Soulblight Gravelords News, Rumours and Speculation

[Ghoooouls]

18 minutes ago, Raptor_Jesues said:

you mean nechrarchs. Yeah i feel ya, i would like blood dragons as well :3 (no, Vhordrai does not count, he is a VLoZD with a slightly different color)

Yeah I'm sure the old style bloodlines are almost a given tbh, maybe with different names. I just want a big, unique necrarch style guy again.

[Causalis]

4 hours ago, sandlemad said:

The former seems pretty plausible as the "here's why Soulblight are coming to the fore all of a sudden" aspect of the battletome, yeah. I'd imagine most of them would be outwardly pro-Nagash though, just... happy to get on with managing their empires in a much more aggressive fashion now they know Nagash isn't watching as closely as he used to.

I have been thinking about this... what actually changes for the (average) Vampire ruler? From the lore it seems that Nagash doesn't really meddle with any rulers. Heck, he hardly interacts with his mortarchs. For example I'm fairly certain that Nagash wouldn't even know who Radukar is. Everyone that isn't at least a demi-god just doesn't seem to get any attention from Big N at all. 

So now that he is regenerating I can't see much really changing. Look at the Cursed City lore: Radukar has ultimate free reign over his empire. He can slaugther the people as he pleases etc. Nothing here seems to indicate that Nagash being around somehow limited him in any way. It's not like Nagash is visiting the Vampires once an month and if they don't bend the knee he wipes them out.

The only immediate change I can think of is that now open infighting is on the table again. Small cities could do this before, because to Nagash it didn't matter. But now some big Vampire Lords could for example try and conquer some regions that are held by the Bonereapers etc.

I'm also very curious to see what Manni and Nef will be up to! This is the opportune time for them to go for each other's throats and realize their own goals.

[BaylorCorvette]

2 minutes ago, Causalis said:

 

The only immediate change I can think of is that now open infighting is on the table again. Small cities could do this before, because to Nagash it didn't matter. But now some big Vampire Lords could for example try and conquer some regions that are held by the Bonereapers etc.

I'm also very curious to see what Manni and Nef will be up to! This is the opportune time for them to go for each other's throats and realize their own goals.

This is what I'm thinking will likely be the main impact. With Nagash "resting" Mannfred and Neferata will likely increase their plotting. I haven't read BR: Teclis narrative but I've read some summaries and it sounds like Mannfred and Neferata are already trying to backstab the other. So I think it will lead to more civil war within Death. Obviously Katakros & OBR will be loyal to Nagash. FeC kind of do their own thing already and I'm not really sure what Nighthaunt will do, will they try and be loyal to Nagash or will they try and utilize this opportunity to do their own thing?

[El Syf]

Cursed city goes up for preorder next weekend. Time to hold our breath and hope that the war scrolls for death have had some attention...

[Twisted Firaun]

22 minutes ago, Causalis said:

I have been thinking about this... what actually changes for the (average) Vampire ruler? From the lore it seems that Nagash doesn't really meddle with any rulers. Heck, he hardly interacts with his mortarchs. For example I'm fairly certain that Nagash wouldn't even know who Radukar is. Everyone that isn't at least a demi-god just doesn't seem to get any attention from Big N at all. 

So now that he is regenerating I can't see much really changing. Look at the Cursed City lore: Radukar has ultimate free reign over his empire. He can slaugther the people as he pleases etc. Nothing here seems to indicate that Nagash being around somehow limited him in any way. It's not like Nagash is visiting the Vampires once an month and if they don't bend the knee he wipes them out.

The only immediate change I can think of is that now open infighting is on the table again. Small cities could do this before, because to Nagash it didn't matter. But now some big Vampire Lords could for example try and conquer some regions that are held by the Bonereapers etc.

I'm also very curious to see what Manni and Nef will be up to! This is the opportune time for them to go for each other's throats and realize their own goals.

This is a very good point, till now the only “infighting” we’ve seen comes from the Neferata books, and that is mostly regulated to political intrigue. I can see the main conflict being Vamps versus reapers, as one tries to make everything dead and the other needs “farming” to survive. 
 

personably I want to see the following issues resolved:

who “leads” the faction? Including the mortarchs we currently have six named vampires, do we get another character or will these six fight to the true death 

will the Nagash model be included in the army? I assume if so it’d be like the eidolon: an avatar rather then the actual god himself. Arkhan will probably join Katakros and the bonereapers if he’s revived in order to bring his master back.

