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

==The Legions==
With the release of Traitor Legions, you can now run your Chaos Space Marines to represent one of the nine fallen Legions! 
To do this, any '''detachment''' (be it a CAD, Ally Detachment, any standalone Formation [at least, those without restrictions like "This is a Thousand Sons Detachment", etc], or Detachment of Formations) can count as belonging to one specific Legion if it adheres to certain restrictions; in exchange, you get several benefits, as well as access to a Legion-specific warlord table and list of artifacts. 

===Black Legion===
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Black Legion offer versatility with a wide variety of tactical options, while being a somewhat more elite army than your typical CSM army. 
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*'''Requirements:''' Abaddon is the only Unique Character you can include in a Black Legion detachment, and any unit that can take VotLW must do so for free.
*'''Benefits:''' You have '''Hatred (Everyone)''' and VotLW gets upgraded so you re-roll to hit against Loyalist shitheads (any Armies of the Imperium) every single combat phase. Terminators and Chosen are troops, and any Psyker with a Mark of a chaos god can choose to roll all of their powers on their god-specific table.
** Note: Traitor Legions updates the previous Black Legion rules, removing their infamous VotLW tax and instead letting them have it for free, and finally giving them their own detachment.
** A note on marks: Black Legion is one of two legions that has access to Thousand Sons units. Not terribly useful, but it does give them access to the Exalted Sorcerer and Scarab Occult Terminators for anti-MEQ, divination and one-use orbital strikes.


*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''1: Black Crusader''': Same as the original, Preferred Enemy (Space Marines) for your Warlord and friendlies within 12".
**'''2: Eye of the Gods''': Whenever the Warlord rolls on the Chaos Boon Table or Gift of Mutation Chaos Reward, they can re-roll the result once.  For a good challenge-based Warlord, this is a big save and it stacks with the Warband benefits for extra insurance. Bonus points for rolling this in a Black Crusade.
**'''3: Gift of Balefire''': Warlord can shoot one single-use S4, AP5, Assault 1, Soulblaze template.  Considering the goofiness of Soulblaze this isn't a really great gift. Still better than Black Crusader if you're facing a different army.
**'''4: Unholy Fortitude''': Warlord gets It Will Not Die. YES.
**'''5: Soul Stealer''': When in combat, any to-wound rolls of 6 become Instant Death. Grab your Claws and go murder some MCs and characters.
**'''6: Chosen of Abaddon''': Warlord and friendly units within 12" gain Stubborn. Excellent force multiplier that takes advantage of your high Ld and patches your lack of ATSKNF.


*'''Relics'''
**'''Spineshiver Blade''': AP3 Daemon Weapon. Gives +1I when in combat.  Neato. Combine with a Slaanesh Chaos Lord for an Initiative 7 MEQ killer! Also note, for what it's worth, that the +1I bonus is always active, regardless of what weapon you're using. Moreover, until faqed, this does not replace a weapon, so a prince with this gains an extra attack!
**'''Crucible of Lies''': User has -1T, but can re-roll Invuln Save rolls of 1. Why would anyone ever take this? Maybe you have a Terminator Lord or Sorcerer of Tzeentch with a Sigil of Corruption hiding in the middle of Terminators squad bodyguards. That's a 2+ armor save with a 3+ invuln that only fails on a 2. Could also work with a Disc of Tzeentch or Bike(you'd still be reaping the benefit of a bike unit's majority toughness) to negate the loss of Toughness, but then disallows the use of Terminator Armor.
**'''Last Memory of the Yuranthos''': A Psyker with this Relic gains an additional Mastery Level, but instead of rolling for another power, you simply get the Sunburst power from Pyromancy. Additionally, you have the option to cast Sunburst with an increased radius for a higher Warp Charge cost (declare the "target" before rolling); a minimum of 2 successes to use Sunburst with a 12" radius, and a minimum of 3 for an 18" radius. Note that should you Perils for any reason, your Psyker is slain outright! 
***''Analysis:'' If you're dead-set on rolling a Telepathy/Ectomancy/Sinistrum Psyker, you won't want this Relic because it will cost you your Psychic Focus and Psychic Shriek is a good Primaris. Likewise, if you like running non-Battle Brother Allies, you'll also want to avoid this power because any Orks or Necrons you bring along for the ride will be hit by this power too! Otherwise, if you don't care about the Primaris powers or like to "Mix and match" (or are playing a Marked Sorcerer/Daemon Prince), then it's worth consideration as it's only 5 points more than a hypothetical 4th Mastery Level. Having a Nova on-hand can actually help extricate smaller Marine units from nearby close combats with small units, and can effectively nullify certain "extreme MSU" threats to your army. However, be careful because the moment your Sorcerer gets entangled in a fight, you won't actually be able to cast this power. If you're dead-set on running a Daemon Prince, then this is a handy "Fly By" power to cast before Swooping away from retaliation. You don't '''have''' to overcharge the Last Memory, but against certain "extreme MSU" builds (mass Scatterpacks come to mind), sometimes it may be well worth sacrificing your Sorcerer to cover an 18" radius of the map in a de-facto neutron bomb. 
**'''Eye of Night''': User can make one single-use Large Blast attack that is S5, AP4 and does 1d3 auto-pen hits to buildings and vehicles that ignore cover.  Don't expect to ruin Land Raiders with this.  It can, though, intimidate that transport full of enemies or mess up artillery.  At least one auto penetrating hit is not to be sniffed at, and against vehicle less enemies, it is great for clearing out tarpits. But it is also obscenely expensive, so make it count, and put it on something with BS5. It really comes into its own in low points games- above 500pts or so, an enemy can survive one vehicle being put out of action. However, in small games, where the enemy has only one vehicle, it not being able to fire for a turn, or it losing the ability to ever move, is ridiculously good.
***''Alternate opinion:''Considering how hard it is to get a vehicle in a decurion, this might not be as expensive as it appears. Think of it as a cheaper, slightly worse triple-las pred. On average you will get 2 penetrating hits for 75 points as opposed to being forced to buy into a fist of the gods for some 400 ish points. With ignore cover no less. You might even get lucky and come up against a wall of armour.
**'''Skull of Ker'ngar''': User has Eternal Warrior and Adamantium Will.  Nice. This is your only place to get EW outside of lucky warlord trait rolls.
**'''Hand of Darkness''': When in combat, the user can trade his attacks for one S*2, AP1, Armourbane, Fleshbane, Instant Death blow.  Not really gonna do much unless in challenges (and being CSM, that will be often) or if you want to pop a tank. In a challenge this will mesh well with the Eye of the Gods trait. Falcon - PUNCH! This became slightly better with Traitor Legions, as anybody that can take this now has built in hatred, meaning you get to re-roll your one attack.
*** What you want to be using this against is monstrous creatures with multiple wounds that you can take down before they get the chance to strike. Thanks to traitor legions we now hate EVERYBODY and get to re-roll to punch a dreadknight in the nads every round.  Make your Apostle punch some Carnifexes or Tervigons in the face or something.
*** '''STOP THE PRESSES:''' Flying MCs start the game gliding. If you can get first turn in a speartip with a raptor talon, you can falcon punch that dirty flyrant back to the future before he takes off. Or D-Thirster, or whatever. This thing got a new lease with Traitor Legions. This also applies to psychic buffs or things like the Riptide nova reactor. Falcon - PUNCH! indeed.


*'''Mission Objectives'''
**1: 1 VP for destroying a unit in turn.
**2: 1 VP if enemy failed Morale/Pin/Fear test.
**3: D3 VPs for killing every enemy Independent Character.
**4: Roll a D6 and get 1 VP when your Warlord controls the objective marker with the same number.
**5: 1 VP if you kill a unit or D3 VPs if killed by your VotLW unit.
**6: 1 VP if manifested a power, D3 if that was a conjuration, D3+3 if summoned a Greater Daemon.


*'''Black Legion Tactics'''
Black Legion are much more viable than before, thanks to Traitor Legions making VotLW free and making Terminators a Troops choice.

With Chosen as Troops, you can have a small unit with only a heavy weapon like a Lascannon or Autocannon, and have them sit on an objective. This gives them an advantage over Cultists. With Terminators as troops, you can have a durable, quality-over-quantity army with bare minimum T4 2+/5++ and ObSec, mass teleportation and the ability to counter a variety of lists through choices of combi-weapons and power weapons.

The Artifacts are mediocre at best, while Hatred (+better Hatred vs the Imperium) is good for a codex written to jump into enemies' faces. On the bright side, you have excellent leadership across the board with most units, plus having a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch with Eternal Warrior is cheese, especially if you use them as allies in a Screamerstar list. And getting re-rolls to hit the first round of every single melee helps your units do their job and be quite reliable in close combat. Kitting units for close combat pays off better because of it.

