Tapping that Chaos Sweet Spot, Part II
The Angry Red Tide
A 7th Edition Chaos Assault Army & Tactics
The Second Act.
Greetings again, last week I discussed what I thought was the Sweet Spot for my new Chaos tournament army. You can read about it here: Aiming for that Chaos Sweet Spot, Part I.
As promised, this week I am presenting my tournament list to illustrate all the sweet spots that I like to touch upon. And without further ado, I present to thee:
The Angry Red Tide
PRIMARY CAD: Crimson Slaughter Chaos Space Marines
HQ
CHAOS LORD of KHORNE
Mark of Khorne, Juggernaut of Khorne, Sigil of Corruption, Melta bombs, Power Fist, Lightning Claw, Daemonheart
CHAOS LORD of KHORNE
Mark of Khorne, Juggernaut of Khorne, Sigil of Corruption, Melta bombs, Power Fist, Lightning Claw
TROOPS
Chaos Cultists x10
Chaos Cultists x10
FAST ATTACK
Chaos Spawn x5
Chaos Spawn x5
HEAVY SUPPORT
Maulerfiend w/ Lasher tendrils
Maulerfiend
Maulerfiend
ALLIED CAD: Chaos Daemons
HQ
SKARBRAND
TROOPS
Plague Bearers x10 - Instrument of Chaos
Bloodletters x10 - Icon of Chaos
FAST ATTACK
Flesh Hounds of Khorne x15
Total Points = 1850
Tactica Overview
This list, if anything, is all in for the assault phase: it's hard, it's fast, it steals candy from babies and hits like a wrecking ball to the face.
It's the bomb stoopid.
OK, so this list isn't so single minded, you see there is a Skarbrand bomb in there to act as a force multiplier. The bomb hits when your tide charges into the enemy chumps on turn 2. That is the secret to the list's hopeful chances in a competitive environment.
For those of you not in the know, and I will forgive you if not because Skarbrand is often the red-headed stepchild of Chaos, Skarbrand has a special rule called Rage Embodied. What this rule does is give Skarbrand a 12" bubble of pure, unadulterated ANGER. Any unit, friend or foe, within that 12" bubble gains the universal special rules of Rage and Hatred. Imagine landing that force multiplier into the middle of your assaulting front lines and you will start to see the obvious rewards; an extra attack per charging model and you are re-rolling misses to hit.
To give myself a little bit of insurance I have my Plague Bearer unit sitting in deep strike reserve with an Instrument of Chaos. This will double my chances of getting Skarbrand in turn 2. Perfect! Then to make sure I can put Skarbrand exactly where I want him I have a unit of Bloodletters, with an Icon of Chaos, following just behind my charging front lines. With all that other scary junk charging the enemy I'm thinking that the Bloodletters will avoid being targeted, thus being able to deliver Skarbrand exactly where I want him to be.
When he does comes in, try to place Skarbrand in a spot to benifit as many of your units as possible without giving the enemy the same benefit. Remember you can still Run after deep striking - just in case you need to move a little more.
So there is a bomb but what else? Kill, Murder, Maim.
Pair your Chaos Lords with the Spawn units and hurl them towards the enemy. The Lord with the Daemonheart should seek out the toughest to kill units. The Lords must watch out for S 10 and Force Weapons and be sure to drop wounds on the spawn escorts because they have 15 to spare.
Khorne dawgs are useful for distraction and running down infantry. On the charge they can bring down vehicles with their Furious Charge and can operate outside of the Skarbrand bubble just fine. Use them to flank so to help your other assaulting units or get back behind the enemy lines and wreck havoc. Because you have so many other assaulting things in your army the Hounds will have the luxury of being the utility unit that they always wanted to be.
The Maulerfiends are your anti-vehicle weapons. Use the magma cutter Fiends to slice up anything from Rhinos to Land Raiders and everything in between. Don't forget to use your Daemonforge ability because it is easy to forget just like your It Will Not Die roll at the end of your turn. If facing Knights gang up on them with your Maulerfiends and tear them apart. Don't fear Monstrous Creatures either, they can only Smash you once this edition. If no good targets present themselves for the Fiends then think about running one up each side of the board to flank.
The single Lasher Tendril Maulerfiend is best used when helping other units assault as the tendrils will cut down the attacks against you. Don't assault the Lasher Maulerfiend by himself, he usually needs help because of his paltry few attacks and WS 3.
And lets not forget Skarbrand! He can't move fast so try and move him towards the biggest and baddest unit in range and DESTROY them. It's Skarbrand after all - things die easily to him. The only thing Skarbrand fears is lots of shooting. Doh! Try not to make him a target, that is his weakness along with his slow movement.
Lastly are the troops. The Bloodletters can be used to mop up behind the main assault. All other troops are pretty much for objective taking once the tide has washed over the board.
Weakness of The Angry Red Tide
This list will live and die on match ups. Either the opposing army will fold up and perish or they will have an army that can out maneuver you or spit out so much torrent of fire that it destroys your big push. Going first helps and going second sucks, it gives them more time to shoot you off the table.
If you fail to get the Skarbrand bomb in on turn 2 then that is not according to plan. This will happen on average about once every five games. Suck it up and rethink your plan for when he arrives next turn (hopefully).
