Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Order/Stormcast Eternals: Difference between revisions

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====Strike Chamber====
====Strike Chamber====


*'''[http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/warhammer-aos-liberators-en.pdf Liberators]:''' (Battleline, 115pts, Min:5) Your basic melee troops, strong with average durability (4+ and 2 wounds). Have gotten some changes in the new book. Namely they have finally done away with the sword or hammer debate where they now have the same profile (the old sword profile) and basically are just cosmetic. So take whichever one you want really. Also, Liberators finally get rend on all their weapons!!!!!!!!! The shield has changed up significantly and has gone the way of the new edition getting rid of save rerolls, now it gives liberatros +1 to their save roll as long as atleast half the current unit size has shields. So functioningly a 3+ saves in most circumstances (but won't get better than that except to offset rend). Paired weapons have also been simplified in that they now give Liberators 3 base attacks instead of 2. 1 in 5 can still take grandweapons, again the sword and hammer have the same profile, but now finally hit and wound on 3's. Liberators also lost their hit bonus against bigger targets, instead now it allows liberators to do d3 mortal wounds to a unit within 6" of an objective and 1" of them on a 4+. This seems to show their new primary role as sturdy objective holders. Being the cheapest battleline your going to get, squads of Liberators can be your sturdy backfield and objective holders which frees up your more powerful fighters to move forward against the enemy. Which you can improve even more if taken as a Stormkeep army where they can count as three models each.  
*'''[http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/warhammer-aos-liberators-en.pdf Liberators]:''' (Battleline, 115pts, Min:5) Your basic melee troops, strong with average durability (4+ and 2 wounds). Have gotten some changes in the new book. Namely they have finally done away with the sword or hammer debate where they now have the same profile (the old sword profile) and basically are just cosmetic. So take whichever one you want really. Also, Liberators finally get rend on all their weapons! The shield has changed up significantly and has gone the way of the new edition getting rid of save rerolls, now it gives liberators +1 to their save roll as long as at least half the current unit size has shields. So functionally a 3+ saves in most circumstances (but won't get better than that except to offset rend). Paired weapons have also been simplified in that they now give Liberators 3 base attacks instead of 2. 1 in 5 can still take grandweapons, again the sword and hammer have the same profile, but now finally hit and wound on 3's. Liberators also lost their hit bonus against bigger targets, instead now it allows liberators to do d3 mortal wounds to a unit within 6" of an objective and 1" of them on a 4+. This seems to show their new primary role as sturdy objective holders. Being the cheapest battleline your going to get, squads of Liberators can be your sturdy backfield and objective holders which frees up your more powerful fighters to move forward against the enemy. Which you can improve even more if taken as a Stormkeep army where they can count as three models each.  


*'''[http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/warhammer-aos-judicators-en.pdf Judicators]:''' (Stormcast Battleline, 125pts , Min:5) Battleline if you're running a Stormcast Eternals army. Your basic ranged troops, same stats as the Liberators. '''Law Low the Tyrants''' now deals D3 Mortal Wounds if within 6" of an objective. If you arm them with Skybolt Bow, you can do 0,44 damage per model with -1 rend at 24". With a Boltstorm Crossbow, you can do 0,66 damage per model with at 12" and if you don't move this number goes up to 0,99 damage per model. As with Liberators, always add the special weapon (1,54 damages per model with -1 rend at 24" for the Shockbolt Bow, 2 mortal wounds with the Thunderbolt Crossbow if it hits; the larger the target unit, the better your chances. It has a 1 in 3 chance of hitting a lone monster, so it isn't quite impossible to land a hit if there aren't any blobs of infantry around to blow up). In melee you do an average of 0,33 damage, the bare minimum to reply in combat, which is where these guys don't want to be. When it comes to weapon choice, different tactics apply. Bows will see you getting a better payoff in the long run; let them hang back and pincushion the enemy's units and they'll do fine. However, if you manage to set up the triple shots for the crossbows, you're going to darken the sky with bolts and chortle heartily at all the saves your opponent is forced to take. Spread your Liberators wide, so they act as a net to trap the enemy, then put Judicators behind them to tear up anyone foolish enough to attack you. This way your crossbowmen will start where they're most needed, and you needn't go to any extra effort to set them up.
*'''Judicators with Skybolt Bows:''' (Stormcast Battleline, 200pts , Min:5) Battleline if you're running a Stormcast Eternals army. Your basic ranged troops, same stats as the Liberators. Most notably got split into two different warscrolls with different weapon loadouts. The Skybolt Bows option is the one you will probably want to take if you need ranged attacks, rather than something to handle a horde. At 24", with 2 attacks at 3+/3+/-1/1 Damage, they're not exactly anything to shake a stick at, but when they get unmodified 6s, they deal mortal wounds instead of regular wounds. 1 in every 5 can come with a Shockbolt Bow, which gets D6 attacks at the same profile as the other one, but technically doesn't get their special rule to activate unless your opponent is a gentleman about things. Needs to be Errated to function as intended, and are most notably, your single most expensive Battleline default option in the entire faction.


*'''Vindictors:''' (Stormcast Battleline, 140 pts, Min: 5) The primaris-cast troops of Dominion are a considerable step up from the base liberators, given a flat 3+ save and spears that have a bit of range and hit and wound on a 3+ but can't be thrown. Of note here is that their spears also deal mortal wounds on a natural 6 to wound, which is a bit of a help. 1 in every 5 can come with a standard, which adds 1 to bravery for a grand total of 8, making them just as brave as the Praetors. Overall a solid battleline choice if a bit expensive, though not terribly so given the elite nature of Stormcast in general. Very good unit overall, though perhaps best to find other units to objective camp, as these guys are too good offensively to waste on guard duty.
*'''Judicators with Boltstorm Crossbows:''' (Stormcast Battleline, 190pts, Min: 5) Battleline if you're running a Stormcast Eternals army. Your basic ranged troops, same stats as the Liberators. Most notably got split into two different warscrolls with different weapon loadouts. At first, with only 18" range and no rend, unlike their brothers with the Skybolt Bows, your first instinct would be that the Crossbow is the worst of two bad options, but thanks to being 10 points cheaper than their brothers, and the changed to the Celestar Ballista, these guys do have specific function in a Stormcast list- horde cleaners. Their special rule, Rapid Fire (which they share with Vanguard-Raptors w/ Hurricane Crossbows) makes it so that whenever they score 1 hit, it turns into 2 hits. While you still have to roll wound and save rolls for each of those hits, suddenly that damage can really multiply when you have to clean out hordes, tarpits, or any other large unit with single-wound models. Put these guys behind your Battleline that's camping on an objective, and use them to unleash hell on whoever has the gall to charge your shieldwall.


*'''Vanquishers:''' (Stormcast Battleline, Unknown point cost, Min: 5?) Did you miss being able to bring Greatsword infantry? Then these are the Battleline for you! Start with a base attack of two with a similiar attack profile to Vindictors, though only 1" range and no mortal wounds. However instead they get +1 attack at 5 or more models, and +2 if ten or more. So at max four attacks each, which isn't too bad and can help offset their lower range in big squads (though not sure why they have lower range given their massive swords). So their obvious target is large horde squads. The squad can also take a banner, which triggers their other big gimmick of note is if their banner is alive when the unit attemps a rally command they return models on 5+ instead of 6. So they can regenerate units faster than other squads. This can be useful but it requires them to survive combat in the first place. Could be useful in culling large fragile horde units, but they face stiff competition from the other plentiful battleline options in the book, and arguably compete for the same niche in the army with the excellent Vindictors for frontal assault battleline.
*'''Vindictors:''' (Stormcast Battleline, 140 pts, Min: 5) The primaris-cast troops of Dominion are a considerable step up from the base liberators, given a flat 3+ save and spears that have a bit of range and hit and wound on a 3+ but can't be thrown. Of note here is that their spears instead deal mortal wounds on a natural 6 to wound, which is a bit of a help. 1 in every 5 can come with a standard, which adds 1 to bravery for a grand total of 8, making them just as brave as the Praetors. Overall a solid battleline choice if a bit expensive, though not terribly so given the elite nature of Stormcast in general. Very good unit overall, though perhaps best to find other units to objective camp, as these guys are too good offensively to waste on guard duty.
 
*'''Vanquishers:''' (Stormcast Battleline, 125pts, Min: 5) Did you miss being able to bring Greatsword infantry? Then these are the Battleline for you! Start with a base attack of two with a similar attack profile to Vindictors, though only 1" range and no mortal wounds. However instead they get +1 attack at 5 or more models, and +2 if ten or more. So at max four attacks each, which isn't too bad and can help offset their lower range in big squads (though not sure why they have lower range given their massive swords). So their obvious target is large horde squads. The squad can also take a banner, which triggers their other big gimmick of note is if their banner is alive when the unit attempts a rally command they return models on 5+ instead of 6. So they can regenerate units faster than other squads. This can be useful but it requires them to survive combat in the first place. Could be useful in culling large fragile horde units, but they face stiff competition from the other plentiful battleline options in the book, and arguably compete for the same niche in the army with the excellent Vindictors for frontal assault battleline. If your curious, a unit of 10 costs 250 points, so consider wisely.


====Sacrosanct Chamber====
====Sacrosanct Chamber====


*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Stormcast_Sequitors.pdf Sequitors]:''' (Conditional Battline: Lord Arcanum General, 130pts, Min:5, Max:20) Battleline if '''LORD-ARCANUM''' is your General. All in all, Sequitors are upgraded Liberators: firstly, Sequitors' mauls have a To Hit value of 3+ against all targets, while the Liberators' hammers only have said advantage against beefy enemies. In addition, they can also take a sword instead that only wounds on 4's, but they get three attacks each; These upgrades already sound sweet, but wait until you hear the second one: at the beginning of '''every''' combat phase, the unit can choose to be more offensive, rerolling all failed To Hit rolls, or more defensive, rerolling all failed Save rolls. Combining the upgraded shields with a Lord-Castellant or with your trusty Staunch Defender makes them one of the toughest battlelines in the game, both stronger and tankier than regular Liberators. 2 in 5 models in the unit can take a Stormsmite Greatmace, in addition to that the Sequitor-Prime can have a Greatmace too. This makes 3 Greatmaces (3+/3+/-1/2) per Unit. You'll have to give up the mortal wound on 4+ in combat, which the Prime is able to dish out with his redemption cache when he is not holding that big hammer. In addition, Greatmaces score d3 hits to '''Daemons''' or '''Nighthaunts''' on a Hit roll of 6+. These upgrades are not free, as Sequitors are slightly more expensive than Liberators, and on another note, you can't take Sequitors in as big a squad as Liberators (max 20 in comparison to the Liberators 30), but this is more than compensated by the Sequitors inherent effectiveness. They are a great option as a battleline alternative, and a '''fundamental''' one in a magic-focused Stormcast Eternals army.
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Stormcast_Sequitors.pdf Sequitors]:''' (Stormcast Battleline, 145pts, Min:5) Now just Stormcast Battleline. Sequitors have gotten a big shakeup since their original publication in 2E, and are now more expensive than even the Vindictors. For all those 145 points though, what are you really getting? To start, swords and mauls are now just "sancrosact weapons", and have lost dealing extra damage against Death and Daemons. 2 of every 5 sequitors can come with a Greatmace, which you always want to take. The Sequitor-Prime can also take one, meaning your unit of 5 can get 3 of these bad boys to really lay some pain on multi-wound Battleline- it's just that you can't take a Redemption Cache with that unit then (more on that later). Unless you have to deal with a lot of Death and Daemons, take the Greatmaces, as they come with better damage. Next up, Aetheric Channeling, their core unique rule. Previously legendary for shitting all over Death and Daemons, now... Well it's hard to say without further testing, but they've gone from "great" to "good", at the very least. You can no longer pick both weapons and shields due to changed to Lord-Arcanums, but if you pick Weapons, for every onmodified 6, every attack turns into 2 attacks. For Shields, the unit gets a Ward Save of 5+. Nice. Lastly, there's the Redemption Cache. If you choose to give the Sequitor-Prime the weapon and shield option, then slain models cannot be returned to enemy units that are within 3" of this unit's Sequitor-Prime. Perfect for crapping on Death's whole gimmick, and can occasionally find usage outside of anti-death lists due to how healing units work now.
** Important Change: Sequitors lost their Soulshield rend reduction ability, but in exchange, when they use their defensive Aetheric Channeling they now gain a 5+ ward save instead. This, combined with buffs from a Knight Castellant's Lantern, makes them amoung the most durable infantry in the game. 5 Sequitors in their defensive curl will tank an unbelievable amount of damage from just about any source.
**Consider still taking them as an assault option compared to your regular Liberators. While they lack Mortal Wound output, the fact that they get either Ward Saves or extra attacks is still a nice little choice.
** Now Redemption Cache doesn't shoot mortal wounds at {{AOSKeyword|Chaos}} or {{AOSKeyword|Death}} units, but instead prevents units within 3" cannot bring back models from the dead. Death and Daemon-centric Chaos armies will hate this, and makes Sequitors even stronger against them than they were before.
** Sequitors vs Liberators: This is going to be a tough one going forward as both units have uses to bring. Liberators have gotten some upgrades to their bravery and weapon options that ups their game in comparison to Sequitors a bit, though Sequitors are still obviously better per model. The Sequitors are more effective in combat and on the defense than Liberators, but are more expensive and come in smaller unit sizes. And since you can fit more models into Liberator squads with the potential of their new paired-weapons to generate more attacks they can potentially put out a lot more attacks, but less effective ones. A good option could be to use both. Use Liberators more defensively, using their greater numbers and reasonable combat abilities as objective grabbers and charge breakers, while deepstriking in the Sequitor units into the enemy lines as assault units. Really both have their uses and it is up to the player on what they want to do with both. Against other elite order armies you're taking these guys to dunk on Saurus Guard, Hearthguard Beserkers, Sisters of Slaughter,and Lumineth stone hats.


