Questions and advice for GHoN and Nighthaunt lists

[Squeaky101]

Hello, fellow followers of Nagash! This is my first post here, hopefully the first of many!

I started playing AoS a couple months ago and play with a small group of friends every weekend. As one might expect from a fairly new player, some of the more complicated rules, tactics, and army building stuff I can get caught up on. I have come here to ask some things in regards to specific units and hopefully I can play better, since I often find myself on the losing side of matches.

This is the usual list I run (we always play at 2k):

Grand Host of Nagash:

Leaders:

Arkhan the Black

VLoZD

Necromancer (general)

- Lord of Nagashizzar trait

Necromancer

- Ossific Diadem artefact

Necromancer

Units:

Skeleton Warriors x40

Grave Guard x20

Grave Guard x15

Basic skelly spam with spells / command abilities to pump them up. I proxy 25 of the Grave Guard and 2 Necromancers at the moment so I am looking to replace them with the actual models or something different entirely. It's not the strongest when it comes to LoN, since I'm not a fan of the competitive lists (dire wolves are gross, and I came here to play with skellies) but I am considering getting Grimghast Reapers to replace the Grave Guard, allowing a flexible unit to include in my future Nighthaunt lists too.

So I have a couple of questions that I hope can get answered, some of which are more advice based:

1. What is a good number of Necromancers to run? From looking at how my list holds up in practice, I probably have too many. Should I knock it down to just 1?

2. For the Grave Guard, they have a rule where on a 6+ on wound rolls, the damage of that attack is doubled. Can the opponent choose to allocate their successful save rolls to counter those bonus damage attacks, or do they save roll separately for the bonus damage attacks? I'm under the impression that it's the former, which makes this ability pretty useless unfortunately.

3. Can I use the same command ability multiple times in the same turn? Such as Arkhan's +6" to spell range, can I use that twice and get +12"?

4. For those who play Arkhan, how do I use him to his fullest potential? In most games he gets killed fairly quickly and almost never makes up for his point cost. Most of my opponents have alpha strike / fast movement lists so he always gets caught from behind no matter how I position him. I sometimes resort to banding a line of skellies around him but that just weakens my damage output from them. I'm conflicted as to whether or not Arkhan should ever be in combat because his attack profiles are fairly nice (not the greatest but it's something) but no matter who I get in a fight with he gets killed in one turn, it just seems like wasted potential.

5. For Arkhan again, I'm making some Nighthaunt lists and am considering having Arkhan as an ally. I'm not too familiar with ally rules, is this a viable option? And how do I choose his spell? Do I still pick from Lores of the Dead or does he get a Nighthaunt spell?

6. What are some good leaders / units that are from Nighthaunt that I can include in my GHoN lists as well (aside from Grimghast Reapers)? Spirit Hosts look good, but from looking at their attacks profiles they don't seem so great? Maybe I'm wrong.

7. I am also considering getting a Terrorgheist, and from what I've seen they got changes in the new FEC book. In my lists, do I use the new rules for Terrorgheists from there (the Gaping Maw nerf)? Are the rules from the LoN book outdated then?

Thanks for reading and for answering any of my questions if you did!

[Honk]

22 hours ago, Squeaky101 said:

dire wolves are gross, and I came here to play with skellies) but I am considering getting Grimghast Reapers

Vhaaat??? I totally fully and completely reject that notion!!!

No.1: 1-2 necros are pretty good, a third one might be too much, not terrible though. You want to cast O.Dread and van hels, maybe fading vigor...

No.2: saves are made separately for the 6s... nice try to choose

No.3: typically yes, depends on the CA. Arkhans yes, but for example the vampire lords only once per unit (might pick multiple units though)

No.4: hide him securely away, melee only with weaklings. 11hp with 4+ not good

No.5: possible ally yes (2k/400max), not choosing ANY EXTRA spells, but he knows all spells of any DEATH wizards within 18“, even enemy ones 

No.6: Don’t play with bedsheets, reapers and chainrasps seems to be taken a lot. Hosts are pretty resilient, but tricky to regenerate in LoN, even with reroll, since the dice and the unit have to be nominated first. Guardians might help...

No.7: the FEC rules do not affect the LoN rules, so the Terrorgheists differ. To my knowledge the FEC Version got buffed to the LoN standard...

 

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