Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Legions of Chaos

The Legions of Chaos are an army added in the 2014 The End Times supplement/core rules update from Games Workshop to Warhammer Fantasy. They're a big and very welcome throwback to the iconic Hordes of Chaos approach from older editions, where Warriors of Chaos, Daemons and Beastmen are all fielded in a single great gribbly horde, with the addition of the new Nurgle special characters as options.

Why Play Legions of Chaos

Because why not. Seriously, unless you are a solo Daemon player, which are better in their own book due to not being frigging unstable, you get all the fun toys that the old Horde of Chaos players used to get. You will make the old Neckbeards grin with joy once more. Warriors can now access the brilliant Skull Cannons of Khorne and the chaff Razorgors from the Beastmen book. Beastmen have access to infantry and units that are not utter shit and will not die in hordes of beer and vomit. And Daemons get their pick from both the other books.

If you are already playing a Beastmen or WoC army, there is no downside whatsoever to bringing in exterior units. Even though you are still forced to take magic items from respective books, there is nothing stopping your Beastlord from joining your unit of Chaos Warriors. Again Daemons are the poor ones here, as Daemonic Instability rules still apply on their characters. So no Heralds of Slaanesh making units of Chaos Warriors always strike first.

Army Special Rules

By default, all options follow the basic rules of their original armies unless otherwise contradicted, but there are some additions.

• Daemonic Alignment: Daemon units can only be joined by characters who are aligned to the same Chaos God as they follow. Similarly, they can only benefit from Inspiring Presence or Hold Your Ground if the model providing these effects is aligned to their patron god. Only Daemonic characters can join Daemonic units.
• Beastlords, Doombulls, Great Bray-Shamans, Wargors, Gorebulls, Bray-Shamans, Gor Herds, Ungor Herds, Ungor Raiders, Tuskgor Chariots, Minotaurs, Centigors, Bestigor Herds, and Razorgor Chariots can all buy Marks of Chaos. For a unit, the cost is 2pts per model for Khorne, Nurgle or Tzeentch and 1pt per model for Slaanesh. For a Hero, Lord, Chariot or Monster, the cost is 10pts for a Khorne/Nurgle/Tzeentch mark and 5pts for a Slaanesh mark.
• Beastmen Lords and Heroes count as Chaos Champions and so use the rules for Eye of the Gods, but if they receive the Daemonhood reward, they instead trade it for the Spawndom reward.
• A slightly modified version of the Eye of the Gods chart (result 7 gives a result based on what mark the champion has, or if he has no mark) is used.
• In an End-Times LoC army, Daemonic Instability is replaced with Unbreakable and Unstable.
• A modified version of the Daemonic "Reign of Chaos" table is used (regardless of whether or not the army you field includes any Daemons); long story short- when you roll for Winds of Magic, consult the chart for random FUN. Most of the results are actually pretty good for the LOC player- results 5-6 and 8-9 don't target your own units like the Daemon version, and result 7 will probably do something. Results 2-4 are still bad for you though (although 2 and 4 only are if you are fielding Daemons).

Unit Analysis

Lords & Heroes

Note Under End Times supplement rules, you can spend up to 50% of your points on Lords, AND up to 50% on your heroes since they have separate points spending pools. You still of course need 25% Core regardless however.

Named Characters

Note: Under the current edition, named characters tend to be overpriced; you can emulate most named characters from scratch and save yourself some points. That said, many named characters do have abilities and war gear combos unique to them so if you need to have them go ahead. Just make sure you're really getting your points worth.

Lords

• Khazrak the One-Eye:

• Malagor the Dark Omen:

• Taurox the Brass Bull:

• Skarbrand:

• Kairos Fateweaver:

• Ku'gath Plagefather:

• Archaon:

• Galrauch:

• Kholek Suneater:

• Sigvald the Magnificent:

• Valkia the Bloody:

• Vilitch the Curseling:

