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Hey! Today I bought a Chaos Space Marine starter set and a starter paint set, and i painted the figures. I really want to get more into the game but I don't know what I need to do. I don't know anything about the rules or how the game works, so I know i should read the instructions :p. But my question is: what should I buy now? What should I buy to expand my Chaos Space Marine army?

Thanks a lot!
Max

1) Welcome to dakka!

2) Post some pics of your work

3) Get the CSM codex, read it, and you'll get some ideas as to how you want to build your army.

Welcome to Dakkadakka, and welcome to 40k.

First and foremost make sure you have the Chaos Space Marine Codex, and the game rulebook. From there, you'll want an HQ choice first (i.e. Chaos Lord, Sorcerer, Warpsmith, ext) as they're the leader of your army essentially, and then you'll want a few troops (i.e. Chaos Space Marines, Cultists). Then, just expand on whatever models you like or want.

Thanks guys!
@Sir Arun Here is a picture of one of my 3 space marines x)

A lot of what you need, rules, dice, templates will be in the dark vengeance box set. It's got some nice Chaos models in there too. And you can either stick the dark angels on eBay or just paint them up as Chaos marines.

I agree. The DV box set is a fantastic entry point for a CSM player - the chaos stuff is some of the newest and most detailed in the entire CSM model range, and the Dark Angels stuff can also be used as CSM stuff (not everything needs to be mutated or spiky beyond reason )

Having a CSM force consisting of 2 units of cultists (one ranged, one cc), a Helbrute (essentially a dreadnought), a unit of Chosen (they desperately need a Rhino to get into cc though), a Lord/Sorceror, and then 3 bikes, 5 terminators and 10 marines is easily a 1500 point Chaos army. You then have another sorceror and another lord model too (the DA ones).

Don't buy any models for now. As I'm sure you're aware of, models represent a sizeable investment of both time and money.

I'll echo what others have said, invest in the books first.

The starter (Dark Vengeance) includes a smaller format rulebook than the separate one which can frequently be found on eBay for a fraction of the cost. It lacks the background and painting/modelling sections, which as a beginner may interest you, but if it's just a question of learning the game, then the mini book at about a quarter of the price is good value. You'll also need the Chaos Marine Codex, which, again, I'd either look for 2nd hand or GW do have a limited number of smaller format books still on sale which are a bit cheaper.

After that, try and play a few games with just your starter models, by that point you'll hopefully have gotten a grasp of how everything works and can probably decide how to move forward for yourself.

While you can have a lot of fun playing 40K, be under no illusions that it isn't a flawed game, not all models are equal in power in the game, and it is very easy, to make bad decisions when starting out which then can lead to despondency when things don't work on the table the way all the background suggests. The easiest way to avoid this is take your time, learn your stuff and make informed decisions, don't get excited, spend a load of cash and then get dispirited.

Buy DV, and Chaosify the Space Marine stuff. You get (drumroll):

1) the rulebook
2) 15 chaos marines
3) 3 bikers
4) Obliterators or Chaos Termies
5) A Helcult
6) Two lords and one Sorceror

All for 90 bucks. That's a near-complete chaos army.

The Chaos side of DV is actually pretty sweet. The Chaos expansion for DV actually has nice (usable) models too, but it's not nearly as price-efficient.

From a hobby perspective, try to build up to the big, complicated models. They have more fiddly bits, and need to be built/painted in a lot more stages, which will tax your patience and your desire to simply get models out there.

This is one of the great things about the DV as a starter box: the models are snapfit (instead of multipart), meaning there are only a couple of pieces per model, and they go together only on way. As your army grows, this is not desirable (as it would be repetitive, and you want to customize the loadouts), but as you start, it's a great way to focus on painting, and then on playing, rather than on agonizing over which special weapon you want in the squad.

Another place you can get cheap parts for are splitting the new Assassins game with someone who wants the assassin. You get a really nice Chaos Lord (who can be built a few ways), a bunch of cultists who are actually useful in the game, and CSMs like the one you have painted. The great thing is, the person selling those models probably won't ask for much; you can probably pay the value of the Chaos Lord and get everything else for free.

Not to be the downer but be careful in what you are getting into.

Chaos Space Marines is considered to be a very WEAK army rules wise. A lot of people are unhappy with how powerful or I should say how almost every other codes is more powerful than the Chaos Space Marine codex is.

Expect to loose a lot of games and especially if you are playing against the new Eldar, don't expect to win at all.

Also depending on how you like the game, I find 40K very boring to play now. When I use to play, I played "weak" armies. I don't care that I lost all my games, I had fun. Thing is, I don't like playing at a disadvantage anymore and find the game mechanics very boring to play.

I move my army. I shoot my army. I assault with my army. All you do for about 15 to 45 minutes is do nothing but remove minis. Then it's your turn. They you move your army. Then you shoot with your army. Then you assault with your army. All I do for 15 to 45 minutes is remove minis.

Does that sound like fun to you?

Also when you read a rule, someone will intrepid the rule differently that you. Just go into YMDC. It's a forum where people are suppose to "discuss" rule questions but ends up in ARGUMENTS.

So expect to play a one sided game where there is a lot of rule ambiguity. If playing with the wrong person, instead of debates or explanations on how rules should work, you can be arguing with your opponent over plastic toy soldiers.

That being said, you can have lots of fun. I love reading the fluff and finding something that appeals to me and I love them. I am loving the Alpha Legion. Just wish I could paint them properly.

If you don't want to buy the rules or codex yet check out the Lexiton (I think it's called) or other 40K sites that explain the history and fluff about 40K armies and universe.