Can you hear the rumbling in the distance? That’s the Sons of Behemat stomping their way into the new edition. Brace yourself, as today we’re going big. Very big.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at how the new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar affects every faction, and now it’s the turn of the gigantic Sons of Behemat. If you’ve been wanting to learn more about these gargantuan Behemoths and see how they can make the most of the game’s updated rules, you’re very much in the right place.
But before we get carried away with the nuances of crushing, kicking, and otherwise squishing the armies of your rivals beneath the mighty feet of your gargants, let’s remind ourselves of who they are exactly.
Who Are the Sons of Behemat?
Gargants have been plaguing the Mortal Realms for time immemorial, but in recent years, there’s been a dramatic increase in their numbers – and perhaps even more worryingly, their size. Scholars believe that the gargants’ noticeable shift in both numerical and physical growth can be attributed to the death of their sire, Behemat, who was slain when the Celestant-Prime channelled the Great Bolts of Sigmar into a single, mighty blow at the height of the Realmgate Wars. So was Archaon’s scheme to bend Behemat to his will, and use the World Titan’s unearthly strength to sunder the inviolable gates of Azyr, ultimately thwarted at the last.
Yet Behemat’s demise left a gap in the zodiacal order, and by a quirk of fate, it appears to have had a profound effect on the godbeast’s children. Across the Mortal Realms, gargants have begun to grow larger than ever before, as if unwittingly competing for the title of World Titan left in the wake of their sire’s death. Whereas before, even the smallest gargant towered over the average homestead, the largest of their kind, known as Mega-Gargants, can now step over a town wall – or smash straight through it – with impunity.
Much to the despair of the peoples of the Mortal Realms, the gargants have increasingly begun to band together into tribes. With a single gargant easily capable of taking on an entire regiment of trained soldiers, a tribe of them – especially one that includes a Mega-Gargant or two – can trample a whole army into the dirt or even level a city with their destructive rampages.
To show us how your Gargants and Mega-Gargants can make the most of the updated rules in the new edition (monstrous rampages, we’re looking at you), we’ve invited playtester and honorary Son of Behemat Ricky Mee to show us what they’re made of. Over to the man himself.
Ricky: The monstrous rampage rules could almost be custom designed for Sons of Behemat, with the whole army being Monsters. These new abilities lend further bonuses to the gargants’ already massive damage output, giving you additional strategic tools.
You can use them to stop enemy units from issuing or receiving orders with Roar, or you can challenge an opposing Monster (or a Hero on a monstrous mount) to a Titanic Duel and significantly increase the number of attacks that hit home. Stomp gives you more mortal wounds when charging, which can help to destroy low-Wound Heroes or blocking units, while Smash to Rubble can remove faction terrain that’s supporting your opponent or hindering your gargants. What’s not to love?
In the new edition, completing your grand strategy and battle tactic are important for scoring points and winning.* The Sons of Behemat army have some real benefits when looking at selections for both. Grand strategies such as Hold the Line and Beast Master require Battleline units or Monsters from your starting army to be on the battlefield at the end of the game. With Sons of Behemat, that’s anything in your army, which gives you a good chance of scoring, to say the least.
My favourite battle tactics are Monstrous Takeover and Bring it Down, both of which are found in the General’s Handbook 2021, as they both involve any of the models from your army.
Sons of Behemat can also use the Battle Regiment core battalion. This can be really beneficial, as it lets you deploy potentially your entire army in a single drop. This also means you’ll often get to choose who goes first, leading to your gargants getting across the table in a hurry, claiming those objectives and getting stuck in from the outset.
Biggest Winners
Let’s be honest, with any units in your army able to take advantage of the new monstrous rampages, the entire faction could be classed as a big winner in the new edition. However, Ricky reckons that two Sons of Behemat units in particular have benefitted the most.
Mancrusher Gargants
Ricky: These smaller gargants (relatively speaking) give you access to more bodies, and also offer some serious punch and a lot of speed. Their Keep Up ability allows them to charge even if they run in the movement phase as long as a Mega-Gargant is within 12”, letting them close for combat rapidly.
The Oi, You! Yes, You! Charge! command ability of the Stomper Tribes speeds them up even further, making Mancrushers a potential Turn 1 threat for your opponent to consider during deployment.
Mancrushers also have a vicious ranged attack which can be applied to all of your nearby Mancrusher units with another Stomper Tribes battle trait, Grab Those Rocks And Chuck ’Em at Somethin’. For a predominantly close-combat army, this can give you some serious ranged firepower.
Gatebreaker Mega-Gargants
Ricky: I think the Gatebreaker is my favourite of the three Mega-Gargant variants. They’re absolute beasts in combat, and now get even deadlier with command abilities like All-out Attack. The monstrous rampage ability Titanic Duel really lets him show who’s king of the Monsters. You can also plan that big turn to call upon the Finest Hour heroic action for +1 to wound rolls and +1 to save rolls for the rest of the turn, allowing the Gatebreaker to really be a force of nature when it is needed.
Thanks for your advice, Ricky. It certainly looks like the Sons of Behemat will be violently tap-dancing over armies across the Mortal Realms in the new edition! If you want to join in the fun, grab yourself a Mega-Gargant and a pair of Mancrusher Gargants and get your stomping boots ready.
* In matched play games, grand strategies (selected when picking your army), and battle tactics (selected at the start of each of your hero phases), are objectives used alongside those detailed in the victory conditions of each battleplan to determine the winner.