This article will detail the Sons of Behemat army starting from its lore, describing the main units and their roles, how the army plays and finally our personal opinion of the army.
For a complete run-down of the different armies available in Age of Sigmar, consult our Age of Sigmar army overview article.
In this article we will refer often to Matched Play and other technical terms like allegiance abilities, command points, army roles in building a list, core battalions, Endless Spells/Invocations, etc. We assume the reader will be knowledgeable with those terms, otherwise please refer to the relevant guides for more details.
Age of Sigmar 4.0
This article has not been updated yet with the newest rules and discoveries from the fourth edition of Age of Sigmar. We will be reviewing all articles and updating them really soon.
Overview of Sons of Behemat Army
The Sons of Behemat are a particular army in Age of Sigmar. They are entirely composed of giants, including some of the tallest miniatures Games Workshop produced for fantasy games.
As such, they cost a lot of points and an army can include as few as only 4 models! The entire lot has only a handful of warscrolls but there are just 2 kits from which those are generated.
The first kit, the “small” gargant, has its roots in Warhammer Fantasy and is also playable in other factions with a different warscroll (Gloomspite Gitz and Beasts of Chaos), the second one is brand new and allows to assemble all different “big” gargants with an even more recent sprue that provides extra upgrades for the latest 2 warscroll added to the army.
In game they play as they look: giant models rampaging the battlefield and smashing everything on their path. The recent battletome, that brings them in the third edition, reduced their competitive power but increased the funniness of the army. So, while they have been at the top of all winning charts for a long time, they have now taken a dip (remaining around the 50% range).
Cost-wise, despite the low count of models required, the army includes the most expensive kit in Age of Sigmar to date, of which you may need a few, ramping up the cost of the army more than other more standard factions.
Lore of Sons of Behemat Army
Gargants are huge humanoids taller than giants often depicted razing to the ground entire cities just by walking in. The biggest of them are called Mega-Gargants and their origin comes from long time ago during the Age of Myth.
Ymnog, the Grandgather of Gargants, was a godbeast of unimaginable size. Legends say that Behemat himself was born in its intestines from which he managed to escape after poisoning his father from the inside. Ymnog was eventually killed by Sigmar himself, leaving the World Titan Behemat free to roam the Mortal Realms and with no one challenging him, he could grow immensely.
There are many stories of how Gorkamorka, jealous of his freedom, challenged Behemat and the deeds that the latter completed trying to always be at the same level as the greenskin god. One day Behemat confronted the God-King himself and in the ensuing fight Sigmar smashed his jaw forcing him in centuries long slumber.
Behemat is considered the father of the Gargants as he was the tallest, biggest and most respected of them. He exemplified the saying “might makes right”. At the beginning of the Age of Sigmar, Archaon the Everchosen, tried to awaken Behemat to ensorcell him to the forces of Chaos. To avoid it, the Stormcast Eternals led by the Celestant Prime were forced to kill him once for all.
The Stormcast Eternals would have not been able to succeed without the help from King Brodd, a Mega-Gargant whose fame was unrivalled, and his own clan who distracted the Chaos forces while the Celestant-Prime readied himself. Brodd did not know that the plan was for Sigmar to kill once again one of his ancestors and witnessing this betrayal caused him great grief so that he isolated himself for centuries.
Until the primordial call of Ghur, the Realm of Beasts, sent every creature in a wild rampage. It is now the Age of Beasts: Kragnos, the God of Earthquakes, was freed from his prison and is challenging every civilization once again; Gargants are gathering in big groups following the energy of the Great Stomp and King Brodd is back once again, preaching the truth behind Behemat’s betrayal at the hands of Sigmar and gathering a giant host of Gargants to bring war to the God-King himself.
Army rules for the Sons of Behemat
But how does a Sons of Behemat army play on a tabletop? First let’s go through the main rules for this army.
As always first please look at the relevant FAQ section on Warhammer Community.
The first choice to make is which Tribe (sub-faction) you will adopt. Each tribe forces a choice of general and there’s one for each type of Mega-Gargant. As each Tribe comes with its own rules, we will look at them in detail below.
