The swords of Chaos
Created | Updated Mar 21, 2005
Pictures can be found here
With the upcomming "Storm of Chaos" campaign scant months on the horison, i get that feeling again. You know the feeling. The one where one hand reaches for you wallet as your as feverently scan the pages (or screen) of one of games workshops many publications. This happened to me recently and at the worst possible time.
Recently i have built a hugely succesful Dwarf army (see my guide entery for more details) and have recently started an Empire witch hunter force. This is all well and good. My dwarf army is an impressive 3000pts and my empire can scrape in at around half that. There does, however, lie two problems. One, neither my dwarf army or my empire army are finished. Month after month of painting backlog has finally begun to annoy me enough for me to do something about it. The second problem is a more practical one. Neither army has come cheep, and even with thirty pounds a week from the lovely people at Pendleton college its been difficult going.
Not only that but my regular gaming group is starting to get annoyed. I have turned up, since June, with unpainted armies. Many a joke has been made at my inability to finish one army and so i've decided to turn that joke against them.
So my plan is simple. Over the next twelve1 months i will secretly build a Chaos force. My first purchase is a christmas present, in the form of the chaos lord Archaon. Funily enough it is a member of my gaming group who has bought me this. Hopefully he wont pry into what im painting next.
My regular gaming group consists of two regulars. The first is Jim2, who i have played against for nearly two years now. He plays Khemri extremely well, and has a small lizardman army. For the march game however, his army will be greenskins as he has just started collecting them. My other opponent is Gaz3. He has recently started the fantasy game, having played 40k for most of his gaming days. He has, however, started a high elf army and has been borrowing bits of my old elf army till he gets his at full strength. These are my two opponents for the march game. A veteran with a new army of massed units, and a new player who has never known anything other then small elite units4
Today i made a clever move, one that will make me quickly build my army. I have challenged my regular group to a massive three way game, with armies of 3000pts each. This leaves me with two small problems.
1) I have only three months to buy and build this army.
2) I have no plan yet, or even a rough army list to work with.
Mindful of these two key points, I decided that its about time i draw up some form of army list. My current plan is to have two units of chaos hounds, as there fast cavalry (IIRC) and can quickly flank my opponent. I also want a unit of knights, at least five strong. They wil definately be choosen knights, and are being taken just to strike utter terror in my opponents. A large group of maruaders with sheilds should round things off nicely, with any left over points being spent on a wizard and another unit of hounds. Im undecided as whether to have my chaos lord mounted with the knights, or to have him on foot with the large maruader unit.
I dont plan to buy any warriors as yet, because the old plastics are tripe and theres new ones coming out.
Well yesterday i bought the chaos army book, which has allowed me to start my chaos army in full. So, in the traditional style of pen and paper, i set to my task.
Firstly i choose the core of my army. Three blocks of twenty marauders with shields and light armour, as well as command. This is to give my two opponents something to worry about, as well as something to distract his infantry while the bigger units get stuck in. Next up is two units of five warhounds. At 60 points for the lot, its a bargain.
It was at this point where i remembered that i still had a few daemonettes lying around somewhere. So to save time and money, i've took a unit of fifteen. To help them out, there joined by an exhalted champion of chaos5. I had to give him the chalice of chaos to do this, so he carries no magic weapons. His statline however, more then makes up for this.
On top of my daemonic hero, i also took three others - two mages and the standard bearer. The two mages are noth level two, mounted on barded chaos steeds. One is a more aggressive sorcerer, with a power familiar, while the second sorcerer is the dispel caddy6. The standard bearer is mounted on a barded stead, and carries the banner of the gods. This was mainly due to it being the highest cost banner, its ability to make my marauders stubborn, and the fact that the other banners didnt appeal to me.
After this came the two things id been waiting for. The first is my nine strong unit of chaos knights. As they are meant to be a bodyguard for my chaos lord, they were upgraded to chosen. At 45pts a model they werent cheap, but as with any expensive unit its a waste of points if you dont put you weight behind it, so they got full command and the War banner. These are my heavy hitters, but there was still one thing missing...
The unimaginitively named Conan the Immortal, lord of chaos. I gave him a deamonic mount to tie in with his status as a lord of chaos. I then also gave him a Berserker sword mainly for the absolute carnage it would wreck. On top of this i gave him a shield, as well as the Crimson armour of Dargan mainly to stop those nasty killing blows if he ever goes on foot, and to stop him getting swamped.
This all comes to the grand total of around 2400pts. This leaves me with plenty of points to spend and not much to spend it on. I could increase the size of the marauder and war hound units, but even then i'll still have plenty of points to spare. Suggestions at this point would be most helpful!
Archaon arrive on thursday and ive spent the past few days filing and carving the flash off archaon. Hes nearly ready for his undercoat, but then in a test glue i noticed a few things.
For a start hes huge. He is easily the biggest thing ive painted as an army centre peice (i think the biggest thing before him was my friends slann mage priest). Not only that, but its relatively gap free when compared to many models. Theres a small gap around the joins, and a large gap at the back of his steed, but his cloak covers the largest one. Second the model is heavy at the joints. What this means is that during the pre-paint assembly, he fell to bits. I've tried to glue him about six times, but each time he slowly disolves bit by bit7. So on friday, on my regular shopping trip, i bought some brass rod. I got some really thick stuff (its about three times the thickness of a normal paper clip) and its a size i wouldnt normally use for pinning anything. However, i also have another cunning use for the rod. A few of my old daemonettes havent got arms (lost to the warp). So several will receive spears and tridents over the next few days. To add to my small unit of four daemonettes, i got another two blisters from the workshop, giving me my first full unit. Also, there champion with the chalice of the gods should be arriving soon.
So that you can all see this, i've created an msn group. All the information will be here but the pictures will be on there. I'll link as soon as ive worked it out.
Update: I've received my aspiring champion with the chalice of the gods, and i've put a link at the top of the page to my pictures site.
Well i thought it was about time i started to knuckle down with my army so i bought my first lot of marauders, with all the daemonettes in the shed drying from spray paint.
The one thing i've noticed about my chaos army is that its constantly suprising me. For instance, i've converted a daemonette to carry a standard because i thought it'd look good. The next day i find out that theres rules coming out soon. My aspiring champion who appeared to be very small, is infact bigger then a witch elf and thats in a crouched pose. The marauders are the latests to be added to this list. The suprise is that they come on large bases. Now this may seem like nothing to lizardmen players, or for the handful of others that have this, but it seems strange to me. My last armies have all been on standard size bases, even the elites. But this sudden change doesnt put me off that much. Im just wondering if theres going to be enough space to fit my army on the table when its finished!
On a more serious note i still havent spent my remaining 600pts. The only way to spend it is by taking another unit and then a charecter of some sort. The problem is which unit? I have plenty of marauders in the force, and already have a units of knights. I did consider a unit of warriors, but with only twelve in the box it just wasnt cost effective. I have seemingly three options left. The first is to go the way of father nurgle by taking a unit of plaguebearers and a champion of nurgle on a daemonic steed. I've never been a fan of nurgle, but it seems to be my best option. The second option is to take a few chariots and some marauder horsemen. This would make my force a lot faster and give it a lot more hitting power early on. But it means a lot more money has to be put into the army as a whole. The third option however, might be the answer. Its going to be the trickiest to do, but all i need i a copy of the beasts of chaos book and a couple of boxes of beastmen. If only i knew the base value of a beastman i'd be alrite. Ah well.
I got my first blister of warhounds today and another box of marauders, giving me my first full unit, with half of the second unit standing by.
