Lumineth Warband in Warcry Overview, Guide & Tactics

The Lumineth Realm-lords are powerful Aelves created by Tyrion and Teclis directly from the belly of Slaanesh. Their arrogance almost caused their own downfall, are you ready to repair the wrongs and protect the realms?

This is a guide for the Lumineth Warband in Warcry.

What changed in the new edition for the Lumineth Realm-lords warband?

Lumineth Realm-lords saw the addition of two new profiles: the Bladelord Seneschal with Sunmetal Greatblade (alternative weapon loadout) and the Scinari Enlightener (new miniature). Few of the already existing profiles changed, in particular the Dawnriders increased by 1 their attacks, the Windchargers increased their range to 10″ and added a new melee profile and the Vanari Bladelord can how hit at 2″ range.

Only meaningful change on the abilities is the swap of Realmscribe (now a Double) with Sharp-eyed Scryhawk (now a Triple).

Background and Lore of the Lumineth Realm-lords Warband

Slaanesh consumed all elves’ souls in the World-That-Was and fell in a slumber. Teclis and the other Aelves gods in the Mortal Realms envisioned a plan to trap the Chaos God and extract those souls to rebuild the aelves’ civilizations in the Mortal Realms. The Idoneth Deepkin were Teclis first unsuccessful experiment.

After that him and Tyrion syphoned out and created the Lumineth Realm-lords.

Those settled in Hysh, the Realm of Light and Illumination. They soon discovered the special properties of the local realmstone, the Aetherquartz, using it to empower mind, body and soul.

But this came at a cost, as once used the Aetherquarts would be refilled with the emotions of the user, a price the Lumineth would gladly pay to distance themselves from Slaanesh corruption.

Soon the same use and emotions became the downfall of the Lumineth. Pride brought them to compete to greater feats, more tension within the Empire and eventually opened the doors to Hysh to the same Slaanesh daemons they fought so hard to avoid.

When the dust settled, only few enclaves of Lumineth remained. Teclis then saved them once again, teaching them how to bond with the realm itself and use its special properties to empower themselves. The main elements controlled are Mountain, River, Wind and Zenith.

Lumineth armies are made of powerful wizards, led by Teclis himself, the most powerful in the Mortal Realms or other mages like the Scinari or the spirit attuned mages.

The Vanari represent the martial prowess of this army, with archers, pikemen, swordsmen and cavalry.

To each element corresponds a temple and for each temple the Lumineth have their guardians with fighters attuned to the spirits of that element. The Alarith follow the Mountain and its sturdiness. The Hurrakan follow the speed of the Wind.

But how do the Lumineth play on the tabletop in Warcry?

Brighten your path and let’s have a look at them in detail.

Overview and Points for the fighters in the Lumineth Realm-lords Warband

Note: if you haven’t read the basic rules for Warcry before reading this article, it might be helpful to know that the game’s abilities are activated by using 6 dice that you roll at the start of your turn.

If two of the dice show the same value, they can be used to activate a Double ability. If three show the same value, they can be used for a Triple ability, and so on.

So, when this article refers to an ability being a Double, a Triple or a Quad, it refers to this system. It might sound a bit confusing, but takes no time to get used to when you start playing

The Lumineth warband is made from 13 kits with 21 options of which 14 are leaders.

As their range will unavoidably increase in size, we have divided them in categories: Vanari represent the martial side of the army (swordsmen, archers, etc), the Scinari are powerful not aligned spellcasters, Alarith are attuned to the Mountain spirits, Hurakan are attuned to the Wind spirits.

Scinari

Scinari Cathallar: 95 points

The Scinari Cathallar is a mage whose main ability, Emotional Transference, allows the potential to make lots of damage to any opponent up to 24” distant!

The way the ability works is that you need to have a Triple, then choose a friendly wounded fighter within 12”, a Dawnrider with 18 wounds would be perfect especially if he is at his last wound.

Then choose another enemy fighter within 12” of the Dawnrider (or the chosen friendly model) and roll a die for each wound allocated to your Dawnrider. Assuming he has 17 wounds that means 17 dice!

On a 4+ you allocate a wound to the targeted adversary. Statistically to do 17 damage is almost unheard of but the potential with some luck is there (it is 50% chance each die).

Apart from this the Scinari has a melee-oriented weapon profile (2 attacks at Strength 4 at 1” range) not supported by her otherwise fragile constitution: 16 wounds with Toughness 3.

Surprisingly she is the only “wizard” hero with no ranged attacks.

She is cheap (one of the cheapest in the Lumineth) and can do some damage between the special ability and her weapon (2/4 damage) but she also needs a lot of protection. Better suited as a companion hero than your leader.

Scinari Loreseeker: 125 points

The Loreseeker has the same melee profile as the Cathallar with one more attack, but he adds a missile attack (3-7″) with impressive damage potential (2 attacks at Strength 3 for 3/6 damage).

The Loreseeker special ability allows him a free move for a Double if there’s no other friendly fighter within 6″. In certain situations it may be useful, but usually bonus move are interesting in the first round to close the gap quickly or when scoring an objective last minute. You will most likely never have the Loreseeker on his own in the first round and you may struggle to see him in the right position to grab an objective while at the same time disengaged and alone.

Scinari Calligrave: 120 points

The Calligrave has the same ranged attack of a Loreseeker but a weaker melee profile (2 attacks, Strength 3, 1/4 damage) with the same Cathallar’s fragility.

His special ability, Realmscribe, costs a Double and is peculiar: reduces by 1 the damage received by friendly fighters within 6″ of a spot in the battlefield, but only from critical hits. Critical hits are usually rare, reducing the damage by 1 is not particularly significative unless against horde units relying on those critical hits to go through the toughest opponents., but 6″ bubble is not a small radius either.

In combination with the Vanari ability to reduce Attacks, or the Alarith ability to reduce all damage received by 1, can be interesting but definitely not our first option for a support model.

Scinari Enlightener: 140 points

While having the same fragility of the other Scinari, the Enlightener complements it with 12″ range attack for 1/3 damage but at Strength 4. Her melee attacks are also more balanced with 3 attacks for 2/4 damage.

However she does not add anything else if not a situationally better attack profiles.

Vanari

Vanari Lord Regent: 235 point

The Lord Regent is the appropriate leader of your cavalry charge.

With 10″ Movement he can keep the pace with the other Dawnriders, and the 28 Wounds with Toughness 4 will guarantee him some survivability.

His high cost is justified by a good melee profile (4 attacks at Strength 4 for 2/5 damage) with the addition of a ranged magic attack (3-7″) with 3/6 damage (same profile as the other wizards like the Scinari).

As the Dawnriders he can damage after a move action (Lances of the Dawn for a Triple) and as all Vanari he can participate in a Shining Company (described below).

Compared to a Steedmaster he costs more, but adds a ranged attack, more Wounds and more damage throughput. If you have the spare points to upgrade, he is definitely worth.

Vanari Dawnriders

• Steedmaster: 205 points
• Vanari Dawnrider: 160 points

The Dawriders are Lumineth heavy cavalry: 10” Movement and high wounds (18 or 22 for the leader) combined with medium Toughness (4) and decent attacks (4 at 2″ range for 2/4 damage) makes them a valid elite unit although on the expensive side.

The Steedmaster, the leader of the unit, increases the Strength from 3 to 4.

Dawnriders have access to a basic ability available to all Vanari: Shining Company, and the classic damage on charge, Lances of the Dawn.

Shining Company wants to reflect a similar ability available in Age of Sigmar not that easy to interpret in a skirmish wargame. For a Double, you can pick a friendly fighter within 1” of at least 2 other models able to use this same ability and for the rest of the battle round every attack targeting friendly fighters within 1″ of the one picked suffers -1 Attack.

It cannot bring the attacks below 1. Also, it does not state the model cannot move, so as long as he/she is surrounded by the right models, can activate the ability and then move to defend a leader or other critical unit nearby. In the latter case a Dawnrider with his high mobility could be a good target, however for a Triple the knights can do as much damage as the value of the ability at the end of the first movement (Lances of Dawn).

Vanari Auralan Sentinel

• High Sentinel: 90 points
• Vanari Auralan Sentinel: 90 points

The Sentinels are the foot archers of the Lumineth with a decent ranged attack: 2 attacks at Strength 3 at 3-15” range for 1/3 damage. They compensate their low damage output and fragility (8 Wounds on a Toughness 3) by being some of the cheapest unit in the warband.

In melee they have one attack more (3 instead of 2, the rest is the same) but It is probably better to leave them at a distance.

The High Sentinel has one single melee weapon profile (3 attacks at Strength 3 for damage 2/4) and has access to the Sharp-eyed Scryhawk ability.

For a Triple, pick an enemy model within 20” and until the end of the battle round add 1 to the Attack characteristic of attacks performed against that model. It can be efficient to single out a strong opponent by increasing the potential damage he can receive.

All Sentinels also have access to the Shining Company ability that would allow them to resist a bit longer if charged and if they are in formation really close to each other: remember, the ability stacks so 3 Sentinels in formation for 3 Doubles are almost un-killable with -3 attacks per action (minimum 1).

Vanari Auralan Warden

• High Warden: 95 points
• Vanari Auralan Warden: 65 points

The Wardens are pike units that can hit from afar without being engaged thanks to their long-ranged weapon (3”).

3 Attacks at Strength 3 for damage 1/4, Toughness 4 and Movement 5” makes them a versatile unit. Add to this they are the cheapest model in the warband and have access to Shining Company and you have a solid foundation or gap-filler for your warband.

The High Warden, the leader of this unit, does not share the same pike but the same 1” range weapon of the High Sentinel. His ability is Moonfire Flask: for a Double pick a visible enemy fighter within 6” and roll 2 dice. Allocate 1 damage for each 4-5, or as many as the value of the Double for each 6.

Vanari Bladelords

• Bladelord Seneschal with Sunmetal Dual Blades: 145 points
• Bladelord Seneschal with Sunmetal Greatblade: 150 points
• Vanari Bladelord: 110 points

These long-awaited swordmasters represent the elite infantry with 3 attacks at Strength 4 for 2/5 damage and an excellent 2″ range that allows them to hit an enemy without being engaged.

They can further increase their damage output with their ability, Perfect Strike, that allows a bonus attack and up to 6 damage on the critical hits for that attack. It does cost a Quad, but a free attack with good damage output is always welcome.

To compensate, they are a bit on the fragile side with 12 Wounds (16 for the Seneschals) but only Toughness 3. As all Vanari they have 5″ Movement and access to Shining Company allowing a bit more survivability if they stay in formation.

Their leader, the Bladelord Seneschal, has 2 different weapon loadouts:

• The Sunmetal Dual Blades have more attacks (5) and good damage (2/4) representing the ideal choice.
• The Sunmetal Greatblade loses one attack to increase his damage output on a critical hit.

Considering they both have Strength 4, the Dual Blades are probably the best option to guarantee more normal hits go through rather than relying on the occasional critical hit.

Alarith

Alarith Stonemage: 155 points

The Alarith Stonemage is the wizard leader of the Mountain Spirit side of the Lumineth.

His ability costs a Quad but is really devastating: Gravitic Redirection deals D3 damage (rolled individually) to each adversary within 6” and halves their movement for the rest of the battle round.

Since it has been reprinted as it was (no errata unfortunately), the malus on movement affects also friendly fighters starting their move within 6″ from him, so be careful as the warband has an average 5″ movement.

He is more resistant than most Scinari (20 wounds with Toughness 4) but his ranged attack is as powerful as the new Scinari: 2 attacks at Strength 3 for 3/6 damage at a 3-7” range.

In close combat he has a 2” range, 3 attacks with same Strength but 1/4 damage. His flying 5” movement allows him to go anywhere he prefers, but he is not the only flying unit in the Lumineth warband.

Alartih Stoneguard

• Truestone Seneschal: 1025 points
• Alartih Stoneguard with Diamondpick Hammer: 85 points
• Alartih Stoneguard with Stone Mallet: 85 points

The Stoneguards are the elite infantry of this warband. This is highlighted by their Wounds (12 instead of 8 of most Vanari infantry), Toughness (4) but reduced mobility (3” instead of 5” of all other infantry).

