‘Warhammer: The Old World’- The Five Best Monstrous Creatures
Everyone likes a good monster, stomping around beating things up, these are some of the best you can take in Warhammer: The Old World.
We’ve all had our hands on The Old World for a bit. The game is starting to shake out. We’ve gotten a decent look at what is good and bad and how people like to play. Today, we are continuing our series, looking at the best units form various categories. We’ve at a lot of infantry such as basic core infantry, elite heavy infantry monstrous infantry and ranged infantry. That’s covered most of the infantry and we’ve gotten into cavalry and chariots.
Today lets take a look at one of the largest, physically at least, classes – Monstrous Creatures. This is a bit of an odd category to look at I will admit. While they are their own troop type they are one of the least common, and most forgotten. Though they are a monster, they are almost always overshadowed by their bigger, and deadlier cushions, the Behemoths. Moreover a lot of Monstrous Creatures you do get are mounts, and today we are NOT going to be looking at mounts. Those are too closely tied to their rider. Yet, within this category there are some real gems, so le’ts dig in.
5. Great Eagles (Wood/High Elfs)
The Great Eagle is one of the most classic monsters in the game. It hits that sweet spot of being cheap (which I think is normally key for a good Monstrous Creature). They are cheap, disposable and very fast. While they aren’t amazing in combat they have a ton of utility. They are great for just getting in the way and forcing the enemy to do things they don’t want to. They are also just strong enough to be able to take on war machines and some chaff units. It’s real easy to find some points to squeeze one in for Great Eagle shenanigans.
4. Gorgers (Ogre Kingdoms)
Gorgers are another one that falls into the pretty cheap and generically useful mold. At 90 pts you can fit one (or more) in most lists and losing them won’t hurt too hard. For those points they are very efficient, being both surprisingly tough, and hitting OK, and even having a Killing Blow attack. WS 3 is however a big drawback. They are decently fast with Move 6 and Swiftstide, and have the options to Ambush, Scout or Vanguard. So Gorgers get to go where they want. Unbreakable is also really nice on them as they can really gum up an enemy flank and just kind of cause some issues.
3. Bastiladon (Lizardmen)
OK, look, I could have put the Slann on here as number one as they are technically a MC, but they are really a character. So instead we get the Bastilidon, and I think it’s a pretty decent little monster. It’s not super cheap, which is a bit of a down side, but it does do some fun things. T5 and a 3+ save make it decently durable, and it’s got stomp and impact hits so can do some damage in combat. It’s also kind of a mini warmachine. The Bastiladon has the option of shooting snakes at things all around it (not like super deadly, but can be good vs lots of Elf MSU, though it’s short ranged). It can also take a really solid magic missile and just kind of beam weapon things. It’s got some decent utility and can do damage.
2. Tomb Scorpions (Tomb Kings)
Tomb Scorpions are really the best of the classic Monstrous Creatures and one of the most points efficient units around. We are back on the cheap end, heck for this thing the absurdly cheap end, of things with a 70 pt unit. Its tough, with T5, Regen, Heavy Armor, and of course it can be healed. It’s got Vanguard and Swiftstride so it’s decently fast and with TK’s you can get some Ambush tricks with it. It’s got MR 1 for some reason and most importantly 4 Attacks with Killing Blow AND Monster Slayer. That makes Tomb Scorpions a legitimate threat to almost anything in the game, with a decent chance to just off a Dragon Lord randomly. They are amazing and any Tomb Kings player will likely have a few skuttling around.
1. Dragon Ogre Shaggoth (Beastmen/Warriors of Chaos)
Lastly we have what is I think the most expensive unit in the class, and just a really odd one. The Shaggoth really should be a character, in a lot of ways they act like one. But they aren’t, instead they are just a MC. But what an MC they are! They’ve got stats on par with some dragons. Easy access to a 3+ save. Terror. They are fast. They’ve got stomp attacks, though these do not get thunderstomp. They are already a pretty fast combat unit. They also, randomly, get an AoE magic missile that can go off in combat and even buffs some friendly units. Oh, and they can take magic items and mutations like a character. Dragon Ogre Shaggoths are basically like a very powerful character that can’t be challenged out. Just a really solid unit all around that can do a lot of damage and be quite flexible.
Let us know what your favorite Monstrous Creature is, down in the comments!
