Warhammer 40K: Rules Preview – Chaos Cultists In Blackstone Fortress
The forces of Chaos have brought some powerful new weapons to the Blackstone Fortress. Spoilers ahoy, take a look!
Feast your eyes upon the cultists and their Firebrand leader that haunt the halls of Blackstone Fortress. But it seems that the Ruinous Powers have another trick up their sleeve, including the Fortress’ own special brand of chilling menace. Spoilers await, but for now, let’s look at what the cultists can do.
via Warhammer Community
Here are the autogun-wielding heretics of Escalation.
Like most Cultists, they are protected by a t-shirt, but this brand of baddies back up their boldness with some heavy weaponry. Notably, they carry a grenade launcher and a heavy stubber, both of which pack a mean punch.
But any of these cultists is a threat to your party if they can get adjacent to you, thanks to their Full-Auto ability, which lets them attack everyone they’re right up next to.
Then there’s the Firebrand. Who is “swollen with energy” and fire.
Firebrands are reservoirs, their bodies swollen with the fell energies of the Dark Gods, and they can channel these warp powers into torrents of flame. Unfortunately, there aren’t any fire extinguishers on the Blackstone Fortress, so you’ll need to find another way of dealing with the flame-wielding figurehead. His hellfire torch is deadly at range 2-3 but doesn’t work beyond range 4 so make sure you keep your distance.
But, as the world of 40k teaches us, the deadliest force in the universe is the power of friendship, and that proves true with the firebrand’s ability to inspire his friends, making them even killier.
All that assuming you don’t get lost in the deadly new Blackstone Labyrinth, which can trap you in a four-room mini-dungeon while you’re exploring the halls of the Blackstone Fortress.
Which is inconvenient to say the least while you’re reaching against the new Escalation mechanics to try and stop a foul new plot by an old familiar fire. Here’s your last spoiler warning.
We good? Obsideus Mallex is back, resurrected by the Eldritch Energies of the mysterious fortress. Behold!
He’s back and badder than before, having been empowered by the power overwhelming him. Now he has 18 wounds and a move speed of 3, so he can get even closer with his fancy new hammer that now has a demon inside it.
And since you can’t make defense rolls against his attacks, that’s just bad news.
Good Luck explorers–you’ll need it.
