Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Chaos Space Marines (section)

===Elites===

Cult Marines are now elites! If you want them as troops, you need a Lord with an appropriate mark (Sorceror for Thousand Sons).

*'''Chosen''' - Be very, ''very'' careful with fielding chosen now as they will get very '''VERY''' expensive. That said, Chosen got one weird ass buff in the new Codex; no longer can they infiltrate, but they get 2 attacks base(3 EACH total, 2 base, 1 for CC weapon/pistol) and get access to a metric fuck ton of war gear. Like I said, be very careful as you will spend a small fortune on the FOC slot here. If you're not running Plague Marines, Chosen are handy as a special weapon squad, with their ability to tote around a whole pile of special weapons regardless of squad size. Don't equip them all with power weapons and claws like the Dark Vengeance kit suggests, unless you have some bizarre attraction to paying Terminator prices for non-Terminator models. Give them four to five Plasma Guns, ruining Terminator armies as they try to dislodge your heavy weapons, you can do this with Havocs but then you lose a precious heavy support choice. Give them five Melta Guns, hide in dense terrain and ruin a mech players day.  Also fun with five flamers and Huron giving them Infiltrate. They are good when you need a squad with a specialised role. Flamers could be good charge deterrents and Meltas are just mean combined with a KHARIBDYSS! On the other hand, in small games, especially if using the black legion supplement, where their extra attack and leadership can prove invaluable. These guys *hate* Space Marines, and with MoS and Claws or MoK and Axes WILL fuck their day up hard if they can into close combat. That's probably why VotLW is slightly pricey for em. Hail the gods: If playing Alpha legion JUST TAKE THEM. Infiltrating, free VOTLW plasma chosen are just as stupid as infiltrating Tactical Support Squad from the heresy, have better combat power after firing to, and can be taken as a small outflanking suicide unit or a larger plasma distraction unit. AL also make them far more useful as the shock-assault troops they always wanted to be, where you can mix and match meltas flamers and a power weapon or two, depending on what you expect to face. Even better if you take a few squads. One idea is to Infiltrate larger squads with meltas and maybe a power fist, then outflank smaller special weapon suicide strike squads. They become a very aggressive dangerous Troop choice, so pair them with similarly aggressive support units like Havocs, Heldrakes, Maulerfiends, Bikers (with Bike Lord) and such. Hit them hard and make them suffer. FOR CHAOS!
**'''Mark of Khorne:''' They can be very useful only costing 1 more point than Berzerkers but they have an additional attack -1 WS, lack of fearless, and can gain furious charge from the icon. Giving them a variety of power weapons - read:lightning claws and fists - will enable them to take on just about anything short of terminators, monstrous creatures and super-mechs like Knight Titans. A squad like this can rip through an Imperial Guard army if you deploy right and keep hugging assault. 
**'''Mark of Nurgle:''' While expensive, this means your Chosen squad will not get bogged down in combat when in combat with Assault Marines or deep striking assault units. This also allows you to survive heavier amounts of fire power piled onto your squad in the shooting phase, otherwise fear is pointless. 
**'''Mark of Slaanesh:''' Allows you to take the Icon of Excess, but that's 35 points more(A steal if you have 10+ models in the squad, Lord and other ICs included). Give these guys MoS and an IoE and plasma guns for FnP, AP2 and I5 goodness. 10 of these guys and a rhino is cheaper than 10 Plague Marines with a rhino. You trade T5, I3 and Plague Knives for 3 attacks(base 2 and they have pistols/ccw) at I5 with access to more special weapons. Once you throw in plasma guns they will be more expensive, but hey, you have more plasma guns. Maybe give one or two a meltagun just in case. They will be hitting first a lot in CC and gunning down anything short of a land raider with ease. Such sweet cacophony. 
*** '''Side-note:''' Re-gear five of them plus the champion for CC with power weapons, being I5 with FnP and stick them in a Land Raider and watch them outshine Terminators. Oh hey you can also stick 4 more with 4 attacks(per  model) on the charge in for added killing power. So. Many. Attacks. Pre-Power Weapons, but still having the IoE, they are the same points cost as 10 'Zerkers with an Icon of Wrath, while having more standard attacks, the same number on the charge, higher initiative(but one less WS, but at this point who cares) AND FnP. Devastating when used properly. Throw in a Dark Apostle and/or Slaanesh Lord and dare anything in the history of ever that isn't Deathwing Knights to fight these in CC without thinking twice.
**'''Mark of Tzeentch:''' 6+ Invulnerable and access to Soul Blaze, but that's for Havoc Heavy Bolter squads, and the 6+ is shitty. Skip. WAIT DON'T SKIP, instead chuck a sorcerer with crimson slaughter supplement with the balestar (ML3 of course) manage to give them a 4++ then a 3++ due to THIS! Also if you get preferred enemy EVERYTHING! Re roll those gets hots and pretty much auto melt terminators with pretty much negating cover saves....  Keep these not so gentlemen around a forgefiend for lulz. 
*** ''Um, actually'': Re-rolls are nice and all, but the off chance of rolling forewarning isn't worth the risk of paying for a 6++ the majority of the time. The other marks can get the same re-rolls while benefiting from their mark all the time. You'd be better off with a landing pad and even then you pay for close combat attacks you're not using. Even TSons can only expect a 5++. So yea, do skip.
*'''Possessed Marines''' - Ah, the Possessed. The ever so random knife you can bring to the gunfight that is 7e. While it is true that they got a much-needed upgrade and significantly more options, they still leave a lot to be desired. Last edition, they were 26 points apiece and had to roll their daemonkin power off a D6 once after deployment, and whatever you rolled they were stuck with for the rest of the game. But now they're back, wearing a nice suit and trying to make up for their past negligence. Fleet used to be one of the aforementioned D6 options, but now it's part of their profile by default. Also, as officially part of the daemon club, they get a 5++, also by default, and also with no point increase. Their possible power-rolls each turn (now made on a D3) give them either ''+1 attack'' and ''+1 initiative'', ''power weapon attacks'' at AP3, or the ability to ''re-roll all failed to-wound rolls''. Still, their most critical flaw is not even the fact that they're a horrible point sink, or that they're fragile as fuck for their cost. No, it's the lack of a proper delivery system that hurts them the most. As it is, they just get shredded before they can even make it into CC. If they do manage to charge while there's some of them around, a ten man squad with a Mark of Slaanesh and an Icon of Excess, which is worth about 325, nets you 30 attacks at S5, I5, with a defense of 3+, 5++ and FNP, which should mop up any MEQ and GEW opposition in no time. Khorne-marked possessed get even more ridiculous, being able to overwhelm even terminator squads through sheer number of incoming S5 attacks... If they manage to make it into close combat.
**Traitor's Hate Note: There is now a formation that includes a daemon prince and 3 units of possessed, and get this - as long as the prince is alive and nearby, the possessed get all three buffs. That's ridiculously powerful if you can pull it off. Not exactly compettitive material here, but not horrible either. 
**Here are some examples for a 10-model squad (that you want charging from that Land Raider):
***'''With a Mark:''' 
****Khorne (290p): They get 4 attacks each on the charge, 3 if they get charged. Can grind most things to a pulp on volume of high power hits alone.
****Slaanesh (290p): They are now at I5, which is good against MEQ's - adds survivability.
****Nurgle (300p): They have now T5, which is always nice, but if you think about it, you want your Possessed to butcher everything on the charge or better yet - in your opponent's next assault phase (so that they can't be shot at during that turn), not to tarpit. The resistance to small arms fire T5 affords is nice, but it won't help against most guns that ignore the possessed's 3+ - ant that's probably what these guys will start eating as soon as they are in line of sight. 
****Tzeentch (310p): 4++ save is great, but compared to other marks, this option lacks the killy-power they should be used for. Then again, if you're getting shot by things that ignore your 3+ armour and flatten you otright, such as battlecannons, it could be good. Only problem is, it is horrendously expensive, so you should think very carefyully about whether you want to mark your guys or just add more bodies..
***'''With a corresponding Icon:'''
****Khorne (15p): Strength 6 on the charge (Furious Charge doesn't work when you get charged), but they re-roll charge distance already because of Fleet.
****Slaanesh (35p): Feel no Pain 5+ is sweet as hell, if you plan on getting shot at and surviving for another charge.
****The other two icons are completely useless, because Possessed already have Fear and have no bolt weapons to receive Soul Blaze. They do still grant +1 to combat resolution, which helps any build of Possessed do their job better.
***Expensive? Yes, as always. But every one of their daemonkin rolls is ''good''. Treat them as you would a squad of Berserkers: load ten of them into a Land Raider, and then ram them into whatever enemy squad you want dead. 
** Note: IF using the Crimson Slaughter Supplement, they gain a completely different table of results that are, for the most part, better, as well as becoming troops.  The results turn to either Shrouded (for both them and their transport), Beasts, or a 3++ with Rending.
**Note: If you don't buy the comparison to Terminators, ask yourself what'll happen to 10 Terminators if they get hit by a Demolisher cannon, or a Tau Ion Riptide, or an Imperial Knight's Melta Cannon. Just as dead as the Possessed you say? No shit. There is a hard counter to nearly every unit in this game. 
**FYI, if you want to run Khorne possessed, take Daemonkin Allies. They are better (By having the Icon of wrath built in by default as Daemons of Khorne), can be affected by allied Khorne Daemon Loci, and have the same killing power as before.
**Remember this guys have  no grenades, so IC is badly needed if you don't want your super-expensive squad torn to pieces after charging Guardsmen behind the Aegis without even a chance to lift a claw.

