Die Royal Beastflayers sind geistesgestörte Ghouls, die glauben, die besten Jäger am Hof mächtiger Könige zu sein. Sie durchstreifen die Ländereien ihres Herrn, um sie von den schrecklichsten Kreaturen zu befreien, während sie in Wirklichkeit die natürliche Ordnung verwüsten und bedrohen.
They are the second original Death warband created for Warcry, this time serving the Flesh-Eater Courts.
Background and Lore of the Royal Beastflayers Warband
Flesh-Eater Courts are delusional ghouls and vampires cursed to believe they are part of grandiose and noble courts, entertaining themselves with jousts and hunts, all the while protecting the lands against all sorts of evils.
In reality they are descendants from Ushoran, cursed by Nagash long ago and whose madness spread across the other vampires that then started gathering their followers in search of new lands to settle. The Royal Beastflayers are a group of ghouls that believe to be extremely good in the hunting sport, led by an Abhorrent that prefers the thrill of the chase to the politics and scheming enjoyed by his more noble fellows.
Through the hunt, ghouls can retrieve and feed on bones of extremely powerful creatures that can transfer some of their power to these cannibalistic beings making them much more dangerous.
A Royal Flaymaster leads them in battle, literally inserting weapons in his own flesh while imagining instead to tying them to his wrists like the knights would. A Baron is a lesser noble that managed to kill a significative beast, obtaining recognition and title, and the strength derived from feeding and wearing its remains.
The Offal Hounds are instead those ghouls that tried to feed on a king’s menagerie and as a punishment have been left for dead in a pit where they slowly mutated in bloodthirsty beasts that are now used by the Beastflayers to find their preys.
Archduke Deadfang is the leader of a ghoul court living west of the Gnarlwood that one day was visited by the elder drake Calcodrax who ravaged their encampment. The Archduke then requested all his Beastflayers to hunt the beast and bring his skin as proof. As its lair was deep within the Gnarlwood, the questing knights explored the cursed territory until they stumbled on a damaged Realmshaper Engine active since the fall of the Eye of Chotec, a huge Seraphon void-ship that is the cause of much disarray in the region.
These powerful machines are able to terraform the land around them at incredible speed, but manumitting them can incur the wrath of Ghur, the realm of Beast, itself. It is extremely dangerous to play with these forces, but now many Royal Beastflayers believe those engines are corrupting the land and need to be destroyed. Only the Stormcast Eternals and their Seraphon allies stand between them and potential realm-threatening devastation.
But how do they re-enact their hunting skills on a Warcry battlefield? Let’s find out.
Fighters in the Royal Beastflayers Warband
Hinweis: Wenn du die Grundregeln von Warcry noch nicht gelesen hast, bevor du diesen Artikel liest, ist es vielleicht hilfreich zu wissen, dass die Fähigkeiten des Spiels durch 6 Würfel aktiviert werden, die du zu Beginn deines Zuges wirfst.
Zeigen zwei der Würfel den gleichen Wert, können sie zur Aktivierung einer Doppelfähigkeit verwendet werden. Zeigen drei Würfel den gleichen Wert, können sie für eine Dreifach-Fähigkeit verwendet werden, usw.
Wenn also in diesem Artikel von einer Fähigkeit als Double, Triple oder Quad die Rede ist, bezieht sich das auf dieses System. Es mag ein wenig verwirrend klingen, aber man gewöhnt sich schnell daran, wenn man anfängt zu spielen
The Royal Beastflayers warband is made of 5 different fighters, of which 1 is the leader.
Royal Flaymaster: 175 points
Die Königlicher Flaymaster ist der Anführer dieser Kriegsbande mit einem durchschnittlichen Profil für einen Anführer, aber mit guten Allround-Statistiken, beginnend mit den 5″ der Bewegung, die die meisten Kriegsbanden teilen. 20 Wunden und Zähigkeit 4 machen ihn vielleicht nicht zum robustesten Helden, aber ein Angriffsprofil mit 2″ erlaubt es ihm, aus sicherer Entfernung anzugreifen. Mit 3/5 Schaden bei Stärke 4 ist auch nicht zu spaßen.
But his role in the warband is not just to be a damage dealer: his Quad adds +2 Strength to all friendly fighters within 6″ compensating one of the weakness of this army. Even a mere Gore-squire with 4 attacks at Strength 5 and minimum damage 2 is bound to hurt.
While Quads are rare to find, the Flaymaster’s Triple is also an interesting one as it does not have any range (as long as the enemy is visible) and allocates as much damage as double the amount of your fellow companions surrounding (within 3″) the target. You cannot always have numerical superiority, but in some situation it can guarantee 4/6 wounds just by using ghouls as sacrificial pawns.
If you have only a Double, then you can use the generic ability Feed the Hounds that allows to heal any other fighter within 3″ up to the value of the ability. If you don’t have anything else to use those Double for, it is still a good healing area.
The final note goes for the warband reaction, that you are probably not going to use with this model, but it can be really interesting on the Ghouls: when an enemy disengages from you, you immediately allocate D3 damage to him. While your opponent can control when it happens, it is a great disincentive from retreating from a ghoul to grab objectives or shoot other targets.
Beastflayer Baron: 115 points
Die Baron der Bestienbändiger is a cheaper (and weaker) version of the Flaymaster with only 1″ range and 2/4 damage. His main ability costs a Double and allows up to 3 friendly fighters within 3″ from him to make a bonus move of a number of inches equal to the ability’s value.
Considering the 5″ movement, usually mobility is not a warband’s problem, however combining this with the Flaymaster Triple, Pack Tactics, can position your fighters for the nasty surprise to follow. Or you can just use it in the first round to get in a better position.
Ghoul Gore-squire: 95 points
Die Gore-squire ist ein stärkerer Ghoul, mit 12 Wunden, der gleichen Zähigkeit 4 wie der Flaymaster und der Baron und einem Mindestschaden von 2, der trotz seiner Stärke 3 den 4 Angriffen einen weiteren Wert verleiht.
He has his own ability that provides an extra movement (up to half the value of this ability in inches) to any friendly Beastflayer fighter starting within 3″ of him, meaning that he can also take advantage of it.
Ghoul Tracker: 55 points
Die Ghoul Tracker ist das grundlegendste Profil dieser Armee. Du kannst sie in Scharen einsetzen, um die 5″ Bewegung und verschiedene andere Mobilitätsfähigkeiten zu nutzen, um sie auf Ziele zu positionieren, fiese Feinde zu blockieren und, wenn du die Chance hast, den Flaymaster's Triple einzusetzen, um einem Feind kostenlosen Schaden zuzufügen.
While their attacks are in line with their cost, if the leader executes his Quad and provides an extra 2 to Strength then they can become much more dangerous. Otherwise, they are the perfect target to force certain enemies to either spend their actions killing them, or trigger D3 damage when disengaging.
Offal Hound: 130 points
Die Innereienhunde have the same attack profile of the Baron with 3 attacks at 2/4 damage, but they have 7″ movement at the cost of being a Beast with all its downsides. They have higher wounds (18) but lower Toughness (3) and their Double allows them to ignore vertical distance when climbing.
Fähigkeiten für die Royal Beastflayers Warband
- Feed the Hounds (Doppeltes, alle): Heile bis zu 6 Wunden bei jedem anderen befreundeten Kämpfer in der Nähe, nachdem du einen Feind ausgeschaltet hast.
- Lasst die Jagd erklingen (Double, Beastflayer Baron): Bis zu 3 andere Kämpfer in der Nähe können eine Bonusbewegung von bis zu 6″ ausführen.
- Kletternde Schrecken (Double, Offal Hounds): Ignorieren Sie die vertikale Distanz beim Klettern dieser Aktivierung.
- Entfesselt die Hunde (Dreifach, Ghoul Gore-squire): Addiere bis zu 3″ zu den Bewegungseigenschaften von befreundeten Kämpfern in der Nähe.
- Pack Tactics (Dreifach, Royal Flaymaster): Verursache an einem sichtbaren Feind Schaden in Höhe des Doppelten der eigenen Jäger in der Nähe dieses Feindes.
- No Rest till our Quest is Done (Quad, Royal Flaymaster): Addiere 2 zu den Stärkeeigenschaften von Nahkampfangriffen befreundeter Kämpfer innerhalb von 6″.
Reaktion für die Königliche Bestienbändiger-Kriegerbande
Eingeführt in der neuen Staffel von Warcry, Reaktionen sind Dinge, die unter bestimmten Umständen getan werden können, aber immer während des gegnerischen Zuges. Sie kosten eine Aktion, so dass sie nur von Kämpfern eingesetzt werden können, die noch nicht aktiviert wurden oder noch warten. Es gibt 3 universelle Reaktionen und eine spezifische für jeden Kriegsverband:
Hartnäckige Jäger (Alle)
- Wenn: An enemy within 1″ makes a disengage movement.
- Was: Allocate D3 damage to that enemy.
Kampfeigenschaft für die Königliche Bestienbändiger-Kriegerbande
Die Kampfeigenschaft ist ein Zusatz, der in Briar and Bone eingeführt wurde und der eine zusätzliche optionale Regel hinzufügt, die alle Charaktere mit der gleichen Runenmarke betrifft, ohne dass ein Fähigkeitswürfel verwendet wird. Jede Fraktion hat ihre eigene, aber die der Großen Allianz kann stattdessen verwendet werden:
- Bestellung - Mutige Beschützer: Bei der Verwendung von In Deckung gehen Reaktion wird der kritische Treffer bei einer 3+ statt 4+ zum normalen Treffer.
- Chaos - Streben nach Ruhm: Einmal pro Kampfrunde, addiere 1 zum ersten kritischen Treffer eines Nahkampfangriffs eines Kämpfers, dessen Kosten 125 Punkte oder weniger betragen.
- Tod - Unsterbliche Schergen: Einmal pro Kampfrunde wird ein kritischer Treffer eines Dieners durch einen Schussangriff als normaler Treffer gewertet.
- Zerstörung - Unerbittliche Zerstörer: Bei Nahkampfangriffen kann das Ziel nicht den +1 Zähigkeitsbonus aus der Deckung beanspruchen.
Die Hundsbucht: Wenn ein Offal Hound einen Gegner mit einem Nahkampfangriff tötet, kann sich ein anderer befreundeter Kämpfer bis zu 3″ bewegen.
Strategy and Tactics for the Royal Beastflayers Warband
The Royal Beastflayers are an interesting army with average statistics: apart the leader they don’t have heavy damage fighters, neither tanks. They have a good mobility and the numbers on their side, but no ranged potential.
While the Offal Hounds can ignore vertical distance when climbing, there’s no flying involved either. Overall the final verdict on this warband depends on their abilities, starting from the reaction, Tenacious Hunters, that is more of a disincentive for enemies to not disengage, but since it’s a rare occasion anyway, it may never occur. If it does, then a simple Ghoul could hit above his average just by reacting.
The other generic ability, Feed the Hounds, is a new type of mechanic that provides a really small area of healing after taking down an enemy. While it is more likely to be activated by your elite options, anyone within 3″ of it can benefit. And the 3″ area will be a recurrent trend in this warband, as 4 out of 6 abilities target friendly fighters within that bubble.
As is it phrased the activating fighter does not receive healing, so there’s that to consider. Same for the Baron when he activates his ability to have up to 3 comrades perform a bonus move. The third ability of this type is available to the Gore-squire and for a Triple adds up to 3″ movement to anyone, with the same warband runemark, starting their movement within 3″ of the activating model. In other words, a contorted way to say that the activating fighter has x” more movement for the rest of his activation, and anyone who starts their move next to him, benefits from the same buff. You do need a high valued Triple and the right number of models for it to be better than the Baron’s Double.
The fourth 3″ bubble ability is the culmination of the mobility tricks described so far: free damage to a visible enemy model (no range!) surrounded by your minions. If you are struggling to take down an elite enemy with high Toughness and wounds, correctly positioning your ghouls around him and using the Beastflayer Triple could make the trick. The damage depends on the presence of your fighters within that area, there’s no roll and no Toughness to consider in the equation. 4 ghouls = 8 damage straight, if you can place that many in such small place.
And this is the main trait of this warband that is its point of strength but also of weakness. While you can have on average 10 fighters, therefore most likely number superiority in the first rounds, they need to stay in close 3″ bubble to take advantage of most abilities, especially the healing because with Toughness 3 and 8 wounds the Trackers are going down fast, and the 12 wounds of the Gore-squire are not going to last much more.
Having so many fighters concentrated in few spots means you are not covering the entire board despite your numbers, and you are subject to area damage abilities. You can spread, using your Offal Hounds to chase weaker enemies or grab further objectives but then you lose cohesion and individually your fighters are easy to take down.
The warband Quad is a great one, that could change the tide of the battle if used at the right moment, but Quads are not easy to obtain and the 6″ range from the leader requires these small 3″ groups to be in relative proximity. Still, the minimum damage of 2 that everyone, except the Trackers, have can be efficient when coupled with high Strength if you can manage to hit on a 3+.
Overall this warband is a bit different than the previous ones, not underpowered and definitely not overpowered, that would require accurate positioning and knowing when you just have to leave someone behind and sacrifice him/her for the greater scheme.
Of course, the better if you can empathize and think like them, proud hunters directing their prey in a trap ready for the final blow.
Vor- und Nachteile des königlichen Bestienbändiger-Kriegsbands
Vorteile:
+ Überdurchschnittliche Geschwindigkeit und Mobilität
+ Interessante Fähigkeiten im Nahkampf
Nachteile:
- Durchschnittliche Stärke
- Kein Fernkampfschaden
Some thematic warbands for the Royal Beastflayers
Nur zum Spaß stellen wir hier ein paar thematische Warbands vor, die mehr für den Spaß oder den erzählerischen Kontext als für das kompetitive Spiel gedacht sind. Beachtet, dass ihr im narrativen Spiel eine Quest abschließen müsst, die es euch erlaubt, einen Helden zu rekrutieren, bevor ihr ihn zu eurem Dienstplan hinzufügen könnt.
Aus der Box heraus: 1 Royal Flaymaster, 1 Beastflayer Baron, 2 Offal Hounds, 3 Ghoul Gore-squire, 3 Ghoul Trackers.
How to buy a Royal Beastflayers Warband
The warband was initially released as part of the Nightmare Quest set, but is since available as an individual box.
Mit den Angüssen können Sie bauen:
- 1 Royal Flaymaster with 2 different weapon options
- 2 Offal Hounds
- 1 Beastflayer Baron
- 3 Ghoul Gore-Squire
- 3 Ghoul Tracker
Tips on painting a Royal Beastflayers Warband for Warcry
The Beastflayers can be painted as any other Flesh-Eater Courts model. As there’s plenty of tutorials online for them, Warhammer Community does not have a specific video for this warband (yet) but you can find the colour schemes on the Citadel app.
Some videos that I have personally used as inspiration for my Flesh-Eater Courts army are from GW itself in this Crypt Ghoul guide, a more advanced yet simple technique for your heroes from Painting Coach and a guide for speed painting the entire range in 24 hours from Vince Venturella.
