Chaos and Vigilus Ablaze. The short and sweet of it.

We are fresh out of the gates with a host of new models, a codex tweak (I can’t call it more than that) and a set of new Specialization Detachments that strongly mimic 7th edition’s Formations.

It’s very early but from everything I’ve gone from I’ve created a short cut for the basic info I’ve found on the Chaos Detachments, and my initial thoughts of everything that’s been laid out for us in the bast 7-14 days.

Abaddon is back, and I think GW put him in the right power (gaming) level.

Codex and New Unit Super Quick Take:

• Lord Discordant: Great idea, but the implementation is confusing. A Daemon Engine super repair man on a giant robot spider sounds really good, but he’s very fragile. At 12 Wounds he cannot be hidden by the Character Special Rule, and therefore needed to be T7 or T8 to survive T1 in most meta’s. Look to my next entry for the answer to this issue…
• Master of Possession: In my testing THIS is the guy you want. Much like the short stories GW have given us for Vigilus Ablaze, you can see why Abaddon has give the keys to the garage to the Master’s of Possession over the Warpsmiths on Spiders. This is the buff bot I prefer for Daemon Engines. Lord Disco is fun, but needs some changes.

  Daemon Engines: There’s a HUGE push for them in this edition. Don’t forget about the Kytan! As of this writing he appears to meet the criteria for most of the Master of Possession’s buffs!

• Dark Apostle: Think of a psychic phase without a Psyker. This could prove to be a very good choice that can’t be shut down unless he’s dead.
• Havoc Squad: GW seems to have a lot of ‘give and take’ with the codex tweaks. Here we have a unit that got instantly better by being able to Move And Shoot. A new Chaingun option makes the squad more desireable. Yet at the same time GW has limited the squad size to 5, making survival a little more tricky.

  Thumbs Down: To GW for making ONE Chaingun per box of Havocs while keeping the standard of 2 of every other weapon in the box. Shame on you GW. Like you don’t get enough of my income? (The good news is the Heavy Bolter is fairly similar in design and requires a minor bit add-on to create your own Chaingun.)

• Obliterators: Another give and take. Yes I would rather have the old ones, and go with a glass cannon strategy, however at a substantial points increase you now get: 6 shots, Toughness 5, a better close combat ability, and 4 wounds Per Model. As I write these guys are 115 points each!
• Venom Crawler: A little lackluster and probably over costed. I expect to see a point reduction soon, but it’s a great looking unit.

Just my Opinion….

• Here are some units I think GW messed up on:
• Chaos Space Marines: They did this fantastic visual upgrade and completely left them hanging in limbo. The kit should have had a new unit/item/weapon, and a baseline rule update. Unless you’re playing Red Corsairs, this is a tough sell.
• Terminators: Another great new kit. No new rules? No new weapons? Seriously GW at the pace of one new Chaos kit every 8-10 years this feels like a massive missed opportunity.
• Cultists: It appears if GW is hit hard with a strategy they don’t like, they go out of their way to diminish it. Cultists got turned down in rules, and squad size after a point hike. How about improving Chaos Marines instead of turning down something else?

Vigilus Ablaze is Chalk full of new Chaos Specialist detachments. Here’s a quick look:

Bringers of Despair:

Brutal Subjigation: 1 CP, BoD slays a model in fight phase, counts as 2.

 

Chosen Enforcers: 1 CP unit within 18″ autopasses moral.

 

Relic of leagion: Power axe replacement, +2 S, -2 AP, D3 Damage.

 

Devastation Battery:

Includes Lords, Warpsmith, Havocs, Oblits.

 

Wallbreakers: 1 CP, reroll damage against BUILDINGS!

 

Punishing volley: 1 CP (only if you go second in first turn  after opponent moves.) Shoot one Dev Battery unit as if it was your shooting phase. Nice. 

 

People can play around that except for big units like Knights, big vehicles. 

 

WT: Reroll wound rolls of 1 for friendly Dev units within 6″.

WT: No cover.

 

Cult of the Damned:

includes DA, Dark Disciples, Cultists (Don’t forget max squad now 30)

 

1 CP, cultists unit auto passes moral if a cultist unit kills a model.

1 CP Chorus of the true faith: After Dark Apostle  prayer, add one to the dice roll to see if the pair is heard (if cultsts are within 6″)

 

WL: Reroll cultists charge range.

 

Daemonkin Ritualists:

 

Includes: DA, DDiscples, MoP, GP, Possessed.

 

1 CP add one to S of attack charactistics of unit. Within 6″ MoP

1 CP one possessed unit takes mortal wounds to heal character (roll D3)

 

WL: Unmodified 6 to hit cause bonus mortal wound on top of normal damage. (Deamonkin ritualist unit within 6″ of WL)

Burning Rod Force stave replacement, +2, -1 D3, end of fight phase unit within 1″ takes mortal.

 

Soulforged Pack

 

Includes Warpsmith ,Daemon engines.

 

Daemonforged overdrive: 1 CP: Double amount of wounds for purpose of fighting in fight phase.

Infernal Engines: 1 CP: Charge even if you advanced.

 

Master of forges: WL Add 2″ to soulforged move characteristic within 6″ of WL.

 

Relic: Replaces Mechantendles, 1 attack for every model within 1″ of the bearer. +1 S, -1 AP, 2 D.

 

Host Raptorial:

Raptors, jump pack units.

 

1 CP reroll to hit for remainder of a turn you set up in.

1 CP enemy unit is destoryed by Raptorial unit, -1 LD.

 

WL Trait : Add 2″ to charge range to Raptorial units.

 

 

Fallen Angels:

anti dark angels.

 

 

Legion of Skulls:

Chaos Khorne detachment. Bloodletters

 

Brazen Skull 1 CP,  unit within 8″, roll BS skill on D6 causes D3 Mortal wounds.

Red Tide 1 CP Charge phase, unit that was charged confers +2 to charge for other units charging same unit.

 

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 And that’s pretty much all from online resources I found for now. There’s a fair amount of info there.

I hope to have some updates soon on my own Black Legion progress. See you soon!

Prot.