Thorns of the Briar Queen - Warband Review
Introduction
The Thorns of the Briar Queen had wandered through countless realms and haunted pathways of the underworlds, bound by the sorcerous malice of Nagash to their crowned mistress. From the silent depths of Shyish they were summoned once more, for the God of Death had turned his pitiless gaze upon the Spitewood of Ghyran. Something within that forest defied his dominion, and such defiance could not be permitted to endure.
Mist thickened and curled as the Briar Queen slipped from the veil between worlds, her thorn-crowned form gliding above the fertile loam. At her side drifted Varclav the Cruel, once a gaoler and murderer, now a wraith shackled eternally to his crimes. Where a head should have been there hung a rusted iron cage within the folds of his hood. In his hand, he held a solitary, guttering gravecandle, its ghostly light flickering softly in an aetheric breeze.
That baleful flame was the anchor of the Thorns. Its cold glow drew the Briar Queen’s followers together, pulling at their spectral forms and binding them into a single, drifting host. Chainrasps clustered instinctively around it, while the Ever Hanged made a slow circuit around the perimeter of its radiance. Without the gravecandle, the Thorns would scatter and fade. With it, they were united, purposeful, and hungry.
Ahead rose the gnarled trees of the Spitewood. Their ancient boughs knotted together forming a dense canopy through which little light could pass. Ghyran’s rampant life had bloomed here into spite, and in that bitterness Nagash sensed fertile ground for despair.
At the Great Necromancer’s unspoken command, the Thorns advanced into the deepening gloom, drawn ever onward by the gravecandle’s beckoning glow. In the Spitewood, the Briar Queen would gather new souls for her master. Life would falter, hope would gutter, and the forest would learn that even its ancient malice was no match for the cold, inexorable will of Nagash.
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| My first attempt at painting the Thorns, in the colours of my main Age of Sigmar force. |
Fighter Characteristics
The Thorns of the Briar Queen are a seven-fighter warband built around attrition, positioning, and late-game efficiency rather than early damage output. Before inspiring, the warband is relatively inaccurate. The Thorns have a total of 16 Health, a universal 2 Dodge save, and Movement 3, with Flying, that is serviceable but slow for a group that needs to operate together. This save can be very swingy, sometimes feeling impenetrable and other times offering, what appears to be, little protection. Early offensive output is modest, with most fighters relying on 2 Sword attacks and low damage, while Varclav stands out as the only fighter using Hammers, giving him comparatively better accuracy even before inspiration. As a result, the warband often struggles to apply early pressure without careful positioning and coordination.
At their best, the Thorns of the Briar Queen overwhelm opponents through numbers and positioning rather than raw fighter characteristics. The warband excels at swarming enemies, using flanking and surrounding to improve both the accuracy of their attacks and their durability in defence. This emphasis on board control and mutual support defines how the warband wants to play, and becomes increasingly apparent as the warscroll is explored in greater detail.
With seven fighters, it realistically takes a minimum of seven activations to remove the warband from play entirely. On top of this, every fighter begins with a base Save of 2 Dodge, which is statistically stronger than a Save of 1 Block. Combined, these factors mean you are very likely to still have fighters on the board in the later stages of the game.
How does the warband inspire?
At the start of the turn, Inspire each friendly fighter that is adjacent to any enemy fighter.
This is a relatively straightforward inspire mechanic which, when combined with other warscroll abilities, becomes easy to achieve with key fighters. Opponents will quickly learn to avoid remaining adjacent to your fighters after attacking if they can, as doing so can be very punishing. Guard, especially when paired with the warband’s universal 2 Dodge save, becomes a much more daunting prospect than it might appear at first.
This is a warband you should be actively trying to inspire as quickly as possible. The reason is simple: inspiration significantly improves both the accuracy and damage output of every fighter, transforming the warband from a fragile, inefficient group into a coordinated and threatening force.
Warscroll abililities
Multi use abilities
Wave of Terror
If the target of a friendly fighters Attack is adjacent to another friendly fighter that has any Charge tokens, the target is Surrounded for that Attack.
A nice, subtle passive ability that increases the accuracy of your fighters’ attacks once you begin swarming your opponent’s fighters. The key point to notice is that this bonus applies only to your attacks, not your defence. On paper it may not look like a large modifier, but in practice any boost to accuracy is extremely valuable for the Thorns, whose fighters often rely on supportive positioning rather than their base attack profiles to get work done.
Wave of Terror rewards you for doing what the warband already wants to do: fight as a tight, cohesive group. Improving Flanked to Surrounded goes a long way toward improving the warband's offensive capabilities, especially given that many of their fighters lack naturally high accuracy before Inspiring.
