This week season 2 of Shadespire starts with the pre-orders for Nightvault. Along with it new warbands to take to the table starting off with the Thorns of the Briar Queen.
via the Warhammer Community
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/09/17/warband-focus-thorns-of-the-briar-queengw-homepage-post-3/
The Thorns of the Briar Queen.
Featured in the Core Set, this is Warhammer Underworlds’ first Nighthaunt warband, made up of a pack of sinister Chainrasps and their evil commanders – the Briar Queen herself and Varclav the Cruel. But how do they play? Join us as we take a closer look at the fighters, some cards and some tactical tricks to get you going…
Why Play Thorns of the Briar Queen?
- Overwhelm Your Enemies: With seven Fighters, the Thorns of the Briar Queen are one of the most numerous warbands in the game, allowing you to swarm enemies and dominate the objectives game.
- Go ANYWHERE: Every single fighter in this warband ignores lethal hexes, fighters and blocked hexes while moving – there’s no escaping the Nighthaunt!
- Nagash is the rightful ruler of all the Mortal Realms – and beyond: If you’ve just grabbed a new Nighthaunt army and want to expand the reach of Nagash to those traitors who’d invade his city, this is the warband for you.
The Briar Queen is the leader of your warband and possesses the crucial ability to cast spells. See that 2 on her card next to her name? That means the Briar Queen is a level two wizard, making her one of the better wizards in the game. With two Dodge and four Wounds, the Briar Queen can also be surprisingly durable – particularly if you can find a way to put her on Guard…
Varclav the Cruel is the key to success for a Thorns of the Briar Queen Warband, with his ability to push each fighter in your warband two hexes and allowing you to quickly swarm the foe without wasting activations. While it’ll be tempting to get stuck in straight away with his powerful Watchman’s Blade attack, you’ll want to keep him as safe as possible during your first activations.
The Ever-hanged is a beefier version of an “ordinary” Chainrasp, armed with a pretty reliable attack. You’ll want to try to Inspire him fast and use him as your main finisher, adding the benefits of Cleave to his already solid Damage.
The remaining fighters in the Thorns of the Briar Queen are Chainrasps. While unassuming at first, woe betide the enemy that thinks they can ignore them! The Thorns of the Briar Queen Inspire when next to their enemies – by using Varclav to surround your enemy with Chainrasp, you’ll be able to Inspire multiple fighters at once and overwhelm your foe.
Chainrasps are also great objective-holders, capable of moving through fighters, lethal hexes and blocked hexes with impunity. Just watch out for enemies with attacks that hit multiple fighters – nothing stings quite like watching The Harvester take down four Chainrasps in a single fell swoop…
The Cards
The Thorns of the Briar Queen gambit cards are designed for tricking your foes and maximising the effectiveness of your Chainrasps. Some are downright evil – like Maddening Cackle, a ploy that punishes an enemy fighter who fails their attack by un-Inspiring them. Permanently:
As for spells, you’ll have some excellent choices. Howling Vortex is one of the most deadly tools in the arsenal of the Briar Queen.
Gambit spells work a little differently from normal actions. To cast one, you roll a number of magic dice equal to the level of the wizard casting them. This means that more powerful wizards have an easier time casting the same spell as a weaker wizard.
The magic dice each feature a Critical Success symbol, Focus (two swirls) and Channel (three lightning bolts). To cast Howling Vortex, you’d roll two dice (because the Briar Queen is a level 2 wizard) and need at least one Focus to succeed. In this case, it’s a pretty simple spell to cast – and a fantastic way to knock enemy fighters off objectives or bring them closer to your Chainrasps…
Upgrades, meanwhile, offer deadly new attacks, like Varclav the Cruel’s Sadistic Strike, or potent abilities such as the Curse of Unbinding:
