AoS 3 - Nighthaunt Discussion

[That Guy]

41 minutes ago, dmorley21 said:

I’m expecting discussion to really crank up with the new book. A lot of people have some Nighthaunt and/or really like the look of the army. 

It will already start with the box set once we know the changed warscrolls for myrmourn, bladegheists and know the rules for the new units. My body is so ready. I really hope that ranged unit is going to be a banger and i hope the character is going to create a serious punch for our army. I’m so excited.

[Kadeton]

I'm just starting out with Nighthaunt, and I've got a casual-oriented 1000-point event coming up next month. The event organiser is vetting each list to make sure that nobody is bringing anything too hardcore competitive. Here's what I was thinking of taking:

Spoiler

Allegiance: Nighthaunt
- Procession: Emerald Host

Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief (215)
- General
Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed (120)
Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern (135)
5 x Hexwraiths (150)
5 x Hexwraiths (150)
10 x Grimghast Reapers (155)
4 x Myrmourn Banshees (75)

Any advice on how to make something like this work? I've got a vague plan that the Hexwraith units will bodyguard Olynder while she and the Guardian of Souls keep resurrecting them, so she can get up close to the action and throw out mortal wounds. Beyond that, I'm just at the "throw stuff into combat and see what happens" level of tactical understanding of Nighthaunt at this point.

Happy with any suggestions for list changes, spell and artefact choices, and general advice on how to haunt. Much appreciated!

[That Guy]

2 hours ago, Kadeton said:

I'm just starting out with Nighthaunt, and I've got a casual-oriented 1000-point event coming up next month. The event organiser is vetting each list to make sure that nobody is bringing anything too hardcore competitive. Here's what I was thinking of taking:

  Hide contents

Allegiance: Nighthaunt
- Procession: Emerald Host

Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief (215)
- General
Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed (120)
Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern (135)
5 x Hexwraiths (150)
5 x Hexwraiths (150)
10 x Grimghast Reapers (155)
4 x Myrmourn Banshees (75)

Any advice on how to make something like this work? I've got a vague plan that the Hexwraith units will bodyguard Olynder while she and the Guardian of Souls keep resurrecting them, so she can get up close to the action and throw out mortal wounds. Beyond that, I'm just at the "throw stuff into combat and see what happens" level of tactical understanding of Nighthaunt at this point.

Happy with any suggestions for list changes, spell and artefact choices, and general advice on how to haunt. Much appreciated!

First of all welcome! Always nice to see a new face within the legions of grief. Good choice going with Olynder, she is a menace on her own and she will do work at 1000p. Perhaps you are a bit hero heavy for 1000p, by picking Olynder as 1 of them. For starters could you list any other units you own, also could you list your plan with this current list. I can see you mostly went for units with some rend and a bunch of magic deny. I’ll tell you my further thoughts after you answer those few questions. For artefact choices, i would go for the Fell Pendant on the Guardian to speed up your forces. Sadly you can’t take take it on the knight, because if you would take an artefact for him, that would force you to take the traitors sword from the sub faction.

[dmorley21]

5 hours ago, That Guy said:

It will already start with the box set once we know the changed warscrolls for myrmourn, bladegheists and know the rules for the new units. My body is so ready. I really hope that ranged unit is going to be a banger and i hope the character is going to create a serious punch for our army. I’m so excited.

Indeed, however scrolls could be different in the box than in the book. Those boxes have a year lead and the books have a 6 month lead IIRC.

4 hours ago, Kadeton said:

I'm just starting out with Nighthaunt, and I've got a casual-oriented 1000-point event coming up next month. The event organiser is vetting each list to make sure that nobody is bringing anything too hardcore competitive. Here's what I was thinking of taking:

  Hide contents

Allegiance: Nighthaunt
- Procession: Emerald Host

Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief (215)
- General
Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed (120)
Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern (135)
5 x Hexwraiths (150)
5 x Hexwraiths (150)
10 x Grimghast Reapers (155)
4 x Myrmourn Banshees (75)

Any advice on how to make something like this work? I've got a vague plan that the Hexwraith units will bodyguard Olynder while she and the Guardian of Souls keep resurrecting them, so she can get up close to the action and throw out mortal wounds. Beyond that, I'm just at the "throw stuff into combat and see what happens" level of tactical understanding of Nighthaunt at this point.

Happy with any suggestions for list changes, spell and artefact choices, and general advice on how to haunt. Much appreciated!

With that list, you’ll likely want to run 3 blobs:

Olynder and Hexwraiths

Guardian and Reapers

Knight and Banshees

Each of those heroes sync nicely with each of those units. I don’t play 1k games, but looks like it should be fun. 

[Kadeton]

10 hours ago, That Guy said:

First of all welcome! Always nice to see a new face within the legions of grief. Good choice going with Olynder, she is a menace on her own and she will do work at 1000p. Perhaps you are a bit hero heavy for 1000p, by picking Olynder as 1 of them. For starters could you list any other units you own, also could you list your plan with this current list. I can see you mostly went for units with some rend and a bunch of magic deny. I’ll tell you my further thoughts after you answer those few questions. For artefact choices, i would go for the Fell Pendant on the Guardian to speed up your forces. Sadly you can’t take take it on the knight, because if you would take an artefact for him, that would force you to take the traitors sword from the sub faction.

