“Proudly we fight, defending Grand Cathay as the Celestial Dragon defends his people!” – Miao Ying, the Storm Dragon, Supreme Matriarch of Nan-Gau
We’re now 18 months into Warhammer: The Old World and with the release of the Beastmen Brayherds Arcane Journal, we’ve reached the end of the original roadmap, with the nine supported armies getting their Arcane Journals. So for the first time since the game’s release we’re stepping forward with something new, something different, and something which hasn’t seen seen on the table top before: Cathay. As always, a big thank you to Games Workshop for sending us a copy of this Arcane Journal in advance so that we’d be able to play a few games and properly break down this army for you based on our tabletop experiences. So please join us as we work through the glories that can be found within the Armies of Grand Cathay.
To start, this book does break the traditional Arcane Journal formatting to which we’ve become accustomed in that we haven’t got 2-3 named characters, two Armies of Infamy with a few new specialist units, and a handful of magic items to appease us. Instead, inside this 48 page tome we’ve got a lot of background, a single named character, and all of things you’d need to bring an army to bear from scratch. As someone who hasn’t played a lot of Total War: Warhammer 3, there is a chunk of information here to go through. We’ll break down the key talking points below but please do give it a read for yourselves when you get the chance, it’s well worth the time spent to do it. Falcon: The lore here is well worth the read, particularly if you weren’t as invested in the game as some of us were in the halcyon days of Warhammer Fantasy Battle or if you never took the time to point and click your way to victory in TW3.
In addition to the background information, we’ve got a single Grand Army Composition List to build your army from, three new character types, one ranked infantry unit, one cavalry unit, two war machines, one monster and one hot air balloon. I know that roster will shock some people who were expecting a lot more, but it’s nothing to worry about. If you play 40K or Age of Sigmar you’ll know that when a new army is released you get enough to play the game with a few options (see Votann for example) then after a period of time you get a second wave of troops, new characters and the like to flesh it out. In fact, Games Workshop has already alluded to a second Cathay Arcane Journal being on the horizon. On top of this, the book just has a lot of meat on its bones and provides several unique ways to play the army even with the limited options available.
After all these army list entries, we’ve also got an entire swath of army special rules which do help to make the warriors of Grand Cathay seem a little more elite compared to troops of the Empire and a host of items, both of the magical and standard variety. Finally we have the split magic lore of Yin and Yang providing your wizards with a number of signature spells to dive into.
Before we start going through the units one by one I want to talk a little about the limited unit selection here. From a fully competitive standpoint I’ve happily written army lists with every single unit in. This isn’t an army where there are 40 entries and only 15-20 of them will meet that cutting edge. There are some units which are better than others within the book, but each piece presented can be a cornerstone in a well-rounded list. This ranges from the characters all the way down to the core choices and I’d highly encourage people to try and make lists which play into all that the army has to offer. If you want to take three Sentinels you can. Love the Sky Lanterns? Take five! Want to take a fast moving force full of Jade Lancers? You can certainly do that and not feel like you’re lowering the competitive aspect of the army. This doesn’t mean that the army doesn’t miss things. It doesn’t have cheap fast moving chaff units or skirmishers, it doesn’t have ranged infantry and it doesn’t have any monstrous or fast cavalry units like most of the established armies in the game. But play into the strengths (because there are a few) of the list, and you’ll enjoy having a new army in Warhammer: The Old World.
Falcon: I really want to echo Liam here. This army is a lot of fun to play on the table and while I have some minor gripes about this or that unit, in the end I would argue it is one of the most balanced and rewarding factions the Old World now has to offer. This isn’t some blunt force instrument like Mortuary Cults or Bretonnia but I love it all the better for that.
Grand Army Composition
Cathay’s character options are pretty extensive for such a small release, with seven to choose from in all shapes and sizes. Cathayan Dragons (of which there is currently only one, so I imagine we can expect more in the future) are 0-1 per 1000 points, Shugengan Lords and Magistrates are 0-1 per 1000 points and Strategists, Gate Keepers, Gate Masters, and Shugengan Generals may be taken to your heart’s desire.
In Core, Cathay currently only has access to Jade Warriors and 0-1 Jade Lancers per 1000pts, meaning they’ll both make up the numbers in most armies we see on the table. At Special we have room for more Jade Lancers, 0-3 War Machines of either variety per 1000pts and either a Cathayan Sentinel or Sky Lantern depending on if you choose to make a Shugengan Lord or Magistrate your general. Finally, in Rare, you have both the Sentinel and Lantern as options regardless of your chosen leader.
It’s also worth mentioning that Mercenaries can be added to the army up to 20%, along with up to 25% Allies taken from the Dwarfen Mountain Holds, Empire of Man, or Kingdom of Bretonnia (or any Cathayan Army of Infamy to future proof the book). In addition, it is noted that the Grand Army of Cathay may be included as an allied force for any of those same factions and that they may be allied to the High Elves and Wood Elves but are considered ‘Suspicious’ friends.
Army Special Rules
Cathay rocks in with four Army Special rules that you need to remember to play your games:
Celestial Forged Armour (X+) – This is in effect Chaos Armour but for good guys, providing certain units with a Ward Save against any wounds suffered. Shugengan Lords and Cathayan Dragons rock a 5+ by default and there are some other units which can gain access to this rule as well. Just like with the Warriors of Chaos, this is just a straightforwardly awesome upgrade that frees up points for your beefier Heroes to take more offensive or toolkit magic items.
Mastery of the Elemental Winds – This is a rule which allows wizards to tap into the power of their allies. Once per turn, one of your Wizards may attempt to cast a spell with a +1 to the casting roll so long as they are within 6″ of another wizard with this rule. This is a cute way to push through that all important spell, though it is slightly difficult sometimes to pull off due to the cost of the wizards currently available to the list.
Will of the Dragons – Straightforward again, this rule allows units to re-roll panic tests when a friendly unit within 6″ is destroyed or when a friendly unit flees through them. Great, useful and always handy to have. Falcon: Given that much of the army is leadership 9 or can be made that way without the need of Inspiring Presence, this is an excellent way to ensure you maintain your board position and limits those insane panic bombs that sometimes spiral a game out of your control.
The Elemental Winds – It’s a good job the other three special rules are really easy because this one can get a little complicated. This is the Yin/Yang mechanic of Cathay and it provides your army and casters with specific buffs depending on which of the two is active. Cathay players roll a D6 at the start of each of their turns, on a 1-3 the winds of Yang blow strongest, and on a 4-6 it is the Yin. This rule is directly tied to any wizards in your army, as the Lore you choose to align them with at army creation determines what wind gives them a lift along with what signature spells they get access to.
Winds of Yang – Wizards with the Lore of Yang Special rule increase their dispel range by 3″ for enemy Enchantment spells and all friendly models with the Will of the Dragons special rule (Characters/Warriors/Lancers) gain either +1M or +1I for the turn. Handy for those prolonged engagements or when you need those models to have a little extra on a charge to close in on the enemy.
