Beastmen


 * Beastmen require Call of the Beastmen to play.

The Beastmen are a race and playable faction introduced in Total War: Warhammer. They are led by Khazrak the One-Eye, Morghur the Shadowgave and Malagor the Dark Omen and can be found roaming the Old World but spawns in Estalia, south of Bretonnia.

Beastmen are mutant creatures of Chaos, part human and part beast. Primal and full of rage, they roam the forests and wilderness. The Beastmen despise civilization and seek to return to a time when humans were prey for them. Beastmen forces primarily consist of fast-moving melee infantry as well as larger monsters. They suffer from low-leadership and low armour, but are quite cheap to recruit and very hard-hitting.

How they play
A summary of Beastmen gameplay:


 * Units: Fast-moving, lightly armoured infantry backed up by ferocious monsters.
 * Regiments of Renown: These are unique, more elite versions of regular Beastmen units.
 * Horde: In the campaign, they are a horde faction who do not occupy settlements, but their encamped armies act as mobile settlements.
 * Chaos corruption: Beastmen spread corruption. Unlike the Warriors of Chaos they do not take any penalties in areas with low corruption.
 * Unique stances: Beastmen Ambush gives armies a chance to ambush by default, while Use Beast-Paths and Hidden Encampment allow Beastmen forces to avoid attacks and impassable terrain.
 * The Dark Moon: Beastmen have unique events which trigger when the Chaos Moon Morrslieb is in different phases.
 * Bestial Rage and Bray-Herds: Successful Beastmen armies can spawn AI-controlled Bray-Herd armies.

Background
""Tear down their totems, befoul their colours! Kill the kings and burn the priests! Into the mud with them, break their skulls and eat their hearts!""

Beastmen are a bestial, Chaos-touched race of horned creatures who dwell in the dark forests of the Warhammer World. Most resemble a sickening blend of horned beast and man, though there are many other variations. They range through the secret beast-paths of the woods, ambushing the unwary or the isolated. Most victims of the Beastmen are killed, but those who are not suffer a far worse fate...

Beastmen first arose in the ancient past when the polar warpgates collapsed and the raw magic of Chaos first spewed into the world. It was in that time of mutation and madness when the energies of Chaos touched the world, that man became animal and animal became man. Even still, the beastmen will replenish their numbers by capturing human women, or adopting mutant babies abandoned by parents in the forest.

The Beastmen have an ancestral memory of the Time of the Beast, when primitive tribes of humans were prey and Beastmen ruled supreme. Now they look upon the walled cities of men with rage, and seek to tear down every stone, defile every shrine, and return to the true primeval chaos of the wild.

The true children of Chaos, Beastmen belong body and soul to the dark powers from their very birth. The Dark Gods have no need to woo Beastmen with divine gifts and offers of immortality, for the Beastmen instinctively serve Chaos with their bestial, violent nature.

Beastmen herds are made up of a collection of creatures, from man-sized Ungors and Gors, to troll-sized Minotaurs and monstrous Razorgors and Cygors. In Beastmen society, status is determined by size, strength and the size of one's horns. So it is that the more bestial Gors rule over the smaller, human-like Ungors. The spellcasting Bray-Shamans perform a mystic role, reading signs and omens, communing with the gods and performing black rituals and sacrifices at herdstones and other sacred sites.

Every so often, a powerful Beastlord will unite the herds, drawing them to a sacred Herdstone under the dark moon Morrslieb, and uniting them into a mighty warherd to ravage the lands of men, or even the hallowed boughs of the Wood Elves against whom they wage a secret war amongst the trees.

Unit Roster

 * Main article: Beastmen unit roster

Beastmen forces primarily consist of fast-moving melee infantry as well as many larger monster units that cause fear and terror. This includes a monstrous infantry hero called the Gorebull. They suffer from low Leadership and low armour, but are quite cheap to recruit and very hard-hitting. Beastmen also have many units which can vanguard deploy.

Generally, a battle with Beastmen will be won or lost early on. Beastmen often rush towards the enemy, since they are weak to ranged attacks and have few ranged options themselves. Though the Cygor is a powerful monster artillery unit.

