Current Season: General’s Handbook 2026-27
Latest Battlescroll: July 8th, 2026
Last Updated: September 17th, 2026

Introduction

Hello there, and welcome to the primer for the Slaves to Darkness in 4th edition Age of Sigmar. The purpose of this primer is to provide a quick reference for players new to the army in an easily digestible form. It also aims to collect the most current thoughts on how to succeed with the army at a competitive level.

Ranking System

This primer will be using the following ranking system for the army’s units, enhancements, and battle traits:

S – Armies without this option are sub-optimal. A must-have for competitive play.

A – A staple option. Competitive army lists should mainly be comprised of these choices.

B – A niche but useful option in the right contexts. Not every army will want to include it, but the ones that do love it.

C – An overshadowed and/or inefficient option. A better version of this option is present in the army, its effects are weak, or the points cost is not aligned with the benefit.

D – A bad option. Including this in your army list actively makes it worse and should be avoided whenever possible.

General Thoughts on the Army and Playstyle

Slaves to Darkness overall is an army that is capable of several distinct playstyles. The first one that comes to mind for most players is the elite brawler style embodied by the units with the Warriors of Chaos keyword. That list is well-armored, high-damage army that seeks to dominate its opponents in combat with its combination of strong damage profiles, formidable armor saves, and access to Wards. This list tends to have few regiments to try and control what player takes the first turn and often thrives on taking devastating double turns. Completing Battle Tactics is generally a secondary concern for that list, which limits its scoring potential.

The second playstyle is a grindy attrition style largely focusing on Darkoath units. These units are cheap, plentiful, and have several abilities that let you benefit from your models or units dying. As the cherry on top, this army can have access to recursion to pick your units back up if they are destroyed. While the individual Darkoath units don’t pack a huge punch, the combination of having lots of them on the table, their recursion, and their abilities make the army quite good at grinding opponents out while featuring enough units to participate well in the scoring of primary objectives and Battle Tactics.

The third playstyle is a skill-intensive style focused on running lots of powerful Heroes (colloquially referred to as “Herohammer”). Lists using this style take advantage of the powerful abilities associated with units such as Archaon the Everchosen and Be’lakor, the Dark Master to control the battlefield while these Heroes pick off key targets. This list is usually good at completing Battle Tactics and highly mobile but can sometimes struggle to take and hold primary objectives across prolonged combats.

The combination of the playstyles described above is possible to an extent, but hits diminishing returns very quickly. You are generally better off picking one of the three playstyles above, then adding one or two pieces that you are fond of to complement it.

Battle Traits, Spell Lore, and Faction Terrain Discussion

Eye of the Gods/Dark Apotheosis

A very flavorful mechanic where you pick a Hero, have them perform certain tasks (fighting and taking enemy objectives), and are rewarded with ascension. Because the resulting Daemon Prince is a new unit, but it inherits all the enhancements of the previous unit, this is a cheeky way to fish for using once-per-game enhancements like Deathmonger twice in the same game. However, most of the Heroes that qualify for this ability are a bit on the fragile side, and the game actions the Battle Trait requires for ascension are inherently risky. Your chosen Hero will often die before ascending, and as such, I think it’s a C Battle Trait. 

Pledge to Chaos

Getting to choose between a host of good buffs with point-and-click applications is a very strong effect. Unfortunately, being able to apply to only one unit at a time and on your Hero phase (as opposed to the start of the round) means you can potentially hit bottlenecks on wanting more units to be pledged than what you have the actual capacity to pledge. There are some workarounds, but overall I think the restrictions mean the ability is a B. As for the individual pledges, please see the ranking below.

The Khorne pledge is a no-questions-asked bonus to Attacks, which comes in very handy for an army like this, which by and large relies on killing your opponents’ units to progress its gameplan. As such, I think it’s worthy of an A ranking.

The Tzeentch pledge is one of this army’s main sources of movement tech. A short-range teleport that can be used after you move or run because of its Movement phase timing is a great way to have a Hero or cheap unit complete scoring plays on your behalf. Its only flaws are that you can only activate it with one unit at a time, and that choosing it incurs some opportunity cost with some of the other benefits on this list. Overall, I think it’s a B.

The Nurgle pledge is highly conditional. On its own, a 6+ Ward doesn’t do much, so its use case entirely depends on having units with a 6+ Ward that it can turn into a 5+ Ward. Some examples of this exist on the roster, but not enough of them that I feel comfortable ranking this pledge any higher than a C.

Last but not least, the Slaanesh pledge is also conditional. It hinges heavily on that units in Slaves to Darkness have enough output that dealing more damage via Khorne can be overkill. Instead, this offers a bonus toward making your charges, which isn’t always good, but it is quite good when it happens in the right circumstances. I give it a C, but it has a high potential upside.

Spell Lore

The in-faction spell lore (The Lore of the Damned) is a pretty good one. It has a handy Unlimited direct damage spell in Spite-Tongue Curse, but the real oomph lies in Daemonic Speed and Binding Damnation. Adding an extra dice to a charge and strikes-last effects are fantastic effects for a primarily melee combat army, with tier only flaws being their short ranges. While that is enough of a weakness that I believe the lore clocks in at a B, it is still a spell lore I am happy to have access to.

Faction Terrain

The faction terrain for Slaves to Darkness is the Nexus Chaotica, and it’s mostly underwhelming. While it can offer a bonus to cast, it does so under very limiting and somewhat unreliable circumstances (need to be within combat range of the terrain and also roll 3+ on the first activation to generate enough points). It can also provide some mortal damage on an objective if you accumulate enough point, but the resource cost for that effect is so high that you won’t see it during the contested portion of most games.

However, the Nexus is a bit better than it has been in the past thanks to some recent rules changes. It is a large terrain piece that occupies a good amount of physical space, and faction terrain that is not garrisoned can no longer be charged. Accordingly, you can generally position it such that it can potentially block part of your opponent’s approach until they remove it, and that is a potentially valuable effect. Overall, I think it’s a C-ranked terrain piece.

Battle Formations Tier List

This is an evaluation of where I believe the Battle Formations for this army stand in terms of competitive play.

S Tier

I do not consider any Battle Formations in this army to be in this tier at this time.

A Tier

Darkoath Horde – Recursion is a critical component of the Darkoath attrition playstyle, and this is how they obtain it. Do note that it requires a Darkoath Hero to access the revive and Darkoath units to be revived, so not every list may derive benefit from it. But for the ones that do, this is a must.

B Tier

Despoilers – Getting all of your units pledged during the early rounds is often a bottleneck faced by Slaves to Darkness players, and Despoilers helps make that a bit easier. Not only is the Daemon Prince that you bring to benefit from the Battle Trait automatically pledged at the start of the game, but he can also spread his pledge around to any interested units nearby at end of turn, saving you the trouble of pledging them in your Hero phase. This Battle Formation has some list construction hoops to jump through, but you get a very nice effect.

C Tier

Godswrath Warband – This Battle Formation offers what would be a strong benefit in many other armies, but it doesn’t really reflect mesh with the playstyle of Slaves to Darkness. Putting tokens on objectives you are contesting and having them pulse out mortal damage at the end of each of your turns is good in a vacuum, but that potential is only realized if there are enemies on those objectives for you to damage. Some specialized grinder builds can make some use of it, but Darkoath have a specialized Battle Formation that is more compelling to them, and Warriors of Chaos-heavy lists tend to do enough damage that some end-of-turn mortals aren’t determining combat or control outcomes very often.

D Tier

Legion of Chaos – All this Battle Formation offers is a control score buff in an army that generally does not win by engaging in control contests. I struggle to imagine any context in which this Battle Formation would actually be useful.

