Codex Night Lords

[Gree]

Tell me your ideas about the night Lords ^_^

[Toddster]

There's one bit on the subject in the stickied post about the various armies up top . . .

 

Linkage

[McSatanisim]

Well,

 

NEVER take MOCU. MOCU is for p*ssies who don't trust in their battle brother's resolve. Faith is for the weak. Any night lord player who takes MOCU needs to be slapped.

 

Lord's should try to be non-deamonic, or have wargear represented as non-deamonic stuff. Like D aura could be a refractor field, and D STR could be a bionic arm ect.... I find it's okay to push this one a bit because I can see night lords using the power of chaos for their own personal gain, but they would never willingly submit to the power of chaos.

 

Stealth adept is your friend. It makes people cry when they drop battle cannons on your squad's in cover, and you tell them you're rolling your 3+ cover save because of the ruin's your sitting in.

 

Because you didn't take a mark, you can load up on vet skills. Although expensive, this gives your squads some interesting combos and abilities. A lascannon tank hunter squad with stealth adept is extremely annoying to remove, and packs some hard hitting power. Like wise, a squad of infiltrating raptors with furious charge can seriously mess up a player with a first-turn hard hitting charge.

 

I like to think of the night lords as a terror force. Take big, scary squads that will rattle the enemy's morale, and make him do stupid things. You'd be suprised how many times people fire at a squad of raptors instead of the rhino holding your chosen squad with lord and 3 aspiring champs.

 

Sublety is not something I can see the night lords taking. The vanguard would be sneaky and all, but for the most part, the force should be hard hitting and brutal. Things like obliterators or havoc squads that can rip apart whole squads in a turn are a good anchor for your army, and often times, that's plenty good enough to win the game. In larger points, squads like raptors or landraider borne assaulty squads and bikers can be used to smite the enemy after they have run the gauntlet of firepower.

 

Also, when using your assault power, remember to use overwhelming force. Have your anchor deploy to lure the enemy into countering them, and then use your speedy assault units to hit them where they least expect it. NEVER split up. selling yourself to thin is a very bad idea. pick one flank, and hammer it, forcing your enemy to fight your whole assault force with only part of his army at a time.

If the bastich tries to pull a refused flank, supporting his squads, remember to stick to your mission objectives. Unless you're confident that you can break his position with force, then go for the win and make HIM break his own position. Then pick him apart piece by piece.

 

Don't get lured into thinking you have to take lost of fast attack for night lords. If it's a small game, don't bother with the points for them. Chaos fast attack units generally run between 200-300 points for a combat effective unit. Which is a lot. Games are won and lost at the composition phase. Make sure you have a plan for all your units. Don't take raptors just because they are your signature unit, make sure you can effectively use and support them.

[Brother Nihm]

Don't get lured into thinking you have to take lost of fast attack for night lords. If it's a small game, don't bother with the points for them. Chaos fast attack units generally run between 200-300 points for a combat effective unit. Which is a lot. Games are won and lost at the composition phase. Make sure you have a plan for all your units. Don't take raptors just because they are your signature unit, make sure you can effectively use and support them.

 

I second that.

 

For the most part try to construct your army so that the units will support eachother, a single and all powerful (and costly) elite unit will be smashed in no time if it's unsupported - no matter the type.

[Axelonius]

Keep your opponent guessing.

Though Raptors are sometimes not worth there massive point cost, their ability to rapidly move about the field and frag those pesky tanks (With 3 meltas no less) or engage those lingering devastators is priceless.

 

Bikes are also an excellent option for pretty much the same reason except that they have a bit of a higher survivability through the +1 toughness.

 

Though Rhinos have lost alot of their 'ooph', they are not completly worthless.

They can move squads to firing positions, they can act as barriers to your expensive units, and never underestimate the scare factor of an excellently converted rhino.

*Rhino gets destroyed*

Opponent: "YEA!!! I killed that big powerful scary tank!!!" :D

You: It was rhino... -_-

Opponent: (Now realising that the rest of your army is upon him)... oh... :(

 

However McSatanisim and Brother Nihm are quite correct.

Supporting the rest of your army is the key to victory.

 

Which makes Chaos marines the ultimate choice in your army.

They are tactically flexible and have the ability to be armed for various roles.

Anti tank, Close combat, anti infantry, fire support you name it these bad boys can do it.

 

I say load up on the squads of Chaos Marines to flesh out your army.

No less than three squads of at least 8 each (But don't rule out having 10-20!!!).

THEN you can build the army around that core.

Never sacrifice the core for the uber units.

 

Don't tool up your lord to the 'nth' degree.

