Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I want to start a Beastmen/Beasts of Chaos army and I wanted to know some good units to make a starting army. Is the battalion good?

The Battalion is wonderful and should certainly be the first purchase, and probably the second as well. Everything in that box is golden.

This will give you 40 Gor, 20 Bestigor and 20 Ungor. Your best bet is to convert yourself a couple of Shaman and a BSB from the plastics. The remainder of the Gor should really have 2 weapons while the Ungor should probably be kept with Shortbows for now,

As soon as you can afford to, you should probably find yourself 2-3 models for Razorgor. The stock models are both expensive and hideous so I use Juggernauts for mine (Khorne Beastmen ftw).

Essentially every list is built on the strength of Gor, Bestigor and Razorgor, plus enough chaff to choke the battlefield. After this you have a bit more flexibility:

- Beastlords work really nicely, the only issue is that you cannot take a Beastlord, Great Bray and Doombull in the same list.
- Doombulls are death incarnate. Hideously brutal killing machines that can take deathstars to the front and come out the other side. Proper deathstars too, Savage Big 'Uns or Ironguts etc.
- Chariots aren't brilliant, but they fill up Core. Ungor Fighters make decent fodder if taken in large numbers.
- Harpies are delightful. Razorgor Chariots are essentially monsters that trade Thunderstomp for Impact Hits.
- A fun modelling project is to make a Herdstone. Truly a wonderful piece of kit and a cornerstone of many Beast lists.



Things to avoid:
- Minotaurs. Unfortunate because they are cool, but simply overpriced for what you get.
- Centigor. Again, paying too much for not a whole lot.
- The entire Rare section. Ghorgons, Jabbers and Cygor are infamous for being ludicrously overpriced with absolutely no defense mechanics.

So do you think more of a "horde" list works better than say, more elite or bigger monsters?

A typical Gor is still 8pts and so not really cheap enough to qualify as a horde. I would certainly say that the best lists are built on Gor however because those 8pts go a very long way and give you quite the bargain.
We cannot really pull off an 'elite' army either because we need 25% Core and none of our options are very expensive. Your armies will always have some weight to them simply because we need to fill that requirement and don't really have elite things to fill it with. While you can certainly fill it with Centigor or Chariots, they are simply not as reliable as a similar Core based on Gor.

The real issue with the book is that essentially all of our 'big' stuff suffers from extreme overpricing. Our infantry is fantastic, our magic support absolutely devastating, and we can chaff it up with the best of them. However, big stompy monsters are just not viable with their ridiculous price tags.


A typical army will be based around 2 large blocks: 1 of Gor, the other of Bestigor. We then take enough Ungor, Raiders and Chariots to pad out Core to the minimum 25%, throw in 2-3 Shaman with a Herdstone, and the critical BSB. After that its really adding in more chaff / assassination elements, a few Chariots and perhaps a Doombull to go rampaging. The other units are a bit lacking and rarely seen in a competitive environment.

I think I understand how the army works. I'm probably going to get a battleforce or two, a doombull, and a bray shaman

if you do take chariots run them in pairs on a flank. Worst case scenario they take your enemies attention from your more important units. if they don't deal with them you have the chance for some nice flank charges, Otherwise i agree with whats already been listed. Sadly centigors and minotaurs are sub bar as things stand. Have fun with the Ghorgon and Jabberslyth though! Even with their price I find them useful in 1500+ point games.

How many beastigors do I need? is 40 plenty? 50?

For a basic, decent, beastmen list, you need 50 gor, a level 4, 2 level 1 shadow mages, stubborn beastlord, 206 BSB, 30 bestigor, and chaff.

Beastmen chaff is best taken in pairs, apart from ungor raiders, who should be taken in about 4 units.

I don't leave home without thirty bestigors.

 Lexx wrote:
if you do take chariots run them in pairs on a flank.

Have fun with the Ghorgon and Jabberslyth though! Even with their price I find them useful in 1500+ point games.

Be careful running two chariots close to one another because if one is destroyed the other will likely panic and run away.

I dont agree with the ghorgon and jabber, I would never take either one of those models, they are just easy vp for your opponent and are horribly over-costed.

So basically 3 battalions, this gives you a big ole unit of 50 gor, 30 bestigor, 4 units of 5 raiders, you will have 10 ungor left over to start a 40-50 man ungor block down the road and 10 gor for converting centigor or chariots as you want more diversity in the army. Also grab a box of chaos spawn and a box of orc boars or the bitz on ebay and make at least 3 single razorgor, maybe save the rest for scratch building chariots, you can also make the 2 chaos spawn but will never use them. Also harpies are nice, get 5 of the finecasted ones or buy some tyranid gargoyal wings and a box of deamonettes, those leftover ungor also ghouls make good harpies, 1 unit of 5 is fine but a 2nd unit of 5 could be useful. Get yours lords and heroes, Dark Emissary works great, the new plastic GBS kit, a necromancer with a beast head on it works well on a 25mm base, make a BSB and buy a beastlord I got the 2h one and chopped down a weapon and gave him a shield, make a herdstone, made mine with polystyrene foam on some plastic card and start learning the army. When you get bored and want to expand go with building that ungor block, minotaurs, make those chariots, make more razorgor for razorgor chariots or one big ole unit of razorgor low LD but a very fast unit that with Wyssans is hitting at S6 on the charge and T6 like a unit of dragons almost, I don't advise it for competitive play but have seen them used to success but add a rare a Ghorgon or Jabber.

I found ungors extremely useful as chaff, the more the merrier. If you use the Kazak you can literally cover all sides of the board with crappy blocks of chaff. Sure they'll die or run away in a turn or two, but everything firing at them is not firing on the Bestigors which need to try and get to combat with as many hands as possible.

JWhex wrote:

 Lexx wrote:
if you do take chariots run them in pairs on a flank.

Have fun with the Ghorgon and Jabberslyth though! Even with their price I find them useful in 1500+ point games.

Be careful running two chariots close to one another because if one is destroyed the other will likely panic and run away.

I dont agree with the ghorgon and jabber, I would never take either one of those models, they are just easy vp for your opponent and are horribly over-costed.

YMMV. I purchased a cygor recently and as well as loving the fluff and model having a catapult that re-rolls to hit mages can be pretty darn usefull.

 brentyboi wrote:

JWhex wrote:

 Lexx wrote:
if you do take chariots run them in pairs on a flank.

Have fun with the Ghorgon and Jabberslyth though! Even with their price I find them useful in 1500+ point games.

Be careful running two chariots close to one another because if one is destroyed the other will likely panic and run away.

I dont agree with the ghorgon and jabber, I would never take either one of those models, they are just easy vp for your opponent and are horribly over-costed.

YMMV. I purchased a cygor recently and as well as loving the fluff and model having a catapult that re-rolls to hit mages can be pretty darn usefull.

Usually I don't care if the chariot leftover is going to run away or not. It's more about being a distraction whilst more important units advance. If they can kill a warmachine, distract a block of infantry or something big for a turn or two or get a flank charge on a unit in combat then all the better. Also on the large beasts. Your area might have different foes I guess than I usually end up fighting. Plus the people I tend to fight against usually have 2-3 terrain pieces to offer cover for the big monsters trying to get into combat. Which I admit helps a ton when there's artillery on the board.

Cygor I always seem to have terrible luck with misfires and him killing himself in some embarrassing fashion. But good going if you are having it better with one.

I would suggest getting some Minotaurs. They will be important in just about any army list. Also a Bray Shaman or two, as you can really get powerful magic with Beastmen and a Herdstone. I like the Chariot lists also, and have seen ones with hordes of Gor work well.