Thanks! Yes, I wasn't sure whether I was a bit top-heavy with three heroes. I picked these up second-hand, so some of the numbers don't line up with unit sizes, but here's what I currently have available:

Lady Olynder
Kurdoss Valentian
The Briar Queen and Thorns
Lord Executioner (x2)
Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed (x2)
Knight of Shrouds
Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern (x2)
Spirit Torment (x2)
Glaivewraith Stalkers (x14)
Myrmourn Banshees (x12)
Hexwraiths (x12)
Grimghast Reapers (x18)
Chainrasp Horde (x40)

I wouldn't say I had a strong plan in mind with this list - I'd really like to include Olynder because I love the character and the model, and the Hexwraiths seemed an obvious choice as the backbone of the Emerald Host and a bodyguard for Olynder. Beyond that, it was basically just juggling units to make them fit within the points. But I'm very open to suggestions!

[darkdaysdawn]

On 2/12/2022 at 7:41 PM, Kadeton said:

Thanks! Yes, I wasn't sure whether I was a bit top-heavy with three heroes. I picked these up second-hand, so some of the numbers don't line up with unit sizes, but here's what I currently have available:

Lady Olynder
Kurdoss Valentian
The Briar Queen and Thorns
Lord Executioner (x2)
Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed (x2)
Knight of Shrouds
Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern (x2)
Spirit Torment (x2)
Glaivewraith Stalkers (x14)
Myrmourn Banshees (x12)
Hexwraiths (x12)
Grimghast Reapers (x18)
Chainrasp Horde (x40)

I wouldn't say I had a strong plan in mind with this list - I'd really like to include Olynder because I love the character and the model, and the Hexwraiths seemed an obvious choice as the backbone of the Emerald Host and a bodyguard for Olynder. Beyond that, it was basically just juggling units to make them fit within the points. But I'm very open to suggestions!

Not that this is a great list, but it'll do for explanation (of my strategy, anyway).

- Army Faction: Nighthaunt
- Subfaction: Reikenor's Condemned
- Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
- Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS
Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed (120)*
- Artefacts of Power: Corpse Candle
Lady Olynder (215)*
- General
- Spells: Lifestealer, Soul Cage
Reikenor The Grimhailer (145)*
- Spells: Lifestealer, Shademist
BATTLELINE
10 x Grimghast Reapers (155)
10 x Grimghast Reapers (155)
10 x Grimghast Reapers (155)
30 x Chainrasp Horde (285)**
6 x Spirit Hosts (250)**
6 x Spirit Hosts (250)**
OTHER
4 x Myrmourn Banshees (75)*
4 x Glaivewraith Stalkers (65)*
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Mortalis Terminexus (85)
CORE BATTALIONS
-  *Warlord
-  **Hunters of the Heartlands
TOTAL POINTS: 1955/2000

Notice I don't play Emerald Host/Hexwraiths.  That's mainly because I don't have any Hexwraiths -- it's probably to strong combo, but I don't have it.

What I do instead is run a lot of small units and try to die slower than my opponent (that's about the best we can do these days -- we do not hit hard...at all...don't even try a full assault unless you absolutely know what you're doing).

Spirit Hosts are in sixes because otherwise they often don't live long enough to be healed.  Lady Olynder and the Spirit Torment hang with the Spirit Hosts.  I try to get the formation close enough for Olynder to attack, but her ranges are so short and she's so fragile that she's easy to lose if you push too hard too fast.  

Chainrasps suck.  They are not worth supporting, so I don't.  I take 30 and drop them on an objective, often from The Underworlds.  Then I forget about them, or I launch them at a big enemy with Death Comes Swiftly, and then I forget about them.  They're just a speed bump.

Reikenor is there to drop Mortalis Terminexus.  Do it turn 1.  It might be the most damaging thing you do all game.  (ALWAYS use a corpse candle on Reikenor for +3 casting -- he can Heroic Recover later, or he'll get shot, so might as well get your spell off).

Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed flies with the Grimghast Reapers.  They are your vanguard.  Use them to advance and take out small battleline units, or hold up opponents.  You won't kill a lot of stuff, but you can use the formation's speed to engage enemies before they get to objectives -- delaying your opponent is about the best you can hope for.

Glaivewraith Stalkers and Myrmourn Banshees usually go in The Underworlds.  Glaivewraiths are a cheep screen, that's it.  Banshees can be deadly, but usually just harass wizards, hopefully distracting your opponent for a few minutes.

If the opposing army has a lot of shooting, consider putting as much as you can in The Underworlds, even your general(s) so that they survive turn 1 if you don't win priority.  

Also, don't go first.  Go second, and try to go second every round until 3 or 4, and then if you get a chance, take the double turn.  Don't take a double turn early, else your opponent will get it later and you'll get tabled.

So, to sum up:  Die slower; don't try to kill stuff; focus on objectives and battle tactics because you can't kill stuff.  Definitely do not try a full on assault, because you can't kill stuff.  Again, we are weak...just die slower.  Got the point?  LOL.  Good.  🙂

Last suggestion:  Wait for the new book and cross your fingers they have fixed our poor, fragile, yet beautiful army of etherealness.

Cheers.

Edited February 22, 2022 by darkdaysdawn

[Kadeton]

5 hours ago, darkdaysdawn said:

Not that this is a great list, but it'll do for explanation (of my strategy, anyway).

Thanks, this is great! It confirms a lot of my expectations for Nighthaunt, which is nice.

5 hours ago, darkdaysdawn said:

Notice I don't play Emerald Host/Hexwraiths.  That's mainly because I don't have any Hexwraiths -- it's probably to strong combo, but I don't have it.

I try to get the formation close enough for Olynder to attack, but her ranges are so short and she's so fragile that she's easy to lose if you push too hard too fast.

Yeah, this is the big reason to run Emerald Host for me. The Hexwraiths aren't very impressive, but they provide a big pile of ablative wounds (which you can resurrect) for Olynder so she can get into the action and do what she's supposed to do. That wouldn't be enough to keep her alive in a 2000-point competitive game, but I'm hoping it will work at the 1000-point level when soft lists are enforced.

