The Araby (unofficial) Fantasy Battle Army book has been updated.
Mathias has been beavering away again (does he ever stop !?) This time he's really gone to town on the presentation (check out the excellent new in-book fonts) and it really does look incredible. It's a professional production and could be sold alongside all the other official army books but for you... it's FREE so what are you waiting for ?This army is completely unofficial and is not endorsed by Games Workshop!
The army book is now almost full colour and to be frank, I've been having trouble deciding which images to include in this blog post because it all looks so good.
You'd be insane not to download and at least flick through this book (just click the army book cover). It's all completely free with absolutely no catches. Some feedback in the forum would be nice but is totally optional:-
Araby Army feedback and comments
"...This takes care of some more issues with statlines in the army list and reference section, adds a bunch of new artwork and a little bit of fluff. Finally found a decent pic for the Mamelukes too, been looking for that for ages! Wizards also have access to the Lore of Shadow, and the Hashishin and Al Thair now have a 4+ ward save to be more in line with Skaven Assassins, both points and rules-wise.
The book is starting to look really pretty now I must say, and hopefully this will be the last update in quite a while as well, I do have other books to work on!" (Mathias)
A quick side by side review of the books and army bestiaries tells me....
Small tweaks to the Lore of the Desert and Artefacts of the assassin's creed. Numerous enhancements to the Treasures of the Sands (magical items) which thankfully still includes the awesome Bow of Seeking (previously Ebony Bow) - Str5 automatic hits causing d3 wounds ! Death from afar :-)
The Greater and Lesser Genies are now characters in their own right and represented as Monstrous Infantry as opposed to mounts.
New Rare Units include Bladedancers, the Dervishers and the Sandglass of Time.
Bladedancers are the daughters of the Sultan's Harem and they make a deadly elite unit. Boasting a move of 5, four str4 attacks, 2 wounds, Ld8 and a 5+ ward they will best a lot of units although they can only be deployed in units of up to 5 so are to be used with care (ie not against large rank and file formations). Also, at 60pts a piece you won't want to take too many and put all your eggs in one basket - at least I wouldn't.
War Elephants, Flying Carpets and Camels all still feature in the army. These units along with the Genies, Bedouin's and Whirling Dervishers really help to make this army a very unique and, dare I say it, realistic feeling force. No unit has been conjured up out of thin-air, except for the genies ;-), they all have a firm mythical or real-life footing. For some reason it makes the army feel a bit more accessible to my mind.
Araby has more of an Empire, Bretonnia feel than some of the more extravagant, fantastical armies such as Lizardmen, Skaven and Daemons. So, as such, this army will not appeal to those players who are into WFB for the outrageous fantasy elements. It will however please many who prefer a more human-like "The Thief of Baghdad", "Prince of Persia" quality.
Anyway, my favourite units have to the Carpet Rider (come on who didn't fantasize about that when lying in bed after watching The Thief of Baghdad as a kid ?), the Bladedancers, chicks who can beat up Ogres ! (actually, if you like that concept too, check out the Amazonians) and here's my number one... Whirling Dervishes.
The Dervishes have an unimpressive stat line (except they are fast movers, M5 and quick with a sword, Initiative 5). They do however have the Whirling Death rule - check it out, it's so awesome.
They are a bit of a suicide unit like Goblin Fanatics but you have more control if they completely pass through an enemy unit, ie. they can charge again. They are a devastating against low toughness units that are tightly packed together (such as the dastardly Skaven, Gobbos and Gnoblars).
Talking of Gnoblars, there's a Gnoblar Horde book on it's way !
Who would have thought that the Ogres would ever have let the Gnoblars off the leash long enough for them to form a whole army, or that the Gnoblars were smart enough to. You heard it hear first !