Warcry Warband - Untamed Beasts "Dogs of Warcry"

Description

You might know if you listen to Dogs of Warcry podcast that Warcry is my favorite miniatures game of all time. This was my first Warcry warband and they are still one of my favorite warbands to play. The Untamed Beasts are fast, can hit hard, can put a lot of bodies on the table, and have some unique tools that make them really fun to play. I named them after our podcast given that these are the ‘beasts’ and they have dogs in the warband. Let me introduce you to the pack.

A’shud’na GushDblud - Heart-Eater - Leader

The tone of this army flows fully from their Heart-eater. His background is of a destroyer, tearing down civilization wherever they find it, even if built by other chaos worshipers. He has lead the Dogs of Warcry succesfully through the Tooth and Claw campaign/quest. He is Resiliant (command trait) which means he heals 1 every time he acts. His Artefact of Power bestowed upon him is the Devour’s Blessing which increases adds +2 damage output for himself and any allies within 6” within one round.

He leads from the front and won’t ask of his pack anything that he himself is not willing to do. He’s not slow, but I prefer to deploy him in the middle whenever possible. And when a quad is available it’s up to him to delete one or more models off the table. He’s got a pretty great body count taking out some other heavy hitter leaders in other armies.

The only, but wickedly effective conversion, is the 40k Space Wolf head that I gave him. It’s so metal and allowed me to give him a primal scream on the field. I love putting him on the table every game.

Ima Savagewind - Beast Speaker

Sorrowind is the senior Beast Speaker of the Dogs of Warcry. She understands the nature of most creatures and is tasked with shaping the wildest beasts of the eight points into weapons they can command. Every beast in the pack moves to her call…that can even include A’shud’na. She often carries a pouch of Swift Dust so she can keep up with the 8” movement hounds (count as rock tusk prowlers). Her 4” whip allows her to trigger an extra attack by the hounds (on a double) so it’s crucial that she stays in reach. This makes here almost an auto include to give the hounds the ability to attack out of turn. And that whip is absolutely key to finishing off models that the hounds don’t.

I love this model; the whip, the running pose, the skull helmet/mask, no conversion needed on this one. Her apprentice (unnamed) however is converted from Jagathra of the Godsworn Hunt; Underworlds Warband.

Saw’kubi - Rocktusk Prowler

The Rocktusk Prowlers are the workhorse of the Untamed beasts. They’re one of the fastests, hardest hitting models amongst the Warcry signature warbands. Often Stromcast Gryphhounds get a lot of praise for being tough and versatile. By comparison Rocktusk Prowlers have movement 8” compared to 6”, and have a 2/5 damage profile vs 2/4 for the Gryphhound. While Gryphounds get a sweet attack and retreat ability, Rocktusk Prowlers can get an extra attack out of turn by the beast speaker, they can pounce and do dice amount of damage on movement, and if they kill a model have an ability to make another move or attack. I generally run 2 of these fine beasts, as much for the theme as for the versatility, but more than that and it can get bothersome for your opponent.

Because we we had started the Dogs of Warcry podcast, rather than using the feline Rocktusk Prowler models, I wanted to use the canine Flesh Hound models. They are definitely bigger in stature which makes for a great profile in the army. Not to mention that it was easier to source a few more of these than rocktusk prowlers.

I often name these pups after famous cartoon dogs. Saw’kubi, Sca’rapi, Maduk Mar, Saw’nupi, Kli’fard, etc.

First Fang

The First Fang is such a unique model to the Untamed Beasts. It is one of two ranged fighters, the other being the Beast Speaker, and it has an ability to pull models that it hits towards them. “GET OVER HERE!” This is can be used in a ton of different ways; yanking enemy models off platforms, moving enemies into a combat range of an ally, reducing an enemies movement progress by pulling them backwards or sticking them behind terrain they have to move around. I don’t take a first fang in every game. In some games I’ve tried to take 2, and but I think one is the right number - it is called a first fang after all.

The head that comes for the model, strangely, has a metal scull cap. This doesn’t make sense with the army being covered in bone and fur. SO I swapped it for a Chaos Marauder Horseman head and it fits great. I also created an alternate, younger, bow and arrow wielding First Fang (second fang?) from the Godworn Hunt Underworld model Ollo.

The final convergence for Tooth and Claw: Feeding Frenzy was won because of my first fang. The Victory condition Purge required me to pick a quarter of the map and at the end of the game, that quarter had to be free of any enemy models. On the last round I managed activations well enough to give the first fang the last activation and he pulled a model out of the zone I needed to clear! After 4 or 5 attempts at this Convergence, I finally won!

Ghostkiller - Plains-runner

The Plains-runners are one of the best low cost model among the Warcry specific warbands. They are a slim 45 points, they have movement 5, they get 3 attacks to fish for crits, and you don’t feel bad taking a wait action with these guys in order to balance or imbalance activations with your opponent. I take a minimum of 4, often 6, but 8 or more can get annoying for an opponent.

Speaking of fishing for crits, one of my legendary Plains-walkers earned the name Ghostkiller. On at least 3 separate occasions during the Tooth and Claw campaign, she was able to get the killing blow on enemy leaders. Eventually, I would make it a point to get her into some position to chase down and try and kill the leader. Eventually the Aftermath phase caught up with her but it was an absolute joy to have one of these Plains-walkers rising to the top. There is a story in a Warcry Anthology that talks about a plains-walker that goes off and hunts a huge beast and eventually comes back and kills the Heart-Eater of the tribe. I can only imagine that the story came from one of the Warcry play testers experiencing something similar with their Untamed Beasts army.

Lastly, these models are perfection. Small for hiding in cracks and behind terrain, dynamic in their crouches ready to spring, and such a satisfying balance of detail and simplicity. Someday I’ll try and field the max number of these and see how it goes.

Ay’ot’not Crackbone - Ally - Slaughterpriest

I had this Khorne Bloodbound Slaughterpriest laying around and this seemed like the perfect time to use him. The Heart-eater helmeted head looked great. He’s got a skull pauldron from a chaos beast I can’t recall the name of, the Savage Orruk spear hand fit just find next to his other engorged hand, and I greenstuffed some fur on him.

He adds some really cool potential for range damage or pull someone out of their position on the table, but most often is just really threatening on the table. Looking forward to using him more often in the future once he’s painted.

Prey-takers

Even though the Prey-takers are wannabe Heart-eaters, and I love the Heart-eater, I haven’t fielded any Prey-takers since my first couple games. Nor have I painted any up. They don’t match the mood of the rest of the army and I like the speed and utility of the Plains-runners over these guys. Maybe someday, when A’shud’na is ready to retire, I’ll field some Prey-takers to find his successor.