Warcry
An upcoming specialist game for Age of Sigmar and successor to Skirmish, "Warcry is to Age of Sigmar as Kill Team is to Warhammer 40,000" Not even close, they are REALLY different. It looks to offer a much more complex and nuanced take on the various Chaos factions of Age of Sigmar. Here's hoping for some of the old school Mordheim-flavored combat to be reintroduced into Age of Sigmar!
The Game
Seeking the favor and blessing of the Everchosen, warbands of Chaos cultists and other denizens of the Mortal Realms clash for supremacy within the Varanspire, a hub of activity at the heart of the Eightpoints (formerly known as the Allpoints before Chaos fully up and moved in), which happens to be a certain somebody's seat of power.
So far the following mechanics and characteristics has been confirmed:
- As with all their games lately, Open, Narrative and Matched play modes.
- The game is played in a rather small area, around 20" x 30" with lots of scenery, similar to Kill Team.
- The standard game generation is handled by four decks of cards that determine scenery disposition, deployment, objectives and game's special rules. Specific sets of scenery have exclusive cards that are added to the decks and Matched play limits the decks to only matched-worth cards, called "Symetrical".
- Instead of the tried-and-true methods of armybooks and regular profiles, the game goes the way of many skirmish games of late, like Malifaux and all the rules of a particular warband and their models are printed in cards instead of the Core rulebook: the kind of units avaliable with the special rules of the units in the reverse and cards that detail all the unit's stats. The warband boxed sets seem to include a complete set of these cards, as does the small packs of the 9 non-Chaos warbands.
- The units have locked equipment, determined in their cards but some units have different cards with different equipment which is more prevalent in the non-Chaos warbands. For example, the Iron Legionnaires of the Iron Golems can be equipped with one-hand weapons and shields, two hammers or a whip and hammer.
- The game sports an Initiative roll weird as fuck. Let's do it slowly: for that, each player roll 6D6, then each player separates their dice not out of Successes like 3+ nor highest roll, but by the number of dice whose results appear more times. Yup, is as weird as it sounds. Those dice who didn't repeat are Singles and the player with more of those win Initiative. The dice that repeat are Doubles, Triples or Quad, depending if they repeat two, three or four times respectively. These pairings of dice are used as fuel of the warband's abilities, being more powerful those who require Triples or Quads.
Chaos Warbands
An interesting detail that ties all the warbands together is the fact they all worship Chaos Undivided and know little to nothing about the dark gods. Instead they see Archaon-senpai as a physical embodiment of Chaos and fight for his approval.
Iron Golems
"We Create War!" Hailing from the Realm of Metal, these obnoxiously Norwegian-accented warriors are renowned for the quality of their smithing, believing themselves chosen by Archaon himself to forge arms and armor for the Slaves to Darkness. They also have both Duardin and Ogors. They seem to be the most Classically Chaos of the warbands.
Untamed Beasts
"Hunt the Hunter!" Bloodthirsty predators (Not that kind, Slaanesh!) from the Realm of Beasts, these primal cultists bring the old school Chaos Marauder vibe with their adornments and weapons made of bone and leather. Of course, what's a good Conan cosplay without some MUSCULARITY? They appear to be accompanied by a horned lion creature from the bestial realm of Ghur, fully equipped with My Little Pony-ish hip brand.
Splintered Fang
"One Cut, One Kill!" A Chaos murder cult from Cobra Command the Realm of Life, these guys are another multi-race warband, including both humans and aelves, and have a Spartan/Gladiator aesthetic. And snakes. They really like snakes. Like... a lot.
Corvus Cabal
"Pick Clean the Corpse!" A Lost Boys-Go-Metal tribe from the Shadow Realm of Ulgu who worship Chaos in the form of a crow called the Great Gatherer, and as such have a heavy crow theme going on.
