The Vulkyn Flameseekers are the most fervent believers in Vulcatrix, the godbeast that died in a great fight against Grimnir, Fyreslayer’s most revered god. They travel the realms in search of Magmadroth eggs to raise and train as they consider them the progeny of the Ur-Salamander.
Background and Lore of the Vulkyn Flameseekers Warband
All Fyreslayers venerate the fiery duardin god Grimnir that died in an epic fight against the godbeast Vulcatrix, both shattering to pieces across the mortal realms. Grimnir essence is said to be contained in the ur-gold so dear to all Fyreslayers, but their combined shattered spirit created also the eggs of the Magmadroth: giant fire beasts that Fyreslayers ride to battle.
The Lofnir lodge in particular, believes that Vulcatrix spirit exploded forming seven sacred flames called vulkazharr and by bathing the eggs of the Magmadroth in that godly essence, they can imbue part of the Ur-Salamander power in those creatures.
It is for this reason that the Flameseekers are born. They roam the Mortal Realms, staying away from their lodges for long periods, collecting eggs and putting down the most uncontrolled Magmadroth to avoid threats to nearby Fyreslayer settlements.
It is not a rare occurrence that such war parties are led directly by a Runefather whose solemn duty is to maintain the Vulkyn religion, while the Drothmaster is the one responsible to train the Magmadroth or restrain the most unruly. The warband is often accompanied by the Kyndledroth, the offspring of magmic beasts.
The Vulkyn armour and weapons are made with repurposed scales of fallen Magmadroths or with those shed by the beasts while they grow. Even in death those creatures are venerated.
But how do the Vulkyn tame other rebellious beasts in the battlefield? Let’s find out.
Fighters in the Vulkyn Flameseekers Warband
Note: if you haven’t read the basic rules for Warcry before reading this article, it might be helpful to know that the game’s abilities are activated by using 6 dice that you roll at the start of your turn.
If two of the dice show the same value, they can be used to activate a Double ability. If three show the same value, they can be used for a Triple ability, and so on.
So, when this article refers to an ability being a Double, a Triple or a Quad, it refers to this system. It might sound a bit confusing, but takes no time to get used to when you start playing
The Vulkyn Flameseekers warband is made of 7 different fighters, of which 2 are the leaders.
Vulkyn Runefather
- Vulkyn Runefather with Drothvault Greataxe: 150 points
- Vulkyn Runefather with Mastercrafted Bokaz: 150 points
The Vulkyn Runefather is the leader of this warband. He comes with two profiles. Both have 2″ range but the Drothvault Greataxe is more balanced with 4 attacks at Strength 4 and 2/4 damage, while the Mastercrafted Bokaz hits a bit harder (Strength 5 and 2/5 damage) but with less attacks (3).
On top of that, both profiles have access to an 8″ ranged attack for 1/3 damage at Strength 4 that can be useful to compensate the warband overall low mobility (3″ movement). The Vulkyn Runefather is a tough opponent with 22 wounds and Toughness 5, meaning that he will be comfortable in the midst of the fray.
They don’t have access to any specific ability, but rather they share a good number with the rest of the warband starting with 2 main Doubles. The first one is an ability to compensate the low movement: it allows to perform a bonus move or disengage action after performing 2 move actions in the same round. It is slightly better than the universal Rush.
The second one (Ignite Weapon) is interesting as it allows to treat a miss as a critical hit and despite the average Strength 4 of the warband you are bound to miss especially if you have several attacks. Works only for the next action, but you can still use it to ensure some damage goes through.
The warband Quad, usable by everyone, is another ability oriented towards dealing damage. In particular you roll 6 dice and for each 2+ you do as much damage as half the ability’s value. It is quite reliable (2+) but you need to have a high Quad to ensure it’s better than the universal Rampage, at least considering both Runefathers.
Finally, the warband reaction downgrades up to 2 critical hits from the opponent to normal hits. If you have a key fighter on his last leg and you need to ensure no critical hit takes him down, then it can be useful. You will need to do some maths first to see if that is enough and worth, as most of the warband hits hard and if they are going to survive anyway, it may be better to swing back. But it’s definitely one reaction to keep in mind for the right occasion.