5 hours ago, darkdaysdawn said:

Chainrasps suck.  They are not worth supporting, so I don't.  I take 30 and drop them on an objective, often from The Underworlds.  Then I forget about them, or I launch them at a big enemy with Death Comes Swiftly, and then I forget about them.  They're just a speed bump.

Out of interest, why the big block of 30 then? If they're for objective grabbing, why not three units of 10 in the Underworlds, so they can opportunistically go for multiple objectives?

5 hours ago, darkdaysdawn said:

Reikenor is there to drop Mortalis Terminexus.  Do it turn 1.  It might be the most damaging thing you do all game.  (ALWAYS use a corpse candle on Reikenor for +3 casting -- he can Heroic Recover later, or he'll get shot, so might as well get your spell off).

Ah, I don't currently have Reikenor. Would you say he's worth picking up? (I don't have the Nighthaunt Endless Spells either, haha.)

5 hours ago, darkdaysdawn said:

So, to sum up:  Die slower; don't try to kill stuff; focus on objectives and battle tactics because you can't kill stuff.  Definitely do not try a full on assault, because you can't kill stuff.  Again, we are weak...just die slower.  Got the point?  LOL.  Good.  🙂

Yeah, we really don't seem to have much in the way of hard-hitting units. I guess if you can make all your charges 10+ then their punch goes up considerably, but that's hardly a 'strategy'!

Fortunately, most of the lists for this specific event are also very soft - people are bringing Beasts of Chaos, Gloomspite Gitz, all the armies that got left in the dust competitively. And the TO is smacking down anyone who tries to bring anything too strong, so in this case a full-on assault might actually work out, or at least make for entertaining games. But yeah, in general I see where you're coming from.

5 hours ago, darkdaysdawn said:

Last suggestion:  Wait for the new book and cross your fingers they have fixed our poor, fragile, yet beautiful army of etherealness.

Can't wait to see what happens in the new book - fingers crossed indeed! Looking forward to the new hero and crossbow-ghosts as well.

[darkdaysdawn]

On 2/22/2022 at 2:09 AM, Kadeton said:

Out of interest, why the big block of 30 then? If they're for objective grabbing, why not three units of 10 in the Underworlds, so they can opportunistically go for multiple objectives?

Ah, I don't currently have Reikenor. Would you say he's worth picking up? (I don't have the Nighthaunt Endless Spells either, haha.)

Re. 'rasps:  3 units of 10 is fine too, but I would still put them on the same objective.  You need 30 to last long enough.  The downside of 30 is you can actually lose the whole unit in a single combat -- it's much harder to take out 3 separate units at once.  The downside of three 10's is you will definitely give your opponent 2 points Broken Ranks (killing a battleline unit).

Incidentally, I run my 'Reapers in three 10's because they do last longer that way in most cases (from my exp).  But they aren't battleline.  (EDIT:  They're totally battleline -- I temporarily misplaced my brain.)

Re. Reikenor:  First, I love the model.  It was a pleasure to paint and looks awesome, especially leading a charge of 'Reapers.  Second, NH has very little use for magic from a distance, so I started taking Mortalis Terminexus so I could potentially do some damage turn 1, and maybe many turns after too.  Mortalis is not a cheap spell, and if you fail to cast it on turn 1, it becomes even less valuable.  For it to be worth 85 pts to me, it had to work, so bring in Reikenor with +3 casting.  Done.  It makes him more value for his points too because he can actually do something significant in turn 1.

Re. your event:  Didn't realize it was a 1k event.  That's great.  I find NH works well at 1k (possibly because a lot of other armies don't?  But hey...I'll take it).  Be very careful not to take too many heroes.  You need to maximize unit count to survive.  I run 12+ units for 2k, so 6 at 1k is probably reasonable.  Two heroes then?  If you can?  Seriously consider Spirit Torment with Pendant -- he heals stuff every battleshock phase, not just yours.  That's huge, and often overlooked, and the Pendant makes sure he gets where he needs to be, or speeds up the troops he's hanging with.

Good luck! 

Edited February 24, 2022 by darkdaysdawn

[EnixLHQ]

11 hours ago, darkdaysdawn said:

Incidentally, I run my 'Reapers in three 10's because they do last longer that way in most cases (from my exp).  But they aren't battleline.

Reapers are battleline.

[darkdaysdawn]

3 hours ago, EnixLHQ said:

Reapers are battleline.

I know!  Total brain phart -- long day at the office.   

Edited February 24, 2022 by darkdaysdawn

[Nevar]

On 2/6/2022 at 7:48 PM, That Guy said:

Even in our own community the dreadblade conversion was done by @Nevar, but with bladegheist revenant and think he even used some black coach horses:

  Hide contents

 

My army of spooky horses is now at 2000 points... it has taken a long time and a lot of reposing and stuff, but I hope Hexes do well in the new battletome... since I have 40 Hexes plus their assorted heroes all converted.  I don't have any pictures to hand except their victory lap after crushing some Ossiarchs.

 

[Neck-Romantic]

They look fantastic!

[Boggler]

Hi guys. Here is a battle report for the 3 games I played at a local tournament. I haven't played NH in a few years and I have never used Nagash. I originally planned to use him in OBR but since the change to Nagash I decided to go with NH instead. I played Big Waagh for a while, and then IJ late last year but needed something more complicated. And hey... I do have about 3k painted NH!