The best way to play the Black Legion is by taking advantage of your scoring Chosen and Terminator squads. Kit the Chosen with special weapons of your choice, and load them in METHAL BAWKSES! Even flamers aren't bad if you want to keep them cheep, just add another Chosen with a Meltagun and you're set. Using a mix of Chaos Marines and Chosen units gives you more mileage. Since Chosen will carry a lot of special weapons, you don't have to worry about adding them into Marine squads, but do have them watch the Chosen's back. Brothers look out for each other after all!

Meanwhile Terminator squads make for a great vanguard. Deep strike them in, unleash your heavy and combi-weapons to destroy a target, and then start killing things in melee if your opponent fails to shoot them off the board in one turn. Alternatively, put an objective forward outside of your deployment zone and then parking an [[Troll|Objective Secured Land Raider full of Terminators on it]].

If you run lots of Chosen, consider which unit should take Marks, if any. Chosen are a vulnerable unit, not tougher than regular space marines but costing more due to their ability to put out more damage. Keep in mind that quantity over quality is better in this edition, so use Marks with caution if you plan on taking them. On the other hand, Marks on Terminators can be very useful, as they are already a tough unit designed to work in close combat: giving a squad a Mark can push it over the line and make it quite deadly.

It should be noted that with Chosen you are essentially paying +3 points per model for one extra attack. If you are looking to Rip and Tear, you may as well take them, as on the charge they will get 4 attacks per model.
*5 extra attacks with the mark of Khorne- Yes, they have more attacks than Khorne Berzerkers. Give them Icon of Wrath and you have Berzerkers who can take better wargear and have +1 attack, at the cost of chainaxes and fearless. And you are paying a whole 1 point less per model in turn.

The Black Legion is a mixed bag, some of their unique traits work, and others are left to be more desired. It can be wise to keep a few of your squads cheep, and only upgrade those that need it, to save points for your Chosen kill squads/Terminator deathstars.

''Raptor Talon and Terminator Annihilation Force are utterly lethal if they contain your warlord due to your detachment special rules.''

'''Note: '''An often overlooked combination in this supplement allows you to make one of the most durable nameless Lords in the game by equipping a Tzeentch marked Terminator lord with a Sigil of Corruption and the Skull of Eternal Warrior. This is the only way chaos can field a 2+/3++ EW lord so slap a lightning claw and chainfist on him for the additional attack, give him a retinue, and tank everything your opponent throws at you.

*'''Despoiler’s Contingent''': Take Abaddon the Despoiler along with his Terminator Squad in formation (only take 3-4 if you take a Land Raider). Throw in a 2nd HQ, either a Lord with   Spineshiver blade or Hand of darkness trades out with Abaddon in challenges accordingly, OR a Sorceror, Biomancy rolls for certain, Mark of Nurgle may result in best support, Tzeentch adds “cheap” shots (powerful ones if lucky) Slaanesh may be best melee choice. As for the Terminators themselves, give them either Mark of Tzeentch, Mark of Nurgle or Mark of Slaanesh along with Icon of Excess. Stick them in a Land Raider or deepstrike them and drive deep in to the warm moist folds of flesh of your opponent's army.
**'''Traitor Legions Update:''' This strategy becomes much stronger in Traitor Legions. If you take the unique Black Legion detachment, you start rolling for Deep Strike reserves turn 1, and your Warlord's unit arrives automatically! This means you can build your list around dishing out a brutal alpha strike.
**'''Traitor Legions: Objective Secured Variant''': Don't take Abaddon's formation, instead just take Terminators as troops in a CAD. Place objectives all over the battlefield then drop Objective Secured deep striking Terminators and Land Raiders all over the place, seizing ground while at the same time performing a massive blitz. It may be advantageous to take Mark of Tzeentch or Nurgle for this strategy, to avoid getting shot off your objectives and losing them to the enemy.

*'''Melta Assault''': Simple, take those chosen as troop, fill them up with all the Melta, Give them Mark of Khorne or Slaanesh (along with the appropriate Icon) for a better-than-average general assault squad (Slaanesh arguably being better since Feel No Pain adds to your staying power) with the potential to hurt anything in the game with all those melta guns.


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===Thousand Sons===
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The thousand sons do two things really, ''really'' well. Eating MEQs and ruling the Psychic phase, with AP3 bolt weapons and power weapons all over the place, and psykers in nearly every unit. They're also pretty durable, having lots of invuln saves and plenty of ways to buff up. Their also the only CSM Legion that can take their Primarch. Expect the rest at the start of the next decade, or is it? Mortarion coming soon! 
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*'''Requirements:''' Only special characters allowed are Ahriman and Magnus. Everyone must take VotLW (for free), and have/must buy Mark of Tzeentch. Daemon Princes must take Daemon of Tzeentch. 
*'''Benefits:''' Rubric Marines are Troop Choices. Tzeentch Psykers can roll all of their powers on the Tzeentch Table. Any unit that gets a blessing cast on it gets +1 to their Invulnerable save, you reroll to-hit against Space Wolves in every round of close combat, but Space Wolves have Hatred(Thousand Sons).
*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''1: Arrogance of Aeons:''' Warlord has Adamantium Will, and can re-roll 1 dice when trying to deny.
**'''2: Undying Form:''' Eternal Warrior. 
**'''3: Aether Stride:''' Warlord and unit isn't affected by difficult terrain and do not suffer initiative penalty when charging through DT. Great on a Terminator Sorcerer bro-ing it up with Terminators.
**'''4: Lord of Forbidden Lore:''' Warlord knows an extra psychic power.
**'''5: Walker of the Webway:''' Warlord has Deep Strike. If he already does, he and his unit do not scatter upon deep strike.
**'''6: Lord of Flux:''' All enemies within 12" treat all terrain, even open ground, as difficult terrain. Any unit that runs, moves flat out, turbo-boosts, or charges within this bubble must take Dangerous Terrain.

*'''Artefacts of Tzeentch'''
**'''Astral Grimoire:''' A single friendly unit within 12" gets the Jump Infantry rule. Note, this means any friendly and not just 1k Sons. This can mean anything from Jump Obliterators to Plague Zombies with Hammer of Wrath. This is probably the best all-comers option from Wrath of Magnus.
**'''Athenaean Scrolls:''' If you roll any multiples of any number when casting a psychic power, it cannot be denied. Even a perils. This is if you want to sling lots of Witchfires and Maledictions around, as those are usually the easiest to Deny. That said, this artifact is near-useless against armies with no psyker presence, from Necrons to Gladius Razorspam to Tau and chances are you'll have a massive surplus of WC anyway. That said, the moment this helps you cripple a Wolfstar or Seer Council, it pays for itself then and there.
**'''Coruscator:''' Ranged weapon: 12: range, Strength 4, AP 3, Pistol, Blast, Soul Blaze. Can be situationally useful, but severely overcosted.
***'''However''', you might notice that it is just about the only Pistol in the game that a Terminator can take. Lets you shoot some shmucks without losing your bonus attack.
**'''Helm of the Third Eye:''' Gives the bearer and their unit Overwatch even if they have Slow and Purposeful, and gives them BS2 Overwatch if they do not have S&P. Again, trying to make up for the obvious shortcomings of the 1k sons. Consider using these on Mark of Tzeentch Obliterators, too! Stick in a mob of Tzaangors or Cultists for impractical yet hilarious overwatch. Alternatively, take a rubric marine squad armed entirely with warpflamers and attach a sorcerer with Helm of the Third Eye. Watch as no one charges you ''ever.''
**'''Seer's Bane:''' A Daemon Weapon with the following profile: Strength as user, AP 2, Force and Daemon Weapon with the Bane of Wisdom rule: the strength of the weapon is equal to the bearer’s Leadership characteristic (except against vehicles) as strength and the target’s Leadership characteristic as their Toughness. Use the targets normal Toughness for the purposes of Instant Death. Particularly nasty for monster-hunting if you can Leadership debuffs from other sources. Entertainingly, for the Sorcerer legion, this is by far the best on a Chaos Lord: Ld10 means it is brutally efficient, plus the higher weapon skill and generally more reliable durability JUST HURTS!!!
**'''Staff of Arcane Compulsion:''' Melee weapon, Strength +2, AP 4, Concussive, Force, Repelling Sweep: enemy units charging the bearer or his unit suffer a -2 penalty to their charge roll.  Remember Force (the spell) counts as a blessing for Blessing of Tzeentch, and is automatically known.
'''Overall:''' Unlike the mostly offensive-based CSM relics, these are somewhat more defensive, since most of these are force multipliers rather than creating a close combat monster, which still can be done if you want to give a Daemon Prince the Staff or a Sorcerer the Seer's bane.
 
