them.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_bladegheist_revenants.pdf Bladegheist Revenants]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', 190pts, Min:10) With an 8" move and a very good weapon profile, Bladegheist Revenants are great at first glance. Second glance reveals a bonus attack on the turn they charge and the ability to retreat and charge, meaning they get 3 attacks in essentially all of your combat phases. Then you notice the fact that when they're near a Spirit Torment or Chainghasts, these guys re-roll ALL their hit rolls instead of just 1s (note that the Chainghasts do not need to be in range of a Spirit Torment to give this buff). The only downside Bladegheists have is they'll draw a lot of fire. Run them in blocks of 10 or even 15 to avoid losing the entire unit, and keep a Guardian of Souls on hand to revive dead models and make their swords wound on 2s.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads/ENG_dreadscythe_harridans.pdf Dreadscythe Harridans]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', 160pts, Min:10) They apply -1 to hit against enemy units within 3" of them unless they have a Bravery of 6 or more (remember Nighthaunt Allegiance decrease it by 1, so even units with 6 bravery fall within this range). Decent in melee, with -1 rend and a chance for extra damage, with 3 attacks each. With support from a KoS on Steed or an allied Vampire Lord, their attacks can add up pretty quick.
**With the current GHB 2020, these gals have gone down to 70 points, taking the spot for one of the cheapest damage dealer units in the book. For a mere 260 points for 20, when compared to the Bladegheists and Grimghasts 320, these ghoulies are nearly 60 points cheaper at max size. And what your getting for that 70 points is frankly, awesome. Deeply consider taking these as your cheap damage dealers, or part of the shrieker host battalion, since their bang for their buck is absurdly cost effective.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//aos_warscroll_thorns_of_the_briar_queen_en.pdf Thorns of the Briar Queen]:''' ('''SUMMONABLE''', 0pts) The Briar Queen's personal squad of six Chainrasps; can't be taken without her. In lieu of numbers, they reroll ones if an enemy unit is within 3" of 2 models of theirs(so almost always). Otherwise, a slightly undermanned Chainrasp Horde. Use them as a road bump, or something to tie up ranged units or warmachines.

===Behemoths===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Black_Coach.pdf Black Coach]:''' (220pts) This thing is not only aesthetically stunning but also a monster in-game: With 12 wounds, 14" movement with fly, and a 4+ ethereal save, it's not going down anytime soon. It has either a single shooting attack with a petty 10" range, but it does do D3 damage and has rend -3 or it's regular Cairn Wraith scythe. However, it is downright terrifying in combat: Not only does it have <s>4</s> 3 melee profiles, but the reaper scythe of the rider can also reroll hits against units with 5+ models (or a single attack with a rend characteristic of -3, D3 damage if you took the ranged profile.) These weapons along with the relic bearers' Spectral Claws(which goes down in attacks as it gets wounded) have the Frightful Touch rule. It's Evocation of Death works like this now: At the start of each battle round roll 3 dice, <s>on a 4+</s> on EACH 4+ it gains one level of power. Each level stacks and lasts for the rest of the battle.
*#'''Level 1''': Heal d3 wounds at the start of your hero phase and return d3 slain models to a '''NIGHTHAUNT''' unit within wholly within 12" of it.
*#'''Level 2''': Re-roll 1's to hit for this model and can run and charge in the same turn
*#'''Level 3''': After charging pick a unit within 1" of it, roll a dice, on a 2+ that unit suffers D3 mortal wounds
*#'''Level 4''': Can retreat and charge in the same turn.
*#'''Level 5''': At the start of your hero phase, roll a dice for each enemy unit within 3" of this model on a 4+ deal D3 mortal wounds.
** While it's a bit of a mixed bag, the mix is all things that you want and your opponent doesn't want on the table. It is almost impossible to ignore thanks to the huge amount of attacks and mortal wound opportunities it has. And it needs a huge amount of firepower to remove so even if it gets taken down early the rest of your army should be in quite good shape still. Also, the synergy this thing offers to Nighhthaunt is pretty excellent; outside of Olynder and RotSH, this baby is your other primary way to bring back multiple models at once, AKA, bringing back Hexwraiths and Spirit Hosts.
** Now, with GHB19, this baby is a cheap as chips 220 points; to put it this way, it offers almost the same amount of damage as a Cairn Wraith and 10 Chainrasps would put out anyways, with plenty of Frightful Touch. The general way to use this bad boy is start it off as a defensive piece, using it to help regenerate your screen of Spirit Hosts or Hexwraiths, and maybe giving a bit of damage through it's scythe. But once you get that second or third level, it's time to let this bad boy fly into the enemy and help finish off lightly wounded units. It's also worth noting that this thing is pretty easy to keep in tip-top shape since most Nighthaunt heroes and spells have ways to heal this bad boy.

{{anchor|FWMourngul}}
*'''[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/aos_warscrolls/Downloads-AoS/aos-warscroll-mourngul.pdf Mourngul] (Forgeworld):''' (270pts) As of each new edition a whole bunch of FW big boys have had stat changes, and the latest batch have been good to the Mourngul. First, while he has the same unrendable 4+ save, he gained the ability to heal D3 wounds if he kills anyone in combat. Between this , 10 wounds and a -1 to hit aura this ghastly monster is tough in combat but vulnerable to shooting, though the latter can be mitigated by putting him within 12" of your general for that sweet 6+ Deathless save. In combat his attacks deal 2 mortal wounds on a 6+ to hit, which is good (especially against well armoured heroes). With 8 attacks this is very scary; note that it's an unmodified hit roll, so a Knight of Shrouds on foot won't affect its mortal wound generation but the mounted one will. Fact is, the Mourngul was never a real beatstick, more of a distraction Carnifex. He's definitely lost some of that power, but now you have a whole army of synergies and rules to play with, so he has a place in your lists.
** If the FW Model is too expensive, simply build two Mournghouls from one Aleguzzler Gargant - and you still have the lower half left to build a zombie gargant.
**The Mourngul is no longer the all-star that he was in GA:Death back in AoS 1.0, but after some serious point drops and in third edition, he's a decent choice. The key to using this monster is mostly in picking his fights, and helping support other units already wedged into combat. His -1 to hit aura helps keep other units alive, while throwing down some MW with his claws. He can't finish off whole units anymore on his own, but he can certainly eat through a wave of chaff, gives elites second thoughts and draw attacks (and attention) from more important units.
**It's worth noting that he is currently the only Monster available to us right now and therefore the only model that has access to the new Monster benefits in the 3.0 Core Rules and Matched Play Battlepacks. Also, the Stomp and Titanic Duel can up his damage output even further, so he's definitely got a place on the front lines.

==Battalions==

===Chainguard===
(580pt. min. - 820pt. max)

'''''A Guardian of Souls and two Chainrasp Hordes with 20+ models each'''''

'''The Heart of the Horde:''' The Guardian of Souls can bring back D6 models to one of the units of Chainrasps when he casts Spectral Lure.

When paired with the Beacon of Nagashizzar the Guardian can bring back 2d6+3 models (average 10) every turn on a 6. This is ridiculous, and will force your opponent to spend their limited unbind attempts on it, every turn.
What's that? Your massive damage unit almost thrashed the battleline of Chainrasp Horde? Don't worry about it, they'll all be right back. This is almost mandatory for anyone wanting to attempt the "endless horde" army style in Nighthaunts.
** Keep in mind that his Battalion ENTIRELY relies on being able to get the Guardian of Soul's spell off; and sure, it may be sweet to see that 2d6+3 Chainrasps pop back up, but the second the enemy sees this, their going to start throwing their considerably more powerful anti-magic at us. This makes this entire battalion a gamble, since if you happen to fight army that's good at magic, or has good ways at stopping magic, then congratulations, you just spent a bunch of points on an artefact and a CP.

===The Condemned===
(670pt. min. - 990pt. max)

'''''A Spirit Torment, a unit of Chainghasts and two Chainrasp Hordes with 20+ models each'''''

'''Cruel Taskmasters:''' Re-roll failed hit rolls for attacks made by the Chainrasp Hordes while they are wholly within 15" of the Spirit Torment or Chainghasts. This is an excellent pick, and choosing between this and the above battalion is hard. Extending the aura and making it a full reroll miss effectively makes Chainrasps 3+ to hit. Add in guardian of souls buffs and you have 3+/3+ battle line that can get to four attacks each with other effects.
* First and foremost, this is our most expensive Battalion; and it is for a good reason as well. In a similar vein to the Death Riders, ShroudGuard and Chainguard, this is more of an "upgrade" rather then a straight up bonus. But arguably, this is one of the better bonuses we can get, since it gives the Spirit Torment and Chaingheists a formidable buff to their range. Another good thing to note is, that just like the Bladegheist rule, you don't actually need to have the Spirit Torment nearby to get the bonus for the Chainrasps, meaning it's entirely viable to run one block of Rasps with the Spirit Torment and then another block of Rasps with the Chaingheists. Than way, both Blocks get those sweet, sweet re-rolls. If your going to be running offensive Rasps, pass over the Chainguard and look towards these bad boys.

===Death Stalkers===
(580pt. min. - 1380pt. max)

'''''A Cairn Wraith, 2 units of Grimghast Reapers and 2 units of Glaivewraith Stalkers'''''

'''Soul-marked Prey: ''' After setup is complete, pick an enemy unit to become 'Soul Marked' by this battalion. Add 1 to hit and wound rolls for attacks made by this battalion against the marked unit. This can be used to get rid of your opponent's power-units, like large groups of chaos warriors or sequitors.
* How do you balance being forced to take a really good unit with a really good buff? By making you take 2 terrible units and a slightly mediocre one. The Glaivewraiths are a tax, simple as that, and an expensive one at that. Costing you at the very least 120 points, this effectively doubles the cost of the battalion. Until Glaivewraiths get better or cheaper, this battalion should be avoided at all costs.

===Deathriders===
(830pt. min. - 1890pt. max)

'''''1-2 Dreadblade Harrow, 2 units of Hexwraiths and a Black Coach'''''

'''Spectral Spearhead:''' Add 1 to charge rolls for units in this battalion. In addition, an unmodified charge roll of 9+ allows the unit to fight immediately (replaces allegiance ability). Overall, this is a solid choice, and if you were planning on bringing a Dreadblade, a Black Coach and some Hexwraiths, this should be your go-to. All three units synergize really well, and a Dreadblade is a must for a really fast moving army. The Black Coach works very well with the Hexwraiths, since it can help heal them, and then help finish off the enemy.
* Funny enough, after the discount, it's entirely possible to make a complete 2000 point army by just taking two battalions, and then running four units of 10 Hexwraiths each. Is this a good use of your points, and or money? Probably not, but it could be fun.
* Raises your chances for the charge bonus from 16.7% to 27.8%.

===Execution Horde===
(540pt. min. - 1620pt. max)

'''''One Lord Executioner and 3 units of Spirit Hosts'''''

'''The Headsman's Masses:''' Subtract 1 from the hit rolls of attacks that target this battalion's Lord Executioner while a Spirit Host unit is within 6" of the attacking unit. In addition, add 1 to the hit rolls of attacks made by the Lord Executioner while any Spirit Hosts are within 6" of the target unit. His job will be to tarpit enemy heroes or sit around and bring back his spirit host buddies with the Ruler of the Spirit Host command trait.

===Shrieker Host===
(560pt. min. - 1280pt. max)

'''''A Tomb Banshee, 2 units of Dreadscythe Harridans and 2 units of Myrmourn Banshees'''''

'''Mournful Wailing:''' Re-roll battleshock rolls of 1 for enemy units while they are within 6" of any units from this battalion. In addition, Inspiring Presence cannot be used on enemy units within 6" of any units from this battalion.

Really good for the 'Leadership attack' strategy, however given that Seraphon, Daemons and well, DEATH, are popular armies, and have almost exclusively Bravery 10, this will be fairly hit and miss. Even with the maximum -3 to bravery, a bravery 10 model goes to 7, averaging 0 mortal wounds from banshees. This is probably more for someone who wants to run a gimmick list, or know that their local meta is low-bravery armies. In the latter case, it will be "frightening" how fast you lose your friends. heh...

===Shroudguard===
(410pt. min. - 930pt. max)

'''''1 Knight of Shrouds or Reikenor the Grimhailer and 2 units of Bladegheist Revenants'''''

'''Frenzied Fervour:''' Replaces the 6+ ignore wounds from the allegiance ability to a 5+ for the Bladegheist while wholly within 12" of the KoS or Reikenor.

This one has some really neat Synergy with the Ruler of the Spirit Hosts Command Trait. Make the Knight of Shrouds your General and pick this as his Command Trait. Now your Knight of Shrouds has a -1 to hit with Ranged Weapons (thanks to the Bladegheist Revenants blocking him), the Bladegheists can shrug off wounds and mortal wounds on a 5+ (thanks to the Battalion ability) and should a Bladegheist Revenant fall, this Command Trait will instantly let you set up some extra Bodyguards.

===The Forgotten Scions===
(440 pt.)

'''''1 Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed and 2 Dreadblade Harrows'''''

'''Gharest Malcor, the Traitor Knight:''' Add one to the attacks characteristic of the Knight of Shroud's Sword of Stole Hours. In addition, once per battle round, you can use the command ability on his warscroll without a command point being spent.

===The Dolorous Guard===
(400 pt. min. - 2360 pt. max)
'''''2-4 units of Hexwraiths'''''

'''Knights of Regret:''' Add one to the attacks characteristic of melee weapons used by units from this battalion if they charged in the same turn. In addition, if your general is within 3" of any friendly units from the battalion, on a 2+ you can pass on wounds and mortal wounds.

==Super-Battalions==

===Nighthaunt Procession===
(3730pt. min. - 12350pt. max)

'''''1 Shroudguard and 6 Battalions chosen between the others in the Battletome'''''

Do you know Deathless Spirits? That allegiance ability we described above that makes everyone ignore wounds at a 6+? The battalion units replace it with... something a little better? The drawback is that it only works on heros from this battalion, but that hardly matters, since your bound to have 6 seperate heros due to the battalions. What it does give is that it removes the word "Wholly" from our Deathless Minions aura. So we get the (longer range) legion version of it, and makes larger battles a little easier to manage.

===The Emerald Host===
(900 pt. min.)

''''' 1 The Forgotten Scions, 1+ The Dolorous Guard, and any number of The Condemned, Chainguard or Death Stalkers'''''

'''The Emerald Curse:''' After armies are set up, but before the first battle round, you can pick 1 enemy hero. Subtract 1 from save rolls for attacks that target that hero.

Note that the way this ability is worded, you don't need to be part of the battalion to take advantage of this ability, so only take optional sub-battalions if you're trying to get a single drop army.

==Army Building==

===1000 pt.===
Start with Soul wars, and then get another Soul Wars half. This gives you the 40 chainrasps you need as the core of most lists. Converting Glaivewraith Stalkers into Grimghasts is as easy as trimming the skulls and spikes and turning the blades 90 degrees. Run a Knight of Shrouds on Steed, two Guardians of Souls, two blocks of 20 Chainrasps, a unit of 10 Grimghasts, and the Chainguard battalion, and you have a decent list that's exactly 1k.

===2000 pt.===
A sweet/fun spot for this army. Tons of heroes. Tons of ghosts. Since nearly the entire Nighthaunt range is easy-to-build, putting together a functional 2000pt list is fairly inexpensive and beginner-friendly. At this points value, you should be allying in a Vampire Lord for extra healing(give him the wings so he doesn't get left behind if your force has to jump a wall). Generally at this level you'll want to have a big, powerful deathstar of your chosen killer unit(Grimghasts, Bladegheists, or even Harridans) surrounding and buffed by your heroes(Spirit Torment, at least one Guardian of Souls, and Vampire Lord at a minimum) plus two blocks of 20 Chainrasps to hold terrain. Once you've filled in those essentials, you'll still have a few hundred points to play around with - maybe add Lady Olynder for serious mortal wound output, maybe an endless spell and a unit of 8 Banshees to feed the endless spell to so you can boost their attacks. So many possibilities....

==Allied Armies==
Definitely consider taking a Vampire Lord. The ''DEATHLY INVOCATION'' ability is amazing, as it can dish out a huge amount of healing to your most critical units. The Vampire Lord costs only a little more than your Knight of Shrouds on Steed and has the same Command Ability and similar damage output. The only difference is the lack of Ethereal (And the lack of a Deathless minion save) and more reliable self-healing.

If you want to deploy a '''MALIGNANT''' army consider the Mortis Engine, if only because it's part of Start Collecting - Malignants. Otherwise, build it as either a Bloodseeker Palanquin or Coven Throne, since Soulblight are Nighthaunt allies while Deathmages are not for some reason. The Coven Throne deserves a special mention. They provide Deathly Invocation to help regen your ghosts, they are a Wizard, and their command ability is pretty good allowing any DEATH unit to reroll 1s of attacks, wounds, and saves. If you bought the Nighthaunt start collecting, it might be time to convert those Mortis Engines into Coven Thrones. Keep in mind that the Coven Throne is pricey though. But giving your Nighthaunt re-rolls to wounds, hit, and essentially a AoS 2.0 Mystic Shield, it is very recommended. For added fluff points, give it the Ethereal Amulet from Malign Sorceries for a ethereal save, just like your ghostly pals.

The foot-slogging/flying/Nightmare-riding Vampire Lord has a great buff to toss at your Hexwraiths, though sadly the one on zombie dragon is too expensive to take as an ally. Mannfred von Carstein is also nice because his Dread Abyssal is surrounded by spirits so he fits the theme, because he's very powerful and his buff aura is amazing and because he can summon more Nighthaunts for you every turn.

For Legions, no cheese is spicier than the triple whammy Grimghasts. Take a vampire lord, a Necromancer and a Knight of shrouds on ethereal steed, a guardian of souls with lantern, and a giant honking unit of Grimghasts (Preferably 30). Use the command abilities of both the vamp lord and the knight of shrouds to bump your guys up to 4 attacks each. Next, have your necromancer cast Vanhels Dance Macabre on them so they can fight twice. Did someone say 240 attacks at 3+\3+\-1\1? Now you see those four units you charged, now you don't. Add in a Coven Throne for its CA, and suddenly, they're all re-rolling their wounds.

Honorable mentions should also go out to Morghast Harbingers and Arkhan the Black. Morghasts add in a good source of Rend -2 and Damage 3 attacks that Nighthaunt lack outside of spamming Mymourn banshees and Kudross. Mobility isn't as much a problem either, since you'll most likely be dumping half your Nighthaunt army on the enemy turn 1, and the rest on turn 2, so trust me, your enemy will have more to worry about. This lets your Harbringers to get up the field relatively quickly.

Arkhan also fills a hole in a Nighthaunt army, that hole being reliable magic support. Besides having a good unique spell, and the ability to extend both his and your other Nighthaunts spells, he can also cast the spells of other Death Mages, meaning that you'll get essential spells like Soulcage off.

Lastly, as of his new (Ossiarch Bonereapers) warscroll, his Deathly Invocation will return a flat 3 wounds worth of models to 4 different units - that's guaranteed Spirit Hosts or a crapton of 1 wound models returned. Of course, keep in mind that now the only way to have Arkhan or Morghasts in your army is with a Grand Alliance: Death army.

*'''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}}

Ossiarch Bonereapers

2021-11-05T17:42:12Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD: /* Gallery */

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

{{topquote|Two can play at that game!|Likely Nagash after learning how Sigmar makes Stormcast}}
{{topquote|Debt, an ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slavedriver.|Ambrose Bierce}}
{{topquote|The bones of the skeleton which support the body can become the bars of the cage which imprison the spirit.|J. Ruth Gendler}}

The latest addition to [[Nagash]]’s ever growing hordes (designed and sculpted by [[Maxime Corbeil]], a former dentist), the '''Ossiarch Bonereapers'''
(Also known as '''The Boney Boys''', '''Bonecast''', '''Tomb Kings 2.0''', '''Bonechads''', '''Nagash's Taxmen''', '''The Boney Bean Counters''', '''Ossiarch Bean Counters''' or '''The IRS''') are the result of an eons old plan by Big Bone Daddy.

Likely inspired by the [[Stormcast Eternals]], the Bonereapers are not mere skeletons given life by necromancy, but massive constructs of bone and countless warrior souls, making them all look impressively robust for undead. Since the Soulblight Gravelords are the mainstay, the Nighthaunt are the shock troops and the Flesh-Eater Courts are completely insane, these buff bone bruisers are the elite vanguard of the Grand Alliance. Given their themes of bones, undead constructs, priest characters, architect characters and skull-throwing catapults... they're currently the closest thing we've got to [[Tomb Kings]] in AoS.

They also carry out the Bone Tithe; in addition to going out and killing shit to get their bones, the Ossiarchs give settlements they encounter a contract: Give up a set amount of bones whenever we stroll by, or face annihilation now. Understandably, most choose the former. Being unable to pay or even being rude to them also provokes a slaughter.

Visually-speaking, they're what happens when Games Workshop decides to mix [[Tyranids]], [[Tomb Kings]], and [[Necrons]] into one army.

However, widespread dissatisfaction against them due to Petrifex list spamming in first edition tournaments, how they aren't GW darlings like [[Space Marines|everyone with]] [[Stormcast Eternals|pauldrons]] and GW's desire to shill the Lumineth are probably part of the reason the Bonereapers were worfed '''hard''' in the Broken Realms saga. Seriously, the amount of clout they lose in just one book is unthinkable (read "Broken Realms" below for more). This shows a possible chain of Worfing going on in AoS ("worfing" is having a supposedly powerful fighter be easily defeated to show how strong their opponent is - named after Worf from Star Trek, who was often on the receiving end). First the Stormcast worfed the Warriors of Chaos/Slaves to Darkness, then both were worfed by the Bonereapers, and then the Bonereapers were worfed by the Lumineth. Now it remains to be seen if the Bonereapers will get payback, restore those they lost... or at least we can wonder who will worf the Lumineth in future.

==History==
===Age of Myth===
[[File:Slaves to Darkness vs Ossiarch Bonereapers 01.jpg|right|300px|thumb|SKULLS FOR <s>THE SKULL THRONE</s> Nagash! And all the other bones too!]]
When Nagash was helping Sigmar build his cities he secretly began experimenting on undead, combining their bones and souls into newer, stronger undead warriors; the [[Morghasts/Hammurai|Morghasts]] and the first Bonereapers. Most were put into massive underground crypts Nagash secretly built beneath the cities of Order, but others were kept on the surface and brought into battle alongside the armies of the other gods.

The other gods saw the Bonereapers and really didn't like them because of how unnatural they were, even for undead. In response, Nagash sent these Bonereapers to the edge of Shyish to lay low until he called on them (these Bonereapers who would go on to form the Null Myriad). He also sent at least twenty of them to wander the Realms on a long-forgotten mission (these would go on to become the Petrifex Elite).

Strangely, none of the Order groups noticed until however long its been since the start of the Age of Myth that there were crypts full of undead warriors beneath their cities. Especially since they know about and need to defend against [[Skaven|enemies who specialize in creating massive complexes beneath your cities that they then invade from]] or ones who are just [[Gloomspite Gitz|well-versed in tunnel warfare]].

===Age of Chaos===
The Age of Chaos only affected the Bonereapers garrisoned at the edge of Shyish. By that time they had become resistant to magic, and they fought against demonic armies, their actions blunting the assault of Chaos on Shyish. During this time, Katakros led an army against Sigmar himself on Nagash's orders while the former was pursuing the latter for his betrayal. The battle resulted in the loss of Katakros' army, the Mortarch's defeat and subsequent confinement to a Stormvault.

===Age of Sigmar===
In the lead-up to the Soul Wars, Katakros was freed from the Stormvault by fellow Mortarch, Lady Olynder. The Bonereapers on the edge of Shyish acted as a military force protecting the skeletal work crews who carried grains of Shyishan realmstone to Nagashizzar for Nagash to use to build the Black Pyramid.

===Soul Wars===
After the Necroquake, Nagash decided the time was right to wake up everyone beneath these cities, who apparently marched back home, making them relatively pointless. In that respect, these tombs seemed to mirror the Stormvaults Sigmar had strewn about the Realms to contain various dangerous contraband like [[Katakros|said Mortarch]].

When the Bonereaper legions arrived in Shyish, Nagash got back to his pet-project of making super-skellies, and perfected the process. This involves taking souls and distilling them down to their most choice elements. This involves ripping apart their identity and keeping parts considered useful (such as skills, daring and knowledge) while discarding the parts that aren't useful (such as fear, compassion and loyalty to anything but Nagash) and replacing those parts with something "better" (like loyalty to Nagash), with the strongest-willed soul among them becoming the identity of the new Bonereaper. Then these fragmented and melded souls are put into specially crafted bone constructs. By doing so, he artificially created individuals who were warriors, leaders, bodyguards, artisans, architects, philosophers and sculptors all in one, [[Adeptus Custodes|which sounds a little familiar.]]

The Bonereapers subsequently had a meteoric rise, making their mark - and several enemies - across the realms. After establishing their powerbase in Shyish, the Ironjawz Warclan the Kryptboyz have focused their efforts on fighting the Bonereapers due to wanting to destroy their settlements and wear their bones as trophies. In Chamon, the Null Myriad encountered the Seraphon of the Thunder Lizard Constellation and got embroiled in wars for control of the realm's edge. The Ivory Host legion gained a foothold in Ghur, Katakros' realm of origin, and in building their cities they've positioned themselves for conflict with several Mawtribes and the free city of Excelsis. The Ivory Host also clashed with an [[Sons of Behemat|infamous Mega-Gargant who went on to become the mercenary known as One-Eyed Grunnock]].

This was followed by the Bonereapers most notable conflict; the War for the Eightpoints. Katakros led the Mortis Praetorians and detachments from other Legions into the Eightpoints alongside Olynder and a Nighthaunt army to take the Eightpoints for Nagash, the first invvasion of the realm since it had been captured by Chaos. They succeeded in capturing and fortifying the realmgate leading to Shyish, and established a fortified citadel around it as a base of operations. However, Katakros' campaign was halted by the sudden return of Archaon and a force of Varanguard plus a daemon army led by Be'lakor. Bolstered by the mortal and daemonic hosts, the Chaos armies routed Katakros' Nighthaunt allies and forced the Bonereapers to enact a tactical retreat, with Archaon personally slaying him after a lengthy duel. Katakros' soul returned to his stronghold, albeit wounded, and after Katakros' restoration in a new body, the conflict became a stalemate and a war of attrition.

===Broken Realms===
When Morathi entered the Eightpoints in her plan to secure Varanite, she secretly sent an envoy to Katakros, giving him several tonnes of bones infused with the magic of Ulgu in exchange for a Bonereaper attack on Archaon's holdings to distract the forces of Chaos. Knowing the forces of order will take losses in their unknown (to Katakros and the Stormcast) endeavor, Katakros accepted the bargain.

Book two saw some particularly grueling setbacks for the Bonereapers. Not content with making the entire Death faction a bunch of jobbers for the Lumineth, the Bonereapers got worfed like a 40k Avatar of [[Khaine]] fighting Ultramarines, so bad it's as if the author had some bad experiences playing against them on the tabletop.

Teclis confronted Nagash after repelling a Nighthaunt attack on Settler's Gain, and unsuccessfully tried to threaten him into backing down. Then Teclis enacted a master plan seeking to end the Soul Wars and make Nagash pay for the Necroquake. To start, he personally led a Lumineth army riding [[What|flying mountains]] on an invasion of Shyish to destroy three monuments in a symbolic victory to show people the Bonereapers weren't unbeatable. Despite fierce resistance, and a waring from Vokmortion, the Lumineth were able to match the Bonereapers in battle before destroying the monuments and <s>fleeing</s> going back to Hysh.

The Bonereapers replenished their losses with the dead of both sides and sought revenge. While undead armies led by Neferata and Mannfred invaded Chamon and Ghyran respectively, a Null Myriad army led by Arkhan himself invaded Hysh and press-ganged the local Mordant Courts to help <s>give the Lumineth a right proper boning</s> conquer Ymetrica by turning a realmgate in Hysh into a mini-Shyish Nadir. But a Lumineth army repelled Arkhan's first attempt, forcing him to flee and try again with a second realmgate on the edge of Hysh. Not only was this second attempt thwarted by a Lumineth army led by a vengeful Eltharion, the Bonereapers were wiped out, with Arkhan himself punted off the edge of Hysh by the Light of Eltharion and disappearing. The Lumineth burned their dead to limit the Ossiarch’s recruitment, forcing them to harvest the bones of their ghoul allies, causing more trouble as the Flesh-Eater Courts fought back.

Then Nagash personally arrived in Hysh to finish what Arkhan started and kill Avalenor in revenge, but was forced to do battle against Teclis, with each god’s respective army doing battle beneath their feet. Though both gods were roughly equal in magical might, Nagash proved to be a superior combatant and marked Teclis with his blade and death magic. But Teclis got the last laugh due to some unexpected allies in Alarielle and several Luminarks, culminating in the destruction of Nagash's nine books, Nagash himself having his body broken and his soul imprisoned in Nagashizzar and Teclis personally undoing the Necroquake.

With Nagash imprisoned (for the time being), Arkhan deader than ever before if not gone for good, and the other forces of death more fractious and likely to carve their own trails of carnage, the Ossiarch are the only active remnant of their master’s will. There is also a looming Slaaneshi invasion on the horizon, as the reborn [[Sigvald]] seeks to avenge his Shadeglass imprisonment by destroying Nagash's beloved pet project.

=== Age of Beasts/ The Dawnbringer Crusades ===
Katakros is fixated on his campaign in the Eightpoints, but still keeping tabs on what's happened elsewhere, calling out Neferata's power play when she criticized Olynder working with Be'lakor. Katakros himself didn't criticize Olynder's actions because they hurt Sigmar's plan, with Neferata accusing Katakros of still being salty over his first loss to Sigmar. Also, Mannfred expresses his thoughts that Arkhan will return, but not for awhile.

Meanwhile, Nagash has been slowly regaining his power and awareness and already begun working on his vengeance. He's got some sort of link to Teclis, even interrupting Teclis' meditation to promise reprisals.

==Society==
[[File:Ossiarch Bonereapers Society.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Adds a whole new meaning to the phrase "pyramid scheme".]]
All Ossiarch Bonereapers are built for a specific purpose and assigned a role based on the souls from which they’re formed. This is codified through a caste system, with Nagash at the top, then Mortarchs Katakros and Arhkan, then the highest ranking Ossiarchs underneath and various ranks beneath that. The Bonereaper caste system has a cartouche representing each caste (though Nagash's is just to symbolize him). While there is a Mortarch cartouche, only Katakros wears it because Arkhan predates the Bonereaper system (and everyone but Nagash) by several eons, and despite their alliance he's too proud to wear Katakros' symbol. While they're all obedient to Nagash and fearless, the Bonereapers used in battle are sapient and the characters at least have enough individuality to have names and some personality, though they tend to be work-oriented and elitist. Having said that, Nagash and necromancy isn't infallible, so the process doesn't excise all personality traits Nagash opposes, so they are still capable of doubt and camaraderie which can make them question, regret or even challenge their orders.

While many Ossiarch Bonereapers are warriors, there are castes of groups such as crafters and preachers. There is movement between castes, but only downwards, and as a punishment for failure. A Liege Kavalos who fails in their mission, for example, may be remade as a Kavalos Deathrider. If the offense was major, they might get remade as a steed. The lowest caste are the exiles collectively referred to as Parrha, consisting of the worst offenders who get broken and remade into warped skeletal aberrations incapable of fighting and the Bonereapers value them less than the Imperial Guard values the life of its rank and file soldiers (for the uninitiated, that's really saying something).

The Ossiarch Bonereapers can be found all across the Mortal Realms, aiming to conquer everything from Azyr to the Eightpoints. At present, the majority of the Ossiarch Bonereapers are concentrated in Shyish, inhabiting the nations that surround the Shyish Nadir. This allows them easy access to a vast source of magical power and establishes them as a permanent garrison around this most valuable of territories. Apart from Shyish, the largest concentrations of Bonereapers are in Ghur and Chamon.

The Ossiarch Bonereapers build according to principles laid down in the Principia Necrotopia, a set of guidelines that ensure optimal construction:

In the first stages of colonizing a new region, the Ossiarchs will establish tithing sites. Presumably, this involves mapping out surrounding settlements and segments of the region into their own tributaries, with each section's inhabitants made to sign a contract to begin paying the Tithe. They contruct shrines known as Bone-Tithe Nexus, which act as locations for vassals to dump their bones and are enchanted to give out powerful curses to ward off any scavengers seeking to steal from it.

Next, they will fortify key territories with small fortifications, following up with a number of Mortisan workshops to fuel the next stage of their expansion. These small holdings will eventually develop into vast and imposing fortresses, growing ever upward as the Bonereapers’ numbers grow. These are not just barracks, but places of culture for the Ossiarchs.

Ossiarch scholars will endlessly study scrolls in charnel libraries, recording the details of cultures in the Mortal Realms they have subjugated and those they seek to subjugate. These vast citadel-states eventually resemble Nagashizzar itself.

===The Bone Tithe===
[[File:Bone tithe.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Put your spines into it. Literally!]]
The Bone Tithe is instrumental to their society and Nagash's way of setting himself up as mob boss of the realms. Upon arriving in an area, the Ossiarchs send out scouts to get the lay of the land. When they find a settlement they want tribute from, a representative - in practice usually a Mortisan - approaches and makes them an offer they can't refuse; give "x" by the deadline at regular intervals, or we kill you all now and take what we want. To communicate, the Bonereapers draw on prior research for the local language; it doesn't matter if the vernacular's out of date by a few centuries or so, as long as they can be understood. If that doesn't work, the Bonereapers use other means, including killing a local and using their spirit as a translator if all else fails. If the locals refuse, attack them or are rude enough, [[Grimdark|the Bonereapers make good on their threat, slaughtering everything in the settlement that has bones, right down to the last child and stray animal]]. If they are feeling "nice", the Bonereapers might only kill the dissenters or leave a fraction of the people alive, but with even more bones required from them.

When demanding the Bone Tithe, what/who the bones come from and the required amount depends on the situation and Bonereaper legion. Human bone is the most widely used, with ogor bones a close second; duardin bones are liked for their durability but aren't common enough, aelf bones are slightly more common but don't replenish fast enough and greenskin bones are very common but coarse, porous and prone to spontaneous fungal growth unless treated properly. While animal bones are also used - such as for Kavalos steeds or Gothizzar Harvesters - that's not always the case and it depends on the animal (Rhinoxen and Bleaklake crocodiles are popular choices). How the bones are acquired is irrelevant, the most common options ranging from emptying the local cemetery to [[Grimdark|having everyone eligible give a limb or holding a lottery where those chosen are killed and the bones taken from their corpses]].

The Bonereapers (though inbuilt or learned ability, it's not clear) CAN tell the difference between what race or species a specific bone comes from, so trying to cheat them with different kinds of bone doesn't work. They also respond to trickery the same way they respond to failure or refusal - immediate slaughter (as a human town learned to their cost when they tried to trick the Bonereapers by mixing pig bones in with human bones). Even other Death factions aren't exempt from the Bone Tithe, as the Bonereapers' laws consider their charge from Nagash to supersede any commonalities with his other followers (callous elitism isn't good for alliances, reflected in the rules by the Bonereapers not being able to take allies outside Drogg Fort-Kicka).

Sometimes things are even worse than the above. A particularly war-horny leader, most often from the Stalliarch Lords (more on them below), will give nigh-impossible demands to increase the chance of failure. What kinds of demands? How about asking a city's population for detailed records on everyone's family lineage going back to the founders and the condition of every bone in the city ''including bones still inside the living inhabitants''. Or maybe they ask for just one ton of bones ''every day'' (for extra lulz, the offer is made at night and has to be completed the next day). They might instead, or also, [[That Guy|arrive early to extract the Tithe just to get a good slaughter out of it]]. However it ends, the bones of the Ossiarch's victims are sorted through, the good bones taken for future use the sub-par ones discarded (same with their victims souls). Strips of skin and flesh from these unfortunates are hung from the Bonereapers' spears as a warning to anyone who considers not paying the Tithe.

Ultimately, they have a term related to the Bone Tithe called the “Terminus Concept”. This refers to the point where a society can't provide enough bones so they get slaughtered and their bones are taken. For the truth is that the Bone Tithe is ultimately unsustainable for the payers, and the Bonereapers know it. This all proves that, while Nagash is a pragmatic sort of fellow, he'll always find a way to be a <s>boner</s> [[Eldrad|huge skeletal dick]] about it.

==Forces==
[[File:Bonereaper army.jpg|right|500px|thumb|'''Angry Dooting Intensifies''']]
*'''Mortek Guard:''' Rank and file infantry of the Bonereapers. Well armored and shielded, they have the choice of swords or spears and optional greatswords as weapons. Their primary role is to create massive shield walls to protect their leaders.
*'''Morghast Harbingers and Archai:''' You know em, you love em. Nagash's original sculpted bone construct based on not-angels from the World-That-Was now served as prototypes to the current regime of spoopy skeltals. Flying blenders armed with either halberds (take these) or twin swords (dont take these). Harbingers are your chargey bois, while the Archai are bodyguard bois.
*'''Necropolis Stalkers:''' Four-armed skeletal constructs the size of Kurnoth Hunters with four faces, each one has the soul of four warriors, and switches between which one is dominant, altering their fighting style accordingly. Their name's ripped from the Necropolis Knights and the Tomb Stalkers.
*'''Immortis Guard:''' Four-armed <s>Grave Guard</s> <s>Tomb Guard</s> elite skellingtons armed with a halberd in one set of hands and a shield in the other. Like the Morghasts, Immortis are the bodyguard bois to the Stalkers' chargey bois.
*'''Kavalos Deathriders:''' Bony heavy cavalry rivalling Blood Knights for the position of "best undead cavalry", each one has the soul of dozens of warriors to draw on their knowledge and is proportionately arrogant. They have undead birds roosting on their banner poles that act as spies and messenger birds. For added creep factor, these guys normally walk at a slow and ominous trot, only sprinting when going into a headlong charge and don't bother to clean themselves while hunting a target.
*'''Mortek Crawler:''' Screaming Skull Catapult 2.0 with an obligatory patent-friendly rename. In addition to flaming skulls, it can also hurl a cauldron of Death Magic that works based on bravery or a cursed stone that gets more powerful the more damage the Crawler takes. It's also powered by a bone-made hamster wheel and multiple legs.
*'''Gothizzar Harvester:''' A big monster construct with weapon hands and half a skeleton for a codpiece that helps harvest bones. The Harvester uses them to make new constructs on the fly or repair damaged ones. Their weapon arms come with either enchanted maces or scything blades for hands.
*'''Mortisan Soulreaper:''' Your offensive caster for the Bonereapers with a scythe that doesn't like hordes.
*'''Mortisan Boneshaper:''' The healers/builders of the Bonereapers. Formed from the souls of artists, they’re in charge of building the extravagant bone cities and other architecture of the legions. They all possess a friendly rivalry with each other that pushes them to one up another’s artwork.
*'''Mortisan Soulmason:''' Miniature Arkhans with four arms who are in charge of hunting and fusing souls for their various constructs. They ride into battle on bony [[Fyodor Karamazov|thrones with chicken legs]].
*'''Liege-Kavalos''': Field generals with skeleton mounts placed in charge of leading the Bonereaper armies. They are forged as a cruel mockery of Sigmar’s Lord-Celestant on Dracoth.

===Famous Legions===
*'''Mortis Praetorians''': The 10,000 strong personal army of Katakros, created out of the souls of those he personally knew in life. They have gained a fearsome reputation for their tactical acumen, especially in Shyish. [[Ultramarines|The poster boys who are a jack-of-all-trades, big on tactics and led by an ancient leader who was the basis for future generations]]. They also have the only two Bonereapers with a single original soul; Katakros himself and Zandtos. Whenever one dies, a new one is immediately made and travels to go where needed, [[Derp|even alone if only one new Bonereapers is needed]].
* '''Petrifex Elite''': Made up of nomadic armies crafted from prehistoric fossilized bones, they are known for being slow-moving and a near impenetrable wall of bone. While fossilized bone tends to be fragile, the Petrifex Elite enchant them to be tough and also include already supernaturally tough bones among them (ie; the bones of godbeasts). Led by Mortisans, [[Necrons|they only exist to slay and find ancient bones to build more of themselves and make themselves even deadlier]]. They have forgotten why Nagash wants them to do this, and their leaders eschew personal identity to the point of using titles instead of names, as mandated by their leader and most senior Mortisan, the Grand Necromystic.
* '''Null Myriad''': The first Ossiarch Bonereapers made during Nagash's experiments in the Age of Myth. The Null Myriad were later refined and bolstered using the bones and souls of the countless dead who helped construct Nagash’s Black Pyramid and the best of Arkhan's Black Disciples. They are a solemn yet prideful lot with high resilience to magic and were given to Arkhan to be his personal legion; they're so loyal to Arkhan that they defer to him even over Katakros himself. Their resistance to magic extends to the power of Chaos, so they're used to inhabit the most inhospitable parts of the realms. Recently Arkhan made an alliance with Katakros, and the Null Myriad's job is to secure magic-heavy locations in the realms so Katakros can control the sources of their magic. The Null Myriad forces in Chamon have come into conflict with the Seraphon of the Thunder Lizards Constellation who also dwell there.
*'''Ivory Host''': Outwardly, they appear as honorable warriors, but hidden away in their bodies is a monstrous frenzy that turns them into clawing slavering beasts. Fitting considering they are constructed from beast and monster bones. Tasked by Nagash to conquer Ghur, they overcompensate for their bestial anger by being meticulously clean and making everything of theirs as much of a work of art as possible. Also known for [[Tomb Kings|being the only Ossiarchs who build ships, use the color gold regularly in their attire and are led by a monarch]]. Currently they’ve claimed the realmgate of Greedmouth and established the Ivory Citadel in the southwestern corner of the Ghurish Heartlands, putting them awfully close to numerous [[Ogor Mawtribes]] and the [[Cities of Sigmar|free city]] of Excelsis.
*'''Stalliarch Lords''': A cavalry centric force who are [[Creed|skillful tacticians]] and like to make impossible demands so they have an excuse to raze cities and slaughter people (on the rare occasion that someone meets their outrageous demands they keep their word... but remember the Terminus Concept). They take the freshest remains whenever possible to maximize how much they're infused with essence of the slain, which gives them more speed and vitality than other Bonereaper Legions and often a blood-slicked appearance. Basically [[That Guy]] as a cavalry-loving undead legion.
*'''Crematorians''': These Bonereapers are burning with an internal fire to the point where some of them literally explode when killed. Some of them have recently realized that they don't really have a purpose other than to fight and explode, and aren't too happy about that. In fact, their leaders [[Noblebright|have made pacts of friendship to repair each other if any of them are destroyed and the chief Liege-Kavalos has gone behind the Mortarchs' backs to scour the libraries of everyone they encounter in the hopes of finding a way to undo their fiery curse, and is implied to be on the verge of a breakthrough]].

==Significant Skeletons==
* '''[[Katakros|Orpheon Katakros]], [[Mortarch]] of the Necropolis''': In life he was the greatest strategic genius in all the Mortal Realms, and undeath has done nothing to dull his mastery of military tactics. He's been given a new body of enscrolled bone by Nagash himself which looks like a [[Jojo's Bizarre Adventure|JoJo stand]] rather than a skeleton. He goes into battle surrounded by various attendants; the Liege-Immortis, the Aviarch Spymaster, the Gnosis Scrollbearer, and the Prime Necrophoros.
*'''[[Arch-Kavalos Zandtos]]''': A Liege-Kavalos and Katakros’ most trusted lieutenant. In life he was a refined, death-obsessed assassin who considered killing a sacred act that should be as clean as possible. In undeath, he gradually became a death-purist who wishes to “cleanse” Shyish of anything still living.
*'''Vokmortian, Master of the Bone-tithe''': The grim tallyman in charge of recording/judging the Tithe. He carries the severed heads of those foolish enough to refuse to pay the Tithe and has a coffin on his back, making him look like a giant beetle. Though officially he’s under Katakros and Arkhan in the OBR hierarchy, he’ll only receive/carry out orders from Big Bone Daddy himself...which might be a bit difficult now that Nagash was sealed away by Teclis.
*'''[[Arkhan the Black]]''': Yeah, he's part of the army despite technically being just an "average" liche as opposed to a bone golem thing. Likely because apart from Nagash, he's the most privy to understanding how they are made without being one. While he has his own private legion in the Null Myriad, his authority is recognized by all the Ossiarch legions. He was recently thrown off the edge of Hysh by the Light of Eltharion, with him and his Dread Abyssal disappearing in a burst of light magic. While it's unlikely that Arkhan is gone for good, he's deader than ever before.
*'''Xaramos''': A Mortisan Boneshaper of the Mortis Praetorians, skilled in both diplomacy and keeping the legion operating at full efficiency. He assisted Arkhan in his counter invasion of Ymetrica in Hysh, where he put his diplomatic skills to use in acquiring the assistance of the [[Flesh-Eater Courts|Vertigon Court]] to defeat the Lumineth aelves and formed an unexpected friendship with the Ghoul King Varshorn. When relations turned sour over the Bone Tithe, the personal forces of Xaramos and Varshorn battled amidst the gore-caked caverns of the Starfang Mont in a conflict later the Charnel War, with hints that Xaramos regretted fighting Vashorn. Xaramos died permanently in the last battle, personally decapitated by Vashorn.

==Spooky Melodies for your Bony Boys==

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DsZivjop_s Spooky Scary Skeletons! a remix for a revamp]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKHAX1K4sKQ The Dead March returns for AoS!]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5n5qo8b1pA March for the Tithe!]

==Trivia==
* The architecture of the Ossiarch Bonereapers was likely inspired by bone churches such as the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary Sedlec Ossuary] in the Czech Republic. The Sedlec Ossuary is a Roman Catholic church where the bones of thousands of people have been artistically arranged to form the decorations and the furnishings of the chapel (it's also called "the Bone Church"). Like other bone churches, this was done several centuries ago for creative interment reasons with many dead and not enough space to bury them on holy ground.
* On a comical note, "Kavalos", the name for Bonereaper cavalry, translates to "crotch" in Greek (the Greek word is "kaválos"). Makes more sense when you think of [[Katakros]]' defining trait lookswise, and how his name even sounds like the Greek word.

==Soulbound==
The [[Age of Sigmar Roleplay]] supplement Champions of Death would naturally introduce the Ossiarch Bonereapers as a playable race, though like their gold-plated counterparts they aren't so much Soulbound as much as they are outsiders made to join a Binding for some other agenda. For those bound to Nagash, the purpose is obvious enough: The Ossiarchs are the ultimate form of his perfect future and are (almost) unquestionably loyal, sometimes even researching the uses of Soulfire in order to perfect the process of making more of their own. Those who join an Order Binding find themselves in one of two camps: Either as allies of desperation for a common goal or as a haven to escape from their place as an outcast in the rigid society of the Ossiarch legions that would see them recycled due to either defects or defiance.

