Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Old/Death/Deathlords

These are the rules for Deathlords prior to the release of the Legions of Nagash Battletome, and as such are no longer matched play valid.

Why Play Deathlords?

Because aside from having some of the coolest models in the entire game, if not THE coolest, you don't feel like sucking Space Thor's golden cock and playing Sigmarines like 85% of the rest of the Age of Sigmar community. Full disclaimer: you are opting to play one of the most overlooked and underwhelming armies in the game, don't expect to win very many

Pros

• Like stated above, you have objectively the most fucking amazing models in the game at your disposal
• With the release of the General's Handbook 2017, Deathlords can now ally in ANY of the other Death sub-factions and every single model will still benefit from the Deathless Minions Allegiance ability. This is unique to Deathlords, as all other sub-factions require specific keywords for their Deathless Minions to function.
• Your faction leader is Nagash, who is probably the most evil badass this side of the Space Mississipi
• Strong Magic potential from all four heroes
• Powerful named heroes to lead your pimp slapping express train to hell
• Exceptionally strong battleline units with blenders for hands
• FUCK TERRAIN YOUR ENTIRE ARMY CAN FLY
• Your slowest models still move 9"
• You are the edgiest edgelord to ever have edged
• General's Handbook 2 gave some much needed points reductions to your army as well as the ability to Ally in other Death units.

Cons

• GW hates everything remotely resembling Death.
• No battletome, so you are already at a disadvantage when playing against the horde of Sigmarine players
• No Battalions supported in Matched Play
• All of your units cost more than your grand mammy's fine china, both in Points and real money
• All named heroes means no Warlord Traits or Artefacts can be taken by your army
• You have only two troop choices available to you, which are variations of eachother
• All of the Mortarchs' models are just variations of the same mount with different riders
• Alot of summoning bonuses are available, but summoning took an even bigger nerf with the addition of Allies.
• Absolutely zero ranged attacks, minus Nagash who literally murders people by staring at them a little bit in the shooting phase

Warscrolls

The common keywords of these warscrolls are: DEATH and DEATHLORDS. As mentioned before, very nerfed. If you go head to head with any of the updated/added armies you will be swept aside uselessly. Pray to Nagash that GW starts loving you and updates your army..

Leaders

• Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead: Has Behemoth status. Absolute and undeniable overkill in all but the biggest games (only ones in which he can be deployed since he costs 800 FUCKING POINTS.). You want specifics? Alright. He's got 16 Wounds at a 3+ save with an additional 4+ save against Mortal Wounds. He can also cast up to 8 spells, so upping that to 2+ with Mystic Shield is really simple. He also has a huge modifier to his casting rolls in case anyone wanted to unbind his spells or when you're attempting the tough stuff and when he summons stuff, he summons twice as much (eg. 2 Zombie Dragons, 2 Banshees, 40 Zombies instead of 20). He's got a strong shooting attack and two unique spells, one that inflicts damage off of Bravery and regenerates him by what the enemy lost and one that has a 50% chance (more if you're good at stage magic) of killing anything in one strike. He also has a powerful melee profile and a great Command Ability. Simply put, you play him, you win. This jerk is why most people house-rule summoning spells. Since summoning was nerfed in competitive play and the rule of one applying to spells, Nagash really kind of sucks. Most of his powers come from being able to cast lots of spells but he can now really only cast 4 a turn (Which isn't terrible) and in melee he hits like a VLoZD, which is good. But is it all worth 800 points. Not even close. Just take a VloZD and Mannfred instead. Hits twice as hard in combat with slightly less spellcasting.

• Mannfred, Mortarch of Night: Just like Nagash, Mannfred has Behemoth status. This beauty sits on top of the Mortarchs point pyramid at 420pt. The close combat monster of the three, because Mannfreds' already powerful melee profiles get added to the powerful profiles of the Dread Abyssal. Like all Mortarchs he heals 2 Wounds whenever he kills a model in combat, can cast twice though with no modifiers (gains +1 to cast/unbind if his sword kills something) and gets a bonus to Hit and Wound with his sword if he successfully casts a spell. The Armour of Templehof also means a lot more on such a huge target like this. Also, the Vigour of Undeath ability that non-Mortarch Mannfred has gets buffed a lot by affecting ALL Death units in range instead of just one, though that range varies with his Wound count. Mannfred is an absolute combat beast. His sword (provided you cast at least one spell that turn) hits and wounds on a 2+, and if you use Mannfred's command ability (Which you should, only Nagash's is better) makes both of those 2s rerollable. This basically guarantees that he is hitting at all times with 4 -1 d3 damage attacks, not including his 2 sickle-glaive attacks, or his Dread Abyssal's attacks, or the spirits. The sheer number of rending multi-damage attacks that he puts out a turn will rip most enemies to pieces.

• Neferata, Mortarch of Blood: As all of the Mortarchs are, she's classified as Behemoth. Mid ranged at 400pt. Not as powerful as Mannfred and not as casty as Arkhan but tricksier than both put together. Her Command Ability creates a huge bubble of -1 To Hit for enemy units, her personal attacks (so not the Abyssal) create new Vampire Lords if she kills Heroes with them and her dagger has a chance to auto-kill any model she wounded with it. Set her up at the head of your army for her Command Ability to affect as many enemies as possible.

• Arkhan the Black, Mortarch of Sacrament: Surprise! Behemoth. The cheapest of the Mortarchs at 320pt. His staff gives him boosts when casting and unbinding spells (starting with a +2 on each when he has full health, then every 2 wounds he suffers the boosts decrease). He also regenerates 2 wounds at the end of the combat phase if he killed at least an enemy model and gets an additional +1 for casting summon spells. His Spectral Claws attacks deal mortal wounds if they roll a 6 to hit. He also gets a very ludicrous spell: you target a unit within 18" and roll 10d6. The unit suffers a number of mortal wounds equal to how many times you rolled a 6, then you roll a number of dice equal to the wounds you just inflicted, and this time they wound on a 5+, then again but on a 4+, and so on until you either fail every dice roll or you completely destroyed the unit, This spell can go either way but can effectivly wipe ANYTHING off the board once you have made it though the first few rolls.If it works.in an effort to avoid being 'That Guy' you could always adhere to the rule of 1 for rolls even when playing a vanilla game. . . . He also gets the spells from every Death wizard within 18", and his hero ability gives them +6" to the range of their spells.

Troops

All troops here cost 220pt. and are considered Battleline if the army has DEATHLORDS allegiance.

• Morghast Harbingers: These things have the works. High movement, lots of wounds and five attacks with two damage each. They also grant nearby Death Wizards +1 to summoning spells and have the same 3D6" charge range ability the Stormcast Prosecutors have. This ability, by the way, makes it way easier for the Harbingers to charge straight after being summoned, as those 10" are way more reachable with 3D6. The only reason not to use them is because the Archai also exist. (whilst not a Deathlords unit, Varghiests provide much the same sort of power much cheaper. They can't be summoned, don't charge 3d6 and have a worse save. But, they have just as many of the exact same attacks per unit and can generate more by slaying enemy models, have the same amount of wounds per unit and cost around a third less points per unit. Really depends on whether or not you are taking your Morghasts for summoning because you could just as easily ally for some of these.)

• Morghast Archai: Basically a Harbinger, but exchanging 5 attacks at -1 Rend and 2 damage for 3 attacks at -2 Rend and 3 damage and, more importantly, instead of 3D6" charge, they have a 5+ bonus save against mortal wounds, giving them a lot more staying power as everyone and their mom will be gunning for your Morghasts.
  • Both Morghast variants are Reanimants, meaning Tomb King's Liche Priest can use his spell with them, which can be useful sometimes. And remember they're neither Monsters nor Heroes, so they're good at protecting both types from these annoying anti-Monster and anti-Heroes units everybody gets.

Battalions

Neferata's Blood-Court

Found in The Balance of Power. - min. 1620pt., max. 2580pt. (still to add the vampire and the throne)

Neferata, Mortarch of Blood, a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon, a Coven Throne and 2 units of Morghast Archai Neferata gains a reroll of her choice per turn, and can choose for either the vampire lord or the coven throne to fight harder that game. The archai prevent enemy units within their 3" control range from targeting Neferata with attacks. Cannot be used in Matched Play, as there is not points profile associated with this formation.

Arkhan's Skeleton Guard

Found in the Start Collecting! Skeleton Horde box. - This will only cost you around 600pts to field the units required and is somewhat lackluster and widely regarded as not worth the cost in a serious army. Not nearly as good as the Malignants Start Collecting! exclusive Battalion warscroll, you are better off just building entirely Deathlords or extended Allied armies. It should be noted that in Matched play, Start Collecting! exclusive warscrolls are not allowed to be used as they do not currently have point values assigned to them.

Arkhan the Black, Mortarch of Sacrament, 1 unit of Black Knights, 1 unit of Skeleton Warriors. All units in this battalion gain the same bonus movement rule as from the Legion of the Dead, centered on Arkhan. The formation grants bonus movement for units near Arkhan (including Arkhan himself)

Blade of the Blood Queen

Added in the new Battleforce Blade of the Blood Queen box. - min. 900pts. Neferata, Mortarch of Blood, 1 or more units of Morghast Archai, 1 Wight King with Baleful Tomb Blade, 1 or more units of skeleton Warriors, 1 or more units of Grave Guard

The Eyes of Nagash: If Neferata is within 6" of any of the Archai units in the battalion, add 1 to her personal weapon attacks (Akmet-har and Aken-seth). Not a very impressive battalion, compared to the rest of the formations released with the other Battleforce boxes, and does not currently have a Matched Play profile (noticing a theme yet?)

Army Building

A little disclaimer: you will mostly use these models as allies. If you still want to play with one of the most elite armies in the game solo style, read on. Also If you want to have the DEATHLORDS allegiance, just forget about the spare points or use them for summoning.

