AoS 2 - Flesh-eater Courts Discussion

[XReN]

As I slowly approach my FEC waiting on sprues, I had a glance on this thread.
Can't suggest the right size for magnets, but can give my two cents on magnetising, doing it with horrors is going to be far, far easier than kurnoth hunters that i did for my friend. 
So this is what i do to not mess up polarity: I stack my small magnets on big, telescopic one and work around that, so I prepare a hole for magnet in body and glue it in by poking stack of magnets in, then I live two magnets there, one of them glued and second on top of the first, after that prepare a hole in hand, drop some glue there and press it in position. That way you should get all your models right.
 

Edited September 21, 2018 by XReN

[nuttyknatty]

@Honk I’m the other way around! Built and painted all mine as Horrors!?

Edited September 21, 2018 by The Nameless One

[deynon]

Magnetize the head it's quite simple. Sincerly I magnetized  the backs, not the arms^^ Cause I found them quite different and worth the work^^

[nuttyknatty]

1 hour ago, deynon said:

Magnetize the head it's quite simple. Sincerly I magnetized  the backs, not the arms^^ Cause I found them quite different and worth the work^^

The head??

[deynon]

8 minutes ago, The Nameless One said:

The head??

Surely, otherways how can you change throuth courtiers haunter , infernal, crypt horrors and crypt flyers?^^

[nuttyknatty]

@deynon Interesting - for me it’s legs that’s the defining characteristic! If your on one leg, then your either  champion (and therefore in a unit) or a haunted/infernal Courtier.

Wings are the only difference between my flayers and Horrors (so magnetising the arms will do it for me). 

[deynon]

35 minutes ago, The Nameless One said:

@deynon Interesting - for me it’s legs that’s the defining characteristic! If your on one leg, then your either  champion (and therefore in a unit) or a haunted/infernal Courtier.

Wings are the only difference between my flayers and Horrors (so magnetising the arms will do it for me). 

You're right, I've prepared those models also to be used as Vargheists, so I decided to make the separation on the back instead of on the wings. I could have done  also that magnetization, but I 've chosen differently.

If you are not interested only in FEC so yes, magnetizing the arms only it's better. Anyway... at elast a couple of heads of some models in the way to have the option of the crypt haunter courtier could be useful^^

[James S]

Got 3 more games in with my learning 500pt list.  Played Maggotkin with Harbinger and 10 Blightkings and KO with Balloon Boys, Khemist, and lots of shooting.

Squeeked out a win against Nurgle. Got absolutely demolished  by the KO guy. He just sniped off my heroes easily even with Look out Sir. I still can't figure out what I can do against that. I used the terrain to my ability and it didn't matter.

Another night of using Flayers and just being underwhelmed with them. Thinking they have no business as a main unit but better served as harassment against weak units/heroes. I'm had I've been playing them a lot to atleast see what they can/cannot do well. Too much stuff has high Bravery these days. Feel like the scream is a waste. It took the Grim Garland and Sinister terrain just to peel a mortal wound off a Blight King. Couldn't keep my Infernal Courtier alive long enough to even try against KO.

[XReN]

3 hours ago, James S said:

Got 3 more games in with my learning 500pt list.  Played Maggotkin with Harbinger and 10 Blightkings and KO with Balloon Boys, Khemist, and lots of shooting.

Squeeked out a win against Nurgle. Got absolutely demolished  by the KO guy. He just sniped off my heroes easily even with Look out Sir. I still can't figure out what I can do against that. I used the terrain to my ability and it didn't matter.

Another night of using Flayers and just being underwhelmed with them. Thinking they have no business as a main unit but better served as harassment against weak units/heroes. I'm had I've been playing them a lot to atleast see what they can/cannot do well. Too much stuff has high Bravery these days. Feel like the scream is a waste. It took the Grim Garland and Sinister terrain just to peel a mortal wound off a Blight King. Couldn't keep my Infernal Courtier alive long enough to even try against KO.

Try cogs+summoning units to tie up shooting units, but at this point format - there is not so much you can do against KO

Edited September 22, 2018 by XReN

[Baron Wastelands]

9 hours ago, James S said:

Another night of using Flayers and just being underwhelmed with them. Thinking they have no business as a main unit but better served as harassment against weak units/heroes. I'm had I've been playing them a lot to atleast see what they can/cannot do well. Too much stuff has high Bravery these days. Feel like the scream is a waste. It took the Grim Garland and Sinister terrain just to peel a mortal wound off a Blight King. Couldn't keep my Infernal Courtier alive long enough to even try against KO.

I think you need more bodies. At 500pts, the free summoning abilities are scary. If you don’t need 2 battleline, try:

Ghoul king on terrogheist with majestic horror, 10 crypt ghouls.

this allows you to bring 2 units of crypt horrors/ Flayers on in your first turn (and it’s a 2 drop army), and you still have a terrogheist!

If you do need 2 battleline, try:

2 Ghoul kings, one of them general with majestic horror, 2 units of 10 crypt ghouls.

This means 50 ghouls by turn 2, all buffable by either of the kings. Alternatively replace one of the GK with 2x ghast courtier, for 40 regenerating ghouls, and just look after your king! Courtiers are always going to be sniper targets though.

[James S]

Thanks @Baron Wastelands!

I need two battleline so I'll give the others a try for sure! 

[Honk]

14 hours ago, James S said:

Couldn't keep my Infernal Courtier alive long

Jep, that’s the f* up going against KO... 

maybe going GA:Death with ring of immortality 

at that format you just can really protect your heroes. 

[James S]

6 hours ago, Honk said:

Jep, that’s the f* up going against KO... 

maybe going GA:Death with ring of immortality 

at that format you just can really protect your heroes. 

It's all good. Atleast I know I was doing it right and KO is a hard counter. I've pretty much bullied our KO guy with my Ogors for a while. Definitely his turn to give me some beat down.

Hopefully as the points increase it will get better. Still enjoying the hell out of the army. Just very slow going on the building and painting front.

