Your complete guide to the Nighthaunt in Age of Sigmar 3.0. Explore ethereal tactics, unit breakdowns, and army lists to command your ghostly procession to victory.
Introduction
This handbook is a subjective assessment of the Nighthaunt faction for a previous edition of Age of Sigmar: 3.0. There will not be any further updates to this article, however it is still useful for those playing the 3rd edition of AoS.The ratings are subjective and should only be used as a rule of thumb. Age of Sigmar is no exact science and opinions will therefore differ – not even our collective wisdom can deduce an ultimate truth. However, this handbook should offer insights into the intricacies of the Nighthaunt. The ratings and comments are based on competitive play at 2000 points.
And as always remember the golden rule: Wargaming is supposed to be fun. This handbook is not trying to dictate that competitive play is the only, or even the right, way of playing.
A Note on Averages
We will refer to “wounds on average” in this handbook. Whenever we do, it is assumed that your unit or model attacks an enemy unit with a normal save of 4+ and nothing else affecting the roll otherwise. The point of these averages is to highlight what you can expect from a unit in combat, as the weapon profiles can be a bit tricky to evaluate just by looking at them. Just remember that in actuality many factors affect the rolls when you play, so use our averages only as a rule of thumb.Rating scale
No unit exists in a vacuum and the ratings should reflect that. Thus the ratings are given based on how effectively the unit accomplishes its role in the army. However, all army lists are different so the analysis of each unit will be based on a very general perspective and common assumptions (e.g. fast and cheap units are used as screens etc.).- ✪✩✩✩✩ is unusable. This rating is reserved for the real stinkers. Picking this can only make your list worse.
- ✪✪✩✩✩ is situational. You need to have a specific purpose in mind if you pick this. Without a plan for the selection you will make your list worse by picking this.
- ✪✪✪✩✩ is decent. This is a balanced selection but is not a must-have either.
- ✪✪✪✪✩ is good. Most lists benefit from this selection and you should definitely consider it.
- ✪✪✪✪✪ is amazing. This rating is reserved for the best our book has to offer.
Change Log
- Added a new section on battle tactics and grand strategies. Added strategic tips to the Chainrasps entry. Added points about synergy between Spirit Hosts and Lady Olynder to both entries. Removed irrelevant part of Bladegheist entry. Removed erroneous statements from Harridans entry. Downgraded Myrmourn Banshees to four stars and added clarification on how their dispel effect works. Downgraded both Knights of Shrouds with a star. Upgraded Krulghast Cruciator to five stars and added a point about their effectiveness in current meta. Added a couple of tactical points to Lady Olynder. Added a humorous statement to the end of the Spirit Torment entry. Added a point about Black Coach opening up for a faction battle tactic. Removed out of date part of Mourngul's entry. Upgraded Master of Magic to four stars and added some notes on its usability. Added some information on how to best use the Beacon of Nagashizzar. Upgraded Ghostmist to two stars. Upgraded Geminids to four stars and added some information on how it works. Removed erroneous information from Mortalis Terminexus. Fixed various typos.
- Added all available Endless Spells. Added a note about Harridans lacking rend. Clarified command ability ranges on Awlrach.
- First version published.
Units
Battleline
Leaving aside units that can become battleline under certain conditions, we have four battleline units, and they each cover their own respective roles:- Chainrasps: screening, “cheap” horde with decent damage output.
- Grimghast Reapers: damage dealers, anti horde.
- Hexwraiths: screening, extremely fast cavalry with decent damage output.
- Spirit Hosts: bodyguard and screen for heroes - can also work as anvil.
Clocking in at 11 points per wound Chainrasps are not cheap for a rank and file battleline unit compared to other Death armies, but even then they are a really good deal for what they bring to the table. Like the rest of Nighthaunt units Chainrasps are very mobile with 8” move and Fly which means that you can quickly reposition them to screen against incoming charges or reposition to grab an unprotected objective. Their 5+ save is lower than anything else in our army - but that is not to say that it is bad, an unmodifiable 5+ backed up by a 6+ ward is still a good defence, especially paired with Discorporate that buffs the ward to a 5+ when you need it the most. As the only unit in our book with less than 10 Bravery Chainrasps will need the occasional Inspiring Presence should they sustain many wounds in a single combat. With 2 attacks each and small 25mm bases (which means that even with only 1” reach you can fight in two ranks) you can dish out an incredible amount of attacks with a big unit of these ghostly fellows - especially if you pair them with an effect like the Lightshard of the Harvest Moon. They are our cheapest Battleline unit and they are rock solid. Taking them in units of 20 or 30 really pays off because of their small bases - and it also makes it more likely that you can get them back with Rally late in the game. Due to the small base size, you can do a conga line and still keep the coherency, making a 10-men unit very effective at screening and zoning. They do lack rend so don’t expect them to do miracles against heavy armour - but don’t worry, we have other units to take care of that. Chainrasps are also good units to use with our Vanishing Phantasms ability as having some in reserve means the opponent can leave no objective unguarded - especially if you put them in the Expert Conquerors battalion.
The Grim Reaper is coming for the enemies of Nagash in the form of these awesome horde killers. The Grimghast Reapers are quite expensive for a battleline unit but they are worth every penny. Their damage profile is impressive in itself, but the fact that you will get an extra attack against enemy units with 5 or more models is just bonkers. Their 2” reach is really important as they can fight in two ranks despite the 32mm; at the moment however, with the Bonds of Battle special rule that has been introduced with the latest General’s Handbook, that benefit doesn’t matter as much because all Galletian Veteran units can now fight in two ranks. But you can still fight even staying behind a screen of Chainrasp, so that’s still something.
With 2 ranks fighting, a unit of 10 Gringhast Reapers (including champion) attacking an enemy unit with 5+ models will do 7.18 wounds on average. This is a very strong baseline and the damage output only goes up from there when you factor in things like Frightful Touch, Stun and All-out Attack - and these buffs are all readily available without any support heroes. If you get a Guardian of Souls to hang out with the Reapers then you also get a +1 to wound and you can heal with Spectral Lure. Another really strong support option is the Spirit Torment as it returns 3 Reapers every single combat phase, which means that they become really hard to get rid of. Whatever you do, remember that the support hero should not get involved in the fighting if you can avoid it - the Reapers will do the damage, and you don’t want to lose the support capabilities.
With 2 ranks fighting, a unit of 10 Gringhast Reapers (including champion) attacking an enemy unit with 5+ models will do 7.18 wounds on average. This is a very strong baseline and the damage output only goes up from there when you factor in things like Frightful Touch, Stun and All-out Attack - and these buffs are all readily available without any support heroes. If you get a Guardian of Souls to hang out with the Reapers then you also get a +1 to wound and you can heal with Spectral Lure. Another really strong support option is the Spirit Torment as it returns 3 Reapers every single combat phase, which means that they become really hard to get rid of. Whatever you do, remember that the support hero should not get involved in the fighting if you can avoid it - the Reapers will do the damage, and you don’t want to lose the support capabilities.
