Warhammer 40,000 8th edition

Space Marines

• To accomodate for the incorporation of Primaris Space Marines and compensate for
issues with Codex tactics that have occurred over the millennia, Roboute Guilliman
has made several major changes to how Chapters and Companies are set up. Rather
than using the old Tactical/Devastator/Assault division that has been seen in the past,
squads are now set up being either Battleline (Tactical Squads and Intercessors), Fire
Support (Devastator Squads, Devastator Centurions, Hellblasters, and Aggressors), or
Close Support (Bikers, Assault Squads, Assault Centurions, Inceptors, and Reivers).
Additionally, the Battle Companies (2nd through 5th Company) in a Codex-adherent
chapter can have up to a total of 20 squads each: 6-12 Battleline squads, 2-4 Fire
Support squads, and 2-4 Close Support squads. While each of these companies is still
nominally fixed at 100 men, in practice their numbers can be much higher since they
can also draw additional squads from reserve companies if needed. This allows the
Battle Companies to field a far more flexible arrangement of squads than they could
in the past while enabling the existence of all-Primaris Chapters that would not be
able to use the squad types that other Astartes typically employ.

• In keeping with the new classification of squad types, the 6th and 7th
companies are now entirely Battleline squads, the 8th Company consists of
Close Support Squads, and the 9th Company is formed of Fire Support
squads.

• Guilliman ultimately plans to replace the Codex Astartes completely with the
Codex Imperialis when the latter is completed.

Ultramarines

• The Ultramarines' 2nd Company is now led by Captain Acheran, as Cato Sicarius is
now the head of Guilliman's Victrix Guard. Sicarius was lost in the Warp at the start
of the Indomitus Crusade; while the Codex claims his fate is unknown, the Dark
Imperium novel (which canonically takes place as the Crusade is ending) has since
been proven that he is alive and well. All the other companies are still being led by
the same Captains as before.

• Tigurius was nearly slain by the psychic backlash of the Great Rift's opening, but he
was able to come out of his coma in time to rally the Ultramarines in the Plague
Wars. He was also able to divine the location of the Hand of Darkness, and give this
information to Eldrad.

• During the Plague Wars, Telion ended up leading his entire Scout Company in
defense of their training academy when it was attacked by the Death Guard.

• Following the Plague Wars, Guilliman oversaw the rebuilding of Ultramar before
being required to depart to other Imperial warzones. Afterwards, the Ultramarines
are able to reclaim 3 of the 7 worlds occupied by the forces of Chaos in the vicinity of
Ultramar, all while dealing with an Ork WAAAAGH!
Blood Angels

• The Blood Angels and their successors (except those poor bastards) get fucked up
pretty badly by the Tyranids, with the gribblies eating several of Baal's moons.
However, a combination of the Cicatrix Maledictum messing with the Hive Fleet's
bio-ships and Guilliman's fleet taking out the remaining Tyranids on Baal after the
Warp settles down leads to the Blood Angels successfully repelling the Tyranid
invasion. Meanwhile on Baal Prime, Ka'bandha manifests with a horde of Daemons
of Khorne- the idea of anything destroying the Blood Angels other than itself is
intolerable to the Bloodthirster. This means that Ka'bandha is a Tsundere confirmed.
Commence extra heretical shipping. First the Necrons, now Daemons. Seriously, is
there no level of heresy they will not stoop to? Maybe the Blood Angels are just so
attractive the enemies of the Imperium can’t help themselves.

• The Knights of Blood sacrifice themselves to buy time for the rest of Baal
Prime's defenders to evacuate.

• An exhausted and drained Dante has managed to defeat the Swarmlord in a duel.
Meaning that the Swarmlord has literally lost every solo fight it has against a Chapter
Master. So much for the pinnacle of Tyranid evolution.

Imperial Fists

• As revenge for the Iron Warriors' attack on the Phalanx, the Imperial Fists fight
alongside several Knight Houses to capture the Iron Warriors' recently fortified world
of Ironhold.

White Scars

• The White Scars are badly depleted by Chaos attacks led by the Red Corsairs; only
the arrival of Kor'sarro Khan's forces from the Damocles Gulf prevent them from
being wiped out entirely. Shortly afterwards, the Indomitus Crusade's
reinforcements are able to save the chapter. With their numbers restored, they
embark on a major campaign against the Red Corsairs that culminates in the invasion
of a space station seized by Huron Blackheart. Jubal Khan and his honor guard reach
the heart of the space station; though they are able to detonate its reactor,
collapsing corridors prevent them from evacuating the station. Their fate is unknown,
but it's looking increasingly likely that Kor'sarro Khan is going to be promoted just
like Shrike was.

Black Templars

• The Black Templars take it on themselves to defend Imperial Shrine Worlds from
Word Bearers-led Chaos forces, with several crusades being launched to drive the
traitors back. Despite heavy losses, they are able to hold the line.

• Helbrecht met with Guilliman as he and his Crusades continued to pursue Ghazghkull;
the Primarch led him to realize that his oath to slay the Ork warlord had blinded him
to the more immediate threat of the Ruinous Powers, and he soon declared his
crusades to protect the worlds of the Ecclesiarchy from Chaos.
Salamanders

• The Salamanders deploy at full Chapter strength to fight against the invasion of a
hive world by the Bloodthirster Khar'kul. Their new Aggressor squads (equipped with
flamers, of course) prove to be the key to victory. The Salamanders soon become
well-known for their effective use of Aggressors.

• While it is stated that the Salamanders have never been confirmed to have any
successor chapters, it is also suggested that some chapters such as the Black Dragons
and the Storm Giants may have been descended from them.

• A couple of tweaks have been made to the circumstances behind Vulkan's

disappearance in order to reconcile the old fluff with the revelations made in the
Horus Heresy and War of the Beast novels; the new story is that according to the
Salamanders Vulkan led them for about three millennia after the Horus Heresy (i.e.
right around the time the War of the Beast happened), at the end of which he
bequeathed them the Tome of Fire and left for a special mission of some kind.

• The Chapter's persistently low numbers have been retconned; they now keep 7
companies as a homage to the 7 warrior-houses of their old Legion; while each one is
larger than a Codex-compliant Company, their Scout company is said to be less than
half the size it would be in other chapters due to Nocturne's small population and an
especially meticulous selection process.

• During the Age of Apostasy, Goge Vandire's right-hand man Arch-Cardinal Perigno
declared the Promethean Cult heretical. Following his decree, three orders of the
Sisters of Battle attack five of the Chapter's companies the world of New Folly
alongside numerous fanatics. The Salamanders fight almost entirely in self-defense
alone, and when news of Perigno's execution by the Inquisition arrives the
Ecclesiarchal forces disband.

Raven Guard

• A Chapter-strength strike force spearheaded by a mix of Inceptors, Grav-chute

equipped Reivers, and Thunderhawk-deployed Assault Marines led by Kayvaan
Shrike is able to liberate the mining world of Safinyius mere weeks after it is
captured by the Night Lords.

Iron Hands

• Medusa falls under attack by Chaos soon after the Great Rift's formation. The
ensuing defense quickly becomes the largest armor battle since the Battle of Tallarn,
but the overwhelming firepower of the Iron Hands' mobile fortresses ensures their
victory.

• Afterwards, the Iron Hands launch a scorched-earth campaign that leaves many of
the nearby worlds ruined but free of Chaos taint. They manage to discover a possible
pathway through the Great Rift and defeat the Chaos forces defending it, but the
fleeing renegades destroy the portals used to sustain the pathway before the Iron
Hands can secure it.
Crimson Fists

• The Crimson Fists were able to receive much-needed Primaris reinforcements during
the Indomitus Crusade after Guilliman drove off the forces of the Daemon Prince
Rhaxos from Rynn's World, marvelling when they learned that many of them had
lived while their Primarch still led them. As a show of gratitude for Guilliman's role in
restoring their Chapter to its full strength, the Crimson Fists have since named the
day in which they were united with their Primaris counterparts as the "Day of
Renewal". Guilliman personally praised Pedro Kantor for his services to the
Imperium, remarking that Rogal Dorn would have been proud of him.

Other

• The Blood Ravens get their own entry in the "Unknown Foundings" section of the
Codex, coincidentally confirming that they've been "gifted" a handful of Primaris
Marines. It is suggested that the Ordo Malleus may know who their Primogenitor
chapter is, but the records that they have are sealed.

• At one point in the past, two Space Marine Chapters ended up being formed with
identical names and heraldries (the Celestial Swords). In true Administratum fashion,
the mistake wasn't discovered until both of the Chapters were wiped out by the 9th
Black Crusade 200 years later.

• Though it is again noted that the Indomitus Crusade was unable to liberate or even
reach many of the planets that had fallen in the Noctis Aeterna, the equally
important point is made that it gave the Imperium as a whole hope that it could
survive its darkest era since the Horus Heresy.

• The Black Consuls, formerly presumed to be all but destroyed, have been rebuilt by
an influx of Primaris Marines, as have the Scythes of the Emperor.

• The Black Dragons were about to be investigated by the Inquisition again, but it was
called off when the Great Rift formed.

• The Minotaurs are forced to make for Terra after a Death Guard attack ruins their
gene-seed stocks.

Grey Knights

• A few of the Grey Knights' weapons were derived from xenos technology, the
product of secret pacts made with the alien in order to combat the more pressing
foe of the Daemon. But before you get any ideas, these were alliances of
convenience that have likely long since ended.

• Among other things, this means they have a hidden stockpile of tesseract
labryniths that they use to trap the essence of particularly nasty Daemons.
Trazyn would be proud.

• Some Chapters (most notably the Exorcists and Silver Skulls) have been known to
notify the Grey Knights about potential candidates for recruitment within their own
pools of Aspirants. The Grey Knights responsible for finding recruits are called the
 Gatherers, and they consist of Grey Knights who are too old or injured to take part in
battle. Which makes no sense given Astartes are functionally immortal and so aren't
actually capable of being too old to fight.

• With the Great Rift open and Daemons everywhere, the Grey Knights have their
work cut out for them. They are especially active during the Plague Wars in
Ultramar.

• Kaldor Draigo notices that his appearances in realspace are occurring more
frequently and lasting for longer periods of time; the Prognosticars believe that this
may be a byproduct of the Great Rift weakening the veil between the Materium and
the Warp, or perhaps it is a side-effect of Mortarion's return to the Materium. In
either case, Draigo is prepared for a second round with the Daemon Primarch.

• Due to the increasingly desperate state of the Imperium, Draigo has asked the other
Grand Masters to consider executing the Terminus Decree (a.k.a. the thing in the
Secret Box)- the first time this has ever happened.

• Grey Knight Chaplains serve to ensure the purity of the Chapter, and are drawn from
the very purest of the Paladins.