*'''Mission Objectives'''
**'''1:''' Kill 9 or more enemy models during your turn.
**'''2:''' Nullify a psychic power for a VP at the end of enemy's turn. Wording means you get this automatically if it was done at least once before generating that objective.
**'''3:''' Kill loyalist scum unit during your turn.
**'''4:''' D3 VP if your opponent controls no objective markers and you control at least one.
**'''5:''' Kill a unit during psychic phase to score D3 VP.
**'''6:''' Manifest 3 powers of different types for D3 VP, but you manifest 6 powers of different types (to be exact: "usual" witchfire, nova, beam, blesiing , malediction, conjuration), score D3+3 instead. Too dependent from your magic roster and more likely to be discarded in small games with a single HQ.


*'''Thousand Sons Tactics'''
The Thousand Sons are meant to be a very small, yet powerful fighting force, with lots of Psychic dakka. As such, getting a regular CAD would be good enough for relatively low-point games.

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===Iron Warriors===
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Iron Warriors get bonuses against  Fortifications, Tanks, and Imperial Fists, like you'd expect, and they're also a little tougher than most marines.
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;'''Requirements'''
:No unique characters (which may change if [[Perturabo]] gets a model).
:No Chaos marks.
;'''Benefits'''
:All units which can take VotLW must do so for free.
:All units with VotLW gain 6+ FNP and re-roll failed to hit every combat round against [[Imperial Fists]], but the Fists gain Hatred (Iron Warriors).
:Obliterators and Mutilators are troops. 
:Units gain Shred against buildings; if you pen, you get +1 to the building damage table. 
:Havocs, Obliterators, and Mutilators get Tank Hunters.
:DP can roll all powers from their god's discipline.
;'''Warlord Traits'''
:'''1 - Iron Without'''
::4+ FNP, which can't be improved (not like you are able to).
:'''2 - Cold Calculations'''
::Fearless. [[Derp| A waste]] on everything but a fluffy Heretech Sorcerer or Warpsmith. You may want to roll it only for a Warlord-Champion in very low-budget games with no HQ unit and no way to use IW Grand Company benefits.
:'''3 - Master of Fortifications'''
::Gives a piece of terrain in your deployment zone +1 to cover.
:'''4 - Technovial Manipulator'''
::Friendly Obliterators within 12" of the Warlord can fire the same weapon in each shooting phase.
:'''5 - Steel Castellan'''
::Warlord and Unit have Split-fire and Counter-attack when in cover.
:'''6 - Master of Blasphemous Machines'''
::Friendly vehicles get IWND when within 6" of warlord.
:::All are highly situational; 2 is nearly always useless, 3 depends highly on the terrain (<s>or if you took fortifications which, believe me, you should</s> Specifically says it cannot be used on Fortifications that are part of your army list) and gets neglected [[Tau|quite]] [[Eldar|often]], 4 would be a [[That Guy]] mono-build (and even then, focusing all your soldiers on one point of the battlefield? [[Vindicator|SWEET]]! ), and 6 means your Warlord (who, just to [[Troll|remind you]], can't be a Warsmith) stays in a defensive position.  5 is... ok.
:::'''Alternate view''': A Lord with a huuuuge axe in a bubble of Dinobots and Helbrutes? Sounds like IW to me.
:::Shove him into a Helcult and enjoy a virtually unkillable Hellbrute. 3+ cover, IWND and the Warlord gets a unit to hide among. For extra cheddar make your Warlord a Warpsmith for repair rolls, 
*'''Relics'''
**'''Warpbreacher''': You can possess a vehicle each turn as though it had Daemonic Possession vehicle equipment. Warpsmith only. Not worth it, as the wording of Daemonic Possession doesn´t help you after the damage was resolved.
**'''Nest of Mechserpents''': (Warp Smith only) In a challenge, resolve first 2 hits normally. If both hit the remainder of your attacks have Instant Death. Warpsmith in CC? Could work, but they are way too expensive for this.
**'''Axe of the Forge Master''' It's a power axe with Armourbane and Master-crafted. Only worth it on a DP, otherwise unwieldy neglates the nice boni against walkers.
**'''Fleshmetal Exoskeleton''': Fleshmetal armour with IWND. Start building your own budget [[Smashfucker]].
**'''Cranium Malevolous''' During the enemy shooting phase enemy vehicles within 2D6 of this relic suffer an automatic haywire hit, no cover allowed. Combine with Dreadclaw for extra lulz.
**'''Siege Breaker Mace''': Master-Crafted Power Maul that you can make a single S10, AP 1 attack with. Actually, consider... no. Don´t. Not for a chaos lord anyways.  Put it on a daemon prince, and he's strength 8 in combat.
*'''Mission Objectives'''
**'''1:''' 1 VP if you kill a unit even partially within 18” your table edge.
**'''2:''' 1 VP if you kill a unit that was controlling an objective.
**'''3:''' 1 VP if your oblits/mutil destroyed a unit.
**'''4:''' Nominate an objective marker, get D3 VP if you control this at the end of the next turn or the end of the game.
**'''5:''' VP if enemy forts/buildings lost HP or Wound (wait, does any building or vehicle in this game has a Wounds stat?), D3 if at least one was destroyed.
**'''6:''' 1 VP if you destroy an enemy vehicle, D3 for at least 3, D3+3 if you managed to destroy five.
*'''Iron Warriors Tactics'''
**Units that actually benefit from the master of annihilation rule: Defilers with battle cannons, vindicators and vengeance weapon batteries. Nothing in the chaos arsenal has barrage. Future proofing? As for now, just stick with regular Traitor's Hate warband rules.
** Aegis Defense lines are a cheap way to get more out of your Havocs - they get cover, Fearless and their Sergeant can apply his Tank Hunter to air defense. And of course look to Planetary Onslaught for other fortifications: strongpoint or vortex missiles will be great addition for your army. Now IW is the only Decurion that includes fortifications at all!
** They work best as an Auxiliary Detachment for your main force - 2 units of Obliterators, 1 unit of Havocs and a Sorcerer fit in nearly anywhere.
** Remember, you have Obliterators in Troops. In combination with Mayhem Pack your army becomes Deep Strike spamming clutches of fuck. It may be quite annoying, because your enemy does not know which your unit is more dangerous: he may destroy one, but another will do his work!
** If you like Daemon Princes, you cane give the Exoskeleton and Deamon of Tzeentch special rule to your lovely horny guy. Black Mace also adds some deadliness.
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===Alpha Legion===
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Alpha Legion let you play sneaky cheeky chaos marines, with lots of infiltration and the tactical flexibility that offers. They've also got some fun relics and one of the most hilariously useful tricks of any army that effectively makes ''<u>every single Character</u> be your warlord'', so no Slay the Warlord VPs until every last Champion on the board is dead. Also, new Warlord trait every time one of your Sergeants get "promoted.".
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;'''Requirements'''
:Your army contains no unique characters (discuss with your opponent if you are using Arkos the Faithless) and no marks of Chaos. Daemon Princes both RAI and RAW are exempt from that restriction and can roll all powers on their god's table. Any unit that can take VotLW does so for free.
;'''Benefits'''
:'''Forward Operatives'''
::Chosen become troops and [[Awesome|Chosen, CSM and Cultists gain infiltrate.]]
:'''Many Heads of the Hydra'''
::If the Warlord is slain, pick a friendly Alpha Legion character. He generates a warlord trait immediately. [[Troll|You can do this as long as you have characters to do it with. Opponent won’t get Slay the Warlord if they haven’t killed your last remaining character. You can even do this with returned units of cultists, so with lucky return rolls, you can have infinite warlords.]]
;'''Warlord Traits'''
:'''1:''' '''Forward Agent'''
::Gain Infiltrate. Though slightly annoying Alpha Legion characters don't get this already, nice to have.
:'''2:''' '''Faceless Commander'''
::Once per game, your warlord can switch positions with another friendly character of the same unit type. Could be used for fun shenanigans. Take note that if you're swapping with a regular champion - not an IC - he and his squad would have to run towards each other trying to restore coherency. And it could be super easy to remove them from play with tank shocks later on. So, keep this in mind.
:'''3:''' '''Expert Timing'''
::From turn 2 on, one unit auto passes reserve rolls. Remember that having Infiltrate automatically confers Outflank, so if you roll this one consider leaving units in reserves for auto-Outflank.
:'''4:''' '''Hidden in Plain Sight'''
::Gain Stealth. Excellent; remember that one model having Stealth confers the cover save to his entire unit. Wondering what if you roll Shrouded on HQ or champ of the squad he has joined to? Stealth and Shrouded are cumulative (just like for Tau Stealth Suits).
:'''5:''' '''Cult Leader'''
::Cultist units within 12" get Furious Charge and Feel No Pain (6+). Get your warlord into the backfield and enjoy your endlessly respawning, outflanking, angry cultists.
:'''6:''' '''Alpha Strategist'''
::Acute Senses and Outflank. Unlike Infiltrate, a single model with Outflank can confer it to the entire unit, so use it to take units that don't get infiltrate (like Havocs and Terminators) into the enemy back line.
;'''Relics'''
:'''The Mindveil'''
::At the start of your movement, instead of moving normally, the bearer and his unit get to move 3D6 immediately. This can take you from combat and the enemy cannot consolidate. Makes a wonderful companion for the Soulswitch Psychic Power. Mindveil out of melee, switch places with something scarier, then gain charge bonuses to beat the stuff you struggled with. Might also stack with World Eater's Talisman Of Burning Blood for +3" to Mindveil move.
:'''Blade of the Hydra'''
::An AP5 Daemon Weapon with Rending and the the '''Multi-headed''' special rule: every roll of 6 to hit generates another attack and [[Blood Angels|extra attacks DO generate yet more attacks]]. On average, this will multiply your total attacks by 1.2. 
:'''Viper’s Bite'''
::A bolter with S5 AP2. Cost of a Plasma Pistol, but infinitely more useful. Either give it to a Termie Lord or use it to make a Warpsmith scarier at range.
:'''The Drakescale Plate'''
::A 2+ armor save that gives a [[Salamanders|2++ vs. flamer weapons]]. Chaos Artificer Armor for the win! Also since it's a relic and has no restrictions at all, [[Cheese|it can be taken by Daemon Princes.]] Make your Prince a Daemon of Tzeentch to re-roll those pesky 1s. The invuln versus flamers is a rather niche rule due to the almost total lack of AP2 flamers in the game, but could be useful in a few cases.
:'''Hydra’s Teeth'''
::Special bolter ammo, which can be used in pistols, combi-bolters, combi-weapons, and boltguns. Gains Blast, Ignores Cover and Poison (2+). Cheap and nice for shooting up some light infantry. If you want a shooty Chaos Lord, toss either this or Viper's Bite on him and go to town. Also consider giving this to a Terminator or Biker Lord to take advantage of Relentless and the combi-bolter rules. Double-tap with twin-linked, poisonous explosives, then get stuck in.
:'''Icon of Insurrection'''
::Friendly Cultists within 12” gain Zealot. Give it to a Sorcerer, hide him in a blob of Cultists and have at least one other Cultist unit to take advantage of the bubble and you're good to go. Stack with the Cult Leader Warlord Trait for super-Cultists.
;Mission Objectives
:#Capture an Enemy or Unclaimed Building before or after generating this objective.
:#1VP if a Cultist unit gets Destroyed.
:#Destroy a unit with Deep Strike, Hit & Run, Outflank, or Scout during your own turn.
:#A unit with Infiltrate kills a unit. Roll D3 if you killed at least 3 units by Infiltrate units
:#Control any objective marker into the enemy deployment zone, roll D3 if you control more than one.
:#Kill a Character during your turn, get D3 VP if 3 Characters are killed, and D3+3 if you kill 5 characters.
;Alpha Legion Tactics
:Like their 30K incarnation, Alpha Legion are a primarily infantry-based army who specialize in unconventional tactics. Shrouded infiltrating infantry en masse are quite hard for anyone shy of Tau to shift. Tie up and block off enemy units with cultist chaff while your elites strike at the heart of the enemy force.
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===World Eaters===
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Good old Khorne Berzerkers, you know them and you love them. Or maybe you don't. Either way, World Eaters limit your tactical flexibility but make you much meaner in melee and most of your army is going to be straight up fearless.
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;'''Requirements'''
:Your only available special character is [[Kharn|that swell guy]] (agree with your opponent about Zhufor).
:No psyker scum.
:Only available mark is Khorne.
:Only Khornate Daemons can be taken in this army.

