Difference between revisions of "Grymkin"

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[[File: Grymkin_pic1.jpg|right|400px]]
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{{Main Page announcement}}
{{infobox|heading=Limited Release Faction|{{PAGENAME}} are designed as a "Limited Release Faction". This means the Faction has a ''much'' smaller model selection than normal Factions, and seldom gets new models (one new model every year or longer).
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[[File: Grymkin_pic1.jpg|right|450px]]
 
 
In compensation and to stay competitive, the synergies within the Faction are strong, list-building is flexible, and/or models have completely unique abilities. Some Limited Factions even have rules that affect the core rules of the game.
 
}}
 
 
 
 
The Grymkin are the denizens of the wilderness of Urcaen. (Caen being the mortal world where Warmachine and Hordes is set, and Urcaen being the afterlife world to which humans pass when they die.) This wildnerness is beyond the protection of the gods and is essentially hell for all intents and purposes.  
 
The Grymkin are the denizens of the wilderness of Urcaen. (Caen being the mortal world where Warmachine and Hordes is set, and Urcaen being the afterlife world to which humans pass when they die.) This wildnerness is beyond the protection of the gods and is essentially hell for all intents and purposes.  
  
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Centuries later they have been released into Caen by the [[Old Witch]], who hopes to use them to slow the spread of the [[Infernals]].
 
Centuries later they have been released into Caen by the [[Old Witch]], who hopes to use them to slow the spread of the [[Infernals]].
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For more backstory, refer to [[Lore - Grymkin]]
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{{Infobox
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|heading=Mini-Faction<br>
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|As with all Factions released after 2013, {{PAGENAME}} has a much smaller range of models than the pre-2013 Factions. The upside is that it's easier to complete your collection, the downside is that list-building has less variety.
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As an in-game counterbalance to this low variety, the synergies within the Faction are strong and/or models have uniquely powerful abilities. Some Mini-Factions even have rules that affect the core rules of the game.
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}}
 
[[File:Old Witch3.jpg|thumb|[[Zevanna Agha, The Fate Keeper (Grymkin)|Zevanna Agha, The Fate Keeper]] ]]
 
[[File:Old Witch3.jpg|thumb|[[Zevanna Agha, The Fate Keeper (Grymkin)|Zevanna Agha, The Fate Keeper]] ]]
 
 
={{PAGENAME}} for Beginners=
 
={{PAGENAME}} for Beginners=
 
[[File:The Child.jpg|thumb|[[The Child]] ]]
 
[[File:The Child.jpg|thumb|[[The Child]] ]]
 
====Faction Aesthetic & Playstyle====
 
====Faction Aesthetic & Playstyle====
Aesthetically, Grymkin are slightly cartoonish nightmare creatures, like something out of a twisted fairy tale.
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Grymkin are inspired by the dark fairy tales of old, including Biblical tales of sin. Their warbeasts are the nightmares of the Defiers turned flesh & bone, the other Grymkin being corrupt or evil souls given form by the dark magic found in the wilds of Urcaen. Many of their troops thus draw direct comparisons to the troops of other factions, especially the [[Hollowmen]] (who are the souls of deserters, as seen on the current models which draw reference to Winter Guard & Trencher infantry) & [[Piggybacks]] (which features several pieces of Khadoran iconography). Grymkin fight with a wide range of weapons, many of which are crude improvisations such as the [[Dread Rots]]' farm equipment or the [[Neighslayers]]' hobby-horses. Many of their models directly parallel Biblical sins, such as the Piggybacks representing greed or the Hollowmen representing selfish fear.
  
The Grymkin playstyle is based around punishing the opponent for taking certain actions and has a heavy emphasis on reaping corpses to power their abilities. They are melee-centric and have the most limited ranged abilities of any faction. Even Minions are able to out-shoot them.  
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Grymkin like to play up the table, in their opponent's face with very above average melee output and several powerful abilities which increase their staying power once engaged (such as the [[Death Knell]]'s aura or the Sacrifice arcana). However Grymkin are extremely slow (the [[Cage Rager]] is SPD 4, and the [[Skin & Moans]] SPD 5) and must typically weather several turns of opposing shooting before they can sink their teeth into the enemy. This isn't to say that they lack for range options ([[Lord Longfellow]] & the [[Hollowmen]] provide comfortably average to above average output), but the real power of Grymkin comes online once they can charge. Grymkin rely on skirmishers to get themselves up the table, and their delivery is by far the hardest part of playing the faction.
  
