Nagash Battletome

[pretre]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nagash is one of Warhammer Age of Sigmar’s most iconic characters – a figure whose power and drive threatens even the gods of Chaos. With Nagash and his machinations taking centre stage during the Malign Portents, it was only fitting that his armies had a battletome that truly represented the horror of battling the God of Death.

Legions of Nagash is more than just a battletome – it’s a reboot for Death as a whole, designed to bring them in line with modern Warhammer Age of Sigmar. The core of the army still plays as it should – endless, regenerating hordes of low-level infantry, reinforced by powerful elite units – but they have been bolstered with a range of synergies, new artefacts and abilities that open up a vast array of effective armies.

We’ll be previewing the Legions of Nagash in depth every day this week, starting with the changes to summoning and the Grand Host of Nagash – a relentless allegiance that’s particularly cool for players who love Deathrattle skeletons.

Summoning

Firstly, summoning for Death units has been fundamentally changed in the new battletome, regardless of how you build your army. Rather than being summoned through magical means, several Death units now possess the Summonable keyword. This keyword unlocks all sorts of synergies and combos with the rest of your army, the simplest being that most Death heroes now possess an ability called Deathly Invocation. This ability heals a number of Summonable units every turn or restores lost models to the unit. Its effectiveness depends on the strength of the given Death character – Nagash, for example, affects five units, while a humble Wight King will heal two.

This ability stacks, so by taking several Death Heroes, you’ll be able to render your favourite units nigh unstoppable – as if trying to chew through a horde of Grave Guard wasn’t already tricky enough!

Dedicate your army to one of the Legions of Nagash, and you’ll be able to make Summonable units even more powerful with gravesites – areas of the battlefield that represent sealed tombs, long-lost barrows or just mass graves from ages past. Every Legions of Nagash army gets to place four gravesites on the table – two in their territory and two in the enemy’s. Summonable units can be set up to emerge from these gravesites later in the game, and they have a similar effect to Deathly Invocation, healing nearby units. As such, Death armies can control territory on the board more effectively than ever before – after all, the leisurely pace of a 60-strong unit of Zombies doesn’t hurt so much when you bring them onto the board 9″ away from the enemy…

The Grand Host of Nagash

While the other Legions use cunning, strategy or magic to win their battles, Nagash prefers to batter his foes down with raw attrition and terrifying demonstrations of power, sending wave after wave of the undead to grind his foes into submission. On the tabletop, this is represented by Legions Innumerable:

Combined with gravesites and Deathly Invocation, you could see your units restored by 3D3 models every turn, if not more, making your units even more difficult for your enemies to chew through. Indeed, they’ll be forced to chase down and annihilate weakened squads, lest they be restored in later turns.

If you love Deathrattle units, then you’ll find the Grand Host of Nagash the perfect allegiance. For one, you’ll be able to take Grave Guard as Battleline in the army, and for another, there are a couple of Command Traits and artefacts that specifically aid these most relentless servants of Death. Lord of Nagashizzar, for example, allows you to maximise the attacks of a nearby unit. Combine it with a nearby Wight King and a Necromancer casting Vanhel’s Danse Macabre, and you could quite easily get 162 (yes, one hundred and sixty-two) attacks out of a unit of 20 Grave Guard.

A note to my erstwhile editors – my calculations here are based on a unit of 20 all getting their attacks – not implausible thanks to their small base size! The unit has 2 attacks base, plus one for the champion. This is then increased by 2 by the Wight King and the Lord of Nagashizzar ability. This brings the unit up to 81 attacks – which, attacking again with Vanhels would give you 162 attacks. WOW.

The Ossific Diadem, on the other hand, provides additional durability to your Deathrattle units, stacking well with Deathless Minions to make them very hard to kill indeed.

Of course, if you’re looking for some more elite units to support your horde of Skeletons, then you’ll want to pick up some Morghasts – deathly angels personally created by Nagash to persecute his will. In the Grand Host of Nagash, Morghasts gain a +1 bonus to Attacks, making them particularly effective when equipped with spirit halberds.

