OBSOLETE
Handbook: Soulblight Gravelords
by
The Sun King
Handbook: Soulblight Gravelords
by
The Sun King
Introduction
This handbook is a subjective assessment of the Soulblight Gravelords faction, meant to help newcomers to the game. As we become more familiar with Age of Sigmar 3.0 the handbook will change accordingly. The ratings are subjective and should only be used as a rule of thumb. Age of Sigmar is no exact science and opinions will therefore differ – not even our collective wisdom can deduce an ultimate truth. However, this handbook should offer insights into the intricacies of the Soulblight Gravelords. The ratings and comments are based on uncomped competitive play at around 2000 points. Thanks to Unas the slayer and Sception for giving input to the first draft of this handbook.
And as always remember the golden rule: Wargaming is supposed to be fun. This handbook is not trying to dictate that competitive play is the only, or even the right, way of playing.
Rating scale
No unit exists in a vacuum and the ratings should reflect that. Thus the ratings are given based on how effectively the unit accomplishes its role in the army. However, all army lists are different so the analysis of each unit will be based on a very general perspective and common assumptions (e.g. fast and cheap units are used as screens etc.).
✪✩✩✩✩ is unusable. This rating is reserved for the real stinkers. Picking this can only make your list worse.
✪✪✩✩✩ is situational. You need to have a specific purpose in mind if you pick this. Without a plan for the selection you will make your list worse by picking this.
✪✪✪✩✩ is decent. These are balanced selections but are not a must have either.
✪✪✪✪✩ is good. Most lists benefit from this selection and you should definitely consider it.
✪✪✪✪✪ is amazing. This rating is reserved for the best our book has to offer.
- 03.11.2022 - Zombies, Skeletons, Zombie Dragons, Terrorgheists, Neferata, Wight King (also on steed) and Bloodseeker Palanquin have all gotten their new points included in their respective entries. The Battlescroll 2022 can be found here.
- 02.10.2022 - Added a correction to Spirit Gale.
- 18.08.2022 - Added entry on the new hero Cado Ezechiar.
- 13.07.2022 - Added some information regarding the use of some units in the newest season: Black Knights, Blood Knights, Fell Bats and Vargheists. Reevaluated Torgillius after his drop to 100 points. Redid the Vampire Lord entry. Added that the Wight King can use Invigorating Aura if it carries the Arcane Tome. Exchanged the old seasonal spell with the new Gaze of Ghur.
- 19.04.2022 - Added a point about running zombies. Added a point about the Vampire Lord’s mobility. Added a note about how Crimson Feast can stack. Corrected some small typos. Bumped Amysthine Pinions to 4 stars. Rewrote the Standard of Ulfenwatch and reworded the last sentence of the Cloak of the Night Prowler. Added a point about Vile Transference being good against Megagargants.
- 20.02.2022 - Removed the section on Universal Command Traits as we cannot pick any of them. Corrected some wording of Kritza’s entry. Added tactical considerations to Lauka Vai and the Vengorian Lord. Added some tidbits to the Wight King on Skeletal Steed. Corrected Swift Form, Vilnas’ Fang, Unhinged Rampager, and Blades of Shyish.
- 16.02.2022 - Added an explanation to Deadwalker Zombies about the usefulness of 6” pile in. Changed Blood Knights’ rating from 5 to 4. Added to the Grave Guard entry that they are a really slow unit. Added a point about limiting Redeploy with Lycancurse to Belladamma’s entry. Rewrote the second half of Lauka Vai’s entry.
- 29.12.2021 - Added some strategic considerations to the entries on the Wight King on Skeletal Steed and the Mortis Engine. Also added the seasonal spell Metamorphosis.
- 27.12.2021 - Added the Spells section and Universal Command Traits as well as Universal Artefacts.
- 26.12.2021 - Updated (with minor changes and new ratings) the entries of Corpse Cart, Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon, Zombie Dragon, Terrorgheist, Shard of Night, Pack Alpha, Kin of the Wolf, Spoor Trackers, Terminus Clock and Maddening Hunger.
- 23.12.2021 - Added a new section on Subfactions and updated the entries of Lady Annika, Torgillius, Watch Captain Halgrim and Nagash.
- 21.12.2021 - Fixed some typos, removed all recommendations for picking Amulet of Destiny as it is obsolete for us now, updated the section on Black Knights (now they are cheap!), Blood Knights, Corpse Cart, Necromancer and Vampire Lord.
- 15.11.2021 - Fixed some typos, added an introduction to the rating scale and updated the entries of Deathrattle Skeletons, Dire Wolves, Black Knights, Fell Bats, Grave Guard, Belladamma, Gorslav and Radukar the Beast.
Units
Battleline
A great tarpit with a mortal bite. Zombies have never been good at fighting but that changed with our new book as they gained the ability to cause mortal wounds on 6s, which is amazing. After going up in price recently they clock in at 6 points per wound and thus are the cheapest unit in our faction in that regard. They have no armour so will rely on Deathless Minions and healing to stick around. However, for each wound they cause in combat they get a zombie added to the unit on a 2+. So they don’t even need healing from external sources, they can keep themselves alive. Remember that this ability can bring them above their starting unit size (which was clarified in this FAQ). As a battleline unit you can double reinforce Zombies thus getting them to a massive 60 bodies. More often than not 40 is more than enough for an adequate tarpit, but there is something great about watching your opponent’s despair when you slap 60 zombies on an objective. Zombies are quite slow so don’t expect them to get from one end of the table to the other. However, Deadwalker Zombies can be sneakily fast when they need to be. The 6” pile in is an amazing ability and it will often surprise your opponent. Because of the 6” pile in you often don’t have to charge your zombies, but you can simply spend a command point to auto run them 6” - this combined with their normal 4” move and the extra pile in gives them a constant 16” threat range. Which is just astonishing and will take most opponents off guard. The only time you should charge your zombies instead of running them is if you have to make a really long charge and have access to rerolls for the charge roll. Keep them in your territory to guard objectives and flanks or move them to the centre of the table to gain board control. Also remember that you can keep them in reserve and spawn them from gravesites. Zombies combo well with the Necromancer’s Vanhel’s Danse Macabre spell as they can exploit their extra long pile in move twice. The Vampire Lord’s command ability Crimson Feast is also a very threatening synergy with the Zombies as you’ll get a tonne of extra attacks to land those sweet mortal wounds on 6’s. Gorslav the Gravekeeper is another great combo-piece with Zombies as he can bring a destroyed unit back at half strength with his command ability. If you field Zombies as a unit of 20 they are cheap and expendable backliners. If you field them as 40 or 60 they become a formidable tarpit with the ability to dish out good amounts of mortal wounds. Remember to keep Inspiring Presence in hand when you have a round where you know that your Zombies will take massive casualties. Zombies are extremely cheap, have great staying power, bravery 10 and can even cause mortal wounds - what more can we ask for?
Skeletons are the fighting core of the Soublight armies - they are not great warriors but they are not useless either. They have gone down in price so they are now at 8 points per wound - which is moderately priced but they need some help in order to shine (such as the Vyrkos dynasty bonus). It is worth noting that skellies are the cheapest battleline unit when taken at minimum size. However a unit of 10 is not a threat to anything and are therefore best used holding safe objectives or as a screening unit. Skeleton Legion is an interesting rule as it encourages you to activate your unit after they have suffered casualties. This also incentivises you to take them in bigger units, as they need some bodies to soak up the incoming attacks. Skeleton Legion is also really good in combination with Vanhel’s Danse Macabre as it lets the Skellies resurrect twice in the same phase. Wight Kings can use their command ability to give skeletons rerolls on 1s to hit, but this is a minor buff when compared to the Vampire Lord’s Crimson Feast. It is worth noting that one advantage that skeletons have over zombies is that they have a unit champion so they can issue commands to themselves. All in all the Deathrattle Skeletons are a decent unit but compared with our other Battleline choices they fall a bit short.
