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

===Troops===
'''General advice:''' Rhinos are amazing for cost and are a great advantage that all Space Marines, Loyalist or Chaos, have. It's a 35-point upgrade for any Chaos Space Marine troops choice (and Chosen/Possessed/Havocs), so it's pretty much always worth it. Chaos improves their Rhinos greatly via access to Havoc Launchers; this small upgrade boosts the cost to 50 but basically adds a stronger Frag Missile launcher to the thing so it can fire off twin-linked blast templates when it's not actively doing its METAL BOX thing and ferrying your troops into the heart of a battle.

Again, heed the words of the [[Angry Marines]]: TAKE RHINOS. ALWAYS. METAL BOXES ARE EMPEROR/CHAOS GOD OF CHOICE'S GIFT TO ALL MARINES EVERYWHERE, LOYAL OR OTHERWISE.

You should take their word for it.

'''IMPORTANT NOTE:''' All Chaos Troops ''except'' Thousand Sons list either a bolt pistol and CCW or a bolter, bolt ''pistol'' '''and''' CCW - meaning that all of them ''should'' have an extra attack which isn't listed in their entries. Berserkers should have three, everyone else should have two. Except Thousand Sons Marines. Always keep this in mind, because it makes all CSMs better in assault than most non-assault loyalist Marine equivalents, and it's an important advantage when loyalists have so many other abilities we don't get. Don't forget about it!

*'''Chaos Space Marines''' - The basic Troops choice. You'll get a lot of mileage out of these guys. 15 points each, two cheaper than loyalists, 5-20 per squad, Aspiring Champ costs another 15. To contrast, Marine Sergeants are free. Leadership 9, one higher than loyalists, but And They Shall Know No Fear mitigates this a lot. Champ ups it to Ld10, so take one. Similar weapon choices to loyalists, but our flamers and heavy bolters cost five points (theirs are free) and our plasma guns, meltaguns, multimeltas and missile launchers are all five points higher than loyalist equivalents. The Champ can take a power weapon or fist, a plasma pistol, meltabombs and/or a personal icon for deepstriking Daemons. We lack Combat Tactics and Combat Squads, but the CSM has tricks of its own. For one, the CSM has a bolter, a bolt pistol, ''and'' a close combat weapon - this means that it gets two attacks base, making CSMs better at assault. Another thing is the inclusion of icons - for 20-50 points, a squad can be given an Icon of one of the four gods. Slaanesh grants +1 Initiative, Khorne +1 Attack, Tzeentch a 5+ Invulnerable save, and Nurgle +1 Toughness. If you're not taking one of those, take a 10-point icon of Chaos Glory, which lets you reroll failed Morale checks (which is actually more useful than it sounds). You can make a strong CSM unit given all these variables, but the Cult squads tend to be better choices because most of them positively excel at one role more than a generic CSM squad with certain wargear and an icon can.
**One area where Chaos Marines flat-out beat the Cult Marines is in cost-effectiveness. 8 Marines with a Plasma Gun and an Aspiring Champion with a Power Weapon, Melta Bombs, and Bolt Pistol, and a Rhino equipped with a Havoc Launcher is ready for just about any fight for about 220 points. For the same cost, A similar unit of Noise Marines with a Blastmaster would cost almost that much ''without'' any secondary wargear, Sonic Blasters, or a Metal Box to ride around in! Suffice to say, Chaos Marines are cheaper and more efficient for when you need general-combat troops.
**Conversely loading them up for melee is also cost-effective, though less so due to the fact that melee Marines need less to be effective. A squad with a Mark of Khorne, Champ with meltabombs, and a Rhino to guarantee they get there in one piece will cost about 225 points and have three attacks (4 for the champ). A similar squad of Berserkers will cost nearly 20 points more, but will give you additional attacks, Furious Charge, and Fearless as part of the bargain, so it's not quite as much of a slam-dunk. On the other hand, the Marines can still shoot like normal during the shooting phase if they have to, something the Khorne Berserkers can't really do (though this is not much of a consolation).
**Far and away, the biggest advantage Chaos Marines have is their versatility. With a solid armor save, 2 attacks in close-combat, strength and toughness 4, and bolters as their main weapon (and access to heavy/special weapons), Just a squad of them can be used differently as circumstances merit, enabling them to go shooty against foes, or switch to melee against foes that are particularly vulnerable in close-combat but threatening inside their "power range" (such as Guardsmen or Fire Warriors).
** Needless to say they're as versatile as hell and wicked cost-effective, and they make for great scoring units. If you have a few points left to blow once all your choices are made, you rarely can go wrong with throwing a few more Marines on the table.
**Worth considering is Bile's upgrades, which can turn a standard CSM squad into a unit at least as good as one of the aligned chaos squads for about the same points-cost.


*'''Noise Marines''' - These guys are 20 points apiece and are ideally taken as squads of 8-12. If you're taking these guys, take sonic blasters for five points a model - they're bolters that fire at either Assault 2 or Heavy 3 as needed. Beyond that, they can also take great special weapons - a Doom Siren, which is an S5 AP3 template weapon, and a Blastmaster, which fires at either S5 AP4 Assault 2/Pinning or S8 AP3 Heavy 1/Blast/Pinning. Besides gun choices, they also have I5 to a regular Marine's I4 and, having bolters (or sonic blasters) ''and'' bolt pistols/CCWs, they each get two attacks. They aren't pure assaulters, but the higher Initiative means they can be used for it quite well after a softening volley from their blasters and special weapons. Champion upgrade is fifteen points and gives one additional attack and point of Leadership and the ability to take the same options as the regular CSM Champion. If you're doing it, may as well get a power weapon. Don't bother with the fist, you have I5 and it's better on a Skull Champ anyway.


