Holy Blastmasters Lucius! New CSM FAQ

For those of you that haven't seen it, here's the recently updated Chaos Space Marines FAQ.

Now what's the main thing I got from this?

Page 99 – Noise Marines, Options.
Change the third bullet point to “One Noise Marine may
replace his boltgun with a blastmaster at 30 pts/model. If the
squad numbers ten or more models, an additional Noise
Marine may replace his boltgun with a blastmaster at 30
pts/model..”

I most certainly do

Oh dear lord yes! So now for every Noise Marine squad I can fire two S8 AP3 Ignores Cover blasts? I'm so very pleased.

Looks like I'll have to rewrite my CSM list though.

And there's also this:

Page 99 – Noise Marines, Wargear.
Add “Close combat weapon (Champion Only)”

Which is pretty cool, but I don't care too much about that one.

They also fixed the Zombies unit size, which is nice.

The rest is pretty obvious really. Nothing you shouldn't be able to figure out without a little common sense.

Thoughts? Comments?

Heldrake: Baleflamer or Hades Autocannon?

Well, as promised, I think it's time to help out those of you stuck on what to take on your Heldrakes, and why!

I didn't know Baleflamers could hurt Flyers!

Take the Baleflamer.
Why?

Alright, let's get into it.

The Hades Autocannon is undeniably a decent gun with 4 shots at S8, and having it on a Heldrake means you can fire it at enemy Flyers. 12 being the usual maximum AV for Flyers, S8 is pretty darn decent. So why not take the Hades Autocannon? Well, honestly, it's just so damn mediocre on a Heldrake. At BS3, you'll hit 2 shots and against AV12 you'll get one glance/pen. Sure, combined with his Vector Strike you have a reasonable chance at taking down an enemy Flyer, but at 170 points you'd be wanting something better than a reasonable chance.

And the same applies to standard vehicles. You have an OK chance to take out a vehicle over a turn or two.

Then when it comes to firing at enemy infantry, you lack both the volume of fire to hurt hordes and the AP to hurt Marines.

So really taking the Hades Autocannon makes your Heldrake pretty mediocre at just about everything.

The Baleflamer on the other hand is just ridiculous. A S6 AP3 Template that you can place 12" away from the model firing it? Yes please!

Unlike the Hades Autocannon, the Baleflamer has both the capability to hit huge numbers of dudes as well as the AP to deal with Marines and any other 3+ save guys. On top of that, it's wounding them all on 2+. Then take into account that it also ignores cover saves and it's just an incredible weapon.

Need an objective cleared last turn? No problem, just go into Skimmer mode, get as close as you need and Baleflamer those dudes away for the win. Opponent running a horde of Power Armour? Baleflamer fixes that. Are they running a horde of anything at all? Same thing goes. It's also great at clearing heavy weapon teams. Really, it's great at removing any infantry T5 or less that doesn't have a 2+ save, and that's most things you'll be facing.

Then, if you really do need to remove that last Hull Point, you can always Vector Strike, just as a last resort thing.

If you're running 3 Heldrakes, I might consider giving one of them a Hades Autocannon then, but for 1-2 they should all have a Baleflamer.

If you want to remove enemy Flyers, get some Havocs or maybe even give a Forgefiend a spin. There are plenty of better options for it than the Heldrake.

Daemon Prince: Why They're Not Broken

It is the belief of a very special few that the Daemon Prince's Daemon of X special rule is broken because it says "Daemons of X have...". I'm going to explain why it's not broken.

I guess this guy is a little broken, isn't he?

First of all, let's try to understand why some people think the rule is broken.

I'll use the Daemon of Nurgle special rule as an example. Because the Daemon of Nurgle special rule says that "Daemons of Nurgle have..." then some people take it to mean that any Daemon of Nurgle in the same army as a Daemon Prince with the Daemon of Nurgle rule instantly gain all bonuses that the Daemon Prince receives.

So what does this mean within our own Codex? Well, according to these people, if you give a unit a Mark of Nurgle, it then becomes "of Nurgle", and if it has the Daemon special rule it is therefore a "Daemon of Nurgle" and is as a result effected by the Daemon Prince's special rule. Warp Talons with Shrouded, anyone?

Because of a 15 point mandatory upgrade you now have one of the most broken armies in the game, right?

Wrong.

Why this is wrong is pretty simple really. The "Daemon" Universal Special Rule and the "Mark of Nurgle" are two completely seperate entities. It does not say anywhere, on any page ever that a model with a Mark of X and the Daemon special rule becomes a Daemon of X.

That's that.

But why does the entry say "Daemons of Nurgle have..."? Because Daemon Princes are not a one-per-army unit. You can have multiple Daemon Princes in your army, and thus all the Daemon Princes with the "Daemon of Nurgle" special rule are "Daemons of Nurgle".

What about Codex: Chaos Daemons though? To be completely honest with you, I have nothing on that one. It is indeed very possible to argue that all Nurgle Daemons from Codex: Chaos Daemons gain the rules for being a Daemon of Nurgle, and whether this was intended or not only time will be able to tell. Unless I missed something, of course.

Basically: Daemon of X does not do anything for any unit from C:CSM but it might be a little broken when combined with units from C:CD.

Thoughts? Comments? Proofs?

Daemon Prince: Which God?

I kind of enjoyed writing about the Marks and Icons, so I thought I'd do a similar thing with the Daemon of X that is mandatory on your Daemon Prince.

Dem abs

I'm not going to bother mentioning the Hatred (Y) beyond now because it doesn't seem necessary. It's not what you should be focussing on when deciding which upgrade to take.

Daemon of Khorne
Furious Charge and that's it. Really? In all honesty I feel a bit more effort could have been put into this one, and as is it's pretty useless. S6 is the magic number. At S6 you wound T4 (the majority of opponents you face) on a 2+ and you can cause Instant Death on T3 (the second most common Toughness value - taking popularity of Marine armies into account) opponents.

But what do you gain from becoming S7 instead of 6? Very little, really. You can penetrate the armour of vehicles slightly easier, which is kinda pointless seeing as you can just use your Smash attacks anyway for S10 and rerolls for penetration, and you can wound T5 opponents on a 2+ for a single round of combat, but how common are they?

Not common enough to take this upgrade over any of the others, especially with it being the cost it is.

Daemon of Tzeentch
Combined with Power Armour and Wings this is a very nice option. Slap on a Burning Brand of Skalathrax and you never have to stop Flying either.

Definitely an awesome upgrade when you consider that most anti-air is AP4, so you've got an extremely small chance of actually taking a wound.

Nice if you want to just keep on Flying around with the Burning Brand, or even if you decide to beat face with the Black Mace.

