Games

New Chaos - A Tactica
By Anthony Baron

Here we go. I think this guy is going to be the foundation of many a Chaos army nowadays. First thing's first though, ALWAYS give him wings. It's a dirt-cheap upgrade for a model of this combat quality, and it's the only way the Prince will see action in anything but a counter-offensive role. That said though, even undivided, a base Str of 6 and I of 5, a decent amount of attacks, a highly-respectable WS of 7, and the ever-coveted immunity to Instant Death means that for under 150 pts, your average Daemon Prince is already set to rock-and-roll. And that's without marks.

Khorne's Prince is definitely the cheapest, but it also has the least access to any special stuff outside wings, which are already established as mandatory. Other than that, and the fact that a Winged Khorne Prince is only 140 pts for a 6-attack (on the assault) monstrosity, there's really nothing that's really turn-your-head kind of impressive about this guy, though he does make my Hive Tyrant a tad jealous to be that killy for that cost.

The Mark of Slaaneesh is the cheapest mark, even more so than Khorne, and for good reason. That extra Initiative is rarely going to do you any good except in the monster-hunting department, which I wouldn't trust a Daemon Prince for anyway. (With a mere T of 5, even when ID-proof, most meta monsters nowadays, like Avatars and Hive Tyrants, could still hand the Daemon Prince their lunch. And of course a C'tan would crown your Prince with a knuckle-sandwich, just like it does to everything else in the game.) Really what you're buying a Slaaneesh prince for is to have a 155-pt jump-lasher. While it can be used for first-turn assault usage, it's far from reliable, and as with all first-turn assaults, they're sketchy and over predictable. But that's just a Lash issue.

The Nurgle Prince dodges the Daemon Prince's new T5 problem by boosting it up. The Nurgle Prince also has access to Nurgle's Rot, which will fry entire hordes of Gaunts at a time. However, one of the better powers for a Prince (and this really goes for any Prince, but especially Nurgle ones as they can take some serious punishment) is Warptime. It's like Litanies of Hate on steroids! Cast it, and you re-roll your hits and wounds, which is amazing when you're swinging around four attacks per turn and you really need to get those wounds. Warptime also lets you re-roll failed attacks to hit Skimmers and Vehicles, making Warptime Princes of any mark even really good for tank hunting and even for taking on those infernal Skimmers that every CC-loving general worth their salt has learned to hate.

But the Prince that just steals my heart is the one I use: The Tzeentch Prince. The most expensive of the bunch (mine comes to 200 big ones) the Tzeentch Prince makes full use of the Prince's capabilities as a pumped-up Sorcerer. And with the infamous Thunder-Chicken having been wussed out, this is what Tzeentch has to fall back on. Though that's not a bad thing. Even without any powers, Tzeentch Princes have 4+ IV saves. It's not Nurgle's T6, or a 2+ save (which no Prince has; looks like Dhar'leth didn't make the codex after all…) but you're glad you have it when you're staring down armies with tons of rocking-AP weapons, like Eldar and IG, and an IV save helps to mitigate GW's love affair with the Rending rules. However, the IV save is just the tip of the iceberg. As Tzeentch Princes can have multiple powers, do so! Bolt of Change is incredible, and on a BS5, you're probably going to hit stuff. Better yet, if a nasty 1 rolls up, if you remembered to cast Warptime at the beginning of your turn, you can re-roll the hits and wounds for the BoC. And since Tzeentch is the only mark that lets you cast multiple powers per player turn (an amazing ability; truly Tzeentch is the Lord of Magic!) you can be casting Warptime in the opponent's turn as well to keep any combats going in your favor, whereas other Princes are limited to one power per turn. So where other Princes (Khorne aside) will be able to cast 1 power per turn cycle, Tzeentch can be expected to at least attempt around about three per cycle. Psychic Hood that, Mr. Overdue-Books!

