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So now that we have 'Start Collecting!' from good old GW bringing amazing prices I have decided to jump on into AoS with the rest of my group. And now that I've seen the Malignants box I can't wait.

While the box does come with a formation for the units inside does anyone have some suggestions of what to get with it to make it a 'fuller' army? I do like the skeleton unit and the Wight King - Dire Wolves also catching my eye - but would they be a good addition? Or would I be better off with something different for a fun game?

I know absolutely nothing about AoS, so anything at all is greatly appreciated.

You'll grow to love both the Spirit Hosts and Hexwraiths that can hit really hard and are tough to kill with their 4+ ethereal save.

If you want to keep with the Malignant theme a Tomb Banshee and a Cairn Wraith are good options. A Tomb Banshee is especially dangerous.

Otherwise it's really down to how you want to theme your force. I too have gone for Deathrattle (skeletons) and Malignment. The Skeleton kit is nice and fun to build and can be painted quickly. Skeletons don't do much but they are hard to kill because D6 come back each turn so they are great for tar-pitting the enemy while your heavy hitters flank in. The Wightking can be a nice character in combat, mine usually gets sniped before he gets there though, haha.

I would bring a wizard for sure. I played my Ogres vs a TK army this weekend (against my friend) and man did he summon so much stuff. Next time mu strategy will be to go for all of the wizards and knock those out ASAP so he cant summon anymore.. then fight the hordes!

I play a VC army without summoning, and man is that fun!

Some things that work really well:
Spirit hosts. They can be so mean, and I love that!
Banshee. If you can keep her out of combat, she will do you good most of the time.

Some things that are OK:
Skeleton warriors. They get quite good when there are heroes nearby, but keep them away from anything with rend-1. The opponent just gets too much out of that combat.
Cair wraith. He can be pretty good, but usually doesn't do anything exceptional.
Wight king w. shield. He is crazy tanky with decent damage output.

Some things that don't do too well:
Black knights. They are OK, but nothing too great for an elite unit.
Grave guard. Same problem as above.

They are of course both better than skeleton warriors pr. wound, but most point systems brings them down to special roles. They die soo quickly, so you gotta be careful with them.

I found Blood Knights are pretty awesome - especially with the banner that brings them back

I was in a similar situation as OP. Mainly played 40k, wanted to make an AoS army as a side project due to interest in my FLGS. Having played for awhile, here are my findings (things I wish I knew starting out):

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1. Find out which version of the rules you'll be using

Since there is no official points system, many players have opted to use alternative balance mechanics. Some opt for RAW, where you just use the model count and a Sudden Death mechanic. Many prefer a Wounds-count system. Others use an unofficial points system. Just know or decide which you'll be using in your FLGS or your playgroup, it'll be fine.

Another aspect to watch out for is any house rule's your meta has regarding summoning units. Summoning IMHO is more powerful in AoS than even in 40k, which leads to...

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2. The strengths and weaknesses of Vampire Counts as you plan your army list

Strengths - the Death-themed armies are really good at summoning IMHO (Daemons are clearly number 1, Vampire Counts/Tomb Kings are number 2). By that, I mean they have units that are easy to summon (need only a 6+ or 7+ on 2D6) that are quite powerful (Morghast Harbingers, for example, are like mini-Monsters that only need a roll of 7 to summon a pair). Moreover, Vampire Heroes are generally good fighters in their own right (on par with other armies' heroes in sheer combat ability) that also happen to be Wizards so they can summon on the side. Finally, because you can summon units up to 18" away, you can get your units in your opponents' faces, which is important because...

Weaknesses - IMHO the biggest weakness of the Undead is that many of their units are sooo slooow. Ranged armies can actually kite them pretty easily. Thus, that starter box you mentioned with Spirit Hosts and Death Knights is pretty good as they're actually fast, overcoming this weakness. Please note that summoned units cannot move in the turn they appear, BUT they CAN still charge.

As an example of the above strength and weakness together, I've now bought some Vampire Lords and Morghast Harbinger models. The idea is that Vampire Lords can fly, moving up the field at speed, while staying out of Line of Sight in terrain as single models. They can then summon a pair Morghast Harbingers within 9" of an enemy ranged unit or caster, who can charge as soon as they appear. What makes Morghast Harbingers stand out is their abilities to charge for 3D6 inches (instead of the normal 2D6), and they're really decent fighters. This combination gives an opportunity for my blog of Skeletons/Grave Guard to march up the field unmolested.

When I started on the very weekend the AoS rules dropped, I underestimated both the strength of summoning and the slowness of the Vampire Counts. I mean, I knew the reputation of these elements, but it's only after a few early games where I truly realised how significant those played out every time.

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3. Painting

This is like the best part of a Vampire Counts army in particular, the reason I'm really glad I chose this army, and it may be why you chose Vampire Counts, too.

That ghostly green scheme, the one used with Spirit Hosts, is so easy to achieve yet looks absolutely optimal. 1st, basecoat white. 2nd, wash with GW's Nihilakh Oxide ink. 3rd, drybrush white to bring out the edges. That's it. Fellow Dakkamite Bottle did a really good job on hers, probably with more blending, but I literally painted 30 skeletons in a night and it looked really suprisingly good. It's just the nature of the skeletons, being more jagged in miniature and ethereal in theme, that lends itself to this technique.

I liked the technique and result so much, I'm seriously thinking of bringing this learning back to 40k, to paint my interpretation of Legion of the Damned really as ghosts of the Warp, or a similar Chaos Space Marine army.

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I also absolutely agree with the above points, but what I particularly highlighted are broad themes that lay the framework of how I'd think about it, now that I have all this AoS experience.

Do you really put both VC and TK ahead of Seraphon in the "best for summoning" I'm just wondering.. looking at the battletome it looks like Seraphon are are all about summoning.

 Snoopdeville3 wrote:
Do you really put both VC and TK ahead of Seraphon in the "best for summoning" I'm just wondering.. looking at the battletome it looks like Seraphon are are all about summoning.

They can be, but only one model (the Slann) can do it, and in most friendly games, you are only going to have one Slann. It is entirely possible to have a vampire and a couple of Necromancers in a reasonable force.

MongooseMatt wrote:

 Snoopdeville3 wrote:
Do you really put both VC and TK ahead of Seraphon in the "best for summoning" I'm just wondering.. looking at the battletome it looks like Seraphon are are all about summoning.

They can be, but only one model (the Slann) can do it, and in most friendly games, you are only going to have one Slann. It is entirely possible to have a vampire and a couple of Necromancers in a reasonable force.

Lord Kroak, Tetto'eko , can also summon and The Engine of the Gods can somewhat summon as well. But actually from what I have been hearing Daemons are the best summoners. I haven't read the battletome but supposedly most of their units are wizards.

Death is only a better summoner than Daemons when Nagash is around. But make no mistake, a properly supported Death Force with Morghasts, Mortis Engines, and Corpse Carts giving buffs to summoning is very nasty as well even without Nagash.

But a simple Lord of Change with a Command ability is a multiplying threat. The ability to change the Lowest Dice Roll into the same as the highest for casting and unbinding is a scary, scary ability. It's not very hard to summon another Greater Daemon with it around that carries on and on.

Even the Blue Scribes are jerks at summoning. Roll a 2+, any summoning spell is available for you. Summon Bloodthirster of Wrath.

Seraphon can summon, but they can't summon their big stuff as easily or as reliably as Daemons and Death does.