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

==Building your Army==

CSM have a very old codex and tend to be overpriced - the best way to compensate for this are Traitor Legion special rules and formations/detachments. Building a basic Chaos Warband formation is a good start, as they also work well as a regular CAD. 

Notable Kits worth include:
*'''The Start Collecting CSM Box:''' This comes with a Chaos Lord in Terminator Armor, 10 regular Chaos Space Marines, and a Helbrute, as well as a dataslate letting them all be run as a standalone formation. Considering the Chaos Warband requires 10 Power Armored Marines minimum, this actually isn't that bad of an investment. 
*'''Dark Vengeance:''' Dark Vengeance is a "starter set" for people wanting to play Chaos Space Marines and/or Dark Angels; if you have a friend to split this up with, you're potentially in business, or you can try "filing off the Aquilas" on the Loyalists. Note that since they're snap-fit single-pose plastics, conversion work will be easier said than done. The kit comes with a Chaos Lord (not a bad start, though you want your Lord mounted up), 20 Cultists (good, because Cultists tend to be a valuable objective camper), 6 Chosen which unfortunately are geared for melee though you can convert some Champions from them, and a Helbrute. Overall, this is actually pretty decent for a starter set; the Dark Angels get a Company Master (meh), a Librarian (hello Sorcerer) 10 Tactical Marines (aka closet traitors), 5 Terminators (which you want), and 3 Bikes (which you also want). If you opt to use the entire box in one go, that's an entire Chaos Warband and a secondary CAD in one go.
**Unfortunately, the Crimson Slaughter Dark Vengeance Expansion isn't as focused, even though you get a good discount price out of the whole thing. You get another 5 Cultists, a unit 5 Chaos Terminators, 5 Warp Talons and a Land Raider. The problem is Cultist units are generally best run as 10-man or 20-man units, leaving 5 Cultists in an awkward position, Land Raiders are overcosted and generally not worth fielding outside of certain fringe builds (Blood Angels have a sexy Land Raider formation, and you don't), and Warp Talons are pretty terrible as a rule, especially as a "single unit". If you want Talons, you should skip this box and go for the Raptor Talon (listed below). If you want Terminators, get the regular Terminator box and some multi-part plastics.
***Maelstrom of Gore** - This is cute if you're running a World Eaters army. The problem is that Berserkers themselves are overcosted, so you'll probably have them "counts as" regular Marines with the Mark of Khorne. 

Once you select one of these "core" kits, adding a good secondary bundle will help round off your army, and help it fit into a Legion detachment more easily.
*'''Helforged Warpack''': You get two dinobots, a brute and a warpsmith. Not great, but neat - and if that's the way you want to go anyway, you might as well check it out. Ideally, this bundle would have been better with a 3rd Dinobot, especially since you'll already have another Brute from either the Start Collecting or Dark Vengeance kits.
*'''Terror Pack''': two drakes. 'nuff said.
*'''Raptor Talon''': This bundle gives you 10 Raptors, 5 Warp Talons and a Chaos Space Marines Lord with Jump Pack, ready to deepstrike AND charge immediately after that. Night Lords can use this as a "core" bundle if they desire, but this bundle is fun for Black Legion too thanks to their Speartip Strike. Although unfluffy, the toughness bonuses afforded by Death Guard make them deadlier than normal.
*'''Favored of Chaos''': This bundle comes with 15 Possessed and a Prince. GW has been pushing these so hard ever since the revised Crimson Slaughter came out, but there's the thing - possessed suck. If you're a diehard Word Bearers fan, this might be worth your time. Otherwise, don't bother.

*'''A note about Iron Warriors''' - Like IW? Well, starting an IW army has never been easier than now - get your hands on the Betrayal at Calth box set. That one provides you with 30 plastic HERESY-era Marines (whose sculpts suit the IW better than the new ones), a small squad of Cataphractii Terminators, a Contemptor Dread, and two HQ choices. Said HQ choices are a Cataphractii Terminator Captain (which you could choose to field as a Terminator Champion or as a Terminator Lord) and a Legion Chaplain (which you can also convert into/field as your choice of power armored Sorcerer, Dark Apostle, or Chaos Lord). The set is available for less than what Games Workshop usually sells it at, should you search eBay, and lets you decide how much obvious/rampant mutation your Traitors display by adding green stuff or painting evidence of corruption onto their armor - WITHOUT having to spend time filing off Imperial icons like Aquilas. The only thing left, really, would be some [[METAL BOXES|Rhinos]]. Still not good enough for you? The "Burning of Prospero" box has 30 plastic Mk.III Iron Armor Marines, in case those Mk.IV Maximus suits from the Calth box weren't doing it for you, so you could always find someone willing to trade.

The '''NOW OUT OF STOCK''' Chaos Marine Battleforce Box is a good start, giving you a Rhino, Chaos Space Marine Squad, 5 Possessed and 3 Bikes. The old Battleforce (even more elusive) had a Rhino, Khorne Berserker Squad, enough bitz for 2 Chaos Marine Squads, and a 5-strong Possessed Squad which you can ''easily'' use to make a Chaos lord with any of the new options, give Chaos Champions Lightning Claws, all the stuff you only have one of in the Chaos accessory sprue. The four remaining Possessed you can use to make the five man Chaos marine squad into a nine man one. 

The Chaos Marine Attackforce box is a even better start '''IF YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON IT, FOR IT IS ALSO A VERY OLD PRODUCT, AND OUT OF STOCK AS WELL'''. It gives you A Rhino, a Chaos Space Marine Squad, 5 Raptors/Warp Talons, 1 Forge Fiend/Mauler Fiend, 1 Lord/Sorcerer in Terminator Armor and 5 Terminators. This allows you to field a complete army at about 800-900 points if you split the Marines in two five man squads. If you want a quick start, get a second Marine box or a couple of Cultists from Ebay and you will have a complete playable (Although not the most competitive) army. If you really like Dinobots, Terminators and Raptors, get a second box and you will be able to fill 2/3 of the Force Organization Chart and land at about 1800 points for only about £300 ($490).

From there, it takes a bit of planning and experimentation. Chaos Space Marines differ greatly from their loyalist counterparts in that they are less forgiving of fuck ups. That is to say what works against one opponent will not likely work against another. Units like Plague marines, havocs and obliterators are generally all around useful against any opponent, so you can almost never go wrong with buying a box. Some players swear by some units while others think they are shit. 

One thing to keep in mind is even your basic troops can start getting VERY expensive once the upgrades start piling up. A basic Marine can go from 13 to 19 or higher per model once you start adding on a close combat weapon, mark, Veterans of the Long war, icons, etc. As players of full cult lists already know, this will lead to being outnumbered very frequently. Finding the balance between quantity and quality in a army full of options and strong expensive units is key. Keep in mind that 7e is focused on shooting - not exclusively, but predominantly. Many people get into CSMs for the marines. However, it is often a good idea to just take a minimal squad of cultists for your mandatory troop choice and use the remaining points on something that actually hits hard. 

Consider using allies with cost effective troops to counter deficiencies in your lists. Chaos Daemons are the best ally to start with.