While they may not be a scary as the Chaos warbands, Today we take a look at what Warcry Order Warband has the best bang for your buck?
On top of there being the 6 Chaos factions (you can see those here and here), GW also released cards for 3 factions of each non-chaos grand alliances to be able to step into the arena as well. While there is generally less variety in these warbands than the Chaos ones it’s still a nice olive branch from GW to the non-chaos players. Today we are starting with the Order grand alliance and see how we might build a decent list around the three factions in here.
My goal is to keep your cost to as close to $50 as possible to keep it on par with the other starter set factions out there.
Daughters of Khaine are a Warband that I am not a huge fan of because it’s really hard to build around a box of 1 model. Also, the cheapest box they have is $45 so unless you are a collector your not really going to be able to have much variety. So sticking as close to my $50 dollar budget as I could I made the decision to go with a box of Khinerai Lifetakers for my Warband. It falls a little short in points but you can add a monster or mercenary from the new expansion to fill it in, or could pick up a box of witch elves to further them along….
- Khinerai Lifetaker Harridyn (Leader): 245 Points: Move 12”, Toughness 4, 20 Wounds. Attack: Range 8”, 3 Dice, Strength 4, 2 Damage. (4 on critical)
- 4 Khinerai Heartrender: 700 Points (175 each): Move 12”, Toughness 4, 10 Wounds. Attack: 8”, 2 Dice, Strength 4, 1 Damage. (4 on critical)
Total: 945 Points
Their Special Rules are as follows:
- (All) (Double): While within 3” of an enemy fighter with 1 or more wounds this fighter adds 1 to attacks and strength for attacks against that fighter.
- (Snake Ladies) (Double): Pick a visible fighter within 6” of this fighter and roll 2 dice. On a 4-5 that fighter suffers 1 wound and on a 6 suffers damage equal to ability value.
- (Snake Archer Leader) (Triple): If this fighter’s next attack action is more than 3” away and scores a critical hit, add a number of damage points equal to the value of this ability.
- (All) (Triple): Until the end of this fighters activation add the value of this ability to the Strength of all attack actions from this fighter equal to the value rolled.
- (Leaders) (Triple): When ab enemy fighter is taken out of action you can add 1 to the characteristics of attack actions with range 3” or less from all friendly fighters within 6” of this model.
- (Khinerai) (Quad): This fighter makes a bonus move action, then a bonus attack action. In addition, if the move was more than 6” from the starting point add 1 to the Strength of the bonus attack.
For me, this is the best way to get started with the Daughters of Khaine in Warcry and I think if your willing to put the money into them they could be a great army… But the cost to diversify this army is way too high. Outside of someone who already collects Daughters of Khaine I don’t see anyone wanting to start these guys compared to the entire starter boxes you can get for $50. While the Khinerai can hit hard and move fast, they lack the wounds and body count to really stick around for long periods of time. That being said if you picked up some Sisters of Slaughter (for another $60) you can bring some of those in to fill in the gaps.
Idoneth Deepkin is one that I think you overspend a little bit and get the start collecting box if your serious about starting this army. I think that is the only way you’re going to get enough models and variety to start your Warband. (If Daughters of Khaine had a start collecting box I would go that route as well) It even includes a leader model that you can use down the road in the Monsters and Mercenaries expansion.
- Morrsarr Lochian Prince (Leader): 265 Points: Move 10”, 4 Toughness, 35 Wounds. Melee Attack: Range 2”, 3 Dice, 4 Strength, 2 Damage. (5 on critical)
- 2 Morrsarr Guard (200 each): 400 Points: Move 10”, 4 Toughness, 25 Wounds. Melee Attack: Range 2”, 3 Dice, Strength 3, 2 Damage. (4 on critical)
- 4 Namarti Thrall (80 each): 320 Points: Move 5”, 3 Toughness, 8 Wounds. Melee Attack 1”, 4 Dice, 3 Strength, 2 Damage. (4 on critical)
Total: 985 Points
Their Special Abilities are as follows:
- (All) (Double): This can only be used in the first battle round, this fighter can make a bonus move action a number of inches equal to the value of the dice.
