Slaanesh is the Chaos god of obsession and excess, and the Sybarites are his/her mortal followers. They thrive in any form of excessive sensation brought to the extreme, will you embark the same journey towards eternal and pleasant torment?

What changed in the new edition for the Slaanesh Sybarites Dark Revellers?

All fighters in the warband had a point adjustment. Furthermore, most leaders saw their wounds go down and few other profiles changed, most notably Slickblade Hunter-Seeker and Hellreaver with Claw-spear have now a slightly worse profile at a cheaper cost. The Blissbrew Homonculus profile was also added to buff the Blissbarb Archers.

Some abilities also changed wording, so read along to see the new take on this warband.

Briar and Bone added an optional battle trait.

Background and Lore of the Slaanesh Sybarites Warband

Slaanesh has been imprisoned since the Age of Myth by the Aelven Pantheon (Tyrion, Teclis, Malerion and Morathi) in the Hidden Gloaming, a sub-realm between Hysh, the realm of Light, and Ulgu, the Realm of Shadow.

Since then, the arrogant aelves extracted souls that once Slaanesh devoured during the destruction of the Old World, to repopulate the Mortal Realms with new civilizations (the Daughters of Khaine, the Idoneth Deepkin and the Lumineth Realm-lords).

Slaanesh disciples are divided between those searching for him, those pretending to have replaced him by ascending to godhood and those that do not care and thrive only in war and unending conquests.

The Sybarites are the mortal followers of Slaanesh, each exemplifying a particular trait brought to the excess, from the lowliest Blissbarb Archer to the mightiest Lord of Pain.

Those Seeker warriors acquiring an Exalted Steed of Slaanesh can cross the battlefield at incredible speed.

The blademasters obsessed in pain (provoked or suffered) become Myrmidesh Painbringers, while those that form a pact with lesser demons of Slaanesh share their mortal body with those essences and are called Symbaresh.

In the Eightpoints warbands of Dark Revellers seek new experiences and magical artifacts.

But how do the Dark Revellers play on the tabletop? There is nothing excessive in looking at their deepest detail.

Overview and Points for the Fighters in the Slaanesh Sybarites 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 Slaanesh Sybarites warband is made from 7 kits with 20 options of which 9 are leaders.

Shardspeaker: 120 points

The Shardspeaker is the wizard of Slaanesh Sybarites and a capable leader with an average ranged attack (7″ range, 3/6 damage at Strength 3) and a much more modest melee profile (3 attacks at Strength 3 for 1/4 damage).

In melee she will not last long with Toughness 3 and 18 Wounds, so use the 2″ range if you really need to.

Where she excels is her Triple: Tendrils of Unnatural Smoke, that reduces by 1 the Attack characteristic of all enemy combatants within 6″, for an impressive defensive ability.

The warband suffers of moderately low Toughness so reducing the enemy attacks can definitely be a good way to survive longer. If not as a general, she should be taken as a support hero.

Lord of Pain: 220 points

The Lord of Pain is the proper leader of the Dark Revellers.

25 Wounds on Toughness 4 make him an average fighter for survivability, but one of the most survivable in this warband, while his weapon profile is strong: 4 Attacks at Strength 5 for 3/5 damage.

And what’s even better is his 2″ range, allowing him to attack without immediate retaliation (at least they have to spend 1 action to move closer).

As all leaders he has access to Violence and Excess, which allows him a bonus move or action after taking down an enemy (for a Double) guarantying maximum output in his turn.

But where he excels is the ability to increase the Strength of friendly fighters within 6″ for a Quad (Paragon of Depravity).

Your average unit will have Strength 3 so bringing it up to 6 would mean increasing the chances of hitting. Works only with melee attacks (range less than 3″) but in combination with the Shardspeaker may transform the enemy’s turn in a real nightmare.

