by AOSCalvin and Rockman

Howdy friends! Normally, when a Battlescroll comes out we try to do just a broad overview of what’s changed and some sweeping discussions about winners and losers regarding points changes.

Not this time. This is the single biggest shake-up mid-edition we’ve seen in years. Maybe ever? So much has changed that it’d be a disservice to just off-handedly talk in a pick and choose fashion, because this is the most excited we here at Plastic Craic have been about the game in a very long time. So we’d figure we would start off with by far the biggest change to the game, and that’s the Honour Guard system updates. We’ll talk more about a roadmap at the end.

What’s Different with Honour Guard?

A whole bunch of things, actually! For starters, everyone still gets the guaranteed one Honour Guard for their General’s regiment, but now if you have more regiments than your opponents (i.e., more drops than your opponent) you can get a second heaping of Honour Guard for another regiment that is not your general’s or any units in a regiment of reknown.

Meanwhile, there have been some changes to the original Honour Guard selections. Bodyguard now requires that NEITHER the Bodyguard unit nor the General have made a charge move to hand out the -1 attack debuff, so no cheeky counter-charge shenanigans to set up -1 attack bubbles. Meanwhile, Priority Target now specifies that the +1 to hit/wound ONLY applies towards the enemy general, or the honour guard unit (if any) in that general’s regiment–any potential second Honour Guards taken don’t count. Lastly, Special Assignment remains the same.

While all that is cool and some needed quality of life changes, the real stars of the show are the two NEW Honour Guard abilities on the block: Prized Beasts and Field Sergeant. Both have new unique restrictions, with the former applying to a MONSTER unit and the latter to NON-FLY INFANTRY HERO unit that is in but not leading a regiment.

Hooboy, these are SPICY! Namely because on top of these new choices for Honour Guard, GW has done a fantastic job completely refreshing the battle profiles for basically every army in the game. There are WAY more options for what I call “Sergeants” now–little foot heroes that no one ever took because competing for drops was, by and large, way more impactful than whatever small buff another hero could offer. There’s also a few cheeky updates to certain Monsters and Monster Heroes out there.

And while there are way, way, WAY too many options for Sergeants to list out there, the focus below is going to be on something the wilder combos you can do in the game to take advantage of these new Honour Guard options.

Prized Beasts

I think everyone in the game has a pet monster that they just really love, but never put on the table because for the most part this edition is NOT monster friendly. They’re only 5 OC (usually), and almost universally they only hit on a 4+, and almost never worth the CP for an All-Out-Attack. But what if now, you NEVER have to worry about that last part ever again? Instead of needing to baby sit monsters, now you can easily field one and have it be its own independent operator which is what a Monster should have been in the first place!

To that end, here are what are some of the clear winners for this Honour Guard ability–just remember the +1 to hit is for combat only:

