Did you know there were different types of dead? Ossiarch Bonereapers are coming in with multiple sub-faction rules you don’t want to miss!
Hot off of our first rules preview of the Ossiarch Bonereapers, Warhammer Community hit us with sub-faction rules coming to the army. On top of what’s already been covered, you can see which bonus rules you want your entire army to have.
Mortis Praetorians- Durable Punishers
Mortis Praetorians look to be the “main” faction of the Ossiarch Bonereapers. Mainly because they mention that you can take named heroes like Katakros, Vokmortian, and Zandtos with these keywords. However, looking at the army-wide rules:
Mortis Praetorians are extra spooky and play on the Bravery of enemy units. Subtracting 1 from all leadership of everything within 12″, these guys will hate on the chaff even harder. Expect your opponents to be spending CP a bit more against this faction to keep units fearless.
For Command Abilities, you’ll be able to swing back harder than expected with the units that got charged and managed to survive. Remember that Ossiarch Bonereapers are fearless so the enemy is going to have to kill every last model in the unit to wipe them out. Counter-Strike is a neat little trick as you could have the same damage output (with rerolls) as a full-strength unit normally when half of the models might have been killed on the charge!
Finally, for Katakros’ command ability, he will give you an extra +1 to hit rolls and +1 to all save rolls. Most of these units are “elite” already having the soul(s) of ancient warriors in a new undead body. With that said, when Katakros pops this ability, most of the stuff in your army will probably be hitting on 2’s.
Overall, the army-wide -1 bravery rule is nice but certainly not overpowered. The real power in this faction comes from the ability to take named characters.
Petrifex Elite- Unparalleled Tanks
The Petrifex Elite are for those RPG players that spec 100% into the tank tree and are the punching bag of party raids. Seriously, these guys are probably some of the tankiest units we’ve seen. All of their rules synergize about absorbing fatal hits.
Everyone in your entire army adds +1 to their army save from the get-go.
With the Godbone Armor artifact, even the “squishy” heroes from the army can become surprisingly more durable ignoring the first wound in EACH PHASE of the game. That means you can ignore up to three separate instances of a wound each turn.
The star unit for this army is looking to be the Immortis Guard. You’ll be getting a flat 2+ armor save with these guys. Most heavy weapons in the game only have a rend characteristic of -2 in-game. That means with these guys, it’ll be 50/50 if it even goes through. Most units wouldn’t even get saves against -2 rend attacks.
Stalliarch Lords- Swift Cavalry
The Stalliarch Lords are cruel and capricious, infamous for the dark deals they strike with cities they wish to raze. They are known for making impossible requests, before crushing enemies with hordes of elite cavalry when their outrageous demands are not met.
While the fastest unit in the army might be the Kavalos Deathriders, you don’t need to take Cavalry to reap the army rules benefits. These guys are the White Scars of the Bonereapers being able to run and charge later in the same turn.
With Rally Back, your mounted units have the option to fall back from one combat and charge once again into another. These guys are swift and hard to bog down. The ultimate downfall for these guys would probably be a horde army that completely encircles your units.
Ivory Host- The Black Rage Skeletons
These guys are the angriest of all the sub-factions of the Bonereapers letting themselves go in battle. If they have a friendly unit nearby that’s injured, they become subject to rage, adding 1 to all hit rolls. However, in a blind rage, they also aren’t as aware of what’s going on. The tradeoff is that you have to subtract 1 from your saves. The way you want to play these guys is close together with glass-cannon units in the back. Just far enough out of range of the enemy, but close enough to fall to rage.
Scrimshawed Savage is a trait for your general that can turn him into an unparalleled beatstick by the end of the game. If the big man Celestant Prime can wait around the Azyr and up his damage, you can increase your attack in each of your hero phases on the ground. By the end of the game (if you roll perfectly), you can have a one-man blender that can crack through some of the toughest models on the tabletop.
Null Myriad- Builders of Nagash’s Black Pyramid
The lore behind these guys is awesome. They are built from the remains of the Skeletons that carried grave-sand for Nagash’s Black Pyramid. (Essentially concentrated magic). With these guys being so close to so much magical energy, these Bonereapers are some of the most spell-resistant armies in the game.
Your entire army has essentially what all Troggoths have. They can completely ignore the effect of a spell on a 5+.
The Baleful Blade is one of the coolest artifacts we’ve seen in a while. It completely gets around armor and wounds can’t be negated. As long as you wound with your weapon, your opponent is soaking up the damage. Hopefully, there’s a Hero or two that can be the AoS-equivalent of a Smash Captain when they throw this artifact onto their profile.
Crematorians- Spicy Spooky Boi Special
Unlike the other Ossiarch legions, the Crematorians are not built to last. Each is cursed with infernal fire, detonating when destroyed in a shower of flaming bone. Their eternal torment is the bane of those who would oppose Nagash, laying armies and cities low in explosions of balefire.
Now, this….this is powerful. Whenever you lose a model, on a 5+, you can dish a mortal wound right back to the enemy. The trick is to get stuck into melee with all of your units as fast as possible and reap benefits even as you lose models. For your Heroes and Monsters, you explode on a 4+. But it’s still just 1 mortal wound. You’re better off running all of the weakest units in huge numbers to burst into flames as many times as possible.
This command ability is unique in that the Crematorians specialize in uprooted enemies that are dug-in. With these guys, you’re damned if you kill them and damned if you don’t!
With all of these sub-factions covered, which rules set will you be using for your force? Will you be taking all of the new named characters in the Mortis Praetorians or rolling with the magic nulls and Nagash? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and sign up to get your free hobby updates newsletter (with discount coupon codes) each morning as well!
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials:@RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. 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. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