Flyers are another weakness, you have no way to deal with them. This is a consequence of going all out on the assault phase. Hopefully you can ignore them, which you can up to a point. Extreme flyer armies like the Necron air force will spell almost certain doom for The Angry Red Tide.
Have Fun.
Win or lose I believe that I'll always enjoy playing this list. It is the kind of list I've always wanted to play and 7th Edition is the time for it to step forward. Sweet spot found.
Chaos Cultists x10
FAST ATTACK
Chaos Spawn x5
Chaos Spawn x5
HEAVY SUPPORT
Maulerfiend w/ Lasher tendrils
Maulerfiend
Maulerfiend
ALLIED CAD: Chaos Daemons
HQ
SKARBRAND
TROOPS
Plague Bearers x10 - Instrument of Chaos
Bloodletters x10 - Icon of Chaos
FAST ATTACK
Flesh Hounds of Khorne x15
Total Points = 1850
Tactica Overview
This list, if anything, is all in for the assault phase: it's hard, it's fast, it steals candy from babies and hits like a wrecking ball to the face.
It's the bomb stoopid.
OK, so this list isn't so single minded, you see there is a Skarbrand bomb in there to act as a force multiplier. The bomb hits when your tide charges into the enemy chumps on turn 2. That is the secret to the list's hopeful chances in a competitive environment.
For those of you not in the know, and I will forgive you if not because Skarbrand is often the red-headed stepchild of Chaos, Skarbrand has a special rule called Rage Embodied. What this rule does is give Skarbrand a 12" bubble of pure, unadulterated ANGER. Any unit, friend or foe, within that 12" bubble gains the universal special rules of Rage and Hatred. Imagine landing that force multiplier into the middle of your assaulting front lines and you will start to see the obvious rewards; an extra attack per charging model and you are re-rolling misses to hit.
To give myself a little bit of insurance I have my Plague Bearer unit sitting in deep strike reserve with an Instrument of Chaos. This will double my chances of getting Skarbrand in turn 2. Perfect! Then to make sure I can put Skarbrand exactly where I want him I have a unit of Bloodletters, with an Icon of Chaos, following just behind my charging front lines. With all that other scary junk charging the enemy I'm thinking that the Bloodletters will avoid being targeted, thus being able to deliver Skarbrand exactly where I want him to be.
When he does comes in, try to place Skarbrand in a spot to benifit as many of your units as possible without giving the enemy the same benefit. Remember you can still Run after deep striking - just in case you need to move a little more.
So there is a bomb but what else? Kill, Murder, Maim.
Pair your Chaos Lords with the Spawn units and hurl them towards the enemy. The Lord with the Daemonheart should seek out the toughest to kill units. The Lords must watch out for S 10 and Force Weapons and be sure to drop wounds on the spawn escorts because they have 15 to spare.
Khorne dawgs are useful for distraction and running down infantry. On the charge they can bring down vehicles with their Furious Charge and can operate outside of the Skarbrand bubble just fine. Use them to flank so to help your other assaulting units or get back behind the enemy lines and wreck havoc. Because you have so many other assaulting things in your army the Hounds will have the luxury of being the utility unit that they always wanted to be.
The Maulerfiends are your anti-vehicle weapons. Use the magma cutter Fiends to slice up anything from Rhinos to Land Raiders and everything in between. Don't forget to use your Daemonforge ability because it is easy to forget just like your It Will Not Die roll at the end of your turn. If facing Knights gang up on them with your Maulerfiends and tear them apart. Don't fear Monstrous Creatures either, they can only Smash you once this edition. If no good targets present themselves for the Fiends then think about running one up each side of the board to flank.
The single Lasher Tendril Maulerfiend is best used when helping other units assault as the tendrils will cut down the attacks against you. Don't assault the Lasher Maulerfiend by himself, he usually needs help because of his paltry few attacks and WS 3.
And lets not forget Skarbrand! He can't move fast so try and move him towards the biggest and baddest unit in range and DESTROY them. It's Skarbrand after all - things die easily to him. The only thing Skarbrand fears is lots of shooting. Doh! Try not to make him a target, that is his weakness along with his slow movement.
Lastly are the troops. The Bloodletters can be used to mop up behind the main assault. All other troops are pretty much for objective taking once the tide has washed over the board.
Weakness of The Angry Red Tide
This list will live and die on match ups. Either the opposing army will fold up and perish or they will have an army that can out maneuver you or spit out so much torrent of fire that it destroys your big push. Going first helps and going second sucks, it gives them more time to shoot you off the table.
If you fail to get the Skarbrand bomb in on turn 2 then that is not according to plan. This will happen on average about once every five games. Suck it up and rethink your plan for when he arrives next turn (hopefully).
Flyers are another weakness, you have no way to deal with them. This is a consequence of going all out on the assault phase. Hopefully you can ignore them, which you can up to a point. Extreme flyer armies like the Necron air force will spell almost certain doom for The Angry Red Tide.
Have Fun.
Win or lose I believe that I'll always enjoy playing this list. It is the kind of list I've always wanted to play and 7th Edition is the time for it to step forward. Sweet spot found.
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