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How To Play Deathrattle: Your First 1000 Points

By Travis Perkins | April 25th, 2017 | Categories: Age of Sigmar, How To Tutorial, Tactics, undead

Undead Skeleton NagashThis week we are going to give Death some love and focus on building an army around the Start Collecting Skeleton Horde, and your first 1,000 points.

The start collecting box is currently going for about $65 on eBay and comes in at 540 points. *We do mean skeleton horde! This is a high model count army so be ready to paint a lot of bones!*

  • 10 Skeleton Warriors (80 points): Battle line 1 of 2
  • Arkhan the Black (340 points): Leader 1 of 4, Behemoth 1 of 2
  • 5 Black Knights (120 points): No unit type

Arkhan the Black: Move (fly) – Damage Table (16 down to 4), 11 wounds, 4+ save, and 10 bravery is a solid base line. He has 4 different melee attacks; Zefet-kar with 1 attack hitting and wounding on a 3+, at -1 rend, doing D3 damage. Khenash-an with 1 attack hitting on a 4+, wounding on a 3+, at -1 rend, doing D3 damage. Razark’s claws with damage table attacks (6 down to 2), hitting on a 4+, wounding on a 3+, at -2 rend, doing 2 damage each. Spirits with 6 attacks hitting on a 5+, wounding on a 4+, for 1 damage (hit rolls of 6 cause 1 mortal wound). So nothing to sneeze at, but where his point cost comes in is his magic (can cast 2 spells a turn) and regeneration ability. Every combat phase he heals 2 wounds in which he killed an enemy model so he has some staying power.

He also gets a damage table bonus to casting and unbinding (starts at 2 for both down to nothing). Finally, his unique spell is Curse of the Years which has a casting value of 6. You roll 10 dice and every 6 is 1 mortal wound, and you take all the dice that cause a mortal wound and roll them again. On a 5+ this time they cause a mortal wound and you again get to roll the dice that were a 5+. Do this subtracting 1 from the number needed to cause a mortal wound every time while re rolling all the dice that caused a wound. So, if you get lucky and get a roll down to 1, it will automatically kill a unit. Finally, he has a command ability that allows all wizards within 18 of him to increase their spell range by 6.

Black Knights: Move 12, 2 wounds, 5+ save (if the opponent has no rend add 1 to the roll), and 10 bravery so while fast moving they are not going to take much punishment. They have 2 different melee attacks; Lance with 1 attack, hitting and wounding on a 4+, for 1 damage. Then their hooves with 2 attacks hitting on a 4+, wounding on a 5+, for 1 damage. On a charge you can add 1 to the lance’s wound roll. The champ has 2 attacks rather than 1, horn blower lets them charge at least 6 inches (unless the charge roll is higher), and the icon bearer lets you return D3 models to the unit in your hero phase.

Skeleton Warriors: Move 4, 1 wound, 6+ save (if the opponent has no rend add 1 to the roll), and 10 bravery is some pretty weak stats. You can either arm these with spears or blades: Spear is 1 attack with a 2 inch range, hitting on a 5+, wounding on a 4+, for 1 damage. The blade has a 1 inch range with 1 attack hitting and wounding on a 4+, for 1 damage. With more than 20 models each model gets 1 extra attack, and with 30 models each gets 2 extra attacks. They get a bonus 1 to hit rolls if they are within 18 inches of a Death hero. The champ has 2 attacks rather then 1, horn blower lets them charge at least 6 inches (unless the charge roll is higher), and the icon bearer lets you return a D6 skeletons to the unit in your hero phase.

To finish up the 1000 we are first going to flesh out the first skeleton unit with another 30 skeletons, then fill out the second battle line with 10 more skeletons. For a total of 40 more skeletons (total $60 on ebay, but make sure they have spears!). Then add a Necromancer to finish up the army, if possible find one on a nightmare. (Without horse costs $7 on ebay)

  • 30 more skeletons (brings them to full unit of 40 for 320 points , 80 per 10)
  • 1 necromancer (120 points): leader 2 of 4
  • 10 skeletons (80 points): Battle Line 2 of 2

Necromancer: Move 5, 5 wounds, 6+ save, and a bravery of 10 is your basic wizard’s stats. With his staff giving him 1 attack at 2 inch range,  4+ to hit, 3+ to wound, -1 rend for D3 damage, you are going to want to stay out of combat with him. If you can find a model on a nightmare that would be better, as it is same point price for more movement and bonus horse attack. He has an ability where every time he takes a wound on a 4+ he can transfer the wound to a nearby death unit. Where he is useful is his unique spell: Vanhel’s Danse Macabre with a casting value of 6, it lets you select a unit (see 40 skeletons) to pile in an attack twice in your next combat phase.

Total for this army is right around $132 and contains 980 points.

Tactics: Wow talk about skeletons! With this army I would give them spears so you can pile in more attacks with the 2 inch range. Then keep them close enough to a Death hero to add 1 to their hit rolls. Even with the crappy weapon attack you will deal damage through sheer numbers alone. For example 30 skeletons with spears (2 inch range) near a Death hero has 91 attacks hitting and wounding on a 4+….. Now you are not going to be able to pile in all 30 but with spears you will at least get 20! Don’t worry about them getting shot, as you get back a D6 every hero phase. Having the unit of 40 gives you some cushion to lose a few and still get the bonus 2 attacks. The other unit of 10 can stay back and serve as objective holders and or a meat shield for the Necromancer.

Your Necromancer should be casting Vanhel’s Danse Macabre (see 91 attacks) if there is a skeleton unit in combat, otherwise mystic bolt is good at longer range with your generals command ability. The black knights are kind of crappy with only 5, but they can flank and try and take out artillery, capture uncontested objectives, or try to kill weaker hero characters. Finally Arkhan is a solid fighter but he should move to tie up units and let your skeletons catch up. Get him into combat where he can take out a model every combat phase so he can heal 4 wounds (2 each combat phase) every battle round. Then in the magic phase use his curse of the years to snipe hero models and with his second spell mystic shield himself for added staying power.

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More of Your First 1,000 points

About the Author: Travis Perkins

An avid homebrewer and Detroit sports fan (yes even the Lions). I am new to the world of wargamming and very much enjoying the journey. If you have any suggestions or comments feel free to comment on the article or email me at perki116@msu.edu