• The Glottkin: So, the Glottkin are the big character getting pushed for the Legions of Chaos, at least in their initial release. Are they worth it? Well, for starters, you're paying 810 points for a Lord choice Special Character Monster that sports 6s for Movement, Weapon Skill, Strength and Toughness, Ballistic Skill 3, 12 Wounds, 5 Attacks, 10 Leadership and a lousy Initiative 1. They cause D3 Impact Hits, they cause Terror, they have the benefits of Nurgle's Mark and Nurgle's Rot, they Regenerate, they have Poisoned Attacks and they cause Terror. In terms of unique rules, they're a level 4 Wizard (WoC Lore of Nurgle), they gain +D6 attacks in each round of close combat, they can nominate one attack each round as being Strength 10 and Multiple Wounds (D6), they have a close combat Breath Weapon (strength 3, ignore armor), Nurgle Marked or Nurgle Daemon units within 12" can re-roll failed choices, and they always get Aura of Chaos if they roll on the Eye of the Gods. The big problem with the Glottkin is they can't cause wounds enough to buy back their absurd point cost. Even with the new Summon Infernal Legion spell that they get as a Chaos Wizard (note that your Chaos wizards only get this spell if using the special "Chaos Ascendant" scenario rules), the fact they lack the spellcasting perks of Nagash makes magic use a risky proposition for something that's also intended to go barrelling into close combat. Yes, if the dice gods are kind, then a charging Glottkin can dish out 14 attacks, one of which is S10 D6 Multiple Wounds, but that depends on random luck, and they're too tied down by their bottom of the barrel Initiative. Especially if your opponent is packing a Wizard with the Lore of Death or any other spells that target Initiative; one Purple Sun to the face and it's bye-bye to 810 points.

• Orghotts Daemonspew: One of the three Maggoth Riders of Nurgle, Orghotts Daemonspew is a Lords choice that costs 430 points. For this, you get a Special Character Monster with Movement 6, Weapon Skill 8, Ballistic Skill 3, Strength 6, Toughness 5, 9 Wounds, Initiative 7, 8 Attacks and Leadership 9. He wears Chaos Armor (with his save boosted to 3+ for being on Whippermaw), and wields the Rotaxes (paired weapons, +2 Strength, Poisoned Attacks). He sports Acid Ichor (unsaved wounds in close combat inflict a S4 hit on the attacker unless they pass an initiative test), causes Fear, sports the Mark of Nurgle, has a 6+ Ward save due to his Daemonflesh rule, and riding Whippermaw means he has a shooting attack that is range 6", Strength 4, Killing Blow, Poisoned Attacks and Quick to Fire. Now, this guy is going somewhere, compared to the Glottkin. Still pricey, yeah, but eight S8 Poisoned Attacks at Weapon Skill 8 isn't something to sneeze at(make that 9 attacks, the rotaxes are paired weapons). Get him into combat, especially if you have a Nurgle Sorcerer with the Fleshy Abundance spell, and between his attacks and his Acid Ichor, he's pretty good at mowing down lower-toughness foes.

• Bloab Rotspawned: One of the three Maggoth Riders of Nurgle, Bloab Rotspawned is a Lords choice that costs 415 points. For this, you get a Special Character Monster with Movement 6, Weapon Skill 5, Ballistic Skill 3, Strength 6, Toughness 5, 8 Wounds, Initiative 5, 6 Attacks and Leadership 8. He wears Chaos Armor (with his save boosted to 3+ for being on Bilespurter), and wields a great weapon. Causing Fear and having the Mark of Nurgle, as well as inflicting D6 Strength 3 Magical Hits on ever enemy unit within 6" at the start of each magic phase, his specialty is his shooting attack (stone thrower, Range 24", Strength 3(4), Vile Bile [Ignores armor]) and his spellcasting. Not only is he a level 3 Lore of Nurgle caster, his Doombells add +1 to his casting rolls and inflict a -1 penalty to the same to any enemy wizard within 12".

• Morbidex Twiceborn: One of the three Maggoth Riders of Nurgle, Morbidex Twiceborn is a Lords choice that costs 385 points. For this, you get a Special Character Monster with Movement 6, Weapon Skill 7, Ballistic Skill 3, Strength 6, Toughness 5, 8 Wounds, Initiative 6, 7 Attacks and Leadership 8. He wears Chaos Armor (with his save boosted to 3+ for being on Tripletongue), and wields a great weapon. This is the most vanilla of the Maggoth Riders; Nurgle's Rot, Daemon Flesh (6+ Ward Save), Lord of Nurglings (nurglings within 12" have Regeneration) and Tripletongue (shooting attack, Range 6", S6, Poisoned Attacks, Quick to Fire). If your army is big on nurglings he's kind of okay, but, really, there's better things to spend your points on.

