Fans of ornate gold trim and brutal spikes rejoice – Codex: Chaos Space Marines is nearly with us. And, you’ll be able to continue the Long War against that false god some call ‘The Emperor’ by pre-ordering this baleful book on Saturday.
Every crusade needs a strong leader, and who better to command your daemon-warped superhuman warriors than the (self-appointed) Warmaster of Chaos himself, Abaddon the Despoiler? This terrifying tyrant has seen things – he was there with Horus from day one, but after his Primarch let the galaxy slip through his talons, Abaddon swore he wouldn’t make the same mistake.*
A new codex means new datasheets too, and as you’d expect, it totes a nifty set of rules. For a start, Abaddon sports all four Chaos faction keywords thanks to his Mark of Chaos Ascendant!
This multifaceted gift gives him access to abilities from each of the four Marks of Chaos. You’ve already seen the Khorne-imbued extra strength and Slaanesh’s hypnotic fighting first abilities, but Abaddon has the ruinous royal flush.
Tzeentch’s boon empowers Abaddon with the ability to pre-empt incoming blows, negating any damage caused by the first failed save. In addition, Nurgle’s blighted blessing curtails the effectiveness of particularly powerful attacks – giving him formidable resistance against character-killing heavy hitters.
All four mighty rules combine to make Abaddon a fearsome foe in combat even before you get to his potent weapons. With eight attacks, he can fillet warmachines and monsters with sweeping blows from his howling daemon sword Drach’nyen, or eviscerate hordes of Space Marines with a flurry of rending sweeps from the Talon of Horus.**
While many warlords engage in internecine conflict to make a name for themselves among the Chaos Gods, Abaddon knows that the Ruinous Powers are fickle entities, and that victory isn’t won through brute strength alone.
Sure, that helps, but the iron-taloned fist of superiority must be applied to your allies and enemies.*** Through simple fear or raw charisma, Abaddon’s aura is magnetic and The Despoiler boosts charge rolls and improves to hit rolls on all CHAOS CORE units within range.
As the Lord of the Traitor Legions, he can also significantly boost the powers of nearby Chaos Space Marines – an ideal pairing to some Wanton Slaughter.
He might not have the supernatural physique of the Avatar of Khaine or the mechanised body of the mean, green Ghazghkull Thraka, but he is no less terrifying in combat… and just as hard to kill!
You’ll be able to pre-order Codex: Chaos Space Marines on Saturday. Sign up for the Warhammer Community newsletter to get all of the latest news about everything Warhammer delivered to your inbox.
* The Imperium might believe his Black Crusades ended in failure, but Abaddon knows better...
** And yet he carries his old man’s gauntlet around. Curious.
*** Check out his imposing appearance in Hammer and Bolter to see just how he commands his underlings.