I'm going to have to stretch these out, it's honestly the only way I'll survive with how busy I am this week. I'll try to get as many in as I can, but I also need to start catching up on game showcases. But let's start with the big one - the veterans of the long war committed to bringing down the false emperor!
ARMY RULES
We've already had Dark Pacts previewed and know how fun and fluffy it is. It's definitely a win for trying to create a unifying rule for such a disparate faction. But we also never saw a Detachment for CSM. But even before we can get to that, we have a new rule to examine.
The Lost and the Damned
Do you want to field units like Khorne Berzerkers, Blightlord Terminators, or Rubric Marines in your CSM army? Here we have simple rule for doing so, like we've seen many times before. You get to just take up to a quarter of your army as units from the three named CSM legions. Those units become Heretic Astartes and benefit from all the rules in this Index. I'm a little sad that you have to split these points among all three legions, and can't spend a quarter on World Eaters, a quarter on Death Guard, and quarter on KSons. But this is probably the most balanced way to go about things.
Mark of Chaos
We finally have the name for the starting CSM detachment, Slaves to Darkness. This rule has you assign a mark to every unit in your army that isn't an Epic Hero and doesn't already have Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, Slaanesh, or Chaos Undivided on their Datasheet. That unit gains the chosen Keyword and an ability that triggers when you use Dark Pacts.
Khorne
Since you're signing away your soul for some power, might as well make that power more reliable. As long as you choose LETHAL HITS for your Dark Pact, you Crit on 5s in melee. "I'm sorry, what was your Toughness again? Never mind, I don't actually care."
Tzeentch
Not interested in getting stuck in? How about critting on 5s with LETHAL HITS with ranged weaponry?
Nurgle
Maybe you're not worried about having to get around high Toughness. Maybe a horde meta is what you're facing. How about critting on 5s with SUSTAINED HITS in shooting? I'm sensing a pattern . . .
Slaanesh
And yes, if you hadn't guessed it, Slaanesh grants SUSTAINED HITS on 5s in melee. But, there's still one more option.
Chaos Undivided
Do you need a more take all comers approach for your chosen unit? By not dedicating yourself to one member of the Pantheon, you get re-roll 1s to Hit with all attacks. Probably won't as reliably proc Dark Pacts, and I'm sure there will be other sources of re-rolls, but sometime what you need is a little tactical flexibility.
We then get a few restrictions for this, and they're basically obvious. You can't give a Psyker a Mark of Khorne, and you can't have a Character lead a unit they don't share a Mark with. Otherwise, you're free to mix and match.
STRATAGEMS
Infernal Rites
It's Armour of Contempt for CSM at 2CP. Although it sucks they have to pay a bit more, this is still a useful strat. It will definitely see play.
Eternal Hate
They also get a Fight on Death strat. This time, it's 1CP but only on 4s. However, if they've devoted themselves to Khorne, they get it on 3s.
Profane Zeal
Re-rolls 1s to Hit and Wound for 1 CP is already pretty awesome. But if you're Chaos Undivided, you get full re-rolls.
Skinshift
I'm doubting CSM has the same access to Apothecaries as Loyalists do. This stratagem helps with that, healing 3 wounds to a model for 1 CP. If the unit is dedicated to Tzeentch though, they get to heal and bring a slain model back. Very nice!
Unnatural Swiftness
Fall back and Shoot and Charge for 1CP is already very nice, but you also get to Advance and Shoot and Charge if the unit is sworn to Slaanesh.
Dark Obscuration
Our previous reveal now makes a lot more sense. This ability is very potent on a Nurgle unit, since they'll still be at -1 to Hit even if the enemy can get within 12".
ENHANCEMENTS
GW had mentioned some armies would have as many as six Enhancements. I'm wondering, with four gods and undivided, if this will be the first one that gets more than four.
Talisman of Blood
Oh wow! Our Khorne enhancement is really good, even if we've seen some similar already. The bearer gains +1 to Strength and Attacks with melee weapons. But the kicker here, is when they make a Dark Pact, that goes up to D3 Strength and Attacks instead! Potentially devastating!
Intoxicating Elixir
Alright! Here's the Slaanesh themed enhancement! You start with a 5+ FNP, so that's already pretty good. But now add forcing a Battle-shock test on something hit in both Shooting and Fighting. Very good!
Eye of Tzeentch
Strangely this rule isn't if you pass the Leadership test for Dark Pacts. The way it's written, you have to test again, and if you pass you get 1CP. CSM have decent leadership, so you'll probably get some nice CP this way.
Liber Hereticus
The Undivided enhancement gives you both LETHAL HITS and SUSTAINED HITS 1 when you make a Dark Pact. This is kind of boring, but the flexibility is nice.
