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Warriors of Chaos builds · Chaos Marauders
Best Chaotic Cult for Marauders, and are they good?
The best Chaotic Cult for Marauders is Carrion Crow, because +1 Toughness keeps changing what the enemy needs to wound. With 15 models in every build, it beat every other cult both charging and receiving.
Quick answer: the best Chaos Marauders build depends on the job
- All-round block
- Carrion Crow + great weapons
- Budget hammer
- No cult + maximum flail bodies
- Against cavalry
- Great weapons, which hit back hard when receiving
It depends what the Marauders are for. A cult costs +1 point per model, so on a tight budget the best cult is not always the best buy.
How many simulations I ran
I ran 6,000 complete combats for each Chaos Marauders build on this page: 500 against each of six benchmark opponents, charging and receiving. The whole Warriors of Chaos lab ran 478,800, and these were the Chaos Marauders results.
No simulation is perfect, and my Chaos Marauders results are no exception: the dice fall on open ground, with no magic, no extra characters and no opponent making decisions. Cult blessings work once per game after a Leadership test, and the lab rolled that test rather than granting the bonus, so a failed test cost some Marauder builds real fights. Use these Chaos Marauders figures as a strong guide to the job, not a promise.
Cult comparison with body count fixed at 15 Marauders. n = 500 combats per matchup
| Cult | Charging | Receiving | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carrion Crow | 50.3% | 54.1% | 52.2% |
| Bloodied Hound | 44.1% | 50.9% | 47.5% |
| Fell Raptor | 44.4% | 50.5% | 47.4% |
| Slithering Serpent | 42.1% | 50.9% | 46.5% |
| No cult | 39.0% | 47.6% | 43.3% |
Why I think this happens
The Razing of Westerland replaces the old Marauder entry, so Marauders now take Chaotic Cults rather than god-specific Marks. I used the new entry throughout.
Carrion Crow with great weapons, fixed at 15 models and 152 points, reached 60.4% charging, 70.8% receiving and 65.6% overall. At the practical ~140-point level, 14 Carrion Crow great-weapon Marauders at 143 points still managed 53.2% charging and 63.5% receiving.
A cult costs +1 point per model, so unculted Marauders can buy more bodies. 18 no-cult flail Marauders at 143 points gave me the best points-normalised Marauder charging average, 55.2%. In my opinion Carrion Crow is the best blessing, but no cult plus more bodies can still be the best use of a tight budget.
Unit-by-unit Battle March results
I also ran smaller, narrated Chaos Marauders batches against each opponent:
- Bloodied Hound Marauders with great weapons143 pts · Ranked block with sustained S5
- Bloodied Hound Marauders with flails137 pts · Charge-dependent ranked infantry
More Warriors of Chaos builds
- Best Mark for Chaos Warriors, and the weapon to pair it with
- Best Mark for Chaos Knights: is Khorne worth it?
- Best weapon for Berserkers: flails or additional hand weapons?
- Best Huscarl build: a Mark of Chaos or a sixth model?
My conclusion
Based on these results, I would use Carrion Crow Marauders with great weapons for an all-round ranked block that can take a charge. I would not use them as a budget hammer: 18 unculted flail Marauders did better on the charge for the same points.
FAQs
Are Chaos Marauders good?
In the right build, yes. 14 Carrion Crow great-weapon Marauders won 63.5% of fights when receiving charges in my simulations, better than the best receiving Chaos Warrior build (59.6%). Without a cult, 15 Marauders averaged only 43.3% overall.
Is Bloodied Hound a good cult for Marauders?
It came second with body count fixed, at 47.5% overall. The +1 WS only helps when it crosses a To Hit breakpoint, which is why +1 Toughness from Carrion Crow did more.
Should Marauders take great weapons or flails?
Great weapons with Carrion Crow for an all-round block that receives charges well. Flails with no cult and maximum bodies for a budget hammer that wants to charge.