[Tactica] Blades of Khorne

[Killax]

Hi guys, a while ago I decided to make up a tactica and due to the recent GH2017 release I think it's the right time to think about this. Especially since I'm still very happy to see more Khorne players joining the game as they really offer a great devilish, gladiator or barbarian design many Fantasy genre fans seem to like. 

Since the start of the write up I decided to cut down the tactica in multiple posts and will try to give a weekly update until we've got pretty much everything covered. Which in turn will likely mean another update once GH2018 hits the shelves. First and foremost the Khorne unit choices will be covered here. Meaning Sorcerers and Allies will not discussed initially but might be added later down the road for players who really want to have these pieces covered.

The topic itself will consist out of 8 steps to succes:
1. Changes
2. Allegiance
3. Battalions
4. Getting the most out of your Units 
5. Getting the most out of your Battle Rounds
6. Army List preparation
7. Game preparation 
8. Following the competative metagame

As several reviews can also be found on the internet in regards to Blades of Khorne the topic will be much more focused in terms of how to use these units well instead of compairing them to each other within the book. If you are looking for a review I did one myself before (note under GH2016) and a mate of mine, Josh, also made one himself which covers a lot of units into detail.
The reason as to why I will not redo the review here is because in many cases the lists in Age of Sigmar isn't the prime key to constant succes, playing (a list) the right way is.

Changes (as per GH2017 and Errata)

Another Generals Handbook means another update! But this time just a smaller coverage overall as it will limit itself to the direct changes and the consequences in a more specific way.
I feel a lot of stuff is written on the great synergy and “competitive choices” in general while applied unit use or “tactica” is usually much less covered. So this too will be a mix of covering changes but also giving some tips to remain successful with your Khorne army.
It's important to start out with the changes though as it means that just having the Blades of Khorne book does mean your working with outdated information. To me knowing what choices you have to work with is the first step to succes. 

Changes to Khorne Rules
First things first, this post covers the larger rules changes to Blades of Khorne from the general Rules Errata and Chaos Errata: http://www.tga.community/forums/topic/6134-lets-chat-khorne/?do=findComment&comment=132256 In (very) short it boiled down to three very relevant things:
1. Blood Tithe points can only be used at the start of the Hero phase
2. Rage of Khorne’s additional attack now isn’t stackable
3. Most pile-in effects have now been clarified to be available when an enemy model is within 3” of the model

Artefacts and other abilities have been effected however I’d recommend checking the full post for those details as they differ per entry. One very noteworthy Artefact is The Crimson Crown which thanks to the errata now works at 6 or more, meaning hit effects do apply for it and this makes Bloodletters in particular extremely nasty. It’s worth to mention that Blood Tithe points in general have become less of a supporting factor as before and due to the increase of larger unit sizes the amount of opposing units will usually also be slightly less as before as there is a reward to running for example 30 in one unit as opposed to 3 times 10. Nonetheless the Blood Tithe system is still rewarding and as before focussing on effect 1, 2 and 3 is often more ideal than focussing on the rest.

Changes to Khorne Battalions
These changes for me personally boiled down to still very much considering the use of Murderhost, Brass Stampede and Gore Pilgrims from the book and Bloodmarked Warband from Everchosen. Other Battalions to me have become less interesting even while some of them (specifically for Khorne Daemons) have not been increased with an additional 100 points.
The reason as to why multiple Battalions have become less interesting is because they directly compete with (support) unit costs now. For example quite some Battalions now range from 140 points to 180, this means that in many cases you could have ran an additional unit of Skullcrushers or Wrathmongers instead, which does mean you obtain survivability and access to more Blood Tithe points. Then the Battalions costed 200 points or more to me are just not in contention with the use of say another two Slaughterpriests, two Khorgoraths or even a full Bloodreaver or Marauder unit.

Changes to Khorne Units
As we are an army very much focused on infantry in general the biggest positive changes we received actually came in the form of running our units at the sizes we’d ideally run them at anyway.

The following specific units where effected in a positive way:

• Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster (-30)
• Bloodthirster of Unfettered Rage (-40)
• Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (-20)
• Skullcannons (-20)
• 30 Bloodletters (-30)
   
• Skarr Bloodwrath (-40)
• 3 Mighty Skullcrushers (-20)
• 30 Blood Warriors (-80)
• 40 Bloodreavers (-40)
• Khorgoraths (-20)
• Slaughterbrute of Khorne (-20)
   
• Chaos Lord on Manticore (-50)
• Chaos Warshrine (-20)
• Chaos Knights (-40)
• Chaos Chosen (-20)
• 30 Chaos Warriors (-60)
• Chaos Marauder Horsemen (-10 and -60 for 30)
• 40 Chaos Marauders (-40)
• Chaos Spawn (-10)
   
