Over the weekend I got a chance to try out the new Crimson Slaughter supplement and the new Helbrute data slate, and I'd like to take a minute to talk about them a little bit, as I think they are both quite interesting and both have the potential to be very worthwhile.
First, lets talk Crimson Slaughter. Now, I'm still under the opinion that its sort of dumb that they've gone and made a supplement for a Chaos Legion (or Chapter in this case) that didn't even exist two years ago when they still haven't done anything for any of the long standing Legions that already have large fan-bases that would undoubtedly be excited about this sort of thing.
However, I am very much enjoying this book so far. The fluff is fun and a little grandiose in classic Chaos style, and honestly, I think most of the rules and upgrades are fairly solid. The item that allows a Sorcerer to take Divination powers seems like it could be awesome (Forgefiend with Prescience could be really scary), and I really like the Horns that give you Hammer of Wrath, Rage and Furious Charge as well. The sword was decent, though I think probably a little pricy. Another interesting little thing about it is that all Crimson Slaughter units in your army have Fear, and while I think that fear is pretty much the most useless rule in the game, its fun to think that a Riptide could end up being afraid of a unit of cultists or something. The main downside is the cost. Here in Canada we're paying $60 for literally 2 pages of rules, so if you don't really care about the fluff you'd probably be disappointed in this purchase.
Now lets talk about the data slate. The slate comes with 3 formations on it that can be taken and they all involve Helbrutes. The first, the Mayhem Pack consists of 3 Helbrutes and gives them the ability to Deep Strike, which I think is just fantastic. In my game, I dropped in 3 Multi-Melta Brutes and they dropped down and caused some havoc in my opponent's back lines, and that's with me thinking that they were a Squadron. They're not, so instead I could have had 3 Helbrutes running amok separately as the normally would have if by some miracle they actually made it up the board. This can be a really killer formation as it can allow you to get your Helbrutes into position (relatively) safely and take out key targets, or blast apart things that would normally really threaten them before running around assaulting everything within arm's reach.
The second one I haven't tried yet, but I'd really like to. It's called the Helcult, and it sounds a little hilarious. You basically get a Helbrute and 2 units of Cultists who can run around together or on their own and they really support each other. The Cultists provide a 3+ cover save to the brute if they get in front of it, and in return they get to be Fearless. I can just imagine taking a big squad (20 - 30) of Cultists to soak shots and provide cover to the Brute while charging up the board while the other unit sits around on an objective being all Fearless and cool. I think I'd also want the Brute in a close combat loadout for this formation. Maybe dual Powerfist/Flamer or a Fist/Flamer and a Power Scourge. It really sounds like fun.
The third one is my least favorite, but I'd still like to try it out. The Helfist Murderpack was named after a 12 year old's Death Metal band and consists of 5 Helbrutes in a Squadron. One of these shmucks gets to be a character with a 5++ that can Look Out, Sir and as long as he's still alive you get to pick which brand of crazy your damaged Brutes get to be. That's pretty much all it is. I'm not too keen on it because its really expensive (minimum 500 points for 5 Helbrutes. I did the math for you.) and it doesn't do much to help them out, and in fact makes it so that a Las Predator can take out 3 Helbrutes in a turn instead of 1! Hooray! The only way I really see it working is either going "cheap" and just rushing some close combat or Multi-Melta guys at 'em and hoping for the best, or to really pull out all the stops and give them Lascannons and Missile Launchers and hiding behind a Defence Line, hopefully getting to fire frenzy the crap out of guys.
For the price of this Data-Slate it really gives you a lot of options and makes one of (in my humble opinion) the coolest units in the codex actually maybe viable. Still not necessarily competitive, but viable. If you are a Chaos Player and you can get this, I really think you should try to.
Anyways, that it for now. Stay tuned for more battle reports, reviews, and silly ramblings!
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