Why should anyone playing non-Khorne summon anything but cultists?

By OpT1mUs, in Chaos in the Old World

Ok, great unclean one can also be awesome.

But for instance - why would Tzeench or Slaaneesh ever build combat units, what would be the purpose? It always feels like a waste of power, since they cannon soak damage for cultists, I really can't see the use?

Am I missing something?

If all the gods are playing against each other and not just rallying against Khorne, then the need for more offensive units then just cultisis should be obvious. The other gods will win (or keep up with your own advancement) if you do not kill off their cultists and battle units. It's that easy.

Mostly because the other gods will summon their combat units to kill your cultists while their cultists corrupt unopposed.

Yeah but the thing is, if you want some certain cultists dead, Khorne probably wants them dead too, so why not just let him take care of them instead?

I don't think Khorne can take care of all three other gods' cultists all at once, so placing your own combatants in an area ensures something happens there.

Besides, having some of your own combat troops can soak up damage, force Khorne to spend power to summon more guys, as well as encourage other gods from putting their own cultists in that area.

Actually in our games only Khorne and Nurgle place warriors out there. Sometimes people who play Slaanesh or Tzeench use their daemons.

And in my opinion both Tzeench and Slaanesh don't need any warriors or daemons on the board since they both got plenty of awesome chaos cards unlike Khorne and Nurgle. I hope that expansion will work this out and either make better upgrades for warriors and daemons or make them cheaper.

Nurgle summons his warriors in every game as they are so cheap and he only has 6 cultists which isn't enough to dominate too many regions.

Sometimes you want to ruin other peoples' play by killing off their cultists. Especially if you have all your cultists in play and you still have power.

Sometimes you want to get rid of that Khorne Warrior in your zone.

Sometimes you want to dominate with warriors instead of cards as warriors will be there the next round too AND they kill enemies.

Upgraded Horrors are good as they ensure that Tzeentch gets to play cards on those regions.

Upgraded Keeper of Secrets is good as it can give Slaanesh 1 exra cultist or even warrior if need be.

Warriors aren't your best options most of the time but they have their place.

The first time I ever played, I was Slaanesh and made a point of having warriors around. I don't adopt that anymore, but sure warriors have their place. Nurgle is the biggest beefcake beyond Khorne, and if Khorne's not around, he definitely wants to get rid of opposing cultists. Slaanesh is the biggest threat without Khorne. With Khorne, I'd prefer playing my greater daemon before working in warriors. They all cost 1 more than warriors, but provide disproportionately more benefit. Tzeentch gets +2 attack, Slaanesh gets +1/+2, and Nurgle gets +2/+2. Only after that will I consider playing warriors, and I think I'll usually have to already be doing well to consider that.

Yeah, occasionally Slaneesh and Tzeetch will bring out their great daemon, but there really hasn't ever been a situation where they'd want to spend points on warriors.

And I've NEVER seen anyone get Slaneesh and Tzeetch's warrior upgrades. Their other upgrades are just such a higher priority.

I'd also like to see the expansion balance out the upgrades. Getting the cultist or extra card upgrades first is pretty much mandatory and the game is almost over by the time you get a 3rd.

I definitely agree that we should enhance the functionalities of warriors and perhaps greater demons.

I also wish that warriors were more interesting by default, rather than having to upgrade them. I believe that using your warriors should be the correct move in many situations rather than in the rarest of events, even without upgrades.

The only time I can see when Tzeench or Slaanesh should fortify themselves in a region with warriors is if they desperately need dial ticks and the warp stones, heroes, or nobles needed to do so are extremely super rare or for some reason inaccessible. Otherwise yes it is generally enough to make people spend their points on warriors to attack you and then just pack up and leave. (Or better yet use a more efficient card based solution if that is available to you).

I feel that starting warriors off with some minor powers could be an alternative solution to simply altering the upgrade cards. Something like, summoning a warrior from the board costs 1 power point instead of 2. Or, you may summon a warrior to any region that has warp stones or magic symbols or some such. An example of a more interesting upgrade might be something that affords a bit of actual protection for your cultists... Each Daemonette protects one cultist. That might be too strong in combination with the current seductress upgrade, although if balanced could give Slaanesh a reasonable shot at dial advancements in games with poor setup for him/her.

Burnhamalive said:

Yeah but the thing is, if you want some certain cultists dead, Khorne probably wants them dead too, so why not just let him take care of them instead?

Uh..because letting Khorne have free kills on opposing cultists is a great way to lose the game to khorne?

Obviously some units from each power rarely see play due to the short length of the game if it is being played properly. I am curious to see if the games length increases once you introduce the skaven to the board. The space for the four powers is already cramped and adding another competitor to the board should add more conflict. Those unused units might be more useful now with the increased hostility that is likely to take place.