Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Old/Chaos

The savage Vikings you all know and love in the Age of Sigmar setting, come to spill blood in the name of the Chaos Gods

Rules are here [1]

Warriors of Chaos Warscrolls

Forenote: The following section will be arranged with similar units and formations being grouped together for easier reading.

This is by no means a complete guide. Also due to the relatively recent release of Age of Sigmar most of this is based on theory. Take everything with a pinch of salt.

Named characters

Archaon, the Everchosen:

Be'lakor, Chaos Daemon Prince:

Crom the Conqueror:

Wulfrik the Wanderer:

Valkia the Bloody:

Skarr Bloodwrath:

Scyla Anfingrimm:

The Glottkin:

Bloab Rotspawned:

Morbidex Twiceborn:

Orghotts Daemonspew:

Gutrot Spume:

Festus the Leechlord:

Sigvald the Magnificent:

Galrauch:

Vilitch the Curseling:

Throgg:

Heroes

Note: Models that are Heroes as well as Monsters are listed under this label.

Chaos Daemon Prince:

Chaos Lord:

Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount:

Chaos Lord on Manticor:

Chaos Sorcerer Lord:

Chaos Sorcerer Lord on Manticor:

Exalted Hero with Battle Standard:

Khorne Lord on Juggernaut:

Khorne Exalted Hero:

Nurgle Chaos Lord:

Nurgle Lord on Daemonic Mount:

Nurgle Chaos Sorcerer:

Chaos Lord of Slaanesh:

Lord of Slaanesh on Daemonic Mount:

Tzeentch Chaos Lord on Disc of Tzeentch:

Tzeentch Sorcerer Lord:

Dragon Ogre Shaggoth: One of the better picks by a long shot. Gee, that can't have anything to do with the Shaggoth being one of the most expensive kits in the WoC range, can it? 10 Wounds isn't all that high, but thanks to the Summon Lightning spell you just need to have a caster around to remedy this little problem. The Shaggoth also has an awesome special rule where, if the roll to see who goes first in a turn is a tie, every Dragon Ogre unit, including the Shaggoth, immediately heals D3 Wounds on a D6 roll of 4+. And those ties happen way more often than you expect them to. Also, the Shaggoth has some absolutely devastating attacks in close combat.

Infantry

Chaos Warriors: The same heavily armoured Vikings you know and love. Do you like the Liberators' bullshit profile but want to go a bit more Chaosy? Then these guys are what you are looking for. They have the exact same stats and their normal hand weapons are the exact same as the swords Liberators carry. However, where Liberators are comparatively vulnerable to mortal wounds, your Chaos Warriors are more all-round fighters, as their shields give you a special save of 5+ against mortal wounds. Only down-side to them? They come in units of at least ten, which can be problematic if you use wound counts to balance your armies. Can also take Marks, which has no effect whatsoever on their profile but gets them the corresponding keywords, which means they can be affected by God-specific special rules. If you want to be an asshole, use them in units of 20+, where they even gain a bonus to their saves. Not just "reroll 1s" but a flat-out 3+ save.

Marauders: Piss-poor by comparison, but in big units, these guys can get scary, too. First, their shields simply increase their saves by 1, no ifs, no buts, which is actually pretty decent. They can choose between Flails and Axes, with the axes being slightly better on average. They can also take a Damned Icon, which allows them to reroll To Hit rolls of 1, at which point the flails become slightly better. Instead of the Icon, they can take a Banner that increases their awful Bravery to 6, but make no mistake, they still run away screaming if something goes wrong. Basically, use them as you would the Blood Reavers: In large units and with lots of support. That way, they can get pretty impressive.

Forsaken: These guys actually profit from the changes Age of Sigmar brought. They get D3 attacks apiece, so on average the same as Warriors but with a chance to go lower or higher though only at 4+ To Hit. To compensate, they get a randomly generated special rule on their attacks every turn, which can range from better rend to higher damage. They also come in minimum squad sizes of 5 and have a higher Bravery than normal Warriors. Probably still best to stick with Warriors, but not nearly as awful as they used to be.

