The Beastmen - My Initial Thoughts

First let me say I am basing my current opinion solely on the information that was in the February White Dwarf through the Beastmen article and Battle Report. I will be buying the official rulebook tomorrow and will provide further feedback once I have had the chance to totally read it.

This rulebook is the one I have been waiting on, I was very disappointed with the last version of Beastmen and so I have a large army that has sat on a shelf for years.

Since reading the Beastmen article and the accompanying battle-report in this month's White Dwarf I must say I am very pleased with the direction they have gone with the Beastmen. The first thing I was happy to see is there is no mention of the Chaos Gods, I never felt like they fit the beastmen. It seems as though the beastmen just worship Chaos itself more than one particular deity and I like the feel of that much better.

The second improvement that I am excited about is the actual rank and file troops as opposed to skirmishing troops. I think this was a necessary change and one that will vastly improve the army all together. I also love the fact that Gors and Ungors are now separate units, although I am not looking forward to rebasing all of my Ungors to the smaller bases.

I am also particularly excited about some of the abilities that the beastmen units are getting. They are going to make the units more random, something like Orcs but they will only get better and not stop to squabble. The minotaur's Frenzy rule is pretty exciting as the more they win combat, the better they become at it making them seem like the blood lusting creatures they should be.

Another positive is the new creatures such as the Razorgor and Ghorgon, although I am disappointed that not all the models are yet ready to be released, at least I will have something to keep looking forward to. Speaking of models, the new models for the Beastmen army look amazing, especially the Minotaur, I plan on picking up a few sets with my book tomorrow and getting rid of the old metal ones I have on my shelf.

Lastly it sounds as though their new lore of magic, Lore of the Wild, is going to be an interesting addition to the army. That coupled with the ability to use Lore of Beasts, Death or Shadow magic means my Bray shamans will still see much use in my army lists.

Well that concludes my initial assessment of the New Beastmen Rulebook, I will do a more in-depth review in a few days, after I have thoroughly read the book. Please feel free to give your opinions or remarks as they are always welcome.

-BJ