Age of Sigmar: The Heroes of Broken Realms: Be’lakor Rules
There are a trio of new Heroes from Broken Realms: Be’lakor who are getting new models. Let’s take a quick look at their full rules!
The new Broken Realms: Be’lakor come with a bunch of new rules for various factions but we’re taking a closer look at the warscrolls for the new models that are included in the book. We’re kicking it off with the big man himself.
We’re finally getting a look at all his rules in one spot and he’s looking solid. He’s certainly beefier than he was previously with 14 wounds and a matching 14″ move (at least before he takes damage). His Save is also a 4+ all the time as well. This should make him stick around and stay on the board when combined with his ability to regain wounds through Lord of Torment – you just have to ensure he’s nearby enemy units that are going to take some battleshock tests.
He’s got a custom spell as a wizard and two unbinds/casts a turn. And he’s also got his other signature ability The Dark Master.
As mentioned in previous articles, I’m personally not a huge fan of this ability as it just prevents an enemy unit from getting to do much provided you roll 3+. I don’t like the whole “you don’t get to play with your toys” mechanic. But it’s a slightly better rework of previous version.
Be’lakor does have some weaknesses however. He doesn’t have anything in the way of protection from mortal wounds (at least not on his warscroll). You’ll have to look to army specific rules for that. He also doesn’t have anything in the way of boosting his casting ability on his warscroll. This puts him in a weird spot as he DOES have decent spell slinging against anyone who isn’t a special character with a ton on bonuses. He also clocks in at 380 points.
Is he worth it? That’s going to depend on a lot of other factors within your Chaos army. Personally, I really like the model and would probably try to find a way to make it work. Some people do build armies around the rule of cool…
Gardus Steel Soul Warscroll
Gardus Steel Soul is the new Stormcast Eternal Hero. He’s got a page of rules and he’s a good support character – provided you’re playing Hallowed Knights. His Aura of Purity provides him with a 5+ save vs mortal wounds and that ability is also conferred to Hallowed Knights units wholly within 12″ of this model but on a 6+ instead. I think this ability could have just been “within” vs “wholly within” and probably would have been fine as it’s a 6+ save and it’s only vs mortal wounds. Had it been wounds AND mortal wounds…yeah probably not that. As it is now, it seems a little niche.
Martyr’s Strength allows him to get an extra attack round in once he’s slain on a 2+. He hits well enough for a support character so this might allow you to drag another minor character down with you or take out some chaff. And by the way, this ability is based off the lore – but that’s another topic. Saintly Assault is a pretty strong ability. It’s only once per battle but it allows your friendly Hallowed Knights within 12″ (not wholly within) to re-roll their charge rolls AND they also get to add 1 to their attacks. This could really help swing an assault in your favor.
This model also has a cloak of tiny hammers that can fly off and hit things. The Sigmarite Warcloak would almost be comical if it wasn’t so good. It’s basically D6 shots that do a mortal wound on a 4+ to targets within 16″. That’s almost better than some other shooting attacks (and it’s not technically a shooting attack). And finally, we have Furious Retribution. This command ability provides another way to get +1 to hit rolls for units wholly within 12″ of this model at the start of the command phase. Not bad at all.
For a support character with some front-line potential, Gardus Steel Soul seems pretty solid overall. He’s a good alternate option for Stormcast Eternals in general but his value goes up if you’re playing a Hallowed Knights army.
Krulghast Cruciator Warscroll
Krulghast Cruciator is another support character for the Nighthaunt. He adds some welcomed ranged attacks with 4 shots at 12″ that hit and wound on 3+, have Rend -2 and 1 damage. There isn’t a TON of shooting in the Nighthaunt army and while the range isn’t amazing, it’s still going to be useful. His melee attacks aren’t terrible either. He’s probably not going to slay out in close combat, but as a support character he’s not supposed to.
He’s got all the typical Nighthaunt abilities, too like Fly and Ethereal. But his real special sauce comes in with that Empowering Excruciation.
Causing your Nighthaunt units wholly within 12″ to get their Deathless Spirits battle trait “save” on a 5+ vs a 6+ is a big deal. You know the math and I’ve seen the difference in combat between armies that have a 6+ vs a 5+ “extra” save. This ability makes taking this model worth it. I think if this model was also a wizard on top of it everything else, he’d be an auto include in my army. But it’s not a wizard. But I’m sure there are some other heroes I can swap out to at least give it a test run.
Broken Realms: Be’lakor is out this weekend for Pre-order along with all three of these new models.
