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.

Ok well i have almost finished making my khorne army (just finishing the 10 chosen i have in it). But my whole time building it i have been hearing that no one really plays chaos anymore. I'm told that pretty much anything chaos can do in the 4th codex another army can do better. Especially when i talk to a Dark eldar or space wolves player. There saying my zerkers arent gonna be able to stand up to their CC units and it makes me sad because i love my khorne beserkers, and no matter what anyone else says about them I'm stilling running them and gonna wreck everything in CC >~

Is Chaos a bad army to be playing now? Only unit i can really see thats good for its points are Plague marines and im not a nurgle man.

yeah your friends are pretty much right. in fairness berserkers have never been a top tier close combat unit.... and probably never will be. their current incarnation is as strong as they have ever been. and for 21 points a piece they're still a good buy. but they are not going to go toe to toe with assault terminators blood crushers nobs or any other really hard core assault unit. just wont happen.

csm is a bad codex right now. it has a few solid units and really good players can still squeeze a few wins out of its bloated, decomposing carcass, but basically the codex sucks.

you have a few solid units like zerkers and plague marines but no hammers, no death stars, no game changing special rules, no surprises, no good mobility options, etc. the codex just..... lacks.

my advice: don't beat your head against the wall. Imperial marines got 3 new books in the last year or so, and they're all strong. just pick one of those and run a counts as army and I think you'll have a much more enjoyable experience.

Berserkers seem kinda like BA assault squads w/o packs ... they have 1/2 a priest built into them which is kinda cool.

I don't think it's a bad army, I just think it's harder than others

Well, the top places at the last few tourneys I've been to around here have been dominated by Chaos Space Marines, even with a descent number of Space Wolves and Blood Angels players around.

In terms of the actual codex, I still like it. I know there are folks out there with a huge hate on for the latest CSM book, but it's still a good, solid book that works and gets its job done with a reasonable amount of simplicity.

In terms of your Berserkers, if folks want to go up against them, they can have fun. My buddy runs mobz of them as assault elements pretty regularly and they just hurt. They hurt less if you can get the charge in on them, but they still tend to hit a lot and wound a lot.

I'm sure there are nastier things out there now, but in terms of a tough, basic assault troop, Khorne Berserkers still do pretty well.

Well i have never heard of imperial marines.

As for the nob squads zerkers dont come anywhere close to the points typically spent on a nob squad so I'm not too worried about them.

As for my army ya i was making one off the 3rd codex till i was told they had a 4th codex now....

I wouldnt really say zerkers got buffed but they werent really nerfed, they just changed somethigns about them.

The chaos codex lost a ton of its customization which i hate so much D:.

im told 3rd edition chaos = SWs

But im a loyal chaos trooper through and through so im gonna stick it out with my fellow chaos, that said.....is there a specific chaos unit that is really shining right now?

imperial marines: space marines who arent chaos. ultramarines space wolves blood angels etc.

zhangbob wrote:
...
The chaos codex lost a ton of its customization which i hate so much D:.

Yeah it sucks. We want our legions back!

is there a specific chaos unit that is really shining right now?

My 2 cents:
HQ:
Demon princes & wings. Get a power (I recommend Warptime or Doombolt; people like the Lash) and/or a mark
Greater demons: I like them.
ELITES:
Chosen. Customize as you wish. Costy.
People like Terminators.
TROOPS: everything is good.
Death Guard: I know you do not like it. Berserkers? 1000 sons? Noise? All of them are fine.
Chaos Space Marines: add a melta, power weapon, Icon of Slaanesh. And a rhino.
I like Lesser Demons. Many people actively dislike them.
FAST:
I do like Raptors a lot.
HEAVY:
People like Obliterators.
Vindicators are funny to play with.
Defilers are sexy and funny to paint and play with.
Havoc are quite good and cheap and good, but they do not get any love. There are better options. However, a 4 melta/plasma squad in a rhino...

Hope this serves!

Ah: Chaos Space Marines are still making it quite good in tournaments. They are cutting it. Not that this should matter if you like them.

CSM are still a playable army and can win games but all the fun options are gone, pretty much only a couple of ways to play with them now.
On the down side I lost My Alpha Legion rules, but on the upside I don't have to face nine obliterators a bunch of havocs and a basilisk from my brother's Iron Warriors anymore

Chaos has sucked for so long I can barely remember them being good.

