Sorcerers of Hashut
The ruling caste in Chaos Dwarf society have always been the Sorcerer-Prophets and their Daemonsmith apprentices and so they are also our most important characters on the battlefield.
Sorcerer-Prophets are lord-level characters, they are level 3/4 wizards, come with LD10, and have an acceptable fighting statline of WS5 S4 T5 (!) A3, while Daemonsmith Sorcerers are your level 1/2 wizards and otherwise perform more or less like Infernal Guard. Still, for a wizard that’s totally fine. Both have armour thanks to Blackshard Armour, Ensorcelled Weapons and access to some interesting equipment in form of Darkforged Weapons, Naptha bombs and Blood of Hashut. You have access to potent magic and can tailor your chosen lore to your battlefield needs. Both Sorcerer-Prophets as well as Daemonsmith Sorcerers suffer from the Sorcerer’s Curse where, upon a miscast, they have to pass a toughness test or lose 1 wound while gaing +1 toughness (remember this is instead of rolling on the miscast table! So … is that even a bad thing?). If the test is passed, you roll on the miscast table as normal.
Their utility doesn’t end there, both tiers have the Infernal Engineer special rule, where once per turn a friendy war machine within command range (so 9"/10" respectively or even 12" if they are the army’s General!) can re-roll one (1) scatter or artillery dice. That is very nifty!
Lastly, Sorcerers of Hashut can be mounted:
- Lammasu: The traditional mounts of Chaos Dwarfs sorcerers, a Lammasu is a relatively cheap monstrous creature giving a sorcerer a most welcome +3 wounds, increase their command range to 18" if they are the army’s General thanks to Large Target and gain Fly (9) with Swiftstride. Additionally, a Lammasu grants a spectacular Magic Resistance (3), making especially a Sorcerer-Prophet almost immune to enemy magic, and further protection with the unique Sorcerous Miasma special rule, rendering all magic weapons useless in close combat against the Sorcerer-Prophet. That’s massive! The Lammasu on its own may not be a Dragon with the mediocre WS4 S5 A2 but should not be dismissed either, with inbuilt Armour Bane (2), Furious Charge and Stomp Attacks (D3). You can further boost his melee provess with an additional Mace Tail attack at S6 AP-2 and the excellent S4 AP-2 magical Sorcerous Exhalation breath weapon. As a last bonus a Lammasu causes Terror, which works well with certain magic spells to sow literal terror in enemy lines. Don’t sleep on the Lammasu!
- Great Taurus: For a more beefy and straightforward fighting mount consider the Great Taurus. It adds +4 wounds to your sorcerer and with WS5 S5 A3 AP-1 flaming attacks carries a tad more punch than the Lammasu while also benefitting from Furious Charge and Stomp Attacks (D3) with Armour Bane (2) thanks to Behemoth. One of its attacks can even be made at S6 AP-3 and Strike First which is pretty good. Fly (9), Large Target and Terror are equal to the Lammasu, but the added protection is slighty different by offering a 3+ Ward Save against flaming attacks. Lastly it has the Blazing Body special rule which is always welcome.
- Bale Taurus (Sorcerer-Prophet only): The larger version of the Great Taurus offers an additional +1 toughness which is massive and has WS5 S6 A4 AP-1 flaming attacks, which means one attack is made at S7 AP-3! It also has Stomp Attacks (D3+1). Now that is a spicy combat mount!
Overall, the Lammasu is a great choice as it has a lot of synergy with what you want your Sorcerers be able to do, while offering some very welcome protection with added wounds and magic resistance. Because a basic fact is, you probably just don’t want your sorcerer in close combat! They fight better than most wizards but are still outclassed by dedicated fighting characters. I feel the Great Taurus would always pick the short straw here. It’s just a damn shame that Infernal Guard Commanders cannot be mounted. The Bale Taurus on the other hand is just a massive beast and on an equal level with the game’s most powerful monsters. So if you want to go for melee, go for the Bale Taurus.
There is also good cause to have your sorcerer on foot, though. If you go heavy on war machines, you should have a few Daemonsmith Sorcerers with them. Also an Arabyan Carpet is always an interesting choice. If you stick one in a unit, remember that this severly limits his ability to cast spells, since he is then bound by the vision arc of the unit.