The key to a good army is a powerful, charismatic and fearless leader. Today we'll be delving into the depths of the silver towers to bring you my thoughts on the codex's selection of HQ options. Magnus has been included here, as he is recognisable as a leader, even though he's a Lord of war
Let's start off with the big two, Magnus and Ahriman. Magnus hasn't changed massively from his Index incarnation: same intimidating stat-line, same Psychic Potential with three spell attempts and three denial attempts a turn, and a more lethal variant of Smite. What has changed is that he's more resilient to Perils, ignoring wounds on a 2+ thanks to his crown. His warlord trait also allows him to have one extra power from any of the three new disciplines. I can foresee some deeply devious combos with Magnus (e.g Warptime, Diabolic Strength, Glamour of Tzeentch and Gaze of Magnus for a 32" move, 8 str 18 attacks, -1 to hit magnus and up to 2d6 mortal wounds).
The downsides are that he's lost his ability to re-roll invulnerable saves of 1 (instead re-rolling psychic power rolls of 1), and now costs about 25 pts more. Still, a very solid choice in any Sons force.
Ahriman, much like Magnus, hasn't changed massively stat-wise. Still a competent combatant, his invun is now 3+ (4+ from his sigil, +1 from his warlord trait). His ability to re-roll invuns of 1 has been replaced with re-roll hits of 1, a standard change across most HQ choices, and arguably a better choice, as you're more likely to need to reroll 1's than an invun save (as the armour save will probably be used against most standard weaponry). Much like Magnus Ahriman has a wider range of power choices, but now gets +1 to all cast attempts. I recommended mounting him on his disc where you have the points, as this greatly increases his potential to buff units in your army.
Exalted Sorcerers are a bit more expensive since we had the Chapter Approved update and are still pricey here, but are now interestingly one of the only sources of Plasma Pistols and twin sword loadouts (which give you +1 attacks like lightning claws according to the FAQ). Other than a few pistol options and the re-rolls buff tweaks, nothing's new with these guys.Still, a solid alternative to Ahriman (though I would always take him as a priority if you have a few leftover points). One bonus of these guys over the named characters is that you can choose your warlord trait, whereas Ahriman and Magnus have fixed traits.
Basic sorcerers and Terminator sorcerers are ok budget choice. We've lost a number of wargear options (unless you rock the index versions) but we do get inferno bolts for bolt pistols and combi-bolters as standard, (which we can swap for plasma or a warpflame pistol). These guys do not get any re-roll buffs, and this might make them a weaker choice compared to the others. The Teminator model is where I think you'd get the most bang for your points. With more wounds, deep strike, a better save, and optional familiar for +1 to casting, he's a nice supporting unit for Scarab Occult or units otherwise teleported.Finally we have the Daemon Prince. The toughest HQ option (except Magnus) this guy is the one you take if you want to smash your enemies up close. With a fine stat line, easily buffed by powers such as Diabolic Strength, this is a solid choice for larger games. I'd be tempted to run double talons, when combined with diabolic strength, that's 8 str 9 attacks, hitting on 2's, re-rolling 1's, and damage 2 per hit. The model does start to get expensive when you factor in things like wings and weaponry, to pick wisely.
With a decent HQ selection in front of us, next for our consideration will be the Troops. Join me next time for a more in-depth review.