Detachment Focus: Chaos Cult (Updated July 30, 2024)

In this series of articles, we take a deep dive into a specific detachment for a faction, covering the faction’s rules and upgrades and discussing how to build around that faction for competitive play. In this article, we’re covering the Chaos Cult Detachment for the Chaos Space Marines.

The Tenth Edition release of Codex: Chaos Space Marines gives the faction access to a whopping eight detachments, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. These can dramatically change how the army plays, as each one tends to push players to build differently. In this series, we’re diving deep into each Detachment and talking about its rules and how to play it.

Changelog

• Update: 2024-07-30 for the Q2 Balance updates and Derek’s List
• Published: 2024-05-11

Detachment Overview

The Chaos Cult allows us to play Chaos Space Marines in a way we haven’t really seen since Codex: Eye of Terror back in 2003, giving us an army primarily made of cultists and renegade guard, with an optional small number of Chaos Marine leaders. This Detachment paints a picture of a melee army made up of Toughness 3 and Toughness 4 models who, using a variety of buffs, become heavy hitters that can threaten more elite armies. Unfortunately, this power comes with heavy thematic costs – the army rule will have you repeatedly testing against your leadership, as the Stratagems and the detachment rule force extra leadership tests when you make pacts with the Dark Gods. And make no mistake, this Detachment is all about making desperate pleas to the Dark Gods at the cost of your life force. Let’s get into it.

Detachment Rule: Desperate Devotion

Each time a Damned unit from your army with the Dark Pacts ability is selected to make a Normal or Advance move or declare a charge (excluding units that arrived from Reserves this turn), it can make a Desperate Pact. If it does, until the end of the phase, add 2″ to the Move characteristic of models in that unit and 2 to Charge rolls made for that unit.

What is a Desperate Pact? It’s a different type of Dark Pact roll. Each time a unit makes a Desperate Pact, it must first take a Leadership test; if it does, until the end of the phase, add 2″ to the Move characteristic of models in that unit and 2 to Charge rolls made for that unit.

Is this rule any good? If we look at units like Accursed Cultists, it’s fantastic to see. Who doesn’t want to have an extra +2 for their movement and added to their charge rolls? And maybe Fellgors as well, who can use the ability to charge out of Strategic Reserves. But outside of those edge cases, without proper leaders for your Cultist squads the odds are high you’ll be taking D3 mortal wounds from this ability, and that’s before you add on the standard Dark Pact once you reach combat – this means could end taking a ton of damage before you even swing for the first time.

Chaos Cults are a very thematic army and will be fun to build and model, and while it turns out they may not be one of the worst armies in the book, they’re going to be very difficult to field correctly and skill-intensive. One of the key rules for the Detachment, in addition to Desperate Devotion is that Traitor Guardsmen gain the BATTLELINE keyword in this Detachment. That wasn’t much to write home about when the book first dropped but with the release of Pariah Nexus missions they’ve become much more valuable, benefiting from a number of mission rules which make battleline units better. As a result, Traitor Guardsmen have become a healthy part of the list, with more durability and fire output than standard cultists.

It’s worth doing a quick recap here of which units are DAMNED units in the new book. Specifically, here are your DAMNED datasheets:

• Traitor Enforcer
• Dark Commune
• Cultist Firebrand
• Cultist Mob
• Accursed Cultists
• Traitor Guardsmen Squad
• Fellgor Beastmen

That gives you some options but on the whole those are not what you’d consider powerful datasheets. Let’s look at how you can improve them.

Enhancements

Let’s take a look at the Enhancements. These all share a quirk in that they can go on a Dark Apostle, though three can go on DAMNED units. As a reminder, your DAMNED characters list is the Traitor Enforcer, Dark Commune, and the Cultist Firebrand.