• Gutrot Spume: Now, what is there to say about Gutrot Spume? Well, at 250 points as a Lord choice, he's the cheapest special character that Nurgle gets in the new Legions of Chaos, so that's a fair warning right there. Movement 4, Weapon Skill 8, Ballistic Skill 3, Strength 5, Toughness 5, 4 Wounds, Initiative 7, Attacks 5 and Leadership 10 for his stats, Chaos Armor and Great Weapon for his gear, and for special rules... Nurgle's Rot, Mark of Nurgle, Flailing Tentacles (+D3 attacks in Close Combat), and the ability to hop on a Chaos Warshrine for another 125 points. His most unique ability is "At Home on Land or Sea"; Gutrot and any unit he is with treat any areas of water (even impassible ground) as being open ground and so can march, claim rank bonus and be steadfast. Flavorful, yeeah, but also super gimmicky, and only really useful if you know your opponent is going to fight you on a water-featuring board.

• Festus Empowered: So, what happens with this beefed up version of Festus the Leech Lord? He costs 320, and has Movement 4, Weapon Skill 5, Ballistic Skill 3, Strength 4, Toughness 5, 3 Wounds, Initiative 5, Attacks 3 and Leadership 8 for his stats. He's a level 3 Nurgle spellcaster with a handweapon, has the Mark of Nurgle, Poisoned Attacks and Regeneration, and a bevvy of unique rules and magical items. Gardener of Nurgle means difficult terrain becomes dangerous terrain for all enemy units (and Alleyways, if using the Streets of Death rules, are dangerous terrain too), Destined for Daemonhood means he automatically becomes a Daemon Prince if you roll a 12 for Eye of the Gods, and if you stick him in a unit, they gain Poisoned Attacks and Regeneratio (5+) thanks to his Harbinger of Pestilence and Healing Elixirs rules. He carries Pestilent Potions, which he can use to either heal himself of 1 wound or make a special attack on a single enemy in close combat (both players roll a D6 and add unmodified Strength to the result; if tie or Festus wins, enemy takes D3 Wounds that ignore armor), and he also has the Shroudlings, which are a bound augment spell (power level 5) that grants all friendly models within 12" the benefits of being in Hard Cover until the start of Festus' next magic phase.

Heroes

• Morghur, Master of Skulls:

• Slugtongue:

• Moonclaw, Son of Morrslieb:

• Skulltaker:

• Karanak:

• The Blue Scribes:

• The Changeling:

• Epidemius:

• The Masque of Slaanesh:

• Wulfrik the Wanderer:

• Throgg:

• Festus the Leechlord:

• Scyla Anfingrimm:

• Ungrol Four-Horn:

• Ghorros Warhoof:

Generic Characters

Note: While named characters are judged against their generic counterparts, generic characters are examined based on their role in your army.

when trying to decide whether to take a Warriors of Chaos, Beastman or Daemon equivalent in the same role, give the Magic Items available to each a quick browse as a tiebreaker.

Lords

• Beastlord: Cheaper than a Chaos Lord but no where near as killy. Even with the new rules for Heroes you will probably not see many of these around because there isn't anything he can really do which something else can do better.

• Doombull: Oh daddy yes, the Doombull can now wreck havoc with monsters worthy of his skills. Use him in the same way you would in a Beastmen army. However, the new Legion rules means that he fits perfectly in a unit of Trolls. Give him the Blackened Plate and he'll grant the entire unit a 4+ ward against flaming attacks. Oh, and he gives them Frenzy via the Slaughter's Call special rule. Laugh when your trolls have five attacks, and are immune to fire based attacks, which was their only weakness before.

• Great Bray-Shaman: You'll likely see more of these pop up in order to give access to Lore of Beasts, something which Warriors of Chaos and Daemons of Chaos lacked. He's a little bit overcosted and fragile, so make sure that you pop a ward save on him otherwise he will die like the goat that he is. Lore of Beasts is totally worth it, boost him to level 4 and then buff your already tough troop choices into the next realm of chaos.

• Bloodthirster:

• Lord of Change:

• Great Unclean One:

• Keeper of Secrets:

• Daemon Prince, Daemons of Chaos Version: Inferior in most ways to the Warrior version, you can pretty much skip him here.

• Daemon Prince, Warriors of Chaos Version: The same old unbreakable Daemon Prince from hell that everyone loves. The new rules for Lords means that you could potentially bring two of them to a 2000+ game, although doing so might make you suffer in other areas, just because you can stuff your force with Lords and Heroes, it doesn't mean that you should. Pretty much any of the 4 Gods make a brilliant unit, the Nurgle Death Prince is hated throughout the game, although the Tanky Tzeentch Prince with Lore of Metal is also pretty good. Don't forget Slaanesh, who can fly up first turn and Chior Bomb everything in sight. With a Chaos familiar and a level one wizard using Slaanesh, you are pretty much guaranteed to get Choir as your spell. Khorne is also handy, because not being a wizard makes you pretty cheap.

