[Review] Blades of Khorne

[Killax]

Hi guys, since I hope we all have the Blades of Khorne book now I decided to do a review!
This review is allready shorter as I initially planned but still a massive heap of text, so be certain to grab yourself a nice cup of coffee or skip it altogether.  

Narrative Play 
I can highly recommend Blades of Khorne to any Khorne fan, even to 40K players. It feels really good to have all the minions of Khorne largely represented into one book, those being Khorne Bloodbound and Khorne Daemons. While it would have been awesome to see Khorne Mortals included into this book aswell I think we all can see the hints GW is leaving us in terms of that. I really like about the cover of the book is that it gives us a great striking blood red Bloodletter, with some great Khorne models in the background, such as the Mighty Khorne Lord, Khorgorath and even a Bloodthirster. As a fan of Khorne since my start in the game this book holds a special place in my heart.

The artwork and lore is also really again made for the Khorne fans, fans that do not have to restrict themselves to the Bloodbound look at this point and can really blend as they please while getting rewarded by it! I personally love the fact that his struggle with Slaanesh is mentioned, one of the reasons as to why I like it so much is once again because it harkens back to the great days of where the Slaves to Darkness WFB/40K/RPG was used as the Chaotic bible for Khorne and Slaanesh. For the Slaanesh fans I can only hope that he will eventually make his return to the Age of Sigmar aswell.
What I like the most arguably is that the lore tone set by this book is different from Khorne Bloodbound, a book that for me personally focused too much on illogical lore or lore that was very clearly made up for a younger audience. I understand that an axe of Khorne is made to kill, I really don't need to read 101 times that it's ideal for loppin' heads.  

Because of this improved lore in general the narative for me personally is spot on. It's explained into detail how the armies of Khorne collect and are out for pure destruction and not only fanaticial skull collectors. Which to me again is a large improvement.
The designs (exclusively) available for Narrative Play also really match what I hoped Blades of Khorne would offer us. All of the Reward Tables are very cool and interact very well with the Blood Tithe point system, while many of the Artefacts or Command Traits do not. 

Keep in mind that Narrative Play really is there to allow you to do whatever you want in terms of designs, there is no good or bad, just a personal style and a really deep pool of choices. Blades of Khorne has a ton of fun and powerful combinations, keep in mind that the best way to use them is to level them with your opponents game intends. 

Matched Play 
All options that are there for Matched Play are also available to Narrative Play however I think it's fair to say that Matched Play usually refers to the competative side of things. So from this point on the review will continue to focus on that aspect of the game. 

Allegiance
Where the Khorne Allegiance previously was only seen in specialized Allegiances such as Khorne Bloodbound Allegiance or Khorne Daemon Allegiance the Khorne Allegiance by itself is now a real thing and generates some awesome Battle Traits, Command Traits, Artefacts of Power (and Daemonic Gifts, who are also Artefacts of Power) and Blood Blessings.
!! All these mentioned in the Blades of Khorne Book are only available to armies who have chosen the Khorne Allegiance. An army that has the Khorne Allegiance can also have the specialized Allegiance such as Khorne Bloodbound or Khorne Daemon. 
!! In order to have the Khorne Allegiance you must have Khorne starting units or units who can recieve the Khorne keyword during set up and Khorne Battalions.
Khorne Allegiance still allows for non-starting unit to be of any Keyword.
!! Khorne Bloodbound Battalions are also Khorne Battalions but not all Khorne Battalions are Khorne Bloodbound Battalions!
!! Khorne Bloodbound or Khorne Daemon Allegiance requires all your units to be Khorne and respectively Bloodbound or Daemon. 

Battle Traits (Blood for the Bloodgod! and Blood Tithe points)
The ammount of flavour and power this gives the Khorne army is truely awesome. I expect to often use 1,2,3,4 and if the game allows it 7. 
!! Blood Tithe points can be expended at any point in either player’s hero phase, but only once per phase.

