Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Chaos Space Marines (section)

===[[Night Lords]]===
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[[File:NightLords.jpg|100px|left|]]
In the grim darkness of the far future, the weak shall fear the strong. 

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. 

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*'''Legion Trait: ''Terror Tactics'':''' Enemy units must subtract two from their leadership when a unit with this trait is within 9” and subtract 1 from combat attrition tests. No longer stacks with itself but can stack with the fearsome trait found on units such as raptors, possessed and the Daemon Prince. Additionally, whenever targeting a unit below half strength or below LD5 in melee you get +1 to wound. 
**Highly situational and downright useless against Custodes and Necrons. With the release of the Chaos Knights Codex, 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”.) 

*'''Secondary Objective: ''Sow the Seeds, Reap the Fear'':''' Score 1 VP whenever the enemy fails an action, falls back, or fails in morale, all playing into your advantages. On top of that, whenever you wipe an enemy unit from the field, roll a 2d6; if you roll over that unit's Leadership, then you score an additional VP. Another really simple objective to carry out that works with your extreme Leadership penalties.

*'''Warlord Traits:'''
**'''Night Haunter's Curse''': Once per '''turn''', your warlord counts the result of one hit roll, wound roll, damage roll, Advance roll, charge roll, or saving roll, as a six. Damn, that's a lot of possible rerolls. Means you don't need to spend as many CP for said re-rolls.
***You know how the SoB are the '''best''' army right now because of Miracle Dice? This gives you a tiny bit of that jank. 
**'''One Piece at a Time''': -1 to CA if a unit suffers casualties from the warlord in melee, warlord can consolidate in any direction, even if in base contact with an enemy model, as long as it finishes within 3” of an enemy model.
**'''Murderous Reputation''': 6” bubble of nope to deny objective secured. 
**Can be crucial when you're dogpiling objectives with Raptors. A good way to use this is to actively seek out infantry performing actions near objectives. Denying an enemy VP is a [[Meme|legitimate tactic.]] 
**'''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. Now also confers wanton slaughter for any melee attack for the warlord when active. 
**Combo this with our Hit and Run stratagem for some really dirty fighting.
**'''One With The Shadows''': Ever wanted to pretend you’re in the Matrix? Now you can. Whenever targeted by an attack, shooting or melee, your opponent cannot re-roll hits, and suffers -1 to hit. Good for making that Disco Lord or Prince survive.
**'''Dirty Fighter''': Select one enemy unit within 3” of the warlord during your fight phase. It now fights last, behind your warlord and any other eligible units.

*'''Stratagems''': 
**'''In Midnight Clad (1CP)''': Use this stratagem whenever a non-{{W40kKeyword|CULTISTS}} {{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. Alas, does not work on Daemon Princes, as they aren't infantry.
**'''We Have Come For You! (2CP):''' At the start of the opponent's Movement Phase, one {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords}} {{W40kKeyword|CORE}}, {{W40kKeyword|DAEMONKIN}} or {{W40kKeyword|CHARACTER}} unit that isn't a vehicle forbids any models within engagement range from falling back (Unless they're a {{W40kKeyword|VEHICLE}}, {{W40kKeyword|Aircraft}}, or {{W40kKeyword|Titanic}}). 
**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 "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 disregards Jump units, 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. Got pricier with the new codex but still scary.
**'''Vox Scream (2CP):''' Use at the end of the movement phase, select an enemy model within 12″ of a {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords}} unit. Until the start of your next movement phase, enemy units cannot be affected by the affected unit's aura abilities. For maximum fun use it to turn off a certain big blue smurf's numerous aura abilities and watch Girlyman's gunline crumble. This has become much bigger as more armies become dependent on auras. However can only be used once per battle.
**'''Sound the Black Hunt (1CP):''' Use in the shooting or fight phase, select a {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords}} {{W40kKeyword|CORE}}, {{W40kKeyword|DAEMONKIN}} or {{W40kKeyword|CHARACTER}} unit. Until the end of that phase, when targeting a unit below starting strength or with a Ld characteristic of 6 or less, reroll ones to hit. When targeting a unit below half of it’s starting strength, or below Ld5, you reroll hits. Got a lot easier to pull off the former version of this at range since Terror Tactics got buffed to a 9” range. The second version will only really come into play if you’re fighting Orks or Guard, or using possessed, daemon princes, or raptors as they get -1Ld along with Terror Tactics.
**'''Underhanded Scheming (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 without the need to pay for a Slaanesh Mark. 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 (1/2CP):''' Use at reinforcements step of movement phase, select one {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords}} {{W40kKeyword|INFANTRY}} or {{W40kKeyword|BIKER}} unit, it can now be set up as if it were one turn higher than it actually is. Good for T1 Termie, Possessed, or the Night Lord's own Warp Talons/Raptors. Costs another CP if you’re using this for a {{W40kKeyword|DAEMONKIN}} unit, though.
**It costs 2 CP, but bringing down Obliterators T1 when the Wanton Destruction phase is active isn't something other legions can do. 
**'''Screaming Skies (1CP):''' Use in movement phase, select one {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords Jump pack}} unit, remove it from the table, and re-deploy it next turn anywhere as long as it’s 9” away from any enemy models. For when you really need that Warp Talon blob on the other side of the table.
**'''Flay Them Alive (1CP):''' Use in the Fight phase, when the enemy warlord is destroyed from a {{W40kKeyword|Night Lords}} unit in melee. Until the end of the game, the entire enemy army subtracts one from combat attrition tests. Straight up useless vs Marines so be careful. 

