With 8th here, I now need to think about how my army will now play, what I can get for my points, and what combos I might wish to try.
The chaos index is an essential for the new edition, but the beauty of it is every non-forgeworld unit is in it, marine, daemon and knight. It’s great from a cost perspective; only having to by one book instead of two (plus datasheet). It’s also relatively small and compact which saves you carrying three hardbacks, and it makes it so much easier to reference when everything is in one place.
It also has a lot more synergy potential, in that the keywords replace a lot of the older criteria for buffs and abilities. Whilst limiting in some aspects, it makes the game a lot faster and easier to follow. You check an ability, check if the unit has the right keyword, done!
I’ve only had a few small games, so i haven’t really tried out any new combos, but I’ve picked our a few units you may be seeing more of in chaos lists, ane certainly in my lists and worklogs:
- Possessed- with a 7” move, they are now one of the faster on-foot units in the book, and with ap-2 claws and mutations, they are also pretty nasty in close combat. The d3 attacks isnt the best, but a buff from a nearby tzeentch herald for +1 strength*, plus the power that grants +1 strength, toughness or attacks, makes them very good (the powers affect TZEENTCH DAEMON units, and possessed have both these keywords. The rules clarify both unit and faction keywords are functionally identical, faction keywords are more for creating battleforged lists)
- Defilers- yes, defilers. With a ton of wounds, automatic 1 wound regeneration every turn and decent weapons, we may soon see more of these crab-like constructs, as well as their smaller daemon engine brothers
- Scarab occult-still as tough as ever. Now with 2 wounds and bolters that reduce terminator armour to a 4+ and get twice as many shots than jn 7th, I plan to have a lot of fun with these
- Helbrutes-no longer the runt of the litter in terms of unit choice, with a decent 8” move, 8 wounds and good combat prospects, I may have to drag a few of these along to each game
If i have a criticism is that as a Thousand Sons player, the choice of powers is very limited, going from over 20 to 4. Whilst the powers are nice (free extra move, mortal wounds and +1 to hit) I do like variety. Maybe this will be addressed in future publications.
So all-in-all it’s a big change to my usual experiences of the game. Most of it is for the better though, and it’s only really the psychic powers that bothers me (anyone want a copy of the heretech discipline cards?). I am really looking forward to trying out new exciting combos and I may not have considered or even been able to use before.
I’ve also recently received a copy of the Forgeworld chaos index which is full of even more shiny toys, so expect a review of that book in the near future.