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I'm new to WFB (but not gaming in general) and want to start collecting a Beasts of Chaos army, even though it doesn't have a very recent army book. I've listened to some friends and read a bit about tactics, so I came up with a starting list based on what I read and my gut. I don't need a tourney ready cheese list, but I definitely want to be powerful as long as its in the spirit of the game (as ambiguous as that it is). I also want to play with some strong magic, even if Beasts aren't known for it, so thats pretty much the only non-negotiable.


Beastlord
Trollhide Armour, Great Weapon, Mark of Tzeentch, Great Hunt Horn, Crown of Horns
---
Bray-Shaman
Braystaff, Level 2

Bray-Shaman
Braystaff, Level 2

Wargor
Battle Standard, Chaos Armour, Great Weapon
---
x4 Beast Herd
x8 Gor, x10 Ungor, Musician

x4, Chaos Warhounds with 5 each
---
x4 Minotaurs
Great Weapons/Light Armour

x4 Minotaurs
Great Weapons/Light Armour
---
x2 Spawn of Slaanesh

Drgon Ogre Shaggoth
Light Armour, Great Weapon

Right now this list is sitting at approximately 2,000 points. I want to expand to 2,250, so I have some wiggle room.

My strategy is to use Ambush, since thats the Beastmen signature move. While the core fights the Warhounds ambush and try to quickly engage to remove rank modifiers (so the plan goes at least). I wanted to use a want to have a diversity of threats, not just because its more fun, but so my opponent will have to think of different solutions. So I took a Shaggoth as a monster, Minotaurs for fat bashers, and Spawn as fast Unbreakables.

So I have a few questions (beyond the obvious, "does this list suck?"):
1. What should I add to go to 2,250? My thoughts were some combination of Dispel Scrolls, Tzeentch on the Minotaurs, another unit of Minotaurs, or maybe more herds.
2. Is the magic strong enough? Should I go all the way and discard the Battle Standard for another Shaman (or make room for a Mark of Tzeentch on him)? Would that be "cheesy"? Also kind of on a tangent, I know there is a new list of Tzeentch spells in the Chaos Daemons book; do I use the new list or the one from Beasts for people with the Mark of Tzeentch?
3. What kind of command should I take for the Herds? Right now I just have cheapo Musicians, but is the Foe-Render worth it for the Leadership? Is it worth the Victory Point risk to give standards to my unarmored herds?
4. Are there any useful Marks I should take? Right now I haven't spent many points tricking my guys out that way, my gut reaction is that they are too expensive compared to more guys.
5. Are there some must have units I'm missing out on? Bestigors and Centigors sounded good but I went with quantity over quality.

Any other thoughts would be welcome as well, and I verily appreciate your help!

What no Chariots? They provide a lot of hitting power for your army I'd also consider less different gods in your force. Also the extra Ld is well worth the points I'm not sure about the Standards myself. Dispel Scrolls are also a must have.

Thanks for the advice, I'll add in some chariots, scrolls, and Foe-Renders. From a flavor point of view I don't really like them, since they feel anachronistic in every army except Tomb Kings, but they seem strong. Other points: removed armor from Minotaurs, seems like it might get negated a good portion of the time anyway. I took the Slaanesh off the Spawn too (as well as getting rid of one), I think I can't have them since my general is Tzeentch. I also had two Talismans on him, so I removed the Crown of Horns.

Beastlord
Trollhide Armour, Great Weapon, Mark of Tzeentch, Great Hunt Horn
---
Bray-Shaman
Braystaff, Level 2, Dispel Scroll

Bray-Shaman
Braystaff, Level 2, Dispel Scroll x2

Wargor
Battle Standard, Chaos Armour, Great Weapon
---
x4 Beast Herd w/
x8 Gor, x10 Ungor, Musician and Foe-Render

x4, Chaos Warhounds with 5 each

x2 Tuskgor Chariot, Mark of Tzeentch
---
x4 Minotaurs
Great Weapons

x4 Minotaurs
Great Weapons
---
x1 Chaos Spawn

Drgon Ogre Shaggoth
Light Armour, Great Weapon

2245 Points

So this list has three scrolls for defense, 6 dispel dice, and 12 power dice, so it should be competent in the magic phase. The problem I see now is that my Beastlord is pretty expensive for a Beastmen, as my general and big wizard, and since I took off the Crown of Horns he lost his ward save, so I feel like people are going to be gunning for him and he won't have much to stop them. Should I just drop the Great Hunt Horn for it? Because i'm unsure about the ambush strategy if I don't have the Horn.

Ambush can totally blow up in your face minus the horn.
Hell, even with Preyseeker on one for the herds and the horn I've had it blow up in my face in the most awful ways.
Your list is somewhat similar to mine, except that I swap around the numbers of wargors and shamans. I don't put much faith in Shaman. Still, Bears Anger on a Foe Render makes them completely terrifying.
The foe render is also brilliant because of his extra strength. Well worth it.

BSB is a big help to Beasts, who have some rather fierce morale issues.

Yes, I should have pointed that out. And if you're going for the ambush tactic, preyseeker is well worth it.

I think I'll go back to my beasts when I finish up my Trollbloods. Those plastic chaos hounds make them much more attractive price wise, and I can have a nearly all plastic force. Apart from those fugly minotaurs.