Geronimo

Black Orc: “Now den, some times what da boyz need is a lad what can take a beating, and beat back! Dey need a lad wif a serious pair of tusks! Dem needs a Black Orc!”
- Grumlok, Orc Warboss on Strategy

"Da bigger da Orc, da stronger da Orc. Da stronger da Orc, da more dat's Orc's da boss. No wonder da Black Orcs is always da bosses!"
- Splinta, a Goblin in the Bloody Sun Boyz tribe

Armed and armoured to fight in the thick of melee as a warrior and tanker, the Black Orc matches physical hardiness with a down and dirty brawler’s fighting style that makes him the heart of any war band. With choppa and shield in hand, he can face down any foe unshaken. However, it is his unique approach to fighting that makes him as deadly with his fists as with either of those tools. He’ll knock you down so you can’t fight back, and then kick you while you’re down. There’s no honor among Greenskins, and there’s no such thing as a fair fight – and that’s the way he likes it!

The Black Orc Specialty
The Black Orc’s fighting style might best be described as brawling. He attacks with all the tools available – fists, feet, elbows, shoulders, and assorted other spiky bits, including weapons. His various attacks are designed to jar, disorient, or otherwise disable his enemy. Each of these conditions leaves the enemy vulnerable to yet more punishment. This comes in the form of other attacks which deliver additional effects based on the target’s condition. The Black Orc’s use of these tools revolves around the philosophy that the best defense is indeed a good offense.

Playing as a Black Orc
Combat for a Black Orc revolves around engaging and defeating enemies one at a time, while weathering the fire of their allies. As a front line fighter, the Black Orc is well equipped to withstand the attacks of his enemies. Though protected by shield and armor, and possessing a hearty constitution, his greatest strength lies in his ability to disable his primary opponent. His use of jarring blows and unexpected attacks allow the Black Orc to exploit the openings they create to reduce the enemy’s ability to fight back.

Fighting Black Orcs
When you fight a Black Orc it’s most important to know your enemy and his abilities. This allows you to counter them and keep him from reaching the potential of his deadly power. He will always have the tools to engage you, so there’s little sense in trying to get around him. If you’re aware of his abilities – especially the multiple attacks he can chain off of one another – you can maneuver and break his chains, denying him maximum performance. Maneuverability, selective engagement, and an intimate knowledge of your enemy’s abilities are the keys to defeating the Black Orc.

The Black Orc Look
# Fully armored in heavy armor (with lots of spikes)
# Large very heavy shields (also with lots of spikes)
# Choppas and great choppas (with spiky bits stuck on)


Orc Choppa: Wuz betta den one choppa? Two choppas! Two choppas is one more… is one times da… is lots more fun! Waaagh!”
- Chopmo, Dung Heap Philosopher

Even the most stable Orc is only a hair's breadth from coming completely unglued in the heat of battle. It is to the great relief of their opponents and allies alike that most of them manage to keep it together. There are some Orcs, however, that just can’t be bothered with that sort of thing. These are simple creatures – simply violent, simply well armed, simply a bloody nightmare to keep from running blindly into the fray – and they are among the most deadly of opponents one will ever face in the heat of a melee. These are Choppas, named for their weapon, and their weapon named for them, and their frenzy is to be feared.

Choppa Specialty
At the heart of the Choppa is a deadly warrior, but his true power begins to shine only as he lets himself be carried away by the frenzy of battle. As his morale rises, the Choppa quickly works himself into a frothing rage. The more he fights the more berserk he becomes, his attacks bombarding the enemy in a ceaseless onslaught. His frenzy makes the Choppa bold, opening up new possibilities for attack which would be far too dangerous or difficult to attempt otherwise. These moves further enhance his power and capabilities, opening even more potential attacks as the fight unfolds.

Playing as a Choppa
Playing a Choppa is straight forward. Get in the fight, and stay there as long as you can without getting yourself killed. The longer you’re in a fight, the more your morale builds and the more berserk you become. This makes your attacks more powerful and unlocks new devastating abilities. However, the use of these abilities depletes your morale and thus reduces your combat strength. You must decide whether it’s more important to maintain your berserker frenzy or unleash a powerful attack upon your foe. You must also remember that you are less well armored than your Black Orc cousins, and generally less durable. The fighting itself may be simple, but strategy is required to reach and maintain your peak effectiveness.

Fighting Choppas
The Choppa takes time to ramp up to full effectiveness, so it is best to eliminate him early in the battle. If that is not immediately possible, you’ll need to reduce or impede the Choppa’s ability to gain morale and keep him from flying into a berserk frenzy. Using anti-morale attacks will slow his climb to power, giving you the opportunity to take him out before he sends you home hurting.

The Choppa Look
# Light to moderate armor allowing flexibility and mobility
# Wields choppas in various and deadly combinations
# Physically grows more menacing as his rage mounts


Goblin Shaman: “Sticks ‘n’ stones’ll break my bones, but Gork and Mork’ll smash yer ‘ead to bits if’n you don’t sod off you big bugger!”
- Gahzbag, Goblin Shaman telling off a Giant

He’s got Waaagh!, and he’s not afraid to use it! What more can you say about a lad who gets the big Waaagh! going when the boyz roll out? The Shaman channels the primal bloodlust of the Greenskins into effects both beneficial and baleful. He keeps the lads up and running far beyond their normal capabilities and calls down the wrath of the twin deities, Gork and Mork, onto his enemies. The one feeds the other and around he goes, delivering a deadly combination of healing magic and stomping, pummeling power without pause.

Shaman Specialty
Greenskins live for battle, and fighting provides the strange and twisted power that fuels their magic. By participating in battle – calling down the wrath of Gork and Mork, or just being up in the fight with the lads – the Shaman taps into the collective frenzy to gain Waaagh! power. This gathered Waaagh! energy drives the strength of his supporting magic to new heights. With Waaagh! power blazing in his eyes, his spells can heal more wounds or empower his allies to achieve feats of unbelievable destruction.

Playing as a Shaman
As a Shaman, you’ll have to walk a careful line in balancing your offensive and support abilities. You can achieve the greatest rate of healing by focusing on that skill exclusively. You can maximize your rate of damage by focusing purely on those abilities. However, focusing on a single talent will lessen your overall impact on the battle. The strength your support skills gain from an ongoing Waaagh! is significant. Using your offensive magic to contribute directly to the fight will increase the power of your support magic, allowing you to better help your group.

Fighting the Shaman
With the Shaman’s power to support and enhance his allies, he is at his strongest when he fights with a team. With this in mind, you’d be advised to take the earliest opportunity to eliminate him – an opportunity his group mates will do their best to deny you. In each fight you must carefully weigh the opposition, and determine the best time to strike at the Shaman. Attack too early and you risk facing deadly reprisals from the Shaman’s uninjured allies. Attack too late and you may lack the power to overcome the group's Waaagh! enhanced defenses.

The Shaman Look
# Lightly armored in tattered goblin robes (with critters and bits stuck on)
# Carries an elaborate shaman’s staff (with more critters and nastier bits)
# Kitted out with shamanistic trappings (Still more critters and bits)


Goblin Squig Herder: “…an’ dis one’s Chompy! Chompy’s a right devil he is! Rip a bugger right in two! See dis scar ‘ere on me arm? Dats ol’ Chompy’s ‘andywork! I’mna go grab ‘im… ”
- Greenstumps, Goblin Squig Herder

One-on-one a Squig is no match for the likes of a Hammerer or Ironbreaker, but the problem there isn’t the match, it’s the numbers. The toothy embrace of a pack of Squigs has brought down many a hearty warrior, and a Squig pack is never more effective than in the hands of an expert Herder. Using tools ranging from pipes to goads to bits of giblets, the Squig Herder drives his minions to a killing frenzy while fighting safely behind the lines. The Herder’s own ranged fire combines with the attacks of his minions to challenge any foe.

Squig Herder Specialty
It’s all about the Squigs – at least as far as the Squig Herder is concerned – and he knows all there is to know about these feisty critters. Commanding a pack of Squigs culled from those types he has learned to train, the Squig Herder can inflict serious damage on his enemies. With experience, he can learn to tame a broad range of breeds, control more powerful Squigs, and acquire more specialized abilities such as taking direct control of his Squig. His minions will even fight on after his death, wandering off only when the battle is done.

Playing as a Squig Herder
As a Squig Herder you lead from the rear, turning your Squigs loose on the enemy and supporting them with commands, arrows and bait while safely out of harm’s way. The most critical elements of your strategy revolve around your choice of Squigs for your pack, and the abilities you use to support them. Your various breeds offer you tools for different situations, and you must mix and match them to meet your needs. Tactically speaking, your job is to kill the enemy while avoiding his counter-attacks – both you and your Squigs are deadly but fragile beasts.

Fighting the Squig Herder
The Squig Herder is essentially a fire-support career who wishes to hit you without being hit. As such, you’ll need to deny him that opportunity. Attacking him or his pets early – either one, as the pets will live on after their master’s death – is a sound strategy which will quickly reduce his damage dealing power. You must also be alert however, as Squigs can bypass your own line with their fast leaping movements and strike at your back field. You must strike a balance between the defenses you can muster against enemy melee fighters and the nasty beasts gnawing at your heels.

The Squig Herder Look
# Lightly armored in leather and equipment harnesses (often made from Squig skins)
# Outfitted with numerous and varied Squig herding tools (made from anything and everything)
# Carries a bow or spear for personal combat (or uses his Squig pipes for calling Squigs)

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Geronimo

Chosen: My name? Long ago, such worthless details fell from memory. I know only the lust for glorious battle - for blood, for victory! I seek only the Eye of Tzeentch - his favour, his grace, his Dark Gifts - that through them, I may be remade - reborn! Why do we raid your lands? Why do we burn your homes? Why do we flay your flesh? To serve the Lord of Change and his magnificent designs."
- An unknown Chosen of Tzeentch

A Chosen Champion of Tzeentch is a sight to behold - warped by the blessings of the dark gods, these hulking behemoths have the power and size to match even the mightiest of mortal creatures. Their thick Chaos armor can ward off the most punishing of blows, while the fell weapons they wield can cleave the heaviest of defenses. However, these "blessings" come at a price - the Chosen is beholden to Tzeentch, and must constantly strive to earn his favor. For the Chosen of Tzeentch this means more than mere slaughter and death. In order to earn the grace of the Changer of Ways, the Chosen must apply guile and trickery as much as brute force. Only through careful planning and deliberate carnage can a Chosen of Tzeentch truly find the favor of their god.

The Chosen of Tzeentch Specialty
Tzeentch expects his Champions to be both ferocious warriors and cunning tacticians. As a result, Chosen who excel in these areas are granted profane rewards. These Dark Gifts allow the Chosen to manipulate the ruinous power of Chaos itself. While this provides them with ever greater strength, it also continually strips away any remnants of humanity that may still reside in the dark recesses of their memories. These Dark Gifts supplement the warrior’s awesome martial skills, increasing their durability, strength and even allowing them to harness the Winds of Magic.

Playing as the Chosen
Above all else, as a Chosen Champion, you will seek the esteem of Tzeentch. Yours is an arduous path, forever seeking out greater glory in the eyes of the Raven God by playing a crucial role in his terrible schemes and cruel manipulations. Encased in a blasphemous panoply of heavy armor, you will endeavor to place yourself on the front line of every battle, where you will bring to bear the power of your Dark Gifts against your foes. You will also often be called upon to protect the insignificant or the weak, not as an act of compassion, but rather in service to the inscrutable machinations of your treacherous god.

Fighting the Chosen
Only death - either yours or theirs - brings any hope of respite from the fear and confusion that the Chosen inspire and the devastation they wreak on the battlefield. The best choice is almost certainly to do anything and everything you can to eliminate the Chosen from the fight as quickly as possible. They are devious and manipulative, and it is unwise to give them any opportunity to use their Dark Gifts to guide the course of a battle. Since they are most dangerous at close range, wise groups will focus magical and ranged attacks on them early in the fight. Failing that, your only hope is a focused, heavy melee attack – though it will certainly be a race against the dark and creeping terror such close proximity to the monstrous Chosen will instill in you and your allies.

The Look of the Chosen
# Ornate and brightly adorned heavy armor made of strange, curving components decorated with the colors and marks of Tzeentch.
# Uses heavy shields bearing the crest and symbols of the Raven God.
# Wields massive melee weapons that crackle with ruinous power at high levels.


Magus: “Let mere Wizards have their simple fire. The flames of Tzeentch are by far the more subtle, the stranger, and all the more powerful for it. Who is more deeply burned? The man who is scorched and recoils, or the man who accepts the flame, thinking it is but warming light?”
- Tor Ravenson, Magus

The magic of Tzeentch is sorcery in its purest form – the raw power of the warp unleashed on living flesh. Using this power, the Magus can wreak incredible destruction, but his powers can cause effects more sinister than simple death. The dark magic of the Changer of Ways infects those touched by the Magus’s fires, tearing at their souls and bodies, diminishing their hearts and spirits. From atop his Daemonic Disc of Tzeentch the Magus rains corruption over the battlefield, annihilating his enemies with the sheer power of the Aethyr and the massive strength of his own will.

Magus Specialty
All manner of Daemons are counted amongst the numbers of the Raven Host, but the Magus uses the power of only one such creature – the arcane and powerful Disc of Tzeentch. He is forever bound to this living platform, and it is utterly ruled by his will. Wielding the power of the Aethyr, the Magus unleashes his spells from atop his mount while commanding the mount itself to unleash its own mighty powers. Channeling his dark powers through his Disc, mortal and Daemon achieve potent synergy, and leave only devastation in their wake.

Playing as a Magus
As a Magus, the primary tactical questions you must answer in battle are which of your abilities will be most effective, and where best to apply them. Your damage dealing power will be well applied in almost any situation, but an in depth understanding of the secondary effects of your spells is also pivotal to maximizing your effectiveness and potency. You are versatile, but you must select the best tools for each fight in order to succeed. Supplement this with good use of your Disc and its special abilities and you will have mastered the basics of playing the Magus.

Fighting the Magus
Defeating a Magus is largely similar to defeating any other powerful damage dealer. He is deadly, but fragile, possessing very limited defensive capabilities. The key special consideration springs from his versatility. If you assault a Magus with one particular approach, he may well have an offense to counter your own. Thus you must either employ a variety of attacks to circumvent this, or be ready to change tactics with extreme agility to react to whatever trick the Magus happens to pull out of his hat.

Magus Look
# Wears light ornamental armor with elaborate robes.
# Wields a staff inscribed with symbols of Chaos and imbued with dreadful arcane power.
# Rides and fights from an arcane and powerful Disc of Tzeentch at all times


Zealot: "He is Tzeentch! The Changer of Ways! The Raven God! The Lord of Mutation! He is the master of all that changes, and the changer of all that remains! His will is Chaos, and all the creatures of Chaos are but fleeting thoughts in his vast mind!"
– Drang The Preacher, Zealot

The Ruinous Powers have many gifts to offer their mortal followers and enemies alike – some of them quite terrible, but some of them powerful indeed. Zealots are among the most devout of the followers of the gods of Chaos, and as such it is they who are called upon to convey the will of the powers to their minions. It is Zealots who mark the followers of their patron deity, and who are charged with spreading their faith to the vulnerable and needy masses. They are not the subtle cultist, but the zealous preachers, and they offer open obedience to their dark masters.

Zealot Specialty
The Zealot deals in symbols. He channels the power of his master through fetishes and totems, and can place the symbols of Chaos on friend and foe alike. Those glyphs placed on Chaos’s loyal followers are called Marks, and can grant entirely new abilities. Those placed on the Zealot’s enemy are called Harbingers, and cause lasting affliction. The Harbingers are well named however, for their full potential is not immediately realized. Using powerful ritual magic, a Zealot can rob the subject of his Harbinger of life and spirit, draining it away to empower the Marks he has placed upon his allies with extraordinary abilities.

Playing as a Zealot
As a Zealot, your task is a complex one. You must prepare your allies for battle, and see that their Marks are set or re-set according to their shifting needs. You must also think offensively, for it is through your use of Harbingers which you are able to both effectively support and magnify the power of your allies, and crush the strength of your enemy. As a spell caster, you must be cautious, but because of your interlinked abilities, you must not be too conservative. If you hold back too much, or try to focus on only one aspect of your powers, all your abilities will be less than they could be.

Fighting the Zealot
The best way to deal with a zealot is by disrupting the complex network of interconnected effects and abilities which can make him so powerful. There are several ways to do this, the most obvious being the use of magic which helps protect you from his Harbingers or strips Marks from his allies. Alternatively, you might wish to attack the Zealot as a priority, but he is hardly the soft target that he might appear to be. You must weigh this option against the possibility that his allies will gain a critical edge while you attempt to eliminate the Zealot himself.

Zealot Look
# Essentially unarmored, in heavy robes and other ritual vestments and regalia
# Wields sacrificial daggers and other wicked instruments of pain.
# Carries many talismans, fetishes, and other occult paraphernalia about his person


Marauder: Coming soon

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Geronimo

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