Warband Review: The Headman's Curse

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The Wielder of the Blade [1], armed with the necromantic blade Terminus, leads the ghostly procession of the Headman’s Curse as they enter the fiery mines of Embergard. Terminus, an ancient weapon infused with dark magic, radiates an aura of death, its edge honed not just to sever flesh but to cleave the very souls of the condemned. The Bearer of the Block [2] follows closely, his spectral arms hauling a phantom chopping block, ready to receive the heads of those who’ve escaped death’s rightful claim. The Scriptor of the Sentence [3] moves with solemn purpose, inscribing the names of the doomed in ghostly ink to seal their fate by Nagash’s command, while the Sharpener of the Blade [4] trails behind, sharpening Terminus with each pass of his ghostly whetstone, amplifying the blade’s deadly chill. Together, they descend into the Emberstone-lit caverns, a harbinger of cold and final justice, even in the fiery heart of Aqshy. The Wielder’s gaze is unyielding, for with each swing of Terminus, the law of Nagash is brought down upon the living and the dead alike.


Fighter Characteristics

The leader of the Headman’s Curse is the Wielder of the Blade. He has a Move of 4, a Save of 2 Dodge, 5 Health, and a Bounty of 3. His single melee attack has a Range of 1, hits on 2 Hammers, and deals 3 damage. Upon inspiration, his attack improves to 4 damage (without Grievous). This makes the Wielder one of the most dangerous fighters in the game.

The Bearer of the Block has a Move of 4, a Save of 1 Dodge, 4 Health, and a Bounty of 2. Like the Wielder, he has a single melee attack with a Range of 1, hitting on 2 Hammers for 2 damage. Upon inspiration, his Save improves to 2 Dodge, and he gains Grievous on his attack, making him a second fighter in the warband capable of dealing 3 or more damage.

Next, we have the Sharpener of the Blade. He has a Move of 4, a Save of 2 Dodge, 2 Health, and a Bounty of 1. His melee attack has a Range of 1, hits on 3 Swords, and deals 1 damage. Upon inspiration, he gains Crit Grievous. With only 2 Health but a decent Save of 2 Dodge, the Sharpener is best used as a positional piece. Consider using him to take and hold Treasure tokens, especially when they are Delved to a Cover hex, preventing opponents from claiming them.

The final fighter in the Headman’s Curse is the Scriptor of the Sentence. He has a Move of 4, a Save of 1 Dodge, 4 Health, and a Bounty of 2. Unlike the others, his attack is ranged, with a Range of 3, hitting on 3 Swords for 1 damage. Upon inspiration, his Save improves to 2 Dodge, and his attack gains Stagger. The Scriptor plays a crucial support role in the warband. First, the warband can only inspire while he is on the board (see Warscroll ability – Trial and Execution). Second, once inspired, his ability to Stagger enemies makes it easier for the Wielder and the Bearer to take them down.


How does the fighters in the warband inspire?

After an Action step, if a friendly fighter's attack inflicts any damage on a condemned enemy fighter, that friendly fighter becomes inspired.

The priority for inspiration should be the Scriptor first, followed by the Bearer. Both of these fighters gain an additional dice for their Save upon inspiration, improving their survivability and bringing the entire warband to 2 Dodge. Additionally, the Scriptor gains Stagger, which enhances the accuracy of the warband’s attacks. After that, inspiring the Wielder is key to increasing his damage output.

In contrast, inspiring the Sharpener is not particularly important, as it has little impact on the overall effectiveness of the warband.


Warscroll Abilities



Trial and Execution

At the start of your first Action step in each battle round, you can pick an enemy fighter within 5 hexes of a friendly Scriptor of the Sentence to be condemned for the battle round. After a condemned enemy fighter is slain you can draw a number of Power cards equal to that fighter's Bounty characteristic.

In the first round, the condemned fighter should have a high number of wounds - at least 4 - and be within range of multiple friendly fighters.

Why prioritise high-wound enemies? The more wounds an enemy has, the more damage it can absorb, allowing multiple friendly fighters to inspire from attacking it in a single round. For example, a condemned enemy with 4 wounds enables the Scriptor, Bearer, and Wielder to inspire off the same target.

