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.

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.

So what’s a warlord to do?  Kitbash!  Counts-as!  There are plenty of options around, and as long as you use appropriate base sizes there shouldn’t be any in-game impact.  These ideas come with a caveat that you should ensure your regular opponents are cool with these substitutions and replacements.  Rolling Beastmen units in your Chaos army might irritate some tournament players (or organizers!) for example.  With that in mind, here are some neat ideas to give your Chaos a more original, thematic look…and even save a few bucks!

Item #1: Trolls for Trolls

Left: Metal Chaos Troll ($22.25). Right: Plastic O&G River Troll (3 for $45).

Let’s start with one of the more interesting and viable Special choices: Trolls.  The Chaos Troll line is a bit underwhelming, as you’ll be looking at $22.25 per model.  While the aesthetics of the models are up to individual taste, I think we can all agree that the models look a bit…dated.  You’re actually paying a premium for metal, which is difficult to customize.  The Orcs and Goblins line has River Trolls, however, on the same 40mm base.  $45 for a box of 3 plastic, beautiful sculpts with plenty of bits to spare is a much better bargain.  With a proper paint scheme and some other Chaos bits, these trolls are a huge upgrade in my book.

Item #2: Ogres for Ogres

Left: Metal Chaos Ogre ($22.25). Right: Plastic Ogres (6 for $40)

Seem familiar?  We have the same problem — really old, expensive model in metal.  Or, you can look to another line.  Both the Chaos Ogre and the Ogre Kingdom core Ogres share a 40mm base.  The question is whether you’d rather pay $22 for one model, or less than $7 per model for a box including extra bits and accessories to make the command.  I’m not going to comment on the competitiveness of Chaos Ogres on the table, but you can bet that in terms of customization and sheer price point they lose out.

Item #3: Dragon Ogres for…

Left: Metal Dragon Ogre ($22.25). Right: Plastic Beastmen Minotaurs (3 for $45)

Ok, now you can see why I wanted to write an entire article on this.  This is the third special choice for Warriors of Chaos whose models are outdated, expensive, and metal.  The tragedy of it is that Dragon Ogres may be the most viable of the three, and their models may be the least passable.  Luckily, they share the same 40mm base as many other gorgeous models, including the Beastmen Minotaurs.  Sure, these Minotaurs don’t have the crackling lightning of the dragonborn as described in the Army Book.  Nor do they even look part dragon.  Then again, neither do the actual Dragon Ogre models.  Instead, you can buy an 80-piece plastic kit of 3 Minotaurs for the price of 2 Dragon Ogres.  This one may require opponent permission, but with creative conversion and modeling you can end up with a unique unit that looks far better than the GW options.

In Conclusion

The Warriors of Chaos have some really cool models available to them, but that just makes some of the other models stand out that much more.  If you’re willing to poke around in the other sections of GW’s website, you can find some great inspiration for kitbashing ideas.  Stay tuned for further ideas on supplementing the Chaos range with additional minis.  Don’t be afraid to peruse other lines — look at 40k, or even non-GW models — you may find something truly unique!

The WHFB rulebook contains a specific scenario to account for games with more than two players: Battle Royale.  The rules diverge heavily from standard WHFB, namely in the way that turns are sequenced and units are deployed.  I played my first actual game of Fantasy this week, using the Battle Royale as an opportunity for my Chaos Warriors’ to hone their craft.  I came out with a few key lessons about the system in general, but also learned a fair bit about the Battle Royale scenario and its limitations.

Let me start by saying that GW concedes that Battle Royale isn’t a perfect scenario.  In a game designed for two players, shoehorning a 3rd (or 4th or 5th!) is bound to create some problems and inconsistencies.  The scenario does its best to address these problems up front.  The magic phase, for instance, has been overhauled.  One player rolls for Winds of Chaos, and then casts all of his spells.  The scenario dictates the order and rules for which other players may dispel, allowing you to dispel attempts from each player.  This is one of many such adaptations made from the standard fare.

