In this new blog, we’ll be previewing some of the new Path to Glory toys coming out in upcoming battletomes. While existing armies have received Path to Glory Rules in their White Dwarf updates, there’s always new toys to play with. Here, we’ll cover the defining mechanics for each faction as well as the new options for quests, territories, veteran abilities, and anything else featured in each book. We’ll be launching this series with the Ossiarch Bonereapers and the Soulblight Gravelords battletomes.

So, grab a seat by the fire as we kindle the flames for your future stories.

Welcome to the Endless Legions

The Ossiarch Bonereapers are a force of undying terror that subjugate the denizens of the realms. Which means that their Path to Glory rules will need to be suitably oppressive to match their narrative. In the latest battletome for the Bonereapers, we see how they use the Bone Tithe to build up their armies and maintain their empire.

“He’s got huge sharp—he can leap about—look at the ***bones!***”

Defining Mechanic: The Bone Tithe

If you’ve played the Path to Glory rules in White Dwarf 472, then you’ll be familiar with the Reapers of the Tithe ability. The Ossiarch Bonereapers can collect the bones of their enemies and use them to bolster their army. However, there are some hefty changes in how the mechanic is used.

While the Bonereapers still collect the tithe when killing enemy units with melee weapons, you only gain tithe points on a roll of 4+. This makes gaining tithe points harder than before, but the Ossiarchs make up for it in two key ways.

First, you can gain a bonus to your roll if an enemy unit was destroyed within 6” of a Gothizzar Harvester. This bonus fits the lore since the harvesters are there to, well, harvest the tithe. But it also has the interesting effect of guiding players when it comes to creating their Order of Battle. An investment into some harvesters will yield greater rewards for your army down the path.

The other change to the tithe is that tithe points have more utility beyond adding new units to your Order of Battle. Since the Ossiarchs make their fortresses out of shaped bone, so too can you upgrade your stronghold and build barracks with your tithe points. Finally, you can spend tithe points to reinforce the units in your order of battle.

There’s no point in saving up your tithe however, as the gears of war are constantly turning, and any tithe points left unspent disappear at the end of the Aftermath Sequence.

New Quests

There are three new quests for the Ossiarch Bonereapers, while most of them play into the tithe mechanic, we’re going to focus on one and the boon it will give you in your Path to Glory games.

Refined Doctrine

To complete this quest, you must win a major victory and have at least 10 tithe points. This is no easy feat with the updates to how tithe points are generated. However, you can still spend the tithe points after completing the quest so you don’t have to choose between your quest or upgrading your Order of Battle.

Once you complete the quest, you get to pick one of the seven unique command abilities available to the Ossiarch Bonereapers. For the rest of the battle, any of your Ossiarch Bonereaper units can receive that command without the command being issued or spending a command point.

The very interesting thing about this reward is in how it plays with the Ossiarch Bonereapers Battle Traits. Because you can issue the same command multiple times to different units, that means that whatever command you choose can be given to your entire army for the next battle.

If you choose the Reknit Construction command ability, that means that at the end of the movement phase, you can have all units in your army, outside of 3” from an enemy, either heal D3 wounds or recover a number of models that have a combined Wounds characteristic of D3 or less.

New Veteran Ability

The original veteran abilities from White Dwarf 472 return with some changes to bring them in line with the new battletome. Peerless Warriors finds itself getting a bonus with both the Hit and Wound rolls and Hatred of the Living increases a unit’s Attacks instead of dealing mortal wounds.

Also, three new veteran abilities join those from the White Dwarf, with each focusing on a specific group of Ossiarch units. Your Gothizzar Harvesters have access to the Grim Efficiency veteran ability, which gives a bonus to its Bone Harvest ability, making it easier to heal or resurrect your units.

The unit specific veteran abilities are common in most battletomes and can build upon the existing rules and narrative of the units. However, the new ones here do feel narratively lacking when compared to the three that were previously available.

Territories

While the new Path to Glory section brings a lot of new additions to the previous White Dwarf rules, there are no new territories to be found. However, the territories that have carried over still provide powerful benefits to your Path to Glory army. If you snag the Shyshian Realmgate, you can add an Ossiarch Endless Spell to your vault. If upgraded, your wizards can bring this spell to the battlefield automatically without worrying about failing a casting roll or having the spell be unbound.

Name Generator

Towards the end of the Path to Glory section, we find a handy name generator. These tables can be used to create new names for your Ossiarch heroes as well as the Necropolises they may hail from. The necropolises also come with mini descriptions to help spark some of your creativity. Rolling on the tables I’ve created ‘Phrakazar Ghorustis of Hathazzar”

“I told him it’s ‘Phrakazar’ not ‘Freak-azar.’ Let this be a lesson to the rest of you.”

Narrative Battleplan

Like most Path to Glory sections, the Ossiarch Bonereapers have a battleplan they unlock when they embark on a specific quest. If the Ossiarch Bonereapers are looking to Quash the Rebels, then they can fight to Defend the Nexus. This battleplan has the Bonereapers defending a Bone-tithe Nexus in one of their settlements from an army of rebels seeking to tear it down.

The Nexus is given an Armor Save and 20 Wounds for the rebels to attack. This battle is fierce as the rebels do not need to take battleshock tests as they throw themselves against the Ossiarch defenses.

If the Bonereapers can hold off the attacking rebels for 5 turns, they are rewarded with Glory and the ability to roll twice on the exploration table. There is always another battle and always more land to conquer.

Warscroll Battalions

Finally, we have the new warscroll battalions. The Ossiarch Bonereapers can march to battle as an Ossiarch Cohort, the culmination of an entire legion marching to war. The Cohort brings with it 6 smalle warscroll battalion, each representing a different branch of the military forces of the Ossiarch.

While these branches offer a great narrative thread for your army to follow, they all receive the same bonus. Whether you choose to assemble a Kavalos Lance or Mortisan Triden, all of the warscroll battalions receive the Engine of Obliteration rule, which is a bonus to all Save and Ward rolls for the first battle round.

I personally was hoping for a few more options, I do like the idea that the Ossiarchs all see themselves as a single aspect of a larger whole.

Final Thoughts

A lot of the Path to Glory rules in this battletome are shared with the White Dwarf that came before it. While I’m always hoping for new things, the previous rules did a good job in portraying the Ossiarch Bonereapers. Since it wasn’t broken before, there’s no need to fix it. Still, the updates we did get are welcome additions to the rules. They expand on the usage of the Bone Tithe and play off of the new army rules of the Ossiarch.

Overall, I’m pleased with these rules and think they do a tremendous job in helping players dive into the narrative of running an empire of death.

Thanks for sitting alongside the fire with us and we hope to see you along the path.

Kindling the Flames: Ossiarch Bonereapers Preview