Shining a light on Battletome: Lumineth Realm-lords with Ryan from Threshold Tactics

We had a fascinating look through the new battle trait for the Lumineth Realm-lords recently and saw just how fun etching runic inscriptions onto the battlefield will be – so much so, that we wanted to hear what other members of the Warhammer community thought of it. We passed both the new Lumineth Realm-lords and Disciples of Tzeentch battletomes to Ryan from Threshold Tactics, and he’s here today with his take on the refreshed aelves of Hysh.

Ryan: The new Lumineth Realm-lords battletome redefines the way Lumineth armies play, with a new battle trait, spell lore changes, battle formations, and changes to warscrolls.

Runic inscriptions

The battle trait allows you to document the compelling and unique story of your army throughout the course of the game. Each battle round, you choose a single rune and inscribe it onto your personalised battle scripture, acting as a sort of Scinari Calligrave biographer of your army’s own history. 

As your story develops, you get different buffs to hand out to units for that battle round, depending on not only the rune you just inscribed, but the previous ones too. As such, there are literally thousands of different paths you might take to victory, each leaning specifically into not only your army roster, but also the tactical demands at hand as the battle evolves. One particular choice is to keep choosing the same rune every round, functionally spreading the buffs to an additional two units each battle round until your whole army is, say, protected by a Ward (5+) via Alaithi, Rune of the Mountain.

But leaning into only one rune for the whole battle ends up leaving much potential by the wayside. Each of the four elemental runes reacts to certain other runes on your battle scripture, granting your targeted units with additional enhanced effects as rewards for diversifying your army’s background. Let’s say you once again choose Alaithi for the Ward (5+), but this time it’s after a round where you had previously chosen Varinor, Rune of Strength, and Ydriliqi, Rune of the River, granting the chosen units Anti-charge (+1 Rend) and -1 to wound rolls for enemy units in combat with them. 

The potential permutations are too many to go through here, and we haven’t even scratched the prism-etched surface of Thalari, Rune of the Zenith – or the myriad ways that warscrolls and other abilities can interact with the system – but trust me when I say it will offer a pleasant challenge for the commander judiciously driving the armies of Hysh forward in battle. 

Spells from on high

Though the change-loving Disciples of Tzeentch fashion themselves as the most magical amongst the armies of the Mortal Realms, the Lumineth Realm-lords are certainly not lacking, with an all-new spell lore added to the battletome in addition to the Lore of Hysh.

While the Lore of Hysh’s Overwhelming Heat has remained the same, the unlimited spell has become Beacon of Hysh, which means a Lumineth unit can only be hit on unmodified 4s or higher, including with shooting attacks, offering an impressive protection for a substantial portion of your forces – if you brought enough wizards to battle. Rounding out the Lore of Hysh is an anti-horde spell, Piercing Refraction, helping to deliver a bit more punch next to the protective nature of the lore. 

What I’m particularly excited about trying out is the Lore of the Awakened Realms. A rebranded Protection of Hysh is here, renamed Realmshield, giving all units wholly within 12” of the caster a Ward (5+), which nicely reduces the need to inscribe too many Runes of the Mountain on your battle scripture. 

The unlimited spell, Focused Erosion, reduces the Rend of enemy units by 1, including their shooting attacks, and taking into account the considerable 18” reach of the spell, there’s a very real possibility that your opponent’s army will become quite pillow-fisted upon arrival into your awaiting Wall of Blades, via the new Vanari Lord Regent. Lastly, and perhaps most excitingly, is Elemental Push, which can push a Lumineth unit out of combat, to enable a fresh charge with your Dawnriders, some clever repositioning of troops, or the setting up of a fastball special with the newly reworked Light of Eltharion (more on him later). 

More boons to your wizardry come from Archmage Teclis, who now knows all the spells of both lores and all of the warscroll spells for your units on the battlefield, the Scinari Enlightener – whose double-casting has been greatly strengthened – and the Sanctum of Amyntok manifestation, which can now surround any unit you like with a Health characteristic of 10 or less. 

Fortified formations

No aspiring general is complete without a battle formation that complements their finely honed tactical acumen, and in Battletome: Lumineth Realm-lords, we have a splendid set of options. 

