A brief summary of the game, from Boardgamegeek.com:
Chaos in the Old World makes you a god. Each god’s distinctive powers and legion of followers grant you unique strengths and diabolical abilities with which to corrupt and enslave the Old World.
Yet, as you and your fellow powers of Chaos seek domination by corruption and conquest, you must vie not only against each other, but also against the desperate denizens of the Old World who fight to banish you back to the maelstrom of the Realm of Chaos.
Chaos in the Old World features two ways to win, and gives you an unparalleled opportunity to reshape the world in your image. Every turn you corrupt the landscape, dominating its inhabitants, and battle with the depraved followers of rival gods. Each god has a unique deck of gifts and abilities, and can upgrade their followers into deadly foes. Summon forth living manifestations of Chaos, debased and hidden cultists, and the horrifying greater daemons - beings capable of destroying near everything in their path.
Some resources, in case you're new:
Rules
FAQ (including the Horned Rat Expansion)
Expansion Rules
Khorne Reference Sheet
Nurgle Reference Sheet
Tzeentch Reference Sheet
Slaanesh Reference Sheet
Horned Rat Reference Sheet
Handtracker
A game in progress
Khorne Information
Spoiler:
---KHORNE---
Starts at 7 power points
Dial Advancement: One counter per region where Khorne has killed at least one enemy figure.
Followers: (Power Point cost / Attack Dice / Defense Value)
x4 Bloodsworn Cultists (1/0/1)
x6 Bloodletter Warriors (2/2/1)
x1 Bloodthirster Greater Daemon (3/4/3)
Upgrades:
Crimson Tide - Each time you dominate a region, draw one Chaos card.
Vengeance - In any region where you are rolling at least one battle die, you may roll one additional battle die.
Bloodsworn - Each Bloodworn counts as two figures toward your domination value of any region that it occupies.
Bloodletters - You gain two victory points each time you kill a figure in a region containing a Bloodletter.
Bloodthirster - Once per round during the summoning phase, you may summon a Bloodthirster for 0 power into a region that contains six or more corruption tokens once per round.
Chaos Cards: (with quantity of each card in the deck and power cost)
4x Bloodbath - 0 - Place one corruption token for each enemy figure you kill in this region.
3x Terror - 0 - When you play this card, you may move one Cultist belonging to each opponent from this region to any one adjacent region.
3x Hate - 1 - When you play this card, move any number of figures in this region onto this card. Figures on this card cannot be moved out of this region.
4x Rampage - 1 - When you play this card, conduct an immediate battle in this region.
4x Skulltaker - 1 - All enemy figures that are killed in this region are placed on this card. These figures count toward your domination value. At the start of the end phase, remove these figures from the board.
4x Lambs to the Slaughter - 2 - When you play this card, you may immediately move one figure belonging to each opponent from any adjacent regions to this region.
2x Lure of Battle - 4 - Reduce the cost of this card by one for each Cultist in this region.
Starts at 7 power points
Dial Advancement: One counter per region where Khorne has killed at least one enemy figure.
Followers: (Power Point cost / Attack Dice / Defense Value)
x4 Bloodsworn Cultists (1/0/1)
x6 Bloodletter Warriors (2/2/1)
x1 Bloodthirster Greater Daemon (3/4/3)
Upgrades:
Crimson Tide - Each time you dominate a region, draw one Chaos card.
Vengeance - In any region where you are rolling at least one battle die, you may roll one additional battle die.
Bloodsworn - Each Bloodworn counts as two figures toward your domination value of any region that it occupies.
Bloodletters - You gain two victory points each time you kill a figure in a region containing a Bloodletter.
Bloodthirster - Once per round during the summoning phase, you may summon a Bloodthirster for 0 power into a region that contains six or more corruption tokens once per round.
Chaos Cards: (with quantity of each card in the deck and power cost)
4x Bloodbath - 0 - Place one corruption token for each enemy figure you kill in this region.
3x Terror - 0 - When you play this card, you may move one Cultist belonging to each opponent from this region to any one adjacent region.
