Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Chaos Space Marines

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Why Play Chaos Space Marines

  • Cool models - The Cult squads look badass, it has to be said. Likewise a lot of the Sorcerer and Lord models, and the special characters. Personally, I always found Obliterators and Raptors way cooler than Devastators and Assault Mehreens too, but that's just me. Plus damn near any vehicle looks sexier when it's bristling with spikes.
  • Excellent choppy and dakka options - All CSMs get an extra attack over loyalist Marines (save Raptors versus Assault Marines) and can get improve their statline to make good assaulters. Noise Marines have all kinds of magnificent assault-profile shooting power (AP3 templates and blasts, for instance) while not being too shabby in melee, either. Khorne Berserkers... Man, what do I even need to say about them? Four attacks on the charge, WS5. Point and kill. Obliterators can choose one of a range of heavy weapons per turn giving you a great heavy weapon against any target. While expensive, Plague Marines and Thousand Sons can absorb shittons of ammunition and cut loose with huge amounts of accurate fire in turn, in either armor-shredding (Thousand Sons) or conventional (Plague Marines) varieties.
  • Lash of Submission - Flying Lash Princes make a mockery of all cover. Why? Because cover doesn't count when your opponent is literally dictating where your units move on his turns.
  • Tactical variance - You have a lot of options with Chaos. The Cult squads are all very, very good at one thing in particular and can be used in various unit sizes and loadouts to great effect - it's not as simple as 'Ten Marines with a flamer', but then, ten Marines with a flamer can't kill basically any infantry unit in assault like Berserkers or hold a point against thirty Ork Boyz for three turns like a squad of seven Plague Marines or standing there laughing at a squad of Dark Reapers who can't breach your Rubric Marines' meaty 4+ Invulnerable saves. Putting it simply: You've got a lot of choices with Chaos. Makes sense, right?
  • Marks - the Marks of Chaos are amazing. Basically, you can give a squad +1 Initiative, Attacks, Toughness or Invul (or, if they have no Invul, a 5+ default). And you can give these to any CSM unit. This means you can have T4(6) bikes racing around ignoring infantry fire or racing in and hitting units with four attacks each, Raptors with high Initiative killing whole units without retaliation or simply drowning them in forty attacks, and Possessed tooled to be even better assaulters than they already are. Marks make already-good Chaos units very, very scary.

Marks of Chaos

Marks of Chaos are a key facet of improving the majority of Chaos Infantry, from Chaos Terminators and Raptors, to Chaos Lords and Sorcerers, to Possessed, standard-issue Chaos Marines, and even Daemon Princes. There are four different marks - one for each Chaos God, and each one provides an intrinsic benefit to the model(s) it's applied to. A general listing of the marks of Chaos and their effects is below:

  • Khorne: Models or Squads with the Mark of Khorne gain +1 attack. Simple but useful, this upgrade is best-applied towards units that will be in the thick of things when the fighting starts, such as Raptors and Terminators, though its benefits on a Lord is obvious. It can also be applied to individual Chaos Marine squads; on their own, Chaos Marines are already tougher than a majority of the other factions and with three melee attacks (4 for the champion), no enemy is going to want to get too close to them - so whilst it's not as cost-effective as kitting out say, a squad of Berserkers, it's something to consider. Note that Sorcerers cannot get the Mark of Khorne.
  • Nurgle: Highly effective at reducing casualties, Models or squads with the Mark of Nurgle benefit from +1 toughness. This won't prevent instant death (from Lascannon shots par example), but it will reduce the number of wounding hits the squad takes by about 30% on average, making them that much tougher to kill. Unlike a lot of the other marks on this list, the Mark of Nurgle, much like the Plaguefather himself, is friendly and is effective just about everywhere. Unfortunately, you pay the price for it in points; it's the most expensive mark by far.
  • Slaanesh: Curiously the least-expensive Mark, models and squads with the Mark of Slaanesh get +1 Initiative. In theory this is only useful on assault-oriented units like Raptors and Possessed, but in practice is pretty ubiquitous; you would be surprised how many enemies will not want to assault a squad of standard Slaaneshi Chaos Marines if they know that they will strike first due to their meaty 5 Initiative. Terminators tend to benefit from it a lot less - the usual MO for players is to issue Terminators Powerfists or Chainfists, which completely eliminates the entire damned point of taking the Mark of Slaanesh.
  • Tzeentch: Tzeentch has one of the more-expensive marks, and one of the more unique ones - if given to a model or squad that does not possess an invulnerable save, the Mark of Tzeentch gives them an Invulnerable save of 5+ (equal to an Imperial Guard Refractor Field). The secondary benefit is if it is applied to models that already have an Invulnerable save, in which case the save is improved to 4+. Naturally, this means that the Mark of Tzeentch is best for models and squads that already have such a save, such as Terminators, Possessed (if you should want to use them for some insane reason, probably because you yourself are possessed), Chaos Lords, Chaos Sorcerers, and the Daemon Prince. It can be useful (if less so) on other units; Raptors benefit nicely from having an invulnerable save in close-combat (even if it is a +5), and the save can help out if other means of keeping your units with their best saves forward (I.E. being in cover) are not viable for whatever reason. As a secondary benefit, Sorcerers with this Mark can take one more power than normal (for a total of three with a Familiar).
  • Chaos Glory: The cheapest Icon to equip your squads with, the Icon of Chaos Glory lets them reroll failed Morale checks, and... That's it. Don't knock it until you try it, however. It may not look like much, but it doesn't cost much, is better than no Icon at all, and can mean the difference between another combat round or a Sweeping Advance.

Note that Icons issued to squads (other than those issued to Independent Characters like the Sorcerer, Chaos Lord, and Daemon Prince) are expensive, but the cost is flat, regardless of what the squad numbers - so the more models in the squad, the better the deal a given Mark of Chaos is. At 50 points, for example, a Chaos Marine squad of 5 marines is paying 10 points each for the Icon of Nurgle. With a capped-out 20-man squad, that same mark evens out to about 2.5 points per Marine. This is true for all the Icons, but is especially noticeable with the two most expensive ones (Nurgle and Tzeentch).

