Halloween is right around the corner, so today, we’re talking about the tips and tactics for your snakes, cannibals, and masked folks in the next three Warcry Warbands.
Last week we dove into the first three warcry warbands and what you get out of the starter boxes. (Corvus Cabal, Cypher Lords, and Iron Golems). This week we are going to hang out with some snakes, cannibals, and of course people that wear their own faces as masks. I guess Halloween is about a month away so let’s roll with it.
Splintered Fang is a cool looking Warband that is all about poisoning their enemies and doing it in a gladiatorial style. Which honor and poison don’t seem to go hand in hand but hey anything is possible in the mortal realms. The starter box comes with 10 models: 1 Trueblood, 1 Pureblood, 1 Serpent Caller, 2 Venombloods, 4 Clearbloods, and 1 Serpent Swarm.
- Trueblood: 180 points (leader): Move 5”, 4 Toughness, 15 Wounds. Attack: Range 2”, 4 Dice, Strength 4, 2 Damage. (5 on critical)
- Pureblood: 125 points: Move 4”, 4 toughness, 12 Wounds. Attack: Range 1”, 4 Dice, Strength 4, 2 Damage. (4 on critical)
- Serpent Caller: 145 points: Move 5”, 4 Toughness, 15 Wounds. Melee Attack: Range 2”, 4 Dice, Strength 4, 2 Damage. (4 on critical) Range Attack: Range 8”, 1 Dice, 3 Strength, 1 Damage. (3 on critical)
- Serpent Swarm: 65 points: Move 6”, Toughness 2, 8 Wounds. Attack: Range 1”, 5 Dice, 3 Strength, 1 Damage. (4 Critical)
- Venomblood with Spear and Shield: 135 points: Move 4”, Toughness 5, 10 Wounds. Attack: Range 2”, 3 Dice, Strength 4, 2 Damage. (4 on critical)
- Venomblood with Blade and Whip: 85 points: Move 5”, 3 Toughness, 10 Wounds. Melee Attack: Range 1”, 3 Dice, 3 Strength, 2 Damage. (4 on critical). Range Attack: Range 3”, 3 Dice, 3 Strength, 1 Damage. (2 on critical)
- 3 Clearblood: 195 points (65 each): Move 4”, 3 Toughness, 10 Wounds. Attack: Range 1”, 4 Dice, 3 Strength, 1 Damage. (3 on critical)
- 1 Clearblood with Shield: 70 points: Move 4”, Toughness 4, 10 Wounds. Attack: Range 1, 2 Dice, 3 Strength, 1 Damage. (3 critical)
Total 1000 Points
Their special abilities are as follows:
- (All) (Double): Strength of fighter is considered higher than opponents’ toughness
- (Leader) (Double): Enemy fighter within 3” cannot move or disengage
- (Shield guys) (Double): Enemy fighter within 1” roll dice on 3- 4 they take one wound, on 5-6 they take wounds equal to the value on dice.
- (Serpent Caller) (Triple): Pick friendly beast (serpents) within 4” and they can make a bonus attack action.
- (Pureblood) (Triple). When this fighter takes out an enemy fighter they can make a bonus attack action
- (All) (Quad): Add the value of this ability to the fighters critical damage and after every attack action roll a dice. On a 5-6 the target of the attack cannot make move or disengage actions
I absolutely love these guys both aesthetically, value for the starter box, and their ruleset. Starting off you get a whole 1000 point Warband that has great versatility which is lacking in the other warbands. Some of these guys are tougher hold the line guys while others roll a lot of dice perfect for fishing for critical hits.
Then their special abilities make them all deadly with the quad ability. Being able to add up to 6 extra wounds (depending on your quad roll) on critical hits is insane, or if you miss the quad you have all sorts of bonus attack options and double value attacks. To me, this is a great all-around Warband, with the one downside being a low strength (but poison makes up for that) and they don’t have a ton of speed.
The Unmade are probably the most unique of the bunch (while not my cup of tea) a lot of people love the darkness these guys bring. They basically tear off their own face and wear it on their belts. Points for creativity I suppose. Anyways the starter set comes with 9 miniatures consisting of: 1 Blissful One, 1 Joyous One, 3 Ascended Ones, and 4 Awakened Ones.
- Blissful One: 220 points (Leader): Move 8”, 4 Toughness, 20 Wounds. Attack: Range 1”, 5 Dice, Strength 4, 2 Damage. (6 on critical)
- Joyous One: 145 points: Move 5”, 4 Toughness, 15 Wounds. Attack: Range 1”, 4 Dice, 4 Strength, 2 Damage. (4 on critical)
- 2 Ascended One: 250 points (125 each): Move 4”, 4 Toughness, 10 Wounds. Attack: Range 1”, 4 Dice, 4 Strength, 2 Damage. (4 on critical)
- 1 Awakened One with Flail: 60 points: Move 4”, 3 Toughness, 10 Wounds. Melee Attack: Range 1”, 3 Dice, 3 Strength, 1 Damage. (3 critical). Ranged Attack: Range 3”, 3 Dice, 3 Strength, 1 Damage. (2 on critical)
- 3 Awakened One with Brutal Polearm: 180 points (60 each): Move 4”, 3 Toughness, 10 Wounds. Attack: Range 2”, 2 Dice, 3 Strength, 1 Damage. (4 on critical)
Total 980 Points.