Why Play Space Marines

Space Marines are perhaps the best army for beginners. Their units are fairly expensive
points-wise, so they usually field fewer bodies and vehicles than most other armies. While
you can't bog down your foes in waves of men, this makes army construction cheaper and
painting faster. Additionally, Space Marines are dead'ard; their basic troops have Toughness
4 and a 3+ armour save, giving them great staying power compared to most basic infantry of
other armies. They're also solid in whatever role they're put in; Marines are good shots, and
they're not half bad in an assault, either. Space Marine tanks, on the other hand, may not be
as robust or as powerful as those of the Imperial Guard's, but they are dirt-cheap and
reliable. Dreadnoughts, while slower than a tank, are slightly better at shooting than
predators, present a smaller target and are far better in close combat, and are able to take
on heroes, units and other vehicles and come out on top.

With the coming of 8th Ed, Marines are going to be feeling the hurt a lot more. With the
changes to how AP functions in-game on top of grav-weaponry getting nerfed to all hell,
they can no longer rely on simply shrugging off small arms fire like they used to- weapons
whose AP ratings could be safely ignored can now decrease even a Terminator's armor save.
On the flipside, Marines will almost always have a save (albeit a 5+ or 6+) they can use, and
with cover they can boost their saves to a 2+.

Pros
• Easy for beginners to play, yet rewarding for experts. Can be customized to focus on
many specific elements (e.g. Terminators, mass jump pack assaults, etc.) without
sacrificing viability in the process.

• Units can do something of everything, with an answer to every situation.

 • You're GW's favorites, so you'll always be the first to get anything new. See also:
Primaris Marines, getting the first full Codex in 8e.

• Due to your small unit sizes, you're more likely to get the first turn.

• Loads of powerful characters to choose from, many of which have potent buffs to
surrounding units.

• You'll almost always have an armor save. Many pre-8th AP3 weapons tend to be
around AP-2, so power armor still gives a 5+. Similarly, most plasma weapons are
AP-3, so while the 6+ won't be reliable by a long shot it's better than not having an
armor save at all.

Cons
• As the most popular army by a long shot, just about everyone will have some plan
for taking you on.

• Tanks (other than the Forge World ones) are somewhat lacking compared to those of
other armies.

• Small unit sizes mean every lost unit is going to hurt pretty badly. The best units are
also expensive, which means you'll need to focus on quality over quantity.

• Expensive units also means you can't benefit as readily from detachments.

• Small unit size also means the units are harder or less efficient to buff with
characters or strategems.

• The "jack of all trades, master of none" rule is very much in effect- except for the
Primaris Marines, which tend to have the exact opposite problem of
overspecialization.

• The AP changes mean that even weapons that were merely AP4 are now AP-1 in 8th.
4+ isn't terrible, but save modifiers are certainly not in your favor if you're called
upon to make a lot of them.

• All the characters that used to be part of other units (e.g. Apothecary, Champion)
moved to the Elites slot, which makes it rather crowded. Consider bringing in an
extra Vanguard detachment.

Special Rules
• And They Shall Know No Fear: Reroll failed morale tests. Not going to come into play
that much given your generally good Ld scores, but given how punishing Morale can
be it's still a good way to ensure your units don't run off, especially for your already
small-ish unit sizes & 2W Primaris. And Apothecaries cannot revive models who fled
instead of being slain.

• Combat Squads: Can split a single full-sized unit into two smaller units before
deployment. Works just like it always has, but more unit types can do it (e.g.
 Centurions). However, in 8E where everyone has Split Fire, transports can be shared
and you want MSU for both free Sergeants & CP bonuses, you don't really need
to...unless you ran out of slots AND can't afford even a Lieutenant HQ tax. E.g. Two
5-man Reiver squads are better than a single Combat Squadded one.

• Defenders of Humanity: AKA Objective Secured. If your army is battleforged, all

Troop units in detachments consisting solely of Space Marines get this ability. When
such a unit is within range of an objective it controls that objective even if there are
more enemy models within range of that objective, unless they also have a similar
ability. It allows your Troops to seize objectives from enemy non-Troops; enemy
Troops will outnumber you.

• The Lost Librarius: Adeptus Astartes Psykers cannot be from the Black Templars
Chapter, if you needed reminding. Doesn't affect non-Templar Psykers in allied
detachments.

Forge World Special Rules

• RELIC: No Battle-forged Detachment may contain more RELIC units than non-RELIC
units within any given battlefield role (except for Lords of War; you can take one
without needing another LoW first, but this only applies to the first such LoW taken).
Also unlocks the Relic of Ancient Fury Stratagem for use.

• Stratagem - Relic of Ancient Fury: At the beginning of your Fight phase, choose a
single friendly RELIC unit. All friendly ADEPTUS ASTARTES models within 6" of the
chosen RELIC unit may re-roll the first failed hit roll of the phase.

Chapter Tactics
Chapter Tactics are special rules based on the <Chapter> keyword that will affect all Infantry,
Bikes and Dreadnought units in your army, and only them - other vehicles can go fuck
themselves. To benefit from Chapter Tactics, your army must be battle-forged and all units
in the detachment must be drawn from the same chapter. GW has changed each 7E Chapter
Tactic in a way that allows them to be applicable to a wider variety of units, in an effort to
avoid the over-specialized builds of old. However, Chapter-specific Special Characters and
Stratagems (and us) still entice you to do exactly the same.

• Chapters whose primogenitors are unknown are able to take ANY of the Chapter
Tactics as they see fit.

• Servitors are specified to never gain a Chapter Tactic despite having the keyword
(instead of just fucking not having it). There are some rules affecting Chapter units,
but nobody cares about Servitors because they're shit.

• Ultramarines - Codex Discipline: Units with this tactic gain 1 to their Leadership
characteristic. They also can fall-back and still shoot, with -1 modifier to hit. Ld9
greatly helps MSU, making 4-man units (like bikers) immune to battleshock, and
making the sarge of a 5-man unit flee only after two consecutive 6s.

• Fall Back's main purposes are to give the rest of your army a clear shot and to
 pull a unit out of a melee fight that would either bog them down for the rest
of the game or kill them, this now lets the fleeing squad contribute instead of
effectively skipping the rest of the turn; even with the penalty BS4+ still
offers you a good chance of hitting an enemy. While meant for squads that
got caught in melee by mistake (like Devastators or a ranged Dreadnought), it
will also benefit Tacticals by allowing them to repel an offending unit instead
of having to commit yet more squads to melee. UM armies that aren't using a
melee-oriented list should almost always fall back if they have a chance to do
so.

• Makes using short-ranged weapons WAY easier, as otherwise they'd only get
to fire once before getting locked in CC. Especially flamers, which waive away
the BS penalty. This greatly benefits your Bikers, who carry a plethora of
short-range weapons like Melta, Twin Boltguns, Flamers and even Astartes
Shotguns, making Ultramarine Bikers one of the best in the game, arguably
better than White Scars.

• Imperial Fists - Siege Masters: Enemy units do not receive the benefit to their saving
throws for being in cover against attacks made by models with this tactic. Units with
this tactic can also re-roll failed wounds when targeting a BUILDING.

• While half of this tactic is situational at best, it does make anti-infantry

weapons more effective now that cover affects everyone. Especially against
cover-campers like Rangers and enemy Scouts. It is probably not a
coincidence that the short list of models carrying loadouts appropriate to
both building-killing and cover denial includes both Ironclad Dreadnoughts
and Assault Centurions.

• The rule enables Imperial Fists to entrench themselves defensively while their
opponents cannot, as the benefits of staying in ruins are nullified, forcing
your opponent to change the way they deploy. Especially if you focus on
infantry that outranges the enemy, like Sternguards and Intercessors.
Between that and the ability to take down the fortifications of their enemies
more effectively, the Imperial Fists are in a position to force many opponents
to come to them.

• Black Templars - Righteous Zeal: Units with this tactic can re-roll failed charge rolls.
Simple yet effective, downright powerful when combined with massed deepstrike as
the improved 48% successful 9" charge chance all but guarantees a combat when
two units arrive. And you have a ton of such units: Anything Jump Pack, Reivers,
Terminators; Cataphractii's transport issue is all but solved! Even melee
Dreadnoughts (especially Leviathans) will improve, as it makes charges vastly more
reliable. Other Chapters need to employ either Librarians, Shrike or even CP to do
what you can do out of sheer Rage.

• Raven Guard - Shadow Masters: Your opponent must subtract 1 from any hit rolls
when shooting at units with this tactic if they are more than 12" away. A big help to
long-range attackers of all types, from Scout Snipers to ranged Dreads. One of the
best chapter tactics available, as is basically good on everything, from units that can
 pick off opponents from afar to melee units that need to cover long distances to
reach their intended targets, preventing them from being shot up quite as badly.

• It makes you better than Iron Hands at a protracted shoot-out, but worse if
the enemy can get close to you, such as by employing their own drop spam.
Hilariously, it also makes enemy plasma overheat easier.

• Salamanders - Master Artisans: A unit with this tactic can re-roll a single failed hit
roll and a single failed wound roll each time it shoots or fights. Especially useful to
dreadnoughts, characters, MSU and strong single-shot weapons like Lascannons and
Meltas. Assuming you hit and wound on 3+, that one shot goes from 44% to wound
to over 70%, saves not calculated.

• While it reduces your dependence on Captains and Lieutenants (allowing you

to focus on the other HQs) it also helps them with those 2s, statistically
similar to a Chapter Master, which the Salamanders lack unless they spend
valuable CP on the Stratagem. Especially Vulkan He'Stan, who is like a
Chapter Master only to melta and a Captain to everything else - now the
sergeants of melta squads use can reroll for themselves.

• White Scars - Lightning Assault: Units with this tactic advance +2" (Bikers end up
advancing 8"), and can charge after falling back. The buff to advancing is more
significative on something the worse its advance was to begin with, so the buff is
more noticeable on Infantry and slower models, like Assault Centurions, while also
getting your units into position earlier.

• Charging after falling back is especially useful to units that proc Mortal
Wounds on a charge, like Inceptors and your own Deadly Hunter Warlord
(and Ironclad Dreadnoughts and Assault Centurions), besides guaranteeing
your unit to hit first. It also allows ranged support to help a unit from afar
before it charges back into the fray.

• Makes it easier to use Assault weapons after Advancing, not only

short-ranged ones like Melta, Shotguns and Flamers, but also the plethora of
Primaris Assault 18"-24" weapons, allowing them to be in range to support
those units who fell back prior to another charge. Incidentally, this also
decreases the need for expensive Repulsors.

• By letting them re-engage after falling back, Assault Marines and Vanguard
Vets no longer sacrifice their melee phase in order to throw a Melta Bomb,
and 8E has no restriction on charging disembarked models or units different
to those the unit fired at. Makes White Scars field some of the best Jump
Pack Infantry, especially Inceptors.

