Starting Chaos Again

[TheHyperion]

Hello Everyone,

 

Every few years as 40k sweeps back into my life I tend to hop back on the forums and browse around. Currently I ended up with a few questions since it seems like everything has changed so much since I was last involved.

 

As a bit of backstory for me, I started getting into miniatures when my dad pulled out the first edition of Space Hulk. I played a lot of that game and ended up spending a lot of time as a kid homebrewing rules for the game by adding different factions that changed slight things. At the time, 40k 6th edition was popular and so as a gift I got the Dark Vengeance box set and set about the task (which ultimately failed) in starting a Dark Angels army from it. Fast forwarding a fair ways, I end up really wanting to play Khorne Daemonkin in 7th edition and get quite a few boxes of Daemons and Berzerkers. Most of what I have painted is from that period being a lot of cultists and some Khorne hounds. The army at some point goes defunct which left me a bit lost and once again I got given a gift of the starter box. At the time Primaris were super fledgling and I had trouble motivating myself or painting the death guard inside.

 

Now I am looking at getting back into the 40k side of the hobby (I've been mainly playing Blood Bowl with some friends and family) and a lot has changed in what to me feels like a rather short period. I have made what seems to be the mistake of buying the rulebooks early before I was ready to play. For better or for worse it seems like the rulebooks and codices become out of date much faster.

 

Basically I am setting out with a few goals and a mentality change that will hopefully allow me to accomplish more as well as let me take my time with the painting and modeling.

 

With that, I wanted to start an army that was flexible based on what I want to do and hopefully avoid the risk that whatever project I end up working on getting tossed out in the rules. I reread a lot of the legion lore (which seems to be more plentiful now) and came across the Night Lords. I have been enjoying their color scheme, since they are undivided I can play any of the single god factions I would like or ally with them in the future.

 

I do have a few questions, even though I know 10th is rumored to come out soon I would still kind of like to build an army that could play:

1. I understand that the Chaos Lord lost the option to take a jump pack.

-I know there is the Black Legion character that has one. Would my army be able to have the Night Lords rules even with him as the HQ choice or would it have to be ran as Black Legion?

-What settings are Warhammer Legends not allowed?

2. I have a couple Betrayal at Calth boxes. I know that they just released the Age of Darkness box for Horus Heresy, Are the models inside each the same scale? Or are the new age of darkness models more 'Primaris' scale?

3. How easy is it to ally Daemons, Knights, Deathguard, etc. with normal Chaos Space Marines?

4. Any general suggestions for someone working their way back into everything. Also any reading material.

[WrathOfTheLion]

Welcome back to 40k. Chaos is certainly fun right now, been enjoying mine a ton recently. I'll just get right to addressing your numbered points.

 

1. Yes, the Chaos Lord lost the option for a jump pack, which is a shame. Haarken Worldclaimer has to be run Black Legion, he can't be Night Lords. Legends aren't allowed in tournament settings. If you're playing more casual than that, just make sure to talk to your opponent beforehand.

 

2. The new models are closer to Primaris scale, but not quite that tall. The main thing is that they're a bit differently proportioned, and they build a bit different.

 

3. Daemons and Chaos Knights are quite easy to ally in. With the newest seasons, there's an Arks of Omen detachment that makes it even easier. Death Guard, Thousand Sons, etc. are harder to ally in.

 

4. They have combat patrols now. One of those is a great start to just get into it a bit. The Chaos marine one has okay units in the current setup, but if you're in for the long run, it's all stuff that's good to have. Obviously the CSM codex is good to read, and if you haven't read the Night Lords trilogy, you may read that if you're planning on really getting into them.

[TheHyperion]

29 minutes ago, WrathOfTheLion said:

Welcome back to 40k. Chaos is certainly fun right now, been enjoying mine a ton recently. I'll just get right to addressing your numbered points.

 

1. Yes, the Chaos Lord lost the option for a jump pack, which is a shame. Haarken Worldclaimer has to be run Black Legion, he can't be Night Lords. Legends aren't allowed in tournament settings. If you're playing more casual than that, just make sure to talk to your opponent beforehand.

 

2. The new models are closer to Primaris scale, but not quite that tall. The main thing is that they're a bit differently proportioned, and they build a bit different.

 

3. Daemons and Chaos Knights are quite easy to ally in. With the newest seasons, there's an Arks of Omen detachment that makes it even easier. Death Guard, Thousand Sons, etc. are harder to ally in.

 

4. They have combat patrols now. One of those is a great start to just get into it a bit. The Chaos marine one has okay units in the current setup, but if you're in for the long run, it's all stuff that's good to have. Obviously the CSM codex is good to read, and if you haven't read the Night Lords trilogy, you may read that if you're planning on really getting into them.

Wow thank you for the reply! I realize now my questions in some parts having re read them lacked a lot of context. I have a ton of the older horus heresy plastic marines so I was trying to see how viable it would be to take bits and kitbash with the new chaos stuff or backwards. Seems like that might be a bit tough. Is there any generic lord that might be a more fluffy choice? I am somewhat torn between the Lord Discordant or a Chaos Terminator Lord with a lightning claw and some sort of combi weapon. Also what makes allying with certain things easier or more difficult? I know at least in 6th edition there used to be a chart of who could be allies or not. Is there something similar now? Thanks again!

[WrathOfTheLion]

7 minutes ago, TheBloodSpitter said:

Wow thank you for the reply! I realize now my questions in some parts having re read them lacked a lot of context. I have a ton of the older horus heresy plastic marines so I was trying to see how viable it would be to take bits and kitbash with the new chaos stuff or backwards. Seems like that might be a bit tough. Is there any generic lord that might be a more fluffy choice? I am somewhat torn between the Lord Discordant or a Chaos Terminator Lord with a lightning claw and some sort of combi weapon. Also what makes allying with certain things easier or more difficult? I know at least in 6th edition there used to be a chart of who could be allies or not. Is there something similar now? Thanks again!

For kitbashing MK IV dudes, you'd be able to do shoulderpads and heads, but you can't really mix arms/chests now with the CSM kit or the newer MK VI kit. You could do it with cutting and green stuff, but it's not like the old way where the chest sits on the legs on a ball join.

 

The Lord Discordant is a newer model, and I really like the look of him, so that'd be my choice for that reason. You could do the terminator lord though if that's what you want to do.

 

There's not an ally chart anymore, it works differently. Currently you get bonuses when you have a mono-faction army, and you lose those if you include other army detachments. Chaos Knights and Chaos Daemons have a mechanism to not lose these bonuses by taking them in the manner specified in their codex. Death Guard and Thousand Sons can take Nurgle/Tzeentch daemon allies, but you're not going to be able to ally in Death Guard and keep the mono-army rules like you can with Daemons or Knights.