Warhammer Underworlds Gnarlwood Grinkrak's Looncourt and Fearsome Fortress Review

Just when you felt like you had made your way out of the Gnarlwood, fighting off the Gnarlspirit Pack and escaping the chilling grasp of the Sons of Velmorn you begin to hear the trumpet of Grinkrak's Looncourt. This Warband of Grot is unique from other Grot in that they've given into their fungi-induced delusions and are ready to engage in all manner of dangerous activities for their leader. How does this psychotic Warband translate to the world of Warhammer Underworlds Gnarlwood though?

Warhammer Underworlds Gnarlwood Grinktak's Looncourt is an expansion of the Warhammer Underworlds Gnarlwood Core Set, if you're interested in checking out our thoughts on the initial release then you can here.

What comes in Grinkrak's Looncourt Expansion?

Grinkrak's Looncourt is an expansion for Warhammer Underworlds Gnarlwood giving players all they need to run the Grinkrak's Looncourt Warband with a complete set of miniatures and a Rivals Deck. As always you can also play this Warband with a universal Rivals deck but for this, we'll be focusing on the cards in the box.

The miniatures come on two sheets and as with the rest of Warhammer Underworlds are built with snap-assembly. There's some really fun variety in the miniatures included. You have Grib, da Wonky Lance on a beast, Skolko and Pronk readying a weapon for fire on each other's shoulders, Pokin' Snark with a Squig tied to the end of a stick, and more. All of the Looncourt are bursting with personality that you know only gets them into more trouble…

What is Grinkrak's Looncourt?

Grinkrak's Looncourt is comprised of seven Grot. Compared to the four members of the Gnarlspirit Pack or the five members of the Sons of Velmorn having seven characters on the field is quite a big difference. While there's more on the field you still only get your four moves a turn so expect that a number of your Warband will just kinda hang around where they are. This makes them good for objective play where you can have certain Warband camping on a location while others move and attack.

A new mechanic for Ginkrak's Looncourt Rival Deck is the Quest objectives. These are Objective cards that don't just remain active, but you assign them to different members of your Warband. These objectives might be a bit easier to complete, like dodging an attack or occupying an objective with the same number as the round of battle you're currently in, but by being assigned to a specific fighter instead of something achievable by your whole Warband it forces you to think more strategically about your plan.

To inspire the members of Grinkrak's Looncourt you can either have them score the fighter's Quest Objective, or an ability of Grinkrak is that he can choose an uninspired fighter and inspire them when you score a non-quest objective. Whether you're doing things specifically for a character, or just progressing through collecting Objectives you'll be able to get your Warband inspired.

Our favorite cards from Ginkrak's Looncourt are:

• Looncourt, Scrag 'Em! - This Quest card forces you to keep your friends close and enemies closer. This kind of card rewards the kind of rush play that a Warband that's seven Grot strong will be able to capitalize on. By the wording of the card, you could even earn this early with three starting Fighters while you move the other four in your first round.
• Neh Neh Na-neh Neh! - I am a simple man, I see an antagonistic card and I enjoy it. This can take what could already be a good feeling, and turn it better by managing to dodge an attack while also scoring an objective. Knowing that this is attached to a Grot might also serve as extra protection in case your opponent is afraid to attack lest you're able to claim an objective.
• Sound the Charge - While it was mentioned that between seven fighters and four options to move you might have some fighters sitting around a card like this can completely shake up the field. With one hex of movement you can not just set up for combat, but even strategically place your fighters on objectives, or in locations where they can provide additional attacking or defensive capabilities.
• Extra Pointy Boots - A nice upgrade that gives you that extra damage for close-ranged fighters, but also shows off some of the weirdness of the cards in the Looncourt rival's deck. This one especially reads like a card out of Munchkin.
• Legbiter - This card is great not just because of the doubling down for the craziness of this pack of fighters but also because it's a relatively powerful attack and can be triggered by scoring a Quest objective. This waterfall of effects allows one fighter to complete an objective, earn you points, and then upgrade the card with a new attack all in what might be a single movement. Reactions like this can quickly turn the tide of combat.

Stand your ground in your Fearsome Fortress

While the Looncourt is built around movement and getting into your opponents territory the Fearsome Fortress Rival Deck is quite the opposite. This deck can be used with any of the Warbands and plays around the idea that you'll have a Feature Token that you can place on the board that acts as a home base. Having this set Token on the board is what acts as your fortress and the cards that you play revolve around using your fortress and other Feature Tokens.

Our favorite cards from Fearsome Fortress are:

• Siegebreakers - Thematically this is a fun card in line with the deck and an important one to get out early to score some easy points. It might take a bit of pushing and pulling your opponent depending on what kind of strategy they're playing
• Stockpile - This card promotes the importance of getting around to each of the objectives on the map. For when you don't have an objective specific to a token or to positioning your Warband or your opponents Warband you can quietly collect this on your own. 
• Ready for Anything - Doubling down into the theme of a Fearsome Fortress this gives all of your fighters who are on feature tokens extra defence as if they were in fortresses of their own. Building up a higher defence is a big benefit when health is so slim
• Makeshift Bombardment - Again doubling down into the theme this card is great to control the field. With a wide range of 3 hexes from the fighter it will allow you to quickly activate and heavily disrupt any of your opponents plans.
• Walking Wall - With a deck so focused on having a fighter on a feature token having the ability to give one of your fighters a permanent "On feature token" status gives you an incredible edge. On a powerful fighter this can very quickly turn the tide of battle.

What are our final thoughts on Warhammer Underworlds Gnarlwood Grinkrak's Looncourt Expansion?

Grinkrak's Lookcourt is another great expansion to Warhammer Underworlds. Their cards are very much focused on completing Objectives as quickly as possible to upgrade your Warband and with the Quest cards really make you think about what objective you'll take on next. Their glass cannon/rush style works well to work together and flood your enemies with attacks when you're not quietly trying to move others to complete objectives. If Looney Tunes were a Warband they would be Grinkrak's Looncourt.

Should you buy Warhammer Underworlds Gnarlwood Grinkrak's Looncourt Expansion?

Grinkrak's Looncourt functions as a pack in a very specific way and will only really be up your alley if that's what you're interested in playing. With each character being inspired by specifically completing quests, or having Grinkrak upgrade one per non-quest objective completion if you play with a separate Rivals Deck that doesn't maintain this quest mechanic you might find yourself a bit 'fish out of water'. If you want some silly antics thrown into your games of Warhammer Underworlds though then this Warband will be a perfect addition.

The copy of Warhammer Underworlds Gnarlwood used to produce this review was provided by the publisher.