The leader of the unit, the Seneschal, has good attacks (4 at Strength 4 for damage 2/4) and higher wounds (20), while the other Stoneguards must choose a weapon profile.

Both weapons have range 2” and 3 attacks but while the Hammer is better for light armoured enemies (Strength 4 and damage 2/5), the Mallet is perfect for the toughest opponents (Strength 5 and damage 2/4).

All Stoneguards have access to Mountain Stance: for a Double you can subtract 1 from the damage received by both hits and critical hits, unfortunately to a minimum of 1.

Hurakan

Hurakan Windmage: 195 points

The Hurakan are the Lumineth attuned to the Wind spirits and the Windmage is their representative leader wizard.

12″ of flying movement alone justify the high price, but then we also have good Wounds (22), average Toughness (3), and good ranged attack (same as the Scinari: 2 attacks at Strength 3 for 3/6 damage at 3-7″ range).

In melee he does not excel but he still has 3 attacks at Strength 3 for 1/4 damage that is not to be underestimated for a wizard.

And then his special ability allows him to disengage and end his movement anywhere even in contact with another enemy. It costs a Triple but can be useful to change partner in melee without wasting 2 actions. Not sure, you would want to do this with a Windmage although…

Hurakan Windchargers

• Windspeaker Seneschal: 185 points
• Hurakan Windcharger: 145 points

Where the Dawnriders represent the heavy cavalry, the Windchargers represent the light cavalry.

They are extremely mobile: 12″ (against the 10″ of the Dawnriders), have an ability that allows them to end a disengage movement anywhere even in contact of another enemy (Move Like the Wind, for a Triple), and another that adds up to 3″ extra movement to the next movement action (Go Where the Wind Blows, for a Double).

The high Wounds (18 or 22 for the Seneschal), partially hide an otherwise fragile unit (Toughness 3). But these are ranged units and as such should be used.

They have two weapon profile: a missile one with no minimum range (10″ maximum) for 2 attacks (3 for the Seneschal) at Strength 4 for 1/4 damage and a melee one for 4 attacks at Strength 3 and 1/3 damage. Their higher ranged Strength allows them to have more impact than their brethren Sentinels, but they do cost more.

Myari’s Purifiers (410 points)

• Myari Lightcaller: 120 points
• Bahannar: 90 points
• Ailenn, the Mind’s Edge: 105 points
• Senaela: 95 points

Myari’s Purifiers are a Lumineth Realmlords Bladeborn warband from Warhammer Underworlds Season 4.

• Dazzling Light (Triple, Myari):  subtract 1 attack from nearby enemy fighters.

Myari is a wizard with a ranged and melee profile identical to the Hurakan Windmage but Movement 5″, 20 Wounds and the same ability as the High Sentinel, the Sharp-eyed Scryhawk, that allows to choose a target and then every friendly fighter attacking that target increases their Attack by 1. Myari can also subtract 1 from the Attack characteristic of enemies in range for a Triple. For her price she is a good supporting hero.

Bahannar is an Alarith Stoneguard with Stone Mallet with the same profile and ability (Mountain Stance, reduces by 1 the damage taken for every attack). The same applies to Ailenn, a Vanari Bladelord, and Senaela, a Vanari Auralan Sentinel. Both have access to the Shining Company ability and Ailenn has access also to Perfect Strike, for a bonus attack with extra damage on critical hit. All 3 are slightly more expensive than their counterpart and have only 2 wounds more.