You can have your Ossiarch hail from the following Legions:
*'''Mortis Praetorians:''' The Legion of Orpheon Katakros himself, formed from the souls of his greatest soldiers and generals in life. They are the most determined of the legions, willing to use the bones of both friend and foe alike in order to bolster their ranks. That said, the demand for reinforcements are so frequent that there are those bodies that are made incomplete, subject to the whispers of waylaid spirits before being completely formed. Whenever Katakros sees interest in a Binding, he will often send a member of his Praetorians to accompany them and enforce order. Heroes from the Mortis Praetorians can spend an action to test Intuition against an opponent's Guile, allowing them to predict an enemy's move. In addition, all archetypes gain the Tactician talent.
*'''Ivory Host:''' A legion sent to conquer Ghur, famous for slaying mighty monsters. While they obviously show scorn towards the primitive and weak cultures of the mortal here, the influence of the realm is very obvious from the frequent use of amber and animal bones in order to complete their tithe to the clearly caged savagery they unleash in the heat of battle. Heroes from the Ivory Host deal extra damage for each point of damage they suffer. In addition, all archetypes gain the Battle Rage talent.
*'''Stalliarch Lords:''' A prideful band often formed from fresh bone and meat, the Ossiarchs of this legion are capable of some form of honor...just not in any way normal folk would understand. Often have they given near-impossible tasks for mortals to accomplish, either so they could claim their tithe or to see if the challenger can accomplish some greater goal worth the interest. That said, that latter part is often only carried out for amusement rather than any genuine respect. Heroes from the Stalliarch Lords can challenge an enemy, forcing the difficulty of all attacks to reach a high difficulty but making any hits against you deal double damage.
*'''Petrifex Elite:''' A legion of nomadic bonecast, formed from the remains of ancient civilizations and forgotten graves. This legion views the binding with particular interest, seeing the parallels in becoming a whole greater than the sum of it parts and their own process of erasing all identity and originality - sometimes an Ossiarch might even have the remains of a former Soulbound in their body. Heroes from the Petrifex Elite are better armored than other Bonereapers, but they can't improve their bony armor in any way and can only use a certain downtime activity to repair it. In additionally, they can double their training for either navigating ancient ruins or recalling ancient history.
*'''Null Myriad:''' Nagash's original legion, sent to keep watch on the realm's edges until the Necroquake forced them to return and be reinforced using the Black Pyramid's skeletal work gangs so they could better resist magic. As outsiders among the Ossiarchs, they are the most-versed in dealing with threats from beyond the edges of a realm and their special properties allow them to protect the very nature of the Binding. Heroes from the Null Myriad can spell Mettle to ignore the effects of a spell and double their training when dealing with exploring, navigating or withstanding the edges of the realms.
*'''Crematorians:''' Ignited by the fires of the Shyish Nadier, the life of a Bonereaper here will often be short as the flames slowly consume their bony shells. This nature has led to many among their ranks questioning the wisdom of the skelepope's plans to make an army that can burn out, though they often cover it up with other purposes - such as studying the benefits of Soulfire and how it can sustain their bodies. Heroes from the Crematorians are constantly ablaze, letting them suffer a wound to restore Mettle. When they die, they explode and make the area where they stood a burning waste.

The Ossiarch Bonereapers have access to the '''Immortis Guard''', '''Kavalos Deathrider''', '''Morghast''', '''Mortisan''', or '''Necropolis Stalker''' archetypes

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Bonereaper vs Kharadron.jpg|Sky Pirates vs Bone Golems.
File:Cavalry-bonereapers.jpg|As if Blood Knights weren't bad enough, Bone Daddy brings out Kavalos Deathriders too.
File:Gothizzar Harvester.jpg|"Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones. Oh mercy how they scare! With the toe bone connected to the foot bone..."
File:Bonereaper city.jpg|Welcome to Necrotopia. Please remember to remove all skin and flesh before you reach customs.
File:Skeleton sales pitch (comic by Baalbuddy).png|An alternate way to collect the Bone-Tithe.
</gallery>

==See Also==

*[[Nagash]], their jerk of a god whom they give their undisputed loyalty to (yes, really!)

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

[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]

Ossiarch Bonereapers

2021-11-05T17:41:15Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD: /* Gallery */

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

{{topquote|Two can play at that game!|Likely Nagash after learning how Sigmar makes Stormcast}}
{{topquote|Debt, an ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slavedriver.|Ambrose Bierce}}
{{topquote|The bones of the skeleton which support the body can become the bars of the cage which imprison the spirit.|J. Ruth Gendler}}

The latest addition to [[Nagash]]’s ever growing hordes (designed and sculpted by [[Maxime Corbeil]], a former dentist), the '''Ossiarch Bonereapers'''
(Also known as '''The Boney Boys''', '''Bonecast''', '''Tomb Kings 2.0''', '''Bonechads''', '''Nagash's Taxmen''', '''The Boney Bean Counters''', '''Ossiarch Bean Counters''' or '''The IRS''') are the result of an eons old plan by Big Bone Daddy.

Likely inspired by the [[Stormcast Eternals]], the Bonereapers are not mere skeletons given life by necromancy, but massive constructs of bone and countless warrior souls, making them all look impressively robust for undead. Since the Soulblight Gravelords are the mainstay, the Nighthaunt are the shock troops and the Flesh-Eater Courts are completely insane, these buff bone bruisers are the elite vanguard of the Grand Alliance. Given their themes of bones, undead constructs, priest characters, architect characters and skull-throwing catapults... they're currently the closest thing we've got to [[Tomb Kings]] in AoS.

They also carry out the Bone Tithe; in addition to going out and killing shit to get their bones, the Ossiarchs give settlements they encounter a contract: Give up a set amount of bones whenever we stroll by, or face annihilation now. Understandably, most choose the former. Being unable to pay or even being rude to them also provokes a slaughter.

Visually-speaking, they're what happens when Games Workshop decides to mix [[Tyranids]], [[Tomb Kings]], and [[Necrons]] into one army.

However, widespread dissatisfaction against them due to Petrifex list spamming in first edition tournaments, how they aren't GW darlings like [[Space Marines|everyone with]] [[Stormcast Eternals|pauldrons]] and GW's desire to shill the Lumineth are probably part of the reason the Bonereapers were worfed '''hard''' in the Broken Realms saga. Seriously, the amount of clout they lose in just one book is unthinkable (read "Broken Realms" below for more). This shows a possible chain of Worfing going on in AoS ("worfing" is having a supposedly powerful fighter be easily defeated to show how strong their opponent is - named after Worf from Star Trek, who was often on the receiving end). First the Stormcast worfed the Warriors of Chaos/Slaves to Darkness, then both were worfed by the Bonereapers, and then the Bonereapers were worfed by the Lumineth. Now it remains to be seen if the Bonereapers will get payback, restore those they lost... or at least we can wonder who will worf the Lumineth in future.

==History==
===Age of Myth===
[[File:Slaves to Darkness vs Ossiarch Bonereapers 01.jpg|right|300px|thumb|SKULLS FOR <s>THE SKULL THRONE</s> Nagash! And all the other bones too!]]
When Nagash was helping Sigmar build his cities he secretly began experimenting on undead, combining their bones and souls into newer, stronger undead warriors; the [[Morghasts/Hammurai|Morghasts]] and the first Bonereapers. Most were put into massive underground crypts Nagash secretly built beneath the cities of Order, but others were kept on the surface and brought into battle alongside the armies of the other gods.

The other gods saw the Bonereapers and really didn't like them because of how unnatural they were, even for undead. In response, Nagash sent these Bonereapers to the edge of Shyish to lay low until he called on them (these Bonereapers who would go on to form the Null Myriad). He also sent at least twenty of them to wander the Realms on a long-forgotten mission (these would go on to become the Petrifex Elite).

Strangely, none of the Order groups noticed until however long its been since the start of the Age of Myth that there were crypts full of undead warriors beneath their cities. Especially since they know about and need to defend against [[Skaven|enemies who specialize in creating massive complexes beneath your cities that they then invade from]] or ones who are just [[Gloomspite Gitz|well-versed in tunnel warfare]].

===Age of Chaos===
The Age of Chaos only affected the Bonereapers garrisoned at the edge of Shyish. By that time they had become resistant to magic, and they fought against demonic armies, their actions blunting the assault of Chaos on Shyish. During this time, Katakros led an army against Sigmar himself on Nagash's orders while the former was pursuing the latter for his betrayal. The battle resulted in the loss of Katakros' army, the Mortarch's defeat and subsequent confinement to a Stormvault.

===Age of Sigmar===
In the lead-up to the Soul Wars, Katakros was freed from the Stormvault by fellow Mortarch, Lady Olynder. The Bonereapers on the edge of Shyish acted as a military force protecting the skeletal work crews who carried grains of Shyishan realmstone to Nagashizzar for Nagash to use to build the Black Pyramid.

===Soul Wars===
After the Necroquake, Nagash decided the time was right to wake up everyone beneath these cities, who apparently marched back home, making them relatively pointless. In that respect, these tombs seemed to mirror the Stormvaults Sigmar had strewn about the Realms to contain various dangerous contraband like [[Katakros|said Mortarch]].

When the Bonereaper legions arrived in Shyish, Nagash got back to his pet-project of making super-skellies, and perfected the process. This involves taking souls and distilling them down to their most choice elements. This involves ripping apart their identity and keeping parts considered useful (such as skills, daring and knowledge) while discarding the parts that aren't useful (such as fear, compassion and loyalty to anything but Nagash) and replacing those parts with something "better" (like loyalty to Nagash), with the strongest-willed soul among them becoming the identity of the new Bonereaper. Then these fragmented and melded souls are put into specially crafted bone constructs. By doing so, he artificially created individuals who were warriors, leaders, bodyguards, artisans, architects, philosophers and sculptors all in one, [[Adeptus Custodes|which sounds a little familiar.]]

The Bonereapers subsequently had a meteoric rise, making their mark - and several enemies - across the realms. After establishing their powerbase in Shyish, the Ironjawz Warclan the Kryptboyz have focused their efforts on fighting the Bonereapers due to wanting to destroy their settlements and wear their bones as trophies. In Chamon, the Null Myriad encountered the Seraphon of the Thunder Lizard Constellation and got embroiled in wars for control of the realm's edge. The Ivory Host legion gained a foothold in Ghur, Katakros' realm of origin, and in building their cities they've positioned themselves for conflict with several Mawtribes and the free city of Excelsis. The Ivory Host also clashed with an [[Sons of Behemat|infamous Mega-Gargant who went on to become the mercenary known as One-Eyed Grunnock]].

This was followed by the Bonereapers most notable conflict; the War for the Eightpoints. Katakros led the Mortis Praetorians and detachments from other Legions into the Eightpoints alongside Olynder and a Nighthaunt army to take the Eightpoints for Nagash, the first invvasion of the realm since it had been captured by Chaos. They succeeded in capturing and fortifying the realmgate leading to Shyish, and established a fortified citadel around it as a base of operations. However, Katakros' campaign was halted by the sudden return of Archaon and a force of Varanguard plus a daemon army led by Be'lakor. Bolstered by the mortal and daemonic hosts, the Chaos armies routed Katakros' Nighthaunt allies and forced the Bonereapers to enact a tactical retreat, with Archaon personally slaying him after a lengthy duel. Katakros' soul returned to his stronghold, albeit wounded, and after Katakros' restoration in a new body, the conflict became a stalemate and a war of attrition.

===Broken Realms===
When Morathi entered the Eightpoints in her plan to secure Varanite, she secretly sent an envoy to Katakros, giving him several tonnes of bones infused with the magic of Ulgu in exchange for a Bonereaper attack on Archaon's holdings to distract the forces of Chaos. Knowing the forces of order will take losses in their unknown (to Katakros and the Stormcast) endeavor, Katakros accepted the bargain.

Book two saw some particularly grueling setbacks for the Bonereapers. Not content with making the entire Death faction a bunch of jobbers for the Lumineth, the Bonereapers got worfed like a 40k Avatar of [[Khaine]] fighting Ultramarines, so bad it's as if the author had some bad experiences playing against them on the tabletop.

Teclis confronted Nagash after repelling a Nighthaunt attack on Settler's Gain, and unsuccessfully tried to threaten him into backing down. Then Teclis enacted a master plan seeking to end the Soul Wars and make Nagash pay for the Necroquake. To start, he personally led a Lumineth army riding [[What|flying mountains]] on an invasion of Shyish to destroy three monuments in a symbolic victory to show people the Bonereapers weren't unbeatable. Despite fierce resistance, and a waring from Vokmortion, the Lumineth were able to match the Bonereapers in battle before destroying the monuments and <s>fleeing</s> going back to Hysh.

The Bonereapers replenished their losses with the dead of both sides and sought revenge. While undead armies led by Neferata and Mannfred invaded Chamon and Ghyran respectively, a Null Myriad army led by Arkhan himself invaded Hysh and press-ganged the local Mordant Courts to help <s>give the Lumineth a right proper boning</s> conquer Ymetrica by turning a realmgate in Hysh into a mini-Shyish Nadir. But a Lumineth army repelled Arkhan's first attempt, forcing him to flee and try again with a second realmgate on the edge of Hysh. Not only was this second attempt thwarted by a Lumineth army led by a vengeful Eltharion, the Bonereapers were wiped out, with Arkhan himself punted off the edge of Hysh by the Light of Eltharion and disappearing. The Lumineth burned their dead to limit the Ossiarch’s recruitment, forcing them to harvest the bones of their ghoul allies, causing more trouble as the Flesh-Eater Courts fought back.

Then Nagash personally arrived in Hysh to finish what Arkhan started and kill Avalenor in revenge, but was forced to do battle against Teclis, with each god’s respective army doing battle beneath their feet. Though both gods were roughly equal in magical might, Nagash proved to be a superior combatant and marked Teclis with his blade and death magic. But Teclis got the last laugh due to some unexpected allies in Alarielle and several Luminarks, culminating in the destruction of Nagash's nine books, Nagash himself having his body broken and his soul imprisoned in Nagashizzar and Teclis personally undoing the Necroquake.

With Nagash imprisoned (for the time being), Arkhan deader than ever before if not gone for good, and the other forces of death more fractious and likely to carve their own trails of carnage, the Ossiarch are the only active remnant of their master’s will. There is also a looming Slaaneshi invasion on the horizon, as the reborn [[Sigvald]] seeks to avenge his Shadeglass imprisonment by destroying Nagash's beloved pet project.

=== Age of Beasts/ The Dawnbringer Crusades ===
Katakros is fixated on his campaign in the Eightpoints, but still keeping tabs on what's happened elsewhere, calling out Neferata's power play when she criticized Olynder working with Be'lakor. Katakros himself didn't criticize Olynder's actions because they hurt Sigmar's plan, with Neferata accusing Katakros of still being salty over his first loss to Sigmar. Also, Mannfred expresses his thoughts that Arkhan will return, but not for awhile.

Meanwhile, Nagash has been slowly regaining his power and awareness and already begun working on his vengeance. He's got some sort of link to Teclis, even interrupting Teclis' meditation to promise reprisals.

==Society==
[[File:Ossiarch Bonereapers Society.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Adds a whole new meaning to the phrase "pyramid scheme".]]
All Ossiarch Bonereapers are built for a specific purpose and assigned a role based on the souls from which they’re formed. This is codified through a caste system, with Nagash at the top, then Mortarchs Katakros and Arhkan, then the highest ranking Ossiarchs underneath and various ranks beneath that. The Bonereaper caste system has a cartouche representing each caste (though Nagash's is just to symbolize him). While there is a Mortarch cartouche, only Katakros wears it because Arkhan predates the Bonereaper system (and everyone but Nagash) by several eons, and despite their alliance he's too proud to wear Katakros' symbol. While they're all obedient to Nagash and fearless, the Bonereapers used in battle are sapient and the characters at least have enough individuality to have names and some personality, though they tend to be work-oriented and elitist. Having said that, Nagash and necromancy isn't infallible, so the process doesn't excise all personality traits Nagash opposes, so they are still capable of doubt and camaraderie which can make them question, regret or even challenge their orders.

While many Ossiarch Bonereapers are warriors, there are castes of groups such as crafters and preachers. There is movement between castes, but only downwards, and as a punishment for failure. A Liege Kavalos who fails in their mission, for example, may be remade as a Kavalos Deathrider. If the offense was major, they might get remade as a steed. The lowest caste are the exiles collectively referred to as Parrha, consisting of the worst offenders who get broken and remade into warped skeletal aberrations incapable of fighting and the Bonereapers value them less than the Imperial Guard values the life of its rank and file soldiers (for the uninitiated, that's really saying something).

The Ossiarch Bonereapers can be found all across the Mortal Realms, aiming to conquer everything from Azyr to the Eightpoints. At present, the majority of the Ossiarch Bonereapers are concentrated in Shyish, inhabiting the nations that surround the Shyish Nadir. This allows them easy access to a vast source of magical power and establishes them as a permanent garrison around this most valuable of territories. Apart from Shyish, the largest concentrations of Bonereapers are in Ghur and Chamon.

The Ossiarch Bonereapers build according to principles laid down in the Principia Necrotopia, a set of guidelines that ensure optimal construction:

In the first stages of colonizing a new region, the Ossiarchs will establish tithing sites. Presumably, this involves mapping out surrounding settlements and segments of the region into their own tributaries, with each section's inhabitants made to sign a contract to begin paying the Tithe. They contruct shrines known as Bone-Tithe Nexus, which act as locations for vassals to dump their bones and are enchanted to give out powerful curses to ward off any scavengers seeking to steal from it.

Next, they will fortify key territories with small fortifications, following up with a number of Mortisan workshops to fuel the next stage of their expansion. These small holdings will eventually develop into vast and imposing fortresses, growing ever upward as the Bonereapers’ numbers grow. These are not just barracks, but places of culture for the Ossiarchs.

Ossiarch scholars will endlessly study scrolls in charnel libraries, recording the details of cultures in the Mortal Realms they have subjugated and those they seek to subjugate. These vast citadel-states eventually resemble Nagashizzar itself.

===The Bone Tithe===
[[File:Bone tithe.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Put your spines into it. Literally!]]
The Bone Tithe is instrumental to their society and Nagash's way of setting himself up as mob boss of the realms. Upon arriving in an area, the Ossiarchs send out scouts to get the lay of the land. When they find a settlement they want tribute from, a representative - in practice usually a Mortisan - approaches and makes them an offer they can't refuse; give "x" by the deadline at regular intervals, or we kill you all now and take what we want. To communicate, the Bonereapers draw on prior research for the local language; it doesn't matter if the vernacular's out of date by a few centuries or so, as long as they can be understood. If that doesn't work, the Bonereapers use other means, including killing a local and using their spirit as a translator if all else fails. If the locals refuse, attack them or are rude enough, [[Grimdark|the Bonereapers make good on their threat, slaughtering everything in the settlement that has bones, right down to the last child and stray animal]]. If they are feeling "nice", the Bonereapers might only kill the dissenters or leave a fraction of the people alive, but with even more bones required from them.

When demanding the Bone Tithe, what/who the bones come from and the required amount depends on the situation and Bonereaper legion. Human bone is the most widely used, with ogor bones a close second; duardin bones are liked for their durability but aren't common enough, aelf bones are slightly more common but don't replenish fast enough and greenskin bones are very common but coarse, porous and prone to spontaneous fungal growth unless treated properly. While animal bones are also used - such as for Kavalos steeds or Gothizzar Harvesters - that's not always the case and it depends on the animal (Rhinoxen and Bleaklake crocodiles are popular choices). How the bones are acquired is irrelevant, the most common options ranging from emptying the local cemetery to [[Grimdark|having everyone eligible give a limb or holding a lottery where those chosen are killed and the bones taken from their corpses]].

The Bonereapers (though inbuilt or learned ability, it's not clear) CAN tell the difference between what race or species a specific bone comes from, so trying to cheat them with different kinds of bone doesn't work. They also respond to trickery the same way they respond to failure or refusal - immediate slaughter (as a human town learned to their cost when they tried to trick the Bonereapers by mixing pig bones in with human bones). Even other Death factions aren't exempt from the Bone Tithe, as the Bonereapers' laws consider their charge from Nagash to supersede any commonalities with his other followers (callous elitism isn't good for alliances, reflected in the rules by the Bonereapers not being able to take allies outside Drogg Fort-Kicka).

Sometimes things are even worse than the above. A particularly war-horny leader, most often from the Stalliarch Lords (more on them below), will give nigh-impossible demands to increase the chance of failure. What kinds of demands? How about asking a city's population for detailed records on everyone's family lineage going back to the founders and the condition of every bone in the city ''including bones still inside the living inhabitants''. Or maybe they ask for just one ton of bones ''every day'' (for extra lulz, the offer is made at night and has to be completed the next day). They might instead, or also, [[That Guy|arrive early to extract the Tithe just to get a good slaughter out of it]]. However it ends, the bones of the Ossiarch's victims are sorted through, the good bones taken for future use the sub-par ones discarded (same with their victims souls). Strips of skin and flesh from these unfortunates are hung from the Bonereapers' spears as a warning to anyone who considers not paying the Tithe.

Ultimately, they have a term related to the Bone Tithe called the “Terminus Concept”. This refers to the point where a society can't provide enough bones so they get slaughtered and their bones are taken. For the truth is that the Bone Tithe is ultimately unsustainable for the payers, and the Bonereapers know it. This all proves that, while Nagash is a pragmatic sort of fellow, he'll always find a way to be a <s>boner</s> [[Eldrad|huge skeletal dick]] about it.

==Forces==
[[File:Bonereaper army.jpg|right|500px|thumb|'''Angry Dooting Intensifies''']]
*'''Mortek Guard:''' Rank and file infantry of the Bonereapers. Well armored and shielded, they have the choice of swords or spears and optional greatswords as weapons. Their primary role is to create massive shield walls to protect their leaders.
*'''Morghast Harbingers and Archai:''' You know em, you love em. Nagash's original sculpted bone construct based on not-angels from the World-That-Was now served as prototypes to the current regime of spoopy skeltals. Flying blenders armed with either halberds (take these) or twin swords (dont take these). Harbingers are your chargey bois, while the Archai are bodyguard bois.
*'''Necropolis Stalkers:''' Four-armed skeletal constructs the size of Kurnoth Hunters with four faces, each one has the soul of four warriors, and switches between which one is dominant, altering their fighting style accordingly. Their name's ripped from the Necropolis Knights and the Tomb Stalkers.
*'''Immortis Guard:''' Four-armed <s>Grave Guard</s> <s>Tomb Guard</s> elite skellingtons armed with a halberd in one set of hands and a shield in the other. Like the Morghasts, Immortis are the bodyguard bois to the Stalkers' chargey bois.
*'''Kavalos Deathriders:''' Bony heavy cavalry rivalling Blood Knights for the position of "best undead cavalry", each one has the soul of dozens of warriors to draw on their knowledge and is proportionately arrogant. They have undead birds roosting on their banner poles that act as spies and messenger birds. For added creep factor, these guys normally walk at a slow and ominous trot, only sprinting when going into a headlong charge and don't bother to clean themselves while hunting a target.
*'''Mortek Crawler:''' Screaming Skull Catapult 2.0 with an obligatory patent-friendly rename. In addition to flaming skulls, it can also hurl a cauldron of Death Magic that works based on bravery or a cursed stone that gets more powerful the more damage the Crawler takes. It's also powered by a bone-made hamster wheel and multiple legs.
*'''Gothizzar Harvester:''' A big monster construct with weapon hands and half a skeleton for a codpiece that helps harvest bones. The Harvester uses them to make new constructs on the fly or repair damaged ones. Their weapon arms come with either enchanted maces or scything blades for hands.
*'''Mortisan Soulreaper:''' Your offensive caster for the Bonereapers with a scythe that doesn't like hordes.
*'''Mortisan Boneshaper:''' The healers/builders of the Bonereapers. Formed from the souls of artists, they’re in charge of building the extravagant bone cities and other architecture of the legions. They all possess a friendly rivalry with each other that pushes them to one up another’s artwork.
*'''Mortisan Soulmason:''' Miniature Arkhans with four arms who are in charge of hunting and fusing souls for their various constructs. They ride into battle on bony [[Fyodor Karamazov|thrones with chicken legs]].
*'''Liege-Kavalos''': Field generals with skeleton mounts placed in charge of leading the Bonereaper armies. They are forged as a cruel mockery of Sigmar’s Lord-Celestant on Dracoth.

===Famous Legions===
*'''Mortis Praetorians''': The 10,000 strong personal army of Katakros, created out of the souls of those he personally knew in life. They have gained a fearsome reputation for their tactical acumen, especially in Shyish. [[Ultramarines|The poster boys who are a jack-of-all-trades, big on tactics and led by an ancient leader who was the basis for future generations]]. They also have the only two Bonereapers with a single original soul; Katakros himself and Zandtos. Whenever one dies, a new one is immediately made and travels to go where needed, [[Derp|even alone if only one new Bonereapers is needed]].
* '''Petrifex Elite''': Made up of nomadic armies crafted from prehistoric fossilized bones, they are known for being slow-moving and a near impenetrable wall of bone. While fossilized bone tends to be fragile, the Petrifex Elite enchant them to be tough and also include already supernaturally tough bones among them (ie; the bones of godbeasts). Led by Mortisans, [[Necrons|they only exist to slay and find ancient bones to build more of themselves and make themselves even deadlier]]. They have forgotten why Nagash wants them to do this, and their leaders eschew personal identity to the point of using titles instead of names, as mandated by their leader and most senior Mortisan, the Grand Necromystic.
* '''Null Myriad''': The first Ossiarch Bonereapers made during Nagash's experiments in the Age of Myth. The Null Myriad were later refined and bolstered using the bones and souls of the countless dead who helped construct Nagash’s Black Pyramid and the best of Arkhan's Black Disciples. They are a solemn yet prideful lot with high resilience to magic and were given to Arkhan to be his personal legion; they're so loyal to Arkhan that they defer to him even over Katakros himself. Their resistance to magic extends to the power of Chaos, so they're used to inhabit the most inhospitable parts of the realms. Recently Arkhan made an alliance with Katakros, and the Null Myriad's job is to secure magic-heavy locations in the realms so Katakros can control the sources of their magic. The Null Myriad forces in Chamon have come into conflict with the Seraphon of the Thunder Lizards Constellation who also dwell there.
*'''Ivory Host''': Outwardly, they appear as honorable warriors, but hidden away in their bodies is a monstrous frenzy that turns them into clawing slavering beasts. Fitting considering they are constructed from beast and monster bones. Tasked by Nagash to conquer Ghur, they overcompensate for their bestial anger by being meticulously clean and making everything of theirs as much of a work of art as possible. Also known for [[Tomb Kings|being the only Ossiarchs who build ships, use the color gold regularly in their attire and are led by a monarch]]. Currently they’ve claimed the realmgate of Greedmouth and established the Ivory Citadel in the southwestern corner of the Ghurish Heartlands, putting them awfully close to numerous [[Ogor Mawtribes]] and the [[Cities of Sigmar|free city]] of Excelsis.
*'''Stalliarch Lords''': A cavalry centric force who are [[Creed|skillful tacticians]] and like to make impossible demands so they have an excuse to raze cities and slaughter people (on the rare occasion that someone meets their outrageous demands they keep their word... but remember the Terminus Concept). They take the freshest remains whenever possible to maximize how much they're infused with essence of the slain, which gives them more speed and vitality than other Bonereaper Legions and often a blood-slicked appearance. Basically [[That Guy]] as a cavalry-loving undead legion.
*'''Crematorians''': These Bonereapers are burning with an internal fire to the point where some of them literally explode when killed. Some of them have recently realized that they don't really have a purpose other than to fight and explode, and aren't too happy about that. In fact, their leaders [[Noblebright|have made pacts of friendship to repair each other if any of them are destroyed and the chief Liege-Kavalos has gone behind the Mortarchs' backs to scour the libraries of everyone they encounter in the hopes of finding a way to undo their fiery curse, and is implied to be on the verge of a breakthrough]].

==Significant Skeletons==
* '''[[Katakros|Orpheon Katakros]], [[Mortarch]] of the Necropolis''': In life he was the greatest strategic genius in all the Mortal Realms, and undeath has done nothing to dull his mastery of military tactics. He's been given a new body of enscrolled bone by Nagash himself which looks like a [[Jojo's Bizarre Adventure|JoJo stand]] rather than a skeleton. He goes into battle surrounded by various attendants; the Liege-Immortis, the Aviarch Spymaster, the Gnosis Scrollbearer, and the Prime Necrophoros.
*'''[[Arch-Kavalos Zandtos]]''': A Liege-Kavalos and Katakros’ most trusted lieutenant. In life he was a refined, death-obsessed assassin who considered killing a sacred act that should be as clean as possible. In undeath, he gradually became a death-purist who wishes to “cleanse” Shyish of anything still living.
*'''Vokmortian, Master of the Bone-tithe''': The grim tallyman in charge of recording/judging the Tithe. He carries the severed heads of those foolish enough to refuse to pay the Tithe and has a coffin on his back, making him look like a giant beetle. Though officially he’s under Katakros and Arkhan in the OBR hierarchy, he’ll only receive/carry out orders from Big Bone Daddy himself...which might be a bit difficult now that Nagash was sealed away by Teclis.
*'''[[Arkhan the Black]]''': Yeah, he's part of the army despite technically being just an "average" liche as opposed to a bone golem thing. Likely because apart from Nagash, he's the most privy to understanding how they are made without being one. While he has his own private legion in the Null Myriad, his authority is recognized by all the Ossiarch legions. He was recently thrown off the edge of Hysh by the Light of Eltharion, with him and his Dread Abyssal disappearing in a burst of light magic. While it's unlikely that Arkhan is gone for good, he's deader than ever before.
*'''Xaramos''': A Mortisan Boneshaper of the Mortis Praetorians, skilled in both diplomacy and keeping the legion operating at full efficiency. He assisted Arkhan in his counter invasion of Ymetrica in Hysh, where he put his diplomatic skills to use in acquiring the assistance of the [[Flesh-Eater Courts|Vertigon Court]] to defeat the Lumineth aelves and formed an unexpected friendship with the Ghoul King Varshorn. When relations turned sour over the Bone Tithe, the personal forces of Xaramos and Varshorn battled amidst the gore-caked caverns of the Starfang Mont in a conflict later the Charnel War, with hints that Xaramos regretted fighting Vashorn. Xaramos died permanently in the last battle, personally decapitated by Vashorn.

==Spooky Melodies for your Bony Boys==

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DsZivjop_s Spooky Scary Skeletons! a remix for a revamp]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKHAX1K4sKQ The Dead March returns for AoS!]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5n5qo8b1pA March for the Tithe!]

==Trivia==
* The architecture of the Ossiarch Bonereapers was likely inspired by bone churches such as the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary Sedlec Ossuary] in the Czech Republic. The Sedlec Ossuary is a Roman Catholic church where the bones of thousands of people have been artistically arranged to form the decorations and the furnishings of the chapel (it's also called "the Bone Church"). Like other bone churches, this was done several centuries ago for creative interment reasons with many dead and not enough space to bury them on holy ground.
* On a comical note, "Kavalos", the name for Bonereaper cavalry, translates to "crotch" in Greek (the Greek word is "kaválos"). Makes more sense when you think of [[Katakros]]' defining trait lookswise, and how his name even sounds like the Greek word.

==Soulbound==
The [[Age of Sigmar Roleplay]] supplement Champions of Death would naturally introduce the Ossiarch Bonereapers as a playable race, though like their gold-plated counterparts they aren't so much Soulbound as much as they are outsiders made to join a Binding for some other agenda. For those bound to Nagash, the purpose is obvious enough: The Ossiarchs are the ultimate form of his perfect future and are (almost) unquestionably loyal, sometimes even researching the uses of Soulfire in order to perfect the process of making more of their own. Those who join an Order Binding find themselves in one of two camps: Either as allies of desperation for a common goal or as a haven to escape from their place as an outcast in the rigid society of the Ossiarch legions that would see them recycled due to either defects or defiance.

You can have your Ossiarch hail from the following Legions:
*'''Mortis Praetorians:''' The Legion of Orpheon Katakros himself, formed from the souls of his greatest soldiers and generals in life. They are the most determined of the legions, willing to use the bones of both friend and foe alike in order to bolster their ranks. That said, the demand for reinforcements are so frequent that there are those bodies that are made incomplete, subject to the whispers of waylaid spirits before being completely formed. Whenever Katakros sees interest in a Binding, he will often send a member of his Praetorians to accompany them and enforce order. Heroes from the Mortis Praetorians can spend an action to test Intuition against an opponent's Guile, allowing them to predict an enemy's move. In addition, all archetypes gain the Tactician talent.
*'''Ivory Host:''' A legion sent to conquer Ghur, famous for slaying mighty monsters. While they obviously show scorn towards the primitive and weak cultures of the mortal here, the influence of the realm is very obvious from the frequent use of amber and animal bones in order to complete their tithe to the clearly caged savagery they unleash in the heat of battle. Heroes from the Ivory Host deal extra damage for each point of damage they suffer. In addition, all archetypes gain the Battle Rage talent.
*'''Stalliarch Lords:''' A prideful band often formed from fresh bone and meat, the Ossiarchs of this legion are capable of some form of honor...just not in any way normal folk would understand. Often have they given near-impossible tasks for mortals to accomplish, either so they could claim their tithe or to see if the challenger can accomplish some greater goal worth the interest. That said, that latter part is often only carried out for amusement rather than any genuine respect. Heroes from the Stalliarch Lords can challenge an enemy, forcing the difficulty of all attacks to reach a high difficulty but making any hits against you deal double damage.
*'''Petrifex Elite:''' A legion of nomadic bonecast, formed from the remains of ancient civilizations and forgotten graves. This legion views the binding with particular interest, seeing the parallels in becoming a whole greater than the sum of it parts and their own process of erasing all identity and originality - sometimes an Ossiarch might even have the remains of a former Soulbound in their body. Heroes from the Petrifex Elite are better armored than other Bonereapers, but they can't improve their bony armor in any way and can only use a certain downtime activity to repair it. In additionally, they can double their training for either navigating ancient ruins or recalling ancient history.
*'''Null Myriad:''' Nagash's original legion, sent to keep watch on the realm's edges until the Necroquake forced them to return and be reinforced using the Black Pyramid's skeletal work gangs so they could better resist magic. As outsiders among the Ossiarchs, they are the most-versed in dealing with threats from beyond the edges of a realm and their special properties allow them to protect the very nature of the Binding. Heroes from the Null Myriad can spell Mettle to ignore the effects of a spell and double their training when dealing with exploring, navigating or withstanding the edges of the realms.
*'''Crematorians:''' Ignited by the fires of the Shyish Nadier, the life of a Bonereaper here will often be short as the flames slowly consume their bony shells. This nature has led to many among their ranks questioning the wisdom of the skelepope's plans to make an army that can burn out, though they often cover it up with other purposes - such as studying the benefits of Soulfire and how it can sustain their bodies. Heroes from the Crematorians are constantly ablaze, letting them suffer a wound to restore Mettle. When they die, they explode and make the area where they stood a burning waste.

The Ossiarch Bonereapers have access to the '''Immortis Guard''', '''Kavalos Deathrider''', '''Morghast''', '''Mortisan''', or '''Necropolis Stalker''' archetypes

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Bonereaper vs Kharadron.jpg|Sky Pirates vs Bone Golems.
File:Cavalry-bonereapers.jpg|As if Blood Knights weren't bad enough, Bone Daddy brings out Kavalos Deathriders too.
File:Gothizzar Harvester.jpg|"Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones. Oh mercy how they scare! With the toe bone connected to the foot bone..."
File:Bonereaper city.jpg|Welcome to Gothizzar. Please remember to remove all skin and flesh before you reach customs.
File:Skeleton sales pitch (comic by Baalbuddy).png|An alternate way to collect the Bone-Tithe.
</gallery>

==See Also==

*[[Nagash]], their jerk of a god whom they give their undisputed loyalty to (yes, really!)

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

[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]

Ossiarch Bonereapers

2021-11-05T17:39:37Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD: /* Famous Legions */

Ossiarch Bonereapers

2021-11-05T17:36:20Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD: /* Soulbound */

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

{{topquote|Two can play at that game!|Likely Nagash after learning how Sigmar makes Stormcast}}
{{topquote|Debt, an ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slavedriver.|Ambrose Bierce}}
{{topquote|The bones of the skeleton which support the body can become the bars of the cage which imprison the spirit.|J. Ruth Gendler}}

The latest addition to [[Nagash]]’s ever growing hordes (designed and sculpted by [[Maxime Corbeil]], a former dentist), the '''Ossiarch Bonereapers'''
(Also known as '''The Boney Boys''', '''Bonecast''', '''Tomb Kings 2.0''', '''Bonechads''', '''Nagash's Taxmen''', '''The Boney Bean Counters''', '''Ossiarch Bean Counters''' or '''The IRS''') are the result of an eons old plan by Big Bone Daddy.

Likely inspired by the [[Stormcast Eternals]], the Bonereapers are not mere skeletons given life by necromancy, but massive constructs of bone and countless warrior souls, making them all look impressively robust for undead. Since the Soulblight Gravelords are the mainstay, the Nighthaunt are the shock troops and the Flesh-Eater Courts are completely insane, these buff bone bruisers are the elite vanguard of the Grand Alliance. Given their themes of bones, undead constructs, priest characters, architect characters and skull-throwing catapults... they're currently the closest thing we've got to [[Tomb Kings]] in AoS.

They also carry out the Bone Tithe; in addition to going out and killing shit to get their bones, the Ossiarchs give settlements they encounter a contract: Give up a set amount of bones whenever we stroll by, or face annihilation now. Understandably, most choose the former. Being unable to pay or even being rude to them also provokes a slaughter.

Visually-speaking, they're what happens when Games Workshop decides to mix [[Tyranids]], [[Tomb Kings]], and [[Necrons]] into one army.

However, widespread dissatisfaction against them due to Petrifex list spamming in first edition tournaments, how they aren't GW darlings like [[Space Marines|everyone with]] [[Stormcast Eternals|pauldrons]] and GW's desire to shill the Lumineth are probably part of the reason the Bonereapers were worfed '''hard''' in the Broken Realms saga. Seriously, the amount of clout they lose in just one book is unthinkable (read "Broken Realms" below for more). This shows a possible chain of Worfing going on in AoS ("worfing" is having a supposedly powerful fighter be easily defeated to show how strong their opponent is - named after Worf from Star Trek, who was often on the receiving end). First the Stormcast worfed the Warriors of Chaos/Slaves to Darkness, then both were worfed by the Bonereapers, and then the Bonereapers were worfed by the Lumineth. Now it remains to be seen if the Bonereapers will get payback, restore those they lost... or at least we can wonder who will worf the Lumineth in future.

==History==
===Age of Myth===
[[File:Slaves to Darkness vs Ossiarch Bonereapers 01.jpg|right|300px|thumb|SKULLS FOR <s>THE SKULL THRONE</s> Nagash! And all the other bones too!]]
When Nagash was helping Sigmar build his cities he secretly began experimenting on undead, combining their bones and souls into newer, stronger undead warriors; the [[Morghasts/Hammurai|Morghasts]] and the first Bonereapers. Most were put into massive underground crypts Nagash secretly built beneath the cities of Order, but others were kept on the surface and brought into battle alongside the armies of the other gods.

The other gods saw the Bonereapers and really didn't like them because of how unnatural they were, even for undead. In response, Nagash sent these Bonereapers to the edge of Shyish to lay low until he called on them (these Bonereapers who would go on to form the Null Myriad). He also sent at least twenty of them to wander the Realms on a long-forgotten mission (these would go on to become the Petrifex Elite).

Strangely, none of the Order groups noticed until however long its been since the start of the Age of Myth that there were crypts full of undead warriors beneath their cities. Especially since they know about and need to defend against [[Skaven|enemies who specialize in creating massive complexes beneath your cities that they then invade from]] or ones who are just [[Gloomspite Gitz|well-versed in tunnel warfare]].

===Age of Chaos===
The Age of Chaos only affected the Bonereapers garrisoned at the edge of Shyish. By that time they had become resistant to magic, and they fought against demonic armies, their actions blunting the assault of Chaos on Shyish. During this time, Katakros led an army against Sigmar himself on Nagash's orders while the former was pursuing the latter for his betrayal. The battle resulted in the loss of Katakros' army, the Mortarch's defeat and subsequent confinement to a Stormvault.

===Age of Sigmar===
In the lead-up to the Soul Wars, Katakros was freed from the Stormvault by fellow Mortarch, Lady Olynder. The Bonereapers on the edge of Shyish acted as a military force protecting the skeletal work crews who carried grains of Shyishan realmstone to Nagashizzar for Nagash to use to build the Black Pyramid.

===Soul Wars===
After the Necroquake, Nagash decided the time was right to wake up everyone beneath these cities, who apparently marched back home, making them relatively pointless. In that respect, these tombs seemed to mirror the Stormvaults Sigmar had strewn about the Realms to contain various dangerous contraband like [[Katakros|said Mortarch]].

When the Bonereaper legions arrived in Shyish, Nagash got back to his pet-project of making super-skellies, and perfected the process. This involves taking souls and distilling them down to their most choice elements. This involves ripping apart their identity and keeping parts considered useful (such as skills, daring and knowledge) while discarding the parts that aren't useful (such as fear, compassion and loyalty to anything but Nagash) and replacing those parts with something "better" (like loyalty to Nagash), with the strongest-willed soul among them becoming the identity of the new Bonereaper. Then these fragmented and melded souls are put into specially crafted bone constructs. By doing so, he artificially created individuals who were warriors, leaders, bodyguards, artisans, architects, philosophers and sculptors all in one, [[Adeptus Custodes|which sounds a little familiar.]]

The Bonereapers subsequently had a meteoric rise, making their mark - and several enemies - across the realms. After establishing their powerbase in Shyish, the Ironjawz Warclan the Kryptboyz have focused their efforts on fighting the Bonereapers due to wanting to destroy their settlements and wear their bones as trophies. In Chamon, the Null Myriad encountered the Seraphon of the Thunder Lizard Constellation and got embroiled in wars for control of the realm's edge. The Ivory Host legion gained a foothold in Ghur, Katakros' realm of origin, and in building their cities they've positioned themselves for conflict with several Mawtribes and the free city of Excelsis. The Ivory Host also clashed with an [[Sons of Behemat|infamous Mega-Gargant who went on to become the mercenary known as One-Eyed Grunnock]].

This was followed by the Bonereapers most notable conflict; the War for the Eightpoints. Katakros led the Mortis Praetorians and detachments from other Legions into the Eightpoints alongside Olynder and a Nighthaunt army to take the Eightpoints for Nagash, the first invvasion of the realm since it had been captured by Chaos. They succeeded in capturing and fortifying the realmgate leading to Shyish, and established a fortified citadel around it as a base of operations. However, Katakros' campaign was halted by the sudden return of Archaon and a force of Varanguard plus a daemon army led by Be'lakor. Bolstered by the mortal and daemonic hosts, the Chaos armies routed Katakros' Nighthaunt allies and forced the Bonereapers to enact a tactical retreat, with Archaon personally slaying him after a lengthy duel. Katakros' soul returned to his stronghold, albeit wounded, and after Katakros' restoration in a new body, the conflict became a stalemate and a war of attrition.

===Broken Realms===
When Morathi entered the Eightpoints in her plan to secure Varanite, she secretly sent an envoy to Katakros, giving him several tonnes of bones infused with the magic of Ulgu in exchange for a Bonereaper attack on Archaon's holdings to distract the forces of Chaos. Knowing the forces of order will take losses in their unknown (to Katakros and the Stormcast) endeavor, Katakros accepted the bargain.

Book two saw some particularly grueling setbacks for the Bonereapers. Not content with making the entire Death faction a bunch of jobbers for the Lumineth, the Bonereapers got worfed like a 40k Avatar of [[Khaine]] fighting Ultramarines, so bad it's as if the author had some bad experiences playing against them on the tabletop.

Teclis confronted Nagash after repelling a Nighthaunt attack on Settler's Gain, and unsuccessfully tried to threaten him into backing down. Then Teclis enacted a master plan seeking to end the Soul Wars and make Nagash pay for the Necroquake. To start, he personally led a Lumineth army riding [[What|flying mountains]] on an invasion of Shyish to destroy three monuments in a symbolic victory to show people the Bonereapers weren't unbeatable. Despite fierce resistance, and a waring from Vokmortion, the Lumineth were able to match the Bonereapers in battle before destroying the monuments and <s>fleeing</s> going back to Hysh.

The Bonereapers replenished their losses with the dead of both sides and sought revenge. While undead armies led by Neferata and Mannfred invaded Chamon and Ghyran respectively, a Null Myriad army led by Arkhan himself invaded Hysh and press-ganged the local Mordant Courts to help <s>give the Lumineth a right proper boning</s> conquer Ymetrica by turning a realmgate in Hysh into a mini-Shyish Nadir. But a Lumineth army repelled Arkhan's first attempt, forcing him to flee and try again with a second realmgate on the edge of Hysh. Not only was this second attempt thwarted by a Lumineth army led by a vengeful Eltharion, the Bonereapers were wiped out, with Arkhan himself punted off the edge of Hysh by the Light of Eltharion and disappearing. The Lumineth burned their dead to limit the Ossiarch’s recruitment, forcing them to harvest the bones of their ghoul allies, causing more trouble as the Flesh-Eater Courts fought back.

Then Nagash personally arrived in Hysh to finish what Arkhan started and kill Avalenor in revenge, but was forced to do battle against Teclis, with each god’s respective army doing battle beneath their feet. Though both gods were roughly equal in magical might, Nagash proved to be a superior combatant and marked Teclis with his blade and death magic. But Teclis got the last laugh due to some unexpected allies in Alarielle and several Luminarks, culminating in the destruction of Nagash's nine books, Nagash himself having his body broken and his soul imprisoned in Nagashizzar and Teclis personally undoing the Necroquake.

With Nagash imprisoned (for the time being), Arkhan deader than ever before if not gone for good, and the other forces of death more fractious and likely to carve their own trails of carnage, the Ossiarch are the only active remnant of their master’s will. There is also a looming Slaaneshi invasion on the horizon, as the reborn [[Sigvald]] seeks to avenge his Shadeglass imprisonment by destroying Nagash's beloved pet project.

=== Age of Beasts/ The Dawnbringer Crusades ===
Katakros is fixated on his campaign in the Eightpoints, but still keeping tabs on what's happened elsewhere, calling out Neferata's power play when she criticized Olynder working with Be'lakor. Katakros himself didn't criticize Olynder's actions because they hurt Sigmar's plan, with Neferata accusing Katakros of still being salty over his first loss to Sigmar. Also, Mannfred expresses his thoughts that Arkhan will return, but not for awhile.

Meanwhile, Nagash has been slowly regaining his power and awareness and already begun working on his vengeance. He's got some sort of link to Teclis, even interrupting Teclis' meditation to promise reprisals.

==Society==
[[File:Ossiarch Bonereapers Society.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Adds a whole new meaning to the phrase "pyramid scheme".]]
All Ossiarch Bonereapers are built for a specific purpose and assigned a role based on the souls from which they’re formed. This is codified through a caste system, with Nagash at the top, then Mortarchs Katakros and Arhkan, then the highest ranking Ossiarchs underneath and various ranks beneath that. The Bonereaper caste system has a cartouche representing each caste (though Nagash's is just to symbolize him). While there is a Mortarch cartouche, only Katakros wears it because Arkhan predates the Bonereaper system (and everyone but Nagash) by several eons, and despite their alliance he's too proud to wear Katakros' symbol. While they're all obedient to Nagash and fearless, the Bonereapers used in battle are sapient and the characters at least have enough individuality to have names and some personality, though they tend to be work-oriented and elitist. Having said that, Nagash and necromancy isn't infallible, so the process doesn't excise all personality traits Nagash opposes, so they are still capable of doubt and camaraderie which can make them question, regret or even challenge their orders.

While many Ossiarch Bonereapers are warriors, there are castes of groups such as crafters and preachers. There is movement between castes, but only downwards, and as a punishment for failure. A Liege Kavalos who fails in their mission, for example, may be remade as a Kavalos Deathrider. If the offense was major, they might get remade as a steed. The lowest caste are the exiles collectively referred to as Parrha, consisting of the worst offenders who get broken and remade into warped skeletal aberrations incapable of fighting and the Bonereapers value them less than the Imperial Guard values the life of its rank and file soldiers (for the uninitiated, that's really saying something).

The Ossiarch Bonereapers can be found all across the Mortal Realms, aiming to conquer everything from Azyr to the Eightpoints. At present, the majority of the Ossiarch Bonereapers are concentrated in Shyish, inhabiting the nations that surround the Shyish Nadir. This allows them easy access to a vast source of magical power and establishes them as a permanent garrison around this most valuable of territories. Apart from Shyish, the largest concentrations of Bonereapers are in Ghur and Chamon.

The Ossiarch Bonereapers build according to principles laid down in the Principia Necrotopia, a set of guidelines that ensure optimal construction:

In the first stages of colonizing a new region, the Ossiarchs will establish tithing sites. Presumably, this involves mapping out surrounding settlements and segments of the region into their own tributaries, with each section's inhabitants made to sign a contract to begin paying the Tithe. They contruct shrines known as Bone-Tithe Nexus, which act as locations for vassals to dump their bones and are enchanted to give out powerful curses to ward off any scavengers seeking to steal from it.