Drothmaster: 125 points
The Drothmaster shares the same 8″ ranged attack as the rest of the warband, but in addition his melee attack has a 3″ range and a good damage (2/4 at Strength 4). Comparing to the Runefather, his Toughness goes down to 4 (same as the rest of the warband) with 20 wounds.
He has access to the Triple Creed of Flame that provides free actions to a single friendly fighter that is not within 6″. To memory, this is the first time an ability triggers outside a specific range. The actions granted depend on the fighter receiving them. Anyone can do either 2 movements or 1 attack, while the Kyndledroth can do 2 movements and then 1 attack. Note that it does not cover disengage actions.
Scalebreaker
- Scalebreaker with Fyresteel Splitaxe: 95 points
- Scalebreaker with Bokaz: 95 points
The Scalebreakers are the basic infantry of the army. They don’t have specific abilities and share the same ranged attack as the rest of the warband. In melee, the Fyresteel Splitaxe provides the greatest Strength (5) for 2/4 damage, while the Bokaz has more damage on critical hit (5) at the cost of Strength (4). Both have 3 attacks at 2″ range that makes a basic unit with Toughness 4 an extremely good profile.
Drothblood Thane: 140 points
The Drothblood Thane hits really hard with his 5 attacks and a profile worth of a Runefather (he has only 2 wounds less and 1″ range melee profile). Toughness 5 guarantees that he is not going to suffer the shortest range in the warband (he still has the 8″ attack as all others).
His ability however is the wildest seen so far. It costs a Triple and guarantees 6 damage at a minimum, but anything more is a gamble: you pick an engaged enemy fighter and roll 6 dice. For any roll equal to the ability’s value, you allocate as much damage, for anything else you do 1 damage. This way high Triples can become pretty scary (the maximum potential is 36 damage, highly unlikely), but the certainty to do some damage on a Triple, makes it a great ability.
Kyndledroth: 110 points
The last fighter in the warband is the little Kyndledroth, with the Beast runemark. It also has the 8″ ranged profile, but in this case is a single shot at Strength 6 with higher damage (2/4). If you are risk averse, the Double that guarantees to treat a miss as critical hit would befit here.
In melee, the Kyndledroth handles itself well, with 4 attacks for 2/3 damage, Toughness 4 and 10 wounds. A bit pricey maybe but it also has a Double ability with a chance to do some damage on a roll of 5+ (you roll as many dice as the ability’s value). There are probably better ways to use a Double (like the bonus move actions) but in case there’s a big group of enemies all around a single target and you feel lucky with a high Double, you can try it out.
Apart from this, it is the fastest fighter in this group (4″) but it can’t use the warband reaction.
Abilities for the Vulkyn Flameseekers Warband
- Blazing Impetus (Double, Everyone): After making two move actions in the same activation, can make a third one or a disengage action.
- Ignite Weapon (Double, Everyone): Consider one miss in the next attack as a critical hit instead.
- Kyndlebreath (Double, Kyndledroth): Roll up to 6 dice and for each 5+ allocate 1 damage to a visible enemy fighter within 6″ and any other enemy within 2″ of the target.
- Berserk Rampage (Triple, Drothblood Thane): Roll 6 dice and allocate to an engaged enemy fighter from a minimum of 6 to a maximum of 36 damage (depending on dice roll and ability’s value).
- Creed of Flame (Triple, Drothmaster): A friendly fighter not within 6″ performs 2 bonus move actions or a bonus attack action. If it is a Kyndledroth, it performs all three actions in sequence.
- Aspect of the Scale (Quad, Everyone): Allocate up to 18 damage (depending on dice roll and ability’s value) to an enemy fighter within 3″.
Reaction for the Vulkyn Flameseekers Warband
Introduced in the new season of Warcry, Reactions are things that can be done in certain circumstances, but always during the enemy turn. They cost one action, so they can be used only by fighters that have not activated yet or are waiting. There are 3 universal reactions and one specific to each warband:
Runic Flare (Everyone except the Kyndledroth)
- When: During an enemy melee attack action but before hit rolls.