Unit Analysis

HQ

  • Chaos Lord - A Nasty, inexpensive close-combat character, with tons of options. Even fully-kitted out will usually run you under 150 points - quite impressive in and of itself. Is Fearless by default and has decent starting saves (3+ Armor, 5+ Invuln). Stick him in with a Fearless unit of any kind and he's going to make shit dead. Each of the aligned lords gets their own unique Daemon Weapon if they invest the points - this is a 2-handed power weapon (so no point in grabbing a pistol alongside) that grants +1d6 attacks in close-combat and has some nifty-swell secondary feature. Curiously, all of them are solid choices in their own right. All of them, however, will inflict a wound you can't armor save against (but you can still take an Invuln save) and forfeit your attacks for the round if you roll a one on the bonus attack roll - so be prepared if things do not go as planned.
    • Undivided - Your Daemon Weapon is the simple-but-effective basic Daemon Weapon with +1 Str. It's quite similar to the Dark Blade of 4th Edition, but with +1 Str instead of +2 and a bunch of bonus attacks. The weakest of the four overall, but the cheapest (no need for a Mark) and an incredibly solid choice in its own right.
    • Slaanesh - Your Daemon Weapon is the Blissgiver, which causes instant death if it scores a successful wound. On most conventional models this isn't much use (since they have one wound anyway), but this makes a Chaos Lord the bane of multi-wound models like commanders, Nobz, and large Tyranid organisms. Widely considered one of the better choices.
    • Nurgle - Your Daemon Weapon is the Plaguespreader, which is poisoned and ergo wounds on a 4+ (and lets you re-roll failed rolls against T4 or lower targets). Basically a 4th edition Dreadaxe minus the Invulnerability-prevention (but with the ability to bypass armor). A damned good choice.
    • Khorne - Your Daemon Weapon is the Bloodfeeder, which gives +2d6 attacks instead of +1d6, but you will take the wound as normal if you roll a 1 on either (thankfully, if you roll snake eyes, it's only one wound). Risky, but can lead to 16+ attacks on a charge, which kind of speaks for itself. If you have the blessings of Lady Luck and Admiral Awesome, prepare yourself, because a Lord with this weapon will make virtually any enemy model irrelevant through sheer volume of attacks if it gets in close.
    • Tzeentch - Your Daemon Weapon is the Deathscreamer, which can be fired as a projectile weapon that's S4, AP3, 24" Range and Assault d6 - functionally a variable-fire-rate Doombolt on call with no need for a psychic test that can fire double the number of shots given a good roll. It still does the usual Daemon Weapon thing in close-combat, too. It can be extremely devastating if you go the shooty route, and is the safest of the Daemon Weapons (since Tzeentch's mark on a lord gives a +4 Invuln save).

Chaos Lords in general love to accompany other units; most do best in (ideally) Fearless close-combat units (such as Khorne Berzerkers), though the Tzeenchian Lord is pretty much good wherever (drop him in a Termie Squad or IC him into a team with heavy/special weapons and watch the fireworks). There are other non-Daemon Weapon options too; a pair of Lightning Claws is an old favorite that persists and remains reasonably viable with a Mark of Khorne (or even the Mark of Slaanesh). They have a few options for giving them additional mobility (such as steeds); most of these are of questionable value, though the Juggernaut of Khorne and Palanquin of Nurgle are both purportedly fairly useful. Another is Wings or a Jump Pack - the former is preferred since a model with wings can still use a transport (but otherwise has the benefits of a jump pack). He can also grab Terminator Armor as one last option; whilst this is kind of a questionable choice for defense (it really only gives a 2+ armor save now since the Lord has a +5 Invuln save by default), it has the upside of making all the good weapons a bit less expensive and lets the Lord teleport in. (Oh, and he can fire his bolter and assault in the same turn.) For maximum effectiveness, give him an Icon and pair him with a Terminator squad, laughing as the entire goddamned thing drops exactly where you want it to. Fun times.


  • Chaos Sorcerer - A Chaos Lord with 1 fewer WS, a slightly higher cost, and a Force Weapon. New Force Weapon rules means he can psychic test twice a round, so this can actually get some use now. His main use is to make use of his unique powers Gift of Chaos (wildly unpredictable and generally sucks but oh sweet Jesus is it hilarious if you pull it off on say Marneus Calgar), Wind of Chaos (Cover/Armor Save Destroying Flamer) and Warptime (so help me I am fucking your shit up this turn with my attacks this round) - but Sorcerers are infinitely more-commonly taken for their aligned powers: Bolt of Change (S8, AP1, 24" range Assault 1 rape-ray), Nurgle's Rot (bane of Tarpits), and most notably, Lash of Submission (which lets you move enemy units around - which is exactly as awesome as it sounds). Generally, not a great choice - Daemon Princes generally do it better, after all - but far from a horrid one.


  • Daemon Prince - A favorite of the current Codex - and with good reason. Reasonably-priced, high stats, immune to instant death, and with tons of wargear options. Wings give him serious mobility and he can take a mark as well - and regardless of which he takes, he is going to be a complete pain in the ass to get rid of. Slaaneshi Princes almost invariably take Lash pf Submission, so as to fuck up enemies' attempts to take cover; other abilities are to be grabbed on a case-by-case basis. Generally, if you aren't a Slaaneshi or Khornate Prince, you should grab Warptime (may as well guarantee you always hit and wound), though Nurgle Princes can benefit from Nurgle's Rot (tarpit removal) and Tzeentchian Princes can make some use of Bolt of Change and/or Wind of Chaos (Skimmer-busting and/or a hit of damage as you close in). Warptime is the favorite though, for obvious reasons.


