Some would-be warlords borrow the powers of the warp for their own ends, but true greatness is reserved for those who belong wholly to the empyrean squall. The Chaos Daemons that inhabit the hellish realms of the immaterium are a force unlike any mortal army, rending the very fabric of reality as they assail the galaxy in a wanton carnival of corruption and slaughter.
Overview
Chaos Daemons are an aggressive faction who really come into their own in the maelstrom of close combat – though they’re by no means helpless at range. Every one of their units sports an invulnerable save – meaning they have little to fear from the enemy’s armour-busting weapons – and an army-wide Deep Strike means they can surge from warp portals to engage their prey before a shot has even been fired.
Faction Rules
The very presence of a daemonic legion is enough to tear reality at the seams, casting a dread pall across the battlefield. The Shadow of Chaos invigorates Chaos Daemons and enfeebles their foes, advancing ever further as these Neverborn nightmares capture more objectives and infuse the battlefield itself with otherworldly madness.
A canny Chaos Daemons player who leaps on key objectives can turn whole swathes of the battlefield into dangerous no-go zones for their opponent, whether that’s No Man’s Land – the space between deployment zones – or their own territory.
As if it weren’t bad enough for mortals to have their resolve sapped and their foes empowered, daemons who use the Daemonic Incursion Detachment can open their Warp Rifts even closer to the enemy than usual.
It’s common for daemons to be conjured forth by mortal followers of the Dark Gods, especially when a warband of Chaos Space Marines pledges allegiance to a particular patron. The Daemonic Pact rule allows a certain number of daemons to join CHAOS armies based on the size of the battle being fought – though they won’t bring The Shadow of Chaos with them, as your Army Faction isn’t CHAOS DAEMONS.
Unit Spotlight
Baying hordes of lesser warpspawn are commanded by Greater Daemons, giant monstrosities who ripple with the essence of a particular Ruinous Power. Each is a profane reflection of their progenitor’s proclivities – the Keeper of Secrets, for instance, wheels and whirls with Slaanesh’s grace, weaving through enemy attacks and striking with quicksilver speed.
Daemons are creatures of primeval instinct, a bundle of mad impulses wrapped in a facsimile of matter – but those who once were mortal may retain an identity and ambitions of their own. Among these powerful figures, one name stands out above all others as a schemer and manipulator par excellence – Be’lakor, the Dark Master, first of the Daemon Princes.
So great is Be’lakor’s power that he strides the battlefield wrapped in a cloak of shadow, corrupting all who come near and casting a thick shroud of darkness across those daemons that call him master. When he closes with his foe, the Blade of Shadows makes quick work of man and machine alike, sweeping entire squads aside or slicing tanks in half with ease.
Weapon Spotlight
Units normally have to pick just one of their melee weapons to fight with in a given turn, but many warriors go to war with powerful steeds, vicious pets, or weaponised cybernetics. The Extra Attacks weapon ability allows these to make, er, extra attacks – it’s particularly common among Chaos Daemons, who are absolutely festooned with tails, claws, Bileblades, and other prehensile nastiness.
Extra Attacks is by no means limited to Chaos Daemons – from cavalry to Carnifexes, the rule shows up on a wide variety of datasheets from other factions.
When a wielder of daemonic power does put their full strength behind their signature weapons, little in the mortal universe can stand before them. Skarbrand is notorious for the sheer number of heads he’s cleaved from unwilling donors, in no small part thanks to the destructive might of his creatively-named axes, Slaughter and Carnage.
Stratagem Spotlight
Several of the Stratagems granted by the Daemonic Incursion Detachment interact further with The Shadow of Chaos, surging in strength as realspace wears thin. An impatient daemon general can even create localised squalls of warp-gloom on objectives they control, ensuring the battlefield remains under their influence even as they hunt for further prey.
Corrupt Realspace is a powerful strategic tool for defending your turf, as it will weaken the morale of any enemy who gets within range of that objective – and a failed Battle-shock test will prevent them from retaking it at all. An objective is only captured when the total Objective Control of nearby models exceeds that of their opponent, so a unit with OC 0 will effectively ‘tie’ even when faced with a complete lack of challengers.
The Word from the Studio
Robin from the Warhammer Design Studio has given us the lowdown on the cackling denizens of the warp: “When one faces an army of Chaos Daemons they are facing the warp itself, for where they fight the boundaries between realspace and the immaterium are thin. That's the intent behind their army rule – the idea being that as the Chaos Daemons fight they spread the warp itself over the battlefield – and while such a thing is beneficial to daemons, it’s a literal hellscape to mortals.
“Chaos Daemon armies are predominantly melee-focused, and with every unit being able to Deep Strike it’s no easy task for a foe to keep themselves safe. This is especially true thanks to the Daemonic Incursion Detachment rule – Warp Strike – which enables daemons to claw their way out of the immaterium to slaughter any who venture into your territory.”
Black Library
Few daemons bother themselves with the business of storytelling, and much of their literary exposure comes as the villains in works of untrustworthy Imperial propaganda. Daemon World by Ben Counter stands as the seminal daemon-perspective novel, following the Daemon Prince Lady Charybdia as the Word Bearers Legion arrives to wrest control of her war-torn world.
Want to learn more about the factions of Warhammer 40,000 and their rules in the new edition? Check out more of our ongoing series to scope out the opponents you’ll be meeting on the battlefield.