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Codex: Chaos Zombies: Good advice will award Rep!

5713 Views 188 Replies 15 Participants Last post by  DestroyerHive
Hey Heresy! With the new Mantic Zombies coming out, I decided to buy a bunch and create an army. Pyramid (the Red Devil) and Chaos Sorcerers will be leading them into battle. Khorne's bloodthirsty virus will turn zombies into brutal killing machines, whereas Nurgle's outstanding resilience will allow his zombies to march into enemy lines, unscathed.

From the beta tests I've been conducting, certain aspects of this army are underpowered, while some are overpowered. I'd like to hear what you think, and please, don't give crappy advise for the sake of receiving Rep, because you will receive none.:grin:

Alrighty then, let us begin! (Note that I didn't work out all the fluff yet - this is still a beta)

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Introduction:

Why collect Chaos Zombies?
Chaos Zombies are an army to be reckoned with. To be playing a Chaos Zombie army is be fielding a large horde of the undead, that hunger for the living. If even the mightiest of foes finds himself with as much as a scratch on his flesh – only time will tell how long he has until he becomes one of their ranks. The Blood God Khorne and the Plague God Nurgle summon their daemons to join battle as well, from mighty tank-crushing Bloodthirsters, to the very resilient Plaguebearer.

The first Red Devil encounter:
The Red Devil is a fearsome monster; a being created by the Great God Tzeentch to punish those whom caused great trouble to the Chaos army. Why he only appears following an assault of a zombie invasion is unknown, however many speculate that it is the amount of raw Warp energy surrounding the massed number of Sorcerers, or possibly because the zombies need someone to lead them to victory, but whatever the reason, one is never to question The Changer’s will.
The Red Devil first appeared on the planet of Aegis XVII, following a great liberation of millions of citizens that occurred between the Imperial Guard and the forces of Lorgar. Prior to the invasion, many men had been purged for heresy, claiming that they had visions of a large being, neither daemon nor man, following them down an endless corridor, dragging along a giant knife which created a horrible screeching sound, and wearing a large, red triangular helmet. The following day, the battle barge “Maim and Purge” appeared over the skies. Hundreds of shuttles swarmed out of the ship, carrying with them a thousand zombies each. The Imperial world soon found itself drowning under a sea of bloodied and rotted corpses, as one would infect another, and then that victim would turn upon yet another. Defenseless Imperial citizens were overrun in their own homes, as zombies burst through the windows and burst into their homes.
Commissar Ackers and his remaining platoon of Guardsmen ascended the large city walls and began their last stand. The Commissar looked down upon a thick sea of mangled corpses, as they desperately clawed at the walls, swarming over their dead. All of a sudden, the moaning ceased and the zombies shuffled to the sides – either out of respect or fear, was unknown. Emerging from the end of the tide was a muscular figure with a red aura, bearing a metal helmet in the shape of a pyramid. The Commissar immediately recognized this creature by the description given by his fellow men of who had been purged. It slowly stepped forward, causing small tremors in the ground as it stepped, the giant blade dragging behind it. Under the Commissar’s orders, no one dared fire.
The Commissar immediately realized what the creature was about to do. Howling into the vox, the wall beneath him crumbled as the giant blade swung clean through it. Regaining balance, bolt pistol in hand, he steadied his aim upon the creature amidst the chaos around him and fired. The shot merely bounced off its muscled body. Standing dumbfounded, he fired off more rounds, but he knew the end was near.

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HQ:

The Red Devil:
A powerful being, said to rip through even the heaviest battle tanks with ease, the Red Devil was first encountered on Aegis XVII after the Imperials retook the planet from a Chaos Host. He first appeared in a vision by the Astropaths. It was a horrible vision – one of a large man sporting a giant blade and a large, rusted helmet, following behind the Commissar’s back during the victory parade. The Astropaths hastily ran to the Commissar’s chambers to warn him, but upon arrival, found only a corpse with a pool of blood where the head should have been.

WS:6 BS:- S:8 T:6 Wo:5 I:1 A:4 Ld:10 Sv:2+/4+ Pts:275

Type: Monstrous Creature
Wargear: The Great Knife
Special Rules: Feel No Pain, Slow and Purposeful, You Shall Not Tread This Way…, Fearless, Independent Character, Eternal Warrior

You Shall Not Tread This Way…:
If his foes were to sleep, their minds would go insane with visions of a red pyramid stalking them through endless corridors of madness.
All enemy models within line of sight of the Red Devil suffer -2 to their Leadership


Model: Completely custom - nearing completion.

