Teraph

Teraph Legion Light Warbeast

Prime This model is available in one Prime Army, Dragon's Host. It can also be used in the Unlimited game mode. You can view the other Mk3 models that made it into a Legacy Army at this page. Note that the rest of this page is about the model's Mark III rules.

The Teraph - the most patient and silent dragonspawn - burrows into the ground to lay in ambush where it strikes with its poisonous tail or explosive breath whenever an enemy comes close. Known for the speed of its strike, the Teraph forms an essential part of the Legion's formations. It can sow terror and confusion when it obliterates a foe in cloud of blighted ash.

Basic Info

Teraph
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Medium SPD 5 STR 8 MAT 5 RAT 5 M.A. N/A DEF 13 ARM 16 CMD 7 ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY 3 THRS 9 HP 20 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA U UNIT SIZE N/A COST 9 N/A N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Warbeast - All warbeasts share a huge stack of special rules. The short version is they're big, furious, and beat stuff up pretty good. Click here for a newbie-friendly recap, or click here for the full rules.

Abilities

• Advance Deployment
• Eyeless Sight
• Pathfinder
• Soulless
• Dig In (★ Action) - This model gains cover, does not suffer blast damage, and does not block LOS. The model remains dug in until it moves, is placed, or is engaged. It can begin the game dug in.

Weapons

Blight Blast
		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		12			1			4			13
Damage Type: Fire Continuous Fire Burning Ground - On a direct hit against an enemy model, this attack's AOE becomes a hazard that remains in play for one round. Models without Flight entering or ending their activations in the AOE suffer a POW 12 fire damage roll and the Fire continuous effect.
Tail Strike
		RNG				POW				P+S
		2				4				12
Critical Poison - On a critical hit, gain an additional die on this weapon's damage rolls against living models.
Bite
		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				3				11

Animus

	COST	RNG	AOE	POW	DUR	OFF
Counterblast	1	SELF	-	-	Round	No
When an enemy model advances and ends its movement within the spellcaster's command range, the spellcaster can make one basic melee or ranged attack targeting that model, then Counterblast expires. Counterblast lasts for one round.

Theme Forces

• Children of the Dragon
• Oracles of Annihilation
• Primal Terrors
• Ravens of War

Thoughts on Teraph

Teraph in a nutshell

The Teraph is a ranged artillery piece in the Legion's arsenal, with an odd set of tools. The closest equivalent to find is the Grenadier in Cygnar. It boasts Advance Deployment, Dig-In, and decent threat range on a 4" AOE gun, but falls short in the accuracy department, and its single shot is just a tad bit above the POW we consider average. As a Legion beast, some of this is offset by Eyeless Sight, and combined with its forward board presence, makes it likely it will be able to aim after the first turn or so.

It bears some obvious similarities with our other ranged beast, the Ravagore, and polar opposite traits too; so much actually, that it is hard to talk about the Teraph without comparing it to its big brother. As a rule of thumb: if you try to play it as a Ravagore on budget, you gonna have a bad time.

• Whereas the Ravagore is a scary centrepiece, which dictates where the enemy will put its valuable models, the Teraph is a reactive beast. Thanks to Advance Deployment and Dig In, you can answer to the enemy's plans, concentrate on scoring in less focused zones, and make flanking infantries or gunslingers harder time to claim scenario points.
• The Ravagore has good board controlling presence with its Scather template, deterring single-wound models from entering into it. The Teraph has Continuous Fire and Burning Earth, both of which are useful and arguably better; because despite more models having fire immunity and despite flying models not being effective a POW 12 damage roll is a lot better than 1 damage point into anything that isn’t single wound infantry.
• The Ravagore can bring all the might of the Carnivean chassis into bear, if the enemy engages it in melee. The Teraph must rely on 2 melee weapons with a miserable P+S, only slightly amended by having critical Poison on one of them; making melee a last-ditch effort.
• The Ravagore relies on its sturdy frame and lots of health boxes to survive, while the Teraph is adept at lurking, and being a nuisance in general - especially when dug in.
• The Terap's animus can see more frequent use that the Ravagore's though still not a one-size-fits-all solution.
• The 5 points it take to upgrade into a Ravagore is rather steep and can be used for a multitude of other options. For just two points you can take a Beast Mistress to run your Teraph and the combination is still cheaper than a lone Ravagore

If your intend to build a gunline-heavy army, the Teraph may be able to find a place in your list, but don't expect it to go toe-to-toe against hard targets. If you need a zone scoring piece, who can deal with small, flanking elements of the enemy, this might be the beast for you.

Combos & Synergies

• Kallus2 loves to watch the world burn and the Teraph is a cheap and easy way to accomplish this.
• Blight Archon - Dig In and Dragon's Blood can make it a real problem to remove. Counter Blast with a 10" CMD range AND 10" Spray is also a very cute combo.
• Croak Raiders for that sweet, sweet oil.
• Hellmouth - Distance Deployment and Advance Deployment go hand in hand. The Hellmouth can drag key models close to you, then you can rain death upon them. Impervious Flesh ensures that the Hellmouth itself is nigh-untouchable by the Blight Blast, and completely immune against Crit Fire and blast damage.
• Lylyth1 - Parasite makes everything shine, and the Teraph is no exception to the rule in this case. Advance Deployment helps ensure its early participation in her laser guided target elimination game plan, and a justification could be made for a large model count army for her to maximize volume of attacks.
• Lylyth2 - Pin Cushion can work wonders on the Teraph's templates, plus under her feat a pair of them can cover a 16" wide area with their templates plus spaces between them - provide they hit enemy models in such formation to trigger Burning Ground..
• Its animus might be worth a consideration on any caster who has a proper beatstick (Rhyas), or gun in his/her hand (Lylyth). Thagrosh1 and Thagrosh2 deserve particular mention due to their strong sprays, and respectable melee weapons.
• A Shepherd or two can turn it into an autonomous gun platform that can risk going outside the control range of your warlock.
• Beast Mistress - She's the cheapest way to put a Teraph onto the table without putting its Fury burden onto your warlock. Energizer can also give crucial inches for your first turn to dig the Teraph into suitable position, or allow it to retreat after a strike into safety, and for another round of shooting. Aggressive Field Marshal is not something to be relied on, but for last-ditch close combats you can use your free focus to boost an attack roll on your Critical Poison strike.
• Archangel - Plus 2 on your damage roll is always nice, but even more so that targets on fire can't put out the flames in their maintenance phase. It is rare that you may want to risk the Archangel though, so consider a Nephilim Bloodseer for duplicating its animus. Azrael's animus has the same effect but due to his tiny control range and the fact that the Bloodseer cannot replicate his animus, he's rarely an ideal target for the same trick.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Accuracy is an issue whether it’s at range or in melee. You are basically hoping for some good deviations, it’s best to boost the shot if you are banking on Burning Ground.
• As a medium sized beast it hit rather flimsily in melee.
• it’s quite static; to survive it really needs to be dug in but finding a good spot to do so with speed 5 turn1 can be difficult, utilise slipstream or another movement bonus if possible.

Tips & Tricks

• It shines in multi-zone scenarios, where it can almost single handedly work on the flanks and fend off lighter attackers trying to score those zones. Thanks to Advance Deployment, it can pick whichever side the enemy's forces are weaker.
• Always boost the attack roll on the gun - you only get the template on a direct hit. Also, you need to hit an enemy model so running up with your models and shooting them in the back won't work.

Other

Trivia

Released way back in Primal Mk1 (2006)