3x Hate - 1 - When you play this card, move any number of figures in this region onto this card. Figures on this card cannot be moved out of this region.
4x Rampage - 1 - When you play this card, conduct an immediate battle in this region.
4x Skulltaker - 1 - All enemy figures that are killed in this region are placed on this card. These figures count toward your domination value. At the start of the end phase, remove these figures from the board.
4x Lambs to the Slaughter - 2 - When you play this card, you may immediately move one figure belonging to each opponent from any adjacent regions to this region.
2x Lure of Battle - 4 - Reduce the cost of this card by one for each Cultist in this region.
Spoiler:
---NURGLE---
Starts at 6 power points
Dial Advancement: One counter whenever Nurgle places two or more corruption tokens on a Populous region in the same phase.
Followers: (Power point cost / Attack Dice / Defense Value)
x6 Lepers Cultists (1/0/1)
x5 Plaguebearers Warriors (1/1/1)
x1 Great Unclean One Greater Daemon (3/3/3)
Upgrades:
Cavalcade of Decay - Any region containing five or more Cultists is considered Populous.
Infested Colony - When you dominate a region, place two corruption tokens in that region.
Lepers - When your Lepers place at least one corruption token in a region during the corruption phase, you may place one additional corruption token in that region.
Plaguebearers - When a Plaguebearer is killed during the battle phase, place one of your corruption tokens in that region.
Great Unclean One - For every figure you kill in the same region as a Great Unclean One, you may place one corruption token in that region.
Chaos Cards: (with quantity of each card in the deck and power cost) (M = Magic symbol)
3x (M) Filth - 0 - When you play this card, replace one opponent's corruption token in this region with one of your corruption tokens.
4x Virulent Outbreak - 0 - This region is considered Populous.
4x Creeping Death - 1 - If you dominate this region, place one corruption token in each adjacent region.
3x (M) Festering Fever - 1 - If you dominate this region, immediately collect a dial advancement counter.
3x Quicken Decay - 1 - When an opponent summons a figure to or from this region, score one victory point.
4x Choking Stench - 2 - During the battle phase, each opponent rolls one fewer battle die for each of your Chaos cards in this region.
2x Ultimate Plague - 3 - During the end phase, leave this card in its current card space if you placed at least one corruption token in this region during this round. Otherwise, remove this card.
1x (M) Nurgle's Quest - 4 - If you place at least one corruption token in this region, immediately advance your dial one tick and carry out the dial instructions. This can be fulfilled once per phase.
Starts at 6 power points
Dial Advancement: One counter whenever Nurgle places two or more corruption tokens on a Populous region in the same phase.
Followers: (Power point cost / Attack Dice / Defense Value)
x6 Lepers Cultists (1/0/1)
x5 Plaguebearers Warriors (1/1/1)
x1 Great Unclean One Greater Daemon (3/3/3)
Upgrades:
Cavalcade of Decay - Any region containing five or more Cultists is considered Populous.
Infested Colony - When you dominate a region, place two corruption tokens in that region.
Lepers - When your Lepers place at least one corruption token in a region during the corruption phase, you may place one additional corruption token in that region.
Plaguebearers - When a Plaguebearer is killed during the battle phase, place one of your corruption tokens in that region.
Great Unclean One - For every figure you kill in the same region as a Great Unclean One, you may place one corruption token in that region.
Chaos Cards: (with quantity of each card in the deck and power cost) (M = Magic symbol)
3x (M) Filth - 0 - When you play this card, replace one opponent's corruption token in this region with one of your corruption tokens.
4x Virulent Outbreak - 0 - This region is considered Populous.
4x Creeping Death - 1 - If you dominate this region, place one corruption token in each adjacent region.
3x (M) Festering Fever - 1 - If you dominate this region, immediately collect a dial advancement counter.
3x Quicken Decay - 1 - When an opponent summons a figure to or from this region, score one victory point.
4x Choking Stench - 2 - During the battle phase, each opponent rolls one fewer battle die for each of your Chaos cards in this region.
