Warcry: Monsters & Mercenaries is an expansion for Warcry that gives you even more choice when building your warband. The books contains new quests, challenge battles, and 11 new monsters and 50 new allies for including in your warband. In this article, we break down the best new options for your warband. Feel free to check out our detailed Warcry warband guides.
Warcry: Monsters and Mercenaries
First and foremost, Warcry: Monsters and Mercenaries is an expansion to Warcry, so you will need a copy of the Warcry Core Book to play the game.
Warcry: Monsters & Mercenaries is jam-packed with content for both improving your existing warbands, and going on awesome new campaigns. It also features a guide on how to stage battles between your warband and a lone monster. Or, for the monstrously inclined, a melee between monsters themselves.
Campaigns that can be undertaken by ANY warband proved a real boon to all players. They give extra content to Warcry-specific warbands and expand the options for the Age of Sigmar warbands post-campaign. For any group looking to take their campaigns even further, we can’t reccommend these enough.
Allies proved an even more interesting adaptation. The Age of Sigmar warbands recieved new options in the form of rules being given to some of their heroes. These heroes are expensive points-wise, and come with an ability they can use to tip the balance.
Allies – How Do They Work?
The following table shows you which allies can be taken by each warband. Just find your warband in the white top row and see the allies in the shaded row below.
As you can see, all Warcry warbands have the ability to ally in SOMETHING. There aren’t ally choices from every model range yet however.
With 50 ally models, and a much greater number of potential combinations, we can’t cover them all. However, our favourite ally choices are covered below.
Using Allies – Key Points
Allies have a few key rules surrounding their use that are often missed.
- In a Matched Play or Open Play battle, a warband may include only ONE allied model.
- In Narrative Play, allies can only be added to your warband in the Add/Remove Fighters step of the Aftermath Sequence. Your number of allies cannot exceed your number of dominated territories. They DON’T count towards your maximum amount of fighters.
- Allies can’t take Artefacts of Power or become a Favoured Warrior. They still gain Destiny Levels and take wound rolls.
- Allies cannot use the abilities listed on your warband’s ability card, and vice-versa.
- Ally runemarks are visually distinct from all other factions, even the ones they share a model line with.
Beyond that, allies function the same as any other fighter. Their profile cards are all listed in Warcry: Monsters and Mercenaries. I expect we’ll see a card pack once they release rules for the rest of the Age of Sigmar range.
Standout Ally Choices
There are a LOT of ally choices. Because there’s no way we can cover them all in a single article, we’ll cover the standout choices for Order, Destruction and Death:
- Order: Stormcast Eternal Knight Vexillor (195 points)
- Death: Nighthaunt Spirit Torment (220 points)
- Destruction: Ironjawz Warchanter (195 points)
We’ll then go through the new monster options for Chaos: the Ogroid Myrmidon, the Fomoroid Crusher, and the Mindstealer Sphiranx.
Order: Stormcast Eternal Knight Vexillor (Elite Support Unit) – 195pts
Only the strongest, most noble souls are taken up by the God-King Sigmar for reforging into his Stormcast Eternals. The Knights Vexillor are the pride of even that number, carrying the standards of their Stormhosts to battle and inspiring their brothers to greater acts of heroism.
What a guy. The Knight Vexillor was the demon of Stormcast lists back in the early days of Age of Sigmar with his ability to throw Retributor squads around. He returns in glory to Warcry, with a unique ability behind him to kick the difference with slower Order warbands.
Temptest Winds (Quad, Knight Vexillor Only) – Until the end of the battle round, add the value of this ability to the move characteristic of friendly fighters that start their activation within 12″ of this fighter.
Whew, now that’s an ability. With a Quad 6 this can see a swarm of Witch Aelves descend on your ranks with no of escaping their fury. On top of that the Knight Vexillor has a wound count and combat profile in line with other Stormcast. He’s a beefy lad that hits like a truck, take him in any warband that can fit him.
Death: Nighthaunt Spirit Torment (Elite Support Unit) – 220pts
The Spirit Torment’s are the jailors of Nagash. Cruel beings in life, they now shackle the souls of the living and dead alike at the whims of their cruel master. To be near one is to be near the wrath of Nagash, something to be truly feared.
