Thorgar

Race: Minotaur
Class: Aggressor
Survivability: Low to Med
Damage Output: High
Threat Range: Med

Profile: Thorgar has minotaur stats which are pretty good without being very exciting - MOV 4, AGI 3, high boxes (18) and a MEL of 7 (standard for a melee aggressor). Where he distinguishes himself is in having a melee range of 2" with damage of 3|4|6 which is excellent. As a minotaur he also has Regeneration (2).

What does he do?: I consider Thorgar in many ways to be the baseline melee aggressor. He has excellent base damage and he has very strong melee abilities which are pretty straightforward. If you just send him forwards and hit things you'll still get a lot out of him - more than a lot of the other more complicated aggressors. That said his abilities which I will go through below are the key to high level Thorgar play, also like a lot of aggressors he needs a bit of help if you want him to stay alive.

Enraged Slam - This is a brilliant fate ability, it allows you to move models and does automatic damage ignoring RES and without requiring you to hit (so also ignoring AGI). It has the dual benefit of being great against the high RES defenders as well as the high AGI elves. At level 3 he can do this ability without using a fate and if you do get him to level 3 you should always be on the look out to see if there is a good Enraged Slam path for him. 3" to the side means that often you can move so that the model will still be in Thorgar's melee range at the end of its push.

Gore Thrust - is one of the better combat manoeuvres in the game, it allows you to throw (and therefore also knock down) a model giving you dice fixing and allowing you to move an enemy model where you need it. It's a 2S ability so it is hard to get it working reliably but you have the benefit of being able to charge for extra dice and ganging up and other bonuses. Also unlike Rakkir where applying poison is crucial the throw is often just very good, fail it and Thorgar can still continue to attack for decent damage.

Man Catcher - Gore thrust also works very well with his level 2 ability Man Catcher which allows him to pull in and attack a model within 4" (the same distance as the throw) with one action. Man Catcher is also a great ability to allow Thorgar to get 3 attack actions and do maximum damage or to move enemy models forwards to be in range of other models in your army. If you can pull a model into melee range of two models you'll get the same bonus as charging but get it on all of your attacks.

Fate Appetite: Low. 5 damage (Enraged Slam) is OK for a fate ability - the good melee ones do on average 7 damage, the good ranged ones closer to 3-4. If you can move a model to where it will take more damage or if you can get multiple models it becomes a great fate investment for damage. Be aware that you also need to take into account where Thorgar ends up and if you have put Thorgar in a position where he will more easily take damage that can undo any advantage you have from extra damage.

Level Appetite: Med. Man Catcher is good. You will use it. I am not sold on whether this should be a medium or high level appetite. I have often found that the better strategy is to give the first level up from killing the nearby monster to a more important target depending on who else is in the warband so I have left it at medium. He still operates at quite a high level without getting to level 2.

Magic Items: Vorpal Blade (Med), Defensive Items (Med), Armour Shredder (against a lot of high RES models) - I don't mind either the Glyph of Warding or the Boots of Agility on Thorgar. He needs some help to stay alive but not not a huge amount of help. I generally only take the Boots of Agility if I am more concerned about ranged aggressors as Thorgar can often get cover from a shrine or ideally from your opponents effigy and is often in melee.

Combinations: I like Thorgar with the other melee aggressors because he has a knock down and doesn't need the Vorpal Blade as badly as Brok or Rakkir does. Bastian is a strong option as he gives him extra dice in melee and can heal him. Saiyin is fantastic with the frontline minotaurs as she can make them immune to fire (so their regeneration is not stopped) and she gives them extra healing. For me Thorgar is still the baseline melee aggressor - if you want a melee aggressor you take him unless you have some kind of synergy or plan involving another melee aggressor.

Ban Targets: Thorgar doesn't like fire but he can live with it. He has good abilities to handle high AGI models - better than for example Rakkir or Brok. He can struggle with high RES models though he has answers. Gendris and Thrommel can be problems for him in that one of his best answers to high RES models is to get rid of them with enraged slam and get to the softer targets behind. His low AGI often means that he is targetted by other aggressors who while they have lower base damage can often do more damage with their special abilities that can trigger off his low AGI.

Judy's Judgement: