Age of Sigmar: Points and Handbooks

[RagingBluMunky]

New Stormcast Heroes

They look frickin sweet. Interestingly, the wodong on Solbright's warscroll implies that there will be generic characters riding dracolines.

[Tome]

So, how is everyone planning on adapting to the new edition? What realms will you hails from, are you planning on converting any models to make use of the new artefacts (a
lord celestant with a bow, etc.)

I'm personally planning a shyish Ork army. My mega boss will be weilding a morghast's cleaver, the hand should be just the perfect size. It'll be mostly Brutes and Bonesplitters, though I may grab a generic warboss as his command ability effects all orks, unlike Savage big bosses and mega bosses.

I'm looking at the Sword of Judgement for my Ogroid Thaumaturge's Cloven Hooves. He gets four attacks with those (which otherwise have mediocre stats) and can stack Brutal Rage and Infusion Arcanum for a +2 to hit, meaning four attacks that do 1d6 mortal wounds on a 4+ versus heroes and monsters. That aught to be fun.

Gonna see if I can model his hooves as being on fire to represent it.

Got to wait until I can see the changes to the Everchosen parts of my army, but I'm strongly considering switching out my Chaos Lord on foot for one on a daemonic mount, since they have a very nice command ability that combos well with the units of chaos knights I run.

[Requizen]

New Stormcast Heroes

They look frickin sweet. Interestingly, the wodong on Solbright's warscroll implies that there will be generic characters riding dracolines.

I dig them, but will probably never use the named versions since I don't play Ultramarines Hammers. Can't wait for that Tauralon model though, so dope!

I'm looking at the Sword of Judgement for my Ogroid Thaumaturge's Cloven Hooves. He gets four attacks with those (which otherwise have mediocre stats) and can stack Brutal Rage and Infusion Arcanum for a +2 to hit, meaning four attacks that do 1d6 mortal wounds on a 4+ versus heroes and monsters. That aught to be fun.

Gonna see if I can model his hooves as being on fire to represent it.

Got to wait until I can see the changes to the Everchosen parts of my army, but I'm strongly considering switching out my Chaos Lord on foot for one on a daemonic mount, since they have a very nice command ability that combos well with the units of chaos knights I run.

Gamewise, Lens of Refraction from Hysh is the one that my SCE want the most. **** you, Tzeentch!

Lorewise, since I play Anvils, I should be from Shyish, so I might slap Etheral Amulet or Ragged Cloak on something big and nasty. Ethereal Stardrake, so 3++ rr1s? Not even half bad, especially if I have healing effects.

[RagingBluMunky]

I'm looking at the Sword of Judgement for my Ogroid Thaumaturge's Cloven Hooves. He gets four attacks with those (which otherwise have mediocre stats) and can stack Brutal Rage and Infusion Arcanum for a +2 to hit, meaning four attacks that do 1d6 mortal wounds on a 4+ versus heroes and monsters. That aught to be fun.

Gonna see if I can model his hooves as being on fire to represent it.

That sounds nasty, in the best way!

I have ideas! The one thing I never run out of.

Greenstuff might be required.

One: Tzaangor Enlightened and Flamers of Tzeentch 'float' on little pillars of flame that could be repurposed to go under the Thaumaturge's hooves. Because the only thing scarier than a magical Minotaur is a flying one. Greenstuff is likely needed to model flames coming up around the sides of the hooves.

Two: Burning chariots have a nice life base of flameystuff, so you might be able to cut spots for his feet, to give him a flaming aura.

Three: Brimstone horrors could be cut apart and used to model flaming footprints.

[Tome]

Chaos Lord went up in cost, he's now the same as his mounted counterpart. Sorry buddy, your cool model won't stop me switching you out for the superior version now that I can use his sweet command ability - one of the few I really have access to. It'll be very helpful on my chaos knights, and probably what I spend my meagre allotment of command points on. Kinda contemplating finding some gribbly for the cool foot model to perch on the back of in place of using the old metal model. Anyone got a good recommendation for a beastie that'd work? I'm currently thinking Chaos Spawn.

Marauders got their minimum units size doubled for some reason? I only wanted a unit of 10 to serve as sacrifices for my gaunt summoner (arcane sacrifice + treacherous bond), now I'll have to switch them out. Actually, considering how most of my army went up in points I'll probably just drop them altogether.

Hmm, looks like almost all of my heroes are going up in points. Only my daemon prince and sorcerer lord didn't get a point increase. Kairic Acolytes went down (but chaos warriors didn't???) and with the dropped marauder unit and massively cheaper balewind vortex I can cover the increases exactly. So no change to my army apart from dumping the 10 marauders.

Summoning wise, I understand that Tzeentch armies generate their points by spells being cast by either side. Including the free arcane bolt from the Fatesworn Warband (kinda hoping they excluded the basic two spells from the rule of 1 now that they've been nerfed) and the balewind vortex boost, I have nine casts per turn. Tzeentch approves!

I'll just have to pick up some daemons to summon (and maybe some bitz to convert the ogroid as RagingBluMunky suggested).

[LeSwordfish]

Can anyone link me/tell me if any Legions of Nagash points stuff has changed?

[Requizen]

Can anyone link me/tell me if any Legions of Nagash points stuff has changed?

Looks like units are the same, Battalions changed in points tho

[Beelzebub1111]

Ah rhe books are out? Any changes to Brayherd alligence? Or should I stick with Warherd for the time being?

Any chance that Bullgor Stampede or named characters return? A longshot, but onw can dream...

[Requizen]

Ah rhe books are out? Any changes to Brayherd alligence? Or should I stick with Warherd for the time being?

Any chance that Bullgor Stampede or named characters return? A longshot, but onw can dream...

Books aren't out but are in stores. Sounds like most FLGS got the Core Rules and Malign Sorcery, while GW stores also got GHB. I'm gonna go flip through the GHB tonight at my local Warhammer so I'll look at Brayherd (though you'll have the book in a few days lol).

In the meantime, look at these!

https://www.warhammer-community.com/...mepage-post-2/

All these spells look amazing. The Comet seems hilariously powerful - though positioning will matter quite a bit and can easily be dispelled on a 6+.

I really like the Nighthaunt Hourglass (not gonna use that dog Latin name, lol), seems like a tool that can have a lot of flexibility, though it can come back to bite you. I can forsee Nighthaunt or general Death lists using lots of Endless Spells including this one.

[Tome]

The endless spells do seem pretty potent. Dispelling them is probably gonna be important.

Currently the only one I'm planning to bring is the Balewind Vortex, since the extra range is extremely helpful for my Gaunt Summoner (33" range total on his 'half your unit takes a mortal wound' spell now).

I am tempted to drop a Knight unit and take a bunch more endless spells instead. I certainly have the casting ability to support them, and hopefully most armies won't be toting enough casts/unbindings of their own to keep up.

Kinda wondering how the Magical Supremacy trait is gonna change. Currently it increases Unbinding range from 18" to 27". They could go the easy route and say it increases it to 39" instead, but at that point the extra range is pretty redundant.

[Requizen]

The endless spells do seem pretty potent. Dispelling them is probably gonna be important.

Currently the only one I'm planning to bring is the Balewind Vortex, since the extra range is extremely helpful for my Gaunt Summoner (33" range total on his 'half your unit takes a mortal wound' spell now).

I am tempted to drop a Knight unit and take a bunch more endless spells instead. I certainly have the casting ability to support them, and hopefully most armies won't be toting enough casts/unbindings of their own to keep up.

Kinda wondering how the Magical Supremacy trait is gonna change. Currently it increases Unbinding range from 18" to 27". They could go the easy route and say it increases it to 39" instead, but at that point the extra range is pretty redundant.