For 160 points you get one of the fastest units in the game, that can fight, screen or grab objectives. If you sacrifice the possibility to charge, they can move 24”... plus run, so a total move of up to 30”, basically a teleport without the usual limitations. No unguarded objective is safe. And if you don’t need that superior move, they still have a decent combat profile, with the added bonus of mortal wounds on their charge. With two wounds each they are even as durable as Grimghast Reapers. One thing to note is that Hexwraiths do not become Galletian Veterans as they have mounts - which is not necessarily a bad thing. This means that you can deny the opponent battle tactics and mission rules that grant them victory points for killing Galletian Veterans. Due to Hexwraiths decent attack profile and speed they are a good choice for the Bounty Hunters battalion - as they can quickly seek and destroy enemy Galletian Veterans. All in all a really solid unit.
This unit serves a very specific role in our army: The Spirit Hosts are the bodyguards of our important characters such as Lady Olynder and Kurdoss Valentian, or lesser heroes as a Guardian of Souls or Spirit Torment, which are frail but cover key roles. They have decent stats in terms of durability and movement but their unique ability to redirect wounds from a hero to themselves is what makes them interesting. Grab a minimum sized unit of these and let them stay close to your important hero and you now have a hero that is very hard to get off the board. The good thing is that with their good movement you can easily reposition them to act as bodyguard for another hero should you need it. They can also screen for other units and grab objectives if need be. All this for the price of 125 points - not bad. Another use for them is as an anvil if you take them in a unit of 6 and stick a Spirit Torment close to them - and remember that they will be able to fight in two ranks due to Bonds of Battle (because they are Galletian Veterans). They have good synergy with Lady Olynder's boardwide resurrection ability because it returns d6 models, so for every Spirit Host you resurrect you effectively get 3 wounds.
Other
The extra stars in the parentheses is the rating if this unit is taken in a Scarlet Doom army - more on that further down. Revenants share most stats with their cheaper Reaper brethren but hit on 3+ instead of 4+. They are only 15 points more expensive than the Grimghast Reapers but except for their better to hit they are also worse in a couple of ways. Where the Grimghast Reapers get an extra attack when targeting bigger units, Bladegheists get the extra attack when they charge. This means that the two units are good versus different things, in general you want to target units with many models with your Reapers and use your Bladegheists against dangerous single models like heroes and monsters. The Bladegheists have a higher potential ceiling than the Grimghast Reapers but a lower floor at the same time. Bladegheists only have 1” range on their weapons (where Reapers have 2”) which means that they cannot fight in two ranks due to their 32mm bases - this effectively means that even though they hit better than the Reapers their damage output is usually lower because you cannot get the whole unit into combat. Secondly they are not a battleline unit and this is a huge drawback with the current rules for Galletian Veterans (General’s Handbook 2022). Luckily this can be changed if you pick the Scarlet Doom subfaction - which also grants them an impressive impact hit special rule. If you run your Revenants in the Scarlet Doom then they are absolutely bonkers and probably our best unit in the book (hence the five star rating) - outside of that subfaction though, you are probably better off taking the Reapers. What makes them so amazing in Scarlet Doom is that by making them a battleline unit they get the Galletian Veteran keyword which opens up a plethora of benefits:
- You can put them in the Expert Conquerors battalion, making them count as 3 models for contesting objectives.
- You can use the Overwhelming Assault command ability on them, making them even more deadly against smaller units.
- With the realm special rule Proving Grounds you can deny enemy non-Galletian Veterans the ability to contest an objective.
- Importantly: They can now fight in two ranks due to the Bonds of Battle special rule. And this is just nuts on a unit like Bladegheists that effectively gets double the amount of attacks because of this.
We pick our heroes mainly for their buffs and utilities and this is a unit that offers a solid buff without even being a hero! (it’s a recurrent theme in our good units, see the Harridans with their -1 to wound). Chainghasts come in pairs and they have a decent ranged attack with 15”. Their main ability and the real reason you want them, is Another Link in the Chain: as long as you have a Spirit Torment on the battlefield (which you should have in your army because it is an awesome hero), the Chainghasts grant +1 to hit in a 12” bubble. Given that you field 2 of them, you can cover basically a 27” front. Pretty solid, they basically duplicate for free the precious All-Out Attack command ability and it is always active, in every phase, for every unit wholly within range. With this buff you also get to use Discorporate and get +1 to hit in the combat phase - which you cannot normally do as the same unit cannot receive both All-Out Attack and Discorporate. Their drawback is that their buff disappears the moment that your opponent kills your last Spirit Torment, so keep that in mind. All of this for only 95 pts.
How cool is it that we can now field crossbow wielding ghosts? Really fucking cool. What is less cool is that they are really overpriced for what they do. Our army faction rules are geared towards charging and close combat - so these ranged dudes don’t really benefit from most of those rules. However, it seems that it has still been factored in when calculating their cost - which means that you’ll have to pay 115 points for a unit that shouldn't fight in close combat and only does 1.65 wounds on average with their crossbows. If you bring Kurdoss Valentian the Guard becomes a battleline unit which makes them a bit more interesting in that you can grab a couple of these and let them hang back on your back objectives and still fill in the mandatory battleline slots. However, our normal battleline units are really good so you don’t really have a big incentive to do so. What they do have going for them is that they are a ranged unit that ignore sight blockers and cover. This is a very cool feature but unfortunately Age of Sigmar 3.0 is not really a game with very dense terrain and things you can hide behind. Obviously this is not always true, but don’t expect the Guard to be able to hide behind walls all the time - this is not Mordheim. Another issue with the Guard is that Chainghasts are cheaper and almost as good at shooting - plus the Chainghasts can buff nearby units.
The Harridans become a battleline unit in a Quicksilver Dead army and in that subfaction this unit is a solid five stars (hence the parenthesis). They are good in a mirror match when facing another Nighthaunt army or other armies that rely on ward saves (like Maggotkin) if you pick the Quicksilver Dead subfaction. A big drawback is their 32mm and 1” reach. Their combat profile is not great (4+/4+ with no rend), but here’s the deal: if they attack a unit with a wounded model, or a unit with a model killed in that turn, they gain a +1 to hit and to wound. Stick them nearby a Knight of Shroud that attacks, inflicts a wound and activates spectral overseer, and you’ll be happy. And don’t forget that their mere presence imposes a -1 to wound within 3” if they have charged this turn. Their biggest drawback is their lack of rend, so you will have to rely on Stun and maybe bring a Purple Sun to get through armour. In general the Harridans are more circumstantial than some of our other choices (like Reapers and Revenants) but if you face low armour enemies or many ward saves give them a try, they can really put some work in. In a Quicksilver army they become battleline, and they can now fight in two ranks due to the Bonds of Battle special rule; that means a lot of attacks, and if they manage to impose a malus to saves, the ability to negate ward increases exponentially.
At 26 points per model you would expect something awesome - but alas, the Glaivewraiths don't really have any redeeming factors. They are not especially durable and considering their cost their damage output is pathetic. Seriously, the Myrmourn Banshees (which is the same price and not really a combat unit) has one more attack and one extra rend on their profile. Laughable. If you need a cheap unit then get a unit of Myrmourn Banshees that at least adds anti-magic capabilities to the board or spend 5 points extra and get 10 Chainrasps.
These rowdy ladies are a sleeper hit. Nighthaunt in general lacks magic capabilities, but the Myrmourn Banshees make up for that in the sense that they add an extra layer of magic defence to your army. When the opponent casts a spell you will first have the option of a normal unbind attempt if you have a wizard within 30" of the caster. Then, if you did not unbind it, the Banshees give you a second chance to stop the spell if it targets a unit within 12" of them (for example if the opponent tries to cast Mystic Shield on one of their units or Arcane Bolt on one of yours). However, do note that if the Banshees want to stop endless spells they have to be within 6” of it. Another big limitation on this ability is that you cannot stop Area of Effect spells and effects that are boardwide. You even get +1 to the attempt if the Myrmourn Banshees have 3 or more models. Then if you have a second unit of these spell-eating damsels around you can try again. Don’t forget that you roll against the casting value of the spell, not what was rolled. You don’t care if you face Lord Kroak with a +4 to cast, or Teclis with autocast 12. If the casting value of the spell is 6, with 3 or more banshees you only need to roll a 6. Add on top of this that the Banshees have a good weapon profile with -2 rend and you have a really good deal. This unit is cheap enough that it can be used to hold objectives while our damage dealers get stuck in combat. In a meta (like the current tournament scene) where strong magic is prevalent the Myrmourn Banshees really shine. Don’t sleep on this unit.
Leaders
This guy is the king of repositioning units and complete battlefield control… with a command point he can teleport himself and another Nighthaunt unit wholly within 18". That’s stronger than the effect of the endless spell Soulscream Bridge (and it cannot be countered), and stronger than the annoying Lords of Space and Time of Seraphon. It cannot be stressed enough how important movement is in Age of Sigmar and this guy offers you plenty of it. If he is your general he can double use teleport with Dreadblade Harrow. This means four redeployments each turn, with a single command point - a truly unique and strong ability. Awlrach is also a skilled fighter, and if he manages to charge something and kills a model with his d3 mortal wounds on the charge, he will add d3 attacks. This ability means that he is an amazing chaff killer. The only downside is that you will need 175 points to field the dude, and we need so many heroes for buffs.
With a 3” range on its scythe’s ability the Wraith will be able to hit four ranks of 25mm bases and three ranks of 32mm bases - assuming that they are packed tightly. Suffice to say this is a ludicrous amount of potential attacks. It obviously depends on how you position the Cairn Wraith and how your opponent’s models are lined up - but getting 10+ attacks is usually easy, and you can potentially do 30+ attacks against 25mm bases in a tight formation. Combine this with the fact that the Cainoch Scythe has a very good damage profile with 3+/3+, 1 rend and 2 damage per attack and you have an absolute beast of a killing machine. A good artefact to pick for the Cairn Wraith is the Vial of Manticore Venom - the reason is that given the huge amount of attacks that it has you get good mileage out of the +1 to wound. Another strong contender is the Shadow’s Edge - as you can fish for those juicy mortal wounds with a huge number of attacks. However, neither artefact is necessary for the Wraith to do its business, and both are probably a bit overkill. Given that the Cairn Wraith will probably get targeted down and might not survive many combat phases it is probably better to just turn on Finest Hour for it the turn you charge it in. If your opponent fields units with high model counts - which is quite likely due to the seasonal rules - then the Cairn Wraith is a good pick.
The Dreadblade is worth every penny. Firstly, being a mounted hero, he’s got a very respectable 12” move, and in combat he’s not a total slouch (2.29 wounds on average). But you are going to pick him for his two solid abilities: the first is Phantasmal Discorporation which is a built-in teleport. In Age of Sigmar movement is king, and the ability to simply reposition a hero wherever you need to is too good to be overlooked. The high mobility also synergizes with fast units, like Hexwraiths with their Phantasmal Advance, making sure the Dreadblade Harrow can keep up with them. The second ability is Curse of Loyalty, which lets him replicate the command ability issued by your general. In the same phase, for free. Let that sink in for a moment. This means double 5+ Ward (our unique command ability Discorporate). Or, if your general is a Knight of Shrouds on Steed using All Out Attack, then you are going to have the benefits of a double command ability - without spending a single command point. You can also use this ability to auto run 6" with two units when you really need to advance. This hero is very close to a must-have.
At 150 points the Guardian is not a cheap wizard with only 1 cast and 1 unbind - but you get a lot more than just that in the deal. The spell Spectral Lure is one of the few remaining ways of resurrecting we have in our army. While not as effective as the Spirit Torment’s ability to bring back 3 wounds per combat phase, Spectral Lure is still a very good and easy to cast spell that can help you maintain pressure when your units start taking casualties. Remember that resurrection in Nighthaunt is quite a bit stronger than in Soulblight Gravelords and Flesh Eater Courts, the reason being how elite our summonable units are (they are all fast, hit hard and have unmodifiable saves). However, the Guardian of Souls doesn’t only cast spells, it also has a really nice buff granting +1 to wound for all friendly units wholly within 12”. Buffing to wound is generally better than buffing to hit, because all units already have access to All-Out Attack. If you want to include Endless Spells in your army and don’t want to take Reikenor the Guardian of Souls should be equipped with the Midnight Tome to ensure that you can get your Endless Spell through. Surprisingly the Guardian of Souls have a decent combat profile - but do not let that trick you into sending it into melee, you really need the Guardian of Souls to survive so that it can provide magic and buffs.
The Knight of Shrouds is a decent pick as your general (especially if you run a Dreadblade Harrow as it can double the free Unleash Hell or Redeploy). He hits hard and is quite durable, especially once he starts ticking up in wounds with his Sword of Stolen Hours. Pendant of the Fell Wind plus Hatred of the Living is a good combination on him as you make him more survivable and increase his damage output (which also will make him gain more wounds and heal). The unmounted version is quite a bit worse than the mounted one so you should probably only pick this if you are 20 points short or really need Redeploy. One minor benefit the unmounted Knight of Shroud has is that it has a smaller base which can make room for more units making it into combat - it also makes it easier to hide it behind terrain.
The Knight of Shrouds is a good pick as your general (especially if you run a Dreadblade Harrow as it can double the free All-Out Attack). He is really fast, hits hard and is quite durable, especially once he starts ticking up in wounds with his Sword of Stolen Hours. Pendant of the Fell Wind plus Hatred of the Living is a good combination on him as you both make him more survivable and increase his damage output (which also will make him gain more wounds and heal). He is only 20 points more expensive than the Knight Shrouds on foot and you get a wound more, horse attacks and 4” worth of movement - so the mounted version is probably the pick most of the time, unless you really don’t have those 20 points or need Unleash Hell and Redeploy specifically.
Support hero that requires an investment of 150 points. It has a decent shooting attack but that is just an added bonus to the real reason why you would take it: its ability Empowering Excruciation, which subtracts 1 to damage inflicted to Nighthaunt units. The ability is good but it comes with a couple of limitations:
- You must, of course, face an army that deals multiple damage, otherwise you’re paying 150 points for nothing. This alone makes the Krulghast a situational unit.
- The friendly unit(s) must be wholly within 12”
Kurdoss smash! He might be craven but that mace is ace! With rend 3 and damage 3 Kurdoss absolutely demolishes in combat doing 7.5 wounds on average. Given that he is quite pricey you might want to invest in a small unit of Spirit Hosts to soak up incoming wounds because the opponent will do all they can to get him off the board before he starts swinging that massive thick club of his… His command point snatching ability is icing on the cake, but don't expect it to trigger more than once each game. He does one thing and he does it well, but his biggest issue is our hero slots are stretched thin and it can be hard to argue that bringing a hero that only is a damage dealer is the way to go, when we have access to so many good support heroes. One of the benefits of picking him as your damage dealer is that he has a huge damage output compared to his base size, so you can fit him in between your other units when you make multiple charges against dangerous units.
Our ghostly Grand Dame has become tough as nails in our newest battletome. With 7 wounds, 4+ unmodifiable save and a 4+ ward she is very durable. To kill her in one combat you’d have to put 28 wounds on her (or 14 mortal wounds) - and that is without any Spirit Hosts being nearby (and you should really be running them alongside her). But it gets better, with her Lift the Veil ability she basically shoots lasers out of her eyes which heals her when they kill stuff. Note that she will heal d3 wounds per model that is slain by this ability, so if she picks off three models she will heal 3d3 wounds. Her spell Grief Stricken is good but also a bit hard to get off, especially since Olynder doesn’t get any buffs to cast. She does get 2 casts and 2 undbinds which is nice, but she is by no means a magical powerhouse. Because Unique units cannot benefit from Enhancements she doesn’t get to pick any universal spell but she does get to know one spell from our faction lore. She is no slouch in close combat, but she is no Kurdoss either. She is a good unit but she suffers a bit from being a little bit all over the place: she is not a major threat in any single area - but she does do most things quite well. As a centrepiece your opponent will often try to get rid of her (especially because Lifting the Veil is not something you want to get hit with every turn) - which is to your advantage because she is really hard to get off the board, and it will buy you a reprieve for your other units. Her ability to bring back d6 models to all your summonable units boardwide once per game is really strong, especially paired with Spirit Hosts. It probably won’t hurt your list to put Lady Olynder in it, but don’t expect her to do amazing things on the board. To get the most out of her 2 casts you should consider bringing Chronomantic Cogs alongside Olynder.
This is a really solid melee hero, which comes at a very reasonable price. Firstly, it comes with basically a “Pendant of the Fell Wind” for free, which is enormously helpful for a unit that is supposed to go into close combat. Secondly, the Lord Executioner has a nice attack profile, which is almost identical to the one of a Knight of Shrouds… except in this case the rend is -2. Thirdly, this axe-wielding hangman has a built-in 5+ Ward, which combined with his unmodifiable 4+ save means that the opponent on average needs to put around 13 wounds on him to bring him down. All in all a really solid choice. He can be a great cheap general and a solid hero to be given an artefact (like Slitter or Vial of Manticore Venom).
It is hard to find anything bad to say about Reikenor: He has exceptional movement, he is cheap, he has an impressive combat profile, he has 7 wounds and he is the only caster in our army with access to bonuses to his spells. His spell Wraithstorm is a decent damage dealer, but nothing exceptional. His unique ability Corpse Candles are a strong reliable way to buff his casting and if you use it offensively you can pick off low health heroes and the like. If you want to run endless spells (consider Purple Sun) in your army then Reikenor is a top pick as he can get the often hard-to-cast spells through with his Corpse Candles. His 14” move when put together with retreat and charge makes it so he charges a unit, next turn he can retreat over that unit and hit something in the backfield or grab an objective that was supposed to be 'safe.
155 points is extremely expensive for a model that does only one thing and does absolutely nothing against other Death armies (which realistically makes up around ⅙ of all armies). Granted, you can theoretically Sentence to Torment up to 4 units during the course of a game (and a potential of 8d6 mortal wounds is impressive), but the likelihood of triggering the mortal wounds more than once or twice is extremely low - and you can only sentence a new unit once the first one is dead. Our competition for the hero slots is hard, and the Scriptor falls way short. The only time you would field this unit is if you’re really going all in on building a list around mortal wounds spam.
This unit is exceptional. At the end of each combat phase (so potentially twice each battle round), you can heal 3 wounds or raise 3 wounds worth of models in a summonable unit within 12”. The model itself costs 115 points… 3 wounds of Bladegheist cost 52 points. Spirit Hosts are each 3 wounds and cost 42 points… and Spirit Hosts act as bodyguards, so they are a pretty natural target. The Spirit Torment is also a prime choice for a hero that can carry the Arcane Tome, thus adding an additional wizard to your army for very cheap. Consider that:
- We have limited resources of raising power.
- The Spirit Torment’s attack has range 2”, so he can fight from behind a screen.
- The Spirit Torment boosts the Chainghasts, another really useful unit.
You are paying 280 points for a wizard with a ranged attack and a retinue of 6 souped up Chainrasps that act as her bodyguards. Her spell, Howling Vortex, is potentially very nice (1 MW and halves the move of enemy units in a 6” bubble from a given point), but you must roll to see if it comes into effect, making the spell a bit worse than “usual” spells. The spell could be useful against certain opponents and certain lists, so you should consider picking it when you know what you’re going to face. If you consider that the Thorns effectively counts as a unit of 10 Chainrasps (which is 110 points), then the Queen costs around 170 points, which is not completely outrageous but it’s not cheap at all. In closing, it is worth noting that the Chainrasps in the Briar Queen’s retinue are not summonable.
She’s got an unreliable shooting that on average will deal 0.73 wounds - not really something to get hyped about. The melee with -2 rend and 2 damage is nice, but with only 2 attacks you are not really doing much. Basically, you want to pick the Banshee for her ability: Ghostly Howl – on a roll of 4+ or 3+, your opponent must spend an additional command point to issue orders to the target unit. It wouldn't be bad, moreso because you will probably target a unit that has been charged… but you can still fail the roll and you are not blocking the order completely, it just costs more, so it could be all for naught if your opponent can still afford to issue that annoying All Out Defence (unless you’re planning a very unusual list around banshees, Kurdoss and Olynder, to drain your opponent of command points). At 115 points she is just too pricey for what she brings to the table.
Leaders, Behemoth
Right, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Nagash, the supreme, expensive lord of undead. WAIT! (I hear you say) only 2 stars? Is Nagash that bad?
Well… no, actually, he’s pretty good (albeit very expensive), especially for Nighthaunt, but when you use basically half of your army points to field a single model, you need to have a specific purpose in mind and you need to tailor the list around Nagash. And when you pick Nagash you can probably afford only a single Nighthaunt hero (for the free artefact). Let’s look at the four areas he excels in:
So yes, Nagash is really good, but he’s too costly to be “competitive” good.
Well… no, actually, he’s pretty good (albeit very expensive), especially for Nighthaunt, but when you use basically half of your army points to field a single model, you need to have a specific purpose in mind and you need to tailor the list around Nagash. And when you pick Nagash you can probably afford only a single Nighthaunt hero (for the free artefact). Let’s look at the four areas he excels in:
- Magic. Obvious call, at full health you can cast and unbind 8 spells with +3. There’s probably only Teclis that can match you. He knows every spell in the battletome and can cast all the arcane bolts he wants.
- Combat. In a nighthaunt army, he’s the only one that benefits from mystic shield and all out defence, so you’re probably gonna have a 1+ save. You hit hard enough, you can count on a very deadly short-ranged spell (hand of dust), and most of all, if you cast only a couple of utility spells, you can store a good number of arcane bolts: to discharge at once 5-6d3 MWs is not a joke.
- Invocation of Nagash. In his hero phase he can heal 3 wounds / raise 3 wounds-equivalent models in FIVE different summonable units. It stacks with the Supreme Lord of Undead ability: when your army uses an ability that resurrects slain models, you add 1 model to the number of raised ones. So, Nagash can raise 1 spirit host (3 wounds) plus another one (1 additional model).
