A thank you to Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of the battlescroll for review purposes.

The much anticipated battlescroll update has arrived! In this article we’ll talk about what the changes are and what they mean for each army, but also the overall state of Age of Sigmar. For clarity this is being written before a chance to view any or army-or Dawnbringer specific FAQs that typically accompany a Battlescroll Update and we will have a round table and a focus on the most impacted factions later.

Core Rules

Unlike last time, there are no changes to the core rules. Pending any FAQs we have not reviewed.

Generals Handbook 2023-2024

Wizard-Finders of Andtor received an update and now each time a unit in this battalion is affected by a spell cast by and enemy unit, or the abilities of an endless spell summoned by an enemy unit, you can roll a dice. On a 5+ ignore the effect. This is in addition to the +1 attack so you don’t even lose anything if you’ve been using it offensively!

For those that have forgotten, or never seen, the Wizard-Finders of Andtor this battalion consists of:

• 1 Champion (hero with 10 or less wounds that is not unique and does not have a mount), at least one (but up to two),
• 1-2 Infantry (a unit with wounds characteristics of four or less that is not leader, artillery, or behemoth and does not have a mount) 
• 0-1 Monster – a behemoth that is not a leader

As with all battalions the “monster” category gets weird since it’s tied to list building which can change under various circumstances even for the same unit. We covered this at the dawn of 3rd edition here.

I don’t think the spell ignore is going to be a game changer but it is an interesting change that lets less offensive units benefit from the battalion in a way they couldn’t before. Depending on what your local meta looks like this could be a massive benefit for your army. However it does dip into the same question: is it worth having over a one-drop? 

Battleplan

Power Flux 

There is a slight change that makes victory points scored when Wizard Hero units are destroyed in that battle round. This really is just clarifying that you can score up to 1 point for killing Wizard Heroes in a battle round.

Battle Tactic

Drain Their Power

You complete this battle tactic if a friendly hero with a nullstone adornment is contesting an objective that was controlled by your opponent at the start of your turn.

Having an easy battle tactic is one of the biggest buffs you can get in the game. This gives a great mid-to-late-game tactic for armies without a wizard but doesn’t fix armies that don’t have an easy turn 1 tactic.  Khorne, Fyreslayer, Sons of Behemat, and other armies that aren’t running wizards have had a tough time with scoring battle tactics often enough and having a simple one to go stand on will be huge for them.

Endless Spells

Increases to Pendulum and Geminids by 10 points. 10 point decrease to Lifeswarm, Palisade, Quicksilver Swords, Shackles, and the Burning Head. 

The Malevolent Maelstrom now has a 9″ explosion, which, is fine.

None of these changes are game breaking or change the meta on their own, all very minor and fine.

Chaos

Khorne

More than ever Khorne really, really, hates magic as Hatred of Sorcery forces friendly wizards to roll a dice and on a 5+ that spell is automatically unbound. Khorne often included a wizard to get a reliable turn 1 magical dominance. On average with this change you will fail the tactic once across an event.

Increase by 20 points:

• Claws of Karanak (120)

Losing a reliable turn 1 battle tactic is a huge hit to Khorne who could struggle to have a reliable first turn tactic.

Nurgle

Sloppity Bilepiper – “My Love Is Like a Ripe, Ripe Fart” now subtracts 1 from hit rolls for attacks that target friendly Nurgle Daemon Units. This is a huge nerf to an ability that isn’t that fun to play against. The prior version prevented pile in moves and was a massive part of how Nurgle kept things alive as third edition became more lethal. Sloppity was often summoned for a few CP close to the front and if somebody managed to kill him they summoned another one. 

Increase by 10 points:

• Morbidex Twiceborn (300)

Decreased by 10 points:

• Rotmire Creed (140)

Decreased by 20 points:

• Gutro Sprume (140)
• Harbinger of Decay(170)
• Lord of Plagues (120)

Decreased by 30 points:

• Rotbringer Coven(330) 

This is a huge hit to Nurgle and a really unexpected change so late in the game. The points changes are relatively minor though and likely won’t be shaking up too many lists. Cheaper ranged disease is always welcome!

