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 Deathgorge Season”
You can find my other seasonal overviews here:
Shadespire (Season 1)
Nightvault (Season 2)
Beastgrave (Season 3)
Direchasm (Season 4)
Harrowdeep (Season 5)
Nethermaze (Season 6)
Gnarlwood (Season 7)
Wyrdhollow (Season 8)
Overview:
Everything from Deathgorge (Season 9) and Wintermaw (Season 10) is able to be played in the current game of Warhammer Underworlds. As of this writing (December 2024), all six of these warbands are included in the refreshed/updated bactch of thirteen that have been carried forward into Embergard with free digital releases! 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.
Cyreni’s Razors
Note this warband is among the thirteen that have been carried forward into Embergard with free digital releases
Cyreni’s Razors are a four fighter warband tasked with gathering as many frozen souls from the Deathgorge as they can to make more Idoneth back home. Presumably they’re now in the Embergard to… gather souls from the steam? The warband carries the Flex designation, but does take a bit of finesse to play. Their leader, Cyreni of the Abyss, has a unique action called Hammertide where she draws a straight line from her hex, and the first enemy it touches takes a damage and becomes staggered. Being able to leverage this ability is a skill that when mastered unlocks great potential for this team. Plus, they have a giant squid, so you know you’ll be having fun. A major strength of the warband is that most of the fighters have range 2 and reasonable accuracy, so they can hold tokens without having to step off of them to make attacks as often. Their inspiration mechanic is interesting – at the start of each round, you inspire a number of fighters equal to the battle round, then un-inspire them at the end. So depending on the board state you can choose who needs to be better at that moment, and as the game goes on you’ll be inspiring a greater proportion of your fighters.
The warscroll has a few fun things to use. Deadly Riposte states that any time an enemy fails an attack against a thrall, that fighter gets cleave and ensnare in the next activation when hitting back against that fighter. You can only use it in specific circumstances, and then have the target a specific fighter, and have the want to do it right away, but it could help you ward off some attack just with the deterrent that ability poses. Phantasmal Ink is an ability for Cephanyr that allows you to push him a number of hexes equal to the battle round if an enemy fails an attack against him, so he can set up supports or snag a token if they try to hit him. Probably the tastiest option on their warscroll however, is the classic Idoneth ‘bad choice’ – Soul Harvest. Once per game you get to give your opponent a choice: either you un-inspire one of their fighters, or you can draw power cards equal to the battle round. Do they give up some power on a key fighter late game, or do they hand you 3 power cards? You’re having fun either way, but they sure aren’t!
Rivals deck pairings you could consider with this warband include Emberstone Sentinels, Pillage and Plunder, Countdown to Cataclysm, or possibly Wrack & Ruin. These allow you to occupy tokens and dish out some ping damage that works well with Hammertide. They might not be quite durable enough to aim for Strike decks, but they also have plenty of teeth so you could go that route with Blazing Assault. Michael K of Staggerers wrote up this review of his experience at the World Championships and what makes the warband special to him, as well as this more detailed deck guide describing the use of the cards he chose for the Emberstone/Cataclysm combo. If you’d like to see the deck in action, I did catch him on the Worlds stream which you can view here.
The Thricefold Discord
3xD have been updated for Spitewood, and you can read my full review here.
The Thricefold Discord are a three fighter warband with some of the best in-game flavor around. The background on this trio is they are daemons who hate on another so badly that their boss sent them on a mission to collect 666 souls as a team building exercise. Even if they fail, at least she doesn’t have to hear their bickering anymore. Mechanically, they all inspire if another teammate has a die roll with no successes or is taken out of action. Not only is this flavorful, but it can help you out in rough situation – if you totally whiff a roll, at least one of your other fighters improves because of it. The downside of course is there are many times you’ll roll a single success and still fail the attack or what have you, and get nothing. Tantalizing, frustrating, and just how Slaanesh would like it. They have a few thematic warscroll tools but take a bit to leverage the most out of them, and are fittingly denoted as a Mastery warband.
Daggok’s Stab-Ladz
Note this warband is among the thirteen that have been carried forward into Embergard with free digital releases
Daggok’s Stab-Ladz are a four fighter warband out to bag the heads of the smartest enemies they can so that Daggok can steal their ‘finks’ and get even more crafty. Players from first edition may remember this warband as one that was a real stinker – this is no longer the case and they can more than hold their own these days if you figure them out, which is why they have also earned themselves the Mastery archetype. No longer tied to bad faction cards that require you do perform silly scheme mechanics for minimal benefit, the Stab-Ladz now all inspire if they successfully tag somebody with a Krule Stab – an extra chance to dish out some damage in the power step to fighters adjacent to them, so long as the Stab-Lad doesn’t have a charge token and their target is not vulnerable. Figuring out how to get pushes or effectively use move actions to achieve this will be a key to success here, as their inspired profiles are nothing to sneeze at – especially the leader himself.
Their warscroll has a few interesting things that, as you might expect, will take some mastery to use best. “Two Against One, Ya Git” lets you push a friendly fighter immediately after your action step – this unfortunately happens at the same time as Krule Stab and until we see an FAQ I don;t know if it lets you dart forward for another chance, but it does allow you to set up supports, get out of town, or snag a token. Thief of Kunnin lets you draw power cards equal to the number of damaged enemies. Nasty Poisons lets you roll a die once a game for each damaged enemy fighter and (rarely) deal an extra damage to them. They’ll want to spread the pain a bit before finishing fighters off, which like the Dread Pageant can be a fun but stressful way to play. They also have a somewhat silly Schemin Gitz ability to discard some ploys for short term benefits that may or may not be worth the cost, though again a master of this mastery warband will know when to do what and make the most of it.
