Nighthaunt Start advice

[Sarkazim]

Local GW is doing a small Firestorm / Team event.  Currently Teams are 2 players ea, which I think is going to work out well since teammates are going to be able fill in for their teammate if they can't get the games in. 

That said there is an abundance of Order players (Stormcast might make their own team), and no Death players at all.  I've been collecting Nighthaunt for a while now as a backup project simply because I like the model range.  I've been asked that if another Order player jumps in, if I'd be willing to switch over to Death.  

So I've just taken inventory and looking for suggestions to expand and/or starting lists.  Even if I don't play as Death in the campaign, I'm also open to suggestions on what I should add next to the collection.  The only limit right now is stuff that would be regularly stocked on the shelves at a GW store, as I won't really have time to wait for it to arrive to add to the force in time for the campaign.  So no FW, Mail Order Only, or Out of Stock items.

(All Unassembled)
3 x Tomb Banshee (1 x Lhamaen to use as 'General')
4 x Cairn Wraith

9 x Spirit Host
10 x Hex Wraiths
1 x Mourngul

1 x Mortis Engine
I'm already planning on getting 1 more box of Spirit Hosts through any of the ways to get them right now.  I'm hoping he'll get in another 'Nighthaunt' starter box, which he'll let me return one of the Wraiths and apply it to the cost unless you think I need to have 5 for some reason.  I don't mind getting another 'Malignant' starter box, even with the 'Mortis Engine' ally problem.  I'd also like to get a Mortarch eventually, but don't know which one, so any suggestions there would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

[lastdarkness]

I ran Mourngul as my general with two units of 6 spirit hosts and two cairn wraiths for my first/main army.

I dont know if its legal points wise now since I dont got the new GH. I can tell you 6ct units of spirit hosts are annoying as all hell to fight.

 

I find Hexwraiths while fast, can be painful to use properly(the moving across mechanic caused alot of arguments for me thats for sure)

[vorathian]

Make sure you take ruler of the spirit hosts command trait, and also non heroes can no longer be generals   Use Cairn wraiths to intercept and weaken enemy units. Keep the mourngul for high priority objectives and use the hex wraiths to flank/secure objectives quickly. Making use of the new night haunt deepstrike is pretty powerful.  plus lightshard of the harvest moon and all those spirit hosts can down just about anything unless your rolls are abyssal. 

[Sarkazim]

Thank You for the replies and hoping for a bit of direction.  I've been following the 'Lets Chat' as well, and it sounds like I can go a variety of ways.  I was able to read some of the Firestorm stuff at the local FLGS, and it looks like the games aren't going to be evenly matched, and each player will draw 6 cards from a deck getting a number of 'muster' points.  Players will be able to decide if it's 10 wounds/muster  for Open Play, or 100 points/muster for Matched play.  I think what'll help with Firestorm, is finding the lowest muster combination possible, and start list building there.  There is a cap of 20 Muster points, so I shouldn't need to have more than 2k in the collection.

Going with my current plan, I've got a rough 1400 point list to build off of and utilize what I have.  

Tomb Banshee
Cairn Wraith
Cairn Wraith
6 x Spirit Hosts 
6 x Spirit Hosts 
5 x Hexwraiths 
5 x Hexwraiths 
Mourngul 

I'm only missing 3 Spirit hosts to pull this off, but from what I've been reading, it looks like I'll be buying more of these than anything else.  That means I can go ahead and just get a single box of Spirit Hosts, and still have the option of getting the bigger ones down the road.  I'm leaning away from that right now, as it seems like 10 Hexwraiths is the most I'll ever really use, and getting the larger boxes for the Hexwraiths isn't going to be a wise investment.  This is also based on the assumption that I'll be getting 14 muster points on average per game, and will make adjustments when I get to look at the game again (unless someone here has them and wouldn't mind PM me).

Going forward, I'd still like to go up to 2k whether I'm playing as DEATH or not, and would like any feedback/suggestions/etc. on these.
- Arkhan + 6 Spirit Hosts 
* The army lacks a real centerpiece model (outside of the Mourngul), and it'd be nice to have a solid Caster.  This is also the most affordable option and lowest model count for convenience.
- +2 Tomb Banshee, +1 Wraith, +9 Spirit Host
* This is pretty much what I've gathered from the 'Let's Chat'.  Straight Nighthaunt, Max Heroes, pretty flexible for most scenarios.  
- +10 Hexwraiths, +6 Spirit Hosts or +Heroes
* While I said I was leaning away from having the 20 Hexwraiths, I left this option here because this would be the result of buying the bigger boxes (Malignant/Nighthaunt)

Other brief options I looked at were Coven Throne (since I have the 1 Mortis Engine kit from the Malignants box).  I also kind of liked the idea of getting a 2nd Mortis Engine.  I can't be the only one who has the hope that the Malignants starter box will be able to be used one day.  I think for Open play it'd be fine as well, but that's about as far as it got.

Any direction on these would be greatly appreciated.  I hope to find out tomorrow if they even want me to play as DEATH.  Even if I don't, I think it'll be a good plan for just adding units to the project.

 

[lastdarkness]

Your army list looks pretty decent. Make sure your taking the lird command and shard of harvestmoon or the book.

 

I hear 3 Cairnwraiths and 2 banshees is the max you want on heros. Also that Hexwraiths get underestimated alot.

 

For ally forces I looked at tournement lists and saw its Arkhan, or a vampire lord and bloodknights. 

