With the June 2025 Balance Dataslate Games Workshop are once again giving us new Detachments to go along with balance updates. In this article we’re going to be looking at the new Cabal of Chaos Detachment for Chaos Space Marines – what it does and how to play it.
The year of Chaos continues! In addition to four new books for the Chaos Cults, the Chaos Space Marines have received a gift of their own. If you’ve been jealous of the Librarius Detachment for loyalist Space Marines, then the Cabal of Chaos should scratch that itch by giving Chaos Space Marines their own version of powered-up units using Psykers and Daemon Princes.
We’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of these rules for Review purposes.
Detachment Overview
The Cabal of Chaos Detachment gives Chaos Space Marines a new way to build armies around PSYKER and DAEMON PRINCE units, giving units additional bonuses when they make a Dark Pact near one of those units. This can either be additional strength on their ranged attacks near Psykers or Extra AP on melee attacks near a Daemon Prince. Additionally, there are some solid Stratagems and Enhancements here to buff units and reward you for taking Psykers in your army.
Detachment Rule: Empyric Wellspring
Each time a unit from your army makes a Dark Pact, you can pick one of the following two abilities for it to gain until the end of the phase:
- Leaping Warpflame. While the unit is within 9” of a HERETIC ASTARTES PSYKER model, improve the Strength of their ranged weapons by 1.
- Monstrous Manifestation. While this unit is within 9” of a HERETIC ASTARTES Daemon Prince (or one with wings), improve the AP of its melee weapons by 1.
These are solid buffs. The bonus AP is the more useful of the two in terms of being able to take units like Possessed to AP-2 while Chosen and the aforementioned Daemon Princes to AP-3, but there’s quite a bit of value you can get out of +1 Strength on your ranged weapons if you’re looking at the right guns.
The Daemon Princes are pretty straightforward, so let’s look at your PSYKER options.
Here are the PSYKER units you can get in Chaos Space Marines:
- Sorcerer – can join Chosen and Legionaries
- Sorcerer in Terminator Armour – can join Chaos Terminators
- Master of Possession – can join Chosen, Legionaries, and Possessed
- Dark Commune – can join Cultist Mob, and Accursed Cultists
- Thousand Sons Rubrics have an Aspiring Sorcerer with the Psyker keyword
- Nemesis Claw
In addition to this, you can use the Touched by the Warp Enhancement to make one HERETIC ASTARTES character a PSYKER. That’s helpful because as it turns out, the DAEMON PRINCE units are not PSYKERs and so if you want a unit that will trigger both, these are your best options.
I really wanted to look at that list of units and say “hey, this really could mean a lot for Chosen and Possessed and Legionaires” but then I keep looking at the Dark Commune there and well, that just kind of hammers home what this Detachment is going to be about in a lot of ways. There’s some value you can get here out of shooting units but generally speaking +1 Strength is just not enough for most ranged weapons to hit a meaningful break point and it’s not as good as 5+ crits, +1 AP and Assault, or re-rolling all hits, and so you should think of that here as more of a consolation prize. That said, there are some units that look good with this, and we’ll talk about them more later.
Enhancements
The enhancements here are pretty good, and open up some interesting play options for the army. Of these, I am pretty much always taking Touched, the Eye, and Infernal Avatar, but Bind Blade is pretty good too. If you go full melee, you can swap out Touched for Mind Blade pretty easy.
- Touched by the Warp: HERETIC ASTARTES model only. The bearer gains the PSYKER keyword. You can give this to a Daemon Prince to let them double up on bonuses, but for my money the best option is a Warpsmith acting as backfield support for some Forgefiends.
- Eye of Z’Desh: HERETIC ASTARTES model only. Models in the bearer’s unit have the Scouts 6” ability. This is phenomenal, and where you want it most is on a Master of Possession paired with either Chosen or a unit of Possessed.
- Mind Blade: PSYKER only. Melee weapons for models in the bearer’s unit have the [LANCE] ability. This is very good, and I particularly like it on a unit of Chosen or Terminators, as it allows them to punch up big time.