[Honk]

On 9/23/2018 at 2:32 AM, James S said:

Definitely his turn to give me some beat down.

The baseline and matching heros are hard to get rolling at 500pts.

especially with the command abilities. 10ghouls with GkoTg, maybe, I had an ok match against  KO with varghulf, 9flayers, 10 ghouls...(750pts) once they got into combat things turned, but my varghulf was turned into fine red mist twice (illegally used ring of immortality)

also horrors with courtier could/might be working,

but playing the objective game, protecting your heroes and getting into combat is really tough.

[James S]

11 hours ago, Honk said:

The baseline and matching heros are hard to get rolling at 500pts.

especially with the command abilities. 10ghouls with GkoTg, maybe, I had an ok match against  KO with varghulf, 9flayers, 10 ghouls...(750pts) once they got into combat things turned, but my varghulf was turned into fine red mist twice (illegally used ring of immortality)

also horrors with courtier could/might be working,

but playing the objective game, protecting your heroes and getting into combat is really tough.

Yea man. We have this 500pt mini tournament at one of our flgs. It's a you win, you stay, kind of thing. At the end of the day, whoever is champion gets the prize. It's a fun celebration thing the store is doing with a lot of different platforms. 

But for sure it's two battleline and one hero. Will see a lot of filth and was trying to see what works and doesn't. Just feels impossible to get buffing going and the units you need to make it happen.  I can't complain too much though. Giving me a lot of opportunities to slowly learn the army and some units a little at a time. Hoping to be full force tournament playing start of 2019.  Pretty excited.

[Honk]

1 hour ago, James S said:

But for sure it's two battleline and one hero.

??? 2 units ??? 

 Then your Round 1 chaff... 

might go for 2x3 horror with the courtier, but the more I think about it... 10/10 ghouls with king and 2 courtiers

[Rekmeister]

I have a 1k tournament coming up in December, and am deliberating between a few lists. If you live near Brighton, UK, and want to attend then pm me for details.

All three armies will use the Crusading Army delusion because I am a speed freak.

First off we have a meat and potatoes list:

AGKoZB - Majestic Horror, Gryph-Feather Charm

6 Crypt Horrors

10 Crypt Chouls

10 Grypt Ghouls

Geminids of Uhl-Gysh

I prefer this one from a 'what I start the game with' standpoint. I have heavy troops, a behemoth, and 2 sets of bubblewrap on the board. Starting with an army and then summoning the Varghulfs makes for better paced gameplay as it means I can alpha strike and then recoup my losses with the batbois. I prefer the Feeding Frenzy spell to Unholy Vitality as it combos really well with Crypt Horrors; and gives me the flexibility of being able to summon a Haunter Courtier instead of a Varghulf in the few matchups where that's relevant. Geminids are really just to fill out points and/or debuff a ket unit, though I'm honestly tempted to take a gravetide instead because that is a big heckin spell. The raw power on this list is lower than the other, but it has better synergies and a tighter, more responsive nature.

Then we have the screechy list.

AGKoTG - Majestic Horror, Grim Garland

AGKoTG

10 Crypt Ghouls

10 Crypt Ghouls

This army is basically a 1480pt list. Really dirty, but it lacks the speed and hitting power that I think wins games of AoS 2.0. I'm tempted to forgo Grim Garland for Gryph Feather, but I love the thought of auto-wiping low bravery units. There's also the issue that I might lose the second Terrorgheist before it gets to summon the royal guard if I get double turned, but that's the game baby.

Finally we have an Abbatoir list.

Crypt Haunter Courtier - Dark Wizardry, Rune Blade

Varghulf - Argent Armour

Ghoul King

10 Ghouls

3 Crypt Horrors

3 Crypt Horrors

Abbatoir

So, this army only summons 10 ghouls, but it is only 3 drops, and can hit like a brickhouse, while also having some really sneaky tricks. Two wizards means the Varghulf is more likely to be re-rolling his hits; and everyone being infantry means I can use cover more effectively. There's also the fact that my general, the Crypt Haunter, is a beast. He re-rolls hits while near the king, and since the Rune Blade makes his club rend -3-, dealing 3 damage ; he can put in some serious work. Argent armour on a Varghulf is also very, very nice as it means you can take more risks to trigger the Kings Champion rule. Lastly the Abbatoir is a great battalion which provides a nice bit of reach against hordes and monsters. My only gripe with this army is that I don't have room for an endless spell, and black hunger doesn't really have a good target in the list. It's kind of a guerrilla warfare list, with answers for everything but not nearly as much staying power as the other two armies.

What do you guys and gals think?

Edited September 27, 2018 by Rekmeister

[erasercrumbs]

Pardon what might be a dumb question, and I'm sure it's already been answered, but if I wanna start FEC, is it compulsory to buy the Nagash Battletome? I have little interest in Legions of Nagash as a whole, and would rather save the 40 bucks if possible.

[Baron Wastelands]

1 hour ago, erasercrumbs said:

Pardon what might be a dumb question, and I'm sure it's already been answered, but if I wanna start FEC, is it compulsory to buy the Nagash Battletome? I have little interest in Legions of Nagash as a whole, and would rather save the 40 bucks if possible.

Absolutely not. I think you only really need the ghb18. Battalions are in the FEC battletome, if you want those.

[kenshin620]

2 hours ago, erasercrumbs said:

Pardon what might be a dumb question, and I'm sure it's already been answered, but if I wanna start FEC, is it compulsory to buy the Nagash Battletome? I have little interest in Legions of Nagash as a whole, and would rather save the 40 bucks if possible.

There are 0 FEC stuff in LoN. They're their own army.

Unlike Soulblight, which I have no idea how they're going to deal with that especially in conjunction with Legion of Blood.

[Honk]

5 hours ago, Rekmeister said:

am deliberating between a few lists.

