I didn’t know how much I loved skeletons until the Warhammer Deathrattle Army Set shuffled onto my doorstep.
Before you call the authorities, let’s back up for a second. If you haven’t kept up with the news, this box revamps the Soulblight Gravelords faction for the Warhammer Age of Sigmar’s latest edition. Containing a battalion of mouldering skellies (including undead knights on equally-dead horseback) alongside an army book that tells you how to use them, the Deathrattle Army Set is the stuff of classic fantasy. It doesn’t get more OG than hordes of creaking skeletons, after all, and this is what drew me to Cursed City’s miniatures a couple years back (as an aside, I still think it’s one of the best board games for horror and dungeon-crawler fans). But that’s not why I adore the new kits.
No. My newfound admiration for these shambling warriors boils down to the Deathrattle Army Set being, if you’ll excuse the pun, dead easy to get into.
Perfect for painting
I’ve talked before about how Warhammer Age of Sigmar used to scare me, but Skaventide changed all that. While a lot of this was thanks to the more accessible, fast-paced rules, the two starter factions in that box (knightly Stormcast Eternals alongside Skaven ratmen) were more manageable for beginners to construct and paint. However, the Deathrattle blow both out of the water in that regard.
It’s no secret that Warhammer skeletons are really, really easy to paint. The Contrast range (AKA paints that stain the model and run into any recesses, leaving automatic shade and highlights with next to no effort) are perfect for Deathrattle troops because they have a lot of clearly defined detail that plays very well with the medium. Apply some Skeleton Horde to the bones and you’re done, for example.
Equally, the fact that they’ve come out of barrows or graves after a millennia-long nap means that their armor isn’t in the best condition. This is all the excuse you need to mess about with rust effects or verdigris, which are an easy way to make metals look awesome with minimal fuss. For my Deathrattle, I painted their armour and weapons dark brown, splodged on some lighter brown followed by a very small amount of orange, and then drybrushed a bit of silver. Boom – done. Instant rust, and it took all of five minutes.
One-two punch
It’s a good starting point for a full army or a Spearhead (the quicker, less time-intensive alternate match type), too. In terms of the latter, all you need is a cheap Wight King model to lead them and a box of Deathrattle Skeletons to fill out your infantry. Everything else you need is in this box, which isn’t always the case. Yes, I’m looking at you, Death Korps of Krieg. It’s a wonderful Army Set, but is fairly paltry in terms of points cost so requires a lot of expensive additions. By contrast, you can complete your Deathrattle Spearhead without spending more than $50 / £40.
Sure, it’s not a total walk in the graveyard. The cavalry can be fiddly (though not as awkward as the Stormstrike Palladors from last year’s new Stormcast Eternals), and the skeletons themselves are fragile if you’re not careful. Nevertheless, they’re much better than previous versions whose legs would snap if you so much as looked at them.
Hey there, good lookin’
I’ve long maintained that the Soulblight models are some of Age of Sigmar’s best, and I fell for them after Cursed City. With that in mind, it won’t come as a surprise that I think these guys look equally amazing – they’re spindly and haggard without looking horrendously fragile, and the poses really sell the unnatural movements they’d make as they march across the battlefield.
Rules-wise, the Soulblight Gravelords as a whole remind me a lot of Skaven as well – Barrow Knights in this box keep coming back when defeated at the end of their turn (as do bog-standard Deathrattle Skeletons, sold separately). All the same, they have an advantage that the ratmen don’t in that the Barrow Guard buff themselves and any infantry hero with a Ward (5+) bonus. Equally, if you choose the Wight Lord (one of two possible leaders included here), they provide a bonus to cavalry on charge and allow accompanying knights to use the Fight action immediately after them. This results in a heady one-two punch.
Basically, it might be as good an all-rounder as the Stormcast, but the Deathrattle Army Set is still going to be easy for newcomers to get to grips with.
It’s going to financially ruin me as well. I’m now thinking up what I can add for the ultimate undead horde, be it zombies, vampires, or perhaps that cool new vampire lord on an undead dragon…
Want to dive in yourself? Deathrattle Army Set stock is still available, and you can even save a little on pre-orders if you’re quick.
For more recommendations, why not check out the best adult board games or the best 2-player board games?