Warcry/Tactics/Splintered Fang

SPLINTERED FANG TACTICS

Faction Overview

Hailing from Ghyran, the Realm of Life, these wannabe Trojans believe that Archy is the embodiment of their weird snake god and are doing everything they can to gain his favor. They have no qualms about using poisons--even going so far as to conduct whole religious ceremonies for brewing new and lethal poisons. Naturally, they really, really like snakes and have a heavy snake theme. This warband also features an Aelf in their ranks, being the first example of Chaos-aligned pointy ears in the setting!

Pros

• Great assortment of mid-ranged attacks.- Most of their Fighters have access to weapons with 2"-3" range, giving them a slight edge when it comes to mid-range combat. They can hit Fighters on small platforms, across obstacles, through other fighters, etc. This comes in really handy considering they also have...
• Access to good lock-down abilities- Truebloods can throw a net up to 3" and prevent any target from moving or disengaging for the entire battle round. The rest of the Warband can pile in and start poking and whipping the poor bastard without any fear of retaliation (assuming the target doesn't have any 2"-3" attacks). [Quad] Paralysing Venom also has a (shitty) chance to confer the same effects.
• Great Universal Faction ability.- Splintered Fang has one of the best faction-wide abilities in the game in [Double] Poisoned Weapon. When used, all attacks are considered to have a strength value which is one higher than the target's Toughness. This means that any fighter who uses this ability will ALWAYS hit on 3+ regardless of their target's Toughness. So, in essence, you'll be able to hit anything in the game now and in the future on a 3+. Fighting Monsters with Toughness 8? It doesn't matter, you still hit it on 3+. Sigmar himself wants to join the battle? You'd hit him on 3+ too if he joined the fray. In a game where effective to-hit increases are surprisingly rare, this is an incredibly powerful skill.
• Low Cost Warband-Most of the Fighters are on the lower end in terms of point cost, which means you can squeeze a lot more of them into your Roster than some other warbands. Even their leader doesn't even break 200 Pts.
• Above Average Crit Values-Across the board, Splintered Fang have very high crit values for most fighters.

Cons

• Limited Movement Options-Splintered Fang has no abilities which grant them ANY type of movement benefit. No increased movement ability. No crazy ninja-jumps like those Hysian use. No flying around the battlefield like pissed off chickens. Nothing. The only way to improve their movement is through the Universal Abilities, [Double] Rush and [Quad] Rampage. Outside of these abilities, they have to slog around the battlefield like normal saps.
• Rely heavily on synergy-If you know what you're doing, you can make this work in your favor, but more often than not, the loss of one fighter will mess up some of your overall fighting strategies. Splintered Fang relies on coordinated synergies and combos to function effectively, so if you lose even one key Fighter at the wrong time it's going to make things a lot more difficult for you.
• Below Average Durability-They don't have access to any type of 'tanky' Fighters. Their wounds pools are abysmal and they also lack any means of healing or increasing toughness.
• No Long-Ranged Options-Technically, they do have a long-ranged attack with the Serpent Caller's snake toss attack, but it's pitiful and will never do much of anything substantial in a game. Apart from this, this Warband has no long-range options.

Abilities Overview

• [Double] Poisoned Weapon: Until the end of this fighter's activation, the Strength characteristic of attack actions made by this fighter count as being higher than the target's Toughness characteristic. (Faction-wide Ability)
  • Ability Commentary:-As discussed above, one of the strongest Warband-specific universal abilities in the game. This ability alone takes Splintered Fang from "absolute dogshit-tier" to "remotely viable-tier". If you're playing Splintered Fang, then this is the one ability you'll use more than anything else. One thing to note is that this effect only applies during a fighter's activation. So any abilities which allow a Fighter to make another attack action outside of their own activation are not affected. Shame.

