Why Play Chaos Space Marines[edit]

Chaos Space Marines are the main antagonist of the Warhammer 40,000 setting; with the Horus Heresy
arguably being the most pivotal moment of 40k's timeline. From a fluff-perspective, a Chaos Space
Marine army can be a Warband derived from one of the nine original Traitor Legions, or a more recent
group of Marines (or even an entire Chapter) that has gone Renegade, and the fluff for your army is
yours to write; besides the normal question of "what god(s) do your Chaos Marines follow?", the
backstory of how your former defenders of Humanity fell to Chaos can be every bit as compelling, as
well as any driving motivations. After all, while some Chaos Space Marines may be occasional pawns in
the grand scheme of the Gods, most of their own motives remain entirely human, whether it's the quest
for vengeance in The Long War, carving out pocket empires, or researching forbidden secrets. In many
ways, Chaos Space Marines are the Your Dudes army.

For those that enjoy kitbashing and converting, you can do so with the help from pretty much any kit
from any other race and not give a single fuck about what people say. You can legitimately say: "Dude, I
play Chaos, and Chaos can take any form". So long as you don't make a fool out of yourself and pretend
that a Lizardman with wheels and spikes instead of legs would make a good Chaos Bike. Chaos Space
Marines arguably exceed Orks in the sheer amount of room they allow for custom projects, as they can
either be ramshackle mess of diseased maniacs, fervent technosorcerers with baroque war engines, a
disciplined force of elite Infiltrators or otherwise.

From a gameplay perspective, Chaos Space Marines can best be described as "Space Marauders",
compensating for a lack of uniform quality with a mix of psychic prowess, close combat saturation, and
"troubleshooters" to plug gaps in your battleplan. Unlike some other armies, Chaos Space Marines don't
have too many "over-specialized" units, but they have "exotic generalists" that can be adapted to
multiple roles in one go. That said, many of their advantages come with corresponding disadvantages.
You lack And They Shall Know No Fear, which means you need to keep pressure on your opponent or
else when you do falter, you may not properly recover from it. In exchange, you get the option to
improve your Leadership beyond Loyalist standards (while most Loyalist Marine squads will be
Leadership 8, you can easily have Leadership 10 throughout your army), while Fearless is easily available
to units that pay a premium for them. Likewise, you lack a lot of the shiny toys Loyalists get, and notably
lack access to Grav Weaponry, Razorbacks, Landspeeders or Vanilla Drop Pods. In exchange, you get a
lot of "daemontech" tools, as well as the ability to jury-rig those vehicles you do get with a wide array of
options. While the Loyalists can easily get units that will murder your melee units in a straight-up
slugfest (if they pay top points for them), your rank-and-file will beat up their rank-and-file most of the
time; add in a system where your heroes or unit leaders can receive herohammer buffs (or the chance
to transform into Daemon Princes or those-that-must-not-be-named) for beating up your opponents,
and Chaos Marines favor a very gung-ho playstyle.

Pros[edit]
 Herohammer Toybox: Although you don't have a character that has the sheer destructive crunch as
Commander Smashfucker, you have a lot of cool relics on hand. Between all the codex options and
legion-specific toys, you can make heroes that are really good at bringing the fight to your foe, and then
tearing said foe a new one. Add in a system that randomly buffs (though with its risks; this will be
covered) your heroes when they RIP AND TEAR, and your characters have a playstyle that can be
incredibly fun.
 Rocking the Psychic Phase - Although you don't have the sheer ability to run Psychic shenanigans as an
Eldar or Daemon faction, Chaos Space Marines have a fairly extensive psychic toolbox to work with.
Other than Telekinesis (which is generally not considered a power discipline) and Divination (though one
artifact does allow you to take it), you have access to most of the base rulebook disciplines, including
Telepathy and Malefic Daemonology. Traitor's Hate helped out further by giving Chaos "copypastes" of
the Astartes powers from Angel of Death. Unlike the Loyalists, your casters have the option to go up to
Mastery Level 3 (or even Mastery Level 4 for one of them), and you have the single most powerful
psyker in 40k available to you in Magnus the Red. Instead of the Psychic Hood, the Spell Familiar is a
fairly cheap upgrade that lets you re-roll failed Psychic Tests. So not only can you throw down more
Warp Charge than a loyalist army, but you can make each one count for more.
 Exotic Generalists: Chaos Marines have trouble-shooter units that can plug into multiple different roles
at once. The Heldrake blends the line between an aerial interceptor and ground-attack aircraft,
potentially doing both at once, while the Obliterator is always guaranteed to have the right gun for the
right job, while being able to smash things in a pinch. Even the humble Rhino gets a few tricks up its
sleeve in a Chaos army, with additional equipment options letting it deny Overwatch or serve as fire
support.
 Marks and Icons Chaos Gods - Chaos Space Marines can be marked to be stronger, faster, tougher, or
trickier than their Loyalist brethren at a cost. Some of these bonuses are costly for what they are, and in
several cases Loyalists can arguably do it better, but some of them let you do things other armies can't
quite do.
 Unconventional Alliance opportunities: Chaos Space Marines are one of the only armies (besides
Renegades and Heretics or Daemonkin) that is Battle Brothers with Chaos Daemons and Renegade
Knights, and this does allow for some unique power combinations between the two. They're also Allies
of Convenience with Necrons, and are the only faction that is Allies of Convenience with Orks.
 Apocalypse - You're better than the loyalists in Apocalypse games because you get fucking Titans and
lots of sweet Forgeworld loving in the form of flyers and Daemon Engines. You're part of the Apocalypse
Quintet along with the Imperial Guard, Eldar, Orks, and Tyranids, to which all other apocalypse armies
are measured against. Be warned, you are comparatively lacking in long ranged heavy artillery, so even
in Apocalypse, your dish is best served by getting close to RIP AND TEAR.

Cons[edit]
The current Chaos Space Marine codex book is the oldest in current use, and it shows. The fluff and art
are top tier, but the rules in it are clearly written for another age - one without grav and knights all over
the place. Make no mistake - you'll be fighting an uphill battle all the way in every game if you try to run
a CSM army as just a CAD with just the rules in that book - and that's just in CASUAL games. There is a
good reason why an Ork, Tyranid, and Chaos player arguing who has the worst codex is a popular online
cliche. Luckily, as of the end of 2016, CSMs have finally gotten a boost in the form of powerful and
varied (if spammy and often overcosted and/or tactically infexible) formations that can be found in the
Traitor Legions supplement.

Most of the issues have generally come from Chaos being compared to loyalist Space Marines (and their
many variants). Among them are:

 They Shall Know Fear: Unlike vanilla Space Marines, you don't get "And They Shall Know No Fear."
Considering the advantages of ATSKNF are four-fold (Auto-pass Fear checks, immune to being destroyed
 by sweeping advance, auto-regroup regardless of how many models you have left, and suffer no
move/shoot penalties after regrouping), the regular Chaos Marines are in an unenviable position point-
for-point. However, it's not all doom and gloom: Unlike the loyalists, you get a fair few options for
making your guys Fearless or superior Leadership so you're less likely to fail Morale checks in the first
place. Inversely, if you're running MSU units, you don't care too much about trying to rally "that one
last" model for any given unit when you can have two more small units in backup.
o Note: If you're running a cult legion from the Traitor Legions supplement, Veterans of the Long War is
fearless across the board. Thus this one issue can be discounted, if you wish to theme your army based
on a named legion rather than Crimson Slaughter or your homebrewed warband.
 Beggars of the Long War: As a price for Chaos getting access to more consistently powerful Psykers,
herohammer blessings, and general "unconventional" power options, they're missing a lot of powerful
tools the Loyalists get access to. Most notably, your army lacks Grav Weapons which are considered "the
one special weapon to rule them all" for normal Space Marines. You can find "analogues" for some of
the other tools Marines get that you don't, though you also lack good equivalents for Drop Pods,
Razorbacks, Attack Bikes, or flying transports. Forgeworld can potentially mitigate this to some degree if
you wish. You'll see other small examples of Chaos technology being more "dated" or second-hand than
their Loyalist counterparts, discussed in their individual unit entries.
 Tactically Inflexible: Chaos Space Marines have no units with the innate ability to Infiltrate or Scout.
They don't have any special rules or wargear to get better deployment options, to have better chances
of selecting a table edge or to Seize the Initiative, to improve their Reserves rolls or to mitigate
scattering from Deep Strike (the Dimensional Key doesn't particularly count). Unlike many armies, they
don't get many non-psychic "toolbox" abilities; there is no Combat Tactics/Doctrina/Canticles
equivalent, nor do you get stuff like Guard Orders/Acts of Faith.
 One Codex In (At Least) Two Books: The CSM codex is OLD AS FUCK. The rules in it are dated, and
power creep means that it hasn't aged well. To GW's credit, as of the end of 2016, steps have been
taken to bring CSMs up to speed. That's all well and good, but unfortunately the 'update' was done
through the issuance of supplements rather than an updated dex. This means that you have to own the
dex + one or more of the supplements in order to build a passable army, and if you want a really decent
one that supplement has to be the Traitor Legions or The Traitor's Hate. Woe betide anyone wishing to
actually collect all the books in order to have access to all the current rules - there are, like, 6 of them,
before you even dip your toe into Frogeworld and Apocalypse.

Countering these cons[edit]

 Don't try to play CSM like loyalists. Your dudes are sub-par when compared to regular SM point for
point. CSM also lack most of the shiny toys that allow loyalists to do what they do best. If you try to juste
emmulate them, you're going to have a hard time doing so. Luckily, you don't have to - you have the
option to take hordes of cultists, monstrous daemon princes and FUCKING DRAGONS to go with your
bolter-lugging meatheads.
 The rules that you can find in supplements (like Traitor Legions and Traior's Hate) are nearly mandatory
if you want to level the playing field somewhat. They give CSM armies an opportunity to employ some
really game-changing playlists, that have potential to make a regular CSM army competitive while at the
same time keeping true to the fluff. In most cases, said formations go a long way towards fixing the
fundamental flaws of the Codex, even if it's arguable whether or not they always succeed. DEFINITELY
check them out in the tactics section below!
 Cult units have Fearless and give you better mileage, if you have the points. You can also make them
Troops (Plague and Noise Marines, for example, are awesome, if a bit situational).
 While nowhere near as good as ATSKNF, VotLW is decent. Don't forget that it gives you hatred against
all the other non-spiky marines. Traitor Legions should be mentioned here, as it almost universally
allows AND forces CSMs to take VOTLW for free if they meet the criteria to be part of that legion - which
is a nice bonus.
o FW threw you a bone in the form of an updated Renegades and Heretics list that are Battle Brothers
with you. They have good artillery and meatshields for said artillery, but fall short in most other areas.
 Allies give you some breathing room when building an army. You are the only army that is Blood
Brothers with Daemons, Renegade Knights and KDK, AND has access to Necrons and Orks as allies of
convenience (in fact, you are the *only* army that treats Orks as anything better than Desperate) is
pretty cool. KDK
 The spell familiar, which in 6th edition was practically useless, got a huge boost with 7th edition psychic
rules. As a piece of wargear that can be taken by any psyker that isn't Ahriman, Typhus or a T-Sons
Aspiring Sorcerer and allows you to re-roll failed psychic tests, it makes CSM psykers some of the most
reliable in the game.

Special Rules[edit]
 Legions of Chaos - As of Traitor Legions, you now have the option to run your Spikey Marines as
veterans from one of the original 9 Traitor Legions! Whether you want your army to evoke battlecries of
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!", "IRON WITHIN! IRON WITHOUT!", or any of the other ones, this is now
an option for you, the aspiring Chaos Warmaster! The individual Legion entries are detailed near the
end, with each Legion having certain restrictions in exchange for certain bonuses. Note that any
detachment may be a Legion detachment if it adheres to the restrictions of said Legion and detachment
in question. For example, you could run a Chaos Warband as a Black Legion Detachment despite the
Black Legion Speartip not having the Chaos Warband as a core, as long as you didn't have any Special
Characters besides Abaddon. However, you could not run a Black Legion Warband as a Death Guard
Detachment, for that formation has the restriction "This is a Black Legion Detachment."
o Note - Unlike Codex: Space Marines, the Legion rules are strictly optional. You don't have to field a
Chaos Space Marine Detachment as a Legion, and in fact, you cannot field it as one should you wish to
take certain Special Characters including Bela'kor, Cypher, Fabius Bile or Huron. That said, the bonuses
offered by adhering to a Legion generally outweigh the restrictions by a considerable margin, while free
Veterans of the Long War adds up!
 Chaos Boons - Chaos Boons are a power lottery with the potential to buff your heroes to epic
proportions or to backfire horribly and turn them into things which must not be named. The most
common way to trigger rolls on this table is through the Champion of Chaos special rule (covered
below), but it can also be triggered through the Boon of Mutation psyker power, the Gift of Mutation
upgrade, or through the Path to Glory effect from the Black Crusade detachment. Note that you cannot
gain the same Boon multiple times; treat all such subsequent rolls as "Nothing."
o 11-16 - Nothing. The anticlimax is real.
o 21-22 - Replace model with Chaos Spa-ARRGHNNNGNHWNHBLENNLNHELH. You don't want this to
happen to any tooled-up HQ you have, though it's not necessarily the end of the world if it happens to a
rank-and-file Champion for some reason. Note that a Champion that becomes one of...those things
retains its Mark, despite losing everything else.
 Important Note - On Pg. 29, going by RAW: a Champion that turns into a Chaos Spa-
SKRAAFSDHFKBLEGH or Daemon Prince is considered a separate, non-scoring unit. Let me repeat that.
Non. Scoring. Now that 7th edition allows any units to score objectives, this can be a detrimental flaw.
o 23 - +1 Attack.
o 24 - Eternal Warrior. Nice on an HQ, pointless on single-wound models.
o 25 - +1 Strength. Enjoy your S10 powerfist.
o 26 - +1 BS.
o 31 - +1 Initiative.
o 32 - Return to full wounds, or gain +1 Wound if unwounded.
o 33 - +1 Toughness.
o 34 - Shrouded.
o 35 - Armour Save improves by 1 to a maximum of 2+. Nice, especially as Chaos doesn't get artificer
armor.
o 36 - Melee weapon has Fleshbane
o 41 - Passing a Deny the Witch roll makes enemy Psyker take a Str 6 AP 2 hit.
o 42 - Re-roll failed armor saves.
o 43 - Melee attacks are Poisoned (4+)
o 44 - Crusader
o 45 - Hammer of Wrath
o 46 - Icy Aura (enemy models in base contact take a Str 4 AP 5 hit at Initiative Step 1)
o 51 - Adamantium Will.
o 52 - A ranged weapon has +1 Strength. Nice if your Warlord has a Burning Brand or another cool ranged
weapon, but pointless otherwise.
o 53 - Hatred (EVERYTHING! ALL THE TIME!).
o 54 - Shred.
o 55 - Melee attacks have instant death.
o 56 - +1 WS.
o 61 - Stubborn. Yeah, that's great to have, seeing as how most of your dueling HQs have FEARLESS, half of
legions from supplements are Fearless by default and cultists are usually joined by Dark Apostles.
o 62 - Fleet. Won't benefit anyone in the champion's squad, re-roll whenever possible.
o 63 - Feel No Pain
o 64 - Roll another d3+1 on this table (re-rolling Spawnhood and Dark Apotheosis results)
o 65-66 - Replace this model with a Daemon Prince with Power Armor. If the model was Marked, it
becomes the Daemon Prince of the same Chaos God. If not, choose which one of Big Four is its new
patron.
 Important Note - On Pg. 29, going by RAW: a Champion that turns into a Chaos Spa-
SKRAAFSDHFKBLEGH or Daemon Prince is considered a separate, non-scoring unit. Let me repeat that.
Non. Scoring. Now that 7th edition allows any units to score objectives, this can be a detrimental flaw.
 Champion of Chaos - Barring the Daemon Prince or any "vehicle characters" (which only show up in
certain formations), all your Characters have this rule. The downside is that in any assault where at least
one character with this rule is engaged, at least one of your Champion of Chaos characters must issue a
challenge, while if your opponent can issue a challenge and at least one of your characters with this rule
is eligible to accept, one of those characters must accept. 7th edition helped in that wounds from a
challenge may now "spill over" to the rest of an enemy unit, but this effectively means that if you want
 to tool out a squad for close combat, you better give at least one of your characters some decent
protection, for you won't have access to Look Out Sir. The "good news" (though this can be relative) is
that if your character's attack is part of an attack that directly kills an enemy Character, you get to roll on
the aforementioned Chaos Boon table.
 Veterans of the Long War - Units with this rule gain +1Ld and Hatred (Space Marines) - this includes ALL
units from ALL the different Space Marines codices, including the Grey Knights & Deathwatch. This
upgrade is pricey however, and when you do take it, you end up costing the same as your Loyalist
brethren, while lacking a lot of the benefits they get for the cost. However, taken on critical units (these
will be noted accordingly), this is a lifesaver. Note too, that even though at the end of the day nothing
can have a leadership of more than 10, all modifiers are still cumulative. This means that the leadership
bonus can cancel out penalties imposed on your Ld10 HQs. Cypher is the most obvious mention here,
but there are any number of attacks on leadership that having an effective leadership 11 will protect you
from.
 Traitor Legions: As of the Traitor Legions supplement, declaring your force a Legion detachment
provides you with the above rule for free. WO HOOO - Ld10 Aspiring Champions!
 Daemonforge - Once per game, a vehicle with this rule may re-roll armor penetration and to-wound
results. However, the owner must in the end of that phase roll a D6 and on a 1, the vehicle loses a hull
point with no saves. Defilers, Forgefiends, Heldrakes and Maulerfiends have this. Oh, and the Lord of
Skulls but you aren't using it except for shits and giggles.
 Infernal Relic (Forge World) - You cannot have more than one of vehicles with this rule in your primary
detachment (or any in allied), unless you have a Technomancer in that detachment. Any Warpsmith,
Sorcerer with a Malefic power or Abaddon himself can be made a Technomancer for free, and as a nice
bonus gain control over the Possession rule, choosing whom your transport eats (if anybody at all) if the
Technomancer embarks with the unit. The rules aren't exactly clear if you can nominate a
Technomancer for a single vehicle in a primary detachment or not though...

Warlord Traits[edit]
1. Black Crusader - All units within 12" gain Preferred Enemy (Space Marines). Since this applies to
shooting as well as melee, this is worth keeping if you're facing Marines. It's useless otherwise. Abaddon
starts with this one.
2. Flames of Spite - Melee weapons get Soulblaze. Terrible even for a mob-killer HQ, and far worse on a
challenge-oriented HQ.
3. Master of Deception - D3 infantry units can Infiltrate. Excellent trait, but still not much compared to
TACTICAL GENIUS. Huron and Ahriman have this by default.
4. Hatred Incarnate - Hatred for the warlord and his unit. Kharn, appropriately, comes with this.
5. Lord of Terror - Fear is shit, feel sorry for rolling this. Typhus has this by default, poor sod.
6. Exalted Champion - A re-roll on the Rewards Table is something you absolutely need to take. Seriously,
this can be the difference between living with a mediocre boost and becoming... gribbly.

Two of the Warlord Traits are effectively useless, while another one will be useless depending on what
army you face, and whether you're running a Black Crusade or not. If you're running a Black Crusade,
and come up against an Imperial army, Hatred Incarnate will do nothing as you already Hate them. If
you're not up against a Space Marine army, Black Crusader will be useless. And if you're not running a
Black Crusade, Exalted Champion will be mostly useless since you won't get the free rolls with Path to
 Glory. If you do face a Marine army, you have a fair chance of getting something usable though Strategic
is going to be a safe option too.

Wing Leader Traits[edit]

In Skies of Death, one Heldrake in a Flyerwing is automatically upgraded to a Wing Leader and gets to
make a pre-game roll for one of three bonuses.

7. Warp Fury - The Heldrake gets infinite-use Daemonforge. This is nice.

8. Fueled By Murder - If the Heldrake's attack causes an enemy model to be removed as a casualty, its
ranged weapon is twin-linked in the next Shooting Phase. All it takes is one Vector Strike and you're
basically twin-linked for most of the game after.
9. Icon of Slaughter - Add 1 to the Pursuit value for the Wing Leader and all models from this Flyer Wing
during the Dogfight Phase. Ehhhh.

Fighter Ace Traits[edit]

This preceded Skies of Death. In Death From The Skies, you now have a bonus rule allowing you to pay
35 points for one of 3 special traits for any Flyer or FMC (FGC is still debatable).

10. Arcane Targeting System - +1 BS. Useless if your Heldrake is packing a Baleflamer, and usually useless on
a Daemon Prince. Handy if you take a Hades Autocannon Heldrake.
11. Terror of the Skies - Re-rolls To Wound and penetrate when Vector Striking. Not a bad one, by far.
12. Lord of Chaos - Fellow Chaos Marines within 12" gain Relentless. Enjoy toting along fucking rockets and
super-dakka cultists like nobody's business.

Tactical Objectives[edit]
Added in the new Traitor's Hate book, you get a full deck of tactical objectives with the first 6 being
CSM-oriented.

11. Glorious Carnage

1 VP if you completely destroy an enemy unit in your turn.

12. The Warp is Your ally

1 VP if you successfully manifested a psychic power.

13. The Will of Chaos

Roll a dice upon generating this card. Score 1 VP if you control the objective corresponding to that roll at
the end of your turn.

14. The Gaze of the Gods

1 VP if a character rolls on the Chaos boon table. D3 VP if 3 or more characters roll on the boon table.

15. Claim and Despoil

D3 VP if you steal an objective an enemy unit was holding.

16. Rise to Glory

 1 VP if your warlord rolled Unworthy Offering or Spawnhood on the boon table. D3+3 VP if your Warlord
looses the Chaos lottery and becomes a Daemon Prince. D3 VP if you roll any other result on the Boon
table for your warlord.

Armory of Chaos[edit]
Remember a time when you had to flip back and forth between a wargear page and your unit entries?
/tg/ remembers, and 3.5 was awesome because of it. Well guess what's back? Yeah, that's right - one
BIG inventory section to pick your wargear from. Here are all the goodies the Dark gods are willing to let
you work with. Sadly, there's some dead weight intermixed with otherwise generic items, and the
retarded awesomeness of the Kai Gun is missing. What can we say? This isn't 3E and it's not like those
days will be coming back any time soon. Just enjoy the fact it's better than what the last codex was...

Melee Weapons[edit]
Nothing too unique here. These are for Aspiring Champion models in pretty much any of the squads that
have champs and any models who say they can take wargear from this list. Take note: Terminator
Champions have to take wargear from the Terminator weapons list (which ends up costing a lot more.)

You can replace either the model's bolt pistol or CCW with one of theses, or replace BOTH the pistol and
the CCW with two. So you can have two fists or two chain axes for that awesome factor you were aiming
for. Knock yourself out.

 Power Weapons: There are four flavors to enjoy: sword, maul, axe, and lance.
o The sword is AP3, but is otherwise a standard melee weapon (importantly, it doesn't mess with your
initiative). However, since it's the same price as the lightning claws, you probably want to take that
instead, as those bad boys come with Shred (allowing you to reroll To Wound), but unlike the claw it
isn't a specialist weapon.
o The maul adds +2S and AP4, meaning it's a fair bit nicer than the chainaxe, albeit at a slightly higher
price. It also comes with Concussive; enemies that take a wound from it are knocked down to I1 for the
next turn. These are good for monstrous creature hunting and killing Necrons and Tau.
o The axe adds +1S and AP2, but it's Unwieldy (which brings you down to I1); in other words, it's a weaker
power fist. Only take one if you can't afford a fist, or want the extra attack.
o Lastly, the children of the Dark Gods get their hands on the (all-new this edition) power lance, which is
AP3 and +1S on the charge, and AP4/model's strength otherwise. It's fairly decent (especially combined
with a Dirge Caster-carrying Rhino), but good luck finding one. It literally can't be found on any Chaos
sprues, so if you want to use it you'll have to improvise.
 Lightning Claws: You get AP3 and Shred (which lets you reroll To Wound). If you're taking one claw, you
should take a second one or a power fist, since both claw and fist are now Specialist Weapons and thus
you get +1A when taken together. The lightning claw is almost always superior to the power sword,
especially so if the bearer has 3+ attacks. The only potential downside is that you won't get the extra
attack from having a melee weapon and a pistol, but seeing as how lightning claws are particularly good
against tougher opponents (and you should be slaughtering low-Toughness models anyway), you should
probably just take these.
 Chain Axe: It's a basic melee weapon, except it has AP 4. Berzerker squads get these for only 3 points
per model, instead of 8. Note that they aren't good enough to chop up Marines; you need real power
weapons for that, so don't rely too heavily on these, especially given that power weapons are only a few
points more.
 Plague Knife: The other cult weapon. Poisoned CCWs that Plague Marines get as stock wargear.
 Power Fist: Just the same as any other codex: double the strength, but I1. If you're stuck but you want
to spend some points on melee weapons, this is a good choice. Also, as stated above, both these and the
Lightning Claws are Specialist Weapons, so you get +1A if you have one of each.

Ranged Weapons[edit]
Like the melee list, these are for all the Champions who aren't wearing terminator armor (see list below
for their options) and any of the units who specifically say they can take items from this list:

 Combi-Bolter: A Twin-Linked Bolter. Simple enough. Rapid fire at 12 inches makes this a twin linked
storm bolter. Have fun.
 Combi-Flamer/-Melta/-Plasma: A Boltgun with a built in Meltagun, Plasma Gun, or Flamer. The
secondary weapon gets a single shot per game. Useful, but use it wisely.
 Plasma Pistol: Self explanatory. Too bad GW still hasn't realized that it isn't worth 15 points for a
weapon that has a chance to explode and kill you.

Terminator Weapons[edit]
This is for Terminator Champions and Lords and Sorcerers wearing Terminator armor.

You can replace the Combi-Bolter and/or your standard power weapon with any of these, the only
exception being you can't swap out your standard power weapon for a Combi-Weapon.

 Combi-Weapon: Relatively cheap and overall solid choice. Deep Striking 3 man Termicide squads with 3
Combi-Plasmas/Meltas can be a great diversionary tactic.
 Power Weapon: Because dual-wielding Power weapons makes you look cool. Not much else besides
unless you really care about being able to shoot things and Overwatch.
 Lightning Claw: You want a lightning claw? If you do, take either another one or a power fist for your
other hand. That way you don't have to strike at I1 with the fist if it is too risky, plus you pair Specialist
weapons for an extra attack.
 Power Fist: It's a power fist. If you want to, take a second fist for your other hand so you can live out
your boxing match fantasies with Marneus Calgar. If not, make sure to take a claw with your fist.
 Chain Fist It's a power fist that wrecks vehicles even harder. Take it if you like chainsaws and fisting
things. Also a Specialist weapon so grab a lighting claw for your other hand.

Special Issue Wargear[edit]

These are for any of the units who say they can take wargear from this list. Usually just Chaos Lords and
Sorcerers.

 Jump Packs: Makes you jump Infantry. Group your Chaos Lord or Sorcerer with some Raptors and let
him follow his dreams.
 Blight Grenades: Diseased heads that counts as both assault and defensive grenades, they have lost the
8" Stealth rule but now they can cause Blind if the Roll to Hit succeeds! Between these and Fearless,
 Nurglite Chaos Lords are excellent for leading units of lesser troops. Plague Marines get these by
default!
 Melta Bombs: Melta Bombs, good for exploding things made of metal or flesh.
 Sigil of Corruption: A 4++ save. This can be further improved with Mark Of Tzeentch to give a model a
3++ save, since we don't get Storm Shields. Dark Apostles get these as part of their starting wargear.
 Chaos Bike: It's a bike. It comes with a twin-linked bolter. It gives you all those bike special rules like Jink.
Make your Chaos Lord Doomrider or something. Arguably, the TL bolter you get with the bike counts as
a weapon, so you can exchange it for something flashier (such as the Burning Brand). Just remember
that you need to WYSIWYG it so you don't get punched in the face.

Marks of Chaos[edit]
Marks of Chaos have changed in the new codex and give everyone the same bonuses, with the added
change of giving access to the corresponding god's psychic powers; their cost will also vary depending
on said model/unit. Marks will also color a unit's access to some wargear.

 Khorne: Bestows Rage and Counter-Attack. Daemon Princes of Khorne gain Furious Charge and Hatred
(Slaanesh). Being the cheapest Mark (at least for most units), it's probably one of the least useful,
because it only lasts on the charge and then you lose the bonuses in all subsequent rounds. It's
somewhat powerful for the first round if you get the charge, and can help if you fuck up your positioning
and get charged yourself. This is especially true of a mob of Cultists, who can get an absolutely
rapetastic amount of attacks with this baby even if they get charged, instead of drowning some unlucky
sod under piles of dead chaos-worshiping corpses come the assault phase. Not as good on actual space
marines. Decent for units with power weapons such as Terminators, as an extra attack at S4 AP3 is vastly
superior to one at S4 Ap-.
 Nurgle: Bestows +1T and forces psykers to roll on Nurgle powers. Daemon Princes of Nurgle gain
Shrouded, Slow and Purposeful and Hatred (Tzeentch). This is quite nice for most units, giving you a bit
more protection from small-arms fire and largely eliminates the chance of Instant Death for multi-
wound models (oblits & mutilators), and while it doesn't directly make your dudes as killy as the Mark of
Khorne, it often negates some of the casualties they may have taken while footslogging accross the field
and catching overwatch bolter fire.
 Slaanesh: Bestows +1I and forces psykers to roll on Slaanesh powers. Daemon Princes of Slaneesh gain
Fleet, Rending (only useful against vehicles, since they're already AP2 thanks to Smash), +3 inches to
every run move, and Hatred (Khorne). Although +1I doesn't seem that great, it means that you'll be
hitting before the Loyalist scum and thus won't take as many wounds back. Units Marked with Slaanesh
now also grant Eldar the USR Hatred (Slaanesh), while at the same time forcing them to suffer a -1Ld
penalty against Fear. Now, I know what you're saying, "But unless your Slaaneshi unit is composed of
Daemons OR Raptors, they don't have Fear so Eldar wouldn't suffer from -1Ld fear penalty". That's why
Telepathy exists. Both Chaos Marine Sorcs AND Slaanesh Daemons with access to psychic powers can
roll on Telepathy. Get a 3 and all of a sudden your ENTIRE ARMY scares the panzy little space elfs. The
nerf to Runes of Warding means that they can stall you for a turn, but in the end they'll just have to sit
back and let it happen.
 Tzeentch: This Mark is largely inadequate, for a few reasons. Firstly, it's usually at the upper end of price
of all Marks. The only benefit is +1 to invulnerable save (which means a 6++ if the model doesn't already
have one). Oh, and forced access to Tzeentch's Discipline, which is a mixed blessing at best. Importantly,
giving this Mark to a Sorcerer does not upgrade his mastery level or let him take more psychic powers,
 so Mastery Level 1 Sorcerers are gonna be stuck with whatever power they rolled on Tzeentch's
discipline - and the fact that the Tzeentch primaris is utter shyte does not aleviate matters. Now, the
bonus to invulnerable save CAN certainly be nice IF you already have Terminator armour or a Sigil of
Corruption, because it DOES stack with both of them, making Terminators, Obliterators and certain
Lords more likely to not die when they are inevitably hit with plasma/grav/D weapons. Daemon Princes
of Tzeentch have it slightly better, as they re-roll saves of 1 and gain Hatred (Nurgle), which is a fairly
nice benefit (especially with the Traitor Legions artifacts they can now gain access to, for more
information see Night Lords), but again, if he's gonna be a psyker, you're gonna have to take at least one
Tzeentch power.

Icons of Chaos[edit]
Icons are now issued to an individual model in a unit, and provide the whole squad with specific
benefits. As it's a flat cost per unit, icons are more points-efficient the more models there are in said
unit. Note that squads with a specific mark are limited to taking icons respective to their mark. Also note
that ALL icons also add an additional 1 to assault results.

 Icon of Wrath: Limited to units with the Mark of Khorne, this Icon grants Furious Charge and allows the
unit to re-roll charge distances. This makes the unit, essentially, a squad of mini-'Zerkers. If you're going
to spend the points to give them the Mark of Khorne, you might as well go all the way and give them the
Icon as well, especially since re-rolling charge distances is such great utility.
 Icon of Flame: This Icon is limited to units with the Mark of Tzeentch, not that it matters, because you
won't take it, because it gives Soulblaze to bolt weapons (and only bolt weapons) in the unit, and
Soulblaze almost always sucks.
o alternate opinion: While, yes soul blaze sucky it really gains power when used on a 20 man marine
squad, or better yet raptors/heavy bolter havocs. It's not cost effective, but it's pretty funny to see the
look on your opponent's face when his termie squad dies to a couple soul blaze hits.
 Icon of Despair: This Icon is only for units with the Mark of Nurgle, but again, it doesn't really matter,
since it bestows Fear, which, in a game dominated by Space Marines who Know No Fear, isn't useful. If
you know you're going up against an army like Imperial Guard that has low Leadership across the board,
it might be worth it, but even then, Fear is still less than useful especially when you can run your guys as
Crimson Slaughter and use the points on more useful upgrades.
 Icon of Excess: Finally, an Icon that's unequivocally good! The Icon of Excess is only for units with the
Mark of Slaanesh, which is a shame, since it grants Feel No Pain, thereby making units with the Icon
nearly impossible to crack without a sustained effort. It's especially nice with Havocs and Noise Marines.
However, beware of going too crazy with them (although that is the Slaaneshi way...), as it's by far the
most expensive of the Icons.
o Emperor's Children are going to want to pile on as many of these as you can stomach paying for. The
FNP becomes a 4+ instead of a 5+, even outside of a Rapture Battalion, and a unit-wide coin flip is
always a nice buffer for the wounds that get past your normal saves.
 Icon of Vengeance: This last Icon doesn't have a Mark requirement, as it's generically Long War-themed.
It grants Fearless, and that is a very, very good thing, as it compensates for the Chaos Marine lack of And
They Shall Know No Fear (arguably, it even does it one better), and it's economical on squads with more
than 10 models (which is what Chaos excels at, after all).
 Chaos Rewards[edit]
Chaos rewards are god-specific steeds, buffs and gimmicks. Reserved for certain models such as Chaos
Lords and Sorcerers, whose entries specifically state what they can take from this list:

 Ichor Blood: Any time the model with this fails to save a wound, the unit who inflicted the wound takes
a S3 AP4 hit. Marginally useful against anything with T3 and shitty armour saves (if you remember that
you bought this unuseful upgrade), but ultimately stupid. Phil Kelly apparently forgot he wasn't writing
the Tyranid codex.
 Gift of Mutation: A free roll on the Boon Table before the game starts for 10 points. Ignore Prince and
Spawn rolls. Not too bad, but can end up being a point sink that gives nothing in return. Would have
been marginally better in a Chaos Warband, due to "buy one get one free" - except the Favored Sons
rule quite explicitly only applies when killing enemy characters.
 Aura of Dark Glory: A cheap 5++ save. Although nice, it's overshadowed by the Sigil of Corruption in
Special Issue Wargear, which is slightly more expensive but gives you a 4++ save. However, it is
recommended for the Warpsmith, who can't take Special Issue Wargear.
o Note: Thousand Sons come with this standard, combined with the Mark of Tzeentch to give them a
crunch-explained 4++ save.
 Combat Familiar: A little Daemon munchkin who fights with his master. Counts as being on the same
base as the model it was bought for. Adds two S4 AP- attacks in Assault. Whoop-de-doo - looks like
Phillipus forgot he was writing CSM and not Orks. Pass.
 Spell Familiar: Lets you flat-out reroll failed Psychic tests. At 15 points, this is an auto-take for your
Sorcerers. Curiously enough, any HQ can take this, though it would only matter if you're fooling around
with Daemon Princes or the Scrolls of Magnus.