Chaos Lord

If you can find a good reason to use this guy, you're a better general than I am. You have a Daemon Prince that can kick anybody's face in without having to resort to an uber-expensive Emo-Blade of Death. Princes are psychic, and thus can shoot better than a Chaos Lord as well. Chaos Lords are Fearless and have 5+ IV saves, which is admittedly better than nothing. But Daemon Princes do both of those too. And, to add even more insult to injury, Princes are typically cheaper for being far more killy. Really all the Chaos Lord has to offer is its Daemon Weapon and Terminator Armor, and judging from GW's model selections, and the points discount you get for doing so, it seems like they want you to use both at the same time.

The Bloodfeeder is the single reason the Daemon Weapon is referred to as an "emo attack", and the benefits are more redundant than beneficial. I can't see why this would be useful, especially when Chaos Terminators with Power Weapons, cheap cost, and a better killzone area than the Chaos Lord can do the Bloodfeeder's job better. And why would you send a Bloodfeeder Lord against a Monstrous Creature when you could send a cheaper Daemon Prince to do the job better and cheaper?

Blissgiver is a victim of a GW fad: Instant Death immunity. It started with Space Marines, when they ripped off the Salamanders' Adamantine Mantle. It then went army-wide when Tyranids got it for being (and being near) Synapse Creatures. Tyranids are also, coincidentally, the army where instakilling is the most viable strategy, if you can figure out how to do it. However, a Force Weapon does the job better, actually works on Tyranids, and you can get a Lash of Submission out of it as well.

Plaguebringer is a weapon that looks really good on paper, but not when you consider that (1) you're never wounding on better than a 4+ either, and (2) Daemon Princes don't usually wound worse than a 4+. (Repeat after me: don't send a Chaos Lord to do a Daemon Prince's job.)

The only Chaos Lord I can see myself using is the Tzeentch Lord with Deathscreamer. (Are you beginning to see who GW's pet Chaos army is here?) Maybe it's because I'm a more cautious player than most, but if there's a choice between a shooting attack and a close-combat attack, the shooting attack will usually win. And that the Deathscreamer has. So many more AP3 shots makes me wish it were possible to give a Chaos Lord the Warptime power…

Chaos Sorcerer

What do you do when you want a Prince but just have too many points? Take a Sorcerer, of course! He may not be the fighter that the Prince is, but he's far easier to protect, not being a Monstrous Creature and all. Which is really important considering that he's the only non-Fearless Chaos HQ in the army book. (Big problem!)

When you have a Chaos Sorcerer with a Force Weapon, the obvious favorite mark is that of (surprise, surprise) Tzeentch. Who else can use the amazing Warptime and a Force Weapon every player turn? Monstrous Creatures will be crying! You can give Sorcerers other powers like Lash, Doombolt, and Nurgle's Rot, but IMO, these powers aren't any more effective on a Sorc than they'd be on a Daemon Prince. Face it: you're not buying the Chaos Hero, but the Force Weapon. Use the Force Weapon, not the Psychic Power (though if Tzeentch, feel free to do both, heh heh heh…).

Possessed

Their random Daemonkin powers are, contrary to popular belief, really aren't that bad. Even Scout moves are nice to have if you know what to do with them. However, these abilities just aren't something I'd pay that much for. The Power Weapons are probably the best roll possible, with Rending close behind. Rending's problem is that the really nasty strength of the Possessed gets wasted if you actually hit on a 6, whereas Power Weapons compliment the strength. Furious Charge on Str5 models strikes me as just plain redundant, especially when Khorne Berserkers are cheaper and more predictable. Scout is nice, and it's a godsend for Genestealers and other Tyranids, but it's really not that impressive when you're spending that many points on Chaos Marines without even as much as bolt pistols for ranged weapons. Fleet has the same basic problem. Feel No Pain is also an interesting upgrade, but again isn't worth the cost. Ultimately, what kills Possessed is that you don't know what to do with them until after you've deployed, so you'd better guess your roll really well or your Possessed will find themselves a tragical waste of points.