• 3 Varanguard (-60)

This is a large list which in general is great for us as it allows us to really create new armies, the side effect of this off course is that in order to have a competitive army it’s likely your army will have to change as well. The best parts of this is that Bloodthirster Generals (or with an Artefact) have all become legit good choices. We don’t have a lot of Flying units so this change is very welcome. In addition we see Skarr as a legit choice and running Skullcrushers, Bloodletters, Bloodreavers or Khorgoraths has never been as great. The other changes are nice as well but Blood Warriors as a block of 520 points in one place are still difficult to defend from a tactical level at 2000 points. Over 2000 though a lot of the minor positive changes also contribute to a more well balanced army. 
The changes in general have been very positive to Blades of Khorne but also Slaves to Darkness. In that same vein the change to Chaos Knights has made them a legit fast choice for us. Marauders are still a very durable horde unit and Marauder Horsemen continue to provide a ranged support with Khorne mark. In addition a Chaos Lord on Manticore can also be a very cool visual centerpiece.

Then some units are also increased in cost which are:

• Valkia the Bloody (+20)
• Aspiring Deathbringer with Goreaxe and Skullhammer (+20)
• 5 Skullreapers (+40)

I personally think that despite these changes all these units can still be defended as a good choice, however I do feel (largely due to the GH2016 mindset most of us are still in) that in order to take these you will have to take some of the discounted pieces first. I personally don’t expect to run Valkia or the Aspiring Deathbringer but Skullreapers still can have a function if you can find the points for them and feel like running them. The stiffest competition for them now for me are Khorgoraths (as a support Hero replacement) and Wrathmongers or Mighty Skullcrushers (as a smaller shock unit).

Khorne GH2017 Costs  
Knowing your own army is the first step to succes, this is the changes or basically knowing your own basics. If your a veteran to the game these costs become seconadry to talking about units, judging their output versus other pieces in the game but general understanding why X makes a lot of appearances and Y doesn't.

Daemons (Keyword Daemon; Khorne)

 

(700) Archaon
(400) Skarbrand
(330) Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster
(260) Bloodthirster of Unfettered Rage
(260) Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage
(160) Daemon Prince
(140) Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount
(120) Blood Throne
(100) Karanak
(100) Skullmaster, Herald of Khorne
(100) Skulltaker
(80) Bloodmaster, Herald of Khorne
(160) Skullcannons
(160) Bloodcrushers
(110/270) Bloodletters
(100) Flesh Hounds

Bloodbound (Keyword Bloodbound; Mortal; Khorne)
 

 

(140) Lord of Khorne on Juggernaut
(140) Mighty Lord of Khorne
(140) Valkia the Bloody
(120) Bloodsecrator
(100) Scyla
(100) Slaughterpriests
(80/100) Aspiring Deathbringer(s)
(80) Bloodstoker
(80) Skarr Bloodwrath
(80) Exalted Deathrbinger(s)
(80) Skullgrinder
(180) Wrathmongers
(180) Skullreapers
(140) Mighty Skullcrushers
(100/520) Blood Warriors
(80) Khorgoraths
(70/240) Bloodreavers

Slaves to Darkness (Keyword Slaves to Darkness; Mortal; Khorne)
 

 

(250) Chaos Lord on Manticore
(140) Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount
(100) Lord of Chaos
(80) Exalted Hero of Chaos
(80) Darkoath Chieftain
(180) Chaos Warshrine
(160) Chaos Knights
(140) Chaos Chosen
(100) Chaos Gorebeast Chariot
(90/480) Chaos Warriors
(90/480) Chaos Marauder Horsemen
(60/200) Chaos Marauders
(50) Chaos Spawn

Everchosen (Keyword Everchosen; Mortal; Khorne)
 

 

(700) Archaon
(300) Varanguard

Forgeworld (Keywords mixed)

 

(640) Exalted Greater Daemon of Khorne (Khorne; Daemon)
(500) Skaarac the Bloodborn (Khorne; Monster)
(360) Mazarall the Butcher (Khorne; Daemon)
(320) Chaos War Mammoth (Slaves to Darkness; Mortal)

 

FAQ Links
Lastly change is constant so here are some of the linkts from the Age of Sigmar Downloads page.
Age of Sigmar Rules (August 2017)
Chaos Rules (August 2017)
Forgeworld Matched Play Points (September 2017)
 

[Under construction]

[Killax]

Allegiace

Many players starting out will want to know the advantages of playing the Khorne Allegiance as opposed to Grand Allegiance Chaos or Slaves to Darkness. It's very important to see that usually Allegiance choices come more down to a narrative aspect as directly competative design. There are most certainly exceptions to this rule but in short I feel that most Allegiances are designed with 2000 point armies in mind. It's because of this that I feel the first step to choosing an Allegiance isn't done with the Faction (in our case) or even Army plan but much more points played.

A great way to discuss the differences is to join the Let's Chat: Khorne. This part of the tactica will simply serve as a cross comparison and basically give the reason as to why Khorne might be a good pick for your army or where other Allegiance choices might benifit you more. As this tactica is obviously covering the Khorne aspects I will say that the further subjects will indeed be discussed with the Khorne Allegiance in mind as opposed to others. 

The Comparison
As a general "Chaos player" you have a lot of advantages in flexible design. More specifically we have a lot of Warscrolls to choose from with a ton of relevant Keywords which thanks to the GH2017 now have more purposes as ever. Formerly, the choice really boiled down to either Grand Allegiance Chaos or Allegiance Khorne. What was typical here is that from a narrative perspective Allegiance Khorne always felt right, while Grand Allegiance Chaos was the perfect excuse to include Sayl or other Chaos Sorcerers. (Something I think a true fan of Khorne shouldn't have to bother with.)

Grand Allegiance Chaos gives us the following unique advantages:
1. You can use all Chaos Keyword units, which are many and ideal for those who want mixed Chaos armies.
2. Your general has a 1/6th chance of improving the Combat phase for units 12" near him (and 3" of other Heroes) thanks to Unpredictable Destruction.
3. The Command Traits available here really offer a different vibe than Khorne's, especially in the first turn a lot of defeneces can improve, alternatively you can boost hits in many, many ways! Their Command Traits are strong, however Unpredictable Destruction remains very much unpredictable.
4.  The Artefacts available on the other hand are not great. 

Grand Allegiance Chaos armies have some great options for support Generals. While many of the Daemon, Slaves to Darkness or Bloodbound Warscrolls allready cover hit improvements, adding more is never a bad idea if you like auto-hitting. However what is a prime weakness of this Grand Allegiance is that none of our generals are particulary hard to kill. For sure Arcane Shield or Bronzed Flesh can be added to the general to improve this but all the focus then goes to our Heroes, while it's our infantry that seems to be specifically designed to make the great difference.

Allegiance Slaves to Darkness gives us the following unique advantages:
1. You are limited to Slaves to Darkness Keyword units, enough Ally options around but it is more restrictive as either Chaos or Khorne.
2. Any unit 6" near a Slaves to Darkness Hero can obtain a Aura of Chaos Power if these models share the same Chaos God Keyword, in our case, Khorne. This leads to re-rolls of 1's which most certainly improves hitting chances.
3. Eye of the Gods adds the option to really make Slaves to Darkness Heroes become great. One of the cool things here is that the list doesn't have any downsides in the sence that you can even ignore the Spawn result. It's a nice bonus!
4. The Command Traits here are all interesting and due to how Eye of the Gods work I think it's a fairly good plan to tool up your general as a Hero and Monster hunter.
5. The Artefacts here are decent. I like Helm of the Opressor, adding Bravery can be nice but a Bloodsecrator has that role covered aswell. 

What I really like here is that the Allegiance gives guaranteed bonusses in the form of Aura of Chaos Power. So if your Khorne army is indeed smaller and contains a lot of Slaves to Darkness units I do believe a Chaos Lord on Manticore can give some fantastic influences in improving their damage output. As Slaves to Darkness is a faction with a lot of depth aswell I think it's also not too difficult to find some good room for all the required Allies, such as a Bloodsecrator and Bloodstoker.  

Allegiance Khorne gives us the following unique advantages: 
1. You are limited to Khorne Keyword units, at this point we assume we can use the Blades of Khorne Faction rules, though it's save to say that this is indeed the intended list of Factions to Ally with. Typically, like Chaos, Khorne doesn't really ened Allies however.  
2. Blood Tithe table as the Battle Trait is a true skilltester, luckily it works well with Allies however it's easy to miss out on their effects in the smaller point games. The full way to use this Blood Tithe table massively differs per game and throughout this tactica I will come back at it from time to time.
3. Command Traits in Khorne are many. We really have 18 to choose from and they mostly all interesting. The ones I personally like the most are:
Bloodbound: Slaughterborn, Mark of the Cannibal and Desciple of Khorne. They are all Artefact levels of effects however I will also say that by comparison just the Bloodbound Command Traits arn't that great.
Daemon: Immense Power. While Bloodletter Heroes most certainly don't need this they are very unlikely candidates for generals anyway. On the other hand it's this Command Trait that makes a world of difference for every Bloodthirster general. Going from D3 wounds to D3+1 changes the outcome of battles more as the words suggest.
Mortal: Violent Urgency. The biggest advantage here is how it can give you a cheap support general that exactly effects units in the way you want it. 
4. The Artfacts for Khorne players are truely a selling point for me, the list is massive and many of each list have multiple advantages. To name a few that blow many other Artefacts straight out of the water would be Gorecleaver, The Brazen Rune, Mark of the Destroyer, Talisman of Burning Blood, Deathdealer, Harvester of Skulls, The Crimson Crown and Mark of the Slayer.  In may cases these Artefacts have double effects or do double work because they are attached to massively powerful attacks. All of their strong combiantion choices  are covered in 'The Combinations'.
5.  Blood Blessings of Khorne are all also fantasticly filling in whatever need one might feel lacking in terms of "magical support".  I think many players love using Killing Frenzy but Bronzed Flesh is an equally great choice, especially because it can stack and can be taken three times. Meaning we're fully capable of preseting Bloodletters with a 4+/3+ armour save or even crazier present Blood Warriors, Skullreapers or Skullcrushers with a 3+/2+ armour save.