1. Mega-Gargants taken as Eager Louts in Sons of Behemat
   • This is the one that shot to the top of the list because–honestly–could it have been anything else? Destruction armies suffer immensely from the curse of 4+s to hit, so being able to mitigate that means the damage output of everyone’s favor big boys goes up dramatically.
   • Since Mega-Gargants can be taken as Eager Louts (max 1 per regiment) in Sons, now you can have Kragnos running around giving a permanently-+1-to-hit Gatebreaker 3d6 charges rampaging around the table.
   • Also, Megas have even harder hitting feet now. What is it with GW and the foot-related trend for Destruction armies?
2. Stormdrake Guard in…. well, any SCE list.
   • Does anyone remember back when Stormdrake Guard were ridiculous? Well, here we go again!
   • Unlike the other monsters listed in this section, Stormdrake Guard don’t get to benefit from the “No Battle Damaged” part of the Prized Beasts ability, since they just don’t bracket at all.
   • However, who cares? While you don’t get to benefit from that, instead you get 660 point unit that just MAULS everything it touches, over and over and over again. At 9 wounds a piece, you charge into something and–if it doesn’t just die immediately–you then power through backwards and get ready to do it again the next turn.
   • If you play SCE, there’s really not a better choice of Honour Guard or anything else out here. Personally, if I played SCE, I’d start looking at what I can buy with 1340 points, because I’m never leaving home without this.
3. Akhelian Leviadon in any IDK lists that don’t take the Akhelian Beastmasters battle formation
   • It’s a big fucking turtle that hits super hard in melee, what’s not to love? Honestly the big draw here is being able to open list building for IDK, potentially moving away from Eels and Turtles to Turtles and dudes on foot. It’s this kind of list-building options that this update enables that we’ve been missing from the game so far.
4. Tuskboss on Maw-Grunta in an IJ Regiment led by Gordrakk or a Megaboss on Maw-Krusha
   • Good lord are these aforementioned heroes getting cheap–260 for a Tuskboss, 360 for the Megaboss, and 380 for Gordrakk? Pretty sure Gordrakk has dropped almost 100 points so far.
   • Tuskbosses are now Tusk Wranglers, which can be taken in any regiment run by the two heroes on giant cabbages.
   • Since Prized Beasts affect companion weapons too, it’s pretty trivially easy to get a Tuskboss pumped up to the gills by the Bottom of 1 and have him slam into your opponent’s army like the Tasmanian Devil, except plated in armor and oinking loudly. What was I saying, again?
5. Deepstriking Zombie Dragon in Fleash Eater Courts
   • All Honour Guard abilities let you pick units in Deepstrike, which is an important thing to remember!
   • Since Zombie Dragons have a native version of Deepstrike, what you can end up with is a Zombie Dragon coming out of Deepstriking, moving d6″ thanks to an Abhorrant Arch-Regent’s warscroll spell Carrion Call.
   • Slap on the +1 attacks from a 24″ Feeding Frenzy bubble and you’ve got an Assassin’s Creed Zombie Dragon dropping in behind you, moving d6″, shooting and then charging followed by a Tokyo Style 2d6″ drift thanks to its warscroll ability Soaring Terror. You could pretty easily take out some juicy targets this way, even with the dragon’s fat-ass base.

Field Sergeant

The time of cavalry is over–basically every form of heavy cavalry in the game went up in points in this battlescroll, and continue to climb. While still good, you’re going to see a lot less of dumb shit like Nagash and 30x Kavalos Deathriders running all over the place, and more combined arms type lists thanks to these new Honour Guard abilities. Prized Beasts is a great one for just having something hit harder, but Age of Sigmar is won and lost in the movement phase, and Field Sergeant is here to make everyone’s foot sloggers pick up the pace.

Generally speaking, outside of the “can’t fly” restriction, most Infantry heroes that can take the Field Sergeant slot don’t really impact the infantry units that get the +2″ to movement. The choices below–however–are ones with powerful combos that add onto that buff and enhance it. This list is not exhaustive, and we’d love to hear more ideas from you!

