TechnoVampire

I think FAQ’s show that the lack of internal balance within the new book is an issue. LOB makes points adjustments almost impossible in some cases (blood knights and VLOZD) because of how much better they function in the sub-faction. Blood knights are objectively too expensive for what they do (compare them to the likes of chaos knights in StD), but being able to spam mortal wounds with them and make them unkillable in LOB was too much. Riders of ruin feels really bad now. It was clearly designed to trigger when used with the “retreat” over other units in the old edition. Now it’s very hard to trigger because of blood knights base size. It feels like the already weaker sub factions will suffer for the sins of LOB.

… found a seller on eBay who printed me 2 units of 20 with command group for £60. Im really happy with the detail and how they look, especially for the price.

So I purchased some of the GG proxies I posted above and I’m pretty happy with how they look:

Thanks, that’s not a bad shout and I’ll look into it if I fail my mission to acquire the official head without spending stupid money. It does look like a decent alternative, though I think the original has a lot of nice character and is very unique. I appreciate you taking the time to help 😊

Hey guys. I’m wondering if anyone can help me out. I’ve swapped my Mannfred rider out for Neferata (permanently, no magnets, straight in with glue), and I’ve realised that I don’t have the head for her! She’s currently sitting headless and sad atop her mount. Is there anyone here that by any slim chance has a spare neferata head that they’d be willing to sell to me? (I’ve checked online and can’t find anything). (I’m UK bases in case it makes a difference) Thanks!

Hello fellow nighthaunt players. I’m just wondering if anyone has much experience playing with Krulghast crutatior? I have a friendly tournament coming up and I have 150 points left to spend so I’m considering including it in my list. I know it tends to get quite positive reviews, but I’m wondering if its damage reduction ability is worth spending 150 points on or if it’s actually quite situational, as Krulghast doesn’t do much else. My alternative is using Knight of shrouds (mounted) and giving it spiteful spirit and soul fire ring for the mortal wound pulse, but that can be tricky to pull off. He does have a decent attack profile though and he’s fast for objective grabbing. Free all out attack 1/battle round is also nice.

I’d love to agree with you on this point, but if making rules accessible was at the top of GW’s priority pile they’d provide free rules online in the same way they do with war-scrolls, and still have a way of monetising them through printed books (for people that like those) and a paid app that conveniently updates the rules and let’s you build lists with them (add in any other app based bonus’s that would encourage people to pay for it)… please don’t take that as me trying to undermine what you are saying, I’m just making the point that GW could easily provide rules to a much wider audience while still make money from them if they wished to do so. It seems clear to me that book only rules is a (failed) attempt to prevent people from accessing them for free and as they see it losing any potential profit. Ironically GW might even attract more players (and money) if the rules were more readily accessible.

That’s fair, but I’m not suggesting a ban on books or printed material. Like many people I’d like an option for digital rules that doesn’t require purchasing a book that may be out of date within a few weeks after FAQ’s are released. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. The app could be available offline, or there could be an option to print rules. One option could be an online PDF people can purchase is updated, and you can print, or books could simply exist alongside a cheaper option for digital rules… There are many alternative solutions that don’t require exclusively using expensive disposable books.

That’s a fair point. The part I feel most strongly about is GW providing digital rules that they can update quickly as opposed to making us buy paper books that are as good as disposable as soon as you put a code into the the app. My thinking was more that they could make the app subscription based and provide the rules, which are updated quickly and easily for each faction, (helping to keep up to date with the break-neck pace of the changes in the game). If they were free then even better! I’d also be all for physical lore and artwork books that people can collect… if they also include the rules in them then great!

For me this is 100% the best answer. Having digital subscription based army rules would allow GW To quickly change points or rules that are out of balance, meaning as players we don’t have to wait years for an update if an army or key unit suddenly sucks or breaks the game. It feels like this is a logical progression on many levels, and popular for players, however GW will probably avoid this as long as possible, because they are terrified of having rules pirated and they love selling printed rules on dead trees. Maybe if the community increases pressure GW might eventually start to listen.

I found an STL file online for some grave guard proxies I think are pretty spot on. Does anyone know of an online 3D printing service? (There is one seller printing them on Etsy, but the prices are super high). link: https://fantasycultminiatures.com/en/undeads/36-falange-del-cementerio.html

Although I’m duty (and financially) bound to Kastelai, I made an all cavalry LOB list that I think could be fun and quite capable: Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords - Army Type: Legion of Blood - Grand Strategy: Hold the Line LEADER 1 x Neferata (390) - Spells: Waste Away 1 x Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (440) - General - Command Traits: Doomed Minions - Deathlance - Artefacts: Cloak of Mists and Shadows - Spells: Vile Transference 1 x Wight King on Skeletal Steed (160) BATTLELINE 10 x Black Knights (220) 10 x Black Knights (220) 5 x Black Knights (110) OTHER 10 x Blood Knights (460) - Kastellan - Standard Bearer - Templar Lance TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)

It’s nice to know others are still trying to make Kastelai work when other sub-factions are looking considerably stronger… I feel like they gave LOB the best of everything. If they’d even just given Kastelai the fighty command trait and artefact for VLOZD the sub-faction would have had so much more potential. Vhordrai and 3 X 5 blood knights are pretty much my starting block when designing lists now. then I figure you need summonable units to make things work, and the choice feels like tarpits and board control with skeletons/ zombies, or grave guard for dedicated hammers. I lean towards grave gaurd, as I simply like things that hit hard, but I’m in complete agreement with you, that I find the models really off-putting. I’m currently using the new deathrattle ones which I love, but they don’t have the heavily armoured elite vibe that GG should… it’s a shame that so far GW have skipped that opportunity to sell new models as I think (based on all the other new skeletons) new GG would be fantastic, and I don’t know a SBGL player that wouldn’t pick them up. Im also with you on the necromancer… I try to fit him in lists, but he’s just ok. I feel neglected that he’s pretty much the only feasible death mage caster Kastelai has access too (you could run the mortarchs, but they’re not worth the points outside of their sub factions).

Fully agree with this… I’m not a big fan of the ghoul stuff anyway, and I think feral bat-vampires are aesthetically and thematically much more interesting, however even objectively these models don’t appeal to me at all. They are too busy and look like they’ve had a load of random design aspects thrown at them. I also feel they look much more weird cave man/ cartoon tribal, and less like creepy dead things. I hope this isn’t the underpinning design style for the new FEC range.

I’m really glad to hear that! Vhordria is an auto include in my Kastelai lists now. The decision is always whether to also include a VLOZD as general or not. My thinking seems similar to yours that Vengorian lord is a cheaper alternative with potentially more output. Glad it’s been working out. If you have a list you’d like to share I’d be interested. Here’s what I was considering: Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords - Army Type: Kastelai - Grand Strategy: Hold the Line LEADER 1 x Prince Vhordrai (470) - Spells: Vile Transference 1 x Vengorian Lord (280) - General - Command Traits: Undead Bladelord - Artefacts: Fragment of the Keep - Spells: Flaming Weapon BATTLELINE 5 x Blood Knights (230) - Kastellan - Standard Bearer - Templar Lance 5 x Blood Knights (230) - Kastellan - Standard Bearer - Templar Lance 5 x Blood Knights (230) - Kastellan - Standard Bearer - Templar Lance OTHER 20 x Grave Guard (280) - Seneschal - Standard Bearer - Hornblower - Great Wight Blade 20 x Grave Guard (280) - Seneschal - Standard Bearer - Hornblower - Great Wight Blade TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000) (Apologies I don’t seem able to hide content when using my iPhone, to reduce post lengths)

Has anyone else considered Vengorian lords value in Kastelai? His attack profile has had a significant improvement and he’s the only multiple attack unit who’s attacks all benefit from the Kastelai buffs (as far as I can tell). If you make him your general and give him undead bladelord he can quickly ‘level up’ and with both offensive buffs his attack profile is pretty scary: 5, 3+ 3+ -1 3 damage 4, 3+ 2+ -2 4 damage D6+1 4+ 4+ -1 2 damage. With all out attack and the +1 to wound rolls monstrous rampage his main attacks are 2’s to hit and wound. Add flaming weapon and his second attack is hitting for damage 5. If you also give him the fragment of the keep artefact then he’s giving anything within 3” reduced rend by one and -1 to wound rolls. Worth considering?

