We finally have our third warband of the Nethermaze season! We’ve only waited 109 days. Like no, seriously. The Nethermaze core box was reviewed on April 23. Regardless, it’s a great day to be a Warhammer Underworlds fan!
In today’s article I’ll be covering everything you need to know about Hexbane’s Hunters. This includes the fighter cards, 32 faction specific cards, and the miniatures themselves. I know a lot of people are excited for this warband as they look absolutely gorgeous. It’s really nice to see non-chaotic human fighters in the game. It’s about damn time.
A special thank you to Games Workshop for providing me with this review copy ahead of time for free.
Time to root out all evil in the name of the God-King, Sigmar!
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If you’re not interested in reading the article and simply just want to check out the cards, then click on the links below for an unfiltered experience:
- Hexbane’s Hunters Fighter and Objective Cards
- Hexbane’s Hunters Gambit and Upgrade Cards
- Hexbane’s Hunters Universal Cards
If you’d like to take the time to read the article below, I just want you to know I really appreciate it. 🙂
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Fighters:
Haskel Hexbane has been tasked by the Order of Azyr to head down into the Nethermaze and root out the sinister things lurking in its shadowy depths. As a loyal servant of Sigmar, he’s assembled a motley crew of hunters in order to do this dirty work.
As the leader of this warband, Haskel rocks the hunter keyword and sports a move of 3, 1 block, and 3 wounds. He’s also got a range 3, 3 fury, 1 damage attack that can spike into another damage when you roll a crit. That’s not the most exciting thing to see on a leader, I will be the first to admit. (Well, actually I don’t mind. I love Profiteers and this is pretty much Dead-Eye Lund.) However, as we take a look at the rest of his card, the nuance starts to unfold. All the hunters in this warband, the humans, have a reaction titled, ‘Price of Victory.’ Effectively, whenever a hunter is killed, another hunter can either get an upgrade for free or remove a move/charge token. That’s right, it’s kind of like pseudo Ready for Action on a stick. I know, I am just as excited as you are.
The ramifications for this ability are vast. While I can’t cover everything here in a reasonable manner, I will say that it is a fascinating to think about. Often times once a fighter has charged, your opponent can generally ignore them knowing that they can’t do anything else. They can choose focus on other fighters or charge into your fighter knowing that retribution will have to wait a turn. Not anymore! Now if they focus on your other fighters, you charged fighter can continue to lay down the heat. That’s the best thing about this reaction, and really this warband. You are always presenting your opponent with tough choices. If they take a fighter out of action, your other fighters can potentially gain so much. It’s quite exciting.
The glory economy in this warband is another thing to think about. You can potentially get greedy with your power deck. If 3 of your hunters go down, you can possibly get 3 upgrades for free. That theoretically means, you pack in some extra upgrades and draw, if you want, because you can semi-reliably get those upgrades on. While I am not sure I will do this myself, I think it is worth exploring.
Inspiring Hexbane can be tricky and will often be matchup dependent as he needs to take a fighter out of action. This also exposes him to potential risk if you’re going for a cheeky elimination early in the game. There’s layers to that though. See, Brydget inspires when Hexbane inspires. Also, Aemos inspires when someone targets Hexbane. There is a risk/reward factor in every aspect of this warband. So if you want to risk Hexbane, you can guarantee one inspire – Aemos. If the attack pays off, you inspire two fighters – Haskel and Brydget. It’s honestly great design. While I doubt you’ll inspire all 3 every game reliably, you can adapt your game plan to force certain inspires; which in turn should help you tackle whatever obstacle you are facing. Some fighters gain more than others when inspired so think about that too.
