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.

There's an idea I've been toying with lately, and I was hoping for some (useful) advice on the subject.

'Mass' vanilla Chaos Marines. Maybe not true Horde levels, but 60 marines for 900 points doesn't seem too bad, the sacrifice being the upgrades.
But really, they would outnumber any other elite army, with units stronger than that of a typical horde, and against swarmers (orks, nids, guard), their warriors are
still a great deal tougher. Besides, the fact that they come armed with both a bolter and a pistol with a close combat weapon means they can pretty effecively
take on a role as gunners or assault units.

True, there are some things that would give them a rough time, but no one ever said I only had a 900 point list.
I was just wondering about some opinions you folks might have on the subject.

Phew, thought myself about such an army from time to time - biggest problems are armys with many pieplates...
and your lack of special weapons.
Oh and what about transport? 60 footsloggers will be lost and shot to ribbons.
Maybe it looks funny on the table with so many Marines, but i see no chance of winning with'em.

2 special weapons firing out of a rhino is not a bad idea, but if you also want them win a close combat, costs would be expensive.

They cannot regroup under half-strength, correct?

Greyhunter-longfang list outshoot and outfight you.

Rhinos are very durable in the 5th edition.
I'd take a few full CSM units with 2 special weapons of the same type each and mount them into Rhinos.
Use HS units to give fire support.

Vanilla CSMs are generally considered one of the best basic Troop units, due to their great stats, special weapon options, and extreme versatility. As such, spamming them in Rhinos certainly isn't a terrible idea on the face of it.

I would definitely give them some special weapons, though. Make half your squads shooty, with plasma, meltas, etc., and the other half assaulty.

Alternately, if you're playing 2000pts. and really want horde tactics, I would give each unit an Icon of Chaos Glory, and take a squad of Lesser Daemons for each one! Lesser Daemons are often overlooked, but they can assault immediately after Deep Striking, and can take objectives but don't count as Troops. Hence, you suddenly have a dozen objective takers, half in transports and half that Deep Strike.

Anyway, this would be a very fun list to play in the 1500-2000pt. level; no idea if it would actually be competitive, but it would definitely throw your opponent off just for being so different and would make for an interesting battle.

I have to agree that competitively, this idea works far better with Space Wolves. Considering that you can get an equivalent GH squad for around 80% of the cost of a CSM squad, those extra points let you field an additional unit or two which makes alot of difference.

But, I think you can make a very strong army that relies on lots of CSMs. The key would be to keep them mechanized and properly geared up. 2x Specials + Power Fist will be standard. A cheap Icon can also be a bonus but if its too expensive, you're just cutting back on your numbers.

The idea of playing with a mix of CSM and LD is very good. 10 Lesser Daemons is about 1/2 the price of a typical CSM squad but doubles the bodies on the table. Going with a 1:1 ratio would give you alot of numbers while still maintaining the needed weapons. Also LD are good at fighting enemies that like to kill Marines. Things like Banshees, TH/SS Terminators and MCs. Its better to tarpit them with a Daemon unit then let your Marines get smacked around.

The lists I currently use usually have my Marines pointed up with two specials.
And lesser deamons are a must for my army anyways(Word Bearers).

I was just wanting some feed-back on how my theoretical list would do. That, and yes, I thought the idea of massing marines was kind of entertaining.
But yeah, I don't think I would make them footslog across the table without a 35 point Rhino for a little extra mobility.

The main advantage of the 35 point rhino is not mobility, but durability. As a previous poster mentioned, they keep you from getting blasted off the table by pie plates.

Last time I ran my all-infantry CSM list against my friend's Guard, it was not a pretty sight.

The Great Enemy wrote:The lists I currently use usually have my Marines pointed up with two specials.
And lesser deamons are a must for my army anyways(Word Bearers).

I was just wanting some feed-back on how my theoretical list would do. That, and yes, I thought the idea of massing marines was kind of entertaining.
But yeah, I don't think I would make them footslog across the table without a 35 point Rhino for a little extra mobility.

Well my standard 2k list is actually 50 decked out Chaos Marines in Rhinos supported by a mix of Defilers/Vindicators and Daemon Princes. It seems to work out well.

willydstyle wrote:The main advantage of the 35 point rhino is not mobility, but durability. As a previous poster mentioned, they keep you from getting blasted off the table by pie plates.

Last time I ran my all-infantry CSM list against my friend's Guard, it was not a pretty sight.

Ha. You underestimate my ability to fail most of my 3+ armour saves incurred from an exploding rhino.
Usually, my wrecked transports do more damage to me than enemy shooting.