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Here are my proposals for the Chaos Space Marines. They should be fitting for casual "homebrew" play. My goal in writing this was to make Chaos Space Marines "mirror" similar 7.5 codices and to be roughly on par with space marines. This may not be exhaustive, but I think that this should be a step in the "right" direction:

1. Chaos Space Marines now cost 14 ppm.

2. Veterans of the Long War, Icon of Despair, Icon of Excess, Icon of Flame, Icon of Vengeance, Icon of Wrath, Mark of Khorne, Mark of Nurgle, Mark of Slaanesh and Mark of Tzeentch are no longer available as purchasable upgrades. Instead, they shall be replaced by the following "factions":

A. Devotees of Nurgle. All devotees of Nurgle have the fear special rule and +1 toughness

B. Devotees of Slaanesh. All devotees of Slaanesh gain +1 to their Feel No Pain rolls (or 6+ feel no pain if they don't otherwise have it) and +1 initiative.

C. Devotees of Khorne. All Devotees of Khorne gain the rage, counter attack and furious charge special rules. Furthermore, all Devotees of Khorne may add 3 inches when determining their charge distance in the assault phase.

D. Devotees of Tzeentch. All Devotees of Tzeentch gain the soul blaze special rule when firing bolt weapons. Furthermore, all Devotees of Tzeentch gain +1 to their invulnerable save rolls, or else, a 6+ invulnerable save if they don't otherwise have one.

E. Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions. All Disillusioned Veterans gain +1 Leadership, the Hatred: Space Marines special rule and the Fearless special rule.

3. For each detachment or formation in your army, you must select one of the aforementioned factions. Only one faction may be chosen per detachment or formation. All non-vehicle models in that detachment or formation wearing power armor, artificer armor or terminator armor and which do not have the daemon special rule gain the bonuses of that faction.

Formations:

1. Traitor Legion Battle Company. All non-vehicle models in the Traitor Legion Strike Force must belong to the Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions faction. Composition: 1 Chaos Lord (including special characters). 0-1 Sorcerers. 6 units of chaos space marines. 1-2 units of raptors and/or chaos bikers. 2 units of havocs. 1-5 units of Chaos Terminators and/or chosen. 0-2 Helbrutes. 0-6 chaos predators and/or vindicators.

Bonuses:

A. All models in this formation reroll 1s to hit (both in the shooting and assault phases). Any model firing a blast weapon may reroll the scatter die.

B. If 3 units of Chaos Terminators are taken, each unit has the option to purchase a Chaos Landraider for 150 points. Upgrades must be purchased normally.

C. Each unit of chaos space marines may take a chaos rhino for free. Upgrades must be purchased normally.

D. All models in this detachment have objective secured.

2. Thousand Sons Conclave. All models in this formation must belong to the Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions faction. Formation composition: 1-2 sorcerers with psychic mastery level 1. 4-6 units of Thousand Sons.

Bonuses:

A. Each aspiring sorcerer in this formation shall be counted as having psychic mastery level 2 [each aspiring sorcerer may not have its psychic mastery level upgraded beyond level 3]. Each sorcerer in this formation shall be counted as having psychic mastery level 3 [each sorcerer may not have its psychic mastery level upgraded beyond level 3].

B. All models in this detachment have objective secured.

C. In addition to the bonuses conferred by the Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions faction, all models in this unit shall be counted as belonging to and shall gain the bonuses conferred by the Devotees of Tzeentch faction.

D. You gain +1 to all reserve rolls and your opponent gains -1 to all reserve rolls.

E. You may add +1 to your roll to steal the initiative at the beginning of the game.

F. Each model in this formation gains Preferred Enemy: Space Wolves.

3. Demonic Cult. Composition: 1 Daemon Prince (including special characters), 6 units of chaos cultists and 2-4 units of Possessed.

