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Now that Grave Guard can be taken as a Battleline choice for Deathrattle, I can finally run the heavily-armoured skeleton army I was thinking of when I first started collecting them. I'm having some trouble deciding what list to run, however, and was hoping you all could help me out.

Currently, I was thinking of taking the following as the core of my army:

Wight King (on Steed?)

20x Grave Guard

10x Black Knights
10x Black Knights

Clocking in at 920 points, this setup gives me a solid block of hard-hitting infantry, some cavalry, and the option of summoning a Cairn Wraith or Skeleton Warriors where needed (my General would have the Master of the Black Arts trait, hence the summoning power).

At 1500 points, I'd bolster the army's ranks with some Deathmages Allies, in the form of a Necromancer and Mortis Engine, leading to the following list:

Wight King
Necromancer (allies)

20x Grave Guard
10x Black Knights
10x Black Knights

Mortis Engine

This setup leaves me 290 summoning points.

Alternatively, I could run a Coven Throne instead of the Necromancer and Mortis Engine, or one of the Mortarchs, to give my army a hard-hitting Monster/Hero.

if the wight king is the same cost on steed, take him on steed. It gives you a couple extra attacks for free.

For the first list: I would take more then one wizard if you are playing the summoning game. If your opponent has first turn and can take him out somehow you loose 600 pts on a 5 wound model.

For the second list: I am not sure you have the means to back that mortis engine up. The way I see it, it will run off with your steeds, be viciously outnumbered and die.
If you keep it with your graveguard you loose all the pts you pay for a model with high movement and you will be having a really expensive and slow bubblewrap,as the graveguard will be canon fodder at that point. It is worth going in the aura of the mortis engine to take out those graveguard as they cost enough to risk it.

In both lists the grave guard are the only real danger, and your opponent will know that and see them coming from far. I would double the danger, or play all on the high movement with the mortis engine. But it seems to me that the mortis engine is to expensive for what it is going to do in this list.

 minisnatcher wrote:

For the first list: I would take more then one wizard if you are playing the summoning game. If your opponent has first turn and can take him out somehow you loose 600 pts on a 5 wound model.

Apologies, I forgot to mention that the first list would be used for 1000 point games, not 1500

For the second list: I am not sure you have the means to back that mortis engine up. The way I see it, it will run off with your steeds, be viciously outnumbered and die.
If you keep it with your graveguard you loose all the pts you pay for a model with high movement and you will be having a really expensive and slow bubblewrap,as the graveguard will be canon fodder at that point. It is worth going in the aura of the mortis engine to take out those graveguard as they cost enough to risk it.

In both lists the grave guard are the only real danger, and your opponent will know that and see them coming from far. I would double the danger, or play all on the high movement with the mortis engine. But it seems to me that the mortis engine is to expensive for what it is going to do in this list.

Maybe I should swap the Mortis Engine for a Coven Throne, then? It hits a bit harder, and is also a Wizard, which the Mortis Engine isn't for some reason.

I really wish GW would give Black Knights a buff, they're hardly worth taking with their current rules...

 Ezra Tyrius wrote:

 minisnatcher wrote:


In both lists the grave guard are the only real danger, and your opponent will know that and see them coming from far. I would double the danger, or play all on the high movement with the mortis engine. But it seems to me that the mortis engine is to expensive for what it is going to do in this list.

Maybe I should swap the Mortis Engine for a Coven Throne, then? It hits a bit harder, and is also a Wizard, which the Mortis Engine isn't for some reason.

I really wish GW would give Black Knights a buff, they're hardly worth taking with their current rules...

yes black knights really seem terrible with only 1 attack. But in death all is about buffs. So you could put a necromancer on a balewind vortex to get dance macabre on the steeds while your grave guard are still moving up. It is also a great way to make sure nobody can come within 3" of an objective as no model can move within 3" of the vortex. And you could win a couple " movement first turn when summoning (by pushing a unit forward a few inch to make room for the vortex.
But units of 10 do not seem beefy enoug. I would playtest one big unit of 20. 20 attacks on the charge with double wounds 4+3+ should be scary, Especially if can get Dance macabre on them for the 40 attacks.

260 pts for that coven throne seems a bit much no? (A bloodthirster is 260 pts)

What this list really need is something to make your opponent worry about charging those grave guard, or making it impossible to get to them by outmaneuvering you. you need to be able to charge first with them and choose the juicy targets because they can kill hard hitters, but they can get killed just as easily so you need to strike first and prevent retaliation. this asks ftor some premeditated tactics with a slow unit.
(i know you do not like hearing this) Maybe a big block (or several small blocks) of skelletons to assist those graveguard, these could be pts in summoning.
That way the grave guard can be the hammer, the warriors the anvil. If you charge the skelletons the graveguard pile in and do heavy damage. That way they won't be point and click for the opponents heavy hitters.

Problem is, even with buffs Black Knights are terrible.

A big blob of 20 of them seems like a big risk, to be honest. I mean, I'd be paying 480 points for a single unit that might do a lot of damage to one enemy unit, only to then immediately get counter-charged and probably destroyed.

260 points for a Coven Throne is a bit much, yes, which is why I originally wanted to run the Mortis Engine, which is only 180 points. But then again, everything seems overcosted when a Bloodthirster costs only 260 points, doesn't it

And yeah, the Skeleton Warriors would be a good screen for the Grave Guard, and I intend to use them as such That's why I keep the little reserve of summoning points, it allows me to surprise the enemy a bit

I'm wondering how I'm going to hold on to objectives, though. I mean, I could summon a unit of Skeleton Warriors to hold it while the rest of the army moves forward, but I can't do that if I have to defend three objectives.

 Ezra Tyrius wrote:
Problem is, even with buffs Black Knights are terrible.

A big blob of 20 of them seems like a big risk, to be honest. I mean, I'd be paying 480 points for a single unit that might do a lot of damage to one enemy unit, only to then immediately get counter-charged and probably destroyed.

260 points for a Coven Throne is a bit much, yes, which is why I originally wanted to run the Mortis Engine, which is only 180 points. But then again, everything seems overcosted when a Bloodthirster costs only 260 points, doesn't it

And yeah, the Skeleton Warriors would be a good screen for the Grave Guard, and I intend to use them as such That's why I keep the little reserve of summoning points, it allows me to surprise the enemy a bit

I'm wondering how I'm going to hold on to objectives, though. I mean, I could summon a unit of Skeleton Warriors to hold it while the rest of the army moves forward, but I can't do that if I have to defend three objectives.

I would playtest the blob of 20. I know it is risky. But weak armies sometimes call for risky tactics, also you know you can retreat? And your coven throne or mortis engine could be in the middle of them. You could also play sneaky and keep them behind your graveguard. it is an option to strongly outmaneuver anything that is coming for them,
But this tactic does ask for support of a necromancer, and I would keep the option of summoning the vortex so that you keep in range.

I think your idea is not bad but calls for a few play tests to see what plays out how and should be used how.

There was something bugging me about the idea of running them in one big unit, and I finally remember what it was: running them in one unit instead of two means I'm one Battleline unit short. Which means I'd have to either split up the Grave Guard, or add a unit of Skeleton Warriors...

Also, I'm wondering how well this army would do in scenarios based on holding objectives...