• Cultist’s Brand (20 points)– Dark Apostle or Damned model only. So long as every other model in the bearer’s unit (Excluding Dark Disciples) is Damned, you can re-roll Advance and Charge rolls made for the bearer’s unit. This isn’t bad, but it’s guilty of not being as good as your other three options.
• Amulet of Tainted Vigour (20 points) – Dark Apostle model only. In your Command phase, you can return up to D3 destroyed Damned models (excluding Characters) to the bearer’s unit. This is amazing, and basically half the reason to take an Apostle instead of a third Dark Commune.
• Incendiary Goad (15 points) – Dark Apostle or Damned model only. While the bearer’s unit is below its Starting Strength, add 1 to the Strength of the unit’s melee weapons. While they’re below half-strength, add 1 to their melee Attacks as well. Fantastic on a Dark Commune paired with Accursed Cultists, where losing a Mutant to supercharge the Torments is a great trade-off.
• Warped Foresight (10 points) – Dark Apostle or Damned model only. The bearer has the Scouts 6″ ability. You basically need this on a character you’re attaching to Accursed Cultists in order to allow them to Scout with the character in tow. Because you can only give the Amulet to an Apostle, you probably want this on a Dark Commune.

When I look at these, the only one I genuinely like is bringing back models, followed closely by the Scout move. Dark Apostles are the units which are going to make this army run, so it’s good to see that they are supported with enhancements. Warped Foresight is also going to be necessary if your plan is to actually scout with a unit of Accursed Cultists attached to a character. Your army is cheap enough it’s worth it to take the Amulet, Goad, and Foresight each game, giving one each to a unit of Accursed Cultists to ensure you’re getting the most out of them.

Stratagems

The Stratagems here tend to focus on making desperate pacts or additional pact rolls to succeed, meaning they’re going to cost you dearly, especially if you don’t have an attached character to boost your Leadership.

• Chosen for Glory (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – Your unit can make a Desperate Pact in the Shooting or Fight phase. For making the Pact, they get to re-roll all hits for the phase; for passing the Pact, they also get to re-roll wounds. This is a super good Stratagem. It allows more play for when you get your cultists into the melee, and it’s where you want to have your best Leadership values. It’s great for a unit attached to a Dark Apostle, both because it gives them Leadership 5+ and because it works well with his +1 to wound rolls. Throwing this on a unit of Accursed is what transforms them from being “merely nasty” to “completely devastating” and it’s the core part of your strategy for taking out bigger targets.
• Selfless Demise (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Whenever a model is removed from your Damned unit during a melee combat, roll a D6; on a 6, the opposing unit takes a single mortal wound. This is pretty cool when you’re running your 20 blocks of cultists, and you’re getting cleaved in half by Death Company.
• Infernal Sacrifice (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – Pick a unit that hasn’t fought yet. That unit can make a Desperate Pact. If they do, then no matter what you roll, they take D3 mortal wounds – that’s on top of the D3 they take if you fail the test. Then, the unit gets +1 to its melee Attacks and if you passed the Pact test they also get +1 Strength to its melee weapons. It’s a very thematic strategy but extremely dangerous. I’d stick to using this on Accursed Cultists, where going to 3 and D6+3 attacks will get you the most value. This is going to be one of your primary melee weapons for pushing into units which are stronger or more durable than your own.
• Crazed Focus (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – Used in your Shooting phase. Pick a DAMNED unit that hasn’t shot and they can make a Desperate Pact. If they do, until the end of the phase, improve the AP of their attacks by 1. If they passed the Leadership test, they also get +1 Strength on those attacks. Your big issue here is just that your shooting on Damned units just isn’t very good, especially since Cultist Mobs can’t take grenade launchers, flamers, or autoguns any more. Your best options here are the Cultist Firebrand and the Traitor Guardsmen Squad, and spending CP on their shooting is pretty rough.
• Reckless Hate (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – One DAMNED unit can Charge even if it Advanced this turn. Relatively simple; used in the Command phase. Always useful, always great. A big part of getting extra movement with Accursed Cultists and the kind of ranges you can get with this and +4″ of movement plus the Advance and a Scout move can give you some absolutely silly distances.
• Mortal Thralls (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used during your opponent’s Shooting phase, just after an enemy unit has selected the targets of attacks. You need one HERETIC ASTARTES unit picked as the target of the attacks and one DAMNED unit within 3″ of your unit and visible to the attacking unit. Until the end of the phase, each time your opponent makes a wound roll for an attack on your ASTARTES unit, if the DAMNED unit is visible to the attacking model and eligible for that attack, no roll is made and the DAMNED unit instead takes a number of mortal wounds equal to the Damage characteristic of the attack.
  
