AHexInScarletRed

I'm an Abhorash fanboy primarily, but I loved Zombies (& the kit). The nerf is killing me a tad, even more so because the Corpse Cart is a liability.

Vhordrai VLoZD WKoSkeletalSteed 5 Blood Knights 5 Blood Knights 20 Zombies 20 Zombies 10 Black Knights (or 5+5) looks fun, still - the Rattle even diversifies the old build a bit. Still playable with 3x Blood Knights, but I think this is a cool option in the new book.

I mean, I think full Cavalry with a VLoZD, Blood Knights and Black Knights is possible this time around (with one being BL in Kastelai and the other in LoB). Put in Nef or Vhordrai depending on the faction and a minimalist amount of bodies for Objectives if full Cavalry sounds scary and ta-da.

I'd argue Vargheists are ranked higher due to the new Hunger.

So, LoB builds a great VLoZD with Ethereal Save and more attacks but apart from that favors no particular units. Vyrkos increases the size of summonable Units and provides them with a 5+ Ward; it's hordes of infantry this time around. Kastelai with Vhordrai gives 2 units of Blood Knights 2 damage if 1 nets the necessary kill, so the old cav + chaff. I'm at a loss with LoN and not interested in Avengorii. More synergies for early theorycrafting? Where'd you see Black Knights shining?

You can revive them when they're dead, used as a regular Hero before and after.

The Hunger on Vargheists is just so good too with the 4 Wounds. I'm calcing those Wounds per Point with a 4+ save to get an idea and Vargheists are at 0.046 compared to Blood-Born's 0.057 but have 1 more Wound to abuse The Hunger and a 5+ instead of a 6+.

Blood-born dish out the same Wounds per Point as Grave Guard with unbuffed Blood Knights on the charge not that far behind (0.057 GG & BB vs 0.051 with Blood Knights). Haven't calced anything else apart from Radukar Beast (0.029) yet.

Heya, where did you see the Coven Throne warscroll? Thanksie!

Does the aura of Mannfred's CA move with him, or does it only affect the units that are within 12" when issued and stays with them even when Mannfred moves away? So: Mannfred is next to a unit of Blood Knights, issues the Command, flies away to a unit of Zombies, which of the units now benefits from the buff? Didn't find anything on that, please enlighten me and, if possible, I'd appreciate a source I can show to my gaming group x)

Maybe Thralls get a transport option pulled by a Kraken, haha. The combat profile is insanely good offensively regarding them being basic Battleline. Them now being 2" range makes them really dangerous if they manage to get in place (and they are so easy to buff!). Are there deepstrike options for them apart from the Soulscryer? Reavers outdamage Sentinels (both unbuffed) and they still do when Sentinels get their Spell off (at least against 4+ and weaker Saves). They're less versatile, though.

Sharks now have D3 Damage on the Harpoon instead of 1. I'm not versed enough in Deepkin to take a stance on the new Reavers- and Allopex-Points. The Thrallmaster and the Thralls seem well off, though.

Yeah, the Kraken is dreaming around. It's why I want to field Lotann, haha - still, a big Kraken'd be amazing. It's not as if IDK are in desperate need of a specific unit type atm, imo - so yeah, not impossible that it will only be the Thrallmaster and updated rules. Combat phase for switching up during my and my opponent's combat phase, no?

I'm a Soulblight player lurking here and occasionally wishing to expand into the Depths, haha. On the new Hero: I'd love Mor'phann with Lotann, Soulrenders and the Thrallmaster to become viable and on top I wish for another big monster with the new Battletome, preferably a Kraken. I think that'd be the point having me finally invest into the army. LRL's take on water will be interesting in the future too.

Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords- Lineage: Legion of Night- Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery- Triumphs:LeadersMannfred von Carstein, Mortarch of Night (380)*- Lore of the Deathmages: Overwhelming DreadVampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (435)**- General- Deathlance- Command Trait: Unholy Impetus- Artefact: Amulet of Destiny (Universal Artefact)- Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine PinionsVampire Lord (140)*- Universal Spell Lore: Levitate Necromancer (125)*- Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mistBattleline40 x Deadwalker Zombies (230)*- Reinforced x 110 x Dire Wolves (135)**3 x Vargheists (155)*Units5 x Blood Knights (195)**5 x Blood Knights (195)**Core Battalions*Battle Regiment**Battle RegimentTotal: 1990 / 2000Reinforced Units: 1 / 4Allies: 0 / 400Wounds: 138Drops: 2 Would y'all deem this playable? It's basically what I got at home made ready for 3.0. I first had two small units of Zombies, but figured I'd do better with a reinforced one instead. Also thought about using Morbheg's Claw for an easier Vanhel's. Ghost Mist and Levitate for more flexible Zombie-usage. I'd rather run 20 GG instead of the Vargheists and the Necromancer, but can't get them right now.

Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords- Lineage: Kastelai Dynasty- Grand Strategy: Hold the Line- Triumphs: InspiredLeadersPrince Vhordrai (455) in Battle Regiment- Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine PinionsVengorian Lord (280) in Battle Regiment- General- Command Trait: Rousing Commander- Artefact: Sword of the Red Seneschals- Universal Spell Lore: Flaming WeaponVampire Lord (140) in Battle Regiment- Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mistBattleline20 x Deadwalker Zombies (115) in Battle Regiment20 x Deadwalker Zombies (115) in Battle Regiment5 x Blood Knights (195) in Battle Regiment5 x Blood Knights (195) in Battle Regiment5 x Blood Knights (195) in Battle Regiment10 x Dire Wolves (135) in Battle RegimentUnits3 x Fell Bats (75) in Battle Regiment3 x Fell Bats (75) in Battle RegimentCore BattalionsBattle RegimentBattle RegimentTotal: 1975 / 2000Reinforced Units: 0 / 4Allies: 0 / 400Wounds: 152 Would you change something about that? I'm using the Vampire Lord over a Necromancer because I have nothing that gives the Zombies +Attacks, so the Vampire Lord is more reliable than a Necromancer using VDM. He's also a bit faster than the Necromancer and flies, so he's gonna get to the terrain piece he wants to use Ghost Mist on easier. Fell Bats against Shooting, Wolves & Zombies also, a tad. Double Battle Regiment for two drops.

I just thought that they should kinda make Radukar's court be purchasable separately for fielding more units of Nightguard & Blood-borne without sitting on x useless heroes per purchase, but now that I had a look at it again, it doesn't even seem that bad a deal to me as I figure the Vargskyr/Blood-borne/Nightguard would probably be 30,- each, anyway. Agh. Vyrkos sure is tempting and even more so, now. Since it's fine to add a VLoZD and Blood Knights there, you even get your share of vampiric martial prowess. I'm torn 🙂

Taking into account the separated Vyrkos Heroes, I ordered a Torgillius off ebay since he basically is a Necromancer without VDM for 10pts less (which helps with building this list): Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords - Lineage: Kastelai Dynasty Leaders Prince Vhordrai (455) - Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions Vengorian Lord (280) - General - Command Trait: Rousing Commander - Artefact: Sword of the Red Seneschals - Generic Spell: Flaming Weapon Torgillius (115) Battleline 5 x Blood Knights (195) 5 x Blood Knights (195) 5 x Blood Knights (195) 10 x Dire Wolves (135) 20 x Zombies (115) 20 x Zombies (115) Other 3 x Fell Bats (75) 3 x Fell Bats (75) Endless Spell Chronomantic Cogs (45) Total: 1995 / 2000 Torgillius does what a Necromancer usually does; hanging around with a unit of Zombies. Batallions are 2x Battle Regiment. Cogs for Charges, Bats for Shooting.

That's amazing! Torgillius is our cheapest Wizard now, in case a Necromancer tops out a lost by 5-10 points (which I had happen while list-building). The Vargskyr also has a nice profile for the points, imo, and the Blood-born are our first small Vampire infantry 🤯

I also feel Belladamma & Radukar off in a Kastelai list. It's easier to justify bringing a normal VLoZD in a Vyrkos list - which is what I'd do if I wanted to play those models. Remark, that's not taking into account min-maxing; I think you nearly always shoot yourself in the foot if you don't take Belladamma, but apart from bringing her in every 10th battle because the Crimson Keep happens to spawn in her domain, I think she'd kill off my immersion.

