Games Workshop Warhammer AoS - Soulblight Gravelords Deathrattle Skeletons

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The Mortal Realms are dotted with dozens, if not hundreds of long-dead and ruined kingdoms and nations. Torn apart by war, famine, death or whatever else may cause the downfall of a people. Most of these are however found in Shyish. Ruined castles, overgrown crypts and half-collapsed barrows are all to be found there along with the skeletal remains of their inhabitants. This doesn’t mean these places are dead, on the contrary. These now Deathrattle Kingdoms are still somewhat alive, a skeletal Wight King ruling over his undead subjects and commanding legions of Deathrattle Skeletons to battle. These regimented hordes of ancient armour and bone are enough to make any mortal tremble in fear or die to their rusted weapons.

One in every 10 models can become a Standard Bearer, carrying an ancient and tattered battle flag to the fray. This standard allows you to reroll 1’s of the roll for your Deathless Minions battle trait for the unit. Furthermore, the Deathrattle Skeletons are a Skeleton Legion. This ability allows you to roll a dice for every slain skeleton during their fight phase, on a 4+ it is reanimated and re-joins their comrades in their eternal war. Inside Battletome: Soulblight Gravelords, you’ll find all the warscrolls, battle traits, and more to field an army of vampires and their risen minions. Nagash himself is even making an appearance, so perhaps all that moaning about being broken was just some classic melodrama. I’ve always felt however that they don’t really belong to Age of Sigmar, they’re borrowed from old Warhammer and ever since the setting was created they’ve felt like a fish out of water, allowed to linger on in the new setting because we’re all too polite to tell them that the setting they belong to burned to the ground six years ago and they weren’t on it. Whilst some of the other old world survivors, Morathi for instance, or Nagash himself, have really grown into their new roles these two old timers never really seemed to fit. Introducing new vampire characters has only emphasised this divide. I suppose BelladammaVolga could almost come riding across the steps of Kislev and perhaps Lauka Vai might lurk on some lonely island off the coast of Lustria or Naggaroth, but really these are creatures of the new Realms – and Neferata and Mannfred belong to the old. Perhaps as the new range beds in I’ll change my mind, or perhaps they’ll just be allowed to live out their days quietly on the shelves of Games Workshop stores until the Old World project is finally unveiled and they’re able to find their way home at last.Wight Kings are the rulers of the Deathrattle Kingdoms. While they have lost their sense of morality, their hunger for conquest and war has not and their tactical acumen remains as sharp as ever. Thus unburdened by doubt and weariness, the Deathrattle phalanxes react instantly to their lord’s commands. [5b]

Having set the bar very high by imagining how good these could look for at least the last decade or so these vampires were going to have to work hard to impress me – but they rose to the challenge with aplomb. It’s replacement meanwhile is a joy to behold, although that might in part be a reaction the years of suffering that we fans of the undead have endured at the cold dead hands of its predecessor. The zombies therein appear to be both full of character and fairly versatile – perfect for building up an undead hoard.They are armed with pitted Ancient Swords and Spears paired with battered Crypt Shields. They are clad in corroded armour. [1] [2] [3b] [3c] Miniatures Soulblight Gravelords: The Wight Kings that lead Deathrattle armies - whether being cruel Shyishian despots or enlightened Hyshian philosarchs - feel a deep sense of pride and individuality within them, making all but the weakest of them difficult to dominate by any but the Mortarchs and Nagash himself, as many a foolish Necromancer and Vampire Lord has found out. Thus, wise Soulblight monarchs often form alliances and pacts of mutual respect with the Deathrattle Kingdoms - offering them freedom of conquest and mountains of corpses with which to reinforce their hosts, in return for serving as valuable lieutenants and champions. With the coming of the Ossiarch Bonereapers, these alliances are becoming more necessary for all but the most stubborn of Kingdoms to survive. [3a] Particularly strong and capable bearers of the Soulblight curse come to command entire armies of their lesser kin, striking out across the realms to conquer their own domains. These Vampire Lords are incredibly powerful figures, strong both martially and magically, and with the indomitable will to hold together thousands of undead servants.

