One of the biggest and, in my opinion, best changes to the Chaos army is the increased importance of the role Marauders play. Accordingly, we got a good deal of fluff surrounding them, to fill in the glaring blanks we have had so far. No longer do we have to suspend quite so much disbelief to swallow the Chaos story, which I believe has suffered from serious neglect. Slaves to Darkness and The Lost and the Damned were phenomenal source books. The problem is they were too good. Ever since their release, the designers at Games Workshop have been resting on their laurels. Let's face it, the majority of material that came out subsequent to those books were just clips and reworks. They took a few things out, and added a few in (like Marauders), but never added the necessary justification for the new ideas.

What we ended up with was thousands of warriors (some of whom came from the Old World, the others from who knows where) wandering around the wastes with no place to live and no food source to sustain themselves. The entire force was an elite cadre of super warriors…it just doesn't wash. In the 5th edition they introduced the idea of marauders, but offered no explanation as to where they came from or what role they played, and still they were just roaming around killing each other. Ravening Hordes, of course, offered no further clarification.

This new army book offers an insight as to who the Marauders are, and why they follow the dark gods. They name some tribes, while leaving enough room for players to invent their own if they want. They finally admit that not all inhabitants of the north are warriors (yes, there are women and children at home), and that chaos warriors and especially chaos knights are the exceptions and not the rule. They also finally introduce the idea that not all followers of chaos are mindless berzerkers fused into their armor (an idea that I initially thought was intriguing, but totally ridiculous when considered for any length of time). They touched on the notion that they were just religious fanatics that have a very tangible and real interaction with their gods. When the gods say go, they go.

It is a society that places little value on human life, especially the lives of those who do not follow their faith. Sounds very reasonable, doesn't it? Sounds like some historical examples I can think of. The most obvious is the Viking civilization (after which the Marauders were closely modeled), which when on their raids appeared to be mindless killing machines (and for the most part they were), but back home they had crops and livestock and wives and families. In short, Games Workshop gave back some humanity to these humans, and I like it.

Along with their new role in the Chaos army the Marauders got some minor upgrades, so that one might actually use them on the field of battle. Marauders have the option to take light armor and shield (for that all-important 4+ armor save), and the Marauder Horsemen were given the option to take ranged weapons! The Marauders, with WS4 match up favorably against other humans, but don't count on them to win combats for you with wounds. Their most effective role is to mass up and either win combats through ranks and outnumbering, or hold a unit up until you can flank.

There is no doubt that Marauders are the weakest link in the Chaos chain, and there needs to be a good justification to put them into your army. If your main concern in building your army is winning (and there is, by no means, anything wrong with that) then Marauders may not be for you. There are certainly more effective units to choose from. Some may argue (and justifiably so) that this is a game of Fantasy Battles (it says so right on the box) and any army you put together within the confines of the rules are fair game. Those people are absolutely right. You could have an army made entirely of Chaos Knights in under the current rules set. You will have a hard time playing them because you will have to constantly dodge the wheels of cheese that will inevitably be hurled at you, but it is within the rules.

For me, the army is not just probabilities and statistics (which is, in essence, what Warhammer boils down to). It is an idea I have in my mind. When I think of the forces of Chaos, I think of the opening scene of Conan the Barbarian. I want my army to be a living, breathing short story (or perhaps a novel) waiting to be told. Now that the powers that be have gifted us with a real society for these 'people', I am given the freedom to make my vision whole. Like other 'real' armies there are basic troopers and there are elites. In most cases the basic troopers vastly outnumber the elites. This gives me a strong basis for building my army. For every unit of chaos warriors there will be a unit of marauders that is at least half again as big. For every unit of chaos knights there will be a unit of marauder horsemen at least half again as big to complement, simply because in a 'real' army there are more normal warriors than exceptional ones.

Well, enough of my pontificating. I hope my little editorial has entertained you, and perhaps even enlightened you. If you think this article was complete rubbish, you are probably about as right as you are wrong. Now back to the Tactica Pandemonius.

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