AoS - 3rd Competetive All Around Legion of Blood List - 2000 pts Matched Play

[The Sun King]

I'm tinkering with this list. Input and questions are very welcome!

Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords
Lineage: Legion of Blood
Mortal Realm: Ghur
Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery
Triumphs: Inspired

LEADERS

• Belladamma Volga (200)**- Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions + Spirit Gale
• Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (435)** - General - Command Trait: Aura of Dark Majesty - Deathlance - Artefact: Soulbound Garments - Expertise: Martial - Mount Trait: Foetid Miasma - Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions + Blades of Shyish
• Lauka Vai (285) - Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions + Blades of Shyish
• Vampire Lord (140)** - Expertise: Arcane - Lore of the Vampires: Spirit Gale + Soul Pike

UNITS

• 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (230)*
• 10 x Dire Wolves (135)**
• 20 x Grave Guard (280)* - Great Wight Blades
• 5 x Black Knights (100)**
• 5 x Blood Knights (195)*

CORE BATTALIONS
*Hunters of the Heartlands
**Warlord

ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS: Spell
TOTAL: 2000/2000 pts
WOUNDS: 143
LEADERS: 4/6
BATTLELINES: 3 (3+)
BEHEMOTHS: 1/4
ARTEFACTS: 2/2
REINFORCED UNITS: 2/4
DROPS: 9

 

[cdance93]

I really like this! Takes a lot of units that will benefit from LoB whilst not sacrificing the essential zombie block and grave guard. Wera the black knights a filler since they’re only 100 points? Brazier Corpse cart has been working wonders for me in this magic meta and is worth every point

 

[The Sun King]

cdance93 Glad you like it mate - I hope it'll perform well when I try it out, but I'm fairly certain that it will, as it is quite close to what I normally field.

The Black Knights do several things in this list. First off, they are battleline, so I could get rid of the normal 10 skellies to fill battleline. Secondly I have been lacking a small fast unit to screen, grab objectives and zone out ambush/teleports. Thirdly, they provide me with a bit of mortal wounds that can come in handy when I have to bracket a monster before fighting it. This point about mortal wounds just made me realize that I should use the last 5 points left over to upgrade my Vengorian Lord into Lauka Vai, as she also does mortal wounds on charges.

EDIT: Regarding the Corpsecart I don't really have room for it in the list. My main issue with the cart is the fact that it dies so incredibly fast. If I had that kind of points to spare I would rather take Gorslav to herd my Zombies. But many on this forum likes the Corpsecart so maybe I'm missing out . Can you talk a bit about how it plays in your games? (I have a painted Corpsecart so I would love a good reason to field it )

 

[cdance93]

I totally agree with you use of the black knights and I think for what they can do (screen and mortals, zoomies) it’s actually worth the 100 points.

the reason I love the cart; and I totally agree it dies to a stuff breeze; is because even if it ends up stopping 1 or 2 crucial spells for the opponent it’s already paid for itself. If they don’t focus it it becomes a pain in the ass for them and if they do focus it then it’s distracted from other important units taking damage and is only 80 points so I can live with that. I just feel it punches above it’s weight for its cost (atleast the brazier). It also occupies some headspace for the opponent in whether they want to deal with it or not. In a meta where magic isn’t as popular I can still see it’s usefulness due to -1 to wound which makes any of your nearby units much more survivable.

 

[Unas the slayer]

cdance93 Glad you like it mate - I hope it'll perform well when I try it out, but I'm fairly certain that it will, as it is quite close to what I normally field.

The Black Knights do several things in this list. First off, they are battleline, so I could get rid of the normal 10 skellies to fill battleline. Secondly I have been lacking a small fast unit to screen, grab objectives and zone out ambush/teleports. Thirdly, they provide me with a bit of mortal wounds that can come in handy when I have to bracket a monster before fighting it. This point about mortal wounds just made me realize that I should use the last 5 points left over to upgrade my Vengorian Lord into Lauka Vai, as she also does mortal wounds on charges.