Yeah I'm really wondering how many points to devote to Endless Spells. They're powerful, but can be shut down, so it's really a toss up. The Comet is 100 points from the leaks, and it feels worth it, but adding more spells (especially the more expensive ones like Cogs) really starts to cut down on models in an already really elite army. If I'm trying to use a Stardrake as well... model count will be quite low, depending on how the list goes together. By the time you take a couple Wizards (can't take just one, tempting fate), Comet, Stardrake, Castellant, probably Heraldor... that's getting quite tight on points.

[Tome]

Yeah I'm really wondering how many points to devote to Endless Spells. They're powerful, but can be shut down, so it's really a toss up. The Comet is 100 points from the leaks, and it feels worth it, but adding more spells (especially the more expensive ones like Cogs) really starts to cut down on models in an already really elite army. If I'm trying to use a Stardrake as well... model count will be quite low, depending on how the list goes together. By the time you take a couple Wizards (can't take just one, tempting fate), Comet, Stardrake, Castellant, probably Heraldor... that's getting quite tight on points.

For me the decision is basically coming down to which would be more efficient at doing the job: the unit, or equivalent points in spells.

Gaunt Summoner+Arcane Sacrifice+Balewind Vortex is 240 points and kills half a horde each turn, plus whatever else he does with his other two re-rollable casts. That's worth the points. Still need to examine the other spells and figure out if any of them might also be.

On a different note, I'm pondering whether to split my Kairic Acolytes into two units or keep them in one big one. Two units nets me an extra shot and more board presence, whilst also hopefully keeping battleshock losses down. They're not exactly the best target for my buffs either, so it shouldn't matter too much.

Conversely, I might combine my two five man untis of chaos knights into one, so that my mounted chaos lord can buff them all. Bit worried about the increased footprint though, as well as the issue of getting them all into position to attack. What's the conventional wisdom right now on unit size?

[Requizen]

For me the decision is basically coming down to which would be more efficient at doing the job: the unit, or equivalent points in spells.

Gaunt Summoner+Arcane Sacrifice+Balewind Vortex is 240 points and kills half a horde each turn, plus whatever else he does with his other two re-rollable casts. That's worth the points. Still need to examine the other spells and figure out if any of them might also be.

On a different note, I'm pondering whether to split my Kairic Acolytes into two units or keep them in one big one. Two units nets me an extra shot and more board presence, whilst also hopefully keeping battleshock losses down. They're not exactly the best target for my buffs either, so it shouldn't matter too much.

Conversely, I might combine my two five man untis of chaos knights into one, so that my mounted chaos lord can buff them all. Bit worried about the increased footprint though, as well as the issue of getting them all into position to attack. What's the conventional wisdom right now on unit size?

Hm, really depends. There are "break points" for certain units, and it depends on what you're using them for. Like for Knights, big units are good for locking down enemy movement, while small units are good distraction pieces, etc. If you're looking to do damage, you have to put them on the table and see how many ranks you can reasonably fight in, and think about what types of units they'll run into. Big units have the capability to lose to Battleshock, sure, but for things like Acolytes, remember you also get +1 Bravery over 10 models, so you'll lose less dudes when a big unit Battleshocks, though small units can be overkilled and force your enemy to lose points.

I'd say big units are generally better for Chaos since they have so many ways to buff, but I think you need to play a few games with it and see what happens. I generally go MSU because I'm always wary of losing my one important unit, unless you are doing something like 2-4 "buffable" units and a lot of Heroes.

[Tome]

FAQS ARE OUT!

If anyone wants to know how their army rules have changed, go find out!

For Tzeentch we have our summoning rules added. We get points for every successful spell cast, friend or foe, but the costs to summon are pretty high. 10 points for the most basic units, all the way up to 36 for a Lord of Change.

Horrors got a change in how they split. Now when one dies you can either take Petty Vengeance (roll a die, on a 6 deal a mortal wound to a unti within 9") or accumulate summoning points that can only be spent towards summoning the appropriate unit (ie blue horrors or brimstone horrors).

Magical Supremacy got changed to a simple +12" unbinding range. Better than I thought, but still fairly redundant.

EDIT OOH! They clarified that yes, if a Curseling unbinds an endless spell they can then attempt to cast it for themselves. Hehehe

Guess I'm keeping him in my army.

EDIT2 Aaaaand it looks like you can, in fact, use the same command ability on the same unit multiple times. I smell cheese incoming.

[Requizen]

These FAQs are a huge shift for some armies, on top of the big changes coming already. AoS is gonna look so different in a few days, how exciting!

I find the Khorne summoning really interesting. The Blood Tithe table is already really strong, so you have to weigh the uses of your points quite closely. Plus, it may give rise to MSU spam lists that bring like lots of Bloodreaver units that not only draw aggro and clog up the field, but also load you up with Summoning potential. Very exciting!

[RagingBluMunky]

A look at new Stormhost Rules

Looking good so far. Of note is that if you take a Stormhost, then your command traits MUST be the Stormhost's, and you first relic Must be also.

It makes me wonder if Nighthaunt will have subfaction rules. Probably, I suppose, but I can't quite imagine how.

[Tome]

A look at new Stormhost Rules

Looking good so far. Of note is that if you take a Stormhost, then your command traits MUST be the Stormhost's, and you first relic Must be also.

It makes me wonder if Nighthaunt will have subfaction rules. Probably, I suppose, but I can't quite imagine how.

Mmm. I do like that locking in your command trait and first artifact means there's an actual cost to using these rules. Helps keep it a little more balanced against the other factions.

Do we know if the ability stacks with or replaces the default stormcast allegiance one?

[RagingBluMunky]

I'm fairly sure that it is in addition, as the Stormcast allegiance ability is the lightning strike. And unless I'm mistaken other armies' subfaction dont replace allegiance abilities

[RagingBluMunky]

New news from the Mortal Realms

A new Black Coach model, more ghost knights, Evocaters on Dragon-Lions! Oh my!

The tauralon character has a generic variant, a snap-fit celestar ballosta, and a new lord ordinator model.

So much nice things for both sides. I can't even words I'm so excited!

[9mm]

EDIT2 Aaaaand it looks like you can, in fact, use the same command ability on the same unit multiple times. I smell cheese incoming.

they are already faqing some command abilities that it can't target the same unit multiple times. There will be cheese, but they did catch some of it, but I'd count on a rule of one on command abilities in the near future.

[Requizen]

Finished 2x SCE Soul Wars and the Endless Spells built. Good day of hobbying. Everything went together easily except the Purple Sun, which has huge gaps.

Listened to a couple reviews of the new Battletome. Will wait for final judgement when I have it in hand, but liking what I hear so far.

[Tome]

Toying with a 1000 point list for an upcoming tournament.

It's gonna have endless spells and full realm rules in place and I think I'm going to want to take advantage of that.

I expect to see a lot of folks trying out the newly released stuff, as entry to the tournament was a prize in the raffle for everyone who preordered stuff.

Spoiler

Show

My general is going to be a Curseling, with Arcane Sacrifice and either a balewind or cogs to toss three boosted spells a turn. His normal problems with lack of spell options are solved by the realm lores and his ability to steal endless spells seems like it will be extremely useful with them being the new hotness.

I've chosen to back him up with a daemon prince and an ogroid thaumaturge. The prince has the mobility to either hunt back row targets or to claim objectives in the various "only heroes can control" battle plans.

The ogroid is a casting beatstick with a good blasting option and a nasty synergy with the sword of judgement, though I'll have to see how hard it is to get him in position to actually use it. Might make a good deterrant if I use the cogs - I doubt anyone will want their wizard within 9" of them if that also puts them in murder range of the ogroid.

Problem is, this leaves me with only 440-460 points to grab my battleline and any other units I might want. Since my heroes are fairly killy for the most part, I probably want to focus on units good for grabbing objectives - meaning some combination of fast, durable and/or numerous. I'm not sure which options to take. Currently I'm looking at something like this:

ALLEGIANCE: TZEENTCH
REALM OF ORIGIN: ULGU

LEADERS
Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch - 160 Points
GENERAL, Arcane Sacrifice
Glimpse the Future

Daemon Prince of Tzeentch - 160 Points
Treason of Tzeentch

Ogroid Thaumaturge - 180 Points
Infusion Arcanum
Sword of Judgement [Cloven Hooves]

BATTLELINE
Chaos Marauders (x40) - 200 Points
Mark of Tzeentch

Chaos Warriors (x10) - 180 Points
Mark of Tzeentch

ALLIES
Chaos Warhounds (x10) - 80 Points

ENDLESS SPELLS
Balewind Vortex - 40 Points

TOTAL: 1000 Points

I might not be able to dig out and refurbish that many marauders in time though.

Anyone got any advice or critique? Are horrors and tzaangors so much better than my StD guys that I should grab some of them instead?

EDIT Is it just me, or does the rule of one appear to have dissappeared? I can't find mention of it in either the core rules of the new general's handbook. The '1s always fail' bit has been baked into the rules for rolling attacks now and certain spells like glimpse the future had a one per turn restriction errata'd in, but it seems like we can cast as many arcane bolts as we want.

[Requizen]

Toying with a 1000 point list for an upcoming tournament.

It's gonna have endless spells and full realm rules in place and I think I'm going to want to take advantage of that.

I expect to see a lot of folks trying out the newly released stuff, as entry to the tournament was a prize in the raffle for everyone who preordered stuff.

Spoiler

Show

My general is going to be a Curseling, with Arcane Sacrifice and either a balewind or cogs to toss three boosted spells a turn. His normal problems with lack of spell options are solved by the realm lores and his ability to steal endless spells seems like it will be extremely useful with them being the new hotness.

I've chosen to back him up with a daemon prince and an ogroid thaumaturge. The prince has the mobility to either hunt back row targets or to claim objectives in the various "only heroes can control" battle plans.

The ogroid is a casting beatstick with a good blasting option and a nasty synergy with the sword of judgement, though I'll have to see how hard it is to get him in position to actually use it. Might make a good deterrant if I use the cogs - I doubt anyone will want their wizard within 9" of them if that also puts them in murder range of the ogroid.

Problem is, this leaves me with only 440-460 points to grab my battleline and any other units I might want. Since my heroes are fairly killy for the most part, I probably want to focus on units good for grabbing objectives - meaning some combination of fast, durable and/or numerous. I'm not sure which options to take. Currently I'm looking at something like this:

ALLEGIANCE: TZEENTCH
REALM OF ORIGIN: ULGU

LEADERS
Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch - 160 Points
GENERAL, Arcane Sacrifice
Glimpse the Future

Daemon Prince of Tzeentch - 160 Points
Treason of Tzeentch

Ogroid Thaumaturge - 180 Points
Infusion Arcanum
Sword of Judgement [Cloven Hooves]

BATTLELINE
Chaos Marauders (x40) - 200 Points
Mark of Tzeentch

Chaos Warriors (x10) - 180 Points
Mark of Tzeentch

ALLIES
Chaos Warhounds (x10) - 80 Points

ENDLESS SPELLS
Balewind Vortex - 40 Points

TOTAL: 1000 Points

I might not be able to dig out and refurbish that many marauders in time though.

Anyone got any advice or critique? Are horrors and tzaangors so much better than my StD guys that I should grab some of them instead?

I like it. I'm not sure about the Balewind - what spell are you hoping to boost with it? I'd rather have the mobility of being on the ground + another Endless Spell like maybe Pendulum.