Winds of Yin – This provides wizards with the Lore or Yin special rule an increase to the range of their Hex and Magic Missile spells of 3″. In addition, all the models with the Will of the Dragons special rule gain either +1WS or +1Leadership. Great for making sure you hit just the little more reliably in combat or punishing your opponent for getting just a little too close to your casters as you have some fantastic Hex and Magic Missiles available to you. Falcon: The +1 WS bonus here is no joke and can really swing combats in your favor. There are several ways to boost the WS of even your most mundane troops and it is pretty common to hit that sweet WS7 breakpoint if you build around it.
With all that said, let’s take a look a deeper dive into what we’re really all here for; the units.
Unit Entries
Miao Ying, The Storm Dragon
Miao Ying is the named character in this book, and I hope you like the style of her model because I get the feeling you’ll see a lot of her. She provides a lot of value to make up for her cost of 485 points. First and foremost, she has a unique mechanic where she can choose to take either her human or dragon form at the start of your turn and her abilities change depending on which one she is in at any given point. In her Human form you’ve got a M4, WS7, S4, T4, 7W, I7 A4 Lv4 Wizard with Heavy Armour and her built in ward. She’s also on a 50×50 base so can fit perfectly inside a unit of Jade Warriors for protection. In her Dragon form, she boosts her stats with M8, Ws8, S7, T6, I6 and A6 and gains Full Plate as a bonus to her previous Heavy Armour. In this form she’s on the bigger monster base at 100×150 and can clearly no longer join units. To make up for her intense size and combat prowess, she also trades in some of her arcane power, becoming a Lv2 wizard being able to only cast 2 of her available spells and losing Inspiring Presence.
For her Special rules she has the innate 5+ Ward save previous mentioned from her Celestial Forged Armour (5+). Additionally she comes with Disdain of the Dragons, a VERY cool and unique ability which messes with your opponent’s ability to issue challenges when engaged in combat with her. Whenever an opponent chooses to declare a challenge in a combat featuring Miao Ying, they must first roll a leadership test at either -1 if she is in human form, or -2 if she is in Dragon form (this is before taking Terror into account). If the leadership test is failed, Miao Ying can choose to simply ignore the challenge and nothing happens. This great for denying the opponent the ability to lock down her Dragon form so it can wreck entire enemy units, or make it so they can’t hide in a challenge themselves so you can direct your attacks into those weaker characters. She also has Hatred (Warriors of Chaos and Daemonic) models and has Magic Resistance (-1). Master of the Storm Winds means she can swap out 2 of her rolled spells for signatures instead of one. Falcon: This is doubly great when you consider that she comes with a unique signature spell of her own called The Storm Dragon Fury which is an 18″ 10+ to cast Magic Missile that does 2D3 Str5 Ap-3 hits with the flaming rule and forces the enemy to Give Ground AND has access to all 6 of the signature spells from the Lores of Yin and Yang on top of the signature spell for whatever lore she chooses from. That is an absolute ton of customization you can bring with you from game to game.
Don’t worry, that’s not all. She’s also Stubborn, and able to upgrade 0-1 units of Jade Warriors AND 0-1 Jade Lancers to Dragon Guard via her Supreme Matriarch of Nan-Gau rule for +1pt per model. This gives the unit(s) +1Ws and Leadership along with a 6+ Ward Save which is ridiculous value. She has the previously mentioned Will of the Dragon rule (as you’d expect from a Dragon) and has the Transformation of the Dragon which explains how she moves between forms along with Wrath of the Storm which means all Jade Warriors and Jade Lancers in her army also benefit from her Hatred of Warriors of Chaos and Daemonic models.
She’s no slouch in terms of damage output with her Talons of the Storm providing her with -2AP, Armour Bane (1) and Strike Frist (yes, a Strike First Dragon) in both her forms and she can also fire off her Dragon Fire in her monstrous form for a S4 -1AP Breath Weapon.
Her Transformation of the Dragon rule has a lot of stipulations. I’ll try to summarize them here but I really recommend reading the page of rules these take up a few times prior to putting her on the table or before you play against someone with her in their force. The key thing here is that they just work. It’s not big or flashy but they work for what the designers seem to have intended and it’s a cool new effect on the tabletop.
Human Form – In effect she’s a normal Heavy Infantry model and follows all the rules associated with that while walking amongst her people.
Dragon Form – This will come as no shock but now that she’s a Dragon she can’t walk amongst her people. As a result, she’s now a Behemoth but more importantly doesn’t have the Inspiring Presence special rule as previously mentioned, even if she’s your army’s general. Once again, this is mostly offset by the Supreme Matriarch of Nan Gau special rule and can be further fixed if you’re worried about it by running a Strategist or Magistrate in your list.
Death of a Dragon – When wounded, Miao Ying lose wounds from both profiles. In addition, the first time she is reduced to zero wounds as a Dragon she reverts to her human form and recovers D3 lost wounds. If this happens, she can no longer take to her Dragon Form for the remainder of the game. If Miao Ying is reduced to zero wounds while in her human form she is removed from play as a casualty.
Transformation – The big one. During the Command sub-phase of any of your turns, you may choose to switch forms (or if you are reduced to 0 wounds as a Dragon, in which case you are forced to). Falcon: Importantly, this is before casting any Enchantments or Hexes so pay attention to your timing. This can lead to some really incredible plays if you’re on the ball.
Once you choose to transform you then place the other form’s model on the board without removing your previous form, with the following stipulations: 1) it must be within 6″ of the current model, 2) it cannot be within 1″ of friendly models and 3) it cannot be within 3″ of enemy models. Once you’ve done that and are happy with the position, you remove the old form and immediately recover D3 lost wounds (Falcon: This ability was already wild). On the turn you transform you can’t declare a charge and you count as having moved for the purposes of shooting (not that I think that matters), but you are free to move as normal during the Remaining Moves sub-phase later that turn. There’s also a note to make you aware that transforming does allow you to leave combat, which can be useful in a pinch.
That’s without a doubt the most explaining of any rules I’ve put into one of these articles and it’s with good reason. You’ve got a Lv4 Wizard who turns into a Dragon, has options to buff her army, is no slouch in combat and has what is arguably one of the most complicated set of rules in the game with her Transformation.
Falcon: I cannot emphasize enough how incredibly fun and powerful Miao Ying is on the board. Her teleport when transforming has lead to some really insane plays that no other army can really pull off. Just as an example, in one game I was able to dive from dragon form into human form to get within range for a hex my opponent tried to outrange, then used Travel Mystical Pathways to shift my Jade Warriors close enough that I could join them outside the charge arc of another unit. What a drug that was. That she is so customizable as a caster and gives such powerful buffs to your only core units makes it hard not to auto-include her in all your lists. That said, she is not without her drawbacks and definitely requires a lot of practice to nail down all the nuances of running her on the table. You can’t just transform willy-nilly and get away with it.