• Chaos Lord: The new Lord rules have been good for Chaos. You can now quite comfortably squeeze in a combat lord and a Level 4 in a 2000 point list. One of the best lords in the game (up there with the Vampire Lord, except in one on one a Chaos Lord will probably bash his skull in. But vampires can really eat rank and file models). Coat him in thick armour and a nice ward save and send him in at the deep end. Using Tzeentch can make you almost un-killable, Nurgle can make you un-hittable. Slaanesh isn't as popular because he has a meaty leadership 9, but if you are prone to running away like a sissy girl when your wardogs blow up then it may help you out. Khorne gives you an extra attack, which is always handy. The best thing about a Chaos Lord is that he has no real need for a magic weapon, he can quite happily crush things with just a Halberd or a Great Weapon, except he will give up his impressive I in order to use it.

• Chaos Sorcerer Lord: More expensive than his Beastman counterpart, but makes up for it by being able to take armour and respectable mounts. Even with Daemon Princes flying around, Sorcerer Lords are more common in smaller point games due to their cheapness. Tool him up anyway you want, but make sure his armour save is 2+ or better and he has, at least, a 4+ ward save. It's really easy for warriors to do, and due to Eye of the Gods, he could well end up in Challenges. Luckily for you, you are not a smelly elf mage in a cowardly robe. He is only Toughness and Strength 4. So you might want to sit him on a daemonic mount to increase his toughness.

Heroes

• Wargor:Unless you want a cheap BSB, you'll probably only see him around for his Beast Banner, which grants a unit +1S. Pretty awesome in units of Warriors or units of Bestigors. He is fragile, so at least give him heavy armour, a shield and Gnarled Hide for a 2+ armour save. Even then make sure you have another character in the unit, Eye of the Gods now applies to him and he has to declare and accept challenges. Plus, you don't want your BSB turning into a spawnnnnnnnaAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

• Gorebull: Not quite as good as a Doombull but decent none the less. Like above, best used in units of Trolls with the Blackened Plate to make them immune to flaming attacks and frenzied.

• Bray Shaman: A cheap scroll caddy, what every Chaos Warrior player wanted. You can make them level 1 and spam Wildform or Miasma on everything. Or give him the Herdstone and surround him in units of Horrors. A unit of Horrors counts as a wizard, so bring three units and watch as your magic phase is better than your local elf player. Remember you can't have any higher than 12 dice in the magic phase.

• Herald of Khorne:

• Herald of Tzeentch:'

• Herald of Nurgle:

• Herald of Slaanesh:

• Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch:

• Exalted Hero: A slightly smaller and less angry Chaos Lord. Pretty good in combat and can also be a BSB. Again, give him some decent armour and a ward save. Or use the Dawnstone. A favourite technique of mine is BSB on a Chaos Steed with Halberd, Helm of Many Eyes, Dawnstone and poisonous slime. A 1+ re-rollable armour save keeps him well protected. However, he has enough points to be a Hortennse Hero (Mark of Tzeentch, Talisman of Perservation and Third Eye of Tzeentch.) or a hard to hit Nurgle one. Very adaptable. However, do not be tempted to spam multiples of them with the new rules, Ld 8 means that he will run away like a girl if he charges a steadfast unit, as even 4 kills is countered by three ranks and a banner.

• Chaos Sorcerer: Yet another sorcerer, aren't you spoilt for choices and it is only the hero slot. A little bit too expensive to be a scroll caddy, but you could give him the Skull of Katam. You might go insane, but no one is relying on your leadership anyway.

Mounts

Sadly, mounts cannot be taken cross-army. That does not mean however that they can't be in the same unit as each other though.

• Razorgor Chariot:

• Gorebeast Chariot:

• Chaos Warshrine:

• Chaos Steed:

• Daemonic Mount:

• Chaos Chariot:

• Manticore:

• Chaos Dragon:

• Juggernaut of Khorne:

• Palanquin of Nurgle:

• Steed of Slaanesh:

• Disk of Tzeentch:

Core Units

• Gor Herd: Half the cost of a Chaos Warrior and no where near as useful but that ain't why you take them. Whilst they are pretty poor in the beastman book as you really need them to do something they are much better in the Legion rules. One point more than a Marauder, they had -1 I but +1 T. Give them Mark of Khorne and Extra hand weapons and you might have a unit that will actually kill something. Give them Mark of Nurgle, and they might actually survive something. Slaanesh works really well because their leadership is average and they won't run away because a razorgor had a change of heart about attacking a giant. They are still pants and can't be expected to kill anything, but they will gum up the enemy long enough for your heavy hitters to get into combat.

• Ungor Herd: Two points cheaper than Gors and much much worse. They will break at the first sign of trouble, their armour save is useless and giving them spears is a waste of points. Sword and Board gives them a 6+ parry, and Mark of Tzeentch can turn that into a 5+. But there are much better things in the core choice for you to take.

• Ungor Raiders: What's this? Another Chaos unit with a ranged attack? For a point more than a Ungor you get a shortbow instead of a shield. But Ungor rules still apply and these things still suck and die. Use them as chaff, and maybe take a wound of something if you are luckily. They are pretty much wardogs with bows in your eyes. Although, Skirmishers and Cover can make them hard to hit.

• Tuskgor Chariot: It's cheaper than a Chaos Chariot by thirty points. For that you lose a point of armour, and the two Chaos Warriors are replaced with a Gor and a Bestigor. It's cheaper but no quite so good. You lose two attacks and whilst one is S6, the other is S4 on the charge only. You don't have scythes either so you lose one impact hit off the bat. But like I said, thirty points cheaper. You can also put a Character in one, but why would you do that? Beastmen are cowards and like to hide in nice big units.

• Chaos Warhounds, Beastmen Version: Don't count as core and poison is three times the price of the WoC dogs. In short no. In long NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

• Chaos Warhounds, Warriors of Chaos Version: That's better. These dogs count as core, which is good because who want's an army made up entirely of core models? Use them as chaff and send them to their doom. They can block charge lanes or confuse your opponent at deployment. The best general is decided by how he uses his dogs. Just be careful where they panic too, Beastmen aren't the bravest of souls and you can still run from exploding dog syndrome.

• Bloodletters of Khorne:

• Daemonettes of Slaanesh:

• Pink Horrors of Tzeentch:

• Plaguebearers of Nurgle:

• Chaos Warriors: The original power armoured demi-gods of battle. Chaos Warriors have been splitting skulls and taking names for decades. Welcome to the best human warriors on Warhammer World. Even as core, there is not much that a Warrior of Chaos cannot stand up to and break beneath his iron boots. Rocking a 4+ armour save off the bat, Chaos Warriors are tough to beat. But they are expensive, and giving them upgrades only makes them more so. Halberds are generally seen as the way to go, as S5 beats an extra attack against everything except T2 or less. However, now that Beast Banner carrying Wargors can join units of Warriors, maybe we'll see Additional Hand Weapon Warriors come into fashion. or maybe we'll see S6 Halberds that wound ogres on 2+. You can miss shields if you want, as a 4+ armour save is often good enough. Plus they can't use it with a Halberd. As for Marks, they are good without them but better with them. However, a Mark of Nurgle Warrior which a shield and Halberd rocks in a 20 frigging points. Nurgle is generally seen as the best mark, as WS5 means most heroes will hit them on 5's. Tzeentch is common, as it gives you a 5+ parry. Khorne makes you frenzied and Slaanesh makes you immune to Panic, Terror and Fear. They have fallen a little bit out of fashion with people this edition as Chariots have become core, but in my opinion. It isn't a Warriors of Chaos Army without Chaos Warriors.

• Forsaken: Faster than Gors, Ungors and Warriors. But rather hit and miss. Costs the same as a Ungor and a Warrior and you don't really get much for it. D3 attacks sound nice, but only the first rank get to use more than one and warriors have two anyway. Most useful marks are probably Khorne and Slaanesh, which grant hatred and swiftstride respectively. You won't see these around very often, which is a shame because they look pretty cool.

• Chaos Marauders: The original Viking Warrior, accept no less. Unfortunately they have become more expensive, and vast hordes of them have fallen out of favour due to the costs of their weapon and mark upgrades. They also have no armour or shields, unless you add them on. In a Legion list, they lose out to Regular Gor. Who are a little bit tougher and almost as cheap. They can work, but they do need support.

• Marauder Horsemen: More Horsemen for your core, and who says the Kurgan aren't represented in your army? Quite handy due to their speed and manoeuvrability. Mark of Slaanesh turns them into brilliant fast cav, because they can still flee. Mark of Khorne and Flails turns them into a nasty alpha strike unit which could possibly crunch through a small unit of bowmen or a warmachine. If you want to play an all mounted force, these areyour guys. Even then, a small unit of 5 will probably be worth it's weight in gold.

• Chaos Chariot: This is how you make a chariot. It's a mean machine of death and destruction. With two Halberd carrying Chaos Warriors on it's back, plus Scythes. This chariot is probably one of the best in the game. It's also armoured with a mean 3+ save and four wounds on it's T5 frame. Mark of Khorne gives it a horrible amount of attacks, Mark of Nurgle makes it very hard to hit. Take one and love it. It's better than the Beastmen one, but also more expensive.

Special Units

• Minotaurs: In a Beastman army Minotaurs are quite good, in a Legion Army however they are not quite so good. They are 20 points more expensive than trolls and all they get to show for it is Frenzy and 1 impact hit each. And they replace regeneration for Light Armour. With little in the way of defence they are prone to crumbling like pussies if combat doesn't go their way. If you want to use them you do need to invest plenty in them, but honestly trolls and Ogres are both better

• Centigors: Useless in the Beastmen book and just as useless here. They fill the role of fast cavalry except they are priced like heavy cavalry without the armour or attacking strength. Their Drunken rule is random and pretty much useless and they die like dogs. If you want cavalry in your list, take marauder horsement. Giving them a shield, Light Armour and a Flail makes them 18 points. So not only are they cheaper they are also better in combat. Skip Skip Skip.

• Harpies:More Chaff for your army. They are quite a bit more expensive than ungor raiders except they get to fly. They are pretty nimble in close combat, but they will die to a stiff breeze. Keep them away from your other units because they will flee first chance they get, and beastmen who flee when a unit panics are damned to an eternity of bubble baths and sweet smelling shampoo.

• Bestigor Herd: Bestigors live fast and die hard. Two points cheaper than a chaos warrior they exchange chaos armour for heavy armour and have a great weapon. T4 and heavy armour will keep them alive for a little while, but make sure you stock up on these hardy warriors. Like all Beastmen units they need support, give them a Beastlord or a Chaos Lord and buff them up with magic or the beastmen. They will probably break whatever they meet, but it will cost them to do so.

• Razorgor Chariot: 15 points more expensive than a Gorebeast chariot and worse. You have no reason to take one. A Razorgore even looks like a Gorebeast too.

• Razorgor Herd: More Chaff for what is the chaffiest army in existence. Quite mean when it charges it will help put the hurt on anything that it gets into a scuffle with. It will run away if things turn sour, but use it as you would any other chaff, except remember than this cat thing has claws. It can stomp too, don't forget it.

• Bloodcrushers of Khorne:

• Flesh Hounds of Khorne:

• Flamers of Tzeentch:

• Screamers of Tzentch:

• Nurglings:

• Beasts of Nurgle:

• Seekers of Slaanesh:

• Fiends of Slaanesh:

• Seeker Chariots of Slaanesh:

• Chaos Furies:

• Hellstriders of Slaanesh: M10 Fast cavalry! These things can be in the opponents backside turn one. With deployment, vanguard and a 20 inch march. If you give them Hellscourges, due to the wording of the rule even the steeds get Always Strikes First. Bare in mind, until they start chasing down units they are pretty poor. But in the hands of a smart general they are deadly. They make excellent warmachine hunters.

• Chosen: And you thought Chaos Warriors were the elite of the army? Sporting an addition point of WS and a free roll on the Eye of the Gods chart which applies to the entire unit. With the new rules to the eye of the Gods chart, if you roll a seven you get given a different reward. Nurgle gets +1 Toughness, Tzeentch gets +1 ward save, Khorne gets +1 Attack and Slaanesh gets +1 Initiative. Use this to your advantage. Bring a warshrine and park it nearby. Now your chosen are rolling 4D6 and removing two you don't like. It pretty much guarantees that you will get the roll you want. Nurgle Chosen with Great Weapons and Toughness 5? Tzeentch Chosen with a continuous 5+ ward save? Additional Hand Weapon Khorne Chosen with 5 attacks each? Or Initiative 6 Slaanesh Chosen? They can be a very powerful unit, and have really gone up in the world.

• Chaos Knights:The deadliest mortal knights in existence. These tend to lose out against Skullcrushers, but that is an unfair comparison. They make excellent bodyguards for Lords on Horses. Just remember that you start off expensive and get worse from their. Each Mark has it's own benefit, although if you are going for Khorne, just take Skullcrushers instead. Ensorcelled weapons are the bane of ethereal and are nearly always the better choice over lances. Being S5 all the time, is better than being S6 on the charge only.

• Chaos Ogres: Giving up the tasty food in the misty mountains for the tasty food of the Chaos wastes. Ogres are pretty good and, if you roll lucky, you can even have Ogre Daemon Princes. Great Weapons are nearly always worth it because you are pretty slow anyway and giving them a mark is handy. Nurgle makes you harder to hit, which is good when you are only WS3.

• Dragon Ogres: Nothing to do with Ogres. Worth a Chaos Knight and a half, these guys are a little fragile but quite heavy on the charge. Slow initaitive means Great Weapons are the way to go. You don't see these guys too often, but if you use them right they will work pretty well. Just keep them away from hard hitting fast targets like Chaos Warriors or Phoenix Guard, a 4+ armour save and three wounds won't last them long at all.

• Chaos Trolls: When they are in Special, Trolls are okay. When you use Throgg and make them core, Trolls are awesome. They are literally stupid, and have a leadership so poor it makes Beastmen seem brave. Keep them near your general so they don't end up chewing their toenails all game. They are quite nasty on the charge, and combine very well the the Doombull. They use Regeneration to keep them save, so a 4 ward against flaming attacks goes a long way. Keep in mind, that if a flaming attack penetrates the ward save, they are vulnerable to regular attacks until the end of the phase. The ward save only works against flaming. If you are against an opponent who is hard to hit, such as a nimble elf or a nurgle warrior, you have the ability to vomit on them. Its a auto hit at S5 which ignores armour saves, take that you smelly elf.

• Chimera: An expensive, but nimble, beastie. Has Fly and can be upgraded to have regeneration (you should do this) flaming attacks (is worth it if you have the points) or poisoned attacks (you can skip this.) It does have poor leadership, so it works well with a Daemon Prince, who can keep up. Can have a truely horrible amount of attacks, with a potential 6 + D3 + 2D6 flaming + D6 Thunderstomp hits in one turn. That is at least 10 attacks and can be up to 27 attacks if you roll like a dice god. He is expensive, and one back combat will make him run away like a sissy, but he can really bring the smack down.

• Gorebeast Chariot: Possibly the best chariot in the game. 130 points of T6 monster with 5 wounds and killing blow on impact hits. Mark of Khorne gives it 9 S5 attacks a turn, Mark of Nurgle means it will probably never die. It is pretty slow and can fall behind the rest of your army so keep that in mind. It makes an excellent flank charger and people will be scared of going near it. Use it well.

• Chaos Warshrine: Not quite so good as it used to be, but still pretty good. Very slow, because it cant march and it doesn't have swiftstride. It also has a relatively low attack output. So what is it good for? It's good at buffing champions, chosen and for refusing to die. Mark of Tzeentch gives it a 3+ ward save and all models rolling on Eye of the Gods roll an additional dice and get to discard one for free. Keep it near your units and buff your champions on the way into battle. You'll laugh when you make several daemon princes in one game, but don't expect it to happen in every one, the odds are quite low.

• Putrid Blightkings: The new infantry unit coming out of The End Times, these guys are fluffed up to basically be a sort of Nurgle-worshipping super-Chosen, or even a whole unit of lesser Nurgle champions. Do they live up to the hype? Well... A minimum unit of 5, 40 points per model, and what you get is M4, WS6, BS3, S4, T5, W3, I5, A3, LD8 troops in the squad. Each trooper wears Chaos Armor, has the Mark of Nurgle, and has the Bountiful Blades rule, which lets the unit choose whether it's using Great Weapons, Paired Weapons or Sword & Shield at the start of each combat. Unit champion, musician and standard bearer upgrades at +10 points a pop, can carry a magic standard worth up to 50 points, and the champion benefits from Eye of the Gods. Fairly gribbly, but Chosen are generally a better deal.

Rare Units

• Cygor: What do you call a 275 point monster with T5 and saves? The answer is utterly crap. It can't hit anything, even with it's re-rolls against wizards. Because it is WS2. That's right, it hits bugger all. It will die pretty easily and is utterly useless, even as a stone thrower. Want to know why? The Hellcannon is better in every regard, with several saves. And its tougher, and its 65 points cheaper. If you don't get the message yet, don't get the Cygor. Please, think if the children.

