With the Mortal Realms consumed by eternal war, the followers of Khorne are always having a good time. They say that you never have to work a day in your life if you love your job, and the Blades of Khorne have got it all figured out. Whatever their outlook on life, these lacerating lunatics have a new battletome on the way. This new book contains a revamp of their signature army ability, giving you the power to bring even more carnage to the battlefield.
Blood Tithe points are still the common currency of murder, and as Khorne cares not from where the blood flows, you still earn a point for every unit destroyed. However, instead of spending points to use abilities, you use them once per Battle Round at the start of any turn to permanently unlock abilities from a new branching tree.
Murderlust 0
Divine Scorn 1
Punish the Pacifist 1
Murder the Mystic 2
Glorious Combat or Naught 2
Revel in Battle 3
Slaughter Triumphant 4
Cleave Wide the Grin of Khorne 4
Your basic ability is Murderlust, which is unlocked for free – how generous of the big red guy. After a charge roll, you get to chuck another dice and choose whether to replace one of your initial dice with it, your warriors suffering D3 mortal damage in the process as they tear muscle and tendon to throw themselves into battle.
Once you’ve lopped off a few heads – or have been on the receiving end of a pasting – you can spend points to unlock a new ability. Divine Scorn is an obvious choice, the withering glare of Khorne sapping a wizard’s power levels until they regain their courage at the start of the next turn, while Punish the Pacificist harms units that shy away from combat, including your own if you’re unlucky.
Once Per Turn (Army), Reaction: You declared a CHARGE ability (0)
MURDERLUST
When worthy opponents are near, the impulse to kill becomes all-consuming.
You do not need to unlock this ability to use it. It is already unlocked.
Effect: Roll a dice. You can replace one of the dice in the charge roll with that value. If you do so, inflict D3 mortal damage on the unit using that CHARGE ability after that ability is resolved.
KEYWORDS: BLOOD TITHE
Once Per Turn, Start of Any Turn (1)
DIVINE SCORN
The battlefield is Khorne's temple, and Khorne's alone.
Declare: Pick up to 3 enemy WIZARDS or PRIESTS within 6" of any friendly BLADES OF KHORNE units to be the target(s).
Effect: Roll a dice for each target. On a 3+, subtract 1 from the target's power level, to a minimum of 0, until the start of the next turn.
KEYWORDS: BLOOD TITHE
Then you can either dip into Glorious Combat or Naught to subtract 1 from the hit rolls of shooting attacks that target your units, or specialise further in the time-honoured art of wizard-hating with Murder the Mystic. This ability lets you make banishment rolls against up to four manifestations, dealing mortal damage to any craven souls hiding behind their conjurations. Revel in Battle on the other hand is locked behind Punish the Pacificist, and nullifies the effect of weapon abilities on units that charge yours – only good, honest fighting here please.
Your Hero Phase (2)
MURDER THE MYSTIC
Those who cower behind conjured spellcraft will be punished severely.
You can only unlock this ability if you have unlocked 'Divine Scorn'.
Declare: Pick up to 4 enemy MANIFESTATIONS to be the target(s).
Effect: Make a banishment roll of 2D6 for each target. If the banishment roll equals or exceeds the banishment value listed on that MANIFESTATION’s warscroll, inflict D3 mortal damage on each enemy unit within 3" of it and then it is banished and removed from play.
KEYWORDS: BLOOD TITHE
Passive (3)
REVEL IN BATTLE
No tricks - no deceptions.
You can only unlock this ability if you have unlocked 'Punish the Pacifist'.
Effect: Other than the Companion weapon ability, weapon abilities for combat attacks made by enemy units that charged this turn and that target a friendly BLADES OF KHORNE unit have no effect.
KEYWORDS: BLOOD TITHE
At the top tier, Slaughter Triumphant grants all units that charge an extra attack, while Cleave Wide the Grin of Khorne – how poetic – adds 1 to hit rolls for all combat attacks you make. Your path through these unlocks may be a bit of a headscratcher for an army that is usually more concerned with lopping off heads, letting you tailor your approach to battle and shed blood even more efficiently.
Thankfully, there is one final battle trait that’s pleasingly straightforward. When at least half of the total units of both player’s army lists are destroyed, the battlefield becomes so Blood-Drenched that the Blades of Khorne are driven absolutely wild.
Once Per Battle, Any Hero Phase
BLOOD-DRENCHED
As blood gushes down blades, armour and teeth, the fervent warriors of the Blood God are driven into a divine frenzy.
Declare: You can use this ability if at least half the number of units on both players' army rosters combined (rounding up) have been destroyed. For example, if your roster had 9 units and your opponent's roster had 4 units, then 7 units would need to have been destroyed.
Effect: The following effects apply for the rest of the battle:
Wild-eyed Brutality: Ignore positive modifiers to save rolls for friendly BLADES OF KHORNE units.
Blood Haze: Blood-hungry weapons used by friendly BLOODBOUND units have Crit (Mortal).
Weapons of Murder: Add 1 to the Rend characteristic of Blood-hungry weapons used by friendly BLADES OF KHORNE non-MONSTER-DAEMON units, including Blood-hungry Companion weapons.
Bloodlords Supreme: Add 1 to the Damage characteristic of Blood-hungry weapons used by friendly BLADES OF KHORNE MONSTER units.
Warriors throw themselves even more eagerly into battle without concern for their safety, and all Blood-hungry* weapons across the army unlock brutal new abilities. Who doesn’t want to have Bloodthirsters swinging axes blessed with extra damage, or Blood Warriors trade up from Crit (Auto-wound) to Crit (Mortal) on their goreweapons? Well, apart from the people staring down the frenzied horde that is.
We’ll be checking in with the berserk Blades of Khorne again on Thursday, to take a look at the Deathbringer and their new Armies of Renown.
* A weapon ability exclusive to certain armaments equipped by Blades of Khorne units.
