Liquidsteel

Giving Blood Knights -2 rend on the charge would not have been game breaking, they are still 195 points, after all. Might have made them too good internally, who knows?

Yep, other considerations than just damage: Blood Knights have a 3+ save vs 5+, reroll 1s on Deathless, as well as have the Riders of Ruin trait for potential future retreat and charge with D3 Mortals. 15 blood knights are 45 wounds, 12 Vargheists are 48 wounds. Blood Knights can deep strike on board edges in Kastelai, Vargheists can deep strike anywhere in any list. Vargheists Fly.

Here is the damage of 15 Blood Knights (2 champions to simulate a 10 and 5) as well as 12 Vargheists (2 Champions to simulate 2 x 6). Blood Knights are 585 points. Vargheists are 620 points.

Vanhels has been changed, it lasts until your next hero phase: Vanhel’s Danse Macabre: The undead are filled with magical energy that causes them to ****** forwards and attack with tireless, unnatural speed. Vanhel’s Danse Macabre has a casting value of 6. If successfully cast, pick 1 friendly Soulblight Gravelords Summonable unit wholly within 18" of the caster. Until your next hero phase, if that unit has fought only once in the combat phase, when it is your turn to pick a unit to fight, that unit can be picked to fight for a second time if it is within 3" of any enemy units.

Also with Fyreslayers, it's the heroes that confer the 4+ FNP over the regular 6+. I'm wondering if with our access to speed and fly, we might be able to get in to them first and turn it off.

Don't forget that zombies will grow in size and with Danse can fight twice. As it stands, they can grow larger than their max/starting size. If you can buff their attacks, you might add enough zombies to keep them alive and kicking.

Well, you can load up Zombies with buffs and pile in from outside 3" to avoid their ASF. Or, you could go Legion of Blood, with a general with Sanguine Blur. Charge the Grave Guard on the corner and stay away, whilst also charging the other corner with dire wolves or something. They won't be able to pile in as many bodies due to being pinned, and you can then use the 6" pile on Grave Guard to max your attacks.

So it seems Grave Guard could crack them if you can fight twice with Danse and get some buffs off. I guess the trouble is them striking first and fighting twice as well, they will chop up a unit of Grave Guard without breaking a sweat.

I have 20 Sword and Board old style Skellies from the Start Collecting, that I am planning on using as Grave Guard. I will eventually get Grave Guard, but for now these will do, as I don't plan on running any actual Skeleton Warriors so there won't be any confusion.

Do you think Bridge is worth it when we have Gravesites?

To those who were discussing the Anvil of Blood from the upcoming White Dwarf, unfortunately my copy has not arrived on time. Typical! Hopefully tomorrow.

It does yes, but I suppose this is how it works in 40k - you get in to engagement range and you can fight, or you can't. I did like the interaction between ranges to be honest, stuff with 3" reaches piling around units to squash unsuspecting heroes.

It's the same profile though. Just like skellies have merged swords and spears and all 1" reach. Seems to be a simplification, reduce choice so you can't make the wrong one, and perhaps attempt to make balancing easier?

Yeah fingers crossed. The FEC one was different, as it did specify one mounted Ghoul King.

This was my initial understanding, but it doesn't seem to be clear and obvious. Unless addressed in an FAQ I think you can look to bring back the original unit again and again.

Alright guys unless someone else is faster, I will post them once I'm home from work. It's usually the Tuesday before its in shops that I get it.

Really? It's a white dwarf and I'm a subscriber, so it's "released"?

Should arrive in the post tomorrow, I can take pics in the evening.

Correct it's one of each other battalion. It's pants and can't be used in a 2k game anyway.

No that's not correct, you're thinking of Royal Menagerie @Angela. Royal Family calls for 1 Archregent or 1 Mounted Ghoul King, plus 2-6 Ghoul Kings. It wasn't intended, but the core rules allowed you take as many mounted Ghoul Kings as you could fit. It ended up giving rise to lists of AAR, 3 x Mounted Ghoul Kings plus 3 x Ghouls for battleline. I played it several times, it was a nice way to get lowish drops whilst packing some big mounted kings, but ultimately they FAQ'd it after the 50th time it was discussed in the WhatsApp group, which contains one of the lead developers (he probably just got fed up of reading about it).

As per the title, I thought I would raise the age old question - Lance vs Sword on a VLoZD. In LoN, it was generally considered better to run the Sword for consistent damage, with Lance only if you needed extra punch on the charge. Whilst the non-charging profiles are the same as before, the Lance has received a hefty buff on the charge, gaining an additional point of rend as well as 2 additional damage, up from 1. Sword - 4 Attacks / 3+ / 3+ / -1 / D3 Lance (Regular) - 3 Attacks / 3+ / 3+ / -1 / 2 Lance (Charge) - 3 Attacks / 3+ / 3+ / -2 / 4 Vhordrai (Charge) - 3 Attacks / 3+ / 3+ / -3 / 4 Vhordrai added for fun, however it seems to me that the extra punch on the Lance makes it a no brainer now. The small amount you give up on non-buffed combats is more than made up for on those occasions that you charge. Things to consider are running a VLoZD alongside Vhordrai, where you fight in the Hero phase and thus Sword could be better, as well as the D3 extra attacks on the charge artefact in Vyrkos, "Sangysron", which obviously favours a Lance. What are your thoughts on this? What will you be running?

I think the 29th will be the announcement. So new box and new edition revealed and maybe the date of when it releases, though they love to keep us guessing. With 9th edition for 40k, how long did it take from Indomitus announcement to release?

Nah it will see use. Even without the Battalion, Vhordrai + VLoZD is doable, plus you can potentially magnetise the riders or just leave them loose, and you get the option to run the beasts if you like.

The issue with that Ega, whilst yes it respects core rules, is that they FAQ'd the Royal Family Battalion for FEC to prohibit mounted Ghoul Kings. As it stands it's allowed, but precedence says no, so good to get an FAQ on it.

Please add Vhordrai now doing D6 damage instead of flat 6 at top bracket to the list. Amethystine Pinions not working with Locus of Shyish should be clarified / requested to be changed also.