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Introduction

It is a widely known fact that the most bloodthirsty of the followers of the dark gods are the followers of Khorne - Lord of Battle and Master of Destruction. Potentially the most destructive and aggressive of the Blood-God's followers are those supernatural creatures amongst his own servants that best reflect his aspects, the Daemonic Legions. They are an army of pure focused intent and malevolent aggression - the perfect tool and physical embodiment of the Blood-God's lust for eternal bloodshed. For the wargamer, they are the perfect offensive tool to wreak carnage if used correctly. I say "if used correctly", because if they are not wielded with some consideration and knowledge of their capabilities and weaknesses, they are unfortunately also one of the most temperamental and easy armies to counter for Khorne's enemies (which is pretty much everyone!!). This factor makes them challenging and interesting to use, whilst their single-minded lust for destruction makes them fun as well in a weirdly perverse way.

The intention of this article is to outline some of the factors I considered when putting together my own Khorne Legion. This is primarily the "hobby" aspects like modelling and painting. Some of the "game-play" aspects like army list construction and useful tactical tips will be dicussed in subsequent articles.

Designing the List

I've been working on my Khorne Daemonic Legion for a while now and have played them at a number of Australian tourneys (Dogcon 4, Conquest, and ConVic), with varying results. I tend to like to stick with an army for a while after I've built it, so the Blood-God's minions have not reached their retirement date just yet! Besides, I'm only just starting to get the hang of them...

By the end of my articles, I'd like to try and dispel a prejudice against Khorne armies and players. There seems to be a common perception that Khorne Daemons are a "no-brainer" of an army to play, but I find them to be exactly the opposite! It is a fact that they do not have the shooting or magic elements available to many other armies, which makes them more 'one-dimensional' from the perspective that they are close combat specialists. But that does not mean they are totally limited in their tactics. In many ways it makes them more difficult to master against all opponents because they lack the flexibility of some of the more rounded lists. There are, however, many subtle (and not so subtle) tactics that can be used to maximise the benefits a Khorne Daemonic Legion has.

Khorne armies are in fact very difficult to play well, since the entire army being frenzied leads to your opponent leading you into some very undesireable situations if you're not very careful. A player could indeed follow the common view and simple set his army up and surge forward to mindlessly kill everything in its path. But against even an average opponent, this kind of playing style will lead to disaster. With a Khorne army, far from being a simple to use "point-and-click" army, you really have to think very hard about how you're going to achieve your plan. You need to make a pre-game plan on how to win, focus on deploying to carry it out (deployment is particularly important with frenzy) and you have to constantly think several turns ahead to anticipate how the battle will play out.

The main challenge is getting your units where you want them, as opposed to where your opponent wants them. The commonly known unfortunate side effect of frenzied troops is that frenzy allows your opponent to lead them astray and either divert them or draw them into undesirable combats. If you can avoid this though, once they get into combat the troops are pretty darn good!

Army Design Philosophy

I currently take a list that I like to play, and that also helps to reduce some of the negative effects of frenzy if I play smart enough. It does this through having lots of units, in some ways subscribing to the "Many-Small-Units" (MSU) school of Warhammer army design. There are many reasons for this, but primarily I find that more units generally means added tactical flexibility. Due to the limited number of troop types in a Khorne Daemonic Legion and the lack of shooting and magic, movement and flexibility become even more important than normal. Unfortunately because Warhammer is normally a points-limited game, having many units will mean they are each smaller. Working in combination with each other and the added movement and flexibility generally makes up for this drawback though.

Another key advantage of having many units is that a common 'anti-frenzy' tactic of sending expendable troops to 'draw off' or 'divert' my frenzied units is reduced in effectiveness. An opponent may be able to divert a few units but when facing many units, and with him presumably only having a limited number of 'expendable units', some of the troops will get to carry the fight to where they are needed. Additionally, many small units give the tactical flexibility of allowing some troops to be used to 'screen' other units and perform other supporting roles. (more on this later). The overall aim is that the units that I want to do the fighting will actually be able to get into combat.

