WathLab

Comparing Ironskull's Boyz and Morgok's Krushas cards is pretty interesting. A good bunch of identical cards... and many others that are very similar...

Yeah that's why this kind of stuff doesn't work that well. As the game is quite complex, with a lot of effects, you need to be able to see all the upgrades all the time. Even in a more casual context sadly.

Hi everyone ! Every 6 months it's the same story... This week, let's update our general strategic post. Because of their reputation for being a kind of hard-mode warband, our favourite warband can deter many newcomers from playing them. Which is a bit sad, as they can be really fun and very rewarding to play... Because I am a sort of all-time / die-hard Chosen Axes player, some time ago, I wanted to wrote this short guide for new players. Now the new FAR is there & the last 2 Beastgrave warbands have been released, here it is again in an updated version : some very simple advice for this nice finesse warband ! 1/ SEAZING THE SUBSTANCE : Strenghts and Weaknesses Here's the most obvious part, and many people have said it before. So let's try to put it in one single sentence : with Chosen Axes, your warband will be strong but slow, and can be a bit fragile until your dwarves are Inspired – which takes time and can be quite difficult to achieve ; however, with a good deck and some very simple strategic guidelines in mind, it's also quite easy to make them work and to turn them into a very solid warband, that excels at one-shoting enemies. 2/ KNOWING YOUR NEW FRIENDS : Basic Knowledge About your Fighters Note : here ° / °°/ °°°/ °°°° mean relative strenght °°°° FJUL GRIMNIR : Your Leader is a very impressive fighter, mainly because of his Wound total and of his Damage output, before and (of course even more) after Inspiration. From the very first Round, Fjul Grimnir is very hard to one-shoot and can be very dangerous. However, most of the time, this won't be enough to ensure you victory. Firstly and obviously, as he can't be everywhere at the same time (and clever opponents will always play around it)... Secondly, as he lacks accuracy : his 2 Hammers 4 Damage with Cleave Attack when Inspired is good but not great, especially with of all these 2 Dodge Defense fighters that wander throught the Mirrored City by now. However, playing around your opponent's fear of him becoming a beast can be very useful... °°°° TEFK FLAMEBEARER : In the minds of many dwarf players, he is the best warrior, or at least, on average, is he considered as good as Fjul Grimnir. When he's Inspired, his 3 Hammers 3 Damage with Cleave on Crits Attack is tremendous. Because he's only 3 Wounds right from the bat and 4 Wounds when inspired, he is the one you want to protect the most. °° VOL ORRUKBANE : In most of your games, Vol will appear to be the less interesting one. When it comes to Chosen Axes sidekicks, damage output is often less useful than accuracy (which is the very thing he lacks, contrary to Maegrim). So most of the time, you will use him as a bait – but of course, depending on which warband you face, you might also use Maegrim or even Fjul for this - or as a early hitter. When he's inspired, note that he can drive back ennemy fighters on distant lethal hexes, but is that enough to make him shine ? °°° MAD MAEGRIM : For a long time, no one seemed to know his name except we die-hard dwarf players, but now the card pool has grown bigger, his qualities seem more obvious. When Inspired, his 3 Swords 1 Reroll 2 Damage Attack make him the Chosen Axes hidden gem... Especially with the right Upgrade or versus low Wounds warbands... 3/ NOT MISUNDERSTANDING YOURSELF : A Matter of Playstyles and Stategies INTRODUCTION - All of us begun this way... As almost everyone I suppose, I begun my Chosen Axes career playing with Objectives like Hold Objective 1-5, Supremacy or A Claim Retaken, trying to make my warband work from this starting point. Because Objective n°3 will often be on the bad side of the board, because with Supremacy in hand, you'll frequently have only 2 dwarves left, or more simply because it's always harder to go after objectives and to have a good fight at the same time... You will very quickly find that the problem with the Hold-Objective approach is that most of the time you will have dead cards in your hands... Not good at all. Dwarves are slow and can't afford this. This said, with Beastgrave's new rules and cards, the Hold-Objective approach has become a bit more viable and relevant. I don't believe that it means that Chosen Axes will suddently become better than anyone else at it but it will definitively help you to build more polyvalent decks... And indeed, when you have a closer look at the Chosen Axes fighter cards, this idea of polyvalence, or of finesse aggressiveness if you prefer, becomes quite logical : with accurate attacks and some pretty insane damage output, their stats want to fight, which means Aggro playstyle... even if it's obvious that they aren't fast enough to fully rely on it, their inspiration condition leads them towards holding Objectives, which means a more Passive approach... but again, they aren't fast enough to fully rely on it. By now, with your Chosen Axes, the best way to go is to play a mix of both approaches - which could be called Aggro / Flex. So in general, move forward while carefully playing around objectives and be as agressive as you think you can. This way, you'll score Glory for one-shot kills and passively, while strongly disrupting your opponent's plans. But at the same time, don't rush too early at the enemy because... Because when playing with Chosen Axes, one thing is of utmost importance : Inspiration. If you want to win, you must ensure that your dwarves get inspired as fast (or as efficiently) as possible. So let's begin with setting-up : SETTING-UP - The right distance for the right strategy First of all, and this could be my most important advice, don't systematically chose to go 1st on boards. Imho, this is another trap. Indeed, very often, you won't really need 3 Objectives on your