Lucentia

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.

True enough, I also like them as a first-wave assault unit that can kill off screening units so that harder hitting stuff can strike more important targets. And their after-melee bounce move can be very handy to prevent them taking casualities in return, or just as a part of general movement shenanigans.

You generally don't take Heartrenders for damage, though they can snipe a few wounds of key targets sometimes, and -2 rend is not too common in a DoK list depending on where your Mindrazor is at. They are more useful for swooping onto objectives, deploying onto the board as temporary screens or to deny enemy movement options, which the Heartrenders can do better due to their ability to potentially move after shooting. Of course if you're looking purely for damage then Lifetakers will serve better, except they have to get into melee range to do so, and Witch Aelves will deal more damage than either option in that case.

Here is the largest of the lads, and his backup crew, Mollog is a fun model to paint, though I might go back and try and bring up the skin contrast a little more at some point, I'm happy to call it finished for now though.

I have 20 Lifetakers to put together, and I grabbed some Azyrite Ruins to chop up and add to the bases to try and make the more stable, I'm kinda dreading getting started on the project, tbh!

The thing that makes it a possibility in my eyes is that, as far as I'm aware, all the models for Underworlds represent existing units in AoS, or units that will exist at least (Though this was more true for Shadespire than it is for Nightvault, where Mollog is a distinct type of Dankhold Troggoth, and the Briar Queen is a wholly unique character). But in any case it looks like the Sylvaneth warband are going to include some kind of revenant with a bow, which could certainly just be a standalone thing for Underworlds, but to me suggests the possibility of an expansion for the Sylvaneth range to match.

It's not a warband, but I did finish cracking through the Underworlds terrain pack I got for Christmas, a little bit awkward to actually use in a game as it's supposed to actually sit on the lethal hexes in some instances, but it certainly makes the board look more exciting! I also have a certainTroggoth sat built and primed on my desk, so no doubt I'll be back in a few weeks with the results of that painting venture...