Chaos tactics
CHAOS LORD
ADVANTAGES: With the right assortment of magical items they can mangle anyone foolish enough to get in their way. All of their stats are very high compared to other lord level characters except for Vampires.
DISADVANTAGES: Unfortunately ( for Chaos Lords ) being this powerful comes with a price. They become the targets of every cheesy tactic the enemy can throw at them. The Black Gem of Gnar is every weaklings favourite tactic as well as Van Horstmann's Speculum and the Black Amulet. Another problem is trying to find enough worthy targets for this 305 point monstrosity to make it worth the huge point cost.
USES: I feel that the only good choice for a chaos lord is a Knorne Lord with his frenzy ability giving him a deadly 10 attacks. The next best thing would be a Nurgle Lord, than a Slannesh Lord, and last but least a Tzeentch Lord. One way I equip my Knorne Lord is to give him a Dragon Slayer, Helm of Many Eyes, and some sort of protection( eg. Black amulet, Iron Hard Skin ). With this combination of items he becomes almost as powerful as a Bloodthirster with 10 attacks, D3 Wounds, Strength 8, and the ability to strike first.
CHANCES OF VICTORY:
CHAOS LORD VS VERMIN LORD: WINS: 97/100 KHORNE LORD: IRON HARD SKIN, DAEMON SLAYER. WINS: 70/100 KHORNE LORD: IRON HARD SKIN, FROST BLADE. WINS: 100/100 KHORNE LORD: IRON HARD SKIN, FROST BLADE, STRENGTH POTION(BEING USED)
CHAOS HERO:
ADVANTAGES: Basic chaos character advantages.
DISADVANTAGES: Only 2 wounds, 2 magic items for twice as much as most other armies' generic generals.
USES: He should be put into very large valuable regiments that you don't have anyone better to put into. He could also ride a manticore, griffon, whatever and go after pesky war machines.
CHAOS BATTLE STANDARD:
ADVANTAGES: With the capabilities of a hero instead of the usual unfortunate champions other armies have carrying their standards. If you take along a magic standard you can also give him magic armour/device of protection to keep him alive longer.
DISADVANTAGES: His high point cost is his only major problem besides the usual hero disadvantages.
USES: Use him only on rank and file, and avoid enemy characters even if you think he has a chance because with only one magic item to choose from if he takes a magic standard he will die easily against enemy characters with a bunch of magic items.
CHAOS CHAMPIONS:
ADVANTAGES: Better than most other armies' champion's stats.
DISADVANTAGES: They cost too much! With only one wound and a toughness of four these guys are just too easy to kill for 91 points.
USES: They are mainly used as sacrificial lambs to the chaos gods when the eye of god or eternal labour chaos gifts ( chaos punishments ) shows up. They are far too valuable to be used to fight off too powerful challengers to your vulnerable characters.
SPECIAL CHARACTERS:
EGRIMM VAN HORSTMANN:
ADVANTAGES: He can be the general,
DISADVANTAGES: He is stuck with one of the worst combination of magic items in the game. The Skull of Katam is useless considering you risk losing your almost 1000 point monstrosity. His chaos armour is another bad choice since he should really have an unmodified save if he fights anyone which he should since he has that useless sword. With a lousy WS of 6, S of 5, and A of 4 it is likely that he will wound nothing with his D3 wound sword. The chaos familiar is another useless bonus since he carries nothing else that could use a modified roll except maybe the skull.
USES: None. Use a regular Sorcerer Lord instead.
RATING: *
ARBAAL THE UNDEFEATED??????:
ADVANTAGES: If your lucky he can do well, plus his dog has the ability to protect him from magic.
DISADVANTAGES: Crapy chaos armour, no options, and too costly. He can be killed easily by someone with the Sword of Destruction, giving him a whopping 1 attack.
USES: As long as he avoids characters with troublesome items he should do well in a fair fight. He can be used to attack pesky wizards who cannot cast spells at him and who are unlikely to be carrying the Sword of Destruction.
RATING: **
AEKOLD HELLBRASS:
ADVANTAGES: His special ability to regenerate is really "COOL" and his strength of 7 with his 2 handed sword means he can severe some big heads..
DISADVANTAGES: Because he only has 2 wounds and a modifiable save of 4+ he tends to die a lot. As well he strikes last so can be killed easily before he can fight back.
USES: He can be used to lead regiments and because of his resurrecting ability he can be used to accept challenges that would otherwise go to more valuable and vulnerable characters. His regeneration ability can also be used to regenerate wounds to other characters if you are very lucky or the regiment he leads.
RATING: ***
SCYLA:
ADVANTAGES: He has good stats plus his unmodified save and the collar give him decent protection. As well because the Iron Hard Skin and the collar are not magic items he is immune to the effects of the Sword of Destruction, Chaos Runeshield, etc.
DISADVANTAGES: No options makes him predictable, and the need for a master will make him go crazy which can be bad or a good thing.
USES: Although he is not invincible he should be able to handle most enemy characters and be able to slaughter rank and file.
RATING: ****
REGIMENTS:
CHAOS WARRIORS:
ADVANTAGES: Same stats better than most armies generals except for wounds, combined with a awesome armour save make them the best troops available for hand to hand combat.