- Death Magic Incarnate. Command ability, add +1 to ward saves. Holy moly, that’s the holy nighthaunt grail. There's no cap to ward saves… a Black coach has reached the “ward 4+” level? Now its ward is 3+; it also stacks with Seal of Shyish, a spell that Nagash knows.
So yes, Nagash is really good, but he’s too costly to be “competitive” good.
Behemoths
The Black Coach is expensive but it is also hard to kill, very mobile, can teleport and fights well. You will probably want to pick the Reaper Scythe and not the Soulreach Grasp for it, as the shooting attack is just too minor to be worth the reduced effectiveness in close combat. The Coach really wants you to use All-Out Attack on it given that it has 21 attacks that will benefit from it. Good news is that the Coach is a Totem so it can issue orders to itself (and other units up to 18”). With a Black Coach on the table no backfield objective or hiding hero is safe. However, 335 points is a massive investment and due to its big base the opponent might be able to screen it out from the corners and crevices. It is not our most competitive option but it is a perfectly serviceable unit to put in your army, if for nothing else then to occasionally cause 3d3 mortal wounds. Also don’t forget that ward save 5+ is already good, and it can easily get a sweet, sweet 4+ ward save… it means that, aside from mortal wounds, an opponent needs to deal an average of 48 wounds to get rid of it. Getting reliable battle tactics is hard, so having access to the One Stop No Return can also be a reason to bring the coach.
Our one and only monster (yeah okay technically Nagash is also a monster). The Mourngul has gotten a buff with our newest battletome as it can now retreat and charge, and it debuffs enemy units with the Wave of Terror ability - but probably more importantly it can be buffed to 5+ ward with our new Discorporate command ability. This somewhat mitigates the Mourngul's biggest weakness: it is not the toughest fellow around. However, if you can keep it alive until it gets into combat it can shred some face with its 8 attacks. On average it will do 4.6 wounds and that is without factoring in its ability to cause 2 mortal wounds on 6s to hit - quite decent. Once you get it into combat you can also start healing d3 wounds in each combat phase where it slays a model. Another reason why you really want to get into the thick of fighting is because it gives -1 to hit for enemy models within 6" of it. The fact that the Mourngul is a monster is quite a boon as you get monstrous rampage and with the new current General’s Handbook the opponent doesn’t get any additional benefits from killing monsters. Remember that it counts as 5 models when contesting objectives. At 300 points the Mourngul is a bit too expensive to be impressive but it can do some work if you really want to field a monster.
Command Traits
Protecting your general is generally a good idea - and this is a decent way to do it. A ward against mortal wounds can really help against shooting armies like the Lumineth, Daughters of Khaine and Seraphon that can cause loads of mortal wounds with their shooting. Pick this command trait if you face enemies with easy access to mortal wounds.
Causing terror at 6” instead of 3” is too minor of a benefit to warrant a command trait.
This command trait can be very powerful but it is quite unreliable, so don’t count on getting your unit back as part of your overall strategy. However, it can be worth the effort just to see the shock on your opponent's face when you return a unit of 15 Bladegheist revenants or similar.
Stick this on a close combat general like a Knight of Shrouds or Lord Executioner and they will wreck absolute face in close combat. It is especially good on the Knight of Shrouds because killing things also acts as defence for the knight as it will gain more wounds by doing so. It also helps the Knight of Shrouds in wounding / killing a model, to synergize with Dreadscythe Harridans, making them great as a team. Don’t pick this for a general that you don’t see engaging in close combat and don’t pick this if you are going up against our fellow undead.
This command ability falls short because it forces you to put your general in harm's way, and that is usually not a good tactic for winning a game - you want to hit and not be hit, just like the sweet science of boxing.
This command trait is quite strong as it mitigates the risk of sending your general into close quarters and stops them from becoming a pin cushion in the enemy’s shooting phase. Just an all around good choice.
Universal Command Traits
A decent effect but given how mobile our army is this command trait is a bit too redundant.
Our army has no priests so we cannot use this command trait.
On average getting between 1 and 2 extra command points during the course of 5 battle rounds is just not worth a command trait.
Getting extra survivability can be nice but a single wound is a bit too minor of a buff to really be worth investing in.
Nighthaunt don’t have much to boost our magic phase so this can be the additional boost you need against magic heavy armies. It does mean that your general would have to be a wizard and that might not be what you aim for (as your only real choice is the Guardian of Souls or another hero with Arcane Tome). This is our only way to buff our unbinds which combined with the fact that Master of Magic helps with casting an important spell like Spectral or Seal of Shyish makes this a strong command trait. If you field an army that also has Endless Spells a good build for your Guardian of Souls general is to take this command trait and the Midnight Tome so that once you've used the tome you still have a good chance getting more Endless Spells off.
Artefacts
This effect is a good defensive buff, but it is quite circumstantial in that it does nothing against enemies with only 1 attack, of which there are plenty.
A good item for melee characters that keeps your hero safe and also helps protect other friendly units close to the hero. A good pick up if you count on your hero getting into the thick of it.
This artefact is a strong pick if you want to bring Endless Spells and Nighthaunt is interested in quite a few of them like: Purple Sun, Chronomantic Cogs, Gravetide and Terminexus Mortalis. The autocast with no option of unbinding from the opponent can be a real swing in your favour if you play your cards right. What makes this artefact strong is that outside of Reikenor our army doesn’t really have any buffs to spells which means that getting an Endless spell through is very unreliable, but the Midnight Tome mitigates that.
Most of our combat heroes have 4 or 5 attacks so this will on average be a little under once per combat - which is not too shabby. Where this item really shines is in the hands of a Cairn Wraith that gets in close to an enemy unit with plenty of models - you reap what you sow!
High rend is definitely something that is high on the list of things to look for, but this item is very matchup dependent as it can really perform well against low Bravery armies and on the other hand do absolutely nothing against armies with high Bravery.
Against low wound models this item is absolutely awesome - no save is brutal. In general you will have plenty of targets for this ability and it is really great that you can cherry pick the opponent’s command models. All in all a really strong item for any close combat hero.
Normally once per game effects are too minor, but not this time - oh no, the Lightshard is the real deal. Stick this on a support hero like a Spirit Torment or Guardian of Souls and keep it close to your frontline units. Then when you make your big charge with your units pop this and watch your enemies melt under the sheer amount of attacks coming their way. The Lightshard affects all friendly Nighthaunt units within a 12” bubble, which is plenty of range, just make sure that your units are wholly within range. The only downside to this item is that it can be quite a bit of overkill and you might want something more utilitarian or try to mitigate a weakness instead of picking the Lightshard.
Getting models back is great, however, this item lends itself mostly to army lists which have plenty of summonable units, but in those types of lists it is quite strong. As with all one use items the Beacon of Nagashizzar is something that you are prone to forget, so if you bring it then it can be a good idea to have it printed out or similar as a reminder. As you can only use this item in your own hero phase it can be hard to get the timing right. Rule of thumb: use it as soon as you are sure to get just 4 models or more back.
If you need healing, forcing yourself to stick around in combat to heal up if you slay something is probably not a good idea. It can pay off if you like to gamble - but don’t get upset when it doesn’t.
Chip damage is nice and all but the Covetous Familiar is a bit too circumstantial to be really good. The fact that the opponent can choose to not pile-in also makes this worse as it is out of your hands if you get to deal the mortal wounds.
This item adds a lot of flexibility to your wizard. With that said Nighthaunt is not really a magic dependent army and you might want to focus on other artefacts for that reason.
Universal Artefacts
All our heroes already have a 6+ Ward.
We have many good combat heroes with strong weapon profiles - and these can really benefit from the passive +1 to wound. Here we are thinking of units like The Knight of Shrouds, The Lord Executioner and The Cairn Wraith. If you want to get even more killy then adding the Vial of Manticore Venom to your arsenal might be what you are looking for.
One of Nighthaunts general weaknesses is the lack of wizards and this artefact makes up for that! We have great support heroes (like the Spirit Torment) that can double as wizards with this artefact. It can also be really effective on one of our combat heroes like the Knight of Shrouds or Lord Executioner. Remember that the hero that you give the Arcane Tome (if they are not already a wizard) also learns one spell from the Lore of the Underworlds. You should not stick this item on a hero that is already a caster, it is way more effective to put it on a non-wizard.
Rerolling Heroic Recovery is not bad in itself but considering that we have Bravery 10 and access to other sources of healing this is not a good item for Nighthaunt armies.
Spells
This section concerns the spell lores that we have access to generally and our faction specific Endless Spells. The spells on unit warscrolls have been discussed as part of that unit entry in the previous section. It is worth mentioning here that an overlooked but decent universal enhancement is "Spell" which will give each wizard in your army an additional spell (they can still only cast the amount recorded on their warscroll).As you never have to choose between Gaze of Ghur and other spells the rating is only meant as an indication of general power level - because all wizards will have access to it. Gaze is an interesting spell in the fact that in the few circumstances where it is useful it is extremely good, but those situations are few and far between. The issue here is the high likelihood of forgetting that this spell even exists because it will be used so seldomly - but if you print it out and have it in your pile of gaming aids, then maybe you will remember it and it can help you in a fringe situation.
Universal Spell Lore
This spell is easy to cast on a 4+ but we don’t have any noteworthy combat casters so the spell is a bit of a waste as it really wants to be used by a hero that excels in the midst of fighting. The +1 damage is nice but it is also quite minor. It is not a spell that impacts the game in any major way but it is reliable and on a melee character it can definitely do some work.
Our whole army can fly so we have no use for this spell.
This spell is very circumstantial. It can be really handy if you know that you are going to face shooting armies to block their line of sight. However, Ghost Mist has very limited uses and will often just collect dust.
Lore of the Underworlds
This spell is a decent pick because the Nighthaunt army in general benefits for charging one enemy unit with multiple units - so putting the strike-last effect on one key enemy unit can mean that all your units can go to town without the enemy ever getting to strike back. There is a bit of anti-synergy going on here as our Wave of Terror army rule can grant us this very effect by rolling high on the charge roll. However, this is also a point in its favour as you want redundancy on important effects like this.
The high casting cost and the circumstantial nature of the spell makes it so that you need to think about what types of lists you take it in - but it can be a strong build-around.
The high casting cost and the circumstantial nature of the spell makes it so that you need to think about what types of lists you take it in - but it can be a strong build-around.
If you face armies that have many horde units with plenty of models in their units then Spirit Drain is for you. It has a decent range but a high casting cost, so don’t bother using this on units with less than 10 models in them - it has to be worth the effort. Given that AoS 3.0 so far has not really been a horde meta, this spell is probably not a strong choice if you are going to a tournament and don’t know that you will be facing massed ranks of infantry.
This is basically an arcane bolt with the added benefit that the caster heals from the amount of wounds that Lifestealer causes. The healing is a nice benefit but the casting value of 7 makes this spell so much more unreliable than arcane bolt. The higher casting cost also means that in situations where you really need your healing to go through you are banking on a roll of 7+ which is quite a gamble. This spell could work well on a Knight of Shrouds that has Arcane Tome as the knight can get quite high of a wound characteristic.
You might ask yourself: what do we need this for when we have Discorporate as a command ability? Well, the answer is that this spell grants the 5+ ward for a longer duration because it is in effect through all your phases and you would be surprised how often enemies can hit you outside the shooting and the combat phase (just think of Unleash Hell). It is also important that the Seal of Shyish and Discorporate in combination makes it so that you can protect two units instead of only one. The spell also has a low casting cost of 5, which is quite the deal. All in all this is a very strong option for our army as it is cost-effective and helps us when the opponent grabs the dreaded double turn.
This spell is a decent debuff and there is not really anything bad to say about it. The biggest issue with this spell is that our whole army is already good at debuffing the enemy, so another debuff-effect is probably not what you are looking for. But the spell does its job well when you need it. The other advantage of this is that our other debuffs for “to wound” rolls are all melee-oriented, with a 3” bubble, while this works for a longer duration and doesn’t rely on close range.
We have a very mobile army with many types of movement shenanigans, which makes this spell a bit redundant. However, Spectral Tether is dirt cheap to cast and can help you grab a backline objective should you need it or transport your wizard out of harm's way or into the midst of battle (depending on what you need).
Nighthaunt Endless Spells
This endless spell is quite expensive at 85 points. It is fairly easy to cast at 6 and the range is decent. The low casting cost is also a bit of a drawback as your opponent will have an easier time dispelling it. You’ll find that you most often will send this endless spell into the opponent’s army and reverse time to cause mortal wounds. On a good day you might hit 3 units with the effect, in which case the spell is a real nuisance for your opponent. Given that most units in our army only have a single wound then the healing effect of the Mortalis Terminexus is not as useful as the mortal wounds, but it is nice to have the flexibility between the two modes. It is a fine spell but it is a tad pricey.
This spell has a really short range and is very dependent on the opponent having good saves. And even if the stars align the actual effect is nothing to write home about.
This spell can be devastating against horde armies but be vary, the short range of the spell makes it quite hard to place it optimally without hurting your own units. Leave this spell at home unless you know that you are facing big blocks of infantry that want to get close and personal - in which case it is quite an effective damage dealer.
Universal Endless Spells
This endless spell has a low casting value of 5 which is normally not a good thing for an endless spell, however it does not matter much with the Pendulum because it is mostly a one turn damage dealer and you shouldn’t mind the opponent using a cast to try and dispel it. However, for 40 points it is not really a bargain and the movement range of this spell is not much when it can only travel one direction. If the opponent clumps many units together you can be lucky and hit quite a few with the free pivot on the oval base - however, there are better damage dealing spells out there so this one will probably collect dust on the shelf.
This spell is the nuts (pun intended). For 40 points you get access to two very powerful effects. You can either get rerolls on charges or casting rolls for friendly units within 12” of the Cogs. Given how important charges are for Nighthaunt this is ace. However the option to buff magic is good as well, and the fact that you can choose either is amazing flexibility. If you have wizards and 40 points to spare you should really consider bringing the Chronomantic Cogs.
Nighthaunt is probably not the place for the Emerald Lifeswarm. The reason being that except for Lady Olynder we only have wizards that can cast a single spell per turn and out of those we only have one generic caster in the form of the Guardian of Souls - who has its own healing/resurrection spell. Granted, Spectral Lure doesn’t stick around in subsequent phases like this endless spell, but the opponent can dispel the Lifeswarm on a 7+. The fact that now you do not get the double trigger when you cast it, makes this a bad spell, unless you are really building some horde list and you want to revive as many models as you can from different sources.
The Geminids are a fine versatile choice if you want to disrupt Unleash Hell, Redeploy or other command abilities (that are used before the combat phase). Nighthaunt is a melee army, so we don’t want a redeploy on the target of our incoming charges, and given how we can struggle against strong shooting armies, stopping Unleash Hell can be the key to victory.The added benefit of causing mortal wounds is icing on the cake, but the real value in this spell is the anti-command effect.
This spell is not for Nighthaunt as all our units already stop enemy units within 3" of getting Inspiring Presence. The additional d3 models that flee is a far too minor benefit to warrant the investment.
Our army has so much built-in teleport, fly and really good movement that this spell is way too circumstantial to be worth the effort. Just take Awlrach the Drowner.
For 50 points you get a spell that does absolutely nothing. You have to kill some models and cast some spells before the Malevolent Maelstrom actually has an effect and the damage it deals also hits your own units.
This spell has a quite strong and unique effect. Stopping shooting is really valuable. However, the Prismatic Palisade is fairly easy to dispel for the opponent and given its short range you have to use your movement to get it placed close enough to the enemies' ranged units. And putting your wizard in an exposed position is not a good idea when there are ranged units around - especially since they can simply move away from the palisade and then shoot. Because of these drawbacks it is simply too easy for the opponent to avoid your anti-shooting shenanigans which makes this spell lacklustre at best.
This endless spell is made for Nighthaunts more so than our actual faction spells. While not exactly cheap (70 points) it is simply amazing. You roll a dice for each unit within 3” of the sun every time the sun moves (which it also does in your opponent’s hero phase) and if you roll a 1… a model from that unit is slain, no saves allowed. Let that sink in. It eats huge monsters and God-Heroes. You might think that with only 16% chance to slay something it is not that probable, but this happens every hero phase as long as the sun is on the table and with the big base of the sun you can easily catch around 3 enemy units with the effect and then you have a total of 6 rolls in just two hero phases. It is a real feel-bad moment for your opponent when they see their expensive model getting lifted from the table. Obviously this effect is not anything amazing against units with many models in them. However, this is not the only thing that the Purple Sun does, oh no. It also subtracts 1 from save rolls for every unit within 6”. Usually you should be careful with such a thing, as it affects both enemy and friendly units but we are immune to save modifiers. Cast it into the fray and shred your opponent without mercy. With this and the right roll on the charge, Reapers or Bladegheists can easily impose a rend -3. The negative side is that its casting value is 8, so it is quite hard to get off - which means that you should cast it with our Midnight Tome or with Reikenor. The plus side is that its casting value is 8 so, once on the table, your opponent will have a hard time getting rid of it. This spell is amazing and you should always consider bringing it if you have Reikenor or a Guardian of Souls with Midnight Tome.
If you need a diamond cutter to get through high ward saves then look no further. The spell has limited range but our army is fast so this shouldn't be too much of an issue. For 60 points you get a spell that the opponent really wants to stop because if they don't they will take 4 mortal wounds with no saves allowed on average. This is a great tool to bring down dangerous heroes that rely on ward saves. However, Quicksilver Swords are contingent on you facing good ward saves for this spell to really shine, but it will do work no matter what you face.
This spell is high variance but can really pay off if you spike that 3d6 roll. The Great Unclean One really hates getting hit by these hungry teeth. Given that you get to reroll the 3d6 you will average out around 13 which is quite scary for units with low movement (Nurgle, Soulblight and Dwarves beware!) and still decent against models with high movement (like Skaven and Nighthaunt). If you don’t mind leaving the damage output up to the dice gods then this spell is for you.
This spell is pretty good, as it comes with many goodies: firstly, it has a solid range (18”), secondly, its move is a sort of teleport, basically threatening a bubble of 24” and thirdly, it hampers movement, halving the move characteristic and stopping teleport shenanigans. This is really solid, as we are a melee army and this lets us outmanoeuvre our opponent. We want to dictate charges and we don’t want the enemy to teleport wherever they want (yeah, you will finally be able to charge Mannfred).
See what has been said for Lauchon the Soulseeker. The only reason why you would consider this, is if you have the model of this endless spell and you don’t have Awlrach the Drowner.
This spell has good potential: you place its 3 models in a 3” bubble, and units within 6” from it cannot run or attempt a charge. So you will most likely place them as a screen in front of your caster to avoid getting charged. So, unless you’re targeting models with a high move, you will be able to negate a charge. It would be a great spell, but beware of its limitations: the range is very short (8”) and it’s not a predatory spell, so it stands where you set it. It can be a bit tricky placing it so that you do not get hit by its mortal wounds within 6" but it is doable, especially if your wizard is very fast(lile Reikenor). Due to its fairly high casting value of 7 it can be hard to get rid of once it is placed. You cast it in your hero phase and then you move, so you will need a very careful placing and planning: "I will be there and I want to protect my right flank from charges in the next turn…"
The horde killer. This spell is cheap and effective if you face an enemy with big blocks of units, which is not common these days. However we do already have this kind of effect in our spell lore in the form of Spirit Drain. The Gravetide is a bit better than Spirit Drain though because it is easier to cast and it can hit multiple units, but on the other hand it does cost actual points to include in your list. There is not really anything bad to say about this spell overall.
This spell is dirt cheap and fine as a list filler when you have 20 points to spare (which to be honest happens quite often). It is basically an arcane bolt with better range that hits everyone within 3” of its placement. After the Burning Head explodes you remove it, so it doesn’t stick around like other endless spells.
An endless spell that extends the range of a spell or moves another nearby endless spell. We are not an army that relies that much on spells, so unless you’re building a very specific list (usually involving Nagash), you can safely leave this at home.
Battle Tactics
In Age of Sigmar 3.0 making sure that you get as many battle tactics as you can is often what will win you the game. However, it is a big challenge to reliably secure battle tactics in all five rounds. As a rule of thumb it is far better to try and achieve battle tactics that do not rely on dice rolls - because missing that one battle tactic might lose you the game. This also means that whenever you have to go for a battle tactic that needs you to kill enemy units make sure to send all you got after that one unit - the Dice Gods can be cruel and you would rather overkill by a lot than leaving the opponent’s unit alive on a single wound because you rolled below average. One last note before we dive into the actual tactics: all lists are different and your list might be especially good at some tactics while worse at others. This is something to keep in mind when you build your list: “What battle tactics can I reliably achieve with this army?”.Battle Tactics
(2022-23 Season 1)
You need to destroy a unit and control more objectives than your opponent. It’s situational but when you’re ahead on objectives it’s not that hard to achieve. Keep this in mind for the mid-game.
Another mid-game tactic. Sooner or later you will lose a unit… if you can reliably retaliate then pick this. This is one of our easier battle tactics to make, as Nighthaunt can put the hurt on the enemy when we need to. You want to pick this as soon as you lose a unit and have a good chance of killing one of theirs, as you might not get the chance later.
