Agent of Chaos

Well Round 2 of the campaign didnt go to plan. Lost to the Squigs 25-30. Close game with a couple of key moments. He gave me first turn so I took the centre with the Daemon Prince. I Belakor'd the Loon Boss on Mangler however he played it really smart. Rather than coming at me with the 2 manglers he flooded the board with hoppers and bounders, screening the manglers meaning it made sense for me to give him the double turn into Round 2. He hopped over the DP and finished him off with the Bounders. In the end it wasnt a bad trade off for suffering the double turn but also super frustrating as I whiffed all my attacks, failed 10/12 of my 5+ FNP, on top of failing plenty of 3+ saves despite using my reroll saves triumph... sigh... I cleared most of the chaff and then won priority into Round 3. My plan of holding back the knights with glaives was now in place however the most crucial of moments let me down; Belakor cast an arcane bolt against the non-hero mangler on an 11 but then I rolled a 1 for the D3 damage. The knights charged in but could only do 10 damage, leaving the mangler on 1 wound and his top damage bracket. So instead of killing the mangler, taking the objective for 2 extra VP and having a full strength unit of knights in his backfield, the Mangler killed half the knights and held the objective. Then finished off the knights in his turn and was able to go on causing havoc until I brought it down. Had I rolled 3+ for the arcane bolt damage it would have been a different game. Oh well, onto the next round; 1500 points against Stormcast in Places of Arcane Power. Thinking a Slaanesh marked Ruinbringers list for lots of mortal wounds. Fingers crossed!

@Neverchosen nice to see the first Idolators list on here. I notice no warcry warbands... Its super crucial for chariots and knights (if they have glaives) to get the charge so marking the daemon prince khorne would be a good start, at which point it probably makes sense to take mark of khorne on anything that can (its a combat army afterall). As for artifacts, you obviously dont get any with Idolators so the realm of fire's weapon is probably the best artifact choice for either the daemon prince or chariot lord. I'm not familiar with Idolators command traits however I think there is one that lets the general pray twice so thats probably the best bet for the Chariot Hero. Mask of Darkness is always a fun spell for your sorcerer, especially if the unit is rerolling charges via the warshrine's prayer. I would probably run the chariots as individual units as the mortal wounds on the charge is per unit, not per model. Some say 10 knights are unwieldy and hard to fit all in combat (glaives help) but you can stack buffs on them so its fine either way. Spawn are probably best as individual road blocks rather a unit of 3, similar story to marauder horsemen (+1 to hit is nice as a unit of 10 but how much damage are they really going to do anyway?). Hope that helps!

@Archion89 thats a pretty good shout, cheers! Going to give that serious thought.

Game 2 of the campaign I'm in is up and its 1250 points Focal Points against Gloomspite Gitz (Squigs) in the Realm of Ulgu. An additional special rule applies; Pick a non general hero and if within 6" of an objective gain a bonus VP, bonus 2 VP if its the centre objective. Having played my opponent before I'm pretty sure he will run Jaws of Mork tribe with a Loonboss on Mangler Squig, Boss on Cave Squig, Fungoid Shaman, 10 x Bounders, a few units of hoppers, some sneaky snufflers, a squig herd and the battalion or just more squigs/a second mangler. I've had great success against the squigs with a Daemon Prince of Khorne's command ability to halve run & charges and a khorne allegiance ability should serve me well given there wont be any shooting. I'll definitely want Belakor again to shut down the mangler squid for a turn of 2 and to answer the magic of his shaman so this again leads me to take Despoilers (I also really like the 18" aura on the general and my CP will be needed for his CA so dont think ravagers is viable here). Given the scenario I'm thinking 2 units to babysit my home objectives (with mortal wound protection against the squig hoppers) with some melee power in the centre to take care of the mangler and bounders after which it should be no issue to mop up the rest. I would love to get the warshrine in there for the extra VP however I dont know where to fit it in the list. Also not sure on best spell for Belakor; Spite Tongue Curse (useful but too easy for the cave shaman to dispel) / Mask of Darkness (could be handy) / Call to Glory (so my general can reroll hits & wounds against the mangler squigs- pretty tempting) Also not sure on Command Trait/Artifact: Bolstered by Hate (very tempting as I expect him to be a big target), Lord of Terror (tempting but pretty sure he will be swimming in CP to ignore any meaningful battleshock), Radiance of Dark Glory (tempting). Dont think I would get much out of the other 3. Diabolic Mantle is tempting but Ive bought a CP so should have enough, leaning towards Armour of Tortured Souls for added survivability (combos well with Bolstered by Hate or goes great on the Karkadrak) however Doombringer Blade is also tempting so I dont have to rely on a spell for rerolling hits and wounds against the Mangler, plus it benefits my whole army. Here is the list so far; The General and Karkadrak hold the centre, knights hold back to counter-charge the biggest threat, warriors sit on each side objective and Belakor does what he can to be annoying. Allegiance: Slaves to Darkness- Damned Legion: DespoilersLeadersSlaves to Darkness Daemon Prince (210)- General, Sword, Mark of Chaos: Khorne- Command Trait?- Artifact?Be'Lakor (240)Chaos Lord on Karkadrak (230)- Mark of Chaos: KhorneBattleline10 x Chaos Warriors (180)- Hand Weapon & Shield, Mark of Chaos: Khorne10 x Chaos Warriors (180)- Hand Weapon & Shield, Mark of Chaos: Khorne5 x Chaos Knights (160)- Cursed Lance, Mark of Chaos: KhorneEndless Spells / Terrain / CPsExtra Command Point (50)Total: 1250 / 1250Extra Command Points: 1 Thoughts?

I've rolled on the table once since the book dropped and got an 8 I think. Pretty much the only heroes likely to have a chance is lord on karkadrak/Manticore and its pretty doubtful if you even want one of them turning into a DP, especially if they are at or near full health.

Considering you can't use prayers on cultists, why bother with that prayer rule at all? Why not some more abilities that make up for no marks and improve cultists generally? If the whole point is to make cultists battleline because GW felt bad then why not just make that change in the next GHB and make it for all legions instead of forcing cultist players into this rubbish legion? What does a 2K Idolators army look like and does it not include at least 3 units of chariots/knights/warriors/marauders/marauder horsemen filling the battleline role anyway? Its just a massive misfire when it could have been so much more interesting and viable.

Crushed my KO opponent by bottom of round 4 without losing a single unit. My knights were able to sit in terrain capping the middle objectives so I turned it all pitch black. Belakor turned off the Frigate bottom of round 1 so when he won priority into round 2 he gave me the turn. He wasted whole turns of shooting at my general as he had no other targets and failed to cause a single wound. Once he charged me on objectives I just wore him down and counter charged to finish him off. Nurgle despoilers with Belakor is such a hard counter to KO I cant recommend it enough. Love it when a plan comes together!

So my game plan is fairly simple; one unit of knights for each of the 3 objectives (ignoring the one in his territory as its too far away). My General will position himself near one of the middle objectives while keeping all of the knights within his -1 to shoot aura. The knights have 15 wounds at a 4+ save, hopefully with some mystic shield. The game is being played with Hysh realm rules so there is a bonus mystic shield spell I can use on a second unit as well. Both the general and belakor will turn some terrain pitch black (potentially protecting the knights from shooting completely), belakor can throw out the pallisade for further line of sight blocking and will get look out sir from one of the knight units, plus has a chance to heal D3 each turn if he does fail his ethereal 4+ save. Basically Im making it as frustrating as possible for him to shoot me with the boats (if he even has a shot at all through the terrain and endless spell), forcing him to come closer with the shorter ranged thunderers etc at which point I catch him in melee and slaughter him. @Salyx I totally get what you are saying and its definitely a high risk game plan. However my concern with 2-3 heroes in a Ravagers build is that if he shoots those heroes before I summon (which he could easily do) then the game plan is instantly in tatters. Also not sure I agree that KO have a hard time covering the board; OK they dont have the units to screen but the 3 boats can literally redeploy anywhere on the table, reduce a unit of marauders to nothing in a single shooting phase and then relocate to the next threat. Either way its a tough match up...