[BaylorCorvette]

4 minutes ago, El Syf said:

Cursed city goes up for preorder next weekend. Time to hold our breath and hope that the war scrolls for death have had some attention...

I'm most excited to see the warscrolls, however if Warcry and Underworlds are any indication then I'm not going to hold my breath. On the flip side though, the Cursed City Skeletons, Zombies and Bats might be the warscrolls for a nomral unit of Skeletons, Zombies and Bats. Guess we'll find out soon!

[warhammernerd]

Undecided on cursed city. The models are absolutely stunning, and I think I’ll forever kick myself if I don’t pick it up at release. Much as I wish the warscrolls will be useable in AoS, I suspect they will be pretty meh. GW can hardly release some bent rules for miniatures in a very expensive, ltd run of a board game. Yes, they have done this with the AoS boxsets, but this is a diff thing. I think they are selling the sizzle rather than the sausage, for us Soulblight and Death players that is. That said, I am 100% picking up a copy. 
If nothing else, 10 zombies, 10 skeles, and 3 fell bats will be a nice start to the mew units they will form part of. The vampire hero will make for a decent VL on foot if his rules are ******, and IF VL’s on foot are a thing in SGL. The varghulf monster will be great replacement for my FEC one, and perhaps even useable with whatever warscroll they do. Guessing it will be a one off unit, but who knows perhaps it comes in 3’s? The dude with the spade, seems nice. Creating units of zombies from scratch sounds fun, but I can’t imagine that rule is unique to him? The necromancer dude will be great as a necro, obvs. As for the slightly feral pale vamps,  I am praying that they get a warscroll - but it doesn’t look like they will. Not sure how they would be used in AoS, perhaps just as Vamp lords? 
What are people’s thoughts?

[Souleater]

I am really keen to grab a copy.

It will be a good way of getting my new paint scheme sorted out.

New models are gorgeous. 

 

Also want to play the game in and of itself.

[sandlemad]

2 hours ago, Causalis said:

I have been thinking about this... what actually changes for the (average) Vampire ruler? From the lore it seems that Nagash doesn't really meddle with any rulers. Heck, he hardly interacts with his mortarchs. For example I'm fairly certain that Nagash wouldn't even know who Radukar is. Everyone that isn't at least a demi-god just doesn't seem to get any attention from Big N at all. 

So now that he is regenerating I can't see much really changing. Look at the Cursed City lore: Radukar has ultimate free reign over his empire. He can slaugther the people as he pleases etc. Nothing here seems to indicate that Nagash being around somehow limited him in any way. It's not like Nagash is visiting the Vampires once an month and if they don't bend the knee he wipes them out.

The only immediate change I can think of is that now open infighting is on the table again. Small cities could do this before, because to Nagash it didn't matter. But now some big Vampire Lords could for example try and conquer some regions that are held by the Bonereapers etc.

I'm also very curious to see what Manni and Nef will be up to! This is the opportune time for them to go for each other's throats and realize their own goals.

Agreed, I think the idea that Nagash had absolute and constant control and awareness of all his minions and so there was no narrative freedom for anyone's 'Your Dudes' armies seems to get seriously overstated. 

From what I've read in books like Soul Wars, Nagash's relationship to any given lord/general/whoever seems to be pretty hands off apart from the occasional terrifying summons to court at Nagashizzar or when he deigns to seize personal control. Most things seem to go through the Mortarchs (or they're given licence to enforce his will as they please) and that's where matters of politicking come in. It comes off as a vaguely feudal system: you have to do what Nerferata/Arkhan/Mannfred/Olynder says but I doubt they particularly care if their vassals murk each other as long as it doesn't spill over too much or endanger their obligations of service to Nagash's legions.

Nagash being... in hibernation or healing or whatever, presumably like after the War of Bones, this doesn't seem like it will change things that much except in the concentration of the forces of Death. I think you're spot on in identifying the Ossiarchs as a big deal in whatever comes next. Unlike nearly everybody else, they are unified, centralised and in lockstep, utterly loyal to Nagash and with much more radical plans than your average vampire who might just want a pleasant status quo with their blood tithe and fiefdoms and internal politicking. I imagine the steady growth of the Ossiarch Empire has been looked at with anger and trepidation by plenty of vampire lords, and I suspect that's a theme that will be picked up in the battletome, quite possibly in open warfare on the part of some prominent soulblight rulers.

[Nagash42]

Everything in the box will get a warscroll, mini-vamps included. 

