‘Warhammer: The Old World’- The Five Best Monstrous Infantry Units

Warhammer: The Old World is full of big beefy Monstrous Infantry – these are the best.

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 looked at basic core infantry and elite heavy infantry.  Today it only makes sense for us to look the best monstrous infantry in the game.

These are the big gals and guys of combat. Bigger bases, bigger models and often bigger stats. Not all armies get them.  In fact, they are almost exclusively a bad guy unit (with the notable exception of Treekin who are not making the list today, maybe when the Arcane Journal comes out) Today, we are going to focus on the “Core Nine” armies (sorry Ogre players, Legacy armies will get their own look), and try to get a bit of variety here.

5.Badland Ogre Bulls

There are a lot of Ogres in the game, a whole armies worth in fact – if we count Legacy armies. However, for my money’s worth, Badland Ogres tops the list. Now, in general, Ogres aren’t the most amazing unit. They’ve got a decent amount of attacks, are stuck at S4 and T4, and normally have fairly low stats. If a unit gets off a charge they can do some damage, but they aren’t the best unit around. Badland Ogre Bulls make the list for two main reasons. The first is that they have access to some decent weapon options. For instance combining heavy armor and the Ironfist does give them a 4+ save and 4 attacks. That’s not bad.

However the main reason they make the list is because they are Mercenaries. This allows them to be taken in pretty much any army, provided you are using the Grand Army rules. This flexibility, while it comes with some risks, also opens up a lot of crazy combo options. I’m not sure we’ve really cracked the code on them yet, but it really seems like there is something there.

4. River Trolls

Like Ogres, there are a fair number of Trolls in the game. While they can be big and scary, they can, at times, also be a bit underwhelming. It’s all about knowing how to use them properly. Of the various types of Trolls I find that River Trolls tend to be the strongest. This is simply because they get a nice 4 Wounds, which combined with Regeneration makes them the sturdiest of the various Trolls. In addition they can be taken in the Orc & Goblin Tribes Troll Horde Army of Infamy. This is by far the best way to take Trolls. Not only does it let them re-roll regen tests, but they also have access to a lot better Leadership buffs. Putting that all together can be hard and requires a specific build, but it does make them a pretty decent unit.

3. Ushabti

Ushabti tend to get overlooked a lot. I think this is due to the Tomb Kings having some really great other options and also some really strong monstrous cavalry. However, these walking statues are nothing to sneer at. Stats-wise wise they are pretty on par with Trolls and Ogres, just a decent but not amazing unit. But they have a couple of big things going for them. Firstly, they are undead. This gives them a lot of big natural benefits such as Unbreakable and the ability to be healed. Those both make the unit very strong, though you do need to take a larger unit to get a lot of advantage out of it.

They are also one of the few Monstrous Infantry units that gets the option for a ranged attack. And it’s a pretty good one. Their great bows have good range, high S and do multiple wounds. Best of all, with Arrows of Asaph and BS 3, they are pretty much always hitting on a 4+. This actually makes them more accurate than a lot of elite ranged units that suffer from a whole host of penalties. The ranged option makes them a very different kind of threat and gives them an interesting place in the army.

2. Minotaurs

Next up, we have the ever-popular Minotarus. Now, just looking at their stats, they may not seem super amazing, but they are pretty on par with most other monstrous infantry. The stand out is that they get S5. So what makes them so good? Well, it’s their other rules and options. They are one of the few Monstrous Infantry units that can take full command, and has access to mutations, magic items, and standards, giving them some good options. They also have a lot of great Beastmen rules that give them access to re-rolls, frenzy and better impact hits. One unit can ambush, and all have Warband, giving them better LD if you take a lot and let them re-roll charges. All of this is great.

The icing on the cake whoever is how they fit into the army. Depending on how you build your army, you can take a unit as Core, which is great. Beasts of Chaos also have access to a few strong monstrous infantry heroes. Most monstrous infantry units end up having to go into battle with little support as the average character can’t join them. Not so for Minotaurs. You can build a really killer lord and stick them in with the unit to just go crazy. Sure, Dragon Ogres are better, but those are monstrous cavalry and that puts Minos as the best infantry Beasts can take.

1. Chaos Spawn

Alright, well it might be time for another Abe hot take. I’m going to put Chaos Spawn as the top monstrous infantry choice among the Core armies. Now Spawn do have a big downside, that I think turns a lot of people off from them – they are pretty random. This can, at times, make them unreliable. In particular, it can really hamper their movement, with them ending up being slower than most other Monstrous Infantry. However, I think they have a lot going for them. T5 makes them pretty hard to hurt and kill. Immune to Psychology and Unbreakable also make them very annoying. A single model unit can fairly easily tie up a much more expensive unit and cause a lot of problems.

They also have access to Marks. The best are Slaanesh and Khorne. Slaanesh gives them Always Strikes first, which helps make up for their slower speed. Khorne gives the unit Killing Blow. I don’t think there is any other unit that can get as many KB attacks as a unit of Spawn, which makes them a real threat to most units and a lot of characters. Can you risk that random chance to lose an important part of you army? All of this makes them a very, very annoying unit.

While they won’t hit as hard as a big unit of Minos with a Doombull, they can be far more annoying to deal with. Considering you can take 1 by itself for 50 pts and make it something that the enemy HAS to deal with, its something that pretty much any WoC could included and it will do something. That just makes them a really versatile unit to me.

Let us know what your favorite monstrous infantry units are, down in the comments!  

Author: Abe Apfel

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.