First Attempt at an AoS List

[Vipoid]

So, I'm a little dubious about AoS, but some people in my wargaming club are trying it out and so I thought I might give it another go. I've technically played it before, but that was years ago, before it even had point values.

Anyway, this is what I've come up with:

Grand Host of Nagash
Vampire Lord w/ Wings, Chalice - 140 (Vile Transference, Terrorgheist Mantle)
Vampire Lord w/ Chalice - 140 (Spirit Gale)
Vampire Lord w/ Chalice - 140 (Amaranthine Orb)
Necromancer - 110 (Soul Harvest, General - Master of Death)
Necromancer - 110 (Overwhelming Dread)
30 Grave Guard w/ Shields - 420 (Musician & Banner)
40 Skeletons w/ swords - 280 (Musician & Banner)
40 Skeletons w/ swords - 280 (Musician & Banner)
Corpse Cart w/ Unholy Lodestone - 80
Terrorgheist - 300
2000pts

- I wanted to give the Terrorgheist Mantle a go, but I thought it would be better on a hero that wasn't my general. Anyone know if it's decent? If not, what about the Deathforged Chain?

- I wanted Vile Transferance on my winged vampire, but otherwise I really wasn't sure which spells to choose. I ended up picking Soul Harvest on my General simply because I'm using a model with a scythe (unless things go badly wrong, he probably won't be casting it very often ). So, yeah, I really have no idea which spells are the most useful (and whether I should pick multiples of the same spell or try for some variety), so any help here would be appreciated.

- I thought a backline general might be better (hence my choosing a Necromancer instead of a Vampire Lord), anyone know if this is a wise strategy or not? They don't have a command ability, so does that make them a poor choice for this role?

In terms of strategy, I'd planned to advance the blocks of Grave Guard and Skeletons in front. The Corpse Cart would go behind, ideally close enough to give a couple of them the benefit of its aura. My casters will hopefully all be close enough to gain the benefits of its Lodestone. The Terrorgheist will go wherever it's needed. My casters will all stay back initially, concentrating on supporting the rank&file with spells and hopefully wearing down the enemy. The winged vampire will mostly attempt to contribute at range, using his Terrorgheist Shriek from behind ranks of skeletons or grave guard, along with Vile Transference (which might help heal up the Terrorgheist). Once the enemy has been softened up, the non-winged vampires will join the action, probably against whatever enemies are giving my infantry the most trouble. I'll try to avoid losing them, since they're useful support pieces, but I'm willing to sacrifice one or even both if I think it's worth it.

Anyway, I've got basically no experience with Age of Sigmar, so any advice would be most welcome.

 

[Unas the slayer]

Here's some food for thought.

leaving aside you TG, the army is dramatically slow. This means you have almost no way to deal with opponent's shooting and you won't be the one that dictates charges.
Basically, you will have to march upon the objectives and sit there, leaving the initiative to the enemy.
The good point is that with the gravesites, FIVE heroes and the additional healing granted by the Host, you should be able to replenish the losses.

However, it's highly probable that your opponent will be able to focus almost all of its power upon a single target of those 3 blobs... shooting then charge.
For this reason, i would think to something to protect you in some way. Spirit gale is too much random for its real usefulness (you need a double for the nice effect), so imo it's better to equip a VL with Soulpike, and let them think twice before charging you. And for Necromancers, skip Soul Harvest.... fading vigour will serve you better for the aforementioned reasons (reduce the % of successful charges and weakens the attacker)
with 2 spells agains charges, you will cover enough battlefield to have one of them at disposal.

Regarding the General, a necromancer works. Keep in mind that, with the 2nd edition, you need command points to activate command abilities and you can use them even if the hero is not the general.
(you start with a command point, plus 1 for each battalion, then you gain a cp each turn)

 

[Vipoid]

Thanks, that's a lot of help. I'll make those spell swaps.

Looking at my collection, I fear I don't have much to have in the way of mobility. Aside from the Terrorgheist, all I have are:
- A Varghulf (which doesn't seem to be usable anymore)
- 10 Dire Wolves
- Some Bat Swarms


For some reason cavalry never appealed to me, so I don't own any Black Knights, Blood Knights, or Hexwraiths.

 

[Unas the slayer]

OK, Dire Wolves are insanely good. They are easily amongst the best battleline units in all AoS.
For 60 points you have a unit of 5 wolves with 10 wounds, save 5+, move 10, a passable combat prowess and are summonable. They can run for distant objectives, hunt weak units that want to do the same, and the opponent must choose to ignore them or invest more resources than those 60 points, to deal with them. And he must destroy them, or they will be healed in zero time.

And I wouldn't discard Bat Swarms… not only they are a fast and relatively cheap unit (again, 80 pts for 10 flying wounds), but they are summonable and impose that sweet, sweet -1 to hit in a 12" range. So good when you face a shooting army and you field blocks of slow skellies…

 

[Vipoid]

Oh, wow. I had no idea wolves and bats were that good.

Would it be worth dropping one of my Vampire Lords to run a minimum unit of each of them?

 

[Unas the slayer]

mmm.... i like the idea of the 3 VL each one with a large unit of skellies and a couple of necromancers for 5d3 healing power.
what about not using the 30 Grave Guards, and insert a third block of 40 skellies?
you would have basically the same list but also a unit of bats and wolves

 

[Vipoid]

I don't think I've got enough skeleton models for another block of 40.

I could see if my group will let me proxy the GG as skeletons.

Oh, while I think about it, is there a 'best' weapon for Skeletons or Grave Guard?

 

[Unas the slayer]

Oh, while I think about it, is there a 'best' weapon for Skeletons or Grave Guard?

GG: Great Blade wins. To trade a +1 to wound with a +1 to saves would be fair trade if that +1 to save wasn't tied to weapons with rend -. In this way, you lose something to gain a situational bonus.

Skellies: despite having my skellies equipped with spears, i tend to favor blades toward spears. yeah, the additional inch is useful because you can fight also with the third row, but again, it's situational even when you're fielding your 40 horde. Plus, the new rules for pile-in now make easier to surround your enemy, so it's another point in favor of blades.
You really need some best case scenario for spears to win over blades, especially if you still use the old square bases (you can fight with more models, so blades is the way to go)