*'''Noise Marines''' - These guys are 17 pts. and ideally taken as squads of 8-12. Take some fucking sonic blasters - they're 2/3 salvo bolters that '''ignore cover''', and they're only 3 pts.! Throw in some Blastmasters, which still fire at either S5 AP4 Assault 2/Pinning or S8 AP3 Heavy 1/Blast/Pinning... but now ignore cover, too! Besides gun choices, they also have I5 to a regular Marine's I4. Their higher Initiative means they can be used for assault quite well, but blasters are now salvo, so you ''cannot charge'' after volley of sonic death, and you're taking these guys to chase camping units out of cover. Still their CCW costs only 1 pt per model. The champ has access to Slaaneshi goodies in the armoury, too! Go the extra mile, spend 30 points and give these guys Feel No Pain, [[Meme|because drugs]]. With the new FAQ, you can take a Blastmaster at under 10 men and a second AT 10 men, making them even more awesome! The Noise Champ even gets a CCW for free!
**For a fun time, join a Sorcerer to a group of Noise Marines and have him roll on the Biomancy table. If you luck out and roll a 5, you can give the squad FnP, Eternal Warrior and, most importantly, Relentless! What's that? Did someone say 24" Assault 3, Ignores Cover Dakkasplooge? Or give the sorcerer Slaanesh powers and go for Symphony of PAIN, a stack-able WS/BS debuff that increases the strength of Sonic weapons. If you can get multiple Sorcerers to roll this ability, you can annihilate anything through shear volleys of NOISE! Two casts on a unit of Plague Marines and Blastmasters instant kill them right through their [[FATAL|Feel No Pain]]! 
**Noise Marines can also be fun if you took Huron Blackheart and a Slaanesh Sorceror. Take a squad of 20, give them all Sonic blasters, AND WATCH WHILE THINGS GET LOUD!!! Use the Sorceror to make all of the Sonic weapons gain +1 strength, and have fun rolling 60 strength 5 ignores cover shots at the enemy with infiltrate from Huron. Extra cookie for you if they have to charge you afterwards. 
**'''Special Note:'''Noise Marine could now be the best MEQ in the game. For only <strike>one</strike> three points more than a standard tactical marine you get Fearless and I5 over ATSKNF and I4. The Blastmaster is downright dirty. FNP is a steal if you take 10+ in a single unit. Sonic weapons add dakka if you need it. For an extra point you an get an extra CCW for an additional attack, essentially making them better than a vanilla marine veteran for two less points. The Champion is great in challenges. '
**'''Mathhammer:''' Sonic Blasters are amazing. GEQ units almost always have cover, generally 4+ or 5+. Removing that AND their armor would be nice enough, but being salvo, stationary Noise Marines put out 3x the firepower of regular marines in the 12-24 inch range. 3x the shots, with +50% or +100% effectiveness (5+ or 4+ cover) against light infantry makes Guard, non-aspect Eldar, Dark Eldar, Nids, and of course Orks cry. Even against 4+, the increased volume of fire is immense. At less than 1.5x the cost of a marine, you get x1.5 to x3 (based on range) the volume of fire, Ignores Cover, and THEN you get higher initiative, easy access to FNP, and fearless, and THEN you get the insane Blast Master and Doom Siren.