This ability also interacts strongly with the rest of the warscroll. Both Soul Warden and Mugged allow you to place Charge tokens onto your fighters, which is critical for gaining access to Wave of Terror for that key attack. This creates a clear synergy with the warscroll: positional tools put fighters where they need to be, Charge tokens unlock Wave of Terror, and the resulting accuracy boost makes even modest attacks feel reliable. Which all chip away at an opponent's health pool.
Soul Warden
Pick a friendly Varclav to use this ability. Pick up to 2 friendly minions. Push each of those fighters up to 2 hexes. Then, you can give each of those fighters a Charge token. The ability can only be used once per battle round.
A nice little ability, which can be used to position two of your fighters for a future inspire or to hold Treasure tokens. It is a core ability, which means it does take up an activation and it can only Varclav.
When playing with the Thorns, I have yet to use his ability. Maybe this is because I have been playing them quite offensively and I have preferred to attack rather than use this ability. It could also be that I have not need to defend Treasure tokens from my opponent's fighters. Overall, I like the idea of the ability, but it might not be one I use that often.
Single Use abilities.
Mugged
Immediately after an enemy fighter is picked to be mugged, pick a friendly fighter that is not your leader. Remove that fighter from the battlefield and place them in an empty hex adjacent to that enemy fighter. Then, you can give that friendly fighter a Charge token.
Mugged allows a fighter to teleport to an empty hex adjacent to an enemy fighter when a specific trigger occurs (see below). It also allows you to assign Charge tokens, which is crucial for accessing Wave of Terror or for setting up potential Inspires at the start of the next round.
Mugged lets your fighters bypass normal movement entirely, neatly offsetting their low uninspired Move of 3. With careful timing, fighters can effectively cover the full length of the battlefield and still retain the ability to charge afterwards. In practice, this makes Mugged an exceptional tool for threat projection and board control.
One of the less obvious but highly valuable uses of Mugged is how it helps consolidate your warband. Thorns often begin the game spread across the board, but Mugged allows you to pull fighters out of isolated positions and bring them together into a more cohesive group—without spending precious activations.
The main limitation of Mugged is that it is conditional. You cannot use it at will, and its effectiveness depends heavily on timing and planning. However, when used well, Mugged provides the warband with unparalleled positional flexibility, allowing fighters to reposition aggressively while preserving activations for attacks or objective play. For players who enjoy positional play and controlling the flow of the battlefield, this ability is exceptional.
For the Thorns of the Briar Queen, inspiration is everything. Inspired fighters hit harder and become significantly more dangerous. Mugged enables this by placing fighters adjacent to enemy models, setting up reliable inspiration at the start of the next round. This makes Mugged not just a movement tool, but a core part of the warband’s inspire engine.
Mugged is the defining ability of the Thorns of the Briar Queen. It provides unparalleled positional flexibility, allows the warband to consolidate scattered fighters, pressures enemy leaders, reacts to aggression, and enforces objective control. Crucially, it also sets up Inspiration and enables Wave of Terror, tying together the Thorns’ mechanics into a cohesive tactical framework. For players who enjoy positional play, swarm tactics, and controlling the flow of the battlefield, Mugged is essential to the warband’s effectiveness.
Paired Thugs
Paired Thugs triggers during your turn and is primarily about supporting your own fighters. It allows you to bring a second fighter into an engagement when a friendly fighter moves, reinforcing attacks, bolstering flanks, or consolidating your board presence. Because it occurs during your turn, it is less useful for setting up Inspiration, but it is the Mugged ability where you are most likely to assign a Charge token, maximizing offensive potential and enabling Wave of Terror. Properly timed, Paired Thugs can turn a single activation into a multi-fighter threat and keep your warband coordinated.
No Room At The Top is designed to swarm an opponent’s leader, rather than being a purely reactive ability. It can be particularly powerful when combined with Objectives that require defeating the enemy leader. Beyond damage, it applies psychological pressure, potentially forcing a leader to delay activation to avoid being overwhelmed. Elite warbands or those with “Big Guys” are especially vulnerable, as leaders can quickly find themselves surrounded, enabling follow-up attacks or setup for Inspiration.
Reprisals
Reprisals triggers after an enemy’s successful attack, making it a reactive tool for drawing fighters into the fight, providing support, and setting up Inspiration. The main limitation is that it only activates if an enemy attack succeeds, which often means one of your Thorns has already been struck. For this reason, I prefer to use it early in the round, so you can quickly return the favor and prevent your opponent from gaining momentum. Avoid using Reprisals to teleport next to an enemy fighter capable of another attack during the same round, as this could leave your Mugged fighter vulnerable.
