Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Hedonites of Slaanesh

Grand Alliance Chaos Hedonites of Slaanesh

Better image incoming any day now....

Lore Tactics General Tactics

Slaanesh rises again...

Why Play Hedonites of Slaanesh?

Pros

• Hands down one of the fastest armies in the game and with the right maneuvering and synergies first-turn charges really shouldn't be that difficult in a lot of instances.
• Unlike other god focused armies Hedonites of Slaanesh have many abilities that work of very broad keywords such as "Chaos Slaanesh" or effect all units in the host army. Meaning its easier for things like Slave to Darkness and Beast of Chaos to benefit from army specific abilities and synergies. However, there is a good chance this was done because they didn't include new mortals in this battletome, so they had to compensate somehow.
• The army is incredible at churning through elite and hero-based armies, which means you make every popular army except Daughters of Khaine cry.
• Khorne is not the only god that punishes wizards.

Cons

• At the moment Hedonites are the only God faction that has not gained any new Mortal units on release and have actually lost two mortal Heroes. Despite this, Slaves to Darkness still works with this army and will have to hold you over until cycle back to Slaanesh's time in the spotlight. Though hopefully, this could be a sign we are getting a complete revamped mortal line. Hopefully.
• They will probably struggle somewhat against horde armies, as most of their toolkits are based around dishing out mortal wounds or attacks with rend instead of doing a massive amount of no-rend attacks. Spam Daemonettes & Bladebringers to offset this.

Rulebooks

The Hedonites of Slaanesh book has all the Warscrolls, Battalions and Allegiance Abilities.

• This should be supplemented with the Hedonites of Slaanesh Errata and Designers' Commentary from the FAQs.

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.
• If you want to take advantage of realm specific artifacts 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

Feast of Depravities

You can summon units of SLAANESH DAEMONS to the battlefield if you collect enough depravity points. Each time a friendly SLAANESH HERO inflicts a wound or mortal wound by an attack or spell (and is not negated) on an enemy model, but that model is not slain by that wound you receive 1 depravity point. Also, every time a wound or mortal wound is inflicted on a friendly SLAANESH HERO but that model are not slain by that wound (and is not negated) you receive 1 depravity point. Depending on which host you belong to, you can generate more through other means.

Remember that since wounds are applied one at a time this counts for wounds inflicted by multi-wound weapons (for example if an attack with a 2 wound damage characteristic insta-kills a Liberator you receive 1 depravity point, even though the weapon inflicts two wounds you apply them one at a time to the unit, the first wound to the Liberator granting the depravity point, but not the second wound lost that kills the model). Rule of thumb, two wound models will grant you one depravity point; 3 wound models will grant 2 depravity points, etc. One wound models will grant you nothing (so you will have let your heroes get hurt to get points when facing things like Grots, Skaven and Free Peoples).

Note that when you spend these, you retain any excess depravity points. e.g., If you have 14 and you summon an Infernal Enrapturess for 12, you will have 2 left over.

• 1 Keeper of Secrets - 30
• 3 Seeker Chariots - 30
• 30 Daemonettes - 25
• 1 Contorted Epitome - 18
• 1 Bladebringer, Herald on Exalted Chariot - 18
• 3 Fiends - 18
• 20 Daemonettes - 18
• 1 Bladebringer, Herald on Hellflayer - 15
• 1 Exalted Chariot - 15
• 1 Infernal Enrapturess, Herald of Slaanesh - 12
• 1 Bladebringer, Herald on Seeker Chariot - 12
• 1 Hellflayer - 12
• 1 Viceleader, Herald of Slaanesh - 10
• 1 Seeker Chariot - 10
• 5 Seekers - 10
• 10 Daemonettes - 9

Summoning Efficiency Ratios

Top down, the units you want to leave out of your roster and summon instead BY EFFICIENCY OF DEPRAVITY POINTS: ROSTER POINTS ALONE:

• 1. Herald on Seeker Chariot, at 13.3 points/DP
• 2. Herald on Exalted Chariot, 10 Daemonettes, or 20 Daemonettes at 12.2 points/DP
• 3. Herald on Hellflayer, Herald on Foot, Keeper of Secrets, 30 Daemonettes, 3 Seeker Chariots, 1 Seeker Chariot, 1 Exalted Chariot, or 5 Seekers at 12 points/DP
• 4. Infernal Enrapturess, 3 Fiends, or 1 Hellflayer at 11.7 points/DP
• 5. Contorted Epitome, at 11 points/DP

If you summon them near the Fane, the list is as follows:

• 1. Herald on Seeker Chariot at 16 points/dp
• 2. 10 Daemonettes at 15.7 points/dp
• 3. Herald on foot, 1 Seeker Chariot, or 5 Seekers at 15 points/DP
• 4. Infernal Enrapturess or Hellflayer at 14 points/DP
• 5. Herald on Hellflayer and Exalted Chariot at 13.84 points/DP
• 6. Herald on Exalted Seeker Chariot or 20 Daemonettes at 13.75 points/DP
• 7. 3 Fiends at 13.1 points/DP
• 8. 30 Daemonettes at 13 points/DP
• 9. Keeper of Secrets or 3 Seeker Chariots at 12.9 points/DP
• 10. Contorted Epitome at 12.5 points/DP

In short, if you want a Contorted Epitome or a Keeper of Secrets, you want it in your roster. If you want Heralds on Seeker Chariots, you're best served to summon them in.

Hosts of Slaanesh

You MUST select your HEDONITES army to be to be INVADERS, PRETENDERS or GODSEEKERS. Which host you belong to will affect your battalions, command traits, artefacts, etc.

Basically, Hedonites are 3 armies that share units.

Locus of Diversion

For each HEDONITES HERO in your army, at the end of the charge phase roll a D6. You get +2 if your hero is a GREATER DAEMON. On a 4+, on the subsequent combat phase, you can pick an enemy unit within 6," and it will fight last. If it has a trait that allows it to attack first (e.g., Gristlegore Command Trait or Idoneth High Tide), the two effects cancel each other. Note the sequencing above is slightly wrong. You select a HEDONITES HERO, target a unit and then roll a d6. One enemy unit may not be targeted more than once per phase so if you fail a roll for a locus you can not target the same unit in the same phase with the locus.

Euphoric Killers

Exploding 6s, Slaanesh edition. Unmodified melee hits of 6 do 2 attacks instead of 1, and if you have 20+ models in the unit, the 6s make 3 attacks instead.

Spell Lores

Lore of Slaanesh

For the SLAANESH DAEMON WIZARDS.

• 1. Lash of Slaanesh. Casting Value 5. Pick a point within 12" of the caster that is visible to them. Draw a straight line 1mm wide from the closest part of the caster's base. Roll a die for each enemy model passed by this line. On a 4+, they take a mortal wound. A sure way to generate depravity points, if not particularly strong.

• 2. Pavane of Slaanesh. Casting Value 7. Pick an enemy hero within 6" that is visible to the caster. Roll a number of dice equal to the enemy hero's movement characteristic. For every 5+, they take a mortal wound. Punish those fast units! Remember to use it on enemy heroes that are fast, especially if their speed is further buffed. A FEC Blisterskin Infernal Courtier with Deranged Transformation has a move characteristic of 20, which means it takes 6.67 damage from this spell. Not very strong in general, though. Does 1-2 mortal wounds on most targets.

• 3. Hysterical Frenzy. Casting Value 7. Pick an enemy unit wholly within 18" that is visible to the caster, and roll 1 die for each model in that unit. For each 6, the unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. Wreck those grots, but not a spell that usually generates depravity points.

• 4. Soulslice Shard. Casting Value 5. Pick an enemy unit within 18" that is visible to the caster, Roll 2d6. If the roll is higher than the enemy unit's bravery characteristic, it takes mortal wounds equal to the difference. Keeper of Secrets' signature spell, but worse (Actually not quite, KoS spell will do D3 mortal wounds if you beat their bravery, not the difference. And yeah, you don't hit multiple units with this spell, but you have three times the range of Cacophonic Choir). Use after Phantasmagoria for greatest effectiveness.

• 5. Phantasmagoria. Casting Value 7. Pick an enemy unit within 18" that is visible to the caster. Roll 6d6, for each 5+, the enemy's bravery is reduced by 1 to a minimum of 1. Use before Soulslice Shard and Cacophonic Choir for best effect.

• 6. Born of Damnation. Casting Value 5. Pick a friendly HEDONITES HERO within 6" of the caster. You can heal 1 wound allocated to that hero. If the casting roll was 10+, you could heal D3 instead. A heal to increase the depravity points a hero generates by a small amount. Best cast on a Keeper of Secrets.

Forbidden Sorceries of Slaanesh

For the SLAANESH GREATER DAEMONS.

• 1. Song of Secrets. Casting Value 7. Pick an enemy unit wholly within 18" that is visible to the caster, and roll 1 die for each model in that unit. For each 6, you get a depravity point. The best way to generate depravity points against horde armies!

• 2. Progeny of Damnation. Casting Value 7. Heal 1 friendly HEDONITES HERO within 6" of the caster that is visible to them for D3. If you roll 10+, you heal D6 instead. Born of Damnation but better.

• 3. Slothful Stupor. Casting Value 8. Pick an enemy hero within 12" that is visible. Until your next hero phase, the hero cannot use command abilities, cannot run, and cannot charge. Amazing. Simply amazing. Use it on slow heroes or on heroes that have an important command ability like the Harbinger of Decay and watch your opponent rage.

Lore of Pain and Pleasure

For the MORTAL SLAANESH WIZARDS. Not that you'll ever have any.

• 1. Battle Rapture. Casting Value 5. Pick 1 friendly MORTAL SLAANESH unit wholly within 18" that is visible. That unit does not take battleshock tests until after your next hero phase. If the cast was 10+, you get to pick 3 units instead. Not the spell you're going to pick most of the time.

• 2. Dark Delusions. Casting Value 5. Pick an enemy unit wholly within 18" that is visible to the caster and roll 2d6. If the roll is EQUAL TO or GREATER THAN the target's bravery, attacks targeting them get +1 to hit. Use in conjunction with Phantasmagoria to increase your chances. Not as good as the spell on all the HERALDs but will stack with them.

• 3. Hellshriek. Casting Value 5. Roll a die for each enemy unit within 6" of the caster. On a 5+, that unit takes a mortal wound. It's... something?

Endless Spells

Wheels of Excruciation.

Predatory Spell with 12" flying movement. Casting Value 5. Set up within 6" of the caster and immediately make a move with it. Roll 6 dice for each unit passed. For each roll that is lower than the unit's save, they take a mortal wound.

Mesmerising Mirror.

Predatory Spell with 6" flying movement. Casting Value 6. Set up within 18" of the caster. Does not affect CHAOS SLAANESH. Units that start a move within 12" of the model suffer D3 mortal wounds unless they end closer to the mirror than when they started.

Also, after the model moves or is set up, roll 6 dice for each hero within 6", rolling separately. For each 6, the hero takes n-squared mortal wounds. Even though this part of it can do 36 mortal wounds to an enemy hero, the odds of that are 1 in 46656. Don't bank on it. Does 1.83 mortal wounds on average and has a 33.5% chance of doing nothing, with a 60.3% chance of doing 1-4 Mortal Wounds and a 5.35% chance of doing 9 mortal wounds. You will note that it has about a 6% chance of killing a footslogging hero and less than a 1% chance of killing a 10+ wounds hero.

Dreadful Visage.

Predatory Spell with 8" flying movement. Casting Value 7. Set up within 12" of the caster and immediately make a move with it. After it moves, pick the closest unit and roll 6 dice. For each 4+, they take a mortal wound.

Also, this model gives -1 bravery to units within 12" unless they are CHAOS SLAANESH, in which case they get +1 bravery.

Invaders

Battle Traits

Figureheads of the Dark Prince

You have up to 3 generals instead of 1. Only 1 gets a command trait, but all 3 are generals for the purposes of command abilities. Unfortunately, they can't use their trait OR command abilities while within 12" of either of the other generals. This lets you spread out your army, or get mileage out of Syll'Esske's command ability without losing access to a command trait. You also get a command point whenever a general is slain for the first time. You can, therefore, get 3 command points out of this max, even if one of your generals dies and comes back.

Escalating Havoc

At the start of your hero phase, you gain D3 depravity points if any of your units are wholly within enemy territory. If 3 or more of your units are wholly within enemy territory, you get D6 instead.

Invaders Hedonite Host

A Hedonites Host belonging to the INVADERS must contain 2-4 Epicurean Reveler battalions and 0-2 Seeker Cavalcade battalions instead of 1-3.

Command Traits

• 1. Best of the Best - You can reroll wound rolls for this general while they're within 6" of another hero.
• 2. Glory Hog - At the end of the combat phase, if any enemy units were destroyed in that combat phase and your general is on the field, you get a command point.
• 3. Hurler of Obscenities - At the start of the Combat phase, pick 1 enemy hero within 6" of the general. Until the end of the combat phase, add 1 to hit rolls made by that enemy hero that target this general, but that hero gets -1 to save.
• 4. Territorial - Add 1 to the depravity points generated by Escalating Havoc if the general is wholly within enemy territory.
• 5. Skintaker - At the end of the combat phase, heals D3 wounds if the general killed any models.
• 6. Delusions of Infallibility - General gets an extra wound.

Magical Artefacts

• 1. Rod of Misrule - At the start of the hero phase, roll a D6. On a 1, your opponent gets a command point. On a 2-5 you get a command point, and on a 6 you get D3 command points.
• 2. Rapier of Ecstatic Conquest - Pick a melee weapon. If a wound roll by this weapon is an unmodified 6, you deal a mortal wound in addition to any normal damage.
• 3. Whip of Subversion - At the end of the combat phase, pick an enemy hero within 6" of the bearer. Pick 1 melee weapon that the enemy hero has and another enemy unit within 1" of that hero. The other unit suffers mortal wounds equal to the Attacks characteristic of the weapon you picked.
• 4. Icon of Infinite Excess - Once per battle, at the start of the combat phase, the bearer can use this artifact. If they do so, all units that were wholly within 12" when this artifact was used get +1 to hit.
• 5. Fallacious Gift - After setup but before the battle, pick an enemy hero and one of their weapons. At the end of each battle round, if that hero used that weapon, they take a mortal wound.
• 6. The Beguiling Gem - At the start of the combat phase, pick an enemy hero within 3" and roll 3D6. If the roll is greater than the enemy's bravery characteristic, they get -1 attacks with all their melee weapons to a minimum of 0 until the end of the phase.

Pretenders

Battle Traits

Heir to the Throne

If the general is a hero, they have 2 command traits instead of 1. No duplicates. Also, all units can reroll hit rolls of 1 with both melee and missile weapons if they have 10 or more models.

Warlord Supreme

At the start of the hero phase, generate D3 depravity points if your general is within 3" of any enemy units. If your general is within 3" of 3 or more enemy units, receive D6 instead of D3.

Pretenders Hedonite Host

A Supreme Sybarites Batallion in a PRETENDERS HOST must have only 1 CHAOS SLAANESH HERO instead of 3-6.

Command Traits

• 1. Strength of Godhood. Once per combat phase, in step 4 of the attack sequence, you can add D3 to the damage inflicted by one attack made by this general.
• 2. Monarch of Lies. At the start of the combat phase, pick one enemy hero within 3". That hero gets -1 to hit rolls for the rest of the phase.
• 3. True Child of Slaanesh. At the start of the first battle round before determining which player has the first turn, roll 6 dice. You get a depravity point for each 5+.
• 4. Strongest Alone. If there are no friendly models within 6", you can reroll hit rolls made by this general.
• 5. Hunter of God Beasts. Add 1 to the damage characteristic of all attacks by this hero that target a MONSTER.
• 6. Inspirer. Friendly PRETENDERS HOSTS units wholly within 9" don't take battleshock tests.

Magical Artefacts

• 1. Crown of Dark Secrets. At the start of the first battle round, pick one enemy hero. You can reroll attacks made by the bearer that that target that hero. You can also reroll unbinding rolls made by the bearer for spells cast by that hero.
• 2. Pendant of Slaanesh. At the start of your hero phase, you heal D3 wounds allocated to the bearer. Longevity for heroes and more potential depravity to be generated.
• 3. Sliverslash. Pick one melee weapon, add 2 to the Attacks characteristic of that weapon. Always go for the biggest weapon profile.
• 4. Scepter of Domination. At the start of the hero phase, if the bearer is within 12" of any enemy heroes and your opponent has any Command Points, roll 1d6. On a 4+, you steal a command point from them. (They lose one, you gain one.)
• 5. Breathtaker. You can reroll Locus of Diversion rolls.
• 6. Mask of Spiteful Beauty. At the start of your hero phase, pick an enemy unit within 6". That unit gets -2 bravery until the start of your next hero phase.

Godseekers

Battle Traits

Thundering Cavalcade

All units get +1 to charge rolls.

Maniacal Hunters

At the end of your charge phase, you get D3 depravity points if a friendly unit charged this turn. If at least 3 charged, get D6 instead.

Goodseekers Hedonite Host

A Hedonites Host belonging to the GODSEEKERS must contain 0-2 Epicurean Reveler battalions and 2-4 Seeker Cavalcade battalions instead of 1-3.

Command Traits

• 1. Hunter Supreme. Reroll hit and wound rolls of 1 made by the general if they charged this turn.
• 2. Thrillseeker. General can run and charge. If they can already run and charge, they get +3 to run rolls.
• 3. Into the Fray. The hit roll for the first attack made by this general is a 6. Do not roll for this.
• 4. Trail-sniffer. If this general is wholly within enemy territory, roll a die. On a 3+, this general's melee weapons get +1 attack until your next hero phase.
• 5. Symphoniac. At the start of the combat phase, roll a die for each enemy unit within 3". On a 2+, they suffer a mortal wound.
• 6. Speed-chaser. The general can retreat and charge.

Magical Artefacts

• 1. Cameo of the Dark Prince. Once per battle, at the start of your hero phase, you can activate this artifact to gain 1 command point and friendly CHAOS SLAANESH units wholly within 18" of the bearer don't take battleshock tests.
• 2. Girdle of the Realm-racer. Decrease the bearer's wound characteristic by 1, but the bearer can fly.
• 3. Threnedy Voicebox. At the start of the combat phase, pick an enemy hero within 3". Subtract 1 from the Attacks characteristic of their melee weapons to a minimum of 1 for the rest of that phase.
• 4. Lash of Despair. At the start of your shooting phase, roll for each enemy unit within 6". On a 4+, deal a mortal wound.
• 5. Enrapturing Circlet. Enemy units within 3" cannot retreat. At the start of your hero phase, roll a die for each enemy unit within 3". On a 3+ they suffer a mortal wound.
• 6. Bindings of Slaanesh. At the start of the combat phase, pick 1 enemy hero within 3" and roll 2D6. If the roll is greater than the enemy's movement characteristic, they get -1 to hit until the end of the phase. If the roll is greater than their wounds characteristic, they take D3 mortal wounds.

Warscrolls

Heroes

Named

Shalaxi Helbane: Your hero Magnet and killer. Cheaper than a run of the mill Keeper of Secrets since they lack a command ability, but their unique spell grants themselves rerolls to hits and saves against heroes, which makes their already great 3+ save against heroes even better. Arm them with the whip to take down those pesky MONSTERS.

Syll'Esske: A Herald riding a Daemon Prince (though not that way). They get 2 activations per combat phase, each time using one weapon. The second activation gets to reroll all hits. Use the KoS' command ability to give them 4 activations, 3 of which will reroll hits (Not sure about this actually, by RAW it looks as if after the first time it attacks you then use the KoS command ability, allowing him to attack again - presumably with either weapon. THEN his Deadly Symbiosis rule kicks in, allowing him to attack with whichever weapon didn't attack the first time, with rerolls to hit). Their unique spell has a casting value of 7 and prevents an enemy hero from using command abilities until your next hero phase.

The Masque: Named Herald beatstick. Trades spellcasting for the ability to choose to heal D3 or get +D3 attacks each round. The Masque is deceptively tanky, with a 4+ FNP. Best used against slow enemies to maximize the benefit from their Endless Dance ability, which grants them an extra 3" of piling in, rerolls to hit against targets slower than with a Move of 10" or less and rerolls to hit and wound against targets slower than with a Move of 5" or less.

Daemons

Keeper of Secrets: Absolutely amazing. You can choose between the Ritual Knife, Sinistrous Hand, Living Whip, or the Aegis. The Hand is probably your best bet. Has a watered down Feeding Frenzy for a command ability (instead of attacking immediately, it gets a second activation), though with Locus of Diversion the difference should be minimal? Can also tempt an enemy hero, doing D3 mortal wounds if they decline. If they accept, the enemy hero gets +1 to hit rolls until the next combat phase, at which point you roll. The tempted hero instantly dies on a 4+. It doesn't matter if it's Archaon, the Celestant Prime, Nagash, or Vorgaroth, and Skalok. They drop dead. (do keep in mind you are giving them a hard +1 to hit in exchange for not taking some damage and maybe dying next turn, be cautious about if you should give the offer if that's what the opponent needs to take the lead)

Soulfeaster, Keeper of Secrets: A shittier Keeper of Secrets form forgeword. Has a way to generate depravity points and debuff enemy heroes, but losing the command ability is way too costly.

The Contorted Epitome: Your support piece and magic specialist. Ignores mortal wounds on a 2+ and does Locus of Diversion to ALL units within 6", though only after Locus of Diversion goes off. Also, amusingly your best Sword of Judgement carrier, since it has 9 attacks with one attack profile.

Infernal Enrapturess: Your Support and a minor artillery piece. Keep one near the Fane to get the maximum benefit from the refund. Makes the lives of enemy wizards hell, and generates depravity points just by existing.

Viceleader: Herald on foot, now a wizard but with no option for a mount. 5+ FNP. its spell grants a reroll of 1 to hit for all attacks against one enemy unit.

Bladebringer on Seeker Chariot: Herald on a small chariot. On a 2+, does D3 mortal wounds when charging, and can retreat and charge to land those other mortal wounds.

Bladebringer on Hellflayer: Herald on a Hellflayer. Does D3 mortal wounds at the start of the combat phase to enemies within 1" on a 4+, and gains +1 attack for 4+. More for when you want your Herald to stay in prolonged combat.

Bladebringer on Exalted Chariot: Herald on a big chariot. Basically the Seeker Chariot + Hellflayer + Herald, but can't retreat and charge, unlike the Seeker Chariot version. It's more like the Hellflayer than the Seeker, where you want your hero's mount to deal as much damage as possible.

Daemon Prince: Fast and decently killy. The Slaanesh one is pure trolling: When your opponent chooses to pile in within 3" of the Daemon Prince, you can pile in and fight with the Daemon Prince before they are allowed to act.

Mortal

Lord of Chaos: your big mortal commander on foot. Have heftier attacks than foot heralds and can grant one slave to darkness unit the ability to run and charge, a necessity for a primarily speed army.

Exalted Hero of Chaos: your Mortal Challenger-seeker. the number of attacks they produce is random, but they can fight twice in a row if they charge and fight better against and after slaying a monster or hero.

Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount: a Lord on a Daemon horse and mortal wound protection. Heals Every time he kills a Hero or monster and increases his wound total if he's full. His command ability to give one Slave to Darkness chariot or knight unit re-roll charges and +1 to hit.

Chaos Lord on Manticore: Slaanesh Manticore's lower enemy bravery. Unlike other factions, dual wielding may be preferable than Mortal wound protection as it will limit your Depravity Generation but at the cost of potentially staggering your movement. Manticores also fight better against a monster, especially if they end up in your deployment zone.

Chaos Sorcerer Lord: a wizard you would probably want to always be on a horse. his base ability can affect any unit, granting a unit a re-roll saves of 1 and a spell that gives re-rolls of 1 to hit, wound and saves.

Chaos Sorcerer Lord on Manticore: Put a Sorcerer Lord on a Manticore and change his spell to more likely to deal damage the better he cast it.

Beasts Of Chaos

must be included in a Depraved Drove battalion

Beastlord: out melee's Viceleaders in pure melee but can't keep up with his compatriates (GW expected you to always but them in BoC Ambush and let the rest of the army run and charge). are good and cheap heroes that can improve the rest of beastmen combat if they kill something.

Great Bray Shaman: your Beastman speed booster to outpace Deamonetts and BEASTS OF CHAOS endless spell caster. They know Devolve for dragging enemies closer to you and away from objectives and support auras.

Doombull: the leader bullgor, being a big bag of depravity holding a heavy axe.

Dragon Ogor Shaggoth: allocate you want for a Slannesh hero, lots of attacks that can explode into more, some speed, lot of wounds that can become Depravity points, and the most useful is the ability to heal when ties for going first is rolled and having a healing spell.

Battleline

Daemon

Daemonettes: One of the best battleline in the game, with the ability to run and charge, a 5+ save, a Hornblower that forces enemies to reroll battleshock, an Icon Bearer that regenerates models on a battleshock roll of 1, and a Banner Bearer that lets you reroll charges. At 11 points per model and the only HEDONITES unit that can realistically maintain the triple exploding 6s, they are the cornerstone of most Slaanesh armies.

Seeker Chariots: Only battleline with GODSEEKERS allegiance. Does damage on the charge, and can retreat and charge. You'll probably only really use them in a GODSEEKERS army.

Mortal

Hellstriders with Hellscourges: Hellstriders with a 3" weapon. Come in 5s, and every 5 can have a Hornblower that forces battleshock rerolls for enemies, and either a Banner Bearer that lets you reroll charges or an Icon Bearer that gives +2 bravery. With a 4+ save, 14" movement and 2 wounds, these are best used to harass enemy backlines and jam their artillery (or equivalent) units. If they kill any models in a combat phase, they get +1 attack in the next combat phase.

Hellstriders with Claw Spears: See above. They trade 3" range for -1 rend.

Chaos Warriors: Pretty much your only answer to wanting a true anvil mortal battleline. Slower but hardier than daemonettes and boosting pretty good weapons versatility. Makes for excellent backfield objective holders and when paired with greatweapons make pretty good frontal assualt troops (espeically considering the exploding hits from being in a Slaanesh army). Mind you they won't be nearly as swift as many of your other choices but a big enough blob of these guys will be pretty diffucult to take down and provides your army with the high-strength defenders that are somewhat missing in the demon wing of the army and on the charge will be pretty devasting (espeically when paired with a character to make everyone else swing last).

Marauders: A cheap mass infantry, for the models' number game when you wanna blobs other than Daemonettes. Decent hitting power and cheap enough that you probably won't care if they get wiped out. Remember that in Slaanesh they will get an attack bonus in big enough squads so don't forget about that if you wanna go big.

Beasts Of Chaos

must be included in a Depraved Drove battalion

Gors: may not be as killy or brave as daemons but are just as fast(especially with a Brayshaman), cheaper and the shield option makes them more durable.

Ungors: beastmen Marauders. like all beastmen, they can easily keep pace with the daemon

Other Units

Daemon

Fiends: Probably our most complicated unit. They disrupt enemy spellcasters within 12", and enemies targeting them in melee have -1 to hit, and if they have at least 4 models, -1 to wound as well. They're best used to hit higher wound models, as the Barbed Stinger does more damage if the target has more wounds.

Seekers: The fastest unit in the army. They have 14" of movement, can run and charge, and run for 2D6, giving them a threat bubble of 14+4D6 inches, averaging 28". Every 5 models will have a Banner Bearer for rerolled charges, a Hornblower to force enemies to reroll battleshock tests, and an Icon Bearer which lets you regenerate D3 models and prevent models from fleeing on a battleshock roll of 1. Much like the Hellstriders, they also have the same +1 attack ability if they killed a model in the previous combat phase.

Hellflayer: Blender, Slaanesh edition. A respectable 14 attacks, 12" of movement and a 4+ save with 7 wounds means that these aren't too bad... but at the start of the combat phase, they can damage each enemy unit within 1" on a 4+ for each unit, and you add an attack to all melee weapons for each 4+. Stick them at the junction of 2-3 units and watch them go to town.

Exalted Chariot: The unholy union of a Hellflayer and a Seeker Chariot. They basically are the two units merged, but move slower at 10" and lose the ability to retreat and charge.

Furies: very similar to the Harpies, but with Marks. Their ability is the same as the Harpies, but it is more likely to do damage to the enemy's units at a shorter Range, and the Furies themselves are a little slower than the Harpies. Use them to torment the big blobs of infantry with low Bravery. You can also summon them, but you won't probably do that. All in all, they aren't a terrible unit, and they even cost 20 points less than the Harpies, so if you have some spare points left consider to take them.

Mortal

Marauder Horsemen: Marauder on horses, Ideally with javelins to maximize the number of attacks.

Chaos Knights: Your heavier and slower cavalry.

Chosen: Warriors with +1 Ld and armed with Great Weapons, which is basically a Protector's Halberd without the cool special rules. What's so special about Chosen, then? If they kill at least one model in combat, all other Slaves to Darkness reroll To Wound until the end of the phase. This is pretty devastating and nowhere does it say that multiple Chosen squads can't affect each other with this. So an excellent way to look at Chosen is as a potential buffing unit with high damage potential. Don't compare them to Paladins as they really don't like that. Get them into the thick of things and start killing to buff everyone up.

Chaos Chariots: Pretty fast, since they always add D6" to their Move even without Running but outclass by the Daemons. has one more wound but Slower than a Seeker Chariot with and less useful attacks even when charging.

Gorebeast Chariots: Another even bulker Mortal Chariot. dose better if charged from a longer distance.

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 to make for pretty hardy models.

Beasts Of Chaos

must be included in a Depraved Drove battalion

Bestigors: Elite Gors in heavy armour and more anti hoard killy.

• Absolutely great in Slaanesh. Some even argue they're more efficient than Daemonettes.

Bullgors: Get the same Bloodgreed rule as the Doombull, а weapon choice of great axes (2x 4+/3+/-2/3) or axe(s)(3x 4+/3+/-1/2) with the option of an additional axe to reroll hit rolls of 1, or bull shields which add +1 to the save rolls against attacks from melee weapons. These options are in addition to horn attacks made by each bullgor (2x 4+/4+/-/1). But the really interesting trait is their Drummer and Banner Bearer abilities: namely, they give +1 respectively to charge rolls and Bravery for each enemy unit within 12" from them. If you want to go full Warherd, take one unit of each and see which ones perform best, but if you take only one unit of them and a Doombull, you're going to want great axes.

• Arguably the dual axes may be the better option for a higher chance of mortal wounds with the additional attack and rerolling 1's to hit. The loss of rend isn't that big of a deal as we have many ways of reducing saves already.
• Other than that, they're fast, have more raw, balls-out power than almost anything in the game and have lots of Wounds. The high Wound-count combined with the meh Save also means that targeting them with Mortal Wounds will almost feel like a waste to your opponent, which might keep them safe longer.

Dragon Ogors: Five Wounds with a 4+ save, okay Bravery and scary weapons. Each has what is basically a Chaos Knight's horse bolted to it and in addition fights with a big weapon. You get either Ancient Weapons which are three Double-Hammer Liberators in one, Glaives which exchange 2 attacks with 1 more inch of range and a Rend of -1, or Crushers which only have 3 attacks, but with 2 damage each. Re-roll hit rolls of 1 if wholly within 12" of a Shaggoth.

• Glaives have an interesting use in that you can hide your dragon ogors behind your 25mm/32mm based guys (just in case may want 2 ranks of 25mm bases to have maximum distance). Enemies with 1" weapons won't be able to touch your DO, while the glaives let your DO wack enemies (though you do lose your claw attacks).

Ungor Raiders: Same as Ungors, but with bows instead of shields and a basic scouting rule. Don't think their bows are good, by the way, but the mass of shots really helps. Don't underestimate 30-40 strong ungor raider units. They can output a surprising amount of dakka (for Beasts anyways, they're not crossbow freeguild!). in a melee-centric and focused faction that can quickly get into melee, missiles will be taken out of you horde budget, can damage distant enemies while holding objectives.

Centigors: discount seekers, not as good all category except melee saves but you can take more of them.

Tuskgor Chariots: a cheapest of chariots, only coming the closest to having the same effectiveness as a seeker chariot the turn it charges a ten man+ hoard of order guys.

Behemoths

Chaos War Mammoth: This monster has 22 wounds! Although it's only packing a 4+ 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.

Soul Grinder: A neutral Daemon that can be marked Slaanesh. He doesn't get any bonus for the mark, but he is a nasty model that you should consider. Big, ugly, and killy, he fills the hammer role that Slaanesh lacks.

