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

===Heavy Support===

*'''[[Defiler]]''' - So here's this giant enemy crab-Dreadnought. Your Swiss-army vehicle; can do anything to some degree or another - and do it (decently) well. Has Fleet, 4 hull points, is somewhat better at shooting than a Dreadnought (with access to more long-range weaponry, including a Battle Cannon) and all the other Daemon Engine flair (5++, fear, IWND and Daemon Forge). This unit is amazingly flexible; you can have it shoot off plenty of firepower when stationary (It has a Reaper Autocannon, Battle Cannon, and Heavy Flamer by default), can be upgraded to be even more shooty by replacing the Reaper Autocannon with a Twin-Linked Lascannon or Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter, and the Heavy Flamer with a Havoc Launcher.  Unfortunately, the cannon is Ordnance and even bound Daemons can't handle firing Ordnance as well as a Heavy Flamer or Havok launcher, apparently. With 6th Edition ruining Havoc Launchers, the shooty option is a Reaper Autocannon or Heavy Bolter Snap Firing to your Battlecannon's tune. You can go the full Monty for the Assault route, and replace the Autocannon and Flamer for a power fist or scourge respectively. The fist will get you a +1 attack and is free which is nice, but it already has two (walkers get +1 attack for EACH weapon after the first, which means 5 attack, 6 on charge) and the scourge will reduce the WS of models in base contact, so  you don't even have to use it, just be in contact. Also this will leave you with only battle cannon assuming you didn't take havoc, since battle cannon is ordnance you don't need any other shooting weapon). With its ability to fire off tons of firepower AND/OR rush forward and [[FATAL|rape]] things with its giant crab-claws, this thing is as versatile as units come. Its main drawbacks are that its melee and firing accuracy are average (BS/WS/I3) meaning that Power Fists smack you around and all the other Dreadnoughts except Orks go before you, and they can buy two Deff Dreads to your one Defiler. It's also an extremely large vehicle, and one that will attract a lot of enemy fire, causing enemies to put a lot of resources into [[Meme|attacking its weak point for massive damage]]. Which you can even capitalize on, using the weak side of the Defiler as a lure to bring in some of their anti-vehicle troops in right where you want them. The catch is its fairly high cost - a basic defiler is just under 200 points, and is essentially an AV 12/12/10 walker. This renders it less effective, for all its new toys, than its previous incarnation. For all it's versatility it's not very good at anything for it's cost. Sure you can make it decent at melee, but then it has to GET there. Compare it to a doomsday ark. 
**'''Note''' DO NOT charge dreads with a defiler. Contrary to the fact that one of the most popular artworks of defilers is one in which a deffie pulls a dreadnought apart with its claws, now that dreadnoughts have FOUR power fist attacks at I4 that will be hitting you on 3... chances are the crab will be wrecked before it gets a chance to swing its manifold limbs. This reduces its usability by a fraction.
**'''Alternative Opinion:''' When you do compare it to a doomsday ark, you'll notice that it will fall apart pretty quick when something gets too close to it. Not quite so for a defiler - while a D-day ark might have to try and run off to avoid getting popped open, you can throw a defiler happily at almost anything in charge range. Giving it a power scourge over its heavy flamer has the hilarious advantage of reversing any close combat prey's fortune as they will now hit on 4's and YOU hit THEM on 3's! Warp flame gargoyles on your guns will also do well to soften up a target before a fleet-assisted charge.
** Havoc Launcher not doing it for you? How about TWO Havoc Launchers? Defilers have access to the chaos vehicle armory (page 102, Defiler entry, bullet point three) which is largely overlooked, meaning they can take an additional havoc launcher along with a combi bolter and a combi melta/flamer/plasma, so your defiler can always have a little bit more close (combi flamer/melta) mid (combi bolter) and long (havoc launcher) firepower, damn this crab is versatile! Warpflame Gargoyles make all your ranged weapons soul blaze, meaning the shooty Defiler can mulch infantry with even more effectiveness. And they can take Dirge Casters, meaning the assaulty Defiler can't be overwatched. Neat!
**'''Alternative Opinion 2:''' I have had plenty of success in casual games running a Defiler with a Scourge and Fist, relying solely on the battle cannon to handle ranged combat. While the additional attacks granted to Dreadnoughts makes this less clear cut, let's look at a possible situation. A Defiler fighting a two Dreadnought squad with twin lascannons. Being generous to the dreads, we'll give each side three rounds of shooting. Statistically, the Dreads will likely connect with all six shots, four will inflict damage, 2.66 will get through it's save. Most likely suffering stun/shaken results, which it will resist, and in three turns will likely recover one HP from IWND. Given three shots, and Demon Forged, we'll assume at least one is a direct hit, and that of the other two, one shot scores a single hit. As it averages 1 hit per round of firing, we'll assume Daemonforged effects one of the hits. 2 hits at a 50% chance of causing damage (We'll simply assume glances out of the kindness of our hearts), boosted to 75% (Ordnance), 1.5 wounds, with one shot being what, a 1/16 chance of failing to penetrate? So, ~2.5 hull damage, vs ~1.66 by the time they meet. If we give the Defiler the charge, and an average result on the scourge (2), the Defiler attacks 6 times, hits with four of them, and inflicts ~3.33 HP of damage. On Dreadnought dies, the other attacks four times, hits twice. Inflicts slightly more than one HP. The Defiler is down to 1 HP and some change, but the other dread isn't doing any better. It dies in the next round, and your crab-bot scuttles off to find new prey. Cover, Meltaguns, and even a little luck COULD swing that (I did skip overwatch, which would contribute a portion of a wound, not enough to swing this to an "average chance of a loss" but close), but saying "Don't charge dreads" is a little disingenuous, with the right set up. (Where are you getting this from? Defilers are I3, Dreadnoughts go before them, not after.)

