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Hey. So I recently started playing, CSM. Painting/ collecting IW but trying some different combos. First two big battles over 750 pts today against same ork opponent. I lost pretty badly the first time, second was closer but I was still too far behind on VPs. We played with tactical objectives, draft and discard 1 (don't know the gameplay term).

I had (Brigade, Slaanesh, Black Legion):

Abaddon,
Term. Chaos Lord, (Murder Sword???) (Deep strike)
Term. Sorcerer (Infernal, Warp, Eye of ???) (Deep strike)

40 cultists
15 cultists
10 cultists
5 CSM w/ missile launcher
5 CSM w/ missile launcher
5 CSM w/ missile launcher

Helbrute w/ Hel. plasma gun, missile
Helbrute w/ Hel. plasma gun, missile
Helbrute w/ Twin bolter, missile

1 chaos spawn
1 chaos spawn
5 raptors w/ 3 plasma pistols (Deep strike)

Vindicator
7 Havocs w/ 4 missile
3 Obliterators (Deep strike)

I started in one corner and had first turn. Abaddon stood with 40+15 cultists, havocs, 3 helbrutes, 1 csm squad.
Chaos spawn ran ahead and secured 1 VP, got shot off immediately after that. (not worth it i think)
Raptors deep striked and didn't charge. Did maybe 2 wounds in entire game (same)
Cultists did a lot of damage but not ideal since i ended up only having the 40 guys with abaddon.
Helbrutes did some damage... but got sniped by lootas and mek guns fast.(forgot about Crazed rule)
Havocs did OK against boys I think? Not sure about heavy bolters.
CSM squads did decent damage.
Obliterators deep striked w/ Lord and Sorcerer, obliterated Big Mek w/ Shokk Attack gun, 10 lootas, many boys, mek gun, weird boy. (best performer)
Vindicator stood around and shot a little bit (forgot about Heavy D6 rule)

Also I completely forgot my legion rule...

Orks charged into Abaddon+cultists+havocs+helbrutes w/ nobz, characters, Ghazghkull, but held out decently. Useless in melee except Abaddon.
Used Tide of Traitors on 40-man and wiped out lots of Orks, but too little too late.
I was basically stuck in my deployment zone all game except for deep strikers, I feel like I was really unlucky with my tactical objectives though.

Should/ could I run up with Abaddon and all the cultists without getting slaughtered? Melee = doom
Helbrutes and Vindicator? VIndicator is weak and left alone. Tried melee helbrute first game but all three got sniped instantly.
I was pretty stationary and sucked in melee. Unless I play Khorne, what can I do in melee? Helbrutes are too slow to get anywhere.


This "battle report" is probably crap, but:I hope someone has some advice, if nothing else on my army list. I won't try Raptors or solo Chaos Spawns again...

Orks can be a tough army to face and chaos can be a hard army for new players to win with but your on the right track with your list.

1st let me say malestorm missions, while a lot of fun, can be hard to win as a lot of what happens can come down to the randomness of the cards drawn. Even a master tactician can lose if the missions drawn just are not doable.


So vs orks i have found the trick to be to outlast them. Your army seems like it should be able to do that easy enough with proper restraint. Using those cultists as a screen to protect your dakka dreads and havocs is very important, as is keeping eveyone important near abbadon. Reroll all failed hits is huge.

I would suggest taking the 3 squads of 5 csm and actually using them as bait. Leave them in a corner, unscreened, to lure your opponent into going that direction and charging them. 40 cultists with mark of slaanesh will do more damage than the marines could hope to do. Thats 80 attacks in double tap, 60 hits on average thanks to abby, 30 wounds thanks to vets of the long war, and 25 dead orks. Pop the strat to shoot again for maximum fun. The 3x5 marines cant compete with that. But if your opponent does ignore then those 3 missile launchers can ruin an ork trucks day each turn.

Protect that big squad of cultists t1, you dont want that charged. The other smaller squads however can also do well to sacrifice to the ork hordes.

After t1 when the oblits come in its a different story, now the cultists can do their real job and protect your base force.


Also target priority is key. Ork lootas are the biggest bane to a force like you. When they get 20 or 30 shots, popping the steat for 5's and 6's always hit and generate more shots, they will reck you. If they are on the table and you have sight on them kill them first. Next any trucks with burner boys or vehicles with nobz in them have to go away. Those things can be nasty.

Finally dont play for the early lead. Take easy objectives early on when they are available, but if grabbing 1vp pulls your force out of position then its not worth it. If you can survive the first 2 rounds of the game vs orks they typically start losing effectiveness as they should be losing boys quicker than you. Then turn 3 and on focus on the objectives. This game can normally be won in the movenent phase if you play your cards right.

I hope that advice helps some. Good luck.

Azuza001 wrote:
...
I hope that advice helps some. Good luck.

Screening = putting my cultists in front of the helbrutes and havocs so that they don't get charged?

The deployment we used was Spearhead Assault, and I placed myself almost entirely in one corner, and didn't really move. Should I have placed myself nearer the middle? I was afraid of getting both shot and charged. Hiding didn't really work out...

What melee units can I use apart from Berzerkers? Is it acceptable to use a Khorne detachment just to get Berzerkers while the rest of the army is Slaanesh? Or how would you get some "melee" in my army?

Also thank you for the advice.

greendwarf wrote:

Azuza001 wrote:
...
I hope that advice helps some. Good luck.

Screening = putting my cultists in front of the helbrutes and havocs so that they don't get charged?

The deployment we used was Spearhead Assault, and I placed myself almost entirely in one corner, and didn't really move. Should I have placed myself nearer the middle? I was afraid of getting both shot and charged. Hiding didn't really work out...

What melee units can I use apart from Berzerkers? Is it acceptable to use a Khorne detachment just to get Berzerkers while the rest of the army is Slaanesh? Or how would you get some "melee" in my army?

Also thank you for the advice.

As black legion you can mark your units however you want regardless of detachment as long as the mark option is available so pick and choose which marks would benefit each unit.as you please. you could bring berzerkers in your detachment as is in the elite slot if you really wanted to