Part of our Nighthaunt hub: every Nighthaunt guide, lore page and painting tutorial in one place. Browse every Combat Patrol & Spearhead guide.
Nighthaunt have two Spearhead forces. Cursed Shacklehorde (2025) is a fast, hard-hitting swarm of ghosts led by a Spirit Torment. Slasher Host is the original box, led by a Knight of Shrouds. Both play as ghostly hordes that fly over terrain, ignore save penalties and overwhelm the enemy at close range. They’re a good fit for players who want a melee army with a spooky theme and lots of movement tricks.
What’s in the Nighthaunt Spearhead Boxes?
Spearhead: Nighthaunt – Cursed Shacklehorde
Released in August 2025 alongside the Nighthaunt battletome, this box builds 25 plastic miniatures:
| Unit | Models | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Spirit Torment (general) | 1 | Leader who makes nearby units wound more easily |
| Chainghasts | 2 | Support pair with a ranged flail attack and a to-hit aura |
| Bladegheist Revenants | 10 (2 units of 5) | Fast, frenzied killers |
| Dreadscythe Harridans | 10 (2 units of 5) | Melee troops that stop enemies healing |
| Dreadblade Harrows | 2 | Fast ghostly cavalry |
Previous box: Slasher Host
The original Nighthaunt Spearhead box came out at the launch of Age of Sigmar’s fourth edition: a Knight of Shrouds (general), 3 Spirit Hosts, 10 Grimghast Reapers (two units of five) and 20 Chainrasps (two units of ten). Its rules are still current. Games Workshop updated them in October 2026, adding a “once per turn” limit to one regiment ability.
The Spearhead Rules
Cursed Shacklehorde
Battle traits:
- Spectral Procession: one unit of Bladegheists and one unit of Harridans start in reserve. From the second battle round, once per turn in your movement phase, you can set one up anywhere more than 6″ from the enemy.
- Ethereal: your units ignore negative modifiers to their save rolls, so Rend can’t make their saves worse.
Regiment abilities (pick one): Discorporate can give one unit +1 to its saves for a turn. Mounting Dread makes enemy units fighting one of your units lose control score equal to the battle round number, which is huge for winning objectives late in the game.
Enhancements: Unholy Visage can force a nearby enemy to retreat and then hurt it, Deathly Possessor turns an enemy hero against its own side, Tales of Horror halves an enemy unit’s reinforcements, and Spectral Howl takes a die away from an enemy charge roll.
Slasher Host
Slasher Host’s version of Ethereal ignores all save modifiers, good and bad. Its other trait, Wave of Terror, makes an enemy unit strike last if you charge it with a roll of 10 or more. The regiment abilities are Death Stalkers (pick an enemy unit at the start of the game; your melee attacks against it get +1 Rend) and Chorus of Terror (enemies get -1 to hit your units that charged this turn). The enhancements include a healing ring, a once-per-battle ability that returns a model to every unit, protection that limits how many enemy units can attack your general, and mortal damage on critical hits for the Knight’s sword.
What Each Unit Does
Spirit Torment
Your general is a decent fighter in its own right, but its real job is support. Its Captured Soul Energy ability can give a nearby unit +1 to wound in combat. Keep it within 12″ of the unit doing the most important fighting that turn.
Chainghasts
The two Chainghasts can attack at range or in combat, and they can give friendly units around them +1 to hit (more reliably when the Spirit Torment is close by). Torment, Chainghasts and a fighting unit moving together is the heart of this army.
Bladegheist Revenants
Your damage dealers. While they’re holding an objective you control, enemies can only finish a charge against them on an unmodified charge roll of 5 or more, so they’re surprisingly good at holding ground too.
Dreadscythe Harridans
Solid melee troops with a vital trick: enemy units fighting them can’t heal or bring models back. Send them at Soulblight skeletons, regenerating monsters or anything else that relies on getting back up.
Dreadblade Harrows
Fast 12″ cavalry that can vanish and reappear elsewhere once per battle. Use them to snatch a far objective at the end of a round or to finish off a wounded hero.
How to Play the Cursed Shacklehorde
You start with roughly half your army on the table, so the first round is about positioning, not fighting.
- Deployment: The Spirit Torment, Chainghasts and one fighting unit form a central block. The Dreadblade Harrows go on a flank.
