Army wide rules:
Will of Chaos: Reroll all fail panic tests. This makes even lowly LD 7 marauders hard to panic with shooting.
Eye of the Gods: If the model/unit slays a large target or character in a challenge, you get a roll on the eye of the gods table. See Chaos Chosen, a special unit choice for more info on this. Also, characters that have this must issue a challenge every turn of every combat. Don't forget to make your Warriors of Chaos opponent do this.
Marks of the Gods:
Mark of Khorne: Frenzy, or in some cases +1 Strength to monsters
Mark of Slaanesh: Immune to Panic, Fear and Terror
Mark of Nurgle: -1 BS against shooting attacks, -1 WS in combat
Mark of Tzeentch: +1 to ward save, note that this does stack with existing ward saves
Lords:
Chaos Lords:
With Weapon Skill 8, Toughness 5, Strength 5, and 5 attacks, this guy is mean in combat. As a lord, this guy can take 100 pts. of magic items or gifts of chaos. Easily given a 1+ armour save with a barded steed, you will commonly see him in a unit of knights acting as a lord delivery system or on foot with some chaos chosen or warriors. Best bet is to bomb his unit with artillery and getting the rank and file models under 5, then sniping him with a cannon ball. With the new common magic items, the 3+ ward save Chaos Lord is very common (Talisman of Protection and Mark of Tzeentch). Common mounts are barded warhorse with M7 and +2 AS, Juggernaut (M7, +3 AS, must be Mark of Khorne), Disk of Tzeentch (flying mount, +1 AS, War machine killer, must be mark of Tzeentch)
Bottom line: Great stats, a menace in combat with good saves and good attacks, best bet is it pour fire power into his unit, or beat with Static Combat Res. if on its own. Very expensive though at 210 pts, bare bones.
Sorcerer Lords:
What? A Wizard that's decent at fighting? I said it... here comes Sorcerer Lords. These guys have Weapon Skill 5, Toughness 4, Strength 4, and 4 attacks, so are pretty good at fighting but at the heart of this psychopaths soul, he's a level 3 wizard that can take armour (35 more pts. for a level 4). All Marks can be taken except Khorne, as Mr. Red don't like no wizards. If ran without a Mark, you can choose Death, Shadow, Heavens, or Shadow. Tzeentch sorcerers have +1 to cast, with a mean lore. My two most hated spells would definately be Treachery of Tzeentch which makes all models in the unit attack themselves, which will demolish your GW hordes. This casts on a 9, aka a four with a sorcerer lord (level 4, +1 to casting). Gahhh! The most hated is Infernal Gate way, 2D6 hits at 2D6 Strength, but don't forget that if you roll a 11 or 12 for strength, the unit is immediately destroyed, no saves allowed. Lore of Slaanesh mostly preys on the low leadership, but can have some mean spells, my most hated are Tillitating Delusions, which makes your unit run towards a point chosen by the enemy caster every turn. This will totally wreck your battle line, with just one casting. This casts on an 8. Dispell! Another mean spell is Ecstatic Seizures, every model in the unit has to take a toughness test, or takes a wound with no saves allowed. Casts on a 12. Will take around 1/3 of your unit, but against elves this is super deadly. Lastly, the lore of nurgle is mean too, and preys on high armor save troops. Every spell in this lore is good, granting regeneration to their troops, sniping spells and three "no armour save spells". Probably the hardest lore against dwaves.
Bottom line: The only combat wizard, mean lore choices all around (except heavens and fire), beware of Mark of Nurgle!
Daemon Prince:
A greater daemon, that can fly around the board on its pair of hellspawned wings. Same stats as a Chaos Lord, but with four wounds. Just don't forget thunderstomp, D6 S5 hits at the end of a combat phase. Can take nominal ward saves (starts with a 5+ for being a daemon), but no armour, and can be upgraded to a wizard at 40 pts. a level. Can't join units, so if your opponent takes him, thank him for the easy kill and blast him with a cannon. A very unpopular choice.