Some traits are in common for all Tribes, like Mightier makes Rightier, that allows Mancrusher Gargants to count as 10 models when contesting objectives, while the Mega-Gargants have a value on their warscroll that decreases the more wounds they have taken starting from 20 or 25 for King Brodd.
Mega-Gargants also have their own Monstrous Rampages that we will describe in the Monster section.
The generic command traits and artefacts of power available are some of the best selections seen in Age of Sigmar 3.0 battletomes yet. Good examples of command traits include Rabble Rouser that adds +1 to the charge roll of all friendly Sons of Behemat wholly within 18” and Furious Temper that allows once per game to look at the top row of the damage table independently from the wounds suffered.
Between the artefacts it’s worth mentioning the Amberbone Totem that allows to run and charge and Extra-callous Feet that makes one of the profile attacks of all Gargants extremely damaging.
All tribes have their set of allegiance abilities (mostly affecting Mancrusher Gargants), command traits and artefacts of power that you can use in addition.
The first of our sub-factions is the Taker Tribe that requires a Kraken-eater as a general. This tribe increases the number of models each unit counts when contesting objectives: little Gargants tally as 15 and Kraken-eaters 5 more than the value on their current bracket. They have a command ability that makes the little Gargants more damaging but only against artefact bearers or unique characters.
Taker’s command trait allows the general to carry 2 different artefacts of power or stop Inspiring Presence or Rally around him while the artefacts allow one Kraken-eater to summon an endless spell as if they were a wizard (note the FAQ changed a bit the wording to enable taking the endless spell) or to do some damage and debuff to an engaged enemy hero.
The Breaker Tribe requires a Gatebreaker as general. While the ability for little Gargants to damage more units garrisoned or on terrain is extremely circumstantial, the command ability that allows them to charge 3D6 instead of 2D6 is more useful. In addition, you can choose a bonus to hit for Gatebreakers and Mancrushers against heroes and wizards, totems and elite, or war machines.
The command traits allow the general to choose two of the to-hit bonuses mentioned above or to get a buff when near defensible terrain features or units on top of scenery. The artefacts of power are less incisive, with a bonus to wound against heroes or mortal wounds on unmodified hit roll of 6.
The Smasher Tribe requires the newest addition, the Beast-smasher, as general. Mancrusher get a special attack that replaces their other attacks against a monster and the ability to fight on death and use the top row of their damage table when the general issues this Tribe’s command ability.
The command traits provide a once per battle 4+ ward or the ability to heal after killing a monster; while the artefacts allow to “break” a hero, monster or war-machine armour (ignore positive modifiers to save rolls for the rest of the battle) or a once per battle +1 to hit to all friendly Sons of Behemat.
The last Tribe is the Stomper Tribe, with a Warstomper as its general. When he issues commands to little Gargants, those affect all Mancrusher in range instead of a single unit. A new command ability allows them to increase their shooting attacks by 1 and they become more damaging against horde units.
The command traits allow either to re-roll for his ability to throw enemy models to each other, or to roll 3D6 for charge rolls. The artefacts either provide a 5+ ward when heavily injured (that well combines with Monstrously Tough that gives +5 wounds) or increases Bravery of all Sons of Behemat in range that helps heroes recover wounds using Heroic Recovery.
Units and their roles in the Sons of Behemat Army
Heroes in Sons of Behemat
Heroes can perform Heroic Actions, in addition to the other abilities they can perform. You do it in the hero phase and you can only do one heroic action. Here is the list:
- Heroic Leadership: on a 4+ (or 2+ if your general has been slain) get a command point only that hero can use.
- Heroic Willpower: one non-Wizard hero can attempt to dispel or unbind a spell for that phase like he was a wizard.
- Their Finest Hour: can be used only once by each hero to improve save and wound rolls by 1 for that turn.
- Heroic Recovery: a disengaged hero can heal D3 wounds if he rolls less or equal to his bravery with 2D6.
Sons of Behemat is an unconventional army where all units are Monsters, they all count as Battlelines (except Kragnos, of which we have a separate guide) and their Leaders are also Behemoths.
