A common situation new players find themselves in (as well as some returning players who have been out of the game for a while) involves what to do with older warbands they’ve gotten second hand. Maybe you found an old box laying around, or you got something on a great deal from eBay or a garage sale etc. It’s not any of the newest season’s stuff, so that can leave people scratching their heads, asking the questions of “hey, I just picked up this old warband, are the cards legal, and is there anything I need in order to be able to play? Also, what new products should I try to match them up with in order to be more competitive?” These are very common questions that I hope to be able to help with here. So let’s dive into the next in a series of articles: “Can I Use This Old Warband? A Beginner’s Guide to the Direchasm Season”

You can find my other seasonal overviews here:
Shadespire (Season 1)
Nightvault (Season 2)
Beastgrave (Season 3)
Harrowdeep (Season 5)
Nethermaze (Season 6)
Gnarlwood (Season 7)
Wyrdhollow (Season 8)
Deathgorge (Season 9) and Wintermaw (Season 10)

Overview:
Everything from Direchasm (Season 4) is able to be played in the current game of Warhammer Underworlds. The only cards you’ll be able to use are the newer cards from Embergard, which have been released in the new edition of the game. All of the cards and boards from this season have been left behind as editions changed, so all you’ll need to hold on to are the minis themselves.

Some of the Direchasm warbands (Starblood Stalkers, Headkrakka’s Madmob, Elathain’s Soulraid, Storm of Celestus, and Drepur’s Wraithcreepers) are in the “other warbands”/”legends” category in that they aren’t valid for competitive play and have to use generic warscrolls, but they’re still totally fine for learning the game and getting some casual games in. The other half (Myari’s Purifiers, The Dread Pageant, Khagra’s Ravagers, The Crimson Court, and Kainan’s Reapers) are newly re-released in the Grand Alliance boxes and are valid for competitive play.

Myari’s Purifiers

Myari’s Purifiers are a four fighter warband with the Flex archetype where each fighter has a different niche, and their styles of play generally tend toward a Flex/Take and Hold counterpunch. The unique trait this warscroll brings to the warband is the Aetherquartz Token – each fighter begins with one, and while they have it they carry special rules. There are no ways to gain one back or obtain more, so use it wisely! The tokens can be spent to gain a reroll on one attack die or one defense die, giving you a better chance to hit, or a desperate escape when attacked. The good news is that you get to see the result of your initial roll before choosing to spend the token, so no need to burn it if you’re satisfied with the results. In addition, the warband inspires each fighter individually if they have a roll that contains only successes (but doesn’t have to actually succeed!). Should you feel the need, you could use the token to reroll a near perfect roll into a perfect one for the inspire.

Their warscroll is straightforward, with each fighter getting a special benefit while they still have their Aetherquartz token. Myari Lightcaller is your leader and has some good range and has +1 defense all round if he starts it with the token, so he’s not as fragile as he looks at first glance. Bahannar is your mountain man (elf) who begins with a good attack and inspires to be a real centerpiece with excellent defense – and while he has a token he cannot be pushed by enemy abilities, so have him camp a center treasure token and laugh while they can’t do anything about it. Ailenn is your charge in and take heads model with incredible accuracy, and enemies adjacent to her count as flanked while she has her token, so she will hit and be harder to hit in return, fitting a master bladesman. Senaela is an archer great range – sit her in the back or midboard and hit whoever you please knowing she has the choice of Ensnare or Brutal while she has her token (and she inspires to range 5!).

Rivals deck pairings to consider with the warband are pretty varied considering they’re a “flex” warband, but I would lean toward defensive, token based play, and a preference toward Emberstone Sentinels, Pillage & Plunder, and Countdown to Cataclysm.

The Dread Pageant

Warhammer Underworlds has some of the most gorgeous miniatures on the market, and the Dread Pageant in my opinion are one of the finest in that regard. They’re a 4 fighter warband with an interesting inspire condition – your whole warband is wounded or more than half the field is wounded (NOT counting slain models). They appreciate spreading the pain both to their opponents and themselves. The leader, Vasillac the Gifted, is a solid fighter when inspired is one of the scariest things to face in the game. The Slaangor Slakeslash is a hefty target, Glissette can inspire to be a threat, and Hadzu’s arrows come with Grapple so he can drag people around rather than just drive them back for better board control. The warband is billed as a “Flex” warband, but I’d lean a little more into Mastery based on the fact they care so much about damaged fighters, not only for inspiration, but also for their warscroll abilities. The main challenge is that while the fighters are improved with the inspiration, and you want to inspire, it’s a difficult condition to attain especially in some matchups. You’ll find yourself agonizing over whether to kill something or hurt a second fighter, and while I’m sure Slaanesh appreciates your anguish, it’s something you’ll often be unhappy to deal with.

