The Jade Fleet has arrived to Warhammer: The Old World in the September Arcane Journal, bringing new options to this powerful army. Here you’ll find a complete analysis of its rules, magic items and the most interesting combos to make the most out of it.
If you thought Cathay was already a gunline, now it has new toys to become even more of one.
Army Composition
Unlike other Armies of Infamy, you don’t need to take 33% Core, nor does it allow you 33% Rares: both percentages are capped at 25%.
The Jade Fleet list is very similar to what we already had with the Grand Army. In that sense, Core units are the same and Special units are also the same.
The difference lies in the Rare choices: here there is no way to include either Lanterns or Sentinels as Rare units, while in the Grand Army you could.
That’s a win for the Grand Army.
Characters
When it comes to characters, there’s a limitation of 2 generic Dragon Mages at 2000 points, just like in the Grand Army, and you cannot take a generic dragon (only Miao Ying).
You can take Lanterns as mounts for characters (as always), and now, with the new magic items, this option is more interesting than ever. Keep reading and I’ll show you the combos.
Differences with the Grand Army of Cathay
What’s the biggest difference with the Grand Army that this Army of Infamy has? Well, it has the option to include up to 33% Empire troops as mercenaries. And be careful here, because mercenaries are not the same as allies: allies are usually not allowed in events or tournaments, while mercenaries, like Dwarf Doomseekers, are.
The difference is that mercenaries in the Jade Fleet don’t roll on the Mercenary Table (the one where they might show up drunk, late to battle, etc). Empire troops here don’t roll on that table.
Another good point: mercenary heroes can be placed inside Cathay units (but not the other way around), which allows us to make use of one of the special rules of this army that I’ll detail later.
Imperial Options Allowed in the Jade Fleet
Basically, they let you include weak heroes and weak troops —no generals, no high-level wizards…
Playing 2000 points you can choose 2 of the following types of heroes:
- Captains
- Level 1–2 Wizards
- Sigmar Priests
- Ulric Priests
As for troops, there are no quantity limits, you can include:
- State Troops (combat and shooting, no veterans)
- Free Companies
- Archers
And 2 of these playing 2k point lists:
- Outriders
- Pistoliers
Special Rules of the Jade Fleet and Possible Combos with Imperial Troops
In addition to all the special rules of the Grand Army, this Army of Infamy has four more:
- Gunpowder weapons (handguns, pistols, etc.) shoot the first time with +3” range.
- Once per game, each Empire shooting unit can fire with an additional rank. And the best part: it doesn’t have to be the first shot, you choose when.
- Jade Spearmen and Jade Warriors within 3” of an allied Empire mercenary unit re-roll 1s to wound in combat. This combines well in three main ways:
- Putting Empire characters inside Cathay units (level 1 Wizards or, better yet, Priests to make use of Prayers —I prefer Ulric Priests here) adding Magic Resist and the First Charge special rule because of the empire warhorse 😉
- Alternating in deployment between Cathay and Empire units.
- Using the typical 5 Archers to sacrifice/flee and reposition the enemy, so you can later charge with your Cathayans. The rules don’t say anywhere that routing Empire units stop giving the buff to Cathayans.
- One Lantern per 1000 points (two in 2000), paying +15 points, can become Ambushers and re-roll the roll to arrive. And beware: you can re-roll whether you fail or succeed but don’t want them entering yet. Personally, I don’t find this very interesting because I want Lanterns shooting from the start of the game, but there are a couple of short-range magic shooting items that can combo nicely with this. I’ll explain them next.
New Cathay Magic Items Worth Taking
All magic items of this army are added to those of Cathay in general. There are no unique items created for this list.
Magic Weapons
The best is the Sword of Reason, for 65 points: +2 Strength, -2 AP and Killing Blow on 5+. This combos with a talisman that allows you to re-roll to hit and to wound in one round of combat (I’ll detail it later). It’s a very good combo to kill things like Dragon Ogres, Demigryphs, Trolls or Minotaurs. Though it will always have the problem of chariots and big monsters. Maybe that’s why the Ogre Blade (10 points more) could be a better option. Anyway, the thing is… who’s it worth giving it to?
Other weapons are very situational:
- One that cancels ward and regeneration saves, but only on a 6 to wound.
- Another that gives -3 AP but no Strength bonus, and Hatred only versus Chaos Warriors.
Nothing particularly exciting.
Magic Armour
If the Chaos Armour from the Beastmen book seemed good, here comes the improved version: the Jade Armour of Beichai. 40 points. It gives a 4+ armour save, 5+ ward and Magic Resistance (2). Let’s remember that Magic Resistance is now useful, unlike before 1.5 when it was a joke.
