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So I've been giving some serious consideration to joining AoS on the side of either Chaos or Death after the General's Handbook drops. I've got my potential Chaos army fleshed out, but I'm still working on the potential army of Death. Initially, summoning seemed like the way to go, not because it's extremely powerful right now, but because it seems to fit Death's theme. The early word from the GHB is that summoning got an extremely harsh nerf (it needed to be toned down no doubt, but it seems to have gone too far the other way now), so I went back to the warscrolls to see what else I could come up with, and I may have found something brutal:

Arkhan the Black
Necromancer
Wight King w/ Black Axe
Mortis Engine
Skeleton Warrior (two units with 30 models each)

Each round, both Wight Kings use their Command ability to buff the Warriors with +1 attack/model, and Arkhan buffs one with Vanhel's Danse Macabre (+1 to cast from Mortis Engine and +2/+1 from his Staff depending on remaining wounds). One unit of skeletons now has 121 attacks/round ((1 base, +2 for 30 models, +1 for Lord of Bones) x 30 models +1 for Champion). The other gets twice that thanks to VDM. We're looking at 363 attacks/round with just the skeletons!

The only problem I see with this is the 4" move from the skeletons meaning it's going to take FOREVER to get them into melee range, and I will probably lose a good number of models in the mean time, though that will be somewhat mitigated by having a standard bearer.

So what am I missing here? Why won't this work? I'm assuming there is a flaw in this strategy since I've never seen a list like this in any of the batreps I've watched.

Because you can only have 1 general at a time, and only your general can use a command ability. That's the first issue.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Secondly, I haven't seen Vanhel's Danse Macabre anywhere in the warscrolls. Is that coming from something in the General's handbook?

Goddin wrote:
Secondly, I haven't seen Vanhel's Danse Macabre anywhere in the warscrolls. Is that coming from something in the General's handbook?

No. Its on the Necromancer's Warscroll.

Only one command ability at a time, as mentioned. Also, you are assuming every skeleton will get to attack but that is pretty much never going to happen; a decent chunk will be out.of range at the back of the unit.

i am pretty sure only the first row gets to attack in melee.. May be wrong and most people only use super heroes. So at best like 4 get around him?

Also 1 command ability per general. 1 general.

So in short 5 skullies attack maybe 10 then you need to remove for the losses taken getting there.

Goddin wrote:
Because you can only have 1 general at a time, and only your general can use a command ability. That's the first issue.

Whoops. Didn't see that only the General can use command abilities. Guess that's 30 fewer attacks on one of the units.

Goddin wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Secondly, I haven't seen Vanhel's Danse Macabre anywhere in the warscrolls. Is that coming from something in the General's handbook?

Arkhan can cast any spell known by a Death Wizard within 18" of him, so as long as the Necromancer is alive and nearby, he can cast it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

NinthMusketeer wrote:Only.one command ability at a time, as mentioned. Also, you are assuming every skeleton will get to attack but that is pretty much never going to happen; a decent chunk will be out.of range at the back of the unit.

OgreChubbs wrote:i am pretty sure only the first row gets to attack in melee.. May be wrong and most people only use super heroes. So at best like 4 get around him?

Also 1 command ability per general. 1 general.

So in short 5 skullies attack maybe 10 then you need to remove for the losses taken getting there.

Yeah, that's kind of what I've realized. I'm thinking in terms of 40k CC where "melee" range is 3" so long as at least one model in the unit is in base contact. The Death army definitely has a "cool" factor, but the Warriors of Darkness army would probably work better.

Skeletons w/ spears do have a 2" melee range though, which isn't shabby at all. The combo you have worked out isn't bad by any means, but it isn't brutal either. I'd say you have a decent core of the army to build on. Swapping one of the wight kings to carry a banner instead of the axe could be a good idea since it will make your skeletons more durable.

If you're playing base to base measuring on circle bases as well, a 2" range will mean you can get 3 rows of skeletons fighting if they are ranked flush.

But during the course of battle they are likely to get bottle necked a few times between terrain pieces. So you might have a deep bus formation by the time you reach combat (battlefield dependant)

I think it is a good start to a list. Now that "battleline" units are compulsory you will see much more lists in bat-reps with a solid core like this. Especially as all 6 scenarios will be objective based.

NinthMusketeer wrote:Skeletons w/ spears do have a 2" melee range though, which isn't shabby at all. The combo you have worked out isn't bad by any means, but it isn't brutal either. I'd say you have a decent core of the army to build on. Swapping one of the wight kings to carry a banner instead of the axe could be a good idea since it will make your skeletons more durable.

Ooh! Good advice. 1/6 chance of not dying is definitely better than nothing.

Bottle wrote:If you're playing base to base measuring on circle bases as well, a 2" range will mean you can get 3 rows of skeletons fighting if they are ranked flush.

But during the course of battle they are likely to get bottle necked a few times between terrain pieces. So you might have a deep bus formation by the time you reach combat (battlefield dependant)

I think it is a good start to a list. Now that "battleline" units are compulsory you will see much more lists in bat-reps with a solid core like this. Especially as all 6 scenarios will be objective based.

I'm definitely anxious to see how the FOC and (official) points will change the game. I spent last night watching the Nagash and Archaon painting videos on GW's YouTube page. Now I really can't decide which army to start! I've already built and painted Nagash once. I used the model for my C'Tan Shard of the Nightbringer (I really need to post a picture of that once I get it finished).