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Hello, I have just recently bought the Chaos half of Dark Vengeance and was looking to expand my army to 1000 points, trying to keep things interesting and competitive, as well as WYSIWYG. To start with I have:
Chaos Lord with Power Sword, Plasma Pistol and Aura of Dark Glory
10 Cultists with 8 Autoguns, Heavy Stubber and Shotgun
10 Cultists with Flamer
Hellbrute
6 Chosen with 2 Lightning Claws, 2 Power Weapons and Power Fist
All this comes in at 523 points (just read faq, Hellbrute price drop yay).

I was thinking of adding two squads of 5 Raptors, each squad with a single melta gun and plasma pistol, a Vindicator and a Predator with T/L Lascannon and Havok Launcher, to bring my total to 995 points. I am debating dropping the T/L Lascannon and Havok Launcher on the Predator for a Rhino to carry the Chosen.

Would this be a fun army list to play, able to make at least a decent stand against other armies? Or is there a much better way to spend the extra 472 points to back up my Dark Vengeance kit? I'm hoping not to drop any of the Dark Vengeance gear, just because it looks amazing and too keep things simple. Even the Hellbrute, because sometimes something as random as that is fun Also, would a battleforce be worth getting? I've heard mixed things about it, but from what I see it looks pretty nice.
Thanks

Well, this is an unusual list.

Chosen need a land raider usually. They are too expensive to just get pinked off by regular bolter fire as they walk across the board. Rhinos dont cut it. Your opponent will never allow such an expensive squad of dangerous CC units to cross the board in AV11 cardboard armor. If you take Chosen, you go all the way, and they are the deathstar of your army. I'd suggest taking 20 with MoN and footslogging them or 10 in a land raider with your loadout of choice.

Cultists: you may have figured this out, but shooty cultists pale in comparison to CC cultists, and they're more expensive to boot. Take more cultists, and take them naked. Shotguns and flamers are ok because they still allow you to run and assault, being assault weapons.

With so many cultists, consider a dark apostle or Typhus

Find a place for your chaos lord! maybe in the land raider with the possessed. Do not walk him!

Raptors are good. They are most popularly taken with 2 melta guns for deep striking, vehicle popping goodness.

You mention tanks like vindicators and predators. My advice, take two or three of whatever tanks you take. Redundancy is key with the CSM Codex.

I wouldn't recommend the battleforce, make your army something unique to you.

Welcome to Chaos!

I started with the DV set also. Here are a few things to consider:

Chaos Lord works pretty much "as-is". Keep in mind that a Sigil of Corruption gives a 4++ whereas the Aura of Dark Glory is only 5++. The Sigil isn't something that strictly needs to be modeled, IMO. So that is a buff option for him. I also recommend Mark of Nurgle. Not only does it unlock the excellent plague marine units as troops (see below), but it gives him T5, meaning that a single Str 8 or 9 hit will no longer instant-kill him, wasting two wounds that you paid the points for!

Helbrute is one of the weaker units in the 'dex, but can be useful for AV with his 24" MM. Keep him well protected by cover, though!

I agree with the other poster's comments about Cultists. In fact, adding a Dark Apostle is pretty easy - see below.

Chosen: This is where the DV set really falls apart. Chosen are WAY overpriced for what they bring, and you don't have enough power armor bodies.

But, I think the models look great, so consider doing this with them:

Power Axe Chosen: Make him an aspiring champion for a unit of regular Chaos marines. You need more troops anyway, so buy a box of 10 and put 5 with this guy. Magnetize one or two for melta/plasma/flamer/lascannon options! You can always stick a boltgun on there until your unit size gets to 10 and then switch it out later. The flexibility is really nice, and it saves $ in the long run of not having to buy extra models just to have weapon options.
Power Fist Chosen: Same as Power Axe chosen. You now have two units of 6 marines with good looking aspiring champion models.
Boltgun Chosen (x2): Use these guys as regular marines for now. Stick both in one of the above squads, or split them one to each squad. More power armor bodies...
Power Maul Chosen: This guy makes a perfect Dark Apostle model. If you want to, cut a metal washer in half and glue it on top of his backpack and add some spikey bits from a troop box. Viola, you have a Dark Apostle to stick in your cultist blob!

Dual Lightening Claw Chosen: I haven't used this model. I suppose you could throw him in one of the squads above, but due to 2xLC, he isn't shooty. He can be a bullet sponge, or a good melee unit should you get there. Maybe as you expand, you can make him another aspiring champion for a squad of CSM marines.

To expand to 1k points, I like your raptor idea. The models look great, and they are very good deep-striking suicide units. I recommend putting magnets on them so you can take 2x Melta or 2x Plasma (or 2x Flamer for that matter), allowing you to tailor your list based on what you think you will be facing. Give the champion a plasma pistol and maybe an LC or PF so he has a chance to win a challenge or two.

Other good units: Plague marines. These guys are awesome, and can take 2 specialty weapons. They are good for taking plasma, since they have the normal 3+ save if the plasma "gets hot", and if that fails, they still have a 5+ "feel no pain" save. With T5 and FNP, this is a durable objective holding unit. I would get a squad of 7. I think your squad of 7 with 2xPlasma will cost you in the neighborhood of 200 points - well worth it.

