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How to Play AoS Stormcasts: Celestial Vindicators & Warbringers

By Travis Perkins | December 27th, 2021 | Categories: Age of Sigmar, Warhammer Army Lists

how-to-play-Celestial-Vindicators-and-Warbringers-stormcastsHere’s how to play Stormcasts Celestial Vindicators and Warbringers with some 2,000 point AoS army lists from the new battletome.

Last week we started diving into the Stormcast Eternals battletome and dug into building around the Anvils of the Heldenhammer and Astral Templars which you can check out here.

Now we are going to dive into more Stormcast Eternals and see how we might build out and play some Celestial Vindicators and Celestial Warbringers 2000 point army lists for the Stormcasts faction!

How to Play AoS Stormcasts: Celestial Vindicators & Warbringers

stormcast eternals battletome

All the Stormcast Eternals  Models Available

First, let’s recap the Stormcast Eternals overall abilities:

Stormcast Eternals are broken down into either Stormkeep or Thunderstrike Eternals which do one of the following (see below). Then they are further broken down into 8 different sub-factions.

Each article will look at two of the different sub-factions and build a list that is from the Thunderstrike brotherhood while the other is from the Stormkeep brotherhood.

  • Stormkeep Eternals: 1 in every 4 units in this army may be a unit from the Cities of Sigmar faction and they gain the Stormkeep keyword. Add 1 to the Bravery of these units if they are wholly within 12” of a friendly Stormkeep Redeemer unit. Also, in the first and second battle rounds Stormkeep Redeemer models count as 3 for objectives in or partially in your territory. Starting from the 3rd battleround they count as 3 per model for any objective on the battlefield. In addition, if an enemy unit finishes a charge move within 1” of a friendly Stormkeep Redeemer unit that is wholly within 6” of an objective, roll a dice, on a 3+ that unit suffers D3 mortal wounds.
  • Thunderstrike Eternals: You can set up a unit of models in reserve for each unit that is set up on the board during deployment. (So, if you have 10 units 5 can be set up on the board and 5 in reserve). At the end of your movement phase, you can set up a unit from reserve anywhere on the battlefield as long as it is more than 9” from an enemy unit.
  • Non-faction-specific enhancements (can be used by all sub-factions).

Stormcasts Celestial Vindicators 

yndrastaLet’s jump into the Celestial Vindicators which get: In the combat phase pick 1 friendly unit that made a charge move, until your next hero phase unit that if unmodified melee hit roll for that unit is a 6 it deals 2 hits rather than 1.

Celestial Vindicators Thunderstrike Army:

  • Lord Imperatant: 175 points, Leader 1 of 6
  • Yndrasta, the Celestal Spear: 320 Points, Leader 2 of 6
  • Celestant-Prime: 325 Points, Leader 3 of 6
  • 3 Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers: 240 Points, No Unit Type
  • 3 Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers: 240 Points, No Unit Type
  • 5 Judicators with Skybolt Bows: 200 Points, Battleline 1 of 3
  • 5 Judicators with Skybolt Bows: 200 Points, Battleline 2 of 3
  • 5 Vanquishers: 125 Points, Battleline 3 of 3
  • Stormstrike Chariot: 165 Points, No Unit Type
  • Total 1990 Points

This is an army that is all about maximizing the charge and getting those exploding 6’s. How I would play this Stormcasts army is to use the Lord Imperatant every turn to get a 7-inch charge first for a unit of annihilators (if you need), then turn 2 determine if you need to drop the Celestant Prime or can hold another turn but make sure you can use your Lord Imperatant ability on him to make sure the Prime get the 7-inch charge with the exploding 6’s.

The Judicators should be able to soften up or destroy some targets if you concentrate fire while Yndrasta is good to finish off a wounded foe.

To me, this is an army that really needs the first turn or ability to decide who goes first so for me I want to take the Battle Regiment Battalion and get a two-drop army. After that, I would take the Thunderbolt Volley Unique Trait, the Shock and Awe Command Ability, and the Amulet of Destiny for the ward save to allow me to use the Lord Imperatant’s ability multiple turns.

Celestial Vindicators Stromkeep Army:

Stormstrike Chariot

  • Celestant Prime: 325 Points, Leader 1 of 6
  • Lord Imperatant: 175 Points, Leader 2 of 6
  • Knight Vexillor with Banner of Apotheosis: 160 Points, Leader 3 of 6
  • Celestial Hurricanum with Celestial Battlemage: 280 Points, Leader 4 of 6, Behemoth 1 of 4
  • 10 Liberators: 230 Points, Battleline 1 of 3
  • 10 Vanquishers: 250 Points, Battleline 2 of 3
  • 10 Vanquishers: 250 Points, Battleline 3 of 3
  • Stormstrike Chariot: 165 Points, No Unit Type
  • Stormstrike Chariot: 165 Points, No Unit Type
  • Total 2000 Points

This is an interesting army in that you have very strong battleline units with a backup of the banner to bring some dead units back. How I would play this Stormcasts army is to bring in the Celestant Prime turn 2 and use the Lord Imperatant to get that 7-inch charge and waste away one of your opponent’s main units as well, this is key. If in turn one and three you can get a charge in with one of your units (particularly the chariots) you might be able to string out those exploding 6’s to hit to waste away your foes.

For me, this army is all about the countercharge in that your going to let your battleline take the punch, heal them with your banner, and counter punch with your chariots. That being said you don’t need to go first for this army so let’s maximize on the battalions you can get. So we are going to take the Warlord battalion for the bonus command point and enhancement and then the Vanguard battalion to be able to use forward to victory or at the double for free.

For enhancements, I want to grab Call for Aid as our unique ability to replenish our ranks, Hammer of Might for a harder-hitting knight or lord, and Amulet of Destiny for survivability.

Next, up let’s jump into the Celestial Warbringers which get: Once per phase you can re-roll 1 hit, wound, or save roll made by a friendly Celestial Warbringers unit.

Celestial Warbringers Thunderstrike Army:

vanquishers video

  • Yndrasta, the Celestial Spear: 320 Points, Leader 1 of 6
  • Knight Judicatior with Gryph Hounds: 205 Points, Leader 2 of 6
  • Knight Incantor: 125 Points, Leader 3 of 6
  • Knight Incantor 125 Points, Leader 4 of 6
  • Knight Vexillor with Banner of Apotheosis: 160 Points, Leader 5 of 6
  • 10 Vanquishers: 250 Points, Battleline 1 of 3
  • 10 Vanquishers: 250 Points, Battleline 2 of 3
  • 5 Judicators with Skybolt Bows: 200 Points, Battleline 3 of 3
  • 3 Annihilators: 200 Points, No Unit Type
  • 1 Stormstrike Chariot: 165 Points, No Unit Type
  • Total 2000 Points

This is an interesting ability to build around so I wanted to make sure I had enough shooting units so that I could take advantage of the single re-roll in every phase. How I would play this Stormcasts army is to set up the shooters in the back and drop down your Vanquishers and Annihilators which if you get lucky will get you a turn one charge. If the target is softened up from your shooting attacks you might even be able to take out more elite troops.

For this Stormcasts army, I am going to take the Warlord Battalion and Brotherhood Command letting you start with loads of command points to begin the game. Giving you a lot of options to boost your hit rolls and re-rolling charges. For artifacts, I am going to go with the old faithful Amulet of Destiny and then Hammer of Might.

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For spells, I am going to choose Celestial Blades and Thundershock for some debuffing and buffing power. Command Trait wise, I am going to choose Shock and Awe to give my drop troops more survivability, and then the Thunderbolt Volley ability to let your archers soften up a target before you drop in with your Annihilators.

Celestial Warbringers Stormkeep Army:

 

  • Yndrasta, The Celestial Spear: 320 Points, Leader 1 of 6
  • Lord-Ordinator:130 Points, Leader 2 of 6
  • Celestant-Prime: 325 Points, Leader 3 of 6
  • Sorceress: 95 Points, Leader 4 of 6
  • 10 Liberators: 230 Points, Battleline 1 of 3
  • 10 Liberators: 230 Points, Battleline 2 of 3
  • 10 Vanquishers: 250 Points, Battleline 3 of 3
  • Celestar Ballista: 140 Points, Artillery 1 of 4
  • Celestar Ballista: 140 Points, Artillery 2 of 4
  • Celestar Ballista: 140 Points, Artillery 3 of 4
  • Total 2000 Points

This army is called let your Ballistas kill things, and you are basically parking your Lord Ordinator around your Ballistas and letting them do their thing, and if you happen to roll a 1 you can use your shooting phase reroll on it.

You are going to let your opponents’ troops crash on your battleline units, while the Celestant Prime hangs out in the sky threatening the entire board. If you can bring him in and threaten your opponent’s backline or artillery all the better. The Sorceress is in this army as a cheap caster option to help bolster your troops and maybe get lucky with an unbind.

For Battalions, I am going to select the Warlord, the Soulstrike Brotherhood, and the Grand Battery battalions letting you use some free command abilities on your troops in case they get charged. For the artifacts, I am going to take the Amulet of Destiny for that sweet ward save, and the Hammer of Might.

Command trait wise I am going to take the Staunch Defender ability to make your opponent pay for getting into range of your objectives, and then Thunderbolt Volley to really let you focus fire with your ballistas. My caster is going to get the unique spell Levitate that might give your vanquishers some mobility if they need to get somewhere in a hurry.

There you have it! Two more How to Play Stormcasts Stormhosts sub-factions are over with, and I can’t say either one strikes me as super good, however, I am intrigued by the Celestial Warbringers’ ability to re-roll which are hard to come by in the game these days.

Next week we will tackle the Hallowed Knights and Hammers of Sigmar until then happy gaming!

Don’t forget to check out the other How To Play Stormcasts sub-faction army lists and breakdowns below for the Stormcasts Eternals battletome as well!

More AoS How-To For Beginners & Veteran Players!

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About the Author: Travis Perkins

An avid homebrewer and Detroit sports fan (yes even the Lions). I am new to the world of wargamming and very much enjoying the journey. If you have any suggestions or comments feel free to comment on the article or email me at perki116@msu.edu