Dreadnought

The Dread had no good reason to get less effective. It was barely used last codex. Now that you can actually wind up shooting yourself with it (granted it's not as often as some would think, however it only takes one shot to kill a friendly tank…) there are often better options for vehicles in the Chaos book.

Chaos Terminators

Wow, what a price break! They'll sure need it, as those Icons aren't cheap. The thing to do with Chaos Terminators (though it is a bit gutsy) is to take all Combi-Weapons and hope for the best. A squad of Plasma Guns or Meltaguns dropped off an Icon, even if only shooting once per game, can put a serious dent in anything, and is debatably even nastier than Assault Cannons. Chaos Terminators, unlike Loyal Terminators, have to really haul forward to get the most out of their stuff. Their Combi-Bolters aren't any better than Storm Bolters at long range, which makes them very bad shooters.

Terminators seem to be best served by some kind of defensive Icon. Nurgle is the obvious one, with Tzeentch being less obvious. Slaaneesh can also be defensive (striking before I4 enemies, thus reducing casualties from hidden power weapons by potentially knocking them out first) but it's far more unorthadox. Khorne is just asking for punishment, though in a sizable unit, Khorne can be a devastating mark. Khorne crossed with a lot of Powerfist Terminators is downright scary, though for my money Powerfists cross much better with improved IV saves and thus (again…) Tzeentch.

Chaos Chosen

For those who want shooty Elites without shelling out the points for Terminators, Chosen are for you. I use two squads of Chosen, and while they're expensive, their early forward position combined with their high amount of special weapons in a squad (and that there's none of this "you need 10 people to get a heavy weapon" garbage) makes Chosen great shooters for the points. They also make really good places to stow Icons. I would actually prefer Nurgle here, basically going along the same principle of 3rd ed Death Guard, but Khorne and Slaaneesh marks could make themselves known in this unit. Chaos Glory is another good one, and also the only Icon that actually helps with Leadership.

Chaos Marines

The most notable change (and this actually goes for Chosen, too) is that you get a Bolter, a Pistol, and a CCW all on one model. Kinda' like the Black Orcs of 40k. As a Black Templars veteran, where before I had to pick and choose who got what, now I don't have to choose anymore. Plus, as Black Templars can be dragged around by the nose easier than WHFB Khorne, Chaos Marines are clearly the better shooters. And they'd better be, going without ATSKNF and all. Lacking ATSKNF and any kind of way to easily pick up Fearless hurts them a lot. The closest they get is an Icon of Chaos Glory. Fortunately, Chaos Marines run off a base Ld9, which really isn't that bad. Chaos Marines also suffer on the armoury side of things. Their Heavy Bolters, Plasma Guns and Lascannons cost more (fortunately the Autocannons stayed the same; I love that gun!), they lost their Veteran Skills, and they need 10 guys to take a heavy weapon or a second special weapon. Kinda' sucks, but you can't have it all.

Their Icons are all pretty dumb, except for Chaos Glory. Khorne leads to a redundant amount of attacks (4 on the charge for a unit with bolters might be a bit much). Slaaneesh sounds pretty reasonable, but it's too expensive to not allow them to shoot much better. Tzeentch would make a lot more sense if the Marines were in Flak Armor, where the IV save would be a lot more useful, but even then it's really just for the commander who doesn't know how to use terrain properly. Nurgle is good, but it's killer-expensive, costing the most of any single Icon there. At any rate, as Icons (and thus Marks) are bought by squad now, it's clear that GW is pushing 10-man CSM squads, at least.

Khorne Berserkers

Losing the Blood Frenzy was both a blessing and a curse. It was a neat double-edged sword, but the fact that Khorne basically played itself was really boring. However, without Blood Frenzy, Khorne Berserkers are combat troops that move like normal Infantry, which is a pretty bad place to be in this game. A rhino can get them in quickly, but a Land Raider is much safer and you can assault out of it. And Khorne Berserkers aren't going to be doing anything effective outside of Assault. The good news is that FC is built-in now and they also have a better WS, putting them at better odds of beating down their fellow MEQ rather than getting ignominously bludgeoned by the likes of Necron Warriors and loyal, bolter-only Space Marines.

