In our next installment of reviewing the CSM codex we will
mention a couple universal rules while we review the baddest of the
bad…Abaddon.
Abby is good enough to almost become an auto-include in any
competitive list.
His list of special rules is long and you need to take a
moment and consider how he can impact your force with the CSM goodies as well
as what’s new in 6th edition.
He weighs in at 265 points. Seems high at first…until you do
some math on Demon Princes. But his point cost is really quite a bargain.
His Stat line: WS7 BS5 S4 T5 W4 I6 A4 Ld10 Sv2+
Unit Type: Infantry (Character)
WarGear: Terminator Armor
Chaos Artifacts:
or Weapons, of which he has two and can use one or the other.
1.
Drach’nyen:
S+1 Ap2; Melee, Deamon Weapon, Specialist Weapon
2.
Talon of Horus: Sx2, Ap3; Melee, Shred,
Specialist Weapon
We will review how
these work in a minute as they must be discussed with his special rules.
Warlord Trait: Black
Crusader
All Warlords roll on a
d6 table found on page 28. “Black Crusader” is a d6 roll of 1 and arguably the
best.
Black Crusader: “The
Warlord and all friendly units within 12” of the Warlord have the Preferred
Enemy (Space Marines) special rule” It goes on to say … see “Designers Note” an
inset same page which outlines that this will apply to following codex’s: SM,
BT, BA, DA, GK, and SW’s.
Review “Preferred Enemy” BRB Page 40: … “A unit that
contains at least one model with the special rule re-rolls failed To Hit and To
wound rolls of 1 if attacking a preferred enemy. This applies to both shooting and
close combat attacks.
This is a huge buff to your force. With correct deployment
most of your units will reroll rolls of 1 To Hit and To Wound on 60% of the armies you
will face. Remember only a model or two needs to be within 12” of Abaddon. In
reality you have about a 25” circle to make this work. This gem alone can make
Abby worth his points.
Special Rules:
Champion of Chaos
(allows you to roll on the boon table, you don’t want him to turn into a spawn,
you don’t want him to turn into a DP either, but many other boons would be very
nice…such as +1S, +1 Wound, etc.)
Eternal Warrior:
No insta-gib
Fearless: With 6th
any unit he joins will benefit from this as well. Very useful if you put him
with big squad of Cultists or CSM’s.
IC: usual
benefits
Verterans of the Long
War: This is a codex wide option. Aby comes with it, but is somewhat
redundant, as this rule grants +1LD and Hatred(space marines as defined
earlier). Hatred grants re-rolls of To Hit rolls in the first round of any
combat. This further buffs the first round of close combat by re-rolling all misses, and rolls of 1 there after from Preferred Enemy.
Lastly He has Mark of
Chaos Ascendant: Aby carries all four Marks of Chaos.
- · Mark of Tzeentch improves his invul to 4+
- · Mark of Slaanesh improves his I +1; included in his profile
- · Mark of Nurgle improves his T +1, included in his profile
This is noted for all
special characters on page 30 at top of inset table.
·
- Mark of Khorne; ah you have to dig a bit for these perks. Mark of Khorne grants “Counter Charge and Rage”
Counter Attack as you
recall grants with a LD ship +1 attack when charged and Rage grants +2 Attacks
when charging as outlined in BRB.
Let us review with his weapons his attacks now:
With Drach’nyen: 4(base)+2(Rage)+1(two specialist wpns)+d6
S5 Ap2 I6 attacks…gives 8 to 13 on the charge and 7 to 12 when charged, 6 to 12
later rounds.
With Talon: 4+2+1 S8 Ap3 I6 attacks…gives 7 on charge, 6
when charged, 5 later rounds…no risks with Demon wpn. Reroll to wound vs all.
Keep in mind he will re-roll to hit and wound versus all
marines variants with all attacks as well.
Yeah, he is a marine beat stick.
The Mark of Chaos Ascendant will also allow him to join and
lead any unit with any mark. Your other lords/sorcerers will only be able to
join units with similar marks. Keep this in mind in later rounds with generic
vs marked lords
But, wait…there is more.
Aby unlocks the most point
efficient unit in the codex as troops…Chosen.
Page 92 “ In a primary detachment that includes Abaddon,
units of Chosen are troops choices instead of elites” This is clearly written
and limits you to six units of Chosen and also tells you that you can take
further elite units.
Chosen is the only CSM elite (now troop) unit that can take a heavy wpn in a
5 man unit other than Havocs, have the best LD, 2 attacks base, and almost unlimited special
weapons.
Case in point:
4 Chosen +1 chmp, Auto Cannon, and 2 plasma cannons rocks in
at 130 points. Chosen can take up to 6
special wpns if you count the combi you can give the chmp.
And remember
rolling ones versus Marines is a small risk when you can re-roll to hit within
12” of Abby….start to see the magic?
In conclusion, Abaddon is worth every bit of his points. He
can buff any CSM army you can concoct. He can hang back and buff most of your
force then gobber stomp just about anything that gets to your lines. He unlocks
a great unit for troops.
He comes with a few rules that will buff the squad he joins:
Fearless (makes unit fearless), Preferred Enemey(unit rerolls to hit/to wound
shooting and CC of rolls of 1). Counter Charge (applies to unit) This significantly changes
how a unit will work when you look at how a 35man cultist or 20man CSM squad
will fare with him attached.
I will also go so far as to say, he is better for a
CSM/Epidemious team up than Typhus. He has mark of Nurgle and buffs your army
so much more for only an extra 35 points.
Abaddon is the man. You may see him as much as you see
Eldrad.
Thanks for the read,
BDS
I'm surprised that a lot of people are still confusing Preferred Enemy with the 5th edition version, so you're not alone.
ReplyDeletePreferred Enemy doesn't give you a blanket re-roll on To Hit and To Wound rolls in 6th edition. It only lets you re-roll rolls of '1'. Go check p. 40 again right now if you don't believe me.
Re-rolling 1's on To Hit rolls for Plasma Weapons is still very useful though. This would make a fully kitted out Chosen squad with Plasma guns pretty devastating. Pricey, but devastating.
Taking this into account Hatred is actually pretty useful for Abaddon in assaults. It's unlikely many Marine squads are going to last longer than one round of combat with him!
@Trent
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, you are correct. Please see edit.
Thanks for the read,
BDS
Just a quick comment, chosen can take a single heavy weapon per squad, so no autocannon+dual plasma cannon.
ReplyDelete@Anon
ReplyDeleteThanks for feedback! I was referring to 1 heavy, and specials being; plasma pistol, plasma gun, melta gun, or flamer.
Unfortunately...no Plasma cannons in whole codex...save the oblits.
Thanks for the read,
BDS
Hellbrutes can take a plasma cannon i think
ReplyDeleteCurrent 7th edition rules. only the warlord gets the prefered enemy unless you take veterans of the long war.
ReplyDeleteThanks....posted this a long time ago...so many changes....
ReplyDelete