Warcry – Briar and Bone

It is time to take a look upon the next Warcry boxed set, Briar and Bone. It was previewed on Adepticon in March of this year, and is a new set with two warbands and a larger piece of terrain, picking up the Gnarlwood theme again.

In our last review, Hunter and Hunted, a Gorger Mawpack and Wildercorps Hunters fought each other, in Briar and Bone it is the Sylvaneth and Ossiarch Bonereapers, who are the opposing forces.

At a RRP of 110 EURs you receive a campaign booklet, instructions, a card deck, a large sprue for the terrain and two sets of a pair of medium sprues for each of the warbands.

All the printed material, in this case the softcover supplement and cards are packed in thick paper, to protect them from punching / damage from the plastic.

The instructions are very readable and clear. As you have some options for your units, these are explained with the instructions as well, if you want to choose different weapons for example.

With the campaign supplement you receive a lot of well-done artwork, and narrative on the conflict, along with scenarios and gaming resources to put the Teratic Cohorts and Twistweald into action.

Both warbands fit into to medium sized sprues, which means they have double the space an Underworlds warband has. And these are regular multi-part miniatures, not push-fit, yet come mostly with fixed poses and a few options.

Regarding the Ossiarch Bonereapers faction, the Brair and Bone set, provides you with the Teratic Cohorts.

Though Nagash resents the uncontrolled fecundity of the Gnarlwood, the potent technology in these ruins has given even the Great Necromancer pause. To prevent this power from falling into the hands of his enemies – and investigate it for his own nefarious ends – he has dispatched the Teratic Cohorts to secure relics, slay rivals, and collect a tidy tithe of bone in the process.

These are some of Nagash’s most pitiable creations, twisted bone constructs wrought out of spite and flung out to range the wilds. Each cohort is led by a Kavalos Centari, the humiliating fusion of a Liege-Kavalos and their former steed, and herded by Mortek Cykloptians whose humanoid silhouette conceals a warped, bestial mind. Teratic Prowlers are debased hunting beasts crafted from failed Mortek soldiers, while winged Aviarch Harpies are sculpted for lethality and self-loathing.

The warband is led by an Kavalos Centari, on an oval 60 mm base. He is guarded by two Mortek Cykloptians, who can either be armed with Dread Glaives or Nadirite Bidents, both of them stand on 32mm bases.

Among the lower creatures of this warband, you have two Aviarch Harpies on 28mm bases, and three Terartic Prowlers on 28mm bases as well. These don't have any weapon options, just the heads of the prowlers can optionally be built with or without horns.

And their counterpart from the Sylvaneth are the Twistweald.

The woeful forces of Death must contend with equally-tormented Sylvaneth – spirit-warriors infested by bizarre arcane parasites born from the Gnarlwood’s misfiring realm-shaper engines. With minds clouded by saprophyte spores and bodies overgrown by constant agony, many Twistweald are driven only by an obsessive hope to reach the Everspring Swathe and receive Alarielle’s healing touch.

Those with their sanity intact fear that this could spell disaster for the Sylvaneth. Instead, they become wandering pariahs, moving from grove to grove to avoid spreading their infection, or delving into the Gnarlwood to seek a cure. These bands are led by Swarmsages, whose spiteswarm colonies hungrily prune the parasitic growths of their followers. Twistroot Wardens are stalwart sentinels who suppress their pain to command Twistwood Revenants and Twistwood Dryads in battle, while maddened Twistwood Spite-Revenants descend upon unfortunate enemies with lashing briars.

The Ravening Gnarloak is a large sprue without a frame, the structure holds itself. Some massive pieces in there, to provide the core of the tree. As usual with the bamboo floors, these have a lot of mould lines and are rather difficult to clean up. Beyond that interesting split of the pieces.

I am a fan of the Gnarlwood terrain series, as it is a sturdy range of trees along with some very impressive seraphon themed ruins.

The Gnarloak has its roots raised above the ground level and looks like it is wandering on five legs, which we have to build from individual parts. The model is cleverly cut into two larger main pieces and further small additions to the bark / roots are added to work with the production limitations of injection moulding (no undercuts).

This is well done and leaves only smaller gaps, which should be easily filled with (Liquid) Green Stuff or Putty, in case of terrain you could easily add some flock or texture paint and paint it up like moss, if you feel like it.

The Gnarloak is closed on the underside with an organic looking bulb, but you add a pit of teeth to it first. The way these are layered is also cleverly designed and creates proper depth and amount of detail.

This maw looks similar to a Sarlacc, and provides the scenery with the proper amount of terror. Love the idea, very chaotic.

Most of the Gnarlwood terrain has platforms made from bamboo, so does the Ravening Gnarloak. There are smaller posts to provide further stability to the platform. The only downside to these pieces, they are quite massive and have loads of mould lines around them. And in some cases, between the bamboo tubes it is nearly impossible to properly clean up the mould lines.

The final built is very stable, and has a proper foot print, especially for a skirmish table. A brief scale comparison with some miniatures from the current Age of Sigmar range give you an idea of the size.

Conclusion

Briar and Bone is an interesting addition to the current season of Warcry. The terrain is fitting, and especially the Twistweald is something I would love to see more of, like a sub-faction for the Sylvaneth. Regarding the Teratic Cohorts, the overall design of the Ossiarch Bonereapers just doesn't appeal to me. Both warbands have a good number of miniatures, along with some proper options to choose from regarding weaponry, with the Twistweald a bit ahead, as they have different close combat as well as ranged combat options.

If we talk value, two warbands would probably the new price range of 51,25 EUR each, with the ravening gnarloak being on the same level as the elder gnarloak at 47,50 EUR - this already is 150 EUR of retail, without any of the printed material, like the booklet. With a RRP of 110 EUR for the boxed set, that is quite decent savings.

I'm really looking forward to where Warcry is going to, as the game has progressed largely moving from the infight within Chaos, extending to other factions as well. It would be interesting to see, if they include the new narrative of Skaventide into the next "season", but beyond that, I really like the characterful additions to the various ranges as it feels more like tabletop wargaming in direct comparison to Underworlds board game look and feel.

If you are interested in "infested" Sylvaneth, Pete the Wargamer has some very interesting kitbashes and conversion on that theme.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar is a brand by Games Workshop

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.