DoN:
Thanks for responding. It gave me a much clearer picture of what you, and the rest of the forum members are aiming for as far as a working army list goes, or what framework shapes the army as a concept.
I must have misunderstood something somewhere, as far as the
Horde aspect of the army go earlier. Sorry about that
I agree that Nagash should have SOME more elite regiments than the
VC/
TK list, but personally I would be very careful so that the army didn't end up looking too "bitsy" on the tabletop, as that could ruing any "Legion" aspect the army.
One thing that I think is very important when making what is essentially a home-made army list (made by us, all fans of the Nagash fluff etc in this case) is that we have to keep in the back of our minds that unless we can gain somewhat of an acceptance for the list as a whole, it simply won't be used.
We have no right to insist that we get to play using this list after all, and if our opponents don't think it is a fun and inspiring list to play against (whatever army they happens to have), we risk end up doing a whole lot of work for very little actual playing time.
Most of us know from experience, that when you first browse through an army list, attempting to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses, you often look at the characters first. This is less of an issue these days, than what it used to be in the Herohammer days admittedly, but old habits die hard as they say.
Keeping this in mind, this list has some quite horrific character options (yes I know they cost much, but the first impression remains the same in either case).
I am on board with the idea that the list should have good magic. It wouldn't be a proper Nagash army without it.
What I have an issue with, is some of what I've seen as far as close combat character goes, especially if this will be more of an Elite list, since the combat prowess of characters and units are often combined... If units are to be less character reliant, then I think it screws up the balance somewhat to include such characters as the Zenith Lord and the some of the special characters (correct me if I'm wrong, but I stumbled across a special character called the "Executioner", which basically had Greater Daemon Stats, was a normal Infantry model from what I understood, and could potentially kill 5 Bloodthirsters in one go if he had a lucky day with the dice).
I imagine that part of the point here is to get people to play against us using this list more than once, which is why I would urge a bit of caution, especially when creating characters. It is no fun when your defeated opponent walks away, thinking he never really had a fighting chance, especially if he faced what the thought was a near-unbeatable character (people can often accept loosing a game, yet have a very hard time seeing their beloved characters getting mauled on close combat in my experience).
This is why I asked about the army's strengths and weaknesses (as all the good armies have some built-in strengths
and weaknesses which define them tactically). Looking at the answers, and looking at the list as it now stands, I don't really see any defining weaknesses. That the army is more elite, is more of a balance issue as far as points go, and all armies are more or less "elite" by nature. In fact, being an Elite army is more often than not a strenght, not a weakness. That characters are not as versatile as Vampires is not a "weakness" itself either, as the Vampires are by far the most versatile characters in the game in the first place, and this they should be (since the core can't fight worth a damn).
If we are to have superior magic, awesome close combat characters, lots of special characters with one or both, Elite troops, missile support, some very dangerous ethereal units, some very dangerous Monsters/Steeds, and so on, I think we're going to have some issues with finding opponents happy to play against us as I've said. I think some sacrifice must be made somewhere personally, and to me the most obvious choice is the close combat ability of the characters/special characters.
The Vampires fled Nagash after all, and I think it will be a much better list if this is an effect that is still noticeable. It also balances out the superior units+superior characters combined issue. This would be a step in the right direction in my opinion, but I also realize perfectly well how this would affect some of the work that people have already put into the list, and I don't think anything should be done without people generally agreeing that it is a good idea (or not if people disagree).
One of the reason that I feel so strongly about this, is that I'm pretty sure that if I show the list to the people I play against as it stands at the moment (including the special characters), I'd find it very hard to convince them that it would be a "fair fight", and I imagine the feeling wouldn't be any less so after the first battle. If I am to contribute a lot of my time to this, I wish for something that I can actually get to use on the gaming table, not just enjoy the fluff for. I think the army has a lot of potential, but that as it currently stands, it's a bit too epic in some aspects, lacks a little tactical balance, and there are still a lot of 7.ed too it.
I know this is being worked on though, and that it is not easy to get everyone whom contribute to go in one direction (democracy and all), but I feel that it is better to speak up and be disliked for ones opinions, than not having said anything at all. We all probably have some strong feelings on the issue after all, and we're bound to not agree on a whole lot of issues, as far as the project goes.
Dreadking:
I found the rules for the characters, or at least what I thought was the official special characters for the project 8the Executioner, the verdict, etc, etc), but not the fluff itself. I can probably search some more though.
I really don't thing Count Mannfred should have anything to do with the Legion though, as it very much undermines the Von Carstein bonanza that the new Vampire Counts is. Having their "current" leader an official pawn of another list is not a good thing. He is also a Vampire, and by including Vampires at all, I think you rob the
VC book of much more than what you give back to the LoN project in return.
Kemmler is not a servant of Nagash either, at least not a knowing one. I think he is fine just the way her is. Technically, he somewhat serves chaos as well btw, as he has dedicated the souls of those he kills to the chaos gods (his sword).
Krell could (and should in my opinion) have a place in the LoN project, as he is one of the to most famous Dark Lords of Nagash. In my opinion, he should be the best warrior by far, since the Vampires fled.
The doomlord though could be made into something interesting. Admittedly, a long time has been since he was a threat to the empire, or made a note of himself in history, but him returning as a special character and possibly now a liche (a very long time has passed after all) could make for a very cool character.
The Dreadking in the 4.the ed army book? Wasn't he a Dark Omen character? Or does my memory play tricks on me now?
I'll happily format the Bloodlines list for you, just let me know when