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I had a Christmas Day Bash! Running the Dolorous Guard with Olynder as general, and the Forgotten Scions, I gave the Cities of Sigmar what for. Uh, my theme of this being a holiday dance didn't really kick in as I wrote this, but a 2 AM write up after a long day of holidaying will have some mistakes. But hey, there's a few video clips, which is nice!

Wouldn't need a whole battletome, just some errata to the allegiance abilities. Since it's Christmas and we're musing, here's what I asked Nagash for the all the little Nighthaunters (what I wrote GW in a rambling analysis email). Please, oh dark lord, great us a solid healing mechanic (chose one) (slight fix) How about the Spirit Torment's Captured Soul Energy ability army-wide on all heroes? (major fix) Ruler of the Spirit Host is now an Allegiance Ability for our heroes, and the Command Trait is replaced with "Call of the Sorrowful: Once per turn at the end of the movement phase, you can pick a friendly Summonable Nighthaunt unit that has been destroyed. Set up that unit wholly within 9" of this general." And, Lady Olynder can take this Command Trait as General and retain her Command Ability. (split the difference) Just replace the Command Trait with the above. (bonus) Guardian of Souls can cast Spectral Lure in addition to another spell in their hero phase. This does not grant another unbind attempt. And, to punish those who draw your ire, let us go all-in on Wave of Terror WoT is now an army-wide Command Ability with the verbage "You can use this command ability in your charge phase. If you do so, pick a friendly Nighthaunt unit within 18" of any Nighthaunt hero and has made a charge move this turn. That unit may pile in and fight as though it was the combat phase. This does not stop the unit from being picked to fight in the combat phase this turn. A unit cannot benefit from this command ability more than once per phase." Personally, I don't expect anything, but it never hurts to let them know how you feel. Anyone with a gripe should take the time to write GW and offer your own solutions. Feel free to copy mine 😊 Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

