Hey everyone it’s Adam again from TheDiceAbide.com! I’m back from the honeymoon, the wedding was a blast, but it’s back to the grind for me! So, now that I’ve gone over the Chaos Renegade army lists in full, the big question is what the hell do you do with it? Generally speaking, the army’s strengths lie in it’s incredibly inexpensive infantry and artillery, so typically that’s what you’ll expect in an army.
Rot Quake
Renegades of Vraks Combined Arms Detachment (Primary)
5 Renegade Command Squad: Ordnance Tyrant with Covenant of Nurgle: 85
Renegade Infantry Platoon:
- 20 Command Squad: auto pistols, close combat weapons, 3 flamers, chaos sigil, demagogue: 85
- 20 Infantry Squad: auto pistols, close combat weapons, 3 flamers, chaos sigil: 80
- 20 Infantry Squad: auto pistols, close combat weapons, 3 flamers, chaos sigil: 80
35 Plague Zombies: 105
35 Plague Zombies: 105
4 Field Artillery: quad launchers, +8 extra crew: 144
4 Field Artillery: quad launchers, +8 extra crew: 144
3 Heavy Ordnance Battery: earthshakers, militia training, +6 extra crew: 193
2 Wyverns: 110
2 Wyverns: 110
3 Leman Russ Exterminators: militia training, multi-melta sponsons: 450
3 Rapier Laser Destroyers: militia training, +3 extra crew: 79
3 Rapier Laser Destroyers: militia training, +3 extra crew: 79
Total: 1849
Just look at all that fire power. The Ordnance Tyrant ditches his command squad to join the Heavy Ordnance Battery, a much more fitting command squad. In all this army puts out 48 small blasts a turn, 3 earthshaker shots, 6 rapier laser arrays, plus the Leman Russes. On top of that, you’re putting 130 Objective Secured infantry on the board, over half of which has 4+ FNP and Fearless! The Ordnance Tyrant allows you to fire into combat, so if you get any high priority targets in melee with your zombies, shell the crap out of them!
Blood and Thunder
Renegades of Vraks Purge Detachment (Primary)
5 Renegade Command Squad: Ordnance Tyrant: 70
4 Field Artillery: quad launchers: 120
2 Wyverns: 110
2 Wyverns: 110
3 Rapier Laser Destroyers: militia training, +3 extra crew: 79
Khorne Daemonkin Combined Arms Detachment
Herald of Khorne: 55
Herald of Khorne: 55
8 Bloodletters: 80
8 Bloodletters: 80
Maulerfiend: lasher tendrils: 140
Maulerfiend: lasher tendrils: 140
Maulerfiend: lasher tendrils: 140
Khorne Daemonkin Combined Arms Detachment
Bloodthirster of Insatiate Rage: 275
Bloodthirster of Insatiate Rage: 275
8 Chaos Cultists: 58
8 Chaos Cultists: 58
Total: 1850
While more of a Khorne Daemonkin army, I think it’s a twisted enough of an idea to share. The general idea is that the maulers and Blood Thirsters don’t really care if they’re hit by wyverns or quad launchers, so you’re free to shell into combat with impunity. The Heralds of Khorne go with the quad launchers and rapier lasers to generate Blood Tithe from ranged attacks, while blasting apart transports or infantry. Overall, I think this list would be incredibly fun to play with, though probably less fun to face, haha.
