The Deathrattle Army Set dances macabrely into pre-orders tomorrow, a boney bonus for the Soulblight Gravelords – as well as their new Battletome. Given that the Warhammer Community Age of Sigmar expert has a proud collection of wooden spoons, we’ve enlisted the aid of Anthony Magro from the AoS Coach YouTube channel to explain how to get the most out of them.
Anthony: The Soulblight Gravelords have risen again with a new Battletome and I’m excited to quench your hunger with this vile transference. Soulblight Gravelords are known for their resilience, their powerful heroes, and the art of reanimation. Their Battletome introduces new ways to muster your force with two Armies of Renown and new units like the Revenant Draconith, Vampire Lord on Nightmare Steed, Barrow Knights and Barrow Guard.
Here’s my advice on how to get the most out of them.
Resilience and recursion
At their core, the Soulblight Gravelords are a resilient army that can bring back slain models and units throughout the battle.
There’s a lineup of powerful heroes like Nagash the Supreme Lord of the Undead, Prince Vhordrai, Nefarata, Mannfred and Lauka Vai at your disposal. Each brings a unique set of abilities, threats to your opponent as well as being fantastic centrepiece models.
The real strength of the Soulblight Gravelords often comes from your infantry choices – Deathrattle and Deadwalker units. They return models through Deathly Invocation, while units return to the battlefield at half strength with Endless Legion, while they have deployment flexibility from The Rising Dead. Did I mention that every Soulblight unit has a Ward save?
Manifestations and Faction Terrain
Nagash has opened up Nagashizzar's Black Vaults to present his Mortarchs (that’s you) with the Cursed Sepulchre faction terrain and the Manifestations of the Grave. There’s great synergy: Soulblight Wizards summoning the latter can measure range and visibility from the former.
There is a lot to love from your new manifestations. Hand of Nagash can teleport around the board and the Unholy Reliquary grants a hero either +1 Attacks in melee or Heal D3. Both Hand of Nagash and Sanguine Swarm can lend a hand in combat – as they offer mortal damage on critical hits.
Deathrattle and Deadwalker units can be deployed within range of the Cursed Sepulchre in two cases: when they are set up in reserve, and when they return via Endless Legion. This increases your flexibility and gets your units in the best position to score Battle Tactics and engage the foe.
Battle Formations and Armies of Renown
There are many different ways to build a Soulblight Gravelords army, with their deep choice of units and variety of abilities. There are four Battle Formations which encourage specific keywords, as well as two new Armies of Renown: Barrow Legion and Knights of the Crimson Keep.
The new Barrow Knights and Barrow Guard offer a serious melee threat with Crit (Mortals). You can dial up the melee damage through the Deathmarch Battle Formation for +1 Rend if the unit charged this turn. Barrow Knights will reanimate one slain model at the end of any turn, and both units will have access to Ward (5+) with an eligible hero.
Vampire armies can improve their spellcasting potential and combat damage through the Bacchanal of Blood. Prince Vhordrai and Blood Knights benefit from +1 to wound rolls on the charge. Blood Knight units will love the new Vampire Lord on Nightmare Steed, who provides a re-roll to charge rolls including on a counter-charge. Yikes!
Control the tabletop with Health-dense Deadwalkers units like Dire Wolves and Deadwalker Zombies. A reinforced unit of Deadwalker Zombies and Dire Wolves are 40 Health per unit, which is difficult for your opponent to fight through or shift off objectives. They have some neat tricks, like Dire Wolves ability to Run and Charge.
Armies of Renown: Barrow Legion
The Barrow Legion is led by a Wight King on foot or mounted, who gains the Warmaster keyword, and your choice of the Deathrattle units – you can pick anything in the Battletome with the keyword – and focuses on grinding it out with resilience and debuffs. Here are the main tricks:
Grave Sentinels grants units Anti-charge (+1 rend) while they’re wholly within 9” of a Cursed Sepulchre
All to Dust reduces enemy save rolls from Battle Round 3 while a Cursed Sepulchre is on the battlefield
You can allocate three Artefacts of Power to your heroes via Gifts to the Petty Kingdoms ( there are five Artefacts available)
The Wight King on Skeletal Steed can pick a terrain feature or objective, which grants +1 to hit rolls for Deathrattle units wholly within 6”.
Armies of Renown: Knights of the Crimson Keep
The Knights of the Crimson Keep are led by none other than Prince Vhordrai, who prioritises speed, aggression and dealing damage. Here’s how:
Carve A Bloody Path grants a Blood Knight unit in combat the ability to Charge
The Deathly Gale spell lets you roll 3d6 when charging, which can project serious board presence
The Chalice of the Blood Dragon heals the bearer 3D3 health once per game
The Vampire Lord on Nightmare Steed’s For Glory! For Blood! reaction ability grants him and a unit of Blood Knights within 12” a charge re-roll. That unit of Blood Knights can also charge immediately after the Vampire Lord on Nightmare Steed. Yes, that means you can counter-charge with two units which both get a re-roll. Wow!
Final thoughts
There are other ways you can play Soulblight Gravelords. Build an army around Nagash for magical supremacy with nine casts a turn (just don’t miscast!), lean into your monsters with Lauka Vai and the Revenant Draconith, or mix-and-match with the likes of the Coven Throne, Vargheists and the Blades Of The Hollow King.
Battletome: Soulblight Gravelords offers a heap of new tools to help you reclaim the souls for Nagash. Soulblight Generals will have access to a variety of ways to build their armies to match their playstyle from durable units, powerful heroes, speed, magic, and hard-hitting combat threats.
Anthony, thank you. Head over to the AoS Coach YouTube channel for more advanced tactical insights and a full, in-depth Battletome preview.