Battleplan: Duality of Death Total Points Played: 1520 Terrain: Open War Terrain 55-56, no terrain with warscrolls Armies Nighthaunt Heroes Lady Olynder General Spell Lore: Soul Cage Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed Artefact: Pendant of the Fell Wind Dreadblade Harrow Artefact: Midnight Tome - Spell Lore: Shademist Dreadblade Harrow Artefact: Atherquartz Brooch Battlelines Chainrasp Horde x10 Chainrasp Horde x10 Hexwraith x5 Hexwraith x5 Other Bladegheists x20 Battalions The Dolorous Guard The Forgotten Scions Cities of Sigmar - Living CIty Heroes Freeguild General on Griffon General Command Trait: Ironoak Artisan Artefact: Ghyrstike Freeguild General Celestial Hurricanum with Celestial Battlemage Spell Lore: Ironoak Skin Battlelines Demigryph Knights x3 Demigryph Knights x3 Freeguild Crossbowmen x30 Freeguild Guard x20 Deployment - Video! Click Me! Cities of Sigmar won priority for deployment and placed his Freeguild General on Griffon and both Demigryph Knight units into reserve. Rather than split the rest of his forces, he gathered them across from the left objective (from my perspective). In forward deployment were his Freeguild Guard, in rear deployment were his Freeguild Crossbowmen. The Freeguild General and the CHwCB ended up adjacent to the Crossbowmen and behind the Guard. My Nighthaunt deployments started with a power move, placing Olynder, the entirety of the Dolorous Guard, and the Knight of Shrouds into the Underworlds before putting my first unit on the table, prompting my opponent to decide his picks with limited information. We allow battalion deployments to work as written, so when I placed my KoS into reserve, the rest of the Forgotten Scions appeared on the board, one in each deployment zone directly in line with either objective. I placed my Bladegheists right against the deployment zone close to the left objective, opposite my opponent's forces, and then one batch of Chainrasp Horde behind them. I placed my second Chainrasp Horde, who were my last deployment, at the closest edge of the right-hand deployment zone to that objective. CoS retained priority by finishing his deployment first. He elected to go first. Gameplay Turn One Cities opened the turn casting Ironoak Skin on his Freeguild Guard, giving them a -1 to be wounded. He then marched them forward, able to secure the objective and provide a line for his Crossbowmen and heroes. Shooting was not fully in range, so a few wounds were tossed at my Chainrasps and Bladegheists damaging them 4 and 2 respectively (I think). There was no other battle options available at this point, so it was on to an inconsequential battleshock phase, and then on my my rebuke. CoS: 1 point, NH: 0 points I began my half of the turn attempting to cast, and failing, Shademist. Par for the course, really. I then ran my lonely Chainrasps on the right-hand side of the field into objective range and then teleported the Dreadblade on that side to cuddle up with them. On the left side, I quickly moved my Bladegheists into charge range to engage Freeguild Guard. My Chainrasps being my only battleline, I wanted to turtle them up with my Dreadblade so I pulled them both back into cover (we don't get a cover bonus, but line-of-sight still counts for ranged!) and let them cower. At the end of my movement phase, seeing my opponent committing all of his ranged on this side of the board, I opted to drop my Olydnerbomb now and line her up right at minimum range, flanked by her Dolorous Guard on either side and the KoSoES tucked narrowly behind her. For the shooting phase she Wailed at the Crossbowmen for 3 wounds and at the Hurricanum either nothing or very little, and then we moved on to the charge phase. All units failed their natural charges, but I felt getting the Bladegheists into trouble right away was necessary, so I burned a CP (no refund) for a re-roll. On this chance they made the charge. Between the charge and pile-in they had enough movement to line up in two ranks with enough space for that second rank to be in their 1" range. 11 wounds later, the counter-attack was muted by all the gore flying around. Cities opted to spend a CP to keep the rest of his Guard from running in the battleshock phase. CoS: 1, NH: 1 End of Turn 1 - Video Turn Two I scored the double turn (YAY!) but in my unbridled joy I completely forgot my entire hero phase (WHAT)... By all rights this should have spelled the end for me. No attempt at Shademist for my Bladegheists, no attempt at Grief-Stricken on the Hurricanum, no attempt at Soul Cage on the Hurricanum, and no Lifting the Veil. What the hell was I thinking?! At least I remembered to gather my CP for the turn and move right into the movement phase, pulling my Bladegheists back to get into charge range again. Knowing they would land another charge, I bring my cowardly Chainrasps out of hiding to put them in objective-claiming range if my 'gheists could finish the job on the Guards. Meanwhile, Olynder and her retinue selected their dance partners for the evening and sauntered up to the 3" barrier. For shooting, she Wailed some more (and THEN I realized my missed hero phase, so I wailed as well), and then we got to business with the charges; all made them easily with the KoS achieving Wave of Terror (with me forgetting the battalion's buff to his attacks). Once into combat proper, the beat was properly dropped and the KoS took the mic for some dubstep beatboxing, spending his free Command Ability on Olynder, and my bank of CP on both units of Hexblades, himself, and with range to spare on buffing the Bladegheists, as well. Thanks to the Aetherquartz my 3 CP remained at 2 after the breakdance showdown. The resulting bloodletting reduced the Freeguild deployed models from 52 to 4. CoS: 1, NH: 4 End of First Half of Turn 2 - Video (prepare for salt) CoS had to answer, and try he did. Being denied any semblance of a hero phase (so we're even now) he jumped to his movement phase. He summoned up his reserves, dropping one set of Demigryph Knights in charge range of my Chainrasps and Dreadblade who had been ignored so far on the right-hand side of the board. His second set of Demigryphs flanked my other Chainrasps. Finally, his Freeguild General on Griffon zoned in as close as he could to Olynder, determined to ask for this next dance. He then promptly failed all three charge rolls... He was forced to engage in combat with his already-bleeding-out General on foot who was promptly slapped off the map. Note: It is here I commit a grievous sin! Several, even! Pulling out my White Dwarf magazine I noticed that I had been neglecting my KoS's extra attack for the battalion. But, worse than that, my thick sexy Dwarf (the magazine) knocked our videographer's coffee over, dousing his leg in cold brew. It was decided right then that no matter the outcome of this macabre ball that I, the Spiller of Nectar, the Defiler of Grounds, had lost this game. Despite my now permanent title of shame and irredeemable loss, we continued on for spectator's sake. End of Turn 2 - Video (more salt, and some coffee) Points? What are points? Uh, CoS: X, NH: Y Turn 3 Turn 3 began with CoS getting the dice off. The Demigryph Knights on the left side of the board made their charge and put down both the Chainrasps and my Dreadblade that carried the Midnight Tome, robbing me of that objective. On the other side of the board, his second set of Demigryphs got in close enough to contest the other objective and deny it to the both of us. And his general? Well, all the abilities he had at his disposal, with any points he could shove down his throat, and all of the 2+/2+ shenanigans he could muster, he just couldn't contend with the new massive wound pool Olynder had with the Dolorous Guard. By splitting his attacks he put some wounds on the KoS, but but the majority of them pelted Olynder in the face. But, of the 9 wounds that made it, 4 Hexwraiths (2 on each side) ended up taking the brunt of it saving Olynder the indignity of having to eat more than 1 wound herself. In the end, the Living City just couldn't deliver enough firepower to offset the massive early damage, and after a bit of theorizing of my half of the round, CoS conceded. Winner: Nighthaunt (but not really because of that coffee thing). End of First Half of Turn 3 and Concession - Video Summary It's honestly hard to tell how well the two new battalions operated for me. On the one hand, organizing them into an Olynderbomb Underworlds deployment, coupled with the Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed's Command Ability spam made just about the entire army an amazing threatening presence. But on the other hand, at least at 1520 points, it left so little for any support units that if enough pressure were to be applied to them, like what happened at the top of turn 3 to my Chainrasps and Dreadblades, I could have been left chasing objectives or going for total annihilation in order to win. Ultimately, this game ended up so one-sided that several key abilities or scenarios were never tested, such as having to spend CP to resurrect models and seeing how much power-per-point that can be balanced at, or how much whole unit loss I could take before feeling the misfortune. In this configuration there are multiple ways to play this to try to offset these weaknesses. Opting to keep my objective campers in the Underworlds and utilizing the Pendant of the Fell Wind a bit more for a game-start deployed Olynderbomb, for example. But, this game couldn't do much to teach me any of that. This wasn't helped by the abysmal rolling of my opponent. Some days you just can't roll a 3+ to save your life, and this was one of those days for him. The salt you begin to hear in the videos has everything to do with consistently rolling a handful of 1s throughout the game. Not much to be said about that, really. But, there were some lessons learned on his side of the board in terms of coming up against the scary Nighthaunt again (he wasn't a fan of our LoG battles namely for the lack of any real threat on the table and feeling like I was only playing and wining by spending the sheer time on it). There will be a rematch very soon. I will bring this same list with no alterations, and we'll see how it holds up.

I'm a huge fan of 1500 point battles for casual play. 1k is too restrictive for Nighthaunt, and if you're just trying stuff out it's good to have a few points you can play with beyond a solid base. If you're not playing this many points I highly recommend it. Plus, whenever you do play 2k you'll boggle at how many options you have. At any rate, I low-key hate calling From the Underworlds "deep strike". It's a 40K term that summons up ideas of dropping a ranged unit in sniper cover or bombing a front line with a suicidal unit, neither of which we will ever do. I like calling these abilities "zone-in", because ideally that's what you're trying to do with them; either zone in at a choice location or zone your opponent out of wherever they'd like to go.

Pendant of the Fel Wind grants bonus movement to a unit during their activation. This means you can park the bearer of this artefact near one unit and let them get their bonus inches, then move the bearer next to another unit so that they get the bonus as well.

If you're referring to the Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed (KoSoES) you're reading an outdated card. The Knight of Shrouds on foot (KoS) has the only ability among the two that can affect the same unit multiple times.

Short answer: It's not true. Long answer: AoS does not have a "Falling Back" rule or function. We have "retreat". Retreating is a normal move, and as such is subject to most normal rules when moving, but has the added caveats of being unable to charge or shoot in the same turn as the retreat, and must finish outside 3" of all enemy units. That's the golden rule, so of course many units can override some part of that, like Bladegheists who can retreat and charge each turn. I'm not aware of any battle plan that specifically says a retreating unit can't claim an objective. It's a legal move, and in fact is used quite often to steal objectives at the last second. As always, read the battle plan carefully to make sure this remains true.

Sounds like a good first outing with the new battalions? Do you usually struggle in these matchups? I haven't had a chance to run these just yet, but I will after this weekend. I'm finally on holiday break, so I hope to get in a few. First I will be running an Olynderbomb build. I don't actually expect to win, but I already know how flimsy the old version is against what I expect to face soon, namely the ever-present Stormcast or Hallowheart, that I'll get a good feel for how these new battalions buff a single-focus army. I'll write a battle report. After that I should be confident enough to theorycraft some lists.

Why, yes. At least in LoG. You've got to run them in at least one full unit, and be ready to toss some KoS +hit buffs their way. But one full unit even with no magic eating buffs can do decent damage thanks to that rend and D3. Against a 4 non-ethereal save you can expect about 1 wound per model on average. Yeah, they'll fall a bit flat if you're not unbinding a spell somewhere. You can prop that up with a KoSoES command ability, but that's not ideal unless that's your plan from the start. Instead, if your opponent is low-magic or just not positioned well enough for you, you can cheese it with a cheap endless spell. You can dispell in the same phase the spell is cast, or leave it on the field so it can eat it later, just be sure to do it in the presence of graves or other model return to offset the damage. They're a risky unit. Very worth it if you're able to manage the requirements.

Ha, I ran 10 Hexblades exactly once in my entire Nighthaunt/LoG career. For the points there was just something better. This means I am also guilty of never running the Deathriders battalion. If I wanted the Black Coach I would just run it. I'm happy all of these things are more viable options now.

