This is the ressurectiuon of
this idea. I know that a lot of Chaos veterans were upset by the removal of the various legions. So, I'm thinking that a variety of special characters could be used to bring the legions back. Without further ado, here are the legions and their characters.
Ahriman-Thousand Sons- Taking Ahriman changes an undivided Chaos Space Marine force into a warband of the Thousand Sons. By taking this special character you forfeit the ability to take any of the other named special characters. No unit in this army may have a Mark of any god other than Tzeentch. In addition, in order to take unmarked units other than vehicles, you must take an undivided Sorcerer, Chaos Lord, or Daemon Prince. Taking this character gives your army the following special abilities: Sorcerery, For the Changer of Ways, Daemonic Pacts, Favored of the Architect.
Sorcerery- Followers of Tzeentch have nothing to fear when they access the Warp. They automatically pass any test to use a Psyker power.
For the Changer of Ways- All Tzeentch marked units in your army gain the Slow and Purposeful
USR. As long as the unit remains within 12" of an Aspiring Sorcerer, a Tzeentch marked sorcerer, Ahriman, or a Tzeentch marked Daemon Prince it is allowed to roll three dice for its Slow and Purposeful. In addition, Tzeentch marked units are allowed to reroll failed Leadership tests as long as they remain within 12" of Aspiring Sorcerer, a Tzeentch marked sorcerer, Ahriman, or a Tzeentch marked Daemon Prince.
Daemonic Pacts- Sorcerers of Tzeentch often make daemonic pacts in order to gain increased mastery over the Warp. This allows the sorcerers to achieve incredible heights of power. Whenever a Tzeentch marked sorcerer casts uses a power other than Warptime, it is allowed to, on a 5+, to cast the same power a second time. This second casting is allowed to target the same unit or a different unit.
Favored of the Architect- The Thousand Sons are some of the Architect of Fate's most pious followers. As such, any Thousand Sons warband may take a single unit of Pink Horrors from Codex: Chaos Daemons as Lesser Daemons.
Kharn the Betrayer- Khorne- Taking Kharn changes an undivided Chaos Space Marine force into a warband of the World Eaters. By taking this special character you forfeit the ability to take any of the other named special characters. No unit in this army may have a Mark of any god other than Khorne. In addition, in order to take unmarked units other than vehicles, you must take an undivided Chaos Lord or Daemon Prince. Taking this character gives your army the following special abilities: KILL MAIM BURN, Skulls for the Skull God, Blood for the Blood God, He's the New Commissar, Rain of Blood.
KILL MAIM BURN- The warriors of the World Eaters are incredibly bloodthirsty. At the start of every shooting phase, Khorne marked units have to check to see if they will go insane with their rage. Roll a
D6. On a 1, the unit gains fleet for that turn only and must run towards the closest enemy unit OR the unit may fire all of its weapons at the nearest unit, friend or foe. On a 2-6, the unit may act normally.
Skulls for the Skull God- Khorne marked units are especially bloodthirsty in hand to hand. They always hit enemies on a 3+ in
CC.
Blood for the Blood God- If a Khorne marked unit misses with more than half of its
CC attacks, one member is removed as a casualty. The followers of Khorne want blood to be spilled, the line is blurred as far as whose blood should be spilled. Independent characters are ignored for this rule.
He's the New Commissar- Just kidding.
Rain of Blood- The World Eaters are some of Khorne’s most favored warriors. They may be accompanied by a single unit of Bloodletters taken from Codex: Chaos Daemons as Lesser Daemons.
Typhus- Death Guard- Taking Typhus changes an undivided Chaos Space Marine force into a warband of the Death Guard. By taking this special character you forfeit the ability to take any of the other named special characters. No unit in this army may have a Mark of any god other than Nurgle. In addition, in order to take unmarked units other than vehicles, you must take an undivided Sorcerer, Chaos Lord, or Daemon Prince. Taking this character gives your army the following special abilities: Swarm of Flies, Decaying Stench, Harbingers of the Plague, Sons of Papa Nurgle. Swarm of Flies- The Death Guard are often surrounded by swarms of insects. These bugs often make seeing the Space Marines difficult. Whenever an enemy wishes to fire at a Nurgle marked unit it must test to see if it sees the unit. This is done following the Night Fighting rules, except the enemy rolls
3D6*3. Note that equipment used to negate Night Fighting has no affect on this special ability, shining a light on the bugs has no effect.
