KibaWildFang

That’s really solid, actually. However, I’m mixing it up mainly because the gheist is pretty daunting for me to paint atm. I also really want to summon in a 2nd Varghulf because I really like how they perform on the table. I’m using my extra enhancement on the 5+ ward amulet for the Gheist

I just heard that from a buddy on discord. Ouch. Good thing I’m running one Gheist King, many of the Dragon Mount traits were a bit underwhelming to me anyway

So Battlescribe updated to AoS 3. While I am aware that it favors 40k, I feel that it still got something wrong, unless they changed how our faction works. It is saying I can only put one mount trait on my list with 2 mounted kings. Thats a pretty hefty change that I was not aware of before. However, BS also doesn’t count the GW FAQ for Seraphon, that allows the Thunder Lizard subfaction to take more than 4 behemoths, because they become battleline for TL and thar supercedes Behemoths. That’s gotta be an oversight on BS’s part, because one of our strengths is being able to take multiple mount traits.

Yeah thats gonna be... fun. But below 1k or not, I did pretty well with a limited roster. It makes me excited for 2k, and by a lot.

It’s what I got. I was doing pretty well when it comes to magic. Granted it was 600 points againt no magic and some magic, so that doesn’t really count too much.

All right. Here we go. With what I’ve gathered, I figured out what I want for my 2k list. Court: Feast Day Warlord Battalion: Archregent (Dark Wizardry, Dermal Robe) Varghulf Ghoul King on Gheist (Amulet of Destiny) 6 Flayers Battle Regiment Battalion: Ghoul King on Zombie Dragon 10 ghouls 10 ghouls 10 ghouls I’m thinking Zombie Dragon for second mounted king for a few reasons. Firstly, for my modeling sanity, I’m still piecemeal painting a Gheist and that’s hellish enough for me. A second one is daunting. Second, I realized I really like Varghulfs on the table, and was sad to realize I couldn’t squeeze a second one in with two mounted kings; then I realized one of the kings could summon an extra one in. Thirdly, that re-roll wounds aura would really help my damage output. 16” covers surprising distance from a model that big. Other than that, free Frenzy, two handpicked relics and 5 drop deployment. I feel pretty solid with this lineup.

Played a few PtG games at 600 tonight with this setup: Feast Day: Archregent (dermal robe, dark wizardry) Varghulf 10 ghouls 10 ghouls Don’t have the 20 ghouls for summons built, so had no real choice but to have flayers summoned. Turns out, that was the right choice. Game one was a one-sided massacre in my favor. Not a single greenskin survived. Turn 2, that Boss was dead after the Varghulf’s Frenzy (being buffed with the King’s hunger spell, and Feed on Dark Magic), and the Flayers screamed all but one of a unit of 5 off the table, then the last one ran. They then charged and slaughtered the other unit near the first. The Varghulf took out half the army on his own. I almost felt a little bad. The only dead model I had was one flayer, and it didn’t really count cuz it was summoned anyway. Game 2, I lost because it was SBG on the offensive on the Watchtower battleplan. Surrounded, bogged down, but I fought to the last. Did really well protecting the King both games, and the Varghulf narrowly avoided needing a full re-buy with points. Both ghoul squads only have one casualty from here on in. Zombies ransacked the watchtower (that I did get to make my Throne, so that was neat!) A few things I gleaned from this: 1) Even with the buff to command points, Feast Day still rocks the house. Left me plenty of wiggle room — if I’m only going to Frenzy once a turn, might as well do it for free. 2) Dark Wizardry and Dermal Robe absolutely slaps. Unbound every enemy spell, succeeded every cast, even if just barely sometimes. Side note, Blood Feast is generally a better Arcane Bolt, but obviously can’t be stored. To be honest, I may not even go Blisterskin in my non-PtG games, just for this. The freedom to have my own trait and relic is amazing, and smaller board sizes help mitigate the loss. With how fast flayers move, the redeploy isn’t that big of a loss either. 3) Confirmed adoration of Ghouls in MSU. Taking 3 units in 2k, which as I said, gives the room to turn a gheist into a mount. The only time I foresee myself caring about 20+ ghouls is the summon. 4) Heroic Abilities —specifically the extra CP gain— really help. It also makes the Throne completely optional, since you can burn the spare CP for the summon. However the Throne still has use so the Regent and the Gheist King can summon for free, with the heroic ability being used on the Gheist King’s summon. 5) Death Scream against greenskins is absolutely savage. Don’t even need to explain, I’m still just blown away. All in all, I learned a lot from just 2 games. The Varghulf was a hell of an MVP, I wish I had room for 2.

