Grimghast Reapers

[spoon_fed05]

I’ve been looking at Nighthaunt stuff on the GW website, noticed the price of grimghast reapers seems really high at almost 30 quid! There are a few set for sale cheaper online but they’re not complete units and I’m not sure I want to become embroiled in a bidding war. Before I buy some can anyone advise on whether they are any good, are they more of an anti horde unit due to the reaped like corn ability?  Is it that useful? 

[RuneBrush]

3 minutes ago, spoon_fed05 said:

I’ve been looking at Nighthaunt stuff on the GW website, noticed the price of grimghast reapers seems really high at almost 30 quid! There are a few set for sale cheaper online but they’re not complete units and I’m not sure I want to become embroiled in a bidding war. Before I buy some can anyone advise on whether they are any good, are they more of an anti horde unit due to the reaped like corn ability?  Is it that useful? 

There's a few discussions on the faction threads, but the general opinion seems to be that they've a similar damage potential to Grave Guard, but with more survivability & mobility.  As with Grave Guard though, you need to run enough of them, a minimum sized unit isn't going to put out a massive amount of damage and more importantly will be pretty easy to wipe out.  Reaped like corn makes them very effective against units of 5 or more but they're no slouches against larger targets either.

Personally though, if you're worried about the financial cost, I'd give it a couple of weeks and the Bladegheist and Harridans will be available so you'll have an idea of how each unit works in relation to the rest of the army.  I'd also suggest looking at a third-party supplies such as Element Games or Triple Helix* who offer a decent discount over direct from GW.  Think I picked my Reapers up for £22

* Note, Triple Helix tends to not keep masses of stock in, so you may well be waiting a for an order to arrive

[ianob]

They're the best unit in Nighthaunt and they're also one of the best units in LoN now.

They do more damage than Grave Guard (assuming you have the hit reroll), they move 8" (which is huge for anyone but especially us with our lack of speed generally), they fly, they have a 4++, they have a 2" reach which is still better than having a smaller base and a 1" reach (especially with fly), and they're 20 points cheaper per 10 and more in a max unit.

The few things that Grave Guard have going for them over Grimghasts is that they are better at killing monsters or small units, and they fit into a graveyard circle easier for summoning. they have a banner and musician, and are needed for Deathmarch plus Battleline in GHoN. Grimghasts are otherwise flat better in every way. And they look cooler and don't make you want to cry when assembling them, either. Grave Guard are mostly obsolete now imho.

[Nevar]

4 hours ago, spoon_fed05 said:

I’ve been looking at Nighthaunt stuff on the GW website, noticed the price of grimghast reapers seems really high at almost 30 quid! There are a few set for sale cheaper online but they’re not complete units and I’m not sure I want to become embroiled in a bidding war. Before I buy some can anyone advise on whether they are any good, are they more of an anti horde unit due to the reaped like corn ability?  Is it that useful? 

They are also Battle Line units for Nighthaunt, which is only another positive point for the Grimghasts.  Also like you said you can buy the random reapers from people online who are selling their Soul Wars extra, if you troll around you are bound to find some cheaper ones eventually, so it also depends on if you have any form of time limit.

[Sception]

2 hours ago, ianob said:

Grave Guard are mostly obsolete now imho.

It's worth mentioning thst this is not exactly a new problem for grave guard, who, imo, suffer even more fyom the comparison to plain old skeletons.

But yeah, grimghasts look good.  The only problem I have with them is that rules-wise they want to be fielded in biggish units of 20 to 30, but model-wise they look (and cost) like they belong in small units of 5 to 10.

[Nevar]

32 minutes ago, Sception said:

It's worth mentioning thst this is not exactly a new problem for grave guard, who, imo, suffer even more fyom the comparison to plain old skeletons.

But yeah, grimghasts look good.  The only problem I have with them is that rules-wise they want to be fielded in biggish units of 20 to 30, but model-wise they look (and cost) like they belong in small units of 5 to 10.

