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I am seriously considering beginning another army (on top of the Necrons, SM, and DE I already have), mainly because I like all of the stuff chaos SMs can do, and a lot of their units seems really awesome and interesting. Should i at least throw down for the Dark Vengeance set, or no?

Do it! The models of DV are awesome and the Codex is all in all well balanced and (as my experience goes) much fun to play with.

The book has some things that may have your opponent saying " " but the troops are average. Most of the power armor units are almost copy paste with plague marines coming out on top.

If you want a decent army from this new codex (and by decent I'm talking about just having a chance to be "in" the fight against a mid tier army), you have to build around a single purpose. You can't "mix and match" too much and still have success like you could in previous books. So with that being said, knowing the lists you get from this book are only good at doing one thing at a time, try looking through it (borrow a friend's or browse at a shop that will let you), and see if there is a list you can come up with that grabs you. If there is, then I would say go for it.

On the other hand, if you're looking to have Noise Marines with 1K Sons backed up by Forgefiends all supported by charging Khorne Berserkers then I would say no, probably not worth it to you unless you REALLY REALLY want that and don't mind getting consistently crushed on the table top.

EDIT:

RE the DV set. Yes, the Chaos Marines in that set are amazing! I actually use the Lord as my Sorcerer. The Chosen are really fantastic looking, but they are armed in a completely stupid way (and honestly, Chosen - not so great in this book IMO). This means that you will likely have to convert them, or do what I did. My Chaos army has a large section of marines. So I just mixed the DV "Chosen" into my squads where appropriate and use them as Champions. So the the guy with two lightning claws goes in my CC unit, the Dark Apostle looking guy goes in the unit that my sorcerer joins and acts as the champion of his retinue (very fluffy that way lol) and can accept challenges on his behalf, etc. etc.

Modelling wise, I always found that the CSM are by FAR the most fun faction to convert and paint in the game, particularly of the MEQs. There is just so much stuff you can do with green stuff and different colour schemes, due to the army's individualistic nature. Tentacles, horns, mutated cthuhlu faces, go nuts!

Only orks come close in fun/conversion opportunities, but you need to paint a LOT of green.

That being said, gameplay wise, Chaos is not amazing, but it is good strength wise. Nowhere near SW or IG levels tho.

Chaos DOES make a very nice main faction, because it is essentially 4 different chapters at one. You kinda need to make themes based on a single, at most two gods, and each god plays somewhat differently. That means that Chaos will potentially last you a long time, as when you get bored, you can simply try out a different themed list by only changing half your units, as HS and FA choices tend to be similar. The new codex does a much better job of motivating you to try out all the different units. Chaos also works particularly well with CDaemons, obviously.

This also is kinda the only kaviat here. CSM are better a main faction, not a small ally contingent, or a single themed list. As allies they only work well with daemons. And unlike, say, SWs where you can get the obvious units from each slot and experience most of what they got to offer, chaos rewards having a lot of options. This also means that list building is not quite as simple.

Finally, CSM DO play somewhat as SMs, so that might also be a bit of an overlap. Gameplay wise, perhaps a horde army like Tyranids or Orks will give you more variety.

I've had lots of fun with the new codex, and I've won about 50% of the games I've played with them. I don't play super competitively mind you, so if you're looking for a tournament army, they probably aren't really what they're looking for. My favourite unit has been a 10 strong raptor squad with MoS and the Icon of Excess and 2 meltaguns with a Slaaneshi Lord with the Black Mace. They can jump around, melt up armour and butcher everyone in CC. The AP 4 from the Black Mace hasn't even really been a detriment, due to the sheer volume of attacks that it allows you to put out.

Plague Marines are still awesome, Noise Marines are pretty solid, particularly against xenos armies, Heldrakes can and will make a joke of MEQs, Bikes are better than ever, spawns are nasty, cultists can be good in numbers, and Sorcerers can be mastery level 3 for pretty cheap.

I just like the variety of the codex as you can do well with any of the SC's allowing you to use a lot of fluffy army lists and still be able to compete...whereas other codices have very limited competitive builds

the new raptors are fairly cool.

i would def cut off some of the extra derpy looking squigly lines they put on them tho. (the ones that go down the front of their leg armour)

Well, no, I think its not worth it. But you could always go with an ally detachment.

Not the most efficient codex, especially after SW, necrons, DE, GK and IG which set the bar quite high.

However, i find it interesting to build a list from it, and there are some fun effects in game.

It you are playing strictly to win, and aim at a stable force, then CSM are not a good thing.
If you want a globally balanced codex, with some fun/stupid effects during game, then yes.

if you dont have SW and never plan to have them then csm are ok.

kb305 wrote:
the new raptors are fairly cool.

i would def cut off some of the extra derpy looking squigly lines they put on them tho. (the ones that go down the front of their leg armour)

I really liked the old ones more.

I am a big fan of CSM coming from MEQ for the conversion possibilities and freedom to have some variance among the army... and green-stuff possibilities.

For me, Chaos is the hobbyist army that isn't deadweight on the board. It's the one that gets all the shiny Forgeworld kits and shoulderpads and expensive kitbashes and backstory, without sacrificing the ability to slap around mediocre lists on the table. The internal power distribution is fairly narrow, not a lot of units are markedly better or worse than their competition.

But in terms of power level, Guard they are not. Most point pricing is on the conservative side of competitive, especially options for the now-mandatory Champions. The one thing they do rather well is deliver a massive number of annoying Fearless wounds like blobs of 20 marines or 30 cultists or 5 spawn with Lords or Dark Apostles. Too many to gun down quickly and won't ever break in combat. The downside there is that you do kind of need to get Fearless from somewhere because CSM are the one army that both wants to get stuck in and isn't immune to Sweeping Advance by default.

I thought DV was a good buy. I tend to go for the look of the models more than anything else. 20 cultists right now will run you $40US. And the hellbrute isn't sold by itself yet. Im sure it'll be $50 when it does though.

I picked it up for those reasons alone.

I'm loving the CSM. My khorne themed force has rolled Orks, Nids, 'Crons, DA, SW, SM, IG, and even a HH marine force with Mortarion... Most of these multiple times. I highly recommend Heldrakes, Spawn, Juggernaut Lords, Slaanesh FNP CSM vets, Nurgle Bikers, and Cultists. Throw in an ADL and table something.

I personally have done very well running twin defilers, but the interwebz say that's dumb so YMMV on those.

 GreyHamster wrote:
The downside there is that you do kind of need to get Fearless from somewhere because CSM are the one army that both wants to get stuck in and isn't immune to Sweeping Advance by default.

DE arent fearless and half of the units in their codex are meant for melee with little or no shooting. It's a sad book

I think it depends on how you play. If you are a tournament player and/or win-at-all-costs type then read the article on BoLS which runs through the army from a math hammer point-of-view.

Personally I collect what I like the look or feel of, as I play for fun and entertainment. I don't mind losing.

Without any competitive head on I really like the codex, it has loads of options and a really wide variety of units to choose from. I've gone for a Nurgle themed army with plague zombies and some foregeworld bits. I have not given any genuine consideration to whether it'll win, but it is great fun to build, convert and paint. Chaos models have character and allow you to really indulge your painting and painting skills.

I am adding a unit of recently 'fallen' former space marines with their original livery, just crossing out the Imperial insignia, it gives me a chance to paint several marine colour schemes which seems like fun.

I like the fact that you can have armies of all different designs in terms of look as well as composition. Want a swarm then have loads of cultists. Want a hyper elite you can go for terminators and chosen. There is a sound choice of vehicles as well.

 McNinja wrote:
I am seriously considering beginning another army (on top of the Necrons, SM, and DE I already have), mainly because I like all of the stuff chaos SMs can do, and a lot of their units seems really awesome and interesting. Should i at least throw down for the Dark Vengeance set, or no?

I'd actually pass on DV. Cultists are the only thing I use from my DV force. I outgrew it awful fast.

