What your warband choices say about you.
Today I’ll be talking all about what warband you pick says about yourself. As some of you may know I base a lot of my competitive practices and terminology off of fighting games. I used to play Street Fighter competitively and while despite being terrible at it, I was able to carry a lot of stuff I learned from there into Warhammer Underworlds.
In Street Fighter (and fighting games in general) there are generalised fan terms for a lot of things. My favourite has to be about the type of characters (warbands for Underworlds) you regularly play/pick. While not 100% accurate I feel it still applies pretty well to this game. Generally there are:
- Warband (Character) Loyalist
- The Technician
- Low Tier Warrior
- Meta Slave (Pick a Top Tier)
- Gimmick Master
- One Character Victory (OCV)
- The All-Rounder
Now let’s breakdown all these lovely terms.
Warband (Character) Loyalist
You pick warbands for a single main reason and then stick with it through thick and thin. This could be due to narrative reasons, which warband looks the best or one you just enjoy playing. Good or bad, popular or unpopular, this your warband. Nothing will change your mind.
Notable examples: Sepulchral Guard and Chosen Axes players
The Technician
Warbands which appeal to you are those that are the most complex to play. You weave plans within plans to confuse your opponent, even if it sometimes confuses yourself. Straightforward warbands are boring for you as complexity and depth are what is wanted.
Notable Examples: Zarbag’s Gitz and Thundrik’s Profiteers players.
Low Tier Warrior
You hate the popular stuff or warbands that are easy to win with. You want a challenge as nothing is without meaning unless you’re playing on the hardest difficulty. It’s also a great option select for when you lose games.
Notable Examples: Ironskull’s Boyz and Eyes of the Nine players.
Meta Slave
The polar opposite to a Low Tier Warrior. You have no loyalty and care not for what’s hardest to play. You look for what’s popular and what’s the most successful, for you want to be the best of the best. Winning should be a gentle walk in the park, not a constant uphill struggle.
Notable Examples: Stormsire’s Cursebreakers and Mollog’s Mob players.
Gimmick Master
Playstyles and tiers matter not to you. What does mean the most is to how to win the game by ignoring conventional methods. You look for loopholes and exploitable mechanics to gain victory because winning is winning even if it’s via a technicality!
Notable Examples: Katophrane Relic and Katophrane Tome players.
One Character Victory (OVC)
What are…warbands you speak of? Teammates? Nonsense. What matters to you is a single character. You build them up, focus everything on them and then set them loose on the opponent. Win or lose, as long as your chosen character has done work, you’re satisfied.
Notable Examples: Spiteclaw’s Swarm and Mollog’s Mob players.
The All-Rounder
Tiers? Pointless. Warband loyalty? Nah. Skill level? Not needed. You are the Jack of all trades and master of none. You have no fixed warband or playstyle. You just play what you want, when you want. Generally switching up warbands when you get bored or so that your friends have something new to play against. The one player every gaming group dreams to have.
Notable Examples: Jay Clare.
There you have it. Agree? Disagree? Have I opened your eyes like how accurate horoscopes are? Let me know in the comments! Now remember this is all just fun. Adopt the terms or not but I think it’s fun to look at what makes people play the game the way they do.
Out of the 7 examples, they’re not fixed points. I’ve fluctuated between them all myself pretty much (playing 16 warbands does that to you) although generally I identify as an attack helicopter a character loyalist. It’s why I stuck with Spiteclaw’s Swarm for so long, remember? Skritch is the greatest! That’s right, this article was secretly about how Skritch is the best all along! He fits everything! HE’S THE BEST. ALWAYS BET ON SKRITCH!!!
PS: Can you roll a crit?
Can You Roll A Crit? 
I guess that makes me a ‘Warband Loyalist’ as Ironskull’s Boyz were my first choice for a long time. I’m switching to the Gitz now but only because They look like a lot of ‘random’ fun to play and they are almost Orcs anyway. I’ll be all over a Savage Orc warband if we get one in season 3.
I also refuse to play Stormcast in any of the multiple iterations they have now (or in the future) so that probably makes me an anti-loyalist for them! 🙂
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I forgot to mention that I bought Mollog as soon as he was released, painted him up and then never used him. Despite qualifying as an ‘almost’ Orc warband because Trogs are destruction the fact that he was so good and meta defining put me off. I can’t stand to play the ‘meta choice’ in any game so yeah, I must be allergic to the idea of winning anything and have leanings towards ‘low tier warrior’ as well.
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