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Unas the slayer

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Jan 1, 2017
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Carpe Noctem is not only the home for Vampires, but for all undead and creatures of the night, so of course (with good reasons) Nagash wouldn’t want unprepared generals to lead the forces of one of his armies… and certainly you won’t displease Lady Olinder, right?

So, here we are. NIGHTHAUNTS.

We don’t want skellies, smelly zombies or ravenous monsters (except as occasional allies). We are spooky death, the ghosts that haunt misty battlefields. No wall can stop us, no fortress can hold us.



Now, enought with fantasies… the goal is to have a general overview of the army, especially helpful for beginners, so in this thread i will try to analyze everything

let’s see what we will talk about:



It will be a work in progress, as i want to keep updated this guide, especially if FAQ comes out. If you notice something wrong, let me know, so i can fix it.
 
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Unas the slayer

Moderator
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Jan 1, 2017
1,863
Northern Italy
a brief disclaimer: our battletome is old. It was old even for AoS 2.0, and with 3.0 we suffer even more

We are not overpowered killing machines, some of our mechanics are outdated and we lack some of the most basic tools everyone else has at disposal (subfactions abilities… a thing that has been marginally fixed with Broken Realm – Be’lakor)

Be aware we have limitations. Awareness is a good starting point, it lets you play around weaknesses and exploit your strenghts.



NIGHTHAUNTS ABILITIES



a Nighthaunts army, will have always the following BATTLE TRAITS.


Aura of Dread: All enemy units suffer -1 Bravery within 6″ of a Nighthaunt unit.
A nice one, as we have a lot of abilities (active and passive) that kicks in vs bravery and we can spam MWs with cheap banshees, BUT we cannot optimize it no more, as endless spells as Suffocating Gravetide and Hororrghast have been heavily nerfed, and any bravery reduction is no more available... unless you go for Legion of Grief (which is a thing on its own).

Deathless Spirit: 6+ Feel No Pain save when wholly within 12″ of a friendly Hero
An ability shared by unead armies. Sadly, this is a version weaker than the Soulblight’s. but it’s still VERY useful.

From the Underworlds They Come: it’s 40K deep strike: In the set-up, you can set aside a unit (up to half of your army!) instead of placing it on the battlefield, and bring them in at the end of your movement phase, more than 9″ from the enemy. VERY powerful

Feed on terror: If an enemy fails a battleshock test within 6″ of one of your Heroes, they gain a wound back.
Marginally useful, that’s what i call a “easy to forget” passive ability.

Wave of terror: on an unmodified charge roll of 10+, the charging unit gets to make an immediate attack AND still attack as normal in the attack phase. When it happens, it’s EXTRAORDINARLY powerful

Spectral Summon: it’s a Command Ability that you can use at the beginning of the move phase. Teleport a unit that’s already on the field over to your General and place it within 12″ of the general and more than 9″ from the enemy; that counts as move for the unit. Situational, but can be very useful.



every Nighthaunts unit, will have always the following ABILITIES.

Fly: you can ignore other models and terrain features when you trace the path of the unit’s move across the battlefield, and if you need to reach a higher ground, you can measure the distance diagonally.

Ethereal: Save rolls for your units cannot be modified, both negatively and positively.
generally good, but also a sort of a mixed bag: you will laugh while facing high rend attacks (a thing many armies tend to favor), BUT you will cry when you will drown in lots of attacks at 0 rend and you’re stuck with your unmodifiable 4+ save.
EVERYTHING IN THE ARMY GOT SAVE 4+, EXCEPT FOR THE POOR CHAINRASP HORDE (5+).





ARMY’S STRENGHTS

Hard to Kill – being immune to rend and having Deathless spirit makes us resilient, and we can count on some of the best raising abilities between all undead armies.

Speed – we are a fast army, but that shouldn’t be a surprise, as in AoS any army that is reliant on melee is faster than the average. We may lack the shenanigans of Soulblight gravelord with amethystine pinions or Ironjawz, but we fly and we start from very respectable statlines even before any movemen buff.

Movement – yeah, that’s not speed. We can set units in reserve, we can deep strike, we have units that can be teleported from one place to another… we will usually have some good battlefield control

Mortal Wounds: we are not only able to inflict them, but we did it a lot.



ARMY’S WEAKNESSES

Heroes – we are heavily dependents on our heroes, and our heroes are frail (and not that great in close combat). Yep, if they get focused (especially by shooting) they get killed and when it happens it’s going to be hard mode.

No shooting: we have 3 units with ranged attacks, all of them with limited ranges (10”-15”) and none of them can be fielded in large groups.

Limited Subfactions: we have just 2 of them: Emerald Host and Reikenor’s Condemned (courtesy of Broken Realms).

Limited Options: we have a scarce amount of command traits / spells / artefact. Luckily some of them are good, but the possible choices are pretty limited.





HOW DOES THE ARMY WORK

In the current state of AoS, Nighthaunts are in a low spot.

We are not an army that can go toe to toe with opponents and wipe them out of the battlefield. And this, given that we’re a melee army, is bad news. Many of our warscrolls and the abilities of the army itself are outdated and cannot compete with their equivalent in newer battletomes

But we DO have some strong points, so we must play them.


Play the objectives: as said, we are fast and we are resilient: catch the objectives, hold them by winning war of attrition, force your opponent to don’t go all in by using the threat of keeping reserves in deep strike. Nothing will hold back an opponent like knowing that a 65 pts unit can pop out of nowhere and steal a vital obj in its rearlines.

Surgical strikes: we may lack many strong units, but we do have the capability of hitting something hard, and (as said) we are fast. If you are able to remove 1 or 2 threats and force the opponent to waste time to answer your attacks, then the bulk of your forces will win the war of attrition on objectives.

Mortal Wounds: while we do have high rend attacks, MWs are what we do excel in. Use them also as deterrent: the ability to countercharge an enemy with a MWs dealer will often scare your opponent.

Raise the dead: don’t be afraid to lose models that can come back: if your unit of 6 spirit hosts can attack something, then go for it, and who cares if one of them will die due to coherency rules, if it will come back the next turn?

Protect your heroes: especially if you are the defender and so you can set the terrains, try to exploit terrains that block LoS (there’s also the universal spell “ghost-mist”), try to always use Look out Sir, use the Shademist spell or “waste” an artefact on your most valuable key hero. Or play Emerald Host.
 
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Unas the slayer

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units analysis


HEROES


We have many of them and, given how crucial is their role in making our army works, you need to pick them carefully as they cost points, and you want to have enough room to field the army also with bodies and hitters. So, the competition is high.



NAMED HEROES


Lady Olinder – Mortarch of Grief

215 pts.
7 wounds, move 6”
Our supreme commander, she brings a lot of goodies to the table, most of all in the form of dealing MWs and healing our units:
- In the Hero Phase, can target a unit within 12” with Lifting the Veil: on a 2+, she deals MWs equal to the rolled number.
- Once per battle, can deal d6 MWs to an enemy hero within 6” or heal herself d6
- in the shooting phase, roll a d6 for every enemy unit within 10”, on a 4+, deal d3 MWs

As you can see, She works on close range. Given that in close combat she’s far from bad, BUT she’s still a weak character, you need to protect the girl with powerful and durable “screens”, as spirit hosts.
For casting, she can cast / deny TWO spells; her own spell is Grief-striken, and it’s a very potent one: cast 7+, target unit within 18” suffers -1 to to hit, and gives +1 to hit to Nighthaunts targeting that unit.
She can cause additional fleeings from units that fail battleshock tests and as Command Ability she’s got “No rest for the Wicked”, bringing back 1 model in each summonable unit within 12”, so keep your multiwound units near her, as this ability coesn’t care about the number of wounds.
All in all, she is a very strong support hero and her points cost is not that much, so I expect to see her often in competitive lists.



Kurdoss Valentian
160 pts.
a named character that brings a nice utility (in the opponent’s hero phase can steal 1 CP. on a 5+. Basically a trick which is worth 2 CPS but works 1 time on 3) and with probably our best potential offensive power when it comes to heroes: 5 attacks at 3+/3+, -2 rend and d3 / d6 wounds, plus a bunch of attacks that can cause MWs.

What’s bad? even with a discount tnx to the winter FAQ 2021, it’s still a 160 pts melee guy with move 6”, 7 wounds and 4+ save.



Reikenor the Grimhailer
145 pts, tnx to the discount in the winter FAQ 2021.
7 wounds and save 4+ as Kurdoss, but move 14” and a much more interesting set of abilities.
First of all, he’s a wizard and his spell is Wraithstorm: 7+, deals d3 MWs to target unit within 12”, and other d3 if the first damage kills a model.
His corpse Candle lets him add +1 to the casting if he inflicts a MW on an enemy unit within 12”, or +3 if he inflicts a MW on himself. Basically if you target a unit with 1-2 wounds models and the spell goes off, you are sure it will deal 2d3+1 MWs.
And if you’re planning to cast some nasty endless spell, that sweet +3 can be worth the small price of 1 MW.
His attacks are only 4, at 4+/3+, with -2 rend and 2 damages, inflicting 2 MWs on nat. 6s AND rerolling to hits against units with 5+ models.

For 145 pts, he's a good choice: he’s ideally the dude you send toward units with 10-20 models, supported by some fast unit, to avoid him being targeted by an excessive amount of retaliation attacks (that would surely kill him).
I personally suggest to try to include one special character in your army, be it Olinder or Reikenor, but it’s not mandatory.



GENERIC HEROES

Knight of shrouds

100 pts.
A cheap melee hero with 5 wounds, 6” move and a sword 3+/3+/ rend -2, 2 dmg, that heals himself if kills a hero.
His Command Ability adds +1 to to hit for ALL nighthaunts units fully within 12”, and that’s probably the main reason why you want to pick this dude, stickin him near a maxed unit of grimghast reapers or something similar.