- (Thralls) (Double): Roll 1 Dice for each enemy fighter within 2”, on a 5 they take 1 damage, on a 6 they take damage equal to the value of the dice.
- (Reavers) (Double): Add 1 to the Attacks actions for attacks that target an enemy over 3” away.
- (Leaders) (Triple): This ability can only be used on the 3rd Add 1 to attacks and strength for attack action that have a range 3” or less while the fighter is within 6” of this model.
- (Ishlaen) (Triple): Until the end of the round, critical hits against this model count as hits instead.
- (Morrsarr) (Quad): Allocate damage points equal to this ability to all visible enemies within 3” of this model.
I like this army because you can put one fast-moving eel in each of your formations (shield, hammer, dagger) and then spread out the thralls as needed. This will let you threaten your opponent at every phase of the game. The high wounds of the eels make them good for soaking up damage, but this is a lower model count Warband so don’t sell them too cheaply. Use the 2” range and flying movement to your advantage to come out on top with this Warband.
For the Stormcast, I kept it to two boxes needed in order to get your Warband going, the Farstriders Shadespire Warband and a box of Vanguard Raptors with Hurricane Crossbows and Aetherwings. This gives you a total of 9 models to play around with, but for this force, I am going to build them as follows.
- Hunter – Prime (Leader): 210 Points: Move 4”, 5 Toughness, 30 Wounds. Missile Attack: Range 8”, 3 Dice, 4 Strength, 1 Damage. (4 on critical) Melee Attack: Range 1”, 4 Dice, 4 Strength, 2 Damage. (4 on critical)
- 2 Vanguard Hunter: 330 Points: (165 each): Move 4”, 5 Toughness, 20 Wounds. Missile Attack: Range 8”, 3 Dice, 4 Strength, 1 Damage. (4 on critical) Melee Attack: Range 1”, 4 Dice, 4 Strength, 2 Damage. (4 on critical)
- 2 Vanguard Raptor with Hurricane Crossbow: 390 Points (195 each): Move 4”, Toughness 5, 20 Wounds. Missile Attack: Range 3 – 15”, 3 Dice, 4 Strength, 2 Damage. (6 on critical). Melee Attack: Range 1”, 3 Dice, 4 Strength, 1 Damage. (4 on critical)
- Aetherwing: 45 Points: Move 12” (fly), 2 Toughness, 6 Wounds. Melee Attack: Range 1”, 3 Dice, 2 Strength, 1 Damage. (2 on critical)
Total: 975 Points
Their Special Abilities are as follows:
- (All) (Double): Add half the value of the roll to this fighter’s next move action.
- (Aetherwing) (Double): Pick a visible enemy fighter within 6”, until the end of battle round you can re-roll 1 dice per attack action that targets this model.
- (Leaders) (Double): Add 1 to Toughness of friendly fighters while they are within 6”.
- (Gryph Hound) (Triple): This fighter makes a bonus attack action and then a bonus disengage action.
- (Crossbows) (Triple): Add half the value of the roll to the Attacks characteristic of the next attack action made by this fighter.
- (Long Strike Bows) (Quad): Add the value of this roll to the damage allocated to enemies hit by attack actions from this fighter.
I think the Stormcast Eternals are a pretty strongWarbandd in Warcry given they all have a ranged attack and such a variety of special abilities. The movement ability can help with getting your slower hunters in range, while the triples give you a chance to really dish out some damage. With the hurricane crossbows you should always keep a distance of at least 3” away, so if you find yourself in melee with one be sure to disengage and move back 3”, then open with it. The Aetherwing’s ability is sneaky good for some focus fire so don’t sell its life short. If you can get it into position and get that ability off all your crossbows can re-roll a dice to fish for critical hits against that target.
There you have it; the order of Warbands for Warcry. Personally, I think the Stormcast Eternals are the best way to go if you’re going to start from scratch. The chaos warbands are a better value than the Idoneth Deepkin or Daughters of Khaine.
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