Rivals deck pairings you could consider with this warband include Emberstone Sentinels, which feels near compulsory for them. You’ll draw through your entire deck and score most of their cards. It has good movement cards to make use of, and has objectives that favor moving rather than charging so you can score glory while still being able to Krule Stab. You could also try Blazing Assault, as they’ll likely appreciate some more offense output (and who wouldn’t want to Commanding Stride into a pack of enemies), as well as Countdown to Cataclysm or Wrack & Ruin to leverage more pings once you’ve softened somebody up with a Krule Stab or help out with Thief of Kunnin draw/Nasty Poisons opportunities.
Zondara’s Gravebreakers
Note this warband is among the thirteen that have been carried forward into Embergard with free digital releases.
I have a full warband review here
Zondara’s Gravebreakers is a five fighter warband with an excellent backstory that is also well integrated into their mechanics. Zondara was a skilled Amber wizard who lost the love of her life, Ferlain, to a curse that turned him into a werewolf. Think Beauty and the Beast, but if they met before the hag got him with the whole rose thing. Oh, and he’s a slavering animal now rather than just a hairy man with a bad temper. Fast forward to today, and Zondara/Belle has stolen some necromancer’s spellbook and is traveling the length of the realm looking for a cure to bring him back to her. She has three zombies following along, digging up every grave they can find to help out.
The zombies all have the special gravebreakers reaction, where if they Delve a token they can either resurrect (and inspire) another fallen zombie, provided Zondara is alive, or draw cards based on the number of slain friendly fighters. The two lovebirds inspire when the other has two upgrades, and if one dies, the other gets heartbroken and big angry. Once a game, the lovers can also push towards each other and snag a heal, so you have the ability to keep Ferlain, your centerpiece, out of danger a little longer. The ability to draw tons of cards at will, push, and heal changes how the game is played with this warband, and they’ll take a skilled player to master. As such they’re classed as a Mastery warband.
Rivals deck pairings you could consider with this warband include Pillage & Plunder as almost a no brainer. You’re likely going to Delve pretty consistently to access some of their warscroll power anyway, and with P&P you can also score cards at the same time. I would imagine you’d want to take a look at some Strike decks as well like Blazing Assault or Reckless Fury to maximize the potential output from Ferlain. Seeing as they have three resurrectable Tempered fighters, you can also try Edge of the Knife
Brethren of the Bolt
Note this warband is among the thirteen that have been carried forward into Embergard with free digital releases
The Brethren of the Bolt are a five fighter warband that is significantly improved from their first-edition debut. They have kept nearly all of the things from their original mechanics and faction cards that made them special, while having equivalent or improved stats across the board. A key trait this warband has is the Holy Capacitors rule, in which fighters can effectively channel the attacks of other friendlies through themselves, reducing the range of the attack, opening up more opportunities for you to get hits (sometimes even while flanking). The warband starts with every fighter inspired, and after a successful attack they un-inspire, but are able to inspire again if they are conducting in another fighter’s attack. When inspired, they’re all quite accurate and all have access to two damage, which makes them pretty good in a scrap.
You have warscroll access to an extra move, a ping damage, and a heal, so they’ve got a decent toolkit, but the most interesting option is their Fulminating Hymn. You choose one hymn each round and can either grant your attacks Stagger, avoid being Flanked, or can choose to take a damage and not receive a charge token all round. Choosing the right one and leveraging it in the right situations could make or break your game. They are pegged as a Mastery warband, which feels appropriate, as the positioning of your fighters to manage the back and forth inspiration/un-inspiration you’ll see across the game will take some practice to perfect.
Rivals deck pairings you could consider with this warband include anything with a flex approach, like Pillage & Plunder, Countdown to Cataclysm, or Wrack & Ruin. Whatever you choose, you’ll probably want to be able to keep your fighters close together to maximize your Holy Capacitors ability, so a defensive hold/flex counterpunch would be a good starting point. They also have two Tempered fighters so you could potentially make Edge of the Knife work. That said, they do have some punch when inspired, so Strike decks aren’t off the table.
The Skinnerkin
The Skinnerkin are a five fighter warband who are delightful batch of ghouls who fancy themselves gourmet chefs on a mission to collect the most exotic meats from around the realms, and maybe sample a morsel or two in the field. They’re designated as a Strike warband, since their main motive narratively and in-game is to carve up the foe, hacking haunches off to bring back to the larder. Their inspiration mechanic is tied to Haunches, and once you get three or more the whole team inspires. The leader, Gristla Tenderhooke, as well as Young Master Kretch, are chefs with the Fillet runemark, and when they successfully attack they gain you a haunch – potentially two with the Fillet ability. Any time a flanked fighter is slain you get another one. The Carnskyr can potentially nab one during a fly-by, so the name of the game is to get stuck in and stack those haunches.
The Haunch counter is not only useful for inspiration, but also for utilizing powerful warscroll abilities.
Wrap
Ultimately any and all Season 9/10 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!
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