Age of Sigmar: A Forgotten Kingdom – Flesh-eater Courts Deserve Better
The Flesh-eater Courts have quested for the lady. They’ve fulfilled their knightly oaths; haven’t they earned their reward?
The new Warcry starter set is pretty amazing; stalwart Stormcast warriors face off against the delusional forces of the Flesh-eater Courts. As cool as these models are, though, I couldn’t help but notice a problem. While the Stormcast Eternals have a massive and dedicated range, the Flesh-eater Courts feel…forgotten. As interesting as their lore is, their rules and model range leaves much to be desired. I think this is a crying shame. The truly dedicated sons of Bretonnia deserve better!
They Feel Like Half An Army
At the dawn of Age of Sigmar, I remember a forgotten battletome for the Clans Pestilens, the disease-focused faction of the Skaven. While these days the Skaven are united once more (in so much as the Skaven CAN be united), there was a time when Pestilens existed on its own. The Flesh-eater Courts feel like that. Having once been a part of the Vampire Counts army until getting their own tome in AoS. However, unlike the aforementioned rat fellows, the ghoulies have remained separate, existing as a weird nebulous army of their own. While I am happy about this, I feel like Games Workshop kind of forgot they’d done it. They are at a Fyreslayers level of no support – but at least the Fyreslayers are mostly new. The Flesh-eaters are their own army; and they deserve to be treated that way.
They’re Actually Really Cool Lorewise
As far as lore goes, the Flesh-eater Courts are very in-depth and interesting. I love the idea of a group of disgraced Bretonnian nobles going on quests against vile creatures, then coming home to have great victory feasts. Since that’s definitely 100% what the Flesh-eater Courts are, I see no reason to go further. In all seriousness, though, Games Workshop could easily play up the Bretonnian angle a little more.
They already have the Endless Spell in the form of the old-school lance formation, and their leaders are named for Bretonnian military ranks. Since the Zombie Dragon and Terrorgheist are solidly Soulblight creatures now, let’s give the ghoulies a new critter. Maybe an undead Griffin or skeletal Pegasus to call back to the old Bretonnian lords.
They Haven’t Had An Update In A While
With one exception, the Flesh-eater Courts models (not counting Underworlds) are all from the Warhammer Fantasy era, and some are old enough to vote. But even more than their models, the rules for the Flesh-eaters are still way behind almost all the other AoS armies. While that isn’t a unique problem, that doesn’t make it any less important. The delusional ghouls deserve their time in the spotlight, and a full-range redo similar to Seraphon would not go unappreciated. Even just some better foot ghouls would be a good start.
The inclusion of Flesh-eater Courts in the Warcry box gives me hope that a big redo is on the way for them. However, I’ve been burned before.