[Infernalslayer]

Seeing as the zombie ogors only come in a pair inside the Cursed City boxed set, i am starting to think maybe they will get a combined warcscroll with Radukar the wolf like some of the Warhammer Underworlds warbands, where they need to be fielded together. The zombie ogors are said to be his personal guard, so it kind of makes sense to have them together with their vampire lord, i think they would be awkward as a unit of 2 models on their own.

[pixieproxy]

16 minutes ago, Infernalslayer said:

Seeing as the zombie ogors only come in a pair inside the Cursed City boxed set, i am starting to think maybe they will get a combined warcscroll with Radukar the wolf like some of the Warhammer Underworlds warbands, where they need to be fielded together. The zombie ogors are said to be his personal guard, so it kind of makes sense to have them together with their vampire lord, i think they would be awkward as a unit of 2 models on their own.

I didn't think of this, but it would make absolute sense if they don't get their own kit outside cursed city. Two is a weird number for a unit of things, and I can't imagine them being a single model unit either. Being paired with a character would be cool.

[Infernalslayer]

1 minute ago, pixieproxy said:

I didn't think of this, but it would make absolute sense if they don't get their own kit outside cursed city. Two is a weird number for a unit of things, and I can't imagine them being a single model unit either. Being paired with a character would be cool.

If they pair them together, they will likely add a rule to the warscroll, where Radukar can redirect wounds to his zombie ogor guards first, if he is in close proximity to them,  making him a bit tougher to kill. Hope they do the warcrolls justice though, as most of the Warhammer Underworlds warbands are awkwardly designed. 

[warhammernerd]

They will almost certainly be thematically on point, but something you’d rarely field competitively. Just a hunch. Look at all the prev Warhammer quests. That said, the Gaunt Summoner was pretty dece.

[Chikrit]

According to the How to paint video just posted, the bats in Cursed City box are Dire Bats, not Bat Swarms

 

 

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

20 minutes ago, Chikrit said:

According to the How to paint video just posted, the bats in Cursed City box are Dire Bats, not Bat Swarms

 

 

Interesting! Is the bat swarm endless spell back on the table, then?

[pixieproxy]

That's a bit weird as they call them bat swarms in the description. Huh, guess we'll have to see when the game comes

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

48 minutes ago, pixieproxy said:

That's a bit weird as they call them bat swarms in the description. Huh, guess we'll have to see when the game comes

Thinking about it for a minute, it would be pretty confusing to introduce Dire Bats into the game after we already have Bat Swarms, Fell Bats and Dire Wolves. Maybe just a typo?

[Ghoooouls]

2 minutes ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

Thinking about it for a minute, it would be pretty confusing to introduce Dire Bats into the game after we already have Bat Swarms, Fell Bats and Dire Wolves. Maybe just a typo?

Could also just be that it rhymes... corpse rats and dire bats sounds better than 'corpse rats and bat swarms'

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

1 minute ago, Ghoooouls said:

Could also just be that it rhymes... corpse rats and dire bats sounds better than 'corpse rats and bat swarms'

I am already looking foreward to Soulblight's next new unit, Grave Cats.

[NotAWzrd]

Is that a lil gargoyle I see? 

[sandlemad]

13 minutes ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

Thinking about it for a minute, it would be pretty confusing to introduce Dire Bats into the game after we already have Bat Swarms, Fell Bats and Dire Wolves. Maybe just a typo?

Death already has its fair share of confusing name overlap with its Vargulfs, Vargheists, Terrorgheists, Bladegheists, Chaingheists, Chainrasps, Grimghasts... Best not add another vector.

[Vasshpit]

41 minutes ago, NotAWzrd said:

Is that a lil gargoyle I see? 

Sure is. It's also right here. 

[SorryLizard]

I think I'm going to jump in with a hopefully all vampire army. Aiming for 1kpts to use in doubles or small games.

Of note, if any of you follow the Soulbound RPG they just released the Bestiary book which has a section on Soulblight that includes

• Necromancer
• Deadwalker Zombie
• Dire Wolves
• Fell Bats
• Grave Guard
• Deathrattle Skeleton
• Wight King
• Vampire Lord

A little sidebar says that almost all Vampires are human but there are some who are not, including an Elven Vampire from Necros.

A theme throughout the story text for Vampires is the beastial hunger vs nobility and control. Definitely monstrous beat type vampires as well as fancy gothic nobility supported here. Mention too that not all Vampires are heartless, some still have compassion for the living.

[Sleepers]

edit. I was wrong 

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by Sleepers