Necropolis

[scythewing]

Hmmm why would you not take them as a squad of at least three? Seem like a good harassment.

[Shakandara]

Two reasons:

 

1) Each additional troop adds an Initiative Card. Extra initiative cards can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on how you use them, and what you opponent does. If you already have 3 leader-led troops, you could instead bring 3 gargoyles as 3 solos, boosting your deck to 6 cards instead of 4.

2) You can only bring one such Band of any given datacard in an army. Thus, if you wanted to bring anything more than 6 gargoyles, you would have to bring the additional ones as solos.

 

I do, however, happen to agree with the idea that a small Band (3-4 models) of a datacard that is normally a solo can be very effective.

 

~v

[DanyBoy]

Also, if you play a 500 pts game a lone Gargoyle with its DR/1 can be very effective... It's good to have the option...

[Da_Duke]

Hello guys - Quick question about Judas's vampire SA. Does he regain two tracks every time he feeds as a free action or does the model he feeds on need to have fearsome for this to happen? Thanks.

[Shakandara]

Asked and answered here.

 

~v

[Lt. Coldfire]

Since this thread hasn't been touched in a while, I figured I'd necro it (yes, pun intended) with a list I've come up with.  May the record show that I have not played a single game of Warlord--I've just decided recently to put an army together using Bones and I'm limiting my army to Bones minis since I love to paint those, plus they're cheap.  I plan on playing a game once the new Bones 2 models come in. 

 

For Graverot, I'm using the Clay Golem (#77170) which looks pretty similar to Graverot.  Skeletal Giants are the obvious Bones Skeleton Giant guys.  Lastly, the gargoyles are the Bones gargoyles.

 

 

Necropolis - 996 points

Troop 1
Rhasia, Zombie Queen
Zombie x 10
Luck Stone

Troop 2
Graverot, Ghast
Gauntfield, Scarecrow
Ghast x 4

Troop 3
Railor of the Unbodied
Malek, the Hated
Skeletal Swordman x 5
Familiar

Troop 4
Gargoyle x 3

Troop 5
Skeletal Giant

Troop 6
Skeletal Giant
 

 

 

Speak to me.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Lt. Coldfire

[Shakandara]

Right off the top? Your build is not legal. The rule when it comes to Solos is you must have an equal or greater number of leader-led troops. Since the Gargoyles are a Band, they do not count. Thus, one too many Solos, as it stands now.

 

~v

[Lt. Coldfire]

Right off the top? Your build is not legal. The rule when it comes to Solos is you must have an equal or greater number of leader-led troops. Since the Gargoyles are a Band, they do not count. Thus, one too many Solos, as it stands now.

 

~v

Typical.  I changed it up. 

[Humansquish]

Made a quick list around vampires and the +2 with bloodlust army ability. Low model count so would take some finesse to play, but should be interesting. The plan would be to use the grave horror & Lord Tharian to soften up the enemy before joining melee to be able to get the +2 bonus.

 

Judas

Lord Tharian

Vanderast

Crimson Knight x3

 

Elsabeth

Crimson Knight x3

 

Grave Horror

 

 

[SirArthurIV]

Well, you can fit another crimson knight in a 1000 point game. I'd put it in Judas's troop. or you could do a band of 5 zombies and a luck stone to act as a screen/tar-pit as tough 3 and 2DT is hard to get around.  Plus it's an extra initiative card and activation. You do have a lot of DT on your models. AND vampire, so they will be hard to take down despite being few models. I would worry about spellcasters and ranged, though. The crimson knights are slow, and could be kited around the board by faster armies despite their high DV.
 

The grave Horror is probably your saving grace on both those fronts, save for Strong Earth mages.

 

Another thing to consider is putting Crypt Bats in Judas's troop instead of Crimson Knights. you can fit three times as many as them for about the same points, they can fly and match his speed. and his warlord ability gives them bloodlust so they will get the doctrine bonus. this list does similar to what you have, but with some casting and mobility added to it.

 

Troop 1 Judas Bloodspire Tharian, Bloodmagus Crypt Bat x 9	Troop 2 Elsabeth Briarkiss Crimson Knight x 3	Troop 3 Grave Horror	Troop 4 Aysa, Ghost
Troop 5 Luck Stone

Edited June 5, 2017 by SirArthurIV

[Humansquish]

Yeah, that is better. Especially the swift attacks at potentially mav 6 with support.