The biggest problem you’ll see with Battle Royale is how the deployment works.  One player deploys his entire army in a 16×24 inch box centered around the middle of the table.  The remaining 2-4 players then deploy within 6″ of a table edge of their choice.  You can immediately see the problems with this setup: the player in the middle is at a disadvantage with his positioning, but also with deployment order.  This player has to place his entire army without knowing where or on which edge the enemy will be!  The only concessions he gets are that he gets the first go in each movement, shooting, and combat phase.  He also gets to dictate the order in which combats are resolved.  In the magic phase, this player has to declare his spells and use his power dice first.  This strikes me as a crippling rule, because the other players still have a full stock of dispel dice, and can take turns dispelling if they choose to.

As you may have gathered by now, I was the player in the middle.  My first Fantasy game was a rough awakening — I was surrounded by Empire war machines and Savage Orcs, my 700 points of Chaos Warriors trembling as they scrambled to re-face the nearby enemies.  Moreover, I had to skirt around units with the Frenzy special rule.  Despite not wanting to attack me, the Orc player had to watch his units get kited around because my Marauders were trying to steer him towards the Empire.  Nonetheless, we all agreed it was a broken scenario, especially with a first-timer taking the middle deployment.

With that in mind, I’d like to propose a few changes that would make the Battle Royale scenario a little more viable, for beginners and experts alike:

• King of the Hill.  Players should be rewarded for holding objectives, not for ending the game with them.  I’d propose that in addition to General-based points, there be one central objective.  If you hold the objective at the end of a turn, you get +1 point.  This would give the middle player an inherent bonus, as he’d get a free turn or two of holding the objective before things got messy.
• Middle Deploys Last. If there was any semblance of goodwill towards the middle player (call it pity if you must), it would be gone with the aforementioned King of the Hill rule.  This would need to be balanced by letting the middle player deploy last, reacting to the other deployments so that he isn’t getting rear/flank charged by everything on the table.  Even changing to a standard unit-by-unit deployment, rather than an army at a time, could alleviate that problem.
• Middle Chooses Magic Order. Magic buffs tend to be polarizing — it’s either a boon or it’s totally useless.  Regardless of whether or not you left your wizards at home, being able to manipulate the game by forcing certain players to cast or dispel first lets the middle player stand a chance.

The end result is that you have a middle player who’s ready to fight anyone and everyone.  Gameplay is funneled toward the middle of the table in vanilla Fantasy, and with the standard Battle Royale rules they’ve only added juicy rear/flank targets.  If you and two or more friends want to mix it up, I’d be prepared to institute changes like the ones outlined above…or at least give the man in the middle a few extra points!

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!

Chaos Marauders - Picture courtesy of Games Workshop.

The Warriors of Chaos army is known for having the fiercest of core troops.  The Chaos Warriors will shred most enemies they meet in hand-to-hand combat, but one often-overlooked option is the Marauder.  Representing the rampaging tribesmen of the North, the Marauders bring rank upon rank of flesh and steel to bolster your elite Warriors.  With steadfast and rank bonuses being as important as they are in 8th Edition, Warriors of Chaos will need all the help they can get in the numbers game.  Let’s take a look at your options for kitting out these versatile troops:

The Bunker: 6 points/model

Six points gets you a T3 model with a 5+ save and a parry.  That’s pretty decent, especially when you start looking around other units.  Now consider what happens if you take the Mark of Tzeentch, which will amortize to under a point per model, assuming you take at least 20 Marauders (which you should!)  Now you’re looking at 7 points for a 5+/5++ T3 model.  Stick a Sorcerer in there or march a large block up the middle of the battlefield as an anvil.

The Blender: 5 points/model

If you don’t need an anvil, consider a hammer.  At 5 points a model, you can give your boys Flails or Great Weapons.  If you go with a minimum frontage of 5, you’re looking at 10 S5 attacks with your front two ranks.  Mark of Khorne gives you 15 S5 attacks.  If you switch between Flails/Great Weapons based on your opponents, you can make good use of the Marauders’ I4 when it’s useful.

