GW gives us some more information on the Lumineth Realm-lords and how they play!
The Lumineth Realm-lords are coming, and Warhammer Age of Sigmar will never be the same again. This weekend, the new Army Set will go on pre-order, giving you the chance to secure some incredible models and their new rules! Today, we’re taking a closer look at the latter, as we delve into an army that combines the rank and flank strategy beloved to old-school Warhammer fans with some Mortal Realms-flavoured magical mayhem.
How They Play
The Lumineth Realm-lords are a versatile army with a number of rewarding play styles available. We can’t wait to see what combos and lists you come up with!
Broadly, the army is a killer defensive force that excels in tackling enemy charges head on, punishing them with deadly firepower from surprisingly durable core units. This is an army for tacticians and strategists, rewarding you for fighting in formation while disrupting enemies with withering shooting, infantry-shredding cavalry and devastating magic. But how does it all work? First up, your allegiance abilities!
Lumineth Realm-lords’ allegiance abilities are designed to reflect both the tactics used by their entire race as well as the specific skills and talents of various subsets of their society. The first key rule for your Lumineth army is aetherquartz reserve.
Aetherquartz reserve lets you trigger once-per-unit, once-per-phase abilities with powerful effects. Heightened Senses, for instance, is great for ensuring a key combat goes in your favour!
Meanwhile, Lightning Reactions is a kind of spiritual successor to Always Strikes First, a classic Warhammer rule that defined elf armies of all stripes. In this case, Lightning Reactions lets you activate two units at a time when you’re picking fighters in the combat phase. This means you’ll be able to press an advantage, even if you have lots of units, and generate significant momentum compared to your opponent.
If that were the end of it, we’d have a pretty tasty army on our hands – but we’re just getting started!
The Vanari
The Lumineth Realm-lords are a dizzyingly diverse faction, with their society segmented not only into nations but sub-castes of warriors who favour distinct tactical approaches. The largest of these is the Vanari, the armies charged with defending the nations of the Lumineth from those who would invade them.
On the tabletop, Vanari units consist of Auralan Sentinels, Auralan Wardens and Dawnriders – a nod to the classic trio of spearmen, bowmen and cavalry that High Elf armies have relied upon since time immemorial. These units can all form shining companies, which makes them harder to hit when fighting in base-to-base contact with their kin.
For Auralan Wardens, this allows you to create nigh-impenetrable pikewalls, while Vanari Dawnriders can use this ability to mitigate enemy firepower before breaking into a well-placed charge. When you’re fighting these units, options that can smash through enemy formations like Gargants, Stardrakes and Ghorgons will be key!
The Alarith
Alarith units (that’s the hammer-wielding chaps and their mountainous bovine friends) hail from the mountains of Hysh. On the battlefield, think of them as an unstoppable glacier that’s capable of sweeping enemies aside. During the first turn of the game, your Alarith units couple great saves with the ability to ignore -1 Rend attacks, ideal for weathering your enemy’s opening salvos.
As the game progresses, Alarith units allow you to mess with enemies like nothing else in Warhammer Age of Sigmar by using Tectonic Force.
This invaluable ability lets you bump enemies off key objectives, free up your precious units from dangerous combat and, by combining multiple Alarith units, pin enemies in between your most durable troops.
Together, Alarith and Vanari units form a hammer and anvil, giving you a level of territorial control few forces in the game can match!
Sub-factions
And if THAT wasn’t enough, you can customise your army even further with a variety of Great Nation rules. Love the aetherquartz game mechanic and can’t get enough? Pick Syar, and you’ll get an extra reserve for each of your units AND the ability to use two aetherquartz abilities per turn!
Iliatha armies, on the other hand, double down on the slaughter offered by Vanari units by letting you bless two of them at a time with the powerful Strike In Unison command ability.
And Everyone is a Wizard
Oh, and one more thing – your baseline units are Wizards. You see, as students of Teclis, the warriors of the Lumineth Realm-lords are keenly attuned to magic, so all Vanari units – in case you’ve not been keeping up, that’s the pikemen, horsemen and bowmen – can cast magic. Each can unbind enemy spells or use the Power of Hysh, a spell that boosts their excellent Sunmetal Weapons, and makes them frankly terrifying against armoured foes.
This will give you a mastery over magic, nifty synergies with other casters in the book, and plenty of unbinds to vex your enemies!
AND MORE
We’ve just scratched the surface of what a Lumineth Realm-lords army can do – just wait until you factor in a vast suite of artefacts, unusual and powerful warscrolls, allied choices and more! If tactical mastery with a dash of magical mayhem sounds like your kind of thing, make sure to pre-order your Army Set this weekend. Not peeked inside yet? Check out our closer look inside the box!
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