Finally, if you’re looking for an elite way to theme your Death army, the First Cohort formation is ideal. Representing Nagash’s elite, you’ll be able to make the God of Death even more durable by allocating wounds he suffers to nearby units of Morghasts – because trying to bring down Nagash wasn’t daunting enough without help…

Nagash himself will also be able to take full advantage of two new magical lores – but that is a tale for tomorrow. Come back then when we’ll be looking at the masters of Death Magic – Arkhan the Black’s Legion of Sacrament. In the meantime, Nagash is available right now – order him here.

The post Legions of Nagash: The Grand Host of Nagash and New Summoning appeared first on Warhammer Community.

[Guest]

Good that death is finally getting some love. 

That said, I run into a reoccuring issue with death abilities in that they all seem to be about staying on the table, with very few focused on actually winning the game though any other means.  Not a whole lot of offense options in Death, mostly just healing, summoning and abilities to shrug off wounds. Is that really the only threat that undead present? The armies of Order should just wall them off....

[pretre]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Death armies have long been renowned for their magic in the lore of Warhammer Age of Sigmar and the world-that-was. There’s something particularly stirring about the thought of covens of Necromancers releasing howling gales of amethyst magic on the battlefield and armoured Vampire Lords dispatching foes with amaranthine lightning. In Battletome: Legions of Nagash, the aforementioned forces of Death more than ‘live’ up to their reputation, with two new lores, a powerful new magical ability to combine them with, and a whole Legion designed to harness them to their full potential!

Magic In Legions of Nagash

Legions of Nagash provides Death players with a wider range of magical spells than ever before, thanks to two new spell lores. Don’t worry – your favourite spells are still in the game and, rest assured, Arkhan can still unleash the horrifying Curse of Years upon his foes. Instead, the new Lores of the Dead add to your toolbox of spells and open up new options for your army. Deathmages from your army – such as the humble Necromancer – will be able to sap the vigour of your foes with the Lore of the Deathmages, while Vampire Lords will be able to unleash magical wrath with the Lore of the Vampires. Meanwhile, Deathlords Wizards will be able to choose from both!

Whichever Lore of the Dead you’re using, you’ll benefit from the Locus of Shyish. Cast any spell from any lore on a 9+, and you get to resolve the effect twice – easy enough for Nagash with his +3 bonus to casting, or a nearby Mortis Engine and Corpse Cart with Balefire Brazier boosting your other Wizards’ abilities. One particularly nasty spell to try is Soul Harvest, a spell that draws the life of nearby foes towards the caster:

Whether you resolve this once or twice, you’ll be able to deal horrific damage to the foe while keeping a more valuable caster (like a Mortarch!) alive for longer.

Vampire Wizards, on the other hand, will find Amaranthine Orb a risky but powerful way to blast a hole through enemy battle-lines.

The Legion of Sacrament

If you’re looking to take full advantage of the new spells in Legions of Nagash, you’ll want to use the Legion of Sacrament, the army of Arkhan the Black. The Legion of Sacrament are notorious for their mastery of Death magic, and many mages in the Mortal Realms make the long pilgrimage to Shyish to learn from Arkhan himself.

On the tabletop, the Legion of Sacrament gains additional bonuses to cast – a small but welcome ability that increases your chances of activating the Locus of Shyish.

Meanwhile, your gravesites will be even deadlier thanks to The Master’s Teachings, an ability that can turn dead enemy units into fresh reinforcements for your army:

In this way, armies serving under Arkhan will benefit from both the endless regeneration provided by Deathly Invocation and their gravesites, as well as sudden spikes in the later game when you begin to wipe out enemy units. We’d recommend fielding your army as a castle based around the gravesites in your territory, battering the enemy with a hail of magical spells. Should anyone get close – well, that’s when you can unleash the Black Gem:

The Black Gem is a high-risk artefact, but one that’s well worth taking for the moments when it works – just be careful not to leave your friendly units too close!

