Friday, October 19, 2012

Purple Legion

With the release of the new Chaos Codex I, like so many others, have found an opportunity to get out all the old Chaos models and jump back on the wagon. Though my last Chaos army was Thousand Sons, it seems the Codex hasn't changed their lack of viability in this edition. So I'm onto another god now, that god being Slaanesh.

When it came to viewing the Codex for the first time and thinking about different lists, I was torn between a few Slaanesh builds, and an Abaddon led list for lots of Prefered Enemy Space Marine shooty goodness. Regardless of the case, I wasn't going to paint a black army, and so decided to meld the ideas model wise so I could play either list, and so the Purple Legion was born.

I'm not a fan of pink, and I'm sick of painting gold, so I went for a purple and silver colour scheme, with yellows and greens to contrast to the purple. It's a lot different from painting Grey Knights or even White Scars (which are now on hold) and a hell of a lot more fun. I've been trucking through the work bit by bit, and will leave a sample at the end of this post.

As for the gaming side of things, for now I am starting with the Slaanesh build over the Abaddon build. Unsurprisingly it will be all-comers, though it will be some time before I use it at a tournament. Though Slaanesh in lead and models, most of the units will be unmarked, as in the edition of shooting I don't see myself getting too much use out of I5 on the units.

Chaos Lord
Mark of Slaanesh, Steed of Slaanesh, Power Weapon, Sigil of Corruption, Veteran of the Long War, Burning Brand of Skalathrax


5x Noise Marines
4x Sonic Blasters, Doom Siren, in Transport 1

10x Chaos Space Marines
2x Meltaguns, in Transport 2

10x Chaos Space Marines
2x Plasma Guns, in Transport 3

20x Cultists
18x Autoguns, 2x Heavy Stubbers

20x Cultists
2x Flamers


6x Chaos Bikers
Mark of Slaanesh, Icon of Excess, Veterans of the Long War, Power Weapon, 2x Meltaguns

Heldrake
Baleflamer

Heldrake
Baleflamer


5x Havocs
4x Autocannons

5x Havocs
4x Autocannons


Aegis Defence Line
Quad Gun


Transport 1: Rhino with Dirge Caster
Transport 2: Rhino with Dirge Caster
Transport 3: Rhino

It's a pretty basic list with no tricks or subtleties, but I reckon it will be effective. The Lord joins the Bikes, giving them the option to Outflank, though they will deploy in most situations. They form the biggest force in the army, with powerful shooting and good close combat ability while being tough as nails to boot. Dirge Casters on the advancing Rhinos will help with any charges they feel they make also.

The Noise Marine squad is more an experiment in trying to see their effectiveness in a role other than the obvious static supression unit. The unit is cheap, and can clear out any foxholes fairly easily. I reckon with so few bodies and so many other bigger threats they should able to cross the board ok, and if not, it isn't the biggest loss.

Aegis Line is very important in this list IMO. It gives the Havocs that extra pop against flyers, and gives the Cultists a perfect place to hide and hold an objective. The Melta CSM squad is more or less made to advance while the Autogun Cultists are more or less made to stay behind, while the other two Troop units are versatile enough to do either.

Heldrakes give important anti-MEQ (and a little umph to the army's AA options) and when combined with the Lord allow the army to fry Marines from a distance with excellent effect.

And it is all led by this guy below; comments and criticisms welcome. Cheers.