by Regwon, 22nd June 2009
Preface
Chaos Terminators are one of the most versatile and powerful choices available to chaos space marine players. Their huge amount of options allows them to be equipped for a large variety of roles, from Deepstriking (DS) anti-tank all the way to dedicated assault. Such a wide amount of options can present an issue of how to equip them, especially to newly converted chaos generals. This article will consider some of the more common and effective ways to equip chaos terminators and their uses.
The Golden Rule
The most important factor to consider when equipping your terminators is what role you want them to play in your army. That is, what do you want them to do. For this to be taken into consideration you have to review your army list as a whole and decide in which areas you are lacking. With such a wide number of options terminators can be used to do just about anything.
Once you have decided on your role it is best to try and stick to it as much as possible. If you try and equip your terminators for too many things you will end up making them less effective at all of them. The old saying of “Jack of all trades, Master of none” certainly applies here, and you will want your terminators to be masters of what they do.
Equipment
Close Combat Weapons
Terminators come with power weapons as standard, but also have a good number of upgrades to increase their combat prowess. Many people consider these first and foremost when deciding how to arm their terminators.
Power weapons:
The standard combat weapon of the chaos terminator should not be taken for granted. Being able to ignore armour, feel no pain (FNP), strike at a reasonable initiative and with multiple attacks is very useful. Most infantry will suffer against simple power weapons but particularly space marine- or equivalent armies (MEQs), whose increased armour save is ignored completely.
Powerfists:
Doubling strength up to S8 and therefore wounding on 2+ against most enemies is very useful. Powerfists also threaten enemy characters with instant death, cause lots of trouble to monstrous creatures (MCs) and even destroy most vehicles. The downside is, having to strike at I1 means that your enemies will almost certainly strike before you, and possibly lose your terminator in the process.
Very good in balanced squads where other terminators can strike first and receive any wounds before you can bring your fists to bare.
Chainfists:
Slightly more expensive than a powerfist, the chainfist specializes in killing enemy vehicles in combat. With the exception of a Necron monolith, a chainfist can deal effectively with any vehicle due to the multiple attacks you receive with it. It suffers from the same problems as a powerfist.
It is only suggested that you use one or two, depending on squad size, because it usually takes only a few attacks to destroy a vehicle and chainfists come at a higher premium than standard powerfists.
Lightning claws (LCs):
The major benefits of the lightning claw are the increased number of attacks at a reasonable initiative and rerolling to wound. Dual lightning claws give an extra attack at the loss of shooting, but are excellent for dealing with infantry in combat. The downside is that LCs lose much of their effectiveness against MCs, even with re-rolls to wound, and are almost completely useless against vehicles. Taking dual lightning claws also removes the ability to shoot, which is another powerful ability of terminators that will be discussed in the next section.
Edit, Anonymous: I'd like to comment. Against a monstrous creature, a power weapon may lose effectiveness, but anything with a re-roll actually dramatically improves its worth the worse your odds are at something. Take for instance trying to wound something on a 2+. It's hardly worth paying any amount of points for the chance to re-roll it as it's got amazing odds at succeeding already. The more likely your chance of failure, the more use you'll get out of a chance to re-roll it.
Edit, Regwon: While I agree that a Lightning Claw is better than a power weapon against monstrous creatures, it costs the same points as a powerfist, which if far superior at dealing with T5+.
Ranged Weapons
The shooting ability of chaos terminators is often overlooked in favour of their combat utility. Chaos terminators have the ability to have excellent shooting and these upgrades should be employed if you plan to use your terminators as a fire support unit or when deep-striking. Combi-weapons allow for a wide variety of use and can let your terminators so a wide variety of jobs and should be a staple in many terminator squads. Their single-use nature can often be off-putting, but they can be very effective and should not be overlooked.
Combi-flamers:
Superb anti-horde gun. Several terminators equipped with these can do serious damage to enemy light infantry, but less to MEQs. Its short range makes it more suitable for squads either deepstriking or deploying out of a landraider (LR).
Combi-meltas:
The mainstay of anti-tank terminator squads. In 5th edition there is no better way to kill at tank at range than with a melta weapon. Several of these can almost guarantee a vehicle kill. They are also passable at killing MCs and MEQs. Again, due to short range they are best used in DSing anti-tank squads or LR squads.
Combi-plasmas:
Plasma guns generally have suffered in 5th due to the abundance of cover saves and the changes to vehicles. Never the less they remain one of the best anti-MEQ and anti-MC guns available. They should also be considered for ranged footslogging squads due to their superior range over other combi-weapons.
Heavy Flamers:
Heavy flamers are the best way for terminators to deal with enemy infantry at close range. Higher strength, lower AP and repeated use give them an edge over combi-flamers and should be a no-brainer in anti-infantry squads, especially at such a cheap price. Like combi-flamers they are best used in squads that either DS or are in LRs.
Reaper Autocannon (RAC):
Once the standard chaos terminator heavy weapon, the RAC has lost popularity due to its prohibitively high price. Similar things can be achieved through multiple combi-weapons at a lower points cost. RACs are very useful in ranged support squads due to their greater range and ability to threaten light vehicles.
Icons
Choice of icon is very important for terminators. They improve their abilities in one of two ways. Either they increase their combat ability or increase their durability. Squad size and cost are very important when considering icons because you pay a static price for them no matter how many members there are. Generally speaking the more expensive icons (icon of tzneetch and icon of nurgle) are best used with larger squads to help spread the cost and lessen the dangers of wound allocation.
