Let's continue our Chaos review, with a peek at the most expensive and powerful optional extras outside Heavy Support. This is Elites and Uniques, with Ruthless Casual and Top Bryss.
Chaos Rhino: I'll get this out the way. It's a Rhino. End of.
General vehicle upgrades are same as before, except you can get Soul Blaze for cheap and the Dirge Caster now prevents Overwatch within 6". Now that all Vehicles can move Flat Out, this is actually usuable, and very cheap. This is especially helpful when charging with Cultists, except for the Champion. Who is dead. Running gag.
Chosen: Same cost as before, except now they can't Infiltrate but act as traditional Veterans. They have access to five special weapons, meaning whole squads with Plasmaguns is now a reality outside of the Stellan Hoplites. I honestly would have preferred Infiltrate. Still, that's what Huron's for... Other than that, their combat powers are limited by not being able to charge out of a Rhino.
Possessed: Much less random now, and always have Fleet now, which is nice. Amusingly, you can still buy the Icons that have no effect on them for 5 points. Better than before, but still need some work to use well. That, or Infiltrate them.
Terminators: More expensive, less Leadership. What? Oh, and now the ability to have both a power fist AND a combi-weapon is exclusive to the Champion. Still, upgrades for your melee weapons are now cheaper across the board (excepting the Champion), but the Heavy Flamer has doubled in cost. Like Plague Marines, they're essentially the same unit. Hey, the Terminator Champion lost his extra Attack...
Helbrute: A more expensive, more annoying Dreadnought.
Pretty much. At least it can't shoot your own men anymore. But it CAN shoot non-Battle Brother allies. At least, I think it can. So be careful. This unit could be better. That said, 1/3 chance of two shots with your ranged weapon is alright, and you're not limited to shooting things that gave YOU a point of damage.
Mutilators: You really want to buy Veterans on these guys, on account of Ld8 not being great on a small-numbers combat unit. You could also buy a better unit. Honestly, the concept is nice, but in practise the Obliterator is still superior. Causing Fear doesn't do too much, and these guys are wasted on units actually susceptible to it.
Honestly, with Chaos, all the good stuff is in areas other than Elites. I'm not counting Cult Troops as, like Wracks, you don't really take them as Elites unless you absolutely have to. Uniques now.
Before I begin, we need to talk about Champion of Chaos again. In the turn that these characters charge and you're not fighting Daemons or some types of Necrons, your bonus attack is wasted and you won't kill anything except a Sarge. On the other hand, you now have a large slimy tentacle growing out your back. So basically, all characters need time to wind up before they start being awesome in combat.
A Bad 'Un, the Despoiler: A nice pun, even if it is unintended. His old S8, AP2, Shred, Daemon Weapon power has been split in two, and now you get either the AP2 Daemon Weapon bit OR the S8 Shred bit, which is AP3. So he's not quite as good at fighting. However, he's 10 points cheaper, grants Preferred Enemy: Loyalist Scum and makes Chosen Troops, meaning you can have a a silly army like:
Master Bryss' Stupidest Army Ever: 1750 exactly
Abaddon
5 Chosen with 5 plasma guns in a Rhino
5 Chosen with 5 plasma guns in a Rhino
5 Chosen with 5 plasma guns in a Rhino
5 Chosen with 4 plasma guns in a Rhino
5 Chosen with 4 plasma guns in a Rhino
5 Chosen with 4 plasma guns in a Rhino
3 Terminators with combi-plasmas
3 Terminators with combi-plasmas
3 Terminators with combi-plasmas
Bryssnotes: PLASMAAAAAAA! Someone please play this and tell me how it gets on. In T'Leeks, that's:
30 plasma guns, three of which are one-shot
19 bolters, 7 of which are twin-linked
Err... that's it. I imagine it will suck against Flyers. And at least ten guns will explode each turn.
Oh, and as for the 5 plasma guns thing, I'm assuming that 'any model' means the Champion can take one.
Huron Blackheart: How the heck can Huron compete against all that plasma? Well, as it turns out, rather easily. His pair of weapons are like a worse version of Abaddon's, except his glove shoots fire and is Armourbane to make up for his lack of Abaddon strength. But considering how much cheaper he is, that's still really good. Oh, and unlike Abaddon he can get in a Rhino. While getting an improved Invulnerable from his last outing. Oh, and he's cheaper.
The random psychic powers thing isn't too big a deal. It's not as reliable as Warptime of old, and won't always be beneficial, although sometimes getting Iron Arm or Misfortune is neat. But that's not what makes Huron great. What makes him great is his pre-set Warlord trait. The Infiltrate power is one of the best things on the chart. Even if you don't want the extra coverage, being able to place your Havoc unit after your opponent has configured his targets is a blessing if you go first. Just always remember to only have ONE unit that really relies on it. Easily my favourite character.
Kha(circumflex)rn The Betrayer: Same as before, and by 'before' I mean pre-Unwieldy. Therefore, he's still as good as before, plus Hatred. Moving on.
Ahriman: A teensy bit cheaper, and now also has the Master of Deception trait for Infiltraty goodness. All his Primaris Powers are Witchfire, so he's never short of guns.
Really, his role depends on his powers. As ever, Biomancy is probably the best bet, with optimum being Endurance/Life Leech/ Enfeeble. Basically, try for Doombeam, get it or settle for Firestorm and then try for the Bio powers. Always remember you MUST take a Tzeentch. Probably prohibitively expensive, but I like him so I'll use him.
Typhus: Same points as Ahriman. He must draw from Nurgle (ie. pray for Weapon Virus), he's Unwieldy but strong, and can swap his attacks once for an I5 Large Blast type thing. At least, I think it's I5 as surely the Manreaper only works if he decides to use it. Incidentally, he's the only exception to the 'Chaos disciplines limited to half your powers' thing.
Oh, and we get to meet a new friend.
Zombie Cultist: Zombie Cultist, unlike Lusty Cultist, actually has Feel No Pain! This is great, but unfortunately Zombie Cultist is a bit slow into combat, and therefore dies. This isn't fine, as because of a technicality that probably shouldn't exist but does, you only have eight more of them, plus the Champion, who has somehow managed to die despite already being dead. Really though, the reason you have taken Zombie Cultist is that you are an idiot.
Troublesome, isn't it? And untidy, too. Typhus is OK but not someone I'll be using as I avoid Nurgle aesthetics like the pla...oh wait, that's exactly what I'm avoiding anyway.
Lucius The Eternal: Pretty much as before except he gets better in a Challenge. Amusingly, in a challenge between him and Lelith, he gets 8 Attacks to Lelith's 5. Oh, he has Shred now. So many Chaos Uniques do.
Fabulous Bile: Again, pretty much identical to before but slightly more expensive. On the other hand, Enhanced Warriors is now a free upgrade to one squad with no nasty side effects.
Last push! Fast and Heavy! Signing off...