Soulblight Gravelords News, Rumours and Speculation

[BaylorCorvette]

20 hours ago, Raptor_Jesues said:

i really hope so. It seems like we will get some kind of glaive infantry but it is unclear if they are grave guards or vampires

 

given the colour i would say grave guard

I can see that, but it also looks like bodies impaled on a large piece of wood to me too. So IDK what to think.

[Doko]

If new skeleton kit gonna replace the old kit. What gonna happen to the skeleton horde start collecting?

Gw wont keep it if the skeleton kit is disscounted and replaced for other.

So i dont know what do,start my vampire army getting this start collecting?but i have fear because it isnt safe even if all the units gonna stay in the tome but if i wait to see the tome to see what units are there maybe be too much late and the start collecting is  deleted allready

[El Syf]

8 minutes ago, Doko said:

If new skeleton kit gonna replace the old kit. What gonna happen to the skeleton horde start collecting?

Gw wont keep it if the skeleton kit is disscounted and replaced for other.

So i dont know what do,start my vampire army getting this start collecting?but i have fear because it isnt safe even if all the units gonna stay in the tome but if i wait to see the tome to see what units are there maybe be too much late and the start collecting is  deleted allready

I'd say hold off. Last thing you want is to start a new army and then have a load of outdated models. The start collecting box will probably be kicking around for a while before they get rid of it.  Wait until the big release and start with all new in keeping models.

[JackStreicher]

2 hours ago, lare2 said:

I very much believe this is the way they're gonna do it as well. I'm kinda of the opinion, with no justification whatsoever, that skellies will be in lower unit numbers this time around. I hope so anyway. I don't want to face painting another 100 of them and playing a horde really isn't kind on my lower spine!  I still think they'll be battleline but they'll be more elite than zombies.   

Yup. I believe they will combine Grave Guard and Skeletons into one unit, the "Deathrattle Skeletons". As mentioned before: this makes room for a Elite infantry unit.

[PraetorDragoon]

16 minutes ago, Doko said:

If new skeleton kit gonna replace the old kit. What gonna happen to the skeleton horde start collecting?

Gw wont keep it if the skeleton kit is disscounted and replaced for other.

So i dont know what do,start my vampire army getting this start collecting?but i have fear because it isnt safe even if all the units gonna stay in the tome but if i wait to see the tome to see what units are there maybe be too much late and the start collecting is  deleted allready

I would expect Neferata & Mannfred to be in the tome. Skeletons get an update. Black Knights are likely to carry over, we have seen a mounted Wight King and it would be a bit silly if there wasn't skeleton cavalry for him to lead. Wether or not Black Knights get update is something I don't know.

Nighthaunt I expect to not be in Gravelords. At most there is a Bloodline that can take 1 in 4 Nighthaunt units, like how Living City can take Sylvaneth. 

[BaylorCorvette]

1 hour ago, Sception said:

In terms of when release will happen, keep in mind that it was a much longer wait from initial reveal to actual release for some other recent new factions, particularly slaanesh.  It's entirely possible that we might be waiting till october or november.

True but also consider this, the Crimson Court and Cursed City will have AoS warscroll cards released with them. I would think that they would want the Soulblight Battletome to be out for this.  Maybe not.

 

Anyways, on to my analysis of the upcoming Vampires. I am SUEPR stoked! I converted an entire army into "Khorne Vampires" that played under the Khorne allegiance (mainly Slaves to Darkness models converted into Vamps with Khorne keyword), it was a labor of love project until a proper Vampire book came out. This past weekend I played a two day AoS tournament with them and to my surprised I finished 6th overall. 

Here are my thoughts on what I am hoping for, because I not only want to look at cool Vampire models BUT I want them to be a competitive faction.

-Make Blood Knights a 3+ Save, so many things have rend these days that the increase save against no rend is pretty useless on the current Blood Knights. replace the D3 damage on the charge with just an additional damage but also increase rend by 1 and also possibly impact hits or the ability to retreat and still charge. These should be SCARY shock Calvary. 

-There are two things that are really prevalent in todays meta tournament lists. Shooting and Mortal Wounds, often from shooting as well but also from Magic. I would LOVE to see Bat Swarms offer the ability that any time a friendly Soulblight unit is allocated a wound or mortal wound from a missile weapon within X number of inches, on a 2+ (or 4+ maybe) that wound or mortal wound can be allocated to the Bat Swarm instead.

-I love the "Mist Form" command trait in the current soulblight section of the LoN book and I think it fits narratively with vampires but also is very strong. The ability to retreat and still charge. I think this should be carried over into the new book and possibly apply to all vampires in some form or fashion. 

