Chaos Apocalypse Review

[Sception]

Apocalypse! Massive battles on epic scales, with all the rules and restrictions of petty lesser games of 40k obliterated. Units and formations of ridiculous power flatten city blocks hundreds of inches away with templates the size of pizzas. While the core game of 40k provides a relatively balanced & competitive play experience, Apocalypse does away with all that. Apocalypse games are about house rules, opponants consent, and narrative battles. It requires a lot more organization. It requires a lot more time and effort. It requires opponants with similar ideas of what they want out of the game. It doesn't work for bring and battle. It doesn't play well with strangers. But, if you have the time, the effort, the opponants, and the surface area, Apocalypse can provide the most exciting and memorable gaming experience you'll ever have playing Warhammer 40k.

 

Chaos and Apocalypse go together like chocolate and peanut butter. Chaos is huge, personality driven, and prone to massive incursions. Chaos is the archetypal villain of 40k, constantly plotting to undermine and overthrow the forces of Order in the 40k universe - the Eldar, the Tau, and especially the Imperium. As such, it is perhaps fitting that Chaos has the most and the most exciting options for Apocalypse games. When creating your Apocalypse army, you as a chaos player have a dizzying array of resources to pull from, including several codeces, the renegade list in Imperial Armour V, and Apocalypse options chosen from the Apocalypse Rulebook, Imperial Armour Apocalypse, GW's webpage, and homebrew material on the internet. Not to mention your own imagination. Since an Apocalypse army starts with a regular army, I'm first going to go over the various codeces that you might draw from when constructing a Chaos army.

 

 

Codeces:

 

Codex: Chaos Space Marines. Obviously all of the options in here are available and perfectly appropriate for Chaos Armies in apocalypse. With solid troops choices and a decent selection of options to choose from, the Chaos Space Marine codex could easily form the backbone of your Apocalypse army. Apocalypse puts heavy emphasis on scoring, and 5e is going to make scoring about the troops. With several rock hard troops choices, including multiple fearless options, C:CSM makes a solid foundation for your army - durable and aggressive, with specialist support.

 

Codex: Chaos Daemons. As with C:CSM, this is a codex geared explicitly to the forces of chaos, and as such the units here are all appropriate for a Chaos Apocalypse army. In my own personal opinion, this book works better as an add on to an APO army built primarily out of C:CSM, but a full daemonic incursion could also be a sight to see. The Daemon book has a lot of nice options for Apocalypse armies, including the large and visually arresting Greater Daemons, Bloodcrushers, and especially the massive Soulgrinder.

 

Codex: IG. Yes, C:IG is an imperial book. However, the forces of chaos almost always work with renegade humans, and if you don't have access to Imperial Armour V, C:IG is the best way currently available to represent them in your APO games. Of course, be sure to avoid clearly imperial units like commisars, and shy away from explicitly imperial wargear options. Choose doctrines like warrior weapons, chem inhalers, or hardened fighters, and units like conscript platoons, abhumans, priests, and psykers, to give your army a renegade feel.

 

Codex: SM. Again, normally an imperial codex, Codex: Space Marines is the perfect way to represent more recent Space Marine renegades and traitors. Why would they lose their land speeders and assault cannons just because they turned away from the Emperor? Where would they find all those autocannons, exactly? Now your recent marine traitors can have gear to set them apart from heresy era legions. Of course, avoid taking Chaplains in normal circumstances (a chapter corrupted by the teachings of the Word Bearers might include tainted Chaplains, but most traiter marines will have to kill theirs).

 

Codex: Daemonhunters & Codex: Witch Hunters. These codeces represent some of the staunchest supporters of the imperium and fiercest enemies of chaos, and indeed I wouldn't reccomend fielding Grey Knights, Sisters of Battle, or Ordo Assassins in a chaos army - lest you dilute the game to the point that the narrative element is lost (unless the entire point of your army is traitor Sisters or something similar). I would not use these codeces as the backbone of a Chaos army. However, there are a few options that a chaos player might cherry-pick to add to his Apocalypse army. Radical inquisitors frequently fall into full bore Chaos worship, making them, their retinues, and their stormtrooper guards all flavorful choices. Deathcult Assassins, Daemonhosts, and Orbital Bombardments are also appropriate. In a regular game, teaming radical inquisitors with an appropriate C:SM or C:IG can make an evocative traitor or heretic army.

 

Imperial Armor V: Siege of Vraks 1. This book includes rules for playing the heretics and renegades of Vraks. This list is functionally a Chaos variant of C:IG, and as such can replace that codex for use in representing traitor guard forces in your Apocalypse army. It's a very cool army, specifically intended for Chaos, and I highly recommend checking it out. The Siege of Vraks is an ongoing FW event, keep an eye out for new army lists to draw from in future Imperial Armour books.

 

 

 

Mixing Lists: You can put together an entire Chaos Apocalypse army built out of just one of these codeces (particularly the three choas lists - C:CSM, C:CD, or Vraks Defenders). However, one of the best parts of Apocalypse is mixing allied codeces together to better represent your faction. Great Chaos incursions typically include strike forces of chaos space marines, legions of lesser traitors and mutants, and plagues of daemons feasting on the destruction and anguish of battle. While the Lost and the Damned list used to allow this kind of army to be represented in 40k scale, now Apocalypse alone lets you field true armies of Chaos, in a game scale worthy of them.

