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Warhammer 40K: 10th Ed Chaos Daemons Rule Previews

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May 9 2023
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The Chaos Daemons are next up from Games Workshop’s previews for Warhammer 40,000: 10th Edition. Chaos is coming to play!

GW is continuing with their sneak peeks at the 10th Edition rules for various factions. Today it’s Chaos Daemon’s turn. What will the four dark gods of chaos have in store for their daemonic followers? Get ready for a whole lot of warp shenanigans…

via Warhammer Community

“Chaos Daemons are an aggressive faction who really come into their own in the maelstrom of close combat – though they’re by no means helpless at range. Every one of their units sports an invulnerable save – meaning they have little to fear from the enemy’s armour-busting weapons – and an army-wide Deep Strike means they can surge from warp portals to engage their prey before a shot has even been fired.”

Faction Rules

Army Rule – The Shadow of Chaos

Chaos Daemons have a powerful new rule that represents the oppressiveness of the warp itself. Their Shadow of Chaos bolsters their own units while it vexes their opponents. It spreads through the taking of Objectives so the best defense against it is to push the Chaos Daemons off of them…if you can.

Army Rule – Daemonic Pact

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“It’s common for daemons to be conjured forth by mortal followers of the Dark Gods, especially when a warband of Chaos Space Marines pledges allegiance to a particular patron. The Daemonic Pact rule allows a certain number of daemons to join CHAOS armies based on the size of the battle being fought – though they won’t bring The Shadow of Chaos with them, as your Army Faction isn’t CHAOS DAEMONS.”

It’s neat to see the “ally” rules baked into the army rules here. Obviously there’s a trade off (like the loss of the Shadow of Chaos) but having access to Daemons could be worth the trade!

Detachment Rules – Daemonic Incursion

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Warp Rifts allow for Chaos Daemons to drop within 6″ horizontally away from enemy units within the Shadow of Chaos. This can set up some very interesting options for a cunning general.

Stratagem – Corrupt Realspace

For 1 CP you force your enemy to come and take an objective you control even if you’ve moved off it AND it counts as part of your army’s Shadow of Chaos. Not too shabby!

Chaos Daemons Unit Previews

Keeper of Secrets

The Keeper of Secrets is bringing the pain for sure in 10th. It’s as tough as a tank in the toughness department and with 18 wounds isn’t going away instantly. That 5+ save is deceptive as the Keeper also has a 4+ invulnerable AND a Feel No Pain of 5+ on top of that. Furthermore, Mesmerising Form also causes a -1 to hit vs attacks that target the Keeper, too. It’s a lot more defensive than you might think!

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Be’lakor

Be’lakor is back and has a TON of buffs to give out. Not only does he spread the Shadow Chaos just by being in a section he can also choose which of his Shadow Form abilities he wants each battle round. While he doesn’t have a Feel No Pain like the Keeper he does have a 4+ invulnerable and can opt to be untargetable by a ranged attack outside of 18″. Once he closes that gap with his 12″ move he’s going to make quick work of whatever he charges into with is Blade of Shadows.

Bileblade

This Extra Attacks rule also sheds some context on one of the questions we had about multiple melee weapons options. According to GW:

“Units normally have to pick just one of their melee weapons to fight with in a given turn, but many warriors go to war with powerful steeds, vicious pets, or weaponised cybernetics. The Extra Attacks weapon ability allows these to make, er, extra attacks…”

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Skarbrand’s Slaughter and Carnage

Skarbrand’s going to be dishing out the attacks in both cases with Slaughter and Carnage! Just choose the right one for the job with the Strike or Sweep options available!

Chaos Daemons are going to be Deepstriking in and causing all sorts of problems for their enemies. The Daemonic Melee is coming in 10th edition!

 

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Author: Adam Harrison
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