Other Legion models

Legion Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup & Similar
Warlocks	Absylonia1 - Absylonia2 - Anamag - Bethayne1 - Bethayne2 - Fyanna2 - Kallus1 - Kallus2 - Kryssa - Lylyth1 - Lylyth2 - Lylyth3 - Lylyth4 - Rhyas1 - Saeryn1 - Saeryn2 & Rhyas2 - Thagrosh1 - Thagrosh2 - Vayl1 - Vayl2
Other Warbeast Controllers	Beast Mistress - Blight Archon - Thagrosh0
Lesser	Blight Wasps - Shredder - Harrier - Mekanoshredder - Stinger
Light	Afflictor - Naga Nightlurker - Nephilim Bloodseer - Nephilim Bolt Thrower - Nephilim Protector - Nephilim Soldier - Raek - Teraph
Heavy	Angelius - Azrael - Carnivean - Golab - Neraph - Proteus - Ravagore - Scythean - Typhon - Seraph - Zuriel
Gargantuans	Archangel - Blightbringer
Units, Solos, & Battle Engines
Units	Blackfrost Shard - B.N. Archers - B.N. Hex Hunters - B.N. Legionnaires - B.N. Raptors - B.N. Scather Crew - B.N. Swordsmen - B. Rotwings - B.O. Warmongers - B.O. Warspears - Chosen - Grotesque Banshees - Grotesque Raiders - Hellmouth - Ice Witches - Strider Blightblades - Strider Scouts - Spawning Vessel - Virtue Host
Solos	Ammok - Annyssa Ryvaal - Beast Mistress - Blight Archon - B.N Shepherd - B.N. Sorceress - B.N. Warlord - Craelix - Forsaken - Fyanna1 - Grotesque Assassin - Incubi - Spell Martyr - Strider Deathstalker - Succubus - Thagrosh0 - Virtue Champion - B.O. Warmonger War Chief - Yssylla
Battle Engines	Throne of Everblight
Theme Forces
Children of the Dragon - Oracles of Annihilation - Primal Terrors - Ravens of War
Minions
Refer to Who Works for Whom and/or Category: Legion of Everblight Minion
This index was last updated: 2021.11

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Fire      (Edit) If you deploy in fire hazard terrain (Burning Earth), then you get set on fire before the game starts. Deploying a model in a hazard counts as being "put into play" in the hazard. Being put into play counts as "entering". When you enter a hazard, you trigger the hazard. Moving into "Shallow water" standard terrain does not cause continuous fire to expire. It's magic fire. You can always use non-standard terrain if you agree with your opponent before the game starts, however. A weapon can inflict continuous fire without itself being a fire damage weapon (for example, the Helios's fists). In this case, the attack can hurt models with Immunity:Fire it just won't apply the continuous effect. In terms of which player's clock is running down during the Maintenance Phase: The active player will roll for expiration of all the continuous effects. Then the inactive player will roll for all the damages of the continuous effects. (Judge Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Poison - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Burning Ground      (Edit) Templates that do damage (Edit)   [Show/Hide] Most templates that do damage to models that walk into them are defined as "Hazards" (such as Burning Ground) but there are a few that aren't Hazards (such as Creeping Barrage and Wall of Fire). The differences are: A hazard is a terrain element Damage from a hazard template is never considered to be from the model or weapon/spell that put it into play. So hazards never gain special rules of the weapon/spell (such as a Damage Type or Poison), nor does it gain special rules of the model (such as Hand of Fate). Damage from a non-hazard template is considered to be from the model that put it in play. So non-hazards do get stuff like Hand of Fate. (Infernal Ruling) Damage from a hazard is not from an attack (so won't trigger stuff like Vengeance) Damage from a non-hazard is also not from an attack. Instead it will be a Special Action (Covering Fire), or a "instead of making an attack, place a template" (Creeping Barrage), or etc.   Damage templates from spells is complicated: (Infernal Ruling) Spells that leave templates that are not hazards (such as Razor Wall) do Damage Type: Magical. Spells that leave templates that are hazards (such as Breath of Corruption) follow the rules for hazards, which are most likely not magical damage but it varies by the hazard. The initial damage when you place the template, if any, is Damage Type: Magical. For example, Breath of Corruption's initial POW 12 corrosion damage roll is Damage Type: Magical in addition to Damage Type: Corrosion. But the hazard that is put into play from Breath of Corruption is not Damage Type: Magical, just Damage Type: Corrosion.   By default, when you put a template into play it doesn't do damage to models they overlap. The exceptions are templates that are created by an AOE weapon, and templates that explicitly say they do damage when they're placed. A model which is "placed" also counts as "entering" an area, so the template will damage any one who teleports/spawns into it, too. If two templates are overlapping, a model that enters them will take two points of damage.

