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Not sure if this is the best place to post this thread. Admins, please move if needed.

I last played 40K back in 1986 (not sure if that was 1st gen rules or 2nd). Anyway, I'm getting back into it and bought a Chaos Space Marine army on Ebay for a really good price. It came with the codex.

My questions are these:

Other than the codex and rule book is there anything else I need?
What would a good army be to start with for friendly non competitive games?
I used to run bloodletters and other deamons with my marines back in the day. I hear it's different now. Is it still a good tactic?
Any other suggestions to help an old feller out? Especially learning what all the new marks/weapons ect... do so I'm not caught making bad tactical mistakes because I was unaware of the the enemy is capable of?????

Thanks guys. Can't wait to get back into this. (also looking for players in the St. Louis area) None of my friends play 40k. :-D

Nurgle armies are a great way to get back into it, really forgiving as far as if you mess up a turn when learning rules and such on the account of t5 marines with fnp. Also can be quite fun.

Running Daemons with csm is still a great idea, you will need at least one hq and troop with the allied army (read the codex to figure which other allies you can take). Bloodthirster with 2 greater rewards and bloodletters always cause a lot of pressure, because bloodthirsters eats just about anything.

Also, I will sound like a broken record, but heldrake. Look into getting one, MEq eraser.
Have fun and welcome back to the game!

Thanks for the info. I also should have mentioned that the army I bought is predominatly Khorne. I also bought the Dark Vengence box set at Gencon last week.

The army came with 2 or 3 rhino's 1 predator, 2 dreadnaughts a bunch of other guys like obliterators, noise marines, thousand suns and one Deamon Prince.

I find that Slaanesh armies are extremely viable, but I'm more of a Tzeentch player myself
Daemons beside marines IMO are a great combination as you still get access to your cult troops as well as good demon troops (slaanesh are nasty with the additional run distance and Bloodletters with AP3 swords are nothing to scoff at)
Cultists are pretty good and are great cheap troops
Also, instead of the Icon of Vengeance I'd recommend taking VotLW instead because the icon can be sniped off my precision shots easily

A few things about this eddition:

- AP 2 is king. Plasma is the way to go.
- Massed foot armies are common, but medium tank armies exist with certain codexes.
- Tanks are pretty easy to take out, but not TOO easy.
- Plan something to kill fliers. It doesn't always have be dedicated AA (for example TL melta works pretty well), but you'll need something.

For the current Chaos:

- First and foremost, standard troop CSM are bad. Don't take them. Use plaguemarines for forgiving damage soakers, noise marines for firepower, or cultists for super cheap troops.
- Tzeentch and Khorne can be used, but have to be used in very specific ways (for example zerkers need a land raider), and I don't recommend them for starting out.
- Be sure to factor in the fact that you MUST accept and issue challenges. This is chaos biggest downfall. Equip a lord in a way that he can win them. MoK or MoS are standard here. MoS is even more common since he makes noise marines troops.
- Dreadnoughts (now called hellbrutes) are bad. They died too fast for the small amount of power the bring for the cost. SM dreads have the same issues if used without drop pods.
- Don't take icons except for in very specific situations. Don't take VotLW unless you have to (i.e. black legion).
- Take at the very least 1 Helldrake. Most tournament armies run at least 2, and D-bags like me take 4. They do everything except kill land raiders. They're crazy OP and super broken. Factor in a "helldrake tax" into every list for easier wins.
- Princes are a niche. If you want to run them, look around on the forums for good load outs.
- Daemon allies are a godsend. Chaos does very well with them. All of the gods have their own uses like Tzeentch's firepower is really good. I like to run 20 plaguebearers with a harald behind an aegis defense line with a quadgun. BS5 with 4 TL S7 skyfire shots is very nice, 2+ cover and FNP is nice too.

Units to stay away from (i.e. don't ever take them unless for very very specific purposes):
- CSM
- Mutilators (can be used to cause a small amount of havoc and fire redirection after deep striking, but otherwise useless)
- Possessed
- Vindicators (not bad, there's just better stuff)
- Chosen (although spamming them can be fun, just not super competative)
- Raptors
- Warp Talons

helldrakes are real good in CSM i think
Demon princes.
Try to nurgle it up!

I did not realize my csm are garbage. However csm with MoK nearly equal khorne beserkers. The csm can only be fearless with IoV, but they get access to meltaguns and flamers instead of just plasma pistols.

Listen to Sothas, because he is spot on.

The problem with CSM is due to two factors. Bad leadership and being forced to challenge. Roughly half of the time, obviously depending on who you're fighting, the CSM squad will get wiped out after the champion loses the challenge. Stubborn would be all that CSM would need to be playable, not great, but playable. Yes, other units that aren't loyalists have this issue too, but they don't cost 250+ points for the squad. They're too expensive for how easy they are to lose.

CSM with MoK have decent damage, but they're still not fearless. IoV isn't the answer because it can be sniped out with ease.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh also, only run terminators as a termicide unit. minimum size (3) with 3 combi melta or plasma. Then you DS them in the back and blow up vehicles. Power mauls are good hear to because if they do live, you can assault the vehicles and take them down with up to 9 Str 6 attacks.

Thanks for the advice all. Will def look into and keeping your info in mind.