Orbs of Unlife
Of course our Nurgle relic deals mortal wounds. Mortals are nowhere near as common as they were before, so being able to rain down some every Fight phase is very nice!
DATASHEETS
Previously we'd gotten Legionaries and The Don. Abaddon looked like a fantastic tech piece to lead your army with. But with almost no further reveals, we've probably got a lot to go through. In fact, according to the page numbers, I'm guessing 99 with an Armoury.
Abaddon the Despoiler
While he is a significant downgrade from his previous incarnation, he's obviously designed to play a different role this time around. Gone are the days of trying to challenge demi-gods on his own. Abaddon is a leader, and he's all about making your army better. All of his buffs are good, though Paragon of Hatred has the most synergy with Dark Pacts, at least if you don't mind risking some damage. Another important note is many Leaders only grant CP in their own Command Phase. While less reliable, Abaddon can gain CP in both turns. Paired with Eye of Tzeentch, CSM should be able to reliably play their key strats.
Haarken Worldclaimer
Abaddon's horrific herald Haarken can potentially spike some nice damage against some tougher targets. His melee is also mostly PRECISION, meaning he has some potential to remove a pesky character from a unit. With mortals on the charges, he can potentially devastate that unit too. But if that wasn't enough, your opponent's models have to make Battle-shock tests if they've lost any models at all. Interestingly, this rule features a clarification we didn't see on Knights, in that it spells out this doesn't cause the opponent to take two Battle-shock tests. Perhaps this mean that Chaos Knights can force two consecutive Battle-shock tests on the enemy?
Huron Blackheart
I just noticed we've seen no Legion Keywords for Abaddon and Haarken, and Huron doesn't have one either. Looks like you'll be able to freely mix and match any Datasheets in this Index. Huron's melee feels most effective against light infantry to me, even if his Exalted Weapon can take out some larger pieces. But this Datasheet is really playing up Huron's command capabilities. He adds 1 to the OC of any models he leads, can redeploy up to three units, and can make a D6" Normal move when the enemy gets close to him. A very nice set of rules.
Heretic Astartes Daemon Prince
Next to his Greater Daemon kin, this monster looks a little underwhelming. But alongside his former brothers, he's a bit more imposing. I'm not sure which of the marks would work best for him, but Khorne seems like the strongest to me. Although he can't lead units and doesn't have Lone Operative, he can grant Cover to himself and nearby units. He also gets one free re-roll to Hit and Wound, which definitely increases his reliability.
Heretic Astartes Daemon Prince with Wings
In addition to trading out a point of Toughness for 4" of movement, this version gets some suitably aggressive rules. First, it can dish out some mortals on a Charge. Second, if it flies over any enemies, you can have one of them test Battle-shock. Very fun and flavorful!
Fabius Bile
The independent Apothecary has some interesting Keyword shenanigans going on to account for the presence of his little helper. His combat profile allows him to pick off some models as he works, but we know we're playing him for his rules. He grants +1 to Strength and Toughness for his creations, can 0 out the damage of a single attack each turn, and he can return from death with full wounds. Interestingly, this is the first Leader we've seen that gets reattached to a unit that isn't destroyed. He can only lead Chosen and Legionaries, so no special Datasheet for his creations yet.
Cypher
The most prized of The Fallen can send out some mean shots with his plasma pistol. But, again, rules are what really matters here. He's Lone Operative, making him a challenge for your enemies to take out, can Vect a strat, and can fire back at enemy units that target him or another nearby unit. Definitely an interesting set of rules, but we'll need to see if he's priced to move or now.
Master of Possession
This popular Chaos champion has been kitted out to deal with enemy Psykers this time around. But he also comes with somewhat opposed rules. On the one hand, he helps keep his Bodyguards alive and get them into combat. On the other, he can inflict mortals on them to power up his attacks. This is going to be a strange tech piece that might not see as much play as before.
Chaos Lord
The generic Chaos Lord comes with a good, generalist combat profile and some nice Wargear choices. Like many commanders, he comes packaged with the ability to give a unit a strat for free. But he also has his once per game buff that improves all of his weapon stats by 1. You'll probably always going to want at least one of these.
Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour
The Terminator variant keeps the once per battle round strat ability, but now gains some incredible Toughness and halves all incoming damage. Paired with Chaos Terminators, this man will have staying power!
Sorcerer
The primary Chaos Psyker gets to bring a nice profile of powers with him. His attacks are okay. But the real boons are a -1 to Hits for incoming attacks, and the ability to potential hand out some mortals every time he hits something. If you can pair this with some Leadership penalties, that could be some reliable damage.