Rules Clarification:  : Warbeast      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

See also the Warbeast page for a recap of the core warbeast rules. Forcing If an ability doesn't specify how much it costs to force, it costs 1. (Infernal Ruling) Animi A single Animus can be on several models at the same time. (Infernal Ruling) Unlike in Mk2, in Mk3 if a model has an animus on it from any source and then another animus is cast on that model, it will lose the first instance of an animus and will be replaced by the second. It does not matter if either the first animus or the second animus is from a warlock or warbeast. (Infernal Ruling) An animi cast by a warlock is an animi and a spell. (Infernal Ruling) Transferring Damage If both the warlock and the warbeast are damaged by the same attack (such as an AOE), then you need to apply the 'normal' damage to the warbeast before the transferred damage. This distinction can be important when you're working out who/what actually destroyed the beast. (Infernal Ruling) Frenzy (Edit) You cannot trigger optional abilities (such as Cleave or Sprint). (Infernal Ruling) You must trigger compulsory abilities (such as Consume) ... except for compulsory abilities that also generate an extra attack (such as Berserk). In that case, you don't get the Berserk attack. (Infernal Ruling) A warbeast may not make an Assault shot as part of a Frenzy activation. If the closest target to a warbeast resolving a Frenzy cannot be charged, then the warbeast will forfeit movement and action (as per the rules of having to charge and not being able to). (Infernal Ruling) If a frenzying warbeast can't reach its charge target (because the charge lane is blocked by terrain, etc) then it will make a failed charge and end its activation. (Locked thread) If a frenzying warbeast has two melee weapons with the same POW, it can choose which one to use. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Eyeless Sight      (Edit) A model that ignores Stealth must ignore both aspects: both (1) the auto-missing, and (2) the 'not counting as an intervening model' parts. This can have some strange interactions with casters & channelers, if one has Eyeless Sight and one does not. There are examples on the Category:Channeler page. Blind vs Eyeless Sight (Edit) If a model is Blinded, and then given Eyeless Sight, then that model ignores Blind ... but it is technically still Blinded. So if you somehow later lose Eyeless Sight (for instance walking out of the range of Menoth's Sight), it will immediately go back to suffering the effects of Blind. (Infernal Ruling) Also this means stuff that only works vs Blind models (ie Hidden Blade) will still trigger vs a "Was Blinded but then got Eyeless" model. Anti-Cloud abilities vs Burning Earth (Edit) If you make a piece of terrain "Burning Earth" it counts as a cloud effect in addition to it's original type. This has 2 odd rulings: If any part of the terrain piece is "hit" by an ability that makes clouds expire (such as Gale Winds) then the entire terrain piece is taken off the table. (Infernal Ruling) If a model can ignore clouds but not the original terrain type, they don't ignore the terrain. For instance if you have a burning forest, then Eyeless Sight can't see through the forest. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Soulless - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Pathfinder      (Edit) Pathfinder (Edit) - Pathfinder does not apply to involuntary movement (pushes & slams). (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Advance Deployment      (Edit) Sometimes you can attach a WA or CA that doesn't have AD to a unit that does have AD. If you do, the attachment effectively gains AD and they can all advance deploy together. (Locked Thread)

Rules Clarification : Dig In and/or Foxhole Buddy     (Edit) Unlike nearly every ability in the game, Dig In doesn't have a "expires after one turn/round" clause. Thus you could spend your action on turn 1 to Dig In and (assuming you don't move or get engaged) stay Dug In on turn 2 and use your action to make ranged attacks. Being pushed counts as moving. (Locked thread) If a model with Dig In is added to play or returned to play, it does not count as "starting the game". It can't be put into play already Dug In. (Infernal Ruling) You can use Dig In while you're in someone's back arc. You are engaging, but not engaged.

Rules Clarification : Counterblast      (Edit) What does trigger Counterblast Counterblast triggers off any advance, not just in-activation stuff. You can trigger Counterblast during your own turn, if your opponent has an ability to move during your turn (such as Admonition). Standing still but changing facing is an advance. What doesn't trigger Counterblast Aiming, or forfeiting your movement, is not advancing. If a model doesn't move, doesn't change facing, doesn't aim ... does nothing but skips straight ahead to its Combat Action, this is not an advance. (Infernal Ruling) Being placed (such as Teleport) is not an advance. Involuntary movement (being slammed, thrown, or pushed) is not an advance. Models can trigger this by walking into your back arc or out of LOS, but you still need LOS to make your attack. Unless you have something like Ghost Shot.