[AoS 2 - Slaves to Darkness 2 Discussion]

28 minutes ago, Jaskier said:

My hold-up is that Slaves to Darkness units themselves aren't explicitly part of the Khorne/Nurgle/Slaanesh/Tzeentch battletomes, but you can run their units in those books as part of that army without being counted as allies (the same way it works for marked Beastmen) as long as the units have the appropriate Mark of Chaos. Are those books the exception rather than the norm?

I just checked the rules on allegiances for clarity and it is keyword based, so the Gaunt Summoner on foot should absolutely be usable in Slaves to Darkness allegiance without needing to count as an ally, unless I'm missing something that makes the god-marked books distinct in this area? I'm 99% sure I've got it right, I just find it weird that Warscroll Builder doesn't accommodate this when it works the other way for the Tzeentch/Slaanesh/etc books. Just means manually inserting extra info into the notes section, no big bother! Thanks for the answer!

No idea honestly, I was mostly guessing after checking the STD battletome. I guessed it was about Marks/keywords like you said, so some units from STD can normally go to other armies, but not the other way around.

28 minutes ago, Jaskier said:

As far as Soul Grinders are concerned, I will say this; I can say from personal experience that they are fantastic in the Daemonsteel Contingent, but sadly that's a Slaanesh-exclusive battalion. Outside of it, they seem like they're good all-rounders, and definitely combo well with the Despoilers traits.

@Jaskier Ah, I see, thanks. Currently playing around with the list, thinking of running something like 3-4 DPs, Be'Lakor, a sorcerer, 40 marauders, 2 units of 5 knights, and a Soul Grinder, full Khorne (except sorcerer, duh). Considering sacrificing one of the DPs to make the sorcerer a Sorcerer on Manticore, since it looks cool as heck and also counts as a monster. Something like this, dunno if I'm going a bit too crazy or if this might surprise me in a good way O:

[AoS 2 - Slaves to Darkness 2 Discussion]

11 hours ago, Jaskier said:

Quick question; the Gaunt Summoner on foot (in the Tzeentch book) has the exact same keywords as the Gaunt Summoner on Disc, including the Slaves to Darkness keyword. In much the same way as running Tzeentch-marked Chaos Warriors/Knights/etc in a Tzeentch allegiance army, surely I can run the Gaunt Summoner on foot in a Slaves to Darkness allegiance army, right? I only ask because Warscroll Builder defaults to treating him as an ally (which I can change thankfully) and it prevents me from selecting him as a General, or to receive artefacts/spells/command traits/etc.

The Gaunt Summoner on foot isn't part of STD's battletome, so the answer could be no (except as an ally). Only the Gaunt Summoner on Disc is in it. Edit: Appears to be keyword-based, so disregard it.

2 hours ago, JackStreicher said:

Imo S2D fails in the regard that you are better off to play its units in one of the other Battletomes (Hedonites: You‘ll always get the exploding 6s and even double exploding 6s with 20+ models etc. Plus drpravity points plus synergies across the entire army).

I actually expected S2D to be more focused on the undivided allegiance, yet it‘s just worse than all the god allegiances.  Also all the Aura effects are too short

Edit: Cultists are badly implemented since they don‘t benefit from marks at all and are nothing but objective campers while having little to no useful command ability synergies.

units like the ogroid Myrmidon cry out „meh!“ while being overcosted and not having much use... well

it does not seem like we‘ll be getting a true multipart Knighrs and warriors kit... this whole army feels like it was half-way updated but not really.

 

yet I like the way the army plays and feels though it‘s just too weak except for a few cheesy builds.

I feel similarly. I really like the whole STD deal, and am, perhaps a bit stubbornly, trying to make it work instead of just going back to my Nurgle army.

I do honestly not get what was the point of adding the cultists to the army and then make them so inefficient through and through. If at least they had a Mark... not even a choice between all the gods, but a forced one each, most would be playable. Just as you say, the update feels half-assed.

 

PD: Anyone has thoughts on the Soul Grinder? Some people tell me he's good, others say it's a waste of points. Kinda considering one for my Despoiler-monsters army.

[AoS 2 - Slaves to Darkness 2 Discussion]

11 minutes ago, Death1942 said:

A consensus from some of the top analysts (Vince, Honest Wargamer) is that STD are slightly over costed for what they do right now.  The June Generals Handbook could honestly open up a huge amount of units with some minor points tweaks downwards.  Once the sphinx drops we also get a massive boost for 100 points and that too can open up a few more options on the table.  They are definitely middle of the pack army but they aren't bad by any stretch of the imagination.  I would say the only real let down for me with the book so far is the ****** poor options for mixing chaos armies.  Much like beats these guys feel like they never really fit into any other chaos army and other chaos armies barely help them out (one or two character aside).