I think it won't hit super hard with fighting, but will cut away with MWs and bog down with bodies, which is just as viable.

EDIT Is it just me, or does the rule of one appear to have dissappeared? I can't find mention of it in either the core rules of the new general's handbook. The '1s always fail' bit has been baked into the rules for rolling attacks now and certain spells like glimpse the future had a one per turn restriction errata'd in, but it seems like we can cast as many arcane bolts as we want.

Start of the Wizard section: "A Wizard can attempt to cast spells in its own hero phase. You cannot attempt to cast the same spell more than once in the same turn (even with a different wizard)"

Really small now, basically blink and you miss it.

[Tome]

I like it. I'm not sure about the Balewind - what spell are you hoping to boost with it? I'd rather have the mobility of being on the ground + another Endless Spell like maybe Pendulum.

I think it won't hit super hard with fighting, but will cut away with MWs and bog down with bodies, which is just as viable.

No particular spell, but I am hoping to use it with the realm lores and/or stolen spells. The curseling should have a lot of options to choose from between the two factors.

I might switch it out for cogs if I rejigger the units. A bit more mobility, plus the option to boost movement in the first turn or two on a mostly slow army seems pretty great.

Start of the Wizard section: "A Wizard can attempt to cast spells in its own hero phase. You cannot attempt to cast the same spell more than once in the same turn (even with a different wizard)"

Really small now, basically blink and you miss it.

It really is.

Blast.

[LeSwordfish]

Deathmarch is now 160pts instead of 110 - and you need to be entirely within 12" to make the move. Given that it already had a tax-y unit in the form of the third squad of skeletons and the wight king, I think i'm going to happily drop it, which gives me points for a Bloodseeker Palanquin and some spares.

Legions Of Nagash - Legion Of Blood - Shyish

Bloodseeker Palanquin (General: Ethereal Amulet, Aura of Dark Majesty)
Vampire Lord
Necromancer

20x Skeletons
20x Skeletons
10x Zombies
5x Black Knights
5x Black Knights
15x Grave Guard

1x Command Point
Malevolent Maelstrom

Combining the skeletons seems sensible to me, as does saving the fifty points for a command point - thats probably more than a hundred points of models revived at some point. By dropping the third Battleline tax from skeletons to zombies I can grab the Malevolent Maelstrom, which can take over the anti-enemy-magic job from the Mortis Engine. The Bloodseeker Palanquin is a really good general because it's at a permanent -1 to hit with an Ethereal 4+ save and twelve wounds. Alternatively if I'm happy to have a Vampire Lord or similar as general - and correct me if I'm wrong, but "kill the general for a bonus point" is much rarer in AOS - then the Mortis Engine does most of what I want from the Palanquin for a hundred and forty points cheaper - second Vampire Lord? Wight King? Drop the Maelstrom and get the Deathmarch back? Tomb Banshee to murder things with dropped leadership?

Yeah, maybe that last one. Drop the Palanquin for a Mortis engine for +140pts, get +10 zombies and a Banshee. I picked up the Myrnmourn Banshees box because they're lovely, so I can use one of them. Or I might just use them as themselves, depends how many points they cost.

[Requizen]

Deathmarch is now 160pts instead of 110 - and you need to be entirely within 12" to make the move. Given that it already had a tax-y unit in the form of the third squad of skeletons and the wight king, I think i'm going to happily drop it, which gives me points for a Bloodseeker Palanquin and some spares.

