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This list is for a Khorne flavoured CSM army. I'm basing it around the CSM battleforce box, to be expanded on. As I get hold of new models the list will develop, but this is quite a slow process. I'm anticipating fighting IG and SM armies, possibly Tyranids, and Orks when I get round to reinforcing them... Anyway, here's the list so far (just for fun, nothing competetive).

HQ

Chaos Lord, Terminator armour, MoK, Combi-melta & Chainfist


Elite

Possessed Marines x 5, Aspiring Champion, IoK

Chosen Marines x 5, Aspiring Champion w/ Plasma Pistol, Plasma Gun, IoK


Troops

Chaos Marines x 10, Aspiring Champion w/ Power Fist & Plasma Pistol, IoK, Heavy Bolter, Meltagun

Khorne Berserkers x 8, Skull Champion w/ Plasma Pistol, Rhino dedicated transport


Heavy Support

Havocs x 5, ASpiring Champion w/ Plasma Pistol & Power Fist, IoK, Missile Launcher, Lascannon, Assault Cannon, Heavy Bolter

All weighs in at about 1150 points thus far... Let me know your thoughts, and what I might best use the reamining points up to 1500 on... I'm not planning on just stopping at 1500, but it's my 1st target...

Thanks

First question.....
Where is that lord going? And why is he armed like that? (don't think you need IOK with Chainfist really....)

Chosen probably aren't best set up like that either....They are normally used with 3/4 Meltaguns

I also think, that you need more Rhinos, or no Rhinos (although nowadays footsloggin marines probably get nowhere....)

And Olbiterators/Defilers/Preds/Vindicators are better heavy than Havocs......(especially when you have ML, LC, AC and HB, with a PP and PF and IoK...it makes no sense what so ever unfortunately...


Really even if your not trying to make it competitive (which a lot of people think Chaos can't be now anyway....) you need to have a style, at this stage you don't have one....Either Mech (and if you want Khorne mech....2/3 Land Raiders with Zerkers in....or lots of rhinos) or you could try footsloggin.....

The lord has gone with the CSM up to now. As I said it's a list just using what I have and is a WIP. I know there doesn't seem any unity with the set up, but I can't afford to buy several boxes of figures so I have the right bits to make a "correctly" set up unit, so it has to be a gradual thing...

I'm aiming to reinforce and refine things over time (like adding more vehicles, upgrading units etc). But for now I have a limited selection...

Yeah, fair enough, i'll make a couple of suggestions for you based on that then....

Get a Defiler or two
Two more Rhinos as well...That will give you a bit more coherancy
And if you can get some diffrent special weapons, to make your Chosen squad better (or have two chosen squads) that would be quite nice as well (I like Chosen, i think they can do well when armed diffrently, with MOK though, i reckon you want a couple of LCs in their probably....)

Thanks, I'll look into the Chosen a bit more closely, and see if I can kit out the ones I have better. I suppose if I were to go for a box of CSM I can give 5 of them a better contingent of melta/plasma and still have an extra squad of 10 CSM... Surely that can't hurt the wallet too much?

Firstly I would get some Terminators for your Lord to hang with, or maybe some Berzerkers in a Land Raider. Also a daemon weapon is a lot better than chain fist, Lord doesn't need one of those.

Chosen don't need the Champion; Champion doesn't add anything to the unit. Chosen are best setup with mass special weapons and a Rhino, you do that and they'll be sorted

CSM come in Rhinos and take dual special weapons, by taking that heavy bolter you cannot fire and more it so the meltagun won't get into range if you decide to fire the heavy bolter or vice versa, bad weapon synergy.

Havocs work the same as Chosen really but if you want heavy weapons I would take Obliterators, really.

Thanks for the advice mercer. I'll scratch the Champion from my Chosen if it's not going to provide any benefits. In you opinon would it work better (as things stand, before I can add more models) to swap the plasma gun I listed with the Chosen with the meltagun the CSM's currently have? The plasma has better range, so will enable me to fire that and the HB together sooner, although of course the issue of manoeuvrability still exists...

Just ditch the heavy bolter altogether mate.

If you are going for pure khorne flavor drop havocs, devotees of khorne go close and personal, and give the lord a daemon weapon of khorne



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p.s drop all non cc heavy weaponry, you wanna be on the move if you wanna be in combat (once again i am saying this based purely on khorne flavor)

For the extra 350 pts I'd add a powerfist to the zerker champ and one of the chosen. That'll take up 50pts. For the remaining 300 I'd get two defilers. Pricey models, but they are great. Marine eating pie-plates, can't be shaken or stunned, DCCWs, and fleet. Goes well with the Khorne theme as it can CC as well. I'd personally swap out the hvy flamer for the DCCW and keep the reaper autocannon for light tank popping.

