Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Edition 1.1/Khorne Bloodbound

The new Khorne-exclusive army in the Age of Sigmar rules

Field your Bloodsecrator and Bloodstoker near your Blood Warriors and Blood Reavers and when blood flows the Blood God doesn't care from whence the blood flows so you get more blood attacks with your Blood Warrior's Goreaxes and your Blood Reavers' Reaver Blades/Meatripper Axes.

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!

Warscrolls

Named Characters

• 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.

• 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 afterwards, 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: 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.

• Skaarac the Bloodborn (Forge World): The first AoS creation by Forge World, this is a massive snowflake Khorgorath. It comes with a hearty 16 wounds and can kill with its boiling hot blood (decreasing as it gets hurt more), massive hooves, and a random amount of attacks with its countless sharp instruments (going from 2d6 to d6 to d3 as it weakens). It works best in the thick of mobs, where it can force anyone it hits to test Bravery at -2 if he hurts them and can regain wounds if he kills. Wizards need to take caution around it, as they'll need to re-roll casting if they do it nearby, and killing it with elite models only puts them in danger from its death-throes explosion that deals a Mortal Wound. Unlike Scyla, he also has a Command Ability of surprising use to a monstrous army, as it allows nearby Khorne Monsters to charge and run in the same turn.

Heroes

• 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. 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.

• 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 Bloodreavers 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 are going from 21 attacks to a grand total of 81 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.

• Bloodstoker: Need a little more rage in your blood? Have the Bloodstoker whip your Bloodreavers or Blood Warriors into shape during your hero phase. If you're following the recommended procedure for Bloodreavers, you'll be rerolling 1s both on to hit and to wound on more attacks than an Ork could shake a bosspole at. If anyone gets a bit too close while you're trying to stoke blood, a Bloodstoker can use his Blood Whips within three inches. Keep him by your Bloodsecrator, they both work within the same range to the point where the models might as well have been holding hands. 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.

• 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) which takes him over the Mighty Lord of Khorne's average damage output and gives you yet another reason not to make him your General. Alternatively, if you make him the general, he can give his Bravery of 8 to all units within 12", and can cause D3 mortal wounds to a friendly unit within 1" to extend the range of this ability to 24". Don't kid yourself though, even with that Bravery bonus, your Bloodreavers will be running away screaming as soon as things stop going as planned.
  • 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.

• Aspiring Deathbringer: An Exalted Hero with much weaker weapons, 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 (as General) also makes other Mortal Khorne units within 6" 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. Make him your general but keep him in the backfield until someone bites it. He'll do just fine, but remember he's not your biggest powerhouse, even with Command and full rerolls to Hit.
  • Giving him a Hammer and Axe gives you 6 attacks at more or less the same rate. What makes him stand out though is that if an enemy flees within 8" of him, then he can pile in and attack them outside of the Combat Phase. 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.

• Slaughterpriest: This guy's not meant for killy. Really, his skill in that department is only middling, though drastically better than that of other Priests. Instead, you use him to unbind magic (because Khorne hate 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, with one weapon being largely similar to the big axe and the other weapon issuing random attacks and meh accuracy, but a better range. Either way, that's twice as many attacks as before but with half the damage. Statistically, this version is less killy than the other one, but the difference is so slight you won't really notice it.

• Skullgrinder: Motherfucker's swinging an anvil. He swings it so hard he gets 2 3+/2+/-1/3 attacks and adds +1 Bravery to other Mortal Khorne units within 6". He's also got a fun gift 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.

• Khorne Lord on Juggernaut: Oh heck yes. 8 goddamn Wounds with a 3+ save 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.

Infantry

• 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.

• Bloodreavers: These guys are essentially Khornate Marauders who are too manly to wear armor. 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.

• 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?

Cavalry

• Mighty Skullcrushers: 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. Also, the Juggernauts have a chance of inflicting mortal wounds to stuff they charged, so if at all possible, make sure to charge as many units as possible to capitalize on this ability. 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.

Monsters

• Khorgorath: Somewhat underwhelming. If you really want to take one of these, just remember that they're better at fighting smaller foes (smaller than a Stormcast), as they will heal a wound per turn if they killed any models from a unit (if the wound suffered was inflicted by the same unit). The ability is useful against tarpits and single wound models, as you are more likely to kill at least one a turn. Don't bother supporting them, as they're better used as a diversion (everyone goes for the big red monster first) and to tie up as many units as they can. Do however remember that the Khorgorath is just about the only monster that can be taken in units. One of them is disappointing. Three can take apart a dragon.

Battalions

• Bloodstorm: Take three units of Wrathmongers and get the ability to make extra attacks for each 6 To Hit, which is incredible as they get a bonus To Hit on the charge, turning a buttload of attacks into a crapton of attacks. And then, all missile weapons leveled at the Bloodstorm take a -1 To Hit penalty. This eliminates basically their biggest weakness by making sure they'll actually make it into combat. Hoo boy. If you have that many Wrathmongers, there is absolutely no reason not to use this.
• The Gorechosen: An Exalted Deathbringer and exactly 7 of the footslogging Heroes. Considering these are almost all Clampack models, have fun with that price tag, though the benefits do speak for themselves. All of these Heroes get an additional attack on all their weapons and if they stick close to each other, they get +1 To Hit. This makes a Skullgrinder absolutely devastating with an average damage output of 6.25 Wounds per round of combat, makes an Aspiring Deathbringer somewhat useful and a Slaughterpriest even more useful. Since this does almost nothing but make your Heroes killier, it's most useful for thematic forces, where a band of misfit Chaos Champions are fighting side-by-side.
• Brass Stampede: Really cool. 1 Juggerlord and three units of MIGHTY Skullcrushers. As soon as any unit bites it, they gain +3 to their charge rolls. Additionally, you know that nice ability they have, where they might cause mortal wounds on stuff they charge? In this formation, there's no roll required, you immediately inflict D3 on whatever they charge.
• Blood Feast: A small formation with sweet bonuses. You take a Slaughterpriest and a Bloodstoker and add 3 units of Bloodreavers. So long as the Slaughterpriest is alive, the Reavers get yet another bonus attack and as long as they're within 12" of the Bloodstoker, they don't need to take Battleshock. It's main use is for fluff, as the heroes here pretty much goad the crazy cannibals into a feeding frenzy, but it does help the Reavers very much. Thanks to the ignoring of Battleshock, you can also afford to do this with minimum size Reaver units, which would normally be unthinkable with their lack of Bravery and saves. It's also much more mobile than the Bloodsecrator who has to plant his stupid standard for all this to happen. Though remember that this doesn't invalidate the Bloodsecrator's boost and he's actually still a huge help.
• Skulltake: Because obviously Bloodstoker and Skullreapers didn't work well enough together already. Take two units of Skullreapers, a Bloodstoker and a unit of Khorgoraths. As long as the Khorgoraths stick close to the Skullreapers, they make 8 attacks instead of 5, making them sort of useful and as long as the Skullreapers stick close to the Bloodstoker, each Wound roll of 6 they make deals one more damage. Sweet.
• Red Headsmen: This one is risky, but potentially absolutely amazing. You take an Aspiring Deathbringer, a Skullgrinder and 3 units of Blood Warriors. Then you nominate 3 Heroes or Monsters in your opponent's army. They are your targets. These targets reroll To Hit. Yes, you give YOUR OPPONENT REROLLS. If this formation slays any of them, they gain a bonus attack on all their weapons for the rest of the game. This is cumulative. Also, the entire formation always counts as being in range of the Skullgrinder's ability (thanks to the wording, this affects the Skullgrinder himself too) even if they're not. If the Skullgrinder kills one of the targets, he doubles the actual range so that more of your other stuff gets the boost. Yes, this is potentially amazing, but if your opponent only has powerful Heroes, you might get your own army murdered thanks to the boost you gave them. Still, it's fun and it's fluffy.
• Bloodbound Warband: This one's big. An Aspiring Deathbringer, a Bloodsecrator, a unit of Skullreapers, a unit of Bloodreavers and 3 units of Blood Warriors join together. The first ability is kind of "too little, too late" as it makes the whole formation immune to Battleshock if at least 3 units of it are in melee range. You know, one of the things the Bloodsecrator could already do? The other's much more potent as it gives you 40k's charge rules. On any turn you charge, you get an extra attack with all your weapons. All in all, it's nice, but some of these Battalions are much nicer.
• Goreblade Warband: The one from the starter set. You know it, you love it. If at least one unit from the formation charges successfully, all others get to reroll failed charges for that turn. If a unit dies in melee, the whole formation gets extra attacks. Always awesome.

Found in the starter set booklet and also in the Mighty Battles in an Age of Unending War campaign book.

• Bloodbound Warhorde: You combine The Gorechosen, a Bloodbound Warband and 3-7 of the other Battalions. For that, "Khorne Cares Not..." confers to all of them and if one of the Heroes that can unbind spells does so, you can add 2 to the unbinding. It's cool, but it's so huge you'll almost never have the opportunity to field it.

Tactics

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

Actually it isn't, as the Bloodbound are actually a pretty engaging army. Sure, your basic strategy is very simple: Charge it as fast as possible, as soon as possible and inflict as much damage as possible. However, 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, an Aspiring Deathbringer. 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 so long as he's not your general, the Slaughterpriest is about the closest to ranged capability you have and pretty killy for a Priest and the Skullgrinder gets disgustingly 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 (and Gorebeast Chariots). The Juggerlord works better for Skullreapers with non-Daemon Weapons, Skullcrushers and Blood Warriors. The Warshrine is best for Wrathmongers and Bloodreavers with Meatripper Axes. Everything with a bonus to attack numbers works well on Skullcrushers and Skullreapers. 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, Bloodreavers 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?".

To summarize:

Buffs for the Buff God! Synergies for the Synergy throne!