Avatar Rage

December 13, 2018

Lore Spotlight: Arkhan The Black

Titles: Vizier to the Undying King, The Prince of Bones, Lord of Sacrament, Prince of Forgotten Deserts, Lover of Night's Queen

Arkhan the Black was born in the ancient Old World land of Nehekhara. He was a criminal, ruthless, blood thirsty and power hungry. It was no surprise that he found his way into Nagash’s court by his efforts. He became the Grand vizier of Nagash and leader of his “Immortals”.

During his times at Nagash’s side he oversaw the construction of the first Black Pyramid as well as his own Black Tower. His power was second only to Nagash. He performed many great deeds under Nagash. However he failed the Great Necromancer during a pivotal moment.

Arkhan’s unlife became torture. Nagash kept him in a weakened state, starving him of his life giving elixir. The former vizier began to plot against his master, he sided with the Khemrian Lich Priest to ensure his survival. When the High Kings and priests defeated Nagash they buried Arkhan as a hero.

He did not rest for long as the King of Lahmia made a deal with him before Nagash died. The king helped Arkhan gain his freedom from Nagash and in return Arkhan promised to share Nagash’s secrets with him.

Arkhan retrieved one of Ngash’s tomes and continued his research. He shared a weakened version of Nagash’s elixir with the king of Lamia and his chosen circle. The weak elixir a pale imitation. The courts of Lamia did not have to stomach to use more potent ingredients. He even found himself falling for the beauty of their queen, Neferata.

Eventually Arkhan turned Neferata into the first vampire. The telling of how this came to be differs with the teller. Some say he did so to thwart an assassination attempt, others claim that the queen had commanded him to gift her a greater power. One thing is for sure, Arkhan died during that event.

Death does not claim the minions of Nagash for long. Arkhan the Black rose once more and battled the now risen Tomb Kings. Their united forces were too much from him and beat Arkhan back. He rose more minions and guarded what knowledge of Nagash’s he could. The name Arkhan the Black stuck fear and terror into those who heard across the Old World. But whenever Nagash stirred Arkhan was the first to answer, unwilling or unable to repeat the mistakes he made in the past.

Arkhan began work to restore his master’s power during The End Times. He allied himself with many forces and betrayed many more in order to put all the pieces in place to resurrect Nagash. Once successful, he served Nagash faithfully in his campaign against the dark powers. However, Arkhan was eventually defeated by the forces of Chaos in Middenhiem as he delayed the enemy to ensure his allies escape.

When Nagash rose again in the Mortal Realms, it was only fitting that he would bring forth his oldest minion. Arkhan was once again marked as Nagash’s Mortarch and began his eternal service once more. The power Arkhan now possessed rivalled that of Nagash at the time of The World that Was.

The Arkhan that exists now is a farsight from the black toothed criminal. His cunning has been honed over the millia and his intellect as cold as ever. Despite not being as powerful as his master, he holds an understanding of the living that Nagash has long forgotten. He may not feel as he once did, but he understands the importance of feeling. This makes him one of Nagash’s most potent weapons and wisest advisor. He understands Nagash’s will better than any other and that includes his limitations. This understanding should not be confused with disloyalty, as there are none in the realms more loyal to the God of Death than Arkhan the Black.

As the Mortarch of Sacrament he leads his own legion, the appropriately named Legion of Sacrament. His Legion is composed of those who seek knowledge in the necromantic arts. The most prominent of which are his Dark Disciples. With these loyal acolytes in toe, Arkhan eternally endeavours to achieve his master’s will.

Where to learn more about Arkhan: The Time of Legends: Nagash series has a wealth of knowledge about him from the Old World as does many of the End Times books. For AoS, the Undying King and Soul Wars will shed some light on where he is now.

December 5, 2018

1 hour ago, Charlo said:

Anything you got about Vampires, i'll take it!

Of course. There will be some vampire spotlights coming up soon.

December 4, 2018

18 hours ago, Rockythedog1 said:

Thanks for this. Been wanting to dip into the lore for a while now. Good starting point for me 😁

I’m glad it was helpful. I tried to stick with the big points without diving into a deep character analysis. Basically less than a wiki so people can still get something out of the books.

There is a lot of good stuff in there about Nagash. It’s the whole reason why he is my favourite character in Warhammer.

16 hours ago, Honk said:

Sigmaaaar!!! You Bastaaaaarrrd!!!

Arch-Fiend and betrayer, most hated of all... and all the righteousness and pompous effet gilded blingbling!

I hope Pappa Nurgle gets him and melts his ugly @$£ for all eternity

We must not let the Plague Father take away our opportunity for justice.

December 3, 2018

The first lore spotlight is complete so let us start off with the big guys himself.