Next, they will fortify key territories with small fortifications, following up with a number of Mortisan workshops to fuel the next stage of their expansion. These small holdings will eventually develop into vast and imposing fortresses, growing ever upward as the Bonereapers’ numbers grow. These are not just barracks, but places of culture for the Ossiarchs.

Ossiarch scholars will endlessly study scrolls in charnel libraries, recording the details of cultures in the Mortal Realms they have subjugated and those they seek to subjugate. These vast citadel-states eventually resemble Nagashizzar itself.

===The Bone Tithe===
[[File:Bone tithe.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Put your spines into it. Literally!]]
The Bone Tithe is instrumental to their society and Nagash's way of setting himself up as mob boss of the realms. Upon arriving in an area, the Ossiarchs send out scouts to get the lay of the land. When they find a settlement they want tribute from, a representative - in practice usually a Mortisan - approaches and makes them an offer they can't refuse; give "x" by the deadline at regular intervals, or we kill you all now and take what we want. To communicate, the Bonereapers draw on prior research for the local language; it doesn't matter if the vernacular's out of date by a few centuries or so, as long as they can be understood. If that doesn't work, the Bonereapers use other means, including killing a local and using their spirit as a translator if all else fails. If the locals refuse, attack them or are rude enough, [[Grimdark|the Bonereapers make good on their threat, slaughtering everything in the settlement that has bones, right down to the last child and stray animal]]. If they are feeling "nice", the Bonereapers might only kill the dissenters or leave a fraction of the people alive, but with even more bones required from them.

When demanding the Bone Tithe, what/who the bones come from and the required amount depends on the situation and Bonereaper legion. Human bone is the most widely used, with ogor bones a close second; duardin bones are liked for their durability but aren't common enough, aelf bones are slightly more common but don't replenish fast enough and greenskin bones are very common but coarse, porous and prone to spontaneous fungal growth unless treated properly. While animal bones are also used - such as for Kavalos steeds or Gothizzar Harvesters - that's not always the case and it depends on the animal (Rhinoxen and Bleaklake crocodiles are popular choices). How the bones are acquired is irrelevant, the most common options ranging from emptying the local cemetery to [[Grimdark|having everyone eligible give a limb or holding a lottery where those chosen are killed and the bones taken from their corpses]].

The Bonereapers (though inbuilt or learned ability, it's not clear) CAN tell the difference between what race or species a specific bone comes from, so trying to cheat them with different kinds of bone doesn't work. They also respond to trickery the same way they respond to failure or refusal - immediate slaughter (as a human town learned to their cost when they tried to trick the Bonereapers by mixing pig bones in with human bones). Even other Death factions aren't exempt from the Bone Tithe, as the Bonereapers' laws consider their charge from Nagash to supersede any commonalities with his other followers (callous elitism isn't good for alliances, reflected in the rules by the Bonereapers not being able to take allies outside Drogg Fort-Kicka).

Sometimes things are even worse than the above. A particularly war-horny leader, most often from the Stalliarch Lords (more on them below), will give nigh-impossible demands to increase the chance of failure. What kinds of demands? How about asking a city's population for detailed records on everyone's family lineage going back to the founders and the condition of every bone in the city ''including bones still inside the living inhabitants''. Or maybe they ask for just one ton of bones ''every day'' (for extra lulz, the offer is made at night and has to be completed the next day). They might instead, or also, [[That Guy|arrive early to extract the Tithe just to get a good slaughter out of it]]. However it ends, the bones of the Ossiarch's victims are sorted through, the good bones taken for future use the sub-par ones discarded (same with their victims souls). Strips of skin and flesh from these unfortunates are hung from the Bonereapers' spears as a warning to anyone who considers not paying the Tithe.

Ultimately, they have a term related to the Bone Tithe called the “Terminus Concept”. This refers to the point where a society can't provide enough bones so they get slaughtered and their bones are taken. For the truth is that the Bone Tithe is ultimately unsustainable for the payers, and the Bonereapers know it. This all proves that, while Nagash is a pragmatic sort of fellow, he'll always find a way to be a <s>boner</s> [[Eldrad|huge skeletal dick]] about it.

==Forces==
[[File:Bonereaper army.jpg|right|500px|thumb|'''Angry Dooting Intensifies''']]
*'''Mortek Guard:''' Rank and file infantry of the Bonereapers. Well armored and shielded, they have the choice of swords or spears and optional greatswords as weapons. Their primary role is to create massive shield walls to protect their leaders.
*'''Morghast Harbingers and Archai:''' You know em, you love em. Nagash's original sculpted bone construct based on not-angels from the World-That-Was now served as prototypes to the current regime of spoopy skeltals. Flying blenders armed with either halberds (take these) or twin swords (dont take these). Harbingers are your chargey bois, while the Archai are bodyguard bois.
*'''Necropolis Stalkers:''' Four-armed skeletal constructs the size of Kurnoth Hunters with four faces, each one has the soul of four warriors, and switches between which one is dominant, altering their fighting style accordingly. Their name's ripped from the Necropolis Knights and the Tomb Stalkers.
*'''Immortis Guard:''' Four-armed <s>Grave Guard</s> <s>Tomb Guard</s> elite skellingtons armed with a halberd in one set of hands and a shield in the other. Like the Morghasts, Immortis are the bodyguard bois to the Stalkers' chargey bois.
*'''Kavalos Deathriders:''' Bony heavy cavalry rivalling Blood Knights for the position of "best undead cavalry", each one has the soul of dozens of warriors to draw on their knowledge and is proportionately arrogant. They have undead birds roosting on their banner poles that act as spies and messenger birds. For added creep factor, these guys normally walk at a slow and ominous trot, only sprinting when going into a headlong charge and don't bother to clean themselves while hunting a target.
*'''Mortek Crawler:''' Screaming Skull Catapult 2.0 with an obligatory patent-friendly rename. In addition to flaming skulls, it can also hurl a cauldron of Death Magic that works based on bravery or a cursed stone that gets more powerful the more damage the Crawler takes. It's also powered by a bone-made hamster wheel and multiple legs.
*'''Gothizzar Harvester:''' A big monster construct with weapon hands and half a skeleton for a codpiece that helps harvest bones. The Harvester uses them to make new constructs on the fly or repair damaged ones. Their weapon arms come with either enchanted maces or scything blades for hands.
*'''Mortisan Soulreaper:''' Your offensive caster for the Bonereapers with a scythe that doesn't like hordes.
*'''Mortisan Boneshaper:''' The healers/builders of the Bonereapers. Formed from the souls of artists, they’re in charge of building the extravagant bone cities and other architecture of the legions. They all possess a friendly rivalry with each other that pushes them to one up another’s artwork.
*'''Mortisan Soulmason:''' Miniature Arkhans with four arms who are in charge of hunting and fusing souls for their various constructs. They ride into battle on bony [[Fyodor Karamazov|thrones with chicken legs]].
*'''Liege-Kavalos''': Field generals with skeleton mounts placed in charge of leading the Bonereaper armies. They are forged as a cruel mockery of Sigmar’s Lord-Celestant on Dracoth.

===Famous Legions===
*'''Mortis Praetorians''': The 10,000 strong personal army of Katakros, created out of the souls of those he personally knew in life. They have gained a fearsome reputation for their tactical acumen, especially in Shyish. [[Ultramarines|The poster boys who are a jack-of-all-trades, big on tactics and led by an ancient leader who was the basis for future generations]]. They also have the only two Bonereapers with a single original soul; Katakros himself and Zandtos. Whenever one dies, a new one is immediately made and travels to go where needed, [[Derp|even alone if only one new Bonereapers is needed]].
* '''Petrifex Elite''': Made up of nomadic armies crafted from prehistoric fossilized bones, they are known for being slow-moving and a near impenetrable wall of bone. While fossilized bone tends to be fragile, the Petrifex Elite enchant them to be tough and also include already supernaturally tough bones among them (ie; the bones of godbeasts). Led by Mortisans, [[Necrons|they only exist to slay and find ancient bones to build more of themselves and make themselves even deadlier]]. They have forgotten why Nagash wants them to do this, and their leaders eschew personal identity to the point of using titles instead of names, as mandated by their leader and most senior Mortisan, the Grand Necromystic.
* '''Null Myriad''': The first Ossiarch Bonereapers made during Nagash's experiments in the Age of Myth. The Null Myriad were later refined and bolstered using the bones and souls of the countless dead who helped construct Nagash’s Black Pyramid and the best of Arkhan's Black Disciples. They are a solemn yet prideful lot with high resilience to magic and were given to Arkhan to be his personal legion; they're so loyal to Arkhan that they defer to him even over Katakros himself. Their resistance to magic extends to the power of Chaos, so they're used to inhabit the most inhospitable parts of the realms. Recently Arkhan made an alliance with Katakros, and the Null Myriad's job is to secure magic-heavy locations in the realms so Katakros can control the sources of their magic. The Null Myriad forces in Chamon have come into conflict with the Seraphon of the Thunder Lizards Constellation who also dwell there.
*'''Ivory Host''': Outwardly, they appear as honorable warriors, but hidden away in their bodies is a monstrous frenzy that turns them into clawing slavering beasts. Fitting considering they are constructed from beast and monster bones. Tasked by Nagash to conquer Ghur, they overcompensate for their bestial anger by being meticulously clean and making everything of theirs as much of a work of art as possible. Also known for [[Tomb Kings|being the only Ossiarchs who build ships, use the color gold regularly in their attire and are led by a monarch]]. Currently they’ve claimed the realmgate of Greedmouth and established the Ivory Citadel in the southwestern corner of the Ghurish Heartlands, putting them awfully close to numerous [[Ogor Mawtribes]] and the [[Cities of Sigmar|free city]] of Excelsis.
*'''Stalliarch Lords''': A cavalry centric force who are [[Creed|skillful tacticians]] and like to make impossible demands so they have an excuse to raze cities and slaughter people (on the rare occasion that someone meets their outrageous demands they keep their word... but remember the Terminus Concept). They take the freshest remains whenever possible to maximize how much they're infused with essence of the slain, which gives them more speed and vitality than other Bonereaper Legions and often a blood-slicked appearance. Basically [[That Guy]] as a cavalry-loving undead legion.
*'''Crematorians''': These Bonereapers are burning with an internal fire to the point where some of them literally explode when killed. Some of them have recently realized that they don't really have a purpose other than to fight and explode, and aren't too happy about that. In fact, their leaders [[Noblebright|have made pacts of friendship to repair each other if any of them are destroyed and the chief Liege-Kavalos scours the libraries of everyone they encounter in the hopes of finding a way to undo their fiery curse, and is implied to be on the verge of a breakthrough]].

==Significant Skeletons==
* '''[[Katakros|Orpheon Katakros]], [[Mortarch]] of the Necropolis''': In life he was the greatest strategic genius in all the Mortal Realms, and undeath has done nothing to dull his mastery of military tactics. He's been given a new body of enscrolled bone by Nagash himself which looks like a [[Jojo's Bizarre Adventure|JoJo stand]] rather than a skeleton. He goes into battle surrounded by various attendants; the Liege-Immortis, the Aviarch Spymaster, the Gnosis Scrollbearer, and the Prime Necrophoros.
*'''[[Arch-Kavalos Zandtos]]''': A Liege-Kavalos and Katakros’ most trusted lieutenant. In life he was a refined, death-obsessed assassin who considered killing a sacred act that should be as clean as possible. In undeath, he gradually became a death-purist who wishes to “cleanse” Shyish of anything still living.
*'''Vokmortian, Master of the Bone-tithe''': The grim tallyman in charge of recording/judging the Tithe. He carries the severed heads of those foolish enough to refuse to pay the Tithe and has a coffin on his back, making him look like a giant beetle. Though officially he’s under Katakros and Arkhan in the OBR hierarchy, he’ll only receive/carry out orders from Big Bone Daddy himself...which might be a bit difficult now that Nagash was sealed away by Teclis.
*'''[[Arkhan the Black]]''': Yeah, he's part of the army despite technically being just an "average" liche as opposed to a bone golem thing. Likely because apart from Nagash, he's the most privy to understanding how they are made without being one. While he has his own private legion in the Null Myriad, his authority is recognized by all the Ossiarch legions. He was recently thrown off the edge of Hysh by the Light of Eltharion, with him and his Dread Abyssal disappearing in a burst of light magic. While it's unlikely that Arkhan is gone for good, he's deader than ever before.
*'''Xaramos''': A Mortisan Boneshaper of the Mortis Praetorians, skilled in both diplomacy and keeping the legion operating at full efficiency. He assisted Arkhan in his counter invasion of Ymetrica in Hysh, where he put his diplomatic skills to use in acquiring the assistance of the [[Flesh-Eater Courts|Vertigon Court]] to defeat the Lumineth aelves and formed an unexpected friendship with the Ghoul King Varshorn. When relations turned sour over the Bone Tithe, the personal forces of Xaramos and Varshorn battled amidst the gore-caked caverns of the Starfang Mont in a conflict later the Charnel War, with hints that Xaramos regretted fighting Vashorn. Xaramos died permanently in the last battle, personally decapitated by Vashorn.

==Spooky Melodies for your Bony Boys==

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DsZivjop_s Spooky Scary Skeletons! a remix for a revamp]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKHAX1K4sKQ The Dead March returns for AoS!]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5n5qo8b1pA March for the Tithe!]

==Trivia==
* The architecture of the Ossiarch Bonereapers was likely inspired by bone churches such as the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary Sedlec Ossuary] in the Czech Republic. The Sedlec Ossuary is a Roman Catholic church where the bones of thousands of people have been artistically arranged to form the decorations and the furnishings of the chapel (it's also called "the Bone Church"). Like other bone churches, this was done several centuries ago for creative interment reasons with many dead and not enough space to bury them on holy ground.
* On a comical note, "Kavalos", the name for Bonereaper cavalry, translates to "crotch" in Greek (the Greek word is "kaválos"). Makes more sense when you think of [[Katakros]]' defining trait lookswise, and how his name even sounds like the Greek word.

==Soulbound==
The [[Age of Sigmar Roleplay]] supplement Champions of Death would naturally introduce the Ossiarch Bonereapers as a playable race, though like their gold-plated counterparts they aren't so much Soulbound as much as they are outsiders made to join a Binding for some other agenda. For those bound to Nagash, the purpose is obvious enough: The Ossiarchs are the ultimate form of his perfect future and are (almost) unquestionably loyal, sometimes even researching the uses of Soulfire in order to perfect the process of making more of their own. Those who join an Order Binding find themselves in one of two camps: Either as allies of desperation for a common goal or as a haven to escape from their place as an outcast in the rigid society of the Ossiarch legions that would see them recycled due to either defects or defiance.

You can have your Ossiarch hail from the following Legions:
*'''Mortis Praetorians:''' The Legion of Orpheon Katakros himself, formed from the souls of his greatest soldiers and generals in life. They are the most determined of the legions, willing to use the bones of both friend and foe alike in order to bolster their ranks. That said, the demand for reinforcements are so frequent that there are those bodies that are made incomplete, subject to the whispers of waylaid spirits before being completely formed. Whenever Katakros sees interest in a Binding, he will often send a member of his Praetorians to accompany them and enforce order. Heroes from the Mortis Praetorians can spend an action to test Intuition against an opponent's Guile, allowing them to predict an enemy's move. In addition, all archetypes gain the Tactician talent.
*'''Ivory Host:''' A legion sent to conquer Ghur, famous for slaying mighty monsters. While they obviously show scorn towards the primitive and weak cultures of the mortal here, the influence of the realm is very obvious from the frequent use of amber and animal bones in order to complete their tithe to the clearly caged savagery they unleash in the heat of battle. Heroes from the Ivory Host deal extra damage for each point of damage they suffer. In addition, all archetypes gain the Battle Rage talent.
*'''Stalliarch Lords:''' A prideful band often formed from fresh bone and meat, the Ossiarchs of this legion are capable of some form of honor...just not in any way normal folk would understand. Often have they given near-impossible tasks for mortals to accomplish, either so they could claim their tithe or to see if the challenger can accomplish some greater goal worth the interest. That said, that latter part is often only carried out for amusement rather than any genuine respect. Heroes from the Stalliarch Lords can challenge an enemy, forcing the difficulty of all attacks to reach a high difficulty but making any hits against you deal double damage.
*'''Petrifex Elite:''' A legion of nomadic bonecast, formed from the remains of ancient civilizations and forgotten graves. This legion views the binding with particular interest, seeing the parallels in becoming a whole greater than the sum of it parts and their own process of erasing all identity and originality - sometimes an Ossiarch might even have the remains of a former Soulbound in their body. Heroes from the Petrifex Elite are better armored than other Bonereapers, but they can't improve their bony armor in any way and can only use a certain downtime activity to repair it. In additionally, they can double their training for either navigating ancient ruins or recalling ancient history.
*'''Null Myriad:''' Nagash's original legion, sent to keep watch on the realm's edges until the Necroquake forced them to return and be reinforced using the Black Pyramid's skeletal work gangs so they could better resist magic. As outsiders among the Ossiarchs, they are the most-versed in dealing with threats from beyond the edges of a realm and their special properties allow them to protect the very nature of the Binding. Heroes from the Null Myriad can spell Mettle to ignore the effects of a spell and double their training when dealing with exploring, navigating or withstanding the edges of the realms.
*'''Crematorians:''' Ignited by the fires of the Shyish Nadier, the life of a Bonereaper here will often be short as the flames slowly consume their bony shells. This nature has led to many among their ranks questioning the wisdom of the skelepope's plans to make an army that can burn out, though they often cover it up with other purposes - such as studying the benefits of Soulfire and how it can sustain their bodies. Heroes from the Crematorians are constantly ablaze, letting them suffer a wound to restore Mettle. When they die, they explode and make the area where they stood a burning waste.

The Ossiarch Bonereapers have access to the '''Immortis Guard''', '''Kavalos Deathrider''', '''Morghast''', '''Mortisan''', or '''Necropolis Stalker''' archetypes

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Bonereaper vs Kharadron.jpg|Sky Pirates vs Bone Golems.
File:Cavalry-bonereapers.jpg|As if Blood Knights weren't bad enough, Bone Daddy brings out Kavalos Deathriders too.
File:Gothizzar Harvester.jpg|"Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones. Oh mercy how they scare! With the toe bone connected to the foot bone..."
File:Bonereaper city.jpg|Welcome to Necrotopia. Please remember to remove all skin and flesh before you reach customs.
File:Skeleton sales pitch (comic by Baalbuddy).png|An alternate way to collect the Bone-Tithe.
</gallery>

==See Also==

*[[Nagash]], their jerk of a god whom they give their undisputed loyalty to (yes, really!)

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

[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]

Ossiarch Bonereapers

2021-11-05T17:32:54Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD: /* Trivia */

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

{{topquote|Two can play at that game!|Likely Nagash after learning how Sigmar makes Stormcast}}
{{topquote|Debt, an ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slavedriver.|Ambrose Bierce}}
{{topquote|The bones of the skeleton which support the body can become the bars of the cage which imprison the spirit.|J. Ruth Gendler}}

The latest addition to [[Nagash]]’s ever growing hordes (designed and sculpted by [[Maxime Corbeil]], a former dentist), the '''Ossiarch Bonereapers'''
(Also known as '''The Boney Boys''', '''Bonecast''', '''Tomb Kings 2.0''', '''Bonechads''', '''Nagash's Taxmen''', '''The Boney Bean Counters''', '''Ossiarch Bean Counters''' or '''The IRS''') are the result of an eons old plan by Big Bone Daddy.

Likely inspired by the [[Stormcast Eternals]], the Bonereapers are not mere skeletons given life by necromancy, but massive constructs of bone and countless warrior souls, making them all look impressively robust for undead. Since the Soulblight Gravelords are the mainstay, the Nighthaunt are the shock troops and the Flesh-Eater Courts are completely insane, these buff bone bruisers are the elite vanguard of the Grand Alliance. Given their themes of bones, undead constructs, priest characters, architect characters and skull-throwing catapults... they're currently the closest thing we've got to [[Tomb Kings]] in AoS.

They also carry out the Bone Tithe; in addition to going out and killing shit to get their bones, the Ossiarchs give settlements they encounter a contract: Give up a set amount of bones whenever we stroll by, or face annihilation now. Understandably, most choose the former. Being unable to pay or even being rude to them also provokes a slaughter.

Visually-speaking, they're what happens when Games Workshop decides to mix [[Tyranids]], [[Tomb Kings]], and [[Necrons]] into one army.

However, widespread dissatisfaction against them due to Petrifex list spamming in first edition tournaments, how they aren't GW darlings like [[Space Marines|everyone with]] [[Stormcast Eternals|pauldrons]] and GW's desire to shill the Lumineth are probably part of the reason the Bonereapers were worfed '''hard''' in the Broken Realms saga. Seriously, the amount of clout they lose in just one book is unthinkable (read "Broken Realms" below for more). This shows a possible chain of Worfing going on in AoS ("worfing" is having a supposedly powerful fighter be easily defeated to show how strong their opponent is - named after Worf from Star Trek, who was often on the receiving end). First the Stormcast worfed the Warriors of Chaos/Slaves to Darkness, then both were worfed by the Bonereapers, and then the Bonereapers were worfed by the Lumineth. Now it remains to be seen if the Bonereapers will get payback, restore those they lost... or at least we can wonder who will worf the Lumineth in future.

==History==
===Age of Myth===
[[File:Slaves to Darkness vs Ossiarch Bonereapers 01.jpg|right|300px|thumb|SKULLS FOR <s>THE SKULL THRONE</s> Nagash! And all the other bones too!]]
When Nagash was helping Sigmar build his cities he secretly began experimenting on undead, combining their bones and souls into newer, stronger undead warriors; the [[Morghasts/Hammurai|Morghasts]] and the first Bonereapers. Most were put into massive underground crypts Nagash secretly built beneath the cities of Order, but others were kept on the surface and brought into battle alongside the armies of the other gods.

The other gods saw the Bonereapers and really didn't like them because of how unnatural they were, even for undead. In response, Nagash sent these Bonereapers to the edge of Shyish to lay low until he called on them (these Bonereapers who would go on to form the Null Myriad). He also sent at least twenty of them to wander the Realms on a long-forgotten mission (these would go on to become the Petrifex Elite).

Strangely, none of the Order groups noticed until however long its been since the start of the Age of Myth that there were crypts full of undead warriors beneath their cities. Especially since they know about and need to defend against [[Skaven|enemies who specialize in creating massive complexes beneath your cities that they then invade from]] or ones who are just [[Gloomspite Gitz|well-versed in tunnel warfare]].

===Age of Chaos===
The Age of Chaos only affected the Bonereapers garrisoned at the edge of Shyish. By that time they had become resistant to magic, and they fought against demonic armies, their actions blunting the assault of Chaos on Shyish. During this time, Katakros led an army against Sigmar himself on Nagash's orders while the former was pursuing the latter for his betrayal. The battle resulted in the loss of Katakros' army, the Mortarch's defeat and subsequent confinement to a Stormvault.

===Age of Sigmar===
In the lead-up to the Soul Wars, Katakros was freed from the Stormvault by fellow Mortarch, Lady Olynder. The Bonereapers on the edge of Shyish acted as a military force protecting the skeletal work crews who carried grains of Shyishan realmstone to Nagashizzar for Nagash to use to build the Black Pyramid.

===Soul Wars===
After the Necroquake, Nagash decided the time was right to wake up everyone beneath these cities, who apparently marched back home, making them relatively pointless. In that respect, these tombs seemed to mirror the Stormvaults Sigmar had strewn about the Realms to contain various dangerous contraband like [[Katakros|said Mortarch]].

When the Bonereaper legions arrived in Shyish, Nagash got back to his pet-project of making super-skellies, and perfected the process. This involves taking souls and distilling them down to their most choice elements. This involves ripping apart their identity and keeping parts considered useful (such as skills, daring and knowledge) while discarding the parts that aren't useful (such as fear, compassion and loyalty to anything but Nagash) and replacing those parts with something "better" (like loyalty to Nagash), with the strongest-willed soul among them becoming the identity of the new Bonereaper. Then these fragmented and melded souls are put into specially crafted bone constructs. By doing so, he artificially created individuals who were warriors, leaders, bodyguards, artisans, architects, philosophers and sculptors all in one, [[Adeptus Custodes|which sounds a little familiar.]]

The Bonereapers subsequently had a meteoric rise, making their mark - and several enemies - across the realms. After establishing their powerbase in Shyish, the Ironjawz Warclan the Kryptboyz have focused their efforts on fighting the Bonereapers due to wanting to destroy their settlements and wear their bones as trophies. In Chamon, the Null Myriad encountered the Seraphon of the Thunder Lizard Constellation and got embroiled in wars for control of the realm's edge. The Ivory Host legion gained a foothold in Ghur, Katakros' realm of origin, and in building their cities they've positioned themselves for conflict with several Mawtribes and the free city of Excelsis. The Ivory Host also clashed with an [[Sons of Behemat|infamous Mega-Gargant who went on to become the mercenary known as One-Eyed Grunnock]].

This was followed by the Bonereapers most notable conflict; the War for the Eightpoints. Katakros led the Mortis Praetorians and detachments from other Legions into the Eightpoints alongside Olynder and a Nighthaunt army to take the Eightpoints for Nagash, the first invvasion of the realm since it had been captured by Chaos. They succeeded in capturing and fortifying the realmgate leading to Shyish, and established a fortified citadel around it as a base of operations. However, Katakros' campaign was halted by the sudden return of Archaon and a force of Varanguard plus a daemon army led by Be'lakor. Bolstered by the mortal and daemonic hosts, the Chaos armies routed Katakros' Nighthaunt allies and forced the Bonereapers to enact a tactical retreat, with Archaon personally slaying him after a lengthy duel. Katakros' soul returned to his stronghold, albeit wounded, and after Katakros' restoration in a new body, the conflict became a stalemate and a war of attrition.

===Broken Realms===
When Morathi entered the Eightpoints in her plan to secure Varanite, she secretly sent an envoy to Katakros, giving him several tonnes of bones infused with the magic of Ulgu in exchange for a Bonereaper attack on Archaon's holdings to distract the forces of Chaos. Knowing the forces of order will take losses in their unknown (to Katakros and the Stormcast) endeavor, Katakros accepted the bargain.

Book two saw some particularly grueling setbacks for the Bonereapers. Not content with making the entire Death faction a bunch of jobbers for the Lumineth, the Bonereapers got worfed like a 40k Avatar of [[Khaine]] fighting Ultramarines, so bad it's as if the author had some bad experiences playing against them on the tabletop.

Teclis confronted Nagash after repelling a Nighthaunt attack on Settler's Gain, and unsuccessfully tried to threaten him into backing down. Then Teclis enacted a master plan seeking to end the Soul Wars and make Nagash pay for the Necroquake. To start, he personally led a Lumineth army riding [[What|flying mountains]] on an invasion of Shyish to destroy three monuments in a symbolic victory to show people the Bonereapers weren't unbeatable. Despite fierce resistance, and a waring from Vokmortion, the Lumineth were able to match the Bonereapers in battle before destroying the monuments and <s>fleeing</s> going back to Hysh.

The Bonereapers replenished their losses with the dead of both sides and sought revenge. While undead armies led by Neferata and Mannfred invaded Chamon and Ghyran respectively, a Null Myriad army led by Arkhan himself invaded Hysh and press-ganged the local Mordant Courts to help <s>give the Lumineth a right proper boning</s> conquer Ymetrica by turning a realmgate in Hysh into a mini-Shyish Nadir. But a Lumineth army repelled Arkhan's first attempt, forcing him to flee and try again with a second realmgate on the edge of Hysh. Not only was this second attempt thwarted by a Lumineth army led by a vengeful Eltharion, the Bonereapers were wiped out, with Arkhan himself punted off the edge of Hysh by the Light of Eltharion and disappearing. The Lumineth burned their dead to limit the Ossiarch’s recruitment, forcing them to harvest the bones of their ghoul allies, causing more trouble as the Flesh-Eater Courts fought back.

Then Nagash personally arrived in Hysh to finish what Arkhan started and kill Avalenor in revenge, but was forced to do battle against Teclis, with each god’s respective army doing battle beneath their feet. Though both gods were roughly equal in magical might, Nagash proved to be a superior combatant and marked Teclis with his blade and death magic. But Teclis got the last laugh due to some unexpected allies in Alarielle and several Luminarks, culminating in the destruction of Nagash's nine books, Nagash himself having his body broken and his soul imprisoned in Nagashizzar and Teclis personally undoing the Necroquake.

With Nagash imprisoned (for the time being), Arkhan deader than ever before if not gone for good, and the other forces of death more fractious and likely to carve their own trails of carnage, the Ossiarch are the only active remnant of their master’s will. There is also a looming Slaaneshi invasion on the horizon, as the reborn [[Sigvald]] seeks to avenge his Shadeglass imprisonment by destroying Nagash's beloved pet project.

=== Age of Beasts/ The Dawnbringer Crusades ===
Katakros is fixated on his campaign in the Eightpoints, but still keeping tabs on what's happened elsewhere, calling out Neferata's power play when she criticized Olynder working with Be'lakor. Katakros himself didn't criticize Olynder's actions because they hurt Sigmar's plan, with Neferata accusing Katakros of still being salty over his first loss to Sigmar. Also, Mannfred expresses his thoughts that Arkhan will return, but not for awhile.

Meanwhile, Nagash has been slowly regaining his power and awareness and already begun working on his vengeance. He's got some sort of link to Teclis, even interrupting Teclis' meditation to promise reprisals.

==Society==
[[File:Ossiarch Bonereapers Society.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Adds a whole new meaning to the phrase "pyramid scheme".]]
All Ossiarch Bonereapers are built for a specific purpose and assigned a role based on the souls from which they’re formed. This is codified through a caste system, with Nagash at the top, then Mortarchs Katakros and Arhkan, then the highest ranking Ossiarchs underneath and various ranks beneath that. The Bonereaper caste system has a cartouche representing each caste (though Nagash's is just to symbolize him). While there is a Mortarch cartouche, only Katakros wears it because Arkhan predates the Bonereaper system (and everyone but Nagash) by several eons, and despite their alliance he's too proud to wear Katakros' symbol. While they're all obedient to Nagash and fearless, the Bonereapers used in battle are sapient and the characters at least have enough individuality to have names and some personality, though they tend to be work-oriented and elitist. Having said that, Nagash and necromancy isn't infallible, so the process doesn't excise all personality traits Nagash opposes, so they are still capable of doubt and camaraderie which can make them question, regret or even challenge their orders.

While many Ossiarch Bonereapers are warriors, there are castes of groups such as crafters and preachers. There is movement between castes, but only downwards, and as a punishment for failure. A Liege Kavalos who fails in their mission, for example, may be remade as a Kavalos Deathrider. If the offense was major, they might get remade as a steed. The lowest caste are the exiles collectively referred to as Parrha, consisting of the worst offenders who get broken and remade into warped skeletal aberrations incapable of fighting and the Bonereapers value them less than the Imperial Guard values the life of its rank and file soldiers (for the uninitiated, that's really saying something).

The Ossiarch Bonereapers can be found all across the Mortal Realms, aiming to conquer everything from Azyr to the Eightpoints. At present, the majority of the Ossiarch Bonereapers are concentrated in Shyish, inhabiting the nations that surround the Shyish Nadir. This allows them easy access to a vast source of magical power and establishes them as a permanent garrison around this most valuable of territories. Apart from Shyish, the largest concentrations of Bonereapers are in Ghur and Chamon.

The Ossiarch Bonereapers build according to principles laid down in the Principia Necrotopia, a set of guidelines that ensure optimal construction:

In the first stages of colonizing a new region, the Ossiarchs will establish tithing sites. Presumably, this involves mapping out surrounding settlements and segments of the region into their own tributaries, with each section's inhabitants made to sign a contract to begin paying the Tithe. They contruct shrines known as Bone-Tithe Nexus, which act as locations for vassals to dump their bones and are enchanted to give out powerful curses to ward off any scavengers seeking to steal from it.

Next, they will fortify key territories with small fortifications, following up with a number of Mortisan workshops to fuel the next stage of their expansion. These small holdings will eventually develop into vast and imposing fortresses, growing ever upward as the Bonereapers’ numbers grow. These are not just barracks, but places of culture for the Ossiarchs.

Ossiarch scholars will endlessly study scrolls in charnel libraries, recording the details of cultures in the Mortal Realms they have subjugated and those they seek to subjugate. These vast citadel-states eventually resemble Nagashizzar itself.

===The Bone Tithe===
[[File:Bone tithe.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Put your spines into it. Literally!]]
The Bone Tithe is instrumental to their society and Nagash's way of setting himself up as mob boss of the realms. Upon arriving in an area, the Ossiarchs send out scouts to get the lay of the land. When they find a settlement they want tribute from, a representative - in practice usually a Mortisan - approaches and makes them an offer they can't refuse; give "x" by the deadline at regular intervals, or we kill you all now and take what we want. To communicate, the Bonereapers draw on prior research for the local language; it doesn't matter if the vernacular's out of date by a few centuries or so, as long as they can be understood. If that doesn't work, the Bonereapers use other means, including killing a local and using their spirit as a translator if all else fails. If the locals refuse, attack them or are rude enough, [[Grimdark|the Bonereapers make good on their threat, slaughtering everything in the settlement that has bones, right down to the last child and stray animal]]. If they are feeling "nice", the Bonereapers might only kill the dissenters or leave a fraction of the people alive, but with even more bones required from them.

When demanding the Bone Tithe, what/who the bones come from and the required amount depends on the situation and Bonereaper legion. Human bone is the most widely used, with ogor bones a close second; duardin bones are liked for their durability but aren't common enough, aelf bones are slightly more common but don't replenish fast enough and greenskin bones are very common but coarse, porous and prone to spontaneous fungal growth unless treated properly. While animal bones are also used - such as for Kavalos steeds or Gothizzar Harvesters - that's not always the case and it depends on the animal (Rhinoxen and Bleaklake crocodiles are popular choices). How the bones are acquired is irrelevant, the most common options ranging from emptying the local cemetery to [[Grimdark|having everyone eligible give a limb or holding a lottery where those chosen are killed and the bones taken from their corpses]].

The Bonereapers (though inbuilt or learned ability, it's not clear) CAN tell the difference between what race or species a specific bone comes from, so trying to cheat them with different kinds of bone doesn't work. They also respond to trickery the same way they respond to failure or refusal - immediate slaughter (as a human town learned to their cost when they tried to trick the Bonereapers by mixing pig bones in with human bones). Even other Death factions aren't exempt from the Bone Tithe, as the Bonereapers' laws consider their charge from Nagash to supersede any commonalities with his other followers (callous elitism isn't good for alliances, reflected in the rules by the Bonereapers not being able to take allies outside Drogg Fort-Kicka).

Sometimes things are even worse than the above. A particularly war-horny leader, most often from the Stalliarch Lords (more on them below), will give nigh-impossible demands to increase the chance of failure. What kinds of demands? How about asking a city's population for detailed records on everyone's family lineage going back to the founders and the condition of every bone in the city ''including bones still inside the living inhabitants''. Or maybe they ask for just one ton of bones ''every day'' (for extra lulz, the offer is made at night and has to be completed the next day). They might instead, or also, [[That Guy|arrive early to extract the Tithe just to get a good slaughter out of it]]. However it ends, the bones of the Ossiarch's victims are sorted through, the good bones taken for future use the sub-par ones discarded (same with their victims souls). Strips of skin and flesh from these unfortunates are hung from the Bonereapers' spears as a warning to anyone who considers not paying the Tithe.

Ultimately, they have a term related to the Bone Tithe called the “Terminus Concept”. This refers to the point where a society can't provide enough bones so they get slaughtered and their bones are taken. For the truth is that the Bone Tithe is ultimately unsustainable for the payers, and the Bonereapers know it. This all proves that, while Nagash is a pragmatic sort of fellow, he'll always find a way to be a <s>boner</s> [[Eldrad|huge skeletal dick]] about it.

==Forces==
[[File:Bonereaper army.jpg|right|500px|thumb|'''Angry Dooting Intensifies''']]
*'''Mortek Guard:''' Rank and file infantry of the Bonereapers. Well armored and shielded, they have the choice of swords or spears and optional greatswords as weapons. Their primary role is to create massive shield walls to protect their leaders.
*'''Morghast Harbingers and Archai:''' You know em, you love em. Nagash's original sculpted bone construct based on not-angels from the World-That-Was now served as prototypes to the current regime of spoopy skeltals. Flying blenders armed with either halberds (take these) or twin swords (dont take these). Harbingers are your chargey bois, while the Archai are bodyguard bois.
*'''Necropolis Stalkers:''' Four-armed skeletal constructs the size of Kurnoth Hunters with four faces, each one has the soul of four warriors, and switches between which one is dominant, altering their fighting style accordingly. Their name's ripped from the Necropolis Knights and the Tomb Stalkers.
*'''Immortis Guard:''' Four-armed <s>Grave Guard</s> <s>Tomb Guard</s> elite skellingtons armed with a halberd in one set of hands and a shield in the other. Like the Morghasts, Immortis are the bodyguard bois to the Stalkers' chargey bois.
*'''Kavalos Deathriders:''' Bony heavy cavalry rivalling Blood Knights for the position of "best undead cavalry", each one has the soul of dozens of warriors to draw on their knowledge and is proportionately arrogant. They have undead birds roosting on their banner poles that act as spies and messenger birds. For added creep factor, these guys normally walk at a slow and ominous trot, only sprinting when going into a headlong charge and don't bother to clean themselves while hunting a target.
*'''Mortek Crawler:''' Screaming Skull Catapult 2.0 with an obligatory patent-friendly rename. In addition to flaming skulls, it can also hurl a cauldron of Death Magic that works based on bravery or a cursed stone that gets more powerful the more damage the Crawler takes. It's also powered by a bone-made hamster wheel and multiple legs.
*'''Gothizzar Harvester:''' A big monster construct with weapon hands and half a skeleton for a codpiece that helps harvest bones. The Harvester uses them to make new constructs on the fly or repair damaged ones. Their weapon arms come with either enchanted maces or scything blades for hands.
*'''Mortisan Soulreaper:''' Your offensive caster for the Bonereapers with a scythe that doesn't like hordes.
*'''Mortisan Boneshaper:''' The healers/builders of the Bonereapers. Formed from the souls of artists, they’re in charge of building the extravagant bone cities and other architecture of the legions. They all possess a friendly rivalry with each other that pushes them to one up another’s artwork.
*'''Mortisan Soulmason:''' Miniature Arkhans with four arms who are in charge of hunting and fusing souls for their various constructs. They ride into battle on bony [[Fyodor Karamazov|thrones with chicken legs]].
*'''Liege-Kavalos''': Field generals with skeleton mounts placed in charge of leading the Bonereaper armies. They are forged as a cruel mockery of Sigmar’s Lord-Celestant on Dracoth.

===Famous Legions===
*'''Mortis Praetorians''': The 10,000 strong personal army of Katakros, created out of the souls of those he personally knew in life. They have gained a fearsome reputation for their tactical acumen, especially in Shyish. [[Ultramarines|The poster boys who are a jack-of-all-trades, big on tactics and led by an ancient leader who was the basis for future generations]]. They also have the only two Bonereapers with a single original soul; Katakros himself and Zandtos. Whenever one dies, a new one is immediately made and travels to go where needed, [[Derp|even alone if only one new Bonereapers is needed]].
* '''Petrifex Elite''': Made up of nomadic armies crafted from prehistoric fossilized bones, they are known for being slow-moving and a near impenetrable wall of bone. While fossilized bone tends to be fragile, the Petrifex Elite enchant them to be tough and also include already supernaturally tough bones among them (ie; the bones of godbeasts). Led by Mortisans, [[Necrons|they only exist to slay and find ancient bones to build more of themselves and make themselves even deadlier]]. They have forgotten why Nagash wants them to do this, and their leaders eschew personal identity to the point of using titles instead of names, as mandated by their leader and most senior Mortisan, the Grand Necromystic.
* '''Null Myriad''': The first Ossiarch Bonereapers made during Nagash's experiments in the Age of Myth. The Null Myriad were later refined and bolstered using the bones and souls of the countless dead who helped construct Nagash’s Black Pyramid and the best of Arkhan's Black Disciples. They are a solemn yet prideful lot with high resilience to magic and were given to Arkhan to be his personal legion; they're so loyal to Arkhan that they defer to him even over Katakros himself. Their resistance to magic extends to the power of Chaos, so they're used to inhabit the most inhospitable parts of the realms. Recently Arkhan made an alliance with Katakros, and the Null Myriad's job is to secure magic-heavy locations in the realms so Katakros can control the sources of their magic. The Null Myriad forces in Chamon have come into conflict with the Seraphon of the Thunder Lizards Constellation who also dwell there.
*'''Ivory Host''': Outwardly, they appear as honorable warriors, but hidden away in their bodies is a monstrous frenzy that turns them into clawing slavering beasts. Fitting considering they are constructed from beast and monster bones. Tasked by Nagash to conquer Ghur, they overcompensate for their bestial anger by being meticulously clean and making everything of theirs as much of a work of art as possible. Also known for [[Tomb Kings|being the only Ossiarchs who build ships, use the color gold regularly in their attire and are led by a monarch]]. Currently they’ve claimed the realmgate of Greedmouth and established the Ivory Citadel in the southwestern corner of the Ghurish Heartlands, putting them awfully close to numerous [[Ogor Mawtribes]] and the [[Cities of Sigmar|free city]] of Excelsis.
*'''Stalliarch Lords''': A cavalry centric force who are [[Creed|skillful tacticians]] and like to make impossible demands so they have an excuse to raze cities and slaughter people (on the rare occasion that someone meets their outrageous demands they keep their word... but remember the Terminus Concept). They take the freshest remains whenever possible to maximize how much they're infused with essence of the slain, which gives them more speed and vitality than other Bonereaper Legions and often a blood-slicked appearance. Basically [[That Guy]] as a cavalry-loving undead legion.
*'''Crematorians''': These Bonereapers are burning with an internal fire to the point where some of them literally explode when killed. Some of them have recently realized that they don't really have a purpose other than to fight and explode, and aren't too happy about that. In fact, their leaders [[Noblebright|have made pacts of friendship to repair each other if any of them are destroyed and the chief Liege-Kavalos scours the libraries of everyone they encounter in the hopes of finding a way to undo their fiery curse, and is implied to be on the verge of a breakthrough]].

==Significant Skeletons==
* '''[[Katakros|Orpheon Katakros]], [[Mortarch]] of the Necropolis''': In life he was the greatest strategic genius in all the Mortal Realms, and undeath has done nothing to dull his mastery of military tactics. He's been given a new body of enscrolled bone by Nagash himself which looks like a [[Jojo's Bizarre Adventure|JoJo stand]] rather than a skeleton. He goes into battle surrounded by various attendants; the Liege-Immortis, the Aviarch Spymaster, the Gnosis Scrollbearer, and the Prime Necrophoros.
*'''[[Arch-Kavalos Zandtos]]''': A Liege-Kavalos and Katakros’ most trusted lieutenant. In life he was a refined, death-obsessed assassin who considered killing a sacred act that should be as clean as possible. In undeath, he gradually became a death-purist who wishes to “cleanse” Shyish of anything still living.
*'''Vokmortian, Master of the Bone-tithe''': The grim tallyman in charge of recording/judging the Tithe. He carries the severed heads of those foolish enough to refuse to pay the Tithe and has a coffin on his back, making him look like a giant beetle. Though officially he’s under Katakros and Arkhan in the OBR hierarchy, he’ll only receive/carry out orders from Big Bone Daddy himself...which might be a bit difficult now that Nagash was sealed away by Teclis.
*'''[[Arkhan the Black]]''': Yeah, he's part of the army despite technically being just an "average" liche as opposed to a bone golem thing. Likely because apart from Nagash, he's the most privy to understanding how they are made without being one. While he has his own private legion in the Null Myriad, his authority is recognized by all the Ossiarch legions. He was recently thrown off the edge of Hysh by the Light of Eltharion, with him and his Dread Abyssal disappearing in a burst of light magic. While it's unlikely that Arkhan is gone for good, he's deader than ever before.
*'''Xaramos''': A Mortisan Boneshaper of the Mortis Praetorians, skilled in both diplomacy and keeping the legion operating at full efficiency. He assisted Arkhan in his counter invasion of Ymetrica in Hysh, where he put his diplomatic skills to use in acquiring the assistance of the [[Flesh-Eater Courts|Vertigon Court]] to defeat the Lumineth aelves and formed an unexpected friendship with the Ghoul King Varshorn. When relations turned sour over the Bone Tithe, the personal forces of Xaramos and Varshorn battled amidst the gore-caked caverns of the Starfang Mont in a conflict later the Charnel War, with hints that Xaramos regretted fighting Vashorn. Xaramos died permanently in the last battle, personally decapitated by Vashorn.

==Spooky Melodies for your Bony Boys==

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DsZivjop_s Spooky Scary Skeletons! a remix for a revamp]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKHAX1K4sKQ The Dead March returns for AoS!]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5n5qo8b1pA March for the Tithe!]

==Trivia==
* The architecture of the Ossiarch Bonereapers was likely inspired by bone churches such as the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary Sedlec Ossuary] in the Czech Republic. The Sedlec Ossuary is a Roman Catholic church where the bones of thousands of people have been artistically arranged to form the decorations and the furnishings of the chapel (it's also called "the Bone Church"). Like other bone churches, this was done several centuries ago for creative interment reasons with many dead and not enough space to bury them on holy ground.
* On a comical note, "Kavalos", the name for Bonereaper cavalry, translates to "crotch" in Greek (the Greek word is "kaválos"). Makes more sense when you think of [[Katakros]]' defining trait lookswise, and how his name even sounds like the Greek word.

==Soulbound==
The [[Age of Sigmar Roleplay]] supplement Champions of Death would naturally introduce the Ossiarch Bonereapers as a playable race, though like their gold-plated counterparts they aren't so much Soulbound as much as they are outsiders made to join a Binding for some other agenda. For those bound to Nagash, the purpose is obvious enough: The Ossiarchs are the ultimate form of his perfect future and are (almost) unquestionably loyal, sometimes even researching the uses of Soulfire in order to perfect the process of making more of their own. Those who join an Order Binding find themselves in one of two camps: Either as allies of desperation for a common goal or as a haven to escape from their place as an outcast in the rigid society of the Ossiarch legions that would see them recycled due to either defects or defiance.

