Editing Abaddon (section)

==On the Tabletop==
[[File:Slaash!.jpg|right|300px|thumbnail|He has some badass moments too. Notice his sword is so awesome that it [[Katanas are Underpowered in d20|can cut a guy in half, and another guy into five seperate pieces with a single horizontal slash]]. How does that even work? Fucked if we know, but it's [[Awesome|awesome]]. And he's Primarch-sized, apparently someone ate his veggies.]]To his credit, Abaddon is a hilariously destructive force on the tabletop - between his Daemon Sword, Drachn'yen (which houses an extremely powerful Chaos Undivided daemon born from humanity's first act of murder), Combined Chaos Mark, and [[Talon of Horus]] rules, there are very few units in the TT game which can go toe-to-toe with Abaddon and hope to come out on top. Truthfully, most forces lack entire ''squads'' that can do much more than offer him more than a token resistance. He can be [[Tarpit|tarpitted]], but even this isn't guaranteed as his balls-out toughness and sheer volume of attacks (if you roll well) means he will mulch through formations by himself. If Abaddon gets near something, that something is going to wind up [[FATAL|raped]] in a matter of seconds. So, copy his statline into your homebrew Chaos Lord.

The actual rules for him get changed quite a bit between editions, typically regarding exactly what Drachn'yen actually does in combat. During 2nd edition, it was basically a titan close combat weapon, auto-wounding with instant death, no armor saves, and auto-penetrating vehicles regardless of their armor. He also had terminator armor in the days when it made a save on 2[[D6]], with <s>3+ save</s> 2+ save thanks to Khorne's blessing (the rules back then had weapons that could modify an armor save, so that wasn't as completely broken as it sounds), or he could use the Talon of Horus, which was still a strong weapon. 3rd edition watered him down heavily; he'd attack with the Talon of Horus and make a single attack with Drachn'yen. This attack could not be re-rolled in any way, but if it hit would cause an auto-wound with no armour save allowed, and if the enemy failed their invuln (or didn't have one) then whatever he hit would be immediately removed from play (vehicles still suffered just a penetrating hit). In 4th edition, it functioned like other Daemon Weapons, rolling a D6 and adding the number to his attacks, but no attacks if he rolled a 1 (assuming he charged, this could mean 11 attacks) and he took a wound with no armor save (still got his invul save though), and the sword made his attacks S8 with him able to re-roll any failed wounds due to the Talon of Horus. He was briefly [[nerf]]ed by the 6th edition changes to [[power weapon]]s that made his stuff AP3, but FAQ made them AP2. If a Chaos army didn't field a [[Daemon Prince]], then it usually fielded Abaddon or [[Kharn]].

For 6th edition, Phil Kelly tried to actually get CSM players to include some variety in their units and changed the rules again. Drachn'yen is now a hell of a lot weaker, only +1S and AP2 with the Daemon Weapon rule (essentially a daemon power axe without unwieldy). For heavier targets, he uses the Talon of Horus, which is now a S8 lightning claw. He also has the Mark of Chaos Ascendant, which gives him all marks and allows him to benefit from all Icons, and has Hatred (Everything) if fielded in a Black Legion army (which you'll do of course.)

See [[Horus Vs Abaddon|here]] for some mathhammer on how he does against his own Primarch.

===8th edition===
Abby has always been a melee powerhouse, and 8th edition isn't an exception: WS2+ BS 2+ S5 T5 W8 A6 Ld10 2+ 4++, any weapon that successfully damages him has its damage halved (rounded ''up'', so he can still be chipped away to nothing by small arms (At least they HAVE arms). His weapons are basically the same as 6th and 7th ed but adjusted for the new rules; Drachnyen is S+1 AP -3 D flat 3 with the same Daemon Weapon bonuses as before, Talon of Horus is Sx2 AP -4. The Talon, and the Talon-mounted bolter all deal D3 damage. Whatever he gets his hands on will feel the pain.

