This Warhammer blog is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Games Workshop Limited.
(Illustrations and images from the Warhammer world are either ®, TM and/or © Copyright Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2012)

eBay auctions ending soonest great eBay sales WFB (US) WFB (UK) 40K eBay stores WFB register on eBay
http://battlereporter.blogspot.com is an approved affiliate of eBay, all auctions are current and hosted securely by eBay

Warhammer Battle Reports 7th / 8thNauticans / Design Fantasy Gallery

Warhammer Army Book PDF update - Araby

The Araby (unofficial) Fantasy Battle Army book has been updated.

WFB Army PDF - Araby
Mathias has been beavering away again (does he ever stop !?) This time he's really gone to town on the presentation (check out the excellent new in-book fonts) and it really does look incredible. It's a professional production and could be sold alongside all the other official army books but for you... it's FREE so what are you waiting for ?

This army is completely unofficial and is not endorsed by Games Workshop!

The army book is now almost full colour and to be frank, I've been having trouble deciding which images to include in this blog post because it all looks so good.

You'd be insane not to download and at least flick through this book (just click the army book cover). It's all completely free with absolutely no catches.  Some feedback in the forum would be nice but is totally optional:-

Araby Army feedback and comments

Warhammer Fantasy Araby Army
"...This takes care of some more issues with statlines in the army list and reference section, adds a bunch of new artwork and a little bit of fluff. Finally found a decent pic for the Mamelukes too, been looking for that for ages! Wizards also have access to the Lore of Shadow, and the Hashishin and Al Thair now have a 4+ ward save to be more in line with Skaven Assassins, both points and rules-wise.

The book is starting to look really pretty now I must say, and hopefully this will be the last update in quite a while as well, I do have other books to work on!"
(Mathias)

Check out this 2 page spread, how cool is that !
Warhammer Araby Army book art

Arab Army Book for Fantasy Battle
A quick side by side review of the books and army bestiaries tells me....

Small tweaks to the Lore of the Desert and Artefacts of the assassin's creed. Numerous enhancements to the Treasures of the Sands (magical items) which thankfully still includes the awesome Bow of Seeking (previously Ebony Bow) - Str5 automatic hits causing d3 wounds !  Death from afar :-)

The Greater and Lesser Genies are now characters in their own right and represented as Monstrous Infantry as opposed to mounts.

New Rare Units include Bladedancers, the Dervishers and the Sandglass of Time.

Bladedancers are the daughters of the Sultan's Harem and they make a deadly elite unit. Boasting a move of 5, four str4 attacks, 2 wounds, Ld8 and a 5+ ward they will best a lot of units although they can only be deployed in units of up to 5 so are to be used with care (ie not against large rank and file formations). Also, at 60pts a piece you won't want to take too many and put all your eggs in one basket - at least I wouldn't.

Army of Araby

Warhammer War Elephant
War Elephants, Flying Carpets and Camels all still feature in the army. These units along with the Genies, Bedouin's and Whirling Dervishers really help to make this army a very unique and, dare I say it, realistic feeling force. No unit has been conjured up out of thin-air, except for the genies ;-), they all have a firm mythical or real-life footing. For some reason it makes the army feel a bit more accessible to my mind.

Araby has more of an Empire, Bretonnia feel than some of the more extravagant, fantastical armies such as Lizardmen, Skaven and Daemons. So, as such, this army will not appeal to those players who are into WFB for the outrageous fantasy elements. It will however please many who prefer a more human-like "The Thief of Baghdad", "Prince of Persia" quality.



Arabic Warhammer Dervisher

Anyway, my favourite units have to the Carpet Rider (come on who didn't fantasize about that when lying in bed after watching The Thief of Baghdad as a kid ?), the Bladedancers, chicks who can beat up Ogres ! (actually, if you like that concept too, check out the Amazonians) and here's my number one... Whirling Dervishes.

The Dervishes have an unimpressive stat line (except they are fast movers, M5 and quick with a sword, Initiative 5). They do however have the Whirling Death rule - check it out, it's so awesome.

They are a bit of a suicide unit like Goblin Fanatics but you have more control if they completely pass through an enemy unit, ie. they can charge again. They are a devastating against low toughness units that are tightly packed together (such as the dastardly Skaven, Gobbos and Gnoblars).

Talking of Gnoblars, there's a Gnoblar Horde book on it's way !

Who would have thought that the Ogres would ever have let the Gnoblars off the leash long enough for them to form a whole army, or that the Gnoblars were smart enough to. You heard it hear first !

back of Araby Warhammer Fantasy Army book

Fantasy Battle Unofficial Army Book forum


The Hobbit - Official Movie Trailer #2 released

For Lord of the Rings fans

The LoTR trilogy (the books not the game) is, I suspect, the reason many of us old timers got into Warhammer Fantasy in the first place. I suspect the LoTR films were the reason many others joined us a few years later.

Anyway, if you still long for Middle Earth adventures and hark back to the innocence of it all, you might just like this...



Part I is out in December (just before Santa visits) apparently.

Design Rules for Terrain or Scenery

Have you ever thought you could do a better job at Warhammer rules development than the professionals at Games Workshop ?

Amazing Terrain and Scenery Competition
Well, here's your chance !

Come up with the most original rules you can think of for the most original Fantasy Battle terrain or scenery piece you can imagine and post the details in the Battle Reporter Rules design competition thread.

So far we have rules for :-
  • Tunnel Networks - Telepfenion
  • Fountain of Fortune - MrSeb
  • Buried Treasure - Sigmar
  • Kharibdean Pit - chunkymon

Become part of our community and get more out of your hobby - we're friendlier than those other pesky forums you know :-)

Image is © CultofKhaine.com. All rights reserved. Originally used with permission on whfm.blogspot.com

The Killing Blow forum game returns (with new spells, actions and a Hex !)

We're starting a new Hurt or Heal text based thread game in the Battle Reporter forum for anybody interested in having a good laugh :-D

Scary Female Ogre by Citadel
We're looking for 20+ unit entries, although you can play even if you don't add a unit* yourself.

*any Warhammer Fantasy Battle unit qualifies

This time there are reputation (karma) prizes at stake :-)

To play just post your actions up to once per day (we have kept the Unbreakable banner and added the new Hex banner and added the option to defend or attack.

All of the actions are now:-

1) Attack or Defend or
2) Move the Hex or Unbreakable token or
3) Cast the spell of the day**

** we've got some new original spells, which are:-

Manticore Frenzy Monday, Tomb Banshee Tuesday, Wulfrik Ambush Wednesday (which adds a new twist), Doom Seeker Thursday, Flagellant Friday (suffer to spare the others around you!), Storm of Chaos Saturday (ouch!) and the sneaky Speculum Sunday makes a return.

The contestants so far:-

  • Long Drongs Pirate Slayers - MrSeb
  • Vespero's Vendetta - Telepfenion
  • Dwarf Hammerers - chunkymon
  • Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower - Sigmar
  • Muktar's Desert Dogs - Coinsmith1
  • Phoenix Guard - STEAM
  • Chosen - unclebuck
  • Hell Pit Abomination - The Engineer
  • Tomb Guard - BigAl66NZ
  • Chaos Dragon Ogre - ozziemayhem
  • Knights Chaos Warriors - MALOMA
  • Mournfang Cavalry - nerra
  • Ancient Stegadon - Daider
  • Wood Elf Wardancers - DarthProphet
  • Dragon Princes - grimthorn

The winner of the last game was Lumpin Croop's fighting Cocks - can you believe it ?!

Image of hot female Maneater Ogre © Games Workshop. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

Cult of Ulric Warhammer PDF - a new Fantasy Battle Army

A Warhammer 8th edition rules update to the Ulrican army from Games Workshop's Storm of Chaos supplement (originally written by Gav Thorpe, Pete Haines and Andy Hoare).

