On the heels of Arcane Journal: Grand Cathay, the Eastern Kingdoms receive a shot in the arm with the first game update released in our post 1.5.1 world. With brand new rules coming out so quickly after Cathay’s Grand Army introduction and the interest it brought to the Old World community as a whole, it will be interesting to see if Games Workshop can maintain the hype. So what does this entry add to the arsenal of the Jade Empire? Let’s dive into it. As always, a big thank you to Games Workshop for providing us a preview copy of the book.
A Narrative Adventure
Dawn of the Storm Dragon is a marked departure from the previous Arcane Journals we’ve received to date. In point of fact, it is very light on rules and additions to Cathay when compared to the journals other factions have received and does very little for the Old World as a whole as well. The book seems mostly focused on progressing the narrative being explored in the previous Arcane Journals and providing a more fleshed out story reason for how and why the Jade Fleet has begun to engage the armies across the ocean.
To that end, it should be said that there are some really great lore additions over the two dozen or so pages the authors dedicate to the story. We get introduced to another of the Celestial Dragons, Yuan Bo (Liam: MORE DRAGONS?!?), explore the diplomatic relations between Cathay and their allies, and get really deep into the initial battles between the fleets of Miao Ying and the Chainmaker. It’s honestly a shame that there isn’t more because the writing here is excellent and almost makes up for just how little else there is to the book (Liam: Falcon is right, this story is absolutely outstanding and everyone should try to find time to read it through).
Unlike previous arcane journals that featured two Armies of Infamy, a handful of named characters, new units, magic items, and often new special rules or entire magic lores for a faction, Dawn instead features only a single Army of Infamy and a handful of magic items for Cathay. The rest of the new rules are devoted to three narrative battle scenarios that show you how to run a linked campaign, an essentially wasted page devoted to how to run a game with more than two players (spoiler: they effectively recommend just playing the game but with extra people, a far cry from the Triumph and Treachery rulesets of previous editions), two random terrain generators to help you build out a table in the Shadowlands or the Wastes (Liam: Which, while cool, won’t be used by most players) , a copy-paste of the terrain placement rules from the Matched Play Guide, and optional rules for occupying buildings and using rivers in your games.
In terms of these extra bits, the most intriguing are the building and river updates as I can’t tell you how many people I know with a handful of towers on hand that have wanted their proper garrison rules back. Occupying a building, should you choose to add the rule to your game, can only be done by a unit with the ‘infantry’ troop type and a unit strength of 20 or less. Just as in previous editions, garrisoned units gain 360 vision if they did not already have it and all measurements in regards to them are made to and from the building they now occupy. Should an occupying unit wish to shoot, only half of the models within it may choose to do so to represent the models jostling for positions on parapets or at windows. As to combat, only five models from each side may ever fight within an occupied building, and they are considered to be in skirmish formation when it comes to combat resolution. Garrisoned units cannot give ground or fall back in good order. Instead, if an occupying unit rolls anything other than a ‘break’ they simply hold their ground. On a failed break test, the unit is immediately destroyed and the sieging unit may elect to now occupy the building or reform. It’s an interesting set of rules that so far have felt decent on the table, if a little clunky, and really frees up board space in a game with a well-placed tower or two.
The Jade Fleet
So what of Cathay? What do they actually get in this journal? Unfortunately not much. While I have been a little sour in the past on a few of the Arcane Journals that elected to be a bit bland with what they added to their factions, there’s always been at least something to be cheery about. Normally, at least one of the Armies of Infamy provided has had interesting new rules, army composition requirements, or some brand new mechanic we can highlight as a home run for the faction. That isn’t really the case here.
