Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Blades of Khorne

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BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULLS THRONE!

Blades of Khorne allows you to finally run a mixed mortal and daemonic army, as well as upgrading both sides of the RAPE TRAIN with killy, new stuff.

Battletome Update reviewed, leaked, spammed, and now updated below! A red star * indicates a new change! (work in progress)

Why Play Blades of Khorne?

Because you're tired of all this frilly magic nonsense running around the table. A purple sun? REALLY?!

The hordes of Khorne are great at shutting down magically inclined opponents while lopping off their heads. This army isn't braindead, however, and requires intelligent use of stacking auras, prayers, command abilities, and artifacts to actually be effective. With the 2.0 point increases across the board, it's now more important than ever to hone in on what makes Blades of Khorne so great.

PROS

• Khorne cares not from where the blood flows. Your own units dying helps you in the long run, and there's a unit that can potentially force an enemy unit to kill itself when it dies.
• Most of your leaders are beatsticks with command abilities that effect three other units plus themselves.
• Your prayers cannot be unbinded and stack multiple times. Want to bring a unit's hit to 2+? Want to bring their save to 2+? Go for it!
• There are multiple ways to become immune to battleshock. Khorne's a bit of a stickler for staying in the fight until either you or your opponent is dead.
• Ever wanted to move+run 15 inches up the board with 30 Bloodletters and then charge with an additional 4 inches? Well now you can!
• Between Blood Points, Command Abilities, prayers, Judgements, relics, battalions and whatnot, Khorne's armies are surprisingly flexible and tactical now. They're still obsessed with close combat, of course, but can adapt to many opponents quite well.
• Your army is tied with the Greenskins for the most fun thing that you can say while playing any kind of Warhammer: BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!

CONS

• You're slow, with most foot mortal units moving 5 inches. Without proper support (or lots of bodies) you'll be picked apart before you ever reach your opponent.
• Your battalions are expensive, so don't even think about taking more than one max (unless you've got a very specialized plan).
• Daemons of Khorne are also quite expensive, limiting their potential as a standalone army.
• Only one real artillery unit in the Skull Cannon. You've got some pretty nice close ranged missile weapons on the Bloodthirsters and Khorgoraths, but that's it.
• Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, and is here. You'll want every kind of hero in your army but won't have the space for them.
• It's possible to be banned from a store for saying "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!" too much.

What's changed in 2.0?

• Heroes you previously wouldn't have taken have gotten significantly better. The 3 base command abilities can be used by all of your heroes, without them being your general. Your Exalted Deathbringers and Aspiring Deathbringers are great choices now!
• Summoning no longer requires points from your army spent. Kill stuff, get Blood Tithe, summon more.
• Arcane Shield was significantly nerfed...but Bronzed Flesh is still +1 to save rolls and can be used several times in a phase.
• With GHB2017, and now 2018, you no longer need to worry about Bloodbound and Daemon allegiances. While your general still can affect what additional battlelines you can take, all you need is the Khorne tag!

Rulebooks

The Blades of Khorne Battletome has all the Warscrolls, Battations and Allegiance Abilities.

• This should be supplemented with the Blades of Khorne Errata and Designers' Commentary from the FAQs.
• Replace all summoning rules with those in the General's handbook 2018.
• Matched play points are in the General's handbook 2018.
• Warscrolls for the Forgeworld models can be found in the Monstrous Arcanum
• Alternatively up to date warscolls can be found in the WH AoS app. Warscrolls on the GW webstore match those in the Battletome.

As with all factions you'll want:

• The core rules are either downloadable or in the Core Book.
• Games taking place in a Realm need the Realm of Battle rules from the Core Book.
• In you want to take advantage of realm specific artefacts you'll need the Artefacts Of The Realms section from the Malign Sorcery book.
• Matched play battleplans are split across the Core Book and General's handbook 2018.
• All books should be supplemented with any updates from the FAQs.

Allegiance Abilities

Battle Traits

If your army has a KHORNE allegiance and chose to take the KHORNE allegiance abilities, it has the following rules:

Blood for the Blood God!: A KHORNE army generates Blood Tithe points during the course of each battle; the controlling player must keep a record of how many points their army accrues. One point is generated each time a unit belonging to either player is wiped out.

Unless stated otherwise in the rule for a reward, Blood Tithe points can be expended at the start of either player’s hero phase, but only once per phase. Pick one Blood Tithe reward that has a value equal to or less than your current number of Blood Tithe points and immediately resolve its effects. When one or more Blood Tithe points are expended, any remaining points are lost, though more points can be generated later in the game as normal.

This means that Khornate armies will tend do absolutely break the shit outta MSU armies, since they'll be gaining Blood Tithe points extremely quickly, butchering through some pesky ratmen, for example. This also means that low count armies, like Beastclaw Raiders, will be harder preys, given that they armies numbers are quite low.

*New battletome changes!* Some choices on the table got moved around and two table-wide, battle-long choices got added. Brass Skull Meteor got tweaked as well and Apocalyptic Frenzy got lower on the table making it easier to pull off. Sadly, no more summoning a Bloodthirster across the table, but the new choices are pretty great if you can get them early enough.

1. Bloody Exemplar: 1 Point. Gain a command point. IT JUST WORKS!
2. Spelleater Curse: 2 Points. Choose this reward immediately after a WIZARD has cast a spell anywhere on the battlefield; it is automatically unbound. You may not choose this reward after having attempted to unbind the spell.
3. Murderlust: 3 Points. Select a Khorne unit from your army; that unit can move as if it were the movement phase. If it is within 12" of an enemy model, it can either move as if it were the movement phase or charge as if it were the charge phase.
4. Apocalyptic Frenzy: 4 Points. Select a Khorne unit from your army that is within 3" of an enemy model; that unit can immediately pile in and attack as if it were the combat phase.
5. Brass Skull Meteor: 5 Points. Pick a single unit anywhere on the battlefield; that unit immediately suffers D3 mortal wounds. In addition, roll a dice for each unit within 8" of the unit you picked; on a roll of 3 or more, the unit being rolled for suffers a mortal wound. If the roll is a 6, the unit takes D3 mortal wounds instead. You can launch this upon Skarbrand; he will heat up faster and if is already around a couple of enemies, they'll also have a chance to suffer residual damage.
6. Relentless Fury: 6 Points. Until your next hero phase, each time a KHORNE model in your army is slain in the combat phase, you can make a pile in move and then attack with the model before you remove it (use the lowest line on the damage table if it has one on its warscroll when resolving this attack).
7. Crimson Rain: 7 Points. You may use this once per battle. Immediately after you use it, and every one of your hero phases afterwards, you may heal all friendly Khorne units on the battlefield D3. Have an army of big baddies? Keep them happy with a little spritz of blood!
8. Slaughter Triumphant: 8 Points. You may use this once per battle. Effects all friendly Khorne units. Unmodified melee hit rolls of 6 count as 2 hits instead of 1. Congrats, you just gave everything in your army exploding dice. That block of 20 Bloodwarriors, those 40 Bloodreavers, that summoned unit of 20 Bloodletters, and don't forget your Bloodthirster. A very, very good choice, but you better make sure you've still got enough of an army to enjoy it.

Summon Daemons of Khorne: as of AOS2, wizards have all lost the ability to summon Daemons. Instead, at the END of your movement phase you may use 2-8 (or 16) Blood Tithe points to summon from the list below. The new unit must be set up wholly within 12" of a Khorne Hero and 9" away from an enemy. The unit summoned cannot move or run this turn, but they may charge (a nine inch charge isn't good odds without some aura support). Blood Tithe points immediately disappear whenever you spend even 1 point, so generally speaking if you do summon try use as many of the points as you can. Summoning is situational but can be just what you need late game to jump on an objective or cut off your opponent's movement. A Skullcannon can still fire as well, so quick-scoping a long range target is possible.

• 2 Blood Tithe: 1 Bloodmaster
• 2 Blood Tithe: 5 Bloodletters
• 3 Blood Tithe: 1 Skullmaster
• 3 Blood Tithe: 5 Flesh Hounds
• 4 Blood Tithe: 1 Blood Throne
• 4 Blood Tithe: 10 Bloodletters
• 5 Blood Tithe: 1 Skullcannon
• 5 Blood Tithe: 3 Bloodcrushers
• 6 Blood Tithe: 10 Flesh Hounds
• 6 Blood Tithe: 15 Bloodletters
• 7 Blood Tithe: 20 Bloodletters
• 8 Blood Tithe: 1 Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury
• 8 Blood Tithe: 1 Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage
• 8 Blood Tithe: 1 Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster
• 16 Blood Tithe: 1 EXALTED GREATER DAEMON OF KHORNE

*Locus of Fury: You can re-roll hit rolls of 1 for attacks made by friendly Khorne Daemon units while they are wholly within 12" of any friendly Khorne Daemon Heroes, or wholly within 16" of any friendly Khorne Greater Daemons. A nice buff to your Khorne daemons.

*Slaughterhosts*

If your army is a Khorne army (every unit has the Khorne keyword), you can give it a Slaughterhost keyword. All Khorne units in your army gain this keyword. If a model already has a Slaughterhost keyword, it cannot gain another one, but this does not prevent other units in your army from having a different Slaughterhost keyword on other units. This does not mean you can use two Slaughterhost rulesets, it only means if a unit comes with a Slaughterhost keyword it is not prevented from being used in your army using another Slaughterhost keyword, they just can't benefit from any of the rules. There are four Slaughterhosts to choose from in the book and they are all bloody fantastic. Each comes with a keyword wide Ability and mandatory Command Ability, Command Trait, and Artifact of Power. It's an easy (see: free) way to get more good shit for your army, so there's really never a reason NOT to use one of them. NOTE: this doesn't give you a free random artifact; the artifacts in these must be the first artifact you give to your army.

Reapers of Vengeance (boy I sure do hate wizards and love daemons)

• Ability - Devour the Craven: If any enemy units within 3 inches of any friendly Reapers of Vengeance fails a battleshock test, add D3 models that flee. Stacks well with a few other new battleshock altering abilities.
• Command Ability - Leave None Alive: At the start of the combat phase, pick 1 friendly Reapers of Vengeance Daemon unit wholly within 8 inches of a friendly Daemon model with this command ability. After that unit has fought in the combat phase for the first time, if they are within 3" of an enemy unit, it can instantly pile in and attack again. I shouldn't have to say why this is great, just re-read it.
• Command Trait - Mage Eater: The general can attempt to unbind one spell in the enemy hero phase in the same manner as a Wizard. If your unmodified unbind roll is an 8, the spell is unbound AND the caster suffers D6 mortal wounds.
• Artifact - Skullshard Mantle: Each time the bearer is affected by a spell or endless spell, roll a dice. If you do so,on a 2+ ignore the effects of that spell on the bearer. Doesn't just work on wounds.

The Bloodlords (boy I sure do hate Heros/Monsters and love punching them with my zipping Greater Daemon)

• Ability - Slay the Mighty: You can reroll wound rolls of 1 for attacks made by friendly Bloodlords Daemon units that target a Hero or Monster.
• Command Ability - First in His Sight: At the start of your hero phase, pick a friendly model with this command ability. You may heal 1 wound allocated to each friendly Bloodlords Daemon unit wholly within 16" of that model.
• Command Trait - Slaughterer's Thirst: Add 4" to the Move characteristic of this general. Also, re-roll charge rolls for this general. Faster Bloodthirsters are always handy.
• Artifact - Halo of Blood: The bearer fights at the start of the combat phase before the players pick any other unit to fight in that combat phase. Note: the player whose turn it is chooses who's "fight first" ability trumps the other.

The Goretide (GOTTA GO FAST!)

• Ability - Tireless Conquerors: You may re-roll wound rolls of 1 for attacks made by melee weapons by friendly Goretide Moral units wholly within 12" of an objective marker.
• Command Ability - Ever Onwards: During your movement phase, before you make a run move, you may use this ability on 1 friendly Goretide Bloodreaver or Goretide Blood Warrior unit wholly within 16" of a friendly model with this command ability. If you do so, that run roll is auto 6. In addition, that unit can run and charge this turn. Reavers kept their +1 run/charge banner, and you can still whip them for +3 run/charge, so this ability allows you to get a block of 40 across the field turn one.
• Command Trait - Hew the Foe: Add 1 to the Damage characteristic of this general's melee weapon. Your general is going to want to get in and stay in, so beefy bois like your Juggerlord or Mighty Lord are best.
• Artifact - Thronebreaker's Torc: Ignore positive or negative modifiers when making saves for this model. Now that your Bloodsecrator can move, may be just what he needs to shrug off the volleys of fire coming his way.
• Named Hero With Keyword: Korghos Khul

The Skullfiend Tribe (hunt their heroes, let loose your Khorgoraths)

• Ability - Skull Hunters: You may re-roll hit rolls of 1 for attacks made by friendly Skullfiend Tribe Mortal units that are wholly within 12" of an enemy Hero.
• Command Ability - For the Brass Citadel: At the start of the combat phase, you can pick 1 friendly model with this command ability. Until the end of the phase, re-roll all hits and wounds for attacks made by friendly Skullfiend Tribe Khorgorath units wholly within 10" of that model.
• Command Trait - Master Decapitator: Get 2 Blood Tithe points when your general slays a Hero instead of 1. Whoop-de-freakin-do.
• Artifact - Crowncleaver: Pick one melee weapon, that weapon gets +2 attacks.

A note regarding the above: Your general does not have to be from any of the above to take the general trait, but if he is than he MUST take it. That means no named heroes can be your general and get a keyword (Korghos Khul being the exception since he has the Goretide keyword). You MUST use the Slaughterhost's Artifact of Power (your general doesn't have to), and only that Slaughterhost's Hero can use it (so no giving your Goretide hero the Skullfiend Tribe's Artifact). The Slaughterhost's are clearly designed so that you take certain units (two being Daemon focuses and two being Mortal focused), but nothing's stopping you from mixing and matching.

• Also: imagine Slaughterer's Thirst with Thermalrider's Cloak. Suddenly, your Juggerlord is moving 16" with Fly (or your Mighty Lord is moving 13" with Fly). There is A LOT of potential hidden in this book.

*Command Traits*

Much like the Disciples of Tzeentch Battletome, there are three tables to pick Command Traits from for you: Bloodbound, Daemons and Mortals. If you have a combination of those keywords, you can pick which table you take your Command Traits from, though 1-3 are copy-pastes on all three tables.

A BLOODBOUND General of an army with a KHORNE allegiance and has chosen to take the KHORNE allegiance abilities can choose one of the following Command Traits:

1. Arch-slaughterer: You generate one additional Blood Tithe point each time your general slays an enemy HERO or MONSTER. Khorne rewards those who kill the bigger threats and the worthy preys.
2. Unrivalled Battlelust: If your general is within 12" of an enemy unit (but not within 3" of an enemy unit) at the end of any of your opponent’s charge phases, you can immediately attempt a charge move with your general. A nice bonus if your general is a meaty big guy.
3. Slaughterborn: Re-roll all of your general’s failed melee hit rolls. Fine. It might not look like much, but it can be especially important if your general has plenty of attacks and/or carries certain Artifacts of Power.
4. Mark of the Cannibal: If your general slays one or more enemy models in the combat phase, they heal 1 wound at the end of the phase. This is a nice bonus, given that your heroes have already have a healthy number of wounds, pretty good if you are expecting to get lots of focus from the enemy.
5. Bloodsworn: KHORNE MORTAL units from your army wholly within 16" of your general can use your general’s Bravery characteristic in place of their own when making battleshock tests. Now a lot more impressive with the lose of table-wide battleshock immunity. Giving your Bloodreavers and Blood Warriors Bravery 9 could be the difference between losing the unit or staying alive another turn.
6. Disciple of Khorne: Add 2 to the Attacks characteristic of all melee weapons wielded by your general (but not any weapons used by their mount if they have one). If your general has multiple weapons this makes them even scarier.

A DAEMON General of an army with a KHORNE allegiance and has chosen to take the KHORNE allegiance abilities can choose one of the following Command Traits:

1. Arch-slaughterer: You generate one additional Blood Tithe point each time your general slays an enemy HERO or MONSTER. Khorne rewards those who kill the bigger threats and the worthy preys.
2. Unrivalled Battlelust: If your general is within 12" of an enemy unit (but not within 3" of an enemy unit) at the end of any of your opponent’s charge phases, you can immediately attempt a charge move with your general. A nice bonus if your general is a meaty big guy.
3. Slaughterborn: Re-roll all of your general’s failed melee hit rolls. Fine. It might not look like much, but it can be especially important if your general has plenty of attacks and/or carries certain Artifacts of Power.
4. Rage Unchained: Add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of all melee weapons wielded by your general. Neat!
5. Aspect of Death: Each time an enemy unit within 8" of your general fails a battleshock test, one additional model flees from the unit. All around a good bonus.
6. Devastating Blow: Any unmodified wound rolls of 6 for attacks made by your general (not their mount) in the combat phase inflict a number of mortal wounds equal to the weapon’s Damage characteristic instead of being resolved normally. The closest thing Daemon Generals have to a must pick, given that they already have a scary damage characteristic.

A MORTAL General of an army with a KHORNE allegiance and has chosen to take the KHORNE allegiance abilities can choose one of the following Command Traits:

1. Arch-slaughterer: You generate one additional Blood Tithe point each time your general slays an enemy HERO or MONSTER. Khorne rewards those who kill the bigger threats and the worthy preys.
2. Unrivalled Battlelust: If your general is within 12" of an enemy unit (but not within 3" of an enemy unit) at the end of any of your opponent’s charge phases, you can immediately attempt a charge move with your general. A nice bonus if your general is a meaty big guy.
3. Slaughterborn: Re-roll all of your general’s failed melee hit rolls. Fine. It might not look like much, but it can be especially important if your general has plenty of attacks and/or carries certain Artifacts of Power.
4. Hungry for Glory: You can reroll all hit and wound rolls of 1 for your general when attacking enemy HEROES or MONSTERS. Pretty good, pretty powerful. With the proper support your general will be a potent hero buster and monster hunter... given that there are plenty of them on your enemy's side.
5. Berzerker Lord: Roll a dice each time your general suffers an unsaved wound or mortal wound in the combat phase; on a roll of 5 or 6, the wound or mortal wound is ignored. A save after the save. This things have always been pretty damn handy, just ask to any Chaos Warrior with Runeshields.
6. Violent Urgency: You can reroll failed charge rolls for your general and any KHORNE units from your army that are wholly within 12" of him at the start of the charge phase. Actually a strong trait for almost any mortal general, putting out charges is always good, and guys like Knights, Chariots and Skullcrushers, who have bonuses for charging, already love this trait.

Murderous Artefacts

One KHORNE MORTAL HERO in an army with a KHORNE allegiance and has chosen to take the KHORNE allegiance abilities, plus one KHORNE MORTAL HERO for every battalion selected, can choose one of the following Murderous Artefacts (weapons of mounts can't be upgraded this way):

1. Heart Seeker: Pick one of the bearer's melee weapons. You can re-roll wound rolls for attacks made with this weapon.
2. Collar of Contempt: The bearer can attempt to unbind one spell in each enemy hero phase in the same manner as a wizard. In addition, you can attempt to dispel one endless spell in your hero phase.
3. Blood Drinker: Pick one of this HERO’s melee weapons to be a Blood Drinker. At the end of any combat phase in which the bearer inflicts any unsaved wounds or mortal wounds with this weapon, they immediately heal D3 wounds lost earlier in the battle. Additional sustain is always great, especially for your general.
4. Gorecleaver: Pick one of this HERO’s melee weapons to be a Gorecleaver. Attacks from Gorecleaver inflict an additional -1 Rend (for example, a weapon with a Rend characteristic of -1 becomes -2 instead). In addition, any wound rolls of 6 made with this weapon inflict double damage. Two words: Lord of Chaos. (On foot, to be specific, so make it five). His Reaperblade is powerful and reliable, now imagine it with an additional -1 Rend. Now imagine it Slaughterborn or Hungry for Glory. Now imagine it scoring a 6 To Wound or two. Or imagine it with Reaperblade's special attack. If Khorne smiles upon you, you could slay some of the mightiest monsters and heroes, potentially landing a 12 damage attack with -2 Rend, or even scoring a hit with 12 Mortal Wounds, making Khorne so proud of you. This is just such a good upgrade for your Chaos Lord. Not a must pick but, damn, the potential damage it can make is just incredible. Heroes with strong weapons and/or Rend also make great users for this.
5. The Crimson Plate: You can re-roll save rolls of 1 for the bearer. Good enough. Yeah, not much more to say. (Apart from you know, how a bloodsecrator in cover with this has a re-rollable 2+ save but I can't imagine why you'd want that).
6. Blood Rune: You generate one additional Blood Tithe point each time the bearer of a Blood Rune slays an enemy HERO or Monster. Not as reliable as anything else on this list. While Blood Tithe points are good, you have to properly manage your hero, and make him hunt specifically for heroes or monster, which are not exactly the backbone of almost any army. Is not bad, just... is not the stronger pick on this list.

*Banners of Khorne*

Make your Bloodsecrators even stronger now. Laughs and skulls ensured. And now that he can move, run, and jump, these might deserve a second look. One KHORNE BLOODBOUND HERO bearing a TOTEM (to make it short: Bloodsecrator) can be given one of the following banners of Khorne. These banners confer an additional ability on the TOTEM - they do not replace any existing abilities:

1. Banner of Rage: You can re-roll hit rolls of 1 in the combat phase for any KHORNE models from your army that are wholly within 12" of the bearer. If you have used a Bloodsecrator, you know how this is starting to feel overpowered.
2. Banner of Wrath: In the combat phase (every combat phase, so twice per battle round), roll a dice for each enemy unit within 8" of the bearer. On a roll of 4 or more, the unit being rolled for suffers D3 mortal wounds. Now that your bannerman can run up and get into the mix with everyone else, this banner can actually be used to full effect.
3. Banner of Blood: You can re-roll failed charge rolls for any KHORNE units from your army that are wholly within 12" of the bearer when the charge roll is made. Khorne-marked cavalry absolutely love this, but charging is always good for a melee heavy army. Also note that this is when any charge is made, so if you're charging in yours (or your opponent's) hero phase, this still works.

Trophies of War

One KHORNE BLOODBOUND HERO in an army with a KHORNE allegiance and has chosen to take the KHORNE allegiance abilities, plus one KHORNE MORTAL HERO for every battalion selected, can choose one of the following Trophies of War (weapons of mounts can't be upgraded this way):

1. Skull-helm of Khorne: Subtract 2 from the Bravery of enemy units within 8 inches of the bearer. Has some potential in lists that leverage battleshock.
2. Blood-forged Armour: 5+ against mortal wounds. That's not so bad but there's better artifacts in here.
3. The Brazen Rune: Roll a dice each time the bearer suffers any unsaved wounds or mortal wounds as the result of a spell; on a roll of 2 or more, the wound or mortal wound being rolled for is ignored. Once per game, you can try to unbind a spell or dispel an endless spell (no longer breaks afterwards). Now forces you to try to unbind instead of being automatic, but also doesn't break on use. Very good now.
4. The Blade of Endless Bloodshed: Pick one of this HERO’s melee weapons to be a Blade of Endless Bloodshed. Increase the weapon's rend by 1. Why take this over the Gorecleaver, the world may never know.
5. Mark of the Destroyer: Pick 1 of the bearer's melee weapons. Add 2 Attacks to it. Faaaantastic!
6. Talisman of Burning Blood: Add 1 to any run rolls you make for the bearer and any KHORNE units from your army that is wholly within 12" of them at the start of the movement phase. In addition, add 1 to any charge rolls you make for the bearer and any KHORNE units from your army that is wholly within 12" of them at the start of the charge phase. I guess you have seen the tendency. Successful charges are always good. Improving your charges are never a wrong choice.

Daemonic Weapons

One KHORNE DAEMON HERO in an army with a KHORNE allegiance and has chosen to take the KHORNE allegiance abilities, plus one KHORNE DAEMON HERO for every battalion selected, can choose one of the following Daemonic Weapons (weapons of mounts can't be upgraded this way):

1. A’rgath, the King of Blades: Pick one of this HERO’s melee weapons to be A’rgath, the King of Blades. When attacking Heroes, change the Hit of this weapon to 2+. Doesn't prevent the enemy from further modifying the hit, but on big unwieldy axes this is a godsend.
2. Deathdealer: Pick one of this HERO’s melee weapons to be a Deathdealer. Add 1 to the Rend characteristic of this weapon. A good pick, considering Daemon heroes already have a strong damage output.
3. Khartoth the Bloodhunger: At the start of the combat phase, roll a die. On a 4+, the bearer fights before anyone else. Doesn't let you fight twice, but allows you to hit before other units, which can be vital in some situations. Also, using a fight twice command ability can be used right after this goes into effect, meaning you could potentially wipe out anything before it has a chance to blink.
4. Hellfire Blade: Pick one of the bearer’s melee weapons to be the Hellfire Blade. Unmodified wound rolls of a 6 with this weapon cause a mortal wound in addition to their normal damage. Quite a nice buff. Simple, yet effective.
5. Harvester of Skulls: Pick one of this HERO’s melee weapons to be a Harvester of Skulls. Add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of this weapon. Another good pick. You couldn't go wrong with this.
6. Foe’s Bane: Pick one of this HERO’s melee weapons to be a Behemoth’s Bane. Once per turn, you can re-roll 1 failed hit roll or 1 failed wound roll for an attack made with this weapon. A mulligan that could mean the difference between whiffing and annihilating.

Daemonic Adorments

One KHORNE DAEMON HERO in an army with a KHORNE allegiance and has chosen to take the KHORNE allegiance abilities, plus one KHORNE DAEMON HERO for every battalion selected, can choose one of the following Daemonic Adorments:

1. The Crimson Crown: Once per battle round, the bearer can use a command ability on their warscroll without a command point being spent. With how amazing our command abilities are now, this is a strong contender.
2. Armour of Scorn: Each time the bearer suffers a wound or mortal wound, roll a dice; on a roll of 6, the wound or mortal wound is ignored. Add 2 to this roll if the wound or mortal wound was suffered as a result of a spell. A save after the save is always good, and obviously this will shine against heavily magic armies.
3. Mark of the Bloodreaper: Re-roll save rolls of 1. Sometimes it's what you need.
4. Collar of Khorne: The bearer can attempt to unbind one spell in each enemy hero phase in the same manner as a wizard. Also, you may attempt to unbind one endless spell at the start of your hero phase. Khornate Daemons HATE shitty wizards. You should know it by now. Also you should know by now that while this Adorment is certainly great, it also depends on how many of those pesky nerds are on the enemy site.
5. Crimson Soulstone: The bearer immediately heals D3 wounds lost earlier in the battle each time they slay an enemy HERO or Monster in melee. This has gotten a lot better because you can use it any phase and it happens per unit slain, so killing multiple monsters or heroes in a single phase has the potential to fully heal you.
6. Mark of the Slayer: You can re-roll hit rolls of 1 for melee weapons for the bearer and all KHORNE units wholly within 12" of them at the start of the combat phase. This allows your daemon hero to bestow re-rolls on your mortal units. A daemon prince in a mixed army comes to mind.

Notable Artifacts of the Realms

Daemon or Mortal, if you dedicate your army to a realm you can grab one (or more) of the artifacts from that realm. Note that if you take one (or more) battalion(s) you can take more artifacts from one realm. Weapons are usually more offence focused while relics are more defense focused. There are 7 realms and 12 artifacts per realm, so there's quite a lot of options. Unfortunately a lot of the artifacts do the same thing, and some are simply inferior versions of others. However, there are a few diamonds in the rough, and here they are:

1. Realm of Ghyran - Ghyrstrike: Pick a weapon the model has. That weapon gets +1 to hit and +1 to wound. You'll be hard pressed to find a beatstick hero that won't benefit from this. Your Mighty Lord and Lord on Juggernaut become way more killy, but it turns your Daemon Prince (Axe with Immense Power and a Bloodsecrator) into a god-slayer (get some reroll buffs going for even more hilarity).
2. Realm of Ghyran - Hypersnare Seeds: At the end or your opponent's shooting phase, pick an enemy unit within 8" of the bearer and visible to them. On a 5+ that unit can't charge in the next charge phase. Hey, Beastclaw Raiders, fuck you.
3. Realm of Ghur - Gryph-feather Charm: Subtract 1 from hit rolls for attacks that target the bearer. In addition, add 1" to the bearer's Move characteristic. This is for ALL hit rolls, melee or ranged. Ranged attacks took a hit in 2.0 and this artifacts makes them even worse while making you just a liiiittle bit faster. Mighty Lords really love this one.
4. Realm of Ghur - Amberglaive: Make a weapon the Amberglaive giving it +1" range and +1 to hit. Great on stuff that needs the hit buff. Give it to a Insensate Rage Bloodthirster, making it 3" range and hit on 3's with his Mighty Axe of FUCK YOU, being able to attack past screens protecting valuable units your opponent has. Dont forget to cast Killing Frenzy on this dude to make him hit on 2's.
5. Realm of Chamon - Godwrought Helm: An additional 6+ save against any wound taken. Neat.
6. Realm of Aqshy - Thermalrider Cloak: Add 4 to the bearer's Move characteristic, and they gain Fly. Smaller, slower heroes with good weapons suddenly zipping around the battlefield, hopping over Bloodreavers holding down enemy units and stabbing them in the spinal column. Nothing personnel kid.
7. Realm of Aqshy - Ignax's Scales: 4+ against any mortal wounds. Sometimes it's what you need.
8. Realm of Shyish - Ethereal Amulet: Ignore positive or negative modifiers when making saves for this model. Anyone with a 3+ stays a 3+, which can be pretty huge against certain match-ups.
9. Realm of Shyish - Wrathbow: Adds an 18" shooting weapon to your model. When fired, roll six dice, and any 6+ are moral wounds. Khorne has very little long range weaponry and your mortal heroes can often get stuck behind your front-line troops, so having something you can lob over them to loosen up the enemy can be helpful, if inconsistent.
10. Realm of Ulgu - Spellmirror: If the bearer or any friendly units within 6" are affected with a spell (so after the dispel roll), roll a die. On a 5+, the spell is ignored. On a 1, the mirror is broken and cannot be used again for the battle. Potentially super useful, potentially useless. At least worth a mention.
11. Realm of Ulgu - Doppelganger Cloak: RECENTLY NERFED. Once per battle, at the start of the combat phase, declare you're putting on the coat and then the bearer cannot be chosen as the target of an attack with an enemy melee weapon unless the bearer has made any attacks earlier in the same phase. Basically, the bearer cannot be targeted in the combat phase until they attack. This can be extremely broken when you have more units in combat than your opponent. By leaving your hero for last, your opponent can lose the opportunity to even attack them at all that phase. Now that it's once per battle it's far less powerful.
12. Realm of Hysh - Lens of Refraction: RECENTLY NERFED. Once per battle round, the first time a friendly unit within 6" of the bearer suffers any mortal wounds by a spell or endless spell, roll a D3 and reduce the number of mortal wounds suffered by the roll. The nerf pretty much killed this artifact but some players may still think it's unnerfed, so here it is.
13. Realm of Hysh - Mirrored Cuirass: Every time you take a mortal wound, roll a die. On a 5+ the wound is ignored. On a 6+, pick an enemy within 6". That unit takes the mortal wound instead. Makes your rampaging heroes harder to take down and punishes your opponent for trying.

*Blood Blessings of Khorne*

Every PRIEST in a KHORNE army (Slaughterpriests and Khorne-marked Chaos Warshrines, which sound pretty sweet) gains an additional prayer which can be used in addition to their other abilities in the hero phase, in the same vein as spells for other armies wizard (except that this isn't for pussies). Every KHORNE PRIEST can know a different blessing. If the result is 4 or higher, the prayer is answered, and its effect takes place. If the result is 1, the priest suffers 1 mortal wound. KHORNE PRIESTS can attempt to bestow their blood blessing in each of your hero phases in addition to any prayers they may know. And remember, unlike spells, blessings can't be unbound!

*New battletome changes!* You may not use the same prayer multiple times a turn. No more stacking Bronzed Flesh or Killing Frenzy to make an already good unit broken. Also, prayers that target friendly units are now wholly within the range, so your priest needs to stick close to whoever he is buffing. ALSO ALSO, all prayers must be cast "at the start of your hero phase", so keep that in mind! This is especially important when making pile in moves during the previous turn which could take you out of range of your priest. The range of Blood Sacrifice got longer, BTW.

1. Bronzed Flesh: Pick either the PRIEST or a KHORNE unit from your army that is wholly within 16" of the PRIEST and which is visible to them. You can add 1 to the save rolls of the unit you picked until the start of your next hero phase. This is effectively Mystic Shield With the nerf to Mystic Shield, our Priests now make our eager-to-die units harder to kill. This is best used with a Khorne-marked Chaos Warshrine to make your (Mortal) Battleline incredibly tanky in combination with its 6+ ward save.
2. Blood Sacrifice: Pick either the PRIEST or a KHORNE unit from your army that is wholly within 8" of the PRIEST. The unit you picked immediately suffers D3 mortal wounds, but you gain 1 Blood Tithe point. This is effectively an upgraded Arcane Bolt; easier to make, on a melee range, but giving you one Blood Tithe point without necessarily slaying a thing. Note that you could make some audacious shenanigans and use it on Skarbrand to heat him up quicker.
3. Resanguination: Pick either the PRIEST or a KHORNE HERO from your army that is wholly within 16" of the PRIEST and which is visible to them. The model you picked immediately heals D3 wounds lost earlier in the battle. Excellent, because one of the traditional weaknesses of Khorne armies has been that they can do a lot of damage, but can't take it; it's superb with Bloodthirsters or heroes with powerful artifacts. Still, very unfluffy (Khorne is no Red Cross), though the Battletome justification tries hard: "Priests know that a man killed will bleed for a moment; a man who keeps killing will shed blood for a lifetime". This can lend to cheeky trick like keeping the very mentioned above Warshrine alive for longer.
4. Brazen Fury: Pick a KHORNE unit from your army that is wholly within 16" of the PRIEST and which is visible to them. The unit that you picked does not have to take battleshock tests until your next hero phase. We've lost our table-wide battleshock immunity from the Bloodsecrator, so this should see more use. Imagine buffing up your 40 Goretide Bloodreavers before launching them into the enemy lines.
5. Killing Frenzy: Pick either the PRIEST or a KHORNE unit from your army that is wholly within 16" of the PRIEST. Add 1 to the hit rolls of the unit you picked until your next hero phase. Yes, the same as the Command Ability of some heroes. Yes, this blessing is better than almost every spell any other army gets, and can't be unbound. This is Khorne's concept of fairness.
6. Spellbane Hex: You may dispel 1 endless spell. Now actually useful, but you're not going to let those spells go off anyways, right?

Endless Spells *Judgements of Khorne*

Khorne Priests can summon Judgements of Khorne during your hero phase. One Priest cannot attempt to summon more than one Judgement per turn, and if you fail to summon a Judgement, you may not retry to summon THAT Judgement that turn. You also cannot summon the same Judgement multiple times onto the battlefield (so no flinging tons of axes). At the end of every battle round, roll a D6 for each Judgement. On a 1-4, the Judgement disappears. Add 1 to this roll if at least one Priest is wholly within 8 inches of the Judgement you are rolling for.

• Hexgorger Skulls (CV 3+, 40 pts): To quote an old man, "MAGIC MUST DEFEAT MAGIC!". This Judgment is one set of skulls that can move up to eight inches in your hero phase (and immediately after being summoned). The skulls must stay within 6" of one another, and only work if the Wizard is within 12 inches of BOTH skulls. All Wizards have to take -2 to casting rolls when within 12" of BOTH skulls and if they have a spell result of 8, the spell is immediately destroyed, wiped from the caster's memory, and all wizards within 12" of the skulls take d6 mortal wounds. These two work in tandem, so keep them close together!

• Bleeding Icon (CV 4+, 40pts): What's more terrifying than seeing the Blood God's Icon? One that flies around and deals d3 mortal wounds to any unit it flies over and lands near. May move up to eight inches in your hero phase (and immediately after being summoned). On top of that, this thing's made to ruin morale as it adds +d3 casualties to any failed battleshock tests within 3" (Khorne units are immune to the battleshock but not the damage).

• Wrath-Axe (CV 5+, 60pts): Pure, unadulterated aggression made manifest. May move up to eight inches in your hero phase (and immediately after being summoned). This thing deals d3 mortal wounds on any unit it passes over on a 2+ and then deals d6 mortal wounds on a 2+ against a nearby unit once it stops moving. On top of that, any non-Khorne units take -1 to hit when within 3" of this axe, giving it a purpose beyond just throwing.

Warscrolls

Daemons, Bloodbound, and Mortals, oh my! Updated warscrolls for your Daemons and Bloodbound can be found in your Blades of Khorne (2019) book, while you'll need to seek out the Mortals since Slaves to Darkness don't have a book quite yet. Generally speaking, Daemon heroes benefit Daemon units, and this is true for Bloodbound and Mortals too, so if you're looking to make a balanced list you should focus in on one of the three subfactions. This isn't always the case and exceptions have been pointed out below. Splashing in a few Bloodbound in a Daemons list can be useful, as can Mortals in a Bloodbound list. There are a TON of combinations of units, abilities, warlord traits, and artifacts, so pay close attention to the keywords of units and abilities when putting together your list.

Leaders

You can take up to six leaders in a 2k points list. This is the hardest section for most players to fill out because we have a lot of very good leaders to choose from.

Named Characters

Named Characters are unique, so you cannot take duplicates of them. They're usually very powerful force multipliers or selfish beat-sticks.

Daemon

• Skarbrand: The angriest of Khorne's Bloodthirsters, unlike most big monster in AoS Skarbrand gets more killy the more he gets hurt or if he hasn't attacked in the last battle round. Skarbrand has 5 levels of anger; Angry, Furious, Seething, Enraged and Incandescent. Each level increases the amount of attacks Skarbrand can make, grants him effects like re-rolling misses or making a special ranged attack or re-roll his charges. Big Red comes with a respectable 14 wounds, 8" move and 4+ save but lacks the flying ability of other Bloodthirster's due to Khorne beating his ass. Skarbrand's axes will blend all but the largest heroes, Slaughter rolls from 4 to 8 dice with a 4+/3+/-2/3 profile and if Carnage hits, Skarbrand rolls a dice. If he beats the number listed on his total carnage table (a 1+ if he has taken 13+ wounds) the target takes 8 mortal wounds but on a roll of a 6 he can put out 16 mortal wounds (Yes you read that right 16.) SKARBRAND HATES HORDES!!! . Skarbrand does lack a command ability, but who cares when you get to blend hydras? Curiously enough, unlike all other BT's Skarbrand cannot be summoned.

• Skulltaker: Khorne's favorite Bloodletter has survived the transition to AoS quite well. He shares the 5 wound/5"/10 Bravery/4+ save as a normal herald, the Cloak of Skulls allows Skulltaker to re-roll all failed saving throws, and his weapon the Slayer Sword packs 3 attacks at 3+/3+/-1/3, though any roll of 6 to wound deals three mortal wounds ON TOP of its regular damage, like Bloodletters do now. In combat with heroes Skulltaker gets to re-roll all failed hit and wound rolls, almost guaranteeing another prize for the skull throne and as a bonus, Skulltaker triggers the loci for your other Khorne daemons. Cannot be summoned, so if you want him, you need to actually take him in your army. His Command Ability is not that spectacular, but may be useful sometimes. Is now getting an amazing updated model as well!
  • This guy is mediocre against hordes, but he's the best non-Monster duelist in all of Age of Sigmar, period. Three attacks may not seem a lot, but you can re-roll ALL of them, failed or not, so you should always re-roll the hits trying to fish for that magical six. You have an almost guaranteed 3-6 wounds each fight phase, which will kill the vast majority of Heros out there, meaning any decent opponent will try to hide them from you. Use this to your advantage playing Skulltaker as an area denial/permanent threath against your opponents buffers. Even if he doesn't take any skulls home, he may very well take the game for you!

• Karanak: When he is placed you choose an enemy hero: he always rerolls every failed hit and wound roll against him and, at the end of your move phase (no longer during the hero phase) if he is within 8" of his quarry, he instantly summons an unit of 5 Flesh Hounds. Given his 8" move, shouldn't be too hard. He can also unbind spells and when he does it the caster suffers d3 mortal wounds. No longer required to make Flesh Hounds battleline. Seems like an easy take, just choose an enemy hero that your opponent needs to have at the front lines. As of Wrath and Rapture he also gets to reroll charges like any other Fleshounds, and as seen his Maw attacks TRIPLED from two to six, so he's now an absolute must-take in any Khorne Daemon army. ALl those buffs have came with a hefty price increase, now clocking at 160 pts, but since it's now reasonnably easy to summon those 5 Flesh Hounds, you can count him as being effectively 60 pts (unless you are facing a very shooting army, then good luck getting him at 8" or less of his quarry).

• Mazarall the Butcher, Daemon Prince of Khorne (Forge World): Another surprise monster, another Khorne addition for AoS...as if there aren't enough already. Has the basic trappings, 12 wounds with a 3+ save (making him arguably tankier than your Bloodthirsters). His shield gives him the ability to unbind 1 spell/turn. His movement, axe's rend, and shield's attacks all decline as he gets hurt. His axe also gains more attacks the more it kills, meaning that the sooner he gets into combat the scarier he'll be. Charging also makes him deadly, as he gets to roll a d6 for any enemy next to him in combat and deals d3 mortal wounds on a 4+. His Command Ability allows a single Khorne unit to re-roll wound rolls of 1. Not too bad. But being a named character hurts because it means you can't supplement him with relics or command abilities, a shame.

Bloodbound

• Skarr Bloodwrath: The End Times dude is back and he's real killy. Unusually for a Hero, named heroes in particular, Skarr does not buff your army at all and is at his best against hordes of weak infantry by doing pretty much what the Stormcast Decimators wish they could do. He has five attacks with the cool statline of 2+/3+/-1/1. While this seems underwhelming when compared to most other melee heroes, he does have the awesome trick of being able to exchange his attack count with the number of models in his range, which is 3", absolute maximum for melee weapons. Now you see 30 Plague Monks, now you don't. However, even with a fixed attack count of 5, he's no hero or monster killer. Keep him to murder the small stuff, let your Mighty Lord take care of the mighty foes. Also, Skarr has a chance to come back from the dead at the end of any turn in which at least 8 models were killed, so he feels most at home in big games where 8 deaths per turn is nothing special. If that's ensured, simply throw him at the opponent in wild abandon, he'll be back anyway. Best case, he murders the faces off 7 dudes, gets killed and then you already have 8 kills together. Don't forget that whenever he's slain he'll generate a point of blood tithe. If you don't have any good horde targets just throw him at whatever area you need him and reap the rewards.
  • Some interesting changes in the Battletome update. No longer dependent on models killed, but instead resurrects on 8+ from 2D6. Also benefits from extra attacks now, as the number of models becomes his attacks characteristic. Finally, he gained an interesting command ability with Wrathmongers that gives them the ability of bloodwarriors to attack when slain (not dependent on phase).

• Valkia the Bloody: Your own goddamn Valkyrie, which is kind of ironic with Sigmar now being Odin and all. Either way, Valkia grants rerolls to Battleshock in a big bubble, but with a twist: If you reroll and models still flee afterward, you lose another D3 models on top. If you lost so many models that even on a 1 someone flees, it might be in your best interest to not use the reroll, but it can save your ass. Valkia is also pretty good in combat, especially when charging, as her spear gains D3 damage when doing so, putting her at 6 attacks with 3+/3+/-2/D3, a profile most monsters will feel insecure over (especially your awful awful Khorgorath). Between her 3+ save and her awesome shield, she's also pretty tanky so long as you keep her away from Mortal Wounds. In other words, against Dorfs, do not use her as a War Machine hunter as their Flame Cannon will murder her clean off the board.

• Scyla Anfingrimm: a High number of wounds, two great attacks as well as 2D6 okay attacks onto which he adds 1 for every wound he suffered. He can also unbind spells like a Wizard, moves as fast as Skullcrushers and has an awesome rule that allows better pile-in moves. Only problem? He only has a 5+ save and no Command Ability. Oh, and 8 Wounds can be problematic in wound-counting systems, as it's rather a lot for less survivability than a Mighty Lord of Khorne. Interestingly, Scyla actually lost the Hero keyword, though he's still unique and still a Monster.

• Korghos Khul: You can take your Mighty Lord of Khorne as Korgos Khul (the lord from the basic set that always fights with Vandus Hammerhand and all that). He's exactly like a Mighty Lord but has two additional abilities. Favoured of Khorne lets him re-roll all failed hit rolls (because he and his dog, Grizzlemaw, HATE EVERYTHING!) and Aqshy's Bane allows him to pile in up to 8" and attack as long as he's within 8" of an enemy unit. Let that sink in: it's like he has a 13" Move (5+8). Also his pet Fleshhound Grizzlemaw has the same attack profile as a lord of Khornes fleshhound except he has an additional -1 rend on his attacks, so he is better against armour. In addition a change up in the new Battletome his Command ability is now unique. Where before it gave a reroll to charge (just like the Mighty lord of Khorne) now it allows all friendly Goretide units re-roll hit rolls of 1. But there's more: he still has the Axe that instakills anything it wounds on 5+. Coupled with his re-rolls to hit, and because the instakill happens at the end of the phase where he wounds, that means each turn you have 2/3 chance of killing anything! Well, some things have saves-after-the-save that makes the two wounds a turn more difficult, but most of those Monsters your opponent has that costed him 300 or more points will get a no-return ticket to the Realm of Khorne! This means that your opponent will either keep his expensive guys out of reach from Korghos, or he'll try to kill him in one shot. Both outcomes are great because they force the hand of your opponent and lets you make him play your game. To sum all up, always take Korgos if you can: he's fast and killy as hell, he supports very well your army if he's the General, he's a perfect counter to expensive models, and he's even very cheap to get in monetary terms.
  • Do note though: His command ability now specifically only affects Goretide Khorne units. So if your taking him in an army lacking any Goretide he essentially has no unique command ability. In cases like that unless you just want to use him as a beatstick character you might be better off just taking a regulur Mighty Lord of Khorne and just give him an artefact and command ability to make up for his fewer rules. Indiviudals choice of course.

• VORGAROTH THE SCARRED & SKALOK THE SKULL HOST OF KHORNE (Forge World): Who says only Nurgle Maggotkin can have all the fun with tanky models? Forgworld's most recent Unique Dragon & Rider and they are a true Titan you would build a list around. This has 30 WOUNDS (even Nagash and the Glottkin will feel inadequate about that) with a 3+ save, with the potential to make 32 attacks with rend and damage higher than 1, in addition to its other abilities. The pair will massacre anything they set their focus on, especially in conjunction with some Blades of Khorne buffs (hello Bloodsecrator or Warshrine). VORGAROTH can kill a model in any friendly unit to make them Fearless but also if any models flee you loss d3 more models. SKALOK can recover wounds by eating a friendly if she rolls under there wound Characteristic. Wizards subtract 3 from roll when they are near. VORGAROTH and SKALOK are a giant blender, Recommended to start in reserve using their Eternal Hunt rule to avoid first turn shooting, then deploy them near the usual Bloodbound Support to turn your blender into a blood Hurricane.

Other

• Skaarac the Bloodborn, Greater Khorgorath of Khorne (Forge World): The first AoS creation by Forge World, this is a massive snowflake Khorgorath (although curiously no Khorogorath keyword). It comes with a hearty 16 wounds and can kill with its boiling hot blood, massive hooves, and brutal blades. This latter weapon starts with a whopping 8 attacks at 3+/3+/-2/2. Which is pretty dang scary. If it kills any models in the combat phase it heals D3 wounds. It also has two 12" aura effects: -2 to casting rolls, and -1 to enemy Bravery. When he dies, he explodes, causing every enemy model within 3" takes a Mortal Wound on a 4+ (rolling per model). His command ability allows Khorne to reroll charges if they're wholly within 12".

Generic Leaders

Daemon

• Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury: The first of the non-unique Bloodthirsters it shares the same 14 wounds, 4+ save, 10 Bravery, flying and slowly decreasing movement as all the other Bloodthirsters, this one packs a Lash of Khorne and a Mighty Axe of Khorne. The Lash can put out respectable damage at range 8" but it's special rules allows the Fury 'Thirster to pull a hit target 1D6 closer to it at the end of the shooting phase. The Mighty Axe lives up to the name dealing 6 attacks that start at 3+/2+/-2/D3 with the wound roll going down to 3+ at 4 wounds suffered and 4+ at 10 wounds suffered. The Fury Thirster comes with an aura that can damage and halve the Move stat of enemies within an 8" bubble, and his command ability allows Khorne Daemons within an 8" bubble to pile in 6" instead of 3". Good stats and a good hero slayer, the Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury wants to be in the center of your battleline to dictate how and when combat occurs. Can be summoned by any Khorne hero, but like the other two, it takes a full 8 Blood Tithe points.
  • Modeling/strategy tip: you can assembly the Bloodthirster as either of its three variants with the bits included in the box. You can magnetize the arms/weapons with not too much work (use green stuff to fill the gaps) so you can swap them and use the same model as each of its variants, and deploy one or another against different opponents. Be aware, though, that the points cost of each variant is different.

• Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage: The second Bloodthirster trades the lash and Axe for a single great axe with the ability to deal mortal wounds in an 8" bubble on wound rolls of 6 or more. P It packs fewer attacks, starting at 4 and dropping down to 3 at 7 wounds suffered and 2 at 13 wounds suffered, but the attacks always have a 4+/2+/-2/D6 profile and if you charge, you get to re-roll 1's to hit. His command bubble is 8" (noticing a pattern here?) and gives 'Khorne Daemons the ability to re-roll charge distances. Useful to help insure you get the alpha strike, but the aura is quite small so your army will need to stick close to him. If your LGS if Friendly, and don't have any guys who always says what you see is what you get (WYSIWYT "rule") then you shouldn't have any problem with building your Bloodthrister as you like and just say what loadout is running.

• Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster: The last of the Bloodthirster trio, he keeps the mighty axe of the Unfettered Fury BT but trades the lash in for a bloodflail and a 12" breath weapon that deals D3 mortal wounds to a unit in range. The flail makes a single attack an 8" with a 3+/3+/-1 profile but deals a whopping 6 damage, which goes down to 3 than D3 as you get more wounded. The Wrath BT is made for hunting down heroes and monsters, as he re-rolls ANY failed hit rolls against them. Khorne's hatred of sorcery also allows this BT to make one unbinding attempt with a +2 bonus which is pretty nifty for fucking with wizards. Instead of the 8" bubble of the other two 'Thirsters, the Wrath BT's Command Ability targets a single Khorne Daemon Unit within 16" and grants it the ability to run and charge while adding 1 to each of those.

• Exalted Daemon of Khorne (Forge World): Special rules commemorating the re-release of the super-big FW Thirster. It gets jacked to 20 WOUNDS and a 4+ save armed with the same gear the Unfettered Fury Thirster gets. In fact, he gets all the same rules as the Unfettered Fury, just now with a shitton, more wounds. (Edit: the AoE that causes mortal wounds goes off on a 5+ rather than a 6+ on his guy). Really, save yourself the money and don't buy it just to use these rules.
  • Can be summoned for 16 Blood Tithe points. If your army includes an Exalted Greater Daemon of Khorne, the maximum number of Blood Tithe Points you can have is 16 instead of 8.
  • He also has two more additional attacks than Unfettered Fury and teh axe does a straight up 3 damage instead of D3. Give him the gear to cause additional attacks and automatic mortal wounds on a roll of a 6 and watch your opponent cry. The tears (and blood) will flow even more so if you bring a couple priests to give it a 3 up armor save and heal D3 wounds a turn...

• Bloodmaster, Herald of Khorne: A Herald on foot, at first glance a pretty cheap standard hero making 4 3+/3+/-1/1 attacks with the usual 6's to hit cause mortal wounds deal. His true usefulness is triggering your Bloodletters loci and with his, The Blood Must Flow special rule that means you can get some attacks in with him first then pile in with you bloodletters.
  • Note the Blood Must Flow rule uses Bloodletter as a keyword meaning it works on any model with that keyword. Now look down the warscroll and see Bloodmasters have the Bloodletter keyword meaning if you take multiple of these guys they can proc each other. Worth remembering if you ever have two of them within 8" especially since your second Bloodmaster can still use his Blood Must Flow ability too.

• Skullmaster, Herald of Khorne: A Herald on a juggernaut, 20 points extra compared to the Bloodmaster gets you 3 juggernaut attacks (3+/3+/-/1) +3" move and +1 wound. Of debatable use. He can keep up with your bloodcrushers to proc their loci but so could a Blood Bloodthirster or Khorne Dameon Prince. He loses the Blood Must Flow Ability and swaps it for the bloodcrusher's faux hammer of wrath rule and their loci meaning he doesn't actually do anything to buff your army and he is simply not strong enough to be considered a worthwhile close combat hero.
  • Can make Bloodcrushers Battleline if you make him the General, why you would though is a bigger question (since Bloodcrushers kind of suck compared to Skullcrushers, and theres way better options for a General).
  • It's also a bit of a kick in the balls that our mounted herald costs 20 points more while Tzeench and Slaanesh get theirs at no additional cost.

• Blood Throne: A Herald on a chariot, 20 points extra compared to a Bloodmaster swaps your three juggernaut attacks for two Bloodletter crew attacks (4+/3+/-1/1 6's cause mortal wounds) and the chariots gnashing maw attack (4+/3+/-1/D3 restores a wound for each wound caused) and +1 wound. While the Skullmaster swapped the Blood Must Flow rule for the standard bloodcrusher rules, the skull throne swaps them for absolutely nothing. It doesn't even make bloodcrushers troops like the Skullmaster.

*New battletome changes!* Now the gnashing maw restores d3 wounds if any wounds are caused, and the Herald can use the generic command abilities at general ranges whether or not he is your general. While the battleshock test one is useless for daemons, you can have a easier time making the units who need charge rerolls get it. And your more survivable than before, so the Blood Throne might be useful now. Emphasis on might.

• Daemon Prince: Worth a mention certainly. The middle ground between your heralds and bloodthirsters and since the loci are on the units now, generally just better than most Herald options. Two weapon choices, 4 attacks with either an Axe with 3+/3+/-2/D3 and a Sword with 2+/3+/-1/D3 as well as 3 attacks with 4+/3+/-/2 Talons. The Sword wins out compared to the Axe against anything other than 2+ Armour so it's probably the better bet.
  • The introduction of Realm Artifacts have given this guy a new lease on life. Ghyrstrike with his Axe (and Immense Power) makes him a centerpiece deleting machine and is definitely worth a look. There are also several other defensive options if you think he'll need it.

Bloodbound

• Mighty Lord of Khorne: The Mightiest of Khorne Lords (we assume), your standard Lord of Khorne has a dog friend to accompany him on the battlefield. The Flesh Hound he takes along with him is all well and good with 4 3+/4+ attacks (Even more if the blood is flowing). The real feature here is the Lord's Axe, which has a possibility to rip a hole in the fabric of reality to suck in a victim after they take an unsaved wound (Watch Nagash go POOF!). That means all you need to do is Inflict one wound on your opponent's Lord-Celestant and roll a 5+ to send one of Sigmar's finest to the Realm of Khorne himself. You might not be able to pull this off in every skirmish, but the look on your opponents face when you do is well worth the price of admission. Stormcast Eternals will be giving your Mighty Lord of Khorne a wider berth after witnessing that once or twice. And do not underestimate his Command Ability: vastly improving the charge of three MORTAL KHORNE units within 24" AND himself can make or break many a game, and is less of a one-time thing than you may think. You should also consider the incredible gift of his Flesh Hound's collar, which lets him unbind spells like a Wizard once per hero phase. You know how with Wizards you have to do a careful dance of positioning to make sure they're close enough to the other Wizard to unbind but far enough not to get ripped to shreds? Charge him right into the fray, unbind spells and smashing puny casters in the face. Between him and the Bloodsecrator, they put a hamper on casters.
  • Pair this up with Fateweaver and Sayl the Faithless if you don't mind unlikely alliances. Sayl makes him fly far. And Fateweaver ensures your Dice is that specific 5 or higher to instagib anyone. Assuming they failed at least one save. Except that You can't because their keywords don't allow you to use their battle traits.

• Lord of Khorne on Juggernaut: Oh heck yes. 8 goddamn Wounds with a 3+ save to make for a tough motherfucker, even more so since he's got a 4+ save against magic bullshit. Then he's got some great melee capability, especially with all the buffs this army's got going and finally he has a Command Ability that grants up to 3 Mortal Khorne units +1 to Wound in melee so long as they charged this turn. Pick Valkia and Skarr Bloodwrath and watch the enemy lines shrink to nothing.

• Bloodsecrator: This guy is the meat and potatoes of your forces: A Bloodsecrator can stand in the back of your forces and wave his giant honking banner around to boost your infantry to unimaginable amounts of damage. Just by being within 12" of the Bloodreavers they gain an extra attack, but activating Rage of Khorne brings them up to three attacks each. And if the blood is already flowing? A group of twenty of these crazed cultists is going from 21 attacks to a grand total of 61 attacks!!! in just one combat phase. And on top of all that, he also fucks with enemy casting. Just send the Rage of Khorne coursing through your forces and watch your lowly knife-wielders turn into full-on berserkers that will gladly throw down their lives in the service of the Blood God. Does a Bloodsecrator even have attacks? Who cares. He can't move for a turn? Good thing you have more than enough Bloodreavers for a blood-soaked daisy-chain all the way to your back line. Does he have a Save? Yes, actually. 3+ even, making him pretty tanky. Now shut up and open another portal.
  • Something else to consider: The Bloodsecrator targets KHORNE units with his ability, not MORTAL KHORNE. You know how the only negative thing about Bloodletters, the lesser Daemons of Khorne is the fact that they only attack once and Khorne Daemons dish out no buff to increase that? Good thing your Bloodsecrator very much does. Now your Bloodletters can swing their scary swords with twice the attacks...so why do I want Bloodreavers again?
  • The Crimson Plate on this guy in cover gives him a 2+ Re-Rollable save. Nuff said.

• Exalted Deathbringer: Not so much a general as a trusted lieutenant, Command notwithstanding. Unless you're fighting a magic-heavy army (and I mean, very heavy) then you should always take the Skullgouger version, as it's basically the best thing about him, letting him deal a rather disturbing amount of damage by simply passing his safe. Keeping him near a Khorne general gets him another two attacks (totaling 5). These guys won big with 2.0, as they can now gain the benefit of not being the general while still contributing the command ability when needed.
  • The version of this guy with the big-ass spear is basically the single greatest model GeeDubs has ever created because he is essentially a roided out Johann Hegg brandishing a Heavy Metal reimagining of Gungnir. The weapon itself is potentially devastating against Heroes, but its a less thankful target for buffs than the big-ass axe is. Basically, if you like that version, play him but make sure there are Heroes for him to mulch.

*New battletome changes!* The spear switches continuous mortal wounds against heroes for unmodified 6's to wound dealing D3 mortal wounds on top of his normal damage. No longer a hero-hunter, the spear guy won big time with the update and still gets +2 attacks near your general, while also being easy to be "wholly" within the effects of a bloodecrator. Put this shirtless guy near wrathmongers, an aspiring deathbringer, and whip him with a bloodstoker for ludicrous damage potential.

• Aspiring Deathbringer: An Exalted Hero with slightly weaker weapons initially, he drops his shield and weapon ability and instead gains a re-roll on Hit and saves for the rest of the game if another KHORNE HERO dies within 6" of him, making him a good idea for a backup hero. His Command Ability also makes other MORTAL KHORNE units wholly within 10" of him gain a free attack, which makes him even deadlier, especially considering he affects himself with this as well, taking him to an actually pretty good damage output. These lads are also on the rise with 2.0, no longer having to be your general! With the axe and chain hammer guy clocking in at 80, and the hammer and axe coming in at 100, they're useful beatsticks that keep on giving.
  • Giving him a Hammer and Axe gives you 6 attacks instead of 3+D3 and exchanges his self-buff for a chance to pile in and attack them outside of the Combat Phase if enemies around him flee. If you got your buffs up, he will easily make stuff run on his own and can then reward himself by tearing into the opponent again.

*New battletome changes!* The update was very, very unkind to the Aspiring Deathbringer. No longer benefits from a nearby hero dying, and cannot pile in for attacks from enemy units running (instead makes D3 additional units run). Really just not a unit worth taking considering your options. The command ability was buffed, but going from wholly 10" to 12" is not impressive. For comparison, the bloodstoker at 80pts has slightly better weapons than the 100pts Deathbringer, and doesn't need command points to use his ability. Really the Aspiring Deathbringer is in an awkward spot, not necessarily useless with the +1 attacks, but for 40 points more you get a unit of Wrathmongers whose +1 isn't a single phase and can cover way more area. Or for 20 pts less get an Exalted Deathbringer with exceedingly better weapons, and the invulnerability to battleshock trait that just became way more useful. Unless you're running a list that is going purely for jacking up attack characteristics, there are better options and this model can be used to still represent one of those.

• Slaughterpriest: This guy's not meant for killy. Really, his skill in that department is only decent, though drastically better than that of other Priests. Instead, you use him to unbind magic (because Khorne hates magic) and the ability to be a not-wizard on a 4+ or take d3 mortal wounds on a 1 (Add 1 if he killed someone in the last turn, meaning he'll never take damage if he already pleased Khorne). His prayers either makes an enemy within 16" take d6 Mortal Wounds making him your best-ranged unit or forces an enemy to run towards your nearest unit within 3-16". Remember the Lash of Submission from 40k? Yeah, it's just like that, but even meaner. He's how you funnel your enemies to a battle they can't win if they suck at fighting or bang up a big guy.
  • If you feel better compelled to go killing, he can dual-wield, which actually ends up making him less killy, exchanging his three attacks at damage 2 for 3+D3 attacks at damage 1. What he can do is stand behind your actually killy units and chip in with his D3 meh attacks, but why would you? Given the situation, Slaughterpriests are never all that killy, but putting him a bit farther back means your opponent won't be able to specifically charge him, making him more survivable and ultimately contributing more with another round or two of Prayers. Besides, killing a single weak horde model is all that's needed, stay away from big fellas.

*New battletome changes!* Like many other units this update, has lost a lot of what made this guy fun and Khornelike. No longer benefits from killing a model, your "slaughter" priest is now just another backline loser who shouldn't be in combat. Blood blessings are reworked and can only be cast once per turn now, but now only incur 1 mortal wound on a failed prayer. Blood bind is now useless, moving an enemy unit an amount equal to your prayer roll means you'll be moving an enemy unit between 4 and 6 inches on a successful cast instead of the previous max movement they could physically do. 4-6" is nothing on a tactical level, and with how movement works blobs won't care and heroes/monsters will be surrounded and "locked in place". Slaughterpriests are now a standard backline wizard who will be forever blue-balled from the glory of combat. But you do get a points-free skull altar to give you rerolls to prayers for 35USD. Thanks Geedubs.

• Skullgrinder: You know Age of Sigmar hasn't lost the Warhammer touch when you see that the sacred smith doesn't attack with his hammer, but HIS ANVIL. He swings it so hard he gets 2 3+/2+/-1/3 attacks. Yes, that's damage 3, not D3. He also adds +1 Bravery to other Mortal Khorne units within 6", which won't make your Bloodreavers brave or anything, but it might help your Blood Warriors and Skullreapers a bit. He's also got this neat special rule where, if he kills an enemy Hero or Monster, he gives all Mortal Khorne units within 8" the ability to roll 2 wound rolls if they get a 4+ on their Hit rolls for the rest of the game. Get him a few bonus attacks and that Hero/Monster kill is either assured or your opponent will be running the hell away from your Skullgrinder, both of which are great outcomes. Note: Skullgrinder's ability doesn't just apply to close combat attacks, team him up with some Marauder Horsemen with Javelins to give your opponent a nasty surprise!
  • Got nerfbuffed from the battletome update. He's completely lost the ability to give extra hits after slaying a hero, that ability graduated somewhat to the new 8 Blood Tithe point cost Slaughter Triumphant. In return, he's gained an extra attack, and the ability to bitchslap any single Hero/Monster within 2" with D3 Mortal wounds on a 2+.

• Bloodstoker: Need a little more rage in your blood? Have the Bloodstoker whip your other guys into shape. Most people seem to focus on the fact that he lets the unit he whipped reroll 1s To Wound, but his other buff is actually much more potent. +3 to run and charge helps you out A LOT with getting your guys into melee, especially if you picked the otherwise painfully slow Skullreapers. And every turn you're in melee is a turn you're winning, so him getting you there faster is wonderful. That said, don't discount the rerolls and do remember that, like the Bloodsecrator, he targets KHORNE, not MORTAL KHORNE. Also, the guy himself is actually a decent fighter by virtue of having two weapons and thus profiting doubly from all your attack buffs and can actually use his whip to fight from the second row, even behind big models like Wrathmongers. And when you think you've had enough fun whipping shirtless guys around you can always throw the Bloodstoker to the wolves in order to keep the blood flowing.
  • Do you like Gorebeast Chariots? Great, because the Bloodstoker does, too. He's almost fast enough to keep up with one and the chariot can really use his boost. If it rolls an 8 or higher on its charge roll, it doubles its attacks. With the Stoker adding 3 to that, you'd only need to roll a 5 or higher for the boost and successfully charging becomes much easier too. And the rerolls to Wound will be making the Chariot into the rape machine it's supposed to be.

Mortal

• Chaos Lord on Manticore: The Lord on Manticore can have a choice between Flail and Sword, with the Sword being better in most circumstances and a choice between Runeshield, Daggerfist, and Lance. The Lance might be awesome, but since everyone and their grandma will be gunning for your Manticore, the 5+ save against Mortal Wounds might be the best choice. Mark of Khorne gives him a 6" pileup which is, something? Ironically enough, the Manticore itself is actually less damaging than the Lord on it, but it does provide some nice special rules, such as rerolls of 1 To Hit against Monsters for its Claws and Jaws attacks and always rerolling when attacking units in your side of the field. His Command Ability allows a unit of Chaos Warriors within 15" to reroll charge, wound, and Battleshock rolls.

• Lord of Chaos: Has a brutal pair of weapons, both attack thrice, hitting and making wounds at +3. The Reaperblade has a range of 2", -2 rend and 2 damage, and once per battle he has the option to make one attack, but making 2D6 fucking damage. His Khorne Mark allows him to reroll every 1 to hit and his command ability lets any Slaves to Darkness unit within 10" with his same mark gets the ability too, it's not really the best command ability you have to be honest... If he kills the opponent general, he becomes a Daemon Prince on a whim, but if he dies he becomes... you know what.

• Lord on Daemonic Mount: Pretty good actually. Ability-wise he's almost the same as the walking one. Combined with Eye of the Gods, this makes him all but unkillable so long as you feed a steady stream of Heroes to him. His Command Ability allows a Chariot or Knight unit to reroll charge rolls and adds +1 to their Hit rolls. Gorebeast Chariots hitting on 3+? Yes, please.

• Exalted Hero of Chaos: A shit Aspiring Deathbringer with D6 4+/3+/-1/1 attacks and can pile in twice. He gets a +1 to hit vs Characters and Monsters and if he somehow kills one he doubles his number of attacks in the next combat phase. Yeah probably don't?

Troops

Battleline

You're going to need at least three units of Battleline in a 2k points list. These are often the core of your army that dictate how you'll build the rest of your list out.

Daemon

• Bloodletters *UPDATED 2018*: Your standard choppy Khorne daemon, min unit size 10 and coming in with MV 5, a 5+ save and the Bravery 10 all daemons share. The Hellblades they wield are 4+/3+/-1/1 which are pretty great for infantry, but they only make a single attack each. The unique ability this unit has is that unmodified rolls of 6 to hit are automatic mortal wounds, but you continue the attack sequence on that attack. They have the standard array of musicians, standard bearers and champions with the champ gaining a second attack, the musician forcing your opponent to re-roll battleshock test of 1 within 6" and two banner options: The first allows you to add D6 bloodletters to the unit every time you roll a 1 on a battleshock test the other grants you +1 to any charge rolls you make every time the unit slays a Hero. As a unit can carry multiple banners there's no reason not to take both. The locus for Bloodletters lets them reroll hit results of 1 if a Daemon Hero of Khorne is within 8" which is almost needed due to the low number of attacks Bloodletter's get. If you take a blob of 20 or more, they get a plus one bonus to hit, so it may be worth taking a few large units rather than multiple small ones.
  • The nerf to Bloodletter's Mortal Wound melee attacks is a large blow to the Bloodletter Bomb, effectively killing it once and for all. Bloodletter hordes are still scary and when buffed can remove other unis, but they are now an accompaniment unit and not your entire army. One unit in your army shouldn't be bearing the entire load; diversify!
  • For summoning lists: units of 20 Bloodletters are still a very valuable summon because, even unbuffed, they are a force to be reckoned with. A late game blob suddenly encroaching on an objective can turn the tides of battle very quickly.
• Flesh Hounds: Now Battleline all the time! For double the price of a bloodletter you get a 2 wounds little beast with an 8" move (which is pretty fast for Khorne) and 4 (3+/4+/-/1) attacks and an unconditional re-roll on their charge range. In addition they can unbind spells, getting a +1 to this if they have 10+ models and their loci give them a re-roll on this making them a pretty good magic defense since you have none yourself. These guys are pretty damn killy. Wrath and Rapture now introduce a pack leader to the doggies, which has a 8" 2+/4+/-/1 missile attack. While not exactly a game breaker, it's still nice bonus to take.
  • These dawgs and a Khorne Bloodbound Bloodstoker are a match made in heaven. Get the Bloodstoker to whip these guys giving them +3" on their charge/run rolls and rerolling 1's on their wound rolls and watch your opponent cry as you charge into their lines first turn and throw out 4 3+/4+/-/1 attacks each and are in perfect position to start dispelling your opponents wizards next turn.

Bloodbound

• Blood Warriors: A band of Chaos Warriors with a Khorne-approved coating of blood and the ability to attack before going down. They're normally equipped with Goreaxes (Chaos Hand Weapons with a Gorecoat that grant rerolls of 1s to Hit if a model has two axes), though any of them can also take a Gorefist so that if they make a save they can roll a d6 and inflict a mortal wound on a 6. Which one you take is up to you really. The chance to inflict mortal wounds is tempting, but it's only a chance, while the No Respite rule pretty much guarantees that you'll get some mileage out of the rerolls. One per ten can also grab a Goreglaive, which is a Goreaxe that Wounds on 3+, -1 to rend and causes 2 damage. Also, as with the Stormcasts, thanks to the wording, you can give that Goreglaive to your champion, who gets an additional swing with any weapon he wields.
  • Honestly as cool as Khorne Themed Chaos Warriors are...the sad truth is they are awfully expensive for their damage output. The fact that they can only have 1 weapon per TEN models really sucks (despite the fact that they are taken in 5 man increments). If you want a killy Battleline, Bloodletters are the gold standard. Bloodreavers meanwhile can surprisingly output a ton of attacks when backed up by a Totem (they'll die like flies but they're cheap as chips). Many competitive lists just take the bare minimum 10 man squad purely to fulfill the Gore Pilgrims Battalion. Maybe if they could have 1 Goreglaive per 5 men AND the champion can have his own, they'd be in a better spot. Unfortunately the Blood Warrior Box was designed to only have 1 Goreglaive, and GW hates "can't build straight out of the box" situation. Meanwhile SCE Sequitors can have a bajillion Great Maces because their box has that many Great Maces!
  • Counter-argument: it is an often-held belief that a Khorne unit needs to be killy to be good. This belief ignores everything that makes Blood Warriors useful for their cost. At 100 points per five, Blood Warriors march onto the field with 2 wounds each and a 4+ save. This makes them not that much more expensive than Bloodreavers while being far tougher to remove. A unit of these bad boys will hold their own against most opponents for at least a turn while dealing a few wounds back. The purpose of Blood Warriors is not to be a rolling wave of death, but a bulwark against the enemy that lets you re-position your more powerful units for the most powerful strike possible. Their No Respite rule and Goreglaive at ten models are bonuses, not their bread and butter.
  • TL;DR: take Blood Warriors to hold objectives and escort your more powerful units up the board. Expect them to be able to withstand some punishment, and don't expect them to kill much on their own.
  • One argument to blob them in a brick of 30 is that Khorne can stack buffs like nobody's business. The Goretide's Command Ability plus a nearby Bloodstoker means that these MurderMen have a whopping 2D6+17" threat range. Toss Bronzed Flesh and Brazen Fury on them and they become a tanky brink that's tied up your opponent's army and is incredibly hard to shift.

• Bloodreavers: These guys are essentially Khornate Marauders who are too manly to wear armor (but now they have a 6+ Save, Khorne be praised!). Their leader gets another attack, and you can add an Icon Bearer (Adding +1 to their Bravery) and/or a Musician (+1" To Run and Charge), both of which are very useful bonuses you should always take. As for weapons, you could either run with the Reaver Blades (which re-roll hit rolls of 1) or take the Meatripper Axe and gain -1 Rend (probably the better option, which is, of course, the reason the guys in the Starter Set come with the other one). They also gain an extra attack if they are 12" from a unit which has the Chaos Totem keywords (Bloodsecrator and Chaos Warshrine being the most practical examples, though a Beastmen BSB would work too, just for shits and giggles).
  • Pro-tip: If you have a Warshrine dedicated to Khorne, take Meatripper Axes, because the Warshrine's prayer grants you full rerolls to Hit, adds the bonus for having a Chaos Totem around and you still get the better Rend from the Axes.
  • These doods stand out as your *cheapest* source of Blood Tithe at 70 points/10W, 6+. They wombo well in a 40-strong blob. But definitely consider the MSU approach for screening, speedbumps, and the sweet, sweet Blood Tithe.

Mortal

• Chaos Warriors: Similar to Blood Warriors but notably 2 points a model cheaper and with more options but without the good special weapon at ten guys. You can choose between hand weapon and shield (3+/4+-/1), halberd and shield (2" 4+/4+/-/1), two hand weapons (Reroll 1's) or a great weapon (4+/3+/-1/1). The shield is pretty great, conferring a 5+ save vs mortals and combined with their ability to re-roll saves of 1 at 20+ guys makes them a pretty hard unit. RAW you can mix hand weapons and halberds and so take advantage of putting hand weapons at the front and halberds behind and removing the halberds first. You can´t, FAQ'd since the first FAQ 2016. A thing to note is that unlike blood warriors chaos warriors have instrument players (+1 to run and charge like bloodreavers) and instead of +1 attack their champion gets +1 to hit, which is best used on a halberd or great weapon warrior.

• Chaos Marauders: They're... An option? They have +1 save over Bloodreavers, two different banners, one which grants re-roll 1's and another that grants +1 bravery (they can take both though) and the option for a drummer who gives the same plus +1 to run and charge. Their special rule means you roll a dice before they attack, on a 4+ they get +1 to hit and on a 6+ they get +1 to wound as well and they get a +1 to this roll for having 20+ models. They have two different weapon options 4+/4+/-/1 axes or 5+/3+/-/1 Flails, which might seem like a tempting way to make them different to Bloodreavers, but the sad fact is the math says are axes are just better. Another "advantage" over reavers is that they're on 25mm bases instead of 32mm bases (reavers), this means you get 2 ranks in most combats.

Cavalry

Your fast attack units. Sometimes you need something that can jet across the board at high speeds with a blade swinging.

Daemon

• Bloodcrushers: *UPDATED 2018* (Battleline if a Skullmaster is your General) Bloodletters on mounts, gain 3/3+/3+/-/1 juggernaut attacks, +3" movement and 3 wounds. They have a faux "Hammer of wrath" attack: when they charge, on a 2+ they cause D3 mortal wounds on ALL enemy units within "1 if the enemy unit has 5 or less models, or D6 mortal wounds if the enemy unit has more than 5 models. They also swap the Bloodletters re-rolling 1's loci for one which lets them re-roll all failed hit rolls while the unit is wholly within 12" of a Daemon Hero.
  • The buff to Murderous Charge now makes taking them in minimum squads very enticing while also making summoning them even better. Give them a try!

Bloodbound

• Mighty Skullcrushers: (Battleline in a KHORNE MORTAL-only army with a Lord of Khorne on Juggernaut as your general) Your cavalry. Their mounts do more damage than the riders, striking pretty much with the same profile as a Skullreaper. The riders themselves have 2 attacks with either the same profile or with more Rend but worse Hit rolls. Your choice really. Their banners are pretty fun, too: At first, they grant +1 Bravery, but as soon as they kill one model, it grants +3, taking them up to 9. They have a faux "Hammer of wrath" attack: when they charge, on a 4+ they cause D3 mortal wounds on ALL enemy units within "1, or D6 mortal wounds it there are 6 or more Skullcrushers in the unit, giving you a very strong reason to run 6-man units. Do however remember that despite being Cavalry, your Skullcrushers aren't all that fast, moving only 8".
  • Quick modeling tip: After the reboxing, Skullcrushers now come in boxes of 6, but their Warscroll still specifies that they come in units of 3+, so you can comfortably take one of those six and make him into a Juggerlord, which would normally be a resin model that costs an arm and a leg. (Though you'd have to pay for a full unit of 6 if you used them in matched...)

Mortal

• Chaos Knights: Cavalry on Horses? In my Khorne army? It's more likely than you think! They're 2" faster than Skullcrushers, 3 wounds and have the same 5+ mortal wound save as Warriors. Two weapon options, Enscrolled Weapons (3x 3+/4+/-/1) or Glaives (2x 4+/3+/-/1) that upgrade to 4+/3+/-1/2 on the turn they charge. These guys suffer from some identity issues honestly and it's hard to see a place for them when Mighty Skullcrushers point for point are better offensively and defensively.
  • Actually on a second glance Lance/Glaive Chaos Knights do scary damage. Skullcrushers may be better in a prolonged fight, but 5-10 chaos knights on a charge with even one of the many buffs khorne has can do a lot of work. The fact that theres at least 5 models is also important if you say give them a +1 attack buff from the Aspiring Deathrbinger (don't forget it also affects mounts!). Thats 10 more attacks!

• Chaos Marauder Horsemen: Much lighter Cavalry and one of your few ranged attack options in the army. 12" move (4 more than Juggernaut Cav) 5+ save and 2 wounds each. They can have the same flail or axe as marauders on foot but the best option is their javelins giving them 2 4+/4+/-/1 ranged attacks each. They have the same re-rolls of 1 to hit banner as marauders on foot too and can shoot and charge on a turn they retreated. A nice cheap skirmisher option in an army saturated with heavy cav.

• Chaos Chariots: 8+D6" move means these are pretty nippy, especially compared to other Khorne stuff. It's decent enough at taking out enemy heroes with the greatblade, with the flail it can potentially pack a bit more punch but only on a lucky roll so it is probably not worth it.

• Chaos Gorebeast Chariot: Slower but killier, with a nice chance for mortal wounds. With 8" move it'll keep pace with your skullcrushers. If you roll a high charge range the gorebeast doubles its attacks and when you finish it's charge move you roll a D6 for each model within 2" on a 6 its unit suffers a mortal wound. Very good at things like Swordmasters. I'd still take the greatblade too since you're better off with the rend.

Elite Infantry

Your expensive, specialized, heavy-duty troops that make your opponent sweat when they see them approaching. They aren't the fastest units you've got (in fact they're some of the slowest) so you'll have to be a lot smarter with these on the board than your other, cheaper units.

Bloodbound

• Skullreapers: Pretty cool. They actually live up to their name and reap skulls. In game terms, this means you can keep a tally of how many guys they killed. If they killed more than your Skullreaper unit has models, you reroll all To Hit and once it hits double the amount of Skullreapers, you also reroll To Wound. We can probably assume that this takes into account their current number of models, so they might just get even killier if your opponent tears into them. Stat-wise they're pretty decent as well, with a Wound and a point of Bravery over Blood Warriors. Their weapons are also similar, having one more swing and Wounding on 3+. If you want more risk/reward, you can equip them with Daemon weapons, which hit worse but have a chance to either inflict mortal wounds on top of their normal damage or fail and inflict mortal wounds on you. One in five can take a one-up version of these, with one less swing, better Rend and better Damage. Additionally, the champion gets another weapon on top that's pretty powerful but only gets one swing. They also have a pretty high chance of inflicting mortal wounds if they die in combat. These are your elite infantry. They're powerful and can lead your charges. Get a Bloodsecrator nearby and watch everything around them melt.
  • If you want to bring the Daemonforged Weapons for their extra oomph, remember to bring a Bloodstoker, since the rerolls of 1s To Wound he grants are just enough to avoid hurting yourself and to increase the chance of dealing extra damage. Once they've killed enough to earn full rerolls To Wound, the Stoker can whip some other guys.

• Wrathmongers: The angry cheerleaders can infect other people with their RAGE. In game terms, every model within 3" of them gets an extra attack with all their weapons. However, this affects your opponent as well and it doesn't affect the Wrathmongers. You have to be very careful with these guys. On the one hand, they pour out 4 attacks per model at a pretty good profile and leaving them out of combat is simply a waste. On the other hand, if the opponent tosses shit like Blood Knights or Troggoths at them, the Wrathmongers melt thanks to them giving those devastating hitters bonus attacks. So, you should keep them in the back row, buffing your units and only letting them play if it's to finish off something on the edge. Stat-wise, they're Skullreapers with only a 5+ save but again, with 4 attacks apiece. Also, whenever one of them bites it, you can pick an enemy model and attack with it, even their own unit. And yes, they will attack with their attack count increased by the Wrathmongers. Hey Celestant-Prime, why are you hitting yourself?
  • Alternate Take: Having them be second-line is effective, but if your opponent has a giant Monster beatstick they can really shine. Send them in first against your opponent and force the Monster to engage, even if it has some lackeys, the effect has a 3" range. With their poor save, usually at least one Wrathmonger will die in a round of combat. Force the fresh monster to attack itself with boosted attacks, this will usually end up with the monster killing itself or reducing it's stat line enough to finish it off easily. Wrathmongers are expensive, so this can be a bit of a tossup, but against foes that lack re-summoning this strategy can effectively remove a much more expensive Monster from play. It's also guaranteed your opponent will demand to see the specific rules for the Wrathmonger ability, just be sure to explain your main army unit abilities beforehand and have the same for your opponent, unless you want to be That Guy.
  • Battletome updates have changed this unit majorly. No longer can they force the biggest enemies to kill themselves. Instead, they now deal mortal wounds upon death similar to Skullreapers, albeit more reliably. In return, their angry cheerleading now affects only Khorne units wholly within an 8" radius from a wrathmonger. A unit of five gives you a pretty massive radius. They also gained an interesting synergy with Skarr Bloodwrath, being able to attack upon death similar to a bloodwarrior.

Mortal

• Chaos Chosen: Chaos Warriors with some really good axes. 3 attacks each 3+/3+/-1/1 that cause mortal wounds on a wound roll of six or more and if they slay a model SLAVES TO DARKNESS within 8" re-roll failed wounds. Not to be sniffed at, especially with a Bloodstoker to give them re-rolls to wound and if you're running anything they can buff. These guys pack a big punch for their price essentially being your equivalents to Stormcast paladins, only 60 points cheaper a unit.

Beasts

A mix between fast and elite, these units are unique in nature and utility.

Bloodbound

• Khorgorath: "Somewhat underwhelming," said nobody ever. Khorgoraths are actually one of the punchiest units available to Blades of Khorne at a rock bottom price. It has two unique traits: it heals a wound when it removes a model in the combat phase, and it reduces bravery in an area when it deals damage. Though they may seem tailor made for removing smaller foes with their five attacks rending with damage two, but they're also great at killing multi-wound models and shaving off wounds from larger monsters as well. Because of their great statline they really don't need buff support to function well, but this also means anything you give them fires them up even more. They're also one of the only monsters in the game where up to five can be taken in a single unit. They also become even better in a Skulltake Battalion.
  • Khorgoraths are one of those units where it's best to take more over less. Individual models will hurt other units badly, but a unit of 3+ are a steamroller. In smaller games you can get away with a single model, but if you're playing 2k you should experiment with slotting these in as your hammer.

Mortal

• Chaos Spawn: That Which Must Not Be Named. Not actually terrible anymore, though far from reliable. A Move of 2D6" makes for potentially fast movement. Similarly, 2D6 attacks per Spawn is potentially strong, but even better is the special rule these attacks come with: If you roll a Double, instead of Hitting and Wounding on 4+, you Hit and Wound on 3+. Just think about it, 12 attacks apiece with good Hit and Wound rolls... Also, five Wounds with a 5+ save make for pretty hardy models.
  • While unreliable in almost every single aspect of their horrible existance, they do make a cheap, weak Blood Sacrifice target!

Behemoths

The big boys. The mad lads. The "you can only take up to four of them in a 2k list" fellas. More expensive than a beast, more powerful than an elite, just the right amount of blood for the blood god.

• Slaughterbrute of Khorne: YES, that's right, as of April 8th 2017, the Mutalith Vortex Beast and Slaughterbrute received an update with the keywords TZEENTCH and KHORNE respectively, allowing them to keep the Allegiance Abilities from the new Blades of Khorne and Disciples of Tzeentch Battletomes, which is good, and not stupidly broken. Unlike the MVBT, the Slaughterbrutes does gain specifical synergy with Mortal Armies; outside the KHORNE keyword, it is now bound to any KHORNE MORTAL HERO. A Mighty Lord of Khorne makes for a funny pair, given that he himself is quite resilient and he already has a thrust-full Khornate pet alongside it, however, the Slaughterbrute is truly Bloodsecrator's best friend. The Slaugtherbrute is at its most dangerous inside the Bloodsecrator area of effect.
  • Clocking it at just under the cost of two Khorgoraths, the Slaughterbrute can dish out almost exactly the same amount of wounds as them in melee combat. The Brute's weakness is its 4+ save and 12 wounds, but its degenerating profile is actually very forgiving. It stays fast and killy until you shave off a good 8 wounds! Just be aware your big boy in red is not a shock trooper and will need an escort to the enemy lines.
  • Too bad he lacks very good rend. Seriously he doesn't have access to Rend -2 despite his huge size and his JAWS are rend-less! Hopefully they get buffed when Slaves to Darkness get changed.

• Chaos War Mammoth: This monster has 22 wounds! Although it's only packing a 5+ save. All of his attacks cause at least D3 wounds, making it an exceptional monster-killer when at full strength. Its real strength lies in supporting a Marauder charge, however - as well as imposing -2 to any Battleshock tests to any unfortunate unit that gets charged, the Mammoth can also help Marauder or Marauder Horsemen get in a little extra movement and increase their damage output in combat. Wounding and even killing this thing just makes it cause more damage. If you're playing with a big Chaos horde then there's no finer feeling than running this guy into the enemy's biggest and toughest-looking infantry blob, although expect a few dirty looks for doing so. Keep in mind that he doesn't like magic missiles or war machine fire, however.

• Gigantic Chaos Spawn: A strong but unreliable monster burdened with random movement, random attacks, and regeneration. He can put out a fair amount of damage with a mix of its tongues and maws, and has 12 wounds and has a good chance to regenerate and possibly gain more wounds each turn. It's worth remembering that he can be given any Chaos God as a keyword, which opens up amusing possibilities like running a Khornate Spawn alongside a Bloodsecrator.

• CHAOS WARSHRINE: Yes, the Warshrine does not count as a War Machine. If you play with caps on Heroes, Monsters and War Machines, this is a huge advantage. What it does is pretty cool, too. First, it has an Aura that grants Mortal units (almost everything Chaos that isn't a Beastmen or a Daemon) an additional 6+ save after their normal save. Can also pray for buffs to Mortal units. There is one Undivided buff and one for every God, the latter of which you can only use by dedicating your Shrine to a particular God. The Undivided buff is the best by default, granting rerolls of 1 To Hit and To Wound. However, the God-specific buffs can be cast on whatever you want, but get better if you cast it on a unit of the same God. The favor of Khorne allows to reroll 1s To hit, but if the unit it's used on is Mortal Khorne, you can instead reroll all failed To Hit rolls. And yes, this does mean a Shrine can bless units of rival Gods, just for shits and giggles. Also of note is the fact that this thing can easily hold its own in combat with a monster-like profile and a bunch of strong attacks. Awful Rend, yes, but they plow through low armour tarpits like nobody's business. The model is a Priest and as the Favors are an ability not a Prayer, you can Grant units rerolls while casting a Prayer.

Artillery

You can take up to four of these in a 2k list. There's nothing more to say about this section. Its got Skull Cannons. They got buffed in 2.0, so you may start seeing (or even using/summoning) them!

• Skull Cannon: This is an interesting unit: it's a cannon that can do significant damage at range but has a melee statline with special rules that make it look as though it's made for close combat. In truth, it's a hybrid unit made to do both. Starting off with the basics, the Skull Cannon is a 7 wound model that has a single shooting attack with 3+ to hit, +3 to wound, -2 rending, and D6 damage; however, when shooting at units of +10 the Skull Cannon adds +1 to its hit rolls, making it hit on a +2. Moving on to its melee profile, it has the standard Hellblades with 2 attacks at +4 to hit, +3 to wound, -1 rend, and one damage with hit rolls of 6 or more causing a mortal wound. In addition, it has a single Gnashing Maw attack with a +4 to hit, +3 to wound, -1 rending, and D3 damage. Pretty mediocre, until you read its special rules: its melee rule Grind their Bones, Seize their Skulls allows the cannon to make an additional shot at the end of the combat phase if it caused any wounds with its Gnashing Maw attack; and according to the wording, it doesn't need to kill the target, but rather it just needs to cause a single wound. Furthermore, due to the strange rule set for AoS, you can still use ranged weapons in the shooting phase even if you are locked in combat. This essentially means that you can fire the cannon, charge, eat their skulls, and fire additional shots with your skull cannon while continuing to do so in subsequential turns.
  • Hilariously, a nearby unit of Wrathmongers makes your Bloodletter crew shoot twice as fast, meaning that you can get up to 6 cannon shots per model per turn (4 in your Battle Round, 2 in your opponent's).

Terrain

• Skull Altar: Ironicary, it lacks the amount of skulls one would expect. You may place one of these down, for free, anywhere in your deployment territory to benefit from it's two abilities. First is to let Khorne Priests re-roll any prayer and judgment rolls while wholly within 8" of the altar. The second is that it forces wizards within 16" take -1 to cast. Best of all? It's free, so it's worth taking just for the area of casting denial even if you're not running Slaughterpriests.
  • Take a lesson from the way Beasts of Chaos are running their Herdstone and put this bad boy a little up the table to maximize its radius.

Normal Battalions

Battalions were smacked with a point increase in 2017 and smacked again for good measure in 2018. If you plan to take one, go all in to make the most of it.

Daemons of Khorne Battalions

Murderhost (min. 600pt.)

1 Bloodletter hero, 3-7 Bloodletters, Crushers, Hounds, or Cannons

Turn your slow glass-cannon units into fast glass-cannon units! After set-up, but before the battle begins, roll 2D6 (once). Each unit from this battalion within 8" of the battalion's BLOODLETTER HERO and more than 3" from any enemy units can move a distance in inches equal to the roll. The units cannot run, or move within 3" of an enemy unit, and the distance to the HERO must be measured before any of the moves are made. If the Murderhost contained the maximum number of units at the start of the battle, you can use this ability again at the start of each of your hero phases as well as after set-up. Since 2.0 made everything Khorne Daemons more expensive, this will pretty much end up being your entire army.

Bloodthunder Stampede (min. 730pt.)

1 Skullmaster, 3-7 Bloodcrushers

Lots of different buffs for your Skullmaster and Crushers to enjoy, as long as they stay together. The first grants them an additional 3 inches to their charge rolls if ANY unit in EITHER army has been wiped out. Good. The second lets you auto pass your Murderous Charge roll if you land a charge within 3 inches of another unit from this battalion. Nice. The final ability only takes effect if you take the max number of units for the battalion. Roll a D6 in your hero phase when any unit in this battalion is within 3 inches of an enemy unit. On a 2+, that unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. If you've got the models, this battalion is a great way to spit out mortal wounds in close combat, if you can get there.

Council of Blood (min. 930pt.)

3-8 Bloodthirsters (including Skarbrand and the Exalted Greater Daemon)

WOOO WEEE! If you're fielding 3 Thirsters already, you should definitely be taking this! Each and every single Thirster in this list can use their command ability FOR FREE in each of your hero phases. Additionally, in each of your hero phases, pick a single Thirster to pile in and attack. If they kill a hero or monster or destroy a unit, you can immediately pick another Thirster to do the same thing. Smart placements and activation mean everyone in the battalion is attacking again in the hero phase, potentially wiping entire chunks of your opponent's army off the board. WEW LAD!

Blood Hunt (min. 570pt.)

Karanak or a WoK Bloodthirster, 3-8 Bloodcrushers or Flesh Hounds

One of the cheapest battalions available to Daemons of Khorne and potentially one of the most useful. After set-up, but before the battle begins, pick an enemy HERO to receive the Blood Mark of Khorne. At the start of each of your hero phases, units from this battalion not within 3 inches of an enemy unit may move (not run) 2D6. They must end closer to the target than they were before. It's very easy to move in almost any direction and end up "closer" to the target, so this is pretty much a free unrestricted 2D6 move. Oh, you also add 1 to any wound rolls for this battalion when attacking Heros. If you maxed out this battalion, you can re-roll all wounds against Heros. Since Flesh Hounds are Khorne Daemon's only means of unbinding, this is pretty great for rushing down backfield wizards. Add in the WoK Bloodthirster and you've got almost guaranteed first turn charges as well. Not bad for tying up your opponent in their own deployment zone.

Gorethunder Cohort (min. 680pt.)

Skull Throne, 3-8 Skull Cannons

This one is... kind of funny. In each of your hero phases, roll a D3. That many Skull Cannons that are within 8 inches of your Blood Throne can shoot as if it were the shooting phase. If you max out this battalion, ALL Skull Cannons within 8 inches of your Blood Throne can shoot. There's really not much more to this one. You're nearly paying for another Skull Cannon to allow them to shoot in another phase. Can be good, but can also flop.

Blood Host of Khorne (min. 1080pt.)

Bloodthirster (any), 7+ any other Khorne Daemon Hero or unit

A battalion that can encompass your entire army. In your hero phase, roll a D3. That many units in this battalion that are within 3 inches of an enemy unit can pile in and attack with ONE of their melee weapons. Increase the roll from D3 to D6 if there are 16 or more units in this battalion at the start of your hero phase. More for larger (3k+) point battles, but it's possible to make a shadow of a good list from this.

Charnel Host (min. 900pt.)

Bloodmaster, Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury, 3-8 Bloodletters(any)

Encourages you to keep your Bloodletters close to your Bloodthirster, and also turns him into a wrecking ball. During your hero phase, you can pile in and attack with any unit from this battalion that is within 3 inches of an enemy unit and within 8 inches of your Bloodthirster. Your Bloodthirster is always within 8 inches of itself, so hello extra attack phase. As an additional bonus, you can use your Bloodthirster's command ability once for free during each of your hero phases. Not bad since you can spam command abilities in 2.0. The battalion itself costs almost 20 Bloodletters or 2 units of Flesh Hounds in points and could really use a WoK Bloodthirster and Bloodstokers, which makes it extra difficult to pull off in a 2k list.

Skullseeker Host (min. 930pt.)

Bloodmaster, Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage, 1-3 Skull Cannons, 2-5 Bloodcrushers

An interesting battalion that relies a little too heavily on your opponent's army to pull off. If any unit from the battalion is within 3 inches of an enemy MONSTER at the start of your hero phase, you can pile in and each model in the unit can make a single attack against the MONSTER with one of their melee weapons. That's... ooookkkk, but gets a little better when you add in the second ability. Your Skull Cannons from this battalion can attack in your hero phase if they are within 8 inches of either the Bloodmaster or the Bloodthirster. If you wound any enemy units, any units in the battalion can immediately charge the wounded enemy unit. If it is a MONSTER, they get their one attack with one weapon previously outlined above. Potentially good, potentially wasted, all depending on what your opponent brings.

Mortal Khorne Battalions

The battalions in Khorne Bloodbound have been replaced with the below. This means the old battalions are no longer legal. Sorry, Bloodstorm! Most of our battalions are around 700 points minimum, so once again be sure to make the most of them if you're going to take any! While the battalions themselves have gone down in points, some of the mandatory units have had their points values raised, so keep that in mind.

Gore Pilgrims (min. 710pt.)

Bloodsecrator, 2-3 Slaughterpriests, 1-2 Blood Warriors, 1-2 Bloodreavers

The battalion to end all battalions got jumped by GW in an alley and had its knees broken. Now it only adds 8" to the range of the Bloodsecrator's abilities while they're within 8" of one or more slaughterpriests. No more cumulative range bonuses, no more re-rolls to prayers from the battalion. While its effects are easy to re-create, you no longer need the Gore Pilgrims for it. Still a good battalion, even if it's no longer the auto-take it used to be.

Bloodforged (min. 700pt.)

Skullgrinder, 1-3 Blood Warriors, 2-4 Wrathmongers

Makes your units a little tougher and turning them into mini-Wrathmongers. Units in this battalion ignore rend unless it is -2 or better. Suddenly Gorefists don't seem so bad anymore. Additionally, roll a D6 for each enemy model within 3 inches of a unit from this battalion at the top of your hero phase (make your life easier and roll one at a time). On a 6, you may attack with all the melee weapons of the enemy model as if it were your model. You may attack itself, it's unit, or a nearby unit in range of its weapons. With the Wrathmonger's extra attacks and Blood Warrior's decent armor save (made better by the ignoring some rend), this battalion can pack quite a punch. This is before you factor in the Skullgrinder and his blood blessing. The battalion costs almost as much as a Wrathmonger unit, but could make a large unit of Blood Warriors very scary with Bronzed Flesh, Gorefists, and, you know, forcing your opponent's models to kill themselves.

The Gorechosen (min. 800pt.)

Exalted Deathbringer, 7 from the following: Aspiring Deathbringer, Bloodstoker, Bloodsecrator, Skullgrinder, Slaughterpriest

Not actually legal in 2k games, this battalion lets you pay a premium to add +1 to hit (while within 12 inches of another unit from the battalion) and +1 attack to every unit within it. Ideally you would take front-line heroes to get the most from the battalion. Useful in larger games, useless any other time.

Brass Stampede (min. 760pt.)

Lord of Khorne on Juggernaut, 3-7 Mighty Skullcrushers

A pricey battalion that adds more killing power to your already deadly cavalry units. Now it makes it so their Muderous Charge and Slaughterous charge rules automatically occur.

Dark Feast (min. 590pt.)

Bloodstoker, Slaughterpriest, 3-6 Bloodreavers

One of the cheapest Mortal Khorne battalions but one that encourages taking hordes of Bloodreavers, which will jack up the price. Units in this battalion within 12 inches of the Bloodstoker do not take Battleshock tests. Additionally, all units in the battalion get +1 attack. This battalion has amazing potential when coupled with a WoK Bloodthirster to fire off a massive unit of Bloodreavers into the enemy lines turn one. Or use minimum squads to screen the rest of your army's advance. More mobile than the Gore Pilgrims, without the middle finger to wizards.

Skulltake (min. 700pt.)

Bloodstoker, 0-2 Blood Warriors or Bloodreavers, 1-2 Khorgoraths, 2-3 Skullreapers

Turns all the units from this battalion up to 11, as long as they stick close to one another. As long as your Skullreapers are within 12 inches of your Bloodstoker, when they roll a 6 to wound you add 1 damage to their weapon. You could make this effect every unit from the battalion if you max it out. Khorgotaths from this battalion within 6 inches of the battalion's Skullreapers make 8 attacks with their Claws and Fangs instead of 5. As said, your units get a lot deadlier, but you're leashed to each other to maximize the effect.

Red Headsmen (min. 620pt.)

Aspiring Deathbringer, Skullgrinder, 3-6 Blood Warriors

A double-edged sword battalion with lots of potential, depending on the matchup. Units in the battalion always count as being in range of the Skullgrinder's Alter of Skulls. Additionally, the Alter of Skulls ability is doubled when active. The second ability is where things get interesting. At the start of your first hero phase, pick up to 3 enemy HEROES or MONSTERS as your worthy foes. Your opponent can re-roll all failed hit rolls for attacks made by these units. However, when a unit from this battalion slays a worthy foe, they add 1 attack to all melee weapons for all units in the battalion. The effect stacks, so slaying more worth foes means more extra attacks. If you maxed out this battalion, you can pick 5 foes instead of 3. You're making your opponent more powerful now to all yourself to become more powerful later. Targeting weak support heroes seems like the best idea, though getting to them and utilizing the extra attacks may take you all game. Another battalion that relies on a good matchup.

Bloodbound Warband (min. 980pt.)

Aspiring Deathbringer, Bloodsecrator, 1 Skullreapers, 1-2 Bloodreavers, 3 Blood Warriors

A massive battalion with iffy bonuses. If you have at least three units from this battalion within 3 inches of an enemy unit at the start of your hero phase, all Khorne units in your army do not need to take battleshock tests until your next hero phase. Kind of unnecessary when you are already taking a Bloodsecrator. The second bonus adds 1 attack to all melee weapons of a unit from this battalion who charged that turn. If this battalion is maxed out (meaning you take one more unit of Bloodreavers), than you may re-roll all failed wound rolls of 1 in the combat phase in any turn in which the unit charged. Adds value to your Bloodreavers and Blood Warriors, but the price tag is a tough pill to swallow.

Goreblade Warband (min. 600pt.) (Open Play Only)

Bloodsecrator, Bloodstoker, Mighty Lord or Khul, Blood Warriors, Bloodreavers, Khorgorath

You can re-roll charge rolls for the Goreblade Warband if any of its units made a successful charge in the same phase. If any units are wiped out during the combat phase, you can add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of all melee weapons used by the Goreblade Warband for the remainder of that combat phase. Its restricted to Open Play and contains the starter set units only.

Beastman Battalion

Brass Despoilers (190 p) (Min: 620.pt. Max: 10770.pt.)