Dire Wolves have great mobility and are durable because of their 5+ save, 2 wounds per model and Deathless Minions. They are even decent fighters on the charge. Normally a cheap and fast cavalry unit would be squishy and have bad bravery… Dire Wolves do not care for “normal” however and at 6.75 points per wound they are a real bargain. Don’t expect them to do great in combat, but they can hold off most enemy flankers. Their only real drawback is their large footprint - you’ll find that a unit of 10 wolves will take up quite a lot of space. This can be turned into an advantage since it also means that they are good at zoning out enemy units and screening off units or objectives that you need to protect. The base size is also the reason why you would often not field more than 10 in a single unit, since the doggos only have 1" reach. One exception to this is if you run them with Belladamma and a general with Spoor Trackers - then you can throw 30 wolves 19" up the board, turn one and pile in 6" with Belladamma's Command Ability. Don't forget that Dire Wolves are Deadwalkers (more like deadrunners) and therefore debuffs enemy bravery. Dire Wolves excel at grabbing objectives outside your own territory and stopping enemy flankers. With their good movement they can also quickly reroute and help out in a combat where you have become outnumbered.
Other
The 2021 Winter Battlescroll has changed Black Knights’ price tag from 120 to 100, which was really needed. Black Knights compete with Dire Wolves for our cheap cavalry slot. They cost a bit more than the wolves (per wound) but also offer a bit more as they have more attacks per model (which is good given their base size) and cause mortal wounds (at least 80% of the time) on charges. If you pick the Legion of Blood dynasty they gain two important buffs and then the Black Knights are a bit better. First off they become battleline, which makes them more appealing as they can thus replace Dire Wolves in that regard. Secondly the Favoured Retainer’s allegiance ability makes it so that the Black Knights cannot suffer debuffs to their attacks if they are within 12” of a Vampire (18” for the General) which is good stuff, albeit somewhat circumstantial. Don’t forget that Black Knights are summonable and deathrattle which means you can get them back through gravesites should they die. They can also be healed by Invigorating Aura which is one point in their favour compared to Blood Knights. They are an ok pick if you need a fast screen for your important units. One small benefit they have over our Dire Wolves is that they are only 5 and thus easier to keep in coherency. They can also be used to draw out Unleash Hell if you charge with them before you charge with your more important units. A further note is that with the current season where having non-Galletian Veterans can be quite important Black Knights are even more interesting in Legion of Blood.
Blood Knights are fast and hit hard. At 13 points per wound they are quite cheap for what they bring to the table. They hit hard with a baseline of 1.23 wounds per model (against 4+ saves) and 2.09 on the charge. With a 3+ save, 6+ ward, 3 wounds and The Hunger a Blood Knight is a tough model to bring down. Riders of Ruin gives them the ability to make normal moves even in combat, so they do not have to retreat. On top of that they even cause mortal wounds when they ride through other units. Absolute insanity. If you want to go full on with Blood Knights you can get them as Battleline if you choose the Kastelai dynasty. Given that building a list completely without Galletian Veterans in it can have some merit to it (because you deny specific battle tactics and mission rules from your opponent) a Kastelai list chock full of Blood Knights seems even more appealing in the current season.
The cart has some nice abilities but its big drawbacks are the slow movement and the fact that it has only 6 wounds and almost no protection. However, at only 80 points your opponent wastes their time if they focus on killing the cart. You have two options with the Corpse Cart: You can either choose the Balefire Brazier or the Unholy Lodestone and both are decent. The brazier debuffs enemy casting and nearby wound rolls, so if you are going up against a magic heavy army this should be your choice. The Unholy Lodestone buffs your own wizards and zombies so if you want to go a magic heavy route this is the best choice. The Corpsecart will tend to be placed centrally behind zombies to get the most out of its limited range on its buffs and debuffs. The +1 save is only for Deadwalker Zombies so the Corpsecart does not benefit from this itself. If this is the case consider picking a Necromancer as well that can benefit from the +1 to cast. All in all it is too slow and squishy to be an outstanding unit but it does have its uses.
Fell Bats are an extremely fast and small unit that is amazing at grabbing neglected objectives and achieving battle tactics (like Ferocious Advance, Aggressive Expansion and Savage Spearhead). They can also function as a screen for your other units or draw out Unleash Hell when needed. They do die really fast though so do not expect them to do well in combat. The fact that Fell Bats aren’t a battleline unit is both a pro and a con. The good thing about it is that the opponent can’t target them to get the battle tactic Broken Ranks. The bad thing about it is that it means they compete with our cheap and fast battleline wolves. Note that they are summonable so they can be put in reserve and you can heal them with Invocation - however you cannot get them back with Endless Legions as they are not Deathrattle or Deadwalker. At only 8.33 points per wound they are a great and cheap utility unit in your toolbox. Having access to a fast screening unit that is non-Galletian Veterans is quite strong in the current season, so give these bat boys another gander.
Grave Guards are very expensive at 14 points per wound and not very durable so this is the type of unit you want to activate before your opponent gets to swing at them. In other words they are a glass cannon. With that said they do bring the hurt in combat with mortal wounds on 6s when you roll to wound. If you want them to hit even harder, give them Great Wight Blades for damage 2. If you want them to hold the line a little better then give them shields for the 4+ save. A Grave Guard with a Great Wight Blade causes 1.03 wounds on average against an enemy unit with a 4+ save. The same equation for a shielded Grave Guard comes out at 0.74 wounds on average. If you have a Wight King as your General the Grave Guard becomes a battleline unit which is nice because then you can reinforce them twice and get them to 30 models in a unit. Another good thing about Grave Guard is that they are an optimal target for Deathly Invocation and Invigorating Aura as they are the most elite unit that is also summonable. The fact that Grave Guard can come back with Endless Legions should they be destroyed somewhat mitigates their fragility. And getting back 10 or 15 GG in the backfield of your opponent's territory can really screw up their game plan. The musician's ability is also not to be understated as consistent charges are very important for a unit like this. They are our most reliable source of mortal wounds and are a great target for Crimson Feast, All-out Attack, Vanhel's Danse Macabre and Belladamma’s spell Under a Killing Moon. All in all Grave Guard hit quite hard but are expensive really slow so use them as glass cannons and exploit the fact that you can keep them in reserve and summon them later from a Gravesite.
It is quite clear that this unit is not meant to be taken without Radukar the Wolf. They are quite pricey and are basically a mini Grave Guard unit. They could be fine for holding an objective on your backline, but we have better options for that (like 10 skellies). The 5+ ward save is great though especially on models with 4 wounds. The best option for these zombie ogres is probably to take them reinforced and use them as an anvil.
What a weird unit. They have a very mixed damage profile but all in all they are on par with a unit of 10 Deathrattle Skeletons in damage output. Their ability to get d3 models back in each hero phase is nice, but given how bad their saves are it is not likely to help much. They are only 5 points cheaper than 10 Deathrattle Skeletons and are way easier to kill. The re-rolls for charges are an off beat bonus that doesn’t synergize with much. All in all this unit is too expensive and slow to be good chaff, just take 10 battleline skeletons instead.
Vargheists have a similar damage profile as Blood Knights and cost the same per wound. However, they are far less survivable. Their best use is probably to use their Death’s Descent ability and keep them in reserve. When the opponent opens a hole in their backline you can swoop down and cause havoc. Due to their short range on their attacks they are not good in bigger units because it is hard to keep coherency and make sure your models can attack. It is worth noting that Legion of Night gets Vargheists as Battleline. Think of Vargheists as the bigger and scarier version of Fell Bats who are actually capable of killing something once in a while. However, don’t expect them to do wonders with their 10 attacks, instead aim for the weak prey and capitalise on their good movement. Another way to field non-Galletian Veterans as your Battleline is to go with Legion of Night and fill out your roster with Vargheists. It is not necessarily a strong build but interesting nonetheless.
