Come see three ways to play with arguably one of the coolest models in Age of Sigmar that you never seem to see in Matched Play at 2000 points, Archaon himself.
Some of the coolest looking models GW has done are just too expensive points wise to play with, in most matched play games.
These models though look so cool and take so much time painting and putting together that if you get one and paint it up, you should at least try to get them on the battlefield once or twice just to show them off. So, this week we will start with Mr. Chaos himself: Archaon the Everchosen (the big one, not the one on a horse) as a centerpiece for your Chaos force. We will look at a variety of lists that could use him that all focus on his best ability, which is to allow all other leaders to use their command ability.
Disciples of Tzeentch Force:
- Archaon the Everchosen (700 points) Leader 1 of 6, Behemoth 1 of 4
- Lord of Change (300 points) Leader 2 of 6, Behemoth 2 of 4
- Fatemaster (140 points) Leader 3 of 6
- Lord of Chaos on Foot “Tzeentch Mark” (100 points) Leader 4 of 6
- The Changeling (150 points) Leader 5 of 6
- Unit of 30 pink horrors (300 points) Battleline 1 of 3
- Unit of 40 Chaos Marauders (200 points) Battleline 2 of 3
- Unit of 10 Pink Horrors (120 points) Battleline 3 of 3
Total 2000 points
Loadouts: You are going to give Archaon the spell Treacherous Bond which, on a 6+, lets you pick a visible friendly unit that while within 9″ of him. Any unsaved wound or mortal wound, on a 2+, can be transferred to them. That unit of 40 Marauders is really an extra 40 wounds opponents must go through to get to Archaon’s damage table. Lord of Change can get the Wellspring of Arcane Might mutation and should take the Tzeentch Firestorm spell for extra damage potential since he is the best spell caster in your army. The Large unit of Pink Horrors should take the Bolt of Tzeentch spell, which keeping the Lord of Change close to them along with the mutation and his command ability gives them a +3 to their casting roll so it can be doable. Your smaller unit of Pink Horrors should have the Arcane Transformation spell and should first improve Archaon’s Sword of Kings attack and then try on the other heroes. Finally, the Changeling should take Unchecked Mutation as a ping for when you decide to reveal him.
Strategy: Your main goal is to keep the Lord of Change and Archaon alive while blasting away your opponent with magic. Archaon himself can easily take care of any larger models but don’t let him get bogged down against larger units. If you can take first turn you need to get your spells up for him, Mystic Shield and Treacherous Bond are key, with the +2 casting from the Lord of Change you should be able to get them off. Don’t be afraid to use a destiny dice to make sure it won’t be unbound or fail the casting roll if Archaon goes down turn one you have a very good chance of losing the battle. After that it is a matter of playing to the scenario, push forward with your units, while holding the pink horrors and Lord of Change in the back. They can hold objectives and nuke people with spells and missile weapons easily, while the Changeling will slow down any fast-moving units. The Fatemaster can hold off any large units that might not have rend by putting mystic shield on him he gets a +1 save vs non-flying units. Finally, your Lord of Chaos is kind of a one-use nuke, by using destiny dice to use his Reaperblade once per battle attack to make sure it hits and wounds if they fail their save you’re doing 2D6 damage. Again, that is a generally fighting strategy with this army, as every scenario is different you may have to adjust depending on what the win condition is.
Blades of Khorne Force:
- Archaon the Everchosen (700 points) Leader 1 of 6, Behemoth 1 of 4
- Bloodsecrator (120 points) Leader 2 of 6
- Mighty Lord of Khorne (140) Leaders 3 of 6
- Bloodstoker (80 points) Leader 4 of 6
- Slaughterpriest (100 points) Leader 5 of 6
- Aspiring Deathbringer (80 points) Leader 6 of 6
- 40 Bloodreavers (240 points) Battleline 1 of 3
- 10 Blood Warriors (200 points) Battleline 2 of 3
- 30 Bloodletters (270 points) Battleline 3 of 3
- Garrek’s Reavers (60 points)
Total 1990 points
Loadouts: Any Slaughterpriest is fine in this army, the Aspiring Deathbringer with Goreax and Skullhammer is better, and finally if you can Bloodreavers with Meatripper axes. But all these are small details, if you have the other models they will work fine with this force.
Strategy: As always play to the objectives of the scenario but with this force your pretty much screening Archaon and the Mighty Lord of Khorne and running them forward. Both those models have weapons that can instant kill larger models so shoot to get them into combat with them. Use the Slaughterpriest to pull opponents closer to Archaon to make sure he stays in combat while using your smaller units to hold objectives or die to generate blood points. As always get the Bloodsecrator in the middle of the army to plant his standard to give those lovely buffs to everyone.
Maggotkin of Nurgle Force:
- Archaon the Everchosen (700 points) Leader 1 of 6, Behemoth 1 of 4
- Lord of Blights (140 points) Leader 2 of 6
- Harbinger of Decay (160 points) Leader 3 of 6
- Spoilpox Scrivener Herald of Nurgle (100 points) Leader 4 of 6
- 30 Plaguebearers (320 points) Battleline 1 of 3
- 15 Putrid Blightkings (480 points) Battleline 2 of 3
- 5 Chaos Warriors “mark of Nurgle” (90 points) Battleline 3 of 3
- 1 Feculent Gnarmaw (0 points) Scenery
Total 1990 points
Loadouts: All wizards in your Nurgle army know Foul Regenesis, so for Archaon as his bonus spell I would give him Magnificent Buboes. The Lord of Blights is the only character that can get the artifact, so I would give him The Fecund Flask which on a 2+ will heal him up completely.
Strategy: This army you need to take your time getting Archaon into the fray, as he is by far the fastest character in your army. You do not want him isolated so that your opponent can bog him down with a mass of troops that will take multiple turns to cut through. Your Plaguebearers should move forward as fast as possible with Spoilpox in the middle of them. He has a 2-inch attack along with 6-inch missile weapon so you can even keep him in the second line and still get his attacks in. The Harbringer of Decay is a great defensive buffing unit, so try and keep him close to any mortal Nurgle troops (this include Archaon). Your Lord of Blights should be right next to or within you Putrid Blightkings unit so that he can gift them a missile weapons attack every turn. The Chaos Warriors are just there as your 3 battleline unit but they can take a little bit of punishment, so use them to screen Archaon or hold an objective. Finally, the scenery piece is free so why not include one! Plopping it down in the middle of the field will let some of your troops re-roll charges or potentially deal out some mortal wounds!
There you have it: 3 different ways you could potentially use Archaon the Everchosen within your army and still win. Obviously, you’re going to generally be at a model disadvantage since he is 700 points, but he defiantly can take out that much in points of your opponent. Just remember to watch the win conditions closely because while he is a beast, he can only be in one place at a time.
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