1-4 combination of Beastlord and Doombull; 3-8 combination of Bestigors, Bullgors, and Gors; 0-8 combination of Centigors, Dragon Ogors, or Tuskgor Chariots; 0-2 combination of Cygors or Ghorgons.

Confirmed by FAQ, that it can be taken in a Blades of Khorne army. Give all units in this Battalion the Khorne Keyword and grants them re-roll hit rolls of 1 if the unit is wholly within 9" another unit from this Battalions. Also once per battle, during the hero phase, you can extend the re-roll ability to also include all failed wound rolls until the next hero phase. the only way to get Khorne Beastmen. Gors Grant chaff that covers more ground than traditional Barbarians. Tuckgor Chariots and Centigors provide speed. Cygors help with ani-magic while Ghorgons dishes out a lot of damage.

Super Battalions

Battalions OF battalions. Adds additional bonuses for an additional point cost. 2.0 slapped these with increased points, making them harder to take in a balanced list.

Daemons of Khorne Super Battalions

Don't expect to take any of these in a normal sized game. The bonuses make them pretty great, but the point cost puts them in a realm beyond any rational point limit.

Daemon Legion of Khorne (min. 3090pt.)

1 Blood Host of Khorne, 3-8 other Daemon of Khorne Battalions excluding the Blood Host

The MEGA battalion of Khorne Daemons should only be considered if you're playing a 5k+ points game, and even then you may want to first consider what life choices you made to be playing such a game. You get two bonuses: first, if any units are wiped out in the combat phase, all units in the super battalion get +1 attack, and second, you gain a Blood Tithe point at the start of each of your hero phases. Hey, there are worst ways to spend an entire weekend...

The Reapers of Vengeance (min. 2200pt.)

1 Blood Hunt with a WoK Bloodthirster and Bloodcrushers only, 3-8 other battalions, any number of any other unit or battalion

This battalion replaces your Blood Hunt's Blood Mark ability, allowing you to choose D3+1 marked targets instead of the 1. All units in the super battalion get the 2D6 hero phase move towards the targets, making this the fastest battalion available to Khorne Daemons. Additionally, Bloodcrushers in the super battalion inflict their charging mortal wounds on a 2+ instead of a 4+. Not bad but way out of normal bounds.

The Bloodlords (min. 2530pt.)

1 Murderhost with a Bloodletter HERO and Bloodletters or Bloodcrushers only, 3-8 other battalions, any number of any other unit or battalion

Bloodletter heroes from this super battalion may pile in and attack at the start of your hero phase. Any Bloodletters or Bloodcrushers from this super battalion within 8 inches of a Bloodletter hero at the start of your hero phase may pile in and make one attack with one of their melee weapons. Bloodletter bonanza.

Mortal Khorne Super Battalions

2 out of 3 of these may be taken in a 2k game, but only 1 has any real potential by itself.

Bloodbound Warhorde (min. 3770pt.)

1 Mighty Lord or Juggerlord or Skarr Bloodwrath or Valkia, 1 Gorechosen, 1 Bloodbound Warband, 3-7 other battalions

For this absolutely insane abomination you get one Blood Tithe anytime your Slaughterpriests or Mighty Lord unbind a spell. Additionally, any unit from the super battalion can unbind spells. To top it all off, you get +1 attack in the combat phase if a unit has been wiped out for everyone in your super battalion. A super battalion for the collector looking to use his entire collection.

The Goretide (min. 1130pt.)

1 Mighty Lord, 1 Slaughterborn with 3 units of Blood Warriors (May also contain the following: 0-1 Gorechosen, 3-7 other battalions, any other unit or battalion)

What's this? A battalion you can take in a 2k list? With synergistic bonuses and units??? For a modest amount of points your Mighty Lord gets Khul's ability to move into combat from 8 inches away in your hero phase and attack, while also getting to re-roll all hits (including his doggy's hits). BUT WAIT, THAT'S NOT ALL! During each of your hero phases, roll a D6. Each unit in the entire super battalion may move that many inches. You may not run or retreat, but you can use it to "charge" into combat. These bonuses synergize with Slaughterborn's bonus of letting that battalion's units charge into combat and make an attack should your general be in combat. Due to the wording of all these rules, you may coax in a unit with a Slaughterpriest, move the Mighty Lord into combat, attack, and then charge in with the rest of your Slaughterborn units and make a single attack. A potentially devastating one-two-three punch that your opponent cannot retaliate against until your combat phase, but by then you've hopefully slaughtered everything in your path and are ready to charge in again.

The Skullfiend Tribe (min. 1200pt.)

1 Lord of Khorne on Juggernaut, 1 Skulltake with 3 Skullreapers (May also contain the following: 0-1 Gorechosen, 3-7 other battalions, any other unit or battalion)

Another super battalion under 2k points, but one that is a bit more situational. If any unit from the super battalion is within 3 inches of a HERO or MONSTER at the start of your hero phase, you may pile in and each model in the unit can make a single attack against that HERO or MONSTER with one melee weapon. Depends on what your opponent is bringing, which means it's not great.

Tactics

Maim, Kill, Burn! Maim, Kill Burn!! That's all!

Actually it isn't, as the Bloodbound are actually a pretty engaging army (Khorne is the biggest nerd of the pantheon, what did you expect?). The Khorne Bloodbound are an army that specialize in very powerful hero's that either buff your already strong melee units or murder the enemy. Specifically, what makes this army unique is the amount of synergy that your army works within.

Sure, your basic strategy is very simple: Charge in as fast as possible, as soon as possible and inflict as much damage as possible. If you simply toss Bloodreavers at your opponent they will die as even Skeletons fight better than unsupported Bloodreavers. They rely heavily on keyword synergy and need to work extremely well together in order to fight at peak efficiency. And in order to do that you need your Heroes.

A good rule of thumb is to use at least 1 but no more than 2 Heroes per 25 Wounds. Start off with the Bloodsecrator. He's just about the best force multiplier you have (some might argue that he's the best non-special character force multiplier in the game) and add 20 Bloodreavers. Then, add two Heroes of your choice, one of them with a unique Command Ability, like the Mighty Lord or better yet, the Khorne Exalted Hero, who's bound to get a new name soonish like the "Lord of Plagues" did. Then, add Skullreapers. If you want to keep sticking with Blood Warriors, get a box, assemble five of them as Blood Warriors and add them to the ones from the starter box, then use spare parts to convert the other five into MOAR Skullreapers. As far as Heroes go, the Exalted Deathbringer is great regardless of whether he's your general or not but in different ways, the new Slaughterpriest is about the closest to ranged capability you have and pretty killy for a Priest and the Skullgrinder gets disturbingly powerful with all those attack buffs you've got going.

Even more important is that you use the right heroes with the right units: The Bloodstoker was pretty much made to boost Skullreapers with Daemon Weapons. The Juggerlord works better for Skullreapers with non-Daemon Weapons and for Blood Warriors. The Warshrine is best for Wrathmongers and Bloodreavers with Meatripper Axes. Everything with a bonus to attack numbers works best on Skullcrushers. The Bloodsecrator works well with everything, but best with Bloodreavers of all flavors. The Skullgrinder works best with units that Hit on 4+ and no better, specifically with Wrathmongers and Daemon Weapon Skullreapers. Mighty Lord, Exalted Deathbringer and Slaughterpriest are somewhat out of the loop, supporting everything equally and fitting absolutely everywhere, though the Deathbringer's only real use is as a beatstick, as his Bravery-conferring is infinitely worse than the Bloodsecrator's flat-out ignoring of Battleshock.

As soon as you add Battalion rules, things get real crazy, as you suddenly have to add questions like "do I let my Bloodstoker get killed off in order to get some bonus attacks from "Khorne Cares Not From Whence The Blood Flows"?" to your list of considerations, in addition to the standard gaggle of "which unit needs to attack when it order to deal the most damage to what?".

Age of Sigmar's real meat lies in combat, so an army specializing in combat is no less complex than one that can also pepper the enemy with arrows.

• The Khornemower: Units of 30 letters are offensively one of the best units in the game right now. All you need is a Slaughterpriest who knows killing frenzy, a Bloodsecrator and a Daemon hero of your choice (like you weren't taking them anyway). 61 Attacks hitting on 2's re-rolling 1's causing mortal wounds on a FOUR to hit. That's an expected 35 mortals per phase. For 270 points. On average you will kill Nagash or Archaon in one round of attacks and they HAVE saves vs mortal wounds. The only thing that will stand a chance at all against that density of mortals is mass Chaos Warriors, though on average you will kill TWENTY ONE of them in one round of attacks i.e. they will make 140% of their points back. You're welcome.
  • Just a note Bloodletters aren't great defensively, if you anticipate a lot of ranged think about investing in another Slaughterpriest or two to give them bronzed flesh. if you think your opponent fights fair then a blood warrior or Bloodreaver screen to take any enemy charges is a good idea. If you expect magic, take another unit of 30, in fact take 2 units of them anyway, there's really not much they aren't good against.
  • If you're playing over 1000 points take the gore pilgrims for Khorne's sake and at 1500+ consider the Murderhost with some flesh hounds to give your Bloodletters a bit of movement at the games start, the hounds make a great screening unit too as well as being a source of unbinding and generally being a pretty scary thing an opponent may choose to shoot instead of your actually scary guys.
  • While this was a viable strategy for years, 2.0 has made it very expensive to pull off. Most savvy foes will also deploy in such a way as to give you no good choices to charge, and the charge itself CAN fail even with all the additional "to charge" bonuses. This list is a good way to force your local meta to play smarter, making games closer and more enjoyable for both sides, but there is a point of diminishing returns. HOWEVER, going ABOVE 30 Bloodletters to multiple units has been shown to work in some cases. If the idea of hordes of Bloodletters is your thing and you want to keep up with other armies, you'll have to go big or go home.

• Summoning: With 2.0 Khorne Summoning has very clearly overshadowed many of the other Blood Point options. The ability to summon in waves of Flesh Hounds and Bloodletters to grind down your opponent's army cannot be underestimated. It's also possible to summon a pretty obscene amount of Daemons per turn should you focus on the power. You'll have to sacrifice what makes Khorne armies so powerful to begin with, however: buffing prayers. Give your Gore Pilgrims Slaughterpriests Blood Sacrifice, grab a Warshrine and give it Blood Sacrifice as well, and give them some Bloodreavers or Chaos Spawn to toss into the pot. Why Spawn? Low point cost and low wounds plus mass Blood Sacrifice equals more Blood Points. BBBBALSDARGGH.
  • Your goal with this list is simple but difficult: turn your mortal army into a hybrid army and then into a daemons army over the course of the battle. Every turn you'll be spamming Blood Sacrifice to pump up your Blood Points and spending them in the following Movement Phase. Even if you only get two Blood Points, spend them on either MSU Bloodletters or a Bloodmaster. Use your summons to either zone your opponent (Bloodletters, Bloodmasters, Flesh Hounds), reach out and touch them where they thought they were safe (Flesh Hounds have rerollable charges), or setup future summoning (Bloodmasters, Skullmasters).
  • CAUTION: there are several traps involved in this strategy.
    • Blood Thrones and Bloodcrushers (and to a lesser extent Skull Cannons) are still not worthwhile even with summoning. Skull Cannons have situational utility with their large bases blocking backfield deep striking while they deal long range damage, but they are very, VERY hit or miss. Flesh Hounds can zone more space and move just as fast as Skull Cannons when they need to.
    • You will be tempted to save your Blood Points until a game comes when your opponent gets a double turn and your points hit 8 and start being wasted. Always spend your points asap!
    • Your MSU Bloodletters won't be moving other units off objectives or dealing many wounds on, well, anything. Save your small groups for objective holding or speed bumps. If you want to deal actual damage, you'll need the 20 man summon with a nearby Daemon Hero unit. Biting the bullet at 7 Blood Points for a big unit can make or break your games, so choose wisely!
    • Flesh Hounds, while able to spit out a high number of attacks, have no rend and only a Daemon save of 5+. They're not terrible at clearing weaker units if they get the jump on them, but even with 2 wounds each don't expect five of them to last very long. When it comes to your doggos, it's quantity over quality. Summoning MSU Flesh Hounds to overwhelm your opponent can be very effective as a pincer maneuver.

Allied Armies

• Brayherd: Able to field many cheap units that can cover a lot of ground, Being able to Run and charge on the same turn. These qualities are best embodied by the Ungors which are the cheapest. Brayherd speed and expandability make them ideal for Throwing speed bumps at the opponent and Generating more Blood Tithe Points

• Chaos Gargant:

• Monster of Chaos:

• Nurgle Rotbringers:

• Slaves to Darkness: Well, they do need to be mentioned. All of those charges bonuses are pure fun using Knights and Chariots, while the Warshrine can pray a blessing alongside its regular pray. Just remember that this is a MAN army, so no stupid Sorcerers allowed.

• Daemons of Chaos: Since you can mark all those generic Daemons, you can add some helpful stuff do your army. Furies may not be worth much, but a Soulgrinder is the sort of thing that makes opponents rethink their whole strategy.

• Everchosen: Because fuck you, I'm Cheeos incarnate. Archaon is Daemon, Mortal, Khorne, Monster, Hero, Scientist, Philantropist and Playboy. He can benefit from any non-Bloodbound Allegiance Abilities for a Khorne army, alongside his Varanguard if he marks them. Bloodmarked Warband battalion says that its Allegiance is Everchosen, but a battalion can still be part of any allegiance that all its units have on their own warscrolls, so until FAQ'd, you can use bonuses for them as well.

• Warherds: Using a Battalion: Bloodscorch Bulltribe - 3 starter boxes worth of models band together. All 9 Bullgors and 3 Ghorgons gain an additional wound, get marked as Khorne and gain the ability to re-roll all charge rolls. In and of itself, the 12 extra wounds and the charge re-rolls are an awesome bonus. However, the fact that the units are now marked as Khorne should not be overlooked either, as it means that they can be affected by Blades Of Khorne buffs, and those can be quite brutal. Throw a Bloodsecrator or a Bloodstoker in the mix.

Age of Sigmar Tactics Articles
General Tactics	Tactics Realm Of Battle Malign Sorcery Path to Glory Skirmish
Order	Cities of Sigmar Daughters of Khaine Fyreslayers Idoneth Deepkin Kharadron Overlords Lumineth Realm-Lords Seraphon Stormcast Eternals Sylvaneth
Chaos	Beasts Of Chaos Blades of Khorne Disciples of Tzeentch Hedonites of Slaanesh Maggotkin of Nurgle Skaven Slaves to Darkness
Death	Flesh-Eater Courts Nighthaunt Ossiarch Bonereapers Soulblight Gravelords
Destruction	Gloomspite Gitz Ogor Mawtribes Orruk Warclans Sons of Behemat
Others	Monstrous Arcanum Legends Old Rules