;'''Benefits''' 
:Berzerkers are troops.
:Every unit that can take VotLW does so, for free.
:Units with VotLW have Adamantium Will, Fearless, and Furious Charge.

*'''Warlord Traits:'''
**'''1 - Arch-Slaughterer:''' Warlord has the Rampage special rule.
**'''2 - Slaughterborn:''' When rolling on the chaos boon table, you instead can swap the roll you made to gain +1 attack. This right here can get you pretty nasty pretty quickly, given that per Favored Scions rule you actually get two rolls instead of one, boon of mutation is just a 10 point +1 attack buy for you, and that you can never get either the [[chaos spawn|short]] or the [[daemon prince|long]] end of the stick that is Chaos Lottery up your arse. Challenge sergeants! Have more attacks that you know what to do with!
**'''3 - Unrivaled Battle Lust:''' At the end of your opponent's charge sub-phase, your warlord and his unit can declare a charge as long as they are not locked in combat themselves and the nemy unit IS locked in the combat. Now this here just screams [[distraction carnifex|kill me hard]], especially when on a Juggerlord. 
**'''4 - Disciple of Khorne:''' Re-roll all failed to-hit and to-wound rolls in a challenge. Now this is nice.
**'''5 - True Berzerker:''' While in combat, you have Eternal Warrior and Feel No Pain. Well, if you aren't always locked in combat, you're doing it wrong.
**'''6 - Violent Urgency:''' Warlord and all friendly MoK units within 8" can roll 3d6 and pick the 2 highest when determining charge ranges. A Maelstrom of Gore unit with this and the talisman can reliably pull of 12 inch charges.
*All in all, you can use any of these traits to your advantage, with only 1 being a "nah".

*'''Artefacts of Khorne'''
**'''Talisman of Burning Blood''': Bearer's unit can move 3” extra when moving, running and charging. Combine with a Maelstrom of Gore formation for a [[Awesome|guaranteed 8" charge minimum.]]. Best suited for a lord on bike or juggernaut, as it enhances those already [[Doomrider|fast fuckers]]. use on a 20 man Berzerker squad, nothing screams BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD more than 80 S5 attacks on Turn 1. 
**'''[[Angron|GOREFATHER]]''': S+2, AP2, Armourbane, Murderous strike (sixes to wound are Instant Death), 2-handed, Unwieldy. Use this on a DP to totally steamroll monstrous creatures and the particular [[Mary Sue|special snowflake]].
**'''Crimson Killer''': Plasma pistol with Soulblaze instead of Gets Hot. Never ever worth it. Alternate take, there is no restriction so an extra attack and a plasma shot without gets hot for terminator or a prince could be nice.
**'''Brass collar of Bhorghaster''': Bearer can Deny the Witch on a 4+, and if he succeeds, the psyker suffers perils. Nice to have when you really depend on it, but then you are playing against either a [[Eldar|fuckton]] of [[Grey Knights|witches]] or just one or none at all. Highly situational at best.
**'''Bloodfeeder''': Unwieldy specialist power axe replaces all bearer's Attacks stat with 2d6 but can be increased as usual through charges, having another Specialist weapon, etc. Each roll of 1 (when rolling for attacks, hit, wounds or all together??? Need email to GW or FAQ) is a wound to you with no armor saves. Axe of Blind Fury's retarded cousin. (Alternate take, this means rolls of 1 when rolling for the number of attacks. This is absolutely brutal. Take on a terminator lord with a Lightning Claw and watch as (with Furious Charge and Rage) you get an average of 10 strength 6 AP2 hits on the charge with only a 2/9 chance of losing a wound. Say good-bye to any vehicle short of a Land Raider and explode your foe's special snowflake in a challenge. (If you live long enough to do so.)) 
**'''Berzerker's Glaive''': S+2, AP3, Daemon Weapon, Specialist Weapon, 2-handed, Epitome of Rage (bearer gains FnP & IWND but loses Independent Character rule). Sweet on a DP or Juggerlord, depending on your play-style. Very fitting if you don't want your general to [[Rip and Tear]] through the whole squad and then face down all those [[Tau|pesky]] [[Imperial Guard|guns]] all on his own.
*'''Mission Objectives'''
**'''1:''' 1VP for denying the witch.
**'''2:''' 1VP when you kill an enemy controlling an objective marker.
**'''3:''' Khorne rewards you with a VP when 3+ of your units make charge.
**'''4:''' Kill a character in challenge during your turn, D3 VP if you kill the enemy Warlord that way.
**'''5:''' An interesting one. If one unit from any side dies, get a VP, but you earn D3 instead if units die on both sides. And thid all must happen on your turn.
**'''6:''' For each unit wiped in assault you get a VP (maximum 6).
*'''World Eaters Tactics'''
The World Eater rules are a Khorne-send for folks who want to play Mean, Red dudes. The Warband Core formation adds a good bit of tactical flexibility, allowing you to have maneuverability and shooting. Also, it doesn't take a particularly big stretch of the imagination to get some first turn charges, which is a relative rarity in this game as the overwhelming majority of the units that WOULD be able to get within a charge distance on turn one, are prohibited due to restrictions from Scout / Infiltrate.

