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I have a terminator lord ready to be built as well as a full squad of chaos terminators. I want this unit to be my smash through the middle of the enemy front lines after taking a pleasant ride in a land raider unit.
But as im new to all that is KAYOS! ahem...Chaos I need some general advice on what build I should give them.

What load out should they have from weapons to chaos icons and marks and so on to best for fill that role.

Any advice past that is bonus like land raider advice or what I might need to back them up and so on. As of right now im just starting my army so I can build it anyway I choose, im starting off with this unit them im getting the basic troops, beyond that though im open to any army builds that sound cool or have cool names...like steel fortress build, or the freight train of death or something like that

Well, as far as I notice for chaos terminators, the Champion has to pay the Heavier price for all of his upgrades since they must be taken from the Armory instead of the list of discount items, so the Champ should probably be stock.

And I would only give one upgrade to each Terminator, since they're only one wound so if they get a Combi-weapon, stick with the free power weapon for melee, and if you give them a Fist/claw stick with the free Combi-bolter.

the Heavy flamer/RAC I built them on my terminators, but IMO they are too expensive for what they bring...

So, if you're doing it as a Lord + Retinue, there's a few things that I've found that work.

First, remember that, as Chaos doesn't get the good transport Land Raiders, you only get enough room to put 4 Terminators in there with your Terminator Lord, so no heavy weapons. Not that you want one when you're doing a Terminator Retinue.

In general, there are a few possible builds for a Terminator Lord, depending on which mark you want to take. Nurgle is great, as then PF/TH don't instagib you, and it unlocks Plague Marines, possibly the best troop choice CSM can use. Nurgle Terminators are nice, but quite expensive, so if you have a Nurgle Terminator, you may want to take them unmarked to save points. Either way, your Lord's weapons should be a Power Fist + Lightning Claw, to take advantage of the extra attack from two specialist weapons and to have a weapon for any situation. If Nurgle, take Blight Grenades as well, as your Terminators don't come with them, and you will occasionally want to assault into cover.

If you don't want to go with Nurgle, a Khorne Lord with the Axe of Blind Fury is also a reasonable option. It's not quite as good as a Juggernaut Lord with the Axe, but it's still quite killy. You'll have enough attacks that you'll kill most anything but an MC in the first round of your challenge (you get between 7-11 S6 I5 AP2 attacks on the charge if you don't roll a one on your Daemon Weapon) so you don't have to worry as much about the T4. In this case, I'd definitely upgrade to Khorne Terminators, as this is a very cheap upgrade that significantly increases their damage output.

If you want a 3++ save, Tzeentch is the only way to get it, however you're still T4 and you don't have the advantage of a bucketload of AP2 I5 attacks from the Khorne Axe to make up for it.
If you're running Slaanesh, still PF/LC is the way to go, but you'll want to be making use of that high Init LC rather than the I1 PF more often if it's viable. You also get Noise Marines, which are great as MSU with a single Blastmaster.

For Terminator weapons, Axes are free and they give you good striking power. Lightning Claws are also great, especially if you're going Khorne, so a single Terminator gets 5 LC attacks on the charge. I wouldn't spend on Powerfists, although a Chainfist wouldn't be bad. The main advantage of a Chaos Terminator over a Loyalist one is their cheapness -- if you upgrade their weaponry to Loyalist equivalent, they become bloated and not worthwhile. Combi-meltas are good, but generally you want to be doing Termicide then.

For Terminator Icons, the Khorne one is nice to get guaranteed charges, the Nurgle and Tzeentch ones are worthless, and the Slaanesh one is way too expensive, despite its great effects.

On the Land Raider, a Dozer blade is nice so your 230 point transport doesn't get immobilized. Dirge casters are also nice, but are harder to use than you think. Don't take Daemonic Possession and have your transport eat your lord, Daemonically Possess your Vindicator instead.

So, for example builds:

Chaos Lord w/ TDA, MoK, Axe, Sigil
4 Terminators w/ Axes/Claws/Maul, MoK

Chaos Lord w/ TDA, MoN, FistClaw, Sigil
4 Terminators w/ Axes/Claws/Maul, Unmarked

Chaos Lord w/ TDA, MoT, FistClaw, Sigil
4 Terminators w/ Axes/Claws/Maul, MoT

Chaos Lord w/ TDA, MoS, FistClaw, Sigil
4 Terminators w. Claw/Maul, MoS

Land Raider w/ Dozer Blade

You need to decide which Cult Troop you want as Troops in concert with this choice.

