Thamalys

Yep - that'd be me! We don't need zombies or skeletons... just a sufficient (and thus quite small) number of Blood Knights.

Plastic Blood Knights. That's all I needed to see. The new battle tome came as a genuine surprise to me. Yes, the rumours were rife but I was not sold on an actual new battletome/faction. No way I'm not going to go balls to the wall with it - I just hope some decent elite builds will be a possibility (not a big fan of hordes...) but hey, whatever. New battle tome - today's a good day. Meanwhile, my VLoZDs (which I very much hope will remain a core unit of this new faction) are getting some new riders for sure. Love the new models. It was high time for the fell bats as well. Not much of a skelly fanboy but the Wight King on steed looks rad. Please, oh please let's get rid of this pesky Plague so that we can go back to roll dice, drink beer and have fun.

Oh, so sorry @Honk and @Neil Arthur Hotep - by the time I was finished writing my post, you already answered. True to our swift and deadly nature you both are - well done! Apologies for the cross-posting, folks... bear with the dinosaur

Sadly no, that's not a possibility. Vhordrai's CA can only target a Hero, which Bloodknights are not. That'd be insanely powerful, to be fair. I have been playing around with 2-dragon lists for a while, now, and I can tell you that Vhordrai CA almost never comes up in any game. The reason is that AoS is an objective game and LoB is, exception made for very niche builds, an elite faction, meaning that you have to spread out quite thin and far to control objectives. If you have Vhordrai and the VLoZD (the obvious prime target for Vhordrai CA!) within 14" of each other, chances are you are doing something wrong. You take Vhordrai not because of the lance/rend in LoB (because with the +1 to every melee attack, the regular VLoZD is factually better), nor because of its spell (which he can only cast on himself - a massive pain in the neck), you take him because of the 6 mortal wounds flat he can do. Now, the Dolorous Guard option. Yes, it's good - I used it with great success in the past, but those were the glorious days of the Ethereal Amulet, which, in conjunction with the DG protection, made your VLoZD virtually un-killable. The problem is the points. The hex wraiths are not that useful, as they have to stay close to your VLoZD to offer him protection, so you are moving around with an insane blob worth 820 points. That's too much. For that price, you can almost get two VLoZD. Sure, your general won't be that durable, but if you are going to invest 820 in one basket you don't have many points to invest into summonable units to bring back in the first place. Overall, the DG is still an option, but it's not as good an option as it used to be and it did always suffered from suboptimal board control. Yes, they are allies - as the battalion is an battalion from an ally faction. This has been FAQ'd very clearly. It means you cannot bring them back or heal them via the gravesites, but you still heal them via Deathly Invocation, as they are still Death models. Vile Transference also work with them. No sir. No gravesites for allied Hexwraiths! You do get an extra artefact, and again, in the good old days I use to run an Ethereal Amulet and a Gryphfeather charm. While I'm saying this I feel dirty. Two VLoZD running around with very little to stop them - glorious. Now, the double artefact for LoB is still quite nice. One VLoZD gets the Orb, your general gets the Garments. You send the one with the Orb against the nastiest enemy hero, and leave your general to chill on his permanent mystic shield - there are worst things in life... It most definitely is. I just wanted to add that if you're keen on vampires Soulblight has the perfect solution to this, in the form of the Misty Form command trait. Nasty stuff. I never quite understood how to win games consistently with Soulblight, and I think their hitting power and speed (which was their main reason to be decent) is now so out of touch with respect to the rest of the game that it makes the faction very hard to play.

The battalion is ok-ish. Clever opponents will be able to counter your off-the-table move quite easily, because you have to declare which edge you pick and they all have to stay 9” away from any of you opponent’s models. 3 units of Blood Knights and the Prince are really hard to fit. It helps you with keeping the drops low, but still not worth it IMHO. In addition, Vhordrai is only worth it if bringing a VLoZD, which is very strong in LoB. I would drop the Prince and the battalion and bring a VLoZD instead, with some more points to spare. Then, dogs. Man, you need the dogs - they are really, really excellent. Chainrasps are also excellent in either small units to screen (but dogs are better to that end) or big units to camp on objectives. Smelliest are a bit meh. Don’t go near Neferata - she dies to a stiff breeze and we don’t have the CP to fuel her CA. Your general HAS to stay alive to bring stuff back. Pick a VLoZD and give him the Orb (pick your fights wisely, though, and in some games is useless) or even better the Garments. Dark majesty is a must. Keep him alive! The first list has legs, the second one, IMHO, does not stand a chance.

