As silent as the death that will never embrace them, the exalted ancestors of the skorne strike fear into the enemies of the empire. Guided not by a Tyrant’s whims but instead by their own unknowable understanding, the exalted go to war accompanied by ranks of their immortal companions. Their reasons for marching to battle are known only to them and to the few they choose to communicate with through the extollers who speak on their behalf.
Theme Rules
- For the core rules on how Theme Forces work, see this article.
Theme Restrictions
An army made use the The Exalted theme force can include only the following Skorne and Minion models:
- This army can also include up to one Minion solo and one Minion unit that will work for Skorne.
- These models/units can be included even if they have the Partisan [Skorne] rule.
- Minion units can have non-Ranking Officer attachments.
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Tip !
Void Archons don’t become Skorne models (boo!), but you can take two Archons and another Minion solo (yay!)
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Full model list
The models allowed in
The Exalted are:
[Show/Hide]
This list was last updated: 2019.09 (Edit)
Warlocks
Warbeasts
- All non-character Skorne warbeasts
- Despoiler
- Other character warbeasts can be taken, but only if they have a bond and they're in their bonded model's battlegroup.
Battle Engines
Units
Solos
Minions
- Up to one minion solo
- Up to one minion unit
(★) Void Archons don't count against your "Up to one Minion" slot
Requisition Points
You can spend each Requistion Point on either:
Theme Bonuses
- Construct models in this army gain Immovable Object
- Immovable Object - This model cannot become knocked down, cannot be placed, and cannot be moved by a push, slam, or throw.
- Tip: This benefit applies to Minions too. Notably Malvin & Mayhem
- Models in this army with a Soul Taker ability each begin the game with one soul token.
- Tip: This benefit applies to Minions too. Notably, the Void Archon.
Thoughts on The Exalted
The Exalted in a nutshell
The Exalted is an awesome-looking and extremely fluffy list made up of Skorne's ambulatory statues, staring down the board menacingly. With almost all your infantry being ARM 17 a lot of anti-infantry tech struggles against you, and with most of your army most of the time being SPD 6, with Vengeance, and the ability to turn incorporeal, you both hit pretty hard and get some tricksy movement abilities.
If you have any sort of MAT buff in your list enemies need to play extremely carefully around you to avoid assassinations; the threat range of an Immortal is 4" +3" (charging) + 3" (Vengeance) + 2" (Reach) + 2" (Ancestral Guardian buff) = 14". The threat range is non-linear and incorporeal models can charge through enemies, so this list brings an assassination threat.
With normally 30 Immortals on the table and an ARM high enough to resist most anti-infantry tech it resembles Cryx's notorious Ghost Fleet in the "Did you bring enough to kill this army" stakes, and as most of your infantry are constructs there's even more tech that won't work against it.
Theme Weaknesses
Bad Matchups
It struggles against both heavy DEF-skew (unless you have a caster than can fix that) and heavy ARM-skew. It is however a lot better with the Supreme Guardian.
Single wound infantry
Your ridiculously high ARM won't help you if your opponent can automatically inflict 1 point of damage. Watch out for stuff like Sniper, Puncture, Continuous Corrosion, and hazards like Breath of Corruption.
List Building Tips
The standard backbone for this list pre-Void Archon is either three units of Immortals with CA and one Supreme Guardian or two and two; it's expected that a pair of Void Archons will replace a Supreme Guardian or unit of Immortals. The requisition options worth six points are Hakaar the Destroyer and the multi-model options; the three Extoller Novititate, two Extoller Soulward, or two Immortal Vessel models. At five it's an Ancestral Guardian, or Abidan the Keeper. Just remember when choosing free models that multiples of solos often get diminishing returns.
A free soul on your Advocate is really useful especially to protect you from incoming shooting on turn one.
It's relatively common in this list to add a couple of utility warbeasts for support; a Basilisk Krea and a Cyclops Shaman are fairly common.
Unusually for Skorne most top level Exalted lists do not use Paingiver Beast Handlers - instead they use up to three Extoller Novititates as their support models, and have small battle groups that provide covering fire and support.
