The Chime of Eons - Boundless Hate

“The politics of my people are as the desires of kings compared to the selfish needs of children when measured against your ‘empire’ of man. However, even a king, or a queen, may from time to time find herself in need of childish things…”

- Salaine Morn, Archon of the Shadowed Thorns Kabal

"I have slain many enemies, and won many battles and I tell you there is no great secret to success in war, no subtle trick of strategy that has saved my foes.

I seek out the enemy, attack as soon as I am able and with all the force at my command, rend his soldiers and smash his fortresses, leave only corpses behind me and then move on - thus my Primarch has taught me, and I find his wisdom has proved worthy on a hundred battlefields."

- Kharn "The Bloody", World Eaters Legion

Not Just Limited Unfriendliness...

...but Boundless Hate!

The Chime of Eons springs back after yet another FFG-schedule driven hiatus, to present to you the second warpack of the second cycle.

At this stage of the article series, a lot of the broad strokes outlining the factions have already been described, and a lot of the relevant detail to this pack has been visited before in relation to other cards.

I've described the Dark Eldar Kabals here: http://www.cardgamed...ark-eldar-r1226

I've mentioned the World-Eaters on the Khorne Berzerker card discussion here:
http://www.cardgamed...ons-chaos-r1222

That in mind, lets dive straight in at the cards!



Archon Salaine Morn Signature Squad

Archon Salaine Morn

What's unique and special about this Warlord compared to the other Warlords in the Planetfall Cycle?

That she has low quality Poser-style art suggesting an art budget that has run dry? That she has seriously rubbery looking blue boobs as the focal point of the picture? That she has a warlord ability that is incredibly sucky, and is worse than her Core Set counterpart in every single way?

Yes, all these things are true, but in The Chime of Eons we're interested in one other unique feature for the Cycle: she's not a new character.

While Salaine Morn was indeed created by FFG, her first appearance was in the Rogue Trader rpg, so we happily have some pre-existing background lore for her. I'm reliably informed by others that she is detailed in the supplement The Soul Reaver, though as this isn't a game or supplement I own everything I tell you here should be considered to be from secondary sources...

As far as I can gather, Salaine Morn is an exile from Commorragh and the head of the Kabal of the Shadowed Thorns. She resides in the Gaelan Sphere, an ancient relic of long forgotten technology from the earlier ages of humanity, and located atop the Nexus of Shadows.

She is several thousand years old, and notably strong of mind. She's also notable in that being cut off from Commorragh proper she is forced to make alliances with aliens to achieve her ends, and in the above story she's apparently the one hiring the protagonists.

The game ability here is an odd one to work out, but from what we've found out, we can just about make out its meaning in fluff terms.

Red icons in this game represent Material. I guess in abstract terms we can say that after we deploy a Raider or Kabalite, they're raiding these planets for raw resources and feeding them back to Salaine Morn, who is a Dark Eldar warlord more interested in bean-counting every last resource than a Commorragh resident might be. Its a "pay back" mechanic rather than a straight discount, as the resource gathered is not the same as the resources spent to muster her allies.

More interesting in fluff-terms is the quote, which suggests a certain defiance of authority. As Dark Eldar are the slavers rather than the slaves, one can presume that her statement is aimed at the powers-that-be in Commorragh, presumably Archon Asdrubael Vect and his cronies. Her exile status makes non Dark Eldar alliances a little fluffier than they might be for a Commorragh-native: as she's establishing her own realm and domain, she can't afford to be as picky as to who she works with.

Regarding the mostly execrable artwork, one small feature I do like is that her forehead tattoo is echoed on her signature squad, and so presumably this is the sigil of the Shadowed Thorns kabal. I like this, because it also looks to be repeated on one of the skulls on her belt, suggesting that one of the heads she has taken is a member of her own Kabal - a very Dark Eldar thing to do!

I'm told that the rpg has her equipped with a Husk Blade and that her listed gear also includes a Soul Trap, which may well be the swirly thing in her left hand. We'll come back to the Husk Blade shortly, with the signature attachment.