Why is this not a monster!? Right, I had to get that off my chest. The Vargskyr is not cheap at 14.37 points per wound but it has decent saves and damage profile. The most unique thing about the Vargskyr is that it can charge up to 18” instead of the usual 12”, a rule your opponent is sure to forget from time to time. The Vargskyr is an obvious candidate to go hunt for smaller units holding objectives or as a combat support unit that can lend a bit of punch.
The Blood-born do more or less the same as Vargheists, just a bit worse and a bit more expensive (per wound). They have 2” less movement, do not have fly or the ability to deepstrike. Their damage profile is more or less the same but lacks the explosive 6s. The only real reason to pick these are if you’re 30 points short for your Vargheists.
Leaders
With Belladamma you get a lot of magic for your buck: She has +1 to casting and unbinding, can cast two spells and unbind two spells and she also benefits from the Vyrkos’ ability that lets you reroll casting rolls if you run that dynasty. To ensure that she doesn’t get killed, keep a unit of Dire Wolves close that she can transfer wounds to. With her 10” move she can keep up with the Dire Wolves and move around the battlefield where she is needed. She is no powerhouse in close combat so keep her safe for as long as you can and use her magic instead. As a unique unit she doesn’t have access to Universal Spells but she should have enough options in her warscroll spells and Lore of Vampires. Her spell Lycancurse is basically Arcane Bolt on steroids and the additional wolves can definitely screw with your opponent’s game plan such as denying Unleash Hell and Redeploy. The usefulness of this spell cannot be emphasised enough. Her command ability is very circumstantial but has it's uses when you need to get your Dire Wolves quickly into the face of something. All in all she is a very strong choice but remember to bring some doggos if you pick Belladamma.
Cado is an insane bargain - for 5 points less than a normal Vampire Lord you get an extra wound, a markedly better attack profile, a very strong and versatile spell and The Court of the Lost which is an amazing ability that does a plethora of useful things: Need a strong caster? Got it. Need speed? Got it. Need damage output? Got it. Frankly it boggles my mind that Cado is so cheap and there are very few reasons to pick a Vampire Lord over him. However, just to nuance the picture a bit you do lose out on the good Crimson Feast command ability and you cannot give Cado any items as he is a Unique character.
Gorslav is cheap (and also the first Zombie hero ever!). A very good choice for most armies as he is the cheapest leader we can get our hands on. However, to really make him shine let him lead a unit of 40+ zombies. Then he becomes really tanky because of his ability: Keeper of the Corpse-Gardens and he adds some offensive output to the zombie unit. If your zombie unit gets destroyed he can also bring them back with his command ability. Dire Wolves are also Deadwalkers which means they can benefit from Gorslav's Arise! Arise! ability and he can pass wounds to them. As a Deadwalker he also debuffs bravery which stacks nicely if he is close to his zombies. So if you have a few points to spare in your list consider bringing Gorslav and his menacing shovel.
Kritza is cheap, a decent fighter and really hard to kill. He is basically a Vampire Lord that you get on a discount because he doesn’t have spells or a warscroll command ability. With -1 to hit for enemies in close combat with him and the ability to come back on 4+ every time he dies he is truly a thorn in the opponent’s side. He is a good choice if you want to add some punch to your footslogging units.
Lady Annika has the standard Vampire Lord statline but trades the ability to cast spells and Crimson Feast for an improved version of the hunger and a 4+ ward save. She is also a bit cheaper than a normal Vampire Lord. She is very much like Kritza but is a bit more reliable but also a bit more expensive. The fact that she cannot cast spells and doesn’t have Crimson Feast is a major deterrent though. Add to that that she is locked into the Vyrkos dynasty and doesn’t have access to enhancements and it just doesn’t seem like she is worth the points.
Lauka Vai is almost the same as a generic Vengorian Lord. She costs 5 points more and has a wound more. The biggest difference is that Lauka Vai has a pretty brutal charge ability that can cause a solid amount of mortal wounds. This ability is good, and a considerable upgrade over the vanilla Vengorian Lord. As with the Vengorian Lord, her -1 rend bubble is really strong and good to keep your other units alive. The debuff aura combines well with Blood Knights for example making sure that you can rely on their strong saves. Her innate spell is a good option if Lauka Vai is ever caught out of position and doesn't want to get charged or when you want to stop the opponent from charging against your defensive position. Her command ability is quite circumstantial but can be decent if you have multiple monsters and don’t want to use All Out Attack on them. In addition to this, she is a Unique character which means that you cannot use normal artefacts of power. All in all she is a strong choice that you should consider taking over the Vengorian Lord if you are not planning on giving it artefacts or command traits.
It doesn’t get more solid than this when it comes to casters. Keep a bunch of zombies or dire Wolves close by and the Necromancer rarely goes down due to his Undead Minions ability. Vanhel’s Danse Macabre is a great spell in general but even better when used on Zombies as they have extra pile in range and attacking twice can really bring the hurt in the form of mortal wounds. Another really good target for Vanhel's Danse Macabre is Deathrattle Skeletons as they get to resurrect twice. The Necromancer is reasonably priced and has access to Lore of Deathmages (as the only generic character) in addition to the spells on his warscroll. It is worth noting that he does next to nothing in combat and is very hard to keep alive if you do not bring zombies to accompany him.
P Diddy and homeboys are a weird bunch. You can only take them if you bring both of the units, but in game terms they operate as completely different units with the Prince being his own unit and the Court being a single unit of 3 models. Duvalle is basically a Vampire Lord that has swapped the command ability for a decent buff spell. So on his own he would probably cost around 140 like the Vampire Lord, which means that for the 60 points extra you get The Crimson Court - and the question really is, are they worth it? Probably they are. Seen together the Court has a decent damage output (average 2.08 wounds against 4+ saves) and 4 wounds with a good save. They cannot benefit much from The Hunger as only Gorath has more than one wound. Their movement is good as well. You’ll always want Gorath to be the last model to die as he is half of the units damage output in himself and he has two wounds. The biggest drawback with the court is that they die quickly if your opponent puts any effort in. However, they are quite cheap so it is not the end of the world should they die. So when should you take P Diddy and his backup dancers? Probably when you want a Vampire Lord (and don’t need Crimson Feast) but have 60 points to spare.
Radukar the Beast packs a punch - on average he dishes out 8.32 wounds against enemies with a save of 4+. Being the beast that he is he cannot use magic but instead has a once per game command ability where he summons a unit of 10 Dire Wolves - which is no small thing as it is basically a 135 points discount of Radukar. The summoned Dire Wolves also synergize with his other command ability that triggers on his charge and buffs nearby friendly units. He doesn’t have the best saves but with 12 wounds and -1 to hit him in close combat he can tank a lot and The Hunger and Heroic Recovery will help him heal up. Even though he has 12 wounds he doesn't bracket which combined with his healing capabilities means that your opponent has to kill him completely to avoid trouble. All in all he is a really cheap deal that has good mobility, great command abilities and is a menace in melee.
Radukar the Wolf has a similar profile to the Vampire Lord but costs 10 points more. On his own he is worse than a Vampire Lord as he cannot gain any enhancements and his command ability isn’t as good as the one the vanilla vampire has. He does go up in value if you bring some Korsagi Nightguard and Torgillius… but those units aren’t really exciting either so it probably isn’t worth it.