*'''Havocs''' - Havocs are essentially "Chaos Devastators." You start with a squad of 5, that can take four Specials/Heavy Weapons at any squad size. There are two primary ways to run them: Either as long-range fire-support, or as part of a "Rhino-spam" army. In the former case, this is one of the notable units where you '''do''' want to give them Veterans of the Long War. The difference between Leadership 9 and Leadership 10 (or more realistically, Leadership 8 versus Leadership 9 due to the sergeant tending to be a glorified bullet-catcher) matters all the more when your fire support is camping by the table edge! In the second case, you'll want "two Specials and a Rhino". The Chaos Warband gave this option a new lease on life, as being able to run obsec Special Teams alongside small obsec Chosen Teams has its appeal. 
** If you still fancy using heavy weapons Havocs, Forgeworld has you covered with pretty little SM autocannon sets of five for both Legion and Kalibrax pattern (that are compatible with default vanilla arms) for just over double the price! Consider using those since everybody and his dog knows how bullshit GW Havoc box sets are (a hundred pounds for a complete set of weapons, really? Devastators have this for, like, half the price, and that's with other toys like combis, hammers and shit.)
** Heavy Weapons Havocs become a lot more viable if you play Death Guard, giving them FNP and Relentless

*'''Chaos Rapier Weapons Battery (Forge World):''' For 40 pts. you get an Artillery unit armed with Quad Heavy Bolter and manned by 2 Chaos Space Marine crewmen. Might take up to 2 additional Carriers with crew for 40 pts. each. The weapons may be upgraded to a Laser Destroyer (TL Ordnance AP1 Lascannon), Ectoplasma Cannon or Hades Autocannon (the same as Forgefiend's), or a Heavy Conversion Beamer. The Chaos Rapier allows you to fill the Heavy Support with fairly cheap heavy weapons on miniature tank treads, and it is worth noting they have the usual CSM BS4. Lastly, the Hellish Demise special rule means you must roll a D6 when the Chaos Rapier is destroyed. On a roll of 1 it explodes in a S3 Large Blast, 2-5 do nothing, whilst 6 does the same as 1 but leaves a non-scatter DS marker for any units with the Daemon USR. Pretty much all Rapier configurations are superior to the Havoks and Forgefiends in BOTH firepower and survivability, while being cheaper (though Fiends have their mobility and once-per-game damage booster, and Havocs can bring special weapons for Rhino drive-by or missile launchers for versatility). It should be no surprise for anyone that Forge World prices for Rapier models are outrageous.
**Rapiers are great models for niche roles in your chaos army. Conversion Beamers are an excellent addition to any CSM ranged list, while Hades autocannons are impressive anti-infatry/MC/flyer units. There price and immobility also negate the 'better than havocs' argument. They are different, and expensive over time. But totally worth it when used appropriately.
**Alternative take: Probably the best heavy support option for CSM. You like Vindicators yes? How about 3 Vindicator blasts at double the range that don't get fucked by melta & Haywire. Yeah they get suckier the closer the enemy get to them but you are CSM! If the enemy is getting closer to them you can charge them with your superior fighty units. They can also be pretty cheap to make. Just buy some of the Conversion Beamer arm mounts from FW and scratch build your own bases for them (or just buy 3rd party tank tracks) you're chaos so anything works, nurglings carrying it, mount it on the back of a daemon, have loyalist slaves haul it around, get creative.

