Hey all, in this bumper week for Age of Sigmar, I now have my Flesh-Eater Courts battletome review.  In this review, we will cover the new battletome, the Flesh-Eater Courts allegiance abilities, artefacts, spell lores, summoning and some early potential army builds.  As always, the opinions in this battletome are predictive and subject to any changes that come in the two-week FAQ. We’ll come back and revisit the book after its had a couple of months out in the wild.  If you want more, you can check out all the preview coverage from Games Workshop compiled in one place here, or check out the awesome Facehammer show.

I’d just like to thank both James Page and Shaun Tubman of the Notorious Age of Sigmar podcast, two of our top local Flesh-Eater Courts players, for contributing to this review and sharing their comments and insights with me.

And, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming.  Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive. Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.

Overall assessment

So what’s the postcard assessment of the Flesh-Eater Courts battletome? This is a significant power increase for Flesh-Eater Courts and I can easily see this army regularly getting 5 wins at events.  It has a tools for dealing with the current popular armies (Legions of Nagash, Daughters of Khaine) and has a scary amount of speed and combat damage output. If playing against the army, make sure you bring sufficient quality ranged damage to take out key heroes on the first turn and have two or more decent chaff lines in place to screen your army. This is an army built for melee damage output with some strong support spells and situational ranged damage as well.

What’s changed with Flesh-Eater Courts?

Flesh-Eater Courts have now really been brought into the world of AoS 2 and the command point resource game.  This is a significant change for an army which previously had limited uses for command points outside of summoning.  The book also now has its own magic lore, more delusions, a custom terrain piece, a variety of command traits and artefacts as well as a range of competitive list builds. Finally, the Flesh-Eater Courts now have an equivalent to Stormcast Eternals Stormhosts, or Daughters of Khaine temples with the Grand Courts (which provide a combined package of abilities, traits and artefacts).

On the other side of the coin, the army has lost the previous crusading army delusion and the majestic horror command trait.  Many of the battalions have been toned down (again in line with the prevailing them of recent books).

Strengths and weaknesses of the new Flesh-Eater Courts

Let’s have a quick run down through the strengths of the new Flesh-Eater Courts army:

• several efficiently costed heroes because of the free summoning or re-generation
• Sufficient bodies and movement for strong board control
• An option for multiple small unit summoning builds
• Several strong combat monsters
• Strong spells on the warscrolls of Flesh-Eater Courts heroes and multi-cast wizards to take advantage of Endless Spells too

The army’s strongest weakness is its reliance on heroes that can either be brought down with early ranged damage from lower drop armies or whose spells can be unbound, and combos stopped, by a strong magic opponent.

The key stand-out features from the book are:

• Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist: a flying wizard with summoning, a ranged mortal wound attack, and devastating combat output thanks to the ability to dish out substantial mortal wounds (with no opportunity for a save of any kind). Further, when combined with allegiance abilities (Gristlegore, Feeding Frenzy, Gruesome Bite), the unit can pile in and attack multiple times before the enemy gets to hit back. Expect 1 (or 3) in every army.

• Abhorrant Archregent: the new character in the Carrion Empire box set is great at 200 points. It is a 7 wound, 2 cast and unbind wizard with free healing each turn.  Once per game it can summon either 1 COURTIER, 1 unit of up to 3 KNIGHTS (Crypt Flayers or Crypt Horrors), or 1 unit of up to 20 Crypt Ghouls. This ability gives great summoning flexibility – you can have bodies for objectives, Horrors for dealing with hordes, Flayers for combat output, and Courtiers for healing.  Finally, the Archregent has the amazing Ferocious Hunger spell which dramatically increases the attacks of your main combat threats. Many lists will have two.

• Gristlegore Command Trait and Abilities: The Command Trait allows your general (Ghoul King on Terrorgheist) to fight at the start of the combat phase, before the players pick any other units to fight in that combat phase.  The Peerless Ferocity ability says that if the unmodified hit roll for an attack made by a Gristlegore HERO or Gristlegore Monster is 6, that attack inflicts 2 hits on that target instead of 1.  Make a wound and save roll for each hit.

• Feeding Frenzy: you can use this command ability after a friendly Flesh-Eater Courts unit has fought in the combat phase for the first time and is wholly within 12” of a friendly Flesh-Eater Courts hero, or wholly within 18” of your general.  If you do so, that unit can immediately make a pile-in move and then attack with all of the melee weapons it is armed with for a second time. You cannot pick the same unit twice in the same phase. A great combo with Gristlegore.

• Blisterkin Command Trait and Abilities: not only does this Grand Court boost your movement, and farms extra command points, but the command ability allows you to retreat and charge with your main combat units.

• Chalice of Ushoran: cast on a 6, and at 40 points, this is an amazing value Endless Spell providing great healing to your units and big beasties.  You keep track of the number of models that are slain within 12” of this model each turn. At the end of each turn, roll a dice for each model that slain within 12” of this model during that turn.  For each 4+ heal 1 wound allocated to 1 Flesh-Eater Courts model within 12” of this model, or return 1 slain model to 1 Flesh-Eater Courts unit with a Wounds characteristic of 1 that is wholly within 12” of this model.

Allegiance abilities

The generic Flesh-Eater Courts allegiance ability remains the 6+ wound or mortal wound save if wholly within 12” of a friendly Flesh-Eater Court hero (or colloquially the 6+ Death save). As already mentioned, the Feeding Frenzy command ability is crazy, crazy good.

Building an army

In terms of building the army, your main battleline choice is Ghouls. While you can take Ghouls in large units and replenish them with Mustering (the new name for resurrection type abilities), they are still a tad overcosted for their role. So let’s take a look at the conditional battleline options:

• Royal Terrorgheist and Royal Zombie Dragon are both Battleline if in a Gristlegore army
• Crypt Flayers are battleline if the general is a Crypt Infernal Courtier (or if the Crypt Flayers are in a Blisterkin Grand Court)
• Crypt Horrors are battleline if the general is a Crypt Haunter Courtier (or if the Crypt Horrors unit is in a Hollowmourne Grand Court).

