The new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar is now out, and the fighting is furious on tabletops all around the world. We’ve seen a horde of malodorous new Skaven and a cohort of elite Stormcast Eternals attempting to hold them back, and yesterday we caught a glimpse of what the near future holds – including confirmation of the first three battletomes.
These essential faction books have had a substantial upgrade and today we’re flicking through Battletome: Skaven and Battletome: Stormcast Eternals to show you what’s inside.
As ever, each battletome for Warhammer Age of Sigmar is designed to be a complete and comprehensive guide to your faction, covering background and rules, alongside pages and pages of gorgeous art and miniatures – but it now all works differently.
Battletomes now open with a fresh perspective: a lore section presenting a faction from their own point of view, alongside those of their enemies, allies, and other characters in the Mortal Realms. There’s gorgeous art and photography on every page, showcasing everything that makes each faction special.
There’s a gatefold section explaining which parts of the eight realms are of particular importance to that faction.
This is followed by deeper sections explaining history, heroes, customs, and tactics. This is written from a more omniscient perspective which covers events of great importance, and then there’s a bestiary which combines art with miniature photography, oozing personality and including iconography, weapons, and unit variations.
The rules section collects Battle Traits, Battle Formations, Spell Lores, Prayer Lores, Manifestation Lores, and Warscrolls for every single unit. These are laid out horizontally but retain all the information from the Faction Packs.
Alongside this there are rules for your faction’s Spearhead – and while the Skaven and Stormcast Eternals already have updated forces courtesy of the Skaventide box and the Ultimate Starter Set, you can expect new rules for other armies in future Battletomes.
New Armies of Renown give you a new way to play, while Regiments of Renown will allow you to dabble with army composition tricks – how about a complement of Skryre war machines for your Maggotkin of Nurgle, or a wing of Stormdrake Guard for your Lumineth realm-lords? There’s also a Path to Glory section with a personalised Anvil of Apotheosis to create custom heroes and tyrants, with paths to send them down as they battle.
You won’t find points in your battletomes. These will be available online on Warhammer Community when each book launches, linked via a QR code in the book, but at the back of each tome you’ll find a reference sheet covering your army’s most used rules.
There will be a comprehensive pack of Warscroll cards containing all of your heroes, units, monsters, Spearhead units, manifestations, and faction terrain available to purchase separately, in a smaller format designed to take up less space on the table. One one side you’ll find your basic stats and colour coded abilities with clear timings for use. The abilities are explained in full on the reverse, if you need to check a rule.
Each Battletome will also be released as a Gamer’s Edition. These are smaller, softback editions which contain everything in the larger volumes, but in a compact form for use at the tabletop. They are packaged with an expanded set of Warscroll cards that cover everything you need to play – Battle Traits, Battle Formations, Heroic Traits, Artefacts of Power, plus Spell, Prayer, and Manifestation Lores, and then all of your units.
There’s a small sleeve in the back cover to store these cards – it’s a complete package. These are designed for players who regularly attend events and tournaments, and they will be released in limited numbers alongside the regular books.
Neither the Skaven nor Stormcast Eternals will see their core rules change much between their Faction Packs and Battletomes, but subsequent books might bring more substantial changes to Battle Traits and units. We’ll let you know more here on Warhammer Community.
