Things that CSM sorely lack:
1. Decent defence for characters and melee units: no assault transport other than the obsolete land raider, no storm shield (Aura of dark glory plus mark of tzeentch costs 45 points!), no 2+ armour outside of Crimson slaugher, very limited and clumsy access to FNP etc. This is really punishing in a meta where challenges are common, in a codex where assault is preferenced, and when you have a special rule that means you must challenge. Some relics would really help here. I can understand the lack of artificer armour because they are using old technology, but invuln saves seem like something daemon worshippers should have in abundance.
2. The ability to kill monstrous creatures. Marines have grav and poison rounds. CSM have...obliterators? It is so difficult for CSM to put out even a medium volume of high STR low-AP shots. Playing against even a middling Tyranid list is a nightmare. Not to mention Tau, who eat slow, ponderous, boltgun totting chaos space marine lists for breakfast. The only unit with some goods here is the forgefiend who is a touch too expensive.
3. Death Stars: Abaddon and his terminators are very immobile; ditto for typhus and plague marines; the jugger lord doesn't have anyone to go with (use Daemonkin codex instead), ditto for a lord on disk because he can't join daemon units - nobody else can keep up with him and the Jugger lord can't keep up with anyone.
4. Some troops that don't make you sigh. Every time I build CSM I just take two squads of cultists and move on. Maybe I take Typhus because plague zombies are actually okay, but that really shoehorns me into one build. CSM themselves are hopeless because they are expensive, can't take a lot special weapons and don't have ATSKNF. It is very difficult to make cultists useful in a 'drown them in bodies' sort of way because of the lack of buffing characters to grant fearless, str boosts, rage or anything similar.
5. An assault transport. I said it once already but it bears repeating. Chaos needs this so bad. You simply cannot run across the board these days. In 30K this is manageable because you can have apothecaries in every squad, and even then pie plates of doom.
Things I would like to see in the new book:
1. An assault transport. I think a Sicaran chassis without guns would be appropriate. They had these in the heresy but they've fallen into disepair. Now they are used as metal boxes. Transport capacity of 12, can carry terminators (i.e. 5 plus Abbadon), armour 13/12/12, 3 hull points, no guns, no fire points, assault launchers and 4 exits. Maybe 120 points or thereabouts. Get's your bezerkers where they want to be.
2. Cheaper marks. The easiest way to do this would be formations that grant marks for free provided everyone takes them and certain choices are met. E.g. Khorne warband would have to have bezerkers, possessed and Maulerfiend and could not take sorcerer or other cult/marked troops. Everyone gets free mark. This would be the equivalent of CSM chapter tactics.
4. Characters with daemonic mounts can join daemon units
5. Points of daemon princes comes way down, like to 100 (-40 points).
6. Helldrake gets 360 firing arc but the tip of the template must point to the drake (i.e. torrent 360 but you can't swivel the template).
7. Cheaper cult troops. These guys, especially thousand sons, are so overpriced right now.
8. Cheaper forgefiend - 15-20 points off and this guy would become solidly competitive and help CSM kill the monstrous creatures and massed transports that it currently can't handle.
9. 4 attacks for the maulerfiend at initiative - this guy should eat a dreadnought; boost his cost by 20 if necessary. 140 points for a 4 (5 on charge) attack dreadnought that moves as beast is hard but fair. his armour is pretty easy to get through, even with the 5+.
10. Sorcerer formation that boosts strength of powers. This is rumoured and would be very fluffy. Similar mechanic to Librarius conclave but for every mastery level in the group the STR of powers is increased by 1 rather than easier casting. This would see people start using bike mounted sorcerers as smite machines rather than casting invisibility. Could be fun. This would help with the 'we can't kill monstrous creatures' problem. STR7 AP2 WC1 assault 4 smite would get the job done, but you need to get within 12" - that's where Chaos wants to be!!!!!!! Hide the conclave in a bike squad and you've now also got a neat melee beat stick.
11. Defilers down in cost
12. Helbrutes with 4 attacks - just like dreadnoughts
13. Obliterators down by 10 points each and/or free marks: they are currently so brightly outshone by Centurions and their weapons just don't have enough dakka for the point you pay.
14. Warp talons made good. This is a tricky one. Currently they are way overcosted, mostly because they get blown to pieces if they deepstrike. However, fixing this threatens to turn them into monsters. Charge off deepstrike would be brutal; as would jink. Lower points hasn't made vanguard any good, so maybe that is a route forward. Another option would be shrouded on the turn they arrive from deep strike so they can land and run into cover, ready to strike next turn.
15. Give Abbadon a personal teleporter or give Chaos a psychic power (the X keys of Tzeentch) that allows them to teleport, kind of like wings of sanguinius for blood angels. Two modes: no scatter on the deep strike, but only a small range, like 12", or a very long range (36") but always the full 2D6 scatter,
No comments:
Post a Comment