As an army with limited clothing, relatively little armour and plenty of swords, the Daughters of Khaine are what you would expect. They're a glass cannon. Fast, numerous and with a variety of units which can deal a substantial amount of damage, they take the Sylvaneth's core qualities and push them to an extreme. However, this isn't to simply say that they are the Sylvaneth in a new and scantily clad style. Their greater emphasis on melee, special rules and unique units quickly makes it clear that you need to approach this army in a very different way.
To be blunt, the Daughters of Khaine are the sort of army which rewards careful tactical thinking. It's less the reliance upon multiple fall-back rules or even singular focused attacks than it is the capacity to engage on multiple fronts. The ability to divide up an enemy force, conquer them in a number of careful overlapping battles and steadily use one victory to chain into the next. To borrow an analogy used in the discussion of Battlefleet Gothic ships, they're a rapier. Using just enough force to cut through the enemy will lead to easy victories, but try to swing it about like a broadsword or engage in battles of attrition, and it will just shatter.
So, that's the short version of this anyway. Let's take a look at the individual units.
Morathi, High Oracle of Khaine
If you have looked into most Age of Sigmar armies, you will notice a theme: Many have a big god-tier unit. This isn't universally true, as there are a few exceptions, but it's to be expected in most forces now. Morathi easily fits into this, but she is less a utility and army enhancer than she is a blender. Throw her at an enemy unit, and you will watch them be reduced to piles of well-sliced gore.
This said, she is a wizard above all else, and comes with a unique spell. Arnzipals Black Horror is the spammable one many will favour, as it allows her to instantly inflict a random number of mortal wounds onto enemy units. It's cheap to be sure, but with this game style and so many characters at this tier, it's to be expected. This would make her effective on its own, but the bigger bonus is how her spells work. She has the ability to cast three spells per turn and twice with unbind, which adds +1 to her rolls and doubles her spells' range. You can easily have her hang back and cause all sorts of hell without too much trouble, and her hardy stats line means she can soak up a fair amount of punishment.
The more aspect of the character (which will likely be overlooked by many) is Worship Through Bloodshed, a command ability. This allows two nearby units of Daughters of Khaine within 14" inches to instantly make a shooting attack, which is perfect for thinning out mobs prior to an assault.
Even in direct combat, Morathi still slices through plenty of squads. While she has six wounds and cannot be healed, the Iron Heart of Khaine rule means that she cannot have more than three removed in one turn. This means that it is outright impossible to one-shot the character, and she will always get a chance to hack her way through a few things before going down. Furthermore, her nine 3+/3+/-1/1 damage attacks or D3 attacks thanks to her Heartrender and her Bladed Wings makes her a force to be reckoned with. Combined with a -1 imposed on units trying hit her, she will keep standing for quite some time.
Yet, what is more interesting is that this version is the Jekyll of the book. The rule The Truth Revealed means that upon being wounded her personal Hyde might come out, should you roll on par or less than her current wounds in a test each turn. This can be activated willingly, but it comes with a step forward and backward.
Morathi, the Shadow Queen
As her true form, Morathi's guise here is less enchanting than her humanoid form but it is certainly far more powerful. For one thing, her six wounds are instantly boosted to twelve, meaning she can tank far more hits, but this is impacted by her previous state. Rather than simply hulking out and recovering everything, not only are her previous wounds retained but the number is doubled. As such, the Shadow Queen is less of an easy escape than she is a trap to be activated when needed in many situations.
Along with gaining flight, boosted versions of her melee attacks (including an especially nasty version of Heartrender) and new weapons in the form of a stinger tail and snake hair, she also has a few notable buffs. Every attack by her hits on a 3+, meaning that she will decimate whole squads at a time if given half of a chance. The fact that she has access to Blood Rites means that this will steadily snowball as the game continues as well, gaining more buffs throughout the battles.
However, while she is hardier and notably much more melee focused, Morathi is still intended as a spellcaster above all else. As such, much of this seems to have been made with her unleashing long ranged attacks and then closing in to finish them off. This is best displayed when, for all her deadliness in close combat, one of her most potent abilities is a ranged shot - Which allows you to pick out and instantly remove an enemy unit from a squad if a dice roll you make beats their wound characteristic. Her spells are admittedly dulled in this state though, so it's less the extreme contrast of spellcaster and warrior, and more that one focuses on areas the other falls short in.
Overall, it's an interesting contrast and a mechanic which helps to give her a creative edge these big hero units need.
Slaughter Queen
Much like the leader of their order, the usual head honcho of the Death Hag has been divided in two. Unlike her, however, you can't switch back and forth between the two modes. The Slaughter Queen here is the Priest option, offering minor buffs while engaging in close range melee combat. She's poor at the former due to a few odd spells, but decent at the latter, thanks to the brilliantly named but irritatingly bland Blade of Khaine, but the hilarious yet deadly Deathsword with its D3 damage. That's not a slight against the Deathsword either, as there's something utterly hilarious in how bold faced it is in giving it that term. It's like the fantasy version of a 40,000 character showing up with a weapon called The Death Ray. It's just hard not to like it.
The odd thing about the character is that she is a decent spellcaster, with successfully casting her spells on 3+ rolls but always botching on 1s, which isn't a bad trade off. The issue stems from how she is only good for buffing herself, with Rune of Khaine turning her Blade into another D3 weapon, and doubling her attacks each turn with Dance of Doom. Rouch of Death, however, is extremely short ranged at 3" despite the D3 Mortal Wounds it can inflict. Orgy of Slaughter - the only one specifically devoted to assisting other Daughters - is fairly boring, as it just assists them when attacking and piling in, but only if there is another enemy squad within 3"
The 5+ save and a fragile stats line means that she does take the glass cannon aspects of the army to an extreme. As such, while it is clear how someone can use her to good effect, at the same time she is needlessly complex and reliant upon skills to constantly buff herself.
Hag Queen
At a glance, the Hag Queen is more or less identical to the Slaughter Queen. Both have the same overall stats line with only minor variations, share most of the same abilities, but whereas one has the Deathsword (Sorry, the DEATHSWORD!!! *guitar riff*) she only has a Blade of Khaine.
However, whereas the Slaughter Queen has been made with more direct combat in mind, the Hag Queen is a drug dealer. Her Witchbrew allows any Daughters unit within 3" of her to re-roll their wounds in combat, giving them some additional killing potential on her charge. Overall, she's the cheaper option, but can be quite a nice force multiplier if you need to inflict massive immediate damage to an enemy, or someone cheap to animate the army's Behemoth unit.
Cauldron of Blood
This is something just about everyone predicted would be reused here, and it's an essential part of any Daughters army. This can serve as an upgrade for both Queens listed above, and can also benefit from extra attacks via its attendants, inflicting D3 Mortal Wounds on enemy units who finish their charge within 1". This seems like a small amount, but given the model's size and the fact that many of its special rules require being used at close range, it becomes surprisingly beneficial.
The Cauldron can be used to also animate the army's Behemoth, but it comes with a +1 to Bravery for all Daughters within 7" of it. Furthermore, the spell of Bloodshield grants +1 to saving throws of nearby Daughters units, albeit with the note that units cannot be influenced by multiple Cauldrons at a time. The model's main attacks stem from both the nearby elves, but also the aforementioned Behemoth standing atop of it - An Avatar of Khaine. We'll get into the specifics of him at the end, but save for the fact it has +5 as a save and 13 wounds, it shares many of his attributes.
Overall, it's a good tanky option for a hero choice.
Bloodwrack Medusae
These are the closest the army has to a big tough Troll-style unit despite its Greek myth-inspired qualities. While they are quite effective in melee thanks to having a 2"/D6/+4/+4/1 tail along with the standard four attacks offered by Whisperclaws and two by its Bloodwrack Spear, their advantage lies in their ranged attacks. Bloodwrack Stare, for example, is a unique ability which targets one of every member of a unit, and rolls a dice for each of them. On the roll of a 5+ it's an instant Mortal Wound. A small group working in coordination with one another can quickly cut their way through the core of an army, but they are still somewhat vulnerable to attacks. It's only their 5+ save and sheer expense which stops them from crossing over into downright broken territory overall, and the fact that pressing forward can quickly backfire thanks to flanking assaults.
Bloodwrack Shrine
The Bloodwrack Shrine is an odd one here, as it doesn't quite fulfil the Cauldron's overall role, but at the same time it doesn't quite stand out from it either. The model benefits from the Bloodwrack Stare of the Medusae and the D3 Mortal Wound rule of the Cauldron itself. However, its benefits stem from how it can counter certain key foes if it remains close to allied forces. The Aura of Agony can target every enemy unit within 7" of it, and can inflict D3 Mortal Wounds on them. However, this diminishes quite rapidly depending on the damage inflicted. While it has 13 wounds overall, it only takes three for it to start dropping off.
The Enfeebling Foe is quite a tasty one, however. A spell which is core to the Shrine, it has a value of 5 and retains an 18" Range. For the rest of the turn, the unit targeted suffers from -1 to all wound rolls, something which is especially helpful in killing heavily armoured opponents.
It can work with most lists but this is one either left to armies specifically built with this model in mind, or those which have separated the Cauldron and Avatar, but still desire to have most of its effects.
Witch Aelves
Welcome to your frontline troops here, and they're exactly what you would ultimately expect. Well, mostly. They are fast, they do rely on multiple attacks per model and their numbers to win fights, but the rules have tweaked this with various buffs and special rules. For one thing, the Blade Buckler special rule gives them a 5+ save but with the benefit of inflicting a Mortal Wound if they roll a 6. So, yes, this is the rare example of basic infantry potentially murdering the enemy if they roll extremely well on saves. Furthermore, the Frenzied Fervour rule grants them an additional attack per turn when they are within 8" of the army's hero choice, allowing them to have quite a high damage output. This can then be taken further by carrying another blade, albeit at the cost of the Buckler rule.
With this being said, if they are caught outside of melee in the open they will die. As such, you need to use their speed to either get them into combat ASAP, or constantly move under the cover of your archers. It can work if the dice are with you, but you can also screw up badly with them as well.
Sisters of Slaughter
Another obvious option for the army's backbone, the Sisters of Slaughter share the Bladed Buckler rule but come with a few better melee weapons. The Shield and Barbed Whip offers them a 2" range in combat which, as any old Lord of the Rings player can tell you, quickly stacks up at close range. This is further enhanced by the 6" pile in range over the 3" which helps them to close in and hack smaller groups of models to bits with their sheer range of attacks. Besides this, however, most of their benefits are shared by the Witch Aelves. They're a better option overall, but they also share many of the same weaknesses.
Blood Sisters
This is the Battleline if your main hero is a Medusae and these are an interesting addition to be sure. They're a more elite option to be sure, as they're smaller in number, have greater rules and benefits and can serve as a major stonewall against enemy attacks if used correctly. Their standard glaives come with a 2" 3+/3+/-1/1 attack and they share the capacity to benefit from Blood Rites and the like. While they are admittedly more fragile than most models their size (and yes, I am sorry, but that word is going to keep showing up) they do benefit from an obscene Crystal Touch special rule. In effect, they cause an instant Mortal Wound with every hit. Quite frankly this one is fairly ridiculous even giving Age of Sigmar all the leeway it needs, and they are on the very edge of being Wraithguard levels of cheese. That being said, the fact they have a 5+ save with two wounds per model and very small unit sizes means that they will be whittled down quickly if isolated, but they will seriously damage anything which comes into contact with them.
Blood Stalkers
These are the ranged counterpart to the example above, as they share more than a few qualities but with bows in their place. Hitting on a 6 at long range will inflict a Mortal Wound, and they are highly mobile, capable of falling back and retreating when required. However, what is far less wince-worthy than the above example is how they operate in that area. They have fewer attacks due to the ranges involved and cannot benefit from massed volley firing on units, meaning it is harder to get multiple Mortal Wounds off.
Unfortunately, the unit's seemingly awesome upgrade is sadly quite underwhelming, as the Bloodwyrm (a pet dragon) cannot be used warhawk style and is limited purely to melee. Also, no they will not do too well in melee at all. While they stand out above the Stormcast Judicators in terms of their capacity to engage in combat while mixing things up at range, you should use them largely to pick off tough targets in the turns leading into an attack.