1000 pt.

At 1000 pt. forget about Nagash. Then, since you have a Battleline core tax of 440pt. forget also about using two Mortarchs. From this point on is pretty straightforward:

• Manfred and 4 Morghasts (any kind) with 140 points left.

• Neferata and 4 Morghasts (any kind) with 160 points left.

• Arkhan and 4 Morghasts (any kind) with 240 points left.

Pricewise you can have a good starting army at 156€ and 5 models. Buying the Start Collecting! Skeleton Horde box, with 3€ more you can also have 10 Skeleton Warriors and 5 Black Knights for summoning (80pt.+120pt.). Neat!

2000 pt.

2000 pt. is the right spot for this army. The core tax raises to 720pt. for 6 Morghasts (any kind); from there you have a big choice to make: Nagash or not Nagash?

• if you're taking it you have 380pt. left, so add Arkhan or 2 more Morghasts (any kind) and use the spare points (40 or 140) for summoning.
• alternatively you can add any mix of Mortarchs (even all 3 of them) and Morghasts you prefer (up to a maximum of 6 with the mandatory Mortarch).

Here the price tag with Nagash is between 273€ and 291€. Without him is between 336€ and 347€. For the sake of completeness if you're playing at 2000pt. you can buy all the models you can possibly use at 562€ (3580pt.) with 30 Skeleton Warriors and 15 Black Knights left (600pt.).

Untouchable Nagash

At 2000pts you can fit both Nagash and Neferata into a list together with a Morghast core cost of 660. Target Nagash with Neferata's Dark Mist spell, as well as Mystic Shield. This will give Nagash a 2+ UNRENDABLE save, and because Naggy is also your General you will also be rerolling failed save rolls of 1. Along with his 4+ save against Mortal Wounds and the 6+ Deathless Minions save, Nagash is virtually unstoppable as he floats up the board murdering everyone in front of him. You will also have an extra 140 pts at your disposal, so use that sweet new Allies system to bring in whatever you feel like to support your boney boys.

• Nagash Supreme Lord Of The Undead (800) General
• Neferata Mortarch Of Blood (400)
• 2 x Morghast Archai (220) Deathlords Battleline
• 2 x Morghast Archai (220) Deathlords Battleline
• 2 x Morghast Harbingers (220) Deathlords Battleline

• Total: 1860 / 2000

2500 pt.

Here the core tax is 880 pt. for 8 Morghast (any kind). Nagash or all the 3 Mortarchs are almost mandatory.

• Core+Nagash is 1680pt. and you can still add 4 Morghasts (160pt. left) or a Mortarch of choice (actually if you choose Arkhan you can add also 2 Morghast)
• Core+3 Mortarchs is 2020pt. add another couple of Morghast and smile.

Allied Armies

Can't Touch this(2000pts)

Built around the -1 to hit auras of Neferata and the Mourngul, this list is surprisingly hilarious. Anything that both Neferata and the Mourngul get near will suffer -2 to hit, and since we are an all flying fast army we can typically run fools down and keep them nerfed where they belong. Even though the Mourngul got hit ridiculously hard by the nerf bat- because Death was just TOO DAMN GOOD RIGHT? - it is still useful for its aura and as a sustainable melee beast. Keeping with the ghost theme, bring some Hexwraiths along to summon as well to tarpit/chase down Shooters and grab objectives. This list still lets you bring 8 Morghasts to blend anything and everything for maximum Deathlord fuckery, and don't forget to use Neferata's unique spell to make someone ignore rend as if they too were a spooky ghost. If you are looking to run this list at 2500pts, then bring Arkhan and another 5 Hexwraiths. Arkhan will guarantee your summons and add even more firepower to your list.

• Neferata Mortarch Of Blood (400) (General)
• 2 x Morghast Archai (220) Deathlords Battleline
• 4 x Morghast Harbingers (440) Deathlords Battleline
• 2 x Morghast Archai (220) Deathlords Battleline
• 10 x Hexwraiths (320) Summoned/Reinforcement Points (if you cannot summon all 10 at once, then do two units of 5 over two turns)
• Mourngul (400) Allied into list, do not try and summon this thing.

• Total: 2000 / 2000
• Allies: 400 / 400

I'll take "my friends all hate me for 1000pts"

Now that Skeletor himself is 800pts, you can field him in as low as 1000pt matches! You will not make many friends doing this, but you play Death so you probably didn't have any to begin with. You don't have a Deathlords Allegiance with this list, but since that literally means nothing you can just enjoy an easy to manage army of skeletons following their pope around the field.

• Nagash Supreme Lord Of The Undead (800) General
• 10 x Skeleton Warriors (80) Battleline
• 10 x Skeleton Warriors (80) Battleline

• Total: 960 / 1000

External links

Rules are here

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-vampire-counts-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-deathlords-nagash-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-deathlords-mannfred-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-deathlords-neferata-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-deathlords-arkhan-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-deathlords-morghastharbingers-en.pdf

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-deathlords-morghastarcai-en.pdf