side in order to inspire your key fighters, and, as you're slow, you will benefit more from chosing the boards orientation. In particular when you face things like Aggro warbands, The Grymwatch, Cursebreakers, Profiteers, Mantrappers or Lady Harrow's Mournflight. Be very careful about distances when you chose the Board itself : in order to set up multiple inspirations, use one that allow you to group your dwarves as much as possible. It's very helpful if you can reach at least 2 objectives with each fighter, and it's even better if it can be achieved by a single push... For instance, the Mirror Well, the Kathophrane Reliquary, the Cursed Oubliette and Abandoned Lair are nice Boards to achieve this. Then, don't lose too much time : put your Objectives next to you / just in front of you near the middle of the board and play as aggressivley as you think you can - the precise degree of middleness / aggressiveness you'll show depending on your match-up. If you face Hold-Objective horde warbands such as Thorns of the Briar Queen, The Grymwatch, The Sepulchral Guard or Grashrak's Despoilers, go straight forward and deliver your uppercuts as quickly as you can. And always try to read and to disrupt their nasty scoring-passive-glory-plans. Here, remember that you can use your some of your fabulous ploys to achieve this, and that killing a fighter sitting on a Objective is worth twice the Glory... Against Zarbag's Gitz, the same advice apply, but everything will depend on Snirk's position : don't feed him - kill him while he's uninspired if you can or ignore him all game. If you face Control / Flex warbands, magical ****** such as Cursebreakers or Eyes of the Nine, trouble masters such as Spiteclaw's Swarm, or ranged traitors such as Thundrik's Profiteers – most of the time, agress them as fast you can... and don't let them dictate your path. But at the same time, don't give them too early / too many free targets for their ranged attacks if they have some... A fairly complex equation. Don't be affraid when you face Aggro warbands, as you will have some great advantage over your enemies : unlike them, your Inspiration condition will not rely on fights, which means that you will have a chance to be inspired before them. In that case, you can be (a little bit) more defensive and let your enemy come to you. EARLY GAME - Get in motion and find Inspiration Round 1, try to inspire as many dwarves as you can, using every single tool available to you : moves, your various push-ploys, Regal Vision, Blazing Soul... For that reason, mulligan your first power cards hand if you don't have at least : Regal Vision, Blazing Soul, good drawing-ploys or several good push-ploys. Even if your first hand is good, consider drawing one card if your opponent does'nt threat you too much Round 1, in order to get momentum as early as possible. In general, unless you believe that your opponent will rush on the Obectives that are on your side, use mid-late Round 1 move actions to reach the nearest Objectives tokens with 2 or 3 of your dwarves and save your own push-ploys in order to counter his tricks. If your opponent doesn't do anything to ruin your plans, you can use these Ploys to inspire additional fighters in last power phase of the round, or/and save the remaining ones to help you in the coming fights. When you play Chosen Axes, because inspiring your fighters is so important, it's very easy to feel upset when your opponent counters some of your Round 1 moves. Here, the key is to never be surprised or destabilized by anything (see section 6 for a more detailed approach about this issue). Don't be afraid : good things are coming. Of course, from time to time and depending on your match-up, it can be relevant to make Round 1 attacks, to get the first kill, charge on an objective, score early glory and lure your opponent while you inspire your fighters. In general, you'll end your 1st Round with 1 or 2 Inspired fighters and a total between 1 and 5 Glory points, which should be enough to launch your dwarven landslide successfully. MID/LATE GAME - Go get that gold This leads us to one of the most important questions : timing. If you want to improve your odds of winning your Chosen Axes games, you need to use your fighters and their respective qualities (Fjul's damage output or Cleave ability for instance, or Tefk's accuracy) at the right time and in the best possible order. In order to achieve this myself, I use key concepts such as "Bait", "Early hitter", "Late hitter","Specific Counter" or "Objective Scorer". Very often, winning games will requiere a lot of patience. Unless you gain a decisive advantage, deny your opponent an important move or score tons of glory, never use your key fighters too early in a given round. Because relying on Fjul only is risky (because he can die early, because he can't be everywhere at the same time, and because using him only is also a kind of telegraphed strategy), also use your other dwarves, especially Tefk (very strong and very reliable) and Maegrim (against low wounds warbands)... In general, as he lacks accuracy, Vol is very unlikely to become your MVP, but can be quite useful right from the bat (use him as a bait, or for early attacks against low wound / defense fighters if needed, if the odds are good enough). As said above, note that his Driving Back ability when he's inspired can be useful sometimes (in particular in a Season where there are Lethal Hexes everywhere !). For your opponent, multiple threats are harder to counter - in your games, always try to use your 4 dwarves as a pack, hunting in concert within a 2-3 hexes range, and moving forward together to one-shoot enemy fighters on their way. When you finally reach the enemy, do not be misled by your own agressiveness. In particular, learn when to stop, and when to make strong and calm moves : very often, those are the hardest to counter for your opponent. Morale now. Of paramount importance in this game, as it is short and brutal. You have to be prepared for anything - and when this anything happens, you have to keep your fighting spirit... With Chosen Axes, that's not the hardest thing to do. Always remember that your warband is rock solid and that you have 4 good fighters : even if you lose two of them early, and even if Fjul or Tefk are one of them, don't panic, you still can win games. One last advice : as always, be sure to know your decks by heart. Every single card and every effect... 