- Round 1: Advance and take the closest objectives. Don’t charge into anything that can out-fight you without your support pieces nearby.
- Round 2: Your reserves can arrive. Drop the Bladegheists next to an objective your opponent is weakly holding, or the Harridans beside a unit that heals.
- Rounds 3–4: Mounting Dread gets stronger every round. In round four it takes 4 off the control score of every enemy unit in combat with your chosen unit, so pile into contested objectives.
Playing the Slasher Host instead
The Slasher Host is a slower, wider horde. Push the two big Chainrasp units forward to swamp objectives, because they wound more easily on the charge. Follow up with the Grimghast Reapers, who score extra critical hits against units of five or more models. Keep the Knight of Shrouds within 1″ of the Spirit Hosts for a 4+ ward. Aim for long charges where you can, because a roll of 10 or more makes the target strike last.
Common mistakes
- Spreading the support pieces too thin. The Torment and Chainghasts work best together.
- Forgetting that ghosts are not tough. Ethereal stops Rend from making your saves worse, but your basic saves are poor, so avoid long, drawn-out fights.
- Bringing both reserve units down at once and leaving nothing to react with. You can only bring in one per turn anyway, so plan the order.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
- Everything flies, so terrain never slows you down
- Reserve units let you strike exactly where your opponent is weakest
- Mounting Dread makes late-game objectives very hard for the enemy to hold
- Quick and rewarding to paint
Weaknesses:
- Low basic saves. Wards help, but massed attacks still hurt
- Very little shooting, just the Chainghasts’ flails
- Relies on keeping the Spirit Torment and Chainghasts close to the action
Building and Painting Notes
Nighthaunt are one of the fastest armies to paint well. Prime white or grey, apply a green or blue Contrast/Shade paint over the spectral robes, and drybrush or highlight the edges lighter. Metals and dark rusted iron finish the job. Many of the models are on flying stands, so let the glue set fully before handling them. Our Nighthaunt painting guide covers the classic ghostly glow step by step.
Expanding Beyond Spearhead
Everything in both boxes has full Age of Sigmar rules. A second Spearhead box is an easy way to double up on troops, and the two boxes share almost no units. For a centrepiece, the Black Coach or Lady Olynder add plenty of character. Read more about the army in our Nighthaunt army hub and the background in our Nighthaunt lore deep dive.
Where to Buy the Box
If you want the Cursed Shacklehorde box covered in this guide, it is listed on Amazon US through third-party sellers. Check that the listing still shows the same box before you buy, since stock and sellers change.
Price details
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.As an Amazon Associate, Warhammer Guild earns from qualifying purchases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Nighthaunt Spearhead good for beginners?
Yes. The army has simple stats and a clear plan: move fast, fight hard, hold objectives. The reserve rule teaches you good timing without being complicated.
Can Nighthaunt fly through terrain?
Every unit in both Spearheads has the FLY keyword, so they ignore terrain and other models when they move. They still can’t finish a move in combat unless they’re charging.
How does Ethereal work?
In the Cursed Shacklehorde, your units ignore negative modifiers to save rolls, so Rend can’t make your saves worse. In the Slasher Host version, all modifiers are ignored, both good and bad.
Which Nighthaunt Spearhead should I pick?
Cursed Shacklehorde is the newer box, with faster units and a strong late-game objective trick. Slasher Host has more bodies and suits a slow, grinding horde. Both are fully playable.
How many points is a Nighthaunt Spearhead army?
Spearhead doesn’t use points. Each Spearhead box is a fixed force with its own battle traits, regiment abilities and enhancements, and both players use their box as it comes. If you move up to full Age of Sigmar, the same models are given points and can be built into a 1,000- or 2,000-point army.
Can I combine both Nighthaunt Spearhead boxes?
Not in a Spearhead game, where you use one force at a time. In full Age of Sigmar, yes: every unit in both boxes has full rules, and because the two boxes share almost no units, together they make a solid start on a bigger Nighthaunt army.
Related Content
- Nighthaunt – Warhammer Age of Sigmar Guide — apply this guide to a specific army
- How to Play Warhammer 40k — Complete Beginner’s Guide — learn the core rules of Warhammer 40K
- Ossiarch Bonereapers Spearhead — Box Review & Guide — explore another helpful guide
- All Warhammer 40k Factions Ranked — Tier List — see which factions rank highest