Need guidance with Soulblight Gravelords

[Count Bloodmoon]

Hi everyone,

After some thinking and such i finally decided to make a account and just ask my questions, usually i am not much of a forum guy but this seems like a really kind and helpful community :).
I recently decided to finally start my Soulblight gravelords army, after looking so long at their models. I am really new to the hobby this will be my first AOS army in fact.
Currently i have:
Radukar, The Beast
Vampire Lord
Deathrattle Skeletons x20
Deadwalker zombies x40
Blood knights x5

As you can see i have a long way to go still, especially considering it is still unpainted haha. Working on Radukar at the moment and having a lot of fun with him.
I am really interested in the following characters:
Lauka vai
Lady Annika
Kritza
They look great and are very characterful in my opinion, but how good are they on the tabletop? Are they usable? I will buy them still because they look great but first i want to focus on getting something to play with.

I have been reading that Graveguard are a must but i really dont like their model they feel really old compared to the deathrattle skeletons.

Does some one here have any advice on what to buy next? Where should i put my focus? dire wolfs maybe? More knights? or do i need more zombies?

I would really appreciate any advice you guys can give me.

 

[Unas the slayer]

first of all, welcome aboard!

you already have a nice bunch of models, but of course you need to expand your possessions.
As far as i see, you're potentially going Vrikos or Kastelai

let's see:

1) heroes / buffers.
a necromancer will be immensely helpful, and also a heavy hitter hero as a VL on zombie Dragon / prince Vhordrai

2) fast units
Dire wolves is a good way to go, plus they are battleline

3) bodies
wolves will serve. other skellies / zombies won't hurt neither.

4) hitting power
you already have Radukar (which is solid), but he's not enough. If you don't want grave guards, then your alternatives are:
- VLoZD
- Blood Knights
- zombies (at least for the MWs, especially if paired with a neromaner and a VL)

zombies always work, then it goes on what you play.
Vrikos? favor Radukar and VLoZD
Kastelai? favor Vhordrai and blood knights

i'd say that these cover all your bases.

 

[Count Bloodmoon]

first of all, welcome aboard!

you already have a nice bunch of models, but of course you need to expand your possessions.
As far as i see, you're potentially going Vrikos or Kastelai

let's see:

1) heroes / buffers.
a necromancer will be immensely helpful, and also a heavy hitter hero as a VL on zombie Dragon / prince Vhordrai

2) fast units
Dire wolves is a good way to go, plus they are battleline

3) bodies
wolves will serve. other skellies / zombies won't hurt neither.

4) hitting power
you already have Radukar (which is solid), but he's not enough. If you don't want grave guards, then your alternatives are:
- VLoZD
- Blood Knights
- zombies (at least for the MWs, especially if paired with a neromaner and a VL)

zombies always work, then it goes on what you play.
Vrikos? favor Radukar and VLoZD
Kastelai? favor Vhordrai and blood knights

i'd say that these cover all your bases.

Think you for the warm welcome.
So I need to pick up VL on a dragon and a necromancer and more zombies and wolfs.
I was thinking Vrikos yes, how does A Vengorion lord hold up compared to the VL on zombie dragon?

And would you recommend the strat collecting box (eventhough it has the Old looking graveguard)

Did you ever try-out the special named vampire characters I mentiond?

Also I did see some list run a corpsecar but none using the mortis engine a shame really it looks good.

 

[Unas the slayer]

Think you for the warm welcome.
So I need to pick up VL on a dragon and a necromancer and more zombies and wolfs.
I was thinking Vrikos yes, how does A Vengorion lord hold up compared to the VL on zombie dragon?

And would you recommend the strat collecting box (eventhough it has the Old looking graveguard)

Did you ever try-out the special named vampire characters I mentiond?

Also I did see some list run a corpsecar but none using the mortis engine a shame really it looks good.

ah, let's see...

The VLoZD is more oriented toward offense (not that he's easy to kill), but generally the vengorian lord is more resilient and less killy.
Lauka Vai is superior to a vengorian lord, especially if you don't plan to give artefacts or general traits to the lord.
Kritza is a passable character, annoying and not that easy to get rid of (and i like his style), while Annika in my book is just a no.

That said, i have not tried them, so this is just my general knowledge. The Sun King can enter more in details.

The mortis engine is not bad at all, given that it's a cheap model. i tend to improve its chances of survive with mystic shield and all out defense, and i throw it in the middle of the enemy lines, where it can wreck some faces

the corpse cart is a decent unit. Too squishy, but also very cheap and given that it brings really nice utilities (depending on its loadout), your opponent is forced to:
- ignore it and so you gain those bonuses for a small investment
- invest precious resources to get rid of those 80 points.

 

[Sception]

Lauka vai: she's stronger than a normal venga on the surface, but doesn't benefit from subfaction traits outside of the avengori and can't take artefacts or command traits, when otherwise a vengorian is typically one of the best places to put those.

I like her in an avengori army alongside either another vengorian or a generic vamp lord on zombie dragon, but otherwise I think you're better off with a normal Vengorian lord. That said, if you just like her model better, most people are happy to let you build the model as you like and call it whichever fits best in your army, so long as you're up front and consistent about it.

Kritza and annika are ok little cheap heros if you don't have room for something better, particularly in a Vyrkos list where they can help spread aura buffs around, but mechanically they're really nothing to write home about. Buy them if you want some cool models to paint, mostly. Run them if you happen to have enough points left over with nothing else to spend it on.

