Welcome back – as we hit the halfway stage, our teams have conquered the map, they have wracked up glorious victories (and crushing defeats) and now they’ve started unleashing gigantic sun-lasers to blast each other’s territory.

As a reminder, Secrets of the Agloraxi is a Matched Play campaign where our players are logging their own regular competitive games against their own opponents, with a map-conquest stage taking place between every two-week round. Our players can log any game, anywhere in the world, and as you’ll see we’ve already got one player who took his campaign army to a GT and wracked up a bunch of wins for his team.

We’ve assembled into three factions, each seeking to unlock the Secrets of the Agloraxi to achieve their own goals:

• The Free Ghur Corsairs are a ruthless band of Orruk and Grot pirates who sail the treacherous seas of the Mortal Realms, plundering merchant ships and coastal settlements. Known for their savage raiding tactics and chaotic, unpredictable nature, they are fiercely united under their charismatic (and often mad) leaders, whose vision of freedom on the high seas keeps the crew loyal and bloodthirsty.
• The Drakmire Lords in Exile once ruled the prosperous city of Drakmire, until the arrival of a band of Ogors seeking refuge within the city’s walls. Initially welcomed as mercenaries and labourers, the Ogors cunningly ingratiated themselves into the city’s criminal underworld, gradually consolidating power. Over time, they transformed into a ruthless gangster-politician class, corrupting the city’s leadership and manipulating the system for their own gain. With the Ogors ultimately controlling the city’s politics, the Drakmire Lords were ousted, their noble bloodline shattered. Now exiled, they rely on cunning alliances, dark magic, and brutal mercenaries to one day return to their city and crush the Ogors who betrayed them.
• The Cult of the Agloraxi is a fanatical group of Chaos worshippers who believe their ancestors — the once-mighty rulers of a vast, ancient empire — have returned from the afterlife to guide them. Visited by spectral manifestations of their forebears, the cultists are driven by the vision of resurrecting their long-fallen civilization, now empowered by the dark blessings of the Chaos Gods. Obsessed with reclaiming the power and glory of the Agloraxi dynasty, they seek to plunge the world into chaos, believing that only through destruction and upheaval can the empire’s former greatness be restored.

You can check out the full intro here, so let’s smash into it and see how it’s all been progressing!

Round Two In Summary

The Corsairs have swept directly north, looking to ransack those rich and unguarded lands. The Cult of the Agloraxi made a move for the centre of the board while the Lords in Exile have pushed aggressively inland, with the result that our factions are now butting up against each other, and any further expansion is likely to mean directly conquering each other’s lands:

…But the Cult of the Agloraxi didn’t want to wait that long, and decided it was time for an injection of chaos (pun intended). They really threw the cat amongst the pigeons by launching an unprovoked laser blast at Corsair territory (represented in the map by the purple lightning bolt); the Corsairs responded with all the grace and steely composure that you would expect from Greenskin pirates and went on a block spree, blasting away at everyone, hitting the Cult’s newly-claimed lands but missing the Lords in Exile wildly.

So this is the how we’re set at the end of Round 2 of 4, with a lot of big swings on the horizon as teams are now positioned to start stealing liberating each others’ land:

Games Won is the resource that drives this: every team can take two territories per turn, but teams with more wins can take land directly from any of their opponents with fewer wins. Shit runs downhill.

And here’s the detailed closing map for Round 2:

Gaming

Cult of the Agloraxi

The Cult have been smashing it, with Ws coming in all over the place as they rampage through the Flamescar Plateau.

Let’s hear it for Thomas, who took his campaign army to a GT! Thomas achieved an excellent 3-2 result with his Nighthaunt, so that’s 3 wins in the bag for his team, taking the scalps of COS, SCE and S2D. One key learning point to come out of it was that Soulscream Bridge can pull units out of combat without counting as a retreat – but only in that player’s own movement phase (so not via Magical Intervention).

This is a really powerful move and another reason to consider Forbidden Power, which is already somewhat of a connoisseur’s choice. Seriously – any time I see an opponent rocking the FP, I know they’re going to be a good player.

Xander meanwhile has been jamming his S2D: With their path into the ruins of Ahramentia now clear, Be’lakor’s cabal prepared the summoning ritual. After hours of chanting and copious gallons of innocent blood spilled, the ritual reached its climax and the Dark Master himself appeared, his winged body coalescing from a column of pure shadow. He uttered not a word, but simply gestured his legions forth with one outstretched finger. And all the barbarian hordes and gibbering daemons of Chaos rushed to obey his command.

Xander’s first game featured his Darkoath Horde and Chosen against Rotigus, Horticulus and 8 Beasts of Nurgle. The Chosen were able to get into Rotigus early and absolutely butcher their way through the enemy. Nurgle had 300 points left at the bottom of turn 3!

