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It bothers me that a chainsword, has the same stats as a close combat weapon. Why does a chainsaw-sword, have the same stats as a cultists little knife? I think it should have the rending or the shred rule.

I'm fine with shred if it costs like 3-4 ppm for sm models.

Considering that SM are definitely giving up more than they are getting with a Chainsword, I think Shred should be free. Also, the Chapters that allow a Chainsword to be taken in addition to their current armament only pay 2 pts for them. With that in mind, I think giving a Chainsword Shred for free isn't too much to ask.

P.S. I used to have several SM Sergeants equipped with a Combi-Weapon and a Chainsword. Now that swapped the Chainswords for a fist or open hand, I am sure GW will take the opportunity to make Chainswords not worthless.

Should choppas and cultist ccw also get shred for free?

I think chainswords should have ap6 . They could have that and not be game breaking at all. And they would gain something to balance them out against pistols. Shred is too much. ap6 is quite minor.

I always thought they should be AP5.
Not quite chainaxe, but enough to cut throgh fodder in assault, making assault marines and raptors be a bit less weak.

We have a running gag in our group of always asking aloud "How are they NOT rending?!"

You see (in fluff) chainsword a going through power armor yet a cultist in a robe gets a 6+ armor save against it.

The problem is that this once again forces models to be treated differently based on how they are armed when it would not have previously mattered. For instance the scout kit has both options for a combat blades and chain swords. I can think of plenty of other models that would probably be in a similar situation. This just further bloats the rule set and slows down the game.

Not really.
Make chainsword profile (Suser AP5),give it in the profile of assault marines and raptors, make it an optional buy for anything else that got any in model (like scouts or tacs) as 1 or 2 point trade from CCW, and you are done.

The problem I have with this is the same i had when they split up the power weapon from one weapon, so suddenly I either have to switch out weapons on the model or I need to deal with the fact that my model is now equip with a weapon that may be poor for them or that is not worth paying points for.

If they give them rules it would only make sense for them to model the rules on the Eldar Chainswords. All Striking Scorpions have a Scorpion Chainsword at S+1 AP6 and it is 3 ppm on Autarchs (the only place you can BUY a chainsword in Eldar, everywhere else they are included in the profile)

I tend to think the effect should be more like Rending than S+1 AP 5. To get the benefit of a chain sword/axe/whatever the user would have to keep the weapon in contact with the target longer than a simple strike in order to allow the chain to chew through the target's defenses. Not an easy task given that the target probably won't stand still while the chain weapon bites.

Imperial Chainswords are described as having monomolecular teeth, which implies they have he potential to chew through the toughest armor. Presumably the Chaos chainaxe and Eldar Chainswords are the same. What Orks lack in monomolecular construction they'd make up with weapon heft and bloody minded enthusiasm, so for simplicity it seems logical to treat all chain weapons as a single type, much like a USR.

Personally, I found both the Eldar chainsword and the Chaos chainaxe weapons to be a bit counterintuitive. There's no reason intrinsic to the weapon that would cause the effective impact to be greater (no increase in Strength).

There is a reason to give an intrinsic chain weapon AP value increase, but it should probably be stable across all chain weapons. I'd recommend AP 5, enough to beat most non-Marine line troopers, but not enough to punch Scions, Tau, 'Eavy Armored Orks, Space Marine Scouts and the like.

So... S as user, AP5, Rending. Cost increase would vary depending on troop stats, from maybe 3 for S3, 4 for S4 or somesuch. Make it a retroactive option for troopers who can be modeled with chain weapons, including Guard, Orks, Eldar, Marines, Autarchs and the like. I'd refund Chaos chainaxe users 3 points for the loss of S and AP, and Striking Scorpions 2 points.

That'd be my approach anyway.

My two cents.

As fluffy as Rending would be, it's a big change crunch-wise. I'll also point out that Tyranids pay 5 points to get that, and Dark Eldar Haemonculi pay 10.

Here's what you get - anyone with a chainsword has a chance to defeat artificer armor, mega armor, Riptide plating, etc. Also, an assault marine can now damage up to AV13 in close combat. Now the odds aren't all that spectacular, but consider multiplying those odds by the number of attacks that chainsword-wielding squads can get. Then ask a Tyranid player what happens when a pack of Genestealers or Raveners makes it into CC. Their whole schtick is based around S user AP5 Rending - given enough attacks, it adds up.

I think that it should be AP 5-6 and have Shred. That way people can't just ignore it and it isn't to OP. I thing Shred would fit nicely both fluff-wise and game balance-wise.

Kinda like the Chainaxes having Shred.

Ap5 would be the easiest way to deal with it.

Anything with a 5+ or 6+ probably wouldn't have saved enough to make it matter anyways, and anything stronger wouldn't be affected at all.

 Bobthehero wrote:
Kinda like the Chainaxes having Shred.

Chainaxes don't have shred, they're AP4.

I think he meant they'd make more sense with Shred.

How about instead of full on shred, they get 'shred light'. reroll 1's to wound only. Another option is to give all chain weapons (through the BRB) some sort of one-off rule for all of them. Perhaps, to represent the 'rip n tear' they improve AP of the chain weapon by 1 on to-wound/penetration rolls of 6. So, Imperial chainswords would be S user AP5, being AP4 on 6's. Chainaxes would go to AP3, and Eviscerators would go full derp, being AP1.

Too much bookkeeping. A simple AP6 rerolling 1's to wound is good enough.