Beastmen army book

[Avian]

The Beastmen army book will be out in February 2010. It was being written by Andy Hoare, who left GW and the project part way through (for undisclosed reasons). It is not known who finished it.

As with the two previous Chaos books it will be stand-alone in that you can't use things from the Warriors of Chaos and Daemons of Chaos books, but there will be a degree of overlap in that the same units (though not necessary with the exact same rules) will appear in multiple books. This is similar to how Warhounds were in both the old Hordes of Chaos books and the current Beasts of Chaos books, but has the Ambush rule in the beast books.
It is not know which units will be shared with the other books (some rumours say many, some say only a few), but obvious contenders are the things that appear in the current Beasts book (Warhounds, Ogres, Trolls, Dragon Ogres, Shaggoth, Spawn, Giant).


New models

Gors
- plastic box for £15 containing 10 guys
- essentially the same models, with a bit more variation in pose and gear
- same equipment options as now
Ungor
- plastic box for £15 containing 10 guys
- again essentially the same, though now come with spears, hand weapons, shields and short bows, in addition to command options
- now go on 20 mm bases (time for another rebasing for the players with older models)
Note: This means that compared to the current box, you will be paying £12(!) more to swap 2 Gor for 2 Ungor.
Bestigor
- plastic box for £25 containing 10 guys
Minotaurs
- plastic box for £27 containing 3 guys
- options for two hand weapons, hand weapons & shields and great weapons, in addition to full command options
Razorgor
- metal box for £15
- supposedly a laughably bad sculpt
Doombull
- metal box for £25
Malagor the Dark Omen (Bray Shaman special character)
- has cloak of feathers (but not the head of a raven or any other kind of bird)
- otherwise a fairly generic model (this may be intentional since the other generic shaman models are very old)
Ghorros Warhoof (Centigor special character)
- also fairly generic (again possibly intentional)
- as the name suggests he has hooves and not claws like the current Centigor have

Battalion box cost £55 and contains:
-20 Gor
-10 Ungor
-10 Bestigor
It is worth noting that in the current prices that adds up to £54 and you're trading 2 Ungor for Gor. It is only a "saving" in the new prices because the Gor and Ungor get 67%(!) more expensive. This makes this the least cost-effective battalion in the entire history of battalion boxes.


In addition, the Centigor, Chariot and Gorthor boxes are apparently getting repackaged (for some unknown reason)


The following models are being withdrawn at the moment, which suggests that they might get resculpted or repackaged:
- Bestigor (and variants)
- Minotaurs
- Centigor
- Chaos Ogres
- Dragon Ogres
- Chaos Trolls
Note that these units might not all be appearing in the list


If it is true that the number of crossover units between this army and the Warriors of Chaos one will be quite low, there will necessarily have to be some new ones added in to compensate.


Background
The GW newsletter speaks of Beastmen as being the original inhabitants of the Old World, which is nonsense according to the current background material, which has Beastmen being humans mutated by the fall of the polar warp gates. Either the person writing this didn't know the background or it heralds a significant shift in the background material.


Magic
The GW newsletter has stated that there will be an all new magic Lore for Beastmen. This could mean that this new Beastmen Lore replaces the three old god-specific Lores (most likely) or that they get new Lore in addition to having the three old Lores for Slaanesh, Tzeentch and Nurgle (less likely).


Marks of Chaos
It is not known whether Beastmen get a wider or more limited access to Marks. It is possible that Marks will be available to more units like in the Warriors of Chaos book (where you could Mark Marauders and Ogres, which you could not do previously) or the book might drop Marks completely in favour of something else.


The list as it is looking at the moment:

Lords

Beastlord

Great Bray-Shaman

Doombull
- new metal model


Heroes

Wargor

Bray-Shaman

Centigor Hero(?)


Core
- The current GW policy appears to be that any (new) box you buy will be a legal unit you can field. Thus with the splitting of Gors and Ungors, it is almost certain that you will be able to field units of only Gor and units of only Ungor.

Gor
- new plastic set

Ungor
- new plastic set

Beast Herds(?)
- might be going the way of the Dodo what with Gor and Ungor getting separate boxes and Ungor going back to 20 mm bases, making ranking awkward

Bestigor
- new plastic box

Warhounds
- The WoC Warhounds have a couple of (fairly useless) upgrades available to them. It is not known if the BoC ones will have the same


Special

Centigor

Tuskgor Chariots
- almost certainly 1 per Special

Minotaurs
- new plastic kit
- might be the only "big guy" infantry in the list
- it is not known if they can be taken as Core with a Doombull general
- all the old options as well as being able to take shields and a musician

Harpies(?)
- rumoured as an inclusion in the book, but this might just be wishlisting based on them being in the 5th edition Realm of Chaos book and players wanting a flying unit
- presumably as in the Dark Elf book


Rare

Giant

Spawn
- presumably as in the Warriors of Chaos book

Razorgor
- new monster, name presumably referring to a razorback (a kind of boar)


Unknown

Daemonkin(?)

