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Looking for advice on whether to go with Chaos Space Marines or Tau for a first 'big' army.

I really enjoy the lore and the look of both armies, so I am looking for other factors aside from that.

Thanks in advance for any constructive criticism!

CSM, you can go much further with them, mix all sorts, daemons, mdeath guard, anything chaos.

Tau is just Tau.

Although, maybe go Tau, then CSM only becuase I think Tau will be the easier army to paint finish, get that out of the way, then go to town on your CSM.

CSM gives you a lot more options.

If you like the lore, go CSMs. CSMs get a lot more lore behind them, just in sheer volume of books published etc. And CSMs also have more possiabilities. their heads and shoulder pads (and arms for that matter) are interchangeable with the space marine line allowing for a lot more varity. you can grab a MK3 space marine kit and toss some heads and shoulder pads on, etc. and really give your chrmy character. and the new CSM minis themselves are IMHO some of the best looking troop models GW's put out

Bharring wrote:
CSM gives you a lot more options.

I think this is the general consensus!

I say Tau, but then... I'm so over Space Marines (of any stripe), so make of it what you will.

In my opinion I'd go chaos. The new release has nice models making me think some heretical thoughts lol

Then again Tau battle suits have always had their charm

One of the benefits of a xenos army is you'll have a faction that most people don't often play against, which will make games more interesting opponents. On the other hand, it would be best to avoid a static gunline that sits in your deployment zone shooting all game, because that's boring to play against and play, in my opinion.

These are my two armies at the moment. I would recommend building lists for each faction. Then try to visualize building/panting/owning each of the lists.

This will help determine if you only like the "idea" of playing the army or if you actually will enjoy all the different units that make up the army in your lists.

As others have said, chaos offers a wide range of options which seems amazing. However, would you actually use all the options? Maybe you hate close combat or the appearance of some daemon models.

I ended up shelving my deathguard because once they got their dedicated codex, everyone seemed to be playing them.

Tau have been my favourite army for 16 years largely because you can heavily customize the army. People saying Tau are Tau are used to seeing the same tournament net lists time and again. In reality there is a ton of flexibility and themes you can go with:

- infantry heavy supported by tanks / heavy suits (this is probably the most common with lots of fire warriors and riptides)
- mechanized infantry supported by suits of all sizes
- stealth theme with a large core of stealth suits and ghostkeels
- farsight and/or crisis suit heavy list supported by riptides/broadsides (the type of lists I run)

All the lists above can be at least semi-competitive and their play style varies largely list to list. Another level of customization to keep in mind is the load-out of your suits (specifically commanders and XV8s).

Lastly there are plenty of ways to add additional flavour to a Tau list through the chosen supporting units: drones, sniper drones, pathfinders, kroot, etc. Forgeworld is another option to consider as well as it is widely accepted in normal 40k games now. A list I'm currently playing around with on paper replaces most of my XV8s with XV9s.

Always bet on Chaos! They are a well-rounded and balanced army, with a wide range of models and tactics! The best part of which is being able to take just about any 'Chaos' unit in the game.

They just got some revamped plastics as well, so definitely a nice plus.

Chaos are the cool kids on the block.

Tau have way fewer playstyles from what I understand...but I am no expert on Tau.

 gossipmeng wrote:
These are my two armies at the moment. I would recommend building lists for each faction. Then try to visualize building/panting/owning each of the lists.

This will help determine if you only like the "idea" of playing the army or if you actually will enjoy all the different units that make up the army in your lists.

As others have said, chaos offers a wide range of options which seems amazing. However, would you actually use all the options? Maybe you hate close combat or the appearance of some daemon models.

I ended up shelving my deathguard because once they got their dedicated codex, everyone seemed to be playing them.

Tau have been my favourite army for 16 years largely because you can heavily customize the army. People saying Tau are Tau are used to seeing the same tournament net lists time and again. In reality there is a ton of flexibility and themes you can go with:

- infantry heavy supported by tanks / heavy suits (this is probably the most common with lots of fire warriors and riptides)
- mechanized infantry supported by suits of all sizes
- stealth theme with a large core of stealth suits and ghostkeels
- farsight and/or crisis suit heavy list supported by riptides/broadsides (the type of lists I run)

All the lists above can be at least semi-competitive and their play style varies largely list to list. Another level of customization to keep in mind is the load-out of your suits (specifically commanders and XV8s).

