So here's where these two units play nicely together. Next up is the Iconarch, who holds the cursed symbol of the legion high in the air on a banner and creates an aura where friendly cultists within 6" of the Iconarch add 2 to their leadership stat and, more importantly, can re-roll hit rolls of 1. This is the Psyker unit for the group, who knows the classic Smite as well as other psychic powers from the Chaos Space Marines codex. Depicted as a hooded figure holding a disembodied screaming head attached by tubes, the implication here is that the Mindwitch has severed their own mutated head to harness more psychic power from it. Then there's the Mindwitch, and this model is absolutely breathtaking (breathtakingly disgusting). The Cult Demagogue is Priest who can cast Dark Zealotry (which allows friendly Character units within 6" to re-roll hit rolls), and any other prayer from the Prayers to the Dark Gods list - these prayers can do things like make your friendly units harder to hit, stop enemy units from performing actions, and many other sorts of dark benefits.
First up is the Cult Demagogue, who has some decent weapons, but weapons aren't what we care about with this unit (aside from the Blessed Blades).
Let's dive in unit by unit and check them out. Each Dark Commune is made up of five models: A Cult Demagogue, a Mindwitch, an Iconarch, and two Blessed Blades. The Dark Commune is where things truly start to get interesting. Not too bad at all.Ĭhaos Cultists, assembled and ready for action. Meaning if you can rush a group of ten of these Chaos Cultists into a melee fight, you're throwing out 21 dice (the Cultist Champion has one extra attack). Very middle of the road, and aimed with a classic Autopistol, but their melee weapon, the "Brutal assault weapon" allows them to make one additional melee attack each time they fight with it. A single box of them contains nine Chaos Cultists and one Cultist Champion, and they move 6", with a Weapon and Ballistics Skill of 4+, and a strength and toughness of 3.
Described in the Chaos Space Marines Codex as "Cultists Mob," they're a fairly standard, very inexpensive (points-wise), best used to pad out your forces to help with control of objectives, or in conjunction with other units (more on that below). Let's start with the the Chaos Cultists, as they're a much more straightforward set of units to run. How Do The Warhammer 40K Chaos Cultists and Dark Commune Play? I really love the way the Chaos Space Marines Codex puts it, describing them as "A pooling of evil at the head of a Chaos Cult." This unit is a grouping of five individual models who each serve a special function, making them more like a specialist unit than a normal boots on the ground set of troops. The Dark Commune is, in a manner of speaking, much higher up the ladder in terms of Chaos. The Dark Commune and Chaos Cultists prepare to attack! Image: Games Workshop They strike out against their foes with guns and melee weaponry, hoping to earn a spot of favor in their chosen god's eye. So who are these two units? In essence, the Chaos Cultists are those humans who have succumb to the promises of power, glory, revenge, and more that Chaos offers. In the Warhammer 40K universe, Chaos is an ever-present threat to all mankind (and many other races in the galaxy), and the four Chaos Gods whisper to humanity through the Warp - which is a rip in our dimension that allows for fast travel, but also leaks out all manner of Chaotic evil. So read on for our review of the Chaos Cultists and Dark Coven units! Who Are The Warhammer 40K Chaos Cultists and Dark Commune?īoth of the Warhammer 40K Chaos Cultists and Dark Commune factions are human (or, at least, were human) additions to your Chaos Space Marines army contingent. To that end, Games Workshop just sent us two new units for Chaos Space Marines that are not Astartes but still make a big impact on the table. But tainted Space Marines aren't the only thralls to Chaos, as we've shown in our coverage of the Chaos Space Marines Codex. When you think of Chaos Space Marines, those powerful agents of the Emperor of Mankind who fell to the temptations, tricks, and vices of the Chaos Gods, you may think the whole army's made up of armored, hulking corrupted Astartes.