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Age of Sigmar: Ionus Cryptborn Rules Reveal And Download

4 Minute Read
Oct 23 2023
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Ionus Cryptborn is getting a new miniature and new rules to download and check out. The Warden of Lost Souls is here.

One of the first Stormcast Eternals is getting a new form with the brand new Ionus Cryptborn. It helps that he’s got a draconith mount named Cthorak, too. There’s some excitement around this model and today we’re getting a crack at his new rules. Fortunately, Games Workshop also provided a download for his warscroll as well.

Download Ionus Cryptborn’s Warscroll

via Warhammer Community

“In the early days of the Age of Sigmar Ionus fought the endless Goretide of Khorne shoulder to shoulder with his good friend Vandus Hammerhand, though their relationship is now a little more fraught. As the Aqshian tine of the Twin-Tailed crusade confronts the Khornate tribes in Dawnbringers: Book III – The Long Hunt, Ionus – now dubbed the Warden of Lost Souls – is back, with powerful new rules.”

Ionus Cryptborn Rules

First up, let’s check out that statline. Sitting on 16 wounds with a 3+ save is already a solid start. His movement degrades from 14″ down to 8″ as he takes damage but that’s not too crazy. He’s got quite a few attacks which we’ll cover below but you get all that for 400 points. That’s not too bad and you also get a pile of rules to match. Now, let’s check out those attacks…

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The Spirit-Scouring Flames are no joke. It does a couple of things that I really like. For starters it’s just a bucket of attacks at range 12″ and each one is decent. Furthermore, if the target unit is wounded by ANY of these attacks they become soulburned. This has the chance to generate mortal wounds during each hero phase. Additionally, if the unit is “healed” instead of getting wounds back it just ends the effect. That’s actually super handy against armies with a lot of recursion as you’re essentially shutting that off.

As for his melee attacks, you can see those above. Again, it’s a lot of swings that all hit and wound on 3+ which is rock solid. The rend varies from 1- to -3 depending on the attack as does the damage. However you slice it up, Ionus has good damage potential with 24 potential damage (to start) in melee and another 9 damage potential from range.

Ionus also has a few defensive/debuff abilities that need to be mentioned. Draconic Horror prevents enemies from getting the Rally and Inspiring Presence commands while within 12″. That’s a really nice debuff! And Scry Intent subtracts 1 from the Attack characteristic from melee attacks down to a minimum of 1. The best saves are the ones you don’t even have to roll for and Scry Intent will help with that.

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Additionally, Ionus can also chant 2 prayers a round. This is a nice bonus because he’s also got his own prayer: Lightning Tempest.

 

The possibility for rolling a bunch of mortal wounds seems good! Ionus really is a “roll 3+ to do everything” kind of unit.

Draconith Skywing

If you’re thinking of including Ionus Cryptborn in your army then you might want to consider taking his Army of Renown, too.

“The Draconith Skywing Army of Renown in The Long Hunt recreates the kinds of aerial formations that Ionus leads into battle. Every unit in this army must have the STORMCAST ETERNALS and DRACONITH keyword, but as a result KrondysKarazai, and Stormdrake Guard units with two models become Battleline.

The Draconith Guardians of these armies are selfless bodyguards who’ll forfeit their own safety to intercept attacks aimed at the Warden of Lost Souls, allowing you to reallocate wounds that target Ionus on a 4+.”

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Furthermore, they also get some additional Rampage options that could be useful:

And, because this is an Army of Renown, that also means you’ll get additional enhancements, prayers, a spell for Krondys, a new Grand Strategy and three more Battle Tactics to use.

 

Ionus Cryptborn and the Dragons are coming to play…

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Author: Adam Harrison
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