Warhammer 40K: Chaos Daemons Codex Hands On First Impressions
We’ve got our hands on the Chaos Daemons Codex and while it’s got a TON of buffs it still feels like something’s missing.
The new Chaos Daemons codex is out and our very own Goatboy sat down to share his heretical thoughts about the book.
Chaos Daemons Codex First Impressions
When we sat down and chatted with Goatboy about the new Codex: Chaos Daemons one theme really came out: It’s a mixed bag. On one hand the dataslates in the book got a TON of buffs. Most daemons are stronger, tougher, faster, have better saves, hit harder, or have some combo of those improvements. The big daemons are better. Be’lakor is going to be a PROBLEM. And there are some really good changes to how the army works.
On the other hand it feels like the army itself lost some of things that made it cohesive — especially for mono-god builds. Now, maybe that’s just Goatboy’s opinion on the matter and things will shift once he gets some more games with it. But I can see where he’s coming from. There are some big changes from the previous version that really impact how the army plays vs how it used to play.
And I think that’s really the gist of it. If you used to play daemons you’ve lost summoning. Nurgle lost Disgusting Resilience. Slaanesh can’t run and assault. It’s the stuff like that you’ll notice. But you’re going to start from a higher floor that the previous version with the units. And there’s a ton of good changes, too. Like the fact that there’s Warp Storm effects to use. Or the Exalted Abilities aren’t CP any more — you just buy them with points!
Again, there’s lots of changes in the book that are positives. But if you’re still holding on to the old ways it’s going to be a tad painful for you. This new codex might not completely re-write the old book but there are significant changes. The troops in particular really got reworked. Check those numbers for squad sizes because it’s gonna be funky adjusting to the caps.
Flamers of Tzeentch are probably the most improved unit in the book (aside from Be’lakor who’s a little bonkers). They generate a ton of shots now and have the range to make their targets really pay. And considering just about every unit can deepstrike now…yeah. Get ready for some massive Tzeentch Flamer bombs.
I think the biggest question Goatboy has for this book is “where’d the Undivided stuff go?” Things like Furies are no longer a thing in this codex. It also feels like there’s an entire Chaos Undivided stratagems page missing. And there’s not a way to take multiple warlord traits which is odd. Again, it feels like comparing this book to the old book there’s some stuff that just got left out. But there are big buffs at the same time. It’s a real mixed bag!
The Chaos Daemons Codex is going to shake up their lists. The army isn’t designed the same way as it was before so there is going to be an adjustment period for sure. It’s also strangely more elite than before. You can really put together some big Monster Mash type lists — but the troop changes mean you’re going to be giving up some secondaries pretty easy. That said, there are going to be some hyper aggro lists that are going to smash things to bits as long as you get lucky with your 4+ saves. It’s going to happen. But there will then be games where their dice go cold and they are going to evaporate off the tabletop. Welcome to a game with dice.
The new book is out for pre-order this weekend. Get ready for the new Chaos Daemons!
