Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Chaos Space Marines (section)

==Legions And Renegades==
Here we go, the main thing that gives the Chaos Space Marines their character and, depending on which Legion you go with, radically alters their playstyles. Everyone has their own favourite group and way of playstyle, so pick your traitors and try to find what synergizes best with their traits, relics and stratagems.

Unlike Loyalists where everything gains the benefit of Chapter Tactics, Legion Traits only apply to all Character,Infantry, Bikers and Helbrutes in a battleforged army. 

Do note that Renegades, while having relatively powerful traits, are unable to use the Veterans of the Long War Stratagem. This is important as the Stratagem is one of the best ways to deal with higher Toughness enemies.

Finally any character unique to a Legion (or Renegade warband) must use their own Legion's/Warband's Warlord Trait.

===[[Alpha Legion]]===
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[[File:AlphaLegion.jpg|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is no such thing as Truth.

Thematically the Alpha Legion are known for their mastery of Deception, Covert Ops, Sabotage, and Information Warfare. 

Crunchwise they have a resemblance of that, but instead have many abilities to aid encirclement, outflanking, and messing with the opponent instead of being more stealthy than the Night Lords. Still, the to-hit penalties they inflict on opponents and the fact that this can be stacked with other effects give them a surprising amount of durability. It's one of the strongest army traits in the game, turning units like Leviathan Dreadnoughts into nigh-invincible murder machines. Their goodies do A LOT of things to annoy the opponent: warlord whack-a-mole,  midgame redeployment, Deepstrike denial, and forcing opponents to spend extra CP. The Sons of the Hydra will make a great ally to Chaos lists that want some extra potential for shenanigans. 
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*'''Legion Trait: ''Hidden in Plain Sight'':''' Your opponent must subtract 1 from their hit rolls when targeting units with this trait if they are more than 12" away. This is insanely powerful and fantastic on anything, especially Helbrutes, and even better: Hellforged Dreadnoughts. Don't forget enemy plasma and the like overheats on ones and twos should they decide to super-charge, so running Termies is not as bad as it would normally be. Also amazing if you are playing a kind of gunline or artillery based army.
*'''Warlord Traits:'''
**'''''I am [[Alpharius]]'':''' In addition to this Warlord trait, your warlord generates a random universal CSM Warlord trait. If your warlord is slain, you may immediately select another {{Template:W40kKeyword|ALPHA LEGION CHARACTER}} in your army to take their place and generate a Warlord trait for them (including this one). If the mission you are playing grants victory points for slaying the enemy Warlord, your opponent will only achieve that objective if all {{Template:W40kKeyword|ALPHA LEGION CHARACTERS}} in your army have been slain. Adaptable, and it's always hilarious to see an enemy's attempt at Slay the Warlord to turn into a fucked up game of Whack-A-Mole.
**'''''Clandestine'':''' -1 to hit the warlord.
**'''''Headhunter'':''' The warlord can snipe characters and to add a cherry on top, causes mortal wounds on unmodified 6's.
**'''''Master of Diversion'':''' At the start of the first battle round, before the first turn begins, select up to 3 other {{W40kKeyword|ALPHA LEGION}} units and redeploy them following the usual deployment rules. Let's you kind of bait out your opponents deployment choices.
**'''''Cult Leader'':''' Makes cultists slightly more dangerous! Any Cultists within 6" of the warlord that roll a 6 to wound improves their weapons AP by -1.
**'''''Faceless Commander'':''' Once per battle at the end of your movement phase you can remove the warlord from the battlefield and redeploy them within 3" of a friendly {{W40kKeyword|ALPHA LEGION INFANTRY}} unit and more than 9" away from enemy models.
*'''Stratagems''':
**'''''Forward Operatives (1CP)'':''' Use this Stratagem during deployment, when you set up an {{W40kKeyword|ALPHA LEGION INFANTRY}} unit from your army. At the start of the first battle round but before the first turn begins, you can move that unit up to 9". It cannot end this move within 9" of any enemy models. If both players have units that can move before the first turn begins, the player who is taking the first turn moves their units first. Each unit can only be selected for this Stratagem once per battle. It can, theoretically, help get a turn one charge off with something like a Berzerker blob squad, as in some standard deployments the distance between you and your opponent is between 12-24 inches. It can also be used to counter deploy to a degree, or even move your dudes onto an objective very early. As this happens at the start of the first battle round you can use this on an elite squad and then, depending upon who gets first turn, throw them forwards or get them behind cover or LOS blocking terrain.
***You can't spam this onto the same unit, but because it's not used during a phase, you ''can'' spam it across multiple units.  This'll get expensive fast if you use it on small units like buffing HQs, but it can be great for e.g. getting 3 units of chaincannon havocs into position, if you have the CP.
**'''''Conceal (2CP)'':''' Use at the start of the opponents shooting phase. pick one {{W40kKeyword|ALPHA LEGION INFANTRY}} unit. until the end of that phase enemy models can only target that unit if it's the closest visible target.
**'''''Sabotaged Armoury (1CP)'':''' Wanna see a tank go up in fireworks? If you trigger this as an enemy rolls to see if their tank blows, you add +3 to their roll and block them from re-rolling. Hope you got those bitches all in place.
**'''''Scrambled Coordinates (1CP)'':''' Use in your opponents movement phase, when an enemy unit is being set up as reinforcements but before it is placed on the battlefield. That unit must be set up more than 12" away from any {{W40kKeyword|ALPHA LEGION}} units in your army.
**'''''Renascent Infiltration (1CP)'':''' Use at the end of your movement phase. Select one {{W40kKeyword|ALPHA LEGION INFANTRY}} unit that is more than 3" away from any enemy models and did not arrive as reinforcements that turn. Remove that unit from the battlefield. At the end of your next movement phase set that unit up on the battlefield again more than 9" away from any enemy models.
**'''''Ambush (2CP)'':''' use in your opponents movement phase. After an enemy unit is set up as reinforcements, select one {{W40kKeyword|ALPHA LEGION}} unit from your army within 18" of that unit to shoot at that unit.
**'''''Feigned Threat (1CP)'':''' Use in your movement phase, when you fall back with an {{W40kKeyword|ALPHA LEGION}} unit it can still shoot this turn.
**'''''We are Alpharius (1CP)'':''' Use before the battle after nominating your warlord. Pick another {{W40kKeyword|ALPHA LEGION CHARACTER}} from your army that isn't your warlord and give that character a warlord trait. Very similar to the Black Legion's Council of traitors with more flexibility at the cost of only one additional WT instead of two.
*'''Relics''':
**'''''Blade of the Hydra'':''' Replaces a model's chainsword. With a profile of S+1 AP-2 and a flat 2 damage, a solid close combat option, never mind the D3 instead of 1 extra attacks it gives you. Fun fact: this weapon is exactly the same as the loyalist Relic "Teeth of Terra." Coincidence? I think not!
**'''''Drakescale Plate'':''' {{W40kKeyword|INFANTRY}} model only. Provides a 2+ armor save and a 5+ FNP against mortal wounds. Very good, but sadly cannot be taken by a DP.
**'''''Mindveil'':''' at the start of your movement phase the model with this relic can roll 3D6 and the result becomes that model's move characteristic until end of turn. They can also move across other models and terrain as if they're not there, they can charge across other models other than buildings as if they're not there & the bearer can charge in a turn that they fell back.
**'''''Hydra's Wail'':''' Once per battle at the start of the battle round if the bearer of this relic is on the battlefield. Until the end of the battle round when your opponent spends command points to use a stratagem roll a D6. On a 4+ your opponent must spend one extra CP to use that stratagem.
**'''''Viper's Bite'':''' Replaces a combi-bolter. 24" Rapid fire 2 S5 AP-3 2 damage.
**'''''Hydra's Teeth'':''' Model with a bolt weapon only. The bolt weapons of the bearer automatically hit, always wound on a 2+ unless targeting a {{W40kKeyword|VEHICLE}} or {{W40kKeyword|TITANIC}} in which case it wounds on a 6+. units also do not receive the benefit of cover to their save's against that bolt weapon. (Consider a character in terminator armour with this and the Headhunter warlord trait - targeting a character with 4 automatic hits, wounding on 2s, and no cover allowed).
**'''''Shadeblade'':''' Model with power/force sword only. S+1 AP-3 D3 damage and attacks made against the bearer are at -1.
*'''Tactics:''' Here are some tactics that are better off being used in an Alpha Legion army than any other.
**'''''And for my next magic trick...'':''' Build yourself a Deathstar, get a Nurgle Sorcerer and a Dark Apostle. Now all you need to do is use Benediction of Darkness and Miasma of Pestilence on it. Congrats, most Imperial Guard now cannot hit you. Play at night to make most Space Marines unable to hit you.
**'''''Alpha Strike'':''' Assuming your Berzerkers are 24" away from the enemy after deployment, Forward Operatives makes that 15". Your move makes that 9". A Sorcerer Lord on a bike can keep up with these guys, giving them Prescience and Warptime. Your Berzerkers now only have to make a ''3" charge on turn 1.'' Don't forget Veterans of the Long War and Death to the False Emperor and to multi-charge everything in range if you'll survive the overwatch, cos you probably want three combat steps with these guys at this point. And, if your opponent goes first your Alpha Legion trait probably saves some Berzerker lives too.
**'''''Ultimate Character Hunter'':''' Take a Sorcerer on a Bike. Give it the Headhunter warlord trait, an extra Combi-Bolter, and the Hydra's Teeth relic. Give it Warptime and any other power you want. You now how a model that can zip around the table, freely target character, auto-hitting with 8 shots at 24" range, wounding on 2+, and ignoring cover. While not super scary on paper, this can be enough to take out backline buffing characters and disrupt enemy gameplans. Give it the Mark of Slaanesh and use the shoot twice strategem to get 16 shots.
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===[[Black Legion]]===
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[[File:BlackLegionInsignia.png|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, the Galaxy will burn.

Thematically the Black Legion are arguably the largest force of Chaos Space Marines, their exact size is unknown and they do not worship any singular entity. They are all united by one desire: to finish what Horus started and to tear down the Imperium, after all, united behind the Warmaster, how can you fail?

The Black Legion are easily the favourite Chaos Space Marines of Games Workshop, being the poster boys of the faction (even though they're not on the cover). This leads to them having rather basic options to allow them to fill practically any role you want. They also were the first to get expanded WTs, Stratagems, and Relics. While they aren't the most competitive it's hard to go wrong with them, as it should be for the "ordinary" Chaos Space Marines.
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*'''Legion Trait: ''Black Crusaders'':''' Units with this trait add 1 to their Leadership characteristic. In addition, if a unit with this trait advanced, they treat all Rapid Fire weapons as Assault weapons. The Leadership buff is nice, allowing unmarked units with an Icon of Vengeance to reach LD10 (!), but unfortunately the other one is rather mediocre. It only comes into play on the few Rapid Fire weapons Chaos has (mostly bolters, combi-bolters, and '''plasma guns''') and imposes a -1 penalty to hit, and you can't charge if you advanced. Best used in conjunction with a lord or Abaddon's re-roll hit aura to try and march larger blobs of CSM into rapid fire range faster, but otherwise very middle of the road.
**Note: Chaos bikers can use this trait to move, advance, and still fire, although you'll get 2 shots out of each combi-bolter, not 4, regardless of range. Best used when you are trying to outflank or encircle an enemy unit.
*'''Warlord Traits:''' As the poster-boys of the CSM, as well as the Imperium's main antagonists, the Black Legion have several traits they can choose from, which also work really well with their unique Stratagem.
**'''''Black-clad Brute'':''' +1 to the Warlord's strength characteristic. In addition, he causes d3 mortal wounds on a 4+ to a unit he charges. Better than their relic for causing Mortal Wounds.
**'''''First Among Traitors'':''' The Death to the False Emperor ability triggers on a 5+ instead of a 6+ for all models in friendly {{W40kKeyword|BLACK LEGION}} units within 6" of the Warlord. Unfortunately, due to the wording on the Icon of Excess and this rule (they both set it to a 5+ instead of giving a +1) you can only get exploding dice on a 4+ if you use Prescience. '''Abaddon''' has this.
**'''''Indomitable'':''' All damage to your warlord is halved. Pairs very well with characters that are likely to draw heavy fire from your opponent. Looking at you, Lord Discordant.
**'''''Soul Eater'':''' Each time your Warlord destroys an enemy unit, he regains d3 lost wounds. More likely to trigger after killing an enemy character, so put it on somebody that has something like a Thunder Hammer.
**'''''Trusted Warleader'':''' Roll every time you use a command point. On a 5+, it is refunded. A trait that can pay for itself, although it can't trigger successfully more than once per battle round.
**'''''Veteran Raider'':''' Friendly {{W40kKeyword|BLACK LEGION}} units within 6" of your warlord can declare a charge even if they fell back. Charging and getting to fight first so often makes you feel like a stronger Emperor's Children (or slightly weaker White Scars) - this is best used on a Jump Lord or Jump Sorcerer supporting Raptors, of course, since they'll be able to fall back, shoot, and charge.
*'''Stratagems:''' 
**'''''Council of Traitors (1 CP)'':''' Use before the battle if your warlord is a Chaos Lord, Daemon Prince, or Abbadon. Allows you to give a warlord trait to a Dark Apostle and Sorcerer in your army. Similar to the Dark Eldar Stratagem, but limited to only Black Legion. Make the Dark Apostle Trusted Warleader and it'll pay for itself (there are much better Sorcerer-unique traits the other can get). Pretty much always worth using in a black legion army as it gives you more options. The only big drawback is that your options for units are limited. For some reason Warpsmiths, Disco lords, Masters of possession and Masters of Execution weren't invited to be on the council.
**'''''Chosen of the Pantheon (1 CP)'':''' Use at the beginning of your turn. Pick a Black Legion unit that is not marked. They gain all 4 marks until the start of the next turn. Mainly useful for using god specific stratagems, auras, or powers. And yes, you can use this to give a Sorcerer the Khorne keyword. 
**'''''Legacy of Horus (1 CP)'':''' Use during the Morale Phase, add 1 to the Leadership of Chaos Marine units as long as they are within range of a Black Legion Unit. Useful whenever you find yourself heavily debuffed for LD across most of your army and are in a blob, otherwise just pay the extra point to ignore casualties.
**'''''Let the Galaxy Burn (1 CP)'':''' Use this stratagem whenever a {{W40kKeyword|BLACK LEGION BIKER}} or {{Template:W40kKeyword|INFANTRY}} is selected to attack in the shooting or fight phases. You can re-roll all to-hit rolls of 1 for the unit. If it is a Chaos Space Marine unit, you re-roll all hits instead. Just like the Ultramarines' Chapter Tactic, but ''better'' - this is only the second such ability in the game (the first was Cawl) allowing you to re-roll any hits, not just failed ones.  The distinction matters when dealing with negative modifiers to hit - if your CSM are facing -1 to hit, this strat will let you re-roll 3s, unlike the pleb Ultramarines strat, which would not. Also keep in mind that you can totally take a 20 man squad to make the most of this Stratagem.
**'''''Merciless Fighters (1 CP)'':''' Use on an infantry unit. If there are more models in the unit then there are enemy models within 3', then add 1 to that units attack characteristics. Oh hey, they remembered the Sons of Horus' 30k rules!
**'''''Relics of the Long War(1/3 CP)'':''' Chaos Marine copy-paste. The standard multi-relic stratagem.
**'''''Tip of the Spear (1 CP)'':''' At the start of the first shooting phase, re-roll failed hits for whichever of your units is closest to the enemy for that phase. If there's a tie, pick which one is affected.
**'''''World Killers (3 CP)'':''' Use at the beginning of a battle round. Turns off your opponents' objective secured (or equivalent) rule for the rest of the battle round. Perfect for unexpectedly seizing an objective at the last minute from a blob that thought it was in control.
*'''Relics:''' Yep, because why wouldn't they get a lot of them as well?
**'''Angelsbane''': Replaces a Combi-Bolter. Becomes S5 AP-2 D2, which goes up to 3 if used against anything with the {{Template:W40kKeyword|IMPERIUM}} keyword. Solidly shooty, pairs nicely with the Bolter Discipline beta rule, and with a bit of luck can even bring down a 3-wound Custodian or jack up a vehicle. Not bad at all.
**'''Cloak of Conquest''': Each time the bearer slays an enemy character, add 1 to the bearer's Strength, Attacks, and Leadership characteristic until the end of the battle. Useless for most of the battle, but on killy models such as certain Lords, Executioners, and Deamon Princes - The potential to become a complete monster in CC is undeniable. Stacks well with other traits like Black Clad Brute and the many other tactics to buff out a single model.
**'''Ghorisvex's Teeth''': Replaces a chainsword. -3 ap, 2 damage. +2 attacks. any time you roll a 6 to wound, the target takes a mortal wound in addition to normal damage. The lynchpin for the "Chainlord" build, put on a chaos lord with jump pack and give him the Flames of spite WL trait for 2 Mortal wounds on any wound roll of 6+, then pump up the wounding ability through Veterans, Prayers, psychic powers etc.
**'''The Eye of Night''': Once per game, in the shooting phase, the bearer of the Eye of Night can select a visible enemy vehicle. On a 2+, it takes d3 mortal wounds. Not terribly impressive, but at least it doesn't cost more than the guy carrying it anymore. Also avoids vehicle invuln saves. Fluff states this thing is supposed to be able to cause "massive power failure or catastrophic internal damage". But on the tabletop, this thing will tickle a vehicle once. Works quite well with a Jump Pack Sorcerer using smite and rocking demon shells, allowing you to zap a vehicle with 3D3 Mortal Wounds should the opportunity arise. 
**'''Sightless Helm''': -1 Ballistic Skill, -1 AP on all your weapons (so ap -1 becomes ap -2). Has no affect on your ability to hit things in melee. Consider putting this on a Lord Discordant for maximum effect (who cares about BS when you have Baleflamer...)
**'''Spineshiver Blade''': Replaces a power sword. +1 strength. +d6 attacks each time the bearer attacks. Look, a daemon weapon that doesn't try to kill you. Can get pretty ridiculous of you pair with a Khornate Lord and make him fight multiple times,
**'''Trophies of Slaughter''': +1 leadership to allied Black Legion within 6" and -1 leadership to enemies within 6".
*'''Specialist Detachment:''' Yep, the Black Legion even get their own Specialist Detachment. What don't they have? This only selects {{W40kKeyword|BLACK LEGION TERMINATOR}} units; you'll probably only have about 2-3 units dedicated to the BoD, as well as any Termie lord or Abby. So long as you pay 1 CP for the upgrade the following are available to you:
**'''Warlord Trait: ''Chosen of the Warmaster'':''' All {{W40kKeyword|BRINGERS OF DESPAIR}} units within 6" of your warlord re-roll 1s to hit. Slap this on a Chaos Lord, and this becomes re-rolling all failed hits, which you seriously want if you intend on accompanying a retinue of termies and making use of the Brutal Subjugation stratagem. Cheaper than the Space Marines Chapter Master upgrade which does the exact same thing but with fewer upsides.
**'''Stratagems:''' There are two, both situational.
***'''''Brutal Subjugation (1 CP)'':''' During a fight phase, any models your {{W40kKeyword|BRINGERS OF DESPAIR}} units kill count as double for the upcoming morale phase. If you have a blendy pack of terminators or your lord up the front, this shouldn't be too hard to pull off. Chuck some Night Lords in there and this can get painful.
***'''''Chosen Enforcers (1 CP)'':''' Use when a friendly {{W40kKeyword|heretic astartes unit}} within 18" of a {{W40kKeyword|BRINGERS OF DESPAIR}} unit is required to take a morale test. That unit automatically passes the morale test. Much cheaper than Insane Bravery, so why not?
**'''Relic: Foe Cleaver'':''' Replaces a power axe, S+3 AP-2 D1d3, add 1 to hit rolls when targeting an {{W40kKeyword|IMPERIUM}} unit. Don't forget Death to the False Emperor.
*'''Unique Characters:''' Of course the Black Legion naturally have the most special characters, while the other Legions are struggling to get even one.
**'''[[Abaddon the Despoiler]]''': The Warmaster himself, the guy /tg/ always jokes about for being an armless failure and who was a rare sight on the tabletop... Well, no more of the latter. So long as your plan involves closing the gap and tearing shit up you're going to find a use for him, and there's very few things in the game that can take him on and walk away fine. In addition to being a potent melee threat, he has two aura abilities: one that makes all {{Template:W40kKeyword|Black Legion}} units within 6" re-roll all to hit rolls, and another that makes all {{Template:W40kKeyword|Heretic Astartes}} immune to morale tests. Also, unlike most things in Terminator armour, he has a 6" rather than a 5" move. For this reason, as well as the fact that any transport he's in becomes the priority target for your opponent, consider teleporting him into battle, just don't forget that he has 6 attacks with his claw and an additional D6 attacks with his sword (which, if you roll a 1, will cause a MW on him instead of the extra sword attacks - he can still fight with the claw though). As of Vigilus Ablaze, his statline has grown to Custodes levels to make him nastier than ever before. S5 and T5 with 8 Wounds along with all the other jazz places him very solidly behind only Guilliman and then followed by new Calgar as far as Astartes based units are concerned. 
***If you plan on taking advantage of the 6" move (unlike most terminator 5" move) then walking him up behind a meatshield while in front of Havocs and using his re-roll on them is shockingly effective.
***Note that his morale aura applies to units of any Legion within 12" of Abaddon, if you're mixing and matching he can prevent other Chaos units from running away. 
***It's a good idea to save at least one of the CP he gives you for a re-roll on Drach'nyen. You're either going to wish you had more than 2 attacks, or you want to prevent him from poking his eye out when you really need him to cut somebody in half. 
***Keep in mind that since he has all the chaos god's faction keywords, and can thus use any mark-specific stratagems or be targeted by mark-specific psychic powers. While not cheap in terms of CP or sorcerers, this can raise his threat level to apocalyptic proportions. Take special note of the Khornate stratagem that allows him to fight twice.
**'''Obsidius Mallex [Blackstone Fortress]''': A sort of half-way attempt between Loyalist Smash Captain and Black Legion Chaos Lord, Obsidius is the master of the Servants of the Abyss in the Blackstone Fortress game. He's basically a Chaos Lord statline with a Thunder Hammer and a Plasma Pistol. Like all the splat-game units, GW has made an effort to keep him "balanced" against other codex entries, meaning you're going to be paying out the ass for this combo. In doing so Obsidius comes out being more expensive than a Chaos Lord with a Power Fist and Pistol, and is more expensive than his Loyalist counterpart with the same loadout, whilst at the same time forgetting to bring his Frag and Krak grenades. The real limitation of Obsidius, however, is his lack of the {{W40Kkeyword|Mark of Chaos}} keyword. Without it he cannot, RAW, use the stratagem Beseech the Chaos Gods to access any of the god-specific stratagems (e.g. Khornes Fight Twice) which would, in turn, actually go towards making him worth considering. Finally, thanks to the -1 From his Thunder Hammer, he can't proc Death to the False Emperor without a Prescience buff. Where he does shine is if you want to kill 5 to 6 wound targets or vehicles with a relatively inexpensive solo model.
***Now Thunders Hammer are 40 points... Except for this guy who plays by his own rules and unique data sheet. His hammer is the equivalent of 23 points, so now somewhat of a useful grab, except he is slow and stupid otherwise. 
**'''Haarken Worldclaimer [Vigilus Defiant]''': Another Black Legion Lord like Mallex, only with a buff specifically for Raptors instead of everyone. At first it seems like he would be a potent force multiplier for any Raptor-heavy army, but sadly he really isn't. He doesn't have a gun (and therefore can't use the Daemon Shells stratagem), instead his Helspear acts as an Assault 1 12" S+1 AP-3 D1d3 weapon [[FAIL|that he can't use in melee]] (and it wasn't fixed in errata). Note that his re-roll aura only works for Raptors (which he is) and but only for their melee weapons, meaning he doesn't even get to re-roll his Spear Throw, which explains why all the art around his reveal was his spear impaled in the ground having not hit anything or anyone. Would have been better if he buffed Warp-Talons as well as they are the ones who actually want to be in melee and would benefit the most from his buffs. At least his aura does let a re-roll of all failed hits rather than just hit rolls of 1, and it applies to all Legions instead of only the Black Legion. Night Lords players should consider taking him in a secondary detachment to put his 18" Ld debuff aura to work and if you're using a lot of raptors and not loading them up with plasma, then this guy actually isn't that bad a choice to bring. At 92 points, he is worth taking and building around
*'''Tactics:''' Here are some tactics that work better for Black Legion than any other Legion.
**'''Black Clad Monster:''' Black Legion Dark Apostle + Black-clad Brute + Black Mace + Omen of Potency makes for a pretty nasty glass cannon. Sadly, 4 wounds won't get you much if you don't keep him protected, but that S8 AP-4 2D Mortal Wound causing Mace will put in work with the assload of attacks he will crank out. 
**'''Black Tide''': March Abbadon up the board with ranks fo CSM and havocs. Use his aura to spam re-rolls and ignore morale. Anti armor weapons will be forced to blast individuals marines while your anti armor will be safe in large blobs. Once the lines converge Abbadon kills what's left.
**'''Chosen of Abbadon:''' Take Abbadon and a Lord in one battalion, make this lord your warlord. Take a Dark Apostle and Sorceror in another battalion, use Council of Traitors stratagem and give them warlord traits. Altogether you have four very potent and very customizable HQs, who are far more than a tax for your troops and CP generation.
*** For an unholy combination of fluff and crunch, proceed as described: 
**** Devram Korda: Make this Lord a dedicated beat stick with Mark of Slaanesh, Intoxicating Elixir, and Indomitable. Go big with Terminator armor and chainfist and/or combi-weapon. Deepstrike this guy with the Justaerian Terminator formation and break your opponent. (Chosen of Warmaster works here as well, if you put him into the formation, though Indomitable/Unholy Fortitude fits his "functionally invulnerable" fluff).
****Ygethmor the Deceiver: Take the Sorceror, give him Mark of Tzeentch and Trusted Warleader, then tool him up however you want to overload your opponent through physic powers and complex dickery. 
****Skyrak Slaughterborn: Take the Apostle, give him Mark of Nurgle, Black Clad Brute, Nurgle prayers, and the relic Crozius. Footslog him along with Abbadon and the troops, maybe some Plague Marines for a juicy wall to protect the core of your army. Let him literally talk shit and provoke his fellow warriors to unspeakable acts of violence.  
****''BONUS'' Urkrathos: Take a Khorne Lord, give him Gorsivex's Teeth chainblade, and pair with some Berserkers in LR or Dread Claw. This guys follows in the wake of everyone else and uses MSU berserker squad to clean up all that remain. He can't take any traits, annoyingly, but he completes the four Chosen of Abbadon.
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===Brazen Beasts===
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[[File:BrazenBeasts.jpg|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is no armour that will withstand utter hate.

Thematically the Brazen Beasts are extremely zealous berzerker brutes who are known to entrap Daemons in machinery. Think Khorne-worshipping Iron Warriors and you're on the right track.

Crunchwise they won't throw out as many attacks as the World Eaters, but they will hit harder and their Warlords can snowball into being incredibly brutal killing machines, just in case your opponent was foolish enough to bring out the Techmarines and Apothecaries. Brazen Beasts can really be made around their warlords, even if you've lost most of your army so long as you've managed to buff them up enough you can still find yourself winning as they'll hard-carry the rest of your army through.
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*'''Renegade Trait: ''Rend the Foe'':''' Each time a unit with this trait makes a melee wound roll of 6+ in a turn when the unit charged, was charged, or performed a heroic intervention, it is resolved at AP-4. Essentially turns your units into mini-genestealers. Note that the trait sets the AP of the attack, rather than improving it - so, for example, the trait has no effect at all on Chainfists. If you somehow got an AP-5 melee weapon into the army, the trait would actually ''worsen'' it. Best with low AP melee, especially chainswords.
**All units must be Khorne marked if they are able to do so, '''and no fucking sorcerers allowed'''.
*'''Warlord Trait: ''Carve the Runes'':''' Each time your Warlord slays an enemy {{Template:W40kKeyword|CHARACTER}}, their attacks and strength characteristics are increased by 2 until the end of the game. A stronger but more narrowly focused version of Slaughterborn.
*'''Stratagem: ''Burning Daemonheart (1 CP)'':''' Use at the end of your fight phase. Pick an enemy unit within 1" of a {{W40kKeyword|BRAZEN BEASTS}} {{W40kKeyword|DAEMON ENGINE}} unit. Roll a die for that unit; on a 2-4, they take 1d3 mortal wounds, and on 5-6, they take 3.
*'''Relic: ''Daemonflesh Plate'':''' Bearer has a save of 2+. +1 movement, +1 attack. Like the Iron Warriors relic, but more choppy.
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===Crimson Slaughter===
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[[File:CrimsonSlaughter.jpg|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, only the fury of battle can silence the dead. 

