Editing Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Chaos Space Marines (section)

==Tactics==
[[Category: Warhammer Tactics]]
*'''From the Walls :''' Real simple, Ahriman/Huron + 3-5 special nuggets of fun (any infantry squad with a special weapon or two works, Plague marines, terminators, and 1ksons work best) mounted in dedicated rhinos or LRs. Using the D3 infiltrate rule hold as much of your rhino mounted units in reserve, the models that are given infiltrate will instead have outflank. Turn 2-3 three you come out of the very walls them selves surrounding your opponent. Add a dedicated termie LR for added fun. Take Comms relay or fail miserably.

*'''Slaanesh Party Bus :''' Ten Chaos Space marines with the Mark of Slaanesh, Icon of Slaanesh, two Melta Guns,Champion with Melta-Bomb, and a Rhino (Veterans of the Long War is optional). Congratulations, any enemy vehicles you encounter will go down faster than Sisters of Battle in Matt Wards next codex. Even Walkers are going to have a hard time, as you're initiative 5, meaning even if that Dreadnought gets into combat, it's not an instant loss for you. I'd suggest you also add in a Chaos Sorcerer, but don't make him too expensive. 

*'''Dick in a box :''' minimum-size Noise Marine squad, with a blastmaster or two. Put them in a METAL BAWKS and camp it behind some cover. Works very well if your opponent is lacking on deep assault units. Drink his tears as you blastmaster his troops off the table with Str 8 AP 3 blasts that ignore cover while he is unable to retaliate. 

*'''Abbadon's Choo Choo Chosen:''' Using the Warmaster's ability to take Chosen as troops, This tact is very silly and a little hard to play with. Bring nothing but Chosen squads, geared how you like (but bear in mind they're expensive as all hell). The dam things can take 5 special weapons, that's possibly '''5 MELTAGUNS!'''. Alternatively you can give up to 4 of those special weapons for fists/claws/power weps. Cram squads of 10 of them in rhinos and gear them how you want them to function. If you have any points over after that, give Abby a nice big raider with some pals to keep him company. If you cant afford that, Deep strike him with Termie pals. NEVER make him foot-slog unless your trying to scare the enemy and make it divert its fire to him. Have fun with your army composed entirely of overpriced veterans. NOTE: With the Black Legion Supplement, you can now run this list WITHOUT Abbadon. Enjoy some extra points and kit out a Chaos Lord with some new wargear and terminator armor instead. Have fun! Or, if you have some spare points (How the fuck did you do that!?!?!) you can instead upgrade some Terminators with +1 WS +1 BS skill for six extra points if you took Abbadon. Throw them with him and engage trollface, doubly so if you also gave them FNP with the Icon of Excess. Every unit in your army has to take Veterans of the Long War if it can though.

* '''The Drop-and-Spray:''' No longer a Tzeentch-only tactic thanks to the new book, you can drop and spray with a ton of new units! You can go the old termicide route and hide a lord with a squad of Terminators (preferably with combi-meltas/combi-flamers and either a Reaper Autocannon Terminator or a Heavy Flamer terminator), or you can take him in a squad of oblits, raptors or warp talons. Shit, a sorcerer will also do well in a WT drop - fuckin' A you can pick and choose what to drop! Recommended are WT's though just to make sure that you won't get shot up when you thread the needle extra close and if you're brazen as fuck. Sadly, icons no longer help, so be sure one of your characters has a dimensional key, then deep-strike EVERYTHING right into rapid-fire range. Between the Bolters and special weapons of the Terminators and raptors, Oblit dakka and then the ensuing charge from the warp talons, you will annihilate an ''army'' on a good roll; yeah, feels good! Marks of Tzeentch or Nurgle will help ensure your squads survive to continue to be a pain in the ass for the rest of the game, one that enemies will [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|devote a truly ''ridiculous'' amount of firepower to destroying]] (especially in the case of the Terminators) - to very limited avail. [[Just as planned]].

* '''Maximum Fuck:''' Like above, this one is also not just for Khorne anymore. Coined for the name of an [[Angry Marines]] battle barge, this attack solves the problem of getting squads into close-combat in the ''least'' efficient way possible; grab a fully-kitted-out Berserker squad (Lord optional but recommended) or Terminators, and shove the lot of them into a (possessed) Land Raider. (note that possessed vehicles nom a RANDOM unit embarking onto it, so be wary) Be sure that the squad has an Icon. Zoom into close range, using the Land Raider's assault vehicle trait to ensure your troops arrive to thrust [[FATAL|deep into the soft moist folds of your opposition]]. Icons don't help with deep strike anymore, so be sure you squeeze an HQ with the dimensional key into that troupe to make this work.  

* '''Cut and Thrust:''' (Slaanesh-Only) Simple, simple, simple. Grab a 10-strong squad of standard Chaos Marines, load them up with a pair of flamers, an Icon of Slaanesh, and give their Aspiring Champion a Power Weapon and (optionally) Melta Bombs. Give them a Metal Box. With Initiative 5, they will strike before the vast majority of enemy troops, and their access to Flamers will add a shitton of hits to the shooting phase as they rush in. When they arrive, you should have precious little trouble dispatching most enemies that aren't dedicated close combat troops, and it's fairly frightening just how cost-effective this can be if exploited correctly. Take the Icon of Excess, FFS; Bile them up and they're even more insane.

