InSaint

Seems like these are the possible ways to stack Blood Rites in the new Battletome, did I miss anything? HAG NAR (ALLEGIENCE ABILITY) +1 Blood Rites throughout the ENTIRE GAME TRUE BELIEVER (COMMAND TRAIT - HERO ONLY) +1 Blood Rites throughout the ENTIRE GAME for that HERO SCAREMENT OF BLOOD (PRAYER) +1 Blood Rites until your NEXT HERO PHASE, this could mean 3 Turns if your opponent double turn you WITCH BREW (ABILITY) +1 Blood Rites until the END OF YOUR TURN MELUSAI KIN (ABILITY) +1 Blood Rites at the start of the COMBAT PHASE until the END OF THAT PHASE

Honestly, you should be able to play comfortably with Morathi + 10/15 Blood Stalkers (maybe even dominate) against the faction in your group. Hedonites are pretty fragile, you can easily shoot them to bits. StD and Khorne are very close combat oriented. With proper screening and positioning you can shoot them off. If your opponent brings Archaon, just use Morathi to tarpit him. Some of the new SCE units are not yet out so I am not too sure how we fare against them.

Really depends on the meta. The new Kruleboyz and SCE battletomes have toolkits at their disposable to hard counter shooting armies Kruleboyz 12" visibility - LRL still can shoot them D3 units cannot be seen when in cover, this is a hard counter Forcing enemy units into reserves - remove screens to hit shooting units Counter shooting - they also have pretty decent MW shooting output SCE Dragon riders have hero phase move + charge to close gap and bypass unleash hell New decent shooting units to thin down fragile enemy shooting units IMO, GW will not nerf this combo but probably give other factions the toolkit to deal with shooting meta.

How did this list perform? I'm interested in starting a Squig army and thinking of a non-horde - monster/elite fast moving army that is still somewhat able to put up a decent fight. This list looks pretty solid with well thought out strategy!

Had a couple of games using DoK with different Temples against the following armies - SoB, Soulblight, LRL, Slannesh, Skaven & STD. Playing a few more games in the coming weekends against several other factions. Here are my findings; Smaller board makes it really easy for us to dive into close combat on T1 Smaller board gives Blood Stalkers have amazing threat projection Smaller board makes our wholly within abilities easier to proc New Unleash Hell can really hurt our bikini warriors, make sure to use Morathi or chaff to charge first New All Out Attack further amplifies our damage potential for insane damage output New All Out Defense is helpful but isn't as potent as armies with natural 3+ saves New limit on net +1 save modifier makes Melusai more durable than Witches The Shadow Queen is a Monster, combo her to Titanic Dual + Finest Hour other Monsters to death You can cast Metamorphosis to transform your Heros into a Monster If The Shadow Queen is weaken, use the Ghur Feral Roar to make her top tier again Try to get the Inspired Triumph (+1 wound roll), you can combo All Out Attack + Inspired for a super reliable hard hitting hammer Try to position your priests near Mystic (+1 prayer roll) terrain effect Morathi-Khaine is also a General, in case your actual General dies you still get the 1 CP every turn Pray hard Morathi-Khaine don't roll double 1s snake eyes on her first spell Morathi-Khaine's Worship Through Bloodshed ability happens during the Hero Phase, opponent cannot use All Out Defense and neither can you use All Out Attack Heart of Fury is pretty sweet - if your opponent faction has no Priests, they have absolutely no way of countering it! Once summoned, it only goes away on roll of 6s (probably pending FAQ) Pillars of Belief is probably the easiest Grand Strategy if you are bringing a Cauldron - since it usually is the last to enter any fights All our Heros count as 2 models - Shadow Queen is a Monster and count as 5 when contesting objectives Zainthar Kai extra Artefect allows you to forgo the Warlord or Command Entourage battalion Khelt Nar fall back can no longer run - cannot synergize with Melusai Ironscale 2D6 run anymore So far, my favorite combo is using The Shadow Queen and 10 Blood Sisters for an alpha strike. Give the Blood Sisters Mindrazor, Catechism of Murder, 2D6 run + charge, activate all out attack and inspired. Charge in with The Shadow Queen first and then the Blood Sister for 41 attacks 2+ (exploding 6s)/2+/-2/2 dmg.

