Age of Sigmar – Skarbrand Review

Looking for the unit that will add some John McClane level ass kickability to your Age of Sigmar Chaos army? Look no further than the ultimate sultan of slam, Skarbrand!

Hello all, Jason  here to talk about the latest addition to my Age of Sigmar Khorne warband, Skarbrand.  During the first couple months of our Age of Sigmar learning league I found myself in an uphill battle in almost every one of my games against the rest of the staff.  My chosen faction, Khorne Bloodbound, is big on slow moving assault warscrolls.  While they have several decent close combat warscrolls available they honestly lack the kind of shit kicking punch I needed to take on things like Vampire Lords on dragons or Fyreslayers on Magmadroths.  Yes, I have the Kurgorath but he is slow and only has 8 wounds. Not really my definition of survivable.    Now that we are moving to the new General’s Handbook and the points system that goes along with it, I have an opportunity to really re-tool my list and add some warscrolls that will shore up the weaknesses my current list is facing.  With the amount of giant beetle riding, Gal Miraz wielding, and hungry dragon riding super bosses that I will likely see on the table, I need a Khorne unit of my own that can go toe to toe with these jabronies.

Skarbrand – Enter Stage Left

This guy is a real deal beat stick.  Clocking in at a respectable 14 wounds and a 4+ armor save,  he can take a lot of damage before he’s taken off the table.   He has a movement of 8″ which, while not the fastest warscroll in the game, is still a respectable distance and gives him a likely move with a run of 15″ a turn.  As with most warscrolls in Age of Sigmar, the real secret sauce is in his special rules and weapons.  Let’s take a look at what makes him so savage.

That Rage Bruh –  Skarbrand, like your teenage sister on Thanksgiving, is pissed off ALL THE TIME.    He has a literal rage chart that shows just how deep your shit is about to get kicked in.   At his most belligerent he is said to be Incandescent, and your time is at it’s end if he reaches that point.  Depending on where Skarbrand is on the rage chart determines how many special abilities he is able to make in the current Battle Round.  These range from re-rolling charge ranges to re-rolling failed hits in combat.   Skarbrand will always enter the first combat of the game Incandescent, which usually means anything that he charges or charges him is toast.

Say it, Don’t Spray It – One of the coolest abilities that the rage chart allows Skarbrand to perform is literally yelling insults so loudly you take mortal wounds.  His Roar of Total Rage inflicts mortal wounds to a unit within 8″ on the roll of a 4+ with the amount of dice rolled depending on where he is on the rage chart.

He’s Packing Heat – Skarbrand is armed with twin axes, Slaughter and Carnage, which coincidentally are the names of my left and right legs.   Slaughter’s number of attacks are based on how angry Skarbrand is, with the ability to get up to 8 total attacks.  These hit on a 4+ and wound on a 3+ with -2 rend and 3 damage each. Not too shabby especially since he is able to re-roll hits and wounds if he is angry enough using the rage chart.  Carnage is more specialized and only has one attack, but OH WHAT AN ATTACK IT IS.  If Skarbrand hits with this ax, depending on where he is on the rage chart, if Skarbrand wounds under a certain number (auto hit if Incandescent) the hit does 8 wounds with no save allowed. SAVAGE!

So there you have it, my little review of my favorite ass kicker Skarbrand!  Let me know what you think in the comments. Any cool stories of your games using his warscroll?

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