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Nurgle Sorcerer

WS:4 BS:4 S:4 T:4(5) Wo:3 I:4 A:2(3) Ld:10 Sv:3+ Pts:140

Type: Infantry
Wargear: Force Weapon, Bolt Pistol, Mark of Nurgle
Special Rules: Fearless, Independent Character, Psyker, FORWARD FOR FATHER NURGLE!

FORWARD FOR FATHER NURGLE!:
When the Nurgle Sorcerer joins any non-Daemon unit with the Mark of Nurgle, the unit’s toughness gets increased by +2, instead of the regular +1 given by Mark of Nurgle.

Model: Chaos Space Marine with minor conversions.


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On top of this, Chaos Sorcerers may choose 2 Psychic Powers for free:

Psychic Powers:

Wind of Chaos:
Range Strength AP Type
Template - - Assault 1
Wind of chaos is a Psychic shooting attack that automatically wounds all models on a 4+, and ignores armor as well as cover saves. Against vehicles, it glances on 4+.

Chaos Glory:
Range Strength AP Type
18” 9 2 Assault 1

Nurgle’s Rot (Nurgle specific)
Nurgle’s rot is a psychic power that damages automatically hits all enemies within 6” of the Sorcerer at strength 3, AP-. Note that this power may be used even if the Sorcerer is locked in combat. In addition, any models killed by Nurgle’s Rot must take a toughness test. If failed, they will become a Zombie with the Mark of Nurgle. If the Nurgle Sorcerer is already with a squad of Nurgle Zombies, the resultant Zombie will join the hoard.
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Regardless zombies in any game have always had low I. A player who uses them makes sure he outnumbers his opponent by at least 3-1. Ask any Vampire Counts player.
This isn't a Vampire counts army, and there are plenty of armies you can play if you want to outnumber your opponent (Orks, Tyranids, or IG) this is a semi-horde army, where you focus upon the quality of your combat, and the survival of certain units.

Secondly giving mark of khorne gives not only S but fleet whilst nurgle only gains +1 toughness. Either remove fleet or give more benefits to nurgle blessed zombies or reduce points cost of nurgle marked zombies. I may have missed them but I saw no bloodletter entry in this list?
I tested the Marks many times, and many times they either proved too powerful, or not powerful enough. Like this they are almost perfectly balanced. Because paying 8 points for a zombie at T5, but a 6+ save and S3 balances out - theyu don't need more power.

As of the Bloodletters, I did make an entry for them, but with the Hunters they proved uterly useless, so I scrapped them. May go back to them though.
Well Although it'd be useless at I1, Zombies win in hordes in EVERYTHING... You'd be talking about groups of 20+ Zombies, hitting on 6s (This shows them having to bite you) with Instakill (Because if you get bitten, you're doomed.

You'd have to give them No armour saves, no Invul to show how easy it would be to rip them apart.

But this was a brilliant read dude :D Love full profiles like this! +Rep
Thanks ROT! As for what you said, as stated in the above post I'm not looking to outnumber anyone, but simply dish out heavy damage while also having larger-than-normal size squads to help them survive longer. And about the no armour save: It isn't easy to rip a zombie apart. Even blowing off their limbs won't kill them. Anything but the head and they'll keep on moving!

+Rep. (edit, damnit, sorry, I have to... uh... you know, spread some love to others before I spread more love unto you. Now replace the word "love" with the word "Rep"... :wink:)
Well maybe replace any armour save with feel no pain. It might work better.
Well maybe replace any armour save with feel no pain. It might work better.
Hmmm... now there's an idea... Alright, done! Here's yours...
Maybe your right, I'm just so used to it being Isaac Haze vs Zombies..
And we all know if Isaac Haze was in 40k he'd be:

WS10 BS10 S20 T100 W100 I10 AOver9000 Ld12 Sv 1+

:D But Maybe you'd have to take Head-shots into account against the Zombies; Because the more you make them strong; You have to make them equally as disposable, else the point value will continue to rocket upwards!

Could say every weapon Vs a Zombie counts as Rending (The 6 being a clean removal of the Head)

Will be watching this closely :D
Maybe your right, I'm just so used to it being Isaac Haze vs Zombies..
And we all know if Isaac Haze was in 40k he'd be:

WS10 BS10 S20 T100 W100 I10 AOver9000 Ld12 Sv 1+

:D But Maybe you'd have to take Head-shots into account against the Zombies; Because the more you make them strong; You have to make them equally as disposable, else the point value will continue to rocket upwards!

Could say every weapon Vs a Zombie counts as Rending (The 6 being a clean removal of the Head)

Will be watching this closely :D
AMAZING!!!! THANKS! I'll definately use this.

Edit: Okay, applied to all zombie units, (i.e. Hunters, Burrowers, Zombies, Runners). If you check the "Zombies" entry, it says that every shooting/close combat attack counts as Rending.
Great idea and I'm looking forward to pics and updates after some games, wanna see Pyramid the most.

Perhaps a unit that is similiar to a swarm. Arms and body parts that continue to live and go forward. Mangled bodies so messed up they can't stand but never the less go onward to wreak havoc. Arms, lower body, head attached to arm, even alien corpses.

Also a unit of severly destroyed zombies, weaker than regular ones but still trouble if swarmed by them. I don't see a mortar or artillary shot stopping the wounded from the living.

Also nothing in the army should be affected by Ld, either they're nightmares that only know how to inflict fear or they're mindless to where they have no clue to what it is.

edit: also ever hear of Fantasy's The Cursed Company, awesome dogs of war unit

SPECIAL RULES “Join us in damnation…” As part of Kreugar’s curse, any foe slain by him or one of his
company are withered by dark magic, their flesh ageing as if
decades had passed in the blink of an eye. The lifeless victim is
instantly enslaved to the will of Richter, rising to accompany him
in his eternal curse.

If any model within the Cursed Company (including Kreugar
himself) slays a model with only 1 wound on its starting profile,
then one Skeleton is created in its place. Models created in this
way are added to the Cursed Company, and are armed in the
same manner as the Company. The Victory points value of the

unit is unaffected. This rule counts only for models that are
killed in close combat, and not for models killed in any other
way (for example, running down fleeing troops).

Might wanna tone down zombies but make it to where if they kill an enemy with 1 wound (at the beginning) they come back as a zombie. Have a tough fight? Oh look a weak unit. Bam! guys are back to full size and than some!
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My take on what you zombies profile should be:WS:2 BS:- S:3 T:4 W:1 I:2 A:1(2) Ld:7 Sv:- Pts:3

Units Size: 10+

Special rules:
Infected: On the roll of a 6 the model is infected. To represent this the wounded model must take a moral check at the beginning of each turn to determine if the model has succumb to the virus, if the moral check is failed, the model takes a wound.

Feeding frenzy: If the model is not within 12" of a chaos sorcerer the model must move its maximum distance towards the nearest target within LOS.

Stubborn

Just a few thoughts.
ooooh I like your infected rule gen.

Imagine that; Mighty Marneus Calgar rolls a 4 and succumbs to the virus. Mwuahahaha.
How many wounds does calgar have? 4? If so then you would be hard pressed to kill him with that, but it could happen.
I'm being honest here, this is pretty bad.

First of all, a Khornate Sorcerer...
That speaks for itself, those two things are mutually exclusive, if a worshipper of Khorne becomes a Sorcerer, Khorne would disown or kill him.


Second, Nurgle created the Zombie Plague, although I suppose alternate fluff for 'Zombies' of other gods.

Khorne: Though Daemonic possession, Khorne can spread a contagious bloodlust through a people, turning them into mindless animals intent on little more than slaughter.

Nurgle: Zombie Plague, we already know this.

Tzeench: He probably wouldn't bother.

Slaanesh: I can't see him doing it either.


I think the Zombies should have separate statlines for the two different kinds of Zombie, and you should only really be able to take one 'faction' in an army.

Khorne: 3 points a model.
WS3 BS- S3 T3 W1 I3 A1(2) Ld6 Sv-
Two CCW.
Furious Charge, Fearless, Fleet, Mindless Fury!, Contagious Possession.

Mindless Fury!
Khornate 'Zombies' are subject to the Rage USR, unless any model in the unit is within 12" of a Chaos Lord (their HQ choice, since a Sorcerer is not an option).

Contagious Possession.
If an enemy unit loses a combat against Khornate 'Zombies', and fall back as a result, then every surviving model is possessed by a Daemon.
Every model that gets possessed is added to the unit of Khornate Zombies (split them evently in a multiple combat), lose all Wargear that can be used as a weapon, and count as having two CCW, they also gain the Furious Charge, Fearless, Fleet, Mindless Fury!, and Contagious Possession special rules.


Plague Zombies: 3 points a model.
WS2 BS- S3 T3 W1 I2 A1 Ld6 Sv-
Hands and teeth, Defensive Grenades.
Feel No Pain, Zombie Plague, Lurching Gait.

