Normal Skeletons are cool right?

You know what’s cooler? Bone constructs. Skeletons…and then some.

Welcome to our review of the brand new Ossiarch Bonereaper Battletome for Warhammer Age of Sigmar!

In this article we’ll be going through the contents of the latest Battletome for Nagash’s prime time Undead army. We’ll be checking out the Battle Traits, Artefacts and changes between the warscrolls since the Faction Pack from the start of the edition.

We are also going to be checking out the raft of new releases that are accompanying this book. We’ve got a full unboxing video, and we’ll take you through each of the kits and what they do in game.

Before we get stuck in, if you fancy preordering any of the contents of this article, then why not give our affliates over at Element Games a go? Not only will you save cash VS RRP, but you’ll also do us a solid and help us out too!

Our thanks to Games Workshop for sending us the new Battletome and the new kits, to unbox and review.

Once you are done here, why not check out our review of the new Warhammer Underworlds warband (who are also Bonereapers!), Thanatek’s Tithe and the new Rivals deck, Nexus of Power.

For now though, it’s time to check out the new Bonereapers…

The New Models | Unboxing

Before we open up the book, let’s check out what new minis are also up for preorder today.

If you want to watch me unbox each of the new kits you can do so via the video below:

We’ll run through what the new units do in game later in the article when we start to tackle the Warscrolls.

Firstly, let us check out the Mortek Triaxes.

We’ve been expecting an archer unit for the Bonereapers for some time, as a unit like this fits in with the aesthetic of the Bonereapers, and also because we saw an archer mini in a previous Warhammer Underworlds warband.

These models went together so quickly, which is great when it’s a 20 man kit. They were also really fun to paint!

Secondly, we have an assasin unit for the Bonereapers. The Mortis Reapers are cloaked killers, and are one of the coolest looking models in the range. These guys were OK to assemble, however I didn’t enjoy glueing the arms into place, as you are relying on a small surface error. After building lots of recent Warhammer kits which ensure small joints glue really nicely, this was a little disappointing.

Still, that’s my only bug bear, as the rest of the minis go together really nicely.

We then move on to one of two characters released in this wave, the Liege-Mortek. What I really liked about this kit was that he has a choice of weapons and heads that he can be equipped with, which I’m really grateful that GW are doing now with these character models.

I REALLY enjoyed painting this guy. He really stands out as a character piece, and you can imagine him barking out orders to large groups of Triaxes and Guard.

Finally, the centrepiece of the release wave is the new chariot. This can be assembled in one of two ways. You can build it as a Liege-Kavalos on War Chariot, or as a War Chariot. I opted for the Liege-Kavlos, as I prefered that build and wanted my General to ride out on a warchariot.

I was a little concerned this could be a little tricky to assemble, as I’ve had run ins before with chariot models, but not so. This went together really well. I opted for sub-assemblies, as the Liege himself is easy to assemble and leave off.

Although it did not affect my build, as I opted to build mine as the Liege-Kavalos, the bow on the kit which would have been usable on the alternate build was broken (the string had snapped). This sadly may happen to a few due to how thin the strings are (luckily I had no broken ones on my Triaxes sprues).

I’m super happy with how he has turned out however, he’s probably my favourite model I’ve painted right now.

Battle Traits

With our look at the new models out of the way, it’s time to check out the Battletome itself and find out what the army is all about.

It’s undergone a fair few changes since the Faction Pack that dropped at the start of the edition.

So we are kicking off with the Battle Traits, or in other words the core rules which make your Bonereapers tick.

Relentless Discipline is back, but it’s gone through some changes. On each of your Hero’s Warscrolls you will see a Relentless Discipline number. Arkhan has a 3 whilst Katakros has 10, as the two examples. At the start of a Battle Round you choose a hero on the battlefield and gain a number of Relentless Discipline points equal to the value on the warscroll.

If you are running Katakros, then you are choosing him every day of the week, but it gives your opponent another reason to take him out of the game, to lower the amount of points you can gain. As before, any unspent points are discarded at the end of the round.

So you now know how many points you have, but what can you spent them on? Well…let me tell you. Importantly, each of the below costs a single Relentless point UNLESS you have a reinforced unit and still half more than half of the unit on the battlefield, of which in that case it’ll cost you two. Also, you don’t need to be near the Hero who is issuing the point.

