It’s time for your monthly Warhammer Underworlds news!
Welcome to this month in Warhammer Underworlds for August 2020. This is your one stop shop for everything Warhammer Underworlds related and once again there’s been a lot of news for our favourite competitive arena combat game. If you’ve been watching my YouTube channel, you’ll know this is a regular thing but now I’m doing a simultaneous article release for those who prefer articles over videos.
I’m No Longer a Playtester
This is something I didn’t intend to talk about here but a) my YouTube and blog audiences actually don’t intermix too much and b) the article and topic in question turned out being even more popular than my already really well-view review articles. So yeah, I’m no longer a playtester for Games Workshop and Warhammer Underworlds as we have parted ways. I am not allowed to expand more than that but I have my article linked here if you want to find out more. Once again thanks to all my friends and viewers for all your support and encouragement, it means the world to me.
Warhammer Underworlds Supply Drop
August saw a surprise release for Warhammer Underworlds and Warhammer 40,000: a supply drop which is totally not a loot box. I did an in-depth review on the Underworlds supply drop which you can find here. In general, the supply drop contains 50% of savings for random Warhammer Underworlds product (and vice versa for the Warhammer 40,000 version). The contents also vary on territory. As a limited product, it sold out very quickly. The UK contents were very underwhelming consisting of only the Godsworn Hunt and the Champions of Dreadfane as warbands given in the package. The Australian version was much better offering several Nightvault warbands (Garrek’s Reavers, Mollog’s Mob and the Eyes of the Nine in addition to the UK warband contents) making it a much better purchase. If Games Workshop do one again for Warhammer Underworlds, hopefully it mirrors the Australian supply drop instead of just seemingly being a warehouse stock clearance move.
New Warbands: Morgok’s Krusha’s and Morgwaeth’s Blade-Coven
On to lighter news, the final Beastgrave Warbands have been released: Morgok’s Krushas and Morgwaeth’s Blade-Coven! It has been a long wait due to the global pandemic but it is great to finally see them. My favourite are still Morgwaeth’s Blade-Coven from looks and overall design but Morgok’s Krusha’s look like they will face the Hrothgorn treatment with the next Forsaken and Restricted list. It’s unfortunate that they excel more at being a turtle control warband than an aggro one but that’s due to their insanely good defensive cards and the current bulk of unrestricted universal cards which are too strong to support the turtle control playstyle. Tournament data is kinda needed but with the global pandemic, that is not likely. Still there are some obvious cards that need restricting and even banning.
Speaking of, Prescient Blow. An upgrade that will most likely be forsaken. This upgrade (found in the Morgok’s Krushas warband expansion) reacts during an opponent’s attack action before dice are rolled. When combined with Duellist’s Speed it allows your equipped fighter to forever dodge range 1 attack actions. However, when 2 Prescient Blows meet, the loop from them both reacting to each other goes on forever until 1 player decides to take the attack action. People are feeling that this card will be errata’d but Games Workshop are most likely (and hopefully) going to ban it. Just an unforeseen interaction. I know some tournaments and groups are already either FAQ’ing it, banning it, or hoping their players don’t abuse it. Either way, Games Workshop needs to do something but Warhammer Underworlds currently really needs a new Forsaken and Restricted List to make the game fun again.
Direchasm Reveal
If you watched the Games Workshop Warhammer August preview stream you would have heard that Season 4 has been announced as Direchasm! He bent over and I saw his Direchasm. Direchasm is a bad name but Doomruin forever. Despite the name, Direchasm is looking to be a very interesting season. I’m impressed Games Workshop revealed so much instead of last year with Beastgrave and just the outline of the season’s name and miniature silhouettes. While the box art for Direchasm is a little off (“we have REAL Aelves now everybody! Not those forest Aeleves you all disliked!”) I have to say that the miniatures look amazing and I love the warband selection so far. Seeing the Lumineth Realmlords along with the much better mortal Slaanesh warband, from my totally unbiased viewpoint, is awesome. From what we’ve seen so far the Slaanesh warband is shaping up to be truly stunning, I expect it to be some of Games Workshop’s best work just as with their new Slaanesh models for Age of Sigmar (which I own an army for). We even got to see a glimpse of the Seraphon warband with a stunning new Chameleon Skink! While Beastgrave may have been a bit hit and miss, Direchasm is shaping up to be one of my favourite seasons, especially if you just include the revealed warband selection alone.
Canny viewers have also noted that the card number for Direchasm is 500. What does this mean? Well more cards obviously. The issue is how that’s going to be implemented but it’s something we will have to wait and see.
Arena Mortis
Arena Mortis was also revealed to much shock and surprise as our September multiplayer boxed set. This time, instead of being the free White Dwarf game mode, it comes with new card tokens, 20 upgrades, 20 gambits and a new double-sided game board. While I’m looking forwards to see what this brings, I hope the price is not too much as the board pack was £15 separately along with the 60 card expansion Power Unbound being £12.50. I feel Arena Mortis will live or die based on its price. Also releasing a multiplayer expansion during a global pandemic where people are generally still isolating is dubious but that’s totally outside of Games Workshop’s control. I don’t hold it against them but it is something worth bringing up. The box art looks good though.
