The Flesh-Eater Courts Battletome has been out a few months since its initial release and it seems the rules writers over at Games Workshop have noted some things that need errata-ing. Usually these passes focus on tightening up some language for clarification but this one has some significant changes that may change how you write your lists.

You can see the FAQ document here.

Errata

Muster Guard and Royal Beastflayers No Longer Combo

This is probably the biggest change. The Muster Guard ability now requires you to spend two Noble Deed points in order to revive Serfs with more than one wound. Before this, people were taking Royal Beastflayers and the Cruel Taskmaster enhancement to revive the two and three wound models for cheap. This created a hyper-durable unit for its cost that was difficult to remove if you couldn’t get rid of it right away. Folks will just have to go back to using ghouls or knights for their anvils now.

Chalice of Ushoran and Royal Beastflayers No Longer Combo

Similar to the above, the chalice now only brings back models with a wounds characteristic of one. Before it was for a unit with a wounds characteristic of one, which Royal Beastflayers technically are. It’s worth noting despite these two clarifications, the Archregent’s ability still works on the multi-wound models in Royal Beastflayers, so we may just see a pivot to that.

The Summerking’s Favor Now Only Applies to Attacks

The Summerking’s Favor prayer now only triggers off attacks made by that Hero. Before this abilities and spells could let you get some Noble Deed points if you killed models with them. It seems Ushoran’s favor now only graces Heroes who engage in noble combat.

Blisterskin No Longer Makes Named Characters Honorary Priests

The Blisterskin Pious Nobility ability now only applies to Blisterskin Abhorrents. Before, Goremayne and Ushoran could become priests and chant prayers if they were in Blisterskin. This was a great way to get Goremayne some extra Nobility Points since he’s not great in melee, can’t cast spells, and his ability doesn’t generate any.

FAQ Answers

Math Was Done For You

Games Workshop decided to clarify that yes, it is possible to wrap Ushoran up in Cryptguard to give him a 4+ ward and yes, Crypt Flayers can wrap a Charnel Throne to airlift a Hero out of it. Most of this could be figured out by, you know, measuring, but it’s nice to have it spelled out, I suppose. That said, the Ushoran one sounds great in practice but it gets him stuck for a bit around the Cryptguard since it requires you to mostly encircle him, and untangling that is honestly more trouble than it’s worth. 

Scent of Blood Cleared Up

This is an interesting one since it may not have gone the way many players expected. Scent of Blood cannot be used to move if no one has taken wounds yet, which makes sense. More interestingly, however, you can use Scent of Blood to get out of combat (assuming you get outside 3”). This can be a good get-out-of-jail-free card if you want to charge something else or run onto an objective.

The Rest

The rest of the document just clears some stuff up. Things immune to battleshock still have to take it near the Charnel throne; Cadaverous Barricade acts like any other terrain piece; and the Royal Decapitator can’t use its ability from beyond the grave. 

The Verdict

While a lot of this is technically nerfs in the form of errata, Flesh-Eater Courts players have plenty of ways to mitigate it. If you’re really tied to the Beastflayer strategy, take some Archregents and you’re still able to revive those Offal Hounds. That said there are a lot of great options in the book to pivot to; Horrors are still a pile of wounds that are relatively easy to revive and Ghouls provide a beefy screen to absorb major threats just to name a few. I for one have had plenty of success without them.

As for the other changes, the slight nerf to Summerking’s Favor is somewhat disappointing but I don’t know anyone who was taking any prayers outside Charnel Conviction and the occasional Bless This Meal. The rest are really just clarifications that are nice to have but likely won’t change a lot of game plans significantly.