AoS: Magic with Teeth – Best Manifestations From Every Grand Alliance
We’re here for round twelve of the Grand Alliance Throwdown! Today’s battle: four living weapons that bring a little magic to the battlefield.
Welcome in, Generals of the Realms! We’re back again with another Grand Alliance battle royale. While warriors are the backbone of any army, a spell can take on a life of its own in a Realm of magic. When this happens, the Manifestations are born. These powerful semi-sentient spells are deadly weapons in any arsenal, but especially so when unleashed in the heat of battle. From swarms of undead vultures to living beasts of magma, these deadly living spells are the bane of enemies and friends alike. Woe betide any who cross paths with these deadly sorceries.
Order: Bladewind
As with every other category, Order has its fair share of Manifestations. It helps to have the most factions in the game, but I digress. Of all their Manifestations, however, my vote for favorite definitely goes to the Daughters of Khaine for the Bladewind. Harkening back to a powerful spell of the same name, this whirlwind of blades is a nightmare for the enemy. If your opponent is heavy on infantry blobs, this spell will tear them apart.
As with all things Daughters of Khaine, this Manifestation is all about speed and damage. With a staggering nine attacks that each deal an additional hit on a Crit, it makes mincemeat of all but the hardiest of enemies. As if that wasn’t deadly enough, on the turn it charges, it can eliminate positive save modifiers, laying the enemy bare without magical protection. Even the toughest armor might have a rough time with that.
Chaos: Mesmerising Mirror
Not all Manifestations need to be heavy hitters. Sure, you have reality-splitting axes and flaming daemon heads, but sometimes, power is in the subtlety. Slaanesh knows this better than most, and that’s why their Manifestations are a bit more…sinister. Of them all, my personal favorite is the Mesmerising Mirror. Technically, it is a boon to your enemy, but as with all things Slannesh, rewards come with a price.
To start, the mirror punishes anyone who dares to ignore it. If a unit begins a move wholly within 12″, they MUST move closer or risk the wrath of the Prince of Excess. However, being closer isn’t any better, as the mirror offers them a deadly bargain. A unit within 6″ gets to add +1 to their hit rolls, at the cost of d3 mortal wounds. While that may not sound like much for the payoff, that damage can add up quickly.
Death: Nightmare Predator
At last, a category where Death can put up a fight! Death has no shortage of powerful Manifestations. After all, magic is the bread and butter of the forces of Death. For this entry, however, I have to give the edge to the Ossiarch Bonereapers and their Nightmare Predator. This massive skeletal hunter is a deadly foe, able to seek out the foe wherever they may be. Worst of all, even killing it doesn’t guarantee your safety.
The Nightmare Predator is a nasty piece of work, perfectly capable of rending an entire unit asunder. It has six attacks that deal two wounds each, and while it doesn’t have any special effect, that’s a heavy order. The thing that earns it the top spot, however, is what happens when it is finally destroyed. If the unit that summoned it is still on the battlefield, you have a 50% chance to bring it straight back at full wounds. Death is inevitable, and this spell is the perfect representation of that.
Destruction: Mork’s Mighty Mushroom
For the first time, Destruction doesn’t have a lot of options to throw out. Only two of their armies even HAVE Manifestations (though I imagine that will change as more army books arrive). With the small list, it does make the choice a little easier. Though it isn’t the strongest spell in the world, nor the one with the most utility, I have to give the prize to the Gloomspite Gitz for the Mork’s Mighty Mushroom Manifestation (and not just because of how fun that is to say).
The Mighty Mushroom is a curious piece, and it’s no accident that it looks like a nuke going off. In every shooting phase, you pick up to three units and roll a number of dice equal to the number of models in the unit within 6″ of the ‘shroom. For every 5+, the unit suffers a mortal wound. That makes the spell especially deadly for armies like Skaven that want to have large numbers of low-wound models. If you run up against this mush, be careful where you stand.
Did your favorite unit make the cut?
