Warhammer 40K: Top 5 Codex Chaos Knights Changes You Need to Know
Goatboy here with the biggest, most important changes you need to know about 40K’s new 10th Edition Codex Chaos Knights.
The new Chaos Knights codex does do a lot for the army. You should know all Knights are losing a point of toughness (see Death Guard obviously), are gaining a few more wounds, and dropping some OC values. This in a vacuum seems to be a nerf, but they also are gaining a lot from this new codex. In fact I think overall it is better for the army as it tries to move away from “Oops All Wardogs” and into something a bit deeper and more interesting. Let’s dive in and go over the 5 things I really like from the new 10th Edition Codex Chaos Knights.
5 – The Chaos Knight Army Rule Actually Works Now
The shift to how Dread abilities work is a pretty nice change. You start the game with the updated Deathly Terror Aura that gives enemies within 9″ a -1 to their Leadership test. Yes the army rule is Leadership based but it is a lot better now. From there at the start of the First, Third, and Fifth Battle Rounds you can either select a Dread Ability or randomly select two abilities from the new list. You get the choice of another -1 to Leadership within 9″ aura that stacks. You get a +1 to wound versus Battleshocked Units ability. There is a -1 to be hit if the enemy units are over 18″ or Battleshocked. There is a forced Battleshock if they are under half strength and within 9″. There is an under half-strength aura that causes d3 wounds to any Battleshocked unit. Finally there is just a simple add 3″ to your Aura ability as well. While yes this all includes wanting to cause Leadership checks like before it seems to work better now – especially the 18″ -1 to be hit ability that most Chaos Knights armies will pick turn one and then roll for 2 from that point on. This is a much easier set of tests and something that Chaos Knights players could actually build armylists and tactics around with some of the updated units in the book.
4 – Chaos Knight Detachments Solid & Flavorful
My favorite Chaos Knight detachment so far is the Infernal Lance detachment that gives you the old corrupted Dark Mechanicus type of feel. This one lets you units do a Malefic Surge which has the model pass a Leadership test and if so they can choose one of 3 abilities. Unholy Hunger gives the model an extra 3″ to their move characteristic which is pretty spicy. Diabolic Power lets their weapons gain Sustain Hits 1 or Lethal hits. Finally you have Unnatural Fortitude which gives the models a 5+ invulnerable save as well as a 6+ Feel No Pain. All three of these are powerful and something I could players utilizing some cool tokens and other options to “surge” their way to victory. All of the enhancements interact with Malefic surge with things like increasing the models Toughness or giving more wounds with a reroll for the Surge test. There is even an out of command phase “Surge” test you could do with a stratagem which seems really useful. This is important as well as the Armor of Contempt variant they have for this detachment. Heck they even have a 4+ invulnerable save Stratagem too for the shooting phase.
3 – The “Enhancements that Match Chaos Marks” Detachment is BACK!
This is the other neat one in that it brings back some more flavor. The Lords of Dread “Album out now on Spotify” is the detachment that amplifies your Knight characters with some powerful upgrades. The overall rule gives 2+ OC to all Characters as well as the ability to use the Stratagem Claimed for the Dark Gods for 0CP. This should let you do it twice and it is the ability to “sticky” and objective with a base level of 5 OC on that objective even if you are not on it. Thus you corrupt it for the Dark Gods. This detachment also has 6 Enhancements which is pretty nutty and they match some of the old ones from back in 9th edition.
The standouts are the Throne Mechanicum of Skulls which grants the bearer the ability to reroll charges and have a once per game advance and charge. Warp-Borne Stalker lets you have a big knight Deep Strike. Blade of Celerity gives a Knight Fights first once per battle as well as Assault on their weapons. Putrid Carapace gives the Knight a 2+ armor save and the ability to regain d6 wounds once per battle. Blessing of the Dark Master returns as well with granting the bearer Stealth as well as a once per battle make the damage 0 ability. The Stratagems are interesting too with a -1 damage ability called Runes of Disdain for 2CP as well as a reroll stratagem useful versus Monsters, Vehicles, or full rerolls versus Titanic targets. Overall this is an interesting Detachment that brings some old flavor as well as pushing “marks” on your big Knight Characters.
2 – Datasheet Updates With Powerful Buffs
If the points are set up aggressively, and the Abominant might be a nice anchor piece for this army. Overall a lot of the attacks of the units have gone down but the Abominant is coming in hot with 12 basic attacks with 9 of them gaining Sustained with a flat damage 3. That magical damage 3 number is powerful and starts to get pretty mean when you add up the units ability to cause “ranged” battle shock tests at 24″. They also have their old Warp Storms ability as well that can cause enemy units within 9″ to take Mortal wounds on a 3+ which if you combine it with extra movement tricks from the Malefic Surge could mean one of these big boys gets stuck in, throws out some shade, and then causes some cascading damage as they are nearby your army. I also really like the new Stalker as it gains the 6″ Scout Keyword with the added ability to get +1 to wound if it hits an enemy unit that isn’t within 6″ of any other unit.
1 – Tons of Big Knight Auras Buff Wardogs
While the Chaos Knights don’t have “bondsmen” abilities like their Imperial Knight Cousins they do have a bunch of powerful auras they can give out to their “squires”. This also looks to stack with the Dominion rule from the Dread Table that gives an extra 3″ to the models auras. The Tyrant gives the benefit of cover to any Wardog within 6″. The Despoiler gives Wardogs within 9″ a +1 to their Leadership as well as OC which seems good for the Malefic Surges. The Knight Ruinator gives Wardogs a +1 to their AP within 9″ if they attack the closest unit. The Desecrator gives reroll hit rolls of 1 to all Wardogs within 9″. The Rampager gives a reroll hit rolls of 1 within 9″ for Melee attacks. All of these stack up to utilizing a few of the big knights to help “wrangle” your little War doggies into a mean pack of murderous little monsters.
Codex Chaos Knights – The Verdict
I am hoping the new points reflect some of the drops in “stat” checking the army once had. If the big Chaos Knights are pushed pretty heavily, you could see 2-3 in a lot of lists surrounded by their favorite little Wardogs. I think the army shifts enough to create a few more interesting builds and while the oops all Wardogs Detachment Houndpack Lance is still there we might see some new bigs show up with the new codex. I think there could be some fun multiple Abominant options that utilizes fast moving “Stalkers” to get up into the enemies grill, cause some cascading Dread abilities, and see if a bunch of powerful Auras could grind the game out for you. Will just have to see as people dust off some of the big monsters and see if anything works.
Happy Chaos Stompy Gaming!