Knight of shrouds on ethereal steed
120 pts.
A knight of shrouds BUT with move 12”, he’s hands down among our best heroes when you look at the ratio cost / benefits.
His Command Ability is pretty good, adding +1 attacks to all melee weapons of a unit (so, a 5 men unit of hexwraiths would gain 10 attacks)


Guardian of souls (with lantern)
135 pts.
Another big winner, it’s your generic caster / buffer / dedicated raiser of dead models.
move 6”, he will give you:
- +1 to wound rolls for nighthaunts units wholly within 12”
- 1 spell / unbind, including his own spell Spectral lure (6+, range 24”: heal / raises d6 wounds in a summonable unit)

Usually you will give a Beacon of Nagashizzar (see the artefact section) to increase Spectral lure to a d6+3.
Simply vital in a Reikenor’s condemned Procession (1 of our only 2 subfactions)


Spirit Torment
115 pts.
Another very useful buffer, as it lets you reroll 1s to hit for nighthaunts units wholly within 12”. It combines nicely with the Guardian of souls, and, as the Guardian, he helps you in raising / healing.
At the start of the Battleshock phase (any one, so including your opponent’s), if 3 or more enemy models were slain that turn, heal D3 wounds that have been allocated to a Nighthaunt unit.
Yeah, it is not limited to the “summonable” keyword, so you can heal literally anything that is within 6”.
As small bonus point, he’s got a melee weapon with range 2” for -2 rend and d3 dam, so you can hit enemies while staying behind a chainrasp screen.


Dreadblade Harrow
100 pts.
A melee model with weird abilities, 5 wounds and move 12, which is supposed to move alongside a KoS on ethereal steed, as he can reroll 1s to wound if nearby a KoS.
3 attacks with his blade 3+/3+, -1 rend / 1 dam… 2 dam if charging, +1 attacks if not charging.
Frankly it would be a costly and worthless model, if not for a peculiar ability… if not within 3” from an enemy, in the move phase he can teleport anywhere on the battlefield, at more than 9” from enemies. Any unit that can teleport in a high game move as AoS, is never a bad unit.


Lord Executioner
90 pts.
A cheap melee hero, that can inflict solid damage if he’s lucky enough to roll a nat. 6 to wound.
His utility is that he comes with a in-built ability to give -1 to hit to one enemy hero within 3”, but I doubt it’s worth his points price.


Tomb Banshee
80 pts.
Move 6”, 4 wounds. Our second cheapest hero, with an impressive melee weapon, that sadly does only 1 attack.
The reason you could want to take this girl, is her ghostly howl, which is an ability that in the shooting phase lets her target a unit within 10”, rolling 2d6 vs bravery and (if higher) deals a number of MWs equal to the difference.
The good thing is: we impose a -1 to bravery, it’s a sort of shooting attack (a thing we lack) and, being an ability, you can “shoot” even if you run.
The bad thing is: against opponents with high bravery you are basically wasting 80 pts.
Funnily enough (and this tells a lot about the current state of Nighthaunts), she excels in a Legion of Grief list or in a Soulblight list, both of which are NOT nighthaunts.


Cairn Wraith
70 pts.
Move 6”, 4 wounds, he’s our cheapest hero, built for melee vs “hordes”: 3 attacks at 4+/3+/-1/2 dam, rerolling to hit against more than 5 models and dealing 2 MWs for each unmodified 6s to hit.
If you are not able to spend those 70 points elsewhere…




HEROES NOT INCLUDED IN THE BATTLETOME


Krulghast Kruciator:
Source: Broken Realms – Be’lakor)
120 pts.
One of the latest addition to Nighthaunts, he’s a hero with 6 wounds and move 6”, that come with a ranged attack: 4 shots at 12”, 3+/3+/-2/1 dam.
He’s likely to inflict at least a wound and when this happens, The Deathless Spirit battle trait negates wounds and MWs on a 5+, instead of 6+, for any friendly nighthaunts unit wholly within 12", which is frankly a massive boost to our resilience.



Guardian of Souls (with mortality glass): (Source: Warhammer store anniversary 2018)
140 pts.
basically a guardian of souls that loses the healing/raising spell and the +1 to wound BUT he gains:
- enemy units within 9” roll only 1d6 for the charge;
- Temporal translocation spell: 6+, pick a nighthaunts unit wholly within 24” and move it up to 6” in the hero phase. pretty potent to close the distance and ensure a charge. You can also use it to move away a unit from a fight and charge again.



The Briar Queen:
(Source: Warhammer underworld)
175 pts.
Move 6” and 5 wounds, She’s a named character that come with her retinue of Thorns of the Briar Queen (the points cost includes the retinue).
She’s got 3 low damage ranged attacks (10”) and cancast the spell Howling Vortex (7+ to cast): pick a visible point within 18”, rolls 2d6 for each enemy unit within 6”: if you beat their move (or if you roll a double), you inflict 1 MW and halve the move of said unit.
Cool idea, but frankly the effect is too unreliable to spend 175 pts on it.




A QUICK RECAP



Our army NEEDS heroes and buffs to function, so better to pick the ones that you need the most. This, of course, depends on the list you want to build, but our heroes both named and generic ones) offer usually pretty generic buffs, so what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. The ones that are the best (and not stomp on each other’s feet) are:

- a couple of strong named heroes (Lady Olinder and Reikenor);
- Knight of Shrouds (in both version) to buff offense;
- Guardian of souls with lantern (buffs combat, wizard, heals / raise dead models;
- Spirit torment (buffs combat, heals)
- Krulghast cruciator (prevent damage)

Any list should include at least 4 of them.
 
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Unas the slayer

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BATTLELINES


We have four of them and, luckily for us, they cover a pretty good range of roles: we have the horde, the heavy hitters anti-horde, the MWs dealers and the cavalry.


Chainrasp horde
95 pts for 10; max 30
1 wound, save 5+ (this is our worse save, nothing we can do about it), move 6”, bravery 10 as long as they include a dreadwarden. 2 attacks (4+/4+/-/1 dam).
When more than 10, they reroll 1s to wound

They are moderately fast, cheap and summonable, so they are your disposable horde.
Of course, by themselves are not that great, but of course they will go alongside a hero (or 2, to increase their durability and dangerousness).
Stick near them a Guardian of souls to have them wound at 3+, rerolling 1s.
a Krulghast cruciator can give your 30 man blob FNP 5+, increasing dramatically their durability, and so on.
They have move 6”, which can be increased to 9” if put near a hero with the Penadnt of the Fellwind.
If you plan to build a list on them, you should definitely consider the subfaction Reikenor’s Condemned, as the bonuses tied to it are huge, turning a basic horde in something truly terrifying:
- a guardian of souls heals d6 additional models (up to 2d6+3 for each spell!)
- they can reroll ALL to hit if near a Spirit Torment or chainghast (instead of rerolling only 1s)
- with a command ability they can move an additional 6”, for a max total of move 15”


Grimghast reapers
155 pts for 10; max 30
1 wound, save 4+, move 8”. 2 attacks (4+/3+/-1/1 dam).

Pretty solid stat, and they reroll all to hit vs target unit with more than 5 models. They are a really efficient horde killer, especially with a Guardian of Souls, when they reroll all to hit and wound at 2+.
Their leader is armed with a special weapon that can inflict an additional MW for each model it kills (dealing 2 dam, against the right target you could stack 2 MWs).
Don’t bring 30-men squad, limit to 10-20. They can be pretty scary.


Hexwraiths
150 pts for 5; max 15
They are our cavalry. 2 wounds, move 12”. As all models on horse, also the horse attack (a negligible bonus for heroes, but these guys need everything).
rider: 2 attacks, 3 for the leader (4+/3+/-1/1 dam)
horse: 2 attacks (4+/5+/-/1 dam)

buff them with a KoS on steed and a 5-men unit will deliver a grand total of 31 attacks.
It’s a not-that-great unit, but they have a couple of abilities which are a sort of saving grace:
- nat. 6+ on to hit rolls for the riders inflict 1 MW.
- in your move phase, pick an enemy unit passed across by this unit (so yeah, also during a retreat) and roll a dice for each hexwraith model that passed across the enemy unit and deal 1 MW for every 5+.
Their main usage is to act as a fast moving unit able to secure objectives, able to deliver some punch and with a decent durability, but don’t expect them to kill units by themselves.

The subfaction Emerald’s Host, gives them some bonuses:
- they act as bodyguard for a nearby general (always a useful thing)
- they gain +1 attack to all melee weapon. So yeah, 3 for the rider and 3 for the horse. with a KoS on steed they will arrive at 4 and 4, so 41 attacks for a unit of 5, and 21 of those will threat MWs. Not bad for 150 pts.



Spirit Hosts
125 pts for 3; max 9.
3 wounds, move 6”. 6 attacks each (5+/4+/-/1 dam) BUT inflict 1 MW for each nat. 6s to hit.
And a unit of 6 delivers 36 attacks, so 6 MWs on average. Even better if you keep them near some buff (a spirit torment to reroll 1s to hit).

They are exceptionally tough and useful, always bring no less than 1 squad (avoid groups of 9, 6 are more than enough).
The fact that they have 3 wounds can be tricky, as you need to be careful when you use on them abilities that raises models based on the number of wounds rolled.
So, it’s better to employ on them abilities that raises models, to exploit their potential: so, Lady Olinder, the Black Coach, a general with “ruler of spirit hosts” trait, or at most a Guardian of souls with Beacon of Nagashizzar.
 
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Unas the slayer

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ARTILLERY
We are no ossiarch Bonereapers. No artillery for us.



BEHEMOTHS

Black Coach
200 pts (previously 220, discount in the winter FAQ 2021)
12 wounds, move 14 (degrading as it’s wounded)

One of the best units in the codex, and with reasons.
It offers a lot of powerful attacks: 1 shooting (only range 10” and only 1 attack, but we lack shooting and this one comes from a very mobile platform) and melee:
- Reaper Scythe (you want this, not the grasp): 3 attacks 4+/3+/-1/2 dam, being a cairn wraith, you reroll vs more than 5 models and on 6s you do 2 MWs
- Spectral claws (9 attacks at full health, 4+/4+/-1/1, and also these ones inflicts MW on 6s)
- hooves and teeth (8 attacks, 4+/4+/-/1)

At the beginning of each round (so, not your turn) roll 3d6 and gain a level pf power for each 4+, the levels of power are:
1 – Heals d3 to itself AND raises d3 summonable models to a unit within 12”. very powerful, brings back up to 3 spirit hosts!
2 – rerolls 1s to hit, the model can run and charge. Another immensely powerful ability, rerolling 1s is solid and the ability to move 20” with a cp AND charge is just golden. Not that uncommon to have it since T1.
3 – on a 2+ deals d3 MWs with the charge (this unit is a nice MWs dealer, isn’t it?)
4 – can retreat and charge (stacks with 3)
5 – you can deal even more d3 MWs in your hero phase

OK, it’s not immensely durable if the opponent focuses on it (12 wounds with save 4+ are not that hard to do), so you need to protect your chariot somehow (magic and screening), but 200 pts is a very affordable price for what it brings to the table, both in terms of battlefield control, hitting power and raising abilities.



Mourngul (FORGEWORLD model)
300 pts
10 wounds, move 10 (degrading as it’s wounded).
It’s our only model with the monster keyword, and given how important monsters are in 3.0 edition, that’s a big bonus.
However, GW hates FW models and the points cost for this dude is too high. 10 wounds with save 4+ go down very easily, even with its build-in protection, that imposes a -1 to hit to enemy units within 6”)
At full health, this big guy delivers 8 attacks at range 2”: 3+/3+/-1/2 dam, and for each 6s it scores 2 MWs instead of normal damage, and heals itself when it kills something.

That isn’t enough considering its huge cost, however it is playable if you’re willing to pay the price, but you must employ it very carefully.
Never use it as spearhead, but treat it as a big melee support / counterattacker. Keep it behind a screen, let you dude follows the line of advancing troops so he will be screened against nasty chargers, will protect the screen with the -1 to hit AND will still be able to hit back tnx to its 2” range.
While doing so, you want to absolutely keep it near a spirit torment, so not only it will be able to reroll 1s, BUT he can also be cured by the spirit torment, for a potential of 2d3 wounds healed each turn.




OTHER UNITS

Bladegheis revenants
190 pts for 10; max 20
1 wound, save 4+, move 8”. 2 attacks (3+/3+/-1/1 dam).

Pretty solid stat, very similar to the Grimghast reapers (but those ones are battleline) but hit at 3+ instead of 4+
If wholly within 12” from a spirit torment / chainghast, they can reroll all to hit. it’s pretty solid but not that amazing, once you realize that even without this ability, when near one of those units they will still be at 3+ rerolling 1s, so the difference is minimal (but see later).
Whet really make this unit GREAT is the whirling death ability: they can retreat and charge and when they charge, they do an additional attack.
so, even only 10 of them are able to deliver 30 attacks, rerolling all to hits when nearby a spirit torment. Alas, they suffer from the coherency problem, so you won’t be able to have them at full impact, but it’s still a powerful force.



Chainghasts
75 pts for 2; max 4
2 wounds, move 6”.
These guys have our longest range shooting attack: 15”, which is far from good but hey. it’s d3 attacks, 4+/3+/-2/1 dam.

Now of course the question is: is it worth it? 2 guys deliver on average 4 attacks, so they are going to inflict what? 1-2 wounds? is this really our main ranged attack unit? I get they are cheap, but come on.
they have a nice ability, which basically extend the rerolling granted by Spirit Torment if within 12”.
Basically they enjoy the rerolling granted by the ST and extend it other 12”, thus covering a large portion of the battlefield.
To be our shooters, they are better in melee, with a 2” range weapon, that sports a number of attacks equal to the enemy’s models in range



Glaivewraith stalkers
65 pts for 4; max 8
1 wound, move 6”.
Considering their small number, these guys have a melee weapon with 2” range, spotting 2 attacks each, 4+/3+/-/1 dam: nothing great, but you can reroll all hits if you make a charge… and they can retreat AND charge, so they are not that bad.

They are a really weird unit:
- with a weapon with range 2”, you’d expect to field them in a horde so they can keep coherency and strike also with the rear lines… BUT the max unit you can have is 8 models, so you’re not going to kill something important with them.
- they are one of the target of the bonuses granted by Reikenor’s condemned host, which is the ability to reroll all failed hits if nearby a spirit torment… but they already do it by themselves, except in the turn in which they are charged.

They have however, a really solid point in their favor: they are our cheapest unit. Yeah, pay 65 pts, keep them in the underworld and your opponent will think twice before leaving an objective in the backfield. To have a unit of stalkers is always a good idea for that reason only.



Myrmourn Banshee
75 pts for 4; max 8
1 wound, move 6”. 1 attack, 4+/3+/-2/d3 dam
they can try to unbind a spell as if they were a wizard, adding a +1 for every 4 models
they can dispel a endless spell, but taking d3 MWs (being 1 wound model, you definitely don’t want it)
when they unbind / dispel, they gain 1 to the n. of attacks

What should I say of them?
Really solid weapon stat, but only 1 attack apiece: consider yourself lucky if you deal 2-3 wounds. IF they dispel something they gain 1 attack, so what? these girls are too unreliable.



Dreadsythe harridans: (Source: Broken Realms – Be’lakor)
160 pts for 10, max 20
1 wound, move 8”. THREE attacks each, and 1 in 5 models it’s 4 attacks, 4+/3+/-1/1 dam
so, 10 of them deliver 32 attacks. For each nat. 6s to hit, you score 2 hits.
This on average will force 7 saves… you definitely want to buff them
They also have a nice ability, forcing a -1 to hit to enemy models with bravery less than 7” if at 3” from them (so when our -1 to bravery kicks in), so against the right army they are a really nice debuffer.



Thorns of the Briar Queen: (Source: Warhammer underworld)
175 pts.
Move 6” and 1 wound, they come alongside the Briar Queen (the points cost includes the retinue).
6 models, 2 attacks each 4+/4+/-/1dam, rerolling 1s to wound. Good luck inflicting a couple of wounds with them, against a save 4+.
The Briar Queen is a really cool model, and that’s the only positive thing I can say.
 
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Unas the slayer

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Our army lives relies heavily on our heroes.
So it’s vital to give our heroes the right, better tools to fully achieve their support role.
We’ll have Command traits, (in this section) spells and artefacts (covered in the following posts)



COMMAND TRAITS

let’s see what our generals can have. Remember that named heroes cannot take these.


Hatred of the Living
You can re-roll failed hit rolls for attacks made with this general’s melee weapons unless the target has the Death keyword.
Our heroes are not that great in melee, and your general shouldn’t be in close combat
move on.


Terrifying Entity
At the start of the enemy's move phase, roll a dice for each enemy unit within 3" of this model. If the roll is equal to or greater than that enemy unit’s Bravery characteristic, that unit must make a retreat move in that movement phase.
If you are in combat, this could force a retreat. That would be pretty good… except that you roll ONE dice. even with the -1 to bravery, it’s pretty much garbage.
move on.


Lingering Spirit
Add 1 to this general’s Wounds characteristic.
Do you really believe that 1 wound will make the difference? if it happens, it will be once every 20 games.
Move on.


Spiteful Spirit
Roll a dice each time you allocate a wound to this general that was inflicted by a melee weapon. On a 5+, the attacking unit suffers 1 mortal wound after all of its attacks have been made.
Another marginally useful ability, that requires your general to be punched in melee.
move on.


Cloaked in Shadow
Subtract 1 from hit rolls for attacks made with missile weapons that target this general.
Now, this is AoS 3.0 and maluses are not cumulative, so this won’t stack with Look Out Sir to give a -2. Of course, it would help to make sure that the opponent won’t negate your LoS by putting a +1 to hit to his shooting unit.
It’s not a good command trait, but so far it’s the first which is not actually bad.


Ruler of the Spirit Hosts
At the start of your hero phase, you can pick a friendly SUMMONABLE Nighthaunt unit within 9" and return D3 slain models to that unit. The returning models must be set up within 9" of this general.
Now, this is not only by far the best of our command traits, but it’s actually truly strong.
First, d3 models don’t care about wounds. To use this ability on d3 chainrasps is borderline garbage, but d3 hexwraiths? d3 spirit hosts?
There is a reason why many builds field 2 units of 6 spirit hosts led by a general with this CT.
Second: the unit must not be wholly within. That 9” range suddenly becomes much wider.
9 times on 10 you will pick this as your general trait.



OTHER COMMAND TRAITS


Lord of the Host

Mandatory command Trait that comes with the subfaction “The Emerald Host”.
Once per battle, you can use the general’s command ability without spending the cp.
What can I say? Certainly we don’t have any lack of command traits that are almost useless…
 
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Unas the slayer

Moderator
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Jan 1, 2017
1,863
Northern Italy
SPELLS


All of our casters have their own spells, which have been mentioned in the descriptions of said heroes:
Lady Olinder: Grief-striken
Reikenor: Wraithstorm
Guardian of Souls: Spectral lure OR Temporal translocation
Briar Queen: Howling Vortex

Now, as you can notice, we don’t have that much wizards and only Lady Olinder can cast 2 spells, all the other ones just 1. Given that you almost always want to cast their unique spells, this leaves very few rooms for anything else. But it’s still better to have more tools at disposal, just in case.