 
The faction is described in the [https://www.youtube.com/embed/xuOur7YPiS0 Announcement video].
 
The faction is described in the [https://www.youtube.com/embed/xuOur7YPiS0 Announcement video].
  
If you loved Uno, where you could throw cards into the pile mid-turn to mess with your opponents, then Grymkin will definitely be an appealing army for you. Grymkin is a close-combat oriented faction, where building up synergies between your units is just as important as messing with the enemy's force during their own turn via the Arcanas.
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Grymkin's primary unique mechanic is the Defiers' lack of feats (Zevanna Agha still has a traditional feat). Instead, these five warlocks use arcana cards. At the start of the game, the Grymkin player will select two arcana cards from a generic list, plus a card provided by their warlock (called their Trump arcana), for a total of three. Arcana generally trigger off enemy attacks and are always thrown down on the opponent's turn. They represent the wilds of Urcaen bleeding over into Caen, warping the world and providing a substantial battlefield-wide effect. Knowing what arcana to bring and when to use them is a key skill when playing Grymkin, as well as one of their most rewarding mechanics.
 
 
Grymkin is a challenging army for new players both as the player and as the opponent. New players will find the selection and timing of Arcana usage an added challenge on top of the rest of the game's intricacies and they may find the "gotcha" aspect of the arcanas off putting when used against them.
 
  
 
[[File:The Heretic.jpg|thumb|[[The Heretic]]]]
 
[[File:The Heretic.jpg|thumb|[[The Heretic]]]]
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The best warlock to start with is [[The Heretic]]. He has a solid spell list, and defensive rules which are good at preventing being assassinated. His trump arcana is powerful and easy to use, and behaves very similarly to the generic arcana. The Heretic generally prefers lots of troops, and is great as your first Bump in the Night warlock. [[The Child]] is a good second warlock, featuring a similar compliment of useful spells, good rules, and straightforward arcana. The Child also happens to be best in Dark Menagerie, and forms a fantastic pair with the Heretic.
 
The best warlock to start with is [[The Heretic]]. He has a solid spell list, and defensive rules which are good at preventing being assassinated. His trump arcana is powerful and easy to use, and behaves very similarly to the generic arcana. The Heretic generally prefers lots of troops, and is great as your first Bump in the Night warlock. [[The Child]] is a good second warlock, featuring a similar compliment of useful spells, good rules, and straightforward arcana. The Child also happens to be best in Dark Menagerie, and forms a fantastic pair with the Heretic.
  
[[Zevanna Agha, the Fate Keeper]] is probably the next warlock to try out, with a diversity of powerful spells & abilities especially good at delivering a large portion of your Grymkin army directly to the enemy's jugular. Old Witch 3 has a traditional feat, meaning she loses out on arcana and the ability to tailor her battle plan to the enemy at that level. This makes her a good jumping on point for traditional Hordes or Warmachine players, especially those who play Khador and can use Old Witch 2.
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[[The Wanderer]] or [[Zevanna Agha, the Fate Keeper]] are probably the next best warlocks to try out. The Wanderer lacks for a damage increasing spell, but has far more defensive tech thanks to Star-Crossed & his very unique trump arcana. Old Witch3 is an extremely powerful spell-slinger, who has a traditional feat and thus plays the most like other Hordes warlocks. It is the same model for Old Witch 2 as well as 3, so she's also a natural jumping on point for Khador players.
  
[[The Dreamer]], [[The Wanderer]], and [[the King of Nothing]] are all much more complicated casters to use well, each with their own suite of unique powers which radically change how you play the game. [[The Dreamer]]'s phantasms are great at controlling space, but you only have three and thus knowing when to use them is a skill all to its own. [[The Wanderer]] wants to play up the table, but has relatively few obvious ways to manipulate his army's output and can sometimes feel pillow fisted coming from the Heretic or the Child. [[The King of Nothing]] is by far the most difficult Grymkin caster to start with, as his primary ability is an aura which hurts both friends & foes, not to mention his CMD of 1 preventing the use of some key arcana.
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[[The Dreamer]] and [[the King of Nothing]] are the most complicated to use of the Grymkin Warlocks. The Dreamer can create Phantasms out of enemy models which are destroyed, which makes her adept at a potent control style of play that leverages the natural toughness of the Grymkin heavies. The King of Nothing has a very unique, and potentially suicidal, rule in Master of Ruin. He's capable of dealing an incredible amount of damage, but must put himself into remarkably awkward spots to do so.
  
 
Key models outside the Warlocks:
 
Key models outside the Warlocks:
 
* The [[Death Knell]] should absolutely be an early purchase. It's defensive aura is incredible, and it's ability to shuffle around corpses makes maximizing the awesome power of the [[Skin & Moans]] much easier.
 
* The [[Death Knell]] should absolutely be an early purchase. It's defensive aura is incredible, and it's ability to shuffle around corpses makes maximizing the awesome power of the [[Skin & Moans]] much easier.
* A unit of [[Dread Rots]] is often seen in many lists, both as a cheap jamming unit (which can occasionally do very real work), and as an efficient source of corpses for the [[Death Knell]].
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* The [[Gorehound]] is the go to light, and shows up in many lists. It's combination of speed & extended control range means its rare it won't do work.
* The [[Gorehound]] is the go to light, and shows up in almost every list. It's combination of speed & extended control range means its rare it won't do work.
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* A [[Cage Rager]] is highly recommended, both for it's defensive suite of abilities and it's hard hitting power as a heavy warbeast
* A [[Cage Rager]] or two is highly recommended, both for it's defensive suite of abilities and it's hard hitting power as a heavy warbeast
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* The [[Skin & Moans]] is arguably Grymkin's signature model and it is definitely the key to why Dark Menagerie is such a strong theme
* The [[Skin & Moans]] is arguably Grymkin's signature model and it is definitely the key to why Dark Menagerie is suchc a strong theme
 
 
* [[Crabbit]]s show up in a multitude of Grymkin lists thanks to their diversity of defensive abilities
 
* [[Crabbit]]s show up in a multitude of Grymkin lists thanks to their diversity of defensive abilities
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* A pair of [[Clockatrice]]s is one of the best battlegroup points-only battlegroups you can run, and they are miles above the best models with which to play with arcana
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* The [[Malady Man]] is a support unit which can be used in both themes to great effect, providing defensive pressure with the Monkey or by supporting troops with Desperate Pace.
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* [[Dread Rot]]s are still a solid option, despite being outshone somewhat by the revamped infantry released in Grymkin Wave II. They can be run in both themes, and pair especially well with Def-fixing abilities such as the [[Clockatrice]]'s spray or the [[Glimmer Imp]]'s aura.
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* [[Grave Ghoul]]s & [[Neigh Slayers]] are a big part of what makes Bump in the Night so powerful; it is rare to see Bump lists that don't max out these models.
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* [[Gremlin Swarm]]s & [[Lady Karianna Rose]] are the models that make Dark Menagerie unique, and it just so happens they pair especially well with the Heretic & the Child.
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{{LOSbox|[https://www.loswarmachine.com/brawlmachine/2021/3/28/brawlmachine-list-building-grymkin Brawlmachine List Building - Grymkin]
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|In 2021.03 Phillip Melvin, one of the LOS authors, wrote an excellent article for how to start Grymkin. It is based on the newbie-friendly [[Brawlmachine]] format (25 point limit). <br>The article contains a different list for each Grymkin theme, and advice on how to expand those lists beyond 25 points.}}
  
 
===Unique Core Rule: Arcana===
 
===Unique Core Rule: Arcana===
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: ''Main article: '''[[Arcana]]'''
 
: ''Main article: '''[[Arcana]]'''
  
Grymkin warlocks use Arcana instead of feats. A Defier warlock is assigned 3 Arcana Cards before the game begins, one is their unique Trump Arcana, the other two can be any from the "general pool" that the Grymkin player wants for that game. Each Arcana can only be used once per game. A warlock can play only one Arcana card per turn.
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Most Grymkin warlocks are Defiers that use three Arcana instead of one feat. Arcana are like mini-feats, but you use them during your ''opponent's'' turn when certain conditions are met - they're essentially trap cards. For example your opponent issues an order to their unit, and you immediately use your anti-order Arcana.
  