Daemon of Nurgle
Considering that Wings are essentially a must-have on Daemon Princes (you do want to actually get close to the enemy, right?) the only real downside to this option is that you'd have to make use of terrain constantly to really benefit from it at all. If you can manage that, however, it is slightly better than the Mark of Tzeentch when outside of combat. When in combat though, the Mark of Tzeentch is better.

I'd be giving this Prince some Wings, Burning Brand and nothing else. You don't want to rely on your armour save because there's really no point if you can use the terrain and you don't want to be in combat either because you have absolutely no benefits there.

A decent upgrade, but considering its fairly restrictive nature in actually benefiting from it, I don't know if I'd bother over Daemon of Tzeentch.

Daemon of Slaanesh
Rending is absolutely useless because you benefit from it in neither combat against infantry or vehicles. An extra 3" on your run is pointless because you're always Flying. Pointless. Even the Daemon of Khorne upgrade is more useful.

Conclusion
The Daemon of Tzeentch is really the only one that's very good, while the Daemon of Nurgle upgrade is pretty good but not great. Daemon of Khorne is something I'd only take if I were running a fluff-based Khorne army, but even then I'd probably just take Kharn. The Daemon of Slaanesh upgrade shouldn't be touched by a 10" pole, unfortunately. Slaanesh is my favourite god too :sadface:

A brief summary of the order:

1. Daemon of Tzeentch (OP)
2. Daemon of Nurgle
3. Daemon of Khorne
4. Daemon of Slaanesh

And just as a last note, the Black Mace is OP on a Daemon Prince. My favourite kit is Daemon of Tzeentch, Wings, Power Armour, Black Mace, Burning Brand of Skalathrax (if you have points).

Thoughts? Comments?

The Role of Each Mark of Chaos

Deciding which Mark to give to your units of Chaos Space Marines and other otherwise Undivided units can be one of the hardest decisions to make when writing a list for your Chaos Space Marines (unless you're going for a specific god), so to make that job a little easier, it's probably wise to have a good idea of the role of each Mark, and which units they work best on.

For simplicity, I put the Marks into three categories: Offensive, Defensive and Both.

Offensive Marks

 

Mark of Khorne

He's just so... Khorney!

This one is pretty obvious in its use: put it on a unit and they'll massacre in combat. This is the only offensive mark we have, i.e. the only mark that is designed purely to cause more casualties but will not prevent you from taking casualties in return.

The kinds of units you want this on are units that will be throwing their weight around in combat. The other important thing, however, is that you want to consider whether or not the unit is tough enough to actually punch enough things for them to do their job, or if they're cheap enough for you to not worry about their survivability anyway, as long as they do enough. 

Units like Chaos Space Marines and Cultists with close combat weapons, and maybe Raptors are perfect examples of cheap units that can go punch-for-punch with some more elite units given a Mark of Khorne, while Mutilators and Terminators are some of the more expensive but tougher units. I wouldn't take the Mark of Khorne on Warp Talons personally because it just seems like far too much overkill.

It should go without saying really, but anything that should be shooting is not worth giving a Mark of Khorne, this includes anything with Plasma Guns. If you give a Mark of Khorne to a unit of Chaos Space Marines, make sure they get Meltaguns/Flamers. Rapid Fire weapons are wasted points here.

Defensive Marks

Mark of Nurgle

Disgusting!

Another pretty obvious one (in fact, I think they all are really), and a very popular Mark as well. There's really nothing the Mark of Nurgle isn't good on.

I think the main thing really is: when do you take the Mark of Nurgle, and when Tzeentch?

Well, the Mark of Nurgle doesn't improve your save or give you a better chance at stopping your guy from dying after the wound has been caused, instead it simply reduces the number of wounds taken altogether.

In general, the Mark of Nurgle helps against anything that's S6 (S7 if on Bikers or Spawn) or worse by simply lowering the number of saves you have to take. This means that your models with a Mark of Nurgle will generally be very resilient when it comes to walking through a hail of Bolter fire or weathering an Explodes! result from a vehicle.

But what does it not provide defence against? Well, simply put, things like Plasma Guns, i.e. anything with a high enough strength to wound you on a 2+ anyway, which will often ignore your saves as well. In situations like this, the Mark of Nurgle becomes completely worthless.

Fortunately most guns are not Plasma Guns, but unfortunately Plasma Guns will be the bane of your existence.

The kinds of units that benefit the most from the Mark of Nurgle are Bikers and Spawn thanks to their already bloated toughness, which actually means that even Plasma Guns will only be wounding on 3's. Chaos Space Marines, Raptors or anything else without a pre-existing Invulnerable Save also benefit from the Mark of Nurgle far more than they do from the Mark of Tzeentch.

Mark of Tzeentch

Needs more change to be more competitive

The Mark of Tzeentch protects you against all the things Mark of Nurgle doesn't, but won't help you at all against the things that the Mark of Nurgle does, so this puts a player into quite the sticky situation... Who do I take which Mark on? When?

Well, first of all the Mark of Tzeentch really is pretty pants on a unit that doesn't already have an Invulnerable save, because a 6++ is just really not worth the points. So that leaves us with the likes of Terminators, Warp Talons, Obliterators, Mutilators and Possessed.

Whether you take Mark of Tzeentch on these units or not depends on a few things:

• Do you want to avoid terrain so you can move faster/avoid Dangerous Terrain?
• Is there little 4+ cover terrain pieces in the area you play?
• Do you need a unit to escort a MoT Lord/Sorcerer?
• Do people in your area spam Plasma/other AP2 weapons?

 If the answer is "yes" to any of the above, then the Mark of Tzeentch could be worth considering. If it's "yes" to 3-4 of them, then I'd definitely be taking it on some Terminators (if you run any Terminators).

So the Mark of Tzeentch is a bit more specialised and a far less safe option than a Mark of Nurgle, but it does have its perks in certain places and is definitely worth considering.

Both

Mark of Slaanesh

"Both" doesn't just apply to Mark uses here...

The Mark of Slaanesh is, in my opinion, the best Mark overall in the book. The Icon of Excess does play a role in this, but we'll get to Icons in just a moment.

With a +1 Initiative bonus, the Mark of Slaanesh applies only to combat, but is still something worth considering on certain shooty units as well for the Initiative alone.

To understand how +1 Initiative is a fairly potent offensive tool, we must first work out how it's good defensively.

In essence, the Mark of Slaanesh prevents you from taking casualties in the same way the Mark of Nurgle does: by reducing the number of saves you actually have to take. It does this by allowing you to strike before most opponents, which allows you to kill a couple of models in combat before those models even have a chance to strike which therefore means that there are less attacks coming back at you, less attacks hitting, less attacks wounding, less saves you have to take and ultimately less casualties caused to your unit.

But here's where it gets good...

Unlike the Mark of Nurgle which has absolutely no benefits in combat against something like a Dreadnought, the Mark of Slaanesh allows you to hit it with a whole bunch of Krak Grenades before it can hit you, which means that you can potentially knock off the last of its Hull Points before it turns your unit to mush with its S10 AP2 attacks.

So how does it work offensively?

Well, it's mostly in the way it allows you to play your models: more aggresively. Normally your standard CSM wouldn't be able to take on certain units in combat, but because of their improved Initiative they can plow right into the enemy because of the significantly reduced fear of taking too any casualties and losing combat. Furthermore, the unit can only really be defensive if they have some offensive hitting power, otehrwise everything just goes downhill.

But it's also a great offensive stat against the likes of Eldar and Dark Eldar who might otherwise use their Initiative in the same way you'd use yours: to cause casualties before the enemy can strike and thus take less in return. By having a Mark of Slaanesh you now have an offensive bonus against their Initiative 5 units in that you remove their defensive bonus from Initiative, ultimately leaving them with almost no defense and allowing you to strike with all of your force.

The only real downfall of the Mark of Slaanesh is that it only works in combat, but then again, combat is ultimately inevitable in some situations.

Units that work well with a Mark of Slaanesh are any combat-oriented unit, as well as any short-ranged shooting unit (Chaos Space Marines with Plasma Guns for example) because they're generally operating in a 12" distance from the enemy and will likely get charged.

The important thing to remember is that the more damage your unit can cause in close combat, the better it will be defensively as well. Maximise the damage you do, minimise the damage you take.

With that out of the way, it's time for...

...

*drumroll*

...

Icons

Icon of Wrath (Mark of Khorne)

Gives you Furious Charge and rerolls to your charge range. Absolutely fantastic in my opinion. It really just makes the unit better at its role, no more need be said.

Icon of Despair (Mark of Nurgle)

This is probably the worst Icon of the lot. It's cheap, sure, but with the amount of Fearless/ATSKNF/Leadership 10 around it'll hardly have much of an effect ever. However, when and if it does work, it will be brutal to the unit on the receiving end, so it's not too bad if you have a spare few points lying around.

Icon of Flame (Mark of Tzeentch)

A reasonable Icon for a shooty unit and I've seen some people take Mark of Tzeentch just for the Soul Blaze, but I don't think it's that great. It has a place on a unit of shooty Terminators or some Obliterators, but otherwise won't see much play because most of the units it'd be good on aren't that great with a Mark of Tzeentch in the first place.

Icon of Excess (Mark of Slaanesh)

Throw this on the unit and suddenly you've got one of the best defensive kits in our book, beaten out only by Plague Marines themselves. Suddenly your units can whether a storm from a distance and beat face in combat. The best Icon in the codex. 

Thoughts? Comments?

Noise Marines vs Thousand Sons

Yet another topic that's debated (arguably less than previous topics, I will admit) is whether Noise Marines or Thousand Sons are superior as a purely shooty troops choice. So let's get into it!

Trigonometric!

Here are the unit builds:
10 Noise Marines - 8 Sonic Blasters, Blastmaster, Icon of Excess - 264pts.
10 Thousand Sons - 265pts.

With only a one point difference, you'd better hope that they're equally worth taking...

First of all, note that I will always assume the Noise Marines are 13"-24" away and that they haven't moved. The Thousand Sons are within 24". Blastmaster, Tzeentch's Firestorm and Doombolt will all be given 3 hits.

Furthermore, Cover is irrelevant against Noise Marines but will be taken into account against the Thousand Sons.

Let's see how they do against some:

MEq

Wounds caused by Psychic Powers
Tzeentch's Firestorm: 3 hits, S5 on average (benefit of the doubt), 2 wounds, 0.666... dead. If that model dies average 2 S3 AP- hits on the unit, 0.666... wounds, 0.222... dead for a total of 0.888... dead if the first hits caused a casualty.

Doombolt: 3 hits, 2.5 wounds, 2.5 dead if no cover, 1.666... if in 5+ cover and 1.25 dead if in 4+ cover.

Noise Marines
25 S4 shots, 16.666... hits, 8.333... wounds, 2.777... unsaved wounds. Blastmaster gets 3 hits, 2.5 wounds, 2.5 dead Marines for a total of 5.2777... dead.

Thousand Sons
Out of cover:
Outside of Rapid Fire range:  9 S4 shots, 6 hits, 3 wounds. 3.666... to 3.888... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 5.5 with Doombolt.

Inside Rapid-fire range: 18 S4 shots, 12 hits, 6 wounds. 6.666... to 6.888... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 8.5 with Doombolt.

In 5+ cover:
Outside of Rapid Fire range: 9 S4 shots, 6 hits, 3 wounds, 2 unsaved wounds. 2.666... to 2.888... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 3.666... dead with Doombolt.

Inside Rapid Fire range: 18 S4 shots, 12 hits, 6 wounds, 4 unsaved wounds. 4.666... to 4.888... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 5.666... dead with Doombolt.

In 4+ cover:
Outside of Rapid Fire range: 9 S4 shots, 6 hits, 3 wounds, 1.5 unsaved wounds. 2.1666... to 2.3888... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 2.75 dead with Doombolt.

Inside Rapid Fire range: 18 S4 shots, 12 hits, 6 wounds, 3 unsaved wounds. 3.666... to 3.888... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 4.25 dead with Doombolt.

So against MEq I've got to say that the Noise Marines are the better option because, let's face it, no opponent in their right mind is going to leave a squad out in the open for you unit of AP3 Bolter wielding dudes to shoot, so we can pretty much ignore that part of the math, and as soon as the enemy enters even the slightest bit of cover the Noise Marines instantly win out through raw fire power.

It looks like it's just downhill for the Thousand Sons from here, but let's just see how bad it gets...

TEq
Wounds caused by Psychic Powers
Tzeentch's Firestorm: 3 hits, S5 on average (benefit of the doubt), 2 wounds, 0.333... dead. If that model dies average 2 S3 AP- hits on the unit, 0.666... wounds, 0.111... dead for a total of 0.444... dead if the first hits caused a casualty.


Doombolt: 3 hits, 2.5 wounds, 1.666... dead with no cover or 5+ cover and 1.25 dead if in 4+ cover, 0.8333... dead if they have a Storm Shield.

