[update October 6, 2024 — well this was short lived! Looks like Embergard is going to shake things up, so this will remain as-is for now. Expect an updated guide, and more Embergard content, as details of Underworlds 2.0 comes to light.]
Welcome to another installment of Starting Hex, a series about Warhammer Underworlds. I’m coming at this game as a relative newcomer with a focus on improving gameplay, building communities, and a maybe even painting some models. Let’s roll off and get started.
Warband Options
When I was first entering this game, I found it odd that it was so hard to find what warbands were out there. Games Workshop had an Underworlds page at the time, but they had stopped updating it some time previously so it only displayed the early warbands. Unfortunately, even that page is gone since the website revamp earlier this year. Their store only shows the latest releases. I found a few lists online, but they were slightly outdated or were randomly missing one or two entries. Since the warband options are a non-rotating aspect of every format of Underworlds, even the oldest releases are still legal to play so I wanted to know my full options. I’ve also got that collector itch that is pretty common in this hobby, so I wanted to know just how feasible it would be to try and Catch ‘Em All to have the full warband line.
I’m creating the resource I wish I had a year ago in hopes that someone else could find it useful when they start to look into this game. I’ll be going chronologically from the most recent release to the oldest. Any revamped warbands (like GW has done in Two-Player Starter Boxes or Rivals of the Mirrored City) will be listed both times with a note about the most recent version. Let me know if this is helpful or if anything else should be covered here. Typically, the most recent releases are going to be the easiest to find – GW keeps them in stock on their web store for a period of time, and a lot of LGS inventories will have some of these kicking around even after they vanish from GW. Other than that, you’re going to need to get your hands dirty with eBay or another third party reseller to get some of the older warbands.
My goal is to keep this page up-to-date with warband releases so this can be an evergreen resource for anyone coming into the hobby in the future.
Product Types
Before going into the large number of warbands out there, I want to touch on the different types of releases that Games Workshop has for the game. GW has settled in to a (mostly) steady cycle of certain types of products. It’s a reliable cadence of a core box followed by an individual warband and an individual rivals deck followed by another individual warband and individual rivals deck for each season, with two seasons per year. That said, we’re currently in the middle of a lull where some individual releases were expected to have occurred by now so there’s no telling. Also, there are some other products that have popped up outside of the seasonal releases.
Core Boxes are the “big” release each season. These are the ones like Wintermaw and Deathgorge. They contain two warbands, two rivals decks, and two double sided boards to play on. These warbands, decks, and boards aren’t sold individually afterwards so if you want them you’ll want to get the relevant core box. They also contain all the tokens and dice you’ll need to play, plus the latest version of the rules for the game. Aside from introducing more stuff to regular players of the game, core boxes can also be a good starting point or even serve as a stand alone board game experience without needing any other purchases.
Individual Warband releases are exactly what it says on the tin. You get a small box with the sprues for your warband plus their warband’s cards. That’s it. Older warbands can also contain a small pack of other cards – these are no longer used in any of the main formats (Rivals, Nemesis, Championship), so don’t worry about these if you see them.
Individual Rivals Decks are usually released alongside one of the individual warbands. It’s just a deck of cards. You can use this as your entire deck when playing Rivals, combine it with your warband’s deck when playing Nemesis, or add it to your overall card pool with Championship. I won’t be going into detail on these in this article, but included them here for completion’s sake.
Two-Player Starter Sets seem to be every other year…ish. These are slimmed down versions of a core box and contain two warbands (lately they’ve been revamped versions of previous releases), two boards (also reprints), and the tokens/dice to play. The main difference between these and core boxes is that starters don’t contain rivals decks and, for some reason, don’t come with magic dice. They don’t have any name on the box other than “Two-Player Starter Set” so it’s kind of tricky to identify them. I’m including the year they were released and whether or not it was a release in partnership with Barnes & Noble.