Torgillius is the right hand of Radukar and as such he can provide extra command points if he is close to Radukar the Wolf (not the Beast). This is nifty, but not the reason you should bring him. He has access to Lore of Deathmages in addition to the spells on his warscroll. Necrotising Bolt is a solid debuff. Unlike the Necromancer Torgillius doesn’t need a bodyguard of zombies as he has a built in 4+ ward save. His attacks are not worth mentioning, but he is a decent wizard. Torgillius is mediocre on his own but a solid choice if you bring Radukar the Wolf. However, with the Summer 2022 Battlescroll he got dropped to only 100 points which makes him really cheap and has thus gone considerably up in value - if you are not fielding big blocks of Zombies then Torgillius is our prime pick for a cheap wizard.
The Vampire Lord is our bread and butter leader. It does a decent job at everything (except for staying alive). With 6" movement and Fly it is faster than most footslogging heroes - which is good because it makes it easier to reposition if you need support elsewhere. In close combat it dishes out 2.29 wounds on average against enemies with a 4+ save, which is not bad but not impressive either. For defence the Vampire Lord has to rely on its 3+ save, 6+ ward and The Hunger rule. However, with only 5 wounds it does die rather quickly to any focused effort by your opponent. The Vampire Lord does more than swing its sword around though. It can cast 1 spell and unbind 1 spell and has access to the Lore of Vampires. It does not have a unique spell on its warscroll but you should have plenty of options with the Universal Spells and the Lore of Vampires combined. The place where the Vampire Lord really shines is in its command ability Crimson Feast. With it you can pick a summonable unit (Black Knights, Fell Bats, Grave Guard, Deadwalker Zombies, Deathrattle Skeletons and Dire Wolves) which gains an extra attack until your next hero phase. This is one of the best command abilities in our faction and it is almost worth the points of the Vampire Lord in itself. A thing to keep in mind with Crimson Feast is that it lasts until your next hero phase which means that if you go first and the opponent then double turns you - you have 3 combat phases where the Crimson Feast will be in effect. It also means that you can stack it with itself as you can use this command ability in your opponent's turn as well. The new allegiance battle trait (from White Dwarf) that makes our heroes activate a summonable unit whenever they attack is a good buff to the Vampire Lord as it is a melee support hero.
The Vengorian Lord is literally a Vampire Lord on steroids (or at least the AoS equivalent). With 10 wounds and a 3+ save that ignores -1 rend it is no easy task to bring it down. Aura of Dark Majesty (Legion of Blood) or Monstrous Might (Avengorii) and you have a leader that is as hard as a rock. Vengorian Lord has a -1 rend bubble which is really strong and good at keeping your other units alive. The debuff aura combines well with Blood Knights for example making sure that you can rely on their strong saves. The Vengorian Lord has plenty of options when it comes to healing back up: The Hunger, Heroic Recovery, Festering Feast (command ability) and Vile Transference (Lore of Vampires). The fact that the Vengorian Lord is a monster (but not behemoth) is amazing - now you have both heroic actions and monstrous rampage but cannot be bracketed. If the Vengorian Lord is your only monster in your list then making it your general is really good because you make sure that the opponent can ever only get Bring It Down or Slay the Warlord - never both. In close combat the Vengorian Lord causes 5 wounds on average against enemies with a 4+ save which is decent but not amazing. For extra punch you can use Finest Hour, Stomp or Titanic Duel when necessary. The Vengorian Lord is a decent caster and can either go on the offence with Arcane Bolt or Clotted Deluge or buff its already considerable save with Mystic Shield. The only minor drawbacks are the fact that it can have a hard time beating big things in combat and Undeniable Impulse.
Yet another named character from the Cursed City set. Just like most of the other Ulfenkarn characters Halgrim is unexciting. He is mediocre in every sense of the word.
The Wight King is similar to the Vampire Lord except it is cheaper and lacks magic and good movement. The biggest reason to bring the Wight King is to get the Grave Guard as battleline units. His command ability is nowhere near as powerful as the Vampire Lord’s but it does buff the Deathrattle units that you are sure to bring because of him. In the Battlescroll 2022 the Wight King was dropped down to 90 points which makes him way more viable.
This fellow is markedly better than his footslogging counterpart. For only 20 points more you gain great movement, 2 additional wounds and the chance to cause mortal wounds on charges. The last part is quite relevant as the Wight King can either hunt down smaller units on his own or support in an important combat where you need to bring something big down. Remember that as a Deathrattle unit the Wight King debuffs enemy bravery which stacks with other Deathrattle or Deadwalker units. The universal artefact Arcane Tome is a great option for the mounted Wight King as you get a cheap, durable and very mobile caster - and if you bring this the Wight King is probably a four star unit. With Arcane Tome you can use the WK to support your Grave Guard with Mystic Shield and Invigorating Aura and the speed of the Wight ensures that it can get to the Grave Guard if you pop them out of Gravesites. Using the command ability (although not as good as Crimson Feast) on the Grave Guard is also a good strategy. If you use the tome then the WK can be a cruiser missile causing mortal wounds with Arcane Bolt and his charge ability. This is great for bracketing enemy monsters before combat. If your Wight King is the General then he turns Grave Guard into battleline units which is really good.
Leaders, Behemoth
The Bloodseeker Palanquin is a good source to both ranged and melee mortal wounds. In Battlescroll 2022 the Palanquin went down to 250 points which makes it a bit more viable. It has a good damage output but is quite easy to bring down due to its mediocre save and lack of The Hunger. The mobility of the Palanquin is good and you can easily track down whatever prey you need to cause mortal wounds to. Remember that this unit also has access to the Lore of Vampires.
The Coven Throne is fast and hits quite hard. It is not as survivable as some of our other hero options but The Hunger and Shudder makes it pretty sturdy. The Coven Throne has an amazing command ability that buffs offence and defence of a unit within 12”. On top of that it is also a fine caster with access to the good unique spell Shudder that can shut down an enemy in combat. All in all a good unit although a bit overlooked.
Mannfred is built for support: His Sword of Unholy Power and command ability both buff nearby units and if the combat gets too risky for him to stick around he can easily teleport to safety. He is decent in close combat and with 12 wounds, 3+ save, The Hunger and Armour of Templehof he is very survivable, especially because of aforementioned teleport ability. He can cast two spells and unbind two spells and has access to Lore of Vampires AND Deathmages, which is quite the selection. His warscroll spell Wind of Death is also quite strong.
Nagash is by far the strongest unit we can deploy, but he also costs close to 1000 points. He is basically good at everything. He is quite hard to kill with 16 wounds 3+ save and 4+ ward (only against mortal wounds). He doesn’t mess around in combat either with a pretty impressive attack profile. But where he really shines is the fact that he is probably the best wizard in the game across all armies. He can cast and unbind an insane number of spells and has huge bonuses to his casting attempts. Oh yeah, and he can cast Arcane Bolt multiple times. You can also be damn sure that your opponent will keep their big important characters a long way from Nagash as he can slay them outright with Hand of Dust if they are within 3”. He knows all spells from the Lore of Vampires and Lore of Deathmages. The combination of Supreme Lord of the Undead and Invocation of Nagash gives your army really strong resurrection capabilities and the opponent has to deal with him if they want to stop your troops from getting back up. Nagash is a very strong unit but he is also extremely expensive.
Neffy is quick, tough and a good wizard - and she is reasonably priced to boot. Her Dagger of Jet makes her a threat to all heroes and her Mortarch of Blood ability heals her d6 wounds whenever she kills something, so she is hard to bring down. She has access to Mystic Shield, Arcane Bolt, Dark Mist, the Lore of Vampires and Lore of Deathmages - quite the arsenal! Dark Mist is a nifty protective spell that will keep your units alive in the face of high rend. Her crowning jewel is her command ability Twilight's Allure. It creates a protective 12” bubble of -1 to hit in melee against Neffy and her friends. Good stuff. On top of this she also has monstrous rampage which is icing on the cake. The fact that she got 20 points cheaper with the Battlescroll 2022 only makes her that more appealing. All this put together makes Neferata a tough nut to crack and with her amazing movement she can zip across the battlefield and apply pressure where needed.
