‘Warhammer: The Old World’ How To Play Beastmen Brayherds
Today take a look at the basics of how to play Warhammer: The Old World’s Beastmen Brayherds – the vile dangers of the woods.
The Beastmen Brayherds are one of the core armies in Warhammer the Old World. They are a classic to both Warhammer Fantasy and Fantasy in general. Drawing on the darker side of old myths and legends, these servants of Chaos live in the woods and dark places of the Old World and prey on the civilized world. They are a constant danger and represent the threat of Chaos that is most common in the current day of the Old World. They are a fan favorite army with a long lingange and a large line and many fans.
So below we will offer some tips on how to play The Beastmen Brayherds and get started with the army.
What Are The Beastmen
The Beastmen Brayherds are just that… Beastmen. Strange meldings of man and beast, they haunt the forests of the World Of Legend. Created when Chaos first arrived in the world the Child of Chaos are quite literally born of the fusion, at that time, of men and various beasts, and since they have proved a thorn in the side of forces of good and order. While the greater powers of Chaos may wax and wane the Beastmen are always there, always a threat, always waiting.
The greater whole of the Brayherds is made up of many breeds of Beastmen, some more deadly than others. Common types included the weak Ungors, the more deadly Wargors, the fearsome Minotaurs and the fast Centigors. This however is just the tip of the iceberg, with numerous other breeds found throughout the world. While many Beastmen seem to be born to other Beastmen and Beastwomen, others are born to human parents or from various mutations.
Above the normal breeds of Beastmen you can also find many great monsters of the Woods and Chaos fighting with the Breyherds. While not true Beastmen these monsters join the Breyherds as they go to war. And go to war they do. For the Breyherds have no friends, in service to the Dark Gods they fight any and all comers anywhere in the world. Even other servants of the Ruinous Powers may not be safe from their naked aggression.
Why Play The Beastmen Brayherds
Do you like the darker side of Old myths and folklore? Long to play the howling Germanic tribes that tore down Rome? Does you heart beat fast at the thought of running a horde of large monsters? Or maybe you prefer a life of skulking and ambush, out foxing a better armed enemy? Then Beastmen Brayherds might be the army for you!
Beastmen Strengths
- Large Monsters, lots of them.
- Powerful Chariot Game
- Great Magic Items and pretty decent magic.
- An evasive army, with lots of tricks, scouts and ambushing.
Beastmen Weaknesses
- Mediocre and limited ranged attacks.
- Few formed troops and low grade infantry.
- Very little armor on most units.
- No traditional heavy cavalry.
Signature Beastmen Rules
- Primal Fury – This rule, found on many units, lets them take a Leadership test in combat to get re-rolls of 1s. Some units have addtional rules that work off of this, such as Blood Rage which gives you a change to become frenzied.
- Gaze of The Gods – Allows characters to roll on a table each turn to (normally) get a buff.
- Mark of Chaos Undivided – The only Mark Beastmen can have, units with this rule re-roll Fear, Panic and Terror tests.
- Ambushers- While this rule isn’t unique to Beastmen they probably make more use of it than any other army, with a ton of units having access to it.
- Herdstones– Not a true special but instead a special terrain feature you can buy. Control of it gives you various benefits.
Beastmen Armies of Infamy
- Minotaur Blood Herd – An army that focuses on, as the name implies, Minotaurs. If you want a big hard hitting army that’s not super fast, this is it.
- Wild Herd – An army that focuses infantry and the more warped nature of the Beastmen.
Key Beastmen Units
Here are some of the most important Beastmen Units for you to know about:
Beastmen Chieftains
Beastlords and Wargors are your basic combat characters. They have decent stats and access to good items, but not a ton of tricks, thought they do help your ambushers come in. They can’t take normal mounts, but do get access to chariots making them decently fast and deadly. Still there isn’t anything really crazy about them.
Beastmen Shamans
Great Bray-Shamans and Bray-Shamans are your typical casters. They aren’t really any better at magic than anyone else, but slightly harder to kill. They also get access to chariot mounts which does let you do a few tricks with them. They also get access to the Viletide spell, which is one of the better magic missiles in the game. Taking a Shaman with Viletide and the Hagtree Fetish is considered mandatory by many Beastmen players and a very deadly combination.
