The Night lords. Raiders, murders, psychopaths, and Saturday morning cartoon villains. There is a lot to be said for the 8th legion and like most legions in 2.0 they have improved though in the case of everyone’s favourite Skeletor cosplayers you do need to look beyond their section to realise the improvements. So, lets dive into the lords of night.

A Talent for murder

In the previous edition Night lords had several abilities that essentially meant they played like sneaky World eaters, needing to reach combat and outnumber their target to get access to what could have been considered the strongest legion trait once it became active let’s look at the new one.

Ok so this trait is quite wordy and has a bunch of conditions for the trait, with only one needing to be active to get it to work, so let’s break it down a little.

So, the actual affect is amazing, +1 to wound increases the likelihood of wounding anything by 16%. This part is the same as before so old Night lord players will be aware how good this is. Now instead of providing +1 to hit it gives +1 to armour penetration rolls, this is quite strong making them one of the best legions at destroying tanks though the Tryhards Iron warriors are still superior in that regard.

OK so the effect is strong, but the question is how easy is it to activate? Well, there are 3 different conditions though only one will ever apply in combat, to activate your hidden talent only 1 needs to be satisfied. The first is the easiest outnumber the target, for these purposes bulky units count as whatever their bulk says, and vehicles count as 10 this makes vehicle squadrons such as Sabres insanely good with this rule.

There isn’t much to say beyond take big units though a couple of things do need to be noted. Firstly dreads, automata and armigers only count as 1 which feels like an oversight. Another thing to note is that you only need to outnumber the target so if you are in combat with several units it’s on a unit-by-unit basis not the whole thing.

The next two conditions will only apply for ranged attacks when targeting units that are pinned or falling back. If you are used to 1st edition this seems superficial but looking at changes in 2.0 pinning is far more common in game and far less units are immune to it in some way, keep this in mind as I will be coming back to this point later.

Unique Reaction – Better part of Valour

Run away! Used once an opponent declares a charge at one of your NL units. Before your opponent rolls their charge distance you can fall back, once you finish the fall back move you automatically rally (if you are about to run off the board you stop 1” away) and suffer none of the penalties. If you get to a position where the charge isn’t legal anymore then your opponent can redirect, otherwise they are committed. This is a powerful reaction but not necessarily one you will use every game, one thing to note is that you need to have the actual ability to run away to use this reaction so if your fearless death star is charged by your opponents, you can’t use this to get out of dodge.

Warlord traits

Night lords get three of these and luckily, they all seem to be on par with one another.

Warmonger

Traitor only (sorry Lawful Evil players). The warlord and accompanying unit get + 1 to hit when attacking (Shooting or combat) a unit that contains a model with an independent character and the loyalist allegiance. In addition, if you also have a Sons of Horus detachment the Warlord and his unit gain fearless, finally you get a shooting phase reaction. This warlord trait represents a Night lord who has grown disillusioned with his Primarch and seeks to gain the favour of Horus by killing any who defy the Warmaster. Personally, this is my favourite of the three it’s strong once it works but situational and you will likely only take it if you know that you will be playing against loyalists. Beyond that the biggest issue is that most lists won’t run more than 3 independent characters and then they would need to be in different units.

Jadhek Clanlord

The warlord and models in their unit gain counter-attack (1), you ignore penalties to movement and charge rolls due to terrain and can reroll failed dangerous tests, alongside an additional movement reaction. This warlord trait is to represent a character from the Jadhek clans (shocking). Who were notorious for the more piratical and marauding tendencies that the 8th legion became notorious of post heresy. This trait is also decent, ideal on a character with jump pack or (jet)bike which will be apparent when we get to the rites of war.

Flaymaster

The warlord gains the Fear (1) special rule and each time they wipe out a unit in combat either through damage or sweeping advance increase the value of fear by 1, also you get an additional assault phase reaction. This warlord trait represents, well a psychopath who takes trophies from his victims. This being the first instance of Fear coming up I should probably explain what that means as it will be coming up frequently from this point on. Fear reduces the LD of enemy units within 12” by the value in the brackets. Given that one of the ways to activate Talent for murder is by causing a unit to be pinned fear is quite powerful to gain access too but unfortunately for this trait fear is very easy to get access to in the NL so I’d consider this one to be the worst trait.

Rites of War

Night lords have access to two unique Rites:

The Swift blade

Get ready for the biker bats of Nostramo. The swift blade represents the persistent culture of the Jadhek clans that Konrad kept on trying to outlaw. This rite steals ideas from other chapters, specialising in speed (White scars) and no true leader (Alpha legion). So, what does it do?