Its nice to see that the three pillars of Dark Eldar society (Wych Cults, Haemonculi and Kabals) have now got a warlord each. From a lore-lovers point of view, it'd have been great if the Wych cult representative had been Lelith Hesperax, and the Kabalite had been Asdrubael Vect, but at least we got to see Urien Rakarth!
I'm very curious to see where they go next with a Dark Eldar warlord: Drazhar "The Master of Blades" would be an interesting fourth archetype, or the designers may swing back round to cover the more famous named characters they've omitted so far. Maybe (and lets hope and pray to the Laughing God) we might even see a cross-faction Harlequin warlord!

But hey I'm blathering, mostly because I know almost nothing of this character's background, and because I've said in previous articles quite a lot about Kabals and Commorragh already. Perhaps some Rogue Trader rpg fans out there can fill in some gaps.


Shadowed Thorns Pillagers

We've done the lore of Kabals before, as mentioned, and in fact when we looked at the Black Heart Ravager we looked at a card with pretty similar artwork: after all, a Ravager is just a Raider with more guns.

Its interesting that this unit's art depicts a vehicle, yet it lacks the vehicle trait, and shows forces being transported, but lacks the transport trait.

However, we can certainly say that the card represents more than just the chaps depicted in the artwork, and rather that this Raider craft is just part of the larger force the card represents.

Honestly, this is the sort of card I wish was in the Core Set of Dark Eldar. Its scale is left much more loosely defined, which helps with a sense of verisimilitude for a sector-wide conflict. Its stats are about right, with fair fragility against anything save the lightest firepower. Ambush as well is a far more sensible keyword for raiders than Flying.



The Nexus of Shadows

At the meeting between the Koronus Expanse and the Calixis Sector (both well fleshed out settings in FFG's 40k rpgs) is the Screaming Vortex, a small but intense warp breach that is dangerous to the local sectors as the Eye of Terror or the Maelstrom are to their vicinities.

The Eldar Webway here is shredded and damaged by the shearing forces of the warp storms that surround it, and long ago Eldar Harlequins sealed these breaches, isolating an entire segment of the Webway from the rest of the galaxy.

One stable area within this separated Webway is the Nexus of Shadows, from which Salaine Morn makes her base of operations and rules over her growing domain.

I actually love it when the setting zooms in on little vignettes within the universe, rather than just focusing on galaxy-wide struggles or the fate of planets key to the galaxy's survival. Its awesome when you are given the impression that this is a living breathing galaxy, with war erupting from edge to edge, and on a scale so vast that no Administratum scribe could ever record even the number of planets in the Imperium, let alone the battles that take place, and the multitude of petty empires and alien threats within the galactic borders. Fun though it is to see existential threats to the Imperium like the Tyranid Hive Fleets, or the Eye of Terror, its also amazing to see what FFG has done with the Calixis Sector.

In a way, however, the LCG fails in both directions in this approach. If we're focusing on microcosmic detail, why is a feature of the Calixis Sector detailed in this game set in Traxis Sector? A game set around a single sector shouldn't have locations representing places in other sectors, nor should it draw the attention of every First Founding space marine chapter and every Craftworld in the galaxy.
If we're looking at a bigger picture, then where are the battlefleets, titan legions and eldar craftworlds? Why is the scale set at individual units?

Yep, despite my promises in earlier articles, I'm still griping about scale! Big scale or small scale: either could have been thematically solid for Conquest, but not both at the same time.



Last Breath

As we mentioned before, Salaine Morn's weapon is a husk blade. These rare and powerful swords are amongst the most potent melee weapons in the Dark Eldar armoury, with the merest touch of the blade rapidly dehydrating a target, reducing flesh to dust in moments.

This particular husk blade presumably has the name "Last Breath" and is deservedly both Unique and a Relic. The artwork here is excellent, showing the effect of the weapon in use, and is generally of far greater quality than the warlord card herself. I consider it a shame that this artist wasn't commissioned to do the warlord art.

Its great, on this card, to see a female warrior who is properly armoured, looks like she can kick ass, and who isn't sexualised in appearance. Sure, long hair and lack of helmet is a bit silly, but that's a gender-equal bit of silliness in Warhammer 40,000, just ask Ragnar Lovelymane.



Inevitable Betrayal

When you play this card, it is absolutely required that you say "I think we should call it your grave!", to which your opponent must reply "Ah curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal"

If this quote means nothing to you, please now go away and watch every episode of Firefly, then Serenity. You may then return to this article, as one of us. Otherwise, this article is not for you, ya dirty Alliance lapdog you.