*'''Chaos Land Raider''' - It's the classic [[Land Raider]] pattern (aka, <s>schizophrenic</s> multiple personality disorder). The Chaos one is slightly less useful than the Loyalist version because despite being 20 points cheaper there's no Machine Spirit. It usually serves one of two major roles - as a heavy offensive vehicle (it's expensive but dear Tzeentch does it get the job done whilst being a giant fire magnet in the process) and to [[FATAL|insert your huge, nasty, pulsating close combat squad deep into the soft moist folds of your opposition]]. If you use it for the latter, load it up with Extra Armour, and keep it rolling forward. Daemonic Possession isn't really worth the points, or the dip in BS. Even with twin-linked weapons, turning a 3+ to-hit into a 4+ is a tough sell, and all you ''really'' want the damn thing to do is move. And besides, do you really want to take the risk that the tank will OMNOMNOM your Terminator Chaos Lord on turn one? Because that's a thing now (your models risk being omnomnomed when you embark, which is a great mental picture, but can ruin your shit if you're unlucky). Unlike loyalist, can take dozer, greatly reducing chance for your 230+ pts transport to become utterly useless in one dice throw.

*'''Chaos Land Raider Proteus (Forge World):''' Oldschool battle tank type Land Raider - it lacks transport capacity and assault ramp of regular Land Raider, but comes cheaper and has multimelta AND melta-immune options. While loyalists get some neat reserve-based abilities for their Proteuses, the Chaos one gets Fear and a troll-tastic upgrade that forces anyone trying to shoot it to pass a pinning test first. Overall a good choice if you want to use it as battle tank instead of a Terminator party-buss, or to deliver special weapon squads into rapid fire/melta/flamer range. Can take the "Ark of Unnameable Horror" upgrade, meaning all units that fire on the vehicle must make a pinning test or Go to Ground immediately, not firing. Doesn't work against Fearless units, units firing without line of sight (such as barrage), or units without a leadership value. Taking the Ark drops transport capacity from 10 to 8.

*'''Chaos Infernal Relic Achilles (Forge World):''' Not as unkillable as the Heresy-era Achilles or the one corpsefuckers use nowadays, as it lacks lance-immunity and -1 to damage (still melta-proof, though), but in a typical Chaos fashion it picks it up on the offensive, gaining +1S and -1 AP for its quad-mortar each time it loses an HP. Watch your opponent rage as 1HP Achilles drops 4 S8 AP2 blasts across the board. Unfortunately it costs an absurd amount of points, making it all but unusable in competitive games. Makes a good tar-baby to carry your Oblits/Mutilators/Typhus in.

*'''Chaos Spartan Assault Tank (Forge World):''' Land Raider on steroids. This thing is armed with 2-shot TL lascannons at each side, could fit up to '''25''' guys inside (or 10 termies, Abaddon and Typhus with room to spare) and has 5 HP. There is no reason to buy Land Raider, if you have enough souls of firstborn to afford this model. That moment when you realise just how difficult it is to fill this vehicle. You can only fit one squad + Independant characters so only cultists can fill it to the top. You could also ally in some spam from the Renegades and Heretics list to bulk this out. Also - don't forget - Dirge Casters for 5 points! Watch your opponent's face as the full capacity of your Spartan spills out and they can't even overwatch against it!
** The Forge World Land Raiders are comparably easy to convert from normal Land Raiders - you just need plastic card (or wood, or styrofoam) and enough guns.

*'''Obliterators''' - A long time Chaos army favorite with plenty of [[Dakka]] fitted in a small, deadly package. They used to be absolute cheese, but even though every time they appear in a codex, they get weaker, they're still the best heavy support choice in the book. Formerly the Techmarines of their chapters, Obliterators have contracted a warp-contagion that sears their flesh to their armour and causes their weaponry, likewise, to be subsumed. In time they have become enormous [[Awesome|arcano-cyborgs]], not quite marine, not quite machine, not quite daemon (well actually they are considered daemon type units in this rulebook, so they cause fear now, nice bonus). They're tough as hell and can take phenomenal punishment, even though they lost their fearlessness from last edition (seriously, how did that happen? But they don't give a fuck in fluff but will retreat if fighting gets too hot). For 70 points, you get a model with 2 wounds, a 2+ armour save, 5+ invulnerable save, and the ability to Deep Strike. Suffice to say, they can find a role in damned near any army, since they can soak up damage and demolish squads in pretty short order. That said, you should nearly always be deepstriking them. Parking them in cover and using Lascannons and Plasmacannons each turn is a sure enough way to waste both their durability and their firepower, and if that's the tactic you want to use why aren't you just taking Havocs? Timing is everything with an Obliterator drop, and you need to know when to drop them to deal with a problem unit, be it a cover-camping squad of Fire Warriors or a big squad of [[Indrick Boreale|SPHESS MHUREENS]] tacticals. Getting them into heavy cover basically turns them into a strongpoint. They're also decent in assaults. Still, you'll want to avoid getting them [[Tarpit|tarpitted]], regardless of whether it's by Guardsmen or Bloodletters. With only one powerfist to work with in close combat, it takes them forever to kill anything that's not just a vehicle or small squad, and even with the buffs 2+ armour, they're still going to die if they get caught by any elite melee unit. With the new codex they can now take marks, making then T5 or improving their save to 4++, making them an even larger pain to get rid of (You CAN give them Rage or +1I...but that would be missing the whole point of the unit). Oblits can use the following weaponry (they all come on a single model, and because Phil dislikes the cheese in the previous rulebook, he's made them trickier to use because now you can't pick the same weapon two turns in a row): Lascannon, Assault Cannon, Plasma Cannon, Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer, Twin-Linked Flamer, Twin-Linked Plasmagun, or a Twin-Linked Meltagun. He also packs a single Power Fist for use in CC.
** '''Tactics''': if you buy 3 Obliterators, you're looking at around 220 points. Ideally you'll want to drop them first next to a tank you want gone and fire up their multi-meltas, so that they can make a chunk of their points cost (around 150) back. Jackpot if the enemy is bringing a Land Raider. Slow and Purposeful allows you to fire the Multi-Meltas even after deep-striking, but if you happen to scatter within 6" of the tank it is a safer bet to use the twin-linked meltas instead as they have more accuracy. After that, you'll want to set your eyes on infantry, Monstrous Creatures or other light transports - 3 Assault Cannons do a great job of causing lots of damage for either enemy type. Alternately you can drop three Plasma Cannon blasts on any MEQ/TEQ unit you catch outside cover. Sadly Obliterators can't fire overwatch due to SNP, but they do have their powerfists and 2 attacks each for desperate measures. If you have given them MoT, they could charge an MC they have wounded and try to finish it off quickly. 
** '''Alternative opinion''': Whilst Obliterators are unquestionably versatile, even with the mandatory switching of weapons every turn, they are no longer the sole Heavy Support unit you will see players fielding. Obliterators are tough: ridiculously so. However, they pay a lot of points for this durability, and it makes their firepower-to-cost ratio rather low. 2 lascannon shots a turn for 140 points before marks is a rather expensive way to deter vehicles. Compare to the other options, such as Havoks and Forgefiends, who are incredibly economical in their distribution of ammunition, and the Obliterators start to seem a bit pricey. Obliterators sit somewhere between Havoks and Foregefiends in terms of durability. They are vulnerable to anti-infantry guns being Toughness 4, but have a 2+ armour save to protect them and 2 wounds. Their higher armour and multiple wounds entice players to fire anti-tank guns at them, but they can grab cover more easily than vehicles, and a lucky shot will only kill half the squad, rather than the entire vehicle. The downside to this mid-range endurance is that every unit the enemy has can affect them. Any unit in range has a chance hurting them, so concentration of fire to eliminate them early is a very real danger. This is rather unfortunate, as the durability that they pay so many points for can end up their achilles' heel. 
** Marks are very important, especially MoT or MoN. Some key things to remember: a 4+ invulnerable save is a godsend when the opponents will surely target you with AP2 weaponry (and this can be bumped up to a 3+ if you happen to, say, park them on a Skyshield Landing Pad) but most AP2 weaponry will Instant Death the crap out of them. This is where MoN is taken into consideration; there are far more strength 8 and 9 weapons in the game compared to Strength 10, which means that the opponent will be less likely to fire those weapons your way, as there's little point in doing so if they can only cause one wound anyways. It also means that they might just try the more time-honored tactic of drowning you in small arms fire - again, the MoN comes in handy here, as T5 is a hella lot more resilient than T4, and you still get your your 2+ armour save and your 2 wounds, so your total squad firepower wont be dropping anytime soon even if he directs 100 guardsmen to fire at your obliterator unit (you'll take about 3 wounds. Don't underestimate lasgun fire en masse). A lot of it depends on your meta really. If you generally play a lot of superheavies than MoT can be better than MoN due to more access to S10 and the D, but otherwise don't bother, as even if you're opponent brings a vindicator it's pretty easy to just deepstrike and pop it. 
** With deepstrike accuracy being such an important issue here, an obvious choice in HQ department is someone with Dimensional Key, probably a Daemon Prince. With Ahriman or Huron as Warlord, one can then infiltrate said Prince for a turn 2 charge and bring these guys in turn 3. This also has good synergy with heavy melee deepstrike, our strength over the loyalists with Raptors or Warp Talons, both of which have gone up in the world since the Heldrake nerfing. Except you can't assault when you infiltrated; consider the Raptor Talon formation or the new Psychic Powers from Traitors Hate so you can get a guaranteed charge! EXCUSE ME?! Daemon Princes do not need help getting into charge range and also AREN'T INFANTRY meaning you can't infiltrate them with Master of Deception. 

*'''Chaos [[Predator Tank|Predator]]''' - Pretty much the same as the loyalist version, in both performance and cost. As long as it doesn't come up across Haywire or D-weapons, parking one of these guys in a corner will give you a good source of Lascannon fire that will take a fair share of firepower to shift from the table. As an actual battle-tank, for moving-and-shooting, the Predator isn't particularly useful, not only because of snap-shooting only one weapon at a time, but because its relatively large-ish side-arc makes flanking it easy. 
**''Loadouts:'' By default, the Predator gets one Autocannon, which can be upgraded to a twin-linked Lascannon. This simply won't do for damage, so you will want to upgrade it with sponsons, of the Heavy Bolter or Lascannon variety. The three main ways to run a Predator: Autocannon & Heavy Bolters for anti-infantry, three Lascannons for anti-tank, or the Autocannon with Lascannon Sponsons for versatility; the "Lascannon plus Heavy Bolter Sponsons" loadout in practice should never be used. Points permitting, toss a Havoc Launcher on top of one of these tanks as it gives you slightly more firepower than your Loyalist brethren. Traitor's Hate gave Predators the ability to be fielded as a Squadron; if a full squadron of three are alive, that squadron gets Monster Hunter and Tank Hunter. In practice, this isn't worth doing because your vehicles do not have easy access to Power of the Machine Spirit. 
**''Dirty Trick vs Tau:'' This is the cheapest source of Lascannons your army gets. If you're going heavy on Psychic support and can get good cover (either from fortifications or using your own Rhinos as glorified wrecks), Say your opponent runs Broadsides or so. AV 13 makes the Predator immune to Smart Missiles, while S9 AP 2 instant-deaths their battlesuits. Run a Geomortis Sorcerer with one of these models, and this thing now ignores cover and can now shoot through walls/line-of-sight blocking terrain. You now have the opportunity to beat Tau at their own game. If you're feeling cheeky, you could take a Havoc Launcher and reroll "hits" to hope it scatters onto a nearby Pathfinder unit, but that's not particularly recommended.