My very coloured verdict remains that Khorne is actually a very fine choice for any 2000 point army and usually better when your army contains multiple Bloodletter units or Slaughterpriests. For sure Grand Allegiance Chaos or Slaves to Darkness can be chosen, it doesn't limit you in any specific way, but what it does do is reward your opponent by thaking our your general as soon as possible. All armies generate a lot of power from their Heroes, Age of Sigmar as a rule of tumb rewards hunting down heroes very well. The prime difference Khorne offers that the other choices do not are:
- The death of a Hero obtains a quick Blood Tithe point. In a way we get a reward when it occurs
- Command Traits can still be used on models even if the general dies. Thanks to Blood Tithe
- Blood Tithe point effects influence the lategame more and more, as the game progresses you can choose where the impact will occur, regardless of general placement

At the same time, the lower ammount of points played the lower ammount of Blood Tithe points can be accumulated and still have an impact on the game. So for any 500-1000 point army I'd certainly consider Grand Allegiance Chaos and Allegiance Slaves to Darkness over Allegiance Khorne. 
- Blood Tithe point effects are minimal the moment you can't certainly recieve 3 and still have a guaranteed army left  
- Unpredictable Destruction will likely affect your whole army at the 500-1000 point army level
- Aura of Chaos Power is likely the best choice at the 500-1000 point level if your army is full Slaves to Darkness units the guaranteed re-roll means a lot here aswell as smaller battles often boil down to one or two key units who clash

The Khorne Combinations
Khorne in my opinion really set itself apart with the Blood Tithe point system, their Command Traits and Prayers but what is perhaps the most potent bonus Khorne followers recieve is the weaponry they gain from the blood-forges constructed by the Bloodletters and Skullgrinders! So with this in mind it can be very important to note some of the interesting and potent combinations, many of which boost Khorne Daemons, Bloodbound Mortals or Slaves to Darkness Mortals more as others.

Command Traits and Artefacts
Khorne Daemons have acces to what is most likely the most potent set of Command Traits and Artefacts we've seen so far. It isn't incorrect to say that Bloodmasters or Skullmasters arn't very interesting Heroes. It can even be argued that for their points the Bloodthirsters have very dicey damage results just based on their Warscrolls. Their Khorne Allegiance abilities fix this in my opinion. These are the abilities that lead to impactful strengths even when not optimally played:

 

-Immense Power turns the dicey D3 damage found on Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury and Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster into D3+1. On paper this difference doesn't seem like much up until you test it against the many variants of 2 Wounds Infantry and Cavalry. Going to 2 to 4 damage matters a lot and in most cases is actually twice as good as just having D3 damage. 
*A Bloodthirster is not a cheap Hero and I would not recommend playing them under 2000 points, however the moment they become your general this Command Trait is often the best choice.
- The Crimson Crown, the crown! Hands down the best Artefact choice for armies who run with a multitude of Bloodletter units with the obvious Bloodsercator. Since the FAQ it has been clearified that you can roll 6 or more in order to have this effect go off. 
*In effect this translates to The Crimson Crown working with many other abilities found on Bloodletters. As the Bloodletters get +1 to hit when they are more than 20 and re-roll 1's when a Khorne Daemon Hero  is near. The same range applies for The Crimson Crown's effect. To make it even scarier the Slaughterpriests' Killing Frenzy Blood Prayer adds another +1 to hit (and can be stacked). Which leads to massive ammounts of Mortal Wounds.
Consider this Artefact as your first pick the moment your army contains enough Bloodletters and a Daemon Hero. It works on the model with the Artefact aswell, meaning it's very likely your Bloodthirster will get another attack out of this deal aswell. 
*Another thing that is easy to miss is that not only Bloodthirsters and Bloodletter Heroes have acces to it. Chaos Lords on Daemonic Mounts have the Khorne and Daemon Keyword aswell.
- Mark of the Slayer, a very interesting Artefact and the last covered here as it is just ideal for players who want to run a Bloodthirster for the sake of it looking awesome. Mark of the Slayer offers some great synergy that is otherwise harder to find between Daemon and Mortal Khorne choices. It allows you to re-roll 1's to hit within an 8" area (not contributing to Bloodletters) but also allows you to re-roll 1's to wound. The latter is relevant to any Khorne army but more importantly it allows you to affect all Khorne units, not just Daemons. 
*Any Hero wielding this Artefact can easily assist the units around him. Under the current wording it also isn't mentioned wether or not a succesful charge is required to 'activate' the second part of this Artefact's ability. Feel free to ask your local TO if it comes up. In general though the bonus attached to the area again is allround great.

Bloodbound Mortals have acces to a gigantic list of Command Traits and Artefacts. All in all they have the option to choose from 9 unique Command Traits and 12 Artefacts (15 for the Bloodsecrator specifically, though he obviously will not carry too much). It's worth to mention here that the Banners of Khorne do count towards Artefacts and that it's typically not a great idea to pick them. The reason for this is quite simple and that's the range of the abilities attached to the banners. Ideally the Bloodsecrator isn't 8" near any of our main units, more on that later in the unit coverage.
The Slaves to Darkness Heroes have a lower ammount of acces to Artefacts however there are still some excellent choices left.
Choices that are fantastic for any Mortals however are:

 

- Slaughterborn is one of the easiest choices for most armies who don't run a Bloodthirster general. It adds some nice re-rolls, you can always rely on it and usually it's a good choice if you feel your speed is good enough, 
- Disciple of Khorne cool to use in combination still with Mark of the Destroyer. *Though because of that largely reserved for the Mighty Lord of Khorne.
- Violent Urgency armies consisting largely or completely out of Infantry can usually use this Command Trait very well, again nothing too fancy but allround great synergy with a lot of units. *All Khorne units to be precise. 
- Gorecleaver an example as to why Khorne as an Allegiance is great, additional Rend and Mortal wound options. Again enough factions have an Artefact that does either but not both. 
- The Brazen Rune speaking about two-in-ones, here we get a good old "dispell scroll" and added 2+ save against spells. Quite frankly the best defensive Artefact we have. *Fantastic to use on a Bloodsecrator if you happen to have the room for an additional Artefact. That 2+ save often saves him more as quickly using it to unbind a spell. So think through it's use.
- Mark of the Destroyer despite GH2017 not allowing us to stack attacks however we want this is still a gem on the Mighty Lord of Khorne. It allows for a ton of damage output, it's restricted to Bloodbound though, so other as him there isn't a ton of reason to have it around, though it makes Deathbringers cool too. 
- Talisman of Burning Blood the last usefull two-in-one but another great one. *I personally love this to be on any of the less hitty and less armoured Heroes, Slaughterpriest and Bloodstokers will enjoy this a lot. 

All in all the Artefacts for the Mortals are nothing too fancy but we get some great deals here in having multiple bonusses. In a lot of cases this means any of the Artefacts rewards our cheap Heroes to be all the more effective for their cost. A thing to keep in mind though is that none of these Artefacts guarantee a monster on the battlefield but honestly we don't need that too much either. Our Infantry choices are our musscle and these Artefacts support them extremely well.

Blood Blessings of Khorne are what make Slaughterpriest legit choices within any Khorne army. Going heavy on Slaughterpriests gets rewarded the best with Gore Pilgrims Battalion but even thaking one is never a bad idea, especially not on lower point levels. In terms of great Blood Blessings we basically have two solid choices I'd always recommend over difficult Blood Tithe synergy chains that are available but don't synergize all to well with the ideally 16" "kept away" Slaughterpriest. The choices:

1. Killing Frenzy, fantastic on any unit who wants increased offense (sure all units on paper want this but there is another option!).
2. Bronzed Flesh, fantastic on any unit with a 4+ save allready.

In most cases the choices arn't too difficult and list dependant. What is ideal here is that like Blood Boil and Blood Bind they both have a range of 16", because of that you can't really make much mistakes with thaking either. The prime advantage of Bronzed Flesh is that it's another way to ensure your infantry blocks actually get there, though I too have to admit that Bloodletters and Bloodreavers usually gain more with Killing Frenzy as soon as even Rend -1 is involved.
The step from going 4+ to 3+ armour save leads to 66,66% chance of succession. The step from 6+ to 5+ is just too small and going from 5+ to 4+ is allright but usually Bloodletters are better when you increase Mortal wound chances to 50% per Bloodletter attack. This also stacks insanely well with The Crimson Crown.

In some cases I've seen players experiment with Blood Tithe generation aswell, the reason why I do not advice this is because (even more now then ever) you can't really use that Blood Tithe point instantly, instead you damage key pieces for the opponent. Khorne rewards offense very well, so usually you can't go wrong with Killing Frenzy. At the same time, adding that save to a Bloodsecrator can be essential too. 
*Lastly keep in mind that Blood Blessings, Prayers, still stack. In some battles you'll find that one unit will be the make or break unit for a game, it's in those moments where I'd put my focus onto one unit. From the start of the game however spreading the effects usually works out for the best.

Blood Tithe is the skilltester for every Khorne player, using it well leads to great games and impactful changes, using it haphazardly means you will not likely obtain any benifit from it. As a starting player I would focus on the following effects, in many ways they are the gear-stick of Khorne:

1. Bloody Exemplar easy to use early in the game, not always worth it to spend your Blood Tithe points on but certainly something that is ideal to keep into consderation for specific models and often smaller armies.
Key models you want to consider this for are:
- Archaon:  Can be really fun if you stack the below mentioned model's their Command Ability on top of each other. Though offcourse this is less likely to occur in most 2000 point battles due to Archaon's cost.
- Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster: Multiple Daemon units who can run and charge at the same time with an additional movement mean your covering all the more ground (offensively and defensively). 
- Aspiring Deathbringer: Especially relevant for smaller games but adding more attacks is always good. It keeps the Aspiring Deathbringer relevant for larger games aswell.
- Lord of Khorne on Juggernaut: Adding to wound rolls is something we can't do all the time and dice manipulation remains an amazing thing. Keep in mind though that affected units still have to charge to make use of this Command Ability altogether.
- Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount: Like the Lord of Khorne dice manipulation is a worthy trade of, especially if it would otherwise only affect one unit. 
- Chaos Lord on Manticore: Affecting multiple units is the key here, it isn't common to see multiple units of Chaos Warriors per army but if you do have them it's great to affect multiple units.

A prime thing to keep in mind here that if you expect to go up to 3 Blood Tithe points for Murderlust quickly I wouldn't spend multiple Blood Tithe points here. However in certain scenario's you end up with 1 or 2 turn 1 and this still is ideal to use regardless, especially if you have any of the above models in your army.

2. Spelleater Curse ideal to use against Seraphon and Tzeentch opponents. Understand what your opponents spell will do before using it though because in many cases you are just one Blood Tithe point away from a greater good. Remember getting models killed doesn't always have to be a massivve problem. In fact it's part of any battle and unless we are talking about Key models I would consider going the regular unbind routes we also have many of. Models we do want to keep around for sure are:
- Bloodsecrator (critical)
- Daemonic Heroes with The Crimson Crown (critical)
- Bloodbound Heroes with Mark of the Destroyer or Talisman of Blood (though their loss is less critical)

A last thing to consider for the above is that The Brazen Rune can protect a Hero from magical effects and can also automatically unbind if that Hero is close enough. One of the best ways to keep your Bloodsecrator around against magic is The Brazen Rune.

Some examples of spells to certainly counter:
- Infernal Gateway (Lord of Change), very powerful to snipe down Heroes
- Infernal Flames (Gaunt Summoner), very powerful against Horde units
- Celestial Deliverance (Lord Kroak), a giant commet that is very powerful against Daemons specifically
- Miasma of Pestilence (Bloab Rotspawned), once some damage is taken this can certain eat away at units and kill Heroes
- Curse of the Years (Arkhan the Black), if the ball get's rolling it can spell a giant nightmare
- Many more  

In all cases it's up to the player to decide wether or not he can handle the damage output that comes from the spell. One thing to keep in mind here is that the quantity of spells matters aswell. From my experience there are games where this Blood Tithe effect is very potent such as versus Tzeentch and Seraphon but there are also many more where a couple of spells will not lose you the game instantly. 

3. Murderlust a personal favourite that can make the difference in any game. A charge or move in any Hero phase can force an opponent into a corner very fast and the additional movement is always very welcome. In many cases if you have the option to use this in your opponents Hero phase you should do so. It's Murderlust that allows us to snowball into wins in most of my games.

Keep in mind that you are essentially capable to reform here in a Hero phase which is a very potent ability altogether. In addition it can set up for flank protection and allows us to play onto Objectives early aswell. Thaking the iniative is important here, understanding which unit is in most need of it is very important aswell. 

5. Apoplectic Frenzy feels like a once in a battle effect but can be worth it to save up for. A rule of tumb to keep in mind here is that you can save up for it if you and your opponents have roughly equal ammounts of units left and/or removed. In many other cases using a combination of Bloody Exemplar, Spelleater Curse and Murderlust works out better as putting down the pressure.

*7. Relentless Fury lastly we have Relentless Fury which usually isn't worth saving up for unless your so far ahead in the game "you might aswell". Offcourse I had to mention it because of it's powerful effect but as per Apoplectic Frenzy I'd certainly prefer using the other effects before this. The fact that half of the Blood Tithe point table isn't terribly exciting isn't a massive issue. Just keep in mind that you have acces to Bloody Examplar, Spelleater Curse and Murderlust, in many cases this is enough of an advantage allready.  

Getting the most out of Khorne Allegiance
While we will cover the rest of the use with all the Unit designs aswell it's important to keep in mind that especially under General's Handbook 2017 we should be looking for a mix of Horde units and smaller units. Before it was often rewarded to go for the multiple small unit tactic and while this still allows you to obtain a lot of Blood Tithe points the effects you can get out of Bloody Exemplar and Murderlust are "more efficient" on bigger unit blocks.

In many cases including Bloodletters should at least mean you try to find room for 30, if you are including Bloodreavers you should consider the use of 40 first. Great choices for smaller units are logically part of your army, Bloodsecrator, Bloodstoker or a single Bloodthirster remain great choices and so do single Khorgorath's for the eventual purpose of generating "easy" Blood Tithe points.

As many of you know allready, the inclusion of a Bloodsecrator is essential for every Khorne army. In almost all cases there is a great reason to pair if with a Bloodstoker because we get a lot of power out of our infantry and affecting as much models as possible per ability remains a great way to create a powerful army. 

[Killax]

Battalions

A lot of them have become a whole lot more costly as before. In certain cases I think you should still experiment with whatever combination you like. However there are still four Battalions which I believe are competitively speaking the top of our choices. Certain Battalions like Bloodforged or even Council of Blood might be added later on but for those types of Battalions I simply lack the numbers in Blood Warriors or Bloodthirsters to fully comment on them. The four I do think have the competative power to still be a true consideration are Murderhost, Gore Pilgrims, Brass Stampede and Bloodmarked Warband.

(120) Murderhost - Itself is simple and rewards a high number of Bloodletters. What is so nice about it now is that you have several Objective reasons to run this Battalion and the discount on multiple Bloodletter blocks adds up. Some might find the cost high but as you essentially receive 30 point discounts per Bloodletter unit it’s easy to push down it’s effective cost to 30 points (or less if you consider other discounts).
On a personal level I would not invest quickly into running the max units, though it’s certainly possible, for the simple reason that the additional movement bonus only applies for the units near the Bloodletter Hero. If it applied to Bloodthirsters I’d be more inclined in doing it as they can cover a much larger area.

The commonly used key success tactic used with this Battalion is to aim for a key first turn charge. A minimum of three 30 Bloodletter units is what I’d recommend and usually with a Bloodstoker and Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster you should be able to “charge” a unit from 24” away. (2d6”=7” from Murderhost, + 5&D6+1”= 9” run + 2D6+1”= 8” charge from a Lord of the Blood Hunt + 3” from a single Bloodstoker).
The multitude of Bloodletters comes in as you repeat the process. In many cases the Bloodletters will not be completely boosted with attacks from the Bloodsecrator but it remains extremely rewarding in taking Objectives and catching opponents who made mistakes during deployment.

Example army lists:

 

 

(180) Gore Pilgrims - Is another great Battalion that allows us to really keep the Bloodsecrator on a save distance while adding essential ranged offense to our toolbox. I personally am a huge fan of Bronzed Flesh for the Slaughterpriests as it allows us to really outnumber quite a lot of opponents and only make our Slaughterpriests ‘easy targets’.
On a personal level I would always run this with 3 Slaughterpriest and wouldn’t bother too much with other expensive Heroes. Boosting a Bloodthirster is very cool but the sheer power of the buffs is better spend on 30 wounds instead of 14.

The commonly used key success tactics for this force vary but a lot of it’s potency comes from having a massive Rage of Khorne range and very decent Magical defences. Blood Boil and Blood Bind are great prayers and very successful with this Battalion. Other cool combinations include handing out multiple Bronzed Flesh bonuses on a single unit in the late game or guaranteeing hits.
The multitude of Slaughterpriests is extremely effective when opponents run low on ranged attacks, which are the only true boon for Slaughterpriests.

Example army lists:

 

 

(180) Brass Stampede - Much like Murderhost specifically rewards the player in thaking the max units and basically reward the player in having tons of the same models. I like the idea of Brass Stampede for a player who either has Murderhost, Bloodmakered Warband or Gore Pilgrims finished as at that point in the hobby it's very likely you've got all the infantry you'll ever need.