Unit Tier List

This is an evaluation of where I believe units in this army stand in terms of competitive play. I will be noting the unit’s type(s) in its entry.

S Tier

I do not consider any units in this army to be in this tier at this time.

A Tier

Chaos Chosen (Infantry) – One of the game’s premier offensive infantry units, with a price tag to befit their status. Crit (mortal) and fighting twice makes this unit capable of taking down more or less anything, and it benefits greatly from buffs that you can provide it via enhancements or your Battle Traits.

Chaos Sorcerer Lord (Hero, Infantry) – A reasonably priced Wizard with an excellent ability. I think of the Ward it can hand out as a second spell that your opponent can’t interact with, and it’s a very strong one at that.

Chaos Warriors (Scourge of Aqshy) (Infantry) – While this unit does not scale well in multiples and depends on your hoarding Fury, the rewards for it are undeniably potent. A native Ward combines very favorably with the Nurgle pledge, and strikes-first when not charging is very powerful.

Daemon Prince (Hero, Infantry) – A solid warscroll with crit (mortal) and potential access to strikes first and a 5+ Ward, this unit meshes very well with some of the enhancements,  and can help with getting your units pledged in the right Battle Formation. As such, this is one of your better Heroes and one that has crossover appeal in virtually all types of lists. It has diminishing returns in multiples, but you will rarely regret the first one you invest in.

Darkoath Chieftain (Hero, Infantry) – Darkoath need cheap Heroes for their Battle Formation and the Marauders’ ability to function, and this little guy fits the bill quite well. He also boosts the offensive capabilities of the Darkoath infantry troops while he’s at it. A staple in Darkoath-heavy lists.

Darkoath Marauders (Infantry) – The basic troops of the Darkoath heavy armies, these guys are a bit expensive for what their base profile is, but the combination of dealing mortals on death (when combined with a nearby Hero), access to other buffs between Heroes and Battle Traits, and their own Oath being fulfilled means you can cobble together enough damage for them to be a threat. These are the beating heart of Darkoath lists.

Darkoath Wilderfiend (Beast) – A curious little beastie with a solid statline, this unit generates points from models (friendly or enemy) dying around it and then channels those points into useful effects. At its best in Darkoath lists due to their proclivity for dying in droves, but it is so efficiently priced that other types of lists also include them from time to time.

Gunnar Brand (Hero, Infantry) – While individually this Hero is not much to write home about, he comes as a package deal with another cheap Hero and a unit containing a Wizard for a very reasonable price. Having to be in his own regiment makes him less appealing for certain kinds of lists, but overall he’s very much worth the investment.

Legion of the First Prince Bloodletters (Infantry) – Legion doesn’t have many troop options, and this is by far the best infantry of the bunch. They are a big damage sponge with their health per model and Ward, pretty consistent volume damage, and recursion to top it all off. I believe any competitive Legion list should be absolutely swarming in these.

Singri Brand (Hero, Cavalry) – A cheap, fast Hero that comes with Gunnar Brand, she is a great piece for sitting on Places of Power, helping out with Battle Tactics, and being a nuisance on the flank. Very nice to have.

The Oathsworn Kin (Infantry) – Effectively a Wizard that lacks Hero protections but gets to have 9 health in exchange, it also features a half-decent combat profile and a nice spell. It is also the only Wizard with the Darkoath keyword on the current roster, which is a quite valuable thing.

B Tier

Abraxia, Spear of the Everchosen (Hero, Monster) – While her offensive profile can charitably be described as swingy, she is cheap, tough, and hits you back when you damage her. Not a bad package for the points.

Archaon the Everchosen (Hero, Monster) – A beast of a profile with some potent abilities, he has a points cost to match. This makes him difficult to squeeze into a list, as you are kind of obliged to build around him to justify your investment. He is the core of the Herohammer builds this army is capable of, and can be very potent if you play to his strengths, which are his mobility, durability, and the Eye of Sheerian’s offer of turn manipulation.

Be’lakor, the Dark Master (Hero, Monster) – Be’lakor has a lot of things going for him: his Dark Master ability can really put the clamps on an enemy gameplan, he makes your melee blobs much scarier to approach with his Deadly Trap ability, he is a double caster with one of the best debuff spells in the game, he is fast, and he has a strong control score. However, he is expensive, and his combat stats are below the standard expected of this army. You can be successful with him, but you generally have to run a big scary unit or two for him to hide behind, and some cheap fast units to make sure your list has enough board presence.

Chaos Knights (Cavalry) – This is what I consider the best generalist unit in the army. It is good at damage (on the charge), it has good speed, good durability, and uses multiple pledges well. While some players try to reinforce them and use them as a charge-dependent hammer to knock things down, I think they are at their best as a flexible 5-man unit that can fill multiple roles.

Chaos Legionnaires (Infantry) – A cheap unit that you can use as fodder for screening and Battle Tactics that also has a useful anti-command effect. Generally worth the points, if you can find them.

Chaos Lord (Hero, Infantry) – A combat Hero with a decent profile that can supercharge one of your heavy armor infantry units with a chain fight +1 to wound. It also gets bonus points when fielded with Be’lakor, as the ability to tag in your troops interacts very favorably with Deadly Trap.

Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount (Cavalry, Hero) – A cheap cavalry Hero that can boost your armored cavalry units with a chain fight and +1 to wound. This bonus especially matters for Chaos Knights, as they rely on connecting with their hit and wound rolls to deal damage.

Chaos Warriors (Infantry) – The standard Chaos Warriors aren’t quite as exciting as their Scourge of Aqshy cousins, but still plenty playable. Cheap bodies on a 3+ save with lots of attacks that have crit (auto-wound) isn’t anything to turn one’s nose up at.

Darkoath Fellriders (Cavalry) – A fast, cheap cavalry unit to complete Battle Tactics, occupy faraway objectives, harass enemy chaff, and screen out enemy power units. Speaking of Battle Tactics, unless you’re going hard for Blazing Onslaught, I generally recommend fielding them with Fellrider Blades, as the Javelin’s average damage in both shooting and melee is quite poor.

Darkoath Savagers (Infantry) – Cheap bodies with crit (mortal) that play nice with Darkoath buff Heroes and can even get themselves a 5+ Ward in certain circumstances. Not every list will have the room, but the ones that do will be glad to have them.

Eternus, Blade of the First Prince (Cavalry, Hero) – A reasonable Hero body that offers command denial upside and the potential to revive if slain. The main thing holding him back is that the revival ability is rather unreliable.

Legion of the First Prince Bloodcrushers (Cavalry) – These fill a role in Legion lists that is similar to what Fellriders do in more conventional Slaves to Darkness lists, as they are reasonably priced utility cavalry that doesn’t excel at damage, but can nonetheless be useful for occupying objectives, completing Battle Tactics, and harassing weaker units.

Legion of the First Prince Fiends (Beast) – An interesting tech piece for Legion lists that can help your infantry blocks get a leg up in combat by slapping strikes-last on your opponent’s units.

Legion of the First Prince Flamers (Infantry) – An offensively efficient shooting unit for Legion lists, this unit facilitates their completion of certain Battle Tactics and provides a reasonable answer to chaff, especially if it’s infantry.

Legion of the First Prince Plaguebearers (Infantry) – While not as useful as Bloodletters in combat, sometimes you just want cheap, durable bodies to grab an objective or screen, and these fit the bill.

Legion of the First Prince Screamers of Tzeentch (Beast) – These mostly profile to be cheap and fast Battle Tactic units for Legion, and their large bases also make them reasonable as screens for smaller frontage units. Useful little piece.

