Well well well,
here's a nice surprise. I've lost track of how many comments I've read over the
years from people yearning for a mono-God book and now finally it's here.
Although I don't plan on moving onto chaos worshipping until next year I
couldn't help but pick up the book just to get a feel for what they're doing
with things. I'll go over things in some detail but seeing as there are few new
units included in the book I won't dwell on them too much and will instead
focus on the other aspects to the book.
The Overall
look of the book is the same high standard we are now used to. The pages are
replete with colour artwork both old and new and detail the Daemonkin hosts of
Khorne while giving us the usual timeline and force disposition pages. I found
the new fluff on Khornes 8 hosts and how each type of Bloodthirster comes from
a specific one particularly interesting. What's also nice (and a throwback to
the codexes of old) is a section giving a one-page description and artwork of
each unit (the Heldrake is oddly missing). A few pages focus on the markings
and colour schemes of the hosts before we are treated to the colour gallery
(with a few 'eavy metal spotlights) and then on to the datasheets and rules.
As the title
suggests, this book is dedicated to all things Khorne, namely various CSM units
and the Khorne Daemons from their respective books, plus a few new entries
(Bloodthirsters) and notable absences (Kharn, Karanak, Skarbrand, Oblit/muties).
Skarbrand I can understand as he has no model but the muties/oblits are odd as
they have the MoK option in the CSM book and both Kharn and Karanak are so quintessentially
Khorne that their absence is baffling. Both the predator and vindicator are
also absent, as are havocs and chosen. The mark and daemon of Khorne rules are the same as their parent
codexes which provides nice continuity and from what I can see most point costs
are also uniform in that, for example, a Chaos Marine costs the same as in the
CSM book plus the cost of MoK. Difference is that the following rules replace
the rules found in the parent Codex. Skulls for the skull throne is effectively
the same chaos champion rule regarding challenges. Blood for the Blood God is
the real big difference here though and allows you to generate Blood tithe
points for each unit you destroy or is destroyed with the BftBG rule, plus the
same for characters in challenges. You tally these points to a max of 8 then
expend them by picking one reward off the following table - the points are then
zeroed and we begin again.
1 - Infernal
contempt - all BftBG units have admantium will this turn.
2 - Insatiable
bloodlust - all BftBG units have furious charge and rage this turn.
3 - Unstoppable
ferocity - all BftBG units have FnP this turn.
4 - Apocalyptic
fury - all BftBG units have +1 attacks this turn.
5 - Daemontide
- 8 Bloodletters/5 fleshounds are summoned within 12" of a BftBG unit.
6 - Harbingers
of blood and brass - 3 bloodcrushers/skullcannon are summoned within 12"
of a BftBG unit.
7 - Dark
apotheosis - a non-daemon BftBG character must take a Ld test - if failed, a
spawn is summoned in 6", if passed a daemon Prince with daemonic flight
and warp-forged armour is instead. The character is removed but slay the
warlord is not awarded and a warlord trait / relic is retained.
8 - Fury
unbound - as for 7 but a Bloodthirster of unfettered fury is summoned instead.
Before I go any
further just a note to say that both the warp storm table and daemonic
instability are gone from this codex. Not only that, but the chaos boon table
is gone also. This removes some flavour but also is adequately replaced by the
above table to provide the player with bonuses and ways for psychic-hating Khorne
to summon in reinforcements. For the most part the armoury is a streamlined
amalgam of the two books with new relics and an absence of chaos rewards. A
collar of Khorne can be taken as can ichor blood. The axe of khorne, normally reserved for bloodthirsters, is a welcome addition to the melee weapons section, granting ap2 at initiative and instant death on a 6 to wound. Chaos Lords seem to have the least restricted access to wargear on the list. Unless specifically mentioned
assume all the units below have the Blood for the Blood God rule and either
mark of Khorne or Daemon of Khorne.
Let's take a
look at the HQ choices as there are plenty. The Chaos Lord, Daemon Prince,
Herald, Blood Throne, Skulltaker and all 3 Bloodthristers are in there. Things
to note include the lack of rewards for the Herald and the FOC changes in that
he takes up a single slot and doesn't need to upgrade to a Blood throne any
more - it's a separate entry. Also, though loci are still in the daemonic gifts
are gone though the relics compensate for this. The Bloodthirster of unfettered
fury is verbatim the regular Bloodthirster we know and love. The Slightly more
costly BT of insensate rage is the chap with the D strength AP2 mega-axe (piles
in and fights at I1) who also has the rage USR. Lastly, the slightly more
expensive Wrath of Khan, I mean Khorne, BT has Admantium will, hatred
(characters) a bloodflail and hellfire as well as an axe of Khorne. These
provide a 12" s7 Ap2 assault 3 and a S5 ap4 soul blaze template
respectively.
Troops consist
of cultists, Chaos Space Marines, Beserkers and Bloodletters, though note that
the starting size of all these units is 8 (upgradable to standard maximums) and
that the Bloodreaper can't take rewards as per the Herald. A small elites
section only contains Terminators, possessed and Bloodcrushers, again oddly
lacking chosen who are, after all, the chosen of the Chaos Gods after all. Fast
attack is pretty crowded with rhinos, Heldrakes, Bikers, Raptors, Warp Talons,
Flesh hounds and spawn. Heavy support contains Land raiders (also a DT for
terminators), Forgefiends, Maulerfiends, Defilers, Soulgrinders, Helbrutes and
Skull cannons. Finally, we couldn't go without mentioning the big guy. Indeedy,
the Lord of Skulls is in there as a Lord of War.
Now we've
looked at the FOC it's time to look at another new feature first introduced to
us in the Necron codex. Rather than a simple detachment with an alternative FOC
this book packs a Blood Host detachment, which works in much the same way as a Necron
decurion. The core element is a Slaughtercult (covered momentarily) for which
each entitles you to a Lord of Slaughter - either one of the 3 Bloodthirsters
or a Lord of Skulls. You can then choose 1-8 formations (again, detailed below)
per Slaughtercult. One of these 5 isn't actually a formation and is a war
engine, entitling you to a Helbrute, Defiler, Soulgrinder, Forgefiend,
Maulerfiend or Lord of Skulls. While I think these new style detachments have
their place, I'm not so sure this one works very well due to the limited units
available and the points costs involved. The perks (as well as the individual
formation perks) are that you get to reroll warlord traits and you get a bonus
blood tithe point at the start of each turn.
The Slaughtercult
is your core detachment and is effectively one HQ chosen from all the options
except the BTs, 2-8 troops (except cultists), 1-4 possessed (sales pitch? at
least tomb blades were good!), 0-2 cultists and 0-2 spawn. This actually has
some good perks in that as well as the Warlord reroll you also get to
auto-remove cultists who fail morale checks to bolster that blood tithe and you
can choose a second reward on the Blood tithe table as long as it has a lower
value that the first to a maximum of 3. I can see this being particularly
useful to really milk all you can from that tithe table.
The Brazen onslaught
is 1-4 Terminators and 2-4 Bloodcrushers, who benefit from +1A if outnumbered
in combat. Khorne's bloodstorm is 2-4 Raptors, 1-4 Warp Talons and 0-1
Heldrakes, allowing +1S to any hammer of wrath or vector strikes they make -
nice! The Gorepack is 2-4 bikers and 1-4 Flesh hounds, who gain move through
cover, preferred enemy (psykers) and the Fleshounds gain HoW, while the bikers
HoW attacks gain shred. Lastly, the charnel cohort is a Daemon-exclusive formation
granting counter-attack, rerolls to warlord trait, -2 to fear tests and the
ability to reroll deep strike for the HQ and use him to stop other units in
6" from this formation scattering. Overall they're pretty nice if you
happen to have the right quantity of models to arrange in this specific way.
Warlord Traits:
1 - Icon of War
- reroll failed charge rolls for warlord and all BftBG units in 12" -
nice!
2 - Disciple of
Khorne - Warlord has zealot.
3 -
Arch-slaughterer - Warlord has +1A.
4 - Favoured of
Khorne (Skulltaker) - Warlord generates one extra blood tithe point if wins a
challenge.
5 - Butcher
King - Warlord has preferred enemy.
6 - Destined
for Glory - automatically passes LD rolls on results 7/8 on the blood tithe
table.
Tactical
objectives
11 - Khorne
cares not - 1vp if a unit, friend or foe, was destroyed. 3-5 = D3, 6+ = D3+3.
12 - Altar of
gore - 1 Vp if an enemy that was controlling an objective is destroyed (D3 if
you now control)
13 - Blood and
skulls for Khorne - 1VP if an enemy character killed during a challenge (D3 if
an IC).
14 - Unfettered
butchery - 1 VP if an enemy unit killed during assault phase.
15 -
Murder-call - 1VP if a daemon unit summoned or deep struck.
16 - Blood
God's scorn - 1VP if 1+ enemy units falling back or if a psyker destroyed.
Artefacts of
Slaughter
Goredrinker -
S+1, AP2, unwieldy. Blood feast rule means it gets stronger the more it kills.
1-2 wounds = +1 strength, 3-4 =rampage, 5-7 = double strength, 8+ = instant
death.
Blood-forged
armour - 3+ armour save, eternal warrior and FnP.
Brazen rune -
Admantium will and once per game can cause any psyker in 24" to perils on
any double, though the bearer loses admantium will after.
Blade of
endless bloodshed - AP3 - generates an additional blood tithe point if caused
any casualties in melee.
Skull helm of
Khorne - bearer has fear and also gains additional attacks for every 6 he rolls
to hit in melee.
Kor'Lath, the
axe of ruin - AP2 specialist weapon with deapitating blow (instant death on to
wound roll of 6) and caged fury, which means a Bloodthirster of unfettered fury
will be summoned in 6" if the bearer dies! It suffers D3 wounds per turn
(++ saves allowed) however.
In conclusion
this is a pretty good release that has done well to piggy-back onto the
Bloodthirster release and also helps to make playing a mono-God Chaos list a
lot easier through needing only one book, working synergistically within a
God-specific ruleset and also eliminating more complicated rules like the warp
storm and boon tables. I think enthusiasts may feel that it fell short of the
mark (pun intended) with Kharn being left out and therefore even if allied in
being unable to add to the BftBG tally. However, that aside let's hope that this
book is the first of the four to be released and not a one-off.
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