1. Crypt Horrors near a Varghulf Courtier/Marrowscroll Herald
   • Being base 7″ movement means Crypt Horrors with that guaranteed extra 2″ from Field Sergeant means they are fast at 9″. Casting Deranged Transformation on them and putting them to 11″ of movement means they’re fast as fuck boi.
   • What this translates to–at a baseline–is that a T1 Take the Flanks is much, much, MUCH easier to achieve now, since you just put a brick of Horrors on one of the battlefield near your Courtier of choice, and meanwhile something else fast moving like Morbheg Knights lets you really stretch your opponent out on deployment.
   • Honorable mention goes to mass Royal Beastflayers–at 100 points per and the fact their Royal Flaymaster ability is not Once Per Turn (Army) means you can really stack up a huge number of triggers in the combat phase and drown your opponent in mortals and ludicrous numbers of garbage attacks.
2. Basically all Fyreslayers Infantry in the Warrior Kinbad Battle Formation
   • The following is true for any infantry out there currently with a 4″ movement characteristic: gaining 2″ of movement is a 50% increase in movement.
     • The difference between 4″ and 6″ of movement is most readily apparently when talking about distances between deployment zones.
     • If you have 18″ separating deployment zones, 4″ of movement takes at least 4 turns of running to get there, while 6″ of movement only takes 3 turns of regular movement.
     • If you have 21″ separating deployment zones, 4″ of movement takes at least 5 turns of running to get the other side, while 6″ of movement only takes 3 turns of running.
   • This is a DRAMATIC increase in mobility, and for armies like Fyreslayers where you have an entire army of short kings frothing at the mouth to get those sweet charge buffs, the best way to charge is to just be closer to your opponent.
   • Case in point, an Auric Runeson can now be taken as a Sergeant in certain heroes regiments, and he really is the best option here if your choice is to buff your infantry up, as he not only tandem-activates infantry near him via Dauntless Assault, he also hands out +1 to charge rolls to friendly Fyreslayers Infantry wholly within 18″ of him if he gets a charge off via his Relentless Charge ability.
   • Want even more charge buffs? Give the Blood of the Berzerker heroic trait to the Runeson for an additional +1 to charge bubble of 12″, pop the Relentless Zeal rune for Run and Charge on your army, and then pop the Magmic Tokens ability from the Auric Runemaster to get all the way up to +3 to charge on all your infantry near the Runeson.
3. Basically all IJ infantry, but especially Ardboys + Ardboy Big Boss in Weirdfist Battle Formation
   • IJ keeps racking up wins here! Basically every foot hero outside the Warchanter and Weirdnob can now be taken in the Sergeant position, and while they are all good the one I’m shouting out here is Ardboy Big Boss.
   • No unit in the army needs more baby sitting than Ardboys–these squat, tough ladz are the biggest buff magnets in the game and just absolutely LOVE getting juiced up. First off, the jump in output from the Shield Bash ability from the Boys while near an Ardboy Big Boss is a 100% increase in damage thanks to his Get Bashin’! ability triggering Shield Bash rolls on a 5+ instead of a 6+.
   • Meanwhile, basically every buff that a Warchanter or Weirdnob can hand out to Ardboys requires those heroes to be wholly within 12″ of them, meaning you need everyone moving at a good pace to keep up.
   • Lastly, the Weirdfist formation requires those Ardboys to be wholly within 12″ of a Warchanter or Weirdnob anyway, so keeping your castle as mobile as possible means easier positioning to set up better turns in the future.
4. Basically all Skaven Infantry, but especially Night Runners and Acolyte Globadiers
   • Reminder that Lord Skreech–who is a two cast wizard now, mind you–has all the keywords to enable the list building restrictions in Skaven. Namely, this answer the problem of finding someone to lead a regiment with the Skrye keyword to take 30x Acolyte Globadiers AND a Warlock Sergeant.
   • Night Runners get the first mention here because they are already fast little shits with a pre-game move and a 7″ movement characteristic. Add on two more inches and now you’ve got Night Runners literally in the middle of the table before Round 1 begins. Couple this with the Three Clawsteps Ahead ability and you can literally put a unit of Night Runners infront of your opponent’s army before they even get to move a single unit.
   • Meanwhile, Globadiers (who are no longer metal, yay!) are down to 100 points, already move 6″, and have a killer shooting attack that provided you’re better at rolling 2+s than I am in the Skryre Battle Formation. (Rolling a 1 kills d3 Globadiers–just roll good, ezpz). That extra 2″ of movement and bargain bin pricing means your opponent HAS to ponder those orbs, otherwise they are going to get lit the fuck up.
5. Putrid Blightkings led by a Lord of Plagues with the Febrile Frenzy Enhancement
   • Blightkings have 4″ movement, pumping to 6″ with Field Sergeant. What’s better than 6″? 7″!
   • Having the Field Sergeant Lord of Plagues following around the Putrid Blightkings means you’re getting 3+ armor save infantry moving at the same speed as Night Runners. That’s value!