Bottom line: You will be lucky to see this guy, so shoot him with a cannon and bask in the victory points.
Heros:
Exalted Heros:
Very similar to a chaos lord, but way more economical at 110 pts. WS 7, S5, T4, and 4 attacks makes for a combat fiend. Can be armed with flail, great weapon, add. hand weapon, or a halberd. There are also some mean magical weapons, as with their lord counter part. These guys can easily get up to a 1+ AS too, with a barded steed, sheild and their stock chaos armour granting a 4+ armour save like our gormril armour. You will usually see one of these dancing around with a battle standard, so with chaos' shabby leadership, he is enemy #1! Can take all marks, and steeds associated with the mark.
Bottom line: Hurts in combat, better choice than the lord because it's 100 pts cheaper. Not the best general though.
Chaos Sorcerers:
Like the Exalted Hero, this guy is the Chaos Sorcerers. Starts at level 1, but 35 pts. for an upgrade. With out a mark, this guys can take Death or Fire, but with a mark (not khorne) must take the lore related to that mark. The chaos lores are mean (death is too!) but you are less likely to have to deal with the painful spells. Against Dwarfs, I would take a level 4 chaos sorcerer, nurgle, and a level 1 chaos sorcerer, nurgle also and get the #1 sniping spell. Mean combination.
Bottom line: Good like the Sorcerer Lord, just won't get all the spells he wants. Watch out for Nurgle!
Core:
Warriors of Chaos have a mean core with elites, fast calvary, chaff, and fast chaff. (Chaff=throw away, cheap units).
Chaos Warriors:
These guys are a very, very elite unit, but at the same time, only core, which is quite ridiculous. They have WS5, S4, T4 and 2 attacks also with chaos armour providing a 4+ save. At least their cost shows how elite they are, at 15 pts.! They can take many types of weapons, Great weapons, Halberds, additional hand weapons, and flails. With mark of khorne, these things distroy. Three attacks + supporting with great weapons, or four with additional hand weapons is great. These are usually taken in units of 20 or 15 because they are so expensive. A chaos warriors horde will ruin your day. They way to combat these? Strength 5 GT's. This will minimize their save to a 6+ and wound on threes. One direct hit will give you your points back on your GT, and there will be a very depleted unit running around. Watch out though, as they still can hurt, popping them with an OG or shooting infantry will distroy them, because remember, if one guy escapes, no points for you!
Bottom line: Killer infantry unit, kill before they kill you. S5 GT's are best, but OG's are good too (but when aren't they good? I guess when they blow up, but thats it)
Chaos Marauders:
For 4 points, a armour-less, S3, T3, WS 4 soldier might not awe you, but when given great weapons at 1 pt. extra making them S5 for just five points? Wow. Hordes and hordes of these troops better be in every Warriors of Chaos army, they are that good! They can also take marks, Khorne, giving frenzy, and Nurgle with -1 WS (letting them hit your warriors on 3's) are most common. All I'm going to say is templates, templates, templates. Grudge thowers are your best bet, and with one to two hits will make that devilish horde of 50 down to 15 models. Gyros are also great for this as you can line up a great flame template down their flank and roast 20 marauders!
Bottom line: Beware, beware, beware, are as good as your dwarf warriors (-1 toughness) and many hordes of these will eat your army alive!
Warhounds:
Another 6 point chaff model, these aren't so popular anymore, at least not as much as last edition. Small units of 5 will be taken to hunt war machines, or larger units to hit flanks, but this is less common. If you kill a small unit of these in 1 turn, everyone in 6" will have to take a panic check and with chaos' bad LD, some marauder hordes could be running away!
Bottom line: Not so common any more, are good at hunting war machines though. Get some easy kills for panic checks!
Note: These do not have the fast calvary rule, so don't get the 12" move at the start of the game.