You can have your Ossiarch hail from the following Legions:
*'''Mortis Praetorians:''' The Legion of Orpheon Katakros himself, formed from the souls of his greatest soldiers and generals in life. They are the most determined of the legions, willing to use the bones of both friend and foe alike in order to bolster their ranks. That said, the demand for reinforcements are so frequent that there are those bodies that are made incomplete, subject to the whispers of waylaid spirits before being completely formed. Whenever Katakros sees interest in a Binding, he will often send a member of his Praetorians to accompany them and enforce order. Heroes from the Mortis Praetorians can spend an action to test Intuition against an opponent's Guile, allowing them to predict an enemy's move. In addition, all archetypes gain the Tactician talent.
*'''Ivory Host:''' A legion sent to conquer Ghur, famous for slaying mighty monsters. While they obviously show scorn towards the primitive and weak cultures of the mortal here, the influence of the realm is very obvious from the frequent use of amber and animal bones in order to complete their tithe to the clearly caged savagery they unleash in the heat of battle. Heroes from the Ivory Host deal extra damage for each point of damage they suffer. In addition, all archetypes gain the Battle Rage talent.
*'''Stalliarch Lords:''' A prideful band often formed from fresh bone and meat, the Ossiarchs of this legion are capable of some form of honor...just not in any way normal folk would understand. Often have they given near-impossible tasks for mortals to accomplish, either so they could claim their tithe or to see if the challenger can accomplish some greater goal worth the interest. That said, that latter part is often only carried out for amusement rather than any genuine respect. Heroes from the Stalliarch Lords can challenge an enemy, forcing the difficulty of all attacks to reach a high difficulty but making any hits against you deal double damage.
*'''Petrifex Elite:''' A legion of nomadic bonecast, formed from the remains of ancient civilizations and forgotten graves. This legion views the binding with particular interest, seeing the parallels in becoming a whole greater than the sum of it parts and their own process of erasing all identity and originality - sometimes an Ossiarch might even have the remains of a former Soulbound in their body. Heroes from the Petrifex Elite are better armored than other Bonereapers, but they can't improve their bony armor in any way and can only use a certain downtime activity to repair it. In additionally, they can double their training for either navigating ancient ruins or recalling ancient history.
*'''Null Myriad:''' Nagash's original legion, sent to keep watch on the realm's edges until the Necroquake forced them to return and be reinforced using fragments of the Black Pyramid so they could better resist magic. As outsiders among the Ossiarchs, they are the most-versed in dealing with threats from beyond the edges of a realm and their special properties allow them to protect the very nature of the Binding. Heroes from the Null Myriad can spell Mettle to ignore the effects of a spell and double their training when dealing with exploring, navigating or withstanding the edges of the realms.
*'''Crematorians:''' Ignited by the fires of the Shyish Nadier, the life of a Bonereaper here will often be short as the flames slowly consume their bony shells. This nature has led to many among their ranks questioning the wisdom of the skelepope's plans to make an army that can burn out, though they often cover it up with other purposes - such as studying the benefits of Soulfire and how it can sustain their bodies. Heroes from the Crematorians are constantly ablaze, letting them suffer a wound to restore Mettle. When they die, they explode and make the area where they stood a burning waste.

The Ossiarch Bonereapers have access to the '''Immortis Guard''', '''Kavalos Deathrider''', '''Morghast''', '''Mortisan''', or '''Necropolis Stalker''' archetypes

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Bonereaper vs Kharadron.jpg|Sky Pirates vs Bone Golems.
File:Cavalry-bonereapers.jpg|As if Blood Knights weren't bad enough, Bone Daddy brings out Kavalos Deathriders too.
File:Gothizzar Harvester.jpg|"Oh those bones, oh those bones, oh those skeleton bones. Oh mercy how they scare! With the toe bone connected to the foot bone..."
File:Bonereaper city.jpg|Welcome to Necrotopia. Please remember to remove all skin and flesh before you reach customs.
File:Skeleton sales pitch (comic by Baalbuddy).png|An alternate way to collect the Bone-Tithe.
</gallery>

==See Also==

*[[Nagash]], their jerk of a god whom they give their undisputed loyalty to (yes, really!)

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

[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]

Daughters of Khaine

2021-11-05T17:21:37Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD: /* Society */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Daughters of Khaine|Logo=Daughters_of_Khaine_battletome_art.jpg|Alliance=Order|Motto=Much bloodier and less NSFW than it appears.}}
{{topquote|She could never take an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. The weak and flaccid parity would make her nearly puke. She wants an eye for a tooth, and a life for an eye.|Helen Zahavi - Dirty Weekend}}
{{topquote|Let's show the gutless pigs how the warriors of Pah-Dishah can fight! By Tarim, we'll give the devils scarlet wine to drink this dawn...|Red Sonja}}

The '''Daughters of Khaine''' are a nation of aelves (though closer to a collection of scattered religious communes than a nation) led by Morathi who combine the Khainite religion with shadow magic.

They are an army, with a few exceptions, of [[PROMOTIONS|armed aelven women and monstergirls in bikinis]]. As they worship Khaine, to them the clash of arms is the height of their religion, holy rites practiced and perfected with all the high-level skill and grace of aelf-kind. As blades flash, they shed their visage of cold and distant beauty, how they tend to be when not in battle, their ecstatic faces lighting up with each fresh kill. In contrast to even other aelves, especially the Idoneth Deepkin, many Daughters of Khaine have lived far beyond the average aelf lifespan, which is already longer than that of other races (except the males - see below).

==History==
===Age of Myth===
Being a theocracy founded by [[Morathi]] and given her character, Morathi is behind or involved in every pivotal moment of the Daughters of Khaine in history. After leaving the Great Alliance because [[Nagash]] outed her true monstrous form, Morathi sought to establish her own dwellings in Ulgu. Her son Malerion cruelly rejected her suggestion of splitting the rule of the thirteen Dominions, for he claimed of all Ulgu as his own. Morathi persisted until, as either a joke or a plot to get rid of her, Malerion granted his mother a small parcel of land in the middle of the Umbral Veil. This was the darkest and most impenetrable region in all Ulgu, so dangerous that only Malerion himself had ever returned from those cloying mists with their sanity intact. Morathi went there and exceeded her son's expectations. She bent the shadows into a protective shroud around her new land and led settlers there.

Her only followers were the aelven witch-cults that had maintained their worship of [[Khaine]]. While Morathi knew Khaine was dead, since the blood rituals no longer rejuvenated her, she supported the religion to get people to help her. To ensure their loyalty, Morathi built a temple to Khaine, naming it Hagg Nar, and over time a city grew up around it. Morathi taught them the secrets of navigating the murky currents. Hagg Nar began as a pitiful kingdom, and Morathi brooded over her mean existence.

As she sought power, she soon found a hint of Khaine's power in her dreams while scrying. Though Khaine was dead, she knew the elven gods were cyclial and could be reborn given enough power. Morathi began a secret quest that was long and difficult, but eventually brought her to the literal heart of Khaine himself. The heart was intact and throbbing with resurgent power, but it was guarded by Kharbytr, the godbeast father of Kharibdysses. Morathi suspected Kharbytr would be resistant to sorcery, and was despearte to claim the heart before anyone else could, so she used seduction instead (yes, really), but angered Kharbytr when she tried to grab the heart. The fight between them was an epic clash that lasted thirteen days and ended when Morathi constricted Kharbytr in her coils. The godbeast dealt her a lethal blow before losing consciousness, but Morathi survived by drawing energies from Khaine's heart to sustain herself.

Heading back to Hagg Nar with her prize, Morathi declared herself Khaine's High Oracle, claiming that she spoke for the god of murder and that she was his voice in this world. With that she solidified her hold over the Khainites and reshaped the society into the Daughters of Khaine. The Daughters of Khaine would often be sent out to hunt for fragments of their missing deity on Morathi's orders (unbeknownst to them, these were snipe hunts for the most part).

She continued this way for a time until Malerion arrived. He said that he and the other aelf gods had had, at last, found the lost aelf-souls from the world-that-was, and they needed her shadow magic and knowledge of Slaanesh in their grand plan. For the first and only time, Morathi spoke of the unspeakable horrors inside Slaanesh and how she'd escaped. Using this knowledge and themselves as bait, the four lured Slaanesh into a trap and started extracting elven souls from the deity.

For her role, Morathi was allowed to take souls for herself to shape into elves, who went into swelling the numbers of the Daughters of Khaine. However, some of them had been [[monstergirls|altered by their time with Slaanesh]]. There were those with [[Lamia|serpentine mutations akin to Morathi]], these became the [[Medusa|Melusae]]. Others had bat-like wings and long tails, these became the [[Harpy|Khinerai]]. Around this time Morathi reintroduced the Cauldrons of Blood and created the Mathcoir, the master cauldron, in Hagg Nar. Secretly, she made it as a repository of power only she could access. To start this, Morathi [[Drow|cursed every male born to the Daughters of Khaine to have part of their soul siphoned away and stored in the Mathcoir]].

Unbeknownst to her erstwhile allies, Morathi had added her own deceptive magics to the undertaking, so that the soul division was skewed slightly out of the agreed proportions, with extra spirits siphoned to Hagg Nar. This subterfuge was subtle, but slowly, inevitably, [[Not as Planned|altered the eldritch balance that kept the Dark Prince perfectly imprisoned between Hysh and Ulgu]].

===Age of Chaos===
As Chaos invaded the Mortal Realms, the Daughters of Khaine marched out from Hagg Nar to ambush them, using shadowshifting magics to reach Realmgates to travel anywhere the forces of Order needed them. Although Morathi and her followers weren't liked, beggars could not be choosers and they were one of the few allies the Sigmarites had during this time. To keep the more mutated members of her coven secret, the spellcasters and priestesses of the Khainites used shadow glamors to make them look like ordinary elves (how this worked when the Khinerai were flying is anybody's guess).

The Daughters of Khaine were bold and fearless in battle - willing to cross blades with any enemy, no matter how numerous or monstrous. Despite heroics by Khainite forces at many battles, the forces of Order were on the backfoot, the final retreat happening after Nagash betrayed Sigmar at the Battle of Burning Skies.

As the Chaos invasions set about their task of destroying and enslaving entire civilisations, the Shadowlands of Ulgu suffered the least after Azyr. Khorne, Nurgle and Tzeentch all devoted the greater portion of their forces to different realms, the minions that were sent into Ulgu boasted none of the most fearful greater daemon commanders and Malerion himself sent Archaon packing with his tail between his legs. This gave the Daughters of Khaine plenty of time to prey on the Chaos forces that made it to their realm; reavers of Khorne, magic-seeking conclaves of Tzeentch or followers of Slaanesh tracking calls from their god that only they could sense. They reaped a large harvest of Chaos minions, leaving mass graves from all the sacrifices (this would come back to haunt them - pun intended - in the Soul Wars, see below).

But Morathi's trickery with the soul extraction came back to bite her. Taking too many souls caused Slaanesh's prison to drift towards Ulgu and weaken it. This enabled Slaanesh's most faithful servants catch the scent of their missing god/dess. More and more Slaaneshi armies penetrated the Shadowlands searching for their lost god. So began what the aelves of Ulgu named the Cathtrar Dhule - the War of Shadows.

For the major battles of the War of Shadows, Morathi led the Daughters of Khaine from the front. She cast down the Keeper of Secrets Glittus and his Legion of Excess, and the whip-handed Krulla Sha'vhr and her Flayerhost. Battle was not her only recourse, however, for against the unbeatable six warhosts of the betentacled Bovaxx the Despoiler, Morathi's coven of Medusae summoned a gaiste-maze - a shadow labyrinth that still covers part of the Umbral Veil, a dark cloud in which those hordes presumably still wander.

Yet the Daughters of Khaine did not win every battle. As larger and more-powerful armies invaded, Morathi called the first of the Caillich Covens - the gathering of forces from all the sects. This was required to defeat Luxcious, a Keeper of Secrets so powerful that many Slaaneshi considered her a replacement for the missing Dark Prince. The daemon was defeated, but not until after the exalted fiend destroyed the Temple of Druchxar.

===Age of Sigmar===
Luxcious may well have continued her scouring search of Ulgu had Sigmar not begun his war to reclaim the Mortal Realms, drawing off many Chaos forces. The Cathtrar Dhule paused, before once more erupting anew in the bitterly fought War of the Shadowpaths.

The Daughters of Khaine win more allies during this time, for despite their brutality in battle (and occasional team-killing among their allies) they're just ''that'' good at kicking Chaos. The Stormcast, Idoneth and Sylvaneth to name a few ally with the Daughters of Khaine.

During this time, some elves start to [[Heresy|worship Morathi alongside Khaine, which causes dissent]] (an uncommon case of a heresy charge in a warhammer setting that fits the actual definition). Ironically, those who disapprove get [[Blam|quickly silenced]] by Morathi or the Medusae as [[Heresy|heretics]] (usually by a knife in the vitals or getting turned into living crystal by a Melusai).

===Soul Wars===
Prior to the Soul Wars there are increasing build-ups of death magic. Whenever there is a large gathering of Scathborn, the spirits of the dead rise up and attack them. Also, remember those mass graves full of sacrificed Chaos worshippers? Now they're fodder for armies of vengeful skeleton warriors and/or ghosts who attacked the Khainites. When Nagash sent vampires and necromancers into Ulgu as a diversion tactic, they were all too happy to exploit these mass graves for armies.

The Daughters of Khaine were also called on by the forces of Order in other realms to help fight off the increasing undead attacks. Morathi herself extolled the Daughters of Khaine to greater zeal, for she remembers the taste of Nagash's pimp hand and is eager to avenge the slight.

===Broken Realms===
The Daughters of Khaine worked with Scourge privateers to get information about the Idoneth Deepkin the same way as their kin in the World-That-Was; lots of torture and mind-invading magic. From this they learn the location of a valued Deepkin artifact, the Ocarian Lantern; made by - and stolen from - Teclis, it acted as a lure for souls. Morathi sent sixty of her best soldiers to get it from its heavily guarded underwater temple; two survived, one as an Idoneth prisoner and the other returned to Morathi with the lantern.

She fused with Khaine's heart and became the goddess Morathi-Khaine. Thus Khaine as he was is gone forever, and Morathi - now Morathi-Khaine - is their goddess instead of just their High Oracle (albeit now split into two bodies, Morathi-Khaine and the Shadow Queen after [[Aenarion|her hubby's soul]] [[Rip and Tear|took exception]] to Morathi's plan while in Slaanesh).

Morathi's first action was to broker an alliance with the [[Idoneth Deepkin]], offering Volturnos the souls of his fellow Cythai elves to sweeten the deal. She then ended her alliance with Sigmar by launching a coup that brought Anvilgard under her rule and renaming it Har Kuron. The Daughters of Khaine/Morathi-Khaine now fight with a newfound zeal as they launched a <s>crusade</s> <s>jihad</s> holy war to expand Morathi's empire. When Sigmar found out, he sent a Stormcast army to re-take Har Kuron, the fighting raging until the Celestant-Prime arrived and offered to parley with Morathi. The two disappear for a night, and when they returned an agreement had been reached. Morathi was allowed to keep the city, and what she promised in return is unknown. Following her ascension, Morathi also began [[1984|slowly re-writing the Daughters' scriptures and records of history, plus remodeling their religious iconography, to put herself at the center of everything]].

Morathi subsequently led her forces in alliance with a group of Scourge Privateers to help lift the siege at Excelcius, which was close to being overrun by [[Gordrakk]] Waaagh. With her Shadowqueen form at the forefront Morathi and her army did well in pushing back the forces of destruction in the city, with her Shadowqueen form having little trouble taking out lowly Orruks. That was until she came face-to-face with [[Kragnos]] himself. The earthquake god had made common quase with Gordrakk and attack her Shadowqueen form head on. Morathi-Khaine managed to track down lord [[Kroak]] who had also arrived to defend the city and proposed that they needed to divert Kragno's from the city before he killed them all, as he was far too powerful for either of them too defeat. Just as Kragnos was preparing to finish Morathi off, they managed to lure Kragnos through a portal and led him away from the city. The destruction army subsequently dispersing after a lengthy battle.

Following the battle, Morathi was put on trail, overseen by the Celestant-Prime himself on Sigmar's behalf. She was a little annoyed Sigmar himself was not present (and the not so subtle implication that it meant dealing with her was beneath his time). Morathi was charged with treason for her coup in Anvilgard. She defended her actions as the as Anvilgard was technically never Sigmar's alone, and that the city prior to her annexation was barely staying alive to begin with and would have fallen eventually, now under her rule it will survive outside Chaos control. When the Celestant-Prime rejected this, Morathi retorted that as a god she wasn't answerable to Sigmar. At this, winged Stormcast and the Celestant-Prime took up their weapons and were about to sentence Morathi to death before Grungni entered the room. He announced his prescence by calling for clemency for Morathi before joining them.

Following this, the tentative alliance between Morathi and Sigmar was maintained, though with much more animosity than before. Morathi maintains Anvilgard for the moment, but cracks are beginning to form in her rule. Many of Anvilgard's original population did not survive the coup, and of the survivors many were Sigmar loyalists, even among their former Scourge Privateer allies. That, combined with the Daughters and their Idoneth allies continuing to purge the surrounding countryside and coastal regions of dissenters, has led an ever growing resentment amongst Humans and Aelves against Morathi's authority. These once disparate groups of Freeguild soldiers, Wanderer Aelves and even Scourge Privateers have formed resistance movements who try to undermine or completely sabotage her rule.

On top of this, her taking the mantle of Khaine has not been universally accepted by her followers. Many devout Daughters of Khaine have started to see her as a usurper trying to claim the mantle of Khaine himself (the rewriting of history might have been a giveaway). Even among her loyalists, some consider taking Anvilgard to be too costly in the long run. And then members of both groups don't approve of her alliance with the Idoneth Deepkin, who many Daughters of Khaine distrust (and the feeling's mutual), and see their soul-tithe as too extreme even for them. The amount of Khainites working against Morathi has been steadily growing. Ironically, her ascending to godhood has actually caused a greater fissure in her control than when she was mortal. And it's possible Sigmar still plans to make her answer for what she did to Anvilgard...

==Religion==
[[File:Morathi,_the_Shadow_Queen_from_DaughtersofKhaine_.jpg|300px|thumb|right|"Charge, Daughters of Khaine! For my...uh, I mean, for Khaine's glory!"]]
Unlike some other factions within Age of Sigmar, but very much like others, the Daughters of Khaine are a theocracy. There are many sects of Daughters of Khaine, each worshiping a different aspect of the aelf god of battle and bloodshed. Although the rites and rituals might differ, all the Khainites follow a strict hierarchy in their organisation. They worship Khaine and Morathi is his High Oracle, the one who discerns his will and their overall leader. Though they know about the other gods of Order, they pay no homage to them. Beneath Morathi are the High Priestesses, which include the Slaughter Queens, Hag Queens and Bloodwrack Medusae. They are the keepers of each shrine’s most sacred artefacts, and commanders of the Sisterhood of Blood. The degree of authority held by each of these figures, along with their specific title, varies between the sects, but a single word from Morathi can alter the influence of any other ranking.

Of all the warriors of the temples, the Scáthborn – the Melusai and Khinerai – are closest to Morathi herself, yet they often remain hidden from those outside the cult. The Medusae are made from Aelves converted by Morathi herself; though this is seen as an immense honor Morathi binds them with the most binding of magical oaths, but none among the Khainites would dare question her in this. This is partially due to their forms resulting from daemonic taint which would cause negative sentiment among their allies and the fact that Morathi uses them as something of a secret police. The most public-facing Khainites are the Witch Aelves and Sisters of Slaughter. Their most important shrines are the Cauldrons of Blood, gifts from Khaine himself (at least, what Morathi’s claims each time she gifts one of the great iron cauldrons to the temple of a newly founded Khainite sect). The covenites see it as a sign of their god’s favour that the cauldrons never seem to overflow, no matter how much blood is poured within them following a battle – all assume Khaine himself takes the surplus as an offering.

War covens are the most important organisations to the Daughters of Khaine, their structure laid out by Morathi herself. It is through violence that the Khainites expand their territories, defend their temples and worship their god. Weapons practice and mock duels take up the majority of their daily lives, yet these are not mere military drills, but religious ceremonies, treated with all the gravitas that others might use when reading their most holy of tomes or offering prayers to their god. From their temples in various realms, the Daughters of Khaine scour the Mortal Realms for blood sacrifices. At Morathi's edict, they also search for the shards of their god, scattered across the Realms. They do this for the glory of Khaine and to see him reborn.

[[Just As Planned|But they are nearly all of them deceived]].

Morathi claims to speak for Khaine, and she does wield his unbreakable iron heart, but none know that Morathi’s power is a lie and that Khaine is dead. While their devotions to Khaine could one day lead to his rebirth, Morathi is deliberately preventing that. The reason for this is that she is siphoning the power - either by co-opting it before it reaches the heart or pulling it from Khaine's heart - to reach godhood herself. The prayers that her daughters scream and the ritual offerings they make only serve to enhance her own power, not Khaine’s. Outside Morathi herself, only a handful of the "altered" members of the Daughters of Khaine are aware of this deception, and they, willingly or otherwise, are bound by the most binding of oaths and magic to serve Morathi and keep this secret. Also, the blood surplus poured into the Cauldron's doesn't go to Khaine. It flows back to Hagg Nar through Morathi’s magics, to the Mother of all Cauldrons, the Máthcoir, from which The High Oracle absorbs and repurposes the blood’s energies for her own nefarious gain. Which came to fruition when she used the energies and the Máthcoir in a ritual to merge with Khaine's essence to become the goddess Morathi-Khaine. However, the Máthcoir was broken by the energies of the ritual and Volturnos' actions, and Morathi has secretly been trying to repair it, but has yet to succceed.

==Society==
Their society is brutal, especially given that it's leader is [[Morathi]] and they worship [[Khaine]]. They serve Khaine with fanatical devotion, which is especially problematic considering that Khaine is the god of murder. While the Daughters of Khaine crave bloodshed and murder, they serve alongside the forces of Order – albeit tenuously. Given their tendency towards collateral damage (and rumors of kidnapping innocents and gruesome rituals), they are less respected allies and more tolerated because they're useful. Their views on the other major groups are varied. As builders of cities and civilizations, the Daughters of Khaine are at odds with the forces of Destruction. While it is said that they have an aversion to the Death faction because of a dislike for anything death-related since they nearly went extinct, it's more likely that this due to Morathi's personal grudge against Nagash for striking her and outing her true from to the rest of the pantheon. Despite their distaste for the other two, the one faction they truly hate is Chaos; they could give the Stormcast Eternals a run for their money in hating Chaos, and prosecute their crusades with particular violence against the servants of Slaanesh.

If you're wondering why Morathi is mentioned so often that's deliberate; Morathi keeps as much of a stranglehold on Khainite society as she can. It would be out-of-character for her to do anything less (she kind of a control freak). All Khainites are either warriors that serve in their religious order, or they are leathanam (see below). Temples are found only in some realms; confirmed realms are Ulgu, Azyr and Ghyran. When they are not fighting, the Witch Aelves and Sisters of Slaughter usually participate in ritualized gladiator matches or shady pit fights. They also partake of a form of bladed dancing for the entertainment of others. Despite being a theocratic society, the Daughters of Khaine don't proselytize or win converts; the adherents are themselves the result of a breeding program, choosing their partners in line with the aims and desires of their leaders.

The women outnumber the men here, but this is not the paradise [[/d/|some]] think it would be. "Where are the men? The 'Daughters' have to reproduce somehow", well... remember that leathanam mentioned earlier? They're a slave class, apart from the Doomfire Warlocks, made up exclusively of '''all''' the males in this faction. Yes really, the men are disregard menials/worker drones who do the non-fighting stuff that keeps society going in a literal gender-based [[Slavery|slavery]] system (we know what you're thinking. Something, something, feminist fantasy... and we know how [[SJW|certain groups]] would react if the genders were swapped).

Morathi deliberately made only a few male aelves, and then only from the weakest and most broken of souls retrieved from Slaanesh. Even male aelves a Daughter of Khaine gives birth to are literally cursed with weakness, as when Morathi founded the society, she wove a spell that every male a Khainite births gets part of their soul siphoned to store in her personal Cauldron of Blood... and yes, Morathi instituted the rule that the males are slaves. Surprisingly, the women are usually not misandrists or female supremacists in general when dealing with outsiders or allies. As a society, the Daughters of Khaine respect strength above all else and a lot of the mistreatment of their own males is based on their innate weakness. But on the other hand, their males are weak because Morathi deliberately handicapped and enslaved them, so female supremacy and/or misandry could still be at work at least as far as Morathi herself. While in theory they worship Khaine, who is male, this is superficial; all information about "Khaine's will" comes from Morathi alone, while Khaine himself is actually limited to his heart and has no say over their actions. With Morathi merging to become the goddess Morathi-Khaine, he might be gone for good.

Among the men, the Doomfire Warlocks and male Khainite Shadowstalkers are interesting cases. They're stronger due to their mastery of shadow magic, but receive limited training, and Morathi has them branded with mind-control runes ([[Grimdark|while deceiving them into thinking they're protection against Slaanesh]]). They are treated far better than other leathanam and actually join the females in battle. Despite this, they are still lower status purely because they're male, and are rarely seen by - or acknowledged to - non-Khainites. Their status is somewhere between skilled slave-soldiers and auxiliary allies, with only females as true members of the Daughters of Khaine. Individual Daughters of Khaine generally see them as highly useful servants but also show them a healthy level of respect/wariness due to their sinister powers (they know its unwise to antagonize even a servant that can instantly summon shadow magic). While they hold ranks among themselves, no man may outrank a woman among the Daughters of Khaine (with possible cognitive dissonance given the god they think they worship is male).

The Daughters of Khaine also a rare example of a Warhammer society whose attitude towards sex is actually fleshed out (ironic, since Slaanesh is their greatest foe), all from the anthology novel ''Covens of Blood''. Contrary to expectations, they're mostly open about it. They can "mingle", are also fine with bisexuality, polyamory and homosexuality, marriage isn't required - in fact it's strongly implied they don't do marriage - plus rank's not an issue. There are a few caveats; sex can't interfere with their duties, males can neither proposition nor reject a female on pain of death, and if two women want the same man/men, they bargain or duel each other. Naturally, this gives females near-complete choice over who fathers their children. The women can even fuck outsiders and captives if they choose ([[Grimdark|the captives don't get a choice]]), but affection towards them or having a child with them is considered shameful (the novella also heavily imply human/elf hybrids are possible in Age of Sigmar). Plus, sex is a popular way to celebrate or spend their downtime.

The female aelves tend to dye their hair with blood and, in a throwback to Warhammer Fantasy, have rituals of rebirth keep the covenite sisters youthful in appearance and supple in body. Even among their ranks, there are some who are considered extremists; the Sisters of Slaughters' are members who graft masks of living metal to their faces with boiling blood. While the aelven members are accepted by others, the Melusae and Khinerai are not. When fighting alongside, they are concealed by a glamour so they too appear to be aelves; attempts to keep the existence of these mutated elves secret is part of the reason for their teamkilling tendencies among alliances with other Order factions. After Morathi's apotheosis, the Melusai and Khinerai have openly appeared, and are touted as proof of Morathi's divinity. With some of them even making a point to approach non-khainites or allies in Morathi controlled territory un-glamored, simply to dare them to say anything about their appearance.

However Morathi's apotheosis did not come without its own share of problems. Her open proclamation and display of godhood caused a crisis of faith among some of her subjects. Some still blindly support her see her as Khaine reborn, and a bringer of fortune for her people. However, many are also starting to wise up to the fact that she seems more interested in bringing power to herself rather than Khaine, and are beginning to whisper of her as a usurper. Some khainites have even begun actively conspiring against Morathi directly and joining resistance movements against her. This had led to conflict and could result in future consequences including a full-blown schism.

tl;dr: They're a scheming, ruthless, misandric, theocratic elven matriarchy originating from a dark realm whose ultimate leader sometimes mutates her followers to resemble her. [[Drow|Sound familiar]]? (especially since Morathi successfully became a goddess).

One interesting contrast to the [[drow]], though, is that Morathi actually does have some semblance of a reason for all this, instead of just "dominatrixes + spiders = profit". Since Morathi is a psychopath who has, in her mind, been screwed over by the men in her life multiple times - every Phoenix King, then Malekith, then Tyrion and Teclis - it makes sense she'd hold a grudge and, as part of setting herself up as a creator-goddess, she'd vent that grudge by screwing over the male population. Given that some snakes are capable of parthenogenesis (reproducing without men) and that [[Ghyran|the setting includes magic that can enable asexual reproduction]], it's either to Morathi's credit that she didn't drop males altogether and recreate the dark elves under her reign as asexually reproducing [[amazon]]s... or testament that Morathi's such a misandrist she gave her people a male population just to have men to torture.

==Sects==
The Daughters of Khaine are divided into Sects (previously known as Temples in past lore), in a manner similar to Stormcast Chambers or Sylvaneth Wargroves.

* '''Hagg Nar:''' Hagg Nar lies deep in the Umbral Veil, the darkest region of the Shadowlands. The first and largest of the Daughters of Khaine temples, it was built atop the Hellelux, a geyser of shadow magic that spews shrouding mists. It is home to hundreds of warcovens that are [[Drow|always at each other’s throats for the attention of Morathi, who encourages this “rivalry” as a means of weeding out the weak]].
* '''Draichi Ganeth:''' Draichi Ganeth, which translates as ‘the bladedkillers’, are the Khainite Aelves most commonly seen by other Order factions. Their main temple is found in the northern barrens of Fuarthorn in Ulgu, but their war pilgrimages and lesser shrines can be found across the realms. Every [[Cities of Sigmar|free city]] has seen or is host to a small troupe of the Draichi Ganeth, who look down upon the subterfuge and deception of their sister sects. They are known to the Freeguilds as the Executioners Cult due to their blunt and forward style of combat, as well as their penchant for decapitation.
* '''The Kraith:''' The sect known as the Kraith, also called the Crimson Cult, are true disciples of slaughter, and have earned a reputation as the least compromising of all the Daughters of Khaine. Arrogant and nomadic, they have no true temple home, instead traveling from one war to the next as they believe Khaine’s one and only temple is the blood stained battlefield.
* '''Khailebron:''' This sect has learned well the arts of concealment, stealth and obfuscation. Those who worship at the temples of Khailebron revere the assassin and the unseen killer, and strive to be masters of ambushes and sudden strikes. Where these temples are is known only to Morathi and the Khailebron themselves. Otherwise, they masquerade as wandering performers who showcase an elegant “bladed-dance” for the local populace, while their top killers secretly slit the throats of their targets (including anyone who shows too much disrespect to the dancers).
*'''Khelt Nar:''' Khelt Nar has become the fastest growing of the sects established by Morathi. It began as Ironshard, a single Khainite shrine founded by the High Oracle atop a flat-topped mountain of iron known as the Rothtor. Since then it has expanded to other Realms, including a stronghold in Ghyran, and have been tasked by the High Priestess with clearing out the rampant [[Orruk Warclans|Bonesplitterz]] that plague their territories. Khelt Nar is best known for being composed of deliciously brown dark aelves.
*'''Zainthar Kai''': This reserved sect was born in the Age of Chaos when Morathi (desperate to get a leg up on the Ruinous Powers) decided to infuse a new brood of Scáthborn with three drops of Khaine’s blood. The result is a temple of veritable demi-gods who can call upon the god of murder’s strength in haze of battle, becoming the Shadow Queen’s go-to temple for making her more despised enemies disappear. The temple is mostly led by/comprised of Scáthborn, but there are contingents of Witch Aelves who function as (disposable) work horses (also maybe getting a little taste of what they put the Lethanamn through).

==Soulbound==
In [[Age of Sigmar Roleplay]], it's established that Daughters of Khaine are selected to become Soulbound when Morathi decides that a potentially stray from the ranks of her faithful is too dangerous or too useful to just dispose of outright. Soulbound Daughters are selected from the overly ambitious, those who secretly yearned for freedom, and even those who had begun to doubt Khaine's divinity, basically serving as a way to remove potential threats to Morathi's control over the faction. Despite their origins, though, Morathi often goes out of her way to maintain a good relationship with "her" Soulbound (in fact, the Binding actually servers the magical restrains that Morathi uses to control the Daughters as a whole), because, whatever else they may be to her, they are both useful as powerful yet neutral arbiters and as ambassadors of her "good intentions" to the other powers of Order. Of course, these allegiances may well have been severed due to her actions during the [[Broken Realms Saga]].

Normal Daughters of Khaine are unsure of how to regard their Soulbound "sisters", since they are simultaneously very dangerous, but not rivals due to being forever outside the hierarchy of the temples, apparently favored by the High Oracle but yet also deeply connected to and regularly traveling alongside "outsiders" who shouldn't be privy to the secrets of Khaine's temples. They tend to default to "respectful suspicion" when interacting with Soulbound Daughters.

The ''Champions of Order'' splatbook opens the following temples for a Daughters of Khaine hero to hail from:
*'''Hagg Nar:''' The capital of Morathi's bloody empire. It is a massive temple-nation that serves as pilgrimage destination for all sisters and home to a staggering number of war-covens who wage war in the name of their bloody god. Heroes from Hagg Nar add their training in both Devotion and Reflexes when determining their defenses. Whenever they make a Death test, they also add a number of dice equal to their training in Devotion.
*'''Draichi Ganeth:''' Perhaps the best-known of the temples, though not for any good reason. They are religiously devoted to the act of killing with a single stroke, and revel in their showmanship with the blade. Tact and stealth are foul words to them and disdainful. Heroes of Draichi Ganeth kill their non-minion enemies in spectacularly gory ways with piercing or slashing weapons. Once per combat, this can take the form of improving their Defense by one step.
*'''The Kraith:''' While others house temples of worship, the daughters of this temple believe that the only altar they should have is the battlefield. They scorn any other aspect that draws attention away from murder and thus disdain any other temple. Because of the grisly nature of their battle and rituals, there are few that can even stomach their presence. Heroes from the Kraith start with a dose of the Venom of Negendra, a poison made legendary a hero of their cult. Once per turn when they kill a non-minion enemy, they regain 1 point of Mettle.
*'''Khailebron:''' Where most daughters would balk at sucking up to the other forces of order, the Khailebron serve a double life as a troupe of blade-dancers and entertainers. Their true purpose is to act as shadowy assassins and spies for Morathi. Because of this, they are rarely in the spotlight and often even scorn those who showboat. Heroes from Khailebron add their training in Entertain when making Body (Stealth) checks and when determining Melee. In addition, the Spellcasting (Grey) talent is available to all archetypes.
*'''Khelt Nar:''' The reputation of this temple has often been hotly contested. They have been besieged several times by Chaos, but have fought back these invasions. They hold the secrets to forging weapons out of special shadow-metal and jealously guard their secrets from envious foes. They seek Morathi's sole favor, but this often puts them at odds with other temples, including Hagg Nar. Heroes from Khelt Nar start play with a magical dagger made of this special shadow-metal, and those harmed by it must make a Mind (Determination) check or else be stunned.
*'''Har Kuron:''' Only available if the game's set at a point in time after Broken Realms: Morathi, and for obvious reason. After all, this was what befell Anvilgard after Morathi (now ascended to godhood) decided to steal it from the clutches of Sigmar and burned any pretense of friendship with the forces of Order. Heroes from Har Kuron can murder enemies to inspire their foes. When they slay a non-minion enemy, they can spend a point of mettle to force their allies to snap out of the charmed or frightened conditions and improve their Melee by one step until your next turn.

The Daughters of Khaine have the fewest dedicated Archetypes in the Age of Sigmar Roleplay corebook, with only the '''Hag Priestess''' and the '''Witch Aelf''' open to them. The ''Champions of Order'' splatbook opens Khainite Shadowstalker archetype.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Medusae Shrine.jpg|<s>Boobflash</s> Bloodwrack Shrine in all its glory.
File:Temples of Khaine.jpg
File:Daughters of Khaine Slaughter.jpg
File:Daughters-of-khaine-4.jpg|Dark Elves, now with 50% more [[Snek|Sneks]].
File:I might you never know.jpg
File:Drkelf.png|A typical Khelt Nar aelf.
</gallery>

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

[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]
[[Category:Dark Elves]]

Daughters of Khaine

2021-11-05T17:15:39Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD: /* Society */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Daughters of Khaine|Logo=Daughters_of_Khaine_battletome_art.jpg|Alliance=Order|Motto=Much bloodier and less NSFW than it appears.}}
{{topquote|She could never take an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. The weak and flaccid parity would make her nearly puke. She wants an eye for a tooth, and a life for an eye.|Helen Zahavi - Dirty Weekend}}
{{topquote|Let's show the gutless pigs how the warriors of Pah-Dishah can fight! By Tarim, we'll give the devils scarlet wine to drink this dawn...|Red Sonja}}

The '''Daughters of Khaine''' are a nation of aelves (though closer to a collection of scattered religious communes than a nation) led by Morathi who combine the Khainite religion with shadow magic.

They are an army, with a few exceptions, of [[PROMOTIONS|armed aelven women and monstergirls in bikinis]]. As they worship Khaine, to them the clash of arms is the height of their religion, holy rites practiced and perfected with all the high-level skill and grace of aelf-kind. As blades flash, they shed their visage of cold and distant beauty, how they tend to be when not in battle, their ecstatic faces lighting up with each fresh kill. In contrast to even other aelves, especially the Idoneth Deepkin, many Daughters of Khaine have lived far beyond the average aelf lifespan, which is already longer than that of other races (except the males - see below).

==History==
===Age of Myth===
Being a theocracy founded by [[Morathi]] and given her character, Morathi is behind or involved in every pivotal moment of the Daughters of Khaine in history. After leaving the Great Alliance because [[Nagash]] outed her true monstrous form, Morathi sought to establish her own dwellings in Ulgu. Her son Malerion cruelly rejected her suggestion of splitting the rule of the thirteen Dominions, for he claimed of all Ulgu as his own. Morathi persisted until, as either a joke or a plot to get rid of her, Malerion granted his mother a small parcel of land in the middle of the Umbral Veil. This was the darkest and most impenetrable region in all Ulgu, so dangerous that only Malerion himself had ever returned from those cloying mists with their sanity intact. Morathi went there and exceeded her son's expectations. She bent the shadows into a protective shroud around her new land and led settlers there.

Her only followers were the aelven witch-cults that had maintained their worship of [[Khaine]]. While Morathi knew Khaine was dead, since the blood rituals no longer rejuvenated her, she supported the religion to get people to help her. To ensure their loyalty, Morathi built a temple to Khaine, naming it Hagg Nar, and over time a city grew up around it. Morathi taught them the secrets of navigating the murky currents. Hagg Nar began as a pitiful kingdom, and Morathi brooded over her mean existence.

As she sought power, she soon found a hint of Khaine's power in her dreams while scrying. Though Khaine was dead, she knew the elven gods were cyclial and could be reborn given enough power. Morathi began a secret quest that was long and difficult, but eventually brought her to the literal heart of Khaine himself. The heart was intact and throbbing with resurgent power, but it was guarded by Kharbytr, the godbeast father of Kharibdysses. Morathi suspected Kharbytr would be resistant to sorcery, and was despearte to claim the heart before anyone else could, so she used seduction instead (yes, really), but angered Kharbytr when she tried to grab the heart. The fight between them was an epic clash that lasted thirteen days and ended when Morathi constricted Kharbytr in her coils. The godbeast dealt her a lethal blow before losing consciousness, but Morathi survived by drawing energies from Khaine's heart to sustain herself.

Heading back to Hagg Nar with her prize, Morathi declared herself Khaine's High Oracle, claiming that she spoke for the god of murder and that she was his voice in this world. With that she solidified her hold over the Khainites and reshaped the society into the Daughters of Khaine. The Daughters of Khaine would often be sent out to hunt for fragments of their missing deity on Morathi's orders (unbeknownst to them, these were snipe hunts for the most part).

She continued this way for a time until Malerion arrived. He said that he and the other aelf gods had had, at last, found the lost aelf-souls from the world-that-was, and they needed her shadow magic and knowledge of Slaanesh in their grand plan. For the first and only time, Morathi spoke of the unspeakable horrors inside Slaanesh and how she'd escaped. Using this knowledge and themselves as bait, the four lured Slaanesh into a trap and started extracting elven souls from the deity.

For her role, Morathi was allowed to take souls for herself to shape into elves, who went into swelling the numbers of the Daughters of Khaine. However, some of them had been [[monstergirls|altered by their time with Slaanesh]]. There were those with [[Lamia|serpentine mutations akin to Morathi]], these became the [[Medusa|Melusae]]. Others had bat-like wings and long tails, these became the [[Harpy|Khinerai]]. Around this time Morathi reintroduced the Cauldrons of Blood and created the Mathcoir, the master cauldron, in Hagg Nar. Secretly, she made it as a repository of power only she could access. To start this, Morathi [[Drow|cursed every male born to the Daughters of Khaine to have part of their soul siphoned away and stored in the Mathcoir]].

Unbeknownst to her erstwhile allies, Morathi had added her own deceptive magics to the undertaking, so that the soul division was skewed slightly out of the agreed proportions, with extra spirits siphoned to Hagg Nar. This subterfuge was subtle, but slowly, inevitably, [[Not as Planned|altered the eldritch balance that kept the Dark Prince perfectly imprisoned between Hysh and Ulgu]].

===Age of Chaos===
As Chaos invaded the Mortal Realms, the Daughters of Khaine marched out from Hagg Nar to ambush them, using shadowshifting magics to reach Realmgates to travel anywhere the forces of Order needed them. Although Morathi and her followers weren't liked, beggars could not be choosers and they were one of the few allies the Sigmarites had during this time. To keep the more mutated members of her coven secret, the spellcasters and priestesses of the Khainites used shadow glamors to make them look like ordinary elves (how this worked when the Khinerai were flying is anybody's guess).

The Daughters of Khaine were bold and fearless in battle - willing to cross blades with any enemy, no matter how numerous or monstrous. Despite heroics by Khainite forces at many battles, the forces of Order were on the backfoot, the final retreat happening after Nagash betrayed Sigmar at the Battle of Burning Skies.

As the Chaos invasions set about their task of destroying and enslaving entire civilisations, the Shadowlands of Ulgu suffered the least after Azyr. Khorne, Nurgle and Tzeentch all devoted the greater portion of their forces to different realms, the minions that were sent into Ulgu boasted none of the most fearful greater daemon commanders and Malerion himself sent Archaon packing with his tail between his legs. This gave the Daughters of Khaine plenty of time to prey on the Chaos forces that made it to their realm; reavers of Khorne, magic-seeking conclaves of Tzeentch or followers of Slaanesh tracking calls from their god that only they could sense. They reaped a large harvest of Chaos minions, leaving mass graves from all the sacrifices (this would come back to haunt them - pun intended - in the Soul Wars, see below).

But Morathi's trickery with the soul extraction came back to bite her. Taking too many souls caused Slaanesh's prison to drift towards Ulgu and weaken it. This enabled Slaanesh's most faithful servants catch the scent of their missing god/dess. More and more Slaaneshi armies penetrated the Shadowlands searching for their lost god. So began what the aelves of Ulgu named the Cathtrar Dhule - the War of Shadows.

For the major battles of the War of Shadows, Morathi led the Daughters of Khaine from the front. She cast down the Keeper of Secrets Glittus and his Legion of Excess, and the whip-handed Krulla Sha'vhr and her Flayerhost. Battle was not her only recourse, however, for against the unbeatable six warhosts of the betentacled Bovaxx the Despoiler, Morathi's coven of Medusae summoned a gaiste-maze - a shadow labyrinth that still covers part of the Umbral Veil, a dark cloud in which those hordes presumably still wander.

Yet the Daughters of Khaine did not win every battle. As larger and more-powerful armies invaded, Morathi called the first of the Caillich Covens - the gathering of forces from all the sects. This was required to defeat Luxcious, a Keeper of Secrets so powerful that many Slaaneshi considered her a replacement for the missing Dark Prince. The daemon was defeated, but not until after the exalted fiend destroyed the Temple of Druchxar.

===Age of Sigmar===
Luxcious may well have continued her scouring search of Ulgu had Sigmar not begun his war to reclaim the Mortal Realms, drawing off many Chaos forces. The Cathtrar Dhule paused, before once more erupting anew in the bitterly fought War of the Shadowpaths.

The Daughters of Khaine win more allies during this time, for despite their brutality in battle (and occasional team-killing among their allies) they're just ''that'' good at kicking Chaos. The Stormcast, Idoneth and Sylvaneth to name a few ally with the Daughters of Khaine.

During this time, some elves start to [[Heresy|worship Morathi alongside Khaine, which causes dissent]] (an uncommon case of a heresy charge in a warhammer setting that fits the actual definition). Ironically, those who disapprove get [[Blam|quickly silenced]] by Morathi or the Medusae as [[Heresy|heretics]] (usually by a knife in the vitals or getting turned into living crystal by a Melusai).

===Soul Wars===
Prior to the Soul Wars there are increasing build-ups of death magic. Whenever there is a large gathering of Scathborn, the spirits of the dead rise up and attack them. Also, remember those mass graves full of sacrificed Chaos worshippers? Now they're fodder for armies of vengeful skeleton warriors and/or ghosts who attacked the Khainites. When Nagash sent vampires and necromancers into Ulgu as a diversion tactic, they were all too happy to exploit these mass graves for armies.

The Daughters of Khaine were also called on by the forces of Order in other realms to help fight off the increasing undead attacks. Morathi herself extolled the Daughters of Khaine to greater zeal, for she remembers the taste of Nagash's pimp hand and is eager to avenge the slight.

===Broken Realms===
The Daughters of Khaine worked with Scourge privateers to get information about the Idoneth Deepkin the same way as their kin in the World-That-Was; lots of torture and mind-invading magic. From this they learn the location of a valued Deepkin artifact, the Ocarian Lantern; made by - and stolen from - Teclis, it acted as a lure for souls. Morathi sent sixty of her best soldiers to get it from its heavily guarded underwater temple; two survived, one as an Idoneth prisoner and the other returned to Morathi with the lantern.

She fused with Khaine's heart and became the goddess Morathi-Khaine. Thus Khaine as he was is gone forever, and Morathi - now Morathi-Khaine - is their goddess instead of just their High Oracle (albeit now split into two bodies, Morathi-Khaine and the Shadow Queen after [[Aenarion|her hubby's soul]] [[Rip and Tear|took exception]] to Morathi's plan while in Slaanesh).

Morathi's first action was to broker an alliance with the [[Idoneth Deepkin]], offering Volturnos the souls of his fellow Cythai elves to sweeten the deal. She then ended her alliance with Sigmar by launching a coup that brought Anvilgard under her rule and renaming it Har Kuron. The Daughters of Khaine/Morathi-Khaine now fight with a newfound zeal as they launched a <s>crusade</s> <s>jihad</s> holy war to expand Morathi's empire. When Sigmar found out, he sent a Stormcast army to re-take Har Kuron, the fighting raging until the Celestant-Prime arrived and offered to parley with Morathi. The two disappear for a night, and when they returned an agreement had been reached. Morathi was allowed to keep the city, and what she promised in return is unknown. Following her ascension, Morathi also began [[1984|slowly re-writing the Daughters' scriptures and records of history, plus remodeling their religious iconography, to put herself at the center of everything]].

Morathi subsequently led her forces in alliance with a group of Scourge Privateers to help lift the siege at Excelcius, which was close to being overrun by [[Gordrakk]] Waaagh. With her Shadowqueen form at the forefront Morathi and her army did well in pushing back the forces of destruction in the city, with her Shadowqueen form having little trouble taking out lowly Orruks. That was until she came face-to-face with [[Kragnos]] himself. The earthquake god had made common quase with Gordrakk and attack her Shadowqueen form head on. Morathi-Khaine managed to track down lord [[Kroak]] who had also arrived to defend the city and proposed that they needed to divert Kragno's from the city before he killed them all, as he was far too powerful for either of them too defeat. Just as Kragnos was preparing to finish Morathi off, they managed to lure Kragnos through a portal and led him away from the city. The destruction army subsequently dispersing after a lengthy battle.

Following the battle, Morathi was put on trail, overseen by the Celestant-Prime himself on Sigmar's behalf. She was a little annoyed Sigmar himself was not present (and the not so subtle implication that it meant dealing with her was beneath his time). Morathi was charged with treason for her coup in Anvilgard. She defended her actions as the as Anvilgard was technically never Sigmar's alone, and that the city prior to her annexation was barely staying alive to begin with and would have fallen eventually, now under her rule it will survive outside Chaos control. When the Celestant-Prime rejected this, Morathi retorted that as a god she wasn't answerable to Sigmar. At this, winged Stormcast and the Celestant-Prime took up their weapons and were about to sentence Morathi to death before Grungni entered the room. He announced his prescence by calling for clemency for Morathi before joining them.

Following this, the tentative alliance between Morathi and Sigmar was maintained, though with much more animosity than before. Morathi maintains Anvilgard for the moment, but cracks are beginning to form in her rule. Many of Anvilgard's original population did not survive the coup, and of the survivors many were Sigmar loyalists, even among their former Scourge Privateer allies. That, combined with the Daughters and their Idoneth allies continuing to purge the surrounding countryside and coastal regions of dissenters, has led an ever growing resentment amongst Humans and Aelves against Morathi's authority. These once disparate groups of Freeguild soldiers, Wanderer Aelves and even Scourge Privateers have formed resistance movements who try to undermine or completely sabotage her rule.

