Do you have more money than sense and a penchant for stubby resin Dwarves? Then this is most definitely the army for you!

Faction Overview

The Chaos Dwarves were a very beloved but unsupported army from Warhammer Fantasy, relying on out of print metal models and ancient army books, yet you would still occasionally see a Chaos Dwarf player at a tournament pushing around their wobbly metal models which never quite stayed together. They were like a Fantasy version of Sisters of Battle – impractical for most people, but with a small and dedicated fan base. Due to the continued interest in them in spite of their age, Forge World announced they would reinvent them as the Legion of Azgorh, with a complete range released back in Warhammer 8th edition. They survived the transition to Age of Sigmar, but there don’t seem to be any plans to do more with them right now. As such they are only available from Forge World in resin form and have no real in print battletome you can purchase. They are still a legal army in Age of Sigmar though, and still get played with. Their aesthetic has shifted away from the comically large hats and moustaches to a darker look with their troops having masks permanently attached to their faces.

Strengths

You will definitely get best in faction
Some great models
A challenge to build, paint and play with
The excitement of walking out of Forge World with a bag full of resin
Free rules!

Weaknesses

Ridiculously expensive
Only available from Forge World
Some very similar sculpts
Lack of battletome or much support means they are way behind on the power curve
No terrain piece or endless spells

Competitive Rating

Poor

You can have fun and possibly do well with practise, but will be hard pressed to be win tournaments with the Legion. If you do though, you’ll be an instant celebrity!

Allegiance Abilities

Blackshard Armour – The first wound allocated to a unit in each shooting phase and each combat phase is negated. This certainly isn’t nothing and can help to absorb some damage. It does tend to encourage multiple small units.
Burning Skies – In the movement phase, if an enemy unit can fly and moves more than 6″,roll a dice. On a 4+ the enemy unit suffers 1 mortal wound. On a 6+ it suffers D3 mortal wounds instead. Again, not game breaking in most situations but against the right army can actually be pretty powerful

Artefacts

Black Hammer of Hashut – Pick one of the bearer’s weapons, you can reroll hit rolls for attacks with that weapon. Pretty simple but nice B
Armour of Bazherak the Cruel – Grants a 5+ Feel No Pain against wounds and Mortal wounds. Probably the best option we have A-
Chalice of Blood and Darkness – Once per battle roll a dice for each enemy wizard within 30″. On a 4+ reduce the number of spells they can cast by 1. Potentially devastating but also potentially does nothing. C

Command Traits

Contemptuous – Reroll attack rolls of 1 for the general. Simple and ok C
Relentless – After the general fights, if it’s within 3″ of a Hero or Monster on a 5+ it can pile in and attack again. The 5+ makes this way too unreliable D
Grotesque – Subtract 1 from melee hit rolls targeting the general. Not amazing but probably the best option B

Spells

Spell Lore: Fireball – All Legion wizards know this spell
- Fireball: Casting Value 5, pick a unit within 18″. If it consists of 1 model it takes 1 mortal wound, if there are 2-9 models it takes D3 mortal wounds and if it has 10 or more it suffers D6. This is actually a very reliable mortal wound generator and you probably want to be casting it every turn.

Battalions

Blackshard Warhost – 1 Infernal Guard Castellan, 1 Infernal Guard Standardbearer, 2 units of Ironsworn, 2 units of Fireglaives – Add 1 to the bravery of units in the battalion. Also reroll hits for melee attacks if the units haven’t moved. If you want to play with lots of Infernal Guard then this is tempting, but being encouraged to not move don’t really help in a game where movement is a large part of winning D – Forge World Sells this Battalion as one mega pack
Hashut’s Wrath Artillery Train – 1 Daemonsmith, 1 Iron Daemon, any 3 of Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher / Magma Cannon / Dreadquake Mortal / Iron Daemon – Units can benefit from their Infernal Engineers ability as long as the Daemonsmith from the battalion is on the battlefield rather than just if they are within 3″. If you want to take masses of artillery then this is pretty good as one Daemonsmith can make your whole artillery train better (putting a massive target on his head!) B
Execution Herd – Shar’tor the Executioner, 1 Bull Centaur Taur’uk, 3 units of Bull Centaur Renders – After the armies are set up pick an enemy unit to be marked for death. All hit rolls from this battalion against it can be rerolled. Once that unit is destroyed pick a new one. This battalion actually uses some decent models and the benefit is quite nice if there’s something you really want to kill on the other side of the board B – Forge World Sells this Battalion as one mega pack

Units

Heroes

Drazhoath the Ashen

13 wounds and a 4+ save and negates wounds and bounces a mortal wound back on a 5+, making him one of the more survivable options in the army, but comes with a hefty points cost to make up for it.