Beast of Chaos

Both Tzaangors and Gors have their weapons increased to 2″ range. Since they’re both 32mm base units they’ll benefit massively from the extra reach. While a few extra attacks every game might help decide closer games, the real benefit is going to be the hundreds of minutes saved by everyone playing with or against BoC for the simplicity of their reach now. Unlike some other armies, this is a welcome change since the BoC 3.0 book came after the Galatian Veterans rules had been retired.

Decreased by 20 points:

• Bestigors (180)

Disciples of Tzeentch

For those who ever wanted to take Blue Horrors or Brimstone Horrors during list construction they’ve received a points decrease as the pitched battle profiles have all been combined to a single profile. A unit of Pinks remains 260 points for ten. Blues and brims lose the battleline designation but now cost 120 and 80 points respectively. This is effectively a 30 and 45 point decrease.

Decrease by 10 points:

• Changecaster (140)
• Magister on Disc (150)
• Ogriod Thaumaturge (160)
• Jade Obelisk (120)

Slaves to Darkness 

A nice change that increases the attacks characteristics of the Daemon Prince on all weapon profiles to 7 for the axe/sword and 12 for the talons. 

Increased by 20:

• Theddra Skull-scryer (180)

Decreased by 40:

• Archaon the Everchosen (820)

This is the first of the “Unique models getting big points decreases”. Slaves to Darkness continues to be a popular army but I don’t think that the change to the Daemon Prince is enough to allow it to break through and become more successful.

Skaven

The latest battle tactic, Flee-flee, was changed so that only two skaven units need to have retreated this turn. Prior to this they needed to be at least one hero and one battleline unit; this flexibility is huge and makes it scorable nearly every game. More interestingly, Plague Monks have had a minimum unit size increase to 20.

Points Changes:

Increase by 90 points:

• Plague Monks (180) – note this is because the unit has doubled in size so is still the same cost per model

Increase by 20 points:

• Grey Seer on Screaming Bell (240) 

Increase by 10 points:

• Plague Censer Bearers (100)

Decrease by 10 Points:

• Grey Seer (110)
• Master Moulder (80)
• Plagueclaw (90)
• Verminlord Corruptor (320)
• Verminlord Warpseer (320)
• Warlock Engineer (90)
• Warp Lightning Cannon (130)
• Rat Ogors (130)

Decrease by 20 Points:

• Verminlord Deceiver (380)
• Verminlord Warbringer (360)

Decrease by 30 points:

• Thanquol (400) 

The change to Flee-flee is going to make it significantly easier to score and another across the board points reduction might boost skaven to “acceptable” levels for the average player. Skaven are on the same path that took Kruleboyz to a sweet 46-47% winrate and the ability to not be laughed at for taking them. That increase on Screaming Bells makes the Triple Bell list harder to take, too, with a 60 point increase in those alone. Can it still be done??

Hedonites of Slaanesh

A friendly reminder here that this is before any army specific FAQs comes out. If there are any changes there then it might look better but Hedonites of Slaanesh only received some points deductions.

Decreased by 10:

• Dexcessa (230)
• Synessa (230)
• The Masque (140)
• Hellstriders (140)
• Daemonettes (110)

Decreased by 20:

• Keeper of Secrets (380)
• Shalaxi Helbane (370) 

Does it help? Of course. Is it enough to bring Slaanesh to top tables on its own? No, of course not.

ORDER

Stormcast

A single change to increase the range of the Celestial Greatsword of Vanquishers to 2”. With a 40MM base this will allow reinforced units to fight in two ranks allowing many more attacks.  

Decrease by 10 points:

• Lord-Relictor (120)
• Vandus Hammerhand (180)

Decrease by 20 points:

• Drakesworn Templar (380)
• Karazai the Scarred (510)
• Krondys, Son of Dracothion (500)
• Questor Soulsworn (210)

We will wait for a FAQ to see if any of the dawnbringers rules are hit or adjusted. However, a slight decrease in points is good for any army.

Seraphon

Lord of Celestial Resonance has been changed to gaining 2 Cosmic Power Points (CPP) the first time each phase. In my opinion this is one of the biggest nerfs in the battlescroll, and something many players wanted to see. The amount you could gain was simply too much with such a powerful wizard. Since Seraphon Starborne can only summon a single unit per turn the ability to have a large number of CPP (in the 18 – 22 CPP range) every single turn was a big issue when playing against them. Also the units that generate even more CPP like Kroak, Astrolith Bearer, Skink Starseer, and Slann Starmaster all went up in points. 

On the Coalesced side Kroxigor and Kroxigor Warspawned now have five wounds instead of four. This gives them added resilience but more importantly they count as 2 models for contesting objectives. This change looks like it’s attempting to balance an extremely strong faction and raise up the weaker half of the book. That is a very difficult thing to do and I don’t know a drop in points for units that aren’t seeing competitive play are a fair compensation for nerfing a sub-faction into the ground. 

Increase by 30 points:

• Lord Kroak (440) – This is notable since most unique characters went down in points 

Increase by 20:

• Slann Starmaster (310)
• Saurus Astrolith Bearer (160)

Increased by 10:

• Skink Starseer (160)

Decreased by 10:

• Ripperdactyl Chief (100)
• Terradon Chief (90)
• Ripperdactyl Riders (100)
• Terradon Riders (100)

Decreased by 20:

• Saurus Oldblood On Carnosaur (240)
• Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur (240)
• Stegadon (240)
• Stegadon Chief (20)

Cities of Sigmar

Before giving any final thoughts I would like to see the FAQ for cities.  However, the Alchemite Warforger has been changed to only cause mortal wounds on melee weapons and this is going to be welcome by all of the non-steamtank community. 

Increased by 30:

• Freeguild Command Corps (200) This is one of the most talked about and discussed units in the game. Similar to how Gobbapalooza was given points increases and rules changes I would expect to see both happen to Freeguild Command Corps with the FAQ.

Increased by 20:

• Steam Tank Commander (290)
• Steam Tank (250)

Decreased by 10:

• Ironweld Great Cannon (140)
• Alchemite Warforger (100)
• Wildercorps Hunters (130)

Decreased by 20:

• Fusil-Major on Ogor Warhulk (130)

Decreased by 40:

• Tahia Vedra (300)

It’s notable that Pontifex Zenestra escaped further points increases at this juncture. At 300 points Tahlia Vedra starts to look extremely good in a human based army.

Fyreslayers

With the addition of many points decreases Fyreslayers get a massive buff with weapon ranges for Vulkites increasing to 2”. Unlike Beast of Chaos, Fyreslayers were able to see what life was like in the Gallatin Vet GHB and fighting in ranks allows them to have a massive increase in output vs a single rank.

Points Changes:

Decrease by 10 points:

• Auric Runefather (110)
• Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (310)
• Battlesmith (140)
• Doomseeker (70)
• Zharrgron Flame-spitter (40)
• Auric Hearthguard (110)
• Hearthguard Bezerkers (150)

Decreased by 20 points:

• Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (340)
• Auric Runesmiter (110)
• Auric Runsmiter on Magmadroth (310)

Continued points decreases, a shift to two ranks, and a new battle tactic when not taking a wizard are all buffs for Fyreslayers and should please both players in the world. Unlike Khorne, Fyreslayers have a reliable (except on one mission) first turn battle tactic.

Bair: I’ve been playing Fyreslayers since their first book and the last few months has been especially rough for the faction. It’s incredibly good to see so many points decreases here and much needed! First turn battle tactic on some maps is still very rough, however, but not every army can have it all.

Deepkin

Instead of adding additional hits, shark hits to 6 automatically wound like nighthaunt. This is a minor sounding change that will lower the top end of damage output of sharks without removing an all shark list from the game.

Eidolon of the Sea

This is a sidegrade to Tsunami of Terror, increasing the range and moving from D3 units to up to three units as targets. Per earlier designer commentary you could pick the same unit multiple times while now you must pick three different units.

Points Changes:

Decrease by 10 points:

• Ishlaen Guard (160)
• Morrsarr Guard (160)

Daughters of Khaine 

• Decrease by 10 points:
• Hag Queen on Cauldron of Blood (270)
• Slaughter Queen on Cauldron of Blood (290)
• Slythael Shadestalker (200),

Decrease by 20 points:

• Bloodwrack Shrine (160)
• Morathi(680)

DOK only received a few minor points changes and I’m not normally a fan of just lowering points of rarely used units. However, the points reduction to Morathi continues the trend of unique characters receiving a reduction.