Decaying Stench- All units in
B2B with a Nurgle marked unit of this army lose one
WS and one attack to a minimum of one.
Harbingers of the Plague- A visitation by the Death Guard forewarns of coming pestilence. Enemies of the Death Guard know this and are disheartened by the knowledge that even if they fend of this incursion, they may very well be killed by some infection. All enemy units within 18" of a Nurgle marked unit lose one leadership.
Sons of Papa Nurgle- The Death Guard are some of Papa Nurgle’s favorite children. They may take a single unit of Plaugebearers taken from Codex: Chaos Daemons as Lesser Daemons.
Lucius- Emperor's Children- Taking Lucius changes an undivided Chaos Space Marine force into a warband of the Emperor's Children. By taking this special character you forfeit the ability to take any of the other named special characters. No unit in this army may have a Mark of any god other than Khorne. In addition, in order to take unmarked units other than vehicles, you must take an undivided Sorcerer, Chaos Lord, or Daemon Prince. Taking this character gives your army the following special abilities: Deadened Senses, Seekers of Sensation, Aspire to Perfection, Champions of the Hermaphroditic God.
Deadened Senses- The followers of Slaanesh often suffer from a deadening of the senses due to their hyper sensitivity. All Slaanesh marked units in this army gain a version of the Feel No Pain
USR. This version is identical to
FNP except they save on a 6+ and not a 4+.
Seekers of Sensation- The followers of Slaanesh are always looking for new experiences and feelings. As such, they are often unafraid of things that would unsettle other troops. All Slaanesh marked units in this army may reroll failed Leadership tests.
Aspire to Perfection- Followers of Slaanesh constantly strive for perfection. All Slaanesh marked units in this army gain +1
WS.
Champions of the Hermaphroditic God- The Emperor's Children are favored by Slaanesh. This army may take a single unit of [oh god, I can't remember the name] taken from Codex: Chaos Daemons as Lesser Daemons.
Honsou- Iron Warriors- Taking Honsou changes an undivided Chaos Space Marine force into a warband of the Iron Warriors. By taking this special character you forfeit the ability to take any of the other named special characters. Taking this character gives your army the following special abilities: Siege Masters, More Firepower, Breach the Walls, War Smiths. (Note, I'm on vacation at the moment, so I'll have to make statlines for Honsou and the War Smiths next week)
Siege Masters- The Iron Wars are incredibly skilled at the art of sieging/holding a fortified position. Any model in this army benefits from Defensive Grenades if they are in/behind cover. In addition, units in cover reduce their cover save by one when being fired on by this army.
More Firepower- The Iron Warriors love huge weapons capable of mashing aside enemy fortifications. This army is allowed to take a Basilisk (see Codex: Imperial Guard) as a Fast Attack slot.
Breach the Walls- Iron Warriors are skilled at breaking apart enemy fortifications. Whenever a unit in this army fires at a building, they may roll one more
D6 than it is normally allowed for armor penetration (so,
2D6 for normal weapons,
3D6 for Ordinance, etc.).
Warsmiths- Forces of the Iron Warriors are generally led/accompanied by Warsmiths. (not sure how to handle these, I'm thinking either elites with Techmarine stats, having them replace Aspiring Champions, or having them take up an
HQ slot)
Character to be Decided- Night Lords- Taking Character to be Decided changes an undivided Chaos Space Marine force into a warband of the Night Lords. By taking this special character you forfeit the ability to take any of the other named special characters. Taking this character gives your army the following special abilities: Terror Tactics, Strikes in the Night, Savage Raiders.
