The followers of Nurgle are often devoted gardeners, tending to Nurgle’s garden and helping it spread into the Mortal Realms. One such band of vile creatures, the Grandfather’s Gardeners have found their way into Embergard and are cultivating the gifts of Nurgle to grow in disease ridden abundance.

In this review we’ll check out the new Grandfather’s Gardeners kit, see what they do in game and even paint them up! We also have reviews of the new Seraphon warband The Jaws of Itzl, the new Rivals Decks and the Grand Alliance Warband boxes!

Massive thanks to Games Workshop for sending us over a free copy to review, If you would like to support the site then why not order your Warhammer Underworlds goodies through our affiliate Element Games and save yourself money too?

We’ve also filmed a full unboxing which you can see just below or over on YouTube

So let’s dive into Nurgle’s Garden and see just what the Grandfather’s Gardeners can do!

Grandfather’s Gardeners Unboxing and Review

So with the new edition of Warhammer Underworlds here, we’re getting a number of warbands right off the bat! A lot of these are returning ones such as those found in the 4 Grand Alliance Warband boxes, but we’re also getting two brand new ones, one for Nurgle and the other for the Seraphon

Like most Warhammer Underworlds Warbands, these are really easy to build, being push fit models. I know some people tend to use glue on push fit models, but I find that this actually makes it a little harder to build them, as the extra few mm of glue can actually cause gaps to be more obvious. Personally I just push fit them unless the part is particularly loose.

I had a great time painting these guys up! They are dripping in personality (and puss) and brought back many happy memories of painting my Nurgle army. I’ve missed painting these disgusting little wretches, and these are maybe insight into what we would get if the Plaguebearer kit was ever remade in the future.

So how do they perform in game? Let’s take a look!

Grandfather’s Gardeners are a Mastery deck (which for some reason while stated on the box is not on any of the cards) and have a nice unique mechanic

The damage of their attacks is not fixed, but rather it is based off cycle of Nurgle. At the start of the game this starts at the top of the card, and a space is advanced after the end of your turn, damage is inflicted on a friendly fighter or if you hold more treasure than the opponent.

Due to this, the cycle can actually move a few times per turn, and can even revolve a few times during a game.

As the cycle goes round the circle the damage of your fighters will wax and wane, but as you know when it will have to move it means you can do things such as take your foot off the peddle once it is in the “3” position to try and maximise the damage buff.

About halfway around the rotation you also get to heal a friendly fighter of your choice, keeping your guys in the fight a little longer. In addition to this, your uninspired fighters can never take more than 2 damage. I feel this one needs an FAQ to confirm if this is 2 damage per fighter, or 2 damage full stop – as the wording certainly suggests the latter (though I’m not sure if that is the intent, as that seems very powerful) – the opponent has a way of dealing with that however, as Nurgle fighters inspire as soon as they are vulnerable, stripping them of this damage reduction.

Summary

The new edition of Warhammer Underworlds has reset everything, but grandfather’s gardeners proves that you can still have fun and unique warbands within the format of the new warband cards. Yes, they lose out on the once per game abilities that most of the other warbands get, however the changing damage values, damage protection and regular heal makes up for that!

In addition to the rules however, the models themselves are absolutely gorgeous, especially if you are a fan of Nurgle, with some really characterful and fun to paint daemons to add to your collection.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what else we get within this edition of the game, and there’s lots of scope now for lots of interesting new warbands that can afford to do things a little differently.

Grandfather’s Gardeners are up for pre order today and are released Saturday 8th December

Games Workshop provided Sprues and Brews with free copies for review purposes.

Published by Matt Crowther

View all posts by Matt Crowther