Assessing my progress so far i havent done to badly at all. My daemonettes are the reward for painting the marauders, and the marauders should only take a few hours as i plan to use mainly drybrushing. Archaon is still in his box waiting to be built and painted when i get the knights. But i've been thinking...
The last 600pts have been wracking my brain for a good few weeks now. I tried everything, including several chariots, more warhounds, another marauder unit and so on and so forth. However, i now think i have the answer. The daemonette unit is being dropped to 15 strong to give me another hundred points.
Now i have 700pts to spend. This allows me to take two new units. The first is a giant, as suggested by Awix. This weighs in around the 250pts mark. Im quite happy with this, as it gives me a unit that literally does strike terror into my opponents, and will be especially good at neutralising the threat of Jims giant. So with 450pts to spare what am i going to buy? Well the new plastics dont come out till July, se it was inevitable that id give in and buy them. A unit of twenty chosen chaos warriors, armed with sheilds and halaberds. This would be my shock infantry, and would be used for holding the centre of my army whilst the marauders repel attackers. The temptation now is to use the daemonettes in a supporting role, ready for a counter strike around the third or fourth turn. This will (in theory) be totally devestating, as the enemy would have already have to fend off marauders, a giant, and probibly the Knights.
So i now have nearly 500pts of my force. Just have to get it all painted now.
Till next week.
My entire army plan is going down the drain fast.
Every week i get paid by the nice people at Pendleton college to go to there lovely building. This suits me fine. That is of course, till they screw up. I didnt receive payment this week due to a small admin error, and wont be able to buy anything for the army next week either as theres a training day which means i won't be going to manchester. Panic time i think.
Its not all doom and gloom though. The marauders are close to completion, and ive developed a relatively fast way to paint a batch of twenty. There looking great and will probibly will be finished tonight whilst watching lord of the rings8. The Daemonettes are coming along slowly but surely, and should in theory be painted some during the week depending on college commitments. Theres not much more to say then that really. My force is now around the 500pts mark. With only a few more weeks to go until the end of march, and with only a sixth of my army bought, im starting to get worried again.
I'm terrible at saving cash, so over these past few weeks building my chaos force i was quite pleased with my little self to have saved nearly a hundred pounds! Unfortunately two nights out happened, one very good and one not so good. This has reduced my savings to half. So This project is on temporary hold while i catch up on all my painting and get more stuff.
After a momentary panic i've revised my entire force. Its now a plump 2950 points. Heres a run down:
Crom the immortal:Chaos lord- As before, except now with the armour of damnation.
Kaiten:Standard bearer- No change
Whisper: Exalted Champion- Still has the chalice, no change.
E'luin: Exhalted Champion- A new addition. Mounted on a steed of Slaanesh and carrying a spear of might. Should make for should interesting flanking maneuvres9.
Smee:Exhalted sorcerer- Another new addition. My main caster, used for getting the army across the board sooner.
Snoog: sorcerer - the dispel caddy.
2 units of 20 marauders- Light armour, sheilds, hand weapons.
19 daemonettes: Whispers girls
20 chosen chaos warriors: Fairly new edition, equiped with halberds.
8 chosen chaos knights: My smaller shock unit, hopefully it'll still have as much punch.
Warhounds: considering i have the points to spare, i might include them.
Im fairly happy with this list. Its small, but its charecters are all immense power houses that can punch through small units on there own. The Slaanesh influence continues to grow on me due to the speed. I can, in theory, have both flanks covered by units that can move 20" a turn (unseen lurker the daemonettes).
The only problem is getting the army there intact. Most of the units have a 5+ save and where possible charecters have been maxed out on armour. However, once they get to the enemy its going to be messy. All of the units, apart from the marauders, have multiple attacks, with the chosen warriors dishing out a healthy 11 hits a turn. This will then even things out between me and my opponents, as they both have magic heavy armies, or armies that involve masses of archers.
The tactics are simple as can be. The daemonettes and aspiring champion on Steed of Slaanesh ride up each flank. The marauders cover each, with the knights (and possibly warhounds) taking centre. If i can find more room i may get a couple of daemonettes on steeds to support the aspiring champion, but i doubt ill have the resources. Anyway must dash, got some painting to finish.
This morning i decided in true chaotic fashion to say stuff to waiting and use the army. (SOON TO BE REPLACED WITH A LINK TO THE ARMY LISTs USED).
The Aspiring champion on steed of Slaanesh charged a unit of dragon princes and held them up for several turns. The daemonettes then went in, wiping out gaz's Dragon princes. The daemonettes went on to kill some archers, but eventually got wiped out, along with the aspiring champion on steed of slaanesh. My new unit of beastmen faired well, wiping out a unit of archers and several white lions, earning there points back quite easily. The marauders acted as a bodyguard for my Exhalted sorcerer, who speeded up my units and negated a few powerful spells that could have spelled early disaster. The bigest disappointment were the maruaders however, causing no casualties what so ever.
Now for the final unit. My chaos lord, Conan the immortal, and his unit of eight chosen knights of chaos. God are they good! The tally up to now is: One giant, one unit of 20 orc boyz, one unit of 10 orc arraz, one doom diver catapult, one unit of 30 goblin archers, one orc big boss, one unit of 50(ish) goblins, and one repeater bolt thrower.
Okay these werent great units, but its still a lot of kills. My opponents are both rightly scared off this monsterous unit, that seemingly ploughs through everything with wanton ababbon.
The last thing left on the table was Conan. One wound off his steed and one wound off himself. Not too bad considering everything else got slaughtered. My chaos lord and his bodyguard are now easily the most powerful unit on the board10, beating the once invincible dwarf longbeards.
Next week i plan to try using less charecters, as my army had all of its slots filled (with a slight bit of rule bending on everyones part). Till next time.
Each week when i go to the workshop i usually investigate the various cabinates to see what new wonders and conversions are on display. Now for the past few weeks i've had my eyes enraptured by the shops converted daemon princes. Both made using the C'tan deceiver from 40k, combined with the wings from a great eagle (or other such winged monstrousity). A suitably impressive weapon is placed in the clenched fist a bobs your uncle - one daemon prince.
So i made my regular trip to manchester, planning to get another box of beastmen. However, i was joined by my friend Amy. Now in the past i've always trusted women when it comes to model selection. They have the uncanny, and darn right spooky abilty to pick a model that will slice straight through everything. My beastmen for instance, easily made there points back, as did my slaaneshi aspiring champion on steed. So with great reluctance i asked amy what she thought looked good. This led to the daemon prince..
Now the conversion itself isnt that tricky. Using the wings from Karl Franz' griffon, i pinned them both together. This then slides in roughly where the shoulder blades are on the deceiver, and very little work is need to make a firm join. The rest is simply filling in with green stuff.
The only real problem i faced is what weapon to give my daemon prince. Out of all the weapons i've got, the most suitable is a home made spear - using brass rod and an as yet undecided blade.
So having bought this new unit (and thanks to a Gaz my force is bolstered by 12 chaos warriors), i decided to redo my entire list based around him.
I amazed myself when i made this guy. A daemon prince is good enough on its own, but when combined with The blade of the ether and Aura of Slaanesh he makes a fearsome opponent. To add more punch to this guy, i made him a level four sorcerer, and gave him the mark of Slaanesh so that he'd always strike first. In a turn he could do a lot of damage, and thats before the opponent can even retalliate. Not to mention the fact that he can fly...
Thirty marauders and 20 beastmen form my main force, with 12 chosen slaaneshi warriors to back them up. I also took a unit of chosen knights, six strong, so that i'd have something to counter with. Fifteen daemonettes join up alonside the daemon prince, and a spawn is also coming so i can test there mettle.