Legions Of Nagash - Legion Of Blood - Shyish

Bloodseeker Palanquin (General: Ethereal Amulet, Aura of Dark Majesty)
Vampire Lord
Necromancer

20x Skeletons
20x Skeletons
10x Zombies
5x Black Knights
5x Black Knights
15x Grave Guard

1x Command Point
Malevolent Maelstrom

Combining the skeletons seems sensible to me, as does saving the fifty points for a command point - thats probably more than a hundred points of models revived at some point. By dropping the third Battleline tax from skeletons to zombies I can grab the Malevolent Maelstrom, which can take over the anti-enemy-magic job from the Mortis Engine. The Bloodseeker Palanquin is a really good general because it's at a permanent -1 to hit with an Ethereal 4+ save and twelve wounds. Alternatively if I'm happy to have a Vampire Lord or similar as general - and correct me if I'm wrong, but "kill the general for a bonus point" is much rarer in AOS - then the Mortis Engine does most of what I want from the Palanquin for a hundred and forty points cheaper - second Vampire Lord? Wight King? Drop the Maelstrom and get the Deathmarch back? Tomb Banshee to murder things with dropped leadership?

Yeah, maybe that last one. Drop the Palanquin for a Mortis engine for +140pts, get +10 zombies and a Banshee. I picked up the Myrnmourn Banshees box because they're lovely, so I can use one of them. Or I might just use them as themselves, depends how many points they cost.

Hm, I don't know much about the Palanquin or Mortis Engine, but would it be possible to squeeze a VLoZD in there? Those things are beasts and great Generals or just straight artifact bearers.

[Tome]

>SNIP<

I'd be a bit leery with counting on the malestrom to do much of anything. While it will attempt to unbind anything cast within 12" it is A) a non-damaging predatory spell and can thus be easily flung back in your face if your opponent moves it as they don't have to worry about harming their own models whilst doing so, and B) most likely to simply be dispelled if placed somewhere annoying.

It's also going to be wasted points against an army with no wizards, such as khorne or dispossed.

[Mystic Muse]

I'm asking, because I've never played Age of Sigmar, I'm trying to help get a scene started, and I don't want to waste money on something I can't use.

Is Battletome: Everchosen compatible with the latest edition, or will I have to wait for a new version to come out? Or do I even need the Battletome at all, and the General's handbook is sufficient?

Basically, unlike 40k, I don't have anyone nearby I csn ask about this.

Hoping to put together a Slaves of Darkness army lead by Archaon and the Varanguard.

[Tome]

I'm asking, because I've never played Age of Sigmar, I'm trying to help get a scene started, and I don't want to waste money on something I can't use.

Is Battletome: Everchosen compatible with the latest edition, or will I have to wait for a new version to come out? Or do I even need the Battletome at all, and the General's handbook is sufficient?

Basically, unlike 40k, I don't have anyone nearby I csn ask about this.

Hoping to put together a Slaves of Darkness army lead by Archaon and the Varanguard.

It's still valid, and it depends on how much use you want to get out of the Varanguard and if you want the rest of your army to skew towards one god.

There are a few different choices of faction allegiance you can run Archaon as. Varanguard and other units that don't fit the chosen allegiance will be restricted to only a certain number of points as allies.

1. Everchosen Allegiance. Needs the Everchosen battletome to run, only contains Archaon, Varanguard and Gaunt Summoners but has battalions for bringing in units dedicated to one of the gods. Downside is these battalions have large minimum sizes - the tzeentch one is a 2000 point army on its own!

2. Grand Alliance Chaos. Only needs the general's handbook and can contain any chaos units in any combination you want. The allegiance abilities are notably weaker though.

3. Specific god. Needs the god's battletome, or only the GH for Slaanesh, and will contain mostly units aligned to that god, which Archaon counts as. Has the strongest allegiance abilities and access to summoning. Can only take one varanguard unit at 2000 points.

4. Slaves to Darkness. Cannot actually take Archaon until something like 4000 points and only needs the GH.

From what you describe, you probably want to run as generic GA Chaos, which means you only need the general's handbook.

[Jera]

I've been toying with getting a Fyreslayers army for the last 6 months, in addition to my 40k army, but decided to hold off until the new edition dropped before making my final choice. How do they look right now?

One thing that worries me is that wizards look very strong right now, would I be hamstringing myself by sticking to an army that doesn't have any spell casting ability?