I’ve been watching AOS coach and Vince Venturella’s review videos of the new book, which are interesting, but both report finding Kastelai to be a poor sub faction choice compared to the others. I find myself agreeing with the majority of the points they make, but it makes me sad that it no longer seems considered to be particularly good.

I have a wee rules question (it’s SBGL specific, so thought it would be ok to ask here). If we have a summonable unit in a battalion that provides an ongoing benefit (say galletian veterans) and that unit is destroyed, and then a new replacement unit is returned at half strength using the endless legions ability, is that new unit part of the battalion, providing it with the same benefits as the unit it replaced?

That’s nice to hear… I have only played the new book once and my first dice roll of the game (after priority) I excitedly attempted to cast spirit gale and rolled snake eyes, dealing my vamp lord 2 mortal wounds… so that’s maybe prematurely soured me a little 😆. I can imagine it provides a pretty high amount of Timmy enjoyment when double cast, so maybe my previous post was a little critical in terms of the fun factor. I’m glad Mannfred has some play, the new warsrcoll didn’t appeal to me, as he was a key aspect of my previous strategy, but I can definitely understand why he might have provided a bit of a NPE. I think he’s really cool in the lore and on the table though, so I’m glad people are finding him useful. RIP +1 hit and wound throughout the book 🪦

No worries at all 😊 I was referring to Kroak’s spell “celestial deliverance” which does D3 damage to 3 units and can be cast 4 times (at +2 or +3 with a banner bearer). If you were to get it off 4 times (quite plausible) you’d be looking at an average of something like 20 mortal wounds with massive range. I know it’s not ‘like for like’ as spirit gale is a lore spell, and the other is on a 390 point warscroll, but I was using it as a an example of a (kind of) board wide mortal wound spell with significantly more damage potential than Spirit Gale (unless your opponent has gone seriously wild with MSU). If GW is ok with that I’d be surprised if they start to view spirit gale as problematic 😊

I agree with all of that. I think it’s a reasonable lore and each of the spells has a pretty clear use. It doesn’t particularly excite me, but I guess in their heads GW figures vampires only use magic for hurting things, which thematically maybe works?

That’s the first time I’ve mentioned it, but I think others have also. I was mainly referring to Kroak’s warscroll spell, which he can spam and project through an oracle or skink to reach almost anywhere on the board averaging significantly more damage than Spirit Gale.

I think the spells are generally better now, but (particularly) lore of the vamps lacks any kind of utility. I think pinions was such a go to because the other spells were generally so bad. Unless you are playing an aggressive/ alpha style list you probably wouldn’t be tempted to take pinions now, but I feel it’s loss. The current lore boils down to 3 different and situationally decent ways to deal mortal wounds, but I feel like it would have been nice if there was at least a one buff or utility spell. Prison of grief provides some utility, but useable death mages are in short supply (depending on your sub faction). on the subject of spirit gale, I think it seems solid (better in certain match ups) but in no way broken, especially after seeing what they’ve printed in the new seraphon book.

This is how I read it also.

As much as the power gamer in me likes that the rule as written currently functions this way, I’m wondering if it also needs an FAQ for clarity, as I get the feeling this was not the intention… Also I don’t know the core rules well enough to say myself, but do they allow for piling in/ charging 1/2 inch over another model and then back again, and does that count as “passing across”? Edit: I just checked myself and yes it does: I feel it’s likely the ability will be changed to “normal move” in which case it will be pretty situational, and a lot worse than the old rule.