Age of Sigmar – Are You Not Entertained? New Heroes from Arena of Shades
Arena of Shades is upon us, and it introduces two incredible new Heroes.
It’s that time again, folks; a brand new Battlebox has dropped, and with it, a pair of snazzy new Heroes for the Daughters of Khaine and the Nighthaunt. Both the High Gladiatrix and Scriptor Mortis are great models (the Gladiatrix has grown on me), and their rules set them up to be solid all-rounders. Whether you need support or damage, these heroes will fit perfectly. Let’s take a quick look at the new hotness and where they might land in future lists.
Scriptor Mortis
The boogeyman with a book, the Scriptor Mortis is one of the best character assassins I’ve ever seen. He has the typical Nighthaunt foot package of 6 wounds and an unrendable 4+ save, plus max Bravery and a 6″ move.
His weapons aren’t anything to write home about, though they can do a decent chunk of damage if he HAS to fight, and once per phase he can pass off one wound to a nearby Summonable Nighthaunt unit. However, you want to bring him along because of his Sentenced to Eternal Torment ability.
In your hero phase, you can pick an enemy Hero that this guy can say to write their name in his totally-not-a Death Note. Then, you make a judgment roll, which allows you to dish out 2d6 mortal wounds if you roll lower than the turn number on a d6. Now, that doesn’t sound great early on, and it isn’t, but you MUST keep making judgment rolls in each of your hero phases.
By turn 3 or 4, that book gets a lot scarier, and once you kill your target, you get to move on to the next one. This is a great way to snipe pesky backline heroes since its range is the battlefield, and will make your opponent much more aware of placing their heroes, allowing you to manipulate their deployment slightly.
High Gladiatrix
Yet another hero assassin, but this one is less “sit back and wait” and more “I’ll do it myself!” She has 6 wounds, a 5+ save, and 8 Bravery, so she might not stick around forever. However, she also has a 6″ pile-in and 6 attacks. Again, not much on paper, but she gets better. At the end of EVERY combat phase, not just yours, pick an enemy hero within 1″ and roll a d3.
If you meet or exceed their remaining wounds, they are slain outright. That makes her the ultimate finisher and means that a pesky Vampire Lord surviving on one wound won’t be back to torment you in the following phase. What’s even better, she increases the Wound roll for nearby Sisters of Slaughter and Witch Aelves to 3+ and gives them a point of Rend.
Note that this is not a +1, but a number change, meaning +1 abilities can increase it even further! If you plan to run a not-Snakes list, you’ll definitely want a Gladiatrix or two.
Will you be snagging Arena of Shades?