2x Ultimate Plague - 3 - During the end phase, leave this card in its current card space if you placed at least one corruption token in this region during this round. Otherwise, remove this card.
1x (M) Nurgle's Quest - 4 - If you place at least one corruption token in this region, immediately advance your dial one tick and carry out the dial instructions. This can be fulfilled once per phase.
Spoiler:
---TZEENTCH---
Starts at 6 power points
Draw Phase: Draw until you have five Chaos cards. If you wish, discard one first.
Dial Advancement: One counter whenever Tzeentch places two or more corruption tokens in a region with two or more magic symbols and/or Warpstone tokens
Followers: (Power point cost / Attack Dice / Defense Value)
x8 Acolytes Cultists (1/0/1)
x3 Horrors Warriors (2/1/2)
x1 Lord of Change Greater Daemon (3/3/2)
Upgrades:
Mystical Disregard - Once per round, you may play a Chaos card on top of an opponent's Chaos card, canceling its effect. The card you play must have power equal to or greater than the card you cover.
Well of Power - During the summoning phase, instead of summoning a figure or playing a Chaos card, you may spend one power point to draw one Chaos card.
Acolytes - Once per round during the battle phase, you may discard a card from your hand to cancel one hit assigned to one of your Acolytes.
Horrors - When you play a Chaos card with a magic symbol, you may immediately summon a Horror to that region for 0 power.
Lord of Change - When you summon a Lord of Change into a region, you may place one Warpstone token in that region.
Chaos Cards: (with quantity of each card in the deck and power cost) (M = Magic symbol)
4x Bolt of Change - 0 - When you play this card, you may replace one Warrior figure in this region with two Cultist figures belonging to the same player. If there are not enough cultists in his stockpile, there is no effect.
3x (M) Glean - 0 - This region is considered adjacent to all other regions.
2x (M) Warp Portal - 0 - When you play this card, you may discard a card from your hand to move any figure from this region to any other region.
2x (M) Warpstorm - 0 - If you kill one or more enemy figures in this region during the battle phase, place a Warpstone token in this region.
2x The Blue Scribes - 1 - When you play this card, move up to two corruption tokens of your choice from this region to any other region that contains at least one magic symbol.
3x (M) Convocation - 1 - When you play this card, you may move up to three of your figures from any region on the board to this region.
3x (M) Warpshock - 1 - Each Warpstone token and magic symbol in this region counts toward your domination value.
3x (M) Havoc - 2 - Instead of rolling battle dice in this region, all Warriors and Greater Daemons each place one corruption token during the battle phase.
2x Transmorgrify - 2 - During the battle phase, roll one battle die for each Warpstone token and magic symbol in this region.
Starts at 6 power points
Draw Phase: Draw until you have five Chaos cards. If you wish, discard one first.
Dial Advancement: One counter whenever Tzeentch places two or more corruption tokens in a region with two or more magic symbols and/or Warpstone tokens
Followers: (Power point cost / Attack Dice / Defense Value)
x8 Acolytes Cultists (1/0/1)
x3 Horrors Warriors (2/1/2)
x1 Lord of Change Greater Daemon (3/3/2)
Upgrades:
Mystical Disregard - Once per round, you may play a Chaos card on top of an opponent's Chaos card, canceling its effect. The card you play must have power equal to or greater than the card you cover.
Well of Power - During the summoning phase, instead of summoning a figure or playing a Chaos card, you may spend one power point to draw one Chaos card.
Acolytes - Once per round during the battle phase, you may discard a card from your hand to cancel one hit assigned to one of your Acolytes.
Horrors - When you play a Chaos card with a magic symbol, you may immediately summon a Horror to that region for 0 power.
Lord of Change - When you summon a Lord of Change into a region, you may place one Warpstone token in that region.
Chaos Cards: (with quantity of each card in the deck and power cost) (M = Magic symbol)
4x Bolt of Change - 0 - When you play this card, you may replace one Warrior figure in this region with two Cultist figures belonging to the same player. If there are not enough cultists in his stockpile, there is no effect.
