Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Renegades And Heretics (section)

===HQ===
The Renegade HQ choices are all fairly reliable, and comparable to their Astra Militarum counterparts in most ways, however they are fragile when compared to, for example, a SM Captain, and lack any form of save better than a 4+. Keep them out of the line of fire, but they can score a few choice hits in melee and make quite a difference if given the opportunity.

* '''Renegade Commander:''' A Traitor Astra Militarum Commander. Is the source of your Covenant of Chaos. FAQ made them a character, so they are no longer in danger of being mulched by heavy weapons as soon as they come on the table. They are Okay in melee. You can do anything you want with these guys, but they don't provide any aura buffs,so keep them away from the fighting if they are your warlord. 5++ is their best save, but 4W 3A 3+ BS/WS on a guardsman statline is lackluster, so if you go into combat make sure you fight enemies that aren't going to kill you, so ranged focused infantry like guardsmen and fire warriors, tanks that can't shoot after falling back, or anything weak enough for you to kill it before it can strike back.
**Though being 5 points cheaper might seem nice, you lose out on the ability to issue two orders a turn. Aside from your warlord, these guys are useful only as an HQ tax, then on the field you can then throw around in heroic interventions hoping to the four that the little extra oomph might help the squad in combat win. Alternatively, these guys are ''perfect'' for Daemonic Rituals, being both {{W40kKeyword|Chaos Characters}} and cheap as dirt, so there's no big loss when they inevitably go pop.
* '''Malefic Lord:''' Once absurdly cost-effective, now a bit on the overpriced side. He has a 4++, T4 and 4W, and knows 2 Psychic powers in addition to smite. If he perils and survives he gets massive bonuses to his melee, dealing 2 Damage and increasing his strength to 8 and AP to -2, but he has to deal with the lost wounds from his peril (with no way to restore them), which might mean he dies before getting any good melee off. For 80 pts he is a solid psyker choice, but it is unlikely that you will get to use his possessed form. Not bad if you want a single reliable model to take up an HQ slot once you've run out of Renegade Commanders, or if you want a more versatile caster, but if you have points to spare the Rogue Psykers are more reliable for getting 1D6 Smites or Unnatural Vigor activated, and more likely to survive perils. He IS a Character though, so he's able to more effectively accompany your hordes without being focused down.
* '''Rogue Psyker Coven:''' 5 Rogue Psykers for 100 points, they know only one psychic power in addition to smite and are pretty bad in any form of non-psychic combat, only having 5+/5++. They do have a 5++, and the extra bodies helps prevent psychic explosions from perils of the warp. Can choose to roll 3d6 in the psychic phase instead of 2d6, but lose 1d3 wounds from it. For some reason they have 3 wounds each, which means they can afford to use the extra dice on almost every round without severe penalty, and can take a fair amount of punishment. Good for casting Unnatural Vigor on a large squad of mutant rabble heading for melee, or a reliable Warp Flux squad, but not combat or shooting effective outside of the Psychic Phase. They do have the potential to deal a fairly reliable d6 of damage on smite, so nothing to laugh about. The most reliable smite unit in the game, since they only ever fail to cast it if they peril. Just be aware that they'll get blown the fuck up if exposed, so keep them out of sight. Keep in mind if a psyker dies to mortal wounds while manifesting a power it automatically fails the psychic test. So if you do 3D6 cast you have a 33% chance of failing the power. Not at all worth it for Smite/Warp Flux.