Editing Norsca (section)

===WAP Presents: Norsca===
The [[Warhammer Army Project]] never met an Oldhammer idea they didn't like, unless it was officially retconned by Midhammer - so they probably won't be doing a Warhammer Armies: [[Slann]] book any time soon. Having already created army books for [[Albion]], the [[Amazon]]s of [[Lustria]], [[Araby]], [[Cathay]], [[Estalia]], [[Nippon]], the [[Pirate]]s of [[Sartosa]], and [[Tilea]] (via [[Dogs of War]], as well as their own expanded takes on [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|the Empire]] and [[Bretonnia]]), they decided that the Norscans needed to be separated from their [[Chaos]] associations and made a fully independent Warhammer Vikings force.

The Warleaders are the '''King''' and the '''Jarl''', who represent your standard Lord and Hero choices respectively. For the obligatory wizards, you have the Lord-tier '''Vikti''' and the Hero-tier '''Seer'', who can use the Lores of Fire, Beasts, Heavens, Shadow and Death.

'''Skalds''' are Norscan bards; they can't be your army's general, but they instead serve as a more potent form of battle standard bearer, able to sing specific songs to bolster their unit and combining the BSB and unit musician roles into one

'''Beastmasters''' serve as the leaders and tamers for the various Norscan monsters that follow the army.

'''Bondsmen''' are the infantry of a Norscan force, representing the young fighters who serve under the various Jarls. Their elite counterparts are the '''Huscarls'''.

'''Marauders''' represent those Norscans who have embraced the service of the Dark Gods of [[Chaos]]; no longer part of the Bondsmen, but not yet risen to the rank of Chaos Warrior.

'''Reavers''' are Norscan pirates, who naturally flock to join the horde when it marches to war.

'''Whalers''' are tough, rugged sailors who provide a vital role to the survival of the Norse tribes.

'''Thralls''' are normally used as sacrifices to the Dark Gods, but may be drafted as expendable infantry troopers.

'''Horsemen''' are, obviously, the cavalry of the Norscan forces.

'''[[Berserker]]s''' need no elaboration.

'''Hunters''' are usually drawn from the ranks of Norscan exiles, who have managed to survive in the wilderness by learning the arts of stealth, woodscraft and archery, and may be permitted to lend their aid to a Norscan army in need.

'''Shieldmaidens''' are warrior-women who have mastered the arts of using their shields to compensate for their lesser bulk compared to the mighty menfolk of the North, and who occupy an odd place in the typically quite patriarchal Norscan society.

'''[[Valkyrie]]s''' are former Shieldmaidens who have returned from the wilderness touched by the gods, imbuing them with magnificent wings and the blessing of the gods, which earns them much fearful respect from their menfolk.

'''Ulfwerenar''' are Norscan [[werewolf|werewolves]], able to shift from bloodthirsty Norseman (or woman) to a ravenous giant wolf and back again. '''Skin Wolves''' and their '''Ulfjarl''' characters are a more mutated variety, able to shift from human to monstrous humanoid wolf and back again.

'''Werebeasts''', on the other hand, are a devolved form of the archetype, being former Norscans so touched by the blessings of the Dark Gods that they have lost their minds and devolved into twisted bestial creatures - not quite [[Chaos Spawn]], but not far removed. They retain enough of their human minds to remain docile around their kin and loyal to their former clans, and so make powerful weapons of war.

Norsca is full of [[Chaos]]-touched wolves, and the Norscans eagerly incorporate them into their forces. '''War Wolves''' are huge, powerful beasts tamed by the Norscan beastmasters as houndmasters do with war dogs in the southern pars of the Old World, whilst '''War Wolf Chariots''' hitch these dangerous predators to Norscan chariots. Finally, the Chaos-touched '''Ice Wolves''' are giants amongst their kind with a deadly freezing [[Breath Weapon]].

'''Snow Trolls''' are yet another mutant subspecies of [[Troll]] who have adapted to the frigid landscape of Norsca, even developing a freezing breath in place of the traditional hyper-corrosive gout of vomit.

'''Jotuns''', or "Frost Giants", are the largest and most intelligent strain of [[giant]] left in the Warhammer world. Whilst they have lost much of the wisdom and knowledge their Sky-Titan ancestors had, they still retain a culture (admittedly all but identical to their Norse neighbors) and are organized, instead of wandering the world as dull-witted, mindless brutes.

'''Cursed [[Ettin]]s''' are whispered in Norscan stories as being the descendants of a Norscan king who betrayed the Dark Gods by ignoring the call to ravage the southern lands to instead plunder the weakened lands of those tribes who had gone south. For this they were cursed into two-headed [[ogre]]-like beings, hideously deformed but horribly aware of what they had lost.

'''Ice Drakes''' are frost-empowered winged lizards, possibly a distant, [[mutant]] offshoot of [[dragon]]kind.

'''War Mammoths''' are great hairy pachyderms who roam the frozen lands of the North, eagerly captured and raised as beasts of war.

Of course, WAP had to give their Norsca army a set of special characters, even if this meant inventing them from scratch.

* '''[[Erik Redaxe]]''', High King of the Norse
* '''[[Sturmjarl]]''', Shaman Lord of Ejsgard
* '''[[Keorl Thunderhand]]''', the Dragon Slayer
* '''[[Fenrir Wolfclaw]]''', the Shackled King
* '''[[Drenok Johansen]]''', Wielder of the Great Axe
* '''[[Floki Lostston]]''', Descendant of Losteriksson
* '''[[Bragi Sturluson]]''', the Ever-Skald
* '''[[Sigrun the Proud]]''', She Who Stands Firm
* '''[[Njal Troelson]]''', the Savage Hunter
* '''[[Jora and Bjorn]]''', the Maiden and the Bear
* '''[[The Ravenswyrd]]''', Chosen of the Gods
* '''[[Styrmir Rimefrost]]''', King of the Frost Giants