Editing Warbeast

{{stub}}

'''Warbeast''' is terminology from the [[Warmahordes]] line of wargames by [[Privateer Press]] that refers to the big beasties who make up the centerpiece of the "Hordes" portion of the line. Basically, the [[Iron Kingdoms]] have always been full of various horrible monsters, but also luckily blessed with a particular strain of [[mage]]s able to mentally bond with and control such beasts - [[warlock]]s. In the modern era, the use of warlocks has largely been abandoned by the civilized races of humans, dwarves, elves and ogrun, who instead focus on [[warjack]]s and the [[warcaster]]s who can control them (and who can be argued as a substrain of warlock, one able to bond with these [[steampunk]] [[golem]]s). However, the "primitive" races of Immoren still make use of warlocks and their warbeasts in the constant battles for wealth, power and survival. And it says a lot about the kind of world Immoren is where these flesh-and-blood brutes can take on armor-clad smoke-belching gun-toting golem-tanks and ''win''.

Different kinds of warbeast are associated with the different factions of Hordes, as you might expect.

=Spawn of the Devourer Wurm=
The [[Circle Orboros]] is the only human faction that still uses warbeasts (although the various woodwolds, which are [[golem]]s made of stone, wood and rope fueled by [[Blood Magic]], are technically a kind of [[warjack]] if you squint), which makes sense since they revere the god of nature at its nastiest.

The simplest warbeast found amongst the ranks of the Circle Orboros is the Argus; a massive, two-headed wolf. The Winter Argus has the ability to exhale freezing blasts from its twin mouths, the [[Winter Wolf]] to the Argus' [[Dire Wolf]].

Warpwolves are former humans twisted into insane, shapeshifting [[werewolf]]-like monsters.

Wolds are [[golem]]s of wood, stone and rope animated by [[Blood Magic]]. The standard Wolds are the Woldwatcher and Woldwarden, but there's also the small, floating, laser-shooting Woldwyrd, the wooden scarecrow-like Wold Wight, and the Wold Guardian; a hulking, brutish wold made to take on [[warjack]]s.

[[Griffon]]s are bipedal flying carnivores with bird-like heads and wings and disturbingly humanoid bodies. There are several different species, including the stealthy Scarsfell Griffon, the mountain-dwelling Rotterhorn Griffon, and the meaningfully named Razorwing Griffon.

[[Satyr]]s are [[Gor|humanoid goats]] who love to test their strength, although how smart they actually are is debatable - in the [[Iron Kingdoms: Requiem]] bestiary, they are described as mindless brutes, but in the wargame, one of the lesser characters is a 300-year-old satyr [[elementalist]] named Brennos the Elderhorn. Like griffons, they come in several distinct varities; the brutish Gnarlhorns, the agile Shadowhorns, and the vicious Riphorns.

The Gorax is one of the apex predators of Immoren, a berserk [[Frazetta Man|ape-thing]] that is largely defined by its viciousness and violent rages.

=Trolls=
The [[Trollbloods]] have a simple approach to getting help to deal with enemy [[warjack]]s and warbeasts: they keep it in the family. [[Troll]]s in the Iron Kingdoms are kind of like those in [[Warhammer Fantasy]]; big, dumb, hungry, and coming in a ''lot'' of different subraces. If regular trolls aren't muscle enough, then the Trollbloods turn to ''Dire Trolls'', which are even bigger, dumber and hungrier.

The humble Troll can be found with assorted armaments; Axers wield giant axes, Impalers have been taught to use throwing spears, Bashers carry big ol' maces and Bouncers use flails and shields.

Dire Trolls similarly come in different armaments based on temperament and brains. The dumbest and most aggressive are simply unleashed on the enemy as Maulers, whilst slightly smarter Dire Trolls are outfitted with oversized flails and known as Brawlers. The most even-tempered are paired with pygmy troll handlers and act like living tanks; Blitzers have a machine gun mounted on their back handled by a pygmy troll gunner, whilst Bombers toss kegs of blasting powder at the enemy.