The Detachment Command Benefit "Blood Mad" gives all non-vehicle units a free, optional 2D6" move. Note that this is OPTIONAL. Do you have a unit of havocs sitting on an objective? Good. Don't worry. Khorne loves blood and skulls, but he's not Chaotic Stupid. He knows that you have to have fire support to blow up the tanks that let all those other little skulls come pouring out of. Additionally, there's nothing that says that the movement needs to be directly towards an enemy, so it could effectively be used to redeploy, shift, or otherwise hop on an objective just outside of your deployment zone before the beginning of turn one. Considering relics like the Talisman of Burning Blood, this lets you fly across the battlefield at breakneck speed. For example in conventional deployment styles you are 24" away if you're toeing the line. You move up an additional 2d6 (average is 7), move up 9 on your movement phase and you're only 8 inches away from the closest whatever it is on the enemy line. That's assuming you're ''walking''. If you're on a bike or a juggernaut, you're given even more flexibility for your charge ranges. Move over, Nurgle Bikers, you're no longer the only game in town. Oh also you can re-roll charges. Congrats on your free Icons of Wrath all around, y'all.

There's a compelling argument to be made for not taking Khorne Berzerkers ever again as regular Chaos Marines can be made almost as good for a couple points fewer per model. With the World Eater upgrades they have Rage, Counter Attack, and Furious Charge, have a Bolter, Bolt Pistol and CCW, a MUCH greater selection of special weapons (with no loss in attacks in close combat). The only thing you lose out on is weapon skill five, but given the fact that the majority of players you're going to face are probably space marines, that's mitigated by VotLW's hatred. 

Alternate Take: Let's not discard the Maelstrom of Gore formation as the Core choice though. It gives you +3" to charge and Fleet, plus the Red Rain rule [I know it's situational but the first abilities are worth it alone]. If your only tactic is to charge ahead with a swarm of berzerkers anyway then this option is for you. True, you don't have objective secured but sweeping objectives with assault is still viable and a 5" to 15" charge range with Fleet can get you there real quick. Add in the Talisman and that becomes 8" to 18", with Fleet. Fire support can be added with auxiliary choices or a CAD. 


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===Emperor's Children===
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The new Emperor's Children rules play up their sensation seeker angle, giving them bonuses to durability and letting them attack even when slain, painting a picture of an army of masochists gladly throwing themselves onto the blades of their enemies just to kill and be killed.
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*'''Requirements''': Only special character allowed is Lucius. Must take Mark of Slaanesh, only take Mark of Slaanesh. VotLW is compulsory, and free. Daemon Princes must be Daemon of Slaanesh (Not a tax since Daemon of Slaanesh is awesome)
*'''Benefit''': VotLW units get Fearless and 6+FNP (which is upgraded to 4+ by the Icon of Excess). Noise Marines are troops. If you are killed in combat before you attack you still can make one attack (VotLW only). Slaaneshi psykers can roll every power from Slaanesh discipline.

*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''1 - Glutton for Punishment:''' Eternal Warrior. An excellent grab for a Daemon Prince in particular, but is great in almost all cases.
**'''2 - Quicksilver Reflexes:''' +2 Initiative. I8 Chaos Lord of rape and fury who beats Eldar to the punch, or I10 Daemon Prince that hits first against Bloodthirsters. Amazing against slower units that are not Fearless(Like Necrons and Tau), making a Sweeping Advance nigh impossible to defend against. 
**'''3 - Nexus of Debauchery:''' Warlord and unit have +1 to their Feel No Pain. 5+ FnP with bare bones EC, and 3+ FnP if you took the Icon of Excess. Holy hell that's awesome.
**'''4 - Psychotropic Aura:''' Warlord has Fear, and all opponents must test fear on 3D6. Unremarkable, considering 5 armies in the game ignore it outright or have something to circumvent fear (Ethereal, Commissar, Fearless, Instability). This is gonna be an utter bane of the Eldar's existence, though.
**'''5 - Stimulated by Pain:''' Gain an extra Attack each time you lose a wound, but effects disappear if you heal it somehow (Life Leech, Lay Leech).
**'''6 - Idol of Mindless Devotion:''' You can choose to auto-pass "Look out, sir!" rolls. If rolled on DP, you may choose to re-roll this.

*'''Artefacts of Slaanesh'''
**'''[[Doomrider|Intoxicating Elixir]]''': 25 points. Bearer makes D3 rolls on combat drugs. These are cumulative if you roll the same one more than once and with the combat drugs from the detachment bonus. With the right rolls on a Bike-Lord, you can potentially (1 in 3888) end up with a [[Smashfucker|Toughness 9, cocaine addicted indestructible motherfucker]].  You have the same odds of getting I9, of course.
**'''Shriekwave''': (REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE) 20 points. Once per game, you can fire off this gun with 12” S8 AP2 Assault D6, Mental Trauma (before attack target makes an ld test, and if they fail you get Shred). It is a good buy especially since Emperor's Children tend to lack high strength ap2 shooting.
**'''Soul Snare Lash''': 20 pennies. If used as a ranged weapon: 6” S4 AP5 assault 2 ; if used as a melee weapon, S user AP5 melee. Either way, both attacks have the Soulsnare rule (rending, but rends also cause instant death).
**'''Endless Grin''': 10 points. You have fear, and enemies within 6” have -1 leadership. Add to a Sorcerer to get your own Teke, the Smiling One, aka "That Grinning Bastard." Very useful against Eldar since they already get a Leadership penalty against Mark of Slaanesh, stack and show up those cheese lords.
**'''Bolts of Ecstatic Vexation''': 15 points. The bearer's bolter, combi-bolter, bolter part of combi-weapon, and/or bolt pistol gain blast, ignores cover, and pinning. 
**'''Blissgiver''': 30 points for a Power Sword with the Daemon Weapon rule, and Catatonic trance - target must pass Ld test/wound or be removed from play. Give to a Daemon Prince that hopefully rolls Terrify from Telepathy and have it tag team an enemy unit with a Raptor Talon Chaos Lord rocking the Endless Grin for maximum lulz.
'''Overall:''' In all, not too bad. The Blissgiver is a welcome return that combos well with various Leadership lowering shenanigans. Intoxicating Elixir will forge an amazing Chaos Lord or outright terrifying Biomancy wielding-Daemon Prince of rape and fury.



;'''Mission Objectives'''
:#Wipe a unit through Noise Marine sonic weapons. ''THINGS SHALL GET LOUD NOW!''
:#Win a challenge. Simple.
:#Kill a unit that is falling back.
:#1VP per enemy unit that fails Morale, Fear or Pinning, you can score maximum 3. Spess Mehreen meta makes really hard to get "Squad Broken!"
:#Your enemy must pick an objective marker and  you get D3VP when you take it.
:#D3 VP if your enemy controls no objectives but if you control all objectives, roll D3+3.