A bit more costly than the average ally, but that’s fine in Death where most of your units are cheap. The Spirit Torment has a potent melee attack that dwarfs the damage of most death units on a 3″ range, but that’s not why he’s here.
Nagash’s Bidding (Triple, Spirit Torment Only) – Until the end of the battle round, add 1 to the Strength characteristic of attack actions that have a Range characteristic of 3 or less made by visible friendly fighters while they are within 6″ of this fighter.
This simple ability is absolutely astounding when used in a Death warband. The 6″ means many fighters will be tagged by this ability, Death’s weakness is it’s low Strength (most Nighthaunt are Strength 3). This can have even the whispiest wight wound on a 4 or maybe better.
Destruction: Ironjawz Warchanter (Elite Support Unit) – 195pts
Orruks live to fight, and the Ironjawz are no exception. Seeminly unburdened by their enormous plates of armor, the Warchanters get the boyz right roiled up as they charge towards the enemy to give em a good krumping.
Here come da boyz. The Ironjawz Warchanter is a combat GOD as far as ally choices are concerned. His stat profile is borderline broken and his point cost is just SO low for what you get. He has 35 wounds behind toughness 5, he’s as durable as an Ogroid Myrmidon. But the show doesn’t stop there!
Warchanter’s Beat (Double, Warchanter Only) – Until the end of the battle round, add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of attack actions that have a Range characteristic of 3 or less made by friendly fighters while they are within 6″ of this fighter.
An Area of Effect pump ability. This can be taken by massive damage units with low attack counts like Ironjawz Brutes and Mawtribes Ironguts. Outrageous, what a guy.
Chaos: A Darker Breed of Ally
Recent Warcry releases saw the Chaos warbands recieve some extra kick. While these new options can be taken by any Chaos warband, they fit in best with the Warcry-specific warbands. These new monstrous allies are the Ogroid Myrmidon, the Fomoroid Crusher, and the Mindstealer Sphiranx.
The Ogroid Myrmidon (Super Elite Threat) – 295pts
What a monster, the Ogroid Myrmidon is NO slouch. I say without exaggeration he won’t have any trouble killing whatever comes in range of him. Strength 5 with 3 attacks, and the same damage profile as the Ogor Breacher, with the ability to boost his damage with Arcane Fury and Berserk. This monster is more than capable of taking on all comers, and for his reasonable price tag for what you get, he’ll do so often.
Abilities of the Ogroid Myrmidon
Here we will break down the three abilities of the Ogroid Myrmidon, and their effectiveness in Warcry.
Berserk
Berserk (Double, Ogroid Myrmidon Only) – A fighter can only use this ability if 20 or more damage points have been allocated to them. Add half the value of this ability (rounding up) to the Attacks characteristic of the next attack action made by this fighter this activation that has a Range characteristic of 3 or less.
A pump ability, which is only available if the Ogroid has taken some serious damage. For a Double 6 you’ll get 3 extra attacks with a very impressive combat profile, but the Ogroid needs to be in a bad way for it to happen.
I have found from testing this doesn’t tend to be useful as the Ogroid either never takes that many wounds… or it gets blown up completely. It has applications and it’s a good spend for a Double as they go, but you may be taking away from your main warband’s means to use their own abilities.
All that being said… if the stars align and the Ogroid is against an enemy strong enough to hurt it this badly without killing it, go Berserk and ruin the thing’s day.
Arcane Fury
Arcane Fury (Triple, Ogroid Myrmidon Only) – Until the end of this fighter’s activation, add the value of this ability to the damage points allocated by each critical hit from attack actions made by this fighter that have a Range characteristic of 3 or less.
Another pump ability, but this one cares about the damage rather than the attacks. This one is utterly lethal if you have a Triple 6 in the bank . It’s 3 attacks will now deal a minimum of 10 damage, annd a high of 14!
As the Ogroid is Strength 5, there’s a good chance it will be wounding on 5’s. This meanns that Arcane Fury can effectvely be used to nearly guarantee kills against the average fighter.
However, as with Berserk, this will take dice from the rest of your warband. Remember that killing, while beneficial, isn’t as good as using your dice to grab objectives.