I’d agree, but I’d also argue that it would be great to differentiate their purpose to a much greater extent. Blood Knights are on the table to get the charge, kill things, and hopefully take a counter offence. Black knights... at the moment, they are just a toned down version of Blood Knights. What I would like to see it’s new lore for them and thus a new warscroll that makes them unique. Not more or less powerful than Blood Knights, but unique enough to be taken in a list to fulfill a specific role.

Amen to that

I don't think anyone can say for sure. The way I see this, is that we're going to get some nice-looking new models for our Death armies via Warhammer Quest and that's it. Maybe I'll put some of these fancy-looking vampires on my Zombie Dragons, and that'll be it. Personally, I do not think we are going to get a battle tome and/or an associated release in the same way of, say, what Slaneesh is going through at the moment. Perhaps my very low expectations stem from the fact that I have learned to expect nothing from GW. On the other hand, some Death kits are ancient and I would be surprised if they wouldn't get renewed at some point, I just doubt this is that point in time. Particularly with respect to the models you mention, I don't think we are going to get new Skeletons, Black Knights and Grave Guard. They're ok kits, especially the Black Knights (think of the crazy ancient/costly kit for Blood Knights...) and the Grave Guard. Morghasts as well, they're lovely models, if they were to refurbished them they would have done so when they released the OBR. I would wait to do anything until we hit what it looks like it's going to be AoS 3.0 at some point in the summer. There it lies my last hope to see a new Death battle tome this year... but then again, just my opinion. No one can say for sure!

Wow... no, not my cup of tea either, but hey, nothin wrong in taking advantage of the TTS fever, I suppose. Getting models back must be tough with "just" the Guardian of Souls and the VL, given that the Hexwraiths are 2 wounds apiece... very fast list, though. Did they stream the game? I'd be curious to see how it went down.

As in 4 units of 5, I should hope?

@Samukai, House Valentian is filthy AF... I'm in to it! Jokes aside, I would love for the Craven King to actually be of some use... let us hope!

Always take 5. Dire Wolves are one of the best units in the game (yes), being very fast, very cheap and very capable to screen a solid fraction of the board with just 5 models (big bases). In a unit of 5 they are also practically immune to bravery and they are much more easily put into cover. 5, always 5.

Yes. IMHO, Lumineth are probably one of the toughest faction for NH to deal with at the moment. This is because Teclis can nuke 1 or 2 of our heroes / turn without even breaking a sweat and Sentinels would happily choke the rest of your army into mortal wounds (against which our 6+ shrug is not particularly effective). It's a deadly combination against a faction such as NH. Sure, movement shenanigans are and will always be a thing, but it's hard to outmanoeuvre these sort of builds. @Parttime_Painter, this is a very solid start for a strong list. A few thoughts (very personal opinions, of course, so take them with a grain of salt!😞 "would 2 x units of chainrasps at 30 be better than 3 @ 20?" No. These days, units that can kill 20 rasps in one go will also kill 30 rasps in one go - better to have the flexibility of an extra unit. Who's your general? It sounds like Lady O? No no no... the Dreadblade is amazing when given Ruler of the Spirit Hosts - moving around with a unit of 6 of them is a very powerful feature. I'd only take Lady O in conjunction with the Dolorous Guard. What about the extra artefact? And the spells? I am a huge fan of the Mourngul - yes, it's massively overpriced, but people are still scared of him, and righteously so. Pair with Spirit Torment and Bladegheists for a decent punch. Also, the model is GLORIOUS. "the chainguard units roll up the board with Olynder and spirit torment being solid and constantly respawned". The Spirit Torment is too good to not use in conjunction with the Bladeghiests (re-roll all hits). Let the Guardian of Souls deal with the rasps healing. And give him a lantern/artefact to increase your chances there. "Reikenor flys around supporting with some magic and blowing up a couple of smaller units etc with his spell" Reikenor looks a bit out of place in this list. Yes, it's fast, but that's about it. It's squishy and a +3 (not guaranteed!) to cast is nothing with Kroak/Teclis/Tzeench around. He won't blow up anything, trust me. You take Reiki if you have a plan to use a particular endless spell. Typically Cogs, but I'd opt for the Geminids these days. Hope this help!