====Vanguard Auxiliary Chamber====
====Vanguard Auxiliary Chamber====

Revision as of 23:43, 18 September 2021

Grand Alliance Order

Stormcast Eternals

Cue the power-metal.

Lore
Tactics
General Tactics

Lo and behold the might of the Stormcast Eternals!

If you want to always have multiple wounds and fight for Sigmar, the Stormcast Eternals are for you! Stormcast Eternals all have at least a 4+ save and 2 wounds per model making them a tough force to take down in hand to hand combat. At the moment they seem more focused on having X models and ensuring those X models survive until the end of the game through various hero abilities (immune to Battleshock, regain wounds, increase their already durable (for AoS at least) 4+ save and bonuses to hit). At the same time, your guys don't punch all that hard, though your Paladins (read: Elite) more than make up for that. Thanks to their hardiness and comparatively low damage output, they are the epitome of "easy to learn, hard to master," much like their 40k cousins. They recently got an update as of February 2017 and another in 2018, tactical page in the process of being updated.

The new book in 2017 included the vanguard wing auxiliary chamber, rules for using specific Stormhosts and new battalions. Also included are new warlord traits, relics, prayers for your priests (read Lord-Relictor and Lord Veritant), and mount traits to make that Stardrake an even bigger threat.

The book released in 2018 introduced the Sacrosanct Chamber. Mostly comprised of warrior wizards but also contained the Stormcast's first dedicated artillery piece and accompanying engineer style hero to go with it. Stormhost rules were overhauled, two new faction-specific lores were added in addition to three faction-specific endless spells.

Third edition Updates forthcoming. The newest Stormhost is the Thunderstrike Brotherhood, bringing forth even more units for Stormcast, a brand new redesign, and two named characters.

Why play Stormcast Eternals?

Pros

  • Fairly tough, well-armored Troops.
  • Newbie friendly, very forgiving of mistakes.
  • You have a constant supply of new models. Seriously, you've had one big release per year every year since the game launched. The Lord Sigmar saw his legions in 2021 and said it was good enough for the moment.
  • Lots of options in both Heroes and Units to pick from, making it possible to fill out a wide variety of battle strategies.
  • Have many abilities to restore Wounds.
  • You hate Chaos Daemons and Nighthaunt, especially for Sancrosact Chamber units. Expect to deal more damage against them, and have some additional protection against them. Conversely, expect your fellow players to stop playing Daemons and Nighthaunt against you.
  • You want to run an all-dragon army. Especially doable with the new Draconith units available.
  • You have a staggering 76 Warscrolls at your fingertips. You theoretically have an army loadout for every situation.
  • You have one of the newest battletomes currently, alongside the Orruk Warclans.
  • If you're into metal music, there's plenty of thematic songs to choose from.
  • They are Space Marines in Fantasy.

Cons

  • Expect to throw out your previous Battletome every year with all the new models coming out.
  • Your Bravery Scores are relatively low.
  • When you bring 5 guys, almost everybody else brings 10. So if your opponent is on an objective you need to smash him in the knee caps to do it. Even worse now in the new edition, where everything is more expensive, and less models are on the table. About 20 models is more or less 1500 pts, so get ready to be really questioning what you want versus what you need.
  • No real way to stop Mortal Wounds and with your high saves and elite units they can really sting. Between this and your low bravery, Nighthaunt will hurt you bad.
  • They are Space Marines in Fantasy.
  • You aren't quite the favorite child Space Marines are in Fantasy, so unlike them you don't get new models and rules every week (Much to the joy of literally every other faction in the game)
  • Currently the most played army and basically have all the same issues that Space Marines do in 40k. Foremost among them is that just about everyone you will ever face will have some kind of plan or optimization to counter your Sigmarines.
    • Expect Codex Creep to set in as the months pass and other battletomes get the formula down more.

Rulebooks

Faction rules and abilities: Battletome Stormcast Eternals (2021)


Latest Matched play points: Battletome Stormcast Eternals (2021)

Core rules: here

Matched play rules, battleplans and expansions: General's Handbook 2022-23 Season 2, plus the battleplans from the Core Book.

Supplement all the above with any Errata and Designers' Commentary from the FAQs.

Allegiance Abilities

Battle Traits

If your army has a STORMCAST ETERNALS allegiance and chose to take the STORMCAST ETERNALS allegiance abilities, it has the following rules:

<tabs> <tab name="General"> Stormhosts: Pick your subfaction, giving all (Stormcast Eternals in the army that keyword. named characters from different Stormhosts stop you from gaining the subfaction ability.

Guardians of the Heavens and shields of the mortal realms: pick between the mobile strike force descending from Azyr (Scions of The Storm ) or the boots on the ground troops (Stormkeep ).

Blaze of Glory: Introduced in the 3E Dominion Boxset to mildly offset the sting of losing models in melee. When one of your models is slain, target an enemy unit within 1" and roll a number of dice equal to their wounds stat, adding another one if the model has the Thunderstrike keyword; each 6 deals a mortal wound to that model. </tab> <tab name="Scions of The Storm"> The original battletome's trait, the only change since the first and last book is that the protection after deap striking is now a command trait ):

Scions of The Storm: 40K Deep Strike. You may hold up to half of your units (rounding down) in reserve instead of deploying, and at the end of your movement phase, decide if you want to set up one or more reserve units on the battlefield. Each unit not set up this way before round 4 is slain. Setting up anywhere more than 9" away from any enemy models.

  • Very useful, especially for an otherwise relatively slow army. It does let your heavy-hitters get across the board really fast as well as set up your ranged units in prime firing positions. Now even stronger courtesy of certain lords allowing you to set up from 7" away, and certain units dealing damage when they deploy this way to enemies.

</tab> <tab name="Stormkeep"> Introduced in Broken Realms: Morathi and expanded upon in our newest Battletome, a STORMCAST ETERNALS army can choose to be stationed in a Stormkeep instead of blasting down from the heavens. When making your army, you can say that it is from a Stormkeep and use the following Battle Traits instead of the default ones:

Watchful Guardians: You get Cities of Sigmar Auxiliaries to make a Coalition army. They gain the Stormkeep keyword and don't affect any of your battletraits. In addition all your units add +1 to their bravery when they're within 12" of a friendly Redeemer unit.

Shield of Civilization: Redeemer units count as 3 models for each model for the purposes of capturing objectives in their own deployment zone in turns 1 & 2, and any objective starting turn 3. Additionally, that unit deals d3 mortal wounds to whoever charges them on a 3+.

</tab> </tabs>

Stormhosts

If your army is a Stormcast Eternals army, you can give it a Stormhost Keyword. ALL Stormcast Eternal units in your army gain that keyword - if they already have a Stormhost, like Vandus or Neave (Side note, almost all named characters are part of the Hammers of Sigmar Stormhost. The Celestant-Prime, the sons of Dracothion and Yndrasta are the only heroes without a Stormhost to call home), it does not replace it, but it also doesn't prevent other units in your army for having a different Stormhost keyword. RIP Tempest Lords and Celestial Warbringers.

Hallowed Knights

No longer the Black Templars of Stormcast, now you can potentially fight again whenever your Battleline dies.

Trait
Hallowed Knights - REDEEMER units get a 4+ attack again when they die.
  • This does stack with Blaze of Glory- this could be a very nasty combination with Vindictors. However, no extra Battleline with this Command Trait makes it far less appealing than some of the other options, as you're just banking on being able to kill things whenever you lose a unit. Not inherently a good thing in Stormcast, where you're always outnumbered
Special Characters:
  • Gardus Steel Soul
Celestial Vindicators

Previously the vicious hatefilled melee combatants. Now they're unfortunately one of the weakest Stormhosts.

Trait
Celestial Vindicators - At the start of combat, pick a unit of Celestial Vindicators that charged to make Exploding 6s on hits.
  • No extra Battleline and a mediocre Command Trait? I'm sorry Celestial Vindicator players.
Hammers of Sigmar

GW's special golden boys got treated pretty well. They have many names and they get free dragons.

Trait
Hammers of Sigmar - DRACOTHIAN GUARD is battleline , and your units have a 6+ Ward when within 12" of an objective.
  • You shouldn't need me to tell you that this is strong, but it's very strong. Free dragon battleline, and ward saves? Easily one of the best Stormhosts in the book. Unfortunately.
Special Characters: In short? Most (with official models) except the Celestant Prime and Yndrasta.
  • Vandus Hammerhand
  • Gavriel Sureheart
  • Astreia Solbright
  • Vorrus Starstrike
  • Neave Blacktalon
  • Aventis Firestrike
  • Bastian Carthalos
  • Aevon Stormsire
Anvils of the Heldenhammer

Shyish Heros Resurrected. Shyish flavored and lets a Deathstar swing twice.

Trait
Anvils of the Heldenhammer - At the end of the charge phase, roll 2D6 for each enemy unit within 1" of a friendly unit at the end of the charge phase. If you roll higher than the enemy unit's Bravery, you get to ignore the first 2 wounds of that unit for the phase.
  • Fairly unreliable, especially if you're up against daemons or undead. It's interesting, but is it useful? Not really.
Knights Excelsior

Annihilators of all Chaos. Getting heavy armor everywhere.

Trait
Knights Excelsior - Annihilators , Decimators , Protectors , and Retributors all become Battleline . Also, once per turn during the combat phase if a Paladin unit is with 1" of an enemy unit that outnumbers them, you can add +1 to hit and wound rolls for that unit until the end of the phase.
  • Paladins got a real boost in the new edition so if you're fond of elite, tanky forces, perhaps this is the Stormhost for you?
Celestial Warbringers

Use to be the wizard guys, now just Future Readings

Trait
Fearless Forsight - Each phase your units may reroll 1 roll to hit, wound, or armour save.
Tempest Lords

Previously were about CP farming, Now about getting those Prosecutors and dragons into combat.

Trait
The Host on High - Prosecuters become Battleline . Flying units may reroll one of the dice on charge rolls.
Astral Templars

The Storm Wolves, Specializing in Monster and Hero hunting.

Trait
Astral Templars - Vanguard-Palladors and Vanguard-Hunters become Battleline . and enemy monsters cant pick them for their rampages. They essentially get a free Hunters of the Heartland battalion ability.
  • In the new Monster Meta, these will prove useful- the Vanguard Chamber will hopefully come into their own now through the Astral Templars as specialized Monster Hunters to team up with Yndrasta.

Enchantments

Command Traits

A STORMCAST ETERNALS General of an army with a STORMCAST ETERNALS allegiance and has chosen to take the STORMCAST ETERNALS allegiance abilities can choose one of the following Command Traits:


  • Shock and Awe: -1 to hit units that came out of deep strike this turn. This buff effects the whole army, so your general doesn't have to come in with them.
  • Staunch Defender: Stormkeep armies may reroll the number of mortal wounds that a Redeemer unit gets to roll within 12" of your general.
  • Envoy of the Heavens: When a STORMCAST ETERNALS model dies in a unit, that unit gets +1 to saves for the rest of the phase. Vindicators can now go to 2+s.
  • Master of the Celestial Menagerie: If the general is a Monster and is on the table, subtract 1 from all wound rolls of melee weapons that target friendly STORMCAST ETERNALS MONSTERS .


Artefacts of Power

One HERO in your army may take a relic from the following tables:

<tabs> <tab name="Storm-Forged Weapons"> Pick a weapon that is not used by a mount for one of the following bonuses

  1. Blade of Heroes: re-roll failed to hit rolls made with a melee weapon against HEROE s or MONSTER s.
  2. Hammer of Might:
  3. Fang of Dracothian: If you deal a wound to an enemy unit with this weapon, then at the end of each turn it suffers a Mortal Wound.

</tab> <tab name="Heaven-Wrought Armour">

  1. Drakescale Armour: Re-roll failed saves for this HERO against weapons with a Damage characteristic greater than 1.
  2. Mirrorshield: Missile weapons can't target the bearer unless the firing unit is within 9".
  3. Amulet of the Silvered Sigmarite: Any incoming attacks against the bearer cannot be re-rolled.

</tab> <tab name="Artefacts Of The Tempest">

  1. Quicksilver Draught: Once per battle this HERO gains Fight First in the combat phase.
  2. Luckstone: Once per battle you can change the results of one-hit, wound, run or save roll for this HERO to the result of your choice. For 1d5 rolls you pick a number 1-6, and for 2d6 rolls you pick a result 2-12.
  3. Obsidian Amulet: Once per game, this hero can ignore all effects of any spells or endless spells that are affecting or would affect the bearer until your next Hero phase.

</tab> </tabs>

Spell Lore

Your wizards May take one spell from the Lore of the Storm. All spells are 12" range, but if the caster is LORD or DRACONITH then it goes up to 18".

<tabs> <tab name="Lore of the Storm">

  1. Lightning Blast: CV 5+. The closest visible unit is dealt d3 Mortal wounds. Like 40k Smite but with an infinite range.
  2. Azyrite halo: CV 5+. Pick a visible Stormcast unit wholly within 12", until the next hero phase, whenever the unit makes an unmodified save roll of 6, the attacker takes a Mortal Wound. Remember that you still make a save roll even if out-Rended.
  3. Celestial Blades: CV 5+. A visible Stormcast unit wholly within 12" adds 1 to Melee wounds rolls until the next Hero Phase.
  4. Chain Lightning: CV 6+. One visible enemy unit within 12" suffers D3 Mortal Wounds, then each other enemy unit within 3" of the first take a mortal wound on a 4+.
  5. Thundershock: CV 6+. Pick a visible point within range. All enemy units wholly within 6" have -1 to wound on all their attacks.
  6. Starfall: CV 5+. Pick a point on the table. On a roll of 4+ for each enemy within 3" of that Point, until end of turn that unit cannot make pile-in moves.

</tab> <tab name="Endless Spells"> These can only be cast by STORMCAST ETERNAL WIZARDS.

  • Everblaze Comet: (110pts) Comet of Cassandora, Stormcasts edition. When it comes down, it hits everything within 10" for a bunch of Mortal Wounds determined by a D3 roll - on a 1, the unit takes a single Mortal Wound. On a 2, the Unit takes a further D3 Mortal Wounds, and on a 3, the Unit takes 3 Mortal Wounds! On top of this, the Comet remains in play and spits out Mortal Wounds at the start of each battle round at any Units within 5", though this time on a 1-3 it only does one Mortal Wound, while on a 4+ it does D3 Mortal Wounds. Also, all Wizards must subtract 1 from their casting rolls while they are 5 inches or closer to the comet. This spell has the potential to dish out an obscene amount of Mortal Wounds, but a word of caution: even though the spell continues to damage units and bother Wizards after it has been cast, the Comet cannot be moved once it has been placed in the table (but you can dispel it in a later turn and then cast it again) This, combined with the fact that it costs 100 points, forces you to be extremely cautious about where and when to put it.
  • Celestian Vortex (30pts) (AKA the HAMMERNADO): It's a Hurricane of Hammers that dispenses Mortal Wounds (12 dice on 6+) and gives any Unit within 6" of it -1 to hit with Missile Weapons. Additionally, it wounds on a 5+ against Chaos units instead. Thanks to its 8 inch movement and the fact that it can move after being set up, the Hammernado proves to be a cheap (Only 40 points!!!) and effective way to damage Chaos forces and screw ranged units (If you manage to cast it against a Tzeentch or Skaven army, they are in for a bad time).
  • Dais Arcanum: (30pts) This is what is known as a STORMCAST ETERNAL WIZARD that has ascended past a STORMCAST ETERNAL WIZARD. A big disk for your Wizard to ride on: it grants them Fly, 12" movement, +1 to their Save and an additional Unbind. For just 30 points, you can hop in a Knight-Incantor or a Lord Exorcist, and make them go even further beyond. Your opponents are going to love it, trust me...

</tab> </tabs>

Prayers of the Stormhosts

Every PRIEST in a STORMCAST ETERNALS army gains an additional prayer which can be used in addition to their other prayers in the Hero Phase.

All prayers have a range of 12" for Knights , which extend to 18" for Lords

  1. Divine Light: 3+ to cast, choose an enemy unit wholly within 12". You may re-roll 1's to hit when attacking that unit until your next hero phase.
  2. Translocation: 3+ to cast, remove a friendly STORMCAST ETERNAL unit wholly within 9" of this priest (12" for Lords ) from the battlefield and set them up again anywhere on the battlefield more than 9" from enemy units. Expect to use this a lot for your footsloggers.
  3. Bless Weapons: 4+ to cast, a friendly unit wholly within 18" deals 2 hits for every unmodified 6 rolled to hit instead of just 1.

Traits of the Noble Beast

One mount in your army may be "exceptional" and take a relevant trait. Heavily changed from before.

  1. Aetheric Swiftness: For DRACOTHS , DRACOLINES , and Gryph-Chargers . Allows the rider eligible to fight and pile in from 6" instead of 3".
  2. Light of the Young Stars: For STARDRAKES . It gains a new Monstrous Rampage to grant -1 to hit rolls until the end of turn on a 3+.
  3. Celestial Instincs: The mount can fall back and either charge or shoot on the same turn.
  4. Envoy of Lighting: If the hero deep-strikes with Scions of the Storm, roll a d6 for every enemy unit within 10" of them, dealing d3 mortal wounds on a 4+.
  5. Scintillating Trail: Enemy wizards suffer a -1 to their unbinding rolls when a wizard from within 12" casts a spell.
  6. Thunderous Presence: For Draconith . It effectively gives you a second roar that shuts off commands during the Battleshock phase, shutting off the use of Inspiring Presence.

Holy Commands

At long last. Stormhosts no longer hand out a bonus Command Trait, so you get these instead. You get one of five to choose from for your army. You may use that Command Ability once per game. They are unique enhancements, so you can take multiple if you spend additional enhancements to do so. Also with the exception of Call for Aid, these commands can only be issued by KNIGHT s or DRACONITH /LORD s, the latter of which get an 18" range.

  1. Call for Aid: Can be issued by any hero. A REDEEMER unit of 5 models or less get all their dead models to come back to life. An interesting ability, and HALLOWED KNIGHTS will like this ability as they rely on those units to fight as their frontlines. If they can come back and do it again, this can be potentially devastating - if only limited by the model requirement.
  2. Steadfast March: The unit that is issued this Command Ability gets to run and charge. You already have some ideas of what you want to do with this, don't you?
  3. Thunderbolt Volley: Allows an Angelos or Justicar unit within range to shoot in the hero phase.
  4. Unleash Thy Hatred: One PALADIN unit within range adds +1 to the attacks for their melee weapons.
  5. Final Thunderstrike: You add +1 to the rolls for a Blaze of Glory, dealing mortal wounds on 5+s. Save it for when one of the dragons (which are THUNDERSTRIKE ) or your biggest hero dies, and watch your enemies explode.

Grand Strategies

As the new gimmick in AOS 3rd edition, each army has three unique Grand Strategies. Of course, Stormcast get the... Weird ones.

  1. Draconith Defiance: You complete this grand strategy if the only HEROES left alive are DRACONITH .
  2. Pillars of Victory: You complete this grand strategy if the only BATTLELINE left alive are REDEEMERS .
  3. Sacred Charge: You complete this grand strategy if 2 friendly CITIES OF SIGMAR units are left alive on the battlefield.

Battle Tactics

You get these in addition to the ones granted by your battleplan (either the core ones for core batteplans, or the Ghur ones for the GHB2021 battleplans).

  1. Hammer Strike Assault: Get victory points for killing a Hero with at least 10 wounds.
  2. No Challenge Too Great: Get victory points for killing a Hero with a Redeemer Unit.
  3. Draconith Destruction: Get victory points for killing a unit of 10 or more models with a DRACONITH unit.
  4. A Matter of Honour: Get victory points for killing a MONSTER with a DRACONITH unit.
  5. Pioneers of the Realm: Get victory points for capturing objectives wholly within your opponent's deployment zone with a CITIES OF SIGMAR unit.
  6. Lightning-shattered Morale: Get victory points for making a model in a unit of Bravery 10 run.

Core Battalions

Coming soon, but these battalions just shuffle around the roles a bit while granting the same options.

Warscrolls

Common keywords in these warscrolls are ORDER , CELESTIAL , HUMAN and STORMCAST ETERNAL .

Named Leaders

The majority of these characters tied to the Hammers of Sigmar. Note that named characters cannot be given command abilities or relics. Named characters CAN however take Mount Traits, regardless of if their mount is named or not.

  • Krondys, Son of Dracothion: (600pts, Unaligned) Apparently the dragon with Sigmar's ear, aside from being a big dragon with lots of wounds, fire breathing, and nasty claw and fang attacks, apparently can cast spells as his armor boosts his magical ability. Stormcast's first level 2 wizard with 2 casts and unbinds, and a +3 to cast before he starts taking wounds. This doesn't extend to his unbinds, but oh well. Notably, he only knows one Stormcast lore spell, so choose wisely. His unique spell is interesting, as it requires a 9 to cast at 24" range, with 4 different effects to choose from. Subtract 1 from target's hit rolls with all attacks, subtract 1 from the rend of that unit's attacks, subtract 1 from the attacks characteristic of missile weapons, or subtract 1 from save rolls. You should seriously consider his ability to worsen rend or subtract from saves, but this spell can be a real swiss-army knife if you need it.
    • Just because Krondys is the wizard, doesn't mean that he's a slouch in a fight. Most notably, the attack characteristic of his tail attack is equal to the number of enemy models within 3". At 600 points, he's easily the biggest and most impressive of the large Stormcast Models, and seems to be perfectly ready to rip open your enemies a new one. Enemies also get -1 to hit him with melee weapons, and he more or less has the same attack profiles as Karazai, but with slighty worse damage. He continues the trend of all Stormcast wizards also being combat wizards, by virtue of being a big monster who can probably easily handle almost anything thrown at him. Just don't try to throw him against Nagash or Skarbrand in melee.
  • Karazai, the Scarred: (600pts, Unaligned) While Krondys seems to bring his mind to the battlefield, Karazai is all brawn. Not a wizard at all, but that's fine since Karazai wants to get up close and personal to Rip and Tear. All melee weapons target him subtract 1 from their attack characteristic to a minimum of 1. It seems he prefers his jaw attacks, as it has a terrifying 6/3+/1+(at 8 wounds or less)/-3 rend and 3 damage an attack, and then use his Talons to finish off whatever is left behind. He also gets tail attacks equal to the amount of enemy models within 3" of him, and his own fire breath attack, which will at least deal out a single mortal wound. Whenever Karazai kills an enemy unit, he then gets an effect depending on what that unit was. If it was a Monster or Hero, then he gets +1 attacks on all weapons. If it was a unit with 3+ wounds, he gets +1 to run and charge rolls, and units with 2 or less wounds simply heal 1 wound. Not quite what we were expecting, but Karazai promises to be a melee terror on the battlefield.
  • Celestant-Prime: (325pts, Unaligned) While not exactly named, this here is your army's big model that also acts as a centerpiece. The 'first' Stormcast Eternal, this is one bad dude. Prime has a very powerful shooting attack, dramatically one-upping the Lord-Celestant on Dracoth by tossing a comet onto the battlefield. His close combat potential seems to have potential, having 3 attacks base. That said, have him deep-strike and add 2 to the attacks characteristic of Ghal Maraz until the end of the game. Let's put it this way: Nagash will kick his ass. The Glottkin will kick his ass. Archaon... will probably think twice, as might the Mortarchs. The point is, this guy only looks like a combat monster, but he's your artillery equivalent, except for really big games, where you can afford to leave him off the table for two or three turns. He now has a 4+ ward, and gets 2 extra attacks with Ghal Maraz for every turn one of your movement phases he spends in reserve.
    • In fact, the Prime is a lot better than it would seem at first glance. With his "Orrery of Celestial Fates," once per turn, you can CHOOSE one of his rolls to any result you want. Meaning, each turn you can either: almost guarantee 3 Damage in combat if you change the Hit dice (Ghal Maraz wounds on 2+ and has -3 Rend), or almost guarantee that 9" charge the turn he enters play, or avoid one non-mortal wound to him if you change the Save roll (even against -3 Rend opponents!), or make his meteor attack work in a 12" bubble (that will also give you perfect control to avoid hitting your own guys!). This last option is the best one: usually, you'll hit at least 3 units, meaning an average 6 mortal wounds, and Battleshock tests for 3 units, at -2 Bravery if they're at 12" or less! If you make him appear in the right spot, and when many enemy units are at combat with your guys, you'll force A LOT of Battleshock test at -2 Bravery. Your second turn is ideal for this: most of your units will be engaged, and with 5 Ghal Maraz attacks, if you change the hit dice, the Prime deals each turn something like 9 wounds in combat (except against a handful of super-protected units, like Stonehorns or Phoenix Guard), which is MIGHTY. But in your turn, it's probably better to change the radius roll for the comet and deal myriads of mortal wounds. This guy requires a lot of skill to play, but if you do it right, his 325 points cost will be repaid in no time.
  • Yndrasta, the Celestial Spear: (320 pts, Unaligned) Dominion's big centerpiece Sanguinius-chan is quite a dangerous showing. She's a flying Thunderstrike hero with a 3+/4++ save and equipped with some very dangerous weapons. Both of them wound on a 2+ with -2 Rend, but the spear deals d6 wounds at range while the sword only deals 3. This is especially a problem for monsters, as she also has a 3" aura that forces any monsters she faces to act as if they've suffered 10 additional wounds, meaning that her very presence can nerf greater daemons and other monsters before she attacks them. That said, she's not entirely offensive. Friendly Stormcast units within 12" can ignore battleshock and once per turn she can raise one model for a Stormcast unit with a wounds characteristic of 3 or less - incredibly useful since now you aren't only gaining back those models for attacking but also to act as reloading kamikazes. Send her monster hunting for best results, then send her after enemy heroes.
  • Vandus Hammerhand: (215pts, Hammers of Sigmar ) Dracoth-borne Lord-Celestant of the Hammerhands, the first chamber of the Hammers of Sigmar. He's Sigmar's favorite Stormcast, and it shows. His tempestos hammer, Heldensen, deals 3 wounds rather than D3. In addition he has a ranged attack that always deals d3 mortal wounds on a 4+, making for a nice shot for softening up enemies, but nevery something to rely upon. He gets 2 extra attacks if he's charged, and he automatically grants battleshock immunity to all Hammers of Sigmar units within 24". Curiously, he's picked up a new trick this edition, allowing you to grant 1 Hammers of Sigmar Redeemer unit wholly within 12" of him an extra attack for all their weapons. If you take Vandus to the field, run him alongside your Battleline as a linebreaker, where he can deal the most damage. Sadly, despite a decrease in points, he's not as useful as the generic option in a dragons-only list.
  • Astreia Solbright: (195pts, Hammers of Sigmar ) A named Lord Arcanum on a Dracoline. Not only can she stave off death for a Stormcast unit, but she can also add +1 to saves for Hammers of Sigmar Sacrosanct units hit in melee, offsetting their weaker saves. In addition, she can re-roll her charges and her unique spell is a debuff bubble that deals -1 to hit rolls on all enemies within 6".
  • Aventis Firestrike: (325pts, Hammers of Sigmar /Hammerhal ) A named Lord Arcanum on a Tauralon, unique in that he's also capable of supporting a Cities of Sigmar army just as effectively. One of your few wizards who gets 2 casts and unbinds, he's gained quite a few new tricks this battletome, including the ability to stave off death for one model within 18" and restoring a wound on them - though it's not sure if this will still trigger Blaze of Glory. While ineffective on himself, he can heal d3 wounds each hero phase anyways. His last ability lets him normal moves give +1 to hit for nearby Hammers of Sigmar and Hammerhal units. His unique spell has a 7+ CV and a rather short range of 9", but it's a blast that deals d3 MWs to enemies within 3" of the chosen location.
  • Gardus Steel Soul: (160 pts, Hallowed Knights ) Named Lord-Celestant of the Hallowed Knights who has been the main character of a few novels and has a starring role in Broken Realms: Be'lakor. While he's only as fast as your regular battleline, he has a 5+ ward save that spreads to other Hallowed Knights units within 12". On top of that, he has a once-per-game ability to re-roll charges for any heroes within 12" and add an an extra attack, and Martyr's Strength, which gives him the ability to fight again on a 2+. All in all, very solid choice for a melee leader for your Hallowed Knights, if you want a dedicated named character for the job. However, he's 30 more points expensive than the default Lord-Celestant, and lacks the generic version's abilities.
  • Gavriel Sureheart: (130pts, Hammers of Sigmar ) Lord-Celestant and yet another member of the Hammers of Sigmar. Not only can he re-roll his charges, but he can also make a free Forward to Victory command each turn for Hammers of Sigmar units. He trades the Lord Celestant's regular weapons with 2 damage -1 rend sword with 5 attacks (that deals 2 MWs on a crit 6 to hit) and a Thundershield that deals out mortal wounds when you roll 6s to save. Same price as the default lord-celestant, and arguably an alternative pick for when you play Hammers of Sigmar.
  • Neave Blacktalon: (120pts, Hammers of Sigmar ) The Stormcast Eternals Hero Hunter who's no longer as supporting for allies. Her boltstorm pistol allows her to run and shoot. Her real damage comes from the whirlwind axes, providing a dizzying 8 attacks that add +d3 more attacks on the charge with -1 Rend. Her standout ability is Windrider, which lets her re-deploy wherever she wishes and ensures that she can always be close to some prey. Much more identical to the default Knight-Zephyros now, even being the same price as her. The real question is if you think those extra attacks will help in the long run.
  • Averon Stormsire: (230pts) Only usable with Stormsire's Cursebreakers. A buffed Knight-Incantor with a buffed spell, adding d3 wounds to enemies within 6".
  • Lynus Ghalmorian: (240pts, Anvils of the Heldenhammer ) Named Lord Arcanum on Gryph-Charger for the Anvils of the Heldenhammer , found in the August 2019 White Dwarf. Almost identical to the base one, but makes every friendly Anvils of the Heldenhammer unit within 12" reroll save rolls of 1 against missile weapons, replaces the healing spell with one that is cast on a 6+ and deals D3 mortal wounds to a unit within 12" while also giving it -1 to hit rolls until your next hero phase and haves a command ability that gives every friendly Anvils of the Heldenhammer unit within 12" +1 to their hit rolls. 240 points.
  • Lord-Commander Bastian Carthalos: (300 pts, Hammers of Sigmar ) The newest Hammers of Sigmar character, and their leader to boot! His stat line is scary. 8 wounds with a 3+/4++ save, and 4 attacks with +3/+2/-2 and 4 damage a piece! And that's before you get into his abilities. During the hero phase he picks a single enemy unit and rolls d6 equal to their wounds- for every 6, that unit suffers a single mortal wound. Useless against chaff, but great for dueling heroes, monsters, and anything else with more than 4 wounds. He also allows you to redeploy d3 friendly Hammers of Sigmar units as long as you go first in the first round- a great plan if your opponent manages to somehow strategically outflank you before the game begins, or if you come up with some genius plan after you finish all your drops (and you're playing Stormcast, you always finish your drops first). Next up, he's got the Lord-Imperitant's "free command ability" ability, a real lifesaver when you're short on CP. Lastly, he's got the Mantle of the First Storm. At the end of any phase if any models were slain by Bastian, he can heal all wounds allocated to him. He's looking like the go-to choice for Hammers of Sigmar, but whether or not you want to actually use him with his cost of 300pts is up to you- either way, he's one scary hero who you will always pull his weight, either by moving with your battleline, or charging into the fray himself.