• Iron Hands - The Flesh is Weak: Units with this tactic essentially have their old FnP6+,
though it doesn't work with supercharged plasma since that removes models
outright. While most noticeable on multi-wound models like Characters and
Dreadnoughts, it'll also make your Apothecary's life easier. Especially for your cyborg
Primaris, statistically getting +0.33 W.
 • Being more difficult to kill is an obvious bonus to your Warlord, but a
Terminator Captain or Primaris Captain in Gravis Armour with the Iron
Resolve WT gain stack two FnP6+, having seven wounds with which proc
them. Statistically, that's more than Guilliman's 9, with the same 2+/3++
saves available. And unlike Guilliman, who is classified as a Monster, your
chapter infantry Captain can be both healed and revived by an Apothecary,
numerous times. And then you add the Shield Eternal...yes, it's Smashfucker
all over again.

• Your Chaplain Dreadnought wearing the Armour Indomitus and taking

the Tenacious Survivor Warlord trait ends up getting three
consecutive FNP6+ rolls, becoming infuriatingly hard to kill with a
2+/5++/6+++/6++++/6+++++ saves line, once per game improving the
5++ to a 3++.

• While the Raven Guard tactic is usually better at ranges over 12", Iron Hands'
resilience allow them to survive in the zones mortalis of the close deepstrike,
up-close firefight and melee. Different to Black Templar alpha strikes, it's
active more time, so it more than holds merit.

Stratagems
Universal
LOTS of ways to inflict Mortal Wounds here. Seriously, you can spend 4CP and suddenly
everyone in a 3" area gets nuked for 4d3 mortal wounds. Because fuck them.

• Relics of the Chapter (1 or 3 CP): One use only. Use before the start of the battle.
You can have a second Chapter Relic for 1 CP, or 2 extra Relics for 3 CP. You can't
take two of the same relic, and all the Relics have to go to different Characters.

• Linebreaker Bombardment (1 CP): Use in the shooting phase if you have a

Vindicator within 6" of two other Vindicators from the same Chapter. Instead of
shooting their Demolisher Cannons, pick a spot within 24" of all three and roll a d6
for each unit within 3" of it (+1 if the unit has 10+ models, -1 if it's a Character). On a
4+, the unit takes 3d3 mortal wounds.

• Averaging 3-4 wounds per unit (three Vindicators average 4.86) irrespective
of BS (meaning you can advance those Vindicators into position), reminding
an entire edition that pack armies around aura-generating characters what
templates used to be, and allowing you to snipe characters using heavy
ordnance instead of faggy snipers, the only reason not to use this stratagem
is due to a lack of either Vindicators or CP. Be sure to keep your own units at
a safe distance, though- they can be hit too if they're too close!

• Killshot (1 CP): Use in the shooting phase if you have a Predator within 6" of two
other Predators from the same Chapter. Add 1 to the wound and damage for all of
its attacks against Monsters and Vehicles. Unlike the Vindicator stratagem, boosting
the weapons themselves depends on BS and, by extension, moving & damage table.
 Unlike that stratagem, however, it doesn't restrict your targets to a single spot on
the table, so Split fire those 12 Lascannons away, and remember to buy those Hunter
Killer missiles.

• Besides the usual Lascannon wounding on a 2+ (Railguns, eat your heart out),
Damage 2 Heavy bolters and Storm bolters can deal pretty hefty damage to
low-armour monsters and two-wound infantry alike.

• Chapter Masters (3 CP): Use before the start of the game to turn your Captain into a
Chapter Master, boosting his aura to reroll all failed hits instead of only 1s. You can't
use this twice, or if you already have a named Chapter Master from the same
Chapter. Nothing says you can't use it on a named Captain...but come ooooooon.

• A named Chapter Master costs about +50pts than your would-be generic CM,
and bring a special rule, a relic of some sort and +1W. Ask yourself if a CP is
worth only 17pts plus the loss of one such special characteristic. For Imperial
Fists, White Scars, Salamanders,Iron Hands, and custom chapters, it's worth
more consideration since they have no such special characters to take.

• Orbital Bombardment (3 CP): One use only. If your warlord is a Space Marine (this
could be your secondary detachment) and didn't move, you can use this stratagem in
the shooting phase instead of having him shoot any weapons. Pick any spot on the
battlefield that the warlord can see, and roll a D6 for every unit within 6" of it
(subtract 1 if it's rolling for a Character). On a 4+, it takes D3 mortal wounds.

• Cluster Mines (1 CP): Use when a Scout Bike squad falls back. On a 2+, one unit you
fell back from takes D3 mortal wounds.

• Best in an Ultramarines list, where you can fall back, pop this, then shoot the
same unit for good measure.

• Masterful Marksmanship (1 CP): When a Sternguard Squad shoots, it adds 1 to

wound rolls with its special issue boltguns.

• Empyric Channelling (1 CP): If you have a Librarian within 6" of 2 other Librarians, it
can manifest an extra power and you can add 2 to the roll. It does work with Sevrin
Loth and other named Adeptus astartes Psykers.

• Librarius powers don't really need boosts to Psychic Tests. Use this for
Spectacular Smite Spam, which requires a test score of 11+. Also good for
ensuring Null Zone goes off.

• Datalink Telemetry (1 CP): When shooting with a Whirlwind, if you have a Land
Speeder within 12" of the target, the Whirlwind's shots automatically hit.

• Hellfire Shells (1 CP): Instead of shooting normally with a heavy bolter, the Space
Marine model rolls only once to hit. If it hits, it does D3 mortal wounds. Even if it's a
tank.

• Auspex Scan (2 CP): When an enemy unit comes in from reserves within 12" of one
 of your Infantry units, your unit can shoot at it.

• Tactical Flexibility (1 CP): At the start of your movement phase, pick a 10 model unit
with the Combat Squads rule and split it into two 5 model units as if they had been
deployed as two Combat Squads. On the one hand, you probably should have split
your squads before the battle, but on the other hand it could be used to unexpectedly
divide a squad in mid-battle to let it take two objectives at once. Still, calling it
situational would be an understatement.

• Flakk Missile (1 CP): When an Infantry model shoots a missile launcher at a unit with
Fly, make a single hit roll with +1 to hit. If you hit, do D3 mortal wounds instead of
rolling to wound The strategem doesn't say that it replaces the normal shot, it just
causes Mortal Wounds on a hit - You still get the regular Krak Missile hit as well.

• Armour of Contempt (1 CP): When one of your vehicles takes a mortal wound, for
the rest of the phase, you get a 5+ to ignore mortal wounds, and can use it on the
one you just took.

• Only in Death Does Duty End (2 CP): When one of your Characters dies, it can shoot
or fight again. Doesn't combo with the Banner abilities on Ancients. Get your points'
worth and supercharge that plasma pistol.

• Honour the Chapter (3 CP): At the end of the fight phase, pick an Infantry or Biker
unit to fight a second time. The usual "fight twice" stratagem, best on units with
good weapons to delete someone.

• Wisdom of the Ancients (1 CP): At the start of any phase, pick a Dreadnought to turn
into a 1-phase Captain. Any same Chapter units within 6" can reroll hits of 1 that
phase, including itself.

• Death to the Traitors! (1 CP): When one unit is attacking a Heretic Astartes unit in
the fight phase, any 6+ to hit generates another attack with the same weapon. Steal
their gimmick to use back on them.

• Tremor Shells (1 CP): When a Thunderfire cannon shoots, subtract 1 from the wound
rolls, but as long as it hits, the target unit gets half move, advance, and charge
distances their next turn. Doesn't affect Fly or Titanic units.

Chapter-Specific

These can only be used by a unit from the relevant <Chapter> or their successors.

• Ultramarines - Scions of Guilliman (1 CP): Makes an Ultramarines Infantry or Bike

unit re-roll ones to hit in either the shooting or fight phase. Tactical and Intercessor
squads re-roll all failed hits instead.

• Useful for units that are both far away from Captains and too irrelevant to
merit one tagging along with them, especially the above-mentioned Tacticals
and Intercessors. Complements Lieutenants, who are more common.

• Imperial Fists - Bolter Drill (1 CP): When an Infantry unit shoots, any 6+ to hit with a
 bolt weapon (anything with 'bolt' in the name, and Kantor's gun) lets you roll an
additional attack with the same weapon against the same target, which cannot proc
another attack. Can't trigger if you are under a negative BS modifier, and positive BS
modifiers are only the Rhino Primaris and Devastator Sergeant. Outside of those
circumstances, this multiplies your rate of fire by +16.67%, +19.44% if you have
re-roll 1s.

• It's not so much the bonus is too small, it's more that boltguns are shitty
weapons themselves. Three Centurion Devastators with Hurricane and Heavy
Bolters in rapid fire range is as much bolter an Infantry unit can have, and yet
the stratagem only makes them kill 3 more guardsmen. Not worth it, even
less so for Sternguard Special Issue Boltguns, who have Masterful
Marksmanship available.

• Statistically this adds 1/6 more attacks to your offensive output, making it
statistically identical to 7th Edition's Bolter Drill (reroll 1s). However this
version stacks with rerolls to hit from Characters. And last, this version
requires a Command Point, while 7th Ed's was passive and always on.

• Black Templars -Abhor the Witch (1 CP): When an enemy psyker manifests a psychic
power within 24" of a Black Templars unit, roll a d6. On a 4+ the power is nullified.
Patches your inability to take Psykers (but you can always bring allied ones). Unlike
Deny the Witch, this ignores the psyker's original roll entirely and works on powers
that are purely supportive as well as offensive ones. But it's only once per phase.

• Raven Guard - Strike from the Shadows (1 CP): AKA Infiltrate. Each time this
Stratagem is used, hold back an INFANTRY unit from deploying normally, then deploy
them anywhere up to 9" of an opponent just before the game begins. It's just like 7E,
and worded to work as a Deep Strike that happens before the first turn begins, so
any unit using this will be a drop in need of an anchor...but it also happens before
the movement phase, so they can charge out of it. Especially if you manage to go
first by hiding the rest of your army in Land Raider Crusaders.

• Works not only with fast-moving Jump Pack infantry your enemy won't be
able to escape from, but also boltstorm Aggressors, as it both puts them
close and aren't considered to have moved, so they have the option to shoot
twice and/or move-and-charge. Both powerful options.

• Excellent synergy with your Chapter Tactics, as you can deploy your guns
directly into locations where your opponent desperately wants to shift you
with his guns. Fire Support squads, Sternguards, Intercessors and Scouts can
make good use of it.

• Raptors under Lias Issodon can do a particularly dirty trick of Infiltrating some
of their units this way, pinning an enemy down, and then Ambushing in a
further three units in a later phase where the enemy least wants them,
stalling any counter-attack that may had developed.

• Salamanders - Flamecraft (1 CP): When one unit shoots, you can add 1 to all wound
 rolls with that unit's flame weapons (anything with 'flame' in the name and He'stan's
gun). It's any unit, so it works on Redeemers' and Dreadnoughts' Inferno Cannons to
barbecue anyone on a 2+ and even threaten vehicles. Still, your best sources of
flamers are Sternguard vets and Aggressors. Boost them with He'Stan.

• White Scars - Born In the Saddle (1 CP): One biker unit can advance, shoot, and
charge in the same turn. Now your space Mongolians can give their best Genestealer
impression with first-turn charges.