My games were amazing fun. Its such a thinking/control army vs "point click remove" that takes most of the top spots in the meta. Max output can come from Nagash but being swingy and 955 pts, its a lot to rely on. And, the bone daddy can't be everywhere... He did shut down enemy casting all day. I don't think there were any spells that he didn't unbind and with just one miscast it was ok. I never rolled a 10 on the charge out of 12-15 charges. Its a dice game, maybe I could get some good matchups and see what happens, everything changes turn by turn, I just have to keep myself in it.

Also, if you've seen my reports in the Destruction forums, you'll know that I don't do TLDR.

Here is my list:

Spoiler

Emerald Host
- Mortal Realm: Ghyran
- Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery
- Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief (215)*
- Lore of the Underworlds: Shademist
Dreadblade Harrow (100)*
- General
- Command Trait: Lord of the Host
- Artefact: Pendant of the Fell Wind
Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead (955)*
- Allies

Battleline
5 x Hexwraiths (150)*
5 x Hexwraiths (150)*
5 x Hexwraiths (150)*
10 x Chainrasp Horde (95)*
10 x Chainrasp Horde (95)*

Endless Spells & Invocations
Umbral Spellportal (70)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 1980 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 955 / 400
Wounds: 78
Drops: 1

 

Game 1 - DoK Hag Narr - Tectonic Interference

He has Morathi, Bowsnakes, Spear snakes, spear snakes, teleporting guys, deepstrike guys.

Great player. It really makes this game so much fun to play against a great opponent, and this was a super way to restart my NH career.

I deployed looking to castle up in the center. Depending on how he deployed I could either try for alpha and hold him in his deployment or sit back. We could be 18" away and that's good for me because Hex move 15"He deployed far enough forwards that I decided to try and make a go of it. I took first go. Hero phase, Shademist on the Hex who were going to go all the way in. Spirit Drain through the portal on Morathi taking off her 3 wounds. Mystic shield, then miscast on Nagash with 5 casts left. I moved up my castle to the middle and had my screens spread out. Rasps took the side obj but closer to my castle. Oly and Nagash failed their shooting and the the Hex failed their 4" charge, twice... if the got a 6 I could have tagged the Stalkers too but I guess it wasn't going to be my game. The other backup Hex made their charge with a 4 and I had to settle for a less than ideal engagement because I needed to block their movement. Sure, I killed a few Spearsnakes, but he also killed some Hex and they were probably going to die the next turn, and the other failed charge Hex were certainly going to get shot. I scored Aggressive Exp and got 6 pts.

His T1 he didn't get any spells off. The bowsnakes shot off the Hex. This gave Morathi enough space to fly out of her deployment zone and try or a long bomb charge on the Rasps. Well, he got his long bomb, took the objective and scored broken ranks. 4 pts.

Priority here was going to be big. I was castled up in the middle, I had lost 2x5 Hex and 10 Rasps The Alpha obj was the middle.

I won the prio. Shademist on the Hex. Spirit Drain taking Morathi down to 6 wounds and 5 Arcane Bolts charged up on Nagash, Reaping Scythe too.  Olynder was in range for her mortals/wail. Nagash did his Gaze and went in to melee everything. 3" range on the staff is great and this was the moment of the day when Nagash took off 10+ spear snakes and the two support characters by himself.

Conquer for 6pts.

His T2. He has Morathis, Bowsnakes, teleporters, and deepstrikers.

He takes Montrous Takeover. The Bowsnakes do a bunch of damage in the hero phase, and then a bunch more in the shooting phase. RIP Nagash. Morathis took the middle and the chain rasps fell to the deepstrikers. I only had Olynder and Dreadblade left, which was enough for Savage Spearhead but not good enough for much else.

Great game. I really felt unlucky here as I didn't think I made many mistakes. Especially playing this army. This DoK list was tuned.

I wound up losing 15-29

Game Two - Survival of the Fittest

Here is the list: A bigass block of meat! with extra Rend that I don't really care about!

Spoiler

Beasts of Chaos
- Greatfray: Gavespawn
- Mortal Realm: Ghur
- Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
- Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Doombull (115)*
- General
- Command Trait: Unravelling Aura
- Artefact: Mutating Gnarlblade
Dragon Ogor Shaggoth (155)**
- Lore of Dark Storms: Hailstorm
Doombull (115)**
- Artefact: Gilded Horns
Great Bray-Shaman (100)**
- Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Vicious Stranglethorns

Battleline
6 x Bullgors (260)*
- Great Axes
- Reinforced x 1
6 x Bullgors (260)*
- Great Axes
- Reinforced x 1
20 x Gors (150)**
- Gor-Blades & Beastshields
- Reinforced x 1

Units
6 x Dragon Ogors (250)*
- 6x Paired Ancient Weapons
- Reinforced x 1
3 x Dragon Ogors (125)*
- 3x Paired Ancient Weapons
3 x Dragon Ogors (125)*
- 3x Paired Ancient Weapons

Behemoths
Ghorgon (155)*
Ghorgon (155)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Warlord

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1965 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400

I deployed in the same castle as before. I found it worked well enough and if I let anything in to Nagash, especially the Minotaurs, then he'd be done. Rasps screened out the flanks, setup to take the edges of the side objectives. I was actually the most afraid of this list the most on the day, it was so many wounds to deal with and that is not NH specialty.

He deployed his shiny new Herdstone in the back. Apparently he was afraid that I would use Nagash to destroy it with a Monstrous Rampage! The goats were dancing around it and would spend the game sacrificing themselves in some ritual, maybe they wanted a Chimera to appear? A Chariot? Some Bestigor? I love the BoC mechanics. The rest of the army was on the line. Dragon Ogres screening for the Bullgors.

Since I felt that if he went first, I would be pinned in my deployment, with zero chance of getting onto the objectives, I took first turn.