Anyway, we can choose between:
- Faction spells (6)
- Generic core spells (2)
- Realms Spell (1)
- Endless spells (17)
- Faction endless spells (3)



LORE OF THE UNDERWORLDS



Soul Cage
6+ to cast; pick a visible enemy unit within 12". Until your next hero phase, that unit cannot retreat and always strike last.
Short range but anything that dictates the priority in combat is pretty good.


Spirit Drain
4+ to cast. Pick a visible enemy model within 18", roll a number of dices equal to that model’s Wounds characteristic and inflict 1 MWs for each 6+.
A situational spell, but if you know you’re going to face Sons of Behemat, then pick it ASAP!


Lifestealer
7+ to cast. Pick a visible enemy unit within 12"., inflict d3 MWs and heal d3 to yourself.
It’s an OK spell, but you’ll find better ones


Reaping Scythe
4+ to cast. Pick one of the caster’s weapons, you can re-roll failed hit and wound rolls with that weapon.
The only caster that could enjoy it it’s Reikenor, but I doubt it’s worth it.


Shademist
6+ to cast. Pick a visible Nighthaunt unit wholly within 12" and subtract 1 from wound rolls against it.
This is a REALLY solid bonus. It should almost always be your first pick, don’t leave home without a shademist.


Spectral Tether
6+ to cast. Pick a Nighthaunt Hero within 12” and heal it d3.
The ability to heal heroes is never bad, but not the most useful spell we have here.




UNIVERSAL ENHANCEMENTS



Basically 2 additional spells (since “Levitate” gives fly to a unit, but all of our units already fly).
These ones cannot be given to named characters, so only your Guardian of Souls will have one of them…. unless you plan to pick an arcane tome and upgrade your Knight of Shrouds to wizard status:


Flaming weapon
4+ to cast. Pick one of the caster’s weapons, add 1 to damage. Almost worthless for us.


Ghost-Mist
5+ to cast. Pick a terrain within 6", it blocks visibility it line of sight crosses by more than 3” said terrain.
We don’t shoot, so it can be useful when you are closing the distance and you are still far to employ other spells. Given that the first universal enhancement is for free, pick this one, full stop.




UNIVERSAL ENHANCEMENTS



ATM there is only one realm available for matched play: Ghur.
When you play in Ghur, your wizards know also:


Metamorphosis
5+ to cast. Pick a friendly hero within 12". The hero gains the MONSTER keyword up to your next hero phase.
We have no monsters, apart from the Mourngul. This spell can be handy to surprise the opponent with a unexpected Monstrous Rampage, or to increase the number of victory points for battle tactics completed by a monster.




ENDLESS SPELLS

Are you ready to pay the price? let’s see if there’s something worth it…


Aethervoid pendulum
65 pts
casting value 5+, predatory spell
6"+8" move, on a 2+ it deals d3 MW to units moved over and where it ends. Once set, it can move only in one direction, so no swing back and forth.
Stupendously worthless.


Balewind Vortex
no more available in matched play.


Burning head
20 pts
casting value 7+, predatory spell
6"+8" move. On a 2+, d3 MWs to any units within 1" from it (that means that if it ends near a garrisonable terrain, it deals damage to every unit inside the terrain). Then you automatically remove the head from the battlefield.
well, it's not bad for 20 pts, and if it happens that you are able to hit multiple targets, then it will repay itself pretty quickly.


Chronomantic Cogs
45 pts.
casting value 6+, range 6"; it gives "a" or "b"
a: +1 to charge for units wholly within 18"
b: every wizard within 6" can cast one additional spell.
the “b” version coould be hugely useful. But you need to don't move away from it.
What’s interesting here is the option “a”. With range 6” and a 18” radius, you can drop the spell and have an easier time to make that 9” charge with a unit that arrives from the underworld


Emerald lifeswarm
60 pts
casting value 6+, predatory spell
range 6", move 8"
heals d3 wounds / raises dead models to a unit within 1"
This is a real solid spell in certain builds. If you want to play an even more resilient army, this spell can be impressive. Yeah, d3 makes it 100% sure only on 1 wound models, and on chainrasp is poor value (2 raised models are 19 pts, as the spell is 60 pts), but reapers? revenants? it’s 31/38 pts for 2 models.
Plus, being a predatory spell, you will heal in every hero phase.


Geminids of Uhl-Gysh
80 pts
casting value 6+,predatory spell
range 9"+8" move. two different models, each one inflicts (on a 2+) 1 MW on each unit passed through or within 1" at the end and blocks all command abilities, both being issued and received. It’s a top-tier spell, but it costs a staggering amount of points.


Malevolent maelstrom
65 pts
casting value 5+,predatory spell
range 6" + move 8".
Needlessly complicated, with a doubious utility and a excessive cost. Trust me and don't take it.


Prismatic palisade
40 pts
casting value 5+, range 6"
It blocks LoS, and so it's very useful.


Purple sun
70 pts
casting value 8+, predatory spell
6"+8" move.
At the end of the hero phase on a 5+ it becomes wild, so it’s highly risky.
you deal MWs on each unit passed through AND within 1" at the end: on a 2+ d3 MWs, on a 6+, d6 MWs
It's costly but all in all a scary spell.


Quicksilver swords
90 pts
casting value 6+, predatory spell
6"+8" move. Fly over a unit and roll 12 dices for it; the spell inflicts MW for each 6+.... those MWs cannot be negated by saves.
Err... bypassing ward is great, but the damage is negligible and it costs a lot, far too much.


Ravenak’s gnashing jaws
55 pts
casting value 6+, predatory spell
6"+3d6" move. fly over a unit and roll a number of dices equal to the move; for each 6+ deal 1 MW.
oh, come on...


Soulsnare shakles
65 pts
casting value 7+
range 12"
nice denial zone, units within 6" cannot run nor charge, and can suffer MWs.
The effect is huge, but it's not a predatory spell. But it definitely can be of some use as when it kicks in is crazy powerful. It’s more a spell than we should fear, rather the none we coud employ.


Suffocating gravetide
50 pts
casting value 6+, predatory spell
6"+8" move. Roll a die for each model in a unit it passes over and deals a MW on a 6
A nice horde killer, and being a predatory spell it will act also in your opponent's turn.


Umbral spellportal
70 pts
casting value 5+, range 18"
you can cast through it only one spell each turn OR move one endless spell through it.
We are not Nagash with Hand of Dust.


Horrorghast
65 pts
casting value 6+, predatory spell
12"+8" move. Units wholly within 12” cannot receive commands in the battleshock phase and you add d3 to the fleeing numbers.
You really need to plan carefully around this.


Lauchon the soulseeker
55 pts
casting value 6+, 5 predatory spell
range 6”, Move 18”. Place a wizard on it before moving the spell, then set the wizard within 3” from it and more than 9” from enemy.
OK… this could be immensely fun, but (being a predatory spell), you move it at the end of the hero phase.
Otherwise, you could move Lady Olinder where it hurts the most, cast a couple of spells and bring her back in a safe position with Spectral Summon.
As it actually works... well, it's almost worthless.


Shards of Valagharr
70 pts
casting value 5+, predatory spell (2 models)
range 18”. Place the models wholly within 12” from each other and within range from the caster. To move, just remove one model and set it up within 12” from the other one (so your range when you cast it is potentially 30”).
trace a line between the models, each unit caught in between cannot fly and its move is halved.
Anything that messes up with movement is good, but this is not cheap. You could use it to slow a part of the enemy's army while you attack the other side.


Soulscream bridge
70 pts
casting value 6+, 2 models
range 18”. Place the models wholly within range from the caster. in the move phase, remove 1 unit wholly within 6” from one bridge and place it within 6” from the other one and more than 9” from enemy (count as a move).
You don’t want to waste points on this when we have “From the Underworlds They Come”.




As you can see, there are some spells that are truly powerful, some other ones are situational, and then there is the garbage. same spells have different values for different armies. For us:
- at the moment spells as Lifeswarm, Palisade, Gravetide, Burning Head are all good, but some of them requires some thinking and positioning, you can't just cast them
- some spells are so peculiar that you just need to build a strategy around them, but they can just take your opponent by total surprise (Shards)
- I don’t think we will ever play things as Quicksilver swords, Pendulum or Soulscream.





FACTION ENDLESS SPELLS


Our own faction’s endless spells! vertainly they will be amazing, right? …right?



Shyish Reaper
70 pts
casting value 6+, predatory spell
6"+8" move. It can move only in one direction, but you can turn it before moving it.
Roll 2 dices for every unit which he moved through (including the mere rotation) and every other one within 1” at the end of the move. For each resul equal or superior to the save, it deals d3 MWs.
It can do a carnage or nothing at all. When I spend 70 pts I would like to have a more reliable result, but the ability to inflict 2d3 easy MWs on that big hero with 2+ save is sweet…


Vault of Souls
85 pts
casting value 6+, predatory spell
6"+8" move. At the end of the move roll one dice for each model within 6” from it and deal 1 MW for each 6s.
When the cumulative total is 10, the spell explodes… roll a dice for each unit within 6” and on a 2+ it deals that number of MWs.
It’s one of the most costly spells around here, but the potential damage is gorgeous.


Mortalis Terminexus
85 pts
casting value 6+, predatory spell
18"+8" move. At the end of the move choose: roll a dice for each unit within 6”… on a 2+, you heal d3”, OR inflict d3 MWs (it doesn’t specifies friendly or nighthaunt, so be aware)
Another crazily prized spell, but got a HUGE range and you really can deliver some solid damage since T1.
Not that great as healer for us, given that it doesn’t raise models (why GW?)… ok, it works for everything inside range, but if you plan to heal then it’s better Emerald lifeswarm.