Leaders

Celestant

  • Lord-Celestant:(130pts) An okay hero on foot that can shoot d6 shots at an enemy within 12", and has 5 attacks in melee that can deal 2 damage apiece. His unique traits allow him to deal out mortal wounds instead of regular attacks when he rolls 6s to hit, and he can issue All-out Attack for free, once per battle. A lot has changed since the Lord-Celestant first graced the tabletop, to the point where if you want a melee beatstick to go with your Battleline, the Lord-Celestant should be the first hero you consider. You probably don't want the vanilla Lord-Celestant for your general however, now that his mounted versions have become much stronger, and the inclusion of the Lord-Imperitant into the game.
  • Lord-Celestant on Dracoth: (215pts) A guy in pompous golden armor and a big cloak who can be equipped with a Dracothian Guard weapon and rides a dragon on lightning. Couldn't be more Power Metal if he tried. He's very killy in close combat and can use the All-Out Attack command once per game for free. Due to being mounted, he moves at a fast pace and has 7 wounds as opposed to the "general" hero base of 5. This guy is hard-hitting, fast and durable meaning you want him up in the front line where he can lead the charge. To simplyfy, his Dracoth can spit out some mortal wounds if you get lucky, but you will never want to rely on it, as it only spits out d3 mortal wounds on a 4+. The Dracoth's Claws and Fangs will surely tear out enemy battleline, or even a hero if he gets to rip into them, and whenever you roll a 6 for a save, he gets to deal out a mortal wound to whoever had the gall to try and hit him. Pick the Glaive or the Lightning Hammer for best results.
    • The Celestant's Weapon choice:
      • The Stormstrike Glaive that deals more damage on charges, its pitiful damage of 1 becomes a 3 if the Lord-Celestant charged this turn.
      • The Lightning Hammer that deals 2 Mortal Wounds on hit rolls of 6 instead of rolling for damage
      • The Tempestos Hammer, which only gets 3 attacks at 3+/2+/-1/D3 Damage, but you can stack an additional D3 onto each hit if he charged this turn. While this can deal the most damage in a single blow, it also comes with the worst rend out of his 4 weapon profiles.
      • Lastly, a Thunderaxe that only deals out a single point of damage, but gets 2 extra attacks if the Lord-Celestant is fighting against a unit with more models than 1.
    • With Stormcast Dragons now a potential army option, he's potentially a budget leader option to lead your Dracothian Guard into the charge.
  • Lord-Celestant on Stardrake:(500pts, Behemoth) aka Rage Made Manifest. Hoo boy. Looking at the stat-wheel, this guy compares quite well to Nagash, with eighteen wounds at a 3+ save and a high flying Move. Melee-wise, the Drake looks lacking at first, having just about the same profile as a Vampire Lord, with four attacks at 3+/3+/-2/2 damage, which is a good profile, but not stellar for such a huge model, and a tail attack which is D6 attacks at 3+/3+/-1=2 damage. The Celestant on top adds to the beastie by wielding either the same Hammer with better rend, or a Sword with more attacks. He also bears a Shield, which can cause Mortal Wounds on the guys who punch your Celestant. And then you see why the Drake looks so lacking in melee: At range, he can shoot comets, which are now a 4 attack ranged weapon with 30" to shoot, and Rend -3 and Damage 3, then before combat, he can just flat-out eat up to 3 enemy models, with higher chances to succeed if their Wound-stat is low. He also has a once-per-game ability to issue one free command to a Stormcast unit within 12". And he can also adjust casting rolls for all Wizards around him by +/-1. Simply put, this guy is not an auto-win button, but he raises holy hell by having a huge threat bubble and crapping out an enormous amount of Mortal Wounds all over the field.
    • Tempted to bring him as the general for an all-dragon list? You bet your are. The Lord-Celestant on Stardrake is a nice middle-ground between picking the Knight-Draconis, or going with big Karazai or Krondys. While not as much of a blender as Karazai, and not a caster like Krondys, this Lord-Celestant isn't going to stop until something kills him dead, or he breaks the enemy line for the rest of your dragons to take care of business.

Arcanum

All variants in the GHB 2019 received a 20 point decrease but is canceled out by the increase in Sequitors if you take 10 or more of them. Only really beneficial to lists using an Arcanum for spawning endless spells and no Sequitors (Even then, Incantor is still usually the better option).

  • Lord-Arcanum: (155pts) A wizard and Leader of the Sacrosanct Chamber and has many abilities. Ok in a fight. When surrounded he can Break Spirit Flasks to deal Mortal wounds to everyone around him including himself. Once per turn, he can heal a recently slain Stormcast model (that is not himself) back to 1 wound allowing him to hold the line longer or crawl back to the nearest Cleric. For spells, he has Thunderclap, which subtracks 1 from an enemy unit's hit rolls, or he can move a predatory endless spell an extra 6" in addition to their movement speed. All in all, the Lord-Arcanum acquits himself as the middle-of-the-road wizard when compared to the Knight-Incantor and Knight-Arcanum- but he's definitely the one you want to be casting your predatory endless spells.
    • Interestingly, when combined with the new Stormcast "Blaze of Glory" ability, the Lord Arcanum's Spirit Flasks make him incredibly dangerous for opponents to deal with. If hes going to die in combat, you can burst his Spirit Flasks, kill himself and pop some mortal wounds. Than then, watch him blow up like a roman candle. I very nearly killed the Light of Eltharion with this today, and I would gladly make that trade any day. You could even use Praetors to potentially negate wounds on the Arcanum, potentially killing themselves in the process and detonating themselves as well while still not losing your hero. Its not really a primary strategy, but definitely a useful fall-back strat if you've got a dangerous enemy hero killer gunning for him, and you value their death more than your hero's life.
  • Lord-Arcanum on Gryph-Charger: (195pts) Came from the Soul Wars box, now only available bundled with an Evocator-Prime. The medic of the Arcanum. Like other Gryph-Charger, his movement increased to 12", Gaining 3/+3/+3/-2/D1 Beak & Claws, and the same Aetherstave as the default Lord-Arcanum It also gains the ability to Ride the winds Aetheric which lets it essentially redeploy instead of move. It has a different Unique spell that Heals D3 wounds on a Stormcast Model and D6 instead on a cast of +8, this spell can make him good friends with Dracoths. Unfortunately, with the loss of his unique command ability, this Lord-Arcanum is somewhat rudderless compared to his counterparts. While previously you wanted him to stick with either the Sequitors or Evocators to give them free empowers, or to let the sequitors pick both of their channeling abilities, that's all gone now. Keep him with your Battleline, where he can support them as a wizard, and heal your troops as well.
  • Lord-Arcanum on Celestial Dracoline: (200pts) Mounted for offense and would lead Evocators on Dracolines. Similar to the Gryph-Charger stats but has one less in rend, but makes up for it by increasing its Claws damage to d3. Dracolines also subtract 1 from enemy Bravery. Its unique spell creates a 12" line that inflicts a Mortal wound to an enemy unit on a 5+ for each of its models that falls under the line. Its unique aura Gives +1 attack to the Claw weapons of nearby Evocators mounted on Dracolines. If you're running Evocators on Dracolines, you might want to consider bringing this Lord-Arcanum to lead them into battle.
  • Lord-Arcanum on Tauralon: (MONSTER, 285pts) A Lord-Arcanum Riding a flying Ram that has a similar weapons profile to the Dracoline but with one more attack. The Tauralon gives a +1 to hit for Stormcast and Cities attacks so long as he's within 3" of them.. His Unique spell deals d3 mortal wounds to on a 4+ to enemies within 3" of a point you pick. The Lord-Arcanum on Tauralon has become somewhat unfocused, having lost much of the utility that it once had, and its previous buffs to shooting now requires him to stay next to whoever you want him to buff.