If you manage to get the skipper inspired, his pistols bump up to a flat 2 damage but lose grievous. He also gains the ability to poke you with his fire stick! You get a range 1, 2 smash, 2 damage attack with grievous. While the second attack is nice, it’s not required which is why inspiring Haskel early may not be something worth the risk. Sure, the 2 damage is nice, really nice in fact. However he stills plays the same game un-inspired. I like that – you won’t feel too bad when he goes down early. Brydget might though…
Speaking of Brydget – she’s also a hunter who sports a very human movement of three. The miniature is quite petit which is why she has 2 wounds and is on a single dodge. It’s not all bad news though. (Remember, you kind of want your fighters to die.) A 3 fury, 2 damage melee attack isn’t bad. Her pistol is pretty neat too. At range 3, it hits for 1 damage at 2 smash. If you adjacent to your target though, you have the option of either adding an extra dice to the attack or pack in an extra 2 damage. Yeah, she’s the new Gristlewel…
We covered her inspire above and we know its intrinsically tied to Hexbane’s. If they both manage to inspire, Brydget becomes a bit more compelling. She jumps to 2 dodge which dramatically improves her survivability. Her axes go to 3 smash with scything! And last, but potentially not least, her pistol gets cleave. It keeps the volley special rule.
I feel like Brydget is the worst and best hunter in this warband. Un-inspired, she feels like someone you want to use as bait. However, when inspired (which is hard to do reliably) she becomes a terror. But that’s the thing, she’s not meant to be survivable. The fighters in this warband are built to die. They’re also built to take the enemy with them. Brydget can do that. You might only get one go – she is the very definition of a glass cannon. But boy when she goes off, it’ll be spectacular. Maybe even game defining.
Aemos Duncarrow is the big man of the group hence the brawler trait. Like his captain, he’s a hunter with a movement of 3, 1 block, and 3 wounds. Unlike his leader, he starts with a 2 smash, 2 damage melee attack. The best thing about him though is his special ability, ‘Reassuring Presence.’ Whenever he’s within 2 hexes of a friendly hunter that is being attacked, he counts as a supporting fighter. It’s amazing, but we all know how supports can come up big during rolls. It’s reassuring. See what I did there?
As mentioned above, when his skipper gets targeted by an attack, Aemos inspires. Think Rippa’s. If and when he does, his attack goes to 3 smash with cleave. That’s a very reliable attack. For a human, he can hit like a stormcast. Give him some strength inducing upgrades and watch him chop something in half.
Quiet Pock is well, very quiet. See he’s covered in horrible burns and scars. Whether due to physical or mental trauma, Pock doesn’t really talk much. That’s okay though, he’s prefers to spend his free time with his furry friends. We’ll get to them in a bit! Our silent hero as a movement of 3, 2 block, and 2 wounds. The 2 wounds doesn’t bother me very much here. Duinclaw and Stalagsquig, who sport the same stats, can tank attacks for days. Pock will too.
The best part about him, and what makes my inner profiteer squeal in joy, is his range 3, 2 smash, 2 damage attack. Hello! That’s a great attack. It seems the designers realized that as well because you can also use the attack once per phase. I know, I’m gutted too. Still, it’s a great tool to have to start the game with. Comes with knockback, too. His second attack is a 2 fury, 1 damage, melee attack. Useful in a pinch I suppose.
Pock inspires when one of his doggos go down. His ranged attack goes to 3 smash which is insane for a ranged 2 damage attack. He also trades out fury for smash on his melee attack. I don’t think Pock is going win you games singlehandedly but he’s surely going to contribute. He’s a great supporting piece and is going to help you apply pressure early one without offering much risk, statistically. Unlike the other 3, I think this hunter will inspire often enough.
Grotbiter and Ratspike are very good boys/girls who love getting scratches from their silent master. At least, when not sniffing out the evils lurking in the Nethermaze. Both of the puppers move 4, have 2 wounds, and defend on a dodge. They also can bite their foes with a range 1, 2 fury, 1 damage attack.
Their ‘Loyal Hound’ ability allows them to make a move action as a reaction to a friendly hunter’s move action. This is neat because this allows you to move potentially all 6 of your fighters in 4 activations. They can contest feature tokens of provide support to attack and defending human friends. I love it.
