Slann Starmaster
Starborne: ★★★★★ Coalesced:★★★☆☆
Masters of order, space and time, fate and cosmic energies, few mortal or immortal beings have command over magic as strongly as the Slann. Other than Lord Kroak, first among the Slann, the Starmasters are the strongest wizards in The Seraphon battletome, with few equals across all of Age of Sigmar.
Slann Starmasters bring a lot to an army list: 3 casts/unbinds, +1 to cast/unbind/dispel, unbinds and dispels that reach across the entire battlefield, the ability to extend range by casting through a skink wizard once each turn, a chance to generate extra command points, a command ability to let friendly units fly and resist missile attacks, and access to some great warscroll and lore spells. The Slann Starmaster also has 9 wounds, the most a hero can have and still benefit from Look Out, Sir! and be an Andtorian Locus. This means that the Starmaster also has access to the Lore of Primal Frost and gets other Andtorian Locus advantages.
The Slann Starmaster is a powerful and diverse support hero that is largely considered a must-bring as the general in Starborne.
See the Slann Starmaster warscroll on Wahapedia.
Builds and Tactics
Powerful Magic at Extreme Range
The Slann Starmaster is among the top wizards in Age of Sigmar and can be a force to be reckoned with. The Slann has access to several good spells and abilities with no range limitations, the ability to extend its casting range through skink wizards or via a Saurus Astrolith Bearer, and is capable of unbinding and dispelling at any distance. But it is not a melee fighter. For these reasons, Starmasters should generally be kept back from the fight, protected by screens and beside units that can provide the Look Out Sir! ability. It should also be nearby the Saurus Astrolith Bearer to benefit from its +1 to cast, +6" spell range and 6+ ward. Such a defended position with key support heroes is called a "castle", and is an important component of a Seraphon army that includes a Slann Starmaster.
As a unit with a Wounds characteristic of 5 or more, the Starmaster counts as 2 models for contesting objectives.
Faction Distinctions
In Starborne, the Slann Starmaster is very nearly a must-include wizard, where it will be the army's general. Besides its excellent warscroll spell and abilities, a Starborne Slann can use The Lore of Celestial Domination, is an exceptional spell lore with the powerful Comet's Call and many other excellent spells. As your general, it also has access to an extremely powerful artefact, The Spacefolder's Stave, and the command trait, The Lord of Celestial Resonance, that generates additional summoning and other cosmic power.
In Coalesced, it isn't so clear that the Slann Starmaster is worth the 290 points. It has the same great warscroll, which will benefit any army, but many of the spells of the Lore of Ancient Domains aren't fantastic, and the command traits and artefacts aren't amazing either. Still, there has been a growing trend to include the Slann Starmaster in Coalesced lists, often taking the Shaman of the Chilled Lands command trait from the General's Handbook to give the Slann access to all the spells of the Lore of Primal Frost.
Spell Lores
A Starmaster can learn any spell from the Slann Spell Lore of its faction. A Starborne Slann can learn spells from the top-notch Lore of Celestial Domination; a Coalesced Slann can learn spells from the Lore of Ancient Domains. In addition, the Starmaster is an Andtorian Locus (since it's a non-unique wizard hero with 9 or fewer wounds), so it can learn spells from the General's Handbooks' Lore of Primal Frost. And like any wizard, it can learn spells from the Universal Spell Lore.
Command Traits
As your general, a Slann Starmaster can take a command trait. If it's a Starborne Slann, it can choose from the Starmaster Disciplines command traits:
- This includes the very powerful Lord of Celestial Resonance command trait will typically add 3 or more Cosmic Power Points to your Cosmic Power pool each turn, which means more summoning or other Cosmic Power abilities.
- Vast Intellect can also be good to give your Slann more diverse spell options, as all the spells in this lore are great.
- Arcane Might's extra endless spell range can be great in the right army with a lot of endless spell.
- Higher State of Consciousness makes your Slann's save ignore all modifiers (referred to as "ethereal"), but with a save of 4+, this isn't great and is easily the worst option in the list.
The Coalesced Slann command traits, chosen from Lords of the Temple-cities, aren't particularly good. This is a big reason why Coalesced Slann are often not made the general (it's also because the Coalesced Saurus command traits are excellent):
- The command trait Master of the Material Plane lets a Coalesced Slann know two more spells from the Coalesced Slann spell lore, which isn't bad: it lets a Slann take Empowered Celestite and Telepathic Summons from this command trait, and a spell from the Lore of Primal Frost as its normal spell pick.
- Custodian of Divine Technology, allowing the Starmaster to take two artefacts from the Treasures of the Temple-cities artefact list, sounds good, but unfortunately there is only one decent artefact on the list.
- Wrath of Aeons, which grants a once-per-game ability to give an extra attack to all Saurus and Kroxigor wholly within 12"heavy melee army, has the potential to be very powerful if timed before a critical combat turn in the right army, but is not a common pick.
- Dominating Mind would only be useful in a monster heavy Thunder Lizard list, but even then, it's not fantastic, and its redundancy with the Carnosaur's Blood Frenzy ability makes it much less appealing.
As an Andtorian Locus, the Starmaster general can also take command abilities from Dwellers of the Tundra in the General's Handbook or the Universal Spell Lore in the Core Rules. The only command trait of note in these lists is Shaman of the Chilled Lands, which gives the Starmaster all of the spells from the Lore of Primal Frost. Then the Starmaster can be given its picked spell from its faction Spell Lore and have a pretty good range of spells, even in Coalesced.