Here we are… basically, we have 3 potentially very powerful offensive spells, but they comes at a cost. You can evaluate one of them if you're planning an aggressive list with a high MWs output.
 
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Unas the slayer

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Jan 1, 2017
1,863
Northern Italy
ARTEFACTS OF POWER


You get one artefact for free.
In 2.0, you could take another one for each battalion... in 3.0 things are slightly different: faction battalions are no more in matched play and you must pick the core battalions.
There are 6 core battalions, and only 2 of them can give you access to additional artefacts: warlord and Command Entourage.
As prerequisite for each one of those battalions is to field 3 heroes... so, to have 2 additional artefacts you should field 6 heroes.
It can be done but more often than note, you will have at most 1 additional artefact. It's clear that there's a big competition for those 2 artefact slots, so let's see what do we have at disposal (some artefacts are so good that you will want a core battalion).

We have:
- Weapons, Relics and Lanterns (guardian of souls only), for a grand total of 15,
- the mandatory “unique” ones available to sub-factions
- the generic Core artefacts




WEAPONS OF THE DAMNED

Shadow’s Edge
Pick one of the bearer’s melee weapons. For each nat. 6+ on to hit, that attack inflicts D3 MWS and the attack ends.
It does the most on heroes with a good number of attacks and poor damage. We lack this kind of heroes


Reaper of Sorrows
Pick one of the bearer’s melee weapons. Before attacking with that weapon, roll 2D6. If the roll is higher than the target unit’s Bravery, that weapon’s Rend characteristic is -3 for attacks made against that unit.
Needlessly complicated and only marginally useful


Balefire Blade
Pick one of the bearer’s melee weapons. Add 1 to that weapon’s Damage characteristic
Well, a knight of shrouds with dam. 3 woudn’t be the worst thing you could field.


Slitter
After picking the bearer to fight, before they pile in, pick one enemy model within 1" and roll a dice; if the roll is greater than that model’s Wounds characteristic, it is slain.
Pick the right target and you will score a kill. The bonus points are: you select the model, so you can kill the champion; it bypasses any ward save.


Headsman’s Judgement
Pick one of the bearer’s melee weapons. Add 1 to hit and wound rolls for attacks made with that weapon.
Similar reasoning said for Balefire blade: in this case imo even better, as your Knight of shrouds will hit 2+/2+/-1/ 2 dam.


Shrieking Blade
Subtract 1 from hit rolls for melee attacks that target the bearer.
It's a bonus for a situation in which our heroes shouldn't be involved in the first place. If only it could work also on shooting it would be amazing.



RELICS OF THE UNDERWORLD

Cloak of the Waxing Moon
The Deathless Spirits battle trait negates wounds inflicted to the bearer in melee on a 5+ instead of 6+.
On average, on a 5-6 wounds hero, it means only 1 additional wounds saved. Alas it's only cc, and usually you don't want your heroes to be there.


Pendant of the Fell Wind
You can add 3" to normal moves made by friendly Nighthaunts units that are wholly within 12" of the bearer at the start of that normal move.
This is easily amongst out best artefacts. Spirit hosts with move 9”? Revenants with move 11? a level 2 Black Coach that can move 17”, run 6” and charge? 15” hexwraiths that drops MWs?


Dreadbolt Ring
When the bearer fights in melee, if it inflicts one or more wounds, you can inflict D3 MWs on a enemy unit within 3”.
Additional MWs are always nice.


Mirror of Screaming Souls
At the start of your shooting phase, roll 2D6 for each enemy unit within 8" of the bearer. If the roll is higher than that unit’s Bravery characteristic, it suffers 1 MW. Anther example of “passable, but not good enough”… we have planty of these


Midnight Tome
The bearer becomes a WIZARD and knows the Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield spells, as well as one spell from the Lore of the Underworlds. If the bearer was already a Wizard, they can attempt to cast 1 additional spell in each of your hero phases instead.
The ability to turn a nameless hero into a wizard is always nice.


Covetous Familiar
At the start of the Combat Phase, roll a dice for each enemy unit within 3" of the bearer. On a 2+, that unit suffers 1 MW. Not good enough…



INFERNAL LANTERNS

Only for Guardian of souls with lantern.

Lightshard of the Harvest Moon
Once per battle, at the start of the combat phase. You can re-roll failed hit rolls for attacks made by friendly Nightaunt units that are wholly within 12" of the bearer when they attack in that combat phase
When you have units that relies on nat. 6 to hit to deliver MWs, of units that hit hard but cannot reroll if they are not targeting a horde, this one is pretty solid.


Wychlight Lantern
Add 1 to casting rolls for the bearer.
A +1 is useful. The questioni s: is it worth a artefact slot?


Beacon of Nagashizzar
If the bearer successfully casts the Spectral Lure spell and it is not unbound, instead of the normal effects of the spell, you can either heal D6+3 wounds or raise dead models that have a combined Wounds characteristic equal to or less than D6+3.
This is really good, it turns your raising ability to high levels and on average it lets you raise 2 spirit hosts, and 3 hexwraiths; target a unit of revenabts and you’ll bring back the equivalent of 100 pts.
Of course if the spell goes off, without any bonus to support your Guardian




As you can see, there are some really solid items.
When you play with a Guardian (and why you shouldn’t?), you will want Beacon or Lightshard
the other top artefacts are the Pendant of the Fell Wind and Midnight tome.
So, here you are, your 2 artefacts will include at least one of these.
If you want to experiment something else, you can try some weapon as Slitter / Headsman / Shrieking



But we are not done yet…





SPECIFIC ARTEFACTS OF POWER (SUBFACTIONS)


The Traitor Knight’s Blade
Mandatory first artefact for a Knight of shrouds in a Emerald Host subfaction… the restriction could by bypassed if you don’t give an artefact to a KoS (we’ll talk about it in the comment of the Emerald Host)
Add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of the bearer’s Sword of Stolen Hours
Not a weapon i would choose, but no choice here.


Corpse Candle
Mandatory artefact for the first hero in a Reikenor’s Condemned subfaction.
Once per battle use.
Hero phase: pick a enemy model within 12”, deal 1 MW and gain +1 to your next casting, OR inflict 1 MW on yourself and gain +3.
Combat Phase: pick a enemy model within 12”, deal 1 MW and gain +1 to your to hit rolls, OR inflict 1 MW on yourself and gain +1 on to hit and to wound rolls.
The best use of this is probably to give it to a Guardian of souls to improve the casting of Spectral lure, since it’s a spell that in Reikenor’s Condemned can heal additional chainrasps.





UNIVERSAL ARTEFACTS (core rules enhancements)

(Spoiler: for us they are worthless)


Amulet of destiny
the bearer has a ward 6+, we already have it.


Vial of manticore venom
pick one melee weapon of the bearer, add +1 to wound rolls. Why should i pick this over Headsman’s Judgement?


Arcane tome

the bearer becomes a wizard or casts an additional spell if already a wizard. Midnight Tome is good, double midnight tome not so much.


Seeds of rebirth

Re-roll recovery rolls for the bearer. At this point I’d rather pick arcane tome.
 
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Unas the slayer

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Jan 1, 2017
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Northern Italy
SUBFACTIONS



Nighthaunts didn’t have any subfactions for a very long time. You can’t even blame this on Early Battletome Syndrome because Stormcast Eternals got 6 on the same day. We were neglected since the beginning.

With “Broken Realms – Be’-lakor”, finally we have been gifted with our own (pitifully few) subfactions, called Processions.

Let’s see what do they offer and if they are any good.




THE EMERALD HOST

This is the Procession for hexwraiths.
It has the following abilities:


The Emerald curse
Before the first battle round pick one enemy Hero and reduce its save by one for ALL attacks.
In a moment where many armies are centered around big models as general or main hitter, this is really good. A pity we lack shooting, so it cannot be used to snipe a key hero from afar.


The Emerald curse
Add 1 to the attack characteristics of Hexwraiths on charges; Hexwraiths act as bodyguard for the nearby general, soaking wounds and MWs on a 2+.
This is double gold.
with a Knight of shrouds on steed as general, he won’t be sniped and will follow closely the hexwraiths. Said KoS will use his command ability to further increase the number of attacks.
10 wraiths will be able to deliver 41 schyte attacks, dealing MWs on 6s! (plus 40 attacks by the horses).


Artefact:
The Traitor Knight’s Blade – Add 1 to the attacks of a Knight of Shrouds. The first KoS that receive an artefact MUST pick this one. A pity, a KoS with pendant wolud form a cavalry block with move 15”, and this would be especially good for hexwraiths that deal MWs just by passing through units.


Command Trait
Lord of the Host – Free one time use of the General’s command ability.
Now, this sucks. Hexwraiths are not that great, so to exploit the advantage granted by the vast number of attacks, you need to attack with as many of them as you can; and this will mean a good amount of those 10 riders would die in the battleshock due to lack of coherency.
A KoS wth Lord of Spirit Hosts, accompanied by a Black Coach, woud grant a very solid raising power to mantain at full efficiency your cavalry.
It can still be done, but you probably need to rely on a Guardian of Souls with Beacon of Nagashizzar.



Not an exceptional one, but surely a good Procession, and i really love how finally we can have a general with bodyguards that can be raised.




REIKENOR’S CONDEMNED

This is the Procession for cheap hordes.
It has the following abilities:


Unrelenting Taskmaskers
Basically it comes with 2 effects:

ONE: Chainrasps and Glaivewrath Stalkers rerolls ALL failed hits for being near Spirit Torments or Chainghasts, not only 1s
Chainrasps’ to hit is 4+ and for them this is golden (plus, the also reroll 1s to wound by themselves).
Stalkers’ to hit is 4+ too, but they already reroll all to hit when charge, and they can also retreat and charge, so their particular inclusion in this procession perplexes me.