 

 

[Sarkazim]

Thanks for the help.  The project is going back into the box for now since I don't need to switch to DEATH.

That said, I had a good chat with some of the AoS guys and I'm going to get the following boxes to add to the project.
- 1 Box of Spirit Hosts (To finish what I have above)
- Skeleton SC box.  This will give me Arkhan and 5 more Hexwraiths (assuming the Knights are the same kit?)  One of the other players will trade out the Skeletons for Spirit Hosts.
- Malignant SC box.  

That should give me:
Arkhan
3 x Banshee
4 x Cairn Wraiths (Seen some small point lists run these guys and No Banshee, so will keep them)
18 x Spirit Hosts
20 x Hexwraiths
1 x Mourngul
2 x Mortis Engines (With the hope that they'll eventually be field able as Nighthaunt or Allies)

That should give me a broad variety of list options while containing all the models I'll need.
Not sure if a second Mourngul would be worth it, but it's also an option that I'm considering.

Thank You
 

[lastdarkness]

Instead of the Malignants box have a look at Tormented Spirits.  https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Nighthaunt-Tormented-Spirits

 

 

[Sarkazim]

I have one of those already and oddly enough the issue I have with it is the Wraith.  If I got another one that would put me at 5 Wraiths, and I don't think I'm going to need that many.  Especially if the rumors are true and we're getting a new Nighthaunt hero.  I also think that those were limited releases, so by the time I got around to it they might not be available.  The 2nd Malignant box is a 'way down the road' purchase, so I'm not too worried about it.  Want to get Arkhan as a priority, but only when I come back to this project.  I've got some expansion to do on my Shadowblades, so going to finish that up.

Thanks again for the tip though.

 

 

[lastdarkness]

Another unit to consider for allies is Bat Swarm to reduce enemy missle attacks.

 

Were getting a weird Hero. Heralds of Nagash like the Knight of Shrouds teaser we saw. Ive been told that they can actualy be put together as units instead of solo heros.  Well see new death releases around febuary with the new death story arc.

[Melcar]

On 12/10/2017 at 6:51 PM, Sarkazim said:

1 x Mortis Engine

How are you even using this model in your army? Aren't it breaking the allegiance and allies rules?

[xspire]

2 hours ago, Melcar said:

How are you even using this model in your army? Aren't it breaking the allegiance and allies rules?

He's not using it in his nighthaunt list

[ZephyrExia]

4 hours ago, Melcar said:

How are you even using this model in your army? Aren't it breaking the allegiance and allies rules?

1x mortis engine costs 180pts, In a 1000pt list you can take 200pts of allies. So, no, its not breaking the allegiance or allies rules.

[Rid]

Thing is you can’t use a mortis engine in nighthaunt at all.

 

despite it being pulled by spirits, driven by a wraith like guy and haveing banshees swirling round it... good move gw!

[Melcar]

2 hours ago, ZephyrExia said:

1x mortis engine costs 180pts, In a 1000pt list you can take 200pts of allies. So, no, its not breaking the allegiance or allies rules.

But Nighthaunt cant have Deathmages as allies!...

 

5 hours ago, xspire said:

He's not using it in his nighthaunt list

 

Then what's it doing on his list?

[Sarkazim]

It's a list of what I own/plan on owning.  It's more of a Model Count than actual list to put on the table since I'm just in the stockpiling phase.  I've yet to crack any of the boxes and assemble any of the models.  It's all for a future project for a Nighthaunt army.  While it's cheaper to just buy the units that I would need, it seems stupid in my mind, to not buy at least 2 of the Malignant boxes and just have the Mortis Engines on hand.  I'd hate to not have two of them, just to have them update the rules down the road to make use of the box.  I mentioned it when I applied the advice in the follow up post.

Prior to that, I was asked to consider playing it for Firestorm, but didn't need to since another Death Player stepped up.  So I just went back to my Shadowblades.  I switched to using this as a 'What to buy next' instead of a 'What to build next', since it's an incomplete army.  I get tips at my job which I dedicate to hobby stuff, so I like to have an idea of what to save up for, even if it just goes into a box for down the road.  This will be my second/backup AoS army.  I don't have a current interest in adding to my 40k collection, and I'm not sold on Necromunda yet.  So Nighthaunt it is for now.

 

 

[Melcar]

Ahh makes sense! Good luck! I’m brewing up some nighthaunt my self! 

[themortalgod]

Personally, I really like the Black Coach, it isn't super powerful, but it also isn't very expensive (pts wise). In terms of pure value per wound a wraith on foot is better but it lets you have a general with more than 4 wounds which I think is surprisingly valuable. (Not being able to get 1 shot by a D6 MW spell is really nice) It also has more mobility which is nice and really all you need to do is get 1 level on it and its charge becomes pretty good. 

And even though the model is pretty dated and metal it is still a really cool model that is so iconic. (Though I hope in a future nighthaunt release GW comes out with a new coach that is twice the size and actually a powerful behemoth)

As for mortarchs, get the Start Collecting: Skeleton Horde. Its only like $5 more than a mortarch on its own and you get 5 more cav (which can be assembled as hexwraiths) and 10 skeletons. Also it is really easy to magnify the mortarch model so you can swap riders around depending on your whim. Thematically I think Arkhan is the best fit but Neferata can be pretty scary to a gunline if you use her to summon some bat swarms that combo with her aura to create a -2 to hit bubble to neuter shooting.