Shugengan Lords of the Celestial Host
Now, after covering one of the Cathayan Dragons, we have their Lords and Generals, who more often than not are the half-blood descendants of the Dragons themselves. These are the most fearsome warriors of Cathay, imbued with magical might and military acumen and their rules really represent that. The biggest thing to note is that they are restricted to always being mounted on the Great Spirit Longma, so if you want a foot character to lead the army you’ll have to look at the Lord Magistrate or Gate Master instead. These are a Monstrous Creature on a 60×100 base and come in two flavours, the Shugengan Lord and the Shugengan General. The Lord is a WS6, S4, T5, 7W, A4 Ld9 character who also has a Ws5, S5, 3A creature providing a chunk of their 7 Wounds. The General is a slightly less powerful version at WS5, 6W and 3A. The Lord comes in at 220pts and is also a base Lv2 Wizard while the General is base Lv1 and clocks in at 145pts, making them a little bit of a bargain. They both know spells from the Lores of Battle, Elementalism, Illusion and High Magic, meaning you’ve got a great selection to pick from and spells for nearly every situation.
In terms of upgrades, you can pick them up a Celestial Blade (S+1, -1AP, Strike First) or Cathayan Lance (S+1, -1AP, Armour Bane (1), Fight in Extra Rank, S/AP only on the charge) for combat, either can buy a Dragon Fire Pistol (12″, S5, -1AP, Flaming, Multiple Shot (2), Quick Shot) and they can upgrade their light armour to heavy armour if you so wish (and you usually will be). As to magic options, a Lord can be upgraded to a Lv3 or 4 while the General can be upgraded to a Lv2. In addition, they must pick either the Lore of Yin or Yang as a special rule. This is important as the two half lores have a great selection of spells but picking one over the other will define how you want to play the character. Finally in terms of upgrades you can take magic items at the expected amounts of 100/50 depending on which character you are.
These characters come with a lot of special rules, so lets quickly go through them. Armoured Hide (2) gets you up to a 3+ save with the Heavy Armour allowing you to shrug off most light arms fire when combined with T5. Celestial Forged Armour (5+) grants you a Ward save so no needing to spend points there for these. Falcon: Also, since they cannot take a shield, there really is no reason to currently consider buying magic armour for these beautiful beasts, which is just swell. They also have Counter Charge(!), cause Fear, Fly (9) cause Impact Hits (D3+1) and have Swiftstride. In addition they also pick up both the Mastery of the Elemental Winds rule to help with their casting ability and Will of the Dragons to keep them on the table longer. Their Iron Talons in combat (not a hand weapon) provide an additional -1AP and have the Strikes First rule if you choose to eschew a magic weapon or the celestial blade, while the Crown of Horns on the Longma has -1Ap and Armour Bane (1), not bad at all if you’re considering running them bare bones.
These will be the leader in nearly every army which doesn’t include Miao and it’s where I’ve been spending my table top time. For well under 400 points you pick yourself up a very decent combat character who also happens to be a Lv4 wizard on a smaller flying monster, and that’s pretty decent in my book. Being a monstrous creature does mean they aren’t the 360deg charging nightmares that are Dukes on Royal Pegasus which does slightly limit their usefulness, but those Dukes will come out to around the same cost and aren’t a Lv4 wizard, so I think it’s a decent trade off. There are a bunch of great magic items as well to pick from so I think you’ve got real options when it comes to these Masters of Combat.
Falcon: After Miao, these beasts definitely anchor the power of the army. While you lose out on the benefits of being a large target/behemoth and the aforementioned 360 charges of monstrous cav characters, you also avoid the worst of the poison blobs out there and gain a unit that participates well in every phase of the game. An Illusion Shuglord or Doppleshug as we’ve begun to call them, will be a staple in just about every list given the magic items the army has available to it, I can almost guarantee it.
Gate Masters of the Celestial Cities
These models represent the professional soldiers of Cathay who have risen through the ranks to the pinnacle of their form. They’re masters of war in a grander sense and some of the most skilled mundane warriors the army has to offer. For 80/45pts depending on the rank, for a solid melee fighter with the Master (top level) being Ws7, A3 and Ld9 and the Keeper being Ws6, A2 and Ld8, they’re dirt cheap. They can take the Celestial Blade (or Lance if mounted) similar to the Shugengan, but they’re limited to a Cathayan Warhorse instead of a Longma. Their heavy armour, shield and barded warhorse gets you to a decent 3+ save if you want the minimum, but their really niche is their Harmony of Stone & Steel rule. When joined by a character with this rule, a unit can re-roll any failed Leadership tests when attempting to reform after running down a foe, when attempting to redirect a charge or when making a restraint test. For any of you who’ve played with decent sized units of Cav ending up in the wrong position after failing to do any of the above then you know how important this character could be. I think if I’m taking a serious unit of Jade Lancers then I’m 100% taking the smaller version of this at a minimum but would seriously consider taking the 80pt Gate Master because of that Ld9 and that 3rd wound coupled with a 3+ save.
Falcon: I do love how cheap these guys are and in a world where I’m not running both a Doppleshug and Miao, I’m definitely considering 1 or even 2 Gatemasters to act as combat multipliers for my core units. It should also be noted that the Gatekeeper is the only option the army has for BSB (and confers First Charge to the any unit they join if they are mounted), which you’ll want to consider to help anchor a larger unit of Jade Warriors or Lancers.
Magisters of Grand Cathay
This is without a doubt one of my favourite characters in this release for how it just works on the table. While their stat-line is nothing to write home about with the Lord Magistrate being only Ws5 with A2 and the Strategist being even worse at Ws4 and 1A, I’m still nearly always taking one. Both characters are Ld9 and have the normal 100/50 allotment of magic items. The Lord Magistrate only comes in at 65 with the Strategist at 40pts. In terms of upgrades, you can take one of the two types of bombs available to the army at 5 or 10 points a pop (always take the 10pt ones) and they can be mounted on a Sky Lantern!
Why am I raving about these little rubbish characters so much? Because of their Grand Strategist rule. Unless this character is fleeing, all friendly units within their Command Range, except your general, can use this characters Ld instead of their own. In addition, once per turn, a friendly unit that wins a round of combat whilst within this characters Command range may choose to Fall Back in Good Order rather than making a follow up or pursuit move. This is outstanding for two reasons. The first is this easily solves the problem of Miao not extending her Inspiring Presence to her Dragon form. It’s not her Ld10 but Ld9 isn’t bad. The second is because they can be mounted on a Sky Lantern you can really get that bubble where you want it to be when needed, plus massively extend the base moving it to around a 23/24″ bubble, in effect covering most of the army. Falcon: Not to mention the benefit this rule provides in defending against Vampire Screams.
Additionally, Falling Back when winning combats can lead to some incredible play. If your opponent is setting up some excellent counter chargers, you can set up a unit 6-7″ behind the back of your Jade Lancers, win the combat to force your opponent back, declare you’re using this ability and then use your swiftstride to fall back fairly reliably behind that unit increasing the distance from your opponent. This then allows you to reform into a new formation or increase your ranks/distance. When combined with Drilled you can really play with manoeuvres which just weren’t possible before this and I can’t wait to see what other little things people come up with once they get their hands on the army and get them onto the table.
Jade Warriors
We’re now moving away from the characters and into the bulk of the army. The first of the two core units to cover are the rank and file infantry, the Jade Warriors. The warriors have an “elite” human stat-line with Ws4, S3, T3 I3 and 1A for 8pts a model, but they come with Heavy Armour as standard and may take either a Shield or Halberd (not both) for free. I think you’ll end up with Shields being the default for decently sized units and Halberds maybe being taken by smaller detachments.
