how do you use chaos spawn?

[DarthCycle]

Started recently and still cannot understand the tactical value of the Chaos Spawn unit.

 

With slow and purposeful, mindless, close combat weapon only, cannot be transported nor deep striked, I fail to see how to use them on the battlefield.

 

I guess you would typically use them in pair (single model unit are just too vulnerable), but for 80 pts, it seems a regular CSM troop unit with 5 vanilla models offers way more tactical flexibility.

 

Can someone enlighten me :D

[Rain]

I have never used them either and don't think I've ever really seen any other Chaos players use them outside of Apocalypse.

[dvdhwk]

"How do you use them?"

 

I don't.

 

They're too expensive, they're unreliable, they have no save of any sort. You're better off trying to squeeze in 3 marines.

[Brother Nihm]

Chaos Spawn. A pack of few, or just one used as harassment. Their average move (someone did all the math in another thread) is 8" a turn, + about 7" on the charge. So they will move faster than average, it takes more bolter and heavy bolter shots to kill one then a single marine and it can take on 3 regular bolter marines with a charge and come out victorious (killing its worth). They are random, and they are fun, they may be complicated to use at first but they will grow on you. I've tried them in large masses of 20 and they did alright, they're just the unexpected wildcard of the game. I think fluff junkies would use these more than others, but still a great option even just as a few.

[Hellios]

Started recently and still cannot understand the tactical value of the Chaos Spawn unit.

 

With slow and purposeful, mindless, close combat weapon only, cannot be transported nor deep striked, I fail to see how to use them on the battlefield.

 

I guess you would typically use them in pair (single model unit are just too vulnerable), but for 80 pts, it seems a regular CSM troop unit with 5 vanilla models offers way more tactical flexibility.

 

Can someone enlighten me :)

 

I don't use points in my army list I turn my enemy into them. For a few reasons. By the time you do this the enemy are often nearer so it gets shot lost, its also a good way to cause a little bit of chaos (no pun intended >.>) with any luck. Finally although not the best models to always try it on but you have to love your opponents face when you suddenly turn Daemon Prince/Wraith Lord/Hive Tyrant/Biff commander or whatever it may be into a spawn :>

[chillin]

Started recently and still cannot understand the tactical value of the Chaos Spawn unit.

 

Can someone enlighten me ;)

-

I think they are of little tactical value. I think a pack of daemons or even a 5 man squad of csm's w/ a plasma is more useful.

[Joah from Alberta]

They are overcosted in the Codex (should have been twenty five points oh well).

 

I am determined to use my spawn!!! Some day I will bless you all with glorified pictures of my Chaos Thunderhawk dropping spawn bombs. Although for today I must find a better image web hosting site as I lost mine today, and this imageshack isn't any good.

[Muskie]

How do they move 8" a turn. I tried out Sluggie the other day and the way I read it they move as if they are always in difficult terrain, ie one D6. In fantasy they move faster and squighoppers say move 3D6. It doesn't make sense they are fast attack if they move only a D6...

[dvdhwk]

How do they move 8" a turn. I tried out Sluggie the other day and the way I read it they move as if they are always in difficult terrain, ie one D6. In fantasy they move faster and squighoppers say move 3D6. It doesn't make sense they are fast attack if they move only a D6...

Slow and Purposeful: 2d6, pick the highest

+

Fleet: d6

+

Slow and purposeful beast charge: 2d6, pick the highest and double it.

 

So if they can't assault, they are moving an average of 7-8".

If they do assault, they have a average range of 15-16".

So on a bad day they can move a total of 4" (omg, that would be awful)

On a good day they can move a total of 24".

 

 

As far as turning enemy models into spawn, I haven't used GoC since the new dex came out. Granted, its great to get rid of a unit leader or an HQ choice, but what I don't like is the fact that the spawn you create is worth 40 VP's to the enemy. I'm not in the business of offering up more VP's than I planned to bring to the table. Plus I like to use other psychic powers.

[Seahawk]

Because they can fleet?

