Lucentia

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.

Not in bulk, no. DoK have a couple of damage spells, the Bloodwrack Medusa has a mortal wound shooting attack which is quite effective versus horde units, Blood Sisters have a smattering of mortal wound attacks in the combat phase, and the bladed shields on various units can bounce mortal wounds back on their attackers, that's about it.

They're a bit of a jack of all trades, master of none for 160pts, a bit of shooting, a spot of magic, relatively weak combat output (for DoK). I don't dislike them, but they're quite hard to squeeze into a list a lot of the time. For pros they are a very mobile wizard, which is handy in some missions, and very fast in general which is, again, handy for objectives. Strictly speaking they have a 'good' armour save as far as DoK is concerned, I suppose... If running Khailebron you can run ten and attempt for a cheeky teleporting doombolt assassination mission, but there's enough anti-magic around now that that's more of a gimmick than anything. They quite like Shroud of Despair to combo with Mindrazor from another more reliable spellcaster, and so long as you have 5 models Doombolt isn't a bad prospect. I don't think there's any harm throwing a unit of five into a list and seeing how you like them, as you note they are quite flexible.

I spotted that too, it's interesting to me cos the terrain bits for Underworlds are not on individual sprues, so perhaps they're reusing the Underworlds sprue and giving the components AoS rules? Or maybe they're just using the CAD file for that particular component for whatever reason.

As a minor update I just wrapped up this mini-tourney and managed to snag 1st place, and best-painted to boot, though there were only 12 competitors so it's hardly representative of my actual tactical acumen, I was lucky not to get drawn against the 60 plague monks and Thanquol list which would've been an uphill struggle! I played versus the new Khorne twice and a gore-grunta Ironjawz list, pretty fun all round! When it comes to transporting models I actually tend to just lie them down flat on layers of bubble-wrap in a tool box and I've yet to have anything break, even the Khinerai, I'd be concerned using foam inserts with such spiky models in case they get caught and end up flexing the wrong way.

Draichi Ganeth Slaughter Troupe can be quite good fun (Let's you bring 2 units of Witch Aelves in the battalion, and everything can retreat and charge to reapply the DG charging buff) but as a base battalion it's usable but sometimes feels inessential as Sisters of Slaughter and Heartrenders kinda don't need the retreat and charge ability, though it is handy, and I know some Slaughter Troupe lists have done well in tournaments. Cauldron Guard I actually think is quite good, +1 to run and charge on Witches is no bad thing, you can run max Witches and min Lifetakers and the cost it not too bad, Lifetakers can be a handy drop-down screen and objective snatchers (Though Heartrenders certainly do this job better). I've been running a cauldron guard list with 2x 10 Lifetakers and I don't dislike them, they're fairly cheap and you can run them as a first wave assault to clear out enemy screens, but that depends on the match-up, they'll tear through 20 Clanrats no problem, but can bounce spectacularly off tougher targets. On the plus side once they have done their attacks they have that 50/50 shot of hopping back to set up as a screen of their own. I like them in theory, but I need to try them more before I'm really sold.

I would agree vis a vis the medusa, losing out on the Cauldrons command ability is also a significant factor. My concern with the first list would be that it is a tough match-up versus any Skaven which bring enough anti-horde to wipe a single witch aelf unit (which is not out of the question given the skaven tome!). Also I guess both lists will have a tough time versus a Gristlegore general, but I don't think there're many 1k lists that wouldn't!

The GW warscroll cards actually have a little token sheet for the Blood Rites table, I think they're out of print now, but I've seen a few still lingering on the shelves in both GW and independent stores, if that suits you. I have seen some acrylic token sets for DoK available on the internet somewhere, but for the life of me I can't find them now, and I think they were mostly spells/prayer trackers rather than the Blood Rites? Sorry, not very helpful! I've got a little 1k tournament coming up, and I've not played at 1k in a long time, so I'm a little torn between two lists at present, any fun suggestions? Either: List 1 Slaughter Queen on Cauldron of Blood (Devoted Disciples, Blessing of Khaine, Iron Circlet) Hag Queen (Sacrament of Blood) Bloodwrack Medusa (Mindrazor) 30 Witch Aelves (Daggers) 10x Sisters of Slaughter 5x Heartrenders List 2 Bloodwrack Medusa (Devoted Disciples, Mindrazor) Hag Queen (Blessing of Khaine, Iron Circlet) Hag Queen (Catechism of Murder) 30x Witch Aelves (Daggers) 15x Blood Sisters Command Point Both Hagg Nar, list 1 obviously suffers if anyone has the tools to knock out the Witches (Though the Cauldron can do some work as a secondary damage source it is also a big target in and of itself, obviously.) Whereas list 2 has no screening elements at all, and misses out on the blood shield, but has more dispersed damage.

I do not believe that the Hydra and Kharybdiss have any lore connection, they just share the same kit, but I'm no expert. If you have a cool flavour hook like that then I think including a Kharybdiss regardless of how 'optimal' it is. Alternatively if you're feeling creative you could perhaps kit-bash a Cauldron of Blood which is being carried by a Kharybdiss somehow?

They could probably re-tool the Avatar on foot to work more like a terrain piece, perhaps, it has some similar design elements.

Double post, my apologies.

The Kharybdiss is, unfortunately, saddled with a not particularly inspiring warscroll, so as monster choices go it is not the most optimal pick. However if you really like the model it is fairly cheap in terms of points, and there's nothing wrong with trying to make it work for you. It's most interesting feature to me is the 3" range on its primary melee attacks, which allow it to sneak into the edges of combat and deal some damage whilst being fairly safe from retaliation, but its damage output is not huge. The Abyssal Howl could combo well with the Mindrazor spell, but it's using the old wording of 'bravery' versus 'bravery characteristic' so I'm not sure if that actually works per the rules as written. It's a warscroll with quite a confused battlefield role I think! I might suggest that the Hydra could be more useful in a DoK list if you want an allied monster because it can work as a moderately tanky block in some circumstances thanks to its regeneration. But if your heart is set on trying out a Kharybdiss I would probably try and use it as a counter-charge element maybe?

This thread may very well help when it comes to the relative merits of Sisters and Witches: Personally I think all the weapon options have merit, but are best suited for different tasks.

I hope the inevitable DoK terrain piece is just a Cauldron of Blood without the wheels on it.

I've used Wych weapons on Witches, but not whole bodies. Not to say you couldn't do it, but the aesthetic is quite different (and a little too sci-fi, perhaps), there's some pipes and cabling on them that you'd want to shave down for sure. Also I think most of the right arm pieces are holding pistols, not sure if there are enough arms in the box to arm them all with two melee weapons. Do note also that the proportions are quite different, with the Wyches being markedly more muscular than the Witch Aelves (also also four of the Wych torsos are technically 'male' ones though I doubt that would make much difference.

I mentioned a while back that I was planning on doing some more stable Khinerai using the Azyrite Ruins sets, here's what I've got so far. It was actually fairly all things considered, the ruin columns are mostly solid plastic all the way through so you just need a decent enough modelling saw to cut them to an appropriate height (I built five Khinerai as standard so that I could get the heights about right). And then the Khinerai themselves are mostly not too tricky to clip off of the little rocks they're normally attached to, though I did have to truncate a couple of tails to make it work. Then it's just a matter of positioning them on the pillars so the posing still works.

Fair warning that the FW one is much bigger than the cauldron statue, so it won't fit on the 'proper' 40mm base size (though I hold that the cauldron avatar also looks kinda silly on a 40mm...) but it is a far more dynamic model.

That seems reasonable to me, the cauldrons are easy enough to magnetise so you can swap them out. You have the Khinerai names backwards I think, but if I'm reading it right 10 of each should be fine, I don't think you'll necessarily need 20 Heartrenders most of the time, but 10 is a good number to have on hand generally. I'd probably lean more towards 15-20 Blood Sisters and keep the Blood Stalkers to a 5, I think even a single squad of Blood Sisters will let you play around with them enough to get a grip with how they work. 10 Doomfires is fine too, if you really like them you can go more, but they're a pretty pricey unit and I've never felt the urge to squeeze more than 10 into any given list. For sisters/witches you can't really go wrong, I would suggest maybe whichever unit you go with 30 shields on the other should have 30 double weapons, just for variety if nothing else, but none of the configurations are a 'bad' choice, really.

I would use Blood Sisters over Executioners purely for the (very important) fact that the Sisters look better as models, though I also think the extra movement and access to DoK buffs pulls them ahead even if the general damage output is lower on paper (Hagg Nar re-rolls coupled with Catechism, for example, can really boost their mortal wound output), they also have the 2" melee range over the Executioners which, granted, they're on bigger bases, but it does mean you can sometimes sneak attacks onto a mis-positioned support hero or similar. Plus having a unit with base rend -1 is handy in case you need to Mindrazor them to crack something your Witches won't be able to. Warlocks are a bit of a toolkit unit I find, I rarely want them to be actually charging into combat, frankly I rarely even want them in range to use their crossbows a lot of the time. They tend to be a low priority target, as well as being a very fast moving Wizard, which is good for those new wizards score missions, give them an easy spell like Shroud of Despair and they can run support when they're not in position to Doombolt something worthwhile. Teleporting 10 with Khailebron can be good I think, but only if you have a good shot at something they can kill in one Doombolt, with a big squad you can teleport them in a fairly long line to tag objectives/arcane terrain/keep in range of the general to teleport again next turn, etc. I only tend to commit them to combat in later turns to grab objectives or try and kill of depleted enemy units, and such.

I tend to batch paint them in blocks of 5-10 at a time, depending on how pressed for time I am. I do all the skin first, you can use different skin tones to help break up the monotony! Then all the fabric bits, then metals, basically work from the largest areas to smallest. The real killer for me is the Witch Aelf hair, which is both a large surface area over 30 minis and quite fiddly to boot. You can speed it up with a wash+drybrush (in which case do the hair first) but I don't much like how that looks normally, I'm not very good at drybrushing! I would probably advise not trying to do all 70 at once, do them in 10s and break up each batch with painting something else for a bit.