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Hello, just signed up today and figured I would prime the forum pump with some general discussion.

Mainly I am here to accumulate advice and tactics from those willing to give it. I realize that there is, of course, an abundance of material already available on the site, and I intend to explore that. For the time being though, if anyone would like to give some advice on said topic of discussion, I would greatly appreciate it. I play as the choas space marines, more specifically, the Black Legion. Yes, I know it is most likely a frequently played army, but hey I'm new and the idea of getting to try a little of everything is appealing for now. My main problem is just building an army. I saved up and bought a battle box and a terminator lord on the advice of my brother in law, who has been playing for some time now. I ask him most questions, but thought it would be nice to put an ear to the ground and see what there was to hear from others. Where do I start? What makes a good beginner army based on what I have bought? What size army is the best to start with? What should I buy as I progress as a player to enhance my army best?

The reason I need the advice is because, as a rule, I tend to play games with a "jack of all trades" system, which I have been told (and scolded) by many players is a BAD idea. They said that I should settle on something specific and see how it pans out, but once again there is the question of where to start. Right now I have a heavy bolter, bolters, bolt pistols, power knives, chain swords, plasma pistols, plasma rifles, flamers, a power fist and some other random bits that were given to me that I have not explored. I have 20 basic marines, 10 khorn berzerkers, 5 posessed marines, a rhino apc, 3 oblits, and my terminator lord.

With all of that in mind, what can I build and what is a good way to get started? Just share any and all info about your play style and ideas, as long as you think they will help me, post it and I will read it.

Thank you all for your time!

First of all welcome to Dakka!
I play a Black Legion army as well for the same reason as you. I want to have access to whatever units I like with it still fitting to a back story.
Your post was very long and I don't know if it will get very many responses. Next time you should try to be a little more specific but I will answer a few of your questions.
If you have read some of the posts on the army lists forum then you may have noticed that unit champions are almost always armed with a powerfist, this is so the unit can deal with almost anything in CC, walkers, carnifexes, ect. This is something you should take into consideration. You may have also noticed that most people include two special weapons in their squads. Chaos is generaly a very aggressive force and should constantly be moving forward. You've probably read the chaos codex and you should know what weapons and equipment are available to each unit so build them accordingly.

I hope this little bit of information helped you and good luck

Welcome to Dakka!

While not a CSM player, I'll say from experience collecting an army all willy-nilly is slow and expensive. From my experience, you'd be better off getting a 500pt army together to start, so you can play small, fast games to learn the mechanics and try out your units to see what you like and what works for you, and then to go from there.

Welcome!

As far as collecting goes, decide on a 500pt list to begin with. It doesn't matter what's in it but try not to glue everything together! Magnets are your friend here, but if you don't want the hassle, some blu-tac (or the US equivalent if its not the same stuff - basically what you use to stick posters on the wall) works just as well for plastic minis.

Play a few games against as many different armies as you can. Most clubs/FLGS will have people who are more than willing to do a few 'training' games. See what works for you and also see what style you play.
Most people tend to naturally fall into their own playstyle - are you agressive, rushing into CC, or are you more cautious, hanging back and shooting from cover to whittle down your opponent? The great thing about CSM is that they are one of the few armies that can succesfully accomodate most styles of play.

Once you've got a core army that seems to work well, then look to expand on it but bear in mind these two points.
1: Stay focussed! Add more units that fit with your strategy.
2: Watch your back! Look at what will beat your army and make contingency plans (e.g adding a PF to a CC unit so it doesn't get munched by enemy walkers).

Finally - beware of Gamer ADD!!!!
If you like Chaos, stick with it. Don't worry about creating a 'netdeck' (copy of a good list posted here or on other sites) as when your collection grows you'll be able to pick those off the shelf. If you just buy to someone elses formula it only works if you fully understand how to get the best out of it and you don't run up against a pre-prepared counter. Learning as your army grows gives you a much deeper understanding of its pros and cons.
If you get bored and change armies every five minutes (like me ) it takes much longer to become a good player and you never finish painting anything (this is bad!!)

Best of luck with it all and happy gaming!!

C_C

Jack of all trades is diffrent then most people think it is. you can do it dont get me wrong. you just have to tweak it so it does work

my friend plays CSM he uses Khorn to be the 'distraction' force behind his army as they rush in going for the power weaponless units *or lack of some for that matter* then he takes his noise marines and just pumps random squads with heavy 3 24" bolter rounds. its really strange when a squad spends the time to shoot knornates about to charge only to die from 30 bolter shots from a diffrent unit.

but you have to play smart when you do this so you dont get triped up attacking the wrong things at the wrong time. CSM is really good at 'jack of all trades' as they have units with one job and one job only where SM have to settle for basic guys with diffrent guns.

at 500 your going to have to play with pretty much 2 squads of troops and a lord . not much to go on but what the hell... try it out

Wow, thanks for all the responses so far! Sorry about the length and all though. Anyway, it sounds as though 500 points is a good starting place, so with that in mind is it best to have a little of both CC and ranged? I know that I will be up against Tau, SM and a straight up chaos demon army because I have friends that play those. My first game was against the demon army, and it was so deep strike and CC oriented that being as shooty as possible was the key for sure. Orks went down by 2s and 3s each round but, of course, there were 40-60 of them and CC was insane. So I want to keep those bases covered at least. Sounds like maybe some berzerkers and a squad of bolters to start? I like the idea of having bolters due to the 24" range, but pistols allow for chain swords, which keeps them out of trouble from CC squads, plus I could put a PF champion in it like you all mentioned. I will probably try just a bolter team first, for the feel of it anyway. It should help me learn the tactics of movement, since I will have a CC squad of berzerkers to help hold off any combat from the bolter squad.

Thanks again, and keep 'em comin!

Remember that basic CSM get bolter, bolt pistol AND chainsword, so if you begin the shooting phase more than 6" from your enemy, use bolters for maximum effect. 6" or less then shoot pistols and charge for maximum CC goodness.

Remember even against orks its better to charge than be charged. 10CSM will put out 10 S4 pistol shots and 31 S4 attacks at I4 on the charge with no upgrades to the champ and no mark - and your high armour save and toughness helps you to survive longer in combat.

If you want jack of all trades normal CSM are the way to go. The are effective in both CC and at a range. If this play style really works for you after a few games then you may want to invest in a squad of Noise Marines, they can shoot better than normal marines and they will strike first against most opponents.

I would personally suggest Plague Marines for your basic troop choices.