Games Workshop has previewed some of the rules for Angron, daemon primarch of the World Eaters, detailing just how devastating he’ll be in Warhammer 40k melee combat. A centrepiece model for the brand new World Eaters model range, Angron was previewed in July, but this is the first time we’ve seen official information about how he’ll perform on the tabletop.
Angron’s newly unveiled base statline is extremely aggressive, starting the game with a move stat of 16”, 12 attacks, weapon skill 2+, and a basic strength of nine. It’s not yet clear how his stats will degrade as he suffers wounds, but this starting profile is considerably more aggressive than that of an equally enormous Imperial Knight.
Angron’s two blades, the sword Samni’arius and the axe Spinegrinder, can be used in two different attack modes. Bloodletting Sweep triples Angron’s attacks, while Skull-Taking Slash gives him an effective strength 14, AP -4, and deals D3+3 damage. The article translates this into practical terms, stating that on average rolls, Angron will destroy three Astra Militarum Leman Russ battle tanks, or 36 Sisters of Battle infantry, if they have the misfortune to cluster near him.
The information about Angron’s stats comes from a Warhammer Community article published on Monday. As well as melee brutality, it also lists three different auras, each with a six inch range, that Angron can activate during the command phase. Infectious Rage grants World Eaters core units an additional attack Glorious Bloodletting allows other World Eaters units (including non-core units) to reroll ones to hit in melee, and Righteous Slaughter prevents friendly and enemy models from falling back from combat.
Angron’s defensive statistics are, so far, fairly average looking. With a toughness of seven, and 18 wounds, he’s just not that tanky in a world of T’au Hammerheads and Votann Magnarail Rifles. GW hints that you’ll be able to return him to play using a rule called Reborn in Blood, but doesn’t explain how this will work, just saying your army must have performed “sufficient slaughter.” This could mean that Angron, or the World Eaters army as a whole, will be keeping a tally of kills that can be spent for in-game benefits – a mechanic we’ve seen in the Age of Sigmar Khorne Bloodbound army, and the Khorne Daemonkin from seventh edition 40k.
It won’t be long until the World Eaters get their Warhammer 40k codex release date, and we’ll have a guide ready when they do: until then, if you want to get a sense for how the firm has approached 40k chaos factions before, check out our guides to Chaos Space Marines, Death Guard, and Thousand Sons.