Dogs of War

The second of my three human regiments titled: 'Fools of Fate'. You've already seen Halberdiers turn into mercenaries, now its time for mercenaries to turn into monsters!
THE LUPINES OF LUCCINI
Alanzo and his men were once renowned sellswords throughout Tilea and the Old World, hiring themselves out for everything from service in a marcenary army, to caravan guards to personal protection. However, one cloudless night as they stood watch over a traders camp in the dark forests of the Empire, they were set upon by a monster.
The creature stood like a man, but had the form of a daemonic wolf, and was easily a head taller than any of Alanzo's soldiers. In the moonlight they fought, the creature killing many of Alanzo's men and wounding all the rest hideously before being driven back into the woods by the Tilean's pikes.
The next day started no better. The traders had been moving an hour before a horde of Forest Goblins attacked; spears and arrows bursting from the woods. As the familiar mix of adrenaline and fear built up in Alanzo's men, a hideous transformation took place. Where once had been proud men in the regal colours of Tilea now stood huge lupine monsters. The creatures set into the terrified greenskins, breaking them and sending them fleeing back into the woods. As the haze of combat faded, the men returned to themselves, quite naked, to find that the traders, and their pay cheque, had fled at the sight of the fiends.
It was then that Alanzo made the decision only a Tilean could make. He led his men (now reclothed) back to Tilea, and within the month was advertising the 'Lupines of Luccini' to Mercenary Generals. The regiment has gone from strength to strength, the heat of battle turning them into ravaging monsters, easily capable of crushing enemy units.

"How much?! For three days?! You had better have some amazing men Captain Alanzo."
-Paymaster's response to the Lupines of Luccini's fee.

M WS BS S T W I A Ld
Alanzo 6 6 - 5 5 2 5 3 8
Werewolf 6 4 - 4 4 1 5 2 7
Points: 165 Points
Unit Size: Alanzo and four werewolves. This maybe increased by adding additional werewolves, up to a maximum of fifteen, for +18 Points Each
Equipment: Claws and Fangs (Hand weapon)
Special Rules: Skirmishers, Cause Fear, Frenzy, Regenerate (Alanzo only) Regenerate (5+) (Werewolves only), Hellish Talons, Horrendous Maws, Ahwoo!
For Hire! May be hired in a Dogs of War army as a Special Choice.
May be hired in any army except High Elves, Wood Elves, Lizardmen or Bretonnia as a Rare Choice.

Hellish Talons, Horrendous Maws:
The Lupines are 'gifted' with terrible fangs and claws that can easily tear even the most strongly wrought metals.
Alanzo and his Werewolves attacks are Armour Piercing and Magical.

Ahwoo!
When battle is joined, the howling of the damned can often steal the spirit to fight from even the bravest units.
When the Lupines charge, the charged unit must take a second Morale test after they have taken their Fear test. If this test is failed, then the unit breaks out in cold sweat, and afew even prostate themselves. The scent of fear that fills the air fills the Lupines with fresh vigour. The Lupines Hate the unit that failed the test, including any characters that have joined the unit.

What do you think? The rules for this unit were a bit rushed, so I may have missed one. Will check in a few hours after geography coursework and food.

Not sure on werewolves in warhammer, don't even think they exist here. The closest thing you get is the Varghulf.

Anyway, looking at the rules, they seem really weak. REALLY weak. They are monsters, yet their stats are hardly better than that of a human. I would give them T4, definately, and Init 5. Possibly S5 too. Then give them regen on top of that and you would have a decent unit. If anything, I would make them like weaker versions of Beorg from the Bearmen, he's pretty close to a werewolf.

Agreed with the weak statement, looking at the stat lines I was confused as well. Creatures with no save whatsoever and only T3? There hardly better than Duelists and over twice, nearly 3 times the cost!

I think the attacks seem fine; as Alanzo is a character (essentially) you could probably boost him to WS6. I think 4's is okay for the rest of the unit. I could definatly see the S5/T4 boost too. I think Regen is okay for the unit, but I think something you left out could easilly be added in the way of Frenzy or ITP.

Knowing that they are Were-creatures they probably wouldn't be afraid to give a try against anything; but would still retain the intelligence to break and run should the situation call for it. Frenzy would be great; but giving the extra attacks may be too much so perahps just ITP.

I would go with frenzy actually, seems more in line with the feral look.

Will up the S, T and Alanzo's WS tomorrow. Thanks guys, you found the bit I rushed; they have Wolf Pelts(Light Armour) and cause Fear. Rather than Frenzy, how about Slavering Charge from the old Vampire Counts book?
EDIT: Will also give Alanzo (not standard werewolves) Regeneration and change unit costs tomorrow along with the above.

