40K Thoughts: Mono-God CSMs – World Eaters
The Space Marine players amongst us usually stick to a specific chapter. Chaos players have a bit more freedom to chop and change from the various legions. However, there’s always something special about seeing a mono-god CSM list on the tabletop.
World Eaters and Death Guard are more common; Emperor’s Children and Thousand Sons are rarer. Is this anything to do with the availability of Forgeworld kits – who knows! It’s probably more to do with the main troops choice, with Plague Marines and Berzerkers being the most popular choices. I’ll have a quick chat about my favoured legion, the World Eaters. If you are expecting an in-depth, tactically complex article, then you have missed the point of leading a World Eater’s force! Please leave your subtlety at the door.
I’ve been attending a series of campaign weekends at Warhammer World based on the Horus Heresy. After my using my pre-heresy World Eaters force a couple of times, I’ve decided to let Khorne embrace my army, (so I’ve put the Mordian Blue away, and picked up the Mechrite Red!) ready for the Siege of Terra! So, a totally new 2500-3000pt army, I’m about halfway through, and I have 5 weeks to get it finished. My painting deadlines aside, what it has done is make me think about how I can use this force in ‘regular’ 40k games.
For a ‘True’ World Eaters force, in my opinion you are restricted to the following units, all with the Mark of Khorne if available:
HQ: Chaos Lord, Daemon Prince, Kharn
Elite: Terminators, Dreadnought, Possessed
Troops: Berzerkers
Fast: Bikers
Heavy: Defilers (with 4CCWs!), Land Raiders, Vindicators, Predators (perhaps)
Daemons: Greater and Lesser
I’ve left out Chosen and normal CSMs, as I feel you should just have berzerkers in this situation. That is just my own personal opinion. Whatever you do include, I would always recommend that you gear your units to close combat. World Eaters have never been renowned for staying back and shooting!
Here are some general thoughts:
- 8, is a magic number! Yes it is! An 8 strong unit might not be the most efficient in terms of gaming, but as the sacred number of Khorne, the Blood God will surely be pleased if you keep your units to this number. If Khorne could ever be pleased that is!
- Berzerkers are very good! They really are one of the best troops choices in the game, and as such I would normally include 3 units, all mounted in rhinos. Not many units in the game can withstand a Berzerker charge. An 8 strong unit, including a Skull Champion with a power fist (which is an essential addition), in a Rhino weighs in at a hefty 248pts! However, with WS5, 28 Str5 attacks, and a further 4 Str9 attacks on the charge, they can put a lot of hurt onto most targets.
- Berzerkers are not meant to be objective holders. Use lesser daemons for this if possible, allowing your World Eaters to continue the slaughter!
- You will lose some of your army to shooting. Try to minimise it with effective use of cover, vehicles and other units, but you should always just be pressing forward. You will have to accept some losses, but the Blood God cares not from where the blood flows, only that it does.
- Kharn is one of the best value special characters in the codex, if not the game. There really isn’t much he can’t take on, and only high toughness (eg. Wraithlords) invulnerable saves (eg. Storm Shields) really slow him down. In single rounds of combat I’ve seen him take out a Tervigon (ok, 1 wound from plasma pistol shot, rest in combat), a Land Raider (7 attacks with 6+2D6 penetration on the charge), and Marneus Calgar (ok, not too hard).
With these things in mind, here is my 1500pt ‘characterful’ World Eater’s list. It’s not the most competitive I could make it by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel it includes exactly what I fancied painting and it just seems to ‘fit’ correctly.
HQ: Kharn
HQ: Daemon Prince, Mark of Khorne, Wings
Elite: 5 Terminators, Icon of Khorne, all with 2 Lightning Claws
Troops: 8 Berzerkers incl Personal Icon and Skull Champion with Power Fist. Mounted in Rhino
Troops: 8 Berzerkers incl Skull Champion with Power Fist. Mounted in Rhino
Troops: 8 Lesser Daemons
Troops: 8 Lesser Daemons
Heavy: Land Raider, Extra Armour
In addition to this, my full force has a few ‘non-codex’ additions, including a Brass Scorpion, 3 Blood Slaughterers and a Dreadnought in a Lucius Drop Pod (which were still available to the Warmaster’s forces at the Siege of Terra). Here’s the work so far, minus Kharn and a second Rhino (which are on their way!).
Above all, mono-god forces are about having a good time playing! Let me know what you think of the blood soaked World Eaters, and your experiences using and facing the chosen of Khorne on the tabletop. Emails are welcome at: [email protected]