The stuff you already have is a very strong start. I'd mostly recommend painting & playing with that to see what you think you need. If you've got some money burning a hole in your pocket consider some dire wolves, plus maybe Belladamma Volga + even more dire wolves, as they go well with Radukar. A necromancer is also always nice, & they're pretty cheap.

One of the strengths of the gravelords is that the army is very diverse. You can go for big zombie hordes, elite cavalry lists, glass cannon infantry, monster mash, various kinds of trick deployment shenanigans, or a hodge podge mix of everything.

The book's balance is good enough that which of that is strongest will vary from season to season as points are updated and General's Handbooks shake up the core rules. Most of it should be playable most of the time regardless. Chasing what's best in the moment will have you starting over every time the matched play season changes, so unless you're looking to break into the tournament scene, imo you really are best off just reading through the battle tome to see what units sound cool or looking at the models to see what you might like to paint.

 

[Count Bloodmoon]

Think you so much this is really really helping me out alot.
I got some clear goals thanks to this.

 

[The Sun King]

Greetings and welcome Count Bloodmoon ! Those models are a good starting point. I will suggest that you start playing some 1000 pts games with the models you have before you start buying more. 1k games are fun and faster than the big 2k games, so they are great for learning the ropes. From the models you have I have written a list that I think would be quite strong:

- Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords
- Army Type: Vyrkos Dynasty
- Grand Strategy: Lust for Domination
- Triumph: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Radukar the Beast (315)*

Vampire Lord (140)*
- General
- Command Traits: Pack Alpha
- Artefacts of Power: Sangsyron
- Spells: Amethystine Pinions, Invigorating Aura

BATTLELINE
Deadwalker Zombies (240)*
Deathrattle Skeletons (80)*

OTHER
Blood Knights (195)*

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 970/1000


Here are some of my ideas behind the list:

1. Radukar and the Blood Knights are your hammer units. They can work together for taking out powerful enemy units or you can split them up and threaten different positions on the board.

2. The Skeletons are a small unit that you can use to hold a safe objective, zone out enemy teleports or screen your other units to keep them safe. But even better, you can place this unit in your Gravesites and hve it come on the board later when the opponent has forgotten about them to snatch an objective from them.

3. The big block of Zombies and your Vampire Lord is your anvil unit. 40 Zombies that get the Vampire Lord’s command ability Crimson Feast is a major threat for the opponent, and the 40 Zombies are a tough unit to chew through. Just beware that your Vampire Lord doesn’t get stuck in a combat that they will lose.

4. This whole army is a "one drop deployment" as they are in the Battle Regiment battalion. This means that you will most likely get to choose who goes first. It is very often a good idea to let the opponent go first, because you then have a chance of getting a double turn on them.

I hope this helps!

Cheers,
Sunny

 

[Count Bloodmoon]

Greetings and welcome Count Bloodmoon ! Those models are a good starting point. I will suggest that you start playing some 1000 pts games with the models you have before you start buying more. 1k games are fun and faster than the big 2k games, so they are great for learning the ropes. From the models you have I have written a list that I think would be quite strong:

- Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords
- Army Type: Vyrkos Dynasty
- Grand Strategy: Lust for Domination
- Triumph: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Radukar the Beast (315)*

Vampire Lord (140)*
- General
- Command Traits: Pack Alpha
- Artefacts of Power: Sangsyron
- Spells: Amethystine Pinions, Invigorating Aura

BATTLELINE
Deadwalker Zombies (240)*
Deathrattle Skeletons (80)*

OTHER
Blood Knights (195)*

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 970/1000


Here are some of my ideas behind the list:

1. Radukar and the Blood Knights are your hammer units. They can work together for taking out powerful enemy units or you can split them up and threaten different positions on the board.

2. The Skeletons are a small unit that you can use to hold a safe objective, zone out enemy teleports or screen your other units to keep them safe. But even better, you can place this unit in your Gravesites and hve it come on the board later when the opponent has forgotten about them to snatch an objective from them.

3. The big block of Zombies and your Vampire Lord is your anvil unit. 40 Zombies that get the Vampire Lord’s command ability Crimson Feast is a major threat for the opponent, and the 40 Zombies are a tough unit to chew through. Just beware that your Vampire Lord doesn’t get stuck in a combat that they will lose.

4. This whole army is a "one drop deployment" as they are in the Battle Regiment battalion. This means that you will most likely get to choose who goes first. It is very often a good idea to let the opponent go first, because you then have a chance of getting a double turn on them.

I hope this helps!

Cheers,
Sunny

Thank you for the list recommendation, dident know I already had a playable list.

 

[The Sun King]

You are welcome my friend! That list is definitely playable. I think it is actually quite strong and would be keen on running it myself. I've added some notes to the list btw.

If you want my general evaluation of all the different Soulblight units you can check them out in my Handbook if you haven't already.

 

[Count Bloodmoon]

You are welcome my friend! That list is definitely playable. I think it is actually quite strong and would be keen on running it myself. I've added some notes to the list btw.

If you want my general evaluation of all the different Soulblight units you can check them out in my Handbook if you haven't already.

Thank you so much for the addition to the list. It helps alot reading the thoughts of a experienced player. I dident know you had a Handbook, I will check it out right away!

 

[The Sun King]

Cool! Let me know how the list plays if you field it at some point. :)