Post by Paradill on Mar 4, 2013 7:29:29 GMT -5
Thought I'd do a little review of our newest hardback tome. The first will be general overview and HQ choices, because why not.
General Overview
Having read it through a couple of times now, I am extremely happy with the new codex. In line with the CSM and DA releases it is a strong, decent set of rules without being OP, cheesy or half arsed.
The Background section of the book is full of stories, battles and famous incidents as well as providing a wealth of information on the four gods of chaos and the forces they use to wage war in the warp and in real space. Throughout the book the focus is one the individual gods instead of Chaos as a whole, which strengthens the backstory and army list alike as the feuding matters.
The new daemon if alignment rules give some decent buffs to all daemons of a specific god. Daemons of Khorne get Furious charge, Hatred (daemons of Slaanesh) and chariots of Khorne Hammer of wrath at S7
Daemons of Tzeentch get Hatred (Daemons of Nurgle), get a +3 Ld modifier when casting psychic powers and re roll all saving throws of 1
Daemons of Nurgle get Shrouded, Slow and Purposeful, Hatred ( Daemons of Tzeentch) and defensive grenades as long as the unit is entirely daemons of Nurgle.
Daemons of Slaanesh get fleet, Hatred (Khorne) and rending along with some movement bonuses.
All of the above count as having the daemon special rule as well, so no word play loopholes vs grey knights I'm afraid.
The Daemonic instability rule also takes effect if a unit loses an assault, giving them a chance of either regaining all lost wounds and models or of being completely banished or of nothing happening, which isn't as dramatic. Also gives them automatic pass on all fear, pinning and morale checks.
There is also a Warp Storm Table, sort of like the Chaos Boon table but you roll at the beginning of each shooting phase. Depending on 2D6 result and which God is aiding you, you get some pretty decent buffs, some free of charge reinforcements or half your units destroyed. For example, Nurgles power "rot, glorious rot" power hurts all un engaged enemy units and all unengaged friendly units that contain least one daemon of Tzeentch.
The war gear section is pretty cool as well, you can't chose individual items (the whims of the gods do not allow such ordered armouries). In stead you get to purchase either a lesser, greater or exalted Daemonic reward. These work a bit like psychic powers, you roll on the relevant table at the beginning of the game and see what you get, if you don't like it, you are able to swap it for the '0' item, all of which are more than acceptable.
On the whole I like these basics, they add a good solid rule set and allow for the true diversity and individuality of the Four Powers to shine through. A nice blend of background and rules, something which is sadly missing in some 5th edition codecies.
HQ[U/]
This is a real treat of a section, I won't be covering special characters but I will do each god in turn. Lets start with the God who is currently in ascendance, Khorne, or as he calls himself "RRRRRAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Bloodthirsters
So as you would expect, this is your line breaker. A flying MC with Furious Charge is pretty cool in itself, but this one has WS&BS of 10' 5 wounds, 6 strength and toughness and a base 6 attacks. As well as having the standard daemon save, this guy has a 3+ armour save, which ain't to shabby.
Along with this he has an axe of Khorne and a lash of Khorne. The lash is a 12" S6 AP2 assault 1 weapon, the axe is a S6 AP 2 me lee weapon wich causes instant death on a roll of 6 to wound. At the same points cost as a Land Raider, he isn't cheap, but he hits very hard.
Lord of Change
Tzeentch gives us a greater daemon who might appear to be fairly weak in comparison, but is still formidable in his own right. A five wound flying MC with S AND T 6 is not to be sniffed at, especially when they're a level 2 Psyker. He can be taken up to level 3 for little more than a power fists worth of points and can take up to 50 points of rewards. He is definitely our magic support HQ and with access to the disciplines of Divination and Change (more on Daemon Psyker Disciplines later) he is a big boon to us and a threat only a fool would ignore.
Great Unclean One
Gurgling praise to father Nurgle, theGreatUnclean one oozes out of excrement to bring us our third greater daemon HQ choice. Toughness 7, 6 Wounds and with certain rewards he will get Feel No Pain as well. This guy is difficult to take down to say the least. As a level one Psyker with access to the Plague and Biomancy disciplines, this guy can deal just as much damage as he takes. It takes about an obliterations worth of points to upgrade him to a level 3 sorcerer and once again can take up to 50 points of rewards, in maxing this guy out, you can make an extremely dangerous, extremely hard to kill HQ choice, and at just under 200 points base, he is always worth consideration.