I can see people using either the big beasties or the Flayers as battleline depending on the army build style that the player chooses to run.

Grand Courts and Delusions

You can choose to either align your Flesh-Eater Courts army to a Grand Court or pick a delusion.  You can’t have both. Both apply only to friendly Flesh-Eater Courts units (so won’t apply to allies).

Both Blisterkin and Gristlegore are standout options and worth taking. Morgaunt may have some viable list options, but I don’t see much demand for the Hollowmourne.

Gristlegore Grand Court

• Peerless Ferocity – The Peerless Ferocity ability says that if the unmodified hit roll for an attack made by a Gristlegore hero or Gristlegore Monster is 6, that attack inflicts 2 hits on that target instead of 1.  Make a wound and save roll for each hit.

• Command Ability – Call to War  – situational – you can use this command ability in the combat phase if a friendly Gristlegore hero or Gristlegore monster that has not fought in the phase is slain while it is wholly within 12” of a friendly g hero (or 18 if general).  Before that model is removed from play, it can make a pile-in move and then attack with all of the melee weapons it has. You can’t stack it on the same model.

• Command Trait – Savage Strike – amazing and no real opportunity cost because it is far better than any of the standard command traits.  This general fights at the start of the combat phase before the players pick any other units to fight in that combat phase. This general cannot fight again in that combat phase unless an ability or spell allows it to fight more than once.  Add Feeding Frenxy and the Gruesome Bite and watch the damage mount up.

• Artefact – Ghurish Mawshard – once per battle, at the start of the combat phase, pick 1 enemy model within 1” and roll a dice. If the roll is greater than the Wounds characteristic of the enemy then the enemy is slain.

Blisterkin Grand Court

• Blistering Speed: Add 2” to move characteristic of Blisterkin units

• Command Ability – Lords of the Burning Skies.  Use at start of the movement phase. Pick 1 friendly Blisterkin unit that can fly and wholly within 12” of a friendly Blisterkin hero or 18” if general. Remove that unit from the battlefield and set it up again anywhere on the board more than 9” away from enemy models.  That unit then can’t move in the subsequent movement phase.

• Command Trait – Hellish Orator – if your general is on the battlefield at the start of your hero phase, roll a dice.  On a 4+ , you gain an additional command point.

• Artefact – Eye of Hysh – subtract 1 from hit rolls for attacks made within missile weapons that target a friendly Blisterkin unit wholly within 6” of the bearer.

If you don’t take a Grand Court, then you could run a Crusading army with the Completely Delusional command trait, allowing you to switch from high movement to the free pile in trait when needed.

The Delusions

Of the delusions, the two stand out options are:

• Crusading Army: add 1 to run and charge rolls for friendly Flesh-Eater Courts units.

• The Feast Day – once per turn, you can use the Feeding Frenzy command ability without a command point being spent.

Command Traits

Command Traits are divided into two main sections, 6 for Royalty (for Abhorrant Heroes) and 6 for Nobility (for Courtier Heroes)

Abhorrants

• Majestic horror – if this general is chosen as the model that uses a command ability that summons Flesh-Eater Courts models to the battlefield, they can use it without a command point having to be spent.

• Dark wizardry – add 1 to casting, dispelling and unbinding rolls for this general

• Completely delusional – Once per battle, if this general has not been slain, you can pick a new delusion in your hero phase to replace the original delusion you chose for your army. (Switch from Speed to Feast – or a particular tool needed)

Courtiers

• Dark acolyte – your general becomes a Wizard and can cast and unbind spells just like an ABHORRANT GHOUL KING (gives access to Black Hunger – cast on a 5, if successfully cast, pick 1 friendly Flesh-Eater Courts unit wholly within 24” of the caster and visible to them.  Add 1 to the attacks characteristic of melee weapons used by that unit until your next hero phase) and presumably a spell from the Lore of Madness.

• Cruel task master – If the general uses a Muster ability you can re-roll the dice for this general that determine if slain models are returned to units (you must re-roll all of the dice).

Artefacts

There are 12 generic artefacts in the book with six in the Routan Treasury (for Abhorrant heroes) and six Noble Heirlooms (for Courtier heroes).  I’ve set out my personal picks below.

Abhorrant heroes

• Splintervane brooch – subtract 1 from casting rolls for enemy WIZARDS while within 18” of the bearer

• Grim Garland – subtract 2 from the Bravery characteristic of enemy units while within 6” of the bearer

• Dermal robe – +1 to casting, dispelling and unbinding rolls for the bearer.

Courtier

• Medal of Madness – once per battle the hero can use its command ability for free (even if the hero is not your general and its command ability would normally require the hero to be the general to use it)

• Flayed pennant – re-roll charge rolls for all friendly Flesh-Eater Courts units wholly within 12”

Outside the artefacts in the book, the most likely realm artefacts I expect we will see are Aetherquartz Brooch (for a command point heavy army), Doppelgänger cloak and Ethereal Amulet (still just as good on 3+ armour save models).

The Lore of Madness

Flesh-Eater Courts now have the Lore of Madness a custom spell lore available to all Flesh-Water Courts wizards. For me, the spell lore itself doesn’t exactly set the world on fire (with the exception of the stand-out Spectal Host).  However, the two-cast wizards allow you to make the most of the excellent spells on the Flesh-Eater Courts warscrolls and Endless Spells (both army specific and generic spells).

Spectral Host is cast on a 6.  If successfully cast, pick 1 friendly unit wholly within 12” of the caster that is visible to them.  That unit can fly until your next hero phase. If it can already fly, until your next hero phase it can run and still charge in the same turn.  If cast on a modified 10 or more, you can pick up to 3 friendly units to be affected by the spell instead of 1.