Other Wizards

  • Lord Exorcist: (95pts) A Wizard that Specializes in Close Quarters Exorcising. He has the same stats and weapon Profile as the Lord-Arcanum. During the Shooting Phase, he deals a mortal wound to all Daemon and Nighthaunt units within 6" on a 4+. His Unique spell Rolls a dice for each enemy unit within 6". If (d6 + enemy's unit's Bravery < 10 ) than that unit takes d3 Mortal wounds and if that said unit was a Daemon or Nighthaunt , their affective Bravery is Halved (rounded up) for the purposes of this spell. Received a 20 point decrease in the GHB 2019 . He now the cheapest Wizard in the army as of 2020 2021 Pitched Battle updates, sitting pretty at only 90 95 points!
  • Knight-Incantor: (125pts) The on-foot wizard from Soul Wars. Nothing to write home about in melee, and not a particularly impressive caster with only 1 each cast and deny with no bonus. The Knight Incantor does, on the other hand, come with a Voidstorm Scroll, a once-per-game ability that can be used before rolling to make an Unbinding roll automatically succeed. This can deny your opponent a critical spell, breaking a combo or saving one of your units. Also equipped with Spirit Flasks - once per game at the beginning of a combat phase, the Knight Incantor can choose to shatter up to three spirit flasks. For each one broken, each unit (friendly or enemy, including the Knight Incantor herself) suffers 1 mortal wound, or d3 if there are 10 or more models in the unit. Finally, Her unique spell creates a Storm that inflicts a mortal wound and gives -1 to Charge and Run of all enemies within 18". The Knight Incantor is a decent all-around wizard who doesn't stand out in any one area, but can also do almost any task you ask of her. Also a solid ally to any Order faction that doesn't have wizards of their own. Has gained a small merit to note now that Spirit Flasks can be used to dish out mortal wounds to an enemy, and then potentially kill the Knight-Incantor, proccing Blaze of Glory. Is it really worth it though? Probably not. Best taken as your budget wizard.
  • Knight-Arcanum: (135 pts) From the Dominion Boxset. An otherwise ordinary wizard who acts as a 3" bubble of denial for predatory Endless Spells - no spell can go into or through this space, which can give you a bit of breathing room. Their unique spell acts like an Arcane Bolt that can pick who it hits in exchange for any overcasting benefits, and its range is boosted for every Thunderstrike unit within 12" of the caster. The Knight-Arcanum's melee abilities are notably a worse iteration of both the Knight-Incantor and the Lord-Arcanum's melee. While promising d3 wounds, having to wound on 4+s means that the Knight-Arcanum is best spent away from the thick of it. At the end of the day, the Knight-Arcanum's real role is endless spell denial, put her in her back line where your opponent is liable to drop their predatory spells, and keep her with your battleline that you want to stay alive.

Priest

  • Lord-Relictor: (145pts) Your foot-slogging cleric with a wicked skull helm. He has two unique prayers, one where he can choose to either heal a friendly Stormcast Eternals unit wholly within 12" for D3 wounds (best used on other Heroes), or to make an enemy unit wholly within 12" take d3 mortal wounds, and hae them suffer -1 to hit until your next hero phase. Best used on nearby enemy heroes. You will also choose 1 of the 6 prayers (which can be cast each turn in addition to one of the 2 just described). While no slouch in combat, he's nowhere near as good as a Lord-Celestant; of course, this isn't why you take him. The best use for him is in the "secondary" line, using his healing buff to keep your men in fighting shape and lending a hand with the lightning storm anywhere they're struggling. Heroes and paladins of all types will find him a very good "best bud." The comparison between him and the Lord-Celestant is easily explained: the Celestant is the fighter of the party while the Relictor is the cleric. Remember that the healing storm can't actually bring things back to life, it only heals stuff that's still alive. Frankly, the guy is awesome. The advent of Prayers gives him two options to influence the game in the Hero Phase, neither of which can be unbound. Favorite combo - "the FUCK YOU button": Give him the prayer Divine Light and then use his Lightning in enemy mode. With luck you'll have a unit that's taken D3 wounds, is -1 to hit, and your whole army gets to re-roll ones against them. His biggest draw now is ultimately cost- he's not as cheap as he used to be, but he's by no means the most expensive hero in the Stormcast hero lineup. Consider him carefully, especially now that Translocation can teleport your heavy paladins around. Also, he gets +1 to chanting rolls, meaning that no matter what you ask him to do, he's probably going to get that prayer answered.
  • Lord-Veritant: (155 pts) Another Priest, Has extra wounds compared to standard heroes just like the Castellant, and gets a pretty good melee profile (3 attacks at 3+/3+/-1, 2 damage each). Again, like the Castellant, he gets a Free pet gryph-hound who no longer counts as a seperate model. This guy is a wizard killer. He can unbind one spell in the same way as a wizard, and has a 50/50 chance of doing D3 mortal wounds to an enemy wizard within 12" with his prayer. Which isn't a spell so there is no way for the enemy to stop it. Last but not least he is a priest, so don't forget to throw some extra prayers on him. His role is more of an assassin than the Relictor's more support role, choose accordingly for him when deciding on prayers. His biggest con is, like the Castellant, he's lost most of his mojo, and just isn't as strong as he used to be, despite increasing in price. Still, he's a priest with an unbind. Potentially a good pair with the Witch Hunters in Cities of Sigmar lists.
  • Lord-Exorcist: (170 pts) Your Sancrosact "priest" who is just a wizard pretending to be one. His Redemption Stave isn't all that impressive (4 attacks at 3/3/-1, 2 damage Wounds each) but it will keep him alive should he get into a fight. His biggest trick is his Redemptor Casket, which prevents slain models returning to enemy units that are within 9" of him. He's also a wizard, that can cast his own unique spell, as well as the default spells. His unique spell deals D3 mortal wounds to any enemy in 12". The trick is that when determining if the spell hits, you roll again, adding the enemy's bravery to the roll, and you're looking for less than twelve. While not as potentially terrifying against Death and Daemons as he used to be, if you need someone to handle that swarm of Skeletons or Zombies, he's your guy to send with your battleline.
  • Knight-Relictor: (140 pts) The newest priest, and the only Thunderstrike option. He's a fairly basic model though, with a pretty decent mace with 3+ hit/3+ wound/-1 Rend/2 Damage. His most important power is the ability to negate the effects of enemy prayers or invocations on a 4+, giving you a big bubble of anti-priestness.

Others

  • Drakesworn Templar: (MONSTER, Behemoth, 455pts) If you like your Drake better without a meh Command Ability. Like Paladins, Dracoths and Dracoth Celestants, the Templar gets the obligatory choice of your three favorite weapons, and again all of them do different things: The Axe gets 6 swings at 1 damage and has a chance of drastically worsening enemy Pile-in moves, great to keep your Templar safe from small gribbles. The Hammer is more or less a Retributor's hammer but with damage 2, but with the extra goodness of 6+s To Hit making 2 To Wound rolls instead of 1. This can ruin a monster's day all on its own. Be wary that the Hammer does only get 3 swings, so debuffs will cripple you. The Lance also gets you a nice effect: If you roll a 6+ To Hit against a monster with it, you instantly deal D6 Mortal Wounds. Now much better, as its base damage has been reduced to a 1. Again, the Hammer is the more balanced choice, right between Monster killer and tarpit cleaner, but it's not as specialized as the other two; pick the one you think is most appropriate, the Drake will probably do most of the work on its own anyway. He gives a +/- of 1 to Nearby Wizards. He also has a bow which spits out a random amount of attacks every time, but for each 6, instead of rolling that wound, it just deals a mortal wound. Notably got worse, as he dropped down to having a 4+ save, as opposed to the Lord-Celestant's 3+.
    • While the Drakesworn Templar has long been "the worst Stardrake" in the community's eyes, the truth is that now, he's finally found a niche of his own. Coming it at a whole 50 points less than the Lord-Celestant option, and taken with the lance, all of a sudden the Templar is a pretty good monster hunter for the All-Dragon Stormcast list, which is where he will probably see a fair bit of use from now own.
  • Lord-Aquilor: (200pts) The post given to the leader of the Vanguard Auxiliary Chambers, aka the Stormcast Eternal Rangers. He's got decent combat stats and some ranged capability. The Vanguard Chamber really got shuffled around in this new edition, and he's no exception to it. Now, all he has are Ride the Winds Aetheric, and the ability to give out a free command to any friendly Vanguard units within reach. Before, you could get up to some fun shennanigans with his abilities, now he's mostly useful for babysitting your other Vanguard units.
  • Lord-Castellant: (155pts) No longer the powerhouse he once was, the Lord-Castellant is interested in walking alongside Battleline to buff them, and to deal some extra damage. His unique ability is his lantern, which can either add 1 to save rolls for a friendly stormcast unit in 18", or can potentially deal out d3 mortal wounds to an enemy unit within 18" in a 2+. Horrifingly, his buff ability only works on Stormcast now, meaning his usefulness has decreased drastically. He can acquit himself alright in combat, and has a fairly impressive 3+ save, 8 wounds, and 9 bravery, but just fails to stand out like he once did.
  • Lord-Ordinator: (130pts) A mustachioed non-Engineer that buffs Warmachines. Add 1 to hit rolls to War Machines wholly within 9". This pairs very well with the Celestar Ballista which has gone from good to great, and with his ability, goes from great to terrifying (you feel like hitting and wounding on 2+s?). Has the ability to deal two mortal wounds with every 6 you roll to hit, instead of regular wounds. An interesting ability, should his precious war machines become besiged by flankers. He will find himself in lists with Stormcast Eternals or Free City Warmacines.
  • Knight-Azyros: (120pts) Your flying support Hero. He's got 5 attacks at 3+/3+/-1/2 damage apiece, but he's got his special little lantern to help as well. His only ability now is giving +1 to hit on an enemy unit 9" of him in the combat phase. No longer a buffer for your shooting units, the Knight-Azyros wants to be moving alongside your other Prosecutors, or calvary.
  • Knight-Venator:(175pts) Your flying shooty Hero. Has a whole bunch of good shots at a ridiculously high 30" range, but is by far the worst Stormcast Hero in melee. He can also shoot a special arrow once per game that can either hurt a Monster real bad or murder the face off of a normal Hero with D6 Damage on a 3+. You could theoretically waste this on a regular unit as well, but he really, really wants to be a hero/monster hunter. The biggest problem with the Knight-Venator is now his high cost, and the fact that all his ranged attacks that he prizes so much only deal 1 damage a piece.
  • Knight-Heraldor: (105pts) Oh how the mighty have fallen. Previously, a unique hero with a unique ability, now your single cheapest hero, who doesn't bring much to the table. While he acquits himself nicely with a 3+ save and a broadsword that's alright in combat, his previously inpressive horn got hit with the nerf bat pretty hard. Now he picks a piece of terrain wholly within 18" of him, and he you roll a dice for each enemy unit with 3" of that terrain feature. On a 2+, that unit suffers d3 mortal wounds. Neat, but not as impressive as it once was.
  • Knight-Vexillor: (120pts) Your standard, Standard Bearer. In melee, he's a Hammer-Liberator with twice the attacks, and he can have a pick of two banners. No matter which you pick, Stormcast Eternals around him get to reroll charge rolls. Also, the banners have these effects: The Meteoric Standard grants you a one-shot explosion where you pick a point within 24", and each enemy within 6" get d3 mortal wounds. The Pennant of the Stormbringer, on the other hand, lets you pick up a Stormcast unit and then redeploy it anywhere so long as you stay 9" away from enemies, sadly no longer guaranteeing a charge or dropping mortal wounds on nearby enemies. No Longer the go-to option it was, but still potentially very useful. The bigest question you have to ask is if you want his new brother for 40 more points? Ultimately, it comes down to which abilities you want more, but where his Thunderstrike brother is pure utility with his once-per-game heal, the default option can either blow stuff up, or redeploy a unit.
  • Knight-Vexillor with Banner of Apotheosis: (160 pts) The Dominion boxset's version, meant to work with Thunderstrike units. Alongside the bubble to re-roll charges, there's also the unique banner which, once per game, can be triggered to use three charges: These charges can heal one nearby unit of 1d3 wounds or restore a model with 1d3 wounds. This also means that you can spend multiple charges on one unit, allowing you to immediately reinforce a very battered unit on the double with 2d3 or 3d3 wounds.
  • Knight-Questor: (120pts) Well IF you want to field him, be our guest. The Questor is very self-sufficient, meaning he's not dependent on any buffs but doesn't dish any out either. Your duelist hero, with an alright combat profile that gives himself +1 to hit when he's fighting a Hero . When he rolls 6s to hit, he gets a free 2 mortal wounds on his enemy. An ok hero who isn't to impressive, the biggest problem with the Knight-Questor is that he just doesn't do anything when he's actually in play. A duelist who doesn't have a lot of wounds, strikes first, or any real way to get into close combat with enemy heroes is an easy pass. If you want an actual on-foot assassin, just take the Knight-Zephyros.
  • Errant-Questor: (140pts) Warhammer World exclusive, so expect to pay inflated eBay prices if you can't get there yourself or ask a friend. Similar profile to the Knight-Questor except instead of a rerollable save, he ignores Rend. This might be preferable when facing armies that pile it on. At setup he can take one of three oaths; the first one lets him take wounds for a nominated Stormcast Hero as long as he's within 3", like an automatic Look Out Sir. The second lets you name a Hero in the enemy army, which gives the Errant free rerolls to hit and to wound versus that guy. The final and arguably best oath gets you an extra attack, cumulatively, for every 10 wounds you inflict - and with a base of three attacks at 3+/3+/-1 doing D3 damage each, that isn't too hard. He also rerolls all failed charge rolls, no catch. All in all a pretty strong character; team him up with a Celestant on foot and Castellant for your own little Stormcast Adventuring Party. Surprisingly, one of the few models that didn't get a points increase in the jump to 3E.
  • Knight-Zephyros:* (120pts) She can run and shoot in the same turn. Her best ability is "Windrider" - Instead of doing a normal move with her, you can instead remove her from the battlefield, then set her up again more than 1" from all terrain and objectives, and more than 9" from all enemy units. Unlike Neave Blacktalon, the Knight-Zephyros can benefit from Command Traits, Artifacts, and can be part of other Stormhosts. In short, she's a great skirmisher and is a useful asset to keep in your backline to cut off any pesky throw-away squads gunning for an uncontested objective (looking at you, skinks). The biggest thing holding her back is the low damage of her pistol and axes- while she gets a fair bit out of it, she's going to struggle duels against dedicateed enemy melee heroes. Send her to handle chaff and enemy infiltrators that are prowling your backline, and use her to protect your vulnerable slow rear or artillery.
  • Lord-Imperitant: (175 pts) The commander among Dominion's generic heroes. His weapons aren't too bad, with a ranged weapon that spits out random attacks and a pet gryph-hound to support him. Most useful of his abilities is that he can issue a command each turn without spending CP, which is quite useful. Also helpful is their ability to guide fellow Thunderstrike Eternals in deep-striking, letting them arrive within 7" of an enemy unit rather than the typical 9" - in case your unit REALLY needs to get stuck in immediately. In the fluff he's the strategist leader, in play seems to confirm him as this, as his most useful features is his free command ability and reduced deep strike. While he can reliably pump out four attacks with his hammer, and has an 18" shooting with his baton with fairly reliable hit, wound, and rend, he's not exactly a damage dealer, or a tank. Stick him into the thick of it at your peril, since he would be better positioned behind your Vindicators. That said, consider bubble-wrapping him with Praetors so he doesn't get focused-fired before you can drop your Annihilators. The biggest drawback to this lord is just that his deepstrike ability only works with keyword Thunderstrike, meaning you're going to have to bring all the new toys along to get any mileage out of it.
  • Knight-Judicator: (205 pts) The newest lieutenant-type hero. The Knight-Judicator's the big brother to all your little Judicators, and allows you to take the new Vigilors as battleline when you field him as your general. He's got a greatbow that has a range of 30" with 2 attacks at rend -3 and 3 damage a piece. He also has a once per game ability to pick a point on the field and deal D3 Mortal Wounds to all enemy units with 6" on a 4+. He also comes with two gryph-hounds, which come with Warning Cry. If you intend to run a ranged Stormcast army, this one is an auto-include.
  • Knight-Draconis: (255 pts) The new hero mounted on a dragon, and the one to take to make Stormdrake Guard Battleline. He can make one unit of Stormdrake Guard battleline. He hits hard, with his dragon's breath weapon dealing mortal wounds, even giving out a single mortal wound on rolls of one. He also comes with a 4+ spell ignore. Also note that after this hero attacks, your opponent picks 1 model in the unit that was attacked, then you roll a die. If you rolled greater than the wounds characteristic of the model that was picked, it is instantly slain. Once per battle you can also pick 1 Stormdrake Guard unit if they are wholly within 12", and they can shoot their mortal wound breath. The Knight-Draconis wants to be leading your Stormdrake Guard into the thick of it, and while he doesn't get a bevy of customization options, he does get the Aeonfire Blade, one of the nastiest weapons with 2 damage, and rend -3. Give him all-out attack, and there's a good chance your enemies will be tacking 10 wounds just from the rider alone. Not to be outdone, the Stormdrake is a force to be reckoned with as well, who only has slightly worse attacks, wounding ability, and rend than the rider.

