LoB 2K: Bravery debuff themed

[themortalgod]

So came up with an interesting idea for an army this evening that is designed around abusing all the bravery debuffs that the new Death book has. What do you think?

1x Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon - General, Orb of Enchantment, Aura of Dark Majesty, Amethystine Pinions - 440pts

1x Necromancer - Overwhelming Dread - 110pts

5x Black Knights - 120pts

5x Black Knights - 120pts

5x Black Knights - 120pts

5x Dire Wolves - 60pts

10x Zombies - 60pts

10x Zombies - 60pts

1x Terrorgheist - 300pts

1x Terrorgheist - 300pts

1x Terrorgheist - 300pts

Total: 1980pts

 

The overall concept is pretty simple, rush into the enemy battleline making sure that as much as possible is in range of the -2 Bravery aura that each unit of Black Knights brings.  Then just do as much damage as possible with the 4 behemoths while also enjoying supercharged screams from the Terrorgheists. In double cast situations of overwhelming dread an enemy unit can be at -4 Bravery, which can be devastating.  

The Zombies are in the list to fill battleline but also make for a good bubble wrap for the Necromancer or are great to babysit back line objectives. Dire wolves can either play speedbump duty or zip up a flank to grab objectives. 

Aura of Dark Majesty and Orb of Enchantment on the VLoZD are so that he can go toe to toe with virtually any big threat in the game, even if the big threat charges him. Though, with the pinions he should be pretty fast. I feel he is pretty critical as powerful heroes tend to have high bravery so won't be nearly as vulnerable to the screams.

I toyed with an alternative version of the list that didn't run the VLoZD but instead spammed a bunch of banshees to really double down on the MWs but I think their movement speed is just too prohibitive to be useful. 

Another alternative version of the list could run Bloodseeker Palanquins in the place of the Terrorgheists for more of an AoE focus that also has a more powerful magic phase but I feel that the hitting power of the Terrorgheists probably makes them more powerful.

thoughts?

 

[TheWilddog]

Don't forget the Mortis Engine.  Has an AOE banshee scream and a once per game MW bomb.  It can now scream in the shooting phase and is much cheaper than the Palanquin and the Terrorgheist.  I have seen some bravery bomb lists floating around that spam up to 3 of these(which you can do because of the cost) that look real fun. 

[Malakithe]

I was thinking of a similar bravery type thing. I can see this version working with all the fast units dishing out the bravery defuff.

[Arael_Greywings]

Hmm the Terrorgheists seem to be the more valid version at least when they are full hp since they go  6+W6 instead of 2W6 on Mortis Engine or Banshee. Also the are really good in Melee too. But since the Mortis Engine is basically an AOE Scream, one of them would in any case be a valid choice...

[Jgregs]

mini wargaming played a game with a list somewhat similiar to this.

 

[Rob Hawkins]

I did alright with a bravery bomb list using Sacrament, Deathmarch, 2 Morghasts and 3 Banshees. 
The Sacrament artifacts kept my leaders safe from shooting,
Overwhelming Dread  -1 (or -2), Morghasts 1- and Banners -1 for a total of -3 or -4 Bravery when the Banshees scream at them.

@themortalgod, Might I suggest dropping one of the Terrorgheists in favor of 4 Banshees?  They'd fit with the 20 spare points you have, and max out your 6 Leader slots at 2000 pts.  And they'll get you THREE extra screams per turn.

[themortalgod]

40 minutes ago, Rob Hawkins said:

I did alright with a bravery bomb list using Sacrament, Deathmarch, 2 Morghasts and 3 Banshees. 
The Sacrament artifacts kept my leaders safe from shooting,
Overwhelming Dread  -1 (or -2), Morghasts 1- and Banners -1 for a total of -3 or -4 Bravery when the Banshees scream at them.

@themortalgod, Might I suggest dropping one of the Terrorgheists in favor of 4 Banshees?  They'd fit with the 20 spare points you have, and max out your 6 Leader slots at 2000 pts.  And they'll get you THREE extra screams per turn.

They would, but the challenge is that 6" movement. Maybe if they had the summonable keyword and could come up from grave markers, but needing to be within 8" AND only having a 6" movement means they spend most of the game trying to get into range.  Plus their threat is only screams, while the Terrorgheists are a threat in both combat and shooting. 

[TheWilddog]

I feel like Gw really missed a great opportunity here to push a cool gameplay variant.  While the bravery debuff theme does come through in the current Legion Of Blood lists if they had pushed it just a tad more it could have been an established go to option.  Something as simple as an artifact in the Legion Of Blood like the Terrorghiest Mantle (from the Grand Host artifact list that grants a Hero a Terrorgheist scream) or an artifact like the FEC Garland (that gives a Hero a -2 six inch bravery debuff) would have made these lists sooooo much more viable. They would have been strong but not oppressive and if they proved to truly be too good they could have just removed the artifact in GHB 2018.  I feel they were a little too conservative and now we are ultimately left with a cool theme list that will likely never reach its full potential.