Ravening Hordes
Renegades and Heretics Combined Arms Detachment (Primary)
5 Renegade Command Squad: Master of the Horde with Covenant of Tzeentch: 75
3 Renegade Enforcer: carapace armour, melta bombs, combat drug injectors: 135
Renegade Infantry Platoon:
- 20 Platoon Command Squad: autoguns, 2 autocannons, 2 meltaguns, command net vox, chaos sigil, militia training, Demagogue with Covenant of Tzeentch: 145
- 20 Infantry Squad: autoguns, 2 autocannons, 2 meltaguns, vox-caster, chaos sigil, militia training, Champion with Covenant of Tzeentch: 145
- 10 Infantry Squad: shotguns, 2 meltaguns, militia training: 60
- Chimera: 2 heavy flamers, dozer blade: 60
Renegade Infantry Platoon:
- 20 Command Squad: auto pistols, close combat weapons, 3 flamers, chaos sigil: 80
- 20 Infantry Squad: auto pistols, close combat weapons, 3 flamers, chaos sigil: 80
- 20 Infantry Squad: auto pistols, close combat weapons, 3 flamers, chaos sigil: 80
3 Chaos Spawn: 55
3 Chaos Spawn: 55
4 Wyverns: 220
3 Renegade Rapier Laser Destroyers: militia training, +3 extra crew: 79
3 Renegade Rapier Laser Destroyers: militia training, +3 extra crew: 79
Renegade Baneblade: Militia Training: 500
Total: 1848
Normally, I’m not a huge fan of the Baneblade, but when you combine it with a massive amount of infantry, suddenly it’s aura granting Zealot starts to get a whole lot more serious. On the charge, each of those blobs of 20 infantry is putting out 80 attacks that re-roll to hit, provided they’re near the Baneblade. On top of that, you still have a fair amount of firepower with the Rapiers, Wyverns and other infantry platoon. The non-melee infantry platoon is mostly for sitting on objectives, but they can also provide air support, as Covenant of Tzeentch means they’ll be hitting flyers on a 5+, so if an enemy hive tyrant wants to end up within 18″, there’s a decent chance that you can knock it out of the sky with a meltagun or autocannon shot. Finally, the Master of the Horde allows you to bring back your infantry squads on a 5+ should they be destroyed, so you can fairly safely lose some early in the game and expect a couple to come back onto your backfield objectives.
While I’m sure there are many other ways to play the army, you can probably sense that my resounding theme involves big guns and a crap ton of near-worthless infantry. It would be interesting to see a Renegades of Vraks army built around the Shock Legion Taskmaster with a ton of Ogryns running up the board, or the Bloody-handed Reaver’s army of faux-tempestus, though I think when it comes to winning games, it’s all about the big guns and meat wall.
Thanks a lot for all your Renegade articles, I love seeing them get some attention 🙂
I like the first list as it’s not too far off from what I usually play: zombies and artillery, but I’m really not sold on the Leman Russes; they are a huge chunk of your army and really vulnerable to haywire, grav, melta etc.
I also think having 4 thudd guns in each unit is excessive; if the first blast scatters way off mark you have 15 other shots that are pretty much wasted (you can try to Hit-line them towards a target but still)
Is Militia Training really worth it on the earthshakers? Do you really need the extra crew on your quad launchers and earthshakers?
I think I’m almost done polishing and optimizing my own Renegade/Daemon/CSM army that I believe will have the durability, flexibility and firepower to take on most competitive lists out there. Go Renegades!
Thanks for the feedback. Could definitely run 3×2 or something for the Thudd Guns. I like the Militia Training on the Earthshakers since it’s a flat fee and it’s the only way to improve it’s accuracy, since it’s not twin-linked like the thudds. I like the Russes, you’re right about being vulnerable to melta/haywire, but at the same time, they’re pumping out 6 multi-melta and 12 twin-linked autocannon shots a turn, which can really put a dent in some tough targets.
How are the Thudd guns twin linked? Is that a renegade rule or a bonus from the hq?
Sorry, meant to say Wyverns there. Doesn’t change my point though, you’re paying more for the Earthshaker gun, so I don’t really think 10 points to increase it’s accuracy is a bad idea. You get a lot more shots with the other weapons so reducing the scatter by an inch is less of an issue.
Depending on how your tournaments rule on the “reroll-all-ones=reroll-to-hit-for-blasts” debate, a Bunker with an Ammo Store could really do wonders for the Ordnanace Tyrant list.
I can’t possibly imagine how someone would make an argument for that working.
Also, Artillery units cannot embark into buildings or transports.
The rule book says, if you have a re-roll to hit you get to re-roll scatter. There’s no argument there.
I’ve heard it before. It’s the same argument that Preferred Enemy on Pask’s bodyguard executioners allows them to re-roll Get’s Hot, it’s the same wording as re-rolling to hit with blast weapons.
Not true, Adam. Gets Hot _specifically_ says that being able to reroll the dice in any way allows you to reroll the Gets Hot check for a blast weapon.
Being able to reroll 1s to hit isn’t the same thing as a blanket reroll (which is what the “Blast weapons and rerolls” rule refers to.) It only works for Gets Hot because it specifically says it does.
I’m not sure if something is in parentheses it is being listed as an exception to the normal rules, or an example of what that phrase is meant to include. I could see the argument either way, whether or not I agree with it.
Read the wording on re-rolling to hit with blast weapons, and read it for re-rolling the gets hot dice, it’s worded the same with the exception of the parentheses, which to me seems to explain what things the phrase is meant to include, not additions that would be normally excluded by the wording.
Definitively worth checking with the organizer of a tournament.
The Ammo Store (or was it the ammo dump?) works for all models within 3″ – they don’t have to be inside the bunker.
If you’ve read the Vraks book, the Endless Horde detachment is vastly superior to using a Combined Arms when you’re doing a “ALL the mans” army. With Master of the Horde recycling units on a 2+, improved cover saves for shooting through units, and Outflanking with things when they recycle I think it is a genuine threat to most armies, as they just don’t have the firepower to deal with that many infantry.
The Ordnance Tyrant list is definitely pretty nasty, although I wonder if it might struggle with a Drop Pod or bikes army (with Hit and Run)- it’s got a lot of bodies, but the artillery themselves will evaporate pretty quickly in a fight. I might drop some or all of the Exterminators in favor of a detachment bringing in some heavier melee hitters; even just a Chaos Lord on a Juggernaut could really add a lot of striking power.
I agree that Endless Horde is really, really powerful, but the way I see it there are two problems: time and tanks.
In a tournament setting time is limited as you know, and moving so many models around, keeping track of special weapons, counting up how many models are in range, how many attacks you get, etc. takes a lot of time. I consider myself a fast horde player, but I can’t imagine playing past the 4th game turn very often with such a list. And since this is an attrition list, this can be a problem, as you don’t get to exploit your army’s strength fully.
Secondly with all the SM battle company rhino/razorback-spam armies around, the Endless Horde lacks enough reliable anti-tank weaponry but more importantly it’s very susceptible to simply being tank-shocked off the table. And that’s before we get to the part where the Horde lacks ObSec…
OrdTyrant is indeed vulnerable to drop pod/alpha strike armies (zombies can shield pretty well against most melee units/bikes), but at least against the now-so-prevailent Gravpods (Centurions, Skyhammer, etc.) I got three words: Void. Shield. Generator.
I played three and five Tervigons back in 5E/6E and managed to complete most of my games on time- you have to play fast, certainly, but it’s doable. Part of it is just knowing what you care about and what to just leave at “good enough.”
I run my Platoons with 3x Meltagun 2x Autocannon, so having enough AT I doubt would be an issue- and with a combination of Chaos Sigil and a reasonable chance of passing anyways (plus being allowed to recycle back on if you do fail), I don’t think Tank Shock would be the big issue. The larger one is lack of ObSec- but if you’re prioritizing the transports and keeping a good wrap on the objectives, I think it’d be doable. Taking a CSM CAD to back it up and running several squads of Cyclotrathe Rapiers would also help a lot.
A VSG can help against Drop Cents, though to be honest Grav isn’t really very scary to guys with a null armor save. Ravenwing (with a 3+ rerollable Jink, even in combat) and Drop Pod Battle Company are much more threatening, I think. Essentially, anything highly aggressive that has a good chance of weathering the first turn of shooting (i.e. most successful aggressive lists) is going to be very problematic.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the Chaos Sigils differ from IA:13 and the Siege of Vraks, with the latter granting Stubborn and a re-roll rather than the option to ignore the test. I don’t have my books at hand so I can’t check until tomorrow.
That’s correct, you also can’t use the Endless Horde with the IA:13 Renegades, which if you could, would be amazing… Slaanesh on those outflanking units would be great, as would Tzeentch, which is my favorite of the covenants, not to mention the better Sigils.
Huh, didn’t realize that- I’ve only looked through the new Vraks book. That’s unfortunate.
I was back and forth on the Endless Horde for a couple reasons. The lack of additional heavy slots was a big factor though, as well as losing objective secured on all those bodies makes them coming back less helpful.