Marauder Horsemen
These are marauders on horse back, with fast calvary rules, but still get the same stats. Better than warhounds at hunting war machines with a vanguard move. Watch out for your gyrocoptors because they can be equipped with throwing spears 12" range, or throwing axes 6" range and can march and shoot with a free wheel. KaBoooM!
Bottom line: Though a bit more expensive, better warmachine hunters at 13 pts. a model. My favorite strategy is to deploy a unit of 15-20 crossbow rangers 12" from them. This will deny their vanguard, and you can shoot and kill a unit of them first turn, panic! Then either retreat backwards next turn, or shoot his fast armour-less stuff, and if they charge you, your great weapons will make short work of them, just beware of chaos knights, your bolts will pitter off and they are too good in combat!
Special:
Chaos has some darn good core, really all you need in an army. Their special are elite fighters, ready to smash skulls in combat... luckily they're so expensive.
Chaos Chosen:
These guys have the same stats as chaos warriors, just +1 to weapon skill, letting them hit all troops on 3's. But is that really worth the three points on an already expensive model. Probably not... but this sure is! Eye of the Gods! At the very start of the game you roll a 2D6 to see what special ability you get. Sometimes it won't be too great like +1 initiative, but when you roll a 12 and get a 4+ ward for every model in the unit and stubborn? Damn! If you have an anvil in the army, this unit needs to be slowed down if it gets one of the insane rolls like +1 attack, +1 strength, +1 toughness is even pretty good!
Beware: If the champion has a 5 pt. gift that lets you alter your rolls by 1, look out! That 4+ ward is closer than you think! Also look out for war shrines, a rare choice.
Bottom Line: Incredible fighters, easily abusable into a 4+ ward, stubborn, death star unit. Deal with these guys before they get the friggin 4+ ward. Worst case scenario? They also have Mark of Tzeentch, giving them a 3+ ward! Wow.
Chaos Knights:
Chaos warriors on horseback. If that isn't enough to scare you, just remember that these knights have +1 to strength from their ensorcelled weapons, and a 1+ armour save with their barded steed, chaos armour, and shield. An Organ gun is magic against these suckers. The only thing to watch out for would be the Blasted Standard, a 5+ ward save against shooting, coupled with MoT, giving these suckers a 4+ ward against shooting. This makes them extremely hard to kill so your best bet would be an elite GW horde for S6 attacks, halving their armour save. A lord with MRo Alaric the Mad dishes out pain too.
Bottom line: Watch out for these guys, 2 attacks at S5 is never good, especially with a 1+ armour save.
Forsaken:
Forsaken, the mutated psychos of the Warhammer world. These suckers are speedy with movement 6 when compared with the other M4 infantry, warriors, chosen, marauders. They are a respectable strength 4, but with D3+1 attacks! On average, you will get around three attacks, plus supporting. These can shred your GW hordes with only heavy armour, but at 18 points, these things break the bank!
Bottom line: Since they're T4, and only have heavy armour protecting their tainted souls, Strength 4 GT's are great against them. You won't see these that often however, because of the cost, but since GW hasn't produced models for them, modeling them with their tentacles and claws is a lot of fun. You might see them more often with more sculpting oriented people.
Chaos Chariot:
This thing used to be a real line breaker, but now with steadfast, they need to be paired with another unit to work. A normal ol' chariot with 2 chaos warriors (with halberds) crewing it. D6+1 impact hits with scythes.
Bottom line: They hurt, but only for a round. If paired with another unit they can be disasters though, but a cannon will take them out nice and quick.
Chaos Trolls:
Duhhh... Chaos trolls are your average troll, regeneration, S5, T4, 3 attacks and the ability to vomit (hits all enemy in base contact, no armour save, S5, look out Iron Breakers!). This unit must have a character in it, or the general close by because with LD 4, these trolls will go no-where! As with all monstrous infantry, cannons and BT's are good, just take out the regeneration first. If the trolls make 2 or more regeneration save in one phase they get to roll of the eye of the gods chart. They can't take marks.