He can fly and move 15″ when unwounded making him pretty mobile.

His damage dealing is fairly impressive, he does a mortal wound to enemy units within 3″ at the start of the combat phase on a 4+ per unit, he can reroll wound rolls with his mount if it charged that turn. His mount can spit 6 gouts of flame (1 damage, no rend) and attack with its horns with 2 attacks hitting and wounding on 3’s which start out at 6 damage with -2 rend but decrease when wounded, as well as its hooves. Drazhoath’s melee weapon is pretty tasty, but only hits on a 4+ and only has 1 attack a turn meaning you’re unlikely to actually land it very often, although when you do it’s wounding on a 2+ and doing 3 damage with -1 rend.

He is also a wizard who can cast and unbind 2 spells a turn and gets +1 to casting rolls if the battle is in the realm of Aqshy.

His unique spell is

Flames of Azgorh: Casting Value 8, do D6 mortal wounds to a unit within 18″ and subtract 1 bravery until the end of that turn

His command ability is

Lord of the Black Fortress: Use at the start of the battleshock phase – don’t take battleshock for Legion units within 24″

Daemonsmith

An absolutely essential part of the army. A daemonsmith both improves your artillery through their Infernal Engineers rule (see the Artillery section) as well as being the faction’s wizards. They can cast and unbind one spell a turn, getting +1 to their unbinding rolls if they have taken a wound. They have 5 wounds apiece with a 4+ save and their weapon choices are either a Darkforged Weapon with 2 attacks doing D3 damage or a staff with a single attack doing 3 damage. They also get to throw firebombs which don’t need to roll to hit or wound and instead do D3 mortal wounds on a 2+, or D6 if the target is a Warmachine. Don’t leave home without at least one of these nasty little guys.

Bull Centaur Taur’ruk

A very popular choice, this model is both robust with 7 wounds and a 4+ save as well as being able to dish out the hurt, with 5 attacks hitting and wounding on 3s and doing 3 damage a piece with -2 rend, as well as their 3 hoof attacks which go from 1 damage to D3 if they charged. They get +1 to their charge rolls to help this.

Their command ability is

Favour of the Burning Gods: Give +1 to hit rolls by Ba’hal units (centaurs) within 12″

Shar’tor the Executioner

A named Bull Centaur who gets an additional wound and the same melee profile including the hoof bonus on the charge. However his axe attacks are even nastier since they do additional mortal wounds when rolling a 6 to hit. At the start of the hero phase he also gets to pick an enemy unit within 8″ and roll a dice, on a 3-5 they take D3 mortal wounds and on a 6 they take D6.

His command ability is

Lord of the Ba’Hul: Allows Ba’hal units (centaurs) within 24″ to reroll charges and reroll hits of one with their hooves

In general it’s probably best to stick with the regular Bull Centaur, but this guy does go in the Execution Herd Warscroll Battalion.

Infernal Guard Castellan

A 5 wound Infernal Guard who gets a Pistol attack with the chance to do a mortal wound on a 6 and a weapon with 4 attacks dishing out 2 damage at -1 rend. He’s mainly there for his command ability though.

Their command ability is

Martial Contempt: Pick an enemy unit within 12″ and add 1 to wound rolls made by Legion models against them for the turn

Infernal Guard Standard Bearer

Almost identical to the Castellan except for no pistol and no command ability. Instead he grants +1 bravery to Legion models within 18″ and lets them reroll melee wound rolls of 1 within 18″. If you’re planning on running lots of melee troops this is definitely worth it, especially with our fairly low bravery.

Battleline

Infernal Guard Ironsworn

Infernal Guard are the rank and file of the Legion. They are traditional Dwarves who only move 4 inches, only have a single wound and a pretty decent save at 4+ (plus their Blackshard Armour). They also get to do a mortal wound to an attacker for every save of a 6+ they make so attacking them comes with a risk. Their basic weapons only have a single attack and hit on a 3, wounding on a 4 doing 1 damage with 1 rend. Their unit leader can take a pistol that probably isn’t worth it, although it can cause a mortal wound on a hit roll of a 6. This isn’t really something you can rely on, unlike the massed gunshots of the Fireglaives.

Infernal Guard Fireglaives

Fireglaives are the ranged version of the Infernal Guard, and in general are a much smarter choice. They have the same save while lacking the chance to reflect wounds back, but rather than the lacklustre melee of the Ironsworn they have amazing guns which have a 16″ range, hit and wound on 4s with -1 rend. They only do 1 damage each but every hit of a 6+ causes a mortal wound in addition to any damage it would have caused. They also get to reroll hits of 1 when they don’t move (making rolling 6’s even more likely). Taking these in giant blocks of 30 should put out 5 or so mortal wounds a turn, in addition to their normal damage. Definitely the best option for battleline.