Minotaur Champions
Doombulls and Gorebulls are the best combat characters in the army and some of the best in the game. While they can’t take a mount, they have some of the best base states of any characters around and access to a lot of great upgrade options. Throw them in a Minotaur Herd unit for some real punch. Those Herds are hard hitting Monstrous infantry, though they lack good armor.
Bestigors Herds
Beastmen get access to three main types of Infantry. Ungors are slight infantry and the only unit in the army that can take bows. Gors are more of a medium infantry, with good states, but bad armor and lack staying power. Bestigors are the heavy infantry of the bunch. They have great weapons and heavy armor, so hit decently hard, but still don’t have the best amor. They can get some decent rules and are the closest to traditional line infantry the army has. They aren’t amazing, but the do pack a punch and are pretty cheap for elite infantry.
Dragon Ogres
Dragon Ogres are one of the best units in the Beastmen army, and many consider them one of the best units in the game. They are a hard hitting unit of Monstrous Cavalry, with very good stats. While not as fast as most other cav (they lack swiftstide) they hit like a truck with a ton of high S/AP attacks. They’ve also got some of the best armor in the army. The ability to take them as a single model unit opens up the option to have a lone and pretty cheap bruiser running around being annoying.
Dragon Ogre Shaggoth
The Shaggoth is the bigger, meaner version of the normal Dragon Ogres. This guy is a true monstrous creature and acts a lot more like a character than a unit. Not only does it have a rocking stat line, but it gets access to both magic items and Chaos Mutations making it quite deadly. It’s also got a magic missile bound spell.
Ghorgon
Beastmen get access to a good half dozen+ large monsters and you’ll see various combos. One of the hardest hitting they get is the Ghorgon. The Ghorgon lacks some of the tricks and rules of others, instead opting for brute power in combat. It can gets a lot of very powerful attacks, attacks that have both killing blow and monster slayer, making it a real threat to most though characters and powerful units. It is held back by frenzy and only the lightest armor, but this is a model that with a few 6s can swing a whole game.
Sample Beastmen Army
Characters 749 pts
Great Bray-Shaman -280 pts
-Level 4 Wizard
– General
– Hagtree Fetish
– Chalice of Dark Rain
– Obsidian Lodestone
– Dark Magic
Wargor -170 pts-
– Great weapon
– Heavy armour
– Shield
– Ambushers
– Headsman’s Axe
– Slug-skin
Wargor -240 pts
– Great weapon
– Heavy armour
– Shield
– Ambushers
– Battle Standard Bearer [Banner of the Warped Moon]
– Axe of Men
– Crown of Horns
Wargor -59 pts
– Hand weapon
– Heavy armour
Core Units -501 pts
10 Ungor Herd -67 pts
– Shortbows
– Half-horn
– Standard bearer
– Musician
10 Ungor Herd -67 pts
– Shortbows
– Half-horn
– Standard bearer
– Musician
10 Ungor Herd -67 pts
– Shortbows
– Half-horn
– Standard bearer
– Musician
26 Gor Herd -300 pts
– Hand weapons
– Shields
– Ambushers
– True-horn [Great weapon + Scourge of the Burdened]
– Standard bearer [Totem of Rust]
– Musician
Rare Units -245 pts
Ghorgon -245 pts
Tips For Playing Beastmen Brayherds
Beastmen are a very diverse army with several styles of play. In general their infantry, normal cavalry and chariots can hit hard, but lack staying power. In a straight up fight they will often come out on the losing side, and they are weaklings to enemy shooting and magic with very low armor saves. When using a lot of these units you’ll need to rely on maneuver, flanking and more tricks. On the other hand the other half of the army, the big monsters, and the monstrous infantry and cavalry CAN often bully their way through the enemy. These are hard hitting units with a lot of power and are very scary.
You’ll also need to worry about speed with the army. While it’s not slow like Dwarves, it’s also not the fastest army, with few super fast units and not a lot of swiftstride. It’s going to take you time to get the enemy and in that take you could get shot/magiced up. Indeed the army is pretty weak to shooting with very few armor saves going around. You’ve got some tricks to deal with this, but you’ll have to use them.
~And remember, Raise the Herdstones and burn the world of man!
