40K: Chaos ‘Smash Captains’ Bring The Pain
Get ready to go Knight Hunting with the new and improved Chaos “Smash Captain” – It’s time to be a bad guy.
It seems like everyone is getting in the “Smash Captain” bandwagon these days and Chaos is no different. If you’re unfamiliar with the term it’s basically a term for a character that can seriously cripple or outright eliminate a Knight (or equally beefy target) in a round. Think of these units like guided missiles that can pick a target and effectively destroy it – but it’s probably going to die in the process.
Blood Angels have been running Smash Captains for a while now – typically with a Jump Pack/Thunder Hammer and a Relic backed-up by stratagems and other synergies to make them hyper-lethal. Not wanting to be left in the dust, Chaos Lords can do it too, and these guys are dirt cheap!
Meet The Chaos Smash Captain
So how do you “build” the Chaos Smash Captain? Let’s start with the basics:
Black Legion – Chaos Lord
Jump Pack (or Bike – more on that below)
Chainsword x 2
Relic – Black Legion Relic Ghorisvex’s Teeth (From Vigilus Ablaze)
Warlord – Flames of Spite (Codex: Chaos Space Marine)
So what are we looking at to start? Well a Chaos Lord with the Ghorisvex’s Teeth and another Chainsword (for the bonus attack) will have 7 attacks:
4 (Basic) + 2 (Ghroisvex’s Teeth) + 1 (other Chainsword but you don’t really care about this one) = 7 total attacks, 6 of which you actually care about.
Those 6 attacks will have a basic strength of 4 with -3 AP and 2 Damage each. Furthermore, thanks to Flames of Spite and the Teeth, each 6+ will generate 2 more mortal wounds! However, we’re just getting started…
Psychic Thoughts And Prayers
Now let’s toss some extra buffs on this Chaos Lord with the help of some friends you’re probably bringing anyways. Diabolic Strength will add 2 Strength and 1 attack.
You could also toss on a Warptime if you have another way to throw that on the Chaos Lord but it’s not necessary. Then you’re going to want to bless him with the new Prayer Soultearer Portent for the +1 to wound rolls:
Now we’re looking at a total of 8 attacks, 7 of which you care about at Strength 6 with a +1 to Wound rolls. Each 5+ to wound is now generating 2 mortal wounds ALSO. But wait, there’s more…
Stratagems Activate
Veterans of the Long War is a classic and still applies to this cruise missile:
Now, for every +4 to wound, he’s generating 2 mortal wounds! And if you wanted to get really nasty, you could ALSO spend 1 CP to give him Chosen of the Pantheon at the start of your turn to give him the Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle and Slaanesh keywords so that you could spend the 3CP to let him fight AGAIN thanks to the Fury of Khorne Stratagem. OR you could just mark him Khorne and save the CP – but the other key works let you do other stratagem hi-jinx in the turn, too.
Anyhow, this Chaos Smash Captain is now locked and loaded. With 8 total attacks, 7 of which are doing 2 mortal wounds on a +4, he can deal some SERIOUS punishment to anything. Even against a Toughness 8 target you’re dishing out wounds on a +3 because you’re Strength 6 now and all of those attacks from the Teeth are at -3 AP! Oh and those attacks each do 2 damage. As a Chaos Lord, you’re also re-rolling 1’s to hit and have a WS of 2+ anyhow. Those 7 attacks are probably going to hit…and have a pretty good shot at wounding a bunch. If you manage to wound with all 7 of the good attacks with a +4, and the target fails their saves, congratulations, you’ve just done 14 mortal wounds with another 14 damage on the way. And don’t forget your OTHER attack. It can still toss in another mortal wound for fun!
Even if you don’t kill your target, you can spends the CPs to swing again. It’s BRUTAL.
Khorne’s Happy Face
So is that a lot to get going? It’s really not – plus if you’re building to do this, you’re going to remember all that stuff anyhow. Here’s the real kicker: With a Jump Pack the Chaos Lord clocks in at 9 3 points. That’s it. And he can Deepstrike. But side note: You probably DON’T want to Deepstrike him because Prayers have to be applied at the start of the battle round. However, if he’s on a bike, he’s going to start on the board and get an extra toughness. That option clocks in at 115 points – but you have to use the Index option so don’t get too excited about that.
Now, you’ll still want to run a Dark Apostle and a Psyker in your list, too. But those units are good anyways – so it’s not like it’s a bad thing. With a Jump Pack and all the buffs, the Captain is going to be able to tear-up just about anything he touches. So Chaos Players, get to Smashing!
Can you roll a +4? It’s going to be a bad day for your opponent.