• [Double] Ensnaring Net: Pick a visible enemy fighter within 3" of this fighter. Until the end of the battle round, that enemy fighter cannot take move actions or disengage actions. (Trueblood)
  • Ability Commentary:-Another staple of the Warband. You'll use this to set up combos with your other fighters. Since your Trueblood has a 2" weapon, park him 2" way from the target, throw the net, and then start poking him. Target priority is very important when using this skill. Ideally, you'd want to pick targets who don't have a reach of 2" or more, but you have access to enough 3" weapons in this army that you can even do it to these targets and be OK. If you must sacrifice some of your Trueblood's wounds to get it done, it's probably worth it just to keep a key target in place. Other great targets for this ability are any Fighter that has a Charge ability (Ogor Breachers, Rocktusk Prowlers, anything on a Squig or mount, etc.), anything that relies on hit and runs tactics (Corvus Cabal, Cypher Lords, etc.), and enemy leaders. You can also use this defensively to get out of a bad situation. Honestly, it uses are pretty varied and because you currently MUST include the Trueblood as your Warband leader you'll find yourself using it often. Keep in mind that abilities which allow a fighter to "be removed" from the battlefield and set up again (such as the Cypher Lords [Triple] Shadowy Recall ability) are NOT prevented by the net as it is technically NOT considered a "move". The net will stay on the target before and after being "teleported", but not during the teleport.

• [Double] Fanged Buckler: Pick a visible enemy fighter within 1" of this fighter and roll a dice. on a 3-4, allocate 1 damage point to that fighter. On a 5-6, allocate a number of damage points to that fighter equal to the value of this ability. (Venomblade w/Barbed Whip and Clearblood w/Shield)
  • Ability Commentary: -A boring "Shield Bash" ability. Very lackluster, even for a double. Most of the time, you'll be better off taking weapon options with more reach rather than more toughness, so this won't come into play much anyways. You'd be much better off saving any doubles for [Double] Poisoned Weapon than this, even if you do take shield options on some fighters. It is interesting to note that this particular Shield ability has a higher chance of dealing value damage, which can make it appealing, but it's still too unreliable to use often. You should be poking things at 2"-3" anyways, so the 1" range on it is also limiting. It can be used if you are holding an objective and are attacked as a defensive measure, but your ability dice are typically better used for something else.

• [Triple] Snake Charmer: Pick a friendly fighter with the beast runemark within 4" of this fighter. That fighter makes a bonus attack action. (Serpent Caller)
  • Ability Commentary:-This is obviously meant to be used in conjunction with Serpents and it has to potential to make for a pretty powerful ability in snek heavy rosters. One interesting thing to note is that if you take any Chaotic Beasts in your Warband, this ability can affect them as well (remember, the fighter only needs to have the beast runemark, it's not specific to only sneks. So this means Razorgors, Chaos Warhounds, Harpies, and Raptoryx can be given an extra attack.

• [Triple] Relentless Killer: A fighter can use this ability only if an enemy fighter has been taken down by an attack action made by them this activation. This fighter makes a bonus attack action. (Pureblood)
  • Ability Commentary:-Another generic "extra attack action" ability, only this time on a triple and attached to a condition. If you have a triple and for some reason don't have a Snake Charmer on the battlefield then it may come in handy. It only applies to the Pureblood, who isn't typically your best option for a beatstick either. It's better than nothing, but otherwise pretty mediocre.

• [Quad] Paralysing Venom: Until the end of this fighter's activation, add the value of this ability to the damage points allocated by critical hits from attack actions made by this fighter, and after each attack action made by this fighter, roll a dice. On a 5-6, until the end of the battle round, the target fighter cannot make a more action or disengage action. (Faction-wide Ability)
  • Ability Commentary:-This ability has a LOT of upsides but is too random to be considered reliable. Firstly, the extra damage only applies to crits, which mathhammer says will only happen once per activation-on average (even assuming two full attack actions are used). Secondly, the immobilization effect will only come into play on a 5+ rollable only after an attack action, not any successful hits. This means if you aren't using at least two attack actions the chances for this to happen are low. Regardless, the upside can be pretty huge and the fact that it is available to every fighter in the Warband may come in handy if you get odd Initiative Dice rolls. Interestingly enough, this ability is best used with Serpents, as they already have high crit values and have the most amount of attacks per attack actions (5). Serpents, using two whole attack actions are putting out, on average 13 wounds. It'll mostly crit at least once on two attack actions, taking this from a potential 13 wound attack to a 14-19 wound attack and a 33% chance to immobilize. More on Snek tactics below.

