The Breach of the Great Bastion is the third Arcane Journal for The Grand Army of Cathay. The first book was released in July 2025 and then received a second Arcane Journal in the form of Dawn of the Storm Lord. The Dawn of the Storm Lord contained no new units for the Grand Army of Cathay, although it did contain an Army of Infamy, which didn’t really change a lot from the main list. This Arcane Journal does provide additional troops, and can be imagined as a version 1.5 for the original Grand Army of Cathay book. As with every other Arcane Journal this one comes in at 48 pages in a full color soft-cover book. Now that that piece of boiler plate is over lets dive into the book!
My first observation of this Arcane Journal is that it feels very heavy on the background and fluff sections. As you can see in the Table of Contents the traditional Arcane Journal Scenario is on page 30. In the five or so Arcane Journals I grabbed from my shelf one scenario is on page 14, two or on page 20, and the rest fall somewhere in between. Those five books have approximately 12 pages of pictures and fluff after the battle report, while The Breaching of the Great Bastion has nine. This means this book has about nine pages of rules while the others have closer to eighteen at a minimum. If you are in it for the fluff you are in the right place, if you are looking for rules quantity you might be disappointed. I haven’t read the fluff yet as I’ve only had the book a few hours but lets see if the rules make up in quality what they lack in quantity!
The scenario is a simple one pitting 2,000 points of the new army of Infamy from this book, The Warriors of Wind and Field versus Chaos Warriors. The Warriors of Wind and Field must include a Cathayan Sentinel. If you bring different armies the defender must include one rare unit which will stand in for the Cathayan Sentinel as we will see. The overall scenario focuses around controlling three objectives in the middle of the table, lengthwise, with each one being worth victory points at the end of each players turn, and even more to the player that controls them at the end of the game. Any friendly unit within 12″ of the Sentinel (or the Rare Unit selected instead) may re-roll failed panic tests, but it gives up an additional 250 Victory Points if it is slain. All in an a pretty basic scenario, but one that is a good starter scenario for those players who aren’t all in on scenarios yet.
Rather than having two Armies of Infamy this Arcane Journal has an Updated Grand Army Composition List, and one Army of Infantry, the previously mentioned Warriors of Wind and Field.
Let’s start with the Updated Grand Army Composition List and the changes.
Characters: Gate Masters are now limited to one per every 1,000 points, and a new character, the Supreme Astromancer has been added with the same limit. A new character, the Astromancer, has been added and is not limited beyond the 50% character limit.
Core: The Peasant Levy is introduced. 0-1 Jade Lancers per 1,000 points no longer count towards Core, in order to have any Jade Lancers count as Core you need to bring a Gate Master or a Gate Keeper as your General, and you only get one, no matter how many points you are playing.
Special: Crane Gunners Teams, and Iron Hail Gunners are new Special choices and they get added to the Special choices that are only limited by the 50% Special limit. The Fire Rain Rocket Batteries and Cathayan Grand Cannon’s are reduced from 0-3 per 1,000 points to 0-2 per 1,000 points.
Rare: No changes.
Mercenaries: No changes.
Allies: The Grand Army is no longer Uneasy around High Elf Allies, and they are treated as normal Allies. The Grand Army is still leery around the Kingdom of Bretonnia and the Wood Elf Realms but are no longer Uneasy, they are simply Suspicious. Additionally, when bringing an Allied contingent of Cathay High Elves and Wood Elves are no longer Uneasy with their Allies, they are simply Suspicious.
The new list cuts down on Grand Master spam as they are now limited. Artillery has been reduced, however, the new gun teams mean the Grand Armies shooting can still very effective! Gaining ranks of Peasant Levy gives the Grand Army some disposable troops as they are half the points of Jade Warriors! I will talk about the new units further down this review, I still have the Army of Infamy to discuss!
Interestingly the rules to not specifically say this new list replaces the old, and while the word “Updated” might imply it obviously does I would imagine there might be some players who will argue the point. Considering this list has new fun toys I’m not sure why you would want to use the more limited version but some people just like to argue! I’m sure if there is a tournament the rules pack will clearly state which list is to be used!
Now lets turn our attention to the Warriors of Wind & Fire list.
As you can see this list is focused quite heavily on the Peasant Levy. They can bring a veritable horde of Sky Lanterns but as they have been greatly tuned down in the recent FAQ this shouldn’t be the problem it could have been! I’m not sure the fluff on adding Ogre Bulls, and a quick skim through of the fluff section near this Army of Infamy didn’t show any, but Ogres are fun, so why not! Sky Lanterns also play a pivotal role in this Army of Infamy as can be seen in the Warriors of Wind & Field Special Rules below.
Discipline of the Dragon is used once per game in the Command sub-phase. Each Sky Lantern takes a Leadership test and if passed every friendly Cathayan unit within 12″ gets to choose a Grand Strategy listed below until the start of the Cathayan next Command sub-phase.