Starting a 25 point Brawl list
In 2020.09 Phillip Melvin, one of the LOS authors, put together this list for the Brawlmachine format. He even wrote about it's playstyle and expanding it beyond 25 points, which you can read here. It has been re-pointed after the 2021 update as the list remains unchanged.
- Zaal2: [+29 WBP]
- Hakaar the Destroyer: [6 Pts]
- Extoller Novitiate: [2 pts]
- Ancestral Guardian: [5 pts] {5 pts)
- Swamp Gobber Chef: [1 pt]
- Immortals (Max unit): [13 pts]
- Command Attachment: [3 pts]
Total RRP: USD $235 (based on PP's online store prices 2021.05)
For more Brawlmachine list ideas, see Category: Brawl List
Warlock thoughts
He simply rocks this list. He looks like an Immortal (for that matter he is an Immortal) making the visual identity that much stronger. The Immortals are all ARM 22 on his feat turn (and the Guardians and Hakaar higher) and with his Aura of Power the assassination is always on the table. This list is a frequent triple-threat, able to bully the enemy on scenario.
He plays a much more offensive game. With frequently four Ancestral Guardians to Soul Converter to you get a lot of mileage out of his Soul Converter. And Last Stand Assassinations can be murderous. As can Last Stand in general - with the normal caveat you want two attacks out of the Immortals. Problem is that other casters bring similar buffs but don't kill their own troops -
She has a feat for assassination with this army, can protect them all from incoming shooting, and can Stay Death to keep the unit attachments alive. Hakaar under Storm Rager shouldn't be underestimated. And finally Dash makes her Immortals completely immune to Free Strikes as they dash through the enemy.
He is the main caster who doesn't go in all the way for this theme; he's mostly a beast-caster. But Immortals at MAT 8 and P+S 15 with Defensive Strike are impressively obnoxious, and that's enough added strength, especially with Hakaar being a Veteran Leader, to enable the Incorporeal Assassination.
He is an interesting choice, with even more mobility for the Exalted, Stealth on one unit, and Night's Reflection as his de facto MAT buff. And the idea of acrobatic statues has an appeal.
He makes the list hit harder and a bit tougher. He doesn't have any significant MAT buff so this list doesn't have the same assassination potential as the other options but between Stir the Blood and his feat it hits like a freight train, while Tactical Supremacy is an interesting choice for Immortals.
He can be surprisingly effective with acces to Incorporeal arcnodes, bringing ARM and DEF debuffs where needed. Immortals striking at MAT 11, P+S 17 are no joke.
Other
Trivia
- Previewed in the PP Insider (2017.08), released in the themeopaclyspe (2017.09)
- Expanded in 2018.10
Other Skorne models
Rules Clarifications
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Rules Clarification : Immovable Object (Edit)
- Although you can't be moved by slams, you can still suffer a damage roll from a slam attack.
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Rules Clarification : The Exalted (Edit)
- If a Construct model loses the Construct advantage mid-game, it keeps the theme benefit anyway. (Infernal Ruling)
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Rules Clarification: Theme Forces (Edit)
Themes that change a model's Faction [Show/Hide]
- Many themes swap which Faction a model counts as. They're slightly inconsistent with how exactly this is worded. Despite this inconsistency - whenever a model is considered a different faction to normal, it will not be its original faction. (Infernal Ruling)
- For instance Lukas stops being a Crucible Guard model when taken in an Infernal army, and as a consequence he cannot take Toros or Vanguards in Infernals. (Infernal Ruling)
Rerolling the starting roll [Show/Hide]
- You cannot use the theme benefit to reroll if it is a draw. Instead both players reroll until there is a loser, and then the loser can use their reroll benefit (if they have it). (Infernal Ruling)
- If both players have a reroll, first the original loser uses their reroll.
- If the original loser still loses, fine.
- If the original loser now wins, the other player can use their reroll.
- If it is now a draw, both players reroll until there is a loser. Then the player that hasn't used their theme benefit reroll can still use it, if they want.
Warjacks/Warbeasts with bonds [Show/Hide]
- A warjack/warbeast with a bond can always be included in a theme force, whether or not they're in the list of allowed models, but only if they're controlled by that bonded model.
