On planets where heresy has taken root, it has become a troublesome practice of Chaos Cultists and other heretics to use foul magicks and ceremonies to summon an avatar of one of the four Chaos Gods into the physical world. These Greater Daemons are immensely powerful, and cause a great deal of trouble for loyal Imperial forces attempting to purge a planet of the taint of Chaos. Even more worrisome, it seems that Chaos naval forces are now performing this ritual on an even more grandiose scale, sacrificing a valuable capital ship and its entire crew as a gift to summon a Chaos Daemonbeast: a gigantic warp beast that is endowed with the powers of one of the four Chaos gods.

You may field one, and only one Daemonbeast if your fleet is worth more than 1,000 points. At the beginning of the Chaos player's turn, roll a D6. On a roll of 4+ on the first turn, 3+ on the second turn and 2+ thereafter, one Chaos capital ship (that is not crippled) is replaced by a Daemonbeast. The Chaos player should nominate a cruiser to be sacrificed at this time. Only one Daemonbeast can be summoned per game. The ship that was sacrificed to create the Daemonbeast counts as being destroyed when calculating victory points.

In a campaign, the Daemonbeast must be randomly selected. Roll 1D4 (or use a D6 and reroll on 5 or 6) and select the respective Beast as it appears here. After it has been summoned, the Daemonbeast may fight with the fleet for an additional two battles, after this it vanishes back into the warp. Repair points may not be spent on it.

Every Daemonbeast has 6 hits, moves 20 cm, and turns 45°. Though they have no shields, the Chaos Daemonbeasts are surrounded by a swirling maelstrom of energy, the very stuff of Chaos itself. Any enemy ship within 10 cm counts as having a blast marker in contact with its base. Any ordnance which enters this radius in destroyed on a 4+. Any ships shooting at the Daemonbeast suffer a right column shift on the gunnery table.

The Chaos Daemonbeast, of course, has no crew. Therefore, the beast may not use any Special Orders, but it is assumed to automatically pass any other leadership tests it is required to make. Also, the Daemonbeast does not suffer from critical hits or crippling.

A terrible danger at close quarters, the Bloodrage Daemonbeast is much like a large Tyranid ship. It often has a pair giant claws, and ferocious, bestial jaws. In some accounts, the creature has even been seen wielding an unimaginably large war-axe. This beast longs for the moment where it can seize an enemy ship and tear it apart in carnal fury.

If a Khorne Daemonbeast moves into base to base contact with an enemy ship, roll two D6, each roll of 4+ inflicts one hit on the target, ignoring shields. If both attacks hit, then the beast has grabbed hold of the enemy ship and will not let go until either it or its opponent is destroyed. Stop both ships, and in every end phase roll 3D6 against the enemy ship (again, hitting on 4+) as the Bloodrage beast tears at it tooth and claw. The grappled ship may fire at half effectiveness (nova cannons and other special weapons may not fire).

Additionally, the awe-inspiring presence of the Blood God in the very midst of the battle gives any Chaos vessel within 20cm a +1 leadership bonus. This modifies vessels to a maximum of Ld 10.

A horrifying sight to behold, the Gutspew Daemonbeast is the epitome of Nurgle's pestilence. Much akin to giant wad of snot, few Imperial officers have been able to inspect closeup photos of this thing without losing their lunch. The Daemonbeast of Nurgle is covered in millions if not billions of writhing Nurglings which it can send into the fray to attack enemy ships.

Due to its infestation of plague-bearing swarms of Nurglings, a Gutspew Daemonbeast counts as having strength 4 assault boats. It does not need to use Reload Ordnance to launch these every turn.

In stark contrast to the other Daemonbeasts, Morpheus beasts are nearly beautiful. They are covered in scintillating feathers and glow with an unworldly light. Because of this dazzling luminosity, they are most difficult to hit, and a Chaos fleet accompanied by a Morpheus benefits from the powers of the Changer of Ways, Tzeentch.

The Morpheus has no weapons of any sort, but that does not make it harmless. The scintillating and shifting beast counts as being Holofielded. Note that the column shift on the gunnery table normally caused by Holofields in NOT cummulative to the existing right column shift created by the field of Chaos (in short: weapons batteries firing upon a Morpheus only suffer ONE right column shift). The presence of this beast also gives the Chaos fleet 4 additional fleet commander rerolls to use per game. These rerolls are null and void if the Daemonbeast is destroyed.

The Slaaneshi Daemonbeast known as Secluder often drifts lazily at the back of a Chaos fleet. It need not seek the enemy, for it has the power to bring the enemy to itself. Like a siren of Chaos, the Slaaneshi Daemonbeast calls to the minds of its victims, luring them into danger with promises of sensuality and ecstasy. A opposing Chaos fleet will quickly take advantage of a dumfounded enemy ship's confusion to blast them out of the stars.

During its shooting phase, a Secluder Daemonbeast may select one enemy capital ship within 90cm. This ship immediately makes a leadership test with a -3 modifier. If the ships passes, it functions as normal, and the Daemonbeast may not attempt to ensnare another ship until its next turn. If it fails, the ship has fallen under the influence of the Daemonbeast and will do anything to get to it. On its next turn the "ensnared" ship must immediately set the most direct course possible to the Daemonbeast. The crew of the ensnared ship is dumbfounded, and the ship may not fire weapons, launch ordnance, or repair damage. Any leadership tests the ship wishes to make (ie: special orders) must be taken with a -3 modifier. In each of the ship's subsequent end phases, it may make another -3 leadership test to break free of the Daemonic influence. If it fails the test again, the ship continues on towards the Daemonbeast, dumbfounded as before. Unless the ship can break free, it will not alter its course until either it or the Daemonbeast is destroyed.

While it has a ship ensnared, the Daemonbeast may not snare another ship. The Daemonbeast may not ensnare any command ships. This includes any ship with a fleet commander (ie: admirals, warbosses, warmasters) on it, any Necron ship with a sepuchre (ie: tombship), or any Tyranid synapse ship (ie: hiveship).