Noise Marines
25 S4 shots, 16.666... hits, 8.333... wounds, 1.3888... unsaved wounds. Blastmaster gets 3 hits, 2.5 wounds, 0.41666... unsaved wounds for a total of 1.80555... dead.

Thousand Sons
Out of cover:

Outside of Rapid Fire range:  9 S4 shots, 6 hits, 3 wounds, 0.5 unsaved wounds. 0.8333... to 0.9444... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 2.1666..., 1.75 or 1.333... dead with Doombolt.

Inside Rapid-fire range: 18 S4 shots, 12 hits, 6 wounds, 1 unsaved wound. 1.333... to 1.444... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 2.666..., 2.25 or 1.8333... with Doombolt.

QEq
Wounds caused by Psychic Powers
Tzeentch's Firestorm: 3 hits, S5 on average (benefit of the doubt), 2.5 wounds, 1.666... dead. If 1 model dies average 2 S3 AP- hits on the unit, 1 wound, 0.666... dead for a total of 2.333... dead if the first hits caused a casualty. If 2 models died, average 4 S3 AP- hits, 2 wounds, 1.222... dead for a total of 3.888... if the first hits caused 2 wounds.


Doombolt: 3 hits, 2.5 dead if no cover, 1.666... if in 5+ cover and 1.25 dead if in 4+ cover.

Noise Marines
25 S4 shots, 16.666... hits, 11.111... dead. Blastmaster gets 3 hits, 2.5 wounds, 2.5 dead for a total of 13.6111... dead.

Thousand Sons
Out of cover:

Outside of Rapid Fire range:  9 S4 shots, 6 hits, 4 wounds. 5.666..., 6.333... or 7.888... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 6.5 with Doombolt.

Inside Rapid-fire range: 18 S4 shots, 12 hits, 8 wounds. 9.666..., 10.333... or 11.888... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 10.5 with Doombolt.


In 5+ cover:
Outside of Rapid Fire range: 9 S4 shots, 6 hits, 4 wounds, 2.666... unsaved wounds. 4.333..., 5 or 6.555... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 4.333... dead with Doombolt.

Inside Rapid Fire range: 18 S4 shots, 12 hits, 8 wounds, 5.333... unsaved wounds. 7, 7.666... or 9.222... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 7 dead with Doombolt.


In 4+ cover:
Outside of Rapid Fire range: 9 S4 shots, 6 hits, 4 wounds, 2 unsaved wounds. 3.666..., 4.333 or 5.888... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 3.25 dead with Doombolt.


Inside Rapid Fire range: 18 S4 shots, 12 hits, 8 wounds, 4 unsaved wounds. 5.666..., 6.333... or 7.888... dead with Tzeentch's Firestorm, 5.25 dead with Doombolt.

There you have it. Noise Marines annihilate Thousand Sons when it comes to versing TEq and GEq. I didn't bother with T3/4+ saves because the results would be similar to MEq in that 1k Sons ignore armour while Noise Marines don't, whereas against TEq neither ignores armour and against GEq both do.

Also, there are a few notes that I'd like to make on their game-play that you cannot work out with math:

• Noise Marines can do their maximum amount of damage at least a turn earlier than Thousand Sons because they can achieve this at 24" while Thousand Sons need to be within 12" to really be effective
• As a result of this Noise Marines are far less likely to get assaulted earlier and can therefore shoot for longer, increasing the damage they'll do over the course of a game even further, making them even better
• When being shot back at the Noise Marines are more survivable thanks to a combination of armour/cover save and Feel no Pain (which do a better job than a 4++ save if they're getting shot at by AP3 or better), so Noise Marines are more survivable in fire fights as well
• In combat Noise Marines strike at Initiative 5 which allows them to kill more models before the enemy has a chance to strike, reducing the number of wounds actually caused on the Noise Marines, end then they have armour and FnP to get them throu

Lightning Claw vs Power Sword

There's been endless debate since the release of the new Chaos Space Marines codex on whether one should take a Lightning Claw or Power Sword on their Aspiring Champions.

Algebraic!

Now, first of all, why not any of the other Power Weapons? Well, the Power Axe may be AP2, but it strikes at Initiative 1, and on a guy who must issue Challenges, that's a very, very bad idea because he'll often be dead before he gets to strike. A Power Lance is really not that great for Chaos Space Marines because it only works on the charge, and you won't always be getting the charge. Plus, if you don't win in the first round, its effectiveness drops by a load. The last one is the Power Maul. Honestly, the Power Maul isn't all that bad, but I personally don't think it's such a great option on your Aspiring Champions because you won't be ignoring armour most of the time, so you'll probably die and your opponent won't.

That all said, Axes and Mauls are both great choices on Terminators in my opinion, but for now we're just focusing on your basic squad leader, whether he's in a Raptor squad, Chaos Space Marine squad, Noise Marine squad or whatever.

So, let's get down to the math!

We're going to assume your basic champ, so Initiative 4, WS4, 2 attacks and weapon + Pistol against a standard Space Marine opponent (since, let's face it, these are the most common opponents). We're also assuming you got the charge.

Lightning Claw
3 attacks, 1.5 hits, 0.75 wounds before re-rolls, another 0.375 after the re-rolls, coming to a total of 1.125 wounds at AP3, so a dead enemy Sergeant.

Power Sword
4 attacks, 2 hits, 1 wound, so one dead Sergeant.

Now the difference may seem pretty miniscule, but when it comes down to it, the Lightning Claw is far more reliable and will fairly consistently net you at least one wound, while the Power Sword, which may give you more chances to cause wounds, doesn't give you those re-rolls, so if you fail you're pretty much screwed.

But, just to make sure, let's see what happens against Terminators, T3 and T5 opponents.

Terminators
Lightning Claw
3 attacks, 1.5 hits, 1.125 total wounds, coming to 0.1875 dead Terminators.

Power Sword
4 attacks, 2 hits, 1 wound, 0.1666... dead Terminators.

T3 Opponents (e.g. Eldar Exarch)
Lightning Claw
3 attacks, 1.5 hits, 1 wound before re-rolls, 0.333... with re-rolls, coming to 1.333... dead T3 unit champions.

Power Sword
4 attacks, 2 hits, 1.333... unsaved wounds.

T5 Opponents (e.g. Plague Champion)
Lightning Claw
3 attacks, 1.5 hits, 0.5 wounds before re-rolls, 0.333... with re-rolls, coming to 0.8333... dead T5 opponents.


Power Sword
4 attacks, 2 hits, 0.666... wounds caused.

Alright, so it's pretty clear the Lightning Claw is the superior offensive weapon, but since making this post it was brought to my attention by Zeruel13 over in this thread on MiniWarGaming that, as a defensive weapon, the Power Sword is actually better.

