Detachment Focus: Nightmare Hunt

In our Detachment Focus series we take a deep dive into individual detachments, examine their rules, what makes them tick, and how to play them. In this article we’re looking at the Nightmare Hunt Detachment for Chaos Space Marines.

The Dread Talons Detachment from Codex: Chaos Space Marines is one of the most maligned detachments of the edition, featuring a set of rules that often feel confused and play worse. The good news for Night Lords players and jump pack enthusiasts everywhere is that we now have a new, improved version of the Detachment here to take a second crack at the idea of “punishing an enemy unit for being battle-shocked.” Hopefully the second time is the charm.

We’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of these rules for Review purposes.

Detachment Overview

This is a fixed version of Dread Talons. Almost everything about it is better than the previous incarnation – with two exceptions we’ll mention – and it’s clearly designed to make the detachment’s battle-shock mechanics actually playable this time around. That’s great news, because battle-shock mechanics are notoriously finicky and hard to work with. Sometimes your opponent just rolls 8+ over and over and you’re left with an army that can’t do anything. But this time around the new buffs and rewards are even better – with an always-on damage output buff that’s worth paying attention to – and the enhancements are things you actually really want to take. This is a Detachment that encourages you to take Warp Talons and Raptors and to target weak or battle-shocked units. Getting a target battle-shocked before it’s below half strength can be a bit tricky, but there are ways to do it and this time around you have some good tools to work with even if your opponents aren’t giving you those juicy bonuses.

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Detachment Rule: Terror Made Manifest

In the Battle-shock step of your opponent’s Command phase, if an enemy unit is below starting strength within 12” of one or more of your HERETIC ASTARTES units, that enemy has to take a Battle-shock test, subtracting 1 from the result. They don’t need to take any other tests that phase.

Additionally, you get the following effects:

• When a Battle-shocked enemy unit targets a HERETIC ASTARTES unit in your army, they get -1 to their hit rolls.
• When a HERETIC ASTARTES unit from your army targets an enemy unit below Half-Strength, they get +1 to hit.
• When a HERETIC ASTARTES unit from your army targets a battle-shocked enemy unit, they get +1 to wound.

This is a monster improvement on Dread Talons, giving you three extra effects, one of which doesn’t rely on the unit being battle-shocked and as a result is much more in your control. The key units you’re going to be relying on in this Detachment are Noise Marines – who give -1 to Leadership tests on units they shoot – and Raptors, who force Battle-shock tests in the Fight phase and give enemy units -1 to Leadership tests within 6”. Your other potential option here is the Winged Daemon Prince, who can force battle-shock tests on a unit he passes over in the Movement and Charge phases.

While it’s easy to get roped into trying to do a lot of battle-shock tests, it’s ultimately best to treat this as something you push a little with the right units rather than going all-in on. Chaos Space Marines already have good damage output, so it’s more about making good units better rather than trying to make insane strategies playable. Your bigger goal is getting units down to half-strength but in a pinch getting them to -1 or -2 and making them test is a solid consolation.

Enhancements

The Enhancements here have been overhauled and two of them are must-takes. That said, they’re all pretty expensive, and it’s easy to end up overspending on Enhancements if you play this Detachment. Ask yourself: Are you better off with those two upgrades, or an entire unit of Cultists?