As a point of reference for further discussion, my current list is below. More detailed comments on specific tactics, troop types, and modelling will follow in further articles. (Note that the value of this list is set at 2250 points, which is the current 'default' value for the majority of tournaments in the Australian Tournament scene).

The Fury of Khone (Khorne Daemonic Legion - SoC Daemonic Legion List)

Exalted Daemon with Mark of Khorne, Soul Hunger, Might of Khorne - 305pts
18x Bloodletters with full command - 323pts
18x Bloodletters with Standard bearer, champion - 316pts
12x Bloodletters with Standard bearer- 206pts
12x Bloodletters with Standard bearer - 206pts
12x Bloodletters with Standard bearer - 206pts
12x Bloodletters with Standard bearer - 206pts
5x Fleshounds - 80pts
5x Fleshounds - 80pts
5x Fleshounds - 80pts
5x Fleshounds - 80pts
5x Fleshounds - 80pts
5x Fleshounds - 80pts

As you might deduce from the list, I made a conscious decision to take as many core troops as possible. I honestly think that the key strength in a Khorne Daemon list (as in many armies) is their core troops. You could not ask for better core troops than Bloodletters (WS5, S5, T3 and A2 with frenzy) and Fleshounds (WS5, S4, T3, A2 with frenzy, and the 'Fast Cavalry' special rules). Used in a suitably aggressive role, these two troop types are fantastic. I don't see any real need to include chariots or cavalry because (despite being very good) they are high points-cost troops that reduce the number of fantastic core troops I can get in the army.

For a similar reason I only went with an Exalted Daemon as my General. The points saved by taking a less expensive character (than a greater daemon or daemon prince) could be invested back into extra core troops. In the past, I have used a Bloodthirster or Daemon Prince to lead the army, but to be quite honest, a frenzied flying character (especially a 'large' one like the 'Thirster) is a bit of a liability!! Core troops are the strength of this army, and the character is there basically because he has to be! (ie. the army list requires a 'general'). Having said this, the Exalted Daemon is useful for some limited battlefield roles. He is able to take out weak support troops, assassinate the odd character (especially the magic users so despised by Khorne), and can lend support to units in combat without the risk of being a huge points-sink if he was lost.

Modelling the Army

Before getting into too much further discussion on troop types and tactics, I'll touch on the physical and creative aspects of constructing the army. Many people over the past months and at the tourneys where I've been using the lads have been complementary about the composition, painting and modelling of the army. I am always pleased with this, as the creative aspect is probably still the main thrill I get out of Warhammer. It gives me great satisfaction to turn out an army that appeals to others as well as myself. Many people also enquire about the miniatures I have used, which are not the standard Khorne Daemons produced by GW. So I'll take some time to briefly discuss the minis:

The Bloodletter Units

For my Bloodletter units, I used the 'Formor Fiends' models from the 'Drune' range made by French company, Rackham. Rackham produce the highly acclaimed miniatures for the "Confrontation" game system, and they are truly magnificent figures. (At the time of writing, they have also just released the new English language translation of their "Ragnarok" mass-combat rules system as well). Here's some pictures of the massed footsoldiers of the Blood God:

The Standards

The Standards are all home made from 'Plasticard' and 'Green-stuff'. I wanted each unit to have a unique standard, whilst still achieving a common unifying theme and general design. So they are all minor variations on a simple bronze Khorne Symbol atop a banner pole. The differences are just in the detail on the symbols and minor variations in shape:

The Fleshound Units

The models I used for the Fleshounds are also from Rackham. In this case they are the 'Tigers of Dirz' from the 'Alchemists of Dirz' range. They are definitely vicious looking critters that are modelled with very distinctive raw muscle and sinew effects. I think this look is eminently suitable for a creature named a "Fleshound". I tried to bring this aspect out through the paint scheme (although they are currently a bit 'pink' for my liking, so I may continue working on these guys!):

The common perception is that Rackham miniatures are a lot more expensive than GW minis, but if you shop around they really aren't. I'll give the example from the Australian perspective, but this should not differ too much overseas. A blister of two GW bloodletters costs about $16.50 AUD retail. Because our exchange rate against the $USD is pretty good at the moment, I can mail order a blister of two Rackham Formor Fiends from one of the *excellent* US online retailers for between $13 - $14 USD (eg. "The Warstore" or "Do or Dice"). This is about $17 - $18 AUD. I also shopped around on eBay for bargains when I found them.