Terror Strikes- The Night Lords are known for their use of terror tactics to terrify their foe. At the start of the game, before the roll for seizing the initiative, the Night Lords player may make up to three enemy units take a pinning test. Units pinned this way are pinned for the first turn only. In addition, whenever rolling for reserves, the opponent(s) must roll a number 1 digit higher than normal to see if the reserved unit arrives this turn. They are that afraid of fighting the Night Lords.
Strikes in the Night- The Night Lords will often seek to surprise their foe by attacking in the night. The Night Lords player may choose for the first game turn to be played under the Night Fighting rules.
Savage Raiders- The Night Lords conduct horrific raids on their foes. The Night Lords player may choose one enemy unit. If the unit is a vehicle, it suffers a single glancing hit at the start of turn one. If the unit is not a vehicle, it is automatically hit by five sniper weapons. (I'm not sure about this ability)
Marduk, Dark Apostle- Word Bearers- Taking Marduk changes an undivided Chaos Space Marine force into a warband of the Word Bearers. By taking this special character you forfeit the ability to take any other named characters. Taking this character gives your army the following special abilities: Daemon Worshippers, Chaos Undivided, Seeds of Heresy.
Daemon Worshippers- The Word Bearers love to summon daemonic forces to assist themselves. A Word Bearers army may take a number of units from Codex: Chaos Daemons. For every force organization slot filled from Codex: Chaos Space Marines, an equal number of selections from the same force organization slots may be taken from Codex: Chaos Daemons. These do count for force organization restrictions. All daemons except for the four Greater Daemons, Daemonic Heralds, and Daemon Princes (from Codex: Chaos Daemons) are summoned like Lesser Daemons from Codex: Chaos Space Marines. The four Greater Daemons, Daemonic Heralds, and Daemon Princes (from Codex: Chaos Daemons) are summoned like Greater Daemons (from Codex: Chaos Space Marines).
Chaos Undivided- As a whole, the Word Bearers do not worship any single Chaos god. Icons of Chaos Glory cost three points less. In addition, daemons can only be summoned off of Icons of their particular god. Icons of Chaos Glory and personal icons can be used to summon any daemon(s). For example, a unit of Bloodletters can only be summoned off of an Icon of Chaos Glory, an Icon of Khorne, or a personal icon. Greater Daemons, Heralds, and Daemon Princes (from Codex: Chaos Daemons) can only be summoned through an unmarked aspiring champion or an aspiring champion with their gods mark.
Seeds of Heresy- When the Word Bearers leave a planet, they leave behind the beginnings of a chaos cult. Word Bearers always count as scoring an additional kill point in missions that use kill point rules.
Arkos- Alpha Legion- Arkos changes an undivided Chaos Space Marine force into a warband of the Alpha Legion. By taking this special character you forfeit the ability to take any of the other named special characters. Taking this character gives your army the following special abilities: Cults and Traitors, Multi-Headed, Careful Planning.
Cults and Traitors- The Alpha Legion makes extensive use of infiltration and subterfuge when attacking a planet. Alpha Legion attacks are often supported by cultists and/or traitors. For every unit of Chaos Space Marines (things that qualify as Chaos Space Marines can be found on pages twenty-six and twenty-seven of Codex: Chaos Space Marines) taken, an Alpha Legion army may take one unit of cultists or one Infantry Squad chosen from Codex: Imperial Guard. Any Infantry Squads taken this way have the Infiltrate
USR. Infantry Squads taken this way do not take up force organization slots but are treated as troops in all other regards.
Multi-Headed- The Alpha Legion command structure is nearly impossible to understand. The level of secrecy the legion maintains is staggering. An Alpha Legion army may exchange one Heavy Support slot for an additional Head Quarters unit.
Careful Planning- The Alpha Legion puts a vast amount of meticulous planning into every assault they make. Every turn, an Alpha Legion player may subtract or add one to any reserves roll or outflank roll or may reroll a single Deep Strike scatter distance die.
I'd appreciate any and all feedback about the rules. I'll be placing rules for Warsmiths, Cultists, Honsou, Marduk, Arkos, and the Night Lords character soon.