Mindstealer Sphiranx (Monster) – An interesting tech piece, as strikes-last is a powerful debuff for an army that does most of its work in melee. Its major blind spot is that it’s not great into Monster-heavy armies, since it relies on beating your opponent’s Control characteristic to apply the debuff.

Ogroid Myrmidon (Hero, Infantry) – An individually potent combat Hero (especially against Monsters and/or when damaged) that provides an ever-important bonus to hit to Theridons via a chain fight. It also gets bonus points when fielded with Be’lakor, as the ability to tag in your troops interacts very favorably with Deadly Trap.

Ogroid Theridons (Infantry) – This is a punchy heavy infantry unit that offers additional upside against infantry, albeit at a lower save than the rest of the heavy armor crew and lacking the Warriors of Chaos keyword (which locks it out of accessing some buffs). A reasonable unit if you are skewing more aggressive.

Raptoryx (Beast) – A cheap screen with reasonable speed while still being able to benefit from obscuring terrain, these are generally used to cover cavalry’s advance.

Varanguard (Cavalry) – One of the most potent cavalry hammers in the game, if not the most. Double fight on Rend 2 attacks with crit (mortal) and damage 3 on the charge is a terrifying prospect for most armies to face, and the only thing keeping them in check is just how elite they are, as each model costs about as much as a Hero (and has a comparable combat profile to one).

C Tier

Centaurion Marshal (Cavalry, Hero) – For most lists, this unit is a fringe pick, as its chain fight ability has relatively few targets and its stats compare unfavorably to some of the cavalry Heroes in this army. However, if you’re in Legion of the First Prince, you can consider this an A, as he’s probably the best generic Hero you have access to.

Chaos Chariot (War Machine) – It’s cheap, it’s reasonably fast, and it has a large base you can use to screen. Not a particularly exciting pick, as it does poor damage and isn’t especially durable for the points, but a functional one.

Chaos Furies (Infantry) – A nice and fast flying infantry unit with a handy ability to potentially pop out of combat and leave your opponents high and dry. The issue here is the points – you are paying a similar price per point of health to a unit of Varanguard, and that simply will not do.

Chaos Lord on Karkadrak (Cavalry, Hero) – While this unit does respectable damage and comes with a useful ability to boost charges, it is a bit on the expensive side for the chassis of damage and defense, and that makes ascending it a bit of a gamble.

Chaos Lord on Karkadrak (Scourge of Aqshy) (Cavalry, Hero) – While not a bad unit, it is priced equivalently to a Daemon Prince, and the warscroll you are getting does not compare to the fully ascended version. Not a fan.

Darkoath Chieftain on Warsteed (Cavalry, Hero) – While he is cheap, fast, and can man Places of Power for you, he has an underwhelming combat profile and doesn’t provide a helpful effect for the rest of your Darkoath crew. Useful as a lone operator, but not much else.

Darkoath Warqueen (Hero, Infantry) – A cheap Hero with a Ward is a useful thing to have in a vacuum, but she gives you too many hoops to jump through to access her ability to support other Darkoath. Decently useful as a lone operator, but that’s about it.

Exalted Hero of Chaos (Hero, Infantry) – His extra output against Heroes and Monsters is cool and occasionally useful, but the lack of a delivery mechanism means that he’s mostly on Place of Power duty until a unit that he’s strong against wanders too close. Not very essential.

Gaunt Summoner (Hero, Infantry) – This is a reasonably priced double caster that brings his own Ward and has the best shooting profile in the army, but a lot of its value relative to other options is contained in its Silver Tower ability, and because you can’t pledge or cast Daemonic Speed on the unit contained within, that ability is simply not reliable enough for this unit to be a consistent optoin.

Legion of the First Prince Beasts of Nurgle (Beast) – Cheap creatures that can run interference for your main blocks, the inability to be revived and their poor control score hold them back relative to your other options.

Mutalith Vortex Beast (Monster) – A weird monster with some casino dice roll abilities, it generally needs a Tzeentch Wizard to be reliable in any way, and that’s one hoop too many if you ask me.

Slaughterbrute (Monster) – This unit sells you the fantasy of a melee bruiser that you can launch at your enemy with a 3D6 charge, but the only way that approaches reality is if you form a buddy pair with a Centaurion Marshal, and that combined package compares unfavorably to Chaos Knights with a Lord on Daemonic Mount.

D Tier

Chaos Spawn (Beast) – The only thing this unit has going for it is being cheap. Nothing else is good. Use it only if you can’t make room for something else.

Fomoroid Crusher (Monster) – A monster with a weak profile (control 2 being insult to injury) and an ability that doesn’t really matter that much. I can’t come up with a reason to bring him.

Gaunt Summoner on Disc of Tzeentch (Cavalry, Hero) – While in a vacuum this isn’t a bad unit, being flying Cavalry makes it a lot more difficult to protect him from shooting, and his warscroll ability and spell are worse than the ones on the foot version. I would just take the foot version.

Gorebeast Chariot (War Machine) – This is just a weaker, more expensive version of the Chariot that doesn’t receive much in return. Avoid.

Legion of the First Prince Hellflayer (War Machine) – Bad profile on an awkward base that is difficult to move around. Pointless unit.

Enhancement Tier List

Slaves to Darkness have access to various categories of enhancements. An army list can only have one of each type of enhancement. When analyzing the enhancements below, the type of enhancement will be specified in the respective entry.

S Tier

The Dread Banner (Ensorcelled Banner) – Turning off commands within your combat range is an extremely potent ability that has both offensive (no All-Out Defense against your attacks) and defensive (no All-Out Attack or Power Through against your unit) applications, and it can also stop faction-specific commands as well. Barring some niche exceptions (like lists only composed of Heroes), I don’t really take a list seriously until I see The Dread Banner on a reinforced unit of infantry or cavalry.

A Tier

Brand of Apoplexy (Brand of the Dark Gods) – A damage boost for staying at maximum Fury has some opportunity cost (namely forsaking the use of Fight Through the Pain), but the payoff is more than worth it. At its best on a high-volume attacking unit like Chaos Warriors or Darkoath Marauders.

Darkflame Pendant (Artefact of Power) – Setting all incoming damage to 1 goes a long way toward making a Hero more survivable, and it has more of an impact the more durable that Hero is. I am of the opinion this is at its best on a Daemon Prince, though obviously any Hero can benefit from it.

Deathmonger (Heroic Trait) – You generally need a Hero with a pretty good combat profile for fighting twice to be relevant, but fortunately, this army has a few of those. Especially potent on a Daemon Prince, who can get strikes-first to potentially set up using these activations consecutively.

Rune of Murder (Artefact of Power) – Doubling your attacks once per game can turn one of your Heroes into a legitimate offensive threat. Best when combined with Deathmonger to have your Hero spit out a truly terrifying amount of attacks.

B Tier

Brand of the Unaligned (Brand of the Dark Gods) – Not only does this Brand allow you to swap out your pledge if there is a more applicable one on the bench (for example, switching to Tzeentch and teleporting onto objectives once all relevant combats have been concluded), it also accelerates your pledge schedule by letting you pledge the unit without using our Battle Trait. A good choice if your list is plagued by its pledge economy.

Radiance of Dark Glory (Heroic Trait) – A 12” healing bubble that is extra potent for healing your Monsters (which are generally very expensive Hero Monsters). Costing points takes it down a bit in my estimation, but it’s still quite useful.

The Banner of Rage (Ensorcelled Banner) – This banner comes with +1 Attacks (because it pledges the unit carrying it to Khorne) and +1 to wound. A straightforward boost to a unit’s combat ability, though one that is somewhat redundant with the benefits provided by a Chaos Lord tagging along with a unit.

The Banner of Screaming Flesh (Ensorcelled Banner) – While +1 Attacks on the charge is a potent buff, Slaves to Darkness has other ways to access it (notably the Khorne pledge), and the Slaanesh pledge isn’t the greatest in my opinion. However, there are enough ways to swap the Slaanesh pledge out that I am feeling better about this than in ages past.

C Tier

Aelfskin Scroll (Artefact) – Getting to use an enemy spell has some interesting applications, but overall it’s just not something that will be consistently useful, and that makes it rank below other options that will be good every game.Mut

Favored of the Pantheon (Heroic Trait) – While frontloading a Hero with 3 apotheosis points is nice if you’re fishing for ascension, I find this to be generally inferior to Deathmonger with most of the Heroes that have a realistic chance of ascending.

Infernal Puppet (Artefact of Power) – While this can be a great way to put the fear of the Dark Gods in a high power level caster like Teclis, or a fragile double caster, I find that the proportion of armies where this is relevant are in the minority.

The Blasted Standard (Ensorcelled Banner) – A potent Ward against shooting, but it compromises the unit’s offensive potential by locking you into the Tzeentch pledge, and shooting is not the boogeyman that it once was in Age of Sigmar, especially for reinforced units that will typically have a good save.

The Conqueror’s Crown (Artefact) – A decent-sized control debuff, but only affecting infantry, and it’s generally not quite enough to let you steal objectives reliably unless you have this on a Daemon Prince or on a Hero that is exclusively prowling the flanks. You can do better.

The Eroding Icon (Ensorcelled Banner) – While turning off critical hits is a potent effect, it’s tied to the Nurgle pledge, which is a pledge that only a select few units in your army eligible to take an Ensorcelled Banner actually want to use (most notably Scourge of Aqshy Chaos Warriors). It also requires your opponent to have powerful effects on critical hits (though most do). Just one “if” too many for my taste.

D Tier

Brand of Unbreakable Bonds (Brand of the Dark Gods) – The ability to have a unit teleport to an objective once per game is potent in a vacuum, but the ability requiring it to be under your control at the time of the teleport meaningfully diminishes its utility. I don’t see the point to this one.

Realm-warper’s Twist Rune (Artefact of Power) – One would think that the ability to turn terrain pieces into obscuring for a turn or so would come in very handy to protect key units from shooting. However, the extremely short range limitation and the fact that it can damage the units benefiting from said obscuring means that it’s hard to see the use case.

Manifestation Tier List

This analysis evaluates the current options for manifestation lore for Slaves to Darkness. The entry will specify whether the manifestation lore is a generic lore available to all armies, or a faction lore only available to Slaves to Darkness.

S Tier

I do not consider any manifestation lores available to this army to be in this tier at this time.

A Tier

Forbidden Power (Generic Lore) – This lore does a great job of complementing our existing spell lore by offering a teleport + charge combo with Daemonic Speed and the Soulscream Bridge, and also offers quality screening and anti-teleport zoning with the aforementioned Bridge and the Shards of Valagharr. It costs 20 points, so it’s not for every list, but most lists casting 2 or more spells per phase should consider it.

B Tier

Aetherwrought Machineries (Generic Lore) – This lore offers a great space blocking spell in the Pendulum, an anti-Ward chip damage spell in the Quicksilver Swords, and Chronomantic Cogs can be both useful on offense (rerolling charges) or on defense (-1 to hit for Wizards, which can include the likes of Archaon or Be’lakor). Probably the best free generic spell lore, though there is some competition in that department.

Primal Energy (Generic Lore) – While this lore does cost points, it only costs 10, which is something many lists have to spare, and it offers healing for some of your powerful Hero Monsters, as well as a couple of decent offensive manifestations at manageable casting values to help you establish a board presence beyond what your unit count suggests. I’ve always thought it was a good Lore for this army.

Twilit Sorceries (Generic Lore) – A free spell lore that offers the potential to turn off command abilities in the Geminids, a range extender in the Spellportal, and a bit of shooting protection in the Palisade. Each of these is rather niche, but you could do worse.

C Tier

Morbid Conjuration (Generic Lore) – While this lore undeniably has some potent spells, it has 2 main problems. The first of those problems is that it costs 20 points, which isn’t a dealbreaker, but it is significant. The second problem is that the 2 money spells have a casting value of 8, which is a number your casters will struggle to hit consistently without both a Place of Power and the Nexus Chaotica providing bonuses to cast. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze here.

D Tier

Krondspine Incarnate (Generic Lore) – A free generic lore, this only has one spell that is quite difficult to cast for this army’s Wizards (you need an 8). I am not a fan.

Manifestations of Malevolence (Faction Lore) – This lore brings little to the table. The manifestations in it are very low-impact, and there’s no in-game reason to select it over Twilit Sorceries or Aetherwrought Machineries.

Battle Tactics Tier List

The current General’s Handbook gives you the ability to choose 2 of 6 Battle Tactic cards to define your secondary objectives. My thoughts on these cards and how they stack up for Slaves to Darkness are below.

S Tier

I do not consider any of the Battle Tactics available to this army to be in this tier at this time.

A Tier

Siege of Ashes – This Battle Tactic card is this army’s bread and butter. Walk up with your lads, get them into fights, counterattack whatever dared to fight you. Many of our rosters do this well, and that makes this a common pick.

B Tier

Burning for Vengeance – While the initial positioning requirement is a bit annoying, the notion of picking a Hero and hunting it down is something that many Slaves to Darkness lists are well-suited to do. Pack some fast units that you don’t mind exposing to danger to fulfill the first tactic, and off you go.

Flanking Firestorm – This Battle Tactic card requires a bit of investment in fast expendable units that won’t necessarily be contributing to combat, which means not every list can run it. However, the ones that do will find that it’s relatively easy to score and doesn’t require interacting with your opponent that much.

C Tier

Blazing Onslaught – The initial requirement to do damage in 3 different phases is something this army can struggle with unless it specifically builds for it. If your list can pull it off, however, this tactic encourages a play pattern that you want, which is to get deep into enemy territory and take over.

Legend of the Parch – I think this Battle Tactic card is a trap for most builds of this army. Needing to have your opponent engage with one of your units so that you can hit them back hard and clear the attacker is a tough ask. The one exception is the Herohammer build, which has a variety of units that can be useful for completing the requirements of this tactic.

D Tier

Smokescreen – This Battle Tactic card is also a trap in my opinion. Although there are configurations of Darkoath that could theoretically complete it, the play patterns it encourages are generally just worse for this army’s prospects than the rest of the cards.

Armies of Renown Discussion

Slaves to Darkness has access to a handful of Armies of Renown, which will be discussed below.

Legion of the First Prince

This Army of Renown is somewhat unique in that it adds a significant number of warscrolls that can only be used in it and alters the base playstyle of the army into something in between the Warriors of Chaos heavy hitting style and the Darkoath attrition style. It also opens up new utility for warscrolls such as the Centaurion Marshal and Eternus. I am also of the opinion that this is the best way to play Be’lakor, and overall I give it a B.

The Swords of Chaos

This Army of Renown is a very heavy skew list focusing on Abraxia, Archaon, and Varanguard. Its fortunes generally wax and wane depending on how many Varanguard you can stuff into the list. As of the time of this writing, it is currently 10 points short of fielding Archaon with 12 Varanguard, which I believe is the configuration that would actually vault it into potential tournament contention. As it stands, I can rank it no higher than a C.

Tribes of the Snow Peaks

One of the worst Armies of Renown in the game, this trades away Darkoath’s recursion mechanic and access to pledges for a backloaded rewards system that triggers off the completion of the Oath abilities on your units’ warscrolls. Trouble is, many of those Oaths require you jumping through hoops to complete them, and sometimes in play patterns that aren’t necessarily in your best interest as a player. You should never be playing this Army of Renown in a competitive setting, and therefore it must be a D.

Regiments of Renown Tier List

Slaves to Darkness has access to quite a few Regiments of Renown. My analysis of these Regiments for competitive play is below and will include the unit composition of the Regiment of Renown.

S Tier

I do not consider any of the Regiments of Renown available to this army to be in this tier at this time.

A Tier

The Curse-Steel Battery (Daemonsmith, Deathshrieker Rocket Battery, Tormentor Bombard) – One of the big flaws of the Slaves to Darkness roster is that it lacks quality shooting options. This lets you have some, and brings in a cheap Wizard that can sit on Places of Power and summon manifestations. An excellent choice.

The Exiled One (Skarbrand) – A reasonably priced Hero Monster that makes for a potent, if swingy, hammer that can execute long charges and is a terrifying counter-charge threat. One of the best Regiments this army has access to.

B Tier

Mist-Clad Revellers (Blissbarb Archers, Shardspeaker of Slaanesh) – A reasonably priced Regiment that brings some shooting to help complete Battle Tactics and thin down screens, as well as a cheap Wizard to sit on Places of Power and summon manifestations. It faces some competition from other Regiments that provide similar effects, but this is a reasonable pick.

Rogue Engine (Outlaw Cannonade Cogfort) – While this unit is quite slow and expensive, it provides a real shooting profile, albeit not an efficient one. However, what tips it over the scale into being interesting is its durability (25 health on a 3+ save is no joke) and its secondary buffs, such as shielding a unit from shooting and +1 to wound.

The Accursed Reflection (The Contorted Epitome, Slaanesh manifestations) – If you don’t mind upping your drop count, a cheap Wizard with good protection and access to manifestations from another army is an interesting option.

The Coven of Thryx (Magister, Pink Horrors, Tzeentch manifestations) – A Wizard that comes with a useful screen and some interesting spells, namely the Tome of Eyes, which can give your in-faction Wizards a bonus to cast. It’s interesting.

Urrgar’s Maulerguts (Maulbeast Cavalry, Tyrant on Glutthorn) – Potentially interesting because of the strikes-last on the Tyrant on Glutthorn and the anti-charge effect on the Maulbeast Cavalry, but it poses a challenge to fit it in due to its very high points cost.

C Tier

Cogfort Raiders (Outlaw Conqueror Cogfort) – While putting something like Chosen and a Chaos Lord to have the Cogfort running out for big damage swings is tempting, the reality of the situation is that the Cogfort is slow, the infantry unit that goes inside cannot be reinforced, and both the infantry unit and the Hero need to hit 9” charges for it to do anything. Too unreliable for my taste.

Diseased Revellers (Beasts of Nurgle, Sloppity Bilepiper) – While this provides you with cheap units to run around doing Battle Tactics and other actions you don’t want your premium units doing, they’re not cheaper than your in-house options, nor are their  stats any better. Not a fan.

Exile Scavengers (Endrinmaster with Dirigible Suit, Grundstok Gunhauler, Skywardens) – The decision to run some of what are, in my view, the weaker units in the Kharadron Overlords Battletome isn’t garnering much support. I also don’t like that the units in this Regiment must start in deepstrike. A rather limited Regiment of Renown.

Mask of the Deceiver (Changeling) – A somewhat interesting Regiment in that it has some applications as a speedbump, but spending this amount of points and adding a drop for what will generally amount to be a throwaway unit is a bit high for my taste.

Nurgle’s Gift (Nurglings) – While popping out Nurglings from a unit of Marauders could potentially be a great way to tarpit an opponent, it is a bit unreliable. Nurglings, while relatively wound dense, also don’t really help you deal damage. A fun Regiment to take, but it doesn’t exactly cover any needs.

One-Eyed Grunnock (Warstomper Mega-Gargant) – Mega-Gargants are beefy but not getting all of their fun rampages and other in-faction damage effects means this is mostly a brick of meat, and you can do that better with something like Chaos Warriors.

Squires of the Everchosen (Morbheg Knights, Varghulf Courtier) – A couple of cheap, fast units to complete the Battle Tactics and sit on objectives with, but they are a bit lacking in combat compared to what Slaves to Darkness is capable of. I would say the rise of Darkoath made Regiments of Renown like this one feel much less necessary.

Stumblefoot Gargant (Mancrusher Gargant) – While it is fun to put a random Gargant in a list, and its abilities are somewhat amusing, I don’t think the power level is there to consider this a truly competitive choice.

The Red Revelation (Bloodreavers, Skullreapers, Slaughterpriest) – For the most part, the troops in this Regiment of Renown are weaker versions of what Slaves to Darkness has on its own roster. The 5+ Ward prayer the Priest can chant is pretty nice; however, it’s a bit of a coin flip. I’m not a big fan.

The Scarlet Jury (Cryptguard, Grand Justice Gormayne, Royal Decapitator) – While Gormayne offers a potent cocktail of useful effects, 10 fragile infantry bodies with a chain-fighting book Hero render the Regiment of Renown a bit anemic in terms of board presence and damage output.

Volt-Klaw’s Enginecoven Ratling Warpblaster, Warlock Galvaneer, Warpvolt Scourgers) – Another Regiment that provides access to some shooting. However, I am not a fan of the units you receive for this one, and therefore I rank it lower than some of its contemporaries.

D Tier

Phulgoth’s Shudderhood (Harbinger of Decay, Pusgoyle Bightlords, Putrid Blightkings) – Once upon a time, this was one of the premium Regiments of Renown for Slaves to Darkness. The Battletome changes to the warscrolls for the Putrid Blightkings and Pusgoyle Blightlords killed that dead. Now it’s just a sad reminder of what once was.

Seeker of the Dread Dirge (Ashen Elder, Dominator Engine with Bane Maces) – A Priest you can’t really use, and a slow low-damage war machine. I don’t see the use case for this.

Seekers of Silver (Gaunt Summoner on Disc of Tzeentch, Magister on Disc of TzeentchTzeentch, Screamers of Tzeentch) – A bunch of fragile flying Wizards that you can’t protect It’s hadrd for me to conceive of a Regiment of Renown that would be worse for this army. Avoid like the plague.

Snerk’s Trogg-fer-Hire (Dankhold Troggoth, Loonboss) – The flavor on this Regiment of Renown is rather fun. The rules on the scrolls are weak enough that no one looking to play seriously should pick it.

The Pustules (Feculent Gnarlmaw, Plaguebearers, Spoilpox Scrivener) – The Plaguebearers are decent, but a Scrivener and a Gnarlmaw are far from helpful. I wouldn’t.

Recommended Unit Use Cases

This section will try to give a gist of how to best utilize the unit choices in this army.

Beasts

Chaos Spawn – Because this unit’s movement is unreliable, it’s generally best off being pledged to Tzeentch to stretch its range. This unit is generally in the role of Battle Tactic/objective grabber, which means your goal is to have them be annoying enough that your opponent actually wants to go after them.

Darkoath Wilderfiend – These guys tend to start the game behind your main blocks. Once they have gotten charged up to spit out their effects, you can consider closing gto melee with them to pick opposing units off. While their save is weak, they have a decent amount of health, a 5+ Ward, and a reasonable combat profile, so they can mix it up a bit in combat. Further, the Darkoath Battle Formation allows you to pick one back up if it dies.

Legion of the First Prince Beasts of Nurgle – This is an expendable unit that you run up the board to interfere with your opponent’s positioning and perhaps help you complete a Battle Tactic or two in the process. Generally better near the center of the board, but running it up a flank where you expect units to struggle with clearing it is also an option.

Legion of the First Prince Fiends – This unit mostly sits behind one of your big combat blocks and tries to find opportune moments to slap on strikes-last and change the complexion of a combat. Beyond that, they are somewhat fast and can be reasonable at Battle Tactics, or harass enemy Wizards that stray too close to the frontline with their -1 to cast and unbind ability. 1 unit of 3 is typically sufficient.

Legion of the First Prince Screamers – These are cheap, fast units you can use to screen, nab uncovered objectives, or complete Battle Tactics. They are eminently expendable, so feel free to toss them in harm’s way if it gives you any advantage. I could see 2 packs of 3 in many lists.

Raptoryx – A cheap, reasonably fast unit with big bases, this is a great space-eater that can force an opponent to engage on your terms to get through a certain section of the board. It can also help you complete Battle Tactics in the process. You generally will run no more than 1 of these units.

Cavalry

Chaos Knights – My preferred use case for this unit is as a 5-man utility unit that is paired with a Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount. This affords them maximum flexibility in role. On the matter of pledges, Khorne is the dominant choice for an aggressively inclined Knight unit, but not all of them need the extra output. Slaanesh can help hit some long charges, and Tzeentch can help them cover ground or cycle out of combat.

Darkoath Fellriders – 5 of these are helpful as cheap units to complete Battle Tactics and grab objectives with, and when they are pledged to Khorne and have completed their Oath, they do enough damage to threaten chaff and low-save units. 1 or 2 units of 5 are generally what you see.

Legion of the First Prince Bloodcrushers – I would generally use these in 3s to run up flanks, complete Battle Tactics, generally be a nuisance, and possibly revive to do it all again. Their damage is rather poor, so even the fights that they win will take a while.

Varanguard – I generally prefer fielding these as a reinforced unit of 6 and using them as a primary hammer to batter your opponent’s quality units. However, it should be noted that there are lists that have used them in 3s to good effect. Either way, the use case is similar – screen for them, charge them into enemy units they want dead, and watch them get to work. Khorne is by far the preferred pledge for them, unless Slaanesh would ensure a critical charge you need.

Heroes

Abraxia, Spear of the Everchosen – While she makes for a good power pair with Varanguard thanks to her ability, I would also point out that she is a good solo operator thanks to her speed, durability, and relatively small base footprint. Her damage is pretty swingy, so try not to put her in situations where you need her to kill something, but if you need to tie up enemy units that don’t have massive output, she can be quite useful.

Archaon the Everchosen – The big man is a massive part of your gameplan, as you would expect from such an expensive centerpiece model. Maximizing the Eye of Sheerian typically involves using it early to determine whether your army will be in a defensive posture or setting up for a preordained double turn. The model himself is typically is used as a surgical strike piece that can take over an objective or threaten a key unit, then Power Through back to an advantageous position.

Be’lakor, the Dark Master – Be’lakor is at his best when he is safely behind Archaon or a giant blob of combat infantry, and free to ply his debuffs and combat tricks trade. Dark Master can mitigate the consequences of aggressive forward positioning, especially if your opponent manages to get a double turn. You generally don’t want to expose him to large combat units, but his speed and control score makes him very good at sniping Heroes and lightly defended objectives.

Centaurion Marshal – The main use case for this unit is to form a power pair with a Slaughterbrute in standard lists, or a unit of Bloodletters in Legion of the First Prince lists, and power them up in combat. It’s also a decently durable Hero to carry Heroic Traits and artefacts. You usually will want 1, and no more.

Chaos Lord – This unit can offer a bit of extra oomph in castle-style lists where you expect your opponent to come to you, particularly if those lists have Be’lakor. You likely won’t get to spend a pledge on this, but if you do, Tzeentch to give it late-game movement utility is likely the play. Most normal lists will only need 1.

Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount – This unit forms a power pair with a unit of Chaos Knights or Varanguard to help them tackle bigger targets. It also makes a decent home for offensive enhancements and has some potential as an Eye of the Gods Hero. Pledging it likely only happens in the late game, and if so, Tzeentch for extra mobility is typically the move. I would generally field 1 for every cavalry unit I wanted to run.

Chaos Lord on Karkadrak – While this unit ostensibly wants to be paired with heavy infantry like Chosen, and doing so enables you to get maximum value out of it, its combat profile is good enough to be played as a standalone piece that can carry offensive enhancements and push for Dark Apotheosis. A Khorne pledge would help push that goal, but you generally will not get to pledge this unit before it ascends or dies trying. Only 1 can carry the offensive enhancements, so you will only field 1. 

Chaos Lord on Karkadrak (Scourge of Aqshy) – This unit could theoretically boost the effectiveness of your Companion profiles, but the only one of those that matters are the horses on Varanguard. Its more likely use case is as a standalone piece that can carry offensive enhancements and push for Dark Apotheosis. A Khorne pledge would help push that goal, but you generally will not get to pledge this unit before it ascends or dies trying. Only 1 can carry the offensive enhancements, so you will only field 1. 

Chaos Sorcerer Lord – This unit typically runs along behind a reinforced combat unit, preferably a hammer like Chosen or Varanguard, and tries to apply the Ward as often as possible. With a bit of luck, it might be able to sit on a Place of Power at the same time to do a bit of double duty. A late-game Tzeentch pledge for some cheeky mobility is also very helpful. You will very rarely run more than 1 of these.

Daemon Prince – This unit’s role typically depends on its kit. A Prince with the Darkflame Pendant is going to beeline toward a target that won’t be able to shake it off very easily and lock it down. Conversely, a Prince with the Rune of Murder is going to hunt down a unit (particularly a Hero) that is vulnerable to the once-per-game burst of damage it can put out. What will be true regardless of kit, however, is that Nurgle is the best pledge for the unit, and that he will be hovering near your infantry units for protection before it is time to strike. This arrangement is also helpful for Despoilers and/or Siege of Ashes. I generally advise running 1, as the enhancements are a large part of what makes it appealing.

Darkoath Chieftain – This unit is the bread-and-butter Hero for Darkoath lists. Darkoath needs Heroes to be around for Marauders to deal mortals on death and to revive destroyed units. Chieftains fit that bill nicely because they are cheap and give your troops a boost on offense. Pledging them will rarely happen, but Tzeentch for movement shenanigans if the move if you can spare the pledge. You will generally want multiples of these, with 2-3 being the norm.

Darkoath Chieftain on Warsteed – A utility Hero that offers more speed and durability than the rest of the Darkoath crew. Its effect on Fellriders isn’t particularly helpful in my opinion, but you can generally wring some use out of a Hero that moves 12” and has access to the Tzeentch pledge for even more movement by sitting it on a Place of Power. You don’t need more than 1.

Darkoath Warqueen – The Warqueen is generally going to be marching up the board to get her buffs online, with units of infantry to benefit from them in tow. The best pledge for her is likely Tzeentch to help her movement game, and you only need 1.

Eternus, Blade of the First Prince – This guy is mostly an annoying piece you can put on a flank to harass weaker units or hold up a strong push from your opponent for a round or two, then potentially get up to do it again. His command denial ability can sometimes provide value, but is generally too unreliable to be part of your gameplan.

Gaunt Summoner – This unit is a bit of a free-ranging piece in that it wants to hide a unit in the Silver Tower during deployment, use its movement combined with the Tzeentch pledge teleport to move up the board, then deliver its payload. It can also help score Battle Tactics with that teleport and with its handy shooting profile. Just make sure you protect him properly during deployment.

Gaunt Summoner on Disc of Tzeentch – A fast-moving delivery mechanism for the unit in the Silver Tower, albeit one that generally wants to stick close to your troops to get Guarded Hero. I think the risk is greater than the reward for this one, but if you wanted to field him, I think that having 1 and hiding him as far back as possible during deployment describes the use case well.

Gunnar Brand – Gunnar is generally going to spend his time near a Place of Power boosting your Fury level. Once you have maxed out on that, you may elect to keep him there so you can keep it topped up, or you might have him roam around to help with Battle Tactics. Despite what his “double attacks against Heroes” ability would have you believe, he isn’t much of a fighter, so you want to avoid combat against all but the weakest of units.

Ogroid Myrmidon – The Myrmidon forms a potent power-pair with Ogroid Theridons in melee, as he provides them with the ever-important +1 to hit. It also has some applications as a lone monster hunter, especially with the right offensive enhancements. Pledging the Myrmidon is not high on most folks’ priority list, but Khorne for another attack and Tzeentch for late-game movement are probably the go-to choices. I wouldn’t field more than 1 of these, but I could also see a build where running a couple is actualy helpful.

Singri Brand – Singri’s job is to hang out by Places of Power, chip in for the completion of Battle Tactics, and then make a nuisance of herself by getting in the way of your enemy. She also counts as a Darkoath Hero, which can come in handy if you’re running a mixed list that’s light on those and you need Heroes to enable Darkoath Horde or Darkoath Marauders.

Infantry

Chaos Chosen – This is your bread-and-butter combat infantry. In most lists, they are the second wave that follows your screens and anvils to beat enemy units down with their strong damage output. I highly favor pledging them to Khorne, but sometimes Slaanesh can be an option against targets when you need to hit a long charge, and you don’t need the bonus attacks. As a unit with fight twice, you generally want to set them up into a tough combat where you need both fights to clear that unit, or set up for a charge that can let you clear one unit, activate fight twice, and then go try to clear another while not letting them hit you first. A reinforced unit with the Dread Banner is the quintessential way to play them.

Chaos Furies – These are some of the best objective grabbers and Battle Tactics units this army has access to, and you will press them into service to that effect in your games. I am a fan of the Nurgle pledge with this unit, as moving its native Ward to a 5+ gives them tangibly better odds of survival. I could see going up to 2 units of 6.

Chaos Legionnaires – A cheap, expendable infantry unit with a potentially useful ability, these will generally accompany your main combat blocks to the center as a screen that can take a charge, while potentially occupying an objective and/or help complete a Battle Tactic in the process of getting in position. Pledging them to Tzeentch to help them move up the board faster would be my go-to in the rare event this unit go pledged. 1 or 2 units of 8 seem like the way to go.

Chaos Warriors – This unit offers a cheap source of health with a 3+ save, and can generally be used to improve your board presence and grant you the ability to control objectives aggressively and dare your opponent to come take them from you. I believe multiple units are the way to go here (in 10s or 20s, as points allow). The best pledge for them in my opinion is actually Khorne, as the extra attacks on an objective combined with the extra attacks from that pledge make them formidable on defense.

Chaos Warriors (Scourge of Aqshy) – This is this army’s premier anvil infantry unit. Play a reinforced unit, pledge it to Nurgle, walk it up to the center of the board, and take control of the game. I also recommend giving them the Brand of Apoplexy to give it more bite in melee. You will generally want to charge up your Fury level and keep it high in order to gain the benefits of the Brand and their own warscroll abilities.

Darkoath Marauders – In Darkoath lists, these guys are your bread-and-butter infantry. You set them up to take hits, to charge in and deal damage, and generally play your game through them. You’ll generally want to pledge them Khorne to make their counterpunching more effective, though Slaanesh to make hitting an 8+ on the charge and fulfilling your Oath is also a consideration.

Darkoath Savagers – These guys are typically a second-order combatant. You hide them behind your main lines, pair them with a Darkoath Chieftain and pledge them to Khorne. Savagers’ attack volume under those circumstances combined with the crit (mortal) ability on their weapons can make for a punishing counterpunch.

Legion of the First Prince Bloodletters – This is the main combat unit for Legion of the First Prince lists, and as such it should be near Be’lakor (to provide the bodyguard Ward and be in range of the Bestow Favour ability) and the Centaurion Marshal (for the chain-fight). Multiple units of 20 are the order of the day, with 40-60 total Bloodletters being the norm.

Legion of the First Prince Flamers – This warscroll heavily incentivizes bringing a single unit of 6, and I believe that you should follow that incentive. They are very useful for thinning down large units and threatening screens. Just make sure you don’t expose them to much melee, because they will basically melt on contact.

Legion of the First Prince Plaguebearers – I believe these units do their best work in 10s as speedbumps and annoyances your opponent has to get through to clear out objectives or get into your other units, with the potential of being revived to do it again. They are a bit slow, so positioning them as far forward as possible when deploying is important.

Ogroid Theridons – This unit is generally just a secondary combat missile. You can either send 3 of them early to soften enemies up before bringing your primary combat units to bear, or save a block of them as a counterpuncher to mop up whatever survives engagement with your first wave. In either case, Khorne is the pledge you want to be on, with some consideration for Slaanesh if you need to hit long charges.

The Oathsworn Kin – I would treat the Kin similarly to how you would treat most other Wizards: keep them behind your combat troops but in range of their spells, and only venture out when you don’t think they’ll be cut down immediately. Unfortunately for the Kin, they are not a Hero, so they do not get to hang out near a Place of Power to good effect. However, they can still contribute to Battle Tactics, provided they are a safe distance from the enemy.

Monsters

Fomoroid Crusher – You likely won’t be fielding this unit, but if you do, it wants to hang around near terrain and in range of combats without actually joining in them, and sprinkle some mortals around. You likely won’t get to pledge this unit, but Tzeentch to put it in positions to succeed sounds the most useful.

Mindstealer Sphiranx – In matchups against infantry and cavalry-centric armies, this unit sits behind your main combat blocks to dissuade your opponent from trying their luck with a charge. In monster-heavy matchups where its effect is unlikely to go off, it becomes a fast objective grabber. I find Tzeentch to be the most useful pledge for this unit, though it is rather low on the pledge priority order.

Mutalith Vortex Beast – The unreliability of its ability in the absence of a Tzeentch Wizard means that it basically is funneled into being a power pair with said Wizard, and will hang around the fringes of combat to apply its effects.

Slaughterbrute – This guy forms a power pair with a Centaurion Marshal. I would not field it without the Marshal, and I would have them traveling together as much as possible, including when charging into combat.

War Machines

Chaos Chariot – Lists that include these generally run 1 and do so as a cheap throwaway unit that can run up the board and help screen or include Battle Tactics before it (usually) dies. Those types of units are a luxury in this army, and this is one of those options. You likely won’t get to pledge this unit, but if you do, I see the utility of Slaanesh or Tzeentch being helpful.

Gorebeast Chariot – This unit is rarely played, but when it is played, you generally see 1 as a cheap throwaway unit that can run up the board and help screen or include Battle Tactics before it (usually) dies. Its ability when using Power Through will rarely come up, as that command ability is very much in demand and not something you would generally use with something this expendable. You likely won’t get to pledge this unit, but if you do, I see the utility of Slaanesh or Tzeentch being helpful.

Legion of the First Prince Hellflayer – I don’t think you should play this, but if you do, put it on a flank so it that avoids your opponent’s beefy units and can leverage its speed to get whatever value it can.

Sample Army Lists

This section provides sample lists that players can use as a baseline for creating their own lists, or to run at competitive events. The lists in this section have all been tested in competitive environments, and many of them have strong competitive results (which is hereby defined as 4 or more wins in a 5-round Age of Sigmar tournament, or 6 or more wins in an 8-round tournament).

List 1 – Heavy Metal and Guns

Heavy Metal and Guns 2000/2000 pts
Slaves to Darkness
Godswrath Warband
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 3
Wounds: 135
Spell Lore – Lore of the Damned
Manifestation Lore – Twilit Sorceries

Battle Tactic Cards: Blazing Onslaught, Burning for Vengeance

General’s Regiment
Daemon Prince (230)
– General
– Trophy Rack
– Pledged to Nurgle
– Rune of Murder
– Deathmonger
Chaos Knights (240)
Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount (130)

Regiment 1
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)
Chaos Chosen (500)
– Reinforced
– The Dread Banner
Chaos Warriors (Scourge of Aqshy) (400)
– Reinforced

Faction Terrain
Nexus Chaotica

Regiments of Renown
The Curse-Steel Battery (380)
Tormentor Bombard
Deathshrieker Rocket Battery
Daemonsmith

Created with Sigdex: sigdex.io
App Version: 23.0.2-dev
Server Version: 3.1.0
Data Version: v50

List 2 – Darkoath, Daemon Prince, and Guns

Darkoath, Daemon Prince, and Guns 2000/2000 pts
Slaves to Darkness
Darkoath Horde
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 5
Wounds: 167
Spell Lore – Lore of the Damned
Manifestation Lore – Aetherwrought Machineries

Battle Tactic Cards: Burning for Vengeance, Flanking Firestorm

General’s Regiment
Gunnar Brand (180)
– General
Singri Brand
The Oathsworn Kin
Darkoath Wilderfiend (120)
Darkoath Wilderfiend (120)

Regiment 1
Daemon Prince (230)
– Wings
– Pledged to Nurgle
– Darkflame Pendant
– Deathmonger

Regiment 2
Darkoath Chieftain (80)
Darkoath Marauders (160)
– Reinforced
– Brand of Apoplexy (10)
Darkoath Marauders (160)
– Reinforced
– The Banner of Rage
Darkoath Marauders (160)
– Reinforced

Regiment 3
Darkoath Chieftain (80)
Darkoath Marauders (80)
Darkoath Wilderfiend (120)
Darkoath Wilderfiend (120)

Faction Terrain
Nexus Chaotica

Regiments of Renown
The Curse-Steel Battery (380)
Tormentor Bombard
Deathshrieker Rocket Battery
Daemonsmith

Created with Sigdex: sigdex.io
App Version: 23.0.2-dev
Server Version: 3.1.0
Data Version: v50

List 3 – Be’lakor Mixed Arms 

Be’lakor Mixed Arms 2000/2000 pts
Slaves to Darkness
Darkoath Horde
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 2
Wounds: 139
Spell Lore – Lore of the Damned
Manifestation Lore – Primal Energy (10)

Battle Tactic Cards: Flanking Firestorm, Siege of Ashes

General’s Regiment
Be’lakor, the Dark Master (450)
– General
Chaos Chosen (500)
– Reinforced
– The Dread Banner
Chaos Warriors (Scourge of Aqshy) (400)
– Reinforced
– Brand of Apoplexy (10)
Darkoath Wilderfiend (120)
Darkoath Wilderfiend (120)

Regiment 1
Darkoath Chieftain on Warsteed (90)
– Rune of Murder
– Deathmonger
Darkoath Chieftain (80)
Darkoath Fellriders (130)
– 5x Fellrider Blades
Darkoath Savagers (90)

Faction Terrain
Nexus Chaotica

Created with Sigdex: sigdex.io
App Version: 23.0.2-dev
Server Version: 3.1.0
Data Version: v50

List 4 – Heavy Metal Wrecking Crew

Heavy Metal Wrecking Crew 2000/2000 pts
Slaves to Darkness
Godswrath Warband
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 2
Wounds: 143
Spell Lore – Lore of the Damned
Manifestation Lore – Primal Energy (10)

Battle Tactic Cards: Burning for Vengeance, Siege of Ashes

General’s Regiment
Chaos Lord on Karkadrak (190)
– General
– Rune of Murder
– Deathmonger
Chaos Warriors (Scourge of Aqshy) (400)
– Reinforced
– Brand of Apoplexy (10)
– The Dread Banner
Ogroid Theridons (300)
– Reinforced

Regiment 1
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)
Chaos Knights (240)
Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount (130)
Varanguard (600)
– Reinforced

Faction Terrain
Nexus Chaotica

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App Version: 23.0.2-dev
Server Version: 3.1.0
Data Version: v50

List 5 – Prince/Sorcerer Brawler

Prince/Sorcerer Brawler 2000/2000 pts
Slaves to Darkness
Despoilers
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 2
Wounds: 141
Spell Lore – Lore of the Damned
Manifestation Lore – Aetherwrought Machineries

Battle Tactic Cards: Burning for Vengeance, Siege of Ashes

General’s Regiment
Daemon Prince (230)
– General
– Trophy Rack
– Pledged to Nurgle
– Rune of Murder
– Deathmonger
Chaos Knights (240)
Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount (130)
Chaos Warriors (Scourge of Aqshy) (400)
– Reinforced
– Brand of Apoplexy (10)

Regiment 1
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)
Chaos Chosen (500)
– Reinforced
– The Dread Banner
Chaos Knights (240)
Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount (130)

Faction Terrain
Nexus Chaotica

Created with Sigdex: sigdex.io
App Version: 23.0.2-dev
Server Version: 3.1.0
Data Version: v50

List 6 – Herohammer

Herohammer 1970/2000 pts
Slaves to Darkness
Godswrath Warband
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 5
Wounds: 71
Spell Lore – Lore of the Damned
Manifestation Lore – Aetherwrought Machineries

Battle Tactic Cards: Burning for Vengeance, Siege of Ashes

General’s Regiment
Archaon, the Everchosen (810)
– General

Regiment 1
Be’lakor, the Dark Master (450)

Regiment 2
Daemon Prince (230)
– Trophy Rack
– Pledged to Nurgle
– Rune of Murder
– Deathmonger

Regiment 3
Exalted Hero of Chaos (90)

Faction Terrain
Nexus Chaotica

Regiments of Renown
The Exiled One (390)
Skarbrand

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App Version: 23.0.2-dev
Server Version: 3.1.0
Data Version: v50

List 7 – Be’lakor Daemon Hordes

Be’lakor Daemon Hordes 2000/2000 pts
Slaves to Darkness | Legion of the First Prince
Army of Renown
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 2
Wounds: 174
Spell Lore – Spell Lore: Legion of the First Prince
Manifestation Lore – Primal Energy (10)

Battle Tactic Cards: Blazing Onslaught, Siege of Ashes

General’s Regiment
Be’lakor, the Dark Master (450)
– General
Legion of the First Prince Flamers of Tzeentch (240)
– Reinforced
Legion of the First Prince Screamers of Tzeentch (80)
Legion of the First Prince Screamers of Tzeentch (80)

Regiment 1
Centaurion Marshal (120)
– Black Ritual Dagger
– Dread Marshal
Legion of the First Prince Bloodletters (340)
– Reinforced
Legion of the First Prince Bloodletters (340)
– Reinforced
Legion of the First Prince Bloodletters (340)
– Reinforced

Faction Terrain
Nexus Chaotica

Created with Sigdex: sigdex.io
App Version: 24.0.0-dev
Server Version: 3.1.3
Data Version: v31