Fulkes

I know they're the go to, but I was looking at more running a couple big models with a bunch of smaller support models. I know we can't horde but I don't like to put all my eggs in one basket.

I'd like to win games of course, but I'm not prepping to try and win any GTs though. So semi-competetive I guess? Are Yhetees any good?

I've recently picked up a BCR start collecting box as a side project to the eight billion skeletons I need to paint (and to allow me to actually play games), and I was looking for recommendations for running the army casually. I was considering a Firebelly for a "cheap" support wizard, but I know people have found the Butcher to be more useful. Basically other than putting a lord on a Stonehorn I don't know anything I'm doing at this point in time.

And leagues above Muppets from Space.

Dang good movie and really should have done better than it did in my opinion. It was still more for adults than kids though.

All I know is whatever crabs that exist that any kind of elf (especially a highly advanced space elf that is apparently now responsible for Slaanesh eating all the elves with attitude by teaching her how tasty elf souls are) is something that shouldn't exist. I mean there should be a shampoo to get rid of those or something. Maybe a finetooth wraithbone comb or something.

Oh they were probably the most perfect ****'s ever made into hands too. More seriously, I don't get the crab claws either. Most of the rest of the design I'm like "that makes sense in a messed up sort of way" but the crab claws I've never really been sure about. Maybe it's the whole getting to enjoy the tactile sensation of slicing a guy in half or something and is a way to give them knife hands that kind of make more sense organically, but honestly I've never really got why it had to be crab claws. It just makes me think that maybe the Eldar had a weird thing for crabs that should never be explored deeper.

Just got all caught up and it's great work those guys do, but I have to comment (well not really, but that nerd impulse to go "well actually" never dies) about the Slaanesh stuff. Slaanesh is the god of pleasure, excess and debauchery. Most of the daemon designs lean into the excess thing as if you take each element seperately (a well sculpted male chest, nice lady chests, well toned legs, eyes able to see colors a human's eye can't even imagine, a tongue that can taste things far beyond the human range, ect, ect) they're basically "perfect" (insert DBZ Abridged reference here). It's when you take all those individually perfect elements and mash them together that you get something like a Fiend or most of Slaanesh's forces.

My other army is a LoN army, only I'm building it for both a more elite Monster Mash as well as building a Deathrattle heavy army with both intended to be run under the Legion of Blood (I like the bravery synergies we can bring and how we can pile on mortal wounds by dropping bravery scores).

I'm that annoying sort of painter who can't be happy doing just that. I don't think I've ever painted a minature (outside of my very first attempts in 3rd ed 40k) that used less than 15 pots of paint (between washes and base, mid and highlight colors I tended to use at least that many on most projects). I mean I'm working on skeletons and even using GW's easy method of painting the bones I'm still putting more work into the whole thing that I probably need to. Heck, years ago I swore off painting 40k Orks because I spent hours sponge weathering after spending hours to do a basic paint job. Basically, I tend to get carried away and treat every model like it's a character model.

Well there goes my battleplan. More seriously, I've been on the fence about Nighthaunt lately. As much as I like my spooky scary skeletons, my FLGS doesn't really stock them, but they do have that nice new Soul Wars box and it comes with a rulebook I need.... It's not that I hate the Nighthaunt, just more that I'm afraid I'll be biting off too much by working on two horde style death armies.

I've managed to power through it, but I was just rusting the heck out of the metal on my skeletons (I think opposing armies will fear tetanus more then they fear the bite of my skeleton's blades when is all said and done) so I didn't need fine control. I still had to stop as I tried to not laugh too hard while doing it.

I'll be honest, I was mostly just chuckling until I got to episode 3 and they started talking about "Take your toys off mate" and then I started laughing out loud in public. I'm enjoying getting caught up on this show. Now if I can focus enough while listening to it to paint some skeletons that's be perfect.

I was eyeing the KoS steed as well, but wasn't completely sure how well it'd fit hence the asking. For my conversion I took Mannfred's body and cape, a hexwraith arm and head, a black knight arm (the two arms paired together get the same size as the other arm so look more proportional), Mannfred's sword, Akham's staff arm and a black knight shield to round it all out. It wasn't a hard conversion, just a bit fiddly to work it all out. Like I've said, if I have extra parts I'm going to use them.