'''Emperor's Children Tactics:'''
The Emperor's Children have one of the best tactics, only bested by Death Guard in terms of the ability to survive what ever most enemies can throw at it, aside from being outright brutal in assault since Power Fists and Melta Bombs will still get to make 1 attack even if you got smacked before you could strike. Don't forget, Noise Marines with free VotLW for 6+ FnP on top of ignores cover boltguns are the best MEQ in the game, as per the tactics discussion. On the other hand, they do not synergize well with Combat Drugs, unless you roll +1 Toughness or +1 BS. Your first choice should be a Chaos Warband, as it also provides you with anti-air and plasma weapons. I dare say that Emperor's Children, if you spam enough Icons of Excess, are surprisingly hardy for a rapidly moving force, given how they get 4+ Feel No Pain and can strike at I5 compared to I4/3, making it much easier to run down opponents when you win combat.
*Raptor Wing is a good Auxiliary choice for them as it benefits very much from MoS and Combat Drugs and synergizes well with Blissgiver and Endless Grin.
*The Warpsmith formations get even more expensive with the MoS tax. The Hellbrute formations are a good replacement, unless you really want those Maulerfiends.
*If you are taking a regular warband as core choice, it could be a good idea to stick to regular traitor's hate warband rules in smaller games. You'll get 2 boons per turn instead of army-wide combat drugs.
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===Death Guard===
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Death guard are about what you'd expect, being tougher across the board than standard CSM, but they also gain relentless, which could be useful, and they're fearless, which is ''huge''. They are, however, slower than your typical marines with -1 to initiative. 
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*'''Requirements''': Only unique character available is Typhus (and probably Necrosius, but we need FAQ from FW). Mark of Nurgle Only. VotLW. Psykers must take one power from Nurgle.
*'''Benefits''': VotLW gain Fearless, Feel No Pain, and Relentless, but suffer -1 initiative unless they are Typhus or Plague Marines, which count as troops. (Combine with The Purge to get the most out of your Havocs and Oblits.) Fearless Terminators with T5 and FnP? Oh, HELL yeah! Also, psykers may roll all powers from Nurgle discipline.


*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''1 - Insensate to Pain:''' +1 to your Feel no Pain rolls. 4+ Feel No Pain. Or get a Biomancer and hope for Endurance for a 3+FnP-EW monster of a Chaos Lord.
**'''2 - Tainted Regeneration:''' IWND.
**'''3 - Lord of Contagion:''' Friendly units within 7" get ''Contagion'': All enemy units locked in combat with a unit with this rule take D6 Poisoned (4+) AP4 auto-hits at the Initiative 10 Step
**'''4 - Hulking Physique:''' +1 Wound. That Carnifex over there surely looks frail now.
**'''5 - Rotten Constitution:''' Eternal Warrior. Roll this on a Nurgle Biker Lord and drink your opponent's tears.
**'''6 - Arch-contaminator:''' Poisoned weapons get an extra +1 to their effectiveness, to a maximum of Poisoned (2+). For example, Plague Marine's Plague Knifes with the Poisoned rule become Poisoned (3+). Works only for Warlord and his unit.


*'''Artefacts of Nurgle'''
**'''Puscleaver''': Poison 2+ CCW. Turns your DP into an MC killer. Or just take the Black Mace instead.
**'''Plague Skull Glothia''': One use only. Range 8" S1 AP - Assault 1, Poison (2+), Large Blast. 15 points better spent elsewhere.
**'''Pandemic Staff''': Poison 2+ staff. As a ranged weapon, it's a template S1 AP5 Assault 2. As a melee weapon, it's a Power Maul. Take this on a Demon Prince. He becomes strength 8 in close combat and becomes very capable of popping tanks or walkers plus he wounds most things on 2's and rerolls 1's since the staff also has poison 2+.
**'''Dolorus Knell''': All friendly Death Guard units within 14" of the bearer have Fear during the Fight-subphase. Additionally, enemy units have to roll 3D6 while testing for Fear. Again, kinda "Meh" in the current meta.
**'''Poxwalker Hive''': [[Typhus|Turn your cultists into zombies]]. At start of each turn you grant FnP to a friendly Cultist unit within 7". They can't run or shoot for the rest of the game but gain Fearless and D3 cultists come back to life in every infected unit if they are still within 7".
**'''Plaguebringer''': Power sword with Poison 4+ and Daemon weapon. At 35 points, this could be a slightly cheaper and weaker Black Mace on your DP as you will be re-rolling 2+ (Poisoned states that it always wounds on a fixed number UNLESS a lower result would be required) to wound vs everything with T5 or lower. 


*'''Mission Objectives'''
**'''1:''' A VP if 3+ of your units are on enemy table half.
**'''2:''' Make 7 FnP rolls in any single phase. Make them and laugh.
**'''3:''' Kill a unit with Poisoned weapon or Psychic power.
**'''4:''' Pick a character. If he is alive at the end of the game.
**'''5:''' Score D3 VPs if you control EXACTLY 3 objective markers.
**'''6:''' If you kill 7/14/21 models you get 1/D3/D3+3 VPs.


*'''Death Guard Tactics:'''
These tactics are something that people have been drooling over for, and with good reason. Death Guard are perhaps the tankiest Chaos Space Marine army out there, but that blow to initiative will really hurt if you have to chase someone down, or pass a Blind test. Regular squads of 10 CSM are the way to go, in their decurion they are able to go up against most mid-range shooty armies. Keep in mind that all the models with VOTLW get ''Relentless'', which not only makes Havocs and extra CCW Marines absolutely disgusting to use but also keeps with the fluffy Death Guard theme of footslogging through the heaviest fire without stopping. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF RELENTLESS. In addition, Spawn with a Sorcerer on a Bike will ruin most people's days. The Nurgle discipline is absolutely great with no real drawbacks, the Primaris is very much the unsung hero of the discipline, especially when up against those cheesy 'sit in the corner camping Tau lists' that are around the place.

The builds with the best synergy are Chaos Warband + Cult of Destruction and Plague Colony + Hellforged Warpack. Lost and Damned are only worth it if you take Typhus, otherwise a Hellcult benefits you more.
Terminator Annihilation Force is fun (and need I remind you these are Fearless, T5, FnP, 2+/5++ assholes that are not going anywhere any time soon?), Raptor Talon can be worth it if you combine it with Bikers <s>and Fear icons</s>. Also, uniquely you've got an interesting options to run MSU of Raptors with Relentless Plasmaguns, as ghetto Crisis Teams. Sure Chosen and Havocs get more guns, but you are much zippier and still decently survivable.

But the most important thing to do with DG is to keep moving towards the enemy. You don't want your units sitting in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere getting their asses handed to them by a shit tonne of forced saves. Oh, and keep out of the way of Rending and Poisoned. Not fun.

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===Night Lords===
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The Night Lords are about  what you'd expect; fast, scary, and stealthy. 
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*'''Requirements''': No unique characters. No Chaos marks. Must take VotLW for free.
*'''Benefits''': All units with VotLW gain Fear, Night Vision and Stealth. Raptors are Troops (Warp Talons are still in the same organization slot). Enemy locked in combat with you take Fear tests at -2 (-4 if you took the Raptor Talon formation, -5 if you took the Vox Daemonicus as well). DPs are allowed to roll all powers from their patron's table.


*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''1 - One Piece at a Time...:''' Warlord has ''Hit & Run''. 
**'''2 - Murderous Reputation:''' Warlord and unit re-rolls 1's to wound in assault (applies for Icy Aura too). ''This trait is redundant for your Warlord if you're not using one of the weapon relics, but the ability to re-roll 1s can help his squad out in a pinch. Sp...those things end up hitting that much harder due to this for example.''
**'''3 - Fierce Hatred:''' Warlord has Hatred. ''You'll want to re-roll this versus Marines of course.''
**'''4 - One With The Shadows:''' Warlord has re-rollable cover saves. Pray you're not up against Tau. ''Alternatively, might be helpful against Marine shooting attacks, especially while Night Fighting is in effect.''
**'''5 - Dirty Fighters:''' Warlord and his units have HoW, which stacks with pre-existing HoW for re-rollable HoW wounds. This one is also rather nice, especially for a large Biker blob.
**'''6 - Killing Fury:''' Warlord has the ''Rampage'' USR. Does your opponent use "big" models rather than large armies? If yes, re-roll this.

Most of these traits are fairly solid, other than Fierce Hatred and occasionally Killing Fury, but they mostly affect the Warlord's unit in some way or another; two items are defensive (re-rollable cover, or Hit & Run), while re-rolling 1s to-wound or getting/buffing Hammer of Wrath means a meaner charge; you can't rely on getting H&R, but you can rely on this table working well if you want to run a larger escort for your Lord, be it a large Bike unit or of sp-OHGODNOBBLRBBBBBB!!!


*'''Artifacts of the Night Lords'''
**'''Scourging Chain''': You get Shred in melee. Very nice budget option if you didn't take Lightning Claws. Still, for just ten more points you could take the drastically better Curze's Orb. 
**'''Claws of Black Hunt''': A pair of Master-crafted, Strength +1, Rending Lightning Claws. Make an evil [[MURDERWINGS|Murderwings]]. 
**'''Curze's Orb''': Re-roll 1s to Run, To Hit and To Wound. You want this mostly for the re-rolls to-hit and wound; the most immediate choice would be to give this to a melee lord and have an easier time chopping the enemy up, but note that you can use this to re-roll 1s to-hit for '''any''' attack. If you're feeling cheeky and like the idea of using an Ectomancy Sorcerer to mow down small squads of infantry, this little item will give you that extra zap. Or if you're feeling even cheekier, give this to a character manning a Plasma Obliterator...generally though, this item loses to the relic below.
**'''Stormbolt Plate''': Fleshmetal Hide that also grants the user +1 to Cover Saves; combine with the free Stealth from Veterans of the Long War, and this can give its user a 2+ Jink Save. A Daemon Prince of Tzeentch equipped with this effectively becomes immune to most shooting (though Hunter's Eye-boosted Grav squads still won't give a fuck, nor will Psychic Shriek), giving you one of the most prominent Distraction Carnifexes in the game.
**'''Vox Daemonicus''': Enemies within 6” get -1 Ld, and they get -1 to Reserve rolls so long as the bearer is on the field. Always take this!
**'''Talons of The Night Terror''': Each fight sub phase make additional D3 attacks (or D6 if it's a turn you charged) which are S user AP5, Shred. ''Although not necessarily the most optimal kit for a Daemon Prince, the Prince does have the highest base Strength and WS among generic HQ choices, as well as AP2. Hence he would be most likely to benefit. Consider using this with a Daemon Prince of Khorne, to gain the added bonus of Furious Charge for some shenanigans on the Charge.''


*'''Mission Objectives'''
**11: ''Hunter, Prey'' - Score 1 VP ''(DING!)'' for slaying an enemy character in a challenge on your own turn.
**12: ''Genocidal Tendencies'' - Did a unit made a successful charge during your turn? At the end of said turn, claim another VP. ''DING!''
**13: ''Strike As If From Nowhere'' - If your unit came on from Deep Strike Reserves or was in cover during your turn, and said unit killed an enemy unit, you get another 1 VP.
**14: ''Murder On The Mind'' - Did you completely destroy an enemy unit during the Assault Phase of your own turn? ''DING!'' Victory Point. Oh wait, you wiped at least three enemy units? Here, have D3 VP's instead!
**15: ''Excessive Force'' - You have two separate enemy units camping objectives. Take back what's yours! Destroy them both completely, and you get to claim D3 Victory Points at the end of that turn.
**16: ''Bringers of Terror'' - Here's a fun little challenge. You get 1 VP if you force your opponent to take a Fear, Morale, or Pinning Test during your turn, and they fail it. Land that accomplishment three times in a turn, and that Hat Trick gets rewarded with D3 VP's instead. Make them fail six or more!? How about (D3)+3 VP's as a Jackpot?


*'''Night Lords Tactics'''
The Night Lords have reasonably powerful legion tactics, and having the Raptor Talon as one of their core formation means that they can quickly overwhelm almost any non-fearless unit if they can get the charge off. Remember to include a mixture of Warp Talons and Raptors before you charge the enemy with both, forcing them to test for Fear at -4. Against shooty armies (excluding Tau, whose markerlights can negate your cover), tie their units up in combat with Raptors charging after deep striking using the Raptor Talon, while letting any footslogging units rely on their enhanced cover saves to survive until they can get into close combat. Speaking of cover saves, the ability to force Night Fighting keeps your shooty/jinky elements alive during the initial turn of the game, and is your shitty "Plan B" against any Imperials who thought you were a One Trick Pony and easily countered by "ATSKNF". Cover is also an effective tool when faced with the likes of Tempestus Scions, who might try to drown your Murder Talon detatchment with AP3 Hot-Shot Lasgun fire. Just stick your Lord with Stormbolt plate in front of the squad and let him eat up all those scary low AP shots with his 3+ (possibly re-rollable) Cover save. You may also consider ground assault elements with Chaos Bikers, putting their enhanced Jink save to good use; just don't pretend to be a Ravenwing, they are still better than you in every way. Keep said biker tactics in mind if you opt to build a Chaos Warband instead/alongside of a Raptor Talon.

As far as Auxiliary choices when fashioning your Murder Talon, the Heldrake Terror Pack is too good to pass up. Your Heldrakes become a nexus for panic, causing enemy units within range to suffer a Leadership penalty. Pretty useful when you factor in all the Fear your Marines cause. The other reason to take the Heldrakes? they offer airborne infantry removal via Baleflamers, or you can keep the Hades Autocannons to help pop light armor.

Although you may think that going up against Space Marines is an auto lose cause of the whole "ATSKNF" thingy, ''Veteran's of the Long War'' more than makes up for it with re-rolling 4's to hit on the first round which is statistically better than hitting on 3's (And being hit back on 5's? With powerfists?). In addition, a DP of Tzeentch wearing the Stormbolt Plate with wings is absolutely disgusting to use, and telling your opponent that you have an FMC with a 2+ re-rollable armour save and a 2+ re-rollable ''Jink'' will make him/her want to reach across the table and throttle you. Just keep in mind that you have to avoid dreadnoughts and S10 in combat if you do take him, and if he's your Warlord (and why wouldn't he be?) Pray to all four chaos gods that you get ''Hit & Run'' as the WL trait. Outside of this cheesemonster, however, your legion as a mostly melee CSM force has precious little else to back you up, compared to guys who [[Black_Legion|run a better Raptor Talon than you]], [[Emperor's_Children|have army-wide 4+ FNP]] or [[Death_Guard|just refuse to die outright]].

When selecting relics and other wargear, and what you want to aim for when rolling Warlord Traits, take heed of the redundancy in the kit afforded to you. There are lots of tools to make your characters overwhelmingly lethal in close combat. If that isn't a concern, however, consider bringing the Vox Daemonicus to disrupt/slow enemy reserves. The Stormbolt Plate is also a good survival tool to disrupt the success of enemy shooting.

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===Word Bearers===
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Word Bearers trade raw bonuses for versatility. They're the only other Legion besides Black Legion that can mix-and-match different Marks, they're potent at Daemon summoning, and their Warlord Table changes a lot of how they play. 
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*'''Requirements:''' No unique characters (presumably this will be changed if Lorgar and Erebus ever get rules in 40k). No units with pre-bought marks (such as Noise Marines or Exalted Sorcerers). However, units that can purchase marks can still take them. Marked Psykers and DPs can choose to generate all their powers from their gods' discipline. Like all legions, you must take VotLW, which is free and grants you your "legion tactics".
*'''Benefits:'''
**'''Unholy Pact''': Word Bearers Psykers harness Warp Charges on 3+ when rolling Malefic Conjuration powers, and Possessed are Troops.
**'''Blood Feud''': Models with VotLW re-roll to hit against Ultramarines, but Ultramarines gain Hatred (Word Bearers).
**'''Profane Zeal''':Word Bearers units within 6" of Word Bearers Dark Apostles gain Zealot.

*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''1:''' '''Unholy Firebrand''': Zealot. If Warlord already has Zealot, affected models re-roll hits every round, not just the first. A big improvement over the vanilla CSM 'Lord of Hatred."
**'''2:''' '''Latent Powers''': Become a Psyker. If already a Psyker, +1 Mastery Level. Note that unless you were a psyker already, you can only use Malefic Daemonology: there is a high risk of perils, and big summoning powers will be unreliable anyway on a non-dedicated psyker. However, Cursed Earth, the two witchfires and Sacrifice can all be quite useful if you happen to roll one.
***This trait, uniquely, allows [[Dawn of War|a Warlord with the Mark of Khorne to become a psyker]].
**'''3:''' '''Voice of Lorgar''': [[Imperial Guard|Lets you give orders to your Legionaries]]. Each turn you may grant a friendly unit within 12" Counterattack, Fearless, Furious Charge or Relentless.
**'''4:''' '''Unbreakable Devotion''': Adamantium Will and Fearless. Unfortunately, no additional bonus to characters who already have those abilities. Can be somewhat useful on Sorcerers if you face enemy Psykers which may target you with their focused witchfires. Otherwise, re-roll.
**'''5:''' '''Nexus of the Gods''': You and friendly Characters within 12", when rolling on the Chaos Boon table can either add or subtract 1 from the second die when rolling on the boon table. This prevents your warlord from accidentally turning himself into an [[Chaos Spawn|unnameable beast]], and makes the d3+1 boons, 2+ armor, Daemon Prince, etc. easier to fish for. No, it won't allow to turn Witch-eater to Fleshbane weapon or +1BS to +1I.
**'''6:''' '''Unexpected Boon''': Gain an extra roll on the Boon table. Re-roll if you get nothing or if it would turn you into a [[Chaos Spawn|you-know-what]]: however, keep the roll if it turns you into a Daemon Prince! But do you need the Warlord which is a squishy fire-magnet, loses all special rules and wargear and can't score objectives?

