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One of the most dangerous OrcWarlords of recent history, Azhag’scampaigns of destruction brought

the eastern provinces of the Empire to thebrink of ruin. Azhag possessed a strangeiron helm, which appeared to give himsorcerous powers, and rode to battle onthe back of his malodorous Wyvern,Skullmuncha, directing the arcane furyof his crown against the foe.

The Waaagh! of the SlaughtererAzhag the Slaughterer was never the sameafter he won the Crown of Sorcery in theruins of Todtheim, for the Liche Nagash’sinsidious spirit still clung to the artefact

and began to dominate the Orc’ssomewhat uncomplicated psyche. Fromthat day forth, Azhag’s primal power wascombined with the tactical genius andarcane fury of the ancient Liche.

Though he was never truly able toconvince his followers as to the value of turning an enemy’s flank, the new-foundinsights Azhag gained from the crownallowed him to make short work of therival Warbosses who stood in his path.Prior to each battle, Azhag dictated theplan of attack, speaking in a decidedlyun-Orcy voice that seemed heavy with theweight of centuries, and then bellow at hisladz to get moving. Such successes swiftly

THE CROWNOF SORCERYThe Crown of Sorceryspeaks to Azhag with avoice as dry as the graveand as old as the southerndeserts, offering words ofcounsel and power waybeyond the ken of mostOrcs. The crown not onlygrants Azhag with anotherworldy companion but

has given the Orc Warlorda talent for death magic.

WAAAGH!

AZHAG

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gained him a huge following of greenskins– they didn’t care that Azhag spoke funny,just as long as he ‘showed ’em where dafighting wuz.’

As his horde marched into the Empire,Azhag’s strategies became ever more

complex. This led to, amongst other things,the infamous synchronised Goblin attackwaves at the Battle of Dark Moor and thedastardly Snotling pincer assaults atButcher’s Hill. Those foes that exemplarytactics did not vanquish were easilydispatched by the dark magics that thecrown placed at Azhag’s command. Withbrain and brawn so closely aligned, itseemed that no force could stop Azhag’smighty Waaagh!

The Green Horde continued to crossthe Empire, heading west towards theMiddle Mountains. In Ostland the horde

began to loot and destroy with customaryOrc efficiency, crushing the spring cropsunderfoot and gorging on the hard-wonstores of the local people. After besiegingWolfenburg, the Waaagh! turned south andthen east through the Great Forest and intoOstermark once more.

Azhag finally met his match at theBattle of Osterwald. Werner von Kreigstadt,the Grand Master of the Knights Panther,slew Azhag and left the Waaagh!leaderless. After the battle, the Orc hordedispersed into the forests and hills. As forthe Crown of Sorcery, it was recovered bythe Grand Theogonist who took it back toAltdorf and placed it in the deepest vault of the Temple of Sigmar to be guarded foreternity by powerful spells.

It was at the Battle of Butcher’s Hillthat Azhag earned the title ‘Slaughterer’.The battle commenced with Azhagdeploying his horde in three separatecohorts that quickly surrounded the foe.As if such a cunning deployment by an

Orc were not dire enough, whatfollowed would ensure Azhag’s placeamongst the most hated of man’s foes.

Bellowing in a voice not his own,Azhag drew on sorcerous powers. Hiswords bound the spirits of the recentlyslain, turning them upon their still-living fellows. The last, doomeddefenders of Butcher’s Hill stood back-to-back upon its peak, battling Azhag’sOrcs whilst the bloody limbs of theUndead tore at them from below. Soterrible was the slaughter that noneescaped Butcher’s Hill, the slain bound

to Azhag’s will, enslaved and forced torage bitter war upon their living kin.It was not until the Battle of

Osterwald that Azhag was finallydefeated and the dead avenged.

Kislev

Middenheim

Talabheim

Hergig

Praag

Erengrad

Wolfenburg

Bechafen

Mordheim

The MootNuln

KarakKadrim

BlackWater

THE EMPIRE 2512-2515

M IDDLEMOUNTAINS

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100miles

M IDDENMOORS

THEWASTELAND

AltdorfOSTERMARK

The Battle ofButcher’s Hill

The Battleof Osterwald

Azhag’s Waaagh!

Empire Army

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‘Now is your time,’murmured the ancientvoice inside Azhag’s head.‘Just what I thought,’growled the OrcWarlord, kicking theflanks of his Wyvern.The creature leapt intothe sky with a vicioushiss. ‘Time for some fun.’

Fielding Azhag the SlaughtererAzhag is the most expensive Orc characterin the game and for good reason – you’renot only getting a powerful close combatwarrior, but he’s mounted on a wingedmonster that also has an impressive profileand hardy saves of its own. But that’s notall, as the Crown of Sorcery gives Azhagthe magic power of a Level 2 Wizard withaccess to the Lore of Death.

With such a powerhouse on thebattlefield it can be tempting to place himfront and centre in your battleline andcharge him forwards as fast as possible.This can work, but you need to be awarethat a well-placed cannonball can still

bring him down. Still, keeping Azhag withyour troops is a good idea as his ‘Get onWiv It’ rule means you can re-roll failedanimosity rolls and keep the battlelinemoving. Azhag will prove a massivedistraction, allowing your blocks of infantryto reach their targets relatively unscathed.He can then fly in to support a charge orcountercharge fast-moving enemy unitssuch as knights. And, with the Lore of Death containing many offensive spellsyou can start causing casualties relativelyearly on. For more tips on using specialcharacters in your games, check out nextmonth’s White Dwarf, as Andy Hoarepresents a guide to these mighty heroes.

Azhag’s totem is a tangled wooden marionette, symbolising his predicament under the dark influence of his crown.

Azhag’s Wyvern,Skullmuncha, is a craggy beast noted for the thick plates that cover its spine. Many a heavy blade or magical weapon has broken upon its tough scales.

The mean visage of Azhag up-close. Joe Tomaszewski, who painted this model, has given him malignant red eyes and painted the crown with sinister purple hues.

Skullmuncha’s belly,usually the Wyvern’s one weakpoint, is covered with a large iron plate, granting the monster formidable protection in battle.