Steal the space wolf codex and proxy.. They essentially have a Khorne codex. Just replace the word Wolf with Khorne and the word Imperial with Chaos you can't go wrong. Anyone complains.. Blood for the Blood God.

Anyone who tells you that berserkers are bad is dead wrong. Let's see you handle 30 WS5, S5 attacks and manage to recover. Berserkers are quite one dimensional, but that's their purpose.

Shaman wrote:Chaos has sucked for so long I can barely remember them being good.

Steal the space wolf codex and proxy.. They essentially have a Khorne codex. Just replace the word Wolf with Khorne and the word Imperial with Chaos you can't go wrong. Anyone complains.. Blood for the Blood God.

+1 to that

Shaman wrote:Chaos has sucked for so long I can barely remember them being good.

Steal the space wolf codex and proxy.. They essentially have a Khorne codex. Just replace the word Wolf with Khorne and the word Imperial with Chaos you can't go wrong. Anyone complains.. Blood for the Blood God.

You're wrong. See da001's post. It's quite good.

CSM are a specialist army, no matter how you slice it. We have guys that kick face in CC, and we have guys that punch face in shooting. And then we have plague marines, which are possibly one of the best units in the game, who can be both anti-tank and anti-horde. we have defilers, which are arguably the best walkers in the game. We have Obliterators, which are the best campy-units in the game. we have Abaddon, who is basically the best HQ in the game. We have the cheapest terminators, we have the most access to combi weapons, we have the most T5 units in the game. We have everything good. It's just up to the creativity of the player to take advantage of these assets.

Even oddball units like havocs and chosen have uses. We can spam meltas in almost every unit.

I like it when SW players think my Chaos sucks, or when other players breathe a sigh of relief that I'm not playing SW. It means they're overconfident and don't understand 40k that well.

The chaos codex could use some updating; some units are pretty darn poor, and others are just being left in the dust a bit (like our Land Raiders compared to loyalist ones). But there are certainly enough good units to beat face with.

Samus_aran115 wrote:we have Abaddon, who is basically the best HQ in the game.

Wait what? Sure, he kicks butt in CC, but he doesn't add anything to the army other than his prowess as a beatstick.

I regularly run my CSM against BA and powerblob IG and they win more than they lose. While they might not be as customizable as they were in the last codex, I would say that CSM certainly still 'cut it'.

Among others I usually run 2 squads of 8 Berzerkers with a powerfist champ in rhinos. They can take on most things on the charge and what sets them apart from a lot of other uber-assault squads is that they are scoring. The key is to stay in the transport until you can throw them against a unit that you can neuter on the charge.

AlmightyWalrus wrote:

Samus_aran115 wrote:we have Abaddon, who is basically the best HQ in the game.

Wait what? Sure, he kicks butt in CC, but he doesn't add anything to the army other than his prowess as a beatstick.

Neither did most of the other 4th edition ICs. That's a 5th edition state of mind you have

4+2D6 attacks, with a re-roll, 2+ save, 4+ invul, EW..Seeeems pretty good to me.

Wait, since when are WS3 I3 AV12, 150pt Defilers even in the running for best walker in the game? They will almost always lose combat with other combat walkers (which usually hit it on 3's and almost always strike before it), cost more than the vast majority of walkers, is much larger and easier to draw LoS to and harder to get a cover save for compared to other walkers, have fewer weapons options than other walkers, don't have the deployment options most other walkers have (scouts, drop pods, etc) and it's weapons don't really synergize (a super long range battlecannon and fleet with a bunch of DCCW's?). Daemonic Possession is great, but that's the only thing keeping it useful at all.

Samus_aran115 wrote:

AlmightyWalrus wrote:

Samus_aran115 wrote:we have Abaddon, who is basically the best HQ in the game.

Wait what? Sure, he kicks butt in CC, but he doesn't add anything to the army other than his prowess as a beatstick.

Neither did most of the other 4th edition ICs. That's a 5th edition state of mind you have

4+2D6 attacks, with a re-roll, 2+ save, 4+ invul, EW..Seeeems pretty good to me.

You mean 4+D6 Attacks =P

Defilers are only good for their ability to walk and shoot their battle cannon. The Soul Grinder is a much better deal since it actually has the highest armor of any non-apoc walker right now, although still suffering from the same detriments as it's CSM counterpart.