Flesh-Eater Courts Endless Spells

The Flesh-Eater Courts got three Endless Spells (the usual prescription of AoS2). A healing spell (Chalice of Ushoran), a flying mortal wound spell (Corpsemare Stampede) and a barricade board control spell (Cadaverous Barricade – #ghostfence).  The standout is the Chalice.

The Chalice costs 40 points and is only a 6 to cast.  It can be cast by Nagash and Abhorrants and is set up wholly within 24” of the caster (a real decent size range).  The Soul Stealer rule asks you to keep track of the number of models (from either army) slain within 12” each turn.  At the end of each turn, roll a dice for each model slain. On a 4+, heal 1 wound allocated to 1 Flesh-Eater Courts model within 12” or return 1 slain model to 1 Flesh-Eater Courts unit with a wounds characteristic of 1 wholly within 12”. A bargain..

In terms of the generic Endless Spells, Geminids and Chronomantic Cogs would both be popular (just as they always are).

Mount Traits

Just like Stormcast Eternals, the Flesh-Eater Courts now have traits for both Terrorgheists and Zombie Dragons. There is a lot of good options but Gruesome Bite stands out for the sheer combo potential of Fanged Maw, Feeding Frenzy and Peerless Ferocity.

The Terrorgheist traits:

• Gruesome Bite – re-roll failed hit rolls for attacks made with the Fanged Maw
• Deathly fast – run and shoot
• Razor-clawed – increase rend of mount’s melee weapons by 1
• Horribly resilient – heal 3, rather than D3, wounds a turn
• Devastating Scream – add 1 to the Death Shriek values on the mount’s table

The Zombie Dragon shares many of these traits, but also has the ability to deploy off the board and at the end of your first movement phase you set up the Dragon anywhere on the board more than 9” away from the enemy.

Summoning, Mustering and the Charnel Throne

Flesh-Eater Courts have two ways to add new models and units to the army: Summoning and Mustering.

Summoning vs Mustering

Summoning is adding an entire new unit to the army and is done by using a hero’s command ability and spending a command point (usually). The new unit must be set up at the end of the movement phase on the table wholly within 6” of any board edge and more than 9” away from enemy units.

Mustering is the revival of slain models to an existing unit. It doesn’t allow the addition of more models above the unit’s starting size. Revived models need to be set up within 1” of another model in the unit (revived models themselves count for this) and can only be set up within 3” of the enemy if any models from that unit are already within 3”. So this means you can’t “tag” or lock new units into combat through Mustering but, depending on the base size, you may be able to encircle them to stop them retreating.

Charnel Throne

The Charnel Throne is the Flesh-Eater Courts terrain piece.  After territories have been chosen, but before set-up, set-up the Throne wholly within your territory, wholly within 12” of the edge of the battlefield and more than 1” from any objectives or other terrain features. If both players have terrain to set up, you dice off and the winner chooses the order.

So what does it do? The Charnel Throne is treated as inspiring for Flesh-Eater Courts units and Sinister for others (increase and decrease to Bravery).  It also has the Ruler of All He Surveys rule.

Ruler of All He Surveys:  An Abhorrant Archregent that is within 1” of this terrain feature can use the Summon Imperial Guard command ability without a command point being spent.  In addition, an Abhorrant Ghoul King (unclear if includes the Terrorgheist version, expect an FAQ) that is within 1” of this terrain feature can use the Summon Men-at-arms command ability (once per battle, summon 1 unit of up to 10 Ghouls) without a command point being spent.

So how will it play?  If you pack all your heroes around the Throne to maximise summoning turn 1 then you may find you’ve sacrificed board position or left your key heroes vulnerable to an area of effect counterattack (Comet, Heraldor etc).

Summoning

So what options can you summon?

• Ghoul King on Terrorgheist – 1 unit of 3 Knights (Flayers or Horrors)
• Ghoul King on Zombie Dragon – 1 Courtier
• Abhorrant Archregent  – 1 Courtier, or 1 unit of 3 knights, or 20 ghouls
• Ghoul King – 10 ghouls

The rules around the set up of summoned units mean that you won’t be summoning defensive chaff screens in front of your army.  Instead, you’ll be summoning bodies to hold your home objectives (if you have a low model count build) or using Horrors and Flayers to threaten the enemy backlines.  By having the option to summon to your opponent’s board edge, you ensure that your opponent needs to take this into account when deploying and moving through the game.  No one wants a large number of bodies popping up in their backfield late game in Knife to the Heart. Plus a unit of 3 Flayers/Horrors will take out a support hero or small objective holding units like Judicators.

Flesh-Eater Courts summoning used to be limited by the constant need to use command points to summon the extra troops using high points cost heroes.  Now you have cheaper heroes and several abilities that allow you to summon without spending command points. Now Flesh-Eater Courts can summon what they need and have some command points left over for other plans.

From a sheer points value perspective this is a bargain.  A 200 point Archregent can summon a 200pt unit of Ghouls for free.  A Ghoul King on Terrorgheist at 400 points is going to give you a nice unit of Flayers as well as being an incredibly cheap and versatile killing machine. .

Mustering

Mustering works (generally) by rolling 6 dice in your hero phase for each of the qualifying heroes in your army.  You then have options to add slain models back to units depending on the results. So what can you Muster?

• Varghulf Courtier – 1 slain model to Ghouls (for each 2+) or 1 slain model to Knights (for each 5+)
• Crypt Ghast Courtier – 1 slain model to Ghouls (2+)
• Crypt Infernal Courtier – 1 slain model to Flayers (5+)
• Crypt Horror Courtier – 1 slain model to Horrors (5+)

I need to consider it more, but at the moment I don’t think it’s worth building around maximising a regeneration build.  It just feels like too much overinvestment given the other army builds available (which I’ll touch on below) and also pushes you towards taking the first turn to protect your heroes.