 

One of the best ways to build up to a Chaos Apocalypse army is to collect separate 40k Chaos armies. Maybe you have a core 2,000 point Chaos Space Marine army. Sure, you could make it bigger, but you're unlikely to play more then that in a regular game of 40k. Instead, when you get the urge to expand, try starting a new chaos army. Collect a 1,500 point traitor guard list using IA:V, or a mix of C:IG and appropriate options from the Inquisition books. When you're done with them, take the daemons from your CSM army, and add a few more to make a 1,000 point daemon army. This lets you get some variety in your regular 40k games, and it lets you try your hand at painting a wider range of models so you don't get bored with power armor. Then, when you play apocalypse, throw them all together and suddenly you have a very impressive and fluffy 4,000 point Apocalypse army, without having to buy or paint any models that won't see use in regular games (although at that point you'll probably want to add a super-heavy; an army that big deserves an appropriately overblown centerpiece ;)).

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for now. Next time I'll start a similar brief overview of Chaos options specific to Apocalypse, with an additional note on special characters. After that I'll give some examples of how options taken from all of these resources can come together into a coherent army, including some specific discussion of the Traitor Legions. Later I'll go into basic Apocalypse rules and tactics, advice on setting up games, and finally I'll list a few house rules and homebrew datasheets of my own design.

[chillin]

Good stuff, keep it coming.

[Joah from Alberta]

Yeah, we're having a grand Apocalypse event over at my friends house. I'm thinking of building a World Eaters Chaos Conclave, Khârn, DP, 3X Chaos Lords. I modeled my Khârn on a bike, figure he deserved some wheels after 10000 years. Hopefully my friends won't mind too much.

 

I was going to bring my Chaos Thunderhawk with Spawn bomb, but alas, it is not ready yet, but you deserve a look http://www.worldeaters.net/viewtopic.php?t=904

 

So, can Apocalypse datasheets share the same requirements? For example, could I use one Khârn to fulfill the requirements of say, Chaos Conclave AND Maelstrom of Gore?

[Sception]

Yeah, we're having a grand Apocalypse event over at my friends house. I'm thinking of building a World Eaters Chaos Conclave, Khârn, DP, 3X Chaos Lords. I modeled my Khârn on a bike, figure he deserved some wheels after 10000 years. Hopefully my friends won't mind too much.

 

I was going to bring my Chaos Thunderhawk with Spawn bomb, but alas, it is not ready yet, but you deserve a look http://www.worldeaters.net/viewtopic.php?t=904

 

So, can Apocalypse datasheets share the same requirements? For example, could I use one Khârn to fulfill the requirements of say, Chaos Conclave AND Maelstrom of Gore?

 

Sorry for the late reply, work's been nutty, illness, etc etc. First, that thunderhawk conversion is awesome! It's a shame it wasn't ready for your game. As for your question on separate datasheets sharing the same units? The official answer is no, see page 101 of the Apocalypse book. That said, house rules are the name of the game in Apocalypse, and I don't personally see anything wrong with the masters of the chapter showing up with their battle companies, or with half of a chaos conclave appearing in an annihilation force, or with a few Emperor's Children sonic predators forming up into an assassination squadron. So talk to the other players and see what they think.

 

 

Anyway, on to Part 2!

 

 

Chaos Apocalypse Review, Part II

 

In the first part, I went over some of the various codeces you might use to put together the core of your army. This time I'm going to go over some of the fun extra options that Apocalse introduces to your army. If chaos armies are spoiled for choice in terms of core codeces, our Apocalypse options are even more ridiculous. Not only does chaos have a ton of options all to itself, it can also use any Imperial options that you and your opponants feel are appropriate! Iron Warriors armies with artillery batallions, World Eaters berzerkers assaulting from a Thunderhawk Gunship, a traitor Baneblade to anchor the lines of the heretical defenders of Vraks, as long as it makes sense, the sky's the limit! But before we get into the massive formations and invincible warmachines of Apocalypse, I'm going to take some time out to discuss a few ideal options for Apocalypse games hidden right in your own codices. I'm talking, of course, about Special Characters.

 

Ah special characters. Usually super powerful, super expensive beasts, these HQ options usually make poor choices for regular games of 40k, either because they're simply overpriced, or because it simply doesn't make sense the Despoiler himself would show up to the small scale battles that regular games of 40k represent. But neither of these problems really applies in Apocalypse games. These are the huge games that the real military leaders of the galaxy are sure to involve themselves in. As for being overpriced - wasting 50 extra points on an overpriced character in a 1500 point game of 40k may simply be unacceptable, but what's 50 points in a 5,000 point game of apocalypse? So if you think a character makes sense for your army, then by all means, here's your chance to field them, guilt and worry free!

 

However, there are some things to keep in mind when fielding bruisers like Abaddon or Typhus. While the size of Apocalypse games make the cost of fielding these monsters easier to swallow, an Apocalypse battlefield is a far more dangerous place, and few things suck more then watching your nearly 300 point special character vanish under a single destroyer template on the first turn of the game. So my advice, if you're going to field an expensive special character, is to keep them in strategic reserve at the start of the game, and bring them in on turn two or three, after spending your first couple turns trying to eliminate those nasty enemy superweapons.

 

Now, most of the special characters available to chaos are fairly self explanatory. I don't need to tell you that Abaddon makes an awesome HQ for a Black Legion apocalypse army. But there are a couple special character options worth individual mention. First up is Colonel Schaffer and his famous Last Chancers in Codex Imperial Guard. Now, Schaffer himself is a loyal imperialist above reproach, and should not be included in Chaos Armies outside of weird alternate universe themes. However, his rules for small groups of independent infiltrators mesh extremely well with the concept of traitor guard, so while I wouldn't field Schaffer himself, I would strongly consider using his rules to field my own traitor commando groups in any chaos guard Apocalypse army using Codex Imperial Guard.