4/ BUILDING FROM THE CORE : Your Best Faction Cards Note : here °/ °°/ °°°/ °°°° refer to comments I make about specific cards. See below. Chosen Axes have access to some very good faction cards – maybe above average if you compare them to what the other warbands have access to. Here are the most remarkable of them : Objectives / Good cards or cards you should try first : Score Immediately : Ferocious Charge, Scion of Grimnir Passive : Unstoppable Advance ° Hold Objective : A Claim Retaken°° Ploys / Good cards or cards you should try first : Movement : The Earth Shakes, Treasure Lust, Living Wall °°°°° Combat : Oathsworn °°°, Indomitable °°°, Piercing Stare °°° Upgrades / Good cards or cards you should try first : Movement : Grimnir's Speed °°°° Combat : Activated Runes, Grimnir's Fortitude °°°°, Grimnir's Blessing °°°/°°°° The remaining cards seem either too bad or too situational to find their way in most of the decks you'll build... but who knows... ° Only if it fits your playstyle – here I mean if you enjoy playing aggressive-invasive dwarves. °° This one can be quite hard to score, but now in Season 3, with the return of Hold-Objective playstyle, it is much more easy to make it work... °°° In a way or another, all these cards are situational. At least at the beginning, don't take too much of them, because they could slow your deck too much. To begin, 1 or 2 seems to be the ok spot. Choose well ! °°°° To begin, don't take too much of these, unless you really want to build some kind of heavily-Fjul -Grimnir-dependent deck... Which I think is very appealing but risky. °°°°° A somehow underrated card that I learned to love, because it has a great Round 1 utility. Not good enough to make the cut in any of my recent decks though. 5/ GATHERING THE POWER : Universal Cards and Buying Order Choices Note : this time ° means Restricted... Here I need to make dictinction between two game modes : Mode 1 / CHAMPIONSHIP Where you only play Season 2 & 3 (Nightvault and Beastgrave) Universal Cards and not Season 1 ones (Shadespire) From an Aggro/Flex Chosen Axes point of view, I would approximately rate the available sets this way : Best picks / Sets including several great cards : #1 POWER UNBOUND mainly for Blazing Soul° / Quickening Greaves / Prized Vendetta / Two Steps Forward / Spiritbond° / Inspired Attack / Shortcut #2 STEELHEART'S CHAMPIONS mainly for Strong Start / Regal Vision / Haymaker / Potion of Grace / Tome of Glories / Combination Strike° / Singled Out #3 BEASTGRAVE (OR NIGHTVAULT) CORE SET mainly for Great Strenght / Great Fortitude / Sidestep / Confusion / Conquest / Denial / Great Speed / Supremacy (even I don't like or play Supremacy myself, I must admit there are games when it can give you a kind of nice early lift) #4 THE GRYMWATCH mainly for Restless Prize° / Path to Victory / Swift Capture° / Larval Lance / Survival Instincts° / Fateful Strike #5 GIFT PACK mainly for Distraction / Spectral Wings / Mischievous Spirits / Jealous Defence / Daylight Robbery / Guardian Glaive #6 MORGWAETH'S BLADE COVEN mainly for Hidden Purpose / Quick Search / Glorious Triumph / Amberbone Mace #7 ZARBAG'S GITZ mainly for Potion of Rage / Faneway Crystal / Fighter's Ferocity / Catching Up / Solid Gains / Encroaching Shadow / Pit Trap° / Mirror Move Good picks / Sets including several very good cards : #8 EYES OF THE NINE mainly for What Armour ? / Fired Up / Irresistible Prize / Sudden Growth / Countercharge #9 THUNDRIK'S PROFITEERS mainly for Branching Fate / Shifting Reflection / Blessing of Hydragos / Crown of Avarice (Note : you'll notice that I don't mention Calculated Risk here : that's because I think that Chosen Axes are too slow to use it well. But now with the new Beastgrave Rules, feel free to add it to your own list if you want...) #10 HROTHGORN'S MANTRAPPERS mainly for Team Effort / Cryptic Companion° / Victor's Speed / Buried Instinct / Blindside / Amberbone Spear #11 RIPPA'S SNARLFANGS mainly for Gathered Momentum / Sting of the Ur-Grub / Temporary Victory (Note : you'll notice that I don't value Tempory Victory that much, mainly because it's too unreliable imho with Chosen Axes.) # 12 MORGOK'S KRUSHAS mainly for Show of Force / Strenght of Terror / Amberbone Sword #13 MOLLOG'S MOB mainly for Commanding Stride / Transfixing Stare / Tome of Vitality / Shadowed Step / Bag of Tricks #14 GARREK'S REAVERS mainly for Opening Gambit° / Potion of Constitution / Centre of Attention / Slumbering Key / Gloryseeker Honorable Mentions / Sets including one or two good cards at best : #15 YLTHARI'S GUARDIANS mainly for Duellist Speed / Keep Moving #16 GODSWORN'S HUNT mainly for Tome of Offerings° / Nullstone Spear #17 THE WURMSPAT mainly for Nightmare in the Shadows° / Frantic Exchange Conclusion 1 : Now Season 1 Universal Cards are gone, Power Unbound card set becomes very, very interesting... So I'd say that if you take any combination of #1 and any other between #2 and #6, you should have a good base, maybe not completely competitive, but quite good for sure. Conclusion 2 : With Chosen Axes set (faction cards) and all sets from #1 to #7, you already have at least : 14 good objectives, 18 good ploys, 17 good upgrades - which means that you already have a lot of choices... Conclusion 3 : Of course you have to adapt to your own playstyle and to your own meta - some sets favor Aggro builds a bit more, others are more Flex friendly... Always consider this ! Mode 2 / RELIC Where you still play Season 1 (Shadespire) Universal Cards Here you have the choice between ALL the cards from Seasons 1, 2 and 3. Which means a lot of cards. In your Chosen Axes set, you already have very good universal cards, mainly Ready for Action / Trap / Fuelled by Fury / No Time / Earthquake / Light Armour / Precise Use of Force / No Remorse For the rest, I would approximately rate the available sets this way : Best picks / Sets including several great cards : #1 THE FARSTRIDERS mainly for Change of Tactics / Advancing Strike / Inspiration Strikes / Defensive Strike / Spectral Wings / Concelead Weapon / Frozen In Time #2 STEELHEART'S CHAMPIONS mainly for Strong Start / Regal Vision / Haymaker / Potion of Grace / Tome of Glories / Combination Strike #3 POWER UNBOUND mainly for Blazing Soul / Quickening Greaves / Prized Vendetta / Two Steps Forward / Spiritbond / Inspired Attack / Shortcut #4 SPITECLAW'S SWARM mainly for Escalation / Master of War / Rebound / Awakened Weapon / Alone in the Darkness / Sprinter / Spoils of Battle #5 BEASTGRAVE-NIGHTVAULT-SHADESPIRE CORE SETS mainly for Great Strenght / Great Fortitude / Sidestep / Confusion / Conquest / Denial / Great Speed / Supremacy (even I don't like or play Supremacy myself, I must admit there are games when it can give you a kind of nice early lift) #6 GIFT PACK mainly for Distraction / Spectral Wings / Mischievous Spirits / Jealous Defence / Daylight Robbery / Guardian Glaive #7 MORGWAETH'S BLADE COVEN mainly for Hidden Purpose / Quick Search / Glorious Triumph / Amberbone Mace Good picks / Sets including only one great card and several very good cards : #8 THE GRYMWATCH mainly for Restless Prize / Path to Victory / Swift Capture / Larval Lance / Survival Instincts #9 MAGORE'S FIENDS mainly for Hidden Path / My Turn / Second Wind / Dark Darts / Mischievous Spirits / Tethered Spirit / Deathly Fortitude #10 IRONSKULL'S BOYZ mainly for Superior Tactician / Distraction / Duel of Wits / Ploymaster / Victorious Duel #11 EYES OF THE NINE mainly for What Armour ? / Fired Up / Irresistible Prize / Sudden Growth / Countercharge #12 ZARBAG'S GITZ mainly for Potion of Rage / Faneway Crystal / Fighter's Ferocity #13 MORGOK'S KRUSHAS mainly for Show of Force / Strenght of Terror / Amberbone Sword #14 HROTHGORN'S MANTRAPPERS mainly for Team Effort / Cryptic Companion / Victor's Speed / Buried Instinct / Blindside / Amberbone Spear #15 RIPPA'S SNARLFANGS mainly for Gathered Momentum / Sting of the Ur-Grub / Temporary Victory (Note : you'll notice that I don't value Tempory Victory that much, mainly because it's too unreliable imho with Chosen Axes.) #16 THUNDRIK'S PROFITEERS mainly for Branching Fate / Blessing of Hydragos / Shifting Reflection / Crown of Avarice #17 GARREK'S REAVERS mainly for Gloryseeker / Opening Gambit / Potion of Constitution / Centre of Attention Honorable mentions / Sets including several very good cards : #18 LEADER PACK mainly for Quick Advance / Shining Example / Rising to the Challenge / Hero's Mantle #19 MOLLOG'S MOB mainly for Commanding Stride / Transfixing Stare / Tome of Vitality / Shadowed Step / Bag of Tricks #20 SEPULCHRAL GUARD mainly for Mighty Swing / Helpful Whispers / Crushing Force / Soultrap Only if you really plan to play these warbands / One or two very good cards at best : #21 YLTHARI'S GUARDIANS mainly for Duellist Speed #22 GODSWORN'S HUNT mainly for Tome of Offerings #23 THE WURMSPAT mainly for Nightmare in the Shadows Conclusion 1 : If you play casual Relic mode and can have access to it, The Farstriders' universal card pool is very, very interesting... So I'd say that if you take any combination of #1 and any other between #2 and #7, you should have a good base, maybe not completely competitive, but quite good for sure. Conclusion 2 : With Chosen Axes set (both faction and universal cards) and all sets from #1 to #7, you already have : 11 very good objectives, 15 very good ploys, 16 very good upgrades - which means that you already have a lot of choices... Conclusion 3 : Of course you have to adapt to your own playstyle and to your own meta - some sets favor Aggro builds a bit more, others are more Flex friendly... Always consider this ! 6/ BEING PREPARED FOR ANYTHING : What to expect Round 1 while you try to inspire When you play Chosen Axes, because inspiring your fighters is so important, it's very easy to feel upset and to lose all your morale when your opponent counters some of your Round 1 moves. Here, the key is to never be surprised or destabilized by anything, and to achieve this, you need to know exactly what can happen and when... So in early game, mainly round 1, while trying to inspire your dwarves, whatever you do (move, push) or feel (safe or not, because of threat ranges), always remember the following things can happen : Your opponent using PUSH PLOYS, such as : DISTRACTION / NIGHMARE IN THE SHADOWS : to simply move your fighter from the objective at the very end of the last power phase. Simple but very powerful. Distraction is a common ploy that many Aggro and Control warbands use in their decks... So painful for Chosen Axes players ! That's the reason why taking at least 3 or 4 good push ploys in your deck is always a good idea. OTHER DISTRACTION-LIKE PLOYS : … However also note that many warbands have their own faction specific version of it : Steelheart's Champions, Sepulchral Guard, Spiteclaw's Swarm, Magore's Fiends, Mollog's Mob, Ironsoul's Condemnors, Lady Harrow's Mournflight, The Grymwatch and of course Chosen Axes themselves do. Don't forget that Thundrik's Profiteers also have a similar way to move one of your fighters from your beloved objectives with Toxic Gases. So when you face these warbands in Championship mode, always be prepared for this kind of cruel moves. CENTRE OF ATTENTION : to use one of your nearby dwarves to move another fighter who's already holding an objective. In this case, be also prepared for some very nasty scything attack - Mighty Swing or very Aggro Sepulchral Guard (I've seen some !) for instance. MIRROR MOVE : to counter one of your previous push or move, pushing back one of your fighters who was already sitting on an objective. SIDE STEP / SPECTRAL WINGS : to reach your fighters early, before they can inspire and get to 4-5 wounds. By the end of the game, you will lose some of