Flesh-Eater Courts Battalions

The Flesh-Eater Courts now have 9 battalions. They are in the style of the recent battletomes and are a mix of small and large battalions, but no real strong single drop army battalions. I expect the battalions we will see the most of are the Royal Mordants, Deadwatch and the Royal Menagerie.

Royal Mordants

• 1 Varghulf Courtier
• 1 unit Horrors
• 1 unit Flayers
• 1 unit Ghouls

In your hero phase, pick 1 unit from this battalion wholly within 16” of the Varghulf Courtier.  Make a normal move in the hero phase.

Deadwatch

• 1 Crypt Infernal Courtier
• 3 units of Flayers

In your hero phase, 1 unit from battalion within 3” of enemy can pile in and attack with all melee weapons.

Royal Menageries

• 3+ Terrorgheists or Zombie Dragrons (in any combination)

In your hero phase heal up to D3 wounds allocated to each model from this battalion within 5” of any other model from battalion.

If you are running this bestie army you want as few drops as possible to ensure you get your alpha strike and all your big death birds hit and pile in twice turn 1.

Potential Army Builds

So what are the core building blocks around which you’ll be making lists?  Many of these should be familiar from the review so far. I’m going to focus on two builds: the Gristlegore Monster build and the Blisterkin Royal Mordants Flayers build.

Gristlegore Monster Build

The Ghoul King on Terrorgheist and Abhorrant Archregent are just such powerful choices with Feeding Frenzy, the Fanged Maw not allowing any save at all to its 6 mortal wounds, the Gristlegore pile in and extra hits abilities, the spells which add attacks to all of a unit’s melee profiles (+D3+1 attacks) and the Gruesome bite (re-roll failed hits) that many people will be building armies around this build.  That is a ridiculous amount of damage once they hit. The army looks great on the table too with the big beasties.

These builds will all be about maximising the damage output and survivability of the big beasts while relying on summoning to bring on bodies.  Supporting these builds will be things like the Mortis Engine, Corpse Cart, and Cogs to lower the risk your key buff spells don’t go off.

The decision points will be around whether you take a Ghoul King on Terrorgheist and 3 Terrorgheists, if you swap in a Zombie Dragon, or if you just go for 3 Ghoul Kings on Terrorgheist.  The Ghoul King is a massive force multiplier that he is worth the extra points in my view. The Ghoul King on Terrorgheist plays the same role as Alarielle but is 50% cheaper. It summons more, has strong healing (like Alarielle), is fast, flies, has a ranged attack and good combat power.

Blisterskin High Movement

Before Flesh-Eater Courts were slow, now they have several ways to make them fast.  Whether it comes from +2 inches across the board from Blisterskin, the Royal Mordants battalion allowing a unit to move twice in one turn, a spell allowing added movement equal to the wound characteristic up to 6 or the delusion that adds 1 to run and charge rolls or hollowmourne allowing run and charges and giving +1 to both (a command ability that can be stacked) or the spell which lets flyers run and charge.  That is a whole lot of added movement options that which many of them can be stacked together where required.

For me, Blisterkin Royal Mordants lists are going to be Flayer-heavy and make full use of that improved warscroll.

As with most things from this release it will be about taking only what you need without hindering other tactical elements such as damage or defense.

Flesh-Eater Courts Allies

Flesh-Eater Courts can take allies from Deadwalkers, Deathlords, and Deathmages. The most likely ally choices I expect to see are for supporting casting (Arkhan, Mortis Engine, Corpse Cary) or to add cheap fast chaff into a monster build (Dire Wolves).

Concluding predictions – how will Flesh-Eater Courts do with the meta?

So me and the team here have tried to make some predictions of how popular Flesh-Eater Courts armies would do in the current and upcoming tournament meta.

• We expect the army to be strong against Gloomspite Gitz and Sylvaneth (especially given the changes to the Flayers scream which will be devastating against Bravery 6 Dryads).

• The army can play equally well with the choice of the first or second turn but there are viable low drop builds which will beat most armies (with the exception of the older one-drop books).

• Against the higher performing armies such as Legion of Nagash, Daughters of Khaine and Stormcast Eternals, it is going to be about ensuring you have the right tools for the job.

• Daughters of Khaine: your monsters allow a unique advantage vs some of their defensive abilities such as Sisters of Slaughter’s abilities to rebound mortals on save rolls of 6. This really isn’t going to do much against monsters with lower amount of attacks but high damage.  Flesh-Eater Courts can be also much faster than Daughters of Khaine allowing Flesh-Eater Courts to choose which fights it takes.

• Legions of Nagash: you are going to be faster and have more damage output in most cases allowing you to pick your fights once again, if you can overwhelm Legions of Nagash with board position then you should do ok. However, you need to be careful your main supporting spells don’t get unbound.

• Stormcast Eternals: could be a much harder army to face for Flesh-Eater Courts given the ability to re deploy and take out key units (depending on what flavour Stormcast Eternals is being run of course -an Anvils of Heldenhammer shooting list would cause trouble).  Flesh-Eater Courts is largely reliant on its heroes to stay alive for all its potential if these go down you are left with units that really lack any ability by themselves.

• The army is likely to be weaker against strong ranged damage armies: Stormcast Eternals, Kharadron Overlords and Disciples of Tzeentch.
  
  

Phew. So that’s the review for now. I can’t wait to see how the army gets on when the world’s players get hold of it and get some games in. We’ll revisit the book in a few months and see how it is holding up.

So we have had a smashing three days of Warhammer Age of Sigmar at the Las Vegas Open 2019 (LVO 2019) and now its time for the final results, awards and top lists. Who came out on top from the 125+ players at the event? The first five rounds were held over Friday and Saturday and the top 8 players battled it out in a straight knockout over three rounds today.

