Warhammer Community has given us a plate-full of information this holiday with teasers for Skaven, Flesh-Eater Courts, and new shooting rules. Now can get a better idea of how AoS 2.0 will pan out.
Warhammer Community gave us a heads up on what’s coming for Skaven and it doesn’t look half bad.
Who are the Skaven?
Skaven are an age-old species of Rats that are back-stabbing, conniving, and twisted beyond belief. They are cowards alone, but under their sheer numbers and wacky inventions, they are able to maintain dominance in areas of the world. From scientists using ground-up warp stones as black powder in guns, to “surgeons” stitching together 13 rats to create a Hellpit Abomination, the Rats are a force to be reckoned with.
Skaven in AoS 2.0
Skaven are known for their numbers and with the ability to use more than one command ability on a single unit, you can turn a unit of Clanrats into a decent ball of attacks. The Verminlord Warbringer’s command ability lets a unit reroll hits and wound rolls of 1.
Then a Skaven Warlord gives them all an extra attack. Getting 2 attacks for a unit of 60+ models is something for your opponent to not take lightly. You have the ability to tarpit something and have a high chance of killing it. Assuming you pass your bravery tests.
Thanquol and Boneripper is getting a point reduction to fit more comfortably as an ally in a 2000 point game. There’s also a spell called the Skitterleap that looks like its been tailor-fitted to this mans.
Let’s let this sink in real quick. It has a casting cost of 3. The only downside is that it has to be a hero you target. I guess jumping 3 Stormfieds with Warpfire Projectors is too good. Ultimately, Skitterleap is particularly devastating with Thanquol and Boneripper because you can put him within perfect range for his Warpfire Projector to do some saucy mortal wounds.
All in all, this is exactly what Skaven needed. They aren’t the most mobile army in AoS, but can still get around. This spell adds a nice touch of mobility for badass Heroes.
This spell is nothing but fluff with some high reward. You’re getting 13 50/50 chances to do a mortal wound and get a Clanrat. Clanrats have to be placed near Skreech, the Verminking, but they can just be used as meat-shields.
The Screaming Bell
The Screaming Bell still gives you a Verminlord on double 6’s and you don’t even have to pay points for it now. (old Chaos Warshrine anyone?)
The Skaven have always been an army of wacky spells, units, and tactics. Looks like they’ll be getting a fluffy port into the new edition of AoS. Hopefully, they get to keep all their mortal woundy goodness.
Warhammer Community gave Flesh-eater Courts the spotlight in the new Faction Focus.
Who are the Flesh-eater Courts?
The ghouls of the Flesh-eater Courts believe themselves to be noble warriors from a bygone age. To them, rags of flesh are gleaming pennants, clutched bones serve as master-worked swords and heaps of spoiled meat form fresh and well-prepared feasts fit for royalty. Unfortunately for the Mortal Realms, this delusion cuts both ways – they see all others as invaders and usurpers who threaten their kingdoms.
Flesh-eater Courts in AoS 2.0
These ghouls pack a punch and keep on coming back. With each small group of units, there is a head Courtier. These Courtiers help the units they watch over and are lead by Abhorrent Ghoul Kings. The Ghoul Kings new command ability is free and only once per battle, but you can set up a brand new unit around them and it doesn’t cost any points!
The recommendation is to max out the number of Abhorrent Ghoul Kings that you’re allowed to have to essentially double your army size.
Warhammer Community also teased that they will be getting endless spells for their wizards, below.
New Shooting Rules
You’ll still be able to shoot at the units you’re in combat with. You just won’t be able to shoot out of it.
So the unit that has enemies close by can only shoot at the immediate threat. But your other units can still shoot at the enemy that’s attacking another one of your units. You can shoot into combat, not out of it.
Missed our last post for AoS? Look no further.
Warhammer Community released some information on how Legions of Nagash will play in the new edition.
Who are the Legions of Nagash?
In Shyish, the dead do not rest easy. Once, this realm was a place of final endings. Now, the underworlds are pressed into service as their resources are crafted into strange arcane machineries and the dead are turned into soldiers by the god of Death himself – Nagash, the Grand Necromancer. From the lowliest Skeleton Warrior to the fiercest Mortarchs, the undead strive relentlessly to bring Nagash’s vision into being across the Mortal Realms.
The Dead Will Rise in 2.0
As we talked about before, summoning is coming back and it doesn’t cost you any points. The Legions of Nagash will benefit the most from summoning and raising things from the afterlife. The Endless Legions command ability allows you to take a unit that was completely destroyed and set it up at a graveyard. But wait, it gets better.
Being that you can use more than one command ability, you can bring back up to 3 units in a turn.
Thought Skeletons were weak?
Being that you can use more than one command ability on a single unit, you can beef up one group into a nightmarish whirlwind of bony attacks.
you can stack command abilities and spells to pull off some pretty evil combos worthy of the Great Necromancer himself. Let’s say we’ve got a block of 40 Skeleton Warriors with spears. Usually, you’d be getting 120 attacks off of these guys – pretty solid stuff! But it gets better…Firstly, by using the Vampire Lord’s Blood Feast ability, we can give every model in the unit an extra attack, before giving them ANOTHER with the Wight King’s Lord of Bones command ability. That’s us up to 200 attacks.
Combo this with Lord of Nagashizzar’s command ability to get even more attacks, that’s 240 attacks in a unit of 40! You can even have them reroll failed hit rolls with a Vampire Lord on a Zombie Dragon and his ability.
Spells of the Dead
.Apparently 240 attacks and rerolling isn’t enough, so this spell lets them attack twice. now, this has a casting cost of 6 which is easily manageable on two dice. But if it goes off (it probably will), the unit gets to pile in and attack twice.
We don’t know the casting cost of this spell is or the range, but its pretty nasty and seems similar to the Ravening Hunger spell for the Orks.
Miss the talk about free summoning earlier? It’s right here for you.
Warhammer Community released the news on the new summoning interactions and mechanics.
Summoning is now Free
The big change for matched play, though, is that summoning now no longer costs reinforcement points! Instead, you earn your summoned units with in-game actions: bloodshed, spreading plague, mastering magic, and other thematic goals. For some recent armies, this ability works just like it does in your battletome today (but free!). For others, their unique summoning ability will be rolled into their army’s new allegiance abilities, which will be found in the General’s Handbook 2018.
You heard it right. Summoning doesn’t cost any points now. View summoning as a reward for serving your Chaos God well, or collecting the right kind of energy if you’re a Seraphon player.
The Hosts of Slaanesh, for example, revel in suffering and pain, both given and received, so they generate points when their Heroes deal or receive wounds which do not slay their target. Meanwhile, the Seraphon generate points by performing rituals with their Slann Starmasters and Saurus Astrolith Bearers.
This is such an exciting mechanic because it adds even more of a degree of fluff into the game. You don’t have to worry about paying points for summoning and you can’t just spam things that got summoned either. It looks like they found a delicate balance between the two options.
What do you think of the Skaven and Flesh-eater Courts? What army seems most competitive? How will the new shooting rule affect you? Let us know in the comments on our Facebook Hobby Group.
The latest on Age of Sigmar 2.0
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
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Bio: Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4.
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