Chaos review #29 The doctor is in.

Every time there is a bunch of evil guys running around they always seem to have/need a scientist. This is usually some demented wierdy who has an attraction to the macabre, wants to fuse stuff together, makes kill bots, has love for gene splicing or what have you. Fabius Bile is that weirdy scientist for the forces of Chaos. As an Emperor's Children apothecary he saved lives. Then he went all nuts-o and started trying to figure out how the Emperor created Astartes and Primarchs by pulling apart fallen Marines from various chapters. He also "discovered" how to enhance Astartes to make them better than then already were. Sure a lot of this was trial and error, but it is all omelet and eggs to him. Bile refers to himself as the Primogenitor and will someday soon unlock the Emperor's genetic secrets, until then he skips around the galaxy making Chaos Marines bigger faster and stronger, but at what price?

Fabius Bile has a descent stat line for a HQ. He comes with WS 5, BS 4, strength 5, toughness 4, 3 wounds, 5 attacks, initiative 4, leadership 10 and a 3+ save.  He comes with power armor, frag/kraks, bolt pistol, a Xyclos Needler, the Rod of Torment and a Chrirugeon. He is an independent, has the vets o' war, is fearless and is a champion of Chaos. He also has the special ability Enhanced Warriors. He has the same points cost as Lucius "The Eternal."





Xyclos Needler- is a super syringe that can be a ranged weapon. It has a 12"  range, is S1  AP6  Assault 3 and has Poison (2+). A bit of wound potential there.

Rod of Torment- is a fancy cattle prod I guess. It is a melee weapon that is Strength as user ( or 5 unless something has happened to Fabius) is AP- and has the Instant Death ability. Well it is better than a standard close combat weapon I guess.

Chriurgeon- is the cool surgical backpack Fabius wears. It is made of all manner of blades, saws and drills. It also has a few containers of fluids to inject into him or others. It gives him +1 strength, +2 attacks ( added into profile already) and the Feel No Pain ability. A great look for the model and descent buffs too.

Enhanced Warriors- allows for Bile to work his genetic magic. It gives one unit of Chaos Marines (basic troops only, no cult Marines) the fearless rules and +1 strength. This is a free upgrade and a pretty sweet one at that. Consider in previous editions this was a cost per model upgrade and a random roll to see what happened to them. WAIT!!!!! This isn't random!? What kind of Chaos ability is this?

Fabius Bile will probably not win many challenges. His lack of an invulnerable save and the AP- of his weapon will only frighten guardsmen, some Tau and the occasional Eldar. I do like the 5+1 attacks he comes with and on the charge you are looking at 7 ( 5 base + two weapons + charge). All these at strength 5, which is descent and hard to overlook. Just hope for a failed armor save if you are up against some beat stick and then watch him just die. Also hope that he misses you with whatever faster initiative armor ignoring weapon he has.

Fabius is a great theme or utility HQ. He will probably not see competitive play for the two reason above. However, I can see some descent use for him. The first is throw a squad of 10+ Marines with a mark of Nurgle, Khorne or Slaanesh. Then use them as your Enhanced Warriors. This could make for a very killy unit. The base strength 5 along with Nurgle's +1 toughness, Khorne's close combat buffs or the +1 initiative of Slaanesh is great! Tzeencth marks on Bile upgrades are useless, much like they are on everything else. Also any type of crazy conversion army or Heresy themed Emperor' Children could see great use out of Bile. Possibly a Chaos team tournament force could benefit from him as a second HQ. Then there is the....blech...allies matrix where he could be part of a detachment along with an altered squad of loonies. However, the hardcore 40K players will over look him like they always have.