Congrats to Scott Read and his team, Frontline Gaming and Best Coast Pairings for an absolutely stellar event to follow!

For more LVO 2019 coverage, you can check out:

• my LVO 2019 pack preview, which explained all the realm rules and scenarios in force;
• my LVO 2019 lists breakdown, with all the lists; and
• my preview of the top 8 knockout round.

And, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming.  Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive.  Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.

LVO 2019 – Top 8 Shootout

So here is the tale of the Top 8 knockout at LVO 2019! The players entered three further rounds with the scenarios and realm rules announced just before each round. They were:

• Round 6 – Focal Points in Ghur using Savage Hinterlands (no effect)!
• Round 7 – Total Conquest in Aqshy with the realmscape feature that has no effect.
• Round 8 – Blood and Glory in Ghyran with the Seeds of Hope realmscape feature.

Round 6

• Bill Souza (1, FEC) beat Joe Krier (8, DoT)
• Jeff Paynter (5, SCE) beat Roger Barker (4, Grand Host)
• Matthew Pashby (6, Deepkin) beat Alan Bajramovic (3, Grand Host)
• Andrew Standiferd (7, SCE) beat Olivier Gandouet (2, Deepkin)

Round 7

• Bill Souza (1, FEC) beat Jeff Paynter (5, SCE)
• Andrew Standiferd (7, SCE) beat Matthew Pashby (6, Deepkin) – with a minor victory tied at 14-14 at the end of the game!

Round 8

So we were left with a mouth-watering match-up between Bill Souza, ITC #1 for the year and Team America ETC captain vs two-time defending champion Andrew Standiferd. Andrew fought hard, but Bill ultimately took it out at the bottom of Turn 4.

LVO 2019 – Age of Sigmar Awards

[To come – award ceremony in progress]

LVO 2019 – Age of Sigmar Results

You can find a full list of all the results in the Best Coast Pairings app but the top 24 (after the top 8 knockout) were:

Now you can also see all the placings here:

LVO 2019 – Top 10 Lists

All the lists for the Las Vegas Open 2019 are in the Best Coast Pairings app and also available via my list breakdown. However, here are the top 10 lists (from before the top 8 knockout) from the event. A really diverse field this year:

1. Bill Souza (Flesh-Eater Courts)
2. Olivier Gandouet (Idoneth Deepkin)
3. Alan Bajramovic (Grand Host of Nagash)
4. Roger Barker (Legion of Sacrament)
5. Jeff Paynter (Stormcast Eternals)
6. Matthew Pashby (Idoneth Deepkkin)
7. Andrew Standiferd (Stromcast Eternals)
8. Joe Krier (Disciples of Tzeetnch)
9. Rodrigo Duarte (Vorgaroth!)
10. Mathew Jones (Grand Host of Nagash)

1. Bill Souza (Flesh-Eater Courts)

2. Olivier Gandouet (Idoneth Deepkin)

3. Alan Bajramovic (Grand Host of Nagash)

4. Roger Barker (Legion of Sacrament)

5. Jeff Paynter (Stormcast Eternals)

6. Matthew Pashby (Idoneth Deepkin)

7. Andrew Standiferd (Stromcast Eternals)

8. Joe Krier (Disciples of Tzeetnch)

9. Rodrigo Duarte (Blades of Khorne)

10. Mathew Jones (Grand Host of Nagash)

LVO 2019 Picture Gallery

Thanks to all the people who sent me photos throughout the weekend for the coverage!

LVO 2019 Coverage

Frontline Gaming had streaming throughout the weekend on their Twitch channel (Warhammer TV was busy with the 40k). I understand they didn’t have much commentary, but did have the players mic’d up through the games. I also have a selection of videos from people at the event.

The BEASTS!!!! pic.twitter.com/nt1HUwHHqS

— Tony P (@warscrollbuildr) February 9, 2019

Amazing Deepkin at #LVO2019 pic.twitter.com/x161IKsnF3

— Tony P (@warscrollbuildr) February 9, 2019

Scary harpies… pic.twitter.com/rrsss7Ldut

— Tony P (@warscrollbuildr) February 8, 2019

Day 2 only 2 drops …. we started with 129 we will finish with 127😍 pic.twitter.com/xwCq9ctwZr

— Scott Reed (@thelnorn1) February 9, 2019

The rest of my walk around!!! pic.twitter.com/rWNyHhkdpH

— Scott Reed (@thelnorn1) February 9, 2019

https://t.co/n2BQkye89b

— Andrew Standiferd (@StormCrutch) February 8, 2019

So that’s it for LVO 2019 coverage this year! on to another year and the next event! Its been great fun.

Hey all, Games Workshop have hit us with two Warhammer Age of Sigmar battletomes at once! and I’m here with the AoS Shorts Skaven Battletome Review: Part 1. Now this is an initial run through all the warscroll changes. Part 2 of the review is also now up and has a more detailed analysis of the allegiance abilities and some early list possibilities. Also, you can check out all the preview coverage.

Now this part of the review could not have been possible without the help of local New Zealand Skaven expert, Aiden (@PestilentPest). Aiden spent his Sunday going through all the changes and feeding me all the details. Aiden has a great Pestilens blog over on TGA and I highly recommend you check it out if that is your flavour of rat.

And, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming.  Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive.  Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.

New Skaven Warscrolls – Every Change!

Now thanks to Aiden, he is going to run us through each of the Skaven warscrolls in this Skaven Battletome Review. There have been massive changes so it is worth working through them all.

Masterclan

There are some significant changes to the head honchos of the Skaven, and most if not all of them good. Let’s get stuck in with the rulers of the Rat-Race.

Grey Seer

• Increased 20 points
• Unique spell replaced with Wither, a powerful short range debuff.
• Warpstone mechanic reworked to be more risk/reward.
• Can cast 2 spells now.
• Command ability has been removed.