If you’d asked me a few months ago to come up with a wishlist of models I’d like to see in this release then theBlood Knights would have been second only to the Zombies (more on them below). The oldBlood Knights were nice enough models but, and I know this is just personal taste, I never really liked them that much – which is unfortunate because I loved the concept behind them and the artwork which often made them look brooding and terrible to behold.

Scampering around his feet we have a pair of little Vyrkos Blood-Born. These diminutive vampires were once the nobility of the Cursed City who swore themselves to Radukar and were reborn as these half-feral creatures. Seeing them on Radukar’s base is a nice touch, providing a nod to the Cursed City game whilst also serving to emphasise how big the vampire lord has now grown. However I can’t help but wonder if, in the future, they might look a little out of context. Without the game from which they originated, and with it having remained on the shelves for such a brief time, there’s very little that looks like them elsewhere in the range. Who knows though, maybe someday the little scamps will get their own kit? Skeletons. The ubiquitous fantasy baddie. Whether guarding some broke treasure in a cave or gathering by thousands at the will of a necromancer, skeletons have been striking terror into the hearts of the living for ages. In this article we will look at 28-32mm plastic skeleton infantry kits from Games Workshop, past and present, and kits that are commonly available from other manufacturers. First we’ll dig up skeletons from the Games Workshop vault and look at how they have progressed to the latest kit. In the second section we will explore the offerings of other miniature companies and offer a comparison of features and price. The Line Up: From left to right: GW 1988, GW 1998, GW 2008, GW 2008(Grave Guard), GW 2021, Mantic, Oathmark, Wargames Atlantic, Warlord (Wargames Factory) Note: grid squares are 1/4 inch. Did you hear that? The chiming of the midnight bell, the chitterling of bats, the groaning of the crypt door… The Vampire Counts, once a staple of Warhammer Fantasy, are rising from the grave and they’re doing it in style! Despite all this enthusiasm however I do see why she might not be everyone’s cup of tea. What’s more although I think she’s great I actually prefer her as a special character, a one-off horror rather than part of a whole bizarre species. Much though I like her I struggle to maintain the same level of enthusiasm for the Vengorian Lord, the generic version of the same kit.

Despite the Soul Wars coming to an end, the vampiric conquerors of the Soulblight Gravelords are setting out on the warpath to bring more of the Mortal Realms under their despotic control. Nagash’s body may be broken,* but his drive to conquer the lands of the living burns on, and these Vampire Lords will see his will done. As an Undead fan who started the Warhammer hobby in the late 90’s, I already had the GW kits on hand. For the purposes of this article I bought one sprue of each kit from other manufacturers. It makes a lot of sense for wargamers to look at miniatures available outside Games Workshop when they’re looking for gaming pieces. Early on in my hobby days I often wondered how I could fill out an army without paying the GW tax for their ‘premium’ models. There weren’t many options at that time, and finding them could be difficult. Today however there are a variety of models available. Mantic recently released Ancient Egyptian styled skeletons in their Army of Dust, they look neat, but don’t really fit the flavor of this article. Games Workshop: 1988 Skeleton Warriors First plastic skeleton warriors with metal command. Source: Undead Army Book by Games Workshop Much like bats wolves get a bad press. Despite being pretty much harmless unless you’re a sheep wolves have carved out a special place in European nightmares, ready at any moment to set upon hapless peasants, blow up the houses of little pigs or dress up as people’s grandmothers. These wolves navigate neatly around the debate over whether we should live in existential dread of these animals by being zombies – and everything is scary once it’s a zombie! Personally I like these new wolves, they have a nice sense of movement to them and the poses look suitably hungry and predatory. Games Workshop have really struggled to sculpt decent looking wolves in the past but with these, and BelladammaVolga (below) they’ve at last managed to pull off something quite stylish. All the trailing drool is a bit unnecessary and over-eggs things a bit but it’s nothing a hobby knife won’t cure.Some Wight Kings can go to battle mounted on Skeletal Steeds. The incorporeal bodies of these steeds can carry them through walls and across fens with ease. [1a] [1c] [2] Wargear Whilst the Rat Prince tends towards an appearance of civilised melancholy Lady Annika appears to be a much more vicious creature indeed. If you like your vampires to keep their murderous inclinations beneath the thinnest veneer of civilisation then this could well be the girl for you.