The wait is finally over, with Warhammer Underworlds: Gnarlwood finally available for pre-order. The action moves to the cavernous root-halls beneath Ghur and the new season focuses on the Rivals format, where warbands battle each other with pre-built decks. All you need to do is open them, shuffle them, and play – and to show you how accessible it is, this week on Warhammer+ the Battle Report team have invited the Warhammer Age of Sigmar lore supremo Phil Kelly to play a few rounds of face-paced skirmish combat.
He faced off against the inimitable Nick Bayton, who told us more about today’s grand clash.
What format did you use? And how did it play out?
For this Battle Report episode, we are playing the Rivals format, using the two factions that come in the Gnarlwood set. We just opened the box, shuffled the decks and got cracking! The cards have been custom-designed for the warbands, and both Phil and I managed to pull some great tricks out of the bag. Rivals really is the easiest way to play the game as there is no deck building involved, and what’s more, it's the best way to start with a new warband, as you can concentrate on their special rules, inspirations, and play style without worrying whether you've designed the perfect deck!
How did the players fare on the field?
Phil used the undead Sons of Velmorn while I took him on with the Gnarlspirit Pack. Phil used the Command Counters on King Morlak to support his sons in combat throughout the game in almost every combat, a nice little combo which meant his warband inspired faster. He also kept doing that undead thing of bringing his models back from the dead.... most disconcerting! As for my Gnarlspirit Pack, they spent the game struggling with the Beast Spirits, transforming back between being inspired and not, deciding when I wanted to utilise their beastly powers or their heightened combat ability when inspired. I also loved the Oaths – extra objectives I could declare to Phil that I was trying to complete to score more glory!
Which aspects of the rules stood out?
Gnarlwood brings many changes to the rules, but perhaps the biggest is that fighters can now move if they have a move token, and activate if they have a charge token (as long as all other fighters have a charge token). It means there are fewer times when you have nothing you can do, and it also means your opponent can't be so sure that your models are done for the round...
How did the battle go?
The battle was brutal! There were big kills in the first round and every round thereafter. It was also really close in glory points too, so it was really fun to play as both Phil and I were trying to eke out every possible advantage, trying to score whatever objective cards we could while stopping our opponent from scoring theirs. Like every classic game of Warhammer Underworlds, it was a battle of minds with a little luck thrown in!
There were a few more rules from the Gnarlwood set that we didn't get to use in this game, such as the cool new snare hex tokens, which stagger fighters. There's loads of great new rules to discover in this season of Warhammer Underworlds and we're really looking forward to using them all!
To celebrate Warhammer Underworlds: Gnarlwood landing in stores on Saturday, this episode of Battle Report will be free to watch from the 28th of October until the 2nd of November!
Meanwhile, there’s more for subscribers to enjoy on Warhammer+ this week. Citadel Colour Masterclass will be showing you how to paint the incredible Mibyllorr Darkfang, the Chaos Sorcerer Lord who is one of this year’s exclusive subscriber miniatures. Issues 326 and 327 of White Dwarf arrive in the Warhammer Vault. There’s plenty available to subscribers, so hit the button below to sign up.