The other armour gives +2 armour (stackable with others), but only versus non-magical missiles, for 20 points. Nothing special.
Talismans
There are 3 but 1 is just useless to me.
The most interesting is Vermillion Quills, 25 points. One per model, but many models can take it. It allows re-rolls to hit and wound in one combat round and combos with the Sword of Reason or the Ogre Blade.
The other is less interesting: for 35 points it gives -1 to hit against the character and his unit with shooting, but Cathay already has better defensive options, so I don’t think this will see play.
Enchanted Items
The best for me: the Ring of Jet, 30 points. It can be taken multiple times, but only once per model. It allows you to cast the Necromancy magic missile at power level 2: 3D6 Strength 2 hits with no armour saves. For example, it can be cast with cheap Wizards or with a character mounted on a Lantern or even an Ambushing Lantern.
The other, The Fires of Nan-Gau, costs 20 points, is one-use only, and gives a Breath Weapon of Strength 4, AP -2. Very good with Ambushing Lanterns, using the template from a perfect position to maximise casualties and then retreating with the reserve move. Great against cavalry, infantry blocks and even skirmishers.
Arcane Items
Honestly, I don’t like any of them.
- A Dispel Scroll that automatically dispels any spell without rolling and removes all Remains in Play spells, friend or foe, for 50 points. I don’t think it will see much use.
- Another item that for 10 points lets you generate one extra spell when rolling for spells, but you can’t cast all you know, only those allowed by your wizard level. Clearly worse than what we see in other books like Chaos with the Sorcerer’s Familiar, or in High Elves or Dark Elves, which give an extra spell for just 15 points with no such limitation. In fact, the first Cathay book does have this 15 points item too xD.
- Another that for 25 points allows you to discard, instead of just one spell rolled, two spells. You can replace them with others from Yin or Yang. Maybe useful if you’re chasing a very specific combo, but the casting values of these lores are quite high, and we know what happens with high casting value spells in 1.5: they often don’t get cast.
Magic Banners
Not a fan of these either, and here’s why:
- The most expensive costs 45 points and gives Flaming Attacks and Impact Hits. Not interesting, because Impact Hits are at the Strength of the mount, and here mounts are horses. Plus, Flaming Attacks in this edition hurt more than help, since many enemies have ward saves that only work against Flaming. This won’t see play.
- Another costs 25 points and gives Fear; if you already cause Fear, you now cause Terror. Could work for a specific unit or combo, but I don’t see it in this army. In others like Undead or Beastmen, it’s much easier to exploit Leadership-based combos. Here, not so much but you may use it to be inmune to terror cause if you cause Fear, the terror guy causes you Fear instead of terror, so… it’s ok.
- Another one for 40 points works like having two War Banners: it gives +2 combat resolution. I think this will see some play, though less than it seems. Why? Because if you spend those 40 points on making your unit hit harder or survive longer, you’ll get that +2 anyway, either by killing enemies or preventing your own losses.
Against what do we always want to win by resolution? Dragons. But the truth is, you already beat a dragon by resolution with a block if you’ve got a champion and ranks. The real difference is having the champion and unit strength, not the +2. So this banner doesn’t add much here, unless you specifically want cavalry to beat a dragon. In that case, yes: champion, regular banner and this magic banner, and it might work. But again, it’s less relevant than it looks. It’s definitely not the Griffon Standard of the Empire.
Another for 15 points forces any unit that wants to Stand & Shoot against your charge to take a Leadership test, and if they fail, they can only Hold. I doubt anyone will take it, too situational.
Conclusion: GW’s Brilliant Play
On the surface, the Jade Fleet of Cathay in Old World looks like an Army of Infamy that shares a lot with the Grand Army, but it opens the door to combinations with Empire troops and even more powerful magic items.
But I have to say this seems like a brilliant play by GW: the most motivated Cathay players already bought the full army. With this list, GW calls to the “not-so-motivated” ones who hesitated, letting them enter Cathay with the excuse of combining with Empire troops many already had at home, greatly reducing the entry barrier.
Anyway, if you want to compare this list with other Armies of Infamy, don’t miss our analysis of the Chaos Sea Wolves, the High Elf Sea Guard and the Hosts of Chrace.
You can check them out here:
✠ Analysis Wolves Of The Sea Old World
🔹The Chracian Warhost Analysis (v1.5)
🔹Sea Guard Garrison Army Analysis in TOW 1.5
🍺 THE BEST DWARF INFANTRY WARHAMMER THE OLD WORLD (2/2)
Core Cavalry in Old World 1.5 Is it worth?
Old World 1.5 Breakdown FAQs and Errata
If you think there’s an error in the post, feel free to reach out at theoldwarrior@theoldwarrior.com, and I’ll review it. Hope you enjoy ToW!