Bonuses:

A. The daemon prince in this formation gains level 3 psychic mastery [the demon prince may not have its psychic mastery level upgraded beyond level 3, unless it already had a higher psychic level mastery independently of this rule, in which case its psychic level mastery remains unchanged]. During the psychic phase, an additional warp charge is generated for each unit of chaos cultists or possessed within 12 inches of the Daemon Prince. If the Daemon Prince is within 12 inches of any unit of chaos cultists or possessed, the Daemon Prince may manifest psychic powers at 1 less than otherwise would be required (to a minimum 2+ roll to manifest powers). Furthermore, If the Daemon Prince is within 12 inches of any unit of chaos cultists or possessed, the enemy's psychic powers may be denied at 1 less than otherwise would be required (to a minimum 2+ roll to deny the witch). The Daemon Prince may manifest up to 3 psychic powers per turn. If the Daemon Prince is within 12 inches of at least 2 units of chaos cultists or possessed, the Daemon Prince cannot trigger perils of the warp.

B. All models in this detachment have objective secured.

C. Select one faction other than Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions. All models in this formation are considered a part of and gain the bonuses of that faction.

4. Noise Marines Warband. Composition: 4-6 units of noise marines. 1 Chaos Lord. All models in this formation must belong to the Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions faction.

Bonuses:

A. All models in this formation gain the objective secured special rule.

B. In addition to the bonuses conferred by the Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions faction, all models in this unit shall be counted as belonging to and shall gain the bonuses conferred by the Devotees of Slaanesh faction.

C. Each noise marine may replace its boltgun with a sonic blaster for free. One noise marine in each unit may replace its boltgun with a blastmaster for 10 ppm. Each attack made with a sonic blaster by models in this formation shall gain the pinning special rule.

D. All attacks made by units in this formation gain the concussive special rule.

5. Plague Marines Warband. Composition: 4-6 units of Plague Marines. 1 Chaos Lord. All models in this formation must belong to the Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions faction.

Bonuses:

A. All models in this formation shall be counted as belonging to and shall gain the bonuses of the Devotees to Nurgle faction, in addition to belonging to and gaining the bonuses of the Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions faction.

B. The aspiring champion of each unit may upgrade his plague knife to a power weapon for free.

C. All attacks made by units in this formation gain the Poisoned (4+) special rule.

6. Khorne's War Host. Composition: 6 units of Khorne Berserkers. 1 Chaos Lord. 1 Daemon Prince. 0-2 units of Chosen. 0-2 Helbrutes. 0-2 Maulerfiends.

Restrictions: The Khorne Berserkers, Chaos Lord and Chosen must belong to the Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions faction.

Bonuses:

A. All models in this formation shall be counted as belonging to and shall gain the bonuses of the Devotees to Khorne faction, in addition to belonging to and gaining the bonuses of any other faction.

B. The Berserker Champion in each unit of Khorne Berserkers may exchange his close combat weapon for a power weapon for free.

C. The Daemon Prince may exchange his close combat weapon for The Murder Sword for free.

D. The Chaos Lord may take a power weapon for free.

E. The Chosen Champion in each unit of Chosen which are taken may take a power weapon for free.

F. All units in this formation may reroll the dice when determining the charge distance in the assault phase.

G. All units in this formation may run and assault in the same turn.

H. Once per game, you may declare a Furious Advance. On the turn that you do so, all units in the formation gain the move through cover special rule until the end of the turn, and you may roll an extra 1d6 when determining the distance for each unit in the formation that you choose to run.

I. All units in this formation gain Feel No Pain (5+).



More later! Tell me what you think

How long have you been playing CSM?

 Filch wrote:
How long have you been playing CSM?

Are you asking because my recommendations are very bad?

I did not say that.
Why did you jump to that conclusion?

 Filch wrote:
I did not say that.
Why did you jump to that conclusion?

Oh. I don't actually play Chaos Space Marines. That said, I have played against them and I have some familiarity with their units.

It is very interesting to see someone propose ideas for an amy they dont play but atleast fight.

This actually seems pretty interesting, I'm interested to see what else you'll come up with for this

Noise Marines, Chaos Lords and Daemon Princes are already fearless, so the noise marine formation granting fearless is useless

What is the guass rule ?