From my perspective the biggest gain we have from the Battle Trait is that we can now use a ton of Command Abilities quite easily which significantly improves the worth of many of our cheaper Bloodbound Heros. As a fan of the Gorechosen set (less about the game) I'm very happy that GW granted these Heroes a competative functional role as many of their Command Abilities are actually quite good, their profile frames just don't scream 'this model wants to be your General'. 

Command Traits (Bloodbound, Daemon and Mortal)
A lot of the Command Traits have great purpose! Again I think there is a lot to be said for many of them. I really like how most of them make our Generals amazing in melee combat and a true force to be feared. 
!! Command Traits are not Command Abilities, it's easy to confuse them, I know I almost did in the past  

Artefacts of Power (Murderous Artefatcs, Banners of Khorne, Trophies of War, Daemonic Weapons, Daemonic Adornments)
As always an amazing selection, much more as I'd hoped for. Using which is a matter of personal preforance, I know I'm a huge fan of Gorecleaver, Banner of Rage, Mark of the Destroyer, Behemoth's Bane and The Crimson Crown. You could say they are my favourites within each of the Artefacts of Power lists.
!! All these are Artefacts of Power and each Hero can only have one Artefact of Power but you can have multiple heroes with the same (one) Artefact of Power.

Blood Blessings of Khorne
Like the way the Blood Tithe points works well for cheaper Heroes the Slaughterpriest are now truely worthy to consider. Especially with the Gore Pilgrims as a Battalion for your army. 
!! Currently Prayers are not worded the same way as Spells but there are House-rules who do have it worded that they work in the same way. 

I do have to say that there is one big thing I'm missing for these Blood Blessings and that's the option to somehow Summon... I personally don't miss it but it does still feel strange that you'd need a Chaos Wizard to Summon Khorne Daemons. We have the technical option to use 8 Blood Tithe points for that but in general that doesn't feel like the type of design that's useful for competative play.  

Warscrolls 
One of the quick leaks that came out is that the Warscroll changes where kept to a minimum. If you havn't picked up Blades of Khorne and put your Khorne Bloodbound book next to it it's very important to be aware of the many changes that are going on! I decided to review and mention the changes together. 

Many of the Battalions seem really good and it's truely up to anyone to see and use as they please. I don't feel the book contains any bad Battalions. Some are a bit more difficult to include as others but overall speaking there is nothing sticking out as a competative must-have. I think the advantage of having a lot of good Battalions just helps out.

What is kind of important to note here is that 7 former Khorne Bloodbound Battalions changed to Khorne Battalions. For several of the larger Battalions (such as Goretide) this does matter. While the wording isn't extremely clear be aware that Battalions, even if they are completely comprimised of Daemon or Bloodbound models, do not suddenly gain the Daemon or Bloodbound Keyword. 
!! There are still 2 Khorne Bloodbound Battalions left, those are Goreblade Warband and Bloodstorm (for non-Matched play we also have Redblade Vanguard). All other former Khorne Bloodbound Battalions are now Khorne Battalions. 

In my opinion all Units seem equally interesting also. The most intresting part Khorne armies have to offer in my opinion is that they do reward Multiple Small Units with the Blood Tithe point system but at the same time due to how Slaughterpriests, Bloodcrushers and Skullcrushers are improved also still offer a lot of options to go for Fewer Big Units. The choice is really there for anyone to combine and match what kind of army they visually like. There is very little that would stop making it work. The only rule of tumb I have is that certain Heroes work better with the MSU approach while others work better with the FBU approach. 

