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I've got a pretty shooty Nurgle warband which currently is composed of standard Chaos Marines, Plague Marines, Autocannon Havocs, and a Rhino. I'm looking to add some Terminators to the mix. The few I've made so far have magnetized arms, so I'm not completely stuck with any a specific loadout. But, here's what I'm wondering, would it be worthwhile for me to outfit my Termies with dual Lightning Claws? Essentially, I'm thinking of making a Chaos Terminator Assault squad. Would this be a waste of time since the rest of my forces are entirely firearm based? Or would this be a better idea if I was going Khorne instead of Nurgle and had some Berzerkers to hang out with them?

From my experience, and take this with a grain of salt as I play Csm a bit different than others, is that terminators are a great choice. However, your question is about assault terminators.

To run assault terminators your are going to have to make an effort to turn them into killing machines. A 4 man Terminator squad in a land raider with MoK, a LC and PF on each, can become very deadly if aimed at the right target. A lord (or kharne) attached to said unit with MoK, TDA, and axe of blind fury can wreck serious face.

From my personal experience I don't find it to work consistently.
I run a relatively heavy nurgle marked army. A couple units of 5 man Terminator squads with chaos lords/sorcerers attached, some plague marines, and whatever support options I choose to take (varies between drakes, Oblits, havocs, fiends), creates an effective, and tough, shooting army that bares down on the opponent.

Terminators are great because they are cheap and they do lots of things well, unlike expensive loyalists who excel at one role. Loyalist assault terminators with TH+SS or LCs will crush things in close combat.

Chaos terminators are built the way you want to use them, and I personally find them most effective in a mid range situation where they can use combi weapons efficiently.

However I suggest proxy and trying out a unit of cc terminators for your own benefit, it may work great.

Do they even really need to be upgraded with melee weapons? Since they all come with power weapons and two attacks each, out of the box they are already decent. Add in a chainfist and vary some of the weapons (maul, sword) and they are a good close combat squad as is.

The best thing about CSM Terminators is the price. 31pt is very nice for +2/++5 & a power weapon/Combi bolter.

Being able to chose which power weapon you what is brillaint. I play in a heavy xenos meta so most of my guys wield Power Mauls, murders T3 +4 units & can take a crack at tanks rear armor.

For a melee CSM Termi unit I'd mix up the weapons load out. No point giving all your guys Dual lighting if you run into some +2 units.

Ultimately termi's want to be facing against weaker troops units. Fighting your opponents deathstar head on isn't the best move. You want to pick your fights that you can win easily. CSM Termis can do this without spending a ton of points.

Exactly. I'd never spend the points for exclusively melee-oriented Chaos terminators. They don't have TH/SS as an option, and lightning claws waste a good gun. I put one lightning claw on my champion to gain an extra chance to wound, otherwise they run with power weapons and a chainfist for a vehicle emergency.

Think of chaos terminators as bully units. You are playing the role of the big fat school yard bully. You wanna go after enemy units that can't fight back.... Mostly Xenos, attack the enemies T3, 4+ units. Go for the enemy's soft underbelly: weak scoring units holding an objective, artillery, fish with marker lights in cover.
I find they work best in these roles, it maximizes their effectiveness, keeps the unit cheap and helps you get the most mileage out of the unit during the game. You wanna stick to power mauls and axes and throw in some combi weapons to flavor. I usually take a heavy flamer, I think the auto cannon is underwhelming as a terminator heavy weapon.

So it sounds like I should just stick with the basic loadouts then. Okay. Thanks for the advice. Glad I built the first of the lightning claw guys with magnets.

I keep mine with no mark, 10 with a chainsfist, and one with a heavy flamer.

Combi bolters are great when deep struck vs infantry. That's 18 shots (always roll sarg differently for allocation) that reroll to hit and are str 4. In rapid fire range these ruin squads behind defense lines (as long as you can get behind them).

I always say one (or two) heavy flamers in the squad as they allow for two cool things. One if you land close enough then you can roast a whole squad of xenos or scouts (A unit I see a lot more SM players using now). If you land to far away then you can put the flamer toward the back to help with overwatch.

As for weapons, I think any power weapon other then the lance is great for these guys (with mauls and axes shinning the most). I would ALWAYS suggest putting a maul on the sarg though as he will be challenging every round and you would be surprised what two str6 attacks can kill.

Other thing to think about with ANY undivided unit is the fact that you can put a marked lord into them. By adding a termie lord with either of these two marks, nurgle or khorne, you add a squad wise buff to them. One, they all become fearless as long as he lives. Two, with khorne he gives counter attack to the unit (rage still only works for him sadly). Three with nurgle you can add defensive gernades to him for 5 pts making the squad +1 cover save with in 8" of the enemy (great for landing next to a defence line and letting your lord take the lascannon shot with a 3+ cover save) as well as making the squad less scared of being charged. Out of the two nurgle is the best to me.