Khorne:
Probably the best choice for pure combat orientated squads, the extra attacks gained for an icon of khorne (IoK) can be used to devastating effect when combined with close combat upgrades. IoKs also come at reasonable price for how useful they are. Best used in squads in LRs so that they have some protection before they charge.
Slaanesh:
A good choice for terminators equipped to kill space marines (SM) and eldar. Icons of Slaanesh (IoS) are a good and cost effective option when dealing with lots of power weapons at a reasonable initiative, such as SM command squads and other terminators.
Nurgle:
The biggest problem for terminators comes not from low AP fire or power weapons, of which there are relatively little, but from massed small arms fire and massed normal combat attacks. An icon of nurgle (IoN) is the best way to mitigate this danger. The increase in toughness makes the terminators very hard to shift for most enemies. IoN should usually be used in squads of 6+ because of its higher price. It is best used in footslogging or DSing squads that need the extra protection and risk getting counter charged.
Tzneetch:
Icons of tzneetch (IoZ) are very good for terminators that are going to go MC or terminator hunting, where the increased invulnerable save can be used best. With the recent new imperial guard (IG) codex release IoZ may gain some more popularity since lots more melta guns and executioners begin to appear. Like IoN, best used in footslogging or DSing squads. Terminators with IoZ should be cautious of massed infantry shooting or charging at them.
Chaos Glory:
Icons of Chaos Glory (IoCG) are a good cheap choice for terminators. Even with their high leadership, terminators do run the risk of breaking, which can be problematic in small squads. IoCG helps reduce this. Suitable for all types of terminators, but particularly good for small squads.
Champions
Upgrading terminators to champions is a somewhat controversial option. On paper an extra attack looks good, but in reality better value can be gained from the points being spent on icons or weapon upgrades. A unit with a powerfist, for example, would benefit greater from another powerfist, rather than a champion upgrade. The temptation to field a unit of terminator champions can also lead to a unit with very high points cost per model that doesn’t do much more damage than a normal terminator unit. Even if you have the points to spare, they are usually better spent elsewhere in your army than on terminator champions.
Common setups for CSM Terminator Squads
Presented here are some templates for common types of terminator squads. They have all be equipped to perform best at one thing, with the exception of the balanced squads, who are designed to perform well at a range of roles. These are not absolutes, but rather suggestions as to how terminator squads can be fielded.
Termicide Squads
These squads are usually small, cheap and set up be do a specific job before being shot or charged and dying. Usually they are either used to destroy a single tank or deal lots of wounds to a large infantry unit. They almost always DS and are not worth giving icons to because it is expected that they will die.
Anti-tank Termicide
3 Terminators
3 Combi-meltas
Anti-horde Termicide
3 Terminators
2 Combi-Flamers
1 Heavy Flamer
Footslogging Fire Support Squads
These squads are deployed on their feet at the start of the game and lay down ranged fire while advancing. Ranged weapons are preferable as are icons that increase durability. They are not given any additional close combat weapons because they start so far away. This set-up isn’t very popular because there are better units that give ranged fire support in the CSM codex, such as obliterators.
Footslogging fire support
6+ Terminators
1-2 RAC
5-8 Combi-plasmas
IoN or IoZ
Deepstriking close ranged assault
These squads take advantage of combi-weapons when DSing to lay down a good amount of fire then following it up with a charge on the following turn, usually after surviving any return fire. IoN and IoZ help with surviving for more than one turn here and using a big a squad as possible helps mitigate morale tests.
Anti-horde
6+ terminators
1-2 Heavy Flamers
3-6 Single LCs
IoN or IoZ
5-8 combi-flamers
Anti-tank
6+ terminators
6-10 combi-meltas
2-4 Chainfists
IoN or IoZ
Anti-MC
6+ terminators
4-6 powerfists
5-8 combi-plasmas as points allow
IoZ
(Maybe 1-2 RAC)
Balanced
6+ terminators
1-2 Heavy Flamers
1-2 Chainfists
1-3 Powerfists
As many combi-meltas as points allow
IoN or IoT
(Note: Heavy flamers in conjunction with boltguns are usually enough to put some serious hurt on hordes, leaving more space for combi-meltas for anti-tank/anti-MC)
Landraider Assault
These squads are meant to use LRs as transports and use them to get off a devastating charge. As a result they don’t need so many ranged weapons, although heavy flamers and combi-flamers can be useful against infantry in terrain since terminators don’t have offensive grenades. More combat orientated icons are preferable here, although IoN is still good when dealing with hordes.
Anti-horde
5 terminators
1 heavy flamer
0-4 combi-flamers
5 Single LCs
IoK or IoN
Anti-MEQ
5 terminators
1 Heavy Flamer
0-4 combi-flamers
1 powerfist (for use against characters)
4 single LCs
IoK or IoS
Anti-tank
5 terminators
5 combi-meltas
2 Chainfists
IoK
Balanced
5 terminators
1 Heavy Flamer
1 Chainfist
0-4 Combi-flamer/ Combi-meltas
IoK or IoS
Pure LC (good against horde, MEQs and terminators)
5 Terminators
5 pairs of LCs
IoK or IoS or IoN
(note: against many opponents, particularly those in terrain, the loss of shooting is a bad choice for terminators)
General Advice
When using any kind of DSing terminator squad, icons on the ground can be invaluable. They allow you put your terminators where you need them to be without risk. It is worth seriously considering giving icons of some sort to the fast elements in the rest of your army, whether it is infantry in rhinos or raptors.
Many of the options discussed here require many different equipment set-ups. So that you always have the option to using what you wish it is suggested that you magnetise the arms on your terminators so that you can change their armaments as you wish. There are many good articles on Dakka Dakka explaining how to magnetise models.