BaylorCorvette

With the change to Arcane Bolt, it is now a decent spell on a combat Hero. You cast it and then set it off at the start of the combat phase. Kind of like a slightly later impact hit. Honestly I think that will be my go to for a VLoZD and possibly even Prince V, if I decide to do an all out attack and "their finest hour" for a turn, otherwise his warscroll spell will be the default. Pinions is still decent too.

Kastelai Dynasty with Prince V, Coven Throne, several blocks of Blood Knights, Dire Wolves, etc. I'm honestly debating if the Coven Throne is worth it in 3.0 with All Out Attack and All Out Defense providing similar buffs without the huge point sink of the Coven Throne. The Spell is super solid, I did shut down a huge unit in one game by having the Shutter go off and then locking the unit up in combat. However, I'm tempted to run Belladamma instead, and that would give me some extra points to play with. Could also trade Prince V for a generic VLoZD. Having Blood Knights being able to out flank in Kastelai really does make your opponent give a pause during deployment. Although you could get similar results in Legion of Night.

I've been traveling the last day and a half. But finally got around to seeing all of the points updates. I really do think Gravelords is in a super solid spot now. Heck, I played Gravelords in a one day tournament a week ago using 2.0 rules and I finished second. BIG STONKS on Gravelords boys and girls!

But these are best and most airtight rules ever!! /sarcasm

Yes for sure. The down side is if you take flaming weapons you cannot be a 1 drop list. Unless you're able to forgo your own spell lore to take one of the core spells, flaming weapon in this case. I've seen people argue that it can go one of three ways. 1) You get a spell lore from your book, and then need to take one of the new core battalions that allows an additional enhancement for you to be able to take flaming weapons. 2) Your first spell could be a spell lore from your book OR one of the core spells, such as flaming weapons. 3) You get a spell from your book plus one core spell automatically (this is the least likely ruling IMO).

Overall, I agree with your analysis of flaming weapon. Although I am thinking of potentially taking flaming weapon on a VLoZD in Vyrkos with the artefact that gives D3 extra attacks on the charge. That means the Lance would be 4 attacks minimum, possibly 6 at 3/3/-2/5 damage with Flaming Weapons. We have several ways to make that hitting and wounding on 2s as well. BUT loading up a VLoZD with an arcane bolt to unleash at the start of the combat phase is a super good option too and I love it.

Yeah we see that with a lot of the new warscrolls but then it is missing from the Mortarchs in Soulblight, which very clearly was written for 3.0. Just your typical inconsistent GW lol..

I seriously hope this is an oversight on GWs part. For instance the spell lore in Gravelords has the Vampire Spell lore and Death Mages Spell lore, both of which says Mortarchs can take a spell from, however there are only Named (unique) Mortarchs.

Wait wait wait, no now Prince V, Mannfred, Neferata, etc cannot select a spell from the spell lores in the Gravelords book!?

Do you have GHB to see point increases or just Dominion Warscrolls?

Well I competed in a one day tournament (3 games), went 2-1 and finished second overall. My loss was to Changehost 1 drop list on Total Commitment (couldn't outflank my Blood Knights!!!). I ran a Kastelai list with Prince V, Coven Throne, three units of 5 Blood Knights, two units of 10 Dire Wolves and two units of 5 Hexwraiths with the Dolorous Guard allied in. I fully recognize this list won't be valid in 3.0 (due to Dolorous Guard battalion / warscroll battalions not being usable). Coven Throne did amazing not only with the Command Ability but its warscroll spell Shudder totally shut down elite units. I always put at least one Gravesite way back in the enemy deployment zone and usually offset near a corner. This allowed me to possibly set up a unit of Dire Wolves in the graves which my opponent would have to guard during deployment or it gave me a late game resurrect with my DIre Wolves which was very relevant in my third game. All-in-all I think Gravelords is decent. Not S Tier but also very competitive and has the ability to punch above its weight class.