Traditio wrote:

1. Chaos Space Marines now cost 14 ppm.

2. Veterans of the Long War, Icon of Despair, Icon of Excess, Icon of Flame, Icon of Vengeance, Icon of Wrath, Mark of Khorne, Mark of Nurgle, Mark of Slaanesh and Mark of Tzeentch are no longer available as purchasable upgrades

3. For each detachment or formation in your army, you must select one of the following "Factions." All units wearing power armor or terminator armor must belong to the chosen faction. Only one faction may be chosen per detachment or formation. All units wearing power armor, artificer armor or terminator armor gain the following bonuses:

A. Devotees of Nurgle. All devotees of Nurgle have the fear special rule and +1 toughness

B. Devotees of Slaanesh. All devotees of Slaanesh gain +1 to their Feel No Pain rolls (or 6+ feel no pain if they don't otherwise have it) and +1 initiative.

C. Devotees of Khorne. All Devotees of Khorne gain the rage, counter attack and furious charge special rules. Furthermore, all Devotees of Khorne may add 3 inches when determining their charge distance in the assault phase.

D. Devotees of Tzeentch. All Devotees of Tzeentch gain the soul blaze special rule when firing bolt weapons. Furthermore, all Devotees of Tzeentch gain +1 to their invulnerable save rolls, or else, a 6+ invulnerable save if they don't otherwise have one.

E. Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions. All Disillusioned Veterans gain +1 Leadership, the Hatred: Space Marines special rule and the Fearless special rule.

- FnP should be Nurgle's thing honestly. Slaanesh should be the speediest, (ie: add distance to Run moves/re-roll charges), and gain perhaps 'Preferred Enemy: Eldar'.
- Tzeentch would be better off ditching the whole +1 invuln thing, and instead have bonuses such as Adamantium Will & a basic bonus to casting their Psychic powers.
- The 'Undivided' option is too powerful at strait up Fearless, and also makes the +1Ld bonuses almost entirely pointless... Instead, trade Fearless for Stubborn in close combat.

Traditio wrote:
Formations:

1. Traitor Legion Strike Force. All non-vehicle models in the Traitor Legion Strike Force must belong to the Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions faction. Composition: 1 Chaos Lord (including special characters) and 1-2 warpsmiths (including special characters). 6 units of chaos space marines. 0-3 units of chaos bikers. 2 units of raptors. 1-3 units of Chaos Terminators. 0-6 chaos predators and/or vindicators. 2 units of havocs.

Bonuses:

A. All models in this formation reroll 1s to hit (both in the shooting and assault phases). Any model firing a blast weapon may reroll the scatter die.
B. If 3 units of Chaos Terminators are taken, each unit has the option to purchase a Chaos Landraider for 150 points. Upgrades must be purchased normally.
C. Each unit of chaos space marines may take a chaos rhino for free. Upgrades must be purchased normally.
D. Each non-vehicle model in this formation gains +1 to its Feel No Pain rule (or else, gains 6+ feel no pain if it otherwise doesn't have FNP).
E. Each vehicle model in this formation gains +1 to its invulnerability rolls (it otherwise gains a 6+ invulnerability roll if it doesn't otherwise have one).
F. All models in this detachment have objective secured.

Swap out 1-2 Warpsmiths for 1-2 Sorcerers. Warpsmiths & Dark Apostles should be 0-1 options instead. Likewise, 6 units of Chaos Marines is a massive tax. Keep in mind that the 'best' upgrade available to CSM's is still just a Plasma gun! Better fit would be 4-6 squads.
Also, it would be better to do 1-3 Terminators/Chosen, 0-3 Bikers/Raptors, 0-6 'War Engines' which would include not only Vindis & Preds, but also Defliers/Forgefiends/Maulerfiends.

Traditio wrote:
2. Thousand Sons Conclave. All models in this formation must belong to the Devotees of Tzeentch faction. Formation composition: 1-2 sorcerers. 4-6 units of Thousand Sons.

Bonuses:
A. Each aspiring sorcerer in this formation increases its Psychic Mastery level by 1. Each sorcerer in this formation increases its psychic mastery by 2.
B. Each model in this formation gains +1 to its invulnerability rolls (or a 6+ invulnerability roll if it doesn't otherwise have one).
C. All models in this detachment have objective secured.

Thousand Sons are amongst the most useless units in the game. The unit itself is borderline unplayable, and needs a complete re-work.

