Theme - The Devourer's Host

File:Tharn art.jpg

File:Mk4 icon.png Template:Purple This mk3 Theme Force is somewhat similar to the mk4 Legacy Army. If you're planning on starting a mk4 Devourer's Host army you may get some use out of this article, espcially the In a Nutshell, the Theme Weaknesses, and maybe even the List-Building Tips sections.

To sow terror and reap death, blackclads who embrace the primal aspects of Orboros turn to the Tharn. With murderous howls, Tharn warriors charge from the darkest forests to strike fear into their enemies’ hearts before ripping them out and devouring them whole. These gruesome, gore-streaked combatants run side by side with all manner of beasts, intent on slaking their thirst on the blood of the Circle’s foes. Theirs is a history of violence, and their motivations for war do not stray beyond devotion to the Devourer Wurm and an attunement with the basest of instincts.

Theme Rules

For the core rules on how Theme Forces work, see this article.

Theme Restrictions

An army made use the The Devourer's Host theme force can include only the following Circle models:

• Circle warlocks
• Living non-character warbeasts
• Ghetorix
• Loki
• Template:Tharn models/units
• Death Wolves
• Shifting Stones units
• Gallows Grove solos
• Lord of the Feast
• Primal Archon
• Circle structures

• This army can also include one Minion solo and one Minion unit that will work for Circle.
  • These models/units can be included even if they have the Partisan [Circle] rule.
  • Minion units can have non-Ranking Officer attachments

Requisition Points

You can spend each Requisition Point on either:

• One Circle CA
• Three Gallows Grove solos
• One other small- or medium-based Circle solo with point cost 5 or less

Theme Bonuses

1. Each living and Construct model in this army that can gain corpse tokens gains one corpse token before the first player’s first turn.
2. One Tharn Bloodweavers unit in this army gains Ambush.

   Template:Ambush2

Thoughts on The Devourer's Host

Devourer's Host in a nutshell

This is a thematic Tharn army that gives you a few bonuses for playing mostly with Tharn. If anyone needs heart tokens to start with it's Death Wolves so getting 2 they can survive most incoming fire on the approach. Remember that corpse tokens alas only boost melee rolls, so have minimal gain with the Blood Pack or Ravager Shaman.

Tharn Ravagers are a great aggressive melee unit, though not as tough as they seem at first glance.

This thems has excellent skirmishers in Tharn Bloodtrackers, hard hitting melee infantry in Tharn Ravagers, utility in Brighid & Caul /Tharn Bloodweavers, a little ranged firepower in the Tharn Blood Pack, and sheer speed and mobility in the Tharn Wolf Riders. And then a nice collection of solos that support all of the above, plus the Death Wolves who are fairly tough but don't mesh with the theme support models.

Add the Well of Orboros into the mix to apply corpse tokens just where they are needed and you have a really strong infantry theme.

Theme Weaknesses

Easy to counter

The list is easy to tech against; even Ravagers go down to standard anti-infantry tech. Rapid Healing sounds good on paper, but rarely will you survive long enough to see it. Maybe it'll mean it takes 3 attacks instead of 2, to kill you.

Low Damage output

Outside your Battlegroup you have very few attacks over P+S over 13, which means you'll struggle vs ARM 18+ targets. There are exemptions in the form of Brutal Charge and Kogan the Exile but they will only come up a handful of times.

You'll want to bring a caster with ARM debuffs.

You may also want to put some heavy hitters in your battlegroup, as opposed to utility 'beasts.

Difficult list choices

Death Wolves and Lord of the Feast are excellent but don't get any of the Tharn support buffs

Starter Set

File:Tharnbox.jpg

Starter set

Unlike most themes, the Tharn have a starter set. This is a worthwhile purchase as you save about 12% over buying the contents individually. The contents are:

• A 6-man unit of Tharn Ravagers plus their command attachment.
• A 6-woman unit of Tharn Bloodweavers plus their command attachment.
• The character unit Brighid & Caul
• This adds up to 34 points, plus the Ravager CA who you'll take as your first free card.

You'll notice that there is no warlock or warbeasts included.

List Building Tips

Since the errata and new releases this has become a pretty versatile theme with a lot of ways of building; a list starting with Bloodtrackers, ambushing Bloodweavers, and the Death Wolves is going to be applying a lot of scenario pressure with all the advance deploying (and ambushing) Pathfinders, whereas a list that starts off with two full units of Ravagers with their unit attachments is basically threatening to charge head on at the enemy and shatter them whatever they may be.

The Spirit Cauldron helps a lot in spreading around corpse tokens. You should really consider it as your minion unit.

The most expensive free models you can get are the Lord of the Feast, the Tharn Ravager White Mane and the attachment for the Tharn Ravagers at 5 each for a potential 15 free points for the army.

Starting a 25 point Brawl list

It's difficult to really bring both parts of the theme benefit to bear at this points level Tharn Bloodweavers are really good for scenario presence with Ambush but they won't crack armour the same way Tharn Ravagers with corpses will.

Warlock Thoughts

Baldur1

He can buff Ravagers to high enough ARM to survive light gunfire and electro-leaps, and makes them hit hard enough to kill heavies.

Iona the Unseen

She was made to run Tharn in Devourer's Host, and her entire card reflects it. She provides Dodge within her CMD, shores up their defenses with Surefoot and Phantasm, and her feat massively ups their survivability and hitting power.

Krueger1

Deploying max Tharn and a small battlegroup. Ravagers can be protected by Gale Winds on the approach and have a 2” melee when they get there.

Kromac

He is a Tharn and fits the look of the theme while benefiting from Hunters Grace and the Whitemane.

Morvahna1

She is very good at regrowing Bloodtrackers or Tharn Ravagers. All Tharn appreciate Mortality.

Morvahna2

She likes to feat back Tharn Ravagers and rerolls can keep their overtake/heart eater chains going for a long time; she also likes feating back Tharn Wolf Riders for their position and hitting power. The Tharn Blood Pack of course have Hunter which allow them to ignore her fog of war (while the Bloodtrackers are normally forward enough to shoot beyond it)

Una2

She has Hand of Fate, which lowers the odds of missing an attack and enables a single Ravager to plough through a whole unit if he can constantly kill and buy with corpse tokens. Popular army compositions concentrate around half a dozen Griffons and two units of Ravagers plus the Death Wolves.

Other

Trivia

• Released 2017.01, expanded in 2018.10

Other Circle models/themes

• Category: The Devourer's Host