Hero phase, basically everything went right. Shademist on Hex Nagash buffed up. He unbound Hand of Dust which was fine I guess. My goal with movement was to get Oly in range of as many units as possible for her Wail. Finally some low Bravery! My castle moved center, and slightly towards the right. The left obj was a bit weird as it was partially blocked by a very large rock. The Rasps went that way and tried their best to stay on the obj while being as far from charge range as possible. Nagash was close enough to do his mortals at range while still having my castle screen off the big guy for future use. End of the turn, I only lost 1 Hex and killed the unit of 3 Dragos Ogres and 4 other Dragon Ogres. He was pinned in. Aggressive Exp - 5pts

His turn. His Hero phase does his ritual, Nagash unbinds everything. No shooting, not much movement. The Ghorgons go after the Rasps. I redeploy off the left Obj just to save them. He fails his charge on the other, around the annoyingly large rock. Bullgors smash into the Hex and because he was pinned in, he can only make contact with one in the middle. The other unit of Hex gets charged by a Ghorgon, Doombull and 6 Bullgors. They died... The center Hex did much better. They killed another couple Dragon Ogre and lived with 1 model thanks to Death Magic Incarnate. He got Conquer and 3pts.

He won prio and had some options. The left side was a bit open if he wanted to get into Nagash who still had Mystic Shield and 3 Arcane Bolts around him. He chose Broken Ranks on that last Hex in the middle whose unit held up most of his army for two turns. I was pleased with that for sure, though it would have been nice to win prio, and give him two more friends to help...

Again, no Hero phase thanks to Nagash, he did wind up at 9 summon pts and was torn on what to summon but in the end held on to those pts. He wanted a Chimera!

When  he moved his Ghorgon in to kill Nagash, I redeployed the Hex screen to block off the Bullgors. He's only be able to get the Doombull in to Nagash as well. It was a bit scary, but I was full health and Morikhane is decent enough Mortal wound protection is the Ghorgon get's those 6's to wound. The other Ghorgon was going to eat the Rasps and that was ok. I was still in my castle and held a decent position.

Combat. I did 6 mortals to the Ghorgon, bracketing him enough for him to whiff on Nagash. I think I took 4 damage and then Nagash killed both the Ghorgon and the Doombull. Oly took some damage from the other unit of Bullgors and the Hex bodyguard took most of it. They didn't die and were left on 1 model after all of the combat. Oly killed another Bullgors.

In the end I was happy with my position. Going in to my T2 I had Nagash, Oly, Dreadblade, 10 Rasps, and 1 Hex left. Most impotantly, Nagash wasn't in combat. He scored Broken Ranks - 5pts

I chose Conquer, as I could just move those redeployed Rasps back on to the right obj. Easy pts. Hero/Wail Oly did a lot of Mortals everywhere. Nagash charged up. Brought back 2 Hex. Shot some Dragon Ogres then him and Oly wiped enough Bullgors that the rest would flee to panic later in the round. My castle was holding strong and I ended the turn with 2 more Hex than I started with. Killed a dozen Bullgor, and Dragon Ogre. Conquer - 5pts.

Big prio here. If I win its game for sure. I'd wipe the rest of his Dragon Ogres, kill his Shaggoth and probably his General Doombull along the way. His Ghorgon was on the left Obj and if I lost prio I'd just delete that Obj.

I lost. He had to go. No big deal. He wouldn't get the center back, no way, and the right obj was too far from his forces. He chose Savage Spearhead, and I honestly didn't know that you couldn't use summoned units to complete. A bystander told us and I said no way, wtf well we didn't know so you should still get to do it because it changes your whole game plan. We were ok with that but in the future its good to know. He got 3pts for the turn and the Chimera failed to do anything major to Nagash.

My turn, I'm in a good spot. I lost nothing at the top of 3 and that was the bonus Rend round! Nagash didn't care about the Chimera. I knew I'd kill him with Bolts/Soul Stealer and then be able to move freely wherever I wanted. Oly/Wail did more mortal everywhere. I took Warlord and already had the 2 objectives. 5pts. Nagash went up and killed a bunch of Dragon Ogres and the general.

The game was called for time here. I was happy with my position. I was up 15-11 and wasn't in any danger of losing either objective. We rolled some dice for some hypothetical priorities and he won both of them! This kept the game close but it was still a win for me as I would complete more Tactics and he'd have to set up to even try and take an objective. Not a slaughter but a win.

Great game. I was afraid of the amount of wounds but in the end it was positioning and blocking those wounds where they were that won the game. Nagash did work, for sure but I think Oly and Wail was the MVP, lol Brave 5? 10" radius? Extra models flee within 12" She ignored the Rend and if she took damage it went on to the Hex. I just had to avoid shooting and we'd be good!

Game Three Kruleboyz - Feral Foray

Spoiler

Kruleboyz
- Warclan: Grinnin' Blades
- Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery
- Triumphs: Indomitable

Leaders
Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork (280)
Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (105)*
- Lore of the Swamp: Da Black Pit
- Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (105)*
- Lore of the Swamp: Nasty Hex
- Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (315)*
- General
- Command Trait: Supa Sneaky
- Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
- Mount Trait: Fast 'Un
- Lore of the Swamp: Da Black Pit
- Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon

Battleline
10 x Gutrippaz (180)**
10 x Gutrippaz (180)**
10 x Gutrippaz (180)**

Units
10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)
6 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)
- Reinforced x 1
6 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)
- Reinforced x 1

Endless Spells & Invocations
Emerald Lifeswarm (60)

Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Hunters of the Heartlands

Additional Enhancements
Spell

Total: 1965 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 134
Drops: 10

This was going to be a close game I could feel it. I was tired, losing my voice, and facing a bad matchup. Mortals/ranged mortals.

