Games Workshop - Warhammer 40,000 - Chaos Knights: War Dogs

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Bloom Assault missions are an alternate Seeding mission type where you will escort a precious cargo of Bloom Seeds, dropping in to save as many as possible while destroying enemy reinforcements. New objectives and Glorious Deeds will provide additional boons if you are successful in protecting this vital research resource. These new missions will become available after completing the “Research the Seed” objective in the Campaign. The War Dog Stalker The other main kit for Chaos Knights is also a brand new release that contains all of the new variants of War Dogs you’d want to play. Chaos Knights Datacards A Helm Mechanicum also forcefully subserviates the Fallen Noble who dons it, leashing their conscious and subconscious thoughts to those of their bond-liege. The personal desires of the War Dog pilot can be replaced at any time by those of their master. It is this technology that allows the smaller Knights to serve as utterly loyal squires. TheChirurgeon: There are really two things to consider here – one, how they’ll play as a standalone force, and the second being how they’ll improve or interact with existing Chaos armies. As a standalone force, I think Chaos Knight armies will tend toward large groups of War Dogs with 1-2 big knights. The Abominant seems like a must-take in many of these armies, if only for Winds of the Warp, which is just an incredibly good psychic power on a knight model, effectively giving it 50% more wounds and boosting the war dogs you keep around. The problem Knights are going to face is just how incredibly deadly shooting is – and I’m not even talking about T’au. Yeah, sure Stormsurges and Hammerheads could be a problem, but loads of Tyranid mortal wounds and Venom Cannons are going to be just as big an issue to navigate, especially when you can’t hide behind walls. That’s another reason I expect to see more War Dog-heavy lists, with 1-2 big knights, though the Knight Tyrant just has so much output and can become so durable that it may be worth including one anyways and daring your opponent to do something about it. I think Shane’s on that train of thought with his list (see below). It’s also notable that I think we dodged a bit of a bullet here with the Dataslate nerfs to indirect fire, as having D6 indirect havoc shots on most of your war dogs was going to make them insufferable otherwise. For our first Faction Focus of the week, we’re once again meddling with the forces of Chaos, but with 200% more giant robots. That’s right – Norman is taking a look at his beloved Chaos Knights.

War Dog Brigand — Ranged combat type armed with two ranged weapons. [4] Their pilots are enamored with ranged killing and disdain close combat assaults. [5] Even though I find the Knight Abominant quite cool, I have to say that for me the new War Dogs are the star of the show. Each War Dog comes on three medium-size sprues, and you get each sprue twice to build two models. Chaos Knights may be playing second banana to their smooth brethren for now, but there’s still a lot of unique things they can do. By leveraging strong, independent datasheets they can be an oppressive force on the tabletop and can overwhelm most factions in the game. Primarily they’re a shooting army now, but they have access to some good hybrid threats and if the Karnivore ever comes down (please) you can probably expect to see that pop up in a few lists. This faction probably won’t win any GTs but they continue to be a fun force to put on the tabletop. When it comes to adding in Dreadblade detachments to existing chaos armies, it’s hard to imagine a Thousand Sons, Chaos Marines, Death Guard, or Daemons army that doesn’t want a trio of ObSec War Dogs running around, particularly the Executioner, which may be boring in that it’s something we’ve already seen but 4D3 autocannon shots putting out 3 damage each is just too good to ignore. Thousand Sons and Death Guard have been struggling a little bit to figure out what goes into their army after the 20 ObSec Terminators, and for the former Armour of Contempt basically made Forgefiends worthless (they were already marginal to begin with). There’s also likely play for a House Korvax / Be’lakor Army of Renown list in there somewhere, though there’s very little synergy between the dark master and the knights overall. You’re essentially going to add either a war dog trio or a knight tyrant with Blessing of the Dark Master to make yourself insufferably difficult to kill.NOTE: All of the Tyranids releases that were delayed in Australia and New Zealand are finally going to be available! OCE rejoice the Hive Fleets want to assimilate you (or eat you). Codex: Chaos Knights The second big new addition is the Favour of the Dark Gods. You can now either dedicate your Chaos Knights to one of the four Chaos Gods or mark them as undivided Chaos. For each god and Undivided are three additional abilities to choose from, which costs extra points or power. In battle, War Dogs are often deployed to eradicate those foes who are deemed beneath the notice of their Fallen Noble masters. Yet even the most ignominious task they carry out with savage fervor. The pain and suffering they inflict on others feeds their hatred, for through the dying screams of their enemies they are able to imagine the deaths of their own Noble overlords. Such grim musings do not go unnoticed by other Chaos Knights, but are tolerated nonetheless. After all, it is the hatred of their station that makes War Dogs so eager to prove their worth in battle. [1a] Types of War Dogs

