In the wildest corners of every realm, the Beasts of Chaos gather for war. They are anarchy given form, monstrous amalgams of animal and man intent on tearing down the wonders of civilisation and reducing the Mortal Realms to ruin. Birthed from the warping taint of Chaos and imbued with bestial fury, they stampede towards their foes in vast herds, leaving only horror and devastation in their wake.
This page contains all of the rules you need to field your Beasts of Chaos miniatures on the battlefields of the Mortal Realms, from a host of exciting allegiance abilities to a range of warscrolls and warscroll battalions. The rules are split into the following sections.Contents • Allherd | ||
Books
| Book | Kind | Edition | Version | Last update |
 Beasts of Chaos | ||||
| Beasts of Chaos | Battletome | 2 | 1.1 | December 2019 |
 Warhammer Underworlds: Beastgrave | ||||
| Warhammer Underworlds: Beastgrave | Warscroll | 2 | September 2019 | |
 General’s Handbook ’2020 | ||||
| General’s Handbook ’2020 | Expansion | 2 | 1.0 | August 2020 |
Designers’ Commentary
Battletome: Beasts of Chaos
| Q: | Does the Herdstone Shard affect the Ghorgon’s Ravenous Bloodgreed ability? |
| A: | No. It only affects the Bloodgreed ability. |
| Q: | Can Brass Despoilers, Phantasmagoria of Fate, Pestilent Throng and Depraved Drove be used as part of a Chaos army that owes allegiance to a Chaos God? For example, can I take a Brass Despoilers battalion as part of a Khorne army? |
| A: | Yes. |
| Q: | Can a HERO from a Beasts of Chaos warscroll battalion that is part of a Chaos army that owes its allegiance to a Chaos God be given any spells/artefacts/etc. from that army’s set of allegiance abilities? |
| A: | Yes, as long as no other restrictions apply |
| Q: | With the Great Bray-Shaman’s Devolve spell, does the opponent have to move all of the models in the unit? |
| A: | Yes. Note that each model is moved one at a time. |
| Q: | Does the Dragon Ogor Shaggoth’s Beneath the Tempest ability stack? For example, if you have three Shaggoths on the table and you tie for priority, can you make three 4+ rolls to heal D3 wounds for each Thunderscorn unit? |
| A: | No. |
| Q: | I would like some clarification on how the Jabberslythe’s Spurting Bile Blood ability is intended to work, specifically whether ‘overkill’ damage triggers dice rolls to test for mortal wounds. For example, if my Jabberslythe suffers 12 wounds from a single unit’s melee weapon(s), do I roll 12 dice to test for mortal wounds even though the Jabberslythe has a Wounds characteristic of 10? |
| A: | The Spurting Bile Blood ability triggers when a wound is allocated. As wounds are allocated one at a time until the model is slain, any ‘overkill’ will not cause the ability to be triggered. See Allocating Wounds in the core rules. |
| Q: | With the Ravening Direflock’s Black-souled Cowardice ability, what happens if it is impossible to place the models due to enemy models? |
| A: | The endless spell is dispelled. Note that you must set up the Ravening Direflock if it is possible to do so. |
| Q: | f a Wildfire Taurus’ Whirlwind of Destruction ability forces an Idoneth Deepkin unit to fight at the end of the next combat phase, but the High Tide battle trait is in effect, does the unit fight at the start or the end of the combat phase? |
| A: | If two abilities that apply to a unit are contradictory and cannot both be applied, the one that was applied second takes precedence. In this case, that means the Idoneth Deepkin unit would fight at the end of the combat phase. Note this only occurs when it impossible to use both abilities. For example, if one ability gave a unit a hit modifier of +1 and another ability gave the same unit a hit modifier of -1, both would be applied (and effectively cancel each other out). |
| Q: | Does the note in the Pitched Battle profile for Tzaangors in the Beasts of Chaos battletome mean that they can only ever be Battleline if they are included in a Beasts of Chaos army with a Tzaangor Shaman as their general? |
| A: | No. Tzaangors are only not Battleline units when they are taken as part of a Beasts of Chaos army that does not have a Tzaangor Shaman as its general. |
Allies
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Battle Traits
The Herdstone
The foul megaliths erected by the Beasts of Chaos warp and corrupt the land around them.
After territories have been chosen but before players begin to set up their armies, you can set up one HERDSTONE wholly within your territory, more than 12" from enemy territory and more than 1" from any other terrain features. If both players can set up a terrain feature in this manner, each player rolls a dice, rolling again in the case of a tie, and whoever rolls higher can choose the order in which the terrain features are set up.Brayherd Ambush
The Brayherds use savage cunning to encircle their prey before launching an attack.