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. Its Slannesh Prayer grants battleshock immunity and re-roll to charges to mortals. 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.

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.

Beasts Of Chaos

must be included in a Depraved Drove battalion

Cygor: Can unbind two spells in each Hero Phase: If he manages to do it, he deals a mortal wound to the caster healing a wound for himself. He can also reroll hit rolls when attacking wizards, which he really really needs, having Hit rolls of 4+ across the board. Two of them can add some okay shooting, but the fact that the damage table influences his range makes him unreliable at best.

Ghorgon: Same Blood Frenzy as Doombull and Bullgors, but deals d3 mortal wounds on an unmodified 6. Also, he can slay a specific model within 1" after he makes all his attack if he rolls a dice equal or greater than its wounds characteristic, do remember that it's a model so you can chomp on any leader or musician you can get your grubby hands on. This thing is your sledgehammer, with insanely strong attacks, but very slow for a monster. If you manage the charge and a Doombull is nearby, this thing can rip apart whole units, otherwise, it will stop cannonballs with its face for two turns and then die.

Scenery

Fane of Slaanesh - Your free terrain piece. Unlike other terrain pieces, this does not need to be placed along an edge but must be placed at least 3" away from other terrain or objectives. If you summon a unit wholly within 12" of this, you get D3 depravity points back. Also, at the start of your hero phase, you can choose 1 CHAOS SLAANESH HERO within 6" of this to sacrifice something. If they sacrifice health, they can take a mortal wound and roll, and on a 2+ they can reroll hit rolls for all attacks until your next hero phase. If they sacrifice an artifact (which requires that they have one), it's destroyed, but on a 2+ they can reroll hit rolls for the rest of the battle.

Battalions

Hedonite Host

1 Supreme Sybarites Battalion, 1-3 Epicurean Revellers Battalions, 1-3 Seeker Cavalcades Battalions. (120 points; Min: 1220; Max: 10400)

• +1 Bravery to everyone in the Battalion. If the army has the CHAOS SLAANESH Allegiance, you get D3 depravity points at the start of your hero phase.

Supreme Sybarites

3-6 CHAOS SLAANESH HEROES (120 points; Min: 480; Max 2280)

• At the start of your hero phase, roll a dice, if the result is less than or equal to the number of heroes from this battalion that are on the battlefield, you receive 1 command point.

Epicurian Revelers

2-6 units of Daemonettes, 0-4 Hellflayers, Exalted Chariots or Units of Fiends in any combination (180 points; Min: 400; Max: 3540)

• If the unmodified wound roll for an attack made with a melee weapon by a daemonette from this battalion is 6, that attack inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target, and the attack sequence ends (do not make a save roll).

Seeker Cavalcade

2-6 units of Seekers or Hellstriders in any combination, 0-4 units of Seeker Chariots (140 points; Min: 340; Max: 4460)

• Models from this battalion are eligible to pile in and attack while 6" away from enemy units and can move an extra 3" when piling in.

Depraved Drove

1-4 combination of Beastlord, Dragon Ogor Shaggoth, Doombull, Great Bray Shaman; 3-6 combination of Centigors, Gors, Tuskgor Chariots, Ungors, Ungor raiders; 0-6 combination of Bestigors, Bullgors, Dragon Ogors; 0-2 combination of Cygors or Ghorgons. (150 p, Min: -.pt. Max: -.pt.) From the Beasts of Chaos Battletome

• Give all units in this Battalion the SLAANESH Keyword and Re-roll failed charge roll if the unit is within 12" of an enemy hero with an Artifact and re-rolls To-Hit if the target has an Artifact.
• This Battalion gives you Gors (more massive Daemonettes), and large monsters.
• Note that this does not give them the HEDONITES Keyword, so they cannot benefit from the Keeper of Secrets' command ability.

Army Building

Pick up 2 Start Collecting boxes and a bunch of packs of Daemonettes (or split a Wrath and Rapture set if you can find one), and maybe get yourself a few Heralds, a Contorted Epitome, and a Keeper of Secrets (or two, if you can afford them).

With that you'll have yourself:

20+ Daemonettes (you probably want to have at least 60 for a 2k list) 10+ Seekers (Maybe convert them to Hellstriders for a cheaper unit that's also battleline)

along with

2 Exalted Chariots (alternatively, 1 Exalted Chariot + 1 Hellflayer + 1 Seeker Chariot or 2 Hellflayers + 2 Seeker Chariots or... you get the drift)

Some Heralds, some Fiends, and some Infernal Enrapturesses, along with whatever individual units you picked up. This will form the backbone of a comfortable 1.5k-2k army.

Allied Armies

• Beasts Of Chaos
• Everchosen
• Monsters of Chaos
• Nurgle
• Slaves to Darkness
• Tzeentch

KHORNE units cannot be taken as allies.

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