Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Old/Order/Swifthawk Agents

These rules have been succeeded by the Cities of Sigmar Battletome.

Another faction made out of the old High Elf line. Having battleline units, these guys can be fielded a stand-alone army in matched play. They can also be used as allies to any Order army, bringing great ranged support and mobility.

Currently, and thanks to Spire of Dawn (the NOT! Island of Blood box) they are the second biggest aelf faction. Sadly, you can't get the Spire of Dawn miniatures outside of the boxset, so good luck finding them.

Why play Swifthawk Agents

You are the High Aelves who survived the age of chaos. You may not have bulky daemons or gods on your side but you do have your wits. Swifthawk Agents play the thinking man's game, one of outflanking your opponents and picking off key targets before they can be put to full use.

Pros

- You guys are fast, stupid fast. Your lowest movement is 6, highest 16 with flying.

- As common with Aelves, lot's of options for allies.

- Your battalion gives an Archmage the SWIFTHAWK AGENT keyword , giving you extra movement for him in a pinch.

- If used correctly, can (unless dice give an F you) melt most important backline in one turn.

- Giant eagle chariots

- A number of your models are from the old high Aelves.

Cons

- Not many ways to dish out mortal wounds.

- 5+ saves on most of your guys.

- No allegiance abilities.

- As your damage comes from synergies, might be harder for new players to grasp.

Rulebooks

There isn't currently a Battletome for Swifthawk Agents.

• The Grand Alliance Order book has all the Warscrolls and Battalions.
• Spire of Dawn Warscrolls are in the Spire of Dawn box.
• This should be supplemented with the Grand Alliance Order Errata and Designers' Commentary from the FAQs.
• Matched play points are in the General's Handbook 2018.
• Alternatively up to date Warscrolls can be found in the WH AoS app.

As with all factions you'll want:

• The core rules are either downloadable or in the Core Book.
• Games taking place in a Realm need the Realm of Battle rules from the Core Book.
• In you want to take advantage of realm specific artefacts you'll need the Artefacts Of The Realms section from the Malign Sorcery book.
• Matched play battleplans are split across the Core Book and General's handbook 2018.
• All books should be supplemented with any updates from the FAQs.

Warscrolls

The common keywords of these warscrolls are: ORDER, AELF and SWIFTHAWK AGENTS.

Leaders

• Skywarden: A melee Skycutter. As crazy fast as the normal version, but without any shooting, and better defense (4+ instead of 5+ in the Shooting phase, and you reroll all failed saves, just great). You can choose to make it more killy in melee with a Zephyr Trident, or more support-y with a Swifthawk Pendant. Always choose the latter. With the Pendant, you gain the TOTEM keyword and add 1 to all wound rolls for all SWIFTHAWK AGENTS models within 16". Remember how chariots (flying or not) and particularly Skycutters, first put themselves in a good position, then charge at the right combat at the right time? Well, these guys do that, but also make better the units at that combat. Or you can just get them close to your units to make them more killy, using your great mobility, without ever putting yourself at risk. If I have to say that this is very good, then you haven´t paid any attention. Finally, make the Skywarden your General, and your SWIFTHAWK AGENTS flying units can run and charge the same turn. Which will probably make them reach any combat they want any time they want, letting you make a very good and fun "flying circus" army, something like a turbo-boosted chariot army. Just makes you want to try, doesn't it?

• Highwarden: He's a guy riding a gryphon. 10 wounds and a 4+ save make him an A-Ok choice for tanking a bit. Also, the guy has a great ability, allowing him to pile-in 6" and ignore models on the way. Arguably, you can engage enemy units, that are even not fighting. Works great with Quicksilver potion. The only thing that makes no sense- his command ability. You want an army, who loves charging - go somewhere else.

Troops

• Spireguard: Counts as Battleline if your army has the SWIFTHAWK AGENTS allegiance. the old spearmen/lothern seaguard are back baby. And with their arrival, Shadow Warriors are about to commit suicide. These are your new infantry blobs, who will hold the line and objectives. They grow stronger in numbers, and with Skywarden Pennant they can thin the numbers of those, who move towards them. Be careful though, 5+ save, even with re-roll, is still a 5+.

• Shadow Warriors: Counts as Battleline if your army has the SWIFTHAWK AGENTS allegiance. One of the best 1 wound unit in the game. Or, at least, they were. They deal 0,33 ranged damages per model that became 0,44 damages if they are in cover and more than 6" away from enemy units. In close combat, you can count on 0,66 melee damages per model. Also, they can move 12" after set-up. Add a Skywarden in the mix to create hilarious amounts of accuracy, exactly 0,44 ranged damages or 0,59 damages if they are in cover and more than 6" away from enemy units and 0,88 melee damages per model. Trouble is the guys cost 200 180 points for 10 5+ guys, when other factions get 3 5 wounds trees with scary bows for little additional points. Sadly, but very pricey.

• Skycutters: Dude, these things are fast. Sonic the Hedgehog-fast. 16" flying Move, double-dice run, after which they can still shoot. Decent toughness (8 wounds, 5+ save, reroll 1s, and also 2s in the Shooting phase), not much in the way of melee attacks, but still decent ones. Can take either 3 bows or one Bolt thrower, which is too hit-or-miss with only 1 attack, unless you take more than one model in the unit. Did I mention these things are fast? Awesome at board control: they can get anywhere with their enormous mobility, be a thorn in the side of your opponent while shooting his more vulnerable things (or charge them, nothing is safe from these guys), then charge and add their attacks to that crucial battle just at the right time. Do yourself a favor and take them to beautifully support the rest of your army. A SWIFTHAWK AGENTS HERO 16" close to them halve the number of models fleeing after a failed battleshock test.

• Chariots: Very fragile, only 5 Wounds and 5+ save. Runs always 6", but then you can't shot its two bows, so only do this to position yourself in the first turn, or in dire situations. Also, they have double pile in (6"), so you can put them in all kind of weird formations and all of them will still reach the enemy, useful if you know how to take advantage of it. They reroll wound dices the turn they charge, but still, they won't do much damage. In summary, very mobile and adaptable, but weak-ass. Use them to block enemy units line of sight/charge, shoot things then charge something already engaged, or kill weak things (wizards or lone supporting models). Not a bad unit, but very much outclassed by Skycutters.

• Reavers: Old Reavers are back. And as the Spireguard, they shall dominate the battlefield. But if guys on foot are your objective holders, these horsemen are your killers. Their horrific number of shooting attacks, hit-and-run rolls, and fair price make them a perfect unit for army, which rely on speed and ranged attacks. Add 1 or even 2 Skywardens to make them even more horrible, but guide these guys careful. They shall be the first thing your opponent would like to remove.

Battalions

• 1 High Warden, 1 Archmage, 1 of: Swordmasters, Spireguard, Reavers

• Guardians of the Dawnspire - The battalion, which you get for Aelves in Spire of Dawn box. To be short, it is the best you'll get for this faction so far. The bonuses are quite nice. All your guys count as Swifthawk Agents alliance, and your High Warden may order anyone (even to himself) to make a move, or a shooting attack during the Hero phase. Now imagine, Swordmasters with 2+ to wound, or a blob of 15 Reavers who can shoot in hero phase and in shooting phase. And you have a wizard for saves-after-saves (don't forget to put him on a horse though). All in all, a useful start for the army and a steady bulwark of... Aelves?

Army Building

2 Skywarden (one close to the Shadow Warrior to boost them and your general with the Skycutters), a unit of 2 Skycutters to dominate and control the field, 2 units of 10 Shadow Warriors and a units of 3 Chariots are just what you need to destroy any equivalent army.

Allied Armies

• Eldritch council: Give you Wizards

• Lion Rangers: Your old lion buddies are here.

• Phoenix Temple: Front Line elites that don't die easily.

• Stormcast Eternals: More wizards, heavier weapons, and cavalry.

• Sylvaneth:

• Order Draconis: Dragons and Best Cavalry

• Wanderers: More shooting

Mercenary Companies

• Blacksmoke Battery:
• Greyfyrd:
• Grugg Brothers:
• Gutstuffers:
• Nimyard’s Rough-Riders:
• Order of the Blood-Drenched Rose:
• Rampagers:
• Skroug’s Menagerie:
• Sons of the Lichemaster:
• Tenebrous Court: