The face of change in Battletome: Disciples of Tzeentch, with Ryan from Threshold Tactics

Yesterday, we sat down with Ryan from Threshold Tactics to have an in-depth look through the new Lumineth Realm-lords rules, and although he gave a fair and balanced account of the aelves of Hysh, he couldn’t wait to tackle their daemonic nemeses in the battle for mastery over magic. That time has now come, so let’s see what the Disciples of Tzeentch can do in their new battletome.

Ryan: The armies of Tzeentch have long had a special place in my heart. As a traditionally “good guy” player who has slowly been corrupted to the dark side one army at a time, it was the followers of the Changer of the Ways that initially began my descent. And here we are to discuss the changing tides and whirling whims of the new Battletome: Disciples of Tzeentch.

Sweeping changes

Gone are the days of controlling your fate with Destiny Dice, in favour of perhaps the best intersection of lore and game design in Warhammer Age of Sigmar: fate points. Tzeentch players have been known to mutter “It’s all part of the plan”, especially when things don’t go our way, and now we can put our ‘money’ where our mouth is. 

Every time you lose the priority roll, have a spell unbound or miscast, or lose an objective or Argent Shard, you gain an invaluable resource to spend in a variety of ways. Do you have a spell or charge that just needs that extra little push to be successful? Add a fate point or two. Could your Lord of Change have taken two fewer damage points in that last combat? Fate points to the rescue.

We also have our own new pair of monolithic terrain pieces, the Argent Shards, to offer us a built-in Umbral Spellportal (but better) for our Wizards to cast through. These portals can teleport each round, so you now have almost limitless reach for at least one spell per turn, ensuring that even if you are bunkered up in your Silver Tower you can still make the most of your magical mastery. 

I also really like the changes to the Changeling – fittingly – who has his own similar way of extending his reach while masked by illusion with his Arch-Deceiver ability.

But what precisely does ‘masked by illusion’ mean? 

The Eldritch Illusions battle trait allows three non-Monster units to be removed to reserves once per battle and become masked by illusion. Then, Smoke and Mirrors allows you to swap one of those units out with another friendly unit on the table once per turn – including in your opponent’s turn – potentially arriving just outside an enemy unit’s combat range. 

Combining this with synergistic interactions from the Fold Reality spell, the new Fatemaster, and the Mutants and Mad Things battle formation – amongst many others – you now have a toolbox of options and tech for psyching out your opponent.

Magic, magic, and more magic

No Disciples of Tzeentch army can function without leaning heavily on its magical prowess, and the new battletome doesn’t disappoint. With the two spell lores largely overhauled, plus a number of powerful combos with specific warscrolls and some new tech via the Tome of Eyes, you’re not going to find yourself lacking in options. 

While the Lore of Fate’s unlimited spell Infernal Gateway has the potential to do massive amounts of mortal damage spread out amongst a number of casters and targets, my favourite spell of that lore is Wyrdflame Haze, which creates an obscuring bubble around any Disciples of Tzeentch unit that was set up in the same turn. 

Say you have one unit arrive with Smoke and Mirrors, one enemy model Transformed to Spawn, a half-sized unit of daemons brought back using the Lord of Change’s command, and one of your units teleported through the Soulscream Bridge. All four of these actions count as set-ups, and every one of the units that was set up that turn on the battlefield is now generating a 12” bubble of invisibility from your opponent’s targeting. 

This single spell is reason enough to consider the Manifestations of Tzeentch with the Tome of Eyes, which now allows a nearby Wizard to cast a free spell from either of the two Tzeentch lores, even if you didn’t choose it as your spell lore for your army. This means you can have the best of both worlds by taking the lore you most need and then spicing it up on demand with one spell from the other – without it costing you a cast. The Tome of Eyes now has a Move characteristic, so it can not only follow your casters around the field, but also inherently creates a no-landing zone for set-ups from your opponent.  

The Lore of Change brings, well, change. Bolt of Tzeentch retains its mortal damage and subtracts 1 from the target’s wound rolls until your next turn. Fold Reality allows more masked by illusion unit swapping, and the slightly tweaked Transformed to Spawn lets you bring in a masked by illusion Chaos Spawn to tie up an opposing unit. 

Fantastical formations

Battle formations have the power to dictate the spirit and playstyle of your army, and Disciples of Tzeentch have four that each offer something quite useful to a devious and plotting commander of change.