Lore Spotlight - Nagash

Titles include: The Great Sorcerer, The Undying King, Nagash the Everliving, The Great Necromancer, The Black Priest, Lord of Shyish, God of Death, Supreme Lord of the Dead (he has a lot of titles so I am gonna stop here)

Nagash was born in an ancient desert kingdom in the world that was. He was the first born son of the royal line. So buy tradition was given to the temple to spend the rest of his days. He quickly rose through the ranks becoming the High Priest. During his time in the priesthood he learned the intricacies of architecture and ritual, in addition to a thorough education.

His primary responsibility was to construct a pyramid for his younger brother. It was at this time that he captured a group of elves who he forced to teach him their arcane secrets. This was a turning point in his life. He combined his knowledge of ritual with the elves arcane teachings. This combination created a whole new ways to harness the winds of magic and was thought to be the origins of all arcane arts to follow. This only grew greater when he discovered the arcane power of blood.

Using this new power he killed the elves and overthrew his brother, claiming the throne for his own. Nagash was now the world's first and only Necromancer. He used his necromancy to conquer kingdoms and build arcane structures in his name, the most notable being the Black Pyramid. He created a group of liches and lesser necromancers, the most prominent of which was Arkhan the Black. These first minions were kept in check by a found potion, the Elixir of Life.

Eventually Nagash was defeated by an alliance of kings and information gathered from a traitor in Nagash’s ranks. This was Nagash’s first defeat. With a burst of dark energy he fled north.

Weakened but not broken, Nagash began to gather his power once again. He stopped feasting on blood to sustain him. He found something far more potent, magic in physical form, Warpstone. The green stone allowed Nagash to grow far more powerful than before. He conquered barbarian tribes and rose legions of undead soldiers. With this he dug down into a mountain rich in Warpstone, building his first city of the dead, Nagashizzar.

Nagash was growing in power by the day. He discarded his weak body for one of iron and bone. The sorcerer was quite possibly one of the most powerful beings in the Old World at the time. Of course with power comes new enemies, ones who knew the right moment to strike.

This moment came during Nagash’s greatest moment of victory. Conquering the lands that were denied to him centuries before and capturing their king, Alkadizzar. The devious rat folk, the Skaven freed Alkadizzar and gave him their most deadly weapon the Fellblade, a sword made of pure Warpstone. The mortal king struck down Nagash while he was performing his grand ritual to raise the dead across the globe.

Nagash was broken once again, but he had transcended death. Pieces of his soul remained within artefacts of power. Items on his person that that became scattered, calling out to each other, preying on the weak willed and ambitious.

One such item was his crown that fell into the hands of one Sigmar Heldenhammer during the early days of his empire. As Nagash grew in strength again, pulling himself together once more, he tempted the then very human Sigmar. The call of Nagash almost broke The Empire in its infancy. But the future god was not easily broken. Nagash duelled Sigmar after a swift and tactical campaign by the Lich. But Sigmar used Nagash’s pride against him, distracting the Undead Lord before smashing his hammer, Gal-Maraz down and shattering Nagash again.

There were more occasions that Nagash would try to pry himself back together. But it was during the End Times that Nagash truly returned. During the End Times he reached the height of his power. He marked his first Mortarchs, became one with the wind of death and devoured his first gods. Despite his unbelievable power he was betrayed, causing the Old World to shatter and die.

Time past, centuries, milenia or maybe even more. Nagash continued to exist. He was buried under a great, mountainous cairn until Sigmar freed him to join his pantheon. The freed Nagash set about instilling order in the realm of death, Shyish Nagash does not remember any events from before he was freed, but on occasion he feels the echoes of this life. He devoured countless other gods of death, in doing so he took on parts of their aspects into his own. Nagash had become Death itself, a true god.

Nagash was no longer one being many. All are Nagash. Even his physical body is but an aspect of his greater self. Those who call upon him find that he appears in many forms. However, his favoured appearance mimics that of his former self from the Old World. Another echo from his past life.

Nagash’s power grew and grew as time past. He instilled order upon his realm, bringing forth his Deathlords to enact his will. The most powerful on which are the Mortarchs, powerful begins that act with the Death God’s blessing. He built up a new Nagashizzar at the centre of the realm and raised constructs to expand his power. Nagash held Shyish in the palm of his hand and even claimed territories in other realms.

Nagash suffered many betrayals and setbacks in his ultimate quest to defeat the Chaos Gods. But he weathered them all. Sigmar, one of his greatest allies betrayed him in the War of Underworld and Heavens. Weakening the God of Death, leaving him open to an attack from the Dark Gods. Weakened by not beaten Nagash retreated to his own underworld after a battle with the Everchosen of Chaos. Shyish was lost and Nagashizzar raised by the forces of the Dark Gods.