   • Honestly, the hardest part about playing Nurgle has always been positioning. Getting a 75% increase in movement speed for not just Putrid Blightkings but also Plaugebearers means you’re getting into combat on YOUR terms instead of your opponent’s, and it is almost always better to be the aggressor.
6. Kroxigors with the Sotek the Deliverer asterism and a Saurus Astrolith Bearer
   • Monstrous infantry is just the coolest. Personally, I’m a huge fan of the Kroxigor sculpts because they’re GIANT CROCODILE SOLDIERS! How cool is that?!
   • On top of being cool, they also hit real fucking hard, which would be great if they had the mobility to get anywhere in a reasonable time frame, because while the Sotek the Deliverer asterism from the Seraphon battle traits helps speed them up, why bother when you could just take Aggradons instead?
   • But now, with a Saurus Astrolith Bearer you get 9″ movement Kroxigors. That’s a hell of a lot of lizard at considerable velocities. Meanwhile, the Astrolith bearer hands out 6+ wards to anything wholly within 12″ of him via the Revivifying Energies ability, and adds 3 to friendly Seraphon control scores wholly within 12″ via the Celestial Conduit ability if a friendly Seraphon wizard gets a spell off. while nearby.
   • Also, Kroak is way better now so while you’re getting crocpiled by a shitload of Kroxigors, you’re getting nuked from space by a geriatric toad.
7. Literally any Khorne Infantry, but special honors go to any Khorne foot heroes.
   • Okay, so obviously making Blood Warriors and the like move faster is better, right? Big shoutout to Claws or Karanak making an 8″ pre-game move, for instance.
   • But here’s the real sauce:
     • Step 1: Take a Mighty Lord of Khorne
     • Step 2: Take an entire regiment of Aspiring Deathbringers at 90 points each
     • Step 3: Run them at your opponent’s army
     • Step 4: Murderlust one a turn for the rest of the game into your opponent’s army, locking whole sections of armies in combat with cheap asshole heroes that die easily and farm Bloodpoints for you.
   • This is going to happen to you in some capacity in the future–just get ready for it!
8. Fusil-Major on Ogor Warhulk and all Cities of Sigmar Infantry, but especially Wildercorps Hunters
   • Continuining the theme of “pre-game moves are good” we’ve got a freshly buffed Fusil-Major paired up with Wildercorps Hunters. The former now just straight up hands out +1 to hit buffs against whatever they shoot atthat are no longer locked to the shooting phase–making units like Tahlia more terrifying–while also providing a large physical base to project that extra 2″ of movement to the Wildercorps Hunters.
   • Even though they aren’t as fast as Night Runners, the Hunters are still good, cheap screens that can hamper enemy plans and provide decent shooting attacks. With enough of these and other units, you can really start to chip your opponent away one shooting phase at a time.
   • In addition, because Field Sergeant applies to ALL friendly non-fly infantry wholly within 12″, this will end up helping get your Darkshards into range faster, moving up your short king Duardin units into the fray, and on and on.
9. Savage Orruks Morboys with a Savage Big Boss in the Brutal Rukk Battle Formation
   • Picture this: your opponent comes to the table with a bunch of naked Orruks eager for a scrap. They move 5″ base, which isn’t that big of a deal. But then your opponent explains that because of Field Sergeant, they’re going to move 7″ instead. Also, they get a pre-game move equal to their movement characteristic thanks to the Brutal Rukk
   • So now, instead of being 18″ or 21″ away, they’re now 11″ or 14″ away. Then, your opponent goes first and now 160 wounds of Savage Orruks Morboys are 4″ or 7″ away depending on the territories.
   • They charge, and when they charge nothing in combat with them can use commands, the Morboys get +1 to wound on the charge, and oh yeah your opponent declared Waaagh at the top of 1 so everything in the army also has a 5+ ward.
   • So now you’re buried under 160 wounds of naked Orruk ass attacking you over 600 times that turn. Have fun!

Conclusions

I’ll be honest here–JUST these small updates have really opened the game up. Will it fundamentally alter what the top of the meta is? Not really, I don’t think–those armies are dominated by stat-checking factions that don’t really care for tactical acumen. The rest of the meta though LOVES these kinds of changes, so you can expect more exciting games in the near future.

Personally, the biggest winners to me between the two Honour Guard Regiments are:

1. Flesh Eater Courts, being able to benefit heavily from both types of Honour Guard abilities.
2. Sons of Behemat, because an un-bracketable, always +1 to hit Gatebreaker is hilarious.
3. Ironjawz, Fyreslayers, and Nurgle on foot, since they need the most help getting into combat of any armies in the game.

After this article–coming soon–we’ll be breaking down all the rest of the changes both by Grand Alliance and revisiting some old topics like the Double Turn among other things! If there is anything else you’d like to see us write, Patreons get to vote on that very thing and give us an idea what the people want to hear about.

*Credit for all official artwork and rules go to Games Workshop.
**Credit for the One Punch Man meme goes to me and my smooth brain.

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