* '''Sonic Bunker:''' (Slaanesh preferred) This is a trick that heralds back to [[Fish of Fury|the old days]]. Take 2 squads of fully pimped out noise marines or two squads of CSM, kitted out for shooting. Stick them in a possessed box each. Drive the boxes forward and unload your marines. Open fire on anything available. Then turbo boost the boxes into a Chevron formation around your noise marines. On the next turn, drive back and let the noise marines shoot again. Then turbo boost in again to cover them. This isn't quite the dickery that Fish of Fury used to be but it is still effective and with the noise marines ignoring cover, things to downhill in a hurry for the enemy. The one downside to this trick is it's expensive points wise. But, if you do pull it off right, it will dominate the entire battlefield.

* '''Breaker-Bunker:''' (Universal/Tzeentch) An untested formation designed to maximize survivability in high-point games. Designed to get your troops where they need to go (usually straight into enemy lines, hence Breaker). Focuses on four vehicles: two Rhinos, a Vindicator, and a Land Raider. Two Troops, one for each Rhino, Termies in the Raider, and a Sorcerer or Lord with the Termies. Everything should have Possession except the Raider (for accuracy), and all vehicles have Havoc Launchers. Dirge Caster the Raider and Vindicator, and give the Raider Dozer Blade. Set up the Vindicator with the Rhinos to either side and Raider directly behind, in tight formation (hence Bunker). Send this pain-train right towards points or gunlines. Get as close as possible to the enemy, then dump a Demolisher shot onto the enemy lines and move the Raider (and possibly Rhinos) past the Vindicator and Tank Shock/disembark everything. Watch chaos ensue. I chose to put Thousand Sons and a Sorcerer in for a shooting and invo boost to the army; and because leaving enemy units far-flung and transportless with two Bolt of Change-sniping Rhinos is great fun. The Sorcerer drops out with Warptime, Gift and Wind of Chaos to deal with tarpits and ICs alike, and comes with four wound-allocating Termie Champions. Three Chainfists, a pair of Lightning Claws, a combi-Melta, a Heavy Flamer, and a Mark of Tzeentch between the four of them. Versatile, but still good at chewing up general close combatants. Melta-bombs in all core squads just for dealing with tanks.

* '''Tank-Tics''' - Just because Chaos tanks aren't quite on level with the [[Leman Russ Battle Tank|greats of the Imperium]] doesn't mean they're slouches - they cost little and have lots of armor. For big lulz, load up three Predator Tanks with all the trimmings and bring them into a 1500-point game. Unless the opponent plays Dark Eldar or is loaded with anti-tank weapons, they'll have precious little that can deal with 450 points of AV13 front armor making a pain in the ass of itself. If points is an issue, drag in the default versions instead, which give you a lot of dakka to throw around for 300 points.

* '''[[Dark Mechanicus]]''' - No longer limited to Apocalypse or Forge World-friendly games, as Maulerfiends, Forgefiends, Heldrakes, the new-and-improved Helbrutes, and the returning Defilers crush your enemies! From Forge World, there's also the Blood Slaughterers, Decimators, and Plague Hulks; take as many as you want and KILL! 
**For non-Forge World games: Grab a Warpsmith and a couple of Helbrutes, supported by a shooty Defiler or Forgefiend, and march them up the center of the board. Maulerfiends can take out enemy tanks or fortifications with their Magma Cutters, and Heldrakes clear the skies. 
**For Forge World games: Take Blood Slaughterers in squads with Impalers, aided by Defilers and Decimators tooled for shooting. Obviously, this build will be pricey (like "won't be able to play in 2000 pts or under" pricey) because you will need a squad of both Plague Mehreens and 'Zerkers if you want a Plague Hulk or Blood Slaughterers, respectively. Otherwise, use the Forgefiends or Defilers to lay down fire support and the Drake to Vector Strike death from above.

* '''The Blitz(Apoc Only)''' - Flyers. NOTHING but flyers. Harbingers raining fire and death down on the enemy while lascannon-carrying Hell Talons zoom around breaking things like Hydras and Lightnings and Hellblades mop up the survivors. Much like the [[Dark Eldar]], this tactic is pure undiluted [[rape]] if used correctly but you are going down in flames if you make even a single mistake.

* '''Angel Dust''' - +501 pts very dakka add on. Easy, easy, easy: 10 Noise Marines, all but two with Sonic Blasters. Give the last normal dude a Blastmaster and a power sword/Doom Siren combo for the Champion. Put in Icon of Excess and Rhino with Havoc Launcher. Add 5 Thousand Sons + Aspiring Sorcerer to soak up Battle Cannos' shells and bolter down MEQs.