Khinerai Lifetakers
So, we've had the Aelves, the snake-women and now we have the Harpies. The Lifetakers are basically the Witch Aelves of the air, with even the Heartpiercer Shield effectively serving as their own Blade Buckler. However, while they share largely the same stats line, their abilities are where they differ once again. This unit is airborne for starters, meaning you have increased speed but they can also effectively Deep Strike into battle. So long as they are outside of 9" from the enemy, they can pop up and start causing havoc. This is further augmented thanks to their ability to add +1 onto attacks when charging into battle, giving them a bit more of an edge in sudden arrivals. Oh, and for those who enjoyed the ability to jump back out of combat, these guys can do that as well on a 4+, right after performing their attacks.
Overall, the Kinerai Lifetakers are a solid option, but it feels as if so much more could be done with them. The fact that they show so many interesting combinations in terms of rules, but have a core which is effectively identical to the Witch Aelves is frustrating. It seems as if so much more could be done if they simply spent a bit more time tweaking them, and granted the army some greater variety. This is supposed to be a force of monsters and mythical Greek creatures, but it seems as if there should be more to it than just this.
Khinerai Heartrenders
Three guesses as to what these guys do, and the first two don't count. Yep, it's a range version of the above unit, same as what we had with the snakes. They also carry out a somewhat similar role, focusing far more on a few very strong attacks over massed strikes. This is due to their 12" 3+/3+/-1/1 spear throws, which means they can drop out of the sky and instantly cause all kinds of hell for their enemy. Combined with their Rend ability being boosted to -2, the unit can inflict some very, very severe damage quite early on.
They come quite close to Sternguard in how they drop out of the sky and then kill something, only to often die in return. Still, unfortunately unlike those squads from 40,000, the Heartrenders do have an irritating flaw. There's multiple ways you can have them come down and pull this on the very first turn, meaning that they can cause all sorts of hell for other players. This is its main weakness, but besides that they're a nicely tactical choice for the army.
Doomfire Warlocks
These are the only male units in the entire army, as you might have guessed from the name. They also might have sprung up from an old joke on 1d4Chan. Some time ago there was a gag suggesting what might happen if an entire Imperial Guard regiment of psykers was formed. Well, on a squad-based level, they might well resemble this lot. The Warlocks are fast moving, lightly armoured and have severe spell damage they can inflict on others. This is based entirely on how many people in the unit you have left, but at the usual 10+ numbers, you are effectively unleashing an immediate 6 Mortal Wounds on a target at a casting value of 5. Plus, when you can't do that or have other things in mind, their repeater crossbows serve to thin numbers in a way other ranged units cannot.
Most interestingly, while they are expensive they do sidestep the glass cannon quality found in other units here. You will rarely field more than one, but this makes them a costly but very effective distraction to draw fire away from the numbers of blade-wielding blood nuns who could be hurt by concentrated attacks.
Avatar of Khaine
Yes, this was a surprise to me as well. Apparently having jumped universes, the
This counts as the book's major Behemoth unit, this is less the entombed shard of a dead god than it is an animated black golem. As such, you need a Wizard close by to keep it animated and active. A living one at that, otherwise it just becomes a hunk of metal. As an aside, I thought that this was a minor but quite nice touch to reflect the differences between the two universes. Okay, it can be animated from turn three onward via Blood Rites, but you have lost half of the game by that point.
Anyway, the Avatar can wade into battle with four -2 rend and 3 damage attacks, while taking a severe amount of punishment in return with its 9 wounds and a 4+ save. However, it also benefits from a ranged attack which can inflict six 3+/3+/-1/1 shots at its intended target, giving it a damage output on par with most ranged units. Furthermore, the +1 Bravery it offers to all Daughters units within 7" means that it offsets the difficulties in initiating a massed singular charge if needed.
Overall, while it has a distinct weakness, the Avatar is a solid character killer and an interesting bullet magnet which can return fire with ease.
The Verdict
Like the lore, this is very much hit and miss. It's okay on the whole, as there's nothing truly wrong with it, but it seems to be playing things very safe in a lot of areas. I do wish that a few more risks had been taken with some of the more creative units, but it's still a solid baseline for armies and for future editions to build on.
So, that's that done, next time we will finish this off with the remainder of their rules.
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