Beastmen
| Beastmen | ||
| ||
| Setting: | Age of Fantasy | |
| Games: | Age of Fantasy, Age of Fantasy: Skirmish, Age of Fantasy: Regiments, Age of Fantasy: Quest | |
| Species: | Beastmen | |
Beastmen are a coalition of different species of bestial humanoids, which rely on ambush tactics to overwhelm their enemies.
For centuries, the Beastmen coexisted peacefully in the southern savannah of Tyria, where they established imposing cities and prospered through trade. However, the emergence of the Rift brought widespread devastation, reducing many of their cities to ruins and forcing them to flee as Daemons invaded their homeland. Today, most Beastmen have retreated northward, surviving through raiding and scavenging as they continue their search for a new home.
History
Wild Savannah
South of Tyria lies a vast, untamed savannah where wildlife has roamed freely since time immemorial. This ancient and untouched land was shaped solely by the natural rhythms of the world, remaining wild and primal.
The Sacred Tree
At the heart of the largest watering hole in the region stood a towering, verdant tree. Its branches offered shade, its fruit sustenance, and from its roots flowed a mysterious magical essence. This tree became a source of life, power, and eventually, transformation.
Waking Life
Over countless generations, the animals that fed on the tree’s enchanted fruit began to change. Slowly, they gained sentience. From these awakened creatures arose distinct tribes, each shaped by their origin: the Ndoli, Waheni, Hapari, Ndwari, and Silombi. Though conflict marked their early history, the tribes gradually learned to coexist. In time, they formed a confederacy, an alliance of kinship and cooperation. These early Beastmen developed a sophisticated culture rooted in harmony with nature, and nurtured traditions of poetry, philosophy, and communal art.
Time of Prosperity
United under their shared reverence for the Sacred Tree, the Beastmen established a flourishing civilization across the savannah. A magnificent capital rose around the tree, with a web of smaller cities spreading outward, connecting watering holes and trade routes. For centuries, peace and prosperity defined their way of life, as their society thrived amidst the grasslands.
The Holy City
At the heart of Beastmen culture stood the Holy City, a testament to their unity, craftsmanship, and devotion. Built around the Sacred Tree, it served not only as a capital but also as a spiritual center and symbol of their identity. Its presence was both awe-inspiring and deeply sacred.
Swallowed Up
Everything changed when the Rift tore through the savannah, fracturing the land in multiple directions and leaving the territory in ruins. The resulting tremors devastated the local wildlife and cut off migration routes at their roots. The damage was so great that the Sacred Tree, along with much of the Holy City, was swallowed by a deep fissure. The surviving Beastmen had no time to attempt to repair the devastation, as they were quickly invaded by Daemons who forced them to abandon their sacred land.
City of Tears
Now, only ruins remain, silent monuments to a golden age long past. The Holy City lies in decay, its once-vibrant tree hollow and lifeless, its waters blackened and still.
A few Beastmen linger among the ruins, clinging to fading memories and ancient traditions. Though too few to rebuild their former glory, they preserve what they can of the old temples and customs. Others have embraced a harsher existence, living as scavengers and raiders amid the desolation.
The Wild Savannah is now a desolate wasteland, a graveyard of a once-mighty civilization, where sorrow and loss echo across the empty plains.
Society
The Beastmen are split into little orphan tribes, having to decide if they want to be the guardians of ruins or wander into the unknown, and how much of their former ideals they are willing to forego in order to survive and thrive again. Many Beastmen now wander up the rift towards the heart of Tyria, looking for a new home. In order to survive, they raid settlements and burn down forests to build their iron equipment and camps.
The Tribes
Several species of Beastmen exist. Their native names are Ndoli, Waheni, Hapari, Ndwari, Kemba, and Silombi. They have bonded over generations and learned to work together, each species bringing its strengths. Now that they are reduced to smaller refugee bands, this balance has been harder to maintain. Some bands lack one or several species, which means they can’t rely on Hapari for scouting or on Ndoli for hunting. Some groups are dominated by a single tribe, enforcing their will over others. Most Beastmen view these bands with contempt as failures who have abandoned the wisdom of their people.