On top of this, her taking the mantle of Khaine has not been universally accepted by her followers. Many devout Daughters of Khaine have started to see her as a usurper trying to claim the mantle of Khaine himself (the rewriting of history might have been a giveaway). Even among her loyalists, some consider taking Anvilgard to be too costly in the long run. And then members of both groups don't approve of her alliance with the Idoneth Deepkin, who many Daughters of Khaine distrust (and the feeling's mutual), and see their soul-tithe as too extreme even for them. The amount of Khainites working against Morathi has been steadily growing. Ironically, her ascending to godhood has actually caused a greater fissure in her control than when she was mortal. And it's possible Sigmar still plans to make her answer for what she did to Anvilgard...

==Religion==
[[File:Morathi,_the_Shadow_Queen_from_DaughtersofKhaine_.jpg|300px|thumb|right|"Charge, Daughters of Khaine! For my...uh, I mean, for Khaine's glory!"]]
Unlike some other factions within Age of Sigmar, but very much like others, the Daughters of Khaine are a theocracy. There are many sects of Daughters of Khaine, each worshiping a different aspect of the aelf god of battle and bloodshed. Although the rites and rituals might differ, all the Khainites follow a strict hierarchy in their organisation. They worship Khaine and Morathi is his High Oracle, the one who discerns his will and their overall leader. Though they know about the other gods of Order, they pay no homage to them. Beneath Morathi are the High Priestesses, which include the Slaughter Queens, Hag Queens and Bloodwrack Medusae. They are the keepers of each shrine’s most sacred artefacts, and commanders of the Sisterhood of Blood. The degree of authority held by each of these figures, along with their specific title, varies between the sects, but a single word from Morathi can alter the influence of any other ranking.

Of all the warriors of the temples, the Scáthborn – the Melusai and Khinerai – are closest to Morathi herself, yet they often remain hidden from those outside the cult. The Medusae are made from Aelves converted by Morathi herself; though this is seen as an immense honor Morathi binds them with the most binding of magical oaths, but none among the Khainites would dare question her in this. This is partially due to their forms resulting from daemonic taint which would cause negative sentiment among their allies and the fact that Morathi uses them as something of a secret police. The most public-facing Khainites are the Witch Aelves and Sisters of Slaughter. Their most important shrines are the Cauldrons of Blood, gifts from Khaine himself (at least, what Morathi’s claims each time she gifts one of the great iron cauldrons to the temple of a newly founded Khainite sect). The covenites see it as a sign of their god’s favour that the cauldrons never seem to overflow, no matter how much blood is poured within them following a battle – all assume Khaine himself takes the surplus as an offering.

War covens are the most important organisations to the Daughters of Khaine, their structure laid out by Morathi herself. It is through violence that the Khainites expand their territories, defend their temples and worship their god. Weapons practice and mock duels take up the majority of their daily lives, yet these are not mere military drills, but religious ceremonies, treated with all the gravitas that others might use when reading their most holy of tomes or offering prayers to their god. From their temples in various realms, the Daughters of Khaine scour the Mortal Realms for blood sacrifices. At Morathi's edict, they also search for the shards of their god, scattered across the Realms. They do this for the glory of Khaine and to see him reborn.

[[Just As Planned|But they are nearly all of them deceived]].

Morathi claims to speak for Khaine, and she does wield his unbreakable iron heart, but none know that Morathi’s power is a lie and that Khaine is dead. While their devotions to Khaine could one day lead to his rebirth, Morathi is deliberately preventing that. The reason for this is that she is siphoning the power - either by co-opting it before it reaches the heart or pulling it from Khaine's heart - to reach godhood herself. The prayers that her daughters scream and the ritual offerings they make only serve to enhance her own power, not Khaine’s. Outside Morathi herself, only a handful of the "altered" members of the Daughters of Khaine are aware of this deception, and they, willingly or otherwise, are bound by the most binding of oaths and magic to serve Morathi and keep this secret. Also, the blood surplus poured into the Cauldron's doesn't go to Khaine. It flows back to Hagg Nar through Morathi’s magics, to the Mother of all Cauldrons, the Máthcoir, from which The High Oracle absorbs and repurposes the blood’s energies for her own nefarious gain. Which came to fruition when she used the energies and the Máthcoir in a ritual to merge with Khaine's essence to become the goddess Morathi-Khaine. However, the Máthcoir was broken by the energies of the ritual and Volturnos' actions, and Morathi has secretly been trying to repair it, but has yet to succceed.

==Society==
Their society is brutal, especially given that it's leader is [[Morathi]] and they worship [[Khaine]]. They serve Khaine with fanatical devotion, which is especially problematic considering that Khaine is the god of murder. While the Daughters of Khaine crave bloodshed and murder, they serve alongside the forces of Order – albeit tenuously. Given their tendency towards collateral damage (and rumors of kidnapping innocents and gruesome rituals), they are less respected allies and more tolerated because they're useful. Their views on the other major groups are varied. As builders of cities and civilizations, the Daughters of Khaine are at odds with the forces of Destruction. While it is said that they have an aversion to the Death faction because of a dislike for anything death-related since they nearly went extinct, it's more likely that this due to Morathi's personal grudge against Nagash for striking her and outing her true from to the rest of the pantheon. Despite their distaste for the other two, the one faction they truly hate is Chaos; they could give the Stormcast Eternals a run for their money in hating Chaos, and prosecute their crusades with particular violence against the servants of Slaanesh.

If you're wondering why Morathi is mentioned so often that's deliberate; Morathi keeps as much of a stranglehold on Khainite society as she can. It would be out-of-character for her to do anything less (she kind of a control freak). All Khainites are either warriors that serve in their religious order, or they are leathanam (see below). Temples are found only in some realms; confirmed realms are Ulgu, Azyr and Ghyran. When they are not fighting, the Witch Aelves and Sisters of Slaughter usually participate in ritualized gladiator matches or shady pit fights. They also partake of a form of bladed dancing for the entertainment of others. Despite being a theocratic society, the Daughters of Khaine don't proselytize or win converts; the adherents are themselves the result of a breeding program, choosing their partners in line with the aims and desires of their leaders.

The women outnumber the men here, but this is not the paradise [[/d/|some]] think it would be. "Where are the men? The 'Daughters' have to reproduce somehow", well... remember that leathanam mentioned earlier? They're a slave class, apart from the Doomfire Warlocks, made up exclusively of '''all''' the males in this faction. Yes really, the men are disregard menials/worker drones who do the non-fighting stuff that keeps society going in a literal gender-based [[Slavery|slavery]] system (we know what you're thinking. Something, something, feminist fantasy... and we know how [[SJW|certain groups]] would react if the genders were swapped).

Morathi deliberately made only a few male aelves, and then only from the weakest and most broken of souls retrieved from Slaanesh. Even male aelves a Daughter of Khaine gives birth to are literally cursed with weakness as Morathi siphons part of their souls to power the Cauldrons of Blood... and yes, Morathi instituted the rule that the males are slaves. Surprisingly, the women are usually not misandrists or female supremacists in general when dealing with outsiders or allies; as a society, the Daughters of Khaine respect strength above all else and a lot of the mistreatment of their own males is based on their innate weakness. But on the other hand, their males are weak because Morathi deliberately handicapped and enslaved them, so female supremacy and/or misandry could still be at work at least as far as Morathi herself. While in theory they worship Khaine, who is male, this is superficial; all information about "Khaine's will" comes from Morathi alone, while Khaine himself is actually limited to his heart and has no say over their actions. With Morathi merging to become the goddess Morathi-Khaine, he might be gone for good.

Among the men, the Doomfire Warlocks and male Khainite Shadowstalkers are interesting cases. They're stronger due to their mastery of shadow magic, but receive limited training, and Morathi has them branded with mind-control runes ([[Grimdark|while deceiving them into thinking they're protection against Slaanesh]]). They are treated far better than other leathanam and actually join the females in battle. Despite this, they are still lower status purely because they're male, and are rarely seen by - or acknowledged to - non-Khainites. Their status is somewhere between skilled slave-soliders and auxiliary allies, with only females as true members of the Daughters of Khaine. Individual Daughters of Khaine generally see them as highly useful servents but also show them a healthy level of respect/wariness due to their sinister powers (they know its unwise to antagonize even a servant that can instantly summon shadow magic). While they hold ranks among themselves, no man may outrank a woman among the Daughters of Khaine (with possible cognitive dissonance given the god they think they worship is male).

The Daughters of Khaine also a rare example of a Warhammer society whose attitude towards sex is actually fleshed out (ironic, since Slaanesh is their greatest foe), all from the anthology novel ''Covens of Blood''. Contrary to expectations, they're mostly open about it. They can "mingle", are also fine with bisexuality, polyamory and homosexuality, marriage isn't required - in fact it's strongly implied they don't do marriage - plus rank's not an issue. There are a few caveats; sex can't interfere with their duties, males can neither proposition nor reject a female on pain of death, and if two women want the same man/men, they bargain or duel each other. Naturally, this gives females near-complete choice over who fathers their children. The women can even fuck outsiders and captives if they choose ([[Grimdark|the captives don't get a choice]]), but affection towards them or having a child with them is considered shameful (the novella also heavily imply human/elf hybrids are possible in Age of Sigmar). Plus, sex is a popular way to celebrate or spend their downtime.

The female aelves tend to dye their hair with blood and, in a throwback to Warhammer Fantasy, have rituals of rebirth keep the covenite sisters youthful in appearance and supple in body. Even among their ranks, there are some who are considered extremists; the Sisters of Slaughters' are members who graft masks of living metal to their faces with boiling blood. While the aelven members are accepted by others, the Melusae and Khinerai are not. When fighting alongside, they are concealed by a glamour so they too appear to be aelves; attempts to keep the existence of these mutated elves secret is part of the reason for their teamkilling tendencies among alliances with other Order factions. After Morathi's apotheosis, the Melusai and Khinerai have openly appeared, and are touted as proof of Morathi's divinity. With some of them even making a point to approach non-khainites or allies in Morathi controlled territory un-glamored, simply to dare them to say anything about their appearance.

However Morathi's apotheosis did not come without its own share of problems. Her open proclamation and display of godhood caused a crisis of faith among some of her subjects. Some still blindly support her see her as Khaine reborn, and a bringer of fortune for her people. However, many are also starting to wise up to the fact that she seems more interested in bringing power to herself rather than Khaine, and are beginning to whisper of her as a usurper. Some khainites have even begun actively conspiring against Morathi directly and joining resistance movements against her. This had led to conflict and could result in future consequences including a full-blown schism.

tl;dr: They're a scheming, ruthless, misandric, theocratic elven matriarchy originating from a dark realm whose ultimate leader sometimes mutates her followers to resemble her. [[Drow|Sound familiar]]? (especially since Morathi successfully became a goddess).

One interesting contrast to the [[drow]], though, is that Morathi actually does have some semblance of a reason for all this, instead of just "dominatrixes + spiders = profit". Since Morathi is a psychopath who has, in her mind, been screwed over by the men in her life multiple times - every Phoenix King, then Malekith, then Tyrion and Teclis - it makes sense she'd hold a grudge and, as part of setting herself up as a creator-goddess, she'd vent that grudge by screwing over the male population. Given that some snakes are capable of parthenogenesis (reproducing without men) and that one of the random effects of [[Ghyran]] magic is spontaneous pregnancy without a partner, it's either to Morathi's credit that she didn't drop males altogether and recreate the dark elves under her reign as asexually reproducing [[amazon]]s... or testament that Morathi's such a misandrist she gave her people a male population just to have men to torture.

==Sects==
The Daughters of Khaine are divided into Sects (previously known as Temples in past lore), in a manner similar to Stormcast Chambers or Sylvaneth Wargroves.

* '''Hagg Nar:''' Hagg Nar lies deep in the Umbral Veil, the darkest region of the Shadowlands. The first and largest of the Daughters of Khaine temples, it was built atop the Hellelux, a geyser of shadow magic that spews shrouding mists. It is home to hundreds of warcovens that are [[Drow|always at each other’s throats for the attention of Morathi, who encourages this “rivalry” as a means of weeding out the weak]].
* '''Draichi Ganeth:''' Draichi Ganeth, which translates as ‘the bladedkillers’, are the Khainite Aelves most commonly seen by other Order factions. Their main temple is found in the northern barrens of Fuarthorn in Ulgu, but their war pilgrimages and lesser shrines can be found across the realms. Every [[Cities of Sigmar|free city]] has seen or is host to a small troupe of the Draichi Ganeth, who look down upon the subterfuge and deception of their sister sects. They are known to the Freeguilds as the Executioners Cult due to their blunt and forward style of combat, as well as their penchant for decapitation.
* '''The Kraith:''' The sect known as the Kraith, also called the Crimson Cult, are true disciples of slaughter, and have earned a reputation as the least compromising of all the Daughters of Khaine. Arrogant and nomadic, they have no true temple home, instead traveling from one war to the next as they believe Khaine’s one and only temple is the blood stained battlefield.
* '''Khailebron:''' This sect has learned well the arts of concealment, stealth and obfuscation. Those who worship at the temples of Khailebron revere the assassin and the unseen killer, and strive to be masters of ambushes and sudden strikes. Where these temples are is known only to Morathi and the Khailebron themselves. Otherwise, they masquerade as wandering performers who showcase an elegant “bladed-dance” for the local populace, while their top killers secretly slit the throats of their targets (including anyone who shows too much disrespect to the dancers).
*'''Khelt Nar:''' Khelt Nar has become the fastest growing of the sects established by Morathi. It began as Ironshard, a single Khainite shrine founded by the High Oracle atop a flat-topped mountain of iron known as the Rothtor. Since then it has expanded to other Realms, including a stronghold in Ghyran, and have been tasked by the High Priestess with clearing out the rampant [[Orruk Warclans|Bonesplitterz]] that plague their territories. Khelt Nar is best known for being composed of deliciously brown dark aelves.
*'''Zainthar Kai''': This reserved sect was born in the Age of Chaos when Morathi (desperate to get a leg up on the Ruinous Powers) decided to infuse a new brood of Scáthborn with three drops of Khaine’s blood. The result is a temple of veritable demi-gods who can call upon the god of murder’s strength in haze of battle, becoming the Shadow Queen’s go-to temple for making her more despised enemies disappear. The temple is mostly led by/comprised of Scáthborn, but there are contingents of Witch Aelves who function as (disposable) work horses (also maybe getting a little taste of what they put the Lethanamn through).

==Soulbound==
In [[Age of Sigmar Roleplay]], it's established that Daughters of Khaine are selected to become Soulbound when Morathi decides that a potentially stray from the ranks of her faithful is too dangerous or too useful to just dispose of outright. Soulbound Daughters are selected from the overly ambitious, those who secretly yearned for freedom, and even those who had begun to doubt Khaine's divinity, basically serving as a way to remove potential threats to Morathi's control over the faction. Despite their origins, though, Morathi often goes out of her way to maintain a good relationship with "her" Soulbound (in fact, the Binding actually servers the magical restrains that Morathi uses to control the Daughters as a whole), because, whatever else they may be to her, they are both useful as powerful yet neutral arbiters and as ambassadors of her "good intentions" to the other powers of Order. Of course, these allegiances may well have been severed due to her actions during the [[Broken Realms Saga]].

Normal Daughters of Khaine are unsure of how to regard their Soulbound "sisters", since they are simultaneously very dangerous, but not rivals due to being forever outside the hierarchy of the temples, apparently favored by the High Oracle but yet also deeply connected to and regularly traveling alongside "outsiders" who shouldn't be privy to the secrets of Khaine's temples. They tend to default to "respectful suspicion" when interacting with Soulbound Daughters.

The ''Champions of Order'' splatbook opens the following temples for a Daughters of Khaine hero to hail from:
*'''Hagg Nar:''' The capital of Morathi's bloody empire. It is a massive temple-nation that serves as pilgrimage destination for all sisters and home to a staggering number of war-covens who wage war in the name of their bloody god. Heroes from Hagg Nar add their training in both Devotion and Reflexes when determining their defenses. Whenever they make a Death test, they also add a number of dice equal to their training in Devotion.
*'''Draichi Ganeth:''' Perhaps the best-known of the temples, though not for any good reason. They are religiously devoted to the act of killing with a single stroke, and revel in their showmanship with the blade. Tact and stealth are foul words to them and disdainful. Heroes of Draichi Ganeth kill their non-minion enemies in spectacularly gory ways with piercing or slashing weapons. Once per combat, this can take the form of improving their Defense by one step.
*'''The Kraith:''' While others house temples of worship, the daughters of this temple believe that the only altar they should have is the battlefield. They scorn any other aspect that draws attention away from murder and thus disdain any other temple. Because of the grisly nature of their battle and rituals, there are few that can even stomach their presence. Heroes from the Kraith start with a dose of the Venom of Negendra, a poison made legendary a hero of their cult. Once per turn when they kill a non-minion enemy, they regain 1 point of Mettle.
*'''Khailebron:''' Where most daughters would balk at sucking up to the other forces of order, the Khailebron serve a double life as a troupe of blade-dancers and entertainers. Their true purpose is to act as shadowy assassins and spies for Morathi. Because of this, they are rarely in the spotlight and often even scorn those who showboat. Heroes from Khailebron add their training in Entertain when making Body (Stealth) checks and when determining Melee. In addition, the Spellcasting (Grey) talent is available to all archetypes.
*'''Khelt Nar:''' The reputation of this temple has often been hotly contested. They have been besieged several times by Chaos, but have fought back these invasions. They hold the secrets to forging weapons out of special shadow-metal and jealously guard their secrets from envious foes. They seek Morathi's sole favor, but this often puts them at odds with other temples, including Hagg Nar. Heroes from Khelt Nar start play with a magical dagger made of this special shadow-metal, and those harmed by it must make a Mind (Determination) check or else be stunned.
*'''Har Kuron:''' Only available if the game's set at a point in time after Broken Realms: Morathi, and for obvious reason. After all, this was what befell Anvilgard after Morathi (now ascended to godhood) decided to steal it from the clutches of Sigmar and burned any pretense of friendship with the forces of Order. Heroes from Har Kuron can murder enemies to inspire their foes. When they slay a non-minion enemy, they can spend a point of mettle to force their allies to snap out of the charmed or frightened conditions and improve their Melee by one step until your next turn.

The Daughters of Khaine have the fewest dedicated Archetypes in the Age of Sigmar Roleplay corebook, with only the '''Hag Priestess''' and the '''Witch Aelf''' open to them. The ''Champions of Order'' splatbook opens Khainite Shadowstalker archetype.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Medusae Shrine.jpg|<s>Boobflash</s> Bloodwrack Shrine in all its glory.
File:Temples of Khaine.jpg
File:Daughters of Khaine Slaughter.jpg
File:Daughters-of-khaine-4.jpg|Dark Elves, now with 50% more [[Snek|Sneks]].
File:I might you never know.jpg
File:Drkelf.png|A typical Khelt Nar aelf.
</gallery>

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

[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]
[[Category:Dark Elves]]

Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Order/Daughters of Khaine

2021-11-05T17:11:46Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD: /* Pros */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Daughters of Khaine|Logo=Daughters_of_Khaine_battletome_art.jpg|Alliance=Order|Motto=Much bloodier and less NSFW than it appears.}}

NEW BATTLETOME IS HERE!

==Why play Daughters of Khaine?==
* You like the idea of playing an army of bloodthirsty, fanatical murderers but don't like Khorne.
* You like the continuation of Morathi's story arc, and want to see her make her mark on the setting.
* You always wanted to play as [[Drow]] in Warhammer (replacing spiders with snakes... though if you like spiders, them and other Drow aesthetic are a [[Homebrew]] away).

===Pros===

* 9/10 units and characters are [[Hot Chicks]] and [[Monstergirls]] in bikinis. With the right choices, you literally have an army of hot chicks and monstergirls in bikinis.
* Morathi-Khaine is one of the most powerful playable characters in the game. As a goddess with two bodies, she is on par with [[Alarielle the Everqueen|big]] [[Archaon|god-like]] [[Nagash|models]].
* Some of the best melee in the setting, only a few including the [[Sons of Behemat|really big boys]], [[Khorne Bloodbound|the best followers of big red]] or [[Lumineth Realm-Lords|the elven methheads]] can hit like you do in combat.
* They're a jack-of-all-trades able to fight in every phase with melee, shooting, magic, decent movement and bravery shenanigans.
* A monster that DOESN'T GET LESS EFFECTIVE IF IT TAKES WOUNDS (that also double as a giant angry statue of their god).
* Plenty of movement tricks. Your basic troops (Witch Aelves and Sisters of Slaughter) have the ability to run and charge with only a musician, everything else except the heroes and Cauldron of Blood/Bloodwrack Shrines have movement 8-14, you can reroll 1s to run turn 1, 1s to charge turn 2, plus Deep Striking Khinerai, Khailebron's deep striking ability and Lore of Shadows spells that boost movement.
* The new rules for shooting at characters give the enemy -1 to hit unless the target is a monster. Think the Cauldron of Blood or the Bloodwrack Shrine would count? Nope, they're not Monsters. Keep them close to a unit and watch them get to combat unmolested.
* The Cauldron of Blood, with the right combination of relics, Command Traits and prayers is straight busted, coming in with a nightmarish amount of damage output both in shooting and close combat, powerful support abilities and the ability to heal itself through multiple avenues for 300-330 points.
* Shooting is actually good now. Blood Stalkers have two shots now and with Morathi can shoot twice in a turn. 80 shots with 6's doing mortal wounds? Yes please. Also now an actual viable strat since they are batteline now.
* Despite being as near-naked as the Fyreslayers, you've got more variety of unit types so you don't have to worry about getting tired after painting the same colors for 60-80 models.

===Cons===

* These chicks are almost as naked as the fyreslayers, but they dont have fancy runes or 2 wounds to tide them over. Apart from their 6+ fanatical faith save, they have the usual Glass Cannon problem of being flimsy. Our Infantry has a 6+ Save, and the other units - apart from Morathi - are softer than their equivalents in other armies unless you make the right choices (such as Hagg Narr and/or throw in a Cauldron. And don’t forget the bladed bucklers)
* They are rather expensive to collect in dollars, and even spending lots of money on models can still leave you with a comparatively low model count.
* They do not play well with others. If you're playing Daughters of Khaine, you're playing them in a Daughters of Khaine Allegiance army. They are incredibly reliant on their faction abilities to turn them from a bunch of expensive fragile units with some pretty good close combat into a unified army with some of the most brutal close combat in the game. You can ally other stuff into them, don't ally them with other stuff. (Not entirely true, Khinari Heartrenders slot nicely into most Order soup lists as its a good deepstrike bully unit)
* Not a magic heavy army (but can be a strong magically defensive army). Bar Morathi-Khaine, you only have the Bloodwrack Medusa, who only gives you one spell/two dispels per turn without relics or artifacts and the Doomfire Warlocks. Mitigated a bit by the Doomfire Warlocks who can hit hard and get a casting bonus in units of 5 (which is what you want).

==Rulebooks==
{{AOSRulebooks|tome=Daughters of Khaine and Broken Realms: Morathi|points=[https://www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/5ae12374.pdf Daughters of Khaine Errata]}}

==Allegiance Abilities==
===Battle Traits===
; Fanatical Faith : Daughters of Khaine can ignore wounds allocated to them on a 6+. Sweet.
;Blood Rites : The fantasy variant of "Power From Pain". Every turn your units get a brand new special rule that stacks for the rest of the game.
:#'''Quickening Bloodlust:''' Reroll run rolls of 1.
:#'''Headlong Fury:''' Reroll dice rolls of 1 when charging.
:#'''Zealot's Rage:''' Rerolls 1s to hit in melee. In addition, an Avatar of Khaine always counts as being animated.
:#'''Slaughterer's Strength:''' Reroll 1s to wound in melee
:#'''Unquenchable Fervour:''' Your units rerolls saves of 1, and do not need to take battleshock tests.

===Command Traits===
'''Aelve Generals Only'''
#'''Bathed in Blood:''' Increase your wound characteristic by 1 and you can heal 1 wound at the start of each hero phase. Good on a Cauldron of Blood, but there are better ways to get your wounds back.
#'''Zealous Orator:''' Add 2 to the bravery charteristic of units wholly within 12". Worse than the old version for elves, better for snakes, and not as important anymore since Mindrazor now doesn't require higher bravery +1 dmg.
#'''Sacrifical Overseer:''' Add 1 to the hit rolls of the General's weapons. Lot of good options here, but this seems like a waste of a Command Trait, given you can have other better options.
#'''Terrifying Beauty:''' Subtract 1 on hit rolls against the General. Putting this on the Cauldron of Blood will drive your opponent insane. Stacks with the existing -1 against shooting for heroes close to a unit, meaning that everyone shooting at you will have a -2 to hit you.
#'''Master of Poisons:''' Add 1 to the General's weapons Damage characteristics. A Slaughter Queen with this will wipe out a unit a turn.
#'''True Believer:''' Ups the turn number for the unit's Blood Rites. Good to get an Avatar of Khaine awake turn 2 (turn 1 in a Hagg Nar army) and just generally a good choice.

'''BloodWrack Medusa only'''
#'''Arcane Mastery:''' Reroll 1 casting, dispelling, or unbinding attempt in your hero phase, really good since the nerf to shadowstone ,and Mindrazor had the bump up to CV 8 but whether it's worth not taking a subfaction for is debatable.
#'''Writhing Coils:''' Substract 1 from hit rolls made against this general. Always good, shooting more than melee, so might as well just take Khailebron and get teleporting while you're at it.
#'''Fearsome Presence:''' Reroll failed Battleshock tests for units wholly within 12". You're probably running snakes with a medusa general, so why not just take Zainthar Kai get +1 bravery and/or take the battalion that makes it so you don't take battleshock.

'''Melusai Ironscale Only'''
#'''Veteran of the Cathrar Dhule:''' Recieve a CP on a 4+ while this general is on the battlefield in the hero phase
#'''Impenenetrable Scales:''' Add 1 to save rolls for this general. Gives your Melusai a 4+ instead of a 5+ save.
#'''Fuelled by Revenge:''' Use your Wrath of the Scathborn command ability for free once per battle.

===Gifts of Morathi===
(Can be given to any Daughter of Khaine Hero)
#'''Crown of Woe:''' Subtract 1 from the bravery of enemy units within 7". This range doubles to 14" the first time the bearer slays an enemy model.
#'''Shadracar's Fang:''' One of the bearers melee weapons adds +1 to hit rolls. Also unmodified sixes do 1 mortal wound
#'''Amulet of Dark Fire:''' The bearer negates mortal wounds inflicted '''by spells''' on a 4+.
#'''Crone Blade:''' One of the bearers melee weapons heals the user by d3 at the end of combat phase if any units were slain with that weapon
#'''Thousand and One Dark Blessings:''' Nerf Bat Edition, No longer gives +1 save but instead gives you a 5+ FNP instead of a 6+
#'''Bloodbane Venom:''' If the bearer wounds an opponent but does not slay them, roll a dice after the combat phase. If the number equals/beats the victim's wound characteristic then it is slain outright.

===Artefacts of Shadow===
(Bloodwrack Medusa only)
#'''Shadow Stone:''' Add +1 to any casting attempts for Lore of Shadows spells. Helpful for making sure you get an important spell off. +1 to Casting the Withering is '''never''' a bad thing. Best way to get Mindrazor off. Nerf bat removed the re-reolling 1's on casts, still good but not the most have it was
#'''Rune of Ulgu:''' Bearer knows one extra Lore of Shadows spell. More options are never a bad thing.
#'''The Mirror Glaive:''' Each time the Bearer unbinds a spell, they can attempt to cast Arcane Bolt or Mystic Shield as if it was the Hero phase. If successful this spell can't be unbound. Better now that the Medusa can unbind 2 spells.
#'''Seven-fold Shadow:''' Once per battle, instead of moving you can set them up anywhere on the battlefield more than 9" from Enemy units. This uses up thier movement phase. You already have dozens of ways of teleporting units so this is a pass.
#'''Crystal Heart:''' [[Awesome |Bearer can cast a second spell in the Hero Phase. If they do they roll a d6, taking d3 Mortal Wounds on a 1.]]
#'''Shade Claw:''' The Medusa's Whisperclaw is now -2 Rend. Helps out your Medusa in melee, so worth considering if you have them on a Bloodwrack Shrine.

===Relics of Khaine===
(Daughters of Khaine Priests only)
#'''Blood Sigil:''' Bearer gains one additional Prayer. More options is never bad.
#'''Iron Circlet:''' Bearer re-rolls 1's when seeing if a prayer is successful. Prayers Manifest on a 3+ and all have very useful buffs so this can be helpful
#'''Rune of Khaine:''' Bearer explodes on death. Roll a dice. One 1 nothing happens. On 2-5 the unit that killed them takes D3 Mortal Wounds. On a 6, the unit takes D6. Works against any attack and doesn't have a ranged restriction so going by RAW, [[Just As Planned| your Hero can explode and do the Mortal Wounds against something across the table.]]. Main problem is that you want your Hag Queens alive as much as possible because Witchbrew is just that good. Witch Elves are your cannon fodder, and should really be dying instead.
#'''Crimson Shard:''' Add 2 to wound to wound rolls for one of the bearers melee attacks. Pretty solid on a Cauldron as they will be getting stuck into melee anyway.
#'''Khaineite Pendant:''' Bearer can Pray three times in one Hero Phase, but the first time you roll a 1 to manifest a prayer, they take d3 Mortal Wounds instead of 1. Extremely useful as your Prayers are all very useful. Being able to spam them is awesome. Probably your default choice.
#'''Hagbrew:''' Add +1 to Wound Rolls for the Bearer's melee weapons. Nice on a Hag Queen on Cauldron of Blood. [[Rape |Turns the Slaughter Queen on Cauldron into a death machine.]]

===Prayers of the Khainite Cult===
#'''Catechism of Murder:''' Pick a Friendly Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 14". Any 6's to hit explode and deal 2 hits.
#'''Blessing of Khaine:''' Pick a friendly Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 14". They re-roll failed FNP rolls from Fanatical Faith. With Hagg Nar, bucklers and the Cauldron buff, your units now have a 4+, then rerollable 5+ saves. You can take a charge quite happily, then murder whatever dared getting close in your turn with ease...
#'''Martyr's Sacrifice:''' Pick a friendly Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 14". Each time a model is killed in the Combat Phase, roll a d6. The dead model deals an extra Mortal Wound on a 5+ to a unit within 3". Stacks with the Bucklers.
#'''Crimson Rejuvination:''' Pick a friendly Daughters of Khaine unit within wholly 14", That unit heals 1d3 Wounds. Still can't target Morathi since her special rules don't allow her to be healed
#'''Covenant of the Iron Heart:''' Pick a friendly Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 14". That unit does not need to take Battleshock tests.
#'''Sacrament of Blood:''' Pick a friendly Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 14". That unit counts the current battle round as being 1 higher for determining Blood Rites traits. Stacks with other abilities that give this effect.

===Lore of Shadows===
The Lore of Shadows we all know and love is back! Note that Doomfire Warlocks are Wizards and can take a spell from here despite not being a Hero unit. EDIT: Doomfires cannot cast spells outside of their warscroll. But they are an impressive melee unit to compensate.
#'''Steed of Shadows:''' Casting Value 6. Caster can Fly and has a 16" Move.
#'''Pit of Shades:''' Casting Value 7. Pick an Enemy Unit within 18" of the caster, within line of sight, and roll 2d6. That unit takes 1 Mortal Wound for each point the 2d6 exceeds their Movement. Awesome against tough, but slow units. That Death player who keeps tarpitting you with blobs of 40 Skeletons? This spell was designed for you, followed up with a Bloodwrack Stare.
#'''Mirror Dance:''' Casting Value 6. Pick two Daughters of Khaine Heroes wholly within 18" of the Caster. Set them up more than 9" away from enemy unit, they cannot move in the following movement phase.
#'''The Withering:''' Casting Value 7. Pick an enemy unit within 18" of the caster within Line of Sight. [[Awesome |Until the next Hero Phase add +1 to Wound Rolls for '''all attacks''' that target that unit]]. You should always have this.
#'''Mindrazor:''' Casting Value 8. Nerf Bat Edition. Pick a friendly Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 18" of the caster. All of that units melee weapons gain an additional -1 Rend and gain 1 extra damage if that unit charged. Our Most used spell and a must have for the -1 Rend alone. No longer gives +1 dmg for having higher bravery, better against demons and undead, but in extended combat. But with the Khelt Nar sub faction you can retreat and charge, and you get an additional rend on the charge with Elves in Drachi Ganeth. But it also has a CV of 8 now making it harder to cast
#'''Shroud of Despair:''' Casting Value 4. Pick an enemy unit within 18" and within Line of Sight. They take -1 to Bravery until the next Hero Phase. If the Casting roll was 8+, they take -d3 Bravery Instead.

===Endless Spells===
1. '''Bloodwrack Viper:''' 40 points. Casting value 7. After this model has moved, pick one unit within 1" of it and roll 3 dice. For each dice roll that beats the wounds characteristic per model for that unit, one model from the unit is slain. Good at weakening units of multi-wound models, and will be a major thorn in the side of elite armies.

2. '''Bladewind:''' 40 points. Casting value 6. Any unit that was passed across by this model or is within 1" when it ends its movement suffers D3 Mortal Wounds. Enemy units within 12" also don't get the cover modifier for their save rolls.

3. '''Heart of Fury:''' 80 points. An Invocation rather than a spell. Subtract 1 from the damage inflicted (to a minimum of 1) for each successful attack targeting a Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 12" of this model. Very nice defensively, but there's a catch. At the start of each battle round, Heart of Fury ends unless you roll a 4+ (add +1 if there's any friendly Avatars of Khaine within 6"). Good against armies with high damage weapons, though the caveat is a minor inconvenience and it doesn't work on special tricks (eg; attacks that deal Mortal Wounds in addition to normal damage).

==Temples of Blood==
You may claim your army hails from one of the six temples listed here. Each has unique rules for your army, a new artifact, command trait, or command ability.

'''Hagg Nar'''

*'''Ability - Daughters of the First Temple:''' Add 1 to the current battle round when determining the abilities gained from Blood Rites.

*'''Command Ability: Send Forth the Cauldrons''': Pick a friendly '''Hagg Nar''' Cauldron within 3" of a unit with 3 or more models and within 12" of a '''Hagg Nar''' hero. That Cauldron can move and extra 3", but this can't stack. While it's not easy to daisy chain your units and heroes to make it work, consider that the tax for this pretty good buff.

*'''Command Trait - Devoted Disciples:'''A'''Hagg Nar''' Daughters of Khaine model wholly within 12" of the general gets a 5+ Fanatical Faith save as opposed to a 6+.

*'''Artifact: The Ulfuri:''' Add 1 to the Damage characteristic of one of the bearer's melee weapons if they made a charge.

The nerf bat came for Hagg Nar, but left them with a couple of consolation prizes. It allows one selected unit to do its fanatical faith on 5+ combined with blessing of khaine and the +1 save from you cauldron you can give a unit of 30 witches a 5+ save (4+ with bladed buckler) and a 5++ fanatical save making the unit able to survive longer. By turn 3 your army is a killing machine and would be already in combat this is when things swing dramatically for Hagg Nar. While they can't re-roll hits anymore, they're faster and more survivable. On a unit of 20 witches that is 80 attacks and if you add mindrazor into the mix it's unlikely any single opponent can survive that number of paper cuts on the charge. While no longer OP or a must-take, it is now a good <s>Jack</s> Jill of all trades, master of none that's worth considering.

'''Draichi Ganeth'''

*'''Ability - Bladed Killers:''' Imrpove the rend characteristics of weapons weilded by the Witch Aelves and Sisters of Slaughter by 1 on the turn they charge.

*'''Command Ability - A Thousand Bladeforms:''' Add 1 to the hit rolls of a friendly Draichi Ganeth Witch Aelves or Sisters of Slaughter unit within 12" of a friendly Draichi Ganeth Hero.

*'''Command Trait: - Victor of Yaith'ril: Add 1" to the Bravery characteristic of all friendly Draichi Ganeth Daughters of Khaine units wholly within 12" of the general.

*'''Artifact - Death's Kiss:''' Add +2 attacks of one of the bearer's weapons on the turn they charged.

*'''Battalion - Slaughter Troupe:''' You may take up to two units of Witch Aelves in addition to any of the other required units in this Battalion

They swapped favoring snake heavy armies for favoring Witch Aelves and destroying armor. If you take the general on a Cauldron of Blood, that adds 2 to the Bravery of Draichi Ganeth units wholly within 12. Add a Bloodwrack Medusae and/or Morathi-Khaine to throw Mindrazor on units and you'll rain on the parade of armies like Stormcast, non-horde Chaos armies and Ossiarch Bonereapers. Combining the numbers of a horde army with the hitting power of an elite army, they're the best option for a melee-focused force.

'''The Kraith'''

*'''Ability - Disciples of Slaughter:''' At the end of the combat phase, roll a dice for each Kraith Sister of Slaughter that fought once in that phase. On a 5+, they can fight again.

*'''Command Trait - Bathe in Their Blood!:''' At the end of the combat phase, if the general is on the battlefield and any enemy units were destroyed by an attack made by friendly Kraith units, you receive a command point.

*'''Command Ability - Inspired by Carnage:''' Add 1 to wound rolls for unit for that combat phase.

*'''Artifact - The Venom of Nagendra: Once per battle, you can use it to deal D6 Mortal Wounds to an enemy but the bearer can't fight with their weapons in that round of combat.

When the ability goes off, you'll feel like top of the world, but when it doesn't you'll feel like a chump. Also, hope you like Sisters of Slaughter, because this Temple is near worthless without them. As it is, a decent option but inferior to the others unless you really want command points.

'''Khailebron'''

*'''Ability - Concealment and Stealth:''' Your enemy gets -1 to hit in the shooting phase against Khailebron units. This plugs one of your army's major weaknesses (getting shot to pieces)

*'''Command Trait - Mistress of Illusion:''' Subtract 1 from hit rolls for melee attacks made against the general.

*'''Command Ability - Masters of the Shadowpaths:''' At the start of the Hero Phase choose a friendly unit wholly within 12" of a Khailebron general. Pull them off the battlefield and Deep Strike them anyplace outside of 9 inches of the enemy. This unit cannot move in the next movement phase. Essentially turns all of your units into pseudo Khinerai units and [[Awesome|can even be used to pull them out of an unfavorable combat]]. Put Mindrazor and Catechism of Murder on a unit of Blood Sisters, teleport them behind enemy lines and watch them wreak havoc.

*'''Artifact - Whisperdeath:''' Pick one of the bearer's melee weapons. Hit rolls of 6 with this weapon deal 1 mortal wound to the target in addition to normal damage.

A tricksy temple, but amazing when you know how to use it. Having 1- to being shot at is wonderful given your low saves. Between the shooting debuff and teleportation abilities, shooting armies will hate the Khailebron Temple, especially Kharadron Overlords (suck it, you godless stunties!). Since the command trait is an ability not a spell your opponent will have to play around it every round. Just remember to keep your general out of harms way.

'''Khelt Nar'''

*'''Ability - Strike and Fade:''' Khelt Nar units can retreat and charge later in the same turn.

*'''Command Ability: Bleed the Mind''': Pick one friendly Khelt Nar unit wholly within 12" of a Khelt Nar hero. For every time a melee attack targeting the Khelt Nar unit rolls an unmodified 1, the attacking suffers 1 mortal wound. This, with bladed bucklers and the martyrs sacrifice prayer creates a very prickly unit that can easily bleed the enemy dry in a round of combat.

*'''Command Trait - The Circling Flock''': Once per battle, you can summon 1 free Khinerai unit consisting of 5 Khinerai Harpies of either type, deployed as per their "Descent from Above" rules.

*'''Artifact: Gaisa's Falx:''' Pick one melee weapon carried by the bearer. Each unmodified hit roll of 6 becomes two hits, roll to wound and save for each hit. Best used on a Slaughter Queen.

A Temple with a lot of dirty tricks. It lacks the punch of the Draichi Ganeth or the defensive power of Hagg Nar, but it gives a lot of unique ways to mess with your opponent. While a fun playstyle, and recommended if you really like Khinerai Harpies or want to mess with your opponent, if you want to play competitively, other temples are recommended.

'''Zainthar Kai'''

*'''Abilities - Khaine’s Essence:''' Add 1 to the Bravery of Melusai and Khinerai units '''Vault of the First Blood:''' Get a free artifact from the Gifts of Morathi table.

*'''Command Trait - Curse of the Bloody Handed:''' At the end of combat on a roll a die for each enemy unit within 3”, deal d3 mortal wounds on a 5+.

*'''Command Ability - Power in the Blood:''' Once per phase pick a friendly Melusai or Khinerai unit wholly within 12” and add 1 to their melee weapons until the end of that phase.

*'''Artifact - Crimson Talisman:''' Subtract 1 from wound rolls that target the bearer

The new Snake Heavy Army. Although the Command Trait is kinda eh, the command ability is where this subfaction shines. The Blood Sisters are already pretty crazy, then add on all the buffs, and this command ability to delete whatever you point them at. The bonus Bravery and a free artifact are always welcome.

For competitive play, Hagg Nar has been eclipsed by Draichi Ganeth, with Khailebron arguably being the best choice given the current shooting meta.

==Warscrolls==
The common keywords of these warscrolls are: '''ORDER''', '''AELF''' and '''DAUGHTERS OF KHAINE'''.

===Named Characters===

;'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Morathi-Khaine.pdf Morathi-Khaine] and [https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_TheShadowQueen.pdf The Shadow Queen]''': New from Broken Realms: Morathi, this version of Morathi costs 600 points and has both versions of the new goddess of murder on the board at the same time. Their stats are largely unchanged including importantly the 3 wound per turn rule (there are some changes: The shooting attack on the Shadow Queen is now a straight D6 damage attack, Morathi doesn't double casting range anymore but her personal spell is range 36), but there are some important changes. For starters, both versions are now immune to instant death (suck it Nagash) and wounds done to Morathi-Khaine now carry over to Shadow Queen, with both disappearing when the Shadow Queen goes down. You should also note that Morathi always counts as a general, even if you have another general, and the old trick of dealing wounds to her outside of the turn to get around her 3 wounds per turn thing no longer works. All in all, the selling point here is that you get her powerhouse casting, and command ability, while still getting the brutal close combat power, which is a hell of a selling point. These two can take on almost any named character in the game (even Gotrek will struggle) and at 600 points, they better.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos_the_blade-coven_en.pdf Morgwaeth the Bloodied and Hag Coven] : (80 points) The models from the recent Daughters of Khaine Underworlds warband. Functionally just a named Hag Queen with a range 2 dagger and a handful of extra models. Can now take artifacts and command traits, plus comes with the Hagg Narr keyword, but can take another Prayer. Let's get real here: the selling point is that her Warband can intercept wounds for her on a 4+. Almost auto include in the new battletome (unless it is indeed a typo and needs errata) as she is now 10pts cheaper than a Hag Queen with essentially 4-5 more wounds.

===Heroes===

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-slaughter-queen-en.pdf Slaughter Queen] : (100pts) The old Death Hag got split in two, the Slaughter Queen has pair of weapons: The "meh" Blade of Khaine which is pretty much a bog-standard weapon, combined with the a stronger but ridiculously named "Deathsword" which has a slightly better profile and does D3 damage; She is your primary priest, always casting on a 3+ but wounding herself on a 1. Unfortunately, her prayers are... weird, she isn't really a fantastic buffer for friendly units. is an incredibly unreliable way of tossing Mortal Wounds at your enemy and the other is a buff. That can only target her. Though to be fair, the buff is pretty good, increasing her meh knife's damage to D3, essentially matching her Deathsword, which will put the lady at 7 damage D3 attacks, enough to kill bigger units all on her own. Her other good prayer is the ability to fight twice in the combat phase, which you should use if she goes up against hordes rather than monsters. She can also have this ability as a command ability, allowing a friendly unit to pile in during the hero phase. The last prayer is an odd one, forcing your opponent to play "[[What|guess which hand]]" or suffer D3 mortal wounds... essentially a bizarre throwback to old legacy rules. In short, altogether she is a 5 wound 5+ save model who will die to angry thoughts if she gets to close to an actual combat. Leave her at home unless she's your general or you're running Shadowhammer compact; IF you take her as general her command ability makes your Witch Aelves kill more than what a Hag Queen would do, making her a better option in this case. *One thing to remember is that priests get an extra prayer from the list of khainite prayers, and therefore can actually pray twice in your hero phase.
:*She can also attempt to unbind one spell in your enemy's hero phase as if she were a wizard, which is nothing to be sniffed at. If you have Bloodwracks as well, you can effectively shut down your opponent's magic every turn.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-hag-queen-en.pdf Hag Queen] : (90pts) The slaughter queen's little sister and amazing supporting choice. She doesn't have the Deathsword, the ''Dance of Doom'' prayer, the ability to unbind spells, or any command ability. Instead she has a chalice of Witchbrew which allows a friendly DoK unit within 3" to re-roll wounds until your next hero phase AND makes your units immune to battle shock. She can turn a unit of 30 Witch Aelves into an unstoppable orgy of slaughter. <s>Until AoS2 comes in, two Hag queens are mandatory in pretty much any DoK list.</s> AoS3 is here and hags went to 100pts. This mixed with increase of the shooting meta makes hags an issue. However, for an extra 40pts (140pts total) its recommended to take Morgwaeth’s Blade-coven, the beastgrave unit. Same as a standard had except has a mini unit to assist, and on a 4+ you can transfer wounds from Morgwaeth to the unit. Side unit is two witch aelves, a sister of slaughter and a blood stalker. With the new battletome you have to roll to see if you get the rerolling and no battleshock on a 5+. But as the rounds go on these you get +1's as you get buffs. +1 on rounds 2, 3, and 4, so by the time round 4 comes you'll be rolling for it on a 2+, if she's still alive by then.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-hag-queen-caludron-blood-en.pdf Hag Queen on Cauldron of Blood] 220pts & [https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-slaughter-queen-on-cauldron-of-blood-en.pdf Slaughter Queen on Cauldron of Blood] 270pts : (Behemoth) A centerpiece in every sense of the word. It draws the eye and is absolutely essential for turning an assortment of powerful units into a coherent army. Basically a straight upgrade for one of the Queens with an Avatar of Khaine strapped to the same model; needing to be animated with prayers each turn ''(or wait for Blood Rites to kick in by turn 3)'' This also means that there is practically no situation where the Avatar will be without a Priestess to animate him since they are both sharing the same model in this case, making it a safer bet than marching either of them around solo where one or the other can get picked off. It also has extra attacks thanks to the attendant sisters and an added charge bonus which inflicts Mortal Wounds. It also allows DoK units within a diminishing range to add +1 to their save rolls, so this unit is definitely worth having considering how fragile the army is in general, though there really isn't much more to say beyond the standard rules for the Hag/Slaughter Queens. The Slaughter Queen on Cauldron of Blood is almost always going to be the general in any Daughters of Khaine army. It's buffs, bulk, command ability, and output are just too good not to use.
:*If you are still considering which way to go between the Shrine or the Cauldron. You are mostly weighing up whether you want the Aura of Agony for causing mortal wounds in a radius, or the Bloodshield for giving your sisters a +1 to saves. Everything else is pretty much the sum of the model's parts since the actual Shrine/Cauldron itself has mostly the same profile and attacks in either version simply added to whatever hero is mounted on top of it, which you could have deployed separately. However one big factor to remember is that the Cauldron of Blood can still move around the tabletop without having to animate the Avatar, leaving your Priestess to use a different prayer in her hero phase if you want to.
:*If you want a death-train, make a Slaughterqueen on this thing your general, then give her Mistress of Poisons, the Crone Blade and Catechism of Murder, wait for Turn 3 then charge something; you'll get +1 to the damage of all your melee hits since Mistress of Poisons works for all of the cauldron's attacks, and with Crone Blade on the Avatar's attack you get more than a chance to cause casualties and recover wounds, since it now does 4 damages per non saved attack, compensating for your fragility ( you still have 13 wounds with a 4+ save but some generals can be tougher); factor in Catechism of Murder ( solid, given this model has 19 attacks) and a self cast Orgy of Slaughter and... well, you won't regret skipping one of the temples for this. IF you don't care about the Crone Blade, take a Hagbrew instead.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-bloodwrack-medusa-en.pdf Bloodwrack Medusa] : (100pts) Oh boy, looks like GW gained a bit of our love for [[Monstergirls]], because the Bloodwrack Medusa got better ''and'' 40 points cheaper. They've gone from "a good choice for any list" to "you are playing this game wrong if you don't have one" status, expect to see them everywhere until nerfed into the ground. In addition to her pervious bits of goodness, her Whisperclaw now deals a Mortal Wound on an unmodified hit roll of 6, and while still a Wizard she gained an extra attack with her spear and can unbind an extra spell. Kept her absolutely brutal shooting attack, where you roll a dice for every model in a unit and every 5+ is a Mortal Wound, and has a metric ton of close combat attacks, with a theoretical maximum of 16 wounds (average dice rolls will probably render it closer to 5 or 6, depending on what turn it is).