-I want to see a deep strike option or redeploy option. Deep Strike could be something as simple as bats being able to set up off the board and deep strike in. I was also thinking that a specific bloodline or command trait or something specific to one general/blood line could be once both armies have been deployed but before the first battle round X number of Soulblight units can be redeployed. It must still follow the same restrictions as normal deployment. This would highlight any sort of "tactical" minded Vampire Generals. Once the enemy has their entire army set up, maybe you see a more advantageous spot to set up.

-I think a 6+ army wide wound and mortal wound shrug will likely be standard as with most Death armies. However, to emphasize just how robust a Vampires vitality is, maybe Soulblight have a standard 4+ or 5+ Mortal Wound shrug.

-Usable battalions, I think we will for sure see several battalions in the book but I just hope they are both usable in terms of what the battalion buff offers but also the units that are included in it. The battalions in the last few books GW has released seemed to have been pretty good, as opposed to a lot of earlier ones.

-This is probably a pipe dream, but I would love to see some foot Vampires, mainly in two flavors. The first being elite melee warriors maybe in units of 3 or 5. The second being archers, either on foot or on horseback. The horse back variety could be some sort of hit and run type of unit with bows but also swords.

-Highly unlikely but would be cool - A Vampire type Assassin unit, could be a Hero or just a normal unit that allows for a deep strike or a deployment after the first battle round and has a bonus against killing an enemy General and/or Hero.

-Finally, a cool terrain piece. Probably the lowest hanging fruit would be a graveyard type of terrain piece that allows summoning of undead units or bringing them back. I am very curious to see if the Deathly Invocations stays around along with the grave sites to bring back destroyed summonable units.

Edited March 23, 2021 by BaylorCorvette

[Clan's Cynic]

My prediction for release is May to early June at the latest.

Remember the Kangaroo Kavalry was leaked the same time as the Vampire Lord blister pack, so they're sat in a warehouse somewhere waiting to be distributed. 

They usually do a Preview every three-four weeks, so presumably in April's Preview we'll see the remainder of the range.

Soulblight's had it's Battletome cover revealed, which usually comes quite late along. Sisters of Battle still have units to be revealed and don't have their 'dex cover yet, whilst the only 40k codex coming is Mechanicus (which was shown off at the same time). Once Cursed City is out there's nothing else in the pipeline beyond BR3, Necromunda and the Underworlds warbands (who rarely take up an entire week by themselves). Cursed City might be a two week pre-order though, which eats up some time but that still leaves some of April and May otherwise empty and open for Soulblight/Necromunda/BR3/Mechanicus.

 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Clan's Cynic

[El Syf]

4 minutes ago, Clan's Cynic said:

My prediction for release is May to early June at the latest.

Remember the Kangaroo Kavalry was leaked the same time as the Vampire Lord blister pack, so they're sat in a warehouse somewhere waiting to be distributed. 

They usually do a Preview every three-four weeks, so presumably in April's Preview we'll see the remainder of the range.

Soulblight's had it's Battletome cover revealed, which usually comes quite late along. Sisters of Battle still have units to be revealed and don't have their 'dex cover yet, whilst the only 40k codex coming is Mechanicus (which was shown off at the same time). Once Cursed City is out there's nothing else in the pipeline beyond BR3 and the Underworlds warbands who rarely take up an entire week by themselves. Cursed City might be a two week pre-order though, which eats up some time but that still leaves some of April and May otherwise empty and open for Soulblight/BR4.

I hope you are right and I'm wrong, I'd love them sooner but just don't see it myself. 

Hopefully there's still more we haven't seen as well.

[Liquidsteel]

They said on preview that the book and release isn't far behind cursed city. I reckon cursed city out end of April and gravelords mid May.

[JackStreicher]

I am really keen on knowing the Stats of the Blood Knights 😍

[El Syf]

4 minutes ago, JackStreicher said:

I am really keen on knowing the Stats of the Blood Knights 😍

Hopefully a return to being what they were in wfb, although vampires in general have taken a power decrease it feels like. Turbo charge all of them!

[HanShot First]

I’m hoping blood knights are Varanguard level . I hope they hit like trucks and just shred things. Also I’m hoping for foot vamps, the savage vamp in the underworlds warband would be a great candidate, and they could go through animals. We already have half wolf in cursed city so it would make sense if they did a couple more.

[JackStreicher]

1 hour ago, HanShot First said:

I’m hoping blood knights are Varanguard level . I hope they hit like trucks and just shred things. Also I’m hoping for foot vamps, the savage vamp in the underworlds warband would be a great candidate, and they could go through animals. We already have half wolf in cursed city so it would make sense if they did a couple more.

