Warhammer Army Project/Warriors of Chaos

Warriors of Chaos: Warhammer Army Project, 9th Edition Tactica

Created by Mathias Eliasson, this project was a homebrew attempt at giving many of the nations and factions that never got Armybooks of their own (and those left behind and never got one in 8th Edition) such a thing.

It should also be noted that Eliasson is constantly updating his work, so don't expect this page to stay current forever. If anyone wishes to actually update this page and the items that need it later on, go ahead.

Why Play WAP Warriors of Chaos?

Pro

• You play the most Elite army in all of Warhammer with a lot of Hero Customization.
• Eye of the Gods is a lot less restrictive on who must challenge. However, you have no means to contest becoming a Gribbly/Daemon Prince.
• Opposite marked units treat each other as expendable.

Con

• Alignment factors much more to your army, with opposing-marked units screwing with synergy.
• Your elite troopers are all either costly and fully armored or cheap and barely protected. A good unit with plenty of lightning attacks will wreck your day for the former, and any competent anti-infantry and anti-cav will mow down the latter.

Notable Changes from 8e

Pros

• Greatly expanded Chaos Mutations opens up the door for some broken characters.
• Roster expanded and most rares have gotten cheaper.
• The universal fullplate armour buff makes your units have an even greater save than ever.
• Chaos Knights with enscrolled weapons maintain their parry save.
• Mark of Nurgle is back to increasing Toughness by 1. Making your already tough and armored troops/characters even tankier.
• Almost all of your characters have gotten cheaper. And have a slightly higher chaos mutation allowance.
• Pretty much your whole army will re-roll failed panic test.

Cons

• With the universal buff to BS based shooting you're units will have a harder time crossing the table against shooty list.
• Mixing marks is a no no. Units can only use inspiring presence and hold your ground if they're the same mark.

Army Special Rules

• Eye of The Gods: Your trademark rule. You can't refuse challenges, but if you kill a non-expendable enemy through any means, you roll for a result. Unlike last edition, this isn't absolutely shoved into every unit. Now only your HQ units and Chosen are.

2 - Damned by Chaos: Become the gribbly. The enemy scores no VP from this.

3 - Aura of Chaos: 6++ Ward save

4 - Unholy Resilience: +1 to Toughness

5 - Iron Skin: 6+ Natural Armour.

6 - Murderous Mutation: +1 to Weapon Skill

7 - The Eye Opens: Re-roll one hit/wound/save roll each turn

8 - Unearthly Reflexes: +1 to Initiative

9 - Dark Fury: +1 Attack

10 - Slaughterer's Strength: +1 to Strength

11 - Command of the Gods: +1 to Leadership

12 - Dark Apotheosis: Become a Daemon Prince. The enemy scores no VP from this.

• Will of Chaos: Lets you re-roll failed panic tests as in previous editions. Given to pretty much all your undivided units so you won't need to worry every time about a combat going south.

• Daemonic: Pretty consistent with prior editions. All attacks are magical and they cause Fear. Any daemons that aren't mounts gain Unstable and a 5++ ward.

Magic

Lore of Tzeentch

Attribute: Boon of Magic: For every 6 you roll when successfully casting a spell, you get another power die in the pool. Unlike 8E, this is finally available to other wizards, making this attribute not shit.

• Signature: Blue Flame of Tzeentch: d6 flaming Sd6+1 hits. Yeah, see that randomized strength? That's why this sucks. Sure, you'll never have to deal with useless S1 fire, but that doesn't mean that your fire's actually going to hurt those monsters.

1. Pandemonium: Treason of Tzeentch under a new name. Forces the enemy to take their lowest leadership value, ignoring all Inspiring Presence and Hold Your Ground. If you're looking to begin a domino reaction by forcing a unit to break with their shit Ld of 6, then you've got a way. But Shadows and Death have similar spells and don't demand you to buy a mark. Or be Archaon, Galrauch, or Vilitch.
2. Pink Fire of Tzeentch: Shoots out a flamer template and hits anyone under it with a Sd6+1 flaming hit, making it just as bad, if not worse, than Blue Fire.
3. Bolt of Change: A powerful, single shot magic missile that acts as a bolt thrower shot, penetrating ranks and causing multiple wounds. Has a respectable if random strength, and can chew up a unit of monstrous things. With Warpflame being no more, you can actually make use of this one without worrying about it backfiring.
4. Glean Magic: Another awful spell because there is so much that can go wrong with it. If cast, you duel an enemy wizard by rolling a D6 and adding your respective wizard levels. If you win, he loses a wizard level, eats an S4 flaming hit, and you steal one of his spells. It can screw up your opponent if you steal the right spell, but the spell you nick is (say it with me) random. Also, the caster has to have a high wizard level if he wants a chance at winning the duel. Note that this spell can be hilarious against VC. Lick up tears as you pluck away Invocations from his supporting necromancers. Emphasis on 'can be.' You've gotta get the spell off, hope it isn't dispelled, win the wizard duel, and be lucky enough to get Invocation as the random spell you steal.
5. Treason of Tzeentch: Now a somewhat different spell! Now you can make an entire unit hit itself, though it's not factoring anything that falls into effect during the first round of combat and fails against steeds, characters, and those immune to psychology. Sure, it can wipe out a unit of greatswords or dual-wielders, but it's meaningless against spears, lances, and bows.
6. Infernal Gateway: A bigger version of the signature spell of the lore. If you roll 11 or 12 for the strength, it’s Strength 10 and does 3D6 hits. Far too unreliable and not quite as threatening as its previous version, where it could nuke a unit on a lucky roll.

Lore of Nurgle

Attribute: Bloated with Disease: After casting a spell, roll a d6. On a 6, gain another wound. It no longer tampers with Toughness, which tampers with its value to Daemon Princes, who are now barred from other lores.

• Signature: Stream of Corruption: Flamer that forces Toughness tests or take save-ignoring wounds. While not a breath weapon, it will melt down mobs of light or mid infantry all the same.

