Chaos Space Marines have been fighting their brave rearguard action against the corpse-worshipping Imperium for 10,000 years – ever since Horus, the saviour of mankind, was cruelly cut down by his neglectful father.* Their righteous and justified anger has only grown in the millennia since, and in the upcoming Codex: Chaos Space Marines you can finally unleash that fury with the (fittingly named) Let the Galaxy Burn ability.
The rule is split up into two parts – one for those who take the name literally, and one for the more open-minded, metaphor-understanding traitor-about-town.
It’s difficult to ignite an entire galaxy without some especially effective flamers, so the seething desire to reduce worlds to ash manifests whenever the forces of Chaos open up with a gout of fire from a flame weapon.
While squads of Chaos Legionaries equipped with flamers will see plenty of benefit, it’s the models packing baleflamers who truly score a win from this upgrade. Heldrakes and Lords Discordant already love to melt their hated Space Marine kin with daemonically-empowered flames, and two extra hits for free is the bargain of the millennium.
10,000 years of pent-up rage isn’t only good for fanning the flames, however. Natural ferocity mixes with centuries of front-line experience to give Heretic Astartes a keen insight into how to cause the most damage, whether at range or up close and personal, and as the battle goes on their focus narrows on the bloody joys of close combat.
Much like the Combat Doctrines of their uptight Imperial cousins, Chaos Space Marines progress through their wanton acts turn-by-turn, though this comes through a natural desire to close with the enemy rather than because a jumped-up bureaucrat’s special book says so.**
Starting in Wanton Destruction with their long-ranged weapons, units like Havocs lay on the hurt with punishing barrages from missile launchers, lascannons, and heavy bolters. All the while, Legionaries and foot-slogging Terminators score extra hits from their Rapid Fire bolters, bringing down tough targets under the sheer weight of ammunition expended.
Closing with the enemy for Wanton Massacre, Assault weapons now join the fray as their preferred targets come into range. Venomcrawlers equipped with devastating excruciator cannons and Noise Marines with sonic blasters especially love turns 2 and 3, with their high rates of fire to really taking advantage of the extra hits, while Raptors*** drop in and prepare for a brutal assault.
Finally, the chainswords roar into life as claws, blades, and fists pitch in for a smashing good time. Wanton Slaughter turns even a normal squad of Legionaries into Fight phase superstars, and transforms specialists like the stunning new Possessed into tabletop blenders.
Plunge the galaxy into a fiery doom when Codex: Chaos Space Marines arrives for pre-order soon, and stay tuned to Warhammer-Community.com for more juicy reveals as we get closer to release day.
* I mean, it’s all about perspective, right? There are two sides to every story…
** Like their loyalist cousins, Chaos Space Marines can also opt to kick off the Wanton Slaughter a turn early in turn 3.
*** Why not arm them with meltaguns to pop a few tanks before the melee fun begins?