Nagash rested, restoring his power over time. When he finally awoke he was met by yet another betrayal from Sigmar. His Stormcast beseech him for help. Souls stolen from Nagash sent to deliver him a message. Not only did Sigmar not come in person, but he sent souls taken from him was doubly insulting. The Undying King ended his rest here and took to his realm once more.

Returning to Shyish he broke the Chaos interlopers. Slaughtering champions and servants alike. Nagashizzar was rebuilt on the broken bodies of His enemies. Nagash reclaimed much of Shyish, however Sigmar had placed a foothold in Nagash’s realm. Pesky cities protected from the Death God’s eire.

So Nagash worked on his great plan. A plan to bring all into his embrace. To reclaim what was taken from him and to starve the Gods of Chaos. His plan was sabotaged by the hated Skaven. But it was a success, at least in part. This was the source of the Necroquake, unshackling magic throughout the realms. The quake rose the dead, but did not end the life of those affected. Thus an instant victory became a slow war for attrition. Fortunately, Nagash is patient and death comes for all.

Where can you learn more?

Outside of the Battletomes you can learn more about Nagash from the following books; The Undying King, Nagash: Time of Legends series (I highly recommend this one), God King (from the Sigmar Time of Legends series) and Soul Wars

November 25, 2018

Update from the realm of Death. All has been quiet lately and the tips I have been working on have fallen through. So while I work on those I would like to know:

If you guys and gals would like to see a bit of a lore section for Death, expanding on the lore summary. Let me know.

Also if there is anything that people would like to to write a section on also let me know.

Sorry for the lack of expansions. Thank you all for watching.

November 11, 2018

1 hour ago, Rockythedog1 said:

Thanks Avatar Rage, this is really helpful. Just starting my own death army out of the soil wars box, plus got a tomb banshee and myrmourn banshees too.

Just deciding on whether to pick up Lady Olyander next, or some Hexwraith. Or crawlocke. Or possibly dreadblade harrows. Or Reikenor..............

*sigh*

Nighthaunt have a surprising amount of choice when it comes to heroes. If you are working from the Soul Wars box I would suggest building up your other units first with some lesser heroes. Banshees and Cairn Wraiths are nice and cheap, they are perfect to get some easy wounds on enemy units. Ideally you want to try to maximise your battalions at the moment. Unfortunately the named characters are not too great for this. Fortunately that Knight of Shrouds is.

October 26, 2018

On 10/23/2018 at 7:16 PM, mrgambit said:

This makes me sad, but looking into a little more, At the very least I can scrounge something together that wouldn't be too far of a stretch. As it stands, I've got 40-some skeleton warriors, archers, 20 tomb guard( although some of those are a problem cause they're mummies) cavalry, mounted archers, monsters like the giant and necrosphinx, and a variety of the usual lords & heroes.

Sounds like most of the flavourful stuff and anything with a bow is out. But at the very least, I can do a bit of what you said, Skeleton warriors will be fine, the horsemen doesn't look like too much of a stretch for black knights, Tomb guard for grave guard. I might even have to try doing a tiny bit of playing around with one of my mounted tomb heralds and see about making that a wight king (gives me an excuse to fix the horribly unbalanced model anyways)

Your skeletons will give you a nice backbone for your army. Those Tomb Guard will make excellent Grave Guard, most people should not have a problem with it as long as the points are spent and you make it clear what they are being used as. Same with the horsemen, necrosphinx and bone giant (the latter two could be terrorgeighst and morgast).

Alternatively you could throw in a bit of light conversion on a necrosphinx or khemrian warsphinx to make some unique mortis engines.

I regualarly use the Tomb King models as Wight Kings and Tomb Queens as Necromancers.

You can also throw in Arkhan or Nagash as your general for a wonderfully themed army.

October 16, 2018

On 10/15/2018 at 3:06 AM, Tohshi Ydithe said:

I really want to build a death soup army for fluff reasons but what is the best battle line out of death's options. I want to avoid chainrasps because they are the most expensive to buy but if they are a lot better that the rest will consider. Leaders, which are the big fluff point, is a Vampire Lord and then either a tomb banshee or Lady Olyvander (I spelt that wrong didnt I). Looking to return models to units so survivability is kinda important for that. Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask it just seemed better to start here than making a new thread.

Zombie or Dire Wolf is your best bet for undead soups with LoN. Cheap, summonable and can be buffed. Fits everything you need. Throw in a corpse cart and necromancer, boom you your soup is now a stew.

Chainwrasp are best for Nighthaunt. It sucks they cost so much to buy so I would suggest going for LoN if that is the case.

Not much to say other than that really.

October 14, 2018

15 hours ago, Nightcast Eternal said:

I'm creating a Nighthaunt Army base off of Soul Wars and want to expand it into a 2k list. I'm thinking of getting Tempest of Souls because I also play Stormcast, and also some Dreadblade Harrows and 1 or 2 boxes of Spirit Hosts. Mostly I'm being guided by the rule of cool. But do you have any other suggestions. This seemed like a good place to ask, thanks!

The rule of cool should always be your guiding force. If you are thinking that building your Stormcast along side your Nighthaunt then go for it. Though your first bet should be to build up your Battleline. The quickest way to do this is through the Malignant box, but no the coolest. But that is a unit of spirit hosts, hexwraiths and if you are happy doing conversions then you got 3 banshees too.

The Soul Wars box is a a great starting point so whatever way you build from here is just fine.

October 9, 2018

Nighthaunt Abilities 2 - From the Underworld

Okay we are going to be covering the summoning abilities of the Nighthaunt. The fist one you have to get to grips with is From the Underworld They Come. This let’s you keep your units back as reinforcements. You get one reinforcement unit per unit set up on the battlefield. You can can set these units up anywhere as long as it’s not within 9” of an enemy.

Next up there is the command ability spectral summons, which lets you remove a friendly unit from play and set it up again within 12” of your general. Much like the last ability you cannot set the unit up within 9” of the enemy.

Alone these abilities are not much to look at. They are simple and are used by some other armies. Rather they can be used to shuffle the decks if you set up first. Ideally you will want to make sure that your units are fighting what they excel at or to make a ghost shield around your general. Set up is essential for a Nighthaunt victory so I cannot stress enough to pick your battles.

Ultimately you must minimise your opponents choice in combat when playing Nighhaunt. Remember high rend against high armour units, big ethereal blobs against high rend targets and kill their low rend units quickly. If you can use these abilities to maintain this setup then you should be able to maintain the advantage in most scenarios.

October 1, 2018

Nighthaunt get a lot of abilities that are fairly interlinked. However I have split them into two categories where I will go over these lumped together abilities in detail. Part One will discuss abilities related to fear and bravery. While Part 2 will discuss the armies summoning mechanics.

Nighthaunt Abilities 1 - Smoke and Fears

The first set of abilities are a triple threat. First off we have Aura of Dread, which dishes out -1 to your enemy’s bravery when within 6” of you Nighthaunt units. Throw the second ability in Feed on Terror, which heals a mortal wound on a hero when an opponent fails a battleshock tests. Finally we have Wave of Terror, if you get an unmodified charge roll of 10+ then you may attack immediately. So lucky charge rolls give you two opportunities to damage a unit. If all goes well then you should leave them with a decent negative on their bravery, which is helped by Aura of Dread. Finally dominoing into a nice heal for your heroes.

Building on this you should also work in more bravery based Nighthaunt abilities. Lady Olyndyr, Banshees and the Shreiker Host battalion can really help drain your enemies in battleshock. Both Lady Olyndr and the Banshees have an ability that deals damage based on the difference between their bravery and your dice roll. The Shrieker Host makes enemy units re-roll bravery rolls of 1, giving that batallions Banshee another chance to heal itself.. This is scary for Skaven and Greenskin players who have an every bravery of 4.

September 27, 2018

Flesh Eater Delusions - Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Delusions are abilities that a Flesh Eater army can choose before the battle begins. They are the equivalent of Stormcast Chapters, something that gives certain bonuses to your army. However these are a bit watered down compared to their newer equivalents. Additionally they are not set in stone either, being chosen after set up rather than before the game begins.

I will be going over these with the Feeding Frenzy ability in mind. For those that need a refresher. When you finish you attacks and have killed an enemy model roll a dice, on a 6+ you can pile in and attack again. This second pile in cannot cause another feeding frenzy.

Now back to the delusions. These are officially chosen after set up but before the game begins. Once you have chosen you cannot change. However you are not set in stone when playing multiple games.

Delusions that stack with feeding frenzy modify a units attack value in some way. With the exception of The Feast Day, which allows you to re-roll the Feeding Frenzy dice rolls if you roll a 1.

Royal Hunt reroll hit and wound rolls of 1 against monsters. Really useful against armies with priority targets, like chaos and lots of monsters like the Beastclaw Raiders.

A Matter of Honour allows you to reroll hits against heroes, if the hero is also a general then you may also reroll wounds. Hero heavy armies like Fyrslayers, Free Guilds and Death armies are great targets for this.

Grand tournament lets you reroll hit roll for friendly flesh eater heroes that are not your general. A good all rounder, chances are your heroes will kill something and trigger your frenzy. Having another shot at hitting these targets always helps. It’s great if you have a lot of cheap heroes.

Defenders of the Realm lets you reroll hit rolls of 1 within your territory. Another good all rounder. The usefulness of this delusion really depends on how big your territory is or how prominent it is during play. Defensive missions are made for this delusion, at least if you are the defender anyway.

Crusading Army allows you to reroll run and charge rolls. Does not stack at all Feeding Frenzy, but a wonderful gap closing ability. Those gangly little ghouls can get to those objectives.

Knowing what Delusion works best in what scenario is particularly useful when your general has the trait Completely Delusional. This allows you to swap your Delusion once per battle. But most importantly you should keep them in mind when building your army. I suggest building around one or two Delusions. This is a real time saver during play, but don't be afraid to swap it out in matches that are ill suited to your prepared delusion.

September 21, 2018

17 minutes ago, Vyrullax said:

Im a little confuse by splitting 2x20 skellies. Dont i require 3 battleline? Or is it possible to have just 2 or even 1 battleline.

In a 1,000 point army you will only need 2 battleline units. The number of battlelines increase with the point score. So in a 1,000 point army 2 block of 20 gives you a decent battleline.

September 21, 2018

This Section is being updated

Tools of the Dead

This section will cover the tools of the used by Death armies. Digging into mechanics and diving into how to use them. Unlike the previous sections this will go into detail about one mechanic at a time and how to interact with certain aspects of an army.

Gravesites - A look behind the coffin lid

Gravesites are a feature exclusive to the Legions of Nagash that I have touched on briefly earlier in the guide. So let’s go over the basic again. Gravesites are markers placed on the battlefield. These markers can be anything from a coin to a custom base. Just as long as their size is not intrusive.

You get a total of four gravesites, two to be set up in your territory, two set up in your opponents. This is where the first vestiges of strategy occur with grave markers. The location of these markers will determine your troop formation. Most of your armies abilities will kick into gear near these sites.

So first off let’s cover the primary ability of the gravesites; summoning. Instead of setting up units on the battlefield you can set them up in grave. For every Death Hero you have within “9 of a gravesite you can summon one of these units in your movement phase. These summoned units can be summoned within 9” of the gravesite.

Next up is the ability Invigorating Aura. This is the the ability everyone loves, the regeneration ability. Units with 9” of the gravesite heal D3 wounds, this wound heal can also return units from the dead. I have talked at length about this ability. Just don’t forget about it mid battle. It can keep you blob units alive.

Finally there is the Endless Legions command ability. This ability allows you to return units from the dead. Defeated units can be set up again within 9” of a gravesite, at the low, low cost of 1 command point.

Now that we have gone over the basics let’s talk strategy.

Innumerable Legions - Grand Host of Nagash - Every time you get a hero phase you roll a dice. On a 5+ you can heal D3 wounds to a summonable unit. This is in addition to Invigorating Aura. If you are lucky you can bring back 6 models a turn. This can make a unit of zombies into a tanky mass (especially when combined with Nagash's command ability).

Behind Enemy Lines - Legion of the Night - combining the ambush ability with those of gravesites you can make a deadly combination. Place a death hero in ambush and you can slowly summon your defeated summonable units in your opponents territory. At this point these units should be far away from their stronger melee units. Letting you grind them down from both sides.

Masters Teachings - Legion of Sacrament - This Legion has an ability that allows you to raise your opponents models as a summonable unit as long as it dies within 6’ of a gravesite. The unit can be set up one of your own defeated units if you roll a 4+ as the last model dies. If you get the 4+ then you can bring it back within 9’ of a gravesite and 9’ away from enemy models.

Simply put you let your cheap disposable units die and pop em back up as you hack your opponents units with your elite units.

September 21, 2018

2 hours ago, Vyrullax said:

Hi im also totally new to aos 2 and warhammer in general. I got it more for collecting the models than anything else. But i would like if possible to start playing it little by little.

Im looking to start of at a 1000 point list and what i have is basically 3 start collecting skeleton horde, 1 nagash and 10 more skeleton warriors. So this comes up to

1 Nagash

1 Arkhan

1 Neferata

1 Mannfred

40 skeleton warriors

15 black knights/hexwraith

What would be a possible 1000 point list and should i make black knights or hexwraiths?

The guide is super helpful but i'm still very new so i would like some seniors advice ?

This is a very flexible beginning to your army.

For a 1,000 point army you can use one of your Mortarchs (pick your favourite legion) along side your skeleton horde (2 units of 20 would work great) and your cavalry. Save Nagash for your 2,000 points.

