I’ve been playing AoS since it first came out basically but had never actually gone to an event for it, despite having gone to multiple GT’s for 40k over the years this was my first for Age of Sigmar.
War in the Mortal Realms XVII is part of a regularly run tournament out of Bad Moon Cafe in London. The 16 player event runs 3 games across one day at 2,000 points, with no special restrictions or rules put in place, using 3 battleplans from the General’s Handbook which is sent out ahead of time to all players.
Table of Contents
Bair’s Fyreslayers
Allegiance: Fyreslayers - Lodge: Hermdar - Mortal Realm: Aqshy - Grand Strategy: Hold the Line - Triumphs: Bloodthirsty Leaders Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (285)* - General - Command Trait: Warrior Indominate - Artefact: Amulet of Destiny (Universal Artefact) - Magmadroth Trait: Coal-heart Ancient Auric Runesmiter (120)* - Forge Key - Prayer: Prayer of Grimnir's Fury - Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse Auric Runesmiter (120)* - Forge Key - Prayer: Searing Heat - Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse Battlesmith (125)** Battlesmith (125)** Auric Runeson (90)** - Ancestral War-axe Grimwrath Berzerker (120)** - Artefact: Tyrant Slayer Battleline 10 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (250)*** - Broadaxes - Reinforced x 1 10 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (250)*** - Broadaxes - Reinforced x 1 10 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (250)*** - Broadaxes - Reinforced x 1 Units 10 x Auric Hearthguard (250)* - Reinforced x 1 Core Battalions *Warlord **Warlord ***Hunters of the Heartlands Additional Enhancements Artefact Prayer Total: 1985 / 2000 Reinforced Units: 4 / 4 Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 125 Drops: 11
A lot of people will look at this and say “Wow, 11 drops is a lot in this edition, do you ever get to pick who goes first?” And the answer is no, I never have had that chance, and that’s fine. I’ve played over a dozen games with this list and very minor tweaks to it (mainly trying various artefacts/prayers) and still can’t decide if it’s better to go first or second, so it’s kind of nice not having to have the choice. Playing as Hermdar makes the army stupidly defensive and there’s a reason it tends to be the go-to for competitive play. Auric Hearthguard are an easy choice in the current edition with all the monsters flying around with their damage 2 ranged attacks and tunneling them up when needed alongside a Runesmiter lets them get in range of something turn 1 most games.
Game 1 – Tectonic Interference
Toby’s Lumineth:
Allegiance: Lumineth Realm Lords - Great Nation: Iliatha - Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery - Triumphs: Bloodthirsty Leaders Alarith Stonemage (130)* - Artefact: Simulacra Amulet - Lore of the High Peaks: Entomb - Lore of the High Peaks: Voice of the Mountain Hurakan Windmage (120)* - Lore of the Winds: Calming Zephyr - Lore of the Winds: Guiding Flurries Scinari Cathallar (145)* - General - Command Trait: Spellmaster - Artefact: Silver Wand - Lore of Hysh: Total Eclipse - Lore of Hysh: Protection of Hysh Avalenor, the Stoneheart King (415)** Vanari Lord Regent (155)** - Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon - Lore of Hysh: Protection of Hysh Scinari Loreseeker (170)** - Lore of Hysh: Solar Flare - Lore of Hysh: Lambent Light Battleline 5 x Vanari Bladelords (130)*** 5 x Vanari Dawnriders (140)*** - Lore of Hysh: Lambent Light - Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh 5 x Vanari Dawnriders (140)*** - Lore of Hysh: Lambent Light - Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh 10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (145)* - Lore of Hysh: Lambent Light - Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh Units 20 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (300)** - Spell1: Lore of Hysh: Lambent Light - Spell2: Lore of Hysh: Solar Flare - Reinforced x 1 Core Battalions *Warlord **Warlord ***Hunters of the Heartlands Additional Enhancements Spell Artefact Total: 1990 / 2000 Reinforced Units: 1 / 4 Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 101 Drops: 11
Games with 3 objectives across the centre of the table are what Fyreslayers love most, so I was glad to see that this was being played. Very straightforward mission, one of the 3 objectives (rolled for randomly each battle round) is worth 2 points and the others are worth 1 point each. Battle Tactics scored as normal 2 points per turn, and grand strategies worth 3 at the end of the game.
