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For those committed Lorgarian Polytheists amongst us who haven't decided our red and gunmetal uniforms are cunning disguises for Alpha Legion, a thread to work out how to make the XVIIth work in VIIIth.


LEGION TRAIT - Infantry & Bikers in WB detachments can re-roll Morale checks.

This is widely considered to be the weakest Legion Trait. Our Chaos Spawn don't benefit, but at Ld 9 it doesn't matter. Characters on Steeds don't benefit, but until some gimmick comes along that forces morale checks none of our Characters care.

What does it do for us? It makes hordes marginally less vulnerable, and it will sometimes save small units from being wiped or prevent weapon specialists from running away. It's not a Trait you can really build an army around, it's just there.


LEGION WARLORD TRAIT - +3" to area buffs.

This can give a Dark Apostle excellent coverage if you want to reenact the Somme.

DPs and Lords are also good choices; they can lead a shooty advance - Noise Marines are in their element here - and give rerolls to a deep insertion unit that's been Warptimed into the middle of the enemy army (Warp Talons are obvious examples, but also a Kharybdis that really doesn't want to miss with its Melta-cutters after you threw it at a Land Raider). A cheap Chaos Lord can sit in a gunline, safely away from Kingslayer, and provide re-rolls to plenty of units who can hear him from the roof of three story buildings

There's good stuff to be had in the generic CSM options as well, especially if you're planning on a melee Warlord using an Artefact. But Voice of Lorgar is still really good.


LEGION STRATAGEM - All three dice of a Summoning roll can be individually re-rolled, and danger of mishap is eliminated.

The fact that Summoning can only be done by stationary Chaos Characters, and follows the new deep striking rules, has arguably nerfed it as much as the need to pay for it in Matched Play under Reinforcement Points. We don't get to have fast Sorcerers and Daemon Princes drop Flamers and melee specialists in people's faces any more. One thing about Reinforcement Points is it causes a lot of uncertainty for your opponent - there's moderate potential for mindgames, there.

Defensive Summoning has some merit - it gives our Objective camping contingents some extra options that can be cherry-picked to fit our opponent. Offensive Summoning is tricky - you have to get a character into position, and not get them killed by broadcasting your intentions. If you want to drop a Greater Daemon, its going to have to be a GUO or KoS - LoC & BT are unrealistically hard to summon, even with our Stratagem. Be'lakor and the larger kind of Daemon Prince are also doable, though the former's a little tricky with RAW and awaiting an FAQ. Also, a single deep striking character can potentially summon 30-40 Plaguebearers for a rather unsubtle Linebreaker.

If you're not paying Matched Play, then Summoning can be really good. Your gunlines will generally have Chaos Lords buffing accuracy and filling out Detachments, and they can generate a formidable amount of bubble-wrap. If part of your line isn't overwhelmed with deep strikers and first turn chargers, consider Summoning Heralds who can start an exponentially growing Daemon farm. Nurgle Heralds can heal all Daemons of Nurgle, and the Changeling's smokescreen affect likewise affects all Daemons of Tzeentch; shooty Daemon Engines in particular ought to be Marked by one of these two.

Special mention must be made of Epidemius, who is charged up by and buffs all Nurgle Daemon units. As the original Daemonologists, this is a good look for us.

Beware of Snipers and similar when throwing lots of Summoning dice around.


LEGION ARTEFACT - an AP2 3W Crozius that re-rolls to wound Imperium. Not bad, but a Dark Apostle's 3A & 4W makes him a poor choice of giant hunter. Alternatives include:

Juggerlord with Axe of Blind Rage - can run behind a Rhino full of Berzerkers, or Possessed; with a Herald of Khorne riding shotgun, he's S9.

DP with Talisman of Burning Blood or Intoxicating Elixir - a formidable beatstick, especially with Diabolic Strength.

Steed of Slaanesh Lord with Murder Sword - decent odds of killing a 5W character in a single round.

Puscleaver and Black Mace are both handy weapons, especially on a mounted or jump pack Lord who'll reach and hit the enemy.


UNITS AVAILABLE - Everything that's not Legion specific in Codex/Index: CSM; most of Forge World's Chaos stuff; Daemons and Renegades & Heretics are a fluffy addition.

We can basically go for most popular units and builds:

- Noise Marines; they want Prescience and perhaps a Lord or DP buff. Twenty in a Kharybdis will make a mess of most screens.

- Berzerkers in Rhinos with a Dark Apostle and Exalted Champion; you need more than one Rhino for a mechanised attack. Banzai charges take heavy casualties in 8ed.

- Obliterators; consider MoS for Endless Cacophony, or MoN for Epidemius lulz.

- Havocs and Predators; affordable sources of heavy weapons and especially useful against Primaris, our Legion Trait will occasionally keep a gunner from running away and our Lords can make excellent quartermasters. Killshot stratagem guarantees your opponent will put a lot into killing one of your three Predators

- Cultists; there's a fair consensus that these are the best Chaos Troops, they make cheap screens and hordes can be recycled & outflanked.

- Terminators; Plasma and Slaanesh and a Lord or DP is a safe bet, but be aware that you'll probably have to cut down a screen first.

- Possessed are our signature unit and actually pretty good. They generally want a transport, unless you're doing something creative with the Changeling. Herald buffs are interesting, but it's the God-specific spells that make them shine - especially Slaaneshis, who become significantly less vulnerable to the Possessed's natural enemy - Autocannons.

- Warptimed Warp Talons are our counter-gimmick to Primaris Aggressors' firewall gimmick.


CHAOS SOUP - the large number of units that don't benefit from our Trait, from exclusion or having numbers/Ld that make it irrelevant, removes the opportunity cost of diverse detachments. We can field a fluffy Daemonkin kind of list, also a bunch of Malefic Lords don't shred our fluff if you want to be super-competitive. Aside from Smite spam:

- Nurglings are excellent screens, objective trolls, and charge bait.

- Heralds, especially the fast mounted kinds, make great captains for Possessed.

- Flesh Hounds, Flamers, and Plaguebearers are decent.

- The melee-oriented Daemon infantry's T3 and lack of transports or independent deep striking can make it pretty difficult to reach a target.

- Fiends of Slaanesh have a gimmick that can cause massive grief for your opponent. Conscripts, Land Raiders, even Knights are stuck in combat with them until one side dies.

- Dreadclaws are efficient dropships for Contemptors, but Kharybdis is far better for infantry. Wartime it into masses of enemy units and watch the fun.

The legion trait actually does good work with larger units like Possessed, Berserker Marines, Rubric Marines, Chosen and Havocs with extra meat shields, and large Cultist screens. It doesn't fit how I play the army though and is generally the weakest trait, and it doesn't help our HQ section compared to the rest of the choices.

The Warlord Trait is awesome though and I think summoning will see some play in the future, so an army CAN be built around them. They'll be just a bit worse off than other, more focused builds.