Lastly there are plenty of ways to add additional flavour to a Tau list through the chosen supporting units: drones, sniper drones, pathfinders, kroot, etc. Forgeworld is another option to consider as well as it is widely accepted in normal 40k games now. A list I'm currently playing around with on paper replaces most of my XV8s with XV9s.

keep in mind when folks say Tau are less customizable they don't nesscartily mean just ways to play, they mean the models themselves. Tau tend to be well.. Tau,. but chaos has a much deeper bits bin thanks to sharing a lot of aprts in common with space marines.

I would only recommend Chaos at this point depending on what you're most interested in with the Hobby.

If it's lore and the models themselves, CSM have some amazing choices and lead into some fun games (depending on opponent's list)

which leads me to my next point, if you're interested in the rules side of the hobby and the "competitive" aspect, stay clear of CSM. They are basically spiky Marines with much worse rules than their loyalist cousins.

Tau have some decent and varied play styles, but from a high level aspect are locked into limited builds if you are wanting to go all out.

I think that the benefit of both CSM and Tau is a whole range of unit sizes. Both offer models that go from basic infantry (CSM/Fire Warriors), through chunkier boys (Terminators/Battle Suits), up to huge models (Daemon Princes/Riptides), and then vehicles besides. It gives the look of the army a nice variety.

If you like the look and lore of both armies, then I suppose it comes down to other relevant matters that follow from the hobby.
Regarding painting, not including daemons and mutated things, both are probably fairly equivalent regarding required painting skill and enjoyability.
Regarding modelling, again they're about equivalent, although CSM offer more immediate options for conversions - but all armies' convertibility is limited only by imagination and skill.
Regarding strength, Tau is a far stronger codex than CSM for competitive, although CSM is always more likely than Tau to get new rules and updates. Particularly starting out, however, CSM are probably more user friendly, given the slightly more impressive base stats of their units.

So in the end the real clincher will probably be play style. Tau are much more (though not entirely) a gun line faction, while CSM are more jack-of-all-trades, with a slight move towards CC. So given you'll want to start with a relatively basic 2000pt force to learn the game, it comes down to which of these you prefer playing.

Where do you fall in terms of Gameplay/Hobby focus? Chaos is amazing for converting and painting with all the possibilities across the Marine ranges Fantasy Chaos lines and even Tyranid limbs.

Take Iron Warriors - look like Chaos, play like Tau

On a more serious note:
Still CSM, their playstyle simply offers more. Gossipmeng is surely right about Taupossibilites, however, they're overall focussed on Shooting. And just that. With long range weapons and smart missiles you can even ignore the movement phase at times, while CC and psychic phase are already pretty much out for Tau (except when you go heavy on Kroot, which would be something totally different and is not what people usually think of when saying Tau).

Problem of CSM? You drown in options. That's why I'd choose one Legion and go with their signature units first.

Chaos, the new models kickass and you can take almost any imperial vehicle & "chaosify" it. they are also fun to play/against as there are soooooo many options.

T'au are fine but no gunlines please, for the love of all things Ethereal, no gunlines. They are not a one trick pony, there are 3 players @ my flgs & they all play balanced(as t'au can be)lists.

Sgt. Cortez wrote:
Take Iron Warriors - look like Chaos, play like Tau

On a more serious note:
Still CSM, their playstyle simply offers more. Gossipmeng is surely right about Taupossibilites, however, they're overall focussed on Shooting. And just that. With long range weapons and smart missiles you can even ignore the movement phase at times, while CC and psychic phase are already pretty much out for Tau (except when you go heavy on Kroot, which would be something totally different and is not what people usually think of when saying Tau).

Problem of CSM? You drown in options. That's why I'd choose one Legion and go with their signature units first.

Second problem, GW thinks marks are op and spike taxes you.

Overall, chaos space marines out of a hobby Perspective are strongest imo if you go with a theme.
If you intend to go competitive though Chaos Space Marines only shows up as dex alphaslaaneshobliterterminator.
Or purge plas spam.

But in the mid-field lists there are lots of fun options.