Both of these models offer a whole toolbox of boosts and synergy to other Nephilim. Besides being able to get blood for others to use, they have ways to improve other Nephilim around them. Whether it's the static regeneration that Nekima provides, or the spells to improve the efficiency of Nephilim that the Black Blood Shaman provides, or any of the dozens of other abilities they bring, these two are going to make my Nephilim list much more varied. I can't wait to try them out with the old Grow-style Nephilim, or with the twins, or with any combinations. They've boosted my desire to play Lilith quite a bit so she's at the forefront of my gaming table now.
Nekima
I'll start with Nekima, the huge beast of a model. She may not look it in the picture, but this is a massive model. A Mature Nephilim, one of the biggest models back in book one, comes up to about her waist on this one. I'm not overly happy with the model itself. It looks great, but it's very fragile. I'm not fantastic at modeling, but I have done pinning and greenstuff before. This model doesn't lend itself easily to pinning given how tiny the connections are for the metal. I put together the Nightmare Lord Chompy Bits far easier than I did this model.
But enough about that. The model itself brings a whole slew of new abilities. Weighing in at a hefty 13 points, tied for the most expensive model in the game, she had better have a lot to her. And she does. A dozen wounds, melee hits like her sister, Lilith. She's a speedy girl, she flies, and she has a long reach. She's got four triggers and every time she hits, she can get one of them to go off, depending on the suit she draws. She's not high on the Defense, but she does has Irresistible and Regeneration to help ease the load. Overall I put her a little below the Mature Nephilim in sheer offense capability (no paired weapons, damage is a little lower) but she's a bit more survivable (Irresistible, more wounds, Regeneration instead of Armor).
Her big draw to me, though, is how she boosts other Nephilim. She can get blood when other things near her are killed, not having to spend a (0) and not having to do the killing herself. That alone lets me start drawing on the Grow chain from before far more efficiently. She has the ability to cut herself to make more blood if I need it, and she gives all Nephilim around her +4 CA when they're trying to Grow or Mature. Finally, she's got a (0) that can give a Mask to all Nephilim for one of their stats. So where I used to need a 9(Masks) to cast Grow, now my Terror Tots can cast it on a 5 of any suit. Not too shabby!
She has a few other abilities that, along with her Melee Expert and Instinctual, give her a lot of options during the turn. She can use Spill Black Blood to have Nephilim near her take wounds in order to drop automatic damage on models around them, no resist. She can make non-master Nephilim fly. She gives a debuff to the WP of nearby enemies. All in all, a great addition.
Black Blood Shaman
Less than half the points as Nekima, I can bring in the Black Blood for only 6 stones. It has a low defense and 8 wounds, with no other defenses to its name, but you're not taking it for its stats. It's a buffer for the Nephilim and almost nothing more. He's got a knife that causes Poison 3 (and could pop it on an AOE if it gets severe damage), but I think if you're attacking with him, you're in a bad spot already.
He has the same ability to get blood when nearby things die that Nekima has, and he's a Graverobber that can use Corpse Tokens in place of blood for his spells and talents. That's okay, but it becomes even better when his trigger off two of his spells actually works - he can turn the Corpse Token he spent on the spell into a Blood Token. Much more useful for his friends.
He's instinctual and has five (0) actions, 3-4 of which are very useful. He can cut himself for blood like Nekima and can force Nephilim around him to take wounds in order to spill their black blood onto enemies nearby. His unique (0)s are one that gives a little movement to nearby Nephilim, one that can give Nephilim near him Flurry, and one that ditches blood in order to gain one of four good buffs, from gaining Fast to getting Poison on weapons.
He has a few other spells. One hurts models without Black Blood or heals models with it. Given that his CA is better than his CB, he's more likely to use this spell than his knife most times he needs to fight. One of my favorite abilities, though, is Potent Blood. He can, for a (1), increase the Damage that Black Blood deals as it's spilt by +1. So instead of taking 1 damage for hitting a Nephilim in melee, you start taking 2. That's gonna hurt some people out there.
Grow Lists
With the addition of these two models, there are a lot of people talking about putting together "Grow Lists" or lists that do their best to maximize blood early in order to turn Terror Tots (3 point models) into Mature Nephilim (10 point models) quickly. With the models currently available (so no Desperate Mercenaries yet) I can fairly consistently get a Mature Nephilim and a Younger on the first turn, with the second Mature coming up on turn two. Having Nekima and two Mature Nephilim flying around with Lilith backing them up can make for a pretty nasty list. I assume. I haven't actually tried it yet. But it's on my list of things to give a whirl.
I've heard a lot of people on the Wyrd forums complaining about such a list, calling the tactics "cheesy" and criticising people who suggest using the list. I'll preface this by saying my first miniatures game that I really got into was Warmachine (way back in the day - I started playing the week Escalation came out). The 40k mentality of policing oneself never really sat right with me. These grow lists were talked about way back when Powers Rising first came out last August. Wyrd has changed the rules of a number of models between that book and now, and they did go through and make a few changes to Nekima and the Black Blood Shaman as well. However, they did not do anything to stop Grow lists from being viable. They made one change that slowed them a little (only one model can get Blood from Blood Sense now) but didn't do anything to stop them entirely. As such, it seems Wyrd as a company is okay with their existence.
Some of the gripes comes from the fact that you're killing your own models to gain a bonus. But that issue doesn't hold water with me either as there's an entire faction for whom a big tactic is to kill your own models to improve your crew - Reserrectionists.
In the end, I'll be using Grow Lists. If they prove to be no fun for my opponents, I'll limit using them. Not because I think they shouldn't exist, but because I prefer to have a fun game for my opponents.
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