Celestial Hurricanum warhammer 8th edtition empire overview
In the game
The celestial hurricanum (arcane battle altar) is a rare choice chariot available to the forces of the empire in 8th edition warhammer fantasy battle, it can also be taken as a mount for a wizard lord who uses the lore of the heavens. It is a chariot which carries a kind of planetarium which the acolytes of the celestial order use to predict the future and to even call down the wrath of the heavens against the enemy. In game terms this grants nearby units a +1 to hit in melee combat. It can also cast the innate bound spell storm of shemtek which is a direct damage area effect spell with random effects.
It is pulled by two warhorses and crewed by two acolytes (basic humans) if a wizard lord uses it as a mount he replaces one of the crew. The hurricanum comes as is and no upgrades or options are available to it. The celestial hurricanum is a new unit for the forces of the empire in 8th edition warhammer and does not feature in any of the previous editions. The name of its innate bound spell the storm of shemtek was however the name of a powerful magic spell from warhammer battle magic in 4th or 5th edition warhammer.
Pros and cons
Pros for the hurricanum are that it is cheap and the bonus to hit for nearby units is very useful and can put your units hitting on rolls of 3+ or even 2+. It grants an extra power dice in the magic phase which is always of use. It combines well with a wizard lord using the lore of the heavens (though it makes it a more tempting target) as it synergises well with the harmonic convergence spell. This combination is particularly good on units of charging knights providing you can keep the hurricanum up with them
Cons of the celestial hurricanum are that the spell the storm of shemtek has the chance to scatter, this makes it less effective then the sure fire solheim's bolt of illumination cast by the light wizard's luminark of hysh. It effects are also random ranging from no effect at all, low strengths hits, spinning the target unit around to a high strength hit. It does however benefit from the lore of heavens lore attribute and inflicts a further D6 strength4 hit against targets that can fly. The +1 to hit benefit can also be duplicated by some other magic spells such as the enchanted blades of aiban from the lore of metal or speed of light from the lore of light.
Tactical uses
The main uses of the celestial hurricanum are for the extra power dice it gives as well as the +1 to hit bonus granted to nearby units. The storm of shemtek spell can occasionally be effective but given that it scatters there are often better choice of spells to cast first for the forces of the empire (usually ones that have guaranteed effects) though it is cheap to cast if you have a power dice or two going spare.
The celestial hurricanum is not really designed for combat but as a chariot it does inflict impact hits when it charges so can be used in a tight spot to swing a combat in your favour or take out a small enemy unit. This can also be a good way of keeping it in range of the units you want to grant the to hit bonus too though is not of course risk free.