Some combi guns are ok if you want, take according to what you need. Meltas may be nice to crack enemy armor allowing you to assault the insides. You don't really need any lightning claws, power fists or chainfists. Normal power weapons can do the job well enough, maybe a chainfist if you want the AT ability. The p-fist and lightning claw are ok if you have the points.

For termi marks, khorne or tzeenech are best buys. Most heavy guns and nasty cc enemies won't care about T5, and slannesh +1 I value does not help if you use unwieldy weapons, and you can't sweeping advance in terminator armor. It really depends on what you mark your lord with. Since a marked lord unlocks cult troops, mark your lord accordingly. If you want nurgle or slanessh, you can always leave the terminators unmarked. If you take khorne, icon of wrath is helpful. Icon of excess is okay as well if you take a lot of terminators, but avoid the others.

For the lord, lightning claw and power fist means you can get +1 attack and always have the right tool for the job. Mark according to cult troop need. Tzeench avoids the need for a sigil of corruption, but the other marks are all worth it if you need the cult troops unlocked. A gift of mutation is ok on a lord(never take on single wound models), and you can take a special CC weapon if you are feeling sporty. If you go nurgle, blight grenades are a must buy.

Since the land raider is there to deliver the terminators, keep it cheap. A combi bolter is OK for an extra ablative weapon destroyed. Dirge caster is also a good buy. Avoid everything else. Remember to take it as a dedicated transport to keep your heavy slots open.

Overall, how you build this unit depends on what the rest of your army is doing. Your need for cult troops, AT/AI fire, specialists and theme will all come into play. If you post some of this info, you will get a better, tailored response.

Edit:ninjaed, and forgot CSM raiders only carry 5 terminator models, which sucks. Loyalists get 6 TDA models in a normal raider.

 Dr. Serling wrote:

Edit:ninjaed, and forgot CSM raiders only carry 5 terminator models, which sucks. Loyalists get 6 TDA models in a normal raider.

Probably cause 2 places are occupied by spikes

I am working through the same question right now. Answering it a very different way.

I got a Spartan Assault tank from FW. It only costs a little more than a LR but has 5 HPs, can transport up to 12 TDA models and it's an assault vehicle. I think this changes things for Terminators, and maybe sets up situations where you can take more of them.

I am putting together the following in my Black Legion army:

- 1 CL, terminator armor, combi-weapon, MoS, several artefacts
- 10 terminators, MoS, IoE, 1x autocannon, 1x heavy flamer
- 1 Sorcerer, MoS, terminator armor, 3 mastery levels
- Spartan Assault Tank

Granted, this is a very expensive unit, but it's worth trying. The main complaint about TDA units has been delivery options, and the spartan fixes that. What it doesn't do is correct issues with overall power levels, and I am hoping to deal with some of that through psychic abilities.

I won't have the Spartan painted until the end of January, but I will let you know how it goes.

In my experience trying to get Chaos Terminators to mimic loyalists is a bad idea, keep them cheap and avoid nasty things like the land raider.
Their strength is in the fact that they are relatively cheap and can still be dangerous in three man squads.

BUT, fun is fun. So here is what I would do. Slaaneshi lord with twin lightning claws, Slaaneshi terminators with Power swords, Combi Weapons are whatever you like really, Melta is always a good choice.
The key is that you don't want to attack a unit that can actually stand a chance of beating you, go for the tactical squads, the Guardians, the Shoota boys etc.
The thing is, people are going to expect your heavy elite unit to attack their heavy elite units so it is usually pretty easy to find a weak point and exploit it like crazy.

As for the Land Raider, I would tend to disagree with the idea that you should keep it cheap, since you are already buying a Land raider (As Chaos no less) cost really shouldn't be an issue.
The heavy bolter doesn't gel well with the lascannons, so it's a daft vehicle in the first place. I would go for a combi bolter and a havoc launcher and then just have it harass enemy troops.
I mean, the amount of Dakka it can throw out is actually kinda neat and once your TDA hit the enemy lines it doesn't have anything else to do but shoot really, and for the price a Havoc launcher is usually not useless.

