Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Old/Death/Legions of Nagash

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Legions of Nagash changes up the way death plays by removing magical summoning and banner regen for skellies and replaces then with hero based regen and grave sites. They also add several new allegiance abilities

Why play Legions of Nagash?

Pros

• SKELETONS! Hordes and hordes of skeletons endlessly marching out of the grave, also zombie and ghosts and all the creepy goodness!
  
• A solid range of plastic miniatures and plenty of possibilities for conversion (looking at you triumvirate of Ynnead/vampires!)
  
• More bodies with better durability for the cost than most and the ability to bring models back, when the stars line up you can end the game with net zero lost models.
  
• You’ve got 4 legions to choose from as well as Death and Soulblight factions so you can test out a lot of stuff and play with lots of variations on a theme.
  
• Did you play Orks in 40k? Would you like to throw a bucketful of dice? Get a unit of 40 skeletons into combat and buff them properly they’ll be getting 5 attacks each and possibly piling in and attacking twice with Vanhels Danse Macabre. In a perfect storm that’s 400 attacks 3+/4+!!!!
  
• Is a summonable unit dead? Did you just kill an enemy unit within 6" of a gravesite? Start rolling your d6 because on a 4+, congrats! You get that unit back!!

Cons

• Zero...ranged...units... (traditionally speaking). Not a single usable one, handful of short range shooting attacks but other than that all melee... can’t even ally in Tomb Kings archers!
  
  • Ghosts, Terrorgheists and Zombie Dragons are all there is here. Prince Vhordrai is just a named VLoZD, just with a ranged ability with an 8" range, rather than a 9" range and a less assassin-y spell. That said, the Terrorghiest still has the best range out of all the variations in this box.
• Doesn't support Tomb Kings, the Flesh Eater Courts or the Mourngul.
• One thing to note about our unconventional ranged weapons is that they all contest a leadership score; Usually 2d6 vs their bravery. With good positioning of our new banners and the Overwhelming Dread spell our limited shooting can deal a fair amount of mortal wounds. Our shooting is extremely short ranged but they can put on some serious damage.
• Rend -1 is effectively rend -2 for your skeletons...it hurts...a lot.
  
• Quite a few slow units, necromancer at 4” and can’t take a mount anymore...
  
• How many skeletons do you want to paint? Whatever that number is you’ll need to paint more than that.
  
• The removal of magical summoning also means you can't bring in new units, only bring back the ones that are completely destroyed if they have the summonable keyword, and you still have to pay points to bring them back.

Allegiance Abilities

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A bit of a long one as there are 4 allegiances for the Legions of Nagash themed around Nagash and his three top generals as well as Soulblight and Generic Death. The four themed legions all get the Gravesite mechanic, at least 1 extra spell from the Lores of the Dead and access Deathless Minions.

Gravesite : Each of the four main allegiances gets access to the gravesite mechanic. After sides are chosen place two gravesites wholly within your territory and two anywhere else on the board. Importantly these are only points on the battlefield, whatever you choose to represent them does not exist for the purpose of line of sight or cover or scenery. Gravesites can heal a SUMMONABLE unit within 9” by d3 wounds or models up to the total wound count. Note, you cannot bring back models with missing wounds, nor can you both heal a model and bring back models with the same roll. So to bring back a spirit host you’d have to roll a 5 or 6, if you had a unit of black knights with models slain and a model missing a wound and you rolled a 5 or 6 you could only heal the remaining wound, not heal and bring back a model despite having rolled high enough to do so.

The second gravesite ability is placing SUMMONABLE units into the “grave” instead of deploying them. At the end of movement a DEATH HERO can pull a unit out of the grave fully within 9” of the gravesite and outside of 9” of any enemy models. This is a nice way of getting around skeletons massively low movement speed if you can. They are vulnerable to area denial though so be careful.

Lastly are abilities that interact with regenerating units. The general of the four main legions gets an additional command trait that allows him to pull a destroyed unit out of the grave and place it within 9” of the gravesite and outside 9” of any enemy units. Sounds awesome, but remember you have to reserve points for this in matched play.

Final note is the Legion of Sacrament ability. If the last model in a unit getting destroyed is within 6” of a gravesite roll a dice, on a 4+ a destroyed SUMMONABLE it can be brought back within 9” of the gravesite and outside 9” of any enemy models. Again requires reserve points and is very situational.

Grand Host of Nagash

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Can include any units in the battletome, if it includes Nagash he must be the general....as though you didn’t want his amazing command ability?!

