The Setup of the Warriors of Chaos
As a long time Hordes of Chaos-player, I both feared and anticipated what the "new" 7th edition WoC armybook would bring about. I was dismayed (altough not really surprised) to see the old Hordes of Chaos concept scrapped and replaced with non-integrated armybooks in the case of WoC,DoC and presumably upcoming BoC. Alas, it was not the end of the world (even with Archaon around) and I set out to tweak some lists for my old chaos mortal armycore and left my old trusty daemons and beasts for future armyprojects.
The Armylist
Due to GW's laziness in armybook design, the powerbuilds in unrestricted Fantasy battles can be a bit crazy which may lead to terribly one-sided games. Luckily one can sort of "fix" these issues by implementing some additional composition rules to even the odds for every armybook. I've played a lot with the ETC-composition rules as my gaming friends are part of the Finnish FB ETC player circle and it's fun to spar with them with that particular tournament framework in mind.
The 2k9 comps (bound to change for future ofc) for those interested: http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=58933
Due to the above, I usually try to make somewhat competetive armylists altough I certainly support downgrading the cheese-level now and then for some crazier games.
This is probably my most used armybuild for a magic heavy WoC-list, altough there's certainly some leeway in unit selection and character equipment even with this concept in mind.
Gateway to Warp mk.1
WoC-2250
Characters:
Sorcerer Lord of Tzeentch,General,Lvl4,Disc
Golden Eye of Tzeentch,Spell Familiar,Sword of Might,Enchanted Shield,Dispel Scroll,Conjoined Homonuculus,Bloodcurling Roar
450
Probably the most useful concept in the new WoC is the Tzeentch spell Infernal Gateway which gives the warriors an edge vs. some big nasty targets such as dragons, steam tanks, giants and such which often were quiten annoying against the old Hordes of Chaos. The spell familiar gives the wizard only an 1/6 change on missing the gateway and the other additional gear is there for protection and for harassing enemy support units (or knights in the case of roar). This guy is also pretty decent points denial unit with good mobility and good durability.
Sorcerer of Nurgle,lvl1
Chaos Steed,Infernal Puppet
156
Sorcerer of Nurgle,lvl2
Chaos Steed,Dispel Scroll,Book of Secrets
206
The best magic item in the WoC-book is infernal puppet which both makes your mages more safe vs miscasts and makes the enemy miscasts quite dangerous especially if you consider getting free gateway off with 5-6 on the mc-table let alone killing enemy wizard lord. Nurgle is very good support lore due to the good first spell and the chaos wizards aren't pushovers in combat either especially with the added armorsave from steeds so these guys both help the big guy with magic and support the marauders/knights with some extra attacks if need be.
Exalted Champion of Tzeentch - BSB
Disc,Shield,Flail,Crown of Everlasting Conquest,Stream of Corruption
244
This guy is my mobile melee-helper who I can alsot throw against warmachines and such if need be. The flail also helps vs chariots.
Troops:
2x5 Marauder Horsemen of Slaneesh
Flails,Light Armor,Musician,Throwing Axes
2x106=212
These are nice fast multi-purpose guys who are quite reliable with the MoS. As with all fast cav they are terribly vulnerable to ranged fire, though.
2x5 Warhounds
2x30=60
Cheap table-quarter holders and good for redirecting and helping out with the Khorne guys.
23 Marauders of Slaneesh
Light Armor,Shields,Full Command
168
This is a good unit to anchor my battleline with and also works nicely as a mage-bunker with the MoS.
Special:
6 Knights of Slaneesh
Standard-Warbanner,Musician
305
The Knights are the workhorses of the army so to speak. They are my main combat units and oftentimes work as a counter-charge threat. 1+ save and t4 will weather most ranged attacks apart from war machines and jezzails.
5 Knights of Khorne
Musician
240
Rare:
Hellcannon
205
It pays to have some additional ranged threat vs those big nasties, especially in those unfortunate times when you happen to miss the gateway. Hellcannon is also a beast in melee and can tie up many units stuff (apart from dragons and greater daemons) if they get closeby
=2246
Tactics Galore
The headlong charge was often the case with old HoC, but with the above list it often pays off to be more conservative. I usually try to put the magic barrage on from turn 1 but otherwise take it easy. Especially committing the knights to wrong places can be fatal. The what&when with the fast elements are very match-up dependent. One can use the flying dudes and support cav to try to take out opposing support elements but especially vs the elves of all kind the marauder horsemen are awfully vulnerable.
To summarize:
Hang back, blast with magic, try to take out opposing support stuff and keep your own fast stuff out of trouble if possible. :P
Gallery of the Infamous
Couple of shots of the whole army:
Some close-ups:
You can check my dakka-gallery for some additional pictures of individual models:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/core/gallery-search.jsp?u=419