Lions and tigers and bears...

So I've drug out every old mini I've got in an attempt to make a Chaos army for Warhammer 3rd.
We never played the game back in the Wayback so my purchases were aimed using them in RPGs and small skirmish games (I think we were still playing Melee and Wizard back then).
So here is what I've found so far... give or take a few boxes that are still in hiding.

20 Chaos Warriors X 74pts = 1480 pts (I've actually got more than this but... hmmm)
20 Chaos Marauders X 39 pts = 780 pts
40 Chaos Thugs X 8pts = 320 pts (I don't quite have 40 of these yet... but have proxies)
40 Beastmen X 10 pts = 400 pts (I doubt I have this many yet. The beastman box is in hiding.)
10 Minotaurs X 40 pts = 400 pts
1 Beastmaster X 15 pts = 15 pts
10 Hounds x 23 pts = 230 pts (I'd need another Beastmaster to use them all)
5 Chaos Centaurs X 32 pts = 160 pts (Actually, I have 3 Rackham centaurs and 1 old chaos centaur... so I'll need more)

Allies
1 Chaos Dwarf Bazooka X 70 pts = 70 pts (I'd like 3)
2 Chaos Dwarf Bombard X 42 pts = 84 pts
2 Chos Dwarf Warmachine X 120 pts = 240 pts (a Whirlwind and a... whatever the other one is)

2797 pts NOT counting costs for leaders and hosts and equipment. I've got plenty of Champions and sorceror figs for whatever I want. So I think I make 3000 points easily.
This doesn't include various demons and other whatnot that might serve as mercenaries or allies.

So... here is the plan. I want the above to be my basic 'draw' pile to be able to field 3 different versions of Chaos.
Here are my ideas.

Chaos Army 1: Chaos Mutants and renegades
These are the more sympathetic victims of Chaos. The intent here is to have a force centering around a camp of mutants and other exiles who are just trying to survive. These people are victims of Chaos, not worshippers of it. Nevertheless they are strong and motivated to protect their families.
I'm kind of loosely basing this group on the Romani in Europe and the city of Midian in Clive Barker's 'Cabal'. They aren't evil, just opportunistic nomads who want to be left alone... be free of persecution. But where can they go to be safe?
The force centers on a camp with wagons and women and children. These people have a nomadic air to them and are not toting any heavy weaponry like canons. They certainly can't stand up against any substantial/formalized army but they could drive off a patrol or a village militia... giving them time to pack up and make a run for it.
Of the various forces I think this one most needs a fleshed out scenario to give it a story.
Some of the members of this group are normal humans who have chosen to protect those stricken by Chaos.
There are also Beastmen, though they are not the sort who have devoted themselves to darkness... they are just more extreme mutations.
Leaders might be classified as Chaos Warriors/Champions... but they would not be represented by models of such. More like formerly high ranking members of militias.
For models... beastmen, minotaurs, barbarians, various strange mutants and humanoid creatures, hounds. No spawn or demons or anything too awfully weird.
Some big riding beasts, chariots/wagons, maybe a barbaric/tribalistic/gypsy looking sorcerors/witches.
If there is magic here it is of a traditional or tribal variety, not Chaotic or Necromantic or Demonic. (How to model shamanistic magic in Warhammer?)
Technically, by the rules, I'd think this is more of a horde army... focusing on Grunts and Beastmen and Hounds... and not much else. They're a collection of clans/families with some extra help from outsiders. I'm not sure how the numbers work but I see them as being like a village/town from one of the WFB 2e scenarios like 'Blood Bath at Orc's Drift'... except mobile, based in wagons and carts vs. houses.

It also seems like this group might earn the sympathies of local Wood Elves (I'm still figuring out Wood Elves and their motivations).

Most of what I need for this army are human rabble and nomads... peasants and brigands with various small mutations scattered about. A large camp of wagons and women/children to protect. Ox carts. Peasants armed with makeshift weapons. A lot of stuff that might also work in my HYW/Bretonnian project (which is still on the drawing board).

Chaos Army 2: Chaos Warriors
The intent here is to make a standard Chaos army that is a collection of loose warbands, intent on destruction and mayhem. They are out to do harm.
There should be a sizeable element of human followers (Chaos Thugs)... opportunistic and anti-social brigands who are merely out for gain... greed and lust more than any true love of Chaos... the early seduction of power. Others are just operating out of bloodlust and a desire for revenge. Many are escaped criminals and exiles... murderers and bandits and iconoclasts. These would make up the various units of grunts.
These are general divisions of loyalty/motivation/character... each unit could be broken into smaller chunks.
1. Unit 1: Crazies... murderers and maniacs from across the multiverse
2. Unit 2: Archers... not sure what their story is...
3. Unit 3: Scum... opportunists criminals and hateful bastards.
4. Unit 4: Barbarians... desperate nomads fighting for vengeance against the tyrants.

The grunts are unruly and disorganized and badly disciplined, so they require leadership... lest they turn on each other in petty squabbling. Few of them have any loyalty or connection to each other. So Chaos Warriors of higher standing (higher discipline) must lead them.
The majority of the army should be human... normal and mutated. Then there are various allied bands that may join and leave depending on their own motivations. Beastmen, Chaos Dwarves, Necromancers... Orcs, goblins, Skaven, Dark Elves.

These are the guys with the dark magics and the camp followers with caged victims and women over the fire... dark cultists and strange pets. Brutal and merciless.
This would be my main army for 3rd edition games I think.

Chaos Army 3: Chaos Wastes
The intent here is to go-for-broke with the weirdness... this is a large warband or collection of warbands that is wandering the Chaos Wastes. Any conflict this force might encounter would be from other Chaos groups, strange monsters, alien weirdness.
This army is just about always on the move... constantly changing. It is the most truly 'chaotic' in it's structure and history and motivation... it is pretty much insane. It should feature elements that could not exist outside the Warp or Chaos Wastes... large floating dispersed creatures, bizarre aliens, impossible technologies, all sorts of anachronisms and outright nonsense.
This will be the most labor-intensive force to build. More conversions and sculpting and creative use of bizarre elements. Best to start small and let it grow organically as in the Realm of Chaos books.
This force is more likely to be devoted to a particular palace of Chaos... so it is more likely to have demons, which I have but not in great numbers (except for Daemonettes).

Obviously this is a long-term project. As it is I've got enough to put a fairly sturdy, though anonymous, Chaos force on the table. We've been playing small games for months now. But I've never done up big themed forces before so I want to have a go at it.
So I need to continue to collect and build... as well as repainting much of my existing force. It should be fun and not incredibly expensive since mostly what I'm looking for are peasants and barbarians.