Chaos: How Teurtullian Got His Groove Back

After over a year and a half break in 40k, jumping back with my fellow Judges to kick ass and chew bubblegum has wrenched me out of my non-40k stupor. Naturally, after playing Chaos since the beginning of third edition until I quit almost two years ago, I'm inclined to raze some planets in the name of the ruinous powers. In review of the chaos codex, I've found that this lust is well sated with a handful of terrible evils that seem to be both a mix of 3rd edition's standardization and 3.5's fluid character customization. Come along with me as I raise forth the banner of terror for the Mysterium, a renegade chapter of Space Marines who act as fell watchmen for a fortress world along the Eye of Terror's periphery.

Here's my immediate reactions to the Chaos Codex as a whole:

• It's Cheaper When You're a Thief
  Chaos space marines have some of the most points-efficient units I've seen in Warhammer 40k. Currently, trait-marines and regular space marines aren't granted the luxury of hot-swappable bolt pistol, close combat weapon, and bolter kits. Chaos, much like the current Dark Angels or Blood Angels, has these options. In addition to this, your standard Chaos Space Marine squad can take an icon in worship of the Chaos powers. This icon conveys the effective benefits of the mark to that squad, often for far cheaper than the previous analog in the revised 3rd edition codex. In addition to this, this icon allows you to demon bomb ala 3rd edition word bearers, with the caveat that lesser daemons are nowhere near as terrifying as full-on Bloodletters (more on this later).
  
  
• Substituting One Evil for Another
  Curbing the absurdity that revised brought to the Chaos Codex, standard HQ choices have been toned down substantially in this reprinting. Daemon Princes can no longer wield daemon weapons, and all heroes cannot select veteran skills and "daemon traits" (which no longer even exist now). In contrast, daemon weapons have become extremely more powerful, as mastery no longer exists. Sure, a 1/6 chance per-charge to suffer an armor-ignoring wound is scarier, but not taking a Perils of the Warp attack rocks my socks. Particularly, because now every Chaos HQ has an invulnerable save of at least 5+. The reduction in strength (awww, no more entering my opponent's deployment zone 1st turn through basic movement?) is met with an equal reduction in price: non-special characters are usually around 150-180 points depending on configuration, allowing you to specialize in your army.
  
  
• Play Nice Now, Children
  Chaos army selection is no longer limited by mark. Tzeentch and Nurgle units can run and skip together with glee. This allows you some extremely fierce combinations of units, allowing verbatim Black Legion to shine.
  

With these in mind, I'm attempting to create a Chaos force that suits my play style. I love mobile, percision armies, and the options the new codex gives me are stupendous.

HQ:
Until recently, this has been the hardest choice for my army. Naturally, Abaddon the Despoiler is always an option. At 275 points, he beckons you to use this anti-tank, anti-infantry, anti-everything monster with a cheap 90 point 3-man terminator squad for terrible terrible things. However, as I'm first designing a 1750 point list, 275 is a lot to ask. I'm sticking true to my roots here, and using a Daemon Prince.

As you'll read in the upcoming Adepticon reports, the Lash Daemon Prince is definitely Chaos' flavor of the month (next month's is Rocky Road). People all over Warseer have brought up just how terrifying having a powerful Monstrous Creature with an anytime "Word in your Ear" psychic power is for the last two months. Doing everything from killing bike squads with forced dangerous terrain checks to dragging units into close combat range is scary, scary stuff. For me, my Slanneshi Daemon Prince also serves the purpose of target acquisition for my shootylicious army. With 2 Vindicators, 2 Rhino-mounted 1k Sons squads, and a Missile Launcher-filled Havoc Squad, his tugs will lead to some very scary death. Hopefully.

Troops:
Troops rightfully serve as the core of my army. Using a trick out of the Space Marine codex' toolshed, I've opted to save points on a heavy anti-tank Las-Cannon havoc squad by kitting my 10-man tac squads to wield the weapon whose pronunciation is the most hotly contested in Warhammer 40k. Noting the strength of the hidden powerfist, each tac squad comes replete with an aspiring champion with p.f. If the best case scenario comes to pass, you're taking down an enemy vehicle or character model by sneaking from your squad and instant killing/destroying them at strength 8. Worst case, you'll make your enemy's close combat victory a pyrrhic one. Also, the squad packs Plasma Rifles, to trim out intermediate-range enemy heavy infantry/light vehicles. The Icon of Glory is cheap as hell at 10 points, giving the squad Mark Undivided. Sure, I'm effectively paying an extra 10 points over their old points cost. But with the ability to hot-swap for 2 CC attacks at whim is well worth it.

Testing out my 2-man Thousand Sons squad configuration's been very rewarding. 2 squads of 9 rubric marines and 1 sorcerer ride in two Rhinos. Each sorcerer carries Doom Bolt, effectively adding on another 2 18" inferno shots to the already prevalent 18-shot (on Rapid Fire) storm of STR 4, AP3. Pulling up next to a squad, dropping out of a fire point 2" away, and blasting away can ruin a space marine squad. The sons can also pack Personal Icons, allowing you to Daemon-Bomb a squad of Lesser Daemons while inside their Rhino to clinch an immediate combat. Unfortunately, given the vulnerability these armorless guys have, it's less of a terrifying threat and more of a clutch maneuver for the squad. Still, some fun can be had by using some old Word Bearer tricks. Packing combi-meltas on my rhinos add a sleeper hit when I pile out. Because people often ignore Rhinos, you can clinch a side or rear-arc shot on heavy armor with some misdirection and strategic chicanery. Aurelius's Rhino Tactica here is also an invaluable aid to my strategy, and learning how he uses these things for great justice gets me so much utility out of these now cheaper workhorses

Heavy Support
Damn it feels good to be a Chaos army with Vindicators. With these puppies now legal for all flavors of Chaos, you can mix things up to have all sorts of madness. Using Lash allows you to pull enemy units into intermediate 24" range for your demolisher cannons, and melt faces with blasts of siege-weapon awesomeness. If anything's left, I'll have my prince waltz on in and polish things off. The scatter risk to the prince is negligible with proper factoring for the scatter effects. With luck, you might not even have to move your tanks.

In the older codex, a squad of havocs with tank hunters and auto-cannons ripped the shit out of nearly anything for a reasonable points cost. Now, veteran skills are the way of the dodo. But non-las-cannon havocs are still mighty. I pack a squad with 4 missile launchers at 1750, allowing me to trim heavy infantry and still tank hunt to reasonable levels of threat.

In total, I feel that the Chaos Codex has allowed me to create a more well-rounded force that capitalizes off of specialty. This seems to be the contrast to 3rd edition's specialized armies, and shall prove interesting as more Chaos commanders take the field in 5th edition and beyond.

Death to the False Emperor, skulls for the skull throne, and long live Windows Vista: the profane nature of Chaos is just too good to pass up for this returning 40k player.