I have a growing affinity for chaos, myself. The reason most people think that they suck is because their toys are worse than their equivalent in other codecies, and most people only judge an army by their toy-count.

When people do this, they miss that your regular old CSM is the best infantryman in the game. All the benefits of a statline filled with 4's, power armor, and both a boltgun AND pistol/CCW, all wrapped around a couple of special weapons and a hidden S8 power fist. That and you can upgrade the squad to do some really cool stuff with icons (because, seriously, MoT marines are just a hair less durable than terminators, but you get a lot more of them).

Their meat-and-potatoes units are really good, which means they can still be a plenty competitive army. The problem is all the shiny baubles which few seem to be able to resist taking which, unfortunately for chaos, seem to be heavily populated with points sinks.

The basic competitive CSM list is:

2 DP, wings warptime (some people will argue lash but I find warptime better)

Chosen with Flamer X2 Melta X2 outflank in rhinos

Plague Marines w/ Meltas & rhino
Maybe one unit of summoned daemons to sit on your back objective and this is a BIG maybe.

Oblits or defilers (I prefer oblits tactically but I think the models are gak)

That's about it if you want to be competitive. Some people argue for termicide but I'm adamantly against it, too risky for an elite slot better used by chosen.

I really like the current incarnation of the Chaos Space Marines and am frankly dreading getting my army strait-jacketed by someone else's preconceived notions about what they're supposed to look like. I have a 3000pt Chaos Space Marine army equipped almost entirely with T-visored Berzerker helmets so that they would look like the World Eater's Legionnaires of my childhood Epic Space Marine games (See the Renegades expansion). Well, not exactly like them, but those helmets just scream "Chaos Warrior".

The one thing that I really didn't like about the 2nd edition Chaos Space Marine codex was the way that it broke up the legions with the Rubric of Ahriman, Kharn's betrayal on Skalathrax, and so on. It moved from the alluded narrative in Slaves to Darkness to mixing the Chaos Space Marines into the Horus Heresy narrative. This was followed up by the 3rd and late 3rd edition books that tried to write army lists for every legion, to codify them so that World Eaters looks like a band of Berzerkers, and Thousand Suns were coteiries of Sorcerers, Chosen, and Rubric Marines.

I suppose it wouldn't have been so bad if these lists hadn't been (1) Easily gameable, and (2) Too strait-jacketed for the forces of Chaos , not in theme.

The 4th edition Chaos Space Marine Codex has a theme, and that's the Path of Chaos, tracing the fall of a follower of Chaos through the various options bookended by Spawndown, and ascension to Daemon Princehood. The loss of And They Shall Know No Fear incurred for the additional Leadership suggested both the arrogance of success, and the breakdown in morale that occurs when a Space Marine puts himself at the centre of his own universe: he's not going to die to get his brothers out of trouble, or to see that the mission succeeeds, he's going to be looking out for #1. Likewise with the Chainsword, Bolter, and Bolt Pistol arrangement to give them A1.5, as they abandon the Codex Astartes and arm themselves to the teeth.

In retrospect, however, it would be a good idea to follow the line of the other 5th edition Space Marine books and give them an alternative to And They Shall Know No Fear, and a secondary rule bundle like Red Thirst/Combat Squads, or Counter-Attack/Acute Sense, Combat Tactics/Squads, and so on. Just having a higher Leadership is representative, but turning values into rules helps players to connect the fluff with the game, and gives players an interesting puzzle figuring it out. Besides, quite what to have is a matter for another thread. The point is that they have something and it suits both the representative function of representing the selfishness of Chaos Worshippers, and the game function of being a difference kind of Space Marine.

The so-called "Cult Troops" are a bit of an appendix to the main forces, but they're legacy rules so that people could field their 3rd edition armies rather than an integral part of the book. What I expect will be implemented will be the rules for Daemon Princes in the Chaos Daemons book implemented on a unit-by-unit basis. In the meantime, the system of Icons was an interesting experiment, and apparently successful since we now have stuff like Chaos Daemon Icons, stripped own versions, and Wolf Standards, sexed up versions, and even Sanguinary Priests, or Independent Character versions.

The genericized Summoned Daemons do well in the Codex to put the focus on the Chaos Space Marines. It used to be that Chaos Space Marines would be appendices to hordes of Daemons. It would be nice to give them some partial upgrades, so that the Codex Chaos Daemons keeps the feeling of a full-on incursion, and the Lesser Daemons could be thematic would creating no-brainers (plus selling more specific kits, although I personally love my Zombie Lesser Daemons).