*'''Khorne Berserkers''' - Despite coming with a shopping list of weapons and special rules that'd make most Loyalists weep with envy (Fearless, Furious Charge, Rage, Counter Attack, WS5 and two attacks with weapons) Berserkers have taken a bit of a hit compared to the 4th ed book. The extra attack from the Mark of Khorne has been lost, being replaced with Rage and Counter-Attack. This doesn't make an appreciable difference on the charge, as you'll still be getting off a whopping 4 attacks, but becomes more noticeable in protracted combats, as 2 attacks vs. the old book's 3 will make a big difference. And while Counter-Attack is suitably fluffy, any decent general will tell you if your Berserkers get charged, you've used them wrong. You can now takes Chainaxes, which grant AP4, making these guys the utter bane of any horde in the game, but this will push up the cost of an already highly expensive unit. Placement is key - on the charge they'll crush  hordes, overwhelm MEQs with sheer volume of attacks and wipe the floor with non-melee units. If they're not charging, they're just Marines with Counter-Attack. Use them wisely. 
**Honestly thought, these guys play second fiddle to regular chaos marines with the MoK, being a ton more expensive (6PPM!), and lacking the ability to take any special weapon out side the crappy plasma pistol. They also require a lord to make then troops.
**A word for the wise - a Land Raider actually makes a good transport for these guys. AV14 is a wonderful thing. Plunge it into the centre of a soft formation, unload Berserkers. Laugh maniacally. Add dirge casters for even more fun and games - or hell, have Kharn accompany them for giggles. If you've got a unit of Terminators who are Deep Striking, buy them the Land Raider and then stuff the Berserkers in there on turn 1. 
**Just because it keeps getting brought up, if you think Infiltrating these guys with Huron/Ahriman/a lucky roll on the Warlord Traits table is a good idea, remember that YOU CAN NOT ASSAULT THE TURN YOU INFILTRATE. 
***Alternate take: Wanna know what Infiltrate also lets you do? Outflank. Set those guys up for a side charge. Of course, you can't assault the turn you come on, but makes a fine threat that cannot be ignored.
***Alternate alternate take: Get these guys a dreadclaw. Bitches love dreadclaws.

*'''Plague Marines''' - These guys are the favourites of many a player, and it's not hard to see why. Got a price bump in the last codex to 24 points each - pricey, but they get: Feel No Pain, T5, frag, krak, AND defensive grenades - oh, and now they have poisoned close combat attacks! They are terrifyingly hard to kill without resorting to a vubdicator, or aggressive close-combat squads, thanks in part to the T5/FNP combo - only S10 (dreads, smashing monsters, demolishers) hits ignore ungodly 6-th edition T5-FNP(5+) of plags. In short: these guys can take huge abuse from just about anything, and will require very strong weapons or very specific units to remove. They double on offence, too - with no minimum unit size for weapons and the ability to take a transport, they can be thrown in a [[Firaeveus Carron|METAL BOX]] and hurled directly at enemy formations with twin meltaguns. Toughness 5 and the weakened Feel No Pain means you're going to get those off and possibly more whilst drawing lots of enemy fire away from other units. With the sheer volume of grenades they get, Plague Marines can counter several types of enemies, too. Beware the unit's low initiative count; most enemies ''will'' strike first, and a Power Weapon or two on a fast unit is one of the few things that can fuck up this unit's shit (though a bit less so, now). 
** Plague Marine squads, probably owing to their high base price, are the only cult marines to get their champion ''for free''(and still get the obligatory boost to Leadership and Attack). This combined with less of a limit on special weapons than other squads, means that small squads are much more cost-effective and deadlier than running larger squads. 
**'''Mathhammer:''' Vs small arms fire (str 4, BS 4), they are ungodly. 2/3 chance to hit, 1/3 chance to wound, 1/3 chance to get through armor, 2/3 chance to get through FNP. It takes 20 shots to kill ONE Plague Marine. Even if it's AP 3 (insanely lucky rending, Thousand Sons, Vengence Bolts), in light (5+) cover it's still 10 shots. In said cover they have a 55% chance to ignore Battle Cannons and Plasma, better than a Thousand Sons Marine.

