Hexbane's Hunters

Welcome to our rundown of Hexbane’s Hunters. Make sure you catch our podcast coverage of the release. For everything out with this release window, follow these links:

Thanks go to GW for providing a review copy to make this content possible.

Introduction

[D]AVY, [P]HIL, [B]RIAN, & [S]KYLER

B: Hexbane's Hunters previously were a very dynamic strike warband, with a strong emphasis on gaining benefits as they lost fighters. They posed bad options to the opponent like; If I attack Hexbane, that will inspire Bridget and Aemos. Slaying the human fighters gave Hexbane a free upgrade, or allowed them to remove a move or charge token. Ultimately, they proved over time to be one of the most consistent tournament contenders for the last two years. We'll see if they can preserve that dynamic and jam all those rules onto their warscroll, or if they have a new identity altogether. FYI, I start these by looking at fighter cards, then the Warscrolls if you want to read and follow my train of thought.

WARSCROLl

B: Very interesting. Maintaining the bad choices for your opponent dynamic already, any Agent slain gets the Hexbane player their choice of inspired fighter. Now I can see why their inspired sides weren't crazy impressive. Potential FaQ question: If Pock is slain I inspire both dogs, AND another Agent Azyrite? Both sentences seem independent sooo... If that is the case, then I'm deploying Pock up front and center every game. You gain so much inspiration when he dies(and even more incentive as we read further on the warscroll). Plus with 2 block defense, he's not likely to die so easily and each missed attack can be wasted action economy by the opponent.

P: Agree with that reading, Pock isn't a great first target!

B: Sweet. Here is one half of first edition's "Price of Victory" rule where they gain free upgrades as the humans die. On top of the upgrades that fighter had being refunded as they're discarded on death. Great way to carry that rule over now that upgrades have different glory costs. Also gives me perspective on the warband's bounty spread. Aemos going down gives a "free" 2 glory strong upgrade. It'll be hard to keep Haskel from getting his gameplay rolling with so many benefits from the opponent's success.

P: Yes, but I think losing fighters will still be a big hit for this band. Definitely interested to see this in action though.

D: Feels more impactful early, before there's been a chance to score many objectives. Like rubber band mechanic, but a really really strong rubber band.

B: Oh, my Gods. This is so cool. Here's the second half of "Price of Victory" with removing Move or Charge tokens. But on top of that! They also get a cool vengeance mechanic! Fun fun fun! Additional offense dice would've been great. Period. Clearing tokens too, amazing. Drawing a power card on top of all that. Wildly good. ...could I convert Hexbane's warband into Dungeon Crawler Carl.. No! NO! Back intrusive thoughts, BACK!

P: Removing tokens and drawing a card is definitely good, but I think getting that kill in this edition will be tough enough that it's a decent bonus but maybe not amazing. I'm withholding full judgement on this one until we see it played.

B: Okay, that's fair. We finally have a true cost to the warband lol. And this brings the bounty total up to the sending edition paradigm of 7. Fair.

P: It also carries over the bounty earned for one dog from first edition, so keeping that flavor going.

B: Sick! They preserved the dogs moving and following the humans around to provide additional flanked/surrounded results to attacks. They did tone it down so that the dogs only get to move in this way once per round. So you'll have to position them more carefully with where you want them to survive for later, or where you need them to score. Remember, the dogs/minions can hold treasure tokens now in second edition.

P: Perhaps a change from attack dogs to guard dogs?

B: This may seem lack luster compared to some of their other abilities, but it's not. Use this to turn off cleave against Pock. Or even better, turn off any Grievous that will kill shot a hunter. Flat 3 damage attacks are rare, so a lot of 3 to 2 damage attacks rely on Grievous to get that high. Use this rule in those instances, and watch your opponent groan as they now have to invest harder into killing your flimsy fighters.

P: Very solid. Your opponent is likely to delay investing extra resources into an attack until they see this go. Love that kind of mental game.