So for about $1 AUD more, I get minis that are in my opinion more dynamically posed, bigger and more imposing, have more character, are better sculpts and best of all are *multi-part* metals!! The torso, legs, head and arms are seperate, so like GW plastics the parts can be mixed and matched, reposed and varied. There are actually only 4 different minis in my army, and yet because they are multi part, they are all different! The effect for the army is far more variety than one comprised of (and limited by) only several 'fixed' poses of GW metal miniatures. So for troop types (like Bloodletters and Fleshounds) that GW only offer as single part metals, the price difference is negligible and the Rackham miniatures are better quality and offer more variety. In general, Rackham miniatures are more expensive than troops available in GW plastic regiment boxes, but for Daemonic Legion armies, this is not a factor.

The Exalted Daemon

My Exalted Daemon (and currently the Army General) is made from the Balrog miniature from GW's Lord of the Rings range. I remodelled his head and face with 'green-stuff', reposed him a bit and modelled some armour onto him using 'green-stuff' and some fine chain. I particularly liked the Balrog's dynamic pose and his wings, which I think are better than other plastic wings available on other GW minis. I was quite happy with the results:

The Bloodthirster

When I first saw the Forgeworld Bloodthirster model, I knew I had to have it, promptly pre-ordered the model (I find it funny calling this guy a 'miniature') and informed my wife that she had bought it for me for my birthday! This guy was in fact the first model purchased for my Khorne Daemon army and was the original reason for building the army around him. Funnily enough, he is currently not included in the latest incarnation of the army, but I have used him in the past, and I'm sure he will appear again in the future. I like the 'Thirster for games at 2500+ points, but in games of lesser values he uses a lot of the available points and is very difficult to use.

The model itself is largely 'stock-standard' out of the box from Forgeworld, but I have re-mounted it on a smaller base. Mine is on a 50 x 75mm base to make it more suitable for use in gameplay, since the original scenic base supplied is about 100 x 100mm. My base is slightly larger than the 50 x 50mm mandated in the 'official' published Warhammer base size chart (now released in the UK, USA and Australia) but the model would not fit on anything smaller! The important thing for play is that the frontage is correct (50mm) - the depth of 75mm is slightly too large, but I just accept the disadvantage that it incurs just so I can use this great model.

I also substituted a converted Empire Militia figure being gripped in the big guy's left fist in place of the whip that is supplied with the model. The whip is about 6" long and protrudes straight out from the model, so it got in the way of sensible game play too much.

The best thing about the Forgeworld thirster is that it is BIG. It really looks like the Illustrations in all the background books of a massive greater daemon towering over the battlefield. I actually think it is more 'in scale' than the usual 'mini' greater daemons (and for that matter all the Dragons etc. are too small in my opinion...). This guy looks like the most awesome killing machine known to the world, just as he should.

The "Combo" Box

I decided to go for a functional combined display tray and carrying box to transport the army when I go to tourneys. The display was designed to be simple and not divert too much attention away from the fantastic miniatures in the army. The colour scheme is fairly neutral, being a speckled grey granite effect that was applied quickly and easily with textured 'stone-effect' spray paint.

The top surface of the box (the display tray part) was also kept simple and flat. A few holes were drilled so that commercially bought (K&M brand) tree armatures could be inserted for some visual effect when on display.

On the front of the box, a simple Khorne symbol device was applied to reinforce the army theme. It is the large resin Khorne symbol from Forgeworld. To tie in with the army and keep it simple but effective, I chose a bronze colour scheme for this with several layers of metallic colours applied.  

I hope you enjoyed this article on putting together my Khorne Legion (and the photos)? I plan to follow up next with some tactics articles and notes on specific troop types, as well as some more hobby articles on expanding the army with other troop types. (I have some Bloodcrushers on the workbench at the moment). Until then, I have some more skulls to pile before the Skull throne...

Byshe