*'''Thousand Sons:''' Oh boy, you've just stumbled one of the the most [[skub]] units in the entire game. So, you see, Thousand Sons are pretty cool; they were doing that whole Egyptian robot thing before the [[Necron]]s boarded the hype train ''and'' they have one of the best [[Horus Heresy]] stories ever (and two of the best Horus Heresy books, for that matter). And their rules look pretty cool too: AP3 bolters, 4++ invulnerable save standard, Fearless, a Mastery Level 1 Sorcerer (with force weapon!) as the Champion...and then the issues come up. They're Slow and Purposeful, meaning they cannot Overwatch, Run, or pursue fleeing opponents. It lets them assault enemies after rapid-firing their Bolters...but chances are that a good round of shooting will leave your opponent well out of assault range. The unit is also incredibly expensive at 23 points per model, and the mandatory aspiring Sorcerer is 35 points extra. The Sorcerer also comes with a Mark of Tzeentch, meaning he ''must'' generate his one and only power from the Discipline of Tzeentch. This means you either have a Doombolt vector, or the unit is serving as a Warp Charge battery. Those AP3 bolters, by the way? Yes, they're nice (especially if you catch some fellow Marines out in the open), but there's either so much cover out there, or armies can easily bring their own cover (or Jink, or use Invisibility, or whatever...) that it usually doesn't matter...at least until you start tossing out buffs or debuffs of your own; be it a Daemon Prince of Nurgle with Grotti the Nurgling, or casting Enfeeble, dropping an enemy unit from T4-T3 ups the kill factor of Thousand Sons versus Power Armor that they become akin to a small Krak Missile squad, Ghoststorm from Ectomancy lets them shunt into better firing positions to negate enemy cover, while Geomortis has one power to let them ignore cover and line of sight. Don't forget they go down just as easily as a normal Marine to light arms fire...easier in fact, because your enemy won't feel as bad firing a LOT of dakka at them. Also, if you wind up against a lightly armored enemy (Dark Eldar and Orks come to mind), you've wasted your AP3.
**They now have the ability for every guy to take warpflamers (normal flamers with -1 AP and Soul Blaze) and one in 10 guys can get a soulreaper cannon, 24" s5 ap3 heavy 4 Rending! Overall considered to be not worth it, but now the Tzeentch table got updated so the sorcerer isn't completely shit. And they now get +1 invuln in a Thousand Sons detachment if they get a blessing cast on them.
**Now have models :D
**'''Alternative Opinion:''' However, as usual, it's best not just to listen to Internet Advice. Many people do prefer to run them, just because, as mentioned above, they have ''really, really'' [[Awesome]] [[fluff]] (and they can do really well in friendly games). Still, it's best to avoid them in anything approaching a competitive environment. If you do decide to take them, it's best to take them in a Rhino, to provide them with some mobility to get around.
**'''Alternative Opinion:''' While it is true that a primarily Thousand Sons-based army is noncompetitive,this isn't because they are a bad unit, but because they fill a very specific niche of bringing enormous pain to MEQs, and they're somewhat overpriced even for that. Honestly, if you want to have a fluffy and semi-competitive army, the best strategy would probably be to lean heavily on Daemon allies and dedicated transports in order to support and mutually complement your Thousand Sons squads.To sum it up, Thousand Sons can kick all kinds of ass, you just need to really know how to use them, and who to use them with.
**Although seemingly a shooty unit, don't forget that Slow & Purposeful prevents them from overwatching. So if an enemy squad threatens to charge them, use slow and purposeful to rapid fire and charge instead, denying the charge bonuses from the enemy.
**'''Mathhammer:''' I do not want to fill this page with overly long proofs, so consider this: Plague Marines and Noise Marines (With banner) better resist small arms fire, and with 5+ cover, better resist ap3+ fire. While stationary, Noise Marines (with sonic guns) at 12-24 inches fire three times as many shots, tying them for marine destruction, and beating them vs light infantry. Their main advantage is when there is no cover (4++ doesn't care about, and their high AP benefits from enemies having no other save), so load a group in a rhino and plop them on an exposed objective. In the open they tank Plasma, Battle Cannons, and Krak missiles better than the other two, can shoot most infantry to death, and force bikes to jink or die. If only they were a point or two cheaper... Not Mentioned: Khorne marines, as they are melee and thus completely different.