Sorry, I only have deepest sympathies for your plight ...

personally I really like all the lists, but think the GkoTg might be weakest, since it has no regeneration. Feels like BCR-list to me. Don’t get me wrong, fastforward gheists tag-team with garland... fun times but short on bodies and board control, off flank horror/flayer summoning might help (1480 points,sweet)

probably same issue with the dragon list, big monster is just a huge point sink at 1k, although regeneration of units makes them able to push back.

small hero list. played similar things at 750-1k, triple hero and double caster should get things done. Not quite sure if not a 6x Horror unit might be meaner, wrapped up in a murder ball.

also depends a lot on the scenarios played and the opponents.

Thinking and rethinking... double gheists or abbatoir, best throw a coin XD and best of luck

 

[Baron Wastelands]

1 hour ago, Honk said:

personally I really like all the lists, but think the GkoTg might be weakest, since it has no regeneration. Feels like BCR-list to me. Don’t get me wrong, fastforward gheists tag-team with garland... fun times but short on bodies and board control, off flank horror/flayer summoning might help (1480 points,sweet)

 

Honestly, I feel that the double GkoTG list is the strongest list fec have at 1k. 3 free units, flexible in terms of what you need and also where they go, and 2 big beasties. 

Edited September 27, 2018 by Baron Wastelands

[TheArborealWalrus]

Royal Council! I bring news from the front! Whilst I cannot claim a total crushing defeat of our foes, I believe my men performed well. Over the course of several days of battle here are my reports. 6 of them in total. ( of note, I am borrowing a friend's army while I sort out what I want to get myself.) Sit yourselves down. This, will take a while.
 

Spoiler

Battle 1 : Scenario - Total commitment, no realmscape rules, no terrain rules

My list:  Delusion -crusading army

1 Ghoul King on zombie dragon - general, majestic horror, blood river chalice

Attendants at Court: 1 Crypt Haunter courtier - flayed pendant

9 crypt horrors

9 crypt horrors

3 X 10 ghouls

Opponent's list (approximately):

1 Lord Arcanum -general, staunch defender, spinning disc endless spell

3 X 5 judicators with bows

2 X 5 liberators

3 X celestar ballistae

 2 concusors (dracoth boys)

1 Lord celestant on dracoth - hammer and shield, maybe an artifact

1 Lord Ordinator

2 X 3 prosecutors

Deployment: A building each in opposing corners, a hill and another building in the other set of corners, and a large rock tower in the center. I deployed 1 horror unit on each flank and scattered the ghouls between the two. Wanting to lure him in I deployed the king and courtier on my right. He deployed 1 ballista and the judicators on the hill on my right and the 5 man libs + the general with them. His left flank consisted of most of the rest of his army, a second fire base out of the Ordinator and the other ballistae waited behind the combat troops. The prosecutors hung out in the middle.

How it went: My very first battle with FEC, I went first, and being terrified of the ballistae charged his right hand fire base with my king. His Highnesses' knights weren't able to keep pace with their lord and had to wait. I however had made the critical error of not summoning the varghulfs, leaving my left flank open. I wasn't sure if he'd redeploy at the time to meet my aggressive push. The King unfortunately only managed 6 wound on the ballista and killed 2 judicators. No problem I thought, the King will live through 1 round against  the ballistae and summon his champions. … it turns out I was right. His entire fire bases unloaded into the King on his turn and his Highness lost only 8 wounds despite excellent explosion rolls from the special weapons, ect. His entire left flank advanced whilst mine held back, hiding. 

Time for the critical roll off. Will he get the double turn? Or will I sweep in and overwhelm him?

Unfortunately his Highness wasn't paying attention to the wider battle and this allowed the barbarians to seize the initiative for a dreaded double turn! The fire base managed to leave his Majesty on 1 wound and the dracoths slammed into my left hand knights. 4 were killed right off, but they managed to drag down one of the loathsome beasts in vengeance. Before finally being felled his Highness destroyed the accursed device and slew 1 more judicator. The knights on the right, dismayed at their lord's fall let out a cry and charged. Smashing into the fire base on the hill. 2 liberators and 2 judicators were felled alongside 2 wounds on their own lord. The cortier meanwhile was attempting to slay the prosecutors, but alas in his tear filled rage he only slew 1.The left hand knights felled the last dracoth and wounded the celestant, losing 2 more to their fearsome opponents, but their foes infantry would soon be in striking range. Oh,  almost forgot the men at arms' efforts. 4 died to the lord celestant, and the one unit on the right charged the judicators who killed the lord whilst the other 10 decimated the second unit of prosecutors. 

At this point the battle becomes a blur. The left flank fail to slay the celestant and are wiped out over the next 2 turns. on the right the knights kill the enemy lord which breaks the back of their defense and the hill is claimed swiftly afterwards. The courtier took 2 turns to kill the prosecutors and the remaining ballistae failed to have much of an impact the rest of the game, mostly shooting ghouls for some reason. I don't recall who won, but we claimed our lord's body, which is the important thing. He went on to recover from his wounds.

What I learned: 1 - Always summon immediately. 2 - charging in whilly nilly = bad. Got to think it through. 3 - people are afraid of the King (as they should be), he makes an excellent distraction in a pinch. 4 - Horrors are pretty darn amazing. 5 -remember to roll for feeding frenzy. It can save games.

Spoiler

Battle 2: Total Commitment (everyone wanted to practice this one as it throws a monkey wrench in many plans), no realm rules, no terrain rules

I also decided to put a narrative flare on this battle report. Why? Of all of the battles, this and one other felt very cinematic.  Just feels right. Might be annoying, don't know.  Edit: good lord this is took longer than I thought it would. I still have 4 more battle reports to write too   *sigh* Think I'll stick to less story writing from here on out. Also I haven't gotten around to naming the court members yet, so I'll just go with their titles for now.