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-bloodwrack-shrine-en.pdf Bloodwrack Shrine] : (160pts, Behemoth) While you should probably get a Cauldron of Blood first, if you wanted to keep the Queens and Avatar separate you will be left with a Bloodwrack Shrine, either that or you bought a second model. Benefitting from GW's seeming new case of [[Monstergirl]] love, it's only 50 points more than the Medusa on her own and 50 points cheaper than its previous cost while keeping all its goodies. It costs you 2 inches of movement but it more than doubles your wounds, gives you the Shrinekeepers attacks, the Bladed Impact rule AND gives you the Aura of Agony, which causes D3 mortal wounds ALL ENEMY UNITS within a 7" radius on a diminishing die roll, starting at 2+, which coupled with her Bloodwrack Stare means that the Shrine has the potential to be doling out a lot of mortal wounds in a given turn. They are also Wizards now, being able to cast/unbind a single spell per turn.
:* If you've got an extra Cauldron to assemble as one of these, remember that it's only 50 points more than a normal Bloodwrack Medusa, trading in those 80 points and 2 points of movement for double the wounds, the Shrine Keepers attacks and the Aura of Agony. That's pretty cheap all told, and since it's not a monster, it's still harder to shoot in AoS2, so it's worth considering.
:*Remember that a Bloodwrack Shrine can cast Steed of Shadows on itself to fly 16" and get that Aura of Agony + Bloodwrack Stare where it would hurt the most.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos_Melusai_Ironscale_eng.pdf Melusai Ironscale] : (110pts) Daughters of Khaine's newest Hero! Decently killy with okay survivability having 6 wounds ignoring spells effects on a 5+. But where she shines is in her abilities. Anytime she kills a model in combat she can give a unit of Melusai wholly within 12" an extra attack (Seeing as how her attacks do D3 dmg this should be relatively easy to get off, more so if you give her an artifact). Combine this with the new command ability given by the Zainthar Kai Temple and you'll have your squad of 10 blood sisters doing 50 attacks(!) along with whatever other buffs you've given them. Her command ability allows her to patch up a major weakness in snake armies allowing a unit to run with 2d6 instead of 1d6 and allowing them to run and charge for that phase. And finally at the end of combat on a 3+ an enemy within an inch takes a mortal wound it's not gonna win you games but it's nice. Overall a must have if you are running a Melusai army.

===Troops===
;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-witch-aelves-en.pdf Witch Aelves] : (BATTLELINE, Min:10, Max:30 100) The new battletome went and mixed it up a bit, giving Witch Aelves the Bladed Buckler rule which used to be unique to the Sisters of Slaughter. If you take the Buckler then they get a 5+ save (4+ within the blood shield aura) with any roll of a six causing an immediate mortal wound on the attacker. This and the ''Fanatical Faith'' allegiance ability has increased the Witch Aelves survivability somewhat. If you'd rather have them be more killy, you can swap the buckler for an extra sacrificial knife which grants them another attack, up to three per model, which makes them rather choppy for a cheap unit, this can be further upgraded thanks to the ''Frenzied Fervour'' rule which grants them a +1 bonus to wound whenever they are WHOLLY within 12" of DoK Hero in the combat phase, with each potentially throwing out 3 3+/3+/-/1 attacks per turn with rerolls depending on what turn it is, which isn't too terrible for a front-line unit. No matter what option you take they are still fragile though. Big units of 30 are currently staples of the tournament scene so make sure you take big unit so they can reach the enemy.
:*It's worth bearing in mind that if you took bucklers you should always take your save even if the enemy has a good rend value and your Witches actually have no hope of surviving. The save inflicts the mortal wound on a six after any rerolls but ''before modifiers'' such as rend or debuffs, thus you might get a free mortal wound or two on your opponent even though your ladies are caught in the headlights and can't do anything about it.
:*If you do the math, bucklers are better: slightly lower damage output ( a difference of decimals even when counting stacks of bonuses to attacks) but they double your odds of surviving a hit, which will leave more witches on the table for more attacks and chances of mortal wounds; consider giving the buckler to all of your witches or at least most of them.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-sisters-slaughter-en.pdf Sisters of Slaughter] : (BATTLELINE, Min:10, Max:30 120) The counterpart to the Witch Aelves took a different role with the recent update. They lost their bonus to saves in close combat and are just as fragile as Witch Aelves, who now share the Bladed Buckler rule. They can trade their shield in for the Sacrificial knife, which gives them an additional short ranged attack at the expense of some durability. Their unique special rule is that they can be chosen to pile in and fight up from up to 6" away rather than 3", which means they have a massive threat radius without even charging and can jump on to the enemy during his own Combat Phase. A good use of these ladies might be to hover around your own units and perform a counter-charge whenever one of your weaker units gets threatened, dog-piling on the enemy when he thought he had the advantage. Their long pile in means that they're also one of the only units in the game that can bypass the Idoneth Deepkin's Turn 3 combat priority or the weird Gloomspite Gitz Fanatic "Always Strikes First" ability. No longer recieve a horde bonus and are more expensive than Witch Aelves now.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-morathi-blood-sisters-en.pdf Blood Sisters] : (Optional BATTLELINE: Bloodwrack Medusa General, Min:5, Max:20 130). Your gorgon snake-chicks whose job is to be the army's elite melee anchor unit. Armed with Glaives and their Crystal Touch attacks, they can throw out a reliable amount of damage every turn. Glaives have three 3+/3+/-1/1 attacks at 2" range which would be decent before you consider rerolls from Blood Rites or further buffs from prayers. Sadly Crystal touch took a nerf and now activates at the end of combat and targets 1 enemy unit within 1". The main problem is that they cost quite a lot for only a few models, yes they have two-wounds each but they are still fragile with a 5+ save(unless you bring a cauldron, which you should) and even with Fanatical Faith they really don't have a ton of staying power (for example despite being an elite unit they are less durable than a Liberator or Chaos Warrior) so you will be feeling the loss of each one heavily. Keep them protected with the massive number of buffs you can pile onto them. Large units are also a must simply because of the MASSIVE discount they get in groups of 20. They still pack a punch, and with Morathi's new ability they can get +1 Attack, as well as +1 attack from the new Ironscale. They can also benefit from the ironscales command ability which lets them run and charge with a 2d6 Run move.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-morathi-blood-stalkers-en.pdf Blood Stalkers] : (Optional BATTLELINE: Bloodwrack Medusa General, Min:5, Max:20 140) Not Longer terrible! In the shadow and pain box blood stalkers have had an upgrade. Now back to 140pts, they have 2 shots each at a 3+/3+/-1/1 with unmodified 6's still causing a mortal wound. This means a unit of 5 can pump out 10 shots now. Added with the changes to Morathri, this means they can also shoot in the hero phase for a command point. So a unit of 20 could do 80 shots a turn! They still have their 24" range and movement 8, with 2 basic attacks in combat. These can now make a solid backbone of a low drop force as you can alpha strike your biggest threat turn one. Worth looking into. Can no longer re roll hit's with blood rites, but are now battleline.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-khinerai-lifetakers-en.pdf Khinerai Lifetakers] : (Min:5, Max:20 80pts) One of the new Khinerai Harpy units. Lifetakers behave pretty much like flying Witch Aelves. With a pair of average attacks and a version of the Bladed Buckler called the Heartpiercer Shield, which is essentially the same thing; granting them a 5+ save that causes mortal wounds to attackers on six. Strictly speaking they are worse in close combat than Witch Aelves, but they can FLY for one, as well as bein able to Deep Strike onto the battlefield anywhere more than 9" from the enemy. The real draw with Lifetakers over other similar units is that they gain +1 damage whenever they charge into combat and can also fall back from combat '''after''' they have completed all of their attacks on a die roll of 4+, so you can escape during an enemy turn and just charge them again on your own. Get enough of these together and they'll be taking anything down.
:* In the new meeting engagement format, these ladies are golden. At 14" movement and a smaller board size in meeting engagement, you are better off deploying them at the edge of the board with a Hag queen. Buffed with Witch Brew and Catechism of Murder, a small unit of 5 will rip any light unit of 10 to shreds. Battleshock will finish the job and you even have a 50/50 chance of backing off to capture the nearby objective. Since they are just 1 wound per model, it works to your advantage when counting wounds to compete for victory points in meeting engagement.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-khinerai-heartrenders-en.pdf Khinerai Heartrenders] : (Min:5, Max:20 80pts) The other of your two new Khinerai Harpy units. The Heartrender variant are your ranged specialists who can fling their barbed javelins up to 12" doing decent 3+/3+/-1/1 damage; although that's only one attack each. While this is actually pretty decent when you compare them to a similar unit like Prosecutors with Stormcall Javelins, Lifetakers come with even more special rules that make them useful. Firstly, they can Deep Strike, arriving anywhere on the table more than 9" from the enemy when you feel like, which is still happily within their shooting range, which also has their Rend characteristic boosed to -2 for that alpha strike attack. Allowing you to genuinely strategise with where to put them and what they can hurt. They can also shoot after running and fall back after shooting on a die roll of 4+, meaning that although 12" is quite a short range for a ranged weapon you have a chance of darting in and out an inevitable counter-charge when the enemy gets annoyed with you. They also have the Heartpiercer Shield which makes them more resilient though admittedly you don't want this unit in melee because they do so much better as a harassing unit.
:* At 90 points, it's not hard to get your points back for this unit in ways other than simply killing something outright. Drop two Draichi Ganeth Slaughter Troupe 5-Harpy units in your opponents back field and pepper a hiding hero with your Javelins until you can aggro one of his units to come take care of you. Note: Be mindful of your surroundings and don't drop into a bunch of gun lines... but if you do, they'll spend a turn shooting two 80 point units rather than your 300 point blobs of Witch's and Sister's. Anyways, if you get something to bite, let them charge you, then fly/run/retreat out of there ''towards'' your opponents now-isolated Hero and decide where to go from there.
:* Heartrenders can also serve as line backers, able to move and support your units where needed. Use this when faced against armies that put out more damage than they can handle, sitting them behind your hordes of Witches/Sisters to take the brunt of your opponents abuse and chucking Javelins at them then moving into combat to mop up whatever is left.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-doomfire-warlocks-en.pdf Doomfire Warlocks] : (Min:5, Max:20 120pts) The only males in the faction that you'll see on the tabletop. These guys are actually incredible. They are excessively fast at 14" and they now come with two-shot crossbows they are still great, as they're pretty tough and units of them are collectively Wizards. This makes them incredibly versatile already, letting you play small units to either shoot Mortal Wounds or buff your squishy ladies, but the really great part is their unique spell. First, it's casting value 6, so very easy to get off, then you get +1 to cast if the unit has 5+ models and then its a damage spell that scales to your unit size, topping at a flat 6 Mortal Wounds at 10+ models. Six. Mortal. Wounds. If your opponent sees that even once, he will focus your Warlocks down, but that's alright, since it means ignoring your Sisters of Slaughter and as soon as those ladies are in melee, your Warlocks are safe again.
:*Another way to use them is to ignore their trademark spell and see them as a mobile buff support unit. Most time than not DOK tends to be a single directed steam roller which not many units to sit back and cap objectives. This is where The warlocks comes in, they are fast enough to cap and tough enough to stick a little longer vs smaller opposing units compared to using harpies for the similar role esp if they are within range to the blood shield! To top it off their insane 14" movement allows you to position your warlocks in such a way what they can be outside the 30" dispel radius from your opponent and still in range to buff your own units - So use them like the fluff - males whom are only useful as support units to empower our witches and cap objectives so the killing can be done by the girls of khaine.. I mean morathi...
:*[[Eldar |Even though they are Cavalry, there are multiple ways of being able to Teleport them into the face of your opponent on Turn 1]]. Taking a Shadow Patrol with two units of 10 Warlocks and a General with the Khailebron Command Trait can do just this. [[Rape |That is 6 Mortal Wounds plus 40 4+/4+/-/1 Crossbow shots, and whatever spells you loaded onto the second unit hitting your opponent at once]].*
:*Actually worth considering now since a 5 man unit gets +1 to casting now. Keep them out of range of ranged units and pump out those mortal wounds

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Khainite_Shadowstalkers_ENG.pdf Khainite Shadowstalkers] : (Min:9, Max:18, 100 points). Your Warcry Warband put into the main game. Unlike most Warcry Warbands however, it's actually pretty decent in Age of Sigmar. It has semi-decent damage output (a 6 inch range shooting attack that hits on 4s and wounds on 3s with no rend, 6s to hit are mortal wounds, and 2 4+, 3+ 1 damage melee attacks per model) with the main event being the unit champion (3, 3+, 3+, rend -1, D3 damage attacks). Enemies also have -1 to hit them in melee (making them tougher than they look), but none of that is why you take them. No, you take them because they can teleport around the battlefield at will. Even after being set up, they can bounce to any point on the field outside of 9 inches of the enemy, with no requirements (no CP, no magic, not even being in combat can stop them). The sheer level of mind games this lets you play with your opponent makes them worth taking right off the bat; Attacking isolated heroes, slipping past enemy lines to get at war machines, hopping onto abandoned objectives, all of it is incredibly easy for the Shadowstalkers and your opponent will have to account for all of it. And even if they do and you can't slip past enemy lines, you can still deploy them as a normal, if fragile, melee unit. Definitely worth a look, especially if you're rocking Khailebron (where they're at their most thematically appropriate).

===Behemoth===
;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-avataar-en.pdf Avatar of Khaine] : (Behemoth 130pts) So you built a Bloodwrack Shrine and had the statue of Khaine left over? Well GW have fixed that for you. Like 40k Eldar players you can bring your very own incarnation of war and murder to the tabletop. Except this one is an spiky iron golem animated by the prayers of the nearest Death Hag rather than a [[Grimdark|burning daemon animated by the soul of a dead warrior]]. This means that the Avatar '''NEEDS''' to be accompanied by a Priestess and keep her protected, otherwise it stands on the battlefield doing nothing each turn and you'll have wasted your points. This becomes less of an issue if you have the ''Blood Rites'' allegiance ability, which automatically animates your statue from turn three onwards, but seriously, you want this thing moving before then because it's a heavy hitter. In close combat it throws out four attacks at -2 rend and 3 damage, making it your primary character slayer. It also has a ranged attack that spews blood all over the enemy, with six shots at 3+/3+/-2/1 (higher rend than its version on Cauldron) it is nothing to scoff at, making it the near equivalent of whole ranged units in other armies ''(for example: it causes more wounds than a 10 man squad of Glade Guard)''.
:*One problem? The Avatar does very little other than be a simple beaststick, it does provide Daughter of Khaine a +1 bravery bonus within 7" although bravery is not one of the major problems the Daughters have to face ''(poor saves come higher on the list)'' though thankfully the bravery bonus applies whether the Avatar is animated or not, because it's still a giant religious icon of their war god.
:*Buff your Avatar with Mindrazor and watch him wreck everything in range. His attacks will always be four attacks with -3 rend and 4(!) damage each on the charge. And once in if he is in blood shield aura range he can last quite a while with a 3+ save and 9 wounds
:*Unfortunately the big issue with the Avatar of Khaine is that it comes on the Cauldron of Blood, which is just a much better use of it. It misses out on 3 inches of movement, but on the other hand, it can still move without being awoken and is accompanied by a Hag/Slaughter Queen and the extra attacks from her handmaidens, turning the Cauldron into an incredible beat stick once the Avatar is awake.

==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 dodads are going to be likely added to the faction rules as default.
===From Start Collecting===
; Blood Coven (not legal in pitched battles) : ''A Hag Queen, one unit of Witch Elves and a Bloodwrack Shrine.''

; Brides Of The Blade (from the new Start Collecting) : ''A Slaughter Queen, a Hag Queen, an Avatar of Khaine, one unit of Blood Stalkers or Blood Sisters and a Bloodwrack Shrine.''

Once per battle, the Slaughter Queen can automatically unbind a spell instead of rolling the dice like normal.

===From Battletome Daughters of Khaine===
;Cauldron Guard (120/540pt. min.) : ''A Hag Queen, two units of Witch Elves and two units of Khinerai Lifetakers.''

Adds 1 to the units in the Cauldron Guards run and charge rolls. Anything that lets you move into combat faster is good. The Witch Aelves can charge after running, making them ridiculously fast (especially with rerolls of 1s) and now your Lifetakers make their charge on an 8 rather than a 9 after landing, letting them more consistently get the charge and their charging bonuses.

;Slaughter Troupe (130/630pt. min.) : ''A Slaughter Queen, two units of Sisters of Slaughter and two units of Khinerai Heartrenders.''

Lets all the units in the Battalion fall back and still shoot/charge. Given that in 2nd Edition of Age of Sigmar, you can only shoot at units you're in combat with, this lends the Heartrenders a lot of versatility, not needed in the Khelt Nar subfaction but it still has a use since know you need to have charged to get +1 dmg from Mindrazor

;Shadow Patrol (130/770pt. min.) : ''Two units of Doomfire Warlocks and a total four units of Khinerai Heartrenders or Lifetakers.''

In your movement phase, instead of making a normal move with a unit from this battalion, you can say that it will navigate the shadowpaths. If you do so, remove that unit from the battlefield and set it up again anywhere on the battlefield more than 9" from any enemy units. Holy shit. 6 units teleport around each turn all with very annoying ranged spells and attacks. Threaten objectives, snipe heros, and just generally be annoying.

===From Grand Alliance Order===
;Bloodwrack Sisterhood (940 pt. min.) : ''A Cauldron of Blood, a unit of Bloodwrack Medusae, a Death Hag, and 3-6 units choose between the following: Witch Aelves Doomfire Warlocks or Sisters of Slaughter.''
: During your hero phase roll a D6 for each battalion unit within 3" of an enemy unit and within 9" of the Cauldron of Blood. On a 6 that unit can immediately pile in and attack as if it were the combat phase. This does not stop them from piling in and attacking again later that turn.

===From Broken Realms: Morathi===
;Vyperic Guard (140/1160 pt. min.) : ''A Morathi-Khaine, a Shadow Queen, 1-2 Bloodwrack Medusae or Melusai Ironscales in any combination, 2-3 units of Blood Sisters or Blood Stalkers in any combination.''
:Once per battle, a hero from this battalion can use a command ability without spending a command point. Now fits all your battleline.

;Scathcoven (140/560 pt. min.) : ''1 Bloodwrack Medusa or Melusai Ironscale, 1-4 Blood Sisters, 1-2 Blood Stalkers, 0-2 Khinerai Harpie units.''
:Units from this battalion do not take battleshock tests.

;Shrine Brood (120/980 pt. min.) : ''2 Bloodwrack Shrines, 2 Units of Blood Sisters or Blood Stalkers in any combination, 2 Khinerai Harpie units.''
:In your hero phase, you can pick any number of units from this battalion that are within 6 inches of Shrine from the same Battalion. 1 model from each unit picked is slain. You can heal 1 wound allocated to the Shrine for each Khinerai model slain and 2 wounds for each Melusai model that was slain. Not sure why you would take 2 Bloodwrack Shrines, and Melusai are pretty expensive per model to be sacrificing to keep your Shrine alive.

==Super-Battalions==
===From Battletome Daughters of Khaine===

;War Coven of Morathi (100/3160pt. min.) : ''1 Vyperic Guard, 1 Cauldron Guard, 1 Slaughter Troupe, 1 Scathcoven, 1 Shadow Patrol''
Do not take a battleshock test for War Coven of Morathi units while Morathi-Khaine is on the board

==Army Building==
If it ever come back in stock, begin with the Daughters of Khaine Blood Coven box, and magnetize the Cauldron/Shrine so you can reconfigure it as needed.

Start out with ten Sisters of Slaughter and two boxes Doomfire Warlocks. If you happen to have the Mistweaver Saih from Silver Tower, add her.

Then, add a second box Sisters of Slaughter and a third box Doomfire Warlocks. You now have twenty crazy murder ladies and fifteen crazy mounted murder mages and possibly a Wizard to keep them company.

If you desperately want Witch Aelves, get thirty of them at once. That MIGHT be enough to get them into combat. ''With Khailebron, you are not so vulnerable to enemy shooting = more surviving Witch Aelves, and you can buff them and then teleport them to take out any key units the enemy has (preferably on turn 2+ for that secure charge). Peachy says that he has seen a full unit of buffed Witch Aelves go through a Great Unclean One in a turn, so Witch Aelves are definitely not "bad" as an unit choice. But still take them in groups of 30.''
Witch Aelves are expen$ive as fuck, though, so look for bargains or used models if you want several boxes worth of them.

Two boxes Khinerai Heartrenders add even more ranged damage and allow you play a Slaughter Troupe.

Alternatively if you want to start a Melusai get two halfs of the new Shadow and Pain set (Hell get three it's such a good deal and you can just sell off the extra Ironscales) and get two Start Collecting box's. This will leave you will 30 Melusai, 10 Hapries, and as many Heroes as you could want. From there either expand with some more Melusai, add in some wildcards with Sisters of slaughter/Doomfire Warlocks, or hell add in Morathi.

==Allied Armies==

*'''Cities of Sigmar:''' Darkshards and Sorceresses give you good ranged support, but their melee infantry moves too slowly to work well with yours. Sorceress on Black Dragon can be fun if you have the points to spare, but anything she can do Morathi can do better, her only advantage is being cheaper. Scourgerunner Chariots throw out some good ranged support and 3 of them can take up a lot of room. Shadow warriors can be an alternative to Khineari due to their infiltration rules and shadow ability.

*'''Idoneth Deepkin:''' Ideally you want to grab some Ishlaenn Guard, as those guys will soak up obscene amounts of damage for you. Nothing else is really worth considering.

*'''Gotrek:''' Big Daddy Gotrek is back, and is one of the best killers in the game. Takes up half the average army if teamed up with Morathi and makes an awesome hammer and anvil combo. Hes slow through, so build around that.

*'''Bundo Whalebiter''': A Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant mercenary available to all Order factions. Taking him uses up your entire ally points allowance and he ignores any Behemoth or Hero limitations. A big terrifying centerpiece who can kick objectives around and instantly kill models by shoving them into his net. You can choose at the start of the Combat phase for him to fight at the end of the phase, in exchange for re-rolling failed hit rolls.

==External links==
Rules are here

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-caludron-blood-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-witch-aelves-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-sisters-slaughter-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-bloodwrack-shrine-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-doomfire-warlocks-en.pdf

{{Age_of_Sigmar_Tactics}}

Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Order/Daughters of Khaine

2021-11-05T17:10:27Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD: /* Why play Daughters of Khaine? */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Daughters of Khaine|Logo=Daughters_of_Khaine_battletome_art.jpg|Alliance=Order|Motto=Much bloodier and less NSFW than it appears.}}

NEW BATTLETOME IS HERE!

==Why play Daughters of Khaine?==
* You like the idea of playing an army of bloodthirsty, fanatical murderers but don't like Khorne.
* You like the continuation of Morathi's story arc, and want to see her make her mark on the setting.
* You always wanted to play as [[Drow]] in Warhammer (replacing spiders with snakes... though if you like spiders, them and other Drow aesthetic are a [[Homebrew]] away).

===Pros===

* 9/10 units and characters are [[Hot Chicks]] and [[Monstergirls]] in bikinis. With the right choices, you literally have an army of hot chicks and monstergirls in bikinis.
* Morathi-Khaine is one of the most powerful playable characters in the game. As a goddess with two bodies, she is on par with [[Alarielle the Everqueen|big]] [[Archaon|god-like]] [[Nagash|models]].
* Some of the best melee in the setting, only a few including the [[Sons of Behemat|really big boys]], [[Khorne Bloodbound|the best followers of big red]] or [[Lumineth Realm-Lords|the elven methheads]] can hit like you do in combat.
* They're a jack-of-all-trades able to fight in every phase with melee, shooting, magic, decent movement and bravery shenanigans.
* A monster that DOESN'T GET LESS EFFECTIVE IF IT TAKES WOUNDS (that also double as a giant angry statue of their god).
* Plenty of movement tricks. Your basic troops (Witch Aelves and Sisters of Slaughter) have the ability to run and charge with only a musician, everything else except the heroes and Cauldron of Blood/Bloodwrack Shrines have movement 8-14, you can reroll 1s to run turn 1, 1s to charge turn 2, plus Deep Striking Khinerai, Khailebron's deep striking ability and Lore of Shadows spells that boost movement.
* The new rules for shooting at characters give the enemy -1 to hit unless the target is a monster. Think the Cauldron of Blood or the Bloodwrack Shrine would count? Nope, they're not Monsters. Keep them close to a unit and watch them get to combat unmolested.
* The Cauldron of Blood, with the right combination of relics, Command Traits and prayers is straight busted, coming in with a nightmarish amount of damage output both in shooting and close combat, powerful support abilities and the ability to heal itself through multiple avenues for 300-330 points.
* Shooting is actually good now. Blood Stalkers have two shots now and with Morathi can shoot twice in a turn. 80 shots with 6's doing mortal wounds? Yes please. Also now an actual viable strat since they are batteline now.
* Unlike the Fyreslayers, you've got more variety of unit types so you don't have to worry about getting tired after painting the same colors for 60-80 models.

===Cons===

* These chicks are almost as naked as the fyreslayers, but they dont have fancy runes or 2 wounds to tide them over. Apart from their 6+ fanatical faith save, they have the usual Glass Cannon problem of being flimsy. Our Infantry has a 6+ Save, and the other units - apart from Morathi - are softer than their equivalents in other armies unless you make the right choices (such as Hagg Narr and/or throw in a Cauldron. And don’t forget the bladed bucklers)
* They are rather expensive to collect in dollars, and even spending lots of money on models can still leave you with a comparatively low model count.
* They do not play well with others. If you're playing Daughters of Khaine, you're playing them in a Daughters of Khaine Allegiance army. They are incredibly reliant on their faction abilities to turn them from a bunch of expensive fragile units with some pretty good close combat into a unified army with some of the most brutal close combat in the game. You can ally other stuff into them, don't ally them with other stuff. (Not entirely true, Khinari Heartrenders slot nicely into most Order soup lists as its a good deepstrike bully unit)
* Not a magic heavy army (but can be a strong magically defensive army). Bar Morathi-Khaine, you only have the Bloodwrack Medusa, who only gives you one spell/two dispels per turn without relics or artifacts and the Doomfire Warlocks. Mitigated a bit by the Doomfire Warlocks who can hit hard and get a casting bonus in units of 5 (which is what you want).

==Rulebooks==
{{AOSRulebooks|tome=Daughters of Khaine and Broken Realms: Morathi|points=[https://www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/5ae12374.pdf Daughters of Khaine Errata]}}

==Allegiance Abilities==
===Battle Traits===
; Fanatical Faith : Daughters of Khaine can ignore wounds allocated to them on a 6+. Sweet.
;Blood Rites : The fantasy variant of "Power From Pain". Every turn your units get a brand new special rule that stacks for the rest of the game.
:#'''Quickening Bloodlust:''' Reroll run rolls of 1.
:#'''Headlong Fury:''' Reroll dice rolls of 1 when charging.
:#'''Zealot's Rage:''' Rerolls 1s to hit in melee. In addition, an Avatar of Khaine always counts as being animated.
:#'''Slaughterer's Strength:''' Reroll 1s to wound in melee
:#'''Unquenchable Fervour:''' Your units rerolls saves of 1, and do not need to take battleshock tests.

===Command Traits===
'''Aelve Generals Only'''
#'''Bathed in Blood:''' Increase your wound characteristic by 1 and you can heal 1 wound at the start of each hero phase. Good on a Cauldron of Blood, but there are better ways to get your wounds back.
#'''Zealous Orator:''' Add 2 to the bravery charteristic of units wholly within 12". Worse than the old version for elves, better for snakes, and not as important anymore since Mindrazor now doesn't require higher bravery +1 dmg.
#'''Sacrifical Overseer:''' Add 1 to the hit rolls of the General's weapons. Lot of good options here, but this seems like a waste of a Command Trait, given you can have other better options.
#'''Terrifying Beauty:''' Subtract 1 on hit rolls against the General. Putting this on the Cauldron of Blood will drive your opponent insane. Stacks with the existing -1 against shooting for heroes close to a unit, meaning that everyone shooting at you will have a -2 to hit you.
#'''Master of Poisons:''' Add 1 to the General's weapons Damage characteristics. A Slaughter Queen with this will wipe out a unit a turn.
#'''True Believer:''' Ups the turn number for the unit's Blood Rites. Good to get an Avatar of Khaine awake turn 2 (turn 1 in a Hagg Nar army) and just generally a good choice.

'''BloodWrack Medusa only'''
#'''Arcane Mastery:''' Reroll 1 casting, dispelling, or unbinding attempt in your hero phase, really good since the nerf to shadowstone ,and Mindrazor had the bump up to CV 8 but whether it's worth not taking a subfaction for is debatable.
#'''Writhing Coils:''' Substract 1 from hit rolls made against this general. Always good, shooting more than melee, so might as well just take Khailebron and get teleporting while you're at it.
#'''Fearsome Presence:''' Reroll failed Battleshock tests for units wholly within 12". You're probably running snakes with a medusa general, so why not just take Zainthar Kai get +1 bravery and/or take the battalion that makes it so you don't take battleshock.

'''Melusai Ironscale Only'''
#'''Veteran of the Cathrar Dhule:''' Recieve a CP on a 4+ while this general is on the battlefield in the hero phase
#'''Impenenetrable Scales:''' Add 1 to save rolls for this general. Gives your Melusai a 4+ instead of a 5+ save.
#'''Fuelled by Revenge:''' Use your Wrath of the Scathborn command ability for free once per battle.

===Gifts of Morathi===
(Can be given to any Daughter of Khaine Hero)
#'''Crown of Woe:''' Subtract 1 from the bravery of enemy units within 7". This range doubles to 14" the first time the bearer slays an enemy model.
#'''Shadracar's Fang:''' One of the bearers melee weapons adds +1 to hit rolls. Also unmodified sixes do 1 mortal wound
#'''Amulet of Dark Fire:''' The bearer negates mortal wounds inflicted '''by spells''' on a 4+.
#'''Crone Blade:''' One of the bearers melee weapons heals the user by d3 at the end of combat phase if any units were slain with that weapon
#'''Thousand and One Dark Blessings:''' Nerf Bat Edition, No longer gives +1 save but instead gives you a 5+ FNP instead of a 6+
#'''Bloodbane Venom:''' If the bearer wounds an opponent but does not slay them, roll a dice after the combat phase. If the number equals/beats the victim's wound characteristic then it is slain outright.

===Artefacts of Shadow===
(Bloodwrack Medusa only)
#'''Shadow Stone:''' Add +1 to any casting attempts for Lore of Shadows spells. Helpful for making sure you get an important spell off. +1 to Casting the Withering is '''never''' a bad thing. Best way to get Mindrazor off. Nerf bat removed the re-reolling 1's on casts, still good but not the most have it was
#'''Rune of Ulgu:''' Bearer knows one extra Lore of Shadows spell. More options are never a bad thing.
#'''The Mirror Glaive:''' Each time the Bearer unbinds a spell, they can attempt to cast Arcane Bolt or Mystic Shield as if it was the Hero phase. If successful this spell can't be unbound. Better now that the Medusa can unbind 2 spells.
#'''Seven-fold Shadow:''' Once per battle, instead of moving you can set them up anywhere on the battlefield more than 9" from Enemy units. This uses up thier movement phase. You already have dozens of ways of teleporting units so this is a pass.
#'''Crystal Heart:''' [[Awesome |Bearer can cast a second spell in the Hero Phase. If they do they roll a d6, taking d3 Mortal Wounds on a 1.]]
#'''Shade Claw:''' The Medusa's Whisperclaw is now -2 Rend. Helps out your Medusa in melee, so worth considering if you have them on a Bloodwrack Shrine.

===Relics of Khaine===
(Daughters of Khaine Priests only)
#'''Blood Sigil:''' Bearer gains one additional Prayer. More options is never bad.
#'''Iron Circlet:''' Bearer re-rolls 1's when seeing if a prayer is successful. Prayers Manifest on a 3+ and all have very useful buffs so this can be helpful
#'''Rune of Khaine:''' Bearer explodes on death. Roll a dice. One 1 nothing happens. On 2-5 the unit that killed them takes D3 Mortal Wounds. On a 6, the unit takes D6. Works against any attack and doesn't have a ranged restriction so going by RAW, [[Just As Planned| your Hero can explode and do the Mortal Wounds against something across the table.]]. Main problem is that you want your Hag Queens alive as much as possible because Witchbrew is just that good. Witch Elves are your cannon fodder, and should really be dying instead.
#'''Crimson Shard:''' Add 2 to wound to wound rolls for one of the bearers melee attacks. Pretty solid on a Cauldron as they will be getting stuck into melee anyway.
#'''Khaineite Pendant:''' Bearer can Pray three times in one Hero Phase, but the first time you roll a 1 to manifest a prayer, they take d3 Mortal Wounds instead of 1. Extremely useful as your Prayers are all very useful. Being able to spam them is awesome. Probably your default choice.
#'''Hagbrew:''' Add +1 to Wound Rolls for the Bearer's melee weapons. Nice on a Hag Queen on Cauldron of Blood. [[Rape |Turns the Slaughter Queen on Cauldron into a death machine.]]

===Prayers of the Khainite Cult===
#'''Catechism of Murder:''' Pick a Friendly Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 14". Any 6's to hit explode and deal 2 hits.
#'''Blessing of Khaine:''' Pick a friendly Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 14". They re-roll failed FNP rolls from Fanatical Faith. With Hagg Nar, bucklers and the Cauldron buff, your units now have a 4+, then rerollable 5+ saves. You can take a charge quite happily, then murder whatever dared getting close in your turn with ease...
#'''Martyr's Sacrifice:''' Pick a friendly Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 14". Each time a model is killed in the Combat Phase, roll a d6. The dead model deals an extra Mortal Wound on a 5+ to a unit within 3". Stacks with the Bucklers.
#'''Crimson Rejuvination:''' Pick a friendly Daughters of Khaine unit within wholly 14", That unit heals 1d3 Wounds. Still can't target Morathi since her special rules don't allow her to be healed
#'''Covenant of the Iron Heart:''' Pick a friendly Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 14". That unit does not need to take Battleshock tests.
#'''Sacrament of Blood:''' Pick a friendly Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 14". That unit counts the current battle round as being 1 higher for determining Blood Rites traits. Stacks with other abilities that give this effect.

===Lore of Shadows===
The Lore of Shadows we all know and love is back! Note that Doomfire Warlocks are Wizards and can take a spell from here despite not being a Hero unit. EDIT: Doomfires cannot cast spells outside of their warscroll. But they are an impressive melee unit to compensate.
#'''Steed of Shadows:''' Casting Value 6. Caster can Fly and has a 16" Move.
#'''Pit of Shades:''' Casting Value 7. Pick an Enemy Unit within 18" of the caster, within line of sight, and roll 2d6. That unit takes 1 Mortal Wound for each point the 2d6 exceeds their Movement. Awesome against tough, but slow units. That Death player who keeps tarpitting you with blobs of 40 Skeletons? This spell was designed for you, followed up with a Bloodwrack Stare.
#'''Mirror Dance:''' Casting Value 6. Pick two Daughters of Khaine Heroes wholly within 18" of the Caster. Set them up more than 9" away from enemy unit, they cannot move in the following movement phase.
#'''The Withering:''' Casting Value 7. Pick an enemy unit within 18" of the caster within Line of Sight. [[Awesome |Until the next Hero Phase add +1 to Wound Rolls for '''all attacks''' that target that unit]]. You should always have this.
#'''Mindrazor:''' Casting Value 8. Nerf Bat Edition. Pick a friendly Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 18" of the caster. All of that units melee weapons gain an additional -1 Rend and gain 1 extra damage if that unit charged. Our Most used spell and a must have for the -1 Rend alone. No longer gives +1 dmg for having higher bravery, better against demons and undead, but in extended combat. But with the Khelt Nar sub faction you can retreat and charge, and you get an additional rend on the charge with Elves in Drachi Ganeth. But it also has a CV of 8 now making it harder to cast
#'''Shroud of Despair:''' Casting Value 4. Pick an enemy unit within 18" and within Line of Sight. They take -1 to Bravery until the next Hero Phase. If the Casting roll was 8+, they take -d3 Bravery Instead.

===Endless Spells===
1. '''Bloodwrack Viper:''' 40 points. Casting value 7. After this model has moved, pick one unit within 1" of it and roll 3 dice. For each dice roll that beats the wounds characteristic per model for that unit, one model from the unit is slain. Good at weakening units of multi-wound models, and will be a major thorn in the side of elite armies.

2. '''Bladewind:''' 40 points. Casting value 6. Any unit that was passed across by this model or is within 1" when it ends its movement suffers D3 Mortal Wounds. Enemy units within 12" also don't get the cover modifier for their save rolls.

3. '''Heart of Fury:''' 80 points. An Invocation rather than a spell. Subtract 1 from the damage inflicted (to a minimum of 1) for each successful attack targeting a Daughters of Khaine unit wholly within 12" of this model. Very nice defensively, but there's a catch. At the start of each battle round, Heart of Fury ends unless you roll a 4+ (add +1 if there's any friendly Avatars of Khaine within 6"). Good against armies with high damage weapons, though the caveat is a minor inconvenience and it doesn't work on special tricks (eg; attacks that deal Mortal Wounds in addition to normal damage).

==Temples of Blood==
You may claim your army hails from one of the six temples listed here. Each has unique rules for your army, a new artifact, command trait, or command ability.

'''Hagg Nar'''

*'''Ability - Daughters of the First Temple:''' Add 1 to the current battle round when determining the abilities gained from Blood Rites.

*'''Command Ability: Send Forth the Cauldrons''': Pick a friendly '''Hagg Nar''' Cauldron within 3" of a unit with 3 or more models and within 12" of a '''Hagg Nar''' hero. That Cauldron can move and extra 3", but this can't stack. While it's not easy to daisy chain your units and heroes to make it work, consider that the tax for this pretty good buff.

*'''Command Trait - Devoted Disciples:'''A'''Hagg Nar''' Daughters of Khaine model wholly within 12" of the general gets a 5+ Fanatical Faith save as opposed to a 6+.

*'''Artifact: The Ulfuri:''' Add 1 to the Damage characteristic of one of the bearer's melee weapons if they made a charge.

The nerf bat came for Hagg Nar, but left them with a couple of consolation prizes. It allows one selected unit to do its fanatical faith on 5+ combined with blessing of khaine and the +1 save from you cauldron you can give a unit of 30 witches a 5+ save (4+ with bladed buckler) and a 5++ fanatical save making the unit able to survive longer. By turn 3 your army is a killing machine and would be already in combat this is when things swing dramatically for Hagg Nar. While they can't re-roll hits anymore, they're faster and more survivable. On a unit of 20 witches that is 80 attacks and if you add mindrazor into the mix it's unlikely any single opponent can survive that number of paper cuts on the charge. While no longer OP or a must-take, it is now a good <s>Jack</s> Jill of all trades, master of none that's worth considering.

'''Draichi Ganeth'''

*'''Ability - Bladed Killers:''' Imrpove the rend characteristics of weapons weilded by the Witch Aelves and Sisters of Slaughter by 1 on the turn they charge.

*'''Command Ability - A Thousand Bladeforms:''' Add 1 to the hit rolls of a friendly Draichi Ganeth Witch Aelves or Sisters of Slaughter unit within 12" of a friendly Draichi Ganeth Hero.

*'''Command Trait: - Victor of Yaith'ril: Add 1" to the Bravery characteristic of all friendly Draichi Ganeth Daughters of Khaine units wholly within 12" of the general.

*'''Artifact - Death's Kiss:''' Add +2 attacks of one of the bearer's weapons on the turn they charged.

*'''Battalion - Slaughter Troupe:''' You may take up to two units of Witch Aelves in addition to any of the other required units in this Battalion

They swapped favoring snake heavy armies for favoring Witch Aelves and destroying armor. If you take the general on a Cauldron of Blood, that adds 2 to the Bravery of Draichi Ganeth units wholly within 12. Add a Bloodwrack Medusae and/or Morathi-Khaine to throw Mindrazor on units and you'll rain on the parade of armies like Stormcast, non-horde Chaos armies and Ossiarch Bonereapers. Combining the numbers of a horde army with the hitting power of an elite army, they're the best option for a melee-focused force.

'''The Kraith'''

*'''Ability - Disciples of Slaughter:''' At the end of the combat phase, roll a dice for each Kraith Sister of Slaughter that fought once in that phase. On a 5+, they can fight again.

*'''Command Trait - Bathe in Their Blood!:''' At the end of the combat phase, if the general is on the battlefield and any enemy units were destroyed by an attack made by friendly Kraith units, you receive a command point.

*'''Command Ability - Inspired by Carnage:''' Add 1 to wound rolls for unit for that combat phase.

*'''Artifact - The Venom of Nagendra: Once per battle, you can use it to deal D6 Mortal Wounds to an enemy but the bearer can't fight with their weapons in that round of combat.

When the ability goes off, you'll feel like top of the world, but when it doesn't you'll feel like a chump. Also, hope you like Sisters of Slaughter, because this Temple is near worthless without them. As it is, a decent option but inferior to the others unless you really want command points.

'''Khailebron'''

*'''Ability - Concealment and Stealth:''' Your enemy gets -1 to hit in the shooting phase against Khailebron units. This plugs one of your army's major weaknesses (getting shot to pieces)

*'''Command Trait - Mistress of Illusion:''' Subtract 1 from hit rolls for melee attacks made against the general.

*'''Command Ability - Masters of the Shadowpaths:''' At the start of the Hero Phase choose a friendly unit wholly within 12" of a Khailebron general. Pull them off the battlefield and Deep Strike them anyplace outside of 9 inches of the enemy. This unit cannot move in the next movement phase. Essentially turns all of your units into pseudo Khinerai units and [[Awesome|can even be used to pull them out of an unfavorable combat]]. Put Mindrazor and Catechism of Murder on a unit of Blood Sisters, teleport them behind enemy lines and watch them wreak havoc.

*'''Artifact - Whisperdeath:''' Pick one of the bearer's melee weapons. Hit rolls of 6 with this weapon deal 1 mortal wound to the target in addition to normal damage.

A tricksy temple, but amazing when you know how to use it. Having 1- to being shot at is wonderful given your low saves. Between the shooting debuff and teleportation abilities, shooting armies will hate the Khailebron Temple, especially Kharadron Overlords (suck it, you godless stunties!). Since the command trait is an ability not a spell your opponent will have to play around it every round. Just remember to keep your general out of harms way.

'''Khelt Nar'''

*'''Ability - Strike and Fade:''' Khelt Nar units can retreat and charge later in the same turn.

*'''Command Ability: Bleed the Mind''': Pick one friendly Khelt Nar unit wholly within 12" of a Khelt Nar hero. For every time a melee attack targeting the Khelt Nar unit rolls an unmodified 1, the attacking suffers 1 mortal wound. This, with bladed bucklers and the martyrs sacrifice prayer creates a very prickly unit that can easily bleed the enemy dry in a round of combat.

*'''Command Trait - The Circling Flock''': Once per battle, you can summon 1 free Khinerai unit consisting of 5 Khinerai Harpies of either type, deployed as per their "Descent from Above" rules.

*'''Artifact: Gaisa's Falx:''' Pick one melee weapon carried by the bearer. Each unmodified hit roll of 6 becomes two hits, roll to wound and save for each hit. Best used on a Slaughter Queen.

A Temple with a lot of dirty tricks. It lacks the punch of the Draichi Ganeth or the defensive power of Hagg Nar, but it gives a lot of unique ways to mess with your opponent. While a fun playstyle, and recommended if you really like Khinerai Harpies or want to mess with your opponent, if you want to play competitively, other temples are recommended.

'''Zainthar Kai'''

*'''Abilities - Khaine’s Essence:''' Add 1 to the Bravery of Melusai and Khinerai units '''Vault of the First Blood:''' Get a free artifact from the Gifts of Morathi table.

*'''Command Trait - Curse of the Bloody Handed:''' At the end of combat on a roll a die for each enemy unit within 3”, deal d3 mortal wounds on a 5+.

*'''Command Ability - Power in the Blood:''' Once per phase pick a friendly Melusai or Khinerai unit wholly within 12” and add 1 to their melee weapons until the end of that phase.

*'''Artifact - Crimson Talisman:''' Subtract 1 from wound rolls that target the bearer

The new Snake Heavy Army. Although the Command Trait is kinda eh, the command ability is where this subfaction shines. The Blood Sisters are already pretty crazy, then add on all the buffs, and this command ability to delete whatever you point them at. The bonus Bravery and a free artifact are always welcome.

For competitive play, Hagg Nar has been eclipsed by Draichi Ganeth, with Khailebron arguably being the best choice given the current shooting meta.

==Warscrolls==
The common keywords of these warscrolls are: '''ORDER''', '''AELF''' and '''DAUGHTERS OF KHAINE'''.

===Named Characters===

;'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_Morathi-Khaine.pdf Morathi-Khaine] and [https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Eng_TheShadowQueen.pdf The Shadow Queen]''': New from Broken Realms: Morathi, this version of Morathi costs 600 points and has both versions of the new goddess of murder on the board at the same time. Their stats are largely unchanged including importantly the 3 wound per turn rule (there are some changes: The shooting attack on the Shadow Queen is now a straight D6 damage attack, Morathi doesn't double casting range anymore but her personal spell is range 36), but there are some important changes. For starters, both versions are now immune to instant death (suck it Nagash) and wounds done to Morathi-Khaine now carry over to Shadow Queen, with both disappearing when the Shadow Queen goes down. You should also note that Morathi always counts as a general, even if you have another general, and the old trick of dealing wounds to her outside of the turn to get around her 3 wounds per turn thing no longer works. All in all, the selling point here is that you get her powerhouse casting, and command ability, while still getting the brutal close combat power, which is a hell of a selling point. These two can take on almost any named character in the game (even Gotrek will struggle) and at 600 points, they better.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos_the_blade-coven_en.pdf Morgwaeth the Bloodied and Hag Coven] : (80 points) The models from the recent Daughters of Khaine Underworlds warband. Functionally just a named Hag Queen with a range 2 dagger and a handful of extra models. Can now take artifacts and command traits, plus comes with the Hagg Narr keyword, but can take another Prayer. Let's get real here: the selling point is that her Warband can intercept wounds for her on a 4+. Almost auto include in the new battletome (unless it is indeed a typo and needs errata) as she is now 10pts cheaper than a Hag Queen with essentially 4-5 more wounds.

