Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Chaos Space Marines (section)

===Elites===
*'''Chaos Terminators''': Standard 2A, 2W, 2+, 5++ Termies. Tough and killy, now cost as much as their Loyalist counterparts at 23ppm. Unlike the Loyalists, Chaos Terminators take chainaxes as standard; making them cheaper overall before customisation. They're also slightly more versatile thanks to marks/powers and Icons. Taking Khornate Terminators and giving them an Icon of Wrath does still make Turn 2 Strikes an option, adding a Prescience will allow you to fire both parts of a combi-weapon and/or hit with power/chain fists without penalty! Want a termi-bomb? Take 10 Terminators with combi-plasma and chainaxes. Mark them with SLAANESH and teleport them in and activate Endless Cacophony for 40 shots S7/AP-3/D1 shots. Take a Chaos Lord or Daemon Prince for re-rolling 1's to hit, and Sorcerer or Daemon Prince for +1 to hit with Prescience. For maximum cheese use Veteran of the Long War for +1 to wound and overcharge the plasma for 40 shots S8/AP-3/D2! There are downsides to this however, despite their save and 2 wounds they die quick and they eat up points fast, so you're best suited to focus them on one specific task, and have them do it the second they show up (either after deep-striking or leaving their transport). Don't use them too early either, as your opponent will be too heavily screened and have much of their remaining army to wipe them. Send them in too late and you'll have lost too much from your opponents killy units or killed so much they wont make their points back. They're the kind of unit that you can build your army around as a sucker punch or late game wildcard - but don't expect them to do much if what they were built to kill has already been dealt with.
**Consider: at 23 points per model (CA2019), terminators can take a Combi-Bolter (2pts) and a Chainaxe (1pt) for 26 points per model. This is a 130 point unit with a 2+/5++, 2 wounds a piece, 20 4/-/1 shots a turn and 13 5/-1/1 melee attacks, with deep strike. Consider what you can otherwise get at this price and it's difficult to match.

*'''Chosen''': The flexible elite, with everything it entails and with making CA2019 making them cheaper, they are all the more attractive  Give them the gear to deal with a problem and they will do so beautifully, but these guys aren't cheap. Trouble with light infantry? give them '''Flamers''' and/or '''Combi-Flamers'''. 6d6 AUTO HITTING flamers shots. Armour problems? Take Plasma/Melta's, You can take 5 '''Combi-X''' and 1 '''X-gun'''. You want Light/Medium melee killers? Give ''any'' Chosen an additional melee weapon ''without replacing their bolter.''Always take the '''Chainsword''' regardless of what you're doing with 'em,  as there's literally no downside because it's free. Don't forget to give them a transport if you're going to send them off to beat face, and always remember the Veterans of the Long War stratagem as it makes them that much better! 
**Bolter Drill has made Chosen look more like...What Chaos Space Marines should be. Take two Squads of 5 with Combi-Bolters and Chainswords and share a Rhino Between them. This gives you a very cheap objective chaser with a Mobile Speed Bump to back then up. They can hold their own in Close Combat (as 16 Attacks per squad can cause a wound or two) and their shooting with VOTL can cause a lot of hurt onto enemy troop choices that stray too close.  
**If you're getting them in melee then consider making them Emperor's Children. The Chosen can be great offensively but are no tougher than ordinary marines, and this way they'll be guaranteed to attack unless they get charged, and they'll also get access to the Excess of Violence stratagem.
**At 1 point more than a regular chaos space marine this means they are basically a 1 point upgrade that gives you +1 attack, +1 leadership and more power weapons at the cost of ObSec, but if you're using them in an aggressive strategy then that's not really a downside.
**Chosen are one of the only non-HQ units in the codex that can take Thunder Hammers, at a slight discount of points too. With Hateful Assault now granting an extra attack, Hammer-Chosen could be a reasonably attractive choice. In a World Eaters detachment, a squad of Thunder Hammer kitted Chosen with an Icon of Wrath, gives you 25 Attacks on the charge. Hitting on 4's and wounding most things on 3+. Add in Veterans of the Long War and that's 2's for everything but a Knight which is 3's. At 160pts that's a deal most melee armies can't and won't want to turn down - Especially because they come with Bolt Pistols and Boltguns as standard and don't need to give them up.
**With the new hateful assault rule these guys get 3 attacks each when they charge or get charged, this makes a unit of thunder hammer chosen absolutely terrifying in melee combat even a five man unit will get 16 thunder hammer attacks base, now consider veterans of the long war, prescience, soultearer portent, fury of khorne and a nearby lord that's now 32 attacks hitting on 3's re-rolling 1's and wounding a knight on 2+ at AP -3 and 3 damage each!

*'''Dark Disciples''': Buffers for your Dark Apostle and you don't want to go without them. Going from a 1/3 chance of failing a prayer to a 1/6 chance is a big deal, and even if you do fail it means your command point re-roll is much more likely to succeed. They're cheap, very hard to shoot (effectively being characters so long as they're near the Dark Apostle) and don't take up a FOC slot, so there's no excuse for skipping them if you want your zealots.

*'''Fallen''': Basically Chaos Chosen with the {{Template:W40kKeyword|IMPERIUM}} keyword. Additional benefit is that they get to re-roll 1's in the Shooting phase if they didn't move in the Movement phase, and can never lose more than 1 model to a failed Morale test (presumably they rotate Commissar duty). Otherwise, they are identical to Chosen in both stats and options, but without benefits from Marks and Legion Traits. Outside of their specialist detachment, they can't use transports. In addition, again outside their specialist detachment, only Cypher buffs them. Fret not though, there is still one thing they are absolutely fantastic at: adding even more plasma into your army. Between Chosen and Fallen, you can technically field 36 Plasma Guns (assuming the 'Rule of Three' data sheet limitation and a few being Combi-Plasmas). Consider putting Cypher and Fallen Plasma-spam in a Vanguard Detachment and take the Vigilus Specialist Detachment. This then lets them be buffed by Sorcerers and take Rhinos. You can also give them melee weapons, but aside from Chainswords (they're free) you don't want to, there are better units for the role. Yes their re-roll works on their pistol even in close combat. No, it won't prevent them from being ripped apart.
*'''Greater Possessed:''' A bigger, badder Possessed that comes in squads of up to 2 which then behave as individual units after deployment (like Dreadnought talons). Each one is a Character, and they've got 5s in Strength, Toughness, Wounds, and Attacks, making them a force to be reckoned with in battle. As an added bonus, they buff all {{W40Kkeyword|DAEMON}} units that they share a Legion and Mark of Chaos with +1S (So bunch everything up in one cluster for the daemon buffs, then watch your opponent shoot you to death the entire game). Super-strong Maulerfiends anyone?

