Veterans of the Long War (pre-Codex)
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About the Author
I’m Low Sheng Ren, or as I might be more commonly known as, Lord Renzus. There is a long story behind the name that I won’t get into, so I’ll just get on with saying that as a player of Chaos Space Marines as my primary army since 5th Edition, I’ve seen the faction evolve over the years, going through various iterations and fluctuations in power. Games Workshop has both raised these Emperor-forsaken traitors up and cast them down in equal measure, and I’m pleased to report that after studying Index: Chaos with all the fervor of Lorgar worshipping the Dark Gods, Chaos is probably in as good a position as it’ll ever be.
Faction Overview
Index: Chaos largely consists of 3 major sections: Heretic Astartes, which encompasses all forms of Chaos Space Marines and their supporting elements, Chaos Daemons, which comprise of the myriad beings of the Warp itself, and Questor Traitoris, the Renegade Knights. While there are significant differences in the technicalities of each faction, with marginal overlap in terms of synergies between these three major sub-factions of Chaos, the general playstyle of Index: Chaos involves the application of overwhelming force at 24 inches and closer. While a Chaos gunline is theoretically possible, long-range gun battles do not favor Chaos forces when considering the other Indices.
While it is a bit of a misnomer to consider Chaos as an assault-centric army, it should generally be expected that any good Chaos army will have a speartip of powerful melee units to break enemy lines, along with strong supporting elements that either lay down weight of fire at close-to-medium range, or join the fray themselves.
In this article, I will be mostly covering Heretic Astartes, as it is the sub-faction of Chaos that I am the most familiar with.
Heretic Astartes: Death to the False Emperor
The forces of the Heretic Astartes are a mixture of Chaos counterparts to Loyalist Space Marines, with daemon engines and horrific mutations in place of some of the more specialized Astartes units. Their signature special rule is Death to the False Emperor, which causes their 6’s to hit in close-combat to generate one additional attack when targeting any Imperium unit. While more of a fringe benefit than a core gameplay-defining aspect of the army, it does give them the edge to overwhelm any Imperial defensive line. Marks of Chaos can now be liberally applied to every unit in the army list, and are free, but do not give any bonuses to unit statistics beyond applying the relevant keyword (Khorne, Slaanesh, Tzeentch or Nurgle).
Chaos Icons can be taken by most Chaos Infantry units, which grant special boons depending on which Mark they bear. Of note is the Icon of Wrath for Khorne units, which allows the unit to reroll failed charges, and the Icon of Vengeance for unmarked units, which increases their Leadership value by 1. The other Icons are a bit less promising in terms of viability, but considering all Icons are an affordable 10 points per Icon, it doesn’t cost you too much to stack odds in your favour.
Heretic Astartes Psykers also have access to their own psychic discipline, consisting of three powers, Infernal Gaze (which rolls 3 dice and deals a mortal wound per 4+ rolled), Warptime (which allows a friendly Heretic Astartes unit to immediately move as if it were the movement phase), and Prescience (grants +1 to hit rolls for a friendly Heretic Astartes unit). Naturally, Warptime and Prescience are the stars of the discipline, as being able to quickly close distances and increase attack accuracy are powerful boons to have. Note that Warptime can combo with deep striking units like Terminators, Raptors and Warp Talons to move closer to enemy lines after their entering the battle outside of 9-inches, meaning Turn 1 assaults are almost guaranteed. Just don’t fail the psychic test.