Keeper of Secrets
In one of my favourite bits of fluff, this one also has preferred enemy for Eldar and dark Eldar along with hating Khorne. I approve. MC with I 10' 6 attacks and S 6 means that this will chew through anything you are to put against it before it can be hit back. The cheapest of the three HQ choices it is possible to fit this into a 500 point list and still have a little wiggle room. Not much to say about it but its fast and strong and deadly. Level onepsyker base with actions to upgrade to level 2 or 3 and again, 50 points of rewards. Access to Telepathy and Despair.
HERALDS
My favourite part of the codex is the Heralds. You can take up to four of these guys per HQ slot and they can have whatever alignment you wish, allowing you up to two for each god should you so wish. Essentially each herald is a very powerful version of either a bloodletter, plague bearer, horror or daemonette, with the option to customise it to your tastes.
Each one has stats as you would expect, better WS for Khorne, T for Nurgle, Psyker preferences for Tzeentch and tits for Slaanesh. But these are the real characters that you can build your army around. Personalising them to suit your tastes and bringing them into a little personality of their own. Each is only two wounds but the ability to take up to eight of these counter acts that and they have the potential to be pretty powerful themselves, all but Khorne ones have the ability to be a Psyker up to level 2 (3for Tzeentch) and they seriously rock, especially for roughly 20 points cheaper than a Chaos Space Marine Lord.
Daemon Princes
This is where you go if you really want to make a personalised uber Killy machine, identical to the CSM version but with different options, they are a decent choice with potential to become truly powerful, but Greater Daemons do it better for a similar cost once all the extras have been added.
My favourite part is that all these units (everything in the codex actually) can depstrike and there are a lot of different ways the codex gives you to ensure that you get your units in on time with minimal (or no) scatter. 10 plaguebearers aren't that daunting until you realise that they can bring another twenty plague bearers and a great unclean one into being just six inches away.
So that's part one, part two will come when I can bearded to sit and write. C&c and questions are welcome.
General Overview
Having read it through a couple of times now, I am extremely happy with the new codex. In line with the CSM and DA releases it is a strong, decent set of rules without being OP, cheesy or half arsed.
The Background section of the book is full of stories, battles and famous incidents as well as providing a wealth of information on the four gods of chaos and the forces they use to wage war in the warp and in real space. Throughout the book the focus is one the individual gods instead of Chaos as a whole, which strengthens the backstory and army list alike as the feuding matters.
The new daemon if alignment rules give some decent buffs to all daemons of a specific god. Daemons of Khorne get Furious charge, Hatred (daemons of Slaanesh) and chariots of Khorne Hammer of wrath at S7
Daemons of Tzeentch get Hatred (Daemons of Nurgle), get a +3 Ld modifier when casting psychic powers and re roll all saving throws of 1
Daemons of Nurgle get Shrouded, Slow and Purposeful, Hatred ( Daemons of Tzeentch) and defensive grenades as long as the unit is entirely daemons of Nurgle.
Daemons of Slaanesh get fleet, Hatred (Khorne) and rending along with some movement bonuses.
All of the above count as having the daemon special rule as well, so no word play loopholes vs grey knights I'm afraid.
The Daemonic instability rule also takes effect if a unit loses an assault, giving them a chance of either regaining all lost wounds and models or of being completely banished or of nothing happening, which isn't as dramatic. Also gives them automatic pass on all fear, pinning and morale checks.
There is also a Warp Storm Table, sort of like the Chaos Boon table but you roll at the beginning of each shooting phase. Depending on 2D6 result and which God is aiding you, you get some pretty decent buffs, some free of charge reinforcements or half your units destroyed. For example, Nurgles power "rot, glorious rot" power hurts all un engaged enemy units and all unengaged friendly units that contain least one daemon of Tzeentch.
The war gear section is pretty cool as well, you can't chose individual items (the whims of the gods do not allow such ordered armouries). In stead you get to purchase either a lesser, greater or exalted Daemonic reward. These work a bit like psychic powers, you roll on the relevant table at the beginning of the game and see what you get, if you don't like it, you are able to swap it for the '0' item, all of which are more than acceptable.