* '''Brutesmith''' - 2+ Hellbrutes and one Warpsmith. Give the brutes a single power scourge (meaning anything that gets close enough will have their WS dropped by 2D3) and a missile launcher to deal with damn near any ranged threat. Use the smith to repair the brutes should they lose a weapon, get immobilized or just lose a hullpoint, thus ensuring that your enemy can keep hitting them and they will only ever get pissed off. If you want a meatier shield for the smith to hide behind, grab a defiler or a forgefiend. If you're REALLY paranoid about the warpsmith getting sniped, hide him in a squad of 10 marines with an icon of vengeance and some means to overwatch (like flamers and heavy bolters, autocannons, etc.) and a champ to take on challenges; Havocs work well in this role as do mobs of basic CSM.

* '''Strike from the Skies''' - Tag-team 2+ Helldrakes with at least one Daemon Prince with wings. Give the Drakes Baleflamers and the Prince the Burning Brand of Skalathrax. There isn't much that can deal with 3+ vector-strikers dropping AP3 torrents everywhere; even if you come across Terminators, a Land Raider or a Monolith, you can always smash it with the Daemon Prince in close combat.

*'''Why? Because I am Khorne and FUCK YOU:''' - Kharn The Betrayer will lead your forces into DEADLY, BLOOD-COVERED GLORY. Ingredients: 1.) Three squads of Khorne Berzerkers with Icons of Wrath. Why? BECAUSE RE-ROLLING TO CHARGE INTO THOSE SQUISHY GUARDSMEN!. That's why! 2.) MORE 'ZERKERS... Yes, at least three more... More... MOAR! (Warning, too many 'zerkers may create a rift in space-time; only use this tactic in games which can sustain such [[Chaos|chaos]]) 3.) Cultists. Yes, I said cultists, fighting with Kharn and his Bloody Buddy Brigade. Why? Well, if you slap a Mark of Khorne on them and make them run at shit until it dies (and if it won't die, throw more Cultists at it). Picture it. 35 cultists... Four attack dice per cultist (1A base +1A for two CCWs +2A for Rage with the MoK) equals 140 total dice...more dice then FUCKING ORKS! MOAR dice than your table has ROOM FOR! Throw this ten-thousand dice box of [[rage]] and watch the enemy fall from this flesh tinted rain of Chaotic DOOOM!

* '''Bolter blob of fun:''' Very basic but effective tactic. 20-man CSM squad with bolters and no upgrades beyond an Icon of Vengeance. Think of it like you would think of a shooty cultist mob. Big, (relatively) cheap unit that throws out mass dice and takes several turns to kill. Walk around boltering the living fuck out of everything that moves. De-populate horde units. Drown MEQ and TEQ units in dice. Shit, you'll even make assault units think twice before they charge knowing that out of 40 shots on overwatch, at least a few are going to stick, and if they fail the charge then they're going to get the ever living fuck blasted out of them in the next turn. And then even after your opponent finally manages to finish it off, you can still engage your trollface and remind him that he just used up all that shooting (or assaulting) to deal with a cheapo generic squad while your other guys are still running around getting shit done. Remember, if he's focus firing on your bolter squad, then he's not shooting at your much more valuable havocs/terminators/characters/whatever. Basically this unit will make its points back no matter what it does.

* '''THE WALKING DEAD:''' Simple yet trolltastic. Your army consists of Typhus, a couple of fun loving units of plague marines and a SHIT TON of plague zombies (and maybe some chaos spawn for added cheese). The idea is to deploy your zombies in as many horizontal lines as possible and march them towards enemy objectives. Nominate some of your opponent's characters to be Rick, Carl, Michonne and Andrea and make gurgling moans. Math-hammer dictates an average of 70 S4 hits to take out a unit of them and 105 S4 shots if they're in any decent cover. Deploy your army and engage trollface. '''Typhus' warlord trait is Master of Fear. You'll have to take Huron, Ahriman, or another Chaos Lord and hopefully role for Master of Deception in order to get infiltrating zombies.''' Below 2000 points you can have 210 zombies...good in theory, awful in practice. Do you know how long it takes to move 210 models?!  , 

Or a bucket load of zombies, couple of squads of plague marines, a full squad of nurgle obliterators, couple of havoc squads (some with flak missile launchers, to deal with pesky Vendetta Gunships) and you're away. It will take a mega fuck ton of small arms to medium fire to have any chance of causing a dint on your lines. Along with Typhus flipping people the bird, with his troll-tastic Nurgle powers and you can have a play date with marine armies. For extra lols with a sprinkle of luck, cast Liquifying Ague on a squad of hammernators and watch as your zombies munch on his 200pt squad and only have a couple of pillows to hit back with. 

**'''Using Allies:''' Ally with [[Necrons]] for delicious night-fighting! Solar Pulse is unique wargear though, and you can only have one, since you can only have 1 allied HQ so only 1 court and 1 Solar Pulse. Night-fighting is guaranteed for one turn max unless you take Imotek, whose lightning will also hit your Zombies, though if you have a metric ton of them you won't really care. Additionally, regular Necron warriors and immortals love having a pus-dripping, organ-crunching wall to hide their melee-shy necrodermis behind.