Redmanphill

Well they are both bull's heads, you'd expect some similarity.

It's only a WIP shot but the model is nearly done and I felt it was high time to get an update posted here. I still don't have the army ready to get to the tabletop but I am edging closer all the time. My evenings are about to free up and I am thinking that the extra eight hours a week that provides will see me steaming through what is actually left to paint, which is quite a lot. Anyway here is the current state of my Guardian of Souls. I kept him similar to the rest of the army and because he doesn't have the split robe and cowl that most of the other models do I went with an almost pure white. The fade from black out to this white would just take to long to do and the point of this project was/is to get an army to the table quickly. The silver here is done, just dark enough for my liking maybe a sharper highlight in the edges would be better. The gold I haven't touched apart from a wash. The Flames came out well despite being a rather quick job. They provide enough of an ethereal or eldritch look to them which differentiates them from the bodies of the spirits and ties in with the colours of the candles from the Chainrasp host. The only other thing I did differently on this model was the sword. I went with a more magical look and rather than making it crisp and clean similar to a 40k power sword I though again a more ethereal look would work. I think it did and beyond an ugly tide mark in the middle is came out really well, I won't be doing it on more models it was mainly just an experiment to see how it would come out. Now I am onto the bulk of the army: the Grim Ghast Reapers. Expect some updates soonish!

I still think that the Beastmen are unlikely to get a stand alone release and will become part of the Darkoath, I'd be happy to be proved wrong however.

Bretonnia and Tomb Kings for example! I don't see them stopping the plastic kits but all the finecast stuff would go the way of the Dodo.

They might need a reason for all the Free Guild models to have Karl Franz emblazoned on them, having him revealed as an important reincarnated character might be a way to do that...

Just wait until next year, it'll be full steam ahead for new 40k models, they are not idle in that department at all! You got a giant turtle, more than a lot of armies got. I see Slaves to Darkness and Beastmen being both relegated to the compendium/legacy stuff and being replaced with a combined faction: Dark Oath. Some models would come along with the new range but some would be left behind.

These seem to be things that they have been hinting at from the very start but will never reveal which I am fine with. So far some likely Old World characters in the Stormcast faction are Vlad von Carnstein, Valten and Karl Franz.

So Darkoath looks like a 'soup' book that will bring together the unaligned elements of the chaos army: Beastmen and Slaves to Darkness. This will relegate some units to the compendium legends version and also release a few new models for the combined faction. Sounds good to me....

4 is definitely a rope holding a squig, the fact it is about to break indicates that to me. 5,6,9,12 and 14 all look at least destruction if not Moon Clan.

The Scythe can only move in one direction in each movement so it can't loop. It has to go in a straight line in one direction only. That direction can be different each turn so at least there is that.

