LordAba
24th Oct 08, 12:10 PM
I picked up the spearhead last weekend for the new Warriors of Chaos Army Book and some new models. Let's take a look:
Models
Mounted Chaos Knights and mounted Marauders look awesome. They have all the upgrades they need, and are very easy to put together. The Chaos Hounds are easy to put together as well. The Hounds do have a slight groove down the center of the model, so sticklers may have to do a bit of green-stuff work. The Chosen are a pretty nice looking squad, though only come with the great weapons (they are metal, so I was expecting such). The lord/hero level characters are great, and fit well with the rest of the range.
There is a general lack of bits in the whole set though. Lack of anything to really convey the "marks" of the various chaos gods hurts. Something simple like a basic "mark" sprue with different banners and bits to the different gods would have gone a long way. There isn't really anything that marks out Champions in the squads either, just a slightly fancier weapon. This really hurts the look of the squads, as the fluff outlines the importance of the champions of Chaos and the mutations granted upon them.
That said the kits work very well together. Weapon/head swaps are very simple to pull off. With an emphasis on mutation and change in the army, it's easy enough for even a beginner of green-stuff to create customization with a tentacle or three!
Book
The book is well written with some nice fluff, new characters, and nice pictures. The only problem with the pictures are some new models... are they actually new models coming out or conversions? The generally lack of "hobby material" in the new books is sad.
The fluff is great. It really conveys the sense that the frozen north is truly different: it's much different when the chaos gods go from boogie men worshiped by evil men to an everyday occurrence. The book talks about the northerners and their way of life more then general chaos, so if you want information about the chaos gods the Daemons of Chaos army book would be a better buy.
Army
The noticeable thing when you look at the army list is a lack of daemons. Can't mix them anymore in one army list! Another noticeable thing is the lack of emphasis that marks play on the army composition. Personally I think it's a bad thing: it really kills some of the fun and limits of the army. It's kind of weird seeing someone dedicated to Slaneesh running around with an Axe of Khorne, or seeing a character marked with Nurgle joining up with a unit of Tzeentch.
The two army wide rules are of interest. Will of the Gods provides a small boost to leadership. While the leadership of the Chaos Warriors are solid, the way that combat resolution works will usually have them starting at a disadvantage given a chaos armies small size. Potentially preventing one broken unit from causing your entire army to run is a good thing and encourages the aggressive play that chaos likes. Eye of the Gods is an amazing rule, and has a lot of potential for scenario/extended play. While you can't mutate into a spawn anymore, it's a way of encouraging your lords/heroes to hunt down the biggest thing they can find for the potential to +1 to any of their stats.
I can see overall list composition break down to two lists: Warrior heavy and Marauder heavy. Warriors have AMAZING stats, with a price to more then match. They all now come standard with chaos armor, so no updating that one unit to Chosen (Chosen are now a seperate unit entry). A unit of 15 Warriors with full command is over 250 points! A full command is important to regain the lost combat resolution for being outnumbered. The Champion is able to take on most heroes of other armies, so don't be afraid of any challenges that come your way.
The Warriors are monsters on their own, but generally you want some support for them. Marauders for number and combat resolution. Knights/chariots for mobility and hard hitting. The new "shrine of the gods chariot" for army wide boosts.
A Marauder heavy army gives you more options. Marauders are still good fighters and while they lack the strength and toughness of warriors they are a fraction of the price. They are easy to support with smaller bands of Warriors and Chosen, along with the more exotic chaos creatures such as spawn, ogres, trolls, and dragon ogres. The ogres and trolls give a list much needed sledgehammer units able to flank units in combat with the marauder horde.
There are a couple of weaknesses to the Warriors of Chaos. One is a distinct lack of shooting. They only have thrown weapons on the mounted Marauders, and only the hellcannon for artillery. Granted the hellcannon is an amazing machine when it works, it will be tough to keep it under control when it rages. Another weakness is a general underemphasis in magic. While their wizards can get really nice items to boost their spell slinging they can't compete one-on-one with a lot of other races. Given that their mages are expensive points-wise it can be tough to balance it out (though keep in mind that the mages are tougher then most other races).
Overall Warriors of Chaos is a list designed to be aggressive and go toe-to-toe with the enemy. From the elite Warriors to the worthy Marauders you have to play the game in a wild frenzy, spitting challenges with each breath. How else are you going to attract the eye of your god?
Models
Mounted Chaos Knights and mounted Marauders look awesome. They have all the upgrades they need, and are very easy to put together. The Chaos Hounds are easy to put together as well. The Hounds do have a slight groove down the center of the model, so sticklers may have to do a bit of green-stuff work. The Chosen are a pretty nice looking squad, though only come with the great weapons (they are metal, so I was expecting such). The lord/hero level characters are great, and fit well with the rest of the range.
There is a general lack of bits in the whole set though. Lack of anything to really convey the "marks" of the various chaos gods hurts. Something simple like a basic "mark" sprue with different banners and bits to the different gods would have gone a long way. There isn't really anything that marks out Champions in the squads either, just a slightly fancier weapon. This really hurts the look of the squads, as the fluff outlines the importance of the champions of Chaos and the mutations granted upon them.
That said the kits work very well together. Weapon/head swaps are very simple to pull off. With an emphasis on mutation and change in the army, it's easy enough for even a beginner of green-stuff to create customization with a tentacle or three!
Book
The book is well written with some nice fluff, new characters, and nice pictures. The only problem with the pictures are some new models... are they actually new models coming out or conversions? The generally lack of "hobby material" in the new books is sad.
The fluff is great. It really conveys the sense that the frozen north is truly different: it's much different when the chaos gods go from boogie men worshiped by evil men to an everyday occurrence. The book talks about the northerners and their way of life more then general chaos, so if you want information about the chaos gods the Daemons of Chaos army book would be a better buy.
Army
The noticeable thing when you look at the army list is a lack of daemons. Can't mix them anymore in one army list! Another noticeable thing is the lack of emphasis that marks play on the army composition. Personally I think it's a bad thing: it really kills some of the fun and limits of the army. It's kind of weird seeing someone dedicated to Slaneesh running around with an Axe of Khorne, or seeing a character marked with Nurgle joining up with a unit of Tzeentch.
The two army wide rules are of interest. Will of the Gods provides a small boost to leadership. While the leadership of the Chaos Warriors are solid, the way that combat resolution works will usually have them starting at a disadvantage given a chaos armies small size. Potentially preventing one broken unit from causing your entire army to run is a good thing and encourages the aggressive play that chaos likes. Eye of the Gods is an amazing rule, and has a lot of potential for scenario/extended play. While you can't mutate into a spawn anymore, it's a way of encouraging your lords/heroes to hunt down the biggest thing they can find for the potential to +1 to any of their stats.
I can see overall list composition break down to two lists: Warrior heavy and Marauder heavy. Warriors have AMAZING stats, with a price to more then match. They all now come standard with chaos armor, so no updating that one unit to Chosen (Chosen are now a seperate unit entry). A unit of 15 Warriors with full command is over 250 points! A full command is important to regain the lost combat resolution for being outnumbered. The Champion is able to take on most heroes of other armies, so don't be afraid of any challenges that come your way.
The Warriors are monsters on their own, but generally you want some support for them. Marauders for number and combat resolution. Knights/chariots for mobility and hard hitting. The new "shrine of the gods chariot" for army wide boosts.
A Marauder heavy army gives you more options. Marauders are still good fighters and while they lack the strength and toughness of warriors they are a fraction of the price. They are easy to support with smaller bands of Warriors and Chosen, along with the more exotic chaos creatures such as spawn, ogres, trolls, and dragon ogres. The ogres and trolls give a list much needed sledgehammer units able to flank units in combat with the marauder horde.
There are a couple of weaknesses to the Warriors of Chaos. One is a distinct lack of shooting. They only have thrown weapons on the mounted Marauders, and only the hellcannon for artillery. Granted the hellcannon is an amazing machine when it works, it will be tough to keep it under control when it rages. Another weakness is a general underemphasis in magic. While their wizards can get really nice items to boost their spell slinging they can't compete one-on-one with a lot of other races. Given that their mages are expensive points-wise it can be tough to balance it out (though keep in mind that the mages are tougher then most other races).
Overall Warriors of Chaos is a list designed to be aggressive and go toe-to-toe with the enemy. From the elite Warriors to the worthy Marauders you have to play the game in a wild frenzy, spitting challenges with each breath. How else are you going to attract the eye of your god?