The best part about this pair though is the fact that they only give up 1 bounty collectively. When the first dog is taken out of action, your opponent doesn’t get any glory. Only when the second one goes down, does your opponent collect. I like the design there, it allows you to play aggressive with your doggo of choice, without fear of repercussion. Cerebral players will take advantage of positioning these two.
This is also how these devoted beasts inspire. (Again, great design!) Both of them jump up to 2 dodge and their attack turns to 3 fury. While that’s not impressive, we’ve all heard the stories of Grawl and Lighaen winning games for their warbands. I’m sure these hounds will craft amazing tales for themselves, too.
It is important to note that they can’t be hunters. Look, it may not make sense because canines are natural hunters. But, this definitely done for gameplay and balance reasons. I think it makes sense. Plus, they have cool abilities to make up for it.
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Objectives:
An Eye for an Eye: This is pretty much It Begins from Reavers. This is a solid surge because they are so many reasons as to how inevitable this. You’re going to lose fighters. You’re going to be able to take out at least one fighter – though that could be matchup dependent. I think you’re going to see this a lot, I like it. Requiring the kill bars it from a better ranking though.
Rating: B
Burn Them Out: This card is really interesting. We’ve seen universal versions of this before. I think the challenge with this warband is that they are kind of slow. I don’t think I like this card because while it is potentially easy to score in the early game, it becomes much harder in rounds 2 and 3. People don’t generally just stand on their starting hexes.
Rating: C
Due Process: Now this is a card. Keep Chopping on a stick is great, very doable. I think they’re going to be many times in the game where you’re going to be making multiple attacks, especially thanks to Price of Victory. I think you’re going to score this card more often than not via the second condition. But, if the dice don’t go your way, you can still score. Love how reliable this is.
Rating: A
Fear the Righteous…: Our first end phase! This is definitely a meta-pick card. While it’s not a bad idea to play this card in the current meta, the chance of running into higher health fighters can be a detriment. Trying to take down Wurmspat or Rippa’s may not work out until the third phase, which lowers the stock on this card. Plus you’ve got squishy fighters – two of your hunters have 2 wounds. It’s going to be hard to keep them alive to score this in the late game. The warband is designed to trade your fighters for your opponents. How those trades happen however is going to be random every game. Too risky a card for me.
Rating: C
Interrogate the Wicked: I like this card but I do feel like it’s a trap. There may be a lot of scenarios in which this naturally occurs, you can even manipulate via pushes. People score Reckless Swing a lot. My issue is that it requires a damage on that enemy fighter. You can’t reliable get that damage without a ping card. Sure, attacks can go through but dice are going to dice, right? I think it requires too many resources to get the job done. The 2 glory is tempting, but I don’t think it’s going to pan out.
Rating: D
Lives Well Spent: I think this is a great card. I love glory multipliers, they were awesome in the SS/NV era. Cards that reward you for scoring other cards are fantastic. You are bound to lose fighters during the game. You also have some great surges to pack into your deck. If you get early surges, you can potentially score this round 1. If you don’t, it doesn’t matter, because in rounds 2 and 3, unless you’re having a terrible game, you’ll probably score it then!
Rating: A
Loaded for Bear: This is fairly doable but for 1 glory, I think you can find easier/better 1 glory end phases. Plus, they’re going to be games where you just lose 3 hunters quick and this card sits dead in your hand. Look elsewhere.
Rating: C
Proof of Guilt: A hybrid with 3 potential scoring conditions, the first of its kind! I like this idea of this card – it’s a win more card. I think the first condition has no chance. The last condition is decently reliable, though it may depends on who wins the rolloff. There will also be matches where you are the beatdown and you have to bum rush into enemy territory for condition 2. It’s also great for when your opponent is the beatdown and bum rushes you. That all being said, I think the most reliable way to score this card is via the third condition. However, I think that may be a trap. Your opponent can score 6 cards, but they may do it after you have missed your window to score this card. Also, are you going to give up going first in a round when you should to try to score this? I think it’s too complicated. It’s not a bad cards by any means, just not my cup of tea.
