The nature of Chaos is unpredictability. This is true both with small 'c' chaos, and big 'C' Legions of Chaos that I'll be fielding in a painted-only tournament this December.
My army is mostly painted, and when I say "mostly," I meant that it can take the field, and meet any painted requirement a tournament could throw at me. However, it's not done. Pole-arms on the chaos warriors aren't finished, and I don't think the claws and teeth on the warhounds have been sufficiently highlighted. They'll be done, of course, but it's still a job I have to do.
What I'm really concerned with is the unpredictability of Chaos, and what I need to get done for any eventualities that may occur. For instance: What if my champion manages to slay a monster or another champion and becomes a daemon prince? I'll need to have one of those ready. Worse yet, what if he becomes a spawn? I don't even own any of those. In the Legions of Chaos army (a combined force of Beastmen, Daemons, and Warriors of Chaos that was introduced in the new End Times: Glottkin book, which I will review later), you can also have a unit of daemons show up, or have a character become a herald of your chosen god (Slaanesh, natch). I own a herald of Slaanesh, but he/she/it's from a manufacturer that's not Citadel, and the tournament is held at a Games Workshop retail store. I also own a bunch of daemonettes which could be summoned, but in order to meet the "2d6+3" possibility, I'll need at least 15 painted (at least, because 12 could, hopefully, get rolled for the Winds of Magic more than once a game).
All this makes the Chaos armies my favorite to command. Besides being the most metal miniatures any company has ever designed, they also demand that you roll with the punches. If you want a dependable army stick with dwarfs, or one of the elf factions (which I also love), but if you want to feel the full brunt of Warhammer's joy, then armies like Chaos, or Orcs & Goblins, are for you.
Anyway, the tournament's 2000pts, which is a mercifully managable total. I think, really, the only thing that I'll have to put my effort into is the potential additions that I mentioned above. Now I just have to stay away from Star Trek on Netflix, and I'll be a-ok. I'll keep you updated.
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