*'''Relics:'''
**'''Claw of the Stygian Count:''' Replaces a single lightning claw, malefic talons or accursed weapons; they’re S+2, AP-3, and 2 damage on top of the bonuses inherent to double lightning claws. They also disregard any rules that prevent loss of wounds, like Ghaz’s or C’tan. Good on a Daemon Prince or Terminator Lord I guess, though it will struggle to complete with something like G’hollax.
**'''Vox Daemonicus:''' {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} model only. Enemies within 12" of the bearer rolls 2D6 when attempting to perform an action or psychic action, if it rolls higher than their ld, they fail said action. Also blocks anyone from deep-striking within 12" of the bearer.
**'''Stormbolt Plate:''' {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} model only. Can’t be targeted outside 12” unless the bearer is the closest model and always count as being in light cover.
**'''Flayer:''' Replaces a power sword, accursed weapon or force sword. S+2, AP-3, D2. Each model destroyed by an attack with this weapon counts as two kills for the sake of morale. Makes even Primaris marines quiver in fear. Received an additional boost to strength in the new codex.
**'''Talons of the Night Terror:''' Model with the {{W40kKeyword|Fly}} keyword only. So Daemon Prince exclusive. Every time you move or advance over an enemy unit roll a D6 (-1 if it’s a character), on a 2+ the unit takes D3 mortal wounds, if the bearer charges, on a 2+ you deal D3 mortal wounds to a single unit in engagement range. Just take G’hollax.
**'''Scourging Chains:''' Improve the AP of the bearers melee weapons 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 any phase, the bearer regains up to 3 lost wounds and gains D3 extra attacks and 3” to their auras until the start of your next turn.

*'''Tactics:''' Here are some tactics that work much better for Night Lords than in any other Legion.
**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 Atrapos, 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! Also, with 9th changing the way casualties are taken when failing first morale tests, and then combat attrition tests (of which currently we have no way to cause extra failures), it is entirely possible to completely overdo the leadership bomb. 3 units of night lords raptors in melee will cause all but the bravest of units to fail. 
****'''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.
**'''Death to the False Emperor Shenanigans''': Take advantage of the new and improved Death to the False Emperor with either From the Night or Prey on the Weak. If you choose slaanesh, you can add an icon of excess to allow DTTFE to trigger on a 5+, and the +1 hit bonuses from either stratagem will give you exploding hit rolls on a 4+. Add in either raptors or lightning claw terminators as you see fit. Alternatively, just stick with Khorne and enjoy the more reliable double fighting options. 
**'''Little Sevatar''': Take a Master of Executions, give him the Mark of Slaanesh, and the Killing Fury warlord trait. You have a character who always fights first at S7 AP-3 D2, who gains an additional D3 attacks (to a maximum of 9) on any turn he heroically intervenes, charges or is charged which always explode on 6’s as well as deal mortal wounds. He also re-rolls all wounds against characters. All this for 80pts and 1CP.
**'''Daemon Warp-Fuckery''': After the release of the 9th Edition Daemons codex, Night Lords have become probably one of the best CSM allies for Daemons, and vice versa (ironically, given their lore). The new Manifestation rule allows Daemons to teleport in anywhere Leadership" away, and since a single unit of Night Lords Raptors or Possessed reduce Leadership by 3, Daemons can pop up frighteningly (pun intended) close by. They can then use their own Leadership debuff aura to give a total of -4 Leadership, putting pretty much anything short of Necrons within range of Sound the Black Hunt and Terror Tactics. With both of these things online (which is clearly not hard to do), you can give even Word Bearers a run for their money in melee. Slaanesh in particular syngergises nicely with this, as Daemonettes can turn GEQs to a thin red mist, while the Soulstain Discipline gives you Phantasmagoria (roll 6D6, each 5+ gives a mortal wound and -1 Leadership until the start of your next Psychic Phase) and Cacophonic Choir (roll 3D6, unit suffers a mortal wound for every point it exceeds their Leadership to a maximum of 6).
** '''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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