Finally the Grey Seer actually behaves like the erratic uber-caster he is meant to be. The ability to cast two spells is a great buff considering the Lore specifically for Grey Seers and the Warpstone mechanic is neat and thematic.

Screaming Bell

• Points unchanged
• Confers battleshock immunity to nearby units.
• Can’t move without being pushed now
• Same 2 spell buff as the Grey Seer on foot
• Peal of Doom reworked slightly
• Cracks Call range shortened
• Now has a 5+ ward save

I was sold from the first point and this thing just gets better as you go down. Everything about the bell is neat and it’s thematic and most importantly, powerful.

Verminlord Warpseer

• Points unchanged
• Doom Glaive damage is d3 instead of 3 but attacks 6 times instead of 4.
• Now has a 5+ ward save.
• Has the ability to accrue extra Command Points.
• Command Ability now confers Battleshock Immunity.
• Unique spell does d6 damage to target, rather than d3 or 3 to a flyer.
• Received the new Verminlord bravery debuff effect.

Another big winner, the Warpseer will find himself in a similar position to the Fungoid Cave Shaman, a powerful utility character that can farm command points and therefore get allied to everything that can take him ideally.

Lord Skreech Vermining

• Points unchanged
• Same Doom Glaive change as Warpseer.
• Thirteen Headed One mechanic reworked so all options are viable.
• Now can cast 2 spells instead of one.
• Verminlord bravery debuff effect added.
• Thirteenth Dreaded Spell unchanged.

My favorite Skaven character, Verminking received only a handful of changes specific to himself but they’re highly impactful. His access to 2 spells instead of 1 works well with his Knowledge of the Arcane rule to let him really lay the magical pain. Otherwise Skreech remains a reasonable option for Mixed Skaven, and a bit outclassed by the Warpseer for ally potential.

Thanquol and Boneripper

• Points unchanged
• Warpflame mechanic changed to anti-horde focus. Massive mortal wound output.
• Can mix and match whichever weapon options he wants per arm.
• Command ability changed.
• Received the Monster keyword.
• Unique spell changed to anti-hero spell.
• Arkhan the Black level casting buff from Staff of the Horned Rat.

The cockroach of the Skaven clans, no amount of stepping on this little monster will ever keep him down. Thanquol emerges in the new book as one of the strongest named characters in the game with a swathe of devastating abilities that keep him strong in all phases of the game. Looking good, Prophet of the Horned One.

Masterclan Verdict

The Masterclan are looking fantastic after their changes. I’m definitely convinced these guys are the undisputed masters of Blight City.

The Clans Verminus

The soldiery of the rat clans, Verminus bring cheap chaff infantry and heavy hitting elites supported by small affordable leaders and the dread Verminlord Warbringer. Let’s dig in.

Verminlord Warbringer

• Down 20 points.
• Standard Doom Glaive change.
• Verminlord bravery debuff added.
• 5+ ward save added.
• Punch Dagger has the chance to massively increase damage on a 6 to wound.
• Receives combat bonuses for nearby rats rather than for charging.
• Command ability is now wholly within.
• Can now cast 2 spells.
• Death Frenzy spell upgraded to target d3 units instead of just one.

This guy saunters in and single-handedly makes Verminus Allegiance viable. We don’t even have the full picture and I can safely, SAFELY say this is a thing and this guy will lead it. Fantastic changes across the board that turn this lad from a brutal close combat sledgehammer to a powerful leader and support character… and a brutal close combat sledgehammer.

Clawlord

• Points unchanged – the old Skaven Warlord.
• Scurry Away mechanic replaces original retreat after fighting ability.
• May only take the Warpforged weapon option now.
• Command ability unchanged.

Losing the other weapon options isn’t exactly a big deal as no one ran them anyway. Scurry Away isn’t as good as the old ability where he would fight then have a chance to run immediately after, but at least Scurry Away isn’t on a dice roll. In Verminus armies this guy can take a command trait along with every other Clawlord, so that should be quite interesting.

Clanrats

• Points unchanged.
• No longer receives combat buffs for being a large unit.
• Shields now work against any damage rather than turning off against damage higher than 1.

Changes to these guys are more in the Allegiance Abilities for the army than on their scroll. They still retreat and charge which is all anyone ever wanted from them anyway. Stay golden pony boy.

Stormvermin

• Points unchanged.
• Exact same shield change as Clanrats.
• No longer get buffs for outnumbering their opponents.

The changes to these are more in line with the fact that they are receiving so much else from the rest of the army with battleshock immunity, buffs to hit and wound and rerolls being thrown around hard and fast.

Stormvermin are an expensive unit that require support to be good, but when they are supported there won’t be much this deadly utility unit can’t do.

Clan Verminus Verdict

A solid, well rounded series of warscrolls that are now believable as their own real, tactical force.

The Clans Pestilens

My once and future army. My hard-cover Pestilens battletome was bought a week after their release, and it’s no secret my desire to play and win the army borders on the fanatical and unhealthy. I’ve annoyed many a person with constant deranged rants about why its fair the Plague Monk warscroll has more words than the Old Testament and I feel not just qualified but entitled to review and break down this section of the clans.

Verminlord Corruptor

• Increased 40 points
• Unique Spell changed so that it does more damage, but no longer spreads.
• Plaguereapers don’t reroll all their hits anymore but inflict mortal wounds on unmodified 6s to hit.
• Plaguemaster now does Area of Effect mortals around the Verminlord rather than tick off creatures that have already been hurt by it.
• Received a 5+ ward save.
• Received a passive bravery debuff to nearby enemies.
• Command ability now grants rerolls rather than additional attacks.

Big Cheese himself came out looking pretty good. Can’t help but feel that Plaguereaper change will have an FAQ saying he can’t take the Sword of Judgement on top of that ability so goodbye to that. His prior weaknesses (no rend, terrible survivability) have been fixed, and his strengths (two casts, high attack volume) made it through unscathed. Good changes, though I will miss his old unique spell even if it wasn’t exactly good.

