Lucentia

Also even if the SoS do get locused it doesn't matter, cos the Slaanesh hero can only pile in 3" (excepting the Masque) and ideally your unit is more than 3" away, obviously this requires a little bit of canny model positioning due to the Slaanesh command ability to pile in twice, but if you're careful you can keep your Sisters safe until they can swing in at the end of the combat phase and so some damage.

My issue with Daemonettes is coming from playing mainly with DoK, where Witch Aelves are the primary damage dealer and capable of chewing through most things in the game, but that's a Witch Aelf problem more than a Daemonette one! I still feel like a block of 30 Daemonettes is a good investment if you're not running depraved drove, you need something for board coverage and threatening objectives if nothing else, and as fantastic as a KoS is they're not gonna do it on their own.

I don't know about wildly overrated necessarily, it's a battalion with no real tax units, and in my mind the SoS 6" pile in and retreat and charge are some of the best movement mix-up rules in the game, being able to bounce in and out of combats and pile around onto key objectives and such is a very useful tool in the box. It's not a game-changing battalion that's going to massively shake the field in every single game, but it has its value, I think.

We also have only fairly slight Ogor/Gutbuster lore in AoS at present, it is possible that they might change the angle of the fluff to make them more likely to take trophies from toppled kings and the like, or perhaps some sort of unique character with a specific crown-taking quirk, I could see either way and the hooks do match several of the current ogor models (Though, I mean, there's only so many ways to sculpt a meathook, I suppose.)

Yeah, I prefer SoS with knives to bucklers really, the extra defense is nice (and I understand the value of stacking it up with Blood Shields and potentially cover to get some real toughness out of them) but 2x 3+ 4+ attacks per model is a little on the weak side even if you throw up a bunch of buffs on them. I like 30 blocks of either unit type with the knives, and 10 model screening units with the shields, but to be honest all the options are pretty good, I don't know that there's a stand-out 'right answer.' Definitely take Blood Sisters over Blood Stalkers if you're looking for competitive play, the latter do not really stack up unfortunately. For the Khinerai I would probably build 10 Heartrenders to begin with, they're a very versatile unit, whereas Lifetakers you want to build around more specifically (and even then are mostly at their best as the tax unit in a Cauldron Guard battalion...)

I would suggest swapping out Martyr's Sacrifice for Sacrament of Blood if you're using Hagg Nar, the ability to get one unit up to those re-roll hits a turn early can be extremely valuable. I have not used vanguard raptors, they are a little pricey for a not very resilient piece, and I'd probably be more tempted by the Longstrikes than the Hurricanes, I've never really felt a pressing need for short range weight of fire in my DoK lists, whereas I can see the ability to plink a couple of wounds off of a supporting hero at long range providing something that DoK cannot generally do very easily on their own.

The Witch Aelf box actually contains 2 sets of identical sprues of five identical models for the 10 model unit, so you wind up with 2 musicians/banners per box number if you build all the options in the kit. Then again the Namarti Thrall box also has two (different) banner models and they're only allowed the one per 10 through the FAQ, so, I dunno, I guess. Not a bad point on Slaanesh favouring an abundance of musicians and banners, I don't think it looks too bad in a big daemonette block, but when you have your five model seeker units where 4/5 are command elements it looks pretty silly. You can probably get away with not maximising musicians, cos they don't really do anything, but what if they change what the hornblower does later down the line! On a half-similar modelling note has anyone had any success on magnetising the left hand of the KoS kit? Obviously the Sinistrous Hand option is the clear winner at present, but I think both the whip and knife look cooler, and I don't want to have to chop their arms off for some impromptu surgery when they inevitable change the rules and make the whip broken in, like, five years or whatever.

Hah, that's what I get for using shorthand, I meant the Windlauncher weapon option for the Stormvermin, which is functionally a mortar, rather than the now defunct mortar warscroll.

You don't see Stormfiends popping up in too many Skaven lists, but I still contend they're a pretty juicy option all things considered. The ratling guns are short ranged (18" total after movement), but they will shred just about anything the hit if all the buffs go off, so you'll want to try and stay out of range until absolutely necessary (just beware of Gnawhole shenanigans). The mortars are trickier, with a large range and ignoring line of sight they're very dangerous to hags and medusa, or really anything if the buffs are up. Khailebron can actually be useful here when coupled with Look out, Sir! but obviously is less effective overall defense than Hagg Nar. If you can kill the single Archwarlock the Stormfiends become much less dangerous, but I recognise that is not an easy prospect. If you can get monster Morathi up in the Stormfiend's grill it's a done deal, she should be able to tie up all that damage long enough for you to cover the distance. The issue I have when fighting Skaven is having something throwaway to clear out clanrat screens whilst keeping enough of my forces out of the danger of their guns and countercharges. I've had some luck using Lifetakers, strangely enough, with Witchbrew and Catechism they can clear 20 clanrats on average, and larger squads with Mindrazor, or they can even charge over the screens to try their luck against bigger targets if you get lucky. The two casts of Warpgale is a real pain and I would aim to unbind that wherever possible, or the Khailebron teleport could be used to mitigate the reduced movement you'll suffer. Try not to focus too much on the Warpseer, with all its defenses it takes a lot to bring one down, it's combat threat is fairly limited as big monsters go. Skaven are a tough match for DoK in my opinion, make sure you plan your movements carefully, try and keep out of range of the Stormfiends until you're certain you can take them out. Morathi is a valuable boon in soaking up their high damage if you run her as a distraction, but try not to get her bogged down in clanrats.

Good luck, mostly! I kid, but you may have to be more specific with 'Skaventide', if ever there's a book with a lot of viable options then it's the Skaven one, and a lot of it provides a strong counter to general DoK tactics.

The secret to that is that I have no idea how to paint regular horses!

h, I almost forgot to post this in here, I have finished my Aqshy-themed Daughters of Khaine collection, currently sitting at 4440 points (until the GHB drops...) with at least one of every warscroll represented. (I don't have any Witch Aelves with shields, but I also don't want to paint any more witch hair, so that's fine by me!) For me DoK is one of those armies that just clicks with you, I started collecting them pre-battletome, and the release of the new models only cemented them as my favourite AoS faction, everything about them just works for me. And I won't say that being the premiere top-tier book for a while didn't hurt, normally my armies are less spectacular in getting game results, but I took them to tourneys before we had a book, and I'll take them to tourneys even if they're not storming the top tables. Here's a little video of my stuff: New Project1.mov Also the next Warhammer Champions TCG set includes DoK, and I am unreasonably excited in that announcement!

Amusingly enough it's almost exactly the same idea I had if I ever wanted to add BoC to my army (albeit using Sister of Slaughter masks rather than skulls, though the skulls do look great!) I was also considering converting Ogor bodies into some sort of huge gluttons as counts-as Bullgors, though I'm drawing a blank on what might make decent non-bestial Ungors. I don't particularly care for allies generally speaking, I don't like the way it tends to break up the aesthetic of the army. I think the Depraved Drove is a very strong addition to a HoS list, but I'm wary of buying into it too heavily in case the option gets removed/substantially changed in later updates some point down the line and I'm stuck with a bunch of BoC stuff that I don't necessarily like! Luckily I still have plenty of actual Hedonites to work on before that becomes a factor in my collection, I suppose.

Heartrenders an extremely valuable tool outside of their damage output, and they see lots of play as allies and in mixed order forces, which I suspect is the driving logic behind a little points bump there.

To be fair I think most of the other stuff in the book is pointed pretty fairly, a few things could maybe slide up or down 10-20 points, but to my eye it's only really the witches and hags which were particularly egregious. I wonder if the Cauldron Hag will go up to match the infantry version? It's already a pretty pricey unit and I rarely find space for one at 300 points really. Blood Stalkers need a warscroll revamp more than a points change I think, I don't know if I'd even take them at 100 points in a competitive list! Shame cos the models are lovely, and I've just finished painting up a squad, but hey, they can't all be winners I suppose.

You apply additive modifiers after any multiplication or division, so in this case you would be looking at a 42" Arcane Bolt. (Page 6 of the AoS Core Rules Designers Commentary)

And you can absolutely fit 30 25mm bases wholly within 3" of Lauchon, someone's already made a movement tray for it! I think you can actually get closer to 50 25 mm bases or 30+ 25mm bases? But it is probably something you'd need a template for for the sake of speed...

Idoneth do have a SC box now! But it's not a great one necessarily. If you're lucky you might be able to find some independent stores which still have stock of the Devoted of Morathi box in, depending on where you live, but it would be a long-shot, sadly.

Spellportal is going to be better for that I think, and more flexible. The Vortex is going to limit the mobility of whatever you stick up there, the KoS can't use it, presumably you aren't going to want to stick a chariot up there, and you ideally want your epitome free to move around for the second Locus effect, which leaves the Viceleader as your 'best' Vortex option, which I don't know how valuable that would be necessarily.

It's hard to say, depends how hard they swing really, too many points bumps will make the army more focused on mono-builds, too few and it remains a competitive powerhouse, they've had plenty of time to theoretically playtest new points values, and versus newer faction with access to tools which work against DoK Shenanigans. I'd say Witches and Hags will go up regardless of anything else, 120/300 same as Sisters of Slaughter would be my guess. I could see most other stuff staying the same or thereabouts? Perhaps Heartrenders up to 90 or 100 points, Blood Stalkers should certainly come down, but I don't know what would be the right spot for them.

Hah, I would probably not make too many cries of 'imbalance' when playing Daughters of Khaine, you're like to make people upset! With the Everblaze Comet (and most endless spells really) the key is in not allowing the space for it to do damage. The comet is particularly irritating because it has such a long casting range, it can be cast from outside of unbind range and still placed anywhere in a large portion of the board. However, it's max damage per unit is 3 wounds, making it only really dangerous to low-wound count heroes like Hags and Medusae, so your best bet is to position those units so that the comet cannot be placed within 10" of them, and if that's not possible then certainly so that it cannot be placed within 5", as part of the danger is with the comet hitting twice in succession depending on the turn order. After that you can just leave the comet where it is and move away from it in your next turn.

Obviously the Slaanesh book is fresh out so it's early doors, but it's quite an interesting comparison. They're similar armies on paper but in practice look to work quite differently. Most DoK lists tend to build around including various ways to buff one unit into a formidable melee threat, and which unit those buffs go onto can change on a round by round basis, so you can manufacture the type of damage output you need on the fly. Conversely the Slaanesh book doesn't really have too many unit buffs, and although a lot of their units are very fast and melee focused their base killing power is generally going to be less than the DoK can kick out. But Slaanesh have a lot of options when it comes to heroes, movement and magical chicanery, summoning is going to be a key part of their toolkit I'd expect. Slaanesh is probably the more flexible tome, I'd say? Neither book has much in the way of shooting options, but Slaanesh has more access to decent magic and their summoning allows you to bring in whatever units you might need mid-game. As to which is stronger? I think that's impossible to say right now, certainly DoK are a very strong army at the moment, but I think Slaanesh will certainly have their own competitive niche too.

I've run two units of 10 to modest effect, not tried one block of 20 yet. I suspect it would be too difficult to fit 20 of those huge bases into anything worthwhile, even with Flying, sometimes it's hard enough just fitting 10 in. I have found them quite handy as throwaway units for knocking out enemy screens though, 10 for 160 points, and if you buff them up they can knock out 20 clanrats etc. in one round. With so few attacks they really want the Witchbrew though, which can leave your other units vulnerable to Battleshock.

I have seen a unit of Plague Monks do so, however! Edit: I should probably expand on this slightly facetious, not particularly useful comment! I don't think comparing across army books is often very useful in terms of balance, though I would say Plague Monks are a fairly similar unit to Witch Aelves in many ways. DoK is my primary army, so pinch of salt on my opinions, it does seem to me like the more recent books (The AoS 2 ones, if you like) are geared towards a similar level with one another, and DoK was just the first book of that level. Certainly I think there are a lot of Skaven lists that Daughters will struggle against. I feel that you could adjust DoK reasonably enough via points changes without having to too heavily mess with their rules, others have said it, but Hags to 100-120 and Witches to 120/300 would almost fix the more egregious combos by itself. (Though I will note that with the rise of things that always hit first and stronger shooting I think the field will level around DoK in any case.) Could Hagg Nar be changed? Sure, probably, I'd expect a new book to change all the temples (or stormhosts, or enclaves, or any of that non-model enshrined stuff for any faction), DoK was the first book with the Stormhost-style rules really, and they are not as restrictive as those that have come after for the most part (Only limiting either an artefact or command trait, never both). Personally I suspect all you'd really have to do is remove Blessing of Khaine from the book, replace it with a prayer for Run and Charge or something to bias things more towards Melusai/Khinerai, it's a niche defensive upgrade in a mostly offensive force which only really sees play in Hagg Nar lists.