Hey everybody!
A couple of weeks ago now, I mentioned getting a bit intrigued by the upcoming Aelf release for Age of Sigmar that is centred around the return of Morathi to the Mortal Realms. Well, I couldn’t contain my excitement, and picked up a Blood Coven box that I promptly spent a Saturday afternoon building up as a Cauldron of Blood. What an impressive miniature, that is!
However, I’ve been casting about since, building and half-heartedly painting a number of different things, never really getting anywhere. So, as the Daughters of Khaine are the new hotness right now, I thought I’d spend some time going through the various Warhammer Community articles and reading up on these beautiful and impressive new miniatures! Well, why not, right?
So then.
The witch aelves of Morathi all serve the elvish god of battle, Khaine, though few are aware that the god did indeed die when the World That Was was destroyed. They are led by Morathi, who was instrumental in the capture of the Chaos god, Slaanesh. With the Dark Prince’s capture, the lost aelven souls were released, and Morathi was rewarded with terrible power, which she has used to re-make the witch aelves in new and interesting forms.
It all sounds rather magnificent, I have to say! I’m quite intrigued by the Slaanesh connection, for sure, but the subterfuge that emerges from Morathi’s story is particularly compelling. It’s also really awesome that she is a single character that comes with two models for two versions of herself – the only other character in Warhammer that I’m aware of with this sort of twin-aspect is Orikan the Diviner, the Necron Cryptek who can attempt to become Orikan Empowered, though with the same model. Not so for Morathi, who has her “regular” look as High Oracle of Khaine, and her demonic-snake look as The Shadow Queen:
And what a look it is, as well! She’s huge, if those Witch Aelves are anything to go by! She transforms from her regal form to that of the big snake if she has taken wounds, which is quite thematic as it shows her rage breaking through her sorcerous concentration. She is reportedly quite the beast in combat, though I think the High Oracle form is to be preferred for the command abilities she possesses. At any rate, it sounds fantastic as a mechanic, and the coolness factor of having a general with two such stunning models is really quite something!
While Morathi might be a stunning pair of models, she’s not the only new miniature coming out with this new release!
The Melusai are borne from the soul-essence released from Slaanesh (which makes me think that Slaanesh really has been finished now), twisted by aeons of hatred into mutant snake-like beings. Perhaps more than anything, it’s these that I love the most from the Daughters of Khaine for their ancient Greek look, something that is only enhanced by their rules of turning people into crystal statues. There’s definitely a gorgon vibe coming from this range, and I love it all!
They aren’t the only mutants, of course, as Scourges Khinerai also support the witch aelves on the battlefield, their wings giving them a deepstrike ability that just makes the unit feel like Dark Eldar (but with fewer clothes on).
I’m really liking the look of these new aelves, and I think this is just the faction that I’ve been waiting for to get me back into Age of Sigmar. Curiously, I’ve been feeling a bit lost when looking at the warscrolls and such, as despite having played this game back in the day, it feels like an entirely different beast these days. Maybe I’ve just had my head in the 41st millennium for too long, but it does feel like it has changed a lot in the last few months/years.
Anyway, I’ve got a couple of things on order for these zealots now, so I suppose it’s time I continued building up those witch aelves from the Blood Coven box!!
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