your fighters anyway, so don't despair and try to protect your most important fighters, for instance using Vol as a screen. EARTHQUAKE : to move all your fighters from the objectives at the same time. Even in Relic mode, very few people play Earthquake now but again, who knows ? Your opponent using OTHER PLOYS, such as : MISCHIEVOUS SPIRITS : to mess up with your plans if some of your dwarves are already on objectives. When you face Control warbands, always expect that kind of plays... Some Chosen Axes players use this ploy with a certain success, but if you want to play it yourself, always remember it also allows your opponent to move 2 objectives : so if you already have a fighter sitting on an objective, your will lose it. RESTLESS PRIZE : to push one of the objectives your dwarves are sitting on - or more simply to mess with your plans early game by increasing distances between your fighters and the nearest objective. Note that because it's a 2-hex push, most of your own push-ploys won't be enough to counter it. Here, apart from using this ploy yourself, my main advice would is to avoid placing your objectives behind your dwarves, or even sometimes to avoid placing them on the same line they sit, because if your opponent drives them away from the center of the board, you will lose a lot of time... When you only have 2 objectives on your side, this can kill your Round 1. CONFUSION : to simply steal your place. NO TIME : to prevent you from using your own precious ploys in the last activation of the round. Also quite rare. TRANSFIXING STARE : which can be a very nasty move Round 1 (see below). When you don't have any push-ploys in hand, Transfixing Stare on Fjul or Tefk can be particularly upseting... SHIFTING REFLEXION : in order to teleport your still weak Tefk behind his own line, shutting him down quickly before he has a chance to become a killing machine at the end of the round. Most of the time, even if he loses a fighter, this kind of trade will be very good for your opponent. LETHAL WARD : to deal 1 damage to your holding objective fighter. ENCROACHING SHADOWS / COLLAPSE : to deal 1 damage to your fighter holding that fifth objective you put on an edge hex. LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE / FROZEN EARTH / PILLAGE / LEECH POWER / DESECRATE... : to remove an Objective from the battefield or turn it into a lethal hex... Your opponent using SPELLS, such as : ABASOTH'S UNMAKING : to remove one of the objectives your dwarves are sitting on. Note that the (brave & gambler) caster must be within a 4 hexe range, so unless you have push-ploys, if your inspiration fails you won't be able to reach him... SEGGUT'S SALVO / IRRESISTIBLE VISION / HOWLING VORTEX / HORRIBLE LEER : to push one or more of your fighters. Your opponent using ACTIONS, such as : CHARGES / ATTACKS : in order to drive your fighters back from the objectives they're holding (with the new Beastgrave rules, this is not possible if you're on Guard...). Always expect ranged warbands like Samson's Farstriders, Stormsire Cursebreakers, Thundrik's Profiteers or even Godsworn and Wild Hunts to try to shoot at you when you're on an objective... In particular, fear ranged attacks with knockback (Enrik Ironhail's for instance), as a single push ploy like the Earth Shakes would'nt be enough to help you move back. Using (quite) late activations to move on objectives will limit the number of attacks they can make... MOVES : in order to sit on the objectives with their own fighters before you can reach them yourself, making you lose time with early less efficient attacks... Some of the meanest warbands (I look at you, Spiteclaw's Swarm player with Transfixing Stare and Martyred in hand...) were already doing this from time to time, but now with Beastgrave new Guard rules and Upgrades you'll see it very often... So be prepared. Your opponent using SPECIAL ABILITIES, such as : STALAGSQUIG PLACEMENT : again, in order to make you lose time. Maybe you'll never see this, as many Mollog players just don't want to give you easy glory, but who knows... like I said before, you need to be prepared for anything. Your opponent using SET-UP TRICKS, such as : LETHAL HEXES PLACEMENT : with the new Beastgrave rules, you must expect your opponent to do that kind of move, placing a lethal hex in the middle of your set-up formation, making access to the objectives harder. However, if your set up is good, you'll see that it will be quite hard for him to ruin your plans, as you'll always have a way to reach any objective with most of your dwarves without moving through the lethal hexe, whatever its position. 7. SO MANY WAYS TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE : Good Advices All Over the Mirrored City To go beyond my mere analysis, here are some examples of very nice decks and advanced strategic considerations from very good players. From the newest to the oldest, see... May 2020 PATH TO GLORY podcast with Zack Newcome October 2019 Tome Deck Guide by Khel from the WELL OF POWER website June 2019 Aggro Deck by Chad Lathrop from the BATTLECAST - see recent Reddit post & Youtube video December 2018 Aggro Deck by Jamie Giblin from KATOPHRANE RELIC - see post called Chosen Axes Deck and Tech December 2018 Aggro/Flex Deck by John Rees from CAN YOU ROLL A CRIT - see post called Weekend Tournament Round Up 17 8. ONE OTHER WAY TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE : How I play Chosen Axes myself Finally, as a conclusion, here's a short deck guide I made some time ago on the Well Of Power website to explain how I play myself : The Chosen Axes Hammer While a few cards have changed due to the most recent releases, the main strategies remain pretty valid and still wins many games, even in competitive contexts. CONCLUSION If you already play them, you can skip this conclusion. Otherwise, if you like challenges, subtle moves and one-shot axe blows, you'll have some great chance to enjoy the Chosen Axes. So good luck with your new favourite warband ! And have a nice time playing Chosen Axes in Beastgrave !