Finally, there's the environmental troll variants. Earthborn Dire Trolls have a mystical ability to reshape themselves to match the dominant elemental aspect of their environment. Ice Trolls and Winter Trolls have adapted to frigid environments by developing icy elemental powers, with the ice troll being more adept at manipulating this magic. The disgustingly toad-like Swamp Troll sports a prehensile tongue it can use to drag victims into range to be beaten and then eaten. Storm Trolls are natural lightning conductors and can expel lightning to ravage their enemies. Slag Trolls ''prefer'' to eat metal, and can vomit corrosive acid all over foes. Pyre Trolls spew organic napalm. The blind, cave-dwelling Night Troll uses glowing crystalline growths to hypnotize victims before tearing them apart with massive claws that inject paralyzing venom. 

=Battle Hogs=
The [[Farrow]] are basically the [[Orc|P'Orc]] counterpart to [[Trollbloods]], so they have a similar approach; Farrow warbeasts consist of various species of killer pig, as well as [[Orks|distinct mutant subspecies of their own race]], such as the two-headed Biboars, the oversized Brutes, and the aptly-named Giants. Unlike the Trollbloods, however, the Farrow are happy to embrace technology too, so they've taken to outfitting their warbeasts (or at least the mutant farrow ones) with guns, armor, and even primitive cybernetics.

In fact, apart from Razor Boars, which are a particularly large and vicious breed of hog that farrow train to feed on flesh, [[mutant]] farrow make up the bulk of the farrow's warbeasts. The smaller, smarter versions get cannons strapped to their backs and are known as either "Gun Boars" or "Splatter Boars" depending on their arsenal. Battle Boars are giant farrow turned into [[cyborg]] [[berserker]]s. War Hogs are giants outfitted with cybernetic arms, whilst Road Hogs are flamethrower-toting giants with cybernetic legs that make them faster.

The 5th edition RPG actually gives farrow a slightly more diverse arsenal of warbeasts, adding the distinct Brute vs. Giant split for the corebook and added new porcine monsters, such as the tunneling Dust Hog and the mutated super-sized razor boar known as the Goliath Hog, and even new farrow mutants such as the two-headed Biboar, which grows to Huge size (Brutes and Giants are only Large!) and has the ability to regenerate like a [[troll]].

=Swamp Terrors=
Like the Farrow and Trollbloods, the Gatormen of the Blindwater Congregation make use of living and undead versions of giant, predatory, bipedal gators who may or may not be related to them (canon never clarifies). However, they also tame ''other'' swamp-dwelling abominations, such as undead Boneswarms, [[kraken]]-like Swamp Horrors, and Ironback Spitters, which are basically acid-spitting killer turtle-people.

Of the "giant bipedal but totally not related" crocodilians, the smaller variants are the Snappers. Bigger and nastier than those are the Blackhide Wrastlers. If that's not enough, gatormen bokors can use necromantic rituals to turn blackhides into candle-covered zombie bodyguards known as Blind Walkers.

=Skorne Slaves=
The [[Skorne]] make use of a wide variety of hideously tortured animals and giant humanoids to bolster their forces. The Skorne have one of the widest variety of warbeasts, since they don't have a distinct racial theme like most of the other Hordes factions. The only defining motif of Skorne warbeasts is that they are ''in fucking '''pain'''' and they want to take it out on somebody. And since they can't do it to the Skorne, they'll happily do it to anybody else. Arguably another motif is that it's ambiguous how sapient the Skorne's warbeasts are; whilst there are several very distinctly bestial races in their ranks, the Cyclops are known to be sapient, if primitive, race, and the Titans are eerily humanoid. Even the Basilisks could be more sapient than they appear; it would make sense for the Skorne's "beasts" to actually be just primitive peoples...

The favored warbeast of the Skorne armies is the Titan: a massive figure something like a four-armed [[ogre]] with the tusks of an elephant. Most Titans are organized into one of three unit categories; the heavily armored shock-troopers ("Gladiators"), mobile siege engines armed with cannons ("Cannoneers") or living walls armed with heavy armor and shields ("Sentries"). The prize of any Skorne force is to field a Bronzeback Titan, one of the great alpha males of the species. The sickest bastards amongst the Skorne like to field Agonizers, which are baby titans that have been starved and tortured until they can broadcast their suffering as a psychic malaise that disrupts spellcasting and demoralizes foes. This is the memetic "weaponized screams of a tortured baby elephant" unit.

[[Basilisk]]s are the other major warbeast of the Skorne; a race of bipedal reptiles (or possibly [[lizardfolk]]) with mystically empowered eyes. Males, known as "Drakes", are fielded for their ability to disintegrate whatever they look at, but females ("Kreas") have their eyes sewn shut, which triggers a unique ability to broadcast a mystical forcefield that can nullify enemy projectiles and paralyze those who get too close. With strong cooperative instincts, drakes and kreas are usually fielded alongside each other.

