bonzai

I have had a brayherd army pretty much implode on a brick of 40 clan rats. It just comes down to the support you put on them. In my case I had gnaw-gnaw, inspiring presence, and death frenzy up. 2 attacks, on 3+/3+, and when they die getting to pile in and attack again can deal a lot of wounds. YMMV though... as I was typically going up against low armor targets, or just tarpitting high armor ones while wearing them down with mortal wounds.

Yep. I found that the warpfire throwers were the most reliable weapons team to add to the clawpack. Usually I will support a single brick of clan rats with them, adding 3d6 mortal wound potential while the rats tarpit. Clan rats can do a lot of work themselves. I have seen the bulk of a brayherd army implode after charging into a brick of clan rats with gnaw-gnaw and death frenzy up. What made the list strong before, was the battlestandard providing in essence a bubble of inspiring presence, and the claw pack giving a bubble of gnaw-gnaw. With the crown on top of it, it was like getting 4 command abilities a turn. It's not quite there again, but with the new crown and command point mechanic, I'm back to about 2 1/3 command abilities a turn. So its progress at least.

I had shelved my Verminus army with the last handbook. The loss of the clawpack and the nerfs to the banner and crown pretty much gutted it. Now I think they are at least playable again. Here is the list I'm going to run, mainly as a soft ball list for learning games. Verminlord Warbringer w/ crown, cunning deciever 280 Skaven Warlord on Brood Horror 220 Skaven Warlord w/ war halberd & barbed blade 100 Skavem warlord w/ warpforged blade 100 20 Stormvermin 280 40 Clanrats w/ blades 200 40 Clanrats w/spears 200 40 Clanrats w/ blades 200 Allies Warpfire thrower 70 Warpfire thrower 70 Warpfire thrower 70 Warplightning cannon 180 Total: 1,970 Is it competitive? Not even close. But it is relatively balanced. Between the crown, broodhorror, and changes to inspiring presence, my bricks of rats shouldn't implode to quickly to battleshock. Lots of bodies to chew through with some ranged mortal wound support, a couple behemoths to throw some concentrated punch, and enough heroes to make sure all my squads have access to allegiance and command abilities. I have always loved what gnaw-gnaw and death frenzy dc o for storm vermin and clan rats. Now I might even get to use the verminlord's ability on top of it. It has problems though. It's light on casting, but at least it has the verminlord to dispel endless spells where needed. Scaven are comparatively fast, but can be outmaneuvered on the board. The biggest weakness that I see though, is that it is really starved for command points. There aren't any battalions for Verminus allegiance to take any morethough, so cunning deciever is the best we got. Over all it's not as strong as it was, but it is at least playable again. I'll use it as a training wheels list against new players. In particular it will be a good warm up for my wife's new night haunts. It will be nice to at least see them on the board again.

I don't know... I've done some work with lots of reavers and triple bolt throwers.

I have been struggling with the same battalion on the previous page for my wife's army. I am on the fence about large units of myrmourn banshee. On one hand they are great anti magic units. On the other, I am not thrilled about their combat ability. Also if the opponent doesn't cast spells then they are kind of a waste. I have a hard time justifying multiple large units of specialist units, but I guess play testing will show how they perform on the table. Harridans however, are even more punchy than the reapers, plus they reduce your opponents hit rolls by 1. I kind of like them. Plus with Lady Olynder and Geminids you can stack two more to hit debuffs. I just wish that they were about 10 points less expensive and or battleline. I kinda want to run units of 20. My problem with my list is that I get pulled in too many directions. You need offence, casting, anti casting, debuffs, and healing. It's really hard to fit everything you want into one list. I'm hoping it will get easier with some play testing. I may drop the battalion all together and try this list; Heroes Lady Olynder- General, w/ lifestealer 240 Banshee 80 Spirit of Torment 120 Spirit of Torment 120 Guardian of souls w/ lantern of Nagagishizzar, soul cage 140 Battleline 10 chainrasps 80 10 chainrasps 80 10 chainrasps 80 Other 4 myrmourn banshee 80 20 dreadscythe Harridens 320 20 dreadscythe Harridens 320 Mournghoul 300 Endless Spells Geminids 40 Total: 2000 Battleline is still light, but it has all kinds of penalties to hit debuffs, lots of healing, and it's a bit more focused on what it wants to do. Hate to say it, but I kind of like it better than the bravery shenanigans. If the list kills enough, they will still deal with battleshock anyways. Hmm... I'll have to talk to my wife. If I drop the banshee and myrmourn I could buff up a unit of chainrasp for a battleline unit with bodies. But she wanted to represent the ghost chic's so we will see. Lol

Yeah, not sure what to tweak. I like the double spirits of torment, as they can heal characters. Theoretically as long as I kill 3 models a turn, the mornghul could heal 3d3 in a round which makes it pretty darn tanky. Also helps keep lady Olynder topped off. I hate to say it, but it may be better to drop the shieker host and just focus on debuffing hit rolls and bulking up some units. Dropping the battalion and all the endless spells but the geminids, and I'd free up 200 points to play with. I guess have to test it as is, and see how well these synergies pan out in practice. I like the ideas behind them, but it feels like I am short about 500 points in this list.

