In the world of Warhammer 40,000 there exists another realm beyond Real Space. Known as "The Warp," it is an endless and timeless expanse filled with the swirling chaos of souls, and home to the four dreaded Chaos Gods: the plague god Nurgle, the god off excess Slaanesh, the god of change Tzeentch, and Khorne, the bloody god of war and carnage. Now, to harness the power of Chaos and the tumult of the Warp for your armies, Games Workshop is releasing a new ruleset called Codex: Chaos Daemons, allowing you to field units comprised entirely of evil demons dedicated to the Chaos Gods. Games Workshop sent us a copy of the new Codex, as well as new miniatures for the Chaos Space Marines, to check out!
Who Are The Warhammer 40K Codex Chaos Daemons?
Born from the Chaos of the Warp, Chaos Daemons erupt forth to ruin everything that mortals build, cherish, and care for. They are pure malevolence made manifest, and come in a huge array of shapes, sizes, and forms based on their needs on the battlefield and the Chaos God they're tied to.
Whether they're blood-red Flesh Hounds tearing their victims apart in service of Khorne, rubbery blobs known as Blue or Pink Horrors dedicated to Tzeentch, Plaguebearers bringing forth pestilence on the battlefield for Nurgle, or Slaanesh's pure manifestations of sensory overload known as Tranceweavers, these Daemons all spread their own special brand of terror on the battlefield.
What's Included In The Warhammer 40K Codex Chaos Daemons?
Included in The Warhammer 40K Codex Chaos Daemons are rules for fielding an army of Chaos Daemons, as well as rules to combine them with Chaos Space Marines units, Crusade Rules for campaign play, loads of lore about the Daemons, and The Book Of The Warp, a Be'lakor-centric army of renown.
The first 37 pages of Codex Chaos Daemons are dedicated to the lore of the Daemons, and includes the history of the Warp, important points of interest like the Eye of Terror, and a description of the four Chaos Gods and how their powers manifest in their Daemons. It's an extremely satisfying read just as a work of fiction, and lays the groundwork for much of the army building you'll put together in this book. From there, we get a new gorgeous section of showcase photos, showing off select models professionally painted by the Games Workshop team.
Most of the rest of the book is dedicated to the rules for running these armies, including rules for combining different Chaos Daemon forces together. There's also a new rule that allows players running a Chaos Space Marines group to include one unit of Chaos Daemons in their army, as long as that unit doesn't consist of more than 25% of the total point total allocated to your army.
There are also Warp Storm Effects, which use a mechanic called Warp Storm Points. Using Warp Storm Points (which can be gained with a good d6 roll at the start of each battle round, and are gained through other means as well) players can impart powerful boons to their units, like giving Slaanesh Daemons the chance to fight first in a battle round, raising the ballistic skill of Tzeentch Daemons during a shooting phase, adding 1 to the attacks characteristic of all Khorne Daemons, and even improving a Nurgle Daemon's ability to attack vehicles (because they make it rust).
There's not enough space here to go into all of the different datasheets included in this book, but we'll list out some highlights we think are pretty awesome. For Khorne, there's the hulking, fire-red Bloodthirster, who attacks with a bloodflail that continues to deal out its excess damage to other models in a unit it targets. We also love the aforementioned Blue and Pink Horrors, who when killed explode and turn into more Horrors to tackle. There's the famous Great Unclean One for Nurgle, who has a staggering 22 wounds and an incredible suite of weaponry and noxious attacks. Finally, there's the Fiends of Slaanesh... which we just think look really freaky with their anteater-like tongues.
What Are Our Final Thoughts On The Warhammer 40K Codex Chaos Daemons?
This book does everything we could possibly want from a Codex for the Chaos Daemons. It's full of great imagery, the rules are expansive and customizable, and it really opens up the Chaos Daemons into a new realm of play for gamers hoping to modernize their Daemon armies.
Should I Buy The Warhammer 40K Codex Chaos Daemons?
Like all modern Codex releases from Games Workshop, The Warhammer 40K Codex: Chaos Daemons is an absolutely incredible tome. From the vivid (and at times horrifying) lore at the start of the book, to innovative new ways to field Chaos Daemons, if you have any interest in running a Daemons army this book is an absolute must purchase.
Bonus! Chaos Space Marines Accursed Cultists and Possessed
Along with the Codex: Chaos Daemons, Games Workshop also sent along two new sets of units for the Chaos Space Marines army, the Accursed Cultists and the Possessed.
First, let's take a look at the Accursed Cultists. These cultists have undergone a serious transformation, and now run forth slashing and tearing at their foes. Their weapons aren't incredible, but they each have 2 attacks (and Torments, the sort of leaders of the group, have 2D3 attacks), and they cannot perform actions or embark on vehicles. The trade-off though is incredible, as you can return up to 3 destroyed mutants (or 1 destroyed Torment) to this unit at the start of your Command phase. They also have a chance to ignore wounds with a good die roll, and when they die they don't impact Morale tests (because who cares about mutant Chaos rabble?).
The Possessed are your true brute force, with each individual model getting a nasty 5 attacks (6 for the leader of the group). They hit hard, too, with their "Hideous Mutations" weapon matching their strength (5) and getting a -2 Armor Penetration. Each successful attack also does 2 damage, making them the perfect unit to charge in (with their 9" movement range) and begin slaughtering your foes.
All in all, both of these new Chaos units are meant to move in fast and starting locking down and chopping up your enemies, and we love the bold design on them. Looking at their twisted, malformed bodies really begs the question: is it worth it to pledge yourself to Chaos? We're not so sure!
The products used in the creation of this review were provided by Games Workshop.