Aradus are [[ankheg]]-like giant insects native to the Skorne's homeland. Soldiers can regenerate as they feast on flesh, whilst Sentinels can spew acidic toxin.

The massive pterodactyl-like Archidon adds a fast-moving flyer with a vicious temperament to the Skorne's forces.

[[Cyclops]] are actually not "beasts", but a humanoid race of one-eyed ogres with the ability to see brief glimpses of the future. Savage, merciless and brutish, they're so barbaric that their enslavement by the Skorne is arguably a step up. Cyclopses are both captured from the wild and bred in slave populations. The more obedient and malleable are designed as "Brutes"; these are outfitted with upscaled Skorne armor and used as flanking units and bodguards. Wild-caught cyclopses are called "Savages", and are the one warbeast that the Skorne ''don't'' torture - they're bloodthirsty enough that hte Skorne found it was actally better to drug them into docility until they could be pointed at the enemy, and even when doped to the back teeth on narcotics, the beast handlers move cautiously around them. In contrast, slave-reared cyclopses are designated "Raiders"; they're trusted to be outfitted with heavy reivers (a Skorne gun) and serve as support units. Most prized of all cyclopses, but also the hardest to handle, are their magic-wielding Shamans.

Another bipedal reptilioid found amongst the Skorne's forces is the Rhinodon, a powerful brute that more or less resembles a humanoid anklyosaur. Dimwitted, cantankerous and violently responsive to even the smallest threat, Rhinodons are one of the less successful Skorne warbeasts, unless they need its raw destructive might of course.

But even a Rhinodon can be... modified. Meet the Despoiler; a blinded Rhinodon metaphysically attuned to the howling Void, surrounding it at all times with the screams of the suffering dead, a state that leaves it in a constate state of terrified fury. Part tormented warbeast, part lumbering portal to hell, its destructive prowess is enhanced by the way it empowers the mortitheurgy of Skorne spellcasters.

Razor Worms are giant burrowing carnivorous worms native to the Bloodstone Marches. Reptile Hounds are pack-hunting predatory lizards that the Skorne use like hunting dogs. Scarabs are man-sized predatory insects with voracious appetites.

=Dragonspawn=
The [[Legion of Everblight]] is made up of the draconic abominations spawned from its master's blood.

=Nightmare Spawn=
The Wicked Harvest also features warbeasts, in the form of particularly large and powerful Grymkin.

Skin & Moans is a flayed [[ogre]]-like humanoid that peels off the faces of the humans it kills in order to stitch them into a shroud to hide its own naked flesh.

Rattlers are tormented ogre-like figures with iron blades for fingers, bound in jangling chains and stabbed full of knives and sharp metal implements.

Gorehounds are vaguely wolf-like grymkin which use their impossibly long tongue to track the souls of its intended victims by the taste of their cowardice.

Frightmares are bizarre grymkin warbeasts that resemble emaciated female horsefolk with razor-sharp claws for fingers and with multiple humanoid heads emerging in a chain from their open jaws.

Crabbits are bizarre rabbit-like horrors armed with wickedly sharp crab-like pichers and a vast appetite for flesh.

Clockatrices are giant [[cyborg]] [[cockatrice]]s with the ability to warp time in their immediate vicinity, which they use to overpower and greusomely kill mortals.

The simple and aptly named Cage Rager is a hulking, [[ogre]]-like humanoid that carries cells slung over its shoulders, stuffing the souls it harvests into these ages.

=Pawns of the Orgoth=
Being devoted to mastering magic in all its shapes and forms, the Orgoth make use of both warbeasts and [[warjack]]s on the battlefield, hauling strange creatures from beyond the lands of Immoren to the battlefield. Even their warjacks are technically warbeasts, as they harness the souls of slain monsters to provide the animatory lifeforce and control units for their [[golem]]s rather than the steam engines and artificial brains used by the peoples of Immoren.

Taraskadons resemble the Titans of eastern Immoren, but are bigger, stronger, and nastier. The typical Taraskadon is deployed with a single pilot sitting behind an eldritch cannon mounted in a swiveling chair harnessed to its back, but the gun just gives it long range options.

Rhokks are vicious flying scavengers that combine elements of pterodactyl and giant vulture.



[[Category: Warmachine]]