Wording and Keyword Changes
Without going too deep into the way these will affect rules a lot of the wording on several models is changed. What I and many others hope is that we will see how this affects the army as a whole. The whole list of changes:

Skarbrand
- Total Carnage clarification example added
Bloodcrushers
- Murderous Charge has been rewritten and now has an affect for units with 6 models aswell
- Summon Bloodcrushers has become easier to do and allows you to summon 3 or 6
Bloodbound
- BLOODBOUND Keyword is granted to all models formerly found in the Bloodbound Battletome
Mighty Lord of Khorne
- Collar of Khorne has been rewritten and now only allows for one unbinding
- Gorelord has been rewritten and now doesn't require the model to be the general
Bloodsecrator
- Rage of Khorne has been rewritten (nothing states that it cannot stack)
Lord of Khorne on Juggernaut
- Blood Stampede has been rewritten and now doesn't require the model to be the general
Exalted Deathrbinger (both)
- Brutal Command has been rewritten and now doesn't require the model to be the general
Aspiring Deathrbinger (both)
- Slaughter Incarnate has been rewritten and now doesn't require the model to be the general
Bloodstoker
- Whipped to Fury has been rewritten (nothing states it cannot stack)
Bloodreavers
- Have been re-costed
- Have gained a 6+ Armour save
Mighty Skullcrushers
- Murderous Charge has been rewritten and now has an affect for units with 6 models aswel
Scyla Anfingrimm
- Has lost MONSTER Keyword
Khorgoraths
- Have been re-costed
- Now deal 2 damage with Claws and Fangs

Battalions
- Blood Host of Khorne changed from being a Daemons of Khorne Battalion to being a Khorne Battalion
- Bloodbound Warhorde changed from being a Khorne Bloodbound Battalion to being a Khorne Battalion
- Bloodbound Warband changed from being a Khorne Bloodbound Battalion to being a Khorne Battalion
- Brass Stampede changed from being a Khorne Bloodbound Battalion to being a Khorne Battalion
- Dark Feast changed from being a Khorne Bloodbound Battalion to being a Khorne Battalion
- Red Headsmen changed from being a Khorne Bloodbound Battalion to being a Khorne Battalion
- Skulltake changed from being a Khorne Bloodbound Battalion to being a Khorne Battalion
- The Gorechosen changed from being a Khorne Bloodbound Battalion to being a Khorne Battalion

Overall speaking all the models in Khorne have drastically improved and in a few cases this has gone in combination with a small cost increase, those being Bloodreavers and Khorgoraths. The overall advantages gained here is that there still is nothing written about the ´not stacking of abilities´ seen on the Bloodsecrator or Bloodstoker. All Mortal Bloodbound Command Abilities have also lost the requirement that forces them to be a general in order to use it. Because of how easy it is to obtain 1 Blood Tithe point and use it for a (non-general) Command Ability the tactical and competative gain is massive.

I'm looking very much forward to test out all the changes soon! I hope that this review was helpful to:
1. Specifically mention some reminders on the drastical effects of the Khorne Allegiance
2. Cover all the changes and see how the vast mayority of them has made the Khorne army significantly better as before

Happy gaming!

Links
Games Workshop rules
Age of Sigmar rules PDF
GW FAQ Grand Alliance Chaos PDF 
!! Q: How many spells can a Mighty Lord of Khorne attempt to unbind in one turn?
A (per Blades of Khorne): One.
GW FAQ Generals Handbook PDF

Blades of Khorne cost sheet
Warriors of Chaos PDF
Slaughterbtue of Khorne PDF

House rules
Adepticon House-rules PDF
SCGT House-rules PDF (source for the idea that same name abilities wouldn't stack and that Prayers work as Spells)

Last but not least, feel free to share any handy information in regards to Khorne armies in this topic.

Cheers,
Killax

[Killax]

Hi guys, decided to give this Review a last bump. Have read the book from left to right, up and down and hope to give some specific reviews. If your a veteran to Khorne Bloodbound and Khorne Daemons it's likely not going to add a massive ton of new information for you but you can however use it to re-consider your current picks. Again this will focus largely on Blades of Khorne, there are offcourse more models available to us. Which can be the Slaves to Darkness models who can obtain the Mark of Khorne, Archaon, the Everchosen himself or other Monsters that happen to have the Khorne Keyword aswell. 

Warcroll Battalions
As a general rule of tumb I still wouldn’t say that any Khorne Army actually requires you to have a Battalion but the prime weakness of being a floot slogging army can now be somewhat migated by the Battalions we have to speed up our forces. In many cases Battalions who speed up our force, allow for a fast force or good threat range are the Battalions I like the most.