- Defiance of the Dragon – Units gain Stubborn, if they are already Stubborn they become Unbreakable.
- Strength of the Everlasting Empire – Infantry and Cavalry cannot be wounded on a 2, effectively requiring a 3+ to be wounded!
- Fury of the Falling Blade – Regular Infantry get a +1 modifier to their Movement and may re-roll Charge, Flee, or Pursuit rolls.
There is nothing that indicates you can only be effected by one Grand Strategy so having multiple Sky Lanterns to declare different Grand Strategies allows the Cathayan player to really buff their units!
Additionally, the Warriors of Wind & Field have special rules, and may choose to upgrade their troops as follows:
- Warriors of the Field – Peasant Levy do not become Disrupted by difficult or Dangerous terrain (no cost.) Additionally, 0-1 Units of Peasant Levy per 1,000 points may have Move through Cover for +20 points per unit.
- Warriors of the Land – When a unit of Peasant Levy Falls Back in Good Order, it may choose which dice to discard rather than automatically discarding the lowest result.
- Warriors of the Wind – 0-1 unit of Peasant Levy per 1,000 points may have the Reserve Move and Scouts special rules for +2 points per model.
Now let’s take a look at the four new units in this book!
The Astromancers of the Celestial Court introduce actual mages to the Grand Army of Cathay, as opposed to the Shugengan Lords which combined fighting prowess and magic. The can use Battle Magic, Elementalism, High Magic and Illusion. They must choose the Lord of Yang or the Lore of Yin from the Armies of Grand Cathay Arcane Journal. They do have the benefit of Magic Resistance (1) and Mastery of the Elemental Winds which helps them stand a head over regular human mages. These are a solid addition the Armies of Grand Cathay as they bring cheaper magic options and should be a welcome addition to the army.
Peasant Levy are cheap troops that can be equipped with Warbows or Long Spears. Any number of units can be skirmishers and 0-1 units per 1,000 points can be Ambushers. The Long Spear fights in extra ranks, except when moving and Strikes First when charged. Having cheap troops is nice to have, and with so many objectives requiring units of 10 to claim these guys ensure the Armies of Grand Cathay have plenty of units to seize objectives, even if they are being thrown away as chafe troops as well. Again, I think the Peasant Levy will be seen in many armies in decent numbers, not just in the Warriors of Wind & Field Army of Infamy.
The next two units are pure shooting troops. The Crane Gunner Teams take a page out of the Skaven Jezzails playbook. This unit is made up of two infantry on a 25 x 50 mm base with a long gun and a large shield. These units are made up of between 3 and 8 models. 0-1 units per 1,000 points can have Ambushers and/or Reserve Move. I have learned to really respect the Reserve Move and think this is points well spent. The large Tower Shield adds a whopping +3 to the units armor save, but only from the front. Coupled with light armor the team has an impressive 3+ save from the front! The defense is impressive but so is the offense on this model! The Crane Gun has a 36″ range, S6, AP -2, coupled with Armor Bane (2)! Enemy knights really need to show a healthy fear of these teams! I think for what they do they are fairly under costed but I guess time will show. As it is I don’t see any reason not bring a few full size units.
Finally, the Iron Hail Gunners bring their blunderbusses of doom into action. These gunners come in units of 4-12 and are mounted like regular infantry. Their Iron hail guns have a 12″ range, Strength 3, and AP -1, on top of the Multiple Shots (D3) rule. Considering they don’t suffer penalties for multiple shots, long range or Stand & Shoot these guys are terrific for defending flanks, or your vulnerable War Machines. If that’s not enough for 2 points you can upgrade your unit to have Gunpowder Bombs. These 9″ S3, Armor Bane (1) weapons have Move & Shoot, and Quick Shot the Gunners can march up to range and throw their bombs. Oh, and the do D3 hits for every hit. Small units better stay away from these guys! Again, I think this is another terrific addition to the army!
As always there are some nice pieces of art scattered throughout the book.
When I first wrote about the Armies of Grand Cathay Arcane Journal someone asked me if I thought the army would have their own shooting troops and I said I thought they would. This book definitely brought shooting to reality with the Peasant Levy being able to have Warbows, the Crane Gunners, and the Iron Hail Gunners. Between these three units, and the Astromancers bringing regular mages, albeit it slightly buffed with their special rules the Armies of Grand Cathay move to being a full army, rather than the rather limited list they started as. Having suffered a much needed nerf recently these additional units round out the army. I think the new units are powerful and the Armies of Grand Cathay will continue to be a powerhouse, but hopefully now they will be a powerhouse where we don’t see the same list every time! If I felt like starting a new army from scratch I’d consider these guys now!
-Wachtmeister
The Wachtmeister's Patrol 