Don’t miss all the top rules combos that may bring several Chaos Space Marines legions out of retirement and back in the spotlight again!
Chaos Marines are getting their forces spiced up a bit with new tables of Stratagems, Warlord Traits, Relics, and more. So what are some of the top synergies for Chaos?
Word Bearers Dark Apostles & The Possessed
It only makes sense for true Word Bearers fans to play with Dark Apostles and Possessed. While there are actually quite a few good combos from their Legion’s tables, we can focus specifically on those two units.
A Dark Apostle can be upgraded to pray twice. Make sure he’s your Warlord with the Exalted Possession trait giving him +1 Attack, Strength, and Movement as well as the Possessed keyword. For prayers, One of them should be Omen of Potency.
This gives a nice touch of attacks already and will be able to slice right through most power armor. Beyond that, Dark Zealotry for melee rerolls or Souleater Portent for adding 1 to wound rolls are nice but it comes down to preference for which one you pick here.
Next, you’ll want to run this guy with a huge blob of Possessed or Greater Possessed for the Revered Hosts Stratagem. This will let a Possessed unit in melee add 1 to all their weapons’ damage. The Dark Apostle, at this point, can be a Smash Captain in his own right. However, if you’ve got a lot of models ahead of you like fat blobs of Primaris Marines, you’ll want Possessed nearby. That’s where the Dark Zealotry prayer really comes in handy.
When everything is done, if you chose to soup-up your Dark Apostle and turn him into a Smash Captain, he’ll be getting 7 attacks on the charge at S6, -4 AP and 3-flat damage a swing. For some extra tankiness, why not give him a 3++ invuln with the Relic Crown of the Blasphemer!
With other tricks up the Word Bearers army’s sleeve like being able to auto-cast Warp Time and turn a saving roll into an automatic 6 for 1CP (Hexagrammatic Ward), this Dark Apostle will be able to crack some skulls in melee and have more of a threat bubble than you might think.
For Greater Possessed, a unit of two will be able to bring about twelve attacks at S5, -2 AP, D3+1 damage and rerolling all hits. That’s enough slapping coming from two models to make a full-ten man squad of Intercessors think twice about hanging around. You just have to eat their overwatch so be sure to charge through a building.
Iron Warriors Are Just General Siege “Good Stuff”
Iron Warriors sit in a weird, although very good, spot. What we mean by “weird” is that there are SOME synergies, but nothing over the top where an entire army just clicks…unless you’re running nothing but Daemon Engines and a few choice Warlord Traits/relics. However, some of the top good stuff coming from this legion are:
Iron Warriors Smash Lord: Give this Lord a Jump Pack and the Axe of the Forgemaster. This axe gives him S+3 AP-3 2-flat damage. If you fight a vehicle, unmodified rolls of a 5+ do D3 mortal wounds in addition to normal damage.
In a meta where Iron Hands are spamming Stormhawks/Stormtalons, this is the perfect character to jump up and smack them right out of the sky.
While this guy is running around swatting metal things with his axe, you can give another cheap HQ the Siege Master Warlord Trait. This lets Havocs and vehicles within 6″ reroll 1’s to wound. If you’re a fan of Iron Warriors Chain Cannon squads of Havocs, they just got a lot better. Plus, Chaos is extremely limited for Lieutenant-style rerolls and Iron Warriors have access to it in a Warlord Trait. You can also always pop a 1CP Strat called Tank Hunters to reroll all wound rolls against a certain vehicle.
If Obliterators are more your speed, they also have a 1CP Stratagem called Rampant Techno virus that allows you to reroll the D3 result when they’re chosen to use their weapons. (Works for Mutilators too).
To top everything off, Iron Warriors Cultists are the now, best cannon fodder unit in Chaos. If you want to make sure your gunline can set up shop and not be disturbed by heavy incoming fire, you can put a string of Cultists in front. Pop the Cannon Fodder Strat and make it so units behind them can’t be shot at. That’s a total of 30 ablative wounds your opponent now has to chew through.
Emperor’s Children Are Scarier Than Ever
Emperor’s Children are in a much better spot than before. It sucks that we still don’t have any new models for these guys, but we’re covered in the rules department.
As for Slaanesh, they’ve got some really good options. The first is that they can turn a Lord into a laughing slaughter-thirsty maniac. In a meta full of autocannons and Stalker Bolt Rifles from Intercessors, Glutton For Punishment really hems up enemy fire. This reduces the damage your Warlord takes by 1 to a minimum of 1 and is awesome for a Lord Disco that can get shot at from the start of the game. While this might be the Lord Disco’s best option, it’s still awesome for a regular Lord you want to throw into melee as well.
Next, give your Warlord the Raiment Repulsive as a Relic option. It’s blurry, but this lets you reroll your hits, wounds, and charge rolls for this model. You normally spend 1 CP for a single reroll and this lets you reroll literally everything but the damage. It’s an auto-take on a Slaaneshi Smash Lord.
If you’re looking for more generalized army value, a Dark Apostle of Slaanesh is also the bees-knees. If you want to take The Remnant of the Maraviglia as a relic, this lets you reroll ALL wound rolls FOR THE REST OF THE BATTLEROUND for everything within 6″. It’s a once-per game use, but combine this with Endless Cacophony and Veterans of the Long War where all the fighting is going down and you will be scooping models off the table.
While there are plenty of options left out there and Legions we haven’t covered, these are some of the top options we feel like we may be seeing on the tabletops. What do you think of these Legion’s synergies? Do you have a favorite combo you spotted?
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About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