• Remoreless March: Extra 3″ of movement in the Movement Phase. Cannot Run however
• Impassive Retreat: Unit can Charge, even if it Retreated. Very strong ability.
• Ruthless Extermination: Subtract 1 from ward rolls made for damage points inflicted by attacks made as part of that Shoot action. Makes your Crawler and Triaxes a little spicier against targets with good ward saves.
• Pitiless Assualt: +1 to Wound in the Combat Phase. The best use of your points IMO. Very good on every combat unit in your army.
• Inviolate Legions: Use this one just after your enemy declared an Attack action against one of your units. The defending unit gains a 5+ Ward.

Some really good abilities in there, in partcular the +1 to Wound. I like the change to how you get Discipline points, as you can almost plan how you’ll spend your points, as you know how many you will be getting come your turn.

Battle Formations

Next up is your Battle Formations. As always you choose just the one of these, and your army then gains the benefit. Each one leans into a certain way to play as the Ossiarch Bonereapers.

• Grim Sentinels: Melee Weapons used by your Bonereapers gain Anti-Charge (+1 Rend) so long as they are wholly within your territory or wholly within 6″ of both enemy and friendly territory. A strong pick, and the one I’ll be using a lot.
• Nadirite Wedge: In the Combat phase, any units that charged can roll a D6, and on a 3+ the Companion weapons in combat gain Crit (2 Hits). Not terrible, if you run a largely mount force.
• Silent Empire: In your Hero phase you can pick an enemy unit and roll a dice. On a 3+ the enemy unit you picked has a max control score of 1 whilst within neutral or your territory.
• Unfaltering Pace: If any of your units Run, then they move a minimum of 4″, ignoring the rolls between 1-3.

Personally I feel the Grim Sentinels is the strongest choice. Having a say on Control Scores is pretty good, and knowing you have the potential for extra movement is always a great way to just about grab those objectives.

Heroic Traits

All three traits have been replaced since the Faction Pack.

The solid choice for me is Manufactured Mind. What this trait does is allow you, once per game, you can pick a dead Bonereaper Hero when gaining Relentless Discipline points, giving you a bonus turn of RD points even if, say Katakros, is dead.

The other two are OK. Immaculate Defender allows you to ignore the first point of damage allocated to each friendly Bonereaper unit wholly within the character who has this trait. The final trait is called Imperious Will, and is usable when you declare a Fight ability for a non-Hero Bonereapers unit wholly within 12″ of the Hero who has this trait. It allows you to pick an enemy unit in combat with the already chosen non-Hero Bonereaper unit and on a 2+ on a D3 you deal mortal damage equally to the roll.

Artefacts of Power

Again, none of the Faction Pack artefacts have returned, and instead we have three brand new ones.

It’s a strong three too, starting with the Shard of the Necris, which means any incoming hits of 1-4 against the model with this relic fails, so the only way you can hit this character is on a 5 or a 6. A very good artefact!

Blade of the Nadir is also very cool. You choose one of the bearers melee weapons, and for any unmodified rolls of 6, you deal D3 mortal wounds. Finally Amulet of Gnosis gives an aura of 12″ preventing any damage to be taken by units when Retreating.

Spell Lore

Moving on to Magic, and I’m pleased to see that Drain Vitality is back as that’s a solid pick.

Empower Nadirite Weapon now gives the bearer’s Crit (2 Hits) whilst Immolating Flames (casting value 6) potentially deals damage as your models are killed in combat. You roll a D6 for each point of Health your dead mini has, and anjy 5+s deal mortal wounds back.

Empower is still an Unlimited spell.

Warscrolls

The big one! It’s time to check out the Warscrolls, including the newcomers.

I’ve tried to pick out some of the key changes between the Faction Pack and this new Tome, but apologies if I miss any! One major thing of note is the army wide Crit (2 Hits) has gone, although some units have managed to hang on to it:

• Nagash: Same as the recent-ish Soulblight book. Still a powerful unit. Imagine using his Supreme Lord of the Undead ability to bring back a big unit of Morghasts! One thing that has been added is his Relentless Discipline points, of which he only brings 3, which seems way to low.
• Katakros: He brings 10 Relentless Disipline points to your army, which is big straight off. Whilst he still adds 3 to control scores(albeit it when a unit has used Relentless Discipline points, rather than just being in range of an aura) his other abiltiies have all changed He can make a friendly unit fight twice, and on a 3+ can stop an enemy unit from using commands. He also has a new ability, called You Dare!! which kicks when your army is under half strength. For the rest of the battle round his main weapon gain 5 additional attacks, his Shield gets another 3 attacks but he cannot use is Supreme Lord of the Bonereaper Legions ability.
• Arkhan the Black: One of my favourite Age of Sigmar characters. Still gets +1 to cast and heals when he has succesfully cast a spell. Doom of Traitors now boosts the attacks of Arkahn’s mount if he is fighting another Priest/Wizard. Curse of Years does the same job, but is written much better, and is now clearer on taking out whole units.
• Arch-Kavalos Zandtos: All change for this guys abilities too. Give any enemy units he’s in combat with Strikes Last, but he must have charged. Can also grant +1 Damage on the charge for either the cost of a Relentless Discipline point or should the Arch-Kavalos be in combat he can do it for free.
• Vokmortian: Voice of Nagash now stops a chosen unit from using non-Core abilities for the rest of the turn. Mortal Contract remains. Gaze of Death now does D6 damage, rather than 2.
• Liege-Kavalos: Still has Master of Cavalry. His Blade now wounds on a 4+ rather than a 3+. No longer does mortals on the charge, but does buff the Deathrider Wedge ability from the Deathriders.
• Liege-Kavalos on War Chariot: The first new model we come too. Has a cool ability where he and up to 2 nearby War Chariots can pile in and do D3 mortals in your Movement phase. Additionally can give War Chariots a ward save in combat, so long as they charged.
• Liege-Mortek: The second new model. This on foot Hero can grant 1 unit (eith a Mortek Guard unit, Triaxes or Mortek Crawler) +1 to Hit, and grants Shoot in Combat AND allows them to shoot (obv if you have chosen a unit that can shoot!).
• Mortisan Boneshaper: His old ability has gone, and instead he can bring back a unit of Mortek Guard or Triaxes that have been killed (albeit at half strewngth, but still very good) and allows you 3 additional dice when making Rally rolls each time a unit within 12″ attempts to Rally (cannot be used on a Hero though).
• Mortisan Soulreaper: His Soulreaper ability is back, however his Blast attack now potentially does D3 mortals and regains you some Relentless Discipline. Retains Crit (2 hits), gained an additional attack, but now does D3 damage rather than flat 2.
• Mortisan Soulmason: Sadly has lost his mount’s attacks and his pip of rend. Soul-Guide unchanged.
• Mortisan Ossifector: Does D3 damage with his melee profile, instead of 2.
• Kavalos War Chariot: Yet another new warscroll. The chariot does impact attacks, but also after doing said mortal wounds the chariot can bounce to another place in the combat, so long as it stays within an inch of the unit it was in combat with to start with.
• Kavalos Deathriders: Abilities have now changed. Only has the one, but it’s brilliant. Can deal D3 mortal wounds on the charge and allow this unit (as well as a a friendly unit) to move up to 10″.
• Mortek Guard: No longer have Anti-Charge, but do now have Anti-Cavarly. Shieldwall has gone, and has been replaced by Shields of the Legion, which basically allows this unit to ignore 1 Rend.
• Teratic Cohort: This is a cool little unit, but it has lost some mobility in the this book. Gone is the outflanking rules, and in is able to Move at the end of the Deployment phase. Can also move 3″ in your Hero phase, including the ability to wander into combat too.
• Mortek Triaxes: The new bow armed Bonereapers. Bows get 2 attacks, 3s, 4s, Rend 1, Damage 1. They also have some handy Balefire Braziers that can reduce the control score of an enemy unit.
• Mortis Reapers: The new assassins on the block. These guys get 3 attacks each, 3s, 4s, Rend 1 Damage 1, with Anti-Hero for an extra bit of Rend. They can teleport around a piece of terrain (you pick a piece of terrain within 6″ of the unit, pick up the unit, and place it back down within 3″ of the terrain you picked). Great for those games with large terrain pieces. They also have an end of turn ability which inflicts D3 mortal wounds on an enemy unit, and then allows this unit to move 6″ (allowing you to move out of combat).
• Immortis Guard: Sadly no longer give the Ward bonus, instead one enemy unit they are in combat with can’t use weapon abilities.
• Necropolis Stalkers: More changes, as the stance ability they had is gone. Instead you pick an enemy unit in combat with this unit and roll a number of dice equal to the number of models in the enemy unit. For each 6 you inflict 1 mortal wound on the unit. Should your unit have 3 or more models, then it triggers on a 5+
• Morghast Archai: They’ve kept both weapon abilities, Crit (2 Hits) and Anti-Monster. They’ve also kept both abilities too, so a rare no change scroll
• Morghast Harbingers: Only one change here, and that is the loss of the Heralds of Nagash rule (as you don’t have to be within range of a hero for Relentless Discipline now anyway). 3D6 charge is still here, which is awesome.
• Gothizzar Harvester: A fair few changes here. He’s lost his ranged attack, and now just has the one weapon profile, the Soulcrusher Weapons, 6 Attacks, 4s, 2s, Rend 2 Damage 3. His abilties have changed, well, re-worded I guess. He now starts the game Full. When Full, in the Hero phase, you pick a friendly unit and either return a slain model to the unit, or should the unit you pick just have a Health charaterstic of 1, then you can return 3 models instead. This causes him to become Empty. To fill back up again you roll a dice at the end of any turn for every enemy unit that has been killed this battle, and on a 4+ (3+ if this unit has fought) he is full again.
• Mortek Crawler: Lost his Anti-Infantry weapon ability, but still has Crit (2 Hits). Still has Deathly Barrage, as well as a new ability, Cursed Stele. It grants the Crawler +1 Rend against Faction Terrain and increases the Damage by 1 against Faction Terrain too.
• Bone-Tithe Shrieker: Still has the -1 to ward saves, which is ace!
• Soulstealer Carrior: Now -10 to control scores, rather than -5.
• Nightmare Predator: Still has the same rules, but with a slight buff. If banished, he still comes back on a 4+ UNLESS he has slain any enemy models this turn. If he has, then it’s a 3+ instead.
• Bone-Tithe Nexus: The Gaze has gone, and now has a very simple ability. Enemy units cannot be setup with a number of inches from this terrain piece. The number of inches increases as the battle rolls on, so for example in Turn One enemy units cannot be setup within 9″ of it. By Turn Five it’s within 21″ of it. It does however now have a combat profile for anyone foolish enough to enter combat of it, with 2 attacks, 4s, 2s, Rend 2 and Damage 3.