*'''Chaos Terminators:''' The good part: they get crazy cheap Combi-Weapons which are purchasable for each guy in the squad, cost less than the Loyalist scum counterparts and get Combi-Bolters which are better than Storm bolters on the charge. The bad part: they lack the cool Loyalist special rule ATSKNF, they have worse starting gear (power weapons as opposed to power fists), are missing out on the long range dakka with Combi-Bolters, and have fewer wargear options than loyalists do (sorry no Assault Cannons, CMLs, Storm Shields, or Thunder Hammers). On the other hand, they ''do'' have access to Icons and Marks like most generic squads. These make Terminators pretty goddamn scary, but it costs quite a lot to load a squad up with them. You can also still take actual combi-weapons and a special melee weapon (thanks to the new FAQ). Especially at higher points levels, make sure to take a Land Raider as a dedicated transport to save a Heavy Support slot. Here are a few popular loadout ideas:
**'''Termicide:''' Give every single member of the squad a Combi-Weapon (usually Combi-Meltas, possibly a Combi-Flamer or two). This allows you to take small "suicide" squads of Termies that Deep Strike in, eat a tank or two with Combi-Meltas, then threaten a squad for Combi-Flamers and their power fists should they survive. This is only advised for higher points limits, as it can be quite expensive.
***A three man squad with just power weapons and Combi-Weapons will only cost 112pts. Take Power Mauls/Axes with Combi-Flamers and you got the Loyalist's equivilent to Drop Pod Assault Marines with Flamers, but a little more expensive and better.
**'''Close-Combat Anvil:''' Put 'em in a Land Raider (or Deep Strike them, or do a THIS IS SPARTAN ASSAULT TANK!) supported by a nasty Terminator Lord; Lightning Claws and Chainfists are, of course, advised for melee weapons. The Heavy Flamer is cheap and drops a nice S5 AP4 template. The Reaper Autocannon, while expensive, does offer accurate, long-range S7 AP4 fire support on the move, something that Havocs can't really do (unless you play Death Guard or give your DP the 35 pt. Fighter Aces upgrade). Forget Khorne (do you really need that extra bit of initial close-combat punch that only helps rout an enemy squad and leave you sitting ducks for the enemy to shoot at your terminators next turn?); take Nurgle in a small-arms heavy meta that focuses on dealing with terminators by forcing saves, or Tzeentch if you're in a plasma heavy meta, are probably the best Marks to give these guys (heavy guns don't give a damn about the difference between T4 and T5, and the Chainfists ignore I5 anyway). If cost is not a factor and you're willing to get the best of both worlds (offence and defence), give em the Mark of Slaanesh, take an Icon of Excess and equip them all with lightning claws and veterans of the long war to make Space Marines cry.

*'''Scarab Occult Terminators (Wrath of Magnus)''': Thousand Sons Chaos Terminators in blue Egyptian-themed Tartaros Terminator Armor(similarly priced to standard Terminators but with a pricier yet more powerful squad leader). They are Fearless and come with the standard Tzeentch Terminator 2+/4++, khopeshes(power swords) and AP3 combi-bolters. Their sergeant is a Mastery Level 2 psyker with a Force Staff who can roll his second power from any discipline, and has [[Awesome|TWO WOUNDS]]. The squad can take two heavy weapons per five, both a Hellfyre Missile Launcher(a Cyclone that has half the range and only fires kraks despite costing the same) and either an AP3 Heavy Flamer(if somehow you are still having doubts about being able to beat 3+ power armor) or a Soulreaper Cannon. These guys are NOT Slow and Purposeful, rather following standard Terminator Armor rules, presumably because their rubric nature and their agile Tartaros armor cancel each other out. Note that unlike regular Terminators, these guys can't take any combi-weapons or AP2 melee weapons, and have minimum squad size five, so be warned: you can't do a cheap termicide with these guys, despite their other strengths. This overspecialization also means they will have serious trouble dealing with other TEQ and with walkers, so don't rely on them as the only unit in your list.
** note: They are expensive, but their seargent is a FUCKING SORCERER that not only is in termie armor, but has the same stats as a FUCKING Sorcerer, like WS5, and two wounds, seriously these guys are a steal, but don't put them up against powerfists or Ap1/2 or they will be [[Anal_Circumference|very unhappy]].
** note: Chaos Lords of the thousand sons get one of the most brutal melee weapons in the game in the form of Seers Bane. Take a Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour, have the sorcerer cast force, and watch as he eats TEQ units solo

*'''Mutilators''': Unlike most other units, Mutilators are taken in squads of 1 to 3 models, meaning you can run them "solo" should you wish. Effectively two-wound "melee" Terminators, with the Slow and Purposeful and Daemon rules, Mutilators are figuratively (if not literally) Swiss-Army Sword. Whenever they're in close combat, in every fight sub-phase they choose a pair of weapons to use for that fight subphase, with the restriction they cannot use the same weapon in two consecutive Player Turns: Chainfists, Lightning claws, Power Swords, Power Axes, Axes or Power Mauls. While relatively cheap for a two-wound Terminator, they have their problems: They're "Slow And Purposeful" meaning you have to go out of their way to use them aggressively, they have no ranged options whatsoever, and bad scatters can easily ruin your plans. They have a very low number of attacks meaning they're not actually that good at carving through large units, though they can "solo" vehicles or small squads of Bikers...assuming they're not shot, and the opponent doesn't just Turbo away. Rather, think of solo Mutilators as a [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|distraction]] in conjunction with an army built around them, or use them to "spread a net" and lock down your opponent's movement options. Worst comes to worst, a single Mutilator with the Mark of Nurgle can be a cheapish Objective Holder that isn't worth shooting at. Their slowness means you need to plan accordingly. If you're running Daemon allies or don't mind burning wounds off your Sorcerer from the getgo, Cursed Earth helps Mutilators by providing a "no-Scatter" Deep Strike zone, as well as improving their Invulnerable for the time being. Ectomancy lets you Soulswitch with them and improve their threat range, while Geomortis can give them terrain to surf on. 
**''Marks:'' For most builds, you want the Mark of Nurgle. Toughness 5 saves you from being doubled-down by Strength 8 weapons, and makes you slightly more resilient to small arms fire. You "can" run them with Tzeentch if you're running Daemonology, since it would give them a 3++, but this isn't an efficient deathstar compared to other options. Khorne "does" give you an extra attack on the first round of close combat, but doesn't help you survive to get there. Slaanesh is arguably the worst because two of your three main weapons are Unwieldy, thus making the Initiative bonus pointless, plus you cannot pursue enemies due to Slow and Purposeful. Overall, they are not great - unless you count the Cult of Destruction. Go read on it in its own section - it's hilarious.