My main plan is for the daemonettes and prince to smash straight through the main enemy force as the foot soldiers mop up the infantry. Depending on tomorrow will influence on what i get next. If the daemon prince is successful, then i'll increase the daemonettes too twenty strong. If not, perhaps some chaos hounds or some daemonettes on steeds. At the moment though ive got my hands plenty full.
My army took to the feild quite happily. Gaz was quite chuffed with his attempt at an uber unit11, and jim took 120 goblin spearmen along with his regular three goblin shamens.
The battle in breif consisted of the following:
Marauders and chaos warriors: Did bugger all, berely killing 60 goblins. My three remaining chaos warriors held up an entire unit of goblins for several turns, but eventually broke (see daemon prince).
Chaos knights: Didn't do anything of note, although did distract most of gaz' shooting for the entire game as well as some magic iirc. Ran down an orc chariot too..
Daemonettes: A few spells was all it took, and these ladies were wiped off the board. Evil eyes turned to Teclis and a grinning Gaz at this point.
Beastmen: Using the ambush special rule resulted in these boys coming on exactly like miners. Now imagine me at this point. My daemonettes and my knights are being decimated by Teclarse (Teclis' name when hes being particularly annoying) and i have a unit that can come on anywhere. Cue a rear charge from my beastmen into his swordmaster unit (containing teclis and a commander) and with +2 to combat resolution, the unit broke and ran straight off the board.
Teclis and friends = 1100ish pts.... Beastherd = 160ish pts. Cue a very upset Gaz
They got suitably wiped out from missile fire, but who cares??
Daemon prince - Archangel Aurillius: Basically came close to winning me the game. I was allowed to have all the spells from the lore of Slaanesh so i could try them out, and boy are they good. Dragon princes, giants, goblins and other things were all reduced to spasms. This became more absurd when Teclis decided to limp wristedly attack his own men. To add to this, a spell also made the chaos warriors unbreakable.
Thats not even considering the rest of it. Terror combined with aura of slaanesh is a dangerous thing, and several units fled the feild down too Aurillius. He did however, suffer badly when Teclis opened up with magic, bringing him down to one wound early in the battle. The rest of the princes' game became a series of long range strikes and spells, killing two shamens and a warmachine besides others. His end came when he charged the remaining Dragon princes (only three strong). A series of bad dice rolls and aurillius only killed one. The rest is history.
I can safely say that the daemon prince has fired my imagination suitably. I have already started planning a nurgle daemon prince, using fell bat wings and the Nightreaper c'tan, altough as ever money will be a problem. Plus i'll need a unit of daemons to accompiny him. We'll see what happens in the near future.
Till next time.
Next week ill be facing off against the combined might of Jims 2000pts goblins, and Gaz' 2000pts high elves - using a 3000pts Chaos force. What better time to bring these articles to a close?
I've had great fun building my chaos army, and it can now easily make 4000pts. Of course, the army is still in various stages of completion. The daemon prince has been painted to perfection, and his accompying daemonettes have well... been started put it that way. The marauders arent finished either. Actually when i think about it- nothing in my Chaos army is totally finished. Its a shame really, because the whole point of all this was to create an army from scratch that was fully painted. Hopefully i will have everything done for next week, using drybrushing, drybrushing, and possibly some dry brushing.
This is by no means the end of my chaos however. Before next week i should hopefully have the beginnings of a nurgle contingent (as well as the daemon prince ive been itching to get my hands on..). Then again theres other things that are craving my attention. The spawn of slaanesh in the recent conversion corner has grabbed my attention, and the steeds of Slaanesh also look tempting. We'll have to wait and see what the pixie brings12.
I'd like to take this moment to commend both Jim and Gaz. Jim is constantly challenging in the game, and will often put me to shame in a battle. Gaz... well Gaz tries, and will when focused play a game that i find impossible to keep track of13, although he can and does let himself get unfocused and he then becomes easy pray. Although im confident that in a few years time Gaz will be an amazing challenge to me and many other players.
And on that note i think i wil depart for now. The next entery will contain the full army list (which isnt going up now due to Jim having the net and knowing about this page...) and a link to all the pictures i can take of the army. Until then.
The money pixie never came, however, i was still able to buy a unit of men at arms to use as chosen of nurgle.
For the game, Jim took his mighty Khemri and Gaz took his Elves. Both the armies were fairly focus on certain things. Gaz choose to focus on magic, with an archmage and two mages marching alongside white lions and swordmasters. Jim took Boney the Bone Giant, Queen Khalidra, and a unit of carrion.
So, heres a breif overveiw of my army and how it did:
Chaos Lord and Chosen Knights: Smashed through The entire right flank that Jim was protecting. Smashed straight through a unit of horsemen, before being charged by Boney who didnt really do anything. Boney was then killed and then Jims unit of Ushbati followed soon after. An impressive kill ratio, although only just got there points worth back.
Choosen of Nurgle and Chaos Warriors: Didnt do anything really. They basically baby sat the two sorcerers and looked menacing. The choosen of Nugle killed only seven archers, but by that point the game was a fore-gone conclusion. Good units, but a great counter threat.
Marauders: Did absolutely nothing, which im quite glad about. They acted mainly as a skirmish screen for the Choosen of Nurgle, before fleeing at the first sign of trouble. However, by doing this they forced the unit of swordmasters out of there position and they were quickly destroyed.
Sorcerer's of Nurgle: Both got pestilance and they saved several units from getting anhilated. A unit of skeleton warriors, the swordmaster, and most importantly, Jims heirophant, were all the victim of Nurgles pestilance much to my delight. I'm quite looking forward to my Nurgle contingent now...
Beastmen: The beastmen for the second time in a row have saved me a game. Jims unit of Carrion were in a perfect position to flank my knights, and would probibly have cost me the right flank. The beastmen however, charged using the ambush rule. They later ran off, but im not too fused as there cheap enough to throw into suicide attacks.
Daemon Prince and Daemonettes: They are clearly far to susceptable to missile and magic fire for my liking, and the daemonettes vanished after there first charge against a unit of skeletons. The daemon prince nearly got battered too, but luckily held them off long enough for a combination of pestilance and heirophant death to kick in.
It was a pretty good game. Being out numbered by nearly a thousand points, im quite chuffed i still had around thousand points left over. However, due to a number of factors my army is now on hold. I want to get everything painted (I can here Jim laughing at this) before i start my Nurgle contingent properly. However, i am getting another Daemon (which im currently bidding on ebay for) and im getting the Liber Chaotica Nurgle and Tzeentch next Friday.
Well i've been considering closing this article for a long time, but im slowly reconsidering. I've enjoyed writting about my armys exploits and adventures. I'm sure Lord Crom will have many adventures to come, and it wouldnt be fitting ot to cronicle them somewhere.
But that is a tale for another time...
For the past two games i decided to try this little dervish of destruction mainly because i havent before and i wanted to test his stuff.
The first game saw him take on a lance formation, and some other stuff. He basically won me the game because there was nothing that could stop him.
The second game saw my 3000pts force take on 4000pts of combined lizardmen and high elves. With a manic grin on my face i watched as my arm legged it across the feild. Archaon and his boys marching straight towards 40 elven archers, a dragon, and a slann mage preist. Suffice to say the carnage was swift. One archaon has battered some nearby skinks, a unit of saurs, and the dragon pretty much single handed, my opponents conceided.
I can finally see why he is the Lord Of The End Of Times. The fact that he has to have a unit of knights with him just makes him more and more appealing to me.
It also poses a question that ive been mulling over for awhile now:
How do you kill the lord of the end of times?
My dwarf lord, Fundin, would be extremely hard pressed to do the deed. He'd only do it if he managed to wound with all his attacks and kill him on the first strike, which would stop archaon slapping back. Even an elf prince couldnt do it. Maybe if he could kill the horse at long range and force archaon onto foot then he'd have a chance (good old killing blow). Even a cannon wouldnt both Archaon to much.
I'll think on it.
I recently ordered some Spartan Hoplites from a model company other then games workshop. These are the fairly standard hoplites, very sterotypical looking with the high corinthian helmets and long pikes, as well as the large round sheilds.
Now ive always been a great fan of Sparta. Everything to do with Sparta infact. The whole beleif systen has me hooked (and is now leading towards several guide enteries).
Now the closest thing to a Spartan in warhammer is quite simply the mercenary pikeman. Okay they have no resemblance stat wise (pikemen are poor compared to what a spartan should be), but there as good as i can get. However, luckily Jim has allowed me some varience on the stats for my hoplites and this has got me thinking. With forty Spartans to play around with, i have a fairly decent sized Spartan force. Not only that but my empire have been sat around for nearly three months now with no one to play with. I think its about time they all came out of retirement.
The question is could i switch straight from my beloved chaos back to the hated enemy and win? Pike warfare is completely different to a normal game. I tried using a block of forty last week (with upgraded stats) and they cam in at nearly 600 pts. They got battered and became a magnet for ever enemy unit due to the sheer size. However, two small units of twenty would be quite formidable.
So next week, i plan to feild all forty spartans in two blocks, with a block of twenty swordsmen inbetween. Whack on a mage or two, along with a trusty mortar and a unit of knights, and im laughing. Then again, this army plays much like my chaos in that i only have one shooty unit...
Okay so with my 18th birthday and seriously wadded with cash i decided to go a little nuts and spend a couple of pennies. Now i could have continued with my mercenaries, or even with my brand new wood elf project. However, i was tempted to venture back to chaos.
With the new mini's looking gorgeous, i simply couldnt resist. So with that in mind i needed a new theme. Cue Iron Kingdoms Warmachine range of minitures. Spotting the helljack for Cryx, i got onto my minions of cheapness and ordered a box set of warriors and a helljack. However, i also went out and bought another box of warriors to bulk the force out.
So whats all this for? well my chaos are taking a lovely new direction. Masses of warriors marching side by side as hulking mechanical monstrousities walk between then. Non of this charge towards the enemy asap. Just a slow steady unstoppable march.
I shall return.
Over the course of the past few nights, i have painted up a unit of 24 chaos warriors. Whilst this has left me exhausted (mainly because i painted them between midnight and 4am for three nights) they do look spectacular, with only the standard and musician arms to be stuck on.
In addition, i have also got cracking on my slaaneshi lord on steed. Whilst not as fabulous as i had first envisioned, he does look fairly funky. Just got to do the steed.
I have converted the only chaos knight i own by giving him a plastic axe and plastic sheild. He now looks like he is sheilding his horse from arrows and holding his axe at his side.
My army now has a standard bearer in the form of warwitch Dengraha from the Cryx range of warmahine minitures. Whilst small compared to the warriors (she would be more suited to the lord of the rings) she does look fabulous, and after changing her spear to an icon, im confident that she wont look to out of place. Alongside her, again from warmachine, have come two Slayer helljacks. These were bought after inspiration in the form of the hellcannon, and a very old painting of the warmachines of chaos. These two behemoths (there wide, but not too tall) will act as my giants.
My force is now a hefty 3440 points, with things left over to play with should i want to change certain things. Im quite happy overall.
Tonights fun will be painting 30 marauders, followed by a light course of finishing my daemonette rider, and some basing of chaos.
Well having finished all my chaos warriors, and with marauders dangerously close to being finished, my hand has once again strayed to my wallet and in doing so, i now have one complete khorne lord of steed.
Now dont get me wrong this isnt the start of some fantastically brutal foray into the world of Khorne. I have instead spent that past few nights hacking and filing in order to remove all the Khorne symbols and create a lord of undivided. So now i have a mounted lord of undivided that isnt archaon based!
In related news, i have deceided my force isnt chaotic14, so ive spent several days build up spawn models. These looks mightily good (if somewhat bizarre) and have been the bane of a few units upto now.
As for me, well i have a new lord to finish. By for now
Introduction
With the upcomming "Storm of Chaos" campaign scant months on the horison, i get that feeling again. You know the feeling. The one where one hand reaches for you wallet as your as feverently scan the pages (or screen) of one of games workshops many publications. This happened to me recently and at the worst possible time.
Recently i have built a hugely succesful Dwarf army (see my guide entery for more details) and have recently started an Empire witch hunter force. This is all well and good. My dwarf army is an impressive 3000pts and my empire can scrape in at around half that. There does, however, lie two problems. One, neither my dwarf army or my empire army are finished. Month after month of painting backlog has finally begun to annoy me enough for me to do something about it. The second problem is a more practical one. Neither army has come cheep, and even with thirty pounds a week from the lovely people at Pendleton college its been difficult going.
Not only that but my regular gaming group is starting to get annoyed. I have turned up, since June, with unpainted armies. Many a joke has been made at my inability to finish one army and so i've decided to turn that joke against them.
So my plan is simple. Over the next twelve1 months i will secretly build a Chaos force. My first purchase is a christmas present, in the form of the chaos lord Archaon. Funily enough it is a member of my gaming group who has bought me this. Hopefully he wont pry into what im painting next.
My regular gaming group consists of two regulars. The first is Jim2, who i have played against for nearly two years now. He plays Khemri extremely well, and has a small lizardman army. For the march game however, his army will be greenskins as he has just started collecting them. My other opponent is Gaz3. He has recently started the fantasy game, having played 40k for most of his gaming days. He has, however, started a high elf army and has been borrowing bits of my old elf army till he gets his at full strength. These are my two opponents for the march game. A veteran with a new army of massed units, and a new player who has never known anything other then small elite units4
December 27, 2003 - so it begins!
Today i made a clever move, one that will make me quickly build my army. I have challenged my regular group to a massive three way game, with armies of 3000pts each. This leaves me with two small problems.
1) I have only three months to buy and build this army.
2) I have no plan yet, or even a rough army list to work with.
Mindful of these two key points, I decided that its about time i draw up some form of army list. My current plan is to have two units of chaos hounds, as there fast cavalry (IIRC) and can quickly flank my opponent. I also want a unit of knights, at least five strong. They wil definately be choosen knights, and are being taken just to strike utter terror in my opponents. A large group of maruaders with sheilds should round things off nicely, with any left over points being spent on a wizard and another unit of hounds. Im undecided as whether to have my chaos lord mounted with the knights, or to have him on foot with the large maruader unit.
I dont plan to buy any warriors as yet, because the old plastics are tripe and theres new ones coming out.
January 10th, 2004 - the horde is set (nearly)
Well yesterday i bought the chaos army book, which has allowed me to start my chaos army in full. So, in the traditional style of pen and paper, i set to my task.
Firstly i choose the core of my army. Three blocks of twenty marauders with shields and light armour, as well as command. This is to give my two opponents something to worry about, as well as something to distract his infantry while the bigger units get stuck in. Next up is two units of five warhounds. At 60 points for the lot, its a bargain.
It was at this point where i remembered that i still had a few daemonettes lying around somewhere. So to save time and money, i've took a unit of fifteen. To help them out, there joined by an exhalted champion of chaos5. I had to give him the chalice of chaos to do this, so he carries no magic weapons. His statline however, more then makes up for this.
On top of my daemonic hero, i also took three others - two mages and the standard bearer. The two mages are noth level two, mounted on barded chaos steeds. One is a more aggressive sorcerer, with a power familiar, while the second sorcerer is the dispel caddy6. The standard bearer is mounted on a barded stead, and carries the banner of the gods. This was mainly due to it being the highest cost banner, its ability to make my marauders stubborn, and the fact that the other banners didnt appeal to me.
After this came the two things id been waiting for. The first is my nine strong unit of chaos knights. As they are meant to be a bodyguard for my chaos lord, they were upgraded to chosen. At 45pts a model they werent cheap, but as with any expensive unit its a waste of points if you dont put you weight behind it, so they got full command and the War banner. These are my heavy hitters, but there was still one thing missing...
The unimaginitively named Conan the Immortal, lord of chaos. I gave him a deamonic mount to tie in with his status as a lord of chaos. I then also gave him a Berserker sword mainly for the absolute carnage it would wreck. On top of this i gave him a shield, as well as the Crimson armour of Dargan mainly to stop those nasty killing blows if he ever goes on foot, and to stop him getting swamped.
This all comes to the grand total of around 2400pts. This leaves me with plenty of points to spend and not much to spend it on. I could increase the size of the marauder and war hound units, but even then i'll still have plenty of points to spare. Suggestions at this point would be most helpful!
January 17th - he's here...
Archaon arrive on thursday and ive spent the past few days filing and carving the flash off archaon. Hes nearly ready for his undercoat, but then in a test glue i noticed a few things.
For a start hes huge. He is easily the biggest thing ive painted as an army centre peice (i think the biggest thing before him was my friends slann mage priest). Not only that, but its relatively gap free when compared to many models. Theres a small gap around the joins, and a large gap at the back of his steed, but his cloak covers the largest one. Second the model is heavy at the joints. What this means is that during the pre-paint assembly, he fell to bits. I've tried to glue him about six times, but each time he slowly disolves bit by bit7. So on friday, on my regular shopping trip, i bought some brass rod. I got some really thick stuff (its about three times the thickness of a normal paper clip) and its a size i wouldnt normally use for pinning anything. However, i also have another cunning use for the rod. A few of my old daemonettes havent got arms (lost to the warp). So several will receive spears and tridents over the next few days. To add to my small unit of four daemonettes, i got another two blisters from the workshop, giving me my first full unit. Also, there champion with the chalice of the gods should be arriving soon.
So that you can all see this, i've created an msn group. All the information will be here but the pictures will be on there. I'll link as soon as ive worked it out.
Update: I've received my aspiring champion with the chalice of the gods, and i've put a link at the top of the page to my pictures site.
January 23 - The beginnings of the host!
Well i thought it was about time i started to knuckle down with my army so i bought my first lot of marauders, with all the daemonettes in the shed drying from spray paint.
The one thing i've noticed about my chaos army is that its constantly suprising me. For instance, i've converted a daemonette to carry a standard because i thought it'd look good. The next day i find out that theres rules coming out soon. My aspiring champion who appeared to be very small, is infact bigger then a witch elf and thats in a crouched pose. The marauders are the latests to be added to this list. The suprise is that they come on large bases. Now this may seem like nothing to lizardmen players, or for the handful of others that have this, but it seems strange to me. My last armies have all been on standard size bases, even the elites. But this sudden change doesnt put me off that much. Im just wondering if theres going to be enough space to fit my army on the table when its finished!
On a more serious note i still havent spent my remaining 600pts. The only way to spend it is by taking another unit and then a charecter of some sort. The problem is which unit? I have plenty of marauders in the force, and already have a units of knights. I did consider a unit of warriors, but with only twelve in the box it just wasnt cost effective. I have seemingly three options left. The first is to go the way of father nurgle by taking a unit of plaguebearers and a champion of nurgle on a daemonic steed. I've never been a fan of nurgle, but it seems to be my best option. The second option is to take a few chariots and some marauder horsemen. This would make my force a lot faster and give it a lot more hitting power early on. But it means a lot more money has to be put into the army as a whole. The third option however, might be the answer. Its going to be the trickiest to do, but all i need i a copy of the beasts of chaos book and a couple of boxes of beastmen. If only i knew the base value of a beastman i'd be alrite. Ah well.
January 30th - Doggies come to town
I got my first blister of warhounds today and another box of marauders, giving me my first full unit, with half of the second unit standing by.
Assessing my progress so far i havent done to badly at all. My daemonettes are the reward for painting the marauders, and the marauders should only take a few hours as i plan to use mainly drybrushing. Archaon is still in his box waiting to be built and painted when i get the knights. But i've been thinking...
The last 600pts have been wracking my brain for a good few weeks now. I tried everything, including several chariots, more warhounds, another marauder unit and so on and so forth. However, i now think i have the answer. The daemonette unit is being dropped to 15 strong to give me another hundred points.
Now i have 700pts to spend. This allows me to take two new units. The first is a giant, as suggested by Awix. This weighs in around the 250pts mark. Im quite happy with this, as it gives me a unit that literally does strike terror into my opponents, and will be especially good at neutralising the threat of Jims giant. So with 450pts to spare what am i going to buy? Well the new plastics dont come out till July, se it was inevitable that id give in and buy them. A unit of twenty chosen chaos warriors, armed with sheilds and halaberds. This would be my shock infantry, and would be used for holding the centre of my army whilst the marauders repel attackers. The temptation now is to use the daemonettes in a supporting role, ready for a counter strike around the third or fourth turn. This will (in theory) be totally devestating, as the enemy would have already have to fend off marauders, a giant, and probibly the Knights.
So i now have nearly 500pts of my force. Just have to get it all painted now.
Till next week.
6th Febuary - Emergancy planning session
My entire army plan is going down the drain fast.
Every week i get paid by the nice people at Pendleton college to go to there lovely building. This suits me fine. That is of course, till they screw up. I didnt receive payment this week due to a small admin error, and wont be able to buy anything for the army next week either as theres a training day which means i won't be going to manchester. Panic time i think.
Its not all doom and gloom though. The marauders are close to completion, and ive developed a relatively fast way to paint a batch of twenty. There looking great and will probibly will be finished tonight whilst watching lord of the rings8. The Daemonettes are coming along slowly but surely, and should in theory be painted some during the week depending on college commitments. Theres not much more to say then that really. My force is now around the 500pts mark. With only a few more weeks to go until the end of march, and with only a sixth of my army bought, im starting to get worried again.
Febuary 21st - Attack of the beer monster
I'm terrible at saving cash, so over these past few weeks building my chaos force i was quite pleased with my little self to have saved nearly a hundred pounds! Unfortunately two nights out happened, one very good and one not so good. This has reduced my savings to half. So This project is on temporary hold while i catch up on all my painting and get more stuff.
Feburary 26th - The power houses come to play
After a momentary panic i've revised my entire force. Its now a plump 2950 points. Heres a run down:
Crom the immortal:Chaos lord- As before, except now with the armour of damnation.
Kaiten:Standard bearer- No change
Whisper: Exalted Champion- Still has the chalice, no change.
E'luin: Exhalted Champion- A new addition. Mounted on a steed of Slaanesh and carrying a spear of might. Should make for should interesting flanking maneuvres9.
Smee:Exhalted sorcerer- Another new addition. My main caster, used for getting the army across the board sooner.
Snoog: sorcerer - the dispel caddy.
2 units of 20 marauders- Light armour, sheilds, hand weapons.
19 daemonettes: Whispers girls
20 chosen chaos warriors: Fairly new edition, equiped with halberds.
8 chosen chaos knights: My smaller shock unit, hopefully it'll still have as much punch.
Warhounds: considering i have the points to spare, i might include them.
Im fairly happy with this list. Its small, but its charecters are all immense power houses that can punch through small units on there own. The Slaanesh influence continues to grow on me due to the speed. I can, in theory, have both flanks covered by units that can move 20" a turn (unseen lurker the daemonettes).
The only problem is getting the army there intact. Most of the units have a 5+ save and where possible charecters have been maxed out on armour. However, once they get to the enemy its going to be messy. All of the units, apart from the marauders, have multiple attacks, with the chosen warriors dishing out a healthy 11 hits a turn. This will then even things out between me and my opponents, as they both have magic heavy armies, or armies that involve masses of archers.
The tactics are simple as can be. The daemonettes and aspiring champion on Steed of Slaanesh ride up each flank. The marauders cover each, with the knights (and possibly warhounds) taking centre. If i can find more room i may get a couple of daemonettes on steeds to support the aspiring champion, but i doubt ill have the resources. Anyway must dash, got some painting to finish.
Febuary 28th - Unleash Hell!
This morning i decided in true chaotic fashion to say stuff to waiting and use the army. (SOON TO BE REPLACED WITH A LINK TO THE ARMY LISTs USED).
The Aspiring champion on steed of Slaanesh charged a unit of dragon princes and held them up for several turns. The daemonettes then went in, wiping out gaz's Dragon princes. The daemonettes went on to kill some archers, but eventually got wiped out, along with the aspiring champion on steed of slaanesh. My new unit of beastmen faired well, wiping out a unit of archers and several white lions, earning there points back quite easily. The marauders acted as a bodyguard for my Exhalted sorcerer, who speeded up my units and negated a few powerful spells that could have spelled early disaster. The bigest disappointment were the maruaders however, causing no casualties what so ever.
Now for the final unit. My chaos lord, Conan the immortal, and his unit of eight chosen knights of chaos. God are they good! The tally up to now is: One giant, one unit of 20 orc boyz, one unit of 10 orc arraz, one doom diver catapult, one unit of 30 goblin archers, one orc big boss, one unit of 50(ish) goblins, and one repeater bolt thrower.
Okay these werent great units, but its still a lot of kills. My opponents are both rightly scared off this monsterous unit, that seemingly ploughs through everything with wanton ababbon.
The last thing left on the table was Conan. One wound off his steed and one wound off himself. Not too bad considering everything else got slaughtered. My chaos lord and his bodyguard are now easily the most powerful unit on the board10, beating the once invincible dwarf longbeards.
Next week i plan to try using less charecters, as my army had all of its slots filled (with a slight bit of rule bending on everyones part). Till next time.
March 5th - The Arch-angel arrives
Each week when i go to the workshop i usually investigate the various cabinates to see what new wonders and conversions are on display. Now for the past few weeks i've had my eyes enraptured by the shops converted daemon princes. Both made using the C'tan deceiver from 40k, combined with the wings from a great eagle (or other such winged monstrousity). A suitably impressive weapon is placed in the clenched fist a bobs your uncle - one daemon prince.
So i made my regular trip to manchester, planning to get another box of beastmen. However, i was joined by my friend Amy. Now in the past i've always trusted women when it comes to model selection. They have the uncanny, and darn right spooky abilty to pick a model that will slice straight through everything. My beastmen for instance, easily made there points back, as did my slaaneshi aspiring champion on steed. So with great reluctance i asked amy what she thought looked good. This led to the daemon prince..
Now the conversion itself isnt that tricky. Using the wings from Karl Franz' griffon, i pinned them both together. This then slides in roughly where the shoulder blades are on the deceiver, and very little work is need to make a firm join. The rest is simply filling in with green stuff.
The only real problem i faced is what weapon to give my daemon prince. Out of all the weapons i've got, the most suitable is a home made spear - using brass rod and an as yet undecided blade.
So having bought this new unit (and thanks to a Gaz my force is bolstered by 12 chaos warriors), i decided to redo my entire list based around him.
I amazed myself when i made this guy. A daemon prince is good enough on its own, but when combined with The blade of the ether and Aura of Slaanesh he makes a fearsome opponent. To add more punch to this guy, i made him a level four sorcerer, and gave him the mark of Slaanesh so that he'd always strike first. In a turn he could do a lot of damage, and thats before the opponent can even retalliate. Not to mention the fact that he can fly...
Thirty marauders and 20 beastmen form my main force, with 12 chosen slaaneshi warriors to back them up. I also took a unit of chosen knights, six strong, so that i'd have something to counter with. Fifteen daemonettes join up alonside the daemon prince, and a spawn is also coming so i can test there mettle.
My main plan is for the daemonettes and prince to smash straight through the main enemy force as the foot soldiers mop up the infantry. Depending on tomorrow will influence on what i get next. If the daemon prince is successful, then i'll increase the daemonettes too twenty strong. If not, perhaps some chaos hounds or some daemonettes on steeds. At the moment though ive got my hands plenty full.
March 6th - The first defeat
My army took to the feild quite happily. Gaz was quite chuffed with his attempt at an uber unit11, and jim took 120 goblin spearmen along with his regular three goblin shamens.
The battle in breif consisted of the following:
Marauders and chaos warriors: Did bugger all, berely killing 60 goblins. My three remaining chaos warriors held up an entire unit of goblins for several turns, but eventually broke (see daemon prince).
Chaos knights: Didn't do anything of note, although did distract most of gaz' shooting for the entire game as well as some magic iirc. Ran down an orc chariot too..
Daemonettes: A few spells was all it took, and these ladies were wiped off the board. Evil eyes turned to Teclis and a grinning Gaz at this point.
Beastmen: Using the ambush special rule resulted in these boys coming on exactly like miners. Now imagine me at this point. My daemonettes and my knights are being decimated by Teclarse (Teclis' name when hes being particularly annoying) and i have a unit that can come on anywhere. Cue a rear charge from my beastmen into his swordmaster unit (containing teclis and a commander) and with +2 to combat resolution, the unit broke and ran straight off the board.
Teclis and friends = 1100ish pts.... Beastherd = 160ish pts. Cue a very upset Gaz
They got suitably wiped out from missile fire, but who cares??
Daemon prince - Archangel Aurillius: Basically came close to winning me the game. I was allowed to have all the spells from the lore of Slaanesh so i could try them out, and boy are they good. Dragon princes, giants, goblins and other things were all reduced to spasms. This became more absurd when Teclis decided to limp wristedly attack his own men. To add to this, a spell also made the chaos warriors unbreakable.
Thats not even considering the rest of it. Terror combined with aura of slaanesh is a dangerous thing, and several units fled the feild down too Aurillius. He did however, suffer badly when Teclis opened up with magic, bringing him down to one wound early in the battle. The rest of the princes' game became a series of long range strikes and spells, killing two shamens and a warmachine besides others. His end came when he charged the remaining Dragon princes (only three strong). A series of bad dice rolls and aurillius only killed one. The rest is history.
I can safely say that the daemon prince has fired my imagination suitably. I have already started planning a nurgle daemon prince, using fell bat wings and the Nightreaper c'tan, altough as ever money will be a problem. Plus i'll need a unit of daemons to accompiny him. We'll see what happens in the near future.
Till next time.
Time to bring the tale to a close...
Next week ill be facing off against the combined might of Jims 2000pts goblins, and Gaz' 2000pts high elves - using a 3000pts Chaos force. What better time to bring these articles to a close?
I've had great fun building my chaos army, and it can now easily make 4000pts. Of course, the army is still in various stages of completion. The daemon prince has been painted to perfection, and his accompying daemonettes have well... been started put it that way. The marauders arent finished either. Actually when i think about it- nothing in my Chaos army is totally finished. Its a shame really, because the whole point of all this was to create an army from scratch that was fully painted. Hopefully i will have everything done for next week, using drybrushing, drybrushing, and possibly some dry brushing.
This is by no means the end of my chaos however. Before next week i should hopefully have the beginnings of a nurgle contingent (as well as the daemon prince ive been itching to get my hands on..). Then again theres other things that are craving my attention. The spawn of slaanesh in the recent conversion corner has grabbed my attention, and the steeds of Slaanesh also look tempting. We'll have to wait and see what the pixie brings12.
I'd like to take this moment to commend both Jim and Gaz. Jim is constantly challenging in the game, and will often put me to shame in a battle. Gaz... well Gaz tries, and will when focused play a game that i find impossible to keep track of13, although he can and does let himself get unfocused and he then becomes easy pray. Although im confident that in a few years time Gaz will be an amazing challenge to me and many other players.
And on that note i think i wil depart for now. The next entery will contain the full army list (which isnt going up now due to Jim having the net and knowing about this page...) and a link to all the pictures i can take of the army. Until then.
March 27th - Pestilance and Power
The money pixie never came, however, i was still able to buy a unit of men at arms to use as chosen of nurgle.
For the game, Jim took his mighty Khemri and Gaz took his Elves. Both the armies were fairly focus on certain things. Gaz choose to focus on magic, with an archmage and two mages marching alongside white lions and swordmasters. Jim took Boney the Bone Giant, Queen Khalidra, and a unit of carrion.
So, heres a breif overveiw of my army and how it did:
Chaos Lord and Chosen Knights: Smashed through The entire right flank that Jim was protecting. Smashed straight through a unit of horsemen, before being charged by Boney who didnt really do anything. Boney was then killed and then Jims unit of Ushbati followed soon after. An impressive kill ratio, although only just got there points worth back.
Choosen of Nurgle and Chaos Warriors: Didnt do anything really. They basically baby sat the two sorcerers and looked menacing. The choosen of Nugle killed only seven archers, but by that point the game was a fore-gone conclusion. Good units, but a great counter threat.
Marauders: Did absolutely nothing, which im quite glad about. They acted mainly as a skirmish screen for the Choosen of Nurgle, before fleeing at the first sign of trouble. However, by doing this they forced the unit of swordmasters out of there position and they were quickly destroyed.
Sorcerer's of Nurgle: Both got pestilance and they saved several units from getting anhilated. A unit of skeleton warriors, the swordmaster, and most importantly, Jims heirophant, were all the victim of Nurgles pestilance much to my delight. I'm quite looking forward to my Nurgle contingent now...
Beastmen: The beastmen for the second time in a row have saved me a game. Jims unit of Carrion were in a perfect position to flank my knights, and would probibly have cost me the right flank. The beastmen however, charged using the ambush rule. They later ran off, but im not too fused as there cheap enough to throw into suicide attacks.
Daemon Prince and Daemonettes: They are clearly far to susceptable to missile and magic fire for my liking, and the daemonettes vanished after there first charge against a unit of skeletons. The daemon prince nearly got battered too, but luckily held them off long enough for a combination of pestilance and heirophant death to kick in.
It was a pretty good game. Being out numbered by nearly a thousand points, im quite chuffed i still had around thousand points left over. However, due to a number of factors my army is now on hold. I want to get everything painted (I can here Jim laughing at this) before i start my Nurgle contingent properly. However, i am getting another Daemon (which im currently bidding on ebay for) and im getting the Liber Chaotica Nurgle and Tzeentch next Friday.
Well i've been considering closing this article for a long time, but im slowly reconsidering. I've enjoyed writting about my armys exploits and adventures. I'm sure Lord Crom will have many adventures to come, and it wouldnt be fitting ot to cronicle them somewhere.
But that is a tale for another time...
The Lord Of The End Of Times
For the past two games i decided to try this little dervish of destruction mainly because i havent before and i wanted to test his stuff.
The first game saw him take on a lance formation, and some other stuff. He basically won me the game because there was nothing that could stop him.
The second game saw my 3000pts force take on 4000pts of combined lizardmen and high elves. With a manic grin on my face i watched as my arm legged it across the feild. Archaon and his boys marching straight towards 40 elven archers, a dragon, and a slann mage preist. Suffice to say the carnage was swift. One archaon has battered some nearby skinks, a unit of saurs, and the dragon pretty much single handed, my opponents conceided.
I can finally see why he is the Lord Of The End Of Times. The fact that he has to have a unit of knights with him just makes him more and more appealing to me.
It also poses a question that ive been mulling over for awhile now:
How do you kill the lord of the end of times?
My dwarf lord, Fundin, would be extremely hard pressed to do the deed. He'd only do it if he managed to wound with all his attacks and kill him on the first strike, which would stop archaon slapping back. Even an elf prince couldnt do it. Maybe if he could kill the horse at long range and force archaon onto foot then he'd have a chance (good old killing blow). Even a cannon wouldnt both Archaon to much.
I'll think on it.
The Spartans are coming! - 9 May 2004
I recently ordered some Spartan Hoplites from a model company other then games workshop. These are the fairly standard hoplites, very sterotypical looking with the high corinthian helmets and long pikes, as well as the large round sheilds.
Now ive always been a great fan of Sparta. Everything to do with Sparta infact. The whole beleif systen has me hooked (and is now leading towards several guide enteries).
Now the closest thing to a Spartan in warhammer is quite simply the mercenary pikeman. Okay they have no resemblance stat wise (pikemen are poor compared to what a spartan should be), but there as good as i can get. However, luckily Jim has allowed me some varience on the stats for my hoplites and this has got me thinking. With forty Spartans to play around with, i have a fairly decent sized Spartan force. Not only that but my empire have been sat around for nearly three months now with no one to play with. I think its about time they all came out of retirement.
The question is could i switch straight from my beloved chaos back to the hated enemy and win? Pike warfare is completely different to a normal game. I tried using a block of forty last week (with upgraded stats) and they cam in at nearly 600 pts. They got battered and became a magnet for ever enemy unit due to the sheer size. However, two small units of twenty would be quite formidable.
So next week, i plan to feild all forty spartans in two blocks, with a block of twenty swordsmen inbetween. Whack on a mage or two, along with a trusty mortar and a unit of knights, and im laughing. Then again, this army plays much like my chaos in that i only have one shooty unit...
Blowing off the cobwebs - June 16th 2004
Okay so with my 18th birthday and seriously wadded with cash i decided to go a little nuts and spend a couple of pennies. Now i could have continued with my mercenaries, or even with my brand new wood elf project. However, i was tempted to venture back to chaos.
With the new mini's looking gorgeous, i simply couldnt resist. So with that in mind i needed a new theme. Cue Iron Kingdoms Warmachine range of minitures. Spotting the helljack for Cryx, i got onto my minions of cheapness and ordered a box set of warriors and a helljack. However, i also went out and bought another box of warriors to bulk the force out.
So whats all this for? well my chaos are taking a lovely new direction. Masses of warriors marching side by side as hulking mechanical monstrousities walk between then. Non of this charge towards the enemy asap. Just a slow steady unstoppable march.
I shall return.