- This applies even if that bonded model isn't a full warcaster/warlock (changed as of 2018.06).
Including Mercenaries [Show/Hide]
Number of Mercenaries
- If your "up to one Merc" ...
- ... can take warbeasts/warjacks, then you can add warbeast(s)/warjack(s) (without exceeding your "up to one" allowance)
- ... comes with a Companion model, then you'll get that Companion (without exceeding your "up to one" allowance)
- There is a bug in Warroom that allows you to not only take one Merc solo/unit, but the entire FA of that Merc solo/unit. It's a bug.
Mercenaries and Ranking Officers
- Adding a Ranking Officer to a Merc unit doesn't increase the number of Merc units you can take.
Other
- See also the section on Partisans
Including Partisan Mercenaries [Show/Hide]
Partisans & Theme Forces (Edit)
- Partisans are Mercenary/Minion models, so there are two ways you can add them to a theme force:
- Freely: If the Partisan is on the list of allowed models, then you can take as many as you want plus another Mercenary unit/solo. (Infernal Ruling)
- They can be explicitly allowed (for example Jaws of the Wolf allows "Kayazy models/units" so Partisan Kayayz can be used freely).
- They can be implicitly allowed (for example Scourge of the Broken Coast allows "living Cryx models/units" and Partisan Cephalyx fit that criteria, so they can be used freely). (Infernal Ruling)
- Limited: If the Partisan isn't on the list of allowed models, it does use up your "Up to one Mercenary/Minion" slot, so you can only have the one.
- Whether you used option 1 or 2 above, once they're in your theme force they count as a Faction model and so:
- They can be taken as a Requistion Option (if they fit the Requistion description).
- For example Lanyssa can be taken as a free solo in the Legion of Dawn theme. (Infernal Ruling)
- They will get any theme benefit that they fit the description for.
- For example Storm Division gives all Cygnar models Immunity Electricity, so Partisan Mercs in that theme get immunity too.
- For example Nemo4's Mechaniks get Reposition [3] in Heavy Metal. (Infernal Ruling)
Requisition Points [Show/Hide]
- You can choose the same Requisition option as many times as you like, as long as it doesn't put you over a FA limit.
- You can't mix and match models from different options. Say one option allows 3 Machine Wraiths and another allows 3 Necrotechs. You can't use your Requisition Point to get 2 Wraiths and 1 Necrotech.
- If you have an option that allows one other solo, you can't use it to get something already on the list. For instance, Ghost Fleet allows 3 Misery Cages (which are FA 4) for one Requistion Point, and it allows 1 other solo. That "other solo" can't be a 4th Cage.
- If your theme allows "3 weapon attachments" as a Requistion Option, you can spread them into different units. (Locked Thread)
- Models with the Man-Sized rule count as small-based models for the purposes of being a Requistion Option. (Locked Thread)
Free models and Specialists (ADR) [Show/Hide]
- If your theme only allows one merc solo, you can't have one in your main list and a different one in your specialists.
Unit Attachments [Show/Hide]
- If a unit is allowed in a theme, any-and-all of its attachments are allowed too. Exception: Ranking Officers are not allowed unless explicitily mentioned.
- If the theme force gives a benefit to a specific unit, any-and-all attachments to that unit will benefit too. Even if it is a "generic" attachment like the Void Leech. (Infernal Ruling)
For example, a Trollkin Sorcerer will gain Serenity if its attached to a Dhunian Knot unit in a Power of Dhunia theme force.
- If your theme allows "3 weapon attachments" as a Requistion Option, you can spread them into different units. (Locked Thread)
- A non-character unit with a character attachment (i.e. Captain Karli) still counts as a non-character unit. (Infernal Ruling)
When to apply theme benefits [Show/Hide]
- With reference to special abilities that themes give to models, Ranking Officers, adding new models, and/or taking control of models:
- Theme force benefits are applied when you construct your list or put a new model into play. A model already in play will not lose or gain any theme benefits mid-game based on any changes of faction status or otherwise. (Infernal Ruling)
- However, if the theme gives a benefit to models "at the beginning of the game" (such as Devourer's Host letting models begin the game with 1 corpse token) then this benefit does not apply to new models that are put into play mid-game. (Locked Thread)
- Example 1: Sons of the Tempest says "ATGM units in this army gain Pistoleer". If your opponent takes control of one of them, it keeps Pistoleer while under their control even though it's currently not "in the army".
