The 9th Age/Tactics/Beast Herds
The fair use The 9th Age expy of the Beastmen of Warhammer Fantasy.
Why play Beast Herds
The experts of Ambushes.
maybe more glass canon, but you can hit hard and good at flanks.
Tactics
The Tactics are current as of second edition.
Army Rules
Drunkard At the beginning of the game (step 8 of the pregame sequence) units with this special rule choose to be drunk or sober for the fight. Sober units gain light troops and vanguard but lose scoring, drunk units gain devastating charge (+1 str/AP) and fearless. Drunk and Sober models cannot intermingle in units.
Looted Booze on Centaur and Giant. One use only, at the beginning of any player turn, all models in the bearer's unit change their drunkard status from sober to drunk.
Hunting Call If your army includes a model with hunting call you can A; roll ambush for units on turn 1 and B; reroll ambush rolls of 1 or 2. These rules only apply to ambushing models with pack tactics. Hunting call works even if the model with hunting call is not on the table yet.
Pack Tactics Units where every model has pack tactics gains swiftstride when charging at the flank or rear of an enemy unit. Does not apply to pursuit or overrun moves.
Primal Instinct At the start of each round of combat, each unit in combat rolls a discipline test, if successful that unit must reroll failed to-hit rolls during this round of combat.
Armory
Beast Axe A defensive one-handed Great Weapon for characters. Always strikes at initiative 0, +1 str/ap, and gains +2 defensive skill as long as the model is not wielding another weapon. It cannot be enchanted with common weapon enchantments from the core rulebook. It can be used alongside a shield.
Magic
Hereditary Spell
Echoes of the Dark Forest the target gains fear, fearless, and terror. Enemy units in base contact suffer -1 discipline.
Totems
Totems are bound spells that can be carried by champions and some characters. Each Totem lasts one turn and has a power level of (4/8).
- Black Wing Totem models effected by this totem gains +3 agility and adds d3+1 to charge range rolls.
- Blooded Horn Totem the target gains +1 attack and close combat attacks gain +2 AP.
- Clouded Eye Totem all models effected gain hard target (1) and magic resistance (3).
- Gnarled Hide Totem target gains +1 armor and distracting.
An army can attempt to cast each totem up to 2 times each magic phase, any unit can only be effected by one totem at a time. There are two levels of totem bearer:
Totem Bearer Champions, choose one of the totems from above, that champion can cast that totem with range: caster's unit.
Greater Totem Bearer Characters, has access to all four totems, can cast with range: 18".
Unit Analysis
Characters
Beast Lord 190pts. A pretty good character with good stats and a cheap price. He doesn't have all the defensive options of other armies, but resilience 5 will help keep him alive. You're taking him for two things, Discipline 9 so your army passes Primal Instinct rolls, and Hunting Call so your ambushers will reliably arrive.
Beast Chieftain 115pts. Can take totems and be Battle Standard Bearer. Beast Chieftain and Lord are the only characters that can take Hunting call, and only if they are the general. If you are running an ambush centered army, make one general if your not running a Beast Lord.
Soothsayer 160pts. Your wizard choice. Has access to Druidism, Evocation, and Shamanism. Also has resilience 5, making this one of the tankier wizard choices. They may also sacrifice one wound to reroll a panic test if needed.
Centaur Chieftain 205pts. Can also be BSB. Starts with Looted Booze, so if you're running a lot of centaurs, take one to babysit them. Being able to switch from light bait cavalry to shock cavalry whenever you want is very powerful.
Minotaur Warlord 490pts. You know him, you love him. Will trash anything you throw him at. Canny opponents will string him along by the nose abusing his frenzy rule.
Minotaur Chieftain 220pts. Your minotaur battle standard bearer and totem bearer and now cheaper. Hilarious when your opponent tries to bait your Minobus around the table and you get black wing totem off and just dump truck their chaff.
Character Mounts
Raiding Chariot available to Beast Lord/Chieftain and Soothsayer. Is a good way to add speed, and if you aren't planning on hiding your character in a unit, is a good way to tank up the character with +1 hp and +2 armor.
Razortusk Chariot available to Beast Lord only. An incredibly strong option. +2 hp and +1 armor give your lord some survivability, and the chariot gives all units within 6" +1 to charge range.
Core
Wildhorn herd 150pts for 15 + 9ppm is their main upside. They come with shields standard, but a 6+ armor save will not help them and Parry has very little benefit for them. Run them with paired weapons to blender enemies for 2ppm. If you use them, you have to screen for them or ambush them to make sure they make it to melee range. Throwing weapons are not very useful. Champion can be a totem bearer.
Mongrel Herd up to 50 models, only 145pts for 20 + 7ppm . Start with shields standard. These are your best options for screening. Throw these guys around to clog charges and block line of sight to your more important units.
Mongrel Raiders 95pts for 10 + 6ppm, Same as above, but max 20 models and come with bows. Useful for peppering flankers, but don't expect them to do much on their own.
Special
Feral Hounds 80pts for 5 + 8ppm units of 8 or more count as core. Come with ambush, feel free to threaten enemy wizards and warmachines and hope they make it there from the board edge before they get shot to bits.
Longhorn Herd 150pts for 10 + 21ppm, Wildhorns but good. Come with Bodyguard for Beast Lords/Chieftains, heavy armor, and halberds. You can trade halberds for great weapons for free, you aren't losing much with agility 3 anyways. Champion can be a totem bearer and the unit has the option to ambush.