Blood Marshal
Blood Marshal (Quad, Ogroid Myrmidon Only) – Pick a friendly fighter within 4″ of the fighter using this ability. Allocate 1 damage point to that fighter. If the fighter picked is not taken down, that fighter can make a bonus attack action that has a Range characteristic of 3 or less.
Not great at all. There will be very few situations where you’d rather spend a Quad on having something else fight when you can just spemd the Quad to Rampage the Myrmidon.
This has potential applications in Campaigns were a model has a powerful artefact that you want to get multiple swings in with. Ultimately however, this ability will always pale compared to just using Rampage.
Ogroid Myrmidon Conclusions
This model is a brutal combat bruiser and a massive wound-sink. His abilities are somewhat lackluster but he makes very effective use of the Generic Abilities so it’s not a dealbreaker. His price tag isn’t too hefty given what he provides, and I’d take him in a variety of warbands.
Where It Works
The Ogroid Myrmidon is at home in warbands that need some heavy punch to deal with threats. He also brings tankiness that a lot of the boxed warbands are in dire need of. His price tag means you will likely have to swap out your big expensive threat model like an Ogor Breacher for him, but it’s worth it. He shines in the Iron Golems, Unmade and Spire Tyrants.
Where It Doesn’t
With a 295pt price tag, the warbands that have expensive options they need to operate won’t want him. He also has the issue of not being particularly mobile, so the speed-focused warbands will have little use for him. Avoid taking him in the Cypher Lords and Corvus Cabal.
The Fomoroid Crusher (Super Elite Support Unit) – 260pts
About as close to an artilery piece as the warbands of Chaos could ask for. The Fomoroid Crusher is a very odd unit, bringing a blend of ranged support, utility and durability to a warband. This makes him somewhat tricky to make effective use of, but once mastered he poses a serious threat to the enemies of your warband.
Abilities of the Fomoroid Crusher
Here we will break down the three abilities of the Fomoroid Crusher, and their effectiveness in Warcry.
Hurl Masonry
Hurl Masonry (Double, Fomoroid Crusher Only) – A fighter can use this ability only if they are within 1″ of an obstacle. Pick an enemy fighter within 8″ of this fighter and roll a dice. On a 3-4, allocate 1 damage point to that fighter. On a 5-6, allocate a number of damage points to that fighter equal to the value of this ability.
For clarity, an “obstacle” is any terrain piece taller than an inch. This ability is pretty good as Doubles go, its a very souped up version of some of the other warband’s classic “throw something” Doubles, but with better range and far more consistency.
The range is somewhat misleading, 8″ is over a third of the width of the table in Warcry. Also, you will be pretty much always be near some terrain in this game. This ability is worth it with a Double 5 or 6 to keep the enemy honest with their advances.
Rampaging Charge
Rampaging Charge (Triple, Fomoroid Crusher Only ) – Until the end of this fighter’s activation, the next time this fighter finishes a move action within 1″ of an enemy fighter, pick 1 visible enemy fighter within 1″ of this fighter. Allocate a number of damage points to that fighter equal to the value of this ability.
A standard ‘run into them” ability like the Ogor Breacher’s Living Battering Ram. Unfortunately it’s just as overcosted and situational here as it is anywhere. Don’t be using this over Inspiring Presence or one of the more powerful warband Triple abilities.
Bloody Trophy
Bloody Trophy (Quad, Fomoroid Crusher Only) – A fighter can use this ability only if an enemy fighter has been taken down by an attack action made by them this activation. The player controlling this fighter immediately gains 1 wild dice that can he used in the hero phase of the next battle round.
Now this is an interesting ability. The trick is making sure you get it off early in the game, and that means the Fomoroid needs to be up in the enemy’s face as much as possible with support from some other figthers. The Fomoroid has high strength and powerful attacks, but not many of them. You also can’t use Rampage to make it more likely to get a kill as you get one ability per activation.
If you can get this off early definitely do it, extra wild dice are absolutely worth any cost.
Fomoroid Crusher Conclusions
As much as I love him, he suffers from costing a whole 260pts. He’s more expensive than any of the Warcry-specific units while performing somewhat less impressively than many like the Thrallmaster or Blissful One.