Also, those psyker bonuses are just a little too much! (and by a little, I mean, "holy gak that's insane!")
Chaos already gets Lv3 Sorcerers for fairly cheap rates. We don't need Lv5, which btw, is better than freaking Kairos Fateweaver!

Instead, we need Thousand Sons themselves, and by extention, the entire Lore of Tzeentch (and Nurgle + Slaanesh) overhauled.

Traditio wrote:
3. Demonic Cult. Composition: 1 Daemon Prince (including special characters), 6 units of chaos cultists and 2-4 units of Possessed

Bonuses: The daemon prince in this formation gains level 3 psychic mastery. You do not have to roll on the psychic table to determine which powers you get...pick the ones you want. During the psychic phase, an additional warp charge is generated for each unit of chaos cultists within 12 inches of the Daemon Prince. For each unit of chaos cultists within 12 inches of the Daemon Prince, it may manifest psychic powers at 1 less than otherwise would be required (to a minimum 2+ roll to manifest powers). Furthermore, for each unit of Chaos Cultists within 12 inches of the Daemon Prince, the enemy's psychic powers may be denied at 1 less than otherwise would be required (to a minimum 2+ roll to deny the witch). The Daemon Prince may manifest up to 3 psychic powers per turn. If the Daemon Prince is within 12 inches of at least 2 units of chaos cultists, the Daemon Prince cannot trigger perils of the warp.

All models in this detachment have objective secured.

Restrictions: This formation cannot be taken in an army which contains at least one unit of models belonging to the Disillusioned Veterans of the Traitor Legions faction.

First off, this is literally THE Word Bearers formation, and yet Word Bearers can't access it?! That's crazy talk!

You've also made the Prince way too powerful. Lv6 psyker is utterly bonkers, especially when it can not just manifest powers so effortlessly, but also pick and choose whatever powers it wants! (and no Perils?!)

Instead, do away with the Prince shenanigans all together, add the option for a Dark Apostle, and add in 0-3 options for all of Mutilators/Obliterators/Warptalons, as they are also actual 'daemonic' units. (ie: they all have the 'Daemon' USR)

Traditio wrote:
4. Noise Marines Warband. Composition: 4-6 units of noise marines. 1 Chaos Lord. 0-1 Daemon Princes. All noise marines and chaos lords in this formation must belong to the devotees of Slaanesh faction.

Bonuses:

A. All units in this formation gain the objective secured special rule.
B. All units gain the pinning and guass special rules when firing bolt weapons.
C. All models in this formation gain the fearless special rule.

As pointed out, the only unit which doesn't already have Fearless is the Chaos Lord, making that a pretty useless formation bonus!

Also, why no Sorcerers? They're not really 'Tzeentch exclusives' at all, just that Tzeentch should inherently be slightly more potent than everyone else.
Likewise, Dreadnoughts/Hellbrutes should feature within a Noise Cult, as Forgeworld does provide access to proper Sonic Dreads.

Gauss makes 0 sense for Sonic weapons. The only one that needs any kind of 'fixing' is the basic Sonic Blaster, which currently is nothing more than a backwards Storm Bolter.
Instead, a cool add-on effect for sonic weaponry should be some sort of disorientation/pinning bonus.

Experiment 626 wrote:
- FnP should be Nurgle's thing honestly. Slaanesh should be the speediest, (ie: add distance to Run moves/re-roll charges), and gain perhaps 'Preferred Enemy: Eldar'.
- Tzeentch would be better off ditching the whole +1 invuln thing, and instead have bonuses such as Adamantium Will & a basic bonus to casting their Psychic powers.
- The 'Undivided' option is too powerful at strait up Fearless, and also makes the +1Ld bonuses almost entirely pointless... Instead, trade Fearless for Stubborn in close combat.

So, I want to make it clear that I was not setting out to rewrite the codex wholesale. My sole goal was to adjust the codex sufficiently to grant it a certain parity to other 7.5 edition codices, utilizing the rules already present in the current codex. Literally all I did was increase the point cost of chaos space marines by 1 ppm (which is what vanilla space marines cost: 14 ppm) and give them the appropriate icons and marks for free (in effect, turning them into chapter tactics), hitting icons and marks with the nerf bat when necessary (in order to make the marks and icons combinations worth roughly 25-30 points), combining them according to the chaos deities for which they are the marks and icons.