1. Miasma of Pestilence: A simple augment spell that nerfs any and all enemy units in base contact with the target. Considering the loss to Initiative Nurgle-marked models have, this will knock enemies down to your level. You can boost the spell to cause a debuff of D3, but it’s often not worth going that far unless you really need to land your combat hits.
2. Blades of Putrefaction: Makes the unit's attacks poisoned or makes the poison trigger on a 5+ to wound. Considering how melee-centric you are, you'll be bound to push some wounds in there.
3. Curse of the Leper: Either ads +d3 to a friendly unit's Toughness or robs an enemy unit of d3 Toughness. Either way is helpful, but since Stream of Corruption, Rancid Visitations, and Plague Wind rely on your targets failing their Toughness tests, this is a good spell to open a magic phase with if you’re heavy on the Nurgle theme.
4. Rancid Visitations: This is a potentially powerful magic missile. After causing its hits, it can potentially carry on going if the target fails its Toughness test. Of course, this combos with Curse of the Leper to cause the most amount of damage possible. Makes Elves cry, if you get it past their Wizards. Cast it on a block of spearelves and enjoy drinking your opponent's tears.
5. Fleshy Abundance: Nurgle’s final augment spell suffers an increase in difficulty and a reduction in effect from the last WoC book, granting 5+ regeneration to a unit for a turn. However, this time it stacks with any existing regeneration the target has, and oh, it appears Festus gives regeneration to his unit.
6. Plague Wind: Nurgle’s final spell is one of those wacky vortexes. It can go Night Goblin Fanatic through your own army if you’re unlucky, but WoC can at least withstand this one if it goes wrong. Plague Wind forces toughness tests on its victims and inflicts armour-ignoring wounds on those that fail. Get in close and fire it off into a horde for maximum carnage, but Plague Wind is overshadowed by the utility of the rest of the lore.

Lore of Slaanesh

Attribute: Bliss in Torment After casting a spell, roll a d6 plus an additional one for every unsaved wound you caused. On a 6, add +1 to your caster's WS/I/A. Considering how many of these spells can't be cast in combat, this is difficult to work with.

• Signature: Lash of Slaanesh: Draws a line from the caster, and anybody under that line takes a S$ hit with armour piercing 1. Awkward to use and unlikely to affect many models, this is a rather flimsy signature spell compensated by the addition that makes a unit who suffers casualties incapable of movement. Thus does an awkward magic missile turn into a means of locking up a unit from fleeing or charging.

1. Acquiescence: Useful in and out of combat, this hex spell gives the target Always Strikes Last and Random Movement (d6"). Easily stalls an impending charge, and can severely nerf enemy units in combat, as well as being easy to cast.
2. Pavane of Slaanesh: This spell targets a single enemy model and forces them into a LD test on a 3D6. If they fail, they take a wound with no armour saves. Good for attacking enemy characters and sniping unit champions, but you might wonder why WoC have this spell when they're so geared towards challenges. Well, this spell allows you to kill a unit champion outside of combat, thus stopping the Eye of the Gods rule forcing your Chaos Lord into a challenge with some single wound sergeant when you’d rather he go rampaging through the unit, or having that chump accept a challenge instead of the character you want to kill, so it’s more useful than it looks.
3. Hysterical Frenzy: Like Curse of the Leper, Hysterical Frenzy can be cast on your unit or an enemy unit, granting Frenzy and a small amount of hits at the end of each magic phase. The hits the spell causes really shouldn’t bother a WoC unit, so you can Frenzy up non-Khorne units. Hysterical Frenzy stacks with existing Frenzy too. So why would you want to give Frenzy to an enemy unit? Firstly, it can force a unit into charging you, great for pulling in units of shooting guys that would rather stay out of combat. Secondly, having Frenzy stops you from using the parry save granted by shields, which can assist you in cutting down any annoying shield users. Cast it on a war machine crew for Maximum Fun. Thirdly, D6 S3 hits might not sound like much, but they will cause trouble for small flimsy units like the average fast cavalry or skirmisher unit. Note that because the hits are not melee attacks, they will roll to wound against a War Machine's Toughness, not the Toughness of its crew. Unfortunately, since these hits are caused after the spell is cast, this spell does not count towards the Lore Attribute.
4. Slicing Shards: Slicing Shards functions in the same way as Rancid Visitations. The target takes a few S4 Piercing 1 hits, then has to pass a LD test or take some more. Not quite so effective as Visitations as the target will likely have their General and/or Battle Standard nearby, but this spell combos with Phantasmagoria below or Tzeentch's Pandemonium. Catch a unit of zombies or other undead away from their general and laugh as he loses that meatblock until he manages a roll of double ones.
5. Phantasmagoria: Essentially inflicts a unit with the opposite of the Cold Blooded rule. They roll an extra D6 when taking LD tests, discarding the lowest dice. Very helpful at breaking enemy units, this spell can be boosted so it hits all enemy units within a certain distance of the caster. As the Lore of Slaanesh is Leadership focused, consider using this spell first to get the most out of your spells. Actual Cold-Blooded units (aka Lizardmen) will be rolling 4D6 for their LD tests, and discarding both the highest dice and the lowest dice if they're affected by this spell.
6. Cacaphonic Choir: Holy shit this is powerful. A hex spell, the Choir can cause quite a lot of damage even when the caster is in combat. Causes a bunch of hits that wound on a 4+, regardless of toughness, and ignore armour saves. On top of that, the target is slapped with Acquiescence’s effects too! Bliss in Torment gets the most use out of this spell, and if you’re feeling really mean you can boost the Choir to hit all enemy units in range as well. Can often finish a game by itself and will totally cripple units hit by it. Get it on a Prince, fly him in there, and start yelling.

Equipment

• Ensorcelled Weapons: Magical +1S hand weapon.

• Marks of Chaos: This is the trademark upgrade of Chaos, but now with restrictions. Your general and BSB now must take the same mark (Daemon Princes count as having the mark of their chosen god) and any units of differing marks are considered Suspicious Allies. If you have opposing marks (Khorne/Slaanesh or Tzeentch/Nurgle), then they're Desperate Allies. If a wizard takes one, they must take the lore of the corresponding god.
  • Khorne: Gain Frenzy
  • Nurgle: Gain +1 to Toughness but take -1 to Initiative
  • Slaanesh: Gain Immunity (Psychology) and Stubborn
  • Tzeentch: Gain a 6++ ward save. Wizards can re-roll channeling rolls of 1.

