This week saw Games Workshop release a preview of some of the new rules from the upcoming Disciples of Tzeentch Battletome for Age of Sigmar. Specifically, the preview focused on some of the rules around magic, and the Gaunt Summoners in particular.
The Disciples were my first army back during the first edition of Age of Sigmar, so I do have an interest in this army, even if I’m not playing or building them just now. There were four rules previewed:
- Arcane Armies
- Lords of the Silver Towers
- Silvered Portal
- Beacon of Sorcery
Let’s just dive on in and take a look, eh?
1. Arcane Armies
Thematically, this is pretty cool. Tzeentch is all about the magics, and this ensures that you’re getting your endless spells (or one of them, at least) out right at the start. It’s not like you’re going to be running Disciples of Tzeentch without any wizards, so you’ll likely have choices as to who will cast the spell.
Assuming there are not massive changes to the endless spells in this book (there may well be – I don’t know) I’d most likely use this ability to cast Tome of Eyes. It’s a useful spell that sticks pretty close by the caster as they move. I’d worry about the utility of casting the other spells, depending on the deployment zones, as I might not get the most use out of them early on and they might even be a hindrance, rather than a boon.
It’s a cool rule. It’s very thematic. It’s not my favourite of the previewed rules.
2. Lords of the Silver Towers
This is a fun defensive ability. It’s not totally different from things like the Snatcha Boss, but just done as a reaction, rather than as an affirmative action on your own turn. It’s only really useful against smaller heroes where you are likely to be able to roll above their wounds characteristic on 2D6. Generally, this means heroes on foot. I like that the ability is usable in any phase, meaning that it can be used in reaction not only to melee and ranged attacks, but also spells, impact hits from charging, and other odds and ends.
The flexibility does help a bit in making this useful, given that you’re already going to be limited by the enemy’s wounds characteristic. It’s a fun ability, but necessarily one to depend on in any meaningful way – and that’s okay. Think of it as a bonus when it actually kills something. Sorry, not kills. Removes something from play. Useful dev note, there!
3. Silvered Portals
Okay, I’m not the best at using reserves-type rules. I often overlook them, and that is likely to my cost. Silvered Portal seems interesting for a couple of reasons. First, the fact that the Gaunt Summoner on Disc has been added to the Disciples of Tzeentch book (previously it was only the one on foot that was in there, and the disc rider was in the Slaves to Darkness book) meaning that the Summoners have much more mobility than they did before. This means that a summoner can bomb up the table and drop his units, giving significantly more movement than your typical unit of, say, Pink Horrors, would otherwise have had. That’s pretty great.
The other thing to note is the keyword given. You’ll note above that the Arcane Armies rule applied to “Disciples of Tzeentch” wizards, whereas this rule relates to “Tzeentch” units. The difference here is that this means that your Gaunt Summoner can hold Tzeentch-marked Slaves to Darkness and Beasts of Chaos units in their towers, rather than just units from the Disciples of Tzeentch book. This opens up more options for different units to drop in when you consider Allies/Coalition units.
When I first looked at the rules, this was the one I was least interested in. Now, reflecting on the rules, it’s probably my favourite. It does rely on your Gaunt Summoner surviving, though. Keep him alive until those units are deployed or they are gone.
4. Beacon of Sorcery
This is a really useful ability that, ultimately, isn’t that interesting. It’s a very simple rule that is helpful to your casters. It’s also not entirely new, being more of an update of or replacement for an older rule from the Lord of Change warscroll. That rule read:
The new rule improves upon this massively. First of all, nothing is lost. There are no benefits from the old rule that you no longer get. What’s great is that unlike the old version, the new one is not a command ability, meaning that it won’t cost you a command point to use. It seems to now be a passive, always-on aura around the Lord of Change. Fantastic! The new version also benefits a far wider selection of units. Previously, it only affected Tzeentch Wizards who were also Daemons. Now, it’s any Tzeentch Wizards, whether Daemonic or Mortal. We saw similar changes in the Maggotkin of Nurgle book, allowing mortal and daemon units to just work together than wee bit better. It’s also got that “Tzeentch” keyword again, rather than “Disciples of Tzeentch“, meaning that allied/coalition wizards of Tzeentch can benefit as well.
It’s also nice to have lots of spells to choose from. Cannae forget that bit!
Final Thoughts
I’m really positive about these rules. They’re all cool, thematic, and potentially useful. Of course, taking any new rule in abstraction isn’t a great way to look at them. What will make or break a rule is how it fits into the wider context of the Battletome; how it interacts with other rules and warscrolls. That said, this was a good preview that provided interesting snippets of what to expect.
The changes to Beacon of Sorcery makes the Lord of Change so much more efficient. No longer are you spending command points for a basic, thematically-appropriate effect.
Silvered Portal is also a great addition. I wonder if this will replace the Gaunt Summoner’s ability to summon a unit of Pink Horrors. If it does, I’m actually okay with that. I mean, I’d like both abilities, but if I can only have one, I’ll take Silvered Portal, please. I like that it applies to allied/coalition units as well, giving yet more flexibility.
I’m feeling pretty hopeful for this Battletome. let’s just see what the billionth new warscroll for Pink Horrors ends up looking like.
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