Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Renegades and Heretics (section)

===ELITES===
The most expensive, diverse and useful section of our army list. You will spend a lot of time thinking how to kit out your elites. 
*'''Renegade Disciples''' - Evil Veterans, slightly better than your troops Infantry Veterans with the same cost: BS4, 5+ armour save and lots of wargear options, which are more freely assignable than your Infantry Vet squads, just without the extra special rules options ''(except for Carapace armour)''. Also due to Fanatic, they hold the line better than most of the units do, but that depends on you initial Ld rolls. Points wise, two Disciple squads equate to one Imperial Veteran squad, with two heavy and two special weapons instead of three special and one heavy. Upgrades that affect entire units like armor or covenants are slightly less point efficient on Disciples since your paying 10 pts a model to grow the squad, but with how cheap your other units can come this may not be that big of a deal.

*'''Renegade Ogryn Brutes:''' Ogryns that have gone bat shit mental and work for chaos. Toughness 5, 3-wounds & fearless gives them some staying power. The new army list has made them much more worthy: They still have D6 random attacks but now at Strength 5, but have made up for it with Hammer of Wrath and Rampage. They are FAR more compatible now though - one Renegade Ogryn can take a Lascutter / Power Drill (S9 AP2 unwieldy), and the whole unit may take Flak/Carapace armour at a flat cost. One may be freely upgraded to a packmaster and then include up to six Chaos Hound models which are still S/T5 but are I4 and have 3 attacks and they also roll 2D6 and pick the best in sweeping advance rolls. The real icing on the cake is that they can be dedicated to the god of your choice for a flat cost giving them far more applications.
**Khorne - reroll the random attack number if you don't like it.
**Nurgle - They have FnP (5+), this is where '''Plague Ogryns''' went.
**Slaanesh - Fleet
**Tzeentch - they become [[Chaos Spawn|Tentacled / Clawed / Firebreathing Mutant freaks]], they count as having an additional close combat weapon (for +1 attack), and their attacks also get Soul Blaze.  Which can often actually be a bad thing if you meet one of those models that gets a defensive buffed if targeted with Soul Blaze.
***The downside to the whole unit is that they cost more than most units in the ENTIRE game. They start at 60(!) points per model, thus A FULL unit of them, completely upgraded, with a Master of Mutants (granting Curse of Mutation too) in the army can cost up to 870 points, which is far too much for most reasonable games.  Also the Tzeentch ones can be foiled by a single avatar of Khaine, wasting all the points you spent on them.
*** Never thought I'd say this but seriously, take the unnamable beasts instead
*'''Renegade Marauders (only Arch-Demagogue with NO Covenant)''': Just like the [[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Tyrant's Legion(7E)|Tyrants Legion]]. You're unlikely to ever see this unit on the tabletop though, not that they're terrible but since it requires your warlord to NOT have a Covenant, which limits your ability to take so many other cool choices. They are very similar to your Renegade Veterans in troops, but with fixed Ld values and better options. They even get doctrines for FREE! What's better is they can add in pseudo-feral [[ogryn]]s with no weapon other than rending fists. ''[or big mutants or combat servitors, depending on whatever you decide the unit looks like]''. One of the MAJOR downers of this squad is that it's only in it for the money i.e: once they break, they're broken for good.
