Whether you’re a loyalist or a follower of the Dark Gods, this renegade buyers guide for the new Chaos Space Marine HQ’s will get you up to speed in no time!
Chaos 2.0 has been here for a minute now and it only has one problem- nearly everything in the codex is actually useful. So here’s a handy buyer’s breakdown for new and returning players that explains what every power unit does in the new codex.
Chaos Lord
Why he’s good: Chaos Lords are cheap and have tons of options to make them into human missiles now that the character keyword opened up in the last FAQ. The optimal chaos lord is the mortal wound machine flying chainsaw warrior that uses the Black Legion relics from Vigilus.
Does he play out of the box? No. There’s an infinite variety of effective wargear and mount combinations available to chaos lords now. So you have to do conversion work. No one model will have everything you need to make the ideal chaos lord, but if you just use a Haarken World Claimer and clip off his weapons and replace them with chainswords, that’s an easy win for the Black Legion Chainlord.
Daemon Princes
Why he’s good: The Chaos swiss army knife. He fights, he casts spells, he flies, he can hide behind other units, and just recently, FLY keyword was fixed and he can leapfrog enemy units when charging. The go-to HQ for the Chaos player on a budget.
Does he play out of the box? Yes. The daemon prince is a Jack of all trades. He isn’t as cheap as a sorcerer, and he isn’t as much of a blender of as a Black Legion Chainlord, but he is a threat in every phase of the game and everything he needs comes in one box. This is the ideal budget HQ choice for the new Chaos player. Just because he can do everything reasonably well and will still be useful as you reach higher levels of play.
Dark Apostle
Why he’s good: Hands out prayers at the start of your turn to nearby units to create wombo combos. Prayers are buff spells that can’t be countered by your opponent.
Does he play out of the box? Yes. Dump him out of the box with his two choir boys and he is good to go.
Lord Discordant
Why he’s good: He’s fun to play, he looks cool as hell, and he’s a giant spikey murder machine that buffs Dinobots. You want to own at least two of them and three isn’t a bad idea. He’s the man of the hour in this codex and he has every good keyword that Chaos wants. He wombo combos with nearly every stratagem and psychic spell he could want to be buffed by.
Does he play out of the box? Yes. However, he is best suited to leading Dinobot monster mash lists. You’ll get the most out of the lord discordant if your list is top heavy with monsters he can buff.
Master of Possessions
Why he’s good: You get him in your Shadowspear Box Set and he’s an excellent plug for holes in the list. Technically, there’s nothing that the MoP does that a sorcerer with an appropriate mark or a Thousand Sons sorcerer can’t do better. But the MoP is convenient one-stop shopping. Especially when you get him for free in your starter box. Consider him a sorcerer with training wheels until you feel comfortable branching out into a more diverse psychic phase.
Does he play out of the box? Yes. He’s just a spooky wizard with a stick. You can’t change any of his stuff and you don’t need to.
Chaos hit up valuetown pretty hard here in Chaos 2.0. How many lord discordants do you run? Do you prefer the master of possessions over a normal sorcerer still? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
About the Author: Jack Stover
