Okay, first off I want to say upfront that I did not start this thread to be a “The current codex sucks!”-bash off. If you think there is something the current Chaos Space Marine codex does not do properly, fine. Say that, but be ready to offer up an idea to correct it.
I do think that the current codex did a lot of things right and addressed several problems that were present in the prior codex. Being able to tool out every aspiring champion to a comparable level with your lord being one of the big ones. I was practically doing cart wheels when I found that you could now run Tzeentch marked marines that weren’t Thousand sons. Changing the Defiler from being a stationary gun with legs (Why would you ever do that in the first place?) to a more mobile fire base I think was a good step.
However, in working to correct those problems I think they forgot some things when they crafted the current Codex.
1) Where are the Legions? The Iron Warriors, Night Lords, and the Alpha legion are big name Chaos armies. With the Horus Heresy Novels, and other Black Library publications that focus heavily on these armies, people want to play them. But at present all they are, are names and colors and nothing more. Do I want them to bring back the old 9-mini dexs inside of the main codex? No. I think that was needlessly contradictory. I think this can be address by taking a cue from the Current Space marine Codex. You have a series of Characters that grant certain abilities to represent the army in question.
The Iron Warriors I think would be fairly simple: Give them the stubborn special rule for all the CSM, Chosen, Terminators, Havocs and Lords.
The Nightlords are a bit more difficult to come up with an easy fix for just because of their character. There really isn’t a USR I can point to that would serve the Nightlords character, though giving them Acute senses to show they’re ability to see in the dark is a good start. The defining point of the Nightlords is their terror tactics. I think looking at the Blood Angels codex and more specifically the death mask rules is a good place to start. Give a special rule to select units, say Chosen, Possessed, Sorcerers and Lords that applies a negative leadership modifier to opponents they attack in close combat. The modifier would be cumulative with other modifiers. I haven’t had a chance to check out the new Dark Eldar Codex, but from what I’ve heard it may have some good starting points to look at for addressing the Night Lords.
The Alpha Legion… now there’s a challenge. In the past they’ve represented the alpha legion by giving them cultists that could infiltrate. But those tended to be less capable, less survivable, and less effective Imperial guard wannabes. More to the point, I never felt that that really represented the Alpha Legion’s belief in warfare, specifically the one that says to attack from a dozen different directions at the same time to inflict maximum disadvantage to the enemy while maximizing your own advantages. At a first thought, I think having a rule that allows Alpha Legion to booby trap terrain would be a good start. A rule that allows the Alpha Legion player to disrupt one opponents reserves might be a viable option as well.
2) Either give us back the Daemons or get them out of the book entirely. If we’re going to have Daemons, then give us Blood letters, Plauge bearers, Daemonettes, and Horrors. If we’re going to have Greater Daemons then give us Blood Thirsters, Keepers, Great unclean ones, and Lords of Change. If we’re not going to have them, then take them out of the book entirely.
3) Make the Daemon Prince more then just a Psychic powers dump. Give it options to really change it’s stats, Daemonic Speed, Daemonic Wings, Daemonic Armor, Daemon weapon options. Make it so that the Daemon prince can be a real monster but worth the points. As it stands most people I’ve seen just use him for a Lash of Submission with wings.
4) Abaddon. Yes, he is bad ass. Make him worth taking for the army, not just himself. Abaddon is arguable the single most bad-ass mother loving beat you in the face s.o.b. to come out of the Eye of terror in the last ten thousand years. He has managed to unit the forces of Chaos into a coherent force not just once but 13 times. Give him an ability that affects the army to represent this. All Chaos Space Marines count has having an Icon of Chaos Glory for free perhaps.
5) Personally, I think there should be a distinction between “Renegade Space Marines” and the “Traitor Legion Marines”. The Traitor Legions have been duking it out in the Eye of Terror for ten thousand years. They are hard and battle worn even more so then normal marines, while Renagade Marine are closer to their loyalist brothers in terms of operating standard. I’ll be honest, off the top of my head I’m not really sure what would be a good way to address this particular distinction in game. Perhaps Renegades keep the current CSM stats and options, while Traitor Legion marines get Veteran skill options.
I do think that the current codex did a lot of things right and addressed several problems that were present in the prior codex. Being able to tool out every aspiring champion to a comparable level with your lord being one of the big ones. I was practically doing cart wheels when I found that you could now run Tzeentch marked marines that weren’t Thousand sons. Changing the Defiler from being a stationary gun with legs (Why would you ever do that in the first place?) to a more mobile fire base I think was a good step.
However, in working to correct those problems I think they forgot some things when they crafted the current Codex.
1) Where are the Legions? The Iron Warriors, Night Lords, and the Alpha legion are big name Chaos armies. With the Horus Heresy Novels, and other Black Library publications that focus heavily on these armies, people want to play them. But at present all they are, are names and colors and nothing more. Do I want them to bring back the old 9-mini dexs inside of the main codex? No. I think that was needlessly contradictory. I think this can be address by taking a cue from the Current Space marine Codex. You have a series of Characters that grant certain abilities to represent the army in question.
The Iron Warriors I think would be fairly simple: Give them the stubborn special rule for all the CSM, Chosen, Terminators, Havocs and Lords.
The Nightlords are a bit more difficult to come up with an easy fix for just because of their character. There really isn’t a USR I can point to that would serve the Nightlords character, though giving them Acute senses to show they’re ability to see in the dark is a good start. The defining point of the Nightlords is their terror tactics. I think looking at the Blood Angels codex and more specifically the death mask rules is a good place to start. Give a special rule to select units, say Chosen, Possessed, Sorcerers and Lords that applies a negative leadership modifier to opponents they attack in close combat. The modifier would be cumulative with other modifiers. I haven’t had a chance to check out the new Dark Eldar Codex, but from what I’ve heard it may have some good starting points to look at for addressing the Night Lords.
The Alpha Legion… now there’s a challenge. In the past they’ve represented the alpha legion by giving them cultists that could infiltrate. But those tended to be less capable, less survivable, and less effective Imperial guard wannabes. More to the point, I never felt that that really represented the Alpha Legion’s belief in warfare, specifically the one that says to attack from a dozen different directions at the same time to inflict maximum disadvantage to the enemy while maximizing your own advantages. At a first thought, I think having a rule that allows Alpha Legion to booby trap terrain would be a good start. A rule that allows the Alpha Legion player to disrupt one opponents reserves might be a viable option as well.
2) Either give us back the Daemons or get them out of the book entirely. If we’re going to have Daemons, then give us Blood letters, Plauge bearers, Daemonettes, and Horrors. If we’re going to have Greater Daemons then give us Blood Thirsters, Keepers, Great unclean ones, and Lords of Change. If we’re not going to have them, then take them out of the book entirely.
3) Make the Daemon Prince more then just a Psychic powers dump. Give it options to really change it’s stats, Daemonic Speed, Daemonic Wings, Daemonic Armor, Daemon weapon options. Make it so that the Daemon prince can be a real monster but worth the points. As it stands most people I’ve seen just use him for a Lash of Submission with wings.
4) Abaddon. Yes, he is bad ass. Make him worth taking for the army, not just himself. Abaddon is arguable the single most bad-ass mother loving beat you in the face s.o.b. to come out of the Eye of terror in the last ten thousand years. He has managed to unit the forces of Chaos into a coherent force not just once but 13 times. Give him an ability that affects the army to represent this. All Chaos Space Marines count has having an Icon of Chaos Glory for free perhaps.
5) Personally, I think there should be a distinction between “Renegade Space Marines” and the “Traitor Legion Marines”. The Traitor Legions have been duking it out in the Eye of Terror for ten thousand years. They are hard and battle worn even more so then normal marines, while Renagade Marine are closer to their loyalist brothers in terms of operating standard. I’ll be honest, off the top of my head I’m not really sure what would be a good way to address this particular distinction in game. Perhaps Renegades keep the current CSM stats and options, while Traitor Legion marines get Veteran skill options.