privvy

Junior Strategist







Formerly The Nomad on PP's forums

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Junior Strategist Tactica: Thyra, Flame of Sorrow spideredd paradox , and 1 more like this Quote Select Post

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Member Back to Top Post by privvy on Basics: Thyra survived incredibly well from the transition from MkII to MkIII, becoming one of our best toolbox casters. No longer is she constantly pressured into going for a long distance assassination, she can support the army well enough to gain a nice attrition and scenario presence. She has the highest unaided defense in the faction, at 17, coupled with Stealth, meaning you won't see her die to any regular shooting and unboosted melee will be hard pressed to hit her. Even her armor, at 14 stands a good chance at surviving all but the most dedicated of blasts.



Speed 7 is fantastic for moving around the field with her acrobatics and parry so she can get her buffs out wherever you need them. MAT 8 with her two POW 11 weaponmaster blades allows her to put a lot of work in and her abilities really highlight the idea that she can get into the mix and survive. .5" range on her swords is a little rough, but a 10.5" threat range is admirable, regardless. Focus 6 is average and she can get out all of her relevant spells, just keep the buff swapping to a minimum.



Abilities: Thyra supports our Daughters by giving them Vengeance and she also has Overtake so she can hop around the battlefield, killing troops, or it can help her reach the enemy caster if you do get an assassination run that gets you just slightly short. Don't forget that you do not need line of sight to an enemy if you want to charge it. Acrobatics is good like that.



Spells: Thyra kept a few of her winners. Every spell she has costs 2, which is nice.



Her number one, cast almost every turn spell is Carnage. It gives your whole army +2 to hit with melee attacks against enemies in her control area. We lost the Choir's hit buff, but man does this make up for it. Our average MAT is 6-7, so that is huge when it comes to hitting what we need to. Jacks shine under her, infantry does so much more work. Silence of Death is an upkeep which changed slightly, where models that it is on gain +2 strength and takedown, but it no longer prevents healing and transfers. It is still a solid spell and it can be put on anything. Put it on a unit to start and it counters a lot of recursion tech.



Thyra has Occultation, still. With her native stealth, you no longer need to cast it on her, any unit would appreciate this upkeep. This spell is amazing for delivering your unit to the enemy relatively unscathed. Stranglehold is a great spell to make sure the opponent doesn't get an alpha, but I find that it usually requires an arc node to cast and she doesn't always take one. Stranglehold forces the opponent to forfeit either movement or action, and it can be cast multiple times on multiple units, so you can completely shut down their front line or their heavies, though you may need to boost damage for the latter.



Gates of Death is her signature spell. It is a fantastic upkeep that allows Thyra to teleport completely within 6" of her current position at the end of your turn. The possibilities are pretty close to endless on what you can do with this spell. Kill enemies, Gates back behind a wall. Walk up, cast Carnage, Gates back. Gates behind a Vigilant. Gates into the enemy zone/flag to dominate it. Gates to your zone/flag to dominate it. Charge an enemy model, then Gates forward, putting assassination pressure on their caster. Walk up, feat, Gates back. It is a defensive upkeep just as much as it is an offensive one.



Feat: Shadows of Urcaen is fantastic. Thyra is immediately placed completely within 2" of her current position. When a model or unit activates, they also do this teleport then activate. You can use this to break engagement, gain threat range, reposition to gain line of sight, there's a lot of applications. At the worst, it gets you the alpha. Thyra can move, then pop feat, meaning she can use this to assassinate by charging something and then feating to get herself in position to kill their caster if Overtake can't do it.



Battlegroup:With Powerup being a thing, Thyra can run more jacks if she wants to without sacrificing her ability to throw spells.



Blood of Martyrs is one of her best jacks. With her, it gains Apparition, a fantastic bond to extend its threat range and speed. It also gains a lot out of any of her spells. The bonus strength from SoD helps it kill better, Occultation lets it get to wherever it needs to go if your Choir can't Passage or Shield, and Side Step allows it to go into unexpected places. This guy is a threat monster under her. All of the extra 2" movements in addition to its own SPD 5 means that it can be moved from the bond, then her feat, then charge, then side step and possibly side step a second time. Carnage and SoD allow you to deal damage even if you can't take Choir.



If you go the route of Exemplar Interdiction, Fire of Salvation is great. He gets a lot of movement with Thyra, from Righteous Vengeance and the feat, he can really get thrown far up field. For added fun, run him with Blood of Martyrs in the battle group so you severely punish your opponent for killing your troops.



Reckoners are great with everyone. It adds a ranged element that her armies need, Ashen Veil can protect her further, granting her DEF 19 in melee against living, and Flare is still amazing to allow us to hit even better. Scourge of Heresy is just a beast of a jack. He loves any additions to his threat and Thyra provides. He deals a ton of damage and has a 2" Thresher, which is beyond fantastic. Scourge will reach its target if you pop Occultation on it. Eye of Truth is also great. It's incredibly difficult to remove, a great late game anchor, and the buff that it gives to things around it help you deal with enemy buffs that Thyra can't remove.



Santifiers are great, too. While they're normally sort of pillow fisted, they can hit hard when we stack buffs. Silence of Death and Choir bring them up to POW 20 and the Faithful Masses theme gives them an additional +2 to hit and damage. With soul collection, they fuel themselves and they deny Incorporeal to enemies within 10", which gives them counter play into Cryx. Ashen Veil helps Thyra the same as how the Reckoner does.



