Help with Chaos HQ choices

[minigun762]

The one element of my army that I can never seem to figure out is what to take for my mandatory HQ? :D

 

I've always preferred cheap characters so that when/if I lose them, I don't feel all that terrible. I'd like to stay away from Special Characters or the boring Lashers, but other than those guys what have you found success with?

[Cornelias]

atm i'm playing with a bog standard lord with wings/daemon weapon ( a plasma pistol aswell that's only really there because i feel the leader of an army would use something a bit more special than a bolt pistol) and melta bombs and i've never really had cause for concern.

 

being able to pop him in rhino and still have the maneuverability of a jump pack is pretty handy and after someone suggested it on these boards i've been teaming him up with a havoc squad in a rhino for clearing out objectives and then either moving a normal CSM squad into hold or summoning some daemons to do the same. he can always break away from the squad and use his speed incase any major threats pop up that should require his attention.

 

i mostly stay away from princes and can't really give an explanation other than i've always preferred modeling and painting a lord when making my army. i also have a deep hatred of lash this/that or the other and i'm proud of the fact i've never used one........

[JamesI]

Well, my characters don't tend to be cheap.

 

But what works well for me is Lord, mark of Tzeentch, deamon weapon and some mobility (be it demonic steed, wings or jump pack.) Flying around throwind d6 shots a turn and backing that up with the demon weapon for close combat.

 

Or a deamon prince. Add warptime and its still pretty cheap and nasty.

[Rain]

The sad thing is that the best cost/benefit ratio HQ is probably a daemon prince. I mean think about it, a "bog standard" lord with a daemon weapon and wings will run you 150 points, a DP with wings runs you 130 and has more wounds, a higher strength, a higher toughness, and no chance to hurt himself and do nothing. The only downside is that he can't be hidden in a squad, but on the other hand, he cannot be instant killed by battle cannons or power fists and as mentioned before he is generally much harder to kill, especially in hand to hand.

[Imperialis_Dominatus]

I use a Tzeentch Steed Lord with Lightning Claws. He does pretty well for himself.

 

I think it's because he's painted.

 

Overall, yeah, he's not really cost-effective. But lightning claws are fun, especially when they have six attacks.

[Cale]

Daemon Prince, Mark of Khorne, Wings for 140 points. He's cheaper than just about any decent non-DP character and does as much or more damage than most of them, as well.

[Zeruel]

I've had a lot of success thus far with a simple Prince with Wings and Warptime, quite the combat monster and not going to break the bank points wise. I've also been quite pleased with my Lord on a Bike with a Daemon Weapon. He hasn't wowed me as much as the Prince has but neither has he really let me down and I'm pretty proud of the model so I like using him often.

[Iron_Chaos_Brute]

DP, Wings, Warptime.

If you don't want Lash, this is the way to go.

Give him MoS and he swings before most ICs and MCs, MoN and MEQs wound him on 6s.

[CelestialSon]

I use the lord, tzeench, disc and deathscreamer combo. It gives enough felxibility to handle most situations.

 

I also sometimes use Huron Blackheart, he's a real unit crusher

[Brother Drakist]

minigun762,

I am having the same issues you are. Last game I used a Chaos lord w/Bloodfeeder because that's really all I had on hand. I recently modeled up a Termie Sorceror but getting him to where I want him to be makes it a costly HQ. I will say that as soon as the plastic Daemon Princes are released I will purchase one because you can't beat the price/performance you get from the Daemon Prince. For now I just may model a cheap Termie Lord with lightning claws.

[minigun762]

Great advice everyone. Alot of it was stuff I had thought about but its good to hear that its working out well for others.

 

I think the biggest obstacle for me personally is that I try to be fluffy and decide "what would this guy really have?" in the same way that Cornelias mentioned giving his Lord a Plasma Pistol.

 

My typical choice is usually a model in Terminator Armor for the simple reason that its supposed to be the best, and so it makes sense that the highest ranking individual would claim the best for himself. However Terminator does have some significant drawbacks when playing which might be more where I'm having the problems.

[Seahawk]

I'll always use one of these three:

 

- Huron

- Lord w/mark of tzeentch & deathscreamer + various fiddily bits

- Lord w/terminator armor, lightning claws or daemon weapon, some mark

 

All of them perform well for me. I'll dabble with sorcerors or other named characters, but beyond that...eh.