Plague Furnace

• Points unchanged
• Altar of the Horned Rat now just makes anything wholly within 13 inches ignore Battleshock.
• The wrecking ball does far more damage but is a single target instead of Area of Effect now.
• The Plague Monk crew actually have attacks now.
• It has the same ward save as the Verminlord Corruptor.
• It has keywords that prevent it from receiving Look Out Sir now.

Good lord GW the Plague Furnace didn’t actually need to be stronger. Yeah it can’t benefit from look out sir anymore, but they give it mini Crown of Conquest and a ward save? Like what? This thing only got better. Thank the Horned Rat I have 4.

Plague Priest (Both Variants)

• Points unchanged
• Tumbled into one warscroll.
• Gained the attack profiles of both original priests.
• The Plague Tome once per game activation is gone.
• Pestilent Prayers are all reworked (addressed at the bottom of the post)

This was always going to happen. Plague Tome + Wither was one of the strongest combos in the Chaos grand alliance, and people were starting to wake up to it. A shame that they had to change him, but it makes sense why they did. A small price to pay for the rest of the changes, as Iskandar Khayon said in Black Legion, a sacrifice is only a sacrifice if it diminishes the giver.

Plague Monks

• Points unchanged.
• All once per game effects removed from command options.
• Improved Rend on 6s and rats doing damage when they die left untouched.
• Banner now causes 6s to wound to do double damage.
• Doom Gong now boosts running and charge rolls.
• Rerolls for two swords is still here, as is +1 attack for charging.

The meat and bones of the army. This one was always going to get changed due to it being a troop unit with more rules than Kairos Fateweaver. But the changes are for the good… or so it seems. All the changes are really strong and benefit the unit. HOWEVER the warscroll specifies 1 in 20 for it’s command options, which likely means the minimum unit size has been upped to 20. Squashes a few of my tactics and will mean some changes. I will however roll with these changes and no doubt actually be better off with them (ideally).

Plague Censer Bearers

• Points unchanged.
• Aura of damage effect is slightly better.
• They receive bonuses for being near monks at a slightly larger range now.

I expected nothing and wasn’t disappointed. I was terrified these guys would be the recipient of random buffing that meant I would need to convert another 20 ****** Stormvermin into these, thanks for actually having my back there GW.

Plagueclaw Catapult

• Points unchanged
• Receives artillery bonuses if there is 10 or more models in the unit, instead of more than 10.
• Does a bravery debuff to victims.

I was afraid this thing would get worse not because I use it (I have 3 fully painted to a high standard and they sit in a drawer somewhere) but because I’ve already ragged on it so hard, I wasn’t sure how I would somehow step that up. Pleased to say… that won’t be necessary. It’s slightly better.

Changes to Pestilent Prayers and Noxious Prayers

The original prayers on the warscrolls of the Plague Priest and Plague Furnace are now gone. They’ve been replaced with new effects that are fundamentally different.

• Disease-Disease! (Formerly Wither): So instead of making it easier to wound the victim ala Wither, this is ow the Gaunt Summoner unique spell on a 6. Boo hiss.
• Pestilence-Pestilence! (Formerly Plague Breath): It’s the same as before but the bubble is 3” not 2”. It also doesn’t affect Pestilens units, rather than Nurgle units. Neat.
• Filth-Filth (Formerly Bless with Filth): Thanks it’s still the same. No changes here, and what a boon that is.
• Rabid-Rabid! (Formerly Rabid Fever): Add 1 to the attacks of something nearby. So this is where they shoved the Verminlord command ability. I’ll forever miss the old one of this, my monks fighting after death is a MASSIVE part of my army’s reputation in NZ due to me taking 2 Furnaces and making sure it was always active. Pouring one out for you my lad.

Clan Pestilens Verdict

With widespread buffs to everything in the army and very few points increases, none of which could be called unjustified, Clan Pestilens is shaping up as the big winner of the clans so far. Saddle up lads, I will be your captain for this journey and the destination is, indeed, the podium.

The Clans Skryre

Blegh, really wanted to not do this one because of the sheer amount of reading and writing involved. I’ll save you some reading if you’re just here for Stormfiends: Yes, they got changed.

Arch Warlock

• Increased 20 points.
• Warpflame Gauntlet hits on a 2+ rather than being auto hit.
• Can increase the damage of his melee weapon and spell at a risk.

This could have gone a lot worse for Skryre players given the popularity of this lad. He’s still an excellent caster and his ability to take risk death to churn more damage is purely optional so really he plays the same as he did before. Also Skryre have their own whole table of spells for this guy to reap. 20pts isn’t much of an increase considering that.

Warlock Engineer

• Points unchanged
• Slight rework to risk/reward spell mechanic.

Almost entirely the same guy. As ever the devil is in the details and the devil here is Skryre’s new warp lore table. It will be interesting to see if other clans take him purely for that given his affordability.

Stormfiends

• Decreased 30 points
• Can now only take squads of mixed weapons, what the box provides (look out Arkanauts and others with similar rules different from the box options)
• Warpflame reworked, see Thanquol and Boneripper.
• 6+ triggers are now Unmodified 6 triggers.

I’m hoping this leads to greater variety and interaction with Clan Skryre, but it will be a shame if people hang up their fiends for other options.

Dan: I can still see a use for Stormfiends – although they are more of a toolkit option. Its harder to fill a defined role. I’ll cover them in more detail later in the week.

Skryre Acolytes

• Points unchanged.
• Can run and shoot now.
• Can’t shoot things they can’t see anymore.

You were worthless cheap Skryre battleline before Acolytes and that is EXACTLY where you will remain unless the Skryre Battalion brings you fresh spice. No one would take these in mixed Skaven over Gutter Runners, and no one would play Skryre just to have these as battleline. Hopefully you catch this hard pass better than you throw globes.