(Khorne "Daemon" Battalions)
(120) Blood Host of Khorne - Expensive but very solid if your willing to go Daemon heavy, additional attacks in Hero Phases are fantastic.
(80) Bloodthunder Stampede - I don't really know why Bloodcrushers are costed the same way as Skullcrushers, this Battalion is fun but not my pick. 
(80) Council of Blood - Very fun for Bloodthirster fans, not what I'd quickly pick for Matched 2K lists but certainly fun to consider so great for more casual Matched play games.
(60+) The Bloodlords - Seems fun but has the same issue for Matched play. Needing 3 Battalions on top is very likely too much. 
(60+) Daemon Legion of Khorne - Very good for large point/Narrative levels, though near impossible to use for Matched 2K lists. 
(60) Gorethunder Cohort - Really there for the Skullcannon fans! It's abilities are great but Skullcannons remain very dicey, which is something to keep in mind when considering this. Plus, you picked Khorne! Shooting isn't really what should have brought you here  
(40) Charnel Host - If you planned on using a Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury anyway this upgrade is a great way to fill in those last 40 points. I like it.
(40+) The Reapers of Vengeance - Very cool! You'll likely want to stack up on the cheapest Khorne Battalions with Daemons but the reward is speed! Unfortunatly it does cut into Hero slots to do this but you can and the reward seems reasonable if you like to move at stunning speed. 
(40) Skullseeker Host - Again if you like to stay mono Daemon it's something you can consider. The abilities gained are certainly good, the issue I have with this is how it forces you to thake Bloodcrushers and unless you are known for rolling 1's on Battleshock tests for them, I would skip this one, despite it's relative low cost. My opinion on this one basically is, Skullcannons are dicey  Bloodcrushers arn't Skullcrushers but still cost the same...
(30) Blood Hunt - Hunting heroes is a solid plan, this Battalion is very cheap and it's effects are great. So if you like Fleshhounds I'd thake it for sure.
(20) Murderhost - Simple yet so incredible! By far the easiest to use Battalion for army composition and likely the most rewarding. Even maxing out isn't required. Keep in mind that usually you need to pay around 120+ points for these kinds of effects if you look at The Goretide. So if your intent is to win a game or two, consider Murderhost, units of Bloodletters never dissapoint.

In general I believe that a lot of the Khorne Battalions are made for some great fun play, they are more flexible as the ones made up from Bloodbound units in general unit and hero choice. For competative reasons I would be inclined to almost always consider Murderhost when creating an army. 2D6" 'additional deployment' might not seem like too much but considering that you also get another Artefact out of it it's a steal for anyone willing to at least include Bloodletters and Fleshhounds. All Bloodletter Hero's are a steal anyway now they have acces to Mark of the Slayer and The Crimson Crown.  My top 5 picks for best competative Battalions made up of Daemon Units are: Murderhost, Blood Hunt, Charnel Host, The Reapers of Vengeance and Blood Host of Khorne.

