Age of Sigmar: Krethusa Rules Reveal – ‘Burnt Offerings’ May Not Turn The Tide
Krethusa the Croneseers rules are out and available for download. But how will her Army of Renown stack-up?
Games Workshop has released Krethusa the Croneseers rules as a free download. She’s got some good stuff in her kit for sure. I think she’s going to be nice addition to the Daughters of Khaine army overall. However, I’m not so sure her Army of Renown rules are going to be able to pull their weight. Let’s tackle her rules and the previews about the Army of Renown — The Croneseer’s Pariahs.
Krethusa The Croneseer’s Rules
Coming in at 170 points, I think she’s a bit expensive as a Leader option. Stat-wise, she’s only got 6 wounds with a 5+ armor save and 4+ ward. The ward is great and all — but there’s armies out there that can sneeze in a 6 wound character’s direction and take them out. I think this is a major weakness for the Army of Renown, but we’ll get to that later.
She’s no super warrior or mega-wizard either. In fact, she doesn’t sling any spells. Instead she’s a Priest who can offer up a Prayer and Burnt Offerings. Thematically, I think this is totally appropriate and great. Gameplay wise…well, let’s look at those options.
So each of these Prophecies she can apply to a unit are good individually. Silence prevents an enemy from getting orders (like Inspiring Presence, All-Out Attack, or All-Out Defense) and is strong. Dark Wings allows for some movement tricks which are always welcome. And Reclamation could allow you to swipe an objective from under your opponent’s nose. Again, all of these are good to have. Her powers really are there to support her army in some major ways.
The Croneseer’s Pariahs Rules
Okay, now let’s talk about the Army of Renown rules the Croneseer is bringing. I’m going to just show what GW previewed first and then we’ll go back and talk about how this will impact the Daughters of Khaine.
The Croneseer’s Pariahs get access to Doomfire Warlocks as Battleline in the Army of Renown. Additionally, they also get the Skilled Skirmisher rule that allows one Doomfire Warlocks unit a turn to attempt to retreat from a successful enemy charge. This attempt is on a 3+ and if the enemy ended within 3″ of them they can retreat 2D6″ away.
The Cauldron of Blood is also going to be a key focus for this army as well. It has some extra rules about being empty vs full and can be used to help fuel your army even more. In particular, it allows for the Croneseer to double-up on Burnt Offerings:
I actually like this interaction as thematically it makes a lot of sense. Drain the blood of a cauldron to fuel your power — how very Daughters of Khaine of you!
Additionally:
“The Army of Renown includes a new Artefact of Power, a Grand Strategy, a Battle Tactic, a Command Trait, and a Prayer Scripture, which significantly change the way Krethusa’s Daughters of Khaine play. “
And oh man do I hope those extra rules are something impressive to use. Right now, based on these previews, I’m finding some rather large problems with the army.
More Like ‘Army of Renounce’
Just a reminder that when you’re using the Army of Renown rules you lose access to all the army’s other battle traits. For Daughters of Khaine in particular that really hurts. That means no Blood Rites, no All-out Slaughter, no allegiance abilities, and no Fanatical Faith. Ya know, a bunch of stuff that makes the army work.
You’re effectively renouncing Morathi and the way the Daughters of Khaine play for Battleline Doomfire Warlocks and some extra Burnt Offerings bonuses. Couple that with Cauldrons of Blood needing to get within 3″ to become full just so you can then use the Burnt Offerings again, I’m a little skeptical. Oh and your Lynchpin unit (The Croneseer herself) is really the one throwing out the buffs you need to compensate for the loss of the army rules. And again, she’s only got 6 wounds.
I don’t know if that’s a trade I’d be willing to make as of right now. Again, there’s some hope that the extra rules in Dawnbringers: Book V – Shadow of the Crone will be able to compete. But for now, based on the rules revealed thus far, I think I’d rather just run the Croneseer in a standard DoK army and call it good.
I hope the Croneseer’s Pariahs can see a different way forward. Otherwise, I’m on team Morathi in this fight.