• Ghorgon: This is what happens if you give steroids to a Doombull. Same cost as the Cygor and far better, being tougher and with more wounds. Still no armour save, but it is Stubborn with Leadership 10, so at least he'll stick around. His swallow hole rule sounds good, but losing six attacks for one killing blow is not. Even with the KB on a 4+. He still needs to hit and he has average WS. I mean he is okay, probably the best of the Beastmen monsters. But there are better rare things.

• Chaos Spawn, Beastmen Version: Better than the Warriors of Chaos one because you can take 2 per rare choice. But Spawn are still quite slow, expensive, and totally random. Maybe they would be good warmachine protects because they can turn and charge due to random movement. It's a shame that all the warmachines in this army will kill most warmachine hunters on their own.

• Chaos Spawn, Warriors of Chaos Version: See above

• Giant: More expensive than the Chaos Giant, and not all of its "Pick up and..." rolls kill the target. Skip him for the Chaos one if you really want a giant.

• Jabberslythe:Another monster with exactly the same cost as the Cygor. Except this one can fly. But still has only T5 with no save. It's almost as if someone hates beastmen. Aura of Madness is okay, it would be better if it was 3D6 because in most armies you'll only ever do 3 wounds maximum. It's range attack is pretty poor, because it's only one hit and it will probably miss half its shots. Spewing acid over things that harm it is pretty good, but it wont really deter anyone from beating it up. Keep it away from anything tough, and it will do okay.

• Skull Cannon of Khorne:

• Burning Chariot of Tzeentch:

• Soul Grinder:

• Exalted Seeker Chariot of Slaanesh:

• Hellflayer of Slaanesh:

• Plague Drones of Nurgle:

• Hellcannon: This is basically a monster that decided it wanted to be a gun for a short while. You have to be careful with Hellcannons, they are quite unreliable and will like nothing more than to charge into combat and beat things with it's massive gun. Quite tough with several wounds, armour and ward saves. Plus it also has handlers in the case of Chaos Dwarfs, which are probably the only Chaos Dwarf models you'll ever see unless you have rich friends. It loses out a little with the ability to take skull cannons, but you can keep this on a flank and you'll probably hold it down, warmachine hunters have no hope of crushing this monster.

• Dragon Ogre Shaggoth: Yet another monster, except this one is a Dragon Ogre on steroids. It has some armour to save it from dying, but it is a ripe target for a cannonball to the face. Unlike it's smaller cousins, you don't need to give it a Great Weapon because it is initiative 4. It's pretty quite and if it can get into combat it will do quite a bit of damage. Just keep him safe until he gets there.

• Chaos Giant: Better than the Beastmen, you get brownie points for fielding one. Random attacks are hit and miss, but try and get him against Infantry models, his Big Things table is pretty poor when compared to what you can get. Give yourself a pat on the back if you manage to shove Teclis down your pants.

• Skullcrushers of Khorne: Proud Warriors of Khorne, and one of the best monstrous cavalry in the game. Very rarely will you find a reason not to take these beasts. Ensorcelled weapons are generally the way to go, but Lances are cool too. Lances will give you 6 S6 attacks each on the charge. Musicians and Standard Bearers are handy, Champions are hit and miss. You have to challenge and it means you will end up chewing up a goblin champion when you could be crushing rank and file. However they are powerful enough to take out minor heroes and the occasionally lord. If you have a character in the unit, a champion is handy to soak up challenges, because no doubt your lord it kitted out for mayhem.

• Slaughterbrute: The next beast on the list is okay. He binds himself with one of your lords and uses his leadership and Weapon skill. Always bind him to one of your lords, because he does more damage when he is unbound and running through half your army. You can spend some points to give him two extra S5 attacks in addition to his 4 S7 ones. But he could have done with having 6 attacks anyway. Even with Thunderstomp he doesn't do an awful lot of damage and the Vortex Beast is a lot better for his points. He does have an okay armour save, but he is quite fragile. Just try and make sure he dies before his master does. Or their will be trouble.

• Mutalith Vortex Beast: And finally we have beast number 9. Slaanesh would be proud. The Mutalith Vortex Beast is the monster that all Chaos Spawn wish they could be. He carries around a portal to the Chaos Wastes on his back and comes with a built in bound spell. Plus he has an armour and regeneration save, so he is tougher than all the other beasts in the rare section. Aura of Mutation is totally random, but quite good against elves. If you are using Nurgle magic the two go hand in hand.