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I'm considering doing a combined 30k/40k Iron Warriors force. What are your opinions on someone using mark 3/4 armoured marines to represent chaos marines?.

I love the Iron Warriors paint scheme but don't like the over the top horns and ornamentation of the plastic chaos marines. Id be willing to add some skulls, chains or spikes but otherwise would keep them basic. Obviously stuff like obliterators would be mutated, and probably stuff like raptors and chosen as well, but not standard marines.

On the fluff side IW are chaos undivided anyway and I get the impression they see chaos as more of a means to an end than the end itself. Visually I see them as more brutal/practical and less gribbly/chaosy.

So should Chaos marines always have to look stereotypically chaosy?

Iron Warriors can prolly get away with a more "normal" look as since they care more about "iron within, iron without" then "MOAR SPIKES!"

I think chaos is in the mind of the player I'm a nurgle guy, so I love the idea of each group of chaos worshippers choosing their own way of showing their devotion
Perhaps instead of spikes and horns you could give them cybernetic or bionic parts? That'd seem kinda thematic.

This is what I do for my IW; not only does having discrete marks help visually, it is also appropriate for them to not have mutations as, fluff-wise, they will cut off one if it appears.

More supporting evidence is that IW fight more on a legion like scale compared to most chaos warbands, so equipping units with standardized gear would be likely.

I am in the same boat as you are with a Deathguard army Ive done them as if they had just turned traitor so a few tiny little Chaos bits that make it acceptable for CSM and doesnt look over the top for DG 30k stuff. Iron warriors in my mind are much easier to do this with. Also rule of cool trumps all.

Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors, and to a lesser extent Night Lords all look down on going whole hog with Chaos. While they may have spikes and skulls and whatnot, it will be more for intimidation and combat purposes than any sort of religious commitment to some gross hellbeast in the sky. Also, if your warband is operating outside the Eye of Terror, their gear and bodies are less inclined towards horrible mutations and warped appearances.

CSM don't have to look any more chaos-y than you want them to. Being able to distinguish them from loyalists is usually expected, but a different suit of power armor and a paint scheme can do wonders for that.

I've always thought that an Iron Warriors warband with some dark mechanicus archer tech robots (with AI instead of daemon, and no fleshy bits) as counts-as daemon engines would be an interesting change.