*'''Chaos Infernal Relic Predator (Forge World):''' Your standard Predator, only with huge variety of weapons available. In addition to all toys of a standard Predator, it have an option to get a set of sponson heavy flamers (which you probably don't wont, but they're there anyways just in case), and one of the five new turret weapons:
**''Flamestorm Cannon'', the default weapon; it sucks socks, since you cannot come close enough fast enough to use it to its full potential.
*** Thanks to the new psychic powers it's now possible to fling this baby right into the heart of the enemy. And if you go the extra mile you can even use PotMS to burn two different units. [[Awesome|Let the galaxy burn!]]
**''Autocannon with Inferno Bolts'', which is an autocannon with AP3, and thus OK (especially with malefic ammo).
**''Magna-Melta'', which is OK on it's own, if a bit overpriced, but rises a question why didn't you just take a Vindicator instead.
**''Plasma Destroyer'', which is an awesome MEQ/TEQ killer gun.
**''Heavy Conversion Beamer'', which is more difficult to use, and certainly useless on BLoS-heavy tables, but massively powerful on the long range.

*'''Chaos Relic Sicaran Battle Tank (Forge World):''' Fast 13/12/12 Tank, armed with a monstrous Twin-Linked Heavy 6 Rending Jink-ignoring Autocannon and a hull Heavy Bolter, comes with Extra Armour stock. It is superior to Predator Destructor in every way imaginable, while being only slightly more expensive (point-wise anyway, the model itself is FW-priced). It really shines at dealing with enemy Skimmers, as it is the perfect counter to the Serpent-spam. Sicaran can even be made melta-immune or take sponson weapons like a Predator. It might upgrade all of its guns with Rending USR, but it's not really worth the 40 points cost.

*'''Chaos [[Vindicator]]''' - No more Dozer Blade included or Siege Shield. Daemonic Possession helps and mounting a Havoc Launcher gives it a backup weapon. It mounts a Demolisher Cannon, which will basically win back its points the second it fires. Heavy front armor and intense firepower means that this thing will draw huge amounts of abuse. If you throw Daemonic Possession on this thing, you will have a field day watching players [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|go to obscene lengths to kill/get away from it]]. Mounting a couple extra guns will help keep the odds of losing your demolisher cannon early on low.
** '''New Supplement!''' We can now take these in squadrons of three. While all three are alive and can fire their cannon, you can designate one to fire an apocalypse blast instead of the vindicators firing normally. It also ignores cover. 

*'''Chaos Deimos Pattern Vindicator Tank Destroyer (Forge World)''' - While Guard invented their wannabe Vindicators by replacing Rapier destroyers on their tank hunters with Demolishers, marines did the exact opposite, and this what they got as a result. This is a walking twin-linked ordnance AP1 lascannon (meaning you can re-roll both to-hit and to-pen, and blow up things on 5+). More so, it fires THREE times per turn if stationary with a chance to overheat. This thing eats tanks and may even threaten super-heavies by it's own. You can be a pussy and downgrade it to only two safe shots, but you're playing Chaos, for [[Chaos Gods|Gods']] sake - be a man and take that risk, it's only one HP with 1/6 chance anyway. Oh, and it costs less than three artillery-type Rapiers while still capable to move and shoot (if only once). If there wasn't enough reasons to never take las-Predators in a Chaos army, here's another one, because it's flat 10 point's cheaper than tri-las Predator while being all-around better.