For starters, there are just the slightest differences between the army composition rules of the Jade Fleet and Grand Army. In fact, there are just three. For one, the Jade Fleet may only run Miao Ying as a Cathayan dragon option and no others. Given that at the time of this book’s release there are no other Cathayan dragons to choose from this is obviously no issue. Second, there is no option to run a Sky Lantern or Sentinel in your special slot if you elect to have a Magistrate or Shugengan Lord as your General. Lastly, and really the only spice at all in this release, the Jade Fleet may take up to 33% of their list with a select amount of Empire units as mercenaries. You may run up to one Captain, Master Mage, or Priest of Sigmar/Ulric per 1000 points in your list, up to one unit of Pistoliers or Outriders per 1000 points, and any amount of Archers, State Troops, State Missile Troops, and Free Company Militia. These represent the wayward defenders of the Middenlands that were rescued from the Chainmaker’s campaign across the continent and joined up with the Storm Dragon as she took the fight to Chaos. These mercenaries are not subject to the Misbehaving Mercenaries special rule and are an interesting way to flesh out your list if you are looking to diversify the limited options currently available to the army.
There is some question about how Empire characters can be loaded out should you choose to take them. The Jade Fleet entry states that any model that may take magic items in this list must take them from the Common or Empire of Grand Cathay magic item lists, while the core rulebook FAQ states that mercenaries are supposed to take magic items from their originating army’s list and it is hard to say what takes precedence here. Hopefully we’ll see some clarification as to which entry is correct in this instance and we recommend verifying with any TO/Opponent how they interpret it before loading them out.
As normal, there are four special rules for members of the Jade Fleet to further incentivize you to run them and make them more narratively appealing. In this case, three of them synergize with potential merc inclusions in your lists. Cathayan Black Powder grants any model in the army wielding a handgun, pistol, brace of pistols or repeater weapon a 3″ range increase to their guns. A slight but welcome boost to your state troops or Outriders should you choose to run them, nothing groundbreaking here but it’s free! Mercenary Handgun Drill further strengthens your empire models by allowing all of your State Missile Troops to fire in an additional rank once per game similar to the City State of Nuln special rule. Unity & Harmony gives hit rerolls of 1 to all Jade Warrior and Jade Lancer units in your army within 3″ of an Empire mercenary unit. Last, but not least, War Balloons allows you to give one Sky Lantern in your list per 1000 points the Ambushers special rule for 15 points. Additionally, any Sky Lanterns with this rule may reroll the dice when determining if they arrive from reinforcements on any turn. Given that these lanterns also provide a stacking +/- 1 to these rolls this makes them by far the most reliable ambushing unit in the game.
Of the above, the two that stand out are obviously Unity & Harmony and War Balloons, though if they are worth the opportunity cost in an army list that is already tight on points most of the time is another story. Having one or two Sky Lanterns in ambush is a pretty powerful tool, particularly in the mirror or a gunline matchup where you are concerned about go first advantage. In these games, being able to pick targets early and get around LOS blockers is a huge deal and 10 sky crane shots coming in from any board edge will pretty reliably take out an enemy warmachine. As to Unity, hit rerolls are nice, though at first blush keeping a mercenary unit within 3″ of your faster units (like Lancers) seems difficult and quite the tax for what will generally amount to only an extra handful of successful attacks per game. However, Mercenary rules are pretty fickle things and while there is a rule that keeps you from adding one of your characters to a mercenary unit, there is nothing saying you cannot add a Mercenary character to a regular one. Taking a Priest of Ulric or Captain of the Empire and slipping them into say a unit of Lancers guarantees they’ll be within 3″ until their demise and provides some great utility for cheap. The Wrath of Winter ability for followers of Ulric, for example, works on any unit the Priest has joined, making your units a threat to any multi-wound model in a hurry.
Liam: This is the most “fun” aspect of the book to me and the mercs not having to roll on the table is really helpful. I think as someone who now has a Cathay list but is running out of models to add in, being able to add ~1000pts of Empire based the same over the next few months could be a really fun modelling project. What it also does it let me add some units to the very limited model selection that Cathay has, ideally with some painting linking them together and lowering the power level of my Cathay force so I can use the shiny new models when introducing new players to the game. I think a couple of small units of Empire Archers could very easily make their way into a bunch of my “normal” Cathay lists and the addition, as per Falcon, of a Captain of the Empire to lead the Jade Lancers for the small combat boost it grants could easily be a stable part of my force when I’m taking 10+ man units of those Jade Lancers.