Revengers are good. Taking one changes her playstyle a bit. She goes from a support toolbox to a spell slinger. Throw 2-3 Strangleholds or swap buffs around and you can have your opponent in fits. I prefer Revengers over Guardians with her because of their speed, but a Guardian is also not a bad choice. Vigilants are a great pick. Roadblock makes her DEF 21 against any shooting that can hit and Girded means that she doesn't even have to worry about the blasts. She can charge over it, do what she needs to, it can run to position and then she can Gate behind it. With Choir and SoD, it can even do some work in the late game.



I find that a Devout is usually unnecessary. It doesn't add nearly as much as a Vigilant does because Thyra shouldn't really be getting shot and hit by direct fire.



Units/Solos:Thyra can make just about any unit function. She loves taking Daughters because of their speed, native stealth, and Vengeance. On that vein, Nicia is also a great pick. Acrobatics on all of the mentioned models means that they can get in deep and their high defense makes them hard to remove. You can frequently get back strike bonuses with the girls. This is such a small portion of your army and it allows the rest to strike mostly untouched. Carnage has the girls hitting at MAT 8+. Anatomical Precision preventing Tough also helped with clearing a lot of things that are hard to deal with as a faction. Rhupert can no longer tough a unit, Trolls players should be scared of this, too.



Flamebringers and Vengers love either of her buffs. Occultation on either can deliver them easily, Silence can help them really deal damage. Carnage is less needed for Cavalry, but it is a welcome addition. Their mounts do not gain the Strength bonus, though. Pathfinder and the speed on the girls means they can be a potent flanking force, while the Vengers can flank or head up the middle as a second strike. With their speed, both units really take advantage of her feat, as well. Strike from 15" away with your Vengers, that's a pretty strong alpha.



Idrians are disgusting under Thyra. Occultation on them is practically natural. Carnage gets them to MAT 10 against Prey. That's hitting everything. Silence of Death gets them to POW 14 against prey on the charge. Reposition, Pathfinder, and SPD 6 make them super maneuverable. Crazy stuff, I never leave home without them.



Solos for her are few and far between. She loves Wracks and the Hierophant because of how much they help her with the focus load, essentially making one spell free for a turn. The Covenant can prevent her from being knocked down, but if Thyra is knocked down and susceptible to melee attacks then you mispositioned her gravely. Reclaimers usually can't keep up with the army. Tristan can run a jack to keep Thyra's focus load even lower but then he can be a weak point in the army and putting Occultation on him is such a waste because he is just one model. Vassals are great to Empower your jacks, further cutting the focus load on her.

Reclaimers can place Ashen Veil on Thyra to make her DEF 19 against anything that can shoot her or living models in melee with her. Future Sight is also really good for if she goes on a killing spree or assassination run.



Vilmon gives her a shield guard for the rare time anything can shoot her. He also can be a pretty damaging missile or a scenario piece. Thyra likes bringing troops and he gives Righteous Vengeance to all the Paladins, so he's welcome in Faithful Masses and any future theme that allows Paladins.



Champions of the Order of the Wall get silly with her. They threaten 15" after her feat, or 18" if a warrior model died within 5" of them while Vilmon is around. They also give Paladins Girded, so one Paladin can always babysit Thyra and keep random blasts away. This does make her vulnerable to Electroleaps and other things that jump from models without needing to hit, so know what your opponent can do.



Choir aren't totally necessary if you run more lights, but they do a lot for our jacks when you start stacking buffs. At worst, they're bodies blocking the enemy from your caster.



Everything else is alright with her. Knights Exemplar like her feat but the unit size is a bit small to really accept any of her buffs as effectively as a 10 man unit or a Cav unit. Errants can take it, but their minifeat hurts her spell slinging game. TFG like her a lot in theme, but they have to pick between survivability or doing damage. If you take them, Pyrrhus isn't a bad choice, either.



Theme or Not:Thyra is such a good toolbox that she can actually run any theme well. Carnage is great for both jacks and infantry as are most of her spells. In Creator's Might, she appreciates the 3 free upkeeps at the start, in Guardians she loves the ambushing Daughters. Temple Flame Guard getting Tough and No Knockdown while B2B in Guardians also makes the list very attrition focused and allows you to deliver Thyra reliably. As of late, running her with a full Paladin boat in Faithful Masses is doing well, as she helps deliver Paladins with her feat and they provide strong models with Girded for her. She also has game in Exemplar Interdiction, where she can buff our already strong weaponmaster attacks, allow them to hit, and give them the extra charge. Pick a theme and run with it.



Tactics: Thyra can really run in a lot of ways. Add some arc nodes and she can sling spells, keep her back as a buff bot, or turn her into a melee assassin. Figure out what units need what buffs and set off.



Her major advantage is in her mobility. Thyra should never be in the same place at the end of every turn. Your army should always be moving and maneuvering. Thyra likes to dance, make sure the field is a floor for your army to constantly dance around and through the enemy. While someone like Severius can sit still, Thyra loses when she is predicable. Use every movement trick that you have in your army to make predicting what you do almost impossible. Fake a strategy and then do an about face. Fake an assassination run and push for scenario. Have your Daughters strike deep into the enemy lines, forcing them to turn and deal with the girls, putting their models out of position.