This card's effect only makes sense if you think how Salaine Morn operates - she's a Dark Eldar who is willing to work alongside inferior races, but she's always got her own agenda. The "enemy units" are likely ones who thought they were on her side, who are suddenly left betrayed and abandoned, with blank surprised expressions, and nicely blanked card text boxes.



Ba'ar Zuul The Hate-Bound Signature Squad

Ba'ar Zul The Hate-Bound

RAAAAARGH! KHORNE SMAAAASH!

I have a bit of dilemma in my Chaos fandom, as of all the Chaos Gods it is Tzeentch who appeals to me the most, with his forbidden lore, manifold conspiracies and "just as planned" cleverness. When I play Chaos in the Old World I'm happiest when I get Tzeentch to play, and in the wargame its Tzeentch's bag of tricks and magical powers that appeals to me most.

On the other hand, I really like painting red and brass, and so my main collection is one of World Eaters, not Thousand Sons. As a World Eaters fan by colour-scheme preference, I've had to collect a Khornate special character or two over time, and it seems like a massively wasted opportunity for this card not to be Kharn The Betrayer.

Back in the legion's loyalist days, when it was the War Hounds rather than the World Eaters, Kharn was Captain of the 8th Assault Company. When the Emperor found Primarch Angron, there was no joyful reunion, as the Emperor had teleported Angron directly from the fray of a battle, believing Angron to be in mortal danger (which he was) while Angron saw this rescue as an abandonment and betrayal of the slave rebellion he was leading at a time. Filled with rage, Angron needed to be kept imprisoned in a cargo hold of the War Hounds' Battle Barge, and had lashed out at any who tried to approach him, killing space marine officers and leaders who came to pledge themselves to him.

It was Kharn who finally calmed Angron, by steadfastly keeping his composure and refusing to fight, and his courage and self control impressed Angron enough for the Primarch to spare his life when Kharn was moments from death, and to agree to listen.

This noble and self-controlled warrior was not to remain, however. As part of his slavery in the gladiatorial arenas of his adopted homeworld, Angron has been subjected to a surgical procedure known as the Butcher's Nails, which suppressed his self-control and made him prone to berserk rages. While the War Hounds knew that their Primarch was a near feral beast, they also knew he was their Primarch. They accepted that the angelic presence of Sanguinius or the charismatic nobility of Guilliman was not theirs to have, and Kharn was amongst those World Eaters who decided to follow their Primarch's path, no matter the cost. Voluntarily subjecting himself to the same psycho-surgery that had been inflicted on Angron, Kharn succeeded in bringing himself closer to understanding his Primarch.

It is perhaps unsurprising that a Legion that gave itself over to rage and fury pledged itself to Khorne, and thus joined Horus in rebellion against the Emperor.

During the Siege of Terra, Kharn was at the forefront of the action, and was thought dead in the battle, with his body found atop a heap of corpses of enemy soldiers in the Inner Palace. He was borne away by his followers as they retreated, for reasons of honour, but surprised them by waking from what had seemed like death. It is said amongst the World Eaters that Khorne had plans for Kharn, so breathed unholy life back into him.

It was within the Legion's new home, in the Eye of Terror that this purpose was unveiled. On the daemon world of Skalathrax, the World Eaters clashed with Slaanesh-worshipping Emperor's Children, and the battle was fighting to a standstill, with freezing ice winds and sheer chaos making it near impossible for either side to strike a decisive blow. Frustrated at the lack of real combat, Kharn took up a flamer and his axe Gorechild, and turned on his own battle lines, screaming praise to Khorne.
What would be seen as tactical insanity to any normal military force was seen as a great act of devotion by the Blood God. Khorne cares not from where the blood flows, only that it flows!

With his action, Kharn fragmented the Legion into internal conflict, ending the World Eaters as a single force and scattering it into dozens of separate warbands. He also earned himself the title "Betrayer."

For me, Kharns story is one that sums up Khorne and his corruption. We start with a noble and loyal warrior, bound by ideas of honour and a voice of calm professionalism. His loyalty to his primarch starts him on the path to darkness, and as his story progresses he becomes less man and more monster. One who was ultimately loyal to his lords and Legion became the one who would destroy that Legion, and all for the glory of a laughing and uncaring Blood God.