Abilities for the Lumineth Realm-lords Warcry Warband

• Shining Company (Double, all Vanari): Can be used only by a model within 1” of 2 or more friendly models that can also use this ability. In that case subtract 1 to the Attack characteristic of attack actions that target friendly fighters within 1” of this model.
• Mountain Stance (Double, all Alarith Stoneguard): Until the end of the battle round subtract 1 from the damage received from each hit and critical hit.
• Go Where the Wind Blow (Double, all Hurakan Windchargers): Add up to 3″ to the next Move action.
• Moonfire Flask (Double, High Warden): Pick a visible enemy fighter within 6” and roll 2 dice. For each 4-5 allocate 1 damage, for each 6 up to 6 damage.
• Realmscribe (Triple, Scinari Calligrave): Pick a point of the battlefield within 9″ from this fighter, until the end of the battle round reduce by 1 the damage on critical hits for all friendly fighters within 6″.
• Lone Agent (Double, Scinari Loreseeker): Perform a bonus move but only if there are no friendly fighters within 6″.
• Move Like the Wind (Triple, all Hurakan): No restrictions on where to end the disengage action (can be within 1″ of an enemy).
• Lances of the Dawn (Triple, all Dawnriders and the Lord Regent): At the end of the next move, allocate up to 6 damage to an engaged enemy unit.
• Emotional Transference (Triple, Scinari Cathallar): Pick a friendly wounded fighter within 12” and an enemy fighter within 12” of that model. Roll a die for each wound allocated to the friendly fighter and for each 4+ allocate 1 damage to the enemy model.
• Sharp-eyed Scryhawk (Double, High Sentinel): Pick an enemy fighter within 20”, until the end of the battle round add 1 to the Attack characteristic of actions against that model.
• Perfect Strike (Quad, all Bladelords): Perform a bonus attack and add up to 6 to the damage of critical hits.
• Gravitic Redirection (Quad, Alarith Stonemage): Allocate D3 damage to all enemy fighters within 6” of this model. Also halve the Move characteristic of all fighters starting within 6” of the Stonemage.

Reaction for the Lumineth Realm-lords Warband

Introduced in the new season of Warcry, Reactions are things that can be done in certain circumstances, but always during the enemy turn. They cost one action, so they can be used only by fighters that have not activated yet or are waiting. There are 3 universal reactions and one specific to each warband:

Blinding Brilliance (Everyone)

• When: During an enemy missile attack action but before hit rolls.
• What: Roll a dice for each critical hit, on a 4+ it becomes a normal hit.

Battle Trait for the Lumineth Realm-lords Warband

Aetherquartz Reserves: Before the battle pick a friendly fighter: once per battle, when using an ability, it can use a Double for a Triple or a Triple for a Quad.

Strategy and Tactics for the Lumineth Realm-lords Warband

The Lumineth Realm-lords are a versatile warband with a little of everything but nothing that stands out.

Despite having different aspects of their army represented (martial vs magic, mountain vs wind), there are no particular synergies so you can easily mix and match. The only exception would be the Vanari that need to be taken three at a time to be able to use Shining Company.

The presence of so many leaders compared to the number of units, means you will often miss out something in your roster. Most leaders have their own special ability so this could be an important discriminant.

However most abilities are not game changers. For example of the four Scinari, the Cathallar is by far the most useful, but only if you have someone injured in the right place with the right amount of Wounds… The other 3 are more situational than the Cathallar or have no abilities.

The Vanari represent the bulk of the army, and of these the Lord Regent is probably the toughest with not only good melee attacks but also a ranged attack. The Steedmaster in comparison is not worth the discount in price.

If you need another good melee but cheaper leader the Truestone Seneschal with Toughness and Strength 4 challenges the Bladelord Seneschal with higher damage on critical (5), Movement (5″) but at the cost of lower Toughness (3). They are each the antithesis of the other, where the Truestone can decrease the damage received on a Double, the Bladelord can do extra attacks and hope in juicy critical hits for extra damage (for a Quad).

The other Vanari leaders are a bit too much on the cheap side and don’t offer much.

Some good but expensive support heroes are the Stonemage and the Windmage.

The Stonemage can damage everyone within a 6” bubble while also reducing the movement to anyone in that same range. This means you will need to choose if sacrifice him for some ranged damage or if you have enough units available to cover him up immediately after.

The Windmage has the same weapon profiles of the Stonemage, but 12″ of flying movement (the Stonemage flies too but only 5″). Apart that, his ability to disengage ignoring the minimum distance from an enemy at the end of that move is not particularly interesting on a poor melee character.

Once you choose your leader you then have 7 units to choose from for a total of 5 different abilities.

All Vanari share Shining Company ability that allows to decrease the attacks of nearby opponents. To use it the starting figure has to start next to another two Vanari but then keeps advantage of the -1 attacks although limited to other fighters within 1″ from him/her. It is potentially stackable but since the attacks cannot be reduced below 1, it would be helpful only against armies with many attacks. It can still hurt heavy hitters by halving their attack characteristic (from 2 to 1).

