Mr Mystery - Master Necromancers.

[Mr Mystery]

Well, OK.

Far from a master. But what I lack in skill and experience I totes make up for in sheer enthusiasm - so much enthusiasm I don't know where I want to go.

I kicked off an Undead force way back when Sigmar's Blood came out. Plan then was to assemble an Undead force in-line with the campaign book. But that didn't happen. Boring old real life stuck it's oar in what with work and needing to eat and that.

But now? Now I'm back in the graveyard, baby! Picked up the Malignants 'Getting Started' box yesterday, and a Mortarch (because it's nice to have a General).

So currently my force stands at.... 20 Ghouls, 20 Skellingtons, 10 Dire Wolves, a Corpse Cart, a Mortis Engine, 3 Spirit Hosts (gorgeous models, pain to build), 5 Hexwraiths. Oh, and Arkhan The Black.

I'm not one for comp systems (I'm enjoying the freedom of 'yeah, take whatevs) but I'm thinking it won't take a great deal more to round it all off, and already I have a reasonable selection of unit types.

Barring Arkhan, I'm still on course to complete my force to the original plan - that of following Sigmar's Blood

But has anyone dabbled in the dark arts in the Age of Sigmar? Got any pointers that are easily overlooked?

[Erik Setzer]

I could probably use some hints myself. Had about 8000 points painted up for WFB. Right now they're just looking really nice on some shelves (and occasionally being picked on by a cat who thinks she's a gamer).

[Mr Mystery]

I'd like some Undead formations.

Rules perks are of course nice, but it's more to give me ideas for how my force might look.

The stuff I've got so far is a reasonable sized force for AoS, and my local store is going to be doing a campaign. You start with a Capital. That grants you a General model, and up to five Warscrolls of no more than 20 wounds each.

None of my existing units breach the wounds limit, which is nice - but overall I'd like to boost my Infantry up to 30 strong so I can benefit from their size bonus for longer.

Also, still trying to get a handle on how many characters is 'about nice' in AoS.

For my Ogres, I'm well used to just fielding two or three from my square bashing days, and they don't really get much in the way of synergy boosts at present.

Maybe a couple of Necromancers will do - particularly if I use the Empire Wizard kit to convert up Acolytes for Arkhan to tow around.

There is much to consider!

[Erik Setzer]

I'd think a Vampire might be nice, a bit of extra magic and some punch in combat.

The new campaign book might have some formations, so at least there's that?

[Mr Mystery]

Very true.

I'm not 100% on including Vampires, as I'm going with Arkhan. I see him as being quite dismissive of Vampires, given he pre-dates them and their propensity for betraying Nagash - though having said that, if I go with a second Malignants set, I may do a Coven Throne - a way for Neferata to keep her hand in without keeping her hand in.

The second box really appeals, as I think quite highly of Spirit Hosts, and I can always expand the Hexwraiths to a deadlier 10 - or plump for some Black Knights who have serious hitting power on the charge.

I'm also considering either Morghast, Vargoyles or Crypt Horrors. I like the models, and I also enjoy the sheer hitting power of monstrous infantry.

Going to set a budget of £50 a month, as I'm also taking part in a Tale of Gamers via Facebook, though I will admit to an obvious cheat by using my existing Batallion to get a head start!

[Erik Setzer]

Oh, well, if you have Arkhan, you don't really need a Vampire for combat power. Arkhan's my Mortarch of choice.

If you've got the wounds allowed to pump up the Hexwraiths or Black Knights, go for it. The more the merrier, right?

Morghasts are nice, but given your budget limit, they might take up too much of your budget. I'm thinking that'd be a box of two Morghasts and maybe one of the older, more inexpensive characters, and there's your budget for the month.

Tale of Gamers thing sounds interesting. I think the local GW store would probably have some success trying that... Not much money from a single person each month, but likely to draw in a few, and that's a tidy sum each month. And it'd be fun for the gamers. I'm not sure if I'd be able to do something like that, though. Discounting the new armies for AoS, the only armies I'm missing, off the top of my head, are Dark Elves, Bretonnians, and Chaos Warriors (Slaves to Darkness now?). Of those, Dark Elves are most likely to get my attention, but heck, maybe Chaos to complete my collection and make use of the new book. That's a good way to keep yourself from going nuts with the purchases, though!

[Mr Mystery]

It'd also help to show that AoS doesn't have the same 'points floor' as Warhammer has/had*. It's not exactly a skirmish scale game, not a mass combat, but works best (in my experience) somewhere in the middle.

People just need to give it half a chance. It's not a groundbreaking rules set, but nor is it the turgid pile of poop many decried it as at the outset.

And in case anyone's wondering, the £50 ToG cap is indeed to make the most of the Getting Started Sets


*delete to taste

[grimmas]

May I suggest a big bucket of Zombies it's not really an Undead army if you can't raise the corpses of your enemies to fight for you

[Mr Mystery]

I would....and I will.

Just, not with the current models. I'm not even sure they were much cop when first released, let alone many years later!

Just checked their Warscroll.....40 stinky Zombies, with a Banner, and a Corpse Cart behind.

That's.....that's not a unit many people will want to tango with, no?

[grimmas]

Yeah they aren't great models. I have seen them kit bashed with empire, brettonion and Elf kits to good effect though.

They do get dramatically better in numbers with a corpse cart don't they 😮