DISADVANTAGES: The cost bundles plus they are vulnerable to enemy war machines that allow no saves.
USES: Obviously they are meant to rush forward towards the enemy as fast as possible avoiding enemy war machine fire.
RATING: ****
CHANCES OF VICTORY:
CHAOS KNIGHTS:
ADVANTAGES: Same as chaos warriors except with a better armour save and the ability to cause a ton of damage on a charge with their lances.
DISADVANTAGES: They cost 80 points!!( technically 66 but who wants cavalry with a movement of 6?) They are vulnerable to no save weapons such as bolt throwers that cost a measly 50 points.
USES: No other regiment can equal their abilities. They should be lead by Knorne characters and take along the Banner of RAGE making them even more deadly in hand to hand. They are also a good candidate for the Ruby chalice since they will be the favourite target of all ranged weapons of your opponent.
RATING: ****
CHAOS BEASTMEN:
ADVANTAGES: Two wounds, high toughness, and relatively low point cost make these beasties the best deal anywhere. They are so effective for their point cost that they put any other type of rank and file to SHAME, even chaos warriors. While not as good in hand to hand combat as chaos warriors, you can have around 3 of them for the cost of one chaos warrior. As well they are less vulnerable to bolt throwers and because of the low point cost it is easy to have large units of them capable of surviving missile fire that would put a chaos warrior regiment out of commission.
DISADVANTAGES: They do have that infighting rule but who really cares since you can just toss in a chaos champion to lead them? They are also a bunch of weaklings with a strength of 3 but you could give them 2 handed weapons since their Movement, and Initiative are low anyways.
USES: Bring along as many as possible of these guys especially against Elves, and Skaven if they use a lot of Rat Ogres. They should always have a chaos character or Beastman Lord leading them to avoid having them stopping in the middle of a battle.
RATING: *****
CHAOS DAEMONS:
BLOODTHRISTERS:
ADVANTAGES: They have the best stats of any other model in the game. Their high strength, 10 attacks, D3 wounds caused by their axes makes them vicious in hand to hand. Although they cannot cast magic like other greater daemons they have the ability to fly which is deadly combined with their awesome hand to hand combat ability.
DISADVANTAGES: They are 800!!!!! points. Obviously they are targets for the Black Gem of Gnar, those cheesy daemon slaying gadgets( Daemon Slayer, Banishment....) but luckily not Van Horstmann's Speculum since they are not characters and therefore cannot be challenged.
USES: Need to kill something, or perhaps an entire army, if so then Bloodthrister is the right tool for the job. Avoid fights with losers( champions that might have the Black Gem ) and make sure he doesn't stray too close to Elf Mages unless of course he butchers them before they get a chance to cast banishment. You should send him to take out high level characters, especially mages. As well he is very good at dismembering regiments since their characters cannot challenge him and therefore they will lose combat. The only things that are a threat to him are Nagash, Vermin Lord and pumped up Dwarf rune smiths. On average Bloodthrister should be able to kill Nagash in hand to hand, assuming that Bloodthrister charges, and that you dispel everything that Nagash casts at him which could be impossible. Against Vermin Lord he has a good chance of wining if he charges, but it is still possible against Vermin Lord or Nagash that he will lose.
RATING: *****
ALLIES:
The major thing that Chaos Lacks is war machines so you could bring along some Dark Elf Bolt Throwers, Undead Screaming Skull Catapults, or Goblin Doom Divers. Undead special characters are also a good addition because your special character choices are somewhat limited although Undead costs a ton of points. With access to the Necromancy spell deck you won't need chaos sorcerers since Necromancy is much better. Don't get too many archers especially not skeletons because this is definitely not a defensive army. A few Dark Elves with repeater crossbows might be helpful to shoot at incoming chariots, fanatics, warpfire throwers, or plague censor bearers.
SUGGESTED TACTICS TO USE AGAINST...
HIGH ELVES: Most importantly you should bring along as many things as possible to counter their missile weapons. Loads of Beastmen are essential since they have two wounds and are protected somewhat from RBT fire. Bring along allied goblins, skaven slaves to walk ahead of your army and absorb all the missile fire. Harpies are also useful for attacking their bolt throwers and later their archers. Another possibly risky idea is to put together an army with absolutely no daemons, so instead of bloodthrister put your general on a dragon. This way their daemon slayer sword, allied dwarf runesmiths with daemon killing runes, and some of their spells will all go to waste.
ORCS AND GOBLINS: The only advantage orcs have against chaos are large numbers. The worst thing that can happen would be allowing your troops to be forced to charge goblins. To avoid this you could use mostly fast troops such as Dragon ogres, Knights, Centaurs, or Flesh hounds. Another possible solution is to use an allied necromancer to conjure up some Skeletons to keep large groups of gobbos occupied while you attack the real troops with your own. Another problem is their fanatics which can cause serious damage to your chaos knights/warriors. Again one solution is to conjure up skeletons, or have harpies fly in to spook them out of their regiments in random directions before they get to you. Watch out for those blasted doom divers, since they're so accurate, their is a very good chance that they will be able to take out one of your precious characters.