Codex Traitor Legions: The Night Lords
BoLS will be bringing you Codex Traitor Legions coverage all week. Today we look at the 8th Legion, the dread Night Lords’ rules!
The Traitor Legions are upon us! Fourteen years after 2002’s release of the beloved CSM 3.5 codex full rules for all nine traitor legions are here! These are each a unique army that will open up the game to dedicated CSM players who find the default codex a little plain. Every one of the nine gets some serious love.
GW has pulled off giving each Legion a distinct feel via 9 sets of Legion restrictions and special rules, warlord traits, relics (some very very distinctive and fluffy), and of course a detachment. While I personally think some are more fluffy and cool than others, everyone got some of the GW design studio love. There are however some standouts that will be altering the meta. More on those this week.
Now, onto what you came for, let’s crack open the covers and see what makes the Night Lords tick:
Behold the basic Night Lords Legion restrictions and special abilities.
Meet the Night Lords Legion Detachment – the Murder Talon.
Finally here’s one sample relic, the mind numbing Vox Daemonicus
Scions of Nostromo
OK, what we have here is an evolution of the Night Lords. Over the editions, (and 30K) the Night Lords have gone back and forth between being “all about” bikers and/or jump pack troops. In their 30K rules, the Night Lords have special rules emphasizing dirty tricks in assault. Fundamentally the Legion has always been about maneuver and assault. This is not a stand back and shoot you off the table army.
Looking at the Legion special rules, we see the hand of GW come down firmly on Raptors (now troops) and assault. No chaos marks is more than made up for by the mandatory and free Veterans of the Long War. That should save you a bunch of points. Now add in the free Stealth, Fear and Night Vision rules to get an idea of how GW is adding flavor and partially balancing out some of the default CSM point cost deficiencies. For the cherry on top, note the -2 Ld for enemies making those fear tests. That’s pretty good as all those LD 7-8 units out there will be making tests on a 5-6, which will fail over 50% of the time.
Next look at how the Murder Talon Detachment builds atop this foundation. I think we can safely expect the Night Lords player to make it night every chance they get, so get used to it. The +1 cover saves, added to the Stealth will frustrate many enemies and the re-rolls on charge distance means the 8th Legion will reach you reliably once they get in close. It seems likely to expect Night Lords players to go with lots of high speed infantry armed with short range and assault weaponry and to come at you fast while the lights are out.
Finally, savor the sample Relic we are showing off, the Vox Daemonicus. What I like the most is that is completely fluffy, while having a useful in-game effect. Making enemy reserves unreliable will either splinter armies that try to show up after the fact, or force the majority to the opponent’s force to deploy, giving the Night Lords a known target to fight against.
Grade: A
Codex Supplement: Traitor Legions $35
Subscribe to our newsletter!Get Tabletop, RPG & Pop Culture news delivered directly to your inbox.By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.The Traitor Legions of the Chaos Space Marines have waged terrible wars of hate and vengeance upon the Imperium of Mankind for ten thousand years. From the Daemon worlds of the Eye of Terror, they plot the destruction of the empire they once helped to build. They have neither forgotten nor forgiven the loyalists, nor the False Emperor whom they serve. These warriors will not rest until the galaxy is burning, and the Emperor’s putrid carcass is cast down from the Golden Throne into the filth where it belongs.
Codex Supplement: Traitor Legions is a 136-page, full-colour softback supplement to Codex: Chaos Space Marines. It contains a wealth of additional content and rules that any Chaos Space Marines army can use, with a huge array of rules for all nine of the Traitor Legions.
In The Book
Advertisement– Datasheets for the following models:
– Kharn the Betrayer
– Ahriman
– Exalted Sorcerer
– Tzaangors
– Rubric Marines
– Scarab Occult Terminators
– Khorne Lord of Skulls
– Magnus the Red– 26 Formations for Chaos Space Marines
– Chaos Warband
– Maelstrom of Gore
– The Lost and the Damned
– Helforged Warpack
– Heldrake Terror Pack
– Cult of Destruction
– Fist of the Gods
– Raptor Talon
– Terminator Annihilation Force
– Favoured of Chaos
– Trinity of Blood
– The Chosen of Abaddon
– The Bringers of Despair
– The Hounds of Abaddon
– Daemon Engine Pack
– Cyclopia Cabal
– The Tormented
– Black Legion Warband
– War Cabal
– War Coven
– Tzaangor Warherd
– Sekhmet Conclave
– Ahriman’s Exiles
– Rehati War Sect
– Plague Colony
– Kakophoni;– Chaos Artefacts, Warlord Traits, Tactical Objectives and an exclusive Detachment for each of the 9 Traitor Legions;
– Updated Disciplines of Tzeentch, Nurgle and Slaanesh, as well as the Sinistrum, Heretech, Ectomancy and Geomortis Psychic Disciplines;
– Armoury of the Chaos Space Marines.
~Have fun folks, and check back all week for more Traitor Legions reviews and more.
