And last, but certainly not least, we have Slaanesh.
Sensory Overload is the Primaris power for you perusal here. 24” range assault 4 with S4 and AP4 and inflicts a few status ailments on the target unit including concussion (reduced to I1 if wounded, but this unlikely to kick in on single wound models) and blind, which involves and initiative test or the reduction of WS and BS of the unit to 1. This only kicks in if you score a wound, but it’s still a nice thing to consider. Overall, I’d say this is my favourite of the Chaos Primaris power as it is a handy, if unspectacular, ranged power that brings a number of very nice disruptive side-effects at a decent range. This is an extremely viable option for use against shooty armies, such as Necrons, Guard and Tau, as they are more likely to die to the shots and far more likely to get blinded. An excellent double whammy.
Hysterical Frenzy is next on our list Slaanesh nastiness. This is a blessing power that gives a friendly non-vehicle unit a random stat upgrade of +1 Initiative, Attack or Strength. Admittedly, you don’t know which until you cast it, but they are pretty much all useful. The weak link in the chain is probably going to be the Initiative bump as that’s more situational than the others. If your initiative is already higher, then it’ll do nothing for you, but if it isn’t, then it could be massively important. On the other hand, the Strength and Attack upgrades are always going to be useful. Quality power.
Symphony of Pain is our Malediction for the round. 24” range and the target unit receives -1WS and -1BS. Useful, but unremarkable. It can give you a strong edge in assault against other MEQs or it can significantly reduce the effectiveness of enemy shooting. However, it wouldn’t be a Chaos power without some weird little addendum. The addendum in this case is that any sonic weaponry fired at a unit under this malediction gain +1S. This does make it a rather nice combo power and certainly aids in point defence from a squad of Noise Marines, who, if stationary, are already packing a cruel number of shots. It’s also worth noting that this malediction can be cast on vehicles to boost the strength of Noise Marines to take down armour. As a final note, this power can be cast multiple times on the same unit, and its effects are cumulative, making it a very nice combo if you’re running multiple Slaaneshi Sorcerers (unlikely as that may be). Overall, I really like this power and it’s undeniably useful even if you’re not packing noise marines in that game. However, if that is the case, you might be better off trading it for Sensory overload instead. It depends on what you opponents forces are and how geared for an assault you want your list to be.
And the last power we have here is Ecstatic Seizures. This, in common with the other two, is a double charge power and is fairly situational in its effectiveness. It has no Strength and no AP and is an Assault 1 with 24” range. If the enemy unit is hit and doesn’t manage to Deny the Witch, the every non-vehicle in that unit will take a hit at their unmodified strength. By the way, what units have a mix of vehicles and non vehicles? Only time will tell… Anyway, as you can imagine, if you’re flinging this at a tactical squad, it’s unlikely to achieve much. 10 guys, 5 wounds caused, either 1 or 2 Marines dead. However, it start coming more and more into its own as the target squad increases in size. If you’re throwing this into a 30-strong Boys mob, then you’ll take eight or nine of them. You’ll kill about a third of any given Guard squad and about half for termagants. This is a very effective form of crowd control against the more numerous enemy types and the randomness of the damage inflicted could scupper the effectiveness of their special weapons even if their positioned to deny this opportunity to regular shooting. I can see the debate over whether or not the unit gains a cover save cropping up, and at the moment, my view is that they do not, as the shot itself is not causing wounds or having a direct effect. You get a similar situation with Tau Markerlights. You don’t get cover against them because they are not hurting you. Like I say, I can see this question arising and I’m prepared to admit that I may be wrong upon deeper FAQs being released, but at the moment, that’s my reading. I like this power, but it is very much down to what your opponent is running as to whether or not it’ll be of any great use to you.
So that’s it! I’m really not sure who the best God is in psyker terms, as they all have very distinct flavours and useful powers. At the moment, I’m in favour of Slaanesh, but that could well change down the line. Right now, I’m just having fun playing Chaos!
So long!
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