Painting continues apace with the Procession of Woes. I've actually managed to finished what have sadly come to be the first lot of twenty Chainrasps. Sadly because I realised I will have to paint a lot more of these for the future. Don't get me wrong, these are really great models and even fun to paint. However doing eighty of these would be a bit of a chore and it's definitely something that I am not looking forward to. However that seems to be what a good competitive list demands and while I am definitely low on the competitive spectrum I still like to at least compete. I kept the bases in line with the Spirit hosts, i didn't go over the top with the more decorative pieces as they'll get lost amongst the horde. They are much more effective on large bases and in smaller units anyway. I think the basing serves well enough to offer a contrast to the models without being a focal point. A lot of people are recommending a high contrast base for models and I find it way over the top. It detracts from the model which should be the focal point and I often find myself just looking at the base than the fine paint-job sitting right above it. The Lady of Lamentations is also finally finished. she is actually the first model I painted for the army but as I had no clue what I was going to do with regards to the basing on the army I left her sitting on a black square. I rectified the issue over the weekend and now she is sitting proud alongside the rest of the army. Eagle-eyed viewers might noticed that she is a slightly different colour to the rest of the spirits, she has a deeper blue and green colour. She was the test model for the whole army and while I am following @Mengel Miniatures's excellent tutorial for the army I do want to experiment just a little. So here I gave her a second wash of the ethereal effect mixture that I have made up. It makes the colour much more vibrant and I wasn't very happy with it. However done is done and she is good enough to rank up alongside the rest of the army. I also learned to keep the ethereal effect subtle and balanced heavily in favour of white. I didn't add any real decorative pieces to the base because of the angle she is leaning. I would have to make it look like she is passing through a fence and while that's something I do plan on doing for one of my characters she just doesn't warrant the attention. Finally in today's monster update I have the Shysh Reaper. As you will have read above I really don't rate the spell that highly but it is a cool model and its also a great way for me to practise the jade colour that I have been trying to get for a very long time. I didn't get the colour right with the Aethervoid Pendulum and so when it came to this model I really upped that final green colour. I think it's come our really well and which I'll have to refine the colour a bit more if I use it elsewhere at least now I know that I can. Having finally seen the model in the flesh, so to speak I can say that its great. I think they captured the spell well and it will at least look cool on the battlefield. Will i ever take it? No, I don't think so. First of all it is a template that moves and then effects everything under it. A whole new concept for Age of Sigmar. It's going to be very hard to move this over models and be sure exactly what is getting touched or not. This will lead to players getting annoyed and that's not something I want to see. They should have found a more elegant solution rather than introduce templates. Also the base on this is fairly large which makes it really difficult for the model to cross any moderately sized units and large units will block it entirely. It'll work an smaller elite units, characters and warmachines which I suppose are the best targets to go after but it would actually be easy enough to surround this spell with units and prevent it from moving at all. As it will have to clear terrain for the most part too this again presents a problem. Who knows maybe I will try it out a few times before it gets relegated to the shelf.

Despite all the theory here over the last few days I have still been painting. The Chainrasps are almost ready for the battlefield though they'll be unaccompanied for a while yet. I really don't know what way I'm going with the army and a few lists have been floating around in my head. We shall have to wait and see what tickles my fancy. I have however made some progress with: the Aethervoid Pendulum. The model for this is great though not as large as I'd guessed it would be. The previews made it seem absolutely massive. It still takes a while to paint as its got a very large surface area. I kept the scheme as simple as possible and inadvertently matched it with the Nighthaunts I'm painting. That wasn't the intention but sometimes these things happen. I wanted to go with a more striking scheme than you see here though some of that is the photographs fault. It's more vibrant in real life. I was inspired by some of the Necrons I've seen recently, a dark blue highlighted up to a vibrant almost lurid green. I still might go back to this model and add a final highlight to bring up the green a little. However the model is field-able at this stage and I'm quite happy with it.

