So instead of talking about the humble rank-and-file soldier, let's instead shift our focus to leaders of those troops, the guys who encourage their men while the Lord sits in a bunker on a Leadership 9 Spirit Leech just playing with himself. That's right, it's the heroes! Now a few disclaimers before we get started. One, this is my opinion backed up by experience and fact. If you disagree, please drop a comment below and explain why or make your won blog. Two, I will be doing my best to avoid the most generic picks. At one point, a BSB is a BSB is a BSB. So this list might have guys you've never heard of or have never taken. Three, stats will not be the main consideration for placement. The biggest qualifier here is how the hero synergies with the army as a whole. Last but not least at four, I will not be including special characters. That will be for a later list at a later time. So, let's get to it.
#5: Warplock Engineer (Skaven)
Anthony from the Sustainable Center on Youtube said it best on his Top 10 things he hates about Skaven video (look it up, it had me rolling on the floor laughing when he started talking about this guy), this is perhaps the best bang for your buck generic hero in the game. He has all the same stats as a Clan Rat, barring he has two wounds instead of just one. For fifteen points. Yes, he is a 15 point, two wound character. But wait, it gets better! He can also be upgraded to be a level 1 or 2 caster out of the Skaven spells of Ruin, and has access to Warplock pistols, muskets, etc. Best of all, he has access to 50 points worth of magic items. This is where you get the little bastards scurrying out of a unit of Slaves or Clan Rats, firing the Doom Rocket or the Brass Orb, and killing off 150 points of your stuff. He's also Leadership 5, so when you put him in a Slave brick (which you can guarantee he will almost always be in) you can have Leadership 10 Skaven Slaves very easily with their Strength in Numbers special rule. He is a very dangerous thing to see, and if you can snipe him out of a unit, I highly suggest you do so. However, he has a couple of key weakness that put him at the bottom of this list. First, his stats are laughable for a Hero choice. I know that I said that wasn't going to be a main concern in this list, but when compared to the other picks below it's kind of hard not to see that. Second, he is going to die if he gets farted on. He has almost no armor and putting a Ward Save on him eliminates the main point of taking him in the first place. Thirdly, and this is very important Skaven players, so listen up! Putting him in a brick of Skaven Slaves prevents you from shooting into combat with Slaves. Remember that! The unit must be 100% slaves in order to shoot into combat with it. If you can get into combat with them before they can eject him out of the unit, you can avoid getting destroyed by Warp Lightning Cannons. However, his utility, potential to wipe out full blocks of expensive units, and sheer expandability make him a must-have in every Skaven list.
#4: Warrior Priest (Empire)
I hate to be lazy and just refer you to someone who actually makes videos (still getting money to buy a decent camera and microphone people!), but Lord Tremendous on Youtube did a really good job of reviewing this dude. Warrior Priests are freaking awesome! For 65 points, you get a model that comes generically with a great weapon, can channel power and dispel dice, has three very nice bound spells he can spam, and gives the unit he's in Hatred. If your unit of Halberdiers and/or Great Swords do not have a Warrior Priest in them, you need to stop and make room for him because that makes your units so much better it's not even funny. For all the things he does for the unit and the different things his bound spells do, he is almost a steal for 65 points. You can use him as a Dispel Scroll caddy if you want, but in my mind the optimal build is just as he is, unless you want him in Death Star unit. He does have two key weaknesses that I think do earn him a spot at #4 though. First off, he is not a replacement for a supporting caster. He has no official casting level and thus cannot contribute anything to dispel or casting attempts besides channeled dice. I see a lot of Empire players get into trouble when their Level 4 miscasts and dies, and then suddenly they can't stop any magic from across the other side of the table. Keep that in mind people. Two, he is a human, and thus he is not too impressive in terms of stat lines. Yes, he's lightyears above a Warplock Engineer, but he's not all that impressive when compared to other Heroes out there. However, his ability to turn base line rank-and-file troops into gore machines is enough to make him a very optimal choice in any Empire army, but most especially in combat and gun line armies.
#3: Black Orc Big Boss (Orcs and Goblins)
This is a character that almost every Greenskin player will swear by, and for good reason too. Orcs are a tough bunch to deal with no matter who you are, and picking them off the field is a task easier said then done. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who you are, they do a fairly good job of that by themselves with Animosity special rule. Without this rule, the army would be the most broken ass thing in the entire game. However, they balance themselves out very well so you're not seeing them too much in big tournaments and higher level play. Black Orcs are a pretty cool unit. They don't suffer animosity, they're packing a lot armor in an army that has relatively low armor capability, and they have the option to pick what combination of weapons they want to use when they get into combat. Now take that, and put it into the profile of a regular Orc Big Boss, add +1 Weapon Skill, and then add a rule that can completely negates Animosity (at the expense of a few of your Boyz). Suddenly that Malorian sized horde of Savage Orc Big Un's looks a lot scarier, doesn't it? Much like Skaven players, OnG players become much more competitive when they decrease the chaotic nature of their army. This guy is a perfect way to do so. Unlike other Orc heroes who can be the BSB, he's got much better defensive capabilities with his higher Weapon Skill, better armor, and still rock solid Toughness. This opens you to taking the very powerful, very expensive magical banner you wouldn't otherwise see on a run-of-the-mill Orc or Goblin BSB. However, with all this benefit there must be some detriment as well. You get what you pay for with this guy and make no mistake of that. I'm afraid that if I post anymore points costs that GW will shut me down, but suffice it to say, he is a very large expenditure of points. Especially when given a really powerful banner. Also, his armor save isn't all that impressive compared to some other big bruisers in the Hero department. Don't get me wrong, it's much better then what you would normally have access to, but more than half the armies out there can field guys cheaper and with a better armor save then a Black Orc BSB. However, his pure ability to take/dish out punishment, fix the army's biggest weakness, and rock solid stat line make for a combination that earn hims the #3 spot on this list.
#2: Assassin (Dark Elves)
I'd be lying if I said I didn't want an option like this available to either the Lizardmen or Bretonnian armies. For what you pay for, you get a Hero choice that is pretty damned powerful, especially in the End Times rules with 50% Lord and Hero allotment. Even in the previous metas where combat characters were going the way of the dinosaur, these guys were the last unbowed characters of their kind. The problem with putting a kitted out combat lord on a big scary dragon is that he's going to have his ass full of cannon balls by turn two. Assassins (either Dark Elves, Skaven, and kindasorta Goblins) don't have to worry about that, because they use a tactic that eludes most armies in this era. Subtly. An Assassin is a precision killing tool you use to take out your enemy's big scary character(s). I have seen Warriors of Chaos players go from confident to the depths of dread when their Chaos Champion or Daemon Prince gets shanked by an Assassin and killed outright. ASF paired with high Weapon Skill and Initiative is a very difficult thing to deal with, no matter how defensive your Lord is kitted out to be. In my mind, Assassins have two practical applications. The first is to stick him in a unit of Shades to go chaff, war machine, and character hunting. The second is to stick him in a "dummy unit" of cheap core to bait out a character. Some people, especially Vampire Counts players, like to throw their killy lords into combat, because they know how much sheer killing power they posses and so that they don't have to dedicate a unit to deal with the "dummy unit" and crowd up the board. My lovely fiance, who plays Dark Elves, likes to use Bleak Swords. People scoff when she puts the unit if twenty of them down, until they find out what danger lurks inside! The only serious problem I see with the Assassin is that he's not very versatile. Yeah, he can be used to scythe through Hobgoblins or Skaven Slaves pretty well, but apart from killing off units and most especially characters, he has no other purpose. I know a lot of people also bitch about how squishy he is, but with high Weapon Skill and a Ward Save, he's going to be just fine in most cases. Even if he does die, he's not enough points to really cry too much about it. The other problem a lot of people bring up is that the Hero section for the Dark Elves is very competitive what with Masters and Death Hags able to make builds that are just terrifying. But again, not really something I would worry about all that much because of End Times rules and because he's so damned cheap. Now, without further ado, the #1 Hero in all of Warhammer is...!
#1: Infernal Castellan (Chaos Dwarves)
Yeah, I bet you didn't call this one, did you? As much as I fucking hate the Chaos Dwarves and everything attached to them I cannot help but admire this nasty little stunty. See, the Chaos Dwarves are a really funky little army. They have no access to a Lord level combat character so the Castellan acts as your all-in-one. He also has access to 75 points worth of gear, which is really nice and certainly gives him a leg up when compared to other hero level characters that are in his general area. He is also Leadership 10 and Stubborn, meaning for 75 points you can give any unit in your army neigh unbreakable Leadership. He can also specifically take a shield, meaning he's very well protected for a BSB. He's also rocking Chaos Armor and Toughness 5, meaning he's damned tank when it comes to taking damage. He can be kitted out to be killy in combat but that's not necessarily an optimal build for him. The other thing that makes the Castellan badass is that he's not all that expensive (points wise) and can take perhaps the best weapon in the game, the Fireglave. Because he's also a Hero, he is a dirt cheap Hero choice for Chaos Dwarves, meaning they can pretty much spam these little guys all over the board for not too much until they start kitting them out with maxed out gear. I know Thanes in the Dwarves book can do all that as well, but here's the difference. The Dwarves have a combat Lord option, in fact they have two really, in the forms of Dwarf Lord and the Daemon Slayer. Chaos Dwarves do not have an option which is something I think is quite strange, but most Chaos Dwarves will just be Gun Line, so not a really a place for a combat lord in those kinds of lists anyway. It's for this synergistic reason that I rank the Castellan higher then anyone else on this list. Also, the obscurity (not if you live in my area) of this army also mean you have no idea what this guy can really do or some of the gear he has access to.
So that's it guys, I hope you enjoyed this list, and of course I'll be listing a Top 5 Worst Heroes within a few days, so please try to be paitent. Hope you guys enjoy, and please comment below if you agree or you feel I missed a hero you think deserves to be in this list.