Huge Blocks: 200-250 points

Just to put the point costs above in perspective, you can bring 40 Blender Marauders for 200 points.  Or 40 Bunker Marauders for 240 points.  That’s 8 ranks, if you’re only playing 5-wide, to ensure steadfast with your Bunker Marauders.  If you’re able to deploy in horde formation (10-wide) your Blender Marauders will get 20 S5 attacks normally, 30 with Mark of Khorne, and 33 if you add a Champion.  Not bad for under 240 points!

Mark of Nurgle

The Mark of Nurgle’s caught a lot of flak because of the FAQ that weakened it.  Namely, units only receive -1 WS when striking against you, so units like Marauders only benefit against WS2 and WS5 units.  They don’t get any other CC-related bonus from Mark of Nurgle, i.e. rolling to hit against other units.  There is a benefit, however, to wearing the Mark of Nurgle if you know you’ll be facing an army with an impressive shooting phase.  Units suffering a -1 BS penalty is big, but remember that it only applies to tests based on ballistic skill.  Elves with Longbows will already likely be shooting at a long distance, another -1 can really thin the number of saves you have to take.  Magic missiles and war machines could be a separate issue.  The Mark of Nurgle can work on your Marauders, if you know who you’re facing.  It can also be handy in shrugging off certain spells from the Lore of Nurgle!

Conclusion

Marauders are a versatile unit that shouldn’t be overlooked.  They can’t replace Warriors in terms of sheer killing power, but getting 3 Marauders for the price of 1 Warrior should really make you think hard about how you use either in a game.  With so many elite troops, Warriors of Chaos have to leverage the numbers game any way they can, and Marauders give them a way to do that.

Step 1: Base Coats

The first step is to get the main colors down.  Take a hefty amount of Scab Red and thin it down a bit.  You’re going to slather it on most of the mini: the head, armor plates, and the front/back of the cape.  Next, take some Calthan Brown and hit the horns, shoes, weapon handle, and fur.  Carefully get the belt as well, don’t worry about painting over the metal buckles.  Finally, take some Boltgun Metal and do the blades, chainmail, and shields.  Make sure to get the edges and back of the shield too!  Here’s where we are so far:

Step 2: Red Stripe

Take some Blood Red and start lining the edges of the armor.  Make sure to get thigh plates, shoulder plates, gloves, and the helmet.  A thin line will suffice.  I’d also advise you get the collar piece, as that’s what will really make the model pop.  Keep a steady hand and if you mess up, you can come back later with more Scab Red.  Here’s what we’re looking for:

Step 3: Orange Line

Now take your finest brush and some Blazing Orange.  You’re going to want to edge the areas you just painted red so that they have a slight line of orange on the outside.  Edging is easiest when you tilt the brush at an angle against the edge you’re highlighting, although this isn’t always possible.  Don’t worry if your edging looks too thin.  Less is more here, and we don’t want the orange to dominate the highlight:

Step 4: Highlights and Washes

Take a lighter metal like Mithril Silver and highlight the edges of blades and the icons on the shield.  Using the same edging technique as before, highlight around the edges of the shield.  Pick out any other metal bits: rivets, bolts, hoops, etc.  Paint the horns in your favorite manner, I chose a Dheneb Stone/Calthan Brown mix.  Drybrush Dheneb stone over the furs, being careful not to touch the cape or helmet.  Finally, get some Badab Black and get ready to wash!  Wash the shield, pushing the wash towards the edges of the icon but off of the icon itself.  Wash the chainmail to make it pop.  Wash the boots and weapon handles to show their natural texture.  Finally, water down a bit of Badab Black and wash the armor plates if you feel your edging is a little rough.  Base to match your table or army, I just drybrush some more Dheneb Stone:

Step 5: Cloaks

My trick to cloaks is simple: blend your way up to the raised areas.  Thin out some Scab Red to make a glaze and paint the cloaks again.  You really want a solid red color, no splotches.  Next, do a 50/50 mix of Scab Red and Blood Red, but with less water.  Paint from the bottom of the cloak upwards, trying to hit the raised folds.  Next do Blood Red on its own, again thinned less.  With each successive layer, you should be painting closer to the center of the raised folds on the cloak, leaving darker colors in the recesses.  Next do 50/50 Blood Red and Blazing Orange, and finally Blazing Orange on its own.  When it’s all said and done, you’ll have some splotches, so use a Baal Red wash to bring it all together.  Note that the washes will take awhile to dry, as seen on the right:

And there you have it!  Finish any remaining cloak accessories (like the skulls) and basing, and you’re done!  Once you get the hang of edging, it shouldn’t take long to rattle off a group of Warriors.  If you’d like a cleaner look, you can smooth out the cloaks and the edging with more layers (i.e. do 2/3 Scab Red and 1/3 Blood Red before the 50/50 mix).  You may get quicker/cleaner results if you use a Citadel Foundation paint for the red tone, such as Mechite Red, but the color will be different from what you see here.

Of course, you could use these techniques with other color palettes if you want your Warriors to bear the mark of another Chaos God.  Using a series of Green/Yellow, Purple/Pink, or Blue/White could easily net similar results with a more Nurgle, Slaanesh, or Tzeentch feeling, respectively.  Good luck!

As always, you need to balance your existing inventory and budget on what you’d like to spend.  Luckily, most of the Battalion boxes from Games Workshop are pretty solid buys.  Some are better than others, but for the most part you’ll be getting units you’ll use, along with a “free” unit that would cost you another $25 if you bought everything separately.

Going back to my Warriors of Chaos Battalion, I’ve got the following models: 20 Marauders, 12 Warriors of Chaos, 5 Knights, and 10 Warhounds.  Once you factor in the cost of a General, you’re not too far off from 1000 points!  It won’t bring you to a balanced 1000-point list though, so let’s start a little smaller with 750 points.  Keep in mind that 750 points of WHFB isn’t exactly proportional to 750 points of 40k, where the armies tend to be smaller.

20 Marauders – 160 points

This is a solid block of relatively weak infantry.  They’re actually not very weak, but relative to the almighty Chaos Warrior they appear so.  Having 20 models will allow me to bring 4 ranks, which is a solid infantry block in a game this size.  They’ll make a good anvil, or a tie-up unit, while I wait for the reinforcements to arrive.

I’ll equip them with humble hand weapons, Shields, and Light Armour.  Their Hand Weapon/Shield combo grants them a 5+/6++ save in combat.  I’ll give them a Mark of Tzeentch so they can enjoy a 5+ Ward Save in close combat.  Since they’ll be a mainstay in most skirmishes, they should enjoy full command (Musician/Standard/Champion).

12 Warriors of Chaos – 279 points

Now for the scary guys!  The Marauders above will give most enemy troops a tough fight; these guys just make it unfair.  We’ll again give them full command, but also Halberds.  Having your front line strike with 11 Strength 5 attacks is nasty…and that’s not even considering the supporting rank!  Giving these guys shields is always a good option — although they can’t use them in close combat, it makes them less susceptible to shooting attacks.

Combine that with a Mark of Khorne.  These guys become bloodthirsty, and gain extra attacks.  Assuming you’re running two 6-wide ranks, you’re looking at 25 attacks at S5, I5!  These guys become a blender.  To round them out and help them get to combat a bit faster, let’s give them a Banner of Swiftness.  Those extra inches can really add up!

10 Warhounds – 60 points

Warhounds are a fun little unit.  They provide speed, two ranks, and never really look like a threat to your opponent.  But they’ll always be there to harass flanks, deny charges, and generally disrupt.  They’re not going to take out many bodies, and can crumple under any focused fire.  But their main job is to buy the rest of your army time, and for 60 points it can’t be beat.  I’d avoid the extra options, because they just make a throwaway unit needlessly expensive.

5 Knights (Marauder Horsemen) – 75 points

Knights took a bit of a blow in 8th Edition.  Chaos Knights are still terrifying units, but they’re super expensive.  Rather than build an 800-point list with a 200-point unit, and then try and add junk to reach 1000, consider playing a 750 point game and using those Knights as really scary-looking Marauder Horsemen.