(Khorne "Bloodbound" Battalions)
(120+) Bloodbound Warhorde - Seems like great fun for any Age of Sigmar Apocalypse style games, impossible to use for 2K Matched plays but cool.
(120) Bloodbound Warband -  Very heavy costed but a decent choice if you want your army to form the way this Battalion requires you to. There are some great charge bonusses involved here but it does feel expensive at 120. 
(100) Dark Feast - Very heavy costed again because Slaughterpriests and Bloodstokers arn't difficult to kill and you can only include one of each for this Battallion. I like it for Bloodreaver fans but it feels too heavily costed. If your opponent removes the Slaughterpriest and Bloodstoker he'll get more rewarded as not doing it  
(100) Skulltake - A nice choice for Khorgorath fans. Khorgoraths arn't my prime choice but it's nice for the fans. 
(100) The Gorechosen - Very fluffy and cool but impossible to use for 2K Matched plays. 
(80) Brass Stampede - A fine Battalion ported over from Bloodbound book and Skullcrushers did improve in larger numbers so this is a simple and very effective way to make your Skullcrushers work out something nasty.
(80) Slaughterborn - The first step into The Goretide. A great one at it aswell. If you like Blood Warriors and Skullreapers this Battalion rewards them greatly. Effectively gaining ‘counter-charge’ is a very good ability, even if you only get to make one attack, it counts up. The only small downside to this Battalion is the only small downside for Matched 2K is that the Exalted Deathbringer does eat another slot which you likely would have used elsewhere.
(80) Red Headsmen – I think the Hero and Monster hunter Narrative concept is really cool but I can’t forsee myself using it for Matched play. Your opponent does get an advantage at first and Aspiring Deathrbingers and Skullgrinders taking up slots is less than ideal, especially for this Battalion’s cost.
(60) Bloodforged – This is another example of a Battalion done right, simple and very effective. Great for Wrathmonger fans, granted a lot of Blood Warriors gain more benefit out of this. Together with Bronzed Flesh likely one of the better strategies we have to endure.
(40+) The Goretide – Fantastic! Absolutely the next step you go if you like Slaughterborn as a Battalion and Blood Warriors + Skullreapers as the backbone of your army. Easily the best Bloodbound Unit related Battalion.
(20+) The Skullfiend Tribe - If you like Skulltake this small bonus can make your force quite legit for competitive play considering the small cost required and the many additional Bloodbound Units you can include into it.
KHORNE BLOODBOUND (Not in the book but they are mentioned in the book so included for the update)
(140) Bloodstorm – Rather expansive but can be quite easily incorporated into other Battalions. Though I wouldn’t likely do it for Matched play 2K lists. Above that though, it becomes a worthy consideration as in both The Goretide and The Skullfiend Tribe you do add bonusses to Wrathmongers which they really like. Speeding up Wrathmongers is never a bad thing, adding some resistance to them isn’t either. Though this whole set up is very expensive.
(60) Goreblade Warband - Still really good considering it’s costs and unit inclusion. Certainly still amongst the better Battalions available. It is also easy to mix in with The Goretide and The Skullfiend Tribe though again for Matched play 2K lists this becomes more difficult.

In general I’d say that the Khorne Bloodbound Unit Battalions are considerably more expensive as those for the Khorne Daemon Unit Battalions. However there are some gems in there for sure!
Personally I do get why this is the case however as the Artefacts available to Mortal Bloodbound Heroes are many for sure and with choices like Banner of Khorne, Gorecleaver, Talisman of Burning Blood and Mark of the Destroyer you can’t but ask for a slightly heavier costed Battalion.
My top 5-6 for best competitive Battalion made up of Bloodbound Units are: The Goretide, Slaughterborn, Gore Pilgrims, Bloodforged, Brass Stampede and still Goreblade Warband.
Reasoning is simple here, get the cheapest and most effective Battalions for your Khorne Bloodbound heavy army!

Warcroll Units, Command Traits and Artefact combinations
The changes to the Units where largely coverd into the first post but I do think it’s a really solid plan to browse over them again because due to the Command Traits, Artefacts and Bloodblessings we can really play our Units in a different style as before. Which is fantastic but easy to miss due to the large amount of content the Blades of Khorne Battletome provides. As above, this is obvious to veterans but likely less obvious to newer Khorne players.

(Khorne Daemon Units)
(400) Skarbrand - You still know and love him. While he is a Named Character he still is a rock hard mean guy if all you really want is a big blender of anything.
(360) Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster - A fantastic alternative to Skarbrand if you pick him to be your general. The first 3 Command Traits are always a very worthy consideration, other than that I’m a big fan of Immense Power and Devastating Blow. Devastating Blow is dicey but applies to all Attacks, not just melee weapons. When the WoK B has an Artefact I like him the most with Harvester of Skulls and Behemoth’s Bane as he can one-round Monsters quite likely. I pick the WoK B if I have at least 2 additional good targets for his Lord of the Blood Hunt Command Ability. This is important to me because 1 Blood Tithe point shouldn’t be too difficult to obtain.
(300) Bloodthirster of Unfettered Rage - Another fantastic middle man. Command Trait choices are plenty, as with all Bloodthirsters. In this case I believe that Harvester of Skulls or Deathdealer are fantastic choices for his Artefacts. He’s an allrounder which usually benefit a lot from simple additional bonuses like another attack or damage. The Crimson Crown and Mark of the Slayer are also legit choices for him but I do believe that opponents will try to thake him out regardless of his Artefacts for the simple reason that he’s big and scary. So tooling him for combat at least means he can get in there and claim his own skulls.
(280) Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage - The cheapest of his kind and because of that always a very good pick in my opinion. Like the others I would be inclined to make him my General with Slaughterborn if I’d pick one and almost certainly equip him with Harvester of Skulls. That set up is bound to thake back it’s own points.
(180) Skullcannons - Great Hero sniper range but still super dicey! You can thake it for sure but I’m not too sold on them.
(160) Bloodcrushers - In my opinion simply too expensive for what they do. Skullcrushers are direct competition and better unless you somehow know you roll 1’s for Battleshock tests…
(120) Blood Throne - I sometimes forget this thing is a Hero, but because of that I now like it. It’s footprint with either The Crimson Crown (if you run Daemon heavy) or Mark of the Slayer (if your more mixed) just seems really good for the costs involved. Before I wouldn’t consider it too much, now I like it for the footprint it can provide. It will never be my General but it doesn’t have to be one either.
(100) Bloodletters - Likely a bit too cheap when ran in blocks of 30, the Bloodletters are just amazing Battleline units. Perfect for the in-between step. If you want to have the numbers of Bloodreavers and the lethalness of Blood Warriors, you cannot go wrong with Bloodletters. 30 are just amazing! Murderhost is cheap and a certain addition if you want to run a lot of them.
(100) Flesh Hounds - Still a very solid choice, great assistance if you somehow ran low on Unbind models and overall unlikely to ever disappoint. Do keep in mind that Locus of Fury means that some of the re-roll 1 abilities don’t actually do something for Bloodletters. Though there are exceptions such as the Banner of Rage. Murderhost is cheap and a certain addition if you want to run a lot of them.
(100) Karanak - Solid Hero choice, a pitty he can’t have Traits or Artefacts but logical also. Though due to the effective Daemonic Adornments I’m not too keen on the cheaper Named Daemon Heroes. Karanak remains a great choice if you do want to go mono-Daemon and want Flesh Hounds aswell. Likely as the 3^rd or 4^th Hero.
(100) Skullmaster, Herald of Khorne - The perfect in-between man to get acces to Daemonic Adornments. I really like this guy more as it’s Named counterparts if you have an Artefact spare for him. He’s resilient for a 100 point Hero, fast and has decent allround damage output.
(100) Skulltaker - Solid Hero choice, a pitty he’s named... Due to the effective Daemonic Adornments I’m not too keen on the cheaper Named Daemon Heroes.
(80) Bloodmaster, Herald of Khorne - Cheap but still a very worthy consideration for Daemonic Adornments. The only issue I have with this guy is that for a mere 20 points you get +1 Wound, +3” Move, +3 Attacks and a bigger base...

From my perspective I’d say Khorne Daemons remained very legit and other than Battalion effects little actually changed for them. Like before you’ll likely want to add Bloodsecrators to bump them to the next level in terms of support and the Slaughterpriest with Gore Pilgrims can now be part of that buffing party also. The biggest change arguably is how incredibly fast mono Khorne Daemon armies can move up. Turn 1-2 charges are most certainly possible!
What I really like is that all Bloodthirsters have become serious dangerous Monsters thanks to Command Trait and Artefact choices. I can forsee myself taking either Skarbrand, Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirser or Bloodthirser of Insensate Rage. By large because these are doing a lot of work themselves or thanks to their Command Trait. If you want to go cheap the BoIR with Slaughterborn and Harvester of Skulls just can’t disappoint. We’re talking a likely 4D6 wounds on opposing Units for just 280 points.
The Deamonic Adornments are also amazing and my prime choice for Bloodletter Heroes because I don’t require them to be into melee as soon as possible like I do with the Bloodthirster. The Crimson Crown and Mark of the Slayer are just a steal on 120 or 100 point bodies. Consider this!
Last but not least, one of the bigger power houses for sure remain the 30 Bloodletter Units.

