Warhammer 40K: The New Battleforce Boxes of the Chaos Gods
It’s time we sat down and took a closer look at the Battleforce Boxes of the Chaos Gods for Warhammer 40,000. They aren’t all built the same.
So over the Holiday break Games Workshop announced four new Chaos Battleforce Boxes for 40k. In theory, these are going to be solid gateways for players to jump into a thematic force. Each one represents one of the four Chaos Gods and their respective army in 40k. Overall, this isn’t bad. That said, I was looking at them and something seemed a little off. So let’s take a closer look as we judge each box on it’s own merits.
Lords of Excess Battleforce
Contents:
- 2×6 Noise Marines
- 10x Tormentors
- Daemon Prince
- 10x Infractors
Starting off, we’ve got the Emperor’s Children Battleforce. This one is probably the most straight forward in terms of what’s included. It’s basically a Daemon Prince with a bunch of Emperor’s Children Marines. Personally, I think this one is pretty well balanced as it’s got good ranged damage combined with some close-up support and objective grabbers. If you’re looking to get into the Emperor’s Children then this would actually be a really good starting point.
That said, I’m not 100% sure why GW opted for a Daemon Prince to lead this one instead of one of the EC specific leaders. Maybe it’s because so you can pair this box with the Combat Patrol and not really have any overlap with leaders. I don’t think the Daemon Prince is terrible and it is a cool model…so I’m not hating on it. I’m just curious about “why this and not that” is all. Regardless, I do think this is a good starter option.
Khorne Daemonkin Battleforce
Contents:
- Lord on Juggernaut
- Six Bloodcrushers
- 10x Khorne Berzerkers
- 20x Bloodletters
- Master of Executions**
Next up we have the Khorne Daemonkin Battleforce. This is the one that really had me scratching my head. Now, I know it’s really designed specifically to be used with the Khorne Daemonkin Detachment — it’s literally in the name. So that’s 100% why this battleforce is the way it is. That said, I’m not a fan for a few reasons. The main one is that last year GW was sort of phasing Daemons out of 40k. Sure, we still had the respective Chaos armies that could take them (see: above). And we do still have the Chaos Daemon Faction Pack. However, GW said they weren’t going to be updating the Chaos Daemons with a codex for 10th edition. I don’t think anything has changed on that front.
So why is this one so heavy on the Khorne Daemons? It’s not like the World Eaters don’t have plenty of other units to fit the bill here. Jakhals would fill the role of the Bloodletters in this case. The Bloodcrushers are also kind of an outlier as well. We kind of need a Berzerker on Juggernaut unit to replace them…don’t we? I dunno. They could have also been swapped with a pair of the Eightbound or Chaos Terminators or something like that. But again, this box was designed for that specific Detachment. And this battleforce does slot in nicely with the Combat Patrol in terms of overlap. So it does have that going for it. Personally, I’m going to hold off on getting any more Chaos Daemons for 40k until GW figures out how they want to re-implement them.
I would only pick this one up if you’re interested in running this specific detachment. It’s really for fans of the mixed “mortals and daemons” of Khorne style armies. If you’re looking to run a purely “mortal” World Eaters army then this box might not be for your. Oh and in case the gameplan wasn’t obvious by the unit selection…it’s Khorne. So you’re going to want to be in close combat. A lot.
**Update: This guy snuck in the Battleforce. There’s actually no mention of him in the WarCom article but he’s standing right there in the lower left of the image. So I guess he’s included?
Sekhmet Coven Battleforce
Contents:
- Infernal Master
- 3x Exalted Sorcerers
- 10x Scarab Occult Terminators
- Mutalith Vortex Beast
So this boxed set is an interesting one. I do like the majority of the unit selection here and I do think it’s very thematic. It’s also screaming “did you place Space Marine 2 and want to start a Thousand Sons army?” There’s a lot of bleed over here between the two — and that’s not a bad thing! This one get’s a thumbs up on theme for sure.
The majority of the units are unit to the Thousand Sons. The Mutalith Vortex Beast really is a sight to behold on the tabletop and I think it’s certainly a choice. Again, I’m a little iffy on it only because of the whole Chaos Daemons in 40k thing that I’ve already covered. Still, it’s eye catching and a bullet magnet. I also like that this army is also deceptively tough. So even if the Mutalith get all the attention early, your enemy is still going to have to deal with 10 Scarab Occult Terminators which isn’t an easy task. And, once again, this doesn’t share a ton of overlap with the Combat Patrol. Which I think is a good thing. You can snag both and have a lot of tactical flexibility as you expand your Thousand Sons.
Vile Vectorium Battleforce
Contents:
- Lord Felthius
- 3x Blightlord Terminators
- 3x Deathshroud Terminators
- 3x Foetid Bloat Drones
- 20x Poxwalkers
Finally we have the Deathguard Battleforce representing Nurgle. *Lord Felthius is really the Lord of Contagion but with his three Blightlord Terminator buddies. Which is fine. They’ve been reinforced with Deathshroud Terminators. And once again this is another battleforce with a very clear theme. We’ve got 20 models of chaff with the Pox Walkers and then the other units there to actually cause the damage. Additionally, this one unsurprisingly slots in well with the Combat Patrol. Although you will end up with a total of 6 Deathshroud which might not be a bad thing either.
I do think this is a good mix for a starting Death Guard force. It’s got a lot of boxes checked but there’s space to spread out from here. Personally, I would have liked to see some Plague Marines in this one but that’s cause I like the core cult troops from Chaos in general. Still, the Death Guard has a pretty wide selection of characters to splash in there and good support options. I don’t think you can go wrong with this one.
*Edited for correctness.
It’s Chaos I Tell Ya
Again, I do want to reiterate that I think in general these are good for new players or folks looking to start one of these armies. They each pair well with their army’s combat patrol box and they offer good, thematic units. That said, I did say that something felt off with them. Really, it was the Khorne Box and the other included Chaos Daemons units. Chaos Daemons are in a weird spot and I think that was thing that really got me thinking about these sets.
Regardless of how I feel about Chaos Daemons, I still think these are good sets in general. Seriously, you could snag one of these battleforces, a combat patrol, and maybe their respective Daemon Primarch and have an army ready to roll. I think your viability might shift based on who you’re playing but I also think that could be a fun experiment.
Who do you think “won” with these new battleforce boxes?