WFB Army Book PDFs - the Cult of Ulric
In this superbly presented, full colour, Ulrican army book you will find a rich and engaging background, culture, history and army list for the men of Middenland. In short, they are a deeply pious, hardy and warrior-like folk (who despise the weak !)*, as you would expect from those that stand firm against the tides of Chaos from the North (with a bit if help from their Empire friends and maybe a few unmentioned, wandering Nordic Huscarls).

* see the Crush the Weak in Army Special rules (a real benefit against low leadership armies such as Goblins and Skaven).

The book is 46 pages long, about 46meg to download (for FREE) or you can view it online (click the book cover for download links in the Battle Reporter forum).

Once again, Mathias (Battle Reporter forum member name M4cR1II3n) is the genius behind this impressive update - don't forget to drop him a personal message to say thanks or leave your feedback in the dedicated forum thread (click book cover).

The army list features:-
  • 10 Lord and Hero choices (including special characters and elector count Boris Todbringer himself who is quite hard to kill - you need him finish him off in one combat round before his wounds restore); 
  • 3 core units including, of course, the Knights of the White Wolf; 
  • 3 special units with a wide variety of optional upgrades and the heavily armed and armoured Montrous Winter Warg Knights and 
  • 2 rare units including the Knights Panther and stubborn Wolfkin skirmishers. 

Games Workshops Storm of Chaos book
In addition to the men from Middenland, you can also select from a wide variety of Empire Army troops, including some of the non-special characters, most of the Empire core, crossbowmen (as special) and most usefully Greatswords (as special) and the Great Cannon (as rare) along with the Mortar and Handgunners.

It's a wide selection to choose from and allows you to integrate the Middenheim army (Middenheim is the capital of Middenland)  on a piece by piece basis into an existing Empire force if you want to begin collecting it.

The Ulric army is predominantly an offensive one but there are enough units (with Empire included) to provide for all gaming styles. The true fighting strength will still lie with the Cult of Ulric units which have some advantages over their Empire equivalents (for instance, the Middenheim state troops "The Swords of Ulric" get +1 to hit in the first round of combat). The Teutogen Guard make for a useful and inexpensive special unit with their Ld 8 and Stubborn rule plus White Wolf Hammers, and full plate and (for one upgraded unit) the Strength of Ulric rule which allows re-rolls of failed to-wound dice.

Middenheim Knights Art

The cavalry deserves special mention because they are the very heart of the Cult of Ulric Middenland Army. Indeed an army (albeit, not a very balanced one) could probably be constructed of cavalry units alone because Knights of the White Wolf* are available as a core unit, the hardy Winter Warg Knights* as special and Knights Panther as a rare choice.

* both these units wield White Wolf Hammers (+1 strength in combat and +2 strength when charging) and full plate (4+ armour save). As you would expect from an army based near the boundaries of the human world and in constant struggle against the forces of Chaos, full plate armour and heavy hammers feature prominently throughout!

Warhammer Battle Wizards
Magic support comes in the form of Wizard Lords and  Battle Wizards, who can use spells from the 8 colleges of magic and Warrior Priests of Ulric who are extremely pious and enraged with hatred !

The Warrior Priests can channel power and dispel dice like a wizard, fill their own troops with hatred and have 3 prayers (bound level 3 augment spells targetting the priest and his unit). The Prayers either increase charge distance, deliver automatic hits on enemy combatants in base contact or cause enemy units in base contact to suffer -1 to hit.

Emil Valgeir is the High Priest of Ulric and a particularly useful character because he's far more likely to "get off" one of his bound prayers and handy for channeling extra dice (on a 5+ not just 6). Not only that but he's quite a nasty piece of of work in combat, 4 str5 attacks (ignoring armour saves),  the enemy strikes last and he has a 4+ armour save and 5+ ward save (+1 magic res). Don't think you can take him out with a flame cannon either because he and his unit are immune to all fire based attacks.

