Things That Go Bump In The Warp!

Part II: The Ben Hur Effect

Hey everyone, once again I’m back with the next installment of the Foundry’s Forge.  I hope you all took in the changes that GW made to the Flamers and Screamers.  As it appears Charlton Heston has been bending the ears of GW staffers as well, with addition of Chariots to the 40K universe.  More specifically, we turn our gaze to the Seeker and Hellflayer Chariots of Slaanesh.

             Slaanesh, the prince of temptation and twisted pleasures, is no stranger to use of chariots.  A Daemonettes’ failure in battle brought a sentence of menial soul collecting at the helm of one of these frightful contraptions.  However, a pair of his more spirited handmaidens found another way to use the awful machines of the warp’, by riding these massive reapers through the enemy ranks.  Soon after seeing the havoc that his chariots caused a new purpose was assigned to these Machines of Blissful Pain.  Countless fresh souls were now being ripped from their victims bodies for the pleasure of Slaanesh.(pg.3 Chaos Daemons minidex)

Sounds gruesome, doesn’t it?  Let’s see how bad/good it really is.

Seeker Chariots of Slaanesh

            The new Seeker Cavalcade gives Daemon players a few options to work with. Your base Seeker Chariot will run you 40pts.  It’s the Chevy Malibu of dark magic transports, not too flashy, just reliable enough to get you from point A to point B leaving red mist and body parts in its wake.  Exalted Chariot’s starting at 90pts are more like your BMW’s.  They have more bells and whistles in the base models, also far superior option packages.  Both Choices have identical stat lines, with one exception that the Exalted Chariot has four hull points instead of two.  Hull points are a new feature in the 40K universe, this facet plays a particularly important role with these units.  Why? you ask… I’ll tell you why,  both chariots have the new Fleshshredder special rule.  For every remaining hull point they get D6 strength 4 A.P. – Hammer of Wrath attacks.  If I do the math right, that’s potentially twenty four close combat attacks, not counting what the Exalted Alluress gets in her profile.  You are probably thinking, “Wow! that’s a lot of attacks but I think I can deal with that, it’s not that bad.”  Don’t get ahead of yourself junior!  As the saying goes, you can run, but you can’t hide.  Gifted with Aura of Acquiescence, opposing units will not be protected in cover.  AoA gives the chariots offensive and defensive grenades, oh and when they do catch you watch out for their claws they rend in close combat as well.

Special Rules

Seeker Chariot: 

Exalted Alluress:  Daemon, Fleet

Seeker Chariot:  Daemon, Fleet, Fleshshredder

                               

Exalted Seeker Chariot:

Exalted Alluress:  Daemon

Exalted Seeker Chariot:  Daemon, Fleshshredder

                               

Hellflayers of Slaanesh

          On the surface Hellflayers and the base Seeker Chariots are no different, stat line is the same in all categories, Daemonic gifts same, and unit type is all the same.  However they cost twenty points more, why?  Hellflayers have a dirty little secret that could cause your opponent to have a very bad day, it’s called Soulscent.  This special rule grants the Hellflayer bonus attacks for every unsaved wound that they inflict from the Hammer of Wrath attacks on an enemy unit.  So basically make your saves and you should be good.

             As a quick side note this new minidex has some inconsistencies to be mindful of.  The Hellflayer entry shows the Exalted Alluress as having an Initiative of 5 instead of 6 with the seekers.  I confirmed with GW that it in fact should be a Initiative 6.  Also ignore the BS value given to the Seeker Chariots it should be at zero since they have no shooting attacks.

             All in all you are looking at some potentially very scary additions to the Daemon codex.  I have yet to play a game of sixth, let alone come face to face with any of these baddies.  Let’s hear from the masses, have you played with or against these new units?  If so what do you think? 

That’s for now, leave your comments and let me know what you think.