Heretic Astartes Unit Overviews
We’ll get the bad news out of the way first. Most of the units that involve the regular Chaos Space Marine chassis aren’t really worth considering. These include the Chaos Space Marine squad, Chosen, Havocs, Bikers and Raptors. These units do not really possess the durability nor efficient weight of attacks to pose a reasonable threat on the battlefield, and generally compare poorly to their counterparts in other Indices, being WS3+ and BS3+ power-armoured combatants that have not much in the way of options not already found in other Indices. Most of the Daemonic elements such as Obliterators, Mutilators, Maulerfiends and Forgefiends were subject to a few unfortunate nerfs to their rulesets, which make them undesirable at best, to unplayable at worst.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, it’s time to cover to units that ARE worth playing. Here’s a quick list of what I’ll be covering:
Chaos Lords
Chaos Sorcerers
Daemon Princes
Chaos Terminators
Khorne Berzerkers
Rubric Marines
Scarab Occult Terminators
Plague Marines
Noise Marines
Warp Talons
Heldrakes
Chaos Predators
Chaos Lords
Chaos Lords truly take their place as masters of their warbands, boasting a considerable array of options such as Terminator Armour, Jump Packs, Bikes and Daemonic Mounts. With a considerable combat statline, Chaos Lords shouldn’t hesitate to wade in to the fight alongside his minions, as he emits an aura that allows friendly <Legion> units to reroll Hit rolls of 1. Personally, I find the Chaos Lord on Juggernaut of Khorne to be one of the best examples of combat leaders, boasting increased Strength and Toughness of 5, as well as an angry brass-clad mount that fights just as viciously as he does. I recommend taking a Power Fist as his Weapon Skill of 2+ suffers less when factoring in the -1 to Hit penalty, and the payoff is Strength 10, Rend -3 and Damage D3 goodness.
Chaos Sorcerers
Chaos Sorcerers are powerful Psykers, knowing two powers from the Heretic Astartes discipline, as well as being able combatants that have access to almost as many options as their martial Chaos Lord counterparts. Which psychic powers you consider is up to you, as their options range from dealing out mortal wounds through Smite and Infernal Gaze, or serving as potent force-multipliers through Warptime and Prescience. Unlike Chaos Lords, Sorcerers are normally better positioned near, but not at, the frontlines, hovering just out of immediate danger, ready to pounce upon a weakness in enemy battle lines if necessary.
Daemon Princes
Towering paragons of daemonic power, Daemon Princes actually come in two varieties, the Heretic Astartes version and the true Chaos Daemons version. The Heretic Astartes Daemon Prince features 2 less Wounds, but possesses the aura of rerolling 1’s for <Legion> units. The Chaos Daemons Daemon Prince has the relevant daemonic ability tied to their patron. I’ll be covering the Heretic Astartes version in this section, as it is the most likely version to field with a Heretic Astartes force.
The Daemon Prince is an empowered champion that combines the strengths of Chaos Lord and Sorcerer alike, having a lethal combat profile of WS 2+, Strength 7 and 4 Attacks, as well as being a Psyker that knows and can cast one Heretic Astartes power. I strongly recommend taking the winged version, as there is no significant downside to having the Fly keyword, enabling greater mobility and the option to charge enemy aircraft to yank them from the sky. Curiously enough, I find their best weapon option is to eschew the expensive Hellforged Sword/Daemonic Axe choice, and instead to double down on Malefic Talons, which is not only cheaper but provides 3 additional Attacks.
Chaos Terminators
8th Edition was exceedingly kind to Terminators of most varieties (editor’s note: being unable to replace their power fist with a cheaper option makes SM Terminators prohibitively expensive) and Chaos Terminators are no exception. With the ability to Teleport Strike anywhere on the battlefield with no questions asked, Chaos Terminators exemplify the term “alpha strike”, able to carry combi-weapons en masse to decimate high-value targets before wading in with power weapons. A Sorcerer nearby to empower them with Prescience giving them 2+ hit rolls, and Warptime to close distances after their Teleport Strike is a powerful combination. While they cannot be expected to win a battle alone, a sizeable enough Terminator unit can break the back of an army and leave the survivors easy pickings.