July 2nd - Getting the brush wet
Over the course of the past few nights, i have painted up a unit of 24 chaos warriors. Whilst this has left me exhausted (mainly because i painted them between midnight and 4am for three nights) they do look spectacular, with only the standard and musician arms to be stuck on.
In addition, i have also got cracking on my slaaneshi lord on steed. Whilst not as fabulous as i had first envisioned, he does look fairly funky. Just got to do the steed.
I have converted the only chaos knight i own by giving him a plastic axe and plastic sheild. He now looks like he is sheilding his horse from arrows and holding his axe at his side.
My army now has a standard bearer in the form of warwitch Dengraha from the Cryx range of warmahine minitures. Whilst small compared to the warriors (she would be more suited to the lord of the rings) she does look fabulous, and after changing her spear to an icon, im confident that she wont look to out of place. Alongside her, again from warmachine, have come two Slayer helljacks. These were bought after inspiration in the form of the hellcannon, and a very old painting of the warmachines of chaos. These two behemoths (there wide, but not too tall) will act as my giants.
My force is now a hefty 3440 points, with things left over to play with should i want to change certain things. Im quite happy overall.
Tonights fun will be painting 30 marauders, followed by a light course of finishing my daemonette rider, and some basing of chaos.
July 15th - Whats lies ahead
Well having finished all my chaos warriors, and with marauders dangerously close to being finished, my hand has once again strayed to my wallet and in doing so, i now have one complete khorne lord of steed.
Now dont get me wrong this isnt the start of some fantastically brutal foray into the world of Khorne. I have instead spent that past few nights hacking and filing in order to remove all the Khorne symbols and create a lord of undivided. So now i have a mounted lord of undivided that isnt archaon based!
In related news, i have deceided my force isnt chaotic14, so ive spent several days build up spawn models. These looks mightily good (if somewhat bizarre) and have been the bane of a few units upto now.
As for me, well i have a new lord to finish. By for now
March 21st 2005 - 9 months on
Well the Khorne lord got painted, but his steed has sat around looking cool instead of getting painted with his master.
A lots changed with my force since I began this little adventure for storm of chaos. First up, the daemon prince I bought got re-painted and had a warrior head put on it. The old one looked a bit too camp, so the new one is a lord of undivided.
Army wise the force has grown. With the four remaining warriors, and a new box set, I began building a second regiment of warriors except this time with halberds. These have so far appeared in every game Ive played to date and there absolutely amazing on the table.
When I realised I didn't have enough daemons in my force, and having sold most of my slaaneshi stuff to jim, I decided it was best to head for nurgle and come back to Khorne. Within a month I had the full compliment of plague bearers I could take and a nurgle lord on steed fully painted. Add to this the purchase I most wanted to make - a C'tan night bringer. This will soon be converted ready to lead my flocks.
My chaos knights went quiet to say the least. I didnt want to paint them in all honesty. So they waited and waited. Then I had a cunning plan. I got hold of some Bretonnian steeds left over from my little foray into chivalry, and added a few horns. The chaos warriors just about fit on and my do they look imposing. Theres enough room on the steeds to add all manner of gubbinz but I dont know what yet. Oh and to make them more evil, I added plastic empire lances...
The marauders have done what they've always done - sat in a box and got trashed. One day I'll consider coming back to them. Not at the moment.
I also began to add new elements to my force. Well actually what I constitute as an entirely new force. Cue the arrival of 100 beastmen to my humble abode. This was in part to beat the price rise, but has turned into so much more. Its because of the beastmen that I painted up the chaos spawn I made 9 months ago, and also got hold of some ogre ironguts which look ace once I hacked them up good.
I'll try and keep you updated about my beasts.
1In e-reading this article i have notice this slight mistake. With the big game happening at the end of march, i have only three months (two at the time of writting) to finish this army.2Jim is the host for our little club. He has played various games throughout his life and has now settled on warhammer. He is a skill general and one who rarely conceedes a fight, plays for the fun of it rather then for the victory, and is more concerned in how the battle effected world events (Rare traits in players this new age of kiddie-hammer). His giggles of late have come in the form of grabbing his goblins by there movement tray and attempting to throw them into the air, as well as cackling every time he sees the page on giants in the orc rule book. He is quickly becoming a good painter dispite needing glasses.
Makes a very nice cup of tea.3Known as puppy, he is an ex-khorne player in 40k. Unfortunately for this inexperienced young pup, he hasn't yet figured out a different way of gaming. The slight differences such as having to turn units around often get the better of him, usually resulting in him getting angry and then making a silly mistake, at which point he quits readily. To give him credit though he does have some good ideas. Like, after his first elf victory, he came up with the brilliant unbeatable high elf army. Unfortunately this army clocked in at around the 3000pts mark without charecters.4Unfortunately for him he doesnt use much of the other list, usually the lords section and the white lions section are the first utilises.5I had considered taking an exhalted deamon, but at nearly double the cost without upgrades, he can stay at home for now6For anyone unfamiliar with this term, it simply means taking as many dispel scrolls as possible for that model7Uusally his sheild drops off first. Then, as i attempt to glue it back on, the horses head falls, eventually followed by the rest as i desperately try to grab the falling peices!8I've found that the best time for painting is between 11pm friday night, and 4am saturday morning. This five hour painting session has resulted in a brilliantly painted unit, a well user video player, and the next day a very tired gamer. Only try it if you really have to get the unit painted.9Combined with unseen lurker, this little beauty can travel 28" a turn...10although jim's crack unit of goblin archers have been known to do considerable damage.11Since my Dwarf longbeards took to the feild and regularly splattered everything, only Jim hasnt attempted to make such a unit. All of Gaz' attempts have failed12Gaz is trying to sell a lot of my old 40k models. This could bring me anything between no extra pennies - to a maximum of 100 extra pennies...13Through sheer gut instinct i have managed to scrape victories14So far its a proper army - ranks of warriors and marauders, with no majorly different things
Makes a very nice cup of tea.3Known as puppy, he is an ex-khorne player in 40k. Unfortunately for this inexperienced young pup, he hasn't yet figured out a different way of gaming. The slight differences such as having to turn units around often get the better of him, usually resulting in him getting angry and then making a silly mistake, at which point he quits readily. To give him credit though he does have some good ideas. Like, after his first elf victory, he came up with the brilliant unbeatable high elf army. Unfortunately this army clocked in at around the 3000pts mark without charecters.4Unfortunately for him he doesnt use much of the other list, usually the lords section and the white lions section are the first utilises.5I had considered taking an exhalted deamon, but at nearly double the cost without upgrades, he can stay at home for now6For anyone unfamiliar with this term, it simply means taking as many dispel scrolls as possible for that model7Uusally his sheild drops off first. Then, as i attempt to glue it back on, the horses head falls, eventually followed by the rest as i desperately try to grab the falling peices!8I've found that the best time for painting is between 11pm friday night, and 4am saturday morning. This five hour painting session has resulted in a brilliantly painted unit, a well user video player, and the next day a very tired gamer. Only try it if you really have to get the unit painted.9Combined with unseen lurker, this little beauty can travel 28" a turn...10although jim's crack unit of goblin archers have been known to do considerable damage.11Since my Dwarf longbeards took to the feild and regularly splattered everything, only Jim hasnt attempted to make such a unit. All of Gaz' attempts have failed12Gaz is trying to sell a lot of my old 40k models. This could bring me anything between no extra pennies - to a maximum of 100 extra pennies...13Through sheer gut instinct i have managed to scrape victories14So far its a proper army - ranks of warriors and marauders, with no majorly different things