Wise of you to embrace the ethereal prowess... welcome aboard! I second both options put forward by @Ranzou. I would just add that, within the semi-competitive space, this faction offers an awful lot of flexibility. Big blocks of ethereal units are definitely a way forward. The idea of MSU lists has been talked about a lot (you can do seriously silly things...) and I do not dispute that's a very strong option (albeit I do question the effectiveness of fishing for Wave of Terror), but at the end of the day your success is going to be dictated by your perseverance. Mastering Nighthaunt means mastering movement, which is never easy - particularly in the time of long-range shooting / mortal wounds output. If you can actually play, go for it and stick with whatever list you pick for a good while!

It depends on what sort of lists/play styles you have in mind (and whether you are the competitive type as well), but I’d say that - overall - another Soul Wars box is probably not one of the best ways forward for you (or indeed for most people who are seeking to expand their initial NH collection). This is because: You’re going to be getting more Glaivewraith Stalkers - one of the worst units in the entire game. Seriously. You now have 4 Grimghast Reapers. With an additional box you’ll get up to 8 - still not enough to field the minimum sized unit if 10. Years after, I’m still annoyed by this frankly silly choice (i.e. packaging four Reapers) by GW. Two Lord Executioners are very rarely seen. There’s one battalion that sort of works, but it’s a weird niche and, in my opinion, it was never good. Having two of the other characters, though, us not a bad thing! If you have quite a few characters already, you’re probably better off by getting some units separately. Chainrasps are good, but you need a LOT of them to make them work in Nighthaunts. Spirit Hosts and Grimghast Reapers are two favourites of mine as battle line choices. Hexwraiths never worked for me but people are now using them quite a lot, particularly because of the Dolorous Guard Battalion. You probably want some Bladegheist Revenants or Dreadscythe Harridans as well. Lady Olynder is a piece every NH player should have IMHO. Hope that helps - happy to be more precise if you have some other indications as to what you have in mind in terms if future lists.

Sadly, I think you're spot on. That shade of red is veeeery GW_vampire-like, and it's obviously quite tough to guess what the model is given the few pics we have as we speak, but... yeah, I'm not very hopeful. I know there's lot of hype about potential vampirates (although I never quite understood where the heck the hype came from... if it's from the rumor engine, it's rather pointless in my opinion... happy to be corrected, though!) but that's not my thing. New deadwalkers? Maybe - we shall see. The current zombie kit is awful, but so are the current rules for them, so if we get new deadwalkers I hope we'll get new rules for them as well. And yes, the witch hunter definitely suggest this has little to do with an actual new faction... well, a man can hope, I suppose. Also, happy new year, folks!

Yeah... not much else to add, really. I won’t lie, I had quite high hopes in the summer (even managed to have a few games in September...) but it looks like we are now back to square one. Vaccines are coming, and that’s fantastic, but it’ll take time for them to make an impact (also, people need to snap out of conspiracy theories and the like. Nagash’s teeth, the ignorance...) I am very well aware that not being able to play AoS is a small detail, compared to e.g. the atrocious experience of the many people who lost someone to this flipping virus. I don’t feel it is within my rights to complain. A part of me really wants to get back playing, though - no point in denying our little, selfish needs. I went back to 40K for a bit, and more recently I discovered Infinity (which LadyWife likes a lot because it’s a quick, low-model count skirmish game) - that helped. New lore, a few new hobby projects, learning how to deal with metal miniatures... it’s all well and good, but I really miss... well, people (never thought I’d say that, but there it is), as well as games of AoS. For no particular reason, I want to believe we are going to get some AoS Death material early in 2021, but even then, like many of you I can’t really get myself to build lists and the like... and it’s the same with painting. I am not a really good painter to start with, and I only paint models I want to include in my lists. I genuinely envy those who can paint for the sake of it. As a really good example, Codex Drukhari (my main 40K faction) is coming out in January or so. In normal times, I’d be HUGELY excited. Now? Yeah, sure, but not nearly as much... A bit bleak, sorry - hope everyone’s doing ok!