Grymkin warlocks tend to have an above-average stack of FURY, thus an above-average CTRL area. Many of the Arcana cards work in CTRL area, however some of them are tied to the warlock's ''command'' (CMD) stat. Be on the lookout for that, as there's no direct connection between the FURY and the CMD of the warlocks (for example The King of Nothing with his highest FURY stat bears a miserable CMD1).
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Before the game starts a Defier warlock chooses 3 Arcana to use for that game. One has to be their unique Trump Arcana and the other two are drawn from a pool of [[Arcana|generic Arcana]] available to all the Defiers. You get to choose the Arcana after seeing your opponent's list, allowing the Grymkin player to optimize their strategy.
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Each Arcana can only be used once per game, and only one arcana can be triggered per turn. Some Arcana use {{control}} range and some use {{command}} range (special mention to the [[King of Nothing]] who has CMD 1 so he finds those Arcana useless). Some Arcana have a different range for the trigger than for the effect.
  
 
===Starting a Theme Force===
 
===Starting a Theme Force===
 
[[File:Dread Rots.jpg|thumb|[[Dread Rots]] ]]
 
[[File:Dread Rots.jpg|thumb|[[Dread Rots]] ]]
[[Theme Force]]s are integral to playing Hordes in Mk3. Unlike the main Factions, starting a Theme Force with a limited faction is much more simple. For starters, there are only two Grymkin themes. They are essentially the "Warbeast Theme" and the "Troops Theme" so pick which one you prefer.
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[[Theme Force]]s are integral to playing Hordes in Mk3. For most Factions this subdivides that Faction into 4-5 sub-Factions, making it harder for a new player to know which models to get first.
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Grymkin has an advantage that it only has two theme forces, and there is quite a bit of overlap between the two. As such starting a Grymkin theme force is very simple.
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=Tactica=
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{{LOSbox|[https://www.loswarmachine.com/theory-and-tactics/2020/10/25/how-to-go-bump-in-the-night-a-deployment-and-primer-for-grymkin-players How to go Bump - Deployment and Turn 1 strategy]
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|Written in 2020.10 by Jaden Iwassa,
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}}
  
 
={{PAGENAME}} Theme Forces=
 
={{PAGENAME}} Theme Forces=
 
[[File:Neigh Slayers.jpg|thumb|[[Neigh Slayers]]]]
 
[[File:Neigh Slayers.jpg|thumb|[[Neigh Slayers]]]]
 
[[File:Neigh Slayer War Horse.jpg|thumb|[[Neigh Slayers]] Command Attachment]]
 
[[File:Neigh Slayer War Horse.jpg|thumb|[[Neigh Slayers]] Command Attachment]]
You will almost never see this army played outside their 2 themes, as they are flexible enough to let you play with most of the models from the faction, and have bonuses attractive enough to favour them instead of the left-out entries.
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The warbeast theme ''Dark Menagerie'' strongly outshone the infantry theme ''Bump in the Night'' for a long time, between the Faction release (2017.06) and Grymkin Wave 2 (2019.03). However the Wave 2 releases provided a wide variety of new options for Bump in the Night, as well as opening up list building in both themes with a new heavy warbeast (the [[Clockatrice]]) and a powerful support unit (the [[Malady Man]]).
  
 
===[[Bump in the Night]]===
 
===[[Bump in the Night]]===
Bump in the Night is an infantry-focused theme.
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In terms of restrictions, Bump allows almost everything in the Faction. However the benefits are infantry-based. It has a strong emphasis on skirmishing.
 
{{BitN models}}
 
{{BitN models}}
  
 
===[[Dark Menagerie]]===
 
===[[Dark Menagerie]]===
Dark Menagerie is a warbeast-focused theme.
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Dark Menagerie is a warbeast-focused theme with an emphasis on bricking (forming a largely impenetrable bubble of warbeasts somewhere on the table) and scenario play. It provides free additional corpses at game start and as access to an extremely potent scenario piece, the [[Gremlin Swarm]]s.
 
{{DM models}}
 
{{DM models}}
  
 
= {{PAGENAME}} Models =
 
= {{PAGENAME}} Models =
 
[[File:Mad Caps.jpg|thumb|[[Mad Caps]]]]
 
[[File:Mad Caps.jpg|thumb|[[Mad Caps]]]]
===Unreleased Models ===
 
''Last Updated: '''{{blue|2019.02}}'''''
 
* [[Baron Tonguelick, Lord of Warts]]
 
* [[Neigh Slayers]] Warhorse
 
* [[Piggybacks]] Officer
 
* [[Malady Man]]
 
* [[Grave Ghoul]]
 
  
 
===Warlocks===
 
===Warlocks===
[[File:Witchwood.jpg|thumb|[[Witchwood]]]]
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[[File:Witchwood.jpg|thumb|[[Witchwood]] ]]
* [[Zevanna Agha, The Fate Keeper (Grymkin)‎]]
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** ''Note that this is Old Witch3, and Old Witch1&2 are [[Khador]] warcasters.''
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* [[The Child]]  
** ''Old Witch3 is the only Grymkin warlock to have a traditional feat.
 