Thematically the Crimson Slaughter are Marines cursed to hear those they've butchered. Despite their corruption originating from Tzeentch (despite the Khornate overtones), they are an undivided Warband. They remain especially butt-hurt after (finally) learning how extensively they'd been played by the Changer of the Ways.

Crunchwise the Crimson Slaughter are schizophrenic and pretty mediocre. They want to blend the terror tactics of the Night Lords with the destructive capacity of the World Eaters but they don't really do it that well. Most of their benefits can be replicated and done better elsewhere. They do have a very good relic, but none of their traits really synergize with it very well. 
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*'''Renegade Trait: ''A Moment's Peace'':''' If a unit with this trait destroys an enemy unit, roll 1d6; on a 5+, you gain 1 CP. In addition, that unit auto passes Morale tests until the end of the turn. 
**Seems really good until you realize how hard it can be to completely destroy certain units, and the few times you'll roll this you might not even get the bonus CP. The morale bonus is worthless to characters who destroy units, and it only lasts till the end of the turn.  
*'''Warlord Trait: ''Maelstrom of Terror'':''' Enemy units within 6" of the warlord suffer a -1 penalty to their leadership characteristic. The penalty becomes -2 and the aura expands to 9" after the warlord slays an enemy model. 
**Very easy to counter, and forces you to place your warlord in a vulnerable position. It can be okay with some Night Lord allies. 
*'''Stratagem: ''Terrifying Phenomena (2 CP)'':''' Pick a terrain feature within 12" of a {{W40kKeyword|CRIMSON SLAUGHTER}} unit. Enemy models within 3" of it suffer a -1 to hit. 
**Not bad by any means - could work really well when combined with some Alpha Legion allies and a Nurgle sorcerer. 
*'''Relic: ''Blade of the Relentless'':''' +1S Power Sword. If you slay any enemy models, then this weapon will now wound '''''automatically''''' without needing to roll. 
**Could be ridiculous if you can get it to snowball, but you need to build a warlord around it. 
**Pairs well with another dude rocking The Murder Sword.

**'''[[Vrosh Tattersoul]]:''' While most would say that this man is no different than a normal exalted champion with the same Wargear, these people would be wrong. This model, on top of his combi melta and power axe, also sports a bolt pistol, which an exalted champion needs to give up for any weapon. While this does make him (slightly) better at tackling hordes and weak infantry, the real reason this is being mentioned is for the Daemon Shells strategem, enabling him to do d3 mortal wounds on a 3+. Its a nice little "gotcha" gimmick you can pull on an unsuspecting opponent.
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===[[Emperor's Children]]===
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[[File:EmperorsChildren.jpg|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only debaucherous insanity.

Thematically the Emperor's Children are worshippers of Slaanesh who seek excess and perfection in all its forms, and they'll do anything they can to achieve both; they have favored precise execution, coordination, and tactical superiority since their creation. 

Crunchwise the Emperor's Children have a unique troops choice, much like the World Eaters, though they're more effective at shooting than close combat. This definitely not because of a lack of CC abilities, as their own Legion has plenty. Slaanesh is more appealing for gunlines than swordmen, but using both is not too much to ask. Much of their Relics, Stratagems and Warlord Traits revolve around building dangerous CQC units, but their Stratagems can provide a variety of buffs and Tactical trickery. A powerful combo with Slaanesh Daemons such as the Contorted Epitome, so the only ways your opponent can leave combat are with wet pants or in a body bag. New content has truly blessed this Legion as well, Slaanesh has heard your pleas! 

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*'''Legion Trait: ''Flawless Perfection'':''' Units with this trait always fight first in the Fight Phase, even if they didn't charge. If the enemy has units that have charged, or have a similar ability, then alternate choosing units to fight with, starting with the player whose turn is taking place. You shouldn't need to be told how useful this is. Beware Howling Banshees, Slaanesh Daemon in-fighting, or just units that have charged - that means the controlling player (that means the opponent) will be able to nominate their first unit to strike before yours (this will mean trouble if a Genestealers swarm or Ork Boyz get that charge first). On the flip side, it can deter mass charges, and also means you circumvent all other fight phase activations afterward, and your engaged units strike first! On another note, it affects every round of melee combat, so combats that go beyond one phase will always give you at least one definitive advantage, with all your units swinging first, even in an enemy's turn.
**{{W40kKeyword|EMPEROR'S CHILDREN}} Noise Marines count as troops instead of Elites, allowing armies of them again.
**All units must be Slaanesh Marked if they can be.

*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''''Faultless Duelist'':''' At the start of the fight phase, roll a d3. Subtract that number from the attack characteristics of enemy models while they are within 1" of your warlord.
**'''''Glutton for Punishment'':''' All hits against the Warlord reduce the damage dealt by 1 (minimum 1). Makes you a bit more likely to survive your IMPERIAL FISTING, but durability isn't why you picked this legion.
**'''''Intoxicating Musk'':''' -1 to hit to penalty for enemies within 3". Faultless Duelist will pretty much always be better.
**'''''Loathsome Grace'':''' When a charge roll is made, you can re-roll a die. If you charge or perform a heroic intervention, the warlord gains +1 strength and attack for the rest of the fight phase.
**'''''Stimulated by Pain'':''' Gain 1 attack for each wound suffered, up to a maximum of 3. If you heal any wounds, you lose the associated bonus attacks. Meh on most footslogging characters, but can turn a demon prince into (even more) of a murder machine. 
**'''''Unbound Arrogance'':''' Use during the fight phase. Each player secretly chooses 1, 2, or 3. If the numbers match, nothing happens. If they don't, you add the number you choose to your warlord's attacks. As one of the few traits in the game that can fuck you over, you really shouldn't be picking this one. Like, at all.

*'''Stratagems'''
**'''''Combat Elixirs (2CP)'':''' Time to dig into the Deldar's drug stash! Use before the game start to grant one {{W40kKeyword|EMPEROR'S CHILDREN}} unit that isn't a vehicle or a cultist one of the following boosts: +1 to A, T, or S, or +2 to M. Since you can pick which you want, you can definitely do some tailoring to keep up with plasma spam or to hasten your killing sprees.
**'''''Cruel Duelists (1CP)'':''' Use during the fight phase. Select one {{W40kKeyword|EMPEROR'S CHILDREN}} unit that is not a vehicle or a cultist. Any unmodified wound roll of 6 is resolved at AP-3.
**'''''Excess of Violence (1CP)'':''' Use this stratagem before an {{W40kKeyword|EMPEROR'S CHILDREN INFANTRY}} unit attacks in the fight phase. Each time a model in that unit slays an enemy model, it can immediately make another hit roll using the same weapon at the same target. Interestingly, the updated stratagem in Psychic Awakening - Faith Fury removes the line preventing the bonus attacks from generating further attacks. Activate the stratagem on a unit of Power Fist armed Terminators, Thunder Hammer armed Chosen, or Warp Talons and wipe out entire hordes. When attacking an {{W40kKeyword|IMPERIUM}} unit, you get this on top of Death to the False Emperor, which practically guarantees a wipe on anything but the toughest units.
**'''''Excruciating Frequencies(1CP)'':''' Turn the dial to 11 and watch your drummer spontaneously combust! Use during the shooting phase; targets one {{W40kKeyword|EMPEROR'S CHILDREN}} Noise Marine unit. Until the end of the phase, Blastmasters, Sonic Blasters, and Doom Sirens gain +1 S and D. TIME TO MAKE THINGS EVEN LOUDER. Possibly one of the best middle fingers you can give to a Primaris army now, and as an added bonus shuts down All is Dust for Rubric Marines. Also buffs up a Blastmaster’s single frequency profile to Lascannon strength and more than half of its top damage on a good roll. Complement with your choice of eardrum-violating music while you roll FOR SLAANESH.  A 20-man, 2-Blastmaster unit with this, Endless Cacophony, and Veterans of the Long War will usually kill ''more than'' a Knight.
**'''''Honour the Prince (1CP)'':''' Use during the charge phase after rolling for a charge with a {{W40kKeyword|EMPEROR'S CHILDREN SLAANESH}} unit. You can change one of the dice rolled to a 6. Combine with some of the new charge re-roll tools, like the Raiment Repulsive, to make charges all but certain on the turn you deepstrike. Use it in a raptorial host for overkill.
**'''''Incessant Disdain (1CP)'':''' Use during the enemy charge phase. Pick an {{W40kKeyword|EMPEROR'S CHILDREN CHARACTER}}. They can perform a 6" Heroic Intervention so long as it finishes within 1" of an enemy character.
**'''''Tactical Perfection (1CP)'':''' Redeploy one {{W40kKeyword|EMPEROR'S CHILDREN}} unit.

*'''Relics'''
**'''Armour of Abhorrence''': No Overwatch against the bearer. If a morale test is failed by an enemy unit within 6", one additional model flees. Morale part is meh, but shutting off overwatch is very fucking nice if you're going up against tau or other factions that don't want to be charged.
***This is one of the only ways to shut down overwatch with chaos, if your army relies on charging assault troops or daemon engines you should really consider finding some way to get this relic into your list.
***When combined with a unit of night lords raptors you can charge into the heart of a gunline army without overwatch and prevent them from falling back, this can be a game winning strategy against armies like tau and guard and surprisingly cheap in points to pull off.
**'''Blissgiver''': Replaces a model's Bolt Pistol for a Lash with a 6" range. It's Assault D6, but can fire in melee and ''into'' melee with S:User and AP-1. Also, if you wound a character with it, you get a 1/6 chance of dealing D3 Mortal Wounds. Fantastic to add some more damage in melee and if you're an ass, you can just stand behind your meatshields and poke the enemy with it. Also, since it replace a pistol with an assault weapon, that means you can fire it together with another weapons (like a Combi-flamer) for some nice little extra firepower. [[Dakka|For fun you can have a Lord on Bike, which include a Combi-Bolter, and giving him Combi-flamer and Blissgiver.]] Or, for something actually supported directly in the codex, a Warpsmith, to go with their flamer and meltagun, and because it just needed one more tentacular appendage.
**'''Distortion''': "Mirror blade in my hand, who's the prettiest in all the land." Replaces a power sword or force sword. Strength User, -4 ap, 1D3 damage. At the beginning of the fight phase, the bearer can look into the blade. the weapon becomes x2 strength, but you suffer a -1 to hit. (All the benefit of a powerfist, but none of the cost.)
**'''Endless Grin''': When an enemy takes a morale test for a unit within 6" of the bearer, they must roll an additional dice, and you decide which one to be discarded. also, -1 leadership for enemy models within 6"
**'''Raiment Repulsive''': The bearer can re-roll all hit, wound, and charge rolls. Well holy shit, this is broken as balls. Sure, he still has the same saves as before, but once you're in combat, the other thing might as well lay down and die.
**'''The Fatal Sonancy''': 12" Assault 1d6 S6 AP-2 D1, auto hits, ignores cover. A slightly stronger Doom Siren for your lord, who couldn't get it before. Give him a thunderhammer and make Lord Commander Eidolon, 40k edition. Put it on a Warpsmith with a combiplasma for a Swiss Army knife with an answer for anything within 12”, even if one of those answers is SCREAMING LOUDLY.
**'''Remnant of Maraviglia''': {{W40kKeyword|PRIEST}} models only. 1/battle, instead of chanting a prayer, they can use this relic. An {{W40kKeyword|EMPEROR'S CHILDREN}} unit within 6" can re-roll wound rolls until the end of the round. ''Drastically'' better than a Space Marines lieutenant. Be sure to combine this with the havocs or noise marines you were going to doubletap with anyway.

*'''Unique Units'''
**'''[[Lucius the Eternal]]:''' Slaanesh's favorite boy toy is back and with some neat tricks. Lucius is cheap as shit for what he offers; so long as you get him into combat with the right unit, he's almost always going to make his points back. Either by killing something in combat or causing a number of mortal wounds to whatever killed him before they fully finish him off. As with all characters who have 5 wounds or fewer, watch the fuck out for snipers (he's going to be a prime target) and keep him screened, otherwise feel free to get him into combat wherever you want as he only gets stronger with every wound he takes, being able to deal 12 attacks at full power, before counting DttFE, as he can get 8 normally, +2 for attacking a character, +2 for ''"firing"'' his lash (don't try to roll them all at once, the lash doesn't benefit from DttFE). Keep in mind though that he's not Khârn, you can't charge anything you want and expect it to die but if you keep him relegated to units/characters around his own points cost to 50 points above it, he'll find it easy to come out on top.
***Thanks to his cost reduction it's worth considering him for buff duty, likely with Noise Marines or by hanging around Helbrutes armed with blastmasters and missile launchers (especially if you're using Fire Frenzy). Sure a normal Chaos Lord can buff units as well, but Lucius easily outperforms Emperor's Children lords in melee while only costing a little more, something worth considering if you're worried the enemy will come to you instead of it being the other way around.
**'''Sonic Dreadnought:''' This is a Helbrute, but is technically a distinct datasheet named Sonic Dreadnought; you can take 2 Blastmasters on its multimelta arm, and you can give it a Doom Siren.

*'''Tactics'''
Here are some tactics that work better for Emperor's Children than any other Legion.
*'''Phoenix Guard 2.0:''' This involves Deep Striking in a Terminator Sorcerer and pulling some shenanigans. You'll be using Terminators with Lightning Claws, everyone will need Mark of Slaanesh, and the Sorcerer will also need to know Delightful Agonies. You'll also want to run them as Emperor's Children specifically. On Turn 2, Deep Strike these (preferably behind) something that's especially scary and cast Delightful Agonies on them. Now your opponent has to make a painful choice on their turn - fall back away from your Terminators but closer to whatever else you have running towards the enemy, or get in combat with an extremely durable opponent that will also get to swing first thanks to the EC Legion Tactics.
**'''Alternative Opinion:''' Tremendous waste of points; just bring Terminators with Combi-Plasmas or Combi-Bolters, as well as chain axes. Will do a far better job. If you’re a fan of Lightning Claws check this out:
*'''The Perfect Strike:''' Take some raptors or warp talons and a lord or sorcerer with a jump pack and put them into a host raptorial specialist detachment. Give the HQ the host raptorial warlord trait to get +2 to charge's within 6" of him And use Honor the prince if necessary to turn one of your charge dice into a 6. Congratulations, you have a deep striking unit that cannot fail its charge without some kind of external negative charge modifier. For absolute perfection, charge multi charge with a unit of warp talons to completely turn off multiple units overwatch (Perfect for a certain loyalist Chapter we have a history with that just got a buff to their overwatch) and slap the raiment repulsive on the warlord to give them full hit, wound and charge rerolls.
*'''Lord Slamgrim:''' 8th edition's "weapon modifies datasheet" paradigm allows for some interesting stacking buffs to create a powerful smash lord. Loathsome Grace (+1S +1A on charge) + Hateful Assault (+1A on charge) + Intoxicating Elixir (+1S +1A) + Combat Elixirs (2CP = +1A) + Diabolic Strength (+2S +1A) gives us S8 and A9, which when modified by a Thunder Hammer gives us 9 attacks at strength 16. What's neat is this doesn't actually require Veterans of the Long War to utilize since you're sitting on S16 already. Honour the Prince (one charge dice is a 6) and a Host Raptorial detachment for Vicious Descent (reroll all hits after a deep strike) for added fun. Some things to watch out for, however, are rules that let your opponent shoot at your units while they deep strike, and screening chaff (less of an issue if your Noise Marines are doing their job). Savvy gunline opponents will not want either of the above strategies anywhere near their army, so they’ll do whatever it takes to avoid them.
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===Flawless Host===
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[[File:FlawlessHost.png|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, the pure must eliminate those who are not.

Thematically the Flawless Host got caught up in inflating their own egos so much that they lost sight of everything else. In fact they're so caught up in making sure everyone knows how perfect they are that they don't even realize how corrupted they've become.

Crunchwise the Flawless Host are to everyone else what the Chaos Space Marines are to the Imperium. You effectively gain your Imperium bonus against everyone, while doubling it if you actually fight against Imperium. They're still not going to generate as many attacks as World Eaters, but then again you can have Psykers of all types and those dudes cannot.
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*'''Renegade Trait: ''Death to the Imperfect'':''' Death to the False Emperor, but against everyone. This stacks with Death to the False Emperor, in which case you will get 2 additional attacks instead of 1. Not quite as good as the Base Emperor's Children trait, if you can't go first then you can lose more attacks than you'd gain for this trait, so if you don't want their Stratagem, Relic or WT then just go EC.
**As of the FAQ all Flawless Host units must be Slaanesh marked if they are able to do so.
*'''Warlord Trait: ''Ultimate Confidence'':''' If your warlord gains bonus attacks from their legion trait, they may make 3 bonus attacks instead of 1. Turns your warlord into a blender and a Lord Discordant into a lawnmower (Remember, the Lord Discordant triggers the extra attacks on a 5+ because of his own aura).
*'''Stratagem: ''We Cannot Fail (1 CP)'':''' pick a {{W40kKeyword|FLAWLESS HOST INFANTRY}} Unit in the fight phase. They can re-roll all their to hit rolls.
*'''Relic: ''The Flawless Cloak'':''' +1 A and add 3" to the user's aura abilities. Feel like a Word Bearer. The bonus aura isn't going to help much, especially since unlike the Voice of Lorgar trait, it wasn't FAQ'd to apply to prayers.
*'''Tactics:''' Here are some tactics that work better for the Flawless Host than any other Traitors.
**'''Swaggering Spiderbot (Disco Lord of Lawnmowing):''' Take a Lord Discordant, throw the Ultimate Confidence trait and Intoxicating Elixir relic on him, then have a prince or sorcerer nearby to cast prescience on him. You now have a 160 pt model that can kill a knight in one fight phase. You get 5 S10 -2 2dmg attacks, 5 S8 -2 D1d3 dmg attacks and a 1 S9 -4 D1d3 dmg attack all of which [[rape|proc 3 extra hit rolls on a 4+]] (4 hit rolls if your target is imperial). Have fun.
**'''Possessed Lawn Mower:''' Take a maxed sized unit of Slaanesh marked Possessed, put them inside a Daemonkin ritualists detachment, and give one of your Greater Possessed "Shepard of the True Faith". Once in melee use Vessels of the Neverborn and you will have on average 60(or 100 for a full squad that rolled 3 for base attacks, +1 for Vessles and another +1 for Hateful Assault on the charge) S7 ap-2 attacks (S8 is possible with a Herald of Slaanesh). With Flawless host this equates to an average 23 extra hits, with the WL-Trait active, this give you 12 mortal wounds for the cost of 1CP.  You should also take an Icon of Excess to proc those extra DttFE hits on  5+ and still get your DttImp hits on 6+.  Want to make them really swing?  Cast Prescience on them for a 4+ DttFE/5+ DttImp with the Icon.
**'''Shredder DP:''' Take your Prince, make sure he's got double Talons, replace the Talons with the Rapacious Talons from PA, take Ultimate Confidence WT, and give him Prescience for the psychic power.  6-10 attacks with each 5+ proccing +3 attacks(+4 VS Imperium) re-rolling 1s to-hit, at S9 wounding most things on a 3+ while re-rolling Wounds, at 2 damage each.  It's the re-rolling Wounds that really make it worth considering the demon talons over the malefic talons.
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===[[Iron Warriors]]===
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[[File:IronWarriors.png|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only bitter hate.

Thematically, the Iron Warriors are known as some of the greatest siege lords in the Galaxy. They are renowned for their unmatched alliance with the Cult of Destruction (Obliterators and Mutilators), their methodically planned campaigns of conquest, and their ability to break through and conquer any defended location, from a Bunker on a hill to an entire Fortress World.

Crunch wise, they have been MASSIVELY improved from earlier in this Edition. The Iron Warriors‘ Legion Trait is useful in the current meta with everyone and their dog getting the benefits of cover in the open, and also have a great selection of Warlord Traits and some EXTRA flavorful Stratagems that make their traditional playstyle much more powerful. 
Not the most viable of all the Legions, but certainly has potential for some hilariously powerful army builds. 
They have synergy with shooting, Obliterators, Vehicles, and not dying.
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*'''Legion Trait: ''Siege Lords'':''' Enemy units attacked by units with this trait do not receive the benefit to their saving throws for being in cover. In addition, you can re-roll any failed wound rolls for units with this tactic when they are targeting a {{Template:W40kKeyword|BUILDING}}. In other words, this is identical to the Imperial Fist's old chapter tactics, which undoubtedly pisses the Iron Warriors off to no end. On the plus side, you get to give the middle finger to the ''Prepared Positions'' Stratagem if you get first turn, since ignores cover is functionally AP-1. 

*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''Bastion''': When resolving an attack made by a weapon with an AP of -1 against an {{W40kKeyword|IRON WARRIORS}} unit within 6" that is in cover, the AP is reduced to 0. Kinda gimmicky, but the Dour Duty Stratagem can make this pretty awesome. Still, a tough sell. 
**'''Cold and Bitter''': Friendly {{W40kKeyword|IRON WARRIORS}} units within 6" of the Warlord auto-pass Morale tests. That's a lot of Cultist blobs that won't be running away. 
**'''Daemonsmith''': When resolving an attack made by an {{W40kKeyword|IRON WARRIORS Daemon Engine}} or {{W40kKeyword|Cult of Destruction}} unit within 6", unmodified hit rolls of 6 cause an additional hit. Forgefiends, Obliterators, and Defilers will be gracious for the exploding dice, and the Lord of Skulls will go Nuclear in the Shooting Phase. 
**'''Iron Without''': 5+++ FNP. Great for a Lord Discordant or a Smash Prince. 
**'''Siege Master''': A guarantee that your heavy weapons will leave their mark. {{W40kKeyword|Iron Warriors Vehicles}} and {{W40kKeyword|Havocs}} within 6" of the warlord re-roll wound rolls of 1.
**'''Stoic Advance''': {{W40kKeyword|IRON WARRIORS}} units within 6" ignore the penalty for moving and firing heavy weapons. Keep in mind this is ''all'' units, not just infantry. Turns any of your heavy weapon marines into havocs and saves you CP if you have any nearby vehicles or daemon engines that are carrying heavy weapons and need to reposition. A Lord Discordant escorting Forgefiends for 8" movement AND Ballistic Skill 3+ in coming Shooting Phase? Oh yes. 

*'''Stratagems'''
**'''Bitter Enmity (1CP)''': Grr, we hate Imperial Fists. One unit can reroll hit and wound rolls in melee when targeting them. 
**'''Cannon Fodder (2CP)''': Use during your opponents shooting phase. select one {{W40kKeyword|IRON WARRIORS}} infantry unit and one{{W40kKeyword|IRON WARRIORS}} Cultist unit wholly within 6" of it. Until the end of that phase, enemy units can't target that unit so long as the cultists are visible. Very similar to the cloud of flies for the death guard except for a bit worse because you have the stigma of needing every cultist to be wholly within 6" of the selected unit. Which can be hard if you're trying to protect a small infantry unit with a big blob of cultists. But can be a bit easier if used to protect a large group with a bigger group of cultists. 
**'''Dour Duty (1CP)''': Use during your opponent's shooting phase or doing your charge phase. When ''any'' {{W40kKeyword|IRON WARRIORS}} unit is chosen as the target of an attack, the AP of the enemy's gun gets worse by 1. Throw this on a Land Raider or Obliterators in Cover, and even the best Anti Tank weapons will struggle to reduce it's armor lower than 3+. Also works great with bastion, as it will make a unit immune to AP -2 and lower. 
**'''Iron Within, Iron Without (1CP)''': Use this stratagem when an {{W40kKeyword|IRON WARRIORS}} unit loses a wound. Until the end of the phase, each time said unit loses a wound, they roll a die; on a 6 the wound is ignored. Best used on a centerpiece tank, say a Land Raider or a Typhon Heavy Siege Tank. 
**'''Methodical Annihilation (1CP)''': Use when selecting an {{W40kKeyword|IRON WARRIORS}} unit to shoot with. Either re-roll the damage rolls, or re-roll any or all of the dice used to determine the type characteristic. The former works best on high damage weapons like lascannons, while the latter helps maximize the output of blast weapons and flamers, rerolling their number of shots.
**'''Rampant Techno-virus (1CP)''': Use during the shooting or fight phase when you select an {{W40kKeyword|IRON WARRIORS}} Obliterators or Mutilators unit to attack. Until the end of the phase, you can re-roll any or all of the dice used for that unit's fleshmetal guns or fleshmetal weapons.  Against heavier targets, this is very roughly as good a multiplier as re-rolling 1s to hit and wound, and it will stack; the lighter the target, the less useful it is - for example, the benefit against T3/5+ (GEQ) is negligible.
**'''Tank Hunters (1CP)''':  Use during the shooting or fight phase. Choose one {{W40kKeyword|IRON WARRIORS}} unit (not cultists!) and one enemy vehicle. The Iron Warriors can re-roll wound rolls against the target.
**'''Unholy Vigor (1CP)''': Pick an {{W40kKeyword|Iron Warriors Vehicle}}. It regains 3 wounds. Combine with a Warpsmith's healing ability and use on a daemon engine to restore between 5-7 wounds per turn. That's enough to bring almost any vehicle from its lowest health bracket to its highest one, all before the end of your movement phase.

*'''Relics'''
**'''Axe of the Forge Master:''' Replaces a power axe or Daemon Axe. +3 strength, -3 ap, 2 damage. against vehicles, an unmodified roll of 5+ deals d3 mortal wounds in addition to any other damage. Fantastic, especially against Loyalist Vehicles, as the exploding dice from DTTFE will dish out even more mortal wounds. Give this to a Daemon Prince and watch him chop Repulsors in half. 
**'''Cranium Malevolous''': Use instead of shooting. Roll a dice for every enemy vehicle within 9"; on a 4+, they take d3 mortal wounds. on a 6+, they take 3 mortal wounds. Alas, poor Yorick, I knew his EMP blasts well.
**'''Fleshmetal Exoskeleton''': Grants a 2+ armour save and allows the user to regenerate a wound at the start of a turn. Perfect for a Daemon Prince, since they can't normally upgrade their armour saves.
**'''Insidium''': The bearer gains the Daemon keyword if he does not already have it and adds 1 to their strength, toughness, and wounds. I can see the Smash Lords and Princes coming from a mile away. Also gives desperately needed durability to a Lord Discordant. Combine with the Iron Without Warlord Trait to make an unkillable monster. 
**'''Siege Breaker Mace''': Replaces a Power Maul or a Cursed Crozius. Comes with two profiles. 
***Swing: S+2 AP-2 D2
***Smash: Sx2 AP-3 D1d6, can only make max of 2 attacks when smashing. When rolling for damage, roll twice and drop the lowest. Combined with Prayers, this gives the fluff AND crunch to add a Dark Apostle to your list. 
**'''Spitespitter''': Replaces a combibolter. Rapidfire 2, 5 Strength, -3 AP, d3 damage. Pretty much a Plasma Gun with double the shots. Awesome. 
**'''Techno-venomous Mechadendrites''': Warpsmiths only, 4 additional attacks which cause mortal wounds if they hit, but you can't generate additional attacks for those 4.

*'''Tactics'''
Here are some tactics for use with an iron warriors army.

*Daemon engine spearhead, take a soulforged pack with 3 defilers, 3 maulerfiends and two lords discordant, an air wing detachment with 3 helldrakes and a supreme command detachment with a sorcerer, a dark apostle and two warpsmiths. Give one warpsmith or lord discordant the Stoic Advance warlord trait, give your sorcerer the prescience and warptime psychic powers. The apostle should have the cursed earth power. You now have an army of 9 daemon engines most of which will have 4++, with the ability to advance and charge one of them in the same turn (after moving twice with warp time) and 1 unit every shooting phase can re'roll wounds against 1 enemy vehicle, which is very handy on defilers. All your daemon engines are healing 1 wound per turn base, for 1 cp though you can give 1 daemon engine a extra 3 wounds back on top of this, finally your warpsmith can heal d3 wounds in addition every turn for an average of [[troll|6 wounds back per turn]], enjoy your opponents reaction as your maulerfiend goes straight from 1 wound to its top bracket in one turn.
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===[[Night Lords]]===
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[[File:NightLords.jpg|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, terror is the ultimate weapon. 

