Warhammer Age of Sigmar Dominion Launch Box Preview

Dominion is the brand new boxed-set for Warhammer Age of Sigmar (AoS) that begins the next edition of the rules, AoS 3rd Edition. Rather than being a starter-set, which would contain everything needed to get playing, Dominion is a launch box for the new edition. In this article, we're going to look at what's in the box and talk about who it's for, as well as looking at some of the rules changes for the new edition of the hugely popular wargame.

Off The Shelf

Warhammer Age of Sigmar Dominion contains miniatures for the Stormcast Eternals and a new Orruk Clan, the Kruleboyz. All of the miniatures are new units introduced with this set or new sculpts for existing units. The only way to get these miniatures initially will be through Dominion until they're released separately, and if it's anything like the previous Indomitus box for Warhammer 40K, this will be a huge saving on buying them separately. Dominion contains sixty miniatures in total and is a limited edition box. Games Workshop has stated they've produced a lot, but it's sure to sell out fast, so be sure to pre-order it when it goes on sale.

Starter Set vs Launch Box

Games Workshop have been very specific that this isn't a starter set, which usually contains the rules, 2 forces, and all accessories to start playing. Dominion instead is a Launch Box and contains the 2 forces, Warscroll stat cards for all the miniatures in the box, a collectors edition of the rulebook, and War at Amberstone Watch, a booklet of the background lore for the set.

While Dominion is aimed at veteran hobbyists, it is still a great starting point for anyone looking to get into Warhammer Age of Sigmar with the latest edition. It won't be priced as a starter-set, but if you're interested in playing either the Stormcast Eternals or Kruleboyz, then this is a solid place to start, as all you need to add is a tape measure and dice. The miniatures are also push-fit, with only a few options for construction, so no glue required, which is perfect for the beginner hobbyist.

Dominion Miniatures

Dominion contains 2 forces of miniatures, the Stormcast Eternals, and the new Orruk Clan, the Kruleboyz.

Dominion Stormcast Eternals

The Stormcast Eternals in the Dominion box are part of an evolving force. The Stormcast Eternals are immortal warriors, who return to the world when slain, but recent events in the living narrative have meant that their return isn't as easy, so the Dominion Stormcast Eternals all wear the new Thunderstrike Armour, which makes their return to the world easier.

The Dominion Stormcast Eternals Thunderstrike force contains:

• 1x Yndrasta, The Celestial Spear - Yndrasta, a champion of Sigmar is a mighty force. With a fly move of twelve inches and a ranged attack of eighteen inches, she can threaten a huge amount of the battlefield. When she gets in close, she has four attacks, dealing three damage each with rend -2 to blast through enemy saves. She also reduces the effectiveness of nearby enemy monsters and can return slain friendly troops to nearby units each turn.
• 1x Lord-Imperatant - The Stormcast Thunderstrike units (of which all the Stormcast in Dominion are) can be set up in reserve and can arrive during the battle anywhere on the battlefield more than nine inches away from your opponents' units. The Lord-Imperatant is able to guide a Thunderstrike unit with greater accuracy onto the battlefield, reducing the distance from enemy units to seven inches when they arrive. They can also issue a command once per turn without using a command point. They have a range eighteen attack with D6 strikes so you don't need to push them into combat, and they're protected by a Gryph-hound to assist them in melee should the enemy engage them.
• 1x Knight-Arcanum - The Knight-Arcanum are wizards unit with access to the Blaze of Heavens spell, which can deal D3 mortal wounds to an enemy unit within eighteen inches. The range of the spell is boosted by two inches for every Thunderstrike unit within twelve inches of the Knight-Arcanum, so surround them with friendly warriors for a long-rage sniping spell.
• 1x Knight-Vexillor with Banner of Apotheosis - The Knight-Vexillor is a support unit carrying the Banner of Apotheosis, which once per game can heal 3D3 wounds or return slain warriors split between three units. The banner also lets you reroll failed charge rolls for Stormcast units within twelve inches.
• 1x Unit of three Annihilators - Annihilators are the Thunderstrike shock troopers and are best used with the Scions of the Storm ability to arrive from reserve directly onto the battlefield. When they are set up, enemy units within ten inches suffer D3 mortal wounds on a 3+. They can also reroll their charge roll on the turn they arrive, and after charging, they roll a number of dice equal to their charge roll, dealing mortal wounds to an enemy unit within one inch for each 4+.
• 1x Unit of three Praetors - Praetors are bodyguard units to Stormcast heroes, and are assigned to a hero at the start of the battle. If they are within three inches of their bound hero, whenever that hero suffers a wound, a roll determines if the hero takes the wound as normal the Praetors suffer the wound, or it is negated entirely.
• 2x Units of five Vindictors - The Thunderstrike line troopers, with two attacks each, they deal mortal wounds with their Stormspears on rolls of a six.