Here's a copy/paste of the math Zeruel provided:
Against MEQ (WS4/T4)Lightning Claw (with charge bonus) - 1.13 wounds caused (0.18 unsaved vs 2+ armour)
Lightning Claw (without charge bonus) - 0.75 wounds caused (0.12 unsaved vs 2+ armour)

Power Sword (with charge bonus) - 1 wound caused (.16 unsaved vs 2+ armour)
Power Sword (without charge bonus) - 0.75 wounds caused (0.12 unsaved vs 2+ armour)

Power Maul (with charge bonus) - 1.66 wounds caused (0.55 unsaved vs 3+ or 0.27 unsaved vs 2+ armour)
Power Maul (without charge bonus) - 1.25 wounds caused (0.41 unsaved vs 3+ or 0.2 unsaved vs 2+ armour)

Against GEQ (WS3/T3)Lightning Claw (with charge bonus) - 1.79 wounds caused
Lightning Claw (without charge bonus) - 1.19 wounds caused

Power Sword (with charge bonus) - 1.79 wounds caused
Power Sword (without charge bonus) - 1.34 wounds caused

Power Maul (with charge bonus) - 2.22 wounds caused
Power Maul (without charge bonus) - 1.67 wounds caused

Against EEQ (WS4/T3)Lightning Claw (with charge bonus) - 1.34 wounds caused
Lightning Claw (without charge bonus) - 0.89 wounds caused

Power Sword (with charge bonus) - 1.34 wounds caused
Power Sword (without charge bonus) - 1.05 wounds caused

Power Maul (with charge bonus) - 1.66 wounds caused
Power Maul (without charge bonus) - 1.25 wounds caused

Against Biker MEQ (WS4/T5)Lightning Claw (with charge bonus) - 0.83 wounds caused
Lightning Claw (without charge bonus) - 0.55 wounds caused

Power Sword (with charge bonus) - 0.66 wound caused
Power Sword (without charge bonus) - 0.5 wounds caused

Power Maul (with charge bonus) - 1.34 wounds caused (0.44 unsaved vs 3+)
Power Maul (without charge bonus) - 1 wound caused (0.33 unsaved vs 3+)

He's included the Power Maul as well, because Zeruel believes it's an equally viable option. Personally I disagree, but I guess that's a matter of opinion and what you face.

With Zeruel's information taken into account, I'll be taking Lightning Claws every time on units made for the charge (CCW Chaos Space Marines, Berzerkers, Raptors) while on units that are meant to be shooting a little more up close (anything with a Plasma Gun) then the Power Weapon is definitely going to be my weapon of choice. I still don't think I'll take either on my Noise Marines though, because I'd be taking the Doom Siren first and another 15 points on top of that is just too much for a shooty unit, especially one sitting back 24".
But, like, that's just my opinion man.

Which one are you going to take?

Chaos Space Marines: Checking Out the Raptor Sprue

After a couple of weeks of waiting, my Raptor kits finally arrived. So, naturally, as one does when they've been waiting for three weeks for something they so desperately yearn for, I thought I'd go make a pie, maybe browse MiniWarGaming, do some work on my vocals and do some study. With that all out of the way, it was finally time to sit down and see what's in the box...

So. Many. Bits.

So this is what we got in just one of the boxes. Only two sprues, but they were absolutely packed with bits. Let's have a closer look, shall we?

Legs, Jump Packs, bodies and mostly Warp Talon stuff.

More legs and Jump Packs, as well as all the bits you'll want for Raptors!

Both sprues are about as full as they could possibly be with stuff. The number of Lightning Claws that come in this box is brilliant! I think I have a good 18 of them to use after using one for my Raptor Champ and keeping one for my Lord out of two boxes of Raptors.

The other thing I was actually really impressed with was that while you still only get one of each special weapon (as with every GW kit ever), they actually give you two sets of arms to wield the special weapons with per kit, so that even if you only buy 5 you can still take a Meltagun and a Flamer without searching around for any spare bits or buying anything else. Not that taking 5 Raptors is a good idea though...

So what does that mean for me? It means I'm about half way in terms of Plasma + arms to a Plasma Chosen squad. Definitely stoked.

As for the bits themselves, everything looks fantastic. The detail and number of spiky bits are very chaotic. There's even teeth on the top of all the Jump Packs. There's so much customisation available in the Raptor box. It has to be the most enjoyable kit I've ever got my hands on.

Anyway, after a good 2-3 hours of work, I've got them this far:

Who needs Jump Packs when you've got skillz?

Or heads, for that matter...

I'm leaving the heads, Jump Packs and shoulder pads off them all until they've been painted, as well as the Meltaguns. I realised it'd be too hard to paint after making the mistake of sticking some on without thinking, but oh well, what can you do? And the armless guy is going to be the icon bearer. I'll be using the standard from the Slaanesh Helstriders (or whatever they're called... I think that's it?) which I'll mostly be buying so I can mount my Lord on a Steed of Slaanesh.

So that's it from me for now. If you have any excuse to run some Raptors, I'd definitely suggest it. They seem like they'll be a very good option on the tabletop too. Time will tell...

Noise Marine Parts All In

My Sonic Weapons and 25mm Ruins scenic bases from Back 2 Base-ix have finally arrived! Now I'm just waiting on 2 boxes of Raptors and everything I had ordered will be in and we can hopefully start getting a few 750-1000 point games in fairly soon.

Bases make (ノ＾∇＾)ノ "ALL OF THE DIFFERENCE...!"

The bases look very nice and have a good amount of detail on them, but they definitely weren't flawless. Either way, I'm not really complaining because the end result should be great - definitely much better than just basing my guys with sand/grass or whatever. I intend on using these scenic bases for most of my army, except maybe the Cultists and Raptors.

GW's really getting their shit together with Finecast

The other arms are still on the sprues. Despite being Finecast, the Sonic weapons really have very few issues. It just takes a little to clean them up with a hobby knife, but otherwise they were almost perfect. In the set I've opened so far, I've only found a couple of bubbles on the bottom of the wires on two of them, which is hardly much of an issue. The detail is fantastic and I really have no issues about ordering more for my second unit.

I've also changed my list up a reasonable amount since the first draft I posted, so here's what I'm aiming for now:
HQ - 165pts.
Chaos Lord - Mark of Slaanesh, Steed of Slaanesh, Lightning Claw, Power Fist, Sigil of Corruption - 165pts.