Rivals of the Mirrored City came as a surprise earlier this year. It’s a set of four warbands from the first two seasons of Underworlds’ life, but they’ve all been updated to have legal rivals decks, updated to modern templating, and had a balance pass to bring them up to par with more recent releases. So far there has only been one release like this, but I am hopeful that it’s the start of a trend where GW revisits beloved warbands of the past to give them an updated balancing pass and make them available for newer players.
Wintermaw
Currently, the only Wintermaw warbands that are out are the ones that come in the Wintermaw core box. If GW follows the trend, two more individual warbands and decks should be released any day now!
Brethren of the Bolt: Wintermaw core box
The Skinnerkin: Wintermaw core box
Deathgorge
The Deathgorge core box was released in November 2023. This was also the time when I first heard about the game and started my deep dive into obsession.
Zondara’s Gravebreakers: Deathgorge individual release
Daggok’s Stab-Ladz: Deathgorge individual release
Cyreni’s Razors: Deathgorge core box
Thricefold Discord: Deathgorge core box
2023 Two-Player Starter Set (Barnes & Noble Edition)
This is the latest version of the Two-Player Starter Set that Games Workshop produces. So far, they have all contained updated warbands from the past. This one in particular is sold at Barnes & Noble stores for the low price of $35 USD at the time of writing. It’s a steal for any GW plastic, let alone plastic that comes with a great game.
Note: both this and the Two-Player Starter Set before it contain identical versions of the Sepulchral Guard – either box will get you the correct models and cards to play with the skeletons.
Ironsoul’s Condemnors: 2023 Two-Player Starter Set (Barnes & Noble edition); slightly reworded cards are modernized forms of their previous Beastgrave version of cards, but no substantial changes were made
Sepulchral Guard: 2023 Two-Player Starter Set (Barnes & Noble edition); updated cards replace Shadespire version of cards
Rivals of the Mirrored City
This boxed set is a re-release of four out-of-print, older warbands that came out at the same time as Zondara’s Gravebreakers. They have all had their fighter cards and decks updated to be more in line with modern design. If you want to play any of these warbands, these are the versions that are legal in Rivals/Nemesis/Championship.
Mollog’s Mob: Rivals of the Mirrored City boxed set; updated cards replace Nightvault version of cards
Thorns of the Briar Queen: Rivals of the Mirrored City boxed set; updated cards replace Nightvault version of cards
Zarbag’s Gitz: Rivals of the Mirrored City boxed set; updated cards replace Nightvault version of cards
Spiteclaw’s Swarm: Rivals of the Mirrored City boxed set; updated cards replaces Shadespire version of cards
Wyrdhollow
Wyrdhollow’s core box was released in May 2023, with the two individual warband releases following.
Skabbik’s Plaguepack: Wyrdhollow individual release
Headsmen’s Curse: Wyrdhollow individual release
Domitan’s Stormcoven: Wyrdhollow core box
Ephilim’s Pandaemonium: Wyrdhollow core box
2023 Two-Player Starter Set
As with the 2023 Two-Player Starter Set (Barnes & Noble edition), this contains updated warbands from the past. Note: that both this and the 2023 Two-Player Starter Set contain identical versions of the Sepulchral Guard – either box will get you the correct models and cards to play with the skeletons.
The Farstriders: 2023 Two-Player Starter Set; updated cards replace Shadespire version of cards
Sepulchral Guard: 2023 Two-Player Starter Set; updated cards replace Shadespire version of cards
Gnarlwood
The core box for Gnarlwood went on sale in October 2022. Grinkrak and Gryselle became available afterwards.
Grinkrak’s Looncourt: Gnarlwood individual release
Gryselle’s Arenai: Gnarlwood individual release
Gnarlspirit Pack: Gnarlwood core box
Sons of Velmorn: Gnarlwood core box
Nethermaze
Nethermaze was made available in April of 2022.