• Greyveil Hex (25 pts): Chaos Lord only. Models in the bearer’s unit have the Stealth ability. While the bearer’s unit is in range of one or more objective markers you control, that unit can only be selected as the target of a Ranged attack if the attacking model is within 18”. This is a sidestep from the original Enhancement, which gave [LONE OEPRATIVE], but didn’t affect the entire unit. This new one is much better for a lord attached to a unit and can be really solid on a Lord attached to a unit of Legionaries or Raptors who want to attack a unit on an expansion and avoid being shot from across the table.
• Warp-fuelled Thrusters (20 pts): Chaos Lord Jump Pack model only. At the end of your opponent’s Fight phase, if the bearer’s unit is not within Engagement Range of an enemy unit, you can remove it from the battlefield and put it into Strategic Reserves. This is back and just as good – it’s a great way to pick a unit of Raptors back up turn after turn, then drop them in to kill something. Warp Talons already do this for free, but having a second unit able to do it gives you some good redundancy. Note that this one does not require you to kill something to go back into reserves. 
• Terrorglut Parasite (20 pts): HERETIC ASTARTES model only. At the start of the Fight phase, each enemy unit within Engagement Range of the bearer has to take a Battle-shock test, subtracting 1 from the result. This is better than it looks – forcing opponents to take a test before the fight phase can turn on the detachment’s key abilities and Stratagems, and if you put this on a Chaos Lord with raptors, the unit he hits will have to test twice. This also could be great on a Dark Commune, forcing the test with Accursed Cultists. Though note that the bearer has to get into Engagement Rage for it to work, not just the attached unit.
• Sorrowscent Vulture (35 pts): CHAOS LORD JUMP PACK model only. Models in the Bearer’s unit get Scouts 6”. In the Declare Battle Formations Step the bearer can be attached to a WARP TALONS unit. This is a must-take here despite the price. Adding a Chaos Lord to a Warp Talons unit gives them some much-needed added punch and the ability to Rapid Ingress free every round using his CP reduction ability. Scouts 6” is also huge here, potentially letting you start the unit on the table, posturing them aggressively for a turn 1 charge if you go first or putting them back into safety if you go second.

Mike P: This is a really cool collection of enhancements that CSM players are going to have a lot of fun experimenting with. On the one hand, there is a ton of flavor and power. On the other hand, these heavily encourage you to put them on Chaos Lords with Jump Packs and attach them to Raptors, and both of those datasheets are simply disappointing. They’re also pretty pricey. A Chaos Lord with Jump Pack attached to a Warp Talon brick is a game-definining and extremely powerful unit. When that package costs more than a big Knight, it needs to be. Players will need some reps to find the best combos and balance in list writing. 

Stratagems

The stratagems here are pretty great. Five of them are very useful and your game plan is going to revolve around using Malicious Surge to Advance and Charge. They’re mostly locked to INFANTRY units, preventing you from getting really wild with vehicles or bikes, but there are a couple of things here you might look at for those. All of these are priced to move at 1 CP.

• Talons Sunk Deep (1 CP): Used in your Shooting phase or the Fight phase on one of your INFANTRY units. That unit gets +1 AP for the rest of the phase when targeting an enemy unit that is Battle-shocked or below Half-Strength. This effect was in Dread Talons where it could only be used in the Fight phase. This is much better, and something you’re likely to actually use at least once per game. +1 AP is especially good on Raptors and Noise Marines, who are both mostly hitting at AP-1.
• Prey on the Weak (1 CP): Used in your Shooting phase or the Fight phase on one of your INFANTRY units. Until the end of the phase, when a model in that unit targets a unit that is Battle-shocked or below Half-Strength, re-roll the hit roll. This is another very powerful effect gated behind a specific ability, but really strong on units like Warp Talons or Obliterators. Not being gated to the Shooting phase is also big here and the most likely place you’ll be able to use it is on Raptors, who create their own battle-shocked targets.
• Sadistic Display (1 CP): Used in the Fight phase after a HERETIC ASTARTES unit from your army destroys an enemy unit. Every enemy unit within 6” and visible to your unit (excluding VEHICLE and MONSTER units) must take a battle-shock test. This is fine. The timing of it makes it pretty situational, and while the range is less than the Dread Talons Detachment ability, not requiring a CHARACTER to trigger is a big help. This may also help you stop an opponent from interrupting with a unit in a pinch.
• Malicious Surge (1 CP): Used in your Charge phase. One HERETIC ASTARTES INFANTRY unit in your army that Advanced this turn is eligible to declare a charge. This is massive for the Detachment, and easily 30% of what makes it playable. Advance and Charge Stratagems are necessary to make melee armies function. Bonus points for being used in the Charge phase, giving you lots of time to decide when to use it.
• Relentless Terror (1 CP): Used in your Movement phase after a HERETIC ASTARTES INFANTRY unit Falls Back. That unit is eligible to shoot and charge this turn. This is another great Stratagem and while it could have been combined into one with Surge, it’s worth having for units like Obliterators, Raptors, and Warp Talons that really don’t want to be trapped in combat on your turn.
• Horrific Incursion (1 CP): Used in your Movement phase on a HERETIC ASTARTES unit that arrived from Deep Strike this turn. Pick an enemy unit (excluding VEHICLE and MONSTER units) within 12” and visible. That unit has to take a Battle-shock test with -1. This is one of your only ways of making tests happen before shooting so it’s worth looking at when you have a good target. If you can stack this with the aura from Raptors for -2 that can lead to some solid chances and note that you can combine this with the -1 debuff from Noise Marines as well – their effect lasts until the start of your next Shooting phase, so it will still be active in your Movement phase.