Since the icon of vengeance (which is what grants fearless) doesn't have a chaos deity attached to it, I simply combined it with the Veterans of the Long War upgrade. Granting everyone fearless may sound OP, but if you consider the fact that it takes the place of ATSKNF AND Chapter Tactics for a vanilla marine, I think it's pretty comparable (perhaps somewhat inferior to vanilla space marines).

Swap out 1-2 Warpsmiths for 1-2 Sorcerers. Warpsmiths & Dark Apostles should be 0-1 options instead. Likewise, 6 units of Chaos Marines is a massive tax. Keep in mind that the 'best' upgrade available to CSM's is still just a Plasma gun! Better fit would be 4-6 squads.
Also, it would be better to do 1-3 Terminators/Chosen, 0-3 Bikers/Raptors, 0-6 'War Engines' which would include not only Vindis & Preds, but also Defliers/Forgefiends/Maulerfiends.

A formation isn't "take what's optimal." A formation is "take what makes sense for that formation." What this formation essentially is meant to be is the counterpart of the vanilla space marines battle company. Thus: 6 units of tactical marines, 2 units of assault marines and 2 units of devastators, plus some optional terminators, predators and vindicators.

Basically, I have in mind the battle company of space marines who are still space marines, but decided to turn their backs on the Emperor for whatever reason. For fluff purposes, I want to drive a wedge between the "disgruntled space marines" and "PRAISE THE CHAOS GODS" aspects of chaos space marines. This formation isn't for the latter; it's for the former type, i.e., for players who, strictly speaking, want to play space marines...but not of the loyalist persuasion. This is for that set of players who want to play basic space marines gone postal.

Thus, I kept demons out of the equation.

I did, however, add the possibility of taking a sorceror, since vanilla marines can include librarians in a gladius strike force.

I further agree with you that the warpsmiths (the CSM equivalent to techmarines) shouldn't be part of this formation. I've removed that requirement in the OP.

I do agree about making it "chaos bikers or raptors" (which is what's required in the vanilla marines codex). I also agree about the "terminators or chosen" bit. Basically, what I had in mind was the chaos version of the space marines "first company." See the OP for the amendments I've made.

Thousand Sons are amongst the most useless units in the game. The unit itself is borderline unplayable, and needs a complete re-work.

Also, those psyker bonuses are just a little too much! (and by a little, I mean, "holy gak that's insane!")
Chaos already gets Lv3 Sorcerers for fairly cheap rates. We don't need Lv5, which btw, is better than freaking Kairos Fateweaver!

That's not what I was going for. I've rephrased the rules in the OP for additional clarity.

First off, this is literally THE Word Bearers formation, and yet Word Bearers can't access it?! That's crazy talk!

Fair point. I've removed the restriction in the OP.

You've also made the Prince way too powerful. Lv6 psyker is utterly bonkers, especially when it can not just manifest powers so effortlessly, but also pick and choose whatever powers it wants! (and no Perils?!)

Also not what I was going for. I've rephrased the OP for greater clarity.

Instead, do away with the Prince shenanigans all together, add the option for a Dark Apostle, and add in 0-3 options for all of Mutilators/Obliterators/Warptalons, as they are also actual 'daemonic' units. (ie: they all have the 'Daemon' USR)

That would take away from the original concept I had in mind. The "feel" behind the formation is a demon-worshiping cult, which in turn "feeds" the powers of the demon being worshipped. I'll add other formations later.

As pointed out, the only unit which doesn't already have Fearless is the Chaos Lord, making that a pretty useless formation bonus!

Agreed. I've reworked the noise marines formation wholesale. Review the OP for my amendments.

Also, why no Sorcerers?

It's not part of the Noise Marines fluff. I'm not saying that sorcerers and noise marines should be exclusive...only that they shouldn't be part of the same formation. It's like asking why a windrider host doesn't include the possibility of adding a farseer.

A formation is take what GW failed to sell so theg write overpowered and imbalanced rules for those units.