*'''Helbrute''': Given a new lease of life with consistent points drop. The Helbrute is one of the best [[Distraction Carnifex]]'s Chaos can field for its price. Overall it's ''expendable'', durable, and scary, in that order, as it takes a decent amount of applied firepower to be put down and doesn't degrade as it gets wounded. Can serve as a semi-mobile gun platform (make sure to keep a lord nearby for re-rolls) or it can be kitted out for melee to protect a back line from hard hitting deep-striking units (though the very things that you want it to fight will probably tear it multiple new assholes in no time). That being said it is possible to make this a very threatening harassing unit, as they do have good options, gain Legion traits and have their own stratagem. 
**For Ranged Builds: To start off, ditch the '''multi-melta'''; they're garbage for their points right now and everything else can outperform it in its own area, especially the '''lascannon''', which does what the '''multi-melta''' does, but better. The '''reaper autocannon''' is now more reasonable with the points drop taken into account, whilst the '''twin heavy bolter''' remains the anti-infantry weapon of choice. The '''helbrute plasma cannon''' is now far better priced down to 16pts from 30pts, but still don't use it with the intention of harming the helbrute to trigger crazed; the chance of that happening when you fire the weapon is 2.7%, meaning you're better off just paying for something that will cause damage to the enemy rather than killing the helbrute faster. '''Missile Launchers''' also went down in price, making the versatility over stopping power trade-off more palatable. Kitted for range, a Helbrute can be potentially devastating if you roll up additional shots with Fire Frenzy. Finally, to round off the list, if you give them Mark of Slaanesh and make them Emperor's Children, you give it the ability to take a '''Doom Siren''' as a cheaper option to the Fist/Flamer combo. It can also swap out its Multi-Melta for two '''Blastmasters'''. This is an excellent choice if you want a purely ranged Helbrute; just slap a missile launcher on its other arm and abuse the shit out of Fire Frenzy (thanks Forge World's Forces of Chaos FAQ).
**For Melee Builds: The default '''Helbrute Fist''' is still statistically better than the '''Helbrute Hammer''', as it outperforms the hammer thanks to the -1 penalty to hit. The '''Power Scourge''' is also worth considering, being better against MEQs and lower compared to the fist. Helbrutes can also opt to bring two power scourges, allowing you to fulfill your dreams of turning your helbrutes into wacky octopus monsters or waving inflatable arm-flailing tube men (do this if you know you're up against T4 W2 models and watch them melt). Bring one in an Emperor's children Army for [[Rape|maximum hentai]]. Hateful Assault also applies to these guys, meaning they are now point for point a really nasty distraction carnifex.
***Due to a hilariously poorly worded FAQ, every model in the game has a close combat weapon in addition to what you see on its datasheet, meaning Battering Onslaught only needs one datasheet melee weapon listed to trigger, so the second fist doesn't actually help you. Clarify with your opponent before hand.

*'''Khorne Berzerkers''': One of, if not the biggest reasons you don't need to build your regular units for close combat (except maybe Hammer-Chosen) and now a whole point cheaper each in CA2019. As these guys are always going to kick their ass at it. Almost mandatory you take an Icon of Wrath for the charge re-rerolls. Advice is to ditch the pistols on your standard Zerkers as killing things with bullets makes charges harder; whilst a Chainaxe and Chainsword combo tends to get you more returns anyway. The Champion benefits greatly from a Power Fist (punching in at S10) and as long as you get your charge, you get to fight twice before anyone who didn't charge! Twin Lightning claws will also give you a re-roll to wound and a sweet extra attack. Also, doesn't lose DTTFE. Keep in mind however that they're no more durable than a normal CSM and so they need a transport to help them get where they need to go. In addition if they are charged they can all go down fast. That being said if you really want a Deathstar (and why not, since they're troops in a World Eaters list) then put 18 of them with Axe, Sword and Fist on the champ (or 3 5-man units, for maximum fistiness) into a Kharybdis assault claw, then join an Exalted Champion with A Talisman of Burning Blood and A Cheap Lord riding shotgun. Anything they hit, they'll run right over. Also work well as a shock-troop in Black Legions list without character support as using Let the Galaxy Burn allows them to re-roll to hit rolls of 1 for 1CP.
**As per the FAQ, attacks from the bonus World Eater Legion trait only apply to the first activation in the fight phase. The true benefit behind Berzerkers is how they combine quantity ''and'' quality of attacks like no other unit when rocking Chainaxes!
**RAW Hateful Assault adds its attack to both activations rather than the 'subsequent fight phase' as it lasts to the end of turn.
**Since they count as troops for World eaters, they should be your primary choice in a World Eaters army; as taking them with the Legion tactic + Hateful Assault makes them damn right monstrous on a melee charge. Armed with the chainsword/chainaxe combo, a 10 man squad are basically getting 92 attacks on the charge (+1 for the Charge, +1 Hateful Assault, +1 with the Chainsword and then another round of attacks minus Butchers Nails due to Blood for the Blood God). This many attacks at strength 5/6 no less will make even Ork and Blood angels players think twice when getting into melee.
**Hateful Assault now makes overkill even more of a problem. The issue being these guys are too damn good at killing! Simple remedy is to up your squad size and attempt to multi charge units, ideally from transports; when your pumping out 80 + or more S6 AP-1 attacks you need to make sure each one of those causes damage and doesn't simply get wasted. This also allows you to tie up enemies that are posted to shoot after falling back or something later on. Further, larger units can withstand more casualties, and you know these guys will receive A LOT of return fire.
**Consider an underground party bus against gunlines like guard and tau. A termite assault drill can carry 12 models, 2 units of 5 berzerkers with icon each, a chaos lord and an exalted champion. each unit of can potentially charge a unit at their edge and so trap a neighbouring unit in combat. With the immense number of attacks being put out by the berzerkers you can potentially neuter a big chunk of enemy shootyness. Plus a big melta drill on tracks now close to enemy lines will force enemy to reassess their battle plan. Pricey but not as much of a gamble with 4 charge rolls, 2 of which get rerolls from icon of wrath. 
**Modeler's note: Don't use the old ugly (and now approaching dwarf-level short) Khorne Berzerker models. The new kit for Chaos Marines is glorious, all you need to really make them work as Berzerkers is get a hold of some Chainaxes and Khornate heads. Age of Sigmar Wrathmongers, Skullcrushers, or Blood Warriors are all excellent sources for the latter.

