Age of Sigmar: A Closer Look At Lumineth Spear Phalanxes
Games Workshop is showing off the Vanari Auralan Wardens – aka Lumineth Spearmen – and the runes they wear.
The pointy elves are coming back to the tabletop with a brand new range of miniatures. We’re excited to see more from this range and today, Games Workshop is showing off some more of the these miniatures as well as a bit more background info from the lore of the Vanari Auralan Wardens. Let’s dive in!
The spear phalanxes of the Vanari Auralan Wardens are the mainstay of the Lumineth battleline. They fight with a synergy and grace that lesser races couldn’t even begin to fathom.
Heartbeats before combat is joined, the sunmetal tips of the Wardens’ spears flare into life with the solar energies they have absorbed, tearing through armour, flesh and bone as their Wardens skewer their would-be attackers with thrusts of lethal precision. They are led by High Wardens, imperious Lumineth officers who stand at the rear of each phalanx. Easily identified by their decorative back-banners, the High Wardens direct the warriors under their command and channel the magic of Hysh into their enchanted weapons to the utter ruin of their enemies.
The Auralan Wardens fight as a well oiled machine. Their phalanx is elegant and deadly and their miniatures represent that. With different defensives poses they are a wall of spears that enemies are not going to want to attack! The miniatures are designed with that in mind. Their shields have a crescent-shaped nook where the can rest their spears and still maintain combat effectiveness.
With the exception of triangular tabards of scale mail, the lower halves of the Wardens remain unarmoured – these areas of the body are protected by the interlocking shields of the phalanx. Meanwhile, the upper halves feature a mix of male and female torsos, each clad in layers of scale and plate armour with elegant, curved pauldrons. Their armour is bedecked with sun and moon icons, symbolising the twin gods of Hysh, for their warriors are neither Tyrionic nor Teclian exclusively. The interchangeable heads of the Auralan Wardens are protected by full helms and crowned with exotic plumes.
The Wardens also have swords strapped to their backs for when the enemy does manage to get inside their spears (or their spears get too clogged up with enemy kebabs). GW calls them “short swords” but they look to extend the length of the aelven torsos at least. Sure, they aren’t Great Swords but they don’t look super short, either.
Hidden Unit
Games Workshop also mentioned one other unit when talking about Wardens. The Auralan Sentinels are their ranged option. These archers rain arrows upon the enemy while the Spearmen hold the line. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen any pictures of them …yet. We’re wondering if they will be a dual kit with the spearmen or if they will get their own boxed set.
The Lumineth Runes
This one is for all you lore junkies out there – GW has given us a bit of a breakdown of a Lumineth Rune:
Integral to this is the Runic Mandala, the Lumineth evolution of the Pantheonic Mandala which once depicted the aelven gods from the world-that-was. In addition to representing an amalgam of the runes of the four Hyshian geomantic spirits, the more elaborate versions incorporate the twin aspects of sun and moon, both separate yet intrinsically linked, just as with the godly twins that embody them.
I’m not a linguist but this type of information is still fascinating to me. The Runes that GW has created for the various races have always been interesting to look at visually and now we’re seeing that the Lumineth Runes do have a bit more going on that just “pretty lines” that are carved on stuff. Maybe one day we’ll get even more background about the runes besides a sheet that is basically an alphabet or a translation page.
What do you think of the Wardens? Anyone else curious about their weapon profiles? I know I sure am…