A lot of changes in this one, and my immediate feeling is they are slightly less killy, but have a good deal of control score abilties, which feels right for this army. They still have punchy units such as the Morghasts, and the new Liege-Mortek is a powerful utility hero to make your core units, and the Crawler, even more impactful.

Spearhead: Kavalos Vanguard

As is becoming common with new Battletomes, alongside this release is a new Spearhead.

For those who are new to Sigmar, Spearhead is a smaller scale way of playing Age of Sigmar, where you play with the contents of a Spearhead box, and battle it out on smaller boards, with its own missions etc. They are a great way of getting into AoS.

This new Spearhead contains:

• A Liege-Kavalos (on Horse)
• A unit of Terratic Cohort
• A reinforced unit of Kavalos Deathriders

If you are looking for a fast undead army, then this is the box for you to get started with. I don’t have any of these units, so it’ll be a great expansion for my fledgling Bonereapers force.

This section of the book also helps with painting your new Spearhead, as it includes an easy to follow painting guide. It also then goes on to the rules for using this box in games of Spearhead.

Path to Glory

The Anvil of Apotheosis turns its attention to the Ossiarch Bonereapers, with a dedicated section to creating your Hero of your dreams.

I really like the Path to Glory sections in these Battletomes now, as it allows you to create your own Hero from scratch, starting with an Archetype (Bonecrafter, Soulwright or one of three Commander types depending on if you want your hero to be a Chariot, Kavalos or Mortek Commander).

As you progress through this section you’ll spend Destiny Points to give your new Hero abiltiies and a mount, ultimately giving you a completed character at the end with a points cost. There is nothing here which will cause you to create a character so powerful he’ll break the game!

Once completed, your Hero can then take to the fields of battle. Theres two advancement trees your Hero can embark on as he levels up during the course of your battles. Ideal for a campaign.

Army of Renown | The Lance of Ossia

We now move on to the Armies of Renown. These are special rules which allow you to run your Ossiarch Bonereapers in a very specific way.

If you do decide to run one of these Armies of Renown, then you forgo the normal Faction rules, and instead use the rules presented in your chosen Army of Renown. Additionally you’ll have some restrictions on what units you can take, and whether or not you can take all/any of your Manifestations as well as your faction terrain.

This first one, The Lance of Ossia, is a great example, as it leans into your mounted units. To this end, you can only take the following:

• You have to take Arch-Javalos Zandtos, and he must be your General.
• You can take the Liege-Kavalos on War Chariot
• Kavalos War Chariot
• Any Cavarly units

You cannot, however, take any Regiments of Renown or Faction Terrain.