Xander’s second game was Be’Lakor with Legion of the First Prince, running a rainbow coalition of various Daemons against a standard 60 Bestigor BoC list. While the Bestigor did eventually take down Be’Lakor, they struggled massively against Xander’s 20 Bloodletter block and couldn’t score enough on the primary.

Xander’s feedback on the Darkoath is that they weren’t really tested by the Beasts of Nurgle list, but they were an effective screen/roadblock, and it’s worth noting that you can pledge them and get, for example, +20 attacks on a blob of 20 cheap Marauders. Savagers will probably struggle with the current battleplans, but reinforced Marauders and Fellriders can make a contribution.

And finally John Triplow had an absolute banger of a game with his Nurgle into Rockgut-heavy Gloomspite. The Battle of the 5+ Wards went Papa’s way by the narrowest of margins:

Free Ghur Corsairs

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a Stumblefoot Gargant! The Free Ghur Corsairs launched a raid on another Gloomspite clan with an army built around Trugg, but P’tit Fut‘s list moving forward will have a Mercenary Mancrusher in a starring role:

Mini Mega Friend 2000/2000 pts
Gloomspite Gitz | Troggherd
Drops: 4
Spell Lore – Lore of the Clammy Dank
Manifestation Lore – Aetherwrought Machineries
General’s Regiment
Dankhold Troggboss (240)
• General
• Loontouched
• The Clammy Cowl
Rockgut Troggoths (380)
• Reinforced
Rockgut Troggoths (380)
• Reinforced
Regiment 1
Rabble-Rowza (120)
Gobbapalooza (150)
Skitterstrand Arachnarok (210)
Regiment 2
Fungoid Cave-Shaman (100)
Boingrot Bounderz (240)
• Reinforced
Regiments of Renown
Stumblefoot Gargant (180)
Faction Terrain
Bad Moon Loonshrine

In P’tit Fut’s own words: We played Jaws of Gallet and while I usually try to score as many points as possible, this time I tried to be the underdog for as long as possible. And it paid off, as I was able to completely dictate the flow of the game by removing key objectives. It was even more important because I was playing against another Gloomspite player: we rolled off before the game to decide on the Moon, and I lost this roll, so my whole army was outside of its light.

I really love the mechanics of the more “complex” battleplans:

• Jaws of Gallet
• Starstrike
• The Vice
• Limited Resources

A bunch of Fanatics easily took down Trugg, which shows how swingy that unit is. Any shooting at all will just pop them, but if they do get to swing, they can really put in a lot of work! The Corsairs picked up the win in the Clash of the Gits, and you can read the story behind it in the Campaign section below.

Lords in Exile

Meanwhile the Lords in Exile kept pounding out the W’s. Graal‘s Seraphon picked up a comfortable win vs Nurgle with his cavalry dominating the wider sections of the board. The Bola Hunters were a menace while Kroak and the gang held down the centre without breaking a sweat:

The Seraphon also picked up a win against netlisty Stormcast (Karazai, Praetors, Longstrikes, you know the drill). Karazai came in for the kill, but those Huanchi Bolas had him charging with one dice, and he failed the 3″ charge. And then failed the reroll.

The Stormcast player duly got the double, and failed the same 3″ charge again. And failed the reroll again. You’ve got to laugh; and then when you remember that this happened to Karazai, laugh louder.

Seraphon wrapped up the round with one more win against FEC, but this one was much closer. Graal’s FEC opponent is really learning how to get the most out of his army, so it’s a matter of time until he knocks over the frogs.

Sticking with the Lords in Exile, Grant (Farmhammer) is having a blast with his Stormcast list:

It’s the final Tracksuit 1990/2000 pts
Stormcast Eternals | Sentinels of the Bleak Citadels
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of the Storm
Prayer Lore – Prayers of the Stormhosts
Manifestation Lore – Manifestations of the Storm
General’s Regiment
Ionus Cryptborn, Warden of Lost Souls (400)
 • General
Prosecutors (280)
 • Reinforced
Questor Soulsworn (220)
Reclusians (280)
 • Reinforced
Reclusians (280)
 • Reinforced
Regiment 1
Knight-Arcanum (120)
 • Mirrorshield
 • Staunch Defender
Liberators (100)
Liberators (100)
Stormcoven (210)
Faction Terrain
Stormreach Portal

Grant has really clicked with this list, wracking up scores of 50, 48 then 50 in back to back games:

“It’s a good bully list. It punches down well, but top tier stuff will just lift it. Should make it a nice middle of the pack list. Didn’t want to take the filth, I wanted to take the models I liked and so far it’s been fun.”

Grant’s Stormcast picked up some solid wins against Slaanesh and LRL in this round, in preparation for taking the list to Tracksuit GT in Round 3.

