Two new Chaos Lords are making their mark on the 41st Millennium next week as their model-stuffed battleforces go up for pre-order on Saturday, and one in particular has captured our imagination. The Chaos Lord with Jump Pack cuts a majestic figure for a bloody-handed killer strapped to a rocket-ish thing, and with his Dread Talons battleforce including both a bodyguard of vicious Raptors and hordes of mortal Cultists, we wondered how we’d turn this capable warband into a full-on Chaos Space Marine invasion force.
First, let’s take stock of what we have: the Chaos Lord with Jump Pack leads 10 Raptors in an airborne assault, while a hulking Daemon Prince stomps forwards on foot surrounded by a Dark Commune, eight Accursed Cultists, and 10 Cultists. This gives the army two distinct elements to work around, with fast and hard-hitting units launching through the air to tackle key enemy targets while large mobs of relatively expendable troops hold ground and soak up incoming fire.
Our first recommendation is to build the Daemon Prince with its optional wings, so it can support your tougher units in the air rather than mucking about with the rabble. Their Flying Horror rule works well with the Dread Talons detachment found in the new Codex, as enemies within 12” have to subtract 1 from their Battleshock test while several of the detachment’s Enhancements and Stratagems improve against Battleshocked opponents.
The Raptors kit can also be built as a squad of Warp Talons – close combat specialists with extra AP – and while you’ll want to make sure the ones from the box are Raptors so your Chaos Lord has a bodyguard to protect him, a few additional units of Warp Talons will give you a solid punch against armoured enemies.
Lastly, no airborne Chaos Space Marines contingent is complete without a Heldrake or two. These daemonic flying machines are the final word in air superiority with a particular hunger for rival aircraft. As one of the fastest units in the Codex they’re perfect for ambushing vulnerable units with a gout of fire from the baleflamer or a flurry of razor-sharp claws.
On the ground, we’re particularly fond of the Accursed Cultists. These units can be bulked out to a chunky 16 models – 10 Mutants and six Torments – and with the addition of their new Scouts 6” and Howling Horde rules they can actually put on a surprising turn of speed, which lets you stay flexible in the middle of the battlefield. They’re also awesome miniatures, which helps a lot, and just the kind of revolting monstrosities that a particularly battle-hungry Chaos Lord would love to bring along.
If you want to add a bit of backup firepower with a longer range than your Cultists’ fairly tragic 12” pistols, Traitor Guardsmen Squads are ideal objective campers who can pack three special weapons into their usual lasgun based loadout. Their Twisted Defence Force ability returns, giving them the Benefit of Cover when sitting on objectives, and the 4+ save that this grants them goes a long way when they’re steering well clear of the bloody close combat assaults your other units should be plunging into.
Of course, it’s entirely up to you how you put together the rest of your army, and the versatility of Codex: Chaos Space Marines gives you dozens of good options. Legionaries packed into Chaos Rhinos can keep up with your jump pack troops, Chaos Terminators can just teleport straight to the fighting and skip the jog, and Venomcrawlers are shockingly durable for how fast they can scuttle around the battlefield.
If you’re feeling particularly spicy, you can even combine your Dread Talons battleforce with their sister set, the Veterans of the Long War, and have both of the new Chaos Lords working in tandem. Their combined entourages cover almost everything you could want in a Chaos Space Marines army, and with just a few armoured vehicles for extra flavour, you’d be all set!