Thematically the Night Lords are the scary Marines, appearing from carefully planned ambushes to strike when their targets least expect and terrorizing their foes by skinning their victims and strapping them to their armour.

Crunchwise the Night lords are a fairly flexible choice, with base leadership reduction and tools that seem oriented toward tactical advantage they have a lot of room to experiment with different strategies, if you don't rely solely on their capability to reduce enemy Ld you will find it quite rewarding to experiment with different gods buffs and choices to hunt down your enemy with the Ld reduction as nice added sting to his losses. 

As of Faith and Fury they have expanded their Tactical and debuff choices, they now reward bullying and breaking your opponent through coordinated strikes that are that much more harrowing to withstand due to their expanded Tactical and Combat stratagems, their heroes can also become surprisingly terrifying whether you tooled and used them to bully weaker units or torpedo them towards an essential lynchpin that will either stop buffing his army or get in an unexpectedly bloody scuffle with a model that simply shouldn't have that many attacks nor the ability to get into combat that easily.

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*'''Legion Trait: ''Terror Tactics'':''' Enemy units must subtract one from their leadership for '''each''' unit with this trait within 6", up to a maximum of -3. Can be extremely powerful if you can get overlapping leadership penalties and then start causing deaths. GW themselves recommend three units of Night Lords, one with an icon of despair, at least one of which is a unit of Raptors, to provide a -5 hit to leadership before casualties even start getting counted, practically guaranteeing more models lost to failed morale checks. With the release of the Chaos Knights Index, you can take a Renegade Knight as your warlord, give it the Traitor’s Mark for even more Ld. reduction (-1 at 12”, -2 at 6”.) FUN! Too bad a generic Stratagem completely nullifies its effects, but on the plus side even -3 Ld will force your enemy to waste CP. (Off course you have to hunt down the occasional commisar if you want to pull this trick off. Blamming beat everything, from the skins of your friends on the armour of that space marine to the huge robotic killer coming to squeeze you)
*'''Warlord Traits:'''
**'''Night Haunter's Curse''': Once per battle round, you can re-roll one hit roll, wound roll, damage roll, Advance roll, charge roll, or saving roll made for your Warlord. Damn, that's a lot of possible rerolls. More importantly, that means you don't need to spend as many CP for said rerolls.
**'''One Piece at a Time''': The warlord can charge in a turn that they fell back and any attacks made with melee weapons against the warlord are -1 to hit. Holy Christ that's good. 
**'''Murderous Reputation''': Unmodified hit rolls of 6 by the warlord inflict a mortal wound in addition to any other damage. Better than Flames of Spite? Not a chance. Flames of Spite can be modified to 4+ mortal wounds. If you want mortal wounds for shooting, go with Daemon Shells stratagem.
**'''Killing Fury''': Add D3 attacks to the warlord in a turn that they charge, were charged, or heroically intervened until the end of the fight phase. Combo this with our Hit and Run stratagem for some really dirty fighting.
**'''One With The Shadows''': when wholly on or in terrain, +1 to saving throw (not Invulnerable saves). In addition, whilst this model is wholly on or in terrain, +1 to invulnerable saves (max of 3+). Basically while in terrain you get +2 for cover bonus and +1 to invulns. Become one with the Sneak Force. 
**'''Dirty Fighter''': If there are more friendly models within 3″ of the warlord than enemy models, add 1 to wound rolls for the warlords melee weapons. Gang up on small units and RIP AND TEAR. Pack the high AP, cause RAW this still counts vehicles as 1 model unlike something like the Crimson Fists chapter tactic, which counts them as 5+ models, stack with VotLW to wound anything in the game on at least a 4.
*'''Stratagems''': 
**'''In Midnight Clad (1CP)''': Use this stratagem whenever a {{W40kKeyword|NIGHT LORDS INFANTRY}} unit is targeted by a shooting attack. Until the end of the phase, all enemy units firing at this unit must subtract 1 from their to-hit rolls. As GW has noted, since this Stratagem is declared only after you're targeted, it's a clever way to turn the tables on units that like to use overcharged plasma weapons (e.g. Hellblasters). Alas, does not work on Daemon Princes, as they aren't infantry.
**'''We Have Come For You! (1CP):''' At the start of the opponent's Movement Phase, one {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords}} unit that isn't a vehicle forbids any models within 1" from falling back (Unless they're a vehicle or Titanic, or with a minimum move characteristic). Pull this on some cowed guardsmen or fire warriors and rest assured with the knowledge that you have another turn to turn the rest of that unit into chunky salsa. Extra value against {{W40kKeyword|Fly}} units, as these tend to shoot the crap out of you after falling back, and "Hit & Run" assholes who rely on cycle-charging to always fight you first. Failing that, you are still in melee and thus can't be shot by everyone else, damn this thing is great! Better yet, as it doesn't specify Jump units either, use this to lock down '''ANY''' Tau battlesuit, from a coldstar commander all the way to a broadside, as they're all considered either infantry or monsters, and watch the fear form in real time.
**'''Vox Scream (2CP):''' Use at the end of the movement phase, select an enemy model within 18″ of a {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords}} unit. until the start of your next movement phase, enemy units cannot be affected by the affected units aura abilities. For maximum fun use it to turn off a certain big blue smurfs numerous aura abilities and watch Girlyman's gunline crumble.
**'''Prey on the Weak (1CP):''' Use in the shooting or fight phase, select a {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords}} unit. Until the end of that phase, when targeting a unit with a lower Ld characteristic than the selected unit, add 1 to hit rolls. While it's obviously intended for Raptors and other melee hitters, it can work wonders at range provided you play it right. Most units in the game (including vehicles) will normally tie you for Ld, so break the tie with a veritable pile of tools Chaos has. Both Terror Tactics and Icon of Despair are 6" auras and thus work at range (although just charging in generally accomplishes more than boltering shit). An Icon of Vengeance works as long as you don't misplace the champ (sadly Havocs can no longer take it). Chosen and Termies are inherently Ld9, so take the enemies on a tour to Plasma Town. The catch on this stratagem is fun and pretty much nonexistent. This is also a guaranteed +1 to hit in close combat for Daemon Princes with their LD10, great for pumping up DTTFE on your prince to a 5+. 
**'''Hit and Run (1CP):''' Use in charge phase, select a {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords}} unit, that unit can charge even if they fell back. So you get to fight them first and with +1A from Hateful Assault to boot. Once again, extra value for {{W40kKeyword|Fly}} units, who'll also get to shoot before getting stuck in again. Or you can simply hop that guardsman blob and pounce on the valuable thing they were screening - nobody told you have to fall back towards your table edge, right?
**'''From the Night (1CP):''' Use at start of Charge phase, select one {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords}} infantry unit entirely on or in terrain, until the end of the turn, add 2 to charge rolls, and +1 to hit in Combat. Would've been handy if half the terrain types didn't impede charges...
**'''Raptor Strike (1CP):''' Use in charge phase, select one {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords}} Jump pack unit that was set up as reinforcements this turn, roll 3D6 for that unit's charge roll. Makes that Host Raptorial charge all but a foregone conclusion. In fact, that's your pocket Host Raptorial on demand.
***Interestingly, this a copy paste of a Blood Angels strategem but a point less. Coincidence? I think not!
**'''Flay Them Alive (1CP):''' Use in the Fight phase, when a unit is destroyed from a {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords}} unit. Until the end of the turn, when a morale test is taken for enemy units within 12″ of that unit, your opponent rolls and additional D6 and you can choose which to discard.
*'''Relics:'''
**'''Claws of the Black Hunt:''' Replaces a pair of lightning claws; with S+1, AP-3, and D3 damage on top of the bonuses inherent to double lightning claws, these combine the horde-shredding ability of LCs with the AP and damage of a Force Sword.
**'''Vox Daemonicus:''' {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} model only. Enemies within 6" of the bearer all reduce their auras '''down to 1"''' and blocks anyone from deep-striking within 12" of him. Though you might scoff at the aura-nerf, do remember: You're not fighting in a vacuum. If you have your warlord supported with some other guys, you could shut down a potential pain in the ass aura and leave your buddies to rip their buddies to bits.
**'''Stormbolt Plate:''' {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} model only, gain a 2+ save and always count as being in cover. Solo Jump Lords appreciate it.
**'''Flayer:''' Power Sword model only. S+1, AP-3, D2. Each model destroyed by an attack with this weapon counts as 2 for morale. Makes even Primaris marines quiver in fear.
**'''Talons of the Night Terror:''' Model with the {{W40kKeyword|Fly}} keyword only. S+1, AP-1, D1. When the model with this weapon fights, it gains D3 additional attacks or D6 if it charged or made a heroic intervention. Your horde-mulching Lightning Feet, only worth it when stacked with other charge shenanigans, albeit barely so.
**'''Scourging Chains:''' Improve the AP of the bearers melee weapon's by 1. And -1 attack (to a minimum of 1) for enemy models within 1″ of the bearer.
**'''Misery of the Meek:''' Once per battle: at the start of the Movement phase, the bearer regains D6 lost wounds and gains D3 extra attacks until the start of your next turn.
*'''Tactics:''' Here are some tactics that work much better for Night Lords than in any other Legion.
**'''Ave Dominus Nox:''' Relies on Night Lord legion leadership bomb. 2 squads raptors with special weapons, maybe a Contemptor with twin butcher cannon. See that lovely big squad of custodians, or their jetbikes...Just get your 2 raptors within 3" to be -5 leadership for them, that's before causing any wounds with the contemptor for another-1 leadership, and if you manage kill one with let's say, raptors melta gun, that's-7 leadership during morale, you don't even need get into close combat. Unless the opponent rolls a 2, or uses 2cp, it's a guaranteed fail. Even more painful with the Flayer relic and/or the Flay them Alive Stratagem. If you'd prefer to kill enemies outright, Prey on the Weak can help with that too. 
**'''Undivided Horror Cult:''' Tired of Night Lords always being characterised as Khornates? Time to make the ultimate fear list. Take at least a Night Lord HQ, a unit of Raptors with an Icon of Despair, and a Contemptor, Decimator, Leviathan, or Deredeo with a Butcher Cannon or two. ''This will result in a -3 to leadership at 6", -4 at 3" (icon), and -5 at 1" (Raptors), and an additional -2 for whatever you wounded with your Butcher Cannon(s). 
***It is possible to further drop morale through some other means. The easiest option is likely Chaos Spawn, since each unit causes -1 LD. Another is a Chaos Lord with the Lord of Terror Trait, or allying in Haarken Worldclaimer. Other means include Hell Talons with Warp-pulse Bombs, Noxious Blightbringers (one possibly with the Dolorous Knell relic), Be'lakor, Samus, and/or a Nurgle Herald with the Entropic Knell for an additional -1 Leadership each. Malefic Lords with Creeping Terror can contribute a nice -1d3 Leadership, and if you are facing {{Template:W40kKeyword|IMPERIUM}} enemies, some Renegade Command Squads with Banners of the Apostate can toss in another -1. The recently added Vulgrar and his Nightmare Hulks are able to join in on this party too. 
***Zhufor, Sloppity Bilepipers, the Ogryn Beast Handler's Hounds, and a few units of Furies are great additions to this, as they remove additional models when enemies fail their Morale tests, instead of piling on yet more, possibly redundant, Leadership penalties. An Aspect of Death Khorne Daemon Warlord can also help with this.
***Even Tzeentch can get on this! A Thousand Sons Sorcerer with Treason of Tzeentch combines beautifully with all this, and he can even bring some Mutaliths with him, just in case you need a bit more.
***If you really want to go big or go home, Zarakynel and ''Cacophonic Choir'' can help bring an average of 7 Mortal Wounds to units in the debuff zone; you can even give her Phantasmagoria to really grind the salt in. This all adds up to '''-14''' (16 with Zarakynel) Leadership, meaning everything within 6" will be Leadership 0. Maybe bring along a Slaaneshi Herald with the Forbidden Eye to shut down any bothersome auras?
***Renegade Knights can also get in on the action with their Traitor's Mark Relic, which hits everything within 12" with -1, and everything within 6" with -2. Tack it onto a Knight Atropus, which adds an additional -1! And if you want to be ''really mean'', take a Cerberus Heavy Destroyer and have fun auto-wounding every tank. [[Troll|(Average 50 wounds on everything with at least 8 wounds. See that tank, I don't either)]]. And while we're at it, let's just mention that the Chaos Warlord Titan also inflicts another -2, not that you'll be able to afford to run anything else alongside it. 
****Arguably, Chaos has so many options for shredding Leadership, it's almost possible to over commit to the gimmick. Leadership scores can only be forced down to 1 at a minimum, which can result in a lot of wasted rules. Be sure to spread your army out so that you aren't having identical rules overlap each other!
****'''Alternative Opinion:''' It's a lot of work just to try and force casualties on the enemy when you could just try and destroy the units instead of relying upon morale shenanigans. To fully exploit this strategy also requires multiple detachments, which can create a cumbersome army. In the case of some armies, like Tau, there's a high chance your whole leadership bomb will simply be ignored by a lucky roll of 6.
** '''Raptorial alpha strike:''' This ones kind of self-explanatory really, take a host raptorial with one 5 man unit of warp talons and a 15 man unit of raptors and of course a chaos lord in a jump pack (any weapons are fine on this guy but don't go overboard he's not here for his damage output) give him the TIP OF THE CLAW warlord trait for +2 to the charges of your raptors and warp talons on the turn they come down, ideally your warp talons should deepstrike into cover so they can benefit from FROM THE NIGHT at 1CP for an additional +2 to charge for a [[cheese|5" re-rollable charge out of deepstrike with no overwatch permitted]], once your talons have made their charge just charge your raptors into the largest possible concentration of enemy units, then in the next movement phase play WE HAVE COME FOR YOU for 1cp and keep a massive portion of the enemy gunline pinned in combat. This entire combo only costs about 450pts and allows you to tarpit a vast amount of your opponents army for several turns as your other units move in for the kill.
** '''Key take away(s)''' You need leadership debuffs acting as a supplement, not an initial means to remove models/units. Focus on killing and destroying models with usual chaos heavy hitters (aka the majority of the elites section), then allow for poor morale to increase overall damage. Further, you must tread the fine line between overkill and maiming your enemy. If you kill units outright, there is nothing left to scare and your army is essentially playing without a legion tactic. Further, you need to plan around army wide leadership protections (Mob rule, commissars, ignoring morale tests, certain psychic powers, etc.). This means you usually need to find ways to kill certain characters, which can be hard without dedicated snipers. Few armies can combine fluff and crunch this well, however, this is not a beginners army.
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===[[Word Bearers]]===
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[[File:WordBearers.jpg|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only the laughter of thirsting Gods.