The Warhost of Duality resurrects the old battle trait of allowing two Lumineth units to fight in sequence in the Fight phase instead of one. Also on the aggressive side is Pilgrims of Haixiah, which offers the novel ability for all units to use the Power Through command, even if they haven’t charged – though they must still have a higher Health characteristic than the unit they’re in combat with. What this allows you to do is guarantee that if, say, a unit that’s better on the charge (like Vanari Dawnriders) got tagged in combat during your opponent’s turn, they can escape out of combat with a well-timed Power Through to set you up for maximum output the following turn – or just to help ensure you steal an objective.

You can go defensive with the Aelementor Guardians, which generates a protective bubble around one of your monsters, ignoring the first damage point allocated each phase to friendly units nearby. 

For the more magically minded, the revamped Scinari Council turns all of the spells from your two spell lores into unlimited spells! Want to push multiple units out of combat? Now you can use Elemental Push as many times as you have wizards, albeit on different units. How about giving out more Ward (5+) via Realmshield? Everything is within reach with the right formation.

Luminating lieutenants

The most significant changes to Lumineth Realm-lords warscrolls come with the heroes. Who better to start off with than the Light of Eltharion himself? 

This version has forgone his ethereal save and recursion for an increased 3+ Save and 4+ Ward, the Shoot in Combat rule – where he wants to be, of course – and increased output from his Fangsword of Eltharion. But what really makes this version stand out is his new Valorous Intervention ability. In any combat phase where he currently isn’t in combat, you can instantly teleport him to a place of need next to any friendly unit in combat, and set him right in the middle of the fray. 

As mentioned before, if you use Elemental Push to push him just out of combat in the Hero phase, he can then repeat this process, perhaps landing somewhere more tactically sound. He doesn’t even need to have visibility of the friendly unit he teleports to, making his jumps incredibly powerful for board control and winning an important fight.

Notable mentions also come for the figureheads of three temples: Avalenor for the Alarith temple, Sevireth for the Hurakan, and Lyrior Uthralle for the Vanari. Each shares an ability allowing all units from their temple wholly within 12” of them to count as if they have an additional instance of their respective rune on your battle scripture for their warscroll abilities. 

For example, Lyrior Uthralle boosts Vanari Bladelords’ new weapon ability, increasing the rend of their weapons by 1 for each instance of the Rune of Strength. Furthermore, these unique Heroes also let nearby temple-mates count as having one instance of their own rune for the purposes of triggering the enhanced effects of other runes. This allows you to forgo committing to the rune of their specific temple early on, but still get the enhanced effects down the line for other runes that synergise with them. 

Of particular note is the impact of Avalenor, the Stoneheart King, on his fellow Alarith. By adding in an extra instance of the Rune of the Mountain, you’re able to push not only the output of his Firestealer Hammers up into the high peaks, but also that of the Spirit of the Mountain’s Stoneheart Worldhammer, all via their shared warscroll ability With the Force of a Landslide. And even with just one instance of the Rune of the Mountain, Alarith Stoneguard within Avalenor’s bubble have a Save of 3+, which can then be improved to a 2+ with a well-timed All-Out Defence. 

On the subject of runes, I’d be remiss to neglect the power of the Scinari Calligrave. While you might be writing your own story for your army, your Calligrave would perhaps be considered your editor, as they can, once per battle, allow you to swap one previously inscribed non-Zenith rune. This is particularly great for quickly diversifying your battle scripture, or allowing you to choose two extra units with a new activation of a given rune by switching a former choice to the one you’re planning on picking next.

Light at the end of the tunnel

While my heart has always been drawn more to Tzeentch, there’s a lot to love for those players leaning towards the same kind of techy, control-oriented playstyle as the Disciples. The rune system leads to more potential player skill expression and in-game modularity. 

Furthermore, the system has loads of additional abilities that interact with it that I didn’t have the time to cover, to the point that I really am just scratching the surface of what’s possible here. There’s much to be puzzled out, which will result in a shifting meta as Lumineth players get to grips with the new options. 

Key highlights for me are obviously the rune system, the ever-present menace that is the Light of Eltharion, and the buffs to the Alarith temple – which in my opinion have some of the best synergies with runes, and offer an amazing combination of damage output and defence. Lumineth players have a well-balanced selection of battle-tested elements that work well, alongside improvements that will expand their possibilities even further. 

May the light of Hysh shine on you all as you delve deeper into this battletome, and may many wonderful battle scriptures be woven!

Thanks very much, Ryan! He’ll be back tomorrow to take us through Battletome: Disciples of Tzeentch, so throw on your blue robes and get ready to loose the shackles on your magical might. Change is coming!