Gargants are pretty handy at smashing things to a pulp, but that doesn’t make them simple brutes. Some are good at throwing things, or weaving powerful spells, and today we’re going to find out what the newcomers can do.
Ma Maegran
As an old and powerful witch among a people with little magical aptitude, Ma Maegran commands nervous respect from even the Mega-Gargants that tower over her, and it’s not without reason. Rumours that she can bless her allies with untold strength and stature are completely true, and if a BIG* unit from your army is slain, a LITTLE comrade may just take their place.
MA MAEGRAN
CHOOSER OF THE MIGHTY
Once Per Battle, Any Movement Phase
CHOOSER OF THE MIGHTY
Eyes aglow with strange and forbidding light, Maegran draws upon her mightiest gifts: the ability to bestow bigness, either spiritual or physical, on a worthy gargant.
Declare: Pick another visible friendly LITTLE unit wholly within 12" of this unit to be mighty.
Effect: Pick 1 of the following effects:
For the rest of the turn, each time you make an unmodified wound roll of 6 for a combat attack made by the mighty unit, inflict 1 mortal damage on the target of the attack after the FIGHT ability has been resolved.
Pick a point on the battlefield within 1" of the mighty unit, then pick a friendly non-UNIQUE BIG unit that has been destroyed to be the target. Set up a replacement unit identical to the target within l" of that point, then allocate 10 damage points to it (ward rolls cannot be made for those damage points). The replacement unit can only be set up in combat with units that the mighty unit was in combat with when it was picked to be mighty. Then, 1 model in the mighty unit is slain.
For all her magical power though – including the new Lore of Behemat – Ma Maegran is not a standout fighter among her kin, and shepherds a pair of Ancient Ghyrochs to help keep particularly nasty foes off her back. These ornery beasts are infused with the life-giving power of Ghyran and regenerate wounds at an astonishing rate, giving them plenty of time to gore whatever’s in front of them.
And gore they do, with a chunky melee profile that can increase its Damage characteristic to 4 by combining their Charge ability and some bellowed ‘encouragement’ from Ma Maegran.
ANCIENT GHYROCHS
MELEE WEAPONS | Atk | Hit | Wnd | Rnd | Dmg |
Might Horns and Hooves | 3 | 4+ | 2+ | 2 | 2 |
End of Any Turn
WELLSPRING OF LIFE ENERGY
Ancient Ghyrochs are creatures brimming with life energy, which makes them extremely hard to kill.
Effect: Heal (3) this unit.
Mega-Gargants
Speaking of damage, Mega-Gargants have learned that there are two ways to swing a club after all – down, and sideways. Unfortunately for the teeming masses that swarm around them, this means that they can now choose between Calamitous Sweep and Crushing Blow profiles for their main attacks, trading raw force for a wider area of effect. This gives these devastating creatures a more reliable damage output, making it easier for you to smash stuff up.**
Nowhere is this more alarming than on King Brodd himself, whose mighty Obelisk of Tor Crania gets 20 attacks when he decides to sweep it through enemy ranks.
KING BRODD
MELEE WEAPONS | Atk | Hit | Wnd | Rnd | Dmg |
Obelisk of Tor Crania: Calamitous Sweep | 20 | 3+ | 3+ | 1 | 1 |
Obelisk of Tor Crania: Crushing Blow | 6 | 4+ | 2+ | 2 | 5 |
Passive
OBELISK OF TOR CRANIA
The immense weapons wielded by Mega-Gargants can be brought down for an obliteratingly heavy strike or swept through enemy ranks like a battering ram.
Effect: Each time this unit uses a FIGHT ability, pick either the Calamitous Sweep or Crushing Blow weapon characteristics for all the attacks it makes with its Obelisk of Tor Crania.
The other big change to Mega-Gargants is a reduction to their Health characteristic. There are two main reasons for this. It better reflects the size of the miniatures, bringing them in line with similar Monsters. Secondly, it means that each one will be lower in points, so you’ll be able to unleash more Mega-Gargants, making it easier to contest multiple objectives and complete more battle tactics.
Rock-hurlers
Smaller gargants get plenty of battlefield skills to play around with too. The new Rock-hurlers have developed some shockingly advanced battlefield tactics by gargant standards – rather than throwing boulders as hard as they can, they’ve learned to just drop them on nearby foes or roll them across the ground for better accuracy.
ROCK-HURLERS
Once Per Turn (Army), Any Shooting Phase
DROP, TOSS OR ROLL
These gargants have learnt that if you hurl your rock in specific ways, more enemies go 'squish' - and it's funnier to boot.
Effect: Pick 1 of the following effects to apply for the rest of the turn:
Drop: This unit's ranged weapons have Shoot in Combat and this unit can use the 'Covering Fire' command even if it is in combat.
Toss: Add 6" to the Range characteristic of this unit's ranged weapons.
Roll: Add 1 to hit rolls for this unit's shooting attacks.
KEYWORDS: RAMPAGE
Mancrusher Gargants
Mancrusher Gargants, meanwhile, surrender to an all-too-familiar vice: the approval of their mates. In typical loutish fashion, they constantly egg each other on, always coming up with violent escapades that their towering comrades would never dare do. That such dares tend to involve people being crushed with clubs is a moot point.
MANCRUSHER GARGANT
Once Per Battle (Army), Deployment Phase
BET YOU CAN’T…
Mancrushers are often egged on - or just straight up bullied - into various escapades by their mates.
Declare: Pick each friendly Mancrusher Gargant on the battlefield to be the targets.
Effect: Pick 1 of the following effects:
... Kill the Big 'Eads!: For the rest of the battle, add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of each target's melee weapons while they are in combat with any enemy HEROES or MONSTERS.
... Get There Before Me!: Up to 3 of the targets can each use the 'Normal Move' ability as if it were your movement phase .
... Grab That!: Add 5 to each target's control score for the rest of the battle.
This is only a small slice of the abilities at your disposal when you take the Sons of Behemat into the field. Their new battletome and miniatures*** are available to pre-order from Saturday, but make sure you come back tomorrow as we take a look at the new Armies of Renown in the book.
* Mega-Gargants (including King Brodd) are BIG, and regular gargants are LITTLE. Easy as pie.
** And what self-respecting Sons of Behemat player doesn’t enjoy that?
*** Can we call something the size of a gargant “miniature”?