*'''Forgefiend:''' [[Phil Kelly|Whoever]] decided that CSM needed Daemon Dino-bots - well, thanks! Forge Fiends come with a pair of Hades Autocannons, which throw out an absurd amount of [[dakka]] (that's 8 S8 AP4 pinning shots a turn, making Psyflmen Dreadnoughts blush). Furthermore, they can trade their Hades Autocannons for 2 S8 plasma cannons for free, and take a third one for +25 pts [[Awesome|replacing the damn thing's face]]! (Most) Deepstriking terminators will piss themselves, especially Draigo's shiny dozen when faced with 3 instant-death plasma blasts a turn. On top of this, like all other daemon engines it has a 5++, fear, IWND and Daemon Forge, which comes in very handy with this guy.
**'''Alternative Opinion:''' Opponent fielding fliers? Pop a Forgefiend down with a pair of Hades Autocannons. Eight shots give it excellent odds of hitting - even if it's only on sixes - and it's Strength of 8 will cut though almost any flier (including the Stormraven) as if it were made of paper mache. This machine can be incredibly versatile over it's cousin with the right setup. Allying with Chaos Daemons for a cheap Tzeentch Divination psyker turns this bad boys into monsters. Rerolling to hit is HUGE at BS 3, and against enemy fliers. Pop Daemon forge that turn and watch the enemy cry as its fliers implode. 

*'''Maulerfiend:''' The other Daemon Dino-bot. Comes with a pair of power fists and magma cutters, which deal a meltabomb auto-hit that can strike non-vehicle units, too! This big beastie can also move at 12", ignore difficult terrain and has Fleet on top of that! Lasher tendrils reduce Dreadknights/Terminators to A1 and dreads to A2. You use this monster to run down other vehicles, charge isolated infiltrator squads, bust open fortifications and close combat backup should things not go [[just as planned]]. Also has all the Daemon Engine tricks of 5++, Fear, IWND and Daemon Forge. Maulerfiends are not designed to hunt infantry. Lasher tendrils are awesome against charging terminators, but you can't really rely on them to keep the beast alive forever, and the magma cutters aren't great against anything other than vehicles. An interesting point worth mentioning is that a maulerfiend is surprisingly good at is mushing otherwise tough models that have multiple wounds, 5 toughness, but preferably - no invul save. Looking at you, centurions and cataphrons. What maulers lack in versatility and killyness against most units, they more than make up for with sheer speed. They happily dash across the board, smashing into units you don't want shooting at your other stuff - and can keep said units preoccupied for quite a while, and even do some damage. Additionally - two maulers - one with cutters, the other one with tendrils, on the charge, should be enough to dismember a knight (especially a ranged weapons one) - which is a big deal, since knights are becoming more and more popular. Another point worth noting is that this thing is actually a daemon - which means that Cursed Earth bumps its invulnerable save to 4++ - and that, in combination with its 12/12/10 AV is nothing to sneer at. 
The prevalent opinion about maulers is that they're OK on their own, but in order to really shine they need to be taken in pairs. Although there are better options that could fill your heavy suppoert slots in a CAD, few are more menacing than two dinobots. Another (arguably better) way to field them is in a Helforged Warpack. See the formation's entry below for more information. 

*'''Plague Hulk (Forge World):''' Essentially a budget Soul Grinder of Nurgle that you can take without paying the ally tax. Carries a poisoned 3+ S5 AP3 flamer and a rending, 36" range S6 battle cannon.. Like all Daemons of Nurgle it now has Shrouded. It is only 150 pts, and with the rules from IA13 no longer requires a squad of plague marines to field; that said, it's about as tough to bounce as a regular Soul Grinder of Nurgle. 

*'''Blood Slaughterer (Forge World):''' Don't be fooled by the name, these are goddamn rape-blenders! Rage, Rampage, Daemon (of Khorne, granting furious charge should you lose your DCW), Daemonic Resilience, Deepstrike, Fleet, WS5, FA13, comes with a DCW, gain D3 attack on Charge (in addition to ANOTHER d3 from the Rampage) and can be taken in squads of 3: [[Emperor|good god]], things are gonna die! Each  also gets the option to take a ranged weapon called an impaler which always hits on 4+ regardless of BS, CANNOT ever be snap fired and allows you to drag vehicles and monstrous creatures towards you, DRAGGING THEM INTO CLOSE COMBAT if they happen to move in BtB contact with the Slaughterer, which means it is the only model in the game that can (kind of) charge right from Deep Strike. They can be taken in vehicle squadrons of 3, cost a scant 130 points but do require a squad of Berserkers to field. The "downside" is that it has shitty 5E Rage (it must charge at/move towards the closest thing it sees); chances are you were probably going to do that anyway, and with the combination of fleet, an impaler and a shedload of S10 AP2 attacks there is damn near '''NOTHING''' that can survive a pack of Slaughterer.

