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I am newish to 40k and thinking about starting a Night Lords army. I want to keep it fluffy and have a good balanced army. I was wondering where a good place to start would be for a 500-1000 point army?

I would recommend Betrayal at Calth box, there you get Mk IV marines, which you can then double duty as both 30k and standard 40k (chaos) marines. 30k is maybe more casual.
I personally dislike normal GW chaos space marine models, so I prefer the Horus Heresy models.

Here I prepared short list that you could look to getting based on your budget, time etc:

HQ
Chaos Lord
Chaos Sorcerer
Convert these from the raptors.

Troops
Chaos Space Marines (Standard CSM or Betrayal at Calth marines) 5-30 guys.
OR
Chaos Cultists 40 or more.
I'm mentioning cultists as general consensus seems to be that normal chaos marines are pretty bad, but if you don't play too seriously they are completely passable unit to use. Even better if you later on get 1-2 Rhinos.

Fast Attack
2-3 boxes of chaos raptors (use some to convert yourself Chaos Lord and Sorcerer with jump packs)

The above should give you pretty solid base army, without being overtly expensive.
The above could be then easily extended with:
-Chaos Terminator Squad
-Predator
-Havoc squd
-Rhinos (1-2)
-Bikes

Especially one Havoc squad is really solid choice, I have to warn you though that standard chaos space marine havoc box has really poor heavy weapon options (1 of each weapon in box!)

Awesome thanks!

If you want Havocs I suggest you convert some from the Space Wolves Long Fangs kit, it will get you the most bang for your bucks imo.

Awesome thanks for the info!

I run a shooty Night Lords list, but it doesn't exactly play to their Legion Trait very well...

But I always liked the idea of fast Raptors doing close work, while Havocs stay hidden in the shadows, raining terror from afar.

If you're trying to work with the Legion Trait, Raptors, nurgle icons, and spawn all utilize -Ld modifiers already, once coupled with the Legion trait you start stacking them very well.

I kitbashed my Raptors using a mix of jump packs. The new kit is beautiful though. Havocs are a bit harder to come by. I bought a friends bitz a while back when missile launchers, las cannons, and heavy bolters were garbage. Made a nice collection from them!

I would decide whether you want to go ForgeWorld or GW route. FW have a less baroque and cleaner aesthetic (and more expensive), whereas GW have a much more warped and Chaos-y look. I would not suggest mixing the two ranges, as you end up with a mismatched aesthetic.

I would go fluffy - Dreadclaws, Raptors, Warp Talons etc, but also take units you like! If you like Possessed, take Possessed. If you, for some unknown reason, like the Khorne Berzerker models, say they're World Eaters that have joined up with your Warband semi-permanently.

To that extent, I would consider 3 boxes of Warp Talons/Raptors, the Finecast jump pack Chaos Lord. You will already then have an Outrider Detachment with 16 models, with the option of converting a jump pack Sorcerer.

Alternatively, you can always go for CSMs, Rhinos, and some of the older Night Lords sculpts.

Good luck whatever route you take!

I'd recommend getting a box of raptors instead of the finecast lord. Main reason is that the raptor aesthetic has changed a lot but also because you then get 4 extra bodies so you can make a jump pack sorceror or two, or more lords if you need them.