*'''Mutilators''': Outperformed offensively by Terminators and slow as fuck, Mutilators do have two advantages: The first is that like the Possessed they're Daemons, and so benefit from Daemonic units like Greater Daemons/Heralds as well as their Psychic Powers (you could also further buff them with Fabius Bile). The second is that they give a shitload of wounds, decent attacks, AP and Damage for their points value, especially considering they clock in at just over 100pts (Again Hateful Assault and Word Eaters helps here). They're not going to hit as <consistently> hard as a kitted out unit of termies but they also won't cost anywhere close to as much, and point-for-point they do very well for what they cost, just Deep-Strike them and treat them as backup for your main force or as a body guard for an expendable Choppy Lord. Use Veterans of the Long War to help them fuck up everything they bump into. Certain Legion Traits like Emperor's Children or Renegades to help their terrible mobility also do well in helping them get where they need to be and hit before the enemy, otherwise if you roll well on their S/AP/D you'll want to use the fight again stratagem through Mark of Khorne.
** Stick them in a Land Raider with a Master of Possessions, Greater Possessed and Chaos Sorcerer in Termie Armor. Sure, it'll be a little expensive, but we're squeezing blood from a stone here.
** After Gaining Hateful Assault and using Red Corsairs Renegade Trait this solves some of there mobility issues, these are cheap disposable deep striking distraction carnifex's 

*'''Noise Marines''': These guys are so good, being one of the best ranged units you have with great mobility (as they can advance and still shoot) and good weapons; that might as well have AP-1 so long as you're shooting at anyone in cover.  Even them dying isn't that much of a worry since they can shoot after they take a wound but before you remove them (even if they're killed in melee). On their own they're a strong reason for playing Emperor's Children, though despite their attacks, option for a Doom Siren, Stratagem, Icon of Excess and Legion Trait they're not going to be as good at close combat as Berzerkers, or other units like Chosen, not to mention choosing to enter combat like that means you lose you sonic blaster and racks the points you need to make back up significantly. You can also buff them with Psychic Powers, but that's just more points used on them instead of a squad of Berzerkers. They're not bad for the role, you're just not going to get nearly as much bang for your buck compared to just sticking with ranged builds for them and leaving the combat duty to units like Chosen/Terminators, especially since they're as likely as Berzerkers to get shot off the table or counter-charged, in which case their Legion Trait won't do shit.
**Got a points drop in CA 2019. A squad of 10 with 2 Blastmasters will cost you 36 points less thanks to the cheaper bodies and Blastmasters.
**Note: The rule that protects characters from being directly targeted specifically states it only applies to the shooting phase, so if you have Noise Marines die in the psychic or fight phases, Music of the Apocalypse will let you target characters regardless of nearby units! Also if you choose to take plasma on the Champion, then you can also supercharge it when he dies at no risk to himself.