Toby was a great person to play against, and it was my first 3rd edition game against Lumineth, which worked out far differently than I had expected. Toby had fewer drops than me and gave me first turn, knowing that I wouldn’t really be able to hit combat turn 1 with any of my units and wanting to try for the double-turn himself. I had set up both Runesmiters underground tunneling along with the Auric Hearthguard and a unit of Berserkers. Being able to take an early lead put me on a path to victory, and with Toby not scoring any points in his first turn it was a hard battle in the middle with slayers slowly grinding through the aelven defences.
One of the biggest roles though was nearly the first roll of the game, very luckily for me rolling a 6 to gain the enhanced effect of my first Rune of the game: Rune of Relentless Zeal which adds 2” to all of my units moves but the enhanced effect also adding 2 to all charge rolls, meaning that the Hearthguard Berzerkers tunneling up 9” away from an enemy would only need to roll a 7 for successful charge instead of a 9. They rolled an 8 and were able to dispatch the Loreseeker on an objective in the first turn, allowing me to score.
I also proceeded to roll 3 more Enhanced Runes, which is the most I’d ever gotten in a single game. My luck that would keep up through the day, with a total of 7 enhanced rune out of a possible 15 through 3 games. Nuts.
In the end, the Lumineth were just not able to get through the Fyreslayer defences and take the objectives, only scoring points for the primary objective once and all other points coming from Battle Tactics with a score at the end of 32 – 11. Major Victory Fyreslayers!
Game 2 – Power in Numbers
Aaron’s Seraphon:
Allegiance: Seraphon - Constellation: Fangs of Sotek - Grand Strategy: Hold the Line - Triumphs: Indomitable Leaders Slann Starmaster (265)** - General - Command Trait: Arcane Might - Artefact: Serpent God Dagger - Spell: Stellar Tempest Saurus Astrolith Bearer (150)** Skink Priest (80)* - Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse Skink Starpriest (130)* - Spell: Hand of Glory Gotrek Gurnisson (435)** - Allies Battleline 30 x Skinks (225)* - Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers - Reinforced x 2 10 x Skinks (75)* - Meteoric Javelins Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers 10 x Skinks (75)* - Meteoric Javelins Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers 10 x Skinks (75)* - Meteoric Javelins Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers Units 2 x Salamander Hunting Pack (240)* - Reinforced x 1 2 x Salamander Hunting Pack (240)** - Reinforced x 1 Core Battalions *Battle Regiment **Battle Regiment Total: 1990 / 2000 Reinforced Units: 4 / 4 Allies: 435 / 400 Wounds: 113 Drops: 2
This is the game I was by far the most worried about because of the mission. Battleline get priority for securing objectives in this mission and the lack of mobility and only having 3 battleline units (very tanky ones, at least) makes it a bit harder for me to score. Especially if I’m forced to go first in the third battle round and a key objective is destroyed that I had been sitting on all game. This is a key part of this mission in particular since you score points by destroying objectives that you control and the amount of points you score depends on how many consecutive turns you held that point without losing control. So if an objective is removed, you get no credit and all your hard work is lost.
Now there was a bit of contention and confusion that happened in this game, as my opponent Aaron was playing Starborn Seraphon. I had asked him before the game if we thought that summoned units such as Skinks would count for the Battleline for control of objective and agreed that they would not, maybe too quickly. Now when this became relevant during the game, denying Aaron a few victory points by taking a point by killing 10 Skinks (that were part of original army and Battleline) with a few Hearthguard Berzerkers (battleline) leaving only 10 summoned Skinks and a Salamander pack, it quickly became a question again. We asked the TO for a ruling and he had ruled that they don’t count so carried on. We essentially then only played through the beginning of turn 4 with no conceivable way for a Seraphon victory and ended there. Shortly after each of us had reached out to others online, as well as looking through rules references to see what the “real” ruling is and it appears that those Skinks should have counted as their battlefield role despite being summoned in mid-game and not being part of the original roster. This is quite literally the only interaction in the game where this comes up, as all other references to Battleline states it being “from the starting army”. Does that meant that I would have lost? It’s hard to say since we didn’t really finish the game and there are far far too many “what ifs” that could be said, as well as myself playing quite differently knowing that as well.
Regardless, all those skinks and salamanders might not look like much on the table but they put out an insane amount of damage at range, killing the Magmadroth turn 2 as well as many other slayers across the turns played.
This was also my first time playing against Gotrek, and as much as he did once he hit combat, Hearthguard Berzerkers were able to keep him tied up for a round of combat, keeping him out of the game long enough to be too far away to do much else later on.
In the end, as played, Major Victory to Fyreslayers.
Game 3 – Survival of the Fittest
Obaid’s Lumineth:
Allegiance: Lumineth Realm Lords - Great Nation: Syar - Grand Strategy: Hold the Line Leaders Archmage Teclis and Celennar, Spirit of Hysh (740)* Scinari Cathallar (145)* - General - Command Trait: Goading Arrogance - Artefact: The Perfect Blade - Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh Battleline 20 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (290)* - Lore of Hysh: Ethereal Blessing - Reinforced x 1 10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (145)* - Lore of Hysh: Solar Flare 20 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (300)* - Lore of Hysh: Lambent Light - Reinforced x 1 20 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (300)* - Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh - Reinforced x 1 Endless Spells & Invocations Umbral Spellportal (70) Core Battalions *Battle Regiment Total: 1990 / 2000 Reinforced Units: 3 / 4 Allies: 0 / 400 Wounds: 91 Drops: 1
Another 3 objective mission yay! A bit of a pain to set up deployment for, but it’s cool, it’s nice to have some variance.
I was facing Lumineth. Again. Except now with double the Sentinels and Teclis, very different from my first game and I knew it would be a tougher one with the archers and various spells being able to easily pick off all 7 of my Heroes, taking away the Hearthguard Berserker’s 4+ Ward. Again, for the third time that day, I was handed first turn with my slow move but allowing some early objective control. Auric Hearthguard and Hearthguard Berserkers again tunnelled up turn 1 simple to try and kill off as many archers as possible since Teclis was placed well out of range. The Berserkers made their 9” charge thanks to a command point re roll, hitting a unit of Sentinels hard and tying up the unit of 20 Wardens, meaning that they were not able to break Shining Company in the next turn and were not able to charge the lone remaining Berserker to claim Broken Ranks since the rest of the unit had died to volley fire and spells, an interesting rules interaction and something to consider in future too!
I then lost my Magmadroth turn 2 to Sentinel fire and mortal wounds after failing to achieve Broken Ranks by failing numerous charges (and forgetting my Triumph!) which was the turning point of the game for the Lumineth.
I definitely chose poorly on Battle Tactics; leaving myself with none that I could achieve turn 4 or 5 cost me the game with an incredibly tight score of 14-13, Major Victory to Lumineth with Obaid coming 2nd overall. One of the closest and best games of 3rd edition I have yet played, giving me a newfound hatred for all things Aelven!
The Winners:
I wasn’t able to grab all of the lists as they weren’t handed in digitally to the TO, but the top 2 players had effectively very similar Lumineth lists. My third round opponent Obaid came in second overall. The first place winner only scored more overall because of the Strength of Scheduling points. Third place went to Daughters of Khaine rocking a Morathi list with mostly bow and spear snakes plus a Bloodwrack Shrine went 2-1 same as me, and I came 4th overall again just because of those points for strength of schedule.
Last Impressions:
This was a great event, very smoothly run, Bad Moon is a wonderful venue with amazing staff, the organizer Hugh was a fantastic TO and I would absolutely love to be involved in the next!
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