That's why I'm really happy to see that Kharn was the warlord selected for this warpack and that...

Oh wait, sorry, got immersed in my own version of reality here. The warlord is Ba'ar Zul, a brand new creation. There's no epic backstory here, just a guy with an axe, whose name sounds like you sit on him while waiting for your drink to arrive.

Bravo.

So, what have we got? On the hale side, an ability that lets Ba'ar Zul hoover up damage from friendly units, but no fighting ability. On the bloodied side, big stats and a kick ass quote.

I love the bloodied side of this card, its extremely Khornate in its simplicity and its trust in pure strength, and I love that the flavour text has hopped to the reverse of the card.

I'm not keen at all on the Hale side, as it doesn't make much sense fictionally. Personally, I'd have been happiest if this card was simply 2/7 hale, 3/7 bloodied, with no other special text. That would have fit the mechanical representation of Khorne cards to date being straight forward fighters.


Ba'ar Zul's Cleavers

This card is pleasingly strong in a fight, and bears all the right traits for what it represents, with decent artwork to go with it. I also like the double meaning of the name: ones who cleave close to their leader, and ones who cleave their foes in twain!

The ability, in isolation, is pretty fluffy: the world eaters are more deadly if they through caution to the wind, declining to take cover or cower in the face of a storm of firepower, and closing to melee to rend, rip and kill. However, the clearly intended combo interaction with the warlord ability doesn't make much sense to me in any narrative sense. I guess we could argue that the warlord is taking his place at the head of the charge, and thus is prioritised as the target. That doesn't quite fit, as the Army Unit here needs to take the damage first before moving it to the Warlord: it all kind of stops making sense if we think too hard about it.

What is really great to see is that the shared traits with older cards (like Khorne Berzerker) have led to a similarity of game mechanics: both units take the pain in order to hit harder.


Kaerux Erameas

Faux-Latin is a big thing in W40k, though they've always called it "High Gothic". That said, my Latin isn't good enough to guess what bit of mangled Latin this card's name is meant to be, and I suspect its actually just a mish-mash of cool sounding syllables.

More interesting by far the new trait: Space Hulk.

Within the lore itself, a Space Hulk is a massive conglomeration of wrecked ships, existing as a side effect of the nature of warp travel. In warp space, when a ship loses control, when its gellar fields collapse, when it takes a wrong turning navigationally or when its crew is killed off, it will drift in the warp endlessly. However, due to the roiling eddies of warpspace, and their own gravitational mass, these lost spacecraft will inevitably crash into one another and then fuse, with multiple such occasions eventually creating a huge single entity, often of planetary size. Something about these larger hulks (whether its the will of the Chaos Gods, or some physical property borne of accumulation of mass) causes them to enter and leave warp-space seemingly randomly, but often in the vicinity of heavily populated star systems.

It isn't surprising then that some alien races (that lack their own technological access to warpspace but which are resilient to exposure to the warp) will see the arrival of a Space Hulk as a free ride out of the system, with the promise of a new system to invade when they reach their destination. Orks tend to make use of space hulks, as they don't much care when they arrive, as long as they arrive at a big fight, and along the way they can fight each other, or any daemons that turn up, or any other aliens on board the hulk. Humans and Eldar can't survive the exposure to warpspace (unless they are already corrupted by and protected by the Chaos Gods). Also, Genestealers will often infest space hulks, as their primary purpose within the Tyranid race is to act as vanguard scouts, finding and infesting populated worlds to act as a psychic beacon for the hive fleet proper to close in on. A Space Hulk will often be the mean that a genestealer infestation passes from one sector to another.

Responding to the entrance of a Space Hulk to the vicinity of a system is difficult, as their sheer bulk and resilience means that most systems cannot bring to bear the sort of naval firepower needed to stop one. Space Marine Chapters will be fast to respond to a Space Hulk entering Imperial space, and a Battle Barge is unlikely to be able to shoot one apart, so they will send on boarding parties (typically small squads in precious and ancient Terminator armour) to strategically plant demolition charges and to locate and overload the reactors.

