Age of Sigmar October 2026 Rules Update: Every Change for Khazalite Holds, Sons of Behemat, Spearhead and More

Games Workshop released the Warhammer Age of Sigmar October rules update on Wednesday, October 28, three days before the new Khazalite Holds army arrives. The two big stories: old Fyreslayers rules have been rewritten so they keep working with the Khazalite Holds, and the Sons of Behemat finally get a proper way to build their Armies of Renown. Five more factions and four Spearhead armies get smaller fixes. We went through every rules document GW released today, and below is everything that changed, faction by faction, in plain English.

Does this affect my army?

• Khazalite Holds / Fyreslayers: Major. Fyreslayers keywords become Grimmdron; Scourge of Aqshy rules renamed; Lofnir Drothkeepers rewritten; one Khazalite battletome fix.
• Sons of Behemat: Major. Mancrusher Gargants can lead regiments in the Matriarch's Mob and Stomper Tribe Armies of Renown.
• Ogor Mawtribes: Minor. 'Eat 'Em Alive' and the Mawpit's 'Feed the Maw' reworded; Thundertusk keyword fix.
• Lumineth Realm-lords: Minor. Ydrilan Riverblades champion rule.
• Skaven: Minor. Verminlord Corruptor points fixed; Gutter Runners clarified.
• Sylvaneth: Minor. Twistweald champion rule.
• Nighthaunt: Minor. Pyregheists, Tomb Banshee and two Legends warscroll fixes.
• Spearhead: Heartflayer Troupe, Slasher Host, Swampskulka Gang, Sunblooded Prowlers.
• Everyone: Three core rules FAQ answers updated.

Khazalite Holds: your Fyreslayers still work

The Khazalite Holds battletome absorbs the Fyreslayers, so GW went through its digital rules and swapped the old Fyreslayers keyword for the new Khazalite Holds and Grimmdron keywords. In plain terms: rules written for Fyreslayers now point at your new army, so nothing gets left behind.

• Scourge of Aqshy: the "Scourge of Aqshy – Fyreslayers" rules are now called the "Scourge of Aqshy – Khazalite Holds" rules. The Marks of Vulcatrix can now be given to Grimmdron Monsters, and the Vulkyn Gifts now say Grimmdron and Monster instead of Fyreslayers and Magmadroth.
• Keyword swaps: the Scourge of Aqshy Auric Runeson on Magmadroth, the Vulkyn Flameseekers and the Chosen Axes Regiment of Renown all switch to Khazalite Holds and Grimmdron.
• Prayer fix: 'Blazing Impetus' is now chanted by a Grimmdron Priest and targets a friendly Grimmdron unit that wasn't set up this turn and is wholly within 12".
• Battletome fix before release: the Runewright's 'Rhythmic Hammering' now has a 'Reaction:' timing. Worth writing into your book when it arrives.
• Still playing the old Faction Pack: Fyreslayers? GW's designer's note says to ignore these changes. They're only for players using the new Battletome: Khazalite Holds.

Lofnir Drothkeepers Army of Renown

The Magmadroth-heavy Lofnir Drothkeepers are now picked through the Khazalite Holds faction, and the army got a proper rewrite:

• Ormyr and Ashtongue are added to its roster options.
• Breath of Vulcatrix now works for any Monster, not just Magmadroths.
• Skilled Drothwranglers changes the Auric Runeson on Magmadroth's 'Packdroth' timing to "Reaction: You declared a non-Charge Move ability for this unit". It's no longer limited to once per turn in your movement phase.
• New battle trait, Blazing Vengeance: each time a friendly Drothkeepers Monster is slain, every friendly Drothkeepers unit within 6" of it gets a grudge mark. Losing a Magmadroth now fuels the rest of your army.

GW also answered one fun FAQ: can more than one Scourge of Aqshy Auric Runeson on Magmadroth pick the same Auric Runefather for 'Fire, Blood and Vengeance'? Yes. In GW's words: "That Runefather had a big family."

Sons of Behemat: Mancrushers can lead regiments

GW says the gargants struggled to build legal 2,000-point Armies of Renown without leaning on Auxiliary units. The fix applies to two Armies of Renown, the Matriarch's Mob and the Stomper Tribe. Both get a new regiment option: Mancrusher Gargants can lead regiments as if they were Heroes, and any Little units can be added to a Mancrusher Gargant's regiment.

In practice, these armies should no longer need to push so many units into Auxiliary to reach 2,000 points. If you shelved one of these lists, now is a good time to try it again.

