Chaos review #14 Raptors

A Marine codex just isn't a Marine codex without some guys wearing jetpacks and flying around kickin' ass. The Chaos Marines have these and they are called Raptors. The other Marine armies just have boring sounding assault squads.

Original look

The Raptor is another tried and true Chaos unit. It has gone through a few incarnations, but it is still a pistol and sword swinging guy with a rocket on his back. They come with all the usual Chaos Marine stats, a bolt pistol, close combat weapon and the usual grenades. The unit champion also has everything and the same stats as all the units explained before. Raptors have all the rules for jump infantry and also have the Fear rule. They start in a squad of 5 for     points. They can add up to 10 more guys at the cost of 17 points each.

Two members of the squad may take plasma pistols for +15 each or one member may take a flamer+5, melta +10 or plasma gun +15. The champion can take melta bombs +5, the Gift/Boon roll +10 and items from the ranged and melee weapon list. Finally, the squad can grab the Veterans upgrade at +2 points per guy.

The redux

This squad can take all the Marks and Icons that are everywhere.  The Marks of Khorne, Slaanesh and Tzeencth all cost +2 points each and Nurgle costs +3 points each. The Icons come in at +15 Wrath, +10 Flame, +10 Despair, +30 Excess and +25 Vengeance.

When it comes to Marks, Khorne and Slaanesh really jump out at me. Having more hits on the charge or going before almost every unit in melee are both great options. Tzeencth is still a stinker. Nurgle is descent, but seems out of place on this unit. The Icons are all meh still. The Icon of Despair is such a stupid option. Why pay to take an item the gives the unit fear? THEY HAVE IT ALREADY!

My version

The Raptors are still just assault Marines of the evil variety. They do fall short when compared to other assault Marines, gaining only one special weapon or two crummy overpriced pistols. The Fear rule is completely useless since 75% of the game is impervious to fear, can ignore fear, doesn't care about fear or can be upgraded where fear is just another annoying useless dice roll. At least this rule doesn't add much to their cost, if anything. The option to drop the jump packs for a discount would have been a nice touch, since everyone else can do this. However, Chaos must be different, but only slightly. The same can be said for the weapon upgrades or lack of them. Give them the option for two special weapons with a squad of ten guys or the ability to take a power weapon on a regular schmoe. This one assault weapon and done is a joke!

They aren't a useless assault unit, they are just a boring typical Marine assault unit. A useless assault unit is what I'll be exploring next.