* [[The Heretic]]  
 
 
* [[The Dreamer]]  
 
* [[The Dreamer]]  
 
* [[The Dreaming Harbinger]] ''(not legal for tournament play)
 
* [[The Dreaming Harbinger]] ''(not legal for tournament play)
* [[The Child]]  
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* [[The Heretic]]  
 
* [[The King of Nothing]]  
 
* [[The King of Nothing]]  
 
* [[The Wanderer]]
 
* [[The Wanderer]]
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* [[Zevanna Agha, The Fate Keeper (Grymkin)‎]]
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** ''Note 1: This is Old Witch3, and Old Witch1 & 2 are [[Khador]] warcasters.''
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** ''Note 2: Old Witch3 has a traditional feat. She is not a Defier and does not use Arcana.
  
 
===Warbeasts===
 
===Warbeasts===
[[File:Glimmer Imp.jpg|thumb|[[Glimmer Imp]]]]
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[[File:Glimmer Imp.jpg|thumb|[[Glimmer Imp]] ]]
{|
 
|- valign="top"
 
| style="width: 33%"| {{FH4|Lesser}}
 
* [[Crabbit]]
 
  
| style="width: 33%"| {{FH4|Light}}
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* {{FH4|Lesser}}
* [[Rattler]]
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** [[Crabbit]]
* [[Gorehound]]
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* [[Frightmare]]
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* {{FH4|Light}}
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** [[Rattler]]
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** [[Gorehound]]
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** [[Frightmare]]
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* {{FH4|Heavy}}
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** [[Cage Rager]]
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** [[Skin & Moans]]
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** [[Clockatrice]]
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*{{FH4|Gargantuan}}
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** [[Slaughterhouse]]
  
| style="width: 33%"| {{FH4|Heavy}}
 
* [[Cage Rager]]
 
* [[Skin & Moans]]
 
* [[Clockatrice]]
 
|}
 
 
===Battle Engine===
 
===Battle Engine===
[[File:Grave Ghoul.jpg|thumb|[[Grave Ghoul]]]]
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[[File:Grave Ghoul.jpg|thumb|[[Grave Ghoul]] ]]
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* [[Death Knell]]
 
* [[Death Knell]]
  
{|
 
|- valign="top"
 
| style="width: 50%"|
 
 
===Units===
 
===Units===
 
* [[Hollowmen]]
 
* [[Hollowmen]]
** CA - Lantern Bearer
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** CA - Lantern Man
 
** WA - ''Holden
 
** WA - ''Holden
 
* [[Dread Rots]]
 
* [[Dread Rots]]
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* [[Mad Caps]]
 
* [[Mad Caps]]
 
* ''[[Twilight Sisters]]
 
* ''[[Twilight Sisters]]
| style="width: 50%"|
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=== Solos ===
 
=== Solos ===
* ''[[Baron Tonguelick, Lord of Warts]]'' - (Warlock attachment)
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* ''[[Baron Tonguelick, Lord of Warts]]'' (Warlock attachment)
 
* [[Cask Imp]]
 
* [[Cask Imp]]
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* [[Defiled Archon]]
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* ''[[The Four Horseymans]]
 
* [[Glimmer Imp]]
 
* [[Glimmer Imp]]
 
* [[Grave Ghoul]]
 
* [[Grave Ghoul]]
* [[Gremlin Swarm]]
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* [[Gremlin Swarm]] (^)
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* ''[[Isaiah, Dread Harvester]]
 
* ''[[Lady Karianna Rose]]
 
* ''[[Lady Karianna Rose]]
 
* ''[[Lord Longfellow]]
 
* ''[[Lord Longfellow]]
 
* [[Trapperkin]]
 
* [[Trapperkin]]
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* ''[[Weird Wendell, Gremlin Wrangler]]'' (Partisan)
 
* [[Witchwood]]
 
* [[Witchwood]]
  
|}
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(^) The [[Gremlin Swarm]] is both a Minions model & Grymkin model, it's not Partisan
  
 
=Minions that work for Grymkin=
 
=Minions that work for Grymkin=
''Last Updated: '''{{blue|2019.01}}'''''
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Very few Minions are willing to work for the Wicked Harvest, so a quick reference list will be maintained below,
* [[Eilish Garrity, the Occultist]]
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 +
''Last Updated: '''{{blue|2021.01}}'''''
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* [[Eilish Garrity, the Occultist|Eilish1]]
 
* [[J.A.I.M.s]]
 
* [[J.A.I.M.s]]
 +
* [[Primal Archon]]
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* [[Hermit of Hengehold]]
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* [[The Wastelander]]
 +
* [[Death Archon]]
  
={{PAGENAME}} Deep Lore=
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[[Category:Faction Overview]]
The warbeasts are the nightmares of the Defiers given flesh and blood. For millenia they tormented the defiers before they learned to control them. The lesser Grymkin are those wicked souls who end up in the wilds of Urcaen and are judged and transformed by the Defiers as an eternal punishment.
 
 
 
The Defiers themselves are five humans who were banished to the wilds of Urcaen for refusing Menoth's law. Their wills were so strong that they each became demigods dedicated to opposing Menoth and punishing his creation, which they see as corrupt and wicked.
 
 
 
For centuries, the Defiers awaited their chance to return to Caen to unleash their wicked harvest on Menoth's civilization. It was not until the Old Witch devised a way to create a portal to Urcaen through which the armies of the grymkin could pass that they got their chance. The Old Witch's motive for unleashing hell on earth was--oddly enough--to use the Grymkin to slow the spread of infernalism that would one day unleash an even worse hell on earth if left unchecked.
 
 
 
If Infernals ever invaded Caen in full force, it would mean the end of the world and the eternal torment of all living souls. The Grymkin, then, are the world's twisted salvation from annihilation.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
When Menoth came back from his battle with the Devourer Wurm to give his so-called "gifts" to humanity, five individuals with tremendous will of their own rejected him so strongly and fundamentally they ended up tapping into some part of the divine power all humans have in their souls. In retribution for this, Menoth threw them in to Ur-Caen where they were trapped, tortured by their own nightmares, for thousands of years.
 
 
 
The Old Witch Zevanna Agha knew of them and looked for a way to set them free to further her own plans. She managed to find a lady in an insane asylum and use her as a conduit to negotiate terms and arrange to open the gates to Urcaen for them. The rest of the faction are manifestations of their willpower, or in the case of the beasts; their nightmares made manifest. The only thing the Grymkin warlocks are truly scared of is their warbeasts which are in truth their own nightmares. It's said the only time you would hear the true names of the Defiers is on the breath of the beasts when they lose control and it comes for them.
 
 
 
Other and older grymkin found in previous editions of Iron Kingdom literature featured the folkloric story of Gristle and Flay and the third brother. Anecdotes of gremlins in the machines, and why gremlins hate cats. Stories of the Old Man of the Swamp, or the rusalka bog nymph.
 

Latest revision as of 20:03, 10 November 2022

Grymkin pic1.jpg

The Grymkin are the denizens of the wilderness of Urcaen. (Caen being the mortal world where Warmachine and Hordes is set, and Urcaen being the afterlife world to which humans pass when they die.) This wildnerness is beyond the protection of the gods and is essentially hell for all intents and purposes.

Grymkin are not undead or demons, but have both souls and physical bodies. The Grkymkin are led by The Defiers, five mortals who rejected the god Menoth in person, and were banished to Urcaen as eternal punishment. There they suffered endless torment at the hands of nightmare creatures of their own worst imaginings. Over thousands of years, the Defiers learned to control these nightmares and became demigods themselves.

Centuries later they have been released into Caen by the Old Witch, who hopes to use them to slow the spread of the Infernals.

For more backstory, refer to Lore - Grymkin

Info icon.png

Mini-Faction
As with all Factions released after 2013, Grymkin has a much smaller range of models than the pre-2013 Factions. The upside is that it's easier to complete your collection, the downside is that list-building has less variety.

As an in-game counterbalance to this low variety, the synergies within the Faction are strong and/or models have uniquely powerful abilities. Some Mini-Factions even have rules that affect the core rules of the game.