  To talk about this more plainly: My opponent shoots my rhino with a Las Cannon. I respond by spending a command point and pointing at the block of 20 cultists next to the rhino. My opponent shoots their Lascannon. Hits my Rhino. Then, it does not make a wound roll but instead rolls for damage. They roll a 5, and I lose 5 cultists. This strategy is a pretty exciting way to give units more wounds to our units that matter, and will be my primary use for 20-man cultist squads. Note as well that your Cultist units are also HERETIC ASTARTES units so you can use one DAMNED unit to take the shots for another, letting your Cultist Mob screen for your Accursed Cultists. 

Playing This Detachment

Any list you build for this Detachment is going to focus heavily around making Desperate Pacts to get those movement boosts. +2″ of Movement and +2 to your Charges really push you toward Accursed Cultist units, and that’s where a unit with a Dark Commune using the Warped Foresight Enhancement really does work – You can pull a 6″ scout move, followed by an 8″ regular move, added to an Advance (3.5″ on average), give them the ability to Advance and Charge with Reckless Hate, and then add +2″ to your charge move with another Desperate Pact (7″ average charge distance) for an average of 26.5″ of movement on the first turn of the game. That said, it’s only one unit, and they’re not nearly as durable as they used to be, so blitzing a single Accursed unit across the table turn 1 to make a trade isn’t necessarily what you want to be doing most games. But having that unit is completely necessary – it’s a good option to have to punish opponents and being able to put them wherever you want turn 1 is valuable. It’s also incredibly good to make charges out of Strategic Reserves, and putting one of your Accursed units into reserves is a solid play.

That’s the real sneaky value of this army – that extra movement gives you some incredible range to zoom around the table, moving from a spread-out formation to block deep strikes to hit objectives and perform actions. Even a unit of regular Cultists suddenly becomes a completely different story when it can move 10-14″ in a turn.

In their purest form, Chaos Cults have the speed and numbers to act credibly as a “Jail” list, trapping opponents in their deployment zone early with durable tarpit units while the rest of the army locks down the rest of the table to prevent deep strikes while scoring secondary objectives. Even if an opponent fights their way out, they’ll be coming from behind in score while you fall back and keep steady scoring to stay ahead. Accursed Cultists are a nightmare tarpit unit, especially with support from a Dark Apostle with the Amulet of Cursed Vigor, and Daemon allies like Nurglings and Seekers can help support this strategy with forward-deploying and fast units who can act as cheap tarpits.

That said, while you can tarpit effectively you’ll want keep an eye on your durability – you’re going to have a ton of units taking tons of Leadership checks. This Detachment leans into the aesthetic of trading life for power. Stratagems like Infernal Sacrifice, Crazed Focus, and Chosen for Glory will call on you to make as many as five Pact tests in a turn, and while those let you stack some great bonuses, they’re also going to cost you.

Don’t be afraid of taking Traitor Guardsmen, either – their datasheet doesn’t look like much at first glance but what they do is give you access to Melta guns, plasma guns, and grenade launchers which can threaten a myriad of targets, and at OC 2 they can absolutely cause problems when they get to objectives. Remember that your army consists of units with Toughness 3 and a 6+ armor save so durability will be a problem – and that’s where Traitor Guard having a 5+ with cover on an objective can make a difference. Also, the humble Rhino is an amazing piece of our strategy here as it can be filled with useful support units – you can put DAMNED units in it but most of the time you want those in units of 20 models, and they’re better off acting as ablative wounds with the Mortal Thralls Stratagem while something like Chosen or Legionaries pop out of the Rhino to do some real killing.