Chaos Mutations of Powers

So several of your units can afford to be a little extra blessed by the Dark Gods. Each of these work like magic items, but never take up a slot.

• Mantle of Chaos: Reduce the strength of any projectiles by d3. Note that this doesn't say missiles, so you might have a slightly better chance of withstanding war machines. What it does mean, however, is that you can laugh at all the arrows and guns.
• Chaos Familiar: Adds +1 to all channeling attempts and the wizard learns an extra spell. You'll definitely want this now that your marked wizards may absolutely NEED certain spells to work.
• Terrifying Appearance: You now cause Terror.
• Wings: Gives a footslogging model Fly. No longer exclusive to Daemon Princes, but this is a hefty cost.
• Distendable Maw: Exchanges all attacks to force one enemy infantry to test Initiative or die immediately. Lucky you have many ways to tamper with Initiative using Slaanesh. It does, however, mean that you now have a Chaos Lord with a diet of lizard, dwarf, and zombie.
• Fearsome Aura: Deals -1 Ld to all enemies within 6".
• Flaming Breath: An S3 flaming breath weapon. It's far from what the trolls or dragons have, only bother with it against Empire or Elf armies who might be threatened by it. In a challenge, it might have a better chance, as all those hits are now directed on the enemy champion, but it's still not as likely.
• Diabolic Splendour: All panic, fear, and terror tests caused by the model take a -1 modifier. Pretty easy to find at least Fear with all the daemon mounts.
• Horns: Adds Impact Hits (1), but is only for footslogger units.
• Soul Feeder: 1/6 chance of recovering a wound for every wound you inflict.
• Unholy Strike: Lets the model exchange all its attacks for a single one at double the strength and with MultiWound (d3). Pretty much a guarantee that you fucked that monster over.
• Acid Ichor: All unsaved wounds in cc inflict an S4 hit in return. The lack of Iniiative test to evade this does make it a more reliable way of giving an edge over. If you have a regen, then it'll help even more with locking in a fight.
• Bestial Visage: If you can't afford a steed, this'll make do for half the price of Terrifying Appearance.
• Burning Body: Gain flaming attacks and immunity to the same. Laugh as you incinerate all the mummies and treemen.
• Extra Arm: Pretty much a ghetto Ogre Blade/ Blade of Might; 10 points cheaper than a Ogreblade for -2i and -1 str rounds of combat after the first. Lets you carry a two-hander and a shield. Greatweapons and Shields? How horrifying. Can't give you a free tentacle, however.
• Tentacle: Sacrifices one hand (thus banning shields and two-handers) to rob an attack. Against certain smaller champions, this might be a penalty, but it's not the same as removing them period.
• Poisonous Slime: Gain poisoned attacks and immunity to them. Not quite the same as Festus, but it's close.
• Scaled Skin: A 5+ natural armour save. A cheap and decent way of upping your armour by 2.
• Cloven Hooves: Adds +1 Movement. Can't combo with Serpentine Body.

Powers of Khorne

• Blood Fever: Your frenzy is now permanent and infectious. Other Khorne units can add another attack that stacks with Frenzy, but still need to re-roll the Berserk Rage rolls.
• Collar of Khorne: Adds Magic Resistance (2), just like Scyla.
• Bloodcurdling Roar: Compensating for the lack of guns, you get an 12" missile attack that deals 2d6 S2 attacks that ignore armour.
• Fury of the Blood God: Wizards within 12" take -d3 to channeling rolls. No better way to challenge a casting than to shut it down before it becomes an issue.
• Deafening Bellow: Enemies attacking this model when they charge take -1 to hit. A minor form of protection against retaliating attacks from spears.

Powers of Tzeentch

• Protean Form: Gain a 4+ regen.
• Tendrils of Tzeentch: Wizards only. May re-roll a single channeling or dispel die each turn.
• Conjoined Homunculus: Wizard only. Adds +d3 to one channeling roll that turn and then forces a Stupidity check next turn.
• Third Eye of Tzeentch: Re-roll 1s on Ward Saves. Never an issue to take this.

Powers of Nurgle

• Massive Bulk: Another wound. Hooray survivability.
• Stream of Corruption: Unlike the spell, this is a breath weapon! It's also only S3 with piercing 1, so it's usefulness tapers off with units bigger than infantry and cavalry.
• Nurgling Infestation: Any models attacking the model get an equivalent number of S3 attacks that can happen even after death. It's like Acid Ichor, but exchanging 1 Strength for the ability to persist after death.
• Secondary Jaws: Adds another S2 attack with ASF and Ignores Armour. Don't expect it to do much besides piss them off.
• Nurgle's Rot: Any models in b2b with the model during the magic phase take an instant S1 hit that ignores armour. Another irritant rather than deathblow.

Powers of Slaanesh

• Hellshriek: Single-use immediate miscast for EVERYONE. Yes, this means that your wizards are also invited to the warp-anal rape train. Try to not put this on a wizard-heavy army.
• Word of Agony: Single-use means to deal d6 S4 Ignores Armour hits to a unit without unstable (Making it naff against undead and daemons).
• Serpent Body: +1 Movement and +2 Initiative to a footslogger.
• Soporific Musk: Fleeing models without unstable must roll 3d6 and drop the highest die. Now you're a step closer to the Seekers.
• Allure of Slaanesh: All cc attacks towards the model must test Ld or else be banned from attacking it. Shame it's useless against a troll's vomit or those immune to Psychology.

Dread Artefacts of Chaos

• Daemonsword: Adds +d3 S and +d6 A, allowing you to be a train of pain. However, any rolls of 1 (re-rolls not allowed) deal a blow to the wielder. By GOD, is this thing going to leave a Chaos Lord broke! Dirty tip combo this with Burning Body so you cant killyourself. Burning body gives you flaming attacks, immunity to flaming attacks...)
• Hellfire Sword: One of the best trolling weapons against anything that has high armour, regeneration, many wounds, or some combination of the three (yes, Hell Pit Abominations, I am looking at you). The main downside is on average you'll be taking a wound for every model you cause to explode (make sure to get a Ward Save) and some of effects of this weapon can be recreated by taking unholy strike and burning body but for 20 points cheaper, but if you combine with the Soul Feeder ability you should have a Lord who regains more wounds than they lose.
• Rending Sword: Re-rolls to wound and d3 wounds. Okay, okay, nothing scandalous.