Noise Marines

Unusual, for sure. Their new Sonic Weapons are slightly better in AP when it comes to the special weapons, but since they're all template-based, it's pretty easy for the elite kind of armies that hate them to dodge a lot of the heavier stuff. (That is, unless, you Lash them into a group hug or a conga line.) Otherwise, they're mostly unchanged. Their biggest change is that their role is different now. They're for firing at infantry only. Noise Marine armies (Emperor's Children), while still more-or-less legal, would probably want to include some generic Chaos Marines in their lineup, just for the cost. Also, unless the Noise Marines are all given Sonic Weapons, they're pretty useless for what you pay for them. A fighty-specialist unit… with gun upgrades. Yeah.

A fellow Chaos player was just as uneasy as I was to realize that Plague Marines are now only I3. However, their T5 and Feel No Pain are an incredible trade off. Feel No Pain keeps the overheat deaths down even further, and it also makes Plague Marines incredibly durable, even against the dreaded Thousand Sons Rubric Marines (see below). And both of these factors combined with their Blight Grenades make Plague Marines a virtually-immovable defense. They just about have to be transported, as they share the same lack of heavy weapons as their 3rd ed predecessors, and they also lack Infiltration. However, Rhinos will actually do the trick because they're just moving forward to get into Rapid Fire range. A Land Raider isn't necessary, like with Berserkers.

Thousand Sons

Just when you thought Tzeentch was a stupid cult… Not quite as pricey as their predecessors, but still plenty nasty with the ever-dreaded AP3 bolters. Their 4+ IV saves are also really helpful and should effectively give Tzeentch the edge in any no-man's-land terrain (e.g. Planet Bowling Ball). The Sorcerers are also nasty-expensive with Force Weapons all their own. The Sorcerer Commands makes them victim to any number of "I pick the casualty I want" parlor tricks, such as Torrent, blocking one's own LoS, controlling range, and so forth, but these tricks are just that: tricks. Unreliable, rare, hard to do, party tricks. Really the only disadvantages to Thousand Sons are their cost per wound count. Swapping their 2 wounds for a 4+ IV puts them at a much worse disadvantage against horde armies, as is the case for most Tzeentch. Ironically enough though, Tzeentch make the most effective team with Nurgle Princes and Sorcs, whose Nurgle's Rot power can mess up hordes even from inside CC. The other minor drawback to K-Sons is their low anti-tank capabilities. A single Bolt of Change is really the best they have. But then again, this only starts to become a major drawback when you use armies full of K-Sons, and not just a unit or two peppered in for flavor. Though most use Obliterators as their anti-tank countermeasure in K-Son-dedicated lists.

Raptors

I for one am glad to see Raptors taken down a peg. Hit and Run, Vet Skills (particularly Infiltrate), and Daemonic Visage made nice toys, but they weren't something I'd pay 29 pts / model for last codex. Especially when bolters and even lasguns just kill them anyway. Now that Raptors take advantage of not having to swap out their BP+CCW for special weapons (thus making Plasma Pistols useless compared to the cheaper Meltaguns), and Flamers being super-cheap now, Raptors are a real force to be reckoned with.

When it comes to giving Raptors an Icon, considering how expensive Raptors are, only Nurgle and Slaaneesh, the two defensive marks, seem to stick out as being effective. Khorne just lends itself to redundancy and wiped killzones (though it does make good use of a Raptor's powerfist) and Tzeentch's minor IV save is an annoyance at best, and even an encouragement just to pelt Raptors with more poor-AP dakka than they can take anyway. Again, Chaos Glory stands out as the crowd-favorite Icon of choice.

Chaos Bikes

Not much has changed. Chaos BIkes still have 2 attacks base in CC, but if they take a Special Weapon (while it doesn't swap out their TLed Bolters), it does take away their CC weapon, and thus their extra attack. I wouldn't consider bikes to be worth it anymore, as Bikes tend to thrive on high-speed low-punch Icon delivery systems. Raptors are where the bang-for-your-buck is at. Though it must be said that T6 Nurgle Bikes are incredibly tough to crack, and Tzeentch Bikes can boost up the Bikers' turboboost IV save to a rock-solid 2+!

