The Arena of Shades box is here, so let’s check out all the new rules warscrolls for the Nighthaunts and Daughters of Khaine miniatures.
The new battle box will feature Daughters of Khaine and Nighthaunt, with a couple of new models for the Death side of it and one for DoK. With the release soon, you know it was a matter of time before GW dropped some rules on us.
Warhammer Community unveiled the new rules and how to Death Note people! While it’s not exactly the same, you’re still writing people into a book, so… Anyways, let’s check out the box, then jump into the rules.
Arena of Shades
The next two factions to duke it out in the Age of Sigmar are Nighthaunt and the Daughters of Khaine!
The newest character set to release for Nighthaunt is the Scriptor Mortis! Described by the preview as “not a fighter”, the Scriptor is said to specialize in picking out specific heroes from a distance and “cursing them” throughout the battle.
Nighthaunt is receiving two new units in this upcoming release! Not only are they getting a new character, but a unit capable of shooting as well, the Craventhrone Guard! This new unit is one of the few in the Death faction of Age of Sigmar with any substantial shooting, so their addition is very welcome.
The aesthetic of these new minis ties into the Nighthaunt character Kurdoss Valentian, The Craven King; you can see the iconography on their banner is very similar to his own, as well as having a connection with his name.
Finally, the Daughters of Khaine receive a new character, and she has been described as particularly deadly: the High Gladiatrix. The preview emphasized her gladiator aesthetic, and we have to agree. The character appears to come with multiple weapons and head options, so variety will be possible for those wishing for it!
AoS Arena of Shades Rules & Warscrolls
A bunch of YouTubers have grabbed the book, so this is a compilation from them. It’s always nice to see the rules and see if you want to pick up your own copy! Let’s get into it!
For stats, she has 4 attacks with her whip at 3+ to Wound and -1 Rend, then she gets two attacks with her Blade. But her real strength comes in with her special rules.
From Warhammer Community
This can be a great way to finish off characters with good Ward saves or pesky special rules to keep them alive. She also buffs those around her with this rule:
She also buffs surrounding Witch Aelves and Sisters of Slaughter, her thirst for blood whipping them into such a furious frenzy that they wound on rolls of 3+, and with a Rend of -1. Wherever the High Gladiatrix goes, her warriors know that the streets will run red.
Wounding on a 3+ with the number of attacks they get is always going to be strong!
They’ve had a few small changes. First, the range of their spears went down to 1″. Next, now they just get to move all the time after shooting, no need for a 4+ rule, so a pretty big buff. However, their shields have been rolled into their profile and they can no longer bounce back wounds.
New AoS Nighthaunts Battletome Rules Already Leaked
We know Nighthaunts are next with the Daughters of Khaine, but man Games Workshop is leaking like a sieve at this point.
So their army-wide special rules are interesting for sure as Ethereal has a whole new meaning. Plus auto wounding on 6s is sure to make a difference as well.
More ways to customize the army builds are here as well.
Graven Throne Guard Rules:
With movement 8, they are quick, but their damage output isn’t insane and with only a 4+/4+ and a 12″ range, we’re not sure exactly how powerful they will be. Considering they are the only ranged unit they have, might be worth a take.
From Warhammer Community
A ranged unit is a rarity for a Death army– they traditionally prefer to shamble, rattle, and apparate their way into their opponents’ faces rather than attack from a distance – and it opens up many options. Spells are no longer your only way of taking out hard-to-reach Heroes and critical units, while a shooting phase opens up plenty of new options to score Battle Tactics and deny your opponent the aura abilities that make their army tick.
Having ranged attacks at all for the army is pretty nice, and with 2 attacks each and the ability to fire without LoS, they can do some work. However, with only a 4+ to hit, Damage 1, and not big units, it might be hard for them to really change the course of a fight. Still, they say they have other rules as well, so we can’t fully judge quite yet.
Scriptor Mortis Nighthaunts Battletome Rules:
We had already seen some of the rules for Scriptor Mortis, however, the full Warscroll has a bit more information.
While this basically takes two turns to even possibly pull off, dealing 2D6 Mortals can kill a lot of heroes. Who knows, maybe if you get lucky and have a couple of these, you’ll actually rack up the damage.
If you try this in turn 2, you have a 1/6 chance for it to work, then even on turn 3 just a 1/3 chance. So while it can be devastating, we’re not sure how often it will be super strong as even in turn 4, you have a 50/50 chance of it working. However, you can do this even if the game is going to end, so it will scale throughout the game quite well.
Awlach the Drowner Rules
The last new model, Awlach the Drowner, was more of an unknown until now. Looks like he can move around units a bit and smash into things with his ram.
Nighthaunts Battletome Points Costs
Points wise this is how the army is shaping up, with Kurdoss being 210 is an interesting look for sure.
These look like the points we had already seen updated from the last Balance Warscroll as well. So no big surprise there. It’s pretty obvious that Games Workshop is still a bit behind on its release cycle as well when this is pre-dated for April 2022.
Scriptor Mortis changed to 5 points to 155, and the Craven Guard went up to 115, probably to make them more in line with the new army-wide Nighthaunt Battletome rules and abilities like auto wounds on 6’s, etc.
Here’s the most up-to-date list of new Games Workshop bits from preview models that we should keep an eye out for. Click on the gallery above to see dozens of Rumor Engines with new models still left to be revealed!
All the Newest GW Model & Rules Previews For 2022
What do you think about the new Scriptor Mortis and the rest of the Nighthaunts battletome rules? Do you think the new units will be useful?
Here’s the most up-to-date list of new Games Workshop bits from preview models that we should keep an eye out for. Click on the gallery above to see dozens of Rumor Engines with new models still left to be revealed!
All the Newest GW Model & Rules Previews For 2022
What do you think about the new Scriptor Mortis rules? Do you think this will be useful?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