 

I use them 3x6 against IG. Overkill, and great fun. They just need to be deployed away from heavy weapons, and with other better targets anyway, they'll be wanting to shoot things other than the spawn. Lastly, since they deploy as FA, they'll get to choose the best spots.

[Muskie]

Somehow I forgot about that, not during the game, in the shooting phase I did fleet. I sucked I guess plus I played against loyalists with lots of guns. Sluggie got cut down both games at my opponents leisure. I'll try a squad of three Beasts of Nurgle someday, but bikes or raptors seem like better FA choices and for a 120 points I could buy a sorceror or a tiny Plaguemarine squad, probably do more than three Chaos Spawn...

 

In a huge Apocalypse game I guess you throw everything on the table. I haven't played Apocalypse yet, everything is a lot for me...

[DarthCycle]

Thank you all for the clarifications.

 

I missed the fact that Chaos Spawn is a beast unit, which allows to use fleet. Nice. Now I get it.

[Bloodwave]

At first glance they seems useless.

 

Just after considering the fleet, their FA status (deployment, as was pointed out) and the "psycology aspect" their uses become a bit more clear.

 

If your opponent regards them as useless, he may not want to waste shots on them... until is too late and the "blooby flesh sacks" start eating his troopers.

 

If your oponent actually consider them as a menace, each shot he pumps in to them is a shot not directed at your more reliable and tacticaly functional units.

 

So, either as shock unit asaulting infantry units or as fire magnets they can actually become handy.

 

They are still unreliable and overpriced though... But may well worth a try.

 

Personally I have an extra motivation to try them (I haven´t use them yet, but hope to do it soon) : Modeling / Model variety. I hate the spawn models, and I don´t want a malformed ball of meat dragging their sorry arses along my troops... But there are several fantasy beast that I like a lot, specially minotaurs and kroxis... the spawn entry in the list allows me to use them in 40k, game wise they would be spawn, fluff/model wise, they would be just brutish xenos critters used by the CSM as attack beast, and their "unreliability" (sp?) would come from the fact that they are stupid and semi-trained beast.

[Muskie]

I definitely got the rules wrong. It doesn't say Fleet in the unit entry but they are beasts so they move as Cavalry. I never did track down how they are 2D6" on the charge, probably in the Cavalry section. I definitely will be fielding three of these guys in my next army list. Everyone asked what the model was, it is the second Beast of Nurgle. I don't have any of the old, old, old ones...

 

Maybe eBay some day. There is a pretty cool commander conversion in the Legio Morbius section using part of the oldest Beast of Nurgle.

[darth_giles]

I don't use points in my army list I turn my enemy into them. For a few reasons. By the time you do this the enemy are often nearer so it gets shot lost, its also a good way to cause a little bit of chaos (no pun intended >.>) with any luck. Finally although not the best models to always try it on but you have to love your opponents face when you suddenly turn Daemon Prince/Wraith Lord/Hive Tyrant/Biff commander or whatever it may be into a spawn :>

I always liked doing that, but never had the spawns to make it work right. Now that we've got those oh-so-nifteh plastic spawns, I might try doing that again. Turning a C'tan, Interrogator Chaplain, Ethereal, or other highly important figure into a spawn just makes me laugh.

 

Or even better, turn the Ethereal's pet drone into a spawn. That proceeds to kill him and wear his head like a tentacle sock.

 

The reason the spawn these days have a victory point value is to make sure you only use them in situations where the figure spawned is worth more than 40 points. So less spawning of rank-and-file troops, and more of sargeants and independent characters.

[Roultox]

I use 1 lone spawn sometimes just for the harassment value, when an opponent rips into a squad and ignores the lone spawn, the spawn may end up keeping him contained where one squad is either pinned, falling back or shot up so badly they've lost assault range for next turn. A lone spawn can do decent damage, and you would be surprised how often they can hold a chaplain up long enough to give him issues.

 

One spawn has enough in him to actually kill a 2 wound chaplain that doesnt have artificer armor. A decent roll can rip into two marines, and definately kill a 2 wound chappy from time to time. (The look on the SM players face is priceless as a ** pt model kills a 135 pt chappy)