EDIT: Regarding the Corpsecart I don't really have room for it in the list. My main issue with the cart is the fact that it dies so incredibly fast. If I had that kind of points to spare I would rather take Gorslav to herd my Zombies. But many on this forum likes the Corpsecart so maybe I'm missing out . Can you talk a bit about how it plays in your games? (I have a painted Corpsecart so I would love a good reason to field it )

Given how much i like Black Knights, i'm all for their inclusion in the list.

 

[The Sun King]

cdance93 Good points. However, I think I have plenty of anti-magic in the list. I face Sylvaneth with a lot of magic in it often and the magic phase almost never causes me problems. I would like to take the cart for a spin again someday, it is just hard for me to find room in the list without cutting something that I find more essential.

Unas the slayer Glad you concur - you've supported Black Knights from day one, even when I was a non-believer . I would also really like to have a WK on Skeletal Steed w. Arcane Tome in this list, but I'm unsure if he is a better choice than the Vampire Lord, what do you reckon?

At the moment I have chosen to go with extra spell as my enhancement instead of an extra artefact - the reason being that the only character that can hold the extra artefact is the Vampire Lord on foot, and he is way too squishy to take that risk. If I do go the route of an extra artefact then I'm looking at Arcane Oubliette and Orb of Enchantment.

 

[Unas the slayer]

Unas the slayer Glad you concur - you've supported Black Knights from day one, even when I was a non-believer . I would also really like to have a WK on Skeletal Steed w. Arcane Tome in this list, but I'm unsure if he is a better choice than the Vampire Lord, what do you reckon?

i'm not sure it would be worth it...

 

[cdance93]

i'm not sure it would be worth it...

Completely agree, especially in LoB, not sure he brings enough to be worth the swap

 

[The Sun King]

Yeah - I agree, Legion of Blood +2 to cast and dispel is really strong on the VL. I might also be biased by the fact that he got shot off the table first turn in my last game . I'll just have to keep him safer next time. Just for reference here are my thoughts on the WK and the VL respectively:

Wight King on Skeletal Steed w. Arcane Tome:
+ Has 7 wounds.
+ Causes mortal wounds on charges.
+ Debuffs enemy Bravery.
+ Has high movement.
- Is worse at magic than the VL.

Vampire Lord on foot:
+ Has Crimson Feast, which is great with my Zombie block and Grave Guards.
+ Has +2 to cast and dispel, which is big deal when I want to get rid of nasty spells such as Dweller's From Below.
+ Has decent spells form the Lore of Vampires and the chance to get those off twice with Locus of Shyish.
+ Doesn't need Arcane Tome and I can thus pick Extra Spell as my enhancement.
- Is not as fast as the WK.
- Is easier to kill than the WK.

 

[Unas the slayer]

Yeah - I agree, Legion of Blood +2 to cast and dispel is really strong on the VL. I might also be biased by the fact that he got shot off the table first turn in my last game . I'll just have to keep him safer next time. Just for reference here are my thoughts on the WK and the VL respectively:

Wight King on Skeletal Steed w. Arcane Tome:
+ Has 7 wounds.
+ Causes mortal wounds on charges.
+ Debuffs enemy Bravery.
+ Has high movement.
- Is worse at magic than the VL.

Vampire Lord on foot:
+ Has Crimson Feast, which is great with my Zombie block and Grave Guards.
+ Has +2 to cast and dispel, which is big deal when I want to get rid of nasty spells such as Dweller's From Below.
+ Has decent spells form the Lore of Vampires and the chance to get those off twice with Locus of Shyish.
+ Doesn't need Arcane Tome and I can thus pick Extra Spell as my enhancement.
- Is not as fast as the WK.
- Is easier to kill than the WK.

Keep also in mind that the high movement of the WK, in your list would serve just the purpose to stay with the black knights. You don't want to spend 130 pts hero to grant a buff to a 100 pts unit.

 

[The Sun King]

Keep also in mind that the high movement of the WK, in your list would serve just the purpose to stay with the black knights. You don't want to spend 130 pts hero to grant a buff to a 100 pts unit.