TWO: Chainrasps and Stalkers also gain an extra d6 restored slain models when Spectral Lure or Temportal Translocation is used on them. We are talking about 2d6 raised models with a single casting!
Also in this case, Stalkers are a bit weird of a choice: their max number is 8, so 2d6 on them is kinda “overheal”


Acolyte of the Grimhailer
If you bring Reikenor he is also counted as a General in addition to whomever you selected. Basically a useless ability


Artefact:
Corpse Candle, first mandatory artefact.
See artefacts’ section… it’s a good one, basically turn its wielder into Reikenor once / battle, dealing MWs to increase your casting or your close combat prowess.
When you really need that buffed spectral lure to go off, it will.


Command ability
Death Comes Swiftly
Start move phase: a Chainrasp unit or a Glaivewrath Stalkers can move an additional 6”
12” move chainrasps is solid.



All in all, this is another good Procession, if you still like to still that horde of 30 chainrasp
Stick with them a Krulghast kruciator and if you manage to give them Deathless Spirits at 5+, almost no one will move you.



____________________________________________________________________________



With “Forbidden Powers”, there was another surprise…. Legion of Grief.
As pointed out by Oppenheimer , LoG probably is no more legal in 3.0 edition, and almost surely you cannot play it in a official tournament, but in a friendly contest no one should bat an eyelid, so i'll talk about them too.

Now LoG IS NOT a nighthaunts subfaction… to be fair, LoG is technically the fifth Undead faction, after Soulblight, FEC, Nighthaunts and Ossiarch, which comes with its own allegiance abilities.
However, is a weird faction, as it can include any units that have one or more of these keywords: Deathwalker, Deathlord, Deathmages, Deathrattle and Nighthaunts.
Nighthaunts are made to be part of LoG (as all our units fit), while other undead armies have some restrictions.


Anyway, the key part is that if you field a LoG army, you lose all your standard allegiance abilities, to gain the ones granted by LoG.
Basically, even if you field a LoG army composed by only nighthaunts units, that’s not a nighthaunts army.
For this reason, I shouldn’t discuss here LoG, but I think it’s worth a mentioning, if you want to play “nighthaunts” with a different flavor.




LEGION OF GRIEF

no more “from the underworld they come” or “spectral summon” for you, neither Nighthaunts’ lore spells, or artefacts, or General Traits… and don’t forget that you will lose things as hexwraiths and Spirit Hosts as battleline.
All is gone, and is replaced by:


Unquiet dead + Invigorating aura: basically the old Legion of Nagash tricks with the gravesites. ou place 4 gravesites, you can set-up summonable units within 9” from a gravesite and in your hero phase you can heal / raise d3 wounds to a target unit within 9” from a gravesite

Deathless minions = deathless spirits (FNP 6+)

Aura of Grief = Aura of Dread (-1 to bravery within 6”)

Endless Legions = command ability that lets you bring back a destroyed summonable unit, placing it wholly within 9” from a gravesite.


Basically, your units should be more resilient…. yeah, you lose the command trait “ruler of the spirit hosts”, but you gain d3 heal near the gravesites and the ability to bring back destroyed units.


COMMAND TRAITS

Amethyst Glow: your general becomes a wizard – very useful
Vassal of the Craven King: when you spend a CP, on a 5+ it’s back – another good one.
Tragic emanation: enemy units within 12” from the general suffer -2 to bravery. This can be truly good.


ARTEFACTS

Grave-sand gem: heal 1 wound or deal 1 wound to enemy hero within 6”.
Gothizzari Mortuary Candle: -1 to hit from ranged attacks. All out Attack cna negate look out sir, so this will ensure your opponent will always have a -1 to hit you.
Souldrain pendant: end of combat, on a 4+ inflict 1MWs to each enemy unit within 3”


SPELLS

Dread Withering: 5+, visible enemy unit within 18”, subtract 1 from saves – consider this if you’re not going for MWs spam tactic
Wail of Doom: 8+, on a 4+ inflicts d3 MWs to enemy units within 6” from the caster.
Shroud of Terror: 8+, enemy unit within 12” suffers –d3 to bravery.



There are many possible builds with a LoG army, I’ll point just a couple of them.


Reign of Terror:

this is how Nighthaunts could have been. Pick a mobile general and give it Tragic Emanation. Combined with Aura of Grief is a -3 to bravery. Move a caster alongside your general (Reikenor?) and cast Shroud of terror. On average, it’s a -5 to bravery.
Follow them with 4-5 banshees and scream the life out of your opponent.
(Obviously, at that point you could be tempted to bring also a terrorgheist…)


The undying elite:

fill your battlelines with the minimal and cheapest units.
Then as main hitters bring Spirit hosts, Dreadshyte harridans, Bladegheist revenants, Grimghast reapers.
Spirit hosts are a pain to kill and can be brought back via Endless Legions (well… as any other unit already listed, but a unit of 6 hosts is huge).
Harridans, Revenants and Reapers have all 2 things in common: are costly models (respectively 16, 19 and 15.5 pts each), and their attacks have -1 rend.
Your superior healing tnx to the additional d3 from the gravesites will have a higher impact then the mere raising of chainrasps, and the spell Dread Withering will ensure your rend will basically be -2
 
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Oppenheimer

Varghulf
May 26, 2013
743
Totally agree that 3e reaaaally hurts nighthaunt. The new cruciator gives us some defence but the no +1 save and mystic shield being not a reroll really hurts our whole army considering +1 save is so easy to give out all over the place now.
Also, I don't have any mourghouls as I'm not a forgeworld kind of guy and so I don't have any monsters who are the big things for 3.
 
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The Sun King

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True Blood
Aug 22, 2012
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Awesome work! 🤩🤩🤩

Regarding Shrieking Blade: I think it is a quite substantial defense bonus, -1 is nothing to sneeze at.

Regarding Cloak of the Waxing Moon and Amulet of Destiny. The amulet is strictly better since the Ward is universal and not only melee. Also your wording of "it means only 1 additional wound saved" sounds like it is not a big deal. I think it is a big deal. On a five wound model the amulet makes it 20% as survivable. And the Ward pays dividends the more wounds your Hero has. 🙂
 
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Unas the slayer

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Awesome work! 🤩🤩🤩

Regarding Shrieking Blade: I think it is a quite substantial defense bonus, -1 is nothing to sneeze at.

Regarding Cloak of the Waxing Moon and Amulet of Destiny. The amulet is strictly better since the Ward is universal and not only melee. Also your wording of "it means only 1 additional wound saved" sounds like it is not a big deal. I think it is a big deal. On a five wound model the amulet makes it 20% as survivable. And the Ward pays dividends the more wounds your Hero has. 🙂

Atm i consider -1 non that great because it's easily bypassed by things as all out attacks.
Of course it's good to have it, but i don’t know if i want to employ a artefact slot only for that.
You have a point on cloak and amulet, i'll add it... but imo that additional wound is still not that great. As you've said it's better the more wounds you have, and Nighthaunts don’t have the equivalent of a VLoZD.

P.S. today i think i will add subfactions
 
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The Sun King

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Atm i consider -1 non that great because it's easily bypassed by things as all out attacks. Of course it's good to have it, but i don’t know if i want to employ a artefact slot only for that. You have a point on cloak and amulet, i'll add it... but imo that additional wound is still not that great. As you've said it's better the more wounds you have, and Nighthaunts don’t have the equivalent of a VLoZD. P.S. today i think i will add subfactions

-1 is not bypassed by All out attack, it is only brought back to the standard, without it the opponent would get +1 to hit. 🙂

Regarding the amulet I really hate when my heroes die, so I highly regard everything that makes them more survivable. But I might be a more conservative and defensive player than you.🧐
 
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Unas the slayer

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-1 is not bypassed by All out attack, it is only brought back to the standard, without it the opponent would get +1 to hit. 🙂

Regarding the amulet I really hate when my heroes die, so I highly regard everything that makes them more survivable. But I might be a more conservative and defensive player than you.🧐

sure, -1 and +1 just balance things out. It's better to start from a -1... but it's not that hard for an attacker to have another +1 from a different buff.
But even if not, the fact is: our heroes should never be in combat (unless it's some easy one that we choosed).
I've never lost a general due to close combat, even without that -1.
However, i've lost more than one due to shooting, even before 3.0. Buff to hit, all out attacks, and my general was killed despite Look out Sir.
and when a lesser hero was caught in combat... a -1 wouldn't have make a difference (at least, not when you're charged by Gordrakk)

a -1 to be hit in combat is not a great tool for us, because imo our generals / heroes are not made to be in melee (i've specified my point of view in the artefact's description). They act more as buffer /healers and indirect damage dealers, and they are screened by other units... a -1 to be hit in cc is much more vital for a melee hero, as a VLoZD. A bonus for a situation i shouldn't find myself in the first place can be situationally good, but i like more to use that artefact slot for something i will certainly use to develope my tactics.
A -1 to be hit from ranged attacks? now that would be a nice protection.


In the meantime, the subfaction part is up!
 
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The Sun King

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It is a really good point that you want to avoid CC for as long as you can to keep the heros buffing your units. Seen in that light I agree with you, then the artefact is better used for something else.👌
 
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Oppenheimer

Varghulf
May 26, 2013
743
Great new information!

Did you mention that Legion of Grief is technically no longer valid in 3e? It's not on the list of books that are considered current.
 

Unas the slayer

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Great new information!

Did you mention that Legion of Grief is technically no longer valid in 3e? It's not on the list of books that are considered current.

Really? not that it surprises me, but LoG was introduced with forbidden powers, and the FP endless spells are now fully operational alongside the classic older endless...
 