Great idea, they are cheaper than warlocks as well with better saves!

You don't need to use a Prayer slot to summon the Heart of Fury. It is explicitly written in our battletome FAQ designer's note that the Invocation of Khaine is not a Prayer. They might override it in AOS 3 battletome FAQ though.

I don't know if this is legal but technically the blade coven has the <Melusai> keyword and is considered a Melusai unit?

Played tested the AOS 3 rules and discovered an unexpected "dark horse" for DoK The Doomfire Warlocks actually make great blockers with the new coherency rule... from end to end, they can form a 15" blockade 🙈 How is this possible? Doomfire Warlocks come in minimum unit size of 5. This means they only need to be within 1" of one (1) model in the unit to remain coherent and can be arranged in a single file. By positioning their 60mm oval bases at the widest point, you can form a rather long blockage. Comparison Table Additional Factors to consider They have 5+ natural save, this is important in AOS 3.0 when you can only net +1 to save roll after factoring in rend They are Wizards, able to cast Mystic Shield, Arcane Bolt or D6 MW with a +1 to casting roll at full strength... and can unbind They enjoy our allegiance 6+ ward save... cough Hag Narr 5+ ward save if near general

I actually like the concept of coherency but instead of forcing unit coherency, GW can incentivize unit coherency like LRL Shining Company. At least it emulates the concept of formation fighting. If you stay in formation and get charged, you enjoy +1 save. If you charge in formation, you get +1 damage.

This new table size (44x60) has been confirmed during the Dominion Unboxing video with the new AOS 3.0 rule book. I don't play 40k but several of my gaming group members who also play 40k on the new size since the new edition gave some general feedback about the smaller board size. Overall pointage increase across ALL units - this is to counteract the effect of a smaller board to prevent overcrowding More close combat oriented as units get into glorious melee more quickly - traditional long range shooting armies becomes unplayable Huge base sizes have a harder time positioning - terrain and meatshields can easily crowd out hot combat zones Less opportunity to outflank/deepstrike - smaller board makes it easier for players to protect their rear and flanks For those playing both gaming systems, what are your experience with 40k on the smaller board that you think will probably be emulated in AOS?

1. Expensive to Collect Before the new Battletome, the only competitive way to play them is to field hordes of Witch Aelves which are really pricey. They don't have a decent Start Collecting and even if you got the Batttleforce, you still need to supplement with boxes of troops which are expensive. The situation has improved recently with Melusai being viable and I do see more players starting DoK locally. 2. Difficult to Paint Their models have a rather varied distribution of fabric, metal, skin and hair. You can't just spam contrast on them like Nighthaunts or rely on 2 colour scheme like Storrmcast Eternals. I have seen many aspiring DoK players who spent a fortune buying a complete army only to completely sell it off upon realizing how difficult they are to paint. 3. Meta Reputation They are one of the rare armies to remain at S Tier for a long time and it's hard to make friends when you murder them into oblivion. You see them in tournaments but in more casual setting people tend to play more palatable armies. 4. Diva Powerhouse DoK is lead by a shrewd power hungry demi-goddess (now full goddess) supported by tons of murder queens navigating a man's world. This concept does not resonate well with the predominately straight alpha male Warhammer player base (cough... 40K Emperor and all-male Primarch cast). It does have it niche audience of power gamers, pro painters, girls, LGBTQ and kinks though. 😆