I castled up. Deploying on the line, hoping to just a good first turn charge vs whatever he put in my way.

He deployed fairly conservatively and then used Super Sneaky to deploy 6 Boltboys 9" away, front and center.

I had to take first, right? If I didn't then I'd be eating a lot of ranged mortals, and give up some board control. He used his trick and I had to put 1 Rasp and 2 Hex in reserves... it did not start well as this slowed my castle and denied any chance of an alpha.

I ended my movement phase closer to the middle but a bit scattered because of the reserves. I was still happy because the boltboyz were going down but my position was less than ideal. Dirty Tricks! I got Aggressive Exp 4pts.

He goes for Ferocious Advance and does nothing in the hero phase. Movement was conservative and he shot off the unit of Hex that killed his other boltboyz. 4pts

I won prio chose Conquer and buffed up Nagash, Oly went in to Wail range and my castle pushed out. I didn't want to charge in on the right side, just to block movement. Those Hex were good, and the Rasps were on that obj. Nagash should have done more but he failed his 3" charge and then only got a 4. He'd make it on to the objective but only because I had to burn 5 Arcane bolts at the beginning of the combat phase to kill the screen of 10 Hobgrots. I joked that this was certainly a world first. Nagash then piled in 3" and completely whiffed on a unit of 10 Gutrippas. He was super exposed where he was and I was a bit worried for his survival. Oly and the Hex did work in the middle, clearing out their spot. I got 5pts with Conquer.

His turn. He goes for Broken Ranks, an easy kill vs my Hex with those boltboys. I go finest hour. He does manage to get Miasma off with Gobspak and flew mega far that turn! This let him get in to the Rasps on my left Obj and I totally didn't see that coming. 28" move. Nagash got charged by the Snatchaboss and with the Waaagh and those Gutrippas he was left on 1 wound. Lucky me! Morikhane MVP here as he took 20+ mortals. He swung back but didn't do much. Gobsprakk did his job and my opponent got 4pts.

If I didn't win prio here it was certainly game over. I did win chose Warlord and Nagash Dusted the Snatchaboss, Soul stole some life back and then cleaned up the Gutrippas. The Hex and Oly in the middle both failed their charges and I was unable to get in to those Boltboys. But Oly/Wail did kill a couple. We both didn't have much left. Nagash on 4 wounds but too far to burn the objective. Another 4 pts.

His turn he goes for Monstrous Takeover. Shoots off my Hex. and starts to burn my objectives with Gobsprakk. He gets 5 pts.

End of T3 its tied 13-13. I have Nagash now on 7 wounds, Oly and a Dreadblade. He has Gob, 2 Shaman, 5 Guts, 2 Guts, and 3 BB's.

I win prio and go Broken Ranks on the 2 Guts.... TLDR? They didn't die! Nagash was now back to 12 wounds and failed his charge, twice. So did Oly and she failed her Wail too. Oh well! That was game for me. I only got 2 pts and my trio wasn't in any position to do anything. I couldn't even burn anything because I failed all my charges.

His turn he tries Warlord and then kills him with Gob. 6 pts Now I have Nagash and Oly left! Down 15-19

He gets prio T5 and does Savage plus some Obj for another 6 pts, I can only manage Savage myself for 4 pts and with the Grand Strategies its a tough 22-28 loss.

Great opponent. 

Conclusion.

Like I said above. Nighthant is a tough thinking/control army. I was mentally exhausted after this and I learned a lot. I think I played well enough, and I am super happy with how this army performed. I would have been happier if some things went my way (like all those damn failed charges could have been Wave of Terror) but that is no reason to be upset. Nagash was great and annoying at the same time. I'm sure that shutting down the Hero phase is worth something but at 955 pts when something like Morathi is 660 just doesn't make sense to me. a 5+ ward is ok I guess but its a freakin CP and I used all my CP rerolling charges.

Emerald Host was ok. I guess. The bonus attack on the charge was great but those Hex have stat lines from 3 years ago. -1 Save on a Hero was ok too I guess, Bodyguard rule didn't come up nearly as much as I thought. and again. This meta is an arms race, I'd never kill a Gargant a turn. I'd just have to block them where they were and anything top tier damage/shooting wise would cripple this me T1 which was why I needed to be 1 drop.

Anyways, I really hope you guys enjoy reading this. I'm going to play this exact list again in a couple weeks. I'll probably do another report and hopefully inspire some of you to dust off these beautiful old models and get some games in before the new book comes out. The future can only get better.

 

Edited February 28, 2022 by Boggler

[Darkrich]

Nice report!

On 2/27/2022 at 8:54 PM, Boggler said:

Emerald Host was ok. I guess. The bonus attack on the charge was great but those Hex have stat lines from 3 years ago. -1 Save on a Hero was ok too I guess, Bodyguard rule didn't come up nearly as much as I thought. and again. This meta is an arms race, I'd never kill a Gargant a turn. I'd just have to block them where they were and anything top tier damage/shooting wise would cripple this me T1 which was why I needed to be 1 drop.

I recently played in a 20 man event and took first with emerald host. Against some strong lists as well. I don't use emerald host really for the hexwraith extra attacks. Mainly to protect Olynder and to debuff someones big center model. Nighthaunt struggle with 1+ saves and that curse can go a long way.

From my experience with nighthaunt, chainrasps are my mvp, almost always. Also, I love my guardian of souls. That aura of his is so good. 

[Boggler]

On 2/5/2022 at 9:23 PM, dmorley21 said:

Not optimized, but it’s what I got together.

Hi. I'm slowly looking back in to the thread to see what was posted before my game report above. Thanks for posting!

