In 1997 I began collecting my first Warhammer Fantasy Battle army. Back then there were no Beasts, Daemons, or Warriors of Chaos, There was a box set... The Realm of Chaos! It was awesome! A whole Box set dedicated to the Army, however you wanted to run it. Be it full of Gor's and Ungors, Daemons, or Warriors. I chose warriors. Not because I knew anything about the intricacies of the game... Nope, I chose warriors because Games Workshop, in their infinite wisdom, had just released a revolutionary new product... Plastic Unit boxes. Chaos Warriors and Knights were the first units released. 12 Warriors, or 5 knights, but boxes retailed at $19.99.
My first iteration of the Warriors army consisted of a Lord, 10 Chaos Knights, 2 Units of 12 Chaos Warriors with Halberds, 2 Chaos Chariots, 5 Flesh hounds, a Blood thirster if points permitted, A sorcerer on Disc of Tzeench, and 5 flesh hounds for chasing little pesky elves around. It was a solid list... At least in my little group of new gamers it was a solid list.
Now, as I grew and learned more about the Fantasy side of the game, a troubling development occurred. Most the players I gamed with were changed allegiances. Many were dropping out of the Fantasy realm in favor of the gun and tank laden battlefields of 40k. I also made that change, shelving my movement trays and dispel dice for a time.
The years pass, models get painted, broken, glued, broken again, and then finally re-glued. I collected, Imperial Guard, Chaos Space Marines, Necrons, and finally Orks. Then, out of the blue... A fantasy player emerges from my group of friends. All of a sudden the urge to rank up, and flank charge began to grow.
However, over the years the mighty Warriors of Chaos have seen massive upheaval. No longer can one supplement their army with a unit of Daemons, or a horde of Gors. Also, Chaos has a cannon! More troubling still, a Chaos player didn't win by just showing up anymore. Now, 8th ed Warriors of Chaos is a mid level list at best. Sure, a good tactician (I.E someone not me) can pull off a string of wins, and maybe do well in a tourny if the points allow him to fully utilize his lord/sorcerer combos, but the days of seeing blocks of warriors cutting across the field are over.
So, 8th ed... New mini's ( Very rad) and a new strat... lets look at how the list goes now.
The strength of this list has shifted from the heavily armored Warrior and Knight, to the numerous Marauder. I see my core choices including a big unit 20+ Marauders. Possible a unit of 12 Warriors supported by a couple units of Marauders, and most likely a unit of 10 Marauder horsemen. The important thing I think is to use Marauders the way Empire armies use detachments. Charge at the flanks while the Warriors, or a bigger unit of Marauders ties up enemy infantry.
I would never have thought it, but there is a good chance that when collecting is done, and gaming becomes primary... I may not run even a single unit of Chaos Warriors. 15 pts a piece vs 4 pts per Marauder. Big difference. 12 warriors with full command is 210 points minimum. Thats a lot of points to sink into a single Core choice, consider this point as well... sure Chaos Armor confers a decent save, and the stock 2 attacks is nice... but each of these models still only has 1 wound. Sure, they have 5 initiative, and 5 WS... but will that matter if they get locked up against a huge unit of Clanrats? My thought here is that you wont get your monies worth if you take more than 1 unit of Warriors. I haven't play tested this yet, but it looks like Marauders and Marauder Horsemen have become the Core choice of note for this army.
More to come...
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