WUO news: Eyes of the Nine
For Warhammer Underworlds Online, this month saw the release of the Eyes of the Nine warband along with a new cosmetic gaming environment. To some confusion and delight, Tzeentch’s chosen were released into the online Mirrored City. As the game is still centred mainly in Shadespire, some viewers will be aware of the lack of magic. Steel Sky Productions addressed this by releasing an…interesting selection of magic cards to bolster the heavy magic usage of the Eyes of the Nine. These cards are: Soul Drain, Seggut’s Salvo, Sphere of Azyr, Sorcerous Reposte, Arcane Transposition, Arcane Shield and Abasoth’s Unmaking. For objectives we have: Arcane Torrent, Magical Storm and Sorcerous Scouring. While some of these cards are…useful, a lot are not. Still it’s not a great sign to see this warband drop with a specific universal card pack to give them a fighting chance.
While I’m really happy to see the Eyes of the Nine, I would have loved to see Garrek’s Reavers or even the Godsworn Hunt as they fit really nicely into the current Warhammer Underworlds Online environment. Still, the new warband’s addition highlights the need for a restricted list as even with these new cards, the Eyes of the Nine still struggle to do well. On a more positive point, Steel Sky Productions have tidied up the animation for magic in general and made it much more graphically appealing. The animations and models in particular for the Eyes of the Nine are truly some great work. As a follower of Tzeentch, it pleases me to no end for finally being able to see a lot of new Tzeentch miniatures finally moving and animated.
Podcast Corner: August WHU podcasts
Podcast corner is back for August with a packed month of audio content.
Path to Glory have a stunning 5 podcasts this month! There’s a lot of content to cover but they continue with their current series of individual warband focuses featuring members of the community along with general in-depth topics of interest related to Warhammer Underworlds from the new warbands to a great highlight of the alliance tournament format.
Battle For Salvation are back again with their 29th episode going over: the roadmap, a tournament they attended as well as their favourite universal cards from the new warband expansions.
Battlemallet released a podcast focusing on Morgok’s Krushas and Morgwaeth’s Blade-Coven decks they have come up with as well as a review on the universal cards from both warband expansions.
Steel City Underworlds released a new podcast in a new series called crit-bait in which Tom and Michael take opposing viewpoints in arguing for and against a certain topic with this episode focusing on Temporary Victory along with guest Jonathan Davies from Path to Glory and Well of Power.
Finally there’s me with Crit ! Cast Episode 4: Hold Objective Play where I talk with guest Rob Gilmour from Reading all about the hold objective playstyle. We go over card selection, positioning and warband choice for an in-depth 90 minute podcast. It’s a long one but contains all our collected knowledge and experience on the now popular Warhammer Underworlds playstyle.
CritDef podcast posted a new episode! Only caught it post-editing!
What the Hex also dropped a last-minute podcast today detailing their thoughts on Morgok’s Mob!
Tournaments and Events: Webcam, Vassal, WUO
For August tournaments and events we have the monthly Warhammer Underworlds webcam tournament hosted over the Zoom by the Straight Outta Shadespire guys with the new warbands and cards! This time there where 10 players with 9 unique warbands, down on last months 12 but still a great turnout. After 4 tough rounds, the Thorns of the Briar Queen put an end to the rampaging aggro Grymwatch to take the first place crown. As always you can watch these tournaments live for free on my Twitch channel at twitch.tv/canyourollacrit. The September tournament will be held later in the month but the date is waiting to be solidified. Despite the lower turnout, the tournament had a later start time meaning we had some more Americans join in on the action!
Vassal is back but with their first Skirmish clash. It only had 16 players but had more rounds to compensate for the lack of best of 3 games. In the end Benny proved triumphant with his Stormsire’s Cursebreakers as they went on to win undefeated.
The August vassal clash 3 also happened for July. Out of the 124 slots they got 56 with 44 players on the day due to last minute-drops which is basically equal their June turnout of 45 but still doesn’t top their May clash of 62 players. Despite all of that, it was still a great turnout to see for an online tournament. This 2-day tournament continued with a top-cut mirroring a Grand Clash format on the following day where Rippa’s Snarlfangs came out as triumphant overall.
No tournaments for Warhammer Underworlds Online but the game continues with Path to Glory’s monthly gaming league for more organised gaming content.
Summary of my content for August
August was very busy for me. It saw the release of my articles on: the supply drop, Morgok’s Krushas and Morgwaeth’s Blade-Coven, my playtesting update, Crit ! Cast episode 4: Hold Objective Play and finally my article on what you can use to represent WAAAGH! counters. On my Twitch channel (https://www.twitch.tv/canyourollacrit) I streamed multiple webcam games, Warhammer Underworlds Online games and my new hobby stream which was a lot of fun. YouTube saw me release 5 new videos (including this one). They are mainly new battle reports featuring my new recording setup to offer you high quality competitive games as well as my time using the newly released Eyes of the Nine warband for Warhammer Underworlds Online.
Closing Crit
Once again we have had another packed month for Warhammer Underworlds. A supply drop, new warbands and a glimpse at what season 4 will offer. September will see Arena Mortis drop and complete the card collection for Beastgrave. Things will be slowing down again but I’m sure the Warhammer Underworlds community will keep the game alive and kicking as they always do.
Before I go please feel free to click my affiliate link to Element Games here. Any purchases you make after clicking through the link help support myself and the blog to help bring high quality content along with being at no additional cost to you while also granting you a 15 to 25% discount on all things Warhammer Underworlds and hobby related (like the new warbands)!
So until we fight in the arena mortis during the cold month of September, always ask yourself; Can you roll a crit?
Can You Roll A Crit? 