Third time's the charm. "End Times: Archaon" has been concluded!

The last three heroes of the final "End Times" book have arrived and are ready for a proper and stern review.

Yeah... it's time to finally end this. This ET review took me more time than the actual event and that's really embarassing... kinda.

Anyway here it is. The end of the "End Times: Archaon".

1. Grimgor, Incarnate of Beasts

Lean, mean and green killing machine!

He's big, he's bad and he's back! Everyone's favorite not-Ghazghkull plays a major role in the "End Times" and his stats and abilities reflect that nicely. Unsurprisingly Grimgor is a CQC monster with a whooping 6 Attacks, WS of 8 and Strength 6 he's a force to be reckoned with. Combine that with his special rules, like the "Best of da best" which lets him re-roll failed To Hit and To Wound hits in a challenge and you have one nasty customer. Aside from his obvious role as an ass-kicking machine, he's also a decent army buffer. "Da immortulz" makes one of Black Orc units in your army a lot better by giving them a +1 to WS and "Hatred" special rule. Grimgor's innate bound spell, the "Locus of Ghyran", targets all friendly units within 12'' (but not Grimgor himself, a pity...) and grants them +1 Strength and +1 Toughness! Hooooly crap, talk about augmenting your already powerful guys. Finally there are his magic items. Gitsnik grants him a +2 bonus to Strength when attacking and the "Always Strikes First" special rule, which combined with his Inititative of 5 is really useful. Blood-Forged Armour provides the Big Guy with a 1+ AS and 5+ WS, always handy.

With Grimgor at the head of the Beast-Waaagh! very few things will be able to stand in its way, Clearly he needs to be in the centre of his army and in the thick of fighting. Stick him in a unit of Immortulz and watch your enemy cry bitter tears of rage. His only downside is a steep prize - 460 points. Hey, nobody is perfect. Even Grimgor Ironhide.

2. Caradryan, Incarnate of Fire

Flying in to wreck your shit

Another elf, another powerful character. This is a pretty standard thing in ET, so I can't say I'm that surprised. Costing a staggering 590 points and packing a statline worthy of one of Asuryan's chosen, he is both a great fighter and a decent caster. Having the usual plethora of elven skills like ASF, Martial Prowess as well as being Attuned to Magic and striking Terror in the hearts of his enemies, Caradryan is a Level 3 Fire Wizard who is himself immune to flames (he also deals flaming attacks!). Oh and he's a Large Target and can fly, since he is always fielded on the back of his Phoenix, Ashtari, so keep that in mind.

Stats-wise, the dude's awesome. WS of 6 and I 7, combined with 7 Attacks and 7 Wounds can really put a dent on even the strongest opponents. Only his Strength of 5 and a measly 4+ armour save are a little weak, but still - he can certainly kick some ass in close combat. His "Mark of Aqshy" special rule is a variation of the "mark of Asuryan" rule that he possesed before becoming the Incarnate of Fire, only... worst? Well, kinda. You see, when Caradyan buys it, the unit that killed him recieves 3D6 S4 Flaming Attacks that count towards combat results. "But what if someone's immune to fire?" some of you might say? Exactly. In that case I'm pretty sure the Caradryan's last laugh does jack to his enemies. Shame really.

Finally there's "The Phoenix Blade", a magical weapon granting Caradryan a +1 Stregth bonus as well as the "Multiple Wounds (D3)" special rule! This baby alone is worth its weight in gold, being an obnoxiously powerful CC weapon, especially with the plethora of martial skills that the Incarnate of Fire posseses.

Caradryan is an expensive character, but worth every point that you spend on him. A decent magician and an awesome warrior, he'll be a bane of armies such as Undead and Wood Elves. Flaming attacks all the way and a killer close combat weapon are a nasty combination, balanced only by his relatively low Toughness and armour save.

3. Archaon Everchosen, Lord of the End Times

Even in Finecast he's still awesome

Diederick Kastne is  back and this time ain't no Orc gonna bash him in the gonads, no siree! As should befit a man who throttled a Greater Daemon with his own whip, Archaon's stats are god-like and reflect his everlasting badassery. Weapon Skill 9? Check. Initative 7? Check. Fucking 8 Attacks?! Yeah... check. His Strength and Toughness are only 5, but these are the only skills that can be considered "medicore". Archaons has a combined characteristic with his steed, Dorghar and sports a 1+ AS as well as being a Level 4 Wizard with access to lores of Death, Shadow, Metal, Fire and Tzeentch, Chosen of the Gods has their Eye upon him, is Unbreakable, a Strider and has Daemonic Attacks.

He also has a plethora of special rules and magical bling. "Chosen of the Gods" grants him every, single Chaos mark as well as the ability to re-roll the "Eye of the Gods" roll. He also treats the "Eye of the Storm" and the "Eye Opens" as "Khorne's Warth" and "Dark Fury" respectively. I'd expect nothing less from the favoured of the Four. "His Time is Come" means that Archaon must be your army's General and also grants him a 24'' Inspiring Presence, something incredibly usefull. Finally there's the "Swords of Chaos" special rule, which work similarily to Grimgor's "The Immortulz" in that it transforms a single unit (in this instance we are talking about an undivided Chaos Knights) into a much better one with Hatred and Unbreakable special rules. Spiffy.

Archaon's magic items are really, really good. First we have his signature weapon, the "Slayer of Kings", a daemonic sword that ignoures armour completely. Additionally Archaon can unleash the power of U'zuhl, the daemon bound within the blade, and thus boost his attacks to a total of 12! Hooooly, fucking shit! Of course if he rolls a 1 on any To Hit roll, he hits himself or any friendly unit in base contact, but still... 12 attacks man, 12 friggin' attacks! Bear in mind that once unleashed, the daemon won't stop augmenting Archy until the end of battle. Still, this sword's crazy power is totally worth the risk. Awesome stuff.

"The Armour of Morkar" which belonged to first of the Everchosens, makes Archaon immune to attacks that need a 4+ or more to Wound him. Simply awesome. This practically makes him immune to most units attacks as only the strongest and best opponents will be able to put a dent in him.

"The Crown of Domination" is pretty straightfoward. It causes Terror and allows any friendly models to re-roll Break tests if they are within 12'' of the Everchosen.

Finally the "Eye of Sheerian" grants Archaon a ward save of 4+ which is increased to 3+ by the Mark of Tzeentch. You're having fun yet?

Bloody hell, I can't even begin to think about the means to take this guy out, unless we're taking a cannon spam into consideration. Even then it will still be a miracle to scratch the Chosen of the Gods. Archaon is easily the best special character in the "End Times", period. With a combination of incredibly powerful special abilities, stats and magic items, this former Templar of Sigmar can solo entire regiments on his own and come out of nearly every challenge unscathed. He is seriously a Greater Daemon-level strong and together with his Swords of Chaos there is very little that can stop this monster of a character. Take him everytime you can. By the end of the battle his high point cost will almost certainly paid itself back in full. And you thought the Elves were bad.

So that's it. The final part of the final "End Times" installment is finished. All that's left for me now is to review the new units that ET books introduced to the 8th edition and then write a few, final thoughts on both the "End Times" and "Age of Sigmar". After that... who knows. There are a few things that come to my mind, but you'll have to wait a bit to see what they are.

Until next time

Xathrodox86