 

The second is an old Chaos Space Marine favorite - Khârn the Betrayer. He's a notable exception to the usual assumptions for Chaos Marine special characters in that he explicitly doesn't go around leading huge armies. Even special characters like Lucius the Eternal or Ahriman who could be reasonably expected to be found alone or with small retinues also occasionally lead large armies as well. Khârn, as far as I understand it, almost always travels alone or is followed by a small retinue. If he's at a large battle, it isn't because he gathered an army and brought them there, its because he heard the call of carnage and answered it. As such, while he fits right into a big Khornate Apocalypse army, it doesn't really make sense for him to be that army's commander. So you should consider fielding some other Khornate chaos lord or daemon prince to be the army's general.

 

 

 

Alright, on to what everyone's been waiting for, the datasheets! Apocalypse Datasheets come in two varieties - legendary units and formations. The legendary units are typically the war machines of Apocalypse, the titans and superheavy vehicles that give your Apocalypse army an Apocalypse-sized centerpiece. The formations take your regular models and form them up into massive 'units of units' that reward you for fielding units and vehicles that make sense together, or reward you for having multiples of the same unit or vehicle. As mentioned above, chaos armies can take advantage not only of chaos datasheets, but also of any imperial datasheets that make sense for your army. So where do you find these datasheets? Well the first you'll run into are in the Apocalypse book itself.

 

The Apocalypse book has a couple formations that are explicitly for the forces of chaos, as well as several Space Marine and Imperial datasheets that make sense for chaos armies. Be careful with the Space Marine formations, though. Unless you're playing a more recent renegade marine force, you should probably avoid formations like 'Masters of the Chapter' or 'Battle Company' which represent codex force organization, which most chaos marine forces simply do not use. Better off finding another formation that better fits the organization of your legion, or making up one of your own.

 

After the Apocalypse book, the next place to look for your datasheet needs is the Games Workshop webpage. Not only does the webpage add a few more applicable Imperial datasheets, it now has a veritable boatload of new chaos datasheets, from formations for the Emperor's Children and Thousand Sons legions in particular to superheavy warmachines and daemon engines for each of the chaos powers. After the Apocalypse book itself, the GW webpage is definitally the first place you should look for new datasheets.

 

Forgeworld, makers of many 40k scale death machines, is also in on the Apocalypse datasheet action, with Imperial Armour: Apocalypse. This book has datasheets for dozens of forgeworld models, and also introduces a few new formations as well. With something for everyone, I strongly recommend that any 40k gaming group that plans on playing regular games of Apocalypse should invest in at least one copy of this book. Chaos-specific options range from the Chaos Warhound to giant spawn to massive super-daemons. And, as with pretty much any collection of datasheets, chaos benefits double since we can pull any applicable imperial datasheets as well. Forgeworld also previews trial rules for new releases on their website, although you'll want to pick up the actual IA book for anything you use when it is eventually released, as the rules are frequently tweaked slightly. As of this writing, I think only the rules for the Reaver Battle Titan are up, but new FW trial rules frequently rotate in and out. If you use published Forgeworld rules, this site also faqs worth looking at.

 

 

But why rely on just official and semi-official sources? Home brew rules and datasheets are part and parcel to awesome Apocalypse gaming, and the internet fan community does not disappoint! Bell of Lost Souls, a 40k blog, was one of the first to put together a pdf collection of homebrew datasheets, which can be found right here. Based mostly on old epic models, these datasheets introduce exciting options including Reaver battle titans, Cannons of Khorn, and the like. There is some overlap with official datasheets (this pdf includes rules for Silver Towers of Tzeentch which were released before GW released their own rules on the webpage linked above). Where you find multiple versions of the same unit, you and your opponents will have to come to an agreement on which to use. Other then the Lords of Battle PDF, there are tons of homebrew datasheets to be found online, and you could do worse then surfing right over to Bolter and Chainsword's Apocalypse forum. Google is also your friend. Just be especially careful to discuss homebrew material with the other players before the game, and make sure everyone agrees that it looks fair and balanced.

 

And then, of course, there's your own imagination! Build your own crazy contraption, or assemble your own formation, and work out rules for it with your mates! There's no homebrew like your own homebrew. Just don't be stingy! When you come up with something cool, post it online and share the fun!

 

 

Just to give you an idea of what's out there, here's a list of Apocalypse Datasheets currently available to Chaos:

 

Apocalypse Rulebook

-Baneblade Super-Heavy Tank: a powerful, table-dominating battle tank of Imperial design

-Hellhammer Super-Heavy Tank: a variant of the baneblade designed for combat in dense terrain

-Hydra Flak-Tank: a relatively light anti-aircraft tank

-Emperor's Fist Tank Company: A batallion of Leman Russ battle tanks

-Emperor's Wrath Artillery Company: A battery of basilisk artilery tanks

-Emperor's Talons Recon Troop: Squadrons of recon sentinel walkers

-Ogryn Auxilia: Groups of scouting Ogryns. Don't take the commissar; too Imperial

-Thunderhawk Gunship: The definitive super-heavy flyer for marines of all varieties

-Armored Spearhead: A formation of Land Raiders - not so good for chaos since possession is usually better

-Supression Force: A Whirlwind formation - not for the Legions, since whirlwinds are post-heresy tech

-Line Breaker Squadron: A formation of vindicators

-Masters of the Chapter: Chapter command structure - post heresy traitors only due to Codex organization

-Battle Company: The structure of a Marine company - post heresy traitors only due to Codex organization

-Warlord Battle Titan: The biggest, baddest thing in Apocalypse, nigh invincible with devastating firepower

-Warhound Scout Titan: A massive yet speedy engine of destruction on legs

-Thunderbolt Fighter: the preferred light flyer of traitor guard everywhere

-Marauder Bomber: A heavier flying option for traitor guard

-Plaguereaper of Nurgle: A putrid, Nurglish Baneblade, arguably better then the Hellhammer in dence terrain

-Brass Scorpion of Khorne: A fast, deadly war engine, prone to catastrophic explosions

-Tide of Spawn: Turn a unit of your quality CSMs into lousy Spawn? Not really good, but cool, fun, & cinematic

-Warp Rift: Make your Lesser and Greater daemons better by dropping a mess of them on your foe's objective

 

GW Website

-Banelord of Khorne: It's a Warlord Titan, only it can blow up your own guys, too! Powerful, but unpredictable

-Doom Blaster of Khorne: Superheavy artillery tank, straight from the Blood God

-Emperor's Children Warband: Sonic weapons for dreads, termies, chosen, bikes, preds, CSMs, havocs, & heroes

-Khorne Lord of Battles: A strange, daemon-headed titan with wheels for legs, larger then a Warhound

-Nurgle Plague Tower: A massive tower of filth on wheels, with cannons, mortar, and trasport capacity 30

-Silver Tower of Tzeentch: A fragile floating tower with psionic cannons that shields nearby units

-Thousand Sons Warcoven: You can field rubric terminators, but only if you buy an overpriced psyker squad

-Slaanesh Subjugator: A slaaneshii Warhound, with crab claws and a massive flamer it can fire while running

-The Lost and the Damned: Not the army, just rules for units of mutants. Nice add on for traitor guard/Vraks

-Maelstrom of Gore: Khârn or another Khorne Lord lead a bunch of Berzerkers - impairs enemy fleet moves

-Plague of Zombies: Typhus or another Nurgle Lord lead a rabble of lousy-but-contageous plague zombies

-Chaos Annihilation Force: A Chaos Lord & his Terminators hate on an enemy objective. A lot. Very cinematic

-Chaos Conclave: A bunch of CSM characters with chosen or terminator retinues disrupt enemy reserves

-Defiler Assault Force: 3 to 6 defilers get together to go all Jericho on the table's terrain. Tear it down!

-Steel Fury Baneblade Company: when one super heavy battle tank just isn't enough

-Defence Laser: A super-heavy fortification boasting a powerful laser and multiple smaller gun mounts

-Land Raider Ares: Post Heresy tech, a land raider that trades transport capacity to do a vindicator impersonation

-Terminus ultra Land Raider: As the Ares, trades transport capacity for guns, this time a mess of lascannons

-Predator Assassin Squadron: Multiple predators form up to really hate on an enemy target

 

Forgeworld Website

-Reaver Battle Titan: An absolute beast, 2/3 a warlord at 1/2 the price - expect the points to go up in publication

 

Imperial Armour: Apocalypse

-Shadowsword: A baneblade variant with a Titan-Killing Volcano Cannon

-StormSword: A baneblade varient similar to the Hellhammer

-Stormblade: A baneblade varient packing a Warhound's Plasma Blastgun

-Manticore: An anti-aircraft missle-launching vehicle or static platform

-Gorgon: A massive, capacity 50 troop transport for traitor guard

-Macharius: A superheavy tank less technologically advanced then the Baneblade

-Macharius Vanquisher: A Machariuswith a bigger main gun

-Macharius Vulcan: A Macharius with a Warhound's Vulcan Mega Bolter

-Malcador: An older but less common super-heavy tank, basically an upsized Leman Russ

-Malcador Annihilator: A Malcador with lascannons and a demolisher cannon

-Malcador Defender: A Malcador with heavy bolters and a demolisher cannon

-Armoured Fist Reconniassance Company: Multiple salamanders & armored fist squads go on recon

-Emperor's Hammer Tank Company: A formation of the forgotten Leman Russ variants

-Emperor's Fury Artilery Compny: A formation of basilisks, griffons, & medusas

-Emperor's Thunder Heavy Artillery Company: A formation of Bombards & Manticores

-Avenger Field Artillery Compny: A formation of thudd guns & Heavy Mortars with towing vehicles

-Elysian Drop INfantry Pltoon: Infantry Squads dropping in from Valkyrie flying transports

-Death Korps of Krieg Death Rider Company: A formation of Krieg Death Riders

-Space Marine Drop Pod: Marine drop pods, only not as good and with confusing rules. I don't get it either.

-Deathwind Drop Pod: Post heresy tech, this drop pod has missile launchers or assault cannons in it

-Thunderhawk Transporter: A thunderhawk variant designed to move vehicles

-Siege Dreadnought: for Post heresy traitors, given its lack of the crazies

-Damocles Rhino: Post heresy tech command rhino

-Strike Eagle Drop Pod Assault: A formation of those lame + confusing FW drop pods. Avoid.

-Automated Defence Force: Infiltrating Trantula & Hyperious automated gun emplacements

-Ancients Assault Force: A techmarine and multiple dreadnoughts from the same dex. For post heresy traitors

-Aquila Lander: Imperial tech light flyer transport

-Lightning: Imperial tech light flyer gunship

-Marauder Destroyer: Imperial tech super-heavy flyer gunship

-Valkyrie: Imperial tech medium flyer transport

-Vulture: Imperial tech medium flyer gunship

-Arvus Lighter: Ultra cheap, box-shaped flying imperial transport

-Fortress Walls: Rules for massive, heavy fortifications - great for siege games

-Anggrath: A super-sized Bloodthirster. Very expensive & killy

-Zarakynel: A super-sized Keeper of Seekrets. Very killy & expensive

-Scabeiathrax: A super-sized great unclean one. Killy, expensive, and very, very tough

-Chaos Warhound Titan: The usual warhound Titan, but with some cosmetic chaos touches

-Dreadclaw: Similar to the FW drop pods, but slightly cooler/better. Rules are still confusing

-Giant Chaos Spawn: Just like it says. A relatively cheap but not terribly good monsterous creature

-Spined Chaso Beast: A daemonic monsterous creature that can have a mark of chaos

-Hell Blade: A chaos light flyer gunship; pretty lame given that it's only five points cheaper then the...

-Hell Talon: A decent chaos specific light flyer gunship and bomber

-Dreadclaw Talon: A formtion of those actually pretty cool FW dreadclaw drop pods

-Daemon Engine Summoning: A formation of regenerating defilers or brass scorpions

-Vraksian Renegade Attack Force: A formation for the renegade Vraks army from IA:5

 

Lords of Battle, from Bell of Lost Souls

-Leviathan Regimental HQ: An insanely massive transport & gun tank

-Capitol Imperialis: As the Leviathan, only less gun for a truely insane transport capacity 100

-Deathstrike Missile Launcher: A light vehicle fires a single massive rocket

-Reaver Battle Titan: More balanced (read: less powerful, costs more points) then the FW rules

-Ordinatus Armageddon: A bizarre Imperial tech super-heavy tank mounting a Nova Cannon (!)

-Ordinatus Golgotha: Instead of the Nova Cannon, this Ordinatus boasts a set of 6 Hellstrike Missiles

-Ordinatus Mars: The strangest looking Ordinatus yet, this time with a Strength D Hellstorm sonic disrupter

-Legion Fellblade Super-Heavy Tank: the Baneblade of the Heresy era legions, perfect for a Chaos Marine army

-Cannon of Khorne: No subtlety here, just one big ole cannon

-Cauldron of Blood: A super-heavy Khornate tank with an AP 3 Hellstorm template of boiling daemon blood

-Silver tower of Tzeentch: You know, I would just use the GW webpage rules for this one.

 

 

Like I said, Chaos has more Apocalypse datasheet options then anybody. And this list is sure to be quickly outdated as GW and FW release new datasheets, and it doesn't even scratch the surface of homebrew datasheets already out there on the internet. But it should give you an idea of the kind of stuff out there and where to start looking for the perfect formation or death machine to compliment your own Chaos Apocalypse army.

 

 

Next Time: examples of how to put together a Chaos Apocalypse Army!

[Roultox]

I'm building 20 obliterators and 10 defilers if that gives you an idea what I think of apocalypse for 5th edition.

 

I dont want to push around 100 marines, I like to eat lunch while the ork and tyranid players are half way through their turn and maybe watch a movie until the shooting phase comes around and pause. Small armies are fun, and its never easier when your average model costs 1/40th or 1/20th of the total points you own.

 

Heck I may just bring a laptop and watch anime on Veoh.com.

 

(I was tempted to make a full winged hive tyrant list out of live scorpions inside tube-shaped containers but that would make that psychic power "The Terror" literal for the phobic now wouldnt it?)

[Maeklos]

I'm building 20 obliterators and 10 defilers if that gives you an idea what I think of apocalypse for 5th edition.

 

Eh...except that list is an autolose for 5th edition, since there's no Troops in it. :D

 

Live scorpions, though...Would make a great failsafe to rig up a remote control to all the tubes, and if you're losing, hit it!

[Sception]

The rest of part two has been added in above.

[Kaptain Von]

I was going to bring my Chaos Thunderhawk with Spawn bomb, but alas, it is not ready yet, but you deserve a look http://www.worldeaters.net/viewtopic.php?t=904

 

That's awesome. I especially like the way it looks like a malevolent vulture skull from the front (it's the pointy nose and red jet intakes, I think) - it's very Khornate, but not in the bright red BLOOD AND SKULLS!!11! way.

[Sception]

I've hit a bit of a wall at this point. Do I start posting some example Apocalypse armies, or do I wait for 5th edition, revise the armies & tactics, and post them then?

 

Eh, what the heck. I can always go back and edit later.

[Sception]

Chaos Apocalypse Review, Part 3

 

So, now that I've given you some idea of just how many options are out there for Chaos Apocalypse armies, how do we go about creating an evocative and coherent army out of those options? When crafting an Apocalypse army, it's important to keep a few things in mind. On a narrative level, what army are you playing? Who is its leader? How do they prefer to fight? Why are they fighting? Who are they be fighting against? On a metagame level, how do you like to play? How do your opponants and teammates like to play? What do you all expect to get out of the game? If your gaming group is a bunch of casual, fluff players, you're going to construct your list differently then if your games are usually more competetive (though it has to be said that Apocalypse does fluff games far, far better then competetive games, as there are few to no internal balancing factors). If your gaming group has a new giant temple terrain piece, you're going to want to make it central to the scenario, and you're going to want to field an army designed to take or defend that piece of terrain.

 

 

So, rather then tell you how to put a Chaos Apocalypse army together, I'm instead going to give you a few examples. I had planned to start with something fairly modest, a 3,000 point army perhaps, but heck, this is Apocalypse! I figure I might as well start with the biggest army I've ever fielded, 8,000 points of Black Legion (only 7,000 points left to paint :sob:). I really enjoy this army, to the point that I'm strongly leaning towards selling all of the chaos marine stuff I own that isn't in it.

 

 

So, in our example I've been challenged to a massive game of Apocalypse, with 8,000 points of my own Black Legion against 8,000 points of my friend's homebrew craftworld Eldar, in a by-the-book Apocalypse scenario. Knowing that most of the terrain at the local store (or, at least, the closest store that will let us push two tables together) is city related, we have also decided to use the Cities of Death rules, and since the armies are so big, we've decided to grant two Apocalypse stratagems to each side, instead of the normal one per player. The basic premise is that my Black Legion have successfully taken an Imperial City, only to have the Eldar swoop in - too late to come to the Imperialists aid (perhaps intentionally), but maybe not too late to disrupt a dangerous Chaos ritual.

 

The set up and narrative is pretty standard, and most any army could work. While the Chaos Marines are on the defensive in this battle, they were only recently on the offensive. Likewise, the Black Legion has access to basically all the tools and options of the Chaos Marines. Still, I'd like my army to be evocative of the Black Legion's fluff and background. While atypical Black Legion armies can take practically any form, I want this army to be specifically representative of a typical Black Legion army. One final note: while traitor guard, mutants, and units from Codex: Chaos Daemons could all be appropriate for this army, I will not be using any of them, simply because I don't own any traitor guard at the moment, and I don't want to emphasize daemons enough to make it worth using the codex: daemons rules..

 

To start, I make a list of traits associated with typical Black Legion armies:

- A powerful Chaos Terminator Lord, deep striking in with his terminator retinue

- Frequent use of Possessed, and possessed have elevated social rank

- Developed the Defiler

- Use of daemons as disposable fodder

- Powerful warfleets

- Prefer close range action rather then long range

- Units of varius alignments, under the direction of an Undivided HQ

 

Before I do anything else, I want to have at least a nominal base to build on, so I start with four squads of 10 Chaos Space Marines, two in rhinoes to press forward, and two with heavy weapons to sit on my backfield objectives. This really isn't enough bodies to cover an 8,000 point army, but I'll be adding more as I fill in my checklist above.

 

Abaddon is an awesome character, Black Legion specific, and fills that powerful, undivided terminator lord role perfectly. To make him extra fancy, I get him a ridiculous terminator retinue, and put him at the top of a mighty chaos conclave formation with all my other characters. After that, I basically go right down the list.

 

Possessed? check, and I show their elevated status in the legion with a Land Raider to schuffle them around.

 

Defiler? check.

 

Daemons? A warp rift formation will cover them, and it will fit with the 'Eldar trying to stop a Chaos Ritual' theme of the game.

 

Powerful Warfleet? Well the conclave comes with an orbital bombardment, and I can choose another one with my strategic assets. Add in a preliminary bombardment Cities of Death strategem, and this one's covered.

 

Prefer close range action? Well I've got two CSM squads in rhinoes, two chosen squads in rhinoes, the possessed in the raider, and the deep striking terminators. If that's not in your face enough, I also throw in a squad each of raptors and bikes. Should be more then enough to show the close range preference of the Legion, even over the handful of long range units I am taking.

 

Units with various alignments? I don't have any cult units, but I can take four of the squads in the army and give them aligned icons to show the various forces of chaos working together. I opt for Slaaneshi raptors, Nurglish bikes, Khornate possessed, and I give Abby's terminator retinue the icon of Tzeentch for some extra protection from deadly pie plates.

 

That leaves about 2,000 points for superheavies, which seems about right for an 8,000 point game. Too many points spent on war machines, or too much spent on a single warmachine, can unbalance the game and reduce anything that isn't a superheavy vehicle or gargantuan creature to insignificance. Such godzilla games can be fun on occassion, but it isn't what I'm going for here. I've got a Brass Scorpion and Plague Reaper that I converted shortly after Apocalypse came out, and the new rules on the Forgeworld Webpage make my old armorcast Reaver an awesome titan-hunter, which is good because that's something this army is otherwise lacking.

 

After that it's just a matter of adding a bit of filler and tweaking the points to make them add up. The result looks like this:

 

 

8,000 point Black Legion Army

Apocalypse / Cities of Death

 

Abaddon, the Despoiler

 

Lord (1); terminator armor & twin lightning claws

Sorcerer (1); terminator armor, wind of chaos

10 terminators; Icon of Tzeentch, including

Aspiring champion with twin lightning claws

Aspiring champion with chain fist & combi-meltagun

Icon Bearer with power weapon & combi-meltagun

1x power weapon & reaper autocannon

1x power fist & heavy flamer

3x power weapon & combi-plasma gun

2x power fist & combi-plasma gun

 

Lord (2); Daemon Weapon

8 Chosen (1); Icon of Chaos Glory, Aspiring Champion with power fist

2x power weapon, 2x meltagun

Rhino; extra armor

 

Sorcerer (2); doom bolt

8 Chosen (2), Icon of Chaos Glory, Aspiring Champion with power fist

4x plasma gun

Rhino; extra armor

 

Daemon Prince; wings, warp time

 

Lord (3); wings, twin lightning claws, melta bombs

10 Raptors; Icon of Slaanesh, Aspiring Champion with power weapon & melta bombs

2 flamers

 

5 Chosen (3); Lascannon

 

5 Chosen (4); Lascannon

 

Greater Daemon (1)

 

Greater Daemon (2)

 

8 Lesser Daemons (1)

 

8 Lesser Daemons (2)

 

8 Lesser Daemons (3)

 

10 CSMs (1); Icon of Chaos Glory, Aspiring Champion w/ Power Fist

Meltagun, Flamer

Rhino; extra armor

 

10 CSMs (2); Icon of Chaos Glory, Aspiring Champion w/ Power Fist

Meltagun, Flamer

Rhino; extra armor

 

10 CSMs (3); Icon of Chaos Glory, Aspiring Champion w/ Power Weapon

Missile Launcher, Plasma gun

 

10 CSMs (4); Icon of Chaos Glory, Aspiring Champion w/ Power Weapon

Missile Launcher, Plasma gun

 

10 Possessed; Icon of Khorne, Aspiring Champion

Land Raider; possessed, dirge caster, havoc launcher

 

5 Bikes; Icon of Nurgle, Aspiring Champion with power fist, 2 meltaguns

 

3 Obliterators

 

Defiler; Twin Linked Heavy Flamer; extra close combat weapon

 

Dreadnought; Twin Linked Heavy Bolter; Heavy flamer

 

3 Chaos Spawn

 

 

Legendary Units:

 

Reaver Battle Titan; 2 turbo laser destroyers, vortex missile launcher

 

Plague Reaper; havoc missile launcher

 

Brass Scorpion

 

 

Formations:

 

-Chaos Conclave (Abaddon; Terminators; Chosen 1-4, Daemon Prince, Sorcerer 2, Lords 2-3)

 

-Warp Rift (Greater Daemons 1-2; Lesser Daemons 1-3)

 

 

Apocalypse Strategic Assets:

- 1: Orbital Bombardment

- 2: Vortex Grenade (carried by Daemon Prince)

 

 

Cities of Death Stratagems:

- 1: Urban Specialists

- 2: Preliminary Bombardment

- 3: Infiltrate

 

Army Total: exactly 8,000 points

 

 

The army is big, it has some big models, and it's very representative of Black Legion fluff. The army is fairly versatile as well, with a decent number of units on the ground (not enough to be really comfortable, but enough not to be too concerned), a lot of assault ability, and some decent ranged firepower, mosty delivered by the superheavies. It can pose a legitimate threat to hordes, elite infantry, vehicles, and superheavies; although if the enemy manages to down the reaver the army will lose a lot of that anti-titan output. Fortunitally, the reaver is rock hard. Orbital bombardment can punish hidden enemy units, and the Chaos Conclave formation can seriously disrupt enemy reserves accross the board. I would quite happily field the same army against a rival chaos faction or a combined imperial army. I still reccomend full list exchange prior to even showing up to the game, just to be sure that everyone's working on more or less the same level. You'll note that, even though I have dozens upon dozens of datasheets to choose from, I still only selected a few that were appropriate to my army and the individual game itself. Datasheets, whether formations or legendary units, add flavor and spice, and its great that we can choose from so many, as it lets us have just the right datasheets to make our armies work. But if you try to cram in too many, they become disruptive and the army stops making sense.

 

 

Tactically, the army is fairly straight forward. In the early game, Orbital Bombardments and the Vortex Missle punish enemies hiding in their backfield, the reaver takes down the biggest & deadliest enemy targets, the other superheavies start softening up the hordes, fast or mechanized units swing around the enemy flanks, The infantry take pot shots at appropriate targets while holding objectives in my own deployment zones, and the daemons burst out of their warp rift to lock up the center. In the mid game, Abaddon's retinue arrives (hopefully in relative safety, thanks to the reaver taking out enemy death machines in the first couple turns), while the mechanized units initiate the assault on the enemy strongpoints. Finally, the terminators enter the fray with anything that's left, hopefully securing a chaos victory by defeating the most powerful enemy unit left on the table and securing another objective for chaos. Of course, no plan survives contact with the enemy, but if things start looking bad, or if any clump of enemies looks particularly difficult to move, the Daemon Prince can let loose with his Vortex Grenade and hopefully shake things up a little.

 

 

More example Chaos Apocalypse Armies will follow later.

[Brother Nihm]

Tadaa: link :ph34r:

[Masked Thespian]

I hope I'm not treading on any toes, but you've not updated this tactica in several months and we've had a new book which gives quite a few new options for Chaos forces.

 

First things first, I just wanted to mention that the Traitor, Mutant, Apostate Cardinal and Rogue Psyker rules from Codex: Witch Hunters (the Adversary section) would all work really nicely within a Chaos force. The Traitors and Mutants are direct ports from the old Lost and the Damned army list in Codex: Eye of Terror. Heck, even using the Lost and the Damned army list, for those old timers who have a copy of Codex: Eye of Terror, would be a great addition to any Chaos Apocalypse force.

 

Okay, going on to Apocalypse Reload. Apocalypse Reload is the latest Apocalypse book released by Games Workshop. Enhancing the game with new datasheets and army-specific Strategic Assets, games of Apocalypse will never be the same again.

 

So, what new datasheets do Chaos have access to?

 

Apocalypse Reload

-'Steel Fury' Baneblade Company: an update of the datasheet on the GW website

-Stormlord Super-Heavy Tank: a super heavy troop transport, armed with a Vulcan Mega Bolter

-'Imperial Shield' Infantry Company: Fielding lots of Traitor Imperial Guardsmen? Why not have some free Strategic Assets for doing so

-'Armoured Fist' Mechanised Company: a formation of Armoured Fist squads

-Hellstorm Squadron: allows multiple Hellhound tanks to combine their Inferno Cannons in a blazing conflagration

-Catachan 'Death Trap' Ambush Patrol: allows you to field a group of elite Traitor infiltrators who specialise in causing havoc to the enemy

-Land Raider Terminus Ultra: an update of the datasheet in the GW website

-Skyhammer Orbital Strike Force: Drop Pod strike force. For Post Heresy Traitors unless you want to do some rejigging with some Dreadclaws

-Deathknell Orbital Strike Force: Bombardment + Terminator assault. For Post Heresy Traitors

-Space Marine 1st Company: a Ronseal product. For Post Heresy Traitors due to Codex Organisation

-Space Marine Scout Company: another Ronseal product. For Post Heresy Traitors due to Codex Organisation

-Khorne Tower of Skulls: super heavy tank, bristling with guns. If it kills enough enemies in a turn, it can regenerate previously lost Structure Points

-Nurgle Plague Tower: an update of the datasheet on the GW website

-Lords of the Black Crusade: Chaos equivalent of Masters of the Chapter; Abaddon and his Lieutenants. Grants a nice Orbital Bombardment from the Planet Killer

-The Hounds of Huron: Loads of Chaos Bikers, skilled beyond those normally found

-Doombringer Annihilation Force: an update of the Chaos Annihilation Force datasheet on the GW website

