Hobby Update: Varangur Warbands and Herja

I've still got a little more catching up for the blog regarding my latest hobbying, but by and large I am still working my way through old plastic on all my armies, and for the Varangur, that means old Marauders are up! I had my Warband regiment out as a reference, and when a wild controller charging cord snagged it and dropped it, I decided to reevaluate my unit numbers...

I bought multiple WoC Battalions back in the day, and while some Marauders ended up as Forsaken conversions or as Charioteers, I still had 50 to work with. I decided on 4 Regiments, split between shields and two-handers.


These are the reshuffled shield-bearing Warbands after the controller accident. I was hobbing up a troop of pick-wielding dudes when the original regiment was snagged and broken, so I decided to split them up between picks and axes to give the individual regiments some defining feature. There a little dead space between the units, but there shouldn't be any big issues if I want to combine these into a horde.

Ready to take a charge or two....

I almost finished off my old tub of Reiksland Flesh Shade here... a few more models would have done it.

...And these are the two-handers. I had done up some Slaanesh Marauders with flails back in the day, but was never all that satisfied with them, and they only saw the table a few times. I decided to do up a few more models, but replace all the flail bits with other weapons. There are old Tomb King axes, Empire halberds and lots of Chaos hand weapons in the unit. I think the variety adds a nice touch.


In the few games I've played with the Varangur, I've been happy with the old shield Warband. They have been used as chaffy anvils basically; deployed a few inches ahead of something important to try and bait a charge. Ideally, with the army-wide higher Nerve, they stick around to counter-charge, supporting the more expensive (and often more deadly!) unit. I'm interested to see them more on the table. I think Warbands and Monsters could have some interesting synergy. We'll see if I can explore that sometime.

Out of 4 picutres... this is the least blurry. I switched phones unexpectedly and the camera is definitely a downgrade...

In addition to the Warbands, I’ve also hobbied up an old Valkia model. I liked the fluff behind her, so decided to pick up the model a few years ago as one of my last GW purchases as WHFB was squashed. It’s a cool sculpt overall, but is Finecast, or whatever GW’s patented phrase was, meaning the model is a bit brittle and weaker than your typical plastic. I broke a spike on the wing just getting the model out of the sprue. The wings in particular are thin, and while the model is posed pretty cool, I don't think it would take much to break it at the ankles. Not sure how I’d fix this is it breaks… but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. (Or burn that bridge when we come to it, if you are a fan of malaphors.) The only aesthetic aspect of the original model I didn't like was the head. The demonic horns were spiffy, but she also had a weird elongated head. I didn't like that, and eventually settled on a wavy hair daemonette head.

It’s take a looong time to get around to hobbying on her though… so much so that her original intended use as Herja of the Fallen, looks to have been deemed “OP” and nerfed into Magnilde of the Fallen with Clash of Kings 2018. Oh well. Can't say I disagree. Herja indeed looks a bit OP... 



She's on a small heroic base, and she's got Speed 10, Fly, and Individual, giving her an immense threat range. She's got both Iron Resolve and Life Leech to self-heal, Nerve equal to a regiment of Bloodsworn, is Inspiring and her is Defense 6+. But wait, there's more! She hits decently hard too, with Melee 3+, 7 Attacks, CS 2 and Elite. As if all that wasn't enough to run her, her special Judgement rule, which can help an infantry unit of yours stick around for another turn.. probably best on a big expensive anvil, as it is limited to infantry, but I haven't seen it in play yet. The ideal target would likely vary according to your list.

She's strong, but does have some drawbacks, even weaknesses. The first drawback is that she's got Individual, so she's not getting extra attacks for smart flanking maneuvers. With attacks capped at 7, she's not likely to rout much on her own either. Even character killing isn't guaranteed, so she's more of a force multiplier on the offense than powerhouse on her own.

The second drawback is cost. She's very expensive. What is your list giving up to get her?

The final item the comes to mind is Line of Sight. After everything, she's still classified as infantry, with a lowly (heh) Height 1. If you aren't careful with your positioning, she won't be able to see enough to be helpful on the offense.

Still, Herja has a lot going for her, and while she may not net her points back, she seem very unlikely to give them up without a fight. I wouldn't mind having her in a list, particularly in a larger game, so her high cost isn't so noticeable... 
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The other model this could be is Magnilde of the Fallen. Magnilde is more balanced; arguably harder to use. She still great overall stats, but is slightly easier to take down, with reduced Defense and Nerve. If your list has a Chieftain on foot... the extra 15 points to get Iron Resolve and the Fly move could well be worth it. That said... I don't think a Chieftain is a typical choice. Magnilde too is a force-multiplier, and seems to function best charging alongside infantry. The one-use Fly could be versatile (get her out of danger; move your Inspiring bubble elsewhere; charge something unexpected), but harder to really make use of.

Of the two, I'd probably run Herja. Usually I'm a sucker for the lower cost... but in this case, Herja's always "on" flight and higher durability make her the more attractive choice.