You went 3-2 and that is pretty good considering you seem to be the only Nighthaunt to go 3-2 in February! The info is on THW Stats. Only 11 people even brought a Nighthaunt army to a 5 game tournament in the whole month. Sure its up from 5 in Jan and most of these are Nagash lists but its showing that these lists take a lot of skill to pilot to a winning record.

I am interested in your Dreadscythe combo and I'd like to explore it more. Hopefully I get a chance, but I can see many situations where they would be good, and many where they would not. The 1" reach really bugs me.

I just ran a Nagash list, and the general consensus here is that Spirit Hosts are a Trap!, Hexwraiths are a Trap! Chainrasps are a Trap! Olynder? Trap!

Well, I don't think that people who think that these units are traps are wrong, its just that there really isn't a way to optimize our lists at the moment because everything is so damn old. Hammers are weak. Anvils require too many points/combos/healing to last. Doing mortals on 6's was cool a few years ago and Ethereal is not going to kill anything.

Is Nagash the trap? I certainly hope not. I'll be playing him until the book drops.

Edited March 2, 2022 by Boggler

[Boggler]

3 hours ago, Darkrich said:

I don't use emerald host really for the hexwraith extra attacks. Mainly to protect Olynder and to debuff someones big center model.

Nice work. Did you use Nagash?

I'd really have to play another 10 games with Emerald Host to give a better answer. My 3 games didn't really give me a good range of options for the Curse, but I can understand its strength. I used it on Morathi, a Shaggoth, and a Snatchaboss.

In the future I'll have to get better at planning because I didn't ever really want to be in combat with Morathi and the Snatchaboss got Dusted and I assume that a lot of potential targets would want to be Dusted as well.

What are the top 5 targets for Emerald Curse? Frostlord? Gargant? Stegadon Skink? MBMK?

I'd really like to know as it will help me plan for future matchups.

[Kadeton]

I played my first Nighthaunt game last night! 1000 points, practice for the upcoming casual event, against Sylvaneth.

I was using pretty much the list I posted before: Olynder, a Guardian of Souls with the Pendant of the Fell Wind, a Knight of Shrouds on Steed, two units of five Hexwraiths, ten Reapers, four Banshees. He had Drycha, a Branchwraith, a Branchwych, three Kurnoth Hunters with bows, two units of five Tree-Revenants, three Aetherwings and the Chronomantic Cogs. We played Tectonic Interference.

Things started out well - he deployed very conservatively, I made him take the first turn, he moved up the Revenants onto the objectives and summoned some Dryads to screen, and then in my turn we charged everything that came forward and wiped them out. Unfortunately this is where I hit my first major ******-up - I got a good charge roll with Olynder and the opportunity to push her forward into the enemy position for future screamy goodness, and the next charge was going to be with her Hexwraith bodyguards so I thought "It's fine, she'll be safe." Then Drycha used Unleash Hell and machine-gunned her off the board in one volley. First major lesson: don't allow Olynder to be out of range of her bodyguards even for an instant. She's such a soft target.

From there, everything fell apart, mainly because my opponent was rolling hot and Drycha's machine-gun was utterly lethal - with Unleash Hell alone, during my turns, she killed Olynder and the Knight of Shrouds. On her own turns, she wiped out a unit of Hexwraiths and all the Reapers. The most I could do to her was bring her down to 5 wounds remaining, which she promptly healed back up to full. Eesh!

That said, I had a really fun game and learned a lot. The Guardian of Souls is awesome, especially with the Pendant. It's a real gambler's army - the extreme spikes of Wave of Terror and the 4+ invulnerable saves make it impossible to predict what's going to happen on any given turn. I wasn't prepared for how easily my forces could just evaporate with a few unlucky rolls. They can be quite aggressive though, given you've got very little to spend your Command Points on other than All-Out Attack and most stuff is wounding on 2+ when the Guardian is nearby... but if you run into something properly tough, your units will break against it like waves against a cliff. I'm looking forward to my next game.

[Darkrich]

3 hours ago, Boggler said:

Nice work. Did you use Nagash?

Nope. I dusted my ghosty boys off in prep for the new book. It had been a while, but I played them a bit before. Figured, they were decent into hero hammer but shooty armies would be an issue. Prepared myself for middle placings. 

I played sons of behemat, nagash nighthaunt, and stormdrake guard backed by long strikes. For curse targets, I chose the general gargant, nagash, and lord relictor as the draconis was in the sky. Since we struggle with high saves, I almost always pick a combat monster the opponent relies on. Bringing those to a 4+ makes them sweat a little and gives our -1 rend a chance. 

[dmorley21]

15 hours ago, Boggler said:

Hi. I'm slowly looking back in to the thread to see what was posted before my game report above. Thanks for posting!

You went 3-2 and that is pretty good considering you seem to be the only Nighthaunt to go 3-2 in February! The info is on THW Stats. Only 11 people even brought a Nighthaunt army to a 5 game tournament in the whole month. Sure its up from 5 in Jan and most of these are Nagash lists but its showing that these lists take a lot of skill to pilot to a winning record.

I am interested in your Dreadscythe combo and I'd like to explore it more. Hopefully I get a chance, but I can see many situations where they would be good, and many where they would not. The 1" reach really bugs me.

I just ran a Nagash list, and the general consensus here is that Spirit Hosts are a Trap!, Hexwraiths are a Trap! Chainrasps are a Trap! Olynder? Trap!

Well, I don't think that people who think that these units are traps are wrong, its just that there really isn't a way to optimize our lists at the moment because everything is so damn old. Hammers are weak. Anvils require too many points/combos/healing to last. Doing mortals on 6's was cool a few years ago and Ethereal is not going to kill anything.

Is Nagash the trap? I certainly hope not. I'll be playing him until the book drops.

Ha, that’s cool to note on being the only 3-2 in Feb.

Nagash lists will just take reps; I don’t think any companion is a trap. It’s definitely a list that takes considerable thought. With the new book on the way, it’s also kind of a bummer to play those lists as I’m sure the spell lore will change… and that’s what makes Nagash so good. Reaping Scythe/Soul Cage/Shademist/Lifestealer… just so good for him. 
 

I’d hazard that there’s really good lists with him and Spirit Hosts. There might even be synergy with Myrmourns. And I still want to try a 30 Reaper deathstar with him. 
 

As for Harridans, they’re honestly just plain good. People sleep on them way too much IMO. The 1” is a nuisance, but I can honeycomb them to get most of the models in the fight often enough. Also, they’re often in multi-engagements, which helps getting the most out of them. I just wish they were battleline. 

[Boggler]

3 hours ago, dmorley21 said:

As for Harridans, they’re honestly just plain good. People sleep on them way too much IMO. The 1” is a nuisance, but I can honeycomb them to get most of the models in the fight often enough. Also, they’re often in multi-engagements, which helps getting the most out of them. I just wish they were battleline. 

I'd be shocked if Harridans weren't Battleline with Oly as General. Same goes for Bladegheists for Kurdross.

It'll just be weird to have to take a named character to unlock those possibilities.

Still, I like the idea of the 10 Harridan/Torment combo. I'm just 5pts over on my list! lolwtf. Reapers might have to sub for them. 155pts

Spoiler

Allegiance: Nighthaunt
- Procession: Emerald Host
- Mortal Realm: Ghur
- Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery
- Triumphs:

Leaders
Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief (215)*
- General
- Lore of the Underworlds: Shademist
Spirit Torment (115)*
- Artefact: Pendant of the Fell Wind
Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead (955)*
- Allies

Battleline
5 x Hexwraiths (150)*
5 x Hexwraiths (150)*
10 x Chainrasp Horde (95)*
10 x Chainrasp Horde (95)*
10 x Grimghast Reapers (155)*

Endless Spells & Invocations
Umbral Spellportal (70)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 955 / 400
Wounds: 78
Drops: 1
 

Maybe I keep the Dreadblade, though he didn't do nearly as many Spectral Summons as I thought.

 

[lare2]

15 hours ago, Boggler said:

It'll just be weird to have to take a named character to unlock those possibilities.

Wouldn't be surprised if they had 'counts as general as well as...' though. 

[Garxia]

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/03/07/find-out-why-nagash-is-absolutely-furious-yet-again-in-arena-of-shades/

"The battlebox will be available for pre-order very soon"

It says it has the warscroll for all the units included, they will give us a peek at new rules and the precedent says they won't change that much in the battletome.

Crossing my *spectral* fingers for a good battletome.

[EnixLHQ]

11 minutes ago, Garxia said:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/03/07/find-out-why-nagash-is-absolutely-furious-yet-again-in-arena-of-shades/

"The battlebox will be available for pre-order very soon"

It says it has the warscroll for all the units included, they will give us a peek at new rules and the precedent says they won't change that much in the battletome.

Crossing my *spectral* fingers for a good battletome.

Crossing my fingers that there's enough of the new units in the box to warrant getting it.

[Drujeful]

1 hour ago, EnixLHQ said:

Crossing my fingers that there's enough of the new units in the box to warrant getting it.

Only new units in the box are the Scriptor Mortis and crossbow ghosts. Fortunately for me though, the only existing models included in the box that I already have are the Spirit Torment and Chainghasts. Everything else will be all new to me. Considering my wife plays DoK, this box seems perfect for us.

 

I've been dreaming up what I'd like to see for Nighthaunt in 3rd edition. Reworked Ethereal to ignore negative modifiers when making save rolls of course so we still get access to Mystic Shield. But seeing Kruleboyz get Frightful Touch (Venom Encrusted Weapons) as an army wide battle trait makes me hope Frightful Touch moves from certain warscrolls to an army wide thing for us, but reworked. Nagash's new warscroll is also missing Frightful Touch, which makes me think it's getting a rework. I think it would be really interesting to see Nighthaunt lean more into bravery reduction or something similar to fit thematically with them being super spooky ghosties. It could maybe work kind of similar to Nurgle's Disease mechanic. An unmodified hit roll of 6 could give the target unit a fear point or something. And then the more fear a unit has, the worse they do during battleshock tests. I'm not a pro at AoS so I don't know if straight up reducing a unit's bravery by the number of fear points would be too good or not though. But I just want to see more thematic rules like Nurgle's disease over straight up mortal wounds like Kruleboyz. But like our army cares so much about bravery and enemy units failing battleshock that I think it would be sweet to lean even more into it.

A rework for Wave of Terror wouldn't hurt either. It seems like such an important thing that just never works out for us. I don't think making it too easy to get 10+ on a charge roll is the right way to do it, but I think a battle trait that mostly doesn't do much because it's hard to roll that high on charges needs some attention.

[EnixLHQ]

26 minutes ago, Drujeful said:

Only new units in the box are the Scriptor Mortis and crossbow ghosts. Fortunately for me though, the only existing models included in the box that I already have are the Spirit Torment and Chainghasts. Everything else will be all new to me. Considering my wife plays DoK, this box seems perfect for us.

I know they're coming, I'm wondering just how many. As in, I already have 10,000 points of Nighthaunt, I have everything else in droves. If the box only contains one of the new hero (likely) and only one full unit of crossbows I might go the eBay route. Especially if they offer no other ways of getting those models.