Will‘s Cities of Sigmar however took a beating from Nighthaunt: It was a great game, but I lost pretty solidly. I went first on turn one and advanced up pretty cautiously, toeing on to the middle objective and up to the center for Seize the Center. I weathered my opponent’s attacks pretty well, but he got the double and started getting some solid kills in. Then I tried to kill Lady Olynder with Callis and Toll plus Galen Ven Denst, but it wasn’t enough and he was able to mop up the rest of my army.

A key moment in the matchup was a failed 6″ Countercharge on Turn 2: “It would have been nice if I had gotten it, but it probably would have been better to save the command points. I also should have activated first with my Executioners instead of trying to get the kill on Lady Olynder. Even with the double damage against wizards, she’s still pretty tough to kill with her 4++ ward and I lost a lot of Executioners before they could activate”. Great feedback and it’s always good when you can enjoy a game in defeat – something that Age of Sigmar excels at.

Hobby

Remember that Stumblefoot Gargant we were talking about? For the Free Ghur Corsairs, P’tit Fut painted up a sweet giant for his ROR:

Meanwhile Maximus contributed to the pirates by painting up Nobby and Dobby:

For the Lords in Exile, Graal has a bit of basing to finish off, but we’ll call this close enough to tabletop I reckon:

And wrapping up the hobby for Round 2, John has been going to work on Papa’s finest:

Campaign

Free Ghur Corsairs

So here’s how P’tit Fut‘s Gloomspite mirror match that we talked about earlier played out: Leroy Jenkins (Dankhold Troggboss) and Boule (Squigboss) were looking across the battlefield from high on a hill at an angry mob of Goblins and Squigs, barely containing themselves before the fight. It was time to decide who was right; no-one remembered what they were arguing about, but it didn’t really matter. When the Moon arrived, roars could be heard from everywhere. The sound was so loud that the hill shook under Jenkins’ and Boule’s feet.

It shook so hard that they fell downwhill, hearing the laughs of their enemies. The Moon only lit their side of the battleground, not a good omen at all. But as the hill continued to tremble, a huge Troggoth emerged from the rubble. Trugg, the fabled Trogg king! As he got on his feet, the other Troggoths from each side came to him.

For a moment, no one knew which side Trugg would choose. Jenkins himself didn’t know whether he was about to bash Boule’s skull, or charge alongside him. Then Trugg roared and charged towards the opposite side. Jenkins and Boule followed him, the little Git screaming alongside the Troggoths, followed by a bunch of crazed Squigs.

The fight was memorable, with mostly Squigs littering the battlefield and Trugg alongside them. But could the fabled Trugg die so quickly at the hand of puny gits? It must have been someone else, but that was a matter for an other day.

The rest of the Corsairs need to shake it up, as Furythrow2‘s Kruleboyz acknowledged : Glruk Bogbreath emerged from the dank waters of the swamp. It was warmed by the water from the searing sea and it steamed around him. He had been deep in meditation listenin’ to what Mork had to say. Meditating for too long it seemed. Warbands of Gitz and other Orruks had been marauding all along the coast and his tribe was still lurking. He had to bring word to the Boss that the Klaw needed to get moving. Mork had given them their work, and they should be about it quick…

Lords in Exile

Grant (Farmhammer) has named his Knight Incantor Arlathia Hammerbolt. I like it.

Bizarrely, Graal‘s Seraphon switched sides for one game and he beat his own campaign army using his opponent’s Stormcast: The offensive was going too well; the Drakmire Lords were risking over-extending their army. Itzibitzi called on Lord Kroak for help… The old toad laughed and sent his mind out into the ether. Finding a hostile Draconith, Kroak took control of the beast and sent it rampaging against his own army of lizards. While the Drakmire Lords were forced to retreat, their campaign was still under control. Itzibitzi was however growing very tired of Kroak’s antics…

What’s Next?

We’ll be back with our Round 3 update soon. One highlight coming up is that Bingus took down an S2D power build with his Gargants – that big-boned Hired Muscle punching their considerable weight for the Lords in Exile. Bingus really went into detail about how he tackled the matchup and I can’t wait to share it.

Meanwhile the Free Ghur Corsairs are working on their own Pirate Code which should be fun: this was P’tit Fut’s idea and it’s going to based around real-world historic Pirate Articles. Can’t wait to see the finished product. And for the Lords in Exile, Graal will be taking his campaign army to a one-dayer in Melbourne this weekend, where PC writing team members Rockman and I will also be in attendance, and trying our damnedest to stop him in his tracks if we get drawn together.

Have a good week, nerds – catch you soon.

~ Pete

If you’d like to help us continue our work, we’d love to have your support. All Patreon Tiers include Discord access, exclusive articles and regular contests. Our Tiers are priced to be within everyone’s reach, so please click here to join us today!