Chosen: Exact same statline as Forsaken, so Warriors with +1 Ld and armed with Great Weapons, which is basically a Protector's Halberd without the cool special rules. What's so special about Chosen, then? If they kill at least one model in combat, all other Slaves to Darkness (most non Cult-only units) reroll To Wound until the end of the phase. This is pretty devastating and nowhere does it say that multiple Chosen squads can't affect each other with this.

Wrathmongers: One of the Archaon-additions from End Times, the angry cheerleaders are back. With a statline of a Chosen with 3 Wounds but only a 5+ save, they are pretty hardy and with a pretty damn good weapon profile (3+/3+/-1/1) and FOUR attacks apiece, they are decently choppy as well. But that's not why you take them. You take them because despite having a goofy name (they make people angry), they live up to it. Every unit (friend or foe) within 3" of them makes one additional attack with all its melee weapons, except for themselves, unfortunately. If used right, they can overwhelm entire frontlines, but a smart player will abuse the buff they dish out for themselves.

Skullreapers: The other Archaon-addition. They are basically Wrathmongers with better saves but without the two-edged buffs. They can have a pick between a potentially awesome but potentially awful weapon and a weapon that is more reliable but lacking the chance for extra oomph. One in five can take a +1 version of the normal weapons and the Champ gets an additional single-attack-but-devastating-if-it-connects weapon. If you are thinking by now that these guys would be awesome right next to the Wrathmongers, you're doing it right. They also have a fun special rule where they gain rerolls by killing stuff. Basically, they get better at what they do by doing the thing they're best at.

Putrid Blightkings: The super-hardy infantry Glottkin gave us. Same profile as a Skullreaper but with one more Bravery and an almost identical weapon. Their shtick? If they score a 6 To Hit, you don't hit once. You hit D6 times. Yes, they don't have Rend on those weapons, but with that many hits, you don't need it. Even more FUN*, every unit within 3" of them (including themselves) rolls a D6 in your Hero Phase. On a 6, they take D3 mortal wounds. Unless, that is, they have the Nurgle keyword, in which case they heal D3 wounds instead. Make sure you let multi-wound Nurgle stuff hug your Blightkings and you're golden. Also remember that this affects Nurgle units, not Mortal Nurgle. Chaos Lord of Nurgle? Great Unclean One? Plague Furnace? All of them can be healed by the aura these gives have.

Chaos Familiars: Familiars are awful. Really awful. They Hit on 6+ and Wound on 5+ and have 1 attack each. But you don't take them for that. No, they aren't a tarpit, either. They do, however, add 1 to all casting and unbinding rolls for Chaos Wizards within 6" and can have "any number of models". So just have one or two of them tag along with your important casters. Vilitch for example loves these guys to pieces.

Cavalry

Marauder Horsemen: Marauders on horseback. They are in almost every way normal Marauders on mediocre horses. However, they can still take Javelins, which beat every other weapon the guys can have by simple virtue of being a missile weapon in addition to a close combat weapon.

Chaos Knights: Chaos Warriors on pretty good horses. They aren't the bullshit they used to be, but they are still strong. They can either have the same weapon as a Warrior but with three attacks or they can take Glaives, which are exactly like a Liberator with a Warhammer, but gain a bonus to Rend and Damage if they charge.

Bloodcrushers of Khorne: Not the unrepentant cheese they used to be, but still terrifying. First, they have a 4+ bonus save against wounds or Mortal Wounds caused by Magic. Second, Juggernauts, while slower than horses, are devastating, each of them a Skullreaper's worth of damage on top of what the Riders can dish out. Those guys have to choose between 3+/3+/-/1 and 4+/3+/-1/1 and get two swings with either. And they also have a chance to inflict Mortal Wounds on stuff they charge.

Hellstriders of Slaanesh: These are... odd. Blessed with possibly the highest Move characteristic in the game (16"), Bravery 7 and a 5+ save, they are fast, but fragile. At first, their attacks don't look too impressive. The Steeds get 2 Marauder-with-Axe attacks, followed by either a Whip (better To Hit) or a Spear (Rend of -1 and better To Wound though the latter only on the charge). However, after combat, they get to roll a D6 and if they roll under the number of models they killed, they get a second attack on their Scourge/Spear for the rest of the game. They can also take an Enrapturing Banner, which dishes out a -1 To Hit penalty to enemies within 6" of them. Play them in 10 man squads and hope for the best.

Chaos Chariots: Pretty fast, since they always add D6" to their Move even without Running. Other than that, it's a chariot. Nice damage from the horses since they are the same the Knights are mounted on, weak Whip and either a reliably strong Greatblade or a less reliable but potentially stronger Flail. Also bonuses on the charge, but you knew that.

Gorebeast Chariots: Don't get the same movement rule as the normal Chaos Chariots but they have the absolutely devastating Gorebeast to make up for it. The beast is just that in combat and also grants you the nice rule the Skullcrushers get where you can potentially inflict Mortal Wounds on whatever you charge in the Charge Phase. How you can use that last fact to your advantage, well... coughBloabRotspawnedcough.

Stuff

Chaos Warshrine: Yes, the Warshrine does not count as a War Machine. If you use the Errata rules, this is a huge advantage. What it does is pretty cool, too. First it has an Aura that grants Mortal units (almost everything Chaos that isn't a Skaven or a Daemon) an additional 6+ save after their normal save. Can also pray for buffs to Mortal units. There is one Undivided buff and one for every God, the latter of which you can only use by dedicating your Shrine to a particular God. The Undivided buff is the best by default, granting rerolls of 1 To Hit and To Wound. However, the God-specific buffs can be cast on whatever you want, but get better if you cast it on a unit of the same God. Favour of Nurgle, for example, allows to reroll 1s To Wound, but if the unit it's used on is Nurgle, you can instead reroll all failed To Wound rolls. And yes, this does mean a Shrine can bless units of rival Gods, just for shits and giggles. Also of note is the fact that this thing can easily hold its own in combat with a monster-like profile and a bunch of strong attacks. Awful Rend, yes, but they plow through low armour tarpits like nobody's business.

That Which Must Not Be Named: Not actually terrible anymore, though far from reliable. A Move of 2D6" makes for potentially fast movement. Similarly, 2D6 attacks per Spawn is potentially strong, but even better is the special rule these attacks come with: If you roll a Double, instead of Hitting and Wounding on 4+, you Hit and Wound on 3+. Just think about it, 12 attacks apiece with good Hit and Wound rolls... Also, five Wounds with a 5+ save make for pretty hardy models.

Chaos Warhounds: They're warhounds. Each is just as durable and twice as powerful in combat as a Marauder, but without any of the buffs and an awful Bravery of 4. They're pretty fast, though, so that's good.

Chaos Ogres: Nothing to see here, move along. No, seriously, their attacks are worse than Chaos Trolls, they don't have a ranged weapon either and their special rules are worse. They have better Bravery, but that's not even a small blessing. If you don't have Trolls on hand, however, Ogres aren't half bad, with pretty devastating attacks, the chance to heal lost wounds whenever they kill stuff and four Wounds apiece.

Chaos Trolls: YES. Do you remember the awful days of just last month when you had to decide between letting your Trolls barf on the enemy or smacking them to bits? No longer! Now you can do both. The barfing is a ranged weapon (albeit at 6") with the impressive profile of 3+/3+/-2/D3. In combat, they are almost the same as Ogres, except they have -1 Rend on their strikes. They also get to make extra attacks in combat for every To Hit roll of 6 and they heal D3 Wounds in each of your Hero Phases on a 2+. Weak Bravery of 5, yes, but that's why you have Inspiring Presence, right? Right.