Rating: C
Sowing Doubt: Over the course of the game, you will most likely take down an enemy fighter with an upgrade. So in that sense, I think it is reliable. Do I think its worth putting in your deck for a 1 glory end phase? No, I don’t. The space is too competitive and this isn’t enough of a freebie.
Rating: C
Tools of the Faithful: I don’t think you’re going to get this round 1 and I think you’re going to have a hard time in round 3 due to wound pool the warband totes. This is most likely a round 2 card. Keep in mind, this doesn’t specify hunters so your dogs can come in clutch if need be. I personally like my end phase cards scorable in all phases of the game and this one is just too unpredictable for me.
Rating: D
Uncover the Truth: This is certainly doable, and can possibly be quite reliable in the early to mid stages of the game. Round 3 is a toss up. I just tend to avoid cards that force me to be on a specific side of the board. If my opponent is the beatdown, why would I run up to them and make it easier for them to take out my fighters?
Rating: C
Weapons of Justice: This card is awesome. The second condition is certainly attainable but less likely to occur, especially when facing a canny opponent. Giving a fighter 2 upgrades in a round is a common occurrence. It works lockstep with the the ‘Price of Victory’ reaction but can also be done the traditional way – spending glory. I love it.
Rating: A
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Gambits:
By Hook or by Crook: This is great. Reducing damage is awesome. Reducing damage as a reaction is amazing. The stipulation for the upgrade curbs the excess early in the game but it’s still usable. It also allows your opponent some counter play/planning which is fair. It doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a great card.
Rating: A
By Order of the Vault: This is very interesting. Spoils of Battle was Shadespire staple that allowed you to play a card without paying the glory tax. The fact that this card does that and allows you to draw a card makes it interesting. The question I ask is whether or not this is worth it in your 10-11 gambits? I think the gambit space is a bit too competitive for niche cards like these. Furthermore, the stock of this card drops as the game continues – Price of Victory is going to get you upgrades. So will the glory you earn.
Rating: C
Circle of Silvered Gravesalt: The way I see it, its a ping card thats not the best ping card. I think there are other cards that are better suited for dealing damage. And again, that gambit deck is very competitive right now. I suppose playing this before your opponent’s final activation could disincentivize a charge? Could that be worth it? Maybe, but I’m still not seeing it. I don’t this card is really doing anything for me.
Rating: C
For the Order!: It’s not quite Second Wind but it’s pretty damn close. This can potentially allow you to get a lot of mileage out of a character. That being said, it does specify your power step so it does give your opponent a chance to react to it, should they want to. Still, this is a fantastic card and if you play the right upgrade, you can guarantee survival long enough to go attack again on your next turn; ideally with a fully decked out fighter.
Rating: A
Lead the Crusade: This is another card that makes you think. This feels very strong in the early game. A good example is the relationship Haskel and Brydget have with their inspiration. If Haskel ends up going down, you can play this and still get Brydget to her strong side. Inspiring Aemos early can also help you get a reliable attack off in the early game. Drawing a power card is really nice is the cherry on top. Still, I think the ROI diminishes as the game continues since fighters will either be inspired or dead by the mid to late game. I think they’re going to be situations where this card is great but also situations where it will not.
Rating: B
Making a Point: Out of activation attacks are nice, especially when they’re at range. To me, this is a more less guaranteed version of Twist the Knife. I think ideally, you make a charge, deal x number of damage, leave them on 1, and then play this in the power step. If you are going to use this, I’d recommend being adjacent so you get the extra die and cleave. It is not guaranteed but it does contribute to scoring towards objectives that require attack actions. I like the application this card provides. I’m not convinced the execution is there. However, I will lean higher on the rating scale because I like the idea of it.
Rating: B
Prayers of the Faithful: I think this is more of a rivals card than championship. It’s essentially a more balanced No Time.
