This week on Warhammer+, we journey once more to the Mortal Realms to witness a savage game of Warcry on Battle Report, as a warband of Thunderstrike-clad Stormcast Eternals take on the kunnin’ Kruleboyz.
This game gets deep into the latest Warcry: Tome of Champions annual, showing off two of the new warbands from the book – as well as one of its new Pitched Battle scenarios. Designed to offer tactical challenges on a level playing field, these battleplans are perfect for quick pick-up games. But which warband will come out on top? We beseeched warband leaders Nick and Ben for their wisdom.
“We really wanted to show a perfect exhibition game of Warcry”, explains Nick. “You know, the kind of perfect game we all dream of playing! That’s why we’re battling over perhaps the most incredible terrain we’ve ever used* in a game on Battle Report – the entire gaming table is a floating rock with a giant Stormkeep built on top of it!
The pair wanted to use one of the new Pitched Battle battleplans, and picked Nexus of Power. This scenario would see their warbands fighting over five crucial objectives – with magical effects of their own.
“In standard games of Warcry, you generate a random battleplan with deployment, terrain, victory, and twist cards, which means every fight is totally different from the last”, says Nick. “Pitched Battles all pre-determine your deployment, victory condition, and twist in one place instead, which makes games super-quick to set up. It’s great for convenience, balance, and fairness.”
There are loads of new warbands in the Tome of Champions 2021, including the Lumineth Realm-lords and Soulblight Gravelords,** as well as all of the fighters from the first four seasons of Warhammer Underworlds.
“As I’m all sneaky, I took the kunnin’ Kruleboyz,” says Ben. “I’ve got numbers on my side, with a whopping 10 models to Nick’s mere six. This means I can swarm those objectives and capture them before Nick has a chance… at least, that’s the plan! My Killaboss is itching for a scrap, and he’s brought his favourite Stab-grot with him!”
Nick isn’t so sure Ben has a chance. “I’m only bringing six models, but by Sigmar’s beard they are Stormcast Eternals, true elites! My armour is strong and my hammers mighty. If I can use every model and their abilities as best I can, I should have this game wrapped up.“Let’s not forget, I’m bringing Archibald the famous Gryph-hound to the table, and there’s no way Ben would dare kill him on the show for all the world to see… right?”
Head over to Warhammer TV to see how it panned out. While you’re there, make sure you check out the fantastic new episode of Citadel Masterclass, in which Louise shows us how to achieve a muzzle burn effect on those big guns. You’ll also have a chance to read all the background from Imperial Armour: The Siege of Vraks – Part One which arrives on The Warhammer Vault.
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* High praise, after the stunning canyon crypt Nick’s Daughters of Khaine battled over not long ago.
** With guest appearances from corpsey courtiers of the Cursed City.