Sunday, January 8, 2012

Apocalypse Army Selection: Chaos



By Thomas Wisenhunt

How do you select the army you use when you participate in an Apocalypse sized game of 40K?
The process that players go through in selecting the forces they use is as varied as the players themselves.  I have found that the experiences and the types of games that players regularly participate in affects how those players choose the forces they use in the larger sized Apocalypse games. As an example, I play in friendly local games with a small group of players. We have our own league but the games are not played to a tournament level of competitiveness. This has guided me to choosing armies that fall into what is commonly referred to as ‘fluff’ lists. I choose the units for my army with an eye towards the established background history of the army as presented by GW. A player that regularly plays in tournaments may choose those units he or she believes to be the most effective in helping to win their games.
In addition to the style of play, the types of armies available to a player will have a role in how you choose an Apocalypse force.
The armies I use are variations of Chaos armies. My principal army is a force of Chaos Space Marines from the World Eaters Traitor Legion. I enjoy the look of the army, the play style and the history.  I also have an Imperial Guard army that I use as a ‘Traitor Guard’ force. My Chaos Demon army is in the process of being assembled as well.
When I select my army, I have a choice to make. Do I pick one army and only use units from that codex book? Do I select a mixed force and use units from two or all three codex books?
During my first Apocalypse games, I would use a pure World Eaters army made up of only units from the Chaos Marine Codex. When I began working on the Traitor Guard army, I began to include Infantry Platoons along with my Chaos World Eaters. I can imagine that a World Eaters Lord would send forth the hordes of expendable guard infantry ahead of the precision assault by his Berserkers.
One of the challenges I have found in selecting an Apocalypse sized army for Chaos is what to choose to go in the army! There are so many choices in each army book it becomes a challenge to field what you think is an effective force. Additionally, you have the option of taking a variety of legendary units and formations available for each army. Do I take multiple squads of Khorne Berserkers or do I spring for the added benefits of a Maelstrom of Gore formation?
During my last few Apocalypse games, I’ve found that taking a mixed force has worked as long as I keep the unit selection to a roughly 35%/65% mix.  If a mixed force approaches the 50%/50% ratio, the units do not appear to be as effective because there is not enough of either force to adequately use that forces advantages.
How do you choose the units that make up your Apocalypse sized 40K army? Do you follow the armies history? Do you take the most effective, best performing units? Do you take a unit or model simply because it looks cool?
Post your comments below and share your wisdom!

3 comments:

Tylermenz said...

My first army was actually a Tau army which I have never really planned to use for apocalypse, quite simply, they don't get very cool stuff

My second army that I am currently building up is World Eaters, and I am gearing specifically for Apocalypse. It's going to be lots of formations, Slaughterfiends, Angranth, Mealstrom of Gore and some of the khorne demon formations.

Basically I don't really care about what codex it comes from as long as it fits. That being said, im not going to count the berzerkers as blood angels or wolves just to make them better.

t-hawk said...

I'm use my renegades for heavy artillery support (35%)and my death guard as the strike force (65%). The idea is to keep the soft units back and the iron fist to hit my opponents.

ColKillgore said...

My first two Apocalypse armies were Eldar and Death Guard. The Eldar are centerd around my Phantom titan and a couple Tempest superheavies. The army I have played the most Apocalypse games with is my Death Guard. I originally wanted to build a Death Guard company when I started assembling the army a while before Apocalypse was released. That is also when I started assembling three Plaguetowers. After Apocalypse was released and I finished the Plaguetowers. I normally build my force around the Plaguetowers and a detachment of Nurgle daemons. Later I added fifty Terminators to use as a Doombringer Annihilation force.
I normally stick to all Nurgle when building a Deathguard force, Typhus, Nurgle Chaos Lords, Plaguemarines, Nurgle Terminators and Nurgle Daemons.

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