Khazalite Holds folds the Fyreslayers into a bigger duardin army

The Khazalite Holds are almost here. Games Workshop's Sunday preview confirmed the Khazalite Holds Army Set for Warhammer Age of Sigmar goes up for pre-order next week, and that is the moment a lot of Fyreslayers players have been quietly dreading. The new duardin faction is not just joining the game. It is absorbing the Fyreslayers into its battletome, and some old favorites are not making the trip.

First, the box. The Army Set puts hero Hjulda Drakkblud, a reclaimer of lost holds, at the head of 10 Clanshields, three Gholems of Gazul, and an Oathkeeper Cannon. You also get Battletome: Khazalite Holds with a cover only found in this set, plus 53 warscroll cards. Together the models make up the full Drakkblud's Clanguard Spearhead, so you can play straight away. Games Workshop says it is available while stocks last. The preview only says "next week" for the date. Wargamer reads that as most likely Saturday, October 17, which fits Games Workshop's usual Saturday rhythm.

If you own Fyreslayers, the most important Khazalite reveal is not in the Army Set. It is a list of what leaves.

What happens to your Fyreslayers

Games Workshop laid it out on Friday in a Fyreslayers explainer. The slayers of Grimnir become part of the Khazalite Holds, playing aggressive assault troops and monsters next to the Kromdron's guns, artillery, and shield walls. You can still run an all Fyreslayers force by picking only their units, or by taking the Fyrd of Fyrepeak Army of Renown. Units that are cut come off sale soon but stay legal at competitive events for a year after the new book releases, then move to Warhammer Legends.

That table is straight from the Games Workshop list, arranged side by side so you can check your case in one glance. (Gotrek gets an honorable mention on the staying side, with a joke about him holding a grudge.)

The Vulkite Berzerkers line is the one that stings. Games Workshop itself calls it the most impactful cut, since Vulkites were the backbone of a lot of armies. Without them, Fyreslayers turn into an elite force that leans on Hearthguard and Flameseekers for its infantry and on Magmadroths and characters for punch. I have a friend with forty of those orange mohawks on a tray, and he is not ready for this conversation. The year of event play is generous, though. It gives you a season to send them out properly before the shelf of honor.

What else is coming for the Khazalites

The Army Set is only the opening move. The autumn reveal showed a second wave: Thrynns and Runewrights as leaders, High Kyng Valankrom riding a huge stone War Throne (the kit also builds a Thrynn on War Throne), Clangunners with rifles or shotcannons, and Valayan Guardians. The cannon can be built as a Stonebreaker Mortar instead, and the Gholems can be built as Gholems of Valaya. On the Fyreslayer side there is Ormyr with his kyndledroth Ashtongue, a Regiment of Renown called Fjori's mercenaries, and a Magmic Fyrds Spearhead with a Runefather on Magmadroth, a Runesmiter, nine Vulkyn Flameseekers, and five Auric Hearthguard. The standalone battletome comes later.

Wargame Portal makes a fair point that the Army Set is a starting destination rather than a whole range, and it adds a worry I share: it is hoping for better allocation than the Helsmiths of Hashut launch got. OnTableTop likes the grudge book on Hjulda's belt. So do I. It is the kind of detail that tells you the sculptors were having fun.

Your Khazalite pre-order checklist

• If you are new to Age of Sigmar: the Army Set is a complete Spearhead in one box. That is the cleanest start a new army has had in a while.
• If you own Fyreslayers: count your Vulkite Berzerkers and other Legends bound units, then decide whether you are playing them out over the next year or rebuilding around Hearthguard and Flameseekers.
• If you want pure Fyreslayers: look at the Fyrd of Fyrepeak Army of Renown and the Magmic Fyrds Spearhead before you buy anything Kromdron.
• If you only want the book: the standalone battletome is coming separately. The Army Set cover is the exclusive one.
• Do not wait if you want the box. Games Workshop says while stocks last, and Army Sets usually mean it.

The rest of the preview

Warhammer 40,000 gets Battlefields: Armageddon, which Games Workshop calls the first ever ready painted plastic terrain set for the game. It is push fit, comes with boards and terrain footprints for every layout in the Chapter Approved 2026 to 27 Mission Deck, and includes eight Large and eight Small Manufactorum Ruins plus barricades, pylons, and shrines. It still needs assembly, but no paint or glue. This year's Warhammer Day miniature, Oath Fulfilled, is a Darkoath Warqueen that works as a regular Warqueen. And the first episode of the Arkanaut animation drops on Warhammer TV this Friday, which is a nice bit of duardin timing.

It has been a strong fall for big new tables. Keith Baker is building a whole Daggerheart city, and D&D is going to a galaxy far, far away. For my group, though, the Khazalite Holds are the box that is going to start arguments. Mostly about Vulkites. Possibly forever.

How we made this: researched and drafted with AI assistance. Sources are linked in the piece.