Warhammer Underworlds Online: The Chosen Axes Official DLC Guide

The duardin known as Fyreslayers are fearless and intractable mercenary warriors. They will fight for anyone in exchange for ur-gold, the magical resource that fuels their great strength and which they believe is the spiritual essence of their warrior-god, Grimnir.

To a Fyreslayer, honour is paramount. It is for this reason that the Fyreslayers of the Vostarg lodge still bear the shame of their failure to protect Shadespire. Hundreds of warriors have fallen or been lost in the attempt to banish the curse that haunts the city, yet no Fyreslayer would ever suggest that the venture be abandoned.

Attack Actions: Latchkey Axe
Specials: None
Inspiration Condition: This fighter holds an objective at the end of the action phase
Inspired Bonuses: Blazing Latchkey Axe (4 damage, cleave), +1 move, +1 wounds
Notes: Inspire Fjul-Grimnir, attach some upgrades, and you have one of the most powerful fighters in the game!

Level 1 Wizard
Attack Actions: Brazier Axe, Fyresteel Axe
Specials: None
Inspiration Condition: This fighter holds an objective at the end of the action phase
Inspired Bonuses: Blazing Axes (3 damage, roll a critical symbol to get cleave), +1 move, +1 wounds
Notes: Once inspired Tefk becomes a formidable foe!

Attack Actions: Great Axe
Specials: None
Inspiration Condition: This fighter holds an objective at the end of the action phase
Inspired Bonuses: Great Axe (+1 damage, knockback 1)
Notes: An inspired Vol is a great back-up fighter to help clear a path through your opponent’s swarming warband.

Attack Actions: Fyresteel Axes
Specials: None
Inspiration Condition: This fighter holds an objective at the end of the action phase
Inspired Bonuses: Scorching Axes (+1 damage, re-roll one attack dice), +1 move, +1 wounds
Notes: Considered the weaker of the four, Maegrim is still a powerhouse to take down weaker opponents, especially with the re-roll.

The Chosen Axes are – as you might expect from duardin – slow, but quite durable, though less so than armoured warriors such as Stormcast Eternals. They are fairly adept in combat, especially their leader, Fjul-Grimnir, who has a decent claim to being the single most powerful fighter in the game, particularly after he is Inspired.

The Fyreslayers become Inspired by standing on an objective at the end of the round – as such, this means they can Inspire quite safely and easily without engaging in combat and that a strategy of holding objectives is very viable for them. When Inspired, they gain a Wound, become faster and hit harder in combat.

A Fyreslayers warband can be built to take objectives or engage in combat. Because of the way they Inspire, and the effect it has, a hybrid approach often pays dividends – using the early game to grab objectives and power-up, then bringing pain to their foes in the last rounds.

The first, and perhaps most important, thing to consider when playing the Chosen Axes is how you deploy your objectives. Keeping in mind that holding them is required to Inspire your warriors, and the low Move value of duardin, you need to deploy the objectives very carefully to ensure that your key warriors can grab them and get Inspired as quickly as possible.

With that slow movement, every single Move counts. When building a Fyreslayers deck, you want to pack it with as many cards that let your warriors move or swap positions as possible – anything that gets you closer to the objectives is a massive help.

It is possible (as well as very cool and thematic) to build a deck purely around your leader. Fjul-Grimnir is one of the most powerful combat characters in the game, capable of going toe-to-toe with any other warrior (especially once he’s Inspired and has some upgrades on him), but don’t forget about the other fighters too – he’ll be better off with some equally doughty support.

With the Fyreslayers, it’s usually better to get Inspired than to go for a kill, particularly in the early game. The extra Wound they get from being Inspired can be invaluable. For maximum flexibility, you want to pack your objectives deck with a mix of killing and objective holding cards. Coupled with ploys that let you move or swap objectives, this can be a great way to power-up your fighters and gain glory points in one fell swoop.