AoS: Hero Focus – Grey Seer Thanquol
Thanquol the Grey Seer is a powerful, wily Skaven, who survived the end of the world-that-was, as well as Gotrek & Felix. He’s also a stellar AoS hero!
It takes a very special creature to survive cataclysmic events like the End Times that shattered the world that was. It takes an even MORE special creature to do that while consuming copious amounts of toxic, mind altering warpstone.
However, that is exactly what Thanquol, greatest of the Grey Seers and one of my all time favorite special characters, did when the world broke. Now that his greatest enemy (according to him) has arrived on the tabletop, it seems like a good time to revisit this paranoid genius.
Not many models can get away with being both a magic cannon and combat powerhouse, but with the help of his trusty bodyguard/mount/house pet Boneripper, Thanquol does all that and more. At full strength he gets a ton of attacks, each one dealing multiple points of damage on a successful wound. His iron Staff of the Horned Rat gets 2 attacks, hitting on a 4+ and wounding on a 3+ with a Rend of -1, each dealing d3 damage on a successful wound, which is decent for a dedicated caster.
Boneripper can also attack with his Crushing Blows, with the same hit, wound, and rend as the Staff but a flat damage of 2. When undamaged, he can use this attack 6 times, deteriorating down to 2 as he takes more wounds. The rest of his attacks are determined by his kit, which can be mixed up however you choose. If you prefer to mince your enemies in close combat, he can take Warpfire Braziers, which hit and wound on a 3+, have a Rend of -2, and deal 3 damage on each successful wound.
However, the best part is that the attacks characteristic for this weapon is equal to double the number of Braziers he is equipped with, so that means up to 8 attacks and a potential of 36 wounds from that weapon alone. If ranged damage is more your speed, slap a few Warpfire Projectors on him and watch the technomagic flames fly. When you fire the projectors, you don’t roll to hit or wound, but rather roll a number of dice equal to the number of projectors he’s equipped with for EVERY model in the target unit that is within 8” of him, dealing a mortal wound for each 4+.
That means that units that venture to close to Boneripper are likely to get melted into molten puddles before they can do much damage. Best of all, you can combine these two weapons as you see fit should you wish to keep Thanquol balanced. I personally go for 2 of each, since that seems to deal the most consistent damage.
For a wizard, Thanquol is surprisingly durable (though I suppose that should be expected since he’s riding a massive mutated ratspawn). He starts with 14 wounds and a 4+ save, 1 wound higher than his Bell-riding cousins, and retains the 4+ Feel No Pain save they gain from Protection of the Horned Rat. After that, he also heals 1 wound in each of your hero phases thanks to his Warp-amulet, making him a very difficult model to shift. It also helps that he can heal himself since he has the potential to deal a ton of wounds to himself by chomping on Warpstone, but more on that in a moment.
As gnarly as he is in the combat phase, Thanquol is known best for his abilities as a wizard, and rightfully so considering he’s consumed so much warpstone that he has crags of it growing out of his skull. He can cast and unbind 2 spells every turn, gaining a +2 bonus to both while he’s undamaged thanks to his Staff of the Horned Rat. Thanks to his warp addiction, however, he occasionally has bursts of incredible magical power.
Once per turn, when casting a spell, Thanquol can consume a warpstone token and roll an extra d6 for his casting roll, discarding one die of your choice and using the other two for the casting roll. However, should the roll equal 13, the spell is automatically cast and cannot be unbound, but then Thanquol suffers d6 mortal wounds as the potent energy ravages his body. His signature spell, Madness, is a great hero killer, especially against an enemy with a lot of attacks like a Contorted Epitome.
Once cast, you roll a number of d6 equal to the combined attacks of the target model, dealing a mortal wound to an enemy unit within 3” for each 5+, and each wound can go against a different unit, or even the target itself. But even more than a wizard, Thanquol is known for being a manipulator and schemer, and his command ability showcases that perfectly. Once he uses it, until your next hero phase, up to three other Skaven Heroes can use the generic command abilities without a command point being spent, though each ability can only be used once, and each one must be used by a different hero. This is great if you have a hero heavy army but not a lot of stockpiled command points, so you can spend the ones you have on unique abilities rather than generic ones.
Who is your favorite Skaven hero?
