Going Vectless

Agents of Vect is great, but are there folks who are eschewing conventional wisdom and fielding armies without any Black Heart presence?

I would never otherwise field a Black Heart Detachment if it weren't for Agents of Vect, but I'm trying to suss out if there are some strategies or army compositions that really just don't miss having it, and that enjoy the gains of a more offensive Obsession in lieu of Thirst for Power.

Any noble houses out there who are telling Vect to get bent and aren't suffering from fomo (fear of missing out)?

Yep. I run Flayed Skull for my Kabalites, pretty much exclusively - I love the additional movement and I find ignore cover invaluable for taking out MEQ units.

I do feel like I'm missing out without Agents of Vect, but not to the extent that I'm willing to pay for a third Archon. Even in a single batallion I feel like two is pushing it.

Yeah it's that third Archon that just makes me gnash my teeth as well. I'm at the point where I think I would sooner just run a Flayed Skull Battalion, Flayed Skull Air Wing, and bring a Farseer in an Auxiliary Detachment. Damn the Command Points, I want speed and I want to give the finger to cover. I barely want to pay for two Archons, let alone three.

I'm currently only using Poison Tongue. I like having the rerolls even in combat or when dismounted, and the Soul Seeker is my favourite relic.

I'm not really a fan of the Black Heart bonus, and I don't have enough Ravagers for a Spearhead, nor enough Voidravens/Razorwings for an Air Wing detachment - so I couldn't use it to maximum effect even if I wanted to. Also, for as good as Labyrinthine Cunning is, I prefer Soul Thirst for flavour reasons.

I could take a Black Heart Archon with 3 units of Mandrakes or Scourges, but I dislike our HQs at the best of times. I can just about find a use for 2 of them in a Battalion (the Warlord hangs back as a sniper with the Soul Seeker while the other is more aggressive with some Lhamaeans), but having a third one who can't even buff anything is just too much.

Put simply, I don't think I'm getting enough out of a BH detachment to justify taking it just for Agents of Vect.

Ps. how do you like your Poisoned Tongue Lhamaeans? I kitbashed a trio for use in my PT Battalion but haven't run them yet.

I mostly run Obsidian Rose, Red Grief and Prophets of Flesh in various combinations. Can't say I feel a lack of AoV, as it's a new thing I have not relied much on at all. Besides, my command points go out on offensive stratagems anyway so I never really feel like I've missed out.

lcfr wrote:

Ps. how do you like your Poisoned Tongue Lhamaeans? I kitbashed a trio for use in my PT Battalion but haven't run them yet.

They've been great so far.

I've been using three of them in a Venom, along with an Archon (not my warlord) and sometimes a RG Succubus.

They're actually not bad bodyguards, as their individual status makes them a pain to remove efficiently. What's more, their attacks can be just brutal against tough units - generating several Mortal Wounds and then several normal wounds on top of that.

So far, they've helped bring down Guilliman and Cawl. In fact, I think the three of them actually killed Cawl on their own.

Soulless Samurai wrote:

I've been using three of them in a Venom, along with an Archon (not my warlord) and sometimes a RG Succubus.

They're actually not bad bodyguards, as their individual status makes them a pain to remove efficiently. What's more, their attacks can be just brutal against tough units - generating several Mortal Wounds and then several normal wounds on top of that.

Yeah I feel like that's the exact intention behind the Court.
I'm hoping to take them for a spin soon, glad to hear someone has been seeing success with them.

I just posted about Lhamaens in the painting and modeling forum, but curious what you guys are using for Lhamaens. They're sold out online right now and nowhere to be found on ebay. I'm wanting to add some to my list!

merse24 wrote:

I just posted about Lhamaens in the painting and modeling forum, but curious what you guys are using for Lhamaens.  They're sold out online right now and nowhere to be found on ebay.  I'm wanting to add some to my list!

I used an Age of Sigmar Witch Elf with bits from various pieces (a Splinter Pistol, Venom Blade, Wych head, Wild Rider cloak) to make a model that I use as either a Lhamaean or Archon depending on my mood.

I will go to great lengths to avoid having to work with Finecast.

I use a Wych body, Harlequin Player sword right arm, Wych/Kabalite dagger/sword left arm, and Sisters of Slaughter masked face with the Sisters of Slaughter whip cut off and attached to the head as a long braid.

I'll try and take a decent photo tonight and add to the modelling thread, I just slapped them together a few nights ago but they have a distinct enough look and when they're not in use as Lhamaens they can be fine Wyches, Succubi, whatever.

merse24 wrote:

I just posted about Lhamaens in the painting and modeling forum, but curious what you guys are using for Lhamaens.  They're sold out online right now and nowhere to be found on ebay.  I'm wanting to add some to my list!

Thus far, I've just been proxying a few Wyches as them.

I'm thinking that I'll convert some using Kabalite legs and torsos, but with Wych heads and arms.

lcfr wrote:

I use a Wych body, Harlequin Player sword right arm, Wych/Kabalite dagger/sword left arm, and Sisters of Slaughter masked face with the Sisters of Slaughter whip cut off and attached to the head as a long braid.

I'll try and take a decent photo tonight and add to the modelling thread, I just slapped them together a few nights ago but they have a distinct enough look and when they're not in use as Lhamaens they can be fine Wyches, Succubi, whatever.

I have 5 Sisters of Slaughter left over from the box I bought. I am debating using two of them as Lhameans, exactly as you describe. I was just going to use their regular knife arms, and I like that whip/braid idea. Thanks for that.

Just wanted to say that, so far, I've missed the Ignores Cover from Flayed Skull far more than Agents of Vect from Black Heart.

I just won a GT a couple weeks ago without access to Vect so it's absolutely doable. It was a coven heavy army and I chose doom and jinx support over vect for my detachments.