Once a game they can hurt a fighter holding treasure (yours or theirs), and damage friendly fighters get once per game options to reroll every die in completely whiffed attacks if your fighter is damaged (a thematic and great ability), go on guard for each damaged friendly fighter, or take a push for each damaged friendly fighter. You have plenty of tools to make use of (hence the flex tag) but your fighters do need to be damaged to access them – balancing on a knife’s edge make this a thrilling, stressful, and beautiful warband. I have had a ton of fun with them. For funsies they charge one space more while damaged and inspired, but this probably won’t be necessary very often. I also forget it a lot, even when it would have helped me win games.

Rivals deck pairings to consider for the Dread Pageant include Countdown to Cataclysm and Wrack and Ruin, as both offer ways to damage multiple fighters on either team and help you both inspire and gain access to warscroll abilities. Blazing Assault can also help you get into the mix and start putting that damage out, and Reckless Fury can force the opponent to charge you to an extent, so they can’t help but risk hurting you too. I took this Wrack/Countdown deck to LVO, and it got second place in the Grand Clash.

Khagra’s Ravagers

Khagra’s Ravagers are a four fighter warband that have SIGNIFICANTLY improved with their update in Embergard. The warband’s main mechanic is “Desecration”, which can be done in a power step while holding a Treasure Token (or if you slay while on one/slay something on one). If two tokens are desecrated after the last action step in a round, the whole gang inspires and becomes absolutely vicious. Desecrated tokens no longer block Holding of treasure tokens either, so the warband can at last play the Take and Hold game, and are actually quite good at it. They tokens remain Desecrated until flipped, so there is counterplay, but less so than before.

The real magic of this warband (besides their powerful inspired stats) is their great suite of warscroll abilities. I am not exaggerating when I say the warband comes with a hold deck that’s as strong as Emberstone Sentinels on its face; you can once a game get a push equal to the number of desecrated tokens (potentially a push 3-5 hexes!), or draw a number of cards equal to the same (imagine drawing 3-5 cards for basically free). Additionally, they can once per game either get +1 defense while on a token, or +1 attack dice when targeting somebody on a token. This band is going to take, and they’re going to hold, and the Gods won’t have mercy on anybody who gets in their way.

Rivals deck pairings to consider with them include Emberstone Sentinels (near perfect synergy) or any Take and Hold deck subsequently released. They can also do well with Pillage & Plunder (though be careful that Delving un-Desecrates) or Countdown to Cataclysm, and honestly I foresee horrific damage if you chose Blazing Assault as well. This is a great all-around team. Here’s a video of Zack Newcome taking them to Worlds with ES and PnP, and you can watch Alessandro of Italy play them masterfully in the World Championships elimination bracket with ES and CtC.

The Starblood Stalkers

The Starblood Stalkers have been updated for Spitewood, and you can read the full review here.

The Starblood Stalkers are a six model warband, and debuted as an instant fan favorite whose popularity has persisted through the last few years. Klaq-Trok, the saurus on the team, is a melee beatstick but otherwise the team doesn’t have a lot of offensive output and will probably need to focus on a hold/flex gameplan. Notably I took them with ES/CC to the World Championships and they did pretty well, even landing me in 20th place.

The Crimson Court

The Crimson Court were one of the fastest selling warbands in history (AoS players loved 4 hero models for $35), and also a very interesting 4 fighter warband with a twist on the normal inspiration thing – they gain or lose Hunger and/or Control counters as the game goes along, and can discard them to either inspire or become Bloodthirsty, granting different benefits. Each fighter gets something different from each condition, so the key to success is going to be know who to inspire, who to make Bloodthirsty, and when to do each depending on the board state. The warband has been given the Flex designation, and if you can master the different fighter stats and leverage their decent stats, you can do a lot with them.

Rivals deck pairings to consider with them include really anything. I personally would look at strike decks with maybe a touch of mastery like Blazing Assault and/or Realmstone Raiders, but they probably can do it all at about the same level of competency.

Headkrakka’s Mabmob

Headkrakka’s Mabmob is a four fighter warband with solid stats, but have fallen from their ‘Kings of Nemesis’ mantle in first edition to be one of the Legends/Grand Alliance generic warbands in Embergard. You have a range 2 fighter, some good damage dealers, and an archer, so plenty of avenues to work with, but Primary as a mechanic is gone as the warband has been now somewhat genericized. As a result, you have some more flexibility in how you want to play them, but I can’t give a specific recommendation on what rivals decks work best. Hard to turn down the Strike approach! Go for Blazing Assault and stomp ’em.

Kainan’s Reapers

Kainan’s Reapers are a six fighter warband that includes a ‘Big Boy’ in Mir Kainan himself. The warband’s inspiration mechanic is twofold – they collect Tithe Counters equal to the bounty of whatever they slay, and then if they spend bone tithe equal to a fighter’s bounty they can inspire that model (Nohem is a zero-bounty fighter and so can inspire immediately). The warband is designated as a Flex Warband, but that inspiration piece yells Strike. They do, however also have a multi-move Mortek advance, where they can shuffle the little guys as long as they end adjacent, so token occupancy can potentially be a breeze if you master placement. This is a bit of a finnicky warband to get the hang of, but those who have mastered it can do well into nearly several matchups.

The warscroll gives you a few tools that all do different things, which might be part of why they got the Flex tag. Those minions can then get guard tokens (more of them later in the game), so you can also play Take and Hold or just ensure some supports. They have a few ways to swarm and get better when a fighter is surrounded, having a once per game grievous when the target is flanked or surrounded using Ranks Unbroken By Dissent, so Kainan can delete something or the Morteks can pull their weight. The old classic ‘come at me bro’ Dire Ultimatum has been preserved, so there is an angle for control play as well, forcing your opponent to only be able to target Kainan in the next activation once per game. Thay also can remove move/charge tokens from Morteks once per game so allow you to get some more action out of the lil guys (or block some scoring when playing against a Reckless Fury opponent).

Rivals deck pairings to consider with them could really include anything you wanted to do – as a Flex band they have the tools to play several different styles. Emberstone Sentinels might be a little harder since you’re hard pressed to score Slow Advance or Supremacy with your slow move and low bounty with fragile Morteks, but other decks can work all right with them. Mark from Path to Glory took them to the World Championships of Warhammer and paired them with Blazing Assault and Pillage & Plunder, which feels like a good choice. The warband really wants to maximize what Mir Kainan himself can do. Watch this video of Mark playing them at an incredibly high level at the World Championships! Now that we also have the Edge of the Knife deck to play with, I expect it to be very good for this warband – Five Tempered fighters at the start is great, and Kainan LOVES some of those power cards,

Elathain’s Soulraid

Elathain’s Soulraid have been updated for Spitewood and you can read my full review here.

All hail the CRAB! Elathain’s Soulraid are a 5 fighter warband (since now you definitely count the fish). They’re also really, really strong now.

Storm of Celestus

The Storm of Celestus are a 4 fighter warband and have been rolled into the Legends/Grand Alliance generic warbands in Embergard. It’s worth noting that these warbands are now somewhat genericized. As a result, you have some more flexibility in how you want to play them, but I can’t give a specific recommendation on what rivals decks work best. The fact that they have three beefy ranged fighters means you’ll probably want to aim for flex/hold. I would think abut Emberstone Sentinels or Pillage & Plunder.

Drepur’s Wraithcreepers

Drepur’s Wraithcreepers are a four fighter warband and have been rolled into the Legends/Grand Alliance generic warbands in Embergard. It’s worth noting that these warbands are now somewhat genericized. As a result, you have some more flexibility in how you want to play them, but I can’t give a specific recommendation on what rivals decks work best. Having four good stat blocks with range 2 options means I’d probably play them as a flex/strike. The Dark Majesty Warscroll and Blazing assault would be my first look.

Wrap

Ultimately any and all season 4 warbands are playable in the Rivals or Nemesis formats if you pick up a universal rivals deck. You absolutely can play with those old toys you’ve just acquired, and in some cases still do pretty well with them. You’re likely safe to toss the ‘extra’ cards that come with them. Until next time, I hope you enjoy spending that glory!