Age of Sigmar Battletome Idoneth Deepkin (1st edition)

 When I decided to get into Age of Sigmar with the Idoneth release, I also decided not to buy their battletome until the army was playable ready.

Which was a good plan, as I bought the models upon release as I loved the look of something completely different from things seen in fantasy systems, but now 4th edition is upon us and I still haven't finished anything so far.

But a while ago, I could grab the first armybook for them from Vinted for 3.00 euro, which I duly did for the sole purposes of the lore.

The aelves that have become the Idoneth where the last ones to be found and devoured by Slaanesh during the End Times of the World-that-was, and as a result also the first one to be freed once Slaanesh was imprisoned.  Teclis, now a god himself, set about to reforging them for the new world, but something was amiss and soon they fled from him, retreating into the depths of the oceans and into utter isolation.  But they learned they where cursed, as the majority of them are born with a fractured soul that shortens their lifespan dramatically, becoming known as Namarti.

They learned ways however on how another soul could act as a fuel for their kin, and the raids on coastal towns and cities began, leaving only death and sleeping people that would never awake in their trail.  But even when the forces of Chaos came after them, they retired into the deep's as their main form of security, preferring not to ally with the forces of Sigmar except for High King Volturnos and the Ionrach faction of the Idoneth Deepkin.

 

 

The forces of the Idoneth, called Phalanxes, follow a rigid structure for both defences as well as their raids for souls.  Depending the enclave and the needed work, the leadership might differ, but it always follows the same triumvirate build of leadership, Soul Wardens and troops, the latter build of either Akhelian and / or Namarti battalions.  Next we have a look at the actual enclaves, Ionrath - teh best and brightest, Dhom-Hain - the barbaric isolationists, the headstrong and short fused Fuethan, the sinister Mor'Phann, the shellcrafters of Nautilar and the Briomdar who might hold the key to the Idoneth future.  All connected by a system of underwater portals, the Great Whirlways.

The book then goes into the lore of the various units in the army, starting with the semi-gods of the Eidolons of Mathlann.  Akhelian Kings, and High King Volturnos, are next on the overview, before we get all the other characters including special character Lotann.  The first units are the akhelian beastriders, being it on top eel, leviadon or shark.

Then we get the very lovely models painted up in studio quality as the book has some great full page looks at the models.  We then get a look at an assembled army and what units compromise it, before getting some painting tips and guides for your Idoneth forces.

We then go to the bread and butter, well, in those days at least: the rules for the force.  You pick the enclave of your force, which influences your command traits and artefacts.  They also have their own special lore for their Tidecasters, being the Lore of the Deeps, which has some awesome supporting spells like Tide of Fear, which when timed with your tides (the force has different bonusses every round) can wreak havoc.

They have their own battleplans of course as well, and their own Path to Glory campaign.  A tactics article then looks closer to the various strenghts of each of the enclaves, before we get all the warscrolls for your units.  And the final page are the points values of the force for use in Pitched Battles.

So, a good looking book for one of the most unique armies I ever seen in mainstream fantasy games, and one I hope to bring to the battle one day... like at my rate, 12th edition or so hehehe...