Ulric Warrior Warhammer Fantasy Battle army
Magic Items are represented by Talismans of Ulric and the Ulric Armoury, there are 15 items in total (plus any you include on characters from the Empire Army book. They're not that powerful but a nice addition to add some flavour to your custom characters.I particularly like the Bane of the Craven amulet which prevents pesky units, that like to disrupt your plans, from making a flee reaction to your charge. The Standard of the White Wolf will also ease some of the anxiety you can suffer when facing massed ranks of missile troops or ranged magic missiles, all of which suffer -1 to their strength. I think the Fang of the Winter Wolf will also prove popular in a last ditch attempt to win a combat. It can be used by a warrior priest and effectively ensures that his prayer is "cast" with Irresistible Force.

Is army is for you...

Well, if you're a fan of The Empire army book but you are getting a bit bored of playing with the same units and crave a bit more variety or, if you want to inject a bit more warrior spirit into the army or, branch out into a new theme with new heraldry and white winter bases then this could be your opportunity.

It's would be quite easy to add your favourite Ulric units one at a time and, I guess, that's the beauty of this supplement. You can add piecemeal and easily revert back to your core Empire force or go the whole hog and build up your Middenlanders into a full army in it's own right with a small Empire contingent.

You can still find some of the old White Wolf Knights on eBay (click below) although they are long out of production. GW do however still sell the Empire Grand Master of the White Wolf in Finecast, which is quite a handsome mini to own and a decent center piece for your knights if you decide to go for it Knights of the White Wolf on eBay


To summarize

Fantasy Battle Wolf Kin unit
What I like - the warrior-like, gritty, determined, independent minded character of the army and it's leaders. The Cult itself really brings the army to life, they feel a bit like the bad guys in the Conan the Barbarian movie - heavily armed and armoured, resolute, a bit scary and tough to kill.

I also like the way you can combine the army with an existing Empire army giving you two forces for the price of one. Building a Cult of Ulric force should prove a lot less expensive for Empire players than collecting a totally new army. It will feel similar on the battlefield to play but should inject enough variety to pique your interest for many more battles. It's also a nice excuse to buy and paint just a few new miniatures without having to empty your wallet on a whole army.

Warhammer Winter Wargs
What I dislike - nothing major really. It's a very well constructed supplement and a good read. I think it would have been nice if there had been a nod in the direction of the people of Nordland which borders Middenland to the North. Maybe just a little Nordic influence in a unit or two, they must surely share some form of alliance against Chaos. The problem is that the Norse do not have an official army book and don't really exist in Games Workshop's vision anymore so the update would have strayed quite a bit from the original supplement.

All in all, a job well done by Mathias and an excellent 8th edition update - Many thanks Mathias. Please let him know you appreciate his efforts in the Battle Reporter Forum.

Middenheim Map Warhammer Fantasy Battles

Ulric Army Painted Models

WFB Cult of Ulric units


Fantasy Battle Unofficial Army Book forum

Some images are © Games Workshop. All rights reserved. Used without permission

Classic Regiments of Renown PDF Released

Classic Regiments of Renown PDF cover

The original Regiments of Renown rules have been updated for the Warhammer 8th Edition Fantasy Battle ruleset.

This expansion is completely unofficial and is not endorsed by Games Workshop!

If you recognize a lot of the listed unit names below and they bring back fond memories and a reminiscent tear to the eye then you're probably as old and grey as I am. Mathias has been hard at work again and has brought us a Warhamer Expansion updated for the 8th edition rulebook. Rules for most of the very original sets (from the 1980's !) are included plus some of the slightly newer units.