Dominion Orruk Kruleboyz

The Kruleboyz are a new breed of Orruk, more akin to shootin' and back-stabbin' than rushing headlong into a fight. They come from the marshes and bogs and are brand new with the release of Dominion.

The Dominion Orruk Kruleboyz force contains:

• 1x Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof - The mounted leader of the Kruleboyz is a menace in combat. With a movement of ten, the Great Gnashtoof is able to carry the boss into combat swiftly. The boss and mount together have a combined eight attacks, which get +1 to hit on a charge. The Kruleboyz Allegiance Ability, Venom-encrusted Weapons means that any roll of a six by a Kruleboyz unit deals mortal wounds equal to the damage value of the weapon, so eight attacks with this mounted Killaboss can make great use of this.
• 1x Killaboss with Stab-grot - The Killaboss with Stab-Grot has a choice of armaments, a Boss-hacka, and either a Skareshield or Rusting Flail. The Skareshiled raised the save of the boss and the Flail gives the boss an extra couple of attacks. The push-fit nature of the miniatures means that you're not committed to picking an armament and can change from game to game until you paint them. We opted for the flail though, as more dice in attack gives more chances of the Venom-encrusted Weapons ability doing its work. The Stab-Grot, as well as throwing in an additional three attacks, can take a wound for the boss and there's a chance can even negate the wound completely.
• 1x Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot - The Swampcalla Shaman can summon mists that add one to the charge rolls of friendly units and subtract one from the charge rolls of enemy units, or they can give nearby friendly units a poison or elixir to boost their venom-encrusted weapons or raise their saves.
• 1x Murknob with Belcha-banna - The Murknob armed with the Belcha-banna protects nearby friendly units from spells, and can also deal mortal wounds to nearby enemy units.
• 1x Unit of three Man-skewer Boltboyz - The Boltboyz offer the Dominion Orruks a ranged attack to weaken the enemy heroes, or soften up units before they charge in. They can fire two attacks at twelve inches, or if they don't move and have no enemy units nearby, they can fire twenty-four inches with a much-improved chance to hit.
• 1x Unit of ten Gutrippaz - The Gutrippaz can reduce the capability of enemy units before charging in. If they can beat the bravery score of an enemy unit within twelve inches, that unit suffers -1 to hit rolls against the Gutrippaz. They have two attacks each with a range of two inches, to make good use of their venom-encrusted weapons.
• 2x Units of ten Hobgrot Slittaz - Dominion includes two units of ten Hobgrot Slittaz, and each unit can be built with a Champion, Standard Bearer, and Musician. They're armed with both a range eight grenade, and a two attack close combat weapon that can deal extra hits on a roll of a six. With a 6+ save, they won't withstand a direct charge from the Stormcast for long, but they can tie them up and try to bring them down with volume of attacks.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar 3rd Edition

The new 3rd edition rulebook for Warhammer Age of Sigmar has some big changes for AoS. Most have been announced and shown by Games Workshop during the build-up to launch. The new core rulebook in Dominion has a full-art cover that's only available with the Dominion box and shows Yndrasta bringing the hurt on some Chaos spawn.

The new rulebook is a weighty tome. It rocks in at 360 pages, with the first 243 pages covering the background history and details of each AoS faction in gloriously illustrated detail. 

There are some tightening up of rules, as well as big changes to monsters and heroes who get to use Heroic Actions and Monsterous Rampage abilities each turn. Our favorite is the monstrous Stomp, which can deal mortal wounds to any enemy units that brave getting close to your monster. Going second now also generates another command point, which can be spent on Reactive Command Abilities issued by your heroes like Unleash Hell, which can be used to shoot an enemy after their charge move.

Play in the new edition is still split between Games Workshop's trilogy of play-styles, Matched, Open and Narrative, and uses a Battlepack system to control game setup. Open play is less restrictive, and the Battlepack suggests table sizes and the number of terrain features to match point sizes, giving players freedom of force creation. Matched Play Battlepacks aim to balance games, and put more restrictions on force creation by restricting the number of leaders and endless spells and point limiting allied units.

Narrative play has a new Path to Glory system, similar to the new 40K Crusade system, where your units gain renown point each battle that can be used to gain veteran abilities, such as Defensive Formation, that can be used once per battle to subtract one from the wound rolls against it during an attack. Troops taken out during Path to Glory games may reduce the number of warriors in the unit unless they are recuperated after the battle by spending Glory Points. Glory Points are earned after each battle and can also be used to add new units in order to build your force for the next game in the campaign.

Dominion is an incredible box, with some amazing miniatures. We're going to be starting a Stormcast Eternal Thunderstrike force for a Path to Glory campaign using the new miniatures.

A 2-week pre-order window goes live for Dominion on 19 June 2021 and it will release on 03 July 2021.

This copy of Warhammer Age of Sigmar Dominion used to produce this preview was provided by Games Workshop.