Something I particularly like is the way Sorcerers are not Fearless, although this can be made up by simply putting him with a Fearless unit. They have a good idea of what their soul is in for if they die, and therefore have a healthy fear of death while Chaos Lords rely on their arrogance and belief in the favour of the Gods. Which is an interesting theme: On the Daemon Prince side of things the Chaos Gods seem to be very interested in granting specific gifts in return for promoting their interests. On the Spawn side of things the Chaos Gods are irrational donkey-caves who'll soon as give you the Gift of Arseface as bestow Daemonic Stature. Alone among them is Ahriman Fearless, which is great because he's a megalomaniac even by the standards of Chaos.

Chaos Sorcerers could do with an expansion of the range of powers they have access to, with the psychic equivalents of several Daemonic Gifts to give them more variety in the aligned powers, and some synergistic powers so they can enhance units. Instead of Perils of the Warp, they should be treated as having Gift of Chaos cast on them, to represent the Fleshchange. Lords of Chaos should have access to Daemonic Gifts, usually a weaker or more local version of the equivalen Psychic Power.

Which brings me to the best part of the Codex Chaos Space Marine, which is that Chaos is a high-risk, high-reward army. The problem is that reliability is a preferred strategy in Warhammer 40,000 tournaments where letting your luck run out once means you are basically hobbling yourself. That's why we see units like Plague Marines, Obliterators, and the like being considered the only good units in the book, because they reliable. However, they're moreso reliable because their deficiencies require the intervention of the other player to exploit.

So units like Possessed and Chaos Dreadnoughts aren't too random so much as they're random at the wrong time. A Chaos Dreadnought that traded Stunned for Fire Frenzy and Shaken for Blood Rage, so it had to interact with the enemy would manage this better. Likewise Possessed that could change their Daemonkin rule every turn (like Ymgarl Genestealers...) would give players the risk, while making it contingent upon their own choices. To be honest they already do, but people don't get that and it needs dumbing down.

Then there's the whole what "Chaos Space Marines" in Fabius Bile's Enhanced Marines which needs to be sorted out, but it would be interesting to see it apply broadly, to Battle Squads, Havoc Squads, Bike Squads, and Chosen Squads. I think that needs clarifying, since so many people don't get it.

The current Chaos codex is perfectly competitive as long as you avoid Thousand Sons, Chaos Spawn, and Possessed Marines. Khorne Berserkers are tough and dole out a lot of damage. Sure they're not standing up to assault Terminators, but they're not costing 40+ points a model either. Khornate armies can be pretty one-dimensional, but still hold their own quite well.

I play Chaos Marines and I win more often than I win with my Space Wolves, at least since the new Wolf codex came out. Chaos codex isn't perfect, but it's serviceable enough. Most problems people have are with the scarcity of options and focus on renegades instead of legions.

Vaktathi wrote:Wait, since when are WS3 I3 AV12, 150pt Defilers even in the running for best walker in the game? They will almost always lose combat with other combat walkers (which usually hit it on 3's and almost always strike before it), cost more than the vast majority of walkers, is much larger and easier to draw LoS to and harder to get a cover save for compared to other walkers, have fewer weapons options than other walkers, don't have the deployment options most other walkers have (scouts, drop pods, etc) and it's weapons don't really synergize (a super long range battlecannon and fleet with a bunch of DCCW's?). Daemonic Possession is great, but that's the only thing keeping it useful at all.

Defilers will always have a warm place in my heart.
Let me defend them. Please remember I do not play competitive. I play for fun.

Number: Three of them.
Main use: distraction.
Secundary uses: artillery; rapid response.
Options: you swap the weapons for two extra arms and you got 5 DCCW attacks in close combat. Nobody can ignore a charging Defiler. Do not worry about the lost weapons: you will never get a chance to use them. If you can fire, use your main weapon. It´s artillery, so it is the only weapon you can fire this turn. Yeah I know it makes no sense (what are those costy weapons for?), but chaos is like that. If I just got this rule wrong, please tell me.

Keep in mind: they are fast. They are fragile. They have WS3 in close combat so do not expect much of them. They are artillery (think in a Basilisk). They will fail if they get near melta or something like a Dread. They are not Dreads! Stay away from Dreads!