This dude is the real deal. Vhordrai is expensive but he is worth every penny. With 14 wounds and a 3+ save he is quite tough to bring down, especially because of The Hunger and Chalice of Blood. You don’t have to play Kastelai to bring him, but if you do he benefits from the allegiance abilities making him even more of a beast in combat. He doesn’t even need to use Finest Hour or All Out Attack because he can buff himself with his spell Quickblood (quite odd that they turned the old bloodline trait into a spell though). He gets heroic actions, command abilities, monstrous rampage, can cast spells, is amazing in close combat, has great movement and is hard to kill… Surely that is all that he can do? No, sir! He also has a very frightening shooting attack. Just for the fun of it I'll mention that he averages around 21 wounds on the charge with Finest Hour and All-out Attack. This guy does it all - and then some. If you have the points for it then bring him.
With 14 wounds, a 3+ save, 6+ ward and The Hunger this bad boy is tough as nails. The VLoZD is no joke in combat either (especially if you give it Flaming Weapon). Unless you have an ability that triggers more often with many attacks you should pick the Deathlance for the Vampire Lord as it is brutal on the charge. With the new Mount Traits from White Dwarf you also get to choose between rerolling Damage for Pestilential Breath or +1 to Deathly Invocation (pick the breath). With Fly and 14" movement this unit is highly mobile and can enforce your army where it is needed. The model has a huge 130mm base so it can be hard to fit it between terrain pieces. However, the big base is also a boon for all your ranged based abilities (like Command abilities) and effects (like auras) as it vastly increases the area you can affect. If you are running a Kastelai list you will probably pick Vhordrai and not this, so let’s look at what the other dynasties offer: With Legion of Blood you can give the VLoZD Aura of Dark Majesty to make it even harder to kill and Unparalleled Expertise for more attacks. If you go with Avengorii you can pick Eye for an Eye to make it more deadly in combat and in combination with the Cursed Mutation Maddening Hunger the VLoZD is really hard to bring down. If you pick Vyrkos as your subfaction you can go a more magic heavy route and exploit the rerolls for casting you get from The Strength of the Wolf is the Pack. In that case you should pick a Lore of Vampires spell to combo the rerolls with Locus of Shyish. In general there are many ways you can buff your Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon and it all depends on your playstyle. This unit is pricey but worth it because it is tanky, killy and mobile. Don’t forget to use your Monstrous Rampage to either shut down enemy command abilities or cause extra damage in close combat. The biggest downside with this unit is that it is a case of all eggs in one basket - but the pure toughness of the VLoZD makes it a less risky gamble.
Behemoths
The Mortis Engine is similar to the Bloodseeker Palanquin but is quite a lot cheaper (even more after the Winter 2021 Battlescroll) and is not a hero. The Mortis Engine thrives in the midst of enemy lines where it can cause the most mortal wounds with its wail and reliquary. It is especially good against multiple small units - a type of army that there is plenty of in AoS 3.0. However, don’t count on it sticking around forever since it is quite easy to bring down - and the opponent will try to do this as having it roaming around will wither their army round after round.
The Zombie Dragon is a solid monster with a good ranged attack. It is expensive but not too overpriced (it now costs 275 points) and has amazing movement. A weakness that the dragon shares with the Terrorgheist is that it cannot heal (except for Maddening Hunger). The good news with the Zombie Dragon is that it doesn’t deteriorate that much when it starts taking wounds (except for its movement). The Pestilential Breath is a really hard-hitting ranged attack that can threaten big blocks of units and heroes alike. The Zombie Dragon is a good choice in Avengorii since it becomes a battleline unit, but equally as important it gains access to the mutation Maddening Hunger. This mutation is the dog’s bollocks - it slays (no roll required) a single 1 wound model within 3” of the dragon in each combat phase, and on top of that the dragon heals 1 wound (read more about this mutation in the Avengorii section). The monster keyword is important in AoS 3.0 and especially so for as long as we play in the Realm of Ghur. It gives you monstrous rampage and you can often gain additional victory points by completing battle tactics with monsters. Just remember that your opponent will score 1 victory point by killing your dragon and they can also achieve the Battle Tactic "Bring it Down" by doing so. The huge base of the Dragon is both a pro and a con. It is a con in the sense that it can be hard to fit the base where you need it due to other models and terrain. The benefit of the big base is that you can use it to zone out areas of the battlefield that you don’t want your opponent to have (at least without a fight). The Zombie Dragon looks more scary than it actually is and opponents can for that reason overcommit to killing it. Use this to your advantage by putting it on a flank for instance so that the opponent has to divert his troops. The dragon can get a bit more survivability if you run it alongside a Vengorian Lord or Lauka Vai as they debuff enemy rend. The Zombie Dragon is a decent unit and even more so if you bring it in your Avengorii list.
The Terrorgheist is very similar to the Zombie Dragon, so instead of repeating myself I will focus on the differences. The Terrorgheist (which now costs only 285 points) also has a ranged attack but it functions differently from a normal attack sequence. Instead of rolling to hit and wound you simply roll a single die and add 6 (this deteriorates as the T-bat loses wounds) then you compare your result with the enemy unit’s Bravery. For every point you exceed the Bravery with that unit suffers a mortal wound. This is a really swingy ability as it will absolutely wreck some armies (like Gloomspite Gitz) and not do much against others (like Death armies). This ranged attack has synergy with Deathrattle and Deadwalker units so remember their debuff to enemy bravery as it can make a big difference. All in all this ranged attack is probably worse than the Pestilent Breath of the Zombie Dragon since it is less reliable and gets worse as the Terrorgheist takes wounds. One area where the Terrorgheist is way better than the Zombie Dragon however is in its Gaping Maw attack: If you roll a 6 to hit you cause 6 mortal wounds instead of rolling to wound. With 3 maw attacks you’ll on average do the 6 mortal wounds every second combat phase - which is amazing. Another, albeit smaller benefit the Terrorgheist has is that when it dies it will cause D3 mortal wounds to all models within 3” of it (yes also your own). The Terrorgheist is as good as the Zombie Dragon all in all and your choice really depends on what fits your army the best and whether or not you expect to fight against low or high bravery armies.
Subfactions
All subfactions have uses and are meant to be built around so it doesn’t offer much insight to rate them against each other. However, they do have better and worse choices internally in regards to command traits, artefacts and mutations. This section will contain a short introduction to each subfaction and their strengths as well as ratings for the options they provide. Also listed here are the universal Artefacts.
Universal Artefacts
All our heroes already have a 6+ Ward.
Getting +1 to wound on a single weapon is not bad per se, but you probably have better things to do with your choice of artefact.
Getting to cast an extra spell can be really strong and combines well the Vyrkos and Legion of Blood allegiance abilities. If you put it on a Hero that is already a caster you miss out on the extra unbind, but it can still be good value due to aforementioned synergies. Putting the tome on a Wight King on Skeletal Steed is a strong option as you get a very cheap and mobile support character that also casts and unbinds spells.
Rerolling Heroic Recovery is not bad in itself but considering that we have Bravery 10 and access to other sources of healing this is not a good item for Soulblight armies.