Being Fast Cavalry gets them a free Vanguard move, and the ability to march and fire.  To take advantage of this, I’d give them Throwing Spears (Javelins) so that they can race up to an enemy, throw some spears, and then fall back and regroup when charged.  Giving them a shield will maintain their Fast Cavalry status as well as giving them a bit of armor, plus if they ever wind up in close combat it will grant them a parry save!

Chaos Sorcerer – 175 points

Ok, so you have to buy one model outside the Battalion.  You can choose to go magic-heavy with a Sorcerer or combat-heavy with a Hero.  In low-points games, magic’s erratic nature shows its true colors.  Luckily, Chaos has some great ways to mitigate its unpredictability.

Mark of Tzeentch gives you +1 to your casting rolls, which is nice.  The Lore of Tzeentch contains a number of good spells, which scale really well to small games.  Upgrading to Level 2 means you get +3 to casting rolls, as well as a second spell.  Add a Spell Familiar, and now you get to know 3 spells!

Of course, this magic death machine’s going to be a big target, so a few defensive items are in order.  Enchanted Shield and Talisman of Protection should help with that.  Now your Sorcerer has a 2+ armor save with a 5++ Ward Save.  Thanks again, Tzeentch!

The Final List – 749 points

Heroes (175pts)

• Chaos Sorcerer (175pts)

  Gifts of Chaos (25 p), Level 2, Lore of Tzeentch, Mark of Tzeentch, On foot

  • Magic Items (50 p)

    Enchanted Shield, Spell Familiar, Talisman of Protection

Core (574pts)

• Chaos Marauders (160pts)

  Marauder Chieftain, Musician, Standard Bearer, Mark of Tzeentch

  • 20x Chaos Marauder

    The Will of Chaos

    20x Light Armour, 20x Shields

• Chaos Warhounds (60pts)

  10x Chaos Warhound

• Chaos Warriors (279pts)

  Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer, Mark of Khorne

  • 12x Chaos Warrior

    The Will of Chaos

    12x Halberds, 12x Shields

  • Magic Standard (50 p)

    Banner of Swiftness

• Marauder Horsemen (75pts)
  • 5x Marauder

    Fast Cavalry, Horselords, The Will of Chaos

    5x Shields, 5x Throwing spears

In Fantasy, you’re dealing with large blocks of units.  It’s pretty common to have 20-40 units strewn together in rank and file, in comparison to 40k’s units of 5-15.  This means that having similar colors can work against you, because rather than visually tying the models together they begin to bleed together.  You need to find a way to delineate where one model ends and another begins, yet they still need to look like they’re part of the same squad (and the same army!).

I want to take this opportunity to show some of the ideas I considered with my Warriors of Chaos, and point out some of the issues I think people can run into.  First up is a pretty vanilla metallic paint scheme:

This is hardly an adventurous scheme.  It’s remarkably easy to paint, and certainly doesn’t look awful, but you can tell that it needs some highlighting and edging.  A wash or two of Badab Black wouldn’t hurt either.  The problem with schemes like this, which I’m seeing a lot, is that you end up with a sea of silver models.  This doesn’t do your army or the models themselves any justice.  You need color to break up the pieces of the model itself.  This also helps to make one model appear distinct enough from another model.

Let’s look at another idea.  The new Warrior sports a dark red armor, highlighted and edged up with blood red and blazing orange.  Due to the poses of these models, the shields will always be butting against another Warrior’s red armor, helping to break it up.  The edging on the armor clearly defines where some plates start and other plates end.  You can use a similar palette to paint up troops that correspond to your favorite god, using greens and yellows for Nurgle, for instance.  The work doesn’t end here though.  You need to consider how you’ll be seeing your models on the table, i.e. from the back:

I went with more red here, which seems at first blush that it would be too much red.  For other armies, that may be true.  The Chaos Warriors are unique in that they have pretty much no overlap between their front and rear profiles.  The surface area of the cape is pretty vast, yet almost impossible to see from the front.  This means that you don’t have to worry about repeating colors from one side to the other.  This is a boon to us Fantasy painters, because it seems that lots of armies have rank and file troopers with capes and cloaks.  I’m a big fan of using a bit of contrast, as I’ve done here with the Dheneb Stone fur, as it breaks up the model a bit.  Remember that your basing can give you some contrast as well.  Consider using something vertical, such as the long side edges of the cape, to highlight and provide another edge to break up one file from another.