Battleline Units

All matched play games require 2-4 battleline units as a minimum. Some units are made battleline by your choice of general.

Strike Chamber

  • Liberators: (Battleline, 115pts, Min:5) Your basic melee troops, strong with average durability (4+ and 2 wounds). Have gotten some changes in the new book. Namely they have finally done away with the sword or hammer debate where they now have the same profile (the old sword profile) and basically are just cosmetic. So take whichever one you want really. Also, Liberators finally get rend on all their weapons! The shield has changed up significantly and has gone the way of the new edition getting rid of save rerolls, now it gives liberators +1 to their save roll as long as at least half the current unit size has shields. So functionally a 3+ saves in most circumstances (but won't get better than that except to offset rend). Paired weapons have also been simplified in that they now give Liberators 3 base attacks instead of 2. 1 in 5 can still take grandweapons, again the sword and hammer have the same profile, but now finally hit and wound on 3's. Liberators also lost their hit bonus against bigger targets, instead now it allows liberators to do d3 mortal wounds to a unit within 6" of an objective and 1" of them on a 4+. This seems to show their new primary role as sturdy objective holders. Being the cheapest battleline your going to get, squads of Liberators can be your sturdy backfield and objective holders which frees up your more powerful fighters to move forward against the enemy. Which you can improve even more if taken as a Stormkeep army where they can count as three models each.
  • Judicators with Skybolt Bows: (Stormcast Battleline, 200pts , Min:5) Battleline if you're running a Stormcast Eternals army. Your basic ranged troops, same stats as the Liberators. Most notably got split into two different warscrolls with different weapon loadouts. The Skybolt Bows option is the one you will probably want to take if you need ranged attacks, rather than something to handle a horde. At 24", with 2 attacks at 3+/3+/-1/1 Damage, they're not exactly anything to shake a stick at, but when they get unmodified 6s, they deal mortal wounds instead of regular wounds. 1 in every 5 can come with a Shockbolt Bow, which gets D6 attacks at the same profile as the other one, but technically doesn't get their special rule to activate unless your opponent is a gentleman about things. Needs to be Errated to function as intended, and are most notably, your single most expensive Battleline default option in the entire faction.
  • Judicators with Boltstorm Crossbows: (Stormcast Battleline, 190pts, Min: 5) Battleline if you're running a Stormcast Eternals army. Your basic ranged troops, same stats as the Liberators. Most notably got split into two different warscrolls with different weapon loadouts. At first, with only 18" range and no rend, unlike their brothers with the Skybolt Bows, your first instinct would be that the Crossbow is the worst of two bad options, but thanks to being 10 points cheaper than their brothers, and the changed to the Celestar Ballista, these guys do have specific function in a Stormcast list- horde cleaners. Their special rule, Rapid Fire (which they share with Vanguard-Raptors w/ Hurricane Crossbows) makes it so that whenever they score 1 hit, it turns into 2 hits. While you still have to roll wound and save rolls for each of those hits, suddenly that damage can really multiply when you have to clean out hordes, tarpits, or any other large unit with single-wound models. Put these guys behind your Battleline that's camping on an objective, and use them to unleash hell on whoever has the gall to charge your shieldwall.
  • Vindictors: (Stormcast Battleline, 140 pts, Min: 5) The primaris-cast troops of Dominion are a considerable step up from the base liberators, given a flat 3+ save and spears that have a bit of range and hit and wound on a 3+ but can't be thrown. Of note here is that their spears instead deal mortal wounds on a natural 6 to wound, which is a bit of a help. 1 in every 5 can come with a standard, which adds 1 to bravery for a grand total of 8, making them just as brave as the Praetors. Overall a solid battleline choice if a bit expensive, though not terribly so given the elite nature of Stormcast in general. Very good unit overall, though perhaps best to find other units to objective camp, as these guys are too good offensively to waste on guard duty.
  • Vanquishers: (Stormcast Battleline, 125pts, Min: 5) Did you miss being able to bring Greatsword infantry? Then these are the Battleline for you! Start with a base attack of two with a similar attack profile to Vindictors, though only 1" range and no mortal wounds. However instead they get +1 attack at 5 or more models, and +2 if ten or more. So at max four attacks each, which isn't too bad and can help offset their lower range in big squads (though not sure why they have lower range given their massive swords). So their obvious target is large horde squads. The squad can also take a banner, which triggers their other big gimmick of note is if their banner is alive when the unit attempts a rally command they return models on 5+ instead of 6. So they can regenerate units faster than other squads. This can be useful but it requires them to survive combat in the first place. Could be useful in culling large fragile horde units, but they face stiff competition from the other plentiful battleline options in the book, and arguably compete for the same niche in the army with the excellent Vindictors for frontal assault battleline. If your curious, a unit of 10 costs 250 points, so consider wisely.

Sacrosanct Chamber

  • Sequitors: (Stormcast Battleline, 145pts, Min:5) Now just Stormcast Battleline. Sequitors have gotten a big shakeup since their original publication in 2E, and are now more expensive than even the Vindictors. For all those 145 points though, what are you really getting? To start, swords and mauls are now just "sancrosact weapons", and have lost dealing extra damage against Death and Daemons. 2 of every 5 sequitors can come with a Greatmace, which you always want to take. The Sequitor-Prime can also take one, meaning your unit of 5 can get 3 of these bad boys to really lay some pain on multi-wound Battleline- it's just that you can't take a Redemption Cache with that unit then (more on that later). Unless you have to deal with a lot of Death and Daemons, take the Greatmaces, as they come with better damage. Next up, Aetheric Channeling, their core unique rule. Previously legendary for shitting all over Death and Daemons, now... Well it's hard to say without further testing, but they've gone from "great" to "good", at the very least. You can no longer pick both weapons and shields due to changed to Lord-Arcanums, but if you pick Weapons, for every onmodified 6, every attack turns into 2 attacks. For Shields, the unit gets a Ward Save of 5+. Nice. Lastly, there's the Redemption Cache. If you choose to give the Sequitor-Prime the weapon and shield option, then slain models cannot be returned to enemy units that are within 3" of this unit's Sequitor-Prime. Perfect for crapping on Death's whole gimmick, and can occasionally find usage outside of anti-death lists due to how healing units work now.
    • Consider still taking them as an assault option compared to your regular Liberators. While they lack Mortal Wound output, the fact that they get either Ward Saves or extra attacks is still a nice little choice.

Vanguard Auxiliary Chamber

  • Vanguard-Hunters: (Conditional Battline: Lord Aquilor General, 110pts, Min:5, Max:15) Battleline if LORD-AQUILOR is your General. They are armed with either a sabre or handaxe (which, stat-wise, have the same relationship as the hammer vs. sword on your Liberators) and all carry a Run & Shoot Boltstorm Pistol 9"/2/3+/4+/-/1, making them an odd Jack-Of-All-Trades unit. Further, they have an 'Astral Compass', which affords an ability similar to 40k's outflank (but better!). Rather than deploying normally with Scions of The Storm, on the first turn during your movement phases, you can just walk them on from any table edge - so long as you are within 6" of that edge, and more than 7" from enemy models. Meaning it's more probable than not you can make a charge against the thing you just shoot, making them pretty good at alpha strike/beheading first turn offensives.
    • Coming in at more than Liberators and without the option to take that all-important Sigmarite shield, Vanguard-Hunters are notably more squishy than their brethren. Their lack of 'special' weapon makes them the only battleline choice that doesn't have something a little more choppy to fall back on (but between ranged and melee attacks they make 4 each, while Liberators make only 2). That being said, the application of a well-timed Astral Compass can really swing things in your favor.

Slow Units

Strike Chamber

All the Paladins have the same basic profile, swapping an inch of movement for an extra wound and point of bravery for their Liberator brethren. 2 in every 5 models of all Paladin units can take a Starsoul Mace that automatically inflicts D3 mortal wounds.

  • Retributors: (205pts, Min:5, Max:20) It's Hammertime! Retributors are the jack of all trades when it comes to Paladins. With each of them getting 2/3+/3+/-1/D2, they'll pile on the saves your opponent has to take, your opponent will sorely regret every save he fails. While their special ability isn't as gimmicky as the others', it's the most reliable, with Unmodified 6s to hit inflict 2 MW instead. Probably the best and most consistent all-around choice out of the paladins, there's not much in the game that'll enjoy being in combat with these guys.
  • Decimators: (185pts, Min:5, Max:20) These guys have an ax to grind. They don't like horde infantry, and horde infantry doesn't like them. With a 2" range per guy, you want these men in the thick of the fight, as deep in an enemy unit as possible. Why do you ask? Because each Decimator gets one attack for every enemy model within that 2" and at 3+/3+/-1/1 they'll certainly put a combine harvester to shame. Furthermore, enemies have to subtract 2 from their bravery when within 6" of a Decimator, so even more of your opponent's models will decide to call it a day after seeing their buddies get blenderised. They're far weaker to monsters or characters since they will generally only get 1 attack per guy. You could potentially add a Starsoul Mace to deal with that, but a previous anon covered this merit of this idea quite nicely. You're trading a bucketload of attacks against horde infantry for a few guaranteed knocks against a monster you shouldn't have engaged with Decimators in the first place.
  • Protectors: (185pts, Min:5, Max:20) Protectors come with big glaives and are almost as blendy as the Decimators with a whopping 3 attacks each. And thanks to their 3" reach, they can quite easily fight over the top of any other troops you want to put them with. Provides Shooting protection with -1 to hit them and at another unit within 6 inches of them gain Cover if Protectors are closer targets. Despite these fun abilities, though, they're most at home cutting down monstrous creatures. An Unmodified 6's to hit Deal D6 Damage instead of 1. Potentially cutting down even dragons with ease. It can also reach over a front rank to shank any dickheads who thought they were safe in the back with their 3" weapons. And never ever forget that, potentially, even a single Protector can murder the Glottkin at full wounds. Sure, the chances are about as high as winning the lottery, but the fact that it's even possible puts them head and shoulders over a lot of your other choices.
  • The table below is based on a unit of 5 with no rerolls.
Paladin MathHammer
Weapon 3+ Save 4+ Save 5+ Save 6+ Save
Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D.
Retributors 4.4 1.8 5.9 3.0 7.4 4.4 8.9 5.7
Protectors 3.3 1.7 4.4 2.7 5.6 3.7 6.7 4.7
  • It is hard to apply MathHammer to Decimators because of their variable number of attacks but when each Decimator is in reach of 3 models each they have the same output as Protectors. When they are within reach of 4 models each they have the same damage output as Retributors although with greater reliability.
  • Annihilators: (190 pts, Min: 3, Max: dunno yet since the new battletome isn't out yet) Dominion's new version of the Paladin/Terminator type, a massive tank who immediately hits the ground running. That mighty 2+ save alone already makes them a bit more survivable against rend. That said, they have only two uses: Upon deep-striking, they can roll a d6 for each enemy unit within 10" of them and deal d3 mortal wounds on a 3+. Their second role is as chargers: Upon arriving, they can re-roll their charge distance, but on any charge they can potentially deal mortal wounds before they even make a swing. The issue with this second rule is that it requires all your boys to be there to be at its most effective, and with only three models with three wounds each, expect to use Yndrasta or the Banner of Apotheosis to reinforce them plenty of times.
    • So remember how the Lord-Imperitant allowed units to deep-strike within 7" of an enemy? Yeah, these are the prime targets, allowing them to strike as many foes as possible before making the mother of all bumrushes.
  • Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers: (240 pts, Min: 3, Max: dunno yet since the new battletome isn't out yet) Their new kit has them coming with grandhammers, which gives them 3/3+/2+/-2/3 damage hammers. The only tradeoff is that they now go to 3+ save. Are they worth it moreso than regular Annihlators? Perhaps, but they're certainly far more of a threat than the regular ones are.
  • Praetors: (155 pts, Min: 3, Max: ditto to the above) Bodyguards in that fancy new Dominion boxset. Before the game begins, they have to bind themselves to a single hero, for whom they'll potentially either soak wounds for or even flat-out negate. Fortunately, that 3+ save gives them some decent protection and their halberds are more than capable of making a dent in an enemy. However, their entire role is built upon being bodyguards, so you can't throw them at enemies so carelessly or else lose out on their damage mitigation.
  • Vigilors: (Unknown cost, Min: 5?, Max: ???) Vigilors are the newest ranged Stormcast option, and Conditional Battleline when you take the Knight-Judicator. They are essentially Judicators with Skybolt bows but with worse range, but they can mark a target they hit, giing +1 to hit it, both melee and ranged attacks, for the rest of the turn. Not bad.