Played a small local tournament for a 1000pts Vanguard using the new temple Khelt Nar as I wanted to test how Morathi perform with retreat and charge. I placed first with 3 wins. You may see the final scoring and all the players list here https://tabletop.to/gallant-games-aos-28-feb-vanguard-pb HERO Morathi-Khaine (210) - Mindrazor The Shadow Queen (390) Bloodwrack Shrine (160) (General) - Gaisa's Falx, The Circling Flock, Steed of Shadow BATTLELINE 10 Witch Aelves (100) 5 Blood Stalkers (140) KEY TAKEAWAYS The Shadow Queen with retreat and charge makes her really shine. You can have Morathi-Khaine make her fight during the hero phase, retreat and charge another target. She can also disengage from really low value targets that attempts to lock her down and go hunt more valuable targets. It's a little wasted but The Shadow Queen will not be able to use her +2/+2/-3/D6 damage shooting ability after retreating The free Khinerai also makes a world of difference in competitive setting helping you secure objectives and score VP Mindrazor is hard to cast, but it synergizes well with KN considering you get +1 damage after you fall back and charge

Khelt Nar Command Ability Unmodified hit rolls of 1 against the selected Khelt Nar unit will cause 1 MW to the attacking unit. This is the old temple nest battalion ability!!! 😍

Any fancy stuff for our Battalions?

Took part in a local tournament with 12 players, 5 rounds over 2 days and came in 3rd place! My 2 losses are against the top 2 players (IDK and Khorne), both fantastic players with strong list. Below is a quick summary and my experience against various armies. Army List Morathi-Khaine (Mindrazor) Shadow Queen Hag Queen on Cauldron of Blood (General w Blessing of Khaine, Blood Sigil – Catechism of Murder) 30/10 Witches w Bucklers 10 Sisters of Slaughters w Daggers 10 Melusai Bloodstalkers 5 Khinerai Heartrenders 5 Doomfire Warlocks 1 Additional Command Point Total Conquest – WON vs Lumineth Realm lords Teclis, Scinari Cathallar, 20/10 Sentinels, 20/10 Wardens, 5 Dawnriders Keeping the Cauldron General behind out of full range from the Sentinels is critical as Hagg Narr 5+ soaked up plenty of Mortal Wounds. Sniping off Scinari is also important to lower their bravery when they use their Aether Quartz. Blood Stalkers were trading shots with the Sentinels and Shadow Queen was sent to hunt Teclis. As soon as Morathi-Khaine managed to unbind Teclis 5+ ignore wounds aura, I went on the offensive and their army start to crumble apart and running away due to low bravery which allowed me to secure objectives more easily. Shifting Objectives – LOST vs Khorne Archaon, Be’Lakor, Bloodthrister of Insensate Rage, 3 Slaughter Priests, Chaos Warshrine, 3x10 Bloodreavers 30 Hagg Nar witches with 5+ re-rollable FNP took on the full onslaught of Archaon and Bloodthrister BOTH attacking TWICE on T1. I managed to clear his Bloodreavers with Bloodstalkers and got Morathi-Khaine to tarpit Archaeon. Shadow Queen was shut down by Be’Lakor. The Bloodthrister went on to clear out my Bloodstalkers and Cauldron and I could not keep up with Khorne’s damage output. The 3 priests were spewing out D6 MWs and I was completely tabled by T4. Focal Point – WON vs Seraphon Lord Kroak, Saurus Astrolith Bearer, Skink Priest, 2 Bastiladon, 6 Salamanders, 4x10 Skinks 40 Hagg Nar witches was shot down on T1 with his Bastiladon and Salamanders! I managed to clear out his Salamanders and Bastiladon with Shadow Queen and Blood Stalkers over the next 2 turns. Eventually he was left with Lord Kroak and Skinks which my Blood Stalkers could methodically clear out for my Khinerai and Doomfires to secure objectives. Forcing the Hand – LOST vs Idoneth Deepkin Akhelian King, Isharann Soulscryver, 1x Leviadon, 2x Allopexes, 2x3 Ishlaen Guard, 3/3/6 Morrsarr Guard I took the first turn to play objectives with 30 Witches but his Allopexes prevent by Witches from further piling in to do more damage and I was relying on my 6s save MW to bypass his 2+ saves to deal sufficient damage. Poor positioning cost me the game as he managed to deepstrike his 6 Morrsarr and tag my General Cauldron. He got the double turn and killed my General on T2 followed by my Blood Stalkers. With lower mobility and no more 5+ FNP/Witchbrew and Prayers, my army started to crumble. I was unable to cap objectives and was tabled by T4. The Blades Edge – WON vs Ossiarch Bonereapers Katakros, Mortisan Soulmason, 2x Mortek Crawler, 3x10 Mortek Guard, 2 Morghast Harbingers, 6 Necropolis Stalkers I rolled Ulgu to hide most of my armies behind/within terrains and gave him the 1st turn. With limited shooting targets, he moved his army forward and I got 30 Witches with 5+ FNP to tie up the 6 Stalkers and 10 Mortek Guards, it was a slow grind fest on objectives. Shadow Queen was again shut down by massive debuffs. My break came with a double turn on 2B/3A which allowed me to charge the Shadow Queen into Katakros and both Crawlers, effectively shutting them down. The Bloodstalkers were also clearing out Motrek Guards and by end T4 he conceded. Summary 10 Bloodstalkers with the potential to fire twice is an excellent hammer compliment to the largely combat-oriented army Hagg Nar is still the most competitive temple, without the 5+ FNP there is absolutely no way to survive any super tuned list Blob of 30 Witches is increasingly getting outclassed in the current meta and constantly vying for buffs with Shadow Queen which arguably might be a better anvil/hammer herself, but they still make for a good anvil to tarpit multiple units and crowd out objectives with Blessing of Khaine activated If you are going to put the Shadow Queen into combat and 100% sure she will be taking 3 damage, use Morathi-Khaine as a secondary tarpit to lock up enemy hammer units The Shadow Queen requires Witchbrew and Catechism or Murder to becomes a reliable hammer, a secondary Hag Queen will be useful for this Doomfires Warlocks have no place in competitively play