*'''Plague Marines''': One of the more expensive options, the Plague Marines are tough as shit, but in a different way to the Rubric Marines. Rubrics hold up better against mass low Damage (which typically means low Strength) weapons, while the Plague Marines are better against high Strength, unless they also come with high AP and high damage like Overcharged plasma guns (and they're very marginally worse against non-charged plasma guns). They can also be built for melee, with good options that can have decent Damage and that boost your Strength (while allowing various re-rolls), and as such they're a good option if you want slightly weaker Berzerkers who aren't in danger of getting their shit kicked in if they are charged or shot.
**The champ as well as two other dudes in a five man unit can take a plasma gun, and with Disgustingly Resilient, they can shrug off quite a bit of damage. You still need a Lord or equivalent for rerolls, as an overheat just auto removes the model from play, rather than dishing out a wound.

*'''Possessed''': If you're getting these guys then remember a few things: they need a Master of Possession and a Greater Possessed to babysit them in order to bring out their full potential, and they can benefit from both the Malefic powers and any auras from Chaos Daemon characters. Thanks to their two wounds and Daemon save, they are actually about as tough as normal Plague Marines, even though they lack the Disgustingly Resilient rule. D3 attacks with what amounts to Power Axes is only slightly inferior (6/7) to a Plague Marine with a Bubotic Axe. In this comparison, the Possessed are cheaper and faster, deal almost as much damage, and can be affected by a Herald of Nurgle if you're willing to include one while lacking the ranged damage that plague marines can do. Small units of them are both cheap and effective, both as melee units and as distractions, and every round they take is not directed at your special weapons. If you're interested in mob killers though, then you're better off with Khorne Berzerkers and if you want just resilient ranged units, stick with the aforementioned Plague Marines. Possessed make an okay middle ground between the two if you want decent melee units that know how to take a punch. You can also give them the Mark of Slaanesh for Delightful Agonies if you want them to be even tougher (and then further benefit from something like Hysterical Frenzy).

*'''Rubric Marines''': An interesting choice and now cheaper making their inferno bolters free. They can cover numerous bases and so long as you keep them out of close combat; because your force weapons aren't likely to win the fight for you. Working best as objective campers by being difficult as shit to remove (for everything besides plasma/heavy weapons) - while being able to fire off armour-melting shots and maybe a mortal wound now and again. If you want to boost them, swap out the Sorceror's smite using the Chaos Familiar stratagem for something else. Warptime takes away their biggest downside and turns them into a threat the opponent can't ignore or avoid. Do note that if you do want just pure shooting and aren't worried about them sticking around, then you're better off with Noise Marines instead, and be careful with your Sorcerer casts. If he kills himself via perils he can take a couple of Rubrics with him.
**With the updated bolter rules these guys can do some serious anti-infantry work at a decent range. Pop them on an object/cover in your deployment zone and give them a soulreaper and watch them mulch your enemy's troops.
**Warpflamers got a 2pt reduction in CA2019.


'''Forge World Elites'''

These units can be found in Imperial Armour and Imperial Armour Index: Chaos.

*'''Chaos Decimator <sup>[Forge World]</sup>''': The Decimator has essentially become an oddball Helbrute, It's weaker in melee against everything T5 and above (despite the extra attack) while better against everything T4 and lower, it's sort of better at range in that it has fantastic options, Butcher Cannons being a very notable one and has a fantastic debuff, although the Helbrute with Blastmasters has much better AP and being able to use Fire Frenzy, which the Decimator has no access to. It still has uses compared to the Helbrute though. As a Daemon Engine it can, for 2CP, ignore movement penalties to its heavy weapons and re-roll its to hits and wounds. Meanwhile the Soulburner petard is a downright fantastic anti-everything weapon and even the Mortal Wounds it causes to the Decimator aren't a concern since it can just naturally heal those off. You can even take two since you can only hurt yourself once per gun. The Butcher Cannons meant more for offensive lists as debuffing an enemy unit before engaging in them Melee can be much more valuable than just shooting them again. With a 5++ it should live long enough to affect the later turns of a game. Recommended that you skip the C-beam cannon though as the arm slot is better spent on another weapon. In short, take Decimators if you need Mortal Wounds, Leadership debuffs and durability without Warpsmiths/Hellwrights following them around, get Helbrutes for everything else. Can also theoretically benefit from the 2 Melee Weapons equipped ruling as per the 'Everyone has a Close Combat Weapon' if you decide to go Siege-Claw/Gun mode.
**''A general note on all non-superheavy Daemon Engines'': While robust and toting huge guns, their dreadful WS and BS effectively makes them CP sinks, so if you expect ANY meaningful damage from the things, prepare to spam Daemonforge and Blasphemous Machines. Bring a second Battalion or prepare for disappointment.

