If you have been looking at any of the Chaos Developments over the past year you would note that there is consistent support and work in getting these lists ready for play.

One thing that appears not to be discussed due to each person's separate projects are the role of each of the cults and how they should play. Without this, the various champs are always in danger of crossing over another's list and losing an iconic play style for the force.

Hence, I am opening this up here to find out people's thoughts on how a list should play.

Some guidelines:
- No structure specific comments on the current lists - I am looking for a general view on how you see the cults fight at an epic level
- No judgments on what does or does not exist in a list currently - If you believe something exists, just talk about it.
- No specific special rules - just ideas and feel for the force and what it can achieve

We are all going to have different views so please be aware of that. They may be wrong or not really thought out. Rather than comment on another's view, just post you own. Who knows, this may generate a multitude of ideas to help the lists along.

So let me start (I am tired so please excuse any omission):


World Eaters
- Dreadclaws as the main attack
- CC Specialist Troops (the most feared) and lots of them
- Vehicles and Daemon engines handling all the firepower
- Khorne Daemons to be prolific
- Daemonic Assault Engines
- They never fail to charge - it is all they know
- Can become unruly



Death Guard
- A support force
- Armoured supported troop based force
- Slow
- Tough as nails (may not be the best in CC, but they stick around)
- Nurgle Daemons to be prolific
- Daemonic Support War Engines
- Armoured Support - Medium
- Miasma of pestilence that effects the moral of all within a certain range
- They make use of the diseased (zombies etc)



Emperor's Children
- An assault force
- Hungry to satisfy their need for excessive feelings and experiences
- Noise Marines
- Sleek Daemon Engines
- steeds
- Ability to allure and confuse or surprise - first strike
- Troop Based - fast in ability to close with the enemy
- Troops who are not Noise Marines are CC driven to experience their excesses (Lucius)
- Vehicles with Sound Weaponry
- Daemonettes should be a staple of any force - and they stick around
- Could and do make use of planetary defense force personnel (troop) - they are invasive much like a genestealer cult.



Thousand Sons
- Those effected by the Rubric are slow
- Fast and skimmer units
- Magic is prevalent - MW or even a TK shot (much like the Ork weirdboys)
- High or variable strategy rating
- They have 'tricks' up their sleeve (???)
- A larger 'human' base to assist as part of the Legion over and above the other Cults

I think we should be able to play hard and loose with 40k fluff. Maybe look at the HH a bit to give them character.

DEATH GUARD
Should have foot based infantry. I've been reading through the fluff again and they are definitely about ground pounders rather than Mech Infantry.
Slow Moving.
Tough as nails.
Zombies, mutants, nurglings, expendable gribblies in formations maybe.
I personally think Nurgle and Trenches go together like Maple Syrup and Bacon, but that's probably for a varient list. But it would give them a definite character. Even without trenches they should feel like a siege defence army. possible allow them to bunker down as an action.
Artilery
Beasts of Nurgle replacing normal Beasts.
Slow moving Warhound Varient, but much tougher.

Emperor Children
I think they have the most options for interesting formations.
Jet Bikes (They always seem to have them in the HH pictures)
Close Combat troops with swords, formations of Lucius like troops. First Stike maybe
Jump troops.
No Artilery.
Sonic Predators
Fast moving titans.
Demon Steeds replacing beasts.

_________________

My Photobucket

Thanks mageboltrat.

How about others out there. I know people have ideas, let's have them.

World Eaters:
Close Combat experts
Easy to controll if you want to initiate an Assault hard to control otherwise. Could start to kill each other if denied close combat for to long.
Ranged shooting only for Vehicles and Daemon Engines
"In your face" tactics like Dreadclaws and Teleport
Mortal Followers which are Disposable.

Thousand Sons:
Strong medium and short ranged firepower due to magic (MW and TK)
Slow Rubric Marines. Perhabs need a Sorcerer to allow the full spread of orders.
Army would move slow (like fishes in the streams of the ocean) but some elemends could teleport around the board very fast.

Death Guard:
Tough as nails
If they stay at a place it should be very hard to move them by the opponent
Very Infantry heavy
Shooting would be mainly very short ranges (FF) or be from Vehicles and Daemon Engines. The latter would have a pletora of Disrupt and Ignore Cover effects.

Emperors Children:
Sonic Weaponry (Disrupt) everywhere
Some fast but fragile Daemon Engines
First Strike attacks for CC specialists (but worse to hit than Khorne Berzerkers)
Mortal Followers which are Disposable.

_________________
We are returned!
http://www.epic-wargaming.de/

Nice one BL. Thanks for that.

Just in case everyone has not realised, this is probably the best way to have a neutral say on a direction for a list. Cheers....

OK I'm going to go out on a limb here.

Fearless is not what it is in 40k. It represents a formations ability to stay stoic when command breaks down.

IMO World Eaters, will be very hard to break as they are raving nutters. but when command breaks down, individual units will run off on there own to slaughter people, kill the formation that is firing on them. So overall fearless does not fit them well.. some version of expendable or ATSKNF actually would represent them better.

Same with Emperors children, they are unlikely to get scared. but when command breaks down individual units will run off to mutilate/play with corpses, turn the civilians into drugs etc. which is not represented by fearless well.

Now in a BL army Fearless makes more sense as they don't feel fear and they have a commander that is not a complete raving nutter to keep them in line and stop them running off into the hills to find a sheep to do horrible things too.

Death Guard comes closer to being true Fearless in Epic, as they have no fear of death and are stoic when they retreat

Thousand Son Automata are the definition of a unit that should be fearless.

_________________

My Photobucket

I keep looking at this for inspiration. It definitely helps.

I just wish there was more input