0-1 units per 1000 are able to take Drilled and/or Stubborn for 1 and 2 points per model respectively and they can take a 50pt magic banner. The unit champion can also take a magic item for up to 25pts, and there are a few decent ones in the Cathay book, with the Spirit Lantern being my personal pick, because who doesn’t love causing Terror!
For keywords the unit comes with Close Order, Defensive Stance, Detachment, Regimental Unit and Will of the Dragons. What’s Defensive Stance I hear you ask? Unless it charged during the preceding Movement phase, or counts as having charged, a unit with this rule may re-roll any Armour Save rolls of a natural 1 during the combat phase. Combined with a 4+ save, this can really add up during prolonged engagements. If you’re taking Miao then upgrading them to Ws5, Ld9 and a 6+ ward save for a 14% points increase is really really good and should always be done. They’re nothing to write home about but they’re a decent line infantry and with a unit size of only 5+ they are your best way to get some smaller units of chaff for trying to delay the enemy getting into warmachines, especially if you’ve got that 4+ save to help ward off enemy light cavalry and the like.
Falcon: Jade Warriors are sneaky good for their points, especially if you’re using Miao. Starting off at Ws5 with ways to improve them all the way to Ws7 they’ll often stick around way longer than your opponent expected. Their Standard Bearer can also take a 25pt magic standard and the book has a very cheap one that gives the unit the Shieldwall special rule making them an even better tarpit for the points.
Jade Lancers
The pride of the Cathayan army are the Jade Lancers. These heavy(ish) cav units take the stat-line of the Warriors and tag on the added protection and movement being on a horse provides. These guys have Cathayan Lances added to their armoury and come on barded Warhorses. Once again the Command Options are dirt cheap (all 3 cost less than a single rider) and you’ve got the option for any unit to take a magical standard of up to 50pts and the officer can take up to 50pts of magical items.
In addition to all of that, 0-1 units per 1000pts can take Ambush, Drilled and/or Stubborn meaning you can tailor them to whatever you need. Drilled will very quickly become mandatory like it does for nearly all mounted models who can take it, allowing for some nifty T1 21″ marching column moves to project threat T2 for when you need to play offensively. At the same time, Ambush does have a place here due to other elements in the army that can make it more reliable, especially on smaller surgical units.
Special rules here are Cathayan Cataphracts, Closer Order, Counter Charge, Horde, Swiftstride and Will of the Dragons. Horde is a really nice addition that lets you get good rank bonuses if you’re prepared to invest the points in larger units, while Counter Charge and Swiftstride just make the unit instantly better on the table. Cathayan Cataphracts is their unique rule which let’s the unit counts as having charged even after performing a follow-up move (like when an opponent Gives Ground). This really lets the Lancers flex into blocks of infantry and continue to usie the Cathayan Lances to add their punch. The lances themselves were spoiled in the Warcom preview but we should go over them again. They are a S+1, -1AP, Armour Bane (1), Fight in Extra Rank weapon, so more akin to a traditional cavalry spear, dropping some of the raw power of the standard lance for extra attacks which is a bit of a shame for a hammer unit. That said, I do flat out like this unit and making them not just another cavalry unit with the same single rank with lance fighting is a really good design space to move into.
Falcon: The Lancers are a really interesting design choice that I’m actually quite big on for a number of reasons. One of the issues that often comes up with heavy cav is balancing their maneuverability with their weight of attacks with wider units being far more reliable and deadly but often requiring the risk of massive wheels to make contact. The Lancers, however, can stay in a tight ball and achieve a similar effect. While there is definitely a place for a massive unit of lancers in this or that build, I have found them in their prime at around the 8 model mark. The 50 point magic item for the unit champion is also huge as there are a couple of very strong enchanted items in this book that require a highly mobile carrier to get the most out of their effects.
Sky Lantern
Lets get this straight out of the way. This model is outstanding on the table and I fully expect it to be a nightmare to transport outside of your home, but apart from that you’ve got what is maybe, in my opinion, the best designed piece in the book.
This 135pt (plus upgrades) heavy chariot sits on a 100×100 base and comes with a Commander and 4 Crew riding this improbable flying machine of man. It’s only Movement 1 but with Fly (8) and Reserve Move as rules it will get around the table unless your opponents are blowing a certain Falcon-adjacent horn a lot. At S5 and T5 it can make the most of being a chariot with it’s Impact Hits (D3+1). Coming in at 7W and with a 4+ save it’s also pretty survivable. In terms of special rules it’s got a bucketload. In addition to the ones mentioned above it also has Close Order, Disengage, Eye of the Dragon, Feigned Flight, Fire & Flee, Heavenly Beacon, Large Target (It’s nearly 14″ tall), Scouts and Unbreakable. Pretty impressive for a hot-air balloon.
Eye of the Dragon allows friendly Bombartment units to use this model’s LoS when shooting rather than their own, which is great for deploying your Fire Rain Batteries in safe positions or behind your own ranks of Jade Warriors. The fact it refers to it as “this model’s LoS when shooting” means it is 360 degrees around the Lantern as written, due to the Lantern being a Heavy Chariot which is amazing.
The Disengage special rule lets this unit take a Leadership test after any combat, and if it passes, make a FBIGO attempt rather than just Giving Ground. If it does this, the enemy can only follow up 2″ directly towards the lantern and cannot choose to pursue it. If the test is failed, it simply Gives Ground as normal. In addition, it can choose to FBIGO if it wins combat as well, putting distance between it and the enemy. What I love about this is that you’re a fairly tanky piece with T5 and 7W (at worst) and can take that charge. You get all your grenades or guns as a stand and shoot reaction and then at worst in combat you either Give Ground or do this. It’s easily able to hold down a flank by itself and still play a part in the game. I think if it wasn’t for the Falcon Horn and its new variants being so popular at events you could see armies with 2-3 of these very easily being annoying and defending the armies of Cathay from up on high. But don’t worry, the rules don’t stop there.
Heavenly Beacon allows all friendly units within 12″ to reroll failed panic or rally tests so long as this unit is not fleeing. It also allows you to apply a +1/-1 to units with the ambushers special rule (Falcon: which stacks!), amazing for small units of Jade Lancers which are now fairly reliably behind your opponent on T2 (Falcon: or held off of the board until T5 to deny your opponent points). Finally, it gives a Lord Magistrate or Strategist mounted on this a 12″ Command Range even if they are not your General. Meaning you’ve now got your ~4″ wide base, plus 12″ either side for a secondary bubble of ~28″ for all of their effects!