Beastmen spellcasters have access to the Lore of Beasts, Lore of Death, Lore of Shadows and their own unique Lore of the Wild. Beastmen do not rely on magic too heavily, and can take an army with no spellcasters. However it can still be a powerful strategy for them, as they have access to many summons and direct damage spells.

Most Beastmen units have the ability Primal Fury (Minotaur units have Bloodgreed and non-Beastmen units like Giants, Harpies, and Razorgors have neither) which gives melee attack, speed, and charge bonus so long as the unit's leadership is above 50%. This emphasizes the play style of aggressive and fast charges that fade away as units get weaker and lose morale. Finally, almost every unit on the roster has the Woodsman (Attribute) which allows them to pass through trees and are unhindered by that terrain type.

Regiments of Renown
Beastmen have several Regiments of Renown available. These are elite, unique versions of standard Beastmen units.

Subfactions
Beastmen have two playable subfactions that are not playable in the standard campaigns.


 * Wh dlc05 bst beastmen morghur herd crest.pngrd of the Shadowgave is led by Morghur, they are only playable in custom battles and multiplayer.
 * Beastmen.pngrd of the One-Eye is led by Khazrak, they are only playable in the An Eye For An Eye campaign.

In the Old World and Mortal Empires, the Beastmen are represented by the main faction. The player may choose Morghur or Khazrak to start a game in these campaigns.

In the Campaign
Beastmen are playable in The Old World, An Eye For An Eye and Mortal Empires.

Horde
In the campaign, Beastmen are a horde faction who do not occupy settlements or control provinces. To construct buildings, their horde armies must enter into encamped (Hidden Encampment) stance. This also means they do not have any commandments.

Unlike the Warriors of Chaos, Beastmen do not suffer from horde infighting so their horde armies can be close to each other with no penalty. In campaign, each Beastmen lord will start with a main horde and also a secondary horde army led by a generic lord.

This means that Beastmen are unaffected by climate or regional occupation.

Legendary Lord choices


Beastmen players can choose from the following lords when starting a campaign. See the individual lord pages for information on their various bonuses and starting positions in campaign.


 * Khazrak the One-Eye
 * Malagor the Dark Omen
 * Morghur the Shadowgave

Favour
Money for Beastmen is called Favour, which reflects the fact that Beastmen do not seek riches but rather favour with the Chaos Gods.

Chaos corruption

 * Main article: Chaos corruption.

Beastmen spread Chaos corruption which harms other non-Chaos factions. Unlike the Warriors of Chaos, Beastmen do not take any penalties in areas with low Chaos corruption. However they can still suffer penalties in areas with high Vampiric Corruption.

The Dark Moon

 * Main article: The Dark Moon.

Beastmen have unique Dark Moon events which trigger for them when the Chaos Moon, Morrslieb, is in different phases.

Bestial Rage and Bray-Herds

 * Main article: Bestial Rage.

Beastmen armies have a Bestial Rage meter which slowly reduces over time, but builds up with successful battles. At high Bestial Rage, Beastmen armies can spawn AI-controlled Bray-Herd armies.

Diplomacy
Beastmen are hated by most other factions (the major exceptions are Warriors of Chaos and Norsca). They cannot engage in trade at all, and their economy is based on pillaging, sacking and razing enemy settlements.

Buildings

 * Main article: Beastmen buildings

As a horde faction, Beastmen have a rather limited selection of buildings which as noted, can only be built in encamped horde armies.

Technology

 * Main article: Beastmen tech tree

The Beastmen tech tree is divided into 5 separate trees. The first four give various bonuses to your hordes or units in battle. However with each technology researched, your overall research rate becomes slower. The fifth research tree is linear and increases your overall research rate and the Chaos Corruption you generate.

Inventory

 * Beastmen items
 * Beastmen followers
 * Beastmen banners

Stances
Beastmen can only use 4 stances.


