Editing Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition/Chaos (section)

===Who Gets 'Em?===

* '''Daemons''' - Daemon Princes and Exalted Daemons
* '''Mortals''' - Lords and Sorcerer Lords; Champion and Sorcerer Heroes, Warriors, Chariots and Knights
* '''Beasts''' - Beastlords, Great Shamans, Doombulls and Dragon Ogre Shaggoth Champions; Chieftains and Shamans; 1 and only 1 Bestigor unit; Minotaurs

====Mark of Chaos Undivided====

The default option, totally free, and not to be sneezed at, this Mark offers a reroll on all psychology tests (that's fear, terror, panic, controlling your frenzy, but NOT Break tests for losing combat or rally tests). Chaos armies have pretty average Leadership on the whole, with Warrior units a bit better and Beast units generally worse. They also tend to take quite a few Panic tests as the first few turns are a slog across the battlefield getting shot at on your way into melee. While other Marks allow you to dominate whole phases of the game, they get expensive fast, and if you want a proper ravening horde, sticking to Chaos Undivided is a good option.

====Mark of Khorne====
This one's the same all the way down: anything with the Mark of Khorne gets ''frenzy'' (even if normally immune to psychology) and puts another Dispel die on the table. Mortal characters also get to ride the Juggernaut of Khorne, a nasty monstrous mount that's no faster than a regular Chaos Steed and doesn't add to their armour save but hits a hell of a lot harder.

The frenzy is a double edged sword. Certainly, Chaos units hit like a sack of bricks anyway, and giving them extra attacks is only good. Absolutely, Chaos units tend to take casualties, and thus panic tests, and so bypassing those tests is only good. However, Chaos armies tend toward the clumsy, which means agile opponents can block, bait, and misdirect Khorne armies all day long. There's nothing worse than some Wood Elf player leading you around by the nose and forcing you to attempt charges that never land.

On the other hand, there's nothing better than laughing in the face of every Vampire Counts or Tomb Kings player you meet as their chief advantages simply fade away in the face of your enhanced combat prowess, complete lack of concern for fear and terror, and pile of Dispel dice to keep those cheeky Invocations under control. Couple with the access to Magic Resistance on many Khorne Daemons and magic items, and you're laughing.

This one's particularly good for Beast armies: Bestigor and Minotaurs are both units that delight in the extra attacks, and the rest of your army can run interference by blocking your charge lanes. Remember that frenzy is only checked AFTER charges have been declared, which means you can keep these under control with the proper order of activation (declare charge with skirmish screen, declare charge with frenzied unit, check for eligible frenzied charges - oh no, skirmish screen's in the way - then move chargers in order of declaration, hey presto you get to charge what you want to as the lane is now clear). Both Warhounds and Beast Herds are very good at getting out of the way when they need to.

Another thing to consider here: Chosen. Because of the extra attack from frenzy, Chosen Warriors with halberds suddenly become a more attractive proposition, throwing out a combine harvester's worth of S5 attacks at anything that gets near them.

====Mark of Slaanesh====

Daemons and Shaggoths with the Mark of Slaanesh always strike first. Mortals and Beasts with the Mark of Slaanesh are immune to psychology.

This. Is. Brilliant. Warrior and Bestigor units often balk in the face of shooting casualties or being outnumbered by fear-causing enemies: not a problem any more. Even Minotaurs like to laugh off the prospect of being terror-blocked by a Wraith or similar, and tend to come in small and easily panicked units of their own.

Mortal characters gain access to the excellent Mount of Slaanesh, a pleasing combination of speed and power that's halfway between the Juggernaut and the Disc. Beast characters don't, sadly, but the Beastlord can at least mount up on a Chariot and become a fearless guided missile, backing up your Herds if they get into trouble.

Daemon characters are a bit squashy, lacking access to armour saves, so striking first in close combat helps them not get hit (and since they fly, they really should be in close combat very early on in the game). The Shaggoth, meanwhile, is moderately well armoured but has dodgy Initiative for a Lord choice: guess what, striking first, problem solved.

====Mark of Tzeentch====

For reasons that will become apparent as we go on, there is no such thing as a Sorcerer or Shaman of Tzeentch: this Mark is not available to those models.

Daemon Princes, Chaos Lords and Beastlords all become level 4 wizards, who have to use the Lore of Tzeentch. (It's heckin' expensive, at 140-150 points.)

Exalted Daemons, Chaos Champions, Wargors, Shaggoths and Doombulls all become level 2 wizards, who have to use the Lore of Tzeentch. (It's still pretty pricey, at around 75 for most models.)

Mortal characters also gain access to the Disc of Tzeentch, a cheap flying monstrous mount that can't fight worth a damn but doesn't need to because there's a goddamned Chaos Lord standing on its back doing the heavy lifting.

Everyone else generates an extra Power die for the pool, as long as they're not fleeing.

Now. It's easy to look at this and think you have to go big or go home. For Mortal players in particular it's easy to look at the Mark of Tzeentch and think you MUST TAKE IT ON EVERYTHING EVER, UTTERLY DOMELNATING THE MAGIC PHASE, but - stop. For one thing, it's seriously expensive, and yes a Chaos Lord's statline and a Sorcerer Lord's casting power are not to be sneezed at, but the points add up fast and Chaos armies already run expensive. For another, a pure Marked Tzeentch army may have a lot of Power dice to throw around, but it'll be light on numbers (as none of the cheap bodies can carry the Mark) and crumple to a run of bad terror or panic tests (which you'll be taking a lot if you've loaded up on small Marked units to spam dice).

Far better to have Tzeentch casters backed up by Undivided units (which remain an option even if your General has the Mark of Tzeentch), or even elements in a mixed army with Khorne or Slaanesh line troops. That's an army that won't break and run when things start to go south, but will still deliver the fighting power of a good Tzeentch Champion alongside options for other Lores and tactics.

If you're going to go pure Tzeentch, Chariots are a really good way to sneak a few extra power dice into your army, make sure all your wizards have enough to cast at their full potential, and then fill out on solid Undivided bodies or Marauders to give your casters the meatshields they need to get the job done.

It's less of an attractive option for Beastmen, as well. Beast armies don't have the ability to load up on cheap Marked units and really stack the dice in their favour, and they feel the Panic hit worse than most. Their best Lord options don't become level 4 wizards because even Gav Thorpe thought that was a bit excessive.

====Mark of Nurgle====

Daemon Princes, Exalted Daemons, Doombulls and Shaggoths get +1 Wound. 

Beastlords, Wargors and Mortal characters get +1 Wound and cause ''fear''. 

Units cause ''fear'', except Minotaurs, who get... 5+ Scaly Skin? (It's cheap, and it's not bad, but it smacks a little bit of being fresh out of ideas...)

The Mark of Nurgle is generally very, very expensive for what it does: 50 points per unit, around 40 for a character. The extra Wound is nice, but ''fear'' is of limited use on units that tend to skew small - the Chaos units that can afford to go big are exactly the ones you can't Mark anyway. Chaos tends to win combat by getting kills rather than auto-breaking shenanigans, and while it's certainly nice to trump ''stubborn'' units or not run away from Undead, it's... situational.