Kharadron Overlords

Increased by 10 points:

• Aether-Khemist (110)
• Navigator (110)
• Admiral (150)
• Frigate (310)
• Gunahuler (180)
• Endrinriggers (130)
• Skywardens (140)
• Thunderers (170)

Decreased by 20 points:

• Ironclad (480)

Unlike other top armies where rules are being adjusted GW gives us an old-school points- only adjustment to the duardin-with-guns. On the surface it might appear to be an event trade when KO armies that doing ally a wizard and forgo the spell in a bottle are also gaining a battle tactic but they have some of the easiest tactics to score.

Lumineth Realm-Lords

Decreased by 10 points:

• Hurakan Windmage (110)
• Sentinels (150)
• Sanctum of Amyntok (20)

Decreased by 20 points:

• Teclis (720)

If you would travel back in time to 2021 and explain that Teclis and Sentinels were getting a points decrease you might cause your average Age of Sigmar player to have a stroke. However, in 2024 every unique character seems to get a slight decrease and Sentinels don’t strike fear as they use to.

Sylvaneth

Decreased by 10:

• Gladewyrm (30)

Decreased by 20:

• Alarielle (800)
• Drycha Hamadreth (300)

Decreased by 30:

• Warsong Revenant (270)

The Warsong Revenant going down by so many points is a very interesting outcome but Sylvaneth have been struggling recently. I would be on the look out for FAQs related to the Long Hunt when this battlescroll is released.

Destruction 

Gloomspite Gitz

No rules changes to report.

Increase by 5 points:

• Webspinner Shaman (70) 

Increase by 10 points:

• Sneaky Snufflers (150)
• Gobbapalooza (180)
• Boingrot Bounderz (160)

Decrease by 10 points:

• Scuttletide (70)
• Arachnarok Spider with Spiderfang Warparty (200)
• Loonboss on Manger Squigs (330)
• Skitterstrand Arachnarok (170)
• Webspinner Shaman on Arachnarok Spider (240)

This is a real win for those that like to say “Arachnarok Spider with Spiderfang Warparty”. I also anticipate some extremely negative reactions from those who have been on the receiving end of the Scuttletide. On the downside, Sneaky Snufflers and Gobbapalooza continue to get squeezed through points increases. The latter is seen in nearly all Gitz lists for good reason and will continue to.

Ogre Mawtribes

 No Rules Changes but an FAQ released to the Long Hunt may be incoming so stay tuned.

Decrease by 10 points:

• Bloodpelt Hunter (130)
• Butcher (130)
• Leadbelchers (150)

Decrease by 20 points:

• Frostlord on Thundertusk (360)
• Mournfang Pack (150)

You’re still not going to see Mournfang Pack on the table, they just don’t hit hard enough and cost too many points once you’ve invested in reinforcing the unit.

Sons of Behemat

Rules change to Earth-Shaking Roar that adds the standard Roar (no commands) to this monstrous action. Roar remains one of the best actions so this is a straight up buff. 

Decrease by 10 points:

• Mancrusher Gargant (130)
• Warstomper (440)

Decrease by 30 points:

• Mancrusher Mob (390)

Anytime Megas get a point adjustment those players who are dedicated to the faction know exactly what they can squeeze in and have been cooking up plans for a long time. Being able to Roar twice is going to catch a lot of people out and allows a mega the ability to attempt to roar a unit if you’ve failed the first 3+ roll.

Orruk Warclans

Both battle tactics added at the last battlescroll now require you to have the model picked to be your general have Kruleboyz or Ironjawz keywords to use them.

All Mawgrunters change so that Unstoppable Momentum goes down at the end of a battle round, not turn. Being able to keep momentum up for a bit longer is big but still a pain to track and get going early enough reliably.

