AoS - 3rd AoS News Thread

[Bestaltan]

Looking forward to starting out with Legion of Blood. My vamp lord on his dragon looks like pure fun running around smashing face with a 3+ unchanging save. But what has me really excited is the d3 mortals when an opponent unit casts relic. My local meta is really spell heavy, and tossing that on something that you'll have a hard time killing (like a necro close to zombies or skellies) means you can chuckle as you pop the heads of all of their spellcasters as they do what they are supposed to be doing.

I plan on my first list to be:

VLoZD
Neferata
Necromancer
Vampire lord

3 units of Dire wolves
Double reinforced skellies
Reinforced grave guard with shields

 

[The Sun King]

Bestaltan Yeah I would run something similar, maybe with Black Knights and a mounted Wight King instead of the Dire Wolves and Necromancer.

Regarding the Amulet of Screams I can definitely see its use as an anti magic tech piece, but at the same time 18" is not so long and you would have to place your hero quite offensively, so it is a bit of a gamble, but it can definitely pay off.

Oh, and now that we talk about anti magic. Had anyone else noticed that the Terminus Clock is not a once per game ability? That seems like a misprint - but lets hope I am wrong .

 

[Bestaltan]

Oh, I noticed. Just like the Blood relic that's anti-magic is every time your opponent casts a spell, and not once per turn. :D

Totally forgot that the wight king unlocks grave guard as battleline if he is your general. Taking him in my list instead of the vampire lord means I could run a second grave guard unit instead of 2 units of wolves. Slower, but a lot punchier.

So if the wight king were to get the arcane tome, what lore could he pick his spell from?

 

[Sception]

per the recent rules update, a hero with the arcane tome does not get a bonus lore spell. they only know the generic spells (arcane bolt, mystic shield, any spells granted to all wizards by the battlepack you're playing) plus any endless spells you've purchased as part of your army.

 

[Bestaltan]

Gotcha. I had forgotten that they beat down the arcane tome.

 

[Gederas]

Okay since I've had the tome since Thursday (I love my FLGS) I've gone over it a bit and I gotta say:

This is going to be a sleeper, I can just feel it. Everything has changed, some things better (SKELETONS BABY!), some things worse (Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Display Cabinet) and some got berffed (Mannfred and Neferata)

Vyrkos is now 100% THE Herohammer (as well as Deadwalkers) force for Gravelords. Both versions of Radukar are pretty good, the Beast is very, very silly.

Battleline changes are great. Now all three unconditional Battleline all have legit purposes and not "why aren't you just yeeting more zombies at them?". Also I like that they added Fell Bats as Battleline if Legion of Night, as well as Vargheists as battleline for Avengorii.

In regards to fluff, definitely some nice additions, also an interesting tidbit: Radukar's back from his uncertain doom at the end of the final Cursed City expansion, and can apparently shift back and forth now? Annoyiongly though, they make no explanation for Mannfred and Neferata's mounts being destroyed in Broken Realms: Teclis, but are still around in the Battletome.

 

[The Sun King]

Okay since I've had the tome since Thursday (I love my FLGS) I've gone over it a bit and I gotta say:

This is going to be a sleeper, I can just feel it. Everything has changed, some things better (SKELETONS BABY!), some things worse (Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Display Cabinet) and some got berffed (Mannfred and Neferata)

Vyrkos is now 100% THE Herohammer (as well as Deadwalkers) force for Gravelords. Both versions of Radukar are pretty good, the Beast is very, very silly.

Battleline changes are great. Now all three unconditional Battleline all have legit purposes and not "why aren't you just yeeting more zombies at them?". Also I like that they added Fell Bats as Battleline if Legion of Night, as well as Vargheists as battleline for Avengorii.

In regards to fluff, definitely some nice additions, also an interesting tidbit: Radukar's back from his uncertain doom at the end of the final Cursed City expansion, and can apparently shift back and forth now? Annoyiongly though, they make no explanation for Mannfred and Neferata's mounts being destroyed in Broken Realms: Teclis, but are still around in the Battletome.