That's what I hear all the time, yeah. Most opinions on the warscrolls go something along the line of "this is pretty good/interesting... but in any list we're just running out of points so we can't afford it."

If STD received some much-needed points reduction, we would be able to bring more units, in bigger numbers. I'd feel much better about STD.

[AoS 2 - Slaves to Darkness 2 Discussion]

Well they are already on pre-order, aren't they? Sphiranx and the Crusher thingie. Both look pretty fun, although I fear running them into anything (10 wounds is nice, 4+ save not so sure).

5 minutes ago, JackStreicher said:

In half a year.

edit: Yet until GW finally gets the points right it will take 1-1,5 years, since the first changes usually don‘t help much (+-10 points here and there)

I see. Well, "any" change will be welcome. STD armies being able to fit in something else might be surprisingly good. I do think the battletome has a number of cool/interesting units, but everything is kinda overcosted, so you always run into points problems.

I'm personally trying to create a DPs family Despoilers list, although I'm kinda lost. No idea if the list has any value/potential.

[AoS 2 - Slaves to Darkness 2 Discussion]

Dang, we sure are bringing the mood down, guys 😛

Question for AoS veterans: to what degree can we expect/hope for GW to say "ok, STD came out barely standing by itself, so we're changing X unit/points"? Does it happen once in a while, once a year (with general's handbook) or practically never. Mostly, I wanna know if the money I put into an STD army is lost forever if I wanna win once in a while

[AoS 2 - Slaves to Darkness 2 Discussion]

12 hours ago, Death1942 said:

Hearing some rumours from some high level players that some juicy STD lists with daemon allies are being built up atm.  I have wracked my brain all day trying to find good combos with battalions but I honestly can't see how it all fits in 2000 points.  Anyone got any decent lists like that to share?  Or maybe thoughts on what these players might be eyeing off?

Well, I've seen Be'Lokar's legion and it looks promising. You bring a bunch of cheap demons and make him practically immortal (as long as there are demons around him).

[AoS 2 - Slaves to Darkness 2 Discussion]

4 minutes ago, Bloodmoon said:

yes its only the general. 

Ah, thanks. It was so confusing...

I'm still trying to build a Despoilers list and going with tons of DPs, a soul grinder and then some base battleline troops is really tempting. Otherwise, perhaps some DPs with a ruinbringer warband.

[AoS 2 - Slaves to Darkness 2 Discussion]

A bit of a dumb question, but a list I saw today is making me doubt myself. The Despoilers' Sacrilegious Might ability only gives the 5+ FNP to your DP general, right? Cuz I saw a list with 4 DPs + Be'Lakor and the dude spoke about how they were all fairly resilient with a 5+ FNP.

[AoS 2 - Slaves to Darkness 2 Discussion]

2 hours ago, Bloodmoon said:

Sword is better. 

How so? I also had this doubt, and tried using a couple damage calculators. I always got the same result: the axe's output is slightly better/more reliable.

[AoS 2 - Slaves to Darkness 2 Discussion]

30 minutes ago, Kurrilino said:

I'm not saying you can't play this army.

It's just that all other armies can do what StD can do and even better for 1/3 cheaper.

And that makes the book weak.

That's fair, although Be'Lakor and his spell skill isn't quite what I'd call "any army does better and cheaper."

 

Really wanna find/make some cool Despoilers list with him, though. Most stuff I'm seeing everywhere is Ravagers, and some Everchosen.

[AoS 2 - Slaves to Darkness 2 Discussion]

26 minutes ago, NJohansson said:

I agree - once a game abilities are usually worthless - but Be’lakors ability makes the most efficient enemy unit worthless for a whole turn (if used correctly). That is 1/5 of the game so in the right situation is worth a couple of hundred points on average in itself.

Not even that. If the opponent somehow gets the double turn, the ability stays, affecting the opponent's key piece for 2/5s of the game and helping you survive the double turn.

I honestly don't see how Be'Lakor is anything other than great, and practically a must-have.

[AoS 2 - Slaves to Darkness 2 Discussion]

Seeing some Despoiler lists but people are running them with only 1 DP? Isn't that a bit of a waste? I was trying to make a list using the new StC as a core, and got something like this (not sure if Undivided, or a combination of Nurgle on infantry and Slaanesh on Cavalry):

Leaders

Be'Lakor

DP (general)

Chaos Lord on Karkadrak

Chaos Sorcerer Lord

Units

5 x Chaos Knights

1 x Chaos Chariots

15 x Chaos Warriors

40 x Chaos Marauders

15 x Chaos Marauder Horsemen

1980/2000

I wonder  if I'm running too many random units and should sacrifice something for a warshrine or what. Never really done lists before @_@