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Boosting Space Marine Biker




The Eye of Terror

 Vash108 wrote:
On top of what has been said I would love new sculpts.


I like the current ones, what we realy need is a better havoc kit

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The burning pits of Hades, also known as Sweden in summer

 Blackskull wrote:
 Vash108 wrote:
On top of what has been said I would love new sculpts.


I like the current ones, what we realy need is a better havoc kit


Both, arguably.

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 Blackskull wrote:
We call this rule stubborn, and I agree with its inclusion.

However csm are not immune to fear for in the fluff they fight only for themselves, loyalists have total trust in their corpse god hence fear nothing and fight as one, a chaos marine in a chaos warband is out for himself, he does not fight as one but as many individuals. This is true for all of them, kinda like humans really probably why I relate to them easier.


Fighting for ones self has nothing to do with being immune to Fear. These guys are in a place which is basically fearfest 24/7, if they didn't have immunity to Fear it wouldn't make sense for them to have their background state they basically spend most of their time in the anarchy that is the Warp. If an Loyalist Astartes is immune to Fear due to their faith in the Emperor, it would make sense for Chaos Astartes to be immune to Fear just for having to deal with the absolute horror they face every waking moment of every day they spend within the confines of the Warp, it would definitely be enough to deaden ones sense of fear.

To say that Loyalist Marines are immune to Fear because of their faith and CSM aren't immune to Fear even though they have to deal with horrific things on a regular basis just doesn't make sense to me. Faith can overcome fear but having to face fear on a regular basis doesn't overcome fear? To me, the part about automatically regrouping if your squad size is still over a certain size fits far better with the "in it for themselves" type of mentality. Once a squad diminishes enough its no longer about fighting for a common cause, its every man for himself at that point.

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Blood-Drenched Death Company Marine




Little Rock, Arkansas

11 per MEQ with an extra attack each?

Sure, as long as all the other rank and file marines also get the extra attack!

If they didn't, the chaos marines would be at an immense advantage. 10 "tactical" chaos would wipe the floor with 10 tactical loyalists, and the loyalists cost more.

Also if I'm reading that right, you want the squad to be fearless until the character dies, and then they go to Ld10 for the rest of the game?

I think maybe you should scale back a little sir.

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Thrall Wizard of Tzeentch




England, UK

Do they really need changes? They are troop units and they are my favourite choice when it comes to CSM. I don't expect them to take down tanks or elites, I expect them to hold objectives, shoot at stuff that makes the mistake of being out in the open and to perhaps rip through some guardsmen in melee. If your Chaos Marines die they probably should have been in cover or away from what killed them... why the hate on regular Chaos marines guys?

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Glorious Lord of Chaos






The burning pits of Hades, also known as Sweden in summer

Thunking they need buffs =/= hate

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Decrepit Dakkanaut






Springfield, VA

Wait, what I got from the OP is that IG Veterans, one of the best troops choices in the game have:

1) -1 WS, -1S, -1T, -1 I, -1 A, -1 LD, and -2 Sv on their statline

2) -1 S, -2 AP on their weapon

3) Worse special weapon/man ratio

4) Higher minimum squad size

and they only cost 5ppm less?

Or even worse, Militarum Tempestus Scions:
1) -1 WS, -1S, -1T, -1 I, -1 A, -1 LD, and -1 Sv on their statline

2) -1 S (but +2 AP) on their weapon

3) Worse special weapon/man ratio

and they cost 1ppm MORE? WHAT?
   
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Glorious Lord of Chaos






The burning pits of Hades, also known as Sweden in summer

I'd argue the OP's changes are excessive but MEQ could certainly use changes.

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Stone Bonkers Fabricator General





Beijing, China

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:
They were 5 PPM in the old BT Codex and people still didn't take them, because they're short-ranged and unreliable.

"Everyone else pays this much!" isn't much of an argument when everyone's already overpaying.


Well I think changing PP to 5 or 10 points game wide might be a useful thread on this forum, but I dont think that Chaos Space Marine troops should get a 10 point discount, while Khorne bezerkers still pay 15.


If there is a gamewide price for an item, unless there is a reason for a certain unit to get a discount then separate the ideas.

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 ZultanQ wrote:
It's no secret: no matter how you slice it, Chaos Space Marine units suck. This gives me a sad. I hate paying the lord tax for cult troops even if lords are good. I want to use interesting HQs without having to take crappy troops or cultists. So here we go.

I largely agree with the direction you are taking csm but not so much the degree. It is easier to create balance with small incremental changes than large ones. Also small changes to troops tend to have a large effect due to the fact that you are required to take them and often want more to score.


UNIT: Chaos Space Marines 55 Points
May add up to fifteen Chaos Space Marines - 11 pts/model

I really think this is too cheap. Its probably appropriate for their current ability but given that we are talking about simulaneously buffing them its probably too cheap. I would add back in the 10 pt champion tax as he's going to be adding some special rules and thats worth it. Maybe reduce the price per model to 12 instead of 11, but honestly after a buff they would probably be worth 13.

4 Chaos Space Marines WS4 BS4 STR4 T4 W1 I4 A2 LD8
1 Aspiring Champion WS4 BS4 STR4 T4 W1 I4 A3 LD9
Wargear: Power Armor, Boltgun, Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon (Champion only), Frag and Krak Grenades

Special Rules: Consuming Ego (Champion Only), Opportunist's Resolve
• Consuming Ego - If the Aspiring Champion does not accept an issued challenge and no other model in his unit is eligible to accept the challenge, the unit loses the Opportunist's Resolve special rule until your next player turn.
• Opportunist's Resolve - As long as the Aspiring Champion is alive, the unit is Fearless. When the Aspiring Champion dies, all Chaos Space Marines in the unit gain +2 LD for the rest of the game.