Minotaurs 230pts for 3 + 80ppm. The bus you want. Champion can be a totem bearer. They have Battle Focus, which combined with Primal Instinct is simply absurd. So a minimum sized unit of 3 minotaurs with 9 attacks punching standard def skill 3 units will be hitting 10 times (if they passed primal instinct) on average. With paired weapons, their 12 attacks will hit 14 times. This is before you take into account impact and stomp hits. Give your minotaurs paired weapons to crush most things, great weapons to crack tough enemies, and shields to keep them safe against shooting heavy armies.
Centaurs 170pts for 5 + 22ppm Drunkard gives the option to run these as chaff cavalry or shock cavalry. You can take throwing weapons to be annoying, take a chieftain to make them both. Champion can be a totem bearer, the unit has the option to ambush.
Raiding Chariot 110pts for 1 + 105ppm Units of 3 models counts as core. If you really want to, you can pretend your undying dynasties. The lack of ranged support in your army makes it harder to run a full chariot list.
Razortusk Herd 105pts for 1 + 60ppm. Take them in small units (can take a max of 3 units), point them at what you want dead and hope they get there. If any of them get shot at, Discipline 6 will make sure they run for the hills.
Razortusk Chariot 230pts. At the cost of a unit of 3 razortusks or 2 Raiding Chariots. Tts an upgraded Raiding Chariot with better mount and durability. Taking Raiding Chariots is better offensively, but your taking this Chariot for the 6" charge bonus.
Briar Beast 110pts. It's a Chaos Spawn, works as unbreakable chaff. Can it haves a special Ambush were it must be placed in a forest but is guaranteed to appear on any turn you choose. Unless your using a Seed of the Dark Forest, or know there will be trees, Razortusk is a preferred distractions units.
Gargoyles 140pts for 5 + 12ppm. Flying skirmishers, come with devastating charge (+1 str/ap). Don't expect them to survive if anything looks at them funny. if left unhindered, they tear up that annoying archer or cannon crew.
Terrors of the Wild
Cyclops: 340pts. Is a big walking catapult. His hurl attack has divine attacks, meaning that not even characters are safe from him. Resilience 5, Aegis 5+, and Magic Resistance (3) makes him a pretty tanky catapult.
Gortach: 500pts. The Minotaur's big ugly redneck uncle. You can statistically rely on his Strength from Flesh to trigger once a round, meaning he'll heal 1 hp each round while in contact.
Jabberwock: 315pts. Other armies have dragons, but Beast Herds have this, um, you know, thing? He has a breath weapon, poison attacks, and an Aura of Madness. Anything it'll fights suffers -1 to discipline. Besides attracting cannon, he is meant more to tip an engagement in your favor rather than win it itself, but you wish he could after he uses his Breath.
Beast Giant: 290pts. Is a beasty guy, gains forest strider and drunkard. Take the beer barrel so you can run him quickly into the enemy before they can shoot him too much and then get wasted for close combat. You can make him big if you want, he'll get +1 hp and maximized rolls for a number of stomps, but gets a bigger base size.
Magic Items
Weapon Enchantments
Hawthorne Curse 60pts. Hand weapon Models without Ambush. Only gives your model a lance and lets them pretend to be a bolt thrower. The best-ranged option you have as beast herds, never leave home without it.
Ancestral Carvings 50pts. Soothsayer only, +2 Str, AP, attacks, and gains distracting. If you want your wizard to run touchdowns, this is the way to go. can be taken 3 times per army.
Fatal Folly 35pts. Beast Axe only. Close combat attacks allocated against the bearer that roll a 1 to-hit immediately provoke an attack from the bearer.
Twin Hungers 30pts. paired weapons only, adds lethal strike, and whenever a 6 to-wound roll successfully causes a wound the bearer regains 1 hp (max 1 per round).
Armor Enchantments
Aaghor's Affliction 100pts. Light armour only. The bearer gains +1 resilience and Fortitude (4+), but automatically fails all armor saves.
Trickster's Cunning 60pts. Light armour only. Successful to-wound rolls against the wearer must be rerolled.
Wild Form 35pts. at the start of each melee phase, choose one: +1 str/ap, -1 res OR -1 str/ap, +1 res. Effects last until the end of the melee phase. Lets you have Res 6 or monster killing boost.
Obscuring Fog 20pts. shield only. Enemy units in base contact suffer -1 agility. It is only occasionally useful.
Banner Enchantments
Banner of the Wild Herd 60pts. max 3 per army. one use only, only one may be used for each round of combat. When used all mongrels and wild horns in bearer's unit gain +1 to str and AP.
Artefacts
Dark Rain for the first game turn your opponents shooting attacks suffer -2 to-hit (-1 if you went first). Useful if your running a low armour list, or just scared of Arrow Rain.
Seed of the Dark Forest place a forest before the game starts, friendly models within this forest gain +1 to cast augment and hex spells as well as (+1/+1) to the power level of totem spells.
Pillager Icon All friendly Razortusks and single model chariots within 12" of the bearer gain vanguard.
Inscribing Burin While the bearer is within a forest, all friendly units within any forest gain magic resistance (2).
Eye of Dominance Attacks from Beasts, Cavalry, and Constructs can only hit the bearer on 6+.
Crown of Horns The bearer, all models in its unit, and all units within its commanding presence automatically pass Primal Instinct tests.
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