Tzeentch and Nurgle are good if you want the unit to live, but if you get right up in your opponents face with a Terminator squad in a land raider the point is usually moot anyway.
And I have no experience using the Mark of Khorne on anything. So I can't help there.

Power swords and Slaanesh typically get ignored given how obsessed people are with killing 2+ saves, but seriously the unit works wonders at wrecking troops.

Already some great advice in this tread.

I'll just add that CSM Termi's play differently to SM Termi's in that you don't want to be using them as a Anvil unit. Base Termi's are very cheap for want you get & the ability to customize to your meta is a huge boon.

Do you play against a lot of Dark Angels/Grey Knights? Then take Combi Plasma & Axes.
Xenos? Combi Flamers & Power Mauls
Tanks? Combi Melta & chainfists.
S3 Hoards? Mark of Nurgle.
Ap 2? Mark of Tzeentch
Power Armour? Mark of Slaanesh.

Adding a Sorcerer in Termi Armour to the mix can bring good results. Endurance is awesome for the unit. Rolling on Telepathy can be game changing, Invisibility for when assaulting into Tau lines, Hallucination on units you want nothing to do with & Puppet Master to take over a tank, use its weapons then wreak it combi melta's

Personally I like 3 man sized units, DS in & wreaking my opponents weak scoring units & CSM Termi's excel at this role.

If you dead set on using a Termi Lord in a LandRaider then try using Mutilators. They bring a boat load of attacks of a weapon of your choice for a reasonable price.The Marks are more cost effective. Its a fun hammer unit that can take on most units.

 Nakor The BlueRider wrote:

If you dead set on using a Termi Lord in a LandRaider then try using Mutilators. They bring a boat load of attacks of a weapon of your choice for a reasonable price.The Marks are more cost effective. Its a fun hammer unit that can take on most units.

This is where you lost me. I have nothing against mutilators, but you can only fit two in a land raider with a lord. Terminators would fit that role much better, more bodies, less likely to get swamped and only slightly more expensive which also adds a ranged attack.

Hexwolf wrote:

 Nakor The BlueRider wrote:

If you dead set on using a Termi Lord in a LandRaider then try using Mutilators. They bring a boat load of attacks of a weapon of your choice for a reasonable price.The Marks are more cost effective. Its a fun hammer unit that can take on most units.

This is where you lost me. I have nothing against mutilators, but you can only fit two in a land raider with a lord. Terminators would fit that role much better, more bodies, less likely to get swamped and only slightly more expensive which also adds a ranged attack.

Mutilators are Bulky so take up 2 slots in a LR, so you can fit 3 (the max unit size) plus the Lord & other character in Termi armor if you wish.

I suggested Mutilators as a unit of 3 they cost 39 points more than 4 base termi's, for that they come with 2W & two powerweapons/chainfist/lighting Claws. You do lose out on have a Champion to accept a challenge & have less attacks but make up for it with survivability & ability to adapt your your opponent. When taking Marks the cost effectiveness for the mutilator starts to show. Again Endurance is huge for the unit as it gains +5 FnP & IWND.

Not having the Land Raider as Dedicated transport can be a issue if you fill out your HS.

As I said it is a fun hammer unit as the OP stated he wanted some kind of 'freight train of death'.

 Dr. Serling wrote:

Overall, how you build this unit depends on what the rest of your army is doing. Your need for cult troops, AT/AI fire, specialists and theme will all come into play. If you post some of this info, you will get a better, tailored response.

Well so far there's been some great responses so I thank everyone for that so far.

Problem with chaos is they have a lot of different build options and im a little overwhelmed and im unsure which direction to take an army in but if you need more information I'll try to think up what exactly im looking for. Having previously had only soft armies and by soft I don't mean weak I just mean not been very versatile a lot of 5+ armor saves and so on. I mainly faced space marines opponents which would just end up taking my army apart like tissue paper. I switched to chaos mainly for the look but they are also a little tougher than what im used to. As a player I find myself ork simple as in when it comes to advanced tactics mine include, getting large hurty things to ram the enemy in their faces and other overly simplistic things.



So when it comes to building my army I want the freight train of steel and death. Very heavy things and units running right through the middle and killcentric things attack from the sides like helldrakes. Im not too bright of a commander and would rather weather an attack than dodge it. So I need an army build thats tough and hits hard, simple yet effective in what it does. Anything with heavy fire will do and im open to taking multiple squads of the same type such as havok units and so on.

I'd rather go with regular marines in a landraider with lord. Khornate marines for example. They're cheaper than termies and bring some punch. And termies can deepstrike turn 2-3 and open with a combi-melta/plazma shooting remaining an annoying threat even in minimum numbers. So what i'd bring in a landraider as a Lord/s retinue:
1. Plague marines - think they're best non-spawn retinue to lord. And they won't die after the first charge - also they have poisoned weapons. U'll apretiate it.
2. Khornate marines - not nearly as tough but hit with a bucket.

Other options might be
-Chosen with some meltas/plazmas and mellee spec weaponry.
-Berzerkers but imo Khornate marines are a bit better cause of much lower points cost. Besides they're fearless with lord anywayz and they can take some useful ranged weaponry and not just a plazma pistol.
-Mellee Noize marines with a syren
-etc.

Don't forget - even in a dedicated mellee unit it's great to have some ranged weaponry like meltagun or plazmagun. U'll definitely appretiate this melta when you don't manage to destroy a transport with u'r other weaponry available or when you suddenly face a walker.
I'd not go with mutilators or possessed in a landraider. Also, termies have better use like distraction combi-melta drop.

 AtomicEngineer wrote:

 Dr. Serling wrote:
a little tougher than what im used to.getting large hurty things to ram the enemy in their faces
overly simplistic things.

Spoiler:

the freight train of steel and death. Very heavy things. Im not too bright of a commander and would rather weather an attack than dodge it. So I need an army build thats tough and hits hard, simple yet effective in what it does. Anything with heavy fire will do and im open to taking multiple squads of the same type such as havok units and so on.

This SCREAMS nurgle. A god that gives life at the cost of comfort: you are too tough to fall to bolters, but constantly sick. Endurance means becoming the storm you weather tenfold.. The only other god you come close to is Khorne. Nurgle is about being rough, tough and not taking crap from anybody. Nurgle your lord(plus blight grenades!) with a fist and lightning claw, naked or marked terminators depending on points or meta, and get some plague marines. They are probably the best cult troop in the army, and take as much of as a punch as they can give.

Since you have a land raider, mech plague marines have good synergy. Most of the HS choices with an AV value are good too, to saturate the board with armor. Nurgle oblits are absolutely amazing, and should be at least one of your HS choices.

Since you want dual drakes(which is a good call) to provide support, you can have them nurgle themed. There are some good pics and tutorials for nurgle drakes online, and the baleflamer could equally be a plague flamer.

Another Heavy Support choice that I'd recommend if you do like rushing in is a Maulerfiend. They do take up a HS slot, but Obliterators are quite expensive points-wise, so having two units is not really doable anyways, and you're already running an expensive LR (it is a Dedicated Transport, so technically you could take two units, but again, cost). Maulerfiends are fast and deceptively more survivable than they look -- the Daemon and IWND rules help out a bit. It also helps distract from your Land Raider.

Nurgle List Example:

Chaos Lord w/ MoN, Blight Grenades, TDA, PF, LC (152)
4 Terminators, completely stock (Axes or Mauls or a mix) (126), in a Land Raider w/Dozer Blade (235)
4 x 5 Plague Marines w/ 2x Plasmaguns each, in Rhinos with Combi-Meltas (185 x 4)
2 x Heldrake w/ Baleflamer (170 x 2)
2 x Maulerfiend w/ Plasma Cutters (125 x 2)
(1843)

That's exactly 1850 points. You're mostly mech'd, with a LR, 4 Rhinos, and two Maulerfiends at the start, with two Heldrakes coming in later. Your PM are as tough against small arms fire as twice their number of tactical marines, so don't be fooled by their small squad size; they're as survivable in most cases as a full 10 man Tactical squad. Despite being very tough with Nurgle, your whole army still has a lot of mobility. This list doesn't feature Obliterators; although they're really good, with the kind of list this is trying to be, they don't fit in, being too slow. Your Maulerfiends and Land Raider engage the enemy while Plague Marines get dropped off at objectives or offer support fire with plasmaguns. You can get a lot of army in the enemy's face turn one, and you still have Double Dragon for support. If I were running a CSM list, it'd be similar to this, although it would probably feature Nurgle Biker Lords and Nurgle Spawn instead of Terminators and a Land Raider.