The Unmade
"Agony is Our Gift!" A Warband originating in Shyish, the Realm of Death, these Chaos followers revel in both enduring and brandishing physical torment and pain as a weapon. Their favorite pastimes include long walks through the torture chambers, wanton sadism, and severing their own limbs and faces. Lots of spikes and chains, even some heavy metal stilts. Can you say Darkest Dungeon? They also wear their faces as belts. How nice.
Cypher Lords
"Let Madness Reign!" Hailing from the Realm of Light, these cultists bring a little more of a civilized and seductive bent to chaos. Their attire is the crisp equivalent of drycleaned Chaos, looking like what would happen if Slaanesh designed the Thousand Sons. They are also, interestingly enough, the first insight into what life is like in Hysh, the Realm of Light, since Age of Sigmar began. No Teclis and Tyrion here, folks!
Scions of the Flame
Unknown warband seen in leaked images from the rulebook. The Scions of the Flame are a cult from Aqshy that worships Chaos as a great flame that will consume the Mortal Realms.
Spire Tyrants
Unknown warband seen in leaked images from the rulebook. Already native to the Eightpoints, the Spire Tyrants are elite gladiators who work in the fighting pits of the Varanspire. Having mastered the arena, they seek further status in service to Archaon. Though only a single sillhouette has been seen of them, they seem to be rocking the classic Warriors of Chaos aesthetic.
Non-Chaos Warbands
In addition to the six Chaos warbands duking it out in the myriad of locales of the Eightpoints, nine other groups of warriors have been announced in the form of Warband Cards. These card sets will allow the following nine factions to join in the battles, bringing all new combinations and flavors of combat to the Varanspire! Unfortunately, we aren't getting new minis for them though, which is a huge bummer, seeing as the Chaos minis look awesome However, you can always use the Warhammer Underworlds' ones when applicable.
Order
Stormcast Eternals
This is Age of Sigmar, so OF COURSE the sigmarite bois (sadly, no gals) are going to be present. The Vanguard chamber is the one present, and is a surprisingly ranged warband with some potential in melee and mobility.
Daughters of Khaine
Morathi thinks of Varanspire a legitimate threat, and all damage done here is good. Typical glass cannons as always Whitches, Melusai and Kyrenai form the roster of this faction.
Idoneth Deepkin
Some Idoneth are willing to take the risk of using tainted souls for their nourishment. Namarti of Both Kinds and eel riders form a rather extreme band of either cheap units with some strength or expensive steamrolling cavalry.
Death
Legions of Nagash
More like Deathrattle & friends but whatever. Using the Necromancer as center point, the Skeletons and Grave Guard is meant to drown you enemy on bodies... which is the same as in AoS, really.
Nighthaunt
The dead souls of Allpoints were mostly a local hazard than a threat, but then Nagash contacted them with a deal... Revolving mostly on the Starter sets' stuff (Chainrasps, Stalkers & Reapers) plus Spirit hosts; so if you have the bigger ones, you're set. Attrition is their key, using their great defense, but meager offense.
Flesh-Eater Courts
Deluded as they are, some ghouls think to go in a quest to Eightpoints and bring some of their friends with them. A fast warband, but don't expect much from the ghouls, unlike their Crypt Horrors who are slower but hit like a truck.
Destruction
Ironjaws
Orruks being,... well, orruks have decided that being in Archaon's turf is one of the best places to get a good fight, so some bands of them have make this place their home. Centered on the Brutes and 'Ardbois, is a melee powerhouse warband.
Bonesplitters
These guys are so nutters, or their shamans are that some of them eventually make their way to Eightpoints and start smashing heads. That's it, really. One of the cheapest to do, as it revolves only on the Savage Orruks, including the Big Stabbas. More fragile than the Ironjaws, but with more ranged options.
Gloomspite Gits
The Bad Moon has turned its leering glare to the Eightpoints, and with it comes the Moonclan Grots ready for a good krumpin’. You’ll mostly be pulling from the stalandard Grots box, as well as Squig Hoppers/Boingrot Bounderz and the Caves Squigs+Herders. Like always, you’ll be one of the more numerous warbands in the game.