How'd you fill the remaining 700 points, ideally, not taking the Grave Guard into concern? Oh, and regarding my question from my earlier post - do you know if I can take the same Core Batallion twice?

Thanks you two. I more or less built a list of what I'll have after investing my budget for the next months (which is 1 Vengorian Lord + 40 Zombies + 1 unit of Blood Knights, the rest I have). I didn't consider battalions. I'm not sure if I missed the information in the Core Rules - can I take the same Batallion twice? E.g. two Battle Regiments? Then it's two drops. Alternatively, I could Battle Regiment + Vanguard (for the bonus) + Vengorian Lord who doesn't fit anywhere in these, making it 5 drops. Others: - would you use 1 unit of Vargheists or two units of Fell Bats in this list? - I think that two units of 20 Zombies here would maybe work better than 1 unit of 40 as with the new reinforcement rules, they'll be a 'large' unit also when they're 20 most of the time and I can use them in different turns and places or... - but I can't estimate if the 40 wouldn't still perform better or if 30 Skeletons + Necromancer outperform any Zombies in this list (with the lots of talk about there being so many new goals and targets, I'm not sure if I need an objective holding, passive unit). Thaaanks!

How'd y'all balance out Kastelai in terms of Blood Knights & other units? I figure I'd for example: Prince Vhordrai (455) - General - Spell: Amethystine Pinions Vengorian Lord (280) - General - Command Trait: Rousing Commander - Artifact: Sword of the Red Seneschals - Spell: Flaming Weapon Vampire Lord (140) - Spell: Ghost Mist Battleline: 20x Zombies (115) 20x Zombies (115) 5x Blood Knights (195) 5x Blood Knights (195) 5x Blood Knights (195) 10x Dire Wolves (135) Other: 3x Fell Bats (75) 3x Fell Bats (75) Total: 1975 / 2000 Could rid me of the Wolves and pump up one unit of Zombies to 40 (or just fuse the 2x 20). The Vampire Lord is there because the CA has better interaction with the 1 Attack of Zombies than VDM as I bring nothing else to increase Attacks. I don't know if it's worth to bring another unit of Blood Knights instead of the Wolves and one unit of Fell Bats. Vargheists instead of the Fell Bats are also an option to Deep Strike, but I guess I'll need the Fell Bats against shooting.

I please need help deciding which of these two lists to invest my limited budget into: #1 Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords - Lineage: Kastelai Leaders: Prince Vhordrai (455) - General - Spell: Amethystine Pinions Vengorian Lord (280) - General - Command Trait: Rousing Commander - Artifact: Sword of the Red Seneschals - Spell: Flaming Weapon Necromancer (125) - Spell: Ghost Mist Battleline: 30x Skeleton Warriors (255) 5x Blood Knights (195) 5x Blood Knights (195) 5x Blood Knights (195) 10x Dire Wolves (135) Other: 3x Vargheists (155) Total: 1990 / 2000 #2 Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords - Lineage: Kastelai Leaders: Prince Vhordrai (455) - General - Spell: Amethystine Pinions Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (435) - General - Command Trait: Rousing Commander - Artifact: Sword of the Red Seneschals - Spell: Amethystine Pinions Vampire Lord (140) - Spell: Ghost Mist Battleline: 40x Zombies (230) 5x Blood Knights (195) 5x Blood Knights (195) Other: 3x Vargheists (155) 3x Vargheists (155) Endless Spell: Prismatic Palisade (40) Total: 1990 / 2000 I basically have two main questions I need help with: - What's the better companion for Prince Vhordrai? - What's the better Infantry Block in this MSU style? I can also swap those around, e.g. take a Vengorian Lord and Zombies, but I can't afford more than 1 Monster and 2x 20 Infantry models in terms of budget. In the list with the Zombies, I take the Vampire Lord on foot as his CA is a safer version of VDM (as in: doubling the Zombies' attacks), since I don't have any +attack abilities that would benefit from VDM. I think Skeletons are the more conservative and safer choice here since I'll only have 1 block of Infantry (I played 40 Chainrasps last edition), while the Zombies I prefer aesthetically and thematically. Comments are kindly appreciated! I've been struggling with that decision since the release and would like to have something to paint, soon. Thanks!

I used the Dreadlord Dragon's head instead of the regular Zombie Dragon one, it fits pretty nicely.