2k Bloodbound + Skulltake Battalion

[Avindskjold]

So after giving Skullreapers a good look - both the models and rules - I thought it would be fun to collect a few and use the Skulltake Battalion. 20 of them ought to do a bit of damage, especially when supported by the rest of this army. 

Leaders:
Skarbrand - 400 pts.
Aspiring Deathbringer - 80 pts. (General)
Bloodsecrator - 120 pts.
Bloodstoker - 80 pts.

Battleline:
Blood Warriors (10) - 200 pts.
Blood Warriors (10) - 200 pts.
Blood Warriors (5) - 100 pts.

Other:
Skullreapers (10) - 280 pts.
Skullreapers (10) - 280 pts.

Khorgoraths (2) - 160 pts.

Skulltake Battalion - 100 pts.

Total: 2,000 pts.

The Skulltake Battalion is my quick, hard-hitting component. With the 'stoker's lash, the 'reapers can get into combat quicker than usual. Two units of ten ought to put out some damage, especially considering the buffs from the other leader units and the mortal wounds their Daemon weapons can cause. Then, they'll be followed up with 16 Khorgorath attacks for good measure. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but at 2k, lists require 3+ Battleline. I don't expect the five-man unit to accomplish a lot, being there to fill the requirement, but the units of ten can go for objectives, back up the Skulltake, go after other targets and do whatever else needs doing. 

I had the points, so I brought Skarbrand to make a mess of characters and heroes. The 'reapers are probably best used wiping out units, so Skarbrand's duty will be blending single models.

My only fear is the Bloodbound's usual lack of shooting. The ranged attacks from the Khorgoraths aren't terribly reliable on their own. I could mitigate this somewhat by replacing Skarbrand with a WoK 'thirster; I'd get his flail and hellfire breath attacks, and the ability to unbind spells.

What do you think?   

[Avindskjold]

Apologies for the double-post, but I've gone over a few revisions, with comments on the AoS Reddit sub in mind.

On the one hand, the WoK 'thirster instead of Skarbrand gives me an extra 40 points. I could change the 5-man B.Warrior unit into a unit of 20 'reavers, giving me something to use as a screen, and some more wounds. I'd be at 1,980 afterwards. See below:

Spoiler

Leaders:
Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster - 360 pts.
Aspiring Deathbringer - 80 pts.
Bloodsecrator - 120 pts.
Bloodstoker - 80 pts.

Battleline:
Blood Warriors (10) - 200 pts.
Blood Warriors (10) - 200 pts.
Bloodreavers (20) - 120 pts.

Other:
Skullreapers (10) - 280 pts.
Skullreapers (10) - 280 pts.

Khorgoraths (2) - 160 pts.

Skulltake Battalion - 100 pts.

Total: 1,980 pts.

Another option, since I'm rather weak on shooting power, would be to drop the formation entirely. Taking the 'reapers as normal units and dropping the Khorgs frees 260 points. That, and the extra from a WoK would pay for a Soulgrinder, giving me another hard-hitting unit that can close the distance while getting shots off. That looks like this:

Spoiler

Leaders:
Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster - 360 pts.
Aspiring Deathbringer - 80 pts.
Bloodsecrator - 120 pts.
Bloodstoker - 80 pts.

Battleline:
Blood Warriors (10) - 200 pts.
Blood Warriors (10) - 200 pts.
Bloodreavers (20) - 120 pts.

Other:
Skullreapers (10) - 280 pts.
Skullreapers (10) - 280 pts.

Soul Grinder - 280 pts.

Total: 2,000 pts.

 There are probably many more variations you could create; these are just the first that come to mind.

[TrexPushups]

I am curious as to why you are running units of 10 skull reapers.

I get making the battalion bonus pay off.

But the bigger the unit the harder it is to trigger their skull counting ability

Have you noticed that units of 5 die too easily?

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[Avindskjold]

Just now, TrexPushups said:

I am curious as to why you are running units of 10 skull reapers.

I get making the battalion bonus pay off.

But the bigger the unit the harder it is to trigger their skull counting ability

Have you noticed that units of 5 die too easily?

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In all honesty, I'm afraid of them dying before getting any mileage out of them. A unit of 5 at 3 wounds each is 15 wounds; I suppose their survivability is comparable to my Blood Warriors, but the battalion is such an investment. I also understand the power of their Trial of Skulls ability, though it's not much good to me if they gain it and there's only one left to use it. 

Granted, I haven't actually used them before, so I don't know what I'l end up taking. This is all theory at the moment.

[TrexPushups]

In all honesty, I'm afraid of them dying before getting any mileage out of them. A unit of 5 at 3 wounds each is 15 wounds; I suppose their survivability is comparable to my Blood Warriors, but the battalion is such an investment. I also understand the power of their Trial of Skulls ability, though it's not much good to me if they gain it and there's only one left to use it. 

Granted, I haven't actually used them before, so I don't know what I'l end up taking. This is all theory at the moment.

Might I suggest the following modification?

2 units of 5 skull reapers

Use the 280 points & the left over you have for your first list to grab

5 Wrathmongers

They buff your guys and are the perfect solution to truly scary monsters elite units. As my older brother taught me "stop hitting yourself" is always devastating.

Skar bloodwrath who can murderize any hordes and is delightfully hard to make stay dead.

The 4 plus return in every hero phase looks so tempting.

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[Wolden Spoons]

You had my attention starting with Skarbrand.

im not sure what your formation does but I get that it and you require lots of skulltakers. Fine.

sadly I think the Bloodthirsters fit your needs better than Skarbrand in this case. I'd also be tempted to switch out the five man blood warriors for the twenty blood Reavers. I'd want to keep the Korgoraths too, they again add a little bit of something different.

[Captbeefheart]

I played skull takers for the first time against sylvaneth the other night.  I had a unit of 5 skull takers and they were pretty devastating, wiping out an entire unit of 20 dryads (I'm fairly new but realize dryads aren't exactly the toughest).  I recently modeled wrathmogers and skarr bloodwrath as well and brought them along.  I put the 5 man unit of wrathmongers directly behind the skull takers and that extra attack was the real deal! 

The wrathmongers were the real mvp in my game though.  They were able to bring down a tree lord primarily because if one of them died he ahead to attack himself afterword and they were supporting the skull takers for most of the battle..  The look on his face was priceless.  They were pretty resilient but I wouldn't leave them in the open long.  

 

Skarr bloodwrath was fun to use especially because he kept returning after he died.  I used him to rush into battle, inflict damage, die and then repeat.  Not much finesse hear but I didn't get him into battle with many of the dryad mobs, mainly the characters.  

 

At at the very end I ended up losing primarily because he spammed wylwoods everywhere ( I hate those things).  They really hinder a units ability to move to get into combat especially without any shooting, and if you charge you can take mortal wounds on roles of 1.    Fun game and learned a lot about the bloodbound army.

 

your list looks solid and I love the blood warriors.  I have had limited luck with khorgoraths and am not sure how to run them .  Are they better in larger units? Is it worth the points?