*'''Helbrute''' - The Chaos Dreadnought, the Helbrute's claim to fame (or infamy) is the "Crazed" rule: Whenever the Helbrute takes a glancing or penetrating hit, then you roll a D3 on the following turn to see what happens: 1 forces him to "Fire Frenzy" (he counts as Immobilized for the turn, and fires twice, preferably targeting an enemy that took a Hull Point from him), 2 makes him ignore shaken/stunned results and give him rage, and a roll of 3 is the same as a roll of 2 but the Helbrute also gets fleet but must run if not within 12" of an enemy unit.
**Compared to Loyalist Dreadnoughts, you don't get a "free" Storm Bolter, nor do you get Assault Cannons, the ability to double-up on twin-linked Autocannons (you make do with a single piddly Reaper Autocannon), or to be run in a squadron (eh). You do get the option for a Thunder Hammer or Power Scourge, as well as the option to double-down on fists (though you will want a gun, since every bit helps). The Helbrute is the only unit besides the Obliterator with access to Multimeltas or Plasma Cannons; the Multimelta can find use in the Mayhem Pack formation, but otherwise its range leaves something to be desired. This anon personally prefers Plasma, simply because it only takes one well-placed blast to blast a hole in a unit of bikes, and that's enough to threaten your opponent to Jink. 
**'''Working around Crazed:''' If you take a Sorcerer with Ectomancy or Geomortis, you have powers which allow the Helbrute to move despite being immobilized, so Fire Frenzy does not become as much of a hassle. Though it will probably be FAQ'd otherwise, Power Of the Machine Spirit does not have any restrictions against being used when a model runs, so you could use it to keep your Helbrute firing whenever it gets Blood Rage. Alternately, take clear note of the fact that the Helbrute must run only if there is no enemy within 12" of him, and consider that Allies of Convenience are considered enemies. That Ork Big Mek providing a Kustom Forcefield save to your Helbrute would also prevent him from being forced to run off and jeopardize your battle plans.
**'''Knight Hunting''' - Thanks to the GW Errata giving them 4 attacks base combined with the option for free Hatred(Imperials) from Black Crusade, a Helbrute has the attacks/means to seriously damage if not destroy a Knight for a fraction of the cost...provided it can survive to get close. Terrain remains your friend of course. The problem is they both have the same Initiative, so by default you're engaging in piece-trading, the idea being losing a Helbrute is worth finishing off a Knight. That said, it doesn't have to remain a MAD scenario, especially if you have Summoning/Incursion. Fiends of Slaanesh are a notable unit worth summoning, because when they charge, any enemy unit engaged with them suffers a -5 Initiative Penalty. This would notably let your Dreads get the drop on most anything in the game (except the odd Bloodthirster or Solitaire, but those are extreme edgecases), as you'd even be able to get to swing first versus Wraithknights and stuff; while this won't matter as much against the Wraithcannon/Suncannon variants that like to "hang back" and bombard you, the Skatach remains the most popular variant nowadays and it's a notoriously short-ranged combatant. 
*'''Chaos Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought (Forge World):''' Similar to the loyalist version, in that it has a WS5, S7, FA13 and Fleet all in one death-slinging package. Compared to a loyalist Contemptor, they replace Atomantic Shielding with a Hellfire Reactor, which bestows a 4+ save against glancing hits and a 6+ save against pens. Oh, and he deals a S2 AP2 I10 automatic hit to any enemy psyker in base contact, in case you face Grey Knights. The Contemptor gets access to ranged weapons like Heavy Conversion Beamers and Butcher Cannons along with the standard dreadnought weapons, but you really shouldn't; these guys need to be in close combat. Chainfists and power fists are the go-to here; there may be an exception for the Havoc Launcher as it's cheap and doesn't take out a close-combat arm not to mention the in-built heavy flamer and twin-linked bolter. Plasma Blasters (an assault 2, 18" [[Plasma Gun]]) and Soul Burners (changed: S and AP 4 rending blast at 24") can however push it over the threshold of pricey. Regardless, remember when Grey Knights do their 'Psyfleman Dreadnought' thing? You now have an even better, choppier version albeit much more costly. Get your cup out to collect your opponents tears as you ruthlessly obliterate his Devilfishes with Pulse Carbine bearing Fire Warriors inside. BA rhino with Sternguard Combi-Melta spam? No problem, (swiftly followed by a very ironic) KA-BOOM! Speaking of things going boom, keep in mind that it also has the Loyalist version's larger explosion range if it gets a Vehicle Explodes result on the vehicle damage roll and that the ensuing explosion will possess the Soulblaze rule as well. On top of that, they can be dedicated to the Gods as follows:
**'''Khorne:''' Your Contemptor gets Rage and Rampage. This is arguably the best one because of its price plus extra armour running you 225 points. 7 attacks on the charge that needs to be destroyed or immobilised to stop it reaching CC - eep!
**'''Tzeentch:''' Your Contemptor gets to re-roll 1s on Invulnerable saves, and all its Heavy Flamers get Soul Blaze. It's... underwhelming. The price paid is a bit much for the re-rolls and Soul Blaze just sucks.
**'''Nurgle:''' Your Contemptor gets It Will Not Die. Pricey, but it can help your survival; won't do much if you're immobilised or lose an arm, though. If you want a thing that just won't die and keeps regenerating itself, consider the Decimator instead.
**'''Slaanesh:''' No, you don't get your [[Sonic Weaponry|sonic weapons]] back, but you do assault and defensive grenades. Do note that nothing says you cannot throw these grenades despite them being "count as", so enjoy an additional blast or blinding attack. Still, not super great considering...

