Next CSM codex - a couple of predictions

[mysterex]

I've had at least one CSM army the whole time I've been playing 40k (12 or so years) and have had to sell quite a few models as the rules made them no longer available to the army I've had - noise marine havocs anyone!

In order to give players reason to take a chaos renegades over a legion army or vice versa there are going to have to be some units that become available to only one of the two codicii.

So here's a couple of predictions:

Cult marines (i.e. noise marines, plague marines etc.) will only be available under the legion codex. I also suspect the various types will be limited to the legion they're iconic for except that the Black Legion can unlock them by taking Abaddon ;
Daemons and possibly Daemon Princes will also be limited to the legions; and
Thousand Son's marines will remain too expensive points wise (hey it's a tradition over several editions of the codex;))


None of this is "wish listing" as it means I'll have to ditch a pile of stuff when it becomes inconsistent with the rest of my army - it's just things that I can see happening.

That said I'm looking forward to both the new codicii - it's been a long wait.

Now for the wish list. I hope the named character in the boxed set is not Abaddon. Imagine going to an event just after the release where every third player has him - that would be just weird and dull.:D

[Wildcard]

Daemons and possibly Daemon Princes will also be limited to the legions

Imo you get the Daemons part wrong (be that lesser or greater).. If i have understood it right, there are two possible ways for 'basic' daemons to materialize to the 'realspace'. First is clearly summoning; Blood rituals, or alike (that chaos cultist excel at). The second is through weak minded (daemon takes the control of the hosts body) - weaker and more open minded for such an event - the better chances there are.

Seeing that chaos renegades can consist of huge amount of different forces:
- Chaos/traitor Space Marines
- Turncoat imperial guard regiments / planetary defence forces
- Renegade psykers
- Forces recruited and trained directly under the influence of a powerfull chaos lord (not meaning chaos captain-equivalents, but a leader in general that is fond of all things chaos)
- Poor 'xenos' that have been "tricked" to the chaos side (Plague Ogryns f.ex)

This means, that in the renegade forces there are more than enough possibilities for the daemons to materialize (and not by lessened by any means the carnage these forces wreak, and the punishment they take).

So, to say that there would not be daemons in their presence seems a bit weird (although many of the chaos worshippers would still fear / loath the daemons to a degree)

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As for the legions: I do hope that they include all the different legions that had turned traitor during the heresy. With all the typical troop, wargear and vehicle choices to back their specialisations up. (Ie, all things khorne would aim towards carnage, be that melee or through big, rapid firing cannons, thousand sons would be all about psyker stuff, spells, weapons, vehicle control and general augmentation, with lots of specific special rules etc.)

And incase you cant make them viable in what they do - then boost the forces up and add special rules to make em work. World Eaters with lascannons just don't cut it imo: Make chainaxes 2d6 + str ap and after used, one gameturn of fatique special rule that they get 1d6+ half their strenght or something for that duration after relentlessly ripping apart a vehicle :)

What comes for the renegades: There are lots of wargear and vehicles of old / bizarre designs described in the fluff. This would be a perfect time to bring a whole lot of new models and unit types to the field. (One, for excample tank on a arachnid (spider) chassis that wouldn't have to take dangerous terrain tests, and could climb in ruins.. And different variants of this:
- Light: scout and some light weaponry, special rule Agile; always have a 5+ cover save and can ignore first immobilised hit it takes
- Medium: Not sure what medium versions of these could do (cant remember much descriptions other than they were rather fragile, yet had serious anti-infantry firepower in form of bolters/autocannons and some missiles)
- Heavy: These had some sort of beam weapons that wiped areas with powerfull laser beams, add your typical special rule for a box with huge energy loadout and spider legs and you are good to go

Then add in all kinds of older/ second hand weaponry backed up by something produced from a captured forge world and you are good to go with unique guard army that is clearly distinct from regular, loyal guardsmen, plus if done correctly (WAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD <3<3) ;) there would be enough options to make a sneaky, raiding party full of crazy *** chaos worshippers and cultist with only ramshackle shuttles and some stolen 6 wheel trucks as their transports (and heavy weapon platforms)

Oh, man if i just could design codexes ;)

[Subexarch]

I don't see them getting seperate lists for all nine traitor legions into one book. Just way to much stuff there. I can however see the big 4 (World Eaters, Deathguard, Emporer's Children and Thousand Sons) as these were the only ones dedicated to specific chaos gods. The rest were more "chaos undivided" and could be well served by the current C:CSM. Anyway, I believe the rumor was that there would be 2 more Chaos books on the way for a total of four. One for the legions (Big Four marked legions) the current Renegade Marines book (Undevided legions and renegades), C: Deamons, and another one more akin to the old Lost and the Daqmned. That would be some good times for the Chaos guys and gals indeed.