**These guys are of limited availability, but for a good reason. They are your premium special weapons teams that pretty much leave the renegade vets in the dust. They cost the same ppm with the same statline down to WS 4 (except they can actually make use of it) and flat Ld 8 on top. They can take the same amount of toys at min squad size, including the only sniper rifles you can get. And they pick the doctrines for free! The downsides of this fine unit are fairly negligible. They have their funny "no regrouping" rule and no upgrades to mitigate it, except it doesn't matter since your melta strike team has no reason to leave their dedicated metal box, and even if they are persuaded to, there's free carapace armour to go through as well. That is, unless you went on a plasma safari on foot, in which case just Stealth down in your cover. They miss out on the Tank Hunter doctrine, but did you really need that on weapons with an average pen roll of '''14'''? They get no Covenants, but it can't be all fine and dandy. They do take up an Elites slot, but those are mostly reserved for Devotion stuff anyway, which you can easily get as allies with [[Chaos_Space_Marines|Spiky Marines]].
**The unit can take a Chimera as a transport OR an [[Arvus Lighter]], which in 7th edition is less of an insulting option, especially in this list where having to snapshot is not such a  hindrance.
**The doctrine you take also will likely dictate what loadout you give to the squad as it will change how you use them.
***'''Murder Cultists''' turns them into crusading, furious chargers. Take power weapons or flamers since they'll be up close.
***'''Stalkers''' turns them into sneaky bastards who outflank then hide in cover; take sniper rifles or [[heavy stubber]]s. Or drive in your surprise meltas from behind.
***'''[[Heretek]]s''' gives them carapace armour and krak grenades, and is the balanced option; take whatever you like.
**They are one of the few things in the army list that surpass their closest Imperial Equivalency, Scion squads, by being a malleable unit with good assault potential rather than just a dedicated anti-MEQ unit. They still comparatively expensive to your other units, requiring an additional investment of 10 points per wound after start-up cost.
**One way to negate the biggest downside to this unit is by sticking a baneblade in their proximity, giving the unit zealot!
**'''A Second Take''': Actually, Marauders are a HUGE boon if you know how to bend the rules of the Codex properly. Because your demagogue counts as an independent character, and the covenant rules apply to "any unit which contains at least one model" with the covenant, you can have a second command squad with their Arch-Demagogue inside of a Marauder unit. If you stick both of your demagogues with dual power swords inside of a murder-cultist unit, giving the second demagogue a covenant of Khorne, with 2 power swords on the marauders and 1 on the Chieftain, you can get off 20 power sword attacks on the charge (3 from each from 2 marauders, 4 from the Chieftain, 5 from each demagogue) at Str 4, which, combined with the number of close combat attacks a full squad of 10 can make, amounts to 11.275 average wounds on a space marine Tactical squad the first round of combat. Did I mention these guys strike at initiative 4, so that space marine units strike simultaneously with them? They can easily take down a carnifex before it even gets to strike back, and will annihilate anything toughness 5 or lower that they get to strike before, which includes Ogryns, Tyranid warriors, and other squishy targets. Get these guys charging in from a good position, and they will annihilate most monstrous creatures. Give them some power axes, and send them in against tougher targets, so long as you are willing to lose a few of the worse equipped sods.

*'''[[Chaos Spawn|The Unnameable Beasts]] (only Arch-demagogue, become noncompulsory Troops  with Covenant of Tzeentch)''' : According to legend, during a dark, terrifying time not so long ago, these were but a sick joke; no one took [[Chaos Spawn|that which must never be named]], not even in funny lists, not even for flavor nor fluff. No sane person took them; they were easily the worst unit in all of 40k, which is a hell of an accomplishment, considering [[Pyrovore]]s existed back then too.. '''Not anymore!''' Chaos Spawn are now the workhorse of any assault based Chaos Space Marine army- OH MY GODS NO PL- BJADKJFOASIHDOLADMFNCAOSJ. In the Renegades and Heretics army list, these foul creatures became even better! They now cost 55 pts for 3 models (vs 90 pts in CSM) (who needs ogryns anyway!?), and can be taken as Troops, too. They lost the ability to take marks, but not like we really used those.
**In a Vraks Renegades army, there is no Tzeentch requirement to take these as elites. Furthermore, the Master of Renegades rule itself should have been deleted (as per Forge World e-mail response), so they are simply an Elites choice in a Vraks Renegades army. Ignoring the e-mail response as "unofficial," they are still an Elites choice if your Arch-demagogue is your army's warlord.

*'''Blood Slaughterer (Arch-Demagogue with Covenant of Khorne only):''' Don't be fooled by the name, these motherfuckers are a goddamn rape-blender! Rage, Rampage, Daemon (of Khorne, granting furious charge should you lose your DCW), Daemonic Resilience, Deepstrike, Fleet, WS5, FA13, comes with a DCW and can be taken in squads of 3: [[Emperor|good god]], things are gonna die! Each  also gets the option to take a ranged weapon called an impaler which always hits on 4+ regardless of BS, CANNOT ever be snap fired and acts exactly as a Blood Angels magna-graple (albeit AP 3 instead of AP 2 and now the range got truncated to 12"), except it allows you to drag monstrous creatures as well. They can be taken in vehicle squadrons of 3, cost a scant 130 points. The "downside" is that it has shitty 5E Rage ( it must charge at/move towards the closest thing it sees); chances are you were probably going to do that anyway, and with the combination of fleet, an impaler and a ''fuck'' of a lot of S10 AP2 attacks there is damn near '''NOTHING''' that can survive a pack of 'Slaughterers.

*'''Blight Drone (Arch-Demagogue with Covenant of Nurgle only)''': Possessed hovering flyer with a BS2, 5+ invulnerable save, reaper autocannon and a mawcannon (without tongue).At 150 pts, it's the same price as a soul grinder of Nurgle, with no guns. Pretty decent armour for a cheap flyer, but it will also explode when wrecked so be sure you get this thing as close to the enemy as possible! They can be taken in squads of 1-3 too.

*'''Noise Marines (Arch-Demagogue with Covenant of Slaanesh only)''' - Renegades only source of Space Marines. These guys are 17 pts. and ideally taken as squads of 8-12. Take some fucking sonic blasters - they're 2/3 salvo bolters that '''ignore cover''', and they're only 3 pts! Throw in some Blastmasters, which still fire at either S5 AP4 Assault 2/Pinning or S8 AP3 Heavy 1/Blast/Pinning... but now ignore cover, too! Besides gun choices, they also have I5 to a regular Marine's I4. Their higher Initiative means they can be used for assault quite well, but blasters are now salvo, so you ''cannot charge'' after volley of sonic death, and you're taking these guys to chase camping units out of cover. Still their CCW costs only 1 pt per model (if you don't take blasters). The champ has access to Slaaneshi goodies in the armoury, too! Go the extra mile, spend 30 points and give these guys Feel No Pain, [[Meme|because drugs]]. With the new FAQ, you can take a Blastmaster at under 10 men and a second AT 10 men, making them even more awesome! The Noise Champ even gets a CCW for free!
**'''Special Note:'''Noise Marine could now be the best MEQ in the game. For only one point more than a standard tactical marine you get Fearless and I5 over ATSKNF and I4. The Blastmaster is downright good. FNP is a steal if you take 10+ in a single unit. Sonic weapons add dakka if you need it. For an extra point (now two more than a tactical marine) you an get a CCW (again, if you don't take blasters. Blastmaster and ccw is fine though, cause logic.) for an additional attack, essentially making them better than a vanilla marine veteran for two less points. The Champion is great in challenges.]
***You "could" instead take them as allies, and free up that Elite slot. But it's not like Renegades & Heretics have an over abundance of options since the only universal ones are Disciples & Ogryns. Plus taking them as allies forces the HQ+Troops tax on you, and that could mount up since a secondary detachment can't make Noise Marine units into Troops.

*'''Sonic Dreadnought (Arch-Demagogue with Covenant of Slaanesh only)''' ''Guess who's back Bitches!'' The Sonic Dreadnought is a really awesome addition. It starts naked with a TL Sonic Blaster, Doom-Siren and [[Rape|CHAINFIST]] [[What|w/ Storm bolter]] ''(no mistake... even references it later)'' as well as the WS/BS5 statline of a venerable. It also counts as having grenades. It doesn't have the same upgrade options, so there is no Scourge or Thunder Hammer, whilst the Sonic Blasters may be upgraded to the usual guns or a second arm [[Derp|with a TL bolter... not Storm Bolter]]. But you'll replace it with a Blastmaster because all of the other rules on the Dreadnought benefit your sonic weapons greatly. First, you may '''choose''' to overcharge your sonic weapons and give them ''Rending / Gets-Hot''. Also, if you remain still in the movement phase, you may double your rate of fire for the turn with all your sonic weapons, meaning twice the pain.