[Cale]

I still don't really like Terminator Armour that much. Mobility is far more important to the lord than protection, and Deepstrike just doesn't fill in the gap. High threat range on assaults is necessary for combat characters to be good, and Termie lords just don't have it.

[minigun762]

I still don't really like Terminator Armour that much. Mobility is far more important to the lord than protection, and Deepstrike just doesn't fill in the gap. High threat range on assaults is necessary for combat characters to be good, and Termie lords just don't have it.

 

Thats my issue I guess.

Background-wise, Terminator Armor seems more appropriate than Wings or a Jump Pack.

Game-wise, everyone should have Wings or the Jump Pack because of the importance of mobility.

 

The easy compromise is a Daemon Prince who has both in essence but it seems silly that every little warband has their own Daemon Prince to pal around with.

[Brother Nihm]

Chaos Lord, MoT, Deathscreamer and Jump pack. Most would prefer wings though.

[JamesI]

I still don't really like Terminator Armour that much. Mobility is far more important to the lord than protection, and Deepstrike just doesn't fill in the gap. High threat range on assaults is necessary for combat characters to be good, and Termie lords just don't have it.

I completely agree.

 

I started my chaos army with a lord in terminator armor and a sorceror in terminator armor. After seeing them go too slow to do what I needed both swapped out for wings/disk of tzeentch.

[brew city envoy]

I can't go to battle without my HQs. they are kinda costly, but worth it. sorcerors with lash and wings. stick them in a squad so they don't get shot through, and if the goin gets tough, we fly away.

[Cornelias]

I can't go to battle without my HQs. they are kinda costly, but worth it. sorcerors with lash and wings. stick them in a squad so they don't get shot through, and if the goin gets tough, we fly away.

 

was waiting on someone chipping in with the usual 2x lash option. ;)

[Brother Drakist]

I can't go to battle without my HQs. they are kinda costly, but worth it. sorcerors with lash and wings. stick them in a squad so they don't get shot through, and if the goin gets tough, we fly away.

 

was waiting on someone chipping in with the usual 2x lash option. :D

 

At least they are not Daemon Princes with Lash and wings. However you must wonder how many obliterators are in the list :( .

[doctor_wu]

I normally run a sorcerer with wings and doombolt. It is cheap and fairly awesome. Gets into close combat he is decent. Doombolt does some shooting damage to infantry. In the end he dies to too many powerfist or krak missiles is the main problem Or other instant death things.

[Askari]

Lord with wings and daemon weapon is my favorite. simple, dead killy and relatively cheap. He may not be immune to instant death from powerfists like a Daemon Prince but he's easier to hide and can be put in a squad with just about anything and be effective. And he reminds me of the warsmith from storm of iron.

[Tchort]

I like to use 2 Daemon Princes with Mark of Nurgle and Wings. Makes them resilient to enemy fire power, and I can use cover to give them that 4+ invul save. Sometimes I'll use a Sorc because I think they're very characterful. Wings and maybe Wind of Chaos or Doom Bolt/Bolt of Change.

[Ace of Gods]

My HQ choices usually form the choices of; 1) Demon prince, mark slaanesh, and wings.. Give him doombolt, Warptime, or Lash, depending on how you feel. and 2) Chaos lord with Bloodfeeder. Using objectives? Place him nearby and either the enemy HAS to come near you to try and get the points, or he doesnt get it. Kill points? If you cant get soemone across a 4 foot board to cause some kind of wounds and damage, the nyou are doing something Seriously wrong. Bloodfeeder just massively owns in CC. Mine is usually in a squad of berzerkers or possessed as he does his exploration of the field.

[minigun762]

So if you're stuck on using a Terminator HQ, what would be the best choices?

 

My first thought is always Chaos Lord, Daemon Weapon, Terminator Armor. The 2 hand nature of the Daemon Weapons doesn't matter with the loss of the Bolt Pistol and you get the discount price on the Daemon Weapon.

 

My other thought is a Sorcerer, Terminator Armor and either Wind of Chaos or Warptime. Warptime is good but you do lose out on that +1 attack from the Bolt Pistol. Wind of Chaos seems useful, especially when paired with other Terminators and a Heavy Flamer. My worry is that it might be too much damage before you charge and you could get stuck outside of assault range.

[Cornelias]

if your set on a terminator lord then Abaddon or a "counts as" is the way to go :(