Borgit's Beastgrabbaz
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Episode 162 - Beastgrabbaz & Edge of the Knife
Thanks go to GW for providing a review copy to make this content possible.
Introduction
[D]AVY, [P]HIL, [B]RIAN, & [S]KYLER
These gits (maybe sneaky?) are out on a hunt in the Embergard. Will they find (and catch!) their prey or will the hunters become the hunted? Let’s find out!
WARSCROLl
P: A very interesting inspire! You have pretty much complete control, which is great, but it does mean you will be staggering your fighters so plan ahead on turns you want to inspire. This also likely draws you into playing Pillage and Plunder since you will want to delve at least a little.
D: There's also some logistical limitations to how many of your fighters you start by inspiring. There's only so many feature tokens you can reach, so consider carefully.
P: Wow, a game long accuracy boost to your preferred target. I think in many matches this will go on the enemy leader since they are hardest to bring down and the most valuable. You can also use this as a bit of a head game. Your opponent will likely expect you to put this on their leader and keep them back, but if you wanted a different fighter you now have easier access to that fighter with this accuracy boost. Keep in mind though, some warbands only have one fighter with three or more health so milage may vary.
D: I can also see this going on whatever enemy piece you expect to be pushing up front- to hold treasure or fight- I'm thinking Alathyrr or Cephanyr in Razors for instance.
P: Bit of an odd one here. You will probably have situations where you want to get your leader pushed in, but the timing could be awkward if your leader has already charged or if the target isn't appealing.
D: I think you can also use this to cover a token back up if one of your minions was killed off of it. Lots of flexibility, though tied to a three health boss.
P: Hmmm. After a successful attack from one of your heavy hitters means a damage boost is not as impactful. Useful when the fighter has more than four health but otherwise this feels like a pretty limited bonus. Worth noting only two of your minions have melee weapons unless you bring an upgrade.
D: I think the damage push will be welcome against warbands bringing important five health fighters (see: much of elite aggro).
P: Big repositioning ability here! Having pretty good control of when to use this is also great. You can position to make this very impactful and likely surprising because of how dramatic the shift in board state can be. Love this!
D: I particularly like this for setting up Snagz for a surprise longer threat range, or to provide flanking bonuses on defense. A little slow, but it can be used to load a flank and isolate enemy fighters who deploy too wide.
P: Turning all the hexes around your minions into pings is pretty spicy. Having to do this after your action step limits it slightly, but it also makes your opponent have to think about how they want to move around. On top of that, if you happen to have some push tech to move enemy fighters you could trigger this yourself to guarantee the ping. Feels situationally great, but sometimes hard to line up.
D: Having access to this as a deterrent or a way to keep stacking damage is handy. Could be used well to make a feature unattractive to move on to. I'm finding features to be important for one or both sides in most of my games these days.
FIGHTERS
Uninspired
P: As goblins go, this guy is quite the fighter. Two block defense and potential for three damage is pretty crazy. Only thing to worry about is the three health, but I think you should be able to keep the heat off Borgit because of a certain troll...
D: Yeah, that's a really respectable stat line right out of the gates. Can't be sad about that. The crit grievous must be from that big windup he's doing.
Inspired
P: Extra movement and accuracy is always welcome, especially with a crit ability. With the inspire being pretty controllable means you should have this guy ready to rumble in round one.
D: With a couple Da Bait triggers, you can hopefully set up multiple swings with this nifty attack profile. And this is four hammers (!) into Da Trophy!
Uninspired
P: Pretty solid stat line here with one block and five health. Two damage with two hammers is always good, but being range two is pretty amazing. The cleave is quite the cherry on top.
D: Here goes second edition following in first edition's footsteps and making it hard to totally predict which fighters will have range 2. But yeah, two damage outside of range 1 is valuable.
Inspired
P: Yeesh. Picking up an extra defense and grievous makes this one terrifying troll!
D: What a nice inspire. If he's in cover, (and maybe with a minion backing him up) he's got a really great defensive profile.
Uninspired
P: Our first minion, or is it minions? Either way, this (clearly a squig) is an interesting fighter. Two dodge defense with three health keeps you in the fight longer than your opponent would probably like, but the attack is very poor. I think you are just hoping to get the stagger through a time or two to make them feel like they are more than an annoyance.
D: Gonna be a hope and a prayer to land this attack against anyone but Da Trophy. These guys will trigger a big Da Bait push, so I'm pretty comfortable risking them forward.
Inspired
P: The extra accuracy makes a big difference after inspiring and the speed bump won't be for nothing, but you definitely have to be careful getting these guys staggered. That two dodge looks a lot worse once your opponent has some extra accuracy against it.
D: Getting a weapon on these fellas seems pretty worthwhile in general. It's a good defensive line, but I'd much rather spend multiple action steps swinging with Uglug or Borgit.
Uninspired
P: Our second minion Snags does what his name suggests with that grapple. And, having grapple at range two could be very frustrating. Having two dodge to keep him somewhat safe is wonderful too.
D: Pulling someone into a spot where Uglug or da boss can club them to death makes this a nifty option.
Inspired
P: Okay Snagz, going to two damage at range two, I see you. While fragile at two health this guy can do work inspired. I think your opponent will need to be very cognizant of how he is positioned or risk being put out of position quickly.
D: *If* you take Great Strength (maybe you do? there's grievous and crit grievous in several places in this warband already), then Snagz is really getting scary.
Uninspired
P: Dregg is pretty similar to Rigg and Sham, but with range three. I think that overall makes him a lot better, but the accuracy will still be a problem.
D: Good for a low risk attempt at setting up the rest of the round, though!
Inspired
P: But again, getting the accuracy bump on inspire helps a lot. Being able to inspire further from the action while still impacting the game will be pretty nice, I think.
D: I was momentarily excited when I thought Dregg could get to four dice at range, but alas Da Trophy only helps melee attacks.
Summary
Looks to me like these gitz are at least trying to be kunnin’. While they may not be the most successful hunters, I think Borgit is fine with that plan as he lures in Da Trophy with his disposable minions. And, if he has to run away at least he has his friendly cave troll to cover his retreat!