Detachment Focus: Creations of Bile

Merry Grotmas! Games Workshop is releasing a new series of detachments – one per army, every day until Christmas. In this series we’re looking at these new detachments, covering what’s in them, how they play, and how they’ll fit into the broader meta and your games.

Chaos Space Marines players have had no shortage of competitive options when it comes to Detachments – their Codex dropped no fewer than four serious options (Veterans of the Long War, Pactbound Zealots, Renegade Raiders, and Chaos Cult), giving them some very different ways to play. As a faction they didn’t really need another strong option, though you can argue that if they were to get one the best-case would be something that makes their Infantry units and melee options a bit more viable – Pacts generally pushes the faction heavy into vehicles and shooting threats, leading to armies full of Predators and Vindicators supported by cheaper Legionaries units while Possessed fall by the wayside. Anyways, Creations of Bile is here to comfortably slot in as another competitive choice, if not the most competitive choice for the faction.

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

Detachment Overview

The Creations of Bile Detachment is pretty much what you’d expect, super-charging your INFANTRY units with some pretty insane buffs. The options here are all good, and you can absolutely plan around having them or just go in with a melee-heavy army planning to roll for two. On top of that, this Detachment offers all of the extra tools you want, such as a Stratagem to Advance and Charge, an Enhancement to screen out Deep Strikers, a Stratagem to Fight on Death, a way to re-roll wounds, and a way to get extra buffs from the Detachment. And on top of all that, there’s still plenty of reason to take the old standard shooting units here – Pacts still work just as well as they did before, and Vindicators and Predator Destructors are still pretty deadly, though this isn’t where you want to load up on five tanks.

Ultimately, Creations of Bile supercharges the already decent datasheets in the Chaos Space Marines army, and supplements them with a solid suite of tools for taking on multiple scenarios.

The Video Version

If you’d rather watch a video on this Detachment than read, we’ve got you covered. It’s also just a good primer if you want to get a feel for what’s here before going into the longer write-up.

Detachment Rule: Experimental Augmentations

At the start of the battle, pick an augmentation to be active for your non-DAMNED INFANTRY models for the rest of the game. You can either choose one from the list below or roll for two, with duplicates doing nothing for you. If you have Fabius Bile as your Warlord, you can re-roll one or both of the dice in this process. 

• Cholinergic Accelerants: +1 Attacks to melee weapons

• Hyperadrenal Infusion: +2” Movement

• Paraneural Reactions: +1 WS on melee attacks

• Subcutaneous Chitination: +1 Toughness

• Macrotensile Sinews: +1 Strength on melee attacks
• Opthalmic Enhancement: +1 BS on ranged attacks

That is an absolutely stellar list of buffs and no matter which one you like, there’s a unit in the Chaos Space Marines armory that wants to use it. Want more speed? Possessed would love to be able to move 11” with the ability to Advance and Charge. Want a higher BS? Obliterators and Havocs absolutely love that. More Attacks in melee? Every melee unit in the army just raised a hand. And you can always tailor to the opponent – Death Guard player about to drop -1 WS on you? You can shut that down. Need to punch up against T10-11 targets? +1 Strength is right there. Going into hordes? +1 Attack.

Note that +1 WS and +1 Attack have roughly the same benefit for regular Legionaries and models with a 3+ to hit statistically, but +1 Attack has higher upside, will generate more Pact bonuses, and improves your characters, so it will usually be the better option. Think of +1 WS as a fun bonus when you’re rolling for two traits.

Most of the time you’ll want to build your army around a specific buff that complements the units you’re taking – Obliterators and Havocs with +1 BS, for example – but if you’re going generic melee, you may often find yourself in the enviable position of just rolling for two buffs, and taking the raw power that offers. For this reason, you pretty much always want Bile in the army as your Warlord. He’s pretty cheap, OK in combat, and he gives his unit +1 Toughness. In Creations, you’ll generally want to pair him with a unit of Chosen. And while we’re on that topic, a unit of S6, T6 Chosen who can get two more buffs on top of that are pretty insane. 

Mike P: This is one of the coolest detachment rules in all of 10th Edition, and will really help you feel like a mad scientist building an army of monsters. The fact that it’s also really strong is just the (mutated) cherry on top.

My personal favorites are Hyperadrenal Infusion (+2” Movement) and Subcutaneous Chitination (+1 Toughness). Your melee units generally hit pretty hard on a base level, so I’m a little less enamored with the melee buffs. Giving your army of powerful melee units extra movement and durability will help them reach the fight faster, and stick around for longer. 

Enhancements

Your choices in this Detachment give you a good mix of costs, and effects that range from “a nice buff” to “holy shit that’s good.” They’re all closed off to DAMNED units, but generally they’re not effects you’d want on a Damned unit anyways. Two of these are pretty much must-takes, though doing so is going to cost you quite a few points.

• Surgical Precision (10 Points) – The bearer’s melee weapons have the PRECISION ability. This isn’t limited to Chaos Lords, but Masters of Execution already have Precision so it’s going on a Chaos Lord. Very solid, good for the price, gives your Chaos Lord the one thing they were missing compared to the Master of Executions. It’s worth noting that this can go on a Daemon Prince, and that’s pretty neat, too.

• Living Carapace (15 Points) – CHAOS LORD model only. They get +1 Wound and have Feel No Pain 5+. This is OK, and one of those perfectly fine “if you have the points left over, take it” options. Good for those times when you’re going to pop off with an overcharged plasma pistol or when you’re trying to do pacts with a solo Chaos Lord and really taking chances on a suicide run.

• Helm of All-Seeing (25 Points) – Non-DAMNED INFANTRY model only. Enemy units that are set up from Reserves cannot be set up within 12” of the bearer. This is very solid, and good if you’re running a cheap backfield character like a Warpsmith. Also good for keeping pesky 6” deep strikes away from midfield.
• Prime Test Subject (35 Points) – non-DAMNED INFANTRY model only. The bearer gets +1 damage on their melee weapons and each time they make an attack, you can re-roll the hit roll. This is bonkers good. Windmill slam this on a hammer Chaos Lord to get a 3-damage monster who can re-roll hits and, if you’re fighting with Legionaries over an objective, wound rolls as well, fishing for Devastating Wounds. The only downside here is the cost – it’s a lot to throw on a unit, and you may just not have the points for it. On the other hand, it’s such a massive buff you might want to start your build with it.

TheChirurgeon: These are some damn good Enhancements, and they all have very good uses. Prime Test Subject feels like an absolute must-take given how much value it gives your Chaos Lord – 3 damage Dev Wounds with re-rolls is very much worth building around. 

Mike P: Lots of fun stuff here. The Living Carapace will be really interesting on a Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour as a solo piece. Your opponent is really not going to want to turn around their entire army to kill a 7 Wounds, 2+/4++/5+++, half-damage Termie Lord with Living Carapace who started an action to score you points. 

Prime Test Subject is both wildly good and wildly pricey and will likely be a meta choice. Have to deal with anything like C’tan that halve incoming damage? A Chaos Lord’s Hammer will be 3 damage on their go-turn into half-damage opponents (2 damage halved to 1 damage and then 2 sources of +1 Damage), ensuring that they’re always a vicious threat.  

It’s funny that it took 9 detachments, but CSM finally have access to a deepstrike denial tool in the Helm Of All-Seeing. Better late than never!

Stratagems

Creations of Bile offers a very good suite of Stratagems, giving you a powerful toolbox full of options. If there’s a downside to this, it’s that you don’t really have any ways to get more CP so you’ll have to make judicious use of them. Chaos Lords are going to be really important here for getting CP discounts.

It’s worth noting that this is one of the few Chaos Space Marine Detachments to not have an Armour of Contempt-style AP reduction Stratagem, but in the wake of the Q4 Dataslate change to those Stratagems, this is actually a very good thing.

• Monstrous Visages (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used in your opponent’s Shooting phase or in the Fight phase after they pick targets on one of the Infantry units they picked. Until the end of the phase, attacks targeting your unit are -1 to hit. With AoC Stratagems getting a nerf, this is suddenly a much better alternative, and a useful way to protect your fragile infantry.  

• Masters are Watching (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used in the Fight phase, after an opponent picks targets, on an Infantry unit in your army picked as a target. For the rest of the phase, when your models die, if they haven’t fought then on a 4+ (or a 5+ for DAMNED units), they can fight on death. This is useful to have in your pocket, and great for those large units of melee Infantry.

• Specimens for the Spider (Strategic Ploy, 2 CP) – Used in the Fight phase on an Infantry unit. Until the end of the phase, your unit can re-roll wound rolls when targeting CHARACTER units, and after they fight, if an CHARACTER model was killed, pick a unit within 6” to take a battle-shock test. If the enemy warlord was killed, every enemy unit within 6” has to test. That battle-shock rider here is just whatever – I’d gladly drop it if it meant getting this at 1 CP. This is just alright. It’s very good on a unit that can’t get re-rolls to wound normally, such as Possessed or Terminators, but it’s a bit of a dud considering you can get re-roll wounds from a unit of Legionaries, and that 2 CP cost is big.

• Delayed Mutations (Strategic Ploy, 2 CP) – Used in your Command phase on a non-DAMNED Infantry unit. They take D3 mortal wounds, then you can select another mutation from the table for them to have until your next Command Phase. That’s an insanely good buff, particularly if it means getting three buffs on a unit because you rolled. You won’t use this that often, but when you do it’s going to do a lot of damage. Just being able to tailor your selections here is huge.

• Diabolic Regeneration (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used in your Command phase on a non-DAMNED Infantry unit to return a destroyed non-Character model to the unit, or D3 models in a BATTLELINE unit. This is just fantastic. It’s an incredible deal when used on Obliterators, but very solid if you throw it on something like Plague Marines, Rubrics, or Legionaries, and it’s not terrible for getting back a dead Terminator. 

• Autostimulants (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used at the start of your Charge phase on an Infantry unit. Until the end of the phase, they can charge, even if they advanced this turn. This is great. It’s the final piece you wanted in this army, and lets you pull off all kinds of long-distance charges, particularly when you combine it with +2” to your movement. Take Possessed who can move 11”, add another 3-4 from an Advance and then drop out a 7” charge (add 2 to this if you include a Master of Possession), and you have a unit that can clear half the board in a turn and really cause problems for the opponent. 

These are great. The biggest problem with them is that two of them cost 2 CP, and that’s a lot in the modern CP economy of Warhammer 40k. The good news is that you are already incentivized to take multiple Chaos Lords in a Creations of Bile army, and that will help you get free Stratagems to keep your costs down. 

Mike P: Most sources of re-roll wounds in the CSM codex are extremely conditional. Access to wound re-rolls versus any unit with the Character keyword in melee is great, and will go especially far on units like Possessed and Chaos Lords that have access to Devastating Wounds. 2CP is pricey, but you’ll use this when the time is right. 

Diabolic Regeneration is a stratagem I’m really excited about. Being able to resurrect models in your Command Phase has so many applications like getting closer to objectives or opponents, and is just great value on units like Obliterators and Terminators that have very pricey single models. 

Playing This Detachment

If you’re playing this Detachment, your primary plan is going to be Infantry-heavy melee. Specifically, how you can deliver a series of haymakers to the opponent with some incredibly hard-hitting datasheets early and often, crippling their ability to respond. Or, when required, staging carefully while avoiding the opponent and trading up with super-deadly units of relatively cheap Legionaries and Possessed. Legionaries with a Chaos Lord or Master of Executions were already the core of the Chaos Space Marines army, and they’re at their best in the Creations of Bile, where they can have extra Strength, Movement, Toughness, Accuracy, or Attacks as needed. 

Creations of Bile armies really want to spend a lot of CP – there are some good Stratagems here and two of them will cost you 2 CP. That means you want at least one Chaos Lord to get a reduction and if we’re honest, it may be worth including Abaddon in the army. Yeah, he removes your ability to take Bile as the Warlord, but on the other hand he really likes being able to re-roll wounds against Character units, gets you extra CP when he passes a Pact on a 7+, and he also loves getting an extra Attack and the ability to Advance and Charge with a unit of Terminators in tow. 

On the other hand, Bile’s just fine as your Warlord here, and you have quite a few options when it comes to building strong melee units. This may be the Detachment where Possessed can finally shine again, as they love most of these bonuses. The key here is that ability to re-roll wound rolls against CHARACTER units – that unlocks the ability to fish for Devastating wounds with the unit, allowing them to punch up against something like Canis Rex in a way they couldn’t before. A unit of ten Possessed will, on average, deliver around 20 devastating wounds to a T12 knight re-rolling wound rolls and fishing for 6s and doing a Pact for Sustained Hits. That’s not too shabby, and that’s essentially the worst-case target. Add in an extra attack from the Detachment ability and you can get that to 25. 

On that note, don’t neglect cult troops – you can still take Plague Marines, Rubrics, Noise Marines, and Berzerkers in this army, and they’re both BATTLELINE and INFANTRY, capable of benefitting from Detachment buffs and the ability to bring back D3 models per turn. For my money Plague Marines are the best fit here – they really benefit from +1 WS on their WS 4+ Heavy Plague Weapons, love to get extra attacks, and can also benefit from +2” movement. And if you take meltaguns they don’t hate +1 BS, either. And T6 Plague Marines is just pretty funny to think about. They’re your best option here and they like every upgrade you give them.

After that, the other options are whatever. Berzerkers are neat but don’t have synergy with the army and just aren’t as good as Legionaries, though if you get them to S6 on their attacks they can do some fun stuff. Noise Marines like the +1 BS for their sonic weapons but you can replace them with Havocs pretty easily. And there’s nothing Rubrics really want in this Detachment since they won’t be rolling to hit with ranged attacks and don’t want to be in melee.

Finally, don’t discount the shooting option – Obliterators get quite a bit out of this Detachment, between BS 2+ and the ability to bring back dead models. That won’t help you so much firing Indirect, but you can get a ton of value out of them shooting directly, and there’s also a case to be made for giving them +2” of Movement so they aren’t stuck walking 4” anymore. Havocs also love this, and taking four lascannons becomes a lot more threatening when your chances of missing drop considerably. And while I think Predators don’t want to be in this Detachment, I’d still consider a Vindicator or two for ranged support, as those don’t need the AP boost that bad and if I’m taking Abaddon he’ll provide the necessary hit re-rolls. 

Strengths

• Incredible buffs to your Infantry datasheets, with the ability to choose the effect you want to build around or play to
• A solid suite of Enhancements to buff key units
• A strong set of Stratagems with key tools you want to see in a melee army such as Advance and Charge, Fight on Death, and protection from ranged attacks

Weaknesses

• No support for vehicles, and limited support for Ranged attacks
• Play style really wants to spend a lot of CP, and the best Stratagems requires spending 2 CP to use
• Even with upgraded datasheets, punching up into vehicles is going to be tough

A Sample List

Mike P: This detachment rewards aggressive Infantry, so I’ll start with a lot of aggressive infantry and see how it goes! 

Your swarm of fast monsters and melee threats in Rhinos surges up the board, while you have a pair of anti-tank Predators to keep them honest in their deployment. Bile attaches to the Chosen brick to buff their offense and defense, while the Chaos Lord attaches to a Legionary squad for the Wound re-rolls. If you’re looking to start practicing with the mechanics of this detachment, a list like this is a great place to start! The Predator Annhilators here are fresh off a buff in the December 2024 Dataslate, and it’s worth giving them a look as a result, especially considered how much cheaper they are compared to Vindicators. 

In terms of choosing your Augmentation buff or rolling for it, this list is versatile enough that I’ll probably roll for 2 different upgrades. The core of your list, Possessed and the Chosen brick, love literally every single buff you can receive except for the Ballistic Skill bump. It’s also completely viable to just pick one buff if you prefer to avoid variance entirely, and which you go with will depend on the opponent. 

Final Thoughts

Mike P: Chaos Space Marines have been incredibly fun to play in 10th Edition, and the good times just keep on rolling with Creations Of Bile. With another powerful detachment, CSM players gain yet another exciting way to wage the Long War.

I was personally hoping that the CSM detachment was going to be a variant of Disciples Of Be’lakor” from previous editions, but you know what? When Creations Of Bile are this fun and powerful, I can’t be at all disappointed with what CSM got. Now go out there and capture some specimens on the battlefield for Bile!

TheChirurgeon: I’m a big fan of this Detachment, and I like how it honestly pushes a new and varied style of play from the other Detachments in the Codex. This is probably the place to make Possessed work, and there are a number of units I’d wanted to try here, including Warp Talons and Bikes. There’s just so much you can do with the extra boost to datasheets. I’m very glad I have a painted Bile already. Now I just need to paint 25 more Possessed…

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