With that I very much disagree. He is way better used;

1. With the Blood Knights where he can buff them with Mystic Shield and add a couple of mortal wounds on the charge.
2. With the Dire Wolves or Zombies for a -2 Bravery debuff.
3. With the Grave Guard to use his command ability on them and give them All Out Attack etc. (as they will lack hero support normally because they pop out of Gravesites.
4. On his own as a little cruiser missile with Arcane Bolt and his MW Charge ability to bracket something important.
5. Together with Lauka Vai for even more mortal wounds on the charge and to give her All Out Defense when she fails Undeniable Impulse.
6. As a way to get within range of backline casters such as Warsong Revenants in order to try and unbind spells.

Haha, now I'm convincing myself that maybe he IS the right way to go . Well, I'll just have to run the list twice one with a VL and one with the WK.

 

[Unas the slayer]

With that I very much disagree. He is way better used;

1. With the Blood Knights where he can buff them with Mystic Shield and add a couple of mortal wounds on the charge.
2. With the Dire Wolves or Zombies for a -2 Bravery debuff.
3. With the Grave Guard to use his command ability on them and give them All Out Attack etc. (as they will lack hero support normally because they pop out of Gravesites.
4. On his own as a little cruiser missile with Arcane Bolt and his MW Charge ability to bracket something important.
5. Together with Lauka Vai for even more mortal wounds on the charge and to give her All Out Defense when she fails Undeniable Impulse.
6. As a way to get within range of backline casters such as Warsong Revenants in order to try and unbind spells.

Haha, now I'm convincing myself that maybe he IS the right way to go . Well, I'll just have to run the list twice one with a VL and one with the WK.

Well yes. But a good half of those utilities come from the book, so it's more the advantages granted by the enhancement.
But yes, a wizard WK is certainly more useful.

 

[The Sun King]

To be fair he can still dispel without the book because of Heroic Willpower, but I don't think I'll be fielding a WK without Arcane Tome anytime soon. I did take the 'tax' of Arcane Tome into account when I wrote the above-mentioned pros and cons for the Vampire Lord: "+ Doesn't need Arcane Tome and I can thus pick Extra Spell as my enhancement."

 

[The Sun King]

I'm considering going Vyrkos instead of Legion of Blood in which case I think the list will be something like:

Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords
Lineage: Vyrkos Dynasty
Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery
Triumphs: Indomitable

LEADERS

• Belladamma Volga, First of the Vyrkos (200)* - Lore of the Vampires: Spirit Gale
• Lauka Vai, Mother of Nightmares (285) - Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions
• Vampire Lord (140)* - Artefact: Terminus Clock - Lore of the Vampires: Spirit Gale
• Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (435)* - General - Command Trait: Kin of the Wolf - Deathlance - Artefact: Sangsyron - Mount Trait: Foetid Miasma - Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions

UNITS

• 5 x Blood Knights (195)**
• 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (230)**
• 10 x Dire Wolves (135)
• 20 x Grave Guard (280)** - Great Wight Blades
• 10 x Deathrattle Skeletons (85)*

CORE BATTALIONS
*Warlord
**Hunters of the Heartlands

ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS
Artefact

 

[Rapscallion]

I like your Vyrkos list but I would bring Radukar over the VLoZD. I have found the latter too swingy in the games I have used him in. Radukar brings extra wolves too for screening or objective grabbing.

I wonder about a single unit of Blood Knights. Do you find them useful? They seem swingy also but I have not used them yet.

 

[The Sun King]

Bringing Radukar instead of the VLoZD is a good choice the question then is what to bring with the extra points?

A single unit of Blood Knights is good. They work well in tandem with Lauka Vai (or Vengorian Lord) because her -1 bubble protects them. That team is a strong and fast threat to have on a flank when you want to apply pressure.

 

[Rapscallion]

I will have to try the Blood Knights on the field. I have a unit that I have not put together yet. I am still experimenting with zombie hordes for the moment.