I played in small local tournament with a pure Melusai list and came in 2nd, was pretty lucky I dodged the IDK player. lol Temple: Hagg Nar Morathi (Mindrazor) Hag Queen on Cauldron (Blessing of Khaine, Catechism of Murder) Bloodwrack Shrine (General - Steed of Shadows) 10 Blood Stalkers 4x5 Blood Sisters 1 CP Played 3 rounds against FEC, SCE and LRL. Round 1: VS FEC - Minor Victory The Shadow Queen absolutely shred any FEC units she comes into contact with. I was using Blood Sisters to trade with his Flayers and Terrorghiest, needless to say I rarely get the chance to use their new Crystal Touch ability. It was game of glass cannons blowing each other up. Fortunately, the 10 Blood Stalkers was left unmolested to dish out enough damage. Together with the Shadow Queen, both were able to output sufficient damage to thin out his army. However, his mobility was incredible so I only won by Auxiliary Objectives. Probably have to bring some Khinerais to grab objectives next time. Round 2: VS SCE - Major Victory I gave my opponent the initiative, he alpha strike with Evocators on my 10 Blood Stalkers but only 2 Blood Stalkers died (thanks Hagg Nar!). T1B fired twice into his Evocators, some Blood Sisters and Morathi-Khaine herself went into combat to wipe out the remaining Evocators. Managed to pull off Mindrazor on the Shadow Queen and she countercharge to delete 4 Fulminators, my opponent conceded on T3 with only some foot heros and Sequitors remaining on the board. Round 3: VS LRL - Major Victory My opponent seize the initiative to have Teclis and his units do their magic shenanigans. He lit up my shrine and rolled 30 shots (5+ MW, re-rollable), my General survived with 2 Wounds (thanks against Hagg Nar!) T1B I fired twice using my 10 Blood Stalkers to kill 10 Sentinels and his Scinari Cathallar and have my Shadow Queen tag a large blob of Sentinels, Wardens and Teclis himself! T2A he had to retreat Teclis and his Sentinels back. He move his Wardens forward to charge my Blood Sisters to secure an objective (out of Teclis 5+ FNP) and my Blood Stalkers shot them to bits on T2B. Conclusions Morathi-Khaine Her spellcasting is unreliable but her command ability makes her valuable. Her combat prowess is somewhat decent to deal a couple of wounds and she can also be used as a 2nd tarpit. Shadow Queen The new Shadow Queen is a beast, her 14" movement combined with her new attack profile and un-killable trait makes her very versatile. Her new Bravery 10 combined with Mindrazor makes her insanely strong. Just stay clear of anything with saves that ignores rend. Her new gaze ability is pretty awesome for sniping off Heros. Blood Stalkers The new Blood Stalkers are amazing, I would even say they are even better than Blood Sister when combo with Morathi-Khaine new command ability. They are even comparable to LRL sentinels! Blood Sisters Major disappointment, even with the +1 attack for being near the Shadow Queen in combat, they seem lackluster as compared to the previous version. Maybe a larger unit with the new Ironscale might work? Gotta test further on this.

