Skin Wolves are a Norsca monstrous infantry unit.
Description
Many are the foul Chaos cults and many are the dark horrors of twisted flesh and nightmares made real that the Ruinous Powers have visited upon the world. Few, though, are as strange as the skin wolves of legend. In the far north, among those who dwell in the shadow of Chaos, be they Norscan, Kurgan or Hung, as well as the shunned corners of the world where degenerates root and fester such as the Bone Hills of Estalia or the dire fens south of the Badlands, myths and bloody tales speak of the skin wolves. Witch-cursed or Chaos-tainted, these men and women, half feral and subject to savage appetites, carry within them a taint in the blood, a mutation that shows not readily as stigmata on their flesh, but slumbers within, a beast waiting to be unleashed by blood and unspeakable ritual.[1a]
When this horror is released, no mere transformation of man into beast is effected. Instead the humanoid wolf-thing, lean and half-insane with insatiable hunger, rips its way fully formed from the body of the man, which is left little more than shredded flaps of skin and chunks of bloody gristle by the freeing monster. It is the clinging shrouds of skin that give the beasts their common name. The frenzied creatures, whose packs are formed by kinship ties of blood and slaughter, care not what they kill in their bloodlust and bear no loyalty to any master, save the Dark Gods themselves. As such, only the most unscrupulous wizard would seek to bind them to their will by Kadon's magic, and some that have done so have had cause to lament their choice of ally. Only once battle is spent and a skin wolf has glutted itself on the raw and dripping gore of its enemies will the terrible transformation be reversed and the bubbling and overworked flesh of the skin wolf collapse, then like a newborn the human must tear its way out of the monster it once was. All skin wolves have the ability to regenerate their horrid forms and they may carry the favour of one of the Chaos Gods.[1]
Attributes
- ↑ Frenzy: Units with frenzy cause more damage while their leadership is high.
- ↑ Anti-Large: Anti-large units have an advantage against targets that are at least as large as a horse. This advantage can be a damage bonus against large targets or an attack that focuses on a very small area. However, some units are simply better against large targets because their attacks are slow and easy to dodge by skilled melee combatants.
- ↑ Regeneration: Regeneration allows a unit to heal while in battle. Fire is known to harm this healing process, so be warned that flaming attacks will cause more damage to units with Regeneration.
Strategy
Skin Wolves are great units that form a near pivotal part to a Norscan army. Their anti-large and frenzy means they can deal a good amount of damage to large threats. They also have the speed of cavalry units alongside regeneration which means they can catch up to enemy fast movers. Also if they rout, that just means they are given more time to regenerate, so that when they come back they are even more deadly. They do not have the best armor piercing, but their frenzy and anti-large make up for it against large units. They should avoid swarms of infantry and missile attacks as their low armor makes them vulnerable to such attacks.
Template:Navbox norsca units