If you’re looking to play more defensively, the Wristbands of Black Gold are a great choice, helping to shield your more valuable characters from getting shot down – ideal for a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon:

If you’re looking to truly master the magic of Death, you’ll want to take the Lords of Sacrament warscroll battalion, a formation centred around Arkhan, a Mortis Engine and a coven of Necromancers. Each unit in the battalion is shielded from attacks by the Mortis Engine, while they’ll also benefit from being able to cast an additional spell every turn! While this formation might consume a good number of points, it’ll be sure to catch your opponents off guard and is a great way to pay tribute to Nagash’s greatest pupil.

Fancy destroying your opponent by more direct means? The Legion of Sacrament represents just one way to play your army with the new battletome – check back tomorrow when we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the vampire elite of the Legion of Blood.

The post Legions of Nagash: The Legion of Sacrament appeared first on Warhammer Community.

[pretre]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battletome: Legions of Nagash is designed to support a range of Death armies depending on which units you like best and how exactly you prefer to bring the Grand Necromancer’s wrath to bear upon your foes. We’ve looked at the Grand Host of Nagash and the new summoning mechanics – ideal for players that love Deathrattle units and want to crush their foes with a skeletal horde – and the Legion of Sacrament alongside the new Lores of the Dead, which are perfect if you like to soften up your foes with spells before finally eradicating them. Today, we’re checking out the Legion of Blood, a force that makes some of the most powerful heroes in the game even deadlier, as well as a savage new named character from the book.

The Legion of Blood

The Legion of Blood are Nagash’s spies and insurgents. Whole civilisations in the Mortal Realms have fallen to the Soulblight curse, but should they prove resistant from within, then Neferata, Mortarch of Blood and master of the Legion, has no qualms about crushing them in open battle.

On the battlefield, the Legion of Blood is the most elite of the Legions of Nagash, making particular use of Soulblight units. Of course, you’re still free to use the Soulblight allegiance abilities in the book, but by taking the Legion of Blood, you’ll be able to benefit from both the wide pool of units available to your army AND powerful synergies!

The first unique rule for Legion of Blood armies is Favoured Retainers, representing Neferata’s chosen vampires accompanying her to war.

With every Vampire Lord and Blood Knight in your army gaining an additional attack, you’ll be able to combine an unbreakable anvil of Deathrattle Skeletons or Deadwalkers Zombies with a brutal Soulblight hammer.

Vampire Lords, in particular, are superb in Legion of Blood armies, not least because you can equip yours with a range of powerful artefacts. The Amulet of Screams, for example, is a great way to deal with any enemy casters using particularly powerful spells:

On the other hand, if you’re willing to risk a dice roll, the Ring of Dominion allows you to attack with one of your enemy’s weapons, meaning you’ll be able to turn the strength of your opponent’s most powerful weapons against them – just imagine how delightfully evil it would be to cut a Mighty Lord of Khorne in twain with his own reality-splitting axe!

Of course, you’ll want some Soulblight Heroes in such a force. Making your own Vampire Lords is a lot of fun, but there’s also a new named character in Legions of Nagash that we think is well worth trying in your army.

Prince Vhordrai

Prince Vhordrai is Lord of the Crimson Keep, a spectral fortress that manifests in the realms upon Nagash’s command. To the Blood Knights, it is a home away from home that allows them to launch assaults on lands that think themselves safe from the wrath of Nagash, but to Vhordrai, it is a prison; his spirit is bound there in punishment for his attempts to assassinate the Grand Necromancer.

You’ll find Prince Vhordrai works on the battlefield much like a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon, but with a few nifty extra abilities. For one, his dragon, Shordemaire, is infused with the essence of Shyish and deals a lethal deluge of mortal wounds when attacking with its breath – as many as 6 when they’re on full Wounds! Secondly, Prince Vhordrai combines brilliantly with another Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon, thanks to his Fist of Nagash Command Ability.

While it might come at the cost of a command ability that helps your wider army, using this will allow you to get the most out of your combat characters. As such, we’d suggest taking the Prince as the general of a more elite Death army.

As you can see, if you’re looking for a highly specialised, elite fighting force, Battletome: Legions of Nagash is ideal, allowing you to fully harness the power of your top-tier characters with a whole range of new abilities and combos. Of course, if you’re looking for something a little for subtle, check back tomorrow when we check out the Legion of Night, Nagash’s most potent terror weapon and the army of Mannfred Von Carstein himself…

The post Legions of Nagash: The Legion Blood and Prince Vhordrai appeared first on Warhammer Community.