Oppenheimer

Varghulf
May 26, 2013
743
Really? not that it surprises me, but LoG was introduced with forbidden powers, and the FP endless spells are now fully operational alongside the classic older endless...
The new General's Handbook points out the only publications you can still use rules from. The Endless Spells are still valid but only because they reproduced them with new rules in that same GHB, you can't use the rules from Forbidden Powers for anything 3e technically.
That said, obviously do whatever you want. I still play the old 1e Bretonnian vs Tomb King scrolls on occasion just for fun.

20211012_180627.jpg
 

Unas the slayer

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TIPS & TACTICS, part 1


Now that we have the tools, we must see how to employ them at their full power. You want to squeeze out all that you can from the point you’re investing in your units.
There are many thing that can be said, I’m not going to overanalyze every aspect, but some things must be said to help people in how to understand and employ the army in a correct way.




RAISING THE DEAD

One of our main feature is the ability, shared by undead armies, to raise our dead models.
We can only raise models from summonable units and only certain units can raise models… some of them raise full models, some other heal wounds or raise dead models if those models match the number of wounds that can be raised.
Let’s see the summonable units (not all of them, only the main ones), how many wounds each model has and how many (rounded) points they are worth.


SUMMONABLE UNITS

3 wounds models:
Spirit hosts 42 pts / model

2 wounds models:
Chainghasts 32.5 pts / model
Hexwraiths 30 pts / model

1 wound models:
Bladegheist Revenants 19 pts / model
Glaivewraith stalkers 16 pts / model
Dreadscythe Harridans 16 pts / model
Grimghast reapers 15.5 pts / model
Chainrasp horde 9.5 pts / model


UNITS that RAISE

Black coach: d3 models
General w Ruler: d3 models
Lady Olinder: 1 model (from each unit in a 12” bubble)
Guardian of souls: d6 wounds
Guardian w. Beacon: d6+3 wounds
Spirit torment: d3 wounds



Obviously, raising full models increases in efficiency if you raise Spirit hosts or Hexwraiths. If you plan to field an army with a good number of costly, multi wounds models, then you should bring at least a couple of units that raise models without looking at wounds.
Healing wounds increases in efficiency when you raise 1W models. If the target is Grimghast reapers, it’s better to use an ability that raises d3 wounds, rather than one that raises d3 models.

Of course, a Guardian of souls becomes much more efficient when you employ it to raise 1 w. models.
Let’s say that a Guardian with a beacon of nagashizzar raises some spirit hosts… only 2 times on 6 you will use the effects of the spell at full power, while 4 times on 6 you will “waste” wounds.
On the contrary, a guardian that raises 1 wound models will always give a full result.
But on average a guardian with beacon will raise 2 spirit hosts!”… well, even if things go as you hope, it’s not a good idea to use a Guardian on spirit hosts (or better, the result will be suboptimal).
Let’s say that you roll a 3 (and your Guardian is equipped with Beacon): excellent result, it’s 6 wounds, so you bring back 2 hosts (84 pts) with no wound “lost”.
What if the Guardian was curing a unit of Harridans? those 6 wounds would be 96 points… and the gap would increase with 6 wounds of Revenants (114 pts).
And what if you rolled a 4? you still raise 84 pts of spirit hosts, but you would raise 133 pts of Revenants.


On a similar reasoning, you see by yourself that to raise Chainrasp hordes is rarely cost-efficient. The only 3 moments when it is, is when:
- you don’t have other types of dead models, so of course you raise them
- you are using the bubble ability of Lady Olinder, so why not?
- you are using the Reikenor’s Condemned procession, where a Guardian will raise d6 additional chainrasp models for free


List building should always prioritize high quality healing.
If you’re playing Spirit Hosts and Hexwraiths, pick units that raise models.
You pick heroes that raise wounds? make sure to bring units as revenants / harridans / reapers, to exploit the value of those raisings.
You bring big blocks of spirit hosts and lots of 10-man units of chainrasp to battlefield control? at that point a Guardian of souls is not a necessary unit.





SYNERGIES


First of all, let me point to this OTHER THREAD, which contains some handy reference charts for Nighthaunts.

Second: AoS is a game that revolves around synergies, so you’d better know yours.
But Unas” I hear you say, “we already know them, Spirit Torment let us reroll 1s to hit, Knight of Shrouds gives +1 to hit…”
Those, my friends, are basic synergies. Some heroes give some benefits to all the units, but you will get more mileage only with certain combinations.

Heroes are costly and you cannot afford them all. Pick the ones that, in your list, will give more leverage.



Heroes that offer no particular buffs or synergies (which does not mean they are bad):
Kurdoss Valerian
Reikenor the Grimhailer
Dreadblade Harrow
Tomb Banshee
Cairn Wraith
Briar Queen


Heroes with generic buffs (usually you don’t need to keep them in particular places to make them work)
Lady Olinder (support spells and bubble raising).
Lord Executioner (-1 to hit to enemy hero within 3”)
Guardian of Souls with mortality glass (hampers charges and moves Nighthaunts units):


Heroes with buffs & synergies (they will always give you bonuses, but in certain combo they will shine)
Knight of shrouds (afoot and on Steed)
Guardian of souls with Lantern
Spirit Torment
Krulghast cruciator


Knight of Shrouds afoot:
can give +1 to hit to a nighthaunt unit. It’s always good, but…
There are certain units (for example, Bladegheist revenants) that can be buffed in a more efficient way by total rerolling granted by a spirit torment.
There are other units that works on hitting with nat. 6s… a buff to Spirit Hosts with a KoS is negligible.
The ideal targets are units that don’t have other sources of buffs or where that +1 has a greater impact:

Grimghast reapers have only a to hit 4+; even with rerolls against big units, there’s a big difference if you bring them to 3+
Dreadshyte Harridans deliver 3 attacks each, hitting at 4+. 30 attacks at 3+ instead that 4+, means 6 additional successful hits.
A buffed black Coach will enjoy a +1 on 20 melee attacks (even more precious, given the BC rerolls 1s).


Knight of Shrouds on steed:
can give +1 to the number of melee attacks of a nighthaunt unit.
if a KoS afoot can give a +1 to hit to 20 attacks of a Black Coach (good), a KoS on steed will only increase by 4 the number of those attacks (suboptimal).
a +1 attacks to a unit of six spirit Hosts, will mean on average only 1 additional MW. It’s still something, but it’s not worth a cp.
The ideal targets are units where that multiplier generates a great number of dangerous attacks.

A unit of 5 Hexwraiths will deliver 10 additional attacks (alas, half of them will not be that great).
A single additional attack on 10 Bladeghast Revenants or 10 Grimghast reapers, that are already rerolling all their “to hit”, will translate into 7-9 additional successful hits. Much more interesting.


Guardian of souls (with lantern):
Discussed in the “raising the dead” section.
It shines when you target costly 1 wound models, or Chainrasp hordes in Reikenor’s Condemned.
Always remember that it gives also a +1 to wound: it’s better to keep it near units that have weapons with some rend.


Spirit Torment:
can heal/raise d3 wounds and lets you reroll 1s to hit for nighthaunts units wholly within 12”.
Well, that’s great, everybody enjoy rerolling 1s!
True, but the impact on the game is different, the same reroll applied to different units is not the same thing. Plus, there are other synergies to look at. The Spirit Torment is a solid support hero, but the goodness of the buffs may vary. Here’s a list of the interactions between ST and some other units, in increasing order of power.

Chainrasp horde: reroll 1s on a unit that hits at 4+ with 0 rend is useful, but will not bring you impressive results.
Spirit Hosts: reroll 1s will increase the chance of dealing MWs, however the d3 raise will often go wasted. If you want to give Hosts the rerolls, it would be better to stick with them a couple of Chainghast, leaving the ST with something else (thus creating a nice range of 36” to the rerolls of your army).
Grimghast reapers: they will fully enjoy the d3 raise, but they already reroll all hits when fighting units with more than 5 models. This means that the reroll of 1s will happen not all the times.
Dreadsythe Harridans: top unit to be buffed: they deliver a lot of attacks with rend and don’t have access to rerolls, so they will enjoy immensely a ST.
Bladegheist Revenants: the big winning combo: the ST will make them reroll ALL to hits, not only 1s, and the healing ability will raise probably the highest ratio points/wounds we have in our army.

A nice thing to remember: the d3 healing from ST, is not limited to summonable unit, so it comes really handy to heal heroes or things as a Mourngul.


Krulghast Cruciator:
can increase the Deathless Spirit battle trait up to a 5+.
OK, this is solid always. Yeah, we could debate that FNP 5+ is worth more on costly models than on cheaper ones, but the argument doesn’t hold much water.
The “goodness” of the KC is not what unit/s you are going to buff, but what is the unit/s role.

Are you using 2 units of 6x2 Spirit Hosts as main advancing formation, your nasty hitters? Then keep them alive with a KC, possibly upgraded with Ruler of Spirit hosts.
Wanna control the battlefield center with a horde of 30 chainrasp, backed by a guardian of souls and Lady Olinder? The KC is needed there!
Basically, it doesn’t matter what you protect… you just need to increase the resistance of your main force.





Basically, plan your list to exploit raising abilities and possible synergies.
 
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Unas the slayer

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TIPS & TACTICS, part 2

The following paragraphs (list building, combo and tricks, allies), should be mere tools to build some lists with a certain goal in mind.
But they ARE NOT exclusive.
You can certainly mix a MW list with a core of resilient large unit that deals normal damage. And of course, you can have a list with deep strike units, backed up by magic. Or lots of MWs dealt by magic and melee to drive your opponent crazy.



LIST BUILDING

The MWs factory.

You want of course units that deals Mortal Wounds. At that point, you can leave home heroes that buffs things you don’t need (+1 to hit and similar).
Units you may need:
- Heroes that raise multi-wounds models: you’ll want a general with Ruler of Spirit hosts and Black coach.
- A unit of 6 Spirit hosts and at least another 1-2, to field 9-12 spirit hosts (keep in mind that you want to maximize the MWs: attack with all 6 hosts, who cares if one will die due to coherency? you will raise it.
- Hexwraiths with a Knights of shrouds on steed (to buff them with his c.a.), possibly with Emerald Hosts.
- Mourngul (bonus points if supported by a Spirit Torment for re-roll and heal).
- Lady Olinder to raise and deal MWs with her abilities and shooting, plus 1 endless spell that deals MWs; I’d suggest Terminexus (long range and solid damage).
- Reikenor for a potential of 2d3+1 MWs to hordes.
- relic: pick the pendant, to move 9” your spirit hosts or 15” your KoS+Hexwraiths (this one to increase the chance to deal MWs also during move, before the combat).



Hordes with teeth

One of the way we build our lists, is around blob of semi-resilient units (30 chainrasp, 20 grimghast reapers and so on), counting on deathless spirits and raising the dead.
It’s a good concept, but we need to work around it, to
A) improve as much as possible our resilience
B) improve as much as possible our offensive potential
this can be done by a wise use of heroes and other tricks, let’s see how.
First of all, chainrasp hordes as main body of the army, works mainly in Reikenor’s Condemned. If not playing that, use them as 10 unit to more battlefield control.
You want to be resilient and do damage, so what do you need?

Offense:
focus on units that do reliable attacks and have rend: basically Grimghast reapers, Dreadshyte harridans, Bladegheist revenants.
All these units have -1 rend… alas, with cheap countermeasures as All out Defense, that -1 rend in 9th edition is not that great, so you want to sorta improve it.
Pick the Endless Spell Geminids of Uhl-Gysh… yeah, it costs 80 (!), but not only it will deliver some MWs, most of all the targeted units won’t be able to give and receive command. Pretty solid, now your opponent won’t have any chance to buff its units both in offense and defense. Your -1 rend will fully kick in.
Pick heroes that buff you combat: the main ones:
Lady Olinder or Knight of shrouds afoot for +1 to hit. Reapers and Bladegheist have ways to reroll all their to hit; if that’s the case, reapers are a slightly better target, because the ratio increase of successful hits for them is greater (plus, bladegheist have more attacks but reapers have more range, so also the rear rank will fight):
a +1 to Reapers (going from 4+ to 3+) means that you will hit 90%, instead of 75%.
a +1 to Bladegheist (3+ to 2+) means you go from 90% to about 98%.
pick a Spirit Torment for reroll 1s / all to hit (depending on unit)
pick a Guardian of Soul with Lantern for +1 to wound (which is massive)

Defense:
Spirit Torment and Guardian of souls are healers, and will raise your dead model. Equip the guardian with the Beacon.
Krulghast Cruciator can increase the Deathless Spirit roll to 5+ within 12”
Lady Olinder’s spell can give another -1 (plus, she raises models)
The spell shademist can protect a unit with a -1 to be wounded.
Dreadshyte harridans comes with a built-in -1 to hit to enemy units within 3”
Basically, you have 2 sources to give -1 to hit, one for -1 to wound and you can negate command abilities as All out Attack with Geminids.
As you can see, things as Geminids and Lady Olinder’s spell work both as offense and defense (and so heroes as Spirit torment and Guardian)


So, in summary, your “hard to hit / hard to wound / easily raisable / good hitter” main force, will be composed by:
Units: Grimghast reapers, Dreadshyte harridans, Bladegheist revenants
Heroes: Lady Olinder / Knight of Shroud, Spirit Torment, Guardian of souls, Krulghast cruciator
Spells: Shademist, Geminids
Artefacts: Beacon of Nagashizzar
A strong group formed in this way should be worth 1300-1500 pts, depending on your choices, leaving you with enough room for something else.







COMBO & TRICKS

Deep Strike.

By looking at our army, one could have the impression that we are build to deep strike and charge the opponent. We appear out of nowhere (from the underworld they come), we gain crazy bonuses when our charges are good (wave of terror).
However, we have literally nothing to help us in this task.
We don’t have sky vessels that can move in the hero phase with embarked units.
We don’t have units with banners that let them reroll charges for free.
We don’t have constellations that give +1 to run and charge.
We don’t have heroes with bubble to reroll charges.
We don’t have the crazy move shenanigans of other armies.
We are basically the worst army in all AoS to plan a strategy based on deep strike and charges, being stuck with just the Core command ability Forward to Victory.

However, we can do something… for this reason, I’m here to recap all the ways we have to make those sweet charges, be them long distance or deep strike.
There’s nothing massive, but you can combine the various tricks to obtain a good chance to put some pressure on your opponent (always hoping in that marvelous 10+).

Triumph and Command ability
if you manage to field a list with less points than your opponent, pick the bloodthirsty triumph, to reroll a charge. It can be paired with the c.a. Forward to Victory, for a double reroll.

Chronomantic Cogs
Endless spells that gives +1 to charge for units wholly within 18".
Deep strike from the underworld 2-3 units that can do some damage on charge or don’t rely on heroes to rerolls, as Revenants or Grimghast reapers / Stalkers. Two units of 3 spirit hosts could work too.
With that +1 and Forward to Victory, you will have at least 3/4 rolls at 8+.

Black Coach
Unholy Vigour will let it run and charge, and can be obtained since T1 if you manage to roll two 4+ on three dices. At that point, move 14 + run 6” (c.a. At the Double) + 2d6 charge: on average, you threaten 27”… 30” if nearby a hero with Pendant of the Fellwind.

Mourngul / hexwraiths + Guardian
I’m picking Mourngul or Hexwraiths because they both start from a 12” move. Of course, if you use hexwraiths, max their number by picking 10 knights.
Employ a Guardian of souls with Mortality Glass and a hero with Pendant of the Fellwind: the spell Temporal Translocation will move one unit by 6” in the hero phase. In the move phase, tnx to the Pendant, the Mourngul / Hexwraiths will move 15” for a grand total of 21”, plus the 2d6 charge.



Magical offensive.

This is a mini-build that can come in very handy when the opponent drops before you and forces you to go first. If you go second… it works the same, potentially even better!
One of our problems when we go first, is that we totally lack long range shooting and meaningful ways to damage our opponents, so we just limit ourselves to gain some board control and collect a couple of points with Ferocios Advance battle tactic, but that’s it. Then we must endure the opponent’s turn, hoping the double turn won’t come immediately.
But now we can do at least something!

Lady Olinder –215 pts.
a 2nd wizard
endless spell: Lauchon the soulseeker – 55 ptd
endless spell: Vault of Souls? Mortalis Terminexus? – 85 ptd

Your second wizard casts Lauchon. You want it to go off, so Reikenor or a wizard with corpse candle would be better.
you move Lady Olinder 18” with Lauchon. Lauchon is 3.5”, and then you place Olinder within 3”, so basically you have about 24” move with Olinder.
first spell: Cast Vault of Souls / Terminexus where it hurts the most.
second spell: Cast Spirit Drain or Lifestealer
Vault will deal damage in a 6” bubble during your hero phase AND in the opponents hero phase (unless dispelled)… and at that point it will probably explode for further d3 MW within 6”
Terminexus will deal immediately d3 MWs in a 6” radius, so it means 2d3 MWs in the double hero phase to all units within 6” (again, if not dispelled).

It’s not a crazy amount of damage, but it’s definitely something and with Terminexus and Lifestealer, you could be able to inflict 3d3 MWs to a support hero, possibly killing it.
Of course, there are situations where another endless spell (Shyish reaper), could prove more devastating.
What kind of Endless you want to pick depends on your opponent.

The good part? in your move phase, have your general Spectral Summon back Lady Olinder in a safe position.


Keep in mind that if you go second and by any chance you pick a double turn, this will let your predatory spell deal damage for THREE consecutive hero phases.

Alas, this build would be illegal.
Lauchon is a predatory endless spell. So you can cast it whenever you want, but you can move it at the end of the hero phase. This means Lady Olinder (or any wizard, for what matters)could simply do anything.
Basically, for Nighthaunts, we have few reliable way to do some damage in T1, mostly tnx to Mortalis Terminexus: 18"+8" move, bubble range 6", basically you threaten a 32" range.




ALLIES

I’m more for pure faction lists, but we cann ally with Soulblihgt gravelord, so let’s take a look at the most “interesting” units.

Necromancer – 125 pts
If you know what you are going to face, a Necromancer could be good. Of course you don’t pick him for Danse Macabre, but for the Lore of Deathmages… Fading Vigour (6+, 18”, 1 subtract 1 from the Attacks characteristic of that unit’s melee weapons) is a powerful defensive tool.

Mortis Engine – 180 pts
It’s the most “nighthaunt” model in soulblight and so it’s the best fitting ally you can field. Of course you want it for its ability to spam MWs in a 12” radius and also in cc. If you are picking that necromancer, it’ll give a +1 to cast too.

Corpse Cart w. Balefire Brazier – 80 pts
Cheap but crazily fragile, don’t pick it if you’re going against shooting. However, its abilities are not tied to soulblight and are pretty useful: -1 to cast to enemy wizards within 18” and -1 to wound to enemy units within 9”, are solid defensive buffs.

Zombie Dragon – 295 pts
We lack hard hitters and this one is, with good move and a shooting weapon too. If it happens you are using him alongside a Mourngul, you can use the Alpha-Beast Pack battalion, for that first additional d6 move that is always nice to have for putting pressure on your opponent.










There, here we are. This is the end.

I hope it will be useful for you: if only one of the suggestions given here, will make your opponents aware that Nighthaunts are a force to be reckon with, I will be a happy undead.
 
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Oppenheimer

Varghulf
May 26, 2013
743
Totally agree that Mortis engine should totally have been a Nighthaunt unit. It even has the Malignant keyword.
 

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