Dracothjay Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 Im starting Deathrattle soon. Will be my first army from death, so i have a lot to learn. Deathrattle have caught my attention and i plan on firstly building a 1000 point army, then working up to 2K. Models i have so far are: Wight King With Black Axe Necromancer So, how is a Deathrattle army best run? I understand the gravity of how brutal 40 skeletons with buffs coming in from the necromancer and wight king are. I feel i want to run more Grave Guard than Skeleton warriors, but i understand skeleton warriors are cheaper and if played/buffed correctly can be the most brutal thing on the field. Things i need answered are: How many units of Grave Guard should i run, and what unit sizes? Black Knights look pathetic, but i imagine in high numbers they make the perfect tarpit? How many Wight kings should i take? I have also looked outside of deathrattle to pack more punch. I have considered adding in Terrorgheist, Blood Knights and Morghast Archai/Harbingers. Would this be a decent compliment even though im not running a pure deathrattle list? I plan on ALWAYS making my Wight King with Black Axe my general. But, i find myself looking at Mannfred a lot. Maybe just to put him in my list as a hard hitting support character. As you can see, my heads a mess. Any IN DEPTH clarity would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solaris Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 Would you be open to adding Tomb King units and heroes too, or only things from the currently ranged? A TK-bolstered Deathrattle army can be incredibly brutal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeGrunt Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 The Legion of Death formation is a very strong foundation for Deathrattle. I run a Wight King with an Infernal Standard, 2x10 Skeletons with Swords, 1x30-40 Skeletons with Spears, 10x Black Knights and 10-15x Grave Guard. Settra makes everything in Deathrattle so much more potent. A lot of Tomb Kings units mesh with them astonishingly-well. As far as Black Knights, they should be flanking in a constant charge-retreat cycle. Give them +1 Attack from the Wight King if he's your General, then charge them in, hurt something, take a few hits, and pull out. If you do this you'll get a regen in the Hero phase, retreat, then a regen in your next turn before you charge again. If you combo it with something else to follow up the first charge you can pin a unit down nicely for the Skeleton Warriors to get in. Bear in mind that you can use your Hero Phase move from Legion of Death to retreat as well if it would get you 3" away from the enemy, and if you're within 9" of the Wight King you regen an extra model a turn. That means 2+2D3 models returned in each retreat-charge cycle. They'll wear things down, especially trash units. If you have Settra they'll be on 3s to Hit and 2s to Wound on the Charge, Dam 2. Then two attacks each with the horses on 3s and 4s. Not bad at all, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dracothjay Posted December 3, 2016 Author Share Posted December 3, 2016 3 hours ago, Solaris said: Would you be open to adding Tomb King units and heroes too, or only things from the currently ranged? A TK-bolstered Deathrattle army can be incredibly brutal. Just deathrattle. Not a fan of the eastern look. I understand how amazing Settra is, but there are plentiful ways of making deathrattle brutal without the TK additions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricPaladin Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 Here are my thoughts in no particular order: Although Black Knights aren't going to turn the world upside down, they are a decent cavalry unit and worth their points. I wrote earlier that they are basically mounted infantry, not "true" cavalry, in the sense that their advantage is that they can get where they're going quickly and have just enough of an advantage on the charge that your opponent is going to be afraid of simply disengaging. So they can be used to pin something down. They're a long-range tarpit, not a hammer. There's a lot of debate as to whether or not grave guard are worth their points. Personally, I think that with great weapons they're worth it, as they're pretty much your only source of Rend. Get all the skeletons. ALL THE SKELETONS. If you aren't going to run pure Deathrattle, consider getting Arkhan the Black. He's a Skeleton (though not Deathrattle) which means that a wight king can buff him. Consider getting as many wight kings as you can. Deathrattle operates on proximity to Death heroes. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that if you love skeletons, you are really pinning your hopes on a Deathrattle Battletome. Right now, it's an extremely anemic faction that lacks... pretty much everything. No giant monster, like everyone else gets, no real heavy hitter, no source of mortal wounds, extremely limited access to rend... it needs some love. Will it get any? Who knows?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerrorPenguin Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Well the necromancer is not pure Deathrattle, although he does fit very well. I like a vampire lord, either on foot for the command ability or on dragon for the strength, plus the necromancer and everything else Deathrattle. Unfrotunately Death is one of the most difficult allegiances to stick to only one faction, given that many of them are so small Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorrance Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 What's everyone's thoughts on spears or swords for skeletons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelmaster Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Swords for units of 10, Spears for 20+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razorfate Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 It is a general rule imo that horde style units must always choose the higher range weapon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeGrunt Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Y'know you can convert counts-as models, right? You don't have to have Egyptian models in your army, just convert suitable Tomb Kings proxies that fit the more European aesthetic. It's what I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dracothjay Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 Well I'm planning on skellies being my first unit. Deathrattle obviously, but I'm not gonna limit myself and will definitely seek other units outside of deathrattle. I DEFINATELY want the vamp lord on zombie dragon, he looks brutal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dracothjay Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 Anyone used a VLoZD before? If so, how good is he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razorfate Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Very very good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tizianolol Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Play him with 2 mortis engine near and have fun:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexxk Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 I know the Fluff of skeletons only is nice! but a vampire lord is way stronger than a wight king for only 20 points more! Better melee profile and is a wizard! The wight king on steed is also stronger and has more move for the same points! Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon is Brutal with a unit of 6 or 9 spirit hosts, to get those mortal wounds out! I'm planning to do a death army right now aswell what I have so far is this: Wight King with standart Necromancer 10 Skeletons Swords 40 Skeletons Spear Morghast Archai Gonna fill out the remaining points to 1k with Spirit Hosts I think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeGrunt Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 Yeah, the Vamp Lord can have: - Regen 1 Wound a turn if they kill models, - A Wizard, - 10" Fly, - Regen D6 Wounds once-per-game, - D3 damage on sword rather than 1, - +1 Attack for Death units, not just Deathrattle, For only 20pts more. The Wight King does get the Infernal Standard, but the benefits for Deathrattle allegiance aren't that great anyway, Black Knights as Batteline doesn't really set the world on fire, y'know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexxk Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 27 minutes ago, CoffeeGrunt said: Yeah, the Vamp Lord can have: - Regen 1 Wound a turn if they kill models, - A Wizard, - 10" Fly, - Regen D6 Wounds once-per-game, - D3 damage on sword rather than 1, - +1 Attack for Death units, not just Deathrattle, For only 20pts more. The Wight King does get the Infernal Standard, but the benefits for Deathrattle allegiance aren't that great anyway, Black Knights as Batteline doesn't really set the world on fire, y'know? Well they flying gets offset by the fact that both can have a mount that even adds some weak attacks! I ordered a Valkia the bloody to use as a winged vampire lord though! I love that model! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeeGrunt Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 The Vamp Lord has the option to Fly, the Wight King doesn't. (I'd take the ability to Fly over two rubbish attacks any day!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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