What's better than two Vampire Lords on Zombie Dragon? Why, THREE Vampire Lords on Zombie Dragon! Here's the latest addition to the Legion - this one was quite fun to put together... can't wait to have a go at a silly triple VLoZD list...

Just the Vampire Lord's weapon, i.e. either the sword or the lance, is affected by Walking Death. As a rule, “Command traits have no effect on attacks made by a general’s mount unless noted otherwise.” [Core Rules]. Personally, I don't think it's a great trait for a VLoZD unless your build doesn't care too much about bringing back summonable units that have been destroyed. If you do care, you want to maximise the chance for your general (the only one who can bring them back!) to stay alive, hence Aura of Dark Majesty (-1 to hit in the combat phase) would be a better pick, particularly coupled with Soulbound Garments or the Orb of Enchantment as artefacts. That's my go-to layout for my VLoZD general. If, on the other hand, you only have Blood Knights in your list, you might as well try out a very Killy VLoZD with Walking Death, is not a bad one. It was much better when you could pick Artefacts of the Realms that gave you +1 to hit, though, at that point it's mortal wounds on 5+, which wan't bad at all... hope this helps!

Amazing stuff - well done! The one on top of the Manticore/Tyranid is gold... Can I just ask, where the heck have you found all those VLoZD/Vhordrai helmets/heads (the winged ones, I mean)?!

Overwhelming Dread, all day long. It casts on a 5+ only, an -1 to hit is BIG. -1 to bravery is not bad either in LoB, if you manage to stack that up with a unit of Blood Knights nearby that'd be -3... not bad! However, I did drop the Necromancer from my list because of your fears exactly: he is slow and it is not a key piece, your units can do without him. Tough choice... Risky... not so many bodies on the table. But then again, we can only try stuff out and see how it goes, I guess. Same here, btw, with COVID around there's not many games to be had, sadly...

Hey man, maybe it's just me but I can't really see the pictures you posted. Also, you mean LoB or LoN? I have nothing against Mannfred enthusiasts, but if you meant LoN there must be a thread for that Legion somewhere on TGA? Anyway, the Orb is phenomenal - when you have a big scary Hero to deal with, if not is literally useless. Sometimes that's the case, sometimes is not - I think it's fair to say the Orb is a rather situational artefact. But yes, definitely, if you can take two artefacts, one of them should be the Orb in my opinion. The Blood Knights are now cheap. Not dirty cheap, but cheap enough to consider a seriously BK-heavy list. If you give up on a dragon or two, you can literally spam them, probably with decent results. Potential problems: (1.) I hate spam lists (2.) I can't be bothered to convert any more or - Nagash forbid - buy the original models...

I see! Grave Guard, eh? Never even thought about it... perhaps because I want everything in my lists to be very fast. These fancy skellies move 4", no flying - albeit they have a 6" guaranteed charge, which is very sweet. 5+ save (4+ if no rend), potential for double damage on wound rolls of 6+. Reapers move 8", flying, 4+ ethereal, in-built re-roll mechanics for units with 5+ models and they have a very useful 2" range (albeit the Grave Guard models are 25mm basis, right? In that case, it'd be two ranks for them as well, I guess). Well, I wanted an excuse to start painting some skeletons anyway, so I might give them a go... thanks for bringing this up!

I have had decent success with the Dolorous Guard in Legion of Blood, running a double VLoZD list. However, those were the days of the Ethereal Amulet, which meant you had two very hard to kill monsters, one because of the battalion, the other one because of the amulet - happy days. However, I'm not running this battalion anymore, as the extra artefact - whilst still useful (Soulbound Garments and Orb of Enchantment would be my pick) - is not as potent as the Amulet. Thing is, you are investing 380 points to bring in the battalion. It was worth it back then, when - effectively - you were paying to get two neigh un-killable VLoZD; now, it's only one. Sure, it's your General and that's key to bring back units, but for that price tag you don't have that many points to invest into summonable stuff to bring back in the first place. For 60 points more you can bring in another VLoZD (or, some serious amount of bodies)! So yeah, I have tried a few things with this battalion but in the end, as of today, you are always too thin on the ground - we need the bodies. Speaking of which: how about the good ol' Nagash + big blobs of Reapers list that used to be fairly horrific back in the day? Still viable or just too costly? I'd never run anything like it myself (I can't be bothered to paint some 90 Reapers...) but I am curious nonetheless.

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