Overview: Index: Chaos
Want to delve deep into the secrets of chaos? Come take a look inside the new Index: Chaos!
We’re continuing our coverage of 8th with our next look into the Index books. We’ve already looked inside the Starter Box, the new Rulebook, and Index: Imperium I & II. Now it’s time for some Chaos!
Index: Chaos is a 128 page soft cover book that contains 113 data sheets spread over the 3 factions of Chaos: Heretic Astartes (aka Chaos Space Marines), Chaos Daemons (formerly known as …Chaos Daemons), and Questor Traitoris (aka Traitor/Renegade Knights). Within those three umbrella groups you also have the “sub-factions” like Death Guard, Khorne Daemons, Thousand Sons, etc. It’s a complete book in terms of rules, wargear, abilities, and points.
Basically if you own any “flavor” of Chaos then this is the book you’re going to want to pick up and read so you can play 40k 8th. The layout is pretty much the same as the previous Indexes as well. You’ll get a short lore section for the general faction (like a CSM section) and then you’ll get the datasheets for that faction. Within those, you’ll also get a your special rules, too. On top of that, each of the “big four” traitor legions also has a short background bit, and their special characters and unique unit. For example, for the World Eaters you’ll get rules for Kharn and the Khorne Berzerkers in their section.
The Chaos Daemons follow the same pattern and the Chaos Knights are really just a one-pager with a ton of options. The good news is that every model in the current Chaos line is supported in this book (well if they were from GW – Forge World has their own thing going on). There is also as section for Chaos Bastions which was a nice little bonus at the end.
I don’t really want to get into the rules for all the different Chaos units – that could be an entire series of articles. While this book is pretty light on the lore aspects, it CRAMS the rules in the book, so while it’s “only” 128 pages it feels a lot more dense when you read it. Again, with the datasheet format, each unit has a chunk of rules to read and process for you. And with the “generic” Chaos Marines plus the “big 4” traitors, plus the 4 Chaos God’s Daemons and their special characters…well you get the idea. It’s a LOT to go over.
One thing I do want to address is summoning, specifically Daemon summoning. Yes, it’s in the game. No, it’s not the same as 7th. When playing Matched Play with points, you DO have to set aside points for your summoned units. They function similar to “deepstrike” now (not exactly but we will cover that at a later date). However, if you’re playing with Power Levels or in an Open/Narrative format – they don’t require those points to be set aside. As far as I can tell, they are the only army in the game that has that big of a shift from Matched to Narrative/Open play. For Matched play, I think that it’s a good balancing moving. However, Daemons can be a tad overwhelming if you let the summoning train go off the rails in Narrative/Open play. So keep that in mind when you’re list building for the type of game you’re wanting.
Overall, if you haven’t guessed, this book is a must-buy for any Chaos players out there. For $25, it’s totally worth it. I said this in a previous article, but it’s worth repeating: This book is most likely a stop-gap until the “full” codex comes out for each faction. It’s light on the lore, art and “character” we’ve all come to expect from codexes produced by GW. That said, it is VERY rules heavy – which the point of these Indexes. They are designed to get you up and playing 8th with your current army from day 1. That was a pretty ambitious goal but I think GW has done a great job getting that accomplished. I guess we’ll have to wait to see what the community thinks on June 17th!
Index: Chaos $25
One of five books covering the range of Citadel miniatures used to play games of Warhammer 40,000, Index: Chaos is an essential purchase for those wanting to play games of Warhammer 40,000, packed with updated rules and complete points values for Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Daemons and Renegade Knights armies.
It includes 113 datasheets spread across those armies, with an overview of each. Updated abilities, psychic powers, wargear, weapon profiles and points values allow you to field your collection in games of Warhammer 40,000. There’s also a blank army roster and detachment roster, which you are free to photocopy and use when building a Battle-forged army in Matched Play games.
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