1) Oh they are big sexy things, difficult to ignore. Lack of cover saves? I call it Psychological Warfare. Look at the face of your opponent and you will know if this is the first time he meets Defilers (if they are properly painted & converted, of course). Make sure your enemy knows this variant is called "Slaughterfiend", and that you believe nothing can survive in close combat against it. Three of these beauties running over the battlefield are disturbing for many players. They look far more dangerous than they actually are. They always get a lot of fire from my enemies. I do not expect them to survive. But they will help other units to get near.
2) Hide. It´s an artillery unit. It can destroy anything just shooting. Stay in range. Fake charges. Keep moving. Charge only in need. They are pretty fast, so they will make a difference.
3) Rapid Response: you have just been outflanked or deepstriked. Everyone is busy, but a giant demonic spider that can charge right now. Imagine a Basilisk (not that good) that can turn into a Dread (not that good) if needed.
4) Demonic Possession: an unexpected help, can save your day.

6- optional) They are amazing, a marvel to paint. You can terrify your family (even your dog), your neighborhood and your significant other with them. The background is good too. Search for Slaughterfiend.

Is there something better?
Competitive players do like Obliterators (I do not) and Vindicators (my B option). Nobody talks about poor little Havocs.
Then we have Blood Slaughterers from Forgeworld.

EDIT: wow it took me an hour to write this. And I have just discovered Nurglitch had spoken. Now my post looks slowed!
Really great post, bro.
I have tried Fabius to no avail, I like this guy. I am waiting too for a clarification.

Brother SRM wrote:The current Chaos codex is perfectly competitive as long as you avoid Thousand Sons, Chaos Spawn, and Possessed Marines.

How do you play Dreads? Such a good model...

I love the defiler! Granted, it does die rather quickly if out in the open, but I've had really good results with just 1 in my list.

I run it stock, nothing better than going and stomping a unit after hitting them with the twin linked heavy flamer and reaper autocannon.

For the chaos list in general though, I have had lots of success with it, even against the latest netlists and whatnot. I actually kind of dread them re-doing the list, as I am quite comfortable and happy with what we have now.

How do you play Dreads? Such a good model...

I run two with str 7 weapons on each side of a land raider, so that if they fire frenzy they shoot the raider and can't hurt it. Otherwise they run up and punch thing in the face.

MegaDave wrote:I love the defiler! Granted, it does die rather quickly if out in the open, but I've had really good results with just 1 in my list.

I run it stock, nothing better than going and stomping a unit after hitting them with the twin linked heavy flamer and reaper autocannon.

For the chaos list in general though, I have had lots of success with it, even against the latest netlists and whatnot. I actually kind of dread them re-doing the list, as I am quite comfortable and happy with what we have now.

How do you play Dreads? Such a good model...

I run two with str 7 weapons on each side of a land raider, so that if they fire frenzy they shoot the raider and can't hurt it. Otherwise they run up and punch thing in the face.

Nice trick! Gotta try it!

I am scared too about GW re-doing the codex. I would only change 4 things:
1) dreadclaws.
2) spawn problems solved. Perhaps Possessed too.
3) give me back my LEGIONS!!!
4) far better sorcerers, even if they are expensive.

Indeed, PLEASE give me back rules for my alphas.

Operatives! We want our operatives back!

Chaos sucks heres why

1. inferior mobility options. the current codex gives chaos players only two mobility options: mech up and try to rhino rush your opponent, or dont take transports at all. why is this a problem? because chaos space marines are a close combat army first and a shooting army second. as a chaos space marine player, you aren't going to outshoot dedicated shooting armies, so you must deliver your marines into close combat to win against them. can rhinos get you there? no. against opponents who can force you to reroll your cover saves, can drop them, or can take them away all together with the right artillary piece, chaos rhinos just dont have a chance. compare chaos' mobility options to those of blood angels, space marines, space wolves, dark angels, eldar, dark eldar. even imperial guard can put an entire army in fast skimmers if they want to do it. chaos space marines are just too slow to compete.

2. inferior close combat options. if your rhinos deliver your marines, it's probably because your opponent wants to fight you in close combat. what the chaos space marine codex offers is a wide selection of solid units like terminators, berserkers, and plague marines. they're solid, but they aren't excellent. even the vaunted plague marines arent actually very good at *killing* the enemy; they're just good at *not dieing*. well you don't win by not dieing, you win by killing. anyway against the best close combat units in the game, like thunderwolves, nobz, and assault terminators, these guys dont have any chance at all. without a bone-crushingly good close combat unit, chaos space marines are more or less committed to a strategy that they dont have the tools to excel at.