Khorne Berzerkers
I will admit to some measure of bias, as my loyalties tend towards Khorne more than any other Chaos God, but 8th Edition brought these red-clad butchers to the forefront. Khorne Berzerkers are the premier assault troop of the entire Heretic Astartes roster, gaining an incredible base Strength of 5 and the option to launch charges out of a Rhino. Chainaxes are once again their iconic weapon of choice, giving them +1 Strength and AP -1 for the budget price of a mere 1 point per model. Although their durability remains the same as any other Marine in power armour, their most terrifying ability is Blood for the Blood God, which allows them to fight TWICE in the combat phase. Yes, TWICE. Double the attacks, double the pile-in, double the consolidate. Combined with the 8th Edition rule where charging units always fight first, Khorne Berzerkers on the charge fight first and fight twice, decimating even the most determined opposition before they have a chance to fight back. All for the relatively modest points cost of 17 points per model, including the chainaxe!
Rubric Marines
Silent, unliving automatons, the Rubric Marines have also gained considerable levels of performance since last edition. Their sorcery-augmented weapons are the bane of mundane armour, represented by their Inferno Boltguns and Warpflamers having AP values of -2. One in ten of their number can also bear a Soulreaper Cannon, a heavy weapon that fires 4 shots at Strength 5 and AP -3. The result of the above is a nightmarish fusillade that scythe down all but the heaviest of infantry targets.
Above and beyond their Warp-blessed weapons, however, is their Aspiring Sorcerer leader, who is a Psyker that can augment their damage output with Smite, and their special rule All is Dust, which improves both their natural armour save of 3+, and their invulnerable save of 5+, by 1 if the attack targeting them has a Damage characteristic of 1. This means that against most forms of small arms like lasguns and boltguns, the Rubricae have saves akin to Terminators! Certainly nothing to sneeze at, unlike the dust entombed inside their armour suits.
Scarab Occult Terminators
Speaking of Terminators, the Scarab Occult Terminators are the hulking elites of the Thousand Sons that also boast an array of deadly armour-piercing weapons like their Rubricae brethren. Exclusively available to the Thousand Sons Legion, the Scarab Occult Terminators bring to bear Inferno Combi-Bolters, whose Rapid Fire 2 profile means no less than 4 shots within 12 inches at Strength 4 AP -2, twice the amount of firepower that Rubric Marines possess. Augmenting this fearsome firepower is the aforementioned Soulreaper Cannon, as well as the Hellfyre Missile Rack, a sinister counterpart to the Cyclone Missile Launcher used by Loyalists, both of which can be taken simultaneously by one in every five models. They too are led by a Scarab Occult Sorcerer, an able Psyker.
Perhaps most importantly, the Scarab Occult Terminators also possess All is Dust, augmenting their formidable defences to logic-defying levels. This demands that their enemy devote weapons normally reserved for tank-busting to reliable deal with these warriors. All is Dust also allows them to fire Heavy weapons on the move without suffering the -1 to Hit penalty, making them superior to other Terminators in that respect.
Plague Marines
Blessed by Nurgle, the disgusting Plague Marines serve as a powerful defensive troop unit that can hold objectives against determined assaults and lay down respectable firepower. Having a Toughness value of 5 means small arms will struggle to lay low one of these warriors, and their Disgustingly Resilient rule enables them to prevent the loss of a Wound on a roll of 5+, even against mortal wounds. Users of Feel No Pain from last edition will remember how strong a secondary save like this can be, and Plague Marines are one of the few units in 8th Edition that retained this defensive ability.
Although expensive compared to other Space Marines, Plague Marines can take 2 Special Weapons even at minimum squad size, making them relatively economical to upgrade. Of particular note is their new weapon the Blight Launcher, an Assault 2 weapon with 24-inch range, Strength 6, AP -2 and Damage D3, a versatile profile that can threaten almost any target in the game.
Noise Marines
Few things are more satisfying than the destruction of your enemies. One of those things is the destruction of your enemies accompanied with great music. Noise Marines are ranged combat specialists who bring to bear deadly sonic weapons against their enemies. One in every five can carry the versatile, armour-busting Blastmaster, which retains its high Strength of 8, combined with AP -2, Damage of D3, and the ability to deny enemy units from claiming cover bonuses to their saving throws. In addition, Sonic Blasters continue to be excellent replacements for standard Boltguns, being Assault 3 instead of Rapid Fire 1, and also ignoring cover similar to the Blastmaster.