3x (M) Glean - 0 - This region is considered adjacent to all other regions.
2x (M) Warp Portal - 0 - When you play this card, you may discard a card from your hand to move any figure from this region to any other region.
2x (M) Warpstorm - 0 - If you kill one or more enemy figures in this region during the battle phase, place a Warpstone token in this region.
2x The Blue Scribes - 1 - When you play this card, move up to two corruption tokens of your choice from this region to any other region that contains at least one magic symbol.
3x (M) Convocation - 1 - When you play this card, you may move up to three of your figures from any region on the board to this region.
3x (M) Warpshock - 1 - Each Warpstone token and magic symbol in this region counts toward your domination value.
3x (M) Havoc - 2 - Instead of rolling battle dice in this region, all Warriors and Greater Daemons each place one corruption token during the battle phase.
2x Transmorgrify - 2 - During the battle phase, roll one battle die for each Warpstone token and magic symbol in this region.
Spoiler:
---SLAANESH---
Starts at 6 power points
Dial Advancement: One counter whenever Slaanesh places two or more corruption tokens in the same phase in a region with a Noble token or Hero token.
Followers: (Power point cost / Attack Dice / Defense Value)
x6 Seductresses Cultists (1/0/1)
x3 Daemonettes Warriors (2/1/2)
x1 Keeper of Secrets Greater Daemon (3/2/4)
Upgrades:
Fall from Grace - If you place three or more corruption tokens in a region with a Noble or Hero token, collect two dial advancement counters instead of only one.
Rise to Glory - When calculating domination in a region, each noble token adds one to your domination value in that region.
Seductresses - When summoned from the board (rather than from your stockpile), a Seductress figure may bring a Noble token (if present) from its origin region to its destination region.
Daemonettes - When you summon a Daemonette into a region, you may take control of an opponent's Cultist in that region until the end of the turn. (Place the Cultist next to the Daemonette as a reminder.)
Keeper of Secrets - A Keeper of Secrets counts as three Noble tokens.
Chaos Cards: (with quantity of each card in the deck and power cost) (M = Magic Symbol)
3x (M) Daemonic Subtlety - 0 - Your Warriors and Greater Daemons in this region each place one corruption during the corruption phase.
4x Festival of Sinew - 0 - When an opponent summons a figure to this region, gain one power point.
3x Corrupt from Within - 1 - When you play this card, you may move one Old World token from this region to an adjacent region.
2x Rapturous Excess - 1 - When you play this card, score one victory point for each Noble, Hero, and Peasant token in this region.
2x (M) Shroud of Secrets - 1 - During the battle phase, opponents must assign hits to Peasants and other opponents' figures before assigning hits to your figures.
3x (M) Ascenion to Power - 2 - If you dominate this region, you may immediately place a Cultist or Warrior in this region.
2x Joyous Surrender - 2 - When you play this card, place any number of your Cultist figures in this region on this card. The Conquest Value of this region is increased by one for each figure on this card.
3x Pleasure Shield - 2 - Double the defense values of your figures in this region.
2x Debauchery - 3 - When you play this card, immediately gain one power point for each Noble token in this region. If there are no Noble tokens in this region, place one.
Starts at 6 power points
Dial Advancement: One counter whenever Slaanesh places two or more corruption tokens in the same phase in a region with a Noble token or Hero token.
Followers: (Power point cost / Attack Dice / Defense Value)
x6 Seductresses Cultists (1/0/1)
x3 Daemonettes Warriors (2/1/2)
x1 Keeper of Secrets Greater Daemon (3/2/4)
Upgrades:
Fall from Grace - If you place three or more corruption tokens in a region with a Noble or Hero token, collect two dial advancement counters instead of only one.
Rise to Glory - When calculating domination in a region, each noble token adds one to your domination value in that region.
Seductresses - When summoned from the board (rather than from your stockpile), a Seductress figure may bring a Noble token (if present) from its origin region to its destination region.
Daemonettes - When you summon a Daemonette into a region, you may take control of an opponent's Cultist in that region until the end of the turn. (Place the Cultist next to the Daemonette as a reminder.)
Keeper of Secrets - A Keeper of Secrets counts as three Noble tokens.
Chaos Cards: (with quantity of each card in the deck and power cost) (M = Magic Symbol)
3x (M) Daemonic Subtlety - 0 - Your Warriors and Greater Daemons in this region each place one corruption during the corruption phase.
4x Festival of Sinew - 0 - When an opponent summons a figure to this region, gain one power point.
3x Corrupt from Within - 1 - When you play this card, you may move one Old World token from this region to an adjacent region.
2x Rapturous Excess - 1 - When you play this card, score one victory point for each Noble, Hero, and Peasant token in this region.
2x (M) Shroud of Secrets - 1 - During the battle phase, opponents must assign hits to Peasants and other opponents' figures before assigning hits to your figures.
3x (M) Ascenion to Power - 2 - If you dominate this region, you may immediately place a Cultist or Warrior in this region.
2x Joyous Surrender - 2 - When you play this card, place any number of your Cultist figures in this region on this card. The Conquest Value of this region is increased by one for each figure on this card.
3x Pleasure Shield - 2 - Double the defense values of your figures in this region.
2x Debauchery - 3 - When you play this card, immediately gain one power point for each Noble token in this region. If there are no Noble tokens in this region, place one.
Spoiler:
---THE HORNED RAT---
Starts at 6 power points
Draw Phase: Draw two cards
Dial Advancement: One counter whenever you dominate a region containing a Skaven token
Followers: (Power point cost / Attack Dice / Defense Value)
x11 Clan Rats Cultists (1/0/1)
x3 Rat Ogres Warriors (2/1/2)
x1 Vermin Lord Greater Daemon (3/3/3)
Upgrades:
The Council of Thirteen - Once per round during the summoning phase, you may play a Chaos card into a region whose card spaces are full. (Place this third Chaos card near the other card spaces in the region.)
The Under Empire - You treat all regions with Skaven tokens as adjacent regions. When a region is ruined, you may immediately move any number of your figures from that region into one adjacent region.
Clan Rats - When you summon a Clan Rat into a region where you do not currently have any Clan Rats, you may summon one additional Clan Rat to that region for 0 power.
Rat Ogres - Opponents cannot assign hits to Clan Rats until the first assign enough hits to kill all Rat Ogres in the region.
Vermin Lord - You may summon a Vermin Lord from the board (rather than from your stockpile) for 1 power.
Chaos Cards: (with quantity of each card in the deck and power cost) (M = Magic symbol)
4x Empty the Warrens - 0 - When you play this card, you may place a Skaven token from the stockpile in this region, or you may move a Skaven token from an adjacent region to this region.
3x Skitterleap - 0 - If you dominate this region, you may immediately move any number of your figures from this region to one adjacent region.
3x Doomwheel - 1 - If you dominate this region, score three victory points.
3x Grey Seer - 1 - When you play this card, immediately summon two Cultists to this region.
3x (M) Strength in Numbers - 1 - If you have more figures than any one other player in this region, the defense value of your figures is increased by one.
3x Verminous Horde - 1 - If you have more figures than a single other player in this region, the cost for your opponents to summon figures to this region, and play Chaos cards in this region, is increased by one.
3x (M) Warp Token Cache - 2 - If you dominate this region, place this card on your power sheet. You may discard this card from your power sheet at the beginning of the summoning phase to immediately gain two power points.
2x (M) Screaming Bell - 3 - Reduce the cost of this card by one for each Skaven token already in this region. If there is not a Skaven token in this region, place one.
Starts at 6 power points
Draw Phase: Draw two cards
Dial Advancement: One counter whenever you dominate a region containing a Skaven token
Followers: (Power point cost / Attack Dice / Defense Value)
x11 Clan Rats Cultists (1/0/1)
x3 Rat Ogres Warriors (2/1/2)
x1 Vermin Lord Greater Daemon (3/3/3)
Upgrades:
The Council of Thirteen - Once per round during the summoning phase, you may play a Chaos card into a region whose card spaces are full. (Place this third Chaos card near the other card spaces in the region.)
The Under Empire - You treat all regions with Skaven tokens as adjacent regions. When a region is ruined, you may immediately move any number of your figures from that region into one adjacent region.
Clan Rats - When you summon a Clan Rat into a region where you do not currently have any Clan Rats, you may summon one additional Clan Rat to that region for 0 power.
Rat Ogres - Opponents cannot assign hits to Clan Rats until the first assign enough hits to kill all Rat Ogres in the region.
Vermin Lord - You may summon a Vermin Lord from the board (rather than from your stockpile) for 1 power.
Chaos Cards: (with quantity of each card in the deck and power cost) (M = Magic symbol)
4x Empty the Warrens - 0 - When you play this card, you may place a Skaven token from the stockpile in this region, or you may move a Skaven token from an adjacent region to this region.
3x Skitterleap - 0 - If you dominate this region, you may immediately move any number of your figures from this region to one adjacent region.
3x Doomwheel - 1 - If you dominate this region, score three victory points.
3x Grey Seer - 1 - When you play this card, immediately summon two Cultists to this region.
3x (M) Strength in Numbers - 1 - If you have more figures than any one other player in this region, the defense value of your figures is increased by one.
3x Verminous Horde - 1 - If you have more figures than a single other player in this region, the cost for your opponents to summon figures to this region, and play Chaos cards in this region, is increased by one.
3x (M) Warp Token Cache - 2 - If you dominate this region, place this card on your power sheet. You may discard this card from your power sheet at the beginning of the summoning phase to immediately gain two power points.
2x (M) Screaming Bell - 3 - Reduce the cost of this card by one for each Skaven token already in this region. If there is not a Skaven token in this region, place one.
Current board state:
http://appliednerditry.com/chaos/gamebo ... ?game=1100
General Strategy Tips
Spoiler:
Certain events like summoning and battle occur in player order (Khorne first, then Nurgle, Tzeentch, Slaanesh, and finally the Horned Rat) and this is very important to remember. Your choices should be made with that in mind. For example: Khorne always goes first. The implication of this is that Khorne is forced to act first and the other gods can then respond to his actions (usually by screaming like girls and fleeing). A good Khorne strategy, then, might be to delay strong commitments by taking cheaper actions early in the turn.
Events like ruination and battle all occur in region order. That order is: Norsca, Troll Country, Kislev, The Empire, Bretonnia, Estalia, Tilea, The Border Princes, and The Badlands.
Memorize the dial advancement conditions of all players.
Khorne is the janitor in the Old World in that he's often responsible for cleaning up messes that no other god is quite as well-equipped to deal with. Often groupthink evolves where players believe Khorne should be doing all the dirty work just because he can. This can lead to sloppy games where players win from out of nowhere because no one kept them in check. In other words, Khorne has his role to play, but sometimes the other gods have to take the gloves off and get dirty too.
Khorne can seem really difficult to deal with at times. Running is a real option. Do not feed Khorne.
Events like ruination and battle all occur in region order. That order is: Norsca, Troll Country, Kislev, The Empire, Bretonnia, Estalia, Tilea, The Border Princes, and The Badlands.
Memorize the dial advancement conditions of all players.
Khorne is the janitor in the Old World in that he's often responsible for cleaning up messes that no other god is quite as well-equipped to deal with. Often groupthink evolves where players believe Khorne should be doing all the dirty work just because he can. This can lead to sloppy games where players win from out of nowhere because no one kept them in check. In other words, Khorne has his role to play, but sometimes the other gods have to take the gloves off and get dirty too.
Khorne can seem really difficult to deal with at times. Running is a real option. Do not feed Khorne.
Khorne
Nurgle
Tzeentch
Slaanesh
Horned Rat
Onboard:
Remus West
Isgrimnur
BB2112
rshetts2
Qantaga