Intrepid warbands have swarmed across Ghur and dug into the frozen abyss of the Deathgorge, breaking into its lower depths to find copious piles of treasure amid the rimewyrm hatcheries.
Wintermaw is the next box for Warhammer Underworlds, revealed just a few days ago at AdeptiCon. And just like an unexpected cold front, it’s already upon us! Two new warbands – the Brethren of the Bolt and the Skinnerkin – are entering the fray, ready to argue over whether electrocuted corpses count as “well done”. Here’s John from the Warhammer Studio to explain what you can expect from them.
The two new warbands are both united by the fervent nature of their beliefs, but they play very differently. The Skinnerkin are an aggro warband who want to get stuck in straight away, fishing for critical hits to ensure they hack the Prime Cuts off their enemies and earn succulent Haunch counters.
When their larder has three Haunch counters in it, the Skinnerkin can begin to Inspire, becoming faster and even more ferocious. If you’re struggling to get those critical hits, an Aspiring Artisan can turn the sight of an empty pantry into a source of violent motivation, while a Practised Butcher can always gamble for the chance at a tender cut. Haunch counters that are determined to be Unfit for a King can also be spent to earn Glory points, while other gambits open up more options.
You’ll need to closely monitor your stack of vittles to find opportune moments to score objectives like One For You, One For Me, and The Main Course, but only the most belligerent butchers will be able to put on a fully Plated Banquet for the royal courts.
The Brethren of the Bolt are all galvanised by the lightning of Sigmar, and enter battle Crackling With Faith, Inspired ahead of the first activation. The lightning quickly fades into Electrostatic Discharge after making an attack, but the Brethren can chain their strikes through each other to extend their range, Inspiring once more as they become Holy Vessels for the fulgurating power of the God-King.
A Master of Conduction can extend these chain lightning strikes to safely reach out and fry opponents from even further away, and dispatch hangers-on with one sizzling Final Spark. Note that since the Holy Vessels rule reduces distance rather than increasing range, your attacks still count as Range 1 or 2!
Lucky Brethren can even become a Burgeoning Saint, their self-flagellation forcing them into a permanently Inspired state, which increases the reliability of this control deck.
Sparking Furore incentivises turning your fighters into flesh-and-blood capacitors for long-ranged electrical attacks, and knowing when to discharge your divine charges will snag you Martyred Bloodworks and Heaven’s Charge.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of how both these new warbands play. Should you survive the boreal depths of Wintermaw, you'll also have two entirely new universal Rivals decks to sink your teeth into. Warhammer Underworlds: Wintermaw goes up for pre-order on Saturday.