In terms of Armaments, the Sky Lantern comes with Sky Lantern Crane Guns as its basic outlay. These are 36″ range, S6, AP-2, Armour Bane (2) and Cumbersome. These would be great if all it was doing was standing still at the back of the board but 5 shots, even with those excellent profiles at the really terrific BS4 (5 on the Commander), seems expensive. Instead of that you can upgrade them to either Iron Hail Guns and Gunpowder Bombs for free or Iron Hail Guns and Dragon Fire Bombs for +20pts. Iron Hail guns are only 12″ range S3 and Ap-1 but have the Move & Shoot rule allowing for a 18″ move and a 12″ shot meaning there aren’t many places on a board an opponent can hide. They also have Multiple Shots (D3) and ignore negative modifiers when shooting at long range, using the Multiple Shots (D3) rule and while making a Stand & Shoot reaction. The Gunpowder Bombs have a 9″ range, are S3, Armour Bane (1), and have Move & Shoot and Quick Shot. In addition, if these shots hit they cause D3 hits each as they explode. Dragon Fire Bombs are the upgraded version, still with a 9″ range but upgraded to S4, AP-1, Armour Bane (1), Flaming Shots, Move & Shoot, Quick Shot and if they hit they explode for D3+1 hits a piece. I do wish you could take the Sky Lantern Crane Guns and the Dragon Fire Bombs but unfortunately that isn’t a combo which is doable.
The final upgrade you can pick up for one of these beasts are the Sky Lantern Bombs. This is a new type of bomb similar to those used by Dwarfen Gyrocopters. If you move within 6″ of an enemy unit, which isn’t engaged in combat, during the remaining movement phase then you roll a dice in an attempt to hurt the enemy. On a 1 the lantern bomb blows up first and you take a wound, on a 2 the enemy unit takes a wound (Falcon: It should be noted there is no save for this wound, they just lose one, making an unlit lantern bomb one of the most deadly weapons in the Old World). On a 3-4 you may place a 5″ template that scatters D6″ with anything hit risking taking a S5 hit with -2 AP. Finally on a 5-6 you place 2 x 3″ templates and scatter them both D6″, with those under the templates risking taking a S5 AP-2 hit. This isn’t the worlds most expensive upgrade at 15pts and I think it’s worth it as even one good shot on nearly any infantry or calvary unit and you’ll make you’re investment back.
Then just when you think I’ve been reading about these Sky Lanterns for a while, there’s one more thing. It can be a character mount! This works the same as other chariots and adding the character to it adds their wound total to the Lantern making it now 10W so more than most Dragons in the game. You can also pick up easy Ward Saves alongside other magic items for this and have it go from being tough to being really unkillable with Chariots still sitting in that immune to killing blow/monster slayer sweet spot. With a T5, 10W and a 4+ save along with a 5+ ward, being unbreakable and having disengage it’s really going no where at all. Even if you don’t want to invest in a all the characters at 135pts it’s a bargain, for 175pts you can give it 9W with a Strategist and then pick up a Ward save on top if it takes your fancy. Without a doubt my favorite unit in this publication rules wise and I can’t wait to get them onto the table.
Falcon: This really is an interesting unit on the table. If it weren’t for the Falcon Horn, the new Beastmen banner, and another Banner found within this very book I’d say it would be amazing to run 2-3 of these with a couple units of ambushing Jade Lancers. Unfortunately, the Falcon Horn really tears these guys to pieces which may be the one reason to run them with the Crane Guns over the shorter range bombs. In my test games against lists that couldn’t shut down their flight, these zeppelins did a lot of work floating back and forth over enemy units and pelting them with bombs before drifting off into the distance.
Cathayan Sentinel
Your big friendly neighborhood rock man. These ancient statues are rumoured to have been forged by the Dragon Emperor themselves to fight against the forces of Chaos and now they remain scattered across the land, standing guard and waiting to be called back to war once again.
These guys are one of the toughest things in your list. Ws5 makes them a reliable melee combatants and when paired with M6, S6, T6 and 6W they’re pretty much in the right weight class you’d want. They’re only I3 though and only have a base level of 3A but that’s a little misleading because the Great blade they wield has two unique profiles that you get to pick between at the start of every round of combat.
The Scything Blow is Str User, AP -2 and is your blender profile. It packs Armour Bane (1), Extra Attacks (+2D3) and Strike Last. The other option available to you is Deadly Strike, which bumps the Sentinel to S+1 in combat and clocks in at -4AP meaning even the strongest armour will fold like paper. On top of this, these swings gain 3 special rules. Killing Blow, Monster Slayer and Multiple Wound (D3). No matter what you’re fighting against this blade can make mincemeat out of it. While you’ll be fishing for those 6’s with your anemic attacks, you can still do real damage with S7 and D3 wounds a pop. Even chariots will fear this blade.
The WarCom reveal talked about 3 types of Sentinel, the good news is that there’s actually 5. These all come with a different points cost associated with them ranging from free to +40pts, which when added to the 230 base of the Sentinel means it’s one heck of a points sink if you want it to be. The base version is the Terracotta Sentinel, which gains the Regeneration (6+) rule, in effect giving you roughly an extra wound over the course of the game. The Jade Sentinel turns your Warrior into a wizard (kind of) giving you a Bound Spell with Power Level 3 chosen by you before each game from the lores of Battle or Elementalism. Arcane Urgency? Great. Pillar of Fire in a ranged list? Amazing. Oaken Shield for a 5+ Ward? I’m all in. And that’s just from Battle Magic. Want another Wind Blast to add to the others in the army? It can do that to! In effect it’s just about everything you could ever want, in one tidy package.
The Obsidian Sentinel has Magic Resistance (-2) and effects enemy wizards within 12″. Any time they try to cast a spell they must pass a Ld test , if they fail that test they suffer a -3 to their roll, if they succeed they still suffer a -1. The Granite Sentinel is my initial pick for what I’d go for. This improves the save from a 5+ to a 4+ and also makes it immune to the Multiple Wounds (X) special rule. This could be a lifesaver against enemy war machines and protects against Ogre Blades which are the natural predator of this beast. Finally, the last and most expensive option is the Warpstone Sentinel. This grants the Sentinel the Magical Attacks special rule while also reducing the toughness with one or more Sentinels by -1T (to a minimum of 1). This in effect makes your Great Blade S8 meaning it’ll cut through anything like a hot knife through butter.
In terms of other special rules, the Sentinel has Close Order, Immune to Psychology, Implacable, Large Target, Stomp Attacks (D3+1), Terror, Timmm-beeer! (which is a rule that isn’t used enough) and Unbreakable. The new rule here is Implacable, which grants two abilities. The first is that once per game, in a turn in which it was charged, the Sentinel may choose not to Give Ground when losing combat and the second is that it allows the Sentinel to re-roll it’s charge once per game. Overall, I think this is a decent piece, it’s certainly got a weak points but it’s a real monster in combat and has respectable defensive stats. It’s also, maybe, the best looking model in the range so that scores it bonus points for sure.
Falcon: The sentinel is a really cool piece that I wish was about 20 points cheaper at its base cost. As of writing this article and in testing, the competitive scene in particular really loves seeing an expensive Large Target model on the board without Swiftstride or Fly to help move it along. If you can deliver this bad boy into the right combats though, it does a lot of work, you just struggle doing so outside of the Granite variety which is unfortunate because it is such a cool piece when it is on the table. In a world where there are less poison blobs to deal with then there is definitely a place for multiple Jade Sentinels as power level 3 bound spells are incredible to have at your disposal.
