Chaos Marauders and why they are meh Tactica

I have done a post of an overall look at WoC units, and now in this new series I will go into more depth.

One of the most feared WoC units is the Marauder horde. I don't like them for one reason. Against a good player, they will never do well on the battlefield. One flank charge and they are gone. A couple of shots from a mortar or a nuke spell aimed their way will devastate them. However, the Marauder Horde is our best defence against elite enemies that can blend our Warriors , namely elves. So lets go into the best way to take them

Against Empire Swordsmen: (both 10 by 4, Marauders with MoK)

Weapon	Hit	Wound	After Armour Saves	After Wards	Second Round
Flail	20	13.3	11.1	9.2	5.5
Great Weapon	20	13.3	13.3	11.1	11.1
Hand weapon	25	12.5	8.3	6.9	6.9
Swordsmen	15	7.5	7.5	7.5	7.5

Example

Swordsmen kill 8.  Marauders kill 11. 29 Swordsmen left. 32 Marauders Left

Swordsmen kill 7.  Marauders kill 10. 22 Swordsmen left.  25 Marauders Left

Swordsmen kill 6. Marauders kill 8. 14 Swordsmen left. 19 Marauders left.

Swordsmen kill 4. Marauders kill 7. 7 Swordsmen left. 15 Marauders left.

Swordsmen kill 2. Marauders kill 6. 0 Swordsmen left. 13 Marauders left.

So we see that GW are the best options against Swordsmen, and would beat them narrowly in combat. However in a real game, the swordsmen would have a large detachment to charge into your flank.

So the Best weapon to give them is Great swords. With GS marauders cost 6p. Light armour costs 1pt. This makes it indifferent whether to take armour or not. However their are so many ap and S4 opponents out their that you would always take more bodies over armour.


The other way to take Marauders is many units of 20. The idea with these is to take a lot of units and use them to flank charge opponents to break steadfast. The enemy will need to invest a lot of shooting to kill 20 Marauders. Arm them with flails and no mark. A unit like this will cost 100p plus command. They hit an opponent in the flanks hard, the Warriors who have charged the front will slaughter a lot, you will win the combat and the enemy will flee. Arm them with flails, as over 2 turns they do more damage than hand weapons.


The purpose marauders serve are to break steadfast and grind down enemy elites. I do not take them in my armies, as Hellcannons do that job for me, but when you are not spamming hellcannons, marauders are a must have.

Why i hate Warseer

I am angry at the moment, very very angry. The reason is i went on Warseer. The problem with Warseer is that   it is full of very experienced Warhammer players, who play like noobs. No one will take your decent advise, when someone with 5000 forum posts argues against you.

The latest thread to wind me up is a post about dark elf executioners. In reality they are crap, because a good player can annihilate a horde, which is how most people take them. I post about take Black Guard instead then nearly everyone else posts about how a "Horde of Executioners" is the best thing ever.  Man that is bad. The normal config comes in at about 800p. In a 3000p game i could take three hell cannons which would destroy them, before my warriors charge in and butcher the rest. I could get a lucky roll on gateway, or take the CoB out with buboes. Anyone else would just charge a big unit into the flank, while giving a throw away one to the front.

Magic items worth taking part two

In this post i will look at the Army book magic items we have.

Marks:

Mark of Khorne Gives frenzy to the bearer. A very good option to make anything more killy.
Mark Of Tzeentch Gives a 6+ ward save. A solid option to make anything more survivable.
Mark of Slaneesh Gives immunity to fear, terror and panic. Great on a flank unit.
Mark of Nurgle Shooters are at -1 to hit and attackers are at -1 WS. The worst option imo. The -1 to hi is good, but the -1 WS barely does anything. When GW nerfed it in the FAQ they should of lowered the price as well

Gifts:

Third Eye of Tzeentch 25p. Use enemy spell casters spells. Thats pretty wicked, if you have points spare. Being able to throw enemy spells back at them is awesome, but whats more is the diversity of magic it gives us.
Conjoined Homunculus 20p. Add D3 to a spell once per turn, but then suffer from stupidity. If you make sure stupidity wont harm you much, it is a good option
Fury of the Blood God 20p MR2 and a 4+ ward against spells. Wicked to put on a unit to protect them from killer spells. The downside is the bearer cannot use any magic items, so you will barely have someone you could put this on

Magic Weapons:

Rending Sword 30p.  Re roll failed to wound. If coupled with something that would let you re roll to hit it would be so amazing

Magic Armour:

Armour of Morslieb 35p. 4+ ward against non magical attacks. Pretty handy if you cant give the bearer a different ward.
Bronze armour if Zrakk 15p. Immune to killing blow and poisoned attacks.