I have been trying a modified classic Morathi Khailebron list with 20 Blood Stalkers which has been somewhat effective (so far). Temple Khailebron Morathi-Khaine (Mirror Dance) Shadow Queen Hag Queen on Cauldron (Sacrament of Blood), Thousand and One Blessing - General 20 Blood Stalkers 10 Witches 10 Witches 10 Witches 10 Witches 1 Additional CP Total: 1980 - To contest for Triumph Try to get Realm of Beast for the +2" charge on cast and CP to keep Shadow Queen in top form. If your opponent give you the 1st turn in hopes of obtaining double turn you have 2 options; Teleport mirror dance swap the Shadow Queen to tarpit and kill. With the buff to the Shadow Queen, she is more potent then ever. If the opponent has good magical defenses, you can instead teleport your stalkers and pump 80 3+/3+/-1, 6s MW shots at key targets. 24" range is quite generous, your stalkers can hang back slightly for your Witches to move + run up during your movement phase to guard your Blood Stalkers blob. If your opponent takes the 1st turn, they usually have some shenanigans in mind which you can usually figure out when you see their army list. So do remember to use your witches to bubble wrap your precious stalkers! Also +1 save from the cauldron and -1 to hit during shooting helps with some survivability.

The question is whether changes to Blood Stalkers might inadvertently create an effective shooting DoK army when combo with Morathi. Morathi + 20 Blood Stalkers will cost more than half the army at 1180 points. If you play Khailebron, seize Turn 1 and reposition to pump out 80 shots, you should be able to comfortably take out key targets. You opponent has no interaction to counter this, except for maybe putting stuff in deepstike. Another overlooked spell is Withering, it affects all attacks directed at the unit so your Stalkers will have +1 to wound against the target.

Seems like blood stalkers went up from 120 to 140 to justify the 2 shots!