Thematically the Word Bearers are the truest "Legion" out of the Chaos Space Marines, managing to keep their shit together when the Heresy went bad and managing to regroup until they were once more a at Legion-strength, without having every member with delusions of grandeur leave to make his own warband. They love inciting the masses to rebel against [[Imperium|those fools who can't see the truth]] and they're known to bring scores of Daemonic allies into battle. 

Crunch-wise the Word Bearers have the weakest Legion Trait. Fortunately they aren't alone however, being the best choice if you wanna go deep into fully devoted territory be it spamming possessed and buffing them with characters or daemonic allies, whether devoted to one or all of the aspects of the primordial truth we recommend checking the Chaos Daemons tactica too. However, their new content has vastly increased their ability to function without the Chaos Daemon Codex, having gained a slew of powerful Buffing and Utility-based Relics and Stratagems, and top spot as the most powerful Psychic Legion of the Vanilla Chaos Legions. Too bad their Legion Trait is a liability. 
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*'''Legion Trait: ''Profane Zeal'':''' Units with this trait may re-roll failed Morale tests. Just like ''And They Shall Know No Fear'', so you get something all Loyalist scum get ''for free'' with their Chapter Tactics. This doesn't mean you shouldn't take Word Bearers, because there is more to them than their Legion Trait, but if you don't intend on using their Stratagems, Warlord Traits, or Relics, don't take them.
*'''Warlord Traits''': 
**'''''The Voice of Lorgar'':''' Add 3" to the range of any aura abilities (as of the FAQ, this includes prayers) that the warlord has. Rooftop Havocs should be able to hear your Lord shouting at them to shoot straight, whilst covering a lot of ground. It's complete trash unless you drop it on a Dark Apostle to boost the range of his prayers.
**'''''Exalted Possession'':''' This Warlord gains the {{W40kKeyword|POSSESSED}} and {{W40kKeyword|DAEMON}} keywords (if they don't already have them). Add 1 to the Strength and Attacks characteristics of the Warlord, and add 1" to this Warlord's Move characteristic. Note that this means they can be buffed by Greater Possessed, Masters of Possession, Daemonic Loci, and several Relics from the Daemon Codex. Most notably this allows the warlord to be effected by the Revered Hosts stratagem to boost the damage of all weapons the character has.
**'''''Daemonic Whispers'':''' If your army is Battle-forged, roll one d3 before the battle begins, you gain a number of additional Command Points equal to the result. Once per battle, if this Warlord is on the battlefield, you can re-roll a single hit roll, wound roll, damage roll or saving throw.
**'''''Master of the Union'':''' Add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of models in friendly {{W40kKeyword|WORD BEARERS DAEMON}} units whilst their unit is within 6" of this Warlord.
**'''''Diabolist'':''' When this Warlord would lose a wound, roll one D6, adding 3 to the result if that wound would be lost as the result of a mortal wound, on a 6+ that wound is not lost.
**'''''Sacrilegious Regeneration'':''' Add 1 to this Warlord's Wounds characteristic. At the start of your turn, this Warlord regains up to D3 lost wounds.
*'''Stratagems''':
**'''''Dark Pact (1CP)'':''' Use this stratagem when a {{W40kKeyword|WORD BEARERS CHARACTER}} attempts to summon a unit of {{W40kKeyword|DAEMONS}} to the battlefield using a daemonic ritual. You can re-roll any of the dice used in the summoning roll, and your character will not suffer any mortal wounds for rolling doubles or triples. Considering how much cheaper Daemons have gotten, this makes summoning a lot more viable.
**'''''Malevolent Covenant (1CP)'':''' Use this Stratagem in your Psychic phase when a {{W40kKeyword|WORD BEARERS PSYKER}} unit from your army fails a Psychic test. This is autmatically manifested by that {{W40kKeyword|PSYKER}} unit at the minimum required warp charge value and without a double having been rolled, and cannot be resisted by a Deny the Witch attempt. After resolving the effects of the psychic power that {{W40kKeyword|PSYKER}} unit suffers 1 mortal wound.
**'''''Apostle of the Dark Council (1CP)'':''' Use this Stratagem before the battle. Select one {{W40kKeyword|WORD BEARERS PRIEST}} model from you army. It now knows one additional prayer from the Prayers to the Dark Gods and can chant one additional prayer at the start of the battle round, like the Loyalists' Master of Sanctity. You can only use this Stratagem once per battle.
**'''''Cursed Despoilers (2CP)'':''' Use this Stratagem after deployment but before the first battle round begins, if a {{W40kKeyword|WORD BEARERS}} unit from you army is on the battlefield. Select one terrain feature (other than a Fortification). Units entirely on or within that terrain feature do not gain the benefits of cover to their saving throws.
**'''''Revered Hosts (1 CP)'':''' Use this Stratagem in the Fight phase when a {{W40kKeyword|WORD BEARERS POSSESSED}} unit or {{W40kKeyword|WORD BEARERS GREATER POSSESSED}} unit from your army is chosen to fight with. Unit the end of the phase add 1 to the Damage characteristic of melee weapons models in that unit are equipped with.
**'''''Hexagrammic Wards (1CP)'':''' Use this Stratagem in any phase after making a saving throw for a {{W40kKeyword|WORD BEARERS CHARACTER}} model from you army. Treat the result of that saving throw as 6. Each {{W40kKeyword|WORD BEARERS CHARACTER}} model from your army can only be the target of this Stratagem once per battle. A nifty alternative to the traditional Command re-roll. 
**'''''Vengeance for Monarchia (1CP)'':''' Use this Stratagem in the fight phase when a {{W40kKeyword|WORD BEARERS}} unit from you army is chosen to fight with. Until the end of that phase, when resolving an attack made with a melee weapon by a model in that unit against an {{W40kKeyword|ULTRAMARINES}} unit, you can re-roll the hit roll and you can re-roll the wound roll.
*'''Relic''': 
**'''''The Cursed Crozius'':''' S+2, AP-2, and a flat 3 damage, replacing a power maul or accursed crozius. In addition, the bearer may re-roll failed wound rolls with the weapon in close combat when fighting against {{W40kKeyword|IMPERIUM}} units. An extremely powerful relic for one of the weakest Legions in the codex, there is almost no reason to skip over this as it's a great option and can dish out a shocking amount of pain. Put it on a Dark Apostle with the Omen of Potency and he'll be striking like a mini-Greater Daemon. Using Stratagems to allow him to strike twice can actually have him outperform Bloodthirsters, albeit at the cost of a shitload of CP.
**'''''Crown of the Blasphemer'':''' Improve the invulnerable save of a model with this Relic by 1, to a maximum of 3+. Subtract 1 from the Leadership characteristic of models in enemy units whilst within 6" of this model.
**'''''Baleful Icon'':''' When a charge roll is made for a charge declared against any friendly {{W40kKeyword|WORD BEARERS}} units within 6" of a model with this Relic, subtract 2 from the result.
**'''''Book of the Reviler'':''' Model that is not a {{W40kKeyword|DAEMON}} only. Before the battle, a model with this Relic can read from the Book of the Reviler. If it does, randomly generate two Chaos Boons for that model from the table found in the Chaos Boon Stratagem, re-rolling Spawndom, Daemonhood, and duplicate results. Note that doing so does not cost any Command Points and an enemy {{Template:W40kKeyword|CHARACTER}}, {{Template:W40kKeyword|VEHICLE}}, or {{Template:W40kKeyword|MONSTER}} model does not have to have been destroyed.
**'''''Malefic Tome'':''' {{W40kKeyword|PSYKER}} model only. A model with this Relic knows one additional psychic power from their chosen discipline. When a Psychic test is taken for a model with this Relic, add 1 to the total.
**'''''Ashen Axe'':''' Model with a chainaxe only. This Relic replaces a chainaxe and has the following profile - +1 Str, -2 AP, d3 Dmg. Enemy units with 1" of a model with this Relic cannot fallback unless they have the {{Template:W40kKeyword|VEHICLE}} or {{Template:W40kKeyword|TITANIC}} keywords, or have a minimum Move characteristic.
**'''''Epistle of Lorgar'':''' {{Template:W40kKeyword|PRIEST}} model only. When a model with this Relic chants a prayer, you can re-roll the dice to determine if that prayer is heard. Add 1 to the Leadership characteristic of models in friendly {{Template:W40kKeyword|WORD BEARERS}} units whilst their unit is with 6" of this model.
*'''Strategies:''' Despite their Legion Trait, Word Bearers have a very obvious playstyle of Daemons, Auras, buffing, and Morale. Daemons add an ABSURD level of complexity and variety to an Army list, and a Dark Apostle, Chaos Lord, or any Daemon Squad can be buffed out to truly insane proportions. 
**'''''Allies From Beyond:''''' The first is to take Masters of Possession and go heavier on the monsters/Daemons; if you use Dark Pact when using Incursion you can make their summoning extremely reliable, conjuring up max-sized Daemon units (seekers come to mind to make it much more likely you'll make the charge, or Bloodcrushers since they're just devastating on the charge and it's not too much harder to make) or the new Keeper of Secrets, thanks to having a low enough charge you'll get it the vast majority of the time. If you really want to boost your daemons then summon a Herald (preferably of Slaanesh) to boost all the Keeper's attacks to S7 (and sword to S9) to wound Marines on 2's while being able to crush vehicles. Even just from a support role the Keeper can help out if you already have Possessed or other Slaanesh in combat since they can almost immediately cast Hysterical Frenzy and give you an out-of-sequence close combat round (although you're better off doing this from a Herald if you just want to troll the enemy with that move). Don't worry about skipping out on Sorcerers, if you really want something like Warptime you can always use the Chaos Familiar Stratagem to give it to one of the Masters of Possession. 
**'''''Little Lorgar:''''' The second way to go about it is to use the Dark Apostle to hold the main line. With The Cursed Crozius and the Omen of Potency prayer he makes a very effective charge deterrent, since you can make him have 6 Strength 6 (8 if you make him an Apostle of the Dark Council and chant the Khorne prayer in addition) Ap-4 attacks that do 3 damage each, meaning he's effectively punching in at near the same weight class as a Greater Daemon (greater if you want to burn a lot of CP, 1 for beseeching and 3 for getting him to fight again, just in case you wanted to make Bloodthirsters look like pansies). Given the Voice of Lorgar and by using Illusory Supplication you can pretend you've got an army of Daemons by spreading that 5++ save around, which goes well with lots of Cultists and/or Havocs, especially since he fixes the former's morale issues. Naturally this works a lot better in smaller to mid point games than the really large ones, though he still provides a decent bubble there too.
***Do note that if you want him to hit even harder, you can also choose to go with Exalted Possession instead of Voice of Lorgar, which in turn lets him benefit from the Vessels of the Neverborn stratagem from the Daemonkin Ritualists detachment, and also allows him access to even further buffs but at that point you're basically trying to make a smash captain rather than hold the line.
**'''''Angry Little Lorgar:''''' Khorne-Flavored Apostle with the Black Mace. Only D2, but More Str (9) and potential to deal Mortal Wounds on 6s.
**'''''Cursed Lord:''''' Chaos Jump Lord with Cursed Crozius and Exalted Possession. Swinging for a flat 3 damage at S7 is nice and gets better with Revered Hosts. If you team up with a Nurgle Daemons DP with locus and Virulent Blessing you can be getting up to ludicrous levels of damage per unsaved wound. Probably better in theory hammer than on the tabletop.
**'''''Tarpit Lord:''''' Chaos Lord with Jump Pack and the Ashen Axe. This model's primary purpose is to tag along side your assault forces and lock the enemy in combat. It's easy to pile into a non-vehicle unit with the lord and trap your opponent - if you pile in your close combat unit to the same target to can protect your self from shooting.
**'''''Angry Possessed:''''' Make your detachment a specialist Daemonkin Ritualists. Then give your warlord Master of the Union trait. Uses Vessels for the Neverborn (1 CP) and Revered Hosts (1 CP) stratagems. Congratulation, you've got a squad of Strength 6, Attack 2+D3, Damage 2 per models. You can go even further with a Greater Possessed, Master of Possession, Dark Apostle, Skull Altar, Skarbrand and/or Herald. They can become really brutal at full potential. And as they are very tough with HP 2 and Save 3+/5++, they are more durable than Berserks and can make hole in higher toughness. Add in a Field Commander with "Shepard of the True Faith" and now you're doing mortal wounds on top of your already massive damage output.
***Give the Possessed Nurgle's Mark.  Ally or summon in a Nurgle Daemon psyker with the Virulent Blessing power.  Buff the Possessed unit with Virulent Blessing, VotLW, and the Soultearer Portent prayer. Each Possessed's attacks are now doing 4 damage apiece on wound rolls of 4+.
(((Fabius Bile is also a good choice for buffing possesed))) this needs to be divided into several sections of angry possesed. It is too long 

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===[[World Eaters]]===
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[[File:WorldEaters.png|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only an eternity of carnage and slaughter.

Thematically the World Eaters are THE angry Marines, wanting little more than to close the distance and butcher their foes, just as Khorne prefers. Thankfully this is a role they fit into very well.

