Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Legions of Chaos

The Legions of Chaos are an army added in the 2014 The End Times supplement/core rules update from Games Workshop to Warhammer Fantasy. They're a big and very welcome throwback to the iconic Hordes of Chaos approach from older editions, where Warriors of Chaos, Daemons and Beastmen are all fielded in a single great gribbly horde, with the addition of the new Nurgle special characters as options.

Why Play Legions of Chaos

Because why not. Seriously, unless you are a solo Daemon player, which are better in their own book due to not being frigging unstable, you get all the fun toys that the old Horde of Chaos players used to get. You will make the old Neckbeards grin with joy once more. Warriors can now access the brilliant Skull Cannons of Khorne and the chaff Razorgors from the Beastmen book. Beastmen have access to infantry and units that are not utter shit and will not die in hordes of beer and vomit. And Daemons get their pick from both the other books.

If you are already playing a Beastmen or WoC army, there is no downside whatsoever to bringing in exterior units. Even though you are still forced to take magic items from respective books, there is nothing stopping your Beastlord from joining your unit of Chaos Warriors. Again Daemons are the poor ones here, as Daemonic Instability rules still apply on their characters. So no Heralds of Slaanesh making units of Chaos Warriors always strike first.

Army Special Rules

By default, all options follow the basic rules of their original armies unless otherwise contradicted, but there are some additions.

• Daemonic Alignment: Daemon units can only be joined by characters who are aligned to the same Chaos God as they follow. Similarly, they can only benefit from Inspiring Presence or Hold Your Ground if the model providing these effects is aligned to their patron god. Only Daemonic characters can join Daemonic units.
• Beastlords, Doombulls, Great Bray-Shamans, Wargors, Gorebulls, Bray-Shamans, Gor Herds, Ungor Herds, Ungor Raiders, Tuskgor Chariots, Minotaurs, Centigors, Bestigor Herds, and Razorgor Chariots can all buy Marks of Chaos. For a unit, the cost is 2pts per model for Khorne, Nurgle or Tzeentch and 1pt per model for Slaanesh. For a Hero, Lord, Chariot or Monster, the cost is 10pts for a Khorne/Nurgle/Tzeentch mark and 5pts for a Slaanesh mark.
• Beastmen Lords and Heroes count as Chaos Champions and so use the rules for Eye of the Gods, but if they receive the Daemonhood reward, they instead trade it for the Spawndom reward.
• A slightly modified version of the Eye of the Gods chart (result 7 gives a result based on what mark the champion has, or if he has no mark) is used.
• In an End-Times LoC army, Daemonic Instability is replaced with Unbreakable and Unstable.
• A modified version of the Daemonic "Reign of Chaos" table is used (regardless of whether or not the army you field includes any Daemons); long story short- when you roll for Winds of Magic, consult the chart for random FUN. Most of the results are actually pretty good for the LOC player- results 5-6 and 8-9 don't target your own units like the Daemon version, and result 7 will probably do something. Results 2-4 are still bad for you though (although 2 and 4 only are if you are fielding Daemons).

Unit Analysis

Lords & Heroes

Note Under End Times supplement rules, you can spend up to 50% of your points on Lords, AND up to 50% on your heroes since they have separate points spending pools. You still of course need 25% Core regardless however.

Named Characters

Note: Under the current edition, named characters tend to be overpriced; you can emulate most named characters from scratch and save yourself some points. That said, many named characters do have abilities and war gear combos unique to them so if you need to have them go ahead. Just make sure you're really getting your points worth.

Lords

• Khazrak the One-Eye:

• Malagor the Dark Omen:

• Taurox the Brass Bull:

• Skarbrand:

• Kairos Fateweaver:

• Ku'gath Plagefather:

• Archaon:

• Galrauch:

• Kholek Suneater:

• Sigvald the Magnificent:

• Valkia the Bloody:

• Vilitch the Curseling:

• The Glottkin: So, the Glottkin are the big character getting pushed for the Legions of Chaos, at least in their initial release. Are they worth it? Well, for starters, you're paying 810 points for a Lord choice Special Character Monster that sports 6s for Movement, Weapon Skill, Strength and Toughness, Ballistic Skill 3, 12 Wounds, 5 Attacks, 10 Leadership and a lousy Initiative 1. They cause D3 Impact Hits, they cause Terror, they have the benefits of Nurgle's Mark and Nurgle's Rot, they Regenerate, they have Poisoned Attacks and they cause Terror. In terms of unique rules, they're a level 4 Wizard (WoC Lore of Nurgle), they gain +D6 attacks in each round of close combat, they can nominate one attack each round as being Strength 10 and Multiple Wounds (D6), they have a close combat Breath Weapon (strength 3, ignore armor), Nurgle Marked or Nurgle Daemon units within 12" can re-roll failed choices, and they always get Aura of Chaos if they roll on the Eye of the Gods. The big problem with the Glottkin is they can't cause wounds enough to buy back their absurd point cost. Even with the new Summon Infernal Legion spell that they get as a Chaos Wizard (note that your Chaos wizards only get this spell if using the special "Chaos Ascendant" scenario rules), the fact they lack the spellcasting perks of Nagash makes magic use a risky proposition for something that's also intended to go barrelling into close combat. Yes, if the dice gods are kind, then a charging Glottkin can dish out 14 attacks, one of which is S10 D6 Multiple Wounds, but that depends on random luck, and they're too tied down by their bottom of the barrel Initiative. Especially if your opponent is packing a Wizard with the Lore of Death or any other spells that target Initiative; one Purple Sun to the face and it's bye-bye to 810 points.

• Orghotts Daemonspew: One of the three Maggoth Riders of Nurgle, Orghotts Daemonspew is a Lords choice that costs 430 points. For this, you get a Special Character Monster with Movement 6, Weapon Skill 8, Ballistic Skill 3, Strength 6, Toughness 5, 9 Wounds, Initiative 7, 8 Attacks and Leadership 9. He wears Chaos Armor (with his save boosted to 3+ for being on Whippermaw), and wields the Rotaxes (paired weapons, +2 Strength, Poisoned Attacks). He sports Acid Ichor (unsaved wounds in close combat inflict a S4 hit on the attacker unless they pass an initiative test), causes Fear, sports the Mark of Nurgle, has a 6+ Ward save due to his Daemonflesh rule, and riding Whippermaw means he has a shooting attack that is range 6", Strength 4, Killing Blow, Poisoned Attacks and Quick to Fire. Now, this guy is going somewhere, compared to the Glottkin. Still pricey, yeah, but eight S8 Poisoned Attacks at Weapon Skill 8 isn't something to sneeze at(make that 9 attacks, the rotaxes are paired weapons). Get him into combat, especially if you have a Nurgle Sorcerer with the Fleshy Abundance spell, and between his attacks and his Acid Ichor, he's pretty good at mowing down lower-toughness foes.

• Bloab Rotspawned: One of the three Maggoth Riders of Nurgle, Bloab Rotspawned is a Lords choice that costs 415 points. For this, you get a Special Character Monster with Movement 6, Weapon Skill 5, Ballistic Skill 3, Strength 6, Toughness 5, 8 Wounds, Initiative 5, 6 Attacks and Leadership 8. He wears Chaos Armor (with his save boosted to 3+ for being on Bilespurter), and wields a great weapon. Causing Fear and having the Mark of Nurgle, as well as inflicting D6 Strength 3 Magical Hits on ever enemy unit within 6" at the start of each magic phase, his specialty is his shooting attack (stone thrower, Range 24", Strength 3(4), Vile Bile [Ignores armor]) and his spellcasting. Not only is he a level 3 Lore of Nurgle caster, his Doombells add +1 to his casting rolls and inflict a -1 penalty to the same to any enemy wizard within 12".

• Morbidex Twiceborn: One of the three Maggoth Riders of Nurgle, Morbidex Twiceborn is a Lords choice that costs 385 points. For this, you get a Special Character Monster with Movement 6, Weapon Skill 7, Ballistic Skill 3, Strength 6, Toughness 5, 8 Wounds, Initiative 6, 7 Attacks and Leadership 8. He wears Chaos Armor (with his save boosted to 3+ for being on Tripletongue), and wields a great weapon. This is the most vanilla of the Maggoth Riders; Nurgle's Rot, Daemon Flesh (6+ Ward Save), Lord of Nurglings (nurglings within 12" have Regeneration) and Tripletongue (shooting attack, Range 6", S6, Poisoned Attacks, Quick to Fire). If your army is big on nurglings he's kind of okay, but, really, there's better things to spend your points on.

• Gutrot Spume: Now, what is there to say about Gutrot Spume? Well, at 250 points as a Lord choice, he's the cheapest special character that Nurgle gets in the new Legions of Chaos, so that's a fair warning right there. Movement 4, Weapon Skill 8, Ballistic Skill 3, Strength 5, Toughness 5, 4 Wounds, Initiative 7, Attacks 5 and Leadership 10 for his stats, Chaos Armor and Great Weapon for his gear, and for special rules... Nurgle's Rot, Mark of Nurgle, Flailing Tentacles (+D3 attacks in Close Combat), and the ability to hop on a Chaos Warshrine for another 125 points. His most unique ability is "At Home on Land or Sea"; Gutrot and any unit he is with treat any areas of water (even impassible ground) as being open ground and so can march, claim rank bonus and be steadfast. Flavorful, yeeah, but also super gimmicky, and only really useful if you know your opponent is going to fight you on a water-featuring board.

• Festus Empowered: So, what happens with this beefed up version of Festus the Leech Lord? He costs 320, and has Movement 4, Weapon Skill 5, Ballistic Skill 3, Strength 4, Toughness 5, 3 Wounds, Initiative 5, Attacks 3 and Leadership 8 for his stats. He's a level 3 Nurgle spellcaster with a handweapon, has the Mark of Nurgle, Poisoned Attacks and Regeneration, and a bevvy of unique rules and magical items. Gardener of Nurgle means difficult terrain becomes dangerous terrain for all enemy units (and Alleyways, if using the Streets of Death rules, are dangerous terrain too), Destined for Daemonhood means he automatically becomes a Daemon Prince if you roll a 12 for Eye of the Gods, and if you stick him in a unit, they gain Poisoned Attacks and Regeneratio (5+) thanks to his Harbinger of Pestilence and Healing Elixirs rules. He carries Pestilent Potions, which he can use to either heal himself of 1 wound or make a special attack on a single enemy in close combat (both players roll a D6 and add unmodified Strength to the result; if tie or Festus wins, enemy takes D3 Wounds that ignore armor), and he also has the Shroudlings, which are a bound augment spell (power level 5) that grants all friendly models within 12" the benefits of being in Hard Cover until the start of Festus' next magic phase.

Heroes

• Morghur, Master of Skulls:

• Slugtongue:

• Moonclaw, Son of Morrslieb:

• Skulltaker:

• Karanak:

• The Blue Scribes:

• The Changeling:

• Epidemius:

• The Masque of Slaanesh:

• Wulfrik the Wanderer:

• Throgg:

• Festus the Leechlord:

• Scyla Anfingrimm:

• Ungrol Four-Horn:

• Ghorros Warhoof:

Generic Characters

Note: While named characters are judged against their generic counterparts, generic characters are examined based on their role in your army.

when trying to decide whether to take a Warriors of Chaos, Beastman or Daemon equivalent in the same role, give the Magic Items available to each a quick browse as a tiebreaker.

Lords

• Beastlord: Cheaper than a Chaos Lord but no where near as killy. Even with the new rules for Heroes you will probably not see many of these around because there isn't anything he can really do which something else can do better.

• Doombull: Oh daddy yes, the Doombull can now wreck havoc with monsters worthy of his skills. Use him in the same way you would in a Beastmen army. However, the new Legion rules means that he fits perfectly in a unit of Trolls. Give him the Blackened Plate and he'll grant the entire unit a 4+ ward against flaming attacks. Oh, and he gives them Frenzy via the Slaughter's Call special rule. Laugh when your trolls have five attacks, and are immune to fire based attacks, which was their only weakness before.

• Great Bray-Shaman: You'll likely see more of these pop up in order to give access to Lore of Beasts, something which Warriors of Chaos and Daemons of Chaos lacked. He's a little bit overcosted and fragile, so make sure that you pop a ward save on him otherwise he will die like the goat that he is. Lore of Beasts is totally worth it, boost him to level 4 and then buff your already tough troop choices into the next realm of chaos.

• Bloodthirster:

• Lord of Change:

• Great Unclean One:

• Keeper of Secrets:

• Daemon Prince, Daemons of Chaos Version: Inferior in most ways to the Warrior version, you can pretty much skip him here.

• Daemon Prince, Warriors of Chaos Version: The same old unbreakable Daemon Prince from hell that everyone loves. The new rules for Lords means that you could potentially bring two of them to a 2000+ game, although doing so might make you suffer in other areas, just because you can stuff your force with Lords and Heroes, it doesn't mean that you should. Pretty much any of the 4 Gods make a brilliant unit, the Nurgle Death Prince is hated throughout the game, although the Tanky Tzeentch Prince with Lore of Metal is also pretty good. Don't forget Slaanesh, who can fly up first turn and Chior Bomb everything in sight. With a Chaos familiar and a level one wizard using Slaanesh, you are pretty much guaranteed to get Choir as your spell. Khorne is also handy, because not being a wizard makes you pretty cheap.