I think we should take a page from Bloodbowl, where it's stuck in yesteryear and Chaos Dwarves still exist in numbers, and you've got Werewolves and Frankenstein-a-likes running around.
Your average statline in bloodbowl is Movement 6, Strength 3, Agility 3, Armour 8.

Werewolves have this statline
Movement 8, Strength 3, Agility 3, Armour 8. Frenzy, Claws, Regeneration
What does that mean for you unenlightened fools who disdain the world of Bloodbowl?
Werewolves are basically really fast, frenzied, have some nasty fingernails and can cop some wounds without caring due to regeneration.


The other thing to look at is, Ulwerener's, or Norse Werewolves. They look like this
Movement 6 Strength 4 Agility 2 Armour 8 Frenzy
So... not very inspirational, they really fit into the Norse team.

And lastly, the star player, Wilhelm Chaney
He's got Movement 8, Strength 4, Agility 3, Armour 8,Catch, Claws, Frenzy, Regeneration, Wrestle

So with all that, I'd suggest a statline of

Movement 6, Weaponskill 3, BS -, Strength 4, Toughness 3, Wounds 1, Initiative 4, Attacks 2, Leadership 7, Frenzy, Regeneration.

If you wanted a special rule, I would perhaps add something like
"Razor Sharp Claws : These guys haven't had a manicure in years. Their attacks count as armour piercing".

I was thinking 3 attacks, two hands and mouth.

They do/should have frenzy, that's a lot of attacks for assumable 20mm bases (maybe 25mm).

Changes made!
What do you think?

Definetly cool fluff!

Why thank you Tribun!
Always appreciated!

Movement 8 is a bit much... that's faster than most Cavalry and skirmishers to boot. Do realise, when I said movement 8 in bloodbowl, as I said, the standard for a human is 6 sqaures (not the 4" you're used to). Very different. A Skink moves 8 squares in Bloodbowl as well, which is why I suggested movement 6 so they are fast infantry.

I would perhaps ignore the light armour and just give them a lesser version of regeneration if you think 4+ is too much. Say 5+ regeneration.
Anything that can really harm a Werewolf easily is gonna be ignoring their armour anyway.

Okay, making the changes (at last). What do people think?

They should still get normal regen for the whole unit imo, at 18 pts per model, they die really fast to magic missiles.

Made some changes. C&C welcome.

Still not much point in just a 6+ regen, they are still just basically frenzied duellist. Try playtesting them and see for yourself if they are worth taking or not.

3rd Ed Empire army book...you could have werewolves...in a unit...

They also have more movement, strength, toughness and attacks than duelists. Plus they cause Fear and have a chance of healing.

Mmm, what were they like rulewise?

I think these guys are more akin to Wood Elf Dryads. So I'd be looking their for comparisons.

Me too, I was just comparing them to the closest we got in the dogs of war army. Sure, they got better stats, but not so good that I would choose them over duellists for 3x the points value. Have you ever seen a werewolf movie? They can usually take a hell of a lot of punishment before they go down, and they heal wounds really quickly.

Advice taken, and have drawn inspiration now from Dryads and a poor quality scifi novel i just finished reading. Made some changes, what do you think?

Seems a bit better, they are about worth their points now. Only problem would be to remember all their special rules

I don't see a problem with remembering magical, armour piercing, frenzied skirmishers that cause fear, may or may not hate individual enemy units and regenerate at different rates. But that might just be because I'm looking at the webpage at the moment.
Ah well, it's still less work than fielding a pair of Steam Tanks...

To be honest, I don't think the Ahwoo rule is necessary. The fact that they're already werewolves and cause fear is enough. The whole growling and howling is all part of the fear causing affect - if anything IS the part that causes fear.
I mean, other than that they're just a different kind of Beastman to a human.

So yeah, that's my oppinion on that special rule, unnecessary. Things should be kept simple, and that's part of the problem with some Regiments of Renown having a ton of special rules to remember (and then having to remember that for X different units).

(02-24-2010 04:03 PM)M4cR1II3n Wrote: [ -> ]Not sure on werewolves in warhammer, don't even think they exist here. The closest thing you get is the Varghulf.

Anyway, looking at the rules, they seem really weak. REALLY weak. They are monsters, yet their stats are hardly better than that of a human. I would give them T4, definately, and Init 5. Possibly S5 too. Then give them regen on top of that and you would have a decent unit. If anything, I would make them like weaker versions of Beorg from the Bearmen, he's pretty close to a werewolf.

In Bill King's Troll Slayer, there is a story of the Wolf Kin of Ulric. Although not true Werewolves (the girl in human form refers to her father, who is in the form of a wolf), the inference is there.

Also, in the Middenheim/Cult of Ulric List from the Storm of Chaos, a unit called the Wolf Kin is present as a Rare (?) Choice.