The Order of Azyr is an organisation at the service of Sigmar’s forces specialised in witch hunting and to root out any form of corruption related to Chaos or Death forces.
At the head of this warband we find Callis and Toll, a dynamic duo with their own series of novels and also an appearance in the animated series Hammer and Bolter on Warhammer TV. The fourth edition of Age of Sigmar is often told through their eyes.
Background and Lore of the Order of Azyr Warband
The Order of Azyr is reminiscent of the Cult of Sigmar of the World-That-Was meaning that they are an organisation with a strong affiliation with Sigmar and they hunt any sign of corruption either coming from the Chaos forces or brought by the Undead.
These men and women, collectively known as the Agents Azyrite, are the most feared of all civilised outposts as they can be seen both in the frontlines or roaming city streets in the constant search to slay every traitor of Sigmar’s cause.
While technically affiliated with the Cities of Sigmar, the are three main orders: the Pyremen, specialised in hunting traitors, the Stakesmen, experts in hunting down rogue magic and spellcasters, and the rarest, the Maskbreakers whose role is to discover and eliminate shapeshifters.
The most famous witch hunter of the Mortal Realms is nowadays Hanniver Toll, a man with a long history and vast experience whose longevity is in grand part merit of the Aqua Ghyranis he drinks, a special elixir from the Realm of Life. Many cultists, sorcerers, wraiths and similar ended slashed by his sword or shot by a pistol blast.
Many years ago, he found Armand Callis, a Freeguild soldier from Ghur, the Realm of Beast, framed for a crime he did not commit. Toll managed not only to prove his innocence but at the same time together they saved the city of Excelsis from a Tzeentchian plot. Since then, the duo has been inseparable and went on many more missions. More recently they worked to prevent one disaster after another in Hammerhal Aqsha, the side in the Realm of Fire of the prosperous metropolis built by Sigmar forces and centre of the current narrative with Skaven forces swarming in forces.
In their mission to save Hammerhal there’s also Lyssa Revenya, a thief in search in redemption, Mistress Verentia, a mysterious woman with an impressive web of spies formed by crows, rats and cats, and Lord-Castellant Valius, responsible of Hammerhal’s defence accompanied by his loyal Gryph-hound Balthus.
Haskel Hexbane and his Hunters, is another group of agents of the Order of Azyr who has been sent to investigate what’s happening in Ulgu, specifically in the depths of the Nethermaze.
But how do they hunt the battlefield to root out the darkness? Let’s find out.
Fighters in the Order of Azyr 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 Order of Azyr warband is made of 6 different fighters, of which Toll is the leader, plus a Bladeborn warband with another 6 fighters.
Hanniver Toll: 125 points
Hanniver Toll is the leader of this warband and there could be no more iconic character. Despite his low Toughness (3), he can count on an 8″ shooting attack at Strength 4 to avoid throwing himself in the fray. Should someone engage him, 4 attacks at 2/5 damage should help buffer a bit.
Where things get interesting is the different abilities Hannover has access to. As most of the warband has the Warrior runemark, some of these are shared across the Saviours of Cinderfall and the Hexbane’s Hunters (except the dogs). First of all, the warband reaction allows to sacrifice a future action for an immediate healing of D3 damage, which can be irrelevant, but if you are on the brink of death and by chance the opponent misses, you would end up in better shape than at the start of the attack action.
The warband Quad is also linked to the Warrior runemark and allows any fighter with that runemark to perform a bonus attack against an enemy target that just slain a friendly fighter. Consider that many of them have an 8″ range on one of their weapon profiles, so it could be quite a barrage of shots against that opponent.
Toll has access to two more abilities: Brand of Righteousness, shared with Hexbane, to increase the damage on critical hits by the ability’s value, and Right Tool for the Job, which allows to score critical hits on a 5+. Both need a Triple and work only on melee attacks, and you don’t really want Toll too close to the enemies, but the second one is worth considering because of the 4 attacks. The first one can be forgotten.
Armand Callis: 130 points
Armand Callis, the loyal companion of Toll, has a slightly improved ranged profile with 2/3 damage but more importantly Toughness 4 and Strength 4 for melee attacks.
His ability, Give ‘Em Both Barrels, allows for a Triple to perform a bonus ranged attack of a distance equal to the ability’s value. There’s not many bonus ranged attacks in the game, so this is not bad at all.
Valius, the Keeper Aqshian: 220 points
If you need a tank, someone able to take an objective and survive all that the enemy throws at him, then Valius is your man. With 30 Wounds and Toughness 6 it will not be easy to take him down, but should he meet his equal, for a Triple he can reduce the damage output of all attacks received by 1. For both hit and critical hits, for the whole battle round, to a minimum of 1!
And when it’s his round to fight back, 4 attacks at Strength 5 for 3/5 damage may be enough to get rid of all but the most obstinate resistance. A must-have in any Order of Azyr warband despite his cost.
Balthus: 95 points
Balthus is Valius’ Gryph-hound. Identical profile to the usual Stormcast canine, but for some reasons with less wounds (8) and therefore cheaper. With 4 attacks at Strength 4, he is bound to do some damage, but being a Beast there are few actions it can’t perform, like carrying treasures or opening doors.
Mistress Verentia: 100 points
Mistress Verentia does not have the Warrior runemark, meaning she has access only to the ability Secrets from the Shadows, which is an interesting gamble. You pick a Double, Triple and Quad from your opponent and roll a dice adding the result to the ability’s value. If the result is 7+, the dice combination is lost. It is extremely situational, and would work better as a Double, probably, as trading a Triple for another Triple or even worse a Double does not sound an excellent compromise.
Apart from this, Verentia has a single 8″ range shot but for 3/6 damage and in melee she still has 3 attacks for 2/4 damage. As most humans in this warband, Toughness 3 and 15 wounds would prefer her out of direct harm.
Lyssa Revenya: 75 points
Lyssa Revenya is the last of our Saviours of Cinderfall, with a single attack profile but with 3″ range for little damage. Her only ability allows to reduce by 2 the attack characteristic of an opponent within 3″ which is great for heavy hitters, but at the same time she may not survive the retaliation considering the short range of the ability.
On the other side, with 4″ of flying movement, she is better used to pick up isolated fighters, abandoned objectives or deprive your opponent of an easy target.
Hexbane’s Hunters (585 points)
- Haskel Hexbane: 125 points
- Quiet Pock: 150 points
- Aemos Duncarrow: 105 points
- Brydget Axwold: 95 points
- Grotbiter: 55 points
- Ratspike: 55 points
Hexbane’s Hunters are a Bladeborn warband from Warhammer Underworlds Season 6 (Nethermaze), whose rules are available in White Dwarf 494.
- Explosive Bolts (Double, Quiet Pock): After the next missile attack hits a target, allocate up to 3 damage points to all fighters within 3″ of the target.
- Brand of Righteousness (Triple, Hexbane): Add up to 6 to the damage allocated by critical hits from melee attacks.
- Hallowed Vengeance (Quad, Hexbane, Quiet Pock, Aemos, Brydget): After a friendly fighter is taken down, all Order of Azyr with the Warrior runemark [those in the list] can make a bonus attack action against the killer.
Haskel Hexbane is their leader and the only other hero of the Order of Azyr. His profile is pretty similar to Hanniver Toll, but he loses some critical damage in melee (2/4) in exchange for Toughness 4 which is a much better trade-off. Abilities-wise, as a Warrior, he has access to the Order of Azyr reaction, a Triple which adds damage on critical hits (melee only, useless) and the Quad to ensure revenge is served when another fighter with the Warrior runemark is slain.
But if you need a real shooter, Quiet Pock is the man: 2 attacks at Strength 4 for 3/6 damage at 15″ range are quite the sight. In addition, for a simple Double, his shoots can become explosive, spreading half the ability’s value to all other fighters within 3″ of his ranged target (friends and foes, so be careful!).
Aemos Duncarrow is the melee guy: with 15 wounds (lower only than Hexbane), Toughness 4 and 3 attacks at Strength 5 for 2/4 damage he will hold his place for a bit.
Brydget Axwold has the shortest shooting attack with only 6″ range but an interesting Strength 5 for 2/3 damage, and a melee profile in line with her price (cheapest Hexbane Hunter) unfortunately coupled with a Toughness 3.
Grotbiter and Ratspike have the same profile: two dogs with the Beast runemark and little else, although the 2/3 damage attacks can be annoying against low Toughness guys.
Abilities for the Order of Azyr Warband
- Brand of Righteousness (Triple, Toll and Hexbane): Add up to 6 to the damage allocated by critical hits from melee attacks.
- Right Tool for the Job (Triple, Toll): Melee attacks against a specific target score critical hits on a 5+.
- Give ‘Em Both Barrels (Triple, Callis): Perform a bonus ranged attack with up to 12″ range.
- They Will Break Upon My Shield (Triple, Valius): Subtract up to 6 from the damage allocated to this fighter (to a minimum of 1).
- Secrets from the Shadows (Triple, Verentia): Take a Double, Triple and Quad from the opponent and roll a dice adding the value to the ability. If the result is 7+ that combination is discarded.
- Tangle Them Up (Triple, Lyssa): Subtract 2 from melee attacks (to a minimum of 1) of a target fighter within 3″.
- Hallowed Vengeance (Quad, Toll, Callis, Valius and Hexbane, Quiet Pock, Aemos, Brydget): After a friendly fighter is taken down, all Order of Azyr with the Warrior runemark [those in the list] can make a bonus attack action against the killer.
Reaction for the Order of Azyr 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:
Grim Resolve (Toll, Callis, Valius and Hexbane, Quiet Pock, Aemos, Brydget)
- When: targeted by an enemy attack but before hit rolls.
- What: remove D3 damage points allocated to this fighter.
Strategy and Tactics for the Order of Azyr Warband
The Order of Azyr is not meant for big narrative campaigns where you expand the team and explore the Gnarlwood or other hideous places as they are all named characters and there’s not much character progression that you can make. In saying that, the box which contains the Saviours of Cinderfall is gourgeous and if you can find Hexbane’s Hunters, you can fill up the gaps and have a full warband.
Pros and Cons of the Order of Azyr Warband
Pros:
+ Great thematic warband to recreate your favourite stories
Cons:
– None, they are not super competitive but they are decently balanced
Tips on painting a the Order of Azyr Warband for Warcry
The Order of Azyr is comprised of humans, and as such can be painted however you prefer. But if you want Games Workshop’s recommendation, then there is a tutorial on how to make your perfect witch hunter at Intermediate level on Warhammer Community’s YouTube channel.