• Crimson Armour of Dargan: Full plate that negates KB and multiple wounds as well as a 6++ Ward Save. For 25 points, this is quite the steal.
• Helm of Many Eyes: 6+ Armour that gives ASF and Stupidity. With your good Ld scores, the latter shouldn't come into play often, while the former is well supported by the good I scores.

• Crown of Everlasting Chaos: Grants a 4+ Regen as well as granting a 6" range of Inspiring Presence (Or boost a General's IP by 6"). All quite impressive for a Leaderly or a supporting hero. If you're using a Daemon Prince or Lord/Sorcerer Lord on a Dragon or Manticore this is almost mandatory. 24inch radius inspiring presence is game breaking.

• Book of Secrets: Adds a spell of Fire, Shadow, and Death, while unable to select any Signature spells. Also adds +1 to the casting rolls of all spells, which can be awesome in the right setup.

• Chalice of Chaos: : Far too random, and while the results seem good at first look, any character worth their points should already have a good Ward Save (so results 4 and 3 are out), leaving you with only a 50% chance to get something useful (or for Daemon Princes, 33% chance).

• Banner of Wrath: Bound spell that deals d6 S4 lightning attacks, which can scare the pants off knights.

Cheese Combos

• Unkillable Lord of Cheddar:Pairing Crimson Armour of Dargan, Mark of Tzeentch, Protean Form, Third Eye of Tzeentch and Burning Body. For 90 pts you have a 3+ armour save, 5++ ward save rerolling 1s and 4++ regen (that can't be stopped) Immunity (Flaming attacks, Multiple Wounds and Killing Blow [The last two are only in close combat]) . This is before throwing Scaled Skin and the Dawnstone to make your armour save +1 re rollable. At this point you have 70pts of Chaos powers and 50pts of Items. Take the Daemonsword, and with burning body you can't even hurt yourself. Lastly, take an additional hand weapon to make your ward save a +4 in close combat.

Army Units

Lords & Heroes

Special Characters

• Archaon the Everchosen: Rules are mostly unchanged, he can still double his attacks (and that mean 10 S5/WS9/I7 attacks that ignore all armour saves), however, much like Kharn, if he rolls a 1 to hit in this state, he hits himself or a friendly unit (your choice). Completely fucking indestructible thanks to his 2+ armour save (1+ if he's mounted) and the fact that he can't be wounded on anything less than +3, so even attacks that wound on +2 or wound automatically have no guarantee of hurting him. In addition to this, he gets to re-roll any Eye of the Gods result and is a Level 2 wizard (though he's only able to use Tzeentch Lore). It should be noted that despite bearing every mark of Chaos (and gaining immunity to poison and psychology as well as magi resist 2), he technically counts as undivided for his BSB choice - and as a mandatory warlord with 18" IP, you will never get a shot at a marked BSB. He can upgrade a single unit of Varanguard into the Swords of Chaos, his own personal warband, which become immune to psychology and gain. Also, he causes Terror. Archaon has also decided that he's not too good to put his feet on the ground, so he can finally be marshalled without his pony. Thus making him far cheaper and also benefiting those of us who were still holding on to those old models of him that were on foot. In spite of this, he is still too expensive to be seen on the table in most games. Though when he is, he'll prove why he was made supreme leader of the Chaos. Seriously, he eats entire units for breakfast. Whole armies don't have anything that can give him more than token resistance.

• Vardek Crom: A special Exalted Hero-made-Lord that makes the most out of Undivided armies. As general, he can upgrade as many marauders as he wants to elites, but none of them can ever buy marks. As a warrior, however, is where he shines as he re-rolls all hit and wound rolls in a challenge and switching between two different styles (+3 extra attacks for dual wielding or a 4++ parry when shielding).

• Garlauch, First Chaos Dragon: Take a dragon. Split his head (this means two breath weapons). Make it chaos-y. Make it a level 4 mage who knows the Tzeentch lore (which is a shame since the Lore of Tzeentch is iffy this time). Make his stats all 6, except Leadership 9, and give him a 6++ ward that goes to 5++ with the mark. That's Galrauch. Too bad he has to take a Ld test every turn, and if he fails he can't do anything except fight in combat, where 3 of his attacks have to harm him. Fuck. If you use him, try to keep him near a BSB for those 'Spirit of Galrauch' tests, otherwise use him the way you would use a lord of change. For combat charge him into infantry and cavalry (as long as he charges them and not the other way around) in CC. With his 3+ scaly skin, breath weapons, he's tough to shift in combat. He also has the BREATH OF LULZ CHANGE. It's a breath weapon except enemy models hit have to take a Toughness test or be removed from play with no saves of any kind allowed. REMOVED FROM PLAY WITH NO SAVES OF ANY KIND ALLOWED. Have your trollface on stand-by if you take Galrauch against High Elves, and make the biggest one possible if it wipes out any deathstar units, such as Tyrion and his Dragon Prince drinking buddies.

• Kholek Suneater: A Shaggoth, but way bigger and more badass with a significant price drop. Kholek comes with 4+ Scaly Skin and with heavy armor, he's sitting at a 1+ armour save. He has the same immunity to lightning as dragon ogres, but his armour also makes him a lightning rod, redirecting all lightning attacks towards him so you can trollface the Skyre-shits. He wields a magic weapon which has Multiple Wounds (D3). Altogether, he's plenty vulnerable to massed S3/S4 ranged weapons before he gets into close combat (has a 1+ Armour Save, but getting 40 shots in the face per turn is not nice.) and he's still just as vulnerable to war machines. If you can get him into combat with a couple of his 8 wounds remaining, he'll be devastating to your opponent, but it's not hard to lose 8 wounds when your only defense is Toughness 6 and an armour save. He also has a shooting attack that does d6 S6 hits on a 2+ or hits himself on a 1 but its lightning based so he gets the ward save and gains Frenzy which is nice useful for killing cav or small units that get in the way and try to redirect Kholek or any other units in your army. Similar to Shaggoths and Dragon ogres, use his immunity (lightning) to troll shooty Skaven armies.

• Sigvald the Magnificent: Chaos Lord Joffrey is pretty goddamn slick and more cost effective than ever. Ignores terrain penalties, all but immune to psychology, ASF, a 1+ armour save with regeneration, 2 bonus attacks, Diabolical Splendour and Allure of Slaanesh, and always rolls +1 attack on Eye of The Gods. His only drawback is his stupidity (although the reason behind his stupidity is so fabulously awesome he gets a pass. He's so distracted by his own good looks that he calls his mirror-shield-bearers to him and stands around blowing himself kisses and poncing around.) But he's fucking stubborn and Ld 10 so big goddamn deal! He is T5 now so everyone who was scared of using a T4 lord can take him no problem now. That being said, you can probably put together a generic Chaos Lord just as good while being cheaper and capable of doing more to buff your army.

• Valkia the Bloody: Chaos's own Valkyrie, armed with the mighty spear Slaupnir, who chooses who will fight and feast forever the Realm of Chaos after they die. In case you weren't convinced the Warriors of Chaos are motherfucking Vikings. A fine CQC choice, with a stat-line in-between that of a Chaos Lord and a Daemon Prince, She flies around the battlefield with her 2+ armour, 7 (with frenzy) S7 Killing blow attacks on the Charge, and always rolls +1S from the Eye of the Gods chart. Her kit strips an attack and -1 S from any opponent in B2B. Basically can and will beat the shit out of any solo-character with the possible exceptions of Archaon, Wulfrik, and a properly kitted out Chaos Lord. Also great at killing 4-man Cavalry units and kicking the shit out of warmachines. Valkia is also incredibly useful in that she basically acts like a second battle-standard, all friendly Khorne units within 12 inches of her get to re-roll Break tests, which can potentially turn the scales of battle in your favour. This is due to how the Warriors of Chaos know that when she enters the battlefield it means Khorne is watching, so they fight on bravely in her presence so that when they die with sword in hand she will carry them off to a Warrior's Paradise of fighting and feasting in the Hall of The Slain with the Blood God. However, if they should fail that test and flee, she gets angry with their cowardice and they suffer d6 S6 attacks and are cursed never to enter Valhalla - I mean, Khorne's Halls. Basically a flying beatstick with limited protection against gunlines and elites now that she has a 5++ Ward save.

• Vilitch the Curseling: A level 4 Tzeentch sorcerer lord with an improved statline and little protection outside his armor save. Failed enemy casting attempts turn into dispels for him, while failed enemy dispels turn into more power dice. Unfortunately, Lore of Tzeentch isn't a great Chaos lore to have Loremaster in. Much pricier than its equivalent build from a generic Sorcerer Lord with Conjoined Homonculus. Pretty much reserved for a themed army.

• Kordel Shorgaar: Standard Bearer for the Swords of Chaos and thus qualifies as an Undivided BSB. His Banner of the Gods causes Terror and makes his attached unit Unbreakable. If you want him to ride with the Varanguard, net him a horsie.

• Scyla Anfingrimm: No longer allowed to be general, because he can't even think for long enough to lead. M6 and D6+2 S5 attacks with Fury and Unbreakable make him usable and can take a bit of punishment with T5, W4 and a 5+ save. He is in fact your cheapest Hero choice in the book, but he's vulnerable to ranged fire. Should not be your first choice, unless you are looking for a low point Leadership 10 general which is quite rare for warriors of chaos.

• Throgg the Troll King: A troll with better stats and became tremendously cheaper. Incredible for his cost. Including him lets you take trolls as core and his crown lets all trolls, ogres, dragon ogress and warhounds within 12" use his Ld (8). He also gets a legit strength 5 breath weapon that ignores armour saves and works at range. Outrageously deadly when you put him in a unit of 17 trolls. Plus his mutant regen is hilarious seriously there will be cries of WTF!? when he turns into a daemon prince for no reason.

• Wulfrik the Wanderer: This guy's a hardcore duelist character, utilizing the Eye of the Gods and twisting it so he can challenge whoever he wants and they must accept. This is even better when you add in that Wulfrik chooses one character that he must duel and can re-roll all hit and wound rolls against them, so you can throw him at just about anything. The other reason he's often used is because of Seafang. This lets him and a pack of Marauders gain the ambushers rule.

• Festus the Leechlord: Festus is a mixed bag made messier by his price hike. Being a level 2 Nurgle wizard is okay. Nurgle is great at making your own troops better or their units worse, and Uncle Fester is pretty much designed to do just that. Having no save other than regen, however, is meh. The main reason why people take him is because he gives 5+ regen and poison to his unit. Which, if it is, say, a 50 man Marauder horde, is fucking brutal. The one thing that returns is his sad 1d6" pursuit height though you also double VP from the units caught. Festus also haspotions that can heal wounds to him and his unit, and take them off enemies. More pricey than a regular wizard, and taking him does mean not taking a dispel scroll, but the advantages he brings to his units are worth it. he just screams to be taken, especially in warrior units with halberds.

Generic Characters

• Daemon Prince: These guys remain the behemoths of evil and wrath that are slightly above the Lords they were before noticing how their cost slightly went up. As before, they need to net a dedication, which is a super-Mark of Chaos which includes Hatred of their opposing God. Though the roll-offs for Spawndom and Dark Apotheosis are gone, the fact that you don't give a VP for transforming your model means that you aren't forced to take him. Still nice to have him though. With Chaos Armour gone, you're stuck with light or medium armour as your lone form of protection. They can net the most mutations of the whole army while Lords can net the most items.
  • Khorne: Frenzy and Magic Resistance 1, which lets you at least attempt to repel a spell without needing a sorcerer. To compensate, Khorne Princes can actually grab 100 points worth of items, which can be unbelievable.
  • Tzeentch: Same as the Mark
  • Nurgle: Enemies take -1 to hit in combat.
  • Slaanesh: Armour Piercing 1 and re-roll all hit rolls of 1.

• Chaos Lord: Would any Chaos be complete without him? He is your murder-stick, your grand poobah, and as such he took a 25 point reduction. He is the centerpiece of the legion and thus is very much worth protecting by any means. Though his upgrades are all one sort of costly or another, they're more than worth the massive variety when you consider what you start with: a full-plated pile of badass.

• Chaos Sorcerer Lord: Your wizard lord took several hits, the first of which being that you need to buy him protection despite him costing the same as before. Has the ability to chose from Death, Shadow, Metal, or Fire, though if you give him a mark of chaos he has to use the lore of the respective Chaos god, no questions asked. Despite being a wizard, he is actually a decent fighter, but still keep away from combat if he's on his own and avoid character-hunters since you still must always issue challenges due to Eye of the Gods.

• Chaos Sorcerer: Remains the toughest of spellcasters to ever walk the earth. He still keeps his combat prowess alongside his spellcasting, so taking one is always good.

• Exalted Hero: Your hero-tier Chaos Lord. He's slightly less deadly than the Chaos Lord and lacks some of the options, but he's still badass and he's no longer your lone BSB option, just your best.

• Slaughterpriest: Khorne decided that he had enough of being the only god without casters, so these guys got ported over from AoS. Each of them's a warrior priest that act like level 2 wizards for the sake of casting and dispelling and have two bound PL4 spells to use.
  • Blood Boil: Deals d6 S5 armour-negating hits to any models that aren't Undead, Animated Constructs, Ethereal, or Forest Spirits. While it sucks that it doesn't work against two entire armies and a chunk of a third, what it does hit gets it pretty hard.
  • Blood Bind: Moves one unengaged unit, friend or foe, with 2d6" random movement. While this won't work on units with Immunity (Psychology), it does work on frenzied units so your bloodboys can commence the killings.

• Marauder Chieftain: In the event that all you wanted was a cheap hero that you can use as a throwaway unit, a cheap BSB, or so you can take a lot more troops, there's a special Marauder HQ you can ride with. He's only a beefed-up Marauder, so he still suffers with armour and as a hero, his allotment of magic items and mutations is pretty slim. What he offers, however, is the ability for a pack Marauders or Horsemen to grab a magic standard worth up to 25 points.

Mounts

• Chaos Dragon: The corrupted cousin of the Star Dragons, it has one less WS, S and W and replaces them with an extra breath weapon that will devastate low T things and put a dent on even high T cavalry, and +1I. This your strongest mount, but also the most expensive. Unless you are tackling enemy lords or monsters, this is usually to your advantage, especially considering you are paying 50 points less for it. At 3000+ points, you can properly equip your lord, but at 2500 you just have the bare minimum, so take the mark of Tzeentch, a talisman of endurance and a great weapon and go hunt whatever you please, just get into combat fast before you are struck down by everything your opponent has to throw at you. Monsters are always risky to take, so don't be surprised if one game you slaughter everything in your path and the other you lose 620 points to turn 1 shooting.
• Chaos Steed: Your classic horse. Except that since you're Chaos, it's S4 so you can happily trample pathetic humans under your heels.
• Daemonic Mount: A bigger, badder mount with +1 on everything the horse had, which is especially helpful for Sorcerers.
• Manticore: At T5, 4 wounds and no armour, this thing will die fast to shooting, melee, and magic. A shame, because it can really dish out the pain: 4 attacks at S5 with killing blow and stomp will put a hurt on things, but you can't really expect it to survive against anything other than puny mortal infantry. Back when terror was more devastating, this was a worthy if unreliable mount, but now you are better off just taking the Steed if you need your lord to move fast across the board.

• Disc of Tzeentch: Your little floating platform gives you a means of flight and two meager S4 flaming attacks. What you want, however, is the ability to fly. Whether you just want to be the beatstick or need a mobile sorcerer, you'll be appreciating the flight.
• Juggernaut of Khorne: A true monstrosity of a mount. 3 S5 hits on the charge, d3 Impact hits, and a T5 with 6+ natural armour make this bastard a very welcome solo killer.
• Palanquin of Nurgle: Do NOT take this if you want to actually be cavalry, because this is just as slow as your men. What this gives is 8 poisoned S2 attacks on top of being a monstrous beast. If you go here, build up your defenses and game the weight of attacks you're packing.
• Steed of Slaanesh: The fastest mount, bar none. Though a Lord might need his IP to think about, an Exalted Hero grouped with some Fast Cavalry and piercing flanks won't need to worry about the army and more about slamming in those poisoned attacks.

Core Units

• Chaos Warriors: Your OG scary as fuck vikings. They're very, very good at killing (model for model they beat most armies' elite melee troops), but their cost means that you'll never want to take them in large units. Generally used in units that are six wide to maximize the number of models in base contact with the enemy and take advantage of their 2 Attacks. There are two main set-ups for these guys: The first is Shields and the Mark of Tzeentch, with the MoT stacking with their Parry save from HW+Shield for a 2+/5++ save in close combat. Hard to kill and still pretty deadly in return. The second set-up is to give them the Mark of Khorne and Halberds. Some folks like to use Additional Hand Weapons instead, but the Halberds are mathematically just as good or better in all situations. Except when you're up against zombies, skeletons, and weak units you'll wound on 2+ anyway... The Mark of Slaanesh is the cheapest mark, as it only allows you to ignore Fear, Terror, and Panic tests in an already high Leadership army. The mark of Nurgle no longer makes you harder to hit with shooting attacks, but it is still invaluable against against elite units who hope to pop them with their halberds. Always, always make use of the banner of swiftness on these guys. M4 is horribly slow and +1 move and charge distance is amazing. If you are going up against an army which loves its DAKKADAKKADAKKA, then maybe units of 18, 3x6. Never buy the champion but otherwise Full Command, but I wouldn't make the units any bigger than 18, because otherwise, points really start being used like lives in the Imperial Guard here!

• Forsaken: They remain weaker warriors with a degree of unreliability from their mutations. Slaanesh remains the best of this overall troubled lot, as Swiftstride allows them to keep up with cavalry and lets them push around smaller units without fear of panic. Similarly, being Skirmishers allows them to be your disposable first line to gum up the works while your bigger units move in for the kill.