Legion of Blood
The Legion of Blood is the most all around and flexible of our subfactions. Immortal Majesty makes more models flee if the enemy unit is within 3” of a Vampire - which works quite well if you use Vampire Lords in close conjunction with your Deathrattle and Deadwalker units. It also works on its own with units like Vargheists and Blood Knights. Favoured Retainers buffs our Deathrattle specifically if they are within 12” of a Vampire Hero (or 18” if the general) as they ignore negative hit and wound modifiers. With the new added allegiance ability from White Dwarf this subfaction has seen a quite substantial boost to its power level. Unparalleled Expertise gives you the choice (for each Vampire Lord and VLoZD) of either Martial or Arcane. If you choose Martial the model gains +1 attack whereas if you choose Arcane it will gain +2 to cast/dispel/unbind (+1 if it is on a Zombie Dragon). This is a very flexible and useful ability as it lets you tailor your list. Most of the time though you will want the extra attack on a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon with the Deathlance and the +2 arcane for Vampire Lords on foot.
Legion of Blood Command Traits
This command ability turns every 6 to hit into 2 hits which is a substantial buff paired with the extra attack from Unparalleled Expertise. However, you should probably not pick this unless you actually stack up on these benefits for a General that is geared towards close combat.
Debuffing Bravery can be quite alright in a Legion of Blood army because the allegiance ability Immortal Majesty makes more models flee. That being said you probably want something else for your general - either a command trait that makes it more survivable or something that makes it more killy. This ability does neither, but it is not a bad ability in itself.
Getting rerolls on all charges within 12” of your general can be quite good as it enables you to get the combats that you want and dictate the pace of the game. If you play a more defensive build then this is probably not what you are looking for. It pairs well with deep striking Grave Guards that need to make their 9” charge. Remember also that the reroll bubble is increased substantially if you put it on a model with a big base like a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon.
Keeping your general alive is really important and therefore defensive buffs like Aura of Dark Majesty is what you are looking for. This ability would be a no-brainer if it wasn’t for the fact that it only protects against melee attacks. Still, -1 to hit for enemies in combat is a huge buff to the toughness of your general and you need a good reason for picking anything else than this command ability. As an example, a Legion of Blood Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon with Aura of Dark Majesty and Soulbound Garments (see below) is extremely hard to kill.
Causing mortal wounds on 6’s to wound is a neat buff to your damage output, but it is a tad too little to make a difference and warrant that you pick this. Remember that the mortal wounds are not in addition to normal damage; it replaces the rest of the attack sequence.
There are two types of pile-in buffs in Age of Sigmar: Good ones and bad ones. Sadly, this is one of the bad ones. The difference between the buffs is that there are ones that let you start a pile in when you are 6” away and then there are the ones like Sanguine Blur that only increase the range that you pile in. So, in case of this you can still only start a pile-in move when you are within 3” of your enemy whereas the Dragged Down and Torn Apart ability of our zombies lets you pick them to fight if they are within 6”.
Legion of Blood Artefacts
This is a weird one. The more dangerous the enemy models are the better the Ring of Dominion gets. In the end, even if the enemy has great weapon damage profiles, the fact that the ring only triggers on 5+ simply makes it too unreliable to be any good.
This artefact will cause around 3 mortal wounds during a game, which is simply not enough to justify picking it.
Once per battle you can nullify an enemy hero’s attack phase on a 3+. In many games this will not do a whole lot but if you know that you are going up against a dangerous melee hero like a Skink Chief on Stegadon or Durthu it can swing the game in your favour. It is not recommended bringing this item for tournaments where you don’t know what you will be facing, but it can do some work if you know what you will go up against and can use that to your advantage.
This artefact gives you +1 to saves which is just what the doctor ordered. Now that this item no longer competes with Amulet of Destiny (after the Winter 2021 Battlescroll) it has gone way up in value. A unit can only ever have a net result of more than +1 to their saves but that doesn’t mean that save stacking is bad - as it still reduces enemy rend. With Soulbound Garment your Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon, Vengorian Lord or Vampire Lord has a 2+ save which you can improve with All Out Defence, Finest Hour or Mystic Shield. In other words your opponent will need mortal wounds to bring your hero down.
This item is better than it looks. Sure, 5+ is not that reliable, but remember that you get to decide whether or not you want to use the ability after you have tried to unbind the enemy spell. Also, you can use the Oubliette Arcana in every enemy hero phase so you will on average stop 2 spells (assuming that you get to use this in all of the phases). This item is great as your second artefact (if you have the Warlord Battalion or similar) as it adds a second layer of magic defence to your army. If you have a Vampire Lord with Unparalleled Expertise for the +2 unbind and this item it is quite the endeavour for your opponent to get their spells through. If you pick Oubliette Arcana remember that it has 18” range so keep the bearer positioned centrally on the battlefield.
Spending an artefact slot on causing d3 mortal wounds once per game to an enemy wizard is bad - don’t do it.
Legion of Night
Mannfred’s cunning is well represented in his legion; with the option to keep half of your army in ambush (not only summonable units) you can get up to some tricksy stuff indeed. An example of utilising this is by putting a unit of Grave Guard in a Gravesite and keeping a Vampire Lord in reserve. That way your Grave Guard can pop up together with the Vampire Lord behind enemy lines and wreak havoc with the Vampire Lord’s Crimson Feast ability. At the moment there are some really strong shooting armies and The Bait somewhat mitigates this by adding +1 to save rolls against shooting the first turn. However, remember that this doesn’t help against the units that “fish for mortal wounds” like Skinks and Vanari Auralan Sentinels. The Legion of Night also gets Vargheists as battleline units which is quite nice as it gives you the possibility of going with an entirely elite vampiric force.
Legion of Night Command Traits
This command trait is quite narrow but has its uses. Most of our generals have good movement so you probably don’t need the extra flexibility that this trait offers.
Swift Form is good. Adding +2 to run and charge rolls for your general is quite a lot better than getting rerolls. Your run rolls go from 1-6” to 3-8” and your charge rolls go from 2-12” to 4-14” which is huge. Since you cannot end your movement within 3” of an enemy unit there is normally always the risk of rolling double ones on your charge roll - Swift Form removes this risk completely. This command trait works great with the ambush mechanic from Ageless Cunning as you can deep strike outside 9” and still make the charge a reasonable amount of the time.
This rating might seem harsh but our whole army has Bravery 10 and you have access to Inspiring Presence should you need to pass a battleshock.
Most of our generals have good to wound on their base profile so the gain is quite small. Also you always have the option of using Finest Hour if you really need that +1 to wound.
This command trait takes some time to set up but the pay off can be worth it. Remember that with the Winter 2021 Battlescroll we have gained the allegiance ability to activate a summonable unit in combat everytime we fight with a non-monster hero which works well together with Unholy Impetus.
Keeping your general alive is really important and therefore defensive buffs like Terrifying Visage is what you are looking for. This ability would be a no-brainer if it wasn’t for the fact that it only protects against melee attacks. Still, -1 to wound for enemies in combat is a huge buff to the toughness of your general and you need a good reason for picking anything else than this command ability.
Legion of Night Artefacts
This is a nice offensive buff that you can pop once per game. The only downside to this is the fact that we have access to many buffs already, and Vial of Pure Blood is probably not needed. However, it is a significant buff so some armies might be interested in it.
Ignoring rend on shooting attacks is not really where you want to be; the danger from shooting is mortal wounds not high rend. An exception to this is if you know that you will be facing up against Kruleboyz with their nasty killa bows.
Like so many other items of this type it does too little to warrant a pick. However, when you get the opportunity to use this gem on an enemy hero or monster that is holding on to a couple of wounds it can swing the game in your favour.
Having 1s to hit bounce back as mortal wounds in the face of the enemy is nice and all, but it is quite minor chip damage. If you find yourself in the situation where many attacks can be bounced you are also in the unlucky situation that you will probably get killed by the attacks that don't roll 1.
If you are looking for this type of effect you should probably just pick Legion of Blood (for their +2 to cast and unbind) or Vyrkos (for their rerolls to casting).
The idea with this item is kind of neat: drain life from your opponent’s hero. It is just too unreliable to be any good.
Vyrkos Dynasty
The Vyrkos Dynasty has solid buffs to combat and excels in the magic phase. Their focus is on vampiric heroes that provide strong magic and buffs nearby Deathrattle and Deadwalkers. Vyrkos is just an all around strong pick as long as you have multiple vampires on the field.
Vyrkos Dynasty Command Traits
Getting a free command ability each turn is massive - and remember you also get a free use on your opponent’s turn.
This command trait is quite good if you plan on deep striking some Grave Guard and can keep your general close by. It is quite circumstantial to set up, but in the right army it might be worth the effort.
Once per game you get to summon 5 Dire Wolves - that is 67.5 pts worth of models. Not bad. Not bad at all. The good thing about summoning Dire Wolves specifically is that it is a unit with great mobility and as such it can move to the part of the battlefield where it is most needed. The 5 doggos also provide an excellent screen should you need it. All in all this is just a great command trait.
This ability is a bit off. It doesn’t do much on a model that has a low wound count and on a model like a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon you don’t really want your general to be stuck protecting an objective.
This command trait is better than it looks at first glance. Making your zombies go 3” longer each turn is basically a 75% speed boost - and given that zombies' slow pace is their Achilles heel this is quite nice. However, it is not only zombies but also Dire Wolves that benefit from this command trait. Making the doggos go an extra 3” can really catapult them to where they need to be. Combine this with Belladamma's command ability and you have some seriously fast wolves.
Getting an extra unbind is always nice, it is not mind blowingly good but it might be what your army needs. You might want to skip this if you know that you are going up against armies with little to no magic.
Vyrkos Dynasty Artefacts
Given the prevalence of Gravesites and other Soulblight Heroes on the battlefield this item does way too little to be worth picking.
Why would you want to pile in an extra 3” with your general? If this had given the ability to pick the general to fight if they were within 6” of the enemy then there would be reason to consider it. But alas, this is just too circumstantial.
This is a fine pick for a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon with Deathlance or a Vengorian Lord. Getting 2 extra attacks on average on the turn you charge is legit - especially on the Deathlance (which has Damage 4 on the charge).
How is charging stealthy? Anywho, this item is weird, and not in a good way. Sure, with a handful of other heroes on the battlefield you can get a big boost to your charge but it is a single use item which limits its usability a lot. With that said it does work well if you want to make sure that your Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon cannot fail an important charge.
Throwing -1 to cast at all casters in the opponent’s army for one turn can be handy, but it assumes that you will be facing magic-heavy armies and that narrows the playing field quite a bit for this item.
If something is circumstantial then it should have a big impact on the game when it triggers, but this is not the case here. The opponent has to use at least three command abilities in the same turn for you to gain a single CP om average.
Kastelai Dynasty
The Kastelai are the mailed fist of Nagash - designed to deploy heavily armoured cavalry that hits like a tonne of bricks. Everything in this subfaction revolves around Blood Knights (who are battleline units in Kastelai). Given that the Kastelai is laser focused on one specific unit it is fortunate that Blood Knights are strong units to begin with. Shifting Keep gives you the option of fielding Blood Knights in ambush, which is quite good since you’ll probably rely on Blood Knights as your battleline and therefore can’t use your Gravesites for ambushes (as you can only place summonable units in reserve). Might of the Crimson Keep permanently buffs your Vampire units when they slay something. This includes all vampiric units in your army (so also Vargheists and your Vampire heroes). If you want an elite and fast army the Kastelai is for you.
Kastelai Dynasty Command Traits
This command trait makes your general cause D3 mortal wounds on a 3+ whenever they charge. That is 1.32 wounds on average per charge. It isn't impressive but it might be the chip damage you are looking for to bracket enemy behemoths before the combat phase.
This is similar to Beacon of Bloodshed except it requires your general to be damaged in the combat phase and it happens after combat. This is bad because you want to deal chip damage before the opponent gets to attack and the fact that your general needs to be wounded for it to work makes this Command trait risky and unreliable. A good rule of thumb is that if an ability is circumstantial the upside needs to be high, and this trait doesn't have that.
This can be useful if you are counting on running your general alongside your Blood Knights to make sure that it doesn’t miss out on any of the good stuff.
Getting the benefit of two things from Might of the Crimson Keep for one phase is pretty decent. It ensures that you can hit hard even before your Blood Knights make their first kills and it enables them to get to the point of destroying enemy units faster.
This command trait also rewards you for running your general together with your other units. It helps ensure that you can get your tandem charge in when you need it - and charging is something that the Kastelai really enjoy.
A good little bonus to get your general into the fray quickly but you probably get more value from Swift and Deadly.
Kastelai Dynasty Artefacts
Only good thing about this item is that the name is reminiscent of the legendary Seneschal (Sen2) who roams these halls.
If you’re that close to the enemy wizard you should probably focus on killing them instead of giving them debuffs to casting attempts.
This is item can go from “not that important” to “really fucking important” depending on what hero you give it to and what army you are facing. Shooting is pretty strong in the current meta and protection against it is always nice. However, remember that you already have Look Out Sir for your smaller heroes, so this item is only really interesting for stuff like Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon and the Vengorian Lord.
The shard is a one use item that effectively gives the bearer and friendly units within 12” of it a 5+ ward save. That is quite strong as you can weather a storm that might be headed your way. Do remember that you benefit more from this if you can get several units within the 12” bubble. But there is no shame in popping this even if it is only the bearer that gets the buff if that means keeping your unit alive.
If this item had granted the -1 to wound to only the bearer it would still be good but the fact that it is a 6” aura makes it even stronger. The bigger the base the bearer has the more you will get out of the aura, so a good candidate for holding this would be a Vengorian Lord or a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon.
Just like Vilnas’ Fang (from the Vyrkos Dynasty) this is just too minor to bother with.
Avengorii Dynasty
The Avengorii are the masters of the monsters. They get Zombie Dragons and Terrorgheists as Battleline units which is really strong. They get three Battle Traits. The first of which is Cursed Abominations which grants a mutation for one of your Terrorgheists or Zombie Dragons. This is the only subfaction that gets mutations and it is counterweighted by the fact that the Avengorii only have 3 choices in each enhancement category (whereas other subfactions have 6). The second Battle Trait that they receive is Monstrous Might which makes their monsters harder to wound unless the enemy model is also a monster. This is a big deal as it makes already tough units even harder to bring down. It is comparable with Aura of Dark Majesty (command trait from Legion of Blood) but Monstrous Might doesn’t cost you an enhancement selection - you just get it right off the bat (pun intended). The third Battle Trait that the Avengorii get is Unstoppable Nightmares which gives your monsters the option of using their highest wound bracket once per game - also a really nice ability that ensures that you can rely on your monster’s damage output. This all adds up to a subfaction that heavily favours monsters. If you don’t want to bring monsters then this is probably not the choice for you. However, if you do want some big nasties, it doesn’t get any better than this.
Avengorii Dynasty Command Traits
This command trait makes your general gain +1 to all melee damage profiles on their warscroll if they have suffered any wounds. This is a solid choice to make your general more killy and it goes up in value if your general is mounted on something big like a Zombie Dragon as the mount also benefits from this bonus.
This command trait is quite lacklustre as it doesn’t reliably trigger and with stuff like always fight last effects you want to be able to count on it. It is nice when it goes off but when it only happens a third of the time it doesn’t impact the game as much as one would like.
This is fairly weak as you can get rerolls to your charge from command abilities.
Avengorii Dynasty Artefacts
Once per battle you have 66% chance of doing d6 mortal wounds to a unit within 6”. Mortal wounds are nice but the fact that you first have to get it off on a 3+ and then roll high on your d6 to have an impact makes this artefact way too swingy for my liking.
Rerolling 1s on to wound is good - not so much if you only get this benefit in one combat phase per game. The effect is simply too minor to warrant a once per game item.
This artefact grants the bearer a once per game version of Lauka Vai’s charge ability. Remember that you have to declare that you use it at the start of the charge phase so you don’t know if you’re going to roll a high charge number yet. However, it does have some merit if you have a command point to spare and use Forward to Victory to ensure a good charge roll. The effect is good but having it only once per game limits its power.
Avengorii Dynasty Cursed Mutations
Look no further. This is the mutation that you are looking for. It gives you the ability to outright slay a model in each turn (not round, not per game). Sure this ability is useless against a few armies (like Ogor Mawtribes or Maggotkin of Nurgle) but generally you can find plenty of models with a single wound to eat. But not only is this a guaranteed kill it also heals your big monster, and that ladies and gentlemen is what we call the good stuff. Note also that you get to decide what model is slain so you can cherry pick the champion, musician or banner depending on what you want to achieve. Killing the champion will stop that unit from issuing orders to itself. Also, if the unit you attack is strung out on a line you can break their coherency by picking a model in the middle of the line. Only reason not to pick this mutation is if you know that you face an army with no targets for the ability.
If you want some insurance for a list that wants to charge into combat on the first turn (which can be good against shooting armies) - then this is a fine pick.
If you face a lot of heavy magic armies, then you could consider bringing this. It does have a short range, but considering that your monster is on a 130mm base the bubble is actually quite big. The effect is fine but the application is a bit too narrow to make this mutation be anything but ordinary.
Spells
There is actually not much reason to rate this spell as you will always have access to it - but I’ll do it anyway just to highlight its uses. Invigorating Aura is our staple spell and each wizard in your army can cast it even if other wizards have already cast it. This is amazing. The spell is easier to cast for each Soulblight hero (doesn’t need to be a wizard) you have so it will often get cast on 5+ which is solid. Combine this with the bonuses you get from things like Vyrkos or Legion of Blood and you will get it off more often than not. Things to keep in mind: it only affects summonable units, so if you run a Kastelai list full of Blood Knights, then this does next to nothing. Also, remember that Invigorating Aura is neither part of Lore of Deathmages nor Lore of Vampires and as such doesn’t benefit from Locus of Shyish. With that being said, this spell is one of the things that really make Soulblight Gravelords an army that excels at attrition (together with Deathly Invocation), so don’t forget about it.
As you never have to choose between Gaze of Ghur and other spells the rating is only meant as an indication of general power level - because all wizards will have access to it. Gaze is an interesting spell in the fact that in the few circumstances where it is useful it is extremely good, but those situations are few and far between. The issue here is the high likelihood of forgetting that this spell even exists because it will be used so seldomly - but if you print it out and have it in your pile of gaming aids, then maybe you will remember it and it can help you in a fringe situation.
Universal Spell Lore
This spell is easy to cast on a 4+ and it goes well on your combat casters like Vampire Lords and Vengorian Lords. The +1 damage is nice but it is also quite minor. It is not a spell that impacts the game in any major way but it is reliable and on a melee character it can definitely do some work.
This spell is high variance - first off because it is hard to get off on 8+ but also because it often doesn’t matter much if a unit has fly but when it does matter it is extremely good. Generally this spell is not a prime pick for Soulblight Gravelords as we have plenty of good movement and flying on big blocks of infantry doesn’t do much due to their massive footprint and low movement characteristic.
Like Levitate this spell is very circumstantial. It can be really handy if you know that you are going to face shooting armies to block their line of sight. However, Ghost Mist has very limited uses and will often just collect dust.
Lore of Vampires
This spell is a decent pick for a hero that wants to be in the midst of things and has a big base like a Vengorian Lord. It is easy to cast and can with the right positioning dish out a fair amount of chip damage. This spell stacks well with Locus of Shyish as triggering twice on this can really hurt the opponent. For this reason having access to rerolls on the cast is great (which you can get through the Vyrkos Dynasty).
If you face armies that have low bravery, then this spell can really wreck face - but it is very match-up dependent which gives it a lower rating. According to the current FAQ a characteristic includes any modifiers which means that Spirit Gale works with Bravery debuffs.
This spell is good to have in your arsenal as it helps you dictate the movement of the opponent. If you play a defensive list then this is a good pick, whereas in an offensive list it is not as important.
This is kind of the reverse of Soul Pike as it helps you get to where you need to be. It works well both for offence and defence as it can give you the charge that you need or get you out of trouble. It is quite good on a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon as it helps mitigate the loss of mobility when the unit starts to bracket - and thus it can help you out of a dangerous combat.
Causing mortal wounds and healing at the same time sounds nice, but the high casting cost and circumstantial nature of this spell just means that it won’t do much. However, if you know that you will be facing Megagargants then this spell is suddenly good as you get to roll 35 dice.
This has the potential to do 2d3 or maybe even 3d3 mortal wounds but the odds are very much against it due to the 6+ cast and the very short range of the spell. Blades of Shyish is a bit more reliable and thus the orb gets a lower rating.
Lore of Deathmages
Giving -1 to hit on a unit is a substantial debuff and this spell is fairly easy to cast on 5+. A downside is that -1 to hit can get mitigated by abilities like All Out Attack. As with many other buff and debuff spells this one lasts through two combat phases unless you double turn.
In contrast to Overwhelming Dread this spell has a higher potential but can also end up not having any good targets. It is useless against models with only 1 attack but if the enemy unit does have multiple attacks this can really cripple them. The more models the enemy unit has the more mileage you will get out of Fading Vigour. This should not deter you from using this spell against a single model in a pinch - remember that if the enemy model has a mount both it and its rider will get hit by the debuff. Ironically this spell is quite good against Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon - but sometimes Nagash’s children fight among each other.
This spell helps you control the enemy’s movement which can be really strong. However, it is dependent on terrain so not only your own positioning but also the enemy’s position is important which hampers the usefulness of this spell a bit. The upside is that Spectral Grasp can hit multiple units (unlike Soul Pike for instance). This spell is strong against armies that rely on faction terrain pieces like Sylvaneth, Seraphon, Maggotkin of Nurgle and Gloomspite Gitz.
Another movement manipulation spell - but unlike Spectral Grasp and Soul Pike this spell is quite unreliable. First you have to get the spell through on a 6+ and then the enemy has 66% chance of just ignoring the effect - this is just not worth the gamble. One thing to note is that Prison of Grief also triggers on Redeploy. But the short range of the spell in combination with its unreliability makes it quite bad.
Throwing -1 to wound and -1 to damage in the face of the enemy’s big bad combat hero can really turn the fight in your favour. Generally it is harder to mitigate getting -1 to wound than to hit - as the only general way of getting rid of it is through Finest Hour. Most opposing armies will have a good target for you to cast this spell on. It has decent range and is not too hard to get through, so all in all a good spell.
On a normal necromancer this spell is useless so it is only really Naggy, Manny and Neffy that can benefit from it. However, it is hard to cast on a 7+ and the effect is so minor that it is not worth your cast.
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The very poor movement of the zombie wagon is also a big issue. Due to the limited range of the buffs and debuffs you need to place it centrally and you cannot easily relocate to adapt to your opponent. For the moment I will not change the overall rating of the CC but add in the text that it goes up in value if you can exploit the buff to casting.
. I'll probably borrow heavily from your comments about his new warscroll if that is okay?
. I think he is balanced now and I could have hoped that the other gods had gotten a similar treatment, but I'm just a crumpy ol' man who wants the game to be about rank and file and not God Heroes. 
However, I would love input on the subfactions as it was quite the work and I'm sure I've missed some things. 
(Great work btw)