Introducing Sláine: Earth Tribes Warband & Heroes

Our new Sláine: Kiss My Axe starter set introduces the titular hero to the existing range of 2000 AD miniatures; Judge Dredd & Strontium Dog. As well as the heroes and villains included in the starter set, the Sláine range also includes a superb collection of Earth Tribes heroes and warriors. These characterful miniatures are ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with Sláine in his battle against Slough Throt, the Drune and the Fomorians.

Earth Tribe Warband Box

The Earth Tribes Warband box contains six fierce warriors, plus three of the Red Branch. These warriors are not only typical of those found in Sláine’s tribe, the Sessair, but in all tribes across Tir Nan Og.

The Earth Tribes warband boxed set includes the following miniatures:

• 1x Warrior of the Sessair Red Branch with gae bolga spear
• 1x Warrior of the Sessair Red Branch with sword and Tathlum
• 1x Warrior of the Sessair Red Branch with two hand weapons
• 3x Earth Tribe Warriors with sword & shield
• 3x Earth Tribe Warriors with spear

The Sessair Red Branch

The warriors of the Red Branch are amongst the hardiest and most skilled fighters in their tribe, the Sessair. Whilst none of them are able to match Sláine’s prowess, they are nonetheless skilled and hardy warriors.

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The Warriors of the Sessair Red Branch, whilst enjoying a respectable Fight of 4 and Resist and Cool of 3, have no Skills, Boons or Feats. They do, however, have an impressive Move of 6; this, like Sláine, gives them a potential Charge range of 18”.

The box set contains three versions of these warriors, each equipped with different weapons. One carries what could be described as the ‘standard’ two-handed weapon, whilst one of his brothers-in-arms is equipped with a sword and a Tathlum (a skull imbued with curses and used as throwing weapons) and the other a barbed spear known as a Gae Bolga; any model equipped with these options adds +2 to its Notoriety.

Earth Tribe Warriors

Fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Warriors of the Red Branch, Earth Tribe Warriors are typical of all fighting men in Tir Nan Og. Whilst not as adept when fighting alone, they are deadly when fighting in packs.

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With stats bordering on mediocre, an Earth Tribe Warrior is easy pickings if fighting alone. However, if fielded in groups of three, they benefit from the Group rule. All Earth tribe warriors fielded in one group can be activated by one chip from the draw and receive benefits to certain rolls; these benefits are proportional to the number of warriors in the group.

Earth Tribe Heroes Box

Amongst the Celtic Earth Tribes are mighty warriors who inspire their tribes to glory against the Fomorians and the Drune Lords. Sláine’s former wife, Niamh, is an accomplished warrior and inventor. As Sláine’s foster father, Mongan Axehead takes the place of Sláine’s real father, the exiled Roth Bellyshaker.

The Tribe of Growling Shields is led by King Rudraige who has taken Sláine’s former wife, Niamh, as his queen. Rudraige wields one of the great treasures of the tribes – the Silver Sword of the Moon. Wielded by King Gann of Finias, the Flaming Spear of the Sun is a bloodthirsty treasure that returns, shrieking, to its owner after passing through its target.

The Earth Tribes heroes boxed set includes the following miniatures:

• 1x Queen Niamh
• 1x Mongan Axehead
• 1x King Rudraige with the Silver Sword of the Moon
• 1x King Gann with the Flaming Spear of the Sun
• 4x character cards

Queen Niamh

Chosen as a child to be the future wife of Sláine’s king, Grudnew, Niamh was held captive in a hut until she came of age. Sláine, however, took a shine to the would-be queen, and repeatedly stole into her hut to enjoy her company. He was, however, forced to flee the village when his relationship with Niamh was discovered by Grudnew. Returning only after the king had died, he discovered she had not only birthed his son, Kai, but also grown into an accomplished warrior queen.

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A warrior almost on par with Sláine himself, Niamh is a match for most opponents. With a Shoot, Fight and Resist of 4, she is on par with some of the hardiest characters in the game. Her Move of 6 makes her, like Sláine and the other warriors of the Red Branch, one of the fastest on the table. A resilient fighter, her Hardy skill means that, although unable to perform any double actions other than Charge or Recover, she incurs no penalties to her stats when first issued with an Injury marker. Furthermore, Champion of the Goddess allows her to draw two Feat cards at the beginning of every game.

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Feats Cards – allow characters to perform epic actions. Two Feat cards—or even three in the case of especially powerful characters—are drawn and assigned to each hero on the table at the beginning of the game. Once assigned to a character, a Feat card belongs to that character for the entire game and may be played once per turn.

Some characters are assigned specific Feats; Sláine’s Warp Out and Mongan Axehead’s Skull Cracker Feats are good examples of this. Unique Feats such as these are always assigned to specific characters and cannot be drawn from the common Feat deck.

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Mongan Axehead

Sláine’s foster brother, Mongan Axehead is an exuberant warrior who has perfected the headbutt into an art form; this signature attack is further enhanced by Mongan’s penchant for wearing a spiked helmet!

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Whilst not on par with Queen Niamh, Mongan is still an excellent warrior. His Skull Cracker skill allows him to draw the Skull Cracker Feat card at the beginning of each game.

Mongan draws one random Feat card at the beginning of every game courtesy of Champion of the Goddess. However, as Mongan is Sun Aligned, he must redraw any Feat cards until a Sun aligned card is drawn.

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Sun Aligned – In a departure from previous 2000 AD-related games, Sláine introduces the concept of cosmic alignment.

The cosmology of Sláine’s world revolves around the sun and the moon and general Feat cards are described as being either Sun or Moon aligned. In most circumstances this Cosmic Alignment is determined randomly at the beginning of each game and each turn after the first. Players may also spend Blood points to alter the Cosmic Alignment to their liking.

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King Rudraige with the Silver Sword of the Moon

This hardy fighter is the ruler of the city of Gorlias. As much a monarch as a warrior, he wields his kingship as well as he wields the Silver Sword of the Moon in his artificial hand.

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Measure for measure, King Rudraige is the equal of Morgan Axehead and King Gann. He is also more than a match for most mortal warriors. He also draws the Silver Sword Feat card at the beginning of each game courtesy of his Silver Sword skill.

As with Mongan, King Rudraig’s Champion of the Goddess skill allows him to draw a further, random Feat card at the beginning of every game. Unlike Mongan, however, King Rudraig is Moon aligned and must redraw any Feat cards until a Moon aligned card is drawn.

King Gann with the Flaming Spear of the Sun

Courageous and storied warriors all, the people of the island city of Finias deserve only a courageous and leader. Such is King Gann, wielder of the Spear of the Flaming Sun.

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King Gann has identical stats to both Morgan Axehead and King Rudraige; this makes him a very capable warrior. Furthermore, his Flaming Spear skill ensures he is always equipped with the Flaming Spear Feat card at the beginning of every game.

King Gann’s Champion of the Goddess skill allows him to draw one random Feat card at the beginning of every game. However, King Gann is Mongan is Sun aligned and must redraw any Feat cards until a Sun aligned card is drawn.

Kiss My Axe!

This starter set contains scenery, tokens, cards and all the rules you need to play, including scenarios, advanced rules and profile lists to create your Earth Tribes warbands, plus it includes all-important additional heroes to lead yan Earth Tribes warband, including none other than the eponymous Sláine Mac Roth.