The Pyregheists are the remains of those that in life protected the souls of the deceased with crematory rites, denying to the Supreme Lord of Undeath, Nagash, his due and therefore being punished for eternity to live in agony except the moment in which they condemn another soul to eternal damnation and pain.
Background and Lore of the Pyregheists Warband
The Pyregheists represent one of the many variations of punishments dispensed by Nagash to the souls of those he believes wronged him. The Nighthaunt are the spectral vanguard of his army and are composed mainly by tortured souls whose only respite is to dole out the same pain they suffer to the living beings.
Leading the Pyregheists to battle we can see the Deacons of Flames. In life they were priests from the Shyishian mortuary cult tasked to preserve the souls of the deceased in the afterlife. In a mockery of their previous role, they now have to extinguish the souls of the living in Balefire pyres.
The Balefire is an unnatural flame generated by burning gravesand and the remaining of recently slain beings. It can burn through any material including surviving under water for some time, and it is used to awaken other gheists from their slumber. The Pyregheists normally attend the huge braziers that surround Nagashizzar, Nagash’ capital in the Realm of Death, which are said to be made with the souls of other deities sniffed out by the Great Necromancer.
The Balefire Guards are tasked to protect the Deacons as they were tasked to protect the holy pyres that the priests built to send the souls to their right underworld. The Flamewraiths were those that would light the pyre, and are now sent to spread balefire everywhere burning flesh and soul of their victims in a hellish inferno.
The Torchwraiths’ destiny is even worse. In life, they were graverobbers or necromancers who looted crematoriums or tombs denying the corpses their right burial. Caught and sentenced to death on the pyre, have now been condemned to burn in eternity in agony with the only relief being able to spread the same non-stop pain to other living souls.
The Pyregheists have been sent by Nagash to burn the Gnarlwood, as its continuous expansion is anathema of all that Nagash holds dear. Their main objective is to burn all Idols of the Old Ones that still protect the ruins of the Seraphon temple-ship that crashed in the Gnarlwoods ages ago and spins out of control corrupting the area.
Unfortunately, they met their rivals in the Lumineth Ydrilan Riverblades, which have been tasked to restore the River Derovan that once flowed prosperously in the region. They will need first to clash with these rivals before being able to progress their burning of the Gnarlwoods.
Is there fire behind them or only smoke? Let’s find out!
Fighters in the Pyregheists Warband
Nota: si no has leído las reglas básicas de Warcry antes de leer este artículo, puede serte útil saber que las habilidades del juego se activan usando 6 dados que tiras al principio de tu turno.
Si dos de los dados muestran el mismo valor, pueden utilizarse para activar una habilidad Doble. Si tres muestran el mismo valor, pueden utilizarse para una habilidad Triple, y así sucesivamente.
Por lo tanto, cuando este artículo se refiere a que una habilidad es Doble, Triple o Cuádruple, se refiere a este sistema. Puede parecer un poco confuso, pero no tardas nada en acostumbrarte cuando empiezas a jugar.
The Pyregheists warband is made of 7 different fighters, of which 2 are leaders.
Deacon of Flames
- Deacon of Flames with Pyrekeeper’s Tongs: 190 points
- Deacon of Flames with Brazier-staff: 190 points
En Deacon of Flame is the leader of the warband and comes with two profiles: the Pyrekeeper’s Tongs provide 3 attacks at Strength 5 for 3/4 damage, while the Brazier-staff allows 4 attacks at Strength 4 for 2/5 damage. In the end, the profiles are pretty similar for damage output, with the Tongs being a bit more performing against Toughness 4 and 5 and better-looking.
Both weapons have 2″ range, which is important to maintain distance as the Deacons have 20 wounds and an impressive Toughness 5, which does not help against critical hits. They also have a shooting profile with 8″ range for 2 attacks at Strength 4 for 2/4 damage which is a great addition.
As the rest of the warband, they have 4″ of flying movement which makes them a bit more expensive than similar fighters, but definitely much more mobile on the battlefield.
The Pyregheists don’t have a reaction but rather a type of non-optional battle trait that explains that each time a fighter is “cremated” it is replaced in the same identical place by a Pyre token. At the end of the battle round, after determining the controlled objectives, each enemy fighter within 1″ of these tokens receives 3 damage. If you use also the battle traits introduced in Briar and Bone, for each Pyre you can roll a dice and receive a wild dice on a 3+.
This looks a good addition, it’s free, so there’s no cost in using it (as opposite to a reaction), but how are fighters cremated? The simplest way is using the Triple Light the Pyre after taking down an enemy, which cremates it as well. Bit expensive as the range of the damage inflicted by the token is 1″, but could be useful against horde units towards the end of the round if there were multiple fighters nearby who already acted.
La banda de guerra Quad, Agonising Penance, allows another opportunity to cremate: an enemy fighter within 6″ is selected and has to walk directly towards their comrades as if they were jumping and at the end of the move they, and all other enemy fighters within 2″ of them, are allocated 3 damage. Each fighter taken down by this action is cremated. It may be really tricky to pull down, but once again may be worth against a horde army if you have the right group within distance.
Aside from this, all Pyregheists have access to the Double, Fan the Flames, which increases by 1 the damage of both hits and critical hits of the next melee attack action, which is pretty good although comparable to the universal Onslaught.
The ability unique to the Deacons is the Triple Soulblaze, which can be used only after taking down an enemy and allows up to half the ability’s value (so up to 3) Pyregheists fighters to perform a bonus move or attack action. While not being an excellent Triple or Leader ability, if the value is high enough (like a 5 or 6) it may well be worth.
Balefire Guard
- Balefire Guard with Scorch Flail: 130 points
- Balefire Guard with Flaming Halberd: 130 points
En Balefire Guards also have the impressive Toughness 5 but only 12 wounds which makes them extremely vulnerable to critical hits. They also have 2 weapon profiles: the Scorch Flail has 4 attacks at Strength 4 for 2/4 damage, which is a standard attack profile, while the Flaming Halberd has 2″ range and 3 attacks at Strength 5.
Considering the 2″ range and their unique ability, the Halberd is probably slightly favoured. Their ability indeed adds 1 to the Toughness characteristic of all friendly fighters with the Elite or Hero runemark within 3″, which means the Deacon and themselves. Except that is not restricted to the Pyregheists profiles, and can help buff up an allied hero which most likely will not have their same high Toughness. The extra range on the Halberd profile allows better positioning to be able to attack and still increase Toughness to as many as possible, although Toughness 6 will be rarely required.
Torchwraith: 115 points
En Torchwraith goes down to Toughness 4 but he is the main source of ranged attacks with his 8″ 3 attacks at Strength 3 for 1/3 damage. They have also an identical melee profile so that they can use the Flan the Flames ability if they are engaged.
Otherwise, their best use for a Double is Pyrerobber’s Curse which brings them to Strength 4 (both melee and ranged) and if they can kill an opponent, they cremate it.
The Torchwraith, with a combination of 6″ of flying movement and his ranged attacks, represents the backbone of the army, ideal in many situations.
Flamewraith
- Flamewraith with Balefire Torches: 100 points
- Flamewraith with Brazier-staff: 100 points
The last profile is another Toughness 4 fighter with 2 loadouts available: the Flamewraith with Brazier-staff has 4 attacks at Strength 4 for 1/3 damage, while the Flamewraith with Balefire Torches have 2″ range and are 3 attacks for 1/4 damage.
They are the cheapest fighter in the warband, and the 2″ range weapon is a great addition to keep some distance. Both profiles are quite good, despite not having any unique ability.
Abilities for the Pyregheists Warband
- Fan the Flames (Double, Everyone): Add 1 to the damage of hits and critical hits for the next melee attack.
- Pyrobber’s Curse (Double, Torchwraith): Add 1 to Strength of its attacks and if any fighter is taken down, cremate it.
- Unblinking Guardian (Double, all Balefire Guards): Add 1 to the Toughness of all Elite (Balefire Guards) or Heroes (Deacon of Flames) within 3″.
- Light the Pyre (Triple, Everyone): After taking down an enemy, cremate it.
- Soulblaze (Triple, Deacon of Flames): After taking down an enemy, up to 3 Pyregheists can make a bonus move or attack action.
- Agonising Penace (Quad, Everyone): A visible enemy fighter within 6″ moves directly towards his nearest comrade jumping. At the end of the move allocate 3 damage to him and any other enemy fighter within 2″. Any one slain by this action is cremated.
Battle Trait for the Pyregheists Warband
El rasgo de batalla es un añadido introducido en Briar and Bone que añade una regla opcional extra que afecta a todos los personajes con la misma marca rúnica, sin usar ningún dado de habilidad. Cada facción tiene el suyo propio, pero en su lugar se puede usar el de la Gran Alianza:
- Pida - Defensores valientes: Al utilizar Cúbrase reacción el golpe crítico se convierte en golpe normal con un 3+ en vez de 4+.
