Warband review: Ephilim's Pandaemonium
Ephilim's Pandaemonium slithers into the fiery depths of the Embergard mines in the Realm of Aqshy, their sights set on the powerful Emberstone, a magic realmstone said to hold the essence of Aqshy's blazing energy. Led by the summoner, Ephilim the Unknowable [1], the daemonic warband moves like a rolling mass of flame through the twisting tunnels, their shapes shifting and shimmering in the intense heat. Flamespooler’s [2] infernal aura crackles in harmony with the glowing magma veins, while Spawnmaw [3] devours chunks of stone and rubble, reshaping its own monstrous form with each bite. Kindlefinger’s [4] subtle touch leaves smoldering embers on the walls, marking their path as Apo'Trax the Starefysh’s [5] unblinking eyes scour the dark passages for signs of the prized Emberstone. With every step deeper into the mine, the very air pulses with the energy of impending transformation, as the daemons prepare to harness Aqshy's volatile magic for Ephilim's unfathomable schemes.
Fighter Characteristics
As you might expect from such a varied warband, the Pandaemonium features a unique mix of fighters, each with distinct roles and characteristics.
The warband consists of five fighters with a combined total of 15 Health, with Move values ranging between 3 and 4. Three fighters have both a melee and a ranged attack, one fighter (the Flamespooler) has only a ranged attack, and the final fighter, Apo’Trax, has a single melee attack. All ranged attacks deal 1 Damage, while all melee attacks cause 2 Damage. Even when inspired, there is no access to 3 Damage without Power card support.
Inspiration provides some modest improvements, such as a few extra dice, occasional weapon abilities, or slightly increased range, but the most significant benefit is that all fighters improve to a Save of 2 Dodge. This is crucial, as the warband is relatively fragile before inspiration takes effect.
How Does This Warband Inspire?
Ironically, for the followers of the capricious god of Change, this is a reliable and predictable inspiration mechanic.
It’s worth planning the order in which your fighters inspire. Early on, consider prioritising Apo’Trax or Spawnmaw, depending on whether you need Cleave or Ensnare. Next, look to Flamespooler. By this point, Ephilim will inspire, although they gain very little beyond an extra dice on their ranged attack. Kindlefinger makes for a good candidate to receive Stagger tokens.
How Do Ephilim's Pandaemonium Compare to Other Five-Fighter Warbands?
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| All ratings out of 5 (What do the stats mean?) |
The Pandaemonium sit towards the lower end of durability but have a clear advantage in ranged threat, allowing them to push enemy fighters off Treasure tokens. While not the fastest warband, their ability to deal consistent ranged damage helps offset that limitation. Overall, they can dish out damage as reliably as most five-fighter warbands.
Warscroll Abilities
Multiple Use Abilities
Power Leech:
Immediately after a friendly minion within 2 hexes of your leader is slain, draw one Power card.
A simple but valuable ability. While a few conditions must align for it to trigger, drawing extra cards is always welcome. If you can reliably gain even one card per game from this, it’s a solid return.
Summoned Abominations:
Use immediately after your last Action step of each round if your leader is not slain. Pick a slain friendly minion, raise that fighter, and place them in an empty starting hex in friendly territory. Then inflict damage until the fighter is vulnerable.
Raising fighters is an excellent ability, especially when playing into Take and Hold objectives. Raised fighters are worth 0 Bounty, so a revived minion holding a Treasure token creates a dilemma for your opponent: either attack it (and gain nothing) or leave it alone and risk it scoring objectives.
These raised fighters also offer late-game flexibility, potentially triggering Power Leech again if they are slain a second time.
Keep in mind that Ephilim must be alive for this ability to function. Even if Ephilim stays deep in your territory, opponents have plenty of ways to reach them, so careful positioning is vital. Raised fighters can also act as a strong counter to several Strike deck pairings.
One-Use Abilities
Fires of Change:
Use immediately after a friendly fighter makes a successful ranged attack. Give each enemy fighter adjacent to the target one Warping token. After your opponent’s first Action step in the next battle round, remove each Warping token from each enemy fighter one at a time. After each fighter’s tokens are removed, inflict 1 Damage on that fighter. You can only use this ability once per game.
Against horde warbands, this can be devastating. Warbands like Zarbag’s Gitz or Thorns of the Briar Queen often cluster together, especially now that Deadly Synergy is an available deck option. This ability punishes that playstyle. Even inflicting a single point of damage can be worthwhile, but with good positioning, you might do much more.
Shared Mutations:
Use immediately after your Action step. Inflict 1 Damage on each enemy fighter adjacent to any friendly minion. You can only use this ability once per game.
A dependable source of ping damage, this can easily put a couple of points of damage onto enemy fighters. To maximise its effect, use push tech or cards that help position your fighters on Guard to ensure adjacency.
Both Fires of Change and Shared Mutations offer valuable ping damage, and having them on the same warscroll is a significant advantage. Both can also damage vulnerable fighters, which is quite rare and worth keeping in mind when planning deck pairings.
Possible Playstyle Pairings
Main Playstyle: Mastery
This warband thrives on dealing small amounts of consistent damage, gradually wearing down opponents over time. They are perfectly capable of fighting at range, so they’re well suited to decks that involve holding or interacting with Feature tokens while dishing out additional ping damage.
For this reason, Countdown to Cataclysms appears to be an ideal first choice for the warband. The deck allows them to play into the Hold playstyle with Set Explosives, Shocking Assault, and Uneven Contest, while also gaining glory for dealing damage across multiple enemy fighters through Wreckers and Hounds of War. The deck also provides access to additional ping damage through Total Collapse and Sunder the Realm.
Hunting Ground and Countdown to Cataclysm
Your opponent will almost certainly try to close in on Ephilim, making them a natural lure. By holding Treasure tokens and forcing enemy fighters into your territory, you can use your ploys and warscroll abilities to inflict chip damage before moving in for the kill.
Consider using Shared Mutations to easily score Ready or Not and have Ephilim make a couple of ranged attacks to score Lead by Example.
Wrack and Ruin and Countdown to Cataclysm
This pairing leans heavily into the warband’s ability to dish out ping damage. It creates constant positional challenges for your opponent, forcing them to choose between taking damage or being pushed out of position.
With Wrack and Ruin providing even more access to ping damage than Cataclysm alone, you can quickly wear your opponent’s fighters down. This pairing also forces your opponent to decide whether to try and stop you holding Treasure tokens while also needing to keep a fighter in an edge hex, which can be a difficult balance to maintain.
Final Thoughts
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| My Pandaemonium |
The Pandaemonium are a technical warband that rewards patience, precision, and planning. Success comes from identifying key targets and using ranged attacks to soften them up before committing to close combat.
While they fit firmly within the Mastery playstyle, they also excel in board control, using their ranged threat to dominate Treasure tokens and disrupt opponents’ positioning.
Ephilim is central to the warband’s success, as they enable the revival of fallen fighters. Keeping Ephilim alive for at least the first, if not the second, round is essential. The minions, meanwhile, provide both offensive pressure and tactical utility, blocking access to key objectives and frustrating your opponent’s plans. I would consider deploying Kindlefinger adjacent to Ephilim to offer early defensive support.
Ultimately, this warband’s strength lies in disruption, steadily undermining enemy strategy while advancing your own objectives. They may take some practice to master, but once you do, the rewards are well worth it.
What do you think of this warband? What deck pairings will you use?
Checkout my Warhammer Underworlds for more articles.
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