My list:  delusion - crusading army

1 Ghoul King on zombie dragon - general, majestic horror, blood river chalice

Attendants at court: 1 crypt haunter courtier - that -3 rend blade (forget what it's called)

9 crypt horrors

9 crypt horrors

3 X 10 ghouls

My opponent's list: Daughters of Khaine - that -1 to hit them in shooting city

Morathi

3 X 30 witch aelves - 2 blades

1  hag queen(I think) - general, some artifact I don't remember, the prayer that makes them have a chance to do MW when they die

1 little hag (priestess?)- a prayer I don't remember

10 snake ladies with spears

2 X 5 pear chucking harpy ladies

Deployment:  A small wall and a short  glacier on the center line of each flank, a building in the center of each deployment zone, A tower in each corner area, and a walled off garden thing in the center. I similarly set up each unit of horrors on a flank and put 2 ghouls on the right and one on the left. I used them as a screen for my hittier stuff. Speaking of which, the King and courtier both set up on the center right of my line behind a lovely ghoul screen. The snakes deployed centrally(leaning more right) with morathi standing directly across from the King. The challenge was clear. 1 block of witches and the hag queen sat upon the right flank. His left held the other blocks of witch aelves and the priestess(one was more centrally placed). He also set up a spear chucker unit in each corner.

Story Time!

His men had arrived quickly and his Royal Majesty  with a dismissive wave chose to wait for the blood drooling creatures to close with him. Enraged by this Morathi immediately revealed her true form and dove towards the King. Seeing the abomination hurtling towards him, his Highness rethought the wisdom of facing such a foe so early on. He had to ensure victory before indulging in such a battle. Meanwhile the ranks of screeching monsters hurtled towards his men, one horde disappearing in a cloud of smoke only to reappear scant meters from his left hand knights. He sent a blessing their way and prepared to meet the oncoming hordes. Unfortunately for the creatures they all seemed to have been distracted by their leader's transformation and none managed to reach his lines save the abomination at their fore. It smote the men at arms milling about before him, this however left it open to his reprisals. Smiling he struck with his prismatic dragon and dealt horrendous wounds to the beast only to see all but a few of the injuries heal almost immediately. It was at this moment the creature looked up at him with a maddened smile upon it's bestial face. His army was in trouble if he didn't act quickly.

Immediately summoning his champions to lead the left flank  and took to wing, ordering the lord liverbelch to keep the creature busy. Nodding gravely the courtier ordered the charge and advanced on the monster, grip tightening upon his enchanted blade. Charge they did, both of the groups of knights smashing into creatures as they shrieked in joy at the combat finally joining. Their cries quickly turned to horror as almost all of them were slain as the bone shattering charge struck home. (23 on the left and 21 on the right) The survivors managed to drag down one knight in return but were inspired by their foul queen's presence. The horde upon the left side of the field were not so fortunate and were cut down as they fled, lest they spread their taint elsewhere in the realms. Meanwhile His Royal Majesty took up position in the central garden and dared the amassing aelves to test their mettle against him. We should not forget the heroics of the lord Liverbelch however. With a cry he charged the beast as it toyed with the last of the men at arms. All of his blows struck true and for a moment he thought he might have felled the beast, but alas all but one of his blows grew back into place, but the beast had begun to breathe hard and launched 4 devastating blows against him. With an ease that surprised himself, he effortlessly dodged the first two blows and caught the 3rd upon his shoulder guard, shearing it from his body, he snarled in response, only to find the tail lunging through his guard, straight for his heart. The lord Liverbelch threw himself to the side. By the slimmest of margins he had managed to take a grazing hit from the appendage, but he could feel the wicked poison coursing through his veins from that slight touch. He would need all of his skill and a bit of luck to survive the next few minutes. 

So incensed by their losses thus far, the frothing creatures launched themselves forward anew. The horde assembling on the left flank wanted little to do with the onrushing knights and spied the King's challenge and threw themselves at him. Meanwhile the horrid snake like creatures recognized the danger that the other knights represented and charged in, determined to finish their threat once and for all. Elsewhere the harpies had spotted some men at arms milling about behind the right hand knights and sought out easier prey. The ones upon the left threw themselves before the knights in a bid to defend their prize for which the battle was being fought. The snake creatures darted in past the guard of the knights and struck home, killing 4.  The frenzied shouting of the aelves startled the royal mount, causing it to rear up, unable to bring its full might to bare. Stile, six of the creatures had been slain.  With a howl of vengeance the witches assaulted the King.  A seemingly endless tide of blades lashed out at Rider and mount. With unnatural speed and skill his Royal Majesty deflected blow after blow, strikes ringing off of his armour and his mount. As the creatures finally tired his Highness rose. Battered and bloodied, but unbent. Death was in his eyes as he called out to his men to redouble their efforts. His knights responded with abandon. Laying into the snake creatures, they slew 4 whilst one knight, with contemptuous ease, swatted the harpies from the air. After following their master's order they looked upon the ruin done to Him,. A hush fell over the assembled knights. With a bellowing roar from their sergeant at arms the few survivors flew into a frenzy, slaying 5 more of the abominations and leaving only a sole survivor from each group they had been battling to stand next to their queen.

To the two combatants locked in a deadly duel this was all mere background noise. Morathi sneered contemptuously at the whelp who dared to stand in her way. She was a goddess! How could this naked cannibal even think himself capable of challenging her!

With a snarl the monstrosity threw itself at the lord Liverbelch. He had thought himself prepared, but the ferocity of the beast blew past his guard. All 3 blows struck true. But two of them glanced from his blessed plate mail. The third however found its home within his gut. The abomination leered down at him, savoring its assured victory. The tail raised to strike the final blow. With a bellow the lord Liverbelch wrenched himself off of the spear and parried the darting appendage. A look of shock and horror replaced its triumphant leer as he swept under its guard to lay a devastating blow to its midsection.

Blood poured from the wound as Morathi retreated. This … THING! HOW! … … One more blow like that and she'd be finished. She had to end this now.

The lord Liverbelch breathed heavily. At some point he had lost his helmet, but it didn't matter. He could feel the poison coursing through his veins. Doing its dark work. He knew that he didn't have much time left. But he had one last responsibility to his King. To finish this abomination upon the face of creation. 

The king decreed that his men should focus on their objectives and leave his safety to himself. His men reluctantly obeyed. The champions led the knights of the left flank and swiftly ran roughshod over the circling bat like creatures and claimed their prize. The King went for his trusty healing vial, but found it nearly empty. It appeared that he would have to win the day without its restorative properties. Steeling himself, he layed into the circling beasts that called for his blood. They were devilishly quick however, and he only managed to catch 11 before they were on him. He fought with great skill and valor, but alas there were too many. Underneath the tide of naked flesh and steel, the King fell. His men were dismayed at the sight, momentarily lost in grief, the hag queen struck, felling one of the last remaining knights and injuring another. The last three knights were incensed at this dishonorable scum! Strike them whilst they mourned?! There would be no mercy. As one they turned upon the queen, her look of vindication turning to horror as she was torn asunder. In their fury, they turned upon and finished their remaining foes. 

The duel in the shadow of the numinous occulum  had reached it's finale. Both combatants were haggard, still circling one another despite their injuries, unwilling to make the first move. As the King fell a grief stricken howl left his men. Feeling the same sense of loss himself he momentarily lost his focus. It was all the opportunity that Morathi needed. Fast as lightning it struck with its spear. The lord Liverbelch narrowly managed to parry the first overhead strike, glancing it to the side. It was inhumanly fast, making two quick stabs for his neck before he had put his defenses in place. The first he managed to batt aside with his gauntlet but before he could recover the third went in for the kill. By some miracle the blow grazed across his gorget rather than embedding in his throat. He smiled. The misstep had left it open now. He lunged forward, death in his eyes, the King's name upon his lips. The beast smiled at him as the tangled mess that he had assumed to be hair turned to life, lunging at him. He was caught completely off guard. a dozen vipers struck him, snaking around armour to find the flesh beneath. No longer able to stand, the lord Liverbelch sunk to the ground and did not rise. Morathi felt vindication surge through her, but as she turned to examine the battlefield she realized that all that was left of her grand host was an abattoir. Sneering in disdain she took to wing and left the few survivors to their fate.

Epilogue: The King felt weight being lifted off of him as the bright light intruded upon his blood soaked tomb. Looking up he saw two of his knights, still covered in the stuff and sporting fresh trophies, lifting the carcass of one of the beasts off from him. They tossed the body away before reverentially lifting him to his feet. "My thanks men. It wouldn't do for the rabble to see their king wallowing amongst the dead." he wheezed with a smile. They awkwardly smiled and mumbled that it was nothing. Looking across the field he could see the Abattoir already loading up the enemy baggage train to make the trip back to the patrol boats and home. Something struck him as wrong as he looked across the ruinous  battlefield. Whilst he saw his men and knights picking through the battlefield for the choicest loot, he did not see his trusted advisor and friend, the lord Liverbelch. "... Where is your captain?" he asked the duo flanking him. They looked disheartedly at one another before saying "This way your Highness." He was brought to the structure that he had left his advisor to battle the beast. There he saw him. With a dozen wounds capable of slaying him, it was the lord Liverbelch. The bottom of his stomach dropped out at the sight, but he knew what he needed to do. Dropping to his knee he held out his arm above the recumbent form. In a moment of lucidity he slashed  his talons across the naked flesh of his arm he poured some of his royal blood into the mouth of his friend. Then it returned to him, as more of the royal wine went into the lord's mouth his Highness sheathed the dagger he had used to uncork the bottle. The pain from his earlier wounds plagued him despite having already healed, he payed the pain no mind. His Majesty spoke with imperious authority

"Your King calls to you lord Liverbelch. Will you answer?" With a sputtering of wine the lord gasped

"Always."

 

TLDR: After a round of failed charges my horrors swept in and slaughtered 2 of the witch aelf blocks while the courtier charged Morathi. My opponent won thee roll off. The snakes charged one unit of horrors with the spear chuckers wandering too close with their charge. Meanwhile the final witch block charged the King who had flown out as a distraction. 4 or 5 horrors were killed by the snakes (most of whom had fallen out of range of the deathless saves) The king fluffed his attacks and only killed 6 of the aelves. 23 of them then attacked him 4 attacks each. With a round of save rolls that were hilariously good, his Highness got off with 4 wounds remaining. the horrors wiped out the spear chuckers and managed a feeding frenzy, decimating all but one of the snakes. My turn came and I claimed both of the left hand objectives and left the spear ladies to the vargulfs. The King killed more aelves and then was finally brought low. There however only 11 witches left in the unit. The knights finished up their work on the right and prepared to move for my opponent's objective. Last but certainly not least is the cinematic fight between champions. The duel had gone well for the court thus far, Morathi wiffed her attack rolls in the first round, and then the damage roll for the tail.  Second round the courtier managed 2 sixes for his saves and then took 1 wound from the snakes. He had 1 wound left. Unfortunately, he would have slain Morathi twice over if it weren't for her amulet thing, which meant he could only inflict 6 wounds on her between the 2 turns. Being invulnerable at this point in the battle she finally stepped her game up and killed the courtier. With only 13 models left my opponent conceded.

What did I learn? - 1: Horrors are still pretty badass. 2: always roll for feeding frenzy 3:We don't have any good response to Morathi. 4: aelves are squishy. 5: The King is still an excellent distraction.

Spoiler

Battle 3: Focal Points, no realm rules, no terrain rules

My list: delusion - crusading army

The Royal Family

1 Ghoul King on zombie dragon - general, majestic horror, blood river chalice

1 ghoul king - flayed pendant(?)

1 ghoul king

30 ghouls

2 X 10 ghouls

9 crypt horrors

spare command point

Endless spells: suffocating grave tide, prismatic palisade, aethervoid pendulum 

My opponent's list: Stormcast eternals - Hammers of Sigmar

1 Lord Arcanum - general, the spinning disc thing

1 Gavriel Sureheart

1 Knight vexillor

2 X 10 evocators

2 X 10 sequitors

5 sequitors

2 X 10 skinks, spare command point

Deployment: My side, left to right: empty, forest, hill. His side, left to right: forest, empty, building. Center had the same garden thing in the middle. I set up all of my forces around the forest and hill on the right a ghoul king covering each flank with a chaff unit of ghouls, the 30 man block hung out in the trees. The knights and the King waited in the center of my line. He deployed the 5 man unit on the left, a unit of sequitors held the center with his lord Arcanum and the other sequitors were on the right. This left the other heroes and the evocators in the sky 

Turn 1: I chose to go first as I thought if I grabbed the objectives first I could distract and tie down his forces enough to win the day. Also I was afraid that despite my chaff, I'd lose my general immediately to evocators. Magic spells were slung to little effect, a ghoul king appeared on each side of my opponent's forces with attendant ghoul units. The palisade went up, blocking the right hand unit of sequitors from going to the center.The horrors ran into the central garden for cover, the King close behind. The chaff ghouls continued to do their job and advanced along the flanks to limit teleportation space. one of the new ghoul units managed to charge a skink unit and killed 7 of them whilst the King killed 4 with his dragon's roar.  My opponent responded by sending the  sequitors on each flank to kill the offending king and ghouls. His center marched on the horrors and Gavriel dropped with an evocator unit to support them. Gvriel used his command ability (no spell managed to be cast) and all of his units made it into the horrors. Unfortunately for him the sequitors got too close and dragged in his Highness. Evocators struck first, killing only 4 of the horrors (thank you cover) and in response they killed 2 evocators and a sequitor. Another horror would be felled by the sequitors who lost 2 of their number o the King. Meanwhile the ghouls finished off the skinks before losing 7 of their number (forgot to roll for frenzy, whoops) 3 ghouls are killed on the left and 1.5 sequitors are killed in response. nothing of note occurs in battleshock.

Turn 2: I won the roll off and chose to go first. The King summoned the varghulfs who brought back 3 of the horrors. The aethervoid pendulum failed to cast again and the King missed his shot (I didn't know about the auto hit thing yet) and 10 more ghouls were summoned onto the right flank. in combat 4 sequitors were slain alongside 2 more evocators (and 2 wounds on the Arcanum), the horrors lost 4 again and the ghoul vs sequitur combats continued to putt along. The horde of ghouls  waited for the last of the evocators to arrive.  During my opponent's turn his reinforcements dropped behind the King who had moved more centrally. Critically, my opponent chose to have his damaged evocators go first in a bid to finish the horrors, just barely managing it between his 3 units. The King had been whiffing pretty badly throughout the rest of the combats, but now He knew was His time to strike. He turned his mount about and eviscerated 5 evocators (it was gnarly). My opponent couldn't believe what had befallen his beloved troops. In return they dealt 8 wounds to the King. The king on the right that had been holding out against the sequitors finally succumbed. At this point it was just the king on the left vs 3 sequitors. 

Turn 3: Now came the critical roll off.  His evocators were free and could go off to claim my right hand objective alongside his sequitors (who had lost 3 at this point). Giving him the points he needed to catch up with me. We rolled … and I won it. The aethervoid pendulum finally went off killing an evocator and wounding the lord Arcanum. Another 10 ghouls showed up to grab the top objective. With a cry of "To the King!" the ghouls leapt from the trees and onto  the center objective while the vargulfs assaulted the evocators, but there was no need. His Highness effortlessly slaughtered the remaining evocators and before they could do meaningful harm the lord Arcanum was likewise slain. Having cunningly slipped away from his opponents the left hand king aided in the capture of the left objective, leaving me with all 5.  My foe was on the ropes at this point. The evocators, unobstructed by the horde,  descended on my right hand ghouls knowing the center was lost. The skinks who had been skulking about made a dash for the top objective and were joined by the sequitors who had been battling the top most king. The knight vexilor activated his standard and was swept onto the now empty bottom objective. Fearing that my right hand ghouls would pull something tricky he struck against them first, easily slaughtering them. Alas it was not enough to claim the point, as reinforcements had arrived the turn before. The center finally completely collapsed and the sequitors chasing the king failed to kill him. (side note: forgot to mention that the King healed 8 wounds before "effortlessly slaughtering" the evocators)

At that point we called it. Score was something like 19 to 14

What I learned - 1: Horrors are definitely not A++ top tier murder boys. Got to be careful where you send them. They do good in both survival and hitting, but they won't take the entire army themselves 2: Cover is good. Can recommend hiding in it. 3: When he hits properly, the King can devastate the enemy. Still is a good distraction carnifex too. 4: Evocators HURT! 5: Careful vargulf placements are key to surviving stuff. (I only got one in range of the horrors before they got wiped out.) 6: The vexilor is annoying. Teleporting shenanigans. 7: reinforcements on the back field are nice. Got my opponent chasing his own tail multiple times. 8: The palisade is a good investment, kept my center more manageable and his sequitors not doing much. 9: That many casters is kind of nice to have.

Spoiler

Battle 4: Border war, no realm rules, no terrain rules

This was for a local "tournament." There'd be no changing my list based on learning, so I'd be stuck with what I had. Got some folks from another county, which was cool. 14 people were in attendance I think.

My list: delusion - crusading army

1 Ghoul King on zombie dragon - general, majestic horror, blood river chalice

9 crypt horrors

Ghoul Patrol

1 crypt ghast courtier - The flayed pendant

30 ghouls

20 ghouls

10 ghouls

Allies: 2 Morghast harbingers - halberds

My opponent's list: Nurgle

1The Glotkin

1 harbinger(?) - general (his command give disgustingly resilient to mortal stuff)

1 Gutrot Spume(?) (named mortal hero that outflanks with a unit of his choice)

1 Plague priest (skaven)

10 blightkings

10 blightkings

30 plague bearers

40 plague monks

 

Deployment:  (left to right)His side: empty, a building, empty. Middle: a broken open tower, a giant log, a forest, and an unopen tower. My side: empty, a giant rock tower, empty. I set up the horrors on my central left (now referred to as the left flank) with 20 ghouls on their right, and the King sitting behind those ghouls. Further to the right sat the 10 ghouls and the Morghasts. The rest of the patrol set up in reserve.  On my left stood the harbinger(?) and 10 bkightkings. The center was held by the block of plague bearers and sitting further right was the clan pestilence detachment with Glotkin  on the far right. 10 blightkings and Spume(?) sat in his reserve.

