40K: Mm, That’s Some Tasty Crow GW Served Me!
I said GW would never give CSMs the love they needed. Can I have seconds?
Traitor Legions: Style Is In Again
Going back on my articles list, you will find more than a few in which I riff on Games Workshop’s design philosophy, grievous need to update armies, and especially, the need make Chaos factions more flavorful and unique. They were usually capped with a cynical “Yeah, like that’s EVER gonna happen, amirite?” comment. So take all of this as the words of someone who could have built a house out of grots if I had gotten one model each time someone accused me of being a GW Hater.
This me having my mouth rightfully shut and just nodding in awe.
Good Show, GW. Good Show
Traitor Legions, combined with Wrath of Magnus, is exactly what I wanted. What I had been pleading for all these years. No snarky asides or caveats here. It came late but I’m glad it’s here, and I really, really hope it’s a trend. Not just for Chaos but the game.
My hat is off, and my wallet is open again.
I love how they used an existing and fluffy element, the Veterans of the Long War rule, to branch and work out the different effects. Other people over the years had already hinted that this was the way to go, but I don’t mind it in the least. Good ideas are good no matter if you thought of them yourself or expanded on another’s concept (this is also known as the Blizzard Games Axiom). There are some rules that seem to clash or repeat (Berserkers and Plague marines feel rather overpriced compared to basic Legions CSMS that will get the bulk of the same rules or more for far, FAR less points!) but I trust those will be smoothed out in FAQs or a new book. That long-demanded basic Chaos Marine rulebook update just got a lot less urgent.
Nope, Max. Sometimes it actually isn’t.
It’s not even important right now if this will put CSM on a power level akin to Eldar and Necrons. It’s already a boon for both casual and tournament play, an incentive to paint and sculpt in fluffy directions, a chance to rework your existing force into something that feels and play different. The new deity psychic power tables are better, more streamlined, with less useless chaff powers. Artifacts are interesting and cover a lot of options. This is better than a new Chaos book that kept things mostly the same but included a broken formation or simply added a Riptide-level game-winning unit.This adds character. Hell, playing an Iron Warriors vs. Thousand Sons match will now feel almost as distinct as playing again Tyranids!
From what I’ve seen floating around so far, Death Guard and Emperor’s Children are set to be the strongest factions out of the gate, though it’s early and there may be stuff we are missing. World Eaters is decent, and MAY also be amazing if it can be worked into Khorne Daemonkin for more rules and murder. Alpha Legion is just delightful. I don’t care if it will win games or not, it’s just so sneaky.
~It’s a bright new Warp out there. Time to dust off your army builders and chart the shortest path to Terra!
