Warhammer Warcry Sundered Fate Review

The Gnarlwoods, that sprawling tangle of forest in the heart of Ghur, is not the kind of place one ventures into heedlessly. Full of flora just as ravenous as the fauna, these deadly forests are as inhospitable as a place as you're ever likely to find in the Mortal Realms. But buried deep within the heart of the Gnarlwoods is a source of unimaginable power. It is known as the Ravening Ruin, a downed Seraphon temple-ship which the Seraphon call the Eye of Chotec. Now, in the Warcry Sundered Fate, the latest expansion for the Warhammer: Age of Sigmar skirmish game, two forces clash over this covetous bounty. Games Workshop provided us with a review copy of the set to check out, so read on for our review!

Warhammer Warcry Sundered Fate Box Contents

Contained in the Warhammer Warcry Sundered Fate box is everything two players need to clash for dominance in the heart of the Gnarlwoods. The box set includes:

• 13 Hunters of Huanchi Miniatures
• 10 Jade Obelisk Miniatures
• Warcry Scenery: 2 Gnarloaks, 1 Hollow Refuge, 2 Rope Bridges, and 5 Obstacles
• 64-page Stealth and Stone warband wartome
• 22" x 30" double-sided game board
• 15 Fighter Cards
• 30 Battleplan Cards
• 2 Ability Cards and 3 Divider Cards

Warhammer Warcry Sundered Fate - Jade Obelisk Faction Overview

The Jade Obelisk faction are a group of mysterious warriors who don masks of Jade to cover their faces. Cursed by their god, they believe that they need to kill all living beings in Ghur and claim the rewards of the Ravening Ruin to halt their god from turning them to stone. They're a visually striking army with their pitiless, implacable jade masks, and many of these warriors can be outfitted with either an Iconoclast Warpick or a Statue-Smasher Hammer. The Warpick dishes out four attacks per combat, dealing 2 damage on hits and 4 damage on criticals, while the Hammer only deals out three attacks per combat, but deals 3 damage on a hit and 5 on a crit.

Also included is the Nephrite Priestess, who can use a special ability to grant a bonus move action to a nearby ally after she kills a foe, and then there's the Obelisk Bearer, who carries a giant obelisk on his back and can give a nearby ally two bonus actions if you spend four bonus dice on him.

For their reaction special ability, Jade Obelisk fighters can use their reaction to subtract 1 from damage allocated to them from each hit and critical hit. Relatively slow moving, and with limited ranged weaponry options, you want to use this army to hunker down on objectives and hold them while you smash at any opponents who would challenge you.

Warhammer Warcry Sundered Fate - Hunters of Huanchi Faction Overview

The Hunters of Huanchi are a faction of Seraphon who were the last to be created from the spawning pools onboard the Ravening Ruin. As such, they have dedicated their lives to protecting this powerful site against any who would attempt to mar it with their presence. They're a sleek, slippery faction full of devious ways to get around the battlefield and pick apart their opponents.

With special abilities allowing them to ignore the climb distance when moving (which is huge in a terrain-focused game like Warcry), a reaction allowing them to make a free disengage action, and a very fast movement speed (they move twice as fast as most of the Jade Obelisk models), the Hunters of Huanchi can zip around the battlefield. This warband also comes with three terrawings - winged pterodactyl-like beasts who strike out with amazing speed.

Most of these models cost less, point-wise, so you can field one or even two more of them than most opponents you'd square off against. That being said, each model is relatively "squishy," with low hit points and weak defenses. They also don't hit terribly hard, so you'll need to use your wits and special abilities to make their attacks count. You'll get a lot more mileage out of these units if you keep them out of melee range, so build plenty with ranged weapon options and keep them at a distance, and you'll be picking off your opponents in no time at all.

Warhammer Warcry Sundered Fate - Missions, Campaigns, Forest Tactics, Terrain, and More!

The Warhammer Warcry Sundered Fate box set also comes with a full suite of terrain, which we weren't expecting! In a similar vein to the terrain included in the fabulous Heart of Ghur box set, this set includes twisting gnarloak trees with platforms, rope bridges to move from space to space, and obstacles a plenty. There's also a new piece of terrain called the Hollow Refuge, which allows fighters to take the "Take Cover" reaction for free!

Included in the rulebook are new rules for Forest Tactics, which are one-time bonuses that each player chooses from in secret after initial deployment. From wrangling a beast from outside your army to fight alongside you, to laying traps or springing an ambush, these Forest Tactics offer a fun and quick way to add a little more customization to your army. The book also includes rules for campaign play for both of these warbands, including three different quests for each, as well as a branching campaign narrative path you can play through.

What Are Our Final Thoughts On Warhammer Warcry Sundered Fate?

I really love everything Games Workshop's creating for Warcry. My favorite game in their catalogue, I find Warcry's ruleset simple and intuitive. With Warhammer Warcry Sundered Fate, it's clear that the designers of this game love it just as much as its player base. Both of these factions are really well-balanced, both against each other and against other published warbands (there's still a bit of a power creep when you start building your own warband, but that's to be expected when customization's in play). What I find really special about this box, and it's something I loved in the Heart of Ghur box as well, is how different these factions feel from one another. Visually, setting chameleon-like lizard men against an army of stone-faced (literally!) humans looks great, and they both feel completely different to play.

Should I Buy Warhammer Warcry Sundered Fate?

This box, like Heart of Ghur, is a complete success in my opinion, and is a must for fans of Warcry. Both of these warbands light up the battlefield in their own special ways, and the terrain included - while tricky to build - looks stunning on the table. If you're looking to get into Warcry, pick this up (and the core rules, which are available for free) and start your trek through the Gnarlwoods!

The copy of Warhammer Warcry Sundered Fate used in the creation of this review was provided by Games Workshop.