Crunchwise your Relics and Stratagems protect you from psychic threats, and everything else is geared toward throwing yourself at your enemy and chopping him down back to his base components. Your enemy will be both contemptuous of the simplicity and terrified of the effectiveness of the traits offered by this legion. This is amplified by your ability to take Berzerkers as troops, allowing you to really drown the opponent in attacks.
If you want more nuance, partner up with another legion.
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*'''Legion Trait: ''Butcher's Nails'':''' When a unit with this trait successfully charges, you make one additional attack with each model in the following fight phase. This often translates to 4 attacks per model, on top of being able to strike first, and, in several cases, being able to fight more than once. This obviously makes units like Warp Talons/ Raptors, Berzerkers, and Possessed much better. This applies in only the first fight phase your units get, not extra ones such as those granted by your Berzerker's special rules or Stratagems (thanks FAQ).
**All models must be marked by {{Template:W40kKeyword|Khorne}} when possible. Of course, this means ''no sorcerers''.
**{{Template:W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS}} Berzerkers count as troops instead of elites.
*'''Warlord Traits:'''
**'''''Slaughterborn'':''' Add 1 to your Warlord's Attacks and Strength characteristics each time he slays an enemy {{Template:W40kKeyword|CHARACTER, MONSTER}}, or {{Template:W40kKeyword|TITANIC}} model. YES KILL KNIGHTS!!!!
**'''''Arch Slaughterer'':''' At the start of the fight phase, your warlord gets D3 additional attacks if there are more enemies within 3" of them than friendly models. These extra attacks last until the end of the fight phase.
**'''''Disciple of Khorne'':'''Your warlord can re-roll all hit and wound rolls when they're fighting an enemy character '''OR''' a unit with models that have 5 or more wounds. Not quite as sick as the Raiment Repulsive those EC prissies have, but you're going to ruin duels. On the plus side, it's a trait as opposed to eating a relic.
**'''''Violent Urgency'':''' +1 to advance and charge rolls for friendly {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS}} units within 6" of this warlord
**'''''True Berzerker'':''' When resolving a melee attack against this model halve the damage rounding up.
**'''''Battle-Lust'':''' The warlord can perform a 6" heroic intervention and moves 6" when doing so. Additionally, this warlord always fights first even if they didn't charge.
*'''Stratagem:'''
**'''''Scorn of Sorcery (1CP)'':''' When an enemy psyker uses a power within 24" of a {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS}} unit, roll a d6. On a 4+, the power is nullified. Identical to the Black Templars' ''Abhor the Witch'' stratagem, but no less effective against those pesky psykers.
**'''''Apoplectic Frenzy (1CP)'':''' use during deployment when you set up a {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS INFANTRY}}. At the start of the first battle round but before the first turn begins that unit can move up to 9" but cannot this move within 9" of any enemy models.
**'''''SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE (1CP)'':''' Use in the fight phase when an enemy character is destroyed with a melee weapon by a {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS CHARACTER}} Gain D3 Command points. Gain CP for collecting skulls for Khorne. Because you gain D3 CP and it costs 1CP at worst nothing happens and at best you gain 2CP.
**'''''Red Butchers (2CP)'':''' use before the battle. select one {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS CHAOS TERMINATORS}} unit from your army. That unit gains +1 strength and the "blood for the blood god" ability. You can only use this stratagem once. Grab one of those upgrade kits from Forge world and go '''RIP AND TEAR'''
***A note in the FAQ clarifies that yes, {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS TERMINATORS CHARACTERS}} can be selected for this Stratagem. While significantly less impactful than a full unit and rather expensive in terms of CP, this can go some way to make a {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS}} Smashfucker very ''very'' dangerous. Oh, and it does not specify no named Characters, so you could slap this on Zhufor if you really wanted.
**'''''KILL! MAIM! BURN! (1CP)'':''' Use in the fight phase before you consolidate with a {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS}} unit. Until the end of that phase each model can move up to 6" when they consolidate instead of 3".
**'''''Wild Fury (1CP)'':''' Use in the fight phase when you select a {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS}} unit to fight with. Until the end of the phase that unit's melee weapons AP is improved by 1.
**'''''Stoke the Nails (1CP)'':''' Use in the fight phase when a {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS INFANTRY}} or {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS BIKER}} unit that is not a {{W40kKeyword|CHAOS CULTIST}} is chosen to fight with. Until the end of that phase, that units DttFE triggers against any enemy units, not just {{W40kKeyword|IMPERIUM}} units. Additionally when targetting {{W40kKeyword|IMPERIUM}} units DttFE triggers on 5+.
**'''''BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! (2CP)'':''' Use in the fight phase after an enemy unit is destroyed by a {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS}} model. Until the start of your next turn all friendly {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS}} units auto pass morale tests. 
*'''Relics: 
**'''''Brass Collar of Bhorgaster'':''' Allows the wearer to deny one psychic power per turn as if he was a psyker; if the power is successfully denied, the psyker immediately suffers Perils of the Warp. This combined with Scorn of Sorcery is bound to make psyker-heavy armies think twice before they begin unleashing their mindbullets or at least stay the hell away from the owner.
**'''''Crimson Killer'':''' Model with a plasma pistol only. 12" Pistol 1 S9 AP-3 3 Damage and unmodified wound rolls of 4+ score a mortal wound in addition to normal damage.
**'''''Gorefather'':''' Wait, ''WHAT''? Apparently, ol' [[Angron]] felt merciful enough that he could part ways with his other chainaxe. And what a beast it is, S+2 AP-2 D3, with the -1 to hit compensated by having a 6 to wound immediately deal 3 mortal wounds instead of regular damage. 
**'''''Banner of Rage'':''' {{W40kKeyword|PRIEST}} model only. Once per battle at the start of the fight phase can unfurl the Banner of Rage. If they do friendly {{W40kKeyword|WORLD EATERS}} units within 6" get +1 attack.
**'''''Berserker Glaive'':''' Model with power axe or axe of dismemberment only. S+1 AP-3 2 damage weapon that gives the bearer a 5+ FNP. Good replacement for a power axe, but not worth replacing the master of executions default axe.
**'''''Helm of Furore'':''' {{W40kKeyword|INFANTRY}} model only. The bearer gainst +2 strength and if they are within 8" of any enemy units they MUST declare a charge.
**'''''Bloodhunger'':''' When an enemy model is destroyed in the fight phase by a model with this relic roll a D6. On a 4+ the model with this relic regains up to 1 lost wound.
*'''Unique Character: [[Kharn|Khârn the Betrayer]]:''' Melee beatstick and swell guy, little else. Has one job and does it very well, running over practically everything in the entire game on the charge (unless they're a vehicle), he just needs a little help getting within charge distance now and again, so watch the fuck out for snipers and never send him off alone, he needs meat-shields to block that asshole with the Lascannon and there's none that combo better with him than World Eaters Berzerkers. His plasma pistol can also be of some use (oddly enough his re-roll thanks to his special rule [[derp|Applies to guns but not his own Melee Attacks]]) but don't count on it being amazing. Likewise don't worry too much over his ''The Betrayer'' rule, the re-rolls he gives you and the damage he puts out will more than make up for a Berzerker or two that he beheads, though if you really don't want that, you can have a Berzerker unit in front of him, select them to attack, then select them again and pile in so that nobody's within 1" of Khârn, that way he can't hit any of his good friends.
**If you want to give the finger to the lore and really want to kill vehicles with him, you can put Diabolic Strength on him and watch him tear Land Raiders in half.
**Had a points drop in CA 2018 meaning him and Zhufor are Best Friends 4 Lyfe.
**The key to using Khârn is stage management. As per the FAQ Blood for the Blood God happens during the charge-part of the fight phase. Position Khârn so he's within 1 inch of his charging Berzerker friends. Activate them first, then again using BFTBG before consolidating out of his Aura.
**Again as per the FAQ, Khârn only gets his bonus World Eater Legion trait attack on his first activation in the fight phase.

*'''Tactics:''' These are tactics that work best if you're using the World Eaters Legion.
**'''Khornate Party Van:''' Get a Rhino, or better yet - a land raider. Put 8 Berzerkers with Chainaxes in it, put a power fist on the Sergeant for good measure as well. Also take power sword, so that you can produce yet even more attacks against those corpse-loving boot-licks. Add a Dark Apostle or better still Khârn for those magical re-rolls to hit. Finally add an Exalted Champion for those re-rolls to wound. The key to making this strategy work is making sure that your transport doesn't get blown up and all your dudes shot to bits before they reach the enemy. If you can avoid that... You get 14 S6, AP-1 attacks, hitting on 3s, re-rolling all misses and all failed wound rolls. And that's BEFORE the 3 re-rollable power fists, or the Chainswords go off or any of the actual characters go. In addition it doesn't factor Death to the False Emperor or Legions Traits, which become even more brutal with re-rollable attacks. You then get to do this TWICE. Just remember - if you are using Khârn as the source of your re-rolls - always activate the Zerkers before you activate him. Otherwise you may find your ranks somewhat diminished before they even start hurting the enemy.
***The best part about this tactic is that if you take just the bare bones, like Khârn +9 berzerkers with axes in a rhino, it will cost you just under 400 points. You can isolate that into a separate World Eaters Patrol detachment (if you don't already play WE, otherwise just incorporate the buggers into your army as troops and a mandatory HQ), which gives them one extra melee attack on the charge per model per activation. Seeing as how they will activate TWICE... Do I really need to go on? It is dubious whether it will be very good in games of under 1000 points, as it takes up a huge chunk of your points pool.
***The key to making this tactic work for you is to not let the party van get nuked before the guys inside can reach their destination. If you're using a land raider, that should be easier, as they are pretty tough now. If you use a rhino, try and set things up so that not all of the enemy's heavy weapons can target your party van. ALSO - USE SMOKE LAUNCHERS. NEVER FORGET THEM! Keep in mind that it takes approximately 3 lascannon wounds to smash a rhino - possibly two, with some luck and/or a command point re-roll. With that in mind, try to remain out of the line of sight of multiple units capable of dishing out d6s of damage. And if your rhino does blow up - try to make it blow up where its contents won't be shredded by gunfire afterwards. While this is not the squishiest spearhead, it can be savagely crippled by a mix of heavy anti-tank weapons (krak, lascannons) and anti-infantry weapons (heavy bolters, massed bolter fire).
***If you really want to get the full strength of the unit in, consider a Drop Pod or Termite Assault Drill and deepstrike them turn 2 onwards.
***Don't forget that re-rolls happen before modifiers. So, when you roll a 3 to hit with your power fist, that's a hit, so it doesn't get re-rolled. Then, you apply the modifier, making it a miss. I know. I know.
***Who wants just some regular old party van? I want a flying party van! Go big or go home! Here's what you do: Kharybdis party bus, Dark Apostle, Exalted Champion, 18x Berzerkers equipped with Chainaxe + Chainswords and a Power Fist on the Champ. Oh, and make them a World Eaters Detachment. That gives you 51xS6 AP-1 attacks, 18xS5 attacks, 4xS10 Ap-3 Dd3 attacks, all attacking a second time, all re-rolling to hit and all re-rolling to wound. That's 146 attacks before the characters even swing! What's better is that the Kharybdis can charge in too! What good is a party bus if you can't crash it into the enemy from orbit?
***Two Rhinos, each with 9 (or eight for you holy number purists) Berzerkers, a Dark Apostle and an Exalted Champion riding with them, and a Cultist screen, makes for a formidable double party van and yields 5CP. The deep insertion units that want to jump in and pop the Rhinos? Now they have a load of ObSec Cultists to get past.
***Veterans of The Long War - Yeah, it sticks around in BOTH activations of the Berzerkers. And if that's not enough, you can give them an additional activation at the end of the combat phase, for 3 CP. RIP AND TEAR!
**'''Reach Out and Touch Someone :''' You'll need a couple of things for this.. a Termie/Raptor Lord with Violent Urgency and a Raptor Lord in a Host Raptorial specialist detachment.  Drop 10 Warp Talons 9" away as usual, drop the termie lord and raptor lord behind them.  Those 2 Warlord Traits will give any friendly <Jump Pack> units +3 to their Charge roll.  Those Warp Talons are '''going''' to make that charge and deny Overwatch since you just need a combination of 6 to get there.
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===Red Corsairs===
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[[File:RedCorsairs.jpg|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is nothing sweeter than revenge.

Thematically these are your pirate Marines, raiders who swoop in and take what they want with no fucks given. They are also one of the largest CSM forces, thanks in no small part to the fact that they'll accept any sad fuck who's ditched his original force in favour of something greater.

Crunchwise... hey kids, you want some CP? Red Corsairs are insanely good at getting CP, between their main trait, warlord trait, and special character no other faction in 40k (yet) can get cp so efficiently, just a simple 6 MSU CSM squads with an assortment of 4 HQs will net you a cool 16 CP to spend on just about anything. Suffice to say Red Corsairs are easily one of the strongest traits you can choose for your army.

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*'''Renegade Trait: ''Raiders from the Maelstrom'':''' Units with this trait may Advance and Charge in the same turn. In addition, if a detachment contains 3 or more units with this trait, that detachment's command benefits are increased by 1 CP. If that detachment contains 3 or more units of chaos space marines, the command benefits are increased by 3 CP. The former catch-all trait for the Renegade Chapters as a whole was already strong, and has been buffed even further for seemingly no reason, so make sure to take advantage of that by combining this with Warptime and Icons of Wrath (since you aren't playing a cult Legion there's no reason not to go multi-god) which makes you one of the fastest armies of 8E, and combines with the natural choppiness of Berzerkers, Raptors, and Possessed (while Bikers become ludicrously good) to make CSMs play like they always should have- powerful CC units that favour a balls-out, risky play style. Don't forget the Chaos Space Marine units, since even if they're all expendable MSUs you'll still get the bonus CP. 
*'''Warlord Trait: ''Reaver Lord'':''' Your army can have one extra relic for free (as opposed to paying CP for it like anyone else). Still can't give two relics to the same character. In addition, each time your warlord slays an enemy character, add 1 to their number of attacks for the rest of the battle. If you're using Vigilus Ablaze to give him the Raiders from the Maelstrom Renegade Trait, Huron gets this Warlord Trait instead of Eternal Vendetta.
*'''Stratagem: ''More Where They Came From (3 CP)'':''' Tide of Traitors but for Chaos space Marines instead of cultists. Corsairs are asking for you to spam CSM, and you should always take a full 20 man squad with bolters and a tricked out champion. Since your CSM detachments generate their own command points, the second ~ 270 point squad you hurl onto the battlefield is essentially entirely free for both points and CP. 
*'''Relic: ''Maelstrom's Bite'':''' Replaces a Combi-Melta. The Bolter part is boosted to Rapid Fire 3 AP-1 D2, and the Melta part is boosted to +1S (S9 total), making it a very bad idea for anything to be within 12" of it (24" with the bolter drill rules). Ironically, Huron was nearly killed by a melta blast, seems he has grown to respect these weapons and now offers some of the best ones around to his top Captains!
*'''Unique Character: [[Huron Blackheart]]:''' Huron and his <s>pirate parrot</s> Hamadrya are now separate models that make up a single unit, and as long as the latter is alive Huron can attempt to manifest one additional psychic power. Aside from that he's a sort of a Sorcerer Lord with 1 extra attack,  and who gives a command point if he's the warlord. Comes with the equivalent of a Fist, Axe, and Heavy Flamer. Of particular note is that the Hamadrya can be used to soak up a hit that could've killed him, although you don't want to give up his pet too early, as without it he's lost half of his psychic game. Also remember that any buffs that affect him will also affect the Hamadrya, even if it won't come up that often. Annoyingly, he is far weaker than his fluff and pre heresy counterparts, though he is almost half the price. 
**He is fairly well priced, though his lack of Terminator armor to deep strike along with no other options for increasing movement aside from Warptime means all he is really good for is baby sitting blobs of CSM. Luckily, Corsair CSM blobs are fairy potent and he works well marching up the board alongside them casting powers and increasing Dakka output. Once they crash into enemy lines he is a mid/upper tier beat stick who can get very dangerous for his cost under the right psychic powers/stratagems and after he kills a character. 
**Best not to make him your warlord, since Corsairs can garner so many CP his bonus 1 isn't all that valuable. Make someone else the warlord (Demon Prince/Termie Lord) and build them for a specific role. 

