BEASTS IN THE FOLD

Another thing that nagged me about earlier attempts at a Beastmen army was its lack of, well, 'Chaos-ness'. Beastmen moved around in orderly units, with the little ones over there, the medium ones over there, and the big ones all together in another orderly unit. This wasn't really doing the Beasts justice, as they certainly don't make such distinctions themselves, and it also meant that they fought a bit like a brown Orcs & Goblins army (like 'Beastie Boyz', I guess).

So, combined with the Ambush rule are the Raiders rule and mixed Beastherd. The Raiders rule means that units that have this rule operate using a cross between the normal rules and the skirmishers rules. They have a great deal of flexibility of movement, but lack some of the sturdiness of a fully ranked unit. To further push the wild nature of the Beastmen, I introduced the 'unruly' factor into the Raiders rules, which means that every turn these units have a 1 in 6 chance of haring off after the enemy rather than doing what they are told! This seemed to fit well with the headstrong nature of the Beasts, and because it emphasises movement rather than staying stationary, isn't too similar to the Greenskins' Animosity.

To get across the eclectic nature of the Beastmen, I also created the Beastherd, which means that players field Beastmen Gors and the smaller Ungors in mixed units. Though the rules for dealing with all of these seem quite long on paper, the army's actually quite straightforward to use.

NUMBERS OF THE BEAST

In addition to revitalising the existing Beastmen units, it was time a few old favourites were brought back into the army list. The two most prominent of these are the Centigors and the Dragon Ogre Shaggoths.

Back in the Realm of Chaos days (when everything was made of wood), Centaurs were an integral part of any Chaos army. However, over the years, they fell out of the army list. To make something distinct for this list (after all, some people think that perhaps Centaurs should be in the Wood Elf list!), and to continue making Warhammer as unique as we can, I opted for Beast-centaurs.

Traditionally, Centaurs have been imagined as half-man, half-horse. I thought that Beast-centaurs should be half-Beastman, half-quadruped creature. Thus, the Centigors were created, another variation on the Beastmen theme like Bestigors and Minotaurs. I think their speed is an important factor for any Beastmen General, and I suspect that most Beasts of Chaos armies will include at least one unit.

However, just like the Centaurs of Greek legend who indulged in bacchanalian rites, Centigors are quite frequently drunk to the point of nearly falling over. In game terms, this has the effect of them being prone to bouts of stupidity or drunken rages (becoming subject to frenzy).

Shaggoths were another axe I had the opportunity to grind. The Dragon Ogres as portrayed in Realm of Chaos were behemoths – literally half-Dragons who could break entire armies. Over the years, they became a unit type, and over subsequent editions of the Chaos army, have been lessened in power. Now, I didn't want to do away with Dragon Ogres altogether (I might get lynched by existing players), but I did want to go back to that original image. I wanted to do a proper Dragon Ogre, like they used to be.

Enter the Shaggoth! This monstrous beast is the granddaddy of all Chaos creatures. Almost as big and tough as a Dragon, able to smash a swathe through entire regiments, the Shaggoth is what an ancient Dragon Ogre becomes. There are two ways of using a Shaggoth in your army. The first is as a monster just like a Giant or War Hydra. So powerful are these creatures that they take up a Rare and a Special. They also refuse to fight for a Daemonic General, stopping the practice of fielding a Greater Daemon and Shaggoth in a 2,000 points army! Alternatively, you can field a Shaggoth Champion, which gives the Shaggoth a Mark of Chaos like Beastlords or Doombulls. The Shaggoth Champion uses up a Lord and a Rare choice, and is treated just like any other character - in fact, it can even be your army General!

Next: Designer's Notes Part 3.
Previous: Designer's Notes Part 1.