Thunderquake Starhost: the monster-mash formation (AoS 4th Ed)
A monster-focused Seraphon formation that toughens up your big beasts for a wall of dinosaurs.
SprueSentry strategy commentary for Age of Sigmar 4th edition, not official rules. Games Workshop updates points and rules regularly — always confirm against the current official rules and your latest dataslate before a game.
The Thunderquake Starhost is the dinosaur-heavy archetype, buffing your Monster units (Scaly Monstrosities) so a wall of Stegadons, Bastiladons, and Carnosaurs becomes even harder to shift. It suits players who love big models and a durable, hard-hitting centerpiece list. Exact buff values are set by your current faction pack and can change via Battlescroll.
What the formation does
It improves your Monster units - broadly a durability boost (extra Health) that makes your big beasts tougher to kill. The result is a resilient monster core that can absorb punishment while dishing out heavy damage. Confirm the exact bonus and which units count as Monsters on your current warscroll.
Who it suits
Players who want a spectacle army of towering dinosaurs and a simple, tough gameplan: put durable monsters on the board and make the opponent deal with them. It's forgiving because the models are hard to remove.
Key units
- Stegadon / Engine of the Gods for durability and utility
- Bastiladon as a tanky, hard-to-shift anchor
- Carnosaur-mounted heroes for monster-hero punch
- A Slann or Skink caster to buff and support the beasts
- Skinks as cheap screens and objective-holders around the monsters
When to pick it
Choose it when you want a resilient, model-heavy list, against armies that struggle to output enough damage to drop big monsters, or when you simply want to field a horde of dinosaurs. It's weaker into armies with heavy anti-monster or mortal-wound output.
Common questions
Can monster-heavy Seraphon still score objectives?
Yes, but monsters alone can be outmanoeuvred, so most Thunderquake lists still bring cheap Skinks to hold and grab objectives while the big beasts fight. Balance body count against monster count for the current mission pack and points.
Is Thunderquake beginner-friendly?
It's one of the more forgiving Seraphon builds because tough monsters are hard to remove and the plan is simple. Just be aware it can struggle against dedicated anti-monster armies, so learn which matchups punish it.
- Faction Pack Overview: Seraphon - Age of Sigmar 4th Edition (Goonhammer) · 2024
- Seraphon faction rules (Wahapedia, AoS 4th) · 2024-2026
- Seraphon Faction Pack (Warhammer Community PDF) · 2024
- December Battlescroll Review: Seraphon (Woehammer) · 2025-12-27
- Age of Sigmar Battlescroll Updates (Warhammer Community) · 2026
Written by SprueSentry with SprueSentry editorial (hand-authored, research-grounded), grounded in the cited sources — original commentary, not Games Workshop rules text.