Kurdoss Valentain The Craven King Warhammer Review

Sit Upon The Stone Throne

Driven by his relentless want to rule the throne, Kurdoss Valentain let nothing get in his way. Many perished at his hands as they got between him and his desires, and as such, Negash punished him in the only way that seemed fit. He now sits upon the throne as the craven king, one who shall never truly rule the kingdom they deserved. His only satisfaction now is that which he gets from bludgeoning in the skulls of those who still dare to stand in his way.

In this ethereal review I’ll go in depth with everything you can expect from this unit. All the way from cracking open the box, to fighting on the battlefield. Every step will be covered in my usual fashion.

Going into this review, it’s worth noting that I think Kurdoss is one of the unsung heroes of the Nighthaunt faction. Although his ability is very passive and not always successful, his attacks really hit hard, especially when buffed by fellow leaders and the right subfaction.

Long May He Reign

To bring the king of the craven throne to life, we’ll need some spectral components. Thankfully, Games Workshop provides everything you need. Inside the box you’ll find:

• 19 parts that can be combined to create one model
• 1 x 60mm round base
• 1 x instruction booklet

This is genuinely one of my favourite kits to build and it's just as satisfying to take it out of the box. Although there's not a great deal of pieces, the ones that are included are unusual and unique to this model.

Building the throne was the best part of this kit, mainly as no other models quite have anything like it. The pieces slot easily together, the heralds attach to the sides and Kurdoss sits valiantly on top. Balanced, as all things should be.

From the get go you might find it easier to build and paint this model in parts. Especially given how Kurdoss and the Gerald's fit onto the model. My recommendation is to paint the tribe, heralds and Kurdoss separately. Then combine them once the paint has dried. This will allow you to reach all parts of the model and not risk getting unwanted paint on other surfaces.

That’s So Craven!

From the get go, Kurdoss looks fantastic floating across the field on his throne, with his heralds announcing his arrival, before he demolishes anything in sight. It really is something to behold. When you consider that he'll never truly rule the mortal rems, you'll agree that he needs to take his anger out on something.

Depending on your playstyle, this unit can be a bit of a glass cannon, however, his melee attacks just beg you to throw him into combat and watch him go. He gets the nitro going on his throne with a movement of 8", more if you charge. But with 7 wounds and a save of 4+, his survivability could be doubtful when he's stuck into combat each turn.

With no spells or ranged attacks, Kurdoss truly is a lean, mean whacking machine. Especially when his heralds get going.

This is where the main brute force for Velentian comes from. He comes equipped with twoo melee attacks. The first of which is sepulcherul sceptre, providing 5 attacks that hit and wound on a 3+, with a rend of -3 just incase it doesn't go through straight away. For each success with this attack, you dish out a juicy 3 damage. But wait, there's more! Spectral claws have 6 attacks and hit and wound on a 4+, with a rend of -1. Not quite as potent as the first attack but it still deals 1 damage per success you roll.

Finally, we have a singular but really unique ability to look at. At the beginning of the battle round, you can roll a D6. On a 5+, subtract 1 from your opponent's command point for that round. Furthermore, if Kurdoss is within 6" of an enemy hero, you need only roll a 4+ instead.

Final Thoughts

Personally, I love running Kurdoss Valentain for the insane damage he can dish out. And the command point manipulation is nice if you can get his positioning right. Otherwise, there are other leaders to run that have better utility and more potent abilities.

Pair him with a couple of other leaders who have abilities that manipulate player resources and you might be able to develop an interesting roster. Otherwise I would leave Kurdoss out of your lineup.

That's a wrap! I hope you enjoyed this review, and I'd love to see your Kurdoss paint schemes and know your thoughts on how this unit performs.

That concludes our thoughts on Kurdoss Valentain. Do you agree? Let us know your thoughts and tag us on social media @zatugames. To buy Kurdoss Valentain today click here!