I really liked Jeff Morgenroth’s “vs” column for 40k, and decided to try and mirror it for Fantasy.  While I may not have the opportunity to play every army, I can certainly write on the armies with which I’ve become familiar.  That being said, it seems like a great starting point will be Warriors of Chaos.  So, let’s look at them the way Jeff looks at 40k armies!

Know your foe. Warriors of Chaos boast nasty core choices.  You’ll see a ton of 4′s and 5′s on Warriors, and Marauders come dirt cheap and will be on par with or better than other armies’ core units.  Their magic is downright nasty, and the Marks for corresponding gods can confer interesting effects.  The army lacks a lot of shooting power, with the Hellcannon being the only real threat in the shooting phase, and even that’s unreliable.  Warriors of Chaos will rely on tying you up with rock-steady troops and then hammering you with…more rock-steady troops.

There’s plenty of problems with the Warriors of Chaos though, and this is a good way to break them:

• Outnumber.  A single Chaos Warrior can run 15 points or so.  This means that they will not have steadfast, and you can easily outnumber them.
• Magic.  This means that they can’t spam characters and items, meaning they lack the opportunity to take a lot of scrolls and such.  Magical defense can be severely lacking in many Chaos lists.
• Maneuver.  Except for Warhounds, they don’t really have any good candidates for redirecting or sacrificing.  Once things are deployed, don’t expect too many maneuvering tricks or surprises.  Aside from Wulfrik, Chaos is going to have a hard time springing up behind your battle lines.  Leverage this “march and mince” mentality by luring them into traps.
• Challenge. Chaos characters and Champions must challenge and cannot refuse.  Keep that in mind when combat is imminent, as a unit with no Champion can just be a deathtrap for a Chaos character.

Beware. I keep telling people that Warriors are nasty in combat, and they keep throwing their combat specialists at them in hopes of a good fight.  The fact is, there’s a few reasons that the Chaos troops are usually better than other armies’ elites.

• Mark of Tzeentch.  Some will cry cheese, but the Mark of Tzeentch gives you a 6+ Ward if you don’t have one, or improves any other Ward save you have by 1.  This applies to Ward Saves from items, Parry Saves, etc.  If you run into a brick wall of 3+/5++ infantry, their high toughness won’t be the only problem you have.
• Warshrines.  There’s a silly little table in the Chaos armybook called “Eye of the Gods.”   It’s meant for when Chaos Characters kill someone in a challenge, but the Warshrine can roll on it to confer a bonus to an entire squad.  Some of the effects are ludicrous: +1 to a variety of stats, stubborn and 4+ Ward Save, etc.
• Magic.  Chaos Sorcerers can be really beefy, and the book has plenty of items to make your and their magic phases swing in Chaos’s favor.  The armybook Lores can be hit or miss, but watch out for things like Infernal Gateway, which can wipe units off the table.  Don’t forget Mark of Tzeentch gives +1 to casting rolls as well.
• Combat. It’s tough to tell you to beware an entire phase, but I’m serious.  A unit of 30 Khorne Marauders can bring 31 S5 great weapon attacks for 200 points.  Halberds are a popular choice on Warriors, giving them a 2 base S5 attacks each, at I5.  Do not underestimate what you’re getting into when you start a combat.

Tactics. As a Chaos player, I’ll share some dirty secrets that will really frustrate other Chaos players.

• Deployment. I love when people anchor a flank with a cannon, or isolate a squishy archer unit.  It makes it easier for me to just avoid those troublesome units.  What scares me is when someone’s war machines are set up to cover overlapping shooting lanes, where I have to expose my flanks to multiple threats.  If it’s not Dwarf cannons, it’s Empire cavalry.  Having an advantage in deployment drops should allow you to gauge when and where to place the units that will affect the Chaos player’s gameplan.
• Static CR. Even if the Chaos player rolls all 6′s, and you roll all 1′s, he can only inflict so many wounds.  Due to the expense of the units, you can really stack up ranks and such to mitigate the wound output.  While Chaos Warriors aren’t likely to run, you can stack the deck by bringing banners, charging, or other CR bonuses.
• Monsters. Outside of a few units or equipment upgrades, Chaos has a really hard time dealing with monsters.  Killing Blow and Poison can be tough to come by, and they’ll be reluctant to throw their precious armored troops against some S6 monstrosity.  A Hydra can be a real nasty curveball for the cookie-cutter Chaos list.

Having looked at magic and Lores, I wanted to take some time to detail a few items and combos that work well together with Sorcerers.  Since my group is still working with smaller point values, I’ll be limiting myself to a modest point budget (250-350 points) and using only Sorcerers, rather than Sorcerer Lords.

Sorcerer of Slaanesh

The Lore of Slaanesh may not be the most competitive, but it allows you to leverage an opponent with a weak base Leadership, or poor Leadership structure.  The mark itself makes you Immune to Psychology, which should clearly give you the upper hand in the battle of morale.  Along that note, a fun idea for a Slaanesh lord would be the following:

Sorcerer of Slaanesh – 175 points (200 with mount)

• Level 2
• Magic Weapon: Tormentor Sword
• Magic Armor: Helm of Discord
• Talisman: Seed of Rebirth
• Enchanted Item: Favour of the Gods

This Sorcerer’s focus is two-fold: disrupt and challenge.  The Tormentor Sword will ensure that challenges don’t cost you turns in attrition, by forcing tests for Stupidity.  Helm of Discord will punish anyone who doesn’t pass a Leadership check.  Seed of Rebirth will give you a 3+/6++ save (mostly), and Favour of the Gods makes your successful challenges that much more potent.  This list will wreak havoc against Goblins, Skavens, and other armies with numerous low-Leadership characters.  Add a mount for a 2+ save, and also to leverage more Fear attacks and faster movement.

Sorcerer of Nurgle

The Lore of Nurgle focuses on bypassing armor.  The signature spell will allow you to snipe particular models, softening up difficult characters if they can’t pass a ward save.  The mark itself makes you difficult to hit, both with shooting and close combat.  There’s a few tricks in both the Chaos Armybook and the main rulebook to complement these ideas:

Sorcerer of Nurgle – 190 points (240 with mount)

• Level 2
• Magic Weapon: Biting Blade
• Magic Armor: Shield of Ptolos
• Arcane Item: Warrior Familiar

This Sorcerer’s can stand on his own, for a variety of reasons.  First of all, the Mark of Nurgle gives enemies a -1 to hit while shooting at him.  He then gets a 1+ armor save against shooting, and even if you put him on a Palanquin he counts as Infantry, so you can easily get him a Look Out Sir roll for extra protection.  He hits hard too, with a couple of S4 attacks at I5.  The Warrior familiar chips in another S5 hit at the beginning of combat.  With the Biting Blade, all of his attacks will be plucking -2 off of enemy armor saves.  A Palanquin gives you 6 more S3 attacks, so if you soften someone up with the Nurgle spells, you can be sure that they’ll be feeling a charge.

Sorcerer of Tzeentch

The Lore of Tzeentch is dangerous; especially with spells like Infernal Gateway and Call to Glory.  There are a lot of neat synergies as well though, such as Pandaemonium and Baleful Transmogrification.  The most important thing though is that the Mark of Tzeentch makes spells easier to cast, and also gives an awesome Ward Save boost:

Sorcerer of Tzeentch – 180 points (200 with mount)

• Level 2
• Magic Weapon: Biting Blade
• Magic Armor: Charmed Shield
• Arcane Item: Spell Familiar
• Talisman: Talisman of Protection

This guy is absolutely loaded.  First of all, the Biting Blade is so cheap that you might as well take it if you’ve got the points.  Remember that the Armybook costs trump those in the rulebook, so things like Biting Blade are cheaper and Enchanted Shield is more expensive.  The Charmed Shield can help save you from an untimely hit, but also gives you a valuable +1 to your armor save.  Since Tzeentch wizards can cast more easily, taking a Spell Familiar can let you load up on 3 spells.  This could prove useful in turns where the Winds of Magic are generous, but also makes you more likely to roll doubles, thus letting you pick a spell you want.  The Talisman of Protection works well with your Mark of Tzeentch to give you a 5+ overall Ward Save.  Finally, you should seriously consider the Disc of Tzeentch mount.  In addition to giving you a 2+ armor save, it gives your wizard huge mobility, allowing him to swoop around with relative impunity, placing spells exactly where you need them.