*'''Slaaneshi Sonic Dreadnought (Forge World):''' '''Guess who's back Bitches!''' The Sonic Dreadnought is back in IA:13 is a really awesome addition. It starts naked with a TL Sonic Blaster, Doom-Siren and [[Rape|CHAINFIST]] [[What|w/ Storm bolter]] ''(no mistake... even references it later)'' as well as the WS/BS5 statline of a venerable. It also counts as having grenades. It doesn't have the same upgrade options, so there is no Scourge or Thunder Hammer, whilst the Sonic Blasters may be upgraded to the usual guns or second arm [[Derp|with TL bolter... not Storm Bolter]]. But you'll replace it with a Blastmaster because all of the other rules on the Dreadnought benefit your sonic weapons greatly. First you may '''choose''' to overcharge your sonic weapons and give them ''Rending / Gets-Hot''.(It should be noted for 20 points more you can always having Rending without Gets Hot, but you'll also have to spend 5 points on a TL-Heavy Bolter or TL-Autocannon, neither of which ignores cover) Also if you remain still in the movement phase you may double your rate of fire for the turn with all your sonic weapons. Meaning twice the pain. There's no reason to NOT get this dreadnought over a Helbrute unless you are trying to save points or are adamantly adhering to a mono-god list.
** The Sonic Dreadnought fulfills chaos's need for a rifleman, while maintaining its ability to kick ass in close combat. They work very well alongside static emplacements like artillery pieces and tanks where they can baby sit the heavy support and still make themselves useful with a blastmaster. Even Knight Titans will think twice before assaulting anything near this stunted box, or else risk getting chain fisted in the next assault phase.

*'''Ferrus Infernum Dreadnought (Forgeworld):''' The other replacement to your Helbrute, more generic and customisable than the Sonic Dread, but no less potent. Starts off with the WS/BS 5 combo making it better and all of the standard weapon options. After that, you may dedicate it to your chosen God for either Rage/Rampage (Khorne), IWND (Nurgle), Assault/Defensive Grenades (Slaanesh) or 6+ Invulnerable Save and Soul Blaze flamers (Tzeentch). Finally, you may further customise it by adding ONE extra special rule.
**'''Veteran of the Long War''' - if it ever EXPLODES! you roll on a table that can either turn the model into a [[Chaos Spawn|gibbering flesh monster]] which at least mitigates some of your loss / re-rolls the explodes result so you might get something else / [[Daemon Prince|Dark Apotheosis]] either way this upgrade depends on you exploding... not simply being wrecked. It can also issue Challenges, as if it were a Character.
**'''Host of the Daemonic Icon''' - for starters he ignores Shaken/Stunned on 2+, next anyone who hurts him in the Fight Sub-phase immediately takes a S4 AP3 hit per hull point lost. Therefore charge this guy directly into MEQ and your enemy will hate you. Good for Dreads with blast weapons where either of these results on the damage table would usually mean you can't fire at all.
**'''Destroyer of Cities''' - you turn your dreadnought into the loyalist siege dreadnought and must replace your arms with the Assault Drill w/ heavy flamer and get a Flamestorm Cannon. You also increase front AV by +1 and get move-through-cover like an Ironclad Dreadnought. Not a bad choice for both vehicle hunting and close range infantry purging. In the event you're playing Cities of Death, it also gets a free Wrecker stratagem.