So, first of all, you can take up to 5 HQ’s in the detachment (and you want to) all of them count as your warlord and unsurprisingly get the Jadhek Clanlord warlord trait, which isn’t the worst trait to have. However, you must run a praetor (so no Delegatus) and they must all be on a bike of some description (losing around half of the consuls). Naturally this means you can’t take anyone who must be the warlord (Scary daddy) but you don’t concede slay the warlord till they all die. In addition, Outriders become troops (not line unfortunately), but you can’t take heavy units (awkwardly this includes javelins)

I like this rite for casual games, it’s good fun to play Scars every now and again and you don’t need to paint white. If you are to run this rite, I’d recommend some Tacticals in rhinos to hold objectives whilst keeping on theme.

Terror assault (Or how I learnt to love love night fighting)

Here we go. Time to wait for nightfall, put on the Halloween decorations and scare some loyalists (or traitors if you’re feeling especially spicy). This rite is a specialty of the 8th legion not really designed to gain ground or assets rather to break the enemy’s spirit. So, what does it do?

The game always has night fighting in battle round 1 and 2 with it continuing to round 3 on a 4+. So, I suppose it’s time to talk about my favourite mission rule. Whilst night fighting is in effect: Units are -1LD, -1BS and the maximum range of weapons is 24” (barrage weapons also must reroll a hit!). Each of these effects are great for Night lords the -1 LD meaning that units are more likely to fail pinning or morale, so talent procs, and if you are going to build for combat the other affects are great. Now unfortunately there are ways around some of these affects but rarely all of them (don’t worry we have a way) but I will talk about this at the end just know it’s good.

Terror squads and Night raptors become troops (not line). These will be discussed later but they are good. However, you only get one heavy support and no LOW (note primarchs are not LOW). So, you are losing some big guns. In addition, all characters gain fear (1) which means enemies are -1LD when within 12” of you which combines with the dark for -2LD which is crippling to anything that isn’t stubborn.

This rite was popular before and likely still will be. Its only real negatives are the lack of line on the troops and the heavy support, but both can be worked around with creative list building.

Overall, I like both rites the lack of line gaining hurts, but most legion rites lost that ability so it’s positive for the game state.

Armoury

Alright so we know that Night lords are good at the whole murdering thing, so let’s find out what they use for that favourite of past times.

Nostraman Chain weapons

These are all an upgrade from a power weapon and conveniently the first two of them are easy to compare to the power sword. Coming in two variants the one handed chainblade and the two handed chainglaive. The chainblade is a power sword with an extra pip of strength and shred, whereas the glaive has another point of strength but is two handed. Both are great weapons and worth taking for a combat sergeant. The headsman’s axe however is also back though this time can be for sergeants not just HQ’s. It costs more than the other weapon but it’s worth it, providing times 2 strength and still striking at initiative something that isn’t exactly common and with instant death being a thing makes any night lords character deadly.

Eskataon power claw

It’s time for tha Claw (ooooh). An upgrade for a power fist for an independent character this gives the power fist shred and murderous strike (6+) for a decent weapon and a good alternative to the headsman’s axe.

The other “equipment”

I hesitate to call these things equipment as most aren’t pieces of equipment and are more like personalities but eh.

Lords of murder

An upgrade for independent characters, that confusingly gives them a special rule called Bloody murder. This means if the whole unit has the rule, you get +1 to charge units that are pinned or falling back and if you make it, you get an extra attack. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth it as the whole squad needs it and even then, its highly situational.

Prey sight

Grants a squad night Vision, apparently it is no longer a genetic thing but something you get for your helmet (kinda weird but let’s not get into that). With the changes to night fighting, I don’t mind paying for the upgrade and it is worth it especially if you are going for terror assault. Also remember that evade cannot be used if the attacker has night Vision.

Trophies of judgement

The classic night lord’s equipment. Trophies grant you fear (1) and can be taken on any character, given how important making enemies fail morale is for the 8th legion this upgrade is quite useful.

The units

Konrad Kurze

The Night Haunter has a few things going on as you would expect from a Primarch plus hit and run to get out of awkward conversations with his brothers, all the night lord upgrades plus fear (3) to make everything non stubborn/fearless have a bad time.

The stats

A decent set of Primarch stats with average 6’s for his bulk stats (S,T,W) slightly above average for initiative and BS and most importantly he has a WS of 8 planting him firmly in the fighty Primarch category. (I will talk about attacks later) One weird thing is that he is movement 8 without a jump pack (kinda) so no longer will the King of terrors fly around with raptors.

Sire of the night lords

As well as an additional movement reaction this gives all infantry dread’s and cavalry night vision and bloody murder as well as immunity to fear. Not the worst warlord trait to have especially if you plan to run terror assault. Just remember to buy your tanks night vision as they don’t benefit.

Things to stab people with

Mercy and forgiveness

Ow the edge both in name and rules. These are paired lightning claws getting Konrad up to 8 attacks base, that have ap of 2 and murderous strike 4+ these make Konrad an absolute monster when fighting anything that isn’t another Primarch and he has enough attacks to not get bogged down in infantry.

Widowmakers

3 shot bolt pistols with rending 4+. Not exactly amazing but decent and good for killing important folks before rushing in.