If he doesn't pull his weight I'll swap him for a star priest. I've played enough games against a friends eternal star host with near constant 2+ rerollable saves to have some respect for them.

I'm not sure that you even need the vortex anymore. I am thinking of this version. Heroes Lord Kroak 450 Slaan -general vast intellect 260 Astrolith Bearer, incandescent rectrices 160 Skink priest, priestly trappings 80 Battleline 40 skinks, boltspitters 240 10 skinks, boltspitters 60 10 skinks, boltspitters 60 Behemoths Bastillidon, solar engine 280 Bastillidon, solar engine 280 Endless Spells Chronocogs 60 Umbral spell portal 60 Total: 1990 Deploy with the big squad of skinks bubble wrapping kroak and friends. Plant the banner, Slaan casts Curse of Fate on himself to try and guarantee the +1 to cast celestial rite, plus Kroak re-rolls. Priest does his dance for re-rolling saves in a bubble. Cast chronocogs and spell portal. Kroak does his thing, and the slaan summons and punts things where they need to go. If deployed right there will be no room to deploy predatory spells back through the portal at you, and you have two possible spots for Kroak to nova from. Then you have a barrier of skinks and bastillidons with rerolls to hit and saves to walk through, plus any summoned fodder. Seems really strong to me. Possible 8 spells a turn, 7 unbind attempts anywhere on the board, nasty shooting, mobility, and summoning. It checks a lot of boxes.

Hey all. My wife is starting Nighthaunts and wants me to help her with a list. She wants to play a female centric list (of course), so that has me leaning towards the Shrieker Host. Here are my thoughts so far; Heroes Lady Olynder- General, w/ lifestealer 240 Banshee w/ midnight tome, spectral tether 80 Spirit of Torment 120 Spirit of Torment 120 Guardian of souls w/ lantern of Nagagishizzar, soul cage140 Battleline 10 chainrasps 80 10 chainrasps 80 10 chainrasps 80 Other 4 myrmourn banshee 80 4 myrmourn banshee 80 10 dreadscythe Harridens 180 10 dreadscythe Harridens 180 Mournghoul 300 Endless spells Gravetide 30 Geminids 40 Prismatic Palisade 30 Battalions Shrieker Host 140 Total: 2000 Essentially I am trying to capitalize on two synergies. First is bravery shenanigans and the second is a negative penalties to hit. The shieker host forces the opponent to reroll rolls of 1 on battleshock, and are unable to be targeted with inspiring presence when close to models in this formation. I want to further augment this with the army's natural -1 debuff, and the gravetide. Hopefully between all this, it will help force some battleshock losses. The second is stacking negative penalties to hit on dangerous units. The harridens have a -1 to hit penalty to models within 3. The Mournghul has -1 to models within 6. Lady Olynder has a spell that also gives -1, and lastly the Geminids can also give a -1. That's a possible -4 that can be stacked! So it plays on ghosts strengths... being spooky and hard to touch. However I have some concerns. There is a low model count comparitivley. The Harridens are most likely over priced, and feel like they should be in squads of 20. I try to compensate for this by amping up the healing. My battle line is minimal, and will most likely just drop on clear objectives later in the game. Other than that, I have 3 wizards, and two units that can also unbind. The palisade was put in due to me having 30 points left over. It will be useful for blocking firing lanes and messing with the opponent. I would love to hear thoughts and suggestions on this list.

I would imagine it's by intent. It's nothing that we weren't already able to do before. In theory a boarboy maniac in a drakkfoot could pile in and attack 4 times in a round (admittedly it's very tricky to pull off). Ultimately a Kunning Rukk is better due to the efficiency of arrow boys, but moreboys in a kopp rukk are probably our second best option once they are buffed up. Big stabbas are also good candidates. The main problem is finding points to fit in everything you want to after meeting all the requirements and battalion costs.