Troops - 749pts.
10 Noise Marines - 8 Sonic Blasters, Blastmaster, Icon of Excess - 264pts.
10 Noise Marines - 8 Sonic Blasters, Blastmaster, Icon of Excess - 264pts.
20 Cultists - 18 Autoguns, Flamer - 113pts.
20 Cultists - 18 Autoguns - 108pts.

Fast Attack - 506pts.
Heldrake - Baleflamer - 170pts.
3 Chaos Bikers - 2 Meltaguns - 90pts.
9 Raptors - 2 Meltaguns, Lightning Claw, Mark of Slaanesh, Icon of Excess - 246pts.

Heavy Support - 230pts.
5 Havocs - 4 Autocannons - 115pts.
5 Havocs - 4 Autocannons - 115pts.

Fortifications - 100pts.
Aegis Defence Line - Quad-gun - 100pts.

TOTAL - 1750pts.

C&C more than welcome!

Help! My Doomwheels Won't Stop Owning!

Seriously, I had another 1500 game yesterday against a Dwarf player and my Doomwheels wrecked face. Together they destroyed a Cannon, a unit of Thunderers and helped defeat a unit of Long Beards that my Slaves had held up. It may not sound like much, but the only units they didn't have a hand in destroying were a unit of Warriors or whatever the basic Dwarf Core with Great Weapons is called (defeated by some Death Frenzied Skavenslaves) and the Organ Gun (destroyed by the same unit of Slaves).

Bare in mind, I'm not saying I'm the greatest player here, just that Doomwheels are amazing. It's quite frustrating when all the Internet-kings-of-fucking-everything-Warhammer waltz in and declare that a unit sucks because some other douchebag on the Internet said so. Doomwheels are insane, especially at lower points levels, and at higher points levels they have the benefit of being cheaper than Hell Pit Abominations, allowing for a pair of Cannons.

No more need be said...

That said, my Warpfire Throwers have consistently being doing nothing. They just don't have the time to fire when I'm rushing Slaves in and then Doomwheels into the side, so I've changed my 1500 point Skaven list up a bit and added in some Plague Censer Bearers.

I'm going in the 1500 Fantasy tournament at my store next month to really test out my list. Half of it is still unpainted, so I think my chances of winning overall are quite slim, but it'll still be nice to test out how the list plays in a more serious environment. At 1500 my Skaven are still currently undefeated, but I hardly think that's much to brag about until I throw it against some serious competition. Fingers crossed though!

That aside, I also ordered a pair of Noise Marine Sonic Weapon kits, so hopefully in about a week or two I'll be able to turn my Chaos Space Marines into Noise Marines and start causing some serious headaches.

Hang around and I should be able to get some WiP pics of my Noise Marines in the next couple of weeks.

Flakk Missiles vs Autocannons and Quad-gun

In the new Chaos book, Havocs can take Flakk Missiles with their Missile Launchers so they can fire at Flyers with S7 AP4 shots, but is it really worth it over just taking Autocannons and an Aegis Defence Line with a Quad-gun?

Mathematical!

So two units of 5 Havocs with 4 Missile Launchers and Flakk Missiles comes in at 175 points a unit, or 350 points for the two of them. So you get 8 shots at a Flyer a turn after it has had a chance to shoot you, which nets you 5.333... hits and 2.666... glances and penetrates against AV11, so slightly less than a single Flyer in one turn.

Two units of Havocs with 4 Autocannons are 115 points each, or 230 points together, and then the Aegis Defence Line with a Quad-gun is 100 points on top of that, coming in at 20 points less than the Missile Launcher Havocs. The major benefit of this kit is that you get to shoot at the Flyer when it comes in and before it even has a chance to shoot at you. The Quad-gun being fired at BS4 with TL will get you 3.444... hits alone and 1.7222... glances/pens. Then on your turn the 8 Autocannons will hit 1.333... times, getting you another 0.666... Glances/Pens against the same AV11 vehicle. This all comes out to slightly less glances/penetrates than the Flakk Missiles, but it does come in at 20 points cheaper and gives you vastly superior firepower against transports and other lightly armoured vehicles.

With that all in mind, I think I'll be going for the Autocannon Havocs and Aegis Defence Line every time because while they do slightly less against Flyers, they also cost less, do far more against transports and infantry and the Quad-gun gives you a slight chance to take the enemy Flyer down before it even gets a chance to shoot.

Just some food for thought.

Heavy Firepower Slaaneshi Foot List

A little bit of background never hurt...

When I started with Chaos Space Marines, Slaanesh was easily my favourite of the gods, and I was looking forward to building a pretty boss Emperors Children Army. But then I found out that Noise Marines and just about all things Slaanesh sucked in the last book, so I turned to Nurgle instead. Then I was going to do some Word Bearers, or maybe a Tzeentch army, but after looking through the new book, neither of those really provided the kind of firepower I was looking for.

So, here we are, all the way back at Slaanesh. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit stoked about it.

HQ - 165pts.
Lucius the Eternal - 165pts.

Troops - 824pts.
9 Chaos Space Marines - Replace Bolters with Close Combat Weapons, Lightning Claw, Gift of Mutation, Melta Bombs, Mark of Slaanesh, Icon of Excess - 200pts.
10 Noise Marines - 9 Sonic Blasters, Blastmaster, Icon of Excess - 267pts.
10 Noise Marines - 9 Sonic Blasters, Blastmaster, Icon of Excess - 267pts.
20 Chaos Cultists - 90pts.

Fast Attack - 350pts.
Heldrake - Baleflamer - 170pts.
3 Chaos Bikers - 2 Meltaguns - 90pts.
3 Chaos Bikers - 2 Meltaguns - 90pts.

Heavy Support - 405pts.
5 Havocs - 4 Missile Launchers, Flakk Missiles - 175pts.
5 Havocs - 4 Autocannons - 115pts.
5 Havocs - 4 Autocannons - 115pts.

TOTAL - 1749pts.

The only unit that I feel is slightly out of place in this list is the unit of combat-oriented Chaos Space Marines, but I don't feel comfortable wasting Lucius's combat prowess with another unit of Noise Marines sitting back.

I also loathe painting vehicles to such an extent that I'd rather gimp myself and not take them than having to spend the few hours to paint them up (the Heldrake being the exception). Luckily, I feel that this edition really favours more bodies on the field than anything and I think it'll hardly be much of an issue, if it is one at all.

Lastly, it should be noted that whilst I said in my review of the codex that 2 Flyers should be taken minimum, I wouldn't be able to take all that I'd like in the list if I did that and I think that it should turn out fine with just one, provided you have the right amount of anti-Flyer. Time will tell I guess...

This is still only a draft for the moment, but it should be pretty close to what I want in the end. Now I just need to get building!