Leave Well Alone triggers when an opponent moves onto a Treasure token or key position, allowing you to immediately contest the space without spending an activation. It may not trigger every game, as experienced opponents may avoid key tokens, but it can also be used proactively early in the round to draw a backline fighter into the fight. I have found it particularly useful when a relatively weak enemy fighter moves deep into enemy territory onto a Treasure token: teleporting a distant fighter across the board allows you to contest the token, inspire your fighter, and potentially drive the enemy off without assigning a Charge token, leaving them free to act or attack on your next activation.
Deck Pairings
When I started playing the Thorns, I wanted to build an aggressive swarm that would take the fight directly to the enemy. The first deck that naturally occurred to me was Deadly Synergy, which leverages the United mechanic to improve both the accuracy and defensive capabilities of the warband. When combined with the Mugged warscroll ability, it becomes very easy to achieve United fighter status, unlocking the Deadly Synergy plot card and allowing the warband to capitalize on coordinated attacks while maintaining strong positioning.
For me, this makes Deadly Synergy the primary deck to take with Thorns. The United ability, combined with the volume of flanked and surrounded attacks you can generate through Wave of Terror and Mugged, makes scoring the Objectives in this deck relatively straightforward. In addition, the Thorns’ natural 2 Dodge, when combined with flanked positioning, significantly improves your fighters’ survivability, making it harder for opponents to slay them once they have established a swarm.
Deadly Synergy with Edge of the Knife
Edge of the Knife makes an excellent secondary deck choice for the Thorns of the Briar Queen. Many of the fighters begin the game on 2 Health, meaning they are already Tempered and can immediately access a number of the deck’s Objectives and Power cards without additional setup. Like Deadly Synergy, Edge of the Knife supports a more aggressive, forward-leaning playstyle that suits swarm warbands well, rewarding commitment to the fight and strong positional play. As a Flex deck, its more aggressive cards can be selected to directly support a Deadly Synergy core, while the less relevant options can simply be left out. Edge of the Knife also provides a solid set of Objectives, including several two-glory and even a three-glory End Phase card, giving the Thorns strong alternative scoring routes without pulling the warband away from its primary game plan.
Deadly Synergy with Blazing Assault
Blazing Assault provides the Thorns with a variety of tools to improve attacks, including extra dice, rerolls, and additional damage. The deck also offers a strong surge package, with cards like Get Stuck In and Strike the Head enabling reliable offensive plays. Combined with Deadly Synergies, it allows the warband to maintain coordinated attacks through the United mechanic while still leveraging Blazing Assault’s aggressive Objectives and ploys, creating a high-pressure, forward-leaning strategy that rewards swarming and tactical positioning. One limitation is the relative lack of two-glory End Phase cards, which can make scoring slightly more challenging in some rounds. Overall, the deck has a straightforward, aggressive playstyle, making it an excellent choice for players learning the Thorns while providing strong synergy for more experienced players looking to combine coordinated attacks with high-pressure scoring.
FInal Thoughts
The Thorns are a warband that can play aggressively, with a unique ability to reposition fighters through their teleportation mechanic, Mugged. Learning to use this ability effectively is key to success, as it allows the warband to project power anywhere on the battlefield. Interestingly, the Briar Queen herself can be trickier to use, as she is the only fighter who cannot use Mugged, meaning she can only engage enemy fighters through normal movement or by being charged. While she has a strong attack, she is often less central to the warband’s core strategy and can even be used as bait. Varclav, on the other hand, feels far more critical to the warband’s overall effectiveness.
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| My second attempt at the Thorns, in the colours of the Emerald Host |
How I Paint - Nighthaunt - Green
With the Thorns, it is important to work quickly to inspire your fighters, as inspiration significantly increases the efficacy of their attacks, turning the minions from minor annoyances into consistent threats. The key to playing this warband effectively is ensuring the fighters operate as a swarm of ghosts, grouping together to bring down one enemy fighter at a time while leveraging Mugged, Wave of Terror, and Charge tokens to maintain pressure and control. Once mastered, I expect this warband to be a real force to be reckoned with, aggressively taking down enemy fighters while disrupting opponents’ plans to score Objectives through superior positioning and swarm tactics.
So, what do you think? Will you be using the Thorns of the Briar Queen? If so, what decks will you take with them? I look forward to hearing from you.
Checkout my Warhammer Underworlds for more articles.
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