Juggernaut of Khorne

Image courtesy of GW.

Steed of Slaanesh

Image courtesy of GW.

Disc of Tzeentch

Image courtesy of GW.

Palanquin of Nurgle

Image courtesy of GW.

Having messed around for a few games with different Sorcerer loadouts, I’m absolutely thrilled with the variety that the Magic phase adds to WHFB.  Whether you want to radically shake up your army or just tweak a character’s role, swapping out your wizard’s Lore can give you the extra flavor you need.  The Chaos book has some very distinct options that will allow you to follow in the footsteps of your Dark God of choice.  They all have a certain focus, and require you to take the respective Mark of Chaos.  Thus, I thought it would be good to highlight the uses of each Lore:

Lore of Slaanesh

Spells:

1. Lash of Slaanesh: Weak magic missile, prevents marching.
2. Hellshriek: Nearby units take a panic test
3. Hysterical Frenzy: Target suffers from Frenzy, takes damage each turn
4. Titillating Delusions: Target must move toward nominated point
5. Aura of Acquiescence: Target causes Fear (or upgrades Fear to Terror)
6. Ecstatic Seizures: Target unit takes toughness test or takes a wound, no saves of any kind

With an average cast value of 8.2, this lore is relatively easy to cast.  Many of the spells rely on enemy Leadership directly (Hellshriek) or need enemies to fail Leadership tests for their true value to come out (Aura of Acquiescence).  Two of the spells are Remain in Play spells, which can be countered during the enemy’s magic phase.  You can use some of the spells to redirect or force enemy troops to move.  This lore is really good against low-Leadership armies that like to stay still and shoot, or whose magic phase may clash with your Remain in Play spells.  The mark you get makes you Immune to Panic, Fear, and Terror, which doesn’t necessarily complement this Lore.

Lore of Nurgle

Spells:

1. Magnificent Buboes: Put a wound on any model in LOS with no armor saves allowed
2. Fleshy Abundance: Friendly unit gains Regenerate
3. Plague Squall: Weak stonethrower with no armor saves allowed
4. Cloying Quagmire: Target unit takes Initiative test.  Those who fail take an Armor Save, and are removed if they pass it.
5. Curse of the Leper: Remains in play, target suffers -1 to Toughness and Strength per turn (down to 0, when they’re removed)
6. Rot, Glorious Rot: All enemies in range take randomized hits with no armor save allowed

With an average cast value of 8.5, Nurgle is more difficult.  While the Mark of Nurgle doesn’t synergize well with the Lore, it does make you immune to certain Nurgle effects, and also makes you hard to hit.  Many of the spells ignore armor saves or punish enemies with good armor saves.  Low initiative troops will be hurt by Cloying Quagmire, and will also have to grapple with a war of attrition in Fleshy Abundance.  These spells are great against an army like Dwarfs, whose low Initiative and heavy armor will be a liability if not ignored outright.

Lore of Tzeentch

Spells:

1. Flickering Fire of Tzeentch: Flaming magic missile
2. Baleful Transmogrification: Target takes a Leadership test, suffers wounds by amount it failed, with no armor saves allowed.
3. Pandaemonium: Enemy units cannot use General’s Leadership, enemy wizards miscast on any double
4. Treason of Tzeentch: Target unit attacks itself
5. Call to Glory: Friendly model turns into an Exalted Hero
6. Infernal Gateway: Target unit takes 2d6 hits at Strength 2d6, if the Strength is 11 or 12 the unit is removed.

Ok, this is a pretty impressive spell list.  Combine that with the Ward bonus that the Mark of Tzeentch gives you, and it seems like a good buy.  Nevermind that the average cast value is 9.2 for this Lore, because Mark of Tzeentch gives you another +1 on your cast attempts, making this effectively as “cheap” as Slaanesh to cast!  There are some great synergies with Leadership, such as casting Pandaemonium and then Baleful Transmogrification.  Direct damage is an option with Treason, Call to Glory, or Infernal Gateway.  This is a great all-around Lore, although you will find yourself in trouble if you roll the Leadership spells against an army with good Leadership or a lot of Immune to Psychology units.