Havocs

Aside from the same changes that appy to regular Chaos Marines, Havocs aren't that retooled. As the cost of Plasma Guns went up for squads, and due to the fact that Chaos Marine Troop Squads need 10 men to take 2 of them, Havocs are most points-effective with Plasma Guns. Not that they aren't plenty-effective with other guns, like Heavy Bolters (another gun whose in-squad cost went up). In fact, with the changes to Obliterators, ballistic weapons like Autocannons and Heavy Bolters are going to be the most picked Havoc weapons of all.

Obliterators

If you liked them for their Heavy Bolters, I suggest you invest in some Havocs. Oblit ballistic weapons are gone, in exchange for "energy-based" weapons. The TLed Plasma Gun is another favorite of mine. Decent range (when you take into account S&P) and a reliability to hit that Lascannons just don't have make the TLed Plasma still my favorite gun. I'm not overlooking the other guns though. I used a well-placed TLed Flamer on a squad of entrenched Eldar Guardians who tried to get the jump on my lone Oblit, and I wiped out over half the squad in one blast, routing them for good. But Oblits will defenitely need to be rethought. They're not the swiss-army-knife of the army anymore. (Unless you're sorely lacking anti-tank.)

Predator

115 pts for a Pred Destructor with Havoc Launcher is a beautiful tank. Too bad the Annihilator variant is so expensive. Possession on a tank this shooty is a bit of a risky issue. Do you want to sacrifice your BS to be able to move and shoot when stunned? I wouldn't. It's not like the Predator being all that mobile matters too much, especially with such a low points-yield if still scoring and its light side armor.

Vindicator

Just screams to be used in combo with the Lash of Submission. Group hug, then blast 'em to bits (hoping you don't miss too badly). Same principle as the Defiler, really, only better at anti-tank and against stuff w/ 2+ saves. As it's weapon is ordnance and thus doesn't need BS to fire, the Vindicator becomes a perfect candidate for Daemonic Possession.

Defiler

Without Indirect Fire or Mutated Hull, the Defiler becomes tremendously more vulnerable, though it becomes much scrappier with Fleet and a potential 6 attacks on the charge. (Khorne would be proud…) This seems to be the way to use the Defiler now.

While it may seem that the Defiler infringes on the Vindicator's specialty, the Defiler does have some bonuses. First of all, it comes with Daemonic Possession. The cost it takes to give a Vindicator the Daemonic Possession upgrade brings its cost to nearly equal that of the Defiler. Second, the Vindicator has some weak side armor, making flanking the Vindicator (or sniping it with long-ranged guns while on a flank) a nasty prospect. Defilers have a nearly radial armor of 12, giving only the sneakiest flankers a shot on squishier armor. Defilers' Battle Cannons also have triple the range of the Demolisher Cannon (and any IG player could explain this advantage better than I could), allowing a Defiler to play a sit-back-and-shoot role much more effectively than a Vindicator, which actually needs to march up harm's way (and expose it's side armor) in order to get the Demolisher Cannon into range. And finally, the Defiler can fight off enemies. While it can't shoot its Battle Cannon in CC, the sheer virtue of being a stun-proof Walker makes Meltabombs virtually useless against the Defiler, and thus getting closer to the Defiler doesn't make enemy infantry any safer. The Defiler actually meshes very well with the mixed-arms theme of the Chaos "Tactical" Marines.