Hellstriders

• Hellreaver with Claw-Spear: 180 points
• Hellstrider with Claw-Spear: 135 points
• Hellstrider with Hellscourge: 135 points

The Hellstriders are the “heavy” cavalry of the Hedonites. With Toughness 4 they are between the most resistant in the warband, combined with the 20 wounds (25 for the Hellreaver) and the 2” weapon range they should resist longer than the rest.

10” movement makes them pretty quick, but as mounted units, they cannot go through doors or archways, or climb.

They have 3 type of units: the Hellreaver, the leader of the unit, has 4 attacks at Strength 3 for 1/4 damage.

The Hellstrider with Claw-Spear has 1 attack less than the leader, while the one equipped with Hellscourge increases his range to 3” for 4 attacks at Strength 3 and damage 1/3.

The leader and the Claw-Spear have access to Impaling Strike, an ability that for a Triple allows to do damage on charge (if you finish a movement within 1” of an enemy do as much as 6 damage).

The Hellscourge does not have access to this ability, but the 3″ range can be useful to outsmart those fighters with 2″ range, meaning he can be even further protected from retaliation.

The leader of the unit, as all Dark Revellers leaders, has access to Violence and Excess, for a bonus move or action after taking down an enemy.

Slaangor Fiendbloods

• Slaangor Slake-Horn: 225 points
• Slaangor Fiendblood: 175 points

The Slaangors are the heavy hitters of the Dark Revellers.

High wounds (20 and 25 for the Slake-Horn), average Toughness (4) and good movement (6″) makes them a versatile unit.

A Slake-Horn has 4 attacks at Strength 4 for 3/5 damage, while the Fiendblood loses only 1 damage on normal hit (2/5).

Slaves to Impulse allows them to do a bonus move as long as there’s at least an enemy within movement range and they conclude the movement closer to the nearest enemy.

This allows them to avoid wasting an action to attack an enemy, costs only a Double and now with a 2″ range means they can reach an enemy without engaging him. They definitely improved since previous iterations.

Slickblade Seekers

• Slickblade Hunter-Seeker: 205 points
• Slickblade Seeker: 155 points

The Slickblade are the newest cavalry for Slaanesh, melee oriented. While they have a similar profile as the Hellstriders, there are few differences.

Both the Hunter-Seeker and the Seeker compare with the Hellstrider with Claw-Spear. They cost more, have less Toughness (3) but more damage on normal hit (2/4 instead of 1/4) and more Strength.

They share same Movement (10″), Mounted trait, decent Wounds (20, 25 for the leader) and weapon range (2″).

They even have the same Impaling Strike ability for some free damage at the end of a Movement, despite their 2″ range suggesting they keep some distance from their quarry.

Their cost is now justified, if you need glass cannon hitting hard you go for the Slickblade, if you want a bit more resistance you choose Hellstriders.

Blissbarb Seekers

• Blissbarb Seeker High Tempter: 190 points
• Blissbarb Seeker: 150 points

Where the Slickblade are the melee focussed cavalry, the Blissbarb are the ranged cavalry.

They have same Movement (10″), mounted runemark, Toughness (3), and Wounds.

They are much poorer in melee with 4 Attacks at Strength 3 for 1/3 damage. But why would you use that when you can move 10″ away from any enemy and shoot up to 15″ away?

2 Attacks (3 for the High Tempter) at Strength 3 for 1/3 damage (1/4 for the High Tempter) may not seem many, but consider the 15″ range. Except cavalry, a normal unit can take around 4 actions to get near them.

On top of that, all archers in the warband can use Volley of Tearing Blades to add 2 to the number of attacks in the next action. They can even increase their Strength to 4 if there is a nearby Blissbrew Homonculus. It costs a Triple but does not depend from the ability’s value, a great improvement from last edition.

The High Tempter could potentially take advantage of the bonus attack/move with Violence and Excess, by picking injured fighters, but he is otherwise unlikely to make a difference.

Myrmidesh Painbringers

• Myrmidesh Painmaster: 155 points
• Myrmidesh Painbringer: 105 points

The Myrmidesh are the tankiest unit Slaanesh has ever seen. With Toughness 5 and decent wounds (20 and 15 respectively) they represent the objective holders, the guys that “can get the job done”.