I REALLY wish they add a Vampire Infantry unit in the style of the WHU Vamp on the very left

 

[lare2]

54 minutes ago, JackStreicher said:

I REALLY wish they add a Vampire Infantry unit in the style of the WHU Vamp on the very left

 

These are still, by far,  my favourite vamps so far. Shame they're for UW. 

[Liquidsteel]

You can swap them out for Heroes in AoS if the base size matches. 

[Honk]

11 hours ago, Causalis said:

They hardly kill anything as it is

My 60 zombers with cart, vamp and necro chew threw almost everything

A bit slow and unwieldy, but fun...

[Causalis]

42 minutes ago, Honk said:

My 60 zombers with cart, vamp and necro chew threw almost everything

A bit slow and unwieldy, but fun...

I knew this would inevitably be pointed out. But to be honest, Zombies shouldn't hit on 2s, wounding on 3s. That's Elite territory and infringes on what the Skeletons are (somewhat) supposed to do. As I said: I hope we will have a clearer distinction between Zombies as cheap fodder/tarpit and Skeletons as the damage dealing horde option ("damage dealing" as in "moderately killy". I certainly don't expect them to be blenders).

On the topic: Do you think Skeleton Warriors will see an overhaul? I could imagine that they will shift in their profile, by losing the Graveshield rule but gaining a 5+ save. I also don't really see them keeping their rediculous number of attacks if you bring big units. It's very unwieldy and timeconsuming to roll that many dice - especially with Dance Macabre. 

And do you think we will get Terrain and Endless Spells? Getting a Mausoleum or actual plastic minis for our Gravesites would be awesome. So far, every Death faction has gotten Endless Spells - only LoN is left out because they are such an old book. 

[lare2]

13 minutes ago, Causalis said:

Gravesites

That's if we actually still have these. Either way, I think terrain and spells will be a given. 

[Evil Bob]

1 hour ago, Honk said:

My 60 zombers with cart, vamp and necro chew threw almost everything

A bit slow and unwieldy, but fun...

I can’t get over the point investments needed.  The increase in game meta shooting and ranged mortals doesn’t help.

If the skeletons having better armor is any indication I hope the game Devs did a full review on the battleline options and how they are supposed to fit in the current game.

[Paladin of Khorne]

I picked up a box of Grave Guard, the Start Collecting Skeleton Horde, a Wight King and Necromancer. I wanted a box of the zombies but those are already gone online so I wanted to pick up the old skeletons before they go away forever. They will be good as alternative poses for the new skellies coming out. Mannfred and the knights will always be useful too. 

[jeremym]

Im starting to think about the design space for vampires within age of sigmar, and I'm kind of wondering what type of mechanics do you think we can expect for the SBGs ? 

Im thinking some sort of charms, not unlike prayers, which cause different effects against your enemy. Maybe compelling them not to use unbinds, or causing them to move in a different direction away from the model? 

Of course i imagine we'll see core mechanics like + hit/wound/attack against injured or reduced units, and I cant imagine we won't see regeneration/6+ ward. 

 

what else are you hopeful to see for the vamps?

[Honk]

7 hours ago, Evil Bob said:

can’t get over the point investments needed

8 hours ago, Causalis said:

Zombies shouldn't hit on 2s,

Yes, very true.

they are my fun list... but still nice when going against Nurgle or Slaves. Or bogging things down.

I‘m not sure what I expect from zombies or skellis.
A big blob of zombies, cheap, NOT 2+\3+, shambling 4“. the points and the resilience will be interesting and special features. If save and ward stays the same on a 4+\4+ model, zombies should be like 30 points (and still nobody would buy)

the merging feature was cool, I could see some „menace from below“ summoning underneath their feet action or a 4+ ward. 
 

skellis are not that tricky, they look a bit beefed up, so maybe they just get the „graveguard“ spot 5+ save, real shield for 4+ or two handed for rend...

[El Syf]

I’ve said it elsewhere and I have no clue how they’d implement as in previous incarnations you just paid points for them but vampiric powers need to come back!

[Ghoooouls]

39 minutes ago, jeremym said:

Im starting to think about the design space for vampires within age of sigmar, and I'm kind of wondering what type of mechanics do you think we can expect for the SBGs ? 

Im thinking some sort of charms, not unlike prayers, which cause different effects against your enemy. Maybe compelling them not to use unbinds, or causing them to move in a different direction away from the model? 

Of course i imagine we'll see core mechanics like + hit/wound/attack against injured or reduced units, and I cant imagine we won't see regeneration/6+ ward. 

 

what else are you hopeful to see for the vamps?

