Editing Vardek Crom (section)

==On the Tabletop==
In the game, and in the edition he was written for, Crom the Conqueror is a damn melee ''beast''. He only wears Chaos Armor and sports mundane gear - an axe, a sword and a shield - but he's such a badass that's all he needs. He specializes in both cleaving through ranked infantry and countering enemy characters, so the trick is knowing when and where to put him.

For 230 points, Crom uses up a Lord slot and he has to be the army's general unless Archaon is present; Crom bows to one master and one master alone. His statblock makes him a killing machine: Movement 4, Weapon Skill 9, Ballistic Skill 3, Strength 5, Toughness 5, Wounds 3, Initiative 8, Attacks 5, Leadership 9. However, it's his special rules that really make him as a character.

'''Master of Chaos Undivided''': Remember, this was the edition in which [[Chaos Undivided]] had the most emphasis, up to and including its own mark. Chaos Warriors and Chaos Knights bearing any of the four Marks of "Chaos Divided" ([[Khorne]], [[Slaanesh]], [[Nurgle]], [[Tzeentch]]) count as Special slots, whilst Chosen versions of the aforementioned and all Daemons count as Rare slots. On the plus side, your Marauders and Marauder Horsemen units all get the Mark of Chaos Undivided for free, which is handy, since they're the cheapest unit you have in this sort of army and they have the suckiest Leadership, so that free reroll is useful.

'''Immense Pride''': Pretty standard for a character with Crom's fluff, Crom has to accept any challenge he is offered. Since he specializes at nullifying enemy characters, this is precisely what you want him doing anyway.

'''The Way of the Warrior''': The big reason you're picking Crom, this rule allows Crom to swap between sword and axe style or sword and shield style whenever he wants, by declaring so at the start of each round of combat. Each style has its own special advantage in a challenge.
* ''Sword and Axe'': +1 Attack in general combat, but in a challenge, Crom gets to make an extra attack for each wounding hit (before armor saves are made) that he lands. This allows Crom to scythe down a high health opponent, if he needs to kill something dead fast.
* ''Sword and Shield'': +1 to Armor save in general combat, but in a challenge, Crom nullifies all special rules applied to his enemy's gear, mundane or magical. Yep, that's right; no matter what your opponent counts as wielding elsewhere, in a challenge with Crom using sword 'n' board style, they count as just using a single hand weapon. This is the style pretty much everyone uses in a challenge with Crom, since it makes him the ultimate stone wall.
::Do note that while this makes him crazy powerful, he's not going to beat everyone with either of these styles despite his statline and insane rules. As a quick example, in the lore he tried taking on Ungrim Ironfist's forces, but if you pit him against the Dwarf in a fight he'd get his shit kicked in. He's more of a bully, picking on anybody who has a weaker statline but when faced with anyone who has as good a statline (or better) he'll fall to pieces, especially if they have a Ward Save or other special rules of their own.

When revamped in 8th edition, he lost Master of Chaos Undivided and traded it for Eye of the Gods, Immense Pride specifies that in any unit containing Crom and another Chaos Warrior with Eye of the Gods it has to be Crom who always answers or issues challenges, and Way of the Warrior got seriously nerfed. Now, sword & board style gives +2 to armor save and a 5+ ward save from parry, whilst sword & axe style gives him +3 extra attacks instead of the normal +1. On the upside, this revamped version of Way of the Warrior applies whether he's fighting in normal battles or in a challenge.

{{Chaos-Champions}}