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Nothing *too* earth-shattering, but just enough to make things more interesting.

* Replace the option for a Palanquin of Nurgle with one for a Rot Fly.

* Chaos Chosen with the appropriate mark may take Daemon Steeds as a squad upgrade.

* Instead of "4 Chosen may take a special, 1 model may take a special or heavy", make it "3 Chosen may take a special, 2 models may take a Special Or Heavy"

* All Plasma weapons have "Gets Really Hot!" They may fire an extra shot beyond their profile, but each 1 counts as having rolled 2 1s.

* Raptors and Warp Talons get Hit & Run.

* Defiler and Forgefiend costs reduced by 15 points each, and both gain Power of the Machine Spirit.

These seem fair, simple, and without too much "fanwank" IMO. 180 points for a Defiler with POTMS seems like a fair counterpoint to a regular Leman Russ.

Why take away the palaquine? Removing stuff seems counter productive.

There isn't much reason for this, but if it were to happen, would each mark get their own mount? Juggers for khorne, seekers for slaanesh, etc.

Alright. Or just make it chosen can take anything.

Not much reason for this, again, I usually like at least a couple points besides "I like it". Why wouldn't other armies get this?

^
See where you're going with this, I like it.

You're removing the Palanquin because nobody models it because it's a gakky upgrade.

 ShieldBrother wrote:
Why take away the palaquine? Removing stuff seems counter productive.

 ShieldBrother wrote:
There isn't much reason for this, but if it were to happen, would each mark get their own mount? Juggers for khorne, seekers for slaanesh, etc.

 ShieldBrother wrote:
Alright. Or just make it chosen can take anything.

Yes. They would need to be priced accordingly of course. The Steed of Slaanesh would have to cost the least for example, while the Rotfly would probably be the priciest (due to being cavalry with a jetbike move, plus extra wounds/toughness/oh my). Mounts would definitely be there to make "Marked" Chosen more appealing (whereas nowadays if you're using them, it's probably if your group is cool with Dreadclaws and stuff).

Chosen are a unit in a curious state nowadays. They get a good concentration of Special Weapons, but unless you're running a guaranteed Infiltration army, they're stuck with having nowhere to actually go. Taking a single heavy weapon is near-pointless, while two might be worth at least "some" consideration. Both in turn would "free" up some choices for Fast Attack/Heavy Support slots respectively.

 ShieldBrother wrote:
Not much reason for this, again, I usually like at least a couple points besides "I like it". Why wouldn't other armies get this?

 ShieldBrother wrote:
See where you're going with this, I like it.

The fluff reasons are from 2nd edition; There was fluff about how the Admech eventually discovered a limiting mechanism which would prevent critical overheating, at the cost of reducing rate of fire. While most Space Marines commanders initially grumbled at the loss of firepower, they eventually accepted it simply because since they put so much time, training, geneseed/implants/etc into each Space Marine that losing them to their own weapons was just not mathematically worth the extra limited gains in firepower.

In-game, this meant Plasma weapons fired a "Sustained Die" worth of shots (So a D3, but on a 3, you had a 50% chance of a jam which took an extra turn to clear out) every other turn. Chaos Marines could fire their plasma weapons any turn, but if they rolled a "Jam" on the Sustained Fire die, there was a special chart to see if the weapon blew up! Quite literally, "Gets Hot!" was a special rule for Chaos Space Marines.

The Chaos Marines on the other hand, cared little for such things as "personal safety", so consumed in their hatred and contempt for the servants of the False Emperor that they not only would refuse to maintain such safety procedures but might in fact go down the opposite route, compromising weapon reliability for every bit of advantage they could find.

In-game, Chaos doesn't get ready access to Bike Troops, Relentless (or equivalents), Speeders/Multimeltas, or Grav-weapons. Giving them rapid-fire plasma gives them an even more-defined "Risk vs Reward" weapon. Ectoplasma Forgefiends become worth consideration as do Plasma Cannon Helbrutes, while running Plasma Raptors/Bikers becomes more appealing versus "Heldrakes or Nurglespawn"

Speaking of Raptors, they used to have Hit and Run back in the Pete Haines codex. H&R is a *powerful* ability which opens up a lot of tactical opportunities, from disruption to using the enemy units as launching points to rapidly relocate around the battlefield. Currently, the only units Chaos has access to with this ability are:
-The Masque, who is not an Independent Character.
-Cypher, whom costs almost as much as a Defiler by himself!

It's "The Masque, who is".

How is this playing for you, have you built any double heavy chosen squads out rot fly squads that are doing well, and are they going to replace your normal foot chosen squads or do you get both into the army.

I haven't had the chance to test it out yet, but if I were to do it it would probably mean a unit or two of:
-Chosen w/ 2 Autocannons & Rhino: 35

And freeing up more slots for Obliterators or Maulerfiends.

Or a few units of Chosen on Rotfiends and large units of Spawn. Or something along those lines.

Granted, the last Chaos army I tested out was a Chaoscron "Not Lictorshame" list and the last army for Chaos I was planning to work on before time got in the way (mind you, I wrote this before SM got the Gladius) was:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/647554.page

The image of a Chosen surfing on a Screamer is too funny.

Cult Marines other than the foot squads would be cool, but potentially excessive and would probably belong in supplements anyway.

I've been toying around with a few ideas for chosen:

Cost 30 points per model, but have +1 wound and +1 WS from the profile they have now.

Comes with Fearless base.

Any member may take a Power Weapon (of any kind) at +5 points per model, Power Fist at +10 points per model, a Lightning Claw at +7 points per model or a pair of claws at +10 points per model (replacing appropriate gear). Any member may purchase a combi weapon at +5 points per model.

For every Three models in the unit with power armor, they may select a Heavy Weapon or a Special Weapon for one model.

Any Chosen may purchase Chaos Terminator Armor that comes with a Power Weapon and a Combi Bolter at +15 points per model. They lose Grenades through this. May trade their Power Weapon for a Power Fist at +5 points per model, Chainfist at +10 points per mode, Lightning Claw at +2 points per model, or get a pair of claws for +5 points per model. May exchange Combi-Bolter for Combi-weapon (of any kind) for +2 points per model. Every 3 models in terminator armor may have one member select either a Havoc Launcher (+10 points), Reaper Autocannon (+20pts) or Heavy Flamer (+5 points). Any model in terminator armor may instead replace all their weapons with a Warp Glaive (Power Sword with +2 strength, AP2, Two-handed and Shred). for +15 points per model.

If no Terminator Armor was purchased for any model, they may select a steed from the armory if they have the appropriate mark at a 5 point discount (to a minimum of 5 points). They may instead have Jump packs at +5 points per model or Bikes at +10 points per model. All models must purchase the same steed. Any unit upgraded with steeds may purchase one of the following: Skilled Rider - +5pts per model, Hit and Run - +5pts per model.

If no Steed was purchased, any unit (even ones with Terminator Armor models) may purchase one of the following Veteran Skills:

Tank Hunter, Monster Hunter, Counter Attack, Move Through Cover, Stealth, Furious Charge, Night Vision - +5 points per model.

Infiltrate, Deepstrike, Rage, Rampage, Master Crafted (all weapons), or Shroud +10 points per model.

Otherwise everything else stays the same.

I wanted to make it so that Chosen broke away from being "Veteran Marines" and try and make them feel like characters in their own right (which is why they have so many options, they're basically a squad of mini-chaos lords). They're based off of the Grey Knight Paladins, but with more varied options and not locked into Terminator Armor.