Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Disciples of Tzeentch

Allegiance Abilities

Battle Traits

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

Master of Destiny: After set-up but before rolling for first turn, roll 9 dice and bank them as "destiny dice" that you can use in place of casting, unbinding, run, charge, hit, wound, save, damage, or battleshock rolls. Though you must use one destiny dice per dice, so to completely control a charge, you must use 2 destiny dice.

Command Traits

A general of an army with a DISCIPLES OF TZEENTCH allegiance and has chosen to take the DISCIPLES OF TZEENTCH allegiance abilities can choose one of the following Command Traits:

1. Arch-sorcerer: Allows your hero to know 2 more spells. Take it only if your Magister is your leader as he is the only one able to abuse this (with good rolling of course... or just as planned?) Otherwise Go for one of the
2. Changeblade: If your leader kills an enemy hero with a weapon chosen as the changeblade then that hero becomes your pet sp- thing... Unless you are sure your hero can get a kill in melee (thaumaturge or curseling) then there are better choices.
3. Magical supremacy: increases dispel range to 27 for your general. Abuse this on the curseling! Nearly doubles his dispel range and if he does dispel it then he gets to cast that spell without your opponent being able to dispel in return.
4. Boundless Mutation: Hero phase 2+ d3 wounds heal but if a 1 is rolled hero takes a wound and if it kills him he becomes a spawn. Risky but it can keep you alive so you can cast more spells.
5. Cult Demagogue: +2 bravery to all arcanites within 9". Can be very hekpful if you plan on having hordes and keeping em in the fight longer.
6. Arcane sacrifice: In the hero phase you can deal d3 mortal wounds on a friendly unit. If you do so then your hero gets +9 to range and rerolls to cast. Sooo... that curseling... i don't know... but i think he can abuse these command traits... He can steal spells on a longer range and if you steal an expensive spell then he is more likely to cast it.

Magical Artefacts

One HERO in an army with a DISCIPLES OF TZEENTCH allegiance and has chosen to take the DISCIPLES OF TZEENTCH allegiance abilities, plus one HERO for every battalion selected, can choose one of the following Magical Artefacts:

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Arcane Treasures

One WIZARD in an army with a DISCIPLES OF TZEENTCH allegiance and has chosen to take the DISCIPLES OF TZEENTCH allegiance abilities, plus one WIZARD for every battalion selected, can choose one of the following Arcane Treasures:

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Every WIZARD in an army with a DISCIPLES OF TZEENTCH allegiance and has chosen to take the DISCIPLES OF TZEENTCH allegiance abilities can choose one of the following Spells:

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Warscrolls

Leaders

Named Leaders

• Kairos Fateweaver:

• The Changeling: A fun little hero unit. Can deploy on you opponent's side of the board and can't be targeted by anything until he is revealed by another hero coming within 3" of him or you personally using an ability. Until then he can half the movement on a single unit within 9" every turn. Good on certain occasions like when your enemy brings a few fast units to keep you from moving up the board or getting close to artillery. Bring for fun not for game breaking madness.

• The Blue Scribes: Now a very powerful caster. They can automatically cast anything on 2+ with 1 D6 and to unbind their attempt, you need a 9 or more. This allows you to cast any overpowered summoning spell with umpunity. Don't want to be a jerk? No problem, their signature spell makes it easier for other Tzeentch Wizards to cast.

Generic Leaders

• Gaunt Summoner: A very mediocre Wizard statline but attached to some awesome magic. The Gaunt Summoner has one of the best horde-roasting spells in the game and can cast twice per turn, making him a wonderful addition to any army. The fact that he has the Daemon keyword only makes him better. The only real problem is the lack of mobility and survivability. To use his awesome spell to best effect, you want him close to the enemy, but 5 Wounds and a 6+ save aren't too helpful in letting him survive that.

• Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch: Wow. Vilitch, who used to be overcosted and underpowered, may now be one of the best Chaos casters, albeit he is now a generic hero. He can cast and dispel two spells a turn. Any spell he unbinds, he can immediately cast himself with nobody being allowed to unbind his attempt. He also has the Glean Magic spell with which he can steal unique spells off enemy Wizards (it has 24" range, and the target can't try to unbind this 3+ spell if you're more than 18" away from him, niiice). And in combat, he's awesome, too. He has three weapons, one a Sorcerer staff with bad To Wound and worse To Hit rolls but D3 damage if it connects and then two weapons which are basically Crom's weapons except one of them has extra Rend. Yeah. He hits hard, he can cast twice and he can cast everything he unbinds. If you play him, keep a bunch of Familiars around to grant him that all-important +1 to cast and unbind. His main problem is the First Rule of One. He only has three spells, two of them the generic spells and the third one that only works if the enemy is packing Wizards, and even then the result may not help him, so unless you give him a good lore spell, he will be dead weight on the spells you can cast.