• Marauders: Your basic cheap linemen of Chaos. Now that they have Will of Chaos, they'll have a better time keeping in combat.
  • Elite Marauders: Marauders with +1 S/I for 1.5 extra points. In the event that you need slightly stronger Marauders to kill things with, you can grab a pack of these for each pack of regular Marauders.

• Marauder Hunters: Your option for skirmishing Marauders have gone here. These guys act as your ranged combat options on foot, though both throwing axes (their default) and javelins make them rather pitifully ranged. Unlike the regular Marauders, these guys won't be able to make up for any melee with only hand weapons and light armour (and optional shields)

• Marauder Horsemen: You have basic marauders riding as light cavalry. Unlike prior editions, these guys aren't your lone ranged support, but they are the better ones with their movement. They can also be promoted to elites like the footmen.

• Marauder Chariot: In the event that you felt like you didn't have enough Marauders, you can haul in a bunch of them running in a rinky-dink chariot! While it's considerably cheaper than the classic, these are weaker in every way: Crewed by marauders, only a 5+ save, and drawn by horses. Thankfully, you have javelins for legit ranged support.

• Cultists: Your other dirt-cheap, expendable unit that doesn't count towards core. Their only other notable rule is Ambush, so their role is pretty clear: Throw them away in suicidal blobs to annoy the enemy while letting your other units do the damage.

• Chaos Warhounds: These remain your first line of combat, but no longer count towards the minimum core. They remain pretty cheap without anything attached and are both M7 and vanguards, so they're best to send against any scouts.

Special Units

• Chaos Knights: Monster knights on monstrous horses. Each of them flaunts a 1+ Save and can afford Encorcelled weapons for cheap so you can throw in a mob of S5 magical attacks. Thankfully, 9E's rules allow ward saves to stack for a 5++ parry, but this comes at the cost of not interacting with Ensorcelled weaponry or lances.

• Chaos Chariot: With Marauder Chariots being a thing, your favorite monstrous chariots are shoved into Special again. It remains every bit as hardy and fierce as it was before.

• Gorebeast Chariot: If you feel like the Chaos Chariot's movement is worth exchanging for Fear, a 2+ save, and extra combat prowess, you can bring back your Gorebeast.

• Chosen: Though they lack their pre-game roll for Eye of the Gods, they still have the ability to roll it for any instance that they'd qualify for it. Always have a Champion in case of getting a free Chaos spawn or Prince. They otherwise remain on tier with the Warriors and even get the option for better magical banners. However, they lose their 3d6 rolls for the Eye of the Gods, so don't forget the shrine to pair them with.

• Skullreapers: Gore-crazed skirmisher berzerkers of Khorne that dual wield regular or Ensorcelled weapons. Rush them into a unit to see the death of everything.

• Putrid Blightkings: These guys remain just as huge and combat ready as possible without having a means to exactly win them. This does, however, also apply to anything they face, as their 3+/6++ Saves and T5 makes them difficult for a horde to punch through. They also have the same rule as black orks, that let them switch between their collection of weapons each round.

• Hellstriders: Hellstriders are a good deal more expensive than Marauder Horsemen. What you're getting for that extra points is M10, Daemonic, Armour Piercing POISONED attacks for the mounts, Mark of Slaanesh, Spears, and the ability to take ASF (and re-rolls) for peanuts. The main thing you have to be careful of is avoiding being shot. Sure, you're fast, but you will go down hard if you aren't careful. Remember, they are just as easy to kill as normal horsemen until you get their bonuses from their special rule, which means they receive a benefit for each unit the run down: 4++ Ward Save, Devastating Charge, and Unbreakable. The best way to use them is in a similar way to Empire detachments. Have them back up a large unit, so when that unit charges or is charged, they can get the enemies flank. Then, when the enemy breaks and flees, restrain the large unit and send the Hellstriders to run them down.

• Flayerkin: Freaky cultist-tier slaves with scout and skirmisher. Their big draw is being able to climb over and attack fortified locations, but then so does a cannon.

• Skin Wolves: They're Warhounds but a bit bigger and a bit meaner. Not only do they gain Will of Chaos to keep them hanging, but they also possess Frenzy and a 5+ regen. On top of that, you can buy marks for them, each of which actually gives them something useful to their goals as slightly tougher beasts (+1 Strength for Khorne, 4+ Regen for Tzeentch, Poisoned Attacks for Nurgle, ASF for Slaanesh).

• Chaos Ogre: While still slightly cheaper than Dragon Ogres, the loss of the d3 impact hits on a real good charge does affect their appeal as now cavalry become the uncontested masters of impact hits.

• Dragon Ogres: More expensive than regular Ogres, hitting at S5 without using Great Weapons will bring the pain upon any lesser unit you'll face and being T5 with 4+ armour means they take a bit too. They're fast too; at M7 you can slam them into your enemy's juicy units with ease. They're immune to lightning-based attacks as well, use this to troll gun-heavy Skaven armies. Don't waste these guys on regular infantry; maul your enemy's biggest units, countercharge knights, slay monsters, and kill anything worth a lot of points.

• Chaos Troll: They're big, they're dumb, and they still keep their S5 armor-punching vomit. The curiosity here is that they possess the mark of Chaos Undivided, a rule that does far seems to just be a typo'd addition.

• Chaos Spawn: They remain the same monstrosities of unpredictability that nobody likes. To make it even tougher to like them, the Khorne and Slaanesh upgrades have become even less enticing.

Rare Units

• Varanguard: Another port-over from AoS, these guys are Chaos Knights +1 and as such can be kitted out to be every bit as devastating and then some. Each rider is on tier with a Chosen and each of them has a daemonic steed that confers Devastating Charge.

• Wrathmonger: Even angrier Khorne barbarians. These guys have flails that adds an extra attack, d3 impact hits, and add +1 strength during round 1 of combat in exchange for not being two-handed.

• Skullcrushers: Your premier heavy cavalry unit, granted by Khorne himself. Each Juggernaut gives a 6+ natural armour save and d3 S5 impact hits, which combine to engender an unholy engine of murderfuckery unseen by any other army. With the loss of Eye of the Gods, hauling a Champion will no longer mean being forced to challenge anyone they face, and considering how impossible they are to pin you want them smashing shit alongside a good combat lord.

