Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hello Dakka, I am supposed to be getting the new CSM codex for yule so I havnt been able to read it yet but while I'm still buying stuff I just wanted to know peoples opinions on which path to take. What are the advantages/disadvantages/secret cool features to different armies. i.e. slanesh, nurgle, thousand suns, etc.

If you're not interested in basing your army around a certain god or legion (which can be quite a bit of fun), then you've got a fair amount of options.

A lot of people really like running a Nurgle lord with plague marines as troop choices, and noise marines are pretty solid now, too. There are plenty of options with the basic chaos marine, and cultists are fun, either as zombies with Typhus or as cheap objective campers.

Heldrakes are widely considered to be pretty darn good, as are chaos bikers and havoks, the latter of which is typically run with four autocannons, though most of their heavy weapon options are pretty decent in the right list. Obliterators are, as before, rather popular as well.

Kharn and Huron are both very effective HQ units, though the basic sorcerer and lord are by no means eclipsed by the special characters, as some of the chaos gear - the black mace, the axe of blind fury, and the burning brand, specifically, are very effective on the table.

There are still a lot of diverse lists showing up in the book, as for the most part, the internal balance between units is pretty solid. There are a few dedicated melee units that are unpopular - warp talons, mutilators, and possessed - but some people seem to be getting some good mileage out of them, so don't write them off without giving them a try and seeing if they work for your list.

If you end up wanting to build a list that focuses around a specific god or legion, then that's pretty easy with the new book and, in some cases, a few allies.

Does aligning with a certain god limit you alot?

The real secret to playing Chaos is picking a fluffy army you like and sticking with it.

With one excepTion, there are ways to build strong / very strong armies themed around any of the Dark Gods. The thing about it is, a year from now, are you going to enjoy playing them?

Pick something you like and find ways to build around it. Propose lists on this board, people will give you all kinds of advice around the details. Figure out who you are going to be playing against, or if you really want to play at all (a lot of people are in it for the models moreso than the TT victories.)

When you have a good sense of that, then, pick your models and go for it!

Iv been enjoying warp talons quite a bit. Usually I run 2 squads of five with the mark of khorne, and I use them to hunt down enemy devastator/heavy weapons teams, or to rip my opponents grunt troops off an objective

I was considering getting that CSM launch pack from GW. The one with codex heldrake forgefiend and warp talons. not troops but I'd want them all eventually.

The launch pack is the same value as all the pieces individually all it does is save you the thirty seconds more it'd take you to add to cart all the items individually

I've had great success running 2 squads of spawn with two Juggernaut Lords (1 Murder Sword, the other w Burning Axe).

FNP possessed are a ton o fun, but not very point efficient.

Feel no pain is crazy, I went against a guy using it and it was so frustrating that even with my high str ap1 weapons he still had a save

If your a hardcore fluff nut dedicating your forces to a god will be "fun". But against good players your probably going to get curbstomped. Some units just preform better with specific marks with the expection being nurgle. You can put that on anything and end up pleased. This opinion is from my experiences on the table top and should not be taken as 100% fact.

Aside from Khorne, most cult troops and marks in general have a niche somewhere; you just have to find out what you want your models to do for you when it comes time to perform.

where do you find out which marks are strong?

The strength of the mark depends on the unit really. MoN is great in general. MoS is good on many things as well because it gives you access to the Icon of Excess. On Warp Talons, Terminators, and Obliteraters MoT can be very nice.

Mark of Khorne on dedicated assault units and heroes is quite a bit of fun. On a full unit of cultists, it's quite amusing.

I'll have to get the new codex before I buy more and just sit and read. Chaos seems to have a lot of moving parts

Chaos has a lot of fluffy builds you can do, so far it has one or two competitive builds, and then a bunch of semi competitive/fun builds. It's actually been kind of overwhelming just deciding on troops (If you aren't doing Plague Marines.)

I have to look them up. I was kinda thinking noise marines but dont know how to decide

I ran a Tzeentch/Nurgle list a few weeks back, cos I had borrowed my friends Codex in one of those "omfg new dex shiny shiny lolololololol" moods.

i had Ahriman, 30 Thousand Sons, 10 Tzeentch Warp Talons with a Nurgle Jazzhand Jump Lord, two squads of Flamer Plague Marines (was fighting Aegis Line'd Guard), and some Nurgle Cultists. I had two ForgeFiends and a Heldrake for vehicles, but other than that it was a wall of 3+/4++ throwing psychic stuff at you.

it came in @2500 points like, but I could have easily cut the Nurgle+Warp Talons for a 1750 list.

 IHateNids wrote:
I ran a Tzeentch/Nurgle list a few weeks back, cos I had borrowed my friends Codex in one of those "omfg new dex shiny shiny lolololololol" moods.

i had Ahriman, 30 Thousand Sons, 10 Tzeentch Warp Talons with a Nurgle Jazzhand Jump Lord, two squads of Flamer Plague Marines (was fighting Aegis Line'd Guard), and some Nurgle Cultists. I had two ForgeFiends and a Heldrake for vehicles, but other than that it was a wall of 3+/4++ throwing psychic stuff at you.

it came in @2500 points like, but I could have easily cut the Nurgle+Warp Talons for a 1750 list.

nurgle lords cannot join tzeench units.

why not?

Its Khorne that hates Tzeentch...

There's a specific restriction on Marked characters joining differently-Marked units. I'm not certain on the wording or page number, but know there have been discussions that Abaddon can't join Marked units despite having every mark (unit that gets FAQ'd).

A character with a mark can't join a unit with a different mark.

You CAN join a marked unit with an unmarked character, and a marked character can join a unit with no mark.

right...

I did that wrong then...

 IHateNids wrote:
why not?

Its Khorne that hates Tzeentch...

Khorne hates Slannesh and vice versa. Tzeentch hates Nurgle. Check the way Daemon Prices hate each other.

I reccomend playing a few small (~1000pt) games using proxies with the various cult units until you find what you like. The chaos dex has a ton of good options available, so build what suits your play style. From my limited experience, Noise marines (either shooty or stabby, not both) have been great, plague marines in min size units have been great, bikes with MoS, MoN, or MoK escorting a lord are fun and versatile, Huron is a very flexible lord and you can get away with fewer rhinos, Csm are cheap and legit with 2 plasma or melta, havocs are good with autocannon or missilelaunchers. If I had to build a competitive army, I would go either Slaanesh or Nurgle

The most competitive cult legion is possibly Nurgle. Death Guard led by Typhus, Nurgle Bikers, Zombies, Helldrakes, Oblits with MoN, and Havocs with autocannons seems like a strong mix.

Exalbaru wrote:
Feel no pain is crazy, I went against a guy using it and it was so frustrating that even with my high str ap1 weapons he still had a save

I face newcrons all the time. I hear ya.

 Byte wrote:

Exalbaru wrote:
Feel no pain is crazy, I went against a guy using it and it was so frustrating that even with my high str ap1 weapons he still had a save

I face newcrons all the time. I hear ya.

In fact, GW has simplified the game at some points. FnP shouldn't work vs. weapons with AP 1 or 2.

 wuestenfux wrote:

 Byte wrote:

Exalbaru wrote:
Feel no pain is crazy, I went against a guy using it and it was so frustrating that even with my high str ap1 weapons he still had a save

I face newcrons all the time. I hear ya.

In fact, GW has simplified the game at some points. FnP shouldn't work vs. weapons with AP 1 or 2.

Aye, but not the same for newcrons' RP.

Are Thousand Sons worth taking at all, though? I'm wondering about how a Khorne + Tzeentch list would work.