Yeah I agree 100% Gederas! It will be a sleeper. The real strength of this book will take time for people to appreciate.

My only big criticism is that I don’t see Avengorii performing well, but I hope I am wrong.

 

[Bestaltan]

I got to play a game last night with the new rules. My thoughts:

1. I’ll put vampires in Legion of Blood up against Vyrkos for the hero hammer mantle. That +1 to cast/+1 to attacks combo is powerful!

2. I started the game with a block of 30 skellies, and after three full rounds of being in combat with two separate units, I finished the game with……30 skeletons. If you don’t take them out in that first combat phase, they are the tarpittiest of tar pits. But shout for joy if they do even a point of damage.

3. Wolves are SUCH good screens. 20 wounds of models that you can bring back, that are fast, and cheap. I ran three units and they were tar pits in their own way.

4. Being able to bring a half strength unit back outside of 3” of an enemy unit is POWERFUL! Units like chosen and Khorne knights can get gummed up all game with good placement.

5. Every spell I cast was useful, even from the vampire lore. But yea, bring your deathmage casters.

6. Neferata is ALL that in Legion of Blood. She will make your opponent grump when their big hard hitting unit just does nothing. Her warscroll spell and the -1 wound and damage spell is a phenomenal combo that you should be putting on a block of 30 skeletons or shield grave guard every round.

 

[The Sun King]

I got to play a game last night with the new rules. My thoughts:

1. I’ll put vampires in Legion of Blood up against Vyrkos for the hero hammer mantle. That +1 to cast/+1 to attacks combo is powerful!

2. I started the game with a block of 30 skellies, and after three full rounds of being in combat with two separate units, I finished the game with……30 skeletons. If you don’t take them out in that first combat phase, they are the tarpittiest of tar pits. But shout for joy if they do even a point of damage.

3. Wolves are SUCH good screens. 20 wounds of models that you can bring back, that are fast, and cheap. I ran three units and they were tar pits in their own way.

4. Being able to bring a half strength unit back outside of 3” of an enemy unit is POWERFUL! Units like chosen and Khorne knights can get gummed up all game with good placement.

5. Every spell I cast was useful, even from the vampire lore. But yea, bring your deathmage casters.

6. Neferata is ALL that in Legion of Blood. She will make your opponent grump when their big hard hitting unit just does nothing. Her warscroll spell and the -1 wound and damage spell is a phenomenal combo that you should be putting on a block of 30 skeletons or shield grave guard every round.

I agree with all of this, however I am unsure about Skeletons. I haven't played with the new warscroll yet, but it seems to me that there are so many things in the game that can easily remove 30 wounds on a 5+ save in the game.

I guess the good thing is that even if the opponent manages to remove them in one go, they will come back sooner or later as a unit of 15.

 

[Bestaltan]

I think skellies need to be in the right build, like Blood. Neferata, with her -1 to hit bubble, spell that removes negative rend modifiers on a unit, and the deathmage spell that reduces wound and damage by 1, makes that giant blob pretty annoying to get rid of.

Vyrkos should work with their relic too. A 5+ ward from deathless minions, rerolling 1’s, should keep enough around until the next combat phase.

 

[Unas the slayer]

I agree with all of this, however I am unsure about Skeletons. I haven't played with the new warscroll yet, but it seems to me that there are so many things in the game that can easily remove 30 wounds on a 5+ save in the game.

I guess the good thing is that even if the opponent manages to remove them in one go, they will come back sooner or later as a unit of 15.

Yep, +1 to this.

But i will certainly try them, as i am more a skelly dude, rather than zombies.

 

[Gederas]

I mean, I'm just gonna say it:

I have 120 zombies and 60 skeletons (one squad of all spears and one squad of all swords, like that matters anymore ) painted, with a further 40 Skeletons to be painted (same split).