The most reliable combo is to alpha strike Morathi. Army Building You need to use Khailebron Temple Pick a Battalion to lower your deployment count to seize the first turn Battalion will also give you an additional CP and Artefact Field a Medusa with Mirror Dance and Shadow Stone Field another Hero besides Morathi and the Medusa to allow for Mirror Dance Realm Roll for the Realm of Beast The Realm's Command Ability Feral Roar is the most potent for Morathi to keep her damage output at top tier. It will make a huge difference especially when she is at lower wound count. The Realm spell Wildform also helps with charging +2" run and charge Deployment Deploy all your units before your opponent to seize the T1 Deploy your Medusa more than 30" from any enemy Wizards (if you play against Seraphons this strategy will not work because they have Global Dispel) Deploy Morathi more than 8" away from ANY units and within 24" of your Medusa - This will ensure her large base is more than 6" from any units for Mirror Dance to work TURN 1A - Your turn Start of Hero Phase Khailebron teleport a hero forward but still within 24" of your Medusa with Mirror Dance Bankai Morathi - she should be more than 6" from any units Hero Phase Use Morathi to cast Wildform on herself for +2" to charge (chances are she is more than 30" away from enemy, cast value of 5 is pretty easy) Use Medusa with Shadow Stone to cast Mirror Dance (this will almost always work unless you are extremely unlucky or playing against Seraphons) Swap Morathi and Hero using Mirror Dance Spend 1 CP to activate Feral Roar on Morathi - This is also an insurance against double turn, I'll explain later Movement Phase Since you didn't teleport Morathi, she technically still can move Fly her within 3" of your enemy Shooting Phase If your opponent is careless with positioning, Morathi can snipe off enemy Heros with 5 wounds and below Otherwise, ask if your opponent has any special buff giving model in his units - i.e sniping off an Icon Bearer in a Pink Horror unit makes a HUGE difference as he cannot bring back models w/o his Icon Bearer Charging Phase If you got Wildform off for the +2" charge, she cannot fail charge unless your opponent has some special rule IMPORTANT: Morathi MUST engage a MINIMUM of 3 enemy units to make her a valuable tarpit When I mean engage, I mean to use her thicc base to be within 3" of as many unique enemy units as possible to force them into combat with her Fight Phase Attack priority - (High) Units w Low Saves > Units w High Saves > Heros w Low Saves > Heros w High Saves > Anything that Ignores Rend (Low) If an enemy unit has poor leadership and is more than 6" from a friendly Hero or 12" from the General, they make excellent target as well! Try not to split attacks, pump all attacks into a unit or hero to achieve as much damage as possible Overkilling a unit/hero or taking out as many models as possible is important Morale Phase Since you went first, if your opponent didn't bring a battalion or buy a CP, he will not have any CP to activate inspiring presence If you killed enough models, you can potentially wipe units from battleshock alone! TURN 1B - Opponent This is where it gets tricky for the opponent. Since Morathi is always at top tier, her damage output can be frightening and they will be tempted to fall back. But they also know if they fall back everything (i.e disengage combat from Morathi), if they lose the initiative for T2, Morathi will practically just have free reign in their backyard! Smarter opponents will disengage hard hitters/squishes and feed Morathi a sacrificial tarpit. Opponent Double Turn Feral Roar makes taking a Double Turn not so attractive for your opponent because Morathi will remain at her top tier despite doing more damage to her. The ability last until your next Hero Phase. You can always remind your opponent about Feral Roar and ask them to think twice before taking the double turn

IMO, I feel that the article is commercially motivated. Since GW is going to release a KO Battleforce for Christmas, the product must sell hence the hype on KO.

Yes, in my recent local tournament more than half of participants were shooting focus, the shift in meta is crazy. Out of 12 participants, there were 2 KoT (Flamer spam), 2 Seraphons (Salamander spam), 2 SCE (Ballista spam) and 1 LRL (40 Archers). Khailebron seems to work better than Hag Narr with the -1 hit penalty. For reference, KoT flamers can wipe 30 Hag Narr witches with re-rollable 5+ FNP on 1 turn. Surprisingly, Khinerai Lifetakers are an effective counter to the current shooting meta. For 80pts, they are a great distraction and their mobility allows them to quickly respond to any shooting threats. It's funny to see 20 archers having to shoot 1 surviving Khinerai because they are tied down in combat.

Can you use the Khailebron Command Trait to teleport a Bloodwrack Medusa on Balewind Vortex around without dispelling the Vortex?

Next month is a good time to buy GWS stocks, it is crashing because of the virus...