For aggressive melee, look to the Fated Blades, which offers +1 Attack to units that make a charge roll of 9+. Note that this isn’t an unmodified 9+, so fate points can give easy access to this buff.

Perhaps you’re looking to guarantee you have more of these marvellous fate points at your disposal? Look no further than either Malevolent Schemers or Denizens of the Silver Towers, the former allowing you to mark a unit (friendly or enemy) for death each turn, and if your prediction comes true, you gain a fate point. The latter gives you a 50% chance to receive a fate point back after spending any. 

Finally, those looking to reliably get their masked by illusion units on the table can use Mutants and Mad Things, which allows you to drop a unit in from reserve near a battlefield edge in your movement phase. 

Agents of change

Several warscrolls have been tweaked, including Kairos Fateweaver himself. He has gained a set of new abilities to help him stand out as one of the most interesting casters in the game. Master of Destiny allows him to influence the outcome of a dice roll once per battle round, ensuring a result of 6 for a D6 roll, or 9 for 2D6. Another neat trick is his ability to grant a nearby Wizard a free Magical Intervention when they unbind a spell. His new warscroll spell Fateful Reverse can act as a deterrent for an enemy unit looking to charge into a block of buffed up Tzaangors or Kairic Acolytes, giving them all Strike-first against the charging unit, and stripping it of any Charge (+1 Damage) bonuses. 

The Lord of Change is now Wizard (3) and has a built-in +1 to-cast, can summon replacement Daemon units for a command point, and has a new warscroll spell allowing one of your units to make a normal move in the hero phase, which is particularly handy for speedy Disc of Tzeentch riders. My favourite thing about the Lord of Change is that he can be the bearer of the Kairic Tome artefact of power. This allows the Lord of Change and all wizards wholly within 6” of him to add or subtract 1 from their casting rolls. This subtraction can better ensure that your opponent can reasonably unbind your spell and gain you a fate point. 

The Magister and Magister on Disc of Tzeentch both interact with the Kairic Tome in an interesting way. Their Spellmaster ability allows these units to attempt to unbind your own spells, not only guaranteeing you a chance at receiving a fate point, but giving the Magister +1 to cast in return. This can give your Wizards something useful to do, even if your opponent has managed to remain too far away for most of your spells. 

These Magisters can also give buffs to Arcanite units. While the Magister on Disc’s Fates Converge leans on fate points to give eligible units wholly within 12” +1 Attack, the Magister on foot’s Imbued with Arcane Fire gives one unit per turn Crit (Mortal) on its melee weapons at the cost of a command point. 

Perhaps my favourite Hero is the revamped Curseling, who, in addition to having a 3+ Save, is incentivised to get into the fray. With Spell and Sword allows him to cast a spell every combat phase while he remains in the fight, either from your chosen spell lore, or his own warscroll spell, giving a unit -1 to save rolls in combat until the start of your next turn. You can do this in the opponent’s combat phase too, allowing you to stack this debuff onto a number of enemy units, especially if you get double-turned. Shoot the enemy unit with an Exalted Flamer to further deteriorate them with its Unnatural Heat in time for your melee units to do their worst. 

Speaking of which, Tzaangor Enlightened now have the option for either Crit (2 Hits) or +1 Rend when they charge, which makes them really nasty when combined with the many other buffs your army can give out.

Scintillating summary

The newly transfigured Battletome: Disciples of Tzeentch offers the sort of tech, player skill expression, and list-writing intrigue that befits Tzeentch. The army is a thinking person’s puzzle, a toolkit for the innovators in the Mortal Realms. While the meta may ultimately settle on a few strong builds, this is the kind of army that will continue to be reevaluated and tested for new possibilities, machinations, and perspectives.

Key highlights definitely include fate points, the trickery of swapping units in and out of masked by illusion, and the general ways the two spell lores and manifestation lore interact with your army to make it come alive.

I for one have seen my long-lived passion for all things Tzeentch revitalised and I’m even considering giving my collection a fresh coat of paint. As such, I part ways with you all and wish you many more exciting changes to come in your adventures and strategic endeavors in our beloved Warhammer Age of Sigmar.

Thanks again, Ryan! You can pre-order new battletomes for both the Disciples of Tzeentch and Lumineth Realm-lords tomorrow, alongside new glorious miniatures – the Fatemaster and Vanari Lord Regent – and accessories for your army.