*'''Khorne Berserkers''' - These guys aren't quite the unstoppable murder machines of 3rd Edition, but Emperor help anyone you get the charge on. For 21 points a model, you get WS5 Marines with three attacks each and Furious Charge. The Champion, should you upgrade to one, is identical to the rest in gear, profile and cost changes. In this case, like with Noise Champions, the power weapon or fist is actually quite useful - the fist more so because the Skull Champ is only I4 otherwise anyway, and he gets four S8 attacks - five on the charge (and at S9). A word for the wise - a Land Raider actually makes a good transport for these guys. AV14 is a wonderful thing. Plunge it into the centre of a soft formation, unload Berserkers. Laugh maniacally.
** Special Note: again, these guys have bolt pistols and CCWs in addition to the Mark of Khorne - a net of +2A for what *should* be listed as three. Don't just look at a CSM unit entry, read the attacks value and assume that's all they get. These guys all get one more than is listed, and for a pure assault unit, that's utterly critical to keep in mind.


*'''Plague Marines''' - These guys are the favorites of many a player, and it's not hard to see why. 23 points each. Pricey. But they get: Feel No Pain, T4(5) and have frag, krak, AND defensive grenades. Players have seen seven of these guys hold thirty Orks in assault for three rounds, contesting an objective with only three losses. They are terrifyingly hard to kill without Battle Cannons, Plasma Weapons, Power Fists, or aggressive close-combat squads with power weapons (which FNP doesn't apply against). In short: these guys can take huge abuse from just about anything, and will require very strong weapons or very specific units to remove. They double on offense, too - with no minimum unit size for weapons and the ability to take a transport, they can be thrown in a [[Firaeveus Carron|METAL BOX]] and hurled directly at enemy formations with twin meltaguns. FNP means you're going to get those off and possibly more whilst drawing lots of enemy fire away from other units. Beware, however, the unit's low initiative count; most enemies ''will'' strike first, and a Power Weapon or two on a fast unit is one of the few things that can fuck up this unit's shit. 


*'''Thousand Sons''' - Another tough-as-nails unit, and one that can seriously put the hurt on enemies in a big way. They're pricey (23 points each), and have Slow and Purposeful, but they boast AP3 Bolters and a 4+ invulnerable save. Suffice to say they can chew apart virtually any infantry that happens to be in range, barring things like Terminators. They absolutely ream Orks, Necrons, Sisters of Battle, and Tyranids, <s>and though they strike last in a fight, engaging them in close combat isn't generally a good idea for enemies, since - even though they strike (except for their Sorcerer) at Initiative 1,</s> (actually, they strike in initiative order because SaP doesn't affect this anymore, but due to new FAQ'es if ''they'' assault enemy, they still strike at initiative 1 for charging through difficult terrain without assault grenades (any attached IC would solve this problem) their sergeant is still a Sorcerer (with all the Force Weapony goodness that entails) and their 4+ invulnerable save means that a lot of units that otherwise would have an easy time with Chaos Marines, such as Eldar Howling Banshees, will wind up accomplishing little against them. The fact that they can fire then assault due to slow and purposeful only improves their lot. They are dependent on their Sorcerer; if the squad loses him, they will move even slower (though they revert to normal if a Lord/Sorcerer with the Mark of Tzeentch joins 'em). Whilst not ''quite'' as tough as Plague Marines (they're only a little less durable), they do better than them against heavy-firepower weapons (such as Starcannons). Like Plagues, they excel at taking and holding objective markers, and ideally are placed 8 or so in a [[METAL BOXES|METAL BAWKS]]. You can give the Mini-Sorcerer a psy power (or even two due to his Mark of Tzeentch); Bolt of Change is generally favored since it gives him the ability to pop enemy transports and allows the Sorcerer to contribute to shooting.


*'''Lesser Daemons''' - 13 points. Marine stat-line (but 2 attacks). Have to deep strike. Don't count against your force-organization chart (and, as such, don't count as your minimum 2 troops) but they '''DO''' score. They have a special ability hidden in the fine print of the codex, pg. 61 "They '''can''' assault in the same turn they enter the game". That being said, Daemons require you to have Icons (either personal, or a squad's Icon of Chaos) on the table or they count as destroyed when they enter play. But they enter within 6" of an icon, and get to charge right away, so they work great as "second wave" units to bail out your assault units if they bite off more than they can chew, or if they're simply more targets than you can engage at once. They lack armor saves (but do have 5+ invulnerable saves) so it's often a good idea to throw them at units that make a mockery of armor (Terminators, Howling Banshees etc) to soften them up for your real units. If nothing else, they provide a cheap scoring unit that your foes are unlikely to divert many resources to disposing of. I personally use them (as my daemonette models go nicely with my noise marines) but they're certainly not for everyone.