Artefacts of Power
Starborne Slann Starmasters can be given artefacts from the Treasures of the Old Ones list. This includes three mediocre one-time-affect artefacts, and one amazing artefact that is among the best in the game. The Spacefolder's Stave is the artefact you want, as it has profound implications on your tactical options during the game. It grants the ability to teleport, summon or beam down (in Dracothion's Tail) your units just 7" from the enemy once each turn, which means that units can fairly reliably charge immediately upon arriving (especially since many of our units get +1 to Charge). This is a major advantage and a threat your opponent cannot ignore in every move they make.
In Coalesced, Slann Starmasters have access to artefacts in the Treasures of the Temple-cities list. This is another list of mostly mediocre artefacts, with one that stands out above the others. Itxi Grubs is a pretty good artefact that allows the Starmaster to reroll a casting, unbinding or dispelling each hero phase, which can prevent a critical failed roll or even a miscast. It also has the added benefit of healing a wound in every hero phase (including on the opponent's turn). Note that if you reroll a cast, you cannot use primal dice, and if you used primal dice, you cannot reroll the cast.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The Heroic Action called Contemplations of the Ancient Ones allows a Starborne Slann Starmaster to swap a known spell specifically from the Starborne Slann spell lore, the Lore of Celestial Domination, and any other spell from that lore. It does not work on spells from other spell lores.
For this reason, there is an advantage to your Starborne Starmaster knowing at least two spells from the Lore of Celestial Domination. It allows the Slann to keep one spell that you want to cast each turn, such as Comet's Call, and swap the other spell as needed.
No. The Spatial Translocation Heroic Action does not allow a Slann to teleport itself, though it can teleport a different Slann (including Lord Kroak). Lord Kroak can also use this ability, and so can teleport a Slann Starmaster.
No. Spatial Translocation is a Heroic Action, and so must be used at the beginning of the Hero phase, before spells are cast. So plan accordingly and make sure your wizards will be in range of the place you will teleport a unit to if that unit needs to be buffed with a spell in the hero phase.
Yes, starting on the second turn.
The Spacefolder's Stave ability lets you set up the next unit more than 7" from an enemy unit instead of 9". This ability can be declared once per turn, and must be declared at the end of the movement phase. The next model you set up after declaring the ability can be set up more than 7" from the enemy. If you don't set up any more units at the end of the movement phase after declaring the Spacefolder's Stave ability, then its affect can apply to the next model you set up with Spatial Translocation in your next hero phase. If you don't use it then, you can wait to use it at the end of the following movement phase by setting up a model before declaring the ability in that phase. This would let you set up two units outside of 7" in that movement phase, or set you up to use the ability again in a later turn.
The Spacefolder's Stave ability can affect anything that Starborne can set up from the end of your first movement phase on. This includes units teleported with Spatial Translocation, summoned units, units beamed down with Dracothion's Tail's Appear on Command ability, or even when you set up Hunters of Huanchi with their Chameleon Ambush ability.
No. The Coalesced Slann artefact 'Throne of the Lost Gods' adds 1 to the Slann Starmaster's Wounds characteristic, changing it from a 9 to a 10. Normally, an Andtorian Locus must have 9 or fewer wounds, the Slann Starmaster starts with the Andtorian Locus keyword, and an effect cannot remove it, even before the battle.
However, the Look Out, Sir! rule (Core Rule 10.1.2) will no longer apply to the Starmaster, making him vulnerable to shooting attacks. For this reason, the Throne of the Lost Gods is still very much a disadvantage for the Starmaster.
If the Starmaster is within 12" of a Saurus Astrolith Bearer (it's not even wholly within), spells cast by the Slann get +1 to cast and +6" range, even when cast through a skink vassal that is not within 12" of the Astrolith.
If the Starmaster casts a spell through a skink vassal, the enemy must be within 30" of the Starmaster to unbind the spell, not the skink. That means the Starmaster can sit back out of unbind range and vassal-cast through a skink to get the needed range, with no risk of unbinding.
The Slann Starmaster's 'Master of Order' ability says that it can unbind spells or dispel endless spells "anywhere on the battlefield". The question has come up as to whether visibility is still required.
For unbinding, the answer is clear. Unbinding never requires visibility, so the Slann Starmaster can unbind spells cast literally anywhere; there's no escaping the magical reach of these mighty sorcerers.
Dispelling normally does require visibility, however. The official world championship Tournament Organizers have stepped in and made a ruling on this question, looking not just at the Slann Starmaster's warscroll, but all the similar rules throughout the game. They concluded that while the wording on the Slann Starmaster implies visibility should not be required, that ruling would create messy inconsistencies with other rules throughout the game, so it was decided that "anywhere on the battlefield" would remove just the normal range requirement of a rule and not the visibility requirement. With that ruling, unless Games Workshop steps in with a FAQ or Errata, visibility is still required to dispel an endless spell.
Yes! This often overlooked ability is excellent! It gives a unit the ability to fly and gives +1 to save against missile attacks. It can be used affectively for either or both of these reasons.
Granting Fly to a unit can be used to move a screen over the Starmaster so it can defend from the other side, to get a unit over a piece of terrain so it needn't go around, or to launch a surprise attack by sending a hammer over a defending screen.
The added missile save can be great on the Slann if ranged attackers get close enough to bypass Look Out, Sir! or to defend a unit that will likely be targeted for shooting.
Remember, Gift from the Heavens is a command ability, and so requires a command point to use.
Gift from the Heavens is a command ability. As such, it has a 12" range if the Slann Starmaster is not the general, and an 18" range if the Slann is the general.
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