Hi, and sorry for not getting back to you all sooner.
Thanks Lord Borak and Noma for your input, it's actually been a huge help.
No worries dude. It gives us something to do
I sympathise Lord Borak, I remember just throwing my Ravening Hordes book away together with my terror of the Lichmaster and bloodbath at Orcs drift boxes! Do you remember the citadel compendiums when they had the Kaleb Dark comic strip in them?
Yeah I do. They actually released a model for Kaleb back in 2002........ Jesus Christ that was a Decade ago!! He was a Games Day miniature and was pretty cool. No way near as cool as it should have been but it was still alright. Not many people knew who he was but a few of us did....... Ravening Hordes? Was that that little pamphlet they released when everything changed? I think I have that as a PDF file somewhere. I do miss all the old magazines like Thrud, the old Blood Bowl Comics and the Inferno Mags. Especially Lord Boraks own 'agony aunt' section! Hehe
Well, after a couple of cheeky ebay bids and some perseverence I've ended up with the following models, curtesy of a guy who's getting rid of everything he has and wanted a quick job lot sale!
Archeon, A daemon prince, Wulfrik, Sorcorer of chaos, Exalted champion of Khorne, A blood thirster, Hell Cannon, Warshrine and a Limited edition rulebook.
Total troops are as follows:
2 Lords on Juggernaut (I just love these models)
2 lords on Demonic Steed
24 Chaos Knights
24 Chaos Warriors
15 marauder Horsemen
51 Chaos Marauders
10 Chaos warhounds
3 Chaos Trolls
That's an impressive Horde you have there. 24 Warriors is a good start but I'd grab another box so you can make 2 units of 18. The Knights, bloody hell did that guy have a fetish?, you probably wont use them all. 2 units of 6 with Khorne are good flankers or you can go mental and do a big unit of 12 with MoT and loads of protective magic items on attached heroes. I'd also see if you can pick up some more Trolls. 3 isn't really going to do much to scare the enemy but 6 (or more) really start to make an impact.
Are these guys built? If so, what are their weapons?
Now, the two guys who I'm probably going to play have the following:
Guy 1 : Orc and Goblin Army - but will be working on a High elf army also - ( I really do dislike those pointy eared do gooders!)
Guy 2 : Dwarf army but will also be working on Lizard man. Funnily enough decided when I told him i'd be fielding chaos, chaos and more chaos!
I'm going to try to break the army down into 1000, 1500, and 3000 point sets, so I can hopefully just add models to the basic 1000pt setup.
based on what I've got, your thoughts would be really apprreciated, I'm looking at a job lot of marauders, which if I won, would bring the total up to a nice round 100 chaos marauders - but if I don't need them I won't bid. From what you have both said, I think I have enough cavalry to be getting on with, and this lot will take till christmas to paint anyway!
Ok, here's a wee breakdown:
Characters:
For 1000pts and other low level point games I'd probably grab a Hero level sorcerer as your only Character. It's hard not to be distracted by all the downright awesome heroes we have but in all honesty we don;t need them. Our warriors and Marauders are more than capable of looking after themselves. As for the Mark, well that's up to you but, Tzeentch is good for the +1 to cast and combined with the 3rd eye of Tzeentch he can steal the enemies spells if he gets duff ones. As for his Magical equipment, the Infernal Puppet or the Blood of Tzeentch are good for keeping your guy alive. The puppet is good for making the enemy explode and the Blood is good for making your own magic more potent. It's personal preference.
The next character that should be on your list is a Battle Standard Bearer. Give this guy some upgrades to keep him alive and that's usually a 4+ Ward magic item from the rule book. Combine that with Tzeentch and it goes to a 3+ Ward. Give the guy a Halberd and you're good to go. I'd probably only look at this fella at 1500pts+. 2 characters in any smaller is just too much of a squeeze.
At 2k or bigger then Grab a Sorcerer Lord and a BSB. That's all you 'really' to do well. You can splash out on more characters if you want but otherwise this will keep you well. Another support sorcerer to carry an Arcane item around is always a good idea when you have points spare.
CORE:
Warriors: Ok, Weapons. There's 2 types of weapons you should ignore. That's additional Hand weapons and Great Weapons Additional hand weapons are generally inferior weapons compared to Halberds. Statistically speaking halberds will always kill more. Avoid Great weapons like the Plague. Our best stat is our Initiative 5 as that lets us fight first in most cases. Taking Great weapons removes our greatest Strength.
Ok, Marks. Sword and Shield warriors should be Tzeentch as it boosts their Parry up to a 5+ Ward. Halberd Warriors should be Khorne because if you want to kill something ask a Khorne Warrior to do it. Nurgle and Slaanesh are a bit lack lustre. They're 'ok' and if you want to do a themed army then go for it but Tzeentch and Khorne are where it's at.
Marauders:
Give 'em Great weapons. Mark them Tzeentch if you rank them deep. Give them Khorne if you rank them as a horde. 50 is a good number. I wouldn't go bigger but if you want 2 units of 50 then by all means do.
Horsemen:
For hunting enemy War machines and so forth all you really need is flails and the Slaanesh to stop them panicking. Musicians are good to rally but everything else is a waste of points really.
Dogs:
Good to place down before your main units as it lets you see where he sets up. This will let you deploy your Warriors/Marauders to counter his units and make them more effective. Then just use them to block charges and, if they can, hunt war machines.
SPECIAL:
Knights:
Right there's 2 ways to do Kngihts. First one is to keep the untis small (5 or 6) and give them the Mark of Khorne. This gives you a fast, hard hitting unit for flank work. They can look after themselves well enough. The other way is to go 'Death Star'. Take 10+, give thhem Tzeentch, the Blasted Std to keep them safe from shooting and add in a character with a Magic resistance item and you're good to go.
Trolls:
I'd say 6 is a minimum in anything bigger than 1000pts. Otherwise they're just too few to make a great deal of an impact. Keep them near the General and the BSB and away from Fire and they'll do you proud.