Bottom Line: Not crucial to kill, but if there is a character in the unit, he won't have a look out sir, so cannon snipe him. They can, and will hurt in combat, so try not to deal with them full strength. Best way is to either have a hero with a flaming rune, or hit them with a flaming BT/ Cannon and shoot the regeneration-less trolls with an OG.
Chaos Ogres:
Ten points cheaper than the trolls, but aren't stupid. Only S4, so you will usually find them equipped with great weapons and Mark of Khorne for frenzy. They can also have additional hand weapons and chaos armour for a 4+ armour save. These can take marks, unlike trolls.
Bottom line: Organ gun is gold against these guys, but again, not your prime target.
Dragon Ogres:
Rawr! These are better than ogres with +1 M and stock with a 4+ armour save. Also S5 with the choice of great weapons or additional hand weapons. Can't take marks.
Bottom line: These guys are rare because they are so expensive. With 4 wounds they won't die too fast so just deal with them with a GW horde in combat.
Rare:
If the special are really killy, and the core is all around good, what does the rare do? Two words "Big Monsters".
Chaos Giant:
A normal giant, I won't get into all his special attacks, but watch out for thunderstomp. His marks are slightly different, Khorne confers +1 S, and Slaanesh confers always strike first.
Bottom line: No ward, no regen, either shoot with a cannon or take out with a GW warrior block. Easy, easy.
Dragon Ogre Shaggoth:
The dragon ogre really big and large twin. 5 Strength 6 attacks, with either an additional hand weapon or great weapon. Also a 4+ armour save. Look out for this guy, he can really shred your units.
Bottom line: Strong and 6 attacks with additional HW and thunderstomp. Needs to be taken out with a cannon.
Chaos Spawn:
A stand alone monstrous infantry model, which random movement and is unbreakable in combat. Same mark variations as giant. He also can be decent in combat, with D6+1 attacks.
Bottom line: Really slow, and will average 7" of movement a turn. A later game cannon or GT shot will net you 55 vps plus points for the mark.
Warshrines:
These things grant a free roll on the eye of the gods table, but if the same warshrine blesses another unit, then the previous blessing goes away. Easily abusable especially for on chosen.
Bottom line: Since this thing comes stock with a 4+ ward most people give it Mark of Tzeentch for a 3+ ward save. Don't waste a cannon shot on this... either get it in combat and break it, or let it be. Can get really annoying with three of them running around. Miners or Rangers in the back field will smash these things.
Hell Cannon:
A daemonic construct of our evil cousins, this thing is a really painful stone thrower. Small template, strength 5, and a really forgiving misfire table. I've had a unit of Iron Breakers be destroyed almost to a man from a strength 10 shot! This thing is also a beast in combat with 5 strength 5 attacks in combat and thunderstomp. It's also unbreakable!
Shoot it with a cannon right away, before it destroys you.
Some army lists:
This is one with out magic just some really good combat phases. Would be fine against dwarfs as there is no magic to worry about.
Chaos Lord (Tzeentch) - 342pts
----------------------
Chaos Steed
Armor of Damnation
Talisman of Preservation
Halberd
This guy is a mean lord in combat with 5 strength 6 attacks and a 4+ AS and 3+ ward. Uses a lot of points though.
Exalted Hero (Tzeentch) - 215pts
-----------------------
BSB
Armor of Destiny
Halberd
Another hard hero, with a 5+ armour and a 3+ ward. Nice BSB (battle standard bearer).
18x Chaos Warriors - 373pts
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Khorne
Halberd
Shield
Banner
War Banner
A lot of attacks a S5, good choice. (The war banner gives +1 combat res.)
18x Chaos Warriors - 348pts
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Khorne
Halberd
Shield
Banner
Same as above.
50x Marauders - 288pts
----------------
Khorne
Great Weapons
Banner
50x Marauders - 288pts
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Khorne
Great Weapons
Banner
These marauders will hurt, and will need to be taken out with your GT's.