Ogor Mawtribes

• Eat 'Em Alive (battle trait): now starts "Pick a friendly Ogor unit that used a Fight ability that targeted a unit (excluding Faction Terrain and Manifestations) this turn". In short, you can't trigger it by hitting terrain or manifestations.
• Mawpit, 'Feed the Maw': new text for when the Mawpit is demolished. Before it's removed, the Head Butcher takes D3 mortal damage and is set up wholly within 3" of the Mawpit and not in combat, and it stops being the Head Butcher. If it can't be set up, it's slain. The new text also says attacks that would target the Head Butcher target the Mawpit instead.
• Keyword fix: the Scourge of Aqshy Huskard on Thundertusk and Frostlord on Thundertusk, and the Hrothgorn Mantrapper, change Beastclaw Raiders to Beastclaw.

Lumineth, Skaven, Sylvaneth and Nighthaunt

A pattern in this update: several units get an exact champion count, so it's clear how many champions a unit has as it grows.

• Lumineth Realm-lords: Ydrilan Riverblades become Champion (1/10). The Scourge of Aqshy Alarith Stonemage is listed at 140 points and is legal for Matched Play under the General's Handbook 2026-27.
• Skaven: the Verminlord Corruptor goes back to 260 points; GW says the last change "was in error". Gutter Runners become Champion (1/10), and 'Bomb Rats' now says there's 1 Bomb Rat for every 10 models, with one placed next to the target.
• Sylvaneth: Twistweald become Champion (1/8).
• Nighthaunt: Pyregheists become Champion (1/8). The Tomb Banshee's Piercing Scream gains Crit (Auto-wound). On the Legends warscrolls, Headsmen's Curse (Tool of Judgement) and Thorns of the Briar Queen (Piercing Scream) also gain Crit (Auto-wound).

Spearhead

GW calls this one of the bigger Spearhead updates in a while, but it's mostly about one thing: adding the Once Per Turn (Army) limit so these abilities work like other factions' versions.

• Daughters of Khaine, Heartflayer Troupe: 'Blessing of Khaine' is now Once Per Turn (Army), Any Combat Phase.
• Nighthaunt, Slasher Host: 'Death Stalkers' is now Once Per Turn (Army), Start of First Battle Round.
• Orruk Warclans, Swampskulka Gang: 'Covered in Mud' is now Once Per Turn (Army), Start of First Battle Round.
• Seraphon, Sunblooded Prowlers: 'Scaled Aegis' is now Once Per Turn (Army), Your Hero Phase, and 'Followers of Huanchi' is now Once Per Turn (Army), Your Shooting Phase.

Core rules: three FAQ answers changed

• Miscasts: mortal damage from a miscast does not count as "mortal damage inflicted by a Spell ability". GW uses the Morghast Archai's 'Ebon-wrought Armour' as the example.
• Heroes joining regiments: if a Hero can join another Hero's regiment (GW's example is the Shadow Queen joining Morathi-Khaine), they take the place of a non-Hero unit in that regiment.
• Enhancements gained mid-battle: they don't cost points, so you don't need spare points in your roster. GW's example is the Kharadron Overlords' 'Special Procurement'.

Points and Regiments of Renown

The new October 2026 Battle Profiles document stars every changed entry. Apart from the Verminlord Corruptor fix above, most of the stars are on Regiments of Renown: more than 20 of them now list the Khazalite Holds as a faction that can take them. That includes favourites like Gotrek Gurnisson, the Blacktalons and Bundo Whalebiter.

White Dwarf content moves to Legends

The Pyrofane Cult Army of Renown (White Dwarf issue 514) and Custom Rigs (issue 528) are now Warhammer Legends, so they're for casual games, not tournaments. The Duardin Ascendant Army of Renown (issue 506) is updated to use the Khazalite Holds. The Battle Profiles also add a new White Dwarf Legends section with characters like Grombrindal, the White Dwarf, and Hamilcar Bear-Eater.

Where to download

All of these are free on the Age of Sigmar downloads page at Warhammer Community:

• Rules Updates, October 2026 (the full list of changes)
• Battle Profiles, October 2026 (points)
• Rules of Renown: Armies of Renown
• Scourge of Aqshy: Khazalite Holds (formerly Fyreslayers) and Ogor Mawtribes
• Battletome Supplements: Skaven Eshin and Nighthaunt
• Spearhead sheets: Heartflayer Troupe, Slasher Host, Swampskulka Gang, Sunblooded Prowlers
• Legends warscrolls

Why it matters this week

The Khazalite Holds army set arrives on Saturday, October 31. This update is GW cleaning the house before the guests arrive: Fyreslayers collections, Regiments of Renown and older digital rules all now line up with the new book on day one. Looking for more Age of Sigmar? Here's our look at this year's battleforce boxes.

My take

I'm a 40K player, not an Age of Sigmar one, so I'll leave the tactics to the people who play it every week. But as an update, this is a tidy one. Nobody's Fyreslayers end up on the shelf, the gargant players get the fix they've wanted, and GW even owned up to a points mistake. If you play Khazalite Holds or Sons of Behemat, what are you trying first?