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Coming back into the hobby I was initially interested in 40k 8th edition, and rebuilding my 3rd edition Space Marines into something new and fresh. As it turns out 40k isn't the game to play around here, and while I've put some time into a few Killteams and their campaigns I'm now looking at jumping into Sigmar.

Until Freeguild get their own Battletome, I'm thinking of getting into Death, and more specifically Nighthaunt. I've looked at Soul Wars and built two 2000 point lists off of it for a casually competitive environment; the caveat of course being that I haven't played a game, don't yet own any books, and don't know what I'm doing. Both have Chromatic Cogs because that seems the thing to do.


So - the first list. It's the one with some cavalry because at first I really liked the idea of the Hexwraiths as a simple, cheap, fast, flying cavalry unit. Now though the more I actually look at the models (and compare their designs to the new Nighthaunt) the less I like them. It’s based around two Battalions and a few extra heroes.


The second list is more horde focused. This time I’m using all of the models from Soul Wars, and while I understand that people are down on the Glaivewraith Stalkers I don’t think they should be so bad as to never use them in a non-tournament list. One again, based on two Battalions, a few extra heroes, and a unit of Myrmourn Banshees because I’d have them and they’ve got some style. I'm not sure if having the Stalkers and Reapers be such small units is worth it just for the Battalion: if I cut the Death Stalkers Battalion and Cairn Wraith and then merged those smaller units there'd be enough points left over to boost the Chainrasps to 30 strong each.




I’ve also put together a list for the Stormcast just in case, but I’m a bit less interested in them. Using everything from Soul Wars; it's all Sacrosanct, made up of two Battalions and a little extra shooting. The Cleansing Phalanx Battalion has one unit of 10 Sequitors and one unit of 5. I think MSU works well in 40k, but maybe not AoS? (I was going Celestial Vindicators mostly for the scheme).


So if anyone had any pointers for a new player about getting started, that’d be great to hear. Thanks!

So your mileage will vary based on your local meta and more importantly, your playstyle, but I'll try and at least give my perspective and what I've learned from the few games I've played.

I'm a very aggressive player, and my current list reflects this:


Insofar as takeaways from what I've learned so far:

A lot of the scenarios in AoS are focused around objectives, and the ability to kill isn't necessarily what will win you the game.

I'm not impressed by the Nighthaunt Battalions. I'd rather take another hero or more stuff.

Speaking of Heroes, Nighthaunt live and breath by them. A lot of your buffs, and Deathless Minions all procs off your heroes, so don't skimp! My rule of thumb is often at minimum you want 1 hero for each unit you bring.

Use your Underworld deployment to your advantage, especially with Cogs. A 7" charge with a Command Point reroll is incredibly reliable to pull off (with, say, 30 Grimghast Reapers buffed with +1 attack! ) However, be smart with which heroes you start on the field. Dropping from the Underworld happens at the end of the Movement phase, so if you want to cast spells or whatever, start those heroes on the field. I will usually have the Guardian, Dreadblade, and Reikenor on the field.

Hexwraiths are garbage. They hit like a sack of kittens, and you can get the same mobility out of other units combined with the Pendant and/or Cogs.

The Black Coach is...sub par. It's a support piece, but over-priced. If you take it, take two, and lots of Spirit Hosts (since the coach, empowered, also raises whole models, not wounds) to maximize your never-going-to-die theme.