- Infernal Avatar: DAEMON PRINCE or WINGED DAEMON PRINCE only. Your model gets +2 Strength and +1 AP on its melee weapons. This is really good for helping shore up the key defects of the daemon prince – namely its AP and Strength characteristics. Taking this on a Khorne Daemon Prince gets you a model that throws out S12 AP-4 attacks.
Stratagems
The Stratagems here are solid. They’re all priced at 1 CP, meaning you won’t have many issues around CP generation.
- Baleful Blessing (Epic Deed, 1 CP): Used in any phase after a mortal wound is allocated to your unit. They get a 5+ Feel No Pain against mortal wounds for the rest of the phase. This is… fine. It’s a weak start but it’s good to have, and it can be used in a pinch to potentially protect yourself from mortal wounds taken from something like failed pacts or hazardous checks. Not that you’ll want to be in that situation, mind.
- No Rest in Death (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP): Used in your Movement phase on a Heretic Astartes unit in your army within 9” of a Psyker or Daemon Prince unit. One model in that unit regains up to D3+1 lost wounds. Or if they’re a BATTLELINE unit, you can get back D3 destroyed models with full wounds remaining. This is fine to heal a Daemon Prince or vehicle and it’s interesting that you can combo that with a Warpsmith to get back 2D3+1 wounds on a vehicle. It’s also solid to use on Plague Marines or Rubrics.
- Mutation’s Curse (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP): Used in your Shooting phase on a Heretic Astartes PSYKER unit. Pick a visible enemy unit within 12” and roll a D6. On a 1 they take 1 mortal wound, on a 2-4 they take D3, and on a 5-6, they take 2D3. This is great, and when you combine it with Grenades, you can start looking at a relatively reliable ~6 mortal wounds to most targets. It’s particularly fun on Rubrics, who come pre-packaged with their own PSYKER.
- Soulseekers (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP): Used in your shooting phase on a unit that hasn’t shot yet. Until the end of the phase, they gain [IGNORES COVER] on their ranged weapons. This is an interesting one because again, it doesn’t seem to care about your unit’s keywords so it works just fine on a Forgefiend, Vindicator, Predator, or Havocs. And that’s honestly where it’ll do its best work, since Rubrics and Noise Marines already ignore cover.
- Unholy Haste (Epic Deed, 1 CP): Used in your Charge phase on an Infantry unit that hasn’t already been picked to charge. They can charge this turn even if they advanced. The very necessary Advance and Charge strat is here, and it makes the Detachment much more viable. You pair this with a Scouts 6” unit of Possessed and fling them across the table for early charges that can take out key threats. The big downside is that this is Infantry-only, and so doesn’t help your Daemon Princes, who seem to be more relegated to support.
- Shroud of Chaos (Battle Tactic, 1 CP): Used at the start of your opponent’s Shooting phase. Pick a Psyker or Daemon Prince from your army and they gain an aura that gives models in friendly units within 6” Stealth.
Playing This Detachment
The flexibility of this detachment is both a strength and a weakness. On the one hand, it doesn’t turbo-charge any specific units quite as much as dedicated detachments. For example, if you want to run “Oops all Daemon Engines”, Soulforged is likely better for that. If you want to run “Oops 30 Possessed”, Creations of Bile, Pactbound, Renegade Raiders, or Fellhammer are likely better for that.
On the other hand, there is excellent support for a combined arms approach in the Cabal Of Chaos. That approach is how you’re going to get the most out of this detachment.
You’re likely going to start with a shooting firebase built around Daemon Engines/Tanks hanging out with a Warpsmith with the Touched By The Warp enhancement. That will unlock +1 Strength for your shooting units on a source that is kept by the Warpsmith’s Lone Operative ability when near the Vehicles. The Warpsmith is also going to unlock other key synergies for you. In particular, being able to trigger Shroud Of Chaos to give Stealth to your shooting castle is going to add some much needed durability. Forgefiends in particular love access to a Stealth aura, because they are normally very fragile for their points.
The Nemesis Claw in particular thrive in this Detachment – as a PSYKER unit, they come with built-in support for their own ranged weapons. What they get isn’t amazing – you probably want to go with a flamer or Meltagun and Missile Launcher for them – but they’re also big benefactors of the Daemon Prince buff, going to AP-3 with their Accursed Weapons.
