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Soulblight Gravelords News, Rumours and Speculation


Neil Arthur Hotep

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2 hours ago, BaylorCorvette said:

Honestly I'd drop Soulsnare Shackles and get the triumph. At 1960 points you will likely get the triumph almost every time. You have two spell casters. Prince Vhordrai is always going to be casting his warscroll spell or pinions and the Vengorian Lords warscroll spell is decent, but fishing for the double cast of amaranthine orb is good. So at almost no point would I even consider casting Soulsnare Shackles. But any of the triumphs would be fantastic on Blood Knights or your Heroes.

 

I've got one Kastelai list I will run in a tournament in June and I've spent only a small amount of time list building other lists. I just don't really want to see what 3.0 is going to do with the meta and core rules. If charge reactions are actually a thing, then getting extra pile in distance could be huge.

wich triumph would you say could be best?

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17 minutes ago, Raptor_Jesues said:

wich triumph would you say could be best?

Well, you don't get to pick them so you get what you get.

However, in SBGL I would be happy with any of them. Re-roll Wound rolls is probably the least preferred though since there are currently less minuses to wound versus to hit. The other thing is, SBGL seriously lacks re-rolls on things. I do not know if this is a sign of things to to come for new books or if it is just for our book. But coming from a Khorne army that uses a lot of StD units, I am used to getting a TON of re-rolls.

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So interestingly enough, in the BT a “Tengorez Dynasty” was mentioned. Apparently they’re a dynasty of "withered" vampires that emerge from their Crystal lairs in Hysh to steal arcane war machines to further their own necromantic power. Now I don’t know about y’all, but that sounds like new Necrarchs in the same way the Kastelai sound like new Blood Dragons. Maybe next wave we’ll finally get those caster vampire lords everyone wanted?

Edited by JustAsPlanned
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1 hour ago, JustAsPlanned said:

So interestingly enough, in the BT a “Tengorez Dynasty” was mentioned. Apparently they’re a dynasty of "withered" vampires that emerge from their Crystal lairs in Hysh to steal arcane war machines to further their own necromantic power. Now I don’t know about y’all, but that sounds like new Necrarchs in the same way the Kastelai sound like new Blood Dragons. Maybe next wave we’ll finally get those caster vampire lords everyone wanted?

I’d be all over that🙂

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That would be a dream for me.  My favorite bloodline has almost always been the necrarch, and that is how I usually play my armies (spell heavy).  Used to play Legion of Sacrament the same way, and I was feeling a bit downtrodden about the lack of something similar in the new BT.  Belladoma in Vyrkos is nice and all, but she is the only one in Vyrkos with interesting magic, so I would love to see a Necrarch reimagining in a year or two.

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1 hour ago, Verminlord said:

Am I understanding this right?

1 in every 5 models can be a standard bearer and 1 in 5 models can be a musician. So you can run both since it is a 5 model unit at minimum and there is no "or" mentioned?

Screenshot_20210524-205456.jpg

That’s correct, you get both for every five black knights.

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10 hours ago, BaylorCorvette said:

Well, you don't get to pick them so you get what you get.

...

and this is why i went with the shackles to begin with xD
Also i would like to point out that the vengorian spell is rather short ranged just like the orb, wich means you are usually given one or two turns when you do not have suitable targets. I think a longish ranged shackles can mess up the enemy arrangement quite a bit.
Although i could be tempted by the prismatic palisade wich also has a small possibility of granting me a triumph.
I will try both though, stand by for more data

Regarding bloodknights instead, i would reckon that small units are the way to go but would a 10 men unit running along two small ones be better? i dont really know, the big BKs hammer is very tempting...

Edited by Raptor_Jesues
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I think using 10 Blood Knights is scary, not because of their damage but their toughness. 

3 wounds at a 3+ save with a 6+ reroll 1s death save is already quite tough. With Kastelai that 3 wounds can easily become 4 wounds. It's easy enough to increase their save char too. It's also quite easy to make it -1 to wound or -1 to hit them and the Vengorian Lord dishes out a --1 rend aura. Oh and they heal too. 