These card holders seem neat. I had this model myself : https://www.customeeple.com/product/card-tray-compatible-whu-spire/?v=0f26a103da90 Only issue I think is that your opponent won't be able to see your upgrades, and will have a rather bad view on your fighter cards.

Did some of yours broke ? Which part in particular ? I'm about to assemble mine, and I love the minis so much...

Hi everyone! This week, let's challenge the dice gods! When we don't play competitive, there's a kind of games that we really dislike in our small casual group... Whatever the side we belong - though it's especially true when you try to make an underdog warband work - it's those where a player has all the good luck and the other one all the bad. So recently, I tried to do something about this issue. As it seems to work quite well, I thought that some people could be interested by it. The very simple custom rule shown on the image above has been made to help balance the few games where one player is strongly advantaged by the dice gods, and to make the experience of losing dice rolls again and again a bit less painful and negative for the unlucky player, without slowing down the game pace too much. The rule itself is very simple : At the start of the game, place the Katophranes’ Breath board between the two players. Place the Katophranes’ Breath token (use a Wound token to represent it) on the ‘0’ hex. During the game, each time a player loses an Action Phase roll-of or makes an Attack action that fails, move the Katophranes’ Breath token one hex towards this player‘s side. When the Katophranes’ Breath token reaches one of the ‘3!’ hexes, the player whose side is concerned gains one glory point. Move the Katophranes’ Breath token back on the ‘0’ hex and repeat the same sequence again and again until the end of the game. (Edit August 26th : 3 Player mode) Thanks to someone on Reddit, I was also able to add a 3 player version of the ladder : Each player has his own Katophranes’ Breath board which is 5 hexes long. During the game, each time a player loses an Action Phase roll-of or makes an Attack action that fails, move the Katophranes’ Breath token one hex per opponent on his own Board (e.g. 2 hexes in a three-player game), and each opponent moves down one hex on his own Board. When a Katophranes’ Breath token reaches one of the ‘5!’ hexes, the concerned player gains one glory point. Move his Katophranes’ Breath token back on the ‘0’ hex and repeat the same sequence again and again until the end of the game. So here is the printable file : https://we.tl/t-zXWaRiu1Mu To use it, you'll simply need a printer and a sheet of paper. Also note that you can adjust / change the reward and replace the 1 glory boost by 1 spent glory, or a re-roll if you prefer, or only consider failed Attacks if it feels more fair... In any case, as always, by Grimnir, have a nice week in Beastgrave !