• Iron Hands - Machine Empathy (1 CP): One Vehicle can move and shoot Heavy
weapons with no penalty, and their Assault weapons lose their penalty to shoot after
advancing. Works best on vehicles that have LOTS of guns. That's Repulsors and
Redemptor Dreads, but a Mortis Dread can also benefit as well.

Chaos Space Marines

• It's confirmed that some of Abbadon's Black Crusades were merely distractions, used
to keep the Imperium from realizing he had been slowly destroying the network of
Pylons that the Cadian Gate had been connected to.

• The method of creating Rubric Marines has apparently been given to the Black
Legion, among other warbands.

Black Legion

• Following the opening of the Great Rift, the Forge World Raeddon tries to evacuate
its most sacred manufacturing relics, but is ultimately lost to the Warp when Black
Legion forces destroy all its spaceports.

• The planet Aralest VII is wiped out similarly, through a combination of mass cult
uprisings and an orbital docking platform being dropped onto the world's capital
hive city.

Alpha Legion

• Billions of sleeper agents placed within the Imperium by the Alpha Legion are
activated when they foolishly look into the night sky and see the Great Rift. The
resulting rebellions lead to the fall of dozens of worlds.

Iron Warriors

• Obliterators and Mutilators are confirmed to have originated from the Iron Warriors,
as the Technovirus that creates them was first made in Medrengard's laboratories.

• Perturabo and Mortarion have worked together to allow the Technovirus to

spread to other machines, transforming the war machines of their foes into
mechanical abominations.

• Perturabo had spent years of studying the defenses of Segmentum Obscurus; with
 the opening of the Great Rift, the Daemon Primarch orders a massive siege of the
Segmentum's most valuable worlds.

Night Lords

• For the Night Lords, the terror inspired by the Great Rift proves to be the perfect
conditions for an unprecedented level of raiding and pillaging.

• A temporary channel through the Great Rift near the Corinthe system proves to be a
Night Lords trap. The Imperial ships trying to pass through the "safe" corridor are
rapidly captured by Night Lords ambush forces.

Word Bearers

• There are persistent if unconfirmed rumors that Lorgar has elected to end his
seclusion on Sicarius to lead the Word Bearers personally.

• Despite the efforts of Craftworld Alaitoc (which probably was mostly just them
getting murderized by Chaos Space Marines), the Word Bearers complete a mass
sacrifice of humans, Eldar, Orks, and Tau on the planet Gruelbowl. It is quickly
subsumed into a Warp rift.

World Eaters

• A massive force of World Eaters is en route to Terra, having been inspired by the
recent Khornate incursion there.

• At one point in the past, the Wyches of the Cult of the Seventh Woe broke into the
fight pits of the World Eaters on the planet Gladius. Dozens of Wyches and Traitors
alike kill each other, but Khorne is so pleased by their carnage that he sends down a
shower of blood to bring the slain fighters back to life. The two factions gain a
degree of respect for each other, culminating in the invasion known as the Great
Blood Wager of Anathema Quartus.

Emperor's Children

• As predicted by many fa/tg/uys, Fabius Bile becomes obsessed with capturing and
dissecting Primaris Space Marines from the moment he first witnesses them in
action. He now seeks to find a way to blend them with the power of the Warp to
create his own Chaos Primaris Space Marines, and ultimately hopes to clone
Roboute Guilliman himself.

Death Guard

• A recap of the history of the Death Guard, including Mortarion's early life on
Barbarus. Mortarion's "father" is confirmed to be a xenos. It's strongly suggested
that Mortarion took the Emperor's killing of his foster as a thoughtless dismissal of
his life's struggles against the overlords of Barbarus, and that the ensuing
resentment was what eventually led him to side with Horus.

• The Death Guard's organization is discussed; much of it is very similar to the old
 Legion organization, albeit split into groups of 7 instead of groups of 10.

• Specifically, it is split into 7 Plague Companies, each of which is composed of

7 Sepsis Cohorts. These in turn are split into 2 Maladictums, which are
themselves composed of 7 Colonies. In practice, these all tend to deploy as
smaller warbands known as Vectoriums.

• Brief descriptions of each of the Plague Companies are given; each one is led
by a Lord Commander that acts as the host of one of Nurgle's foulest diseases.
Predictably, Typhus is Lord Commander of the First Plague Company.

• Typhus and the First Plague Company have focused much of their activity around
what used to be the Cadian Gate, generally making life miserable for the Imperial
forces trying to hold onto it.

• Typhus and Huron Blackheart duel on the world of Danasar. Typhus wins, but allows
Huron to survive as a show of Nurgle's generosity.

• The Death Guard defeats the Iron Warriors to claim control of the Temple of
Ascension, with the duel between Mortarion and Perturabo lasting for seven hours.

• During the War in the Rift, Ka'Bandha is banished by Mortarion using the
plague-ridden skulls of seven Khornate champions.

• The Foul Blightspawn and Biologis Putrefiers are the Plague Marines tasked with
creating new strains of disease for the Death Guard. The Foul Blightspawn creates
new illnesses through blasphemous alchemical lore, which are then entrusted to the
Biologis Putrefiers to "test" on any unfortunate victims they can find.

• Plague Surgeons were once the Apothecaries of the Death Guard. However, instead
of healing their brothers they now bolster the diseases that they carry. Like their
Loyalist counterparts, they too harvest gene-seed- both from the Death Guard and
from any Loyalist Space Marines they might encounter. Chief among their number is
one Nauseous Rotbone, Mortarion's personal physician.

• Foulspawn gets a mention; while Nurgle was amused by the Chaos Spawn's antics,
Mortarion was not. However, he couldn't kill it without angering Nurgle, so instead
he had it banished to the Plague Planet. It has continued to grow since that time, and
is now the size of a small mountain.

• Even after becoming a Daemon Prince, Mortarion still despises witches and psykers.
The only reason he allows them in the Death Guard now is because he is forced to
acknowledge their particular powers as gifts from Nurgle.

Other Renegades

• Khorne Daemonkin are still a thing. The Crimson Slaughter also gets a mention, as do
the other Renegades created from the Abyssal Crusade.

• Huron Blackheart seems to have struck new bargains with the Ruinous Powers, as
the Red Corsairs have been reported attacking Imperial assets far outside of the
 Maelstrom- and Huron himself has been reported as being in two different
Segmentums at the same time.

Why Play Chaos Space Marines

Chaos Space Marines- er, sorry, Heretic Astartes are the main antagonist of the Warhammer
40,000 setting, with the Horus Heresy arguably being the most pivotal moment in W40k
timeline in favor of the Ruinous Powers. You are here to rip and tear those corpse
worshiping fuckers to shreds. LET THE GALAXY BURN!

Pros
• This is a faction that rewards creativity and experimentation with kit-bashing and
converting (especially loyalist models into those blessed by the power of the Warp).

• Games Workshop has recently decided to further emphasize the Imperium vs. Chaos
conflict as the dominant plotline, and with this came some major releases for the
Thousand Sons and Death Guard. The Emperor's Children and World Eaters are
extremely likely to get new releases as well as round up the God-aligned Legions. So
now looks like a pretty good time to be a Chaos player, especially if you're interested
in a force aligned to one specific God in particular.

• Diverse array of options. Depending on your allegiance and Legion / Chapter, you
have the option to construct a wide array of forces with many different themes.
Combinations with Chaos Daemons, Chaos Titans, Traitor Questoris (Renegade
Knights) and Renegades & Heretics (Traitor Guard) make for very creative, fluffy or
just plain mean combinations.

• All Daemon Engines have become very resilient & killy murder machines. Even more
so with the codex stratagems.

• Lots of "Hellforged" vehicles that like to eat infantry & regain wounds...

• No more Chaos Boon table. I FEEL THE WARP OVERTAKING MEEE! IT IS A GOOD PAIN!
The new Boon table is strictly optional, and most of the results on it are really good.
Even becoming a Daemon Prince is not a nerf now. Even better, you can now choose
the character that will be affected instead of rolling for any victorious challenger.

• Death to the False Emperor! - Extra attacks in melee for a traditionally

choppy-oriented army? Yes, very much yes, please! The old complaint of "Chaos is
just Loyalists without ATSKNF and shiny toys!" is over. Rip and tear until it's done!

Cons
• From a modeling standpoint:

• Remember when we said that this line rewards experimentation and

kitbashing? Well, it's pretty much the only way to go, if you want to build
decent minis. Why? Well, with a few notable exceptions (such as Rubricae)
the Chaos Marine model line is ancient, with a fair few sculpts dating all the
 way back to 2nd edition. Abaddon's model is now of legal age. Most of the
infantry kits available don't actually contain all the weapons options that you
can technically equip as per the codex. If you want to play WYSIWYG you're in
for a baaaaad day. Lascannons, power axes, chain axes, terminator weapons...
Not to mention the Havocs kit, which is simply horrendous. Here's a list of the
worst offenders - Havocs, Obliterators, Mutilators, Abaddon, the Noise
Marines (they are actually made from a regular CSM kit + an upgrade kit),
bikers. The basic CSM kit is rather dated as well. Oh, and there's still no
dedicated chosen kit.

• Most of the units that were good in previous editions got nerfed pretty badly
in 8, and most of the units that were shyte back then are now beastly. This
sometimes created awkward situations - especially if you're buying already
built models.

• From a gaming standpoint.

• Cult marines are no longer Fearless, even the plague-ridden husks of the
Death Guard, or the cursed automatons of the Thousand Sons, will run away
if things get too hot for them. That sort of sucks, occasionally. However,
moral checks are not really something you should normally concern yourself
with, as a CSM player - anything that does enough damage to force a morale
check to actually inflict losses is probably going to wipe out the entire unit
anyway. (Most of our infantry stuff can still be fielded in legion strength (20+
models), at this scale morale is actually a huge factor)

• Melta Bombs are gone now.

• Chaos Boon table has been modified into a Stratagem and it now costs
valuable CP to roll on it, which is a steep price (that said, the boon table itself
is quite a bit better, with virtually all results being useful for your characters,
and becoming a demon prince is no longer a downgrade paired with a
sentence of instant death by focus fire).

• Very early codex release and power creep seems to be still in effect. Would
not be the first time early codexes (especially Chaos ones) end up the
weakest later in an editions life...(however with the advent of chapter
approved coming at the end of each year, we may see a more consistent
power level among the various codeces.)

• Death to the False Emperor - It fits the fluff and it is one of the strongest
army-wide rules... but only when facing imperials. Against any xenos army or
fellow chaotics, it's utterly useless. Oh well...

How to counter possible cons

• Sacrifice more spleens.
Faction Keywords
The overall keyword is unsurprisingly HERETIC ASTARTES, but there's also the keyword
CHAOS, which they share with Daemons, Renegade Knights, and the Lost and the Damned
(as well as Cypher and the Fallen). You can therefore form a detachment comprised of units
from all these sub-factions, or a battleforged army made of detachments utilising units from
these factions.