So I'm fine with either or, but I definitely agree. Skeletons kind of strike me as a "tech" choice in a way, in that you can do a lot with them

 

[Bestaltan]

Heh. Yea, I have to admit I can play fast and loose with skeletons since I actually own zero zombies. Only played Soulblight a couple months in the Fall before getting distracted by Lumineth, so no zombie purchases.

 

[The Sun King]

I really like how our battleline choices can be taken in so many different directions now. Do you take units of 20 zombies without any support just to hold objectives? Do you take big hordes with them and support them with Corpsecarts and Vampire Lords (that will get +1 to cast from the CC)? Do you take minimum size Skellies as road blocks? Do you take units of 30 and buff their ward save? Do you take units of Dire Wolves as fast screens and objective grabbers? Do you lean into wolves and recursion with Vyrkos to make a fast pinning army?

There seems to be so many viable builds now.

 

[Bestaltan]

Or, since all of those choices are pretty cheap, do you just take all of them?

 

[The Sun King]

Well that’s where it gets interesting Bestaltan ... I don't think you will have points enough to support many different type of builds effectively in the same 2000 points army. Which is great because it means that there are so many decisions to make while making lists.

With support I mean: Yes, you can bring all our cheap battleline, but they are not impressive on their own. Our new book relies heavily on synergy, so for our battleline to do anything we need to bring support heroes and support units. And then the points disappear fast.

The exception to this is Bloodknights. They seem great even without support.

 

[MTD]

I really like how our battleline choices can be taken in so many different directions now. Do you take units of 20 zombies without any support just to hold objectives? Do you take big hordes with them and support them with Corpsecarts and Vampire Lords (that will get +1 to cast from the CC)? Do you take minimum size Skellies as road blocks? Do you take units of 30 and buff their ward save? Do you take units of Dire Wolves as fast screens and objective grabbers? Do you lean into wolves and recursion with Vyrkos to make a fast pinning army?

There seems to be so many viable builds now.

You forgot Black Knights in Legion of Blood. With or without a Wight King they do a ton(3,3-5) of Mortal Wounds for 110, Mind Blowing!!!

 

[Belladamma Voltaire]

Nef would be assumed to be additional battle traits for Legion of Blood. She is far too good not to take.

 

[The Sun King]

MTD well, I purposely left the optional battleline out because the list was getting so long, suffice it to say that the point is that yes indeed we are spoiled for choice when it comes to battleline 🫠. If you want to see what I think of Black Knights in Legion of Blood check out this list: Sunny's First List with the New Book 2023 - Carpe Noctem

Belladamma Voltaire yeah Neffy is soooo good, however in the list mentioned above I couldnt find room and points for her 🫨.

 

[Belladamma Voltaire]

Belladamma Voltaire yeah Neffy is soooo good, however in the list mentioned above I couldnt find room and points for her 🫨.

I think thats the mistake a lot of people are going to make with writing lists for LoB. Nef giving the redeploys, the potential for "Dark Mist" and "Twilights Allure" all make her near auto-include for them competitively. I speak purely from a competitive aspect when I am talking about this, just to clarify.

 

[The Sun King]

I agree that she is strong. Time will tell how strong. At the moment I favor the VLOZD with Doomed Minions and Cloak of Mist and Shadows in Legion of Blood... you could get both it and Neffy, but that is almost a thousand points.

 

[Bestaltan]

That's par for the course for most other "big combo" units in other armies. VLOZD and Nef are 830 points. Teclis is 720. Alarielle is 820 or something. What makes our two awesome is one is a beatstick with good tanking abilities, the other is a buffing goddess with good beatstick abilities.

 

[The Sun King]

I do not disagree with that, but I am not the type of player who would ever field Teclis, Alarielle, Nagash, Arcaheon, Kragnos etc. It just doesn’t suit my playstyle to put so many eggs in one basket.

 

[Bestaltan]

Oh, I totally understand that. My short stint with Sylvaneth taught me how much I dislike half of my army points in one model. But two models I'm ok with. Go figure.

 

[Count michael]

New nighthaunt and flesheater models for warcry and underworld which look pretty amazing