3. inferior shooting options. so if you can't get into assaults unless you'll most likely lose them, can you shoot your opponent? yes and no. you do have shooting options in this book but they don't compare to the options that the shootiest armies have and they aren't going to be enough to stop dedicated assault armies, which usually combine lightning mobility with excellent close combat abilities. the one bright spot here is obliterators. however they have their own problems - they're expensive, they suffer from instant death, and they don't have ablative wounds. essentially against a dedicated shooting army there's just no reason any of these guys should be alive past turn 3, if your opponent decides to go after them.

4. minor irritants. no psychic defenses, no control over reserves, inferior land raiders, a completely useless fast attack section, no strategy-level special rules (like trading chapter tactics for X or Y)

If you have chaos space marine models I'm not saying you shouldn't use them. They're awesome models, and for just casual play you can do fine with these guys. There are even people who continue to place in national tournaments with this army with a combination of bluff, balls, flexibility, and the all-around solidness of certain units like plague marines, berserkers, demon princes, and obliterators. But this is the exception not the rule. No one thinks its worth commenting on when guard win a national tournament. because its expected. But when chaos does it, it's news. The point is, though, that you really should consider, for the sake of your own enjoyment of the game, choosing a new and better codex to run your chaos space marines out of. There have been three new space marine codices released over the last year, and they're all strong. There's no reason to handicap yourself just because GW is married to the codex system and can't maintain play balance. People will understand.

Ailaros wrote:I have a growing affinity for chaos, myself. The reason most people think that they suck is because their toys are worse than their equivalent in other codecies, and most people
only judge an army by their toy-count.

When people do this, they miss that your regular old CSM is the best infantryman in the game. All the benefits of a statline filled with 4's, power armor, and both a boltgun AND pistol/CCW, all wrapped around a couple of special weapons and a hidden S8 power fist. That and you can upgrade the squad to do some really cool stuff with icons (because, seriously, MoT marines are just a hair less durable than terminators, but you get a lot more of them).

Their meat-and-potatoes units are really good, which means they can still be a plenty competitive army. The problem is all the shiny baubles which few seem to be able to resist taking which, unfortunately for chaos, seem to be heavily populated with points sinks.

yeah there are still some solid options but that's the problem. the best units in the chaos codex are solid, nothing more. they don't *excel* sometimes you can still win with them. but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
AF

Lost of legion rules meant that the legions we felt in love with in 3.5 were completely lost with the new codex (except for maybe the Iron Warriors and Black Legion). The glory that was the mighty traitors who tore apart the Imperium of Man is now reduced to nothing but a bunch of ragtagged renegades and pirates (seriously, if you want to play a balanced force, your army WILL look ragtagged statistics wise). Marginallization of Cult units means that you either play an unfluffy army (Khorne Havocs anyone?) or severely penalize yourself (Berserkers are good, but they suck at tank poping compared to some of the other stuff in the codex. Plague marines are perhaps the only ones who can hold up in their own army, but still quite limited in terms of choices if you want to remain fluffy. Dont even get me started on Emperor's Children and Thousand Sons armies). Loss of Veterain Skills and Daemonic Gifts means that Chaos Marines are literally Space Marines with outdated (both fluff wise and gameplay wise) weaponry.

The loss of Psychic defense was really stupid. You'd think at least Khornate and Tzeentchan units would retain some anti-psyker abilities, the former negating it while the latter absorbing it.

As for combining the forces of chaos into one mass, they did that quite well last edition. Legion rules didnt have to be followed, and you were at no detriment for not having them. Black Legion could easily field mixed armies with no problems at all. It's perfectly understandable for Plague Marines and Berserkers to take up elite slots while the bulk of the legion, who are normal Chaos Marines, took up the troop choices. Then there was also Lost and the Damned, which truely represented Chaos in it's glory, a shambling horde of mutants, traitors, daemons and chaos marines in one horrible congolomeration.

Tactics aside just play what you like. If you can't stand losing play WAAC armies. I personally don't mind losing a game or two, as the other player's satisfaction is oddly gratifying for me.
wait for the new chaos codex. it will surely make your old army feel OP again like it was back in the days.
PS you won't be waiting that long (like DE or Necrons had/have been)