A Divided People
The surviving bands of Beastmen are often qualified as either ‘Keepers’ or ‘Wanderers’. The Keepers are those who remain on the former Beastmen territory, trying to maintain the temples, protect the ruins and uphold the traditions. They must face a lack of resources and frequent conflict. Some of it comes from looters looking for valuable artefacts, but a lot of the clashes are with Rift Daemons, since the Rift is an open chasm through most of the Savannah and the Daemons are pushing outwards more and more.
The Wanderers are those who left the Savannah, either pushed away by starvation and violence, or making a deliberate choice to leave their old society behind and try to build something new. Either way, they must learn to adapt to new environments and find a way to secure a place for themselves in territories that are often already claimed by another faction.
Sometimes, bands of Wanderers end up finding a permanent territory to settle, but this is the exception rather than the norm.
A Hard Life
Whether they are Keepers or Wanderers, all Beastmen have suffered one notable transformation. Where their old civilisation was very peaceful, focused on fine craftsmanship, communion with nature and developing one’s intellect, the trauma of the Rift forced them to become warriors. Coupled with the destruction of most of their infrastructure and environment, this has turned them into fierce fighters, wielding crude, heavy metal weapons. They can no longer take years to slowly grow a tree into the required shape; now they chop down forests and pollute rivers with their forges. Most of them do not relish this, and it pains them to do so. But softness has become an unaffordable luxury for them.
Rule by Consent
A Beastmen tribe does not have a single leader. Their way of life was guided by a religion centred around the Sacred Tree and the associated Gods (believed to be the ancestors of each species) and their Shamans are still the main moral authority of a tribe, as the Beastmen’s beliefs still hold sway over most of them. Warrior chiefs, those that preside over fighting and hunting, now have more influence than before since conflict is more prevalent. Each species represented in a tribe also has one or several representatives that will speak for their kind during debates, every night around the fire. Consensus is important to the Beastmen, but now it also varies a lot by tribes. Some groups have essentially become warbands submitted to their leaders, while others have rallied around a visionary shaman. In these desperate times, anything is possible and the old structures are weakened.
Natural Nomads
Even in the heyday of their cities, Beastmen cultivated a link with the natural world, and frequently made long treks and hunting trips. This has allowed them to survive the fall of their cities, as they fell back on a nomadic lifestyle they never completely forgot. Some Wanderers seek the wildest possible places, eager to simply exist in nature, hunting and sleeping and forgetting their pain. Others hope to find somewhere to rebuild cities and revive their old civilisations. Many wish only to survive, working as mercenaries, poachers or bandits, not thinking much ahead of their next meal. Some Keepers roam the old ruins, ambushing daemons and looters, cursing those who turned tail and ran away. Others among the Keepers are exploring the ruins and trying to find the right artefacts to revive the Sacred Tree, which they believe is the key to their rebirth.
Play Style
Beastmen are a very melee focused army. While the defense is lackluster and only one spell to change this, the offensive capabilities are very good. Nearly every unit has furious and there are enough ways to buff this even further. You want to get into melee as quickly as possible and try to use your overwhelming amount of attacks.
See Also:
Similar To
- Warhammer Fantasy: Beastmen
- Age of Sigmar: Beastmen
- Kings of War: The Herd
Miniatures
There are offical OPR models for all units, but you can use whatever beastial miniatures you have laying around. From centaurs to gnolls and all other antrophomorphic figures can be used to represent your units.
See Also: Beastmen Miniatures
| Beastmen |
|---|
| Overview - Miniatures |
| Age of Fantasy factions |
|---|
| Beastmen - Chivalrous Kingdoms - Dark Elves - Deep-Sea Elves - Duchies of Vinci - Dwarves - Eternal Wardens Ghostly Undead - Giant Tribes - Goblins - Guilds of the Nexus - Halflings - Havoc Dwarves - Havoc Warriors High Elves - Human Empire - Kingdom of Angels - Mummified Undead - Ogres - Orcs - Ossified Undead - Ratmen Rift Daemons - Saurians - Shadow Stalkers - Sky-City Dwarves - Vampiric Undead - Volcanic Dwarves - Wood Elves |
