New Warhammer Flesh-Eater Courts Review - Deluded Grandeur

Though the crusaders of the Twin-Tailed Crusade have fended off all sorts of threats from the forces of destruction, they now face a challenge unlike any they've yet faced: the undead! Grab your shovels, because we're back with a quick review of the newest release in the Dawnbringers series of campaign and story adventures for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, as well as new releases for the undead Flesh-Eater Courts army, led by the towering and ruthless Ushoran! Games Workshop sent me copies of this week's pre-release new releases to review, so read on for my thoughts!

What's Included in Dawnbringers Book IV: The Mad King Rises?

Included in Dawnbringers Book IV: The Mad King Rises are over 40 pages of lore detailing the next trials and tribulations of the Twin-Tailed Crusade. Now as the Crusade moves on, the mad king Ushoran sets his sights (and the sights of his Flesh-Eater Courts) on the God-King's righteous soldiers. Also lurking is Sekhar, Fang of the Nulahmia, the ancient vampiric servant of Nefarata. With twists, turns, and lots of bad fortune, Dawnbringers Book IV is a doomy, gloomy treat for fans of the lore.

The Book also includes rules for Armies of Renown and Regiments of Renown, Battleplans for conflict taking place in this northern region, crusade rules for both Ghyranite and Aqshian Crusades in this realm, and Army Rules for both Sekhar, Fang of Nulahmia and Ushoran, Mortarch of Delusion.

New Flesh-Eater Courts Units

Along with this Dawnbringers book, I also got sent a bunch of new Flesh-Eater Courts models. So let's dive in and see what they're all about!

Ushoran, Mortarch of Delusion

Let's start with the big boy of this set of releases, Ushoran, Mortarch of Delusion. Ushoran leads the Flesh-Eater Courts as a font of cursed madness. Here are his stats:

• Move: 10"
• Wounds: 16
• Save: 4+
• Bravery: 10

For attacks, Ushoran wields Monstrous Claws and Fangs which, at full health, deal out 10 attacks. And his Sceptre of the Carrion King (what a metal name for a weapon) has a 3+ Hit, 2+ Wound, -2 Rend, dealing D3+3 Damager per wound. This is not the kind of warmaster you leave in the back of the fray.

As a Wizard, he can attempt to cast and unbind 2 spells, and if he's part of a Flesh-Eater Courts army, he's granting nearby friendly units an additional Courts of Delusion battletrait beyond the first one you choose (these offer small boons the length of the battle). He can also impose the "Strike Last" effect on enemy units, has a 5+ ward and can heal 2D3 wounds during the hero phase.

Most potent of all (beyond those claws and fangs) is his Glimpse of Delusion special ability, which effectively makes an enemy unit see one of their own friendlies as monstrous, attacking their own army. Though he is expensive to field at 460 points, it's also like... who else ya got in FEC that's going to move the needle as much as he can! Well, some other new entries may just help!

Grand Justice Gormayne

The Grand Justice Gormayne may be one of the nastiest (in a good way) designed Flesh-Eater Courts models I've ever seen! This judge, with a wig made of entrails, has the following stats:

• Move: 6"
• Wounds: 6
• Save: 4+
• Bravery: 10

He attacks with his gore-streak gavel, but that's not really how this model shines. At the start of each Hero phase, Grand Justice Gormayne uses his Pronounce Judgement special ability on an enemy unit.

From "Petty Transgression" which adds 1 to wound rolls of friendly units when they target, to "Regicide" which adds 1 to the damage characteristic of weapons used by friendlies against a target, there's a ton of flexible buffing going on here. Plus, it just looks so damned cool!

Abhorrant Cardinal

His holiness the Abhorrant Cardinal now enters the fray! Decked out in religious robes, the Abhorrant Cardinal has the following stats:

• Move: 6"
• Wounds: 5
• Save: 5+
• Bravery: 10

With a moderately useful weapon, and the ability to head D3 wounds during your hero phase, the big shining moment for this model is its special ability Speak in Tongues. Speak in Tongues reads: "Speak in Tongues is a prayer that has an answer value of 3 and a range of 18". If answered, pick 1 enemy unit within range and visible to the chanter. Until your next hero phase, roll a dice each time that enemy unit receives a command. On a 4+, that command has no effect.

This is, I think, maybe a spicier ability than it may seem at first glance. Giving yourself a 50/50 chance to shut down your enemy's commands could be very beneficial, even if this isn't the splashiest model in the range.

Royal Decapitator

Finally, let's talk about one of my favorite models of this new batch for the Flesh-Eater Courts, the Royal Decapitator. Armed with a Headsman's Axe, he's out to ensure the King's justice is meted out with brutal efficiency. His stats are:

• Move: 6"
• Wounds: 5
• Save: 5+
• Bravery: 10

He has two abilities, one that lets nearby Serfs units attack immediately, but the real juicy ability here is Off with their Head!, which reads: "At the end of the combat phase, if any wounds caused by this unit's Headsman's Axe in that phase were allocated to an enemy Hero and that enemy Hero has not been slain, roll a dice. On a 5+, that enemy Hero is slain."

Excuse me? If you can sneak him (and he will be a big target) up to a powerful hero and get him to ding in a few hits with his Axe, you could be looking at an auto-kill of some seriously powerful enemy heroes. Now I know, this is one of those abilities where the stars kind of have to perfectly align, but think how good it would feel to lop off Kragnos's head with one quick slice from this 5-wound little dude?

Dawnbringers: Fangs of the Blood Queen

Also pre-releasing this week is the newest Dawnbringers box set, Fangs of the Blood Queen. This set looks amazing, though we haven't put it all together yet, focusing on Sekhar and a trove of giant monster bats and wolves. This, to me, is what the Soulblight Gravelords is all about - big, scary monsters and a freaky lady petting a giant snake.

Games Workshop currently has her warscroll free to check out for yourself, and I really like all of her stats. But the ability The Time Swallower's Maw (again, so metal) really shines for me. It reads: "Once per battle, at the start of the combat phase, you can say that Ouboroth will use the Time-Swallower’s Maw. If you do so, roll 2D6. Each enemy unit within 6" of this unit whose Move characteristic is lower than the roll suffers a number of mortal wounds equal to the difference between its Move characteristic and the roll."

That's such a fun, and kind of weird ability. I love when we get abilities that feel thematically linked to the characters, and do something other than "add 1 to Attack rolls targeting this model." This is the kind of flavor I crave!

Flesh-Eater Courts New Arrivals - Final Thoughts

All in all I think these new Flesh-Eater Courts arrivals are a lot of fun thematically. They all look absolutely incredible. And while some of the smaller units may be slightly underwhelming, I think FEC needed some good buffing. If you're looking to add some more nuance to your Flesh-Eater Courts army, you should definitely consider at least a few of these new releases.

And as for the Fangs of the Blood Queen box, it's just pretty rad and if you're building (or looking to start) a Soulblight army, this monstrous box is kind of a no-brainer.

The products used in the creation of this review were provided to TechRaptor by Games Workshop. All images, unless credited to Games Workshop, are courtesy of the author. The terrain used in the background of these images was provided by Battle Systems Tabletop Games & Terrain.