[pretre]

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Legion of Night are Nagash’s terror troops. Under the command of Mannfred von Carstein, these sinister warriors do more than just annihilate their foes in single combat, they break their enemy’s spirit using underhanded tactics and the ageless strategic genius of their master to outmanoeuvre their foes as they fall for deadly traps.

Mannfred has never been one for a fair fight, and the tactics of his Legion reflect his dishonourable (and highly effective) approach to warfare.

This works in two parts. Firstly, any Deathrattle units in your territory will be given +1 to their saving throws thanks to The Bait:

Combined with gravesites and Invocation of Death, this is going to make a skeleton horde sitting on your home objectives even more difficult to displace, giving your army a superb anvil. You’ll be able to couple this with potent hammer units thanks to Ageless Cunning:

Death armies are not traditionally the fastest of forces, but with this ability in hand, you’ll find getting round your opponents easy. You could hold a unit in reserve for the entire game to swoop onto a key objective at the last minute, or rip into the flanks of your foe’s more vulnerable units with a heavy hitting unit like a Zombie Dragon or Terrorgheist. This ability also works when deploying your gravesites offensively – bring on a Death hero from a table edge within 9″ of a gravesite, then summon another unit you’ve kept in reserve from that! The Legion of Night promises to be a deadly weapon in the hands of a canny general.

There’s a range of artefacts and command traits unique to the Legion of Night that help make your underhanded tactics even deadlier. Unbending Will, for example, helps ensure that your Deathrattle units stay in the fight and make it even harder for your opponents to grind through them:

Unholy Impetus, on the other hand, allows you to maximise the attacks of nearby units, and is deadly combined with hordes and more elite models alike:

The artefacts available to the Legion of Night allow you to play all manner of dirty tricks on your foes. Our favourite is the Curseblade, a wicked weapon that wears down the champions of your enemy while invigorating your own. You may even end up killing weaker heroes without even having to attack them!

Morbheg’s Claw, on the other hand, opens up new possibilities when writing your lists by providing significant bonuses to your spellcasting abilities.

If you’re building a Legion of Night army, the Nightfall Pack is a great place to start. Consisting of a combined force of Mannfred, a couple of units of Vargheists and some units of Skeleton Warriors to anchor them, the Nightfall Pack is designed to make the most of Ageless Cunning by making your skeletal forces seem unending, and your Vargheists even deadlier in close combat with Swooping Predators. Combined with their Blood-Maddened Feeding Frenzy, you’ll be able to sweep through lesser units with contemptuous ease while your Skeleton Warriors keep more dangerous foes occupied.

Of course, using this formation, you’ll still have room for another unit you can bring on from reserves – and for that, we think the new Bloodseeker Palanquin is a great choice:

The Bloodseeker Palanquin

Built from the same kit as the Coven Throne and Mortis Engine, the Bloodseeker Palanquin is an unusual and deadly new Soulblight unit in Legions of Nagash, designed to bolster your other vampiric units and slay enemy heroes.

Manage to kill an enemy hero within 9″ of the Bloodseeker Palanquin, and it’ll provide any nearby Soulblight units with additional attacks:

To help you accomplish this, the Bloodseeker Palanquin possesses a deadly unique spell in Blood Siphon:

We think the Bloodseeker Palanquin is the ideal accompaniment to some Vargheists, Blood Knights or any Soulblight units you prefer, opening up new options for those players that fancy fielding an entire army of Vampires – indeed, if you’re already using a Soulblight army, you’ll be able to continue to do so with the Soulblight allegiance abilities presented in the book.

Excited? You’ve not got long to wait to pick up Battletome: Legions of Nagash now – make sure to pre-order your copy tomorrow. In the meantime, if you’re looking to start a Legions of Nagash army, the Blade of the Blood Queen Battleforce is the perfect place to start.

The post The Legion of Night and the Bloodseeker Palanquin appeared first on Warhammer Community.