===Heroes===

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-slaughter-queen-en.pdf Slaughter Queen] : (100pts) The old Death Hag got split in two, the Slaughter Queen has pair of weapons: The "meh" Blade of Khaine which is pretty much a bog-standard weapon, combined with the a stronger but ridiculously named "Deathsword" which has a slightly better profile and does D3 damage; She is your primary priest, always casting on a 3+ but wounding herself on a 1. Unfortunately, her prayers are... weird, she isn't really a fantastic buffer for friendly units. is an incredibly unreliable way of tossing Mortal Wounds at your enemy and the other is a buff. That can only target her. Though to be fair, the buff is pretty good, increasing her meh knife's damage to D3, essentially matching her Deathsword, which will put the lady at 7 damage D3 attacks, enough to kill bigger units all on her own. Her other good prayer is the ability to fight twice in the combat phase, which you should use if she goes up against hordes rather than monsters. She can also have this ability as a command ability, allowing a friendly unit to pile in during the hero phase. The last prayer is an odd one, forcing your opponent to play "[[What|guess which hand]]" or suffer D3 mortal wounds... essentially a bizarre throwback to old legacy rules. In short, altogether she is a 5 wound 5+ save model who will die to angry thoughts if she gets to close to an actual combat. Leave her at home unless she's your general or you're running Shadowhammer compact; IF you take her as general her command ability makes your Witch Aelves kill more than what a Hag Queen would do, making her a better option in this case. *One thing to remember is that priests get an extra prayer from the list of khainite prayers, and therefore can actually pray twice in your hero phase.
:*She can also attempt to unbind one spell in your enemy's hero phase as if she were a wizard, which is nothing to be sniffed at. If you have Bloodwracks as well, you can effectively shut down your opponent's magic every turn.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-hag-queen-en.pdf Hag Queen] : (90pts) The slaughter queen's little sister and amazing supporting choice. She doesn't have the Deathsword, the ''Dance of Doom'' prayer, the ability to unbind spells, or any command ability. Instead she has a chalice of Witchbrew which allows a friendly DoK unit within 3" to re-roll wounds until your next hero phase AND makes your units immune to battle shock. She can turn a unit of 30 Witch Aelves into an unstoppable orgy of slaughter. <s>Until AoS2 comes in, two Hag queens are mandatory in pretty much any DoK list.</s> AoS3 is here and hags went to 100pts. This mixed with increase of the shooting meta makes hags an issue. However, for an extra 40pts (140pts total) its recommended to take Morgwaeth’s Blade-coven, the beastgrave unit. Same as a standard had except has a mini unit to assist, and on a 4+ you can transfer wounds from Morgwaeth to the unit. Side unit is two witch aelves, a sister of slaughter and a blood stalker. With the new battletome you have to roll to see if you get the rerolling and no battleshock on a 5+. But as the rounds go on these you get +1's as you get buffs. +1 on rounds 2, 3, and 4, so by the time round 4 comes you'll be rolling for it on a 2+, if she's still alive by then.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-hag-queen-caludron-blood-en.pdf Hag Queen on Cauldron of Blood] 220pts & [https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-slaughter-queen-on-cauldron-of-blood-en.pdf Slaughter Queen on Cauldron of Blood] 270pts : (Behemoth) A centerpiece in every sense of the word. It draws the eye and is absolutely essential for turning an assortment of powerful units into a coherent army. Basically a straight upgrade for one of the Queens with an Avatar of Khaine strapped to the same model; needing to be animated with prayers each turn ''(or wait for Blood Rites to kick in by turn 3)'' This also means that there is practically no situation where the Avatar will be without a Priestess to animate him since they are both sharing the same model in this case, making it a safer bet than marching either of them around solo where one or the other can get picked off. It also has extra attacks thanks to the attendant sisters and an added charge bonus which inflicts Mortal Wounds. It also allows DoK units within a diminishing range to add +1 to their save rolls, so this unit is definitely worth having considering how fragile the army is in general, though there really isn't much more to say beyond the standard rules for the Hag/Slaughter Queens. The Slaughter Queen on Cauldron of Blood is almost always going to be the general in any Daughters of Khaine army. It's buffs, bulk, command ability, and output are just too good not to use.
:*If you are still considering which way to go between the Shrine or the Cauldron. You are mostly weighing up whether you want the Aura of Agony for causing mortal wounds in a radius, or the Bloodshield for giving your sisters a +1 to saves. Everything else is pretty much the sum of the model's parts since the actual Shrine/Cauldron itself has mostly the same profile and attacks in either version simply added to whatever hero is mounted on top of it, which you could have deployed separately. However one big factor to remember is that the Cauldron of Blood can still move around the tabletop without having to animate the Avatar, leaving your Priestess to use a different prayer in her hero phase if you want to.
:*If you want a death-train, make a Slaughterqueen on this thing your general, then give her Mistress of Poisons, the Crone Blade and Catechism of Murder, wait for Turn 3 then charge something; you'll get +1 to the damage of all your melee hits since Mistress of Poisons works for all of the cauldron's attacks, and with Crone Blade on the Avatar's attack you get more than a chance to cause casualties and recover wounds, since it now does 4 damages per non saved attack, compensating for your fragility ( you still have 13 wounds with a 4+ save but some generals can be tougher); factor in Catechism of Murder ( solid, given this model has 19 attacks) and a self cast Orgy of Slaughter and... well, you won't regret skipping one of the temples for this. IF you don't care about the Crone Blade, take a Hagbrew instead.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-bloodwrack-medusa-en.pdf Bloodwrack Medusa] : (100pts) Oh boy, looks like GW gained a bit of our love for [[Monstergirls]], because the Bloodwrack Medusa got better ''and'' 40 points cheaper. They've gone from "a good choice for any list" to "you are playing this game wrong if you don't have one" status, expect to see them everywhere until nerfed into the ground. In addition to her pervious bits of goodness, her Whisperclaw now deals a Mortal Wound on an unmodified hit roll of 6, and while still a Wizard she gained an extra attack with her spear and can unbind an extra spell. Kept her absolutely brutal shooting attack, where you roll a dice for every model in a unit and every 5+ is a Mortal Wound, and has a metric ton of close combat attacks, with a theoretical maximum of 16 wounds (average dice rolls will probably render it closer to 5 or 6, depending on what turn it is).

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-bloodwrack-shrine-en.pdf Bloodwrack Shrine] : (160pts, Behemoth) While you should probably get a Cauldron of Blood first, if you wanted to keep the Queens and Avatar separate you will be left with a Bloodwrack Shrine, either that or you bought a second model. Benefitting from GW's seeming new case of [[Monstergirl]] love, it's only 50 points more than the Medusa on her own and 50 points cheaper than its previous cost while keeping all its goodies. It costs you 2 inches of movement but it more than doubles your wounds, gives you the Shrinekeepers attacks, the Bladed Impact rule AND gives you the Aura of Agony, which causes D3 mortal wounds ALL ENEMY UNITS within a 7" radius on a diminishing die roll, starting at 2+, which coupled with her Bloodwrack Stare means that the Shrine has the potential to be doling out a lot of mortal wounds in a given turn. They are also Wizards now, being able to cast/unbind a single spell per turn.
:* If you've got an extra Cauldron to assemble as one of these, remember that it's only 50 points more than a normal Bloodwrack Medusa, trading in those 80 points and 2 points of movement for double the wounds, the Shrine Keepers attacks and the Aura of Agony. That's pretty cheap all told, and since it's not a monster, it's still harder to shoot in AoS2, so it's worth considering.
:*Remember that a Bloodwrack Shrine can cast Steed of Shadows on itself to fly 16" and get that Aura of Agony + Bloodwrack Stare where it would hurt the most.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos_Melusai_Ironscale_eng.pdf Melusai Ironscale] : (110pts) Daughters of Khaine's newest Hero! Decently killy with okay survivability having 6 wounds ignoring spells effects on a 5+. But where she shines is in her abilities. Anytime she kills a model in combat she can give a unit of Melusai wholly within 12" an extra attack (Seeing as how her attacks do D3 dmg this should be relatively easy to get off, more so if you give her an artifact). Combine this with the new command ability given by the Zainthar Kai Temple and you'll have your squad of 10 blood sisters doing 50 attacks(!) along with whatever other buffs you've given them. Her command ability allows her to patch up a major weakness in snake armies allowing a unit to run with 2d6 instead of 1d6 and allowing them to run and charge for that phase. And finally at the end of combat on a 3+ an enemy within an inch takes a mortal wound it's not gonna win you games but it's nice. Overall a must have if you are running a Melusai army.

===Troops===
;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-witch-aelves-en.pdf Witch Aelves] : (BATTLELINE, Min:10, Max:30 100) The new battletome went and mixed it up a bit, giving Witch Aelves the Bladed Buckler rule which used to be unique to the Sisters of Slaughter. If you take the Buckler then they get a 5+ save (4+ within the blood shield aura) with any roll of a six causing an immediate mortal wound on the attacker. This and the ''Fanatical Faith'' allegiance ability has increased the Witch Aelves survivability somewhat. If you'd rather have them be more killy, you can swap the buckler for an extra sacrificial knife which grants them another attack, up to three per model, which makes them rather choppy for a cheap unit, this can be further upgraded thanks to the ''Frenzied Fervour'' rule which grants them a +1 bonus to wound whenever they are WHOLLY within 12" of DoK Hero in the combat phase, with each potentially throwing out 3 3+/3+/-/1 attacks per turn with rerolls depending on what turn it is, which isn't too terrible for a front-line unit. No matter what option you take they are still fragile though. Big units of 30 are currently staples of the tournament scene so make sure you take big unit so they can reach the enemy.
:*It's worth bearing in mind that if you took bucklers you should always take your save even if the enemy has a good rend value and your Witches actually have no hope of surviving. The save inflicts the mortal wound on a six after any rerolls but ''before modifiers'' such as rend or debuffs, thus you might get a free mortal wound or two on your opponent even though your ladies are caught in the headlights and can't do anything about it.
:*If you do the math, bucklers are better: slightly lower damage output ( a difference of decimals even when counting stacks of bonuses to attacks) but they double your odds of surviving a hit, which will leave more witches on the table for more attacks and chances of mortal wounds; consider giving the buckler to all of your witches or at least most of them.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-sisters-slaughter-en.pdf Sisters of Slaughter] : (BATTLELINE, Min:10, Max:30 120) The counterpart to the Witch Aelves took a different role with the recent update. They lost their bonus to saves in close combat and are just as fragile as Witch Aelves, who now share the Bladed Buckler rule. They can trade their shield in for the Sacrificial knife, which gives them an additional short ranged attack at the expense of some durability. Their unique special rule is that they can be chosen to pile in and fight up from up to 6" away rather than 3", which means they have a massive threat radius without even charging and can jump on to the enemy during his own Combat Phase. A good use of these ladies might be to hover around your own units and perform a counter-charge whenever one of your weaker units gets threatened, dog-piling on the enemy when he thought he had the advantage. Their long pile in means that they're also one of the only units in the game that can bypass the Idoneth Deepkin's Turn 3 combat priority or the weird Gloomspite Gitz Fanatic "Always Strikes First" ability. No longer recieve a horde bonus and are more expensive than Witch Aelves now.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-morathi-blood-sisters-en.pdf Blood Sisters] : (Optional BATTLELINE: Bloodwrack Medusa General, Min:5, Max:20 130). Your gorgon snake-chicks whose job is to be the army's elite melee anchor unit. Armed with Glaives and their Crystal Touch attacks, they can throw out a reliable amount of damage every turn. Glaives have three 3+/3+/-1/1 attacks at 2" range which would be decent before you consider rerolls from Blood Rites or further buffs from prayers. Sadly Crystal touch took a nerf and now activates at the end of combat and targets 1 enemy unit within 1". The main problem is that they cost quite a lot for only a few models, yes they have two-wounds each but they are still fragile with a 5+ save(unless you bring a cauldron, which you should) and even with Fanatical Faith they really don't have a ton of staying power (for example despite being an elite unit they are less durable than a Liberator or Chaos Warrior) so you will be feeling the loss of each one heavily. Keep them protected with the massive number of buffs you can pile onto them. Large units are also a must simply because of the MASSIVE discount they get in groups of 20. They still pack a punch, and with Morathi's new ability they can get +1 Attack, as well as +1 attack from the new Ironscale. They can also benefit from the ironscales command ability which lets them run and charge with a 2d6 Run move.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-morathi-blood-stalkers-en.pdf Blood Stalkers] : (Optional BATTLELINE: Bloodwrack Medusa General, Min:5, Max:20 140) Not Longer terrible! In the shadow and pain box blood stalkers have had an upgrade. Now back to 140pts, they have 2 shots each at a 3+/3+/-1/1 with unmodified 6's still causing a mortal wound. This means a unit of 5 can pump out 10 shots now. Added with the changes to Morathri, this means they can also shoot in the hero phase for a command point. So a unit of 20 could do 80 shots a turn! They still have their 24" range and movement 8, with 2 basic attacks in combat. These can now make a solid backbone of a low drop force as you can alpha strike your biggest threat turn one. Worth looking into. Can no longer re roll hit's with blood rites, but are now battleline.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-khinerai-lifetakers-en.pdf Khinerai Lifetakers] : (Min:5, Max:20 80pts) One of the new Khinerai Harpy units. Lifetakers behave pretty much like flying Witch Aelves. With a pair of average attacks and a version of the Bladed Buckler called the Heartpiercer Shield, which is essentially the same thing; granting them a 5+ save that causes mortal wounds to attackers on six. Strictly speaking they are worse in close combat than Witch Aelves, but they can FLY for one, as well as bein able to Deep Strike onto the battlefield anywhere more than 9" from the enemy. The real draw with Lifetakers over other similar units is that they gain +1 damage whenever they charge into combat and can also fall back from combat '''after''' they have completed all of their attacks on a die roll of 4+, so you can escape during an enemy turn and just charge them again on your own. Get enough of these together and they'll be taking anything down.
:* In the new meeting engagement format, these ladies are golden. At 14" movement and a smaller board size in meeting engagement, you are better off deploying them at the edge of the board with a Hag queen. Buffed with Witch Brew and Catechism of Murder, a small unit of 5 will rip any light unit of 10 to shreds. Battleshock will finish the job and you even have a 50/50 chance of backing off to capture the nearby objective. Since they are just 1 wound per model, it works to your advantage when counting wounds to compete for victory points in meeting engagement.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-khinerai-heartrenders-en.pdf Khinerai Heartrenders] : (Min:5, Max:20 80pts) The other of your two new Khinerai Harpy units. The Heartrender variant are your ranged specialists who can fling their barbed javelins up to 12" doing decent 3+/3+/-1/1 damage; although that's only one attack each. While this is actually pretty decent when you compare them to a similar unit like Prosecutors with Stormcall Javelins, Lifetakers come with even more special rules that make them useful. Firstly, they can Deep Strike, arriving anywhere on the table more than 9" from the enemy when you feel like, which is still happily within their shooting range, which also has their Rend characteristic boosed to -2 for that alpha strike attack. Allowing you to genuinely strategise with where to put them and what they can hurt. They can also shoot after running and fall back after shooting on a die roll of 4+, meaning that although 12" is quite a short range for a ranged weapon you have a chance of darting in and out an inevitable counter-charge when the enemy gets annoyed with you. They also have the Heartpiercer Shield which makes them more resilient though admittedly you don't want this unit in melee because they do so much better as a harassing unit.
:* At 90 points, it's not hard to get your points back for this unit in ways other than simply killing something outright. Drop two Draichi Ganeth Slaughter Troupe 5-Harpy units in your opponents back field and pepper a hiding hero with your Javelins until you can aggro one of his units to come take care of you. Note: Be mindful of your surroundings and don't drop into a bunch of gun lines... but if you do, they'll spend a turn shooting two 80 point units rather than your 300 point blobs of Witch's and Sister's. Anyways, if you get something to bite, let them charge you, then fly/run/retreat out of there ''towards'' your opponents now-isolated Hero and decide where to go from there.
:* Heartrenders can also serve as line backers, able to move and support your units where needed. Use this when faced against armies that put out more damage than they can handle, sitting them behind your hordes of Witches/Sisters to take the brunt of your opponents abuse and chucking Javelins at them then moving into combat to mop up whatever is left.

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-doomfire-warlocks-en.pdf Doomfire Warlocks] : (Min:5, Max:20 120pts) The only males in the faction that you'll see on the tabletop. These guys are actually incredible. They are excessively fast at 14" and they now come with two-shot crossbows they are still great, as they're pretty tough and units of them are collectively Wizards. This makes them incredibly versatile already, letting you play small units to either shoot Mortal Wounds or buff your squishy ladies, but the really great part is their unique spell. First, it's casting value 6, so very easy to get off, then you get +1 to cast if the unit has 5+ models and then its a damage spell that scales to your unit size, topping at a flat 6 Mortal Wounds at 10+ models. Six. Mortal. Wounds. If your opponent sees that even once, he will focus your Warlocks down, but that's alright, since it means ignoring your Sisters of Slaughter and as soon as those ladies are in melee, your Warlocks are safe again.
:*Another way to use them is to ignore their trademark spell and see them as a mobile buff support unit. Most time than not DOK tends to be a single directed steam roller which not many units to sit back and cap objectives. This is where The warlocks comes in, they are fast enough to cap and tough enough to stick a little longer vs smaller opposing units compared to using harpies for the similar role esp if they are within range to the blood shield! To top it off their insane 14" movement allows you to position your warlocks in such a way what they can be outside the 30" dispel radius from your opponent and still in range to buff your own units - So use them like the fluff - males whom are only useful as support units to empower our witches and cap objectives so the killing can be done by the girls of khaine.. I mean morathi...
:*[[Eldar |Even though they are Cavalry, there are multiple ways of being able to Teleport them into the face of your opponent on Turn 1]]. Taking a Shadow Patrol with two units of 10 Warlocks and a General with the Khailebron Command Trait can do just this. [[Rape |That is 6 Mortal Wounds plus 40 4+/4+/-/1 Crossbow shots, and whatever spells you loaded onto the second unit hitting your opponent at once]].*
:*Actually worth considering now since a 5 man unit gets +1 to casting now. Keep them out of range of ranged units and pump out those mortal wounds

;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/Khainite_Shadowstalkers_ENG.pdf Khainite Shadowstalkers] : (Min:9, Max:18, 100 points). Your Warcry Warband put into the main game. Unlike most Warcry Warbands however, it's actually pretty decent in Age of Sigmar. It has semi-decent damage output (a 6 inch range shooting attack that hits on 4s and wounds on 3s with no rend, 6s to hit are mortal wounds, and 2 4+, 3+ 1 damage melee attacks per model) with the main event being the unit champion (3, 3+, 3+, rend -1, D3 damage attacks). Enemies also have -1 to hit them in melee (making them tougher than they look), but none of that is why you take them. No, you take them because they can teleport around the battlefield at will. Even after being set up, they can bounce to any point on the field outside of 9 inches of the enemy, with no requirements (no CP, no magic, not even being in combat can stop them). The sheer level of mind games this lets you play with your opponent makes them worth taking right off the bat; Attacking isolated heroes, slipping past enemy lines to get at war machines, hopping onto abandoned objectives, all of it is incredibly easy for the Shadowstalkers and your opponent will have to account for all of it. And even if they do and you can't slip past enemy lines, you can still deploy them as a normal, if fragile, melee unit. Definitely worth a look, especially if you're rocking Khailebron (where they're at their most thematically appropriate).

===Behemoth===
;[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-avataar-en.pdf Avatar of Khaine] : (Behemoth 130pts) So you built a Bloodwrack Shrine and had the statue of Khaine left over? Well GW have fixed that for you. Like 40k Eldar players you can bring your very own incarnation of war and murder to the tabletop. Except this one is an spiky iron golem animated by the prayers of the nearest Death Hag rather than a [[Grimdark|burning daemon animated by the soul of a dead warrior]]. This means that the Avatar '''NEEDS''' to be accompanied by a Priestess and keep her protected, otherwise it stands on the battlefield doing nothing each turn and you'll have wasted your points. This becomes less of an issue if you have the ''Blood Rites'' allegiance ability, which automatically animates your statue from turn three onwards, but seriously, you want this thing moving before then because it's a heavy hitter. In close combat it throws out four attacks at -2 rend and 3 damage, making it your primary character slayer. It also has a ranged attack that spews blood all over the enemy, with six shots at 3+/3+/-2/1 (higher rend than its version on Cauldron) it is nothing to scoff at, making it the near equivalent of whole ranged units in other armies ''(for example: it causes more wounds than a 10 man squad of Glade Guard)''.
:*One problem? The Avatar does very little other than be a simple beaststick, it does provide Daughter of Khaine a +1 bravery bonus within 7" although bravery is not one of the major problems the Daughters have to face ''(poor saves come higher on the list)'' though thankfully the bravery bonus applies whether the Avatar is animated or not, because it's still a giant religious icon of their war god.
:*Buff your Avatar with Mindrazor and watch him wreck everything in range. His attacks will always be four attacks with -3 rend and 4(!) damage each on the charge. And once in if he is in blood shield aura range he can last quite a while with a 3+ save and 9 wounds
:*Unfortunately the big issue with the Avatar of Khaine is that it comes on the Cauldron of Blood, which is just a much better use of it. It misses out on 3 inches of movement, but on the other hand, it can still move without being awoken and is accompanied by a Hag/Slaughter Queen and the extra attacks from her handmaidens, turning the Cauldron into an incredible beat stick once the Avatar is awake.

==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 dodads are going to be likely added to the faction rules as default.
===From Start Collecting===
; Blood Coven (not legal in pitched battles) : ''A Hag Queen, one unit of Witch Elves and a Bloodwrack Shrine.''

; Brides Of The Blade (from the new Start Collecting) : ''A Slaughter Queen, a Hag Queen, an Avatar of Khaine, one unit of Blood Stalkers or Blood Sisters and a Bloodwrack Shrine.''

Once per battle, the Slaughter Queen can automatically unbind a spell instead of rolling the dice like normal.

===From Battletome Daughters of Khaine===
;Cauldron Guard (120/540pt. min.) : ''A Hag Queen, two units of Witch Elves and two units of Khinerai Lifetakers.''

Adds 1 to the units in the Cauldron Guards run and charge rolls. Anything that lets you move into combat faster is good. The Witch Aelves can charge after running, making them ridiculously fast (especially with rerolls of 1s) and now your Lifetakers make their charge on an 8 rather than a 9 after landing, letting them more consistently get the charge and their charging bonuses.

;Slaughter Troupe (130/630pt. min.) : ''A Slaughter Queen, two units of Sisters of Slaughter and two units of Khinerai Heartrenders.''

Lets all the units in the Battalion fall back and still shoot/charge. Given that in 2nd Edition of Age of Sigmar, you can only shoot at units you're in combat with, this lends the Heartrenders a lot of versatility, not needed in the Khelt Nar subfaction but it still has a use since know you need to have charged to get +1 dmg from Mindrazor

;Shadow Patrol (130/770pt. min.) : ''Two units of Doomfire Warlocks and a total four units of Khinerai Heartrenders or Lifetakers.''

In your movement phase, instead of making a normal move with a unit from this battalion, you can say that it will navigate the shadowpaths. If you do so, remove that unit from the battlefield and set it up again anywhere on the battlefield more than 9" from any enemy units. Holy shit. 6 units teleport around each turn all with very annoying ranged spells and attacks. Threaten objectives, snipe heros, and just generally be annoying.

===From Grand Alliance Order===
;Bloodwrack Sisterhood (940 pt. min.) : ''A Cauldron of Blood, a unit of Bloodwrack Medusae, a Death Hag, and 3-6 units choose between the following: Witch Aelves Doomfire Warlocks or Sisters of Slaughter.''
: During your hero phase roll a D6 for each battalion unit within 3" of an enemy unit and within 9" of the Cauldron of Blood. On a 6 that unit can immediately pile in and attack as if it were the combat phase. This does not stop them from piling in and attacking again later that turn.

===From Broken Realms: Morathi===
;Vyperic Guard (140/1160 pt. min.) : ''A Morathi-Khaine, a Shadow Queen, 1-2 Bloodwrack Medusae or Melusai Ironscales in any combination, 2-3 units of Blood Sisters or Blood Stalkers in any combination.''
:Once per battle, a hero from this battalion can use a command ability without spending a command point. Now fits all your battleline.

;Scathcoven (140/560 pt. min.) : ''1 Bloodwrack Medusa or Melusai Ironscale, 1-4 Blood Sisters, 1-2 Blood Stalkers, 0-2 Khinerai Harpie units.''
:Units from this battalion do not take battleshock tests.

;Shrine Brood (120/980 pt. min.) : ''2 Bloodwrack Shrines, 2 Units of Blood Sisters or Blood Stalkers in any combination, 2 Khinerai Harpie units.''
:In your hero phase, you can pick any number of units from this battalion that are within 6 inches of Shrine from the same Battalion. 1 model from each unit picked is slain. You can heal 1 wound allocated to the Shrine for each Khinerai model slain and 2 wounds for each Melusai model that was slain. Not sure why you would take 2 Bloodwrack Shrines, and Melusai are pretty expensive per model to be sacrificing to keep your Shrine alive.

==Super-Battalions==
===From Battletome Daughters of Khaine===

;War Coven of Morathi (100/3160pt. min.) : ''1 Vyperic Guard, 1 Cauldron Guard, 1 Slaughter Troupe, 1 Scathcoven, 1 Shadow Patrol''
Do not take a battleshock test for War Coven of Morathi units while Morathi-Khaine is on the board

==Army Building==
If it ever come back in stock, begin with the Daughters of Khaine Blood Coven box, and magnetize the Cauldron/Shrine so you can reconfigure it as needed.

Start out with ten Sisters of Slaughter and two boxes Doomfire Warlocks. If you happen to have the Mistweaver Saih from Silver Tower, add her.

Then, add a second box Sisters of Slaughter and a third box Doomfire Warlocks. You now have twenty crazy murder ladies and fifteen crazy mounted murder mages and possibly a Wizard to keep them company.

If you desperately want Witch Aelves, get thirty of them at once. That MIGHT be enough to get them into combat. ''With Khailebron, you are not so vulnerable to enemy shooting = more surviving Witch Aelves, and you can buff them and then teleport them to take out any key units the enemy has (preferably on turn 2+ for that secure charge). Peachy says that he has seen a full unit of buffed Witch Aelves go through a Great Unclean One in a turn, so Witch Aelves are definitely not "bad" as an unit choice. But still take them in groups of 30.''
Witch Aelves are expen$ive as fuck, though, so look for bargains or used models if you want several boxes worth of them.

Two boxes Khinerai Heartrenders add even more ranged damage and allow you play a Slaughter Troupe.

Alternatively if you want to start a Melusai get two halfs of the new Shadow and Pain set (Hell get three it's such a good deal and you can just sell off the extra Ironscales) and get two Start Collecting box's. This will leave you will 30 Melusai, 10 Hapries, and as many Heroes as you could want. From there either expand with some more Melusai, add in some wildcards with Sisters of slaughter/Doomfire Warlocks, or hell add in Morathi.

==Allied Armies==

*'''Cities of Sigmar:''' Darkshards and Sorceresses give you good ranged support, but their melee infantry moves too slowly to work well with yours. Sorceress on Black Dragon can be fun if you have the points to spare, but anything she can do Morathi can do better, her only advantage is being cheaper. Scourgerunner Chariots throw out some good ranged support and 3 of them can take up a lot of room. Shadow warriors can be an alternative to Khineari due to their infiltration rules and shadow ability.

*'''Idoneth Deepkin:''' Ideally you want to grab some Ishlaenn Guard, as those guys will soak up obscene amounts of damage for you. Nothing else is really worth considering.

*'''Gotrek:''' Big Daddy Gotrek is back, and is one of the best killers in the game. Takes up half the average army if teamed up with Morathi and makes an awesome hammer and anvil combo. Hes slow through, so build around that.

*'''Bundo Whalebiter''': A Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant mercenary available to all Order factions. Taking him uses up your entire ally points allowance and he ignores any Behemoth or Hero limitations. A big terrifying centerpiece who can kick objectives around and instantly kill models by shoving them into his net. You can choose at the start of the Combat phase for him to fight at the end of the phase, in exchange for re-rolling failed hit rolls.

==External links==
Rules are here

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-caludron-blood-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-witch-aelves-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-sisters-slaughter-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-bloodwrack-shrine-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-doomfire-warlocks-en.pdf

{{Age_of_Sigmar_Tactics}}

Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Order/Idoneth Deepkin

2021-11-05T17:08:02Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD: /* Why play Idoneth Deepkin? */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Idoneth Deepkin|Logo=Fucking_Idoneth.jpeg|Alliance=Order|Motto=Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters.}}

The [[Idoneth Deepkin]] are a faction which sees [[GW]] re-envision sea elves for the [[Age of Sigmar]] setting. Tragically lacking souls (so they've come to steal yours), the Idoneth are an army that rewards careful placement of models, a variety of units that provide rapid mobility and negative modifier shenanigans and some of the best allegiance abilities in the game.

==Why play Idoneth Deepkin?==

They are elves unique to AoS, and a rare example of sea elves with fleshed out lore and playstyle.

For more points:

'''Pros'''
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you want to play with [[Dark Eldar]] in a fantasy setting. Or you like the [[Dark Eldar]] playstyle but want a group that aren't [[Asdrubael Vect|huge]] [[Haemonculi|assholes]].
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you want to copy 40K's system of character protection (one of which is the, here ironically named, [[Fish of Fury]]).
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you love sea life!
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you love an army built around speed, speed and '''MOAR SPEED'''! An all-cavalry army not only benefits those who like all-cavalry armies, but every unit has the fly special rule. Combine this with the right Enclave and you'll outrun everybody but [[Nighthaunt]].
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you wanted more Dark Souls in your Age of Sigmar.
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Nearly all of your melee units hit like a runaway freight train.
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because [[Teclis]] wasn't a big enough [[Eldrad| dick]] already.
* Did I mention they are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters?]]
* You saw the 2018 Aquaman movie and like how the Atlanteans' armies look in battle.
* Uh, [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters!]]

'''Cons'''
* You're the only army with a Battletome from AoS FIRST EDITION (the other is getting a new battletome next), so... two editions behind at the moment, and with 3E shaking up things AND some of the original warscrolls outdated on the Battletome... yikes.
* Namarti units are quite fragile.
* Their bravery is mediocre, and they mostly lack the high wounds count or saves to take the lumps and keep going unlike their equivalents in other armies.
* Mediocre spellcasting unless you shell out the points (and a lot of money) for an expensive Eidolon of the Sea.
* Your army is mostly monobuild; you will not have a competitive list without the eel riders.

==Rulebooks==
{{AOSRulebooks|tome=Idoneth Deepkin|points=Generals Handbook 2020}}

The Idoneth Deepkin Battletome was released in April of 2018, and as such, this is the second-oldest active Battletome and thus relatively due for an update (only Maggotkin of Nurgle predates this one). That said, it was also the last new battletome released before AOS 2.0, so they very likely had the upcoming game changes in mind when designing this book. It's gotten to the point that the third edition of AOS came out and they ''still'' haven't gotten a new battletome.

==Allegiance Abilities==

===Battle Traits===

*'''Forgotten Nightmares:''' Your '''Idoneth Deepkin''' units can only be targeted with Missile Weapons if they are the closest visible target. Keeps your Heroes safe from shooting, though not from magic. Also note that you can use allies to shield your Deepkin with this as the rule stated that the Deepkin unit must be the closest unit. If there are no Deepkin units in range, then the attack must hit the non-Deepkin unit.

*'''Tides of Death:''' Each round, you get a different ability. After the fourth, it cycles back to 1.
*#'''Low Tide:''' Your units count as being in cover. Helps you advance without making you scramble to terrain.
*#'''Flood Tide:''' After running, your units can either shoot or charge (but not both).
*#'''High Tide:''' Units with this trait fight <s>before everyone else in melee</s> At the start of the combat phase now. Get Shipwrecked, Gristlegore. Also, there's a bunch of abilities that activate during this turn.
*#'''Ebb Tide:''' After falling back, your units can either shoot or charge (but not both).
**It's worth noting here that there are two alternate army list choices that can be made to alter this sequence's order (including taking both together for a third option):
***reversed order (via Tidecaster as General)
***Ebb replaced with Flood Tides (via the Fuethán enclave)
***both options (meeting both conditions)

*'''The Ethersea:''' You get to place up to two Etheric Vortex terrain pieces. Currently, the only existing Etheric Vortex terrain piece is the Gloomtide Shipwreck, which you can either split into two or buy and place two full ships of. The shipwrecks give your units a 6+ Save-after-the-save and have a chance to deal damage to enemies, so they are fairly useful, though less so in a pure Akhelian army. Errata'd so that the shipwreck must be placed more than 6" away from objectives or any other shipwreck.

===Command and Mount Traits===
==== Command Traits ====
#'''Merciless Raider:''' Can reroll run and charge rolls. Interesting for Steed of Tides shenanigans.
#'''Hunter of Souls:''' Reroll 1s To Wound. Shame this doesn't work on a mount's attacks, but still nice.
#'''Unstoppable Fury:''' During High Tide, your General adds +2 to his attacks. Again, shame this doesn't work on mounts, but it still makes an Akhelian King terrifying.
#'''Born From Agony:''' Your general has 2 more Wounds. Always nice to shrug off an additional Arcane Bolt.
#'''Nightmare Legacy:''' Enemy units within 12" take -1 Bravery. Not a strong effect, but in a fairly large bubble, so it evens out.
#'''Lord of Storm and Sea:''' +2 Bravery for Idoneth Deep in units wholly within 12". Since your units aren't exactly blessed with great Bravery, this is pretty nice.

==== Mount Traits: Deepmare ====
With Broken Realms, we got Mount Traits for Deepmares. Yes, Volturnos' mount Uasall can take one. One Deepmare may take one trait, for every battalion one additional Deepmare may take a different trait, so no trait twice and nobody gets two traits.
#'''Swift-finned Impaler:''' If the roll on the Deepmare Horn ability is 6, you do D6 instead of D3 Mortal Wounds.
#'''Savage Ferocity:''' Both Deepmare attack profiles get 1 extra attack.
#'''Voidchill Darkness:''' We got a winner lads, as every enemy model within 3" get to subtract 1 from their hit rolls.

==== Mount Traits: Leviadon ====
Also from Broken Realms, one Leviadon may take one trait, for every battalion one additional Leviadon may take a different trait, so no trait twice and nobody gets two traits.
#'''Ancient:''' You ignore rend of -1, but not -2 or more. This makes the Leviadons shiny new shell even harder to crack.
#'''Denizen of the Darkest Depths:''' One extra free Mortal Wound for the impact damage. Specifically states that you still do this extra Mortal Wound if you failed the roll to trigger Crushing Charge.
#'''Reverberating Carapace.''' Increase the Void Drum's range from 12" to 15".

===Artefacts===
'''Akhelian Artefacts''' 
Can be given to an Akhelian Hero (so far only the Akhelian King, because Volturnos can't get one):
#'''Sanguine Pearl:''' Gives a 5+ save after the save in melee
#'''Potion of Hateful Frenzy:''' Once per game active in the hero phase to get + 1 to hit and +1 to wound for a round. Then they take 1 mortal wound in the following hero phase. Your personal super sayajin mode. Combine with ''Unstoppable Fury'' to make your King utterly terrifying for one turn. And don't forget to draw your Falchion to make the most out of it.
#'''Ankusha Spur:''' +3" to movement and the mount rerolls 1s <s>to hit</s> To Wound after the Errata because someone realized that the King's aura already gives him the 1s To Hit thing regardless
#'''Armour of the Cythai:''' Enemy gets -1 to hit if they target the bearer in melee. You're probably better off with the pearl.
#'''Bioshock Shell:''' Once per battle at the start of the combat phase you can inflict D3 mortal wounds on each enemy unit within 3". You have so few ways of dealing Mortal Wounds that this is interesting. That said, is it really worth running this on a 230 point King?
#'''Abyssal Blade:''' You can improve the rend characteristic of 1 weapon carried by the bearer. Also increase the damage of that weapon by 1 if targetting SLAANESH. Too situational, but interesting.

'''Idoneth Artefacts''' 
Can be given to any Idoneth Deepkin Hero:
#'''Rune of the Surging Tide:''' Use at the start of hero phase once per battle. It has 2 modes: adds 1" movement to all friendly deepkin or takes 1" from all enemies until your next hero phase. Neither a big buff nor a big debuff. Kinda like a mini Chronomatic Cogs.
#'''Black Pearl:''' It is the fastest ship with Johnny Depp usually as the captain. Oops, wrong universe. I mean it gives a 6+ save after the save.
#'''Lliandra's Last Lament:''' Once per battle you can have all friendly deepkin completely within 18" skip their battleshock test. Very interesting, especially when running a big unit of Allopexes.
#'''Terrornight Venom:''' Pick a weapon. You can reroll wound rolls of 1 for that weapon. Also gives a permanent -1 to bravery to things wounded by that weapon. Not many weapons worth using it on.
#'''Cloud of Midnight:''' Once per battle at the start of any phase the bearer cannot be targetted for attacks, spells or abilities for that phase. They also cannot use attacks, spells or abilities that phase either. Due to a new FAQ when you activate this artifact the bearer is not counted for the Forgotten Nightmare rule.
#'''Whorlshell:''' Once per battle at the start of your hero phase you can pick an enemy HERO within 9" and roll 2d6. If you beat their bravery they get -1 to all hit rolls for the rest of the game. Since most Heroes you'd want to do that to have high Bravery... just take Brain Barnacles instead.

'''Isharann Artefacts''' 
Can be given to any Isharann Hero:
#'''Steelshell Pearl:''' Gives a 5+ save after the save against missile weapons. Interesting if you want a cheap sacrifice to soak up fire thanks to ''Forgotten Nightmares'', but other than that, it's useless precisely because of ''Forgotten Nightmares''.
#'''Mind Flare:''' Once per battle at the start of combat pick an enemy unit within 3". They get -1 to hit for that phase. Meh.
#'''Dritchleech:''' All Wizards except Idoneth Deepkin get -1 to casts while within 18". Interesting, but remember that this will affect allied Wizards as well.
#'''Auric Lantern:''' At the start of your shooting phase pick an enemy within 18" in cover. They dont get cover until your next shooting phase. Not too great, since your shooting isn't exactly stellar. Except the debuff is not limited to ranged attacks; it is just applied in the shooting phase!
#'''Disharmony Stones:''' Once per battle at the start of your hero phase you pick up to 2 enemy heroes within 12" and then the opposing player must make a choice. 1) they roll a dice for each hero picked on a 3+ they take a mortal wound. 2) They roll a dice for each hero picked and on a 5+ they take d3 mortal wounds. 3) Each hero picked takes d3 mortal wounds. Then roll a dice, on a 4+ the bearer of this artifact takes d3. Be very careful with these, as they might end up doing nothing or doing something and hurting you as well. Also worthless against armies without many Heroes.
#'''Brain Barnacles:''' Once per battle at the start of your hero phase pick an enemy hero within 12" and roll 2d6. [[Awesome|If the roll is equal or greater than the distance between them then that Hero gets -1 to hit and spell cast for the rest of the game]].

'''Arcane Artefacts''' 
Can be given to any Idoneth Deepkin Hero who's also a Wizard, so Tidecaster and Aspect of the Sea only:
#'''Arcane Pearl:''' Gives a 5+ save after the save against mortal wounds. Combines nicely with both the Aspect of the Sea's inherent toughness and the Tidecaster's Spirit Guardians. If you dont need another realm, pick Aqshy and get the 4+ mortal wound save item from there (Malign Sorcery Realm Artefacts are no longer valid in competitive play though).
#'''Sands of Infinity:''' Once per battle you can make a spell last for 2 rounds instead of one. You must use this before the cast and unbind roll. Very nice.
#'''Coral Ring:''' Gives 1 reroll for casting and 1 reroll for unbinding for the game. More reliability is never a bad thing.
#'''Bauble of Buoyancy:''' Gives fly and doubles their run roll. Just in case you want a Tidecaster to keep up with an Akhelian army. Consider picking up the Thermalrider Cloak from Aqshy instead (again, Malign Sorcery Realm Artefacts no longer valid).
#'''Kraken Tooth:''' Once per battle in your shooting phase pick an enemy unit within 12" and visible. Roll a dice and: 1: bearer suffers d3 mortal wounds, 2-5: enemy suffers D3 mortal wounds, 6: Pick 1 enemy model in the unit. If the wound characteristic is less than 10 they are slain. If it is 10+ they take 2d6 mortal wounds. The kraken does not mess around.
#'''Augury Shells:''' Once per battle at the start of the hero phase you can roll 2d6. You can choose to use that result for your casting roll or your enemies unbinding roll on spells cast by the bearer during that phase. You must choose to substitute the roll before rolling for the spell/unbind. Very nice. A terrible roll you can give to the opponent and a good one you keep to yourself. Again, more reliability.

===Lore of the Deep===

#'''Steed of Tides:''' Casting Value 5. Pick a friendly hero that is not a monster within 6". Remove them from the table and set them up within 24" of their original spot and outside of 9" of enemies. This counts as their movement in the movement phase. The Hero does not need to be an Idoneth Deepkin.
#'''Abyssal Darkness:''' Casting Value 5. Friendly deepkin are treated as being within cover while wholly within 9" of the caster until your next hero phase. Entirely worthless on your first turn <s>and worthless on any other turn if you have a Leviadon</s> This is no longer true. In fact, imagine Ishlaen Guard with a Leviadon plus this spell. Damn near impregnable.
#'''Vorpal Maelstrom:''' Casting Value 6. Pick a spot within 18" of the caster that they can see. Roll for each enemy unit within 3" of that spot, if the dice is less than or equal to the number of models in that unit they take d3 mortal wounds.
#'''Pressure of the Deeps:''' Casting Value 7. Pick an enemy they can see within 12" and roll a dice. If you beat their wound stat they are slain. Interestingly you pick a ''model'' with this, not a unit. So just point at that icon bearer in the Pink Horror unit to seriously piss your opponent off.
#'''Tide of Fear:''' Casting Value 6. Pick an enemy the caster can see within 12". Until your next hero phase that unit gets -1 to hit and to bravery. Nice, but remember that your Aspect of the Sea can do that to D6 units. Better yet, combine the two to make sure one enemy unit in particular is utterly screwed.
#'''Arcane Corrosion:''' Casting Value 6. This auto targets the closest enemy. Measure the distance between the caster and that unit. If the distance is: 12" or less: 1 mortal wound. 13-24": 2 mortal wounds. 25-36": 3 mortal wounds. 37-48" 4 mortal wounds. Such a weird spell. Interesting in that it is a damage spell that can be used turn 1, as most damage spells have too short a range for that to work, but ''Arcane Corrosion'' can't just be used turn 1, it's practically guaranteed to do quite a bit of damage then.

===Isharann Rituals===
Deepkin can cast 1 ritual a turn. At the start of your hero phase you declare which ritual you wish to cast, pick an ISHARANN HERO that is more than 9" away from an enemy and roll 2d6. On a 10+ the ritual succeeds and if not then nothing happens. You get +1 if the caster is within 1" of a Gloomtide Shipwreck, +1 if the caster is a PRIEST (i.e. a Soulscryer), +1 for each non priest Isharann heroes within 3", and +2 for each priest Ishaaran hero within 3". This is not a spell and cannot be unbound. They have no range, they simply affect the game. Be aware that mathematical your have to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-4-gLlF0uw fish] for at least a +3 for a better then 50/50 chance. So if your planning on needing a ritual to go off try and get at least two priests and keep them close to keep a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-4-gLlF0uw floating] +3 to cast them that can be further increased by more heroes or a Shipwreck if you desire.

The 3 Rituals are:

#'''Ritual of Erosion:''' Until your next hero phase your enemy does not get a cover bonus. Your go-to if you don't have an Eidolon around. No cover does horrible things to bulwark armies like Eternal Guard-Wanderers and Freeguild.
#'''Ritual of Rousing:''' Heal 1 Wound on each EIDOLON and they can reroll all failed hit and casting rolls until your next hero phase. In case you didn't realize, this is horrifying on an Aspect of the Sea with his two spells per turn.
#'''Ritual of Tempest:''' Until your next hero phase enemy models cannot fly. Unless the table is littered with terrain, this really only helps against Kharadron,gloomspite (squigs) and Nighthaunts, but it can be very good against. Although, shutting down your opponents ability to fly over your units means that they are going to have to fight through the rest of your army.

==Warscrolls==
===Named Characters===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Volturnos.pdf Volturnos, High King of the Deep]:''' [270 pts.] An Akhelian King +1. For a measly 40 points more, Volturnos gets another swing with his weapons and far better buffs, such as the reroll-aura being extended to 18" and all Deepkin within that bubble also getting +1 to Bravery. But the real kicker is his shield: Whenever he's affected by any spell, you can choose to roll a D6 and on a 3+ that spell doesn't affect him (but works normally on everything else). Not only does that keep him relatively safe from enemy debuffs and damage spells, it also means you can drop ''Vorpal Maelstrom'' on top of him when he's surrounded by enemies. After Broken Realms: Morathi, he now gets potential access to a Deepmare Mount Trait, finally balancing out some of the downsides to having to take a named character as your general for his superior High Tide Command Ability.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Lotann.pdf Lotann, Warden of the Soulledgers]:''' [70 pts.] Aka Octobro. With a fairly standard Hero statline but slightly above-average damage output thanks to the Ochtar, he's not too shabby on his own. Especially his 5+ Save-after-the-save is appreciated since he can't take Artefacts. But what you really take him for is his buff, giving Deepkin in general +1 Bravery and Namarti in particular the ability to reroll 1s To Hit in a <del>massive</del> completely within 12" bubble. Note that his bubble doesn't specify melee, so feel free to use it to boost those Reavers' shots. That said, if you play mostly Akhelians, then the Akhelian King does the buffing better.

===Heroes===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_King.pdf Akhelian King]:''' [230 pts.] As mentioned above, the generic Akhelian King pales in comparison to Volturnos, but that doesn't mean he's bad. He's worse at everything, but can take Traits and Artefacts, which can combine to make him either tougher or killier or supportier than Volturnos, though never all three (there is also nothing stopping you from taking one alongside Volturnos if you really want to). Whatever you pick, the Akhelian King is always a fast, reasonably tough and extremely killy Hero who provides good support to your Akhelians. His main weapon is either a Greatsword or a Bladed Polearm; the latter is better provided you can keep charging (perfect time to take advantage of Ebb Tide): 2", -2 Rend, and trades one attack for dishing out 3 damage instead D3 when he charges. If you can't reliably charge each time, the Sword and Spear actually mathhammer out to very similar damage (we are talking fractions here). One other thing he has over Volty is that you can stow the Shield and Draw the Falchion. This lowers his Save to a 4+, but gives you 3, 3+/4+/-/1 Attacks when when you really want to make sure something is dead.
**(Note: Realm Artefacts from Malign Sorcery are now invalid)... Make Volturnos jealous of your prowess by giving your Akhelian King the Incandescent Rageblade from Aqshy. Having 1 of the bearers melee weapons scores 2 hits instead of 1 PLUS an extra attack profile that can be buffed by either the King's own Command Ability and/or the Unstoppable Fury command trait (in High Tide only) will please you.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Isharann_Tidecaster.pdf Isharann Tidecaster]:''' [100 pts.] A fairly survivable support caster with access to a number of very interesting spells. All in all, you only pick the lass for two reasons: One, you want a Wizard but don't have enough points for an Aspect of the Sea. Two, you take her as your general, because she can reverse Tides of Death. Combined with the Fuethán turning ''Ebb Tide'' into ''Flow Tide'', this will give you a very fast, very aggressive army.
**Another use, that pairs well if your going to have her sit out of combat and only included because of her ability to flip the tide, is to give the Arcane Corrosion spell, and use her as a little impromptu artillery piece. Putting her in the back corner and spamming the spell makes her an effective choice for throwing some MW downrange.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Isharann_Soulscryer.pdf Isharann Soulscryer]:''' [130 pts.] Count von Count here is a support character through and through. Fragile, with only milquetoast attacks, but blessed with a combo of bonus effects in that he can outflank along with 2 other Deepkin units (3 if you choose the Briomdar enclave) and on top of that the ability to add 3 to Deepkin charge rolls so long as they charge the one unit he points at. Also allows for some targetting shenanigans with ''Forgotten Nightmares'', as you can force your opponent's backfield fire support to shoot your nigh-invulnerable Ishlaen Guard. Be aware that his special rule, seeker of souls, makes it so that Idoneth units within 12” have to charge the unit marked with this ability if they are going to charge anything this turn. You cannot opt out of this bonus, as every unit within 12 of the target must add 3 inches to their charge.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Isharann_Soulrender.pdf Isharann Soulrender]:''' [80 pts.] The Soulrender wants to be a hybrid Hero killer/buffer. The latter role he pulls off remarkably well, reviving D3 plus however many models his Hook killed that turn Namarti models at the end of your battleshock phase. The former role... eh. His two hook attacks are fairly decent, with a rule that makes it better against Heroes, but it will take some prior damage for him to take down any Hero with 2 damage 2 attacks, even with the fish pitching in.

===Eidolon of Mathlann===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Eidolon_of_Mathlann_Storm.pdf Aspect of the Storm]:''' [330 pts.] With Broken Realms the Eidolons were finally revamped and since GW doesn't like updating the warscrolls on their site, that one is now out of date. The Aspect of the Storm remains the melee fighter he already was and his tricks are essentially the same. With 12 Wounds and a 3+ save he is happy to get stuck in there and with his two weapons in hand he is sure to bring the hurt. On the charge he is allowed to heal D3 Wounds, gains a fifth attack and one extra damage on his Spear and for the kicks he gets to retreat and charge again. His Stormshoal fish keep their attack, but now also provide him with a 5+ shrug. Pulling an enemy hero into the deeps no longer makes that hero worse at hitting and instead allows the Eidolon to hit on 2s with his own weapons and the Stormshoal on 3's. Why make the return of the enemy worse, if you can finally kill him outright? Lastly, his Drenched with Hate ability allows to add 1 to all wound rolls for friendly Idoneth wholly within 18". At 330 points, this Eidolon is finally playable, blends lesser units and Heros with 8 or less wounds will fold before his awesome power.
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Eidolon_of_Mathlann_Sea.pdf Aspect of the Sea]:''' [330 pts.] You guessed it, this warscroll is now also out of date. Like his more murderous brother he got blessed with a 5+ shrug. He retains his vital +3 Bravery bubble, now as wholly within 18". Still very important to keep those Namarti where they are ought to be. The new Dormant Energies rule finally allows rerolls for all his magic rolls instead of only one, and if you don't use any of these rerolls in your hero phase, he gets D3 wounds back. Nice. His Weapons remain untouched, so while he wont kill as hard as the Aspect of the Storm, he still makes a good account of himself. As a Wizard, he casts and unbinds twice and boasts two spells. One either puts D3 Mortal Wounds on an enemy heals a Idoneth unit for D3 wounds, not bringing anyone back from the dead though. The other punishes D6 enemy units with a -1 to hit and Bravery until your next hero phase. He too dropped down to 330 points. Yes, this does indeed mean that since he was released he dropped by 110 points, a full quarter of his original cost. He too is finally playable, his biggest weakness being the short range of his spells.

===Troops===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Namarti_Thralls.pdf Namarti Thralls]:''' (Battleline, NAMARTI, 120, Min:10). Namarti Thralls are the quintessential aelven infantry: Extremely fragile and insanely killy. Seriously. Wildwood Rangers wish they were this scary. They attack with the standard elite infantry profile of 2 attacks 3+/3+/-1/1, but with the bonus of adding another attack against 1 Wound models and adding 1 to the damage against models with 4 or more Wounds. However, they also run around with 1 Wound, a 5+ Save and a paltry Bravery of 6. They also have Icon Bearers who gain one more attack and lets them reroll battleshock. Updated FAQ states that you can have 1 Icon bearer per every 10 models. The only thing that holds them back is that their weapons only have 1" of range, so you need to be careful with how to place them.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Namarti_Reavers.pdf Namarti Reavers]:''' (Battleline with an Isharann Hero as general, NAMARTI, 115, Min:10). Namarti Reavers are fast (8" and rerolls run) and equipped with really weird bows. At 18", they get one shot at 4+/4+/-/1, which isn't exactly stellar. At 9", they instead get three shots at the same profile. Still not incredible, but that sure is a lot of shots. And if they get into melee? Each of them has a Sword-Liberator's worth of attack. So these are Archers that are only effective at extremely short ranges. Think of them as less versatile but more killy Shadow Warriors and you're not far off.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_Ishlaen_Guard.pdf Akhelian Ishlaen Guard]:''' (Battleline with an Akhelian Hero as general, AKHELIAN, 155, Min:3) . Defendy cavalry. Huh. Ishlaen Guard is fast and has decent damage output, but their true strength lies in their shields. [[Awesome|They ignore Rend]] and gain +1 to their saves when they charge, which they will since they move 14" and reroll charges thanks to their musician. So the opponent has to throw Mortal Wounds at them just to reliably get past their saves and even then each of the buggers has 4 Wounds.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_Morrsarr_Guard.pdf Akhelian Morrsarr Guard]:''' (Battleline with an Akhelian Hero as general, AKHELIAN, 195, Min:3) Same basic profile as the Ishlaen, but with 1 less attack on the weapons and no ability to ignore Rend. This seems lacking, especially considering they cost thirty points more. But then you notice that their spears gain Damage 2 and -2 Rend on the charge and that they can, once per game, drop 0.83 Mortal Wounds per rider on whatever pisses you off and you realize that they are wall breakers instead of walls. That said, just because they're missing the defensive abilities of the Ishlaen, that doesn't mean they're frail, as they still rock 4 Wounds with a 4+ Save. Got jacked up to 170 points in GHB 2019, not enough to make a massive difference.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_Allopexes.pdf Akhelian Allopex]:''' (AKHELIAN, 110, Min:1, Max:3, Website Warscroll no longer up to date.) DUUNNN DUNNN… DUUUUNNNN DUUN… DUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDUN... Chariots in all but name. 14" flying, 8 wounds, 4+ save and no longer a Monster, so let's get to cover. Each has two riders, one who swings a sword and one of which mans the gun. One option is the Razorshell Harpoon, blasting away four shots 3+/3+/-1/1 Damage. The other is the Retarius Net Launcher, who slings out 1 shot 3+/3+/-/1. While that damage is worse than the Harpoon, you only need to hit your target for the prize - your fancy new rule "Entangled" triggers and the hit unit cannot pile in this turn. This means you get to take a nice old bite out of their flank with basically no return. Nice. The ranged options can be mixed within one unit now. In Melee the Crew stabs and prods the enemywith 6 attacks, hitting and wounding on 3s bcause you are aelves, but no rend. The shark itself doesn't have fins anymore and the bite changed a lot. It is now 3 attacks, 3+/3+/-2/2 Damage. If any enemy unit within 3" has suffered wounds or lost models this turn you get an extra bite, so let the crew swing first if you failed your shooting. Very nice with a Soulscryer. Finally, they can be taken in units of up to 3, which is very risky due to Bravery 6, but with a potentially huge payoff. In exchange, units of them make for an incredible target for the Akhelian King's Command. It'd be wasted on a single Allopex but on a unit of three? Oh dear. Just make sure you use Inspiring Presence on them until ''High Tide'' rolls around. Now at 110 points, so you can consider this living cruise missile.

===Behemoths===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_Leviadon.pdf Akhelian Leviadon]:''' [340 pts.] Sea turtles, mate! Blessed be Morathi's treacherous ways, because finally the Leviadon has a warscroll that wasn't left in some half-baked beta state! The warscroll on the Website is currently not up to date. A fixed 10" flying move, a massive 16 wounds and a initial save of 2+ make this a tough shell to break. "Initial save?" you ask? Why yes, for as long as he only suffers 8 wounds this turtle now has a 2+ save, after which it starts to degrade increasingly fast to a 3+, when he has suffered 12 wounds it's a 4+ and on it's last fin it's save is a sad 5+, but at this point he is dead anyway. The weapons that this beast can bring to bear however will make damn sure that whoever breaks it's carapace will pay dearly for it. Its Razorshell Harpoon Launchers buffed to 8 Attacks 3+/3+/-1/1, delivering Dakka from 24". Its crew rather inconsequentially poke six times with no rend, and the real hurt comes from the turtle itself. Its fins cleave four times with 2" 2+/3+/-1/ starting at four damage a swing, that's sixteen wounds you can punch in somewhere. Its bite decided that it's old swingy ways are for losers, so it got two attacks, hitting on 2s, degrading as the Monster takes damage, wounds on a fixed 2+, -2 rend and three damage. No more sadness with a D6 roll for the damage done. In addition if you roll an unmodified hit roll of 6, you do 3 Mortal wounds now, or 6 if the target is a fellow Monster. And the Attack sequence actually ends now! Amazing! After you make a charge move you already do damage. Like the Deepmare of your Kings, you roll a D6, on a 2+ the charged unit suffers D3 Mortal Wounds or D6 if the unit's models only have 1 wound. This butchers small models, so Clanrats beware. We are not done yet. The old useless cover of the Void Drum is gone, now instead IDK units with 8 wounds or less and wholly within 12" just get +1 to their save. This is better than cover and stacks with it. If your Ishlaen Guard are here Turn 1, they have a 2+ unrendable save. Close by Namarti benefit even more, gaining +1 to hit in the Void Drums bubble, which is clearly intended to make them more of a viable choice. 340 points, Monster and a Behemoth.

==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.
===From Battletome Idoneth Deepkin===
*'''Royal Council:''' (610pt. min.) [Battalion: 140pt.]
''Requires an Akhelian King (Or Volturnos), a Tidecaster, and a Soulscryer. ''

Adds a new Command Ability, if the Akhelian King is the general. You can add 3" move until next hero phase for 3 friendly Idoneth Deepkin within 12" of the Akhelian King. The Soulscryer and the Tidecaster have to be within 3" of the Akhelian King to use this. Effectively nerfs the Soulscryer's ability to outflank because he needs to be within 3" of the King to use the Ability of this Battalion (unless you take an extra Soulscryer via the Ionrach enclave). Either way, taking the King as general means you can't reverse the tides with the Tidecaster.

*'''Akhelian Corps:''' (830pt. min.) [Battalion: 100pt.]
''Requires a Akhelian Leviadon, 2-4 units of Akhelian guards and 1-2 units of Akhelian Allopexes''

You can reroll a hit, a wound, a save, a run or a charge roll for one unit of this battalion wholly within 12" of the big turtle per phase.

*'''Namarti Corps:''' (660pt. min.) [Battalion: 100pt.]
''Requires a Isharann Soulrender, 2-6 units of Namarti Thralls and 2-4 units of Namarti Reavers''

The Soulrender resurrects 3 models instead of D3 with his Lurelight ability.

*'''Alliance of Wood and Sea:''' (1410pt. min.) [Battalion: 140pt.]
''Requires (deep breath....) a Isharann Tidecaster, 2 units of Akhelian guards, a unit of Akhelian Allopexes, a unit of Namarti Thralls, a unit of Namarti Reavers, and some Sylvaneth - a branchwych, 2 units of Dryads and a Treelord Ancient''

The Sylvaneth in the Battalion benefit from Emissary of the Deep Places regardless of your chosen Enclave.

Essentially a full Start collecting box of Sylvaneth, plus 4 more dyads. Also smart to buy one Awakened Wyldwood since the Treelord Ancient's ability Silent Communion gives you one per battle despite your Sylvaneth otherwise not having access to tree generation. Ideal for an existing Sylvaneth players wanting to ''branch'' out to something new (pun intended). But does it work as an useful army?

Other useful considerations would be that the two Sylvaneth Wizards in the Battalion don't have access to non-Warscroll spells, and especially considering that the one spell on the Treelord Ancient's scroll depends on Awakened Wildwoods to be useful, it's probably wise to take at least one Sylvaneth Endless Spell (or generic one for that matter) to give them something to do. Furthermore, Dryads are one of those units that doesn't perform well at their MSU size of 10 (getting a +1 to Save for 10+ models), so you should go ahead and plan on at least two units of 20 models (if not 30). Additionally, the added artefact you'll be getting from this Battalion will be wasted if you don't take at least one additional Idoneth Hero (since these Sylvaneth still count as Allies for the purposes of doling out artefacts). Finally, since the Allied Dryads don't actually count as Battleline (despite what Azyr says), you'll either need another unit of Namarti (if you take the Tidecaster as your general), or one of the Akhelian Kings (to make the Eels Battleline). Essentially, the Battalion is more for flavor, as it's super limiting of what you can actually end of taking in a 2000 pt army, but it could still be fun (especially if they update the Sylvaneth scrolls).

You could add two units of Kurnoth Hunters as allies (given anyone playing this will most likely have some lying around), but they wouldn't get the Tides Of Death (unless you went Ionrach).

===From Battleforce Boxes===
*'''Deepsurge Raiding Party''' (660pt. min.) (not legal in matched play)
''Requires an Isharann Tidecaster, 1 unit of Akhelian Allopexes, 1 Unit of Akhelian Morrsarr Guard or 1 unit of Akhelian Ishlaen Guard, 1 unit of Namarti Thralls, 1 unit of Namarti Reavers ''

This gives the Tidecaster the ability to negate the first wound allocation to a model from the battalion instead of itself.

===From Broken Realms: Morathi===
*'''The Bloodsurf Hunt''' (570pt. min.)
''Requires an Akhelian King, 1-2 units of Akhelian Allopexes, and locks you into the Ionrach Enclave''

Kind of an interesting battalion choice, if you've ever looked at your sharks and wanted them to be meat shields for your glorious King. The Akhelian King model becomes a named character, Nemmetar, and gains the Lord of Storm and Sea command trait. Nice. BUT ALSO add 1 to hit rolls for your sharks' Barbed Hooks and Blades while wholly within 12" of Nemmetar. In addition, on a 2+ you can swap wounds from Nemmetar to Allopex units from the same battalion while they're within 3" of him. It may seem counter-intuitive to have your super killy sharks taking wounds for your Akhelian King, but if you're using Nemmetar as an anvil and Allopexes as a hammer with maybe a Leviadon backing them both up for +1 to saving throws...well, suffice it to say that you will have Nagash himself weeping that you got a First Cohort battalion that can actually be used.

==Super-Battalions==
===From Battletome Idoneth Deepkin===
*'''Phalanx:''' (3710pt. min.) (30810pt. max.)!!! [Battalion: 120pt.]
''1 Royal Council, 2-4 Akhelian Corps, 2-4 Namarti Corps''

The big one. Once per battle you get an additional High Tide.

==The Enclaves==
They are akin to the Daughters of Khaine Temples. Each has unique special rules for your army and allows you to upgrade one of your Warscroll Battalions
*'''Ionrach:''' The enclave of magic and allies. +1 to cast and unbind rolls for your Wizards, which, as you know, is invaluable. However, your Command Trait is locked into the Ionrach-exclusive ''Emissary of the Deep Places'', which provides your allies access to the ''Tides of Death'' rules. Great if you have allies (or mercenaries), worthless if you don't. On the flip side, seeing as Volturnos' main drawback as a named general is that he can't take a command trait, if you're already not bringing allies, this is the perfect time to bring him along and minimize that drawback. Doesn't really fit the lore so well, but it is what it is... Also your ''Royal Council'' can have up to 2 Soulscryers and Tidecasters. Also note that with Ionrach, your allies DO NOT gain the benefit of forgotten nightmares (they still screen your Idoneth units however).

*'''Dhom-Hain:''' The enclave of more elite, monster-killing soldiers. Akhelians and Namarti reroll 1s To Hit on the charge. <s>Relatively meaningless as Lotann and the Akhelian King respectively do the same whether you charged or not, but nice if you find yourself outside the relevant bubbles.</s> Lotann and the Akhelian King only do it for units that are WHOLLY within 12 inches of them, and this rule applies to anything not an Isharann or an Eidolon. So if you want to keep your entire, very mobile, army inside a 12 inch bubble, this rule is meaningless, otherwise it's very good. Your Akhelians also reroll Wound rolls against Monsters (not just in melee, so feel free to reroll those wounds on your Allopex and Leviadon's shooting attacks when firing at a monster). Interesting against some armies, worthless against others. Also your ''Akhelian Corps'' can have up to 6 units of Akhelian Guard. Dhom-hain is notable as one of the Enclaves that have no restrictions whatsoever.

*'''Fuethán:''' The most aggressive enclave (including the mounts). You reroll 1s To Wound with your mounts. Also, during ''Flood Tide'' all your units reroll 1s To Hit and ''Ebb Tide'' turns into another ''Flood Tide''. You'll really miss that fall back + charge on turn 4, but in exchange, a Tidecaster can make you super fast by giving you ''Flood Tide'' on turn 1 and ''High Tide'' on turn 2. The Tidecaster has to be the general for that, which locks you out of Akhelians being battleline and lets you not use the command abilities of the Akhelian Kings. Also, your ''Phalanx'' can contain up to 6 ''Akhelian Corps''. Not that you will ever use a ''Phalanx''.

*'''Mor'Phann:''' The death enclave. Your Soulrenders raise an additional 3 models. This is huge and out-Death's Death armies. However, your Tidecasters can't take Lore spells and instead get ''Freezing Mists'', which drastically lowers an enemy unit's Pile In move. Also, your ''Namarti Corps'' can have 6 units of Reavers (errata'ed due to redundancy with 2-6 Thralls already being the base amount for the Battalion).

*'''Nautilar:''' The most defensive enclave. Your units reroll all failed Hit rolls if they were charged that turn. Not that your opponent needed more discouragement from charging your Namarti. Their Tidecasters lose access to lore spells and instead get ''Protective Barrier'', which targets a friendly unit and lower the Rend of any enemy attacking them. Also your ''Akhelian Corps'' can have up to 2 Leviadons.

*'''Briomdar:''' The enclave with the most mobility. Your Soulscryers can take up to 3 units along and place them 18" away instead of 12. Also, your units can move over terrain (but not enemy units) as if they were flying. Not too great since most of your army already flies. Also your ''Namarti Corps'' can take up to 6 units of Reavers. Again, it is notable that the Briomdar have no restrictions to their name.

==Allies==
Note that with an Ionarch army all allies benefit from the ''Tides of Death'' rule, which benefits many allied units in various ways.

*'''Cities of Sigmar''': They offer the widest variety out of all the allies, particularly the aelven forces. Here's a more comprehensive description of what works with Idoneth:
** Word of Pain from a Sorceress helps with -1 to Hit spam in a mage heavy list. (Just remember that they're susceptible to being sniped out).
** Order Serpentis provide expendable cavalry with good saves to soak up fire for your Akhelians. A Black Dragon or War Hydra with Ionrach are good choices for fast heavy hitters and/or shooting.
** While Scourge Privateers would be great thematically, only the Scourgerunner Chariot is really worth considering from this group (and there's a lot of bad blood between the two factions lorewise).
** Shadow Warriors can deepstrike, and (if in cover) outshoot Reavers from afar (though they're less mobile once on the field).
** Wanderers also offer several benefits (though most of the following description is outdated). A unit of 20 Glade Guard in your army provides you with a highly reliable "remove lynchpin" button that will likely enrage your opponents. Sisters of the Thorn are an awesome addition to a Cavalry army and provide a very nice spell to boot. Eternal Guards re-roll saves of 1 and 2 if they are in cover, are as fast as Namarti Thralls and cost 70 points (currently 130) per 10 models (with a super discount at max size). A Waywatcher has the invisible hunter rule, which gives shooting units that target him -1 to hit, and can be given to other Wanderer units within 18" for 1 command point (combine with Tides of Death to make shooty armies cry).
** Battlemages are excellent support units that can be tailored to your needs, and the Battlemage on Griffon packs a punch too.
** Phoenix Temple are amazing. Phoenix guard can eat enemy fire with minimal losses given their 4+ save and a 4+ save-after-the-save. Throw in a Phoenix Guard Anointed and they not only become fearless but the Anointed gives you an extra dispel. The Flamespyre Phoenix is also a great unit, trading the dispel for dropping MW on enemies and a one-use chance to come back from death on a 4+.
** Ironweld Arsenal Gyrobombers are a good and cheap choice for dropping MW on enemy units with their bombs, but Gyrocopters with Steam Guns are both much faster (better able to keep up with IDK flying units) and have a MUCH more potent close-range, anti-horde missile attack.
*'''Daughters of Khaine''': The best option by a long shot. What they bring are cheap and expendable units of 90 points per 5 Harpies that can Deep Strike in, and help block shots for the rest of your army via ''Forgotten Nightmares''. 2 Units of Javelin Harpies, or one unit of Sword Harpies is pretty likely to one shot a 5 wound hero to boot. Doomfire Warlocks are also solid allies for a Cavalry army and easily able to keep up as well as providing good shooting and a source of mortal Wounds. Your best bet here is probably a unit of Khinerai, seeing as how they can deepstrike independently from any other unit, and offer a decently strong enough attack to help shift an chaff unit off a back field objective. It doesn't hurt that they are cheap points wise too. The new Khanite shadowstalkers are quite good as allies, being able to teleport wherever they want. For a hundred points they are an interesting 9 man objective grabber, because sometimes your eels can't quite do it alone.
**'''Alternate Opinion:''' While Daughters of Khaine are indeed an extremely powerful force on their own, they don't make very good allies for a number of reasons. They excel at being an extremely aggressive force when you pile on their faction bonuses (escalating table, 6+FNP, Temple abilities, extra prayers, their NUTS spell lore, not to mention any number of internally consistent abilities and rules) on their own without those they tend towards being overpriced or fragile. While you might get some mileage out of a unit of Khinerai or Doomfire Warlocks, you'd probably be better off with some more Idoneth.
*'''Stormcast Eternals''': For a Namarti-heavy army, Liberators or Sequitors make fantastic cannon fodder when combined with a Lord-Castellant and ''Forgotten Nightmares''. Other than that, Vanguard-Raptors make for some nice budget shooting. Fulminators are a nasty addition to any Cavalry heavy army, and combined with ''Tides of Death'', will get your opponent to flip the table fast. A Knight Azyros can give your units a reroll 1 to Hit for enemies in 10". Also, a Knight Vexillor might use his redeploy ability to make your Stormcasts keep up with your Idoneths. A Celestant-Prime waiting in the heavens to boost his Attacks characteristic and then dropping in on turn 3 in High Tide (if Ionrach) can do all kinds of work. Turn 2's not bad either so that you can take advantage of another Cometstrike.
*'''Sylvaneth''': The only things worth considering here are Kurnoth Hunters for some additional shooting and Tree Revenants for Warmachine hunting without investing hundreds of points into a Soulscryer and an escort. Additionally, you might want to consider their Outcasts Battalion (3 units of Spite-Revenants), which at 280pt for the minimum-sized battalion, will likely remain the cheapest way to squeeze an extra battalion in. That said, it's currently impossible to field this in a Deepkin list in Vanguard and meet all of the faction-units-per-allies-units requirements, so save this for your Battlehost-and-larger games.
*'''Gotrek:''' Despite costing 520pts, Gotrek can be brought as an ally in any Order faction even if that's more than the usual allies allowance. It's worth mentioning for the Ionrach enclave because he'll get the benefit of the Tides. Gotrek's an absolute beast in melee but is let down by his low movement and the fact he can never be teleported/ambushed onto the board etc; however, he would love to be able to run and charge, and retreat and charge, and Ionrach lets him do that.
*'''Bundo Whalebiter''': A Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant mercenary available to all Order factions. Taking him uses up your entire ally points allowance and he ignores any Behemoth or Hero limitations. A big terrifying centerpiece who can kick objectives around and instantly kill models by shoving them into his net. You can choose at the start of the Combat phase for him to fight at the end of the phase, in exchange for re-rolling failed hit rolls. If you want a big monster that isn’t the Turtle, then this is your pick.

===Lethisian Defenders===
From the Forbidden Power expansion, this odd army coalition of Idoneth, Stormcast, Kharadron, Fyreslayers, and a random Excelsior Warpriest (w/Gryph-Hound) offers you new Allegiance Ability synergies on a level somewhere between those of the regular faction-only perks and the super basic list for Grand Alliances. By choosing this allegiance, all of your units gain the keyword LETHISIAN DEFENDER and gain access to a couple unique Battle Traits, a Command Ability, 3 Command Traits, 3 Artefacts of Power, and 3 Prayers (arguably the focal point of the Allegiance). Unlike simply taking allies in an otherwise Idoneth list, which is limited by the 1:4 unit ratio rule and (in Pitched Battles) the ≤ 20% pts rule, this allegiance allows you to take basically whatever you want from the four armies (two of which you previously had no access to without pulling back to basic Grand Alliance: Order), with the following exceptions:

*no Hammers of Sigmar (most Stormcast named heroes) [notable exception being the Celestant-Prime]
*no Vostarg units (Fyreslayers) [but Kharadron named characters are legal]
*not Volturnos [though you can take Lotann]
*Battleline is restricted to the armies' vanilla offerings (Arkanaut Company, Liberators, Vulkite Berzerkers, and Thralls) since you can't take the other options without allegiance to the specific factions). One notable exception here that might (but hopefully won't) be errata'ed is that Kharadron Endrinmasters (w/Dirigible Suits) as your general can currently grant you access to Skywardens and Endrinriggers as Battleline w/o KO allegiance, allowing you the potential to make an all-flying army with balloon-boiz and your Akhelains/Eidolons (plus whatever scattered Stormcast units you like).

Otherwise, all other units from the four armies are legal, though of course it makes sense to lean in on priests since all priests in your army gain a free prayer that, like most prayers in the game, goes off on a 3+ and can't be unbound. Also, one of the Command Abilities makes your non-priest general a priest as well, or gives a priest-general access to another prayer. Currently, in addition to the Excelsior Warpriest (a fantastically efficient option with a solid prayer of his own and able to unbind one spell per enemy hero phase), the four armies offer us access to the following priests:

*Stormcast: Lord-Relictor, Lord-Veritant (the superior option by far, super anti-Wizard)
*Fyreslayers: Auric Runemaster, Auric Runesmiter (able to deepstrike 1 Fyreslayers unit), Auric Runesmither on Magamadroth
*Idoneth: Isharann Soulscryer (notably lacking a prayer of his own)
*Kharadron: unfortunately no priests (though an Aetheric Navigator really should be)

The Battle Traits for the Army are as follows:
*all units can re-roll Battleshock tests (sadly mostly redundant for all Idoneth squads except Allopexes)
*all Human and Duardin units get +1 to-Hit in melee against enemies that charged them (on that turn)
*all Akhelian units get +1" Move and +1 on charge rolls, but sadly doesn't help non-Akhelians
*Command Ability: only works for Liberators wholly within 12" of a Stormcast Hero (gives them +1 Save in exchange for not being able to pile-in) [meh]

Drawbacks:
*you no longer benefit from any of the army's Allegiance-specific synergies (most-notably here, Tides of Death and Forgotten Nightmares), but you get to have fun allying with Duardin, more Stormcast, and have some Priestly fun!
*there's no specific lore to the army (besides the prayers), but if you want Wizards, you can always take Endless Spells or use the one Realm Spell from GHB20 (same goes for one extra artefact)
*unfortunately, there's no fix if you don't like the 3 Command Traits
*no new Warscroll Battalions, but you're allowed to use any of the existing ones

Ultimately, though most-likely not powerful enough to be competitive, I hope that GW will make more coalition allegiances like this, as it not only mixes things up, but it creates opportunities for you to collect and learn other armies, and it's super fluffy lore-wise. Plus, the Grand Alliances really don't have enough going for them, so this kinda makes up for that, meeting halfway between.

==Army Building==
There aren't a ton of options for building diverse armies since the Idoneth model line consists of 8 Leaders, 5 units with only one unconditional battleline and a behemoth. However with the addition of Enclaves your army will perform a bit differently and allows for a small but not insignificant level of specialization.

===What to start with?===
* As the name suggest, the Start Collecting! kit is a great way to start your collection, giving you 10 Thralls, 3 Eels and one Soulrender.

* Battleforce box being released for Holidays 2018. $170 (USD) will net you a Tidecaster, 10 Namarti Thralls, 10 Namarti Reavers, 3 Eel guard riders of your choice, and 2 Allopexes. Not a bad variety to start with, and is over a hundred dollars in savings, if you can somehow get your hands on it.

*Grab an Akhelian King kit and build either Volturnos or the stock King model. Both are fine, though Volturnos outperforms his nameless counterpart before taking Artefacts and Command Traits into consideration. Either model is a fine addition to your army. Better yet, pick up the Broken Realms: Morathi Battalion Box for the Bloodsurf Hunt, which includes not only the Akhelian King kit, but also two Allopexes, all useable in a new Battalion that's actually solid (especially if FAQ'd out of being subfaction-locked to Ionrach).

{{Age_of_Sigmar_Tactics}}

Lumineth Realm-Lords

2021-11-05T17:02:39Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:CC8C:F3C9:431B:DDFD:

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Lumineth Realm-Lords|Logo=Eltharion's essence.jpg|Alliance=Order|Motto=FOR <s>ULTHUAN</s> HYSH!!!!!}}
{{Topquote|The phoenix must burn to emerge.|Janet Fitch}}
{{Topquote|Have you heard of the High Elves?|LaFave Bros Oblivion youtube video}}
{{Topquote|We must be swift as the coursing river. With all the force of a great typhoon. With all the strength of a raging fire. Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!|Be <s>a Man</s> an Aelf}}
{{Topquote|MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!|Avalenor, the Stoneheart King}}
The Lumineth Realm-lords (also known as '''High Elves 2.0''', '''Lu-methheads''', '''Meth-lords''', '''Loo-methheads''' and '''Loony Meth-Heads'''. Officially "Realm-lords", without the second capital.) are a bunch of stone and crystal obsessed elves residing in the Realm of [[Hysh]] and led by Teclis. Forced onto the defensive by Chaos, they harness the magic of their realm and refuse to go down without a fight... just like the High Elves of old, but without the "dying race" element (and the accompanying lore inconsistencies) and a surprising amount of Dorfiness, given their love of hammers, runic magic and elementals.

With a heavy Greek aesthetic, new model and the return of [[Eltharion]], good times are abound if you were a fan of the High Elves back in the world that was.

==History==
===Origins/Age of Myth===
Once upon a time, [[Teclis]], [[Tyrion]], and [[Malekith|Malerion]] found a previously assumed dead [[Morathi]] who was very much alive, who then led the odd trio to the morbidly obese [[Slaanesh]] in a cave where they beat the shit out of him until he coughed up all of the Elven souls he had consumed after [[The End Times]]. A good chunk of these souls were given to Teclis, in order to recreate the High Elves of old and bring their race back to their former glory. The initial race that came from Teclis's attempts were the [[Idoneth Deepkin]] and, well... [[FAIL|He tried]].

This new batch of Aelves seem to have come out of the oven much better, far more sane and stable than any other Aelf so far. Given the Idoneth's hostile estrangement from Teclis while the Lumineth worship and fight side-by-side with him, relations between the two are... strange. The Idoneth Deepkin are their only ally option, while in the Allegiance Matrix for multiplayer games in the General's Handbook they are listed as a Desperate Coalition (to put that in perspective, that's worse than the relationship between Khorne/Slaanesh or Tzeentch/Nurgle and is the only Desperate Coalition that isn't between factions from two entirely separate Grand Alliances. Even Drycha the crazy, genocidal racist can act nicer to other factions). Best explanation is that they do utterly despise each other, but realize there are WAY bigger threats to their own societies, so they grudgingly tolerate each other for now.

Anyways after their initial inception they went on to colonize all parts of the realm of Hysh. After learning how to utilize the native realmstone Aetherquartz to help Lumineth society grow into one of if not the most advanced and grand civilization in all the realms, with art, architecture and learning being the envy of many other civilizations. Lumineth society was built on self-improvement, absurdly impractical headgear and the accumulation of wisdom, fueled by the power of collected Aetherquartz crystals to amplify their bodies and minds. They however, in the typical elven arrogance, assumed that because Slaanesh was imprisoned they no longer had to worry about Chaos and decided to abuse the Aetherquartz like [[Skaven]] to [[Warpstone]], leading them to be the butt of many jokes about drugs (especially Crystal Meth).

===Age of Chaos===
Unfortunately for the Lumineth, in conjunction with the elves' own hubris, Tyrion and Teclis were very hands-off about godhood after the civilization was built. As a result, the subtle whispers of the Dark Gods entered their minds, causing envy and bitter rivalry. The subsequent campaigns of defamation and sabotage culminated in a massive civil war called the Ocari Dara, or Spirefall. The entire realm of Hysh was devastated, as the Lumineth had a habit of inventing uber-spells and doomsday devices just to see if they could, justifying it by claiming they were too enlightened to ever use such weapons for evil (which they obviously weren't). To make matters worse, the overflow of passion, pride and obsession from the war became a beacon for Slaaneshi daemons, who then invaded Hysh and would've wiped them out if Tyrion hadn't personally intervened to save the last survivors.

Teclis searched for some way to save his race from themselves, and found it when he managed to commune with Celennar, the spirit of Hysh's moon. He taught the Lumineth a new way of self-discipline, where they would bond with the elemental spirits to gain their power and wisdom. This rearrangement of Lumineth society was called the Reinvention Wars, which lasted the remaining years of the Age of Chaos and is widely credited with preventing them from becoming extinct altogether.

===Age of Sigmar===
The Lumineth were mostly unseen during the Age of Sigmar, being too focused on rebuilding their own realm in order to care about the other races.

During the Time of Tribulations, Teclis predicted the upcoming Necroquake, and ordered the construction of Aetherquartz towers in order to mitigate its effects. While this helped protect the Lumineth cities from undead invasion, Teclis failed to predict the arrival of Endless Spells, which would become a common plague upon the already magically battered landscape of Hysh.

During a meeting between Teclis and the other Aelven gods, Morathi started claiming that Slaanesh will inevitably escape. While the other Aelven gods dismissed this as the rantings of a madwoman, Teclis took this seriously and decided that the Lumineth must end their isolationism in order to purge Chaos from other realms. This hasn't endeared them well with the other races of Order, as they tend to deploy their legions without permission or warning out of the arrogant assumption that the lesser races can't be trusted to solve their own problems (arrogant ''and'' hypocritical coming from the Lumineth, who [[Eldar|nearly caused their own extinction through selfish obsessions]]). Adding to the fact that they have no problem with killing civilians and allies if they view it as necessary to cleanse Chaos, it’s understandable why some people don’t like it when they arrive unannounced. While the Stormcast have also used this approach, unlike them the Lumineth haven't earned a good reputation beforehand, and are a bunch of Johnny-Come-Latelys compared to the Stormcast's Big Damn Heroes.

At some point, Teclis had found the remnants of [[Eltharion]]'s spirit as he was way too badass to be claimed by Nagash. After putting his soul back together, Teclis ordered armor and weapons made in the Yvressian style, found a dude who looked near identical to Eltharion, created a soulless clone of that guy's body and tried to shove our old boy's soul right in. Sadly, [[Arkhan the Black|Arkhan]] evidently cursed Eltharion so bad that any body his soul is put in crumples to dust, starting with the aforementioned souless clone. As Teclis cried like a bitch, he noticed that Eltharion's soul was able to inhabit the armor, turning him into [[Thousand Sons|a hollow suit of armor powered by light]]. Since then, Eltharion became one of the leaders of the Lumineth, as Teclis tries to figure out how to give him a normal body.

===Broken Realms===

As Morathi attempted to gain godhood and accidentally loosened the chains of Slaanesh, Teclis started pushing his army against the forces of the undead and [[Nagash]]. He planned on bringing an end to The Soul Wars and clapping Nagash's boney cheeks for unleashing the Necroquake. Of course, bone daddy won't take this laying down...only to take it standing, as Eltharion freaking killed Arkhan, Teclis destroyed the Nine Books of Nagash, and then sealed Nagash in his city. The price? Teclis was cursed by some sort of Death magic. The Necroquake has been undone!

==Society==

The Lumineth themselves are split between numerous different kingdoms within Hysh, known as the Ten Paradises. These Kingdoms each reside on a separate Island, which used to be one landmass before it was sundered in the Age of Chaos. The center Island is Xintil, where Teclis awoke in the Age of Myth and where most of the Sigmar worshiping mortals of Hysh live. Xintil is surrounded by eight islands, each ruled by a separate kingdom. Syar, Iliatha, Ymetrica and Zaitrec are known as the Teclian nations, essentially the Athens compared to the more Spartan Oultrai, Aurathrai, Helon and Alumnia who emulate Tyrion. Each has their own culture, such as Iliatha being matriarchal and doing some cloning shit.

These Lumineth have also come to treasure Aetherquartz, a crystal mineral native to their realm. These crystals gave their wearers great knowledge and power, but it also involves [[Eldar|sucking out their emotions and personalities - a sacrifice they consider worthwhile since unfettered emotions are the Dark Prince's favorite snack]]. In this way, they're similar to [[Stormcast Eternals|Sigmar's golden bois]] in that they're constantly approaching that point where they become effectively logic-driven, uncreative and unfeeling automatons except these guys see it as an acceptable ending compared to the Stormcast's mad search to end the flaw. The emotions drained into the Aetherquartz are used as a source of power by the mages known as Scinari <s>Crack Whores</s> Cathallars, weaponizing their suppressed negative emotions to spread terror and despair among their enemies.

After the Reinvention Wars, an important part of their society has become the Aelementari Temples, cults dedicated to bonding with the landscape of Hysh, in the form of the rivers, winds, mountains or even the light of Hysh's sky (Zenith). To join these cults is extremely difficult; first one must abandon all worldly possessions, then spend years meditating and seeking oneness with the spirit of their chosen location. The final trial is fatal if the spirit deems the aspirant unworthy: those dedicated to the rivers must weigh themselves down and jump into the water, while those dedicated to the mountains must let themselves get buried alive. Yet if they survive, they gain new powers ([[Avatar: The Last Airbender|please tell me there is some legendary Aelf who has the powers of all the Aelementari.]]) While the mages get elemental magic, the warriors get more subtle powers, like the Stoneguard who can enter the "mountain stance" to become immovable bulwarks in battle. The Aelementari can also be petitioned to possess a construct body and directly fight with their disciples.

The only Aelementari temple initially playable on tabletop were the mountain worshippers of the Alarith, who have taken a mountain yak called the "Ymetrican Longhorn" as their symbol, resulting in them being the butt of many cow jokes. The second temple to be officially revealed is the Wind Temple, known as the Hurakan; get it, Hurakan = Hurricane, GET IT!). They too were met with a barrage of memery due to their troops riding on creatures known as the Treerunners which very closely resembled Kangaroos. Aelementari Temples were intended to teach the Lumineth humility, and it half-worked; although their civilization no longer has the unchecked hubris that led to the Spirefall, many Lumineth have become humblebraggers under the impression that after the Reinvention they have successfully overcome all their flaws and created a perfect society. It seems that the arrogance of the (A)elves is the one flaw they can never overcome.

In terms of combat strategies and tactics, their design and combat is heavily reminiscent of Ancient Greek warfare combined with a bit of Roman. The traditional Spearmen, called the Vanari Auralan Wardens, are essentially hoplites, who form phalanxes to hold the enemy in place while the archers, mages and cavalry get set up to do their stuff. Each of these phalanxes are lead by a High Warden, essentially a Lochagos, who stands at the rear to make sure shit isn't going wrong. Most of these hoplites also adorn their shields with runes. These runes represent learning and enlightenment for the Realm Lords, but seem to be more for decoration than serving an actual battlefield purpose. These Wardens are also capable of forming into phalanxes called Shining Legions, difficult to harm but also slow. These legions are also present among their brethren who wield swords and bows. The Battletome also mentions unseen chariot and scout units, so they’re probably going to show up in a future release. Other major leaders include the Loreseekers, a mix of mage and warrior who are tasked with [[Blood Ravens|recovering ancient artefacts from the other races, allies or not, and bringing them back home where they belong]]

==Great Nations==

*'''Ymetrica:''' A mountainous kingdom with a great dedication to the Alarith Temple. Were the first Lumineth kingdom to succesfully discover how to bond with the Aelementari, which they won't hesistate to remind you at any moment. Form the vanguard of Teclis' campaign to purify the Mortal Realms. Recently endured a massive [[Ossiarch Bonereapers|boning]] from Arkhan's army. Essentially Caledor, but replace Dragons with bovine-headed earth elementals.
*'''Syar:''' The greatest craftsmen of the Lumineth, and the richest nation too. Created a lot of horrible weapons for the Ocari Dara, and swore to never create weapons again...until Teclis persuaded them that Chaos would win without their help. Just when they thought they were out, Chaos pulled them back in. Most likely suppose to resemble Eataine due to the focus on wealth, though instead of trade they got it through weapon dealing and trade so it's Eataine + the Anvil of Vaul.
*'''Zaitrec:''' The land of master wizards, and thus the place where Teclis likes to hang out most. They worship Celennar even more than Teclis though, and if they ever get to meet Teclis they're more interested in what the spirit has to say, claiming "it is better to learn from the source". Teclis is secretly [[butthurt]] over this having learned from an older source himself in the World-That-Was, much to Tyrion's amusement. For if you miss Saphery, with Celennar filling in for Lileath.
*'''Iliatha:''' This <s>simp</s> matriarchal kingdom revered women due to their belief that creating life was holy. However, they decided that the traditional method of childbirth was too gross for them, and invented a method to create clones by splitting souls. This lead to horrible excesses during the Ocari Dara, which were so dark that the other nations refuse to speak about it. Afterwards the technology was strictly regulated so that only one copy could be created per person, resulting in Iliatha having the largest population of the nations, the majority of whom are soul-bound twins. Avelorn, only with magic cloning.
*'''Alumnia:''' A land of explorers and pioneers who wish to explore the most dangerous parts of the Mortal Realms just to say that they can. They believe that they must spread to the rest of the Realms and spread the light on enlightenment to the darkest parts of the Mortal Realms. This usually means a LOT of them end up as snacks for hungry monsters and those who don't are disliked as colonial Imperialists, but that doesn't stop them. Many seek to replicate Tyrion's adventure across Haixiah, which is often considered a one way trip but those who make it back are revered highly. Acts as outriders and scouts for the Lumineth armies. Tiranoc pre Sundering.
*'''Helon:''' A widely open country that has winds so strong they can straight up send you flying. Now while normal people would view this as dangerous or horrifying, The Aelves here do it for fun! These guys have gotten so good at controlling winds that they can outright carve shit with wind and erosion. To no one's surprise, this place has the largest amount of Hurakan Temples of all of the nations. Their favorite battle strategies involve using the winds to help their archers fire off more shots and get out of danger when needed. Ellyrion, only SUPER windy.

==Named Characters==
*'''[[Teclis]]:''' The <s>a</s>elf, the myth, the literal legend, everyone's favourite (former!) anaemic cripple is back as one of the two gods of light (the other being his brother Tyrion). He now rides along a giant sphinx that's the literal spirit of Hysh's moon.
*'''[[Eltharion|The Light of Eltharion]]:''' The soul of Eltharion himself, now in a sick looking [[Thousand Sons|hollow suit of armour.]]
*'''Avalenor:''' The Aelementiri spirit of the largest mountain in Hysh, Avalenor is a mystery as instead of being bound into a war-form by a temple he just kinda showed up by himself one day.
*'''Sevireth:''' The "Lord of the Seventh Wind", the manifestation of one of the seven great gales that blow throughout all of Hysh. He used to hang out in a desert until he got baited into a Slaaneshi BDSM chamber and got roughed up. After he broke out, he became more of a merciless warrior, striking down the enemies of Hysh and all manner of tyranny.
*'''Lyrior Uthralle:''' Warden of Ymetrica, and quite martially-inclined for someone from a realm on the Teclican half of Hysh. He also acts as Tyrion's right-hand man and - apart from some major angst issues behind closed doors - look like he's being set up to inherit Tyrion's mantle of being the Big Damn Hero for Aelfkind.
*'''Ellania & Ellathor:''' A pair of twins, one a powerful sorceress, the other a skilled warrior, who fight on the battlefield as a single unit like the Sisters of Twilight. Seeing the similarities to themselves, Tyrion and Teclis have taken them on as proteges. One big difference between them and the original twins is that they both seem to agree that helping out the Non-Lumineth is a benefit in the fight against Chaos, where as Tyrion and Teclis always argued over it. Tyrion probably learned his lesson on that count with the End Times and conceded it to Teclis.

==Soulbound==
Released with the ''Champions of Order'' supplement in 2021.

As it turns out, the whole Soulbinding thing is a rather familiar matter to them. After all, the aelementeiri (those aelves who serve in the temples of elemental spirits, so the Alarith and Hurakan characters thus far) already bind their souls to become part of a greater whole and it was in this way that the people of Hysh clawed their ways out of the messes of the Age of Chaos. That said, there are those Lumineth that hesitate to do so because it would require them to sever their ties to Hysh and instead spread their elitist philosophies and knowledge to the lesser-fortunate peoples of the mortal realms. Doing so actually teaches them far more about the other realms than they would otherwise have learnt within their education-prisms, as well as teaching them about all the Saturday-morning ideals of cooperation and teamwork.

The following great nations are available for Lumineth heroes to hail from:
*'''Iliatha:''' Knowing how valuable knowledge is, many of their number seek to sire children to inherit what they have learned and surpass them. This urge is so strong that some even undertake an unsettling ritual that sees them split their soul among two bodies. Aelves in such a situation do not enter the same Soulbound. Indeed, knowing the price of the Soul-binding gives them a further drive to to do more for their comrades than they would ever have done raising a child. Heroes from Iliatha have a separate twin, one who will take their place should they die. This twin may start with the same starting stats, skills, and talents as their original, but may otherwise spend the rest of their XP as you wish.
*'''Syar:''' More than any other nation, Syar is a nation that takes their humility to heart. As a nation of artisans, they have a perfectionist's eye of their craft. Even as Soulbound, Lumineth from this nation see only ways that the world around them can be improved and how other viewpoints can improve them. Heroes from Syar add a special trait to a single weapon or set of armor they begin with. Whenever they undertake an endeavor to make something, they double any dice they get from their training in Crafting.
*'''Ymetrica:''' Residing the great peaks of Hysh, Ymetrica is considered the birthplace of the Alarith and legend has it that it was here that Teclis taught the aelfs in the art of binding their souls to the mountains. They take on the slow and contemplative sureness of the mountains, never acting in haste. Even the matters of the Soulbound are only undertaking after considerable contemplation, for they are hesitant to adapt to the hot-blooded and impulsive natures of their colleagues. Heroes from Ymetrica always act last in the first round of combat but can always act first in any round afterward unless someone else seizes the initiative. Additionally, the Thoughtful talent is available to all archetypes.
*'''Zaitrec:''' Lumineth from this realm house an irrepressible curiosity and seek questions from any source, including from the moons of Hysh. It is because of this that they tend to heed the spirit of Celennar, the lunasphinx representative of the greatest of Hysh's moons, more frequently than those of Teclis. It is because of this curiosity that they often join the Soulbound as they see all sorts of knowledge as equal. Heroes from Zaitrec add the Spellcasting talent to all archetypes, even allowing them to learn spells from lores that are otherwise inaccessible to them. When undertaking the Learn Spell endeavor, they can learn an additional common spell on top of everything else.

The archetypes available are '''Alarith Stoneguard''', '''Alarith Stonemage''', '''Scinari Cathallar''', and '''Vanari Warrior'''

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Aelve Spearmen.jpg|AELVES, WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION!?
File:Aelve Cav.jpg|Gee, I wonder what ancient civilization these guys where based on.
File:Elf_elite_guard.jpg|Heavy armor, hammers and a stone motif... [[Dwarfs (WFB)|where have I seen this before?]]
File:Eltharion AOS.jpg|I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS, ARKHAN!
File:Befriending furries.jpg|'''Asserting dominance'''
File:Realm Lord Runes.jpg|No one tell the Dwarfs that the Elgi figured out how runes work....
File:Sitting Bull.jpg|An Alarith Stonemage. I wonder how Dwarfs would react to an elf controlling stone with magic.
File:Alarith.png|Alarith, Spirit of the Mountain. And you thought [[Settra the Imperishable|Settra]] had a lot of titles/aliases.
File:Scinari.jpg|A Scinari Cathallar. That's pronounced SIN-ar-ee CATH-ull-arr, according Geedubs themselves.
File:Sad Lady.jpg|She feels your pain.
File:Lumineth vs Khorne.jpg|A fun game of Whack-a-reaver
File:Minotaur mountain.jpg|Avalenor in all his red, stony glory.
File:Elf with heavy burden.jpg|[[Snowflame|Weaponized magic Crystal Meth]] (Doomrider approves).
File:Lumineth Box.jpg|Available now (quartz not accepted as an alternative to money)
</gallery>

[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]
[[Category:Games Workshop]]

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