Hey all, so the new Blades of Khorne battletome is up for pre-order this weekend and the followers of Khorne will be updated with all the toys of Age of Sigmar second edition.
Here I’ll be doing my usual thing and compiling all the information about the new release as and when the information drops. Just what you need to know, without click-bait, obnoxious ads or pop-ups.
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Blades of Khorne Battletome
So here is the main summary of changes:
- amendments to Blood Tithe
- new allegiance ability granting re-roll 1s to hit in a bubble around heroes
- custom terrain piece, the Skull Altar
- new Slaughterhosts for army building (similar to Stormhosts, Daughters of Khaine temples, Idoneth enclaves, KO skyports etc)
- new Prayers of Judgment (a physical manifestation and extension of the previous prayers mechanic, rather than “Endless Spells”)
- warscroll changes
Blood Tithe
Blood Tithe remains the main Blades of Khorne allegiance ability. Every time a unit dies (either yours or your opponent’s) you get a Blood Tithe point. Games Workshop have indicated that some of the existing Blood Tithe costs have been modified and new options added.
Spending 8 Blood Tithe points gets you Slaughter Triumphant (which persists for the remainder of the battle).
New Allegiance Ability
Blades of Khorne have a new allegiance ability, Locus of Fury, which allows units to re-roll 1s if near heroes, so you have less chance of fluffing your attacks. Remember that all the big Khorne combat characters will count as within range of themselves for the purpose of this rule so will always have re-roll 1s.
Skull Altar
As with all new Age of Sigmar second edition releases, the Blades of Khorne are getting their own terrain piece, the Skull Altar. The Skull Altar allows Khorne Priests to re-roll their Prayer and Judgment rolls and also disrupts the casting of nearby Wizards.
The Skull Altar has an 8″ aura for your Khorne Priests and a 16″ aura of -1 to cast for Wizards.
Slaughterhosts
Blades of Khorne now have sub-factions similar to the other Age of Sigmar second edition books, giving you some specific bonuses. You will add the relevant Slaughterhost keyword to each model in your force and get a compulsory ability, command ability, command trait and artefact of power. The Slaughterhosts include the Goretide, Skullfiend Tribe and Reapers of Vengeance.
Blades of Khorne army building also has more options, including:
- hordes of barbarians
- Khorne dedicated Slaves to Darkness
- cavalry heavy Skullcrusher army
- monster-mash Bloodthirsters
Judgments of Khorne
While not having access to spells, because Khorne hates magic, Blades of Khorne will get an extension of their existing prayers mechanic – Judgments of Khorne. As they are prayers, not spells, they can’t be unbound or dispelled by your opponent.
Like other prayers, they are brought onto the table by a Khorne Priest rolling a 3+. Each Judgment has a fixed chance to disappear at the end of each turn, modified by the presence of a nearby Slaughterpriest.
Hexgorger Skulls
Hexgorger Skulls move and fly. They have a -2 to cast aura, and if the wizard rolls an unmodified 8 then the cast is unsuccessful, the wizard loses the spell for the rest of the battle and every wizard within 12″ suffers D6 mortal wounds. Ouch.
The Bleeding Icon
The Bleeding Icon does mortal wounds to units that it moves over. It also worsens the impact of Battleshock tests.
The Wrath-Axe
Wrath-axe is your damage dealing prayer – mortal wounds, more damage and then reducing your opponent’s to hit rolls.
Blades of Khorne Warscroll Changes
The Blades of Khorne warscrolls have been updated and tweaked. Skullreapers get mentioned for simplification.
Skarbrand
Skarbrand’s Total Carnage rule has been amended to do mortal wound output, but loses the ability to by-pass mortal wound saves.
Skullcrushers
Mighty Skullcrushers now do a high amount of mortal wound damage on the charge – a unit of 6 will do 6D3 mortal wounds.
The Skulltaker
And the Blades of Khorne are getting a new model for the Skulltaker. The Skulltaker is a named character and Khorne’s favourite Bloodletter.
The Skulltaker is particularly adept at taking out heroes and leading nearby units of Bloodletters.
The Bloodmaster
A new Bloodletter hero in plastic, with aura abilities buffing Bloodletters.
Karanak and Flesh Hounds
The new plastic Flesh Hounds will now be available in a separate kit rather than just in the Wrath and Rapture box.
Gore Pilgrims
The updated Gore Pilgrims battalion.
Murderhost
The Murderhost warscroll battalion can contain up
to 8 units chosen from any combination of Bloodcrushers, Bloodletters, Flesh Hounds and Skull Cannons .
Brass Stampede
The Brass Stampede is the Mighty Skullcrusher warscroll battalion if you want to have metallic cavalry fun.
Check back for more updates and coverage as we know more