• Fatemasters: You finally have the means to make Discs into Flying cavalry. Each of them comes armed with flaming magical polearms of awesome and re-roll armour rolls of 1. They can also cast Pink and Blue fire without robbing it from your proper sorcerer, so you have an extra means of dubiously-reliable magical firepower.

• Pusboyle Blightlord: Rot Fly Cavalry is no longer exclusive to Plaguebringers. Though Hover doesn't make them much use for combat, they can possess Death's Heads. At S4 with poisoned attacks and d3 wounds, these can find some use as a ranged harassment unit that can take a bit of a beating with T5 full plate and great weapons.

• Chaos Warshine: The bad news: They're now a Rare unit and the Ward save got nerfed to a 5++. The good news: They remain every bit as useful as ever and gain an extra bound spell based on its dedication.
  • Favour of Chaos (Undivided): One unit re-rolls 1s to hit and to wound.
  • Favour of Khorne: One unit re-rolls all failed hit rolls.
  • Favour of Nurgle: One unit re-rolls all failed wound rolls.
  • Favour of Tzeentch: Grants one unit a 6++ Ward Save. With the mark itself being able to stack, you don't need to worry about any unit wasting this.
  • Favour of Slaanesh: One unit gains Immunity (Psychology), though those marked by the Dark Prince gain Unbreakable instead.

• Chaos Giant: Giants have a ton of special rules, making them effective against both monsters and infantry/cavalry units. They are less effective against monstrous infantry, due to most of the Giant's attacks being done against only one model. The Giant is surprisingly very effective against characters, especially if you roll on the Pick Up And chart; you have a 2 in 3 chance to remove the guy from the game. They're sublime fire magnets though, and it'd be a shame to have your 200+ points model taken out by a pair of cannons. Mark of Nurgle actually increases his toughness to 6, making it the ideal choice.

• Chaos War Mammoth: Your other war giant, crewed by marauders and gifted with a 5+ regen and d6+1 impact hits. These units also inherit the Mark of Chaos Undivided.

• Chimera: A nice beastie that's now much more affordable at the cost of becoming a rare slot. Because it can fly it is one of your fastest units that is not a mount. 6 strength 6 and d3 random attacks are nothing to scoff at, not to mention D6 S6 thunderstomps, even when coming at WS4 and I2. At T5, W4 and a 4+ save it can take some ranged fire, but cannons WILL kill it dead. Though it's a bit expensive to hunt war machines and wizards it is undeniably very good at it, and when those are all gone it is more than capable of piling in with other units to kill big blocks of infantry. Regeneration is a mandatory upgrade, as it can save you from those inevitable cannonballs you'll be taking. Same with the breath weapon, both mandatory. Also, for some reason, its random attacks gain +1 To Hit when being attacked from the rear. But if that happens you are using your Chimera wrong. Tag team with your flying Dp because it is awfully LD5 and likely to fuck off the first chance it gets.

• Dragon Orge Shaggoth: The big brother of the Dragon Ogres, the Shaggoth will fuck shit up. 5 attacks at S6 murders everything it runs into. Combining with either another hand weapon or a great weapon, there's nothing a Shaggoth won't murder. The obvious downside is that the Shaggoth is relatively vulnerable (T5, 4+ save and no way to regain wounds), it is the magnetic pole for shooting. Get this guy in combat fast and keep him there, otherwise, he'll be headbutting cannonballs from turn 1. He is rather pricey though, so have a plan before you field this guy. Should have been the hero choice version of Kholek; right now he's fighting for space vs Skullcrushers, and losing.

• Giant Chaos Spawn: They're gribblies. Except even bigger and gribblier.

• Hellcannon: The only "war machine" in your army, it is a stonethrower that will kick your ass in combat. It has to test Ld each turn; if you fail the cannon will drive itself 3d6 closer to the enemy so it can hit them with its spiky bits. It hits at S5, causing Panic at -1 LD, so it's good against feeble humans and greenskins, and the model under the center of the template suffers an Str10 hit that causes D6 wounds, pretty good against monsters. When it misfires though, bad shit goes down, from explosions to murdering its crew and mindraping every wizard within 24' inches, instead of the old "all wizards on the table" which could mean less exploding enemy wizards sadly. Temperamental at best, and with a notable price tag, the Hellcannon should only be taken by the more daring of generals. It is pretty much immune to anything that goes hunting war machines though, as it is better in combat than shooting, being a monster that decided one day that it wanted to be a gun. Remember on a failed LD check it gets a FREE TURN before it makes its 3d6 move, meaning it will turn around and destroy skirmishers trying to kill its crew.

• Mulalith Vortex Beast: The other big, scary monster. The Vortex Beast has a bound spell which makes you roll on a table to see how many toughness tests the enemy takes, for each toughness test they fail they suffer a wound with no armour saves allowed. This monster has great synergy with the Nurgle magic lore and its toughness reducing spell. Be aware though that a lot of the rolls on the chart give bonuses to the target unit.
• Slaughterbrute: The first of two big, scary monsters. The Slaughterbrute is a powerful monster with four attacks, solid strength and decent toughness. While it may at first seem to suck at close combat with a pathetic weapon skill of 3, you can boost its killing ability by binding it to a lord or hero, a process which involves jamming a lot of sanctified blades into its back. Doing so is borderline mandatory, as it uses your designated HQ's Weapon Skill and Leadership so long as he is alive, producing results like a weapon skill 8 leadership 9 monster. If that SOUNDS awesome, it's because it IS! It only has four attacks, however (with an option for two more attacks at a lower S5), so it won't do much against large units, even with its stomp. Where it excels is against small elite units, preferably with good armour, that its high WS and S will give you a good return against their meatiness. HOWEVER, it is both more expensive, easier to kill, and easier to redirect than a Chimera, so keep that in mind.

• Giant Spined Chaos Beast: Giant beasts that are roughly on tier with Dragon Ogres. Though they lack lightning immunity or Sentient, they do deal d6 Impact Hits and have a 4+ regen. On top of that, they can also gain marks.

Tactica

Magic

• Fire:
• Metal:
• Shadow:
• Death:
• Tzeentch:
• Slaanesh:
• Nurgle:

External Links

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