Mike P: Rob nails it. Unlocking the specific phase timing for the +1AP and rerolls stratagems makes them much more versatile. I do have to say, it is a bit disappointing that these effects are still locked to Below Half-Strength/Battle-shocked targets, but at least they’ll see more play now. The part that confuses me is that there are stratagems across the game that are 1CP to get full hit re-rolls in melee, like in Sister’s Hallowed Martyrs or EC’s Coterie. I would have preferred to have Prey On The Weak work similarly and give you access to 1CP full hit rerolls without the very specific conditions, even if it was locked to a specific phase. The lack of of a straightforward damage buff or defensive buff stratagem will be what holds this detachment back if it’s not very successful. 

I am eager to actually put Nightmare Hunt on the table and find out how often in practice your opponent’s key units are battle-shocked and actually eligible for +1AP or Hit rerolls in important moments. Having access to both advance/change and fall back/shoot+charge will really keep your army mobile, even if they’re limited to infantry only. 

Playing This Detachment

This Detachment has a lot in common with Dread Talons, only it’s much easier to play and gives you a lot more to work with. It’s designed to be a much more melee-focused Detachment, letting Raptors and Warp Talons do what they do best. 

You definitely want a unit of Warp Talons in this Detachment – the 10-man unit is just one of the game’s better units, and the ability to drop in via Rapid Ingress, charge a unit, kill it, and leave, is supercharged by attaching a Chaos Lord to the unit, who can reduce the cost of that Ingress while also boosting their damage output with a 2-damage power fist. This also means you can have them Scout at the start of the game, and when you factor in the ability to Advance and Charge, you suddenly have an entirely new option: Starting the Warp Talons on the table. This is insane, and opens you up to also have a unit of Raptors led by a jump lord with the Warp-Fuelled Thrusters enhancement. I’m less a fan of taking ten raptors – while the unit needs the volume to really be a credible melee threat, Raptors just aren’t that great and having multiple units to force more tests is likely better.

On that note, there are four key units here when it comes to Leadership and Battle-shock shenanigans:

• Raptors. These are just what the Detachment is built around. A 6” -1 Leadership aura with the ability to force Battle-shock tests at the start of the Fight phase. If you can force a failed test you’ll +1 to wound and -1 to be hit on your unit, and you can turn on +1 AP with Talons Sunk Deep or Re-roll hits with Prey on the Weak. With Talons Sunk Deep active then an unpacted five model raptor unit will, on average, actually kill five space marines in melee. Throw in Sustained Hits 1 and you can up that average to 8.

• Noise Marines. Noise Marines already have amazing shooting but can tag enemy units to give them -1 to their Leadership tests for a turn. Stacking that with Raptor and Detachment debuffs can add up quick, and they’re already worth running in Veterans of the Long War and Renegade Raiders. It’s worth having a squad here too. They really appreciate getting +1 to hit and wound from the Detachment rule.

• Heretic Astartes Daemon Prince with Wings. The WInged Daemon Prince doesn’t get a lot of love in Chaos Space Marine armies, primarily because he can’t advance and charge. And while that’s still true here in the Nightmare Hunt Detachment, you have lots of other speedy units to range ahead of him and make that happen, while his other ability finally has use – being able to force a battle-shock test in the Movement and Fight phases when you “move over” a unit gives you one more way to force extra tests and as an actual unit, you could do worse than 14” Movement and a bunch of mortals on the charge.

• Plague Marines. The odd final entry here, Plague Marines are just solid, durable, all-purpose OC 2 marines who have one extra quirk: They can take a sigil which gives enemy units within 6” and worsens the Leadership characteristic of models within 6” by 1. That’s a nice little quirk and putting Space Marines on a 7+ with a -1 to their test just by existing nearby isn’t bad. That said, they’re a little slow but worth consideration over something like Legionaries or a Nemesis Claw. 