• Chaos Lord: The new Lord rules have been good for Chaos. You can now quite comfortably squeeze in a combat lord and a Level 4 in a 2000 point list. One of the best lords in the game (up there with the Vampire Lord, except in one on one a Chaos Lord will probably bash his skull in. But vampires can really eat rank and file models). Coat him in thick armour and a nice ward save and send him in at the deep end. Using Tzeentch can make you almost un-killable, Nurgle can make you un-hittable. Slaanesh isn't as popular because he has a meaty leadership 9, but if you are prone to running away like a sissy girl when your wardogs blow up then it may help you out. Khorne gives you an extra attack, which is always handy. The best thing about a Chaos Lord is that he has no real need for a magic weapon, he can quite happily crush things with just a Halberd or a Great Weapon, except he will give up his impressive I in order to use it.

• Chaos Sorcerer Lord: More expensive than his Beastman counterpart, but makes up for it by being able to take armour and respectable mounts. Even with Daemon Princes flying around, Sorcerer Lords are more common in smaller point games due to their cheapness. Tool him up anyway you want, but make sure his armour save is 2+ or better and he has, at least, a 4+ ward save. It's really easy for warriors to do, and due to Eye of the Gods, he could well end up in Challenges. Luckily for you, you are not a smelly elf mage in a cowardly robe. He is only Toughness and Strength 4. So you might want to sit him on a daemonic mount to increase his toughness.

Heroes

• Wargor:

• Doombull:

• Bray Shaman:

• Herald of Khorne:

• Herald of Tzeentch:'

• Herald of Nurgle:

• Herald of Slaanesh:

• Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch:

• Exalted Hero:

• Chaos Sorcerer:

Mounts

Sadly, mounts cannot be taken cross-army. That does not mean however that they can't be in the same unit as each other though.

• Razorgor Chariot:

• Gorebeast Chariot:

• Chaos Warshrine:

• Chaos Steed:

• Daemonic Mount:

• Chaos Chariot:

• Manticore:

• Chaos Dragon:

• Juggernaut of Khorne:

• Palanquin of Nurgle:

• Steed of Slaanesh:

• Disk of Tzeentch:

Core Units

• Gor Herd:

• Ungor Herd:

• Ungor Raiders:

• Tuskgor Chariot:

• Chaos Warhounds, Beastmen Version:

• Chaos Warhounds, Warriors of Chaos Version:

• Bloodletters of Khorne:

• Daemonettes of Slaanesh:

• Pink Horrors of Tzeentch:

• Plaguebearers of Nurgle:

• Chaos Warriors:

• Forsaken:

• Chaos Marauders:

• Marauder Horsemen:

• Chaos Chariot:

Special Units

• Minotaurs:

• Centigors:

• Harpies:

• Bestigor Herd:

• Razorgor Chariot:

• Razorgor Herd:

• Bloodcrushers of Khorne:

• Flesh Hounds of Khorne:

• Flamers of Tzeentch:

• Screamers of Tzentch:

• Nurglings:

• Beasts of Nurgle:

• Seekers of Slaanesh:

• Fiends of Slaanesh:

• Seeker Chariots of Slaanesh:

• Chaos Furies:

• Hellstriders of Slaanesh:

• Chosen:

• Chaos Knights:

• Chaos Ogres:

• Dragon Ogres:

• Chaos Trolls:

• Chimera:

• Gorebeast Chariot:

• Chaos Warshrine:

• Putrid Blightkings:

Rare Units

• Cygor:

• Ghorgon:

• Chaos Spawn, Beastmen Version:

• Chaos Spawn, Warriors of Chaos Version:

• Giant:

• Jabberslythe:

• Skull Cannon of Khorne:

• Burning Chariot of Tzeentch:

• Soul Grinder:

• Exalted Seeker Chariot of Slaanesh:

• Hellflayer of Slaanesh:

• Plague Drones of Nurgle:

• Hellcannon:

• Dragon Ogre Shaggoth:

• Chaos Giant:

• Skullcrushers of Khorne:

• Slaughterbrute:

• Mutalith Vortex Beast: