They are more or less the priesthood of chaos, you can have them as a HQ choice but they function better as a secondary HQ choice. I am in no way saying they lead IW or NL, they would be more like priests of the imperium, just on a dark spectrum. They work to spread the word of Chaos, sow the seeds of Dissent, Madness and Anarchy. To me they are now like Apostate Preachers of Chaos Renegades, just a more powerful version of them. I am not saying I agree with this, its just how they are portrayed in the new chaos codex. But in this way the legions that did have Chaplains that fell to chaos, can now be represented in the army. Plus they are not limited to Undivided dedication, they can take Marks of Chaos now as to fit with a proper singular theme of a chaos space marine army. So if you are apart of the Death Guard, you would be playing a Dark Apostle of Nurgle. Working to spread the glory of his plagues and filth to all, I just seem them as a cool concept of a playable class. I cannot wait to see them in-game, we will just have to wait and see how the Devs implement them into EC.
Never got to play with them in TT but I have read the codex. Pretty close to Chappys, it's a definite LD bolstering effect. They also give any unit with them Fearless and Hatred ... for everything (CC re-rolls). I don't know how you'd balance this but in general translating TT benefits like this would be awesome: [ally] Make the players around them immune to both mechanically in-built and enemy triggered Psychological effects: Suppression definately, psychological debuffs and sorceries, anything else that has a 'mental' flavour. [ally] Make the players around them especially good at close combat, but only temporarily. Apply a diminishing returns buff that boosts melee weapon swing speed or damage for the first few strikes maybe ? [self] They're close combat monsters with a pretty high Inv save: They need to act like it. They need to be one of those Heroes that actively wades into the thick of battle and is just hell to handle with big AoE swings of their maul. I don't think their allies need to benefit from either of these attributes, just them. You're going to want to stay close to these guys even if you're a Tact, Havoc or Sorc just for the psychological debuff reduction/immunity. These guys should be effective at breaking the scary, scary HW Suppression lock that may very well occur during assaults.
Dark Apostles, the most glorious astartes in existence, are most similar to loyalist Chaplains and on the Chaos side, Sorcerers. Dark Apostles ARE NOT sorcerers but might take the role of the sorcerer for the Word Bearers. From the sources I've read, Dark Apostles belong only to the Word Bearers. Maybe it's changed by now though, I'm not sure. If not, It's hard to imagine what the other chaos legions will get for their Apostle equivalent. Maybe all warbands get sorcerers and each legion gets: Word Bearers: Dark Apostle Iron Warriors: Warpsmith Night Lords: Warp Talon Black Legion: Champion of Chaos (or member of Bringers of Despair) This makes the most sense to me and I'm happy with it for the most part. Having Warp Talons exclusive to the Night Lords is something I'm jealous of but I can get over it considering how perfect this would work for each of the legions. (btw, Tzeentch Warp Talons (at least those created by John French) are absolutely THE coolest unit ever, a proven statistic)
I don't know how they're going to handle it in EC but since the Chaos Codex in 6th they've been a HQ choice for any chaos force (an expensive HQ choice). They just collectively represent the priesthood of each individual Warband's version of a 'faith'whether that's the WE's total devotion to Khorne or the NL's cult-like obsession with terror and murder. WBs didn't get separate rules but most player army lists try to include them (although they're pricey compared to a Lord). Fluff wise, the WB Dark Apostles are still the pinnacle of WB leadership, only answerable to Lorgar himself, but they're just not any different from the Dark Apostles of other legions in game. Same goes for Warpsmiths, Lords, Daemon Princes and Sorcerors (excluding Khorne Sorcerors, which I still hope gets change in 7th).
What's a Dark Apostales? I've heard of Dark Apostles, but never Apostales. Dark Apostles are largely from the Word Bearers, they serve as a Chaplain analogue to the Adeptus Astartes, only Dark Apostles are pious to the Chaos Gods and unlike Chaplains, tend to surround themselves in hordes of Chaos Cultists/slaves. TT wise he kinda sucks as a main HQ compared to a Chaos Lord- his powers include an unsurprising leadership buff and the ability to beseech the Chaos Gods to re-roll on the Chaos Boon table, which is actually pretty damn useful. Fluff wise though I don't remember them having actual powers, just being an inspiring figure on the battlefield.
Dis guy ^ he gets it xD For everyone else that has NOT looked into the update regarding their information, you have to read the the new Chaos Space Marine codex, they HAVE changed from their old info a bit. They are still apart of the Word Bearers, it is just they have more Dark Apostles and form the basis for their command structure. While now in other legions, they can have them as corrupt versions of Chaplains which they are. Here Lexicanum has updated information about them from the new codex. http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Dark_Apostle#.U5d--HJdVuA Straight from the codex, so they work great with Cultist squads and the like.
He's a useful secondary HQ, but I'd always go with a Chaos Lord kitted to your preferences, Abaddon, or a Daemon Prince. But from what I've seen the Cultist meatshield is pretty handy for a distraction and tarpitting. The real use is the Boon-Table reroll.
I have to agree, I just prefer to take a Chaos Lord his points cost, statline and options are just too good not to take. I use a Dark Apostle as a secondary HQ and put him with cultists for distractions and tarpitting, I just love the update of their codex its just so much win <3. I just hope the Ork codex turns out half as awesome, but with reveal of the Gorka/Morkanauts I am starting to lose hope.
Will they be able to carry Accursed Crozius weapons onto the battlefield? Also does this mean that a Dark Apostle can summon groups of cultists to his side to help him in battle? Because that would be kinda cool.
