Warcry: Red Harvest Is Here! Let’s See What’s In The Box.

With pre-orders well underway, it’s safe to say that Warcry: Red Harvest is already a welcome addition to the Age of Sigmar universe. We’ve seen some teaser images already so we knew loosely what to expect from the new boxset: some stealthy, spidery looking warriors and some really beefy fighters who have massive weapons and like to carry around the heads of their victims! Now we have names to attach to these fearsome faces. In one corner, we have the arachnid vibing Tarantulos Brood while the Conan-esque Darkoath Savagers.

Right off the hop, I gotta say, this is a great entry point into the world of Warcry and potentially the greater Age of Sigmar universe. If this installment is like the earlier starter box releases then we’re going to see two warbands that are evenly matched and super fun to play. Everything you need to start playing is right there in the box….that is, once the figures and terrain are assembled (for the uninitiated).

Tarantulos Brood

So who are these guys? The Tarantulos Brood are worshipers of a great, bloated chaos spider and aspire to become as spidery as they can. Led by the Broodmaster, an incredibly fast attacking warrior, this warband is extremely mobile. One of their special abilities allows them to scale buildings without using movement; a pretty big deal when looking to gain the high ground or just escape slower units.

As mentioned earlier, the Broodmaster is wild on the offensive. 6 attacks pretty much guarantee this dude is going to mop the floor with chaff units.

Additionally, this guy (as well as many other units in the warband) can use the Skittering Step ability to scale buildings at no extra movement. Normally, moving a unit that can’t fly to a higher level uses 3 inches of their total movement. Consider that most units move 4 to 8 inches and you can see how effective an ability like skittering step could be.

Terrain

Talking about scaling walls, look at this amazing new terrain included in the Red Harvest box set. For a little bit of backstory: these two warbands have both been drawn to a Varanite rich mining area. Varanite is a magical material which has been saturated with the energies of chaos. The Red Harvest could either be a nod to the mining of this precious resource or to the harvesting of blood (and who are we kidding, there’s gonna be a lot of blood when these two warbands meet). The multi-tiered platforms, steam-punk/tribal machinery and spikey walls all tell me that the board state is going to be super fun; no matter the layout.

I will say, with how high some of the towers look, having flying units will be a huge advantage but luckily, neither of the two warbands included actually have flying so it won’t be an issue until you begin rotating in other warbands like Cypher Lords or Chaotic Beasts.

Darkoath Savagers

While we haven’t found any stats yet for these guys, it’s pretty easy to visualize what they’re going to do and how they’re going to do it. A warband that follows a purely chaotic existence, we can expect to see shamanistic voodoo, while massive swords and hand blades are likely to have fewer attacks but with a premium on damage. It will be interesting to see what abilities Darkoath Savagers are given to counter the stealthy movements of the Tarantulos Brood but I’m confident everything will balance out nicely.

The Book

On top of getting everything else, you also receive a 104 page book that outlines the warband backgrounds, abilities and a ton of quests and campaigns that will keep players entertained for months. This book also includes the core rules for the game which just drives home how good of a place this is for anyone to start who’s looking to get into Warcry.

I’d say my only likely complaint is going to be how limited both of these factions will remain. If you’re looking to get into Warcry and want to get a warband, I’d suggest opting for one that offers more units to choose from as it keeps things fresh and generally allows you to field better warbands. That being noted, if you’re looking to grab some amazing terrain and just want to have some casual fun, then this box set is going to be the perfect addition to your growing games collection!

Pre-orders have already begun and, as anyone who’s been playing Warcry will tell you, it’s better to get in early and secure your copy as stock will eventually dry up. Especially considering the terrain is so cool looking.