A simple lord with a daemon weapon is extremly effective.

Don't get me wrong though.

I use a decently 'gifted' lord and he rocks.

But never over spend on your HQ.

If he's CC, make him CC.

If he's supporting, make him supporting ^_^

 

(McSatanisim on stealth adept) DITTO!!!

 

And lastly, if you can, always KNOW YOUR ENEMY!!!

 

Hope this helps.

Good Luck.

And have a blast.

[Gree]

Thanks ^_^

[Broccoli]

personally i see mocu as a must have. even with 8 man squads (which i try to take whenever i can) i've found myself failing more than my share of morale checks, and when below 50% i need that reroll to keep myself from losing a unit (even if it's only 3 guys by that point ... but for me 3 guys is a champion and 2 special weapons guys)

 

i still see night lords as doing quick raids, so i personally think they should be fairly mobile ... although that's just me. i'm trying to stay away from the slower units. (foot slogging havocs are alright to me, i just think of them as acting like artillery ... shellin em from afar, while the rest go assault)

 

stealth adept is wonderful, i agree on that. ^_^

 

definately keep your army together as it is much more effective, spreading out is death ... learned that with my all infiltrating/deep striking death guard (starting NL now)

 

one tactic you might want to try (i'm going to try it myself next game) ... mount squads in rhinos, give them 2 special weapons, and fire them on the move (12" and still shoot through fire points -_- ... 4 plasma gun shots while driving by sounds like fun to me!) tail the rhinos with your raptors/bikes ... they should both be moving 12" at least, so no problems with keeping up ... mobile terrain is fun!

 

raptors and bikes are lots of fun, i'd suggest getting a 6-man squad of each (more than 6 raptors per squad are good and lots of meltas are good)

 

and yeah ... tooling up your lord too much isn't a good idea, as a few good hits loses you 200-250 points if you go overboard. (last game i lost my lord to a space marine commander with nothing but powerfist/iron halo ... was a one on one with one round of combat ... i even had d rune) i still like to crazy my lord out as it just seems fitting to me ... but then again i don't build/play armies for maximum efficiency, i go for cool factor :D but that doesn't mean i can't give advice ... just means i should take my own advice

[McSatanisim]

personally i see mocu as a must have. even with 8 man squads (which i try to take whenever i can) i've found myself failing more than my share of morale checks, and when below 50% i need that reroll to keep myself from losing a unit (even if it's only 3 guys by that point ... but for me 3 guys is a champion and 2 special weapons guys)

Whatever. The fluff says night lords hate the faithful, seeing them as little better than the imperium. It's an incredibly good option, but you're selling out the cool factor of the faith hating in the army.

 

i still see night lords as doing quick raids, so i personally think they should be fairly mobile ... although that's just me. i'm trying to stay away from the slower units. (foot slogging havocs are alright to me, i just think of them as acting like artillery ... shellin em from afar, while the rest go assault)

 

Mobility is good, although the night lords probably would do quick and not so quick, they do have a stealthy 'we'll slit your throats while you sleep' side too. Bikes and jump packs make a lot of noise. Infiltrating CSM squads do not.

The lightning raids are definitely in character though.

 

one tactic you might want to try (i'm going to try it myself next game) ... mount squads in rhinos, give them 2 special weapons, and fire them on the move (12" and still shoot through fire points  ... 4 plasma gun shots while driving by sounds like fun to me!) tail the rhinos with your raptors/bikes ... they should both be moving 12" at least, so no problems with keeping up ... mobile terrain is fun!

This tactic was good in 3rd ed. Not so good in 4th ed. staying in your tank while it has LOS to the enemy and no smoke protecting it is suicide. Try that trick, and prepare to have 2 wounded, pinned, nightlord squads cowering behind some piles of burning metal next turn.

 

Using the rhino to cover for your faster units is a good idea though.

 

raptors and bikes are lots of fun, i'd suggest getting a 6-man squad of each (more than 6 raptors per squad are good and lots of meltas are good)

 

6 man raptor squads die incredibly easy. Your opponent only has to kill a few models to make it ineffective. Anything that is going to be a mainstay hand to hand unit isn't a great idea. Bikes should have 4-5 guys a squad. Large enough to not die to a round of lasguns firing at them, but still small enough to hug cover and not have the end guy's shot off. Both units are still incredibly fragile.