He chose to go first and boosted the plague monks to high heavens ( +1 wound characteristic, MW on death, ect) and sprinted them onto the right hand objective.  with Glotty running alongside. The reserve blightkings arrived on my far left to make sure nothing happened to the objective while the other kings ran forwards and grabbed it. The harbinger(?) stayed by the tower to support the kings should I decide to make a move on it. Then they just sat there. No charges, no nothing. I think he just banked his contagion points. My turn … There was no way I could shift that blob of not dying from the right hand objective and if I went after the left, I'd receive no reinforcements from the vargulfs I'd be summoning … … I refused to sacrifice my men so callously with little hope of actually accomplishing anything, so I went for the longer game. My horrors went to the edges of the vargulfs' summoning range and held while the ghouls advanced on the monks but didn't charge. The King flew into the forest and failed to damage the plague bearers (double 1s for wounding *sigh*) Last but not least, the patrol and morghasts surrounded the Glotkin and then charged. Did like 12 wounds to the ****** between the two units and tied down the monks. Lost a morghast in return (maybe some ghouls too, don't remember). 

Turn 2: My opponent won the roll off and decided to go first. All of his spells either failed or were dispelled and Glotty healed 6 wounds back. Both units of kings advanced on the horrors, one being much further away at this point. Then a tree sprouted up allowing them to run and charge. They crashed into the horrors, but he went with the kin first. They managed to do 5 wounds to the harbinger and kill like 2 ghouls. The horrors killed 3 kings before they could respond, who only managed to slay 1 in return. The monks killed 4 ghouls who then proceeded to kill the Glotkin alongside 2 monks. the harbinger then added another 3 to the tally while 3 more fled. The kings got too close to his Highness who slew another of the loathsome brutes. My turn had the King cast his spell and retreat to threaten the top objective while the ghouls advanced as one on the plague monks. The varghulfs closed on the blightkings. I  unfortunately made a critical error at this juncture and didn't retreat the horrors to claim the left objective. I was alas distracted by the idea of murdering the kings or I probably would have thought to do so. Oh well. The ghouls killed 15 or so monks who then killed the 10 man ghoul unit (12 at the time I think) and another 6 were killed by the harbinger. What monks were left fled the field, leaving me with the objective. 4 more kings were slain and the 20 something ghoul blob made contact with the plague bearers and killed 1. 

Turn 3: I won the roll off and opted to go first. The King's spell went off and he alongside the ghouls charged into the plague bearers 4 were killed by his breath weapon. In combat 15 were killed in a devastating assault by the ghouls while the rest dissolved into nothing from battleshock. On the left flank the horrors secured the objective and the vargulfs finished off the unit of blightkings. The morghast charged in and killed the priest, leaving me with all the objectives. I had just taken the lead. Crucially however, I had forgotten about Nurgle's summoning ability (also the existence of spume). He sprinted Spume(?) into range and summoned plague bearers onto my home objective and hugged the left hand one with his kings(outnumbering me by 1).

Whilst I definitely would have wiped out his army in the following turns, the 2 hour time limit was reached. making the score 13 to 14 (or something like that). He sneaked in the win.

What I learned: 1: don't forget late game summoning is far more common than ours. 2: don't forget about chaos (or death) heroes, they summon stuff. 3: Remember the objectives. 4: Nurgle spells are very powerful.

Spoiler

Battle 5: Total Commitment (yes, again), no realm rules, no terrain rules.

Second game of the tournament, I was against the stormcast player from before. I thought I had an advantage in that I didn't really rely on my outflank to do work, and could finally get a straight fight against stormcasts. Alas I made a crucial error in deployment that was going to cost me.

My list: delusion - crusading army

1 Ghoul King on zombie dragon - general, majestic horror, blood river chalice

9 crypt horrors

Ghoul Patrol

1 crypt ghast courtier - The flayed pendant

30 ghouls

20 ghouls

10 ghouls

Allies: 2 Morghast harbingers - halberds

My Opponent's list:  Stormcast Eternals - Hammers of Sigmar

1 Lord Arcanum on gryph charger - general

1 Gavriel Sureheart

1 Knight Vexillor

2 X 10 sequitors

5 sequitors

2 X 10 evocators

2 X 10 skinks

 

Deployment: (from left to right) His side: hill, building, hill with low wall. Middle: forest, big tower, forest. My side: hill with building, low wall, hill.  I set up the 20 man block of ghouls on the far left, with the horrors supporting from the middle left. The King sat nearby  with the 10 man ghoul squad placed to block a Gavriel long bomb charge. The right had the morghasts, the 30 man ghouls, and the courtier waiting. He deployed in "standard" formation on the left. Skinks as chaff, the sequitors, and supported by evocators and Gavriel. The middle had the vexilor, 5 sequitors, and the other evocator unit, while the right had chaff covering  sequitors supported by the lord Arcanum.

Turn 1: I didn't think he could readily touch me, so I opted to go second. He did exactly what I expected him to do and advanced along the left flank, being rather incautious about it while his right stayed put. Now for the part I had forgotten about. The vexillor picked up the center evocators and dropped them behind the King. … Uh oh …  It's ok I thought, he has to make a 9 inch charge with no re-roll and even then, it's not guaranteed to kill him. He promptly rolls an 11 for his charge and makes it in. Don't panic I said to myself, his Majesty has survived worse, he just has to be alive. To my elation / dismay the evocators only just managed to kill his Highness, despite all their mortal wounds. I was pretty angry at that point. These treacherous barbarians had struck a cheap shot in. They would pay. I stood there fuming whilst I thought of a plan. I wasn't dead yet. I could do this. I just had to hold my point for 1 turn, or grab his this turn. So in we went. The courtier stayed at the edge of my objective (got to secure it first) and unfurled the pendant. My entire right flank made it in, giving me more than enough bodies to swipe away the objective. So, I had the horrors go first, after all, they could seriously mess those evocators up if luck is on my side. They proceeded to get a grand total of 5 hits in between all of them, killing 1 or 2 evocators who killed 5 in return. On the winning half of my army's side 1 morghast was slain by the sequitors, whos twin only got 1 attack through. The skinks were easily wiped out and I think 2 ghouls bit it.