When it comes to your melee base, well, Accursed Cultists are going to be a big part of your strategy. They’re cheap and they come pre-loaded with Psykers you can take advantage of for your Stratagems in the form of the Dark Commune. You’ll want to support them with Daemon Princes on foot, and those likewise benefit from being within 3” of those Cultist units and giving them Lone Operative. Though it’s also worth considering a Winged Daemon Prince as an option to deep strike onto the table to hand out the necessary aura for melee – they may not be able to get within 9” of the opponent’s models, but they only have to be within 9” of yours once the fighting starts. Accursed Cultists hitting at AP-1 with their base attacks and -2 with their hideous mutations are going to do a ton of damage.
Likewise, you’ll almost certainly want to look at a large brick of Possessed accompanied by a Master of Possession with the Eye of Z’Desh upgrade to Scout 6” before the battle begins. This turns them into an incredibly fast and dangerous melee threat, though don’t discount the notion of taking a Chaos Lord with the Eye instead and attaching him to Chosen in a Rhino – giving the entire unit Scout 6” means the Rhino itself can scout, and they come packaged with a built-in advance and charge ability.
Strengths
- Daemon Princes. Chaos Daemon Princes can be a bit underwhelming at times but here the extra AP really helps them push through the one extra wound they need to be respectable. The walking Daemon Princes’ upgrade to gain a conditional Lone Operative ability synergizes well with their role to hang out and buff units, and the flying Daemon Princes hit quite hard here.
- Hitting key offensive breakpoints. +1S in shooting helps some units like Obliterators and Forgefiends get +1 to Wound versus many targets, and +1AP in melee really helps units like Legionaries and Possessed that have good volume of attacks but mediocre AP.
- Advance and Charge. There are some solid movement buffs here. Scouts 6” and Advance and Charge are basically the two things you need in a unit that’s going to focus on melee and you have both.
Weaknesses
- Your psyker units just aren’t that good. There’s a reason these guys don’t show up that often in Chaos Marines lists as-is, and it’s that they’re just kind of underwhelming.
- +1 Strength on ranged attacks is only sometimes useful. It’s a fine consolation prize but it’s not as good as the buffs you’ll get in other Detachments. The real power here is in melee.
- Daemon Prince reliance. Having to have a Daemon Prince around your melee units to get that +1 AP buff is a big ask. They’re an expensive unit and just aren’t that durable, even with Lone Operative while they’re within 3” of an INFANTRY unit.
A Sample List
Mike P: For my Cabal Of Chaos, I’m going to build around the concept of stacking up to +3 Strength on Daemon Engine shooting, the power of a big Chosen brick with Lance and the extra mobility from a Master Of Possession, and the boosted melee of 2 Daemon Princes and Vashtorr to have some powerful counter-charge options. This might not be the very best way to run CSM, but I’m a big believer in this list and it will do some real work.
One cool detail: Between Grenades, Mutation’s Curse, 2x Winged Daemon Princes, Tank Shock, 3x Forgefiends, and Vashtorr, this list has a huge amount of Mortal Wound output. Opponents can feel free to try to push in this castle. They’re unlikely to have much of an army left by the next turn.
Cabal of Guns - click to expand
Final Thoughts
The Chirurgeon: There’s a real – and very fair – question about how much this detachment needed to exist, and what it brings to the table when you have other options – +1 Strength on your ranged attacks will often not be better than critical hits on a 5+, nor +1 AP, nor re-rolling hit rolls. It’s an interesting dynamic to think about, but there are enough good tricks here to make the Detachment worth a look.
Mike P: This detachment has legitimate strengths and will win plenty of games. Personally, I would have rather have seen any CSM time spent on fixing the Dread Talons and Deceptors detachments. CSM players (in particular Night Lords and Alpha Legion fans) would have been much more excited to have their already thematic but very underwhelming detachments brought up to par. That being said, between a new detachment and some datasheet upgrades, I’m appreciative of the attention given to CSM in this update and look forward to putting the Cabal Of Chaos on the table.
Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.