 

 

and yeah ... tooling up your lord too much isn't a good idea, as a few good hits loses you 200-250 points if you go overboard. (last game i lost my lord to a space marine commander with nothing but powerfist/iron halo ... was a one on one with one round of combat ... i even had d rune) i still like to crazy my lord out as it just seems fitting to me ... but then again i don't build/play armies for maximum efficiency, i go for cool factor  but that doesn't mean i can't give advice ... just means i should take my own advice

 

The cheap lord is great. However, the HTH lord of death works on occasion, but latley i've been going for a Lord with darkblade, pistol, visage and nothing else. Especially with the new 4th ed character killing rules, the champions will be the mainstay of your assault body.

[Broccoli]

one tactic you might want to try (i'm going to try it myself next game) ... mount squads in rhinos, give them 2 special weapons, and fire them on the move (12" and still shoot through fire points

[konradcurze]

i had 2 battles today with my night lords(1500 pts). against tau. enough said about who wins in the firepower department. well heres the list i used

 

lord-twin lightning claws, demonic strength, dem flight, dem aura, frag grenades, infiltrate

 

7 marines(bolters) and 1 champ- 2 plasma guns, champ with power sword and bolt pistol, stealth adept

 

7 marines(bolters) and 1 champ- 2 plasma guns, champ with power sword and bolt pistol, stealth adept

 

7 marines(ccw&bp) and 1 champ- 1 flamer, champ with power fist and bolt pistol

1 rhino- extra armour and smoke launchers

 

5 bikers and 1 biker champ- 2 meltaguns, champ with power fist, skilled riders

 

4 raptors and 1 raptor champ- 3 meltaguns, champ with power weapon and bolt pistol, infiltrate and furious charge

 

4 raptors and 1 raptor champ- 3 flamers, champ with power weapon and bolt pistol, infiltrate and furious charge

 

1 predator- autocannon and sponson heavy bolters

 

the first battle was cleanse in omega difficulty so my raptors and lord didnt get to infiltrate. the flamer raptor squad didnt come on till about 4th turn i think. my predator got shot up 2nd or 3rd turn i think and my two bolter squads held my quarter as little firebasesx and with stealth adept the passed a few extra cover saves.

lord got unlucky and was obliterated by a railgun. and finally 3 raptors from the melta squad made it into combat with some firewarriors and made 1 squad run then consolidated into another killing 4. they also ended up killing the ethereal and making a squad of stealth suits run off the table as a result of his death.

the game ended with him on about 800 vps and myself on 320. so it was not as bad as the destruction looked on the table.

 

the second battle was secure and control with 4 counters in gamma difficulty(yes time for raptors and lord to shine). all the raptors and lord clumped up behind a piece of terrain ready to strike some fire warriors and a hammerhead. but my opponent got first turn and they all retreated to safety. i had 1 bolter squad hold up half of his army for 2 turns so i could reposition a few of my things on the other side of the board. after 1 round of shooting from about 20 fire warriors 4 stealth suits, 1 commander, 2 devilfish and a squad of pathfinders there was 2 guys left from 8. so next turn they charged Fwarriors and killed 4 of them. my other bolter squad hid their space marine buts behind a building for most of the game, pretty much not to let my opponent get the VPs for them. they couldnt outshoot the tau either.

at turn 4 they emerged to fir on a few drones. finally some stuff managed to get into combat. things such as my lord bikers, 2 flamer raptors and 5 melta ones. my opponent said he had to many tagets to choose at that point and i think that was where the game was won. i had 2 counters and had killed 1100 tps worth of stuff and he had killed 800 of mine and had no counters.

 

i spose some highlights of the matches was passing 18 out of 20 saves for some raptors. killing 'ethel' the ethereal and makin the stealths run. 3 flamers into deepstriking drones. and the surprise of 3 meltaguns on raptors to destroy hammerhead.

 

well thats basically my weekend of warhammer.

[Gree]

Psycic powers Anyone

[Pacific81]

Hey guys im new to this forum!

 

On the modelling side of things, as opposed to the rules, I've kind of gone with an 'undead marines' theme. Yeah, it sounds crap but basically where the models have exposed flesh ive put bone (so skulls, skeletal hands etc.)

 

Ive also not used any of the official Night Lord models. I figure that if you had wings attached to your helmet that made you about 10 feet tall, you aint gonna be sneaking anywhere - instead ive opted for some of the mk 6 'beakie' helmets which i figure look a lot more frightening, rather than something you'd win at a funfair

 

Does anyone else have any interesting modelling projects for their Night Lords?

[Brother Nihm]

I am currently painting my converted Lt. and converted Asp. Champ Biker. I might post some pics later in the + PAINTING, CONVERTING AND ARTWORK + section of this forum.

 

I'm pretty sure there's alot of modelling going on somewhere. Chaos is so full of opportunities! :huh:

[Maladon]

Hey guys im new to this forum!