In the second and third rounds (assuming the Scriptor is still on the battlefield), you should instead focus on condemning fighters that are easy to slay. This will help you gain bonus Power cards efficiently.

One-Use Abilities

Eternal Duty

Use immediately after an enemy fighter is slain by your leader's (The Wielder of the Blade) weapon. Pick a slain friendly fighter. Raise that fighter and place them in an empty hex adjacent to your leader.

An incredible ability that allows you to raise a slain fighter. This should primarily be used to bring back the Bearer of the Block or, if you have not yet inspired enough fighters, the Scriptor of the Sentence.

To make the most of this ability, you will need to protect your leader, but the opportunity to return a fighter to the battlefield is invaluable.

Overall: 5 out of 5.


Whet the Blade

Use immediately after you pick a weapon as part of your leader's Attack if they are adjacent to a friendly Sharpener of the Blade. That weapon has Grevious for that attack.

This ability requires a little too much setup to be truly valuable. However, if the enemy has charged the Sharpener and remained adjacent, then it would be rude not to use it.

Grievous is a nice bonus, but the Wielder already deals significant damage, so this ability is only really useful against enemy fighters with 4 or more Health (or possibly 3 Health if they roll a lot of Crits). It would be far more effective if it provided an accuracy boost—but hey-ho.

Overall: 3 out of 5. Nice, but nothing special.


Discorporate

Pick a friendly fighter to use this core ability. Remove that fighter from the battlefield and then place them in an empty hex.

Using an Action—of which you only get twelve per game—to move a fighter to any hex on the board may seem underwhelming at first. However, in the later stages of the game, this ability can be invaluable.

Early on, the Wielder and the Bearer will need to push into enemy territory to engage their opponents. If enemy fighters choose to avoid them and retreat into friendly territory, this could leave them out of position. With this ability, the Wielder or Bearer can teleport close to their target before charging in a subsequent Action step.

Equally, Discorporate can be used defensively to teleport the Wielder out of harm’s way.

Overall: A very useful but costly ability—4 out of 5.

Cackling Court 

I LOVE this ability, as this warband struggles with accuracy. If you can manage to Surround an opponent, then EVERY dice face becomes a success. Combine this with extra attack dice (Keen Eye or Determined Effort), and the attack becomes unstoppable.

Normally, this ability requires two friendly fighters—one to attack and the other to provide support. However, if the attacking fighter is equipped with the Hidden Aid upgrade (from Blazing Assault), then no supporting fighter is needed.

Finally, if you can position the Sharpener to provide support for the attack, you could combine this with Whet the Blade and possibly even Eternal Duty for devastating results.

Overall: 5 out of 5, potentially game changing as reliability is everything.

My Headman's Curse


Possible Playstyle Pairings

Main Playstyle: Strike

The Headsman’s Curse warband has excellent damage output, decent speed, and strong saves when inspired. However, it suffers from a lack of accuracy, which can make securing kills inconsistent. Additionally, as a four-fighter warband, it struggles with Take and Hold, meaning it won’t perform well in objective-based playstyles. Instead, its focus should be on attacking and eliminating enemy fighters, as expected from a Strike warband. Any deck paired with this Nighthaunt warband should complement its aggressive, strike-heavy strategy.

Blazing Assault

Blazing Assault is an excellent pairing due to its easy-to-score Objectives and Power cards that improve accuracy. One of the warband’s biggest weaknesses is missing attacks, and this deck helps mitigate that issue. It also provides Healing Potion and Sidestep, which help ensure the Wielder of the Blade is in the right position to deal damage.

In terms of offensive potential, the deck includes Great Strength and Twist the Knife, which together allow the Wielder to unleash a 5-damage attack—enough to one-shot a Stormcast fighter. This makes Blazing Assault one of the best choices for a purely aggressive build.

However, the deck does have some drawbacks. Annihilation is a significant concern, as the warband only has four fighters, making it more vulnerable to being completely wiped out. Additionally, it lacks strong 2-Glory End Phase cards, making it slightly weaker in sustained games.