Then we have our Steeds. As before, the only models who can take a steed are Lords or Sorcerers
without Terminator Armor. These really should have had their own separate section in the armoury...

 Juggernaut of Khorne: Excellent choice if you don't want your head honcho to be a Terminator Lord. The
Juggernaut gives +1T, +1 Wound, and +1 Attack AND the model becomes cavalry. Give the Lord any of
those new crazy new daemon weapons and bring glorious slaughter to your enemies in the name of
Khorne.
 Disc of Tzeentch: Basically a Jetbike that grants your HQ an extra melee attack. At 10 points more than a
regular Bike, and lacking the twin-linked Bolters they normally get, you better have a good reason to use
this. The real issue with the Disc of Tzeentch is there really isn't a good unit to join a character to, that it
can fully take advantage of the extra Jetbike rules. You "could" make the case for using the Disc for a
"Gunship" Sorcerer but Daemon Allies do that better.
 Palanquin of Nurgle: +2 Wounds, +1 attack and you become Very Bulky. The problem with this upgrade
is that your character does not gain any movement bonuses from it, and it requires the Mark of Nurgle,
effectively making this combo a 60-point investment base. There are a few edge-cases to argue for
taking this mount though; the first one is if you're trying to build a deathstar (why?) with Chaos, as a
Lord with this and some source of Eternal Warrior would be admittedly tough to kill. The second case
would be if you want to experiment with Daemonology; since Perils of the Warp has a 66% chance of
outright wounding a Psyker with no defense whatsoever, and so doubling the wounds of your Sorcerer is
one potential workaround.
 Steed of Slaanesh: More special rules than the rest of the steeds. This one gives you +1 attack & Acute
Senses, lets you move an extra 3", you become Cavalry and you and the unit you join gain Outflank. If
you're running an infantry-heavy Chaos build, and were planning to take a Sorcerer anyway, this may be
useful for a late-game Objective grab.

Artefacts of Chaos[edit]
This is where you find your Daemon weapons and other cool Chaos-y stuff. You're only allowed one of
each per army. The Axe of Blind Fury and Black Mace are Daemon weapons, which just like before, add
+D6 attacks, but a roll of 1 automatically wounds the model with no armor or cover saves (although you
can still take Invulnerable saves) and reduces him to WS1 for one fighting sub-phase. Note that these
weapons are not restricted to just Chaos Lords - any model that can take wargear from the Artefacts of
Chaos list has access. Also keep in mind that a model who ascends to Daemonhood loses all wargear and
rules, so if you take one of these and ascend during the game you don't get to keep your toy.

Among your chief weapons are:

 The Murder Sword: Take a Power Sword. Make it cost twice as much, and make it cost an extra 5 on top
of that. In exchange, you get to nominate **one** enemy character, and while you're in base-to-base
contact with that character (presumably due to a Challenge), it becomes double-strength, AP 1, and
causes Instant Death. The problem with this one is simple: It requires too many variables to go off for it
to work as planned, the really powerful characters out there tend to have some form of Eternal Warrior,
and for 5 points more, you can run the "Power Fist/Lightning Claw" combo, granting your Champion far
more versatility and more deadliness against a far wider variety of targets.
 The Black Mace: The Black Mace is a Daemon Weapon with Fleshbane, AP4, and a nifty special rule:
Cursed: When it causes an unsaved wound, the model who took it must immediately make a Toughness
test (6s automatically fail) or be Removed From Play. No ifs, ands, or buts. Not only that, at the end of
any phase where the weapon has caused at least one wound, all non-vehicle enemy models nearby the
Mace must also take a Toughness Test or take a wound with no saves of any kind allowed. If you're
looking for a monster-killer, or a way to mulch through tarpits, this is up there, and if you can get
Enfeeble (or run a Prince with Grotti The Nurgling) nearby, this thing goes from "scary" to having the
effect of a localized black hole...assuming the Prince survives any retaliatory attacks that is. Alas, it does
not benefit from Vector Strike.
 Axe of Blind Fury: Reserved for those with Mark of Khorne. Adds +2 Strength at AP2 and gives the Rage
USR (even though Mark of Khorne already gave you Rage, Daemon Princes of Khorne will benefit from
it). Really nice, but it lowers your WS and BS by 1 which is a bit of a bummer. Still, A Chaos Lord or
Apostle with this can go nuts. Thanks to the latest FAQ, Daemon Princes of Khorne can take the Axe of
Blind Fury.
 Burning Brand of Skalathrax: This is the very Flamer that Kharn himself used to fragment the World
Eaters from a unified force to numerous fragmented warbands in the Skalathrax Incident. It's basically
an AP 3 Torrent flamer with Soul Blaze. The Soul Blaze is mediocre, but Torrent and AP 3 take this
artifact over the top. A really nice artifact. Whether you use it for a Daemon Prince to act as a pseudo-
Heldrake (Vector Strike an enemy, burn another enemy), you use it to make a "tax HQ" more dangerous
(if you just want to pop a Lord in a Rhino, this is a good way to make him a contributing fighter), or you
want to toss it in a Terminator Annihilation Force so you can "double-tap" it on the way down, this is a
really nice artifact for its cost.
 Range S AP Type
Torrent 4 3 Assault 1, Soul Blaze,
Template, Torrent
 Scrolls of Magnus: Big scroll of spells reserved for the mortal followers of Tzeentch (alas, a Prince cannot
take it), so put on your robe and wizard hat. At the start of every turn, your character may elect to take a
S3 AP 1 hit to roll for a random power; you roll one die to see which discipline you roll on (Pyromancy,
Biomancy, Telepathy, Tzeentch, Telekinesis, or Divination), and you roll another die to see what power
you actually get. If the bearer of the Scrolls of Magnus was not already a Psyker when generating a
power, the character becomes an ML 1 Psyker, so you can have a spell-slinging fighting Lord. If you roll a
power you already have, reroll.
o The Bad: Cool though it may seem, this actually has some pretty big downsides. The first is the point
cost. For the cost of taking the Mark of Tzeentch and the Scroll of Magnus on a model, you could buy
another Sorcerer altogether! You can't take Primaris powers, though if you roll for only one non-
Tzeentchian Power, then you'll have it from Psychic Focus (sigh, and the Chaos Psychic Focus for
Tzeentch, not that anyone cares for it); admittedly, Biomancy's Smite can be nice when your Lord is BS 5,
and Psychic Shriek/Prescience never go unwelcome. The whole process is totally random: you won't
necessarily get a spell that's useful to you, but you won't know until after you take the hit. Which brings
us to the really big downside: every time you roll on the table, including re-rolls, the model takes a S3
AP1 hit. Plus even if you know a lot of different powers, you'll only be able to cast one per turn anyway
due to your limited Mastery Level.
o So Why Take This - If you want to add "another Psyker" to any formation with a mandatory Chaos HQ,
this gives you another option. While you can run a Cabal if you want multiple Sorcerers or use Daemon
allies, this lets a formation's Dark Apostle "do something" besides provide passive auras, while a Disc
Lord of Tzeentch is pricey but effectively a mini-monster in his own right. If you're running the Mark of
Tzeentch anyway (to turn a Sigil of Corruption into a "Hands-free" Stormshield, or for tougher
Terminator armor), you can justify 25 of the points for the Scroll as "an extra Warp Charge", with 20
points accounting for the luxury of an unorthodox Psyker vector, and the ability to learn multiple powers
throughout the game. Note that if you give this to a Disc Lord, his T5 and (likely) 3++ make taking a
wound from the power generation quite unlikely.
 Dimensional Key: The Dimensional Key activates after its holder kills a model in close combat. From that
point onward, any enemy model that starts any phase within 12" of the holder treats all Terrain as both
Difficult and Dangerous terrain for the duration of that phase. On top of that, all friendly Codex: Chaos
Space Marine units that Deep Strike (anywhere, not just within 12" of the bearer) don't scatter for the
rest of the game.
o Analysis: A cute item with a flawed implementation. The problem with it is that unless you're fighting an
army that wants to assault you, or one is extremely lucky, you can expect to reach Assault by turn 2 at
the earliest. This wouldn't seem too bad, until one remembers that reserves start to arrive at the
beginning of turn 2 on a 3+. This means that generally, 2/3rds of your reserves will have already arrived
by the time you activate it. Those remaining units will certainly arrive safely, but it's difficult to justify 25
points on a wargear option that affects, in the vast majority of cases, two units at best, chosen
randomly.
 NOTE: With traitor Legions, turn 1 assaults are now quite viable between the World Eaters bonus
move/talisman and/or a Black Legion Raptor talon assaulting from deepstrike turn 1.
o Making the Key Work: Let's suppose you do have your heart set on trying this toy out and aren't playing
the Black Legion. How do you make the most out of it despite its flawed design? One possibility is to
consider the Deep Strike a "nice-to-have" bonus rather than integral to your battleplans. To a certain
extent, the Key lets your unit march into the open, and delay "countercharges" to some degree. A -2 to
charge distance can make the difference between your opponent getting the charge or just standing
there in the open waiting to be charged. If you really want to get that Deep Strike Bonus, Soulswitch or
Worldwrithe both give you the option for Turn 1 assaults, should you roll it; the problem remains relying
on excessive luck on generating Psychic Powers. Should you be running fortifications anyway, the
Comms Relay lets you reroll reserves, both failed and successful, should you really wish to play with
your guys off-table for more turns than normal. One final edge-case is that the rules as written state
"units that arrive from Deep Strike" and Gate of Infinity also states you "arrive by Deep Strike." Chaos
lacks Hit and Run or other ways to truly disengage, but this "could" give you the edge if you were trying
to create an Obliterator analogue of the more infamous Centstar...one without Grav, mind you.
o In apocalypse: When you have the ability to choose when your reserves come in, this really gains some
traction.

Overall: The core Chaos Relics are generally focused on hitting your opponent harder. You'll notice no
defensive wargear in here. Of them, the Axe of Blind Fury and the Black Mace are both dangerously
powerful (the latter more so on a Daemon Prince or a Sorcerer that rolls Iron Arm), and the Burning
Brand is "boring-yet-practical" at what it does. The Murdersword is too situational and expensive to take
advantage of, and the Dimensional Key would be awesome if it was easier to trigger, but is relegated to
the realm of "gimmick" otherwise. The Scrolls of Magnus are an expensive gimmick but "can" be used if
you want to turn a mandatory HQ into a "backup caster".

Vehicle Equipment[edit]
Huh. Looks like everybody else forgot these existed. In any case, there's some pretty interesting stuff in
here worth a look.

 Combi-Bolter: No, seriously, I promise, there's interesting stuff in here. The vehicle combi-bolter is the
same as the one in the Ranged Weapons section, giving you a little bit more fire. Not super-useful, but
it's only five points. It also protects your actual guns from "weapon destroyed" results since now it is
randomly rolled instead of chosen by the opponent - so if your big spiky Vindicator gets penetrated you
have a 4+ save against Demolisher cannon removal for only 5 pts.
 Dirge Caster: Funny, if nothing else. Enemy units within 6" can't Overwatch. This can be usable in some
cases (Land Raiders, Helbrutes, and Maulerfiends), but you can mitigate Overwatch without having to
explicitly shut down your opponent's movement. There are some fringe cases where it can be useful
(shutting down Supporting Fire or "Wall of Death", or "Reckless Abandon" if you're fighting a Corsair
player), but you *are* driving your vehicles point-blank so be prepared!
 Dozer Blade: The Dozer Blade lets you reroll failed Dangerous Terrain tests, changing the odds of your
vehicle becoming immobile battlefield terrain from 1/6 to 1/36, and makes your Rhinos deadlier when
ramming stuff. For such a cheap price, it's worth taking if you find yourself driving through terrain on a
regular basis. Since you don't get Drop Pods, and want your Marines to get from Point A to Point B,
consider this a near auto-take for your Rhinos.
 Warpflame Gargoyles: Soul Blaze. Pass.
 Combi-weapons: You can take a combi-flamer, -melta, or -plasma. Well, you can, but it probably won't
be all that useful.
o Second Opinion: Actually, one of the things that keeps Sisters competitive is Melta weapons on cheap,
plentiful transports, so combi-meltas on Rhinos might be worth it. Sure, we don't get multi-meltas, but
we also get more than 15 options and plastic models, so it's a trade off.
 Extra Armour: Vehicles with this count Crew Stunned as Crew Shaken when rolling on the Vehicle
Damage table. Useful for a Land Raider (which itself is arguably not that useful), but for most other
units, they'll die from HP depletion before this effect takes place, or they're effectively useless if Shaken
anyway.
 Havoc Launcher: One of our more unique pieces of equipment, this is basically a frag missile launcher
with 1 better S and AP. It's also twin-linked and only 12 points. It's very nice to stick on your Rhinos to
add to fire power against GEQs. Putting it on other tanks can also help protect their more relevant guns.
You too can rain fiery hell down upon your opponents!
 Destroyer Blades: Tank Shocking troops is nice right? Why not add some blades that do d6 s5 hits? Oh,
they're gonna Death or Glory? Well take 2d6 S5 hits fools. The only problem is the price; on regular
Rhinos, it almost increases their cost by 50%, while not making them any harder to kill, while your
heavier vehicles generally want to be sitting back and shooting stuff.
 Daemonic Possession: Handy if your vehicle relies on blasts or templates to kill stuff. This means a
Vindicator. Otherwise, it's mostly a pass: first off, it lowers your BS to 3, which is still okay, but not great.
Secondly, on any transport vehicles, it has a chance of nomming a random member of a transported
squad without any saves of any kind possible. On the other hand, it regains a Hull Point, which is nice. It
can also ignore Shaken and Stunned results (although the riders don't). It might work, but there's always
a chance it will up and kill a member of your expensive Terminator squad. On the other hand, Cultists
becoming hull point sacrifices is somewhat of a possibility.
 Malefic Ammo (Forge World): Only available to Infernal Relic vehicles, it grants Rending for Heavy
Bolters, unless otherwise specified. It is, however, ludicrously expensive on the vast majority of models
(30 pts on a relic pred, 40 on a sicaran!). Generally not worth your time, unfortunately.

Legacies of Ruin (Forge World)[edit]

A special purchase, this gives one vehicle per thousand points some special properties to indicate that it
took part in either a special battle or has some one-of-a-kind customization done to it. Daemon Engines
and Vehicles with Daemonic Possession/Daemonic Resilience can't grab it, which is a bloody shame,
cause most of those would have been hilarious on a mauler or defiler. As it is, most of them are
situational at best, and the others are downright unusable. Each legacy can only be purchased once per
army, and several of them come with certain different prices based on whether or not it's a tank or a
walker or if it's superheavy.

 Veteran of the Scouring: Tanks grab IWND and Preferred Enemy (Marines). Walkers grab IWND and
Hatred (Marines). Both are pretty neat, though tanks grab the better bit. Quite good on Titans, as it
basically give your Titan the Titan of Nurgle bonus, for cheaper, and leaves you free to snag one of the
other upgrades.
 War Within the Eye: They all get AW and Preferred Enemy (Chaos Marines). Pretty cheap and a decent
way to deny some targeted witchfires.
 Maelstrom Raider: All vehicles gain Outflank and Fear. It does sound pretty cool to outflank that
Predator and make some surprising smashes or give some Land Raider a safer way to deliver its
murderous payload.
 Death of Kasyr Lutien: Gives vehicles Fear. In addition, if a is within 12" and using casting a Malefic
power, they can re-roll one d6 per hull left on the vehicle. However, if the test still fails, the vehicle has
to take a pen. For the point-cost, this is an incredible benefit if you're taking Daemon allies.
 Blood of Mackan: Tanks gain Preferred Enemy (Blood Angels) and ignores all defense lines and
barricades. In addition, if the tank gains Destroyer Blades, the damage it deals after tank shock and
death-or-glory will have an AP equal to its current HP. Makes them a very vicious suicide unit.
 Siege of Vraks: Enables a vehicle to ignore damage from Dangerous Terrain on a 4+ and can re-roll to-hit
on targets in defense lines. Pretty cheap, so it's worth a grab against some Aegis-exploiting Tau or
Guardsmen.
 Fourth Quadrant Rebellion: Supports Cultists within 12" by giving them Fearless and gains a 4++ invul
when it has 1 HP left. Fearless Cultists sounds nice, but you can just use the Helcult formation for
cheaper.
 Badab Uprising: Tanks and superheavies gain Fear and Preferred Enemy (Marines) while non-SH
Walkers gain Rage and Hatred (Chaos Marines). Walkers tend to benefit off it more.
 Scourge of the Greenskin: Tanks get +d6" movement for Tank Shocks and get Preferred Enemy (Orks).
It's definitely going to need some scrapers to clean off the copious amounts of Ork stuck in the treads.
 Last of the Forge: The transport gains Preferred Enemy (Nids) and can ignore Stunned/Shaken on a 4+
while the troops inside get Hatred (Nids). It's a pretty decent way to keep it moving even without Nids as
an enemy, but that's it.
 Screams of Lugganath: Grants vehicles Fear against Eldar (Very flimsy), but the awesome part is the
boosting of Dirge Casters to 12" range. That's a save for anything that's gotta get in deep.
 Perdus Rift Anomaly: Gives the vehicle Preferred Enemy (Tau), but also gives you a re-roll for the
seize/forces the other guy to re-roll the seize. The PE bonus versus Tau is cute, but the extra shot at
Seize the Initiative or the insurance against it can help win a game by itself. If you're using Legacies, this
is a really good one.
 First War of Armageddon: Gives Fear against IG and improves Daemon Saves for Khorne Daemons by
+1, which makes them a whole lot more survivable.
 All of the following legacies also give Daemonic Possession and Fear:
o Vessel of Akashneth of the Boiling brass: Every unit with an Icon of Wrath within 12" gets +d3 to
combat resolution.
o Vessel of Shyak the seeker: Every unit with an Icon of Excess within 12" rolls an additional d6 for LD and
takes the lowest 2.
o Vessel of Tzenahk the Occluder: Roll a d6 at the start of the game; on a 1 the enemy gains +1 VP if it's
destroyed, 2+ grants +d3 VP to you if it survives.
o Vessel of Dhornurgh the reborn: Every unit with an Icon of Despair within 12" gains Gets Hot! and
Rending in Close Combat only. Best suited for Plague Marines who already have Plague Knives, and their
armor and Feel No Pain can compensate for Gets Hot!
o Vessel of Auloth the Primordial Iterator: Every unit with an Icon of Wrath (read below) within 12" gains
Fear and Feel no Pain. It's hella pricy, but these are some pretty nice upgrades. This one also happens to
give the vehicle pinning on all of it's weapons. Slap it on a fire raptor and pin the world.
 IMPORTANT NOTE: Though it is officially written as applying to Icons of Wrath, it is actually Icon of
Vengeance. Forge World has confirmed via email that it was a typo.

Psychic Powers[edit]
Marked sorcerers and DP's can and actually MUST take some god-specific powers. Do note, that unless
your Psyker is in a Legion Detachment, you cannot roll more than half of the powers from god's chart, so
no all-Tzeentch dakka chart for your Arhiman or all-Slaanesh rape chart for level 3 cocaine sorcerer. On
the bright side you get a free Primaris from your god discipline, despite generating some powers from
other disciplines. You still have to generate a power or two from your god's table though, so you lose
access to the Focus of another discipline. Traitor Legions updates these god-specific Lores to have 6
powers plus primaris instead of 3 plus primaris, and adds rules for Ectomancy, Geomortis, Heretech and
Sinistrum; you can find the rules for these latter 4 in Traitor's Hate, but as usual, Legions gives so much
more for your buck.

Tzeentch[edit]
 Primaris: Tzeentch's Firestorm: The problem with this Primaris is that it's too random for its own good.
As a small blast, it remains an inaccurate weapon, while its randomized strength means it only takes one
bad roll for this bad-boy to end up wounding Guardsmen on 5+. There's some cutesy special rule where
each model killed by this attack inflicts D3 lasgun hits on the unit...but the odds of that mattering are
near-nil. That said, it is somewhat decent for spending your last warp charge or two. Bit of luck, this
might burn a big swathe through a blob unit.
 1: Boon of Mutation: This power is also pretty bad. A character within 2" of the caster (read: most likely
in the same unit, or the Psyker himself) takes a S4, AP- hit, and, if he survives, he gets a roll on the Chaos
Boon table. When doing so, he re-rolls Dark Apotheosis, but not Spaw-- er, gribbly-tentacle-thing-dom.
Granted, sometimes it's worth getting a fleshy thing-that-must-not-be-named; a Combi-Melta Champion
that has already fired would be a notable example. If you're running the Chaos Warband with Favored
Scions, this "could" be a usable power if cast early-on because you now have the potential to "double-
buff" target characters or negate uninentional transformations, but you generally want to focus more on
higher-priority powers. Even moreso than with normal powers, you will want your Psyker to be able to
have a good "move instead of fire" ability, be it Turbo or Swooping.
o Silly Observation: Boon of Mutation can target *any* friendly character. Even those without Champion
of Chaos. Although you are Battle Brothers only with Daemons (and Renegades & Heretics if playing
Forgeworld), this does allow for silly rules-breaking quandaries like Bloodthirsters with 2+ rerollable
armor. Are you feeling lucky, punk? Be careful with this though. You could potentially have a lot of
psykers pouring all their warp-charges into buffing a Daemon into some nigh-unkillable fuck, but one
unlucky roll and you can have all your luck reversed if he's turned into that which shall not be named.
o Silly Observation part 2: In the last Black Crusade Campaign Book, the Helforged Warpack allows one of
your warmachines to become a character-type unit with a 4++, thus allowing you to stab him in the back
for a sweet upgrade. Why would you want to make a Maulerfiend/Forgefiend/Helbrute/Defiler more
killy than they already are ? I don't know ! But who knows, you might end up with an 3++ invul on your
Helbrute or Instant Death on your Forgefiend. Again, "Are you feeling lucky" ?
 2: DOOMBOLT: DOOMBOLT. If you are rolling for Tzeentchian Powers, Doombolt is the power you want.
Simply put, it's an 18" S8, AP1, Beam that makes vehicle explosions even explodier. It has good range,
and unlike comparable powers, you only need one Warp Charge for it to succeed. Yes, DOOMBOLT is
awesome, and yes, you do most definitely want it.
 3: Siphon Magic: WC1 Blessing on the Psyker. Finally a Tzeentch power rewarding psyker lists! For the
remainder of that Psychic Phase, every time a friendly Psyker manifests a psychic power within 18", the
caster of Siphon Magic gets an extra die; the Psyker in question may spend those dice as bonus Warp
Charge. Bring horrors and laugh. This power's utility basically depends on the caster's mastery level. For
a sorcerer with a high mastery level, it is a huge benefit, being able to cast multiple other pricier powers
while letting the other psykers in the army also use theirs. However, for a sorcerer with only ML1, it is
completely and utterly useless, as they only get to cast one power per psychic phase anyway, including
this one: the Grand Coven army list prevents this, but even then, the only powers left to a ML1 Tzeentch
sorcerer who rolled this are the primaris power and Force; the Primaris is not particularly good, and if
you really want your Sorcerer to cast Force to trigger Blessing of Tzeentch, chances are you will do that
first rather than burning Warp Charge on this power instead!
o Jury is Out: Due to amusing RAW, it may be possible to use this power to store dice over multiple turns.
This is based on the fact that while the Psyker can spend the dice as "bonus Warp Charge" they're not
technically Warp Charge, and the blessing's only effect is to allow you to accrue such dice in the first
place. Discuss this with your opponents beforehand, but in practice this shouldn't be a gamebreaker,
especially if you end up rolling this power for a ML 1 Aspiring Sorcerer who would otherwise have no
reason to ever attempt to manifest this power.
 It is very unlikely that extra charges can be "saved for later", since most blessings last until your next
Psychic phase and there is no reason why this one is different.
 You would be able to use them to Deny stuff in the opponent's turn, though...
 The above argument about durations is incorrect; there are many blessings and maledictions with
effects that linger past the caster's next Psychic phase; to pick an obvious example, Gate of Infinity does
not demand that you move the unit back when the power ends, and Hallucination can cause Wounds,
which of course do not heal when the power ends. The power is definitely necessary to collect the dice,
so when your next Psychic Phase begins it wears off and you can't collect more until you get the power
back, but the original argument stands: that the collected dice are permanent, like inflicted wounds are,
and neither storing the dice nor spending the dice depends on the power being "up", since neither
relevant rules sentence mentions it.
 4: Breath of Chaos: This power costs 2 Warp Charges, and is a 4+ Poisoned AP2 flamethrower that
glances vehicles on a 4+. This is a nice one to have, but it's not DOOMBOLT. What kills this one is the
cost. It is actually very powerful, able to turn a unit of TEQs into sludge, but since Doombolt only costs
half as much...
 5: Baleful Devolution: WC2, S6 AP2 Assault D6 focused witchfire. On a 6 it causes Instant Death and
turns removed models into a Chaos SpaBLAGRHBASDFAHhh. Despite it being a Focused Witchfire, this
power is probably better for sniping Monstrous Creatures, especially those without Invulnerable Saves.
Every 6 shaves off an extra D3 wounds from a Wraithknight while denying Feel No Pain, or outright turns
a Tyranid MC into...one of those things. To a lesser degree, S6 is S6 and you "could" use this power to
strip some HP off, though rolling on Heretech will be a better deal if you want to do that. The high base
WC cost means using it to intentionally snipe enemy models from squads suffers from the same issues
the Maleceptor has! Normally, Psychic Shriek is a better "all-around" power to have, though this power
does at least have some other uses.
o The word "models" is used instead of "model" in the power description, which means yes, if you manage
to roll a bunch of 6's while hitting an infantry squad you will end up with a LOT of...those things.
 6: Treason of Tzeentch: WC3 24" Malediction. Immediately make a shooting attack with the unit as if it's
a friendly unit. They don't count as having moved, and must test Pinning afterward. Time for mind
control battles with GSC, HELL YEAH! Note, while this power costs one more WC than the equivalent
GSC power Mind Control, this one can affect an entire unit rather than just a single model; see that unit
of Grav-Cannon Devastators? You know you want to shoot with them...
 Gaze of Magnus: No model can generate it but it's in this discipline for some reason anyway and only
Magnus knows it. 18" Destroyer beam with AP1 and Soul Blaze. You can pop TEQ formations, whole
squadrons and Tyranid MC herds. The downside? It is Warp Charge 5 power... but this is discounted
since Magnus harnesses WC on 2+. You will want to spend about 10 dice or more but only if you are
very, very, VERY afraid that someone will deny it (GK Librarian with Nemesis ward stave says "Hey,
what's going on?") or if you couldn't deny Psychic Scourge (but this won't happen since MagiMagnus
denies on 3+). The Destroyer table is still random yet, and you may take 1 or 2 HP off from half of hit
Land Raiders and the rest will be still unharmed but Magnus has a set of cheaper anti-tank powers to fix
this or use instead, and you may ally with Kairos to turn miserable 1s to unstoppable 6s.

Summary: Originally the worst god-specific discipline, it still remains debatable if it was upgraded. On
one hand, the lore has two awesome powers in Doombolt and Treason of Tzeentch, and Baleful
Devolution can be funny if nothing else a wonderful MC killer. On the other hand, there's the rest of the
Discipline. Tzeentch's Firestorm remains one of the THE worst Primaris Powers in the game, Gift of
Mutation is generally not worth casting, and Siphon Magic is never worth casting on an ML1 Sorcerer
without some debatable reading into the RAW. This leaves a ML1 sorcerer with a 1 in 3 chance of rolling
a useless power, a 1 in 3 chance of rolling a situationally usable power, and a 1 in 3 chance of rolling a
good one. For a higher-level sorcerer, this becomes a 1 in 2 chance for a good power since Siphon Magic
would actually work then, or a 2 in 3 with the movement to use Breath of Chaos. More than anything,
this Lore is for those that wish to field Magnus or Ahriman, where their higher Mastery Levels (or auto-
knowing powers in the case of Magnus) and improved mobility make them a lot scarier. A Daemon
Prince can also make good use of this discipline, especially in any of the 3 Legions with access to a 2+
Armor Save relic...

Nurgle[edit]
 Primaris: Nurgle's Rot: Like with Tzeentch Primaris, it's full of random and FUN. Every enemy unit within
6", except Nurgle-aligned units, take D6+1 number of hits with 4+ poisoned and AP5. Depending on your
rolls and number of nearby squads it could kill dozens of Guardsmen or Orks, or deal a single wound on
space marine, which would be armor saved. Remember that if you're within range of just one enemy
model from, say, 2 different squads, both of them are hit with that D6+1!
 1: Weapon Virus: Curse that adds "Gets Hot" to all weapons in targeted unit. Awesome on vehicles and
flyers that have weapons that pour out a lot of shots. Guardsmen, Shoota Boyz, Cultist and Kroot blobs
would hate your guts. MEQ's and TEQ's wouldn't even be bothered by this, however the one time they
roll that 1 for their armour save...
o Consider casting this on enemy vehicles with blast weapons. Rolling a 1 stops blast/template weapons
from firing. Also, knights armed with gatling guns will shit their oversized metallic pants.
 2: Fleshy Abundance: WC1 Blessing targeting a friendly model within 14". They immediately regain D3
wounds. Useful for regaining wounds lost to Perils. Also wonderful on a Daemon Prince leading a
Favoured of Chaos formation, since he has a huge flashing neon arrow pointing at him. With a steady
stream of this power, he can tank untold amounts of hurt.
 3: Blades of Putrifaction: WC1 Blessing. Close combat weapons gain Poisoned, and if they already have
the poison rule they become Poisoned (2+).
o This power is amazing on a wide variety of units. Even Cultists with this power up can become a threat
to enemy units, simply by drowning their opponent in weight of armor save, while higher-strength units
can benefit from re-rolling to wound. You know what also increases strength? Curse of the leper. Sadly it
does little versus Gargantuan Creatures and nothing versus vehicles.
 Not so fast! The aforementioned blob of Cultists with this power on can still wound GCs on 6+, which
with their massive amount of bodies and thus attacks, could well be enough.
 4: Gift of Contagion: The longest range curse in the game with a whopping 48" range. Roll a d3; on a 1
the target gets -1 A and Shrouded, on a 2 -1 S and cannot run, on a 3 -1 S and T. Note that this power
explicitly states that it can stack on itself, despite the normal rules for multiple Witchfires/Maledictions
not stacking. Basically, all of these make the enemy unit worse in melee, so cast, then charge.
 5: Plague Wind: Double warp-charge poisoned AP2 spell, now in form of large blast, rather than flamer
template. It could kill more things than Breath, but it can harmlessly scatter away, and even on one of
your own squads (if not with the same Mark). The only real problem with it is that Daemons get it for
one warp charge.
 6: Curse of the Leper: Unlike the other powers, Curse can either be cast as a Blessing or Malediction. If
cast on a Friendly unit, they gain +1S and +1T; on an enemy, -1S and -1 T. Whether it's S5 T6
Obliterators, or lowering the Strength of a unit of Genestealer Hybrids before you charge them with a
Walker, this is an incredibly flexible power. What makes it even scarier is that it can stack with Enfeeble
or other Toughness-lowering effects. Ally in a Daemon Prince with Grotti the Nurgling for added hilarity,
and you could conceivably one-shot said Riptide with a Lascannon!

Summary: Originally merely "passable", Traitor Legions has arguably made this one of the best support
disciplines in the game. With 2 Blessings, 2 Maledictions, and a power that function as either a Blessing
or Malediction, you don't take Nurgle to blast your opponent to smithereens (though Plague Wind can
do a respectable job softening up the opposition) so much as to selectively influence positional
advantages in-game. Combined with the fact that the Mark of Nurgle also lets a Sorcerer take a
Palanquin, and you can get a potent all-around caster for a surprisingly reasonable cost.

Slaanesh[edit]
 Primaris: Sensory Overload: This is a fairly non-random primaris with the ability to annoy if not outright
cripple an enemy unit of choice each turn. By itself, it's a 24" S4, AP 4, Assault 4 shot, but with Blind,
Concussive, and Pinning. At worst, you force a Blind Check on a single enemy unit of choice, since you
only have to hit in order for it to go off. Against armies known for low Initiative (Orks and Necrons most
notably), this can outright cripple a unit of choice, while the other effects require actually landing
wounds for it to matter. Concussive would stack with the Blind Check if you somehow managed to
wound a solo multi-wound model, while Pinning can annoy weaker squads. Really though, this is for the
Blind Check.
 1: Hysterical Frenzy: This is a fairly random buff, with the potential to be either mediocre or outright
scary. You select a friendly non-vehicle unit within 12", and roll a D3 to see what buff they receive. On a
1, the unit receives an extra point of Initiative. On a 2, an extra point of Strength and on a 3, an extra
attack. Could be hilarious on a prince with the drug relic.
 2: Delightful Agonies: WC1 Blessing that targets a friendly unit within 12". Gives squad Feel No Pain
(4+). Somewhat redundant in the Emperor's Children detachment, but great for any unit that can't take
 an Icon of Excess. Endurance on the Biomancy table is better, but you're more likely to roll this if you go
all in on Slaanesh powers.
 3: Symphony of Pain: This is another fairly useful spell. it curses an enemy squad with -1 BS an WS, but
also increases the strength of all sonic weapon hits against them by 1. The power is explicitly stated to
be cumulative, so you could hypothetically further debuff the enemy and buff Noise Marines.
 4: Sonic Shockwave: WC1. S5 AP4 9" Nova Assault D6, pinning, ignores cover.
 5: Aural Onslaught: WC2 beam at S8 AP2 Assault 1, and before you roll to wound any enemy unit
targeted must pass a Leadership test or if they fail you re-roll to wound.
 6: Apoplectic Glee: AKA "Ecstatic Seizures" or "Long range Trazyn". Point at non-vehicle squad, cast, and
watch as every model takes a hit at their base strength. Two warp charges as well, but certainly worth it
watching Orks, Guardsmen, Tau, and Nids delete themselves for you.