Ive got a 1K campaign game tomorrow night against Kharadron Overlords. It will be battle for the pass which really plays into his hands given his movement capabilities. Im expecting the usual Grundstock Escort Wing with Frigate, 2 x Gun Haulers, 1-2 units of Thunderers and a hero. Usually my go to against KO, or any shooty army, is Nurgle Despoilers for that sweet -1 to hit shooting bubble and line of sight blocking terrain. Ive come up with the following list which I think will be able to hold my home and the 2 middle objectives. Im not expecting to have a play at his objective so the aim is to force him to come to mine and beat him up in melee. Belakor will neuter the Frigate for a turn or two and should be unopposed with his 2 spells per turn (3 once I get him on the Balewind). Allegiance: Slaves to Darkness- Damned Legion: DespoilersLeadersSlaves to Darkness Daemon Prince (210)- General- Sword- Command Trait: Lightning Reflexes- Artefact: Armour of Tortured Souls- Mark of Chaos: NurgleBe'Lakor (240)- Spell: Spite-tongue CurseBattleline5 x Chaos Knights (160)- Ensorcelled Weapons- Mark of Chaos: Nurgle5 x Chaos Knights (160)- Ensorcelled Weapons- Mark of Chaos: Nurgle5 x Chaos Knights (160)- Ensorcelled Weapons- Mark of Chaos: NurgleEndless Spells / Terrain / CPsPrismatic Palisade (30)Balewind Vortex (40)Total: 1000 / 1000 I considered Mask of Darkness for Belakor's spell in case he leaves his home objective open however I find it very unreliable and given he is unlikely to have any unbinds, the near guaranteed 3 mortals from Spite Tongue Curse could be crucial. I also thought about warriors for camping the home objective but dont have points for 10 and 5 would be easy pickings. The general will position himself such that all 3 knight units get the -1 to hit aura and if he targets my general he will be at -3 to hit with shooting, I ignore rend -1 on my 3+ save and have a 5+ FNP with a chance to heal D3 at the start of each turn. Anyone got any thoughts? Otherwise wish me luck!

Idolators... just terrible. Its nice to have +1 to prayers but most of the time you will only have 2 priests, warshrine and the Idolator chariot lord. The lord's prayer options arent great and locked to his mark. The Lord gets no bonus wounds and fights like an exalted charioteer... i.e. not great Warcry warbands as battleline with charge bonus is pointless because we already have knights, warriors, marauders and marauder horsemen as battleline who are all better options. Warcry units hit like pool noodles and as they still cant take marks, you cant put prayers on them anyway, making the priest prayer bonus redundant to them. The legion has no artifacts which makes the terrible battalion even more redundant. I really cant see any reason to run Idolators over any of the other legions. Meanwhile Tzeentch is the weakest of all the slaves marks and you would get far more out of just running Tzeencth allegiance. There are probably some techy slaves Tzeentch builds with allies such as Blue Scribes and Gaunt Summoner but they are rare and not recommended as a starting slaves army.

@Sharklone Lord on Karkadrak is great choice for general and appears to suit the campaign nicely. A priest or 2, secrator and stoker are all great support heroes for the rest of your army so that is where most lists start. Flesh hounds are my favourite battleline but if you want to run gore pilgrims battalion you will need reavers and blood warriors (both of which can be buffed by the goretide allegiance command ability). You might also consider a unit of chaos knights to utilise the Karkadrak's command ability.

No unfortunately you cant include an Idolator Lord in another legion as the creation of him is a special rule exclusive to Idolators. Seems warscroll builder (while generally being pretty brilliant) isnt quite sophisticated enough to only turn on the option when you select Idolators as your legion. Trust me; we all want a hero on chariot option for our slaves armies.

@Roark You're a madman! Looks like a true chaos horde though

End of the day it doesnt make sense for a Lord/Hero to be on the same size base as rank and file troops. He should stand out and reflect his status via a larger base. It also slightly helps with the mark of chaos/command ability wholly within 12" aura and lets face it; slaves can use all the assistance available. Same issue with the khorne bloodsecrator; sold with a 40mm and honestly needs that base size to remain stable, not to mention the slight boost to aura range is very welcome. Then GW arbitrarily say he should be on a 32mm... reducing him to blood warrior size. Meanwhile every other mortal khorne foot hero remains on 40mm.... OK sure, at a tournament I'll measure as if its on the recommended base size. Otherwise for me, rule of cool/slash what it was sold with will prevail.

This is the way. However now I'm curious to know more about that low hero count list...

Also just realised you have a leader slot free and that's almost criminal in khorne. Definitely get a 3rd slaughter priest in there as a 3rd bloodboil/prayer/unbind is invaluable

I thought a tarpit was something that holds the enemy in place by staying alive? Bloodletters die to a stiff breeze and 30 of them are unwieldy to move and keep within aura range. As its a tournament against top tier players I wouldn't recommend them at all. I reckon 3 units of flesh hounds would serve you better or skullreapers and something else.

Chaos Knights, Marauders and even warriors get really nasty with khorne buffs; an extra attack or two, +1 to hit, +1 save, rerolling wounds and extra movement are all welcome buffs. Even a chaos chariot starts to earn its points when you whip it with a bloodstoker.

Looks a solid list to me. Not much you can do about shooting other than threat saturation and you have that in spades. You might consider holding the thirster back out of range, send forward the waves of reavers, reapers and dogs and use the thirster to mop up. Or send the thirster forward as a distraction carnifex, assume he will get killed but at least takes the focus off everything else. Either way I probably wouldnt use the thirster as the general as mage eater is a useful trait and he is a big target. A'garth is a good artifact but it would be tempting to put skullshard mantle on the thirster to at least protect him from magic and make another hero the general. I recently picked up 10 more skull reapers so I can start running Skulltake so glad to hear that you rate it 🙂

Oh yeah, Warshrines are definitely behemoths and so you are limited to 4 in a 2K game and pretty sure being a leader doesnt effect that at all. Making them a leader without the hero keyword actually limits the amount of other heroes you can take although as someone else already pointed out it is beneficial in the one or two battleplans where leaders earn extra points for objectives.

Chariots haven't been behemoths for a long time so there was nothing stopping us spamming them anyway. However you can only upgrade one chariot to be a priest/leader and I dont see any benefit in spamming chariots in Idolators over say Ravagers where you can summon more bodies. The battalion, which is Idolators only, makes one chariot Rokar Gresh who gets +2 attacks to his great blade which is damage D3 instead of flat 2 (arguable if thats a boon or a nerf) and does D3 mortals on 6 to hit (not in addition) as well as the +1 to hit command ability (however the buff is at start of combat and only lasts for the phase, not until the next hero/combat phase like most Slaves buffs). He gets no extra wounds and you have to take 2 x gorebeast chariots and they all have to be Chaos Undivided so dont see any value in that battalion at all, especially since there are no extra artifacts to take. Would much rather fit all my chariots into Ruinbringers where the extra mortal wounds on the charge will do far more than a couple of extra great blade attacks. Having the warshrine prayer go off on 2+ is definitely nice but it and the priest chariot lord not having the hero keyword means no mark of chaos aura and no command traits or artifacts (the one realm artifact available anyway). This might get FAQ'ed where they do get the hero keyword but wouldn't hold my breath. Also, dont see the value in cultists as battleline when we can already choose from warriors, knights, chariots, marauders and marauder horsemen who are all superior choices. Overall its a very fluffy legion but certainly much weaker then all of the other legions and unfortunately a big disappointment for me.

Gorbeast chariots do mortal wounds per unit, not per model. The difference is they do mortals to each enemy unit within 1" instead of only one unit, however its only D3 mortals to each unit on a 2+. Compared to regular chariots they have an extra wound and slightly better melee profile but are 3" slower and dont have a run & charge ability. If you do want to run chariots then I think the regular chariot is a better option as you can whip it with the bloodstoker for +3 bonus to the impact damage on a minimum threat range of 21" (if you roll all 1's for run and charge which is unlikely). You might also consider a CP from a chaos lord on mount/karkadrak for +1 to hit and reroll charges to try for a really big charge roll for more chances at mortal wounds. An allied sorcerer lord (yuck) or warshrine with prayer of Tzeentch for rerolling saves is also a good option if you take a unit of 3 (thats 21 wounds on a 4+ rerollable save in the opponents face turn 1). Obviosuly you can throw the same buffs on a unit of Gorebeast chariots but without the ability to run and charge the min threat range is 14" (still good, but not great). I managed to alpha strike a carnosaur off the table with this combo on a unit of 3 chariots and they survived for another turn holding a good chunk of his army back for a turn (still lost the game because Seraphon but it was fun all the same).

My guess would be the battalion increases the chance of the mortal wounds on the charge, say proc on 4+ instead of 5+, or maybe something like the once per game run and charge is an auto run of 6", or a pregame move of 6". No doubt the hero gets a beefier melee profile and/or extra wounds. Although my ultimate preference would be that the mortal wounds on the charge are per model, and not per unit as per the current wording. That would mean it is beneficial to take a unit of 3 and throw buffs on knowing you dont get penalised by missing out on charge damage. I have 6 chariots from back in the day so really hoping this new battalion is worth taking.

Would be very interested to know what army his opponents were. Would also work well in Plagetouched and only slightly less melee power with the exploding 6's to wound and extra mortals from the battalion.

I like it. Never thought of combining Bloodmarked with Knights of the Empty Throne. Its got 6" pile in shenanigans, lots of fighting twice and some anti magic capabilities. A shooty list could mean trouble for the big unit of Varanguard but you cant protect against everything.