FIGHTERS

Uninspired
B: Oh cool, immediately I see a unique rune mark beneath his leader symbol. Skipping back to the warscroll for a sec to see what that is. "Agents Azyrite" is their new keyword in place of "Hunter" previously. Haskel stat line gained a melee profile with a potential two damage. A solid weapon option he previously didn't have access to until he inspired.

P: Haskell does look like the kinda guy who, when up against it, wouldn't be above just smacking monsters and daemons with a torch.

Inspired
B: On inspire he mainly gains accuracy, and Grievous gets baked in as flat damage 2. Which means he could take Great Strength now and go up to 3 damage. With only 3 health and 1 block you'll have to be careful with him.

P: It will be a balancing act for sure. The whole warband seems a bit fragile so you'll have to manage that risk reward. It feels pretty fitting for a group of witch hunters.

Uninspired
B: Aemos feels familiar. Seems he and Hexbane have 2 bounty each by virtue of having 3 wounds. We've seen other warbands with 3 wound fighters only being worth 1 bounty, so these guys feel a bit burdened with a target on their head for the opponent to reap the bounty.

P: Pretty average stats though so should be able to do some work. The lowered damage output should make 3 health good a good bit further.

Inspired
B: On inspire he gains an offensive dice, and I'm left feeling a bit uninspired. Can't wait to get to their warscroll and find out what really gets these fighters going.

P: That base accuracy should be helpful with upgrades though. I imagine Aemos being the finisher a lot in this band after the others have used their ranged attacks to set up the kill.

Uninspired
B: She's still a fighter that punches above her weight class. Previously she could hit for 3 damage in melee once per round, which was nuts.

P: Her axe feels like it was just brought in line for the new edition. A 1 bounty fighter than can get to 2 damage seems solid, if fragile.

Inspired
B: Like Haskel she gains Accuracy and crit Grievous gets baked in as flat 2 damage. Unlike Haskel, she also gains a defensive dice up to 2 dodge. Nice.

P: Agree 100%, that dodge really caught my eye.

Uninspired
B: Pock still starting on 2 block is incredible, but he lost offensive damage no longer 2 damage at range. He does gain a melee profile to interact with certain objectives and upgrades.

P: Par for the course in second edition. Ranged attacks do 1 damage and that is probably okay given their utility.

Inspired
B: On inspire he gains accuracy on his weapon profiles and Ensnare at range. Personally because he has a grenade on his crossbow bolt, I would've liked to see this he 2 damage +Brutal. But then again he was previously restricted to only one ranged attack per round.

P: I suppose it is pretty hard to dodge a grenade! I think you hit it pretty well though, shifting from once per round to as many shots as you want is a pretty big deal.

Uninspired
B: Spoilers The dogs are identical in stats, which they should. And their stats are identical to first edition.

Inspired
B: Still identical to first edition, they still gain a defensive dice going to 2 dodge, and an offensive dice on their attack profile. Solid.

Uninspired
B: They both have the Minion rune mark, so I'm hoping they still get to move after a friendly Agent Azyrite fighter moved.

Inspired
B: Their bounty stat stays at 0 on their cards, so the warband is only with 6 bounty. Lots of excitement as I move onto the warscroll!

Summary

B: Their lore is basically the same with a few less details. Still a Witch Hunter who is willing to sacrifice all including his warband, if it means accomplishing his objective. And by the gods does this warband's rules accomplish this narrative. I'd say their previous identity is preserved and much of their dynamic is the same in function. The biggest thing missing is their crazy fashion upgrade deck, which housed some absolutely amazing cards. Those naturally couldn't be ported over into second edition, and I think they preserved what needed to be. BUT with their slain Agent's bounty contributing to their upgrade budget Hexbane will be able to pack an excessively expensive upgrade deck to really pour on the upgrade power into their fighters. The designer's will have to be careful with any concepts of recovering upgrade cards from your discard pile. Hexbane will be watching.

The Mortal RealmsNovember 23, 2024Comment