• Fatemaster: While his attacks aren't as strong as that of other Lords, you don't take him for his power. You take him because he can add +2 to his saves in melee unless his opponent is flying, too. Yes, he gets a 2+ save so long as you don't send him at a Dragon or something. Yes, Mystic Shield stacks on that. He also has a weird Command Ability that is potentially awesome and potentially awful. You roll a D6 in your Hero Phase. Until your next Hero Phase, you can reroll all dice rolls that show this result. Awesome if you roll a 1 or 2 for this, awful if you roll a 6.

• Magister: This guy is way, way worse than the normal Sorcerer in melee, but can instead shoot a pretty decent shot out 18". He can cast additional spells if your casting roll was a double, even if it failed. His unique spell is basically Arcane Bolt that has a chance of spawning a Chaos Sp-- that. You could potentially use two 3s from your Destiny Dice pool to successfully cast a Mystic Shield with him, then cast his unique spell in addition because technically your last casting "roll" was a double.

• Tzaangor Shaman: The mage you want in a Tzaangor-heavy army. Thanks to his Disc, he's not all that bad in melee, but that is still only a last resort, as he's too important to risk. The fun part is that he is a 6 Wound mage with high movement and a decent spell: Enemy unit takes D3 Mortal Wounds, afterwards you can add a Tzaangor to a nearby unit for every model the spell killed. Roast some Saurus Guard and fill up your Beastmen all in the same breath. The Shaman also carries a nice energy drink with him that, once per game, lets him cast twice and reroll casting rolls while he's at it. Use to best effect in an Arcanite Cabal Battalion for 3 rerollable spells.

• Ogroid Thaumaturge: For all intents and purposes, the Ogroid Thaumaturge is a Tzeentch-marked Doombull. He has 8 Wounds without counting as a monster, a 5+ save and automatic regen of 1 Wound per friendly hero phase, so he's pretty tanky. He also moves 6", deals D3 Mortal Wounds for successfully charging and has three weapon profiles in melee, all of them good. His staff is just like any other mage staff, but hitting on 3+ and dealing two knocks, then his horns have one attack with great Hit and Wound rolls, great Rend and constant damage 3 and finally his hooves are exactly 2 Hammer-Liberators worth of knocks. And wait, that's not all. He is also a wizard, armed with one of the most bullshit unique spells in the game: Casting value 7, pretty high, but instantly deals D6 Mortal Wounds. And then you get to set up a unit of either Pink, Blue or Brimstone Horrors within 1" of whatever you shot (yes, right in melee distance, tying the unit down instantly). And yes, you CAN pick Pink Horrors and then immediately cast a spell with those because it's still your hero phase. But wait, that's still not all. He also turns red after suffering 5 or more Wounds, lowering his own casting rolls but gaining +1 To Hit, making him even more terrifying in melee. This guy is just amazing. Having him and a Tzeentch army and NOT playing him is akin to sacrilege. He's powerful, he's versatile and his model looks amazing.

• Lord of Change: Casty, scary lord, now with 14 Wounds because he got a new model. Can choose between a bunch of weapon profiles in adition to his staff but the gatling rod will generally be your best bet because a Lord of Change in melee is a dead Lord of Change unless you're sending him war machine hunting.

• Herald of Tzeentch: Has a pretty cool combination of tricks going for him. He has a unique spell with a casting value of 9, which is pretty fucking high. Also, once per game, he can cast with 3 dice instead of two, making 9 much more reachable. Also, if he casts with a value of 9 or more (no matter which spell) he can cast another one. Basically once per game you can cast twice unless you roll real bad. Keep in mind that casting with three dice, adding Chaos Familiars and a Lord of Change can mean that once per game you can summon anything including the way overpowered Soul Grinder.

• Herald of Tzeentch on Disc: Oddly the disc is disturbingly powerful in melee. However, the Herald on it wants absolutely nothing to do with melee. Ultimately, the Herald on Disc is a confused beast, best left alone.

• Herald of Tzeentch on Burning Chariot: When deciding how to build the model, do consider that this unit doesn't get the magical flames shooting attack that other heralds get, or the blue horrors close combat attacks that the exalted flamer gets. In other words, if you build this version, you can use the Blue Horrors to increase your Pink Horror units, the Exalted Flamer by himself and all the flame bits for nice conversions.

Troops

Battleline

• Kairic Acolytes: Tzeentch-themed Marauders, just as Bloodreavers are Khorne-themed Marauders. Kairic Acolytes can (and must) mix and match weapons: The normal blade is the exact same as a Marauder with an axe, the glaive gets better Rend, the dual-wielder hits better and the shield gives the model a 6+ save-before-the-save against normal and mortal wounds. This is all okay, but not terribly impressive. What sets them apart is that each is also a magical dabbler and can shoot minor magic missiles with 5+/4+/-/1, which sounds bad. Then you notice that having a Tzeentch Wizard tagging along adds 1 to these shots' To Hit rolls. Then you notice that these shots are amazing as normal Marauders don't get stuff like this at all, so even a weak shot is better than no shot at all.
  • Protip: Because you can mix weapons 40K-style, give some of them shields, and whatever weapons you want to the rest. Put the guys with weapons in the front, so they get to be more killy, then when it's time to allocate wounds, place them in the guys with shields (their rule says the models with shields are the ones who get the extra Save). That's teamwork for ya!

• Tzaangors: Incredible. They are, at first glance, Chaos Warriors with a lower save. Then you look at their weapons. No matter what you equip them with, they will always have a 4+/5+/-/1 beak attack each. Then you can choose between two weapons, sword and board and glaive. The shield gives you a nice save-after-the-save, the twin swords get you better hit rolls and the glaives only give you 1 attack instead of 2 but at damage 2 and Rend -1. They also have a nice rule where, for every 9 models in the unit, you get an additional attack, up to +3 maximum. Since this stacks nicely with the few strong attacks from the glaives, you want glaives if you want to go for raw damage output and shields to keep them safe. The good thing? You can mix-and-match, so you can do both! They can also run and charge like normal Beastmen, thanks to their musician and can channel mortal wounds onto enemy units if the Tzaangors have Wizards chilling with them. Having an Arcanite Hero hanging with them also gets them better Wound rolls, so keep that Tzaangor Shaman nearby to buff and replenish.

• Pink Horrors: One of the best infantry units in the game. Not only do they shoot pretty well and on a surprisingly high range, each unit also counts as a Wizard, so they can either shoot some Mortal Wounds at stuff their normal attacks can't get through, increase their save to 4+ or summon some more bullshit. Even more insane when using the new Lore of Change, in which case every unit of Horrors gets one of the Lore's spells to play around with. Horrors filling their own unit back up? Do it! Horrors buffing your Heroes? Do it! Horrors causing big stuff like Kurnoth Hunters or Ironguts to punch each other? Do it!

Others

• Tzaangor Enlightened: Elite Tzaangors. They have the "option" of putting them onto Discs, though frankly that option is somewhat insulting, as you will not ever not take it. For the low price of being affected by anti-Daemon abilities, all your Enlightened gain 16" Move, an extra Wound and a massively scary melee profile on top of their own massively scary melee profile. They get better when an Arcanite Hero is nearby, though unless you're running a Fatemaster, all your Arcanite Heroes are either too slow or too fragile to follow them into melee, so don't bet on that. Other than that, they have a beautiful psychological tool in the Guided by the Past ability, which grants them full rerolls To Hit and Wound if an enemy unit within 3" has already attacked this turn. This puts your opponent into an unpleasant situation: Either attack them first and give the survivors powerful rerolls or let them attack first and pray he'll still have models left once they're done.

• Tzaangor Skyfires: Ranged Elite Tzaangors. These fellows are the unholy cross between a Tzaangor Enlightened, a Kurnoth Hunter and a Warplock Jezzail. They have the obscene 16" Movement of the Enlightened, the 30" range of the Kurnoth Hunters and 6+ Hit rolls immediately deal Mortal Wounds. This is even stronger considering close proximity to an Arcanite Hero grants them +1 To Hit. Expect to see at least one unit of 6 in every competitive list.

• Blue Horrors: Some saint at GW decided to bless us with a warscroll for Blue Horrors in the Silver Tower game, apparently having forgotten the utter lunacy that once ensued because of them. Basically, a Blue Horror is a Pink Horror, but worse in melee, slightly lower-ranged shots and no magic. But that's really not the important part. The important part is that, so long as you have the warscroll and the models, you can set up 2 Blue Horrors whenever a Pink Horror is killed, thus adding two more wounds your opponent has to chew through before he can get at the actually important stuff behind them. It also helps that Blue Horrors are cheap as chips. With 50 points for 10 models that can shoot, you can place a veritable flood of gribblies in front of your opponent and roast him from a semi-safe distance. Shame they aren't Battleline.

• Brimstone Horrors: And because Pink Horrors splitting into two blue wasn't insane enough, killing a Blue Horror creates a (paired) Brimstone Horror, which are basically teeny-tiny swarms that have only 1 Wound despite clearly being 2 distinct lifeforms. These are even weaker than the Blue Horrors but provide yet another bunch of Wounds your opponent has to chew through. If we ignore the scarcity of the Brimstone Horror models, under perfect conditions, it would take 50 Wounds of damage for your opponent to chew through 10 Pink Horrors.