Reckless Fury

Another Strike deck, Reckless Fury shifts focus towards Charging. One of its key advantages over Blazing Assault is its Objective cards, particularly Arena Mortis and Bloody Momentum, which provide 2-Glory End Phase cards—something Blazing Assault lacks. This deck rewards aggressive play while ensuring consistent Glory generation.

For Upgrades, Keen Eye grants extra attack dice, improving accuracy, while Headlong Charge increases movement, allowing your key fighters to engage quickly. Headcase is another interesting option, especially when placed on the Sharpener, as it allows the warband to achieve Charged out status so that the Wielder can get an extra attack in.

While Reckless Fury provides several useful tools, it doesn’t offer a complete Nemesis deck solution. Some of its best cards have been Forsaken, limiting its effectiveness. Still, it remains a solid choice for a Charge-heavy build.

Countdown to Cataclysm

Moving onto Mastery decks, Countdown to Cataclysm is a strong choice for most warbands, including Headsman’s Curse. It provides some valuable Objectives, particularly Spread Havoc and Wreckers, which allow for easy Glory gains.

For Ploys, this deck includes:

  • Savage Blows and Raging Tremors, which help improve accuracy—a critical need for this warband.
  • Improvised Attack, which allows a fighter to attack a Condemned enemy to inspire before Charging in their Action step.
  • Counter Charge, which allows repositioning without Charging, ensuring that key fighters like the Wielder and Bearer remain in ideal positions.

For Upgrades, this deck offers Great Fortitude and Utter Conviction, which help improve the Wielder’s survivability—important for keeping him in play as long as possible. The deck also includes two weapon upgrades:

  • Desperate Rage, which can turn the Sharpener or Scriptor into a melee threat.
  • Hurled Weapon, which increases threat range and allows the Wielder or Bearer to keep attacking even after Charging out.

Overall, Countdown to Cataclysm provides a well-rounded mix of offence and survivability, making it one of the better choices for Headsman’s Curse.

Wrack and Ruin

Like Reckless Fury, Wrack and Ruin won’t serve as the primary Nemesis deck for the warband, but it contains several useful tools.

For Objectives, it includes several strong 2-Glory End Phase cards, such as:

  • Alone in the Dark
  • Stay Close
  • Out of the Frying Pan

For Ploys, we have:

  • Sidle Up, which provides a push effect that can be used to activate Whet the Blade or Cackling Court.
  • Fireproof, a great defensive option to ensure your fighters remain on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, the Upgrades in this deck are less impressive, though Great Speed and Desperate Defence could still be useful additions.

Final Thoughts

While there are several viable deck options, Blazing Assault and Countdown to Cataclysm stand out as the best choices for Headsman’s Curse, providing a balance of offensive power, positioning tools, and durability.

However, Treasure-holding strategies do not appear to be effective for this warband, making Emberstone Sentinel and Delving with Pillage and Plunder poor choices. Instead, the best approach is to focus on aggression, rapid positioning, and maximising damage output.


Conclusion

All ratings out of 5 (What do the stats mean?)


The Headsman’s Curse have good movement, but their Range 1 attacks limit their threat range. They can deal significant damage, but to do so reliably, you’ll need to maximise Flanked and Surrounded while stacking extra attack dice. Additionally, it’s crucial to protect the Wielder of the Blade while using him to pressure your opponent’s key fighters. Finding a way to give him Cleave and/or Ensnare will further improve his efficiency.

Overall, they are a straightforward yet effective Strike warband with some tricks up their ghostly sleeve. The Wielder of the Blade is a terrifying presence that will disrupt your opponent’s game plan - especially if he isn’t committed too early in Round 1. However, bear in mind that once he attacks, he’s unlikely to get a second action in the same round, so make that first strike count.

Interestingly, inspiration isn’t a major focus for this warband. While it’s useful, particularly for the Scriptor, you shouldn’t alter your game plan just to achieve it.

Having written this, I think I’ll take these Nighthaunts for a spin at my next club night - and who knows? They might Discorporate into a tournament near you soon!

Will you be playing this warband? Have you faced them and lost your head over their rules? Drop your comments below—bye for now!

Checkout my Warhammer Underworlds for more articles.


Thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon in the Underworlds.


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