Despite being heavily armoured they still keep up with the rest of the warband with Movement 4″.

In melee they also have a good profile with 4 Attacks at Strength 4 (Strength 3 for the Painbringer) for 2/4 damage. The damage can be further increased by 1 for a Double by using their special ability Dance of the Wailing Blade.

Remember Paragon of Depravity from the Lord of Pain? You could potentially up the Strength to 6 (or even 9 for what matters) to ensure more attacks go through for a juicy 3/5 damage.

The Myrmidesh Painmaster is a good all-round leader with more durability than a Lord of Pain, but less synergistic. On the other hand the Painbringers are essential fighters in any warband being the cheapest infantry profile in the warband.

Symbaresh Twinsouls

• Symbaresh Egopomp: 170 points
• Symbaresh Twinsoul with Merciless Blades: 115 points
• Symbaresh Twinsoul with Excruciator Slash: 110 points
• Symbaresh Twinsoul with Sinful Cleaver: 120 points

Where the Myrmidesh excel in defence, the Symbaresh excel in offense.

The leader, the Egopomp, has 2″ range on 4 Attacks at Strength 5 for 2/4 damage making him an excellent war machine for his cost. 20 Wounds on Toughness 4 should guarantee a few rounds of survivability.

The Twinsoul have 3 different weapon loadouts but all Toughness 4 and 15 Wounds. The main difference between the Blades and the Cleaver is that the Merciless Blades have 4 Attacks at Strength 4, the Sinful Cleaver has 3 Attacks but Strength 5 and 2″ range.

The Excruciator Lash instead increases the range to 3″, loses a bit of Strength (3) but he is also the cheapest option and the 3″ range allows him to benefit for all melee buffs while keeping a safe distance from enemies or just to hide behind a Myrmidesh.

Their special ability is one of the Quad of the warband: Ego-driven Excess, allowing them to perform a bonus move or action once plus every time they put down an enemy. It will be really unlikely that you can use it more than twice per round unless you are surrounded by a horde army and you get lucky with your dice, nonetheless is an excellent offensive ability, especially with the Lash and its 3″ range.

If you get a Quad that’s it…

Blissbarb Archers

• Blissbarb Archer High Tempter: 130 points
• Blissbarb Archer: 95 points
• Blissbrew Homonculus: 55 points

The archers on-foot are the cheapest units of the Dark Revellers. Even the leader is one of the cheapest leaders around.

The weapon profile is similar to the Blissbarb Seekers, with 1 less attack, exactly as for the High Tempter, making the only difference between the two units the lower Wounds (12 and 8 respectively), Movement (5″ instead of 10″) and the fact not being Mounted they can go anywhere they please.

They also share the same ability Volley of the Tearing Blades that increases the number of ranged attacks for one action by 2 and the Strength by 1 if there’s a nearby Blissbrew Homonculus.

Archers are definitely an interesting option and worth their cost more in comparison to the cavalry counterpart allowing you to have few of them to cover the gaps in your roster.

The Blissbrew Homonculus is not to be disregarded as he is the cheapest fighter in the warband, has the same melee profiles as the Archers and can buff any unit using Volley of the Tearing Blades within 3″ of him by adding +1 Strength.

The Dread Pageant (620 points)

• Vasillac the Gifted: 200 points
• Slakeslash: 200 points
• Hadzu: 115 points
• Glissete: 105 points

The Dread Pageant is a Bladeborn warband from Warhammer Underworlds Season 4.

• Cavalcade of Madness (Quad, all Dread Pageant): perform a bonus attack action. If either the target or this fighter are wounded, add 1 to the attack, 3 if both are wounded.

Vasillac has some communalities with a Myrmidesh Painmaster, with similar weapon profile (except the 2″ range and higher damage, 2/5) and access to the same ability that adds damage to his melee attacks. He has also 5″ movement and a resistant profile with Toughness 5 and 26 wounds.

