Editing Warhammer 40,000/5th Edition Tactics/Chaos Space Marines (section)

==Marks of Chaos==
Marks of Chaos are a key facet of improving the majority of Chaos Infantry, from Chaos Terminators and Raptors, to Chaos Lords and Sorcerers, to Possessed, standard-issue Chaos Marines, and even Daemon Princes. There are four different marks - one for each Chaos God, and each one provides an intrinsic benefit to the model(s) it's applied to. A general listing of the marks of Chaos and their effects is below:

* '''[[Khorne]]:''' Models or Squads with the Mark of Khorne gain +1 attack. Simple but useful, this upgrade is best-applied towards units that will be in the thick of things when the fighting starts, such as Raptors and Terminators, though its benefits on a Lord is obvious. It can also be applied to individual Chaos Marine squads; on their own, Chaos Marines are already tougher than a majority of the other factions and with three melee attacks (4 for the champion), no enemy is going to want to get too close to them - so whilst it's not as cost-effective as kitting out say, a squad of Berserkers, it's something to consider. Note that Sorcerers cannot get the Mark of Khorne.
 
* '''[[Nurgle]]:''' Highly effective at reducing casualties, Models or squads with the Mark of Nurgle benefit from +1 toughness. This won't prevent instant death (from Lascannon shots par example), but it will reduce the number of wounding hits the squad takes by about 30% on average, making them that much tougher to kill. It works best on guys you will expect to take lots of small-arms fire, rather than the ones who are going to receive hits from the biggest guns (T4 is the same as T5 versus a S7 attack, for example). Unlike a lot of the other marks on this list, the Mark of Nurgle, much like the Plaguefather himself, is friendly and is effective just about everywhere. Unfortunately, you pay the price for it in points; it's the most expensive mark by ''far''.

* '''[[Slaanesh]]:''' Curiously the least-expensive Mark, models and squads with the Mark of Slaanesh get +1 Initiative. In ''theory'' this is only useful on assault-oriented units like Raptors and Possessed, but in practice is pretty ubiquitous; you would be surprised how many enemies will ''not'' want to assault a squad of standard Slaaneshi Chaos Marines if they know that they will strike first due to their meaty 5 Initiative (and extra attack). Terminators tend to benefit from it a lot less - the usual MO for players is to issue Terminators Powerfists or Chainfists, which completely eliminates the entire damned point of taking the Mark of Slaanesh. Overall, you'll have the least use for this, seeing as you'll find most armies will either have lower initiative than you to start with, or higher, even with this mark.

*'''[[Tzeentch]]:''' Tzeentch has one of the more-expensive marks, and one of the more unique ones - if given to a model or squad that does not possess an invulnerable save, the Mark of Tzeentch gives them an Invulnerable save of 5+ (equal to an Imperial Guard Refractor Field). The secondary benefit is if it is applied to models that already ''have'' an Invulnerable save, in which case the save is improved to 4+. Naturally, this means that the Mark of Tzeentch is best for models and squads that already have such a save, such as Terminators, Possessed (if you should want to use them for some insane reason, possibly because you ''yourself'' are possessed), Chaos Lords, Chaos Sorcerers, and the Daemon Prince. It can be useful (if less so) on other units; Raptors benefit nicely from having an invulnerable save in close-combat (even if it is a +5), and the save can help out if other means of keeping your units with their best saves forward (I.E. being in cover) are not viable for whatever reason. As a secondary benefit, Sorcerers with this Mark can take one more power than normal (for a total of three with a Familiar).

*'''Chaos Glory:''' The cheapest Icon to equip your squads with, the Icon of Chaos Glory lets them reroll failed Morale checks, and... That's it. Don't knock it until you try it, however. It may not look like much, but it doesn't cost much, is better than no Icon at all, and can mean the difference between another combat round or a Sweeping Advance.

Note that Icons issued to squads (other than those issued to Independent Characters like the Sorcerer, Chaos Lord, and Daemon Prince) are expensive, but the cost is flat, regardless of what the squad numbers - so the more models in the squad, the better the deal a given Mark of Chaos is. At 50 points, for example, a Chaos Marine squad of 5 marines is paying 10 points each for the Icon of Nurgle. With a capped-out 20-man squad, that same mark evens out to about 2.5 points per Marine. This is true for ''all'' the Icons, but is especially noticeable with the two most expensive ones (Nurgle and Tzeentch).

Also worth considering, aside from the (obvious) decision based on what you need to squad to do, is basing your Icon on what you expect the squad to face. Basic Marines, for example, are more likely to face small arms fire and thus will benefit more from Nurgle than Tzeentch. Havocs, on the other hand are more likely to face heavy weapons and tank based fire, and will probably benefit more from Tzeentch.