Turn 2:  My opponent won the roll off and proceeded to entirely butcher my left flank (evocators made another 11 inch charge), wiping out all but the now 14 man unit of ghouls. On the right the morghast was killed and 6 sequitors were lost alongside someodd # of ghouls. My turn, I retreated the speed bump and tried desperately to kill the lord Arcanum before the sequitors bit it. The last thing I needed was more of them popping up.

Turn 3: I won the roll off and continued doing what I was doing. I retreated my ghouls to prevent us from wiping out the sequitors. My opponent charged the speed bump or otherwise advanced towards my last bastion of hope. The lord Arcanum joined the 5 man block and the vexilor to make a run on my objective. 3 sequitors remained against the ghouls.

Turn 4: My opponent won the roll off and decided to go first. At this point I was up by 1 point (I think) Seeing his chance, he charged the courtier with the lord Arcanum, easily killing him, while the vexilor and sequitors tried to form a line to prevent my retaking the objective. Knowing that I had lost the game with the loss of my home objective, I refused to give in. (even if I retook my objective  I'd only tie and then he'd win on kill points.) It was about pride at this point though, so in we charged. We managed to get in on all of our opponents, even the lord Arcanum.  I finally slew the last of the big sequitur block as they were finally out of respawning range and put several wounds on both heroes. 

Turn 5: I don't remember who won it, but it didn't matter at that point. The important bits were these. 1- evocators failed their charge, 2- both enemy heroes were slain, 3- we still lost from kill points.

What I learned: 1: Be. Careful! With! Big! Important! Models!!! *vigorously slapping past me* 2: Never let your guard down 3: Morghasts seem to be doomed to have 1 die before they fight. 4: -2 rend is still nice 5: try not to have any one model be too central to your effectiveness.

Spoiler

Battle 6: Battle for the Pass, no realm rules, no terrain rules

Last battle of the tourney. I was not feeling so well at this point and this battle went by in a blur.

My list: delusion - crusading army

1 Ghoul King on zombie dragon - general, majestic horror, blood river chalice

9 crypt horrors

Ghoul Patrol

1 crypt ghast courtier - The flayed pendant

30 ghouls

20 ghouls

10 ghouls

Allies: 2 Morghast harbingers - halberds

Opponent's list: Nighthaunt

1 Tiny knight of shrouds (the dudes on the horse who aren't shrouds) - general

1 lantern guy - thing that gives dudes back automatically

10 stalkers

10 scythe guys

Chainrasp Battalion

1  lock holding dude

2 mini lock dudes

2 X 20 chainrasps

The Executioner horde (or something like that)

1 Lord executioner - + 1 damage weapon

3 X 3 spirit hosts

4 banshees

Deployment: I deployed the 10 man block on my home objective with the King and horrors on the left, the morghasts hung out on the right while the rest of the patrol waited in the wings. His chainrasps plus their support staff and banshees faced off against the horrors while the scythe guys hung out on his objective and the stalkers eyed the morghasts. 

Turn 1: My opponent chose to go first.  the chainrasps advanced around an obelisk, support crew trailing after them. The general teleported behind my lines and brought the stalkers with him. The scythes stayed put. The stalkers managed to charge the morghasts and inflicted 5 wounds on them. The curse had been broken! Contact was made without a morghast dying. He rolled well for his saves and I only killed 2 in return. My turn, I brought the 30 man block with the courtier behind the chainrasp hordes and dropped  the 20 onto the right objective. The horrors got right in the face of the horde, supported by the varghulfs. The morghasts retreated and the ghouls on the right failed their charge. Surprisingly the big ghoul ball failed it's charge even with the pendant and a re-roll. The horrors however, required no aide in dispatching their foes. They killed the entire 20 man block and wiped out the banshees as well as killing 7 of the other horde.

Turn 2: I won the roll off and went first. The right hand ghouls went for the stalkers while the left hand horde made to be in-between the scythe guys and the support heroes. With a ridiculously big charge they made it into the scythes and were joined by the morghasts. All in all, the second block of chainrasps were killed, alongside  the mini lock dudes, all 10 scythe wielders, and 4 stalkers. Some odd number of ghouls were killed along the way, as well as the injured morghast. His turn, the stalkers retreated and charged my home objective while the general teleported across the map with the lantern dude to land behind the freshly arrived executioner horde who were itching to get revenge against the horrors. Unfortunately they all failed their charges except the lord who killed a vargulf. The stalkers found themselves wiped out by the ghouls they had thought to hunt.

Turn 3: My opponent won the roll off and opted to go first. The executioner horde charged in against the horrors while the lord executioner targeted the King. Honestly, not a lot happened after this. between this combat and my turn, 2 hosts from each unit were wiped out from the horrors and the lord executioner lost his duel with the King.

What did I learn? : I'm not really sure I learned anything. Everything in this battle went my way. Dude was an awesome sport as always, got into fluff talks while we were going. A good time. … 1: play this opponent more often, he's A+ chill and nice.

 

Edited September 28, 2018 by TheArborealWalrus

[Honk]

7 hours ago, Baron Wastelands said:

Honestly, I feel that the double GkoTG list is the strongest list

That’s why I ended up saying, I‘d play double dragon or abbatoir

XD

[Honk]

8 hours ago, TheArborealWalrus said:

Royal Council!

Mighty King, beloved brother! Tales of your valor and strength warms my heart. Your legendary tales will be sung for ages at my court and inspire my men to follow your shining example.

Blessed is the king, who has honorable knights and trusted men to lead into battle. No foe can conquer us, as long as ones court stands united against the ever glooming threat of evil. No monster, however vile, shall defile your land, as long as noble blood is pumped through noble hearts, united in noble cause.

may your strength never wane and your courage never falter

 

König Harald der Herrliche, Verteidiger des Blutsees ?