His protective stuff

Nightmare’s mantle is your standard Primarch’s fare defensively with a 2+ and a 4++ (invulnerable) but it also allows Konrad to ignore all movement modifiers. In addition, whilst not a jump pack it does make him move 20” when running so if by himself ole Night Haunter can cross the board to be spooky.

A death long foreseen

Konrad now has rules to represent his “gift” of foresight in that he counts as a psyker with only 1 power. This power is unfortunately taken at a LD of 7 (which makes sense as Konrad couldn’t control it) a failure is a peril of the warp, but if successful gives an extra attack to a base of 9 and feel no pain 4+. This power is incredibly strong if it goes off but given its unreliability, I’d of said you should only use it if you feel like it is needed.

King of Terrors

Proving himself the biggest of spooks, whenever Konrad and his unit wipe out an enemy in combat (including sweep) all enemies in line of sight of the bat need to take a pinning test. This ability is ridiculous and frankly I believe can win you games by itself.

Terror squads

The spookiest of the 8th Terror squads were utilised to execute leaders and sow dissent in rebel forces. These guys are an interesting elite slot with a bit of a jack of all trades master of none syndrome. Their base stats are that of a tactical squad with an extra attack and LD their equipment is that of a despoiler squad (chainsword bolt pistol) and have fear (1) precision strikes (6+), infiltrate and preferred enemy infantry. Based on this it sounds like they are a close combat squad which would make sense except for their options.

See terror squads have a ridiculous number of options able to take most weapons of a special weapon team (no plasma or melta) but then they can all take the nostramon chain weapons. This squad is great but the role you build them for is entirely up to you.

Night raptors

Ok we are back to a simpler squad; this group is a bunch of specialised murderers and take pleasure is looking their victims in their eyes. Now base wise raptors are a veteran squad with jump packs but with Sudden strike (1), Bloody murder, Fear (1) and Night vision which as special rules go you could do much worse (especially sudden strike) naturally you can give these jumpy lads various melee weapons making them deadly once they reach combat.

Contenkar terminators

The elite veterans of the Atramentar, the Contenkar are WS5 Tartaros terminators this already makes them quite good. Add in them all having chainblades for combat and each having a heavy weapon in the form of a heavy flamer or a short range volkite culverin they certainly have the equipment to match their skill. Add in stubborn, fear and deep strike and they add a little utility. They don’t exactly have much in terms of options however getting a Power claw on the boss but also having the ability to run squads of up to 15. They also can be taken as a HQ, but you are unlikely to do that in larger games.

Atramentar (Exemplary unit)

Slightly better Tartaros terminators. The Atramentar gain fear, which is quiet useful, deepstrike which isn’t terrible if your opponent doesn’t have a ton of deepstrike and the ability to run squads of up to 20 because why not. Combine that with the ability to all take chainglaives for free and you can have a rather beefy combat unit. One final ability of the squad is cloaked in murder. This provides the unit +1 to charge and +1 to hit in the next combat, if they charge something already engaged in combat. This ability is great if you get it off helping to alleviate the WS4 and makes the charge more reliable, this ability is surprisingly easy to pull off as the target does not need to be engaged before any charges so charge in another unit first to make it more likely to work. Overall not a bad unit but I would never take the base weapon over the glaives.

Sevatar

Ah Sev a fighter that whilst incredibly skilled at duelling didn’t have the usual hold ups that the more honourable legions put on their champions. As a result, Sevatar had a habit of fighting dirty and used underhanded tactics. Statline wise Sevatar is a praetor with a bump in WS and I. He also has fear (2) prescision strikes (4+) (my god). This alone makes the Master of the Atramentar good, but we are just getting started, next is his weapon.

Night’s whisper is a chainglaive with an extra point of ap, it loses shred but gains Duellists edge (1) which makes him I7 in challenges which is frankly ridiculous, it’s also master crafted and has murderous strike. Normally mentioning murderous strike as an afterthought would seem weird, but Sevatar is a dirty fighter giving him instant death in a challenge when facing someone who is WS5. Finally for special rules Sev is a rotten apple that didn’t fall far from the tree and also has a gift of prophecy. This has the same problems as Konrad but gives an extra WS instead of FNP when it goes off which is frankly silly and means he becomes one of the best none primarch duellist in the game. With all of that mentioned I suppose I should talk about his warlord trait. If Sevatar is the boss, you gain deep strike on all of your terminators who get preferred enemy when they drop. In short good if you run a fluffy terminator build.

Some overall thoughts

Overall, I would say that Night lords are in a good position. The legion can run multiple different builds effectively. The unique units of the 8th are all reasonable units that I can see people bringing without feeling like they have a hole in their list. This was meant to come out way earlier (like before the first WHW discussions), but it’s done now and hopefully the dry spell of articles I have been writing will be over now so look forward to the next one.