Allies & Mercenaries
Warriors of Chaos
An army of Chaos Dwarfs can include up to 25% of its points from the Warriors of Chaos Grand Army list.
It is important to note that an allied contingent is effectively a small army on its own and follows the same army composition rules desribed in the Grand Army list. It needs its own general and at least one non-character unit. It is also not possible to have characters join units across army lines and neither can benefit from the respective other Inspiring Presence or Hold Your Ground. For all other purposes, including Spells and Combat Resolution, they function as one army.
Given those restrictions and calculating from a 2000pts Chaos Dwarf army list, there are a few units from the Warriors of Chaos which might be interesting for a Chaos Dwarf army.
Characters
While a Chaos Lord or Daemon Prince can just about be made possible, not many points would be left to kit them out. And it would be very cheesy. Better skip for truly massive games. For the most part, you have to make due with an Aspiring Champion or Exalted Sorcerer. They are more or less comparable to their Chaos Dwarf counterparts, but can be given Marks of Chaos or Gifts of Chaos for bonusses.
- An Aspiring Champion can be mounted on a Chaos or Gorebeast Chariot, offering some rare tactical options
- Exalted Sorcerers are your only access to Battle Magic, should that be your fancy.
Core
Thankfully for the limited points available, the core section already holds the most interesting units for allied forces
- The humble Chaos Warrior does not offer much above and beyond Infernal Guard or Black Orcs, but can have a Mark of Chaos of course. Only use for thematic reasons.
- Chaos Marauders are a step between Hobgoblin Cutthroats and Infernal Guard. They can be taken in units of 5+ and have the Skirmishers formation, opening up interesting tactical variation.
- Forsaken don’t come cheap and have some inbuilt unreliability, but they can be quite effective in the right circumstances. Put them next to Black Orcs so they don’t suffer Impetuousity!
- Chaos Knights fill a niche in your roster as a classic Heavy Cavalry unit. Half the price of a Bull Centaur Render, better armour, lances, can have Marks of Chaos. If you go for allies, this is one of the more interesting units!
- Marauder Horsemen offer an alternative to Hobgoblin Wolf Riders. In many aspects they are identical, but have slightly other special rules and equipment options. If you don’t want to have a Hobgoblin Khan or your rare allowance is already filled, Marauder Horsemen are a good option to fill the core-tax of your allied contingent.
- Chaos Warhounds are a dirt cheap screening unit and don’t have a counterpart in the Chaos Dwarf Grany Army list. Can be given Vanguard and Poison, but that gets expensive quickly. Still, they offer something to your army which you usually don’t have, being immediately interesting for an allied contingent.
Special
If you don’t overload on characters and core units, you can field one decent unit from the specials section
- Chaos Chosen Warriors / Knights are the elite versions of the base troops. That extra attack, access to Full Plate Armour and 6+ Ward Save really set them apart. Your units of choice if you want to go uber-elite.
- Chaos Ogres / Trolls compete with K’Daai Fireborn and differ only in details. They have that critical third wound which make Fireborn a bit flimsy, but tactically they offer little which you don’t already have.
- Chaos Spawns are an interesting choice for a small screening unit. Their random movement circumvents charge reactions but also makes them a bit unreliable. But they are a good choice if you just want to throw them in your opponent’s way.
- Chaos Chariots work well in an aggressive list, maybe accompanied be some Chaos Knights, an aspiring Champion on Chariot, a Black Orc Bigboss on Chariot, Bull Centaur Renders etc.
- The Chimera always has been a classic lone monster. It has abysmal LD, so make sure it will never have to do any tests unless it’s within a General’s Inspring Presence, but other than that it’s still more than capable to take care of war machines, small units or lone characters on its own or lend crucial support to another unit making the charge. Even with all upgrades (always go for all the upgrades!) it fits into a 500pt allied contingent.
- Dragon Ogres are one of the best units in the game. They are an interesting competition for Bull Centaur Renders and differ in a lot of ways. Where Bull Centaur Renders have T5, Dragon Ogres only have T4. But they have better armour, W4 and, most critically, that third attack, all at S5! Dragon Ogres are probably the reason to take allies in the first place. Crucially they can be taken in units of 1+ (which can even be a champion for extra effectiveness), so you can take a single one in a skeleton allied contingent of 168pts.
Rare
Unless we’re talking about a very large main force, you won’t have enough points to take anything meaningful from the rare section.
- Gorebeast Chariots fall in the same category as regular Chaos Chariots.
- The Gigantic Spawn of Chaos is a formidable addition to any army but unfortunately priced just above the mark to fit into a 500pts allied contingent. Still, especially with a Mark of Chaos it can absolutely demolish an opponent. A powerful choice for a 2500pts army!
- The Chaos Giant used to be something we could take directly. Now sadly he’s only unlocked starting at a 3200pts army.
- The Dragon Ogre Shaggoth is an absolute beast and would definitely be interesting, if you had the points. With a bit of equipment we’re looking at a minimum 4000pts army though.
- The Warpfire Dragon sadly is out of reach below a 6000pts army.
Mercenaries
An army of Chaos Dwarfs can include up to 20% of its points from Mercenaries.
At the beginning of the game you have to roll a D6 for each unit of Mercenaries in your army. On a 2+, the behave normally and are treated as being a regular part of the army. On a roll of 1 you roll on the Misbehaving Mercenaries table (gain stupid or -1 to LD or -1 to M and I or start the battle as ambushers).
- Badlands Ogre Bulls can be an alternative to K’daai Fireborn, but tactically don’t offer much we don’t already have available.