Conclusion

Some Sorcerers have access to main rulebook Lores, which are very competitive.  If you’re looking for some variety, or to keep with a certain theme, the Chaos Lores will treat you just fine.  Just remember that your magic should never be relied upon.  The Gods are fickle, but when you manage to get some spells off the results are just devastating.

Image courtesy of Games Workshop US

Last week I took a look at the Chaos Marauders, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t do an article on the glorious Warriors of Chaos themselves.  The Warriors of Chaos boast what is arguably the best core troop.  With access to an easy 3+ armor save, high strength and toughness, and solid initiative to boot, the Warrior of Chaos is a fearsome fighter.  All of this close combat prowess comes at a cost — they mostly skip the shooting and magic phases, and they bring a hefty points cost with them.  Let’s examine what uses they can have in a Warriors of Chaos army though:

The All-Rounder: 17 points

Seventeen points is a steep cost for your basic troop, with extra points buying you a shield and halberd.  While you can’t use both in close-combat, the shield provides an essential boost to your armor save against missile fire while you’re getting there.  Halberds will give you two S5 attacks per Warrior in the front rank, three for your Champion.  The end result?  A couple of ranks five-wide with full command will net 16 S5 attacks at WS5 and I5.  That is downright menacing.  Including the Mark of Khorne on the unit will up the ante to 21 S5 attacks.

The Brick Wall: 16 points + Mark of Tzeentch

For a more defensive-minded unit, forego the halberd and give the unit a Mark of Tzeentch.  This will give you a 3+ armor save and a 5+ parry save in close combat.  At range, you have a 3+ armor save and a 6+ Ward save.  This means you will shrug off 92.5% and 90.7% of S3 hits in combat and at range, respectively.  Those numbers are still very respectable at 83.3% and 79.2% if you’re looking at S4 hits.  Such an expensive anvil will require proper protection to ensure they don’t run off, as you will not have steadfast.  Nonetheless, they will take a licking and keep on ticking.

The Meatgrinder: 16 points + Mark of Khorne

You could forego defense entirely and just buy an extra hand weapon.  With the Mark of Khorne, you now have 4 attacks per front model.  It’s worth noting that this doesn’t really boost your second rank, but if you’re running a wider frontage (like a horde, if the situation warrants it) then you’ll be in for a treat.  Even in most situations, running 6-wide is an option, meaning you’ll have 25 attacks from the front tank with a Champion, all striking at S4.  This build can work well if you know you’ll be facing a lot of weaker troops, where S4 (and its corresponding -1 Armor Save penalty) are sufficient to inflict casualties and numbers are more important.

Other Thoughts:

There are a few things I’d like to point out about the Warriors’ options.  Great Weapons strike me as a total waste.  While you do get an awesome S6, you’re wasting your Warriors’ I5.  Sure, they’re armored enough to withstand a round of combat and then strike back, but you’re already paying for that I5.  Even with Mark of Khorne, there are better and cheaper ways to fit Great Weapons into your list (see: Marauders).

Mark of Nurgle is a promising idea if you know you’ll be facing a heavy shooting phase.  Keep in mind that the -1 to hit only applies in the shooting phase, and becomes a WS modifier when being hit in close combat.  This means that you’ll rarely see the benefits in combat, but it can be useful to keep your boys alive until they get there.  Of course, it should be weighed against Mark of Tzeentch, which will reduce all casualties by 1/6 anyways with its free Ward Save.

The Blasted Standard should be used in any decent-sized army, and the Warriors are a great candidate.  It works well with Knights as well, but having Blasted Standard and Mark of Tzeentch gives you a 4+ Ward Save against all attacks made in the shooting phase, which is huge.

In Summary:

Your Warriors are tough as nails, but they’re not indestructible.  Using other units like Marauders, Warhounds, and mounted units will let them get into combat quickly and do what they do best.  Your number one goal should be to get them stuck-in combat and protect them from shooting.  Even against enemy combat specialists, the Warriors will put up a respectable fight.  If you manage to get the drop on an unsuspecting squishy unit, sit back and let the fireworks begin!