The key to succesful running this army is to get the most out of MSU Skullcrusher tactics, where a lot of their power is unleashed when you run the maximum ammount of units. In other cases the output of Skullcrushers still remains dicey compaired to that of many of our infantry choices. The giant benifit is a really fast and crushing force. What in practice makes it still not too easy to play is that the large bases of multiple Skullcrushers can become an issue for functionality if boards are filled with terrain. Other than that it is an effective way of playing the game when you do thake 'all the Skullcrushers' especially in a Magic heavy metagame.

Example army lists:

 

 

(100) Bloodmarked Warband – From the Everchosen book a very interesting Battalion remains for us that almost always guarantee a 1-drop army. While it can be a bit difficult to fill in the exact unit numbers the Battalion itself allows for a massive mix of Mortal Khorne units. This means we have the option to select all units from Bloodbound and Slaves to Darkness.

Brand of the Bloodgod isn't easy to use for every unit but it's not difficult to see how both Bloodreavers and Chaos Marauders easily lead to 40 man units who will indeed benifit a lot from this small bonus. Even if this was all the benifit gained there are many more reasons to consider this Battalion as both Blood Rage and Raised to Greatness are fantastic rules. When Raised to Greatness is used well you can also do obscene things in terms of generating Blood Tithe points or turn Wrathmongers into their own unit adding some crazy potential in terms of buffing your own units but also in giving up very little in order to have a Monster deal with it or basically force it away. 

Example army lists:

 

 

Khorne GH2017 Battalion Costs  
While this part of the tactica is still very small I hope more players will be able to test their own and archieve succes with it. This is the current list of Battalions always available to Khorne armies.

 

 

 

[Under construction, spelling and order will change]

 

[Blood&skulls]

Great breakdown and write up for newer players and veterans alike. Defiantly food for thought on allot of topics. 

Looking forward to seeing this tactica develop and and aid the brethren in making the mountain of skulls grow!

[Lysandestolpe]

Fantastic writeup! Very interesting and helpful

[jazman84]

Love your work 

[Killax]

Many thanks guys! Have to say that this is only the "fat" of Blades of Khorne, where the "meat and bones" have yet to come and actually are much more vital to good gameplay. I'll try to add as much as possible as soon as possible but am also in the process of creating different visual examples on how to optimize our units (model placement).

One of the things I really enjoy more and more about Age of Sigmar is how it's very much an "objective based and board control game" which is something that is easily missed the moment you first peek into the game and thus often assume list X or Y is the "trick to victory". Where in most cases, confirmed by Tournament results containing names that play several armies at top level, the actual play is much more important.

The prime joy I get out of the design we've recieved from Blades of Khorne is that it actually adds a depth to the army that would otherwise need to act very aggressively in all cases. In other (card)games they'd call this aggro. The Blood Tithe system however offers a lategame plan that unfolds itself based on how well you anihilate key pieces and continue to destroy possible other threats  thanks to Spell Eater Curse defences, Murderlust movements or charges and akin to double turn destruction thanks to Apoplectic Frenzy. As above though, understanding and using this to your advantage means you need to know the in and outs of our Allegiance, Army lists and Units  in almost all good Khorne armies several units with different roles should be present to optimize the effects from the Blood Tithe system.

So yeah, more soon, I promise. Cheers!

[gottog]

Is it possible to take Bloodmarked Warband (keyword Everchosen) and keep Khorne allegiance?

[Killax]

1 hour ago, gottog said:

Is it possible to take Bloodmarked Warband (keyword Everchosen) and keep Khorne allegiance?

Yes, if the units have the Khorne Keyword in a Battalion you can use the Battalion aswell.

[mastercrafted]

Good read that. For a complete noob, where can i find the chaos and slaves to darkness allegience rules? Obviously khorne is in blades of khorne book

[Killax]

2 hours ago, mastercrafted said:

Good read that. For a complete noob, where can i find the chaos and slaves to darkness allegience rules? Obviously khorne is in blades of khorne book

Generals Handbook 2017, more will be added next week, busy with school and job right now.

The article will cover Chaos and Slaves to Darkness less. If you do want mixed Chaos or mixed Gods these two Allegiances remain ideal and likely better at lower points aswell. Granted a support Slaughterpriest is great too at 1K Khorne.

[mastercrafted]

1 minute ago, Killax said:

Generals Handbook 2017, more will be added next week, busy with school and job right now.

The article will cover Chaos and Slaves to Darkness less. If you do want mixed Chaos or mixed Gods these two Allegiances remain ideal and likely better at lower points aswell. Granted a support Slaughterpriest is great too at 1K Khorne.

Thats great, thanks! Wasn't sure if i needed the grand alliance chaos book or not

[Killax]

34 minutes ago, mastercrafted said:

Thats great, thanks! Wasn't sure if i needed the grand alliance chaos book or not

At this point not so much anymore, the app gets your units, the google has pretty much all info you otherwise need