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What kind of loadout do you prefer? I'm starting my Tzeentchian WoC soon and I was considering taking a Chaos Lord with the Bronze Armour of Zhraak (sp?) and a Hellfire Sword for S5 burning choppiness, mounted on a Dragon. The only problem with that is that he won't have enough spare armoury-allowance to acquire any fancy enchanted items like Favour of the Gods, a lovely little trinket.

Personally I think bronze armor is generally unfortunate on a lord (under 3k), as Ld 9 is part of what you're paying for, and you will want it for the rest of your boys. I'd say crimson armor isn't a bad choice for a guy riding a dragon, but if you take the top o' the line in magic defense you won't be able to afford the top o' magic weapons too ...

- Salvage

If you're going for a Lord in a WoC army, you're better off going with a sorcerer. WoC armies have units that fight as well as other armies' characters, so there isn't need for a fighty character. However, WoC have trouble dealing with indirect armies so casting is thier only way of dealing with them.

The only non-sorcerer that I currently use is an Exalted BSB on chaos steed. He has the Mark of Tzeentch, Halberd, bronze armor, and Book of secrets.

But the Juggernaut Chaos Lord just begs to be used to slaughter everything in it's way!

Maybe:

Exalted
Mark of Tzeentch
Barded Warhorse
Collar of Khorne (good synergy with the Mark of Tzeentch here)
Sword of Might
Battle Standard.

1+/5++, MR2, S6 attacks all the time with Battle Standard. 5 points left to maybe go into Favour, or if you don't need the MR2 go for Talisman of Protection and Bronze Armour; since he's the BSB he can't be the general, and normally he won't be in units that have less leadership than him anyway. Maybe replace the Steed with a Disc too, if you want a flying BSB.


For a Lord, how about:

Chaos Lord
Mark of Tzeentch
Crimson armour of Dargon
Axe of Khorne
Talisman of Protection
Mount of your choice

Pretty hitty, killing blow, immune to killing blow and multi wound attacks and a 5+ ward.

Another could be:

Father of Blades
Armour of Damnation

Probably not terribly effective, but pretty funny. "Why do you keep hitting yourself?"

"Stop hitting yourself!" Lord is pretty funny against characters that are tooled out with armour save-ignoring weapons or killing blow. Or a Great Unclean One with the Balesword gift.

Chaos lords are usually underwhelming. I've started taking Sorcerer lords too, with fighty upgrades like the enchanted shield or a daemonsword, and it works pretty well. If you're not afraid of killing blow, a daemonsword and enchanted shield on a barded steed gives you a 0+ armour save. At your strongest [S7], you'll still have a 4+ save against any attacks that hit yourself, so it's a pretty good deal.

If you ARE worried about killing blow, then you have your two options. I'd always mount him on something if at all possible.

Might be trying this guy for an infantry block sometime:

Exalted Hero
Helm of Many Eyes
Great Weapon

Though it's obvious what he does, it might dissuade some charges as he has some S7 whacking when the enemy charges, which should dampen it. In a unit with the Banner of Rage (or with the MoK) that's 5 S7 attacks before non ASF enemies!

Actually, he'll still usually go first. ASF vs ASF goes by the model's initiative only, which is pretty high on exalted heroes. The greatsword's strike-at-I1 doesn't apply, just the base stat.

And yeah, he really rocks. But make sure your general is nearby. That stupidity test can be a real burden. Definitely takes the sting out of things like cavalry charges and lots of chariots, though. They still get their impact hits, but things like white lion chariots will be smashed before they can do any REAL damage.

I myself use a Khorne lord, aether blade, armor of morslieb, shield and a jugger. For a hero I love using this just for sheer shock value, a sorc with skull pendent. Nabbed myself a few chariots and heroes in a challenge.

The skull pendant is a real good choice for an exalted hero - especially with the FAQ that it affects models outside of a challenge as well. Since it's an automatic Str7 Killing blow hit (no need to hit), your almost always looking at +3 combat res from the guy, as well as decreasing the number of enemy attacks hitting your unit.

Almost every Chaos Lord choice I see run now is a Sorcerer Lord with Mark of Tzeentch. Maybe it's the attractiveness of the Gateway spell, but it seems very prevalent. Throw him in a unit with 3 other characters (usually seems to be Nurgle guys for the Buboes sniping), have 1 with the Puppet and 1 with the Skull of Kataan and your ready to spam magic!

It's a strength 8 KB attack, even better

I tried the Tzeentch Sorcerer lord...Didn't really accomplish much. I think the more powerful one would be a shadow caster (Unmarked) with spell familiar.

I think one problem with Lords (which is why many go Sorcerer) is they don't get much in terms of protection (no real 4+ ward), and the offensive items are pretty expensive.

Other lords outshine them yet they still cost a load of points and get dispatched easily.

Exalted, on the otherhand, can compare with the budget Lord Choices in other armies, but as a hero choice and have a pretty good offence. I think that's why they are chosen more than the Chaos Lord, which is a shame as Chaos Lords are pretty cool guys.

It depends on how many points you are playing.

2000 and under- I would use an exlated
2000-2500 i would use a lord

In my opinion, points you spent on a Chaos Lord doesn't justify the benefits over having an Exalted Hero. Other armies suffer from this as well (High Elves Princes, Dark Elf Dreadlords). Their Lords still have a use though: they bring the ability to take a Dragon. Since Chaos Sorcerer Lords can also take Dragons, and aren't completely terrible in combat (like the Elven Wizards are), I'd much rather take a Sorcerer Lord then a Chaos Lord.

A Sorcerer Lord on a Chaos Dragon isn't even that bad. Large Target means you will still have Line of Sight while in combat, so combat will only stop your Sorcerer Lord from casting Magic Missiles.

I was intent on finding a Lord on a Dragon that worked for me, and with some playtesting came up with the following:

Lord on Dragon with Mark of Tzeentch, Favor of the Gods, Chaos Runeshield, Sword of Might, and Collar of Khorne with Word of Agony

I typically fly him right at the unit hosting the enemy character that has the meanest magic weapon. I fly in, and if it's a single-rank unit (i.e. the character has no where to hide from challenges) I use the Word of Agony on the unit's champion (if present) so the character has to fight me. Then the 11 S6 attacks will likely do their work, if not the CRS should reduce the enemy character's offensive effectiveness to squat. If I kill him in the challenge, the Favor will help me get nicely buffed and I'm off to kill whatever else needs to be killed.

I've tried Chaos Sorcs on Dragon, but it always feels like a square peg in a round hole: the dragon does his best work in melee, while the Sorc does his best work out of melee...bleh. Yes, a Chaos Sorc Lord can be passable in melee with the right equipment, but he's still a wizard, and many of his spells will be uncastable while he's fighting.

I think if one wants to go with a casty lord, a DP with Tendrils is the way to go.