Hordes: Tharn Bloodtrackers, Bloodweavers, and Wolfriders
Our next unit focus will be on the feminine side of the Tharn (if a cannibalistic society can have a feminine side), specifically the Bloodtrackers, Bloodweavers, and Wolf Riders.
Starting with the Tharn Bloodtrackers…
You get a very fast and mobile unit with big threat ranges and decent defenses. The Bloodtrackers should be your go-to unit for picking out troublesome single-wound units or low- to medium-ARM multi-wound units that your opponents bring to the table. With an effective MAT/RAT 8 against their Prey, they’re very accurate unbuffed, making them the perfect choice for attacking things like Kayazi. With warlock buffs/debuffs like Lightning Tendrils, Stone Skin, and Curse of Shadows, there are plenty of decent abilities that can increase their effectiveness on the offensive. Their biggest weakness, however, is their very low ARM. Any average blast damage roll will often be enough to kill a Bloodtracker, so be wary of AOE-heavy armies or reinforce your ladies with abilities like the aforementioned Stone Skin or other things like Solid Ground or Restoration.
Nuala the Huntress makes a nice addition to your Bloodtracker units, granting them increased ability to mow through single-wound infantry units thanks to Quick Work while also giving them even greater mobility via Reform. Balance-wise, she’s exactly what a Unit Attachment should be: a decent, take-it-or-leave-it option that is nice to have, but not an “auto-include”. Armies that are a bit light on cleaning out a single-wound horde might find her an attractive addition if the points can be spared.
The Bloodweavers are a bit of a different option compared to the Bloodtrackers. They boast similar effective stats in melee (MAT 8 w/ Gang), but can choose between three different effects to depending on the situation. The first effect is Blood Burst, which creates a 5″ AOE out of a destroyed living model, dealing damage equal to the destroyed model’s STR value. This can be a handy way of wiping out an infantry horde or can provide a way to bypass extremely high-DEF models by striking a lower-DEF enemy model in or around the the former. The second effect is Blood Spiller, which grants an additional damage die against living models, effectively making Weavers Weapon Masters with average POW 23 damage rolls on the charge. It’s a fantastic threat against multi-wound units, warcasters and warlocks, or living warbeasts. The final effect is Dispel, which dissolves upkeep spells on the model/unit struck. This can be pretty fantastic depending on the situation. Cetrati with Defender’s Ward got you down? Dissolve the upkeep with a single charging Bloodweaver and follow up with your heavy hitters. You can even use it to knock unfriendly upkeep spells like Crippling Grasp off your own models. This unit benefits similarly from buffs that the Bloodtrackers do, save perhaps Stone Skin, which will slow them down without the +2 STR benefit to Thrown Weapon.
The last of the Tharn sisterhood are the Wolf Riders. This cavalry unit behaves in many ways like the Bloodweavers, but with a few important changes. While the Riders lose Stealth, they do sport higher DEF, ARM, and five wounds, making them a bit more survivable, but not a lot. Tack onto this their incredible mobility via SPD 9, the Light Cavalry move combined with their Thrown Javelin, and the ability to abuse terrain via Hunter, and it could get difficult to close on this unit in melee. They’re pretty vulnerable to accurate shooting, so be wary of ranged warjacks/warbeasts or units with CRA. Like the Bloodtrackers they have Prey, making them an effective MAT 8. Add to this the additional +2 for charging, and you have a very, very accurate unit. Luck on their Thrown Weapon makes them pretty darned accurate at range as well. Against their Prey, they hit fairly decently as well thanks to the three attacks they get on the charge, which come out to be an effective POW 11, 12, and 14. Against higher-ARM targets, that won’t do much however, so reserve them for trouble-shooting things in the low- to medium-ARM categories. When buffing this unit, again, most of the same buffs apply. Lightning Tendrils makes them murder against infantry, Restoration makes them a bit hardier, and Curse of Shadows will boost them up to POW 13, 14, and 16 against their Prey.
So, Circle players: how does the Tharn Sisterhood fair by you?