  • Greater Daemon - Not technically an HQ unit as it does not, in fact, take up one of your HQ slots. Starts off the table, enters play by making one of your aspiring champions explode. He's cheap, in and of himself, but he kills a model that's typically carrying a Power Fist (and costing ~ 60 points) He's a nasty Monstrous Creature, and tends to draw a lot of fire. You could take one in an army with 2 daemon princes, and hope drowning your foe in Monstrous Creatures works. Generally advisable to avoid it, though.


The following are special characters:

  • Typhus - Good god, Typhus. A Fearless Chaos Sorcerer in Terminator Armor with Feel No Pain and Fearless, on top of his Mark of Nurgle. 2 useful anti-swarm Psy powers (Wind of Chaos, Nurgle's Rot) that he auto-passes the psychic tests for, access to Frag and Blight grenades due to his Destroyer Hive rule, and a Manreaper, which is, functionally, a poisoned Force Weapon with the usual +1d6 attacks (and chance of rebellion if you roll a one). He also has FOUR wounds, as opposed to three, and improved toughness from being a Nurgle Lord. Typhus flat-out rocks, to put it simply; he can rape swarms and Tarpits through his Psy Powers, whilst his Manreaper allows him to absolutely rape enemy monstrous creatures and commanders. Throw in his grenade access (rare for a Terminator) and he's quite versatile, especially given his sheer balls-out toughness. Typhus is, however, liberally peppered with drawbacks; he's fucking expensive, he can't do a goddamned thing to enemy vehicles, his Invulnerable Save is only a 5+, he lacks Eternal Warrior, and he has WS 5 as opposed to WS 6, like most Chaos Lords (because he's a Sorcerer). Great unit, but keep him the fuck away from enemy walkers and enemies with Force Weapons.
  • Lucius The Eternal - Lucius is a bit of an odd duck out, as well as the obligatory Slaaneshi Special Character. As a Chaos Lord, he's largely typical, but his abilities and weapons load make him a much nastier close-combat unit than he appears to be at a glance. For starters, he's WS 7, as opposed to the typical Chaos Lord WS 6, and he boasts Initiative 6 due to his Mark of Slaanesh. He lacks a traditional Daemon Weapon - but what he has in return makes this almost not matter. Lucius boasts a Doom Siren (AP3 Heavy Flamer), a Power Sword, and a unique Weapon in the Lash of Torment, which reduces the number of attacks enemy models get by 1. Because he dual-wields his Power Sword and Lash, he actually has one more attack than is readily apparent on his profile, much like Khorne Berserkers, Noise Marines, Plague Marines, and Chaos Space Marine squads. He also has Krak Grenades and Frag Grenades. What truly makes Lucius useful though, on top of all the above, is his unique ability stemming from his Armor of Shrieking Souls - any close combat attack Lucius saves against (Armor Save OR Invulnerable Save) causes an automatic S4 hit on the unit that attacked him, with no armor saves allowed. Suffice to say, Lucius butt-fucks Tarpits and big swarms of units that aren't packing power weapons better than most. It's not all good news, however: Lucius positively sucks against vehicles and his 5+ Invulnerable save, whilst useful, isn't exactly a stellar defensive feature. He also lacks Eternal Warrior, which means he's actually quite vulnerable against things like Force Weapons and heavy weapon sniping attempts. Lucius is extremely specialized for infantry-busting - and whilst he excels at it, he can't really do much else. A decent commander if used correctly.
  • Khârn The Betrayer - A real fun guy to be around. Khârn is the only unit in all of 40K that hits, in close combat, on a 2+. Then again, if you do actually roll a 1, he hits a random member of any squad he happens to be in - so sometimes it's best to send him out on his own. Kharn boasts a suite of useful traits and equipment, including Gorechild (A power weapon that gives +1d6 to armor penetration rolls), Frag and Krak grenades (the latter of which will never see use), a Plasma Pistol (like you're ever going to use it), Furious Charge, and perhaps most importantly, a complete immunity to Force Weapon instant death effects and Psy Powers. Khârn can demolish damned-near-anything in close-combat, from enemy vehicles to enemy infantry when on the charge - an advantage primarily offset by the fact that he's completely fucking useless if he can't get close, and rather easy to isolate and tear down due to a relatively weak (5+) Invulnerable save. He is best-used either with Berserkers or Regular Chaos Marines - the latter loaded up to the fucking gills with Flamers, the squads shoved in a Metal Box or BIG METAL BOX, and thrown directly at the enemy's face. Like Lucius and Huron Blackheart, Khârn has one more attack than is listed in his profile due to his weapon loadout - for a total of six.
  • Huron Blackheart - What in the Dark Gods' names is it with this Codex and units in it having more attacks than is actually listed in their profile? Much as was the case for Lucius and Khârn, Huron has an additional attack than his profile lists, for a total of 4. An undivided Chaos Lord for those who don't like armless failures, Huron boasts Warptime despite not actually being a Psyker (due to a pet that is one), access to both a Power Weapon and Power Fist (for dealing with faster or slower foes as appropriate), and a Heavy Flamer. In many respects, Huron is kind of like Lucius, in that he's a heavy close-combat unit that can put serious hurt on groups of units he engages; unlike Lucius he's less of an infantry eraser and more of a general-combat unit, since his Power Fist is more than capable of busting open a tank or taking out a pesky Commander unit (and it WILL put a dent in that commander unit out due to Warptime). The thing is, whilst flavorful - especially if you want your Chaos army to be a band of fuckawesome space pirates (and who the fuck doesn't?) - he really does little that a competently-built Vanilla Chaos Lord or Sorcerer can't do just as well. No Eternal Warrior, no ranged capability outside of his flamer, and a weak (5+) Invuln save round out his downsides.

Also, before he got his famous BOOM HEADSHOT to like half of his body, his stats were better. You can check the Badab War Imperial Armor books. He was just all around better.

  • Fabius Bile - The grand bull mother moose of mixed bags. On one hand, Bile has good stats and wargear: Toughness 5 and Feel No Pain through his Chirugeron, A weapon that causes instant death (Rod of Torment), five attacks, and a particularly nasty poisoned weapon in the Xyclos Needler. On the other hand, his Rod of Torment does not ignore armor saves, his Xyclos Needler has really bad AP and sub-par range, and perhaps most damning of all, no Invulnerable save, unlike literally every other Chaos Lord and Sorcerer in the codex. So... Sucks, Right? Not quite. The reason Fabius Bile is taken ironically isn't for Bile himelf; it's for his Enhanced Warriors trait, which can potentially turn a squad of Chaos Marines into murderous close-combat machines for +3 points a model. Whilst risky (It has a 66% chance of giving +1 Strength and Fearless to the unit, a 16.5% chance of making them attack one another (the survivors still get the benefit), and a 16.5% of making them get +2 Strength and Fearless but making them lose a squad member each turn. This advantage cannot be underestimate - Enhanced Warriors are considerably more cost-effective than Khorne Berserkers and cost notably less. To compare, a 10-man Berserker Squad with a Fist-equipped Champion is 250 points; That same unit with Enhanced Warriors is 220 points, making it an extremely thrifty alternative (since the squad can then cram on a pair of flamers and an Icon of Khorne for only 10 points more than the kitted-out Berserker squad - in essence, for only 10 points more, it's fielding a unit with the same stats and Flamers for additional Infantry destruction. Suffice to say, this is quite flexible and potentially very useful - provided you get good rolls when it's time to roll on the Enhanced Warrior table. Players who enjoy randomness will often find them remarkably effective, so Bile does have a place in some armies, even though Bile himself kind of sucks. A far cry from how he was in the previous edition, to be sure.
  • Ahriman - He's a Sorcerer that costs as much as a Land Raider; that's seldom a good sign. On the other hand he has every Psy Power that isn't Nurgle or Slaanesh-specific and boasts a unique piece of gear in the Black Staff, which is a Force Weapon that lets Ahriman fire off THREE psy powers a turn (or use one of them for his Staff's Force Weapon Psychic Test). His firepower is absolutely insane; he can smash open vehicles with Bolt of Change, gun down infantry with Doombolt and Wind of Chaos, and bust up units with Warptime and Gift of Chaos. Making him even better, he boasts a Pistol with Inferno Bolts (so he has an S4 AP3 Pistol) and the standard Tzeentch Marine 4+ invulnerable save, which makes him remarkably tough to kill (and ironically, also gives him a measure of protection against his own powers, since he's primarily used to spam spells. Devastating if used right, but makes for a huge and high-priority target. Unlike a lot of other units with this price-tag, such as Old One-Eye, he tends to actually be worth it if carefully managed, mostly due to the fact that he drops a Touhou-esque barrage of firepower out in short order. Just remember that he's a gigantic fire magnet.
  • Abaddon The Despoiler - Don't be fooled by jokes regarding his lack of arms - he may suck a mountain of dicks at leading troops past Cadia, but Abaddon is bad news. He's expensive as hell - far more than a Land Raider - but he is, perhaps, the single most dangerous thing in all of Warhammer 40K tabletop should he get into close-combat. Seriously. Kaldor Draigo, Matt Ward's infamous Special Snowflake will lose to Abaddon about 80% of the time assuming average dice rolls. Suffice to say, not many units can reliably go toe-to-toe with the Despoiler and survive for more than a round or two, and many armies lack squads that can do more than offer him more than a token resistance. He has a Daemonblade that gives +4 strength and re-rolls all failed to-wound rolls (in addition to the usual +1d6 attacks), every single Chaos Mark (For +1 Attack, +1 Initiative, a 4+ Invulnerable Save, and +1 Toughness), and Eternal Warrior. Just fielding this unit has been known to make other players break out in hives. On the other hand, the drawbacks are obvious - he costs a fuckton of points, he's a huge fire-magnet (fortunately he can be deep-striked) he's extremely vulnerable to being Tarpitted or bogged down, he sucks at shooting (only has a Twin-Linked Bolter, even if it is a Master-Crafted one). Do anything you fucking can to get him into close combat, and Try to not let him lose his arms.

Elites

While many armies are spoiled for Elite choices (Space Marines, I'm looking at you), Chaos can get by just fine without ever using this section of their codex. It's not even that the options are horrible - rather, it's that if you still have slots open in other sections, your points are probably better-spent there.


  • Chaos Terminators - Of all the options Chaos has for this slot, these are probably the best. Cheaper than a Loyalist Terminator, and with better LD (10). They lack the cool Loyalist special rules though, and have worse starting gear (power weapons as opposed to power fists). They have access to Icons, like most generic squads, and can be further enhanced through them. Their strength comes from the ability to give every single member of the squad a Combi-Weapon. This allows you to take small "Suicide" squads of terminators with Combi-Meltas to deep-strike in, eat a tank, and then possibly threaten/charge some isolated units with should they survive to subsequent turns. This is typically referred to as a "termicide" squad. Alternatively, tool them up in a Land Raider (or deep striking) with a nasty Chaos Lord in Terminator armor for a close-combat anvil. Of particular note is the pricey (but devastating) choice of a mark of Tzeentch for them; 4+ invuln save on a +2 armor save means these fucking things just will not fucking die no matter how much heavy firepower you throw at them.


  • Chosen Chaos Space Marines - They're generic Chaos Space Marines, with Infiltrate, who cost more points, so read their entry. Now, you get to take FIVE special weapons, at no minimum squad size. Outflanking 5 flamers/meltaguns/plasmaguns and maybe an Autocannon seriously has its uses, but you're paying points for infiltrating Chaos Marines that don't score, which many consider a waste. Either use them for their ability to infiltrate and gank or annoy things, or avoid them altogether.


