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Hi all,

Been browsing the forums since joining recently, thinking of what army with which I want to go. I'm very much struck by the appeal and background of the Night Lords; I just got finished reading 'Unremembered Empire' and loved Curze's antics. They also appeal to the horror fan in me as an organisation of terror and shadows.

So, I'm thinking of starting a Night Lords warband. I've been browsing the CSM codex so far and looking at the options. What would people recommend to concentrate upon for a reasonably effective but also reasonably fluffy Night Lords force? I reason that I'd be staying away from using a lot of "heavy Chaos" stuff as the Night Lords don't go in for that so much in the fluff. Regular Chaos Marines and Chaos Raptors would be in there I guess to represent the "strike-and-run" aspect of the army?

Not too sure on vehicles either given that the NL are supposed to be a hit-and-run force, although from what I've read I'm led to believe that their equipment arsenals have largely survived intact over the years, even though the legion itself has split into company-sized warbands.

Appreciate the advice.

Only take one CSM squad. They really are not useful, and they can't do the Hit & Run tactic. CSM are great at getting in the way and pretending they're Orks with Mark of Khorne, bonus upgrades from Fabius Bile or an Icon of Vengeance and 15+ models. I personally infiltrate them with Huron, but I run Red Corsairs, not Night Lords. I haven't used them successfully any other way.

Noise Marines are a good addition, especially with how the Raptors look now with their speakers in the knees and crap like that... Paint them up dark and lightning bolt-y and you have a reasonable excuse fluffwise to include them. They're the screamers that instil terror in the local population. The echos in the dark. And Noise Marines are an okay backbone to an Infantry force. Opens up Sonic Dreadnoughts in the same vein.

Keep in mind, no matter what the fluff says they do, Night Lords can still have more traditional warbands and be fluffy. It's not written in stone that Night Lords turn away from the Chaos Gods. You don't HAVE to have Raptors or cause panic. Some people fall into that trap and end up with 70% of the codex they actively avoid. Should only avoid models because you personally don't like them in your army.

If you want to go more 'Legion' than 'Chaos' then don't forget about Forge World. Deimos Predators and Vindicators are very attractive with a Warband. Contemptor Dreadnoughts aren't smart points-wise, way too overcosted for what they are, but that is also a good looking model to include.

I will say, some of the best Night Lords models I've ever seen were a Daemon Prince and some bikes. The amount of real estate on those models for lightning bolts was really impressive to see done up all pretty. A Heldrake isn't a bad looker either.

@SharkoutofWata:

Thanks for the advice. I will try not to limit myself too much just for the sake of the lore; after all, as you so correctly point out, I should enjoy whatever models I want to use.

For a single CSM squad, would it be worth using Chosen? Given their special infliltrate rule, it would fit with the fluff and make them a bit more useful, I would suspect.

EDIT: Just seen in the Codex that Chosen are an Elite, not a Troop. My bad,

You don't get any bonuses anyway, so run what's good, which is overall limited.

If you want it to be Night Lords, though, look at previous topics on Raptor-based lists. I threw one in one of those threads.

If I were you I would run the 30k Legion list for Night Lords. For some of the war bands its only been a few hundred years since the Heresy and doesn't have any of that silly chaos stuff. Like you said, most of their equipment still works. Plus its still possible to have heavy mechanized armor formations for the Night Lords. Its also actually a fluff accurate list with many many viable options from drop pod assaulting to terminator and infiltrating veterans(if I remember right that scout is and option for them). Plus you can run the entire army without having to buy anything but the book itself from FW if you wanted. Night Raptors are almost identical to chaos Raptors and power armor is power armor is power armor. The worst part of 30k is all the options and having to narrow down what you want and what you can bring.

In 40k shy away from marks, only a few war bands tolerate possessed chaosy marines and that's mostly because they are desperate for numbers. You will not find cult troops in any NL war band, nor will you find those silly dinobots.

Vehicles as said are still prevalent, especially flyers, although again look to FW for fluffy fliers, I think the NL are too stylish for one of those silly hell turkeys. Storm Eagles and Fire Raptors along with the fighters are the way to go there.

And yes, jump troops of both flavors would be present as well.

I would take the fluff hit if using CCSM and bring the Red Corsair, use him as a captain lord character so you get infiltrate. Two or three blobs of marines infiltrating, along with Atramentar terminators deep striking with jump troops. Contemptor and Deredo Dreadnoughts providing fire support with some air craft and you are out of points.

raptors, CSM, terminators, minimal chaos/possessed units.

Hi slickviscous,

You picked a great heritage to draw your warband from. Why? Because the Night Lords are so schizophrenic and hypocritical that you can justify just about anything being in your warband, so do not limit yourself based on what someone says is fluffy. There is potential in units that might not seem Night Lordsy to you at first, only you may have to do some work (converting and/or fluff tweaks) to make them fit into your theme.

One thing I did to open up more of the codex to me was to rewrite it. Consider marks as curses, suffered by your models rather than borne with pride. Rename some units. I renamed Plague Marine units to Reaper Squads, relentlessly stalking their prey. Same rules. Noise Marines are now Heralds of Night, weaponizing the agonized screams of past victims. Possessed are warp-tainted half-bat marines. Spawn are terror beasts released to cause mayhem.

So long as your army looks cruel and terrifying, I think you succeeded at Night Lordsing.

You could always use C:SM rules to run the Night Lords (who are only nominally CSM, they are more like a Renegade Legion). Use the White Scars Chapter Tactics to give everyone Hit and Run. Use Vanguard Veteran rules to represent Raptors. Use the regular Tactical Squad rules for your Chaos Space Marines. White Scars are more bike focused rather than Rip'N'Tear the way Night Lords are supposed to be. Carcharodons from Forge World might work too. Just a thought.

Get whatever you like and paint them as Night Lords, since you're going to be facing loss after loss with the current Chaos dex with no hope in sight anyway.

Following the fluff leaves you with very few unit choice, and 90% of those are bad.

I would also recommend SM Raven Guard chapter tactics for the better chance of Night Fighting, turn one Shrouded, and jumpier Assault Marines to better emulate the old 3.5 codex.