Total War: WARHAMMER II – The Silence & The Fury Beastmen roster additions: Taurox and Ghorgons and Jabberslythes, oh my!
The loud mooing cacophony that has descended near-permanently over the Total War community can only mean one thing: by Sigmar, the Beastmen are here, run ye peasants, they do not come for just the cattle. Those of you sufficiently mutated or heretical may, of course, by some great betrayal, wish to actually join their ranks. To pal around with Taurox, the Brass Bull, mightily insane follower of Chaos and pillager of farms, cities, and everything inbetween. You would rather fight alongside the horrifying Jabberslythe than see it lumbering towards you, jaw agape? Understandable.
Here you will find details and information on not only the new legendary lord and his followers coming to the Beastmen faction in The Silence & The Fury, but also the significant redesigns we’ve applied to the Beastmen faction as a whole. It’s a mighty update that makes the Beastmen a unique faction of razers, pillagers, and feasters.
Let’s start with a brief look at the new Beastmen mechanics. If you’ve a bit of time, I’d also recommend the archive of our livestream, featuring Allan Suleman – who helped greatly with putting this article together, along with Ben Leech – and James Cox.
- Unit capacity
- Perhaps the biggest difference between the other factions of the world and the Beastmen is the use of unit caps. Much like various regiments of renown, you can only have a certain number of each type of unit in your Beastmen armies. There will be many opportunities to increase these caps as you advance and expand.
- This may seem like quite a limitation, and it does force some diverse compositions, but is made up for by the lack of upkeep on Beastmen units.
- All units have a base capacity of one, so you can at least recruit one when you first have access to them.
- Herdstones & Bloodgrounds
- Rather than being purely roaming hordes, Beastmen can now set up herdstones in any empty settlement (sometimes they will need to ‘move’ the settlement’s inhabitents first).
- This designates the surrounding area as a Bloodground – somewhere to hunt. Destroying settlements and defeating armies here causes Devastation, which can be turned into Marks of Ruination with the herdstone Ritual of Ruin. This is the core of your campaign progression.
- You can leave behind herdstones as you like, but you have a maximum number allowed, and enemies can destroy them as they would towns. They have unique buildings that effect the area around them and prevent resettlement until they are destroyed.
- Ruination
- Ruination controls your progress through the campaign, governing your number of armies, costs of horde buildings, and unlocking unit capacity for some units.
- It also gains you more Herdstone shards, which are what control how many Herdstones you can have raised at once.
- Dread
- Dread is the measure of just how good a Beastmen commander you are. Destroy, burn, pillage, kill, and you will accrue it.
- Dread can be spent on an endless number of things – unit caps, new Legendary Lords, buffs, items, you name it.
- Dread spent on Herdstone upgrades mean that Herdstones will start at that new minimum level.
- Challenges of the Dark Gods
- Rather than traditional technology, Beastmen must now earn the favour of the Gods through specific actions. This then unlocks options that can be awarded quickly.
- These challenges range from fairly standard looting and killing of a certain number of people, to more challenging and specific ones that require you to fight in certain climates or against certain enemies.
- Certain Legendary Lords will be better at some than others – Taurox is a champion of winning multiple battles in a turn, for example.
- Returning mechanics
- Beastmen still operate as a Horde, so while Herdstones allow for the recruitment of some units and act as a focal point on the map, you are still building up an army that can reinforce itself as you move.
- Moon mechanics return, with better results.
- Bestial Rage continues, but now only effects the growth of your horde. Kill, burn, and grow.
- Favour is still in place, though no Beastmen units still require upkeep. There is still a cost in constructing buildings and agent actions, and you could always spend those riches on some Ogre Mercenaries or trade it for valuable boons…
Right, that’s quite enough words, I can hear the approach of the Brass Bull. Let’s get down to the smashy stuff.
Beastmen New Legendary Lord – Taurox
Once a domineering Minotaur chieftain, Taurox ravaged the land with blood and carnage in every direction, before he devoured the head from an emissary of the fell powers and the madness that took hold of him expanded the slaughter tenfold. Reborn with a shining body of brass and a heart gripped by endless rage, the Bloodbeast is relentless, and his rampage of indiscriminate butchery is bloody and unending.
As his nature may imply, Taurox is devoted to indiscriminate slaughter like almost no other. His Rampage campaign ability involves gathering momentum through battle victories, powering up his Rampage to grant special effects. Every Rampage tier gives a choice of bonuses to Taurox, his army, or recruitment options. They range from additional loot to forcing special events or adding army abilities. Every stage gives an increase in Dread to go along with the victorious battles. Taurox also benefits from an improved raiding stance that gives him further movement range – each Beastmen Legendary Lord now has a special upgraded stance that is unique to them.
The other major part of Taurox’s moveset is the ability to reset his campaign movement range at the cost of momentum. This means Taurox can easily win several battles in one turn, laying waste to an entire region as he destroys army after army and settlement after settlement. Naturally, this gives his troops little time to replenish, so careful usage is important. It costs momentum to do so, but winning battle streaks gives bonus momentum. It’s as much risk/reward as it is kill/maim – though Taurox on his own is easily one of the most powerful creatures in all the land and can maintain a rampage solo against the right enemies.
