Goatboy’s 40k Thoughts: Chaos Characters Now Amazing!
The biggest Chaos buff coming out of the new FAQ is the addition of Character to the list of units that gain Legion tactics. Here’s why.
I talked briefly about this when I did a quick review of the FAQ last week – and today I want to do a bigger, better, and more glorious dive into what this little addition does for the Chaos army in general. Personally, this is pretty huge as it helps out so many exciting options in the Chaos Codex.
Daemon Riders
Let’s start at the top of this before we get into who we all know who won out of this change. The initial winners are all the weird characters that rode some sort of Daemon option. For a long time, the Juggernaut rider of Khorne was left in the army case to remember the good ole days of 7/7.5 where he would ride within a pile of Flesh Hounds with his Sorcerer friends. The model gained the keyword <Daemon> and <Cavalry> when 8th came out – which meant losing its Legion Traits. This was pretty upsetting because it was a pretty cool model, and losing out on some a cool trait – like advance and charge – is pretty upsetting. Thankfully, this little FAQ means we could think about bringing a Supreme Command of Juggernaut riders if we wanted to. They can be fast, hit reasonably hard, and activate off of Khorne Daemon Heralds – maybe even those riding Juggernauts themselves. Throw them into the World Eater Legion, and you end up having a few more options to stop spells as you run around the table top. Just the sheer stacking of all the Daemon Abilities and Locus could be very powerful for the Juggernaut Riders of Khorne.
Slaanesh
Next up: the Slaanesh option. There are two different things you can throw them on – Sorcerers and Chaos Lords. Both add more attacks to the base model, another wound, and the ability to advance and charge. The Chaos Lord version seems nifty when adding in the Flawless Host legion traits. Coming in with five attacks base (you could add Lightning Claws to get six), and generating more hits could be powerful. There are a few relics you can throw on, and with a spell or two this model could be dishing out a large number of attacks for a low investment. It’s a fun little cruise missile to have in your army, as well. The Slaanesh Sorcerer version is cheaper than a bike and grants you the removal of Infantry from your keywords. This protects you a bit from those pesky Vindicare assassins that love to knock your head off with a well-timed shot. I think this is one of the few Index units that might make a big comeback for Chaos armies – especially those looking to use and abuse the Flawless host legion trait.
Discs & Sorcerors
The Disc Lord and Sorcerer are interesting, as well, due to gaining the keyword Flight. The Legion abilities fall into protection options like Alpha Legion or the Scourged. It does let you have a Jetbike unit that can fly around and cause problems. Throw this on a Black Legion Chaos Lord, add the cool new chainsword, and throw on the extra Warlord trait you can get. Now while the Black Legion trait doesn’t give you a ton – unless you throw on a combi-bolter – but it could be interesting. It feels like this one is just left for Ahriman to ride in the Thousand Sons legion, but having some assault power can be very helpful – especially when mixed with the daemon keyword and some of the Tzeentch powers.
The Palanquin options are a bit harder to use as they are slower than all the other options. I like the idea of them – and wish we could see some of them in some of the other armies as it is a visually neat unit. It just doesn’t do nearly as much as we want because Chaos Space Marines have been put in the aggressive mode of current 8th edition. Everything you want to work needs to be fast, engage the opponent quickly, and then overrun them with powerful options and characters. Five inches of movement just doesn’t cut it, and while cool looking it isn’t nearly as impressive as you would want it to be. The Purge doesn’t need it as the Lord Discordant does more for you.
Discordant
Finally, we get to the true hero of the Character update. The Lord Discordant goes from being very good to being crazy good. I thought the model was already a cornerstone of this new Chaos list, but with the addition of the Legion trait he goes to crazy levels of good. Thankfully, he can be shot and can’t hide behind his friends becuase this guy would be nuts. We all know how amazing the Flawless host super missile is with 12 attacks – staking more on 3+ (+1 for him, +1 to prescience, +1 for dark apostle) – with a reroll 1 from a Chaos Lord or Daemon Prince could mean 48 attacks. If you are Imperium you add another 12 attacks. It is just insane. I think the Red Corsairs option with the default Advance and Charge ability is pretty dang sweet, but almost all of the Legions add something to this guy. Alpha Legion’s -1 to hit keeps the hammer alive a bit longer, so I expect this one to come out as one of the more important legions. I also like Brazen beasts with the Mechaserpents could do several -4 ap hits. This guy is just nuts and everyone should prepare to see a lot of armies throwing out 3 of them a bully unit.
Dark Majesty
Overall big winners are the Discordant Jerk followed by the Steed of Slaanesh and the Juggernaut. There is a cause for putting all your guys on Steeds as they save themselves from some sniper fire and have the ability to advance and charge. Giving an extra wound to your Sorcerer isn’t too bad either – the model isn’t that much more expensive over a Jump Pack sorcerer. I just like the idea of a roving band of Chaos Velociraptors to cause problems because they get into your opponent’s line. The same with Juggernaut riders of the Red Corsair variety getting the change to Advance and Charge. They are all different Datasheets, so you could do a complete character army full of daemons and monsters running around. Throw in some Nurglings, and you got something super dumb.
~I think I got a list to write up for Friday eh? What Chaos Character Legion combos have you come up with?