Hi everyone! Here they are, all together! If you've seen my previous entries here, you know that I've been quite busy with custom warbands recently. So far, I've made 3 new dwarven warbands and have also been thinking about a refreshed version of the Chosen Axes... It's been a real blast to meditate about them all. Even if they're all some kind of variations around preexisting dwarf warband, I tried to give each of them a pretty unique flavour and to balance their cards as much as I could. So in case you missed them, here they are. By Grimnir, have a nice summer in Beastgrave !

Hi everyone! This week, just a short reminder... If you've seen my previous posts here and there, you know that I've been quite busy with custom warbands recently. So far, I've made 3 new dwarven warbands and have also been thinking about a refreshed version of our favourite fyreslayer warband... It's been a real blast to meditate about them all. If I post them here, it's because they're all some kind of variations around The Chosen Axes. However, I tried to give each of them a pretty unique flavour and to balance their cards as much as I could. So in case you missed them, here they are. By Grimnir, have a nice summer in Beastgrave !

Hi! Here are the June 2019 versions of the BAR & FAQ. https://we.tl/t-lVarDhPIhg

EDIT SEPTEMBER 2020 (Post Arena Mortis release) Hi! I really like your approach and the huge work you've made since Shadespire! I'm sure that it's been very useful to many of us. One remark concerning Chosen Axes : I fully agree when you say that they need more help than most of the other warbands, but imho, here, in that regard, I'm not sure that their deck is as strong as it could (or should) be. Right now, it's mainly built around holding objectives, which is the best way to lose games with them sadly... in particular for casual players. Also, when you only have 4 slow (& fragile when they're uninspired) fighters... and lack good ways of scoring glory early game, using keys can be really tricky! Imho (again), Chosen Axes requiere a more flexible approach. When the last 2 Beastgrave warbands will be released, I think that it could interesting to improve this deck in priority. If you compare it with Skellies's or Godsworn's decks for instance... the difference in power is quite big. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have the impression that the following Objectives don't appear in any of your decks (sorry if it's the case !) : Frantic Exchange Tempting Target So maybe adding them to the deck could be a first step. Also, when it comes to CA faction Objectives : Hoarders is a really bad card (impossible to score early game, and very hard to score late game, unless you play a pure aggro match-up...) Unstoppable is very good, A Grim Promise is decent, and much more valuable than many hold-objective cards... In any case, if possible, I think that it could be interesting to consider removing : Finders of the Way (bearly scorable early & late game), Burst of Speed (the deck only has 1 way (an upgrade on top of that) to score this one - more a nail on the CA's coffin than a real help...), Tactical Genius 1-3 (this one is really, really bad for such a slow warband with few bodies...), Peerless Fighters (which is a rather bad card, even if it seems cool, see here for a good demonstration : http://www.callitshadespire.com/2019/03/decision-should-you-play-peerless.html) And when it comes to Power cards, maybe it could be interesting to consider the following modifications : replacing Keen Avarice (too situational) with Undomitable (a really strong card) removing all the Keys adding Grimnir's Speed (really strong too) and maybe Grimnir's Fortitude (I'm not a big fan of this one, but it's much better than Keys) From all this reasoning (sorry for the wall of text!), one would end with a better basis. And with a few more good Universals from the 2 last Beastgrave warbands, the deck would bring much more power on the table and would be much more in line with the others! See here : https://www.underworldsdb.com/shared.php?deck=0,117,118,119,124,125,292,n378,b263,b280,b282,b317,g7,127,129,132,133,n401,n420,n445,b324,b329,g17,136,142,143,n515,n528,p49,p57,b392,b428,b429

