Putrid Blightknights

I have used them and versed them.

Pretty underwhelming, the biggest problem is being only infantry on a 40mm base. So stomps, thunderstomp and KB work perfect against them.

I use them in my all nurgle warriors army just because the models are cool. I try to use them as a flank charger, but the size of the rank makes them so unwieldy. Why they are not monstrous infantry is beyond me!

I would rather ogres with MoN over them. You miss out on WS, I and armour save. But a unit of 6 can be 3 wide and handle much easier into flanks. Also immune to fear, gain ogre charge and most importantly monstrous infantry.

If you still want to use them, don't invest too much points and expectations!

You both confirm my assessment based on their rules. Guess I will be using the models as count-as MoN ogres.

Putrid Blightkings are ideal for defending or attacking a building.

They have monstrous infantry-like stats without being monstrous infantry... which means that 10 Blightkings can fight inside a building, while only 3 Trolls or Ogres can.

Which means 30 attacks (Blightkings) vs. only 9 attacks + 3 stomps (Trolls).

Good for watchtower or siege scenarios.

Yes, and it gets even better: If you choose additional hand weapons for them (which you should most of the time for fights inside a building), they'll have 40 attacks instead of 30.

That's Warhammer. Some units are all-rounders, others are specialists for certain scenarios or specific situations.

But I'm not convinced that the Blightkings are *that* horrible in standard scenarios. Sure, I wouldn't use them in very large units, because you obviously give away too many attacks. However, in smaller groups, they are not worse than Trolls, for example.

Let's take a look:
5 River Trolls; 225 points vs. 5 Blightkings with standard bearer and the Banner of Eternal Flame (for obvious reasons); 220 points

In my example, I assume that both units are under their general's umbrella as well as under their ASB's umbrella, so the Trolls won't have any problems getting into combat because of Stupidity, and the Blightkings will pass their Fear checks. If you take away that precondition, the Blightkings will suffer from Fear at one point, but the Trolls are then much, much more likely to break when they lose a combat turn (Leadership 4 vs. Leadership 8). Actually, the Trolls are very likely to break in the first or second turn then.

I also assume that both units are three models wide in the first rank, with two models in the second rank.

If I did the maths right, with the leadership boost by the general and the ASB for both units, the most likely result will be a very narrow victory for the Blightkings if they choose additional hand weapons.

In my example, the Trolls had the luxury of having 5 army points more the the Blightkings. If you turn this around (230 for the Blight Kings vs. 225 for the Trolls), you can add a champion to the Blightkings, which means they will win more clearly (the combat will take 6+ turns, so a champion adds 6+ attacks).

That troll matchup is also distinctly unfair, as the Blightkings have prepared for it with their banner Also, comparing units against each other isn't necessarily the most appropriate way of doing things, as units often excel against a different type of unit to themselves rather than something similar.

Blightkings are a long way off being a top-tier unit, but they're not so terrible that you'll shock your opponent by fielding them. They're obviously very vulnerable for their points to things like Stomp and Killing Blow, so you need to carefully avoid those. I quite like their versatility, given the choice of weapon loadout, which means they can contribute to most combats. A bit like Forsaken, Chaos Ogres or Dragon Ogres, they're not the strongest, but can be a useful tool that might surprise your opponent with how effective they can be.

If you're playing purely competitive, leave them at home, but otherwise they can find a use.