Sorcerer in Terminator Armour
The Terminator variant brings re-roll Advance and Charge rolls to help get your slower warriors where they need to be. Additionally, he can risk some mortals to bolster your AP and get your attacks through. Finally, if Terminator plate isn't tough enough, his familiar can soak a single hit for him.
Lucius the Eternal
Please let us get Emperor's Children this edition. Please let them come with a new sculpt for this model. While his combat profile is surprisingly unimpressive for representing the master swordsman, his rules are pretty good. Right of the bat he gets both Fights First and grants Fights First to his unit. That is always awesome. But he comes with his resurrection ability too, allowing him to be returned to the battlefield if his Armour destroys an enemy unit. Again, we get a rule where if he comes back you have to attach him again.
But what's really interesting is we get a hint of a rule we've seen in AoS, potentially here to hold us over until later. If you choose Lucius as your Warlord, Noise Marines become Battleline. This gives you at least some ability to field an Emperor's Children force.
Lord Discordant on Helstalker
The Disco Lord brings some very nice weapons and combat abilities to the game still, though you have to almost be in Engagement Range to get the MELTA 2 on his cutter. He hands out a brutal nerf to Vehicles, dealing -1 to Hit at best and denying them Shooting at worst. He can also pick out a Vehicle for your entire army to get re-roll 1s to Wound against. I'm still betting we're going to see a lot of Vehicles to start, so this model is probably still going to have some play.
Warpsmith
This model is an interestingly warped reflection of the Tech Marine. Like his loyalist counterpart, he still gets Lone Operative when near a Vehicle, and can still heal and buff one Vehicle per turn. But he also gets the ability to force a Battle-shock test on a single vehicle each round.
Exalted Champion
A nice default leader, in addition to granting +1 to Hit to his unit, he can punch above his weight each time he uses Dark Pacts. A nice potential recipient of some of those Enhancements. He also gains the benefit of being able to join a unit that already has a Leader.
Dark Apostle
This is an interesting buffing piece. Right off the bat, he can grant +1 to Wound to a unit he's leading. He can also sacrifice his Disciple to deal a few mortals. But the really neat one is he can undo Battle-shock once per game.
Dark Commune
Our new cultist models from last edition look like they do surprisingly well in combat. Interestingly, they take normally chaff infantry and give them some durability with a 5+ Invuln. They can also take their Cultist mob, and once per game give them Advance and Charge and +1 to Hit and Wound.
Legionaries
Our first CSM reveal is still a versatile unit for taking and holding Objectives. With so many characters being able to lead them, Legionaries are likely to form the backbone of many forces.
Cultist Mob
Chaos's versatile chaff infantry are, well, still chaff infantry. But they come with sticky objectives to help them take territory for you and then run off to die for the Dark Gods.
Accursed Cultists
While not Space Marines, you do get to return models to this unit each Command phase. This means that you can put them somewhere important and force your opponent to deal with them. If they're pointed right, this could be a useful tool.
Chaos Terminator Squad
Traitor Terminators just get the best buff to combine with Dark Pacts by default. Other than that, they're still Terminators. They hit well in shooting and hard in melee. 'Nuff said.
Master of Executions
Another popular character of 9th Edition, The Master of Executions gets both DEVASTATING WOUNDS and PRECISION. Plus he comes with that nice buff we've seen before that grants re-rolls based on how much damage the enemy has taken. And should he kill a character, you get a free CP. I'm betting we see plenty of him this Edition.
Possessed
Tough as nails, these would hit decently hard already. But they get to add DEVASTATING WOUNDS to their Dark Pacts buff. You'll probably want to give them SUSTAINED HITS as often as possible, to give you the most chance for those 6s. Even better, if you give them an icon they get to re-roll the Leadership test and so won't be damaged as often.
Chosen
Coming with an extra wound, descent weapons, and the ability to Advance and Fall Back and Shoot and Charge, this will probably be your primary combat unit. This is the second unit that most of your characters can join, so you'll want them handy.
Noise Marines
Just look at the range and damage on Blastmaster! Doom siren will probably make them a potential Overwatch recipient to hold some of the board with. But they also get that nice ability to force a Battle-shock test on something they hit.
Venomcrawler
Huh. This isn't bad, but it's not really stand out either. You can potentially snowball it until it has a truly terrifying number of attacks, but it will be difficult to keep it alive until then. Not sure I'm sold on this one.
Chaos Bikers
Who doesn't love some bad boys on bikes! These come with the ability to leave the table and then come back to hopefully outflank your opponent with some plasma and melta.