-Slaughterfiend Bloodpack: Defilers bound to the will of Skull Champions - your Khorne Berzerkers can hitch a ride on them

-Cult of Destruction: 9+ Obliterators combine their firepower to prodigious levels

-Tetragon of Darkness*: one of each Greater Daemon + one of each lesser Daemon squad. Opens a warp rift, bordered and maintained by the Greater Daemons

-Host of the Daemon Forge*: update of the Daemonic Forge-Host datasheet on the GW website. Multiple Soul Grinders, some of whom can assault on the turn they manifest

-Skulltakers Cohort of Blood*: 64 Bloodletters + Skulltaker. All of them are stronger and better in combat

-The Great Promenade of Exquisite Excess*: The Masque leads multiple units of Daemonettes

-Karanak's Hunt*: Karanak and multiple units of Flesh Hounds hunt down an independent character of your choice

 

GW Website

-Bloodthirster Bloodbath*: 8 Bloodthirsters, which may include the named ones (Skarbrand and/or Ann'grath the Unbound) inspire terror in their foes

-Daemonic Forge-Host*: as mentioned above, superseded by the Host of the Daemon Forge in Apocalypse Reload

 

UK White Dwarfs

#334

-Terminus Ultra Land Raider (page 55): superseded by the entry in Apocalypse Reload

#340

-Thousand Sons Warcoven (page 64): identical to the one downloadable from the GW website

-Banelord of Khorne (page 65): identical to the one downloadable from the GW website

-Defiler Assault Force (page 66): identical to the one downloadable from the GW website

-Chaos Conclave (page 67): identical to the one downloadable from the GW website

#344

-Angron, Daemon Primarch of the World Eaters* (page 50): That's right, a Primarch! Counting as a (Codex: Chaos Daemons) Daemon Prince with an enhanced profile and rules, and with a bodyguard of 2-12 Bloodthirsters, Angron is a force to be reckoned with

 

All Daemon formations (as marked above with a *) count as a single unit for the purposes of the Daemonic Assault rule, even if multiple units are contained within the formation.

 

Please note that the Chaos Annihilation Force, Steel Fury Baneblade Company, Terminus Ultra Land Raider, Nurgle Plague Tower, and Daemonic Forge-Host datasheets, as downloadable from the GW website, have all been updated (and generally made better) in Apocalypse Reload; thus, the older versions on the website should not be used.

 

Through all of these, Chaos continues to have the most datasheet options, most of which are exceptionally in character with the Chaos army.

 

 

Apocalypse Reload also opens up the option of army-specific strategic assets. As stated in the book, "These represent tactics and strategies that only that race would or could use, and you will find that they help to reinforce the character of the different armies found in the Warhammer 40,000 galaxy in your games of Apocalypse."

 

Given the fluid nature of the Chaos army (being able to take anything from Imperial Guard, Space Marine, The Imperium, Chaos Daemons and Chaos Space Marines) then there are many options available here to theme your army.

 

The Imperium

Disengage and Re-arm: allows your flyers to re-equip themselves with used up "one-shot" weapons

 

Imperial Guard

Defence Line: Very much in the theme of the defenders in The Siege of Vraks, allows you to deploy loads of defensive barriers

Strongholds: Again, a defensive theme. Allows defensive buildings to be deployed

On My Coordinates: Fanatical Traitors can call down bombardments on their own position

Tank Riders: Infantry can hitch a ride on friendly tanks

 

Space Marines

Heroic Stand: Defending an Objective makes your Space Marines much tougher

Crusade Banner: Banner gives friendly Marines great morale bonus (and great penalty if killed)

Legion Relic: Less likely to be used, as background implies that it's the former weapon of a Primarch and thus less likely to be in the hands of Post Heresy Traitors. Former weapon of Primarch enhances close combat ability of an Independent Character, but loss of character can cost you the game

 

Chaos Daemons

Blood Thirst of Khorne: Forces all enemies within a certain range of one of your Bloodthirsters or Heralds of Khorne to assault rather than shoot

Plaguestorm: Create a plague within a certain range of one of your Great Unclean Ones or Heralds of Nurgle. Plague can spread from model to model, decimating the enemy army

Mirage of Tzeentch: Take control of an enemy unit close to your Lord of Change or Herald of Tzeentch for one shooting phase

Grand Pavane of Slaanesh: All enemy units within a certain range of your Keeper of Secrets or Herald of Slaanesh are automatically affected by Pavane of Slaanesh

Major Possession: Ever wanted your Bloodthirster to possess an enemy model? Now you can

 

Chaos Space Marines

Chaos Altar: All troops close to a deployed altar model become more survivable

Corrupt and Despoil: Make objectives unclaimable by either side

Indiscriminate Bombardment: Gain multiple bombardments at risk of hitting your own troops

Daemon Shell: Like Inferno Bolts, but MUCH more powerful

 

- 2: Vortex Grenade (carried by Daemon Prince)

 

Are you aware that you cannot do that? Vortex Grenades can only be given to Independent Characters and a Daemon Prince is not an Independent Character.

[the jeske]

no mentioning of the medusa siege gun and lord comander solar macharius the main stay of all list without a proper FoC . I find this rather strange . As the advoctation of minimum 2 flyers as lack of those = lose to anyone who has them .

[Mutt-Man!]

Oh snap I didn't see this here before. I was going to do an Apocalypse portion in my tactica update, I hope you wont mind if I post up my own version of things and perhaps have Nihm mesh them together/side-by-side as reference material.

 

As I update, I would appreciate if you would comment and aid the update, as it is a collaboration rather then just a 1 person's jaunt of material.

(No clue when I'll start on apocalypse, still working on current format and waiting replies for the current setup before I start the rest)