I still think these are some of the finest miniatures that Citadel / Games Workshop have produced (although that could be rose tinted specs at work !)  The Knight of Origo and Nick Lund's Eeza Ugezod's Mother Crushers are simply awesome (see the slideshow)

  • The Knights Of Origo
  • Harboth and The Black Mountain Boys
  • Mad Mullah Aklan'd's Death Commandos
  • The Bowmen Of Wood Elf Prince Oreon
  • Elwing's Elven Guard Cavalry
  • Karnac's Lizardmen Raiders
  • Flying Gargoyles Of Barda
  • Notlob's Orcish Bolt-Throwing Engines
  • The Mighty Throg And His Hobgoblin Despoilers Of The Dark Lands
  • The Disciples Of The Red Redemption
  • Avenging Knights Of The Cleansing Flame
  • Eeza Ugezod's Mother Crushers
  • The Nightmare Legion – Mordini's Doomed Legion
  • Skarloc's Wood Elf Archers
  • Prince Ulther’s Imperial Dwarfs – The Dragon Company
I still have some of these sets, if you don't want yours anymore try eBay because you can get a LOT of money for complete sets in good nick with the original boxes  - Regiments of Renown on eBay


Warhammer Expansion Summary

The Book is 27 pages long and can be read online or downloaded for FREE from either Issuu or Sribd (it's about 6.5Meg).

The units have loads of character, remember these guys are the original mercenaries for hire, they've been lobbing off head and limbs for longer than some of the other races have even been around and they're still here to tell their tales !

You've got to love some of the fluff like the graffiti Notlob's crew write on the side of their bolts "'Notlob does it from 300 feet' and 'Chew on this Stuntie'", the Battle Cries and weaponry such as "Pulp the Stunties", "Mark your target well and eat it". and the "Dwarf Tickler" cleaver - I like anything anti-Dwarf - you may have noticed ;-)

It's also nice the way some of the unit's histories are connected, such as Golfgag's betrayal of Bodgan's battle chariots and Notlob's misunderstanding with Harboth. There are a few entertaining short stories dotted about the expansion and the presentation is, as always, top notch throughout.

There's a handy summary matrix in the For Hire section at the back showing you who can fight in which armies and which allocation they should be drawn from (ie. Core, Special or Rare)

Happy Reading.

BTW, please join the Battle Reporter forum and feedback any comments or suggestions on any of the army books (we have individual forums for each one, click below for the index page).

Fantasy Battle Unofficial Army Book forum

Many thanks to Mathias and co. for bringing us this brilliant update.

Warhammer Beginner FAQs and Answers

If you're just beginning Warhammer Fantasy Battle and you're trying to decide which army to collect then read on...

Warhammer Beginner Q and A FAQ
The Battle Reporter forum is hosting an ongoing never-ending poll to help new Warhammer players decide which army best suits them. If you're looking for answers to the kind  of typical questions that everyone new to Warhammer always asks then here are some of the anwers:-

Choosing a Warhammer Army.

1) Armies with the Most Character
2) Army you most enjoy Battling with
3) Best Miniatures
4) Easiest Armies to Paint
5) Easiest Armies to use in Battle
6) Enemy you least enjoy fighting
7) The armies you collect
8) Most Enjoyable Armies to Collect

Please feel free to join up and add your votes.

Collage is of cavalry unit images © Games Workshop. All rights reserved. Used without permission
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
This web site is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Games Workshop Limited.

Chaos, the Chaos device, the Chaos logo, Citadel, Citadel Device, Darkblade, the Double-Headed/Imperial Eagle device, 'Eavy Metal, Forge World, Games Workshop, Games Workshop logo, Golden Demon, Great Unclean One, GW, the Hammer of Sigmar logo, Horned Rat logo, Keeper of Secrets, Khemri, Khorne, the Khorne logo, Lord of Change, Nurgle, the Nurgle logo, Skaven, the Skaven symbol devices, Slaanesh, the Slaanesh logo, Tomb Kings, Trio of Warriors, Twin Tailed Comet Logo, Tzeentch, the Tzeentch logo, Warhammer, Warhammer Online, Warhammer World logo, White Dwarf, the White Dwarf logo, and all associated marks, names, races, race insignia, characters, vehicles, locations, units, illustrations and images from the Warhammer world are either ®, TM and/or © Copyright Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2012, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world. Used without permission. No challenge to their status intended. All Rights Reserved to their respective owners.

Warvault Webring

in the forum now