The rules for generating Relentless Discipline is the same, however the abilties for it are different (still require the use of 2 points for reinforced units):

• Vengeful Outriders: Add 2″ of movement
• Kavalos Lance: Can use the Power Through ability even if the target does not have a lower Health characteristic.
• Silent Menance: Can stop an enemy unit from using Redeploy.

You then also get two other abilties. Fury of Zandtos is usable in the Charge phase and allows a unit to gain Crit (2 Hits) whilst Blood-Smeared Hooves gives a unit extra Rend (including Companion attacks).

Army of Renown | The Null Myriad

The second, and final, Army of Renown in this book is The Null Myriad. This is my favourite of the two Armies of Renown in the book.

Fans of the Bonereapers will have guessed by now that this is a magic heavy way of running your army. Unfortunately though, it prevents you from taking any mounted units, as its restrictions are as follows:

• You must take Arkhan the Black, and he must be your general
• Can take any non-unique Wizard Heroes
• Any Bonereaper Infantry units

You cannot take any Regiments of Renown.

Your whole army gets a 4+ Ward against spells. Theres a cool ability called Supernatural Absorption, which allows one of your units to banish a Manifestation, which in turn allows you to heal said unit.

The final Battle Trait shines a light on Arkhan. Everytime you make a casting roll for Arkhan, so long as one of the below is true, then the spell cannot be unbound:

• Unmodifed casting roll includes 2 or more results of the same value
• The casting roll equals or exceeds the value needed to cast
• The spell is not miscast

This Army of Renown has its own Spell Lore, one spell adds +1 to wound rolls whilst the other spell gives one of your units a 5+ Ward save.

It’s a very cool way of running your army, especally considering my love for Arkhan, but I’m not a fan of the army building restrictions, or the lack of Relentless Discipline points/abilities.

Regiments of Renown | Heralds of the Bone-Tithe

The final segement of the book is the Bonereaper’s Regiments of Renown. These are two ‘units’ that can be taklen by any Death army (but not by Bonereapers). I really like the concept of Regiments of Renown compared to an Ally system, as it controls what units you are adding to your army.

The Herals of the Bone-Tihe consist of:

• Vokmortian
• 3 Immortis Guard
• 10 Mortek Guard

This Regiment includes a unique spell that can be cast by Vokmortian. It goes off on a 7, and allows you to pick an enemy unit. Should that enemy unit want to make a Fight ability, then that unit must spend a Command Point, otherwise the Fight affect has no effect.

Regiments of Renown | Karahtet’s Siege Breaker

Flesh-Eater, Nighthaunt and Soulblight players…have you ever wanted to add a war machine to your armies? Well, with this Regiment you can, as it allows you to bring:

• A Mortisan Ossifector
• A Mortek Crawler

The lone ability in this Regiment is a unique spell that the Ossifector can cast, to grant the Crawler a 5+ Ward save.

Who wouldn’t want a massive catapult in there army?!

Summary

And with that, we come to the end of this look at the Battletome and the new minis.

So what do I think?

Firstly, I really REALLY enjoyed painting the new models, to the point where (at least for the time being) I’m going to concentrate on getting a full army of the Ossiarch Bonereapers on the tabletop as quickly as I can. The new Liege-Kavalos on War Chariot is probably my favourite, the model is fantastic, it’s easy to build in sub assemblies and has some cool rules in game.

The book really pushes the Bonereapers into a organised, control the objectives, regimented army, which is exactly what I feel the army set out to be on the tabletop. With abilties to reduce control scores, retreat from combat and charge in again, you can almost dictate the play a little.

They feel like an army that could be played by new and returning players.

I like the changes to Relentless Discipline point generation, however I’d have like to have seen them get distributed amongst the characters a little better. Katakros by far has the most amount of points, and with his rules anyway almost makes him an auto-include, which is a shame as that’ll stop you from taking other cool units as he is a good chunk of points. Nagash should have more than 3 Relentless Discipline points!

The two armies of renown are cool, in particular the Arkhan-led Null Myriad, however both sets of restrictions make both of them not really what I want to take right now, but may try them out in the future.

Both Regiments of Renown however, are excellent. I’d be very tempted to take either with any of the other Death armies.

All-in-all, a great book that I’m really going to enjoy playing with in the coming few months.