[Looter]

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 9:39 PM, Humansquish said:

Yeah, that is better. Especially the swift attacks at potentially mav 6 with support.

Yes this is something I always look for.  If a cheap unit can threaten a much larger opponent and be activly dangerous with support and other bonuses then it will typically make a game with many more avenues to victory.

 

As an addition to above while I love burrowing Zombies an all zombie and/or skeleton army will have some issues takeing down large or damage resistant units more than other units because it doesn't matter how many are attacking they are not getting any  support from doing so.

[Reinchard]

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I would worry about spellcasters and ranged, though.

 

I'd not, because the only faction out of 19, that performs cost-effective shooting, is Razig. Moreover, shooting depends on terrain and enemy cover/spells. I'd definitely take a couple of chattel models to heal Judas and friends from early damage. Knights work much better if they have cheap screen made of zombies, support inclusive.

 

Otherwise if you take bats, they move fast and leave Tharian behind, thus getting punished with templates. They are too fragile to be the main hitting power.

Naomi+Phylactery is much more useful take than Tharian, because you can considerably soften up the enemy, before your charge hits home instead of the only dispel usage.

 

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Grave Horror

 

If to speak of effectiveness, consider Graverot+Armor of courage+4 Gasts. For the same cost they have more wounds and attacks. A DR2 is not a panacea if you get swarmed.

 

Quote

swift attacks

 

They are only effective with First Strike, for example Gaan-Hor. You lose time dealing only one potential wound and getting one in return, taking into account their low DV. Knights fare much better.

 

Quote

As an addition to above while I love burrowing Zombies an all zombie and/or skeleton army will have some issues takeing down large or damage resistant units more than other units because it doesn't matter how many are attacking they are not getting any  support from doing so

 

Zombies enjoy no support, but they enjoy toughness. They may effectively block a costly enemy melee model for many turns. Besides, the bucket of dice they deal on attack eventually downs it. For example, I've killed Hill Giant with them two times out of two encounters. Many factions are envious of Necropolis for having such an effective models.

Edited June 15, 2017 by Reinchard

[Looter]

So I am going to respond to Reinchard and I hope you are not offended but I disagree with you on nearly all points.  Not that you are wrong just that I disagree with you.

1.  There are a lot of factions that have some good range capability, many have one or more units that just by themselves can provide a ton of fire support.  I actually fought a very similar army recently with the dwarves and between earthquake and Snorri laying down some ranged support there were problems for my friend the necropolis player.  Range always matters, just sometimes it is used wrong.

 

2.   I can agree with this in some ways because it is actually a tough group to have just running around.   But it does not have the same role as a burrowing DR2, 4#MA 8MAV unit with bludgeon and fearsome.  The Grave Horror is a suppression unit that can even make other Giant sized figures flinch when it is on the attack.  So it just depends on what you intend If you need a nut cracker that can hurt things about as tough as any in the game Grave Horror is a good one. if you need swings and more area to cover go with the Ghasts.

 

3.  Swift attack is an excellent ability that in many ways is useful to attack something much meaner than the attacker and limit the damage that you might receive in return.   One very good use of Swift attack is to make an attack on something without too much fear of death then move on to base a unit with first strike.  Now you don't have to worry about getting killed without ever seeing your defensive swings in return.

 

4.   Your particular games do not actually prove nor disprove the effectiveness of zombies, nor the Hill Giant, just like my last battle against zombies only proved they were at most a nuisance and 0 threat for an entire game Luck sometimes is more important than a good plan.  Sometimes things just work out.  Zombies on their own are slow space eaters that faster units will move around to get to targets of value.  They are very good when used with other units though as they can take the hits while another unit does the damage and can give support bonuses even though they do not receive them.

[SirArthurIV]

Zombies are best with Rhasia and an altar of blood. 34 mav 3 attacks with a 50% chance for tough to trigger, and you can explode them at your leisure to damage and cause shaken for an extra +2 to mav. Add on top of that a chance to get another 1DT zombie  to the squad with each kill, and you have something formidable

Edited June 18, 2017 by SirArthurIV