*'''Hellforged Contemptor Dreadnought <sup>[Forge World]</sup>''': The Contemptor remains as good as it ever was. It has a huge amount of options and can be kitted out to whatever role you want without much issue (especially since the FAQ lets it swap both fists for ranged weapons), even its degrading stats aren't a problem since it only gets a 4+ at absolute worst and you have many ways of buffing your army. Like the Decimator it can get a '''Butcher Cannon''' for a solid strength long range weapon and debuff, though its '''Soulburner''' isn't nearly as good. Use a Decimator if you want to spew out the Mortal Wounds, as there are other things the Contemptor can do better. The '''Twin Heavy Bolter''' remains cost effective, however the '''Kheres Assault Cannons''' may be a better choice overall when facing tougher elite infantry such as [[Adeptus Custodes|Custodes]]. Like the Decimator, give the finger to the '''C-beam Cannon''' as with the butcher cannon cost reduction in CA18, double butcher cannons are a very efficient loadout that can threaten most targets. Melee wise take the ChainClaw over the DeathClaw and a Shooting weapon. Similar to a Helbrute and the poorly worded FAQ you can still benefit from Dark Fury which requires 2 melee weapons to be equipped to gain the bonus).

*'''Hellforged Predator <sup>[Forge World]</sup>''': Confused to see this in the elites slot? So is everyone else! Anyway, it's a Predator that's an elite with some extra rules and guns. Standard Pred weapons with the ability to choose Flamestorm Cannon to fuck up those pesky Primaris Marines, Magna-melta Cannon, a super multi-melta and bad idea that won't make its points back, and C-beam cannon that should be skipped as it's not as good as a Lascannon no matter how FW try to sell it to you. Surprisingly this is one of the few models that have characteristics that improve as it takes damage, and as such you'd do well to choose something that allows it to close in while ignoring the modifiers to its BS, making the flamers shoe-ins for the role. The plasma destroyer can also work well for softening up a unit so that the Predator can finish them off itself, in turn allowing it to heal thanks to Machina Malifica.
**Per the FAQ, you can't use the Kill Shot Stratagem with Hellforged Predators.
**A rather terrifying way to use this thing is with the Flamestorm Cannon, Two Heavy Flamers, and a Combi-flamer. T1, advance and pop smoke, warptime if you need to. T2, blaze away with your autohitting flame weapons, which don't give a damn about degrading accuracy, and charge for 5+D3 attacks as S6 AP-3, (with Hateful Assault and Rage-fueled Rampage). The more damage it takes, the more killy it is in melee, and since Hellforged models don't give a damn about spam like Relics do, spam two to three of these things (and become That Guy).

*'''Hellforged Sicaran <sup>[Forge World]</sup>''': An even bigger vehicle in the elites slot? No it's not the Slaanesh dust kicking in, this is real life. The Sicaran is still a beast at T7 W14 3+, but as always we take it for its main weapon, and its huge mobility lets it track down those flyers it was meant to shoot down (as well as get into combat so that it can eat people to heal). The Sicaran is one of those models that can actually do dual roles quite well since its boosted autocannons can cause damage to everything, and the choice of heavy bolters/lascannons allows you to fill in whichever other hole you're lacking, more anti-infantry for the former, more anti-armour for the latter.