Decrease by 5 points:

• Monsta-killaz (130)
• Weirdbrute Wrekkaz (120)

Decrease by 10 points:

• Ardboy Big Boss (90)
• Zoggrok Anvilsmasha (150)
• Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof (110)
• Killaboss with Stab-grot (80)

Decrease by 20 points:

• Gordrakk, Fist of Gork (440)
• Maw grunta Gougers (160)
• Orruk Ardboyz (200)

Decrease by 30 points:

• Maw-grunta with Hakkin’ Krew (240)
• Tuskboss on Maw-grunta (350)

Games Workshop is trying to thread a needle and buff Ironjaws while nerfing Big Waagh! at the same time. Fortunately, everyone had identified Big Waagh! being able to score multiple easy battle tactics as an issue while Ironjawz are just underpowered. A big shout-out to the Killaboss on Gnashtooth who would be undercosted in almost any other army.

Death

Nighthaunt

Bladegheist Revenants, Dreadscythe Harridans, and Glaivewraith Stalkers all had range increased to 2”. This is inline with many other units as we’ve seen and is just nice to have. 

Decrease by 10 points:

• Awlrach the Drowner (140)
• Reikenor the Grimhailer (160)
• Scriptor Mortis (100)

Decrease by 40 points:

• Nagash (860)

I’ll say this once, and you can repeat it for every death army:

“With the new Regiments of Renown and the Points Reduction to Nagash there is plenty to look at”.

Nighthaunt, like Fyreslayers, will greatly benefit from additional reach. However, I’m not sure if these changes and the points decreases are enough to spark a resurgence on their own.

Ossiarch Bonereapers

Null Myriad spell ignore has been changed to 4+ roll making it much much less reliable. This is huge. In the season of Magical Mayhem this is a huge nerf, but waranted.

Increase by 10 points:

• Morghast Archai (230)
• Immortis Guard (230)

Decrease by 10 points:

• Arch-Kavalos Zandtos (180)
• Mortek Crawler (170)

Decrease by 20 points:

• Vokmortian, Master of the Bone-tithe (120)

Decrease by 40 points:

• Nagash (860)

One of the arguments you would hear is that without OBR Null Myriad Seraphon would just run over every single game. Unlike prior versions of OBR players have used more than one subfaction so look for more Crematorians or Mortis Praetorians. I don’t think that many OBR players will think that a 10 point decrease to the Mortek Crawler evens out the 10 point increase to two of the most popular units in competitive lists.

Soulblight Gravelords

Battle Tactic- Grasping Dead Changed to:  “You must kill an enemy MODEL by the selected friendly unit”.  This makes the tactic more difficult to score and a straight nerf to the army.

Increase by 10 points:

• Corpse Cart (100)
• King Morlak Velmorn (230)
• Fell Bats (100)

Decrease by 5 points:

• Ivya (130)

Decrease by 10 points:

• Terrorgheist (230)
• Wight King (140)
• Zombie Dragon (250)
• Vargheists (130)

Decrease by 20 points:

• Blood Knights (210)

Decrease by 40 points:

• Nagash (860)

Flesh-eater Courts 

There are no rules changes since the FEC book is coming out shortly. These points appear to be adjusted to the 3.0 book, not what is in your app right now. I would 100% look for FAQ that we haven’t seen to drop with the battlescroll update.

Decrease by 5 points:

• Crypt Infernal Courtier (140)
• Varghulf Courtier (160)
• Royal Beastflayers (110)

Decrease by 20 points:

• Crypt Ghast Courtier (80)

Compared to the points in the 3.0 book there is a 55 point decrease to Royal Terrorgheist (260) and a 70 point decrease to Royal Zombie Dragon (240).

Finally, Nagash is 105 points below the new book bringing him to 860 points and in line with everything else at (860) points.

Final Thoughts

Everyone (Bonesplitters excluded) has been given new ingredients with this battlescroll update and we don’t know many of the changes that will be released with the FAQs that are expected to be released when this article goes live. Over the past three weeks Death armies have been given a large number of toys and tools to play with and I anticipate the list construction to be very interesting going forward. For those factions that have been impacted in an extreme manner we’re likely to have some further thoughts once we have the benefits of any FAQs and some time to digest these rules. In the meantime, keep painting your Arachnarok Spider with Spiderfang Warparty!