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Hello all, so I received DV and the Crimson Slaughter for Christmas, after not having played for many years. Put together the dv set so far and played a learning game at the LGS. Now, I'm still learning the rules and trying to get a hold of all the new weapons and combinations so I have a few questions. How should I equip the terminators that come with the CS set? the models I have are the dv cultists, Hellbrute, and Chaos Lord. I'm not using the chosen because they all have different weapons and its a nightmare to keep track of. I also just built my land raider with twin-linked lascannons and a heavy bolter. Instead of the raptors I built the Warp Talons, because they look amazing!

So I'm left with the terminators, and i have no clue how to equip them. My future plans with the army definitely include A Forge fiend down the road, if that helps. As for opponents, My GF is starting eldar, and the guys at the store pretty much play everything, with a lot of IG and Nids. Not sure if I should load them up with flamers or meltas, or even cc weps!

Re: the terminators, storm bolters and power weapons are good for most purposes. I like the autocannon but don't think it's useful enough for the points. I really like the heavy flamer and do take that on my terminator squads.

I encourage you to check out these terminator threads, as well ask look for others. You will find lots of opinions on CSM terminators!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/591803.page#6791465
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/585331.page#6641765
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/558180.page#6158473
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/555707.page#6111991
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/548199.page#5982488
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/543748.page#5907959

My personal opinion is that CSM terminators are cheap and can be deepstruck anywhere, so take them naked and use them as a distraction as only certain units can deal with them easily. This will force your opponent to re-position his elite units or otherwise have his whole army ground to a halt by a mere 100 ish point unit! The other thing I like about this idea is that terminators are elite choices, and as everyone knows the Elite section of the CSM codex is full of rubbish, so filling it up with little squads of 3 terminators is fine.

My advice to you as a new CSM player is to identify a theme for your army. Are you a follower of Khorne? Nurgle? Chaos Undivided? You get the idea. Find 2 or 3 units in the codex that made you choose CSM over some other army. Why didn't you ask for Necrons for Christmas? Why CSM?

Addressing what you have now:
Helbrutes- A great unit when used with one of the online dataslate formations, terrible when taken alone.
Cultists- Amazing cheap troop choice. Take them naked in large squad sizes usually, feel free to throw some flamers in there.
Chaos Lord- Give him relics like the Axe of Blind Fury or the Black Mace. Make him a close combat monster, and give him mobility (a bike or mount of some sort) and a bodyguard (usually bikers or chaos spawn)
Chosen- Confusing for new players as well as just terrible. The CSM codex is full of units like this, just regular space marines with tons of un needed upgrades.
Warp Talons- same as chosen, but given you like them so much, i'd take them anyway. Make sure you keep them out of the way because they are very, very fragile for their point cost. I wouldn't take more than 5, otherwise they might draw attention.

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions!

CSM terminators are great because there are just so many ways you can run them. Combi-weapons and marks give you a lot of flexibility, and I'd make full use of both of them. With a little bit of conversion work, you can turn the combi-bolters into combi meltas or plasmas. If you're planning on a small squad, throwing a heavy flamer in there can also be a good idea, and if you're planning on a large squad (especially if it's going to otherwise focus mainly on close combat), then a pair of overpriced autocannons can still be a good way to go.

As for melee weapons, the standard power weapons + marks gives you a LOT of space to run with. I'd consider throwing a powerfist or two in there maybe, especially if you want the champion to be able to hit harder targets in challenges. Otherwise MAYBE a chainfist. Their close combat options are so good, though, there's not a whole lot of reason to spend too many points upgrading them.

I think I may keep them with the combi bolters and power weapons, with a flamer thrown in. I saw you mentioned storm bolters, but these dont seem to be an option to take in the codex. Am I wrong or do chaos just not get them.

XvReaperXv wrote:
I think I may keep them with the combi bolters and power weapons, with a flamer thrown in. I saw you mentioned storm bolters, but these dont seem to be an option to take in the codex. Am I wrong or do chaos just not get them.

Chaos get Combi-bolters which are simply a twin-linked bolter.
For Termies, it is most definitely well worth the cost to invest in Combi-Flamer/Plasma/Meltas though! Pick one type, or else if you desire a hybrid, the better option would likely be to go for a Heavy Flamer + 1-2 Combi-Flamers & 2-3 Combi-Meltas. Gives you some really solid flexibility for some one-shot troubleshooting.
Combi-Plasma should be a unit-wide thing, at which point your unit is really looking to get the drop on either a big, scary Monstrous Creature, or to lay waste to an expensive elite unit of 2+ or 3+ saves such as other Termies, Meganobz, Sternguard, etc...


On the Warp Talons... They're really not as awful as the internet makes them out to be, especially for a Crimson Slaughter based army. One Sorcerer for example can take the Prophet of the voices relic, which will thus allow you access to the Malefic Daemonology psychic lore without any of the disadvantages it brings! (since the relic gives that model the 'Daemon' special rule)
Now you can cast helpful buffs such as Cursed Earth to boost the invuln save of the Talons, and/or Summon in more Daemons who can bring additional augments such as a Herald of Tzeentch w/the Grimoire of True Names!
Or even just bring along some allied Chaos Daemons!

It's actually possible to build a 2++ invuln save on those Warp Talons with the right mix of psychic augments + the Grimoire artifact from a Chaos Daemons detachment. (plus, Daemons combo epically alongside CSM's in general!)