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So, like many people I have lots of small unit groupings from previous starter sets/boxes.

Basically I have a Dark Vengeance box with a Helbrute, Chaos Lord, 5 marines and a champion and about 20 cultists somewhere.

Give the current meta and Chaos Codex just releasing... any suggestions on what I could add/remove while raising it to 2000ish points?

Thank you

Sadly, yes. Put all of those in a box to the side, and focus on your choice of a vanguard, spearhead or possibly outrider formation. Start from scratch.


Though if it isn't assembled, you can try to kitbash a second right melee arm out of a helbrute box rather than limp around with the multimelta.

Voss wrote:
Sadly, yes. Put all of those in a box to the side, and focus on your choice of a vanguard, spearhead or possibly outrider formation. Start from scratch.


Though if it isn't assembled, you can try to kitbash a second right melee arm out of a helbrute box rather than limp around with the multimelta.

That is reasonably fair, but doesn't give an idea of what should go in that spearhead or outrider formation

valdier wrote:

Voss wrote:
Sadly, yes. Put all of those in a box to the side, and focus on your choice of a vanguard, spearhead or possibly outrider formation. Start from scratch.


Though if it isn't assembled, you can try to kitbash a second right melee arm out of a helbrute box rather than limp around with the multimelta.

That is reasonably fair, but doesn't give an idea of what should go in that spearhead or outrider formation

ignore him.

my suggestion would be grab the start collecting box of chaos. that'll give you a second helbrute (with some more options) a 10 man squad of chaos space marines, and a chaos Lord in terminator armor (that you can assmble as eaither a second Lord or a sorc)

once you have that you can pad out your force with whatever you want.

BrianDavion wrote:

valdier wrote:

Voss wrote:
Sadly, yes. Put all of those in a box to the side, and focus on your choice of a vanguard, spearhead or possibly outrider formation. Start from scratch.


Though if it isn't assembled, you can try to kitbash a second right melee arm out of a helbrute box rather than limp around with the multimelta.

That is reasonably fair, but doesn't give an idea of what should go in that spearhead or outrider formation

ignore him.

my suggestion would be grab the start collecting box of chaos. that'll give you a second helbrute (with some more options) a 10 man squad of chaos space marines, and a chaos Lord in terminator armor (that you can assmble as eaither a second Lord or a sorc)

once you have that you can pad out your force with whatever you want.

What is your thought on demons, tanks, etc? What are the best options currently?

valdier wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:

valdier wrote:

Voss wrote:
Sadly, yes. Put all of those in a box to the side, and focus on your choice of a vanguard, spearhead or possibly outrider formation. Start from scratch.


Though if it isn't assembled, you can try to kitbash a second right melee arm out of a helbrute box rather than limp around with the multimelta.

That is reasonably fair, but doesn't give an idea of what should go in that spearhead or outrider formation

ignore him.

my suggestion would be grab the start collecting box of chaos. that'll give you a second helbrute (with some more options) a 10 man squad of chaos space marines, and a chaos Lord in terminator armor (that you can assmble as eaither a second Lord or a sorc)

once you have that you can pad out your force with whatever you want.

What is your thought on demons, tanks, etc? What are the best options currently?

I dunno eneugh about deamons to know one way or another. Tank wise the Predator is a pretty solid choice, the vindicator is apparently something of a dissappointment this edition. The Land Raider is the best it's been in AGES.

you'll likely want Rhinos for your troops as well

Agree that the Start Collecting box is a good choice for expanding your force.

I would suggest that you look at the fluff and legion rules, and see if any one legion appeals to you most. Or maybe, the special rules of one legion seem really cool or benefit the pieces you already have. That can give you somewhere to start with deciding what you'd like to add.

The Ancient One wrote:
Agree that the Start Collecting box is a good choice for expanding your force.

I would suggest that you look at the fluff and legion rules, and see if any one legion appeals to you most. Or maybe, the special rules of one legion seem really cool or benefit the pieces you already have. That can give you somewhere to start with deciding what you'd like to add.

I'll second this, black legion is going to be something you'll wanna build VERY DIFFERANTLY from say.... world eaters

Voss wrote:
Sadly, yes. Put all of those in a box to the side, and focus on your choice of a vanguard, spearhead or possibly outrider formation. Start from scratch.


Though if it isn't assembled, you can try to kitbash a second right melee arm out of a helbrute box rather than limp around with the multimelta.

Chaos Lord is a must have for re-rolls.
The Champion could be used as an exalted Champion for even more re-rolls.
Helbrutes are pretty good, you can quite easily kitbash if you want some better weapon options.
Cultists are good cheap troop choices that can be used to fill detachments and farm CP.
Chosen aren't great when you have havoc but you can still run some special weapon teams.

Not gonna win tournaments with the DV kit but it's a good starting army. Starter kit is a nice buy for a transport, another Helbrute and a Lord that can deep strike. I'd suggest getting some Terminators, Havoc, Jump Pack sorcerers and this rest will depend on what kind of chaos army you want.

What's your army theme, background, playstyle, etc.?

 mrhappyface wrote:

Voss wrote:
Sadly, yes. Put all of those in a box to the side, and focus on your choice of a vanguard, spearhead or possibly outrider formation. Start from scratch.


Though if it isn't assembled, you can try to kitbash a second right melee arm out of a helbrute box rather than limp around with the multimelta.

Chaos Lord is a must have for re-rolls.
The Champion could be used as an exalted Champion for even more re-rolls.
Helbrutes are pretty good, you can quite easily kitbash if you want some better weapon options.
Cultists are good cheap troop choices that can be used to fill detachments and farm CP.
Chosen aren't great when you have havoc but you can still run some special weapon teams.

Not gonna win tournaments with the DV kit but it's a good starting army. Starter kit is a nice buy for a transport, another Helbrute and a Lord that can deep strike. I'd suggest getting some Terminators, Havoc, Jump Pack sorcerers and this rest will depend on what kind of chaos army you want.

What's your army theme, background, playstyle, etc.?

yeah DV ain't great but it's a start, a guy starting a new army should be enchouraged to play around a bit, not given some salty netlist and told "play this or you suck"

Cultists can be very good. Give them a legion keyword and they get the benefit of the Legion ability if the detachment is Battleforged, if I'm not mistaken.

Predators are very useful and totally agree that having a couple of Rhinos will be essential.

If he has two Helbrutes, he could keep one with the melta to help crack vehicles and monsters, and give the other an autocannon.

Assuming you are not going to be a WAAC player, I would say your current collection is a good start. I think you need to decide what focus your army will have. If close combat then terminators bikes and berserkers are good. For a shooter force probably havocs noise marines and rubric marines. My flying demon prince has severed me well and I would recommend him for any chaos.

valdier wrote:
So, like many people I have lots of small unit groupings from previous starter sets/boxes.

Basically I have a Dark Vengeance box with a Helbrute, Chaos Lord, 5 marines and a champion and about 20 cultists somewhere.

Give the current meta and Chaos Codex just releasing... any suggestions on what I could add/remove while raising it to 2000ish points?

Thank you

Chaos is one of those armies where you can go dozens of different ways, to that end you'll find no end of suggestions as to what to do. Really it's a matter of how you want/like to play that is important. However in regards to your current minis, Chosen really aren't worth the points, however the Chosen Minis make great HQ units. I've converted a number of them into Lords and Sorcerers, I've also got a couple as Unit champions. The Helbrute you might want to consider rearming. Changing out the MultiMelta for another weapon isn't hard, it's mostly just cutting off and swapping out the barrels. Personally, I like to dedicate my units to a singular task, either shooting or close combat. I've got 4 Dark Vengeance Hellbrutes, all converted. One has twin power Fists, 2 are twin las with missile launchers, and one has twin power scourges (I need to redo it's weapons). So i would consider thinking about what role you want your Hellbrute to fill and convert it with bits from ebay to fill that role. Lots of people like to use Cultists as cheap troop fillers, I'm not a hug fan of them myself but if they work for you then get you some more. Most people tend to run a Dark Apostle with them, you could easily make one with some bits from one of the Chosen minis you have.

Pick a playstyle:

Do you want fast, balanced, shooty, melee, deathstar or cult?

Once you've chosen, then choose one of the detachments:

Battalion is for balanced; grants you CPs to buff your troops when you need to fill a hole. Then fill out your troops with your choice of...well troops. Cultists and Daemons are generally more useful than normal CSM. When you bring tanks, bring no less than 2 of each kind; bringing only one is liable to get it focus-fired off the field. If you bring havocs, buy extra bodies to soak up wounds (they're cheap enough to do so). Terminators with Combi Weapons make for good elites choices and Warp talons, bikes and Spawns make good FA choices. Helbrutes are nice too.

If you want Fast, you'll need the Outrider Detachment. Focus on good FA choices (from what I've heard, Bikers and Warp Talons. I don't usually use Chaos FA choices). Winged Princes and bike/jump pack characters can keep up with the rest of your army. If you wanna bring some armor, I recommend Predators; they're decently cheap and bring enough firepower that you can have them keep pace with the army and still fire. Heldrakes with Baleflamers are nice too.

For shooty, you have two options. The most obvious is the Spearhead detachment and just spam Havocs, Predators, Obliterators, Forgefiends and Defilers and just pummel your opponent in firepower. Remember you can take rhinos with combi weapons and Havoc launchers for discount Chaos Razorbacks. The other one is to use Noise Marines, Chaos Terminators and other "close range" shooting units to do a maximum amount of firepower on the cheap. Terminators are good because they can come in behind enemy lines, making Combi-plasmas hilariously deadly. These can be made cheaper by giving them just a power weapon and call it a day. Plague Marines are also a good source of cheap special weapons (although I would still just go with Havocs). For shooty armies with a lot of tanks, the Warpsmith is a great choice for HQ as not only is he cheap but he can also fix your tanks (and comes with two guns).

For Melee builds, choose a set of assault troops you like best (Khorne berserkers, various daemon engines, warp talons, some kind of killy lord, etc) and choose a delivery method; either teleportation (for those that have it), Advance and Charge (which I think is the Renegade Legion perK) or cheap rhino transports. Try avoiding the Mutilator; a lot of other units can do their job for cheaper and walk faster.

For Cult builds, you're essentially focusing on a single unit type. Currently it's just World Eaters and Emperor's Children, while Death GUard and T-Sons will get theirs in their own rulebook. There's not much beyond "spam these units" and finding things that support them.

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:

Terminators with Combi Weapons make for good elites choices and Warp talons, bikes and Spawns make good FA choices. Helbrutes are nice too.

If you want Fast, you'll need the Outrider Detachment. Focus on good FA choices (from what I've heard, Bikers and Warp Talons. I don't usually use Chaos FA choices). Winged Princes and bike/jump pack characters can keep up with the rest of your army. If you wanna bring some armor, I recommend Predators; they're decently cheap and bring enough firepower that you can have them keep pace with the army and still fire. Heldrakes with Baleflamers are nice too.

For shooty, you have two options. The most obvious is the Spearhead detachment and just spam Havocs, Predators, Obliterators, Forgefiends and Defilers and just pummel your opponent in firepower. Remember you can take rhinos with combi weapons and Havoc launchers for discount Chaos Razorbacks. The other one is to use Noise Marines, Chaos Terminators and other "close range" shooting units to do a maximum amount of firepower on the cheap. Terminators are good because they can come in behind enemy lines, making Combi-plasmas hilariously deadly. These can be made cheaper by giving them just a power weapon and call it a day. Plague Marines are also a good source of cheap special weapons (although I would still just go with Havocs). For shooty armies with a lot of tanks, the Warpsmith is a great choice for HQ as not only is he cheap but he can also fix your tanks (and comes with two guns).

For Melee builds, choose a set of assault troops you like best (Khorne berserkers, various daemon engines, warp talons, some kind of killy lord, etc) and choose a delivery method; either teleportation (for those that have it), Advance and Charge (which I think is the Renegade Legion perK) or cheap rhino transports. Try avoiding the Mutilator; a lot of other units can do their job for cheaper and walk faster.

For Cult builds, you're essentially focusing on a single unit type. Currently it's just World Eaters and Emperor's Children, while Death GUard and T-Sons will get theirs in their own rulebook. There's not much beyond "spam these units" and finding things that support them.

Ok, I think I decided on a 50/50...

Nurgle Melee, with some shooting ability during the advance. I am interested in playing with some psychic powers, abusing morale lowering abilities, etc?


Thoughts? (Comments on that thread please)
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/737828.page#9577062

I'd suggest that you think about pairing your psykers.

In my Death Guard, I've been running with a Malignant Plaguecaster (MP) and a standard Chaos Sorcerer (CS). It's been a good pairing. The MP has Smite and 2 powers from the Death Guard power list; the CS has Smite and 2 from the normal Chaos list. So you can drop two smites per turn, use Warptime, and get your Nurgle on, too. The MP is decent at close combat, too; not overpowered, but good for the points.

The Ancient One wrote:
I'd suggest that you think about pairing your psykers.

In my Death Guard, I've been running with a Malignant Plaguecaster (MP) and a standard Chaos Sorcerer (CS). It's been a good pairing. The MP has Smite and 2 powers from the Death Guard power list; the CS has Smite and 2 from the normal Chaos list. So you can drop two smites per turn, use Warptime, and get your Nurgle on, too. The MP is decent at close combat, too; not overpowered, but good for the points.

I suspect B TW that'll change come the deathguard codex.

valdier wrote:

Give the current meta and Chaos Codex just releasing... any suggestions on what I could add/remove while raising it to 2000ish points?
Thank you

What is your favorite Chaos Model?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

valdier wrote:

Ok, I think I decided on a 50/50...
Nurgle Melee, with some shooting ability during the advance. I am interested in playing with some psychic powers, abusing morale lowering abilities, etc?
Thoughts? (Comments on that thread please)
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/737828.page#9577062

If you like Nurgle Melee you should wait until the DeathGuard Codex drops this weekend.

Spellfax wrote:


What is your favorite Chaos Model?

Honestly, probably the Heldrake, Khorne Lord of Skulls, Defiler

valdier wrote:

Honestly, probably the Heldrake, Khorne Lord of Skulls, Defiler

Sticking to the Nurgle Hth theme, the Defiler and the Heldrake could be converted to a Nurgle Deathguard theme.

The drakes are great for getting objectives and harassing gun lines/tanks.

what do you think of this Plague Hulk?

https://spikeybits.com/2017/07/the-plague-hulk-is-back-army-of-one.html

they are hard to find, but you can convert a Defiler with some Nurgle demons.

The Defiler is good if you have enough command points to use the Demon Engine Stratagem (lets you reroll all misses and all failed to wound attempts in shooting phase or fight phase. (spend 2 and get both!)