Chaos Renegades: Lord of War Analysis

We've made it, the last section of the unit analysis of the Chaos Renegade armies! Wrapping up my Chaos Renegade unit analysis with the biggest post yet, Lords of War! Renegades have heaps of Lords of War to choose from, ranging from lumbering tanks and massive titans, all the way to the Exalted Greater Daemons. You only get to pick one, so choose wisely!

Lords of War

Khorne Lord of Skulls

Professor X meets Gwar prop, the Lord of Skulls is a giant 50-ton killing machine on treads. It has quite nasty weaponry, including: a belly gun which can either be two varieties of Hellstorm template (one of which is S9 AP3, Instant Death!) or a 48" range, large blast plasma cannon, either a Hades Gatling Cannon for 12 S8 Ap3 shots a turn, or the Skull Hurler with it's 10" blast at S9 AP3 (and forces saves to be re-rolled), plus a massive Great Cleaver of Khorne (swinging D at AP1 in melee). With it's nasty weaponry it should seem like a devastating unit on the battlefield, unfortunately though, it's high point cost and unimpressive armour, makes it a bit of a liability. It's unable to stomp in melee, due to having treads for feet, but it can Thunderblitz. The interesting thing about Thunderblitz, is that there's no restriction for starting a tank shock while engaged in combat, so it's entirely possible that you can use this attack to get out of melee with a horde that would otherwise keep you locked in.

Sadly that's not enough to save it, it's I3 means that if there's a Knight on the battlefield, it's going straight for your Lord of Skulls to put some beatdown on it and possibly earn triple it's points back... If the Lord of Skulls was increased to WS5 I5 like it's Kytan brother, then it might get closer to being worth it's enormous price tag.

Always available to Vraks Renegades, Renegades and Heretics with Bloody-handed Reaver or Heretek Magus.

Greater Brass Scorpion of Khorne

One of my favorite Chaos Super Heavies, it runs around with an ignores cover demolisher cannon, charging 3D6″ and getting +2 to the number of stomps it cause. If you want a Lord of War that can handle it all, this is your guy… Though he doesn’t particularly care for fighting against Knights and other Destroyer weapon armed melee walkers, but loves squashing through droves of infantry instead. I imagine it sounding like a train running over bubble wrap.

Always available to Vraks Renegades, Renegades and Heretics with Bloody-handed Reaver.

Daemon Lord Scabeiathrax the Bloated

One tough cookie, sporting T9 means he's immune to anything under S6, plus he has a 3+ invulnerable save and Feel No Pain (4+). As far as gargantuan creatures go, he's definitely tough, but doesn't do all that much in combat. He's got 5 attacks at S8, a few extra S3 nurgling attacks, plus can throw out a S5 Ap4 hellstorm template. Against many armies, killing him wont be an option, he's far easier to ignore since he only moves 6" a turn. I think he would be a fun choice for an army, I just don't think he's an overly competitive choice. If someone brings a couple knights, Ol' Scabby is in for a bad time.

Always available to Vraks Renegades, Renegades and Heretics with Primaris Rogue Witch and cannot exceed 25% of your army's points.

Daemon Lord An'ggrath the Unbound

MR. ANGRY PANTS! He is the exactly same price as a Lord of Skulls, and so much better. A flying gargantuan creature with 8 wounds, with a 2+/3++ save, An'ggrath is a mighty beast to take down in combat. Surprisingly his melee weapon isn't a destroyer weapon, just a lowly Axe of Khorne, but has an extra D6 attacks on the charge instead of +1. Banned in many events, I'm still not certain he would be worth taking. He is unable to engage more than 1 unit a turn, meaning at best, he will kill 7 things a game. It's not worth making him fly, as that would cost him a few turns of combat. Sadly, as much as I love the model, even if he was allowed in events, I don't think he'd be worth taking, he just can't kill enough through the coarse of a game.