This sort of raid was depicted in the Games Workshop board game Space Hulk, originally released in 1989. This game introduced us to genestealers who were clearly modelled largely on the xenomorphs from Aliens, and borrowed other concepts from that film too, like the "motion trackers" that have the aliens appearing as blips on an approaching readout. This clever game mechanic would flip the blips as they entered space marine line of sight, with each blip representing one, two or three genestealers. The speed and melee superiority of the stealers, the uncertainty of the blips quantities, and several other game mechanics (including a timer for the Space Marine turns, endless refreshing of the genestealer blips, and well defined missions) made this one of the best loved of Games Workshop's early boardgames. The game's popularity was enough to spawn two expansions, a computer game adaptation and decades later a re-release of the game. Fantasy Flight Games have also licensed this IP, producing the Deathwing card game.

To an old GW gamer, its very pleasant to see a Space Hulk turn up in Conquest, and the magnitude and nature of the ability text is very appropriate.

The Butcher's Nails

As we've already touched on, The Butcher's Nails are a surgical modification developed on the home world of the Primarch Angron.

The planet Nuceria was a temperate world far from Terra, and when Angron crash-landed there (scattered by the same warp-forces of the rest of the Primarch diaspora) he was already a young man, and his wounded body was found amongst the corpses of many Xenos, who some say were Eldar who had foreseen his future corruption and had tried to end his life there and then.

Those that nursed him back to health took him back to the capital city as a slave, and seeing his combat skill and strength decided he would make a fine gladiator. They surgically opened his brain, and implanted a device known as The Butcher's Nails, which would amplify his anger and rage.

As we've already discussed, it was thus the case that when the Emperor found Angron, he was a slave gladiator prone to great fury. Of course, one cannot enslave a Primarch for long, so at that time Angron was at the head of a slave rebellion, seeking to overthrow the masters of the planet.

As a card, this is great to see for the lore reference, but also unfluffy in that it is a procedure that all Khorne Berserkers have voluntarily submitted themselves too. Its possible, perhaps, that the Warlord isn't a berzerker, but rather just a chaos marine who leads berzerkers, but that seems odd. Its notable that he lacks the World Eaters trait, despite wearing World Eaters armour, after all.

The game effect makes fine sense - as the warlord's rage grows, so too do his combat abilities!

Blood for the Blood God!

As any chaos fan will tell you the stirring war cry of the forces of Khorne is "Blood For the Blood God, Skulls for the Skull Throne!"

As we mentioned in a past Chime of Eons, the real world source for this is almost certainly Moorcock's Stormbringer / Elric novels, that have a god of Chaos named Arioch, and the shouted dedication "Blood and souls for my Lord Arioch!"

Khorne actually gets the best catchphrases of all the ruinous powers, with the other oft made quote being "Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows, so long as it flows".

This card's art depicts the Blood God himself, sat atop his Skull Throne and beholding the slaughter that happens in his name. The game effect is very Khornate - nobody escapes battle unscathed, and everyone must offer up some blood to Khorne! As this has the Tactic trait you can imagine the Khornate strategy as closing with the enemy to spill blood, no matter the cost in casualties they themselves suffer. Its great to imagine an allied Void Pirate or Shoota Boyz plunging forward into the teeth of enemy firepower with no sense of self preservation, while the Khorne Berserkers behind them seem to thrive and grow stronger even as they take casualties. There's also a nice fluffy synergy with Bloodhand.


Other Cards

Auxiliary Armour

This Tau attachment looks to do exactly what it says in its title - cool equipment for those who fight alongside the Tau for the Greater Good. Additional resilience, additional killing power and additional prestige all make sense here, if we presume that "armour" is a broader term for general armaments.

One thing that makes less sense, fluff-wise, is being able to attach this to a Tau unit. Tau aren't auxiliaries, of course, they're who auxiliaries are attached to. This little bit of fluff realism is something I'm very glad they've omitted in gameplay terms, of course.

The art depicts a Vespid Stingwing, newly dressed in the colours of T'au Sept. Part of the equipment pictured is a Communion Helm.

The backstory of the Vespids has that water caste diplomats initially struggled to establish any common ground with the very alien Vespid race. This difficulty was overcome when the Tau Ethereals presented the Strain Leaders of the Vespid race with Communion Helms, ostensibly to allow direct mental communication. Rather creepily though, upon donning these helms the Vespid became wholly compliant and willing to serve the Greater Good.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - even the "good guys" of the 40k setting are seriously dystopian!



Dire Avenger Exarch

As we described back in the Eldar article of the Chime of Eons (http://www.cardgamed....php/index.html), that ancient race cannot simply engage in war without psychological consequence, and their Aspect Warriors must don ceremonial masks and armour to try to separate their war psyche from their everyday existence.

Those that fail to keep self-image and warrior nature separate become trapped on the Path of the Warrior, and become known as Exarchs. An Exarch is both pitiable and awe-inspiring, as their war-focused and war-obsessed nature allows them to reach levels of martial skill far beyond what any ordinary human could achieve. The potential for this skill lies within every Eldar, but most choose to suppress it, as obsession with a single Path is loss and sacrifice of identity.

The Dire Avengers aspect is the most common warrior aspect, and is found on any every Eldar Craftworld. It represents Khaine (the war god) in his form as a noble defender of his people, honourable in his dealings, merciless to the foes of the Eldar and disciplined in his warcraft. They represent not just Khaine, but also Asuryan, the wise king of the Eldar Pantheon, and their founder Asurmen was the first of the Phoenix Lords, the first Aspect Warrior, the first Exarch and is called "the Hand of Asuryan".

In war, their favoured weapon is the Avenger Shuriken Catapult, a high-tech weapon that fires a storm of monomolecular sharpened slivers to shred opponents.

Exarchs train in more specialised weapons of the shrine, sometimes a shimmershield and power sword, sometimes a diresword and shuriken pistol. Its notable that the spear depicted in the card art isn't a Dire Avenger weapon at all in the established fluff, though there's nothing contradicting a Dire Avenger being able to use a spear.

Its nice here that the theme of defensive solidity and nobly holding the line is mechanically in line with the other Dire Avengers card we saw in the core set. The combination of those two units also gives a great feel of these Eldar warriors controlling the flow of a battle with their superior skill.


Exploratory Drone

Its always good to see cards that represent things other than soldiers and battle equipment in this game, as it helps give a feel of a war being planned and organised, rather than just a series of battles.

This card feels very right in how it acts in game - running away from enemy forces, or moving to fresh (unexplored) planets when you bring in your own forces. Particularly fluffy is when you get it to Planet 1 turn after turn, and keep moving it "upstream" on the planet array as you bring your fighting forces into the battle.

Fluffwise, I can't really fault this card.

Even its main mechanical advantage - that it is a command unit that can be built by an Earth Caste Technician is very fitting. We might argue that 2HP is perhaps a little too resilient for a single drone, but I read this as an abstraction representing its ability to detect incoming enemy forces, then speed away.


Front Line 'Ard Boyz

In the Londoner inspired orkish slang, something is "well 'ard" if it is fighty and tough. Ard' Boyz are basically just orks who have more armour - not to the level of Space Marines, but certainly enough to make them a lot more resilient to small arms fire than your average greenskin.

The "front line" designation justifies their card ability. High HP fits nicely with the mechanical themes of the faction.

A small objection here is their command presence, which while being very good game balance in mechanical terms, is a little out of place fluffwise on a unit that is basically just boyz in armour.



Troop Transport

I love this card, both in the game and in the fluff. Fluffiwise, its another card (like Forward Barracks) that suggests that the number of Guardsmen isn't the rate limiting step in an Astra Militarum deployment, but rather the logistics of bringing that manpower to bear.

The extra unit on a Strongpoint world makes sense too: its going to be easier to bring in troop transports to a planet that has fortified landing zones.

At this point, I have to hang my head in shame and tell you that I can't identify the vehicle in this picture, despite trawling through the usual sources. Can anyone help out here?

Conclusions

In game terms, this is probably one of the most exciting packs we've seen, not so much in the new warlords but in the new options provided to other factions. This is also true in game fluff terms, with many of the mechanical effects helping give strong identity to the factions. Especially, we're getting to see more and more that the Astra Militarum can field large hordes of infantry, given enough time, that the Eldar play a game of elite units backed up with subtle tricks, and the Space Marines are all (potentially) big damn heroes.

This is great for the overall feel of the game, and despite my moans and gripes over the detail, Conquest is growing to be a far more faithful depiction of the 40k setting than even the wargame itself.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time for a little Deadly Salvage!