The veritable leader of this army is King Brodd, a massive Mega-Gargant that counts as a general even when he is not picked as one (warmaster). His particularity is that he is a priest, unlocking new abilities to this army. His signature prayer provides three buffs army-wide, each once per game: increase movement, healing everyone or improve rend of the main attack profiles.
All Mega-Gargants share some abilities, including Longshanks that allows them to fly over non-Monster units and terrain features lower than 4”, damage after charging a unit, protection from abilities that slain a model directly, prevent Inspiring Presence to engaged enemy units and Timberrrr! that allows the killing player to do some area damage around a point representing the giant falling after the final blow.
On top of that, King Brodd’s creepers can prevent monstrous rampages of enemy monsters engaged.
The Beast-smasher Mega-Gargant specialises on fighting other monsters, obtaining a special single attack that can do 5D6 damage to the target monster (instead of 3 separate attacks each for 5 straight damage) but also the ability to perform two different monstrous rampages against the same engaged enemy monster.
As the general of a Smasher Tribe, he provides a similar version of his special attack also to the smaller Gargants and a command ability that lets them fight at the top bracket even if they are dead.
There is a named Beast-smasher called Odo Godswallow that can be used as a mercenary in any Destruction army. The profile is similar, with a +1 to hit against monsters.
The Warstomper Mega-Gargant instead can throw dead enemies to their own comrades! In game this means that he can remove one model from the game if he rolls twice his wound characteristic and do as many mortal wounds as the wounds of the slain model to a unit in range. It is far from being reliable, but it is quite scenic.
In addition, his main attack is calculated by counting how many models there are within 3”, capped to 10. As it is currently the cheapest Mega-Gargant, it allows for some interesting list building exercises.
As a Stomper Tribe general, he can provide the same command to all Mancrusher Gargants in his army, but how many there can be?
One-eyed Grunnock is a named Warstomper that can be used as a mercenary in any Chaos or Destruction army. His profile is similar, with the addition of a debuff to units in range if he attacks first.
The Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant is the one that you use when you want to move around the objectives preventing your enemies from getting bonus points. You need first to control it, then in your hero phase you can kick it 2D6” in the direction that you prefer, meaning that you could move it also within areas (from the opponent area to yours or vice versa) and the objective would change point value accordingly.
Apart from this, he has a missile attack and can also slay D3 models each combat phase provided he can double their wound characteristic with individual rolls. He is the general of the Taker Tribe, a sub-faction focused on controlling objectives.
Bundo Whalebiter is a named Kraken-eater that can be used as a mercenary in any Order or Destruction army. His profile is the same but he can apply himself strike-last effect to add +1 to both hit and wounds roll for that combat phase.
The Gatebreaker is the last of our Mega-Gargants profiles. Other than a single missile attack more damaging than the Kraken-eater, has also a particular special attack that replaces all other profiles and, on a 4+, does 4D6 mortal wounds. This is usually less than his normal profile at top bracket, but once he goes down or against some high saves models it can be an alternative.
He gets some extra bonuses against units in garrison or in cover, same bonuses that are provided to the Mancrusher Gargants on a Breaker Tribe of which he is the general. The other addition is that the general of that sub-faction can also make the little Gargants charge 3D6 instead of 2D6 with a command ability.
Big Drogg Fork-kicka closes the list of Gargant mercenaries rooting for Death and Destruction armies, with same profile as a Gatebreaker plus a chance for some mortal wounds at the end of the combat phase.
The Mancrusher Gargant is the other kit of this army and represents the smaller giants that could/should be the core of the army. It can be taken as a single model per unit or as a Mancrusher Mob with 3 models in it. The biggest difference is that as a Mob, one of them becomes a Bullstomper that, apart having one extra attack, counts as a champion and allows the unit to issue command abilities to itself.
When performing monstruous rampages, you need to consider the unit champion, but on a Stomp, each other model has a chance to add extra mortal wounds.
