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Hello everyone I'm just starting 40k and Ive browsed through here a bit. Right now I'm leaning toward CSM, are they viable to play with? Id start small so any suggestions would be appreciated.

They're alright. Just have a few units with little use like spawn.

To start off either a sorc or a daemon prince is a good hq. 10 man csm squads or (smaller) bezerkers/plagues make good troops. vindicators/defilers are good for heavies

Thank you for input.

I would *not* start with the BattleForce box. Too few Khornes, too many CSM (what? a unit of 8 and another of 7, WTF?). If the units were 10 and 10, then okay with the rhino, but the Possessed SM suck. This is the poorly put together box:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440167a&prodId=prod1090186&rootCatGameStyle=

Just start buying squad boxes (khorneBs and CSM are the better deals) or ebay lot auctions.

More than half my (still unpainted) CSM army is converted BattleForMaccragge marines. I bought Chaos rhinos for my regular SM, and have been using the chaos bling for conversions and terrain. So, if you're like most of us, you have extra marines laying about ... have them embrace the Dark Side! Particularly, adding bursting intestines for Plaguers is not hard with green stuff ... sorry no pix to prove that yet.


Khorne & Plaguers are the easy to play funboys. 2 or 3 rhinos. DP hq, as kenshin620 said. 2 to 4 Oblits are the bees' knees and you've got a basic CSM army.

I've had a good amount of success with

1-2 flying slaanesh princes with lash of move-where-I-want

1-2 squads of noise marines with assault 2 / heavy 3 bolters on each and champ with a S5 Ap3 flamer
1-2 squads of plague marines with 2 meltaguns, powerfist champ (T5 3+ save 4+ FNP and defensive grenades makes them laugh off normal guns.)

5-9 obliterators with move-and-shoot big guns

The first downside to the list is you have to buy several blisters of slaanesh special weapons to make SB noise marines. (unless you can convert your own.)

On the plus side, where khorne can't shoot for crap (10 berzerkers maybe get 10 shots off then charge in, 10 noises maybe get 48 shots + super flamer before counter-charging something. Much more flexible. Super flamer also ignores cover saves and kills lots on 2+ or 3+ autohit.)

Anything too armored for slaanesh, 9 obliterators, 2 princes, and the meltaguns/powerfist plague marines killed.

All those oblits get pricey.

I'm taking my AoBR termies and having them grow some green stuff, switch dental plans ... move to the EyeofTerror zip code, etc. ...

Yeah, the heavy support choice is flexible.

A few defilers or lascannon predators could largely do the same job. I like oblits because move-and-shoot and the flexible weapons like heavy flamers against huge hordes or MM/TL Meltas against landraiders.

I gave up on berserkers or thousand sons being able to compete with slaanesh or nurgle though.

3 S4 AP5 shots each at 24" kills the same MEQ troops as 1 S4 AP3 shot at 24", but kills 3 times as many AP5-6 things. Also kills at least twice as many if the MEQ are in cover (rendering thousand sons useless.)

The super flamethrower and free 30-50+ extra bolter shots matches any role berserkers can do other than smack-armor but that's what every other squad in my army can do.