Beastmen Tactics: Core

Originally, I was going to go over Lords and Heroes first, but I've decided that it would be more important to start with the troops, since they will form the base of your army.  Beastmen core choices are all surprisingly useful, and I frequently run a variety of their units, instead of spamming one type, though a good amount of Gors are always found at the center.

Gor Herd:  This will probably be the most common core choice for any Beastman army, and for good reason.  At 7 points, you get a model with M5 WS4 T4 and doesn't sacrifice Initiative like an Orc would.  For a mere +1 point, you can (and always should) give them an additional hand weapon, this coupled with Primal Fury means that you will be dealing a ton of attacks which hit most people on 3's with re-rolls.  The drawback to such a fighty unit is their total lack of armor.  Some people give them shields instead of additional hand weapons, but I find that cutting their offense in half to give them a 6+/6++ save never really works out.  Since they're from a pre-8th edition book, they do get full command for 25 points instead of the customary 30, so that's always nice.  I prefer to run units of 30-40 in Horde formation to maximize their offensive potential, backed up by a character with good LD or the Crown of Command and you'll have a very hard hitting unit that wont run when they whiff the rolls.  Due to their low LD, I generally don't take advantage of Beastman Ambush, the last thing you want is 345 points of 4o ungors running away because some Terror causing monster thought it would be funny to declare a charge.

Ungor Herd: While they are definitely weaker, some people swear by them.  For 5 points you're getting a human stat line with M5 and LD6.  I keep mine with Hand Weapon and shield, run 5 wide and as deep as I can stand to strip away enemies Steadfast.  Spears make them lose that parry save for a few more WS3 S3 attacks, so I don't find it worth while to spend 20% more points on them for some wimpy attacks.  Their command is also dirt cheap, running 15 points for the full set, so I always recommend it.  As with the Gors, I find Beastman Ambush to be too much of a liability on LD6 troops.

Ungor Raiders:  These are probably the weakest choice for Core in the book, but I still like them.  6 points for an annoying skirmisher with a short bow.  They're not amazing, but I've always found them useful in one way or another, either charge redirecting, taking pot shots at mages and just generally being a nuisance.  I prefer to take them in pairs, so that I can Beastman Ambush with the second unit, just to be that much more annoying.

Tuskgor Chariot: Every army I run inevitably has a pair of these.  For 80 points you get a core S5 chariot with 4 wounds, definitely not too shabby.  Since the whole model has Primal Fury, you're getting a fair amount of S4/5 attacks that are re-rolling hits along with some impacts that wound most on 2's.  Having a chariot or two charge in with your deep unit of Ungors or a solid block of Gors means that you'll be adding a lot of points to that first round of combat, which should give you a good chance of winning.  I occasionally run them on the flank of my army as well, to intimidate any fast cavalry or enemy scouts; a S5 chariot charging into a unit of 5 Dark Riders is going to squish them pretty well.

Chaos Warhounds: We've seen these before in Warriors of Chaos, they're WS4 dogs who aren't fast cavalry.  Cheap units of 5 of these are ideal for charge redirecting, just be careful to not have them get annihilated next to some Ungors, or you'll see more than just the dogs run away.  If I have a spare ~30 points and don't want another unit of Raiders, the Warhounds are a decent choice.

Generally, I'm running 2 blocks of ~40 Gors, a pair of Tuskgor Chariots and a unit of Ungor Raiders in my 2500 list.  This gives me two very solid blocks of troops to hide my characters in, while the Tuskor Chariots either support my charges, or chase down enemy flankers.  I'd like to bring out the Ungor Herd more often, but my current strategy doesn't have much use for tarpits.

See you next week when I go over Lords/Heroes!