Nighthaunts are tricker to play now than when they first dropped in 2018 in Soul Wars. Don’t miss the latest tactics breakdown 2000 points!
In the past 6 months or so I have really started making it out to get games in, which has been fantastic. We have a pretty good local group of players who usually have 2-3 armies a piece so the variety of armies I face off against is pretty good. These guys are good at the game though and they play to win which for me is perfect.
Playing as Nighthaunt:
I like to play and am happy to do a narrative game, or skirmish or whatever, but most of the games are matched play in a tournament like setting and people bring their best stuff. (By good I mean one of them took 2nd in the 2018 Adepticon AoS tournament) Regardless they have made me a better player as well and after a couple of games and talking it over with my opponents we all kind of came to the same conclusion about a couple of things with the army.
- Most Nighthaunt units right now cost to many points, an example is 280 points for the black coach is way too much. Same with all your leader characters minus Reikenor the Grimhailer
- You live and die by the 10+ charge which is a shame because it is very rare to get off statistically
- Your special troops are amazing (Myrmourn Banshees, Bladegheist Revenants, etc.)
- Grimghast Reapers get work done and are priced right for a Nighthaunt army but are way under cost in a Legions of Nagash army.
- The wholly within rules really hurt this army as it puts your glass cannon heroes out in front which is a drawback.
- 12” range for most of their spells is terrible and again forces you to get within charge distance with your low wound models.
- Ignoring Rend is awesome.
- Unfortunately to compete at the high level with Nighthaunts right now you want to take them as Legions of Nagash.
For me, I will never run three units of 30 Grimghast Reapers just because that is too much of the same thing and I refuse to paint that, but a unit of 20 or 30 is well within possibility. I will say them, and my Banshees are consistently the MVPs of every game I have played in along with Reikenor being the best hero. Lady O I want to like so bad and I use her all the time, but the 12” range with her spells forces you to get close to the enemy with her.
Even with a bubble of spirit hosts around her, she can be easy to kill and at 280 points that is a lot to put into 7 wounds. The coolest model award goes to the Black Coach, and it is great for flying across the board and getting that turn one charge but besides that, it really doesn’t have much to offer. It’s not a hero and it doesn’t really push out the damage a similarly priced model like a Greater Daemon puts out. For me, the black coach is going to sit on the bench until it drops in points as it is just not worth it. Below is my standard loadout for a game.
Leaders:
- Guardian of Souls with Mortality Glass: 140 Points
- Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern: 140 Points
- Reikenor the Grimhailer: 180 Points
- Dreadblade Harrow: 100 Points (General)
- Spirit Torment: 120 Points
- Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed: 140 Points
Battleline:
- 20 Chainrasp Horde: 160 Points
- 10 Chainrasp Horde: 80 Points
- 30 Grimghast Reapers: 360 Points
Other Units:
- 12 Myrmourn Banshees: 210 Points
- 20 Bladegheist Revenants: 320 Points
- Geminids of Uhl-Gysh: 40 Points
Total: 1990
There you have it I think people generally agree this probably is not a top tier list that is going to win you every game you play. It can be a decent enough army to run and have competitive games with, just be ready to see how much some of the other things cost points wise and realize most of your own troops need some point adjustment. With the new Legion of Grief army being added to Legions of Nagash forces via Forbidden Power, I am certainly going to try out some bravery bomb builds as those could be interesting. Though I also want to be ready for the June / July shakeup that the General’s Handbook is going to be bringing.
Currently Painted:
- 20 Chainrasp Horde: 160 Points
- 6 Spirit Hosts: 240 Points
- Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern: 140 Points
- Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed: 140 Points
- Lord Executioner: 80 Points
- Spirit Torment: 120 Points
- Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief: 240 Points
- Black Coach: 240 Points
- 12 Myrmourn Banshees: 210 Points
- Azyrite Ruins (Display board pieces, article coming soon)
Total 1610
Along with getting this army painted it is also generally agreed that everyone paints a table worth of terrain for the club to which is also used at the Michigan GT. That means I have some work to do if I am going to get all this painted by October.
On the Paint Table:
- Guardian of Souls with Mortality Glass
- Reikenor the Grimhailer
- Dreadblade Hallow
- Ruined Warehouse (Terrain)
- Ruined Blacksmith (Terrain)
Weeks to Michigan GT: 20 (Better get back to the horde units soon)
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