Talismans:

Crown of Everlasting Conquest 50p . Bearer gains regeration. Amazing combined with the 2+ ward against flaming attacks items, but very expensive.
Blasphemous Amulet 25p. Every model in base contact takes toughness test or dies. Handy.
Golden eye of Tzeentch 25p. 4+ save against all magic and normal missiles. Great on a sorceror.
Necrotic Phylactery 10p. Immune to death, nurgle spells, auto passes characteristic tests and is immune to poison.

Arcane Items:

Infernal Puppet 35p. Modify miscast results by up to D3. A must have on one wizard.
Power Familiar 25p. +1 Power dice per turn. Good on a secondary caster
Spell Familiar 15p. Knows one extra spell. Same as above

Magic Standards:

Blasted Standard 45p. Expensive but very good on protecting a key unit.
Rapturous standard 20p. Rolls that include a double or any 1 count as insane courage. Good on an anvil unit.


That sums up the magic items.

Magic items worth taking part one

Most of the items in the rulebook and our army book suck. So here is a list of the great and the good.

Magic Weapons:

Sword of Swift Slaying 25p Gives auto strike first.Its amazing verse anyone but high elves, and will give you re roll to hit. An auto-include on any character that has spare points
Beserker Sword 20p.Grants frenzy. An extra attack on something with high weapon skill and strength. Thats pretty good as you can still have a shield or an extre hand weapon. It is overpriced though
Gold Sigil Sword 15p. Initiative ten will allow your characters to strike before nearly anyone. Its pretty decent, but the sword of swift slaying is a better choice
Sword of Striking 15p. +1 to hit, making you hit nearly anything on twos. A good option


Magic Armour:
Armour of Destiny 50p. Gives a 4+ ward save which is simply awesome combined with the mark of Tzeentch. Expensive but a very good option
Armour of Fortune 35p. Gives a 5+ ward save. Same as the armour of destiny, but not as good and cheaper
Dragonhelm 10p. 2+ ward save against flaming attacks. Simply amazing on a character with regeneration
Enchanted Shield 5p. +2 to your armour save.

Talismans:

Talisman of Preservation 45p. 4+ ward save. A great option for a Sorceror Lord, or a Chaos Lord with enchanted shield
Talisman of Endurance 30p. 5+ ward save. Nothing more needs saying
Dragonbane gem 5p. Same as Dragonhelm, but doesnt add to your armour


Magic Standards:

Razor Standard 45p. Unit gains armour piercing. Great on warriors to go straight through armour
Warbanner 35p. +1 Combat Resolution is always handy.
Banner of Swiftness 15p. +1 Movement for 15p is great
Banner of Eternal Flame 10p. Grants a unit flaming attacks. A must include in every army

Arcane Items:

All rulebook ones are crap, but maybe dispell and power scrolls can be worth it


Enchanted Items:
Ruby Wing of Ruin 35p. Bound spell "Fireball". Usefull to kill regeneration so your foot sluggers can deal to targets.

Warriors of Chaos Lords and Heroes

Lords:

Sorceror Lord 8/10
The best lord choice in the army book. Always take one in a game larger than 1500p. A good ward save and the infernal puppets are a must. A good build is infernal puppet, mark and disk of Tzeentch and the talisman of preservation which comes to 355p. This sorceror flies around throwing out tzeentch spells and is well protected from miscasts. Another option worth experimenting with is a level four with heavens or shadows.

Chaos Lord 7/10
While a Sorceror Lord should always be your first option in larger games (2500+) it is worth throwing in a Chaos Lord. His biggest advantage is the large points worth of items he can take, as well as an amazing stat line. The best option is mark and disk of Tzeentch, with armour of fortune, the sword of swift slaying and a shield. This comes in at exactly 300p. He can be in combat in turn two, taking out missile troops, spell caster and anyone else. He can even suicide charge units and survive thanks to the 3+ armour and ward saves.

Daemon Prince 3/10
Pretty worthless as it cant take magic items, so it will be stuck with a weak wardsave as its only weakness. There is no situation where you should consider taking it over either of the other lord options. If you had to take it, give it tendrils and make it lvl 4 but that ends up being a crazy price.


Heroes:

Chaos Sorcerer 7/10
In any game over 2000p a secondary caster is a very good idea. As your sorceror lord is your main caster, the Chaos Sorceror doesnt need to be a powerful caster, just support your main caster. The best combo I have come up with is a lvl one with mark of Nurgle and the power familiar. Give him two dice each turn, one of which it will generate itself and buboes (the basic spell) and it can take a wound of anyone each turn. Great for removing say, the unamoured hag with banner in the horde of executioners. Acutually if someone is stupid to bring a horde of executioners the game may as well be yours.

