This is a review of the Start Collecting Beasts of Chaos: exactly what you need to start an army focused on mobility but also wild power.
Beasts of Chaos is, in reality, a collection of 3 different factions with a pinch of monsters and there’s no box that would represent them in their entirety. This one, however, gives you a good starting point.
If you do not know anything about what a Start Collecting box is, here is a short introduction.
The Start Collecting boxes are a very convenient way to get started playing Warhammer or start a new army with a specific faction.
You will usually get at least 1 character, 1 sort of “basic unit” (many times a battleline unit) and 1 unit that is a bigger elite/monster type sort of deal.
Which models are included in the Start Collecting Beasts of Chaos Box?
This box advertises:
- 1 Great Bray-shaman
- 1 Cygor
- 10 Ungors
- 10 Bestigors
However, the Cygor can also be assembled as a Ghorgon, while the Ungors can be assembled as Ungor Raiders.
Beasts of Chaos are divided into 3 factions, and this box represents the Brayherd (the most numerous) and the Warherd (the more savage and animalistic).
1 Great Bray-shaman
The Great Bray-shaman is a leader option and a Brayherd wizard. As such he has access to few useful spells and is best kept at the back of your lines, close to a Herdstone and ready to sacrifice some smaller units to get Primordial points.
Those are basically your summoning currency and can get really useful in later turns. You will need one or more wizards in your army making the Great Bray-shaman a great choice.
10 Bestigors
The Bestigors are your elite infantry option for Brayherd.
They can be set in ambush and appear in the rear of your enemy at the end of your first movement phase for a surprise attack.
They hit hard but they are not too resistant. For increased durability keep them in range of the Herdstone to avoid battleshock tests.
10 Ungors
The Ungors are your cheapest units, and they come in two variants: a melee one that counts also as battleline, and a ranged one.
As most Brayherd units their musician allows them to run and charge (or run and shoot for the Raiders) making them useful to engage key enemy units sooner.
However, with a defence of 6+ they will dissolve the first time they get hit so they can be used in two ways: as sacrifice units beside your Herdstone to get Primordial points (and tick the battleline option) or in big numbers ready to charge and hit first.
When in groups of 30 or more they can re-roll 1s and 2s to hit.
Ungors can be assembled with swords or spears: spears have a 5+ to hit instead of 4+ but with a range of 2 inches and the bonus for having big blocks it’s definitively also a good option.
In smaller groups, for objective grabbing or choke points, they are probably better armed with blades.
1 Cygor/Ghorgon
The Cygor and the Ghorgon are behemoths belonging to the Warherd faction. They are massive centrepieces with decent wounds but poor defence.
The Cygor is your missile option with a massive boulder for D6 damage and specialized in hunting wizards with 2 dispells per round, while the Ghorgon is your melee focused beast able to swallows entire models.
Both options are sadly a bit overpriced for their effectiveness in a Beasts of Chaos army.
Points cost of the Start Collecting Beasts of Chaos Box
- The Great Bray-Shaman at 100 points is a solid option for a leader and a wizard and, if chosen as general, the Bestigors become battleline.
- Bestigors at 120 points (horde discount at 300 for 30) are an effective elite option.
- The Ungors at 60 (200 for 40) are between the cheapest battlelines in the entire game. The Ungor Raiders are slightly pricier at 80 points.
- Your behemoth option is between the 200 points of a Ghorgon and the 180 of a Cygor.
If you assemble the units as on the box you will have a total of 420 points.
Note: this article was made prior to the December 2019 points update, so some points could have changed there.
Value of the Start Collecting Beasts of Chaos box
The Start Collecting box is the only way to obtain these miniatures outside of ordering directly from Games Workshop.
The Cygor/Ghorgon costs 35£, the Bestigors 27.5£, the Ungors 17.5£ and the Great Bray-shaman 10£ for a whopping 90£. At 60£ retail price the discount is a nice 33%.
Overall verdict on the Start Collecting Beasts of Chaos box
A Beasts of Chaos army can go in multiple directions, but for a competitive 2000 points army you can’t really miss most options available in this box.
You will want plenty of Bestigors and Ungors, but you may not be interested in more than one Cygor/Ghorgon.
And you have other alternative sculpts available for Shamans including the Tzaangor Shaman that is another valid option for Breyherd wizards.
In summary this box is a valid starting point, but maybe becomes redundant after one pruchase especially considering most of the discount value is in the big monster that would rarely see a combat field.
Click to check price on the Beasts of Chaos Box