Fighters Overview

Leader

Trueblood

• Stats: Movement 4; Toughness 4; Wounds 20; 180 Pts.
  • Weapons:
    • Spear-Range 2"; Attacks 4; Strength 4; Damage 2/5
• Fighter Commentary:-He's the only leader available to the Splintered Fang so you MUST take him. Not the flashiest of Warband leaders in the slightest. On paper, it looks like he can't do much. He has average movement, toughness and attacks and very low wounds for a leader. His value comes from his ability, [Double] Ensnaring Net. As discussed above, this ability only really works in conjunction with other fighters to isolate and combo mid-ranged attacks on high-value targets. Like with most other fighters in this Warband, don't commit this dude to heavy fighting until you have the correct fighters around you and in place for proper combo synergy. This isn't a leader who can wade into combat on his own and start dealing with the pain. You should play him (and most of the Warband), defensively and cautiously but once the timing is right to strike, then go in for the kill and commit to it. You worship a Snake god so think like a Snake. Wait for the right moment and finish something with one lethal strike.

Fighters

Serpent Caller

• Stats: Movement 5; Toughness 4; Wounds 15; 145 Pts.
  • Weapons:
    • Fangs-Range 2"; Attacks 4; Strength 4; Damage 2/4
    • Throw Snake-Range 8"; Attacks 1" Strength 3; Damage 1/3
• Fighter Commentary-The heavy lifter of this Warband. A surprisingly decent statline for what is largely a support Fighter. He has a good amount of high crit attacks and above-average movement for the Warband. His true value shines in the form of his [Triple] Snake Charmer ability, by which he can grant friendly chaotic beasts a bonus, out-of-activation attack. Always field him in the battle group with your Serpents and keep him within 4" of them to use his ability when the time is right. Park him 2" behind Serpents and he can attack the target using his Fang attack.

Pureblood

• Stats: Movement 4; Toughness 4; Wounds 12; 125 Pts.
  • Weapons:
    • Paired Short Swords-Range 1"; Attacks 4; Strength 4; Damage 2/4
• Fighter Commentary-An average beatstick fighter, given his point cost. While he lacks a mid-ranged weapon that many other Fighters in this Warband have, he makes up for it with good damage. His ability [Triple] Relentless Killer is conditional but can be useful after you've finished off an already wounded model that just has a few wounds left on it before being taken down. Overall, a very average Fighter. Consider that for 10 points more you can get a Venomblade with more toughness, wounds, and range at the cost of only 1 attack. Also, consider that for 40 Pts. less you can grab a Venomblade with Duelling Blades and have the same damage profile and higher movement for 1 less strength (which you can easily offset using [Double] Poisoned Weapon). His lackluster ability doesn't warrant his points cost when weighed against the other options in the Warband.

Venomblood with Barbed Whip

• Stats: Movement 4; Toughness 5; Wounds 10; 110 Pts.
  • Weapons:
    • Barbed Whip-Range 3"; Attacks 3; Strength 4; Damage 1/2
• Fighter Commentary-The first of four variants for the Venomblood. The Whip+Shield combo offers the added protection of a shield-bearer (a rarity in this Warband) with the versatility of the whip. As such, it's costs slightly more than the purely offensive Venombloods. It can hold objectives fairly well with Toughness 5 while keeping out of range of 1" retaliation strikes provided he's roaming with a Trueblood. While [Double] Fanged Buckler is rather lackluster as an ability, it's better than nothing and gives him at least some variety when it comes to ability choices. He is outclassed by his Spear+Shield brother, but if you want to save some points he can be worth it. His real downside is his below-average damage profile (1/2) which gives him the distinct title of worst damage dealer in the entire faction. He does have an extra 1", but the damage drop-off is too large to warrant his points cost. You can offset this by giving him either [Quad] Paralysing Venom or [Quad] Rampage, but at that point, you're mostly sacrificing wild dice and Trips to get his damage up to a level which other Fighters can get to with little to no effort. The Shield+Spear variant can tank and hold objectives much better and the Duelling Blade variant can put out better damage.

Venomblood with Spear and Shield

• Stats: Movement 4; Toughness 5; Wounds 10; 135 Pts.
  • Weapons:
    • Spear-Range 2"; Attacks 3; Strength 4; Damage 2/4
• Fighter Commentary-This is the Spear+Shield variant of the Venomblood. He sacrifices 1" of reach for doubling his damage potential for an extra 25 points. If you are looking to have a tanky fighter who can also dish out some pretty good damage then this is your go-to guy. Stick him in a battle group without the Trueblood and he will hold his own as he doesn't need to rely on an immobilized opponent to stay out of range. Toughness 5 makes him tough to hit for most low-point Fighters (and even some higher-point ones). Again, [Double] Fanged Buckler is there if you want to use it, but otherwise is nothing to write home about. If you want a tanky fighter, this is your best option. Combines toughness, reach, and good damage for a very solid all-around Fighter for this Warband.

