Warcry Blood Hunt Review - A Bloody Good Skirmish

With earth turned muddy from rivers of blood that flow from clashing battles beneath the choking branches of the Gnarlwood, two new warbands strike out against each other with Warcry Blood Hunt, the latest big-box expansion for the Warhammer: Age of Sigmar skirmish game. But what horrors await us with this trip amongst the Gnarloaks? Which terrible new warbands vie for power in this deadly forest? Games Workshop sent us Blood Hunt to check out ahead of it going up for preorder this weekend, so follow along as we sink our fangs in!

What's Included In Warcry Blood Hunt?

Warcry Blood Hunt is full of fantastic plastic to assemble two powerful new warbands, as this set pits the Khorne worshipping Claws of Karanak with the vampire monks known as the Askurgan Trueblades. Also included is a hard cardboard battle mat to play on, the Warband Tome Predator and Prey, a deck of battle plan cards, and loads of new terrain, including  new Fortified Gnarloaks, great twisting trees with protective covered platforms built onto them.

Warcry Blood Hunt - Claws of Karanak

The Warcry Blood Hunt warband Claws of Karanak worship the Blood God's infernal guard dogs, who hunt down those that most displease Khorne. By imitating and aspiring to that bestial level of savagery, these mortal warriors become more beast-like than human, losing any semblance of humanity that may still exist in other favorites of Khorne. Some even lope on all fours, and must be chained up when not in battle.

Leading the charge of butchery in this warband is the Packlord, who has 20 Wounds, 4 Defense, and has 5 attacks at Strength 5, dealing 2 damage on a hit and a whopping 5 damage on a crit. Their special ability, Scent of Weakness [Triple], can be triggered after they've slain a unit, and gives +1 Attack to all friendly units within 8" of him until the end of the battle round.

Filling out the ranks or lesser, but still powerful Brutalisers, inexpensive (but still powerful) Blood Whelps, and the dreaded Hound of Wrath, who runs on all fours with a speed of 7", and has the nasty special ability Flaming Breath [Double], which lets him roll a die for each visible enemy fighter within 1" of him. On a 4+, he deals 3 wounds to each of those enemies.

Along with a Reaction that punishes enemy fighters who try to disengage, the Claws of Karanak are an incredibly aggressive warband. With no ranged abilities (which thematically makes perfect sense), they're meant to get in close and strike fast. But because all but the Hound have the traditional 5" movement speed, you'll need to think carefully when setting up your army on the battlefield, as getting them into position to shred your opponents will be key here.

Warcry Blood Hunt - Askurgan Trueblades

The Askurgan Trueblades bring a whole new flavor of vampire to the world of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. While some vampires in the lore attempt to hide their true nature by living a life of courtly indulgence, and others deeply give in to their baser instincts, the Askurgan Trueblades attempt to strike a balance. They believe that the power gifted to them by the Soulblight Curse that turned them into vampires should not be wasted on mere mortals, and so they do not seek to slay anything but the most powerful and deadly creatures the realm has to offer. By feasting on the blood of beasts, they draw primal power.

Leading the Askurgan Trueblades is the Askurgan Exemplar, with 20 wounds and 4 Toughness, he attacks with 3 Attacks at 6 Strength, dealing 4 (!!!) damage on a hit, and 6 damage on a crit. I love how his attacks are juxtaposed with the leader of Karanak. While the Pack Leader swipes out savagely with 5 attack dice, the Exemplar strikes carefully, only rolling 3 dice but dealing much more damage with each hit.

Also of note, the Trueblades also have a bestial menace on their team. The Curseblood has given in to its bestial nature, and attacks with a savage bite. Its special ability, Terrifying Howl [Double], stops enemies within 3" of it from making reactions. All of the members of the Trueblades, including the Askurgan Pariah, Ascetics, and Acolytes, are a careful, precise force of fighters. Will their superior combat skills make up for a lack of attacks from the savage Claws of Karanak? In our playtests of these two factions, it was pretty neck and neck. And while it's always fun to roll more dice, it was nice to hit harder with the Askurgan Trueblades.

Warcry Blood Hunt - Predator and Prey Warband Tome

Finishing out our coverage of Warcry Blood Hunt we'll take a quick look at the Warband Tome included with this kit. Along with all the rules for each warband, it also includes expanded lore for both factions, the war of bloodshed going on in the Gnarloaks, and additional new rules for the new Fortified Gnarloaks scenery. Also included are new Paths of Glory for each warband, and a 4-player campaign where players can duke it out for control of strongholds amidst the wild ruins of Ghur.

Warcry Blood Hunt - Final Thoughts

I'm going to admit my bias here, I just am fully in love with Warcry in general, and think it's the fastest, most snappy, game Games Workshop has on shelves right now. The rules are easy to grasp and (more importantly) easy to remember without flipping through rulebooks, but there's just enough crunch to make it feel like I'm doing more than just chucking dice around. So with all that being said, I still truly believe that Warcry Blood Hunt is one of the most fun big-box sets they've released for the game. These warbands look amazing, are fairly easy to assemble (though those darn Gnarloaks always slow me down), and play so differently from one another that you'll be begging your opponent to swap sides for a game just to see how the other force plays. Another grand slam on the Warcry front.

The copy of Warcry Blood Hunt used in the creation of this review was provided by Games Workshop.