The main keywords you have to keep track of for Chaos Marines are HERETIC ASTARTES,
which cover both Traitor Legions and Renegade Chapters; <LEGION> which include all the
units regarding a particular legion, warband or army of YOUR OWN creation and MARK OF
CHAOS, which has gone from being an upgrade to a free keyword change that allows you to
receive god-specific buffs and access to relevant Icons.

However, do keep in mind that you can't give the DEATH GUARD or THOUSAND SONS legion
keyword to any unit that isn't listed in their respective army lists either in the Index: Chaos
or their own codex. So you can't have DEATH GUARD bikes, and you can't have THOUSAND
SONS Warptalons, for example.

Special Rules
• Death to the False Emperor: The replacement for Veterans of the Long War. Every
time you roll a 6 to hit (or a 5+, if you have a +1 modifier for example) in close
combat when fighting against Imperial scum, you get to immediately make another
attack. These attacks cannot generate additional attacks themselves.

• Being a CHAOS CHARACTER: Take out your chalk, goat blood and virgins! Time to
summon daemons! Useful, for example, to place (cheap) charge-blocking fleshwalls
or objective humpers where needed, instead of footslogging across the map. But DO
NOT go overboard with reserved points for summoning and do not rely on
summoning something big (with the possible but still discouraged exception of the
Keeper of Secrets.) Daemon Troops are four power for 10 models, with the ability to
upscale through unit size if you roll high.

• Despoilers of the Galaxy: Objective Secured by any other name is still as powerful.

Legion Traits
• Alpha Legion - Hidden in Plain Sight: Your opponent must subtract 1 from their hit
rolls when targeting units with this trait if they are more than 12" away. This is
insanely powerful, as enemy Plasma and the like overheats on ones and twos should
they decide to super-charge.

• This is fantastic on anything, especially Helbrutes, and even better: Hellforged

Dreadnoughts, are so durable and dangerous that they deserve a special
shout-out with this. Hellforged Dreads take approximately 2 more
BS2+/rerollable lascannon shots to put down with this, while Helbrutes take
about 1 1/4 more, and the lot of them can be loaded out to pose very
credible threats to anything getting within the 12" to try and deal with them.
 • This also works to counter overcharged plasma fire for the units that are
most vulnerable to it like terminators.

• Also Amazing if you are playing a kind of gunline or artillery based army.+

• Black Legion - Black Crusaders: Units with this trait add 1 to their Leadership
characteristic. In addition, if a unit with this trait advanced, they treat all Rapid Fire
weapons as Assault weapons. The Leadership buff is nice, allowing unmarked units
with an Icon of Vengeance to reach LD10 (!), but unfortunately the other one is
rather mediocre. It only comes into play on the few Rapid Fire weapons Chaos has
(mostly bolters, combi-bolters, and cultist autoguns) and imposes a -1 penalty to hit,
and you can't charge if you advanced. Best used in conjunction with a lord or
Abaddon's Reroll hit Aura to try and march larger blobs of CSM into rapid fire range
faster, but otherwise very middle of the road.

• Note: Chaos bikers can use this trait to move, advance, and still fire, although
you'll get 2 shots out of each combi-bolter, not 4, regardless of range. Best
used when you are trying to outflank or encircle an enemy unit.

• Regardless of unit, this makes combi-flamers even better, as a BS 3+ model

can advance and fire the flamer normally and still get a bolt shot out on a 5+,
rather than losing out on the bolter portion entirely. On bikers, this makes
your sergeant's inability to take a flamer instead of a combi-flamer (and his
inability to drop his bike's combi-bolter) much less bad; he can now fire 3 5+
bolt shots rather than 0 after advancing, after having been forced to pay 4
points for those bolt rounds anyway. You'll also have a 3-man unit with LD 8
on the flamers, meaning your sergeant can just take no special weapons at all
to be an ablative wound without running the unit into no longer being
inherently immune to Morale checks for losses.

• Emperor's Children - Flawless Perfection: Units with this trait always fight first in the
Fight Phase even if they didn't charge. If the enemy has units that have charged, or
have a similar ability, then alternate choosing units to fight with, starting with the
player whose turn is taking place. I don't think I need to tell you how amazing this is.
Beware Howling Banshees, Slaanesh Daemon in-fighting, or just units that have
charged - that means the controlling player (that means the opponent) will be able
to nominate their first unit to strike before yours (this will mean trouble if a
Genestealers swarm or Ork Boyz get that charge first). On the flip side, it can deter
mass charges and also means you circumvent all other fight phase activations
afterward and your engaged units strike first!

• Per the new FAQ Emperors Children Noise Marines count as troops instead
of Elites allowing armies of them again.

• Iron Warriors - Siege Lords: Enemy units attacked by units with this trait do not
receive the benefit to their saving throws for being in cover. In addition, you can
re-roll any failed wound rolls for units with this tactic when they are targeting a
BUILDING. In other words, this is identical to the Imperial Fist chapter tactics, which
undoubtedly pisses the Iron Warriors off to no end.
• Despite the INFURIATING copypasting of the Imperial Fists tactic, this one is actually
VERY helpful. Not only will this apply to chaos marines squads, but to Havocs AND
Hellbrutes, some of the biggest gunners you can take. This will ruin any Astra
Militarum players day, and can force your opponent into playing aggro, no matter
how defensive his army may way to be. NONE CAN HIDE FROM YOUR GUNS!!!

• Night Lords - Terror Tactics: Enemy units must subtract one from their leadership for
each unit with this trait within 6", up to a maximum of -3. Can be extremely powerful
if you can get overlapping leadership penalties and then start causing deaths. GW
themselves recommend three units of Night Lords, one with an icon of despair, at
least one of which is a unit of Raptors, to provide a -5 hit to leadership before
casualties even start getting counted, practically guaranteeing more models lost to
failed morale checks.

• Word Bearers - Profane Zeal: Units with this trait may reroll failed Morale tests. Just
like And They Shall Know No Fear, so you get something all Loyalist scum get for free
with their Chapter Tactics, woo-friggin'-hoo. Horrible.

• Alternate opinion: On most units, this is a negligible upgrade. On cultists,

however, it's a great upgrade, especially if you have a 40-man cultist squad
serving as bubble wrap for a Dark Apostle and whatever retinue you take
with him. Combo it with the new stratagem to bring the unit back at full
strength, and your cheap cultists are suddenly seeing a lot of mileage.

• Alternate alternate opinion: Even on Hordes this is still bad overall

(though at least large squads get some benefit out of the trait, I
suppose). Unless you roll a 4+ before you re-roll, you're more likely to
lose more cultists when you re-roll than to lose less, so unless the unit
will die if you don't re-roll (in which case you've already screwed up),
you really shouldn't re-roll a 1-3. Even then, it's just unreliable.

• Alternate alternate ALTERNATE opinion: When you stop

comparing it to what Loyalists have and start comparing it to
the other Legion Traits, there is one thing that stands out--all
the others are situational, requiring specific builds and
strategies to use them to their fullest. This is the only Legion
Trait that will ALWAYS be useful at some point in every game,
no matter what your army is or what you're doing with it.

• At the very least it reduces the number of instances where you have to
decide whether an Icon bearer or weapon specialist runs away, plus it's very
fluffy given that the cult of the god-emperor basically follows Lorgar's
pre-heresy teachings

• Something to note is that +1 is better than rerolls on a single D6, meaning the
Black Legion Legion Trait is flat out better than this one ; This doesn't mean
you shouldn't take Word Bearers, because there is more to them than their
Legion Trait, but if you don't intend on using their Stratagem, Warlord Trait,
or relic, don't take them ( And even then, do weigh it against the fact the
 straight upgrade the Black Legion trait is over this one ).

• World Eaters - Butcher's Nails: When a unit with this trait successfully charges, you
make make one additional attack with each model in the following fight phase.
Essentially a return to the old charge bonus, on top of being able to strike first, and,
in several cases, being able to fight more than once. This obviously makes units like
warp talons / raptors, berserk, possessed and the like much better.

• Per the new FAQ World Eaters Berzerkers count as troops instead of elites. A
little place-holder until the codex proper.

• Renegade Chapters - Dark Raiders: Units with this trait may Advance and Charge in
the same turn. YES. Bikers become ludicrously good, pretty much any assaulty list
will benefit from this tactic. Combining this with Warptime and Icons of Wrath (since
you aren't playing a cult Legion there's no reason not to go multi-god) makes you
one of the fastest armies of 8E, which combines with the natural choppiness of
Berzerkers, Raptors, and Possessed to make CSMs play like they always should have-
powerful CC units that favor a balls-out, risky playstyle.

Warlord Traits
Universal

• Eternal Vendetta: Re-roll wounds in the fights phase against models with the
ADEPTUS ASTARTES Keyword. Huron comes stock with this one.

• Flames Of Spite: On a to-wound roll of 6+ in melee, inflict 1 mortal wound in

addition to any other damage. This warlord trait works best if your warlord relies of
weight of attacks, such as a Daemon Prince with two malefic talons or an Alpha
Legion Lord with the Blade of the Hydra, or is likely to gain additional attacks from
DTTFE. A Lord on a Steed of Slaanesh is also a fine choice as well.

• Unholy Fortitude: Add 1 to the wound characteristics and a 6+ to ignore wounds. An

improved version of the main rulebook trait. Keep in mind that this an additional
save to that of a "FnP". Just about any warlord will benefit from this trait, but for
maximum durability, take an Iron Warriors Daemon Prince with the Fleshmetal
Exoskeleton and the Nurgle keyword, so it can benefit from the Grandfather's
Blessing stratagem and the Miasma of Pestilence psychic power.

• Hatred Incarnate: You must re-roll wound rolls of 1 for attacks made by your
Warlord.

• Lord Of Terror: Enemy units within 6 inches must roll 2 dice for morale and use the
highest result. This one stacks best with Night Lords (which is ironic considering it is
not a Night Lord specific trait). With the cumulative -5 while using Raptors with Icons
(or more, if you use Belakor, too), making your opponents discard the lowest die
result is very good. Fabulous Bill comes stock with this one.

• Exalted Champion: Add 1 to your attack characteristic. While this one seems
underwhelming at first glance, it is also the most reliably useful of the universal traits,
 not relying on rolling 6s or hoping that reroll turns out better for you. A direct
upgrade on the main book trait that gives +1 attack when you charge.

Legion Specific
Note: Any legion unique character must use the trait from their Legion! So Abaddon, for
example, must use First Among Traitors.

• Alpha Legion - I am Alpharius. In addition to this Warlord trait, your warlord

generates a random universal CSM Warlord trait. If your warlord is slain, you may
immediately select another ALPHA LEGION CHARACTER in your army to take their
place and generate a Warlord trait for them (including this one). If the mission you
are playing grants victory points for slaying the enemy Warlord, your opponent will
only achieve that objective if all ALPHA LEGION CHARACTERS in your army have been
slain. Adaptable, and it's always hilarious to see an enemy's attempt at Slay the
Warlord to turn into a fucked up game of Whack-A-Mole. Note in low
points/characters games this can be a hindrance as you MUST roll for your trait.