*'''Fire Raptor Gunship (Attack Flyer, Pursuit 3, Agility 3, Forge World):''' Comes naked with TL Avenger Bolt Cannon, 4 Hellstrike Missiles and two Independent-Turret Quad Heavy Bolters; the latter which aside from firing at their own targets as rumoured, don't count towards the number of weapons fired! A Legion or CSM army can swap the quad bolters for a Reaper Battery for 10 pts each, 40K Marines get a TL Autocannon for free. With all the twin-linked goodness, Strafing Run and PotMS/Independent-turrets; this bastard can dump its entire payload in a single turn and hit almost every time and it's only 260 pts altogether for the ceramite armor and reaper battery upgrades.
** 20 pts cheaper due to the loss of PotMS but can buy Daemon Possession for the same price. Since there's no worries about passengers getting NOM'ed, TL/Strafing Run counteracts BS3 well enough and the way the turret works you don't need PotMS altogether make the Chaos Fire Raptor ''much'' nicer then it's Loyalist counterpart; which is rare. And to make it even better, it gain assess to malefic ammunition, because  Rending on something with so much dakka is insane.
** There is something to be said for adding warpflame gargoyles on these. On a single platform, for a mere 5 points, you can potentially light up 3 units a turn (or more if you clip multiple units with Balefire missiles).

*'''Kharybdis Assault Claw (Air Leviathan, Pursuit 1, Agility 1, Forge World):''' Land Raider size Drop pod. At cost of Land Raider+ it gives you HP: 5, 20 cap/Drednought/Helbrute, special attack (with 2 versions, deep strike is S6 AP5 D3+3" ignore cover nova (at this size even 4" covers nice area), and fire sweep is flame trial with same strength and ap (ANY model under its path takes hit so be carefull), rule that allows you to ram (not when arrive from reserves, using its special attack or disembark troops) and pinning (like chaos have not enough pinnings attacks) TL stormbolter AND all drop pod rules that we love. Drop pod assault + guidance system + 20 cap + Berzerkers/muliators/helbrute with multi-melta = RAGE <i>(also enjoy a 1/6 chance of your Possessed Transport munching the dread it was deepstriking and arriving empty, making your enemy laugh himself silly, although, if you are transporting the Warpsmith/Sorcerer/Abbs necessary to take more than one, it's not an issue)</i>. Remember that you can't charge on turn 1 though so land somewhere safe then flat-out towards the target. Jink to avoid the inevitable storm of hate that will head your way, move again, deploy, and assault. For the mathematically inclined that's 6+6+2d6 = 18" - 24" charge range. Take these to support a glorious chaos drop pod assault and safely deploy your Mutilators/Terminators/Cult Marines/Chaos Marines/possessed right in the middle of the enemy deployment zone.
**Forgeworld has finally released an update that brings all of its Flyers up to date with Death from the Skies. What's weird is that Dreadclaws and Kharybdis are included in this document, as a rare case of "technically a flyer but." While all but worthless in a Dogfight and as maneuverable as a rock, Kharybdis pods have some new tricks. Arguably, wings are a nonstarter with the Kharybdis, due to being Infernal Relics, so no Air Superiority Detachment shenanigans to make your list outperform DA in combat drops. But on the plus side, '''ALL''' of your Kharybdis Storm Launchers can be fired with Skyfire while Zooming, without counting against your allowed weapons, as long as you don't suffer a Crew Stunned (HAHAHAHAHA). You also can shoot them all during a Dogfight as long as you aren't doing a Head-On Pass. Nothing says "FUCK OFF," like 10 Strength 6, AP 5, Twin-linked shots. Additionally, normal Crew Stunned does nothing but turn off this ability to Skyfire everything (again, if they ever manage to get it to stick).