*'''Strategies:''' The Red Corsairs are very quick with a strong a very easy way to generate CP, naturally there are a few ways to take advantage of this.
**'''Suicide Fire Bikers:''' Take an Outrider detachment with three squads of bikers, a Chaos Lord on a bike and a Sorcerer on a bike. Give the bikers flamers and chainswords, have the Lord take a combi-flamer and thunder hammer while the Sorcerer takes whatever is point efficient for your army. Give them the Red Corsairs trait and put them front and centre. Have the Sorcerer buff whichever squad needs it, run 'em, Advance 'em, hit them with 7D6 worth of FLAMES!! Then Charge 'em. They (should) kill most of anything that is willing to fire overwatch, and finish what's left of a horde army with plenty of chainsword BRRR-ing.
***Note that while this works out well for deleting large hordes, you'll need something for the tougher units, like Berzerkers to follow behind them (especially if they're a separate detachment of World Eaters). Use the hammer and force weapon to full advantage and consider fists on the Sergeants to aid in busting multi wound models, also take Malestroms Bite on the Lord since you are getting so close.

*'''Fun Tactics:''' These are fun tactics that work better for Red Corsairs than any other subfaction. 
**'''The 30/30/60/90 Build:''' What would you do if you had ~30 cp and an endless supply of dudes, and not just Cultists, but actual Marines, with gear? 
***'''Step 1: Take a Brigade.''' Fill it with Cultists, and other cheap Compulsory choices, seasoning to fit your meta. Wargear, Marks, and Legion traits don't matter that much at this point, but Tzeentch and Crimson Slaughter net tonnes of Command Point recursion and some defensive power.
***'''Step 2: Take 2 Red Corsair Battalions.''' HQ's here don't matter too much, although you might shoehorn Blackheart in, if you wish. All that really matters is 6ish Chaos Space Marine squads with the Red Corsairs Legion trait.
***'''Step 3: PROFIT!!!!!''' With this build, you're looking at 90 recyclable dudes, 60 of which are Cultists, 30 are CSMs, and 32 CP. With the right mix of powers, wargear, and units, you can get resilience, a decent range of support units, and all the flexibility you'd need to pilot this list.
**'''Piratical 17:''' Thanks to the Red Corsairs Renegades trait, a detachment with 3 units that have the keyword '''CHAOS SPACE MARINES''' will receive a bonus of 3CP. The basic idea is to use a Battallion for 5CP + 3CP for this trait. 
***'''315 Points''' - 2x Warp Smith (60 per) ; 3x Marines (65 per).
::Remixing is encouraged to suit your needs. Adding heavy weapons or swapping a lord in for a smith will increase cost, but potentially get more mileage out of your CP detachment. ''Note that the smith becomes essentially pointless except as tax since it's locked to repairing '''RED CORSAIRS''' vehicles''
:*For something maybe useful, use a dark apostle and a daemon prince with wings. Give your CSM chainswords and a flamer.  Enjoy your cp and use csm as budget assault units.
:*Just take a Master of Executions or two instead. Cost the same as a Warpsmith, but does work by itself.
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===The Purge===
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[[File:ThePurge.jpg|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, there will be nothing left.

Thematically the Purge are Marines convinced that the only way to save the galaxy is to erase all life in it and start over. In other words, they're [[Oldhammer|neckbeards who liked it better before it went bad.]]

Crunchwise, while a bit underwhelming in the choices offered by their trait, if you play them as the vicious and methodical exterminators they're portrayed as in the lore, you'll find them quite efficient at butchering your enemies one unit at a time. They're also one of the best choices for competitive/tourney lists alongside a Thousand Sons, Death Guard, and/or Daemons detachment.
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*'''Renegade Trait: ''Bringers of Oblivion'':''' You can re-roll hit rolls for attacks that target a unit that has lost one or more wounds this turn. 
**All {{W40kKeyword|Purge}} units must be Nurgle marked if they are able to do so.
**Applies in both the Shooting and Fight phases, so set the ball rolling with Psykers in the Psychic phase, and always remember to start your shooting with guns that automatically hit, such as baleflamers, or guys who already have the ability to re-roll to hit, as they wouldn't notice the buff anyway and are slightly more likely to activate it.
*'''Warlord Trait: ''The Blessed Mission'':''' Your warlord can re-roll wound rolls of 1 and all damage rolls. Pairs well with high damage weapons that roll for damage, such as power fists and combi-meltas. Reminder that the Nurgle specific relics always wound on a 2.
*'''Stratagem: ''All Life Is Worthless (1 CP)'':''' In the shooting phase, a {{W40kKeyword|Purge}} unit not within 1" of enemy models can shoot enemy units within 1" of friendly units for that phase, but hit rolls of 1 hit the friendly unit instead. Hilarious when anything with a flamer uses this, and extremely powerful on Havoc Squads (especially with a character nearby to give the re-roll). 
**Great to use with poxwalkers with the "dead walk again" stratagem, any losses will be recuperated with interest. 
**Note that this Stratagem only specifies that the Shooting unit has to be a {{W40kKeyword|Purge}} unit, not the engaged unit, nor is it locked to {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} or {{W40kKeyword|Biker}} units, so your Tanks, Daemon Engines, and Flyers can be used to support Allied assault units like Knights, Daemons, or other specialized assault units. Quite convenient for wrinkling out Smash Captains and the like, or tar pits (but only if you absolutely have to).
*'''Relic: Orb of Unlife:''' Once per battle, you can throw the Orb instead of shooting, so it's a grenade. Pick a point on the battlefield up to 8" away. Roll 1d6 for each enemy unit within d6" of the target, adding -2 if the target is a vehicle. On a 4+, the unit takes 1d3 mortal wounds.
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===The Scourged===
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[[File:TheScourged.jpg|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, there will be only those with the wisdom to see the real path.  

Thematically the Scourged are the prime example of being careful what you wish for. Having the ability to hear all spoken lies hasn't done them any favours, so of course they decided to sign up with [[Tzeentch|the greatest liar in existence.]] Don't judge, we all make terrible life choices every now and again.

Crunchwise the Scourged excel at disrupting opponents that rely on powerful deep strikes or psychic powers. They also reward MSU with high strength, low volume of fire weapons such as melta. 
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*'''Renegade Trait: ''Omniscient'':''' You can re-roll one hit roll each time a ''unit'' shoots or fights, and always overwatch on a 5+. Note that the re-roll is once per unit, so you'll get more use out of it with MSU. Of course this is useless on auto-hitting weapons.
**As of the FAQ all The Scourged units must be Tzeentch marked if they are able to do so.
*'''Warlord Trait: ''Shattering Truth'':''' At the start of each fight phase, you can pick an enemy unit within 3" of your warlord. That unit cannot be picked to fight with in the fight phase until all other units able to fight have done so. If the target unit has an ability that allows it to fight first, it instead fights as if it didn't have that ability. Can be used to fuck over really hard-hitting units if they're engaged by several units and would normally be able to be chosen after you've selected a few to attack, so just like their trait, works much better with MSU spam.
*'''Stratagem: ''Prescience (2 CP)'':''' When an enemy deep strikes within 12" of a {{W40kKeyword|SCOURGED INFANTRY}} unit, that unit can make an out of phase shooting attack against the deep striker. Unlike most similar stratagems this one doesn't have a -1 to hit installed! Beautiful against GSC.
*'''Relic: ''Book of Untruth'':''' Anytime a psyker within 18" of the bearer successfully manifests a psychic power, roll a d6; on a 5+, cause a mortal wound. This effectively means a mortal wound once per 3 successful enemy casts - which is not going to hurt anyone, unless you are playing against Grey Knights or Thousand Sons. 
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===Creations of Bile===
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In the grim darkness of the far future, only the fittest will survive.  

Thematically the Creations of Bile are a legion of twisted mutants created by Fabius Bile's experiments. Their reasons may be many, from oaths and contracts to enslavement, but all of them are dependent on the madman's butchery in order to live.

Crunchwise the Creations of Bile are a fast melee army, putting their enhanced speed and strength to good use. Sadly none of their stuff benefits Cultists, so if you wanted to imitate the Glandhound packs from the novels you're out of luck.

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*'''Legion Trait: ''Experimental Enhancements'':''' Add 1 to the Movement and Strength characteristics of units with this trait. 

*'''Warlord Trait:''' If you're running Creations of Bile, Fabius Bile has to be the warlord, so you're stuck with the mediocre Lord of Terror warlord trait (they could've at least given him a unique one).

*'''Stratagem:''' 
**'''Macrotensile Sinews (1 CP):''' At the start of the Movement phase, select one {{W40kKeyword|Creations of Bile Infantry}} unit (excluding Cultists). Until the end of your turn, it can advance and charge, and whenever it advances or charges it gets +1 to the result.  
**'''Horrifying Visage (1 CP):''' At the start of any phase, select one {{W40kKeyword|Creations of Bile Infantry}} unit (excluding Cultists). Until the end of the turn, when resolving any attack made by an enemy model within 6" of that unit, subtract 1 from their hit rolls.
**'''Venomous Claws (1CP):''' Use this stratagem when selecting a {{W40kKeyword|Creations of Bile}} unit (excluding Cultists) to fight. Until the end of that phase, when resolving an attack made with the CLOSE COMBAT WEAPON profile sixes to hit auto-wound.
*** Best on multiple attack units with no melee weapons like Chosen or Noise Marines, but really? If you actually needed a unit to wound better in melee you'd just use Veterans of the Long War for the same price.
*** Combined with 'The Master is Watching' (see below), this can be pretty awesome on a unit with a high number of Attacks. Needless to say, Veterans is still a better strat. The greatest thing about this strat is that you can use Veterans on one of your units and use this (and The Master is Watching) to power up another unit during the same phase. This will make your opponent think long and hard about where he's going to use Counter-offensive.
**'''The Master is Watching (1 CP):''' Use this stratagem in your shooting or fight phase, when a {{W40kKeyword|Creations of Bile Infantry}} unit (excluding cultists) is selected to attack. If they're within 12" of your Warlord and visible, reroll hits.
**'''Dermal Chitination ( 1CP):''' Use this stratagem in the shooting phase when a {{W40kKeyword|Creations of Bile Infantry}} unit (excluding cultists) is targeted by any attacks. Add 1 to the unit's toughness until the end of the phase.
**'''Taken Alive ( 1CP):''' Use this stratagem in the Fight phase when a model is destroyed by a melee attack from a {{W40kKeyword|Creations of Bile Infantry}} unit (actually including Cultists this time!) For the rest of the game, all losses from that unit are counted as two losses when calculating Morale.
**'''Supreme Creation ( 1CP):''' Use this stratagem once per game before the battle. Choose one {{W40kKeyword|Creations of Bile Character}} from your army that isn't Fabius Bile. Choose from one of the three abilities:
*** Prime Test Subject: Add 1 to the Strength and Toughness of the model. 
*** The Master's Bloodhound: Add one to Advance and charge rolls for this model. In addition, if the model charges, is charged or does a Heroic Intervention add 1 to its Attacks.
*** Ravenous Biology: Gain a 6+ Feel No Pain. In addition, at the end of the Fight phase, this model regains D3 wounds if any enemy models were destroyed within 1" of them in that phase.

*'''Relics:
**'''''Helm of All-Seeing'':''' Roll a d6 for every Command Point you spend on a stratagem; on a 5+ it gets refunded. 

**'''''Hyper-Growth Bolts'':''' Can only be given to characters with a bolt pistol, boltgun, or combi-weapon. You may choose to fire this attack instead of your normal attacks, you get one shot that always wounds on a 2+ against non-vehicle units, and does 4 (!) Damage.

**'''''Living Carapace'':''' Can regen 1 wounds at the start of your turn, and you may add 1 to that characters armour saving throw.

*'''Unique Character: [[Fabius Bile]]:''' Old Fabulous is kind of an odd duck in that if you're running Creations of Bile, you're forced to take him, but he [[Derp|doesn't benefit from his own Legion Trait]] (remember when he self-experimented so much he had random stats?). Although he has lost two Rod of Torment attacks, overall he's a bit better in stats having gained Chirurgeon attacks, a 5+ FNP and his Xyclos Needler being upgraded to -2 AP and 2 Damage. His combat skills were never why you take him, though. You take him because of his Enhanced Warriors ability, which lets you pick a nearby {{W40kKeyword|Heretic Astartes Infantry}} unit, and roll d3 for a random +1 buff to Strength, Toughness or Attacks. Its been changed so instead of rolling a d6 for every model to see if they gain a mortal wound, you roll a d6 for the entire squad to see if a single unit dies, making it slightly safer to buff up hordes than elites. Since it takes place at the end of your movement phase, and given the Creations of Bile's buffs to speed (which Bile lacks), you may have some trouble getting him in range of your melee units, especially if you want to use Macrotensile Sinews for an early charge.
**With his new "assistant" of sorts, Biles random buff becomes a lot more reliable, as you can essentially choose to give a unit +1 toughness rather than accept the random die roll. This makes buffing Poxwalkers and Cultists much more desirable for the T5 and T4, respectively. And you can make noise marines into essentially better plague marines at T5 with a 5+++ with just a single spell. 

*'''Tactics:'''
The +1 to movement and strength is a welcome bonus, but comes at the cost of a mediocre warlord trait and other, better legion traits such as Red Corsairs or World Eaters. One other upside is the fact that unlike other legions, you are not limited to one particular god, which give you access to a number of useful spells and banners that other legions would be restricted from. 

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