I'm sure they are fully aware that Oly isn't the general pick in her own army, or that the Dreadblade is almost an auto-pick in most lists across both NH and LoG. We're billed as a fast shock army, so it makes sense to me there is some speed options. Plus, now we'll actually see Hex lists.

They end up basically being Spirit Hosts like that. Same amount of attacks, half as many MW potential, but more speed, one less wound...

Assuming perfect execution, right? The Hexwraiths can't run and charge, or retreat and charge. Does this figure that in?

At least we didn't draw Nagash's ire... 💀👻 We need to look at December as a whole. In total we got: The Emerald Host - 80 point super-battalion (one of two) - requiring only Dolorous Guard and Forgotten Scions to field and giving a permanent -1 save to a single enemy hero The Forgotten Scions - 140 battalion - Making KoSoES hit a little harder and able to spend his CA for free once a turn The Dolorous Guard - 120 battalion - Making your general able to redirect wounds to a retinue of Hexwraiths, and gives those Hexraiths a charge buff Kurdos - now 180 points Olynder - now 200 points Black Coach - now 220 points This brings us up to 2 super battalions, 9 regular battalions, and points cost more in line with our unit's power. We're arguably one of the most customizable armies around. And, per Games Workshop themselves: This tells me that we're competitive. I have always stood by my assessment that Nighthaunt is an advanced tactical army. We don't have any single base configuration that over-performs, and we don't have any auto-win options. This means we need to know our enemy when making our lists, and if we can tailor them properly and execute them smartly, we'll edge on winning. This doesn't address the "tournament problem", at least not that I can see. The "tournament problem" being that the armies considered "competitive" can bring their single, predetermined list to a tournament and shut down any number of opponents on their way to the top. This is where LoG shines, because thanks to gravesites any mistakes made in the list or during the game can be fixed for a command point when a unit dies, and CP generation is a thing (I've generated 9 points once), so the optimal solution is often just waves of suicidal units. Nighthaunt has yet to come up with a solid, uncounterable, tournament template that can take on all the top armies without modification. This, and wholly this, is our weakness. This was what I was hoping they'd address, because there are ways to do that. I'm feeling right down the middle. We were clearly buffed, but was it enough? We're not OP, but are we stable and tournament-ready? I'll need a few games before I know for myself. I'll be making blog entries. I hope everyone here reports back on their experiences with these changes, too. Oh, they also said this: I'll be writing them about the "tournament problem".

This rollout was botched. Not that the point list isn't accurate, but it's sourced from, well, everywhere. No unified sources. It's unconfirmed data until we see the official lists. I don't think we'll be surprised about the points we have seen, but there may be more armies not seen yet. Not to mention any number of word errata that each army might get. I'll send a secret wish to Nagash to give me the rules change I want for Christmas.

Anywho... Nighthaunt and all that... I'm glad to see our point reductions. Makes it more likely we'll field Olynder with the Dolorous Guard. Black Coach will likely see more play. These are all still more points than "if we had a few left over", so they are still going to be built around these choices. But that being said, yeah I am disappointed. I don't honestly understand. What does GW know about NH that we don't that don't think we need much of a boost?

Comparing Azyr to GHB2019 The Briar Queen was 180, now 150 Kurdoss was 200, now 180 Olynder was 220, now 200 Black Coach was 260, now 220 And that's it...

Azyr has updated with the point changes. No lists, no new battalions, but cheaper models.

Actually, yes. Since they are battleline you'll likely load up on them anyway, and if you have enough for either the Chainguard or The Condemned battalions, then you also have some staying power or swarms of decent attacks, respectively. The others might not admit it but we really live or die by our chainrasps. They are solid objective campers, and with the right buffs they are deadly with their numerous attacks. Short answer: Yeah. Grab the Condemned battalion, pair with a GoS and a KoS on foot, pump a couple CP into that KoS and watch 40+ attacks shred an opponent. Just mind their slow movement and battleshock weaknesses.

F5, F5, F5, F5...

I think they're all really good, honestly. At least until we see how they perform. I'm hoping they're so good that they're just shy of OP. But, yes, all the images are a couple pages back.

He'd have to be your general and you'd lose any kind of Command Trait on him. Olynder does too, but replaces that with an Command Ability. Might be fun to try, still.

Not necessarily my favorite, but my most winningest NH list vs both Hallowheart and Hammerhal. This list, or variations of it, is somewhere around 5/2 or 6/3 against Cities. The above ALLLLLLL being said... I'm really hoping I can make a much more solid and reliable list with the new battalions. I'm going to try for ol' fashioned Olynderbomb list first for fun and see how that feels, and then tool it based on that.