PETRIFIED SORCERER Once a Sorcerer has succumbed entirely to the Sorcerers' Curse, and has become an immobile statue, he is placed along the road to ZharrNaggrund. Here, serried ranks of lifeless stone Sorcerers stare down at travellers, their sightless eyes a haunting reminder of the power of Hashut. The Chaos Dwarfs treat these statues with the utmost respect, leaving them to be weathered by the elements over the ages. However, the petrified Sorcerers retain a portion of the power that they had in life, and a miasma of dread and dark energy surrounds the statues. Sometimes, as a demonstration of devotion to their transformed ancestors, Chaos Dwarf armies will carry a Petrified Sorcerer into battle, carried on a dais in a manner not dissimilar to how a Sorcerer's Palanquin is carried while he lives. The Petrified Sorcerers are transfixed at the final moment of their horrifying transformation into stone, and their faces betray their terror – most Petrified Sorcerers have faces frozen into a rictus of pain and dread. As such, they are a grotesque symbol of Chaos Dwarf devotion to the Father of Darkness and enemies baulk when confronted with them.
No particular regiment of Chaos Dwarfs bear the Petrified Sorcerers, and it is not unknown for lowly slaves to be charged with the laborious task of lugging a stone Sorcerer into battle. Acolytes of Hashut are most often given the honour though, due to their standing as part of the Sorcerer Caste and their magical abilities which are only enhanced by the presence of one of their transformed masters. Petrified Sorcerers are not always taken from the roads leading to Zharr-Naggrund. There have been occasions when an aged Sorcerer Lord, on his way to lead his troops into battle, succumbs to the Sorcerers' Curse before the fight is joined. In this case, his loyal soldiers will bear his stone corpse both as proof of their dedication and to protect it, lest it fall into enemy hands.
Petrified Sorcerer
M WS BS S T W I A Ld 3 * 0 * * 6 * 4 *
SPECIAL RULES Resolute, Relentless, Bondage of Hashut, Blessing of Hashut, Unit Strength 6. Petrified Sorcerer: A Petrified Sorcerer must be placed in an infantry unit which it cannot leave for the duration of the game. It must be placed in the front rank like a standard or musician. It is has the same WS, BS, S, T, I and Ld as the rank & file models in the unit carrying it. The Petrified Sorcerer is considered to be armed with the same weapons as the unit carrying it, and benefits from any special rules that affect their attacks. While there are rank & file models remaining in the unit, each wound caused against the Petrified Sorcerer will result in one regular rank & file model being removed (other bearers step in to hold up the Petrified Sorcerer if one of them falls). Only when the rest of the unit has been killed does the Petrified Sorcerer start taking wounds. The Petrified Sorcerer endows the Blessing of Hashut rule on the unit carrying it and the unit always counts as outnumbering its enemies in close combat. The Petrified Sorcerer has a 4+ armour save and a 4+ Ward save (note that these will only take effect when its unit has been killed). It is mounted on a 40x60mm base.
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