Warhammer 40K: Why I’m Worried Chaos Could Get Screwed This Year
Let’s take a look at the dark fates that could befall Chaos this year – as they have before.
8th Edition was not a good edition for Chaos. This faction, supposedly THE great enemy of the Imperium, suffered a lot. They saw a slew of nerfs. They had poor fluff and languished unloved. 9th Ed hasn’t been much better for them. It’s not a year a half since all Marines got 2 wounds, and Chaos still hasn’t seen their update. Even T’au drones got a 2nd wound first. What rules they have gotten are pretty meh. But at last, it seems like a new book is coming soon. Let’s take a look at a few ways Chaos can still get screwed.
They Get A Good Book, And Then Get FAQ’d
If 8th Edition proved anything its that GW loves to nerf Chaos builds. Almost every major build Chaos had that seemed to go anywhere got nerfed. Normally pretty quickly. So one obvious option is that Chaos will get a strong initial book. Players will be happy and flock to it. Then pretty soon after that build will start to get nerfed, and nerfed, and nerfed. Pretty soon it turns into a mediocre book that gets shoved back into the “Chaos must suck” box. We already saw this play out with Ad-Mech and Orks.
CSM Get A New Book, But It’s Incomplete
CSM were one of the few books in 8th Edition to get a 2.0 version. Their initial book, which was weak, was updated midway through the edition. This update was pretty minor. It wasn’t a full rewrite, it just added in new units from Shadowspear and few things here and there. On top of not really being a new book, it also wasn’t a complete book. CSM had a lot of really cool options, that were included in another book that came out at the same time, Vigilus Ablaze. This wasn’t a move many people liked. But hey! It looks like we are headed back to Vigilus once again, so Chaos can still get screwed. Rumors also are saying that the Renegade Chapters won’t all be in the new CSM book. All this says it’s totally possible to need to buy two books to play CSM again.
They Get A New Book, And Then Get Overshadowed By A Better One
They’re always just around the corner
There was a brief period in 8th where Chaos looked like they were going to be really good. They had some new books come out that buffed them. Goatboy won the North American GT with a Chaos soup list. It was good times. Then a new Space Marine Codex and a book and supplements came out and kicked Chaos to the curb…again. Chaos just couldn’t compete with the Loyalists and has been in a bad spot ever since. Now CSM look to be getting a new book later this year. But we also know it’s about time for a new Marine Codex to come out as well (every 2 years, tick tock, tick tock). Could we see a 2019 repeat where a new cool CSM Codex is blown out of the water by an even newer Marine book hot on its heels?
It’s Just Meh
All of the above options are assuming the book is good and that something happens to ruin it. But there is another option. The book could just be meh. While it could be a big rework, this doesn’t mean it will actually buff CSM power. Chaos has gotten books that actively made them worse in the past. But of course, this is 9th Edition and GW is on top of things and doesn’t put out bad Codices that they can’t fix with a simple FAQ. 
Right?
Chaos Can Get Hit By All of the Above
Hey, why limit ourselves to just one way Chaos can get screwed. Chaos is all about bringing things together and mashing them up. It’s totally possible that any combination of horrible things could happen to keep Chaos mediocre for another few years. That would certainly be good for…. I dunno, someone? But at this point even the servants of the Corpse God have got to at least want interesting fights.
The Changer of Ways
Now we have to get past Eldar and wait and see. I suggest that we all pray to Chaos gods for a good CSM Codex. Tzeentch may just answer us in 2022 with a powerhouse codex that puts Drukhari to shame! I’d put the odds at nine to… something.
Let us know how you think Chaos will fare this year, down in the comments
