We are back with another your first 1000 points to get a new army onto for a new year. This one is going to focus around the start collecting Malignats ($65 on eBay).
Death unfortunately has not received a lot of love from GW lately, but something tells me there not going to leave an entire faction alone much longer.
So this set is great for starting a new army and painting spirits is pretty easy. Not to mention the entire list is made up of 13 models total so it is easy to transport. You will however want to declare Nighthaunt allegiance, which allows you to take spirit hosts as battle line troops. This takes away your grand alliance death artifact and command trait but spirit hosts make an excellent battle line troop.
- Mortis Engine 180 points (Behemoth 1 of 2)
- 3 Spirit Hosts 120 points (battle line 1 of 2)
- 5 Hexwraith 160 points (no unit type)
Mortis Engine: Aside from it being a really cool model it can fly with a move of up to 14 (undamaged), has a 4+ save, 10 bravery, and 12 wounds. In the shooting phase roll 2D6 and any units within a damage table range suffer d3 mortal wounds if their bravery is less than the number rolled. On top of the host attacks which it 12 if undamaged, hitting on a 5+ wounding on 4+ 1 damage. If a 6 is rolled to hit it is an automatic mortal wound. Then you have the necromancer’s staff that hits on a 4 wounds on a 3 -1 rend with d3 damage. Along with that once per battle you can unleash death energy and roll 4D6. All Death units within that many inches heal D3 wounds, while all non-Death units suffer D3 mortal wounds. Finally it adds 1 to all Death wizards casting rolls within 12 and subtracts 1 from all non-Death wizards.
Hexwraith: This is your cavalry and they have some pretty good staying power. With a fly move of 12 then can get across the battlefield fast. The 2 wounds and 4+ save is pretty average, but with a bravery of 10 they are not running anywhere. A bonus is that they ignore opponents rend so if you put mystic shield on this unit they have a 3+ un modified save. There attacks are decent at 2 each with a 4+ to hit 3+ to wound -1 rend 1 damage, and then the horse with 2 attacks 4+ to hit 5+ to wound 1 damage. If they move across a unit in the movement phase you can roll 1 die for each Hexwraith that passed through them and on a 6 they suffer a mortal wound. This is a great for when they move through two units fighting in order to get to an enemy caster in the rear or flank.
Spirit Host: With 3 wounds each a fly move of 6 10 bravery and 4+ save these guys are pretty good standard units. Add to it that they ignore rend so mystic shield on them is a 3+ un modified save. They have 6 attacks hitting on a 5+ wounding on a 4+ 1 damage, but 6’s on to hit rolls are automatic mortal wound. So that is what you are shooting for. These things can tie up larger more powerful units for multiple turns.
So 460 points leaving you needing another 540, so first thing is another 3 spirit hosts to round out your two battle line units (20 on eBay). Then we need a hard hitter that can be considered one of the best units in the game. The Mourngul his is slightly expensive in that it is a forge world model which is 46 us dollars right now, but he can go toe to toe with anything in the game.
- 3 Spirit Hosts 120 points (battle line 2 of 2)
- 1 Mourngul 400 points (behemoth 2 of 2)
Mourngul: What is not to like about this model, in that his base stats are 12 fly move (damage based), 3+ save that cannot be modified, 10 bravery and 10 wounds. Oh mortal wounds he shrugs those off on a 4+ as well. He has a range 2 attack which is damage table (starts at 8) attacks hitting and wounding on a 3+ with a -2 rend and 2 damage. On top of that any hit rolls of 6+ generate an additional attack which can continue to chain as long as you roll 6’s to hit. To increase his staying power he heals a D3 wounds if he kills any models in ANY combat phase and they subtract 2 to hit if their bravery is 6 or less or 1 to hit if it is 7 or more. This thing is a beast!
So that is this simple and relatively cheap army, that is quick to paint and set up but can pack a punch. It is lacking wizards and leader type characters and to be honest there is not great small hero type characters that support this army. Though I am thinking GW might run with a spirit type allegiance in the near future (Nighthaunt) and with this army you will be ready to add to it. Total points 980 total cost $131.