Played my first game of 3.0 borrowing a buddy’s Seraphon (which is coincidentally going to be my second army, but I digress). I got to get a feel for the game, and its given me some good insight on my FEC list. Now, I will say, I know we aren’t an MSU army. But. I think I’m actually going to prefer ghouls in 10 man units this edition. Originally I wanted the footprint of 2 blobs of 20. However, Coherency is a bit of a pain at that level (the 20 free ghouls from summoning are okay though) and I really just want to take them as cheap screens/bodyguards for my Archregent. Maybe tie up the odd objective or two. However, more importantly, dropping the squads of ghouls to 10 gave me the points to give my gheist a mount, which will pull far more weight. Besides, they weren’t gonna be as good of a target for Frenzy in my lists anyway. Heck, I may drop to one Gheist king and add 6 more flayers, I’m not sure yet. I feel 2 deadly monster heroes will pull more, though. As always, this is gonna require more testing to see. 20 man units can still be heaving masses that can bog up an objective, or tarpit semi-decently. Luckily, I get to test with summonable 20 ghouls later on

Honestly with your help when it comes to listbuilding, I feel there isn’t too much of a point outside Gristlegore, like you said. I’d rather take an unmounted gheist over an unmounted dragon. The only reason I was going to take a dragon before was because I wanted to force Corpsemare, and I was just shy of the gheist. Even without the mount trait, extra attack profile and casting, the unmounted gheist makes it worth it with that bite. Yeah you can’t reroll it, but it’s 140 points cheaper, of course its not gonna do as much. Im just glad I changed the list up before I started building a zd

Oh alright. Do you just put Flaming Weapon as the lore spell on the Gheist King?

What is giving the additional cast?

That’s fair enough. I was tempted to actually roll with the 5+ ward amulet and the Flaming Weapon combo on the Gheist King. What are your thoughts on that?

It looks really nice and has a well thought-out gameplan. Really, I only have a few questions/remarks. -Why does only one mounted king have a mount trait? Also friendly reminder that the summons will happen on 2 different turns for the Gheist Kings because you can only use one CA of that name a turn. But, really, that can be a strategic upside and really rolls with the flow of the game. -If you’re dead set on going courtless, would you consider Crusading Army? I could be wrong, but thinking over the new CP generation, coupled with the fact you can only Frenzy once a turn, kind of nerfs the old appeal Feast Day once had, at least in my eyes. Perhaps the +1” to run and to charge would be worth it? -On your Regent summons... point for point, wouldn’t summoning in 20 ghouls in to nab an objective from the side or something generally be better? It certainly would give more board presence. I’ve always heard that the Regent should almost always summon the ghouls. I will say, I see why you chose the Infernal as a general, because ghouls are fodder for your list and you really want to focus on buffing and babysitting your flayers, so may as well make them battleline outside of Blisterskin right? I feel the Varghulf is worth 30 more points, but I run thicker squads of ghouls and want my Varg to be able to Muster anything. Probably a nonissue for your build.

Hey that actually looks really fun.. and very similar to my list. Also I just read about Hunters of the Heartlands so I should probably run that. You mind if I bum this idea, since its close to mine anyway? Also, besides ignoring monstrous rampages, what else does Hunters of the Heartlands do? Any additional enhancements?

I’d have to cut the Corpsemare to make my Zombie Dragon into a Gheist. Unless I knocked down one of the ghoul squads, I also don’t have the room to make it have a rider. At this point though, that’s doable, because Corpsemare is beginning to feel more “build me” than a spell to add some spice. I’d much rather upgrade the dragon on my list into a gheist, and fill a battalion easier.

Wait... so a mix of both? Those 3 leaders are my go-to though.

Hey, so, the FAQ never really cleared it up, but... can unit champions use Frenzy now for sure? Because Frenzy and the Blisterskin strat still mention needing a Hero nearby to work it. Edit: cancel that, I actually looked. Bummer. On the other hand, are people going to be preferring units of 20 ghouls or MSU of 10? I’m conflicted, myself.