Feedback is welcome as always!

Chaos Space Marines Codex Review

Well, here's the review I promised! Hope you enjoy it.

Huron got a lot better this edition.

Overall
Overall the book is fantastic and there's definitely going to be plentiful styles and builds for both fluffy and competitive armies. The vast majority of the book is easily worth it and even some of the formerly more terrible units make it into the "useable" zone, including Spawn!

The Chaos Boon Table is fantastic and all 3 gods that use psychic powers get their own psychic tables. Throw in a smattering of Chaos Gifts, some cool new rules and units and you'd be hard pressed being disappointed with the book.

The Chaos Vehicles upgrades are also fantastic. Dirge Caster stops enemy units within 6" from firing Overwatch whilst Destroyer Blades allow you to cause D6 S5 hits to a unit when you Tank Shock them.

Named Characters
There's very, very little to be disappointed about in this section, except for the complete lack of anyone new (no Cypher...). All of the named characters are at least better than they were, though the only ones you might see in competitive lists are Kharn, Fabius Bile, Huron and maybe Ahriman (being the only Mastery Level 4 Psyker currently). Though I do suspect someone will come up with an uber-list with Abaddon and a whole bunch of Chosen, but I'd personally leave him to friendly games.

Back to Fabius Bile: he seems very good now. He comes at S5 with 5 attacks and inflicts Instant Death with his combat attacks, while boasting a 18" Poison (2+)  Assault 3 shooting attack. He also has FnP. Unfortunately though, he's still only Initiative 4 and has no Invul. But ultimately, the icing on the cake is that you can make a single unit of Chaos Space Marines in the same army as him +1 Strength and Fearless for absolutely no extra cost and no negative side effects of any kind. Swap out the Bolters on this unit for Close Combat weapons, give the Champ a Lightning Claw and give them whatever Mark you please, plus the Icon if you feel it's worth it, and you've got yourself a pretty brutal unit. Obviously Mark of Khorne and Icon of Wrath are the obvious choices for the unit, making them an absolute machine in combat. The Champ will be hitting with 5 Attacks at S6, AP3 with rerolls To Wound for the first round of combat. Even Independent Characters are going to fear that should you not feel comfortable throwing Fabius himself in there.

Typhus can make Cultists Zombies if you wish for no cost, giving them Slow and Purposeful and FnP, but they can't shoot. There is a dispute over this though, as the rule states that they may not choose any options, and in the new codex extra models are options, so some could argue that as per RAW you cannot take more than the minimum unit of 10. Whether this was intended or not, we'll have to see. I personally don't think it was meant that way, but I'd still advise staying away from Zombies until the FAQ is released.

HQ
Chaos Lords are going to be king in challenges, and considering they must issue them, that's a very, very good thing. Daemon Weapons still hurt you on the roll of a 1 when determining extra attacks, but the new rules for them a very nice. I don't think I'd use any of them outside of friendly games though. Burning Brand of Skalathrax, the flamer Kharn used when he started attacking his own guys, is also an option. It's a S4, AP3 Flamer with Torrent. I like it plenty. Back to Lords though, my personal favourite current combo is Terminator Armour, Sigil of Corruption, Power Fist/Power Weapon/Pair of Lightning Claw and a Mark of Tzeentch. This gives him a 2+/3++ save and some simple but effective armour-cutting weapons. I'll be rocking the Power Fist myself.

Sorcerers are way cheaper at 60 points, and you can get up to 2 more Mastery Levels at 25 points each for a Mastery Level 3 psyker. All of the god-specific psychic tables are absolutely fantastic, though Slaanesh is so far my least favourite whilst Nurgle's 5-6 option is definitely my favourite. It probably depends on the army you're playing and what kind of Synergy you need though.

It is indeed true that Daemon Princes don't have Eternal Warrior and they cannot be T6 with a Mark of Nurgle. Instead they must be a Daemon of one of the gods, which gives them an ability + Hatred (a certain type of Chaos Daemon here, depending on god). Being Flying MC's though, I think they still have their uses, but they are certainly expensive. I'm not so sure about them yet.

Now onto the new guys, the one's most people are probably most curious about. Warpsmiths seem decent, though I'd only run them as a secondary character after a Lord or Sorcerer is in the list, but the Dark Apostles are utterly lame. Yes, it's crushing, but it's the truth. Everyone within 6" gets to use his leadership of 10 and any models in the same unit that roll on the Chaos Boon Table get to reroll the result. Lame. He also has an AP4 weapon, because we totally need help killing those Dire Avengers and Fire Warriors in combat, right?

Troops
So in the troops section we're left with just Chaos Space Marines and Cultists, both of which are fairly cheap and both of which are definitely going to be making it into 90% of non-themed lists. A unit of 10 Chaos Space Marines can just be given a pair of Plasma Guns at 170 points, or you can completely kit them out with Marks, Icons, Special Weapons and all that jazz and reach over 268 points (though anything over that is probably getting into the zone of "retarded-for-the-sake-of-being-retarded" kits) for the 10 of them.

Meanwhile, 20 Chaos Cultists will rarely be costing you more than 120 points. I'll definitely be running at least one unit in every list I make.

Elites
By golly is the Elites section packed. You've got Chosen, Possessed, Terminators, Helbrute, Mutilators, and the 4 Cult units. Obviously you can unlock one of the Cult units as a Troops choice with a Lord/Sorcerer with the appropriate Mark or the appropriate named character, so I guess that's a mostly moot point.


Every single Elite choice is useable. Chaos Terminators with Power Fists cost 2 points less than enemy shooty Terminators and while they miss out on Assault 2 weapons for inferior ranged firepower, they are more accurate and are the superior choice when within 12" thanks to their now 2 TL shots versus the standard Termies still 2 non-TL shots. I think Chaos Terminators are going to be a good option this edition, either with MoT or Slaanesh and Icon for FnP, however I think the Slaanesh and Icon combo is crazy expensive. I'll probably stick to no mark or Tzeentch.

Possessed are great now, but are still crazy expensive, so it makes it hard to justify them outside of friendly games. The Helbrute is the Dreadnought replacement and is actually useable now. Yay! I'm not too taken by the Mutilators because I think I could spend points better elsewhere, but they're still good.

Fast Attack
Too bad you've pretty much got to take those Flyers to be competitive. They are definitely good, but in my opinion it's either 2-3 or none. One will just get nailed way too fast. You could take a Daemon Prince for your HQ instead of one if you wanted and save some points, but I'd just go with those Heldrakes. Luckily you can also give them Baleflamers and dominate infantry like no tomorrow with those S6 AP3 Torrent Templates.

