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I've been developing a home-brewed Chaos Warband for awhile now, but I've ran into a rough patch in terms of creativity.

My Chaos Warband (called the 'Execution Legion') has four commanders that serve as heads of the Legion's Cults and also as head of the Legion's support staff (Sorcerers, Warpsmiths, etc). I've come up with fluff and crunch for them, but I was thinking of giving them a personal retinue for each one. The problem is, I can't think of anything for the retinues. I've got a very rough idea for some, but otherwise I've got nothing. I could really use some help, and I've posted a quick description of each commander below (full rules and fluff will be posted later).

The four commanders are;

Caros Fein, the Chief Warpsmith. Is a Nurglite, and has lots of anti-tank abilities. Uses an extremely toxic Power Axe and Combi-Melta

Kron, the Sorcerer Lord. Has a Chaos Lord's stats and a Sorcerer's powers from Tzeentch. Owns a grimoire that gives him more Psychic Power options.

Kor Cerberus, the High Dark Apostle. Is a Khornate with breathtaking anger-managment issues (even by Khorne's standards). Uses a Possessed Chainaxe.

Astaroth, the Arch-Apothecary. Is a mad scientist completely desensitized to physical senses, and is Slaaneshi so that he can somewhat feel again. Seeks to find a way to bind Daemon and Man together with his modified Narthecium.

That's what I've gotten so far. Any ideas would be welcome.

As a bit of advice for this board, focus on the crunch and rules here. Fluff is easy to change and discuss, rules need math and harder work, and if you try to cloud it with fluff, you won't be happy.

Kron servant of Tzeentch and his thrall sorcerers
Faction: chaos spacemarines
Formation: Kron sorcerer lord, 2 chaos cultist squads
Restrictions: all models in this formation must have the mark of tzeentch
Benefit: Thrall sorcerers, spell thralls

Thrall sorcerers: Cultist champions gain psyker (lvl 1) rule and automaitcally knows the Tzeentch primaris power "tzeenthc´s firestorm", they gain no further powers.*

Spell thralls: By removing a chaos cultist as a casualty, a psyker from this formation gains the benefit of the spell familiar chaos gift, if he is within 6" of the removed model. Each psyker can gain this benefit once per turn. **

*Maybe its too powerful, I dont know. The tzeentch mark isnt very beneficial for many units, so it will serve as a balancing factor here, but Im not sure it is enough.
** Spell thralls could also be an ability to boost Krons grimoire, by sacrificing puny cultists.

While this example is presented as a formation, you could easily just make it into "normal" retinues for your special characters. I decided to use the lousy cultists instead of the more obvious choice of giving a sorcerer lord thousand sons marines. Mainly because I thougth it would be cool with something different and tzeentch cultists arent used very often

Was it something like this you where looking for? or did you prefer a grander scale, even more unique rules, more freedom in the choice of retinue?

No, formations tend to be that restrictive.

Sounds fair enough, but if I can make a suggestion? Murdering a cultist for a spell familiar is nice but doesn't quite seem to follow in effect; you're not turning him into a familiar or anything.

I could get on board with Kron's thrall sorcerors counting as a spell familiar if he's in the same unit. That might work better than having them as level 1 psykers (which is really powerful by 'cult sorceror' standards). Besides which, a psychic mastery level is generally worth about 25 points. Formations tend to have a good command benefit but 50 points of free psychic mastery levels with no downsides or prerequisites is pushing it a bit.

For the spell thralls, at the start of any psychic phase, you may sacrifice any number of cultists from a unit Kron has joined. Add +1 warp charge dice to your pool for every cultist sacrificed in this way...

Murdering a cultist for the spell familiar effect: yes, you are right in that the dead cultist isnt turned into a familiar. But the idea was that sacrificing a cultist would net the sorcerer an equivelant benefit the spell familiar gives. Actually, I dont know how or if the spell familiar effect has been changed in 7th ed. It normally gave the ability to reroll a failed psychic test. The spell thrall could have been written as : sacrifice a cultist, reroll failed psychic test. (which just hapens to be the excact same thing as the spell familiar).

I like the idea of sacrificing members to gain more warp charges though, and I think it would be more fitting than my version of spell thrall.

Concerning the cultist champion gaining psyker ability, I did mention its restrictions and balancing factors in my post. Granted they might not be enough at all, but they are still there. Having access to only the primaris power limits the psyker a bit. (and again, it might not limit him enough, maybe its the same as saying he is 90% a level 1 psyker, as even a level 1 psyker could get 2 tzeentch powers) Forcing the cultists to buy the mark of tzeentch is another balancing factor, as a 6++ save on cultists arent considered a powerful option. (and again, it might not be enough)

I myself dont play chaos, nor do I play a lot against chaos players. But isnt one of the main strengths of the cultists the low points cost for a scoring/objective secured choice? In that case another balancing factor could be that the cultist squads must be purchased at maximum model count to gain the thrall sorceror ability.

Alternatively as the thrall sorcerors are some bat-crazy unbound daemon influenced warp infested lunatics, give them some greater perils of the warp drawbacks. Like whenever a perils of the warp rolled 1d6 members of the cultist squad automatically transmutes into semi-sentient multi colored fungus and are removed as casualties.

Another way to have "strong" retinues without too many restrictions would be to hvae the special character pay the buffed cost. For instance Typhus can make plague zombies out of cultists, this can be done for free, thats because the price of the plague zombies are already included in typhus´ cost. Making Kron the Tzeentch sorcerer xx points more expensive than usual would help balancing the fact that he could get cultist psykers.

Caros fein the chief warpsmith and retinue
Faction: chaos spacemarines
Formation: Caros Fein, 1 mutilator squad
Restrictions: Mutilators must have the mark of nurgle, Caros Fein must join the mutilators and cant leave the unit until he is the last model in the squad.
Benefit: Topple the walls, death follows destruction

Topple the walls: all models gain tankhunter USR against buildings/fortifications

Death follows destruction: all models may be held in reserves and gain the deepstrike special rule. Should the formation decide to deepstrike within 3" of a wreck (friendly or enemy vehicle/building wreck) the formation does not scatter and does not need to roll for dangeous terrain.*
* alternatively the formation may deepstrike immediatly after a vehicle/building becomes wrecked, (friendly/hostile or neutral) even in the opponents turn.

I like the idea of sacrificing cultists for Kron to gain more Warp Charges, and Fein's Mutilator posse sounds pretty good as well. As for Astaroth, I had the idea of him leading a unit of upgraded Possesed, but what sort of bonuses could they have? I was thinking along the lines of Astaroth's Possessed having the ability to re-roll their Vessels of Chaos result. Feedback?

Sorry it took awhile, but here's the crunch I have so far for the Execution Legion's High Command;

Caros Fein, Master of the Chaos Armory
The Rust Axe: Gifted with the Plague God's virulent poisons, the Rust Axe has been known to taint even adamantium and ceramite. So deadly is its touch, that only Mortarion's Silence and Typhus' Manreaper are the only weapons more toxic then trademark weapon of Fein. It has a profile of +1S Ap2 Poisoned (3+), Armorbane, and Unwieldy.

The Rot Skull: Taken from the corpse of the first victim of the dreaded Nurgle’s Rot, this grisly relic reflects all that the Plague God stands for; entropy, resilience, and eternal decay. During the Assault Phase, Fein may take a Strength Test. If failed, nothing happens. If successful, center the Large Blast over Fein, and treat it with the following profile; Poisoned 4+, Ap2, Instant Death (This attack does not affect Fein and Nurgilites). On a roll To-Wound of 6, one model that was killed becomes a Plague Corpse (automatically joins Fein’s unit. Treat as the profile it had before, but with +1Toughness, Feel No Pain, and Slow But Purposeful).

Mark of Nurgle

Fleshmetal+Aura of Dark Glory+Mechatendrils

Inferno Pistol

Stats: WS4 BS5 S4 T5 W3 I4 A2 Ld.10 Sv.2+/5++

USR: Feel No Pain, Veterans of the Long War, Master of Mechanisms, Tank Hunter, Independent Character, Shatter Defenses, Fearless, Champion of Chaos (Re-rolling Spawn and Daemon Prince rolls)

Machine Virus: Gathering his dark power, Fein is able to infect the Machine Spirit, rotting vehicles from within. It is treated as a shooting attack with 12" range. If it is a successful hit, then Fein may take a free roll on the Vehicle Damage Table. Apply the result (but a hull-point is not subtracted). Vehicles with the rule Power of the Machine Spirit receive a 4+ saving roll against Machine Virus.

Caros Fein has the Warlord Trait Lord of Terror


Kron, Sorcerer Lord of the Execution Legion
The Blade of Fallen Angels: Hand-crafted by Fein and thrice-cursed by Ahriman, this formidable weapon has been renowned as the channel for Kron's arcane power. Its archaic powers radiate with an unnatural crimson hue, striking fear into the hearts of enemies. It has a profile of +2S, Ap2, Force, Master-Crafted and Two-Handed.

Grimoire of Damnation: Written by Tzeentch and his Oracle, this tome’s passages speak of realities and scriptures that man was never meant to know of. Its pages contain thousands of curses and spells, all drawn from one or even all of the Four Ruinous Powers. During the Movement Phase, Kron may use this artifact (Costs 1 Warp Charge per spell and the effect lasts for one Game Turn). Choose which of the following power disciples to use against a unit (aside from Kron) within 12” (Only one Grimoire spell may be used per turn).

Friendly Unit
Disciple
Undivided Re-roll combat results of 1.
Khorne Furious Charge, and re-roll Charge and Sweeping Advance distances
Nurgle Gains Poisoned attacks (3+) and Feel No Pain
Tzeentch Gains Brotherhood of Psykers (May only take Primaris Powers).
Slaanesh Gains Fleet and Hammer of Wrath.