Dragon Ogres: Not bad, either. Five Wounds with a 4+ save, okay Bravery and scary weapons. Each has what is basically a Chaos Knight's horse bolted to it and in addition fights with a big weapon. You get either Ancient Weapons which are two Double-Hammer Liberators in one, Glaives which exchange the reroll 1s To Hit with 1 more inch of range and a Rend of -1, or Crushers which only have 3 attacks, but with 2 damage each. They also grant the Summon Lightning to nearby Chaos Wizards, which when cast heals the Dragon Ogres for D3 Wounds and grants them rerolls To Wound. With a pretty low casting value of 5, there are worse things you can waste casting attempts on.

War Machines

Hellcannon: One of the better guns around, but not as reliable as what some other Factions get. You can fire on the move no problem, but you gain a +1 To Hit if you stay still. This, combined with the fact that the Hellcannon has a 12" minimum range explains why you still don't want it to roll towards the enemy so it can hit them with its teeth. If you get it to stay still, however, you have a pretty reliable gun that hits on 3+, inflicts D6 Mortal Wounds on a hit and can fire twice so long as at least 2 Dorfs survive. And yes, the fact that it fires off Mortal Wounds instantly makes it better than all the other Cannons out there. Beware if you are playing with Errata rules, however, as a Hellcannon + Crew is 10 Wounds of War Machine, so you can only have 1 per 50 Wounds.

Monsters

My, aren't you spoiled for options here! Most Monsters are equally decent, though some are simply better. When in doubt, have a look at the Slaughterbrute and the Mutalith.

Giant: It's a Giant, same old version as all the other armies get. Always good for a laugh and decently killy, but also holds the title of most easily dispatched monster with a low Move characteristic and an awful 5+ save.

Chimera: Blessed with the same sucky save as the Giant but with a more reliable damage output, the Chimera's main virtues are that it flies 10" and has a 14" fire breath.

Mutalith Vortex Beast: You can do much, much worse than to stick one of these in your army. This thing has the works: High Wound count, high Move characteristic, 4+ save, auto-Regen of D3 Wounds per friendly Hero Phase, a whole bunch of attacks, some of them pretty good, and one of the few random special rules that can never turn on you. Basically, you pick an enemy unit within 15", roll a D6 and consult a chart. The effects range from lowering enemy Bravery or Movement permanently by 1 to inflicting D6 Mortal Wounds and spawning a Chaos Sp--- you know, for every model that died from that. It isn't as outright killy as some other monsters, but it's great as an all around useful unit.

Slaughterbrute: This thing wreaks absolute havoc in combat. High Move, devastating attacks and a good save of 4+. It also has the trick of binding it to one of your Slave to Darkness heroes. As long as that Hero survives, the Brute hits on 3+ instead of the normal 4+. If he's killed or if you didn't pick one, however, the Brute will cause the nearest unit (friend or foe) D3 Mortal Wounds in each Charge Phase.

Cockatrice: !!Joke rules incoming!! It's a flying monster with a low Wound count of 8. However, because of this low Wound stat, it doesn't lose effectiveness as it gets damaged. It's Petrifying Gaze has you pick a unit in range (10"), roll a D6 and look your opponent in the eyes. If he blinks first, you get to add 1 to the roll. If you do, you must subtract one. At 4+, the enemy unit suffers D6 Mortal Wounds. Aside from that, the Cockatrice is okay, not devastating, but nothing you want to see charging your squishy units.

Great Taurus: Same low Wound count as the Cockatrice, but with a much worse shooting attack, a better save and okay attacks. Oddly, when charging, the Taurus is actually worse than the Cockatrice.

Lammasu: Even worse than the Taurus in combat and without a missile weapon, there is not much that speaks for the Lammasu. However, it has a high Move and can Fly, which can bring its -1 to casting rolls for enemy wizards-aura quickly to where it's useful and it is also a Wizard. It does not have any unique spells, but a Chaos Wizard in general has more spells to choose from than he can count. The Lammasu also holds the distinction of being one of the few Wizards who is not a Hero.

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