Zombie Plague.
The Plague Zombies are the result of a sinister virus created by Nurgle, transforming people into living corpses, bent on fulfilling Nurgle's will; this disease is highly contagious, and it can be transmitted by the merest scratch, transforming the victim into a mindless Zombie in seconds.
At the end of every round of a combat, roll a Toughness test for every killed model that belongs to a unit that was, at the beginning of the combat, engaged with any models with this special rule; for every test failed, that model immediately joins the unit of Plague Zombies (distribute evenly if there are multiple units), any models joining this way lose all pieces of Wargear which can be used as a weapon, gain Defensive Grenades, and the Feel No Pain, Zombie Plague, and Lurching Gait special rules.

Lurching Gait.
Plague Zombies are naturally slow and ponderous, due to rotting flesh, missing limbs, or any number of other horrible deformities.
A model with this rule has the Slow and Purposeful USR, however if any model in the unit is withing 12" of a Sorcerer of Nurgle, they also gain the Move Through Cover USR.


Those are my suggestions, take them or leave them.
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Instead of khornate zombies, maybe we could have something like this:

Savages/Brutes(to haloy?)/Blood Taken WS:3 BS:- S:3 T:3 W:1 I:3 A:1 LD:8 SV:-

Slot: Troops

Size:10-20

Special Rules: Stubborn, Red Haze, Furious Charge.

Red Haze: If the unit is not within 6" or attached to a Gore Shepherd, the model must move its maximum distance toward the nearest enemy unit within LOS.

Wargear:CCW,

Gore Shepherd

WS:5 BS:0 S:4 T:4 W:2 I:4 A:2 LD:9 Sv:5+

Slot: Elite

Size:1-10

Special Rules: The Skull Guide, Furious charge, Fearless.

The Skull Guide: Each member of the Unit may be broken off an placed in another unit as a skull guide. This unit has the IC special rule and grants the fearless USR to the unit.

Wargear: Skull Blade( counts as PW)
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Instead of khornate zombies, maybe we could have something like this:

Savages/Brutes(to haloy?)/Blood Taken WS:3 BS:- S:3 T:3 W:1 I:3 A:1 LD:8 SV:-

Slot: Troops

Size:10-20

Special Rules: Stubborn, Red Haze, Furious Charge.

Red Haze: If the unit is not within 6" or attached to a Gore Shepherd, the model must move its maximum distance toward the nearest enemy unit within LOS.

Wargear:CCW,

Gore Shepherd

WS:5 BS:0 S:4 T:4 W:2 I:4 A:2 LD:9 Sv:5+

Slot: Elite

Size:1-10

Special Rules: The Skull Guide, Furious charge, Fearless.

The Skull Guide: Each member of the Unit may be broken off an placed in another unit as a skull guide. This unit has the IC special rule and grants the fearless USR to the unit.

Wargear: Skull Blade( counts as PW)
Now that sounds good.
But detaching dudes should work like Wolf Guard, because granting your enemy an extra bunch of Kill Points is just weak :p
Also nothing in the army should be affected by Ld, either they're nightmares that only know how to inflict fear or they're mindless to where they have no clue to what it is.
They're all fearless:wink:

Perhaps a unit that is similiar to a swarm. Arms and body parts that continue to live and go forward. Mangled bodies so messed up they can't stand but never the less go onward to wreak havoc. Arms, lower body, head attached to arm, even alien corpses.
Absolutely beautiful! +Rep!

Might wanna tone down zombies but make it to where if they kill an enemy with 1 wound (at the beginning) they come back as a zombie. Have a tough fight? Oh look a weak unit. Bam! guys are back to full size and than some!
I toyed around with that idea, but realized it was too cheap. Therefore I made my fe make a T test. I had 27 Plague Zombies assault 15 Termagants. 1 Gaunt survived. 7 were now mine!! MUAHAHAHA!!!:laugh:

Khorne: Though Daemonic possession, Khorne can spread a contagious bloodlust through a people, turning them into mindless animals intent on little more than slaughter.

Nurgle: Zombie Plague, we already know this.

Tzeench: He probably wouldn't bother.

Slaanesh: I can't see him doing it either.
Now there's some good fluff fora Khorne "Sorcerer" I'll try to find a name for this chap :). Also, I'm glad you share my point of view on Tzeentch and Slaanesh not being a part of this.


As for the rest of your stats you gave me... WUNDERBAR! I'll give those a test run! the only thing I'd change is the S&P on the Plague Zombies. I'm not too crazy about that idea.

@gen.Ahab: Thanks for the input, but my mind is set on Chaos zombies :(. They'll be awsome to paint that way; Khorne zombies will have white-tan skin, but covered in blood, and Nurgle will have green-gray skin.
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Alright, guys. May I have your attention please... "Uh, in episode 214-" "MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" *cough* alright, I'm now calling a vote on which stats to use for the zombies. Winterous' or mine. I personally love Winterous' more than mine, but it's hard to part with my carefully written stats :sad:, so I'll call a vote.


Winterous: 1 vote

Khorne: 3 points a model.
WS3 BS- S3 T3 W1 I3 A1(2) Ld6 Sv-
Two CCW.
Furious Charge, Fearless, Fleet, Mindless Fury!, Contagious Possession.

Mindless Fury!
Khornate 'Zombies' are subject to the Rage USR, unless any model in the unit is within 12" of a Chaos Lord (their HQ choice, since a Sorcerer is not an option).

Contagious Possession.
If an enemy unit loses a combat against Khornate 'Zombies', and fall back as a result, then every surviving model is possessed by a Daemon.
Every model that gets possessed is added to the unit of Khornate Zombies (split them evently in a multiple combat), lose all Wargear that can be used as a weapon, and count as having two CCW, they also gain the Furious Charge, Fearless, Fleet, Mindless Fury!, and Contagious Possession special rules.


Plague Zombies: 3 points a model.
WS2 BS- S3 T3 W1 I2 A1 Ld6 Sv-
Hands and teeth, Defensive Grenades.
Feel No Pain, Zombie Plague, Lurching Gait.

Zombie Plague.
The Plague Zombies are the result of a sinister virus created by Nurgle, transforming people into living corpses, bent on fulfilling Nurgle's will; this disease is highly contagious, and it can be transmitted by the merest scratch, transforming the victim into a mindless Zombie in seconds.
At the end of every round of a combat, roll a Toughness test for every killed model that belongs to a unit that was, at the beginning of the combat, engaged with any models with this special rule; for every test failed, that model immediately joins the unit of Plague Zombies (distribute evenly if there are multiple units), any models joining this way lose all pieces of Wargear which can be used as a weapon, gain Defensive Grenades, and the Feel No Pain, Zombie Plague, and Lurching Gait special rules.

Lurching Gait.
Plague Zombies are naturally slow and ponderous, due to rotting flesh, missing limbs, or any number of other horrible deformities.
A model with this rule has the Slow and Purposeful USR, however if any model in the unit is withing 12" of a Sorcerer of Nurgle, they also gain the Move Through Cover USR.


DestroyerHive:

Plague Zombies:
WS:3 BS:- S:3 T:4(5) Wo:1 I:3 A:1(2) Ld:8 Sv:- Pts:8

Type: Infantry
Squad Size: 10-30
Wargear: Slavering Jaws and Rotted Limbs,
Special Rules: Feel No Pain, Fearless, Join Us!, Killing Blow

Join Us!:
After every round of close combat, every enemy defeated in battle must take a Toughness Test. If failed, that model joins the assaulting squad in question, and will share the same mark. Note that this only applies to models that are considered Infantry.


Killing Shot:
Zombies are vile creatures that, unlike normal men, cannot be felled by mortal wounds. Instead, one must sever the head from the torso to fully kill these creatures.
Every attack, whether in close combat or shooting, directed towards this unit counts as Rending.


Khorne Zombies:
WS:3 BS:- S:3(4) T:4 Wo:1 I:3 A:1(2) Ld:8 Sv:- Pts:8

Type: Infantry
Squad Size: 10-30
Wargear: Slavering Jaws and Rotted Limbs, Fleet, Furious Charge
Special Rules: Feel No Pain, Fearless, Join Us!, Killing Blow
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This looks pretty interesting so far.

You could add plague marines as an elites choice to add a bit of firepower to support your zombies. Or you could use them as "sergents" for zombie hordes, but that would be a bit odd concidering they have guns but the rest of their squad doesnt. Just thought Id throw that out there for thought.
Thanks both of you!

@evilbeaver2: I considered it, but figured it coincides with the fluff. What happens is that chaos sorcerers want to control their own armies of chaos, so they create zombies from captured populations. The chaos fleet then drops off the zombies onto a planet that aren't worth astartes lives, along with the sorcerers to guide them. After the fleet abandkns them, they are essentially left to rot.
I still don't see why Khorne would have anything to do with zombies, but its your call.
I still don't see why Khorne would have anything to do with zombies, but its your call.
Ever play Left 4 Dead? :)
You mean a disease? Not his department.
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