Agreed, they seem to have the proportions of the Knight of Shrouds, that being they are taller than normal infantry in AoS, more akin to Stormcasts than skeletons or free people.

As a side not to anyone considering using these guys to convert new Hexwraiths, don't do it, they are as big as the horses the hexwraiths ride.  I have just saved you some Grimghast models.  I already made an attempt, and I am down one Grimghast and one hexwraith after all the cutting.

[kenshin620]

Soon everything will be as big as ogres and warhammer will be officially 35mm scale! Then gw will have an excuse to really charge some big bucks! ?

[Nevar]

42 minutes ago, kenshin620 said:

Soon everything will be as big as ogres and warhammer will be officially 35mm scale! Then gw will have an excuse to really charge some big bucks! ?

I am considering trying to get some of the Chainrasps onto the Hexwraith horses, but I am not sure how well they will sit.  GW has made the cloaks really pinch close instead of wide billows, making it hard to put them astride the horses.

 

[PainfullyMediocre]

2 hours ago, Nevar said:

Agreed, they seem to have the proportions of the Knight of Shrouds, that being they are taller than normal infantry in AoS, more akin to Stormcasts than skeletons or free people.

As a side not to anyone considering using these guys to convert new Hexwraiths, don't do it, they are as big as the horses the hexwraiths ride.  I have just saved you some Grimghast models.  I already made an attempt, and I am down one Grimghast and one hexwraith after all the cutting.

I've made one,  don't think it looks that bad :(.  Plus I'm not going to bother hunting around for them on eBay, I've got 2 sets of 4 already, 2 more and ill have enough to convert my 15 Hexwraiths fully.

They look like an all or nothing unit where you run 20 or 30 of them into a unit and they'll reliably blend it if you've buffed or debuffed when needed. 8" move and 3" from the artefact means they are really fast, I saw someone mention doing this with cogs too for 13" move and a minimum of 4" charges with flight means you can really get these buggers where they need to be.

 

[Nevar]

17 minutes ago, PainfullyMediocre said:

No sadface emotes for you, that guy does look pretty good.  My problem is just that he is able to be brought low enough over the horse's back to look right because of his pose and where the scythe can go and attach to the horse and give him a convincing look.  I might even do similar to make a reaper version of the Dreadblade Harrow.  Those models are cool, but they are a bit too similar of pose for me.

The majority of the Grimghasts have their scythes/bells on high and only their flowing ghostyness is what keeps them up, and they are mostly in a purely vertical post making them directly at odds with the back of the horse.  The down low reaper you used is sweeping to one side thanks to his pose which makes him viable.  I could just be less skilled or creative than others, but it seems like a lot of Green Stuff work will be needed.

Share pictures of your conversions going forward if you manage to get them all mounted, as I collected 20 Grimghasts from various other players in my area so I could convert all of my Hexwraiths, and now I only have 15 Grimghasts I can use because 5 of them have bells... so out of 20 models I can play with 10 of them in a min unit of Grims.  Would much rather complete a cool conversion and get all my Horsie-bois looking awesome.

[PainfullyMediocre]

10 minutes ago, Nevar said:

No sadface emotes for you, that guy does look pretty good.  My problem is just that he is able to be brought low enough over the horse's back to look right because of his pose and where the scythe can go and attach to the horse and give him a convincing look.  I might even do similar to make a reaper version of the Dreadblade Harrow.  Those models are cool, but they are a bit too similar of pose for me.

The majority of the Grimghasts have their scythes/bells on high and only their flowing ghostyness is what keeps them up, and they are mostly in a purely vertical post making them directly at odds with the back of the horse.  The down low reaper you used is sweeping to one side thanks to his pose which makes him viable.  I could just be less skilled or creative than others, but it seems like a lot of Green Stuff work will be needed.

