Xandire's Truthseekers - Warband Review

Introduction

The Truthseekers had braved the stygian depths of Harrowdeep and the twisting shadows of the Nethermaze before finally returning to the celestial realm of Azyr. Yet there was no time for rest. Sigmar once again called upon their light to banish the darkness, this time in the oppressive gloom of the Spitewood.

Riding the lightning, Calthia Xandire struck the soil of Ghyran, the Realm of Life, the towering mass of the Spitewood rising ominously before her. At her side stood the indomitable warrior Dhoraz Giant-Fell, lifting his great hammer with effortless strength, while the ever-silent Stormrider raised her arm for Taros, her vigilant aetherwing, to settle upon.

With arcs of fading lightning still crackling across their armor, the Truthseekers advanced onto the shadow-shrouded forest floor beneath the twisted boughs of ancient and gnarled trees. Here, in this brooding wilderness, they would bring the light of the Heavens to the Spitewood and the wrath of the God-King to all who opposed them.

Fighter Characteristics

This four fighter warband is made up of three Stormcast warriors and their aetherwing companion. The warband has a total of 17 Health, with 15 of that across the three Stormcast fighters. The Stormcast all have Move 3 and a Save of 1 Block. Their melee attacks each deal 2 Damage, with Dhoraz dealing 3 Damage even before inspiring. Stormrider also has access to a ranged attack, which is her main attack profile and is therefore more accurate than her melee option.

Upon inspiring, the fighters gain relatively little. Their main gains are minor accuracy boosts, either additional attack dice or access to weapon abilities such as Cleave and Ensnare.

Alongside the Stormcast, Taros the aetherwing is a fast moving but low health and low damage fighter that offers positional utility rather than direct combat power.

Role of the Fighters

Xandire

Your main early game source of accurate damage. She can reliably soften targets or finish fighters who have already taken hits.

Dhoraz

This is your primary damage dealer. Of all the fighters he needs protecting the most if you want the warband to maintain its full threat level.

Stormrider

Provides ranged support that applies chip damage and can push enemy fighters off Treasure tokens.

Taros

Provides positioning support for your Stormcast fighters and can be used to capture Treasure tokens to deny your opponent’s scoring.

How Do the Truthseekers Inspire?

The whole warband inspires when any one of the Stormcast fighters is slain. It is a straightforward inspire mechanic, that gives a boost for losing a fighter.

The unusual aspect of this warband is that the fighters gain very little from inspiring. The boosts are small accuracy improvements rather than meaningful upgrades to damage, defence or utility.

How Do Their Characteristics Compare to Other Warbands?

All ratings out of 5 (What do the stats mean?)

The Truthseekers sit comfortably alongside other elite three fighter warbands in terms of raw stats. They have similar levels of health, similar damage output and similar defensive values. What differentiates them is their fourth fighter, Taros, who offers mobility and positional play but does not significantly increase the warband’s combat potential.

The extra durability of this warband comes from its 17 wounds compared to the other elite warbands, which only have 15 wounds.

Warscroll

Multi Use Abilities

Raptor’s Eye

It is always good to have access to an extra reroll during an attack. However, the positional requirements of this ability mean it is unlikely to be consistently useful.

Seeker’s Strike

A situational but interesting ability that allows you to flip a feature token once per round after you make a successful melee attack against an enemy fighter standing on a feature token. This can deny an opponent a Treasure token or remove the Cover bonus from a fighter. Just remember that this flip is not a Delve.

One Use Abilities

Blaze of Light

A strong defensive ability that reduces enemy fighters’ attack dice by one for the next turn. This makes the Truthseekers harder to damage and helps resist Drive Back so they can hold their ground or maintain control of feature tokens.

Blazing Purity

Heal two fighters or heal one fighter twice immediately after Xandire is slain. This can be extremely useful for keeping Dhoraz in the fight. The downside is obvious. To use the ability you must lose your leader, which is rarely ideal.

Blazing Force

Push two fighters one hex each, or one fighter two hexes, immediately after Dhoraz is slain. This is a flexible and useful repositioning effect. The option to push two fighters makes it particularly appealing. Again, the downside is that you need to lose Dhoraz.

Blazing Reprisal

A reaction that triggers when Stormrider is slain. She makes a single ranged attack before being removed. It can be unreliable, as it depends on dice, but it may also deal meaningful damage or even finish an enemy fighter, effectively giving you an extra activation. Again, to use this ability you need to lose Stormrider.

Deck Pairings

The Truthseekers are fundamentally an elite three fighter warband with an additional fast positional piece that excels at interacting with Treasure tokens. As an elite warband they can comfortably play a Strike style, but the presence of Taros gives them natural access to Treasure based scoring.

Blazing Assault and Pillage and Plunder

Blazing Assault provides the Truthseekers with an excellent selection of Strike ploys and upgrades that further enhance their attacks. Dhoraz going to 4 Damage with Great Strength or Xandire becoming a second 3 Damage fighter is an appealing prospect. Upgrades such as Keen Eye, Accurate and Hidden Aid further improve their accuracy.

This pairs well with Pillage and Plunder, which offers a selection of passive objectives tied to token interaction. The combination also works with the warband’s multi use passive abilities Raptor’s Eye and Seeker’s Strike. Enemy fighters standing on treasure tokens and trying to stop you Delving or scoring Strip the Realm may find themselves more easily attacked and may even lose the token beneath their feet.

Wrack and Ruin and Countdown to Cataclysm

This has been a favoured pairing for me for several months. The combination provides scoring through Treasure token interaction, positional play and spreading damage across enemy fighters. It allows Stormrider and Taros to injure enemy fighters and still earn glory through cards such as Bloodied and Bruised and Wreckers.

The pairing also offers a healthy number of Ping cards that can soften opponents before Dhoraz and Xandire engage. This combination allows the Truthseekers to play aggressively into Hold warbands while adopting a more positional game against Strike opponents. The deck also includes one of my favourite ploys, Fireproof, which can dramatically disrupt an opponent’s plans.

Final Thoughts

The Truthseekers are a special warband for me. I learned the rules of the game with several warbands, but it was not until I picked up the Truthseekers in their first edition that I truly learned how to play. They are an excellent starter warband, offering a range of different playing pieces: strong melee fighters, a ranged warrior and a fast positional companion.

My Truthseekers

This warscroll captures the feel of the original warband well. However, the real issue is the lack of agency. You can only use their abilities at the point of death for each of your fighters, which greatly reduces their impact because they cannot be used at the moment, they would be most effective. The timing restrictions reduce their utility and therefore their overall power.

Another way to look at the warscroll, especially for newer players, is that it removes a decision point from the game and therefore makes the warband easier to play.

The fighters themselves match other elite three fighter warbands and have access to an early game three damage fighter, which is a strong advantage. Like the Jaws of Itzl, they also have access to an animal companion that can hold a Treasure token without compromising your combat capability.

While I do not expect to see the Truthseekers breaking into the Meta or dominating tournaments, I believe they have an important role in more casual games, especially when introducing new players to this wonderful game.

So, what do you think? Will you be using the Truthseekers? If so, what decks will you take with them? I look forward to hearing from you.

Checkout my Warhammer Underworlds for more articles.

If you're enjoying the content, feel free to hit that follow button at the top of the page. It really helps and keeps you updated!

If you’d like to support the site a little more, why not take a look at my Beakie-themed merchandise — featuring everyone’s favourite bird in a range of designs?

Return to my home page.

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon in the Underworlds.