NO JOKE! I'm going to a tournament tomorrow and there is at least one Changehost that will be there. Hoping I dodge that pairing.

Great news! Any other dramatic changes? Actually the biggest question I have is about Battalions. The article today was vague and did not specifically say if Warscroll Battalions are legal in matched play. Did you happen to see anything about that? Can you only take the new Core Battalions in matched play now?

Behemoth units are 0-4 not 3+. The 3+ is battleline (for 2k).

Very nice, thanks for the share! Hopefully this person has some more to post!

Checks out. Sounds pretty darn Orruk to me.

Knowing WarComm they mean that you can charge a turn or two later after you use Riders of Ruin, lol.

It STRONGLY hints at that. I just tweeted at Ben Johnson for clarification. We'll see if he responds. He did respond to my tweet earlier in the week clarifying that Unleash Hell can be used even if the unit using it wasn't charged.

I really hope that rumor is true about unit sizes. Buffing a single huge unit to the moon is annoying. Also it would make sense if it is true based on Gravelords unit sizes, specifically Dire Wolves min size is 10 (up from 5) and Zombies is 20 (up from 10).

Alright so I finally got to play test the list I am taking to a one day tournament this weekend. It's a list I fully expect to not be viable once 3.0 comes out, but it still allowed me to see how some of the new/updated warscrolls worked out. My game was against Daughters of Khaine on Better Part of Valor. The DoK list was fairly typical, with Morathi, a unit of 15 Bow Snakes, two units of 5 Melee Snakes, a block of 30 Witch Aelves and various support Heroes. I was running an 8 drop Kastelai list with Prince Vhordrai, Coven Throne, three units of 5 Blood Knights, two units of 10 Dire Wolves, two units of Hexwraiths as allies and the Dolorous Guard battalion allied in. 2,000 points exactly, 47 models, 131 total wounds. The Dolorous Guard battalion is almost certainly gone come 3.0, but as it sites right now it can be allied in for your general to shrug wounds and mortal wounds off to the Hexwraiths on a 2+. As expected, Prince Vhordrai is a beast. I was given the first turn and he made a charge into the 15 Bow Snakes that were deployed aggressively, wiping half the unit. I had put the Coven Thrones Command Ability on the Prince along with Mystic Shield which allowed him to survive the DoK players turn. I also had a unit of Blood Knights with the Coven Throne move on one flank supported by another unit of Blood Knights that were outflanking (unfortunately they failed their charge when they came on the board). The 1" reach and larger bases on Blood Knights is a bit annoying, their damage output is decent but where they really shine IMO is how tanky they are. A unit of 5 was able to tie up The Shadow Queen for a Battle Round. I have a one day tournament this coming Saturday, so we will see how the list performs there.

So based on todays Slaves to Darkness article, it looks like in 3.0 we can only issue one Command Ability per phase or perhaps the same Hero can only issue one Command ability per phase. Here is the quote for reference: "The Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount’s ability, The Knights of Chaos, is a great example. It lets you re-roll charges and adds 1 to rolls to hit, but it’s applied during the hero phase, allowing you to use All-out Defence on the same unit in the combat phase." So if that is the case then perhaps no Coven Throne Command Ability on several units per turn.

Yeah if all the stuff we saw today (Unleash Hell specifically) is once per game then things are not nearly as bad. Or if they cost more than one CP (although I don't see this as likely of a solution).

Assuming you're charging the unit that is going to try and overwatch. But really someone just needs to have some chaff or tanky units in front of the shooting units and they can still overwatch, assuming the enemy ends up within 9" of said ranged unit.

I'm a bit concerned about the "Unleash Hell" ability. The unit doesn't even need to be charged to fire. Just within 9" of the enemy unit that completes the charge (not even wholly within 9"). You could technically have Bow Snakes shooting 3 times in a single turn. Hopefully ranged units, especially those that deal Mortal Wounds get a price hike in GHB 2021.

God I would love for that at this point. Because right now it looks like it's even more shooting dominant edition. So, *** Death I guess.