Gorechosen of Dromm: Nethermaze individual release
Hexbane’s Hunters: Nethermaze individual release
Shadeborn: Nethermaze core box; later re-released in Rivals of Nethermaze
Skittershank’s Clawpack: Nethermaze core box; later re-released in Rivals of Nethermaze
Harrowdeep
Harrowdeep’s boxed set was released in October 2021. It was the first of the “modern” seasons with one core box and two individual warbands released in the same season.
Blackpowder’s Buccaneers: Harrowdeep individual release
The Exiled Dead: Harrowdeep individual release
Xandire’s Truthseekers: Harrowdeep core box; later re-released in Rivals of Harrowdeep
Da Kunnin’ Krew: Harrowdeep core box; later re-released in Rivals of Harrowdeep
Direchasm
Dates from here and earlier are a little more iffy — Warhammer Community doesn’t have preorder announcements for the releases, and many of the release windows were delayed due to the pandemic. Given that I’m writing this in late 2024, I don’t think it’s terribly relevant anyway, so just know that Shadespire, Nightvault, Beastgrave, and Direchasm came out in the 2017-2021 window.
Khagra’s Ravagers: Direchasm individual release
The Starblood Stalkers: Direchasm individual release
The Crimson Court: Direchasm individual release
Hedkrakka’s Madmob: Direchasm individual release
Kainan’s Reapers: Direchasm individual release
Elathain’s Soulraid: Direchasm individual release
Myari’s Purifiers: Direchasm core box
Dread Pageant: Direchasm core box
2021 Two-Player Starter Set
Drepur’s Wraithcreepers: 2021 Two-Player Starter Set
Storm of Celestus: 2021 Two-Player Starter Set
Beastgrave
Hrothgorn’s Mantrappers: Beastgrave individual release
Morgok’s Krushas: Beastgrave individual release
Morgwaeth’s Blade-coven: Beastgrave individual release
Rippa’s Snarlfangs: Beastgrave individual release
The Grymwatch: Beastgrave individual release
The Wurmspat: Beastgrave individual release
Grashrak’s Despoilers: Beastgrave core box
Skaeth’s Wild Hunt: Beastgrave core box
Dreadfane
Ironsoul’s Condemnors: Dreadfane Two-Player Starter Set; later re-released in Champions of Dreadfane; later (re-)re-released in the 2023 Two-Player Starter Set
Lady Harrow’s Mournflight: Dreadfane Two-Player Starter Set; later re-released in Champions of Dreadfane
Nightvault
Eyes of the Nine: Nightvault individual release
Godsworn Hunt: Nightvault individual release
Mollog’s Mob: Nightvault individual release; superseded by cards in Rivals of the Mirrored City
Thundrik Profiteers: Nightvault individual release
Ylthari’s Guardians: Nightvault individual release
Zarbag’s Gitz: Nightvault individual release; superseded by cards in Rivals of the Mirrored City
Thorns of the Briar Queen: Nightvault core box; superseded by cards in Rivals of the Mirrored City
Stormsire’s Cursebreakers: Nightvault core box
Shadespire
The Chosen Axes: Shadespire individual release
The Farstriders: Shadespire individual release; superseded by cards in the 2023 Two-Player Starter Set
Ironskull’s Boyz: Shadespire individual release
Magore’s Fiends: Shadespire individual release
Spiteclaw’s Swarm: Shadespire individual release; superseded by cards in Rivals of the Mirrored City
Sepulchral Guard: Shadespire individual release; superseded by cards in both the 2023 Two-Player Starter Sets
Steelheart’s Champions: Shadespire core box
Garrek’s Reavers: Shadespire core box
There you have it, all 58 current warbands in Warhammer Underworlds as well as where to find them. For anyone looking for the older stuff, don’t forget to dig around on eBay or Facebook marketplace. I was fortunate enough to find a very large batch of Seasons 1-4 in a lot which checked off dozens of warbands on my personal list. I’m now sitting pretty with all of them — now to get them all painted!
I’d like to thank MarquisofPeaches for finding said Underworlds eBay lot and sharing it with me, as well as my wife for being consistently wonderful.
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