AoS: A Goddess Rises – New Morathi
The Queen of Shadows has some new clothes, and boy howdy are they spicy. Come and take a look at the new and improved Morathi.
So, it’s no surprise that Morathi is one of my top 5 favorite special characters in Age of Sigmar. I wrote my first BoLS article about her, and she was one of the first AoS models I bought and painted up when I started the game. With the release of her new book, Broken Realms: Morathi, the Shadow Queen is getting a hefty and terrifying update. So here’s my thoughts on what we know about the brand new Morathi, and where I think she’ll fit in the game now.
As Games Workshop has told us, Morathi is making back moves for her ascension to true godhood, and everything we’ve seen so far makes me guess that she’s going to be successful. In the past, Morathi kept her true monstrous form hidden behind a beautiful facade, only revealing the truth when she feels martial power is required over sorcerous might. Unfortunately, she did not have the control over this transformation she would have liked, and should her enemies dare to mar her perfect form, there was a chance her rage would unleash the serpent within. Now, however, through some dark sorcery, bloody ritual, or other unknown deed, Morathi has split her soul between the beautiful Aelven sorceress and an avatar of the horrifying Shadow Queen.
Because of this, players will be allowed to bring BOTH of the models at once, a truly daunting prospect her all her enemies. We don’t know all the changes just yet, but we do know that so long as the Shadow Queen is on the battlefield, any wounds dealt to Morathi’s Aelf form are dealt to the serpent instead. What’s more, should a spell or ability attempt to remove Morathi without allocating wounds, such as a Brass Orb or Axe of Khorne, the effect is negated, and the larger form suffers three mortal wounds.
In addition, Morathi retains all her sorcerous power, allowing her to cast 3 spells and unbind 2, plus she still receives her +1 bonus to casting. Unfortunately, this power comes with a price, and should the Shadow Queen form fall in battle, Aelf Morathi is slain as well. Now, that is certainly a task, but not an impossible one, and your opponent will likely capitalize on it, so make sure the Shadow Queen only engages in battles you know she can win.
However, given the upgrades she got, that will be basically all of them. Concentrating entirely on combat, the Shadow Queen can dish out a ton of reliable punishment and still be around to cause more havoc later. First, she retains the Iron Heart of Khaine meaning she can never suffer more than 3 wounds a turn, so even focused fire can’t take her down in a single shot. Second, her powerful shooting attack was changed around to be a little more consistent, going from a single model slain if you exceed their wounds characteristic to a 2+/2+ shooting attack that deals D6 wounds.
In addition, as long as she’s fighting, she’ll boost the power of your nearby Melusai and Khinerai units, and since that’s where she wants to be anyway, all the better. From what I can see, there’s no reason not to bring Morathi along, unless you worry about her admittedly hefty points price tag.
All said, I’m looking forward to seeing what she does in action. What are your thoughts on Morathi 2: Double Trouble