Sacrosanct Chamber

  • Castigators: (75pts, Min:3, Max:18) cheaper Judicators with a smaller unit size and a Skybolt Bow with less range. Like the Sequitors, Castigators have an ability that allows you to choose between 2 different upgrades: during the shooting phase, you can choose to Re-roll 1s to hit or increase their rend by 1. You could also benefit from both by having a Lord-Arcanum use its command ability. Also has d3 exploding hits on 6+ against Daemons and Nighthaunts.
  • Celestar Ballista: (120pts, Artillery) Did someone want Quad Heavy Bolters in AOS? Well here you go- The Mustash man now doesn't have to import his guns. The Ballista has 2 firing modes, a 36" shot that hit on 3+ or 4 18" shots that hit on 5+. the best thing about the Ballista is that each successful hit turns into d6 hits with -2 rend. Hordes and single wound elites beware.
  • Evocators: (225pts, Min:5, Max:20) A cabal of Magical Paladins (No Paladin Keyword). Each Evocator model can choose between Tempest Blade and Stormstave or Grandstave - the paired weapons get 4 attacks at 3+/3+/-1/1 with 1" range, the Grandstave gets 3 attacks at 3+/3+/no rend/2/ with 2" range.
    • The table below is based on a unit of 5 with no rerolls. If the unit Empowers itself, then they do 33% more wounds irrespective of load out.
Evocator MathHammer
Weapon 3+ Save 4+ Save 5+ Save 6+ Save
Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D.
Tempest Blade and Stormstave 4.4 2.6 5.9 3.9 7.4 5.2 8.9 6.7
Grandstave 4.4 1.7 6.7 3.4 8.9 5.4 11.1 7.4
  • Based on the MathHammer above, there isn't much in it. A whole unit of Evocators with Grandstaves will on average do two more wounds against hordes but about the same against more heavily armoured foes. Grandstaves will have the advantage against ethereal foes (not to mention the reach making it more likely they will get in). The Blade and Stave will be much better against units with rerolls however as the rend will have a much greater impact. All in all it is probably better to have a mix although large units will want to lean on the Grandstave more heavily due to the extra reach.
  • Unlike true PALADINS, Evocators only have a 4+ save, but on the other hand, they're still Move of 5. A unit of Evocators counts as a single Wizard so long as it has at least 2 models, and it has access to the Empower spell and the Lore of Invigoration(thanks to an errata) but they cannot cast Arcane Bolt or Mystic Shield. Where Evocators really shine, though, is their ability Celestial Lightning Arc. First, it allows the unit to re-roll save rolls of 1 in the shooting phase, but second, it allows the Evocator unit to, after attacking, roll 2 dice for each Evocator in the unit, and each 4+ deals a mortal wound to an enemy unit within 3" of the Evocator unit. This works on a unit-by-unit basis instead of model by model, so so long as one Evocator is within 3" of an enemy, you can choose that enemy as the target. On average, you'll do one mortal wound per Evocator. A good way to use this is to select the Evocators as the first unit you activate and pile them in so that one model is within 3" of an important character, resolve all your attacks against another unit, and then deal the mortal wounds from Celestial Lightning Arc to a character, most likely killing the character before they get a chance to attack and denying your opponent critical support abilities. As you can tell, Evocators are very very good right now. Unless you have a compelling argument otherwise, you should be running them.
  • Stormsire's Cursebreakers: Only usable alongside Averon Stormsire. A pair of Evocators with 1 extra attack each and rerolling 1s against Death and Chaos.

Vanguard Auxiliary Chamber

  • Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows: (185pts, Min:3, Max:12) Snipers with magical giant crossbows that shoot thunders. They have 24" range, or 30" if they don't move; their weapons are very powerful but only shoot once each turn, but with a 6 to hit they instead deal 2 mortal wounds. These are the guys you want for killing commanders/wizards/support heroes/war machines or just elite units that are highly armored and powerful but not very numerous. Just find them some cover and/or high ground and start head shooting; some screening units, particularly Aetherwings, are also welcome. They can also hold pretty well if some fast melee unit catches to them, because they've got the basic Liberator stat line (but only 1 melee attack and Bravery 7), but don't expect them to survive for very long and send them some support asap. Using a Lord Aquilor to teleport them every time the enemy is gonna catch them will give your opponent repeated rage episodes and/or seizures, which are always fun things to see.
  • Vanguard-Raptors with Hurricane Crossbows: (150pts, Min:3, Max:12)"These magical lightning-shooting crossbows my guys have are nice and all", thought Sigmar one day, "but I can do even better". Then he gave them magical lightning-shooting machine guns. So, now they only have 18" range, but make 6 attacks, or fucking 9 if they don't move. Also -1 for enemies charging within 12". Support them with some Aetherwings or something that can tarpit the enemy well (like Liberators), and even saints will start flipping tables: if all goes well, they'll never be in melee, while still peppering thing with lots of shots. Use terrain to your advantage, too. They're excellent against hordes with low saves, slow units, or units with good saves but low numbers (with enough paper cuts, even the mightiest armor will be breached). Be aware of units with both decent numbers and armor, though, as they will survive, reach you and kick your sorry ass. If you're still not convinced, because of their low range and the high cost and all, use a Lord Aquilor to just go, *Poof*, whenever the enemy is going to reach you. Guaranteed to break even the strongest, years-long, "you-saved-my-life-and-married-my-sister" friendships.

Fast Units

Strike Chamber

  • Prosecutors with Celestial Hammers:(Conditional Battleline: Tempest Lords Stormhost,95pts, Min:3, Max:12) With the ability to fly 12", these guys are basically assault marines. The hammers shoot 18" at 4+/4+. This goes up to a 3+/3+ when you close to face-smashing range, which won't be hard considering that they can charge 3D6. Never forget the increased charge range, especially when you are setting them up via Lightning Strike, as it grants them a significantly better chance of making that 10" charge. These guys will lend your army some much-needed mobility. Soften up a big enemy unit for a charge, pick off wizards and war machines, or zoom on to a much-needed objective. For every one in three, one can take a special weapon: Either the Grandblade or Grandhammer you were already used to, or 1" range version of the Decimators' greataxe.
  • Prosecutors with Stormcall Javelins: (Conditional Battleline: Tempest Lords Stormhost,95pts, Min:3, Max:12) Get a completely exclusive Warscroll for some arbitrary reason. Increased in cost from 80 to 100 for three winged, armored spartans with Spear and Shields. Surprisingly poor in melee but pretty damn good at range, they get only 1 attack at 4+/4+/-/1 in melee, but also an 18" shot at 3+/3+/-/1, which goes up to 2 damage at ranges over 9". One in three can instead get a Stormsurge Trident so you can also rock freaking Poseidon while you're at it. The Trident is pretty much what you're used to from the Stormcasts, gaining -1 Rend and 2 damage both in melee and shooting. Their Prime also shoots twice, so stick (hehe) him with the Trident. And to top it off, they get some nice Sigmarite Shields for rerolls of 1s on saves. Never let these guys anywhere NEAR the enemy. Because their damage goes up to 2 outside of 9", they're going to do roughly 3.4 wounds per turn whether you stay back for the bonus or charge in to shoot and stab at the same time. One of those options keeps them almost entirely out of harm's way, so it shouldn't be a difficult decision. If you need some burst damage, throw your javelins at 10" and then use your 3D6" to make that charge.
  • Gryph-hounds: (130pts, Min:6, Max:18) Your war hounds. 3 wounds and claws of 2/3+/4+/-/D1 that increases to 4 attacks if near a Castellant or Veritant but no Armour saves. They will be found near archer because of Warning Cry let them shoot enemies that think they can deep strike you. If the enemy doesn't deepstrike, They will be put on chaff duty, Using their attack & retreat ability to annoy heavy hitters by tieing them down and then running away before they can smack them back.
  • Stormstrike Chariot: (165pts, Min: 1?, Max: 3?) Not sure if these things will follow Chaos Chariot rules just yet, but these appear to be kitted out for ranged skirmishing and harrasing with Greatbows and Battleaxes, or as linebreakers with swords and spears. When they charge they deal wounds to the target, and can put out 8 rend -2 hits. Pretty decent.

Sacrosanct Chamber

  • Evocators on Celestial Dracolines: (280pts, Min:3, Max:12) Evocators riding Dracolines granting them 2 more wounds and a 12" movement. The Dracolines acquit themselves well with similar attack profile to the Tempest Blade and Stormstave, namely 3/3+/3+/-1/D1. In addition to its Evocator ability, the Dracolines give -1 Bravery to nearby enemies and increase their claw damage to d3s on a charge. All of this culminates in something that can kill a lot of people and Skeletons.
    • The table below is based on a units all armed with Tempest Blades and Stormstaves with no rerolls.
Evocators vs Evocators on Celestial Dracolines MathHammer
Weapon 3+ Save 4+ Save 5+ Save 6+ Save
Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D.
5 Evocators 4.4 2.6 5.9 3.9 7.4 5.2 8.9 6.7
3 Evocators on Celestial Dracolines 4.7 2.0 6.2 3.3 7.8 4.7 9.3 6.1
3 Evocators on Celestial Dracolines (charging) 6.7 2.7 8.9 4.6 11.1 6.5 13.3 8.6
  • The difference between the two units from a purely MathHammer approach is a bit of a toss up. The EoCD are 36% more expensive than normal Evocators but do 50% more damage on the charge. When charged the difference between the two is minimal. The bravery debuff is largely irrelevant (and probably largely forgotten) so it comes down to your preferred play-style. The normal Evocators are better for buffing Sequitors (especially as part of a Cleansing Phalanx battalion). The EoCD are better for roving around the board bullying small units and taking objectives as they can buff themselves fairly easily.

Vanguard Auxiliary Chamber

  • Aetherwings: (45pts, Min:3, Max:12) Attack birds Defense birds. Lovely plumage. At about 8 pts per wound for 4+/4+/-/1, it's a waste to use them to attack anything. They will kill nothing and promptly die due to "-" armor. Now worse, as they just grant a +1 to hit for targets within 12" of Vanguard-Raptors. Hard pass now.
  • Vanguard-Palladors: (185pts, Min:3, Max:12) Gryph riders - your new fast cavalry with either javelins or axes. Their mounts are surprisingly powerful for skinny demi-gryphs, having 5 Wounds and a 4+ Save, and -2 Rend mortal-wound-causing attacks, meaning they eat other armies' heavy cavalry for breakfast. So do not think of them as cheap cavalry, in fact, they're pretty expensive and elite, use gryph hounds/aetherwings for that. They got a good 12" Move, but most of the time you'll just use their "jump" ability: instead of both moving and running/charging, you can make them move 6D6 inches (so an average 21 inches) as if they could fly. And you can shoot that turn, too! Remember you cannot charge that turn, so this is only for positioning them in strategic places or make them reach things faster. Fast and all-purpose, they're a simple but excellent unit.

Extremis Chamber

Your elite Dragon Riders. In Pitched Battles, they come in units of at least 2 and cost more than 200 points. All Dracothian Guard units have the same profile - 10" move, 3+ save which re-rolls 1s, 5 wounds per model, and bravery 7. In addition, they all have the same attacks for their mounts - Claws and Fangs(3+/3+/-1/1 weapon which up their damage to d6 on natural Wound rolls of 6s) and Storm Breath (shooting attack, hits on 4+, deals d3 mortal wounds, 12" range) - the primary difference comes from their weapons and a few special abilities. Note that the kit comes with the parts to make all of these, and enough spare arms to magnetize at least two weapons for each model, so you don't have to commit while you're building them.