Enemy Unit
Disciple
Undivided Suffer 2D6 S4 Ap5 hits.
Khorne All models in the unit immediately attack each other
Nurgle Loses -1 Toughness, must pass Leadership Test or be unable to do anything.
Tzeentch All ranged attacks made against this unit Ignore Cover
Slaanesh Loses -1 Initiative, treats Open Terrain as Difficult

Mark of Tzeentch+ Spell Familiar

Power Armor+Sigil of Corruption

Bolt Pistol+Inferno Bolts

Stats: WS6 BS5 S4 T4 W3 I4 A3 Ld.10 Sv.3+/3++

USR: Psyker (Level 3, may choose from any disciple), Veterans of the Long War, Adamantium Will, Independent Character, Fearless, Champion of Chaos (Re-rolling Spawn and Daemon Prince rolls)

Eye of Tzeentch: Blessed by the God of Magic and Fate, Kron has the uncanny ability to predict his opponent's attempts to try and challenge him in close combat. Such attempts are futile, as Kron always knows where and when the enemy will try to challenge Kron in melee. Kron and his unit gain Counterattack and they may Overwatch at their full BS.

Kron has the Warlord Trait Exalted Champion



Kor Cerberus, Chief Dark Apostle
Gorefeaster: Hand-crafted by Khrone himself, this Chainaxe has been made from the teeth of 888 Fleshounds, and possessed by the spirit of a Bloodthirster. Burning is its touch, and the witch is denied their power, rending them weak to the wielder as it shields him from sorcery. This Chainaxe has two profiles of;

+2S, Ap3, Daemon Weapon, Rampage, Instant Death (against Psykers only), Unwieldily.
+2S, Ap3, Daemon Weapon, Rampage, Instant Death (against Psykers only), Armorbane (must halve attacks though).
In addition, Cerberus at all times has a 3+ Deny the Witch.

Mark of Khorne

Terminator Armor+ Sigil of Corruption

Stats: WS6 BS4 S5 T4 W3 I5 A3 Ld.10 Sv.2+/4++

USR: Veterans of the Long War, Furious Charge, Fearless, Independent Character, Champion of Chaos (Re-rolling Spawn and Daemon Prince rolls)

Blood Moon: It is said that Cerberus had been cursed by the Warp, forever bound to drink the blood of his enemies for Eight-Fold Days. This manic and feral rampage is initiated only once every 8 months, during the time of the Blood Moon. Before the game begins, roll 2D6. On the Game Turn rolled, Cerberus gains +1Attack, Strength and Initiative, and +1 to his Deny the Witch for the remainder of the game.

Eight-Fold Rites: As a Khornate Dark Apostle of the Execution Legion, Cerberus is responsible for meting out punishment and fear amongst the rabbles of Cultists that he riles up. Once per turn, Cerberus' unit must pass a Leadership Test (NOT using Cerberus' Ld. though, but the highest after him). If failed, then one model is removed as a casualty. In addition, Cerberus' unit gains Feel No Pain (6+) and may re-roll To-Wound (The compulsory Leadership Test is an automatic pass if Cerberus is leading a unit with the Mark of Khorne).

Cerberus has the Warlord Trait Hatred Incarnate



Astaroth, Head Apothecary
Chirogeun: Given that Astaroth is a partial clone of Fabius Bile, he was gifted with an exact replica of Bile's Chirogeun, but Astaroth and Fein slightly modified it to suit the Execution Legion's needs. This piece of wargear grants Astaroth's unit It Will Not Die and Feel No Pain while Astaroth is still alive.

The Needler Gauntlet: A modified Narthecium normally equipped to Loyalist Apothecaries, the Needler has been extensively modified by Fein to instead dispense a potent cocktail of dangerous mutagens. The Needler Gauntlet fires Metamorphic Rounds at Salvo 3/6 and at 24". If it is a successful hit, then roll a D3 on the following table;
1(Deterioration): The model struck loses 1S or 1T on a 3+
2(Envenomed): The model suffers a 4+ Poisoned hit
3(Mutation): The model must pass a Toughness Test or replace the model with a Chaos Spawn

Chain of Intemperance: Crafted from the same silver as Slaanesh’s throne, these lengths of chains have been tainted to the core, every link radiating the Dark Prince’s vile presence. This piece of wargear grants Astaroth Fleet, Hammer of Wrath, Hit and Run, and Acute Senses. In addition, all attacks made by Astaroth in the first round of Assault are treated as having Initiative 10, and Astaroth may immediately exit the combat during the same round he entered it. He may move up to 2D6” should he immediately exit combat.

Mark of Slaanesh

Power Armor+Aura of Dark Glory

Stats: WS4 BS4 S4 T4 W3 I5 A2 Ld.10 Sv.3+/5++

USR: Eternal Warrior, Veterans of the Long War, Feel No Pain (4+), It Will Not Die, Independent Character, Fearless, Champion of Chaos (Re-rolling Spawn and Daemon Prince rolls)

Astaroth has the Warlord Trait Master of Deception


Haven't thought of point costs yet, any ideas?