While the Arcane Journal War of Settra’s Fury was a change from the normal Arcane Journal format in that it contained Armies of Infamy lists and new units for multiple factions the Arcane Journal The Razing of Westerland is unique in that it contains no new army lists, and it contains no new units at all. It does make some significant changes to Marauder’s and Marauder Horsemen, but more on that later!

So, if this book doesn’t contain new army lists, or new units what does it provide? Like all the other Arcane Journals this one contains 48 pages in a softcover book, full of artwork and beautiful Citadel Miniatures. For more information lets take a look at the table of contents! The first 21 pages contain background material on Westerland and the Chaos invasions of Frydaal The Chainmaker. The Bloodied Hound, The Carrion Crow, The Slithering Serpent and The Fell Raptor are all new Maruader Warbands. Interestingly the book doesn’t specify their adherence to specific Chaos Deities, however, it doesn’t take much reading past the first paragraph to see which deities each of these warbands worship! The Path to Glory Campaigns take 16 pages, and additions and modifications to the Chaos Warriors army takes up the remaining 11 pages.

First of all I have to say I love the nod to the classic Warhammer Path to Glory Rules for Fighting with Chaos Warbands that the Games Workshop staff included by naming the campaign system Path to Glory. I remember this really neat booklet coming with White Dwarf back in the early 2000’s, and I’m pretty sure I still have a copy somewhere. I might have to do a retro review on this bad boy!

As opposed to the small warbands of yesteryear this Path of Glory attempts to help players grow an army from Battle March sized army of 500 points to 2,500 points and beyond! The campaign rules require a player to take the role of Overseer, who will maintain the records of the games played, determine how many phases are played, and help determine the winners of not only most campaign points earned, but also best painted army and so on. The rules suggest a phase be no less than 2 weeks and no more than 6 weeks to allow players time to build up their armies. They also state only the first two games per phase count for campaign points so people can’t win just by spamming games.

There is an experience point system which allows units and characters to roll on a table to gain skill, abilities, and stat buffs, but be careful, if a unit loses to many troops in battle, or a characters die or flee they can lose the skills they fought so hard to earn!

The book contains three scenarios, two Battle March scenarios of 500 points per side, and one scenario that can be played as either a Battle March scenario of 500 or 750 points per side, or a regular battle of 1,000 points. Each of these scenarios has a fun rules addition which adds some flavor to the regular game objectives. I think all three will be fun to play!

The rules for Marauders and Marauder Horsemen replace the rules in the Ravening Hordes book. This is a good thing as the rules in this book are now the standard rules and they have been improved for the most part. Marauders now come with light armor as standard and Marauder Horsemen come with shields as standard, both with no increase in points. A Marauder champion can now carry 25 points of magic items, and the unit standard can carry a magic banner worth 50 points. The unit can now pay to upgrade to be Ambushers and gained the Horde rule for free. At a base 6 points per model and the ability to Ambush you can throw out some serious static combat resolution from an unexpected direction! Marauder Horsemen lost access to their javelins, which I’m not sure why as they still have access to throwing spears which is pretty much the same looking equipment option! They have the same magic item options available to their champion and standard bearer as their foot brethren. They can also be upgraded to be Ambushers for +1 point a model. Previously the unit was Open Order and Skirmishers, now they are just Open Order but you can replace Open Order with Skirmishers for free.

Perhaps the biggest change to Marauders and the Marauder Horsemen is the change to the Marks of Chaos. Instead of having the same Marks of Chaos as their more heavily armored brethren, the Chaos Warriors, now join different cults dedicated to the various Gods, but under different names. Members of the Cult of the Bloodied Hound get +1 WS, Servants of the Carrion Crow get +1 T, Acolytes of the Fell Raptor get Poisoned Attacks, and Devotees of the Slithering Serpent get a 6+ ward save against non-magical attacks. I’m not sure if this change was necessary, if anything it make the Warriors of Chaos armies slightly less streamlined. If Marauders couldn’t get Marks I’d say this is a neat addition, but since they could I’m left feeling a bit “meh.”

This book introduces 7 Chaotic Traits which can be purchased for characters, Chaos Warriors, Chaos Knights, Chosen Warriors and Knights, Marauders, Marauder Horsemen, Marauder Berserkers or Marauder Huscarls. Each of the previous units can purchase 1 or two of the traits depending on their unit. These Chaotic Traits can be looked at as Chaos Gifts. Some don’t effect units with heavy or chaos armor, thus they are designed for Marauders, such as the Trait that gives +1T, or the Trait that gives a unit Vanguard. Some of the other Traits add a -1 Ld Modifier to enemy units that lose combat for their Break Test, +2I, Magic Resistance (-1), and blocking enemy Ambushers from deploying 12″ rather than 8″ away. My favorite Traits allows Infantry Units to declare a maximum charge an additional 2″ away, and adds an extra +D3 to charge and pursuit rolls! The design team is definitely working on making Infantry worth taking again!

This Arcane Journal introduces a new lore of Magic, The Lore of the Shadowlands, which can be used by any Chaos Army. It contains two Magic Missiles, a Magical Vortex, and Enchantment, a Hex, a Conveyance, and an Assailment. The Signature Spell uses a 3″ blast template and inflicts a S4 hit with an AP -3. This spell can scatter but it doesn’t move far so it’s very likely to cause some pain on big unit, and with that AP it’s worth throwing at small heavily armored units as well! The other Magic Missile is a standard missile spell but if there are any unsaved wounds the unit most take a Panic test! The Enchantment provides a 4+ Ward against wounds caused by a template, and a 5+ Ward against any wounds suffered in the shooting phase. The Vortex causes 3D6 S2, no armor save hits which can be the bane of heavily armored units. Similarly, the Assailment causes 3D6 S1 hits with no armor or Regeneration saves allowed! The Conveyance is interesting in that it doesn’t actually move a unit but can give one or more units (depending on how well you roll!) the Reserve Move rule. If you have a cloud of Marauder Horsemen with missile weapons this can be a very fun spell to get off! The Hex causes enemy units to suffer a -1 to Movement and Leadership. All the spells have 8+ or higher casting rolls, except for the Conveyance which casts on a 6+ at the lower level and 15″-18″ range, again with the exception of the Conveyance which has a 6″ or 9″ range. So, high cost to cast, short-ish range, but fairly powerful spells. I look forward to trying this new lore out!

Finally this Arcane Journal adds 18 Magic Items which can be taken by ANY Warhammer Army just like common magic items in the Old World rulebook! I think many of these items will make their way into the armies of the Old World for sure and it’s neat to see some extra options.

Ultimately this book provides some fun campaign information, and provides some nice additions to the Chaos Warrior armies. If you like campaigns, or are a Chaos player this book is a must buy. If you don’t care for either of those, and you aren’t a completionist like me, feel free to skip this one. I would say with the addition of the new magic items it’s looking more and more worth it to use an online army builder so you can keep up with the additions. I do like the evolving nature of the game, but I’m beginning to get concerned that it is to many changes too often.

-Wachtmeister

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Edit: I forgot to mention the foot Marauders went up from 25mm bases to 30mm bases just like Chaos Warriors. This allows Chaos Warrior characters to fit in units of Marauders instead of having to attach to the side so in that way it’s a good thing. I’d hate to think what I’d be feeling if I just created a Wolves of the Sea list and had to rebase my Marauders of course! Speaking of Wolves of the Sea as of my writing this edit there has not been an FAQ or errata changing the bases size of the Marauder Chieftain or the Marauder Berserkers from 25mm to 30mm. I would expect this to change at some point but as of now those two entries will still have 25mm bases.