Apart from this, they have similar rules as the other gargants, with a weak shooting attack, and several melee profiles. Some rules are derived from their bigger brethren, for example damage after charge, slaying models during pile in and mortal wounds after they die.
Each Tribe provides them an extra bonus depending on which direction you want to take them, providing further customization. In addition, if within range from a Mega-Gargant they can run and charge. Ability that well combines with other buffs like the Breaker Tribe 3D6 charge.
Monsters in Sons of Behemat
Monsters can perform special abilities called Monstrous Rampages at the end of the Charge phase. Each action can be performed only once per phase therefore only up to 4 monsters can perform one at a time. Here is the current list:
- Roar: on a 3+ an engaged enemy unit cannot issue or receive orders in the following combat phase.
- Stomp: on a 2+ do D3 mortal wounds to an engaged unit that is not a monster.
- Titanic Duel: + 1 to hit rolls against another engaged Monster.
- Smash to Rubble: on a 3+ demolish a close-by terrain feature, disabling its scenery rules.
Everyone in this army is a monster, in addition they have access to three extra monstrous rampages:
- Beast Grapple gives strike-last to the Gargant and the targeted monster he is fighting against, allowing to single out a monster, especially on the Gargant’s player turn.
- Colossal Slam instead allows to change position of a monster while giving some mortal wounds. Great combined with the one above to move an important monster in between two Mega-Gargants.
- Earth-shaking Roar makes low-wound units flee based on their bravery and is probably the least useful of the rampages available (Stomp usually does more damage).
Wizards and Priests in Sons of Behemat
King Brodd is the only Priest in the army, and there’s no wizards.
Endless Spells, Terrain and Start Collecting in a Sons of Behemat Army
This section will be rather short. The army does not have any faction terrain or endless spell. The only way to summon a generic endless spell is via a specific artefact available only to the Taker Tribe.
There’s also no discounted box as of yet, but the Mancrusher Mob box contains 3 Mancrusher models almost at the price of 2, so that’s a good deal. Everything else is available from the Mega-Gargant kit.
Tactics and Final Verdict on the Sons of Behemat Army
A Sons of Behemat army is extremely fun to play. They have been exceptionally competitive in the past, and they may be suffering from their sins in this edition, but they are more entertaining to play.
The low count models makes them a good starter army especially for people practicing their painting skills thanks to their bigger details. The main kit, apart being able to create 5 different profiles, is full of customization options and is a dream for any hobbyist. And for experienced players, they provide great inspiration, take a look at what some artists created in this article from Warhammer Community.
And check out also this instagram gallery with this amazing model with the Flaming Sword (it’s a universal artefact of power) or this futuristic Frankenstein monster, both from Vincent Venturella.
Depending on the current season and point value, you can be able to squeeze in 5 units, usually 3 Mega-Gargants, 1 unit of 3 Mancrusher and 1 individual Mancrusher. But armies of 4 units are not unusual either. They do not have any allies, but the recent appearance of Regiments of Renown allowing mercenaries to be used in almost any army, can open up list building opportunities for this army.
Another consideration regards the mercenary warscrolls, meaning that most Mega-Gargants can be used in other armies. If you already have another army, then you could bring one of the giants along. With the balance between battletomes achieved in the third edition, most factions already have solutions for most occasions and don’t need extra hammers, but if you play just for fun, what’s better than a giant smashing things to rubble?
And that should be the spirit with which you play this army. It will take extremely concerted effort for your opponent to take down one of these behemoths, and it will be an epic moment, for both of you, when this happens. If you are planning to bring them to tournaments, you can equally have fun, and in capable hands you could achieve a 5-0 (5 victories in a grand tournament) although it’s a road with a steep incline.
Other resources
Some excellent information that we often use from articles like this one comes from YouTube channels like Warhammer Weekly with Vince Venturella, AoS Coach and of course The Honest Wargamer.
If you are interested in the competitive standpoint, when we talk about statistics, a tremendous effort is done by Rob from the Honest Wargamer, Ziggy and Tsports Network! in the AoS Stat Centre with precious information, constantly kept up to date.
Really good informative material is also collected by Dan from AoS Shorts.