• Exalted Flamer: Has twice the wounds and twice the attacks of a normal flamer, and that's basically it. I'd just take two normal flamers and put this chap on the chariot for the extra stuff that can do. But if you plucked a Chariot apart or built it with the Herald on top, fielding this guy really doesn't hurt, as absolutely nothing in the game enjoys being pelted with 6 damage D3 shots from 18" away.

• Flamers: Pretty bloody great. They die very easily, so keep them in cover, but their ranged flame attack is possibly the best thing Tzeentch daemons can bring you, massed shots (10 from 3 of them) causing D3 wounds on anything that gets through is awesome. Bonus flaming is nice too - remember "healing" in AoS only affects models that are still alive, if flaming one-wound stuff it doesn't mean models get up again if you roll a one afterward. In summary using a wound-based comp system (or no comp system) you'd be a fool not to bring at least three of these. Also, remember the awful Locus of Transmogrification? It's been buffed to hell and back and given to these guys. If they lose models while close to a Herald of Tzeentch/Blue Scribes/The Changeling, they have a chance of the Flamer simply splitting into two new and fully healed Flamers. And all the ones that don't split, you simply summon back to the table with your buttload of casting attempts. Lastly, they have 9" Move and can fly (by jumping, according to their warscroll!), so you can use them as ultra-powered horse archers, leaping here and there while puking multi-colored death from a safe distance.

• Screamer: A bit pillow-fisted overall. Three of them won't do much, they want to be in bigger units to achieve anything (even lone wizards might not die quickly to them otherwise) and you're unlikely to put plenty of wounds on units, though monsters really don't enjoy the damage upgrade to D3. Do remember you can do the slashing fins attack if you "retreat" from a combat they're not going to win by flying over the unit they were fighting.

• Exalted Flamer on Burning Chariot: Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Has the potential of inflicting 46 Wounds per round, if you do it just right. It can damage units it flies over, has the same powerful missile weapon as the standard Exalted Flamer and a bunch of melee attacks, including the two Screamers, who make 6 attacks, each of which deals D3 damage whilst targetting a Monster. None of these have Rend, but whatever. Take a couple and dominate the game. However, these things are pretty fragile, not that this means anything when you have a goddamn 14" Flying Move stat.

Normal Battalions

Daemon Cohort of Tzeentch

Could be fairly nasty if you play fair. If not, it's utter rape. Extra spells means you could reliably be casting Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield with every unit (including your Horrors) every turn. Having most of your army with +1 saves while throwing multiple sets of D3 mortal wounds across the field, plus normal shooting, could be nasty. You'll probably want to borrow some speedbumps from somewhere to keep enemy units at arm's length. Lord of Change probably best for his command ability giving a bonus to cast. And all of this is not taking into account the fact that you could use summoning magic with all your casting attempts.

Changehost of Tzeentch

A Lord of Change takes 9+ units between every Tzeentch Daemon unit that is not another Lord of Change. In each hero phase two units within 27" from the Lord of Change can teleport in each other's place. You can do it twice if the formation includes 9+ units, and three times if there are 18+ units. This can be fairly nasty, but you need to use it correctly. For example, plonk a unit of hard-to-kill Horrors in front of the unit that was just busy cutting your Flamers apart. Or bait a monster into attacking your Horrors, then switch them out for Screamers with their bonus against monsters. There are lots of possibilities, but you need to think these situations out beforehand, as it's a huge-ass Battalion and it's only worth its cost of entry if you know how to make use of it.

Army Building

1000 pt.

Here the core tax is 1 Leader and 2 Battleline units.

Your basic choices here are to focus either on Daemons, on Tzaangor, on Mortals or on a combination of those. A Lord of Change is probably overkill and an Ogroid and another support mage working in tandem will likely serve you better. Taking Kairic Acolytes over Pink Horrors is seldom a good idea unless you have a specific Battalion in mind. Also, do not be too proud to look into the Slaves to Darkness. The Chaos Sorcerer Lord provides wonderful support and Chaos Warriors provide a hardy Battleline choice. Avoid Chosen and Chaos Knights, though, as your Tzaangor Enlightened leave them in the dust in terms of mobility and damage output. Also, hands off those Flamers. A single unit is already 20% of your points budget. They are massively scary, but once the opponent has a target lock on their asses, you'll lose a huge part of your army.

2000 pt.

Here the core tax is 1 Leader and 3 Battleline units.

2500 pt.

Here the core tax is 1 Leader and 4 Battleline units.