Today I thought I would tackle the spells that the Nighthaunt have access too, including the three endless spells. I think magic is going to be very important in Age of Sigmar version two and having access to good spells is paramount. I've included the percentage chances of the spells being actually cast here. The number after in brackets indicates the chance if you are using the Wychlight Lantern. As you can se it has a big effect on the chances of the spells going off making it a viable choice in any list. Soul Cage: has a 72% (83%) chance of going off making it reliable enough for casting. It prevents an enemy unit from retreating and forces them to strike last. That's a good ability but you won't be casting it every turn. It can totally turn the game if used on the right unit at the right time but waiting for all this to align in a game means its only an option for me rather than a must have. Spirit Drain: has a 91% (97%) chance of going off and so that's a really consistent spell. Sadly its effect leaves a lot to be desired. You roll dice equal to the targets wounds and on a 6+ you do a mortal wound. So on a normal infantry model you have a 16% chance of doing a wound. I think I'll leave this spell in the bin where it belongs. Lifestealer: has a 58% (72%) chance of going off. It deals D3 mortal wounds to a unit within 12" and allows the caster to heal that number of wounds. This one is good, a real alternative to Arcance Bolt. As an offensive spell its the one I would go for. Reaping Scythe: has a 91% (97%) chance of going off. Its good as it grants the caster rerolls on to hit and to wound on a single weapon. While I don't tend to throw my wizards into combat there is a good combination between this spell and the Midnight Tome. Its an edge case for sure but useful as a secondary spell I think. Shademist: has a 72% (83%) chance of going off. This is it, the spell you want. Don't leave home without it. A unit wholly within 12" is given -1 to wound. this shifts the odds against being wounded by 16%. This really makes your units durable and also turns off an of the abilities enemies might have that come into effect on the roll of a six to wound. As this effects both melee and shooting you will be casting this every turn. The go to spell in my opinion. Spectral Tether: has a 72% (83%) chance of going off. It simply heals D3 wounds which while useful for non-summonable units is simply not as good as the Spectral Lure spell from the Guardian of Souls. Spectral Lure: has a 72% (83%) chance of going off. This spell is exclusive to the Guardian of Souls. It heals D6 wounds or returns models up to that value of wounds. This has various combinations throughout the book and as such you'll be casting this fairly often. I think you will most likely be casting this every turn. There are two spells that you really want to get off in this list almost every turn. Shademist and Spectral Lure. For that reason I would definitely consider two wizards the minimum in a competitive Nighthaunts army. You can either buy two or take the Midnight Tome to make another hero a wizard. I've been considering this for my Spirit Tormet as I don't really want to throw him into combat but rather keep him back and have him boost my Chainrasps as part of the Condemned battalion. As for the Endless Spells: Shyish Reaper: has a 58% (72%) chance of going off. It'll end up 14" away from your caster after you have cast it. It can only move during the turn in one direction and in a straight line which means it has to have a landing place. It can't even pivot at the end of its move. Its more flexible than the Aethervoid Pendulum but its movement is fairly restrictive and this has to be kept in mind. It only has the potential to damage models it moves over which again might mean none it it can't clear a unit with its movement. The better an opponents armour save the more chance of a wound. I like this spell, the model is the best of the three but really its going to be hard to get this thing to cross big units. Its good against smaller more elite units and doubly so as these are likely to be well armoured. Its going to be hard to actually see who this passes over when it moves and that's going to lead to arguments on the table. GW did a good job of removing templates from the game to just return them in the new edition via endless spells. Vault of Souls: has a 72% (83%) chance of being cast. Sadly the model looks really stupid. However its possibly the best of the Nighthaunt specific endless spells. It can be set up 18" away which is great, making it an option to cast on the first turn when you might not need Spectral Lure. Its also less likely to turn around and come back at you. It's got a decent move too and has an area of effect of 6". On a 6+ this spell will cause a mortal wound. It's like a mini Purple Sun. Once the Vault of Souls causes enough mortal wounds it will explode and cause another round of damage to units within the area of effect. While this spell won't be overly powerful in the game its got a huge nuisance factor and could cause a lot of disruption to the opponents plan. Mortalis Teminexus: has a 72% (83%) chance of being cast. Again it can be set up at a good distance and has a decent move. This will get the spell where you want it nice and early. Similar to the Cogs of Time you can manipulate this. If you reverse it then each unit with 6 can heal whereas if you hasten time then the units within 6" will suffer mortal wounds. This is a real double edged sword and while I think it can be quite good it can really get out of your control and benefit the enemy army. At least with the Vault you don't have the same fear. This one is nice but I think that i'll be taking something else instead.

I've been slowly building my thoughts about the army and how I would like it to work on the tabletop. This led me to considering which artefacts I would use and here is a summary of them and also my thoughts on which I'd take: Shadows Edge: On the hit roll of a 6 the attack generates two mortal wounds. This weapon seems useful especially on weapons that inflict a single point of damage. Still as the roll has to be unmodified then it won't come up more than once or twice in a game and even then unless you are luck and can roll a three for the damage its not really upping your output of damage consistently. I don't really rate this weapon much. Reaper of Sorrows: This is an interesting weapon and if you can combine it with a few bravery debuffs then it might actually do something. Basically if you can beat the opponents bravery on a 2d6 roll your rend gets increased to -3. Its situational and again doesn't provide a reliable and consistent increase in damage out put, I don't rate it. Balefire Blade: This one is simple enough and adds 1 damage to a weapon the bearer has. No need to roll its always on. This finally provides that consistency that a weapon should have. It's the second best option of all the weapons in the book. Slitter: This is the most interesting weapon to me as it has some hidden utility. You can pick a model before you pile in within 1". If you roll higher than their wounds they are slain outright. Its a 2+ to kill a standard infantry model and a 3+ to kill a Stormcast, after tat you are starting to gamble with a 4* to take out an Orruk Brute. Yes you do have the chance to take out those generic five wound characters but its unlikely at 16%. What is good though is the chance to break a formation of troops. You can choose the model here and potentially split a unit into two and then pile into the gap preventing pile-ins to regroup. In the battleshock phase whatever isn't in coherency is dead. On units that are already stretched thin this is great especially if they have already attacked. I haven't used the weapon but it really offers some nasty trick your opponent won't see coming. Headsmans Justice: This is another solid consistent weapon. It adds 1 to the to hit and to wound rolls. You can't really get much better than this, not only are you more likely to hit but you are more likely to wound. Balance this with some of the buffs to hit via command abilities and you are on to a solid combat piece that will always deliver. This is the best option of all the weapons in the book it just needs to go on a model with a high number of attacks or one that has less attacks but a lot of damage potential. Shrieking Blade: This isn't really a weapon and could just as well have been put into the Relics of the Underworld category. The bearer is -1 to hit in melee combat. A good buff to keep the number of hits and resulting damage down. This on an Executioner could potentially result in a -2 to hit but you'd be sacrificing their output if armed with the Headsmans Justice. I don't know how to rate this one and doing so against the weapons isn't fair I think. We've been given a nice selection of weapons where there are some really valid choices. I don't think that any weapon is so strong that you would always chose it. The Slitter is really intriguing and used in the right circumstance could be devastating for an elite unit that gets split in half. It doesn't have the consistency of the Balefire Blade or the Headsmans Justice though and I think that will edge it out of consideration for most lists and sadly for competitive play. Cloak of the Waxing Moon: This doubles the effectiveness of our Deathless Spirits battle trait and provides the wearer with a 33% chance to negate any wound in melee. I am assuming this includes mortal wounds. This is actually quite good on a character that is going to be in combat early and often. Our standard save already equates to 50% more wounds and this compounds that to another 33%. It doesn't equate to the character being invulnerable, multiple small wounds will still get through and a single big hit can get lucky. However I'd consider this option for a more durable character that needs to hold objectives. Pendant of the Fell Wind: This is again a really useful item. It adds a significant move bonus to models and units wholly within 12". This gets you across the table more quickly which a combat army wants to be. It'll get you onto those objectives in the middle of the board more quickly too which is great. I don't know if it would be my first pick but its a strong contender for second place. Dreadbolt Ring: This is again an inconsistent item. You have to successfully wound first and then you can inflict D3 wounds on a nearby unit. If you are unlucky you won't manage to wound or you'll roll a 1 for the number of wounds. I'd prefer one of the weapon options for the consistency in increase damage output. Mirror of Screaming Souls: This takes effect in the shooting phase and is based on bravery. If you can beat a unit within 8" bravery then they take a mortal wound. This one is okay when combined with other bravery debuffs but otherwise can be potentially useless. I'd rather avoid this one. Midnight Tome: This makes the bearer a wizard and if they are already a wizard grants an extra casting attempt. I like this. It's always useful to have another wizard in the army as the meta is shifting towards casting. It frees up and Guardian Spirits to heal units while this wizard can concentrate on something else such as an endless spell. I would definitely consider this for my Spirit Torment. Covetous Familiar: This little fella will cause a mortal wound to enemies within 3" on a 2+. As its enemy units rather than models it won't be doing much. I'd skip it. The last section of items are Infernal Lanterns. These are restricted to the Guardian of Souls only. As I am currently thinking of having a Guardian of Souls as my general these are a great inclusion. Lightshard of the Harvest Moon: This is nice but as I'll probably be getting the bonus from a battalion already for a large part of my army I think I'll be skipping this. Basically once per game units wholly within 12" can reroll all hits. Its good don't get me wrong and if you can line this up with the right command points you can really inflict damage. Its got too many dependencies to multiply its effect in my mind sadly. Wychlight Lantern: This is simple, +1 to cast. Its great as the meta is moving towards a magic one the counter to this will be players including a lot of unbinding. So making your spells harder to unbind will be a great choice. Beacon of Nagashizzar: This benefits the casting of Spectral Lure giving a +3 bonus to models brought back. If you are focusing on large hordes of Chainrasps or other one wound models in the army then this can be very powerful. I like this a lot so of the three lantern options I'd always take this. I guess the items I would pick would depend heavily on the characters/battalions I'd use. The weapons offer three good choices and I think I would go for one of those before I went for something else. If I was talking a combat character I would choose the Headsmans Justice. With the possibility of having to face debuffs effecting hitting or wounding this compensates for that and also in other circumstances increases the characters damage output consistently. When it comes to relics I am torn. These have some good choices. At the moment the pendent or tome would be what I'd choose. I'll have to play with the army to see if the extra movement is needed more than an extra wizard. Finally the lanterns, that's an easy choice: the beacon every time.

The new book is out and I'm not able to get it... I've been hounding my local store recently to get all the Nighthaunt stuff as soon as it comes out but so far the only thing they have managed to get is the Starter Box, at least i am progressing with some painting on those models. As I don't doubt I'll need a lot of Chainrasps I've started with those. The full twenty all at once. Its probably not the wisest decision but I want to get them out of the way as soon as possible. The unit can come with forty models in it and once (if?) a multipart kit comes out I'll pick it up to add to these. From the leaked points it seems very hard to get everything into the army that I would like. The army seems very dependent on characters and these just aren't cheap. I have considered getting the Craven King as a supporting piece but while he is good at his points level he competes with the Black Coach which is a model I would prefer I think, even if it is almost unplayable due to the tiny base with a massively over-hanging model. I can worry about that later once the painting of the starter set is finished. The Chainrasps are close to being done, all twenty are just like the model you see here. A final highlight on the cowl and the bases and I think I am good to go. I've been thinking about the lore behind my army and I think I'll go with a wizard being my general. Here is what I came up with so far: Keledron the Soul-Thief Keledron was once a powerful mage of the Amethyst Order before the coming of Chaos. Since he was a child the idea of death held a fascination for him. Once he became a mage and began to learn the secrets of magic he knew with the certainty that only the young can possess that he would cheat death and live forever. His studies progressed, and he rose high in his Order. His intuitive knowledge of the energies of death gave him access to arcane libraries of his predecessors and only served to fuel his selfish wish. Eventually he became Master at Roden in Shysh, one of the great centres for the Collegiate Arcanum in that realm. It was here that he first encountered Nagash through his minions. Keledron made a great project of capturing the various creatures of undeath and studying them. Each was kept in a finely wrought brass and crystal cage through which no magic could pass. Each of the eight facets of the cage held a sensitive sheet of crystal which showed the interplay of the winds of magic within. The wizard could see how the creature was sustained perpetually and when separated from the winds how they slowly succumbed to true death. The unforeseen effect was that when the creature finally perished the cage acted as a trap for the creature’s soul preventing it returning to the underworld from where it had been plucked. With some modifications to the structure of the cage Keledron was able to slowly siphon the soul out of its cage and employ it in his magics. Finally, he had made the breakthrough he had wanted since his youth. He would live forever. However it was his greed that finally brought him to the attention of the Great Necromancer. Not content to slowly siphon the souls from the undead he captured he created a vast laboratory underneath the tower of Roden that eventually came to contain thousands of these soul cages. Each iteration became better than the next not just siphoning the soul but refining its energies. Each cage were finally fitted with a Siphon Flask that would drain and compress souls allowing Keledron to carry them with him and employ their energies in any arcane task set before him. This deficit in souls was noticed and before long Keledron was confronted in his laboratory. An incorporeal being of immense power offered him a trade, true eternal life serving the God of Death in return for the souls of each of the mages that served under him at Roden. The decision was quickly made and that night Keledron betrayed his Order to gain his greatest desire.

I'm cracking on with this army and just in time. I've got everything preordered and everything I currently own, which isn't much admittedly, done. I've committed to a basing style, always a big decision with an army. As most of the range seems to come with some grave elements already attached to the model I had little choice but to go with this. That was a bit of a pity but hey I can't complain too much. To that end I made some more railings like the one shown in the post above. I've come to the end of the spear tips I'm using so i'll have to try and source some more asap. The addition of the dead/dried vegetation works really well with the texture paints. I'm am planning on playing some skirmish with these as soon as I can have a force together. I'm just waiting to see whats in the Malign Sorcery book with regards to this before we really start. It's supposed to have some more rules/scenarios/setting for skirmish and we might as well try and play with that. It'll be a narrative driven campaign for sure so layering in more rules and atmosphere is always beneficial.

I’m making decent progress with this army. My first set of spirit hosts are nearly done and this has got me thinking about what to do for their bases. I don’t want to leave everything to the end and base them then as that’s going to be a rather gargantuan task by that time. So I decided to experiment and try to copy what’s already on some of the bases. The new stalkers and banshees have fantastic premade bases and as they will be in the army I’ve got to copy what they already have so that there will be some cohesiveness across everything. The main elements are grave stones, railings, stumps, roses and paving stones. I thought I’d try my hand at making some railings. Spear tips from free guild state troops work perfectly with paper clips, bits of sprue and plasticard to make what is in the photo below. I’ll get a little more creative with the next ones but I’m really happy with how easy this was to do. As I’ve no chance at gaming I’ve been busily reading all the leaks over the last few days. I’m really eager to get this army onto the table and start gaming... it’s going to be a long two weeks to wait...

@Dracothjay those look great. It’s going to be a while before I manage to get that many painted. I’m not sure if the Mortis Engine will stay in the Nighthaunt faction. I hope so as I’d like to paint one eventually. I think the Black Coach will be the first big model I go for.

It looks like I’m all in with the new Nighthaunts. I’ve always been tempted by the army but now that they are getting what looks like a huge boost in terms of options my temptation has proven too much to resist. In anticipation of everything coming out I’ve decided to try and get a head start and get some painting done. I’ve picked up the Knight of Shrouds and a Tomb Banshee figuring that they will let me try my colour scheme out. Tyler Mengel has a great guide on painting the various Nighthaunts and, I’ve shamlessly copied it for the white portions of my ghosts. I think the pure white look is a little too boring, it works for the Spirit Hosts but it really doesn’t work on the more complex models especially the likes of the new Craven King. I’ve gone with something similar to the GW scheme for the rest of the model. I really want to get this army on the table as soon as I can and to that end I’ve made sure that I can paint these models quickly and well. Below is Grieven the Unrepentent, Knight of Shrouds and General of the Lament of Woes. He’s the second model I’ve finished painting for the army but the Tomb Banshee needs a little change and so I won’t show her here just yet. I also haven’t done the bases in the hope that there will be some Graveyard bases coming out soon. The previews at Warhammer Fest seemed to indicate this. I don’t really know how the Nighthaunts will fit on them but we shall see if they are actually released or not. . My ideas for playing with the army haven’t really been given much attention. The new battletome will likely change everything and so all I can do now is wait with bated breath until I have it in my hands. Hopefully I don’t have to wait too long, my excitement is at fever pitch!

Jervis mentioned that there would be an initial release for the spells indicating we aren’t getting them all at once. I suspect the first set would be released in a big box with them available individually at a later date.