On the whole I like these basics, they add a good solid rule set and allow for the true diversity and individuality of the Four Powers to shine through. A nice blend of background and rules, something which is sadly missing in some 5th edition codecies.
HQ[U/]
This is a real treat of a section, I won't be covering special characters but I will do each god in turn. Lets start with the God who is currently in ascendance, Khorne, or as he calls himself "RRRRRAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Bloodthirsters
So as you would expect, this is your line breaker. A flying MC with Furious Charge is pretty cool in itself, but this one has WS&BS of 10' 5 wounds, 6 strength and toughness and a base 6 attacks. As well as having the standard daemon save, this guy has a 3+ armour save, which ain't to shabby.
Along with this he has an axe of Khorne and a lash of Khorne. The lash is a 12" S6 AP2 assault 1 weapon, the axe is a S6 AP 2 me lee weapon wich causes instant death on a roll of 6 to wound. At the same points cost as a Land Raider, he isn't cheap, but he hits very hard.
Lord of Change
Tzeentch gives us a greater daemon who might appear to be fairly weak in comparison, but is still formidable in his own right. A five wound flying MC with S AND T 6 is not to be sniffed at, especially when they're a level 2 Psyker. He can be taken up to level 3 for little more than a power fists worth of points and can take up to 50 points of rewards. He is definitely our magic support HQ and with access to the disciplines of Divination and Change (more on Daemon Psyker Disciplines later) he is a big boon to us and a threat only a fool would ignore.
Great Unclean One
Gurgling praise to father Nurgle, theGreatUnclean one oozes out of excrement to bring us our third greater daemon HQ choice. Toughness 7, 6 Wounds and with certain rewards he will get Feel No Pain as well. This guy is difficult to take down to say the least. As a level one Psyker with access to the Plague and Biomancy disciplines, this guy can deal just as much damage as he takes. It takes about an obliterations worth of points to upgrade him to a level 3 sorcerer and once again can take up to 50 points of rewards, in maxing this guy out, you can make an extremely dangerous, extremely hard to kill HQ choice, and at just under 200 points base, he is always worth consideration.
Keeper of Secrets
In one of my favourite bits of fluff, this one also has preferred enemy for Eldar and dark Eldar along with hating Khorne. I approve. MC with I 10' 6 attacks and S 6 means that this will chew through anything you are to put against it before it can be hit back. The cheapest of the three HQ choices it is possible to fit this into a 500 point list and still have a little wiggle room. Not much to say about it but its fast and strong and deadly. Level onepsyker base with actions to upgrade to level 2 or 3 and again, 50 points of rewards. Access to Telepathy and Despair.
HERALDS
My favourite part of the codex is the Heralds. You can take up to four of these guys per HQ slot and they can have whatever alignment you wish, allowing you up to two for each god should you so wish. Essentially each herald is a very powerful version of either a bloodletter, plague bearer, horror or daemonette, with the option to customise it to your tastes.
Each one has stats as you would expect, better WS for Khorne, T for Nurgle, Psyker preferences for Tzeentch and tits for Slaanesh. But these are the real characters that you can build your army around. Personalising them to suit your tastes and bringing them into a little personality of their own. Each is only two wounds but the ability to take up to eight of these counter acts that and they have the potential to be pretty powerful themselves, all but Khorne ones have the ability to be a Psyker up to level 2 (3for Tzeentch) and they seriously rock, especially for roughly 20 points cheaper than a Chaos Space Marine Lord.
Daemon Princes
This is where you go if you really want to make a personalised uber Killy machine, identical to the CSM version but with different options, they are a decent choice with potential to become truly powerful, but Greater Daemons do it better for a similar cost once all the extras have been added.
My favourite part is that all these units (everything in the codex actually) can depstrike and there are a lot of different ways the codex gives you to ensure that you get your units in on time with minimal (or no) scatter. 10 plaguebearers aren't that daunting until you realise that they can bring another twenty plague bearers and a great unclean one into being just six inches away.
So that's part one, part two will come when I can bearded to sit and write. C&c and questions are welcome.