Instead of setting up a BRAYHERD unit on the battlefield, you can place it to one side and say that it is set up in ambush as a reserve unit. You can set up one reserve unit in ambush for each BEASTS OF CHAOS unit you have set up on the battlefield. At the end of your first movement phase, you must set up all friendly reserve units that are in ambush on the battlefield, wholly within 6" of the edge of the battlefield and more than 9" from any enemy units. Any reserve units that cannot be set up are slain.Creatures of the Storm
As the skies twist and darken, the Thunderscorn sweep across the battlefield with primal force.
At the start of your hero phase, roll a dice. Each friendly THUNDERSCORN unit more than 3" from any enemy units can move a distance in inches equal to the roll, but cannot move within 3" of any enemy units.Bloodgorge
The creatures of the Warherds guzzle down the blood of their enemies and feast on their flesh.
At the end of the combat phase, if any attacks made by a WARHERD unit in that combat phase destroyed any enemy units, heal D3 wounds allocated to that WARHERD unit.Greatfrays
Each of the Greatfrays wages war in its own uniquely savage way.
If your army is a Beasts of Chaos army, you can give it a Greatfray keyword. All BEASTS OF CHAOS units in your army gain that keyword. You can either choose one of the Greatfrays listed below, or choose another Greatfray you have read about or created yourself. If you choose one from the list below, all units with that keyword benefit from the extra abilities listed for that Greatfray on the page indicated. If you choose a different Greatfray, simply pick the Greatfray that most closely matches the nature of your own.• ALLHERD
• DARKWALKERS
• GAVESPAWN
If a unit already has a Greatfray keyword on its warscroll, it cannot gain another one. This does not preclude you from including the unit in your army, but you cannot use the allegiance abilities for its Greatfray.
Primordial Call
The din of battle and scent of gore call to all Beasts of Chaos, beckoning them to join the hunt.
You can summon units of BEASTS OF CHAOS to the battlefield if you collect enough Primordial Call points. At the start of your hero phase, you receive 1 Primordial Call point. In addition, in your hero phase you can choose one friendly BEASTS OF CHAOS HERO within 3" of the HERDSTONE you set up at the start of the battle and say that they will enact a savage blood ritual.If you do so, pick a friendly BEASTS OF CHAOS unit within 3" of the HERDSTONE. That unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. For each mortal wound inflicted on that unit, you receive 1 Primordial Call point.
If you have 3 or more Primordial Call points at the end of your movement phase, you can summon one or more units from the following list onto the battlefield, and add them to your army. Each unit you summon costs a number of Primordial Call points, as shown on the list, and you can only summon a unit if you have enough Primordial Call points remaining to pay its cost. Summoned units must be set up wholly within 6" of the edge of the battlefield and more than 9" from any enemy units. Subtract the cost of the summoned unit from the number of Primordial Call points you have available immediately after it has been set up.
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Command Traits
Brayherd Alphabeast TraitsBRAYHERD HERO only.
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Warherd Alphabeast TraitsWARHERD HERO only.
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Thunderscorn Alphabeast TraitsTHUNDERSCORN HERO only.
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Artefacts of Power
Spoils of the BrayherdsBRAYHERD HERO only.
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Spoils of the WarherdsWARHERD HERO only.
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Spoils of the ThunderscornTHUNDERSCORN HERO only.
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Spell Lores
You can choose or roll for one spell from one of the following tables for each WIZARD in a Beasts of Chaos army.Lore of the Twisted WildsBRAYHERD WIZARD only.
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Lore of Dark StormsTHUNDERSCORN WIZARD only.
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Greatfrays
These rules can be used by units in a Beasts of Chaos army that have been given the appropriate keyword (see the Greatfrays Battle Trait).AllherdFerocious and formidable, the Allherd are the most numerous of all the Greatfrays. Their teeming beastherds have spread throughout the Mortal Realms, and by enfolding the most wily and powerful Chaos creatures into their ranks, the Allherd ensures that its raging stampedes continue to grow. ABILITIES Bestial Might: The hordes of the Allherd thrive in the thick of battle, where they rampage through enemy lines uncowed and unstopped. Subtract 1 from battleshock rolls made for ALLHERD units in the battleshock phase if they were picked to fight in the combat phase of the same turn. COMMAND ABILITY Booming Roar: A ferocious bellow resonates out into the wilderness, beckoning all to join the great Allherd in their slaughter. You can use this command ability at the start of your hero phase if your general is on the battlefield. If you do so, you receive 1 Primordial Call point. COMMAND TRAIT An ALLHERD general must have this command trait instead of one listed in Command Traits section. Dominator: This beast leads from the fore, hacking into the foe to spur on his savage warriors. You can re-roll charge rolls made for friendly ALLHERD units wholly within 18" of this general if this general is within 3" of any enemy units. ARTEFACT OF POWER The first ALLHERD HERO to receive an artefact of power must be given the Blade of the Desecrator. Blade of the Desecrator: Said to be Chaos incarnate, this weapon’s etched runes glow as it tears foes asunder. Pick one of the bearer’s melee weapons. Improve the Rend characteristic of that weapon by 1 for attacks that target a unit of 10 or more models. Improve the Rend characteristic of that weapon by 2 instead for attacks that target a unit of 20 or more models. Attacks made by this weapon cannot have a Rend characteristic greater than -3. | ||
DarkwalkersThe Darkwalkers are apex ambushers who rule over the most remote places in each realm. Spiteful and wily, they hunt by luring their prey deep into ancient forests and desolate wastelands, encircling enemy armies and cutting off routes of escape before pouncing from the shadows to butcher the terrified enemy. ABILITIES Shadowbeasts: The Darkwalkers are apex ambushers, luring their foes into the shadows before pouncing upon them. WARHERD and THUNDERSCORN units in a DARKWALKERS army are considered to have the BRAYHERD keyword for the purposes of the Brayherd Ambush battle trait. In addition, up to half (rounding up) of the reserve units that are set up in ambush can arrive in your second movement phase instead of your first movement phase. ARTEFACT OF POWER The first DARKWALKERS HERO to receive an artefact of power must be given the Desolate Shard. Desolate Shard: Roughly hewn and black as night, this stone shard exudes the corruption of the Chaos wilds. Once per battle, at the start of your hero phase, the bearer can use the Desolate Shard if they are within 3" of a terrain feature. If they do so, roll a dice for each enemy unit within 1" of that terrain feature. On a 4+ that enemy unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. COMMAND TRAIT A DARKWALKERS general must have this command trait instead of one listed in Command Traits section. Nomadic Leader: This swift and deadly alphabeast drives his bestial kin to spread terror far and wide. Add 1 to run rolls for friendly DARKWALKERS units while they are wholly within 12" of this general. COMMAND ABILITY Savage Encirclement: Barking orders in an animal tongue, the Darkwalkers alphabeast orders their warriors back into the shadows, enabling them to prowl unseen while they outflank the enemy. You can use this command ability at the end of your movement phase. If you do so, pick a friendly DARKWALKERS unit that is more than 9" from any enemy units and wholly within 18" of a friendly DARKWALKERS HERO. Remove that unit from the battlefield and place it to one side. At the end of your next movement phase, set that unit up again anywhere on the battlefield more than 9" from any enemy units. | ||
GavespawnThe Gavespawn are worshippers of the Chaos entity known as Morghur, and in his name they seek to reduce all of existence to a writhing whirl of pure anarchy. Grotesquely twisted, even by the standards of the Beasts of Chaos, the creatures of the Gavespawn launch stampedes to spread their devolvement throughout the civilised lands. ABILITIES Gift of Morghur: The Gavespawn see spawndom not as a curse, but as an ascension into devolution. If a friendly GAVESPAWN HERO is slain, roll a dice before removing the model. On a 2+ one CHAOS SPAWN is added to your army. Set up the CHAOS SPAWN anywhere on the battlefield within 6" of the slain HERO. If the HERO had the KHORNE, NURGLE, SLAANESH or TZEENTCH keyword, the same keyword must be chosen for the CHAOS SPAWN. If they did not, you cannot use the Curse of the Dark Gods ability to choose a keyword for that CHAOS SPAWN. COMMAND ABILITY Propagator of Devolution: The Gavespawn view Chaos Spawn as holy creations of Morghur, and are driven to emulate their frenetic savagery. You can use this command ability at the start of the combat phase. If you do so, pick a friendly GAVESPAWN unit wholly within 12" of a friendly GAVESPAWN CHAOS SPAWN. Add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of that unit’s melee weapons until the end of that phase. COMMAND TRAIT A GAVESPAWN general must have this command trait instead of one listed in Command Traits section. Unravelling Aura: In the presence of this alphabeast, magic devolves into anarchic Chaos energy. This general can attempt to unbind one spell in the enemy hero phase in the same manner as a WIZARD. If this general is already a WIZARD, they can attempt to unbind 1 additional spell in the enemy hero phase. ARTEFACT OF POWER The first GAVESPAWN HERO to receive an artefact of power must be given the Mutating Gnarlblade. Mutating Gnarlblade: This weapon writhes with coiled tentacles and fanged maws. Pick one of the bearer’s melee weapons. Add 2 to the Damage characteristic of that weapon. However, each unmodified hit roll of 1 for attacks made with that weapon inflicts 1 mortal wound upon the bearer after all of the bearer’s attacks have been made. | ||
Battleplans
Battleplan Blood SwampWhen a beastherd encroaches on civilised lands and begins to carve a path of bloody slaughter, the inhabitants will often despatch a force into the wilds to locate and destroy the heart of their attackers’ malign power – the Herdstone. Harried on every flank and led astray at every twist and turn, the desperate warriors pay in blood for each step they make. When at last they come before the Herdstone, most of their number scattered and lost, the survivors are ensnared by the Beasts of Chaos on all sides. Each player picks an army as described in the core rules. One player is the Beasts of Chaos player and their opponent is the Invader player. The Beasts of Chaos player must use a Beasts of Chaos army. Each army has a unique command ability, described below. BEASTS OF CHAOS COMMAND ABILITY Guard the Herdstone: The Herdstone is the symbol of your beastherd’s strength – rally around it, and show these invaders the folly of attempting to cast it down! You can use this command ability once per battle at the start of your movement phase. If you do so, add 3" to the Move characteristic of friendly BEASTS OF CHAOS units until the end of that phase. In addition, friendly BEASTS OF CHAOS models must finish any move in this phase closer to the HERDSTONE than it was at the start of the move. INVADER COMMAND ABILITY The Final Charge: At last, your quarry stands before you. Although your army is downtrodden and weary, one final push can see this foul megalith toppled. You can use this command ability once per battle, at the start of your charge phase. If you do so, pick a friendly HERO. You can re-roll charge rolls for friendly units that start the phase wholly within 12" of that HERO. In addition, all friendly units wholly within 12" of that HERO at the start of the following combat phase fight before any other units. Fight with all eligible units one after the other, and then resolve any fights with any other units. THE BATTLEFIELD The battlefield represents the malevolent swamp in which the Beasts of Chaos have erected their Herdstone. The Beasts of Chaos player sets up any terrain as they see fit. Place a HERDSTONE within the Beasts of Chaos territory, as shown on the map below. SET-UP The Invader sets up their army first. The Invader’s units must be set up wholly within their territory. Before each Invader unit is set up on the battlefield, the Invader rolls a dice. On a 1, 2 or 3 the unit is lost in the swamp, and is not placed on the battlefield. Instead, the unit is set up in reserve. If the Invader has any other abilities that allow models to be set up as reserve units, these abilities cannot be used. The Beasts of Chaos player then sets up their army. They must set up as many units in ambush as possible (see Brayherd Ambush). LOST IN THE SWAMP The twisting paths through the swamp have led the invaders astray at every turn. Scattered and lost, they desperately need to rally together. At the end the Invader’s movement phase, they can roll a dice for each of their reserve units. On a 4 or 5, the unit can be set up on the battlefield anywhere that is wholly within 6" of the Invader’s short table edge and more than 9" from any enemy units. On a 6, the unit can be set up on the battlefield anywhere that is wholly within 6" of the Invader’s long table edge and more than 9" from any enemy units. Any reserve units lost in the swamp that have not been set up on the battlefield before the start of the fourth battle round are slain. BRAYHERD AMBUSH The Beasts of Chaos player cannot set up any of their reserve units within 6" of either of the Invader’s table edges. CLOYING MISTS Tendrils of thick fog hang above the swamp’s waters, obscuring from sight everything further than a few paces away. The range of missile weapons and spells is limited to 12". In addition, units can only attempt to make a charge move if they are within 12" of any enemy units. Starting from the second battle round, roll a dice at the start of each battle round. If the roll is less than the number of the current battle round (for example, a roll of 1 or 2 in the third battle round), the fog clears and this ability is no longer in effect. SUNDERING THE HERDSTONE The beastherd’s malign obelisk is saturated with chaotic power, but weapons can still be brought against it to smash it asunder. The Beasts of Chaos player’s HERDSTONE is treated as an enemy unit by the Invader’s army. Resolve any attacks against it as normal. It does not have a Save characteristic and has a Wounds characteristic of 20. If the wounds allocated to that HERDSTONE equal 20, it is said to be sundered and the battle immediately ends. GLORIOUS VICTORY The Invader wins a major victory if the HERDSTONE is sundered. If all units in the Invader’s army are destroyed, the Beasts of Chaos player wins a major victory. If neither player has won by the end of the fifth battle round, the Beasts of Chaos player wins a minor victory.  | ||
Path to Glory
Path to Glory campaigns centre around collecting and fighting battles with a warband in the Age of Sigmar. Champions fight each other and gather followers to join them in their quest for glory, taking advantage of this age of unending battle to win glory and renown.
In order to play Path to Glory campaigns you have to follow rules described here.Beasts of Chaos Warband Tables
Use the following tables to determine the champion that leads your warband, the followers that make up the units which fight at their side, and the rewards they can receive after battle.
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Followers Rewards Table
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Champion Rewards Table
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After they have been allocated, a mortal wound is treated in the same manner as any other wound for all rules purposes.
Wounds are allocated one at a time to models in the target unit. You can allocate the wounds inflicted on your units as you see fit (the models do not have to be within range or visible to the attacking unit). However, if you allocate a wound to a model, you must keep on allocating wounds to that model until it is slain – a unit can never have more than one wounded model.
Some abilities allow you to make a roll to negate a wound or mortal wound allocated to a model; in this case the roll is made for each individual wound or mortal wound as it is allocated to the model in question. If the wound or mortal wound is negated it has no effect on the model.
In order to dispel an endless spell, first pick an endless spell model within 30" of the wizard and visible to them, and then roll 2D6. If the roll is greater than the casting value of the spell, the endless spell is dispelled. An endless spell model cannot be subjected to more than one dispel attempt per hero phase.
When an endless spell is dispelled its model is removed from play; the model can then be used again if the same endless spell is successfully cast later in the battle.
The HERDSTONE keyword is used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The BRAYHERD keyword is used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The BEASTS OF CHAOS keyword is used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The THUNDERSCORN keyword is used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The BEASTS OF CHAOS and HERO keywords are used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The BRAYHERD and HERO keywords are used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
If a modifier applies to a random value, work out the random value first and then apply the modifier(s) to it. For example, if an ability adds 1 to a Damage characteristic of D3, the result would be worked out by rolling the D3 and adding 1 to the roll.
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The WARHERD and HERO keywords are used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The first model you move from a unit making a charge move must finish the move within ½" of an enemy model (you do not have to pick the target for the charge before making the charge roll). If that’s impossible, or you decide not to make the charge move, the charge fails and no models in the unit can move in this phase.
Once all models in one unit have made their charge moves, you can pick another eligible unit to make a charge attempt, until all units that you want to make charge attempts have done so.
The THUNDERSCORN and HERO keywords are used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
In order to use any command ability you must spend 1 command point. You start the battle with 1 command point for each warscroll battalion you have in your army. In addition, you receive 1 command point at the start of each of your hero phases. You can use the same command ability several times in the same phase as long as you have enough command points to do so. Any command points you do not use can be used in a future turn. A command ability will usually specify when it is used; if it does not, it is used in your hero phase.
In order to cast a spell, first say which spell the wizard is going to attempt to use (it must be one they know). To cast the spell, roll 2D6. If the total is equal to or greater than the casting value of the spell, the spell is successfully cast.
If a spell is cast, the opposing player can choose one of their WIZARDS that is within 30" of the caster to attempt to unbind the spell before its effects are applied. To unbind a spell, roll 2D6. If the roll beats the roll used to cast the spell, then the spell is not successfully cast. Only one attempt can be made to unbind a spell.
The WIZARD keyword is used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The BRAYHERD and WIZARD keywords are used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The BEASTS OF CHAOS and MONSTER keywords are used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The THUNDERSCORN and WIZARD keywords are used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
You must make a battleshock roll for each unit that has to take a battleshock test. To make a battleshock roll, roll a dice. Add the number of models from the unit that have been slain this turn to the dice roll, and add 1 to the unit’s Bravery characteristic for every 10 models that are in the unit when the test is taken.
If the modified battleshock roll is greater than the unit’s modified Bravery characteristic, the battleshock test has been failed. If the test is failed, for each point by which the modified roll exceeds the unit’s modified Bravery characteristic, one model in that unit must flee. You decide which of the models from your units flee – remove them from play and count them as having been slain.
The ALLHERD keyword is used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The ALLHERD and HERO keywords are used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The DARKWALKERS keyword is used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The DARKWALKERS and HERO keywords are used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The GAVESPAWN and HERO keywords are used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
The GAVESPAWN and CHAOS SPAWN keywords are used in following Beasts of Chaos warscrolls:
Some missile weapons have a Range characteristic with a minimum range, for example 6"-48". Such weapons cannot attack units that are wholly within the shorter range.