There are other units which can affect Leadership but these are the core ones that we think are going to be the ones you actually end up playing in the detachment. 

Other than those units, This Detachment is going to favor Infantry units, because that’s just where the Stratagems give you the most flexibility. Obliterators really like this Detachment, though it doesn’t make them any faster so you’ll need to put them into deep strike. You want Rhinos for the rest of your units for both speed and the ability to range out and to project your 12” detachment aura. The Chosen and Bile brick are also great units here, more than capable of taking great advantage of the Detachment buffs (and loving it any time they can get -1 to be hit), and Legionaries are very solid here. Ironically the only unit that doesn’t get much out of this Detachment is the Nemesis Claw, since it already gets buffs to hit and wound from a target being below starting/half strength. 

When running this Detachment it’s important to treat the army’s Battle-shock rule as more of a nice-to-have than something you desperately need to make happen every turn. Focusing on things like the Detachment’s Enhancements and the ability to Advance and Charge will do more for you in the long run than going all in on trying to battle-shock an enemy unit. In other words, don’t go charging something with your Raptors you wouldn’t normally charge unless it’s a desperate situation or you can drop them below half-strength first.

Strengths

• Good offensive buffs. You can get +1 to hit and wound and full re-rolls to hit with this Detachment and while you have to clear some real hurdles to make those happen, they feel much more possible. And when you have them, look out – those are some strong buffs to an army that already specializes in killing. 

• Mobility. Advance and Charge and Fall Back and Shoot/Charge are two key buffs that melee armies like this need to operate. It was actually kind of insane that Dread Talons didn’t have the ability to Advance and Charge. Being able to give a unit Scouts 6” is also a big deal here.

• Raptors and Warp Talons. There’s a lot to like here if you’re running jump infantry and being able to throw a Chaos Lord on a unit of Warp Talons is a massive buff that the unit sorely needs.

Weaknesses

• Battle-shock effects are unreliable. Even really good battle-shock effects are hard to rely on. Even rolling 9+, an enemy unit is likely to pass that test 28% of the time, and when that happens you’re going to have to figure out another way to get what you want.

• Raptors. This army really feels like it wants to be built around Raptors but they just have a crummy datasheet to work with. That said, when the new Kill Team comes out and gives them a second heavy melee option, this could all change.

• Enhancement costs. The Enhancements here are really good but spending nearly 100 points on them is a lot – you may be better off leaving some of the goodies at home in favor of more units.

A Sample List

So here’s the thing: Remember that Dread Talons list you built and tested and it was bad? Well dust that bad boy off because it’s worth taking another swing at things. The goal here is to run an infantry-heavy, melee-first list that can battle-shock opponents.

Night Lords for Real This Time - click to expand

The general idea here is that each Rhino gets one unit of Plague Marines and one unit of Noise Marines. While Legionaries generally hit harder, they normally need a Chaos Lord or Master of Executions to function at full strength while the Plague Marines can just kind of do their thing without him since they pack three power fists. They’re a bit more durable while still being OC 2 and the Noise Marines can either fire both Blastmasters out of the top of the Rhino or get out and shoot things to give them Leadership debuffs before the Raptors come crashing into fight.

On that note I’ve settled on two Raptor units and one unit of Warp Talons here. A lot of points here have been thrown into Enhancements and that’s probably too much, but my first test games are going to look at which of these are doing work and which could be dropped for another unit. The two units of Obliterators more or less act as anti-tank threats here and the ability to start Warp Talons on the table with Scout against some armies gives you a lot more flexibility when it comes to what you put into deep reserves. That said, this army isn’t going to have a lot of drops, since a huge chunk of it start either off the board or in transports.

Final Thoughts

The Nightmare Hunt Detachment is more or less everything we were hoping the original Dread Talons Detachment would be. It has great tools which offer a lot of versatility and support the army as a melee threat instead of a shooting one. And while you do lose some power no longer being able to follow units falling back, you more than make up for that in being able to field deadlier units. You know what’s better than chasing down a unit falling back? Killing it and leaving the table at the end of the Fight phase.

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