Rating: D
Sanctified Sharpening Stone: Determined Effort is probably better because it ignores the hunter restriction. Again good for rivals, mediocre for championship.
Rating: C
Ward of the Martyr’s Blood: This card feels strong when your opponent’s warband is relying on modifiers to take you out. I have mixed feelings because your warband is low on wounds so they don’t necessarily need the damage. I suppose I do kind of like it. It literally just negates a Punching Up. You can even bait it out a bit by forcing your opponent to commit to playing a couple more cards before playing this to really shut them out in the next activation. I think this is a card that can be a great tech piece. I might be higher on it than I should but the mental anxiety this can induce in an opponent could be worth it over the course of multiple games.
Rating: B
You Stand Accused!: If it didn’t have the second turn off condition, I’d like it a lot more. I do feel like it is matchup dependent because aggressive opponents will negate this fairly quickly. There is also the dream scenario where you pick an enemy fighter that has already charged/moved or his hiding in the back of their territory. But again, I think we’re flush with great universal power cards and I find accuracy to be best provided via upgrades.
Rating: C
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Upgrades:
Bane of Evil: Similar to Army of One, you’re putting all of your hopes and dreams into your last standing hunter. I think Haskel’s inspire halts him from fully committing to this card. He needs to put himself in harms way to inspire 2 of your fighters. I think when it works, it’s going to feel great. I suppose at minimum it’s a Great Fortitude if he’s not the first hunter casualty. That’s not too bad but there are going to be games where he just instant dies and this becomes a dead card in your hand.
Rating: C
Charmed Horseshoe: This card is insane. Flat +1 dice to any attack, regardless of range restriction is amazing. Ensnare is not even needed but why not, tack it one. I’m all up for it. Throw it in your deck.
Rating: A
Cold Iron Nails: This is actually really interesting. At the very least, this is a Trophy Hunter. With Price of Victory, you can potentially benefit from it multiple times. Though I find that even once can be often worth it. What I love about this the most is that this is an anti-death card. Any warband that has the ability to bring fighters back relies on that mechanic to execute its game plan. Disrupting that entirely can be amazing. No more Champion, no more Regulus, no more whoever you want! I love how this integrates with the fluff but also provides such a unique experience. Is this the anti-death meta card we’re looking for? Probably not. But it’s still great against them. You can stack this effect with a weapon, too.
Rating: B
Deep Scars: I’m not a huge fan of single fighter restricted upgrades. That being said, I like making Pock a bit more tougher to take out. Bumping him up to 3 wounds while also making negate a bit of damage is tempting. I’m still not sure this makes the cut as any of the universal +1 wound cards would provide greater value whether the target is Pock or not. I think I find it hard to justify.
Rating: C
Lucky Hexbeak Foot: Awesome flavor text. Look, +1 defense is great. You’ve got squishy fighters with sub-optimal defensive stats. But making your 1 block fighter jump to 2 block or your 1 dodge fighter to 2 dodge is very nice. Pock can go to 3 block! I like this card and I think I’m going to try to fit it just for the extra dice alone. Ignoring damage dealt by lethals and gambits is the icing on top.
Rating: B
Martyr’s Favor: I think this great for rivals/+. In championship, I think if you want even more damage than currently available, this could be a decent pick. I think I’d probably stick to Great Strength, Savage Strength, and Gloryseeker first. Gloryseeker is also just straight up better because there is no range restriction. But again, if you really want to pack all that damage you can, and it will work.
Rating: B
Protective Brand: This is a cool and thematic card. I don’t think your warband sports the defensive characteristics you would generally prefer to invest in the re-roll. The denial of supports is an interesting effect but isn’t worth the inclusion of this card. I’d just keep stacking wounds. I will say, it does work well with Pock but he’s only 2 wounds and prone to cleave.
Rating: C
Retractable Pistol: Out of attack actions are cool. Since this is effectively only going to be used as a reaction, it makes it fairly interesting. And sure if you get this early, you can potentially keep reacting to fighters moving in your 4 hex threat range. But I don’t find it too compelling. Like this is a warband that gets free upgrades so you might as well take upgrades that are best in breed. This one isn’t.
Rating: C
The Lantern of Vengeance: Rarely do I ever think spell actions are worth an activation. I’m glad they incorporated the magic dice somewhere in the warband. Bound spells are cool, and in this situation, your fighter can potentially be a level 3 wizard. However, I don’t think the effect is rather worth it. While I think the idea is cool, I think the implementation falls a little flat. A range 2 AOE attack isn’t doing much in most situations. Think of it more like a range 2, 1 damage, scything attack that can’t be modified. Not the most exciting thing.
Rating: D
Woodcutter’s Strength: I love this card. I know I said I don’t like single fighter restricted cards but an inspired Aemos with this card can be bonkers. He doesn’t even need to be inspired to embrace the raw power this card provides. With just one success, and no other cards, you’re dealing 3 damage. If you manage to roll 3 successes, he’s doing 5 damage without additional card help. This also works with attack action upgrades! That potential is nuts and tempts me to include this in a championship deck. It’s going to fantastic in rivals/+. Is it going to be the same in championship? I want it to but am I being hopeful? Time will tell!
Rating: B
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Rivals/+:
I’m not a big rivals guy, but I keep up with the meta and appreciate it’s existence. In that format, I think this warband is going to do great. The deck works really well with itself, the synergy is immense. Furthermore, it feels great to play. All the cards are thematic and make sense while being balanced. One of the biggest things that warbands struggle with in this format is poor objectives. Hexbane’s Hunters have no issues in this regard. The surges are very reliable and the end phase cards are achievable. I also like how the have some ‘basic’ cards sprinkled in there to aid in the limitations the formats provides. +1 dice in the next activation or a re-roll on defense in general is welcome and teaches great fundamentals.
For Rivals+, I think we’ll see this warband still do quite well. I think the best pairing as per usual will be the Essentials Pack. It’s got all the damage these guys need to help them take down their opponents. They’re going to be good but not unbeatable and I think that is the most important part. They won’t be a problem warband but will rather provide fun and eventful games. Everything you want in a limited format.
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Universal Cards:
So overall, I found the quality of universals included in the set to be a bit lackluster. They’re not bad, but they’re not great either. The objectives in particular were disappointing – they were all 1 glory cards. That being said there are a couple cards that did indeed catch my eye. I’ll be discussing them here. If you’d like to see all of them, please click the link I shared at the top of this article.
Bottom Feeders: I think this card is great for swarm warbands. Exiled Dead in particular will love this card. It’s also a great counter to Reckless Swing in a sense. Your opponent might get the glory there, but then you can score right back. Maybe Impending Doom is better, but I think this will find a home in aggressive, large warbands.
Rating: B
Having a Brawl: Brawlers are known to have scything attacks so effectively, if you brawler makes one scything attack in a round, and it targeted at least two enemy fighters – you’ve scored it. Or they can just make 2 regular attacks on the same fighter, or multiple. I think this is a reliable card for brawlers who can access their scything fairly reliably. The second condition opens this up to everyone with the caveat that your attacks have to target two separate fighters. It’s doable but perhaps not worth the investment to make it work every game.
Rating: B
Divine Attention: Generally the grand alliance cards for Chaos tend to be worst. This time around, I think they ended up making it out the best. A surge for giving a single fighter 3 upgrades in the same round is fairly doable. People like to VOLTRON their fighters, especially in warbands like Wurmspat, Clawpack, and Fiends to name a few. It also supports the passive play style that the Wurmspat and Dread Pageant tend to prefer.
Rating: B
Sadistic Stab: This card is Twist the Knife but your fighter has to take a damage on top. Look this card is amazing, hidden but guaranteed damage is *chef’s kiss*. Take it and enjoy it. If you happen to play Dread Pageant, you get cleave as well. Not to mention how it can help inspire your warband via the damage you deal yourself.
Rating: A
Drifting Tides: I adore this card. I was really worried that Dark Inversion was going to be a big problem in the meta. That still might end up being the case but now you can mitigate some of that pesky hold objective scoring. After the power phase ends, but before you start scoring you can react with this card and move any objective token, into any adjacent hex. Your opponent can’t do anything about it. How awesome is that? And if your opponent isn’t scoring off objectives, which is rare nowadays, you get a free upgrade. Not bad but you’re definitely taking it for the second condition.
Rating: A
Whirlpool: This is another interesting card. This can mess up players trying to do all sorts of things. For example, if you push an opponent off an objective towards mid, they can’t push back. Similarly, if you push a fighter close to the middle line, but away from your fighter, your opponent might be forced to charge instead. But I think there may be situations in which this probably doesn’t do much as well. Its definitely think it’s a big brain card but can be absolutely back breaking when used correctly. This can ruin a third of your opponent’s game if you plan it right.
Rating: B
Penumbral Key: This is a classic style of card. It’s not particularly hard to do, especially with some power card support. That being said, I feel like warbands who want to score using keys tend to be a bit more passive/defensive. This may be great for aggro warbands but the risk is that when you get aggressive, your fighters can die too. I like guaranteed glory and this can be an avenue for it. It may require some work, however.
Rating: B
Reflecting Mask: Flavor text is hilarious. I think this card can be a great deterrent in certain matches. It’s a feels bad card for your opponent. Kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t kind of deal when placed on the right fighter. I like that it forces your opponent make a hard choice and smart players will capitalize on either scenario.
Rating: B
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Final Thoughts:
If you couldn’t tell by now, I am a big fan of this warband for many reasons. Primarily, I think the miniatures are some of the best we’ve seen so far in the range. The amount of personality and story each character provides is immense. Secondly, I think the warband has some awesome mechanics. Price of Victory is such a cool ability to build the warband around. It perfectly encapsulates the sheer grit and determination these mortals will exert in order to extinguish their foes.
It’s interesting because this warband feels like a mix of Godsworn Hunt and Garrek’s Reavers. They’re going to kill you, and can reliably do so in most cases, like the former but also want to die in the process, like the latter. It’s such a neat concept and the cards are so thematic. Not only do they make sense, they are balanced! They have a great spread of great, good, and decent cards.
In the objective category, the surges shine. An Eye for an Eye and Due Process are fantastic in-faction surges. I mean in the championship format, you can’t ask for more than that. The end phase isn’t as exciting but you can easily take 1-2 of those cards in a competitive deck and score them reliably.
Gambit wise, they’ve got some great championship candidates. By Hook or By Crook is welcome damage reduction while For the Order allows you to maximize a potential fighter’s activation in a round. There are a couple hidden gems in there that I want to try as well and I think the design is excellent as they’ve made me think a lot. Special mention goes to Making a Point and Ward of the Martyr’s Blood.
The true strength of the warband lies in the upgrades. Man, have they got some good ones! Charmed Horseshoe and Cold Iron Nails are my favorite. They’re so good and so versatile. But even Woodcutter’s Axe and Lucky Hexbeak Foot tempt me. Great options all around.
I this warband exemplifies the classic Warhammer Underworlds concept. They are easy to play but I think they’re going to be hard to master. There are just so many choices not just for you, but for your opponent as well. I love that, truly I do. This warband is going to be a lot of fun and I am excited to see how people build their decks and execute upon them in the Nethermaze.
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If you think this warband would make an excellent addition to your collection, be sure to head on down to your local Warhammer Store or FLGS to order yourself a copy of Hexbane’s Hunters. If you prefer to shop online, check them out here this Saturday (later today at time of posting).
Thanks again for taking the time to read my review. Thank you to Games Workshop as well for sending me this preview copy.
As always, best of luck on YOUR [
Path to Glory]!
Aman