• Black Legion - First Among Traitors. The Death to the False Emperor ability triggers
on a 5+ instead of a 6+ for all models in friendly BLACK LEGION units within 6" of the
Warlord. Unfortunately, due to the wording on the Icon of Excess and this rule (they
both set it to a 5+ instead of giving a +1) you can only get exploding dice on a 4+ if
you use Prescience.

• Iron Warriors - Cold and Bitter. Friendly IRON WARRIORS units within 6" of the
Warlord auto-pass Morale tests. That's a lot of Cultist blobs that won't be running
away.

• Night Lords - Night Haunter's Curse. Once per battle round, you can re-roll one hit
roll, wound roll, damage roll, Advance roll, charge roll, or saving roll made for your
Warlord. Damn, that's a lot of possible rerolls. More importantly, that means you
don't need to spend as many CP for said rerolls.

• World Eaters - Slaughterborn. Add 1 to your Warlord's Attacks and Strength

characteristics each time he slays an enemy CHARACTER, MONSTER, or TITANIC
model. Kharn comes stock with this one, which means that he can be even more
devastating if he has the chance to build up momentum.

• Word Bearers - The Voice of Lorgar. Add 3" to the range of any aura abilities that
the warlord has. Rooftop Havocs should be able to hear your Lord shouting at them
to shoot straight, whilst covering a lot of ground.

• Emperor's Children - Stimulated by Pain. Gain 1 attack for each wound suffered up
to a maximum of 3. If you heal any wounds, you lose the associated bonus attacks.
Meh on most footslogging characters, but can turn a demon prince into (even more)
of a murder machine. Lucius comes stock with this.

Legion Specific
• Iron Warriors - Iron Within, Iron Without (1CP): Use this stratagem when an IRON
 WARRIORS unit loses a wound. Until the end of the phase, each time said unit loses a
wound, they roll a die; on a 6 the wound is ignored.

• Night Lords - In Midnight Clad (1CP): Use this stratagem whenever a NIGHT LORDS
unit is targeted by a shooting attack. Until the end of the phase, all enemy units
firing at this unit must subtract 1 from their To Hit rolls. As GW has noted, since this
Stratagem is declared only after you're targeted it's a clever way to turn the tables
on units that like to use overcharged plasma weapons (e.g. Hellblasters).

• World Eaters - Scorn of Sorcery (1CP): When an enemy psyker uses a power within
24" of a WORLD EATERS unit, roll a d6. On a 4+, the power is nullified. Identical to
the Black Templars' Abhor the Witch stratagem, but no less effective against those
pesky psykers.

• Black Legion - Let the Galaxy Burn (1CP): Use this stratagem whenever a BLACK
LEGION BIKER or INFANTRY is selected to attack in the shooting or fight phases. You
can re-roll all to-hit rolls of 1 for the unit. If it is a Chaos Space Marine unit, you
re-roll all failed hits instead. Just like the Ultramarines' Chapter Tactic, but just as
useful too. Also keep in mind that you can totally take a 20 man squad to make the
most of this Stratagem.

• Word Bearers - Dark Pact (1CP): Use this stratagem when a WORD BEARER
CHARACTER attempts to summon a unit of DAEMONS to the battlefield using a
daemonic ritual. You can re-roll any of the dice used in the summoning roll, and your
character will not suffer any mortal wounds for rolling doubles or triples. Considering
how much cheaper Daemons have gotten, this makes summoning a lot more viable.

• Alpha Legion - Forward Operatives (1CP): Use this stratagem when you set up an
ALPHA LEGION INFANTRY unit. You can set up the unit in concealment instead of
placing it on the battlefield. At the beginning of the first battle round but before the
first turn begins, the unit emerges from its hiding place - set it up anywhere on the
battlefield that is more than 9 inches away from any enemy models. Consider using
this with Chosen and lots and lots of special weapons. Can also all but guarantee a
turn 1 charge with something like Possessed. But who likes Chosen and Posessed?
Take 20 man units of Zerkers and drown your opponant in the first turn (note that
you get to move and charge on your turn and these units don't count to your drop
total so your roll for first turn is almost garenteed. +1).

• Emperor's Children - Excess of Violence (1CP): Use this stratagem before an

EMPEROR'S CHILDREN INFANTRY unit attacks in the fight phase. Each time a model
in that unit slays an enemy model, it can immediately make another hit roll using the
same weapon at the same target. These bonus Attacks cannot generate further
attacks. When attacking an IMPERIUM unit, you get this on top of Death to the False
Emperor, which practically guarantees a wipe on anything but the toughest units.
Why Play Blood Angels
The Space Marines are the steadfast heroes of the Imperium. By their martial prowess and
valor is Mankind preserved from extinction at the hands of a galaxy filled with unimaginable
terrors. As one of the oldest and most revered of all Space Marine Chapters, the Blood
Angels have stood at the forefront of humanity's defense for over ten thousand years. With
bolter and chainsword they hold the foes of Mankind at bay in an unending battle for
survival. Yet the Blood Angels are touched by a terrible flaw that threatens to undo their
endless centuries of heroism, a dark madness that only strength of will can hope to contain.

The Blood Angels are the masters of war in all its forms, but they excel in the savage arena
of close assault above all others. Every Battle-Brother feels the lure of hand-to-hand combat
boiling in his blood - only eye-to-eye and blade-to-blade with the foe can the dark beast
within the Chapter's collective soul be given full reign. Caution is not the Blood Angels' way,
and it cannot be yours. Assault Squads, Death Company, Sanguinary Guard - these are the
spearhead of your host, but the rest of the army must follow close behind. Stormraven
Gunships roar over the battlefield, bringing fresh troops into the maelstrom. Tactical Squads
make their implacable advance, heavy weapons fire scouring the bastions of the foe, and
tanks spur forward to spit death at the enemy from point blank range. The Blood Angels are
an army fit only for the boldest of generals. Do you have what it takes to lead them to
victory?

8th Edition Codex inbound!

And by all accounts we're getting a decent codex. Supposedly this will be out late
November/early December 2017. (HELL YEAH)

Pros
• You like any of these things: The colors red, gold, white and black, jump packs,
assault, angels, vampires, blood, flamers, melta weapons, and going fast.

• The Blood Angels are designed for blitzkrieg. Everything in this army is designed for
maximum aggression; you basically have one tactic - race towards the opposing army
and punch a giant hole in it.

• Assault Marine spam is back and viable.

• The Baal Predator is the only vehicle with overcharged engines but it is better than
it's ever been (Twin-linked Assault Cannon is now 12 S6 AP-1 shots)

• Inferno pistols and hand flamers are worth taking because of the way pistols work in
close combat. Point at the nearest heretic and leave a smoking hole where their
chest used to be.

• A Sanguinary Priest's blood chalice now grants a +1 strength AOE for all Blood Angels
infantry within 6 inches.
 • The Sanguinor is a beast at S6 AP-4 D3 D with 6 attacks on the charge and +1 attack
for all Blood Angels within 6 inches. He also gets to charge after falling back from a
combat, so basically charge, kill, fall back, repeat.

• The Sanguinary Guard are amazing now. Their Encarmine weapons do D3 damage,
their Angelus Boltguns are AP-1, and they get to re-roll hits if they are within 6" of a
Blood Angels warlord.

• Death Masks now reduce enemy leadership by 1 in close combat which is excellent
for the morale phase.

• Furioso and Death Company Dreads can move 8 inches a turn, 2 more than regular
dreads. Death Company dreads also get to consolidate 6 inches after a fight phase,
which allows a potential consolidation into unengaged enemy units.

• Great characters who give multiple bonuses, such as re-rolling charges, re-rolling hits,
and allowing the Death Company to ignore morale.

• Many of our vehicles have multi shot weapons which will keep pumping out auto hit
shots no matter how much damage has been taken

Cons
• We lost the Red Thirst, since initiative isn't a rule now.

• No automatic +1 strength on the charge. However, this matches the lore of Blood
Angels fighting harder when they are in the presence of Blood Chalices. Also, the
nice thing about this change is it lasts multiple rounds of combat but you should be
annihilating anything you charge.

• All Chapters have lost their special Chapter Tactics, so now all of our units are just as
good as one another. This does help balance between armies, but does cost a lot of
flavor. Our Red Marines are still very choppy but they need to be near Sanguinary
Priests and Librarians to get their buffs. This makes sense since Furious Charge
wasn't exactly useful for Devastator Squads. It is to be noted however, that
Warhammer Community has mentioned these will come back once the Codexes
drop.

• Blood Angels don't have access to Codex Contemptor Dreads or

Cataphractii/Tartaros Terminators for no reason. Also no flyers other than the
Stormraven. Fortunately you can mix and match IMPERIUM keyword units in the
same detachment, so paint that Stormtalon or Stormhawk red. Just be aware it
won't get BA-exclusive benefits.

• Sanguinius is the only loyalist Primarch confirmed to be dead (No one cares about
Ferrus). So unless GW pulls some BS Deus ex Machina, BA will be the only Astartes
codex without a Primarch of their own. *sniff sniff*
Useful Tactics
Playing with Blood Angels can be a double-edged sword. Move too aggressively and you'll
find some of your squads isolated and overwhelmed. Move too slowly and you'll struggle to
make an impact. Here are some useful tactics to use in 8th edition.

• Sword and Shield: This tactic relies on combining decent firepower to pin an enemy
force (or elements of that force) in place whilst your attacking squads advance and
seize the objective or destroy other enemy squads and vehicles. This tactic is useful
against highly mobile opponents, such as Ravenwing or Eldar. One or more squads or
vehicles with heavy weaponry act as a stationary firing platform to prevent the
enemy from exploiting that flank, while the remainder of the Blood Angels force
advances. This tactic is less useful against hordes. Imagine a warrior holding a shield
(that's the heavy weapons on the flank) and the sword, ready to thrust (that's the
attacking force). Also useful for pinning enemy elements in place before assault.

• Hammer and Anvil: Derived from previous editions and codices, Hammer and Anvil
relies on fast-moving vehicles, air units or teleportation to move multiple squads and
characters across distance to close the gap in as little time as possible, thus
surprising enemy positions with a dominant attacking force in specific locations that
your opponent cannot reinforce in time. Stormravens are often used to excess in this
regard, as are Sanguinary Guard, Terminators and Death Company equipped with
jump packs. This force benefits greatly from character buffs, such as Chaplains and
Captains. Imagine the days of old with Dante, a shitload of Sanguinary Guard and
Terminators all arriving like Death From Above.

• Steel and Flame: A tactic used specifically for hordes such as Tyranids or Orks. This
calls upon the Blood Angels commander to field squads, vehicles and characters that
specialise in killing scores of enemy troops. If used correctly, a seasoned commander
will deploy with overlapping fields of fire, good line of sight and defensive positions
designed to slow the enemy advance. Baal Predator tanks, Whirlwinds, flamers,
rapid-fire weapons and characters that improve accuracy or penetration are best
employed here. Each squad or vehicle should be able to both advance and retreat
under covering fire from other supporting troops or vehicles. Deployment is key here.
Position your forces too far forward and your squads will be overrun. Pull back too
far and your range will be limited and you'll have nowhere to fall back to when
things get hairy. Razorbacks armed with twin assault cannons should not be
overlooked here, and each squad, vehicle or character must support and be
supported by other elements. In this scenario, an isolated squad is a dead squad. It
should be noted that this is primarily a defensive tactic, but counter-attacks can
swing the outcome of the battle here. One example would be to utilise a Land Raider
Crusader (with assault troops/terminators/Death Company inside) as a mobile
shredding platform, continually pulling back as the enemy advances, keeping it out
of range of assault. If the enemy get too close, and you have nowhere to move,
that's when you counter-attack with whatever is inside the vehicle.

• Fish and Chips: Anti-Tau tactics to be placed here, if any! LOL

Special Rules
And They Shall Know No Fear: Re-roll failed morale tests. Great for when your close combat
goes awry.

Black Rage: Add 1 to the Attacks of a model with this rule that charged in the preceding
Charge Phase. In addition, roll a D6 after every wound, on a 6 the damage is ignored. Rip
and tear indeed.

Jump Pack Assault: Allows you to deploy any models with a jump pack at the end of any
movement phase, provided you stay at least 9" away from the nearest enemy model.
(Combine with Lemartes for great alpha-strike)

Psychic Powers
In addition to Smite, Blood Angels get access to the Sanguinary Discipline.

Sanguinary
• Blood Boil: Warp Value 5. Target a unit within 18" and throw three dice. For each roll
that exceeds or equals the toughness of the target, they suffer a mortal wound.
Great for softening up multi-wound models or T4 HQs.

• Shield of Sanguinius: Warp Value 6. Select a Blood Angels unit within 12" and gift
them a 4+ invul until the next Psychic Phase. Death Company with 4++? Yes Please!

• Unleash Rage: Warp Value 6. Select a Blood Angels unit within 12" and they gain +1
Attack. Oh joy! Again, better with larger squads.

Why Play Dark Angels

8th Edition Codex inbound!
GW confirmed that Blood Angels and Dark Angels will have their Codices in time for
Christmas (and to keep their promise of 10 Codices released by Christmas time). By all
accounts, we're getting back unique rules for Deathwing and Ravenwing, and Primaris units
are being retooled to better fit into the Dark Angels chapter.

Pros
• Units that never need to take morale checks and bonuses against the Fallen

• Slightly more elite bikers and terminators, as well as a different selection of aircraft

• The change to 8th edition means your anti-aircraft game has upped considerably,
despite the fact you don't get other space marine toys.

• Lots of different overlapping bubbles that buff your units and debuff your enemy.

• Such as the unholy triumvirate of Azrael, Ezekiel and Asmodai under

Darkshroud cover.
 • Every slot has even more Plasma! Plasma Terminators (only useful against blobs),
Plasma Bikers, Plasma Land Speeder, Plasma Dreadnoughts. Just remember to take a
buff-dude so you can reroll ones.

• Mathhammer wise, Deathwing Knights are still the best duelists during the Assault
phase. Just remember to let everyone else take on infantry blobs.

• Everything still looks awesome. Dark Angels have some of the best looking models.

• Ravenwing and (mainly) Deathwing appreciate the changes made from 8th edition.
For example: 2-wound Terminators now mean that a Deathwing Army has essentially
doubled in wounds.

• You have access to some of the cool Primaris stuff.

• Our vehicles are now much better. Say hello to

Land-Speeder-Vengeance-that-no-longer-kills-itself and the
no-longer-outclassed-Nephilim-Jetfighter-with-good-amounts-of-firepower.

• Our Characters are now awesome. Yay!

• It's overall easier to field armies now as no longer do full Deathwing armies have to
start in Deep Strike reserve. And if they do, they can now charge. So more
opportunities for one's army.

Cons
• Despite the reorganisation of the Ultima Founding and the introduction of Primaris
Marines along with MkX armour and Bolt Rifles, you still didn't get any of the other
normal space marine equipment like Centurions (it's not like you need them though),
Storm Talons, Stormhawks, the "old" Terminator variants (they should have been the
first chapter to have them) or Hunter tanks.

• Like the other non-codex marines. You're the last to get new models from Forge
World. If GW and Forge World remember they exist at all. GW has the memory of
Grandpa_Dreadnought.

• While you're in the same boat as all the other chapters with regards to Primaris
Marines, your Deathwing/Ravenwing buffs don't extend to the new guys, so you've
got less need to take them.

• In fact, due to the sweeping loss of army-wide special rules, if you're not playing with
Deathwing/Ravenwing you're pretty much just playing a pared down version of the
Space Marine list for no good reason. With the loss of Grim Resolve and less need to
take troops. Very few players will be fielding Green Wing armies.

• However, look for this to be fixed with the incoming Codex.

• Your Terminators may have twice as many wounds, but most anti-terminator
weapons now do twice as much damage.
 • Your equivalent to Honor Guard and Sanguinary Guard are now gone due to the
reorganization. Despite their buffs, it doesn't make sense for guys in green armor to
be guarding members of the Deathwing & Ravenwing. This also means one less Land
Raider in Deathwing Armies.

• Rumors indicate that this might be fixed in the upcoming Codex. With
Deathwing and Black Knights being able to upgrade to a Command Squad.
Though whether it will cost points or CP is up in the air for now.

• Re-rollable Jink has gone. Fuck.

• Lots of people still think implying the Dark Angels are traitors is the height of comedy,
and they will be sure to remind you every other turn. Using the Photoshoped picture
of Gav Thorpe as evidence.

• You still get trolled by the Fallen CHAOS SPACE MARINES WITH NO CONNECTION TO
THE FIRST LEGION, WHO ARE COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY LOYAL.

• All of this awesome shit described here. You won't be seeing any of it. In 30K maybe,
if Forge World feels generous.

Special Rules
• And They Shall Know No Fear: Reroll failed morale tests. Not going to come into play
that much given your generally good Ld scores, but it can be helpful.

• Unforgiven: Given to all Deathwing units and most characters, they automatically
pass morale checks and may reroll fails to-hit against anything with the FALLEN
keyword.

• Jink: Your Ravenwing units (bikers, speeders, and aircraft) all gain a 5+ invulnerable
save against shooting, as long as they advance in the movement phase. Remember,
you can still fire assault weapons after advancing at a -1 BS penalty. Unfortunately,
it's no longer re-rollable.

Why Play Deathwatch

The battle-brothers of the Deathwatch are the foremost xenos hunters in the Imperium.
They are a black-clad brotherhood of noble warriors, bound by ancient oaths to defend
Mankind from the alien, no matter its form. Hand-picked from the breadth of the Adeptus
Astartes for their expertise in the slaughter of xenos threats, each of those who have joined
the Long Vigil is a hero, tempered in the furnace of conflict and girded for battle with an
arsenal of specialist weaponry. When the Watch Companies of the Deathwatch go to war en
masse, there is no alien in the expanse of the galaxy that they cannot overcome.

1 in 100 men may be fit to become a Space Marine. 1 in 100 Space Marines may be fit to
join the Deathwatch.
Reasons why they're awesome:
• Operators operating operationally - The Deathwatch is the Imperium's premier
xenos-hunting special forces, and as a result get the best gear.

• Codex: Your Dudes - The relatively small model count and composition of many
different chapters allows for great modelling and character opportunities. More so
than any other army - you can really individualize each model, as they are all
experienced veterans from different chapters. Trade bits with other Marine players
to make each model stand out. Run your Kill-team from the Deathwatch RPG as part
of your army!

• On top of that, because of the customizability and huge variability in gear, (And
because GW is allergic to balance,) Deathwatch are one of the strongest armies in a
Power Level game if you capitalize on the fact that you've got access to tons of
expensive equipment.

• Awesome Paint Scheme: Because Black and Silver is the new Black.

• Quick and easy to get onto the table - The simple (but awesome) paint scheme,
combined with the low model count, means Deathwatch are one of the fastest
armies to get built, painted, and battle-ready. And, if you like to play Sternguard and
Vanguard veterans as count as Deathwatch, you likely already have the beginnings of
a kill-team or two ready to go.

• Forge World Support: As of the latest FAQ (1.1), Deathwatch can now field units
from the Index: Forces of the Adeptus Astartes book. This opens up a wealth of
possibilities with access to tons of dreadnoughts, flyers, tanks, super-heavy
transports, and other craziness.

• No longer are your Veterans just Sternguard in disguise, you are now the only guys
with access to special issue ammunition

• One of two armies with the Frag Cannon. Though somehow only Deathwatch have
the portable version while Blood Angels are limited to mounting Frag Cannons on
their Dreadnoughts.

• Because Squad Loadout is the personal theme of your local gaming group.

• You're a fan of X-COM and the FFG board game just doesn't work for you. With some
work, Inquisition allies means you can build a fully upgraded Psi-operative and a
close approximation of the Commander's Avatar. Tech-Priest Lily Shen and
misanthropic snarky robot sidekick costs extra.

• Corvus Blackstar, the coolest looking flyer in the game.

Reasons why they're not awesome:

• Low model count - Just like the Grey Knights, each model is extremely expensive,
even when compared to other Space Marine chapters, without gaining much by way
 of added durability.

• Units from Vanilla Marines come with some hefty and often strange restrictions.

• No relics yet, meaning your customization options are limited compared to other
Marine chapters.

• If you're not keen on Forge World models, you'll need some allies to patch the
miles-wide hole in your long-range shooting game.

• Having a squad where every single model has a different equipment loadout can
make for slow play despite the low model count as each weapon is resolved
individually; not recommended for beginners who need to constantly refer to
datasheets.

Special Rules
Special Issue Ammunition
Any Bolt Pistol, Boltgun, Twin Boltgun, Stalker Pattern Bolter, or Guardian Spear may choose
to fire special issue ammunition. Storm Bolters and other unusual variants such as the
Master-Crafted Boltgun and Primaris Bolt Rifles cannot currently use Special Issue
Ammunition. It should be noted, however, that a Storm Bolter is generally the better option,
inflicting just as much damage as Vengeance Rounds on MEQ, inflicting more damage than
all of them on GEQ, and inflicting only slightly less damage than Vengeance Rounds against
TEQ. The only thing it loses out against is Hellfire Rounds vs Monsters and the like, but you
shouldn't be firing Bolters at those unless something has gone terribly wrong. Note that this
does work with Combi-weapons that aren't Combi-bolters, as those sport a "Boltgun" profile,
but not Combi-bolters, as those do not.

• Dragonfire Bolts: Add +1 to hit when shooting at a unit in cover. This is okay, but not
too great, as Space Marines are pretty decent shots already. The real problem with
units in cover is not that you can't hit them, but the fact they get better saves. Works
well against eldar rangers.

• Hellfire Rounds: Wound everything except vehicles on a 2+. Considering the new
wounding chart and how difficult it is to get a 2+ these days, this thing is golden. You
should be using these in most circumstances, as going from a 6+ or 5+ to a 2+ is 5x or
2.5x the output; AP-1 is 2x against a 2+ save and 1.5x against a 3+.

• Kraken Bolts: Add 3" to the range of a bolt pistol, 6" range otherwise. Improve the
AP by one. This essentially turns your Boltgun into a Primaris bolt rifle.

• Vengeance Round: Subtract 3" from the range of your pistol (now 9") or 6" from
other weapons. Improve the AP of the weapon by two. Phenomenal when you're in
range for it; against AP2, this is 3x output, and 2x against 3+.

Why Play Grey Knights?

The Grey Knights are the Emperor’s final creation, an army of Space Marines whose might
and dedication eclipses all others. Their all-consuming mission is to confront the Daemons
of the Warp wheresoever they might manifest. Each Grey Knight has the power of an army
in his own right, capable of felling the greatest of Greater Daemons with a single blow.
When the Chapter fights as one there are few who can oppose them. Yet, as the Imperium
approaches its twilight, the daemonic threat grows ever greater and the Grey Knights ever
more beset. Will they have the strength to hold back the coming tide of Chaos? Also the
Grey Knights, except the Mary Sue to end all Mary Sues, take the "Men vs Monster" trope to
a whole new level. You thought that Catachans taking on a carnifex with lasguns is manly as
fuck? Well how about you max both out. GK normally fight where daemons go when shit
hits the fan really hard. They regularly fight Greater Daemons, Daemon Primarchs and
fuckhuge tons of Daemons. In the face of such opponents even a Grey Knight looks like a
guardsman in t-shirt Armour. But you know what, this is pure awesome because they do it
anyway. Just a sword, their faith and a Power T-Shirt with a strapped on Stormbolter.

Though the Grey Knights wield the finest armaments that the armouries of the Imperium
can provide, their chief weapon comes from within: a psychic might that can cleave through
armour, summon sanctifying flame or return life to the dead.

A Grey Knights army will always be outnumbered, but each of your warriors is easily as
powerful as the mightiest hero in your opponent’s ranks. Terminator Squads, the elite of
other Space Marine armies, are the mainstay of your force. Purgation Squads lay down a
storm of heavy weapons fire, Purifiers immolate the foe with azure flame, Strike Squads
attack wherever the enemy is most vulnerable, and towering Nemesis Dreadknights stride
imperiously across the battlefield, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

Pros

• The Grey Knights are an army of Psyker Space Marines. That's pretty cool. Besides,
casting Hammerhand you will succeed in 72,22% of cases.

• The Grey Knights have excellent assault and okayish close-range shooting. At a
minimum, you're getting a storm-bolter and a force sword on every infantry model.

• Great looking infantry models with lots of customization options. They are not really
hard to paint either to look decent and Duncan has pretty neat tutorials on them.

• A low model count allows for easy movement and understanding of the game.

• Daemons and (somewhat) Psykers are your preferred targets.

• Force weapons absolutely everywhere, and they're no longer subject to Deny the
Witch, which means you're always putting out D3 wounds to everything in melee!

• All of your Squads can cast Smite, albeit at reduced strength; expect to be putting
out a lot of mortal wounds as the game goes on.

Cons

• A low model count means each loss hurts much more. In order to win you must find
ways to block line of sight, find cover saves, and get into assault as soon as possible.
 • The codex is extremely limited in terms of unit selection.

• Other armies have access to high strength and low AP weapons; 5++ isn't going to
save you all the time.

• Very limited access to AP-3 and below outside of close combat.

• Poor long range shooting options -- though mitigated now since lascannons got
buffed.

• Anti-Daemon abilities are useless if you're not facing Daemons, which makes them
useless most of the time.

• Lack of stuff from Forge World. Despite the fact that Grey Knights were more or less
established during the Second Founding, leaving you at a disadvantage on tables
when the models/rules are permitted.

• The Grey Knights are an army of Psykers in edition that is... well, sub-optimal for
Psykers. New Perils of the Warp are more like Anal Circumference and anti-Psyker
abilities may be your undoing.

• No new models in new Codex, and the Grey Knights are the only Space Marine
Chapter that does not get in-house Primaris Marines.

Special Rules
• And They Shall Know No Fear: Re-roll all failed morale tests. Not gonna come into
effect too often given your relatively high Ld -- and also your ridiculous unit costs,
which means you're likely running five-man squads anyways -- but it never hurts to
have a safety net.

• Since this is an optional rule, you should only re-roll a failure when you
expect to do better on the subsequent roll; typically, this means only
re-rolling a failure when it's a 4 or higher, although obviously you should
re-roll all failures when trying to keep the last member of a unit on the table.

• Daemon Hunters: Re-roll all failed to-wound rolls against units with the Daemon
keyword in the Fight phase.

• Markedly worse than the Ordo Malleus' Quarry rule, but don't worry about
that.

• Rites of Banishment: Every one of your units save for your transports and purifiers
have this (purifiers and crowe get their own 3", 1d6 mortal wounds). Grants a
weaker version of Smite with only a 12" range, and deals only 1 mortal wound
instead of D3, as well as losing the chance for increased damage with a roll of 10 or
higher. However, if the target unit has the Daemon keyword, it takes 3 mortal
wounds without rolling, instead. Fair, considering you can spam Smite like no other
army.

• Teleport Strike: YES! (Almost) YOUR ENTIRE ARMY CAN STILL DEEPSTRIKE! Not really,
 though, since at least half need to be on the table. Instead of deploying normally,
you can, at the end of a movement phase, set up a GK unit anywhere on the
battlefield more than 9" away from an enemy unit.

• It's actually easier to list what hasn't got and can't get this: Techmarines,
Brotherhood Champions, Crowe, Purifiers, Purgation Squads, Servitors. Why
Strike Squads have it but Purgation Squads do not is a mystery, since for all
intents and purposes Strike Squads are Purgation Squads with less training, as
confirmed by the fluff on page 43 of the codex.

Grey Knights Special Rules: You will only get these if your army is Battle-forged, and they
only apply to Detachments of only <Grey Knights> units.

• Brotherhood of Psykers: All your Psykers get this, but otherwise it's your version of
Chapter Tactics. You can add 1 to Psychic tests and Deny the Witch tests taken by
your units.

• Knights of Titan: Objective Secured 8th Edition: if within range of an objective

marker, you control it no matter how many of enemies try to swarm it, unless they
have a similar rule, too.

Why Play Death Guard

For the first time in 40k's history, Grandfather Nurgle's favorite pus-sacks have gotten their
own Codex, and it's a solid mix of the fluffy and crunchy. You might not exactly be zipping
across the board, but if you want a footslogging army that can shrug off almost anything the
opponent can throw at them and retaliate with punishing short-range attacks (and really,
really like the number 7), the Death Guard is the army for you.

Pros
• Can fire Assault and Heavy weapons with none of their normal penalties when
footslogging, and Rapid Fire weapons can double tap from 3/4 (18/24") max range
instead of the usual half range.

• Plague weapons make wound rolls reliable with easy access to re-rolling 1s, and can
be buffed in several different ways.

• Excellent Toughness on average, and most of your army has Disgustingly Resilient
(including some of your vehicles), allowing you to effectively ignore 1/3 of incoming
wounds. I mean, if you did not know this, why are you even here?

• Lots of debuffing auras to discourage choppy armies from getting too close to you.

• As the other army in the starter set alongside the Primaris Marines, it'll be easy to
start up a collection.

• Many of your units have ways of dealing mortal wounds, letting them bypass those
annoying invulnerable saves.

• They also are the most up-to-date line of Chaos models.

Cons
• The infantry that makes up the bulk of your army is SLOW. Most units have maybe 5"
of movement at most, and the Terminators are stuck with Cataphractii armor so
they'll move even slower.

• Practically no designated long-range fire units outside of vehicles.

• Elites slot is rather crowded. Not much of an issue since a Battalion detachment has
tons of Elite slots to accommodate all those Characters, but you might fill them out
to capacity.

• Many of the units that made up the core of a Death Guard army in 7E Traitor Legions
are no longer accessible to the new Death Guard. This includes absolutely crucial fire
support such as Havocs and Obliterators, as well as Bikers and pretty much anything
that went fast in previous editions. Nurgle armies looking for those will need to use
vanilla CSM rules for them.

• Most of the mortal wounds you deal out require you to be very close if not in melee
range, putting your units at risk against fast, shooty armies like the Eldar as well as
flyers in general.

• Low model reusability. In spite of the fact that they're still technically Death Guard,
you're probably not going to find much use for your old Plague Marine minis now.
Even if you previously had a DG army, if you want to run DG using THIS codex, you're
probably going to have to start from scratch as all the actually good units are new, or
equipped with new gear. Just like the Thousand Sons before them.

• No way of boosting Ld, so Morale can still thin your numbers.

How to handle these cons

• You should imagine playing a DG army as a slowly growing mold on a cheese. Sure,
we are slow, but we can utilize Spawn, Possessed, Tanks or flying DPs to move ahead
of the main wave and cause chaos before the rest catches up into mid-range to
cause maximum damage.

• If you had Bikers, Helturkeys, and Obliterators in 7E and want to use them in a DG
army, you still can, but they must be restricted to a separate detachment of vanilla
Chaos Space Marines if you want to be Battle Forged. In addition, nothing stops you
from painting your Bikers in DG colors and running them with rules for regular CSM
Bikers so get creative! It's all about your dudes!

• Transports can help our slow-moving troops to get across the board, but most of
them don't have Disgustingly Resilient. Metal Boxes are not as good as they used to
be. Taking transports has always been a tactical choice, but now more than ever.
This subject is a bit of a skub depending on who you ask and on the kind of terrain
you usually play on. I suggest experimenting with having more troops, but no
transports OR 2-3 transports, but less troops. There is always a sweet spot in balance
that Papa Nurgle would approve.
Special Rules
• Inexorable Advance: If your army is Battle-forged, all Death Guard Infantry and
Helbrute units in Death Guard detachments gain this ability. Such units do not suffer
a penalty for moving and firing Heavy weapons, or for Advancing and firing Assault
weapons. In addition, a unit with this ability can fire twice with Rapid Fire weapons
at a range of 18", instead of only being able to fire twice with them up to half the
weapon's maximum range. Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds.

• Disgustingly Resilient: Technically not exclusive to the Death Guard but most of your
units have it. FNP on a 5+.

• Plague Host: Objective Secured, Death Guard edition (if Battle-forged), to all
TROOPS, no matter how many fewer than the enemy. You can literally have 1
zombie move in at the last minute and capture an objective from an ork swarm.
Fantastic! (Until the orks get their codex giving boys the same ability)

• Plague Weapon: A weapon that rerolls to-wound rolls of 1. Incidentally, a lot of your
weapons are these.

• Death to the False Emperor: Just like vanilla CSMs, rolling a 6 to hit in close combat
against Imperials lets you perform a bonus attack. People usually tend to forget this
one but seriously, this little friend could change a loss into a win.