Fire Rain Rocket Battery
The first of the two War Machines is the Fire Rain Rocket Battery. This has a pretty standard War Machine profile bar being on a 60×100 base; these are big boys for sure.
The Rocket Battery has two firing modes and they’re both 12″-48″ range. The first has S4(5) AP-1(3) with Armour Bane (1), Bombardment, Cumbersome, Move or Shoot, Multiple Wounds (D6), and fires with a 3″ Blast template. The D6 only applies to the hole in the middle of the template. The second option is S3(4) AP-1(-1) with Armour Bane (1), Bombardment, Cumbersome, Flaming Attacks, Move or Shoot and Wailing Spirits. This shoots with the 5″ template.
The Rocket Battery only has two special rules, Skirmishers and Wailing Spirits. Wailing Spirits forces any unit that suffers one or more unsaved wounds from the 5 inch template to make a panic test as per heavy casualties, much like the Screaming Skull Catapult in Tomb Kings. It won’t come up a lot and with Undead being fairly popular it might not always matter, but when it does, it’s a great little bonus to have.
It has a decent set of shooting attacks. The big template still has potential with the Wailing Spirits but the smaller 3″ template, with it’s higher Strength and potential D6 wounds under its central hole is the real money maker in my eyes. T6 is the tipping point for a lot of things in the game, so having a S5 centre point with a potential D6 wounds is a bit of a let down but it will still cause an opponent’s butt cheeks to clench every time it hits. I’d certainly be looking at picking up at least one of these, particularly if you’re trying to get the most out of your Sky Lanterns. They can also take the Ogre Loader upgrade but I’ll talk about that later on.
Cathayan Grand Cannon
The biggest of the big weapons. This is a real cannon (sorry Dwarf players) with a 48″ range, S10, Ap-3, Armour Bane (3), Cannon Fire, Cumbersome, Move or Shoot, Multiple Wounds (D3+1) and Thunderous Impact.
Thunderous Impact borrows a rule from the Chaos Dwarf Earthshaker as after it’s fired it forces any unit (friend or foe) that was within 2D6″ of the strike point of the cannon to suffer a -1 modifier to its movement and disables their Swiftstride rule. This is a fantastic addition to any army. The cannon alone would be great, but this rule added on top is just fantastic. Being able to slow down your opponent’s force is great and denying Dragons and the like the ability to threaten from 19″ away down to a much less reliable 15-16″ is a big shift in the odds of a successful charge. Falcon: It should also be noted that the movement penalty provided by Thunderous Impact actually stacks so it is currently very possible to reduce an enemy unit’s movement speed by 3-6 on your first turn which can be crippling to elite armies even if you don’t do much damage.
Both of these artillery pieces clock in at 130pts and I think shy of taking an incredibly offensive-minded army full of Jade Lancers and mounted characters, you’ll nearly always take two if not three War Machines; it’s just a case of which combination you like. I’m a really big fan of both (for different reasons) and think my initial setup of one Fire Rain and two Grand Cannons seems to be paying off in my games so far.
Ogre Artillery Crew
I wanted to cover this chap separately because he brings so much to the table. He’s not cheap at +35pts and brings just a bog standard Ogre stat-line of S4 and 3A in combat with him, but I want to just mention how much of a difference this makes to any light cav unit wanting to charge this unit. Let’s take your average five man light cav unit, small unit of flying creatures or the like. They charge in, get ~10 attacks, cause ~5 hits on my crew, 2-3 wounds go through from that causing them to win the combat or at least locking you in. With this chap in tow you shift that to meaning you’ve still got over half your wounds left in combat and you’ve got a bunch of S4 attacks to throw back into the enemy. Add in that they can also bring Gunpowder Bombs to the battle for a small cost (and they bring enough for everyone – arming the whole crew with them) it means that anyone wanting to charge your artillery have to think twice about it. One or two hits from the bombs on a stand and shoot causing 2-4 hits shifts average combat resolution in your favour, meaning you might just be around to shoot yet again. Add in to the fact that this is technically a character in a war machine who can issue and accept challenges to give you time to counter certain elements of your enemies battleplan and we might be onto a winner.
While all of the above is great, it’s not the real reason you’re bringing these. The real reason is the Mercenary Crew special rule which grants the machine +1 Movement and the Stubborn special rule. Wait, that’s still not the reason. The real reason is that this rule allows the machine to which they’re joined to, once per game, fire a second time or re-roll a single artillery dice. You’ll clearly want to try and get the second shot off, but keeping the machine alive by rerolling that misfire on the dice could be just as crucial and it’s something I love. It’s a great model and rule idea that gives you a real reason to take these excellent additions to the kit. It also slightly mitigates the lack of any engineer type character that the Cathay army currently lacks and I’m all for reliability in my toys.
Falcon: Yeah, there’s not much to add here. Both of these artillery pieces are solid additions to the army, particularly the cannons, and there is a special place in my heart for running 5-6 war machines in a 2000 point list and just YOLO double shooting all of them turn 1 into my dazed and confused opponent’s forces, though in reality 2-3 is the sweet spot.
Treasures from the Far East
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the Arcane Journal also comes with a host of magic items which your force can use to enhance it’s ability on the tabletop. We normally go through our picks of the best items in each section here, but with everything being so new I think we’ve going to take a good look at the top half from each category instead of just my favourites.
The Monkey King’s Wisdom: It’s pretty unusual for us to pick the most expensive magic weapon as one of our favorites, but here we’ve got arguably one of the best (if not the single best) offensive magic weapon in the game. Its narrative pulls from the legend of the Monkey King Wukong and I can easily see me trying to model a giant bowstaff or club into one of my Shugengan’s poses down the line. Anyway, what makes this weapon so great is that it’s flat S10 and has -4AP, meaning even the most heavily armoured foes will fall under its weight. This is normally where the weapons rules stop, but this has Magical Attacks (clearly), requires two hands (who cares, the Shugengan can’t have a shield) and Strike Last. Finally, we have the jewel in this weapon’s crown (as if S10 and -4AP weren’t enough): It’s also got Multiple Wounds (D3). I know it’s only on a 4A model in most cases but with access to Illusion Magic on that caster (which I think we’ll see a lot of) then you’ve got yourself an absolute battering ram of a model. I can’t wait to see them going into some of the terrors we’ve had on the table over the last 18 months and just deleting them from play. At 75pts it is the majority of your magic item allotment but the Shugengan doesn’t need much else because of its incredible base defensive profile.
Jade Blade of the Great Fleet : I don’t know what’s happened to me, but I’m now picking the 70pt magic weapon (in addition to the 75pt one above) as my actual favourite magic weapon in the book. S+2, AP-2 and Armour Bane (1) along with Magical Attacks make this weapon decent from an offensive point of view in that it’s a Great Weapon without the Strikes Last special rule. In addition, this blade also grants its bearer the Regeneration (5+) special rule, which we all know is great on hard to kill models with triple saves and a bunch of wounds. This is the one which has been making it into my lists the most for testing and I expect this will be the trend moving forward, but you’ve actually got choices to make and I’m all for that.