(Khorne Bloodbound Units)
(180) Wrathmongers - These guys remain one of our best anti-Monster anti-Hero units. If you can find the points for them they will pull their weight most of the time. They do certainly have one weakness and that’s dealing with chaff but their remain the ideal second wave unit that can also dish out the pain. I think they will be a common sight if you run a few Battalions but if you don’t be sure to include at least one of these Units.
(160) Mighty Skullcrushers - Received a slight upgrade but are still very potent in combination with Brass Stampede. I do think it’s less likely they’ll show up as Battleline units these days but it’s still a legit possibility! I also really like how we gained multiple ways to re-roll 1’s so the Bloodglaives quite likely are a great choice if you include that bonus, which we can find in Banner of Khorne, Mark of the Slayer and a big unit with Killing Freny seems like a fantastic choice aswell. As those hit bonus applies to all.  In my opinion BoK has given us a legit reason to run 6 aswell.
(140) Lord of Khorne on Juggernaut - Always was a very solid choice already and with the coming of Command Traits, Artefacts and Blood Tithe became even better. There are many ways to kit him out. I do like the idea of him with Violent Urgency, Gorecleaver, Talisman of Burning Blood or Mark of the Destroyer to be certain he’ll pull his weight with the likely retinue of Skullcrushers.
(140) Mighty Lord of Khorne - Simply amazing with The Goretide and Mark of the Destroyer, as the amount of attacks this guy can generate by himself goes through the roof. He always was a really solid choice but now can be one obscene 140 point guy. Slaughterborn, Disciple of Khorne or Violent Urgency are all very good. I’m inclined to say that nothing really beats Mark of the Destroyer for this guy but feel free to test otherwise with for example Gorecleaver. He doesn’t Unbind like he used to but that’s a really small price to pay for his legit super-hero vibe with several of the Battalions.
(140) Skullreapers - Always where a fantastic pick and still are. Arguably better as ever because they too are amazng with Blood Blessings on them. In my opinion BoK has given us a legit reason to run 10 aswell.
(120) Bloodsecrator - Still the same guy, still awesome and always a worthy consideration for every army, both Narrative and Matched. There is still some debate going on about Rage of Khorne, so I’ll leave that in the middle but he’s also one of the few guys who can consider the true “armours of Khorne”. Ideally he’s not your General but Berzeker Lord sure does keep him around. The Crimson Plate or The Blood-forged Armour can be a good choice if you happen to run around with a lot of Slaughterpriests, Bloodsecrators and other cats who don’t want to be in melee and have a significantly worse armour save.
(120) Skarr Bloodwrath - Named characters just get the short end of the stick most of the times but he still is a good candidate for filling up a Hero slot with a regular beater. It’s just a pitty that under the Matched play rules returning him will cost you a lot. I do like the model, I do hope that the future will bring some nice news to him in regards to summoning. I think the only thing that will keep him a rarity on the field is that he directly competes with the Bloodsecrator in terms of cost and Battalions usually thake up so many Hero slots there is simply no place for him.
(120) Valkia the Bloody - Very fast so that certainly helps. Still seems like an excellent ‘missle Hero’ for that reason. Like Skarr and the Skulltaker I do think she’ll be a rarity. She remained fast but we now have something better, a faster army, with several blocks that are difficult to remove.
(100) Blood Warriors - Always good, but had stiff competition with Bloodletters in my competitive vision. Now however, due to the many Battalions that require them and significantly buff them they are on the same level. Provided you thake those Battalions, but there is little reason to not consider them!
(100) Khorgoraths - Got an interesting change, certainly are better as before, likely legit with Skulltake. Otherwise I’m not that much sold on them, largely because practically all love went to Bloodletters, Blood Warriors and Skullreapers in this Battletome.
(100) Scyla - Don’t know what happened here! He stopped being a Monster for whatever reason but otherwise can be cool. Does thake up that Leader spot and because of that I can only enjoy this model in the cabin.
(100) Slaughterpriests - Just amazing with Gore Pilgrims. I’m also over the moon on how they received such a massive boost with Blood Blessings. Slaughterpriest now are simply great if you want them to be great and the easily two best Blessings they provide are Bronzed Flesh and Killing Frenzy. If you happen to be in a Tournament setting with House-rules that treat Prayers like Spells I’d pick Brazen Fury. Blood Sacrifice is also nice but has that 3” range and healing D3 to me seems like trying to prefent damage that could have been prefented with Bronzed Flesh or Brazen Fury in the first place.
(80) Aspiring Deathbringer(s) - Cheap and the fact that you can now quite easily have acces to Slaughter Incarnate (1 Blood Tithe point) is simply awesome. Not the first Hero model I’d grab for but he is part of some Battalions and that doesn’t feel like a liability at all anymore at this point.
(80) Bloodstoker - Fantastic support still, nothing really changed for this guy but he’s still one of the best cheap support models we have.
(80) Exalted Deathrbinger(s) - A very solid guy, like the Aspiring Deathbringer not the type of Hero you’ll thake instantly but it does not feel like a liability to thake as part of a Battalion at all. I personally like all set ups and don’t think the difference of outcome is all too different. It depends on the opponent…
(80) Skullgrinder - Low on attacks but not not a bad guy at all. Unlikely to show up unless a Battalion requires you to thake him but the Bloodforged Battalion for example is good enough that it’s just a minor thing to include him.
(70) Bloodreavers - Unfortunatly got a bit more expensive. The 6+ save in return is decent but I don’t think anyone was really chearing for that. Nontheless bringing massive blocks of these guys is still a very legit option, as quantity remains to have a real quality. Especially the Slaughterpriest’s Brazen Fury seems like a more than decent choice as for numberous units who usually die quick ignoring Battleshock can be massive. In addition the Banner of Rage can also significantly boost them.

Khorne Bloodbound changed a lot! All for the better of the fans of these Warriors. I really like how GW has decided to essentially flesh out Blood Warriors and Skullreapers to the point where they become a true scary grindy force. In addition to that I think GW has done an excellent job in making the grand mayority of our Heroes relevant, even those that cost 100 points or less. The Slaughterpriest is just amazing with Gore Pilrgims and Blood Blessings. The various forms of Exalted Deathbringers are all interesting because of Slaughterborn + The Goretide essentially gives you a form of ‘counter-charging’ and that single attack with a Ruinous Axe is obviously better as a single attack with Bloodbite Axe or Impaling Spear. The same kind of process applies to the Aspiring Deatbringer. Not only will Thirst for Glory be good to ‘trigger’ but you’ll also be able to use Slaughter Incarnate quite easily.
All in all the good synergy that was available to Khorne Bloodbound units just went through the roof. The coolest thing in army construction for the months to come is to try and figure out which set up you like the most.
Skullcrushers, Blood Warriors, Skullreapers and Bloodreavers remain the backbone of Bloodbound heavy armies, but they have all been directly or indirectly improved through Battalion choices, so we truly are limitedless in choosing what we want.

Further Khorne discussion can be found in this awesome topic:

All this really is review that tries to reveal some of the great combinations possible for Blades of Khorne. A largely melee orientated army with a ton of melee tricks up it’s sleeve. I'm certain the more you play with it the more synergies will be revealed.

Overall I'd say that Khorne has some amazing Command Traits for melee Heroes, Daemons has the best Artefacts and Battalions but Bloodbound by far has the superior internal synergy, both truely allowing you to mix and match however you like!

Cheers,
Killax