An excellent tactic for a couple of reasons: we have plenty of ways to deliver a unit in a place where it will steal a terrain (Awlrach, vanishing phantasm, hexwraiths…) and it’s a tactic that doesn’t rely on dice rolls (as in the case of killing an enemy unit). You can see if you’re going to score it and play safe. This tactic is best to save for when you will have a hard time making any of the other more situational ones.
Extremely situational. You need to kill a unit with an attack by your general… And our generals are not the best in combat, and this can be achieved only if your general is one of the few models with a passable combat profile and you target an already dying unit. Don’t pick this tactic unless you are absolutely certain that you can kill that single skink that is already coughing up blood and has given up on life.
Mid-game tactic. Destroy a galletian veteran with a galletian veteran. Our best hammers are (or can be) galletian veterans… if you’re going to crush a veteran unit, then go for it - but make sure to overkill it.
Extremely situational. You need to destroy a galletian veteran that is contesting an objective marked as proving ground. You might get this once in a full moon, but don’t count on it.
First rounds (but can be achieved every time) just control an objective that is not contested by an enemy galletian veteran. It’s by far the easiest one - which is ironic as they have called it Against the Odds.
Usually mid-game to late-game, but it can be done whenever you want. For us it is an excellent tactic, for the same reasons listed in Desecrate their Lands. We have many highly mobile units and good shenanigans to put 2 units in the opponent’s territory. This is the only tactic that can give you a bonus point if completed by 2 galletian veterans, so always keep an eye out if you can score that extra victory point - it can win you the game.
Nighthaunt Battle Tactics
This battle tactic is useless. The chances of you being in a position where you can reliable make three or more charges and all of them triggers different effects on the Wave of Terror table are miniscule. Do not try this at home.
Quite a situational battle tactic that asks an awkward question of you: “Can you have two or more units in melee with an enemy unit… who are unlikely to kill the enemy and not die in turn?”. If the answer is a resounding yes - then sure, go ahead. However, it is a hard trick to pull off, but it might be just what you need in a situation where no other battle tactics are realistic. A situation such as that is most likely to occur in the late-game when stragglers are fighting in pillow fights. A benefit with this battle tactic is that you do not have to designate any units when you reveal it.
Again a pretty circumstantial battle tactic to complete, but this one can be a good choice if you play against another melee army and you clash in one big melee in the middle. However, you still need to rely on both you and (at least three) of your opponent’s units to stick around after the dust settles. This tactic is most likely to be achievable in turns 2 or 3 when the fighting is thickest.
Not only is this battle tactic hard to achieve - but you have to build for it for it to be realistic. If you don’t have big units of either Chainrasps or Spirit Hosts then this tactic is utterly useless - hence the parenthesis.
Just like with Death by a Thousand Cuts this tactic demands of you that you have specific units in your list. In this case it is a Black Coach. There is an issue with completing this tactic with a coach though: it counts only as two models for contesting objectives. So not only do you need to have the Black Coach but in order to capture an enemy objective you probably also need another unit to actually control the objective. With that said (if you do run a coach) having access to this tactic is a nice benefit - especially because the teleport ability of the Black Coach gives it plenty of options of what objective you want to go for.
Not only do you need to terrify two enemy units and not kill them in combat - you need them to fail their battleshock. No thanks. They might as well have called this tactic “Get Really Lucky”.
Grand Strategies
Where battle tactics are the meat of how we rack up points during a game, grand strategies are what can win you the game if you are neck and neck with your opponent on points. A grand strategy grants you 3 points if you complete it, which is quite a lot - but think about it this way: if you can complete your own and stop your opponent in completing theirs it is a 6 points difference… that equates to completing 3 battle tactics. In other words, grand strategies can turn a game around. Use this to your advantage and try to stop your opponent in completing theirs while you make sure that you can achieve your own. As a general rule of thumb you want to pick a grand strategy that is proactive and not reactive. In other words you want it to be in your control, and not your opponent’s, if you can succeed at your strategy or not. We won’t be giving Grand Strategies ratings as they are too dependent on what list you have - rather we will provide some pointers about what to look out for with each strategy.Grand Strategies
2022-23 Season 1
Killing all the opponent’s battleline units is a very matchup dependent strategy. It might be doable against armies like Skaven and Sylvaneth, but if you face Maggotkin or Nighthaunt it suddenly becomes unrealistic. The good thing for us is that our army is fast and hits hard so this in general is a decent strategy - just keep in mind that we do not have long range shooting to pick off small units that try to escape.
This strategy is deceiving. It is fairly simple: take the opponent’s objectives. Well the issue here is that if you can complete this strategy you are already winning by a landslide. When we consider grand strategies we should look for ones that are achievable when we are on the backfoot and this one is not.
This is a risky strategy to pick because it demands a lot of you. There can be no enemy units at all in your territory. Most armies will have units that they can teleport to thwart your strategy or small stragglers that they can hide behind terrain or similar. Unless you want to play a defensive game of whack-a-mole then you should probably leave this strategy at home.
This strategy is very proactive and is fairly straightforward to build a plan around. Nighthaunt excels at bringing the pain to the opponent, so this strategy plays well with our overall strengths.
This strategy is not for every list - but many Nighthaunt lists will have 6+ Galletian Veterans and when that is the case, this is a strong pick. It is hard to get rid of our ethereal units and they are fast, so even when we are losing the fights we can scatter to the winds and still complete our grand strategy.
At first glance this strategy seems to demand a lot from you, but consider that a single unit of Galletian Veterans can complete this strategy if they stand in the centre of the board and thus have models in all quarters. This strategy is similar to Demonstration of Strength but it does demand a bit more of your positioning so most of the time the latter will be a better pick. But if your game plan is to have an impenetrable castle and place it in the middle of the board then this is a good strategy to go with.
Nighthaunt Grand Strategies
Most Nighthaunt lists will run summonable units as their hammers so the plan behind this strategy is not far fetched: take your hammer units and slam them into the biggest unit the opponent has. A drawback with this strategy is that it really puts pressure on you to take the initiative and kill something - which gives your opponent a clear path to try to make you fail your grand strategy. But this strategy is good for lists that are all about smashing faces and taking names.
This strategy is good on some battle plans and bad on others. It all depends on whether or not there are many or few objectives. In case there are many like in Silksteel Nests, Close to the Chest and Won’t Back Down - then this strategy is definitely achievable. However, in the remaining 9 battle plans there are 4 or less objectives, which means that the odds are very much against getting a favourable battleplan. Another thing making this strategy tricky is the timing - if your opponent gets the last turn in round 5 then it will be easier for them to block you from completing this grand strategy. So overall try to avoid this unless you know that you will play a battle plan with plenty of objectives.
This strategy is one of the easier ones that you can opt for. It does mean that you need an enemy unit to be alive and in melee with one of your units at the end of the battle. Which is something you might not always be able to do - as it basically punishes you for wiping your opponent from the board or getting wiped out in turn. In other words this strategy aims for a close game where there are still enough pieces left on the board when the game ends to fulfil its requirements.
An interesting dynamic here - it is not your general that needs to bring the chosen enemy unit down, your general just needs to be alive (well undead, but you get it) when the battle ends. This is not impossible at all - but it does leave your opponent with the option to go out of their way to kill your general and thus denying you your grand strategy. In most cases it will probably be better to go for A Soul to Claim - but if you know that you are going to face armies with symmetrical Bravery (like daemons and death armies) this can be a good choice for strategy as you get to choose any of their units as your target.