Revered Beast Spawn(?)



Might end up dropped

Daemon Prince(?)

Ogres(?)
- might be dropped from the list

Chaos Trolls(?)
- might be dropped from the list

Dragon Ogres(?)
- in his Warriors of Chaos designer's notes, Phil Kelly suggested that Dragon Ogres fit better in a WoC army than a Beasts of Chaos army, which might imply that they are dropped

Shaggoth(?)
- in his Warriors of Chaos designer's notes, Phil Kelly suggested that Shaggoths fit better in a WoC army than a Beasts of Chaos army, which might imply that they are dropped

[Avian]

First batch of rumours:

Originally Posted by GodlessM

Hey guys, recently came into some information about the new beasts that may or may not be true, local manager heard it from the GW hobby manager.

Release is set for sometime in winter 2009.

Book will retain Herds, Bestigor, Hounds, Chariots, Trolls, Ogres, Centigors, Minotaurs, Dragon Ogres, Shaggoths, aswell as gaining the use of Harpies and a Chaos Gorgon.

[GodlessM]

Originally Posted by macejase

Gorgon should be returning

Definitely.

Originally Posted by macejase

Harpies will probably be made available to the beastmen as core

Special choices.

Originally Posted by macejase

99% likely that Kolek Suneater (shaggoth SC) is in the beast book too

Definitely not.

Originally Posted by macejase

good chance of seeing centigor, bestigor and minotaur special characters

Absolutely.

Originally Posted by macejase

thats about all i got, and it should be happening December 09

October.

All going from a very high ranking source.

[GodlessM]

Dragon Ogres are set to appear and with new models.

[Harry]

It is interesting the direction this thread has gone.

I understand a distinction was made between the 'mountain beasts' (Shaggoths and Dragon Ogres) found in the Warriors of Chaos book and 'beasts of the dark wood' (for want of a better phrase) which will be included in the beasts book.

So, no Shaggoths and Dragon Ogres will appear in the beasts book but other new gribbly beasts instead.

Whats not fun about that?

I would much prefer a bigger role for minos than include Dragon Ogres.

[Avian]

Some more rumours:

Originally Posted by NakedBarbarian

I have heard that along with Ghazrak, Gorthor and Morghur returning there will be three other characters;

A Minotaur character who pulls along a braystone and can cast spells

A drunken centigor character with a magical double handed weapon

Some monster called ' the thing in the woods'

please someone of authority confirm or rebuff as i am desperate to know if its true

The 'Thing in the Woods' is a beast from the Mordheim expansion The Empire in Flames.

Originally Posted by NakedBarbarian

I heard some more info from my source today, as to tell the truth the more I hear the harder I find it to believe. Anyways;

Apparently all units with the Ambush special rule will be able to do so, no more half deployed and half in ambush

There will be different 'breeds' of hound available as upgrades, however upgrading them means they lose ambush. No further info on this was forwarded to me.

There will be a range of mutations available as upgrades for characters in similar vein to chaotic/demonic/vampyric upgrades

Harpies are almost 100% gonna be in the new list

I would be in-debted to the Pie Man to either confirm or deny this info, or at the very least confirm or deny that he may at some time confirm or deny this info

[Revlid]

The claim that Harpies will be in the book seems to be unanimous, but I've heard they're called Gargoyles - whatever. A man-sized flying unit seems to be on the cards.

I've heard that Daemon Princes will return as a Lord option, cheaper and with magical attacks, with access to 150pts (?!) of Beast Mutations - given that most of these are rather more formidable/fundamental than the Mortal Gifts, this should make them a more attractive choice than in the Warriors of Chaos book.

There's going to be a new marked (pretty sure it's Nurgle, but it could be Slaanesh) Daemon Prince Special Character, too.

I've also heard about a Tzeentchian Brayshaman with a raven's head, which sounds rather cool.

All the current Special Characters will be returning.

EDIT: I've also heard something about Daemonkin, which sounded rather garbled. I guess it's a new unit, or a (special) character, or something? The beastman equivalent of possessed/forsaken?

[NakedBarbarian]

After more consistent badgering and hen-pecking of my good overseas friend I have squeezed my final bit of info, as it was made explicitly clear that i was to no longer attempt to solicit any more info nor even mention BoC until the release date. SO here is my last info update;

Hound breeds "MAY" or "MAY NOT" be divided into four categories: Attack hounds which get extra attacks, Gaurd hounds which may have a flanking rule similar to empire detachments, Pursuit hounds which roll an extra d6 in pursuit disgarding the lowest roll and Hunting packs which may have the scout rule.

There MAY be a large monster on the unit strength 3 bases which accompanies lord level characters as an upgrade similar to monstrous mounts but NOT a mount in of itself. I thought this may be the thing in the woods mentioned earlier.

All of the large case MAY's were included in the email i recieved and quite frankly i don't know what to make of them. Perhaps these 'rumours' haven't been playtested yet or something? ANyways i don't know what to think of anything ive heard so far and would encourage others to skeptical and hopeful in equal measures as i am

[steppingonyou]

it would of been a post with pics and details and dates with other mounted stuff too, but.... its how i was allowed to do it. patience is a virtue.

perhaps ill get cleared this weekend.

want to know whats in my hand right now?

plastic dragon ogre, all for me. two hand weapons, choppa rule. or 2 handed, killing blow. although not skaven. so off topic... is this getting deleted?

[steppingonyou]

in my new policy of not being cryptic

Revered Beast Spawn

seen as the most gifted beast. guided by the leaders. impact hits. d3 wounds. 5's


yes i know not exactly straight forward, deal with it

lord of the rings, you must buy.

[Harry]

The beast spawn are the new big gribblyls I mentioned early on.

[Avian]

Just a note to say that there is a teaser note about the Beastmen in the October issue of White Dwarf, which suggests that the Beasts of Chaos book is not too far away. With Tyranids being confirmed for January 2010, that would suggest that Beastmen is out in February.

[Scryer in the Darkness]

Right, well it seems GW have changed the product code prefix for the whole Beastmen range (I had been wondering for a while now what these new prefix items were) which makes things slightly messier. There's no problem with the plastic kits:

Gors (Plastic Box) - £15.00 / US?? / 19,50 € / Oz$41.00
Ungors (Plastic Box) - £15.00 / US?? / 19,50 € / Oz$41.00
Bestigors (Plastic Box) - £25.00 / US?? / 32,50 € / Oz$69.00
Minotaurs (Plastic Box) - £27.00 / US?? / 35,00 € / Oz$74.00

Grulgor (Metal Box) - £15.00 / US$25.00 / 22,50 € / Oz$44.00
Doombull (Metal Box) - £25.00 / US$41.25 / 32,50 € / Oz$69.00
Chariot* (Metal Box) - £18.00 / US$30.00 / 25,00 € / Oz$50.00
Gorthor^* (Metal Box) - £25.00 / US$??.?? / 35,00 € / Oz$69.00
Centigors* (Metal Box) - £35.00 / US$57.75 / 50,00 € / Oz$96.00

* These may not be all-new models, but rather existing kits with a new product code, to be confirmed. Note that the prices are exactly the same as the current kits.
^ I was only able to get four of the five box sets named, so this is an assumption on my part given that it was listed alongside the Chariot in a separate and older pricelist than the other box sets and carries the same prices as the current kit.

[Avian]

Just a note to say that GW has published a picture of the army book cover with a brief little description of the army:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/co...p?aId=6000018a

[Avian]

Another little note on the battalion box.

It will contain 20 Gor, 10 Ungor and 10 Bestigor, all in plastic, and cost £55.
This is the battalion box with the fewest number of models yet (made even less impressive by the fact that it only contains infantry).

With the upcoming prices, that is a saving of £15 (2x 15 + 15 + 25 = 70) compared to buying the individual boxes.

With the current prices, it is £1 more expensive (1.5x 18 + 15 + 12 = 54) compared to buying one and a half Beast Herd boxes*, a metal Bestigor command box and a box of 5 metal Bestigor. With that you get 2 less Gor than in the battalion but 2 more Ungor, so same number of models in total.
If you replace the Bestigor command box with another box of rank and file Bestigor, the price of the individual components drops by a further £3.


Thus the battalion doesn't save you anything compared to the current prices, which is probably a first, and only saves you something compared to the upcoming prices because the Gor and Ungor will be getting a 67% price hike.



* of course, you can't buy half a box in the store