Share pictures of your conversions going forward if you manage to get them all mounted, as I collected 20 Grimghasts from various other players in my area so I could convert all of my Hexwraiths, and now I only have 15 Grimghasts I can use because 5 of them have bells... so out of 20 models I can play with 10 of them in a min unit of Grims.  Would much rather complete a cool conversion and get all my Horsie-bois looking awesome.

Thanks dude, I've got a few WIP as I left my files at work, so I'll do some more tonight. I was also considering putting them on the head and making ghost centaurs using the glaivewraith stalkers as I don't see the point of them compared to grimgasts and now those bladewraiths. 

 

[Nevar]

Just now, PainfullyMediocre said:

Thanks dude, I've got a few WIP as I left my files at work, so I'll do some more tonight. I was also considering putting them on the head and making ghost centaurs using the glaivewraith stalkers as I don't see the point of them compared to grimgasts and now those bladewraiths. 

 

I considered it as well, but at the same time they are super static in pose without much variance.

I also dislike the Glaivewraith models and I really like Hexwraiths... so I don't want to make my Hexwraiths into models i might not like.

To be honest, I think the best rider replacements will be the Bladegeists as they are very sweepy in pose, but that would be expensive conversions.  If Grimghasts can be used they would be the best option.  I am rooting for a Grimghast solution in the end.

[ianob]

On 7/4/2018 at 1:07 PM, Sception said:

It's worth mentioning thst this is not exactly a new problem for grave guard, who, imo, suffer even more fyom the comparison to plain old skeletons.

But yeah, grimghasts look good.  The only problem I have with them is that rules-wise they want to be fielded in biggish units of 20 to 30, but model-wise they look (and cost) like they belong in small units of 5 to 10.

Absolutely not true. Grave Guard are an excellent unit. They're slightly overcosted, most units in their space being 140 for 10  nowadays, but they more than pull their weight in the big picture of LoN. They'e only gotten better withCogs and the ability to reroll their (devastating) charge. Skeletons and Grave Guard really aren't even comparable. I've been running 30 of them since LoN came out, and I've lost a grand total of 2 games (both at events unfortunately, but 0 losses in competitive practice), with Grave Guard being the star in the great majority of those games.

Of course now they're obsolete, but it doesnt change that they were good.

[Captain Roderick]

17 hours ago, ianob said:

Of course now they're obsolete, but it doesnt change that they were good.

So I'm building my army purchases around a deathmarch battalion. 

Given the fact that I have to buy some graveguard for it, should I lean into it and use a bigger unit (since I've got to sink 80pts into them) or keep it min size and spend the points on black knights, skellies or grimghast reapers instead? 

[ianob]

2 hours ago, Captain Roderick said:

So I'm building my army purchases around a deathmarch battalion. 

Given the fact that I have to buy some graveguard for it, should I lean into it and use a bigger unit (since I've got to sink 80pts into them) or keep it min size and spend the points on black knights, skellies or grimghast reapers instead? 

If I was playing Deathmarch I’d be running 30 Grave Guard, no question. The 80 point unit is worse than useless so at that point the tax to run a deathmarch - an overpriced and mediocre battalion ultimately - is far too high.

I do think that there is room to go all in on Deathmarch though. Like 30 GG, 15 BKs, 40+40+10 skellies, and then supporting necros etc but keep your drops to like 3 so you go first vs most people and play Sacrament for the double free move. It won’t be the best army, but it will be a good army that will give a lot of people fits.

[Sception]

Wight king, 2 necros, 10 black knights, 30 grave guard, 3x40 skeletons, and the deathmarch comes out to 2,000 points on the nose.  Just saying.

Though it would probably be a better army if it dropped the deathmarch for the cogs and 2 CPs.

[Captain Roderick]

More interested in deathmarch for the cp/artifact/drop/reinforcement factors tbh, less bothered about the speed for now. It looks like everyone and their grandma wants cogs so I find myself leaning away from them as well out of pure hipster contrariness ? nice list though, cheers!