- Example 2: Storm Division gives Immunity:Electricity to "Cygnar models in the army." If you include a Mercenary unit with a Ranking Officer, they will get the theme benefit and also keep it even after the Ranking Officer dies.
- Example 3: Stange Bedfellows gives solos Swift Vengeance. If Nemo4 creates a new solo mid-game, that solo will have Swift Vengeance.
See also these Theme-Specific Rulings [Show/Hide]
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Rules Clarification : Black Industries (Edit)
- The entry which allows "Cephalyx models/units" only applies to Partisan Cephalyx. That's because the theme's rules start off with "this army can only include the following Cryx models". Partisan Cephalyx are the only ones that fill that condition.
- The Cephalyx Agitator also works for Cryx and can go in Black Industries but, because it is not a Partisan, it will use up your Mercenary solo slot.
- (Infernal Ruling)
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Rules Clarification : The Creator's Might (Edit)
- Elias Gade is allowed in Creator's Might. (Infernal Ruling)
- You can spend the "Two Vassal solos" requistion option on one Vassal Mechanik and one Vassal of Menoth. Warroom has a bug and tells you that you can't. (Infernal Ruling)
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Rules Clarification : Flame in the Darkness (Edit)
- You can take any number of Mercenary jacks. You can also select two additional jacks from Khador and Cygnar in any combination you like. Character warjacks with a bond don't count against this limit of 2. (Infernal Ruling)
- There is a bug in Warroom that allows you to take two Cygnar and two Khador jacks.
- Morrowan Battle Priest:
- If your warcaster is a Cygnar model that makes every unit you take a Cygnar unit, and Battle Priests can be attached to any unit.
Warroom has a known bug where it doesn't allow this interaction.
- If your warcaster is a Mercenary or Khador model, though, the only units the Battle Priest can attach to are the Morrow ones.
- If you attach the Battle Priest to The Devil's Shadows Mutineers then it can be returned via Blood Bound. (Infernal Ruling)
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Rules Clarification : The Bones of Orboros (Edit)
- Una1 cannot be taken in this theme (yet) due to the conflict between the theme's "Only Construct warbeasts allowed" and Una1's "Must take warbeasts with flight". There are no construct warbeasts with flight (yet). But if/when there is, then Una1 can be taken in this theme. (Infernal Ruling)
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Rules Clarification : The Devourer's Host (Edit)
- Bradigus1 is not legal in this theme. The theme only allows living warbeasts, his rules only allow construct warbeasts, and you can't just 'skip' his battlegroup - you have to spend your warbeast points.
- If you create a new model mid-game (ie with the Well of Orboros and that model can have corpse tokens, that model does not enter play with a corpse. Because it's not the beginning of the game. (Locked thread)
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Rules Clarification : The Wild Hunt (Edit)
- The animus benefit doesn't apply to enemy warbeasts. (Infernal Ruling)
- The animus benefit doesn't stack with the Druid Wilder's Herding ability. (Infernal Ruling)
- When it comes to other things that alter COST (such as Lamentation), follow basic maths: Double/halve first, then add/subtract.
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Rules Clarification : The Exalted (Edit)
- If a Construct model loses the Construct advantage mid-game, it keeps the theme benefit anyway. (Infernal Ruling)
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Rules Clarification : Band of Heroes (Edit)
- Boomhowler2 uses up your Minion slot. His Fell Calls ability is not enough to make him a "Fell Caller model/unit". (Infernal Ruling)
- Boomhowler3 does not use up your minion slot on account of having the Champion keyword.
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Rules Clarification : Magnum Opus (Edit)
- If Mosby is attached to a Mercenary weapon crew unit, they would gain 3" reposition and would not lose it if Mosby is no longer in the unit. (Infernal Ruling)
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