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Death tough List (1,000 - 1,500)


Spiny Norman

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Hi guys,

I'm new to the tga and I'm throwing in a big hello to everyone.

Coming from 40k, I recently started with AoS and was intrigued by the Death model line. I know it's not the toughest Faction around right now, I just like the aesthetics.

Anyways I want to bring a farily tough list to the table, my club consists of committed hobbyist and semi-competetive players.

In my first list, I want to include Arkhan the black. I was torn between him and Neferata, but I decide he has the more pleasing model is seems quite versatile.

 

My first 1500 Point List goes like this:

 

Allegiance: Death

Heroes
Arkhan The Black Mortarch of Sacrament (340)
Heinrich Kemmler, The Lichemaster (160)

Battleline
2 x Morghast Archai (240)
- Deathlords Battleline
10 x Zombies (60)
10 x Zombies (60)
10 x Zombies (60)

Units
3 x Vargheists (160)

Behemoths
Mourngul (400)

Total: 1480/2000

 

 

 

Since I am just buying and painting my models up to this army, I wonder how I could play on 1,000 Points and use the models I need for this list. Of course I would buy one or another model.

 

Does anyone have a tip on how this list might perform as a base stock to go on from there?

 

thanks for all your help.

 

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I was indeed thinking about crypt horros. They seem to go so well with the healing of Kemmler.

I was wondering if I should run the Ghul King on food or sit him on a TG?

Maybe just skip the GKoTG and straight go to a VLoZD? The TG model is awesone, but I read the ZD was the better performing unit. Although I don't know if it is worth to run the GKTG with crypt horros because they synergize better?

 

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Frankly I would love to know, if there are well known cominations featuring Arkhan (and Kemmler), which are prooven to work out well.

 

Morghast are always a good choice Imho. Mourngul has to be in a harder death list. I included Vargheists to bring speed.

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Mournghuls in 1k level are extremely tough because but can be a big point sink. From what you have I would go:

Mournghul (general) (400)

3 x 10 zombies (180)

varghiests (160)

morghast (240)

total 980/1000

You've got bodies (zombies), speed (varghiests), power (mournghul + morghasts). Not much in the way of synergy but I think pretty tough to deal with especially if you equip the mournghul well. 

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3 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

Frankly I would love to know, if there are well known cominations featuring Arkhan (and Kemmler), which are prooven to work out well.

 

Morghast are always a good choice Imho. Mourngul has to be in a harder death list. I included Vargheists to bring speed.

Arkhan ive only seen as a summoner but Ive had good runs with Kemmler heal boting a Necrosphinx.

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Might Neferata be the better option for the Moartarch kit then?
She hits pretty hard and when Arkhan is just useful for summoning (which is not top notch in matched play) one might reconsider building Arkhan?


Do not dismiss Arkhan's Curse of Years spell. Can be very powerful.

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12 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

Might Neferata be the better option for the Moartarch kit then?

She hits pretty hard and when Arkhan is just useful for summoning (which is not top notch in matched play) one might reconsider building Arkhan?

Neferata is likely the most useful mortarch, yeah. You can always magnetize it for all three riders though! Generally speaking I don't think any of the mortarchs at the moment unless your metagame is not very shooty. If you regularly face opponents who aren't spamming shooting then Neferata can be extremely good. 

The main problem is that the single best thing that Death has going for it is the Ruler of the Night command trait, and if you use a named character as your general you can't take a command trait (and Neferata loses a lot of value if you don't take her as the general). It's kinda strange how the best general in a Death army right now is probably the champion of a big skeleton block. That way you can't get your general sniped and suddenly lose Ruler of the Night. The other strong option for general is Settra, although the Mourngul with Red Fury trick is pretty nifty too. 

Kemmler is pretty nifty, tbh. I think he might be a bit underrated. I don't love his spell, but his ability to dump off wounds onto your nearby chaff units makes him the only death caster that can really survive being shot at. If you have a decent number of multiwound models then his spell can be useful, but even if he is just casting arcane bolt and mystic shield every turn he can provide good value. Mystic shield can really help take models like Settra or a Mourngul to the next level of survivability. He's also useful for dispelling, since you can reliably move him up the board rather than having to keep him back.

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I don't own Settra, I am just starting to collect and putting some effort into my paintjob, therefore I probably won't get my hands on Settra. I don't like his model either. So the TK are out of reach.

You're right, the meta is shooty and full of magic. RotN would be the most useful command trait.

 I like the Kemmler heal pretty much,because I am planing on Morghast, Mourngul, CryptH / Vargheist and a Monster (Mortarch or ZD) so the heal might really come in handy.

Using Arkhan for Kemmlers heal would rather guarantee a successful cast.

Neferata would lose her -1 Aura. But she still seems capable of melee combat and teaming her with a mourngul and cursed book could work? And I really like her Spell, which equals Sayl the Faithless.

She could geta moungul or a fully buffed skeleton horde (maybe even grave guard) into the enemy. One could try out if a Grave Guard bomb works, probably with a 5+ RotN save, 6+ Wightking save and double pile in from the necro.

 

 

But since I am just starting to buy models, I'd rather settle for a tested out list to begin with.

 

 

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9 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

You're right, the meta is shooty and full of magic. RotN would be the most useful command trait.