Another option you can look at if you wish to use and abuse these new mercenary rules without investing too deeply is to take a look at Regiments and Detachments. As far as we can tell there is currently nothing stopping you from adding a mercenary unit to your army as a detachment for your Jade Warriors so long as they have the pertinent rule, thus keeping your drops down while still filling out your list with some skirmishing archers or missile troops.
Liam: We’ve no idea if this was the intention or not, but it does open up some cool options. I love the idea of a unit of Jade Warriors rushing the rescue of some Empire Handgunners in saving them from the forces of the Chainmaker and as a result these Handgunners now support the Jade Warriors in battle is fantastic. It’s a great narrative mechanic and for that reason (along with the fact that nearly every Empire unit you include in the list lowers your list’s power level) I’m willing to give this a real go once it’s out and it’s an exciting time for those with a more Narrative mindset for sure.
Celestial Treasures
As previously mentioned, on top of the Jade Fleet army of infamy, Cathay receives an additional 18 magic items to add to their repertoire, similar to what we’ve seen in the other Arcane Journals to date. While a few of the items in this book are pretty powerful on paper, they are vying against some real bangers from the Grand Army book. Still, there are some objectively powerful pieces here that you just may find slipping into your armies. Here are a handful of my favorites.
The Old World is a pretty fickle beast as anyone that has felt the weight of the dice go against them in a game. There are very few options for rerolls in the game and that can lead to some pretty devastating swings when you whiff during an important combat step. That is where the Vermillion Quills come in. For 25 points, this extremely common item (though limited to 0-1 per model) gives the equipped character full rerolls to hit AND to wound for a single turn, similar to the Wood Elf Realms’ Orion’s Favor. Perfect for a faction whose best combat characters top out at four attacks, or when paired with an item that triggers off of specific hit and wound rolls like the Dragon Slaying Sword from the core rulebook or the brand new:
Sword of Reason. Representing the sword of the Celestial Dragon Yuan Bo, this 65 point magic weapon is incredible value if you’re struggling with elite infantry and cavalry in your games. At Str +2 and AP 2 and striking at your initiative, this two-handed weapon already has a pretty beefy stat line, that it also gives you the Killing Blow special rule on any natural to wound roll of a 5 or 6 is spectacular value. Most other factions would love to have access to this kind of weapon, though for Cathay it will be hard to find a place for it when it competes against a similar weapon that grants Regeneration and the pure damage potential of the Monkey King’s Bo.
FAQ 1.5.1 killed a lot of the magic in the Old World in a number of ways, including reducing the casting power of the Ruby Ring of Ruin to 1 making a successful cast with the item a coinflip before you considered Magic Resist or dispels. As such, what was once one of the most popular core rulebook items has all but disappeared in competitive lists. Enter the Ring of Jet. For 30 points, this extremely common enchanted item can cast Unquiet Spirits from the Lore of Necromancy as a bound spell with a power level of 2 giving a faction that can suffer from a lack of magical attacks in its most competitive builds a pretty decent plug-in to shore it up.
If you’re in search of even better defenses then look no further than the Jade Armour of Beichai. For 40 points this may be the best point for point piece of armour in the game on paper, probably because it provides little value to the Shugengan. This Full Plate armour grants its wielder both a 5+ ward save AND the Magic Resist (-2) special rules. An incredible piece or a BSB or, more frustratingly, a character floating around in a Sky Lantern.
Last on this list, and the item that will definitely see the most play, The Jade Banner is a 40 point banner that grants +2 to a unit’s combat resolution. This will get your Jade Lancers or Jade Warriors potentially into the 7 and 8 static combat res range with ease or help spread out your bonuses over multiple units to shore up your board presence. Hilariously, there is a bit of a copy-paste mistake in the book where the item references the Grand Banner of Superiority (from the Skaven legacy pdf) that I’m sure will get online conspiracy theorists in a tizzy.
Liam: This is a perfect example of how a good magic item, or combination of items can open up different playstyles for armies. I love the idea of the Miao Ying Celestial Guard unit of Jade Lancers but I’m always worried about characters in there supporting them getting picked off. The Jade Armour of the Beichai fits on both the Gate Keeper Battle Standard Bearer or the Gate Master combat machine (the Brazen Blade is great for this kind of character) when combined with some of the new weapon options, boosting their armour save to a 2+ along with the 5+ Ward Save (which is most of the items cost anyway) but also gifting the Lancer Unit the MR(2) is massive. It means that you suddenly don’t feel you have to take the Dragon’s Eye Banner on the unit meaning you can take different banner combinations which opens up an entirely different playstyle to the army as a whole.
The Lists
Miao and Friends
485 – Miao Ying, The Storm Dragon, General, Battle Magic
157 – Gate Keeper, Celestial Blade, Battle Standard Bearer, War Banner, Cathayan Warhorse, Jade Armour of Beichai
295 – Lord Magistrate, Sky Lantern, Sky Lantern Crane Guns, Alchemist’s Mask, Ring of Jet, Talisman Of Protection
278 – 10 Jade Lancer, Celestial Dragon Guard, Drilled, Jade Lancer Officer, Standard Bearer, The Jade Banner, Musician
222 – 17 Jade Warriors, Shield, Celestial Dragon Guard, Drilled, Stubborn, Jade Officer, Standard Bearer, Musician
165 – 2 Cathayan Grand Cannon
1x Ogre Loader
165 – 2 Cathayan Grand Cannon
1x Ogre Loader
150 – Sky Lantern, Sky Lantern Crane Guns, War Balloons
83 – Priest of Ulric, Barded Warhorse, Heavy Armour, Great Weapon
Here we have a kind of take all comers Miao Ying list where we back off on going deep on Sky Lanterns in exchange for a Priest of Ulric to boost your unit of Jade Lancers and toss in some new magic items for good measure. The core of the army relies on using the Jade Lancers with their potential 8 static combat resolution with the priest and Gate Keeper inside to take down anything that gets near your Warrior Anvil and Miao Ying while the remainder of your list picks off your opponents’ elites.
Missile Defense System
250 – Lord Magistrate, Dragon Fire Bombs, Sky Lantern, Sky Lantern Crane Guns, Jade Armour of Baichi
384 – Shugengan Lord, Heavy Armour, General, Wizard Level 4, Lore of Yang, Illusion, The Sword of Reason, Vermillion Quills, Scrolls of Wei-Jin
262 – 10 Jade Lancer, Drilled, Jade Lancer Officer, Standard Bearer, Jade Banner
247 – 10 Jade Lancer, Drilled, Jade Lancer Officer, Standard Bearer, War Banner
165 – 2 Cathayan Grand Cannon
• 1x Ogre Loader
165 – 2 Cathayan Grand Cannon
• 1x Ogre Loader
250 – Cathayan Sentinel, Jade Sentinel
135 – Sky Lantern, Sky Lantern Crane Guns
140 – Master Mage, Pegasus, Wizard Level 1, Daemonology, Wizard’s Staff, Tome of Midnight
A slightly different take here drops Miao and the Warriors to spread the love between two units of Lancers and a Shugengan Lord decked out for combat. This Shug gains an extra spell from the new Scrolls of Wei-Jin (a 10 point arcane item that now effectively does the same thing the 15 point Learning Bo did in the main book because of the FAQ), and can theoretically take full advantage of the Sword of Reason. If you fail the 1/6 chance of not rolling Doppleganger, or simply flub the rolls for it the whole time, your Vermillion Quills should mean that at least one combat phase goes to plan. Your Master Mage is here to trigger rerolls and act as some extra magic firepower, and if you’re in a situation where your TO/Opponent feels you should be locked to Cathayan magic items you can easily substitute the Tome of Midnight for a Ring of Jet for similar output.
Really Noisy Spirits
280 – Lord Magistrate, Dragon Fire Bombs, General, Sky Lantern, Sky Lantern Crane Guns, Jade Armour of Beichai, Ring of Jet
240 – Lord Magistrate, Dragon Fire Bombs, General, Sky Lantern, Sky Lantern Crane Guns, Talisman of Protection, Ring of Jet
97 – Gate Keeper, Celestial Blade, Cathayan Warhorse, Ring of Jet
97 – Gate Keeper, Celestial Blade, Cathayan Warhorse, Ring of Jet
97 – Gate Keeper, Celestial Blade, Cathayan Warhorse, Ring of Jet
252 – 10 Jade Lancer, Drilled, Jade Lancer Officer, Ring of Jet, Standard Bearer
252 – 10 Jade Lancer, Drilled, Jade Lancer Officer, Ring of Jet, Standard Bearer
135 – Sky Lantern, Sky Lantern Crane Guns
135 – Sky Lantern, Sky Lantern Crane Guns
135 – Cathayan Grand Cannon
140 – Master Mage, Pegasus, Wizard Level 1, Daemonology, Ring of Jet
140 – Master Mage, Pegasus, Wizard Level 1, Daemonology, Ring of Jet
And finally, for the memes, here is a pretty oppressive list that just goes all in on casting Unquiet Spirits as many times as humanly possibly. You’ll win plenty of games on the backs of the Sky Lanterns alone, but everyone will fear the possibility of being lit up with nine Unquiet Spirits casts a turn.
Final Thoughts
While the previous Arcane Journals have had some misses, I would argue that overall they have been a resounding success with some real care shown towards creating some narratively satisfying options for armies. In this case, the book feels confused and rushed with more than a tad bit of filler, like the writers knew the book would be released so soon after the grand army and thus shouldn’t support any new models and that this was meant to be a stopgap solution. As things currently stand, the only reasons not to run the Army of Infamy over the the Grand Army are if you wish to field six Sky Lanterns, three Sentinels, or to bring Allies, none of which are particularly appealing. For players looking for a more varied army that is perhaps a bit less optimized but with some options to make their list feel a bit more like the Cathay they’ve played in Total War, then there is something here, particularly if they’re interested in kitbashing some of their Missile Troops or Outriders to fit the aesthetic of the rest of their list. For people with a more competitive bent, I don’t expect there to be any massive innovations, just an adjustment of 100 points or so from the lists we’re already seeing. Still, I will take middling content over nothing at all and as a lore junkie I am quite pleased with the spectacular art and story progression we’re seeing from the team.
Liam: Like Falcon said, this is certainly a different style of Arcane Journal and I think this and the upcoming Settra’s Fury book are the first real tests of Warhammer: The Old World. We were all hooked up very quickly to the returning squared based game and chances are no matter what state the game had released in we’d have been more than willing to give it ago. That didn’t need to be the case and the game was (and is) great, but we all knew what was coming. Rulebook, army profiles, Arcane Journals for everyone, then Cathay, now however it’s all open. This is meant to be the exciting time and while this one has a great story and maybe my favourite artwork I’ve seen for the Old World with Miao Ying battling that Chaos Dragon, it is certainly lacking in tabletop “activities” for the more tournament focused gamer. Narrative players will love the terrain generation tables and I wish I had the space and time to dedicate to building each of the options and somewhere to store them but I can’t wait to see people much more talented than myself do that. Either way, it’s an exciting new world and I can’t wait to embrace some of the opportunities this book provides.
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