Havoc Warriors Tactics

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Havoc Warriors
Setting: Age of Fantasy
Games: Age of Fantasy,
Age of Fantasy: Skirmish,
Age of Fantasy: Regiments
Species: Human
Version: v2.50

Note: as v2.50 is in constant development the following might not be accurate.

Why Play Havoc Warriors

More than any other army, the Havoc Warriors are incredibly spoiled for choice when building armies. Between the massive list of units available to the core army and the units available to the various disciples, you can easily build any sort of army you want. That said, your armies are going to be split between the disposable chaff and the costly but mighty warriors.

Pros:

  • Lots of variety in choices
  • Disciples gives you specialization

Cons:

  • Shooting is at a minimum
  • Your strong warriors are plenty costly

Army Special Rules

Note: This section needs more content. You can help the wiki by expanding it.

Wizard Spells

  • Horrify (4+): One enemy unit within 12" takes -1 to hit with shooting. Vital for protecting your troops from heavy weaponry of any kind.
  • Barbed Spikes (4+): One enemy unit within 12" takes 2 AP 2 hits.
  • Dark Chains (5+): An enemy unit within 18" that attempts a charge loses 6" to their charge distance next time they charge. Note that this won't save anyone from a charge if they're too close, but it will prevent any long-range gambits.
  • Impale (5+): One enemy model within 12" takes a single AP 3 hit. Pretty much all you can ask for when sniping a hero or heavy weapon.
  • Havoc Speed (6+): One friendly unit within 12" can immediately move 6". This gives you a desperate escape button or possibly an easier charge.
  • Thorn Field (6+): Two enemy units within 6" take 8 hits each, making this hell for mobs of grunts.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

  • Havoc Lord: Unless you're picking a more specialized loadout, you'll absolutely be wanting to bring one of these guys. He is your strongest hero and his basic weapon provides him with a nice AP 1.
    • Weapons: His melee options are pretty basic fare for pretty cheap: Paired weapons for even more swings (But for some reason, he loses out on AP), spear for Phalanx, great weapon for AP 2 and Halberd for Rending makes him pretty well-rounded for options.
    • Mounts: The Havoc Lord has the most choices in regards to steeds. If you want to keep it cheap, the horse is there for the bare essentials. The Daemon Mount adds to this with extra wounds, Fear, and some special attacks of its own. The Manticore is even beefier and buffer and add Flying and ups the lord's defense to 2+. The Havoc Dragon is the most expensive of the lot, but you're bringing a monster with some truly terrifying attacks and can breath fire on top of Flying and being a slab of meat.
  • Sorcerer: Unlike most armies, your sorcerer is actually capable of fighting hand-to-hand with a 3+ to both quality and defense. That said, their melee options are still lacking with only a hand weapon. Your casting remains your most potent option. If you're looking for mobility, you can buy most of the same mounts as the Havoc Lord with the exception of the dragon. Definitely consider the Daemon Mount for the extra attacks.
  • Barbarian Lord: Your budget Havoc Lord. You've got all the same options, but you've got a weaker hero. As a rule, you don't need to be pay mounts for anything beyond the Daemon Mount, otherwise you'd be better off just grabbing the big lord.
  • Daemon Champion: Your most powerful hero, but also your most expensive at 200 points stock. Their daemon sword can cut down almost any hero and the option for Flying makes them pretty mobile. On top of this, the champion can also buy up to three levels of Wizard, making them the strongest unaligned wizard in your army.