  • Chaos Dreadnought - The Chaos Dreadnought looks like crap on paper. Same stats compared to the loyalist Dread with one more attack - and the Crazed rule. This gives him a roughly 33% chance of tarding out, either firing on the closest thing (friendly or otherwise) or charging at the closest foe. In spite of its drawbacks the Chaos Dreadnought isn't actually all that bad unless you wind up Fire Frenzying early on - it's a cheap way to get some heavy weapons (most notably a Plasma Cannon) on the table for just over 100 points with solid melee to boot. If Lady Luck and Admiral Awesome are on your side, this thing is absurdly, pants-destroyingly effective. If you're also really good at getting these guys just where you need them, such as making sure that your enemies are just closer than your own guys, you can negate many of the problems that the Crazed rule has. If not, it's inefficient or worse, actively hostile towards your guys with a bad roll. Players that thrive on randomness love this thing though, especially since it's an Elite now and not a Heavy Support choice.


  • Possessed Marines - As random as the Dreadnought is, it's not a terrible choice. No, that award goes to Possessed Marines. Fair close-combat troops at a glance, they have S5, are Fearless, and have a 5+ Invulnerable save... And then you read the drawbacks: 26 points a pop, and their biggest advantage - their Daemonkin ability - is a random roll. These units have a lot of potential (Feel No Pain S5 Marines would be incredible, as is the "all attacks count as power weapons" variant), but half of what they can roll is either outdone by another ability (Rending) or flat-out sucks (Scouts).
    • The part that makes them just fall apart is that even regular Chaos Marines set up for close-combat can be more effective for cost (same number of attacks, only one Strength less, ability to pack a power weapon or power fist). It's even worse when you compare them to Chaos Terminators, which cost negligibly more, have deep strike, built-in power weapons, decent heavy/special weapons, and better armor as part of the bargain and Raptors and Khorne Berserkers, which are cheaper, better in close-combat, and have access to Champions. They're pretty much for flavor only at this point - which is a damned shame because the new possessed models are really nice.
    • The only thing that makes them worth a damn is that the Mark of Tzeentch can push them to have 4+ Invuln saves for pretty cheap, which is nice on a dedicated close-combat unit. They still, however, cost way too much for a unit that's much too random unless you can routinely get the blessings of Lady Luck and Admiral Awesome.

Troops

General advice: Rhinos are amazing for cost and are a great advantage that all Space Marines, Loyalist or Chaos, have. It's a 35-point upgrade for any Chaos Space Marine troops choice, so it's pretty much always worth it. Chaos improves their Rhinos greatly via access to Havoc Launchers; this small upgrade boosts the cost to 50 but basically adds a stronger Frag Missile launcher to the thing so it can fire off twin-linked blast templates when it's not actively doing its METAL BOX thing and ferrying your troops into the heart of a battle.

Again, heed the words of the Angry Marines: TAKE RHINOS. ALWAYS. METAL BOXES ARE EMPEROR/CHAOS GOD OF CHOICE'S GIFT TO ALL MARINES EVERYWHERE, LOYAL OR OTHERWISE.

You should take their word for it.

IMPORTANT NOTE: All Chaos Troops except Thousand Sons list either a bolt pistol and CCW or a bolter, bolt pistol and CCW - meaning that all of them should have an extra attack which isn't listed in their entries. Berserkers should have three, everyone else should have two. Except Thousand Sons Marines. Always keep this in mind, because it makes all CSMs better in assault than most non-assault loyalist Marine equivalents, and it's an important advantage when loyalists have so many other abilities we don't get. Don't forget about it!

  • Chaos Space Marines - The basic Troops choice. You'll get a lot of mileage out of these guys. 15 points each, two cheaper than loyalists, 5-20 per squad, Aspiring Champ costs another 15. To contrast, Marine Sergeants are free. Leadership 9, one higher than loyalists, but And They Shall Know No Fear mitigates this a lot. Champ ups it to Ld10, so take one. Similar weapon choices to loyalists, but our flamers and heavy bolters cost five points (theirs are free) and our plasma guns, meltaguns, multimeltas and missile launchers are all five points higher than loyalist equivalents. The Champ can take a power weapon or fist, a plasma pistol, meltabombs and/or a personal icon for deepstriking Daemons. We lack Combat Tactics and Combat Squads, but the CSM has tricks of its own. For one, the CSM has a bolter, a bolt pistol, and a close combat weapon - this means that it gets two attacks base, making CSMs better at assault. Another thing is the inclusion of icons - for 20-50 points, a squad can be given an Icon of one of the four gods. Slaanesh grants +1 Initiative, Khorne +1 Attack, Tzeentch a 5+ Invulnerable save, and Nurgle +1 Toughness. If you're not taking one of those, take a 10-point icon of Chaos Glory, which lets you reroll failed Morale checks (which is actually more useful than it sounds). You can make a strong CSM unit given all these variables, but the Cult squads tend to be better choices because most of them positively excel at one role more than a generic CSM squad with certain wargear and an icon can.
    • One area where Chaos Marines flat-out beat the Cult Marines is in cost-effectiveness. 8 Marines with a Plasma Gun and an Aspiring Champion with a Power Weapon, Melta Bombs, and Bolt Pistol, and a Rhino equipped with a Havoc Launcher is ready for just about any fight for about 220 points. For the same cost, A similar unit of Noise Marines with a Blastmaster would cost almost that much without any secondary wargear, Sonic Blasters, or a Metal Box to ride around in! Suffice to say, Chaos Marines are cheaper and more efficient for when you need general-combat troops.
    • Conversely loading them up for melee is also cost-effective, though less so due to the fact that melee Marines need less to be effective. A squad with a Mark of Khorne, Champ with meltabombs, and a Rhino to guarantee they get there in one piece will cost about 225 points and have three attacks (4 for the champ). A similar squad of Berserkers will cost nearly 20 points more, but will give you additional attacks, Furious Charge, and Fearless as part of the bargain, so it's not quite as much of a slam-dunk. On the other hand, the Marines can still shoot like normal during the shooting phase if they have to, something the Khorne Berserkers can't really do (though this is not much of a consolation).
    • Far and away, the biggest advantage Chaos Marines have is their versatility. With a solid armor save, 2 attacks in close-combat, strength and toughness 4, and bolters as their main weapon (and access to heavy/special weapons), Just a squad of them can be used differently as circumstances merit, enabling them to go shooty against foes, or switch to melee against foes that are particularly vulnerable in close-combat but threatening inside their "power range" (such as Guardsmen or Fire Warriors).
    • Needless to say they're as versatile as hell and wicked cost-effective, and they make for great scoring units. If you have a few points left to blow once all your choices are made, you rarely can go wrong with throwing a few more Marines on the table.