What really makes him an attractive choice in 8th edition, though are his command auras: Black Legion units within 6 inches of him (which includes himself) re-roll failed to-hit rolls and any heretic astartes within 12 inches of him auto-succeed morale tests. Cherry on top, if he is the Warlord, he also becomes an Icon of Excess (DttFE triggers on 5+ instead of 6+) for all Black Legion units within 6 inches. It is the first time Abby has ever really done anything for his army, but ho boy does he do it well now!

On top of that, the Chaos Space Marine codex upgraded him by having him give two extra Command Points to your army if he's the Warlord, which ironically enough is identical to 8th Edition's interpretation of his arch-enemy Creed's infamous Tactical Genius rule as well as his Loyalist equivalent [[Marneus Calgar]]. Plus, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw9aZeejjA4 he's ''finally'' got a new model.] If his model base is any indication, he is as much fed up of Primaris lieutenants as some of us. Also now comes with an off-switch, for some reason. That should make things easier for team Emps!

===9th Edition===

'''Holy shit.''' Abaddon gets an immense power boost here.

{| class=wikitable
|- valign=top
! Name !! M !! WS !! BS !! S !! T !! W !! A !! Ld !! Sv !! Cost
|-
| Abaddon the Despoiler || 6" || 2+ || 2+ || 5 || 5 || 8 || 6 || 10 || 2+ || 220 pts.
|}

Already he has great stats, but here comes the kicker. His weapons are the Talon of Horus, which both shoots and swings, and his sword Drach'nyen. The Talon in shoota mode is a Rapid Fire bolt weapon that fires two shots up to 24" at S4, AP-1, for D3 damage each, and in choppa mode it can do anywhere from 1 to 6 swings at S10, AP-4, for D3 damage again. But the sword is the reason for the '''holy shit''' at the beginning of the section. Every time Abby fights ('''NOT''' for each attack, meaning the ability triggers no matter what if he attacked at least once with Drach'nyen) you roll a D6. On a 1, Abby eats a mortal wound and cannot fight anymore that phase. However, for any other result, you get to make that many additional attacks with Drach'nyen. Rolled a 4 and swung twice? You get a grand total of 6 swings with the sword. Drachnyen only hits for S6 at AP-3, but it's a flat 3 damage as opposed to the Talon's D3.
Now for his abilities: Like all Chaos Marines, Abaddon has '''Death to the False Emperor''', '''Bolter Discipline''', and '''Hateful Assault'''. But Abby has a few more. For one, because of '''The Warmaster''', you get a bonus 2 CP if he's your Warlord in a Battle-forged army. Next up is '''Dark Destiny.''' This one gives Abaddon a 4++ save, as well as ''halving all incoming damage.'' That [[Seraptek_Heavy_Construct|Seraptek]] wants to shoot you with its obliterators? Any shot you fail to save only does three damage, not six! '''Lord of the Black Legion''' allows you to reroll failed hits for any {{W40kKeyword|BLACK LEGION}} units within 6" of him, and any {{W40kKeyword|BLACK LEGION}} units within 12" of Abaddon auto-pass Morale tests. Finally, Abaddon can deepstrike himself. His Warlord trait? It's '''First amongst Traitors''', which causes DttFE to go off on a 5 or 6 while the unit is within 6" of him.


FUCK ALL THAT HE WAS REDONE AGAIN!

{| class=wikitable
|- valign=top
! Name !! M !! WS !! BS !! S !! T !! W !! A !! Ld !! Sv !! Cost
|-
| Abaddon the Despoiler || 6" || 2+ || 2+ || 6 || 6 || 9 || 8 || 11 || 2+ || 300 pts.
|}

While hefty at 300 pts., he's gonna break every bone in every body. Like always the claw has a ranged option. Now its 4 assault shots at S5 AP-1 D2. The melee options are easily distinguishable: the claw for enemies with one wound, Drach'nyen for everything else.
He's so loaded with perks, its unreal. 4++, can't lose more than 3W per phase, first wound per is nullified. So he's tanky af. He buffs his subordinates quite a lot. Black Legionaires (Core and Chars) can reroll all hits and wounds in 6". Through his 3 Warlord Traits he can generate even more Attacks and reroll charges.