Black Knights and Hexwraiths but have their pros and cons. Hexwraiths are one of my favourite units in the game, they are fast, have a nice dps ability and are ethereal so can tank against some heavy damage units. However they don't have a lot of synergy with a Legions of Nagash armies. Black Knights are a solid unit that does have a lot of synergy with LoN armies. Power them up with some deathrattle buffs and they can be a serious threat. Ultimately I would build these with based on where you want to go with your army in the future.

You may want to invest in some cheaper characters to help your Mortarch too. Necromancer or Wight King (especially if you get black knights) will help out with buffs for your units.

From here see what areas of your army your like and build up from there.

I am glad you have been finding the guide useful. I hope the next sections will be just as helpful.

September 17, 2018

12 hours ago, Ravinsild said:

Does death have any buff spells or command abilities to wounds? +1 to wound rolls or anything like that?

Not that springs to mind. Most Death buffs are aimed at increasing the accuracy or number of attacks rather than buffing wound rolls.

I’ll have another look through my books when I am next able to.

September 16, 2018

Update: Hello my fellow followers of Nagash. I just wanted to throw up an update on what I am doing next with this guide. At the moment I am working on chapter 2. Which will cover specific abilities found within Death armies. This will include gravesites and delusions.

I am also going over the previous post (chapter 1 as I am calling it right now) and making sure everything is accurate. I will be leaving an edit note so you guys and gals will know what has been changed.

I have really loved the feedback I have gotten from this doing this this beginners guide. I am so glad that it has managed to help some people out.

Thanks you beautiful people and keep praising Nagash. For he will save us all.

September 10, 2018

1 hour ago, Ravinsild said:

Well as far as I could tell it was cheaper with the FEC Start Collecting than to buy individual Vargheists and Zombie Dragon kits, plus everyone seems to make out that zombie dragon is an absolute must have unit (I want one for cool factor and because a vampire rides it)

So right now I have 20 Skeletons, 10 Graveguard, 2 Morghasts, a Wight King and Neferata herself.

Youre highlighting Vampire Lords, Dire Wolves and the Coven Throne (I think her Battalion requires a Blood Palequinn).

Ive heard people really want to be running 40 skeletons so I was thinking about getting the same box set again to round off my 40 skeletons and get another Mortrarch and the rest of it just because I like those models.

Otherwise how should I fill out my skeletons or just run them MSU and get a lot of Dire Wolves for a blob? Or 40 skeletons (one way or another) and run 2 MSU Dire Wolves.

Then get individual vampire leaders then the Start Collecting Malignants box?

Something looking like this i suppose?

Allegiance: Legion of Blood

Leaders
Neferata Mortarch Of Blood (400)
- General
- Lore of the Dead: Decrepify (Deathmages)
Vampire Lord On Zombie Dragon (440)
- Deathlance & Shield & Chalice
- Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions
Vampire Lord (140)
- Mount: Flying Horror
- Lore of the Vampires: Vile Transference
Vampire Lord (140)
- Mount: Flying Horror
- Lore of the Vampires: Amaranthine Orb

Battleline
40 x Skeleton Warriors (280)
- Ancient Spears
5 x Dire Wolves (60)
5 x Dire Wolves (60)

Units
10 x Black Knights (240)
15 x Grave Guard (240)
- Great Wight Blades

Total: 2000 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 0
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 130

First off sorry, I did mean Blood Palanquin (making a lot of goofs lately). Although the purpose of this thread is not list building I will comment on this because you know, death buddies.

That list is pretty much what I was getting at. Though I would personally trade the vampire on the zombie dragon for the blood palanquin and the Neferata battalion.

September 10, 2018

14 hours ago, Ravinsild said:

So. Right now I want to focus on a Vampire oriented army with skeleton and skeleton-like beings making up the majority of my forces.

Right now I have the LoN book online (AoS app) and 1 box of the Blood Queens army which provided: 1) Wight King 1) Mortrarch (I made Neferata), 2) Morghasts I made the 3d6 charging sort, 10) Grave Guard (I built them with 2 handed weapons) and 20) Skeletons (I made 2 sets of 10 with sword and shield atm).

My overall plan is to get 1) Start Collecting! Death Rattle for 1 Mortrarch (probably Mannfred), 5 Black knights and 10 skeletons. Then I want 2) Start Collecting! FEC to create 1 VoloZD and 3 Vargheists then 1 solo Terrorgheist and 3 Vargheists. I also want 1) Start Collecting Malignants for 5 more Black Knights, I think a coven Throne and 3 Spirit Hosts. I also thought another blood queen army would be a good idea for a 3rd Mortrarch (debating between another Neferata cuz I adore her or an Arkhan cuz it makes more sense buuuuut I kind of built my Neferata wrong and I’d like a second chance....) 2 more Morghasts, 10 more Grave Guard and 20 more Skeletons. A box of skeletons for a solid 60 and some Dire Wolves at some point in my life plus 2 Vampire Lords, probably one on a steed plus another Wight King on steed.... a necromancer or so...