Exalted Hero 8/10
These will win many a game for you, as they can kill nearly anything and survive when the are kitted out right. Give them the mark of Tzeentch and a disk, along with the best ward save you can get. A magic weapon isnt necasssary, but is a good option if you have the points. Take as many Exalted Heroes as you have points for, leaving room for the Chaos Sorceror.

Warriors of Chaos unit breakdown 8th

Core:

Chaos Warriors: 8/10

These must be the core of any army. These are what make WoC better than nearly everybody else in close combat. They are overpriced by a couple of points, but so are all high and wood elves.
Units should be of 12 with full command. Mark of Tzeentch with shields is a good option, and with the 5+ ward against shooting banner (blastered standard) is very survivable. The AP banner could also be put on to make them as killy as halberd warriors. The second option is Mark of Khorne with halberds and shields. The flamming pendant is a very good option to kill pesky hydras and hell pit abominations.
Good tactics are to stay still untill your hellcannons get a couple of turns of good shooting against aggresive armies, and to run straight for the enemy against shooty armies. Mark of Tzeentch warriors are best used as an anvil against larger units, while Mark of Khorne should be faced of againt smaller units and kept away from elven elites.
The advantage of taking small units is that even with the price of our warriors we can still get multicharges, and one out of two units should reach the enemy with 10 men left.

Mauraders 6/10

On paper a horde of these look really good, but the reality is different. They just die to quick, and a flank charge ruins their day.
The best option is a horde of 50 with Great Weapons and Mark of Khorne. 50 is the best amount as many will die before you reach the enemy lines, and you will want the most attacks possible. These are our best defence against high/dark elf elites as a horde of mauraders wont care if 10 die. This just never works well though. Such a big bulky unit always get multi-charged against a good opponent and will then die.
Another good option is units of 20 with any weapon. One unit like this will do nothing but four will do wonders. One on one in combat they get slaughtered, but two or three units charged an enemy will cripple them. Your opponent will need to subject them to a lot of shooting to get them below 10 men as well.


Warhounds 10/10

 I know that many people regard these as useless but they are really great in units of five with no upgrades. They are a 30p deployment drop, that allows you to get the edge over your opponent if you bring enough.
They screen your warriors for a couple of turns, allowing your units to reach combat unharmed.
They act as redirecters.
When they get the charge  (its highly unlikely i know) you get the chance to place your unit of warriors into the juicy flank of the enemy unit.

Maurader Horsemen 7/10
A highly underrated unit. Take a unit or two for each flank. Units of five with mark of khorne and flails are a very good option. With the vangaurd move they can hopefully move out of bowmens shooting arcs, and get right up onto the flank to hunt warmachines and anything else. A flank charge from these is great when supported by anything

Special:


Knights 7/10
These are exceptionally hardy and killy. Units of 5 are the best bet, with mark of khorne. 16 S5 I5 attacks plus horse attacks is wicked. Also with a 1+ armour save they are very hardy. Just keep them away from anything with killing blow or stregth higher than 4. The best use of knights would be to charge into a weak units flank and just kill, and keep killing into they flee or you run out of targets. Combine that with a frontal warriors charge is insane. Attcaking the front of a unit is also good if they are out on the flanks, with a flank charge from horsemen.

Chosen 7/10
3p for +1WS and roll on eye of the gods. If you roll well they are insanely worth it, otherwise they are meh. WS6 isnt much better except against elite elves and the like. Take them exactly the same of Halberd warriors, but give the champion favour of the gods. Avoid the chosenstar (large unit) for the same reason you avoid large units of warriors. Three small units is a lot better than  two large ones if you play your cards right.

Forsaken 0/10
Its not that their that bad, its that you would never spend points on them instead of other stuff


Chaos Chariot 7/10
Two of these charging is very scary. Use these towards the flanks, but use them together. Two charging at one target is three times better than two. With the random charge distance they are a risk now, but they pay of well when they work.

Rare:

Hellcannon 10/10
Always take as many of these as you can. They are so good i am not going to bother writing about any other rare choice. Before when i was writing about how to take warriors you might have thought they are rubbish. Acutully anything is rubbish unsupported. The plan is to shoot the big hordes everyone has thes days with the hellcannons, to take the hordes down to sizes where your warriors can obliderate them. Also you never need waoory about warmachine hunters, as the hellcannon will eat them and is capable of eating nearly anything.


Take note that the aboves are not always the best way to run units, but are the common ways to run them.