Well then...

Codex: Chaos Space Marines has hit and there was an overwhelming... silence?  Don't get me wrong, I have seen all sorts of things from "OMG 'tis da bestes!!1! to "Meh".  Which makes me think... did Mr. Kelly actually get it wrong?  Could it be the ball was dropped?  That the real thing didn't live up to the hype at all?  Maybe.  It could also be that there were SO MANY rumors going around that maybe we suspended all disbelief of any type of failure...

Screw it.  It's here now and no use crying over what it could've/should've been.  Really?  We have been living with what will now forever be known as "The Gav 'Dex", it will live on long afterwards much like 3.5 did only without the nostalgia and warm fuzzy feelings.  Does the current codex get he "just right" stamp?  It's not too cold like the Gav 'Dex, but it also isn't too hot like the Haines(3.5) 'Dex either.

There are blogs aplenty that have done their unit by unit breakdown, I am not going to do that.  I am greedy with my time and only really care about how this affects my Word Bearers, and how this might change them (but ultimately how does it change my CURRENT models... ) or turn me off entirely to work solely on my 'Nids.  Chaos, it seems, is indeed fickle.

The HQs I have played around with have always been counts as Dark Apostles in the form of Lords, and/or Sorcerers... sometimes in Termie armor, sometimes with an Personal Icon, and sometimes as a vessel for a Greater Demon.  Now I actually have a Dark Apostle to use and, so far, he's kind of a mixed bag for me.  The design standpoint of Chaos right now seems to be Marks of Chaos everywhere, and to get a truly Undivided force you would have to take at least one marked unit from each power.  My inner fluff bunny is dying as I type.

That aside, a Dark Apostle with the Mark of Tzeentch is going to be a tough nut to crack with a 3+/3++ save.  Now the load-out has varied.  The Black Mace, maybe The Brand of Skalathrax, or nothing... but what about The Dimensional Key?  You don't lose any weapons taking the Key, and all friendly units don't scatter after it's activated.  Now, depending on how the 'Dex gets FAQed (and it will need it) this can become the new Demon Bomb if "friendly" includes allied Demons AND the Key works table wide.  At the moment it can be read as an additional effect of the Key's 12" aura or table wide.  But, how to get him into close combat as quickly as possible to activate the Key as fast as possible is the trick... put him with 4 Termies in a Land Raider? 9 Possessed in a Land Raider from heavy support?  With no option for a bike or wings he's kinda stuck hitching a ride with someone else and a Land Raider seems like the most reliable way to get him there.  He could have at least had the option for a demonic steed, a la Jarulek on a Disk.  So, a basic load-out I would do would be as follows...

Dark Apostle with 

Mark of Tzeentch

Gift of Mutation

The Dimensional Key

------------------

155 pts

Not bad, but if I can turn him in to a table wide Icon/Teleport homer that allied demons can use then it's worth it.

My Troops choices have always been the basic Chaos Space Marine, again Undivided here.  Last 'Dex I was fielding 2 squads of 10 with either Plasma Guns or Flamers, with a Power Fist champ, Icon of Chaos Glory, in a Rhino with a Havoc Launcher.  That clocks in at ~275ish points.  But, you got an all-comer unit with a 3+ save, S8 can opener, and a moving wall.  The unit as a whole was tough and less likely to shift because of the Icon, Morale re-rolls are awesome, and I will miss them.  The Icon also served as a delivery system for my other Troops, Summoned Lesser Demons, which I ran in 3 squads of 8 and they were stupid cheap for what you got.  A marine stat line, with a built in invulnerable save, AND they could assault when they showed up.  A rare, and powerful ability these days in 6th and I can see Ymgarls losing this as well when Nids get their turn.

So how does a basic CSM squad cost with a similar load-out today?

9 CSM + Champ

2 Plasma Guns

Gift of Mutation

----The total to this point is 180----

If I wanted to keep this unit really cheap, I would just add a power fist to the champ and footslog them at 205 points.  

Chaos Stars on Tumblr

Now where it gets interesting is whether you take an Icon of Vengeance, and make the unit Fearless... which Fearless in 6th is great, just ask any Nid player OR you give them Veterans of the Long War (VotLW) which gives them Hatred(Space Marines).  Going with the former is about 15 points more expensive than the latter.  Then add a Rhino with a Havoc Launcher and you get a range of 237 - 252 points that gives you lots of mobile firepower, with a decent save.  

I didn't take the close combat weapons for the squad or a power fist for the champ.  I'm trying to keep the unit on the cheap(er) side and both those options would add another 43 points to the unit.  I would rather spend those points on something else.  This, I think, is the downside of the new 'Dex.  Making sure that you have your Swiss Army unit is expensive with so many options to choose.  So just for the requisite 1 HQ and 2 Troops I am spending 629 points, ~1/3 of an 1850 list, or 565 without the Rhinos... which, by the way, feels a hell of a lot better.

So this has been a rough breakdown of the current Chaos 'Dex with the models I already own, and how those models have changed in their roles.  If I have to redo a good portion of my army I won't be terribly happy about it.  Getting some games in will definitely help me make up my mind, but Hive Guard have spoiled me something fierce.

Word Bearers in 6th

So... given that the new Chaos 'Dex is soon, as well as the new starter set, I'd figure I would go into what is exciting for me and my Host.  Now you have to keep in mind, most of this is based of the rumors that are going around as to what is in the new Chaos 'Dex.  I'm not adding to what's already out there, just going over some possibly exciting things from what I've seen...

- Cultists - Winning!  It's about time.  The beloved sons of Lorgar will finally be able to have all the cannon fodder/meat shields they could want!  

The ultimate Cultist

- Dark Apostle - Even more winning!  Having an actual unit (most likely a Lord upgrade of some kind) that affects the troops/Cultists around it... is boss.  How will this interact with my Cultists?  Will the Look Out Sir! rolls flow like water?  Yes, yes they will.  Here I would have no problem rolling each and every Look Out Sir! roll... it just fits the Word Bearers so well.  Cultists jumping in front of shots designated for the Dark Apostle? Yes please, can I have some more?  Even better would be to allow him to be a psyker as well, close combat monster with even more utility? Yes.  Please.  I'm already enjoying this type of play style with my 'Nids, being able to continue that back into my CSM would be awesome.

- Multiple Demon Engines - Before we had the Defiler and Dreads.  Now there is supposed to be 2 more options... one with built in melta-weapons on the arms, more of a siege engine if you will. The more I think about it, the more Forgeworld's Decimator Engine makes sense.  The precedent has already been set with Trygons being put into the Tyranid 'Dex, so it's not too far of a stretch to have the Decimator or something close to it.  Although it wouldn't be all that surprising if it was something along the DreadKnight either.  On the other hand, rumor has it, that Dreads are taking a hit and would have power fists (and strike at Initiative 1) as opposed to the Dread CCW.  This I don't really see happening but we will see.  Now an interesting point that just surfaced the other day was that a Dark Apostle could help keep a Dread well-ish behaved.  The other demon engine is a shooty type with some insanely strong firepower.  Again, with Hull Points being what they are it will be interesting to see how Demonic Possession will work with vehicles in the new 'Dex.

Hell Yeah

- Possessed - Supposed to be able to roll their powers, but those powers aren't supposed to suck.  I think almost anything they can do to help the rules of those awesome models should be done.  Those are some beautiful sculpts to be used mainly for converting and little else.

- Actual Demons - Now, I am a little mad about this... but only a little.  I worked hard to get my Greater and Lesser Demons to look good... now they will be invalidated...

"...but who cares!!!"

I could actually use demons, the real deal, and this (as a Word Bearer player) makes me very, very, happy.  Now it just comes down to what flavor do I want the most, and can they use my icons to come in, looks like my reading up on Demons should start soon, and the FAQ.  That, and the Allies section of the rulebook... since 'Nids don't get any allies, I haven't really read through that section more than once.

So those things are enough to make me want to dust off the Host, and get it finished.  But, I am willing to wait until I get the actual codex in my hands and read it a few times through.  I will say though, that the future of my Word Bearers is looking good.  It was my first real army for 40k that I fell in love with and even if only half of these rumors end up being true then I will be pleased.

But how does that translate to the table now that 6th is here?  Squads of marines, cultists in front of them to grant them the 5+ cover save.  Better yet my Dark Apostle in a unit of Chosen, surrounded by ~30 Cultists able to soak up a ton of fire and then hit the line like a brick.  Like Chaos should.  Hopefully this new 'Dex will bring back the fear of a fully tooled up Chaos Lord.  Demons, demons everywhere... jumping out and shredding things with Possessed along side them.  Back in 5th I used my Rhinos primarily as mobile cover, this edition really won't change that tactic too much... at least not at first.  My regular opponent is playing Space Marines, I've noticed he's been pretty static with deployment for his vehicles and this isn't working too well for him.  I'm figuring that playing more aggressive with my tanks might be a better way to go.  If it's only a matter of time until they get popped, I might as well make them a pain and take as much with me as I can.

Several demon engines along a flank to roll up and crush all in it's way, with Dreads close to the Apostle to behave and provide more walking cover.  Lots of bodies on the ground with powerful support from afar with... tanks, maybe flyers, and Oblits.  Even Plasma Gun Havocs or Chosen (if either of those weapon options stay) look good with the changes to Rapid Fire.  However if the rumors are true (oh please oh please oh please) then Havocs will be one of the first units with Flakk Missiles.  This might also prompt me to actually buy the Forgeworld pre-Hersey era weapons packs I've been seeing.  With 6th, everything has been shaken up, and so far I think for the better, and with the cinematic angle that GW is pushing it feels like I can finally play that Word Bearers list I've always wanted to.  

I just hope Chaos will be a GREAT first codex to what seems to be a great ruleset so far.

Chris