All Dread Pageant have access to a Quad ability that allows them to perform a bonus attack and to add extra attacks depending on who is wounded (+1 if either is wounded or +3 if both are wounded).

Slakeslash is a Slaangor Fiendblood with higher damage (3/6) and wounds (22) and same ability to perform a bonus run towards a close enemy (remember that now costs a Double not a Triple).

Hadzu is a better Blissbarb Archer with 3 attacks at Strength 3 for 1/4 damage at 15″ range, plus access to the same ability to increase her ranged attacks and more wounds (12).

Glissete does not have a comparable profile. The 2″ range makes her closer to the Slickblade but she is not mounted and has 5″ movement. Her 4 attacks at Strength 3 for 2/5 damage are really interesting, the 2″ range should allow her to survive a bit considering her Toughness 3 and 12 wounds. She does not have special abilities.

Abilities for the Hedonites of Slaanesh

• Unrivalled Velocity (Double, Everyone): Add 3″ to the next Move action.
• Violence and Excess (Double, all Leaders): After taking down an enemy you can perform a bonus move or attack.
• Dance of the Wailing Blade (Double, all Myrmidesh Painbringers): Add 1 to the damage inflicted this round by hits or critical hits.
• Slaves to Impulse (Double, all Slaangors): Perform a bonus move towards the closest enemy as long as it was maximum 6″ away.
• Impaling Strike (Triple, Hellreaver with Claw-Spear, Hellstrider with Claw-Spear and all Slickblade Seekers): Up to 6 damage to an engaged enemy at the end of the next Move action.
• Volley of Tearing Blades (Triple, all Blissbarb Archers and Blissbarb Seekers): Add +2 Attack to the next ranged attack action and +1 Strength if next to the Blissbrew Homonculus.
• Tendrils of Unnatural Smoke (Triple, Shardspeaker): Reduce by 1 (to a minimum of 1) the enemy Attacks within 6″ of this fighter.
• Paragon of Depravity (Quad, Lord of Pain): Add up to 6 to the Strength of melee attacks of friendly fighters within range.
• Ego-driven Excess (Quad, Symbaresh Twinsouls): Perform a bonus move or a bonus attack. Perform another bonus move or attack every time this fighter takes down an enemy.

Reaction for the Hedonites of Slaanesh 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:

Shared Pain (Everyone)

• When: During an enemy melee attack action but before hit rolls.
• What: 1 damage to the attacking fighter for each hit and 2 for each critical hit.

Battle Trait for the Hedonites of Slaanesh Warband

Pain-fuelled Rapture: after receiving some damage from an attack or a reaction, this fighter can decide to allocate itself 3 damage to obtain +2 attacks in the next melee attack action this round.

Strategy and Tactics for the Slaanesh Sybarite

The Hedonites of Slaanesh play like a Slaanesh army should: attack first, fast and hope to do as much damage as possible before the unavoidable retaliation.

Compared to their demonic counterpart, they have more arrows in their quivers: literally considering demons don’t have archer units.

A Dark Reveller warband can count on nicely priced tank like the Myrmidesh, offensive units like the Symbaresh and utility pieces like the archers or the cavalry.

Even their heroes range widely although my preference is for more synergetic or support leaders like the Shardspeaker (to lower enemy attacks in range) or the Lord of Pain (to increase the Strength of nearby fighters) or both if you can afford them.

The good thing about those 2 abilities is that to be efficient you don’t need a high value: a Triple 1 is enough for the Shardspeaker and a Quad 2 or 3 for the Lord of Pain (you don’t need more than Strength 6 and in most cases 5 is enough).

High damage leaders are also in a better position to use Violence and Excess for a bonus attack or move after taking down an enemy, therefore disqualifying the archer leaders in most situations.

Although if you want to create an entire ranged warband, you can and you also have astonishing models to use. You can even complement it with a Shardspeaker to protect your core units when engaged. And you cannot leave home without a Blissbrew Homonculus as it increases Strength when using archers’ signature move Volley of Tearing Blades.

All Dark Revellers have access for a Double to Unrivalled Velocity, allowing up to 3″ to next Move action and the reaction Shared Pain that allows to damage back the attacker for each hit or critical hit they score. This reaction can be extremely useful for fighters that are destined to not survive the attack anyway, giving them a chance to do some damage before their demise. And if your opponent scores high enough, they can even do more damage in death than they would have done in a melee attack, archers especially.

The cavalry leaves you in a weird position, on one side they have high movement, average Toughness and decent Wounds that justify their cost. They all have decent weapon profiles and that 2″ range weapon that is perfect to avoid direct contact with your opponent.

On the other hand their special ability provokes damage only when finishing a move in contact with an enemy, and all the above comes with higher cost than infantry but with a lower damage output.

Being Mounted means also in certain settings they may be limited in the actions they can perform. Otherwise, they are a good solid option and a talented general can take advantage of their characteristics and use them at their best.

The Myrmidesh are your perfect defensive piece, with one of the highest Toughness available in game together with a decent melee profile.

Their opposite, the Symbaresh, can become extremely dangerous in case of a Quad and are probably essential in any Dark Reveller army just for their potential damage output.

The Slaangors are in the middle between a cavalry piece (6″ Movement but not mounted) and a damage dealer, being slightly more efficient in killing than a Symbaresh. Their special ability costs a Double and, combined with the 2″ range of their weapon, allows them to get really close to an enemy without necessarily engaging them.

In the end it will depend on your personal preference, but you have several options available. Apart from the Lord of Pain ability or the one from the Blissbrew Homonculus, there are no other synergistic abilities, so when dividing the warband in the 3 groups you could have completely heterogeneous groups each specialized in something.

Pros and cons of the Slaanesh Sybarites

+ Many attacks
+ Good mobility
+ High versatility

– No game changer abilities
– Glass cannons

Some thematic warband for the Dark Revellers

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.

Cavalry, charge!: Slickblade Hunter-Seeker, 2 Blissbarb Seekers and 3 Hellstriders with Claw-Spear.

Target practice: Blissbarb Seeker High-Tempter, Shardspeaker, 2 Blissbarb Seekers, 3 Blissbarb Archers, 1 Blissbrew Homonculus.

How to buy a Slaanesh Sybarites Warband

The Slaanesh Sybarites are the newest Age of Sigmar expansion to the Hedonites of Slaanesh army. As such the models are all, except one, brand-new and there are no discounted box available yet.

The two main heroes available in single blisters are the Lord of Pain (£18.5) ad the Shardspeaker (£18.5).

Slickblade Seekers and Blissbarb Seekers can both be assembled from the same box (£40). 5 models are available in the box, allowing you to assemble one leader and 2 of each others. Attention that in Age of Sigmar the minimum unit size is 5, so you would need two boxes to assemble all options (or magnetize if possible).

Myrmidesh Painbringers and Symbaresh Twinsoul are also in the same box (£36.5). As above, 5 models are included but each unit needs all 5 models to be used in Age of Sigmar. The Symbaresh have a chance to assemble one with Lash, one with Cleaver and two with Blades other than the Egopomp.

The Blissbarb Archers are a 11-model box (£31.5) but only 10 can be used as Archers (one of which is the High Tempter).

The Slaangors are instead in a 3-model box for £31.5.

Finally the Hellstriders of Slaanesh are the oldest box available for the Sybarites at £20 for 5 models.

Tips on painting the Hedonites of Slaanesh

Just before the launch of the new wave of Slaanesh mortals, Games Workshop presented different tutorials to get ready as soon as you can put your hands on the newest models in town.

You can start from the Dread Pageant warband from Warhammer Underworlds and then continue with the maxi tutorial for Blissbarb Archers, Slaangors and Seekers.

If you are searching for details there’s also a tutorial for a Golden Hedonite Armour, different skin tones and Slaangor skin and claws.

If you want to know how to paint a Mirror Shield Vince Venturella tutorial is what you need.