I had a friend ask me a while back about what I thought of the Beastmen after having played with the army exclusively for almost a year now. I was on vacation, and promptly filed the email away, and then forgot it. I found it again this morning, and wanted to jot down my notes on the army.
Overall, Beastmen are a decent, but not exceptional, army. They're tough, and reasonably strong, but they can't really shoot or have decent armor. They're also just a bit overpriced across the board. I'll try to give my short thoughts on each unit below, and them provide a shorthand letter grade (A being the highest, F being the lowest) for each unit. This reflects my idea of how good I find them in the Beastman army, not how I find them in relation to other options in other books. Let's dive into the particulars.
Lords:
Beastlord - The Beastlord is a 1+ choice for me. I've never regretted having him in the army, and I've missed him when I didn't take him. His stats are good, though not monstrous, but what really seals him as a great choice is his leadership of nine. Beastmen live and die on being able to pass leadership, just like other armies, but it's especially useful to be able to pass your Primal Fury checks. You are going to be engaging in close combat with this army, and passing those checks every round is key. Grade: A.
Great Bray-Shaman - I almost always take the Great Bray. The +4 to dispel is great, and he can get some of the nastier lores. He is pricey. Grade: B+
Doombull - This is the guy who gets left out in most of my lists. He's a huge killing machine, but he's expensive, and often prevents taking the other two Lords. He also has lower leadership, and unless you take minotaurs to protect him will get sniped out of units. Grade: B
Heroes:
BSB - Absolutely must have. This is true of all armies, but even more so of Beasts, since he allows us to reroll Primal Fury as well. Grade: A++
Shaman - Very good. I take two, and am considering a list with three level two shamans, a Beastlord and a Doombull. I like to use Wyssan's Wildform with these guys. Grade: A
Gorebull - I try to fit one in to my lists, for the same killing power inherent in the Doombull. He's good, but not necessary. Grade: B
Core:
Gors - I really like Gors with additional hand weapons. They're tough, and they've got a lot of attacks. At strength three, they're not doing a ton, but if you can get one (or two) Wyssan's Wildform off on them, they'll go nuts, especially with reroll to hit. Grade: B+
Ungors - I usually run a block of 25-30 Ungors, and they've won me quite a few games. While I don't like them as the "backbone" of the army due to their fragile nature and cost, I think that opponents often underestimate them. I usually head up a flank with them, and assist in other combats or take out weak units. Grade: B
Warhounds - I haven't run these in Eighth Edition. I can see some benefits in clogging up lines, but I don't like them enough to bring them out yet. Grade: C
Chariots - I believe that chariots can be very effective in small doses, but I wouldn't build my army around them anymore. Sure, they're a good price and hit reasonably well, but I like to have a good mix of backbone (read as Gor) in my army. Grade: B
I'll have the rest of the book, and a sample list, up tomorrow. Cheers!
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