Many thanks, sir! That's much appreciated. (English is not my native tongue, so I hope that you're not too upset by the inevitable mistakes I make all the time...) There are still a lot of subjects that I'd like to adress here, but right now, I'm not sure at all that I'll find the time to continue my short write ups. We'll see. Anyway - and above all : good luck with your Chosen Axes !! Grimnir's blessing upon you

Hi everyone ! This week, let's go back to strategy! Warhammer Underworlds Tactical Puzzle #2 - Will you manage to kill 2 Cursebreakers by the end of your 2nd activation this round ? By Grimnir, have a nice week in Beastgrave !

Indeed, speaking from my own experience, I'd say that Flex is the only reasonnable path with Chosen Axes... Their stats want to fight, which means Aggro playstyle... But they aren't fast enough to fully rely on it. Their inspiration condition lead you towards holding Objectives, which means a different approach... But again, they aren't fast or numerous enough to fully rely on it. So in the minds of many Chosen Axes players, Flex is the way. And that's exactly how the Hammer deck is built!

Hi everyone ! A few days ago, I posted here a short preview... Now is the time. Here come GRUNG'S RUNEKEEPERS ! https://www.reddit.com/r/WarhammerUnderworlds/comments/gyxn9b/here_come_grungs_runekeepers_see_comment/ Go find this new set of 4 +32 cards ! All you need is a printer and 5 sheets of paper. Have a nice week in Beastgrave !

Hi everyone ! A few days ago, I posted here a short preview... Now is the time. Here come GRUNG'S RUNEKEEPERS ! https://www.reddit.com/r/WarhammerUnderworlds/comments/gyxn9b/here_come_grungs_runekeepers_see_comment/ Go find this new set of 4 +32 cards ! All you need is a printer and 5 sheets of paper. By Grimnir, have a nice week !

Hi everyone ! This week, let's talk about strategy again : Which Ghost should Fjul-Grimnir Charge first ? Let's try to discuss and evaluate Target Value ! By Grimnir, have a nice week in Beastgrave !

It's happening again ! While Ancestors were still on their play-test phase... a new idea took me by suprise. So get prepared to meet... If you like typically dwarven things like Runes & Runic Power, Quests & Family Stories, Grudges & Severity, keep watching. By Grimnir, have a nice week !

The Runeekeepers are on their way to the Underworlds... It's play test time now. Waiting for them to appear, let's begin by lore !

I mentioned it earlier in the thread... Here's the third (and probably last) custom dwarven warband I'll make for Warhammer Underworlds : For the time being, I'll only say that here, we'll combine the great 6th / 7 th / 8th editions artworks and Runic power mechanics... By Grimnir ! More to come soon !

I made a few Season 3 only tests myself, and indeed the resulting Chosen Axes decks are quite frightening... Unless the last 2 warbands give us good new tools I fear it might be game over for us... (That's why I'm trying to do a little something about it right now... I'll share it here soon!) (And to answer your question - GW is quite strict in general, but for FLGS tourneys, I suppose that you could use the kind of coloured plates we can see in that Grand Clash video. It helps with making sure your opponent recognizes your fighters! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/537959410)

Hi everyone ! A few days ago, I posted here a short preview... Again, now is the time. Here comes THE CITADEL DWARVEN ANCESTORS CLUB ! https://www.reddit.com/r/WarhammerUnderworlds/comments/g7r41b/here_come_the_citadel_dwarven_ancestors_club_see/ Have a nice week in Beastgrave !

Hi everyone ! A few days ago, I posted here a short preview... Now is the time. Here come the CITADEL DWARVEN ANCESTORS CLUB ! https://www.reddit.com/r/WarhammerUnderworlds/comments/g7r41b/here_come_the_citadel_dwarven_ancestors_club_see/ Go find this new set of 5 +32 cards ! All you need is a printer and 5 sheets of paper. By Grimnir, have a nice week-end !

Ahahah. I love series indeed. Fortunately, each new custom warband takes quite a lot of time to make, and needs a bit of play test before I share, so everything will be quite for a while... Wait. Is the 1st version of all the Ancestors' cards already finished ? Damn it !

Hmm. What I wrote last week wasn't reasonnable, really. ... I would lie if I told you that this was meant to be a TRILOGY right from the beginning, but it's what it is now... So get prepared to meet Grung's Iron Hammers too, my third and final custom warband for Warhammer Underworlds ! We needed a warband built around Runes and 8th Edition artworks, did'nt we ?

Yeah this increase is quite impressive. One happy consequence : for years I was desperate because my Enigma dwarf with sword was too tall - now it fits better...