Part of our Flesh-eater Courts hub: every Flesh-eater Courts guide, lore page and painting tutorial in one place. Browse every Combat Patrol & Spearhead guide.
Flesh-eater Courts have two Spearhead forces. Charnel Watch (2025) is a fast, flying hunting party led by an Abhorrant Gorewarden. Carrion Retainers is the original box, led by an Abhorrant Archregent and his deluded ghoul “knights”. Both suit players who like aggressive, swarming melee armies with a strong theme of madness. Charnel Watch is the newer box and the one you’re most likely to find on shelves.
What’s in the Flesh-eater Courts Spearhead Boxes?
Spearhead: Flesh-eater Courts – Charnel Watch
Released in August 2025, this box builds 17 plastic miniatures. The Crypt Horror and Crypt Flayer kits can each be built as the other, but the Spearhead uses three of each.
| Unit | Models | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Abhorrant Gorewarden (general) | 1 | Flying vampire wizard who speeds up charges |
| Royal Beastflayers | 10 | Cheap ghouls who outflank from the board edge |
| Crypt Horrors | 3 | Tough melee “knights” |
| Crypt Flayers | 3 | Flying screamers with a short-range shooting attack |
Previous box: Carrion Retainers
The first Flesh-eater Courts Spearhead box, released with the launch of Age of Sigmar’s fourth edition, uses a different force: an Abhorrant Archregent (general), a Varghulf Courtier, 3 Morbheg Knights and 10 Cryptguard. Its rules are still published and were updated in November 2025, so if you already own it, you can keep playing it.
The Spearhead Rules
Charnel Watch
Battle traits, Delusions and Madness: At the start of the first battle round you pick a delusion to “believe”. In each later round you roll a dice. On 1–3 you must switch to a different delusion, and on 4+ you keep the same one. The two battle-trait delusions are:
- Delusion of the Great Feast: at the end of each turn, heal your units a little, and bring slain ghouls back to your serf units.
- Delusion of the Knightly Host: if a hero or knight unit rolls an 8+ to charge (before modifiers), it gets +1 to hit in combat that turn.
Regiment abilities (pick one, and it also becomes a delusion option): Delusion of the Sentinel improves ward saves for units standing on objectives, and Delusion of the Hunter adds 1 to wound rolls for units that are not on objectives.
Enhancements: Almost Lucid (re-roll a delusion roll once), A Worthy Challenge (force a duel with a small enemy unit, or make it strike last), Companion of the Hunt (a short bonus move at the end of a turn) and Choirmaster (boosts your ranged damage against one target).
Carrion Retainers
This force uses noble deeds points. Your heroes earn points by dealing damage in combat, up to six each. A hero with six points makes nearby units hit more often, and in your movement phase heroes can spend points to bring back Cryptguard or Morbheg Knights. The regiment abilities are Crusading Army (+1 to run and charge) or Defenders of the Realm (+1 save on objectives you control). The enhancements are a cloak that hides the Archregent from long-range attacks, a speech that earns extra noble deeds points, a once-per-battle heal and a damage spell that also revives Cryptguard.
What Each Unit Does
Abhorrant Gorewarden
A fast, flying wizard with five strong attacks. Its spell Sound the Pursuit! lets a friendly unit roll three dice for its charge and drop the lowest. That’s how you hit those 8+ charges for the Knightly Host. Keep it close to the Crypt Horrors.
Royal Beastflayers
Ten fragile ghouls whose job is to be annoying. If they’re near a board edge, they can redeploy along any edge, more than 6″ from the enemy. Use them to grab a distant objective or threaten the back of your opponent’s army.
Crypt Horrors
Your main fighters. They hit hard and can deal mortal damage back to any enemy unit that charges them. Put them on an objective you don’t want to lose, or send them in behind the Gorewarden.
Crypt Flayers
They fly 12″ and have a 10″ Death Scream attack that works even when they’re in combat. Every point of damage it deals also lowers the target’s control score, which makes them brilliant at stealing objectives.
Carrion Retainers units
The Archregent is a vampire wizard who can make a unit faster and deadlier. The Varghulf Courtier is a monster that heals itself and can slip away after a kill. Morbheg Knights are flying cavalry that can retreat and charge in the same turn without taking damage. The Cryptguard protect your heroes and come back thanks to noble deeds.
How to Play the Charnel Watch
The trick with Charnel Watch is reading the delusion each round and playing to it. Choose your regiment ability with the battle plan in mind: Sentinel if you plan to sit on objectives, Hunter if you plan to chase enemy units.
- Deployment: Beastflayers near a board edge so they can use Lie of the Land. Crypt Horrors and the Gorewarden together. Crypt Flayers on a flank.
- Round 1: If you’re going first, pick Knightly Host and use Sound the Pursuit! on the Crypt Horrors for a big charge. If you’re going second, Great Feast keeps you healthy while you close in.
- Rounds 2–3: Use the Crypt Flayers’ screams to lower enemy control on contested objectives. Redeploy the Beastflayers to grab unguarded points.
- Round 4: Everything onto objectives. The Great Feast heal can keep a key unit alive for one last turn.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting the delusion roll at the start of each round. It’s mandatory.
- Putting the Beastflayers in the middle of the board, where they can’t use Lie of the Land.
- Charging the Crypt Horrors into a unit that can out-fight them. Use their reactive mortal damage by letting enemies charge them instead.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
- Lots of movement tricks: flying units, board-edge redeployment and boosted charges
- Crypt Flayers are excellent at stealing objectives by cutting enemy control scores
- The Great Feast delusion keeps your units healthy over a long game
Weaknesses:
- Ghouls have poor saves and fold quickly to focused attacks
- The delusion roll can force you into the “wrong” bonus at a bad moment
- Only a few models, so losing the Crypt Horrors early really hurts
Building and Painting Notes
Ghouls are great practice models. Pale, sickly skin with a purple or brown wash, red-brown blood, and rusty scraps of armour look convincing very quickly. The Gorewarden has lots of detail in the wings and finery, so take your time with it. Decide early whether you’ll want extra Crypt Horrors or Flayers in a bigger army, because the kit builds either. Our Flesh-eater Courts painting guide walks through a full scheme.
Expanding Beyond Spearhead
Both boxes have warscrolls for full Age of Sigmar. Combining Charnel Watch with Carrion Retainers gives you a varied core of ghouls, flyers and vampire heroes. After that, a big centrepiece monster such as a Royal Terrorgheist or Royal Zombie Dragon, plus more serfs, is a natural next step. For army ideas and lore, visit our Flesh-eater Courts army hub. If you’re new to the full game, start with our Age of Sigmar rules explained guide.
Where to Buy the Box
If you want the Charnel Watch box covered in this guide, it is listed on Amazon US through third-party sellers. Check that the listing still shows the same box before you buy, since stock and sellers change.
Price details
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Flesh-eater Courts delusion?
The ghouls genuinely believe they are noble knights and courtiers. In the Charnel Watch Spearhead this becomes a rule: each round you “believe” one delusion, and it changes what your army is good at.
Can I still use the Carrion Retainers box?
Yes. Its Spearhead rules are still available from Games Workshop and were last updated in November 2025.
Should I build Crypt Horrors or Crypt Flayers?
For the Charnel Watch, build three of each, because the Spearhead needs both. In a bigger army, Horrors are the tougher choice for holding ground, and Flayers are better for mobility and control.
Is the Flesh-eater Courts Spearhead good for beginners?
Carrion Retainers is fairly simple: fight, earn points, bring ghouls back. Charnel Watch has more decisions to make each round, but the delusions are easy to track once you’ve played a game or two.
Why do Flesh-eater Courts ghouls think they are knights?
Their madness comes from Ushoran, the Carrion King, whose curse spread through his vampire bloodline. Each Abhorrant believes it rules a glorious kingdom, and that delusion spreads to the ghouls around it, so they see themselves as loyal knights, courtiers and servants while they feast on corpses in ruined crypts.
Related Content
- Flesh Eater Courts – Warhammer Age of Sigmar Guide — apply this guide to a specific army
- How to Play Warhammer 40k — Complete Beginner’s Guide — learn the core rules of Warhammer 40K
- Ossiarch Bonereapers Spearhead — Box Review & Guide — explore another helpful guide
- All Warhammer 40k Factions Ranked — Tier List — see which factions rank highest