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Unit Types

Warbands are made up of units, which can have wildly varying stats and Skills. However, there are two main types of units, which share many rules between them. These two unit types, henchman and heroes, are described in this section.

Henchman​

Henchman are the core part of every warband. They tend to be weaker and simpler than heroes. Henchman are generally cheaper and more cost efficient than heroes, but do not become stronger over time and are more vulnerable to death. The only way they can become stronger is by being Promoted to a hero through heroic deeds in battle.

While only hiring henchman may help in the short-term, they will quickly become much weaker relative to their heroic counterparts.

Heroes​

When heroes start out, they are usually comparable to henchman. Over time, their power and complexity grows as their warband also grows in strength. They become stronger via Improvement whenever they Incapacitate an enemy or survive a battle. This Improvement may even grant them extra Attacks or Wounds.

While henchman are limited to the Skills they have (if they have any at all), Heroes can actually learn new Skills, changing how they play. Heroes are also less likely to die from Scars or from the Plague than henchman. Heroes can also equip Loot, Consumables or Magic Items that will help them during a game.

As a general recommendation, players should always aim to have as many heroes in their warband as they have hero slots.

Hero Types​

There are a couple of common hero types that are seen in many warbands, described below.

Leaders​

Leaders are a special type of hero, representing the unit that physically leads their warband into battle. Leaders have the 'Leader' skill and are generally the unit that makes Rout Checks. They tend to be one of the strongest heroes within a warband.

Every warband must have a Leader and if the current one dies, someone else in the warband takes up the role.

Casters​

Casters are heroes that can Cast Spells, having strange and powerful effects on a game. Spells are also unreliable and may fail at the most critical moment of a battle.

Casters fall into one of two categories, Arcane or Divine. No matter the type of Caster, they can choose one Spell from the relevant spell list to learn upon being hired.

Arcane Spellcasters​

Arcane Spellcasters have the following special rules:

  • They have an innate 'Basic' spell that is always castable and is in addition to other spells learnt
  • They only have a single weapon slot, which must be a melee weapon
  • They cannot use armour or a shield

Divine Spellcasters​

Divine Spellcasters have the following special rules:

  • They have the usual three weapon slots
  • They can use armour and shields as normal

Common Henchman Special Rules​

Each of the following Special Rules significantly change how a henchman functions and are common enough to be listed here so that players can know what to expect when hiring or facing such a unit.

Large​

Large units are terrifying creatures on the battlefield. They have a large impact on any game they partake in, with their presence alone being a large influence in how enemies act. They have the following special rules:

  • They cannot be purchased at Warband Creation
  • They count as two units when Incapacitated for the purposes of Rout Thresholds
  • They cannot Promote
  • They are immune to the Plague
  • They can be the target of Ranged Attacks even if they are not the closest enemy

Large units tend to be very powerful, with high Defence values, multiple Attacks and Wounds, and modifiers to Injury and Pierce.

Animals​

Warbands often contain Animals as Henchman. Animals have a number of restrictions that make them unique:

  • They cannot use ladders (except by making a Climb Check)
  • They cannot use equipment (without being penalised for fighting Unarmed)
  • They cannot pick up Treasure tokens
  • They cannot Promote
  • They cannot make Ranged Attacks

Beyond that, Animals tend to have a higher Move stat, a lower Morale stat, and are quite cheap.

Undead​

Undead units have a number of benefits, at the expense of poor mobility. In general, they are hardier, scarier foes than their living counterparts, but tend to be lumbering, at least until they sense flesh and blood close by. They have the following abilities:

  • They may not Run, but may Engage up to 1.5x their Move as normal
  • Any time they would be Stunned, they are Dazed instead
  • They are immune to the Plague
  • They almost always cause Fear

They have broad stats and because they cause Fear, they are stronger against low Morale warbands, but weaker against warbands that have ways to deal with Fear.