Leadership Value Reference

You’re going to be making a lot of Leadership tests, so you need to know which Leaders are available and what their values are.

• Dark Apostle: 5+
• Traitor Enforcer: 6+
• Dark Commune: 6+
• Cultist Firebrand: 6+
• Fabius Bile: 6+

Note in addition to these Leadership values, the Dark Commune comes with a Chaos Icon, allowing you to re-roll tests made with the Dark Pacts ability. This does not apply to tests made for Desperate Pacts. And don’t sleep on Bile! His ability to join Accursed Cultists and Chosen Cultists is new, and giving a unit of Accursed Cultists +1 Strength and Toughness is pretty nifty.

Please don’t get stuck on the idea that this list can only take Cultists. Though every stratagem in this Detachment pretty much affects Damned only, we need to be sure that we’re taking units that can also kill things. Vindicators are still one of the best things we can take in this codex, and there’s a place for Forgefiends and units of Legionaries with Masters of Execution.

Derek Apsche’s List

When it comes to Chaos Cults there’s really just one brave soldier out there repping the Detachment, and he’s absolutely killing it – Derek was running Chaos Cults back before Pariah Nexus dropped, and after some slight modifications, he’s back doing it again afterward, putting up some impressive scores and beating some great opponents on the way. Now in our defense, I will say that Derek’s list is very close to the recommendation Chase put forward in our original article, running Cypher and a ton of mobs. The big difference with Pariah Nexus missions is the Cultists – Derek’s original list ran 20-model cultist blobs but following the release of Cull the Hordes as a secondary option, having an army that gives up both Cull and Assassination was just not tenable. This new version drops the 20-man Cultist blobs in favor of Traitor Guard. The list still gives up 25 for Assassination but with only 15 for Cull locked behind wiping out all three units of Accursed that’s a bet most people aren’t going to take.

Derek's List - Click to expand

That’s an eye-watering eleven BATTLELINE units, with five Cultist Mobs and six units of Traitor Guardsmen. Those are more than capable of gumming up the board with action-doing, objective-holding-and-securing bodies who can lob grenades. But it’s worth pointing out that this list has more than 160 models to move on any turn, meaning that if you’re playing this list you need to get really good at managing those movement and shooting turns quickly or you’re going to run afoul of the clock pretty quickly.

On to the list – the hammer of the list here are those three units of Accursed Cultists, two with Dark Communes and a third with the Dark Apostle, who gives his unit +1 to wound and can do mortals to enemy units. The Dark Apostle can’t ride in a rhino with a unit, so most of the time that’ll be Fabius and his helper running with a unit of Cultists, though you can swap him into an Accursed unit if the game calls for T5 Accursed. It usually won’t, however

The rest of this list is movement hell. The Seekers do a ton of work here, Scouting ahead and using their 14″ movement to pin opponents in – in Derek’s finals game against Daemons, that’s exactly what they did, blocking in his Great Unclean One and Skarbrand from coming out of his Deployment Zone turn 1 while the Cultists and Traitor Guard zip around the table capturing objectives and doing activities. How does this army kill things? The answer is “+1 to wound and sheer volume of fire.”

Final Thoughts

When this detachment first released, we didn’t think much of it. And Derek Apsche took that personally. Do we think anyone can do what Derek has done with the army? No – Derek is an amazing player and he’s pulling off some amazing things with the list. But there’s clearly a strong list you can build here, one which can blanket the board with models and tie up opponents. Derek’s finals game against Daemons highlights some of the challenges going into his list – in a game against greater daemons, what exactly is a Bloodthirster going to do against you in any given turn? Kill a single unit of Cultists, taking out 60 points of models? You have more where that came from.

Chaos Cults are all about swarming opponents and begging for favors from the Chaos gods to help you do it. While Chaos Cults may also get the usual stuff like sustained hits and lethal hits, this Detachment shows us what Chaos could be and what a correct form of their Stratagems should look like. And when it’s being played well by a top player, it’s frightening to behold.

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