Ahh yes the return of the ruinous powers, after the unbelievable launch of Dark Vengence we finally get to see the full Codex in all of its glory, so sit back and relax and take in a few of my impressions for the new book.
Things I Like
GW really knocked it out of the park with the book itself, it has a wonderful premium feeling from the first time you pick it up. Careful attention was obviously paid to how the layout was handled, with the whole book feeling like an ancient tome spilling forth its blasphemous knowledge, being full color is an absolute treat and GW should be commended for making such a premium piece.
Another nice feature of the book is the adaptability, with all the options you can field a full blown traitor legion, or a newly fallen chapter, just by choosing the appropriate models, its definitely is a “Power To The Players” moment, and was something sorely needed in my opinion.
Cultists! Need I say more? Brilliant new models, and great new cheap fodder troops, a nice new addition that while hinted at for some time was still a great surprise.
I am blown away by the aesthetic of the new models, there has been a real attempt to take them back to being these 10,000 year old warriors that have come crashing through the Warp and into real space, bringing with them years of hatred and debasement at the hands of the chaos gods. The models, especially the Chosen that come in the Dark Vengence set really set this mood, along with the new raptors and especially the Demon Engines [more on those in a moment] it’s a good change for Chaos and one that wasn’t too drastic, but added a lot to the flavor of the force.
The Demon Engines [Forge Fiend, Mauler Fiend, Hell Drake, and Hellbrute] are all welcome additions, I am most impressed by the the Forge Fiend/Mauler Fiend kit as it has the most personality, the Hell Drake is also another amazingly fun kit, though I would have liked a longer tail to make it even more Dragon like, but that’s just a minimal niggle.
Fluff, fluff and more fluff! The book does a great job instilling in the player [old and new] the true nature of the corruption of the Warp, and the battle of “The Long War” and how the tide appears to be turning towards the forces of the Warp.
Things I Don’t Like
My biggest complaint was that we didn’t get a single new miniature for any of the big boy characters, no new Abbadon, Kharn, or Fabius Bile, I was really disappointed with this, many of these miniatures while great looking, now tend to look small compared to the more modern figures, it would have been great to see at least Abbadon get the “Heroic” treatment.
Although its old news about Demons being their own Codex I am still frustrated to not have them readily available in some form in Codex Chaos, that is one of the core aspects to Chaos so it’s a shame to not see them in there. Also along those lines, unless I missed something there is no listing for any ranged options for the Demon Prince, even though the classic model has been rereleased with the Kai Gun on it’s arm, as I said I might have missed something, if someone knows otherwise please let me know in the comments below.
Overall
I am really happy with this edition of the Codex, it remains to be seen how competitive the army will be once more games are played, but I am more of a modeler anyways so I don’t panic too much about the meta. Great new miniatures, excellent handling of the fluff, and some really interesting new special ruIes, what more can we ask for? I really hope that this version of Codex Chaos is the shape of things to come with Codex releases for GW.
.JPG)