- What: Up to 2 critical hits are considered normal hits instead.
Strategy and Tactics for the Vulkyn Flameseekers Warband
The Vulkyn Flameseekers characterize themselves to be a tough warband with high damage potential. They have low mobility, with a 3″ movement that could hinder most warbands, but to compensate they all have an 8″ range shooting attack (although not the most damaging) and a couple of abilities that provide bonus move actions.
Toughness 4 (5 for the Runefather and Thane) and high wounds means that they are not that easy to eliminate. And if you are down to the last few wounds, you can use the warband reaction (not available to the Kyndledroth) to ensure up to 2 critical hits are treated as normal hits instead.
Then you have the damage potential and a host of abilities concentrated on splashing more damage, starting from the Thane’s Triple that guarantees 6 damage and gambles its way up depending on the dice rolls and the ability’s value. The warband Quad pales in comparison (but can be used by everyone else), as it works only on a 2+ and depends in high-valued Quads to do decent damage (maximum 3 damage on a Quad 5 or 6 for each of the six dice rolled). In certain circumstances the universal Quad, Rampage, is better as it gives also a free move action before the free attack.
Even the Kyndledroth has its own area of damage attack, but is a bit restricted in range and activates only on a 5+. Another damage based ability is the other generic Double that treats one miss from the next attack action (ranged included) as a critical hit instead. Useful for those profiles with damage 5 on critical hit, but also to guarantee a kill (one dice either hits or critically hits).
And that’s it… There’s no other synergistic ability with the only one being the Drothmaster inciting the Kyndledroth to move and attack (but can target also other fighters to make them move OR attack). And there’s also no support or defensive ability except the warband reaction. The entire warband credo is about hitting as hard as possible.
If they can’t engage, they can still shoot, but since their best profiles have 2″ range (except the Thane), they can even hit in melee without technically be engaged. That increases survivability and makes them an excellent warband for beginners concentrating on making as much damage as possible.
Taking objectives may be a problem, and that’s where the 4″ movement of the Kyndledroth, the warband basic Double, or the Drothmaster Triple come in handy. Holding objectives? Not that difficult.
Let’s also address another great change in this warband compared to the rest of the Fyreslayer’s range: aside from the cute Kyndledroth there’s for the first time female duardin represented as warriors! That’s a great addition that adds so much deserved visual variety to an army otherwise quite monochrome.
If you like the fiery and fire-y style of these duardin, this is a simple warband to start with.
Pros and Cons of the Vulkyn Flameseekers Warband
Pros:
+ Everyone with ranged attacks
+ High damage potential
Cons:
– Little synergies and no support abilities
– Low movement
Some thematic warbands for the Vulkyn Flameseekers
Just for fun here we present few thematic warbands, meant more for fun or narrative context than for competitive play. Note that in narrative play you need to complete a quest that allows you to recruit a Hero before being able to add him to your roster.
Out of the box: 1 Vulkyn Runefather with Drothvault Greataxe, 1 Drothmaster, 1 Thane, 1 Kyndledroth, 3 Scalebreaker with Fyresteel Splitaxe, 2 Scalebreaker with Bokaz.
How to buy a Vulkyn Flameseekers Warband
The Vulkyn Flameseekers have their own individual box, whose sprue allows the following combinations:
- 1 Vulkyn Runefather with Greataxe or Mastercrafted Bokaz
- 1 Kyndledroth
- 1 Drothmaster
- 1 Drothblood Thane
- 5 Scalebreaker (3 males and 2 females) with Axe or Bokaz
Tips on painting a Vulkyn Flameseekers Warband for Warcry
The Vulkyn Flameseekers are part of the Fyreslayers army, and as such, you can use any colour scheme from your favourite collection. If you want to stay on the classic theme, there’s plenty of guides online, starting from this quite old video from Warhammer Community. If you prefer using the contrast range of paints, Warhipster has you covered with a more recent video. If you want to add a touch of lore, the Lofnir lodge is famous for their black hands and feet.
For the Kyndledroth, you can follow any tutorial for the Magmadroth scales, like this one from Warhammer Community.