Venomblood with Duelling Blades

• Stats: Movement 5"; Toughness 3; Wounds 10; 85 Pts.
  • Weapons:
    • Paired Blades-Range 1"; Attacks 4; Strength 3; Damage 2/4
• Fighter Commentary-The budget version of the Pureblood. Sacrifices weapon reach and Toughness for some increased movement and an extra attack. It's damage profile is pretty good for its points cost but the lack of reach and its overall weak durability means he needs to be very picky about which targets to go after. Generally speaking, Serpents can fill the damage-dealing role much better and if you are looking for something to stick around for a while you're much better off with either of the Shield wielding variants. All that being said, he fills the same role as a Pureblood for 40 pts. less. He is a prime target for [Double] Poisoned Weapon as he has the same amount of attacks and damage as a Pureblood and can ignore the Toughness of any target with it.

Venomblood with Blade and Barbed Whip

• Stats: Movement 5"; Toughness 3; Wounds 10; 85 Pts.
  • Weapons:
    • Blade-Range 1"; Attacks 3; Strength 3; Damage 2/4
    • Barbed Whip-Range 3"; Attacks 3; Strength 3; Damage 1/2
• Fighter Commentary-The same as our Paired Blade variant, only this time swapping out one blade for a whip. A model with an identity crisis. He offers a bit of flexibility with the addition of the Whip for more reach but otherwise suffers from being as effective as either his brother with the Duelling Blades or Spear+Shield. Better than his Barbed Whip brother, but otherwise you're better off taking more Serpents or one of the Venomblood Variants.

Clearblood

• Stats: Movement 4"; Toughness 3; Wounds 10; 65 Pts.
  • Weapons:
    • Blade-Range 1"; Attacks 4; Strength 3; Damage 1/3
• Fighter Commentary--Clearbloods are your standard roster-filling Fighters. They have very average stats and really offer nothing special. They would be auto-includes in most lists based on their points cost alone, but honestly Serpents fulfill the same purpose and do a much better job at pretty much everything the Clearblood does apart from staying alive (and, let's be honest, the Clearblood isn't exactly offering a huge increase in durability compared to the snakes). They have a role to fill in campaigns, as they can hold Artefacts of Power and Lesser Artefacts (unlike Serpents) and so can become much more valuable throughout the course of a campaign over snakes. In Open and Matched play, Serpents are a much better value for your points.

Clearblood with Shield

• Stats: Movement 4"; Toughness 4; Wounds 10; 70 Pts.
  • Weapons:
    • Blade-Range 1"; Attacks 2; Strength 3; Damage 1/3
• Fighter Commentary--For 5 points more you can give a Clearblood a shield, increasing their Toughness up to meager 4 and granting them the [Double] Fanged Buckler ability. In return, you sacrifice 2 attacks. This guy is better than the regular Clearblood, but that's not saying much. Again, outclassed by Serpents for points. He's more useful in Campaign, where he can be given items to boost his viability (Healing Potions, Ironoak Seeds, Ur-Gold Sigils, and Rune-Etched Vambraces can help with this).

Serpents

• Stats: Movement 6"; Toughness 2; Wounds 8; 65 Pts.
  • Weapons:
    • Fangs-Range 1"; Attacks 5; Strength 3; Damage 1/4
• Fighter Commentary--Serpents are, quite frankly, the best value Fighter in your Warband. While they will most likely die within one or (maybe) two hits, their points cost lets you spam them. Their statline is also very interesting. At movement 6", they are the fastest Fighters in the Warband, meaning they can get into and out of combat much more efficiently than any other Fighter in the Warband. Secondly, they have an insane amount of attacks for their points at 5. There are many 200+ point Fighters in Warcry that don't even sport 5 attacks. Lastly, their crit damage at 4 is ridiculously high for such a low costed unit. While they'll die to a swift wind, they should be able to do enough damage to justify their inclusion within any list. At 5 attacks, you have a VERY good chance at landing at least 1 crit for every attack action, which makes their damage potential one of the best in the entire game. Put [Quad] Paralysing Venom on them with two full attack actions and 1 Serpents Fighter has a good chance of taking out most models in the 15-20 wound range. To make things even more ridiculous, Serpent Caller can use [Triple] Snake Charmer to grant them an extra out-of-activation attack.
  • The trifecta of Serpent combo goes like this:
    • 1.) Activate Trueblood and throw a [Double] Ensnaring Net onto a high-value target.
    • 2.) Activate Serpent 1, move into range and attack netted target.
    • 3.) Repeat Step 2 for however many Serpents you have that can get in range and attack the netted target
    • 4.) Activate Serpent Caller, throw Snakes, then use [Triple] Snake Charmer and command one of your Sneks to attack again.
  • Alternatively, if anything does get in range of your Serpents and you have an opportunity for a double attack activation you should always give them [Quad] Paralysing Venom if you have it available. Remember, Serpents are fishing for crits and having 5 attacks per attack action all but guarantee them to have at MINIMUM one crit on a double attack activation. Any added damage on crits is a bonus. You'll be also effectively increasing the chance for an immobilizing effect from a lowly 16% to a 33% chance to inflict it.
  • Serpents are, simply the most cost-efficient Fighter in the entire Warband.