In addition, Noise Marines gained the special rule Music of the Apocalypse, which not only has the honour of being one of the coolest special rules in the game, but also allows Noise Marines to perform one last shooting attack whenever they are slain, even if they are locked in combat, potentially taking down their attackers with them.
Warp Talons
Man, who’d have thought these guys were worth consideration after their rather poor debut in 7th Edition? Simultaneously Daemon and Heretic Astartes, these predatory killers have paired Lightning Claws to shred their targets, and changes to 8th Edition close-combat means they are no longer punished for lacking any form of grenade.
So, what makes them anything more than Raptors with better melee weapons and a 5+ invulnerable save? Warpflame Strike. They can Deep Strike anywhere on the battlefield out of 9 inches of enemy units just like other units that can do so, with the additional clause that enemy units cannot fire Overwatch against them on the turn they arrive. Now, for anyone that balks at the prospect of having to make a 9-inch charge, just remember that Warptime exists to help them move into the exclusion zone that other Deep Strike units are normally hampered by. This allows them to excel in their role of either opportunistic flank aggressors, or for leading a massed assault against a gunline.
Heldrakes
There’s a saying in Reign of Fire, that the only thing worse than dragons is Americans. While there are no Americans in the 41st Millenium (editor’s note: Debatable), there are certainly dragons. Heldrakes no longer operate like aircraft, instead moving like a monstrous creature would. While it might be easier to hit them now, it’s a fair bit harder to make damage stick, considering they are Toughness 7 with 3+ armour, Daemonic 5+ Invulnerable, and Infernal Regeneration which restores 1 Wound at the start of each of its turns.
With a blindingly fast 30 inches of movement, Heldrakes can easily threaten enemies as soon as the game begins. Their Baleflamer remains a potent weapon, inflicting D6 automatic hits at Strength 6 and AP -2. They can also assault their foes, with an initial Weapon Skill of 3+ and 4 Attacks. Their Heldrake Claws are Strength 7, AP -1 and Damage D3, also giving them +1 to Hit if their target can Fly. While their preferred prey is undoubtedly enemy aircraft, this means they are also excellent at picking off other targets such as Crisis Suits and Wave Serpents.
Chaos Predators
The armoured fist of Chaos, Predators have been granted a new lease of life. The update to 8th Edition sees them benefit from the increased durability of the Rhino platform, but more importantly, the fearsome Predator Autocannon now fires 2D3 shots at Strength 7, AP -1 and Damage 3. Whether on the move to find an optimal firing angle, or anchoring a defensive line, the Predator is now a deadly and formidable option for any Chaos army.
Armed with your choice of sponson lascannons or heavy bolters, the Predator is a considerably potent source of heavy fire support, on a durable platform that shrugs off small-arms fire.
\Time to dust some of you guys off. Literally.\
The foremost among the Dark Gods’ mortal servants, the armies of the Heretic Astartes are a brutal, unrelenting hammer that crushes its enemies without mercy or subtlety. They are an army that rewards my straightforward play style and rewards the applications of overwhelming force. Most of my current builds involve some manner of mix of the units that I’ve covered above; Chaos Vehicles in particular have proven to be rather difficult units to deal with due to their combination of strong saves and high Toughness, where even the humble Rhino serves its purpose transporting assault troops.
I look forward to experimenting with more exotic elements of Index: Chaos, including daemonic allies or even the enigmatic Fallen Angels. In the meantime, I suspect most of my time will be taken up by completing about a dozen or so Berzerkers, as I find that they feature heavily in a lot of army lists that I’ve built.
This is Lord Renzus signing off, and always remember, Death to the False Emperor! EndFragment