Summary: Originally the best of a bad bunch, Slaanesh still remains fairly unfocused, with a mix of
powers for different occasions. One witchfire punishes MSU, another punishes blobs, another hurts hard
targets, and another hits a unit with an array of debuffs. This leaves a blessing that randomly ups
offensive output, one that adds defense, and a minor Malediction. The problem is that you can't really
bank on getting that one power you want, so you're going to need mobility to make the most of this
Lore. A Bike Sorcerer remains useful as ever, especially if you want to run more Bikes (and hopefully an
Icon of Excess for extra protection). A Prince is an option, though you should ideally take the Intoxicating
Elixir and hope for extra Toughness. Either way, this discipline is a bit of a crapshoot but has the tools to
handle most threats.

Ectomancy[edit]
 Primaris - Warp Shock: WC1 Witchfire with Range 18", S5 AP 4, Assault 6. This is an alright "1 Warp
Charge leftover" primaris to have. Although it's not Psychic Shriek, it's still usable.
 1 - Empyric Shield: WC1 Blessing that gives the Psyker a 3+ Invulnerable save. A Daemon Prince in a
Thousand Sons detachment that gets this power can engage trollface, as this would stack with Blessing
of Tzeentch for a 2+ rerollable Invulnerable Save. Yeah, you wish you can roll this power.
 2 - Daemon Shriek: WC1 Witchfire Nova. All units within 9" suffer 1 S1 AP- Haywire hit.
 3 - Coruscating Blaze: - WC2 Witchfire at S5 AP4 Assault D6, and if you roll a 4 for each enemy unit in 6"
of the targeted unit, they also suffer D6 S5 AP4 hits. It's literally the same as Lightning arc from the
Loyalist Fulmination discipline.
 4 - Infernal Claws: WC1 Blessing that targets the Psyker. Gains +1 Attacks and Strength, and for every hit
he lands, he gains 2 extra hits at S5 AP-. Any hits count, be it Hammer of Wrath, attacks from Combat
Familiars, or even those from Icy Aura. The real edge-case combo (if you luck out, that is) goes to
Crimson Slaughter that manage to roll the "Spectral Assailants." Basically, since every model in base-to-
base of your Warlord takes d6 automatic Strength 3 hits, those would trigger the extra hits from Infernal
Claws. Let us suppose that your Lord gets in a fight, mulches a few guys, and they proceed to pile in. Let
us suppose you're facing a small Guard blob or Ork mob (they wound you on 6s), maybe 5 or so models
in base-to-base. At the start of the next close combat phase you're in, that blob would take 5d6 Strength
3 hits (so an average of 17.5 hits), which would result in an average of 35 additional Strength 5 hits on
the enemy unit! An Alpha Legion Daemon Prince with the Blade of the Hydra is also an excellent dice-
bucket generator. Of course, you really don't want to rely on gimmicks to win your game.
 5 - Ghost Storm: WC2 Blessing which targets an unengaged non-flying vehicle or unit in 18". That unit
may immediately make an additional 18" move, ignoring all intervening terrain and models, effectively
 making the unit do a free "Interceptor Shunt". The unit "counts as moving" for that turn and cannot
charge.
 6 - Soulswitch: WC2 Blessing that targets a non-vehicle unit within 24", even ones locked in combat. The
Psyker's unit and the affected unit swap places. If either unit was Zooming (meaning either that you cast
the power on a Daemon Prince, or the Daemon Prince did the casting), said units switch to Gliding, and
if either unit was engaged in a close combat, the newly-swapped units end up engaged in old close
combats instead. Uses for this power include:
o Strategic repositioning: Whether it's setting up a proper Melta strike or pulling Obliterator Teams into
better firing positions, a Bike-mounted Sorcerer has the option to give your army critical boosts to speed
as needed before Turboing to better positions for subsequent repositions. It also lets your army spread a
wider net.
o Escaping bad combats/setting up traps: Put your Sorcerer in a unit that's unlikely to break. Be it Plague
Zombies, Helcult Cultists, a unit of Daemonkin Bloodletters if you're feeling cheeky...you have options.
There's nothing preventing you from Summoning a unit of Plaguebearers or another "tarpit" unit (or a
proper beatstick unit if that's your preference) then using Soulswitch to pull them into your close
combat.
o Yo-yo-ing: A Daemon Prince has the option to Vector Strike a foe, then use Soulswitch on one of your
backfield units to pull himself back to safety. Depending on your plans, you can either use this ability
defensively (Soulswitch a unit of Summoned Screamers, then have the Screamers turbo back to their
battleline), or offensively (Vector Strike an opponent's transport, Soulswitch an Obliterator team to
finish the passengers off).
o Jury Is Out: Both Ghost Storm and Soulswitch state they target a unit. The BRB states that Allies of
Convenience are counted as enemies, and thus cannot receive Blessings, but other Traitor's Hate
blessings explicitly state that they target a friendly unit. Whether this is an editing mistake on GW's part,
or an explicit exception is to be determined; as a rule, assume that the rulebook takes precedence,
because the rules do not explicitly state you may target non-friendly units, though discuss with your
opponent (or TO if applicable) beforehand. Common sense is to talk with your opponent about this, but
these are not rules as intended.

Summary: Ectomancy is a really good Discipline for Chaos Space Marines. One of the traditional
shortcomings of the army is that it is slow, and two of the major powers help you get your army around
the map. Ghost Storm is useful for strategic redeployment while Soul Switch can let your Psyker serve as
a "slingshot" for melee units, or let you "withdraw" some units to safety. Beyond that, Empyric Shield
gives you a de-facto "Storm Shield" for a Sorcerer or Daemon Prince while Infernal Claws lets you mulch
through your opponent in melee. Daemon Shriek can give an anti-flyer tool, and when all else fails, you
have two additional Witchfires.

Geomortis[edit]
 Primaris - Rockmaw: - WC2 Power which targets a unit 18" from the Sorcerer. All models must make a
Dangerous Terrain test with no armor saves allowed.
 1 - Ley Leech: WC1 Blessing which targets a friendly non-vehicle character within 18". The character
heals D3 wounds, and gives the entire unit IWND. The ability to heal wounds lost to Perils is great. Even
better when used on that Nurgle Chaos Lord on Bike to truly make your opponent rage. The latter unit-
wide IWND is only decent if you're hanging out with The Nameless Beasts, or if you've taken a Helfist
 Murderpack; it might not restore HP, but IWND on Helbrutes that can play Look Out, Sir shenanigans
can pay off.
 2 - Rupture: WC1. Pick a point 24" from the Psyker. All units within 6" take a single S5 AP4 ignores cover
hit, and the area becomes Dangerous Terrain.
 3 - Torturer of Worlds: WC1 Malediction targeting all enemies within 18". They all treat movement as
difficult terrain, and cannot run, flat out, or turbo-boost.
 4 - Earthly Anathema: WC1 blessing which gives a friendly unit within 24" Move Through Cover and
Ignores Cover on all its ranged weapons. Furthermore, the unit does not need line of sight to attack a
unit, only range matters. Holy shit, that's awesome. Give this to your Obliterators or Vindicator
Squadron and laugh at your opponents.
 5 - Profane Ruination: WC1 witchfire that targets a single Building or terrain piece within 24". If it
targets a building, on a 1-3 it takes a glancing hit, and on a 4+ it takes a penetrating hit. If on a piece of
terrain on a 4+ an enemy unit inside takes D6 S6 AP- hits, randomly allocated.
 6 - Worldwrithe WC3 power that target a piece of terrain in 24". You can then lift it 24" from its starting
point, so long as you drop it over 1" away from a unit or other terrain piece. All units inside the terrain
piece must take Dangerous Terrain tests, or if they're not fully in the terrain they must disembark, taking
DT tests as they go. This is a neat power for it allows you to either levitate a cover-camping unit closer,
reestablish line of site, the list goes on.

Summary: While generally viewed as a weak or hard to use group of powers for loyalists, the powers of
Geomortis open up some interesting doors for CSM players particularly when artefacts like the
Dimensional Key require getting your lord into close combat as soon as possible. Can also be utilized
with a flying Daemon Prince of Nurgle, since jinking doesn't affect your ability to manifest powers, and
the high mobility allows you to make more effective use of powers like Torturer of Worlds, Earthly
Anathema and Rupture. An expensive, but effective hassling tactic/distraction Carnifex if successful, and
very hard to shoot down. Iron Warriors can run riot by taking a Fortification with a couple of
Geomancers and a beefy Cult of Destruction boasting a Cranium Malevolus. It's like having a flying Land
Raider with three times as many guns, a minefield, moat, EMP generator, and Tank Hunters. Do it with a
Fortress of Redemption (Damnation?) and make damned sure you take out the Melta, Chainfists,
Wraithguard and Carnifexes. Stay close enough to your Rapier Conversion Beam squad to give them x-
ray vision - because who doesn't want a Whirlwind squadron loaded with Demolisher rounds?

Heretech[edit]
 Primaris - Corrupt Machine: WC1 18" Malediction. Randomly select a weapon on an enemy vehicle then
both you and your opponent roll a die. If he rolls higher, nothing happens. If you draw, he can only fire
snap shots with that weapon. If you roll higher, You take control of said vehicle's weapon for a turn. This
power has several inherent limitations: The most immediate one is that hull-mounted weapons are still
restricted by normal fire arcs, and those Soulgrinder cannons you're facing down will be looking at you.
The second is that just because you get to shoot doesn't mean your opponent is forced to snap-shoot
next turn; if your plan was to stop a Knight from double-tapping with a Rapid-Fire battle-cannon, this
could be a problem. One thing this power lets you do is mess up units with "One-Use Weapons." Hit
your opponent's Manticore with this power, and not only are you inflicting a good deal of damage, but
that's one less missile that's landing in your own ranks.
 1 - Boon of the Iron Beast: - WC1. Blessing you give to 1 vehicle in 24". It now ignores Crew Shaken,
Crew Stunned, and either gives Power of the Machine Spirit, or +1 BS if the target vehicle already has
 PotMS. Note that unless explicitly stated, the same Blessing cannot stack, and currently Chaos has no
vehicles with POtMS, so that part of the copypaste is currently useless. You "can" use this power as a
gimmick to let a Defiler split-fire its Battle Cannon at one unit while double-tapping another with Havoc
Launchers, but gimmicks are cute when they don't rely on "and then I get lucky and roll this power." A
more practical use for this power will be if you're running a Predator or two as a backfield firebase, as it
would protect them from an unlucky Penetrating hit, or let them threaten two vehicles at once
(Autocannon to one vehicle, Lascannons to another), or even if you simply want to let your Vindicator
move 12" then fire. In a pinch, this lets your Chaos Land Raider work like a Loyalist one, though Land
Raiders are still inefficient even with a tiny point discount. Also fantastic with Purge, allowing you to
reposition and fire your Basilisks, Wyverns, and other Artillery Carriage units.
 2 - Scrapcode Curse: WC1. 18" Focused Witchfire. Smacks a vehicle with D3 S1 AP- Haywire hits. Your
first "HP stripping" power.
 3 - Dark Invigoration: - WC1. Blessing that either restores 1 hull point, or repairs either an immobilized
or destroyed weapon result, as well as giving the vehicle IWND. While the repairs are nice, your
Daemonic vehicles already get IWND so that bonus is partially wasted; this is nice to cast on a
Soulgrinder however.
 4 - Fleshmetal Hide: WC2. Blessing that grants plus 1 AV to all sides for a turn. Or, if put at a non-vehicle
unit, gives +1T. This is the only "general-purpose" power in this entire Discipline,
 5 - Electromortis: WC1. A S1 Haywire Beam.
 6 - Flayerstorm: WC2. Focused Witchfire, 18". Target loses D3 HP, no saves, no ifs ands or buts. For each
HP lost, inflicts D6 S4AP6 rending hits to an enemy unit within 12" of the target vehicle. Your second HP
stripping power, you will want to throw extra Warp Charge down anyway. "Focused Witchfire" is fairly
silly for powers like this, as squadroned vehicles aren't the most common thing.

Summary:Heretech is Technomancy under a different name. Like that discipline, this discipline is very
specialized towards vehicles, with only one out of the seven powers being "general purpose"... It has
two defensive buffs for your vehicles, and one offensive buff, but the real reason you take this discipline
is because two of the three powers let you rapidly strip Hull Points from an enemy vehicle regardless of
Armor, one power lets you strip a HP from multiple vehicles in a line, and another lets you use your
opponent's guns against them. If you're up against an enemy with next-to-no vehicles (Battlesuit Tau,
Scatterbike Eldar, etc), this discipline is going to be useless for you, but if you're up against someone
wanting to run an Armored Company, this may give you that extra edge.

Sinistrum[edit]
 Primaris - Fury of the Gods - WC1. S5 AP3 Assault 1 Blast.
 1 - Warp Fate: A WC 2 Blessing that lets the Psyker and his unit re-roll all failed saving throws. I don't
think I need to tell you how awesome this is.
 2 - Empyragheist: A WC 1 Beam with 20" S6 AP4 and Pinning.
 3 - Armour of Hatred: A WC 1 Blessing that gives the Psyker and all friendly units within 12" Fearless,
Adamantium Will, and a 4++ against against Witchfires only. The 4++ can be handy against enemies that
rely on Witchfires to kill you (notably, the Tzeentchian Warpflame Host, the Wyrdstorm Brotherhood,
and others), as you'll have that defense on top of ability to Deny.
 4 - Diabolic Strength: A WC 1 Blessing that gives the Psyker +2 Strength, Toughness, Initiative, and
Attacks. It essentially wraps up the attribute increases from Iron Arm and Warp Speed into a nice Warp
 Charge 1 package, though it doesn't give the other benefits (notably, Smash or Fleet). A Daemon Prince
that lucks out and rolls this power goes from a glass sledgehammer to a diamond wrecking ball.
 5 - Warp Lure: A WC1 Malediction that targets an enemy Psyker within 24". You roll roll 2D6 and add the
Mastery Level of your Psyker, while your opponent rolls 1d6 and adds the Mastery Level of the targeted
Psyker. If you roll higher, that Psyker takes a single wound with no saves of any kind allowed, and that
enemy Psyker only manifests Warp Charge dice on rolls of 6. On top of all of this, if you beat your
opponent's roll by 3 or more, that Psyker forgets a randomly-determined power. Because of the
extreme potential this power has to shut down your opponent's Psychic Phase altogether, this power
will draw a lot of Deny the Witch dice, making it a good opener power. The fact that it is a malediction
and not a Witchfire means that you can use this power against Flyers (usually meaning Flyrants, though
you "could" chip a wound off Fateweaver if your opponent blows dice elsewhere)/Invisible units without
any issue, and may circumvent "Look Out Sir" mechanics, and the fact it ignores any and all saves can be
scary when one considers that many Psykers have 2 wounds at best. All it takes is for your opponent to
Perils of the Warp once, and this power can snipe out a Psyker...assuming you get Line of Sight that is.
 6 - Death Hex: WC 2 Malediction that targets an enemy unit, drops its invulnerable save by 2 (to a
minimum of 6+). This thing is essentially Banishment, but it's much more versatile. This is what you use
to counter fucks with Storm Shields, Smash Fucker's 2++ bullshit, Riptide's Shield Generator buff, as well
as stuff like Draigo with his 3++ (even if Draigo specifically probably has better DtW than you).

Summary: Sinistrum is the copy-paste of Librarius. It has a grab-bag of assorted powers, related to
making the Sorcerer fight harder, passively or actively defending against enemy Psychic powers, or
making or breaking Deathstars.

Unit Analysis[edit]
HQ[edit]
 Chaos Lord - A nasty, inexpensive close-combat character with tons of options. Even fully-kitted out:
Lightning Claw, Power Fist (or Chainfist in Terminator armor), 2+/3++; will usually run you under 175
points - quite impressive in and of itself. Chaos Lords in general love to accompany CSM units. The Lord
can take the appropriate mark to unlock cult marines (except the Sons) as troops. You can even take two
Lords with two different Marks to unlock two different sets of cult troops! Lords get access to essentially
the entire CSM armory and they are only 65 points base. Making him a Nurgle Biker Lord rewards you
with a piece of cheese and a few angry glares for your T6 leader. Also cheap and Fearless - he only costs
about 20 points more than a chaos marine holding an Icon of Vengeance, but has the same effect and is
a lot tougher and nastier in a fight. Remember to equip the Lord with Sigil of Corruption no matter the
rest of options, a 4++ save is always a good idea.
o Mark of Khorne: Rage + Counterattack. Unlocks Khorne Berzerkers as Troops choices. Stick this guy on a
Juggernaut of Khorne and give him the Axe of Blind Fury Artefact. You end up with a T5 W4 CC
monstrosity which has the Cavalry unit type and thanks to the assorted USRs and the Artefact gets 7+D6
S6 AP2 attacks struck at full Initiative. Add a retinue of MoK Bikers with the Icon of Wrath. The entire
unit gains Furious Charge (so the Lord's Strength on the Charge is actually 7) and might re-roll the
Charge distance. Outfit the Champion with an LC or PF to support the Lord and remove enemy units
from the table in each Assault Phase. Many skulls shall be collected for the Blood God when the Lord
and his warriors reach the foe...
o Mark of Nurgle: +1 Toughness. Yes, that's right. Put the Chaos Lord on a Bike and get the dreaded T6
HQ. This means he is immune to Instant Death inflicted by S10 weapons and most small arms fire
 wounds him only on 6s. It might be a good idea to accompany him with a unit of MoN Spawn to get
loads of T6 ablative wounds that can keep up with his 12" move. MoN Chaos Bikers work well too. Take
the Blight Grenades as well, for just 5 pts. you get assault + defensive grenades to deny the charging
enemy his bonus attacks. Also, this makes Plague Marines Troops, so you get Objective Secured units
that are really difficult to remove from their posts.
o Mark of Slaanesh: +1 Initiative. Unlocks Noise Marines as Troops choices, which is very good. With the
enhanced reflexes you usually strike before everyone else. Take a Lightning Claw or two to shred the
corpsefuckers before they know what hit them. Or even better, take the reliable LC+PF combo and put
this guy on a Bike. Additionally, take a MoS Biker retinue with the Icon of Excess. They are fast, durable
with T5 and 3+, can use FnP to protect them more often that not and they strike at Initiative 5. All in all
the unit is quite versatile and might be more survivable than the MoN equivalent due to the FnP. Just
stay away from S10.
o Mark of Tzeentch: +1 Invulnerable save. Unlike the previous examples this guy is probably best used
alone. He doesn't unlock any Troops choices and the viable candidates for retinue don't benefit much
from the Mark. However, MoT is the only means of reliably getting a 3++ save on the HQ (SoC + MoT).
You might give him a Disc of Tzeentch for shits and giggles: zoom around the table thanks to your
Jetbike status and shred enemies in CC. Or perhaps take the Burning Brand of Skalathrax. Tzeentch loves
fire, after all. Then again, he's the 'best' terminator-lord, what with the 2+/3++, and works really well
with MoT terminators.
 Chaos Sorcerer - The Sorcerer has a weaker statline than a Chaos Lord, with one less WS, BS, Wound,
Initiative and Attack. However, he's 5 points cheaper and comes with a free Force Weapon of choice and
Mastery Level 1. Unlike vanilla Librarians, you don't get access to a Psychic Hood, but you're 5 points
cheaper compared to them in exchange, and you can upgrade to Mastery Level 3 (while they're capped
at ML 2 outside of certain special characters). There are usually three main ways to run a Sorcerer:
o Mandatory HQ - 60 points and you have your cheapest HQ option for when you really want to cram
more models in; if you do this, you'll probably stick him in a Rhino where he can annoy stuff with Psychic
Shriek. However, this is usually inferior to the other two options.
o On A Bike: A Sorcerer on a Bike can take advantage of being able to move, cast powers, then Turbo. He
can either join a unit of Chaos Bikers, run solo, or even hide out in a unit of Spawn...wait, what
NOOOARGRBRBLRBRBLB! Ahem, either way, if you're buying a Bike for your Sorcerer, it also pays to
upgrade him. You will take a Spell Familiar, and at least one additional Mastery Level to play with.
Taking a 3rd Mastery Level is usually a good idea as it's one of the few tricks you get over the Loyalists,
and it helps ensure you get that one power you really want.
o Palanquin of Nurgle: For 5 points more than the cost of a basic Forgefiend, you get a Sorcerer with the
Mark of Nurgle, Mastery Level 3, and a Spell Familiar. Historically, the Palanquin was overlooked
because it does not actually make your Sorcerer any faster, and prevents riding in a transport; add
having to use a up a psychic roll on the Nurgle discipline. The main reason to take a Palanquin is if you
want your Sorcerer to use Malefic Daemonology and summon Daemons, as getting the additional
wounds means a few additional turns of casting; you will Perils, but you have enough wounds that you
don't care! Traitor Legions made this build even more viable as the Lore of Nurgle has been updated,
including a power that lets you heal a character, so with some luck you can just summon a unit of
Daemons, take a wound, and heal it right after!. Hide in a unit of Cultists and go to town! Word Bearers
benefit quite a bit from this, as a cheaper alternative to using a Daemon Prince for summoning, but
 Crimson Slaughter can also benefit too, especially if you also give the Sorcerer Prophet of the Voices to
become a Daemon and Perils only on 6s...though you end up only being able to join units of Possessed.

Note that a Sorcerer with the Mark of Tzeentch will unlock Rubric Marines as troops. However, this
seldom matters as Rubric Marines are pretty bad, especially compared to other options, and Thousand
Sons already get Rubric Marines. :)

 Exalted Sorcerer of Tzeentch (Wrath of Magnus): The Exalted Sorcerer is if you want the "best of" a
Chaos Lord or Sorcerer in one slot and don't mind paying a premium on points. Has Mark of Tzeentch, is
ML2 base, and can upgrade to ML3. He's BS5, I5, and W3 compared to a standard sorcerer, which is
awesome! Also has access to a S9 AP2 Heavy 1, Lance Blast once per game thanks to his Lord of the
Silver Tower special rule. Also, he's Fearless! He gets access to Divination too, which the Sorcerer
doesn't know unless you give a Crimson Slaughter Sorcerer the Balestar.
o Analysis:The Exalted Sorcerer is cool but ultimately overcosted for most builds. Like the Warpsmith and
Dark Apostle, does not have access to Special Issue Wargear or Terminator Armour, and unlike either,
he's even more restricted in his loadout; he has his Bolt Pistol and a Force Stave (no Force Sword or
Force Axe for you, since GW doesn't write rules for stuff without models), and that's it unless you
choose to buy a Relic for him; taking a Disc is mandatory and not an option; seriously, quit bitching and
take the fucking Disc already! You'll be glad later when he can move 12", cast, then turbo 24"! His Lord
of the Silver Tower, despite being fluffed as similar to an Orbital Bombardment, is worse in every way
that matters, with less Strength and AP, a smaller blast, and not actually being a Barrage weapon.
Telekinesis is a bad discipline, so the main reason you're taking him is if you want a fearless Cultist
Bunker yet don't want a Helcult, or if you want to give him Seer's Bane so he can go beat stuff up. He
gets Divination, but if you want it that bad, you either take a Crimson Slaughter detachment, or Daemon
allies anyway, and you can use a cheaper character to carry the Astral Grimoire.
o alternate opinion: wait, wait!! WAIIT!! Yes, they are expensive but they can bring the hurt and fuck up
any old seargent or any IC that isnt CC orientated, and he gets divination, you know for the thousand
sons, scarab occults, to get those lovely AP3 weapons twin-linked, or get massed autopistols(not really a
good idea). While yes they are expensive, if used right they can be amazing and can create some the
deadliest deathstars out there(Hello Forgefiend-Star), so Engage troll-face, scream JUST AS PLANNED as
loud as possible, and just bring 'em.
o Note: If you're using the rules for Legions, these can only be taken in a Thousand Sons OR Black Legion
detachment. The latter means they lose access to all the Thousand Sons artefacts and the Blessing of
Tzeentch rule.
 Daemon Prince: Your personal, customizable close quarters monster. Seriously, this guy is shit-your-
pants frightening, being able to wreck the face of any infantry short of assault terminators before they
can so much as lift a finger, as well as most monstrous creatures and light vehicles. He sports WS 9, I8, 4
wounds, 5 attacks, and is a Monstrous Creature so he gets Smash. He also has access to Chaos Rewards
and Chaos Artefacts (notably the Axe of Blind Fury and Black Mace) and can take wings, turning him into
a Flying Monstrous Creature. He does have some steep downsides, though. His biggest weakness is his
newfound lack of Eternal Warrior, so S10 blows and Instant Death weapons/rules are the bane of his
existence (which basically means that you should keep him the fuck away from dreadnoughts). Also,
with a sharp rise in base cost (plus the fact that he must be devoted to one of the Chaos Gods) the price
tag once you've added wings, Mastery levels, power armour, and so on, he can become very costly, very
quick. So that means you have to actually get off your ass and think about how best to use him. Often
 run with the Black Mace, which, although costly, is quite terrifying for pretty much anything that he runs
into.
o Side Note: Since you MUST be devoted to a Chaos God, if you make your Daemon Prince a psyker he
must roll at least 1 power on the chart of his dedicated god. This makes fishing for Endurance or Iron
Arm slightly more difficult, but on the bright side, chaos powers aren't nearly so crap now as they were
before Traitor legions dropped, so you have that much going for you.
o Marks - Due note that Daemon Princes don't get Marks of the Gods, but they are required to be
dedicated to one God. Daemon of Khorne gives you Furious Charge, giving you Plasma strength hits on
the charge. Slaanesh gets Rending, which makes it decent at popping tanks without relying on one
Smash attack per turn(especially when coupled with a Daemon Weapon or the Talons of the Night
Terror) and an additional 3" of run. Tzeentch allows you to re-roll ANY saves of 1, which is amazing if you
take any of the 2+ relic armours from Traitor Legions. Nurgle gets you Shrouded, for a 2+ jink save if you
take wings. All pretty decent choices.
 Warpsmith: Doc Oc up in this bitches! The Warpsmith is an evil Techmarine, with many assorted
goodies. He's expensive, but already comes with most of his wargear so you don't have to go crazy and
try to trick him out further...in fact, you probably can't trick him out further, mostly because he can't
take a Bike! Maybe the tentacles kept causing him to fall off? He comes with a 2+ armor save, Power
Axe & Bolt Pistol, and Mechatendrils. These nasty tentacles give him an extra 2 attacks, so he can make
6(!) attacks on the charge. Really though, you care more about his shooting as his Mechatendrils have an
in-built Flamer and a Meltagun, making him one of the few characters in the game with the sanity
SANITY IS FOR THE WEAK! to take a meaningful gun. You have the option to fire both these weapons at
the same time, or to fire one of them alongside another weapon; swap out his Bolt Pistol for a Combi-
Melta and he can double-tap something and make it go BOOM! Rounding it off, he can forfeit shooting
to attempt to repair an adjacent friendly vehicle on a 4+, or curse a nearby enemy vehicle within 18" so
all its guns Get Hot! See that Leman Russ Punisher? Curse it and dare it to fire at you! Finally, at the start
of the game, he can select one piece of terrain in the opponent's deployment zone, which from then on
provides one less Cover than normal.
o Analysis: The problem with the Warpsmith is that he's an expensive HQ without having "general-
purpose" flexibility. For the price of one Warpsmith, you can buy a Sorcerer of Chaos with a Bike, Spell
Familiar, and still have 15 points leftover! He can repair vehicles, but most vehicles Chaos has access to
cost less than he does, and it's common for vehicles to be destroyed outright in a turn before they can
be repaired. His guns are mis-matched, making the "fire two weapons" option fairly pointless at first,
and a 2+ save only means so much. That being said, three different formations that appear both in
Traitor's Hate and Traitor Legions have a mandatory Warpsmith, so you'll want to find a way to use him
regardless. The Combi-Melta is the best option as for just a few points more, it lets him "run solo" like a
3rd Space Marine unit. Compared to a 5-man team of Chaos Space Marines with one Meltagun and one
Champion with a Combi-Melta, he costs 25 points more, in exchange for better Ballistic Skill, and a grab-
bag of abilities here-and-there; the only issue remains getting him to his target. Ectomancy Psychic
Powers are one option, but another option is finding a "spare" Rhino for him; a team of Autocannon
Havocs can take a Rhino without actually needing it.
o Note that while the warpsmith isn't necessarily "great" at anything, Master of Mechanisms is hilarious
against shooty LoW choices. Watching an overeager Stompa or Gatling Knight strip 3-5 HP due to gets
hot in a single round of shooting will cause tears and/or RAGE. Or just deter them from firing in the first
place!
 Dark Apostle: The Chaos equivalent of a Chaplain, the Dark Apostle is a "passive" support character. He
comes stock with a Power Maul, Bolt Pistol and Sigil of Corruption, grants his unit Zealot, characters in
his unit may reroll results from Chaos Boons, and friendly Chaos Space Marine units within 6" of him use
his Leadership (Leadership 10) instead of their own.
o Analysis: The Dark Apostle's shares similar problems to the Warpsmith, in being more expensive than a
Sorcerer for less flexibility. He costs 45 points more than a Sorcerer while maintaining the exact same
statline. Even accounting for his free Sigil of Corruption, this still leaves him 20 points more expensive
than a similarly-equipped Sorcerer. To add insult to injury, the Apostle cannot take any wargear to
enhance his own mobility; no Bikes, Jump Packs, or Mounts for him. Also, do note that he does not get
access to regular melee gear that even aspiring champions can use, unless you're willing to spend even
more points on the Axe of Blind Fury or some other cool legion artifact. So what do those extra 20 points
do for you? You get gain a Leadership 10 bubble, you grant Zealot to a unit he joins, and you get some
insurance to control whether or not characters in his unit will be transformed (though it usually matters
mostly for himself!). The zealot is excellent for running large mobs of cultists as more than just
"mandatory troops", especially if they are marked Khorne. 4 attacks a piece on the charge, with hatred,
even at WS and S 3 are nothing to sneer at, especially coming from a unit that can potentially bring 35
bodies to bear. Oh, and the one artifact in the codex that makes the guy's atacks AP2 is the
aforementioned Axe of Blind Fury, which is also a Khornate toy. Take a hint. Still, even more so than the
other HQs, his bonuses are very niche, and it's hard to justify the extra points you pay for him over a
Sorcerer if you're running a CAD.

Special Characters[edit]
 Typhus the Traveler - Typhus is a walking tank. With Terminator Armor, Toughness 5 from the Mark of
Nurgle, 4 wounds base, and Feel No Pain, Typhus will not die outright unless he's hit by a Force Weapon,
or Strength 10 attacks. Otherwise, most (non-powerfist/TH) attacks will bounce off of him, plain and
simple. Not only can he take a punch, but he delivers one too; his signature weapon is the Manreaper, a
giant force-Scythe with +2 Strength, AP 2, Force, Unwieldy, and the Daemon Weapon special rule. As
long as he avoids Wraithknights or Walkers, he can hurt it. Should he be tied up by a mob of chaff, he
can also use his Destroyer Hive to center a large blast over him, and every model nearby takes an
automatic S4 AP 2 hit. Top this off with being a Mastery Level 2 Psyker, who rolls all of his powers on the
Lore of Nurgle. He also allows you to take Plague Marines as troops. As if that's not enough, he allows
your army to sidegrade any units of Chaos Cultists into Plague Zombies; the Plague Zombies become
Fearless and gain Feel No Pain, but they're also Slow and Purposeful, and they cannot take any options
beyond adding more bodies. However, this all comes with the drawback that he's "locked" into Lord of
Terror, granting him Fear. Needless to say, you don't want him as your Warlord, not for his trait anyway.
Seeing as he's one of the most survivable characters in the entire codex, and Slay The Warlord is a thing
in most games, taking him as a warlord might not be a bad idea in some cases.
o Summary: You take Typhus if you want Plague Zombies, while getting a beatstick in the bargain. Zombies
give you an unrelenting screen of angry meatshields that will take dedicated firepower to shift from
objectives or serve as semi-passable tarpits. However, Typhus himself is expensive and the actual
Zombies suffer from Slow and Purposeful and the inability to take any of the normal Chaos Cultist
upgrades. If "fearless Cultists" is what you're looking for, there are cheaper ways to get it; from using the
Cultists as a "delivery system" for an appropriately punchy Chaos Lord you planned to take anyway, to
running the Helcult formation.
 Lucius the Eternal - Lucius is a bit of an odd duck out, as well as the obligatory Slaaneshi Special
Character. As a Chaos Lord, he's largely typical, but his abilities and weapons load make him a much
nastier close-combat unit than he appears to be at a glance. For starters, he's WS 7, as opposed to the
typical Chaos Lord WS 6, and he boasts Initiative 6 due to his Mark of Slaanesh. He lacks a traditional
Daemon Weapon - but what he has in return makes this almost not matter. Lucius boasts a Doom Siren
(AP3 Heavy Flamer), a Power Sword, and a unique weapon in the Lash of Torment, which reduces the
number of attacks enemy models get by 1. The FAQ confirmed the Lash to be an artefact, not a weapon,
barring him from taking an extra attack for two weapons. In challenges his attack always equals to his
opponents' WS! That's 6 attack against a Space Marine Captain! He also has Krak Grenades and Frag
Grenades. What truly makes Lucius useful though, on top of all the above, is his unique ability stemming
from his Armour of Shrieking Souls - any close combat attack Lucius saves against (Armor Save OR
Invulnerable Save) causes an automatic S4 hit on the unit that attacked him, with no armour saves
allowed. It's not all good news, however: Lucius positively sucks against vehicles and his 5+ Invulnerable
save, whilst useful, isn't exactly a stellar defensive feature. He is a character designed for challenges but
most HQ's have AP2 weapons or 2+ armour saves which Lucius has no counter for. He also lacks Eternal
Warrior, which means he's actually quite vulnerable against things like Force Weapons and heavy
weapon sniping attempts.
o Lucy's Lash of Torment now makes ALL of his close combat attacks have the "Shred" rule, effectively
giving him Lightning Claws and granting his Armour of Shrieking Souls a better chance to wound. Stick
him in a squad of Noise Marines with the re-tooled Icon of Slaanesh to give him drug-fueled Feel No
Pain. Also, dual Doom Sirens. You can never have enough Doom Sirens.
o Traitor Legions gives him a load of buffs, especially if you have him lead a Kakophoni, netting him Feel
No Pain(+6), Split Fire, Shred on his Doom Siren, and Strength 6 on his Doom Siren if you bring a full 6
Noise Marine Squads.
 Khârn The Betrayer - A real fun guy to be around. Kharn boasts a suite of useful traits and equipment,
including the Gorechild (A power axe with Armorbane and no Unwieldy, which always hits on 2+, but to
hit rolls of 1 hit your own unit), Frag and Krak grenades (the latter of which will never see use), a Plasma
Pistol, Furious Charge, Mark of Khorne, and perhaps most importantly, gets a 2+ Deny the Witch and
immunity to Instant Death from Force Weapons. Khârn can demolish damned-near-anything in close-
combat, from enemy vehicles to enemy infantry when on the charge - an advantage primarily offset by
the fact that he's completely fucking useless if he can't get close, and rather easy to isolate and tear
down due to a relatively weak (5+) Invulnerable save. He is best-used either with a massive mob of
Cultists to absorb ranged attacks and take wounds (Terminators are too expensive to risk losing to his
attacks) - the latter loaded up to the fucking gills with Flamers, the squads shoved in a Metal Box or BIG
METAL BOX, and thrown directly at the enemy's face. Like Fabius Bile, Ahriman, and Abaddon, Khârn has
one more attack than is listed in his profile due to his weapon loadout - for a total of five. He also has a
base strength of 6, with 7 on the charge. Khârn counts as a Chaos Lord for the purpose of 'zerkers being
troops.
o Kharn's Hatred Incarnate ability lets him re-roll misses during the first round of close combat, making his
entourage last that much longer without feeling his axe.
o Fun Fact: Due to the wording of his 'Blessing of the Blood God' special rule, he cannot be Instant Killed
by a Nemesis Daemon Hammer hit.
o Kharn will kill you so hard that you will die to death.
o Note that due to Gorechild and a decent number of attacks, Kharn can feasibly take on everything from
Guardsmen blobs to Land Raiders in close combat and totally wreck their shit. The only things he will
ever have problems in melee are Wraithlords and Wraithknights, due to their T8 making it hard to
actually kill them before they instant-death Kharn with a punch to the nads. He also, understandably,
has a problem with ranged combat of any sort, so a transport for him is near-mandatory (although his
low cost offsets this, making even buying a personal land raider for him feasible).
o The Land Raider argument is enhanced by the fact that Chaos Land Raiders are still Assault Vehicles,
unlike Chaos Rhinos, and have the same transport capacity. Also consider fitting Dirge Casters, despite
the fact that they are of pansy Slaaneshi origin to help negate overwatch.
o The only rules change for Kharn's new Traitor's Hate entry is the Unstoppable rule is now on Kharn's
model rather than on Gorechild. This means he can fist-fight Jain Zar on a 2+ after he gets disarmed!
 Huron Blackheart - Huron is the leader of the Red Corsairs, and a fairly passable HQ. Of all the Special
Characters in the Chaos Codex, Huron is the best "jack of all trades" character. His signature item is the
Tyrant's Claw, a Lightning Claw with +2 Strength, Armorbane, and built-in Heavy Flamer, and he has a
Sigil of Corruption and Power Axe. Unfortunately, he only gets his base 3 attacks base in melee so he
lacks the pure melee potential of other characters. In exchange, however, he has another special item:
The Hamadrya is a Combat Familiar (so he gets an extra two attacks) that also makes Huron a Mastery
Level 1 Psyker, with a twist. Each and every turn, he rolls to see what powers he actually knows; he rolls
a D3 to see what Discipline he knows, with a 1 being Biomancy, a 2 being Telepathy, and a 3 being
Divination, and then he rolls to see what power he actually knows from that discipline.
o Summary: The main reason you take Huron is you want to "lock in" your Warlord Trait to guarantee at
least one of your units has Infiltrate, and you would would rather not spend the extra 80 points on
Ahriman. His close combat loadout is acceptable against rank-and-file and he can finish off damaged
Dreadnoughts/Knights a pinch, though he'll bounce off any proper melee beatsticks without proper
buffs (and don't even think of pitting him against a Wraithknight!). Although his powers are random, he
can always count on at least having the Primaris to fall back on. Smite and Psychic Shriek let him plink
off wounds from armored units, with the former being better than normal due to Huron's improved BS,
while Huron remains only one of three ways for a Chaos Marine army to get Divination powers (meaning
Prescience) without resorting to Daemon allies. However, he lacks a Spell Familiar and he is still Mastery
Level 1 so he won't have the same melee oomph as a proper Sorcerer. Huron is the Swiss Army knife of
HQs, where you will always have an option with him, though you don't always get to control what those
options are.
 Fabulous Bile - The king of mixed bags and fabulous. On one hand, Bile has good stats and wargear: Feel
No Pain through his Chirurgeon, Strength 5, a weapon that causes instant death (Rod of Torment), five
attacks, and a particularly nasty poisoned weapon in the Xyclos Needler. On the other hand, his Rod of
Torment does not ignore armor saves (unlike, say, the MURDER SWORD), his Xyclos Needler has really
bad AP and sub-par range, and perhaps most damning of all, no Invulnerable save, unlike literally every
other Chaos Character in the codex. So... Sucks, Right? Not quite. The reason Fabius Bile is taken,
ironically, isn't for Bile himself; it's for his Enhanced Warriors trait, which gives a unit of Chaos Space
Marines +1 Strength and Fearless. An enhanced Khornate CSM unit (Mark + Icon) rolls out 4 S6 attacks
per Marine on the charge while being scoring and Fearless. While he isn't stellar in a normal CSM army
(he's not a fighter nor does he enhance more than one unit of CSM), he really shines as an allied HQ — if
you want a reasonably cheap CC threat for your pansy blueberries, take him and a 10-strong unit of
Khornate CSM with meltaguns that can threaten massed infantry with the number of attacks, massed
 tanks with meltaguns/carnage combo and monstrous creatures with that Instant Death stick. Know that
a Disordered Charge (aka multi-charge) denies you your Rage, so plan accordingly.
o Note that he can enhance one CSM unit in your entire ARMY, so take him in an Auxiliary Detachment for
your Traitor Legion, and buff one of their Legion CSM units. 20 Infiltratring S5 Fearless Alpha Legion CSM
anyone?
 Ahriman the Exile - A Sorcerer that costs as much as a Land Raider is seldom a good sign. On the other
hand there are only three other psykers in the game with Mastery Level 4 (Fateweaver,
Aetaos'Rau'Keres and that dick) and Ahriman has access to several psychic disciplines, plus boasting a
unique piece of gear in the Black Staff, which is a Force Staff that lets him fire off the same Witchfire
psychic power THREE times a turn. This can mean three DOOMBOLTS per turn. Or three psychic
screams, which is by far the most brutally effective option since it now hits automatically. His firepower
can be absolutely insane, but it requires good rolling for psychic powers or just choosing the Primaris for
either Biomancy or Telepathy, unlike the previous codex. He has a bolt pistol with Inferno Bolts and the
standard Tzeentch Marine 4+ invulnerable save, but he's only T4. Sadly, he WILL take 1 wound from
perils. Devastating if used right, but makes for a huge and high-priority target. Unlike a lot of other units
with this price-tag, such as Old One-Eye, he tends to actually be worth it if carefully managed, mostly
due to the fact that he drops a Touhou-esque barrage of firepower out in short order. Just remember
that he's a gigantic fire magnet, and his force weapon is only AP4 (but S6). Has an extra attack not
shown on the profile, due to his pistol and staff, for a total of 4. Still, he costs a bomb in points.
o Wrath of Magnus updates his pool of disciplines, now he is able to roll from all powers from the main
book (except Sanctic Daemonology), Tzeentch, and all new CSM disciplines.
o A fun option with this one is to ally yourself with Tzeentch daemons. Horrors will serve as batteries for
Ahriman to drain. Mount him in a rhino, go full throttle and let the onslaught begin. Only being able to
cast witchfires from a transport isn't much of a handicap when he can cast 12 witchfires a turn. Wrath of
Magnus update: put him on the Disc and join him with Chaos Bikers.
o He can now buy a Disc so enjoy that +1T and turbo boosting around.
 Abaddon the Despoiler - Don't be fooled by jokes regarding his lack of arms - Abaddon is BAD news. He
is a very dangerous independent character in melee. 6th ed has changed how his attacks roll - he can
use either Drach'nyen (+1 Strength, AP2, Daemon Weapon) or the Talon of Horus (Strength 8, AP3 and
Shred, though Blood Angels gain Hatred against him). With WS7, I6, +1 attack for having 2 Specialist
Weapons (so 5 base), Rage from the Mark of Khorne and the potential extra attacks from Drach'nyen if
you use that, Abaddon will hammer just about anything on the charge through sheer volume of attacks.
Just take care who you send him against, for there are a few characters that will remove his arms
readily. Suffice to say, not many units can reliably go toe-to-toe with the Despoiler and survive for more
than a round or two - most will be dead before they can attack, and many armies lack squads that can
offer more than a token resistance. He has every single Chaos Mark (For Rage/Counter Attack, +1
Initiative, a 4+ Invulnerable Save, and +1 Toughness), Hatred AND Preferred Enemy against Space
Marines of all kinds and Eternal Warrior. On the other hand, the drawbacks are obvious - he costs a
fuckton of points, he's a huge fire-magnet, 2+ armour save not being ignored by power weapons doesn't
matter much since you opponent is going to try and keep anything valuable away from him (fortunately
he can Deep Strike), he sucks at shooting (he only has a Twin-Linked Bolter, so his high ballistic skill is
pretty irrelevant), and his Daemon Weapon runs the risk of reducing him to WS1. Do anything you
fucking can to get him into close combat, and try to not let him lose his arms. He will maintain his title of
 unbeatable killing machine right until he fights anything such anything with a D Weapon, then its game
over so be careful!
o Math is for math books.
o Don't fight Jain Zar if you're up against Eldar. You will not win.
o Since Abaddon technically has all the Marks , he can benefit from the Slaaneshi Icon of Drugs (FNP) and
Khornate Icon of FUCK YOU (Furious Charge and re-roll charge distance).
o His firepower is a lot better than it sounds against Space Marines. Because he gives every squad within
12" Preferred Enemy (Space Marines), in theory he adds a block of firepower equal to roughly 36% of
every squad within that bubble - and since Chosen squads can pack five plasma guns apiece, and get re-
roll Gets Hot...
o Be careful of pitting him against AV13 or higher walkers (as S8 will have trouble punching through their
armor) and keep him the fuck AWAY from any that have D Strength close combat weapons (such as
Imperial Knights). One 6 rolled in the to wound roll and down goes Abbadon.
o Abaddon can now become a Daemon Prince or a Spawn SKSAAOUROOAEBLEHGH. The most recent FAQ
has brought back his old rule about re-rolling everytime he gets Dark Apotheosis and Spawnhood. Yay!
o Don´t forget the Bringers of Despair: Terminators with WS/BS 5 who can reroll a single "Look Out, Sir"
on Abaddon in a phase.

Supplements & Forgeworld[edit]

 Vrosh Tattersoul (Dark Vengeance)- A dirt-cheap HQ for an assaulty squad. 65 points nets you an
Aspiring Champion with an extra wound, Rage, combi-melta, power axe (plus another CCW for +1
attack), and not much else. When he kills an enemy character he always gains +1 Attack instead of
rolling on the boon table. That's... really all there is to say about this guy; if you've only got 500 to 750
points of stuff then he's good at just rounding out a squad.
 Be'lakor the Dark Master (Dataslate)- A returning character from Fantasy, Be'lakor gets the EW rule
that regular Daemon Princes lack and is a Level 3 Psyker with all Telepathy Discipline by default, and if
you don't think up at least five ways to abuse the Invisibility psy power the moment you read this, punch
yourself in the face. He comes with the unique rules Shadow Form (4+ invulnerable save and Shrouded
and automatically passes Dangerous Terrain tests) and Lord of Torment (gains a bonus D3 Warp Charge
points by making enemy units fail morale checks). He also has wings and possesses a unique weapon
called the Blade of Shadows (S+1, AP2, Fleshbane, Armourbane, and Master-Crafted). He also doesn't
need to be devoted to a chaos god, as he serves all of them (making him a fluffy and effective choice for
a Chaos Undivided army). At 350 points, he's a flat upgrade to the basic Daemon Prince and cost-
effective to boot. His only weakness was that you had to terrain-hop him or Invis himself to keep him
from dying to crazy fire. But now, with 7e, you can jink while gliding. Enjoy your constant 2+ cover save,
mate. In short: JUST TAKE HIM FOR MALICE'S SAKE!!!
o Alternative Opinion: Be VERY FUCKING CAREFUL around anything with Cleansing Flame (IE: Grey Knight
Purifiers). They'll get 2D6 hits on you, 50% of which will mathematically wound (not including the fact
that they'll be re-rolling 1s, due to Preferred Enemy), that will not only auto-hit (and therefore ignore
your invisibility) Template weapons don't work on invisible units, but also ignore your precious 2+ Jink. I
can tell you from personal experience that a combat squaded unit of 10 Purifiers will result in Be'Lakor's
firey demise. It makes matters even worse if Be'Lakor is currently not invisible and said Purifiers are
carrying Incinerators.
 Cypher, Lord of the Fallen (Dataslate)- All in all an okay character. Just beware that he can never be the
Warlord and that fielding him will take -1Ld from your actual Warlord, which wouldn't be a big problem
 since almost all of your HQ's are Fearless (not recommended if you have a Sorcerer as your warlord.) He
gets to shoot his 16" range bolt pistol and never-hot plasma pistol twice in each shooting phase/once
before or after running and overwatches at full BS (which is TEN by the way). Also uses his pistols in
combat, half of his attacks with each pistol (an odd number of attacks give the bolt pistol an extra
attack, never the plasma) at I8. Use him for Hit and Run trolling and granting ATSKNF and Shrouded to
any unit he's attached to. Just remember Independent Characters with Infiltrate cannot give Infiltrate to
non-infiltrating units, nor can they join units that lack Infiltrate before deployment. He's survived for
10,000 years with just power armour, so has no invulnerable save, but his sword gives him Eternal
Warrior and the aforementioned Shrouded USR. He gives 3 VP to Dark Angels players if he's killed within
6 inches of them (1 VP for anyone else who's within 6" of him when he goes down) so don't ever be
within 6 inches of a DA, duh. He will give you d3 VP if he survives the match by flipping the bird against
the enemy.He can bring up to 3 units of Chosen which come separate from the FOC but can't take
marks, icons or transports but have ATSKNF, Infiltrate and can apparently take power fists for 5 points!
You could put him and some Havocs behind an ADL with a quad gun for a 2+ covered gunline that will
never ever die, you'll just have to deploy them separately at the beginning of the game.
 Arkos the Faithless (Forge World) - An Alpha Legion Character from the Siege of Vraks books. This guy
wields the Black Blade (+2S, Rending, Power Sword), has a built-in +1 T and he also gives Counter Attack
to his squad. Counter Attack is easily gained with MoK, but Arkos seems to have the benefits of a few
various things, plus the rending rule can mean he may get lucky while fighting 2+ save opponents. His
warlord trait is the ability to just choose to determine which is your board edge pre-game; if you do this
you lose the decision of who takes first turn, but you may re-roll for Seize the Initiative... not fantastic.
You may take him for fluff, but unless you have little imagination and fluff expertise you can create your
own dude to represent Alpha Legion lord - he's from the times when Alphas were little more than space
Taliban with lots of trained cultists, rather than modern closet loyalist anons with mind-blowingly over-
complicated schemes and tons of just as planned.
o Keep in mind that he can not be run in his own legion anymore thanks to the latest Traitor Legions
Release which forbids unique characters for Alpha Legion. However TL does make him giving Counter
Attack useful at least if your opponent lets you use him, thanks to Alpha Legion restricting you from
marks.
 Zhufor the Impaler (Forge World) - Zhufor is a pretty strong, well costed Khorne named HQ. He is likely
better than any Terminator Lord you would be able to create with the codex with Furious Charge, 4
attacks and S5 base meaning his power fist strikes at S10 AP2, Warboss style, with a total of 6 attacks on
the charge. He also has a two handed chain axe, which can be used for mulching hordes, giving him +2
attacks when using the weapon for a total of 8 S6 AP4 attacks on the charge. He packs Eternal Warrior
and Terminator armour and so is much more durable than Kharn, and most other chaos HQ's for that
matter. That said, he lacks AP2 at initiative that the other killy Chaos Lords can bring and cannot make
sweeping advances. If you take Kharn and find that he's dying too much to AP3 at higher initiative
(Space elves and Slaanesh) or S8 instant death (half the shit in the game) take this dude instead, he's
likely to survive a lot longer and S10 attacks can be a lot more deadly depending on who you're facing
(insta-kill those pesky wolves!). His warlord trait also gives you +1VP for each enemy character you slay
in a challenge, which considering this guys stats will likely be every character without EW. He also lets
you take a squad of MoK Termies as his bodyguard without filling a slot, useful if you wanted to take
them anyway, they have similar attacks but bare in mind that this unit will attract a metric fuckton of
attention.
 Necrosius (Forge World) - A fearless Nurgle Sorcerer with Feel No Pain, a Poisoned (4+) bolt pistol, and a
force sword. His psychic powers are pre-designated: Nurgle's Rot, Gift of Contagion, and Wasting
Disease, which is a 24" range focused witchfire that automatically hits any chosen model in a squad,
resolved at S3 AP2 assault 1 Fleshbane. Use it to purge those pesky GK incinerators that deny your
zombies their precious 4+ FnP. He also has +1 initiative, wounds, and Ballistic Skill compared to a normal
sorcerer. Sadly he can not acquire a invulnerable save thus, rarely makes use of his Champion of Chaos
rule, though his I5, FNP and force sword mean he's not totally helpless.
o The ability to take zombies as non-compulsory troops became his warlord trait, though he still grants
them all Furious Charge via his "Master of the Dead" special rule. He can only take zombies from the
same book he's found in (Siege of Vraks 2nd edition), but his zombies are immensely better with 4+ FnP
and the "Warp Plague" rule, which allows you to add d3 zombies to a unit if it kills an enemy unit in
close combat.
 Compared to Typhus, Necrosius is better if you want to actively take zombies rather than merely using
them as a preferable alternative to cultists for compulsory troops. Necrosius' zombies are far better
being 90 points for 30 with FnP 4+, furious charge and the ability to generate more, compared to Typhus
130 points for 30 with only FnP 5+. If you're taking the Purge detachment found in the book you don't
need compulsory troops anyway.

Troops[edit]
 Chaos Space Marines - These are your "Line Infantry" so to speak: A 'jack of all trades' unit like their
Loyalist counterparts, Chaos Space Marines tend to be sidelined in favor of other options; however,
while the loyalists have the option for Bikers or Scouts to grant innate mobility or improved deployment,
the only other option Chaos gets is Cultists. They're considered a "tax" unit but unlike many other tax
units, they have the potential to sway a battle if used well.
o Loadout: Chaos Space Marines start off with a Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades, and Power
Armor, and the Aspiring Champion gets a "free" Close Combat Weapon added to his Wargear in the
process. In the basic squad of 5 models, one model may swap out their Bolter for a Special Weapon, and
in a squad of 10 or more models, another model may swap a Bolter out for Heavy Weapon or a second
Special. In practice, you won't ever take the Heavy Weapon because unlike Loyalists, your guys cannot
split up into Combat Squads, and you don't get Grav Cannons. Unique to Chaos Marines, any model can
swap out their Bolter for a Bolt Pistol and Close Combat Weapon for free, or take the Close Combat
Weapon while retaining the Bolter for 2 points. One additional note is that you can run Chaos Marines in
a unit of up to 20 models if you really wish. You don't get any additional Specials/Heavies for running
squads larger than 10, but Icons become more cost-effective the more models they affect.
 MSU Configuration: A basic squad of 5 models, one with a Meltagun, the Champion has a Combi-
Meltagun, and the unit has a Rhino. Optionally, you can equip the Rhino with a Dozer Blade or Dirge
Casters, depending on your points budget. This configuration is alright if you're treating your CSM as a
"tax unit".
 Infantry Configuration: 10 models, and either 2 Plasma Guns or 2 Meltaguns. Optionally, you can run
the unit with an Mark/Icon of choice. This is alright for "disruption" if you're running Hounds of Abaddon
or some other formation that buffs your rank-and-file Chaos Space Marines, though it amplifies the
traditional weakness of Chaos being slow.
 Cultists: These are your "cheap" troop choice, with the option to get a unit of 10 guys for 40 points, plus
another 10 for the mandatory Champion. The actual options they get are fairly weak, but they're dirt-
 cheap and a good "hiding spot" for characters. You can also spend the fortification slot to buy an Aegis
defense line and crap the cultists in there, for an inexpensive 2+ cover save bulwark.
o Don't bother with a mark. Cultists are a mass of expendable bodies, and don't need the points wasted
on them only to die as expected. If you're really intent on making them tougher, take Typhus and make
them Plague Zombies. In fact, if you make certain calculations, you'll figure out that an amount of points
dumped into marks add roughly the same survivability or offensive capability as the equal amount of
points dumped into extra bodies, and extra bodies are always better because they give you both. So
forget about the marks; Autoguns, Flamers and Heavy Stubbers are the only meaningful options that
Cultists have.
o Here's a more detailed explanation why Marks are bad for your Cultists. Starting from the "best" to the
worst:
 Nurgle: Makes your lowly Cultists as tough as Space Marines. Don't get too excited because they still
wear t-shirt armor.
 Slaanesh: Your Cultists are now I4, which means that they hit before Guardsmen and at the same time
as Space Marines. Nothing special.
 Tzeentch: 6++. Needless to say, it's pretty pathetic. You "could" make the case for this if you have some
other way to buff their Invulnerable Save, but most of those options can't be banked on: You don't get
Divination unless you're allying in Daemons or are running Crimson Slaughter, while you can't rely on
the Munitorium Crate giving you a forcefield save. If you wanted to be cute with allies, you "could" do
something like running this with a Kustom Forcefield to give them an effective 4++ save, but at the end
of the day they're cultists.
 Khorne: It gives your cultists Rage and Counter Attack. And costs 2 points. This means that a 30 strong
cultist squad with the mark costs just under 200 points, and chucks out 90-120 WS3, S3, I3 attacks in the
first round of close combat - if it manages to get into CC completely unscathed. Realistically speaking, it's
going to take at least 50% casualties on its way in - but even after you factor that in your calculations,
that an avalanche of 45-60 attacks. Introduce some sort of buff into the mix - like the Zealot granted by
a dark apostle with AOBF, or some psychic shenanigans or SOMETHING, and all of a sudden the situation
turns into - "oh, cool, your storm shield terminators have a 2+ save. Make 20 of them, please". Naturally
you will not revolutionize the tournament scene with your new amazing cultist-star, but this seems to be
the way to make the buggers semi-viable.
o While cultists certainly seem to be adequate objective-humpers, they are far outclassed by the sheer
versatility presented by the updated rules for Renegades and Heretics, presented in Imperial Armour 13.
Instead of a wimpy troop choice you now can take Battle-Brother rank allies that essentially function the
same as Imperial Guard, with platoons and blobs on the cheap. Instead of generic CHOPPA or DAKKA
Cultists, you have the choice of better weaponry and more flavorful fun.
o As should be expected, the Cultist Champion isn’t going to be winning very many challenges, but on the
off chance he does, and gets to roll on the Chaos Boon table, be sure to have a camera handy. If he wins
the Chaos lottery, you want to be sure and record the look on your opponent’s face when a Daemon
Prince erupts from your mob of cultist lasbolt-catchers like a stripper from a birthday cake. Especially
since it’ll probably never happen again.
o If you're dakka-ing your cultists up with autoguns, you might as well give the Cultist Champion a shotgun
to give him an extra mid-range shot. Unlike Guard officers and vets, he doesn't have anything better to
choose from, and since it's taken rather than replacing something, you're not sacrificing an attack for it.
 Tzaangors (Wrath of Magnus): Tzaangors are similar to Cultists, but with +1 Weapon Skill, Toughness
and the Mark of Tzeentch. They're in an odd place price-wise, costing 20 points more than a base Cultist
unit, but not getting a champion unless they pay for one. They also start dual wielding close combat
weapons, and must pay extra if they want pistols. They have zero special, heavy or melee weapons
options, even for the Twistbray. Their Auxiliary formation makes them a respectable skirmish unit, but
otherwise they're in an awkward space where they're too pricey to be cheap, and too cheap/fragile to
be elite.
o Their "Relic Hunters" special rule gives them a bonus in assaults against anyone wielding a unique
artifact: they want to steal it for their daemonic masters! This ability is marginal at best, for while it
makes them to be a more effective tarpit against expensive HQs and special characters, it does nothing
against lists that don't do herohammer.
o These bird-headed mutants are close to Ork Boyz in their stats and abilities, but not necessarily in role.
Boyz are cheaper with an extra attack, Furious Charge, and the WAAAAGH! Their guns hit harder as well,
albeit less accurately, and they have access to Shootas and Big Shootas to put out a good number of
shots at medium range. Tzaangors have their (weak) invulnerable save and more initiative, and don't
fight each other when they fail a morale test. Tzaangors also have their formation(see below) which
gives them an equivalent to the WAAAAGH! that they lack when taken in a CAD.

Dedicated Transport[edit]
 Rhino: Chaos gets the Rhino, and many of the normal guidelines to using it apply here as well. However,
the Chaos Vehicle armory has more options than its loyalist counterpart; remember that the main
advantage of the Rhino is it is "tough for its cost", so the moment you saddle it with upgrades, it loses
that advantage. Besides Dozer Blades, the options worth considering are Dirge Casters (as shutting down
enemy overwatch is nice), Havoc Launchers (Chaos does not get Razorbacks, and it's a fairly decent
weapon), and maybe the occasional Combi-Weapon if you're running a Rhino Rush list.
o It is completely legal to load up a SINGLE RHINO with an extra combi-bolter, combi-weapon of your
choice, AND a havoc launcher. Sure, it's not cost effective or a good idea, but it sure looks cool and is
decently killy!

Elites[edit]
Cult Marines are now elites! If you want them as troops, you need a Lord with an appropriate mark
(Sorceror for Thousand Sons).

 Chosen - Be very, very careful with fielding chosen now as they will get very VERY expensive. That said,
Chosen got one weird ass buff in the new Codex; no longer can they infiltrate, but they get 2 attacks
base(3 EACH total, 2 base, 1 for CC weapon/pistol) and get access to a metric fuck ton of war gear. Like I
said, be very careful as you will spend a small fortune on the FOC slot here. If you're not running Plague
Marines, Chosen are handy as a special weapon squad, with their ability to tote around a whole pile of
special weapons regardless of squad size. Don't equip them all with power weapons and claws like the
Dark Vengeance kit suggests, unless you have some bizarre attraction to paying Terminator prices for
non-Terminator models. Give them four to five Plasma Guns, ruining Terminator armies as they try to
dislodge your heavy weapons, you can do this with Havocs but then you lose a precious heavy support
choice. Give them five Melta Guns, hide in dense terrain and ruin a mech players day. Also fun with five
flamers and Huron giving them Infiltrate. They are good when you need a squad with a specialised role.
Flamers could be good charge deterrents and Meltas are just mean combined with a KHARIBDYSS! On
 the other hand, in small games, especially if using the black legion supplement, where their extra attack
and leadership can prove invaluable. These guys *hate* Space Marines, and with MoS and Claws or MoK
and Axes WILL fuck their day up hard if they can into close combat. That's probably why VotLW is slightly
pricey for em. Hail the gods: If playing Alpha legion JUST TAKE THEM. Infiltrating, free VOTLW plasma
chosen are just as stupid as infiltrating Tactical Support Squad from the heresy, and have better combat
power after firing to boot
o Mark of Khorne: They can be very useful only costing 1 more point than Berzerkers but they have an
additional attack -1 WS, lack of fearless, and can gain furious charge from the icon. Giving them a variety
of power weapons - read:lightning claws and fists - will enable them to take on just about anything short
of terminators, monstrous creatures and super-mechs like Knight Titans. A squad like this can rip
through an Imperial Guard army if you deploy right and keep hugging assault.
o Mark of Nurgle: While expensive, this means your Chosen squad will not get bogged down in combat
when in combat with Assault Marines or deep striking assault units. This also allows you to survive
heavier amounts of fire power piled onto your squad in the shooting phase, otherwise fear is pointless.
o Mark of Slaanesh: Allows you to take the Icon of Excess, but that's 35 points more(A steal if you have
10+ models in the squad, Lord and other ICs included). Give these guys MoS and an IoE and plasma guns
for FnP, AP2 and I5 goodness. 10 of these guys and a rhino is cheaper than 10 Plague Marines with a
rhino. You trade T5, I3 and Plague Knives for 3 attacks(base 2 and they have pistols/ccw) at I5 with
access to more special weapons. Once you throw in plasma guns they will be more expensive, but hey,
you have more plasma guns. Maybe give one or two a meltagun just in case. They will be hitting first a
lot in CC and gunning down anything short of a land raider with ease. Such sweet cacophony.
 Side-note: Re-gear five of them plus the champion for CC with power weapons, being I5 with FnP and
stick them in a Land Raider and watch them outshine Terminators. Oh hey you can also stick 4 more
with 4 attacks(per model) on the charge in for added killing power. So. Many. Attacks. Pre-Power
Weapons, but still having the IoE, they are the same points cost as 10 'Zerkers with an Icon of Wrath,
while having more standard attacks, the same number on the charge, higher initiative(but one less WS,
but at this point who cares) AND FnP. Devastating when used properly. Throw in a Dark Apostle and/or
Slaanesh Lord and dare anything in the history of ever that isn't Deathwing Knights to fight these in CC
without thinking twice.
o Mark of Tzeentch: 6+ Invulnerable and access to Soul Blaze, but that's for Havoc Heavy Bolter squads,
and the 6+ is shitty. Skip. WAIT DON'T SKIP, instead chuck a sorcerer with crimson slaughter supplement
with the balestar (ML3 of course) manage to give them a 4++ then a 3++ due to THIS! Also if you spend
the 5 points and get preferred enemy EVERYTHING! Re roll those gets hots and pretty much auto melt
terminators with pretty much negating cover saves.... Keep these not so gentlemen around a forgefiend
for lulz
 Possessed Marines - Ah, the Possessed. The ever so random knife you can bring to the gunfight that is
7e. While it is true that they got a much-needed upgrade and significantly more options, they still leave
a lot to be desired. Last edition, they were 26 points apiece and had to roll their daemonkin power off a
D6 once after deployment, and whatever you rolled they were stuck with for the rest of the game. But
now they're back, wearing a nice suit and trying to make up for their past negligence. Fleet used to be
one of the aforementioned D6 options, but now it's part of their profile by default. Also, as officially part
of the daemon club, they get a 5++, also by default, and also with no point increase. Their possible
power-rolls each turn (now made on a D3) give them either +1 attack and +1 initiative, power weapon
attacks at AP3, or the ability to re-roll all failed to-wound rolls. Still, their most critical flaw is not even
 the fact that they're a horrible point sink, or that they're fragile as fuck for their cost. No, it's the lack of
a proper delivery system that hurts them the most. As it is, they just get shredded before they can even
make it into CC. If they do manage to charge while there's some of them around, a ten man squad with a
Mark of Slaanesh and an Icon of Excess, which is worth about 325, nets you 30 attacks at S5, I5, with a
defense of 3+, 5++ and FNP, which should mop up any MEQ and GEW opposition in no time. Khorne-
marked possessed get even more ridiculous, being able to overwhelm even terminator squads through
sheer number of incoming S5 attacks... If they manage to make it into close combat.
o Traitor's Hate Note: There is now a formation that includes a daemon prince and 3 units of possessed,
and get this - as long as the prince is alive and nearby, the possessed get all three buffs. That's
ridiculously powerful if you can pull it off. Not exactly compettitive material here, but not horrible
either.
o Here are some examples for a 10-model squad (that you want charging from that Land Raider):
 With a Mark:
 Khorne (290p): They get 4 attacks each on the charge, 3 if they get charged. Can grind most things to a
pulp on volume of high power hits alone.
 Slaanesh (290p): They are now at I5, which is good against MEQ's - adds survivability.
 Nurgle (300p): They have now T5, which is always nice, but if you think about it, you want your
Possessed to butcher everything on the charge or better yet - in your opponent's next assault phase (so
that they can't be shot at during that turn), not to tarpit. The resistance to small arms fire T5 affords is
nice, but it won't help against most guns that ignore the possessed's 3+ - ant that's probably what these
guys will start eating as soon as they are in line of sight.
 Tzeentch (310p): 4++ save is great, but compared to other marks, this option lacks the killy-power they
should be used for. Then again, if you're getting shot by things that ignore your 3+ armour and flatten
you otright, such as battlecannons, it could be good. Only problem is, it is horrendously expensive, so
you should think very carefyully about whether you want to mark your guys or just add more bodies..
 With a corresponding Icon:
 Khorne (15p): Strength 6 on the charge (Furious Charge doesn't work when you get charged), but they
re-roll charge distance already because of Fleet.
 Slaanesh (35p): Feel no Pain 5+ is sweet as hell, if you plan on getting shot at and surviving for another
charge.
 The other two icons are completely useless, because Possessed already have Fear and have no bolt
weapons to receive Soul Blaze. They do still grant +1 to combat resolution, which helps any build of
Possessed do their job better.
 Expensive? Yes, as always. But every one of their daemonkin rolls is good. Treat them as you would a
squad of Berserkers: load ten of them into a Land Raider, and then ram them into whatever enemy
squad you want dead.
o Note: IF using the Crimson Slaughter Supplement, they gain a completely different table of results that
are, for the most part, better, as well as becoming troops. The results turn to either Shrouded (for both
them and their transport), Beasts, or a 3++ with Rending.
o Note: If you don't buy the comparison to Terminators, ask yourself what'll happen to 10 Terminators if
they get hit by a Demolisher cannon, or a Tau Ion Riptide, or an Imperial Knight's Melta Cannon. Just as
dead as the Possessed you say? No shit. There is a hard counter to nearly every unit in this game.
o FYI, if you want to run Khorne possessed, take Daemonkin Allies. They are better (By having the Icon of
wrath built in by default as Daemons of Khorne), can be affected by allied Khorne Daemon Loci, and
have the same killing power as before.
o Remember this guys have no grenades, so IC is badly needed if you don't want your super-expensive
squad torn to pieces after charging Guardsmen behind the Aegis without even a chance to lift a claw.
 Noise Marines - These guys are 17 pts. and ideally taken as squads of 8-12. Take some fucking sonic
blasters - they're 2/3 salvo bolters that ignore cover, and they're only 3 pts.! Throw in some
Blastmasters, which still fire at either S5 AP4 Assault 2/Pinning or S8 AP3 Heavy 1/Blast/Pinning... but
now ignore cover, too! Besides gun choices, they also have I5 to a regular Marine's I4. Their higher
Initiative means they can be used for assault quite well, but blasters are now salvo, so you cannot
charge after volley of sonic death, and you're taking these guys to chase camping units out of cover. Still
their CCW costs only 1 pt per model. The champ has access to Slaaneshi goodies in the armoury, too! Go
the extra mile, spend 30 points and give these guys Feel No Pain, because drugs. With the new FAQ, you
can take a Blastmaster at under 10 men and a second AT 10 men, making them even more awesome!
The Noise Champ even gets a CCW for free!
o For a fun time, join a Sorcerer to a group of Noise Marines and have him roll on the Biomancy table. If
you luck out and roll a 4, you can give the squad FnP, Eternal Warrior and, most importantly, Relentless!
What's that? Did someone say 24" Assault 3, Ignores Cover Dakkasplooge? Or give the sorcerer Slaanesh
powers and go for Symphony of PAIN, a stack-able WS/BS debuff that increases the strength of Sonic
weapons. If you can get multiple Sorcerers to roll this ability, you can annihilate anything through shear
volleys of NOISE! Two casts on a unit of Plague Marines and Blastmasters instant kill them right through
their Feel No Pain!
o Noise Marines can also be fun if you took Huron Blackheart and a Slaanesh Sorceror. Take a squad of 20,
give them all Sonic blasters, AND WATCH WHILE THINGS GET LOUD!!! Use the Sorceror to make all of
the Sonic weapons gain +1 strength, and have fun rolling 60 strength 5 ignores cover shots at the enemy
with infiltrate from Huron. Extra cookie for you if they have to charge you afterwards.
o Special Note:Noise Marine could now be the best MEQ in the game. For only one three points more
than a standard tactical marine you get Fearless and I5 over ATSKNF and I4. The Blastmaster is
downright dirty. FNP is a steal if you take 10+ in a single unit. Sonic weapons add dakka if you need it.
For an extra point you an get an extra CCW for an additional attack, essentially making them better than
a vanilla marine veteran for two less points. The Champion is great in challenges. '
 Khorne Berserkers - Despite coming with a shopping list of weapons and special rules that'd make most
Loyalists weep with envy (Fearless, Furious Charge, Rage, Counter Attack, WS5 and two attacks with
weapons) Berserkers have taken a bit of a hit compared to the 4th ed book. The extra attack from the
Mark of Khorne has been lost, being replaced with Rage and Counter-Attack. This doesn't make an
appreciable difference on the charge, as you'll still be getting off a whopping 4 attacks, but becomes
more noticeable in protracted combats, as 2 attacks vs. the old book's 3 will make a big difference. And
while Counter-Attack is suitably fluffy, any decent general will tell you if your Berserkers get charged,
you've used them wrong. You can now takes Chainaxes, which grant AP4, making these guys the utter
bane of any horde in the game, but this will push up the cost of an already highly expensive unit.
Placement is key - on the charge they'll crush hordes, overwhelm MEQs with sheer volume of attacks
and wipe the floor with non-melee units. If they're not charging, they're just Marines with Counter-
Attack. Use them wisely.
o Honestly thought, these guys play second fiddle to regular chaos marines with the MoK, being a ton
more expensive (6PPM!), and lacking the ability to take any special weapon out side the crappy plasma
pistol. They also require a lord to make then troops.
o 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. Add dirge
casters for even more fun and games - or hell, have Kharn accompany them for giggles. If you've got a
unit of Terminators who are Deep Striking, buy them the Land Raider and then stuff the Berserkers in
there on turn 1.
o Just because it keeps getting brought up, if you think Infiltrating these guys with Huron/Ahriman/a lucky
roll on the Warlord Traits table is a good idea, remember that YOU CAN NOT ASSAULT THE TURN YOU
INFILTRATE.
 Alternate take: Wanna know what Infiltrate also lets you do? Outflank. Set those guys up for a side
charge. Of course, you can't assault the turn you come on, but makes a fine threat that cannot be
ignored.
 Alternate alternate take: Get these guys a dreadclaw. Bitches love dreadclaws.
 Plague Marines - These guys are the favourites of many a player, and it's not hard to see why. Got a
price bump in the last codex to 24 points each - pricey, but they get: Feel No Pain, T5, frag, krak, AND
defensive grenades - oh, and now they have poisoned close combat attacks! They are terrifyingly hard to
kill without resorting to a vubdicator, or aggressive close-combat squads, thanks in part to the T5/FNP
combo - only S10 (dreads, smashing monsters, demolishers) hits ignore ungodly 6-th edition T5-FNP(5+)
of plags. 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 offence, too - with no minimum unit size for
weapons and the ability to take a transport, they can be thrown in a METAL BOX and hurled directly at
enemy formations with twin meltaguns. Toughness 5 and the weakened Feel No Pain means you're
going to get those off and possibly more whilst drawing lots of enemy fire away from other units. With
the sheer volume of grenades they get, Plague Marines can counter several types of enemies, too.
Beware 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 (though a bit less so, now).
o Plague Marine squads, probably owing to their high base price, are the only cult marines to get their
champion for free(and still get the obligatory boost to Leadership and Attack). This combined with less
of a limit on special weapons than other squads, means that small squads are much more cost-effective
and deadlier than running larger squads.
 Thousand Sons: Oh boy, you've just stumbled one of the the most skub units in the entire game. So, you
see, Thousand Sons are pretty cool; they were doing that whole Egyptian robot thing before the Necrons
boarded the hype train and they have one of the best Horus Heresy stories ever (and two of the best
Horus Heresy books, for that matter). And their rules look pretty cool too: AP3 bolters, 4++ invulnerable
save standard, Fearless, a Mastery Level 1 Sorcerer (with force weapon!) as the Champion...and then the
issues come up. They're Slow and Purposeful, meaning they cannot Overwatch, Run, or pursue fleeing
opponents. It lets them assault enemies after rapid-firing their Bolters...but chances are that a good
round of shooting will leave your opponent well out of assault range. The unit is also incredibly
expensive at 23 points per model, and the mandatory aspiring Sorcerer is 35 points extra. The Sorcerer
also comes with a Mark of Tzeentch, meaning he must generate his one and only power from the
Discipline of Tzeentch. This means you either have a Doombolt vector, or the unit is serving as a Warp
Charge battery. Those AP3 bolters, by the way? Yes, they're nice (especially if you catch some fellow
 Marines out in the open), but there's either so much cover out there, or armies can easily bring their
own cover (or Jink, or use Invisibility, or whatever...) that it usually doesn't matter...at least until you
start tossing out buffs or debuffs of your own; be it a Daemon Prince of Nurgle with Grotti the Nurgling,
or casting Enfeeble, dropping an enemy unit from T4-T3 ups the kill factor of Thousand Sons versus
Power Armor that they become akin to a small Krak Missile squad, Ghoststorm from Ectomancy lets
them shunt into better firing positions to negate enemy cover, while Geomortis has one power to let
them ignore cover and line of sight. Don't forget they go down just as easily as a normal Marine to light
arms fire...easier in fact, because your enemy won't feel as bad firing a LOT of dakka at them. Also, if you
wind up against a lightly armored enemy (Dark Eldar and Orks come to mind), you've wasted your AP3.
o They now have the ability for every guy to take warpflamers (normal flamers with -1 AP and Soul Blaze)
and one in 10 guys can get a soulreaper cannon, 24" s5 ap3 heavy 4 Rending! Overall considered to be
not worth it, but now the Tzeentch table got updated so the sorcerer isn't completely shit. And they
now get +1 invuln in a Thousand Sons detachment if they get a blessing cast on them.
o Now have models :D
o Alternative Opinion: However, as usual, it's best not just to listen to Internet Advice. Many people do
prefer to run them, just because, as mentioned above, they have really, really Awesomefluff (and they
can do really well in friendly games). Still, it's best to avoid them in anything approaching a competitive
environment. If you do decide to take them, it's best to take them in a Rhino, to provide them with
some mobility to get around.
o Alternative Opinion: While it is true that a primarily Thousand Sons-based army is noncompetitive,this
isn't because they are a bad unit, but because they fill a very specific niche of bringing enormous pain to
MEQs, and they're somewhat overpriced even for that. Honestly, if you want to have a fluffy and semi-
competitive army, the best strategy would probably be to lean heavily on Daemon allies and dedicated
transports in order to support and mutually complement your Thousand Sons squads.To sum it up,
Thousand Sons can kick all kinds of ass, you just need to really know how to use them, and who to use
them with.
o Although seemingly a shooty unit, don't forget that Slow & Purposeful prevents them from
overwatching. So if an enemy squad threatens to charge them, use slow and purposeful to rapid fire and
charge instead, denying the charge bonuses from the enemy.
 Chaos Terminators: The good part: they get crazy cheap Combi-Weapons which are purchasable for
each guy in the squad, cost less than the Loyalist scum counterparts and get Combi-Bolters which are
better than Storm bolters on the charge. The bad part: they lack the cool Loyalist special rule ATSKNF,
they have worse starting gear (power weapons as opposed to power fists), are missing out on the long
range dakka with Combi-Bolters, and have fewer wargear options than loyalists do (sorry no Assault
Cannons, CMLs, Storm Shields, or Thunder Hammers). On the other hand, they do have access to Icons
and Marks like most generic squads. These make Terminators pretty goddamn scary, but it costs quite a
lot to load a squad up with them. You can also still take actual combi-weapons and a special melee
weapon (thanks to the new FAQ). Especially at higher points levels, make sure to take a Land Raider as a
dedicated transport to save a Heavy Support slot. Here are a few popular loadout ideas:
o Termicide: Give every single member of the squad a Combi-Weapon (usually Combi-Meltas, possibly a
Combi-Flamer or two). This allows you to take small "suicide" squads of Termies that Deep Strike in, eat
a tank or two with Combi-Meltas, then threaten a squad for Combi-Flamers and their power fists should
they survive. This is only advised for higher points limits, as it can be quite expensive.
 A three man squad with just power weapons and Combi-Weapons will only cost 112pts. Take Power
Mauls/Axes with Combi-Flamers and you got the Loyalist's equivilent to Drop Pod Assault Marines with
Flamers, but a little more expensive and better.
o Close-Combat Anvil: Put 'em in a Land Raider (or Deep Strike them, or do a THIS IS SPARTAN ASSAULT
TANK!) supported by a nasty Terminator Lord; Lightning Claws and Chainfists are, of course, advised for
melee weapons. The Heavy Flamer is cheap and drops a nice S5 AP4 template. The Reaper Autocannon,
while expensive, does offer accurate, long-range S7 AP4 fire support on the move, something that
Havocs can't really do (unless you play Death Guard or give your DP the 35 pt. Fighter Aces upgrade).
Forget Khorne (do you really need that extra bit of initial close-combat punch that only helps rout an
enemy squad and leave you sitting ducks for the enemy to shoot at your terminators next turn?); take
Nurgle in a small-arms heavy meta that focuses on dealing with terminators by forcing saves, or
Tzeentch if you're in a plasma heavy meta, are probably the best Marks to give these guys (heavy guns
don't give a damn about the difference between T4 and T5, and the Chainfists ignore I5 anyway). If cost
is not a factor and you're willing to get the best of both worlds (offence and defence), give em the Mark
of Slaanesh, take an Icon of Excess and equip them all with lightning claws and veterans of the long war
to make Space Marines cry.
 Scarab Occult Terminators (Wrath of Magnus): Thousand Sons Chaos Terminators in blue Egyptian-
themed Tartaros Terminator Armor(similarly priced to standard Terminators but with a pricier yet more
powerful squad leader). They are Fearless and come with the standard Tzeentch Terminator 2+/4++,
khopeshes(power swords) and AP3 combi-bolters. Their sergeant is a Mastery Level 2 psyker with a
Force Staff who can roll his second power from any discipline, and has TWO WOUNDS. The squad can
take two heavy weapons per five, both a Hellfyre Missile Launcher(a lighter, cheaper, shorter ranged
Cyclone that only fires kraks) and either an AP3 Heavy Flamer(if somehow you are still having doubts
about being able to beat 3+ power armor) or a Soulreaper Cannon. These guys are NOT Slow and
Purposeful, rather following standard Terminator Armor rules, presumably because their rubric nature
and their agile Tartaros armor cancel each other out. Note that unlike regular Terminators, these guys
can't take any combi-weapons or AP2 melee weapons, and have minimum squad size five, so be
warned: you can't do a cheap termicide with these guys, despite their other strengths. This
overspecialization also means they will have serious trouble dealing with other TEQ and with walkers, so
don't rely on them as the only unit in your list.
o note: They are expensive, but their seargent is a FUCKING SORCERER that not only is in termie armor,
but has the same stats as a FUCKING Sorcerer, like WS5, and two wounds, seriously these guys are a
steal, but don't put them up against powerfists or Ap1/2 or they will be very unhappy.
o note: Chaos Lords of the thousand sons get one of the most brutal melee weapons in the game in the
form of Seers Bane. Take a Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour, have the sorcerer cast force, and watch as
he eats TEQ units solo
 Mutilators: Unlike most other units, Mutilators are taken in squads of 1 to 3 models, meaning you can
run them "solo" should you wish. Effectively two-wound "melee" Terminators, with the Slow and
Purposeful and Daemon rules, Mutilators are figuratively (if not literally) Swiss-Army Sword. Whenever
they're in close combat, in every fight sub-phase they choose a pair of weapons to use for that fight
subphase, with the restriction they cannot use the same weapon in two consecutive Player Turns:
Chainfists, Lightning claws, Power Swords, Power Axes, Axes or Power Mauls. While relatively cheap for
a two-wound Terminator, they have their problems: They're "Slow And Purposeful" meaning you have
to go out of their way to use them aggressively, they have no ranged options whatsoever, and bad
 scatters can easily ruin your plans. They have a very low number of attacks meaning they're not actually
that good at carving through large units, though they can "solo" vehicles or small squads of
Bikers...assuming they're not shot, and the opponent doesn't just Turbo away. Rather, think of solo
Mutilators as a distraction in conjunction with an army built around them, or use them to "spread a net"
and lock down your opponent's movement options. Worst comes to worst, a single Mutilator with the
Mark of Nurgle can be a cheapish Objective Holder that isn't worth shooting at. Their slowness means
you need to plan accordingly. If you're running Daemon allies or don't mind burning wounds off your
Sorcerer from the getgo, Cursed Earth helps Mutilators by providing a "no-Scatter" Deep Strike zone, as
well as improving their Invulnerable for the time being. Ectomancy lets you Soulswitch with them and
improve their threat range, while Geomortis can give them terrain to surf on.
o Marks: For most builds, you want the Mark of Nurgle. Toughness 5 saves you from being doubled-down
by Strength 8 weapons, and makes you slightly more resilient to small arms fire. You "can" run them
with Tzeentch if you're running Daemonology, since it would give them a 3++, but this isn't an efficient
deathstar compared to other options. Khorne "does" give you an extra attack on the first round of close
combat, but doesn't help you survive to get there. Slaanesh is arguably the worst because two of your
three main weapons are Unwieldy, thus making the Initiative bonus pointless, plus you cannot pursue
enemies due to Slow and Purposeful. Overall, they are not great - unless you count the Cult of
Destruction. Go read on it in its own section - it's hilarious.
 Helbrute - The Chaos Dreadnought, the Helbrute's claim to fame (or infamy) is the "Crazed" rule:
Whenever the Helbrute takes a glancing or penetrating hit, then you roll a D3 on the following turn to
see what happens: 1 forces him to "Fire Frenzy" (he counts as Immobilized for the turn, and fires twice,
preferably targeting an enemy that took a Hull Point from him), 2 makes him ignore shaken/stunned
results and give him rage, and a roll of 3 is the same as a roll of 2 but the Helbrute also gets fleet but
must run if not within 12" of an enemy unit.
o Compared to Loyalist Dreadnoughts, you don't get a "free" Storm Bolter, nor do you get Assault
Cannons, the ability to double-up on twin-linked Autocannons (you make do with a single piddly Reaper
Autocannon), or to be run in a squadron (eh). You do get the option for a Thunder Hammer or Power
Scourge, as well as the option to double-down on fists (though you will want a gun, since every bit
helps). The Helbrute is the only unit besides the Obliterator with access to Multimeltas or Plasma
Cannons; the Multimelta can find use in the Mayhem Pack formation, but otherwise its range leaves
something to be desired. This anon personally prefers Plasma, simply because it only takes one well-
placed blast to blast a hole in a unit of bikes, and that's enough to threaten your opponent to Jink.
o Working around Crazed: If you take a Sorcerer with Ectomancy or Geomortis, you have powers which
allow the Helbrute to move despite being immobilized, so Fire Frenzy does not become as much of a
hassle. Though it will probably be FAQ'd otherwise, Power Of the Machine Spirit does not have any
restrictions against being used when a model runs, so you could use it to keep your Helbrute firing
whenever it gets Blood Rage. Alternately, take clear note of the fact that the Helbrute must run only if
there is no enemy within 12" of him, and consider that Allies of Convenience are considered enemies.
That Ork Big Mek providing a Kustom Forcefield save to your Helbrute would also prevent him from
being forced to run off and jeopardize your battle plans.
o Knight Hunting - Thanks to the GW Errata giving them 4 attacks base combined with the option for free
Hatred(Imperials) from Black Crusade, a Helbrute has the attacks/means to seriously damage if not
destroy a Knight for a fraction of the cost...provided it can survive to get close. Terrain remains your
friend of course. The problem is they both have the same Initiative, so by default you're engaging in
 piece-trading, the idea being losing a Helbrute is worth finishing off a Knight. That said, it doesn't have
to remain a MAD scenario, especially if you have Summoning/Incursion. Fiends of Slaanesh are a notable
unit worth summoning, because when they charge, any enemy unit engaged with them suffers a -5
Initiative Penalty. This would notably let your Dreads get the drop on most anything in the game (except
the odd Bloodthirster or Solitaire, but those are extreme edgecases), as you'd even be able to get to
swing first versus Wraithknights and stuff; while this won't matter as much against the
Wraithcannon/Suncannon variants that like to "hang back" and bombard you, the Skatach remains the
most popular variant nowadays and it's a notoriously short-ranged combatant.
 Chaos Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought (Forge World): Similar to the loyalist version, in that it has a
WS5, S7, FA13 and Fleet all in one death-slinging package. Compared to a loyalist Contemptor, they
replace Atomantic Shielding with a Hellfire Reactor, which bestows a 4+ save against glancing hits and a
6+ save against pens. Oh, and he deals a S2 AP2 I10 automatic hit to any enemy psyker in base contact,
in case you face Grey Knights. The Contemptor gets access to ranged weapons like Heavy Conversion
Beamers and Butcher Cannons along with the standard dreadnought weapons, but you really shouldn't;
these guys need to be in close combat. Chainfists and power fists are the go-to here; there may be an
exception for the Havoc Launcher as it's cheap and doesn't take out a close-combat arm not to mention
the in-built heavy flamer and twin-linked bolter. Plasma Blasters (an assault 2, 18" Plasma Gun) and Soul
Burners (changed: S and AP 4 rending blast at 24") can however push it over the threshold of pricey.
Regardless, remember when Grey Knights do their 'Psyfleman Dreadnought' thing? You now have an
even better, choppier version albeit much more costly. Get your cup out to collect your opponents tears
as you ruthlessly obliterate his Devilfishes with Pulse Carbine bearing Fire Warriors inside. BA rhino with
Sternguard Combi-Melta spam? No problem, (swiftly followed by a very ironic) KA-BOOM! Speaking of
things going boom, keep in mind that it also has the Loyalist version's larger explosion range if it gets a
Vehicle Explodes result on the vehicle damage roll and that the ensuing explosion will possess the
Soulblaze rule as well. On top of that, they can be dedicated to the Gods as follows:
o Khorne: Your Contemptor gets Rage and Rampage. This is arguably the best one because of its price plus
extra armour running you 225 points. 7 attacks on the charge that needs to be destroyed or immobilised
to stop it reaching CC - eep!
o Tzeentch: Your Contemptor gets to re-roll 1s on Invulnerable saves, and all its Heavy Flamers get Soul
Blaze. It's... underwhelming. The price paid is a bit much for the re-rolls and Soul Blaze just sucks.
o Nurgle: Your Contemptor gets It Will Not Die. Pricey, but it can help your survival; won't do much if
you're immobilised or lose an arm, though. If you want a thing that just won't die and keeps
regenerating itself, consider the Decimator instead.
o Slaanesh: No, you don't get your sonic weapons back, but you do assault and defensive grenades. Do
note that nothing says you cannot throw these grenades despite them being "count as", so enjoy an
additional blast or blinding attack. Still, not super great considering...
 Slaaneshi Sonic Dreadnought (Forge World): Guess who's back Bitches! The Sonic Dreadnought is back
in IA:13 is a really awesome addition. It starts naked with a TL Sonic Blaster, Doom-Siren and CHAINFIST
w/ Storm bolter (no mistake... even references it later) as well as the WS/BS5 statline of a venerable. It
also counts as having grenades. It doesn't have the same upgrade options, so there is no Scourge or
Thunder Hammer, whilst the Sonic Blasters may be upgraded to the usual guns or second arm with TL
bolter... not Storm Bolter. But you'll replace it with a Blastmaster because all of the other rules on the
Dreadnought benefit your sonic weapons greatly. First you may choose to overcharge your sonic
weapons and give them Rending / Gets-Hot.(It should be noted for 20 points more you can always
 having Rending without Gets Hot, but you'll also have to spend 5 points on a TL-Heavy Bolter or TL-
Autocannon, neither of which ignores cover) Also if you remain still in the movement phase you may
double your rate of fire for the turn with all your sonic weapons. Meaning twice the pain. There's no
reason to NOT get this dreadnought over a Helbrute unless you are trying to save points or are
adamantly adhering to a mono-god list.
o The Sonic Dreadnought fulfills chaos's need for a rifleman, while maintaining its ability to kick ass in
close combat. They work very well alongside static emplacements like artillery pieces and tanks where
they can baby sit the heavy support and still make themselves useful with a blastmaster. Even Knight
Titans will think twice before assaulting anything near this stunted box, or else risk getting chain fisted in
the next assault phase.
 Ferrus Infernum Dreadnought (Forgeworld): The other replacement to your Helbrute, more generic and
customisable than the Sonic Dread, but no less potent. Starts off with the WS/BS 5 combo making it
better and all of the standard weapon options. After that, you may dedicate it to your chosen God for
either Rage/Rampage (Khorne), IWND (Nurgle), Assault/Defensive Grenades (Slaanesh) or 6+
Invulnerable Save and Soul Blaze flamers (Tzeentch). Finally, you may further customise it by adding
ONE extra special rule.
o Veteran of the Long War - if it ever EXPLODES! you roll on a table that can either turn the model into a
gibbering flesh monster which at least mitigates some of your loss / re-rolls the explodes result so you
might get something else / Dark Apotheosis either way this upgrade depends on you exploding... not
simply being wrecked. It can also issue Challenges, as if it were a Character.
o Host of the Daemonic Icon - for starters he ignores Shaken/Stunned on 2+, next anyone who hurts him
in the Fight Sub-phase immediately takes a S4 AP3 hit per hull point lost. Therefore charge this guy
directly into MEQ and your enemy will hate you. Good for Dreads with blast weapons where either of
these results on the damage table would usually mean you can't fire at all.
o Destroyer of Cities - you turn your dreadnought into the loyalist siege dreadnought and must replace
your arms with the Assault Drill w/ heavy flamer and get a Flamestorm Cannon. You also increase front
AV by +1 and get move-through-cover like an Ironclad Dreadnought. Not a bad choice for both vehicle
hunting and close range infantry purging. In the event you're playing Cities of Death, it also gets a free
Wrecker stratagem.
 Decimator Daemon Engine (Forge World): It's the Chaos Contemptor's retarded brother piled into
Imperial Armour 13. They're pricey at 205 pts., its armor is now better than a Contemptor's (by one
freaking point on the rear), and not as fighty (WS/BS/I 3) at first, although it does have more attacks and
a higher strength. But after reading its rules, you'll notice that it can bounce shaken/stunned results on a
2+ because of Daemonic Resilience, gets a 5+ invulnerable save for being a daemon and can deepstrike.
The big deal with this guy is the "Unholy Vigour" rule: it can regrow destroyed weapons and un-
immobilise on 5+ AND can revive itself from a Wrecked result on a 6+ ON ANY TURN, regaining D3 HP in
the process! The only downside is that rolling a 1 once it's wrecked means it stays dead for good, but
why look a gift horse in the mouth? The Decimator can give up one or both of its claws to mount the
following weapons:
o Decimator Siege Claws: your Decimator comes stock with two of these, providing a total of 4 S8 AP 2
Lightning Claw attacks plus built in heavy flamers. They also confer smash with some extra fun: a smash
attack against a building or transport that successfully penetrates will do an additional D6 heavy flamer
attacks against the occupants per heavy flamer, meaning two siege claws and a charge gives you a
 potential 6D6 heavy flamer hits against anyone inside - Falcon PUNCH! This is the seven billionth thing
Forge World has given us with the word "siege" in it.
o Butcher Cannon: Not much of point taking these anymore, seeing how a Forgefiend already has two
guns with an identical profile plus pinning. For added redundancy, there's now heavy weapon platforms
that mount the Hades Autocannon, at a fraction of the Fiend's cost. I guess if you really, REALLY wanna
cover the board in S8 AP4 fire, then by all means take a decimator with butcher cannons.
o Storm Laser: 36" S6 AP3 Heavy D3+2. Purchased as a pair, lasers are hilariously effective against
anything with a 3+ save, especially things that might be a bit too scary up close. Death Company,
Lychguard, Crisis Suits, Tyranid Monstrous Creatures: Deep Strike a Decimator in and laser those pesky
trouble spots.
o Soul Burner Petard: One higher strength and worse AP compared to the Contemptor's Soul Burner and it
uses the large blast marker as opposed to the small. This weapon will squish Orks/Bugs/Guard and all
other manner of tarpits to dust. You only need to buy one of these (Ordnance weapon), retaining a
Siege Claw for the fighty bastards that get too close.
o Heavy Conversion Beamer: Very expensive and radically alters the way you play this guy. There isn't
much this gun can do that butcher cannons (which are now pointless) or siege claws will. On the one
hand, you can hide this thing in some ruins and if you're lucky, you might be able to tag one or two
vehicles/squads before they get out of its useful range. Best give it a pass - the Defiler does this better.
 The Decimator can be dedicated to one of the Gods (Note: you require an independent character with
that same mark/daemon of same god in order to do so) as follows:
o Khorne: Gains the Rampage USR for +15 pts. Against hordes you're guaranteed an additional D3 attacks,
not to mention the damage a double siege claw or claw/soul-burner and Khorne dedication can do to
MEQs and TEQs.
o Nurgle: Gains the It Will Not Die USR for +25 pts! Arguably the best, no matter what the load-out. Think
of it as a possessed vindicator, only better. Send this badass barrelling against the enemy lines as it just
flat out ignores being shot at by most weapons. Seriously, any army that isn't equipped for the job will
have an outright bitch of a time putting down a Nurgle Decimator!
o Slaanesh: Counts as armed with assault and defensive grenades. Now that you can Deep Strike this one
is... still iffy. You are probably going to go last against space marines and if you're fighting guardsmen or
Tau, you have heavy flamers that can do the job better. You could alternatively use the defensive
grenades and take a conversion beamer, which is still kinda puzzling because the defiler does that
mobile artillery thing way better.
o Tzeentch: Re-roll to-hits of 1's for shooting attacks and counts Heavy Flamers (if any) gain the Soul Blaze
special rule for +25 pts. It's expensive and Soul Blaze sucks, but re-rolling 1's for shooting makes this the
double-gun Dakka dedication. If you were planning on taking storm lasers, you're taking this.
 Plague Ogryns (Forge World): 50 pts./model ogryns with S6, FnP and D6 poisoned 2+ attacks. Just like
everything Nurgle here, they require you to take a squad of plague marines to field these.
Unfortunately, they have Slow and Purposeful and really shitty armour meaning that they actually
manage to be more useless than Mutilators. Take them if you want to see them go down to bolters
before they get anywhere near an enemy that will likely hold out against them!
 Spined Chaos Beast (Forge World: 140pts for WS5,S7, T6, 4 wounds, I4 and 3 attack MC. Not at all bad.
Comes stock with Fearless, IWND, Daemonic Instability (what? but it's Fearless?) and Deep Strike. The
two major downsides of this unit is that it's unit composition is 1 and cannot be taken in groups which
takes up our precious Elite Slots and it MUST be a Daemon of a specific god:
o Daemon of Khorne: FREE. Furious. Charge. S8 on the charge is a fucking steal for 0 points!
o Daemon of Tzeentch: it's only 5pts. It gives you dick in terms of psychic powers, but 5 points to re-roll
invulnerable save 1's is slick. Pairs nicely with Divination 4++ re-rolling 1's; adding Cursed Earth will give
it a 3++ save! T6 with 3++, oh please do throw your anti vehicle shots at me!
o Daemon of Nurgle: Garbage at 15 points. Giving a close combat unit Slow and Purposeful should be
against the rules or something. Oh sure, it has shrouded, but it already has a 5++ and if you're gonna
walk this guy through cover, you're gonna waste the game not getting it into combat.
o Daemon of Slaanesh: The other 15 point upgrade, but this one's worth taking. Fleet, Rending and +3" to
your runs makes this the speed demon dedication. It's actually better in a Daemons army, where it
serves as a cheap replacement for a Slaanesh-Grinder.

Fast Attack[edit]
 Chaos Bikers - If Loyalist Bikers can best be thought of as a "horse archer" unit, engaging at close range
before withdrawing to a more tactically advantageous position, Chaos Bikers are better thought of as a
"pursuit cavalry" option. They're one point cheaper than their Loyalist counterparts, with the usual lack
of Grav/ATSKNF/Chapter Tactics that this entails, but unlike Loyalist Bikers, they get the Bolt Pistol/CCW
bonus for an extra attack each. While White Scars and Ravenwing will use "Hit and Run" to avoid getting
bogged down by tarpits, Chaos uses extra attacks to hope to break through.
o Loadout: The first thing you'll notice is you have the option to give two models Special Weapons
(Flamers/Meltas/Plasmas), by trading in either the secondary Close Combat Weapon your Bikers get, or
trading in your Bike's Twin-Linked Bolters. Both options have their pros and cons, but this anon's
personal opinion is to swap out the Twin-Linked Bolters. You only get to fire one gun anyway, and you
want every attack you can get when it comes time to assault. When it comes to Bike Squads, it may be
ok to go against conventional wisdom and actually buy a Power Weapon for your Champion; unlike
vanilla Marines, you have the mobility to dictate your own fights, and a few lucky rolls on the Chaos
Boon table could have your squad turn into a surprisingly frightening DISTRACTION CARNIFEX!
o Marks: When it comes to Marks, you can take them or leave them. Khorne gives extra weight on the
charge, while Slaanesh grants access to the Icon of Excess, which does better in this formation due to
the improved toughness. The Mark of Nurgle costs more on these guys than normal, simply because it
ups your Toughness. While this can give you near-immunity to small-arms fire, it provides no defense
against attacks which don't work against toughness. The Mark of Tzeentch is even more pointless on
these guys than on other units; while it's cheap, a 6+ Invulnerable won't mean much when you have the
option to Jink.
o Retinue: Bikers are an excellent retinue for a Slaaneshi Biker or a Khorne Juggernaut Lord. They provide
ablative wounds and clear out the chaff while the Lord takes care of priority targets. Don't be afraid to
put a Lightning Claw on the Champion, this way he can challenge and eliminate the enemy squad leader
and allow the Lord to slaughter the rank-and-file. Remember, the Lords benefit from the Icons as well!
o One of the greatest units in the Chaos Codex: With the addition of Traitor Legions these guys have
become something amazing! Death Guard? T6, Fearless and FNP with ReRolls of 1 to FNP PLUS
SHROUDED IF 18" AWAY albeit I3. Emperors Children? COMBAT DRUGS ON THESE GUYS! T6? 3A BASE?
WS5/BS5? I6?. Black Legion? Crusader, Hatred EVERYTHING! World Eaters? 2D6 movement which they
can move 12" during movement AND Charge with Re-Rolling charge ranges + Rage + Furious Charge?!
Seriously. If you're playing Traitor Legions and the retrospecting Legions Formation Detatchment pick up
like 3 units of these guys plus they have Objective Secured AND Double Boons so kit out those Sarges!
 Dakka plus Choppy and in many armies Fearless. Underated is an understatement. Only the Thousand
Sons players should skip them, really...because they're probably playing the Grand Coven anyways.
 Chaos Raptors - Chaos' Assault Marines with Fear. Reasonably priced and can get shit done. Icons and
double-special weapons make them respectable. Can have up to 15 models in a unit. Slaanesh and
Khorne are easily the best (and cheapest) mark options for them. A solid unit, through and through; you
can't really go wrong with Raptors.
o Loadouts: Meltaguns tend to be the weapon of choice. They let you light up transports or heavier
vehicles, while your Bolt Pistols/CCWs let you shred through lighter infantry. Flamers are alright except
for overlapping roles, while Plasma Guns are not particularly worth taking, as you do NOT have
Relentless and won't be able to charge after firing them. Unless you're deathguard, in which case go
ham. Plasma pistols are a useless choice since Melta guns are 5 points less, don't Get Hot and don't take
away either close combat weapon.
o Marks: Mark of Slaanesh makes for three I5 attacks each (on the charge), Icon of Khorne gives 4 I4, Icon
of Nurgle makes them T5 (and thus harder to kill), and Tzeentch gives them Invulnerable saves which
you'll almost never make :)
 Warp Talons: Oh, boy, here comes the proverbial shit twinkie in the CSM codex. Here it goes. Take
everything you may like about Raptors (but strip them of ALL THE FUCKING GRENADES! I mean what the
hell Phil?!) and turn the diarrhea up a few notches and TA-DA! 30 pts. a you power armoured dude with
a pair of lightning claws, the daemon USR and when he deep strikes with the rest of his crew, their
pimping bling has a chance of blind everyone within 6". Usually a 33% chance (against marines, if they
don't have a character in that squad). Should you actually manage to blind the enemy, most things will
hit you on a 6 at range or a 5 in close combat making them easy, defenseless pickings. Too bad it almost
never works. These guys should have been your first wave, coupled with Oblits for fire support and
Maulers for hard targets. What makes them extremely shit is the fact that they can't assault after
deepstriking, which means that even if they did manage to get in turn 2, they will get shot at by
everything they didn't blind (read everything) and then do some more dying when it gets time to eat
that overwatch. Theoretically they can be good with an icon of Slaanesh (Lol nope) and a Jump Pack Lord
for extra punch. However, the cost is so prohibitive and the potential so limited that... No. Just no. Also
work exceedingly well in Planetstrike missions; the 7th ed update in Sanctus Reach means that Deep
Striking attackers can still assault after arriving on the table, meaning your Warp Talons can truly benefit
from inflicting blindness on nearby units and don't have to stand around for a turn while they get
blasted away. Bottom line is - they're just too fragile to survive and too expensive to take in large
enough numbers to make a dent in the enemy lines after getting shot at for a turn. It really is a shame,
cause they have one of the most dynamic, detailed kits out there (same one as the Raptors).
o STOP THE PRESSES:: The Raptor Talon formation introduced in Traitor's hate finally gave Warp Talons
some love. See, now they can not only assault on the turn they came in - their fear ability might actually
turn out to be useful with that -1 to LD AND fear, if two or more units manage to charge. Now, scatters
will be scatters, so it's not guaranteed that you will always be able to get two units in CC - but if you
manage to do so on anything less than a TEQ chances are you're going to tear it a new asshole. Now - as
counter-intuitive as that may seem, almost any mark EXCEPT khorne is a good fit on these guys.
Slaanesh & banner makes them more survivable as they will hit first, ignore armour saves and if they get
hit back FNP. Nurgle helps you not get thinned down by overwatch and not lose dudes to regular CCW's.
Tzeentch could help you if you've just charged someone who can ignore your 3+, as a 4++ can be decent.
 Overall, using this formation is a gamble, but unlike anything else you could do with these guys, it has
the potential to actually pay off.
o Alternative opinion:: Blinding a 3-dudes XV-88 Apocalypse squad (can't be done anymore since all Tau
suits get immunity to Blind from their Wargear) and giving a turn to your machines (especially Fiends,
Helbrutes and Defilers) to shoot and get to CqC could be worth the risk, you can shred the armoured
weeaboo next turn. Unless you took the Dimensional Key and manage to activate it, you have a
reasonable risk for a bad scatter dice roll, and kissing your nasty melee unit goodbye. Vanguard Veterans
suck, people (save in the case of Blood Angels, for whom they are just on the edge of hilariously
awesome). You can also hop-scotch them over terrain for a turn-2 assault with your Initiative 5 (Mark of
Slaneesh) or RAGE-fueled (Mark of Khorne) lightning claws. Beware that this will make them a huge fire
magnet for a relatively fragile unit with only 3+/5++, so keep them screened by cover or friendly vehicles
on their first turn. Or you can crap them the Mark of Tzeentch to have a 4+ inv. to be more confident
about anti-MEQ weaponry. Not definitive, but nice.
o Alternative opinion #2:: Deep Striking these guys is a bad option. Like, Michael Jackson Pepsi
commercial bad. Yeah, the warpflame can be nice--IF IT WORKS. Remember, most boards are going to
have you against I 4 (dem Marine), so it's a 1-4 shot of them passing the test. It's too risky to rely on the
Blind to take care of getting shot the fuck to bits. Also, these things Deep Striking at vulnerable bits
makes people shift fire to end your panty raid nice and quick. Unless you're diverting fire (and who
wants to pay so much for a diversion--just use a distraction Mutilator instead). What I've found works to
lulz-worthiness is giving them to Slaanesh with a Sorcerer with a Jet pack. Take at least one power from
Slaanesh (all are great), and then Biomancy it up with what is left. These guys will tear up damn near
anything they run into. OR...
o Alternative opinion #3:: Ally with daemons. You know how any mass-deepstriking daemon army abuses
the fuck out of icons and instruments? Yeah, you can do that too. Ta-daa! Enjoy precision deepstriking
these guys to blind enemies so that your daemons can survive that 1 turn of shooting before they can
get into melee!.
 The Unnameable Beasts : According to legend, during a dark, terrifying time not so long ago, these were
but a sick joke; no one took that which must never be named, not even in funny lists, not even for flavor
nor fluff. No sane person took them; they were easily the worst unit in all of 40k, which is a hell of an
accomplishment, considering Pyrovores existed back then too.. Not anymore! Chaos Spawn are now the
workhorse of any assault based Chaos Space Marine army- OH MY GODS NO PL-
BJADKJFOASIHDOLADMFNCAOSJ. Anyways, Run them forward ahead of your Rhinos and tag team them
with your Maulerfiends. If even a single Spawn makes it into combat then they've served a very
important purpose: tying up the enemy while your assaulting units hop out of their rhinos. They will also
divert fire away from your Rhinos because the opponent is left with selecting 1 of 2 bad choices: either
shoot the spawn to prevent his units from being tied up in combat or shoot the rhinos and hope they get
disabled while still getting assaulted by the Spawn. Spawn now get access to a similar mutation ability to
Possessed. Spawn also lost slow & purposeful but they eat up a slot now. Unless, that is, one of your
dudes gets mutated into one. This isn't as bad as it sounds, as long as it's not a major loss and the
resulting Spawn is within combat range. Their new stats make them excellent suicide melee units if one
is to suddenly pop into existence, and can hopefully make back a few of the points lost by whatever
'spawned them. But being a Daemon Prince is like, 40,000x better.
o Alternative opinion: The new buffs of rage, a ten point price drop, the minor but useful random ability
at the start of each fight sub-phase, the ability to take marks (36 points for a t6 w3 unit) and the fact
 that you can now control the damn things mean they can actually be useful when used to escort ICs
across the board, such as a bloodcrusher mounted lord with the axe of blind rape, bike sorcerer (giving
him much needed protection), or if you don't mind wasting their movement, Typhus (who becomes t6
and can use the destroyer hive without wiping out his own unit). If you enjoy cheese, take 5 with MoN,
stick a Nurgle Biker Lord in there with plenty of bells and whistles, and you have a ridiculously durable
unit that is almost guaranteed to get your Lord across the board, whilst drawing tons of firepower away
from your other units. Less than 200 points for 15 T6 wounds that can close the gap between you and
your opponent ridiculously fast is a steal, and so durable that they'll most likely stick around for use as
late game objective clearers. And if they don't, your oppponent has probably been diverting enough
firepower towards them that the rest of your units can move up the board practically unassailed.
o Alternative Option 2: Run 5 of these all with MoN, then use Be'lakor to cast invisibility on them. 5 T6 3W
beasts which can only be targeted by snap-shots running up the battlefield and getting anywhere from
5-30 attacks per combat sounds pretty damn good.
o Pro modeling tip if you already didn't figured it out: Their box contains 2 square and 2 rounded bases.
Make 2 legitimately, then use some green stuff/playdough/hot glue to make an additional two (just
model up some snake bodies, slap some spare heads and tentacles. Alternatively, pour some hot glue on
top of another model/random cluster of bitz and push some appendages in while the thing is still warm).
Profit!
o Detachment Bonus! They are the cheapest auxiliary unit in most Traitor Legions, so get a mascot if you
want the detachment bonus but are mainly running Core. Although none of legion armies buffs them
directly except Night Lords, legion-specific detachments can help the Unnamable Things to get closer to
close combat (WE Butcherhorde or BL Speartip) or hide them from enemy fire before they can charge
(Alpha Legion Insurgency Force).
 Hellturkey: (Attack Flyer) Here be dragons(Swoop)(no swooping, swooping is bad(at least for your
enemies))! This is that it's a flyer, which you need now, unless you want to invest in a Sicaran. What it
can do is Strafing Run with a Hades Autocannon (R36" S8 AP4 Heavy 4 pinning) or drop a S6 AP3 torrent.
However, it's prized ability is the vector striking at S7 against land or air targets - yowza! A good move
will have you wiping your opponent's aircraft and a unit of troops off the field. For even more fun, you
can use its Daemon Forge ability once per battle to reroll your wounds/pens! Careful though - although
more resilient than most with 12/12/10, the bird is still thin skinned. Even though it has a 5++ and can
jink in addition to being a flyer that Will Not Die, a good penetrating hit will drop it right out of the
fucking sky. Still, arguably one of the best units of the entire book - sailing carelessly through air, your
opponent's army it shall RIP AND TEAR... ahem, take two and take Baleflamers. With the advent of 7th
edition and the FAQ (see below), Heldrakes are no longer the unbelievable, unlimited rape machines
they were in the past. The 7th edition nerf to Vector Strike hits the Heldrake just as hard as the nerf to
his weaponry. Since the Heldrake can no longer feasibly flame/gun the unit it Vector Strike-d (but note
that you can still burn something else), you're often going to have to make a choice between getting a
vector strike in, or positioning yourself for effective shooting. This dramatically reduces the Heldrake's
usefulness, unless you're using the Death From The Skies maneuverability rules. This isn't to say
Heldrakes aren't usable, but no longer are they an auto include in any CSM army.
o The latest FAQ put a stop to the turret fun as the heldrake's weapons are treated as hull-mounted now,
so no more Asses of Fire. Guess GW got tired watching the Corpse Emperor's lackeys burn in the fires of
the warp and decided to nerf this Chaos flyer back to the Eye of Terror from "everyone bitches about
how cheese it is" to merely "good". Tragically, this is not a surprise.
 Chaos Storm Eagle (Attack Flyer, Pursuit 3, Agility 2, Forge World): 20 pts. cheaper than a loyalist Storm
Eagle, still a fast attack, can't take a Typhoon Missile Launcher instead of its Heavy Bolter, but can
upgrade to a Reaper Autocannon for free. It also loses the Power of the Machine Spirit rule, like every
other Chaos unit, but everything else is otherwise the same. You can buy Possession for this thing, which
is recommended. Take a full squad of marines, cult marines or termies and away you go! Alternatively,
put Kharn and some 'zerkers in this, watch your opponent cry.
 Hellblade (Interceptor, Pursuit 5, Agility 3, Forge World): Was Chaos' own Supersonic Flyer long before
the Helldrake was on the scene, comes with two AND ONLY TWO EVER reaper autocannons, which is
nice because it's only BS3. Can be possessed, though with only 2 HP there's no point in doing so. If you
can't fit raptors, havocs or drakes into your list, you could always settle for one of these in your fast
attack slots, but don't expect it to survive: AV10 all around and only 2 hull points makes it thin skinned,
although it gets 4+ evade. With 6th ed, it's a full-fledged flyer, allowing it to hate on heavy infantry and
light vehicles with impunity, while its high volume of decent strength shots make it deadly against other
flyers. Be warned, even a Fighta-Bommer's defensive big shootas or a fucking Pintle-mounted
Stormbolter can blow this thing out of the sky due to it's shitty armour. The updated rules give it a price
break, though once you upgrade its reapers to Helstorm autocannons (And really, why the fuck would
you NOT?) it sits once again at 115pts. It now comes with a straight-up 5++ save and a fun little ability to
allows it to be repositioned D6+2" before it takes a move, and the "Unnatural Predator" rule lets you
pick out an enemy flyer before the start of the game and re-roll all To Wound or AP rolls of 1 against it,
which is rather nifty.
 Hell Talon (Strike Fighter, Pursuit 4, Agility 4, Forge World): Oh, you thought 'Blood Slaughterer' was a
stupid name? A fighter bomber with Supersonic, 4 hull points and Strafing Run - which makes it having
sex awesome! With its single Reaper autocannon it can put holes in heavy infantry, light vehicles, and
aircraft, with its bombs it can blow apart blobs in a glorious inferno, and with its twin linked lascannon it
can put holes in enemy tanks, making Mech Guard and Nidzilla cry. Another nice feature is that if the
enemy army is light in MEQ units, you can swap out the autocannon for a havoc launcher instead to
really get some pie plate hate on things. Just like the Blade, it gain the point break, autocannon upgrade,
free invuln and teleport ability. It also gets to pick between a whole load of bombs, each of which if
more fun than the others against a specific target, giving your bomber some versatility. These are
bananas. Not only do they have great Flyer stats, but they suffer no penalties for shooting at ground
targets the way generic fighters do. If you're expecting enemy Flyers, take these a pair of Hellblades
above and continue shredding stuff on the ground.
 Dreadclaw Assault Pod (Attack Flyer, Pursuit 1, Agility 1, Forge World): The Chaos Space Marine
version of the loyalist drop pod, the Dreadclaw has the nifty advantage of NOT being immobile (it's a
deep-striking flyer with hover) and it's an assault vehicle with better armour than a rhino. Unfortunately,
it eats a fast attack slot but it can deep strike 10 marines, 5 termies (though they can already do it just
fine without) or a dreadnought. It counts as a Fast Skimmer once it Deep Strikes onto the table, not
Zooming, therefore, you don't need sixes to hit but you can Jink to get 4+ cover (3+ if nightfight). It can
Deep Strike onto the table Turn 1 and unload a shooty alpha strike unit, or move Flat Out 18" to set up a
perfect Turn 2 charge. 100 points, but it gives us some fun new options and mobility. Also note that
since it's a Dedicated Transport for CSM you have an Objective Secured fast skimmer (or Chosen in an
Abaddabadon or BL list) to snag or contest objectives.
o Edit: all is good and beautiful, but it has no "transport" rule. So beware rules lawyers. Mind, it also has
the Daemonic Possession thingy, so shoving expensive units inside is highly undesirable (ahem,
 Dreadnoughts). Remember, it is rolled even if the unit starts the game already embarked upon such
vehicle! Yet despite this you gain a deepstriking assault transport you can land somewhere safe (there's
no Inertial Guiding System on that thing, don't treat it like a normal Pod) then flat-out towards the
target. Jink to avoid the inevitable storm of hate that will head your way, move again, deploy, and
assault. For the mathematically inclined that's 6+6+2d6 = 18" - 24" charge range. Take these if you have
want a glorious chaos drop pod assault. Feel like a legionnaire.
o Forgeworld has finally released an update that brings all of its Flyers up to date with Death from the
Skies. What's weird is that Dreadclaws and Kharybdis are included in this document, as a rare case of
"technically a flyer but." While all but worthless in a Dogfight and as maneuverable as a rock, they can
be taken in Wings now and gain Attack Pattern benefits.

 Blight Drone (Attack Flyer, Pursuit 3, Agility 4, Forge World): Possessed hovering flyer with a BS2,
Daemon of Nurgle (i.e. Shrouded & 5+ Invulnerable save), reaper autocannon and a mawcannon
(without tongue). It costs 150 pts, has pretty decent armour (12/11/10), but it will also explode when
wrecked so be sure you get this thing as close to the enemy as possible! They can be taken in squads of
1-3 too. The mawcannon has a flamer mode (S6 AP4) and a large blast (S8 AP3).
o Forgeworld's DFtS expansion make these buggers fair to middling in a Dogfight, but BS 2 and only having
1 direct-fire weapon and no Skyfire makes these rather lackluster. You may be able to use your USRs to
tank through a Dogfight, but you won't be grounding enemies this way. YMMV.

Heavy Support[edit]
 Defiler - So here's this giant enemy crab-Dreadnought. Your Swiss-army vehicle; can do anything to
some degree or another - and do it well. Has Fleet, 4 hull points, is somewhat better at shooting than a
Dreadnought (with access to more long-range weaponry, including a Battle Cannon) and all the other
Daemon Engine flair (5++, fear, IWND and Daemon Forge). This unit is amazingly flexible; you can have it
shoot off plenty of firepower when stationary (It has a Reaper Autocannon, Battle Cannon, and Heavy
Flamer by default), can be upgraded to be even more shooty by replacing the Reaper Autocannon with a
Twin-Linked Lascannon or Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter, and the Heavy Flamer with a Havoc Launcher.
Unfortunately, the cannon is Ordnance and even bound Daemons can't handle firing Ordnance as well
as a Heavy Flamer or Havok launcher, apparently. With 6th Edition ruining Havoc Launchers, the shooty
option is a Reaper Autocannon or Heavy Bolter Snap Firing to your Battlecannon's tune. You can go the
full Monty for the Assault route, and replace the Autocannon and Flamer for a power fist or scourge
respectively. The fist will get you a +1 attack and is free which is nice, but it already has two (walkers get
+1 attack for EACH weapon after the first, which means 5 attack, 6 on charge) and the scourge will
reduce the WS of models in base contact, so you don't even have to use it, just be in contact. Also this
will leave you with only battle cannon assuming you didn't take havoc, since battle cannon is ordnance
you don't need any other shooting weapon). With its ability to fire off tons of firepower AND/OR rush
forward and rape things with its giant crab-claws, this thing is as versatile as units come. Its main
drawbacks are that its melee and firing accuracy are average (BS/WS/I3) meaning that Power Fists
smack you around and all the other Dreadnoughts except Orks go before you, and they can buy two Deff
Dreads to your one Defiler. It's also an extremely large vehicle, and one that will attract a lot of enemy
fire, causing enemies to put a lot of resources into attacking its weak point for massive damage. Which
 you can even capitalize on, using the weak side of the Defiler as a lure to bring in some of their anti-
vehicle troops in right where you want them. The catch is its fairly high cost - a basic defiler is just under
200 points, and is essentially an AV 12/12/10 walker. This renders it less effective, for all its new toys,
than its previous incarnation. Compare it to a doomsday ark.
o Note DO NOT charge dreads with a defiler. Contrary to the fact that one of the most popular artworks of
defilers is one in which a deffie pulls a dreadnought apart with its claws, now that dreadnoughts have
FOUR power fist attacks at I4 that will be hitting you on 3... chances are the crab will be wrecked before
it gets a chance to swing its manifold limbs. This reduces its usability by a fraction.
o Alternative Opinion: When you do compare it to a doomsday ark, you'll notice that it will fall apart
pretty quick when something gets too close to it. Not quite so for a defiler - while a D-day ark might
have to try and run off to avoid getting popped open, you can throw a defiler happily at almost anything
in charge range. Giving it a power scourge over its heavy flamer has the hilarious advantage of reversing
any close combat prey's fortune as they will now hit on 4's and YOU hit THEM on 3's! Warp flame
gargoyles on your guns will also do well to soften up a target before a fleet-assisted charge.
o Havoc Launcher not doing it for you? How about TWO Havoc Launchers? Defilers have access to the
chaos vehicle armory (page 102, Defiler entry, bullet point three) which is largely overlooked, meaning
they can take an additional havoc launcher along with a combi bolter and a combi melta/flamer/plasma,
so your defiler can always have a little bit more close (combi flamer/melta) mid (combi bolter) and long
(havoc launcher) firepower, damn this crab is versatile! Warpflame Gargoyles make all your ranged
weapons soul blaze, meaning the shooty Defiler can mulch infantry with even more effectiveness. And
they can take Dirge Casters, meaning the assaulty Defiler can't be overwatched. Neat!
o Alternative Opinion 2: I have had plenty of success in casual games running a Defiler with a Scourge and
Fist, relying solely on the battle cannon to handle ranged combat. While the additional attacks granted
to Dreadnoughts makes this less clear cut, let's look at a possible situation. A Defiler fighting a two
Dreadnought squad with twin lascannons. Being generous to the dreads, we'll give each side three
rounds of shooting. Statistically, the Dreads will likely connect with all six shots, four will inflict damage,
2.66 will get through it's save. Most likely suffering stun/shaken results, which it will resist, and in three
turns will likely recover one HP from IWND. Given three shots, and Demon Forged, we'll assume at least
one is a direct hit, and that of the other two, one shot scores a single hit. As it averages 1 hit per round
of firing, we'll assume Daemonforged effects one of the hits. 2 hits at a 50% chance of causing damage
(We'll simply assume glances out of the kindness of our hearts), boosted to 75% (Ordnance), 1.5
wounds, with one shot being what, a 1/16 chance of failing to penetrate? So, ~2.5 hull damage, vs ~1.66
by the time they meet. If we give the Defiler the charge, and an average result on the scourge (2), the
Defiler attacks 6 times, hits with four of them, and inflicts ~3.33 HP of damage. On Dreadnought dies,
the other attacks four times, hits twice. Inflicts slightly more than one HP. The Defiler is down to 1 HP
and some change, but the other dread isn't doing any better. It dies in the next round, and your crab-bot
scuttles off to find new prey. Cover, Meltaguns, and even a little luck COULD swing that (I did skip
overwatch, which would contribute a portion of a wound, not enough to swing this to an "average
chance of a loss" but close), but saying "Don't charge dreads" is a little disingenuous, with the right set
up. (Where are you getting this from? Defilers are I3, Dreadnoughts go before them, not after.)
 Havocs - Havocs are essentially "Chaos Devastators." You start with a squad of 5, that can take four
Specials/Heavy Weapons at any squad size. There are two primary ways to run them: Either as long-
range fire-support, or as part of a "Rhino-spam" army. In the former case, this is one of the notable units
where you do want to give them Veterans of the Long War. The difference between Leadership 9 and
 Leadership 10 (or more realistically, Leadership 8 versus Leadership 9 due to the sergeant tending to be
a glorified bullet-catcher) matters all the more when your fire support is camping by the table edge! In
the second case, you'll want "two Specials and a Rhino". The Chaos Warband gave this option a new
lease on life, as being able to run obsec Special Teams alongside small obsec Chosen Teams has its
appeal.
o If you still fancy using heavy weapons Havocs, Forgeworld has you covered with pretty little SM
autocannon sets of five for both Legion and Kalibrax pattern (that are compatible with default vanilla
arms) for just over double the price! Consider using those since everybody and his dog knows how
bullshit GW Havoc box sets are (a hundred pounds for a complete set of weapons, really? Devastators
have this for, like, half the price, and that's with other toys like combis, hammers and shit.)
o Heavy Weapons Havocs become a lot more viable if you play Death Guard, giving them FNP and
Relentless
 Chaos Rapier Weapons Battery (Forge World): For 40 pts. you get an Artillery unit armed with Quad
Heavy Bolter and manned by 2 Chaos Space Marine crewmen. Might take up to 2 additional Carriers
with crew for 40 pts. each. The weapons may be upgraded to a Laser Destroyer (TL Ordnance AP1
Lascannon), Ectoplasma Cannon or Hades Autocannon (the same as Forgefiend's), or a Heavy
Conversion Beamer. The Chaos Rapier allows you to fill the Heavy Support with fairly cheap heavy
weapons on miniature tank treads, and it is worth noting they have the usual CSM BS4. Lastly, the
Hellish Demise special rule means you must roll a D6 when the Chaos Rapier is destroyed. On a roll of 1
it explodes in a S3 Large Blast, 2-5 do nothing, whilst 6 does the same as 1 but leaves a non-scatter DS
marker for any units with the Daemon USR. Pretty much all Rapier configurations are superior to the
Havoks and Forgefiends in BOTH firepower and survivability, while being cheaper (though Fiends have
their mobility and once-per-game damage booster, and Havocs can bring special weapons for Rhino
drive-by or missile launchers for versatility). It should be no surprise for anyone that Forge World prices
for Rapier models are outrageous.
o Rapiers are great models for niche roles in your chaos army. Conversion Beamers are an excellent
addition to any CSM ranged list, while Hades autocannons are impressive anti-infatry/MC/flyer units.
There price and immobility also negate the 'better than havocs' argument. They are different, and
expensive over time. But totally worth it when used appropriately.
o Alternative take: Probably the best heavy support option for CSM. You like Vindicators yes? How about 3
Vindicator blasts at double the range that don't get fucked by melta & Haywire. Yeah they get suckier
the closer the enemy get to them but you are CSM! If the enemy is getting closer to them you can
charge them with your superior fighty units. They can also be pretty cheap to make. Just buy some of
the Conversion Beamer arm mounts from FW and scratch build your own bases for them (or just buy 3rd
party tank tracks) you're chaos so anything works, nurglings carrying it, mount it on the back of a
daemon, have loyalist slaves haul it around, get creative.
 Chaos Land Raider - It's the classic Land Raider pattern (aka, schizophrenic multiple personality
disorder). The Chaos one is slightly less useful than the Loyalist version because despite being 20 points
cheaper there's no Machine Spirit. It usually serves one of two major roles - as a heavy offensive vehicle
(it's expensive but dear Tzeentch does it get the job done whilst being a giant fire magnet in the process)
and to insert your huge, nasty, pulsating close combat squad deep into the soft moist folds of your
opposition. If you use it for the latter, load it up with Extra Armour, and keep it rolling forward.
Daemonic Possession isn't really worth the points, or the dip in BS. Even with twin-linked weapons,
turning a 3+ to-hit into a 4+ is a tough sell, and all you really want the damn thing to do is move. And
 besides, do you really want to take the risk that the tank will OMNOMNOM your Terminator Chaos Lord
on turn one? Because that's a thing now (your models risk being omnomnomed when you embark,
which is a great mental picture, but can ruin your shit if you're unlucky). Unlike loyalist, can take dozer,
greatly reducing chance for your 230+ pts transport to become utterly useless in one dice throw.
 Chaos Land Raider Proteus (Forge World): Oldschool battle tank type Land Raider - it lacks transport
capacity and assault ramp of regular Land Raider, but comes cheaper and has multimelta AND melta-
immune options. While loyalists get some neat reserve-based abilities for their Proteuses, the Chaos one
gets Fear and a troll-tastic upgrade that forces anyone trying to shoot it to pass a pinning test first.
Overall a good choice if you want to use it as battle tank instead of a Terminator party-buss, or to deliver
special weapon squads into rapid fire/melta/flamer range. Can take the "Ark of Unnameable Horror"
upgrade, meaning all units that fire on the vehicle must make a pinning test or Go to Ground
immediately, not firing. Doesn't work against Fearless units, units firing without line of sight (such as
barrage), or units without a leadership value. Taking the Ark drops transport capacity from 10 to 8.
 Chaos Infernal Relic Achilles (Forge World): Not as unkillable as the Heresy-era Achilles or the one
corpsefuckers use nowadays, as it lacks lance-immunity and -1 to damage (still melta-proof, though), but
in a typical Chaos fashion it picks it up on the offensive, gaining +1S and -1 AP for its quad-mortar each
time it loses an HP. Watch your opponent rage as 1HP Achilles drops 4 S8 AP2 blasts across the board.
Unfortunately it costs an absurd amount of points, making it all but unusable in competitive games.
Makes a good tar-baby to carry your Oblits/Mutilators/Typhus in.
 Chaos Spartan Assault Tank (Forge World): Land Raider on steroids. This thing is armed with 2-shot TL
lascannons at each side, could fit up to 25 guys inside (or 10 termies, Abaddon and Typhus with room to
spare) and has 5 HP. There is no reason to buy Land Raider, if you have enough souls of firstborn to
afford this model. That moment when you realise just how difficult it is to fill this vehicle. You can only
fit one squad + Independant characters so only cultists can fill it to the top. You could also ally in some
spam from the Renegades and Heretics list to bulk this out. Also - don't forget - Dirge Casters for 5
points! Watch your opponent's face as the full capacity of your Spartan spills out and they can't even
overwatch against it!
o The Forge World Land Raiders are comparably easy to convert from normal Land Raiders - you just need
plastic card (or wood, or styrofoam) and enough guns.
 Obliterators - A long time Chaos army favorite with plenty of Dakka fitted in a small, deadly package.
They used to be absolute cheese, but even though every time they appear in a codex, they get weaker,
they're still the best heavy support choice in the book. Formerly the Techmarines of their chapters,
Obliterators have contracted a warp-contagion that sears their flesh to their armour and causes their
weaponry, likewise, to be subsumed. In time they have become enormous arcano-cyborgs, not quite
marine, not quite machine, not quite daemon (well actually they are considered daemon type units in
this rulebook, so they cause fear now, nice bonus). They're tough as hell and can take phenomenal
punishment, even though they lost their fearlessness from last edition (seriously, how did that happen?
But they don't give a fuck in fluff but will retreat if fighting gets too hot). For 70 points, you get a model
with 2 wounds, a 2+ armour save, 5+ invulnerable save, and the ability to Deep Strike. Suffice to say,
they can find a role in damned near any army, since they can soak up damage and demolish squads in
pretty short order. That said, you should nearly always be deepstriking them. Parking them in cover and
using Lascannons and Plasmacannons each turn is a sure enough way to waste both their durability and
their firepower, and if that's the tactic you want to use why aren't you just taking Havocs? Timing is
everything with an Obliterator drop, and you need to know when to drop them to deal with a problem
 unit, be it a cover-camping squad of Fire Warriors or a big squad of SPHESS MHUREENS tacticals. Getting
them into heavy cover basically turns them into a strongpoint. They're also decent in assaults. Still, you'll
want to avoid getting them tarpitted, regardless of whether it's by Guardsmen or Bloodletters. With
only one powerfist to work with in close combat, it takes them forever to kill anything that's not just a
vehicle or small squad, and even with the buffs 2+ armour, they're still going to die if they get caught by
any elite melee unit. With the new codex they can now take marks, making then T5 or improving their
save to 4++, making them an even larger pain to get rid of (You CAN give them Rage or +1I...but that
would be missing the whole point of the unit). Oblits can use the following weaponry (they all come on a
single model, and because Phil dislikes the cheese in the previous rulebook, he's made them trickier to
use because now you can't pick the same weapon two turns in a row): Lascannon, Assault Cannon,
Plasma Cannon, Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer, Twin-Linked Flamer, Twin-Linked Plasmagun, or a Twin-
Linked Meltagun. He also packs a single Power Fist for use in CC.
o Tactics: if you buy 3 Obliterators, you're looking at around 220 points. Ideally you'll want to drop them
first next to a tank you want gone and fire up their multi-meltas, so that they can make a chunk of their
points cost (around 150) back. Jackpot if the enemy is bringing a Land Raider. Slow and Purposeful
allows you to fire the Multi-Meltas even after deep-striking, but if you happen to scatter within 6" of the
tank it is a safer bet to use the twin-linked meltas instead as they have more accuracy. After that, you'll
want to set your eyes on infantry, Monstrous Creatures or other light transports - 3 Assault Cannons do
a great job of causing lots of damage for either enemy type. Alternately you can drop three Plasma
Cannon blasts on any MEQ/TEQ unit you catch outside cover. Sadly Obliterators can't fire overwatch due
to SNP, but they do have their powerfists and 2 attacks each for desperate measures. If you have given
them MoT, they could charge an MC they have wounded and try to finish it off quickly.
o Alternative opinion: Whilst Obliterators are unquestionably versatile, even with the mandatory
switching of weapons every turn, they are no longer the sole Heavy Support unit you will see players
fielding. Obliterators are tough: ridiculously so. However, they pay a lot of points for this durability, and
it makes their firepower-to-cost ratio rather low. 2 lascannon shots a turn for 140 points before marks is
a rather expensive way to deter vehicles. Compare to the other options, such as Havoks and
Forgefiends, who are incredibly economical in their distribution of ammunition, and the Obliterators
start to seem a bit pricey. Obliterators sit somewhere between Havoks and Foregefiends in terms of
durability. They are vulnerable to anti-infantry guns being Toughness 4, but have a 2+ armour save to
protect them and 2 wounds. Their higher armour and multiple wounds entice players to fire anti-tank
guns at them, but they can grab cover more easily than vehicles, and a lucky shot will only kill half the
squad, rather than the entire vehicle. The downside to this mid-range endurance is that every unit the
enemy has can affect them. Any unit in range has a chance hurting them, so concentration of fire to
eliminate them early is a very real danger. This is rather unfortunate, as the durability that they pay so
many points for can end up their achilles' heel.
o Marks are very important, especially MoT or MoN. Some key things to remember: a 4+ invulnerable save
is a godsend when the opponents will surely target you with AP2 weaponry (and this can be bumped up
to a 3+ if you happen to, say, park them on a Skyshield Landing Pad) but most AP2 weaponry will Instant
Death the crap out of them. This is where MoN is taken into consideration; there are far more strength 8
and 9 weapons in the game compared to Strength 10, which means that the opponent will be less likely
to fire those weapons your way, as there's little point in doing so if they can only cause one wound
anyways. It also means that they might just try the more time-honored tactic of drowning you in small
arms fire - again, the MoN comes in handy here, as T5 is a hella lot more resilient than T4, and you still
 get your your 2+ armour save and your 2 wounds, so your total squad firepower wont be dropping
anytime soon even if he directs 100 guardsmen to fire at your obliterator unit (you'll take about 3
wounds. Don't underestimate lasgun fire en masse). A lot of it depends on your meta really. If you
generally play a lot of superheavies than MoT can be better than MoN due to more access to S10 and
the D, but otherwise don't bother, as even if you're opponent brings a vindicator it's pretty easy to just
deepstrike and pop it.
o With deepstrike accuracy being such an important issue here, an obvious choice in HQ department is
someone with Dimensional Key, probably a Daemon Prince. With Ahriman or Huron as Warlord, one can
then infiltrate said Prince for a turn 2 charge and bring these guys in turn 3. This also has good synergy
with heavy melee deepstrike, our strength over the loyalists with Raptors or Warp Talons, both of which
have gone up in the world since the Heldrake nerfing. Except you can't assault when you infiltrated;
consider the Raptor Talon formation or the new Psychic Powers from Traitors Hate so you can get a
guaranteed charge! EXCUSE ME?! Daemon Princes do not need help getting into charge range and also
AREN'T INFANTRY meaning you can't infiltrate them with Master of Deception.
 Chaos Predator - Pretty much the same as the loyalist version, in both performance and cost. As long as
it doesn't come up across Haywire or D-weapons, parking one of these guys in a corner will give you a
good source of Lascannon fire that will take a fair share of firepower to shift from the table. As an actual
battle-tank, for moving-and-shooting, the Predator isn't particularly useful, not only because of snap-
shooting only one weapon at a time, but because its relatively large-ish side-arc makes flanking it easy.
o Loadouts: By default, the Predator gets one Autocannon, which can be upgraded to a twin-linked
Lascannon. This simply won't do for damage, so you will want to upgrade it with sponsons, of the Heavy
Bolter or Lascannon variety. The three main ways to run a Predator: Autocannon & Heavy Bolters for
anti-infantry, three Lascannons for anti-tank, or the Autocannon with Lascannon Sponsons for
versatility; the "Lascannon plus Heavy Bolter Sponsons" loadout in practice should never be used. Points
permitting, toss a Havoc Launcher on top of one of these tanks as it gives you slightly more firepower
than your Loyalist brethren. Traitor's Hate gave Predators the ability to be fielded as a Squadron; if a full
squadron of three are alive, that squadron gets Monster Hunter and Tank Hunter. In practice, this isn't
worth doing because your vehicles do not have easy access to Power of the Machine Spirit.
o Dirty Trick vs Tau: This is the cheapest source of Lascannons your army gets. If you're going heavy on
Psychic support and can get good cover (either from fortifications or using your own Rhinos as glorified
wrecks), Say your opponent runs Broadsides or so. AV 13 makes the Predator immune to Smart Missiles,
while S9 AP 2 instant-deaths their battlesuits. Run a Geomortis Sorcerer with one of these models, and
this thing now ignores cover and can now shoot through walls/line-of-sight blocking terrain. You now
have the opportunity to beat Tau at their own game. If you're feeling cheeky, you could take a Havoc
Launcher and reroll "hits" to hope it scatters onto a nearby Pathfinder unit, but that's not particularly
recommended.
 Chaos Infernal Relic Predator (Forge World): Your standard Predator, only with huge variety of weapons
available. In addition to all toys of a standard Predator, it have an option to get a set of sponson heavy
flamers (which you probably don't wont, but they're there anyways just in case), and one of the five new
turret weapons:
o Flamestorm Cannon, the default weapon; it sucks socks, since you cannot come close enough fast
enough to use it to its full potential.
 Thanks to the new psychic powers it's now possible to fling this baby right into the heart of the enemy.
And if you go the extra mile you can even use PotMS to burn two different units. Let the galaxy burn!
o Autocannon with Inferno Bolts, which is an autocannon with AP3, and thus OK (especially with malefic
ammo).
o Magna-Melta, which is OK on it's own, if a bit overpriced, but rises a question why didn't you just take a
Vindicator instead.
o Plasma Destroyer, which is an awesome MEQ/TEQ killer gun.
o Heavy Conversion Beamer, which is more difficult to use, and certainly useless on BLoS-heavy tables, but
massively powerful on the long range.
 Chaos Relic Sicaran Battle Tank (Forge World): Fast 13/12/12 Tank, armed with a monstrous Twin-
Linked Heavy 6 Rending Jink-ignoring Autocannon and a hull Heavy Bolter, comes with Extra Armour
stock. It is superior to Predator Destructor in every way imaginable, while being only slightly more
expensive (point-wise anyway, the model itself is FW-priced). It really shines at dealing with enemy
Skimmers, as it is the perfect counter to the Serpent-spam. Sicaran can even be made melta-immune or
take sponson weapons like a Predator. It might upgrade all of its guns with Rending USR, but it's not
really worth the 40 points cost.
 Chaos Vindicator - No more Dozer Blade included or Siege Shield. Daemonic Possession helps and
mounting a Havoc Launcher gives it a backup weapon. It mounts a Demolisher Cannon, which will
basically win back its points the second it fires. Heavy front armor and intense firepower means that this
thing will draw huge amounts of abuse. If you throw Daemonic Possession on this thing, you will have a
field day watching players go to obscene lengths to kill/get away from it. Mounting a couple extra guns
will help keep the odds of losing your demolisher cannon early on low.
o New Supplement! We can now take these in squadrons of three. While all three are alive and can fire
their cannon, you can designate one to fire an apocalypse blast instead of the vindicators firing
normally. It also ignores cover.
 Chaos Deimos Pattern Vindicator Tank Destroyer (Forge World) - While Guard invented their wannabe
Vindicators by replacing Rapier destroyers on their tank hunters with Demolishers, marines did the exact
opposite, and this what they got as a result. This is a walking twin-linked ordnance AP1 lascannon
(meaning you can re-roll both to-hit and to-pen, and blow up things on 5+). More so, it fires THREE times
per turn if stationary with a chance to overheat. This thing eats tanks and may even threaten super-
heavies by it's own. You can be a pussy and downgrade it to only two safe shots, but you're playing
Chaos, for Gods' sake - be a man and take that risk, it's only one HP with 1/6 chance anyway. Oh, and it
costs less than three artillery-type Rapiers while still capable to move and shoot (if only once). If there
wasn't enough reasons to never take las-Predators in a Chaos army, here's another one, because it's flat
10 point's cheaper than tri-las Predator while being all-around better.
 Forgefiend: Whoever decided that CSM needed Daemon Dino-bots - well, thanks! Forge Fiends come
with a pair of Hades Autocannons, which throw out an absurd amount of dakka (that's 8 S8 AP4 pinning
shots a turn, making Psyflmen Dreadnoughts blush). Furthermore, they can trade their Hades
Autocannons for 2 S8 plasma cannons for free, and take a third one for +25 pts replacing the damn
thing's face! (Most) Deepstriking terminators will piss themselves, especially Draigo's shiny dozen when
faced with 3 instant-death plasma blasts a turn. On top of this, like all other daemon engines it has a
5++, fear, IWND and Daemon Forge, which comes in very handy with this guy.
o Alternative Opinion: Opponent fielding fliers? Pop a Forgefiend down with a pair of Hades
Autocannons. Eight shots give it excellent odds of hitting - even if it's only on sixes - and it's Strength of 8
will cut though almost any flier (including the Stormraven) as if it were made of paper mache. This
machine can be incredibly versatile over it's cousin with the right setup. Allying with Chaos Daemons for
 a cheap Tzeentch Divination psyker turns this bad boys into monsters. Rerolling to hit is HUGE at BS 3,
and against enemy fliers. Pop Daemon forge that turn and watch the enemy cry as its fliers implode.
 Maulerfiend: The other Daemon Dino-bot. Comes with a pair of power fists and magma cutters, which
deal a meltabomb auto-hit that can strike non-vehicle units, too! This big beastie can also move at 12",
ignore difficult terrain and has Fleet on top of that! Lasher tendrils reduce Dreadknights/Terminators to
A1 and dreads to A2. You use this monster to run down other vehicles, charge isolated infiltrator squads,
bust open fortifications and close combat backup should things not go just as planned. Also has all the
Daemon Engine tricks of 5++, Fear, IWND and Daemon Forge. Maulerfiends are not designed to hunt
infantry. Lasher tendrils are awesome against charging terminators, but you can't really rely on them to
keep the beast alive forever, and the magma cutters aren't great against anything other than vehicles.
An interesting point worth mentioning is that a maulerfiend is surprisingly good at is mushing otherwise
tough models that have multiple wounds, 5 toughness, but preferably - no invul save. Looking at you,
centurions and cataphrons. What maulers lack in versatility and killyness against most units, they more
than make up for with sheer speed. They happily dash across the board, smashing into units you don't
want shooting at your other stuff - and can keep said units preoccupied for quite a while, and even do
some damage. Additionally - two maulers - one with cutters, the other one with tendrils, on the charge,
should be enough to dismember a knight (especially a ranged weapons one) - which is a big deal, since
knights are becoming more and more popular. Another point worth noting is that this thing is actually a
daemon - which means that Cursed Earth bumps its invulnerable save to 4++ - and that, in combination
with its 12/12/10 AV is nothing to sneer at.

The prevalent opinion about maulers is that they're OK on their own, but in order to really shine they
need to be taken in pairs. Although there are better options that could fill your heavy suppoert slots in a
CAD, few are more menacing than two dinobots. Another (arguably better) way to field them is in a
Helforged Warpack. See the formation's entry below for more information.

 Plague Hulk (Forge World): Essentially a budget Soul Grinder of Nurgle that you can take without paying
the ally tax. Carries a poisoned 3+ S5 AP3 flamer and a rending, 36" range S6 battle cannon.. Like all
Daemons of Nurgle it now has Shrouded. It is only 150 pts, and with the rules from IA13 no longer
requires a squad of plague marines to field; that said, it's about as tough to bounce as a regular Soul
Grinder of Nurgle.
 Blood Slaughterer (Forge World): Don't be fooled by the name, these are goddamn rape-blenders!
Rage, Rampage, Daemon (of Khorne, granting furious charge should you lose your DCW), Daemonic
Resilience, Deepstrike, Fleet, WS5, FA13, comes with a DCW, gain D3 attack on Charge (in addition to
ANOTHER d3 from the Rampage) and can be taken in squads of 3: good god, things are gonna die! Each
also gets the option to take a ranged weapon called an impaler which always hits on 4+ regardless of BS,
CANNOT ever be snap fired and allows you to drag vehicles and monstrous creatures towards you,
DRAGGING THEM INTO CLOSE COMBAT if they happen to move in BtB contact with the Slaughterer,
which means it is the only model in the game that can (kind of) charge right from Deep Strike. They can
be taken in vehicle squadrons of 3, cost a scant 130 points but do require a squad of Berserkers to field.
The "downside" is that it has shitty 5E Rage (it must charge at/move towards the closest thing it sees);
chances are you were probably going to do that anyway, and with the combination of fleet, an impaler
and a shedload of S10 AP2 attacks there is damn near NOTHING that can survive a pack of Slaughterer.
 Fire Raptor Gunship (Attack Flyer, Pursuit 3, Agility 3, Forge World): Comes naked with TL Avenger Bolt
Cannon, 4 Hellstrike Missiles and two Independent-Turret Quad Heavy Bolters; the latter which aside
 from firing at their own targets as rumoured, don't count towards the number of weapons fired! A
Legion or CSM army can swap the quad bolters for a Reaper Battery for 10 pts each, 40K Marines get a
TL Autocannon for free. With all the twin-linked goodness, Strafing Run and PotMS/Independent-
turrets; this bastard can dump its entire payload in a single turn and hit almost every time and it's only
260 pts altogether for the ceramite armor and reaper battery upgrades.
o 20 pts cheaper due to the loss of PotMS but can buy Daemon Possession for the same price. Since
there's no worries about passengers getting NOM'ed, TL/Strafing Run counteracts BS3 well enough and
the way the turret works you don't need PotMS altogether make the Chaos Fire Raptor much nicer then
it's Loyalist counterpart; which is rare. And to make it even better, it gain assess to malefic ammunition,
because Rending on something with so much dakka is insane.
o There is something to be said for adding warpflame gargoyles on these. On a single platform, for a mere
5 points, you can potentially light up 3 units a turn (or more if you clip multiple units with Balefire
missiles).
 Kharybdis Assault Claw (Air Leviathan, Pursuit 1, Agility 1, Forge World): Land Raider size Drop pod. At
cost of Land Raider+ it gives you HP: 5, 20 cap/Drednought/Helbrute, special attack (with 2 versions,
deep strike is S6 AP5 D3+3" ignore cover nova (at this size even 4" covers nice area), and fire sweep is
flame trial with same strength and ap (ANY model under its path takes hit so be carefull), rule that
allows you to ram (not when arrive from reserves, using its special attack or disembark troops) and
pinning (like chaos have not enough pinnings attacks) TL stormbolter AND all drop pod rules that we
love. Drop pod assault + guidance system + 20 cap + Berzerkers/muliators/helbrute with multi-melta =
RAGE (also enjoy a 1/6 chance of your Possessed Transport munching the dread it was deepstriking and
arriving empty, making your enemy laugh himself silly, although, if you are transporting the
Warpsmith/Sorcerer/Abbs necessary to take more than one, it's not an issue). Remember that you can't
charge on turn 1 though so land somewhere safe then flat-out towards the target. Jink to avoid the
inevitable storm of hate that will head your way, move again, deploy, and assault. For the
mathematically inclined that's 6+6+2d6 = 18" - 24" charge range. Take these to support a glorious chaos
drop pod assault and safely deploy your Mutilators/Terminators/Cult Marines/Chaos Marines/possessed
right in the middle of the enemy deployment zone.
o Forgeworld has finally released an update that brings all of its Flyers up to date with Death from the
Skies. What's weird is that Dreadclaws and Kharybdis are included in this document, as a rare case of
"technically a flyer but." While all but worthless in a Dogfight and as maneuverable as a rock, Kharybdis
pods have some new tricks. Arguably, wings are a nonstarter with the Kharybdis, due to being Infernal
Relics, so no Air Superiority Detachment shenanigans to make your list outperform DA in combat drops.
But on the plus side, ALL of your Kharybdis Storm Launchers can be fired with Skyfire while Zooming,
without counting against your allowed weapons, as long as you don't suffer a Crew Stunned
(HAHAHAHAHA). You also can shoot them all during a Dogfight as long as you aren't doing a Head-On
Pass. Nothing says "FUCK OFF," like 10 Strength 6, AP 5, Twin-linked shots. Additionally, normal Crew
Stunned does nothing but turn off this ability to Skyfire everything (again, if they ever manage to get it
to stick).

Fortifications[edit]
Here are the general tactics for fortifications
http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Fortifications
 Aegis Defense Lines: These are popularly used for Cultists, and with good reason. They're 50 points,
they can be upgraded with a Skyfire weapon (no longer do you have to rely on Heldrakes!), and you can
add a cheap little comms relay to mess with Reserves (pretty much the only way to do so with the CSM).
You can also park your Autocannon Havocs here — let the Champion man the Quad Gun while his
squadmates spam S7 shots from cover/eat bullets for him.
 Skyshield Landing Pad: Pretty respectable in a small number of cases, almost worthless in most others.
It has some strange special rules, but the provided advantages boil down to a decent defensive structure
and an ability to deep-strike without fail. Potentially useful, but if you can't immediately see an opening
for it in your army there probably isn't one.
o Note that MoT grants +1 to invulnerable saves. MoT Las-Havocs or Oblits with a 3++ sound particularly
useful. If you play the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion and add a Blessing it becomes 2++. No it doesn't the
limit on MoT still applies and stops sacking beyond 3++.
 Imperial Bastion: Surprisingly potent. An Imperial Bastion provides a useful anti-air, a place to hide a
Cultist or 5-man Chaos Marine squad, and a good place to plonk a squad of Havocs to allow them to
blow the shit out of everything while benefiting from 4+ cover and access to the quad-gun (which is
good against flyers). The 4 free heavy bolters which can be legally placed all on one facing, gives your
men the advantage of height and cover. This is especially good in a very defensively oriented army - and
note that it unlocks all of those sweet extra things listed on the fortifications page, like a comms relay
for reserves manipulation or tank traps to force people to disembark so you can shoot them for a turn
befopre they reach your lines.
 Void Shield Generator: Big ol' AV12 bubble to hide behind and shoot with impunity. 50pts. Want two
more layers? 100pts. Excellent in a defensive army, but Void Shields do not prevent Deep Strikes. You
could fill that 12" bubble with cannon fodder, either in the form of cultists, or better still, allied in Plague
Zombies, for the points, because they actually keep Deep-striking Meltas out of Melta range, which
would have to deploy at least 13" away from whatever you were bubble-wrapping, which nixes (Combi-)
Meltas and hampers Multimeltas. Or you could focus on Havocs and Obliterators - who needs tanks?
 Promethium Relay Pipes: Rubric Marines now have Flamethrowers, making this thing worth
consideration. Take the big fortification with Void Shield Generators for a sorcerous fortress.
 Wall of Martyrs Imperial Bunker: Cheap, tough with 14 armour, you can get inside, on top and it has
holes for up to 8 dudes to fire out. And pretty safe to fit a squad in. Put inside someone like Noise
Marines, or Havocs, throw in an ammo pile inside for extra accuracy and you can bet no troops will
wanna get close to your dakka box.
 Wall of Martyrs Firestorm Redoubt: For a few points less than a Land Raider you get an Imperial Bunker
but bigger and with anti air guns. (though you may change either of the Icarus Quad Cannons for
different weapons if you own them) with four 96" range interceptor/skyfire lascannon shots. While being
forced to fire at BS2 seems like a pain, being twin linked means that you hit approximately 55% of the
time, but you can upgrade it to BS3 if you want to pay more points on the machine spirit, but then any
enemy aircraft on (or coming on to) the table has to worry about the incredible amount of dakka
heading its way since massed S9 AP2 skyfire is extremely rare. Sadly, only six models can fire from the
inside, so it's more suited for heavy weapon teams.
 Plasma Obliterator: Oh my...a simple building at AV14 all around you can get inside it has fire holes and
has a Plasma Obliterator which fires a 7" Massive Blast at S7 AP2. Want to obliterate its point cost in
heavy infantry? Look no further. However, it still gets hot (luckily since it's a fortification it gets a 4+ save
against it), and it has a new rule called Plasma Overheat which means if it takes a glancing hit due to
 Gets Hot! a unit embarked takes D3 randomly allocated wounds (just as with classic gets hot! allow
saves). You'd think a building the size of a Bastion would have an external cooling system to prevent this
fucking rule...still, at land raider cost it's quite an expensive Fortification, but oh man will this thing melt
hordes, regardless of how good their save is.
 Wall of Martyrs Vengeance weapon battery You can't get in or on top but it is cheap, you can fit two in
a single slot and fires classic battle cannon or punisher cannon shots.
 Fortress of Redemption: Expensive both in points and actual cost, this huge model doesn't exactly
bristle with guns as you would expect. But now, you are able to dominate everything on the table - tanks
will be sniped with the '96 lasgun, fliers will be decimated by AA guns.
 Macro-Cannon Aquila Strongpoint: Str D large blast or apocalyptic mega blast a weapon on a large
imperial Bunker with AV15. It is even more expensive then the fortress of redemption
 Vortex Missile Aquila Strongpoint: Its all in the name. It's the Aquila strongpoint except this version
fires vortex missiles
 Haemothrope Reactor: Boosts Void Shield Generators and plasma weapons (Plasma Obliterator
included). Given that you have almost no infantry plasma cannons, it's not really worth the investment.

Lord of War[edit]
 Magnus the Red, Daemon Primarch of Tzeentch: The biggest Character model GW ever made for 40k.
650 points for the big cheese of the Thousand Sons himself. Rules wise, he's a beast. He's a Flying
Monstrous Creature, Fearless, Eternal Warrior, Deep Strike, Fleet, It Will Not Die, VotLW, and is the
highest Mastery Level in the game at ML5. His high Mastery level is somewhat hamstrung by the fact
that all 15 of his powers are from the updated Tzeentch discipline, the Chaos Daemons Change discipline
and force. Mind you this means he knows 2 Destroyer powers. What he lacks in variety he makes up for
in sheer Psychic rape. He always harnesses warp charges on 2+, and thanks to his Omniscient Eye relic,
Magnus has line of sight to every enemy model on the table during the Psychic phase. Nobody is safe
from being smacked by D-weapons. His wargear is also amazing. His Crimson Crown gives him a 4++,
which re-rolls 1s since Daemon of Tzeentch obviously, and he never suffers Perils of the Warp. His Blade
of Magnus is a S:User (so S8) AP:2 Force weapon with Soul Blaze and Transmorgify (slain opponents
become those unnameable beasts). Comes with an expected beastly statline at WS/BS7 S8 T7 I7 W7 A6
Ld10 and a 4+ Armor save (not moot since it's there to determine grav-weaponry's effectiveness). In all,
what else did you expect?
o Using Magnus: If you do take Magnus, chances are you're taking more Psykers alongside him. As a rule,
he's going to want to stay in the middle to anchor the rest of your army, though beware of Poison as
he's not a GMC. Ideally, you want to start your Psyker Phase with him casting Spell Syphon, your other
casters breaking out a few Witchfires (Shriek versus MCs/infantry, Heretek powers versus vehicles), then
using the extra Warp Charge for Magnus to finish things off with a bang. Do you like Burning Chariots?
Boon of Flame makes it incredibly easy to conjure up 100 points each turn for popping tanks or finishing
off Marines with a solid Torrent of Pink Fire.
o Another Take: He might be awesome though don't forget he's not a Gargantuan so that time when a D
attack hits him and your opponent rolls that 6, that's 650 points gone in the blink of an eye. However if a
D weapon rolls a 6 against anything, chances are high it will die regardless of what it is unless its a
Warlord titan. What you should REALLY fear from this is Poison and Sniper weapons, which GMC's are
immune to but Magnus is not!
o This editor has found another but very risky way to counter him, used by his very own Legion:
Athenaean Scrolls. Pray Tzeentch to rolle Warp Lure on Sinistrum table and add a couple more dice to
your Psychic test for higher chances of success and guaranteed roll of double. Laugh at your opponent's
face (and watch for your own) as the most powerful servant of Architect of Fate struggles to cast the
simplest spell. Just as planned, hehehe... Except Magnus is still likely to win the roll-off due to very high
mastery level and you will mostly hope to roll the draw. Forcing him to forget a power is almost
impossible and he has so many anyway that most can substitute each other for anti-tank or anti-infantry
power while some are stil not very useful "cough" Tzeentch's Firestorm "cough". Bring the allied
detachment/unbound Kairos for better rolls. But the biggest problem is: The Athenaean Scrolls wielder
will become a huge fire magnet once the opponent guesses that you are planning to do. The Warp Lure
also requires to approach Magnus within 24", and he would be surrounded by dozens of Rubricas and
their angry masters. Even without his bodyguards and magicka, you still have to think about how to kill
him and he is gonna be within a charge range to give you the ass-whooping then turn you into the Chaos
Sp... well, you get it.
o According to the faq, Magnus can generate powers from malefic daemonology tree. Magnus cannot use
daemonology with this FAQ update as he starts the game knowing all the Tzeentch and Change powers,
but DOES NOT generate powers.
 Khorne Lord of Skulls: Khorne's big badass close combat death machine. It starts with only 4 attacks, but
gets more (up to ten) for each hull point it loses - even if it recovers those lost hull points later! This is
made better by it having It Will Not Die and a 5+ Invulnerable save and the fact that his CC weapon is
Strength D! This thing also has two ranged weapons. His arm weapon is a 48" Heavy 12 gatling gun with
Pinning but can be replaced with a 60" S9 AP3 Apocalyptic blast that forces successful saves to be re-
rolled. His belly gun is an MEQ killing Hellstorm Template that can be replaced with either a 48" S7 AP2
Large blast gun or an even deadlier Hellstorm Template that has Gets Hot but also has Instant Death.
Well worth considering, that is, if it wasn't for it's pants-on-head retarded point cost of 888. Really, the
only use you'll get out of this is buying one to convert into a Kytan.

Forgeworld[edit]
 Chaos Typhon Heavy Siege Tank (Forge World): Courtesy of Perturabo's fondness for superior
firepower, this tank is basically a super-Vindicator. Larger than a Land Raider it boasts an all around AV
14 and 6 HPs. Equipped with a Dreadhammer Siege Cannon this thing is the ultimate bane of anything
that is T5 or below and/or has only one Wound. I mean, the cannon fires a S10 AP1 Primary Weapon 1
Massive Blast (7") which, wait for it, Ignores Cover. Wanna save your sorry asses with cover saves or
Jink? Well, tough luck. The Typhon can also be armed with Predator-esque sponsons and a pintle-
mounted weapon up to and including a Multi-Melta. It has the option to take Armoured Ceramite in
order to become nigh indestructible. May take Chaos Vehicle upgrades from the CSM Codex too.
Combined with its reasonable 350 pts. stock cost it might serve as a nifty Lord of War choice in a
standard-sized game.
 Chaos Fellblade Super-Heavy Tank (Forge World): The Space Marine-grade equivalent to the
Baneblade, the Chaos Fellblade packs some serious firepower on a durable platform. With AV 14/13/12,
12 HPs and the ability to take Armoured Ceramite it's not going to blow up anytime soon. As such, it has
plenty of time to bring all of its guns to bear. The default arsenal includes two Quad Lascannon sponsons
(4 TL Lascannon shots total), Demolisher Siege Cannon, Heavy Bolter and finally the main weapon the
size of which would make Slaanesh giggle: Fellblade Accelerator Cannon. This oversized double-barreled
beauty has an astounding range of 100" and two profiles: S8 AP3 Ordnance 1 Massive Blast (7") or S9
 AP2 Heavy 1 Armourbane Small Blast. All of this for 540 pts. stock. Like the Chaos Typhon, the Fellblade
can rake a pintle-mounted weapon and Chaos Vehicle upgrades from the CSM Codex as well. Even
though it lacks Destroyer weapons of the Titans this Super-Heavy Tank still boasts considerable
firepower and is arguably better balanced as far as standard-sized games are concerned.
 Chaos Thunderhawk Gunship (Forge World): Good ol' Super-Heavy Flier which has grown some spikes.
For 685 pts. it has mediocre AV 12/12/10, but at the same time it's got 9 HPs and in-built Armoured
Ceramite that compensate for this. With a large transport capacity of 30 it is also explicitly permitted to
transport Jump Infantry and Bikes, and boasts Assault Vehicle to go with this. Regarding the armament it
has a MEQ-killing Thunderhawk cannon which might be upgraded to Everything-killing Turbo-laser
destructor with Strength D, four TL Heavy Bolters (because ne'er enuff dakka), two Lascannons and 6
Hellstrike missiles. For 50 pts. it might become a Daemon with 5++ save, though the price for this is that
you must roll a D6 each time a unit embarks or disembarks from the transport. If you happen to roll 1,
D3 models are nommed by the Daemon Thunderhawk and restore an equivalent amount of lost HPs.
 Renegade Knight (Renegade): Another use for an upcoming board game is to use the knight packaged
as your LoW. Though it lacks any Marks like the FW Knight, it compensates by being far more
customizable. It can be made to imitate any of the Loyalist Knights (With its stock build being a Gallant),
but the bigger bonus is the ability to mount two of the same gun, meaning double gatlings for all the
dakka goodness. It should also be noted that since this is technically CSM, Orks can finally ally with a
Knight and not be uber-fucked. They...just can't repair it if it gets hurt.
 Kytan Daemon Engine of Khorne (Forge World): Wow. And those poor bastards thought they had you
cornered with their Knight bullshit. Right, so it's better armoured, has a better invulnerable save, better
WS and an impressive gun. For 525 pts. Rules here. Not a perfect weapon but it can handily outclass
most, if not all Knight variants and take on damn near anything on the battlefield up to Warhound
titans. Also has a handy rule where if you wipe out something with its gun, you can charge something
else in the assault phase so be sure to coordinate your fire to take down that squad of MEQs and then
charge that superheavy or MC/GC and fuck its shit up!
 Chaos Knight (Forge World): Rules here. The Chaotic answer to the Imperial Knight. Comes in Paladin
and Errant forms. Click and paste of the normal Knight rules and weapons, but with fun Daemon
upgrades and the ability to take Dirge Casters. As well as getting the Daemon Special Rule (which is
ungodly since it now has an invuln save in close combat) each Deity dedication grants the Knight a
special ability as follows:
o Khorne: D3 extra attacks on the charge instead of 1, can re-roll the amount of stomp attacks it gets, and
has Hatred (Slaanesh). A nice buy, to be sure.
o Slaanesh: Opponents must make a Leadership test at -2 or become I1 for the fight sub-phase. Has
Hatred (Khorne). You're purely relying on luck, but if it swings your way, bye-bye that unit the Slaanesh
Knight charged.
o Tzeentch: Heavy Stubbers gain the Soulblaze Special Rule, re-rolls 1 to-hit, and has Hatred (Nurgle).
Stupid, the main weapons should have gotten Soulblaze for it to be even worthwhile, and the knight's
best weapons are blasts. Re-rolling 1s to hit is useless. This works in close combat so it has potential with
only 3 attacks. You're also allowed to reroll the scatter for blasts even if you can only reroll 1s.
o Nurgle: Gain IWND and Hatred (Tzeentch). Incredibly powerful, and incredibly expensive.
 Brass Scorpion of Khorne (Forge World): Hilarious amounts of super-heavy walker rape in a segmented
can. For 700 points, you get a Baneblade-level armored big metal arachnid with a Demolisher Cannon
for a face, Inferno Cannon-equivalents in both arms, a S6 AP3 Heavy 10 splattergun on its tail, and close
 combat capability that will pretty much make anything that survives its ranged weaponry bombardment
shit itself (though it's only WS3). Oh, and it makes enemy psykers explode and goes supernova when it
finally gets taken down by the massive ordnance your enemy will inevitably deploy to kill the hell out of
it before it does a berserk charge and tears his shiny Titan seven new assholes. What's not to like?
Worth to say there is two models of Brass Scorpions - regular Defiler-like one you need to scratch-build
yourself and buffed out Great Brass Scorpion, who's model is also one of the most bad-ass-looking thing
Forge World ever made. Greater Brass Scorpions get +3 attacks, and +1 to SP and front armor for like
150 extra points (new Apocalypse book puts it at 300 more now. In exchange it's demolisher ignores
cover, it gets more stomp attacks, gained It will not die and is a daemon.) - still totally worth it,
considering awesomeness of FW model.
 Chaos Warhound Titan (Forge World): The desecrated Scout Titan is a force to be reckoned with. Costs
730 pts. AV 14/13/12, 9 HPs and 2 Void Shields mean it's quite tough. The Agile special rule allows it to
shoot all weapons, fire a single weapon after a Run move or Run twice instead. Has the Dirge Caster by
default. The Chaos Warhound possesses two weapon slots and may pick any combination from the list
of: Double-barreled turbo-laser destructor, Plasma blastgun, Inferno gun or Vulcan Megabolter. All
weapons are powerful but the turbo-laser erases entire chunks of the enemy army with its delicious
Strength D Large Blasts (2 from one weapon!). On the other hand the Megabolter is one of the rare
Titan-grade weapons that might actually fire at a Flyer or Swooping FMC, and with S6 AP3 Heavy 15 it
has a reasonable chance of downing one with a single salvo. What sets it apart from the loyalist version
is the ability to dedicate it to a Chaos God. This is advisable for the Daemon 5++ save, the rest are mostly
bonuses:
o Khorne: The cheapest (along with Slaanesh) at 50 pts., gives Hatred (Slaanesh), lets you re-roll the
number of Stomps you get, and gives +D3 attacks on the charge. Because you were going to charge
instead of just shooting it with your guns anyways right? Meh upgrade really.
o Nurgle: The most expensive at 100 pts., it gives Hatred (Tzeentch) and It Will Not Die. Despite the high
cost this seems to be the best option, granting increased survivability to something that is already a
huge fire magnet.
o Tzeentch: 75 pts. granting Hatred (Nurgle), re-rolls for 1's To Hit, and gives the Inferno Cannon Soul
Blaze. Despite Soul Blaze being kind of overkill and not really effective the re-rolls make up for it.
Another good option. Tzeentch is probably the worst dedication. Re-rolling 1s doesn't mean shit if all
weapons except for one are blast weapons
o Slaanesh: the other 50 pts. option, this one grants Hatred (Khorne) and in CC forces the enemy to take a
LD test at a -2 or reduces their initiative to 1. If it wasn't for the fact that most CC threats are I1 anyways
(other Walkers maybe?) this would be good.
 Chaos Reaver Titan (Forge World): In fact, at 1,460 pts. this Battle Titan costs almost as much as a
regular army. Anyway, the Chaos Reaver is extremely tough with AV 14/14/13 and 18 Hull Points
protected by 4 Void Shields. It is further equipped with a Dirge Caster and must select one carapace
weapon and two arm weapons. The carapace weapons are Warhound-grade whilst the arm slots have
even stronger BFGs. The Laser blaster in particular is an enhanced version of the turbo-laser with
Strength D AP2 Primary Weapon 3 shots per gun. You can totally equip the Reaver with two of those and
a carapace turbo-laser to fire 8 Strength D Large Blasts each turn. Why? Because MAIM! KILL! BURN!,
that's why. Like the Chaos Warhound it may be dedicated to a Chaos God for the Daemon USR and
certain other bonuses:
o Khorne: The cheapest (along with Slaanesh) at 100 pts., gives Hatred (Slaanesh), lets you re-roll the
number of Stomps you get, and gives +D3 attacks on the charge. Because you were going to charge
instead of just shooting it with your guns anyways right? Meh upgrade really. People tend to forget how
much this can save their bacon. A common tactic against Reavers is to tarpit them with blobs of cheap
units so they can't shoot. Re-rolling stomps can really help you clear out tarpits.
o Nurgle: The most expensive at 200 pts., it gives Hatred (Tzeentch) and It Will Not Die. Seriously, a
Daemon Reaver Titan of Nurgle will not die. Despite the high cost this seems to be the best option,
granting increased survivability to something that is already a huge fire magnet.
o Tzeentch: 150 pts. granting Hatred (Nurgle), re-rolls for 1's To Hit, and gives the Inferno Cannon Soul
Blaze. Despite Soul Blaze being kind of overkill and not really effective the re-rolls make up for it.
Another good option. Tzeentch is probably the worst dedication. Re-rolling 1s doesn't mean shit if all
weapons except for one are blast weapons (and why would you take the Vulcan Mega-Bolter over an
Apocalypse Missile Launcher or a Laser Blaster?).
o Slaanesh: the other 100 pts option, this one grants Hatred (Khorne) and in CC forces the enemy to take a
LD test at a -2 or reduces their initiative to 1. If it wasn't for the fact that most CC threats are I1 anyways
(other Walkers maybe?) this would be good.
o Alternative Opinion: Dedicating your Reaver to Nurgle really isn't worth it. Dedicate it to Khorne and
give it the "Veteran Of The Scouring" legacy of ruin. It's 20pts cheaper than Nurgle and still grants IWND
and Daemon. Hatred (Space Marines) is also way better than Hatred (Tzeentch). If you want proof,
compare the amount of Tzeentch players to the amount of Marine players... yeah. Not only this, but you
also gain +D3 attacks on the charge (not that useful, to be fair) and re-rolls for the amount of stomps
you get (excellent if your opponent is trying to tarpit you). If you really want to piss off your opponent,
take the Reaver dedicated to Khorne with "Veteran Of The Scouring". Add in Daemon allies and take the
Grimoire of true names and some Malefic Daemonology and pray to the dark gods for Cursed Earth.
That gives you a 2++ Invuln, but wait, there's more!. Take Be'lakor as you're warlord and spam
invisibility. You're left with a Reaver Titan with a 2++ Invuln that can only be hit on 6s. Watch the
loyalists cry!
 Warlord Battle Titan - Hoo boy, just when you thought you were safe. Forgeworld has noted that this
beast can be taken in a CSM army [1]. This destroyer of wallets is also a destroyer of friendships, as it's
rules are as ridiculous as you think. Making an appearance in HH:5, it brings the pain in oh-so many
ways. Coming in at a whopping 2750 points it sports 6 void shields and 30 RUINOUS-POWER-DAMNED
HULL POINTS. Should you reach said hull points it has a 5++ save against hits to those hull points. It has a
variety of go-fuck-yourself weapons (most of which are blasts) and rules, such as; the ability to fire
Overwatch with some of its built-in weapons, immunity to being locked in combat as well as the Haywire
rule and all non-Witchfire psychic attacks (and ceramite plating, fuck melta weapons), can only be hit in
assault on a roll of 6 by infantry and MCs (or a 5+ by other superheavies and GCs), and all of its stomps
use a Large Blast template. Oh, and should anyone actually manage to destroy it it explodes in a
12"/24"/36" blast with its own table, 1 is S D/8/4 AP 2/3/5, 2-3 is S D/10/6 AP 2/3/4, and 4-6 is S D all
round and AP 1/2/2... Good luck finding someone who will play you with this, asshole.

Supplements[edit]
Chaos Space Marines core codex is lackluster, and many of the best rules are spread across the
supplements! Anyone with a Chaos Space Marine army in mind should read this guide, to figure out
what supplements they will need.
 Crimson Slaughter[edit]
Yes, the Chaos warband from Dark Vengeance that nobody had heard of before got their own
supplement for some reason, and before most of the 10,000-year-old veterans get their own, to boot.
This is an undivided army that cannot take VotLW, and takes Possessed as troops... and is better at it
than Word Bearers, for some reason.

Unfortunately, the new revised version brought some serious nerf to this supplement. Gone is the ability
to buy a cheap upgrade to your chosen to give them Preferred Enemy, and the Renegades of the Dark
Millennium changed quite a bit, so that you can no longer take special characters or daemon princes.

Get this supplement if you want to play as the Crimson Slaughter, like their wargear or formations, want
to play undivided CSM with access to Divination, or want any sort of Possessed-heavy or non-VotLW list.

 If you are playing a Legion, don't get this book, you have no use for it.