Dawnriders and Lord Regent have the ability to damage up to 6 Wounds any enemy close to their final move. If you don’t have the Triple available, better to instead use the 2″ range of their weapons to avoid direct retaliation.

The warband reaction is one of those that starts “great!” then you think a bit more, compare to other warbands and murmur “oh ok…”: you activate it when targeted by a missile attack but before seeing the hit roll, then you roll a dice for each critical hit received and on a 4+ you transform it into a normal hit. Basically you spend an action to have 50% chance to receive some damage if the enemy rolls any critical. If you are a betting player, then you better bet that the enemy will not roll any critical at all. Ah, and this works only on ranged attacks that are usually on the low count (2 or 3 per action).

When choosing units, the Sentinels guarantee cheap ranged damage, the Dawnriders are expensive but provide mobility, the Windchargers provide ranged attacks and even more speed, the Wardens are cheap infantry, the Stoneguards are slow but heavy hitters and the Bladelords an alternative elite unit for higher damage.

You may want a combination of all of them after you choose your leader. Our personal preference would go on the Lord Regent, alternatively a Stonemage, not only for his special ability but also for his powerful ranged attack and 5” of flying movement.

Then a couple of Dawnriders or Windchargers would guarantee mobility to compensate for 1 or 2 Stoneguards, to then fill the gaps with remaining units according to personal taste.

Pros and Cons of Lumineth Realm-lords in Warcry

Pros:

+ Different type of units
+ Good range in melee

Cons:

– Uninteresting abilities
– Average low Toughness

Some thematic warbands for the Lumineth Realm-lords

Just for fun here we present few thematic warbands, meant more for fun or narrative context than for competitive play. Note that in narrative play you need to complete a quest that allows you to recruit a Hero before being able to add him to your roster.

High Speed: a Lord-Regent, 2 Dawnriders and 3 Windchargers for a high-speed army (10 or 12″ Movement).

Attuned to the Elements: Alarith Stonemage, Hurakan Windmage, 2 Windchargers, 4 Stoneguards with Hammers for an army in sync with Mountain and Wind.

Vanari Arts: Lord-Regent, Scinari Cathallar, 1 Dawnrider, 2 Bladelords, 2 Sentinels, 2 Wardens (slightly over 1000 points, you could give up the Dawnrider for more Wardens/Sentinels). The Cathallar is there to send back the pain the Lord-Regent, herself or the Dawnrider are feeling.

How to buy a Lumineth Realm-lords Warband

Note: all prices used are standard Games Workshop prices. It is possible to get the different things cheaper (check the links for prices).

The Lumineth Realm-lords are receiving numerous updates and are releasing on a staggered multi-release schedule. Check out this page to see all released Lumineth models so far.

There is currently no Start Collecting set for Lumineth Realm-lords.

The Dawnriders are available separately for £39.5, while Wardens, Sentinels and Bladelords are available in boxes of 10 (5 for the Bladelords) at £36.5 each allowing one option as leader.

The Vanari Lord Regent is available as an alternative build from the box of Lyrior Uthralle at £34,5.

The three Scinari (Cathallar, Calligrave, Loreseeker and Enlightener) are available in individual boxes for £19 each.

For the Alarith, the Stonemage is on a single blister (£26.5) while the Stoneguards come in a box of 5 (including an option for a Seneschal) for £36.5.

Same for the Hurakan, where the Windmage is a single blister (£23.5) and the Windchargers come in a box of 5 with a leader option (£39.5).

Tips on painting a Lumineth Realm-lords Warband for Warcry

I want to show you epic Lumineth Warband

All you have to do is send my some files. You can read more about how to make that happen here.

Since release Lumineth have seen an explosion of painting projects. In the Warhammer Community YouTube channel you can find guides for painting Lumineth from Ymetrica, Syar or Iliatha, how to paint Dawnrider Steeds or the Myari Defenders from the Warhammer Underworlds warband.

If you have access to Duncan Rhodes academy he published a guide for the Ymetrica faction, while on YouTube you can find Painting Coach.