 

On the modelling side of things, as opposed to the rules, I've kind of gone with an 'undead marines' theme. Yeah, it sounds crap but basically where the models have exposed flesh ive put bone (so skulls, skeletal hands etc.)

 

Ive also not used any of the official Night Lord models. I figure that if you had wings attached to your helmet that made you about 10 feet tall, you aint gonna be sneaking anywhere - instead ive opted for some of the mk 6 'beakie' helmets which i figure look a lot more frightening, rather than something you'd win at a funfair

 

Does anyone else have any interesting modelling projects for their Night Lords?

Not to sound critical but- the Night lord recuit criminal and gangs for their forces not undead..

 

anyway- I agree with McSatanism in keeping with the fluff of the army.. do not take the MoCU PERIOD! that's for the weak... like the Black Legion!

 

you want to take four fast attack squads- a 3 man bike squad with a personal icon and three chaos furies packs..

 

for modeling- also go with the fluff... pale skin and black eyes!

 

but take squads with at least stealth adept no matter what!

[Pacific81]

@Maladon

Not to sound critical but- the Night lord recuit criminal and gangs for their forces not undead..

 

OK point taken.. I think my description was pretty poor

 

Essentially, one of the strongest elements concerning the background of the Nightlords revolves around their use of terror tactics. Reading descriptions of them in the Chaos codex, it seems that they embody fear and strive to terrify their opponent so that ultimately their resolve to fight weakens.

 

Looking at many of the other Chaos chapters, their physical attributes have often changed to match the ethos of their patron; World Eaters are the colour of blood and their armour is adorned with skulls, Death guard look like an embodiment of disease etc.

 

While I realise that the Night Lords have no patron chaos god, no secret is made of the warping potential of chaos. As such, I think it entirely reasonable to assume that the psychology and their very reason of being (i.e. to bring terror and dispair to their enemies) has lead to mutations which reflect their essence.

 

Therefore I decided against long pink tongues and other similar mutations, and while I certainly havent simply got hold of a skeleton sprue and stuck on shoulder pads, have got pieces of armour missing revealing bones, bottoms of helmets removed showing fangs etc..

 

As soon as I can get access to a digital camera I'll post some shots on, as a picture shows a thousand words as they say!

[cl1668]

NL look: Blue armour with skeleton patterns on it.

will be quite nice, i think.

[Maladon]

NL look: Blue armour with skeleton patterns on it.

will be quite nice, i think.

Just on the helmets with the skull patterns, Oh just because GW gave us those stupid looking helmets doesn't mean you have to use them ;) ...Feel free to use the other helmets and head for that matter in your Night Lords.... however one head that I would say is a must have is the Khorne berserker head with the skull on the front .... a perfect insult to the weak berserkers, painted of course in NL colors schemes! :)

[cl1668]

NL look: Blue armour with skeleton patterns on it.

will be quite nice, i think.

Just on the helmets with the skull patterns, Oh just because GW gave us those stupid looking helmets doesn't mean you have to use them ;) ...Feel free to use the other helmets and head for that matter in your Night Lords.... however one head that I would say is a must have is the Khorne berserker head with the skull on the front .... a perfect insult to the weak berserkers, painted of course in NL colors schemes! ;)

Good idea..... :)

[Maladon]

NL look: Blue armour with skeleton patterns on it.

will be quite nice, i think.

Just on the helmets with the skull patterns, Oh just because GW gave us those stupid looking helmets doesn't mean you have to use them :huh: ...Feel free to use the other helmets and head for that matter in your Night Lords.... however one head that I would say is a must have is the Khorne berserker head with the skull on the front .... a perfect insult to the weak berserkers, painted of course in NL colors schemes! ;)

Good idea..... :D

thanks! ;) :D :huh:

[King Framamamala]

Hi guys, I'm new too, I was looking for a marine army after finishing my speed freeks (Wartraks forever!) and ended up here. Reading through this thread, it seems pretty helpful. Anyway, on the subject of lords, which squad do you suggest he accompanies, or goes it alone? (Good if he's super tooled up I suppose, but mine will be in moderation.)

[Maladon]

Hi guys, I'm new too, I was looking for a marine army after finishing my speed freeks (Wartraks forever!) and ended up here. Reading through this thread, it seems pretty helpful. Anyway, on the subject of lords, which squad do you suggest he accompanies, or goes it alone? (Good if he's super tooled up I suppose, but mine will be in moderation.)

Uhmmm....No! moderate the wargear and gifts... don't make a super uber killing machine, it will most likely die in the first few rounds!

 

 

However, a raptor squad with three meltaguns and a AC with a power fist... now there is a squad... BTW with infiltrate and tank hunter Vet skills..

 

But no MoCU!

[Absoluthor]

@Maladon

While I realise that the Night Lords have no patron chaos god, no secret is made of the warping potential of chaos. As such, I think it entirely reasonable to assume that the psychology and their very reason of being (i.e. to bring terror and dispair to their enemies) has lead to mutations which reflect their essence.

You forget that Nightlords has the most stabile geneseed of all the chaos legions, mutation is highly uncommon in this legion. Nightlords are <DELETED BY THE INQUISITION> up in the head instead, depressed psychos as they are.

 

But anyways your undead nightlords army sounds very cool, :tu: and I'm sure you can make up a better explanation. It might have happened that some nightlords fell under a spell similar to the rubric of ahriman. Or perhaps they got lost in the warp, or cursed by a powerful daemon prince... Many posibilities here! :cuss

[SynapsyS]

You could have an all infiltrating NL army - small squads with beefed champs and meltas. Might not be all that effective on the table, but its damn characterful.

[Kaldoth]

this usually works for me. for my heavy support i have 2 defilers. yes i have two. get over it. but anyway the main part of this is how to use a defiler effectively in a nl army as i dont see many people using them for some reason. there is alot of potential in thesse killing machines. dont be afraid to use them because they are big and are counted as heavy support. anyway i set my defilers on the corners of the table on each side where they are far away from the battle but in range of the opponents army. this way you can give your armys main force good support from far back with the battle cannons. this is very effective against imp guard and the nids. huge blast craters and guts flying all around is well worth the expensiveness of the defilers. play on your opponents weaknesses. if they have alot of people/monsters in their units dont think you are going to get swamped. confidence is always a key factor. if you think you are going to win. dont ever back down because the odds are against you. just regroup, push harder, and keep blowing holes in them.

 

if you are going up against an army with alot of fire power such as the tau dont hang back and shoot them. use your infiltrators if the rules allow it. tau are really hard at range and ive seen to many of my friends go down because they think that if they hang back behind cover they wont get hurt. that is definately not the case. rush in as fast as possible and take out the infantry. dont worry about the heavy support until the infantry is gone. "cut off the wings and the bird wont fly" remember that. heavy support is useless without infantry to protect it.

 

Don't get lured into thinking you have to take lost of fast attack for night lords. If it's a small game, don't bother with the points for them. Chaos fast attack units generally run between 200-300 points for a combat effective unit. Which is a lot. Games are won and lost at the composition phase. Make sure you have a plan for all your units. Don't take raptors just because they are your signature unit, make sure you can effectively use and support them.

 

mc satanism is right. if you dont need the fast attack dont use the fast attack. just because it gives you an option to give up your heavy support doesnt mean you have to use it.

 

if you against an MIA (Mirror Image Army, such as the space marines) try to match what heavy support they have with what heavy support you have. if they have 3 troop choices, you use three troop choices. there is no better battle than one that is evenly matched. especially when you get to claim victory against those who betrayed you those many millenia ago.

 

now about the lords. ive seen too many people loose vp games because their lords are too <DELETED BY THE INQUISITION> points heavy. all you need is a pair of lightning claws and a gift to get you into close combat(speed or flight). this tends to be pretty effective as the lords basic profile is already good. you can add more in but try to keep it low and effective.

 

one final thing. just because you want to play NOW doesnt mean you have to half ass your models paint job. a well painted army can really do some psycological damage to your opponent. Axelonius is right about the rhinos. paint them well. its basic human nature to take out the scariest thing he sees first and if he sees a scary, spiky, well converted, and well painnted transport he will take it out first which will give you time to screw around with the rest of your army and kill him when hes doing his victory dance because he killed the big, scary, and empty transport.

 

i hope this helps.

 

hellsing

[Pacific81]

Does anyone know why McSatanism was banned? The guy (girl?) knew his stuff and in my view had the most amusing sig in B&C..

 

*starts running around in circles throwing anti plant grenades*

 

 

--------------------

 

"and there will be no more empires or kingdoms, no more caliphs, sultans, emirs, khans or zamindars, no more kings or queens or princes, no more qadis or mullas or ulema, no more slavery and no more usury, no more property and no more taxes, no more rich and no more poor, no killing or maiming or torture or execution, no more jailers and no more prisoners, no more generals, soldiers, armies or navies, no more patriarchy, no more clans, no more caste, no more hunger, no more suffering than what life brings us for being born and having to die, and then for the first time we will see for the first time what kind of creatures we really are."