Chaos Land Raider

With all the LR's guns being TLed, and the Chaos LR being a transport with a hefty capacity, Terminator-transporting ability (for those too pessimistic of Deepstrike) and an assault ramp, and to have gotten a points-discount on top of all of this in the new codex, the Chaos Land Raider deserves Daemonic Possession. It also deserves some worthwhile cargo. I put Khorne Berserkers in mine, just rushing them forwards, because I'm a believer in more dice rather than better dice (Chaos Terminators' Power Weapons). If my GKTs and their Land Raider have taught me anything, it's that a unit that gets shoved up that far better have the numbers to hold their own, and Berserkers with their shedload of attacks most certainly fits the bill. However, if not being used as a Transport, you'd better just stick with a Predator or a few Oblits instead. The LR is a poor gun platform for the points. A good, all-purpose gun platform no doubt, just bad for the points.

Lesser Daemons

Lesser Daemons aren't actually that bad. They summon pretty well due to the fact that they never scatter, can assault on the turn they arrive, and can appear out of Icons in Transports. They're also Fearless, which is much better than that lousy Instability junk they had last edition. Their physical stats and skills are also up there with their fellow Marines, though they lose all their fancy daemonic toys (which to be frank Chaos doesn't need anyway). The problem with Lesser Daemons is not that they're so bad, but that Chaos Tactical Marines are so good. In an elite army like Chaos, points are hard to come by and each one must be carefully spent. Stuff isn't cheap enough to take one of everything you like, so Lesser Daemons often get left on the shelf.

Chaos Spawn

Beast and Slow & Purposeful? That's just plain weird. The no-armor thing hurts a lot, and Mindless makes Chaos Spawns dumb against any opponent who knows what they're doing. Except against the worst shooty armies (who conversely have some of the best CC troops) Spawns are virtually useless. No wonder Chaos turns a lot of their followers into Spawn; they're afraid they'll run out.

Greater Daemons

Okay, not that much greater. They're much more equalized in power, giving you but one Richfood Greater Daemon as opposed to any cult Greater Daemon. It's a bit of a shame that a Bloodthirster fights as well as a Great Unclean One now, but with this setup, you can really take any Greater Daemon you want. I know there are some who swear by the model of the Great Unclean One because he's not hyper-skinny, he doesn't have wings to break off, and he transports really well, and those folks should be pretty happy. The Greater Daemon is actually an excellent points-bargain, and since it doesn't take up a FOC slot, you don't have to worry about not having the HQ choices for it. They also no longer have to lock in their chocie of who their Daemonvessel is, making nabbing them much harder and countering them harder still. The problem is that they roll on the standard Reserves table and you can't resist Possession. If you could, Greater Daemons would pop out at your leisure and thrash whoever was nearby. It's far too easy to get a Greater Daemon stranded and shot nowadays.

General thoughts

The foundation of every army should be Chaos Tactical Marines. Gone are the day when a single cult of Marines can rule the roost. It's a lot like what happened to the Eldar. Cult Marines are very good at what they do (Khorne: anti-Horde assault / Nurgle: entrenching and holding a position / Slaaneesh: firing on the move / Tzeentch: anti-MEQ shooting), but they're miserable at doing anything else than their specialty. Fortunately, unlike Eldar, the stock Chaos Tactica Marine squad is a highly-adaptable force that can be equipped to deal with virtually anything.

Chaos Marines are going to be an army built off pure preference. Only in Apocalypse can a Chaos general truly afford to take all the stuff they want, and even then you'll have a sub-performing army for the points. Fortunately, with Chaos Marines, Raptors, Chosen, and Havocs being so Jack-of-all-Trades-like, these units can often form a cheap, potent backbone for any army, but your cult unit choices will be virtually non-existant. Cult Marines, Chaos Vehicles, uber-Sorcerers, and Daemons may all be pretty nice, but when it comes to the points, most players can only find room in their hearts, wallets, and armies for one thing, and that thing is usually going to be a Daemon Prince (or two). I've seen many people go overboard with Chosen, Chaos Lords (most notably the Khorne Emo-Lord), Sorcerers, and Terminator upgrades, but Chaos isn't about the upgrades. It's about the numbers. (Except for the Prince, when it really is about the upgrades.) Chaos gets point-discounts out the ears, and it's almost criminal not to take full advantage of them.

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