General Tactics

Splintered Fang is a Warband that relies heavily on positioning, combos, and synergy. They do not have any single unit that can do much of anything on it's own but when paired with the proper Fighters, they can be an incredibly frustrating Warband to deal with. In order to maximize their inherent synergies, you must always ensure that you have the proper battlegroup compositions. It doesn't matter which battlegroup you put them in, but some sample groups are detailed below:

• Trueblood+Venomblood w/Spear+Shield+Venomblood w/Duelling Blades-This grouping is meant to maximize the advantage you have with mid-range weaponry. The way you play this is to have your Trueblood throw its net on a target while the other Fighters poke at it with their 2" or 3" weapons at maximum range. You can have the Venomblood w/Duelling Blades move in for the killing blow (throw on [Double] Poisoned Weapon if the target has a high toughness stat). The key advantage to this tactic comes from the effective threat range of Fighters being deceptively longer than it seemingly is on their profiles. While they may only have a 4" move, their threat range can be 6"-7". This has a distinct advantage of allowing Fighters to stay out of the 1" bubble which would otherwise force them to make defensive disengage movements should the need arise. Rather than only moving 3", they can move 4" and still comfortably threaten other fighters on the board.
• Trueblood+Serpent Caller+Serpents x2+-This is the grouping that you'll have the most success with. As discussed above under the Serpent commentary, use your Trueblood to net a high-value target while your Serpents move in for the kill. Keep the Serpent Caller behind the Serpent screen to toss Sneks, poke at targets with their 2" Fangs, and hand out [Triple] Snake Charmer when necessary. As a general rule, [Double] Poisoned Weapon is actually somewhat wasted on Serpents, as they will mostly be hitting on 5+ and with their regular damage only dealing 1, you really are trying to throw as many crits as possible with the Serpents. Serpents are the best choice for [Quad] Paralysing Venom.
• Venomblood w/Spear and Shield+Clearblood w/shield x2+-This would be your 'tanky' grouping. While it still won't hold up as reliably as, say, Iron Golems, you'll still manage to hold up for long enough for help to arrive. Keep your Clearbloods out front to absorb damage while your Venomblood pokes from behind. If your Clearbloods go down, your Venomblood is your last line of defense and at Toughness 5, he should hold up alright.

It's important to remember that the effective threat range of most Splintered Fang Fighters is often longer than most other melee-focused warbands. Even warbands who have high movement values do not have the luxury of the amount of 2"-3" attacks which Fang has access too. The average threat range across the Warband is 6"-7", which may not sound all that impressive at first glance. Yet compare it to other warbands of a similar power level and what you'll find is that Splintered Fang's threat range is typically 1"-2" longer than them. Exceptions exist (durr), but this gives Fang a distinct advantage when it comes to the board, zone, and objective control. Couple this with their ability easily and completely immobilize important targets and you'll be able to threaten most of the board within a turn.

Campaign Tactics

Your starting Warband should be a mix of Serpent Callers, Venombloods w/Shield+Spear, Venombloods w/Barbed Whips, a Venomblood with Duelling Blades and fill the rest of the roster up with Serpents.