Shield of Nan-Gau: This is a shield, limiting who can equip it (just the Gate Masters/Keepers). During a turn where the bearer was charged, you increase the model’s armour value by an additional +2, allowing even your base foot models to sit on a 2+ armour save in combat and really limiting the big offensive nasties’ damage output. It’s cheap at only 20pts and if you’re taking a Gate Master (who’s usually going to be your Battle Standard) it’s a great way to keep them in the fight when playing a more defensive list.
Crystal of Kunlan: I’ve never seen an item designed as much for a specific model/mount combination as I have here. This grants a 5+ ward save, which is great as you have a second one you can purchase for the army in addition to the Talisman of Protection. In addition, if you roll a 6 when making a ward save every enemy model in base contact with the bearer suffers a S3 hit with Ap- with the flaming special rule. This is perfect for the Magisters on the Sky Lantern as it’s on a 100×100 base so your opponents will get 4-5 models in combat with it most of the time when using units. It’s only 5pts more than the Talisman of Protection and well worth the gamble. Kill any single 1 wound model and you’re nearly always making your points back, a great little investment.
Icon of Heavenly Fury: A Brilliant single-use item at 35pts that automatically triggers its effect, breaking the pattern we’ve seen in the last few Arcane Journals. Once activated (during your Command sub-phase) until your next Start of Turn sub-phase it turns off enemy Fly (X) rule. Combine with the Grand Cannon’s Thunderous Impact special rule to turn off Swiftstride and you’re shifting that 19″ threat dragon down to 12″. This is usually, in my experience, enough to not only delay the Dragon by a turn but also really limits their options when trying to set up future turns as well. While not as powerful as a horn that can be blown every turn of the game, it will definitely see some play.
Dragon’s Eye Banner: For 30pts, this item stops your enemy from targeting this unit with spells on a 3+. If you’re taking a large unit (10+) unit of Jade Lancers in an offensive army then being able to deny 66% of all spells (before casting or dispelling attempts are made) from targeting your main melee unit is amazing. I do think this Arcane Journal will see a little bit more Illusion magic enter the battlefields but even against the popular Elementalism and Battle Magic combo’s you can stop Plague of Rusts, Wind Blasts, Fireballs, Hammerhands or Flaming Swords, and all of this is before you look at things like Miasmic Mirage which renders your big powerful unit next to useless for a turn.
Maw Shard: For anyone who played old Warhammer Fantasy you’ll have nightmares thinking back to the Ring of Hotek. Well it’s back and this time in Shard form! If an enemy wizard rolls a natural double when making a casting roll within 18″ (yes, 18″, that’s not a typo) of the wearer the spell is miscast. This means that, in most cases, from Turn 2 onwards the enemy is miscasting on 1 in 6 spells. It’s not cheap at 40pts but it’s cheap enough that it’s making most my lists at the moment. Falcon: This is perfect to slap onto a Strategist or Magister on Sky Lantern or on your Jade Lancer champion to make sure you can position yourself for maximum disruption.
Alchemist’s Mask: Bound items are just great. I mentioned using the Jade Sentinel to try and cast Plague of Rusts earlier and this lets you do it with a magic item for 35pts. I really like this on both a Sky Lantern mounted character and on the Jade Lancers unit champion who can get it off before an important charge boosting up their damage output against heavily armoured troops.
Learned Feng Shi Bo*: For 15pts we’ve got the Cathay version of the Spell Familiar. It doesn’t have the caveat that you only know the extra spell and not increase the amount you can cast (as does another item) so it’s worth remembering that. However if if you’re looking at Illusion is means you can take this, know 5 spells and still have a good chance of getting what you want and take the Yin/Yang Signature spells which the Lore Familiar wouldn’t let you do. Falcon: As written, unlike the other wizard familiars currently available to other factions, this can be stacked on your wizard effectively letting you get all 6 spells from your chosen lore for only 30 points. I imagine we will see an early FAQ about it but until then it is extraordinarily powerful.
Magic of the Elemental Winds
The twin Cathayan signature lores of Yin and Yang present a real choice for Cathay players as it effects how you want to build the Shugengan from the base level. I think that’s a conversation for another time and I will revist it but for now lets have a look at the spells and I’ll let you make your own conclusions on that.
Yang – Constellation of the Dragon: A Magic Missile with an 18″ range. Games Workshop have decided to revisit the dual casting value mechanic again as they’ve done with spells such as the Tomb Kings Khsar’s Incantation of the Desert Wind. On a 7+ you get D6+1 S4 AP- hits making it a reasonable (but not outstanding) Magic Missile. On an 11+ however you get 2D6+2 S4 AP-1 hits making it top tier. I think it’s great.
Yang – Great Bastion: An Enchantment cast on a 9+ with a 12″ range this Remains in Play spell grants their unit it’s cast on a 6+ Ward Save. In addition any model in the front rank of an enemy unit which ends a charge move in combat with this unit must take a Dangerous Terrain test and damage caused this way counts towards combat resolution. It’s an okay spell and in defensive lists being able to get lucky and have the enemy lose 1-2 expensive cavalry models might occasionally swing a combat but it’s doubtful it will see much play.
Yang – Might of Heaven & Earth: Another spell with the dual casting values, I really like this mechanic and it’s something I’d love to see them lean into more moving forward. On a 9+ the caster, their mount, and any unit they have joined (Currently only Miao Ying can do this) gain +1Ws and +1S along with the flaming attacks rule. If cast with a value of 12+ then this extends to everyone in your command range. Having Ws6 or even 7, S5 Celestial Guard models as your Core with Miao Ying just became a realistic possibility!
Yin – Spirits of Wind & Shadows: What a spell! A Hex with a range of 15″ and a casting value of 10 can make this a little difficult to get off, but if a clever opponent stays outside of the 15″ and you get the Winds of Yin to increase the range to 18″ you’ll be overjoyed. Until your next Start of Turn Sub-phase this spell makes the target enemy unit subject to the Random Movement (D6) rule. Bonkers. Enemy dragon pushed forward trying to bully you? Not now. Do you need one extra shot into the big block of infantry before it gets within 12″ of your Fire Rain with a march move? No worries, have that as well. Shugengan going deep into the enemy lines and doesn’t want to get counter charged in their flank the following turn? We can solve that problem. Just without a doubt one of the best spells we’ve seen in the game. Falcon: This spell also synergizes incredibly well with Miasmic Mirage from the Lore of Illusion giving you two ways to shut down particularly nasty combat units and really solidifying this army as being premier at achieving board control.
Yin – Accursed Mirror: Another Hex, this time with casting value of 9+ but still the 15″ range. Until your next Start of Turn Sub-phase, any rolls of a natural 1 to hit by the targeted enemy unit during the shooting or combat phase result in those models taking a S3 Ap-1 hit which is resolved against themselves. Worried about that block of 100 Night Goblins or Skeletons shooting your Large Targets? Worry less when they’re taking the best part of 10 casualties for the opportunity cost of doing so.
