Did Chaos really need to be the first army book out? I don't think so. There are other armies with books that are 2 to 3 editions old now, but hey I'm just some rube what do I know? Now we have the new version of the Chaos Space Marines and is it everything I want in an army that I own? I'm still not sure.
STORY, EXPOSITION, & STUFF
There isn't much that has changed here. These are still the bastards that went from good to bad. The Horus Heresy stuff is still the same. There are some minor tweaks to the various Legions, but nothing glaring. The unit descriptions of the "old" stuff is the standard flair too. If you know about the Chaos Marines, then nothing here will really shock you.
ARTWORK
Well it is Blanche free and that is a huge plus! However, they reuse a ton of previous codex artwork and that is sad. The new pics are descent, but not outstanding. Sure they added color, but it really doesn't add much when you are getting the same pics from a previous codex.
MODELS
I have already commented my dislike of on the new Chaos models in a previous post. I don't need to rehash them. There is also the fact that they need and should update the older special characters. Why are we stuck with the dated Abbadon, Kharn, Arhiman and Fabius? Most of these models suffer from arms that are composed of hands only. I know they are bent armed , but they just look like they have a hand and weapon sprouting from a shoulder. There is also the fact that the standard terminator model is bigger than Abbadon. Why haven't they given these guys new sculpts? These are HQ's and deserve center piece models.
RULES
The new special Chaos only rules are meh. I'm not really that impressed with them. There is a giant random chart for "gifts" from the Chaos gods and the magic spells...psyker powers are kind of ok, but random like all the main rulebook powers.They do get their own Warlord Trait chart, and it is marginally better than the main rulebook.
UNITS
This is where everyone pays real attention. There are a lot of affordable units and some that see way over-costed. This is also known as.."Hey everyone used these to death last codex. Let us make them more expensive (and/or worse) so they will have to buy new models." We have all seen this and we know it is true. Sure they have brought some unit costs in-line and down, but that is not the case everywhere.The NEW! NEW! NEW! units are sort of meh and only the stupid flyer will get any real love from gamers. There is also a ton of room to overspend units and gear here. The available upgrades and such that many units can buy can quickly add up. I guess that gives some room to make an expensive elite force or a horde o' crazies.
MISC.
There is very little in this codex about the Demon aspect of Chaos. The dark gods are mentioned and there some demon filled units, but it more an evil Astartes book this time around. Gone are the lesser demons and we all saw that coming. I was, and maybe others were too, hoping for some type of drop pod or rapid deployment for Chaos. Sadly this is not the case......again. There was also a hope that the Chaos Marines would get something akin to "And They Shall Know No Fear!", but that is not the case either. They can still be swept away like common orcs after a bad combat and that is lame! The wargear section should make some people happy that missed it. It is nowhere near as extensive as 3rd edition Chaos, but it is a bit better than the 5th edition Chaos. There is also a bit of an "FU" you non-Astartes Marnies, but I'll dive more into that, and it will be seen with some unit reviews.
As this is a first new edition codex, it doesn't seem awful. I don't dislike a lot of it and even like some of the smaller changes. It just sucks that certain models are still dated and certain units still have dumb rules and/or options.
I'll hit the army rules and such things next.
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