Infantry

  • Furies: While they are flimsy as paper, Harpies have Flying, making them plenty mobile. They'll usually be the first to attack a certain unattended unit.
  • Barbarians: Your cheapest goons, but they pay for it by being flimsy. They're essentially the same as a basic infantry squad, command group and all.
  • Warriors: Your elite warriors absolutely pay for it, with a 3+ quality and defense making them tough nuts, while their attacks are twice those of the barbarians. The Warriors are the anchors for your army and the ideal escorts for your lord. If you buy Chosen Veterans, you can boost their melee prowess even further.
  • Mutated Warriors: Weaker warriors, but you get Fearless and Mutations, a special rule that gives them a various perk each round in meleee (+1 AP, another attack or -1 to get hit). Compared to the base warriors, they have a chance at being equals, but the randomness offsets it enough to make their costs equal.
  • Havoc Ogres: Huge walls of meat. Each of them has Tough 3 so they can soak up plenty of blows, and you can buy them either dual weapons to make them a flurry of swings or great weapons so they can punch as hard as they can tank.
  • Havoc Trolls: In exchange for weaker defense, the trolls get AP 1 on their attacks and Regen, giving them a chance to be even tankier. That said, their only option is to buy paired weapons.
  • Drake-Centaurs: Genuine bruisers, one and all. Not only do they have the statline of a warrior, but also a troll's weapons and Impact 1 for a perk when charging. They fortunately get more weapon options.
  • Havoc Hounds: Your hunters. Fast and Strider make it so that these hounds can easily pursue whatever they're hunting down. You can buy Scout for them, making the chance for an alpha strike even more likely, while Poison helps pile on hits when you trigger it.
  • Daemon Spawn: A lone beast, made to be a fairly cheap distraction. Being a lone model means that it will get focus fired to death pretty easily.

Cavalry

  • Barbarian Horsemen: The appeal of light cavalry is quite easy to notice, especially when you notice that they are one of your precious few options for shooting. That said, this shooting is pretty short-ranged and falls flat against armor.
  • Havoc Knights: Havoc Knights aren't nearly as versatile as the Barbarian Horsemen, but when they're the big walls of armor there's not much need for anything else. Their only option is to grab lances so you can stack on the Impact hits.
  • Daemonic Guard Knights: Take those Havoc Knights and throw them on Daemonic Mounts. What you get is a very ferocious pack of warriors with a constant AP 1 on their weapon options so they can mulch blobs of infantry.

Monsters

  • Giant: Giants are big bruisers made to squish mobs of any size and smack other monsters. Fortunately, a 2+ defense and Tough 6 gives it plenty of chances to make as much damage as possible.
  • Drake Giant: An even bigger Drake-Centaur with an even deadlier weapon and 2+ defense. If you are looking for an elite monster dedicated solely to smashing, then look no further.
  • Chimera: This guy is a bit curious by having three sets of weapons and several upgrades. Poison Bile adds Poisoned to those bites, allowing it to pile on a whole ton of hits with the right luck. Fire Breath gives you one of your few venues of actual shooting. Regeneration makes for a decent backup against any AP.
  • Slaughter Beast: An absolute berserker, packing a literal flurry of attacks on top of a single strike made to rip through armor. Even better is that it packs everything it needs for protection between a good Defense and Regen.
  • Vortex Beast: While less potent in a fight, this beast is one of your few actual pieces of artillery. This particular beast also happens to be your largest weapon with Blast 6, but the lack of AP confines it to only dealing with base infantry.

Vehicles

  • Havoc Chariot: Your basic chariot, well-defended and swift with plenty of Impact hits to make charging the best position.
  • Gorebrute Chariot: An even stronger chariot. Its quality is upped to 3+ and the steed's attacks gain AP 1. Its impact is upped to 9, so you can more easily flatten hordes before you even throw a punch.
  • Havoc Shrine: A pretty beefy construct, but it's not much in a fight. Its big perk is the Dark Blesssing ability, providing two friendly units within 6" a bonus to hit in melee. Drop this in the middle of your army and see your troops rip through enemy ranks.

Artillery

  • Cannon Monster: Your artillery piece is actually quite terrifying up close and from afar. In melee it has both Fear and a bunch of AP 2 attacks, allowing you to easily rip up a foolish pack that's trying to ambush you. Your artillery is your longest-ranged weapon, and at AP 4 it's also the one thing that can show knights and other monsters their place.

Disciples

Disciples of War

The Disciples of War are blunt with their passion and their passion is chopping things to bits. You can now buy Furious for all your units for fairly cheap, which is just as well because all of them benefit from it.