  • Noise Marines - These guys are 20 points apiece and are ideally taken as squads of 8-12. If you're taking these guys, take sonic blasters for five points a model - they're bolters that fire at either Assault 2 or Heavy 3 as needed. Beyond that, they can also take great special weapons - a Doom Siren, which is an S5 AP3 template weapon, and a Blastmaster, which fires at either S5 AP4 Assault 2/Pinning or S8 AP3 Heavy 1/Blast/Pinning. Besides gun choices, they also have I5 to a regular Marine's I4 and, having bolters (or sonic blasters) and bolt pistols/CCWs, they each get two attacks. They aren't pure assaulters, but the higher Initiative means they can be used for it quite well after a softening volley from their blasters and special weapons. Champion upgrade is fifteen points and gives one additional attack and point of Leadership and the ability to take the same options as the regular CSM Champion. If you're doing it, may as well get a power weapon. Don't bother with the fist, you have I5 and it's better on a Skull Champ anyway.


  • Thousand Sons - A mixed-bag unit - hard to use but devastating if employed correctly. For 23 points each, you get a squad of Slow and Purposeful Fearless Marines with AP3 bolters and a 4+ Invulnerable save - suffice to say they can deal out huge damage to enemy marines, basically any infantry stupid enough to get in firing range, and they absolutely curb-stomp Necrons and Tyranids. The problem is that they cost a lot and still aren't quite as tough as Plague Marines unless your opponent's making heavy use of say, Starcannons. They are, however, slow and purposeful, which means they move rather slowly - and more so if their Champion (basically a Sorcerer with all the Force Weapony goodness that implies) goes down, since they only roll one die for S&P if they lack guidance. The upside is that they can fire their bolters to max range without penalty, and can assault the turn they charge (a mixed blessing since you want to keep them out of assault for the most part, unless you're fighting IG or Tau). In a pinch, you can have an IC with a Tzeentch mark take control if the Sorcerer eats it (which he generally shouldn't), which only slightly mitigates that problem. To surmise: this unit is slow, but can take a lot of abuse and rape enemy armor saves. Load a squad up in a METAL BAWKS and start spraying hilarity for ideal results - just bear in mind their expense and vulnerability in assault. You can give the Mini-Sorcerer a psy power (or even two due to his Mark of Tzeentch); Bolt of Change is generally favored since it gives him the ability to pop enemy transports and allows the Sorcerer to contribute to shooting.


  • Khorne Berserkers - These guys aren't quite the unstoppable murder machines of 3rd Edition, but Emperor help anyone you get the charge on. For 21 points a model, you get WS5 Marines with three attacks each and Furious Charge. The Champion, should you upgrade to one, is identical to the rest in gear, profile and cost changes. In this case, like with Noise Champions, the power weapon or fist is actually quite useful - the fist more so because the Skull Champ is only I4 otherwise anyway, and he gets four S8 attacks - five on the charge (and at S9). A word for the wise - a Land Raider actually makes a good transport for these guys. AV14 is a wonderful thing. Plunge it into the centre of a soft formation, unload Berserkers. Laugh maniacally.
    • Special Note: again, these guys have bolt pistols and CCWs in addition to the Mark of Khorne - a net of +2A for what *should* be listed as three. Don't just look at a CSM unit entry, read the attacks value and assume that's all they get. These guys all get one more than is listed, and for a pure assault unit, that's utterly critical to keep in mind.


  • Plague Marines - These guys are the favorites of many a player, and it's not hard to see why. 23 points each. Pricey. But they get: Feel No Pain, T4(5) and have frag, krak, AND defensive grenades. Players have seen seven of these guys hold thirty Orks in assault for three rounds, contesting an objective with only three losses. They are terrifyingly hard to kill without Battle Cannons, Plasma Weapons, Power Fists, or aggressive close-combat squads with power weapons (which FNP doesn't apply against). In short: these guys can take huge abuse from just about anything, and will require very strong weapons or very specific units to remove. They double on offense, too - with no minimum unit size for weapons and the ability to take a transport, they can be thrown in a METAL BOX and hurled directly at enemy formations with twin meltaguns. FNP means you're going to get those off and possibly more whilst drawing lots of enemy fire away from other units. Beware, however, the unit's low initiative count; most enemies will strike first, and a Power Weapon or two on a fast unit is one of the few things that can fuck up this unit's shit.


  • Lesser Daemons - 13 points. Marine stat-line (but 2 attacks). Have to deep strike. Don't count against your force-organization chart (and, as such, don't count as your minimum 2 troops) but they DO score. They have a special ability hidden in the fine print of the codex, pg. 61 "They can assault in the same turn they enter the game". That being said, Daemons require you to have Icons (either personal, or a squad's Icon of Chaos) on the table or they count as destroyed when they enter play. But they enter within 6" of an icon, and get to charge right away, so they work great as "second wave" units to bail out your assault units if they bite off more than they can chew, or if they're simply more targets than you can engage at once. They lack armor saves (but do have 5+ invulnerable saves) so it's often a good idea to throw them at units that make a mockery of armor (Terminators, Howling Banshees etc) to soften them up for your real units. If nothing else, they provide a cheap scoring unit that your foes are unlikely to divert many resources to disposing of. I personally use them (as my daemonette models go nicely with my noise marines) but they're certainly not for everyone.

