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I am a long time gamer. I started highschool playing MTG, switched to video games, and now I am doing what I always wanted, which is WH40k now that I am older and can afford it.

I have started a Chaos Space Marine army, and my daughter has started Tau.

I have a noob question that I have not been able to find much on with my weeks of reading and research. Maybe my google-fu is weak.

Chosen: I know for some reason no one likes them. they seem to be the least favored of all elites in the codex next to maybe the Helbrute. I have both thanks to DV
I see in the Codex the Chosen have numerous load out options. from an all Plasma squad to a Melee focused squad like mini raptors without deepstrike.
The only Chosen models I have been able to find are the DV ones. I have seen CSM marines on Ebay labeled as Chosen. My question is prior to DV what was used for Chosen. Are Chosen just normal Marines that you call Chosen and give them power weapons and plasmas?

Seems like the only way to get a true chosen squad with additional options is kit bashing. For someone that is new to this, and not experienced or comfortable cutting up his models what are the other options? Is this the intention of GW?

I know proxying is ok in friendly games but not necessarily at my FLGS.

Could someone please fill me in on the history of these miniatures if there is one and what my options are? I would absolutely love to play around with an all plasma squad, or even an all power weapon squad. Just for fun.

Please leave out the "don't worry about it Chosen suck" type responses. I know people dont like them, but I do.

Don't worry about, Chosen are a horrible choice.


Naw just kidding.

A few options:
1. Pick up this/ That will give you some more Plasma guns.
2. Buy lots and lots of Chaos Space Marines and equip them all with Plasma Guns.

You can make your chosen with your standard CSM boxes.
Coolest is to kitbash. Give that standard CSM a Chainsword from the Raptors kit, or a chainaxe from the Berzerkers - you get it. The best thing is that all those SM and CSM bits fit together without any cutting, straight out of the box!


Besides the DV nodels, there are no official models and there never have been.

 thenoobbomb wrote:
You can make your chosen with your standard CSM boxes.
Coolest is to kitbash. Give that standard CSM a Chainsword from the Raptors kit, or a chainaxe from the Berzerkers - you get it. The best thing is that all those SM and CSM bits fit together without any cutting, straight out of the box!


Besides the DV nodels, there are no official models and there never have been.

Thank you, that is exactly what I was wondering. So I could take some CSM, equip all plasmas, and paint them a lot cleaner than the rest of my Nurgle models and call them Chosen? If that is the case, im buying a box of CSM today! I shoul dprobably start magnetizing.

Evil Craft makes some very nice Not Chaos Space Marine models, which include chaos plasma guns, melta, etc. which are perfect for chosen models. Right now their store is closed for another week or so.

Better Plasmas:



Puppetswar also carries a very nice line of shoulder pads that can be used for CSM

redleger wrote:

 thenoobbomb wrote:
You can make your chosen with your standard CSM boxes.
Coolest is to kitbash. Give that standard CSM a Chainsword from the Raptors kit, or a chainaxe from the Berzerkers - you get it. The best thing is that all those SM and CSM bits fit together without any cutting, straight out of the box!


Besides the DV nodels, there are no official models and there never have been.

Thank you, that is exactly what I was wondering. So I could take some CSM, equip all plasmas, and paint them a lot cleaner than the rest of my Nurgle models and call them Chosen? If that is the case, im buying a box of CSM today! I shoul dprobably start magnetizing.

Yes.

Or even less clean, of course! The best way to denote them as Chosen, aside from their equipment, is by their paintjob, and by adding some more bits, like those flesh-coat-things that are included in the CSM box.

I find that a great way to distinguish Chosen from regular Marines is to give them more embellishments. As yours are Nurglite, trophy racks with heads impaled on them, that Nurgle banner with a skeleton hanging off it, and other such grotesque symbols of devotion to Nurgle would be appropriate. Another embellishment that is popular with all flavours of Space Marine would be non-standard helmets. The three-eyed helmet from the CSM box is a good one for that. Third party bits (and bits from other GW kits, which you can find on eBay - Raptors are a good source for this) are very good for making models look distinct.

The other thing with Chosen is that each one is his own character. They are not rank and file, they are individuals whose unique histories and personalities should set them apart visually from even their squad members. A good way to achieve this is to apply the embellishments I mentioned, but in such a fashion that no two Chosen are alike.

 Frozen Ocean wrote:
I find that a great way to distinguish Chosen from regular Marines is to give them more embellishments. As yours are Nurglite, trophy racks with heads impaled on them, that Nurgle banner with a skeleton hanging off it, and other such grotesque symbols of devotion to Nurgle would be appropriate. Another embellishment that is popular with all flavours of Space Marine would be non-standard helmets. The three-eyed helmet from the CSM box is a good one for that. Third party bits (and bits from other GW kits, which you can find on eBay - Raptors are a good source for this) are very good for making models look distinct.

The other thing with Chosen is that each one is his own character. They are not rank and file, they are individuals whose unique histories and personalities should set them apart visually from even their squad members. A good way to achieve this is to apply the embellishments I mentioned, but in such a fashion that no two Chosen are alike.

Now that is exactly the kind of fluffy answer I was looking for. Thank you. that makes perfect sense. I am already working on this.

My idea is to get 5 plasma Chosen, and 5 claw chosen to put in my land raider. maybe even run them as 2 seperate squads situation depending. There is no other squad where every member get 2 attacks that I have seen. I think they can be useful even though I have heard everything to the contrary. Plus I am not horribly competitive, and would love to see the look on someones face when I drop 5 lightning claw Chosen in on them from a Landraider.

I'm glad I could provide!

You are fortunate in your choice of God, as the Mark of Nurgle is by far the best Mark on every single unit (other than Raptors fighting Space Marines, as going first in combat makes an enormous difference). As for the competitiveness of Chosen, their only downfall is that they're no more survivable than Space Marines, and each death is quite a loss. In terms of utility, though, it's a squad of Space Marines armed only with special weapons; they can do pretty much anything if given the chance, and plasma is a pretty good choice (as it is effective against almost anything). If only we had Drop Pods!

The other great thing about Chosen models is that you can use them as non-Chosen if you so choose (usually Aspiring Champions or special weapon bearers). To this end, I heavily recommend you magnetise their arms.

Something I've seen as being quite popular, even before the Cypher dataslate, is using Dark Angels Veterans models as the basis for chaos Chosen squads - the robes and hoods make them look like a cult within the cult, an inner circle, as it were.