Grymkin for Beginners

Faction Aesthetic & Playstyle

Grymkin are inspired by the dark fairy tales of old, including Biblical tales of sin. Their warbeasts are the nightmares of the Defiers turned flesh & bone, the other Grymkin being corrupt or evil souls given form by the dark magic found in the wilds of Urcaen. Many of their troops thus draw direct comparisons to the troops of other factions, especially the Hollowmen (who are the souls of deserters, as seen on the current models which draw reference to Winter Guard & Trencher infantry) & Piggybacks (which features several pieces of Khadoran iconography). Grymkin fight with a wide range of weapons, many of which are crude improvisations such as the Dread Rots' farm equipment or the Neighslayers' hobby-horses. Many of their models directly parallel Biblical sins, such as the Piggybacks representing greed or the Hollowmen representing selfish fear.

Grymkin like to play up the table, in their opponent's face with very above average melee output and several powerful abilities which increase their staying power once engaged (such as the Death Knell's aura or the Sacrifice arcana). However Grymkin are extremely slow (the Cage Rager is SPD 4, and the Skin & Moans SPD 5) and must typically weather several turns of opposing shooting before they can sink their teeth into the enemy. This isn't to say that they lack for range options (Lord Longfellow & the Hollowmen provide comfortably average to above average output), but the real power of Grymkin comes online once they can charge. Grymkin rely on skirmishers to get themselves up the table, and their delivery is by far the hardest part of playing the faction.

The faction is described in the Announcement video.

Grymkin's primary unique mechanic is the Defiers' lack of feats (Zevanna Agha still has a traditional feat). Instead, these five warlocks use arcana cards. At the start of the game, the Grymkin player will select two arcana cards from a generic list, plus a card provided by their warlock (called their Trump arcana), for a total of three. Arcana generally trigger off enemy attacks and are always thrown down on the opponent's turn. They represent the wilds of Urcaen bleeding over into Caen, warping the world and providing a substantial battlefield-wide effect. Knowing what arcana to bring and when to use them is a key skill when playing Grymkin, as well as one of their most rewarding mechanics.

Starter Sets

Unfortunately, Grymkin does not have a battlebox. There was an "All In One" Army box that went on sale when the Faction was released in 2017, but it was a limited production and you're unlikely to find one these days.

Worthwhile early purchases

The best warlock to start with is The Heretic. He has a solid spell list, and defensive rules which are good at preventing being assassinated. His trump arcana is powerful and easy to use, and behaves very similarly to the generic arcana. The Heretic generally prefers lots of troops, and is great as your first Bump in the Night warlock. The Child is a good second warlock, featuring a similar compliment of useful spells, good rules, and straightforward arcana. The Child also happens to be best in Dark Menagerie, and forms a fantastic pair with the Heretic.

The Wanderer or Zevanna Agha, the Fate Keeper are probably the next best warlocks to try out. The Wanderer lacks for a damage increasing spell, but has far more defensive tech thanks to Star-Crossed & his very unique trump arcana. Old Witch3 is an extremely powerful spell-slinger, who has a traditional feat and thus plays the most like other Hordes warlocks. It is the same model for Old Witch 2 as well as 3, so she's also a natural jumping on point for Khador players.

The Dreamer and the King of Nothing are the most complicated to use of the Grymkin Warlocks. The Dreamer can create Phantasms out of enemy models which are destroyed, which makes her adept at a potent control style of play that leverages the natural toughness of the Grymkin heavies. The King of Nothing has a very unique, and potentially suicidal, rule in Master of Ruin. He's capable of dealing an incredible amount of damage, but must put himself into remarkably awkward spots to do so.

Key models outside the Warlocks:

  • The Death Knell should absolutely be an early purchase. It's defensive aura is incredible, and it's ability to shuffle around corpses makes maximizing the awesome power of the Skin & Moans much easier.
  • The Gorehound is the go to light, and shows up in many lists. It's combination of speed & extended control range means its rare it won't do work.
  • A Cage Rager is highly recommended, both for it's defensive suite of abilities and it's hard hitting power as a heavy warbeast
  • The Skin & Moans is arguably Grymkin's signature model and it is definitely the key to why Dark Menagerie is such a strong theme
  • Crabbits show up in a multitude of Grymkin lists thanks to their diversity of defensive abilities
  • A pair of Clockatrices is one of the best battlegroup points-only battlegroups you can run, and they are miles above the best models with which to play with arcana
  • The Malady Man is a support unit which can be used in both themes to great effect, providing defensive pressure with the Monkey or by supporting troops with Desperate Pace.
  • Dread Rots are still a solid option, despite being outshone somewhat by the revamped infantry released in Grymkin Wave II. They can be run in both themes, and pair especially well with Def-fixing abilities such as the Clockatrice's spray or the Glimmer Imp's aura.
  • Grave Ghouls & Neigh Slayers are a big part of what makes Bump in the Night so powerful; it is rare to see Bump lists that don't max out these models.
  • Gremlin Swarms & Lady Karianna Rose are the models that make Dark Menagerie unique, and it just so happens they pair especially well with the Heretic & the Child.
LOS logo.jpg

Line of Sight article : Brawlmachine List Building - Grymkin
In 2021.03 Phillip Melvin, one of the LOS authors, wrote an excellent article for how to start Grymkin. It is based on the newbie-friendly Brawlmachine format (25 point limit).
The article contains a different list for each Grymkin theme, and advice on how to expand those lists beyond 25 points.

Unique Core Rule: Arcana

Main article: Arcana

Most Grymkin warlocks are Defiers that use three Arcana instead of one feat. Arcana are like mini-feats, but you use them during your opponent's turn when certain conditions are met - they're essentially trap cards. For example your opponent issues an order to their unit, and you immediately use your anti-order Arcana.

Before the game starts a Defier warlock chooses 3 Arcana to use for that game. One has to be their unique Trump Arcana and the other two are drawn from a pool of generic Arcana available to all the Defiers. You get to choose the Arcana after seeing your opponent's list, allowing the Grymkin player to optimize their strategy.

Each Arcana can only be used once per game, and only one arcana can be triggered per turn. Some Arcana use control range and some use command range (special mention to the King of Nothing who has CMD 1 so he finds those Arcana useless). Some Arcana have a different range for the trigger than for the effect.

Starting a Theme Force

Theme Forces are integral to playing Hordes in Mk3. For most Factions this subdivides that Faction into 4-5 sub-Factions, making it harder for a new player to know which models to get first.

Grymkin has an advantage that it only has two theme forces, and there is quite a bit of overlap between the two. As such starting a Grymkin theme force is very simple.

Tactica

LOS logo.jpg

Line of Sight article : How to go Bump - Deployment and Turn 1 strategy
Written in 2020.10 by Jaden Iwassa,

Grymkin Theme Forces

Neigh Slayers Command Attachment

The warbeast theme Dark Menagerie strongly outshone the infantry theme Bump in the Night for a long time, between the Faction release (2017.06) and Grymkin Wave 2 (2019.03). However the Wave 2 releases provided a wide variety of new options for Bump in the Night, as well as opening up list building in both themes with a new heavy warbeast (the Clockatrice) and a powerful support unit (the Malady Man).

Bump in the Night

In terms of restrictions, Bump allows almost everything in the Faction. However the benefits are infantry-based. It has a strong emphasis on skirmishing.

The models allowed in Bump in the Night are:   [Show/Hide]

This list was last updated: 2021.11   (Edit)

Warlocks

Warbeasts

Battle Engines

Units

Solos

Minions

  • Up to one Minion solo
  • Up to one Minion unit


(★) because Weird Wendell is on the list of allowed models, he doesn't use up your "Up to one Minion solo" slot.

Dark Menagerie

Dark Menagerie is a warbeast-focused theme with an emphasis on bricking (forming a largely impenetrable bubble of warbeasts somewhere on the table) and scenario play. It provides free additional corpses at game start and as access to an extremely potent scenario piece, the Gremlin Swarms.

The models allowed in Dark Menagerie are:   [Show/Hide]

This list was last updated: 2021.11   (Edit)

Warlocks

Warbeasts

Battle Engines

Units

Solos

Minions

  • Up to one Minion solo
  • Up to one Minion unit


(★) because Weird Wendell is on the list of allowed models, he doesn't use up your "Up to one Minion solo" slot.

Grymkin Models

Warlocks

Warbeasts

Battle Engine

Units

Solos

(^) The Gremlin Swarm is both a Minions model & Grymkin model, it's not Partisan

Minions that work for Grymkin

Very few Minions are willing to work for the Wicked Harvest, so a quick reference list will be maintained below,

Last Updated: 2021.01