- Caos - Aspirar a la gloria: Una vez por asalto de batalla, suma 1 al primer golpe crítico de un ataque cuerpo a cuerpo de un luchador cuyo coste sea de 125 puntos o menos.
- Death- Deathless Minions: Una vez por ronda de batalla, un golpe crítico a un súbdito de un ataque de disparo se cuenta como un golpe normal en su lugar.
- Destrucción - Destructores implacables: Durante los ataques cuerpo a cuerpo, el objetivo no puede reclamar el bonificador +1 de dureza de la cobertura.
Balefire Cremation (this is not an optional battle trait but part of the warband): When instructed to cremate a fighter, replace him with a Pyre token. At the end of the battle round, after calculating objectives control, allocate 3 damage to each enemy fighter within 1″ of a Pyre token.
Pyres of Victory: At the end of the battle round roll a dice for each friendly Pyre in game. On a 3+ obtain a wild dice.
Strategy and Tactics for the Pyregheists Warband
The Pyregheists are an interesting warband and the first one without a dedicated reaction but a type of battle trait, like those being added retro-actively in Bone and Briar to all warbands.
It is not easy to pull off as there are only 3 abilities which favour it, and the easiest to implement costs a Triple. You also can’t really choke a big portion of terrain with a single inch radius token, but it can still be useful, especially to force the opponent to spread more (limiting some bodyguards abilities).
If that was the only trait of this warband, it would be a pass, but they have other interesting factors which add up. For example, the entire warband flies like the Nighthaunt, but at a slower pace (4″ instead of 6″, except the Torchwraith).
Their top profiles (Deacons and Balefire Guards) have Toughness 5 which makes them much more resistant at parity of wounds.
They have access to cheap ranged profiles which are able to buff their shooting attacks, a perk extremely rare in Warcry.
They have few ways to do direct damage, including their Quad, which are hard to plan but reliable (no dice roll).
Overall, they are a valid alternative to the Nighthaunt warband, something that can be picked up easily also by a beginner. The list building is also much more straightforward.
Ether Deacon of Flame is a valid option, we prefer the Tongs mostly for their better stats against Toughness 4, which is the value of almost 50% of Warcry profiles. And it’s a better looking weapon.
Aside from that, Torchwraiths are a must because of their speed and ranged attacks which makes them extremely versatile. The Balefire Guard are the strongest non-hero unit so either profile is good and the Flamewraiths are cheap infantry. Paradoxically, they are also the most expendable if you need points for an allied hero, although there’s not many heavy hitters in the Death range, maybe an Askurgan Exemplar.
The most useful abilities are Fan the Flames, to add that extra damage even if just for a single attack action, Pyrerobber’s Curse for Strength 4 ranged attacks, and Soulblaze when your Deacon kills an enemy and you have few Pyregheists ready to get into position.
This warband is easy to manage, fun with a never-seen before mechanic and interesting for beginners.
Pros and Cons of the Pyregheists Warband
Pros:
+ Different warband with a new mechanic
+ Ranged options
+ High Toughness flying fighters
Contras:
– Low Wounds overall
– Average hitters, no stand-out
Some thematic warbands for the Pyregheists
Sólo por diversión aquí presentamos algunas bandas temáticas, pensadas más para la diversión o el contexto narrativo que para el juego competitivo. Ten en cuenta que en el juego narrativo necesitas completar una misión que te permita reclutar un Héroe antes de poder añadirlo a tu lista.
Fuera de la caja: Deacon of Flames with Pyrekeeper’s Tongs, 1 Balefire Guard with Scorch Flail, 1 Balefire Guard with Flaming Halberd, 3 Torchwraith, 1 Flamewraith with Balefire Torches, 1 Flamewraith with Brazier-staff.
How to buy a Pyregheists Warband
The Pyregheists were initially released in the quarterly box Pyre and Flood, but a new individual box has since been released.
A single sprue allows to assemble:
- 1 Deacon of Flame with either profile
- 2 Balefire Guards with either profile
- 2 Flamewraiths with either profile
- 3 Torchwraiths
Tips on painting a Pyregheists Warband for Warcry
As the Pyregheists are Nighthaunt models, in the Citadel app and the Community articles there is plenty of guides on how to paint these spectres in every shade of gloomy colours: from the newest contrast paint using Warp Lightning, to the paints specifically designed for this army (Hexwraith Flame and Nighthaunt Gloom) to other technical colours like Nihilakh Oxide.
Alternatively, Warhipster comes to the rescue with his series of painting tutorials of Warcry warbands, including the Pyregheists.