Gravesites of course. all DEATH WIZARDS know an additional spell from one of the Lores of the Dead, if Nagash is included he knows three additional spells, which is good since he can cast 8 at full health!

Deathless Minions: 6+ ignore wounds for your units within 6” of a hero, handy and ubiquitous throughout the legions.

Chosen Guardians: Morghast units get +1 attack! Very scary given their damage output.

Legions Innumerable: roll a die for each unit 5+ heals d3 wounds or returns single wound models. Note: it specifically leaves out the ability to bing back other models. Handy to have, remember this all happens in your hero phase so choose the order in which you heal things carefully. Out of range of a gravesite by an inch? Heal with legions or a Deathly Invocation and place the models close enough to use that gravesite!

Artifacts of the Grand Host

1. Grave-sand Timeglass:
2. Ossific Diadem: Any time a friendly Deathrattle model within 12" of the wearer takes a wound or a mortal wound, roll a dice. On a 6+ the wound or mortal wound is ignored. Decent protection. You can take this save and the deathless minions save thus giving skeleton warriors and grave guard another layer of protection making them that much more annoying to kill.

Command Traits

1. Lord of Nagashizzar: All friendly Death units within 6" of the general with this trait gain +1 attack in close combat.

Legion of Sacrament

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This is Arkhan's legion, if he is included in this army he MUST be the army general and if you include any Mortrach units he has to be one of them.

The Master's Teachings: So whenever a SUMMONABLE unit is destroyed within 6" of a gravesite, On a 4+ you can set it up again at full strength. This costs reserve points so take that as you will.

The Black Disciples: Add 1 to all casting rolls for friendly LEGION OF SACRAMENT WIZARDS. This ability is great because our magic is powerful now, so this helps our spell go off easier. This also gives Arkhan a +3 casting modifier when he is at full wounds. Give him soul harvest, and chances are, he'll never die. Don't quote this on that,

Artifacts of Sacrament

1. Spiritcage: Friendly units gain +1 to wound for the rest of the turn if an enemy hero is slain within 6" of the bearer. This item has a very situational use.
2. Shroud of Darkness: This is... WOW! Enemy shooting is -1 to hit within 8-inches of the model, or -2 if they are further away. Any shots that confer mortal wounds on a 6+ won't get that bonus. This is excellent against shooty armies. While it offers better protection against attacks that deal mortal wounds on a 6+ (these are ignored automatically rather than on a dice roll of 4+), it's otherwise slightly outshone by the Wristbands of Black Gold below. However it's still a great choice.
3. Asylumaticae: Bedlam House in a box (except this one is filled with the weaponized undead souls of insane murderers) or a nod to the far better Casket of Souls. Once per game, roll a dice. On a 1 the bearer takes a mortal wound. On a 2+ each enemy unit within 12" suffers one mortal wound. Between being a one shot, a risk of friendly fire and being outperformed by the Black Gem, it's not worth it.
4. Wristbands of Black Gold: Amazing. This throwback from Warhammer Fantasy returns with a vengeance. Roll a dice for every wound or mortal wound allocated to the wearer as a result of shooting. On a 4+ the wound is ignored. Essentially an unmodifiable +4 save against all shooting. Are pesky Kurnoth Hunters sniping your best units? Has the mass barrages of those godless Kharadron got you down? If you're versing a shooty army, TAKE IT. Slap this on a VLOZD and, between this and magic support from the rest of the army, you can almost guarantee your VLOZD will reach enemy lines and make those shooty units PAY. If you want some lulz, you could equip a female character on foot with these and re-enact the No man's land scene from the latest Wonder Woman movie.
5. Azyrbane Standard: A nod to how Arkhan freed Mannfred from the wall of Faith in The End Times. Subtract 1 from the casting rolls of enemy wizards within '6' of the bearer. If they're also Order Wizards, they also have to re-roll successful casting attempts. Though it has a limited range this is a welcome addition. Best used on a character dedicated to a support role or Wizard hunting, and especially against certain Order armies (such as Sylvaneth from the Gnarlroot Wargrove). Though keep in mind some Wizards are also monsters and thus could just lay the smackdown in combat (again, such as Sylvaneth wizards Drycha, Alarielle and Treelord Ancients).
6. Black Gem: Pick a point with 8" of your character. Then roll a dice for EVERY UNIT within 3 of that point, on a 6+ one model dies. This ii situational, one use only and it does carry the risk of friendly fire. While it can put the hurt on MSU, especially multi-wounds foes like Skullcrushers and Dracothian Guard, it needs a 6+ to kill them and it's weak against Hordes. It's not known if this can target solo characters or Behemoths. Not mandatory but a better choice than the Asylumaticae.

Command Traits

1. Emissary of the Master: Lets you re-roll failed charges for nearby units. A solid choice but not as good as equivalents in other armies.
2. Dark Acolyte: Makes the general a Wizard, or grants them an additional spell if they are already a Wizard. Useful if you want a magic heavy army, though it's not like there's a shortage of Wizards in this list. May be useful for a Wight King with battle standard.
3. Mark of the Favored: Each time the general is targeted by an attack in combat, the attacking unit suffers a mortal wound on a 6+. While it sounds useful, so far this trait has generated Skub due to poor wording in the rules, and so far even the FAQ hasn't satisfied the debaters.
4. Peerless Commander': Allows the general to summon a unit "in the grave" while further away from a gravesite.
5. Mastery of Death: Grants a bonus move to units in the hero phase. When combined with the Deathmarch battalion's bonus move, Deathrattle units can be moving up to 7 extra inches in the hero phase. Very nice, especially on Black Knights.
6. Bound to the Master: The General can use Arkhan the Black's Command Ability. This is useful if you have a variety of wizards in your army.

Legion of Blood

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This is Neferata's legion, if she is included in this army she MUST be the army general and if you include any Mortarch units she has to be one of them.

Favored Retainers: Legion of Blood Vampire Lords and Legion of Blood Blood Knights gain +1 attack. Good for characters, but not as much for Blood Knights since they were nerfed.

Artifacts of Blood

1. Ring of Domination: When the bearer is selected in the combat phase, pick an enemy model within 3" and roll a dice. On a 5+ you can use one of their melee weapons to attack in addition to whatever weapons your character has. Imagine killing Archaon with his own sword (or finishing him off with your other weapons if that one doesn't work), or using a Spirit of Durthu's weapon to cut down a unit of Kurnoth Hunters. If you're lucky with dice rolls and in combat with the right units this can be excellent. Take it on a CC oriented character, especially in conjuction with anything that allows them to strike first and, with a good dice roll, watch them beat down characters with many times their points cost.
2. Shadeglass Decanter:
3. The Orb of Enchantment: Once per battle, the bearer can pick an enemy hero within 3". In the beginning of the combat phase they cannot pile in, attack or use abilities. Apart from a one-shot this is excellent. You could use this to troll major combat characters like Archaon or Skarbrand. Slap this on a character on foot in a big unit and you have an excellent tarpit.
4. Oubliette Arcana:
5. Amulet of Screams: Once per battle, the bearer of this amulet can use this to unbind an enemy spell on a 2+.

Command Traits

1. Sanguine Blur: The general gains 2" to their movement and run speed.
2. Aura of Dark Majesty: Another blast form the past.

Legion of Night

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This is Mannfred's legion, if he is included in this army he MUST be the army general and if you include any Mortarch units he has to be one of them.

The Bait: Deathrattle units gain +1 to saves while wholly in your own territory.

Ageless Cunning: Looks like Mannfred learned how to CREEEEED! from big daddy Carstein. Up to three units can be deployed in reserve and can ambush by moving on from from any table edge.

Artifacts of Night

1. Morbheg's Claw: If the bearer stands still, they can add 2 to all casting rolls for friendly Legion of Nights wizards within 12" including their own. Fantastic on a support character if you have lots of wizards.
2. Curseblade: At the beginning of the battle, pick an enemy Hero anywhere on the battlefield. In every hero phase roll a dice, on a 4+ they take a mortal wound and the bearer heals a wound. This is a nice weapon for sniping an enemy hero and healing the bearer.

Command Traits

1. Unholy Impetus: If the general slays an enemy model in close combat, one friendly unit within 3" gets +1 attack on all their melee weapons until the end of the phase. This is good on heavy hitting units such as unridden Zombie Dragons or Grave Guard.
2. Unbending Will: All Death units within 12 of the General can re-roll failed Battleshock tests.

Units

Battleline

Skeleton Warriors: Literally the reason you wanted to play Death. These guys are nasty when taken in 40 man chunks. Always go spears if you go the maximum size to get the most out of your bones. With Necromancers casting Vanhel's Danse Macabre and the command ability from regular vampire lords or wight kings these guys will sport 4 attacks each and can fight twice, bonus memes if you have the Grand Host of Nagash alliegence you can also use the Lord of Nagashizzar to give them an extra attack totalling 5 attacks per skeleton. They also have a 6+++ FnP and a 6+ save that can be increased to 5+ if the enemy has a weapon with rend 0. Against rend 1 or more expect them to drop like flies only to be resurrected in the following hero phase as they are SUMMONABLE and restore d3 models per hero and gravesite. Neat!