You can build any combinations of War Dog-class Knights you want! Including, War Dog Karnivores, War Dog Stalkers or War Dog Brigands. The choice is totally yours. The War Dog Karnivores are a monstrous 'Lords of War' choice for providing deadly melee support to your Chaos Knights army! Armed with an infantry-shredding reaper chaintalon and an armour breaking slaughterclaw, they can also be further customised with varities and choices of articulated poses, armour plating and unique faceplates as well as accessories!Then I used green stuff to blend those in and add ridges to the more prominent parts. This makes them look more spiny and organic, and also helps blend them into the armor. Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

New Chaos Knights: The new Chaos Knight models are great, and the rules for them are also pretty exciting. Players should find plenty to love with their new options. Now onto the Favour of the Dark Gods, one of my favorite abilities in the book. Available to War Dog, Abhorrent-Class, and Tyrant-Class models in your Chaos Knights army, you essentially pledge your model to one of the Chaos Gods. By doing so, you'll choose an ability that offers some tactical advantage, and if you deal enough wounds, you'll become "Favoured" by the Dark Gods, granting you an even bigger boon. Here's one for Tzeentch which I really like: Mirror of Fates adds a niche ability until you start spilling blood, and then it really takes off! I start by airbrushing Iron Hands Steel over the full model, you could make probably use any similar bright steel colour as a base coat. You really don’t need a airbrush for this either, a rattle can would work too. You can build them as a range of deadly specialists for your games of Kill Team or as basic Traitor Troopers. On top of that, you’ll find a single-pose Traitor Enforcer and Traitor Ogryn.War Dog Huntsman — Specialize in hunting down and slaying large enemies. To this end they are equipped with a Daemonbreath Spear, Daemonbreath Meltagun, and Reaper Chaintalon. [5]

Last on the list is Aura of Terror , playing with the new Dread mechanic by making your opponent roll an extra d6 and discard the lowest for Morale or Dread tests while in Dread range. This is quite a bit stronger than it looks – morale tests in general start mattering way more against this army than any other, and this is especially strong with Gheist Storm, making it very easy for your opponent to trip and fall and fail to do anything. There’s a few spots of skin for the birds and fleshy pipes, for that I start with Kislev, wash it with Reikland, before glazing the highlights in with Kislev, Flayed One and finally Screaming Skull. The wood the birds stand on starts with a coat of dryad bark washed wyldwood then highlighted with streaks and whirls that are blends of Dryad and Ushabti. Gone are the days of conversions for Traitor Guard because this new set looks pretty amazing paired with the existing Renegade Commisar and Ogryn!

How Do The War Dogs Play In The Warhammer 40K Chaos Knights Army Box?

I found that the Herpetrax extra wounds were really good, significantly outperforming how they looked on paper, especially as they don’t change the break points for stat changes – it really helped keep the hated Drukhari under pressure throughout the game. The Iconoclast trait is also as strong as ever, and great fun with the improved statlines on a lot of melee weapons. Wrap Up The leg plates were finished off with two plates from a Defiler and the tabard was replaced with a Fantasy Chaos Warrior Champion shield. Those shields make amazing bits for Chaos knights, by the way. I used some cork sheet for the base, because I’m going to make it look like he’s stomping on a ruined/broken street. Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones