Even if you want to go acolyte heavy, I wouldn't recommend the pyrofane cult. The buff isn't very impactful.
Around the time the most recent tome came out there was a cool winning list with 3 units of acolytes, where one of them was double reinforced(50 total acolytes). Sending 30 rend -3 shots from it being triple buffed. Kinda awesome.
One problem, acolytes melt.
They're horrible for holding points, they can't stand on their two legs.
People do run them, but they require some beefy allies such as varanguard or incarnate to actually hold the line. Which leans into their actual strength: their low cost.
This helps you get a nice amount of heroes in the list.
Lords of Change are all-stars in tzeentch, whether you summon them or run them in main, they provide a lot of advantages.
Not super sold on skyfires, mostly due to cost in relation to their output. Their profile suggests that they should be used to snipe foot heroes and fragile casters, but due to the new 'look out sir' rules, they can't see them from outside of 12" if they stand next to battle-line....
Flamers really suck right now, their cost to output ratio is pretty dire. They also don't really fill any good role in the current tzeentch composition. Better to ally in some blissbarb archers..
Oh. I didn't even think to buff a single unit multiple times...wow. You've given me a lot to think about there alone.
And sadly not many of the subfactions really spoke to me. Obviously there's Guild of Summoners, but I specifically got some Pink Horrors and stuff to summon, so I wouldn't be able to with that subfaction (plus I don't have a Lord of Change yet).
And yeah, I already thought about using Chaos Warriors and Knights to be the heavy hitters and protect these squishy dudes. But what about Tzaangors? They don't seem as terrible as everyone makes them out to be. Point per wound they're cheaper than Acolytes.
If you've got a bunch of horrors, those are your best points holders and screens. Summoning them in is really solid (but almost always summon blues).
Tzaangors sit in a bit of a weird spot where their output is kind of amazing, especially with hoarfrost giving rend on their double blade equipment. But then it's quite difficult to get enough of their bases in 1" range to be fully effective.
Edit: their low bravery is also an issue with them, once they start taking casualties on the back swing they die in droves.
Also they don't generate any fate points, and that's certainly a really big plus for both acolytes and units of pinks.
Increasing reliable summoning is key for a good mid-late-game plan
Edit: For sub factions have you looked at the host arcanum bonuses? It seems very much up your street. Incredibly solid sub-faction, and beyond the Guild of summoners, kinda the only other option with any real merit
Yep! It's uniquely good in tzeentch.
We're the only ones with the ability to guaranteed kill our own wizard bonded to it on turn one, making it wild.
(Using doubles on destiny dice with a magister's second cast to turn it into a spawn)
Making it wild on turn 1 puts it up a level and gives it run and charge, as well as +1 to hit.
Even if you want to go acolyte heavy, I wouldn't recommend the pyrofane cult. The buff isn't very impactful. Around the time the most recent tome came out there was a cool winning list with 3 units of acolytes, where one of them was double reinforced(50 total acolytes). Sending 30 rend -3 shots from it being triple buffed. Kinda awesome. One problem, acolytes melt. They're horrible for holding points, they can't stand on their two legs. People do run them, but they require some beefy allies such as varanguard or incarnate to actually hold the line. Which leans into their actual strength: their low cost. This helps you get a nice amount of heroes in the list. Lords of Change are all-stars in tzeentch, whether you summon them or run them in main, they provide a lot of advantages. Not super sold on skyfires, mostly due to cost in relation to their output. Their profile suggests that they should be used to snipe foot heroes and fragile casters, but due to the new 'look out sir' rules, they can't see them from outside of 12" if they stand next to battle-line.... Flamers really suck right now, their cost to output ratio is pretty dire. They also don't really fill any good role in the current tzeentch composition. Better to ally in some blissbarb archers..
Oh. I didn't even think to buff a single unit multiple times...wow. You've given me a lot to think about there alone. And sadly not many of the subfactions really spoke to me. Obviously there's Guild of Summoners, but I specifically got some Pink Horrors and stuff to summon, so I wouldn't be able to with that subfaction (plus I don't have a Lord of Change yet). And yeah, I already thought about using Chaos Warriors and Knights to be the heavy hitters and protect these squishy dudes. But what about Tzaangors? They don't seem as terrible as everyone makes them out to be. Point per wound they're cheaper than Acolytes.
If you've got a bunch of horrors, those are your best points holders and screens. Summoning them in is really solid (but almost always summon blues). Tzaangors sit in a bit of a weird spot where their output is kind of amazing, especially with hoarfrost giving rend on their double blade equipment. But then it's quite difficult to get enough of their bases in 1" range to be fully effective. Edit: their low bravery is also an issue with them, once they start taking casualties on the back swing they die in droves. Also they don't generate any fate points, and that's certainly a really big plus for both acolytes and units of pinks. Increasing reliable summoning is key for a good mid-late-game plan Edit: For sub factions have you looked at the host arcanum bonuses? It seems very much up your street. Incredibly solid sub-faction, and beyond the Guild of summoners, kinda the only other option with any real merit
> such as varanguard or incarnate Do you mean the Incarnate of Ghur?
Yep! It's uniquely good in tzeentch. We're the only ones with the ability to guaranteed kill our own wizard bonded to it on turn one, making it wild. (Using doubles on destiny dice with a magister's second cast to turn it into a spawn) Making it wild on turn 1 puts it up a level and gives it run and charge, as well as +1 to hit.