Rogue idol straight up got buffed! No more random movements. No more debuffing leadership when it dies ( so in large games I can use both of mine, one for Gork, and one for Mork). It can retreat now if it wants, and no more random stomping feet. Best of all, still 400 points and an ally faction. On a sad note, they took out the summoning on the monsters so I can no longer take the incarnates.

Yeah, missed opportunity there. Mystic Waaagh paint unbinding range, the unit requirements for Mad with the Power of the Waaagh on savage orruks, and even our path to glory chart could have been fixed. Very disappointing.

Very likely, however without the summoning mechanic you can't take very many of them without breaking your faction allegiance. It was a nice work around, even though the spell was insane to cast. I'd be surprised if forge world was that on top of it though. Especially on models they no longer carry.

I have been thinking about everyone's suggestions, and I have revised my list. Wurrgog w/ squirmy warpaint, glowing tattoos, hand of gork Wardokk w/ big wurrgog mask, brutal beast spirits Wardokk w/ mystic Waaagh paint, squiggly curse Wardokk w/ bone krusha Wardokk w/ gorkamorka war cry. 30 moreboys 30 moreboys 5 boarboys Allies: Rogue Idol Battalions: Kopp Rukk, Drakkfoot warclan Total: 1980 As much as I liked having the maniac Wierdnob's spell, it just made more sense to go with a 4th wardokk. That way both units of moreboys can get the Kopp Rukk buffs, it gets the bonuses to cast, and it's a 4th chance to roll a weird dance. To free up points for the extra Moreboys I had to give up the maniacs and go with a single unit of 5 boarboys. This way I still have some speed in the list to go after ranged units and objectives. I think this will be a lot better in the long run, though giving up the boarboy maniacs was hard to do. Also, I have just bought an Incarnate Elemental of fire. Since the Drakkfoot clan is from Aqshy it would make some sense that a wurrgog and friends could channel the essence of his plane and summon a creature composed of it. I haven't seen the ghb18 yet, but as far as I know there are no reserve points any more period, so if I summon it through a spell it doesn't cost anything (at least at present. I fully expect it to change in the future, but for now it's fair game). This gives me a "free" unit to help compensate for the exorbitant cost of the Drakkfoot. The only drawback is that it is an insane 11 to cast. I will mitigate this a bit with the +2 to cast from the kopp rukk, +1 from the idol, and weird dance bonuses (which I believe multiple dances stack), and doubles always succeeding from the Drakkfoot. Even if I fail to cast it all game, it's just a failed spell every turn instead of 300 points down the drain. I plan to use it as a distraction to help my army advance some what in tact, and potentially snipe a hero or other unit. It is also a sacrificial lamb to trigger the moreboy bonuses for when a monster dies. Yeah, this may be gaming the rules a bit, but with so many other armies getting free units, I feel that if you pull off an 11 to cast spell you deserve the free unit. If it gets changed that I have to pay points for it, then I'll just include it in my 2,500 point list.

I love the Idol, and it's one of the few monsters I can justify allying in. Not only does he buff casting, but also bravery (which helps the gorkamorka warcry), he has rend 2 and mortal wound output, which takes the place of big stabbas in this list. Lastly, if he dies, he can trigger the buffs for Moreboys if there are no other monsters to kill. That does give me some ideas. Maybe swap the maniac weirdnob for a 4th wardokk and the 2nd group of maniac boarboys to bring the 2nd moreboy squad up to 30. And maybe change the other maniac boarboy squad for a normal boarboy squad for an endless spell. I will have to play around with configurations. I do want to keep at least one boar squad for speed and tying up shooting unit or grabbing objectives.

I am going to be trying out this list once I get my GHB18. Wurrgog w/ squirmy warpaint, glowing tattoos, hand of gork Wardokk w/ big wurrgog mask, brutal beast spirits Wardokk w/ mystic Waaagh paint, squiggly curse Wardokk w/ bone krusha Maniac Wierdnob w/ gorkamorka war cry. 30 moreboys 10 moreboys 5 boarboy maniacs 5 boarboy maniacs Allies: Rogue Idol Battalions: Kopp Rukk, Drakkfoot warclan Total: 2,000 There are a ton of synergies here, which I like a lot. The wardokks are going to start at +3 to cast, not including any weird dances, which should help get through increased unbinding threat. With doubles always succeeding, it's going to be hard to actually fail to cast a spell. I'll have pretty much all of our factions spell roster at my disposal, and every caster has some sort of mortal wound output. The red waaagh paint should protect against endless spells whether they do damage or not. 2 drops, 3 artifacts, and 3 command points first turn. My main problem is a serious lack of bodies. Hopefully all the buffs and extra pile ins should let me compensate for that some what. I'll be testing it out.