The Weapon Teams

• All overload mechanics guarantee the death of the unit after its attacks are resolved now.
• The drill comes up whenever you want but can inflict mortal wounds on the units tunnelling up.
• Warpflamer changed to be in line with other warpflame weapons.

The only one of these that will see any use outside of being mandatory for battalions is the drill, which now is a lot better given the risk of my 500pt unit of Stormvermin simply never surfacing isn’t a thing anymore.

Warp Lightning Cannon

• Points unchanged.
• Can double the dice for shooting at the risk of blowing the weapon up.
• Now has 8 wounds instead of 6.

Being able to choose to double the dice to fire the cannon is pretty awesome, even with the risk it entails. Just remember you have to choose to do it before rolling the power dice… pray you don’t roll a 6.

Doomwheel

• Increased 40 points
• Can double it’s shooting attack at a risk.
• Hurts every unit it roams over rather than just one.
• Still a chance the enemy can move it instead of you.

I was sold till I saw it can still run over and kill my own things on a bad dice roll and no matter how Skaven that may be, it gets a pass.

Warplock Jezzails

• Points unchanged
• 6+ is now Unmodified 6 to hit.

No real changes. Convert some up and drop them out a Gnawhole into shooting range. Not much else to say, they’re still good and they will see use.

Clans Skryre Verdict

All I see here is a faction better suited to being allied than ran by itself. A lot will turn on the allegiance abilities and spell lore.

The Clans Moulder

Ah Moulder, I’ve been looking forward to this. Every Skaven player (and every Skaven player reading this knows this to be true) wants Moulder to be good. And with an Allegiance ability of their own and a new Battalion, this may not be far from the truth. Let’s see how they fare.

Master Moulder – 100pts (New Warscroll)

• Whole new unit.
• Has the Packmaster whip ability.
• Has a command ability that summons destroyed Moulder units to the table.
• Powerful range of attacks.

Games Workshop you magnificent ******. This with the Packmaster change is exactly what Moulder needed. A powerful support hero that can hold his own with a command ability tailored the clan he belongs to. 10/10, great work.

Packmasters

• Points unchanged.
• Can now be taken in groups of up to 3.
• Same whip effect as the Master Moulder.
• Lost a few weapon options.

Packmasters now come in… packs? Neat and fun, I like it. A neat and expendable option to roam the table following Ogors and Abominations while the Master Moulder does Master Moulder things.

Rat Ogors

• Points unchanged.
• 6+ changed to unmodified 6 to hit.
• Attacks generate additional hits rather than additional attacks.

Nothing significant changed, just rules tweaks for consistency. Hopefully see more use with buffs and their own allegiance rules. If I catch anyone taking these because they have a shooting attack their house is getting shot with a Plagueclaw.

Giant Rats

• Points unchanged
• Horde bonus now increases weapon range rather than attack bonus.

This change makes sense and it’s thematic, and I suppose it’s a good thing that we won’t be seeing Moulder armies with nothing but Giant Rats. That being said, they were always a quiet favourite of mine though I rarely if ever ran them. I see them still seeing a lot of use as an annoying battleshock immune objective camper.

Rat Swarms

• Decreased 50 points!
• Rules updated to be similar to restoring dead models to a unit.

Was cutting the cost of this unit so dramatically potentially a disaster that will see Moulder players catapulting to the top tables as they drown us in 40mm bases covered in plastic rats they bought from their local Pestilens player? God I hope so.

Hell-Pit Abomination

• Points unchanged
• Avalanche of Flesh attack similar to Slaanesh Chariots impact but has a 3” range over their 1”
• Warpstone Spikes enable the model to have a chance to straight up ignore magic.

Solid changes to a severely underutilized unit. A powerful centrepiece of any Moulder army, I will be shocked if there isn’t at least one in all the Moulder lists to come.

Clans Moudler Verdict

Damn Moudler, they tweak a few of your scrolls and give you one character and suddenly you’re a real army that poses a real threat. We haven’t even seen their allegiance abilities yet. We will watch your career with great interest, Moulder players.

The Clans Eshin

The sneakiest come last as ever, but no one will call them the least of the lot once they’ve read these changes.

Verminlord Deceiver

• Points unchanged
• 5+ ward save added.
• Verminlord bravery debuff added.
• Can cast 2 spells instead of 1.
• Skitterleap is no longer a global teleport and can’t target models with more than 12 wounds.

Necessary changes. Deceiver enthusiasts should just be grateful they came out without a point increase. Further increased survivability ensures that this master assassin continues to do what he does best, assassinate.

Deathmaster

• Points unchanged – renamed from Skaven Assassin
• Throwing stars pop into multiple hits on 6s.
• Has a LOT more attacks with Fighting Claws.

Largely the same old boy by a different name. He does his job a little better now and with so many attacks with his Fighting Claws, the smart Eshin player will close this guide and start digging through the Realm Artefacts. I recommend starting with Ulgu…

Gutter Runners

• Points unchanged.
• Throwing stars pop into multiple hits on 6s.

They remain the once and future premium ally choice as far as Skaven units go. No changes made, no changes necessary. Stay awesome.

Night Runners

• Decreased 20 points and get a max size unit bonus
• Throwing stars pop into multiple hits on 6s.
• They make a 2d6 move now after deployment rather than just a free move.

Same as Gutter Runners, the only change necessary was to stop them moving 20+ inches turn one. Otherwise they’re still what they were before, a niche option but a good one.

Clans Eshin Verdict

Without knowing the Allegiance Abilities of Clan Eshin I’d call these the least stand-alone army with no specific spell lore. They’re niche, but I may yet be proven wrong when the rules are shown.

Check out Part 2 of my Skaven Battletome Review for a full break down of all the allegiance abilities, artefacts, spells, and army builds!