It feels like it’s been a little while since I had the opportunity to unbox, paint and review a Warhammer Underworlds warband, but that’s exactly whats on the cards (chuckle) in this very article!

We are going to be taking a look at the brand new Thyrielle’s Zephyrites, a Lumineth Realm-Lords warband for the skirmish game Warhammer Underworlds.

Our thanks to Games Workshop for sending us this warband to unbox, paint and review for you folks. If you fancy picking one up yourself, then why not preorder through our affiliates over at Element Games? You’ll snag some pennies off VS RRP and help us out at the same time.

Let’s dive in…

Unboxing Thyrielle’s Zephyrites

We love an unboxing video on Sprues and Brews.

The Sprues

In keeping with all of the other Warhammer Underworlds warbands that have come before them, Thyrielle’s Zephyrites come on a coloured sprue (every warband has a different coloured sprue, so that you can play games without painting and know which warband is yours). I this case, it’s like a cream/ivory colour.

Again, as is the norm with Underworlds, the minis are pushfit.

Now. I have had issues with some previous Warhammer Underworlds warbands. Sometimes I’ve felt you’ve needed a third hand to assemble, or I’ve broken very thin parts due to having to push together parts where pressure has to be applied to said delicate part.

Not so with this warband though. Every model went together perfectly. No breakages. No swearing.

Painting the Warband

Until this arrived on my painting desk, I’d never previously painted any Lumineth Realm-Lords.

This wasn’t an accident or a case of not having the opportunity mind.

Since the launch of the range, I’ve always thought “that are very pretty!” but also “my god. that detail”.

I decided to go for Contrast for the majority of this warband, and you know what? I actually really enjoyed painting them. Not sure how I’d get on with 2,000 points of them, but suddenely that Wind Temple inspired force I was tempted by when I reviewed the latest Battletome suddenely feels even more tempting.

I’ve tried to pick out as much detail as I can with these, and I may yet go back and tidy up a little more.

It’s a great looking warband, and I’m looking forward to taking them for a spin.

The Fighter Cards

The warband is made up of 5 models, but only 4 of which are Fighters. The little fox, Tzul, is a token which intereacts with the warband’s gameplay mechanic.

The fighters in the warband Inspiure after a friendly windblown fighter’s make a succesful Attack.

Windblown forms part of the warband’s core mechanic, which is called The Living Gale. At the start of the first Action step in the first battle round, place a friendly Tzul model in a empty hex that does not feature a fature token. At the start of the of the first Action step in each other battle round you must remove the Tzul model and place it in a different hex. A hex with Tzul in it is classed as a occupied hex.

Whilst a straight line can be drawn from the centre of a friendly Tzul model’s hex, through the centre of a an adjecent hex and all the way to the centre of an edge hex without touching any blocked hexes, any fighters in hexes that line crosses are windblow. So to Inspire your fighters, you need to really think about where to position your Tzul token to maximise the chances of Inspiring. I actually really like this, it’s a fun mechanic but is more straight forward than some other Inspire mechanics, without being too easy.

The windblow mechanic also comes into play with the warband’s special abilities. You can view them in the image below, but as an example, Zephyr Leap grants fighters the flying keyword, but also a +1 to Move should they be windblown.

The fighter’s themselves have a fair statline. To me, they seem to be pretty consistent damage dealers, but they don’t have much in the way of defence, so fully leaning into how the Lumineth’s play in Age of Sigmar. You can view the fighters cards, both standard and when inspired, below:

Summary

I’ve always wanted to paint some Lumineth, but have equally always been worried I wouldn’t come close to doing them any justice. This warband makes a great first unit to try painting Lumineth with, and I really enjoyed doing so.

They seem like a very fun, if a little tricksey, warband to play within games of Warhammer Underworlds. I like the mechanic, it’s straight forward to understand, isn’t hard to play with, but can imagine takes a little practice to really make the most out of it and to fully maximise the output of the warband.

Our thanks again to Games Workshop for sending us this kit to unbox and review.