Old-school returning player

[Karhedron]

I haven't played since the tail end of 7th edition meaning I missed out all the big new models in 8th edition and all the upheaval of the change to AOS. Now I am finally poking my nose out of the coffin again to try and see what is still viable. My model collection is best described as "old school" with plenty of infantry supported by a Black Coach, Black Knights, Dire Wolves and bats with a smattering of Ethereal units.

Looking through the Warscrolls is a little hard to judge but it doesn't look like the basis of a particularly strong army. Summoning is now more like Deepstrike meaning that units need to be able to stand up in combat rather than being topped up magically. Generic Vampires don't seem as rock-hard as they used to be although the combination of spellcaster and fighter is still welcome. I have heard anecdotally that shooting is quite strong in AOS which obviously is not Undead's strong suit.

I am not looking to enter any tournaments but I would like to avoid handicapping myself while I am learning the new system if possible. Can anyone offer any helpful advice on competitive builds? What would be the easiest way to update my existing collection to work well in the Age of Sigmar without spending too much cash? Are tricks like using the Sword of Unholy power to summon some Morghast Archai (who have a decent chance of charging from 9") worth trying?

Any help or advice welcome.

[Thanatos Ares]

First off welcome back!

Skeleton hordes (30+) are surprisingly Killy and very hard to shift. Supported by Necromancers/vampires makes them better. Black Knights are decent enough Cavalry but best suited to warmachine crew hunting and late game objective grabbing/contesting.

The sword of auto summoning is a perfect way of guaranteeing Morghast (of either variety) turning up where and when you need them. Ethereal units are awesome and can type up your opponents high rend attackers long enough for you to formulate a counter punch.

Best advise is just play a few games to get the hang of the game/your chosen faction and learn about your local meta. Then your list will naturally evolve.

Keep us posted on your journey!!


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[Nin Win]

I've been watching battle reports on youtube.  One thing I've noticed is that it's actually not easy to evaluate warscrolls without game experience (which I do not have) so take this with a grain of salt.

Vampire Lord has this:  COMMAND ABILITY Blood Feast: If this model uses this ability, pick a Death unit within 15". Models in that unit make one extra attack with each of their melee weapons until your next hero phase.

Skeleton warriors have this:  Skeleton Legion: Models in this unit make 1 extra attack with their melee weapon if their unit has 20 or more models. They make 2 extra attacks instead if their unit has 30 or more models.

How many dice do you have?

[Karhedron]

OK, so a large block of Skeletons led by a Vamp looks promising as a centre-block of the army. How about Ghouls and Zombies? Zombies look fairly feeble requiring a 6 to wound but are cheap and large blocks can hit fairly well. I am guessing these still function as a basic tarpit unit?

Ghouls look pretty good but lack a banner to replenish lost models. I am guessing these work best in a ghould-themed army where you can enlarge the units with a Ghoul King in Terrorgeist. I have 20 currently, is it worth running them as 2 small packs of 10 and using them to screen my larger units? They still hit and wound on 4s, even in small packs.

Wolves and Bats look like war machine and archer unit hunters. Black Knights look like medium cavalry rather than heavy cavalry (I would buy Blood Knights if GW brought them out plastic but the resin ones are far too pricey). Grave Guard look OK, I guess they provide a source of Rending?

Am I thinking along the right lines so far?

[Thanatos Ares]

So far so good matey. Get some game time in and see what combos you found worked/didn't work.


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[Nin Win]

In some of the battle reports I've watched, I've noticed that objectives are held until the enemy captures them, so you don't have to park units on already held ground.  So your fast archer hunters probably can also threaten some under protected objectives as well.  There may be issues with some scenarios needing battle line units to capture objectives.  I'm not 100% on how that all works yet, but I know people seem to think speedy units can matter a lot.

Objectives also seem to be scored based on how many models are within 6 inches.  So even if they have a unit of ultra elite stormcasts holding an objective, if you pile in there with your horde, you'll be contesting or even taking them before they are eliminated.  So their shield wall might hold your units off, but you might be able sneak through the holes as the battle shifts with piling in and take objectives by weight of numbers.

I've only just begun digging into this as well, but it's just some stuff I've noticed.