Hi all,
I’ve been interested in KoW since 2nd edition and could never find the time to make the dive. It looks like I’ll finally be able to start an army next summer and as overplanning never hurt anybody I’m already weighing my options. 
I was originally a rat player in the 6th and 7th edition of that other game (and by player I mean that I was 15 years old and bought a lot of stuff that I never painted). I’ve long since given up attempting to paint a horde army and want to play Forces of the Abyss instead. They’re arguably one of Mantic’s best ranges and I feel like I can give them a quick and somewhat decent paint job.
I’d like to start with Mantic’s mega army box and add a cavalry wing of hellhounds and horsemen. The army box pushes me towards an infantry core and I’d like to play both efreets from the box. With two hero slots already taken, the Abyssal Fiend seems like a great pick because I guess inspiring out of a monster slot will be really valuable.
These considerations leave me with this first draft of a 2k army list:
Army: Forces of the Abyss
Points: 2000
Unit Strength: 21
190, Lower Abyssal Horde
190, Lower Abyssal Horde
270, Abyssal Horseman Regiment
-- Brew of Strength
185, Hellhound Regiment
185, Hellhound Regiment
175, Abyssal Fiend
105, Succubus Troop
105, Succubus Troop
85, Gargoyle Troop
150, Efreet
-- Brew of Sharpness
145, Efreet
-- Boots of Levitation
215, Abyssal Champion
-- Lute of Insatiable Darkness
-- Wings
-- Lightning Bolt (5)
On the game table the army should work like this:
The two hordes of lower abyssals, the succubus troops and the abyssal fiend will form the centre. The hordes will take the initial charge and the succubi will counter. I’ll use the fiend for all kinds of different support (throwing fireballs, supporting charges, inspiring, …). One problem is that the Succubi will not be in inspiring distance if I deploy them like I originally planned: SU - LA - AF - LA - SU. Perhaps that will look differently when they’re actually on the table. With the leftovers from the army box (two troops/one regiment of Succubi, a regiment of Molochs and a regiment of Tortured Souls) I can mix this battle group up a little. The horsemen, hellhounds and the winged champion work as a second battle group that should overwhelm a flank. The horsemen are a real hammer, the hounds become one with bane chant support. The efreets will work on their own and, I don’t know, burn small units? Die gargoyles can either be used as a screen for either battle group or perhaps kill war machines occasionally. A second gargoyle unit is also possible from the army box. One big issue I’m seeing is that I will only have US 21 and that I’m assuming the lower abyssal hordes will not be amazing at taking a charge. The efreets, gargoyles and champion also give me some fast redeployment options to fake commitment on a flank and abandon it in the first turn.
My questions are: Can this work? What would you change keeping in mind that I really want to use the mega army box and hellhounds? Is the lightning bolt on the champion a waste? He probably won’t be able to concentrate fire with the efreets and will generally be used for inspiring, bane chant and supporting charges.
Lastly, I wanted to use GW chaos hounds as hellhounds because I really like the models. Do you know if the box provides leftover spikes and tails? I’ve got a conversion idea for horsemen that would use those potential leftovers.
Cheers, guys.