Units

Heroes
  • Lord of War: An angry havoc lord with Furious stock. He loses out on any other mount options, but he gets the Brass Beast of War, a Daemon Mount that also gets Furious and boosts Defense by +1. To supplement their attacks, you can also buy a Hound Companion for a couple extra attacks. For support, you can grab Blessing of War, giving his attached unit a +1 to hit in melee.
  • Blood-Icon Bearer: Essentially a Lord of War who trades in all his options for his Blood-Icon. This Icon grants him and his attached unit an extra attack. If you stick him to a unit that has a storm of attacks, you can expect infantry to essentially become bumps on the road.
Infantry
  • Gore Reavers: Barbarians with Furious and dual wield, making them plenty dangerous. If you're looking for more punch, you can change those weapons off for great weapons at no cost.
  • Gore Warriors: Warriors with Furious and dual wielding, though they get no more attacks from that. One guy can snag a great weapon if you want real AP. If you want more buy if you spend 10 points you can swap off one of those hand weapons for spiked knuckles so you can grab some Rending and pop any Regeneration.
  • Death-Reapers: Gore Warriors who lose a point of Defense to Tough 3 and Rending. Again, you can grab great weapons at no cost. These guys are going to be the ones you count on to act as a meat-wall if you don't want to grab ogres.
  • Death-Mongers: See those Death-Reapers? You can instead grab these guys it you're looking to thin herds. Their flail hammers give you extra attacks at AP 1. All you really lack is the option for a command group.
Cavalry
  • Brass Beast Knights: Havoc Knights mounted upon Brass Beasts, so they get some terrifying melee attacks and a monstrous 2+ defense. Simply put, these guys will tear down anything they come across in melee - as long as they don't get shot down beforehand.
Monsters
  • Wrath Beast: Who said that the War disciples can't get shooty? This guy has some short-ranged tentacle swipes on top of his impressive melee profile. You can buy Beast Master to make this guy faster and gain Fearless, which you'll likely want to grab because you're going to need to close the distance quickly.

Disciples of Change

The Disciples of Change are all slightly better protected by the universal application of Stealth. That said, upgrading your base units isn't very affordable, as the prices ramp up pretty high for units with high Tough values and big units.

Magic Spells

  • Hex Blades (4+): Friendly unit within 12" can now charge 3", giving you the means to control the flow of battle a bit.
  • Blaze (4+): Enemy unit within 12" takes 2 AP 2 hits. Somewhat equivalent to havoc blast, though it hits the entire unit.
  • Steal Power (5+): Enemy unit within 18" takes -1 to hit, which can help since you have more squishy models.
  • Firestorm (5+): Enemy unit within 12" must take a dangerous terrain test.
  • Loyalty (6+): Friendly units within 12" gain a Regeneration save that passes on a 4+, a great save.
  • Change Bolt (6+): Enemy unit within 12" take an AP 4 hit with Deadly 3. Rest assured that whoever you target, they will DIE.

Units

Heroes
  • Lord of Change: Your basic Havoc Lord with Stealth. Their exclusive mount is the Disc of Change, which essentially gives you a horse with Strider. They can buy Blessing of Change, which grants an additional -1 to hit rolls by enemies beyond 18", giving you better protection against artillery and gunlines.
  • Birdman Shaman: A barbarian champion with Wizard. They're fortunate to have a weapon with AP 1, but they're better inclined to stay at the rear of a unit. You can also buy a Disc of Change, which can be plenty helpful for keeping him out of trouble.
Infntry
  • Acolytes: Even weaker than barbarians, but these guys have stealth and give you some much sought-after shooting. Not only can each model be equipped with either magic bolts or magic dark bolts (The difference is the range with the dark bolts going 18"), but you can also buy a vulture so you can add an additional two shots with Sniper and kill a command element.
  • Birdmen: Your barbarians with Stealth. That said, their only weapon options are dual wielding for the entire gang and up to three great weapons if you want to pop some tougher units.
Cavalry
  • Birdmen Disc Riders: Putting the birdmen on horses with Strider actually gives you quite a bit of freedom to approach enemies. If you grab lances, you can rely a bit more on your charges, while buying Bows of Fate give you some long-ranged firepower with Rending. And because you have Strider, you can shoot and then flee behind some terrain!

Disciples of Plague

The Disciples of Plague are a thematic opposite to the Disciples of Change. Where one focuses on avoiding getting hit at all with Stealth spam, Plague focuses on taking all blows with Regeneration. This does come at a cost however, as Regeneration makes all units that take it very expensive

Magic Spells

  • Abundance (4+): Friendly unit within 12" gets stealth the next time they get shot at. Now you have protection before AND after you get shot.
  • Corruption (4+): Enemy unit within 6" must take dangerous terrain test.
  • Putrefaction (5+): Friendly unit within 12" gets +2 to the AP of all melee weapons for the next fight phase, making them super dangerous on heavy armor.
  • Visitations (5+): Enemy unit within 12" takes an AP 4 hit with Deadly 3, making it a big sniping power.
  • Pestilence (6+): Friendly unit within 12" immediately moves 6". Pretty much Havoc Speed.
  • Plague Curse (6+): Enemy unit within 12" takes 4 AP 2 hits, making this better for most small units.

Units

Heroes
  • Lord of Plague: Your Havoc Lord with Regeneration. Your unique rule available is Blessing of Plague, which gives your unit a +1 to Regeneration. This is a bit inconvenient, as it's uncertain if this can actually grant Regen and you might be forced to either buy it if you don't go for your exclusive units. Rather than any of your stock mounts, you get the Throne of Plague, which doesn't make him any faster but does make him tankier with 3 extra wounds and another set of attacks.
  • Rotten Sorcerer: Your Sorcerer with Regeneration. As with the lord, you also get an option for a Throne, which is a bit more appreciable since you get some tankiness and another set of attacks on top of your casting. This can make him a decent threat in combat with the right spells.
Infantry
  • Plague Kings: Big bloated blokes with Tough 3. Though their weapon selection is lacking, the fact that they have Regen makes them a good bit tougher than ogres on top of having 3+ to quality and defense.
Cavalry
  • Plague King Fly Rider: Your cavalry has Strider, which when combined with the power of the Plague Kings and the extra attacks provided by the mount's Stinger make them more threatening, even if this guy's by himself. This mount can be additionally upgraded by throwing Poison onto the stinger and by providing a poisoned shooting attack, which is welcome.
Monsters
  • Pox Beast Rider: A bona fide monster between the best statline you can grab outside of a Daemonic Champion, a bundle of wounds, and two dangerous attacks between the rider's great weapon (which he can swap for paired hand weapons for free) and the beast's AP 2 blows. Expect him to draw a lot of attention.
    • Shooting: Even worse is that this guy can grab some manner of shooting, each giving a different role. Pox Vomit gives you a short-ranged flood of poisoned shots, making it best for herds. Pox Tongue gives decent range and AP 2, making it ideal for gobbling up armored enemies. Pox Burst gives you only one shot, but it's got long range and Blast 3 so it's one of your few means of artillery.
    • Upgrades: Daemon Fury gives Impact 3, making it best-suited if you plan on throwing your beast at the nearest thing. Reborn Aura provides Stealth, which might be necessary because of how much fire you'll attract. Pox Spawned turns the beast rider into a Wizard, giving you an even tankier vector to cast and block spells from.

Disciples of Excess

Going for Lust is going for speed. All of your units are getting Fast, so you're getting the chance to reach the enemy immediately. That said, the higher the unit's quality the higher it's going to cost you. There's also Lust Speed, Fast's even more extreme iteration, which you can give to any Fast units, but it's also going to cost you and scales by Quality.

Special Rules

  • Lust Speed: Fast +1. Not only are is your unit Fast, but you also add +3" to their move distance and +6" to their rush/charge distance.

Psychic Spells

  • Acquiescence (4+): Enemy unit within 12" suffers -1 to shoot on their next turn. Important since you're only protected by a mere 2+ save for the most part.
  • Magical Lash (4+): Enemy unit (range indeterminate) takes an AP 2 Deadly 3 hit. Another psychic sniping spell.
  • Phantasm (5+): Friendly unit within 12" gets Regeneration whenever they suffer wounds next. Awesome.
  • Lust Choir (5+): Enemy unit within 12" takes 3 AP 2 hits. Not much, but it can soften up a bigger unit.
  • Ecstasy (6+): Friendly unit within 12" immediately charges 6" and gets +1 to hit them that turn. Most spells just settle for moving you into combat, but this makes sure the charge actually takes.
  • Shards (6+): Enemy unit within 6" take a single wound for each model, making it way deadlier for hordes.

Units

Heroes
  • Lord of Excess: Your Fast Havoc Lord. Aside from the weapons, you also get the Blessing of Lust, which bolsters his speed a little further by gifting his unit +3" to advance distances and +6" to Rush/Charge distances. Your exclusive mount, the Lust Beast, also gives these speed boosts, but won't confer them elsewhere. This is especially an issue if you want this guy accompanied because you'll need to buy both the steed AND either Blessing of Lust or Lust Speed for the Knights so they can keep up.
  • Masked Sorcerer: Your sprinting sorcerer. As with the lord, you have a Lust Steed for more speed, but you're going to suffer by going too fast unless you buy Lust Speed for the retinue.
Infantry
  • Agony Warriors: Barbarians who sacrifice a point of defense for Fast and dual wielding. That said, they also have Musical Bliss, which effectively gives them Stealth when in melee. As they have nothing else going for them, this can make for a decent set of meatshields who can throw out plenty of blows.
  • Endless Warriors: Also barbarians with less defense, but they instead get a ranged attack and spears, making them best for charge deterrents.
  • Pain Warriors: More akin to havoc warriors than barbarians, these guys get 3+ defense and A2 Rending attacks to give a decent chance to punch armor, but those attacks are hurt by a 4+ quality.
  • Twin Warriors: Pain Warriors that trade in Rending for a second weapon. Twins also get the Twin Souls power, which allows them to switch between a +1 to hit rolls (making them on tier with base havoc warriors) or a -1 to hit rolls against them (making them tankier) each turn when in melee.
  • Blissful Archers: Essentially Agony Warriors that picked up some good bows. This gives you some much-needed shooting, and Rending is something even the Acolytes of the Change Disciples pack.
Cavalry
  • Blissful Beast Riders: Those archers are on steeds that make them even FASTER! Yes, Lust Speed isn't the end-all be-all on fast! These Riders move 12" normally and run/charge 24", making them perhaps THE alpha unit, capable of charging at turn turn 1 in a small enough map! Also helpful is that you can instead turn them into lance cavalry, making use of their Impact and maintain Rending.
Monsters
  • Lust Fiend Brutes: Your slowest units in a hyper-fast army, but you're paying for it by some genuinely fierce attacks with Furious and AP 2 to rip apart most enemies. However, a 4+ defense does mean that they aren't the best defended.

List Building & Tactics

General Advice

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Tactics

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See Also

Havoc Warriors
Overview - Tactics - Skirmish Tactics - Miniatures - Quickplay Armies - Skirmish Quickplay Armies
Age of Fantasy tactics
Beastmen - Chivalrous Kingdoms - Dark Elves - Deep-Sea Elves - Duchies of Vinci - Dwarves - Eternal Wardens
Ghostly Undead - Giant Tribes - Goblins - Halflings - Havoc Dwarves - Havoc Warriors - High Elves
Human Empire - Kingdom of Angels - Mummified Undead - Ogres - Orcs - Ossified Undead - Ratmen
Rift Daemons - Saurians - Shadow Stalkers - Sky-City Dwarves - Vampiric Undead - Volcanic Dwarves - Wood Elves