As for the last FA slot, everything is viable. Raptors are essentially the same before, but gain Fear and are only 17 points a piece. Bikers got the same kind of treatment, and 3 of them with 2 Meltaguns is only 90 points. You could make them T6 for an additional 18 points too, if you so choose. They're definitely a solid unit now.

Then you've got the Warp Talons. As I mentioned in my last post about the codex, they work great with the Dimensional Key. They're a bit like Possessed though; they look great, they beat things down in combat like no tomorrow, but they also cost a huge amount of points. Worth taking, but not tournament material.

Heavy Support
Most of the old stuff stayed about the same, maybe getting a little cheaper. The Predator costs more base but the options are much cheaper. Oblits are 5 points cheaper and have access to Assault Cannons but can't fire the same weapon twice. Nothing really worthy of note with the old stuff except the Havocs, who are the first unit who can take Flakk Missiles. They're S7, AP4 Skyfire and you can fire them out of your Missile Launchers. Unfortunately they come at an additional cost, but I have 2 units of 5 Havocs in every version of my list with 4 Missile Launchers and Flakk Missiles. Combine them with 2 Flyers and the sky is yours. They also make taking the Baleflamer over the Hades Autocannon on your BS3 Flyer a much easier choice. Defilers are also better but more expensive.

The new stuff though... Well the Fiends are both fantastic. The Forgefiend can fire 3 S8, AP2 Blasts per turn at 200 points whilst the Maulerfiend is a Walker that moves 12" a turn and is designed to dominate vehicles in combat. It doesn't have any guns, but it'll wreck anything with an AV value that it touches.

All of the Daemon Engines are incredibly survivable with a 5++ save and the ability to regenerate a Hull Point with It Will Not Die.

Conclusion
Absolutely amazing book. Gamers and fluff buffs will be happy alike with the options and versatility available to the Codex. I couldn't have asked for much better honestly.

It'll still be a little time before we work out what will rule the tournament scene and what you shouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole, but we'll get there.

So that's all I've got for now! Thanks for reading through all my waffling and half-finished thoughts.

I know I promised lists, but I'm not even finished yet. It's nearly there though and should be up in the next couple of days. It's a difficult thing to work through though with so many options.

Rhinos are exactly the same, in case you were wondering.

I can't really cover everything properly in the post, so if you have any more specific questions on units, rules or whatever, feel free to ask!

Chaos Space Marines New Codex - First Impressions

I've had a little time to go through the codex so far and check out all the cool new rules and units and whatnot, and I've got to tell you: I'm extremely happy.

I won't do a proper review of the codex until I've actually had more time with the book (some time early next week), but for now I'll just give my thoughts and let you know a few of the things I've noticed.

If the rest of the 6th edition books are like this one, it will be a good edition.

First of all, the positives. Overall, the book is so far beyond that pathetic excuse for a codex that is Codex: Chaos Space Marines 4th Edition that they're not even comparable. As is typical of anything Phil Kelly touches, the book has some very nice synergy and almost all of the units are balanced if not tournament worthy. A lot of things got much cheaper, like our regular Chaos Space Marines, Lords, Sorcerers and Raptors, while some things did get a bit more expensive, but gained some new rules and things that ultimately justify the cost.

That's not to say that Chaos Space Marines will now be able to horde up, because as far as I can see, the book really is designed for you to personalise your army with fairly tremendous amounts of upgrades and options.

All of the new additions to the book are very nice. The Maulerfiend is a Walker that gets to move 12" and ignores cover, while the Warp Talons cause any enemies within 6" to count as being hit by a weapon with the Blind USR. There's also an item that allows friendly units to not scatter when deep-striking, which has some pretty obvious synergy with the Warp Talons. The unfortunate thing is that the model with the item must have caused a wound in close combat in order to activate the Key, so it does seem a little more like a gimmick than anything, because in a lot of cases your Warp Talons will be in from reserves before you get to activate it. It'd be worth trying out in friendly games though.

Now, there are a few unfortunate things, as with all codecies. First of all, Land Raiders are 10 points more expensive than last edition and gained absolutely no new special rules. Terminators got the same kind of treatment, now costing an extra point each, although Terminators are better this edition of 40k, so I'm assuming that's why they were upped in cost, but I still don't think it was warranted. Dark Apostles are lacklustre at best, which annoyed me quite severely because I was looking to do a Word Bearers army. Maybe I'll just have to run one without the Apostle. Thousand Sons got the shaft once again and Defilers are now 45 points more than before, although they are quite boss...

Despite the few downsides, overall the book is absolutely insane. I'm having a hard time writing lists of 1850 points because I simply can't fit everything I want in.

Check back in a couple of days and I'll have a more in-depth review of the book, complete with a couple of lists and my thoughts on how to deal with what looks like the most likely 6th edition meta!

Planning For the Upcoming Chaos Space Marines Codex... Why?

Alright, so I've seen a few posts on various internet forums about people building up brand new Chaos Lords, fully kitted and painted in preperation for the new codex, as well as ordering every damn new shiny thing GW drops and so on.

Because Word Bearers are boss.

Now Chaos Space Marines were my first army, and I'm definitely excited for the new codex. I mean, I've been waiting 2 years to have a book actually worthy of Chaos, and it finally looks like it's here, but I'm not going to build myself an entire new Chaos Lord or order any of the new models until I actually have the book and have mostly worked out my army list. Who wants to kit their Lord wrong and find that they've got to either got to play with him how he is, not happy with how he perfoms in game, or have to wreck your nice paint job removing the incorrect parts and replacing them with what he should have? I certainly don't.

This is a damn expensive hobby, and I for one am not wasting any cash on anything I don't plan on playing with, nor am I going to paint up a model to find that I don't want to use him as is. I think doing up generic CSM squads or Terminators or whatever is fine, because those are some pretty safe options, but I definitely don't think you should be ordering too many toys or building any new Lords just yet.

Thoughts? Comments?

Chaos Space Marine's Fiendishly Good Looking Models

There's a lot of complaints flying around the internet over the new Chaos Space Marine models, especially about the Fiends. Upon first inspection, I kind of agreed with the majority opinion, but after taking a slightly closer look at the models, I must admit that I quite enjoy how they look. In fact, the more I look at them the better they get.

How could you hate this model?

A few have been whining about the new Raptor models too, saying they prefer the older models. Personally I can't get over how brutal their weapons look and prefer the new ones a hundred times over.

Leaps and bounds better than the last models.

The only model that I'm not entirely impressed with is the Heldrake, but even that I don't really hate.

I guess it is all just a matter of opinion though, so what's yours?