6x Chaos Knights - 305pts
-----------------
Khorne
Banner
The Lord will probably go with these guys making them really killy!
2x Warshrine 150/300pts
--------------
Tzeentch
That's a lot of blessings going around.
6x Warhounds - 36pts
Nice and cheap for war machine hunting.
2495pts
This list has no magic as stated before, so might suffer in the ranged department, but will bring the hurt in close combat. A list optimized for this one would have a gyrocoptor and grudge throwers, and a lot of combat blocks also with GW hordes for the warriors. An organ gun would take care of the knights.
As a note, I'm not going to make a full on list to combat these specific lists, so I can give you room to pick the list similar to what your buddy plays and you can make it how you like, with a beefed up lord, anvil, slayers, all that you want! It is your list.
Here is a magicy list. I wouldn't say super magic heavy, but has quite a bit.
Lords:
Sorc Lord - MoT, lvl 4, Disk, BCR, Golden Eye of Tzeentch, Crimson Armour of Dargan, Blood of Tzeentch - 425pts
Heroes:
Exalted - MoT, BSB, Halberd, Talisman of Preservation - 194pts
Exalted - MoT, Steed, Halberd, Talisman of Endurance - 170pts
Sorceror - MoT, lvl 2, Dispel Scroll, Third Eye of Tzeentch - 190pts
Core:
18 Warriors - MoK, Halberds, Standard, Musician - 336pts
18 Warriors - MoK, Additional Hand Weapons, Standard, Musician - 336pts
5 Warhounds - xxpts
5 Warhounds - xxpts
Special:
6 Knights - MoT, Standard, Musi, Banner of Rage - 320pts
4 Dragon Ogres - Great Weapons - 308pts
Rare:
Warshrine - MoT - 150pts
For this list, I would be scared of the magic and warriors. The knights I would organ gun away, and the dragon ogres I would cannon or bolt thrower. The warriors I would then take care of with a runed GT and the organ gun (after the knights). Against this list I would make my list a little more shooting light, unless you wanted more! Gw blocks, hammerers, even a roadblock of shield warriors to hit the dragon ogres.
I like what you've done, and thought the following might be useful. If I could suggest it, maybe you could edit your first post with reader's feedback, so that future readers don't have to trawl through multiple pages to find it.
Chaos Warriors
Chaos Warriors will commonly be equipped with halberds, to give them S5. Great weapons give them S6, but then they will lose the use of their I5, which runs the risk of decreasing their number of return attacks; against Dwarves, great weapons on Chaos Warriors are a drawback, as most of our troops will now strike at the same time and therefore be alive to increase the number of kills on the Warriors.
In addition, many WoC players appear to like giving their Warriors Frenzy, either with the Banner of Rage, or the Mark of Khorne. The Banner is particularly effective with Tzeentch Warriors, as they then have a 6+ Ward Save, or with Nurgle Warriors. Units will often be 6 wide, to maximise attacks against 20mm base infantry, and will often be 15+, to allow for casualties. With Frenzy, a unit of Chaos Warriors will generate 24+ WS5, S5 attacks to the front, with T4, 4+ A/S and often a 6+ Ward Save. You should be happy if they have additional hand weapons as the extra S4 attack is nowhere near as effective as halberds.
Chaos Warriors may also have Hand Weapon and Shield, and serve as an anvil unit. If so, they are likely to have the Mark of Tzeentch, to give them a 5+ Parry Ward Save (yes, it stacks…..). Nowhere near as lethal as frenzied halberd wielders, these guys will be hard to shift.
One final point on Chaos Warriors. If Dwarf troops are to beat them, they must be reduced to around 10 models in the unit. 30 GW Dwarf Warriors should beat 10 frenzied Chaos Warriors with halberds, but not 12; they will have too many attacks up front, and will reduce the Dwarf attacks through kills. Shoot the buggers down to 10 or less, unless you can set up multiple units or have characters to swing the balance.
Chosen
From what I’ve seen, Chosen only come in one flavour, Mark of Tzeentch with a supporting Warshrine. This is because with the 5 point magic item Favour of the Gods, the Chosen have a better than 50% chance of gaining the 4+ Ward Save and Stubborn from the Warshrine (which is compulsory if your opponent has taken Chosen); the MoT modifies this to a 3+ Ward Save…... See the following discussion over on warhammer.org;
If they do get it, then as a Dwarf player, you’re in trouble. Shooting is not all that effective, as even a S5 Grudge Thrower will struggle to do more than 2 kills against 25mm base, T4, 3+ A/S (they’ll have shields) and a 3+ Ward Save. If this is the case, I suggest you use your Anvil of Doom simply to reduce their movement to a crawl, and/or feed them Dragonslayers one at a time. Any unit you send to fight them will be facing S5 (they’ll have halberds). Don’t try to kill them, there’ll be at least 15 of them; slow them down and make them as irrelevant as possible (easier said than done). Sacrifice lone characters if you have to, better a 140 point Thane than a 350 point unit.
Scenarios
Watchtower
I know this isn’t everyone’s idea of a good scenario, but if you do play it, you’ll find Warriors of Chaos will be very hard to beat in the Watchtower. This is because it forces both sides into early combat, especially if the Dwarf player has gained the tower. He’ll do a first turn charge with a hammer unit, probably Chosen or Chaos Warriors, who will have a huge number of attacks on the defenders; expect around 10-12 dead from this single phase. Even Longbeards will die in droves. In fact, if you win the tower, I’d suggest leaving it vacant if you have a unit of Rangers. The Rangers sit 1 inch behind the tower where they can’t be charged, and move in on your first turn. This means that the Warriors can’t move into it themselves (and they don’t have scouts to pre-empt you), losing one turn to slaughter your troops. If you don’t have Rangers, you may need to wear that first turn charge (it’ll hurt). You’ll be Steadfast on Ld9 or 10, but the Chaos plan will be to kill everything over 2-3 turns, then occupy the tower.
Arrange your war machines close to the tower, so that they can shoot not just into the tower, but also the ground that the enemy assault unit will be sitting on. In your turns, blast them down, to reduce the number of attacks going into the tower when they assault.
With your combat units, look to get flank or corner-to-corner charges to tie the enemy assault unit up; corner to corner is all that might be possible if you’re in their frontal arc, but have the tower preventing you from maximising contact. You may need to replace the unit in the tower if it’s down to 12 or fewer models. A bad turn against Chaos infantry may destroy it outright and give the WoC player the tower.
If the enemy hold the tower, you’ll need your machines close to hit the tower, but also to guard them against hunters. Cannons are good on a 45 degree angle, to maximise the chance of hitting it. You may also want to forgo assaulting it in the first couple of turns, to give your war machines a chance to reduce the defenders to manageable levels (don’t assault 18 frenzied Chaos Warriors; they’re core after all…. You’ll lose.) Instead, focus on controlling the area around the tower, to prevent reinforcements; like us, he’ll try to swap units if the one in there is getting smashed. Watch out for units of 40+ Marauders; once in there, they’ll be impossible to shift with Steadfast BSB rerolls on their generals leadership. Try to prevent them getting in there at all costs.
If you’re holding the tower, it’s vital to have your BSB in range, and your Dwarf Lord if you have one; rerollable Steadfast is damn near impossible to beat. If they have it, try to kill or break his BSB and general, for exactly the same reason.
Battle for the Pass
Breathe a sigh of relief, and shoot the bugger to bits. Use Anvils, Rangers, Slayers and Miners to slow them down and disrupt their advance (ie, target one half of their line, letting the other move up faster, allowing your combat troops to overwhelm that half). You can hopefully then defeat the weakened remnants in close combat.
Almost done, I'll just need a monster list and some general all WoC comers tactics.
Edited by A.Wagg, 29 October 2010 - 11:59 PM.