For specific campaign strategies, see below:

Nagendra's Gullet:

• Command Traits:
  • Master of Venoms adds 3 damage to all crits. This increases your damage potential by a significant margin with an already high crit damage profile on your Trueblood. It's synergy with [Quad] Paralysing Venom creates a snowball effect and, if the dice go your way, you can very easily take out 20+ wound models in one activation.
  • Swift Reflexes reduces all incoming damage by 1 for each hit. Some basic math for the 'tards out there, if a Trueblood with this trait is hit with one regular hit and one crit with Strength 4, damage 2/4, he will only take 4 damage as opposed to 6. This is an important distinction, as it can prevent a large amount of damage over the course of a game. Adds a decent amount of durability to your Trueblood and applies to all damage. While not the most flashy trait, it can be the difference between life in death in some games.
  • Hypnotic Gaze prevents enemy fighters within 1" from Disengaging. This is the least useful of the Command Traits. While it can be used as another immobilize effect, it's only usable on enemies within 1" of the Trueblood. If you're playing correctly, this shouldn't happen too often as you should be using your net and increased reach to keep enemies at a distance.
• Artefact of Power:
  • Torc of the Serpentfather will allow you to add 1 to the value of any abilities used by the bearer. Functionally, this can only apply to [Double] Fanged Buckler or [Quad] Paralysing Venom. This makes it more valuable on a shield bearing Fighters. It really shines on any Fighter with high attacks+crit damage (It's a shame Serpents can't be given this). Prime targets for this Artefact are Venombloods with Shields (any variant), Purebloods, or Truebloods. Truebloods with this+Master of Venoms start to become downright filthy.
  • Embrace of Pain adds a stock standard +1 Toughness to the Fighter. Give this to a Venomblood w/Shield and Spear/Barbed whip and all of a sudden you've got a Toughness 6 Shield Wearing fighter that can hit things at 2"-3". There. Now you've finally got an actual tank Fighter. If you really want to make a proper tanky fighter give this to a Venomblood w/Shield with Swift Reflexes and all of a sudden its 10 wounds don't seem so bad (Keep in mind, this will require you to have completed this campaign and embarked on a new one before conferring the "Swift Reflexes" Command Trait to your Venomblood--who also must be your favored fighter).
  • Nagendra's Kiss is a once-per-battle use ability that allows you to roll a dice. On a 4+ you can pick and enemy fighter within 1" and deal 10 damage. This Artefact has a huge upside but a once-per-battle effect on a 50/50 chance isn't as reliable as the other options (*NOTE*: This CAN be effective if you plan on using a Destiny Level roll in case it fails the first time).

Venom of the Gods

• Command Traits:
  • Cold-Blooded Killer grants +1 attack. On a Trueblood, any opportunity for another 5 damage crit is highly valuable. Couple it with [Double] Onslaught and all of a sudden you have 6 strength 4 attacks at 2/5 damage for an average of 9 wounds per attack action. Nothing to sneeze at.
  • Scaly Skin adds +1 Toughness to the Fighter, just as the artefact, Embrace of Pain above does.
  • Sibilant Whispers grants you +1 Wild Dice at the beginning of the game (so long as the Fighter is in your Warband). This can be useful to guarantee getting that triple or quad when you really need it. Given how common doubles are, you're really using this for triple and quad abilities.
• Artefacts of Power:
  • Sacred Unguent adds a flat 5 wounds to the Fighters profile. You can slap this on a Venomblood with a Shield and give him a healing potion or Ur-Gold Sigil and you'll have a decent Fighter who can hold his own pretty well. Overall, this is a very valuable artefact in a Warband that has below average wounds profiles.
  • Coiling Kris adds +1 strength to all attacks. Given how easily you can use [Double] Poisoned Weapon it's not as valuable as the other command traits, but it can be helpful if you are short on doubles for a turn or want to save your doubles for another Fighters activation.
  • Pendant of Nagendra functions the same as Torc of the Serpentfather, and so everything which was discussed above applies to it here.

Minions, Thralls, and Allies

When considering minions, thralls, or allies for your roster you want to look for Fighters that will fill in the roles which your core Warband can't accomplish effectively. This means anything with high movement, long-range attacks, and above-average durability. Additionally, you can look for fighters to compliment what you do best--namely mid-ranged combat and immobilizing abilities. You are a Chaos Warband, which means you can only ally with: Skaven, Beasts of Chaos, Slaves to Darkness, Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, and Slaanesh. Below are some interesting choices:

• Razorgor: They are a perfect combination of tank, screener, and damage dealer. It's high movement (8"), high wounds count (25), and good damage profile (2/5) makes it particularly appealing to filling in at roles which most core Fang fighters can't do as effectively. Remember that the Serpent Caller can use [Triple] Snake Charmer to grant it extra attacks as well. It also has a standard Charge ability in [Triple] Uncontrollable Stampede (Allocate a number of wounds equal to the value of this ability to a fighter within 1" after a move action). Its only drawback is its high points cost (185). In a campaign, consider picking one up once you've dominated enough territories.
• Darkoath Warqueen: She costs more than a Trueblood, but she also has more wounds, and a higher toughness value. However, the real reason you'd pick her up is for her ability [Double] The Will of the Gods which grants any friendly fighter within 6" of her +1" to their movement. For a Warband which doesn't have any means of increasing their movement, this ability can be a godsend.
• Chaos Sorcerer Lord: He adds some very welcome long-ranged firepower with a 3"-7" range attack with a nice damage profile of 3/6. His [Double] Daemonic Power grants a fighter within 8" +1 Strength and +1 Attack for one attack action. Put this on Serpents and increase the chance for those sweet crits.
• Slaughterpriest with Wrath-Hammer and Hackblade: A beefy fighter who can add to our pool of 3" attacks with a decent weapon profile. He also has a boatload of wounds (32) and can be used to help screen while our more fragile fighters poke away. But the real reason we take him is for his two abilities. [Triple] Bloodbind targets an enemy in 14" and then forces them a number of inches equal to this ability directly towards the Slaughterpriest (it "pulls" the target closer to him). This ability can set up the rest of your fighters for some absolutely ridiculous combos. use it on a 5-6 and you can effectively isolate a high-value target and kill it before help arrives. [Triple] Bloodboil is an awesome straight damage effect which targets an enemy fighter within 14". Roll dice equal to the value of this ability and for each 4+ deal d3 damage. He does what the Chaos Sorcerer Lord does, only better. Save a wild dice and use it to turn a double 5 or 6 into a triple and you can reduce fighters to half health or more if the dice go your way. He also has access to [Double] Blood for the Blood God which grants himself a bonus move or attack action after taking down an enemy fighter. Situational, but it can be useful.
• Exalted Deathbringer with Impaling Spear: High Strength (5), High Damage (3/6) attacks with 30 wounds! A perfect addition to the roaming net squad of death. Have him follow a Trueblood around and give him [Double] Onslaught for an extra attack. He also comes with a hefty 30 wounds. His ability [Triple] Skulls for the Skull Throne triggers after he kills an enemy fighter. It allows him to pick a friendly fighter within 8" and grant the target fighter an extra move and attack action (essentially turning this into a conditional, but cheaper, [Quad] Onslaught). He is very pricey at 200 pts. Save up some Glory Points and use him in your campaign.

Other Helpful Tips

• Your 3" reach weapons can hit targets vertically up to 3". This means that if a target is either directly above or below a Fighter with a 3" weapon, they can usually be hit with little fear of retaliation (assuming you're playing with GW Warcry Terrain). They'll either be forced to climb up to the platform (if you're above them), jump down (if you're below them), or simply move out of range (which can fuck with their activation and/or action economy). This also means that [Double] Ensnaring Net can be thrown vertically as well. In objective games, if there are any objectives located on raised platforms, try and seize them quickly and park your Venombloods+Trueblood on the high ground.
• Save [Double] Poisoned Weapon for high toughness+wounds targets. You should also save it for any fighter that has a high volume of attacks at damage 2/3+ (so Purebloods, Venombloods w/Duelling Blades, Venombloods w/Spear+Shield and Serpent Callers).
• Remember, your Serpent Caller's [Triple] Snake Charmer works on any type of Chaotic Beasts, not just Serpents. If you have any other Chaotic Beasts in your Warband, look for ways to use this ability to maximize damage.
• You can very easily make your own Serpents by rolling some small pieces of Green Stuff/Putty and sticking them onto a base. This makes Splintered Fang arguably the cheapest Warband to expand beyond the initial box.

Collecting and Expanding the Warband

Spintered Fang are one of the cheapest and easiest warbands to both collect and expand. To start, you'll need at least one box of Splintered Fang. You can opt for the official Warcry Starter Warband box for only $50. In it you'll get:

• 1x Trueblood
• 1x Pureblood
• 1x Serpent Caller
• 2x Venombloods with weapon options (Swords, Shield, or Whip)
• 4x Clearbloods
• 1x Serpents
• All the fighter cards and the faction ability card

This is a pretty good buy, but consider that for only $15 more you can get what amounts to a double box by buying the AoS Slaves to Darkness pack of the warband. The only thing you'll be missing out on is the fighter cards and ability card (Which you can make just by printing out a quality picture of from screengrabs and other methods using the google). This is what you will do. You won't use every duplicate, but having extra Serpents, Venombloods, and Serpent callers certainly helps in expanding your warband at the cheapest cost. It's entirely feasible to go through your entire Splintered Fang playing career with just this double box alone. You can even expand your Serpents collection further by taking the separate snake which is meant to be used for the Serpent Callers base and simply gluing him to an empty base. With two Serpent Callers and two sets of Serpents, you can have a total of four Serpents with just this box alone.

