AoS: Things You’ll Love About the Soulblight Gravelords Battletome
Now might not be the best time to check out your local graveyard because the Soulblight Gravelords are breaking new ground with their new battletome.
Welcome in, Generals of the Realms! It may not be spooky time, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate an upcoming spooky army. I’m talking, of course, about the imminent release of Death Battletome: Soulblight Gravelords. The bloodsuckers are back with a vengeance, and they’re bringing a ton of amazing new things along for the ride. Lucky generals will be able to snag the Battletome in the upcoming Deathrattle Army Box, but those who missed out won’t have long to wait. Like with every release, the Battletome will have regular printing and a Gamer edition, complete with unit cards.
I’ve never made a secret about my love for the vamps. I’ve been a Soulblight Gravelords enjoyer since Warhammer Fantasy, and that hasn’t changed. I was super hyped for this new release, and while all my wishes weren’t granted, the book we’re getting is a marked improvement and an incredible tome for the modern play environment. Everything is better in the book and more streamlined, and though a few of the bloodlines have lost a bit of bite (pun intended), the army overall is in an incredible place.
Something Old, Something New
As evidenced by the Deathrattle box set, a lot of things are getting updates in the new battletome. Alongside new Barrow Knights and Barrow Guard (replacing Black Knights and Wight Guard, respectively), we have a brand new mounted Wight King. This skeletal leader is a great new force commander, allowing you to field an entire army of skeletons without feeling like you’re hamstringing yourself too much. If you want a slightly less imperious version, the King can also be built as a Wight Lord, who combos well with the new Knight and allows them to attack right after him in combat. I’m most excited for the Guard, however, who give ALL nearby infantry heroes a 5+ Ward save. Considering Vampires still have the ability to heal themselves in combat, this is a huge buff.
It’s not just the bone boys that are getting an update, however. The legendary Blood Knight Prince Vhordrai has a fantastic new model with a gnarly undead Draconith. Unfortunately, he’s now the only character to ride one. The old Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon has been phased out. Worry not, though; you can still bring a Draconith zombie to the field. It just won’t have a warrior on the back (unless you bring Vhordrai, which…you may want to consider).
If you want a lord for your Blood Knights, however, the new Vampire Lord on Nightmare Steed is a Nagash-send. This deadly cavalry commander not only re-rolls ALL his charge rolls but allows a nearby unit of Blood Knights to charge as well, EVEN ON A COUNTERCHARGE AND WITH RE-ROLLS. As if that wasn’t incredible enough, he also allows one unit to add one to Rend score for their weapons. That means that on the charge against infantry, each of your knights will have three attacks that hit and wound on a 3+ with three rend and two damage. That’s an obscene Death Star unit. Combined with their ability to charge over infantry, they have become the lynchpin of any mounted force.
Fortifications and Manifestations
It wouldn’t be 4.0 without some living spells, and Soulblight got some gnarly ones. The Unholy Reliquary is an exceptionally powerful buff piece. It allows a nearby hero to either heal themselves or expend all the power at once to add 1 to all their attacks.
The Sanguine Swarm is a personal favorite of mine because it evokes the feeling of old vampire myths. It is represented by two bases representing swarming vampire bats, each dishing out a nasty 10 attacks PER BASE. While they only hit and wound on a 5+, 20 attacks is a lot of dice to throw down range.
Last but not least is the Hand of Nagash. This is what it sounds like on the tin; a massive skeletal hand. Not only can it attack, dealing mortal wounds on crits, but it can shut down enemy units. While in combat with the Hand, their Control drops to 1 and they cannot move.
For terrain, the Soulblight Gravelords get three Cursed Sepulchres. These moldering mausoleums not only provide summoning points for your ambushing units, but also sorcerous lynchpins. Any Manifestation you summon can use the Sepulchre to measure range rather than the caster. Even better, if ANYTHING dies with 9″, the building heals itself, keeping it in the fight longer.
New Spearhead and Path to Glory
To celebrate their new Deathrattle reinforcements, the Soulblight have a brand new Spearhead filled with skeletal warriors. The list consists of an infantry Wight King, 5 Barrow Knights, 10 Barrow Guard, and two units of 10 Skeletons. While it isn’t the fastest Spearhead in the world, your Knights and Skeletons (NOT the Guard, just the base Skeletons) have passive regeneration. You might not win the race, but you’ll still be there at the end of the game. Just keep your King near your Barrow Guard for that sweet sweet Ward buff.
The Path to Glory is intriguing, allowing you to kit into a martial or sorcerous Vampire, a mortal Necromancer, or a Wight King. The Paths diverge from there into different buffs and drawbacks, as with all the other PtG entries. My favorite part is that you can bring back the old VLoZD. While it sucks that we only get to do that in narrative now, at least we aren’t out of luck entirely.
Will you be picking up any Soulblight goodies?
