Thunder Chieftain - W'adrhŭn Guide

The W'adrhŭn leaders often fight at the front lines, with the Thunder Chieftain riding a mighty Triceratops into battle. I personally find the background story rather uninteresting, and the model doesn't particularly appeal to me visually, but the rules are cool.

Cost

At 150 points, the Thunder Chieftain is no bargain, but it brings a lot of rules and synergies with it.

Strengths

• Cleave 2: In close combat, we reduce the opponent’s armor by 2 with a Clash attack.
• Linebreaker: With Clash and Impact, the regiment ignores the special rules Bastion and Shield when facing an opponent. This does not apply to attached regiments.
• Trample 2: At the end of the activation, an opponent in the front receives 2 autohits per stand with this rule. These do not cause Resolve tests and do not benefit from Linebreaker or other special rules.
• Brutal Impact (2): Against Impact attacks, the opponent’s defense is reduced by 2.
• High Offensive Power: With Trample 2, Attack 6, Impact 4, and a Clash value of 3, they can deal significant damage to nearly any opponent in close combat.
• Stable Defense: With Defense 4, Resolve 3, and 6 hit points, the Thunder Chieftain can even stand his ground in a duel. This can be significantly improved with items.
• Chants: Generates a Chant Marker, supporting the W’adrhŭn mechanic but cannot trigger a Chant itself.
• Thunderous Assault: If the Thunder Chieftain is a Warlord, all friendly regiments with the "The Speakers" keyword gain the Shock special rule.
  • Shock: When a regiment performs a successful charge with the Shock special rule, it gains +1 Clash until the end of the round.
• Ride the Lightning: All Thunder Riders in the Thunder Chieftain’s warband gain Flank.
  • Flank: The regiment does not roll for Reinforcements and can choose to either automatically bring the regiment into play or hold it back according to its weight class. One of the best rules in the game.
• Warband: Besides the obvious Thunder Riders, the Braves and Quatl are interesting in his warband. Occasionally, the Warbred can also be an interesting option with him.

Weaknesses

• Battlefield Role - The Speakers: I have not noticed any synergies with characters with the Battlefield Role "The Speakers" among the W'adrhŭn.
• High Price: The Thunder Chieftain is expensive and really only justifies his price when serving as a Warlord.

Warband Cults

All W'adrhŭn characters (except the Scion of Conquest) must join one of the cults: Famine, Death, or War when building the army list. If the character is a Warlord, they can also choose the Cult of Conquest. The choice of cult is a strategic and personal decision. It is advisable not to mix cults too much in order to consistently make use of the desired buffs.

Optional Artifacts: The W'adrhŭn have a limited selection of artifacts, many of which are cult- or character-bound. With the exception of the Winglord Predator, each character can equip only one artifact. Useful options for the Predator:

• Cult Artifacts:
  • The Horn of Ronan (30 points): Can only be chosen if the character follows the Cult of War. The regiment it joins gains the Trample 2 special rule when chanting Tier 2 of the Cult of War.
    • Trample 2: At the end of the activation, an opponent in the front receives 2 autohits per stand with this rule. These do not cause Resolve tests and do not benefit from Linebreaker or other special rules.
• Armors:
  • Beads of Death (20 points): Grants the regiment Tenacious 1. This is an interesting option, especially for Thunder Riders.
    • Tenacious 1: Treats 1 failed defense roll as a success.
• Weapons:
  • Kiss of the Dinosaur (20 points): Opponents must reroll all successful Defense and Resolve rolls against hits from the Thunder Chieftain. This applies to Impact, Trample, and Clash attacks.

Optional Masteries: Where the selection of artifacts was already restricted, the selection of masteries is even stricter, being limited by cult, character, or even Warlord status. At least there are a few exceptions, and the effects are almost all quite good.

• Adaptability (20 points): If the regiment the character belongs to chants the Battlecry of a cult at Tier II, a target marker within 6" of the regiment is immediately destroyed. A great ability, especially in combination with Slingers, who want to chant anyway.

• Drive (30 points): Only for Warlords following the Cult of Famine. All infantry regiments in their warband gain the Cult of Famine Battlefield Role. Additionally, all Cult of Famine infantry regiments gain Vanguard (3).

  • Vanguard (3): When a regiment with this rule enters the battlefield, it gains +3 Movement for the first move.

• Resilience (20 points): All Thunder Riders in the army gain the Hardened 1 special rule.

  • Hardened 1: Opponents reduce their Brutal Impact, Cleave, or Armor Piercing by 1, but at least to 0, when fighting against us.

• Cure (15 points): Only for characters following the Cult of Death. The regiment the character joins gains Deadly Blades.

  • Deadly Blades: Every armor roll of 6 causes two damage instead of one when attacking with this rule. If the opponent has no armor against the attacks, they still have to roll, and for each 6, they take two damage.

General Tactics

The Thunder Chieftain is currently the most popular Warlord in the faction and is mostly fielded when he is intended to serve as the Warlord. This is mainly due to the simplicity of the Supremacy, which gives all "The Speakers" regiments a nearly 16% higher chance to hit when charging. The fact that some of the powerful dinosaurs are also among the ranks of the "The Speakers" keyword further contributes to the popularity of the Thunder Chieftain.

Personally, I prefer him with the Kiss of the Dinosaur, as it significantly boosts his already impressive damage potential. I especially like to deploy him directly in Raptors to benefit from the Supremacy starting from the second round, which usually becomes active once he enters the battlefield. Another advantage: If the Thunder Chieftain dies, all "The Speakers" regiments lose their Shock status, which is a huge weakening. While it may seem strange to deploy him in Raptors, I enjoy playing Double Raptors with two characters, one of whom is often a Mounted Predator with Death’s Gaze for the impact damage. Especially against lists that don't bring many regiments into play early, you can clear up quite effectively starting from the second round.

The Thunder Rider cavalry is also an excellent choice for the Thunder Chieftain. This unit benefits greatly from the Flank and Shock abilities of the Thunder Chieftain and is the most commonly seen variant. What equipment to prefer is subjective and often depends on the cult. Many "Speakers" prefer Famine, but the Thunder Riders don't really benefit from that. Instead, they favor War, particularly the Horn of Ronan, which further strengthens their Trample attacks. It's less about the charge clash and more about the move charge with Trample. Whether you need that is highly subjective. More often, you’ll see Resilience to give all Thunder Riders Hardened 1, making them more resilient.