40K: Faction Focus – Slaanesh
What could be more pleasurable than a preview at some of Slaanesh’s new rules?
The Prince of Pleasure is back–and though the Lord of Excess has had little love these last few years, especially considering how much Nurgle has been bursting forth on the scene–the Perfect Prince still has a ton to offer to players who take control of his armies of quicksilver swiftness and and delightful agonies. The upcoming Chaos Codex looks like it has a few new toys for Slaaneshi armies to play with and I’ve just been told I’m never allowed to use that phrasing again. Alright let’s take a look.
via Warhammer Community
Slaanesh may be the youngest of the Chaos Gods, but he’s certainly made his mark on the 41st Millennium since his birth (after all, while the Dark Gods have been working to destroy the Imperium of Man for 10,000 years, Slaanesh gutted the Aeldari empire in one particularly hungry afternoon).
We know that Slaanesh is among the fastest of the ruinous powers. Slaanesh Daemons can advance and charge, which makes up for their lack of shooting–which is good, an assault army needs to be fast. Being able to move, advance, and with access to psychics Warptime your way across the field means you can get a turn 1 charge in if you need it. Unlike, say, Khornate forces.
But! Slaanesh armies have even more tricks up their fleshy appendages:
This one is kind of incredible. A relic that you can slap on your best character assassin and send them to the enemy’s backline to wreak some havoc in an increasing whirlwind of death. It combos incredibly well with the Quicksilver Duellist Warlord Trait which allows you to keep taking characters out.
Or take a Bewitching Aura and instead help your assault units take out even the punchiest of forces. You can significantly cut down the effectiveness of a unit of Death Company or…well not Berserkers, because they fight twice, but still…it helps make sure that your units, which are very glass cannon-y, can survive the swing back to roll into another fight. No more will you have to take “as many units as my opponent has +1” to be guaranteed a victory.
Phantasmagoria, on the other hand, is okay. I mean, sure you can stack it up with forces that further increase leadership penalties–especially if you’re making a Chaos Soup army, then this might come in handy, but Morale still feels too easy to work around. Still, that is a massive aura, and if you set it up right, it again, might help inflict those casualties you need to ensure your units survive that critical, “I hit you and now you’re not dead” phase. Finally let’s take a look at a Stratatatatatatagem
Even if you don’t take the Bewitching Aura, you can still gain its effects for a simple 1CP. Or, stack it with your Bewitching Aura-equipped warlord and take the wind out of an assault army’s sails. Anyway, that’s Slaanesh for you–and with the Codex going up for Pre-Order this weekend, you can bet there’ll be more coverage on this soon.
Never try and figure out what a given Slaaneshi Daemon’s fleshy appendage is, exactly. Just…trust me on this one.