Their special rules are as follows:
- (All) (Double): Pick enemy fighter within inches of this dice value and roll a dice. On a 3+ they cannot move or disengage.
- (All) (Double): Subtract 1 from the enemy’s toughness for each attack action that this model has a critical hit from.
- (Awakened with Flail) (Double): Pick enemy within 5” and roll a dice, on a 3-4 they take 1 wound, on a 5-6 they take damage equal to the dice value.
- (Joyous One) (Triple): Roll a dice for each enemy within 3” of this model, on a 3-4 they take 1 wound, on a 5-6 they take damage equal to the dice value.
- (Blissful One) (Triple): When this fighter takes an enemy fighter out of action they can make a bonus move action and then a bonus attack action.
- (All) (Quad): This fighter makes a bonus attack action. Add 1 to Attacks and Strength if they are wounded.
These guys are interesting (not just because of the creepy face thing) because all the weaker units have the ranged attacks. If I was playing them, I would send my Blissful one after a weaker unit and see if I can take it out, if so burn that Triple and rush another weak unit.
Otherwise, use your bigger guys to soften up your opponent and then from the safety of distance let your weaker guys mop everyone up. The ranged attacks from them will help them keep pace with your faster heavy hitters as well.
The Untamed Beasts are all about speed and ambushing their prey in a beastly manner. Then I guess they rip out still-beating hearts (Indiana Jones style) and eat them in order to gain power which seems uncalled for, but hey when you’re trying to impress Archaon I guess anything goes. Regardless they start with 8 models from the starter set that consists of the following: 1 Heart Eater, 1 First Fang, 1 Beastspeaker, 1 Rocktusk Prowler, 2 Preytakers, and 3 Plains Runners.
- Heart Eater: 180 points (Leader): Move 5”, 4 Toughness, 20 Wounds. Attacks: Range 1”, 4 Dice, Strength 4, 2 Damage. (5 on critical)
- First Fang: 140 points: Move 4”, 4 Toughness, 15 Wounds. Melee Attack: Range 1”, 3 Dice, 4 Strength, 1 Damage. (4 on critical) Range Attack: Range 8”, 2 Dice, 4 Strength, 2 Damage. (5 on critical)
- Beastspeaker: 125 points: Move 5”, 4 Toughness, 15 Wounds. Melee Attack: Range 1”, 3 Dice, 4 Strength, 1 Damage. (4 on critical) Ranged Attack: Range 4”, 4 Dice, 4 Strength, 1 Damage. (2 on critical)
- Rocktusk Prowler: 180 points: Move 8”, 4 Toughness, 20 Wounds. Attack: Range 1”, 4 Dice, 4 Strength, 2 Damage. (5 on critical)
- 1 Preytaker with Fanged Axe: 105 points: Move 4”, 4 Toughness, 10 Wounds. Attack: Range 1”, 3 Dice, 4 Strength, 2 Damage. (4 on critical)
- 1 Preytaker with Sawtooth Blade: 105 points: Move 4”, 4 Toughness, 10 Wounds. Attack: Range 1”, 4 Dice, 3 Strength, 2 Damage. (4 on critical)
- 3 Plains Runner: 165 points (55 each): Move 5”, 3 Toughness, 8 wounds. Attack: Range 1”, 3 Dice, 3 Strength, 1 Damage. (3 on critical)
Total 1000 Points
Their special rules are as follows:
- (All) (Double): Add 1 to their first move action, then 1 to their attacks action.
- (Heart Eater) (Double): Make a bonus move or attack action if this fighter took an enemy fighter out of action.
- (Beastspeaker) (Double): Pick a friendly beast (Rocktusk) within 4”, that model can make a bonus attack action.
- (Rocktusk Prowler) (Triple): The next time this fighter ends a move action within 1” of an enemy fighter, that fighter takes a number of damage points equal to the dice value.
- (First Fang) (Triple): This fighter makes a bonus attack action, after the attack the targeted model moves towards this model a number of inches equal to the value of the dice roll.
- (All) (Quad): Add half the dice value (rounding up) to a friendly fighters Strength and Attacks characteristic with a range of 3” or less.
I love these models and love the way they play. They are incredibly nimble and hit like a hammer when they crit you. Your plains runners are basically cannon fodder meant to lure enemies towards you or streak out and grab objectives, but that is fine as the rest of your army can handle the most opponents. Just be careful to not get your Rocktusk Prowler out on his own. While he is deadly, he is even more so with a Beastspeaker nearby.
This is the last of the special warcry warbands, but GW has released a ton of card packs so that Age of Sigmar collectors can get in on the fun as well. Next time we will begin covering those and then dig into the expansion book.
More Warcry How-To For Beginners!
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