Taking A Walk On The Wild Side (no Lou Reed references please)

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo the time has come, and after being thoroughly humiliated by the wave of anti-everything-I-use that seems to be going around at the moment I've decided to take the advice of Crazy424 and do something a little different.

As I watched my flyers plummet from the skies and wondered what I'd done to deserve this I was forced to make a decision to change how I'm playing my games. Close-quarters light vehicles with flyer support worked well, until every man and his dog started taking a quad gun. This has forced me back to more traditional ideas, and with a little help I stand before you a reformed ex-guard elitist. I've accepted some help from another army that will help make a big difference in my games.

This difference comes in the form of a Chaos Space Marines detachment, centred around a Khorne Lord and some Chaos Spawn. It's curious to see that this combo hasn't done the rounds yet, or perhaps it has and we're only realising this now. Chaos Spawn are ridiculous. At 30 points a model you get a s5 t5 w3 D6 random attacks beast that can cross a table faster than you can blink. Ignoring difficult terrain and hopping from cover to cover, the Spawn's lack of an armour save doesn't feel so bad when you've just moved 12", plus run move, in a straight line towards that big enemy shooty thing ignoring the ruins in front of you but still claiming a 4+ cover save.

With Rage, Fear, ld10 Fearless and the ability to slap them with any of the Marks of Chaos when they reach close combat their average ws3 and i3 doesn't end up mattering as more often than not they'll be charging through difficult terrain anyway. At the start of every combat phase you roll a D3 with a bunch of amusing results, including poisoned attacks, an extra dice when rolling random attacks (pick the highest or a 4+ armour save. At the end of the phase, however it went, lots of things are now dead.

 However the centrepiece, and the main reason for taking the detachment really, is the Chaos Lord. Mounted on a Juggernaut of Khorne he becomes Cavalry, with Rage, Counter-attack, ld10 Fearless and access to the myriad bonuses on the Boons of Chaos table (yes we all know the hilarious results if this goes wrong.... I'm sure there isn't a Chaos player around who doesn't shudder at the thought of their warlord being turned into a Spawn), this guy is ROUGH. Armed with the Axe of Blind Fury, and a Sigil of Corruption he's probably one of the best value for points combat characters I've seen. Hitting at s6 ap2 with 5 base attacks, the Demon Weapon gives him an extra D6 attacks (rolled every combat phase).

The downside of this is on a 1 he's reduced to ws1 and takes a wound with no armour saves, however his 4+ invul has a good chance of stopping any damage happening. His generic power armour save isn't wonderful, however striking at ws5 i5 he's got a good chance of slaughtering his target before any damage is reciprocated. As with most of the Champions of Chaos he must issue and accept challenges, but that's not an issue when he's t5 with 4 wounds. It takes a character of at least 160 points or more to be able to do some damage in this scenario (the exception being Grey Knights, bastards) and for every character he kills in close combat he gets another roll on the Boon table. Did I mention he's Cavalry? So he treats difficult terrain as dangerous, but otherwise completely ignores it's effects.

Running 5 Spawn and the Lord as a detachment gives me valuable close-combat potential, something I was sorely lacking, and will let me dictate the focus of the battlefield somewhat. In combination with some old favourites these guys have already made a mark on Crazy424's Tau, just ask the waddling Riptide, or the dejected-looking Broadsides.

In light of this new decision I also made a decision to re-convert some Ogres I had turned into Ogryns and turn them into Spawn. My attempt, at first glance, is below, along with the sweet Chaos Lord on Juggernaut model from GW, with his arm subtly switched out to be holding a bolt pistol (thank you Techmarine arm).

Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions if you think these guys need further modelling. I'll be repainting (they're still bearing their half-finished original paint job) as the inspiration strikes and I'll be giving the Lord the first taste at the new airbrush Crazy424 and I have got our hands on.

Thanks for tuning in guys, you'll be hearing more as the painting progresses, and as these guys make their presence felt.