Taurox begins his campaign in the Shadow Wood, facing off against the Dark Elves of Clar Karond. This gives him endless options for pray right from the off – into the wastes for more Dark Elves, further South for smorgasbord of possible victims, or across the sea to destroy the High Elves. With the nature of his campaign and the unique herdstones that can be raised in former faction capitals, it’s a host of variety. His goal is to find the mysterious Heart of the Dark and use its power to please the Gods and conquer the world.
Beastmen New Lords
Doombull
As the savage Minotaur Lords of the Beastmen, the Doombull charge their enemies head on. Their vicious horns skewer all in their path, and anything left standing will feel the devastating brunt of their cestus and chains. Though lacking in intelligence, these Bloodcallers make up for it with sheer animal strength, and a brutality of nature that drives them to gore and trample their foes with unbridled, bloodthirsty abandon.
Notable characteristics:
- Armoured, armour-piercing, absolute battlefield nightmares.
- A suite of abilities to buff themselves and nearby allies in the fight.
- Unlikely to lose to anything but Legendary Lords on the level of Taurox.
Great Bray Shaman
The innate, dark magics of the Great Bray Shaman twist the very fabric of reality around their foes. Wielding a rugged staff, pulsating with mystical energy, the repugnant aura of Chaos and sorcery that surrounds them infects everything it touches. Their position is sacred among the Beastmen. With fell rituals and blood sacrifice, they invoke the powers of the Dark Gods and imbue the whole brayherd with raging fury and unconquerable vigour.
Mounts: Tuskgor Chariot or Razorgor Chariot
Notable characteristics:
- Access to the Lores of Beasts, Death, Shadows, or Wild.
- Constantly debuffs nearby enemies with arcane magics.
- Part of our Total War Access offerings for this patch, and only possible thanks to that program.
Beastmen New Hero – Wargor
As leaders among the Beastmen, the Wargor demonstrate an intelligence sorely lacking in the Doombull, yet their might and brutality is no less prevalent. Driven by an insatiable lust for battle, they wade into the thick of the fight with mace in hand, and relish in crushing the skulls of their foes. Cruel and ruthless, the Wargor lead with a total disregard for all but the kill. When they ride to war astride the menacing Tuskgor, the enemies of the Beastmen can only tremble with fear.
Mounts: Tuskgor Chariot or Razorgor Chariot
Notable characteristics:
- A cheaper option for Beastmen heroes, which also buffs troops nearby.
- Carrying a shield to battle makes them hardier, and they’re still deadly anti-infantry specialists.
- Mount options make them naturally faster, and capable of leading cavalry and quicker units into battle.
Beastmen New Chariot – Tuskgor Chariots
The muscular, shaggy frames of the Tuskgor are usually seen on the battlefield in pairs, pulling the large, wooden chariots of the Beastmen behind them. Their brutish strength and crooked horns make them formidable opponents in their own right, running riot through enemy lines, while the axes and whips of their riders cut through any left standing. Charging across the field of battle, the Tuskgor Chariots of the Beastmen are carnage incarnate, inflicting catastrophic damage and leaving only corpses in their wake.
Notable characteristics:
- Significantly cheaper than Razorgor Chariots, which have been powered up as part of the Beastmen reworks.
- Have access to Vanguard Deployment, trading out their monstrous tag and fear-causing effects. This also effects any lords or heroes that take it as a mount choice.
- Stronger than other lower-tier chariots but lacking ranged attacks.
Beastmen New Monsters
Ghorgon
The Ghorgon devour all. Their endless hunger has twisted them with mutation, transforming them into savage, many-armed monstrosities, feasting on the flesh of enemy and ally alike. When capably channeled towards a common foe, the Ghorgon rampage through their ranks, brutally slaughtering their victims and consuming them whole. Their hunger, however, is never sated. Should the well-spring of enemy flesh run dry, their ravenous focus is likely to shift, and those they once warred beside may soon become their next meal.
Notable characteristics:
- The Beastmen answer to other monsters and large entities – let them fight.
- The largest creature with the Bloodgreed ability, making it even stronger.
- Causes Terror, bashes down settlement gates, and annihilates enemies while healing itself with the Strength from Flesh ability.
Jabberslythe
The horrifically hideous countenance of the Jabberslythe is sure to make even the most inspiring of leaders falter. An aura of madness surrounds the winged, toad-like creature, tugging at the sanity of all who witness it and warping their feeble minds. From the Jabberslythe’s gaping jaws launches a grotesque, clawed tongue, spitting acidic bile from its throat. Foes quake in their presence, as likely to receive a spray of poisonous blood as they are to be caught in their claws and dragged into their cavernous mouths whole.
Nortable characteristics:
- Forms a deadly pairing with the Ghorgon as the anti-infantry component of a monstrous partnership.
- Hits everything around it in combat on multiple vectors – pure damage, basic attacks, and poison.
- Has a special place in our heart, meaning we have a dedicated post all about its horrifying existence.
Finally, Feral Manticores are now available as recruitable units to the Beastmen, rather than simply summons. Long lost in the Chaos Realms, they’ve found their way home thanks to a kindly programmer. Enjoy that!
That’s the changes, additions, and new stuff to get excited about surrounding the Beastmen. Those who own the Call of the Beastmen pack will be able to experience all the major changes, apart from the new units, for free when The Silence & The Fury releases. The Great Bray Shaman is also available for free via Total War Access, assuming you have access to the Beastmen faction from either DLC, naturally. Access to Taurox and his new units will need Silence & Fury. Pre-order it here.
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