'''Summary:''' 2 of the three Warlord Traits grant Fearless and a second effect, 3 out of the 6 Warlord Traits are force-multiplier effects which are actually rather incredible to have, and the last one is...a 1 in 36 chance of being a Daemon Prince, so in those other 215 games it's just a random effect. That said, when you re-roll this, you have at least 3 in 4 chance of getting a good trait, and they let you do things you normally can't!

*'''Relics'''
**'''Malefic Tome:''' Bearer gets 1 extra power, which must be rolled on Malefic Daemonology. Very inexpensive, it can be taken like any more generic piece of wargear, rather than being a major investment like a daemon weapon: it's a very straightforward way of getting good use out of your legion tactics without over-committing to psykers. Take it on a Sorcerer with a Mark so you won't lose your psychic focus, and get summoning on top of whatever else you are using. Alternatively take it on a Daemon Prince, so that you can summon like crazy without the high risk of perils.
**'''Skull of Monarchia:''' Bearer and unit re-roll all failed to-hit rolls against Armies of the Imperium in close combat, and if against Ultramarines re-roll to wound. This is fluffy item is unfortunately limited in usefulness, with the same issue as VotLW has for non-legion armies: you are paying extra points for bonuses in close combat that are only against specific enemy factions. While getting ripped up in melee is certainly what the smurfs deserve for being the false Emperor's bitches, this artifact won't really do much in the other 95% of battles you fight. Give it a pass, except for narrative campaign play.
**'''Scripts of Erebus:''' Generate D6 Extra warp charges in a psychic phase, once per game. Another cheap psyker item! Similar to the Malefic Tome, this allows you to have a strong psychic phase without spending all your points on sorcerers. What is more, this works for all disciplines, not just Malefic Daemonology: other disciplines with lots of expensive powers, such as Tzeentch, become a lot easier to use with this item. Take it on a character who doesn't already have another artifact, such as your Dark Apostle, and pop it as required.
***On average this will give you 3-4 psychic dice, which when combined with a Spell Familiar is enough on its own to cast a WC3 Malefic power, or a WC2 power from any other discipline. Depending on your powers, that's enough to save, destroy, or summon a unit, on top of whatever else you would do that turn, meaning as long as you keep your sorcerer alive this item can easily make its points back.
**'''Baleful Icon:''' Enemy units must re-roll successful charges, and if they still succeed, the charge is disordered. This one is weird among the Word Bearers artifacts, a defensive item for a legion that wants to get into melee combat, and is only helpful if you're getting charged(expect it to do nothing against armies like Tau). The most obvious uses for it are to protect your dedicated summoner, or make a large shooty mob of cultists more resilient: it certainly has its place, and much like the psyker artifacts is extremely cheap for what it does.
**'''Crown of Blasphemer:''' 4+ Invulnerable Save, Adamantium Will, and Fear. For just five extra points, you get a better Sigil of Corruption. In addition, this item is a relic, NOT special issue wargear, so you can take it on a [[Awesome|Warpsmith or Daemon Prince]]!
**'''Cursed Crozius:''' AP3 Power Maul that grants Preferred Enemy: Armies of the Imperium. Jealous of those loyalist captains with their Relic Blades? This is like the Relic Blade, except better, because you can dual wield it. A good choice for a Chaos Lord or Daemon Prince. Ironically the points are somewhat wasted on a Dark Apostle, since they already start with a power weapon, and you're still paying full price for this item on top of it, but that's life. The Preferred Enemy(Imperium) is a bonus, that will do some gnarly things if witchfire or plasma weapons are involved(remember a Chaos Lord with this item grants Preferred Enemy to his entire squad). Much more worthwhile than the skull, because even though it is especially powerful against the loyalist unbelievers, it does good work against xenos too.

'''Mission Objectives'''

Word Bearers tactical objectives focus around summoning daemons and getting into close combat with the enemy. 

*''Unholy Crusade'': 1 VP if a unit with Zealot model successfully charges. A dead draw the first turn, but worth keeping if you have it right as your forces get into charge range.
*''Feed the Daemon'': 1 VP if your daemons wipe something out in melee. Weaksauce.
*''Slay their False Prophets'': 1 VP for killing an enemy character. Easy enough to get, as it doesn't matter how you kill the character.
*''Allies Beyond the Veil'': d3 VPs for summoning daemons. Since you are Word Bearers, you were doing this anyway, right? Easiest d3 VPs ever.
*''Delight in Despoliation'': d3 VPs for seizing an objective from the enemy during a single turn of yours. Riskier than simply seizing an objective, but with a better payout.
*''For the Glory of Chaos'': 1 VP for getting a boon, d3 VPs for getting 3 boons, d3+3 VPs for getting 6 boons. This one is quite useful if you are running a Chaos Warband in a Grand Host, as you have access to a free boon each turn and whenever you trigger Champions of Chaos. Hilariously enough, the normally useless Tzeentch boon-giving power can actually net you lots of victory points if you draw this objective. If you aren't running a list with lots of boon-earning potential, however, this objective might as well read "1 VP for winning a challenge"- it's quite poor and often worth discarding. To note: Unworthy Offering results are not counted.

'''Word Bearers Tactics:'''

The List-Building section expands on this more, but more so than other Legions, you care more about using your Legion's special detachment rather than a vanilla CAD; you don't care about Possessed as Troops, and either having Respawning Cultists or a tide of universally Objective-Secured units both matter more than getting Possessed Troops (eww). Really, the only things you end up losing access to by not taking a CAD are some flexibility, access to Forgeworld units, and the ability to re-roll Warlord Traits on any table and not just the Word Bearers one.

If you make a Palanquin Sorcerer your Warlord (and this is highly recommended, due to the mix of extra wounds and useful blessings), positioning is going to matter more than in most armies due to your relative slowness, even with Crusader. Voice of Lorgar and the free boon from Eight-Fold Path take place at the start of your movement phase, meaning a Warlord with '''Voice of Lorgar''' should start within 12" of any units you wish to buff, while a Warlord '''Nexus of the Gods''' should be within 12" of any notable Characters(!) you wish to ensure with Eight-Fold Path. You have more leeway with the Psychic Powers due to your 6" move, but the traditional CSM trick of using a Bike Sorcerer to move 12", Psychic Shriek, then Turbo to safety is generally not going to be as much of an option for you. Remember your Sorcerer is not Smashfucker and your goal is not to rush into a good fight. Rather, you are an anchor, and a force multiplier.

Lore of Nurgle gives you options for Poisoned, or extra Strength, and Voice of Lorgar gives you access to several buffs. The most immediate use for Voice of Lorgar is to give Furious Charge to a unit that's already moving fast (say, a few throwaway units of...those things), or even Chaos Bike Champion, though even a mob of regular Marines can use the boost. Relentless mostly lets your unit charge-after-firing, though that's more of a situational bonus. Fearless is less relevant due to the ability to give Cultists a Zealot bubble (or you '''want''' them to die), but it can be used for pseudo-Stealth via the Go-to-Ground/Fearless maneuver, or if you want your Cultists to tar pit a unit without worrying about them Piling in away from the 6" Zealot Bubble. 

Regarding Summoning, do not try to play a Daemon farm, and try for the old Recursion Trick of using Pink Horrors for more Warp Charge, for more Pink Horrors. Not only did Wrath of Magnus remove the ability for Horrors to use Malefic Daemonology, but you don't have the raw Warp Charge to do a factory, nor do you have the in-built resilience against Perils that Daemons do unless you fork over extra points for a Daemon Prince (and unlike 3 of the other undivided Legions, you can't get a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch with a 2+ save). Rather, Summoning is about maintaining your positional advantage, and allowing the rest of your army to take the mid-field uninterrupted. Screamers remain a priority unit, as their ability to Turbo & Slash from Summon means they're immediately contributing to the fight, and they force your opponent to dedicate energy to killing them, but Flesh Hounds are also a good area denial unit too. If your opponent tries to rush the center of the board, you can take a few losses standing without much issue. If your opponent tries to hang back, you move to lock down objectives. With Word Bearers, get used to the fact you WILL lose troops, and get comfortable with sacrificing them to control the board. With the right list, innate perseverance, and thinking a few "parts" of your turn ahead, you can win with Word Bearers quite handily. Daemonology is still risky but you can mitigate peril wounds by taking a Mark Of Nurgle Palanquin Sorceror. 4 Wounds would be enough to last all game. Not cheap - he ends up in the 200-something region - but could be an option.
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