Raptors
I've always really like these models, and they'll hit decently in combat. But the real kicker is that they not only force Battle-shock as they fight, they also force a penalty to the test too.
Warp Talons
The TWIN-LINKED makes these potentially really nasty, but their best at pinning enemies in combat. Paired with Raptors, they can really be a nightmare for something that doesn't want to be in combat.
Havocs
The Traitor version of Devastators can bring some very nice weapons to bear and get some consistent shooting with their Stabilization Talons. These might be a nice ranged support option.
Obliterators
The more mutated version of ranged support has the ability to Deep Strike in and a weapon for any job. Honestly, you'll probably need them most as a reliable means to take down enemy armour. Though I'm a little frustrated we finally get a Melta weapon with the Strength to deal with higher Toughness vehicles and it loses a pip of AP.
Chaos Land Raider
Right off the bat, it does get the Assault Ramp rule to deliver reliable charges where you need them. It can take a combi-weapon and havoc launcher instead of the Loyalist hunter-killer, which is honestly more consistent. Chaos Land Raiders are still good.
Chaos Predator Annihilator
Other than some weapon options, this version of the Predator also gets a pip of OC on its Loyalist counterparts. Very nice!
Chaos Predator Destructor
Same here! Chaos Vehicles might be a slight improvement on the tanks of the corpse worshipers.
Chaos Vindicator
This one doesn't get the OC, but it does have the ability to bring combi-weapons and havoc launchers. So I still feel this is a little better.
Defiler
I've always been a fan of this model, but for two editions now it hasn't been able to put in the work it should. Now it's not only more mobile, but it's absolutely terrifying in combat! Hopefully it has a point cost that will let us see it on the table again!
Forgefiend
While the ectoplasma cannon looks mean, I feel like the Hades pairs better with this models ability to get DEVASTATING WOUNDS on attacks. Still, if you need to obliterate some elite infantry or light vehicles, that cannon will do it.
Helbrute
This thing is a beast in combat! You could definitely have some fun with weapon options here too. But if that wasn't enough, it buff Dark Pacts!
Helldrake
Why can't the vehicle whose whole schtick is breathing fire have an 18" flamer like some other models get? It's positioned as an anti-Aircraft vehicle, I'm just not sure that's a role we'll need.
Maulerfiend
CSM can definitely field some nice monsters to play with. This one gets a rule that not only grants it re-rolls to Advance and Charge, but you get to ignore any penalties to movement. No pinning this thing down!
Chaos Rhino
Dedicated transports look good in this edition, so you'll definitely want to grab a Rhino or two.
Chaos Spa-AH GARGLD!
Spawn were mostly used as list fillers to provide cheap screening and harassment units. That looks like it will still be their role.
Khorne Lord of Skulls
The absolute king of the Daemon Engines makes his return! Strangely, I don't see the rule we had revealed in the World Eaters Faction Focus. This might mean that this model performs slightly differently in each faction. Here, it forces Battle-shock tests on nearby units when it destroys something. And yes, something is most definitely getting destroyed.
Noctilith Crown
Will they succeed in making any Fortifications attractive this time around? They were getting on a role towards the end of 9th with Webways and Sporocysts both seeing play. This one not only gets the ability to grant Cover but also grants nearby CSM a 4+ Invuln. Pretty potent if you can fit it on the board.
Vashtor the Arkifane
To many, it felt like Vashtor was the first 10th Edition profile we ever got, as many of his rules heralded some of the changes we've seen. In many ways, he still feels underwhelming and now he's lost his Commander ability. I just don't know why he can't have a baleflamer with AP-2 instead of losing that pip of Strength. Why is the strike on his Hammer AP-1 when nearly all hammers are at least AP-2? At least he has DEVASTATING WOUNDS to got with that ANTI-VEHICLE 4+. As for rules, he does just flat out give all nearby friendly Vehicles +1 Strength and he can seriously debuff enemy Vehicles with half move and -1 Attacks. So he still makes a good commander for Daemon Engines, but he's still not impressive himself.
Traitor Guardsmen Squad
Hey! We get stats for the Traitor Guard from Kill Team! Depending on their cost, they're better at holding objectives than Cultists. So they might actually see some play.
Fellgor Beastmen
And now the unit we just got in the last Kill Team box! They look okay, but I wouldn't be relying on them to take objectives.
Traitor Enforcer
Another Kill Team piece, this model perhaps gives a peek at how Commissars will work. You can target the Traitor Guard he's attached to with Insane Bravery for free at the cost of a model. His Ogryn also has that ability to protect him with a 4+ FNP. This could really see play with Traitor Guard to hold backfield.
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