Last month we had the honor of bringing you the first ever Army Spotlight with Seth Robiskie’s Wood Elves. Well it’s that time of the month again and we have another special treat for the viewers. Austin Murrey has taken the time to sit down and talk about his Warriors of Chaos Army, share some brownies and milk, and talk army composition. It’s my pleasure to bring to you the second army to be featured in our monthly series – The Midwest Gaming Alliance Army Spotlight – please read on to find out more about Austin Murrey’s spectacularly painted Warriors of Chaos Army. Here’s the interview:
Iggy Koopa: When you were first building this army, what style of play did you have in mind? What attracted you to Warriors of Chaos?
Austin Murrey: Actually playstyle wasn’t in mind when I decided to put the army together. I’ve always liked themed armies and I had done 40k Slaanesh Chaos Space Marines years ago and so I wanted to give it a shot in Fantasy. As the army evolved and I played more games with various lists, I decided I wanted to adopt the philosophy that every unit in the army should be a hard target. I really don’t feel secure unless I have a 3+ Armour Save. What attracted me to WoC in general was a combination of great models across the range, good story and thematic possibilities, and the fact that – pound for pound – they can eat face.
Iggy: Tell us about the color scheme you chose and why.
AM: Over years of painting armies I seem to have an inability to get away from the color purple. To me, it conveys magic and fantasy elements and I’ve always liked the Slaanesh fluff / lore and so it was a good fit. In order to stop short of being a candy colored eye sore, I tried to go with a more muted shade of purple and then keep the metallic elements dark but with bright highlights.
Iggy: Who’s your go-to unit? That one unit that always seems to come through and you can rely on to get the job done.
AM: Without question, the Skullcrushers can do more than their fair share of damage, however, it seems that day in and day out the sword and board Chaos Warriors on foot stand up to more than they should and can dish out more than I would expect. I can almost always rely on them to see it to the end of Turn 6,
Iggy: Everyone loves when a plan comes together! Tell us about a game where it all came together!
AM: In the recent Slobberknocker GT I faced another WoC army. As it turned out a number of one-on-one combats all went my way but things really started to collapse for my opponent when the Gore Beast Chariot ran through his Chaos Warshrine in the middle and overran into his Sorcerer Lord. I had depended on each unit to pull its weight separately and they all answered the call. In the end, I was able to pull out a Massacre Victory because it all went according to plan.
Iggy: Likewise, tell us about a time when your army fell flat on its face!
AM: Be’lakor (or the Daemon Prince that I tool up to emulate him) tends to go down in flames about 50% of my games. In the first game of that same GT (Slobberknocker) he miscasted on the first spell he attempted and got sucked into the Warp! After that, the remaining 80% of my army had about a 3 foot slog through a hail of Dwarf war machines. The army was looking pretty ragged by the time anybody got toe to toe. I resisted the urge to take a knee on Turn 1 and like a true obstinate Chaos Warlord I never relented until the last of my Chaos Warriors were cannon fodder and he tabled me.
Iggy: What is the load out of your army general?
AM: For several months I used [the special character] Be’lakor because of his Shadow Loremaster ability, however, recently I’ve started using a generic Daemon Prince with an item that brings his total number of known spells to five, which is close enough to Loremaster for me. I can also give him Scaly Skin and Chaos Armour (which gives him a 2+) which Be’lakor can’t take. In the end, I think I like the added protection more than I like Be’lakor’s special rules. So I’ll probably continue this route for the foreseeable future.
Iggy: What are your plans for the future of this army?
AM: I still have some really great Limited Edition character models that I haven’t gotten around to painting yet. I’m really looking forward to incorporating them. I’d also like to test out some of the more exotic entries in the army book such as War Shrines and Flying Monsters.
A special thanks to Austin for taking the time to go through the interview as well as get his models out for some photo ops. This is one of the most spectacularly painted armies I’ve ever seen and as always the case, the camera doesn’t do these models justice. To really see how well they’re painted, you have to see them in person. For your chance to see these guys up close, stop by the many Wheat Shocker tournaments that we have every other month as Austin brings these boys out from time to time to do the will of the Dark Prince. As always, thanks for reading and make sure to check back next month in our third installment of the Army Spotlight Series.
MW Gaming Alliance 