Where It Works
The Fomoroid provides a tanky unit with a decent enough ranged ability to threaten the enemy, which means that he fits in pretty neatly as a cheaper alternative to the Ogroid Myrmidon for the Iron Golems and Unmade.
Where It Doesn’t
I do not recommend taking the Fomoroid with any warband you wouldn’t already consider taking the Ogroid Myrmidon, as this model is functionally worse for only slightly cheaper.
The Mindstealer Sphiranx (Elite Threat Unit) – 240pts
The weird kitty llama itself. This thing was the most hotly anticipated of the models released in the Warcry Monsters cycle, even before it’s rules dropped. A delight for painters and a terror to it’s enemies, the Mindstealer Sphiranx combines a powerful combat profile with the wounds and toughness of a tank. On top of all that, it’s abilities are all potent gamechangers capable of ending the enemy’s ambitions in an instant.
Abilities of the Mindstealer Sphiranx
Here we will break down the three abilities of the Mindstealer Sphiranx, and their effectiveness in Warcry.
Telepathic Threatening
Telepathic Threatening (Double, Mindstealer Sphiranx Only) – Pick an enemy fighter within a number of inches of this fighter equal to the value of this ability and roll a dice. On a 3+, until the end of the battle round, that fighter cannot make move actions or disengage actions.
A classic netting ability. This features in the Splintered Fang, Spire Tyrants and a variety of others, but none with the abiltiy to move 8″ as well. This ability lets the Mindstealer have a degree of safety from being ganged up on, the only reliable method of actually stopping it.
While there are better Doubles likely available to a warband, the Mindstealer bring this to the table means that you have the option should the situation emerge.
Dominate Mind
Dominate Mind (Triple, Mindstealer Sphiranx Only) – Pick a visible enemy fighter within 6″ of this fighter and roll a number of dice equal to the value of this ability. For each roll of a 3-4, allocate 1 damage point to that fighter. For each roll of a 5-6, allocate 3 damage points to that fighter.
Now this is a shooting attack. With a Triple 6 in the bank, this has the ability to delete the average fighter with a roll of some dice. This makes the Fomoroid Crusher’s Hurl Masonry really poor by comparison, given it’s attached to a more expensive fighter.
This ability is not only powerful, it’s incredibly threatening when it’s basically impossible to hide from it. The Mindstealer moves 8″ and can do it twice BEFORE firing this off. Watch out for losing a fighter to this turn 1.
Charm
Charm (Quad, Mindstealer Sphiranx Only) – Pick an enemy fighter within a number of inches of this fighter equal to the value of this ability. That fighter cannot activate this battle round.
I’m sorry… what? This ability lets you pick an enemy and shut them out of the game for a whole battle round. It has no dice roll required. The move of the Sphiranx is so large that you could have a Quad of 1’s and still get it off.
This ability is insane. We’ve all played games where we’ve lived in constant terror of an enemy fighter, like a Crypt Flayer or a Necropolis Stalker. This just… stops them. Wave goodbye to your problems for a turn, no risks involved at all.
Mindstealer Sphiranx Conclusions
This is the best of the three in the release cycle. The powerful suite of abilities tethered to it’s stats just make it an absolute auto-take of any warband that finds itself lacking the wow-factor to win games.
Where It Works
Literally the only one of the Warcry-specific warbands where this doesn’t “shine” is Splintered Fang because their whole thing is their Double Poisoned Weapon to sneak around Toughness. And even then, it’s not a bad choice just a less optimal one. Otherwise, this goes in all of the warbands it can legally go in.
Where It Doesn’t
Purely in expensive elite warbands beyond the Warcry-Specific warbands like Slaves to Darkness and Khorne Mortals. Otherwise, it has a home anywhere.
Wrapping Up With Warcry: Monsters & Mercenaries
An absolutely fantastic inclusion to the Eightpoints and a worthy expansion to an already fun game. Look forward to more content on allies to come, we haven’t even touched on the ludicrous Loonboss, the noble Ghoul King or the unstoppable Soulrender. Take some allies in your next game, you won’t be disappointed.