Don’t be afraid to try a few different schemes!  With the snap-together models that GW has available for many races, it’s easy to pick up some troopers on the cheap and try a new scheme.  Best of luck, and remember to always rank them up before you call it a day!

You may remember my 40k article on choosing an army.  It focused on how you, as a new or returning 40k player, can decide on an army that will suit your style both on and off the table.  The thought process is basically the same for WHFB: you need to consider things such as model count, fluff and aesthetics, and overall playstyle.  This basic rubric may not cut it though when you start looking at the WHFB options, so I wanted to break down my thought process for picking a WHFB army.

One of the big distinctions between WHFB and 40k is the fact that you have big blocks of infantry, rather than small squads.  This means that the notion of model count is different between the two systems, resulting in drastically different experiences with playing and building a “large” army in either system.  The other ramification of the large infantry blocks is that it affects playstyle in a different way.  Close combat is the focus of WHFB, as evidenced by the complexity of the rules and the wide array of close combat goodies available to you.  This, combined with the lack of proper “vehicles,” means that you’ll need to reconsider what your playstyle in WHFB really is.

I opted to look at the problem as one of phases.  As it was explained to me, most armies are pretty good in 2 of the 4 phases of WHFB (Movement, Magic, Shooting, and Assault).  You can pick an army that really shines in one of those phases, but it will be pretty weak in another.  Here’s an overview of what it means to be “good” in each of these phases:

1. Movement.  Armies good in the movement phase are characterized as “fast.”  This could be a high base movement value on infantry (hint: Dwarfs are not fast).  It could be a proliferation of mounted units, such as the Bretonnians.  It could be due to magical items or spells that grant movement bonuses or ignore movement penalties.  Some armies, like Tomb Kings, can be played fast or slow depending on whether you bring a lot of mounted units.  Other armies, such as Wood Elves, need to keep on the move in order to maintain a positional advantage.
2. Magic. Some armies can bring a huge number of wizards or really powerful spells.  They tend to rely on the magic phase to compensate for their weaknesses in the other phases.  When they can pull it off, it makes them a much stronger army all around.  Playing with magic is (sometimes literally) playing with fire though, so it’s possible that these armies will fall flat on their faces.  These armies may raise more troops, like the Vampire Counts or Tomb Kings.  They may buff friendly troops, or de-buff enemies, depending on the Lore available.  Don’t discount straight damage spells, which can be dangerous in the hands of Chaos or Lizardmen.
3. Shooting. This one is pretty self-explanatory.  Some armies have lots of guns, bows, or war machines.  These inflict pain from afar.  This can stack with the two earlier phases pretty well: Tomb Kings can move and shoot without penalty, for example.  Magic can also improve shooting in a number of the available Lores.  The thing to look for if you want to focus on the shooting phase is high BS and war machines.  In the land of no cover saves, negative modifiers reign supreme.  This means that you’ll rarely be rolling straight against your BS.  Some armies, like Dwarfs, have both…and their shooting is reviled for it.
4. Combat. Armies can excel in close combat by a variety of means.  Some, such as Orcs and Goblins, will use sheer weight of numbers.  Other armies such as Warriors of Chaos rely on relatively few troops with elite statlines to get the job done.  Furthermore, some armies such as Ogres will use even fewer and scarier monsters to leverage Fear and Terror.  Armies such as the Dark Elves can use surprise Assassins where you least expect them.  Many armies have a variety of magical weapons, armor, and talismans to make close combat a nightmare for the opponent.  In general, you’ll want to keep an eye out for the special/rare choices in your army.  Some offer increased damage output, others increased survivability…the scariest have both.

I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking that picking a WHFB army is drastically different than picking a 40k army.  The rule of thumb still is, and always will be, go with what grabs you.  There are no more “terrible” armies out there, and at worst you’ll get an older one that may not have the latest cool rules and models.  This article has hopefully explained what’s entailed in determining an army’s playstyle though, so you’ll have a better idea of what you’re getting into!