Most of the offensive relics only buff one weapon, but I feel they're still worth looking at if you want to try and leverage more beatsticking out of your general. Especially since all of our Vampire Lords get an extra attack over other legions. Defensive wise I really like the ability to stack more to hit penalties on my opponent by pairing with Aura of Dark Majesty though so that's worth a chuckle. And on a different note, I had some extra bits from the starting Skeletons box so I made a Wight King: Any recommendations for a good choice of steed for him?

At this point it's likely not much of a shock that I'm one of those people who spends a lot of time thinking about my army and different ways of playing it.This ranges from random list building, to spending time thinking about different synergy combos, to ways of deploying everything, to even different stuff to bring in an army. As such I've started digging through the Malign Sorcery book to see what artefacts pair well with the Lore of Blood. Now there are two things I feel we bring in the Lore of Blood: beatstick vampire lords, and bravery shenanigans. These are the two things that helped attract me to our specific subfaction over the Grand Host's tanking, Manfred's rogue style backstabing, or the magical stylings of Arkham. The idea of winning stalemates by making every casualty mean more, or by dropping buckets of mortal wounds on them by lowering their bravery to the ground and rolling 2d6 for every unit in range is just awesome (also a valid reason why the Legion of Blood should have had the Terrorghiest cloak in its list). So I'm going to go through all the realms, and even if they're a silly choice (like the realms of life or light) I'm still going to cover them on the list just incase I see something that could work for our army (main focus being for the above qualities of making our Vampire Lords even more beatsticky, or our army even more punishing via bravery penalties). I mean Neferata has her minions everywhere so it's only fitting to acknowledge that there could be agents getting into skirmishes anywhere. Ghyran Jadewound Thorn: Allows one weapon to deal a mortal wound on a 6+. Not bad to pair with Walking Death as it'll allow for the a chunk of mortal wounds equal to the damage of that weapon +1 on a 6+, but it might pair better with Swift Strikes as you'll gain additional attacks while also dealing mortal wounds when rolling 6+. There are better options out there though, so only consider this if you want to be from the Realm of Life for some reason. Verdant Mantle: A solid option for a Necromancer general as it won't take away from your casting to dispell something every turn, and even possibly decent if you're going pure Deathrattle as it'll allow the Wight King some defense against magic (or at least Endless Spells). Blade of Hammerhal Ghyra: +1 attack to any melee weapon characteristic is never bad. Especially if you're also running a Walking Death general who could use the extra attacks on their high damage weapons. Swift Strikes pairs well with this of course as extra attacks means more chances to gain extra attacks. Jade Diadem: Healing a wound everytime you roll a 6+ on your save? Never a bad thing. Not the strongest option for our army since we have a number of ways to heal just about anything, but if you want to put on your best troll face against your opponent worth considering. The Sunderblade: A shooting attack against everything in 9" that does mortal wounds on a 6+? Not bad, but not great. If we could buff it then I'd rate it higher but a 1 in 6 to do D3 mortal wounds isn't particularly strong when we have better ways to hit multiple units with mortal wounds. Greenglade Flask: A Chalice of Blood by another name, and available to a Necromancer. Worth considering if you want more healing, but otherwise look at other options first. Ghyrstrike: +1 to hit and wound rolls? Sign me up! Walking Death loves this as you start doing mortal wounds on a 5+, and Swift Strikes benefits as you'll be getting extra attacks on a 5+. Basically this should be your first relic choice for the Realm of Light if you're running a beatstick vampire lord general. Ghur Beastcaller's Bones: Never take this on a Vampire Lord on a Zombie Dragon and be careful of using this near Neferata as well as this doesn't distinguish friendly or enemy models with the MONSTER keyword. Nothing like putting it on a VLoZD only to roll a 5+ on yourself and preventing your dragon from fighting that turn. Anraheirs's Claw: Sadly doesn't stack with Walking Death, but anything that increases weapon damage isn't a bad option for running a beatstick Vampire Lord. I'd likely pair this with Swift Strikes to increase the number of attacks I could make each round of combat to increase my chances of rolling 6+ to wound. Amberglaive: +1" (to a max of 3) is never bad, but the real icing on the cake is that is also adds +1 to our hit rolls with that weapon. Basically perfect for making your Vampire Lord have the ability to reach out and touch someone while also dealing mortal wounds on a 5+. Gryph-feather Charm: Honestly a good option for pairing with Aura of Dark Majesty. -1 to hit you with shooting (-2 if you can Look Out Sir) and a -2 in melee to enemy attacks while making you a little bit faster isn't a bad pairing for a more defensive build on your general. Rageblade: +1 attack is never bad. That said, I still wouldn't make this my first pick for my general. As a secondary artefact pick in the army though, it might be worth looking at. Tuskhelm: A 50/50 shot at dealing mortal wounds when charging isn't bad, but don't fall into the trap of thinking that the fact that it can hit every unit you are within 1" of after charging makes multi-charging a good idea. Chamon Aiban's Hidden Blade: Basically a bonus if you're running a Walking Death general as the extra point of damage on a to-hit of 6+ means an extra mortal wound. Gildenbane: A nice defensive way to troll an opponent who takes artefacts from the Malign Sorcery book. Never take as your first pick though as we have better options. Argent Armour: Another Aura of Dark Majesty pick. Nothing like being -2 to hit while riding a Zombie Dragon and stomping on your opponent's units. Hydroxskin Cloak: Worth considering for Vampire Lords on Nightmare