Warhammer Underworlds: Deathgorge review - "Elegant, refined and fun"

Warhammer Underworlds: Deathgorge sees the game reach its ninth season with a frost-themed battle between the forces of Slaanesh and Idoneth Deepkin. Set in an icy corner of Ghur (a primordial hellscape crawling with monsters), the setting shakes things up after the flesh-eating forest seen in 2022's Gnarlwood. But is this box set as good?

It's not quite a homerun, but Underworlds is still in the unique position of being simultaneously one of Games Workshop’s most appealing games for newbies – you could give Warhammer Underworlds: Deathgorge to someone for Christmas and they would genuinely have all they need to play – and veterans who like to get deep into the deck-building.

Warhammer Underworlds: Deathgorge - features & design

• New hexes and effects
• Slaanesh minis are beautiful, but fragile
• The same old Underworlds, for better or worse

Underworlds is a little different to most Warhammer titles in that it mixes the miniatures skirmish genre with a collectible card game. Each player must take a hand of Objective cards and Power cards, and while serious players build custom decks with cards from a variety of supplements, more casual players can just pick up and play with the Rivals decks included in this box. These are pre-built decks that allow you to get into the game straight away. 

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As a result, regular players will find Deathgorge reassuringly familiar. This is more-or-less the same as the most recent previous edition, Wyrdhollow. The aim of the game is still to amass Glory Points by any means necessary – usually either by killing your opponents or completing Objective cards. However, the trick is to know your cards and sneakily work towards completing Objectives while also dealing damage to the enemy.

That means the game takes place over three rounds, as always. Each turn is divided into four Activations, where a player can do one of a number of different actions with a fighter, and an End Phase where it's determined if Objective cards have been completed and your hand of cards is replenished.

So, as I say, much the same as before. Still, there are a few new tweaks:

- Stun: Instead of outright attacking, fighters can now choose to make a Stun action. This staggers an enemy fighter, leaving them more vulnerable to further attacks.
- Barge: A new super-action where a fighter makes a Move and Stun action against an opponent. The only downside is that it Staggers the attacking fighter.
- Salvage: This means that if you have a Power card that's restricted to a fighter in your warband that is already out of action, you can discard it and replace it with something hopefully more useful.

Right, now let’s get into the exciting stuff – the new warbands.

The Thricefold Discord: For the most part, Slaanesh has typically been portrayed as the Chaos god of being horny on main – all sideboob, fetish clothing and, er, lobster claws. The three Heralds of Slaanesh here are more overtly horror influenced, however. And they hate each other.

The models are as beautiful and detailed, as you’d imagine, but hoo-boy, are they a pig to put together. The parts are thin and spindly, so be careful with those clippers, while the dark blue plastic makes it hard to see where some parts are meant to join. Take your time while assembling them and consider trimming the pegs in some places before glueing the parts together for a smoother fit. 

Cyreni’s Razors: This Idoneth Deepkin warband (I'm trialling referring to them as 'Damp Aelves', by the way) is made up of Cyreni of the Abyss, two thralls, and a big old octopus – let's face it, the main reason a lot of people are buying this box.

The models, octopus aside, are less intricate than the Thricefold Discord, but also much easier to assemble and I’m more of a fan of the Idoneth aesthetic, generally. I'm really looking forward to painting Cephanyr.

Warhammer Underworlds: Deathgorge - gameplay

• Inspire rules marry story and mechanics together
• Existing players will appreciate more complex cards
• The two sides may feel unbalanced to newcomers

Deathgorge throws two memorable warbands into the fray, and even though its additions don't rock the boat, those teams stand out thanks to inspiration mechanics that cleverly blend theme and gameplay. They'll go down well with seasoned players, but newcomers may find that one deck feels like it's at a disadvantage.

Here's how each squad performs.

The Thricefold Discord

Vexmor the Excessively Indolent is the leader of the gang, a tough if comparatively slow warrior. His Indolent Glaive deals 3 damage and he's a Level 1 wizard. He also has a peculiar special rule, The Locus of Indolence, which means that any enemy attacks on Vashtor will be reduced in damage by -1 should he fail to achieve any successes in his defence role.

Vashtiss the Coiled is the more potent wizard at Level 2, and can fly – handy for getting over blocked or Snare hexes. They have one less wound than Vexmor, but their Locus of Paramountcy means that enemy fighters cannot be supported when under attack from Vashtiss.

Finally, Lascivyr The Bladed Blessing is the fastest moving warrior at movement 5, while his Carnal Blades pack a serious punch in combat. The best thing about the warband, though, is their interpersonal conflict, reflected in how they inspire. Vexmor inspires if Vashtiss fails to achieve any success roles or is taken out of action. Vashtiss inspires if the same thing happens to Lascivyr, who in turn inspires if the same thing happens to Vexmor. They really don’t get on!

Cyreni’s Razors

The Damp Aelves aren't far off being your classic glass cannons. For example, Spirit Guardian Cephanyr – the octopus – is fast and can Stagger enemies with Phase Ink, while his rending limbs do a decent 2 damage. Like most of the warband, however, Cephanyr is pretty vulnerable to enemy attacks.

Cyreni (a Level 2 wizard) fares a little better, meanwhile. Her Pelagic Blow is pretty potent with 2 damage, while her Hammertide rule is fun and themey, if not especially deadly – it uses the Scatter token to deal 1 damage to an enemy model, but they have to be in the right spot.

Rounding out the warband are Alathyrr and Renglaith, two Thralls with identical stats (4 movement, 3 wounds, 1 defence and Lanmari Blades that deal 2 damage.) The Inspire mechanic is interesting in that it's ebbs and flows like a tide. Each model automatically inspires and un-inspires depending on where you are in the game. The Razors inspire in the third power step of round 1, the second power step of round 2, and the first power step of round 3.

The cards

The heart of how a warband plays isn't in its stats, but its cards – and that's where Deathgorge starts to feel a little unbalanced.

The Thricefold Discord have a very fun and themed set of Objective and Power cards, with the latter including two subsets – Temptations and False Gifts. 

Temptations offer your opponent a bad choice. Take the Illusion of Power card, for instance. Play that and your opponent must choose to either let both sides take a free upgrade, or discard two power cards from their hand. 

False Gift cards, meanwhile, can be played on both friendly or enemy fighters. Invincible Armour makes a fighter stronger, but also massively reduces their movement (potentially to 0!), while Perfect Blade gives a fighter a stronger weapon, but strips them of all other upgrades. If you target that well, it could be really effective against a well-kitted-out foe.

There’s also some good old regular upgrades and ploys, like Sublime Harmonies, where the gang put aside their differences and support each other with a good old sing/scream.

The cards here are pretty interesting and potentially very powerful, but it's quite a complex play style, one not entirely suited to beginners. If this is your first time with Underworlds, you may struggle to get your head around all of the concepts at first.

Cyreni's Razors, meanwhile, favor fast movement and making your opponents stagger - something that will earn you Glory Points on several Objective cards. There’s also a couple of high value cards like Means of Survival and Quota of Souls that will pay off well if you take enough enemies out. These might work against some of the more populous warbands (Sons of Velmorn or Skittershank’s Clawpack, for example) but are a tough ask when playing opposite a tough three-fighter gang like the Thricefold Discord.

In general, it's an easier deck to get your head around, but also a less powerful and less interesting one, and the two warbands don't feel hugely balanced. Again, if you're a regular player with various different warbands to play against, that probably won't be a problem, but if Deathgorge is your only experience of Underworlds then the Cyreni's Razors player may end up a little frustrated.

Should you buy Warhammer Underworlds: Deathgorge?

Deathgorge is the ninth Underworlds season set in six years. With that in mind, it's perhaps not surprising that it doesn't offer much in the way of big surprises or changes - it's already a tight and well-thought-out game, one that doesn’t really need anything other than minor tweaks to keep things fresh. The new Stun action is definitely useful, and Salvage will come in useful if you find yourself with unplayable cards in your deck.

The real draw, though, is of course the models. The Thricefold Discord are the flashier warband, but we actually prefer the look of Cyreni's Razors. The models are elegant, refined and fun to paint.

How they play is a different matter - after a few games with both sides, it does feel as if the daemons have the upper-hand here, and certainly have a much more interesting deck, but perhaps the Damp Aelves will come into their own when I've learned their cards a little better.

And that's the thing with Underworlds - you need to learn those cards, otherwise you’ll spend precious game time flailing and trying to understand how a Ploy works, or which Objectives  to try and complete. Take your time to get to know how a warband plays before you face an opponent and you'll find it much easier to start racking up the Glory Points.

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