Warriors of Chaos: New Book, First Thoughts

     Picked up the new Warriors of Chaos army book for WHFB. Here are my initial thoughts since this has been my main army since the start of 8th edition.

     The Marks of Chaos have all been redone. A hero/lord must have the same mark as the unit it joins. This ends the era of min/maxing marks for the most part, but I welcome the change.

Slaneesh - Auto-pass any Fear, Terror, or Panic test.
Tzeentch - Gain a 6+ ward save or improve the existing one by +1.
Khorne - Model has frenzy.
Nurgle - Enemy models have -1 to hit you in close combat.

     Right away, Nurgle seems to be the most interesting mark and good synergy with Chaos Warriors since hitting them on 5s, having 3+ armor, 6+ parry, then possibly Regeneration from the Nurgle lore seems nasty. The Nurgle lore can also further lower enemy toughness and WS, so I am seeing connections there.

     As much as it pains me to admit, Tzeentch magic is terrible now. If you hit a unit with magic with Warpflame property (all of the spells), and the enemy unit passes a toughness test, they can gain Regeneration (6+) or improve their existing regen by +1. If they fail, D3 enemy models take hits with no armor save.

      There aren't any indications that Warpflame is a flaming attack beyond fluff and the spell names. Thus, I expect your enemy to be recieving lost of regens, especially against armies like Ogres. Luckily, Tzeentch sorcerers can take Lore of Metal instead. Tzeentch approves of turning your enemies to gold, yes?

      A single great weapon Khorne Marauder now costs 11 points. Gone are the days of 50 lumberjacks chopping down the enemy. This was an expected change. I am now looking at possibly running small squads, maybe 20 man with flails, to back up a Chaos Warrior block.

      All of the monsters are really playable except the Slaughterbrute, which is ho-hum in its rules. Hellcannons surprisgingly got better. They now have a 5+ ward save and all of their attacks are magical (shooting, close combat, and stomps). Trolls lost their magical vomit, so I will no longer chunder rainbow puke on ethereal models. Throgg is beautiful in both his model and rules, but not his price ($58). He is worth it, though.

     More to come, but this is just a snapshot from my first night of reading. Overall, the army is very different, but more balanced and flavorful. There are a variety of options to choose from.