Whether you are a new player or just don’t religiously follow every grand alliance, its good to know the best tricks hidden in your opponents sleeves. It sucks to be the “You did what?” guy, especially in tournament setting, so join me in exploration of best abilities of every grand alliance. If you are familiar with most of them then the list below will let you jump directly to the ones you don’t know. If you are a new player on the other hand I strongly advice to check all of them out so you are not surprised when enemy Gutlord moves 17” in the first turn (full value Waaagh! from nearby hero + On the Mawpath, double that adds +3″ to one move action). To not waste your time on abilities that are rarely used (due to low chance of rolling natural Quads) Quads won’t be on the list, but I think only Soulblight Gravelords Vanhel’s Danse Macabre and maybe the Quad of Mindstealer Sphiranx would make the cut, so if my list won’t be enough for you I suggest checking them out.
Order
Grand Alliance Order has access to planty great abilities that could make that list, but to keep the list short enough I decided to only use the ones that are not only the most powerful but are also the most often added with allies (that is why Seraphon’s Tearing Bite didn’t make the cut).
Fight for Profit
This ability is available for all Kharadron Overlords heroes. Fight for Profit is currently one of the most often used ability in the whole Grand Alliance thanks to Mizzenmaster popularity as ally and Rumble Pack having planty objectives. +2 attacks will elevate the most popular shooting units to “S tier” and is even more impactful with melee attacks. Arguably the best non-monster ability in the game that you can add to your list for as cheap as 90 points.
Coordinated Strike
Only two heroes from Thunderstrike Chamber have access to Coordinated Strike. With Calthia Xandire joining the roster of available fighters (with Tome of Champions 2021 being “legal” again) the popularity of this ability in Stormcast Ethernals skyrocketed. If you are interested in the most popular list based on this ability, then feel free to check Calthias thiccboi cardio class. Gaining up to 3 bonus actions in the faction that is both slow and low on numbers is helping to mitigate this issues.
Walk the Spirit Paths
This ability is often added as a treasure tech, as Tree-Revenant Scion (often called “Teleporting Tree”, the only hero with this ability in Sylvaneth) can use it to leave engaged opponents while carrying the treasure. If you are trying to catch the Teleporting Tree with treasure and fail to kill it it might be a good idea to use Inspiring Presence (if possible) to not give him a chance to teleport away.
Chaos
It’s very difficult to chose the best abilities for Grand Alliance Chaos because it simply has access to way more abilities than other Grand Alliances – bespoke warbands double the number of available factions, but Chaos also have the highest number of Thralls, Alllies and Monsters and each of them also bring unique abilities. Despite all that outside of the first ability on the list Chaos allies are often used for their stats and not their abilities.
Bloodbind
Only Slaughterpriests can use it. First Double on the list, that is able to mess up opposing player plans: turn off You Messin’ by pulling Brute away from objective, messing Drag and Maul + attack that opposing Chimera is perfectly positioned for or pulling opposing damage dealer away from your treasure carrier and many more. One of the most universal abilities in the game that is very difficult to play around and in my opinion second best Double in the game. Weaker version of this ability in Chaos is available for Beasts of Chaos and Untamed Beasts and also for Order through Idoneth Deepkin UW Warband.
Engulfing Flames of Dark Artifice
Good news is that you can witness this ability only in Horns of Hashut games, but the bad news is that most competitive lists use more than one Demolisher with Flamehurler that can use it. There aren’t many abilities that strikes as much fear in the opponent heart as this one. With high value triple this ability alone can be a death sentence for horde warbands. Spreading your forces is the only counterplay you can do against opponent that starts first activation with this ability and spreading your forces enough isn’t always possible.
Crack the Whip
Paired with Rat Ogor this ability let’s you convert a Double of any Value into 4 Attacks with S4 and 4/8 Damage, not many Doubles in the game can do this much damage. This ability is the reason why Warbands with Chaos Spawn or strong “in faction” beasts will often ally Master Moulder (the only Skaven hero with this ability).
Death
Grand Alliance Death is defined by single ability – resurrection, that both Soulblight Gravelords and Nighthaunt have access to in slightly different versions. All other triples and even Quads available to Undead fighters must be compared to it and the answer to “Would I do it instead of resurrecting?” is very often “No”.
Summon Undead Minions/Spectral Summon
All Nighthaunt and Soulblight Gravelords heroes have access to their corresponding ability. Both Abilities let you resurrect a fallen fighter (SBGL version allows only your “minions” to be raised up, but as most of their list consist of mostly Grave Guards and Skeleton Warriors it isn’t the problem) with the remaining Wounds equal to Value of ability (SBGL version brings back full health Skeleton Warriors and most importantly – full health Grave Guards from Sons of Velmorn). All the resurrection abilities were nerfed hard and now the resurrected fighter can’t activate later in the same turn, but it’s still one of the strongest abilities in the game, as it let a player “cheat” in some battleplans, like Reaper (from Core Book) or Secondary Quests like “Predator & Prey” (from Rumble Pack).