*'''Decimator Daemon Engine (Forge World):''' It's the Chaos Contemptor's retarded brother piled into Imperial Armour 13. They're pricey at 205 pts., its armor is now better than a Contemptor's (by one ''freaking'' point on the rear), and not as fighty (WS/BS/I 3) at first, although it does have more attacks and a higher strength. But after reading its rules, you'll notice that it can bounce shaken/stunned results on a 2+ because of Daemonic Resilience, gets a 5+ invulnerable save for being a daemon and can deepstrike. The big deal with this guy is the "[[Awesome|Unholy Vigour]]" rule: it can regrow destroyed weapons and un-immobilise on 5+ AND can revive itself from a Wrecked result on a 6+ ON ANY TURN, regaining D3 HP in the process! The only downside is that rolling a 1 once it's wrecked means it stays dead for good, but why look a gift horse in the mouth? The Decimator can give up one or both of its claws to mount the following weapons:
**Decimator Siege Claws: your Decimator comes stock with two of these, providing a total of 4 S8 '''AP 2''' Lightning Claw attacks plus built in heavy flamers. They also confer smash with some extra fun: a smash attack against a building or transport that successfully penetrates will do an additional D6 heavy flamer attacks against the occupants per heavy flamer, meaning two siege claws and a charge gives you a potential 6D6 heavy flamer hits against anyone inside - Falcon PUNCH! This is the seven billionth thing Forge World has given us with the word "siege" in it. 
**Butcher Cannon: Not much of point taking these anymore, seeing how a Forgefiend already has two guns with an identical profile plus pinning. For added redundancy, there's now heavy weapon platforms that mount the Hades Autocannon, at a fraction of the Fiend's cost. I guess if you really, REALLY wanna cover the board in S8 AP4 fire, then by all means take a decimator with butcher cannons.
**Storm Laser: 36" S6 AP3 Heavy D3+2. Purchased as a pair, lasers are hilariously effective against anything with a 3+ save, especially things that might be a bit too scary up close. Death Company, Lychguard, Crisis Suits, Tyranid Monstrous Creatures: Deep Strike a Decimator in and laser those pesky trouble spots.
**Soul Burner Petard: One higher strength and worse AP compared to the Contemptor's Soul Burner and it uses the large blast marker as opposed to the small. This weapon will squish Orks/Bugs/Guard and all other manner of [[tarpit]]s to dust. You only need to buy one of these (Ordnance weapon), retaining a Siege Claw for the fighty bastards that get too close. 
**Heavy Conversion Beamer: Very expensive and radically alters the way you play this guy. There isn't much this gun can do that butcher cannons (which are now pointless) or siege claws will. On the one hand, you can hide this thing in some ruins and if you're lucky, you ''might'' be able to tag one or two vehicles/squads before they get out of its useful range. Best give it a pass - the Defiler does this better.
*The Decimator can be dedicated to one of the Gods (Note: you require an independent character with that same mark/daemon of same god in order to do so) as follows:
**'''Khorne:''' Gains the Rampage USR for +15 pts. Against hordes you're guaranteed an additional D3 attacks, not to mention the damage a double siege claw or claw/soul-burner and Khorne dedication can do to MEQs and TEQs. 
**'''Nurgle:''' Gains the It Will Not Die USR for +25 pts!  Arguably the best, no matter what the load-out. Think of it as a possessed vindicator, only better. Send this badass barrelling against the enemy lines as it just flat out ignores being shot at by most weapons. Seriously, any army that [[Railgun|isn't equipped for the job]] will have an outright bitch of a time putting down a Nurgle Decimator!
**'''Slaanesh:''' Counts as armed with assault and defensive grenades. Now that you can Deep Strike this one is... still iffy. You are probably going to go last against space marines and if you're fighting guardsmen or Tau, you have heavy flamers that can do the job better. You could alternatively use the defensive grenades and take a conversion beamer, which is still kinda puzzling because the defiler does that mobile artillery thing way better.
**'''Tzeentch:''' Re-roll to-hits of 1's for shooting attacks and counts Heavy Flamers (if any) gain the Soul Blaze special rule for +25 pts. It's expensive and Soul Blaze sucks, but re-rolling 1's for shooting makes this the double-gun Dakka dedication. If you were planning on taking storm lasers, you're taking this.

*'''Plague Ogryns (Forge World):''' 50 pts./model ogryns with S6, FnP and D6 poisoned 2+ attacks. Just like everything Nurgle here, they require you to take a squad of plague marines to field these. Unfortunately, they have Slow and Purposeful and really shitty armour meaning that they actually manage to be more useless than Mutilators. Take them if you want to see them go down to bolters before they get anywhere near an enemy that will likely hold out against them!

*'''Spined Chaos Beast (Forge World:''' 140pts for WS5,S7, T6, 4 wounds, I4 and 3 attack MC. Not at all bad. Comes stock with Fearless, IWND, Daemonic Instability (what? but it's Fearless?) and Deep Strike. The two major downsides of this unit is that it's unit composition is 1 and cannot be taken in groups which takes up our precious Elite Slots and it '''MUST''' be a Daemon of a specific god:
**'''Daemon of Khorne:''' FREE. Furious. Charge. S8 on the charge is a fucking steal for 0 points!
**'''Daemon of Tzeentch:''' it's only 5pts. It gives you dick in terms of psychic powers, but 5 points to re-roll invulnerable save 1's is ''slick.'' Pairs nicely with Divination 4++ re-rolling 1's; adding Cursed Earth will give it a 3++ save! T6 with 3++, oh please do throw your anti vehicle shots at me!
**'''Daemon of Nurgle:''' Garbage at 15 points. Giving a close combat unit Slow and Purposeful should be against the rules or something. Oh sure, it has shrouded, but it already has a 5++ and if you're gonna walk this guy through cover, you're gonna waste the game not getting it into combat.
**'''Daemon of Slaanesh:''' The other 15 point upgrade, but this one's worth taking. Fleet, Rending and +3" to your runs makes this the speed demon dedication. It's actually better in a Daemons army, where it serves as a cheap replacement for a Slaanesh-Grinder.