Yin – Ancestral Warriors: An Assailment spell with dual casting values that packs a real punch. On a 7+, this spell causes 2D3 S2 hits with AP-, which is not great, but on an 11+ you upgrade these strikes to 2D6 S4 Ap-1 Armour Bane (2). I’m fairly sure if you’re taking Yin then you’ve got three solid spells and depending on what you fancy you’ve three different options to help the army flex on the table.
On the Tabletop
We’d normally talk through a couple of the army lists you could look at by the Armies of Infamy here but without those in the book we’re just looking at the Grand Army. We’re going to present a few different options here.
Balanced List
This is what I’ve been using in test games to write this review and I think it’s a really nice balanced list with lots of different models (including everything available bar a Gate Master/Keeper) and doesn’t push into any aspect of the army too hard.
Shugengan Lord – Lv4, Heavy Armour, Jade Blade of the Great Fleet, Learned Feng Shi Bo (369)
Lord Magistrate – Gunpowder Bombs, Crystal of Kunlan, Maw Shard. Sly Lantern – Iron Hail Guns, Dragonfire Bombs, Sky Lantern Bombs (315)
20 Jade Warriors – Full Command, Drilled, Shields, Regimental Unit, Dragon’s Eye Banner (203)
5 Jade Warriors – Halberds, Detachment Unit (40)
6 Jade Lancers – Full Command, Drilled, Ambush (144)
6 Jade Lancers – Full Command, Drilled, Ambush (144)
Cathayan Sentinel – Granite Sentinel (265)
Fire Rain Rocket Battery – Ogre Loader, Gunpowder Bombs (173)
Cathayan Grand Cannon – Ogre Loader, Gunpowder Bombs (173)
Cathayan Grand Cannon – Ogre Loader, Gunpowder Bombs (173)
Army Total 1999
It’s a pretty simple gameplan. We’re standing back and shooting people while the block of Warriors, Sentinel, Lantern, Shugengan and Sentinel cause problems for anyone who wants to come close. The five Warriors are the only real chaff in the list but big parts of it are going nowhere and are pretty quick to plug gaps, so it should be OK I reckon.
Miao Ying List
Falcon: This is roughly what I’ve run the most in testing and I think it is one of the more competitive builds you can make with the army once Miao Ying becomes available for sale. You’ll see a decent amount of overlap with Liam’s list, but for good reason. Though I am swapping in the The Monkey King’s Wisdom on my Shugengan Lord instead of the Jade Blade of the Great Fleet, I do think the Jade Blade is the better pick most of the time, as on top of gaining Regeneration you can also fit 2 Learned Feng Shi Bos and guarantee all 6 spells from your chosen lore. This list is particularly aimed at disrupting elite lists with spell casting and using long-ranged firepower to eliminate threats while ignoring larger combat res blobs as long as possible.
Shugengan Lord – Lv4 Illusion, Heavy Armour, The Monkey King’s Wisdom, Learned Feng Shi Bo (374)
Miao Ying – General, Elementalism (485)
Gate Keeper – BSB, Steed, Celestial Blade, Alchemist’s Mask, Charmed Shield (132)
18 Jade Warriors – Full Command, Drilled, Stubborn, Shields, War Banner, Celestial Bodyguard (259)
9 Jade Lancers – Champion, Standard, Drilled, Stubborn, Celestial Bodyguard, Maw Shard (268)
Sky Lantern – Sky Crane Guns, Sky Lantern Bombs (150)
Cathayan Grand Cannon – Ogre Loader (165)
Cathayan Grand Cannon – Ogre Loader (165)
Army Total 1998
Stairway to Heaven
Falcon: And here we have our all blimp no brakes zeppelin gunline meant to slowly dance around your opponent’s army while raining terror from above. There is no subtlety here, only death. As our Magistrate is our General we’re able to take an extra Sky Lantern in the Special slot to allow for more slow-moving murder. Our Battle Magic Shug Lord could be a different piece if you so desired, like one of the illusion builds above to give you some kind of answer to monsters but he is a cute tech piece potentially tossing out multiple magic missiles and using curse of arrow attraction and the alchemist’s mask to make your other shots in the army count.
Honestly, for a meme, this list is really close to being devastating for most opponents. If you chose to drop the Magitrate for a second Shugengan Lord and made them both Illusion wizards you could create a highly mobile army with enough lock down spells and damage potential to shut down just about every other army in the game pretty reliably. Comboing Spirits of Wind and Shadow and Miasmic Mirage from two different sources is an easy way to shut down multiple combat threats in a single turn, allowing your balloons to keep raining fire from safety.
Magistrate – General, Dragon Fire Bombs, Sky Lantern, More Dragon Fire Bombs, Sky Lantern Bombs, Crystal of Kunlan, Maw Shard (320)
Strategist – Dragon Fire Bombs, Sky Lantern, More Dragon Fire Bombs, Sky Lantern Bombs (220)
Shugengan Lord – Heavy Armour, Celestial Blade, lvl 4 Battle Magic, Lore of Yang, Alchemist’s Mask, Learned Feng Shi Bo (340)
Sky Lantern – Dragon Fire Bombs, Sky Lantern Bombs (170)
Sky Lantern – Dragon Fire Bombs, Sky Lantern Bombs (170)
Sky Lantern (135)
Sky Lantern (135)
10 Jade Lancers – Ambush, Drilled, Full Command, Icon Of Heavenly Fury (271)
10 Jade Lancers – Ambush, Drilled, Full Command (236)
Army Total 1997
Final Thoughts
Liam: Where to start with this? I’m just thoroughly impressed with this book and force from top to bottom. It’s great fun to get onto the table and offers a few new design moves within the greater context of the game, the Lantern is something we’ve got no comparison to anything which has come before while Miao and her (and future?) Cathayan dragon transformation mechanics are well thought out. I’m sure they’ll be some corners of the internet raging about how powerful this book is but if we’re honest it’s not touching the sides of the best Tomb Kings or Bretonnia lists and but does come within striking distance of the Warriors of Chaos. I’m pleased it’s a competitive army though and can’t wait to see what people who are far better with a paintbrush than I can come up with with some of the models which are just jaw-dropping to say the least. We’ve still got the Matched Play Guide to come and that will potentially shape the game at it’s top level more than a new faction and as soon as we get our hands on that we’ll bring you our normal measured thoughts on it. But for now Cathay is out very shortly and I for one can’t wait to get them onto the table!
Falcon: This book is a real winner on a ton of fronts. It is extremely fun on the table with an insane amount of overlapping synergies between the units, and it is beautiful to boot no matter how you run it. While at first glance it may seem extraordinarily strong, I think you’ll find in practice it has some holes that make it struggle into the current biggest and baddest armies out there like Bretonnia, Tomb Kings, and perhaps to a lesser degree Warriors of Chaos. And honestly that’s a good thing. Whether you’re running Miao, or a fleet of sky lanterns, or flooding the board with artillery and a horde of Jade Lancers, this book gives you so many choices and paths to victory. Most importantly, I think this is the most fun I’ve had playing Old World since it launched. The unique rules for each model really give the army a flare that many of the other factions are lacking. Big kudos to GW for putting together such an incredible first dive into this faction, I cannot wait to see what their first ‘real’ arcane journal will bring.
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