 Lobukia wrote:

 McNinja wrote:
I am seriously considering beginning another army (on top of the Necrons, SM, and DE I already have), mainly because I like all of the stuff chaos SMs can do, and a lot of their units seems really awesome and interesting. Should i at least throw down for the Dark Vengeance set, or no?

I'd actually pass on DV. Cultists are the only thing I use from my DV force. I outgrew it awful fast.

Yeah, the cultists and the Lord are about the only good chaos things you'll get from DV. Hellbrute isn't bad, but it was basically useless for me, as I already had 3 dreadnoughts from before, and the chosen are poorly armed. I use the Chosen as Aspiring champions for my marine squads though, so it's not a total loss. Unless you plan on running all or the majority of the contents of the DV box, I'd pass on it, though if you have a friend who wants to do DA, then it could be a slightly better investment.

 Exergy wrote:

 GreyHamster wrote:
The downside there is that you do kind of need to get Fearless from somewhere because CSM are the one army that both wants to get stuck in and isn't immune to Sweeping Advance by default.

DE arent fearless and half of the units in their codex are meant for melee with little or no shooting. It's a sad book

What I mean by 'wants to get stuck in' is 'can take melee units that aren't terrible.' Wyches and howling banshees don't count.

 GimbleMuggernaught wrote:

 Lobukia wrote:

 McNinja wrote:
I am seriously considering beginning another army (on top of the Necrons, SM, and DE I already have), mainly because I like all of the stuff chaos SMs can do, and a lot of their units seems really awesome and interesting. Should i at least throw down for the Dark Vengeance set, or no?

I'd actually pass on DV. Cultists are the only thing I use from my DV force. I outgrew it awful fast.

Yeah, the cultists and the Lord are about the only good chaos things you'll get from DV. Hellbrute isn't bad, but it was basically useless for me, as I already had 3 dreadnoughts from before, and the chosen are poorly armed. I use the Chosen as Aspiring champions for my marine squads though, so it's not a total loss. Unless you plan on running all or the majority of the contents of the DV box, I'd pass on it, though if you have a friend who wants to do DA, then it could be a slightly better investment.

I plan on converting the Chosen into something else, and I'll have 2 Chaos DV sets by next week. I'm going to use all of the Cultists plus the Chosen as raptors or perhaps Bikers (magic run speed go). The Helbrutes... well, I'll find a use.

I'll be using my Dark Vengeance Chosen models as Champions in CSM squads.

I don't find the DV set to be a MUST have unless you really want the cultists and small rulebook. However, the models are excellent. I'll find a use for most of them, I'm sure.

Nah, the real seller for me was those two red measuring sticks.

DV and FW conversion sets are awesome but standard csms are a waste of money and plastic ( they realy show their age ). If it is worth starting, well, that's up to you.

That's the reason I haven't bought any standard CSM kits yet... I really, really do not like them. They're just ugly. Like the Mutilator models. And the Abaddon model. Yeeesh. You'd think GW would update their line with new codex releases, but nope.

I've been slowly picking up Forge World's HH models for my Chaos army.

 McNinja wrote:
Nah, the real seller for me was those two red measuring sticks.

I needed more plain white dice. Totally worth $100

 Exergy wrote:

 McNinja wrote:
Nah, the real seller for me was those two red measuring sticks.

I needed more plain white dice. Totally worth $100

Those alone are worth at LEAST $200.

I bought the chaos halves from 2 DV sets... Biggest regret of 2012. Seeing the awesome gak the Dark Angels are getting, man, I wish I had kept them instead.

If you're going to play chaos and don't want to embarrass yourself, your only choice is a mono Nurgle Build with as many bikes, Autocannon Havoks and helldrakes as you can afford. Oh yeah, Typhus, zombies and a bike lord with the Burning Brand.

Everything else is just too fragile or expensive. They fethed Noise Marines by making their weapons salvo, so they can't move, basically. A Khorne list is doable, except assault is worthless in 6th.

This is all just one bitter old grognards opinion, and should be taken with a grain of salt.

If you would like to buy my army, PM me