Always available to Vraks Renegades, Renegades and Heretics with Primaris Rogue Witch and cannot exceed 25% of your army's points

Daemon Lord Aetaos'rau'keres

Don't ask me to pronounce his name, he is the most expensive gargantuan available in the army, far outweighing a Warhound in cost. This Daemon Lord has the standard 3+ invulnerable save, though no armour save to speak of, is a level 4 sorcerer and roughly as effective in combat as Scabeiathrax. Additionally, he is a level 4 sorcerer, 2 of his spells must be rolled on the Tzeentch powers from the Daemon book, and the other two powers can be book powers, though no Daemonology (boo!). If he's within 18" of another greater daemon, daemon lord or daemon prince in the shooting phase, he must direct all of his attacks at them, so don't have him near your other big buddies. His main weapon is the Staff of Cataclysm, which has an unlimited range, is Apocalyptic Barrage (D3+6), haywire and poisoned (4+) at AP3... NOW WE'RE TALKING! But hey, it can't be without downside right? This weapon is so powerful the gods aren't sure if he should even be allowed to touch it, so every turn he wants to fire it, he must take a LD (10) test, if he fails, your ENEMY gets to fire it... I think it's worth the risk. Now, after you've fired it, if you wipe out a squad, you can put down as many horrors as you can fully fit on a 5" template (19), up to the number of enemies killed by the blast. He is certainly fun to play, pretty damn hard to kill, and has an utterly devastating weapon. Again, probably not competitive, but could catch some people off guard.

Available to Renegades and Heretics with Primaris Rogue Witch and cannot exceed 25% of your army's points, not available to Vraks Renegades.

Daemon Lord Zarakynel

The final Daemon Lord, and the cheapest weighing in at 666 points. She's pretty tough with T7 W6, FNP and a 3++ save keeping her alive. She has a so-so shooting attack that's 36" S6 Ap3 with a random number of shots, and in combat she will most likely be regenerating a wound a turn, though only has 5 (instant death causing) attacks to do it with. She's great for carving up monsters and other gargantuans, but is really going to get bogged down by hordes. She re-rolls to hit and wound, and counts as having grenades, plus gains D3 instead of +1 attacks on the charge, so there is a good chance that on the charge, she will deal quite a bit of damage. Enemies fighting her all must take a LD test, or are unable to attack at all, and Independent Characters specifically roll separately. For her cost, she's a good combat monster overall, and of the Daemon Lords, by far the most playable.

Available to Renegades and Heretics with Primaris Rogue Witch and cannot exceed 25% of your army's points, not available to Vraks Renegades.

Giant Chaos Spawn

If you haven't bought another Lord of War, plopping down a Giant Chaos Spawn can at least be a little fun. Not nearly as fast as it's smaller brothers, the Giant Chaos spawn is a very inexpensive monster to add to an army. On the charge it can potentially generate a devastating 10 attacks, and gain Feel No Pain (2+), which always throws people for a loop. Due to it's slow speed, it works a lot more like a Carnifex, and is especially good when your enemy comes to attack you at your lines, rather than having it lumber across the field.

Always available to Vraks Renegades, Renegades and Heretics may take 1-3 with Mutant Overlord.

Spined Chaos Beast

Similar to the Giant Chaos Spawn, though at nearly double the price. This slow-moving monstrous creature is actually pretty tough, being a Daemon for it's 5+ invulnerable save, and has It Will Not Die. It has very few attacks (3), but at a solid WS5 S7 I4, so at least most of them will cause damage, plus with Daemon of Khorne, those attacks are S8 on the charge. Overall though, I just don't think it's worth the points over two Giant Chaos Spawn.

Always available to Vraks Renegades, Renegades and Heretics may take 1-3 with Mutant Overlord.

Macharius Heavy Tank

Above all, I think the Macharius is one of the coolest looking super heavy tanks in the game. Essentially a baby Baneblade, the Macharius brings hefty, Russ-like armour of 14/13/12, it's twin-linked Macharius battle cannon (a 7" blast battle cannon), a twin-linked heavy stubber, and sponson heavy stubbers. Sadly, aside from it's primary gun, it's firepower is a bit anemic, but do remember that it is a fairly low price tag, so isn't a horrible tank for the cost.

Always available to Vraks Renegades, Renegades and Heretics may take with Arch-heretic Revolutionary.

Macharius Vanquisher

For 50 points more than the Macharius, you can get the Vanquisher version. Unlike the Leman Russ Vanquisher, the Macharius Vanquisher retains it's standard ammunition, but may optionally fire it's other anti-tank shells instead. I think it's roughly as good as the Macharius, looks slightly cooler with the longer gun, but in the end, I'd probably rather save the 50 points for another Wyvern.

Always available to Vraks Renegades, Renegades and Heretics may take with Arch-heretic Revolutionary.

Macharius Vulcan

Of the Macharius variants, this one is without a doubt the most effective. Able to belt out a withering 30 shots a turn at S6 Ap3, and when coupled with a divination sorcerer (thanks Crimson Slaughter), it's just gross. Even without the sorcerer, you're talking 12-13 wounds a turn against MEQ, or 7-8 wounds on a monster. It's secondary weaponry is just as uninteresting as the Macharius and Vanquisher above, but when you're looking for a tank to sit back and lay waste to enemy infantry and monsters, this guy is a beast... sadly though, those roles aren't hard to come by in Renegades.

Always available to Vraks Renegades, Renegades and Heretics may take with Arch-heretic Revolutionary.

Macharius Omega

The last Macharius variant is the Omega. I like the idea of this because it's essentially a giant death cannon stuck on top of a tank, which feels very chaosy to me. It's main gun has 2 firing modes, either dishing out 3 S7 Ap2 large blasts, or a single S9 Ap2 7" blast (though gets hot). Not a lot of firepower in the Renegade army is AP2, so this does fill an interesting niche, and for roughly the price of 2 stock Leman Russ Executioners, this may not be a bad alternative.

Always available to Vraks Renegades, Renegades and Heretics may take with Arch-heretic Revolutionary.

Valdor Tank Hunter

Clearly coined as a tank hunter, if you're taking this tank, you're obviously going for it's neutron laser destroyer (duh, look at the model). The neutron laser destroyer is a direct-fire weapon, meaning you will have to roll to hit, and it has a random number (d3) of shots, which unfortunately means there's a fair chance to miss entirely in a round of shooting. If it does hit, you'll be dealing S10 Ap1 hits, which will automatically cause Crew Stunned in addition to other results. All-in-all, it is another chaos death ray, but really, it's not reliable, and I feel that other Lords of War are far better choices.

Always available to Vraks Renegades, Renegades and Heretics with Heretek Magus.

Renegade Malcador Heavy Tank

Pretty much a gigantic Leman Russ, the Malcador has AV 13/12/11, which makes it fairly medium, though it does have the super-heavy requisite 6 HP. It's obsolite power plant means at top speed it only moves D6+6", which funny enough does make it faster than a Leman Russ. Armament wise, it's again very similar to a Leman Russ, sporting a turret-mounted battle cannon, hull heavy bolter (upgradable to lascannon or autocannon), and sponson heavy stubbers (upgradable to lascannon, heavy bolters, or autocannon). The must-have's on this tank is clearly the Militia Training for BS3 to use with all it's hull/sponson weapons, plus as many autocannons as you can get (which is 3). Fully upgraded it'll set you back 260 points, which is incredibly inexpensive for any super-heavy tank.

Always available to both Vraks Renegades, and Renegades and Heretics.

Renegade Malcador Defender

This is an odd looking tank for sure. Instead of a turret-mounted battle cannon, it has 5 heavy bolters, and a hull-mounted demolisher cannon, it's sponsons bring two more heavy bolters for a total of 7. While not the most terrifying armament, like the Malcador, this tank is an incredible value for a super heavy. Throw on some militia training and you're firing off 21 BS3 heavy bolter shots a turn, plus a Demolisher Cannon for less than 300 points.

Always available to both Vraks Renegades, and Renegades and Heretics.

Renegade Minotaur Artillery Tank

I've always liked how the Minotaur looked, with it's backwards mounted twin-earthshaker cannons, the problem however is that it's firepower doesn't seem to match its appearance. It's main gun is a 7" blast version of the earthshaker, that is twin-linked... but if you really wanted that kind of firepower, you could buy nearly 5 Heavy Ordnance carriages for the same price. It looks cool, but I probably wouldn't use it outside of a fun game of Apocalypse.

Always available to both Vraks Renegades, and Renegades and Heretics.

Renegade Baneblade Super-heavy Tank

The Renegade Baneblade is a pretty fu choice for the army. Not only is the model relatively inexpensive due to being made in plastic, but it comes stock with a set of sponsons that normally costs 50 points on the imperial version! You can buy a second set of sponsons for 100 points, which brings it to the same price as the Imperial Baneblade with 4 sponsons, but I say skip it, keep your tank as a good value, and either keep the sponsons, or take the free upgrade to drop the sponsons in favor of side-armour 14. It's main gun fires off a devastating 10" blast at S9 Ap2, which will send any enemy running for the nearest cover, and can do a number on enemy tanks as well.

The magjor distinction of the Renegade Baneblade is it's Blasphemous Icon rule. Any Renegade units within 12" gain the Fanatic rule when they take their fist test, plus all Renegade units within 12" also gain Zealot! Having the Baneblade advance surrounded by a tide of fearless infantry that re-roll to hit in the first round of combat can not only be thematic, but also pretty devastating. If you build a list around the Baneblade, I think you could really do a lot to take advantage of this rule.

Always available to both Vraks Renegades, and Renegades and Heretics.

Chaos Warhound Titan

Who doesn't love a Titan? The Chaos Warhound is the pinnacle of firepower in the Chaos army that you could possibly expect to play in a normal game. It has two titan-class ranged weapons, any of which are absolutely devastating:

Double-barreled turbo laser destructor - definitely the most complained about weapon it can carry, though potentially the most powerful, firing off two large destroyer blasts a turn, if your opponent is heavy on armour and monstrous creatures, this will make short work of them. Still decent at shooting infantry since it's two large blasts, but does literally nothing against flyers, so be careful.
Plasma blastgun - This is probably my favorite gun for the titan, it somehow gets less complaints than the laser destructor, but against many opponents can do more damage
Inferno gun - My second favorite gun, a gigantic torrent baleflamer, guaranteed to annihilate orks and marines alike.
Vulcan mega-bolter - While I love the tanks which mount the Vulcan, I'm not a fan of it on titans. Tanks have rules to allow them to remain stationary and fire twice, so to match the firepower of a much cheaper Macharius Vulcan, you'd need to dedicate both of your arm weapons to this.

In addition to it's two guns, it has a Dirge caster, and can be upgraded to be a Daemon Titan:

Daemon Titan of Khorne - This is an amazing upgrade on Chaos Knight titans, but on the Warhound (and Reaver), it's just awful... you DO NOT want to be in combat, not even with re-rolling the number of stomps or getting bonus stomps on the charge. Besides, with these big guns, anything you can charge you probably would have already obliterated with shooting.
Daemon Titan of Nurgle - It Will Not Die on a titan is pretty fun, they're often alive long enough to take advantage of the rule, and anything that keeps you on the board a little longer can be totally game-changing. Absolutely a solid, if expensive, choice.
Daemon Titan of Tzeentch - Re-rolling hits of 1 is pretty much useless, since any gun worth taking is a Blast (unless you play with the interpretation that re-rolling to hits of 1's qualifies re-rolling scatter, since it uses the same verbiage as Get's Hot, in which case, this might be worth it's gigantic price tag).
Daemon Titan of Slaanesh - Making your opponent Initiative 1 in combat is going to make very little difference for titans, most things that can hurt you in combat are Initiative 1 anyhow, or you probably wont even kill them before they strike with the titan's weak melee stats. This also begs the question... why the hell are you in combat?! I thought we talked about this!

The power plant to keep the Chaos Warhound Titan moving is so powerful, that when the titan goes critical, the entire 10" blast is a Destroyer attack, meaning if it dies while in the ranks of your infantry, you're going to have a bad time. In combat, this monster is absolutely abysmal, with a single I1 attack at WS2, it's clear that this thing should avoid combat at all costs. If your opponent makes it into melee, you have to do anything you can to free it up, if it's not shooting at full power every turn, you're really in bad shape. With it's high point cost, you really must be sure to keep it insulated from enemy melee attacks, flyers and melta, or you're really going to waste the point investment.

Only available to Renegades and Heretics with Heretek Magus.

Chaos Reaver Titan

You can't get much bigger than the Reaver Titan in a "regular" game of 40k, though reasonably this guy should be reserved for Apocalypse, or 3k+ games. That aside, yes, you can actually fit this into an 1850 army, "should" is another matter. With an astounding 18 hull points with AV 14/14/13 (watch out back armour!), and an extra 4 void shields, because why the hell not, removing this model from the board is going to take some concentrated anti-tank work, or a couple lucky Imperial Knights. At range, this model has the ability to eradicate entire armies with it's massive guns, which it carries two of:

Gatling Blaster - Essentially a 6-shot battle cannon, this weapon is effective at clearing large amounts of MEQ or smaller infantry. If loading out a Reaver, this would be the first weapon I'd go for, plus it looks awesome.
Melta Cannon - A very direct, and unsubtle weapon, firing a 72" range S10 Ap1 10" blast with melta, while clearly a nasty weapon, being a single shot means it's only one chance to blow up a tank even though being a primary weapon and a melta range of 36", you will pen. Due to being a single shot though, it's relatively weak against enemy super heavy vehicles, so it isn't my favorite gun.
Volcano Cannon - Another single-shot gun, the Volcano cannon puts out a 7" destroyer shot. Forgeworld just finally came out with the gun arm for this option, but I would much rather take a Laser Blaster anyhow.
Laser Blaster - What's better than a double-barreled turbo laser destroyer? A triple-barreled one! Simply a 3-shot version of it's smaller cousin, not a bad choice ever, though not likely to make a lot of friends
Titan Power Fist - yes it looks cool, but with your awful combat stats, just don't.

Plus, on top you get to take one of the Warhound weapons, or one of these options:

Apocalypse Missile Launcher - Made for clearing out infantry with Apocalyptic Barrage 5 at S7 Apr makes this weapon awesome on the Reaver. Since the Reaver is so many points, it's critical to get the most out of it's firepower, it should be eradicating a multiple units a turn, since it's basically making up for not having an army.
Vortex Missile - A one-use missile, this weapon unsurprisingly fires a 5" destroyer shot that remains on the board using the vortex rule.

Of the weapons available, I'm a strong believer in the combination of a Gatling Blaster, Apocalypse Missile Launcher, and Laser Blaster. It gives you some Destroyer shots and AP2 to deal with tough armour, and 11 large blasts a turn at either S8 or S7 to handle everything else. I am sure there is temptation to go with dual laser blasters and a carapace mounted turbo laser, but really, you're only putting down 8 blasts a turn.

So with those guns, this thing must be totally unstoppable, right? Unfortunately you model well over a foot tall can get locked in combat indefinitely with a unit of infantry. In combat, it's just swinging it's 2 attacks at WS2, which is why that fist is just a joke, if this guy is in combat, it's basically useless, and you are going to be very sad as your remaining 390 points is going to be facing the brunt of your opponent's forces. The last issue is that the Reaver has no defense to speak of against flyers. It's heavy armour and HP means only a few things will really be a threat, but if you're spending 80% of your army in a single model, and it has two big weaknesses, you can really be in for a bad game. Overall, as much as I love how it looks, the Reaver just isn't suited for a normal game, either you'll be annihilating your opponent in a few turns, or they'll charge it with some flesh hounds and laugh as you try to stomp them off while he kills the rest of your army, sits on all the objectives, and waits for the game to end.

Only available to Renegades and Heretics with Heretek Magus.

There you have it, we have now gone over all the units available to the Renegades and Heretics, as well as Renegades of Vraks. Due to how economical the rest of the army is, I pretty much always recommend taking a Lord of War. My go-to choices are the Brass Scorpion, which changes your army from being entirely static, to an army with a severe close combat element (and it's immune to most if your firepower that may land on it), the Macharius Vulcan, which gives you some AP3 firepower that is otherwise hard to get, as well as a potential source of anti-air against flyrants, and the Baneblade since it is so good at improving units around it.