The first unit I want to talk about is the humble Chaos Spawn. These poor buggers are the result of drawing the attention of the Chaos Gods to yourself, either through incompetence, or sometimes from being a total badass. They don't really discriminate. Anyways, what makes Spawn so good? Well firstly they're beasts. Beasts are seriously awesome this edition, as they can move off the tabletop very quickly with their 12" move that ignores all but impassable terrain. This will help them get to where you need them, and really can take people by surprise with their speed. Next, they're pretty tough. Now I know they don't get an armour save, but proper use of cover can usually help mitigate this a bit, and Toughness 5 with 3 wounds each makes them pretty hard to gun down without dedicating a good chunk of shooting to do it.
So Spawn are tough and fast, but they have other assets too. They get rage, to give them some more attacks on the charge (potentially 8 attacks each on the charge!) and are strength 5, so those attacks are going to put the hurt on most units. On top of this, they can take marks as well. Mark of Nurgle is my favorite, as Toughness 6 with 3 wounds is very hard to deal with in my experience. Even plasma is only wounding on a 3+, and regular old bolter fire is bouncing off you like its nothing. The downside is its the most expensive mark. Mark of Khorne isn't bad, but unless you're running a Juggerlord, or trying to do a themed army, I wouldn't generally bother, as you already get rage, and counter-attack is only ok. Slaanesh isn't too bad, as you'll now be striking at the same time as most things, but it's really nothing to write home about. Lets not even talk about poor old Tzeentch. It seems his power is on the wane this edition...
So why don't we see spawn on the table more? Well I think the main reason is because they are a Fast Attack choice, and we all know what Chaos players use their Fast Attack slots for. The other thing about them is that they are quite unpredictable. They have d6 attacks, which means that if the dice are against you, you might get a single attack each, which really kind of sucks. The Mutated Beyond Reason chart they roll on in close combat also isn't that great, though none of the results are particularly bad, just nothing too special. Overall, Spawn are a pretty solid unit, and you can get a unit of 5 with the Mark of Nurgle for less than 200 points.
Next, I want to do kind of a dual analysis, as both of these guys kind of have the same problem in my opinion. Warpsmiths and Dark Apostles. Neither of these units is really bad per se, but they both tend to be a little lackluster in the HQ slot when you compare them to a Lord, or a Daemon Prince. So lets start with the Warpsmith. While its sort of expensive for what is basically a 2 wound marine with a 2+ save, you have to remember that these guys come stock with a Power Axe and Mechatendrils, which give you +2 attacks, a Melta Gun and a Flamer, and you can fire 2 weapons in the shooting phase. You also get to run around repairing your vehicles in lieu of shooting if you so wish, and at the beginning of the game you get to reduce a piece of cover in your opponents deployment zone by 1 (though sadly this does not apply to fortifications to my knowledge). They also have access to pretty much all the same stuff as a Lord, just without being able to take Daemonic Steeds.
Dark Apostles are similar to Warpsmiths in their statline and points, but are sort of less a beatstick unit and more a buff unit. For the points of 2 units of cultists and a flamer, you get a Marine with 5 WS, 2 wounds and attacks, and LD 10. However, you get a Power Maul and Sigil of Corruption for free, which is 40 points of upgrades right there. You also get Zealot, a 6" LD 10 bubble, and all your characters int h e unit get to re-roll all their boons, which is nice. Both of these guys are viable, in my opinion, but they're overshadowed by Lords and Daemon Princes. This wouldn't be so much of an issue if they followed the same force org rules as Techmarines and Chaplains, but as it stands, they take up a valuable HQ slot which often are being used for other things.
Lastly, lets take a look at Helbrutes. Yes, Helbrutes. This comes with the caveat that they really need to be used using the formations if you want the most out of them. With the Helcult, and the Mayhem Pack, these guys can actually get somewhere where they can do some damage, though the Helfist Murderpack seems a little useless to me. The first thing that's col about Helbrutes is they're cheap. 5 points less than an Apostle gets you an AV 12/12/10 walker with a Multi-Melta and a Power Fist, which honestly, is how I would run them most of the time. On it's own, a Helbrute is vulnerable and easy to take down, but supported by a group of cultists giving you a 3+ cover save anywhere you go, or deep striking in and causing havoc can make them a real problem for you enemy. I know I wouldn't want to deal with 3 Helbrutes suddenly up in my grill, or a huge unit of Cultists or two backed by a Helbrute giving them fearless.
The main thing about Helbrutes that turns people off is their fragility, and while the Dataslate has given us solutions, they aren't without their own risks. The Helcult is only useful until you run into some ignores cover, or something capable of wiping out your Cultists, and our Brutes don't have the benefit of Drop Pods to keep them safe from mishaps, and statistically, only one in 3 is going to stick the landing. Still, the tactical flexibility of these guys makes up for the inherent risks of taking them in my opinion.
So let me know what you think. Is there a unit I've missed? Maybe something that doesn't work as well as it seems?
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