I would drop the extra A. the ability to take ccw gives them a leg up over tacticals and makes them pretty solid in cc for a troops choice. Remember troops shouldn't really be specialists, thats what the all other slots are for. I really like the consuming ego and oppurtunist's resolve combo. I think its very fluffy and addresses the csm's horrible moral issues. However, its probably a little too powerful. I'd probably change Fearless to Stubborn and drop the +2 Ld bit. Maybe make the the champion Ld 10 base. This would encourage challenges without requiring them and is fluffy because its the strong leaders that hold csm together.

Any Chaos Space Marine may take a Close Combat Weapon - 1 pt/model, or replace his Boltgun with a Close Combat Weapon - free
Up to two Chaos Space Marines may replace their Bolt Pistols with Plasma Pistols - 5 pts each
Additionally:
Up to two Chaos Space Marines may replace their Boltguns with: Flamer - 5 pts each/Heavy Bolter - 5 pts each/Plasma Gun - 10 pts each/Melta Gun - 8 pts each/Plasma Cannon - 15 pts each

I agree that 15 is too much for a plasma pistol but at 5 they are an auto take which is just as bad. Either make the pistols count for the 2 special weapons, or bump them up to 10 pts. Also I would like to see specials be 1 per 5 models. I don't see any reason a 20 man blob can't have more than 2 specials. I don't think the drop in price on plasgun or melta is warranted either. I'm with you on heavy weapons being mostly irrelevant on these squads that are moving all the time. I think there should be heavy weapons that are still useful on the move a la blastmasters and splinter cannons but thats really beyond the scope of fixing this particular unit.

The Aspiring Champion may take items from the Melee Weapons and/or Range Weapons sections of the wargear list.
The Aspiring Champion may take Gift of Mutation - 5 pts, and/or Aura of Dark Glory - 10 pts
The Aspiring Champion may take Melta Bombs - 5pts

I'd really like to see a discount for some upgrades to the champion, so I like the GoM and Aura. I really don't like the wargear list style of codex. 15 pts is just too much to be putting power weapons on champs. I wish it were more like 10. A power weapon is not worth the same amount on a lord as a champ they should be priced differently.

The unit may purchase one of the following Marks of Chaos: Mark of Khorne - 1 pts/model, Mark of Tzeetch - 1pts/model, Mark of Nurgle - 2pts/model, Mark of Slaanesh - 2pts/model
The unit may purchase one of the following Chaos Icons: Wrath - 15pts/Flame - 5pts/Despair - 5pts/Excess - 30pts

1 pt for current MoK is fine, 1pt is still too much for MoT but I think MoT needs a re-work. A 6++ is just not an option anyone wants to buy. MoN really is worth closer to 3pts and MoS probably like 1.5. The marks need some serious work for a lot of units. MoS is a good example. I think 2 is too expensive and 1 is too cheap, but they don't use fractional point values so there is no in between. Per unit pricing introduces other factors. Again this is beyond the scope of just fixing this unit.

The unit make take the Hatred (Space Marines) special rule - 1pt/model
The unit may take a Chaos Rhino as a Dedicated Transport

I'm always conflicted about special rules that only affect some opponents. On the one hand I love the idea of grizzled legion vets who especially like hunting loyalist dogs. But from a gameplay perspective it doesn't quite work for me. To be appropriately priced averaged across all opponents its going to be a steal vs space marines, and enormous waste vs anything else. I just don't think it works from a design perspective. One idea would be to bundle Hatred(Space Marines) with Fear or something. That way its at least somewhat useful against everything, but at that point you're really jumping through hoops to squeeze a fluff rule in.
   
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Chaos Space Marines should not have 2 attacks.

Long live the Chaos Space Marines!!!  
   
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Ferocious Black Templar Castellan






Sweden

 marrowick wrote:
Chaos Space Marines should not have 2 attacks.


Chaos Space Marines should have 2 attacks.

See how much that adds to the discussion?

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Regular Dakkanaut




Jacksonville, FL

My own thoughts on this, from playing CSMs from 2nd through 6th edition...

Your points are too cheap. Options are a bit wonky too, honestly. I'd say maybe 13 points each, same statline as they are now. VotLW at +1 makes them same points as Marines, and yeah there's no ATSKNF, but they're also better Ld. Options are fine as the current book goes. No need for two heavy weapons, but I love being able to opt for two special weapons instead (wish I could still do it with normal SMs, but haven't been able to since 4th). Adding plasma pistols to the options in place of the special/heavy weapons (i.e. you can take either/or, but not two PP and two SW/HW) would be good for close combat squads.

And seriously, no "Fearless as long as the champion is alive." He's Ld 9, Ld 10 if you give them VotLW. Good enough.

Legion tactics being another form of chapter tactics seems a bit meh. Just too much like the Imperial Marines. I did like the old legion rules in the 3.5 codex, but that would apply to the entire army.

One option would be to allow them to buy veteran abilities (special rules like Tank Hunters, Counter Attack, etc.) for certain points values, but only if they have VotLW. This helps represent their learning over the millennia of fighting, and would let you tailor a list.

So yeah, not much of a huge change from what they are now. But given that I've had some good success running around ten guys with two meltaguns or plasma guns in a Rhino grabbing objectives and wrecking stuff while people are focused on the "scarier" things like Helbrute, Defiler, Havocs, etc., I don't see that much to fix.

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