Fast Attack

  • Chaos Bikers - Chaos Bikes have always been iffy, from their inception back in 3rd. Nice to have, but way too expensive in general for what they accomplish. Thankfully, 5th edition improves on them considerably. They're still expensive (and fast), but they can boost their number of attacks with Icon of Khorne, become even tougher (frighteningly so) with Icon of Nurgle, or just be a pain in the ass with Icons of Slaanesh or Tzeentch. They're great for rapid assaults, perfect when you need to deliver a Power Fist directly to an enemy's rear armor, but they're incredibly expensive (and more so with Marks).


  • Chaos Raptors - Chaos' Assault Marines. Reasonably priced. Icons and double-special weapons make them respectable. The best out of your FA options. Icon of Slaanesh makes for three I5 attacks each (on the charge), Icon of Khorne gives 4 I4, Icon of Nurgle makes them T5 (and thus harder to kill), and Tzeentch gives them Invulnerable saves; they'll be in close combat, where said save matters most. Whilst Slaanesh and Khorne are easily the best (and cheapest) options, the other two are good too. Flamers are nice for softening up infantry before a charge, and meltas will take care of any tank-related problems you have, but both come at the cost of the bonus Pistol+CCW attack. Don't take a plasma gun unless you absolutely KNOW you're going to be occupying buildings which make doing so worth it; it's expensive and you can't shoot it and charge on the same turn (and for a mobile assault unit that's a pretty crippling drawback). Plasma pistols are a better choice; they can be fired before a charge and still give +1 attack in close combat. A solid unit, through and through; you can't really go wrong with Raptors.


  • Chaos Spawn - A sick joke. No one takes Spawn. Not even in funny lists. Not even for flavor. No one takes Spawn. They are a strong contender for "Worst unit in 40k". If you take a Sorcerer with the Gift of Chaos power, then - and only then - you might want to keep a couple of these guys around to replace transformed enemy models, but it's not a particularly good power anyway. Again though, watching Marneus Calgar or the Deceiver getting turned into a Chaos Spawn is absolutely fucking hilarious.

Heavy Support

  • Defiler - So here's this giant enemy crab-Dreadnought. Your Swiss-army vehicle; can do anything to some degree or another - and do it well. Has better hand-to-hand capability than a Dreadnought (boasting both more attacks and Fleet), better shooting than a Dreadnought (with access to more long-range weaponry, including a Battle Cannon) and it comes Possessed by default. This unit is amazingly flexible; you can have it shoot off plenty of firepower when stationary (It has a Reaper Autocannon, Battle Cannon, and Heavy Flamer by default), can be upgraded to be even more shooty (You can replace the Reaper Autocannon with a Twin-Linked Lascannon or Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter, and the Heavy Flamer can be replaced with a Havoc Launcher), or you can go the full Monty for the Assault route, and replace the Autocannon and Flamer for Close-Combat weapons, giving +1 attack each. With its ability to fire off tons of firepower OR rush forward and rape things with its giant crab-claws, this thing is as versatile as units come. Its main drawbacks are that its melee and firing accuracy are average (BS3), and that it is an extremely large vehicle, and one that will attract a lot of enemy fire, causing enemies to put a lot of resources into attacking its weak point for massive damage.


  • Havocs - The cheapest choice, but not a bad one, either. They're the exact same as your Chaos Space Marine troops, except they can take 4 special/heavy weapons at any squad size. Unlike Devastators, you can take special weapons instead of heavies, and at the same cost as generic CSMs - up to four regardless of squad size. These can be used for relatively cheap tank-, MEQ- or horde-hunting units depending on special weapon of choice, and you gain the advantage of being able to move and fire. Chosen can do this too, but they're much more expensive for the same statline and gain only Infiltrate to show for it. As far as Marks go, avoid Slaanesh and Khorne; those two only really benefit melee units, and generally speaking Havocs aren't supposed to be in melee. Chaos Glory is cheap and gives them a morale boost (useful if they take lots of return fire), but Nurgle and Tzeentch tend to be best, because they give them some much-needed staying power. Mark of Nurgle + good piece of cover = pain in the ass to kill.


  • Land Raider It's the classic Land Raider pattern (aka, schizophrenic). The Chaos one is slightly more useful than the Loyalist version, and usually serves one of two major roles - as a heavy offensive vehicle (it's expensive but dear Tzeentch does it get the job done whilst being a giant fire magnet in the process) and to insert your huge, nasty, pulsating close combat squad deep into the soft moist folds of your opposition. If you use it for the latter, load it up with Extra Armor, Daemonic Possession, or both, and keep it rolling forward. If you choose the former, slam a Havoc Launcher on that bitch and start dropping templates. It's also possible to combine the two roles, by having it transport a Havoc Squad or the like and/or acting as a mobile strongpoint in defense.


  • Obliterators - A long time Chaos army favorite with plenty of Dakka fitted in a small, deadly package. Formerly the Techmarines of their chapters, Obliterators have contracted a warp-contagion that sears their flesh to their armor and causes their weaponry, likewise, to be subsumed. In time they have become enormous arcano-cyborgs, not quite marine, not quite machine, not quite daemon. They're tough as hell and can take phenomenal punishment. For 75 points, you get a model with 2 wounds, a 2+ armor save, 5+ invulnerable save, Fearless, and the ability to Deep Strike. Suffice to say, they can find a role in damned near any army, since they can soak up damage and demolish squads in pretty short order. Timing is everything with an Obliterator drop, and you need to know when to drop them to deal with a problem unit, be it a cover-camping squad of Fire Warriors or a big squad of Spess Mehreen tacticals. Getting them into heavy cover basically turns them into a strongpoint. They're also decent in assaults, but make sure you keep them away from faster units with power weapons (Howling Banshees come to mind), as Obliterators use Power Fists, ergo giving them Initiative 1. You likewise want to avoid getting them tarpitted, because they will lose their purpose for the bulk of the game because it takes them forever to kill anything not a vehicle or small squad in close-combat.

The Oblit's list of usable weaponry(They all come in a single model):

    • Lascannon
    • Plasma Cannon
    • Multi-Melta
    • Twin-linked Flamer
    • Twin-linked Plasma Gun
    • Twin-linked Melta gun
    • Power Fist


  • Chaos Predator - The same as loyalist version. An old stalwart which sees plenty of use, though it's more expensive than the loyalist version and generally not a good use of points and heavy support slots - if players want raw firepower, they usually go with a Defiler or Vindicator, and if they really want the armor they'll often go the full Monty and grab a Land Raider. Still, it can be quite effective; slam an Autocannon turret with Lascannon Sponsons for vehicle-hunting, or keep it with the Heavy Bolter Sponsons for killing Infantry. Its biggest advantage is that it has 13 Front Armor, giving it better defense than any Chaos vehicle other than the Land Raider (whose mighty 14 armor on all sides comes in handy) and Vindicator (which has the same armor as the Predator), making it a good close-support tank in a pinch.


  • Chaos Vindicator - No longer is the Chaos Vindicator the sole property of the Iron Warriors! Dozer Blade included. Better than the loyalist version for several reasons, not the least of which is that it can mount a Havoc Launcher so it can fire whilst moving in to close the gaps between the enemy and its Demolisher Cannon, which will basically win back its points the second it fires. Heavy front armor and intense firepower means that this thing will draw huge amounts of abuse. If you throw Daemonic Possession on this thing, you will have a field day watching players go to obscene lengths to kill/get away from it.

Building your Army

The same fucking advice /tg/ gives for everyone: Start with 2 troops and an HQ choice.

Recommendations include a Chaos Lord and 2 basic Marine squads with Rhinos.

The Chaos Marine Battleforce Box is a good start, giving you a Rhino, Khorne Berserker Squad, enough bitz for 2 Chaos Marine Squads, and a 5-strong Possessed Squad for about 90 bucks (You can find it much cheaper on eBay, and have the satisfaction of not sponsoring Games Workshop's rampant price inflation).

You'll still need a commander (and you have a shitton of options for even a basic Chaos Lord), but it's a good starting force for a newcomer.

Other than the Possessed, of course. But even they can be used to make nifty conversions, so it's not all bad.

Tactics

  • The Drop-and-Spray: (Tzeentch-Only) This tactic involves the use of a Chaos Lord with Terminator Armor, a Mark of Tzeentch, and a Deathscreamer and, ideally, a Combi-Melta. It can alternately be done by a Deathscreamer Tzeentchian Lord with Wings or a Jump Pack/Melta Bombs/Daemon Weapon. In the case of the former, pair him with a squad of Terminators (preferably with combi-meltas/combi-flamers and either a Reaper Autocannon Terminator or a Heavy Flamer terminator). In the case of the latter, kit a Raptor Squad up with Plasma or Melta Guns. In either case, have a team with an Icon charge (using a METAL BOX) into range (they can deep-strike with pinpoint accuracy within 6" of the Rhino) and deep-strike the entire formation of Terminators/Raptors right into rapid-fire range - and then unload their weaponry. Between the Bolters and special weapons of the Terminators or Raptors and Deathscreamer of the Lord, this will drop an armor-shredding volume of firepower right into the enemy ranks. Mark of Tzeentch will ensure this squad survives to continue to be a pain in the ass for the rest of the game, one that enemies will devote a truly ridiculous amount of firepower to destroying (especially in the case of the Terminators) - to very limited avail. Just as planned.
  • Maximum Fuck: (Khorne-Only) Coined for the name of an Angry Marines battle barge, this attack solves the problem of getting squads into close-combat in the least efficient way possible; grab a fully-kitted-out Berserker squad (Lord optional but recommended), and shove the lot of them into a possessed Land Raider. Be sure that the squad has an Icon. Zoom into close range, using the Land Raider's assault vehicle trait to ensure your troops arrive to thrust deep into the soft moist folds of your opposition. Now that you're in combat, use the icon to call down a Daemon Pack or two to help out.
  • Cut and Thrust: (Slaanesh-Only) Simple, simple, simple. Grab a 10-strong squad of standard Chaos Marines, load them up with a pair of flamers, an Icon of Slaanesh, and give their Aspiring Champion a Power Weapon and (optionally) Melta Bombs. Give them a Metal Box. With Initiative 5, they will strike before the vast majority of enemy troops, and their access to Flamers will add a shitton of hits to the shooting phase as they rush in. When they arrive, you should have precious little trouble dispatching most enemies that aren't dedicated close combat troops, and it's fairly frightening just how cost-effective this can be if exploited correctly.
  • Anthrax, Bane of Tarpits: (Nurgle-Only) An ongoing problem with Chaos Marine armies is that, due to the cost per-unit of their troops, they are easily Tarpitted. There is, however, a way around this, and it involves the use of a Nurgle Sorcerer with Nurgle's Rot and optionally Wind of Chaos - ideally paired with a small group of Plague Marines and a Metal Box. Press forward, and use Nurgle's Rot and Wind to deal with the Tarpit the old-fashioned way, optionally separating the Sorcerer from the Plague Marines whilst the Marines get stuck in on-purpose. Wind can deal with the enemy being cover-camping shits on the opening turn, whilst Nurgle's Rot can be used even when the Sorcerer is in close-combat - or when his targets are! Approach during the movement phase (whilst the Plague Marines have the tarpit tied) and drop this thing to splatter every model within 6 inches with an automatic Strength 3 hit. Between the Plague Marines' natural resilience and the sheer volume of hits this adds to the mix, even a fuckhuge blob of Kroot will be bled dry within a turn or two!
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