WarCry Rot and Ruin

 A while ago, I picked the warband tome up from Vinted for a few euro, just for the purposes of the fluff.

Because I already had the Horns of Hashut (of course) and that means I wanted all the lore to go with them as well in my hands.

So as I didn't buy (any of) the core box, but the band loose, it was a win to pick this up for 3 euro and have some reading in the 70 page book.

 

For this tome focusses on the Horns of Hashut, forced servants of the god of the Chaos Dwarfs, and the Rotmire Creed, former herbalists turned followers of Nurgle.  The book takes place in the lands of Ghur, where an ancient device called Talaxis has been discovered.  After the introduction page of what is in the book, we go on a tour through the Gnarlwood, including ill-fated expeditions, to the Ravenous Ruins, or Talaxis as it is better known.  This temple is actually the crashed hulk of a Seraphon templeship, the Eye of Chotek, reclaimed by the forest.

The book then sets the story for the warbands, with the Horns of Hashut arriving at the Gnarlwood not to reclaim treasure, but to burn and raze it all to the ground.  As this brings them into contact with the Rotmire Creed when they approached their swamps and mires, a bitter rivalry sprouted.  And this amidst a forest that is out to hunt everything alive...

The book follows the route both the Horns of Hashut as well as the Rotmire Creed took to enter the Gnarlwood, and which fell deeds they did on the way to their goal.

The Rotmire Creed are the first warband we have a look at.  Living in the mire's, these depraved alchemists follow the Lord Leech, one of the many faces of Nurgle.  Capturing weary travellers who somehow survived the lands around, they use these to experiment on with new deadly concoctions, even though originally they where alchemist looking to cure all ailments.  But then Nurgle started to seduce them.  

The Rotmire aim to corrupt the geomantic engines of Talaxis itself, in order to poison the whole Gnarlwood in the name of the Leech Lord.  A deeper look is made into the various roles of all the troops on the battlefield and their status in the Rotmire's society, from the mighty Witherlords to the lowly Outcasts.

 

 

The Horns of Hashut on the other hand are the vanguard of the far more cruel forces dedicated to the Father of Darkness, the Dawi'Zharr!  The human slaves to the Chaos Dwarfs prefer to fight for their evil goals over the cruel demises they would meet otherwise, and as such go forth to find lands to burn.  On those lands their masters can then erect their forges and industrial engines. 

 

They care nothing about the secrets Talaxis might hold, just wanting to claim it for their masters in order to be able to turn the Gnarlwood into a devastated wasteland.  And in order to succeed doing that, they will need the reality altering engine.

Next we get a nice and expanded gallery, showing both the warbands "in action" in some great scenery settings.

 

 

After all the fluff, it is time for the rules sections.  The first part contains the rules and abilities for both the Rotmire Creed as well as the Horns of Hashut.  But it also contains all the rules for the scenery included in the set, with details on the platforms, what is scaleable and such more.

Following the rules for the use of the warbands, the next section covers the quests both can undertake, and which rewards they might yield.  This is a rather important section, because it also comes with two campaigns.

The first puts both warbands against each other, while the second one is a multiplayer campaign that ends in a besiegement of the opponent's camp.

A good book, and of course I am biased by the fact there are forces of Hashut involved in the matter, but never the less it is worth having a look at.