If you plan on taking any allies you could pick up the Downy Pig for $25. He's great for all the reasons listed above but pretty pricey for a single model. It's a shame that his model is so fucking hideous. Alternatively, you can probably snag a Chaos Warhound off on the aftermarket for very cheap to proxy as a Warpig.

If you want a Chaos Socerer, you can go with this guy if you're into Tzeentch or this guy if you prefer your warlocks rotund. They're both $15 so it's really down to aesthetics.

$30 will net you a Slaughterpriest with Hackblade and Wrath-Hammer. He's not cheap for a single model, but if you plan on running any other Chaos warbands, he's much more of a universal choice, as he can be used to great effect in pretty much all the Chaos Warbands. Better yet, just pick up a box of these dudes for the same price as a single Slaughterpriest. From this box, you can proxy a Slaughterpriest, Darkoath Warchief, and an Exalted Deathbringer with some basic kitbashed weapon/head swaps. Just make sure that your group/FLGS is fine with you proxying models.

Another fantastic $30 box you can grab is box. From this, you can proxy the same models as the last box, but you'll also be able to proxy a Darkoath Warqueen and a Chaos Warhound. This is probably the best bang for your buck, but it might come down to aesthetics. This box is more in line with the Splintered Fang's "elegant tribal" aesthetic while the other box is much more in line with the "classic" Chaos look. Again, this box is more useful for the allies which synergize well with Fang, but the choice is yours. As an added bonus, grabbing either of these boxes will get you a warband for Warhammer Underworlds, so if you plan on playing that, or are playing it already, you just doubled your return on investment. Don't say we never did anything for you.

If they appeal to you, you can grab a box of these beasts, which will be used in some Twists. You can add them as thralls and minions, but you're probably better off taking one of the other allies mentioned above. If you're playing in a group, consider splitting the cost with another player and split them evenly between you two. Harpies aren't going to do much for you. Their Fly is nice, but for their points, you're better off taking something else. Raptoryx can be made effective if you're running them in the same Battlegroup in sets of 2+ and backed up by a Serpent Caller to [Triple] Snake Charmer them, but Serpents are far more cost-efficient. If you managed to get the Warcry Starter Box before it sold out, then you already have these, so adding them to your warband at no extra cost can work if you're of semitic origin.

Warcry Tactics
Grand Alliance: Chaos	Corvus Cabal Cypher Lords Darkoath Savagers Horns of Hashut Iron Golems Rotmire Creed Scions of the Flame Spire Tyrants Splintered Fang Tarantulos Brood The Unmade Untamed Beasts
	Blades of Khorne (Bloodbound Daemons) Disciples of Tzeentch (Arcanites Daemons) Hedonites of Slaanesh (Sybarites Daemons) Maggotkin of Nurgle (Rotbringers Daemons)
	Beasts of Chaos Skaven Slaves to Darkness
Grand Alliance: Death	Flesh-Eater Courts Legions of Nagash Nighthaunt Ossiarch Bonereapers
Grand Alliance: Destruction	Bonesplitterz Gloomspite Gitz Ironjawz Kruleboyz Ogor Mawtribes
Grand Alliance: Order	Daughters of Khaine Fyreslayers Cities of Sigmar Idoneth Deepkin Khainite Shadowstalkers Kharadron Overlords Lumineth Realm-Lords Seraphon Sylvaneth
	Stormcast Eternals (Sacrosanct Chamber Thunderstrike Vanguard Chamber Warrior Chamber)
Monsters & Mercenaries	Chaos Gargant Chaos Spawn Chaos Warhound Chaotic Beasts Cygor Fomoroid Crusher Ghorgon Gotrek Kharibdyss Mindstealer Sphiranx Ogroid Myrmidon Razorgor Skitterstrand Arachnarok Terrorgheist War Hydra Zombie Dragon