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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

First Chaos Space Marine codex review


I finally had the opportunity to sit down and read the new codex from front to back. I think it's okay and I'm very interested to see what people will take to major events. Some people have posited that the codex will do well using allies and I think that's true after some deliberation. There's definitely some interesting new nits to choose from in the new book that pack a mean punch.

Overall I think that Nurgle made out the best with Typhus, Plague Marines and cultists. While Plague Marines are the most expensive cult unit I think they are still well worth their points... They didn't really lose anything and Feel No Pain (FNP) is better now for them since they can shrug off plasma and meltas plus they finally got back their plague knives! I am wondering what is the optimal build for this unit. Back in 40k5 five Plague Marines with two meltaguns and a power fist riding in a rhino was very hot - you basically had a mobile pillbox that could blast its way through the enemy armored lines and they never really needed to disembark (most of the time). Maybe seven now per squad is the way to go and I think rhinos are still a good option for them.

As strange as it might sound I think that cultists not converted to plague zombies is another great choice. I would run them with autoguns and the MoN... Maybe take a couple of flamers as well for the crowd control. Sure it almost doubles their cost for the points but massed T4 is nothing to take lightly plus having all those S3 rapid fire weapons can definitely do some damage. I like this particular build because it makes the cultist much more versatile. If you stop to think about it cultists are there to hold objectives... The last place you want them to be is stuck in melee if you can prevent those types of situations. T4 is what made mutants so amazing for the old Lost and the Damned.

I agree with what the Goatboy said earlier this week in regards to cultists in his weekly article on Bells of the Lost Souls (BoLS)... If you've got some points left over then take another squad of cultists. I truly believe cultists have the potential to be one of the best new units in the codex. If you choose Imperial Guard as your ally you can build a very similar type of army for the most part (sans daemons of course).

Obliterators with the Mark of Nurgle (MoN) are obviously another very solid choice as well and they fit right into the theme for a Nurgle army.

Stepping away from Nurgle for a moment I was really struck at what a great HQ choice is Kharn. He has the high initiative power axe that's AP2 and quite a healthy number of attacks. He can still carve right through enemy armor (S6 plus Armorbane) and is very well costed for the points. I do wish Gorechild was AP1 and I think all of the special characters with the exception of Huron Blackheart should have Eternal Warrior and Feel No Pain. It's what it is though so not much sense to play the woulda coulda shoulda game... We have to play the hand we are dealt in my opinion.

That's all for now. I will definitely continue this series of new articles.

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