I suggest 1-2 Rhinos. Point costs are low. Yes, they can give up first blood, but using them as mobile cover after moving flat-out and popping smoke in turn 1 can be a real advantage to keep your troops alive for a little longer.

Obliterators are awesome. With terminator armor, two wounds, and a wide choice of weapons, they have been worth their points in nearly every game that I've taken them. Take Mark of Nurgle for T5 to avoid instant death since you have two wounds, and veterans of the long war if you take more than one in a unit. VoLW gives them +1 leadership, so they will not retreat as easily should one of them die. If you take a unit of 3, VoLW is pretty much a requirement, IMO.

Heldrakes are awesome, but I don't usually take mine at 1k points and below. Depends on how competitive your local scene is, but seems to be overkill at that level. Above 1k though, a Heldrake is strongly recommended.

Vindicators can be fun if you can get them into range. Your T/L Lascannon predator is a good idea, but I would either skip or magnetize the havok launcher. Havok missles are worthless against vehicles and MC units, which is what the TL lascannon is for. Since you have to fire all weapons at a single unit, you will find yourself only firing the LC weapons most of the time as you prioritize heavy targets.

Good luck!
-Aeglos

You definitely need 1 or 2 Heldrakes. Best unit in the codex.

Pair of oblitz with MoN. They provide versitility by giving a choice every other turn. Drop the chosen period.

stars of the csm codex: oblits, heldrakes, plague marines, noise marines, demon prince hq with wings + black mace. any or all of these.

aeglos wrote:
Helbrute is one of the weaker units in the 'dex, but can be useful for AV with his 24" MM. Keep him well protected by cover, though!

Chosen: This is where the DV set really falls apart. Chosen are WAY overpriced for what they bring, and you don't have enough power armor bodies.

But, I think the models look great, so consider doing this with them:

Power Axe Chosen: Make him an aspiring champion for a unit of regular Chaos marines. You need more troops anyway, so buy a box of 10 and put 5 with this guy. Magnetize one or two for melta/plasma/flamer/lascannon options! You can always stick a boltgun on there until your unit size gets to 10 and then switch it out later. The flexibility is really nice, and it saves $ in the long run of not having to buy extra models just to have weapon options.
Power Fist Chosen: Same as Power Axe chosen. You now have two units of 6 marines with good looking aspiring champion models.
Boltgun Chosen (x2): Use these guys as regular marines for now. Stick both in one of the above squads, or split them one to each squad. More power armor bodies...
Power Maul Chosen: This guy makes a perfect Dark Apostle model. If you want to, cut a metal washer in half and glue it on top of his backpack and add some spikey bits from a troop box. Viola, you have a Dark Apostle to stick in your cultist blob!

Dual Lightening Claw Chosen: I haven't used this model. I suppose you could throw him in one of the squads above, but due to 2xLC, he isn't shooty. He can be a bullet sponge, or a good melee unit should you get there. Maybe as you expand, you can make him another aspiring champion for a squad of CSM marines.

^ This

The hellbrute is useless if you do not have any other AV model. It'll die first round to whatever anti tank your opponent has.
Chosen are good as aspiring champs. I use the DLC one as a MoK chosen squad leader in a LR, the axe/PF/maul ones as regular aspiring champions.

Before going straight to raptors, I'd advise :
- more MEQ bodies (if you don't plan a cultist army) (take a squad of nine)
- Rhino (put the Marines and the lord in there)

Then, I'd advise to stick to 2 predators, or 2 vindicators - and I'd suggest Vindicators.

If you like shooty, Noise marines, Havocs and Obliterators will treat you very well. And these all provide a nice ranged element to the DV stuff.
Raptors are an interesting choice, they definitely pull their weight if used right. One thing I would suggest is a single squad of ten as two squads of Five
are good for special weaponry squads but lose out in close combat. As to the tanks, it was stated previously but get two of the same tank. Always go with
the rule of two, before getting another type of vehicle get two of the same vehicle.

I would totally recommend cult units as troops though, pick whichever one interests and excites you and then use them as troops. It doesn't "really" matter which
one because they all have their uses, Plague marines are popular for their durability, Noise marines get some of the best anti infantry weaponry in the game and
Khorne berzerkers are pretty gutsy in close combat. Thousand sons are quite durable and tend to rip infantry to shreds, however they are helpless against vehicles
so factor that in if you want a TS army. OR just go with all of them and be different.

In my experience Chaos can right up any type of list and make it work to a greater or lesser extent, it's one of the things that makes Chaos so great.

Good luck though.

In my experience i proxy my csm as the repentant marines seeking to rejoin the loyalist after finding out about awesome new tech like razor backs, land speeders, different lr, special bolter ammo, drop pods, attack bikes, multi meltas, thunder hammers, artificer armor, power of the machine spirit, and they shall know no fear, combat squads, 5 point combat knives for 10 marines, free missile launchers, scout armor, sniper rifles, digital weapons, field generators, standard of, termi as troops, bikers as troops, jump infantry as troops, storm raven flying transport, storm talons, etc... oh and sergeants that dont need to challenge.