Phantasmal Discorporation
This ability makes Dreadblade Harrow (who is the only Nighthaunt fighter that can use it) the only fighter that has access to more than one ability from this list, what also makes him one of the most common allies in Grand Alliance Death. This ability is way weaker than the teleport abilities that Order has access to as it won’t allow you to teleport out of engage with treasure, but with 10″ move and flying, it makes Dreadblade Harrow the most mobile unit in the game that is worth its weight in gold in “classic” treasure missions.
Shambling Horde
This ability lets Soulblight Gravelords get away with 3″ move chaff (no heroes can use it), let them capitalise on activation advantage by reaching objectives up to 12″ away from their slowest fighters and also if any fighter is close to Grave Guards with Great Wight Blades it can be “transferred” to 10 damage on average to Toughness 4 opponents. Soulblight Gravelords will rarely use other Double.
Destruction
Despite the fact that Destruction has the lowest number of available abilities and the lowest number of factions is a home of some of the strongest abilities in the game with “meta shaping” potential. Gloomspite Gitz in particular has access to so many powerful abilities that their fighters can still be successful, despite the fact that their profiles would be considered unplayable in other factions.
You Messin’
All Brutes can use it, including heroes. This ability changes the Ironjawz matchup against hordes in games with low objective counts from challenging to easy. The most “swingy” ability on this list with its impact changing from “useless” to “best ability in the game” based on the number of objectives in play.
Loonshine Potion
This ability can be used by Brewgit from Gobbapalooza, that can be allied to other factions. It is often used together with Orruk Megaboss or the biggest Ogor heroes and transfer fighters who already have the highest damage potential in the game into monster levels of threat (for one attack only, but most fighters in the game won’t be able to survive that, for example Gutlord buffed this way deals 25 damage on average to T5 target).
Warchanter’s Beat
As the name suggests its the ability available to Warchanter – Ironjawz hero. Onslaught is great and is an ability that players often do. Granting onslaught bonus to all friendly fighters around without increasing its cost seams unfair, but surprisingly this ability isn’t used as often as it deserves. It happens mostly because the great variety of powerful abilities that this Grand Alliance has in its arsenal.
“Universal” Abilities
A lot of abilities exist in the same form but under different names across many factions or even Grand Alliances. I will list the most impactful and commonly used abilities and “classes” of abilities like “net” or speed buff triple
Drag and Maul
Triple available for all the monsters and arguably the strongest ability in the game (especially when used by Chimera). Its the single reason that almost dead monsters are still extremely impactful as massive damage and reposition capabilities makes it a huge game-changer. Most dangerous when directly followed by monster’s own attack action.
“Nets”
There are planty abilities with “net” effect (target can’t disengage and move the round it is used), but the most often used one is the Gloomspite Gitz one:
“Net like” abilities differ in success rate (Kruleboyz have 2 netters that only require rolling 2+, Bloodwrack Medusa from Daughters of Khaine require 3+ roll on two dice and Splintered Fang ability succeed automatically) and range (for example Ironjawz ability is a triple and require the target to be within 1″ and Kruleboyz ability works for 2″).
“Movement buff triple”
Only Chaos lacks access to their version of “Swift as the Wind”/”Waaagh!”. All other Grand Alliances have access to this kind of ability (often without using allies, like for example in Destruction Bonesplitters, Ironjawz and Gloomspite Gitz all can use this ability without using allies, which makes over half of all the factions in Destruction). In case of this ability differences between factions are almost only in name (but not only as for example Ossiarch Bonereapers have the whole battlegroup affected instead of friendly fighters within 6″, but they are an exception to the rule in this case).
Honorable mentions
There are few abilities that are quite strong and very popular across different Grand Alliances. Abilities listed below are strong contributors to overall power of factions they exist in. It’s important to always remember about them when playing with such factions.
Charge! like abilities
This ability is very important for both Death and Destruction (but exist also elsewhere), as it is available for all the fighters from Ironjawz and Bonesplitters, but also its the reason why Nekropolis Stalker are the most popular “Hammer” in Ossiarch Bonereapers (Dire Wolfs or Chaos Warhaunds also can use it).
“Untargetability for a friend”
This ability shines in kill missions like Reaper from the Core Book. One of the key abilities of Skaven (that every Stormvermin can use) that also exist in Soulblight Gravelords Sons of Velmorn. It lack the raw power of other abilities listed above, but in certain battleplans like already mentioned Reaper it must be taken into consideration.
Bonus Move/Attack after Kill
This is the most common ability in Chaos, but there is planty of it in every other Grand Alliance. It certainly is the least “flashy” ability on this list, but in Treasure missions it often saves you from having to use inspiring presence when killing enemy treasure bearer in second attack action. Using double instead of triple to “secure the treasure” is a big deal as noone has spare triples laying around. If you are playing against Chaos it is almost a sure bet that your opponent has access to this ability.
As always thanks for sticking with me to the end and I hope this will help you not get surprised by your opponent in the critical point of the game.
Overthinking Warcry 