Mike's Chaos Space Marine Tactica

Mike's Chaos Space Marine Tactics

Introduction: Hi Everybody. I'm Mike, a very avid CSM player, and I have made this article to share with you tactics on how to use each part of the CSM army to its full effect. So sit back, relax, grab a glass of Khorne Lemonade, and lets get started.

HQ Choices

Abaddon the Despoiler: Abbadon the Despoiler is the daddy of ass-whupping. For 275 points, you get a true monster of the 40K universe. He has one hell of a profile, 2+ Armour save and a 4+ invulnerable save. He strikes at his initiative of 6 with 4+D6 attacks at strength 8, with no Armour save allowed. He is immune to instant death. Need I go on ? Abbadon is truly a monstrosity of death and can easily go toe-to-toe with the likes of Calgar or the Swarmlord.

Rating: F***ING AWESOME !!!!

Kharn the Betrayer: Kharn is a monstrosity at CC. Armed with a power weapon which always hits on 2+, a shed-load of attacks and immunity to psychic powers and weapons, Kharn brings the pain. However, he only has a 3+ armour save and 5+ invulnerable save, a foe determined to destroy him is likely to do so. Also, in CC, on a roll of a 1 to hit Kharn will hit any man in his squad unfortunate to get in the way. However, he does get 2D6 to penetrate vehicles, which is useful.

Rating: Excellent

Ahriman: Ahriman is a very powerful sorcerer indeed. With access to almost all the powers, and the ability to cast 3 psychic powers a turn makes him very powerful. Also, with a decent profile, a force weapon, 4+ invulnerable save and inferno bolts, he pack a punch in combat too. However, his psychic powers is his biggest downfall, as the chances of him getting perils of warp is considerably higher than a regular sorcerer. This means he could be killed or weakened by the perils, and if weakened much easier to kill.

Rating: Good

Fabius Bile: Fabius Bile is one of the funnest character to play in the army. He has a fairly decent profile, and if very nasty in combat. 7 attack on the charge with instant death and strength 5. His protection is power Armour and feel no pain. Bile is also armed with a xyclos needler, which is an assault 3 AP6 Range18" 2+ to wound pistol. Also, for +3 points a man, he can alllow a unit of normal marines to become "Enhanced warriour", which will usually give them +1 strength and fearless, although they might die horrifically beforehand. Overall, Fabius Bile is a wild card, one which should not be used as a crucial part of an army list, but as a fun addtion to an army.

Rating: Good

Lucius the Eternal: Ah Lucius. For 165 points, you get a very fast, very deadly chaos lord. With high initiative, 4 attacks, a power weapon, high weapon skill and a whip which reduces all foes in base contact attack's by 1, he's a nasty piece of work. Lucius is protected by a 5+ invulnerable save and the Armour of shrieking souls, which is for every successful AS or IS he causes a strength 4 hit back on the unit which allows no Armour saves. Couple this with the fact he has an AP3 heavy flamer in the shape of a doom siren, and Lucius is a devastatingly powerful warrior. Rating: Excellent

Typhus: Typhus is a very interesting character indeed. While he has reasonable stats, Feel no pain, a daemon-force weapon in the form of man-reaper and psychic powers, he is not immune to instant death and is only 50 points off Abbadon's price. This means that a single lucky battle cannon shot could kill Typhus and leave you with a 225-point corpse, and that for 50 points more you could get Abbadon, who is far better. Despite the fact he has a relatively powerful weapons+profile, he is a bit expensive and is not immune to instant death.

Rating: Average

Huron Blackheart: Huron Blackheart is basically a Chaos lord armed with a power-fist,power weapon, heavy flamer and warp-time ability. Not too bad for 170 points, but a bit basic.

Rating: Average

Chaos Lord: The Chaos Lord is a very customizable choice. He has a shed-load of war-gear to choose from, from the humble power-sword and bolt pistol combo to the plasma pistol and Daemon weapon combo. I'm going to go over each equipment option available to him:

Mark of Khorne: Gives +1 attack. Not bad for 10 points.

Mark of Slaanesh: Gives +1 initiative. Only really useful against other marines, but for 5 points a good point filler.

Mark of Nurgle: This 20-point mark gives the chaos lord +1 toughness. Quite useful if he's going to get beat on by a lot of strength 4 stuff.

Mark of Tzeentch: Gives a +1 bonus to the chaos lord invulnerable save, making it a 4+. This, for 15 points, is the most useful mark by far.

Power Armour: 3+ Armour save. Basic equipment.

Bolt pistol+ Chain-sword: Basic equipment.

Frag+Krak grenades: Basic equipment, very useful for adapting to situations.

Melta-bombs: For 5 points, you get a grenade in combat against anything with an Armour value which does strength 8+ 2D6 penetration. Never leave home without them.

Personal icon: An icon which things can land within 6" of during deep-strike and NOT scatter. For 5 points, can be useful.

Plasma pistol: A 15 point strength 7 AP2 substitute for the bolt pistol. Will melt infantry and Armour 13 downwards. Only problem is he may kill himself from it getting hot. Still worth it.

Power-sword: 15 point weapon which allows no Armour save. Cheap. Cheerful. Deadly.

Power-fist: Power-weapon which doubles chaos lord's strength to 8, but lowers his initiative. For 25 points, not too bad, but he could be killed before he could use it combat.

Single Lightning claw/Pair of lightning claws: Power weapon which allows re-rolls to wound. Pairs allow an extra attack. Quite good for its value.

Twin-linked bolter/combi-weapon: AVOID AT ALL COSTS ! Chaos lords are made for combat, so these to options are totally pointless. Combie-weapon can be useful, but chances are it never will so don't bother. Twin linked bolters are only good with terminator Armour.

Daemon weapon: Nasty. for 40 points, you get an extra D6 attacks, +1 strength and a power weapon. If you roll a 1 while generating extra attacks, you take a wound with no Armour save allowed and don't attack, but this is worth the destruction you can cause. Also, if you have a mark, the weapon gains an extra ability depending on the mark as detailed below:

Mark of Khorne = Bloodfeeder: gives 2D6 attacks instead of D6. If you roll 1 on either or both dice, you only take a single wound. This allows your chaos lord to potentially get a massive 16 attacks per turn !

Mark of Nurgle = PlaugeBringer: Makes the daemon weapon a 4+ poisoned weapon. Devastating against monsters, like Wraithlords or Carnifexs.

Mark of Slaanesh = Blissgiver: Makes the daemon weapon cause instant death, regardless of enemies toughness. OUCH. Will kill anything that moves in combat.

Mark of Tzeentch =Deathscreamer: Gives the wielder a D6 strength 4 AP3 assault weapon. Not bad, but if you roll a 1 when determining number of shots, no shots are fired and you take a wound with no Armour save allowed.

Terminator Armour: Definitely a good choice. For 30 points, gives you a 2+ Armour save, a power weapon and a twin-linked bolter which counts as assault because of the Armour. Also, it make all the weapon options cheaper, although it does NOT allow you to make sweeping advances in combat. It does allow you to deep-strike though, and also gives you access to a chain-fist.

Chainfist: A power fist which gives you 2D6 penetration against vehicles. Pretty much cut through anything. VROOOOMM.

Jump-pack/wings: Gives a extra 6" to basic movement. Not bad for 20 points.

Bike: Rubbish really, as he'll just get shot to pieces, due to the usually small-size of bike squads. Avoid.

Daemonic steed: An often overlooked option, these daemonic steed aren't half-bad. For 30 points and a mark of a specific god, you can get the following:

Mark of Slaanesh: Gives you a steed which gives +1 attack and the model becomes cavalry.

Mark of Tzeentch: Gives you a steed which confers +1 attack and becomes Jump-infantry.

Mark of Khorne: Gives you a steed which gives confers +1 strength and +1 attack and the model cannot be transported in vehicles.

Mark of Nurgle: Gives +1 wound and +1 attack to the rider. May be transported in a Land-raider only, and counts as two models.

Rating: Very customizable, so it's hard to say.

Chaos sorcerer: The Chaos sorcerer has the same options as the chaos lord, with the power of magic thrown in. He may not have the mark of Khorne, but may have any other mark, and depending on the mark lets him have different powers. Models with the mark of Tzeentch may pick two powers.

Doombolt: Its a range 18 strength 4 AP 3 assault 3 10 point power. Whats not to like ?

Warptime: Allows the sorcerer to re-roll all to hit and to wound rolls. Not to shabby, but unless you plan to have your sorcerer get into combat, a bit pointless.

Gift of chaos: Allows you sorcerer to turn a model into a blob of dead flesh or a chaos spawn depending if you have a model for it. Hilarity ensures !

Wind of chaos: Is a flamethrower which kill most models on 4+, and glances the sides of vehicles.

Slaanesh only- Lash of submission: allows you to drag a unit 2D6 towards the sorcerer., and they then have to take a pinning test. Extremely useful power, and disrupts enemies battle-lines.

Nurgle only- Nurgle's rot: Allows the sorcerer to cause a strength 3 hit on all enemy models within 6".

Tzeentch only- Bolt of change: A devastating attack which can fry characters and destroy vehicles. Nice.

Rating: Good

Daemon Prince: Daemon princes are nasty pieces of work. With the ability to smash pretty much anything, and immunity to instant death, casting ability,and a bad-ass attitude, they will serve you extremely well. And at only 110 points !!!

Tips: Always give him wings, as he can get into combat quicker. Also, you can give him various marks-Khorne is a bit pointless, as he has a lot of attacks already, and also robs him of his ability at magic. Tzeentch allows him to have 2 spells, which is always useful. Make sure he gets stuck in to combat as quick as possible, which is where he really excels.

Rating: Excellent

Elite choices:

The elite section of the chaos force promises a lot of deadly units.

Chaos Chosen: The chosen are an interesting choice. With the ability to infiltrate, and have the choice to field 5 special weapons in a single squad. However, they need to be in squads of 10, and have to be contructed for certain tasks.

Example set ups:

Tank-busters: 10xChosen. 5x meltaguns. Infiltrate in.

This option allows you to bust the enemies baddest tank in a single turn, and also allows you to bust any other tanks within range.

Horde-disruptor: 10xChosen. 5xHeavy bolter. Aspiring champion armed with plasma pistol+power sword. Infiltrate in.

This option allows you to ambush a huge enemy squad, as they'll be hit by an impressive 15 strength 5 AP4 shots ! If the horde comes towards you, finish them off in combat. If they ignore you and keep on moving towards your own battle line, keep on shooting at them.

The Pyromaniacs: 10xChosen. 5xFlamers. Rhino.

This option is very simple. Drive them up towards the enemy. Disembark. Burn.

Rating: Good

Chaos Terminators: By far the best elite choice in the codex, these guys are real-bad asses. With 2+ Armour saves, 5+ invulnerable, a load of wargear and a lot of them packing a can of kick-ass on anyone stupid enough to get near them. Throw in the ability to deep-strike and the fact that any of them can be upgraded to champions, they will destroy any and all of your opponents force.

Rating: Excellent

Possessed: Good old possessed. A very old friend of mine. For some insane reason, a lot of people dislike them, which I find strange. Possessed are ferocious monsters. At the beginning of the game they get a random power, all of which I will review.

1.Scout- Allows the Possessed to get dangerously close to the enemy.

2.Furious charge- Make Possessed hit harder when they assault.

3.Fleet of foot- Make Possessed get to the enemy a lot faster.

4.Rending-Allows Possessed to rip through Armour and lightly armored vehicles.

5.Feel no pain-Makes Possessed shrug off more injuries

6.Power weapons-Makes Possessed rip through enemy Armour twice as well !

Combines with the ability to have marks, Possessed seem pretty good, right ? So why do people say they suck ? I'll tell you why. Those people that don't like Possessed hate them because they only ever field them in small squads. If you field them in squads of 5, they will all die and get shot. Field in squads of 10, however, and they will get to the enemy with a few men left and cause some damage. Obviously, always deploy Possessed somewhere where their abilities will be useful, regardless of what you roll. So that if you were hoping for fleet of foot and you got Rending it wouldn't be too bad, which bring me onto my next point:

NEVER RELY ON POSSESSED AS PART OF YOUR BATTLE PLAN !!!!!! NEVER EVER !!!!

Never. I mean it. You will only roll the complete opposite ability and your army will fall to tatters. Use them as shock troopers, trying to cause as much damage as possible, nothing more.

Rating: Good (but wild)

Chaos Dreadnought: Chaos Dreadnought's are very... erratic choices, as they have a 4/6 chance of being sane, a 1/6 chance in shooting your own friends, twice! and a 1/6 chance of running towards the enemy. Therefore, they must be handled delicately when purchasing. For example:

Chaos Dreadnought armed with twin-linked plasma-cannon= WRONG !!!

This choice will only end up hurting yourself, so is not a good idea.

Chaos Dreadnought armed with Heavy flamer= GOOD CHOICE !!!

This choice means that he is well suited in combat, meaning you will run him forward anyway, so the the roll of a 6 on the crazy table will make no difference. Also, a flamer is a safe choice, as you can easily deploy your chaos units out of template range from it.

Overall, a Dreadnought is not really a good choice, and is only good for going into combat.

Rating: Bad

Troops:

The troop section is fairly important, as this is where the core of your force will be constructed.

Chaos Space marines: These guys are the bread and butter of our forces. Tough, highly trained and adaptability, CSM are very important to our army. Any CSM player, no matter ho big or small the game is, should always right down first on their army list a squad of 10 CSM, as small 5-man squads will get shot to pieces. Typically, a 10-man squad of CSM will include:

1. Aspiring champion-Lending powerful weaponry, higher leadership and kick-ass to the squad.

2. Icon bearer-Very important, as not only will he give everybody in the squad a bonus, but also allow deep-striking chaos peeps' to not scatter. Keep him till' last to die.

3.2 Weapon specialists-This can be a flamer, heavy bolter, meltagun-anything. As long as it kills people.

4.6 normal marine-Make up the squad, kill people and also the first to be remover when Armour saves start to fail.

Rating:Good

Chaos Rhino's: Basic troop transport, fairly decent. At 35 points a piece, their fairly cheap and not too bad. Use them as transports or as moving walls.

Rating:Average

Khorne Berzerker: Khorne Berzerkers are often things we hear about a lot. They have a legendary reputation for being devastating assault troops, being able to go against Genestealers and Howling Banshees and still come out on top. Fortunately, this is true. When Khorne Berzerkers charge, you will know. They can destroy anything. From squad of terminators to hordes or Orks, Berzerkers will always win. However, this is also their greatest downfall. Having to run towards the enemy, who has heard tales of Berzerkers, will fire absolutely everything at them. Many a time have I seen a squad of 20 Berzerkers shot to pieces, and they are not cheap. My best advice is use Rhino's as walls to move up behind, or even put them in the Rhino's. Once Berzerkers get into combat, you know you've won, so make sure that what they do.

Rating: Good

Plague marines: Plague marines are also a very famous unit, for they are known for being able to weather obscene amounts of firepower. Toughness 5 and feel no pain are a good combo, and that's exactly why Plague marines are so tough. Use plague marines as shields for more valuable units, like Possessed, or just buy them to annoy the enemy.

Rating: Good

Noise marines: Noise marines are nasty pieces of work. Followers of Slaanesh, and are armed with Doom-blaster, Doom-sirens and Blast-masters. They are an extremely shooty unit, the blast-master being a much better missile launcher, and the basic weapons being able to chuck out an impressive 3 shots each, Noise marines are very adaptable- being able to either be a close combat unit or a cover-fire shooting unit. Overall, a very good choice indeed.

Rating: Good

Thousand sons: Ah, the Thousand sons squad. A real joy to play. They basically are marines led by a sorcerer that have an invulnerable save and Ap3 bolter... wait AP3 ?!?! F**k yeah, now we can pawn Space marines. YES PLEASE !!!!!!! Only problem with them is they are slower than most other units, and if the sorcerer leading them dies, they become even slower, so make sure to protect the sorcerer.

Rating: F**K YOU SPACE MARINES !!!

Fast attack:

The Fast attack are very limited choice-wise, but used correctly they can annihilate anyone.

Chaos bikers: are terrible. Unlike the space marine bikes, they have very little choices of equipment. All you can really do with them is buy a flamer and send them rocketing forward to hopefully take out a single unit, of give them a multi-melta and them rocketing forward to take out a tank. Either way, they get shot to pieces afterwards.

Rating: Terrible

Raptors: Raptors are the only really solid choice in the fast attack section. They are jump-pack armed marines, which can either deep-strike and take out a unit or deep-strike and take out a tank. However, they come in much bigger squads unlike bikers, and stand a far better chance in combat. A good tactic is if your playing an Imperial guard player is if they leave a Basilisk or Manticore protected by only a squad of IG is to deep-strike in, destroy the basilisk using anti-tank weaponry, then take out the unit guarding them. That 2 annihilation point s right there, and a lot of expensive CSM saved !

Rating: Good

Chaos Spawn: As much as I hate to say this, Chaos spawn are not really worth the points you pay. Despite the hilarity of fielding an insane blob of flesh, there's not much he can do. The best thing you can do is use them as either points-filler or stick to cover and assault the enemies heavy weapon squads, as they have quite a high assault range. Other than that, their pointless, which is a shame really, as chaos spawn are one of the most defining features of a CSM army. Ah well.

Rating:Average

Heavy support choices

Heavy support has an awful lot of things to choose from, as they really have expanded it this codex.

Chaos Land raider: Just like the Space marine one, the Land Raider is still the best tank in the 40K game, primarily because of it's heavy armour, but also because it packs a lot of punch, as well as being an assault vehicle, and being able to carry squad of terminators into the fray. Woe betide the foe who is caught in front of a Land Raider, for you will not survive. That's not a threat, it's a promise.

Rating: Excellent

Chaos Havocs: Chaos Havocs are the Chaos space marine version of Devestators, so use them in exactly the same way, just DON'T give them any marks what-so-ever, as it's very pointless and a waste of points. Either make them a squad of Lascannons or Plasma guns (For tanks), Heavy bolters(for hordes) or, if possible, missile launchers, as they can do both.

Rating:Good (as long as you specialize)

Obliterator cult: Obliterator's are probably the unit which is best at tank-busting in the CSM army. With ability to fire a choice of 6 different guns, both anti-tank and anit-infantary, a 2+ armour save and 2 wounds, Obliterator's are an extremely deadly unit. And they only cost a reasonable 75 points each. Field them in squad of 2, otherwise they are at danger of getting shot to death before they can do anything.

Rating: Good

Chaos Predator: These tank are an interesting choice. They can be adapted to be either tank-hunting tank or horde smashing behemoth. My advice ? Equip Predators with a lascannon turret and heavy bolter sponsons. This allows it to smash tanks into pieces, but also thin down units. For 135 points, it's a bargain.

Rating: Good

Chaos Vindicator: The demolisher cannon, the vindicators main armament is a large blast, strength 10 AP2 weapon. F**K YEAH !!! This can smash tanks and units into itty bitty pieces and still come back for more ! However, the Demolisher cannon has a short range of 24", which is what lets it down. However, this can be countered by buying a havoc launcher for 15 points. This means you can move 6" into range each turn while still firing a blast weapon, and when you get into range, the enemy will be sent packing. However, expect the enemy to fire every anti-tank weapon at it, so give the Vindicator extra-Armour or Daemonic possession. Extra Armour means that any crew stunned results count as crew shaken. Daemonic possession means that you ignore crew shaken/stunned altogether, but the the BS is reduced by 1. It really is an interesting decision, but I would personally go with Daemonic possession, as ignoring both is better than ignoring one, even if the BS is reduced slightly.

Rating: Good

Defiler: Defilers are definitely a chaos war-machine, not just a space marine vehicles with spikes, and is the only walker in the Heavy support section. However, don't be fooled-Defilers kick ass. They can be armed with various equipment, but they always have a battle cannon, which is a glorious strength 8 AP3 weapon. They also have the Fleet and daemonic possession rules, which means they will not be slowed down easily. Personally, all I would do is replace the autocannon with an extra close combat arm, then leave at that. This will give the defiler more power at close range.

Rating: Good

Daemons

Daemons are the last section in the CSM book, and their only two units, but both of them are deadly.

Summoned daemons: Summoned daemons are a fairly decent choice. They have the same profile as a CSM with an extra attack, but only get a 5+ invulnerable save. They have to deep-strike within range of an icon i.e no icons mean no daemons. However, they can assault on the turn they deep strike, but they don't really have any special equipment. If you could give them marks to do different things they would be better, but you can't, so until then Daemons are a bit of a pointless unit.

Rating: Average

Greater Daemons: Greater daemons are an extremely good unit. They are huge monster, full of power. Their only disadvantage is that they have to come on through a champion of character within your army. Therefore, the only advice I can give you is keep the host for the monster cheap. A basic 30 point champion will do. Then real fun can begin once greater daemon emerges, and at only 100 points, he is a real bargain.

Rating:Excellent

Conclusion: I really hope this article has helped any CSM players who want to win games, and hopefully, together through the power of ass-kicking, we can start to rub away the bad name CSM armies have gotten due to their old codex.

Thanks for reading.

Categories: Chaos Space Marines Tactica