Dire Wolves: These mangy pups are actually really good thanks to the new battletome. They have two wounds and are fast as fuck which is useful for grabbing objectives and they are SUMMONABLE meaning these guys can resurrect fallen models just like skeletons can. (Although, thanks to the wording on Deathly Invocation, you can only resurrect a wolf on a result of 2 or more on a d3.) And to top it all off, these guys are going to be your cheapest battleline because unlike Zombies and somewhat Skeletons, they are very effective taken as a minimum sized unit.

Zombies: Zombies are in a rough spot. They're actually quite good, but wolves and skeletons are stiff competition. They can get 3+/3+ if they have 40 or more models. (2+/3+ if there is a corpse cart) The maximum unit size for these guys is a whopping 60 models. They have only 1 attack each and no save BUT they are summonable and if they kill a unit in the fight phase, on a roll of a 6 they become a zombie! If you have them don't be afraid to run the zombie train, but unless you really like zombies, I would advise new players to stick with skeletons for big hordes.

A quick note about the models: Mantic games sells a box of 40 skeletons and zombies which is more price efficient than buying the GW ones with boxes of 10 and 20 respectively. Just be wary of people who won't play you because you're not using GW ones.

Units

Grave Guard: Before the battletome they were outclassed by skellies but now not so much. They are a battleline choice if you choose Grand Host of Nagash and they have more quality attacks but skeleton warriors just have so so much quantity. Fear not for the Grave Guard can now regenerate models just as fast as skeletons and boost a better armor save and better rend while also having the potential to deal double damage on a wound roll of 6+. You can take 30 of these guys for a very steep price, but since they have 1" swords it's unlikely they will all be able to attack HOWEVER they'll have enough bodies to keep from being blasted off the table turn 1. The shields are pretty helpful against rend 0, and the great blades +1 to wound really helps make these guys as killy as possible so depending on what you normally face at your FLGS you should kit these guys out accordingly which will more than likely be the great blades.

Vargheists: These guys are a cheap hammer unit and man do they do work. They are not particularly durable but they are very fast and swing for 2 damage a hit AND for every model they kill they roll a dice and on a 6 they get an additional attack. Legion of Night loves these guys for the ability to outflank with them. They are not quite as strong as Morghasts (another hammer unit) in terms of raw power but you are saving 60 points by taking Varghiests over them. But hey! Why not take both?

Spirit Hosts: Oh boy these ghoulish ghastlies are by far one of the most underrated units in the battletome. They seem expensive at first but they come with a lot of nasty surprises. First, like all Nighthaunt units ,they have a 4+ save that cannot be modified positively or negatively (for those coming from 40K it's like an invulnerable save) they have 6 attacks each and if they hit on a 6+ they deal a mortal wound instead! These guys will be dishing out mortal wounds left at right all while being durable as fuck. And if that wasn't enough they are SUMMONABLE meaning they can regen fallen units (remember they have 3 wounds each meaning that they can only resurrect on a 5+ with deathly invocation and gravesites also holy shit they have 3 wounds.) It's worth saying that units of 3 or 6 are probably your best bet seeing as they have large bases and it would be hard for say 9 or 12 to all be in combat. Also be wary of anything that gives you a -1 to hit in combat as it effectively neuters their offensive potential.

Terrogheist: The giant zombie bat is back and now he is more terrifying than ever. No, really this guy is straight up nasty and he'll have your opponent screaming imba. He now sports a 4+ save which he desperately needed and carries a very deadly ranged weapon in the form of a deathly shriek. Now the Terrogheist's shooting attack is unusual as it deals mortal wounds as long as you roll over their bravery. Even Stormcasts will suffer significant losses due to the death shriek. His Gaping Maw is the butter to his biscuit when you attack with this weapon and roll a 6 TO HIT, you do not need to make a wound roll or save and the damage deals 6 automatically. Basically, it's a really shifty way to say it deals 6 mortal wounds but doesn't actually use the words "mortal wounds" so it bypasses a lot of saves this way. And then when the Terrogheists inevitably dies it explodes and deals d3 mortal wounds to each unit (friend and foe) within 3" to say fuck you one last time as it dies.