Thanks for the input! I will say though, that build doesn’t exactly have the room to swap into a gheist, not without knocking the 20 man ghoul squad to 10... then I have leftover points I can’t do anything with. Also I’m building it as a dragon and am not gonna be spending anymore money for a while, haha. However, I’m going with the second list!

On that note, however, I do have a new question. Between two lists, which would end up stronger? (Both use the Warlord Battalion) 1st List: Blisterskin Archregent (Hellish Orator, Dermal Robe) AGKoRTG Varghulf (Eye of Hysh) 20 ghouls/ 20 ghouls / 6 flayers Zombie Dragon Corpsemare Stampede OR 2nd List: Crusading Army Archregent (Dark Wizardry, Dermal Robe) AGKoRTG Varghulf (Billious Decanter) 20 Ghouls / 10 ghouls / 10 Ghouls 6 Flayers Zombie Dragon Corpsemare Stampede The only real differences are the Archregent has a +2 to mainly make Corpsemare easier, the Varg can attempt Smashbat, armywide +1” to run and charge, and one squad of 20 ghouls has to split. On the other hand, I lose armywide +2” movement, the flying redeploy strat, and Eye of Hysh/Hellish Orator (if you could even call that a loss; they were kind of forced into my listbuilding). Also if the Bilious Decanter isn’t worth it here, the 5+ Ward artefact could always go on the Gheist King, instead. The bright side is, I can run either and have the same number of models, really. I just want to hear thoughts on which has stronger benefits.

That was generally my thinking. No one’s really gonna get good use out of Horrors being battleline in Hollowmourne. So you kinda have to kill the theme a little. The rest of the court is pretty decent though, as far as I’m aware its still the best way to Smashbat. I, myself, am going with Blisterskin not only for the movement, but for my Flayers being battleline and new, fun ways to use the redeploy strat. If all else fails and I do want to try Hollowmourne, I can always cut the two 20-man ghoul units down to minimum and add a third one. Though, I’d rather keep the extra artifact as Dermal Robe to give my Archregent at least a +1 to cast, because he does have Corpsemare tied to him, and he wants to cast it with as much success as he can get. If all else fails, I can go Feast Day or better yet now, Crusading Army (since Feast Day isn’t as mandatory with the CP overhaul and the fact you can only Frenzy once a turn), so I can get the +1 Casting Trait on the Archregent. I’d probably want to keep my 2 20 man ghoul blobs, though.

Honest question to be considered, as always I’d love your input. So, Grand Court Hollowmourne. I’m wondering if it is going to be as relevant as before without Warscroll Batallions. The whole draw was for Royal Mordants Smashbat. The Horrors you had to take had the benefit of at least being Battleline in Hollowmourne, and pretty much all your good units benefitted from the faction trait and even the command ability. The Corpsefane Gauntlet is a decent mandatory relic, and the Varghulf seems to enjoy the Billious Decanter alongside the General Trait. But now Mordants aren’t going to be a thing in most games, which means Horrors are probably going to see less play. Not dissing Horrors, but even with the discount, I don’t think they’re as favored compared to Flayers, especially now that Unleash Hell is a thing. Thematically, I love Hollowmourne. They’re the first Flesh-Eater Court I heard about, and what got me interested in the lore. Personally, I feel sad they’re probably gonna be less relevant now. I guess the question is, what is everyone’s input?

So the Billious decanter goes to it eh? Interesting. And the Hollowmourne allegiance ability makes it even better?

Oh, I thought you gave it Corpsefane Gauntlet? Wait isn’t it still 160?

They are but I’m actually managing to get it done fairly well. Just... from here on out they get painted piecemeal.

Nothing much of import here, just hobbytalk. It’s taking a while to get the army painted. Mainly because anything that isn’t a ghoul, I’m painting in pieces. Which means before I glue them, I gotta have them painted how I like. My first squad of flayers is a pain because I built them all first then started painting. Won’t make that mistake again, haha. Right now I’m tackling the GKoRTG. Getting the gheist flesh down over the ribs is tough, need really good light to see whats flesh and whats bone, but that should be the hardest part.