 * Beastmen Ambush – replaces default stance and ambush stance, gives a chance to ambush enemies while allowing movement
 * Hidden Encampment – replaces encamp, hides the army
 * Use Beast-Paths – accesses the Beast-Paths to bypass impassable terrain
 * Raiding

Post-battle options
Beastmen post-battle options are nonexistent, as they do not take captives.


 * Sacrifice Captives - increases Treasury, decreases replenishment
 * Kill Captives - increases Leadership
 * Devour Captives - replenishes units

Settlement options
Beastmen have these settlement options when they have captured a settlement:
 * Loot & Raze - razes settlement and increases Total Favour (treasury).
 * Raze & Defile - razes settlement and erects a Herdstone which gives +100 Chaos Corruption and +8 Horde Growth.

Start Position
Each Beastmen legendary lord has a different starting position in campaign mode.

Victory Conditions
Victory conditions for the Beastmen in campaign:

Short Campaign (The Old World)

 * Win the following battle with Khazrak's army: The Fall of Man
 * Win the following battle with Khazrak's army: The Fall of Man

Long Campaign (The Old World)

 * Raze 50 settlements
 * Earn 20000 Favour from razing
 * Destroy the following factions: Reikland, Couronne, Averland, Hochland, Middenland, Nordland, Ostland, Ostermark, Stirland, Talabecland, Wissenland, Karaz-a-Karak
 * Win the following battle with Khazrak's army: The Fall of Man

Beastmen names
See also: Beastmen names

Strategy
Beastmen represent the ultimate in stealth gameplay on the campaign map - even more so than the Skaven. Picking out potential targets, and hitting when the time is right is crucial: While powerful, the Beastmen are a Horde faction, so losing an army can be literally game-ending. Use stealth (Hidden Encampment, Beastmen Ambush) to avoid battles that cannot be won, and then take out weakened, separated or vulnerable enemies and territories. In general, the Beastmen will struggle to maintain enough money to be solvent on their own. As a result, Loot & Raze tends to be necessary to build up favour so you can run a negative economy. The Beastmen are also prone to poor replenishment, so either combine weakened soldiers, or be able to spend a couple turns in Hidden Encampment to rebuild your armies.

As mentioned, Beastmen tend to run a negative economy, though Raiding can help with that. An army full of cheap troops kept on Raiding in high-value territories will not only bring in Favour, it will also spread Chaos Corruption, cause negative Public Order to the victim and build Bestial Rage. Traits and Followers that reduce Upkeep are all but necessary to run high-value troops as well.

Once Bestial Rage exceeds 80, a Brayherd will be created. These can be a double-edged sword, as while they'll double the amount of forces you have available, they'll also give away your position when you're trying to hide. It can often be worth sending them on a suicide mission to weaken enemies rather than keep them near your own forces. Send the Brayherd towards your target, then follow one turn later. This will keep you from being discovered, and one can either fight a weakened survivor of the Brayherd, or retreat away if the opponent proves too powerful.

DLC
As noted above, Beastmen require the Call of the Beastmen DLC for Total War: Warhammer to play.

Minor Factions (Beastmen Warherds)
On the campaign map, many minor factions are grouped together as "Beastmen Warherds". These all have a diplomatic positive racial bias towards each other, and use units from the Beastmen unit roster.

Chaos Invasion
During a Chaos Invasion, the AI-controlled Warherd of Chaos faction will help the Warriors of Chaos invade.

If the player is playing as Beastmen, then he or she can choose to ally with the Warriors of Chaos and bring ruin to the world.

Trivia

 * Interestingly, while all other factions with previously generic names such as "The Empire" or "Norsca" had their names changed to be more specific, Beastmen still maintained their rather generic name. This may probably be because they're currently the only playable Beastmen faction.
 * At the start of the Grand Campaign, the Advisor will greet the player "Tduigu-Uis" and "Nuis-Ghurleth". "Tduigu-Uis" is a greeting and "Nuis-Ghurleth" is a title.

Future Content

 * With the third installment of the Total War Warhammer series having a heavy focus on Chaos, chances are the Beastmen will be reworked or at least enhanced.