Stompa Mob with Soopa Stompas or anything with an MW barrage.

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Guns don't break formations. Blast Markers break formations.

Win the strategy roll

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Sniper the Icon Bearer

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Careful clipping assault.

When the formation breaks, that GD is gone.

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Ok, so there are two Chosen formations here, each 6-8 strong, one kitted out to field GD etc, much as in the recent game Vs Marine WE. Yes it does mean that the BL are teleporting over 1/3 of their army into the area in two formations, and potentially it could be cross-fired etc. However I contend that very few armies (if any) can actually do much about this if it is placed with even moderate care. One key defensive strategy is obviously to use scouts effectively to screen against such an attack - so they might be forced to teleport on turn 2, or use a Feral (or even the smaller force) to rip up the scouts opening a path for the big oneMarines will have a 56% chance of winning, 15% of drawing and 28% chance of losing the Roll - and if they lose - well it's "goodnight" as both formations increase their size while wiping out potent enemy formation(s). Eldar have a 50:50 chance, while other Races stand less chance of beating the SR.


Very few units have a MW barrage (as I think you know) possibly because this was thought to be excessive . . .   They are mainly Orks (which are less likely to get to use the weapons as they lose the Strategy roll nearly 3 times out of 5). Furthermore, even if they do get to go first, with a Daemon Prince in the mix, there is a better than even chance the formation will survive the barrage anyway!


Eldar Rangers might stand a chance here - but in order to provide an effective screen, there will only be 1-2 maximum and the chances of actually killing the Chosen Icon bearer (or the Chaos Champion for preference) would be around 4/9 at best - possibly the best alternative yet!!


I agree that this is the only real option available to the Marines and the Eldar (if they win the Strategy Roll). One of the reasons for using only 6 units in the Chosen formation (apart from the cost) is that if placed in B-B with each other, it becomes quite difficult to clip - and with two formations in mutual support placed close to the table edge can make clipping virtually impossible. Terrain and the position of other formations can swing this either way, making the outcome more uncertain. Even so, I would put my money on the BL every time, as I contend that two upgraded Chosen formations are going to be very hard to break before they have done what they set out to achieve.

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OK rant over - I did have a game planned for tonight but work intervened   so I have had to make do with this 'theory-hammer. But will try these possibilities out when I can

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Have fun!

And remember, when winning the strategy roll, retreat is sometimes a better option than duking it out.

If you are fast enough to get away from the Chosen threat and can concentrate on smashing the rest of the Chaos army, victory is at hand! This holds especially true for khornate Chosen, they´ll have to double and the Bloodthirster can´t shoot, which should limit the formations efficiency greatly.

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What does the DP have to do with a formation being able to make their armour saves?

I think you missed the point of this exchange though. You asked a question about some seemingly unbalanced formation and you got four almost immediate responses regarding ways to deal with it.

I don't think the formation is as bad as you think. And I think that a lot of people agree.

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Guns don't break formations. Blast Markers break formations.

Well if the likely changes can be posted up I can try it against you Gavin Tuesday - and get revenge!

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Hmm, the lack of "super formations" is one of the things I like about Epic. Generally, I think if you can come up with a formation that the opponent can't deal with the army list needs to be changed.

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Eldar have all sorts of goodies for this sort of work including BP Disrupt weapons and Lance weapons that have a habit of ripping through armour.

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Guns don't break formations. Blast Markers break formations.

Simple maths - with 3+RA the DP will always have a better chance of survival than a Chosen with 4+RA.

I think you missed the point of this exchange though. You asked a question about some seemingly unbalanced formation and you got four almost immediate responses regarding ways to deal with it.

I don't think the formation is as bad as you think. And I think that a lot of people agree.

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Guys, the point I am trying to put across in these examples is not that this or that unit is grossly overpowered in itself, because by-and-large they are not. My contention has always been that :-
1) Many 'regular' units and formations in the list are slightly too powerfull or underpriced relative to other races.
2) The ability to upgrade or 'summon' Daemonic units (which IMO are also overpowered/undervalued) to these formations and the inherent 1+ strategy rating provide force multipliers which increase these imbalances to the point where IMHO the list is too powerfull.

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However, you may gather that I am not convinced they are particularly effective ways - especially 'rely on the strategy roll' - or dumb luck. Sure you can shoot the formation(s) - the whole point of having 4+RA with TRA is to make the Chosen survivable. Make the formation(s) big enough and mean enough and as IronDeath rightly says, the only real option is to avoid it - thus giving the opponent your Blitz, and either dividing your forces or putting them in between 'a rock and a hard place', neither particularly helpfull strategies.

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In my experience, after half a dozen or more games opponents have wised up to common BL strategies (like the Chosen assault hammer you suggested) and can deal with them successfully. Over the years, I have played dozens of games in tournaments, scenarios, campaigns and straight X000-GT rules one-off games, and the established opinion is that, in its current form, the list is indeed balanced and priced correctly, barring abuses like the Feral horde and the other minor tweaks suggested by LI.

And there is nothing wrong with the Chosen formation being utterly nasty if they get the jump on you. It is practically the only option in the list capable of tackling heavily armoured targets, Loyalists can field Titans to get serious AT, while their Traitor counterparts weapon fits are not suited to that role.

I´ll refrain from ranting once more about that crapulistic Doomburner on the Ravager at this point...  


Chosen are costed correctly. If they take out more than their points worth under favourable circumstances, so what? If some 300-point orc mob charges into a 650-points Artillery Coy, there is no argument that the arty should win since it´s worth like twice as much as the attackers is there?

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Avoidance works to a point - you can ensure the rest of the army is 'tough' - WE, big cheap inf formations etc - and generally speed forces lack the firepower to win a shoot out with them.

Maybe a better strategy would be one 'large' chosen formation with all the trimmings for a turn 2/3 teleport into the little triangle you would have made of the enemies objectives, perhaps supprted by a small one, purely for objective capture (with the option to smake titans and similar obviously).

Still there are three oportunities for failure - the summoning, the activation and the actual fight!

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