At the conclusion of Broken Realms: Morathi we got a teaser that Morathi’s little stunt to ascend to godhood weakened the chains on Slaanesh and let a solid chunk of their essence escape which formed a new being, an Avatar of Slaanesh. As this new being, christened “The Newborn” ebbed and flowed in its tumultuous form it could not decide on one. Perhaps similar to its progeny it decided to create two opposing forms, not seperate but not quite whole either. They became Dexcessa, The Claw of Slaanesh and Synessa, the Mouth of Slaanesh.
Dexcessa and Synessa
Real quick, I just want to add that I love the word play here (Dextra being the Latin word for Right Handed and Sinistra meaning left handed. GW Loves their faux Latin). Anyway onto the “Twins”. This dual kit model allows you to build either one to your preference. Fittingly the two are of similar power but have opposite rolles on the table. Theyre both reasonably priced at 280 and 260 points, though it may be hard to justify both of them. They’re not quite as powerful as a Keeper of Secrets, being much cheaper, but they have much more specialized roles. Dexcessa is a meant to cut down your foes in melee while Synessa hangs back and directs the army from the rear.
First, Dexcessa. Dexcessa is the melee and they function like you’d expect a discount Keeper of Secrets to do. They get about as many attacks but with a better chance to hit (not the oomph damage of a fully loaded Impaling Claw, however). That is…at first. As the rounds go on, it gains an extra attack to both weapons. You need to have already fought so those turn 1 charges can matter a lot. They have some nice utility as well. -1 to be hit, the ability to fallback and charge guarantee they have a lot of maneuverability and won’t be locked down easily. The final ability Sceptre of Slaanesh is very useful as well, while the fact you can’t take battleshock tests is a double-edged sword (Daemons rarely care about leadership and Daemonettes want to be able to potentially blink) the free CP-less command per turn is extremely powerful and will really help you soup up your front line forces.
Meanwhile, leading from behind is the more command-orientated Synessa. While her sibling fights in the front, Synessa has strong magical and command abilities. Their casting profile is…odd. It knows all the spells from the Slaanesh book (including the mortal ones) but it only gets one cast per turn? Feels like a missed opportunity. Their Staff of Slaanesh does basically guaranteed mortal wounds which is definitely a serious threat to your opponent. The Voice of Slaanesh essentially makes Command Abilities unlimited range, including the Pavane of Slaanesh command ability or their signature spell Whispers of Doubt which gives enemy Hero a +1 to hit against them if you beat their bravery on a 3D6. Pretty good odds even against Bravery 10 heroes and could shut make them a juicy target.
Are they worth it? I think they could. It’s tough because Slaanesh players want to cram in as many Keeper of Secrets in as possible and they aren’t cheap. Combined the two siblings cost just north of 500 points, a difficult proposition. You don’t need to take both though and I think Dexcessa could see some real play. They’re a slow burn melee monster who can do some decent damage (but not kill) in the early game but really run on their opponent in the later game if left unattended. The free command ability is a solid cherry on top. Synessa is a bit more niche, having lots of strong “control” powers who’s use isn’t as immediately apparent but they aren’t bad at all.
New Battalion – The Exquisite Pursuit
The book also comes with a new battalion, The Exquisite Pursuit. Requiring The Contorted Epitome (Which becomes a named character, like many Broken Realms battalions), a unit of Fiends and a unit of Seekers. The battalion gives The Contorted Epitome a special shooting attack with specific requirements. The unit needs to be within 3″ of The Contorted Epitome or within 12″ but not locked into combat with anything else. It does a fairly standard “roll a die for each model and on a 6 deal a mortal wound” but with a slight twist. It scales up to multi wound models, doing D3 wounds on multi wound units. Not…bad actually! Great for dealing with pesky sigmarites and ogors. It’d be better if the models contained in were better, or there was much of a reason to justify the seeker/fiend tax here. I don’t think it’ll see much play, but isn’t that the story of Broken Realms Battalions?
Next Up – Sylvaneth
The keepers of the forests of Ghyran are up next. Alarielle gets another new Warscroll, a new spirit takes the field, and a new battalion is featured. Tune in next for our coverage of the Sylvaneth.