Bull Centaur Renders (with Shar’Tor as the General)

5 wounds with a 4+ save isn’t that much for a 60 points per model unit. They aren’t even that fast with a movement speed of only 7. Their damage isn’t bad, putting out 3 attacks doing 2 damage with -1 rend followed by 3 hoof attacks which start at 1 damage but go to D3 damage if they make a charge. They get +1 to their charge rolls to help with that.

Artillery

The Legion has access to several impressive artillery pieces. They all share the following rules

Crew – each model has a crew which are able to attack but don’t have their own wounds.
Infernal Engineers – when a Daemonsmith is within 3″ the weapon is improved
Siege Artillery – cannot run or charge. Gets +1 to save rolls against missile weapons

Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher

A long range gun that gets 3 shots, hitting on 4s and wounding on 3s doing D3 damage with -1 rend. Can fire indirectly and gets +1 to hit if shooting at a unit with 5 or more models. Infernal Engineers grants an additional shot. The range and indirect fire make it an attractive option

Dreadquake Mortar

Has an impressively named “Dreadquake Bomb” gun. This only has 1 shot, but can be increased by rolling a dice – on a 1 or 2 the unit takes D3 mortal wounds but on a 3+ gets an additional shot. The gun itself hits on 4s and wounds on 3s. Infernal Engineers gives it +1 to hit which you really want. The damage is a hefty D6 with -2 rend and you get to reroll the dice if you’re targeting a unit with 10 or more models. It can also shoot models it doesn’t have line of sight to. When overcharged and with Infernal Engineers this is quite a scary gun.

Magma Cannon

The big boom gun of artillery, this straight up shoots Mortal Wounds, ignoring the tedious “roll to hit and wound” part of the game and just pointing at a unit within 18″ and rolling a single dice. On a 3+ (+1 to the roll if the unit has 10 or more models) the target takes that many wounds (the roll you just made). Infernal Engineers grants it an additional 6″ range. Amazing and almost an auto include.

Other Units

K’Daai Fireborn

Big flying fire Daemons! These have 4 wounds a piece with a 5+ save. They exist to utterly wreck things however, with 5 attacks and an impressive 3″ reach. They hit on 3s, wound on 4s and do D3 damage as well as doing a mortal wound to any enemies within 3″ of them at the end of the combat phase on a 2+

Their special move is that they ignore all modifiers to their saves (positive and negative) as well as being able to run and charge in the same turn. A very powerful choice and the default choice for smashing stuff in melee.

Iron Daemon War Engine

A big tractor for pushing around your warmachines. You can pick one of your artillery pieces within 1″ and use this model’s movement (starts at 10″) as long as they both finish the movement within 1″ of each other. Good for getting your Magma cannons into range!

They also come with a nasty steam cannon doing 2D6 shots and doing 1 damage with -2 rend. You can improve this by overloading the engine and choosing to take either 3D6 or 4D6 shots and taking D3 mortal wounds if the total is 12+ once all the attacks have been resolved (you probably want to be doing this especially with your Blackshard Armour being able to bounce one wound)

Skullcracker War Engine

An Iron Daemon that someone has attached hammers to. It gets the same ability to drag an artillery piece and a similar sort of deal with its hammer attacks as the Iron Daemon gets with its steam cannon (2D6 to start but take wounds and it goes to 3D6 or 4D6). The hammers themselves do D3 damage with -1 rend and hit and wound on 3s until they take wounds, so these can absolutely blend things. The only (quite large) downside is that this model is no longer in production. You can make your own or swap a kidney for a second hand one but I’d be wary of this since scrolls with no models tend to be the first things to go to Legends status…

Army Lists

Rob Symes’ Gunner List

One of the highest profile Legion players is Rob, host of the Honest Wargamer. He gives a really good runthrough of this list on his site https://thehonestwargamer.com/aos-list-rundowns/robs-gunner-guide/

Bull Centaur Taur’ruk

General
Grotesque
Armour of Bazherak the Cruel

Daemonsmith

Skarr Bloodwrath (Ally)

30 x Infernal Guard Fireglaives

10 x Infernal Guard Fireglaives

12 x K’Daai Fireborn

Magma Cannon

Skullcracker War Engine

Soulsnare Shackles

Geminids of Uhl-Gysh

Wrapping Up

And that’s it. There’s not a ton to say about the Legion – they have a limited set of rules and they’re clearly an afterthought for AoS, which is a shame because the range is amazing. As ever, if you have have any feedback or comments, we’d love to hear from you – hit us up at contact@goonhammer.com or over on our Facebook Page.

Start Competing: Legion of Azgorh