That being said, some of your units will need tweaking. I'd get rid of the possessed and try to fit in another troops choice. I try for a troops choice for every 500pts, even if it's five demons.

I'm just a guy on the net though, so take it for what it's worth.

Thanks for all the advice, plenty to think about there... Much appreciated

I've been playing chaos for awhile now. Basically, if you have a squad that is capable of riding in a rhino, always always always give it a rhino. And don't ever upgrade your rhino, keep it at 35 pts. It's a wicked deal, 35pts to make infantry maneuverable and protect them in armor. Although expect the rhino to get blown up so that's why you shouldn't load up on the havoc launcher and other tid bits.

Also as far as chaos icons go.. The most universal one is IoCG. Normally you run 10 man csm squads with 2 special weapons with IoCG. The other icons aren't as good because you have cult troops to choose from that will do a better job for cheaper. Also, Icons on squads that are not at full strength are often over priced. So if you want to put icon of khorne on possessed, you will get the most bang for your buck if you have a squad of 10. Because notice the price of that icon is the same regardless of squad size. This is especially important with guys like terminators. An icon on a three man squad is never justified. Even on a five man squad it's iffy.

Although a csm squad with icon of khorne that works effectively looks like this

x10 csm: Champion with powerfist, x2 meltaguns, Icon of Khorne

The reason why this is effective is because the squad can shoot with the meltas and assault right after because meltaguns are assault weapons. Rapid fire weapons and heavy weapons do not allow you to assault after firing. flamers are also assault weapons.

One other thing I didn't figure out for a long time was that every csm model comes with a two handed bolter, close combat weapon and pistol regardless of how you modeled them. So you have two options when facing the opponent. Fire your rapid fire bolters then not assault during the assault phase. Or fire your pistols and assault during the assault phase. For the longest time I didn't even know about pistols or how they worked lol.

Models I highly recommend for a Khorne list are:

Kharn the betrayer- he always hits on 2!! He is the only character in the game that hits on 2 in close combat. That is amazing.

Khorne Berserkers (obviously)

Land Raider: So that your Khorne Berserkers can get into the assault that much sooner

Lesser and greater daemons: They assault the turn they deepstrike. If that's not Khorney what is? I also really like the Khorne models.

Defilers: Big, scary, and the capability of unleashing 6 strength 10 attacks on the charge in close combat. These things are machines powered by a daemon trapped within its hull by dark sorcery. You'll definitely be spilling blood for the blood god with these bad boys.

Anyways sorry if I told you a bunch of stuff you already know lol. And btw, it's general knowledge that possessed suck balls and you shouldn't use them. But seeing as you are just starting and you don't have many models I understand that you need to use them. But I'm just warning you before you spend 10 hours painting them to look super awesome then they sit in your drawer for eternity.

@ stealth - Thanks for the advice, lots to consider there, especially the IoCG - I'd never thought about using that. And thanks for pointing out the basic CSM wargear - I thought it was WYSIWYG, so I modelled all my marines with bolters, not pistols, but if they're equipped with both it does open up a whole new tactical element... Kharn was definitely on my list of future investments too, great model and looks particularly nasty on the table (unless he roles a 1 in CC!)...


From the comments posted I think the emphasis of change is going to have to be work on anti-armour and inclusion/distribution of heavy weapons... As with Kharn, Obliterators are a dead cert. I'll use my Havocs til I can get more alternatives, but the advice from everyone has got me pointed in the right direction at any rate! So thanks again!

Kharn is good, but he's also risky. I've used him a lot and despite his damage output he really has a major usage dilemma.

Does he go on his own, or with a squad?
With a squad he's highly likely 1 or 2 beserkers in every round of combat. I mean, with strength 6 on the charge and 6 attacks, the odds are you'll lose a guy. At 21 points a pop, each beserker dead is essentially making Kharne more expensive. He'll cost you combats that way.

On his own, well, when he can kill the whole squad in the first charge then he's golden. His problem comes when he does 7 kills on guardsmen, and then takes 20 saves from the rest of the squad. Fearless also finishes him off.

He's a strong asset, but he's tricky to use well.

Another thing to watch out for with Kharn is the fact that he gets instakilled by powerfists. I have definitely sacrificed a number of my own units to kharns attacks but I've never found it to be that detrimental. Just send him into the right squad and he'll get his points back. Unlike Abaddon who has to kill at least two squads in order to get his points back, Kharn is half the price, plus he can actually damage a land raider because his Gorechild rolls 2 d6 for armor penetration when Abaddon's does not. Abaddon is pretty expensive for a dude who can only glance a land raider.