Counter attack is an interesting idea, I have never even considered combat with the army, I just accept that they’re guard in melee and instead focus on dealing all the damage I can before they’re wiped out.
I think slotting in a handful of combat characters could go a long ways- Daemonkin or CSM would be ideal there. It’d shore up some major weaknesses, and potentially for a pretty low cost (~200pts with KDK.)
Lacking the extra heavy slots for the Horde is definitely a thing, but the difference between recycling on a 2+ and a 5+ is pretty huge. With multiple detachments, it’s pretty trivial to take another CAD or something to fill in whatever you need- heck, even another Renegades CAD would be an easy way to spam a bunch of bunch guns if you wanted to go that direction.
Yeah, the 2+ vs 5+ is pretty massive… it really comes down to the additional slots, covenants, and objective secured… Gaining outflank from the formation is also pretty awesome though.
I’ve actually done the exact things you mention here:
Running the Unending Tide, 90 dudes, 6 squads of 15 with 2 flamers and a sigil. Heavy slot filled by artillery
Renegades CAD with tons of rapiers and artillery
Daemonkin CAD for assault elements
(I am experimenting with a Blood Host, I want to see what happens when I can summon units nearly every turn).
Its a blast 🙂
Been playing this and loving it. Doesn’t pack a ton of damage output but bored control like a son of a bitch…
Renegade cad
4 Renegade Command Squad: command net vox; Arch-demagogue (Ordnance Tyrant; covenant of nurgle) 90
20 Plague Zombie Horde 60
20 Plague Zombie Horde 60
20 Plague Zombie Horde 60
1 Renegade Field Artillery Battery : heavy quad launcher ; 3 renegade crew 30
1 Renegade Field Artillery Battery : heavy quad launcher ; 3 renegade crew 30
1 Renegade Field Artillery Battery : heavy quad launcher ; 3 renegade crew 30
1 Renegade Heavy Ordnance Battery : earthshaker cannon 55
1 Renegade Heavy Ordnance Battery : earthshaker cannon 55
1 Renegade Heavy Ordnance Battery : earthshaker cannon 55
Deamon ally
Heralds of Chaos
• Herald of Tzeentch: Psyker (Mastery Level 3); Exalted Reward; Disc of Tzeentch 150
• Herald of Tzeentch: Psyker (Mastery Level 3); Disc of Tzeentch; Exalted Locus of Conjuration 145
11 Pink Horrors of Tzeentch 99
7 Screamers of Tzeentch 175
Deamon cad
Kairos Fateweaver 300
Daemon Prince: Psyker (Mastery Level 3); Daemon of Slaanesh; Greater Reward; daemonic flight; Warp-forged Armour 310
3 Nurgling Swarms 45
11 Pink Horrors of Tzeentch 99
1,848 points
That sounds pretty fun! I like the Slaanesh prince quite a bit, but I do wonder about the capability of the list to handle armour.
Yeah, with only three Earthshakers capable of damaging AV12+ I’d be pretty worried.
I was too. Then I played it vs all sorts of armies… Don’t need to kill much to win lvo games
Man… if i had the time and the money i would love to make a renegade army, i just can’t fathom buying, building and painting 200+ infantry…
I am wondering if one or two of those Helbrute formations may actually be useful alongside a Renegade force… Probably not, but always hoping!
I always love an excuse to include them though! Hell, if they end up with 4 attacks, I’ll probably really give them a whirl… 3 of them deep striking with plasma/scourge could make a mess, or even the stock melta/fist.
Good point- the 4th attack would make them (almost) competitive!
Man, Your lists and basic descriptions are a great help both with understanding my options and with ideas for my armies. Just curious though,your Rot Quake list shows 2 squads of 35 Zombies, however, doesn’t Imp. Armor 13 say that you can only take 1 squad of plague zombies? If you know of where it says differently, would you mind pointing to where I can find that?
Imperial armour : Siege of Vraks (which is not IA13) doesn’t have the 0-1 restriction.
Yeah, that was pointed out to me, too. Much better!
I really like the first list (Rot Quake), but have you considered running it as a purge list instead. Yes you lose Objective Secured, but the Salt the Earth rule works so well with the amount of barrage weapons you have.