Warhammer 40K Arks of Omen Farsight Review

The huge Warhammer 40,000 narrative event continues in the next installment of Arks of Omen, this time with the legendary Tau Commander Farsight looking to end his campaign once and for all against the Orks. But have the Tau picked the wrong spot for their battle? And what interest does Vashtorr have with their conflict? Arks of Omen is the next phase of the Warhammer 40,000 ongoing narrative and continues with Arks of Omen Farsight. In this article, we'll look at what's in the book and what it adds to games of 40K.

What Are The Arks of Omen?

The Arks of Omen are a series of Warhammer 40,000 books that, along with containing details of the next stage of the 40K narrative, also include new rules for playing, focused on the included narrative campaign.

The Arks themselves are great space hulks, drawn out of the warp by Abaddon and his new ally, the chaos demigod of inventors, engineers, scientists, and artisans, Vashtorr, who is the focus of the third Arks of Omen book. Abaddon and Vashtorr have twisted these space hulks from their floating mass of dead ships, into powerful frigates that Abaddon filled with his warriors and sent out in search of powerful key fragments, that would see the dreams of Abaddon and Vashtorr fulfilled. We've previously covered additional Arks of Omen releases, including our review of Arks of Omen Abaddon, our coverage of Arks of Omen Angron, and our look at Arks of Omen Vashtorr.

In Arks of Omen Farsight, the Tau commander is on the verge of finishing his campaign against the Orks, when an Ark of Omen, ordered by Vashtorr arrives with its accompanying balefleet to throw a third enemy into the guns of the Tau.

What New Rules Are In Arks of Omen Farsight?

Games Workshop has said that following player feedback, there won't be any new rules in Arks of Omen for standard games, instead, in Arks of Omen, there are the rules for a whole new game type, Boarding Actions.

Boarding Actions take place in the close confines of the twisted corridors of space hulks, using the walled scenery recently found in Kill Team Into the Dark and Kill Team Shadowvault. 2 sets of the Kill Team scenery are required to play a standard boarding action game, so if you own both of those Kill Team sets, you already have all the scenery you'll need. If you don't, the Warhammer 40,000 Boarding Action Terrain set includes all the scenery you need to play in a single box.

Arks of Omen Farsight includes the rules for a variety of forces for use in Boarding Actions, which we detail below, along with several new missions and multiplayer games of boarding actions, but you will need a copy of Arks of Omen Abaddon for the Boarding Action core rules that Arks of Omen Farsight builds on. You can check out our review of Arks of Omen Abaddon here.

Which Factions Have Rules In Arks Of Omen Farsight?

Arks of Omen Farsight focuses on a few factions, adding special rules and list-building options for the following:

• Tau Empire
• Asuryani and Ynnari
• Drukhari
• Harlequins
• Adepta Sororitas

Each included faction has rules for Mustering a Boarding Patrol, Rules Adaptations, Enhancements, and Boarding Patrol Stratagems.

The Tau at the forefront of this book get some rules that help their ranged weapons in the confined corridors of Boarding Actions, rules like the Point-Blank Volley stratagem that gives Fire Warrior, Breacher, or Pathfinder weapons Pistol 2 in engagement range of enemies. The Drukhari have the option of the Breakneck Murderer enhancement, which allows the Warlord to reroll advance, and charge rolls, and stops any overwatch attacks against them. If flamers weren't difficult enough to escape in Boarding Actions, the Adeptus Sororitas Cleansed by Fire stratagem deals mortal wounds to their target on a hit roll of 4+.

Arks of Omen Farsight also includes 2 new ways to play. Rules and missions for 3 and 4-player games are provided, and also new Dark Depths games where players get to pick half of the board from 8 different options from which to attack their opponent's half and attempt to control objectives, eliminate the enemy leader, and their opponent's highest cost unit.

What Are Our Final Thoughts On The Warhammer 40K Arks of Omen Farsight?

The narrative in Arks of Omen Farsight has a concentrated focus on the three-way battle between the Tau, Orks, and the combined forces of Chaos sent by Vashtorr, it's a great read but doesn't feel like it has the larger narrative that the first 3 books had. As with the other books, the included rules focus on several factions and really bring out the unique flavor of each. The multiplayer games are interesting and fun, but the real joy here are the Dark Depths games where 2 forces go at each other boarding actions style after picking their side of the map. It reminds me a lot of Warhammer Underworlds, where players pick their board which has a huge impact on deployment zones and the style of play of your chosen force. I love the fire-zone corridors of Zeta and the bottleneck central area of Gamma for my Raven Guard.

Should I Buy Warhammer 40K Arks of Omen Farsight?

While the narrative in Arks of Omen Farsight is well-written and progresses the narrative, it doesn't do so quite to the extent of the previous 3 books. If you don't play boarding actions, then this won't have anything else for you as a player. If you do play boarding actions, but don't field any of the factions included in Farsight, then the Dark Depths and multiplayer rules are still a great addition. If you do play boarding actions and one of the included factions, then this will be a great purchase. The faction-specific rules add some great depth and uniqueness to the different factions.

The copy of Warhammer 40K Arks of Omen Farsight used to produce this review was provided by Games Workshop.