 I like the Kemmler heal pretty much,because I am planing on Morghast, Mourngul, CryptH / Vargheist and a Monster (Mortarch or ZD) so the heal might really come in handy.

Using Arkhan for Kemmlers heal would rather guarantee a successful cast.

Neferata would lose her -1 Aura. But she still seems capable of melee combat and teaming her with a mourngul and cursed book could work? And I really like her Spell, which equals Sayl the Faithless.

She could geta moungul or a fully buffed skeleton horde (maybe even grave guard) into the enemy. One could try out if a Grave Guard bomb works, probably with a 5+ RotN save, 6+ Wightking save and double pile in from the necro.

But since I am just starting to buy models, I'd rather settle for a tested out list to begin with.

The thing to keep in mind with Kemmler's heal is that it will never heal more than one wound per unit even though the spell says "every model". This is because of the way wounds are allocated -- you have to keep allocating wounds to the same model within a unit until it dies. So it's not like if your Crypt Horrors take 3 wounds you can dish out one to each model and then heal them all with Kemmler. Against melee opponents you will get a little more value because you can force the opponent into a situation where they are hitting multiple units. Shooting will likely focus on one target until it goes down. 

Also, keep in mind how Kemmler's Lichemaster rule plays out with the other death special rules. You get to try your allegiance save on Kemmler first, and then if you fail that you can use Lichemaster. If that succeeds, then the unit that takes the mortal wound gets to use it's own death save plus any other special saves. This makes Kemmler ridiculously hard to kill!

Arkhan would indeed increase the chance of Kemmler's heal going off, but that's a lot of points for such a minor effect. Neferata's spell is great, but it's hardly Sayl. Sayl doubles the movement and makes the unit fly while Neferata just makes it fly. The immune to rend part is huge too, but a totally different thing than Sayl's. 

Neferata + Mourngul + Cursed Book is a nasty combo but it ends up costing a ton of points. You won't be able to fit that in a 1k list. Keep in mind that you still need troops to take objectives. 

Unfortunately there is no real "tried and true" death list at the moment.

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That's probably true. I am now facing the problem which model to build and paint out of the starter kit.

I want to play in 1-2 months and I will put at least 2 weeks of painting in the Mortarch alone. I already started painting the body of the mount in pieces, which is really time consuming.

So I would love if you gave me your personal profane opinion, which model could bring more use / more combos to go with it at the moment...Neferata or Arkhan?

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Right now I'd say Neferata, but if they improve summoning in GHB2 it could easily become Arkhan. Right now I'd basically never field Arkhan under any circumstances if I was trying to field a "hard" list. 

All that being said, I think the absolute best thing you can do right now is assemble the dread abyssal however you like and then magnetize the riders. They should be very easy to magnetize, and that way you are future proofed against any changes.

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Ask somebody at the shop how to magnetize if you need to see it in person. It's one of the easiest and I highly highly recommend magnetizing rider butts.

As far as lists go, I think the best non-TK Death list was by @CanHammer-darren on these forums, check out his tournament report to get an idea. Mind you that list is brutal and he straight up tabled all but 1 models he played against. But if you want strong, look there.

Neferata is the best of he mortarchs. Generally worse than VLoZD? Correct.

The strongest things we have in Death:

TK Stuff (although nerfed now, not sure)

Mourngul

VLoZD w/Cursed Book & ROTN (Red Fury + Tomb Blade is runner up)

Crypt Horrors & Near Ghoul King & Varghulf regen (better if buffed by necromancer spell)

40+ Zombies or Skeletons, (better if buffed by necromancer spell)

Vampire Lord on Absyssal Terror (VLoAT) , although points nerf, not sure how good it is. You can plan whole lists of this unit. (Really improves Dire Wolves, Blood Knights, Mourngul, VLOZD, Necrosphinx

4x Morghast Archai - Hyper deadly, but expensive. (If you give VLOZD re-roll, this unit will kill almost anything in the game)

Stacking -x to hit via cursed book, Mourngul, even Neferata as the general.

Blood Knights out dueling others then regenning.

Spirits Ignoring rend, annoying your opponent.

 

Other stuff too, but ^^^^ that is the strongest list wise.

(Ghoul Patrol honorable mention?)

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Very helpful guys, thanks.

 

Magnetizing sounds pretty reasonable for the mortarchs and I think cutting a hole, stuffing it with greenstuff and pinch the magnet in will be possible even for a beginner.

Thanks for going over the stuff, the VoZD is a nice model, although I already have a TG painted from 2 years ago (when he was the ****** in fantasy and I wanted to start fantasy, but then I canceled my further army for the upcoming AoS).

He's not bringing it anymore, right?

 

The GK Crypt Horror Combo is pretty nice. Is there a way to fit in Grave Guard, though? I really love the models, if painted well.

 

I assume their 4" movement cripples them for a hard list right?

 

I will check darren's list out.

 

 

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I checked Darren's 1000 Pt. list. But it doesn't work out for me.

He always be above 1.000 Pts.

 

His list is:

 

GKoTG 400

Varghulf 160

6 x Crypt Horrors 280

"Zombies" (I assume he needs 2 Battleline units of 10 so)

10 x Zombies 60

10 x Zombies 60

Necromancer 120

 

1080 points then. Even if he plays with just 1 battleline he will still exceed 1000 Pts.

 

 

 

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