  • Concussors: (235pts, Min:2, Max:12) Retributors +1 on dragons. As with the Retributors, Concussors are the jacks of all trades. Their Lightning Hammers get 3 swings each, at 3+/3+/-1/2, and a 6 to hit both inflicts a mortal wound AND prevents the target unit from piling in later in the phase, which means Concussors can land with only one or two enemy models in attack range, do this, and laugh as the enemy as they can't pile in to attack back. Be sure to activate these guys first, if you're trying for that.
Concussor MathHammer
Weapon 3+ Save 4+ Save 5+ Save 6+ Save
Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D.
Lightning Hammer 2.7 0.6 3.6 1.3 4.4 2.1 5.3 2.9
Claws and Fangs 1.3 0.3 1.8 0.7 2.2 1 2.7 1.4
Combined 4 0.9 5.3 2 6.7 3.1 8 4.3
  • Desolators: (205pts, Min:2, Max:12) A "fuck you" to everyone at the table including the guy who bought them. Desolators are at first glance slightly worse than Concussors, with worse To Hit rolls and mostly the same otherwise, then you read their special rule, which increases their attacks the bigger the unit is, going from 3 attacks at 3 or fewer models up to 5 attacks with 6 or more models. Yes, GW expects you to buy four boxes of these just to reliably keep their bonus. Other than that, Desolators are plenty terrifying in small numbers already, but if you don't want to go the extra mile and field 7 or 8 of them, just use Concussors and have done.
Desolator MathHammer
Weapon 3+ Save 4+ Save 5+ Save 6+ Save
Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D.
2 Desolators Thunderaxe 2 0.2 2.7 0.6 3.3 1.1 4 1.7
Claws and Fangs 1.3 0.3 1.8 0.7 2.2 1 2.7 1.4
Combined 3.3 0.5 4.4 1.3 5.6 2.2 6.7 3.1
4 Desolators Combined 11.3 4.1 15.1 7 18.9 10.3 22.7 13.6
6 Desolators Combined 25.3 12.2 33.8 19.2 42.2 26.6 50.7 34.4
  • Fulminators: (235pts, Min:2, Max:12) YES. Cavalry with actual charge weapons. No, they're not spears, they're glaives, like the ones the Protectors get, but cooler. Same stats but shorter range, but here's where it gets interesting: They don't give a To Hit penalty to enemy shooters, they give you +1 to your saves against shooters, which stacks with the shields for rerollable 2+ saves against shooting. The glaives also don't get bonus damage against monsters, their damage just climbs from 1 to 3 in the turn they charge. These are your line breakers. They're pointless to shoot at with anything less than War Machines and raise holy hell if they make the charge. However, they are a bit less intimidating than Concussors if they don't charge. Combine these with a Heraldor to make sure you can charge every turn,
Fulminator MathHammer
Weapon 3+ Save 4+ Save 5+ Save 6+ Save
Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D.
Not charging Stormstrike Glaive 1.3 0.3 1.8 0.7 2.2 1 2.7 1.4
Claws and Fangs 1.3 0.3 1.8 0.7 2.2 1 2.7 1.4
Combined 2.7 0.6 3.6 1.3 4.4 2.1 5.3 2.9
Charging Stormstrike Glaive 4 0.9 5.3 2 6.7 3.1 8 4.3
Claws and Fangs 1.3 0.3 1.8 0.7 2.2 1 2.7 1.4
Combined 5.3 1.3 7.1 2.6 8.9 4.2 10.7 5.8
  • Tempestors: (205pts, Min:2, Max:12) The odd one out. These guys want to be shooty, with a 4-shot crossbow. -1 to hit for Enemy shooting within 12" of them. Don't expect them to shoot something dead or out-damage the other variants.
Tempestor MathHammer
Weapon 3+ Save 4+ Save 5+ Save 6+ Save
Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D. Mean Mean - 1 S.D.
Warblade 1.2 0.2 1.8 0.6 2.4 1.1 3 1.6
Claws and Fangs 1.3 0.3 1.8 0.7 2.2 1 2.7 1.4
Combined 2.5 0.5 3.6 1.3 4.6 2.1 5.6 3
Volleystorm Crossbow 0.9 0 1.3 0.3 1.8 0.6 2.2 1

Note that none of the MathHammer above includes the chances of getting D6 damage on a 6 to wound with the Dracoths nor the chance to get mortals with the Concussors. Your choice of draco-chonker depends on your playstyle. If you want to go all in (600 points), 6 Desolators will do big damage to a lot of stuff but it is a not particularly durable basket. If you don't make your charge out of deepstrike then you are laying out a big target for your opponent to gobble up. If you only want the one "small" unit, then your choice between Fulminators and Concussors is largely a toss up. The damage of the Concussors is more reliable but the Fulminators are more likely to make it into combat unscathed. There is never a place for Tempestors however, the -1 to hit is so short ranged that it won't come into play often and the damage from the Volleystorm Crossbows is so negligible (2 dead grots on average) that you might as well not bother.

  • Stormdrake Guard: (285pts, Min: 2, Max: 12?) The newest Extremis chamber members. These guys are conditional battleline if you take the Knight-Draconis. Otherwise, they move 12", and have the fly keyword. They come with 9 wounds, a 3+ save, and 4+ spell ignore. They have the same dragon breath shooting attack and the same dragon claws as the Knight-Draconis, but they have a slightly different weapon choice. They notably hagve a 3" unit choerency. Also note that after this unit attacks, your opponent picks 1 model in the unit that was attacked, then you roll a die. If you rolled greater than the wounds characteristic of the model that was picked, it is instantly slain. Once per battle, this unit can also make a move, after which, you roll a die, and on a 2+ they can charge. At long last you have your Lumineth-killers. Unlike the other Extremis Chamber units, the different weapon loadouts aren't different units.


Tactics

  • Dominion: Playing with what you get from Dominion is exactly 1360 points. Add a Celestar Ballista into the mix, and suddenly you have a real army on your hands at 1480 points, perfect for 1500 point games. This list can be shrunken down to 1000 points as well, but be mindful that playing Stormcast at 1000 points means that you bring just about nothing to the game. Hold the Vindictors and Annihilators in reserve, and take the first turn as opposed to your opponent. Drop the Vindictors on whichever objective you want at the end of the first movement phase to instantly fortify and force your opponent's hand. Save the Annihilators as a hammer for the enemy line, using the Lord-Impertinant's ability. Keep the Praetors with that Lord-Impertinant to make sure he survives spells and shooting, and use Yndrasta to first hunt down a monster, then any enemy heroes. Be mindful, since most people know that Yndrasta is the nastiest monster-hunter in the game, when she even comes out of your storage case, your opponent is going to be trying to hide their big monster from as far away from her as possible. If they're even smarter, they're going to try their hardest to hide their heroes too. Use this to your advantage, and use the Celestar Ballista to snipe at anyone or anything that thinks its safe hiding away on the other side of the board with its geniunely ridiculous range. This list makes good use of everything good right now in Stormcast, Vindictors, Annihilators, Yndrasta, and a terrifying piece of artillery that always does more than your opponent thinks it can.

Army Building

There is very little that a Stormcast Eternal army can't do. When you're building your army, probably the first decision you should make should be the units you want to use for your battleline. You've actually got five options here.

  • Liberators: Liberators are your cheapest choice for Battleline, what you'll be doing unless you have a theme going. Liberators aren't going to get a huge amount of killing done, but that's not their job - their job is to stay alive and force the enemy to spend time killing them. With a 4+ save and rerolling 1s thanks to their shields, they're good at this. Put them in cover for a 3+, keep them near an objective, and watch your enemy's frustrations mount. With Broken Realms, you can take the stormkeep battle traits and buff these guys into sequitor levels with a 3+ save if they did not move (rerolls for 1s with shield) AND +1 to hit. Not to mention they get 1+ bravery just for being around each other ( other liberators).
  • Judicators: Your choice for ranged battleline, and only battleline if your allegiance is STORMCAST ETERNALS. Judicators are your most expensive Battleline option currently, but have the ability to be involved in the battle more thanks to having ranged weapons. If you give them the bows, they'll be decent at holding an objective and giving your melee units covering fire. Judicators can't re-roll saves and don't have the survivability needed to stand up in melee. Keep another unit around to guard them and help hold the objective.
  • Vanguard-Hunters: Battleline as long as you have a Lord-Aquilor general or are playing as the Astral Templars. Vanguard Hunters are a mixed bag, having some ability to shoot with their boltstorm pistols, an extra inch of move compared to most of your units, and an ability to appear 7" away from the enemy and within 6" of the board edge. For all this, they're 10% more expensive than Liberators, without any real addition in killing power. Being able to shoot their pistols in melee does bring you up to a respectable 4 attacks per hunter, though. Unless you absolutely love the Vanguard chamber aesthetic, probably best skipped.
  • Sequitors: Sequitors are Battleline as long as you have a Lord-Arcanum general. For the same cost as Vanguard-Hunters(10% more than Liberators), Sequitors are almost strictly better than liberators. Their weapons are strictly better - their mauls are more accurate than liberator hammers, their swords get more attacks than liberator warblades, and they have access to a large mace that's 3+/3+/-1/2. Sequitors also have shields that let them re-roll save rolls of 1, and an extremely useful unique ability - at the beginning of the combat phase, the unit chooses whether to upgrade its shields to get a ward save of +5, or upgrade their weapons to re-roll all misses. All of this combined makes a very powerful unit - the only real downside is that the Lord Arcanum is an unremarkable wizard and for Sequitors he must be your General. That said, they're cheaper than Vindictors by a whole 10 points, which is sometimes just enough to take something like an extra unit sometimes.
  • Vindictors: As the Primaris Stormcast, Vindictors are Battleline regardless of your General. Vindictors are fairly boring and unremarkable, but this isn't much of a problem for them. However, a closer look at Vindictors reveals that they're the brand new auto-pick until the new Battletome releases. Boasting an impressive 3+ save, a bravery of 8 (so long as the standard bearer is alive), 2" reach with their spears, spears that dish out mortal wounds on 6s, and when Vindictors blow up, they deal Mortal Wounds on 5+s instead of on 6s. For Battleline Stormcast, they are now the automatic pick. So long as they're sticking around Yndrasta or the Knight-Vexilor (which they should) they even can potentially heal wounds and bring back their dead. The biggest downside is that unless you bought Dominion or any of the new starter sets, they're essentially only available on the aftermarket due to GW pushing back their official release.

Allied Armies

While playing a Seize Ground Matched Play battle, throwing in a Seraphon/Stormcast Eternal army for the first time, I discovered they made an all right combo. Sure, they don't have matching keywords or anything, but then Stormcasts don't really need them anyway. The Seraphon work well with the Stormcasts, as the lizard dudes give a front line of more numerous units - Saurus Warriors, for example - and a cheapish cavalry who can chew at your enemy, before the Paladins can -every and make your opponent cry! What's more, the Seraphon can give the on for main thing the Stormcasts are lacking - wizards. Now, with a Lord-Relictor and say, even a Skink Starpriest, enjoy as your Lightning Prayers and Arcane Bolt make wonders ... depending on the fortune of the dice, of course! Finally - it seems that, due to the strength of individual Stormcast units, you can basically ally them with any faction - some more fitting than others. But Seraphon, Sylvaneth and, maybe, Fyreslayers - I don't know! - perhaps ⠋⠊⠞ best.

  • 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.

Cities of Sigmar

Hoo boy, did this open some venues.

As a universal rule, Cities of Sigmar armies can grab a unit of Stormcasts as part of their army for every three normal units they hold. Sure, this will rob them of any Stormhost keywords and traits, but you instead gain the city's keyword and special rules. While we won't go into the full specifics of how these cities and forces work, here are some basic ideas.

  • Hammerhal : Fun note here - Aventis Firestrike grants a free CP on the first turn if he's in a Hammerhal army. In addition, any banners (which you'll lack with exception of the Knight-Vexilor) can grant additional CPs and your entire army ignores battleshock while on their side of the board. You can generally pick anything on this end and not go wrong, but do beware how squishy your humie/stuntie/elfy friends are.
  • Anvilguard : Nothing to really support you here. Stormcast aren't really the sort that hurt easily in Battleshock, and going *BLAM* on one is a terrible idea. Being able to delete units via Vitriolic Spray is good, and only costs around 270 points (320 if you add Emerald Lifeswarm for maximum grief).
  • Tempest's Eye : Very keyed towards alpha-striking. Whether it's getting your Vanguard in place to lay down fire early or helping throw Prosecutors and Paladins right in the enemy's face, you really wanna make that turn 1 speed-boost worth your while. Also, remember that the Kharadron Overlords can also cover shooting since they can also be included.
  • Hallowheart : Sacrosanct Chamber says hello. Each Evocator squad can now cast Empower twice a turn, allowing them to boost even more of their own, while the Lord Arcanum can try their special spell and then fire an amped-up Arcane Bolt.
  • The Living City : While not the same as your normal deep-strike, this does give you some fun venues for sniping flanks. Wanted to make your Dracothain Guard fire and then smack up? Want your Judicators to volley fire and then slip away? This is no better way for it.
  • Greywater Fastness : Don't forget your Lord-Ordinator! While Stormcasts lack much in the way of artillery, your Lord-Ordinator can absolutely bolster what war machines you do pack. His command ability doesn't hurt either, especially if you take some more Stormboys to act as a wall for your war machines.
  • The Phonecium : Kinda hard to work with here. Stormcast are expensive. Sure, you can send packs of chaff to fuel your big boys' strikes, but that's just whack. Aetherwings can make decent enough chaff, tho, and the anti-charge ability can give you some control about when they die. Plus, you can paint them as mini Phoenixes!

External links

Rules are here Here are links to all the warscrolls for the army, in the same order as they are listed in the article.


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

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-lord-celestant-dracoth-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/warhammer-aos-lordcelestant-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/warhammer-aos-lordcastellant-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-Lord-Veritant-ENG.pdf

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

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

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

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

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-knight-questor-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/warhammer-aos-liberators-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/warhammer-aos-judicators-en.pdf

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

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

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

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

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


Age of Sigmar Tactics Articles
General Tactics
Order
Chaos
Death
Destruction
Others
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