Killing such a unit, especially when buffed, would really take some dedication. It's doable for sure but it's not easy by any stretch and would probably take more than one turn. The fact that their damage is pretty good too turns them from a "nuisance" unit into a "worry" unit. If the opponent doesn't kill them, the Blood Knights are going to do some serious damage. But to get rid of them they'll have to work for it. 

In Kastelai, your opponent will want to kill a unit as soon as it gets a buff. In serious games I think it'll be quite hard to keep the buffed units from dying as soon as they "level up". A brick of 10 blood knights increases their chances of staying alive. 
I think what I'd do is hunt down units of 3+ wounds char first. Getting +1 wound char to a 10 man unit of blood knights makes them so much more difficult to deal with - IMO for Blood Knights it's actually the best buff of the 3. Sure the extra damage is great but the targets are more scarce and it doesn't help to keep them from dying as soon as they get it. 

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14 hours ago, BaylorCorvette said:

I like it.

I think Vyrkos will likely be the most competitive of the Bloodlines / Dynasties. I've spent a little time coming up with a list that works on an initial Alpha strike having Grave Guard with great weapons pop up out of the grave, a unit of Varghiests deep strike all supported by Belladamma and her exploding 6's to hit. She casts COGs and also have a Vengorian Lord charge up with Driven by Deathstentch Command Trait to give an aura of re-roll charges. That is the initial strike and then supported by a unit or two of Blood Knights to be the second wave of attacks. Some dire wolves to screen or grab objectives.

Yeah, whether or not to try to get the charge with the Grave Guard block after the deep strike was one of my decision points. Eventually I decided against it, because I really wanted that kitted-out VLoZD with Hunter's Snare.

I didn't go deep into detail on him in my last post, but he just seems like a super valuable unit to have. 14" movement natually, a near guaranteed +5" from rerolling casts on Pinions, captures worth 14 models, 3+d3 lance attacks at 3+/3+/-2/4 on the charge... Just the best kind of bully unit, a big, fast, tanky monster that does not need support and that your opponent cannot afford to ignore.

As a result the lists has a lot other tools to hopefully keep the Grave Guard block healthy until they can get into combat. Belladamma can use the Lycancurse to lock a threatening unit in combat for a turn or use her command ability to help a unit of direwolves engage. Radukar can use his command ability to deliver a direwolf screen where it is needed. Some fringe options are there, too, like the Necromancer debuff or gravesite-deepstriking one of the other units in, too, to help screen.

Since this list is Vyrkos (+1 to wound) and has two sources of attack buffs with Radukar and Belladamma, I think shields on the Grave Guard are the way to go. Damage is still good (they chop down Kragnos in a round if they get the drop on him, so I guess they are doing fine), and hopefully the extra defense from shields, screening options and being deployed in the grave (so off the board for one round of damage most likely) will be enough to get them in. From there, I hope the list has enough capturing power to grind the game out.

I saw some comments to the effect that people hope Grave Guard won't be the eels of Gravelords. But in my opinion, you need to really work to get them to make their points back. I would be more worried about Blood Knight spam, personally.

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2 hours ago, Aren73 said:

I think using 10 Blood Knights is scary, not because of their damage but their toughness. 

3 wounds at a 3+ save with a 6+ reroll 1s death save is already quite tough. With Kastelai that 3 wounds can easily become 4 wounds. It's easy enough to increase their save char too. It's also quite easy to make it -1 to wound or -1 to hit them and the Vengorian Lord dishes out a --1 rend aura. Oh and they heal too. 

Killing such a unit, especially when buffed, would really take some dedication. It's doable for sure but it's not easy by any stretch and would probably take more than one turn. The fact that their damage is pretty good too turns them from a "nuisance" unit into a "worry" unit. If the opponent doesn't kill them, the Blood Knights are going to do some serious damage. But to get rid of them they'll have to work for it. 

In Kastelai, your opponent will want to kill a unit as soon as it gets a buff. In serious games I think it'll be quite hard to keep the buffed units from dying as soon as they "level up". A brick of 10 blood knights increases their chances of staying alive. 
I think what I'd do is hunt down units of 3+ wounds char first. Getting +1 wound char to a 10 man unit of blood knights makes them so much more difficult to deal with - IMO for Blood Knights it's actually the best buff of the 3. Sure the extra damage is great but the targets are more scarce and it doesn't help to keep them from dying as soon as they get it. 

i suppose you could be right, i guess i could multi charge two units with the BKs brick and still smack some hot dogs off.  

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10 hours ago, Nagash42 said:

anyone planning to taking any allies? 

I think an Archregent with a varghulf buddy could be funky, summon in 20ghouls and you‘ll have a solid flanking/home objective block. 

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10 hours ago, Nagash42 said:

anyone planning to taking any allies? 

I'm going to take the night haunt executioner cause he's cool looking and I've wanted to get him for awhile but didn't want a full night haunt army. 

The Dolorous Guard until they are removed in a month or two 😂

5 hours ago, Raptor_Jesues said:

Regarding bloodknights instead, i would reckon that small units are the way to go but would a 10 men unit running along two small ones be better? i dont really know, the big BKs hammer is very tempting...

I have mixed feelings. I see merit of a 10 man unit of Blood Knights, it also means that they can take some casualties before their damage drops off. However I keep coming back to that 1" range on their weapons. So infuriating. If the Riders of Ruin gets an Errata and/or changes with 3.0 to let them charge after they use the ability then I'd be more inclined to take a block of 10 since they would be extremely difficult to lock down.

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I've decided to just play SbG hard mode with my black knights in Legion of Night. Going to use them as overpriced alpha strike D3 MW seeker missles that hopefully hold enemy units up for a turn or two. +1 to save/-1 to wound in round 1 will help with that role. Van Hels goes off on a 4+ and cogs becomes much more manageable at a 5+ to cast and makes charging from ambush more consistent. Once units are in place switch cogs to defensive mode for +1 to save/+1 spell on Necromancer enhancing his ability to support Skeletons or GG with Overwhelming Dread and Van Hels.

The list:

Legion of Night 
Prince Vhordrai                  455
     -A. Pinions
Wight King                          130
     -General: -1 to wound or +2 to charge
Necromancer                      125 
     -Artifact: +2 to cast aura 
     -Overwhelming Dread 
x30 Skeletons                     255
x20 Grave Guard                280 
x20 Grave Guard                280 
x5 Black Knights                 120 
x5 Black Knights                 120 
x5 Black Knights                 120 
Chronomantic Cogs            80

Total:                                    1965

Edited by Verminlord
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I’m planning on running an insane Vargheists heavy, non-stop Deep Strike list. It won’t win me a ton of games but it’ll sure be fun to play:

Coven Throne, 310

Mannfred, 380

Vhordrai, 455

4x 3x Vargheists, 155 each

10x Skeletons, 85

Cogs, 80

1980pts

 

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12 minutes ago, Televiper11 said:

I’m planning on running an insane Vargheists heavy, non-stop Deep Strike list. It won’t win me a ton of games but it’ll sure be fun to play:

Coven Throne, 310

Mannfred, 380

Vhordrai, 455

4x 3x Vargheists, 155 each

10x Skeletons, 85

Cogs, 80

1980pts

 

I assume you are going to be putting the Coven Throne CA on Prince Vhordrai? With this list I would seriously consider dropping the Coven Throne in favor for more Vargheists or some Dire Wolves / other units to sit on objectives while you push with Vhordrai, Mannfred and Vargheists, you'd probably get more out of it. But a non stop Vargheist deep striking list sounds fun.

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Heyho folks!  Now that Soulblight Gravelords has landed, I'm going to lock this thread and direct everyone over to the new discussion topic.  That way anybody coming into the battletome fresh won't need to wade through pages worth of rumours and speculations.

 

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