Everyone likes a good monster, dominating the battlefield, these are the biggest and best Behemoths 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 we continue to look at the big stompy units in Old World. We’ve already looked at Monstrous Creatures, so now its time for Behemoths. These are the biggest and baddest models around. Games can turn on them and they often dominate a table. A lot of them can also serve as mounts to powerful characters, but today we are NOT going to be looking at mounts (or Behemoths that are themselves characters). Those are too closely tied to their rider, so you won’t see as many Dragons out there. Yet there are still some really powerful options in here, let’s take a look.
5. Bonegrinder Gaint (Orcs and Goblins)
Alright we are starting out with what I think is likely a controversial choice here. The Bonegrider is the biggest and I think second most expensive Behemoth you can get. Despite, or because of, that its not something we see a lot in the meta. Partially that is because Orcs and Goblins aren’t that great (thought it comes in other armies!) On top of that this guy has some major draw backs. They aren’t super fast, and while they have a ton of wounds their lack of any real save means that they can be brought down, and it’s a lot of points to lose. Often armies have units that fill this role just as well.
So why is the Bonegrinder on this list? Well simply put it is the monster with the highest potential damage output around. The Bonegider is random, but can hit like a truck dropping templates and tons of damage. Most importantly it has one attack that can hit the whole fighting rank of an enemy unit. Unlike pretty much any other attack in the game, this one doesn’t have any cap. Now while we aren’t really seeing those 50 wide units people freaked out about early on, this guy would kind of like to! And boy would that be something. For just the sheer damage potential alone he gets on the list.
4. Ghorgon (Beasts of Choas)
Beasts of Chaos has access to a number of large monsters, but for me the best of the lot is the Ghorgon. The Ghorgon isn’t as tricky or versatile as some of the other monsters. It’s a bit pricy and has the same downsides or many other big beasties of not having great amor and not being super fast. It’s also, for better or worse, Frenzied. However it’s a very straightforward monster and when it does get into combat it can pack a punch. Ghorgons pack a decent number of attacks and they all have Killing Blow and Monster Slayer. In fact I think it might have more Monster Slayer attacks that anything else in the game. This gives it a pretty decent chance to really swing a fight, and can bring down some of the biggest and nastiest things around.
3. Gigantic Spawn of Chaos (Warriors of Chaos)
A newer unit to the game, the Gigantic Spawn, like its smaller brothers, is pretty random. You’ve got random moves and random attacks and even random stomps and maybe impact hits. More than any other big monster this is one that can just kind of whiff. But it’s pretty cheap. You can fairly easily fit two in a list. Overall they are a very cost effective choice that is showing up in the meta and they can do a lot of damage. Devoting them to a Chaos god can make them stick around longer, or do some extra damage, like giving them Killing Blow. This is a unit that is much more likely to earn its points back then a lot of the big guys since it really doesn’t have too all that much. If the Gigantic Spawn can chomp on some trash units or draw fire, they are worth it.
2. Warpfire Dragons (Warriors of Chaos)
For variety’s sake I try not to double up on entries from the same army in these lists. But Chaos is pretty fire in the behemoth department and I couldn’t leave some of these off. Flying up next we’ve got the triple threat that is the Warpfire dragon. Sometimes running over 400 pts this guy is more than than double the cost of the cheap Gaigantic Spawn and the most expensive behemoth. It’s a pricy beast, but it brings a lot to the table. First off it avoids some of the weakness of the other big monsters in that it can fly and as such is not slow at all. It’s also got solid armor and a Regen save and can get a Ward save. It’s far harder to kill than most.
The Warpfire dragon can also do it all. It can fight in combat, acts as a stone thrower and can even be a wizard. It’s versatile and can turn off enemy ward saves, a big bonus. It does a lot and is a major threat. Some people will think it’s too expensive, but used right it can really change games.
1. Necrosphinx (Tomb Kings)
Last up we have the Necrosphinx, what I think is the best behemoth in the game. These are mid-priced monsters that check a lot of boxes. Like the best monsters (dragons) it flys and can get around the table and into combat quickly. A +5 regen on top of heavy armor means he can shrug off some hits, and the option to heal it helps make it one of the most survivable big monsters around. While it’s not one with a lot of tricks it’s also quite solid in combat. Killing blow and an attack with Monster Slayer make it very dangerous to pricy multi-wound models. I also really like the d3+2 Stomp attacks which are much more reliable that d6 that many big things get. Overall the Necrosphinx hits a real sweet spot of cost and power, being a reliable damage dealer that you can fit into almost any TK army.
Let us know what behemoths you think we missed on this list, down in the comments!
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Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.
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