Steeds or Wight Kings on Skeletal Steeds for the ability to fly (especially if your running Deathrattle with Neferata as she can make a unit of Black Knights fly as well). Basically makes your hero into a Hexwraith who still cares about Rending against your armour save. The 3+ for doing mortal wounds is nice though. I'd leave this off the general and take it as a secondary relic pick though. Rune Blade: Another good secondary relic pick since none of our Command Traits really lend well to increasing a weapon's rend. If you're taking it on a General I'd argue for a Swift Strike build since the higher number of attacks might benefit from the higher rend value. Crucible of Molten Silver: Not bad as a way to hit a couple of enemy units at the same time, especially a couple of heroes. Worth taking on smaller hero models so you can squeeze into smaller spaces to maximize the effect. Godwrought Helm: Not bad to stack on your general for an extra 6+ to negate wounds for yourself, but not really a priority pick for me. Chamonite Darts: Not a bad choice in general, but the short range means you're probably going to take this on your VLoZD (so you can tank the incoming damage back) over other options and we have better options for that model. Alchemical Chain: Take it versus Death or Tzeentch armies or leave it at home. Argentine's Tooth: Not a bad choice for any general who needs a 6+ to gain extra attacks or do mortal wounds as this realm doesn't give us any +1 to hit options. Aqshy Smouldering Helm: Doing mortal wounds when your roll a 6+ in combat (which is where you'd want this model to be) isn't a bad option, especially since this realm doesn't have a lot of stuff I'd rate highly for the Legion of Blood. Ignax's Scales: 50/50 chance of negating mortal wounds never hurts, especially if you know you can end up facing a lot of them. Crown of Flames: Bravery 11 skeletons anyone? Okay, not really a prime first pick, but it could make a good secondary pick if you know you're facing someone else who likes to drop your bravery. Cleansing Brooch: A weaker version of a Chalice of Blood. I'd probably put this on a Necromancer or Wight King who have less ways to heal themselves than a Vampire Lord does. Shyish (aka It's good to be home) Blade of Endings: Another good Walking Death pick since we'd do an extra 2 mortal wounds for every 6 rolled to hit, plus it's just a nice choice to pick from a realm that fits the army the best. Banshee Blade: Remember the Terrorghiest Cloak I was talking about? Well imagine doing that in melee everytime your roll a 6+. While not my first choice for a general since it needs you to roll 2d6 and beat their bravery to only do d3 mortal wounds instead of a mortal wound for every point over their bravery we roll, it's still a solid choice. Ethereal Amulet: Congrats, you're Nighthaunt now. Seriously though, I'd probably stick this on a VLoZD just for the amount of abuse you'd be able to tank since most people will aim weapons with good rend values at such a target. Sepulchral Plate: Another way to negate wounds on a 6+. Not bad, not great. More of a secondary choice for more defensive character builds in my opinion. Goblet of Draining: A reasonable choice if you want to try and inflict more mortal wounds on the enemy HERO (especially if you can reliably push mortal wounds onto them so they have taken wounds), but more of a secondary pick. Ulgu Miasmitic Blade: Paired with Aura of Dark Majesty for that delicious -2 to be hit in melee (-1 against shooting), otherwise I'm not a big fan. Spellmirror: Decent for secondary spell protection, but taking casters will always be a better way of shutting down the big stuff you'd use this to help prevent hurting you. Trickster's Helm: Good pick for an aggressive character when facing magic heavy armies, but I wouldn't put it on your general since this model will likely be targetted pretty heavily. Blade of Folded Shadows: +1 to hit. Basically your pick for beatstick VL if you run this realm. Doppelganger Cloak: A good pick for really messing with your opponent if you can ensure you're going second in that combat. Hit multiple units at a time and prevent them from attacking the bearer by attacking last with it to tarpit the opponent while the rest of your army gets work done. Best used if you can ensure you can fight after all the other units you've hit do. Blade of Secrets: Much like the Trickster's Helm I wouldn't take this on a general just to prevent them from being as heavilly targeted, but it can be a nice way to strip some spells off of an opponent's model. Betrayer's Crown: Best used against hordes to up your chances of the unit tearing itself apart. Not a bad choice, just choose your targets appropiately when using it. Dimensional Blade: Another one I like for Swift Strike-ing VLs. Basically -3 rend is never bad if you pair with a heavy damage weapon and possible extra attacks. Talisman of the Watcher: Support heroes only. Great for keeping blocks of skeletons and other weak save units alive longer, but not a prime pick for a general unless you're running a Necromancer general. Hysh Blade of Symmetry: A prime pick if you're running a Walking Death beatstick. Pair with a high volume of attack weapon to give it some extra damage and potentially do more mortal wounds on ever 6+. Aetherquartz Brooch: 5+ to regain command points isn't bad, especially since we have a lot of reasons to spend them by the bucket, but I'd take this on a support character over a beatstick one. Gleaming Blade: Not a bad option as it heals the bearer if it does wounds, but only up to 1 a turn. I'd put this on a Wight King in a Deathrattle army but that's about it. Lens of Refraction: A decent way to make mortal wounds from spells less of a problem, but basically another support character only pick. Luminary Rod: Another good pick for a smaller character model who can get into position to unleash. Basically a good support choice. Mirrored Cuirass: Ignore 1/3 of all mortal wounds and reflect half of the ones you ignore? Not the strongest thing you can take for increasing your damage, but it'll keep your big characters around longer. --- Now those are just my picks, and even among them there are picks I favor more than others. Anyone else have some picks I missed, or some they rate higher than I do?

I'm a big sucker for highly personalized custom madness and with AoS it feels like I can capitalize on it a bit more. Plus visual diversity is never a bad thing in the game.

While true, I feel like the paint job has to be more generic for the mount's skulls if you do that. I'm looking at picking up multiples of the Starting Skeletons box for the combination of skeletons and conversion parts to put female vampire lords onto Zombie Dragons (looking at using Neferata's legs and throne combined with the torsos and heads from the extra handmaidens I'll have from building a Palanquin or Mortis Engine because of course I want to be able to run multiple of those big models in a single game) so having all three of the Mortarchs doesn't really bother me much.

I'm fiddling with a Deathrattle list idea for the army, but I haven't really settled on anything just yet. That said, I picked up the Starting Skeletons box and built my first ten skeletons, a Black Knight and Neferata (into sub-assemblies). And as a bonus, when I put my music on my way to my FLGS the first song that popped up was All We Need is Blood so that made me pretty happy for the coincidence from a randomly shuffled playlist with something like twelve hours of music in it.

I'd argue against high bravery it still matters a bit since it pushes a 10 down to an 8 which means you don't need to kill as many before they can potentially lose models to it (3 models means they can fail on a 6 for bravery 8 versus 5 for bravery 10, that's a big difference), and since most of those models (outside of LoN that is) are pretty points heavy, so even 1 extra model dropped that way is pretty good. I know we all get some form of healing, but I was talking more the Grandhost's extra healing buff specifically. I feel like LoB is the slightly more aggressive way to run skeletons while GHoN is the more tanky way. Guess it comes down to what you find fun to play.

Thanks for the feedback! I've been looking at running Neferata and a massive bunch of skeletons as well, but I don't know if the extra bravery smack is enough to take them as Legion of Blood over Nagash's legion where they'll get a chance to heal every turn.

So I know the alpha strike Neferata bomb is pretty popular, but after mulling over the Legion of the Blood for a while I feel like they're as close to the old Vampire Counts I know and kind of miss from WHFB (they cause fear, the Vampires Lords hit harder), so I decided to put my lot in with the Legion of Blood. So I'm only really planning on getting the skeleton starter this week (because Neferata and my strange desire to have her leading a Bonerattle style army at some point) but here's where I'm thinking of taking the army right now: Heroes Neferata 400 (General, Soul Harvest) Vampire Lord on Nightmare 140 (Ring of Dominion, Amaranthine Orb) Vampire Lord on Nightmare 140 (Soul Pike) Coven Throne 260 (Vile Transference) Battleline Dire Wolves (5) 60 Dire Wolves (5) 60 Dire Wolves (5) 60 Behemoth Mortis Engine 180 Other Blood Knights (5) 240 (Full Command) Blood Knights (5) 240 (Full Command) Morghast Harbingers (2) 220 (Spirit Halberd) Total: 2000/2000 Total Wounds: 117 So naturally the Blood Knight units are paired up with a Vampire Lord, the doggos screen/take objectives while the Palanquinn pushes for and Neferata, the Coven Throne and the Morghast support them. The Mortis engine supports the casters and acts as a possible bomb in enemy lines between the crypt and the wailing dead. I feel like the army straddles the line between being elite and basically just flooding the board with bodies, but I'm open for ideas or changes. Though VLoZD are likely out for now because as beatsticky as they are, I'd rather use them in a different sort of list than one bringing Neferata herself.

After much puzzling over the Namarti, I feel the real issue for them isn't the Namarti but rather the way our auras work. Namarti heavy lists almost demand larger units to maximize their benefits, but the army restricts our ability to take advantage of that properly with the "wholly within" clause that is crammed into every aura. That just hurts an otherwise decent set of units that could have been a more valid option than what we got.

I've recently been working my way back into the sword and sorcery side of Warhammer and having played Vampire Counts a few times back at the end of 7th/start of 8th (it was a borrowed army) I have a soft spot deep in my shriveled heart for the Legions of Nagash. Now the closest thing I can see that fits that is a Deathrattle focused army backed by a Vampire of some sort, but as much as I've been rolling around the army in my head instead of sleeping I'm not quite sussing out an effective army just yet. If it helps I'm definitely leaning more towards a horde army than an elite one and I only play casually so I don't have a lot of desire for an unstoppable beatstick of an army as much as a fun one that can win some games. Also, I really dig the Black Coach model, is there a way to make that work in an army without shooting myself in the foot? I really want to pick one up but I'd hate for it to just gather dust because it is useless on the table.

Something that crossed my mind is that I feel like the Reavers pair well with the Allopex to help ping off wounds to allow you to make the charge. It's not a big thing, but I feel like taking a unit of Reavers, an Allopex and a Soulscryer could make for an interesting combo as they pop up on the opponent's side of the board early into the game and start harrassing things (and become a target for missile weapons to defend the rest of the army). Anyone try running larger units of Allopex, or have people just been running 1 here and there? On a different note, I keep playing with a lot of different army builds but other than a core built around Namarti (and I'm not talking running Battleline, I just mean more where the model count is largely focused) I can't really make up my mind on how I want to build the army. Dhome-hain looks like it could be interesting with the right build (Royal Council, Tidecaster General for Runes of Surging Tides, and casting Chromatic Cogs for a turn two smacking into the enemy and fighting first), while Mor'phann looks like it could be a way to run a strong Namarti Corps army (with one large block of Namarti healing at least 6 a turn allowing the unit to multicharge and weather the hits it's taking better than it normally would) Of course we have a major problem of having too many cool models and just not enough room to take them all in an army which gets a little depressing.