So all told 2,000+ points planned, many vampiric units, many bone based units and so forth.

Given the above in which order would you make your next purchase: what’s the most logical progression and growth of my army based on the contents I wish to purchase.

Well there are two ways you can build up from what you already have. A good place to go from would be to pick a Mortarch and go from there.

Neferata excels at leading fast armies and taking down priority targets. Dire wolves make a great battleline for a Legion of the Night army. Add a couple of Vampire Lords, a Coven Throne will allow you to take Neferata's battalion. If you get the Malignant box to build the Coven Throne you can enhance them with some Black Knights too. Blood Knights will make a find addition to this army too (I would recommend converting some).

Alternatively you could build around Manfred by getting the Deathrattle box and using the Legion of the Night. This will give you plenty of deathrattle to use as bait. Letting you set up ambushes with Manfred, your vampires and morghast. Your opponent will have a bit of a surprise seeing these beefy units popping up in their territory. A necromancer won't go a miss in this army to be set up near your skeletons, along with your wight king too.

As for the Flesh Eater set, I would get this if you really, really want a zombie dragon. Unless you collect Flesh Eaters it might be a bit of a waste of ghouls, but you could always convert them into some zombies if not. The vargheists go well in either of these proposed armies, but getting your hands on some will let you use the Manfred battalion.

Hope this helps, I don't know what kind of budget you have so I tried to suggests lists around a certain box set.

September 9, 2018

14 minutes ago, Honk said:

Sorry, but rule of one says each spell only once...

With Nagash Command ability your whole army rerolls saves of 1, so everybody already has the mystic shield rule. Another rule of one, you can only reroll one dice once, so double reroll 1s not happening.

You can also consider using gravesites for unit summoning, which can be pretty funny with a Legion of Night ambush. It also can really speed up your skelli block.

Thanks for catching that. I forgot about the saves on his command ability and the rule of one on the spells. As I said gonna do a whole section on grave sites, so spoilers .

I am gonna go through and make amendments on the main section when I get a minute.

Moral of the story: I need to triple check the rules before I post anything.

September 9, 2018

On 9/7/2018 at 5:26 PM, flufee02 said:

Thanks

Thanks! I think this is the best reply I’ve gotten ever since I started collecting AoS, more questions if you don’t mind

when sharing spells I can still only cast 1 of each spell right?

do I mystic shield nagash? I’m scared that ranged units can just shoot him up with massive + buffs to hit and wound how would you protect him from that?

i see a lot of people use the portal? Is it just for hand of dust?

lastly, should I include a necromancer for VDM instead? And do u have any general tips for placing grave sites

1. When sharing spell it can be cast once per caster. Its less sharing more knowledge by osmosis but that is less catchy. So let's use an easy example: Nagash knows any spell known by a Death Wizard on the battlefield. So I use Vanhel's Danse Macbre with my Necromancer to buff some skeletons. In the same turn I can cast Vanhel's Danse Macbre on another unit with Nagash. So you end up with multiple casts, but only one per caster. Which is why I recommend taking as many different spells as you can in a Nagash list.

2. Mystic shield is always useful to protect priority targets. Fortunately you have a lot of spells on Nagash that will rarely fail. So yeah, self cast that on Nagash if you feel vulnerable. It will never hurt.

3. The portal is a good way to extend the range of one of your most powerful spells. However, I personally feel that one should build a list around this rather than simply try to throw it in. Remember the spell portal works both ways and will leave Nagash vulnerable against magic armies. I am not saying don't use it, but I would caution against it until you are more familiar with the army.

4. Necromancers are a nice cheap hero model. It's a good way to give Nagash an extra two spells as well. However, be aware of how many command point you have available. Death Command abilities can change the tide of battle.

5. Working on a section for this, but just in case I don't get round to it, here is a preview. Gravesites should be situated where combat will be thickest. In your territory it should be where you can take advantage of it for healing important units and characters. As for enemy territories you should place it near where significant targets are (or where you predict they will go). The latter is kind of cryptic but enemy territory Gravesites are there to regen and revive your offensive units.

Hope this helps

September 7, 2018

On 9/5/2018 at 8:32 PM, flufee02 said:

sorry for the bomb of questions, really excited to start but i cant find a place to ask no one in my FLGS has LoN yet so internets my answer :))

It sounds like you have a solid starting force for LoN. There is a lot of room to grow and expand. However, if you don’t mind I would be happy to answer some of your many questions.

First off let’s look at your heroes, Nagash and Arkhan. Together they make a meaty team. As I said earlier they “share” spells. Make sure you keep them no more than 15” apart so that Arkhan can cast the spells known by Nagash and use his command ability on Nagash.

Spell choice is really up to you. If you have Nagash and/or Arkhan in play then will want to make sure they they have different spells from each other. Making sure there is no overlap will bring out the most of this spell sharing ability they both have.

With this said the Umbral Spell portal might be more of a hindrance. Remember the portal works both ways, I would instead use Arkhan’s command ability to increase the range of your spells. Freeing up some points should give you access to another command ability. Letting you use Arkhan’s command ability to buff Nagash and Nagash’s command ability to buff your troops.

Arkhan is a solid mortarch choice. He is the second best spell caster in the LoN and Death GA. He has access to a pretty nasty spell too, Curse of Years. If you want a magic focused army then Arkhan is the way to go. He compliments Nagash nicely. I would not have him charge into combat (leave that to Neferata and Manfred).

Nagash himself is a caster through and through. He dishes out a lot of spells early game. When at full wounds he casts 8 spells with a hefty bonus to casting rolls. He will be the one dealing the big damage in your army. Although he is no slouch in combat he will struggle against combat orientated heroes. You will want him behind your forces blasting spells over their heads. Plus his command ability lets you just ignore battleshock, which is super useful.

Your Battleline is solid to start with. A lot of skeletons to form your armies core is standard. Chanwraps will help deal with rending units and dire wolves will help tangle up units/objectives early game. These units are summonable so are subject to regeneration, you will want to position them in accordance with your heroes and gravesites to make the most out of them.. Morghasts are expensive but powerful so use them to mop up units that have been bogged down by your skeleton blob.

From here you just need to play a game or two and hone in on what aspect of your army you like. Grow your army from there. So here is just some very general advice for where you might take your army:

Focus on growing your army heroes with spells and abilities to regen your units. These will help buff Nagash and Arkhan as well as keep your troops alive.
Maybe work in a battalion to your army. Increase those command points, Death has great command abilities so really take advantage of them.
Larger summonable units are also a great way to move forward in an LoN army. Having a variety of units to choose from can help keep LoN from growing stale.
You have a very high point and powerful army at the moment. But at the moment it has no real focus. Once you find what aspect of your army you like then double down on it. Really make it your own.

Final note about mortarchs. Each mortarch has its own pros and cons. Arkhan is a caster, Neferata is dps and Manfred is a bit of a hybrid. I would suggest looking at what legion you is affiliated with your mortarch of choice. Being able to use another legion without Nagash will allow to experiment a bit more with new troops and character combinations.

Hope this massive wall of text helps.

September 6, 2018

1 hour ago, Ravinsild said:

Can the FEC Start Collecting kit make Vargheists and Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon?

Yes and yes. It is a very versatile kit. You can also build crypt flayers if you so choose.

September 6, 2018

Chaos

At first you may look at Chaos and think “why would these be undead?”. Well you are forgetting one of the most iconic heroes from "the world that was", Krell. Chaos warriors can make intimidating Grave Guard with a mere head swap. Skaven Pestilence models are just one step away from being some Skaven zombies. The crux here are demons, they don't leave a body but can make for great decorations on your bases, or even be bound to the necromantic power of a Mortis Engine or Coven Throne. Chaos themed undead can be quite intimidating.

Destruction

The Destruction Grand Alliance can be tricky. Fortunately everything here leaves a corpse. Undead Orruks and Gobbos may be your first choice and it’s a good choice. Both can fit really well on larger models, though I would lean more toward Gobbos. Maybe an Arachnarok Mortis Engine or some Grot zombies. Pale, vampiric orruk cavalry could make a unique Blood Knight unit, or maybe an Orruk Flesh Eater army. That’s before we even touch ogurs. Who can make equally good Flesh Eaters. Think about it, a horde of grot ghouls lead by some ghoulish orgurs. Maybe zombify some Beastclaw monsters to be used instead of zombie dragons.

Other miscellaneous themes

Take a bit of real world inspiration for your conversations. Nighthaunt or Flesh Eater ninjas, creeping through the shadows. Sultans and Pharaohs lead their undead armies from glittering, golden thrones. The latter is a bit easier with Tomb King parts floating about. If you are confident with your green stuff and kitbashing then there are no limits to your armies potential.

September 6, 2018

13 hours ago, flufee02 said:

sorry for the bomb of questions, really excited to start but i cant find a place to ask no one in my FLGS has LoN yet so internets my answer :))

Hey no problem. I am happy to help. I am just gonna finish up this theming section and get to work on a detailed reply. I will do it before my next section

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