I know it's been mentioned a lot, but I'd like to see expansion to the bloodlines. Vampire lords becoming beasts like they should be. Maybe a lord could have multiple different points costs depending on their level of power? And the higher they cost, the more bloodlines abilities they gain access to, on top of the usual command trait and artefact. For instance you could spend 140 points on a standard vamp lord who gets access to a single bloodlines ability, or 180 and they get access to more etc.

I want to see vampire lords capable with magic again. Yeah it's cool at the moment we have the 9+ casting twice ability and lots of external buffs like corpse cart/mortis/sacrament. But just being a 1x caster with no option to increase this just seems silly when you have random demons that can cast x2 etc. Vampires always used to be awesome with magic and in combat.

I hope we keep healing mechanics that we currently have in LoN - not so much gravesites but at least heroes and spells that can return/raise models and I think we undoubtedly will get this.

Beguile style abilities a little bit like you said would be great. Chance to make units attack last or attack themselves as they have their mind controlled, debuffs to hit from clouds of bats and stuff. The possibilities are so much fun to think about.

 

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

8 hours ago, Causalis said:

On the topic: Do you think Skeleton Warriors will see an overhaul? I could imagine that they will shift in their profile, by losing the Graveshield rule but gaining a 5+ save. I also don't really see them keeping their rediculous number of attacks if you bring big units. It's very unwieldy and timeconsuming to roll that many dice - especially with Dance Macabre. 

That's one of my big hopes, too. I hope we get rid of all horde incentives with skeletons beyond maybe the point discount. The extra attacks were definitely not fun to play with. It's nice that there is finally an opportunity to adress this, because the synergies within LoN made it impossible to just buff the damage or other stats of skeleton warriors instead of their number of attacks. If they had only one attack that was much higher quality, buffing their number of attacks through Wight Kings/Vampire Lords/Lord of Nagashizzar would almost certainly have made them a lot stronger than they are with their current rules.

If regular skeletons are supposed to be the more offensive infantry choice, I think it would be fine if they went up in points a little and capped at 30 models per unit, although that makes it hard to imagine a niche for Grave Guard. Maybe now is actually the time to give them higher quality attacks or rend -1 under certain conditions, if we retain a way to buff their number of attacks through heroes. That would be pretty good flavour wise, too: Skeletons are not a big threat unsupported, but if they are lead by a hero they become dangerous.

 

8 hours ago, Causalis said:

And do you think we will get Terrain and Endless Spells? Getting a Mausoleum or actual plastic minis for our Gravesites would be awesome. So far, every Death faction has gotten Endless Spells - only LoN is left out because they are such an old book. 

I think endless spells are very likely if Gravelords stay as magic-heavy as Legions of Nagash is. Before we saw the Cursed City bat swarms, I expected a bat swarm endless spell, but I guess that's unlikely now.

I personally don't think the grave site mechanic will stick around. I hope we get something else if we get faction terrain. Although, really, I don't especially want faction terrain at all. There are plenty cool grave and crypt models out there already if you want them for the look, and that way you don't need to buy a terrain piece to play your army at full power.

1 hour ago, jeremym said:

Im starting to think about the design space for vampires within age of sigmar, and I'm kind of wondering what type of mechanics do you think we can expect for the SBGs ? 

Im thinking some sort of charms, not unlike prayers, which cause different effects against your enemy. Maybe compelling them not to use unbinds, or causing them to move in a different direction away from the model? 

Of course i imagine we'll see core mechanics like + hit/wound/attack against injured or reduced units, and I cant imagine we won't see regeneration/6+ ward. 

what else are you hopeful to see for the vamps?

I hope the vampires themselves become more elite than they are currently. The army already has a good selection of horde units, between skeletons, zombies and animals. I think if the vampire lords leading the army were more powerful and threatening, that would be a good balance.

Mechanically, maybe The Hunger could be stronger. I really like it for the flavour, but I feel like healing by wounding opponents should be a much bigger part of what makes a vampire scary.

In general, I think Soulblight Gravelords should be about healing and resurrection, and I like the idea of different types of units having different ways to heal.

Vampires could heal through wounding opponents, which incentivizes aggressive play with them.

Skeletons, in my mind, should be disposable troops that are easy to kill, but also easy to bring back by a hero. That would mean that you could suicide-charge with skeletons without much downside, because there are always more where those came from.

Zombies, to me, seem like they should be harder to kill than skeletons and like they should be able to increase their numbers by killing enemies. I would like it if the difference between zombies and skeletons was that you can only heal and resurrect skeleton units, but can actually summon zombies (that is, increase the amount of zombies in a unit over their starting number or just put down extra zombie units during play).

I imagine, since this is a modern book, that we will move to a summoning points system like other armies that rely on summoning mechanics. I can't really see "spend a command point, get a unit of any size back" returning.