nilbog:
Core:
At first glance, there appears to be only two core choices, but equipping them differently gives a few more options.
Infernal guard are heavily armoured, with blackshard armour and shields as standard. Although they don�?Tt die easily, one WS4 S4 attack means they don�?Tt kill much either. A big unit (25-30) is recommended, with full command. A unit of 30 makes a decent horde, or six ranks of five if you need static combat resolution. You need at least one unit to put your sorcerer-prophet and battle standard in.
Infernal guard can have additional weapons as well (note that these don�?Tt replace the shield). Great weapons seem useful, but the high price and the fact shields can�?Tt be used in close combat makes them less so. Fireglaives again seem handy, but short range, cost and BS3 shooting makes them a luxury rather than a necessity. Blunderbusses are an iconic chaos dwarf ranged weapon (and the big hat models are lovely) but ridiculously overpriced. Consider a unit of 30: for the additional cost of blunderbusses, you could have a unit of bull centaurs, nearly two deathshriekers or a unit of hobgoblins, giving you more flexibility.
Hobgoblins, as with infernal guard, are overpriced. They do however have their uses. Armed with a bow they can take potshots at lightly armoured fast cavalry, skaven weapons teams or the odd wizard that�?Ts lurking out on his own. Don�?Tt forget they also have throwing knives so can always stand and shoot. For a meager investment they can have additional hand weapons instead, giving them a quasi-sneaky gits feel. A big unit might warrant the inclusion of shields, if you feel they need to survive any longer. Keep them close to your big block of infernal guard so they don�?Tt suffer animosity and also benefit from the general and battle standard nearby.
I wouldn�?Tt spend more than necessary on core units; the special and rare choices do all the killing.
Recommended set-up:
28 Infernal guard, full command, lichebone pennant 383
20 hobgoblins, full command, bows 122
The unit of infernal guard total 30 with the sorcerer-prophet and battle standard in there. The lichebone pennant gives you a combined 4+ ward against lore of fire or metal spells.
At higher points levels, there are more options: bulk out the hobgoblin unit to 40 and run a horde (hard to get rid of; lots of attacks); add another hobgoblin unit (two units can shoot at different targets); drop the hobgoblin unit and take another unit of infernal guard instead. If you take another unit of infernal guard it might be worth putting the battle standard in one unit and the sorcerer-prophet in another, and equipping the sorcerer-prophet with the crown of command. This gives you two stubborn blocks.