Age of Sigmar: How to Play Idoneth Deepkin
Today we look at how to play Idoneth Deepkin of Age of Sigmar. Here’s how to hit those landlubbers like a tidal wave!
As one of the most recently updated battletomes, the tides of Idoneth are coming back in force. While not one of the most varied lists in the game, the Deepkin are an interesting and characterful force combining speedy cavalry and solid infantry. Here’s a quick and dirty look at the Idoneth Deepkin and a few essential units to look out for.
Who Are Idoneth Deepkin?
Teclis’ first (and unfortunately flawed) attempt to create a race with the souls he extracted from Slaanesh resulted in the Idoneth. Unfortunately, they were deeply tainted by their time in the Pleasure god’s belly, and some were born soulless and eyeless, cursing them with exceptionally short lives. Disgusted with his creation, Teclis decided to destroy them, and in fear, they retreated deep into the Etheric Sea. They now live out their days as raiders, rising from the inky depths on the backs of terrifying sea creatures to hunt mortal souls to extend their lives and return to some semblance of their former glory.
Why Play Idoneth Deepkin?
Whether you want to play the soulless Namarti or the erudite Akhelians, the Idoneth have something to offer. They are fast, they hit hard, and they are a lot tougher than you might expect, and you get to pull some of the coolest looking models out of your collection. No matter how you like to play, you’ll find a list to fit your playstyle.
Strengths
- The army can be fairly low on models, so it isn’t a painting nightmare
- One of the single most powerful battleline units in the game
- Swift army if you go Akhelians
- Namarti can decimate horde armies
- The Tides of Death table is extremely powerful
- Your terrain piece is incredible.
Weaknesses
- Sometimes the low model count can come back to bite you
- Namarti really rely on their support
Signature Rules
How you play and what rules you worry about depends on your subfaction, but these are the basic rules that you need to know for this army.
- Forgotten Nightmares – Your opponent can ONLY shoot at the closest unit. If you have a squishy mage or a unit of archers, use your speedy eels to make them immune to shooting.
- Tides of Death – The Idoneth bring the sea with them, and every turn, the tides shift. Each tidal shift has a different effect, and it cycles through again after turn 4.
Terrain
The Gloomtide Shipwreck is a pretty cool piece of terrain, which gives your units a shrug so long as they keep the enemy away. In the newest book it’s also Defensible, so you can make your unit pretty tanky.
Subfactions
The subfactions for the Idoneth Deepkin are called Enclaves, and they represent the various underwater cities the Idoneth live in. Each allows you to prioritize different parts of the army’s strength, from the feral Fuethan to the eerie Morphann. Which you pick is entirely up to you.
5 Key Units
You might not see all these units in the same army, but these are some common staples of an Idoneth army.
Akhelian Ishlaen Guard – The eel riding cavalry comes in two breeds, the spear-wielding Morsarr that focus on attack, and the Ishlaen, which capitalize on defense. For my money, the Ishalaen is vastly superior since they ignore Rend in the same manner as Nighthaunt and can increase their save to a 3+ on the turn they charge. Combine that with a Leviadon, and you’ll have a 2+ unrendable save on a 4 wound model. Even if you don’t attack first in combat, that unit is unlikely to go anywhere and will undoubtedly kick just about anything off an objective.
Namarti Thralls– The other battleline, and where the Akhelians have speed, the Thralls have power. Their Lanmari blades hit like a truck and can scythe through large hordes of weak models or bigger enemies with equal ease. Unfortunately, they can’t do anything special against 2 or 3 wound models, so Chaos and Stormcast can stop them in their tracks.
Isharann Soulrender – An incredible support hero for your Namarti and a nightmare for enemy heroes. A must take if you play Namarti.
Akhelian King – Your primary general, and necessary if you play mostly Akhelian Guard. Has a cool but situational command ability and a nice array of mount traits.
Leviadon – Everybody loves the hurt-le, and now they’re battleline in the Nautilar Encalve. The Leviadon has an incredible aura ability and hits exceptionally hard and should ALWAYS be in your army, whatever Enclave you’re playing.
Sample Army (1000 pts)
Army: Idoneth Deepkin
Leader: Akhelian Thrallmaster. General
Leader: Isharann Soulrender
Battleline: 10 Namarti Thralls.
Battleline: 10 Namarti Thralls.
Behemoth: Leviadon. Mount Trait: Reverberating Carapace.
How to Play Idoneth Keepkin
Move fast, strike hard, and don’t stop until you take their souls! Idoneth want to be aggressive, and sometimes they don’t even let the enemy retaliate, so strike like a shark and leave no trace.
~They’re going to need a bigger boat.