Traitor's Hate[edit]
This nifty little book includes some really nice formations in addition to the official dataslates for
renegade knights AND Khorne lord of skulls. All in all, not a bad deal. While the formation dataslates and
updated Lord of Skulls are compiled in Traitor Legions, the renegade knight rules are not, and nor is the
Black Crusade detachment. The Black Crusade is the main gem of this supplement for many players. It is
a generic formation-based detachment for any Chaos Space Marine army, regardless of warband or
legion.

Get this supplement if you want to play a formation-based detachment or use the CSM-only psychic
disciplines, and don't want to use Traitor Legions stuff.

 If you run Crimson Slaughter, Red Corsairs or Fabius Bile & Co., or a list containing special characters
from multiple legions, you need this book if you want a formation based detachment.
 If you are playing a Legion, you will only need this book if you are including a Knight in your army list, or
if you prefer Black Crusade to your legion-specific detachment. Otherwise skip it, there's greener
pastures ahead.

Wrath of Magnus[edit]
This supplement gives some love to Thousand Sons players as well as Tzeentchian Daemon players. For
Chaos Marines, this updates the rules for Thousand Sons and Ahriman, updates the Lore of Tzeentch,
and adds rules for Exalted Sorcerers, Tzaangors, SCARAB Occult Terminators and Magnus himself! In
addition to the Thousand Sons Grand Coven, it also adds rules for any detachment to become a
Thousand Sons detachment, thus granting it access to a new set of Relics and Warlord Traits, and it
includes reprints of the powers from Traitor's Hate.

Where this gets amusing is the fact that any Detachment can be made a Thousand Sons detachment,
and standalone formations are Detachments. This means if you really wanted to, you could run a Cult of
Destruction, and give the mandatory Warpsmith the Astral Grimoire for a unit of Jump Obliterators, if
you were so inclined. Alternately, a Daemon Prince casting Cursed Earth on itself would have a 3+
Invulnerable and reroll 1s. The jury is out as to whether a Detachment can belong to different Legions
with mutually exclusive requirements (example: a Tzeentchian Cyclopia Cabal), but discuss this with
your opponent beforehand and generally assume the answer will be no.
 Get this supplement if you are a big Thousand Sons fan or want the updated Horrors rules for
summoning.

 You don't need to get Traitor Legions or Traitor's Hate if you have this book and all you are planning on
playing is Thousand Sons, unless you want the generic formations or the Knight.
 If you are playing Thousand Sons as part of your army but aren't mono-Tzeentch, get Traitor Legions
instead, you won't miss any Thousand Sons rules by not buying this book.
 Don't get this book if you are Crimson Slaughter. There's nothing in it for you unless you want to use the
splitting Horrors rules.

Traitor Legions[edit]
Riding on the tide of the Wrath of Magnus supplement above, this one will grant special rules and
detachments to all named traitor legions, including the ones from WoM. We haven't seen something
like this since 3rd edition, folks!

Traitor Legions contains ALL the current(as of December 2016) rules for EVERY Traitor Legion. Each
Traitor Legion has its Legion Tactics: every model that can take VotLW in your army gets it for free, and
then every model that has VotLW benefits from the Legion's special rules. Traitor Legions contains all
the CSM rules from Wrath of Magnus concurrently, you get the same from either one. It also replaces
the older Black Legion rules, improving them tremendously. Most importantly, though, it takes all the
neglected legions and makes it so you can finally play a fluffy list, and adds a truly enormous amount of
unique wargear and special rules. Daemon weapons for every god are back too! Even if it doesn't
necessarily make every legion a top tier army, this book finally makes CSM FUNlike it used to be!

Of note is that this book makes boys over toys more important: For relic burdened characters, take the
old supplements, and pretend this doesn't exist. For better rules for all models, use this supplement.

Also included are updated Lord of Skulls and psychic powers for both the undivided disciplines and the
mono-god disciplines, so you'll definitely want to get this just for those if you run sorcerers.

Get this supplement no matter what. It's important.

 You don't need Traitor's Hate or Wrath of Magnus if you buy this book, even if you plan on running
Thousand Sons. The only exception is if you specifically want the Black Crusade detachment(for instance
if you aren't running a Legion), a Chaos Knight Renegade Knight (Chaos Knights are the Daemon-
possessed versions, available from ForgeWorld) or the updated Horrors of Tzeentch rules for
summoning.
 Even if your army isn't a Legion, you will likely want to get this book anyway just for the psychic powers.

Imperial Armour 13: War Machines of the Lost and the Damned (Forge World)[edit]
Forge World provides HUGE support for Chaos. Though it's spread between several books, IA13 is your
primary go-to sources for goodies. Included in this huge book:

 Predator, Vindicator and Land Raider variants

 The SPARTAN ASSAULT TANK
 Dreadnought variants
 Drop Pods
 Flyers
 More Daemon Engines
 Super-Heavies
 Rapier Artillery
 Legacies of Ruin

...and more

Get this supplement if you want to take the really big/crazy/good stuff and have a hundred dollars to
spare.

 Forgeworld has it as Out of stock, doubtful reprint as the Chaos Dreadnoughts have been removed from
sale, find a PDf or fork out on Ebay..*

Experimental Rules (Forge World)[edit]

These Forge World rules are available free of charge. Just download them and print them off if you want
to use them. Be sure you have a suitable model first, however.

https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-US/Downloads

The current free CSM rules include:

 Chaos Knight(Daemon Knight variant)

 Cor'Bax Utterblight, Daemon Prince of the Ruinstorm
 Deimos Pattern Vindicator Tank Destroyer
 Kytan Daemon Engine of Khorne

Other Supplements[edit]
Other books containing CSM rules:

 IA: Apocalypse(3rd Edition): Contains several special characters not found in IA13, as well as
Apocalypse-only formations.
 IA: The Siege of Vraks: Contains several Nurgle-related datasheets as well as The Purge detachment
rules.
 Warzone: Pandorax: Contains several super-heavies not found in IA13, as well as Apocalypse-only
formations.
 Death from the Skies: Contains a datasheet for using the Heldrake with the advanced flyer rules.
 Starter Sets: The Start Collecting! box and the Dark Vengeance box + Chaos expansion have their own
formations. Dark Vengeance has an Aspiring Champion special character.
 Renegade: The Renegade Imperial Knights set has a datasheet for the Chaos Knight.
 Dataslates: Include a Kharn formation, Cypher, a Cypher formation, Be'lakor, and three Helbrute
formations. Back from when GW was having its micro-transaction phase.

Outdated Supplements:

 Black Legion formerly had its own supplement before being absorbed into Traitor Legions. Under this
old supplement, Terminators were not troops, VotLW was not free, there was no Hatred(Everything!),
and no big formation based detachment other than the generic one in Traitor's Hate. Suffice to say,
Traitor Legions is a big boost to the Warmaster's forces! Note that there was an older Daemon Prince +
 Possessed formation in the old Black Legion supplement which is not reprinted in Traitor Legions,
however. It is printed in Traitor Legions, but they seemingly forgot to add it to the speartip. So keep an
eye out for a faq. Another interesting rule was is in the first edition of Black Legion, where Abaddon's
Chosen Terminators were an upgrade to a unit in a CAD, not a formation. In addition, in the updated
pure black legion supplement, you could take any number of relics from both black legion and the
vanilla codex, unlike the bullshit only one from traitor legions. Thus, if you want to play a tzeentch force,
take the wrath of magnus and an old black legion character as an unbound additional HQ: It is just
better.
 The older version of the Crimson Slaughter has the Chosen with Preferred Enemy be something taken as
a 10 point upgrade, not a formation, meaning you could take a squad of pref. enemy plasma chosen in a
CAD without paying the Possessed tax. In addition, you could take models with VotLW(such as Daemon
Princes and special characters) as long as they came with it stock and you weren't buying it.

FAQs[edit]
Both GW and Forge World have these. Don't ignore them, they are important because they also give
errata.

The Legions[edit]
With the release of Traitor Legions, you can now run your Chaos Space Marines to represent one of the
nine fallen Legions! To do this, any detachment (be it a CAD, Ally Detachment, any standalone
Formation [at least, those without restrictions like "This is a Thousand Sons Detachment", etc], or
Detachment of Formations) can count as belonging to one specific Legion if it adheres to certain
restrictions; in exchange, you get several benefits, as well as access to a Legion-specific warlord table
and list of artifacts.

Black Legion[edit]
[Expand]

Black Legion offer versatility with a wide variety of tactical options, while being a somewhat more elite
army than your typical CSM army.

Thousand Sons[edit]
[Expand]

The thousand sons do two things really, really well. Eating MEQs and ruling the Psychic phase, with AP3
bolt weapons and power weapons all over the place, and psykers in nearly every unit. They're also
pretty durable, having lots of invuln saves and plenty of ways to buff up.

Iron Warriors[edit]
[Expand]

Iron Warriors get bonuses against Fortifications, Tanks, and Imperial Fists, like you'd expect, and they're
also a little tougher than most marines.

Alpha Legion[edit]
[Expand]
Alpha Legion let you play sneaky cheeky chaos marines, with lots of infiltration and the tactical flexibility
that offers. They've also got some fun relics and one of the most hilariously useful tricks of any army
that effectively makes every single Character be your warlord, so no Slay the Warlord VPs until every last
Champion on the board is dead. Also, new Warlord trait every time one of your Sergeants get
"promoted.".

World Eaters[edit]
[Expand]

Good old Khorne Berzerkers, you know them and you love them. Or maybe you don't. Either way, World
Eaters limit your tactical flexibility but make you much meaner in melee and most of your army is going
to be straight up fearless.

Emperor's Children[edit]
[Expand]

The new Emperor's Children rules play up their sensation seeker angle, giving them bonuses to
durability and letting them attack even when slain, painting a picture of an army of masochists gladly
throwing themselves onto the blades of their enemies just to kill and be killed.

Death Guard[edit]
[Expand]

Death guard are about what you'd expect, being tougher across the board than standard CSM, but they
also gain relentless, which could be useful, and they're fearless, which is huge. They are, however,
slower than your typical marines with -1 to initiative.

Night Lords[edit]
[Expand]

The Night Lords are about what you'd expect; fast, scary, and stealthy.

Word Bearers[edit]
[Expand]

Word Bearers trade raw bonuses for versatility. They're the only other Legion besides Black Legion that
can mix-and-match different Marks, they're potent at Daemon summoning, and their Warlord Table
changes a lot of how they play.

Detachments and Formations[edit]

With Traitor's Hate and Black Crusade, Chaos Space Marines have 10(!) different detachment of
Formations to play with. However, unlike the Space Marines and their variant detachments in Codex:
Angels of Death, most of the detachments are very similar to one another; other than the Thousand
Sons Grand Coven and the Black Legion Speartip, every Chaos detachment follows the same general
template, with one or two modifications on top. Rather than listing each and every detachment in full,
this article will list out the "main" template for a Chaos detachment, and any major differences ("Iron
Warriors: They're like any other Legion, except they can take Fortification Auxiliaries"). Also note that
depending on your detachment, certain formations or choices will let you substitute your Lord or
Sorcerer for an appropriate Special Character.
 Basic Chaos Detachment[edit]
Other than the Black Legion and Thousand Sons detachments, every Chaos Detachment will have the
below in common, unless stated otherwise:

Command(0-4)[edit]
 Lords of the Black Crusade: A Chaos Lord, Sorcerer, Dark Apostle, or a Daemon Prince.

Core (1+)[edit]
 Chaos Warband: The Chaos Warband is fairly simple: You take 1 Chaos Lord, an optional Chaos Sorcerer,
2-6 Chaos Space Marine Squads, 1-3 squads of Chosen/Terminators/Possessed, 1-3 squads of
Bikers/Raptors/Warp Talons, and 1-3 Helbrutes/Havoc Squads. You can also take any of the named
characters from the main codex in those first two slots, which is a moot point for most Traitor Legion
detachments since they disallow unique units. The entire formation gets Objective Secured, and the
Favored Scions rule, meaning that anytime a character from this formation rolls for a Chaos Boon as a
result of Champion of Chaos (this explicitly includes the "free" bonus granted by Path to Glory but does
not include the rolls from from Gifts of Mutation/Boon of Mutation), the character may roll twice and
apply either or both results.
o Summary: This is the formation you take if you want to play Chaos Space Marines as actual Chaos Space
Marines. Favored Scions lets you either sacrifice rank-and-file Champions hoping for Princes or those-
that-must-not-be-named, or buff your Lord to truly frightening levels. However, this pales in comparison
to the universal Objective Secured bonus. That Biker Lord of Nurgle? He has it. That "throwaway" Rhino
w/ Havoc Launcher you bought for a unit of Autocannon Havocs, so you have a "budget" Typhoon
Speeder equivalent? It has it. Those units of MSU Bikers or Terminators? They have it.
o Comparison with the Battle Demi-Company: The Chaos Warband can be viewed as the traitorous
version of the Battle Demi-Company. When Traitor's Hate first came out, the initial reaction was
negative: The Battle Demi-Company also gets universal Objective Secured, but when taken twice also
grants free Dedicated Transports. However, what the Chaos Warband lacks in "free" points it makes up
for in relative flexibility: Whereas the Loyalists must take exactly three Tactical Squads, exactly 1 Fast
Attack, and exactly 1 unit of Devastators, the Warband lets you take a greater ratio of Fast Attack/Heavy
Supports. While the Loyalists must take a mandatory Chaplain to fully benefit from the Battle Company,
you get an optional Sorcerer who can provide far more utility throughout the game. The Chaos Warband
also allows for Objective Secured Terminators(buying Objective Secured Land Raiders of course), which
can be a game-changer if your opponent doesn't have enough anti-armor, and is something loyalists
can't do at all.
o Drop Assault: If you're playing with Forgeworld Chaos Marines, Chosen and Helbrutes can take
Dreadclaws (RAW deepstrike disables Daemonic-bullshit from eating the contents; furthermore, FW has
sent multiple emails confirming this) as dedicated transports. Drop in, assault out of your delicious
skimmers turn 2, then run around and cap objectives with your ObSec claws.
o This is a core formation not only for Black Crusade, but also for all Legion-specific detachments except
Black Legion Speartip and Thousand Sons Grand Coven.
o This formation, while simple, can be used with the legion rules and legion detachments to create
hilarious combos. Run this with the Death Guard Vectorium. On top of your basic marines (and just
about everything else not being a vehicle) becoming non-poisonous plague marines for 2/3rds of the
cost, you retain Objective Secured and gain rerolls to 1's on FnP. Just watch as your opponent tears his
hair out as he just finishes dealing with your T6 FnP bikers only to realize that he has to now shift your
 T5 Terminators with FnP off of a point. Or run it with the Alpha Legion Insurgency Force and have
everything but your Havocs/Helbrutes and Fast Attack infiltrate on top of objectives while having
Shrouded for a whole turn (since Chosen do not occupy the same spot as Chaos Marines, you can have
effectively up to 9 units that infiltrate all over the board. All of whom have Objective Secured).

Auxiliary(1+)[edit]
You will notice that several of these Formations have a mandatory Warpsmith tax. Some people like
'em, some people don't. Good luck trying to make them work.

 Cult of Destruction: The first of the "Warpsmith" formations. 1-3 Warp Smiths and 3-5 units of
Obliterators or Mutilators in any combination. In exchange for this, the formation gets a rule called
Empyrionic Guidance Rituals: At the start of this turn, each Warpsmith may "guide" a unit of
Mutilators/Obliterators from this formation within 8": The Obliterators may shoot twice (using different
shooting weapons) that turn, or the Mutilators may make two "immediate" sets of close combat attacks
this turn with different weapons.
o Summary: If you try running this formation to get MOAR DAKKA out of your already awesome
obliterators, you're going to be disappointed. The Warpsmith (you really don't have practical reason to
run more than one) is a pretty hefty tax for just 3 extra shots, and the actual rules for Empyrionic
Guidance Rituals are very restrictive. Your Warpsmiths have to be within 8" of your
Obliterator/Mutilator unit at the start of the turn to guide them, meaning not only can you not "move"
your Warpsmith in range, but you also would not be able to use Empyrionic Guidance Rituals on any
units that arrived from Reserves/Deep Strike. Unlike many "Fire Twice" Formation benefits, your
Obliterators cannot split their fire against different units, while their weapon cooldown restrictions
remain in full effect.
 Favoured of Chaos: A Daemon Prince leads 3-5 units of Possessed. While within 12" of the Prince, all
Possessed automatically receive all 3 Mutation rewards at once. While you might be thinking "Run this
as a Crimson Slaughter formation for Shrouded Beast Possessed with Storm Shields," 1)Crimson
Slaughter doesn't get Daemon Princes RAW and 2) the Crimson Slaughter Vessels of Chaos rule doesn't
actually work due to the mutations only applying in the Fight sub-phase.
o The Possessed in this formation, while the bonus is active, have 3 base attacks, S5 AP3 shred. They have
I5 but no grenades. They are actually superior to Warp Talons and Vanguard Veterans, except for a
major problem: their lack of jump packs. The question when using this formation should be "how do I
protect these guys from shooting or increase their speed?" The Daemon Prince has access to many
artifacts and psychic powers that answer this problem.
 Fist of the Gods: The second Warpsmith Formation, this time he leads 3-5 units of either Land Raiders,
Predators, or Vindicators. All vehicles within 12" of the Smith have a 6++, and the Warp Smith has +1 to
his repair attempts. Unfortunately thanks to the draft FAQ, AoE abilities do not extend beyond the hull
of a transport vehicle unless it explicitly says they do, so keep that Warpsmith following the tanks
around on foot. And it's that last sentence that summarizes the main issue with the Formation; unlike
Loyalist Techmarines / Iron Priests, Warpsmiths cannot take Bikes, and are stuck footslogging it,
meaning their own effective threat range remains...questionable to say the least. More than anything,
this formation is for Iron Warriors players that want to mass Vindicators, as their detachment's ability to
grant re-roll scatters to all Ordnance weapons makes them deadlier as a result! Otherwise, you're
probably best skipping this formation.
o Note: RAW, the formation needs a minimum of a Warpsmith and three UNITS of tanks. This means, if
you really felt like blowing a ton of points, you could field squadrons of Vindicators or Predators as
individual units. With the new Squadron bonuses provided by Traitor's Hate, this could be interesting.
Just don't expect it to be competitive whatsoever.
 Heldrake Terror Pack: 2-4 Heldrakes. All enemy units within 12" of 2 Heldrakes suffer -1Ld, 3 Heldrakes
take -2Ld, and 4 Heldrakes -3Ld. Also all Turkeys deal D6 Vector Strike hits on all units which are Pinned,
Falling Back, or gone to ground. This is extremely situational, as the only way to pin troops in your
Movement Phase is either to destroy their transports in said Movement Phase (meaning Vector Strikes,
Ramming, or the Terminator Annihilation Force), or use an Emperor's Children Terminator Annihilation
Force Lord/Sorcerer with the Bolts of Estatic Vexation...can you say extreme edge-case?. That being
said, if you were already going to bring 2 Heldrakes, you might as well take this. Good way to keep your
fast attack slots free (if you're running a CAD) while gaining bonuses (though admittedly useless ones).
o One decent combo to consider is to fly these guys close to a Raptor Talon formation. If two units from
the Talon charge a enemy unit they get -2LD. Coupled with the LD debuffs from the drakes circling
overhead, you can really go a long way to guarantee the enemy breaks. Combos well with the Night
Lords legion bonuses.
 Helforged Warpack: The last of the Warpsmith formations, this one might actually be the best one. This
time the Warpsmith tags along with 3-5 Helbrutes, Maulerfiends, Forgefiends, or Defilers in any
combination. The Warpsmith lets vehicles re-use Daemonforge multiple times as long as he's alive
(Maulerfiends with infinite Daemonforges are potentially quite scary), while you get to nominate one
vehicle in the formation to be the Warpack Alpha. The Alpha becomes a Character and gains a 4+
Invulnerable Save, and should that model be destroyed, all other nearby models gain Rage.
o Summary: This formation is great. The Warpsmith tax is almost nonexistent with how you field this
formation. but unlike the other formations the warpsmith puts in serious work here. Tired of your
maulers and brutes being turned into paperweights after one lucky pen roll? Warpsmith has got you
covered and he's not limited by range, so you can pop the smith in a unit of Cultists and call it a day
while your walkers parade onward. The ability to give one Maulerfiend/Helbrute the Character Status
has some amusing implications too; it's fairly common for Bike armies or similar armies to give
Meltabombs to their sergeants in case they need to help finish off a Knight or other similar target, and
you gain the ability to challenge those characters out of their unit as a result. The Helbrute also benefits
the most from gaining a 4+ invuln save, since it doesn't have a 5+ already like the Maulerfiend or
Forgefiend. Take a Helbrute for an alpha and pair him with two Maulerfiends. If they ignore the brute it
walks over to their transports and punches them to death. If they focus the brute then the maulers get
rage, and there are few things scarier than maulers with +2 attacks running you down and shredding all
of your shiny toys.
o Warlord Mech Shenanigans: You can make the Warpack Alpha your Warlord if you really want to. While
this is potentially risky due to the numerous ways to punk AV 12, it has the potential for all sorts of
shenanigans, depending on your Legion and the detachment in question. The "safe" option would be an
Alpha Legion Warpack, due to the resilience versus Slay the Warlord, but the funniest option is a Word
Bearers Defiler. Whether your Defiler gets a free Boon from 8-fold Path, or it becomes a support-piece
with Voice of Lorgar, a Defiler gains utility beyond being an overcosted Battle Cannon. The funniest
option though is if it rolls Latent Psyker: think about it for a second. The Defiler has a Daemon so only
suffers Perils on a double 6 when using Malefic, and it manifests Summoning on a 3+ due to being part
of the Word Bearers. Add in 4 HP and It Will Not Die, alongside the Warpsmith potentially repairing it,
 and Daemon Summoner Defiler is one of the more comedic options to lead your army, provided you
screen against Haywire of course.
 The Lost and the Damned: 1 Dark Apostle leads 4-9 units of Chaos Cultists. The Dark Apostle gains a 6"
bubble of Zealot to all LatD units. Every time a unit of cultists dies, you roll a die and on a 4+ they instead
go into ongoing reserve and gain Outflank. Commander Chenkov called, he wants his Send in the next
wave! rule back in. The Zealot bubble is of limited use, unless you take the Cultists in large blobs, which
will be unwieldy. Their enhanced charge will still only be a load of Guardsmen attacks, and depend upon
the survival of a mediocre character who has to take a forward position. They don't get Objective
Secured, either, so unless you're getting mileage from their gimmicks they're worse than an Allied
Detachment - which is the only way a Black Crusade will get a single Hell Blade to troll bombers & escort
Dreadclaws. You could also turn them into zombies if you brought Typhus, which will free them from the
Apostle, give them feel no pain, and, most importantly, allow you and your opponent to reenact the
night of the living dead. You can recreate this effect for cheap in a Death Guard army by giving the
Apostle the Poxwalker Hive. This will save you 90 points, but you'll only be able to turn a unit of Cultists
into zombies one at a time, at the beginning of every turn. On the plus side, these units will regenerate
D3 zombies a turn. Take Huron, infiltrate them, and create the ultimate regenerating tarpit, laughing at
the fact that your opponent's lines are going to be stuck cutting their way through zombies for a really
long time, while your army gets grabs all the objectives and gets into a better position.
 Raptor Talon: A Chaos Lord with a free Jump Pack takes 3-5 units of either Warp Talons or Raptors. They
can charge the turn they deep strike, but always make disordered charges if they do, and enemy units
suffer -2 to their Leadership if charged by 2 units from this formation. Think twice about taking the Mark
of Khorne in this formation, since you won't get to apply the extra attack for Rage on the turn you make
a Disordered Charge, though it may still be valuable to get a Relic on the Chaos Lord or access an Icon of
Wrath. This may be the best formation in Traitor's Hate and it makes an already decent unit (the
Raptors) much better. The key is to mix Warp Talons and Raptors - the Raptors bring flamers, meltas,
and grenades, while the Warp Talons can blender most units in a fight. Even MSU Melta Deathsquads
are better in this formation, since you can immediately reroll-charge in to shove a melta bomb up the
exhaust of the tank your morons somehow failed to shoot up (with extreme HATRED too). They don't
even take up valuable FA slots anymore.
o Note: This formation is particularly interesting in a Black Legion Speartip. Declare the Lord as your
Warlord and you can charge anything you want from Deepstrike turn 1, bonus points if you brought the
Dimensional key. Seriously now, Night Lords Raptors play second fiddle to your black dudes. You trade
Stealth (whoop-dee-doo), Night Fighting (yeah) and rerolling charges (which you already do for jump
packs since you've just deepstruck anyway) for Hatred, Marks&Toys, and FREAKING ALPHASTRIKE. And
remember that leadership debuff? Yea, they also get +d3 to sweep if they fail that. Seriously, if playing
Black Legion speartip, take Raptor Talons as Auxiliaries, while keeping all terminators in your Warband
and the Chosen of Abaddon
 Terminator Annihilation Force: A Chaos Lord or Sorcerer takes 3-5 units of Terminators, getting free
Terminator Armor for his trouble. Pick an enemy unit; the formation gains Hatred against it and can
make a shooting attack against it in the movement phase immediately after they deep strike. This does
not prevent them from making a regular shooting attack, and if the nominated unit dies they pick a new
target to gain Hatred against. No deep strike manipulation or mitigation makes this a bit iffy. If you're
hellbent on grabbing this formation, you might as well grab the Burning Brand or any other "shooting
Relics" for funtimes. Entertainingly, this is almost absolutely worthless for black legion, due to hatred
 (Everything), so the terminator legion, with the Decurion of most benefit to them, has little use for
them.
 Spawn: 1-3 units of Chaos Gribblies. 30 points bottom nets you the cheapest auxiliary choice there is.
You are playing Champions of Chaos, so you've already got one, right?

Iron Warriors Grand Company[edit]

Like the basic Chaos Detachment, except they also have Strongholds of Chaos as an Auxiliary: 1-3
Fortifications, done and done. Not an actual formation, this still makes Iron Warriors currently the only
Detachment of Formations in the game that can actually take Fortifications. The Grand Company has the
following bonuses:

 Warsmith: Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling on the Iron Warriors table and this is your primary
detachment.
 Masters of Annihilation: Models from this detachment may re-roll scatter for Ordnance and Barrage
weapons. Other than Defilers and Vindicators, the only sources of Barrage and Ordnance available to
this detachment are through fortifications. Whether an Independent Character attached to an Artillery
unit from Renegades and Heretics can reroll scatter is debatable.
 Intractable Brotherhood: Non-Vehicles are Stubborn and get Fearless in Fortifications.

Alpha Legion Insurgency Force[edit]

The Insurgency Force has the exact same organization as a Basic Chaos Detachment, with no
modifications otherwise. The Insurgency Force has the following bonuses:

 I Am Alpharius: Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling on the Alpha Legion table and this is your primary
detachment.
 Hidden Deployment: All non-vehicle units get Shrouded during turn 1.
 Cult Uprising: While the book says that "Cultist units that are completely destroyed enter ongoing
reserves on a 4+.", to use Cultists with this rule, you have to include the Lost and Damned Formation, as
it is the only source of Cultists available to this Detachment, which RAW created a loophole that allowed
for possible duplication of cultist units.
o The current errata at https://www.games-
workshop.com/resources/PDF/Errata/Warhammer_40000/Traitor_Legions_EN.pdf indicates a hard
nerf: the two rules do not stack in any way, so the Alpha Legion rule functionally does not exist.
o The current errata at https://www.warhammer-community.com/wp-
content/uploads/2017/02/Traitor_Legions_v1.1-1.pdf indicates a compromise, where the Alpha Legion
rule improves the base Cultist rule, just not at much: when you make the roll to respawn, you pass on a
3+ instead of a 4+.

World Eaters Butcherhorde[edit]

Like a basic Chaos detachment, with these changes.

 Restrictions
o No Sorcerers, period.
 Additions
o Core
 Maelstrom of Gore
 You can summarize this formation in two words: Fast Berserkers. One Chaos Lord (or Khârn) with the
Mark of Khorne (that gets his mark for free) joins 4-8 Squads of Khorne Berzerkers. They all gain Fleet
and +3" to charge rolls, and once per game they can fight in the movement phase as if it were an assault
phase if locked in combat, and enemy units cannot fight back. This formation first came out in Traitor's
Hate where it could (and even then, that was a stretch) occasionally be argued for if you wanted
Fearless Fleet troops. The problem is that while this is a Core formation for World Eaters, the
Butcherhorde already allows all units to re-roll charge distances, making the Fleet bonus mostly
redundant, and the World Eaters Legion grants Furious Charge and Fearless, removing any remaining
reason to take Berzerkers, besides WS 5 or cheaper chainaxes (you don't want these). The Warband
benefits far more, as Raptors/Bikes with the Mark of Khorne move faster all the time rather than just on
the charge, while 5 Chosen of Khorne cost less than 5 Berzerkers while having more attacks. Amusingly
enough, you can take this as a Black Legion detachment, unlike the other Cult Marine formations,
though you don't want to.
o Auxiliary
 Trinity of Blood
 3 Lords of Skulls or 3 Kytans (per the Kytan rules). That's right. They all have Rampage, all enemy units
locked in combat with them suffer a number of S6 AP4 hits equal to the amount of models in the unit
with ignores cover and soul blaze, and all shooting weapons have the twin-linked special rule if another
Lord of Skulls from this formation shot at the same unit beforehand. This formation is so crazy expensive
you'll probably never play it nor see it played, so go ahead and skip this one. Even the Kytan version.
 Bonuses
o Berzerker Lord
 Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling on the World Eaters table and this is your primary detachment.
o Blood-Mad
 After seize the initiative, non-vehicle units entirely from the detachment may move 2d6, and non-
vehicles and walkers re-roll failed charges.

Ever wanted to field khornate marines on foot with a charge threat of 36" or 39" with bezerkers? Well,
now you can! First you get the pre turn move of 2D6 due to the detachment. Then you'll have your
normal movement of 6 for infantry increased to 9 if having a character with the talisman of burning
blood in it. Then you charge with the normal 2D6" (which is rerollable) + another 3" due to the talisman
of burning blood(if using the maelstrom of gore you get another +3" to charge). So turn 1 assault for
infantry is minimum of 16", average of 26" and maximum of 36". For zerkers it's +3 to afore mentioned
ranges. In addition if you're really set to have a first turn charge, you can always add in 1k sons allies
with the Astral Grimoire to become jump infantry so increases the charge threat with another 6".
Bezerkers charging possibly 45" is hilarious. Also note that the minimum charge range for infantry will be
22 making it an easy charge if both players deployed as close to each other as possible.

Of course you can do this with lord on jug and bikes or that Sp.... But this actually makes Kharn and
termie lord on foot not that bad for being slow. So no land raider needed to transport Kharn to be able
to see combat. Also funny for khornate prince with wings, give him an artifact worth of him to wreck shit
turn 1 if opponent is stupid enough to deploy on his deployment edge.
 Emperor's Children Rapture Battalion[edit]
The Rapture Battalion is like the Basic Chaos Detachment, except you also get access to the Kakophoni
as a Core:

 Kakophoni: Lucius or a Chaos Lord (with MoS and VotLW since EC detachment) joins 3-6 units of Noise
Marines. They gain the Split fire rule, and all Sonic weapons gain Shred. If you take all 6 Noise Marine
squads, all Sonic weapons get +1S.

The Rapture Battalion has the following bonuses:

 Lord of Hedonism: Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling on the Emperor's Children table and this is your
primary detachment.
 Combat Drugs: Used by any detachment that is an Emperor's Children Army. After deployment roll one
d6 to see the bonus the entire detachment has (non-vehicle, sorry no coke-fueled Helbrutes).
a. +1WS. Army-wide WS5 ensures you are never hitting on less than a 4+, even against WS10.
b. +1BS. BS5 Noise Marines with Shred and Split-fire can bring the pain.
c. +1I. You're already I5/6 due to Mark of Slaanesh, but could help when going up against Eldar/Dark
Eldar/Harlequins/any unit that can be Sweeping Advanced. Or if you go against Death Guard since they
have ways to easily reduce initiative as well now.
d. +1S. Great all around, but don't think this gives you S10 powerfists (it gives you S9).
e. +1T. Pretty damn good. Best result you could hope for. If you roll this while your warlord is on a bike,
laugh as you now best the Nurgle Bike Lord with FnP 4+ and T6. Even T5 and FnP 4+ is ridiculously tough
to shift.
f. +1A. Extra attacks on squads of Termies and melee-built Noise Marines are always welcome.

Ultimately, what limits CD's usefulness is that it is one roll for the army, and 4/6 of the options are
melee specific, while only 1 is ranged specific for synergy with Sonic weapons, and the last improves any
army. Make 1 bad roll and the entire army will suffer, but this is only a real problem if you overspecialize
your army for one task - have both shooting and melee to guarantee you can't be screwed, or commit to
close combat and count on the 5/6 chance to get something nice.

Death Guard Vectorium[edit]

The Death Guard is like the Basic Chaos Detachment, except you can also take the Plague Colony as a
core:

 Plague Colony: 1 Chaos Lord with Mark of Nurgle and VotLW (as per Death Guard Detachment) or
Typhus leads 3-7 units of Plague Marines. When enemy models come within 7" of a unit from this
formation, they take -1 WS and Initiative, and if you took all 7 Plague Marine units they reduce their
Toughness by 1 as well. The most immediate use for this formation is to run your Plague Marines as a
"forlorn hope" as the Vectorium's FNP bonuses combined with the debuff auras hint at wanting to get
stuck in. Sadly the bonuses only last in Assault in the fight sub-phase, making the formation that much
weaker overall.

The Vectorium has the following bonuses:

 Plague Lord Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling on the Death Guard table and this is your primary
detachment.
 Disgustingly Resillient Re-roll 1s on FNP.
 Cloud of Flies If targeted from more than 18" away, units have Stealth.

Night Lords Murder Talon[edit]

The Murder Talon is like the Basic Chaos Detachment, except the Raptor Talon is available as a Core
choice instead of an Auxiliary. The Murder Talon has the following bonuses.

 Talon Master: Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling from the Night Lords table.
 Strike Fast, Strike Hard: Re-roll failed charges
 Nocturnal Warfare: You may choose to force Night Fighting rules (no roll required); if you do, your non-
vehicles get +1 to cover saves in addition to the Stealth that either Night Fighting or their Legion bonus
"In Midnight Clad" normally confers. (Note, again, that this bonus is separate from Stealth or Shrouded,
so stack em' high lads.)

Word Bearers Grand Host Detachment (Traitor Legions)[edit]

The Grand Host is like the Basic Chaos Detachment, except the Lost and the Damned is a Core Choice
instead of an Auxiliary. The Grand Host has the following bonuses:

 The Coryphaus: Reroll your Warlord trait if rolling from the Word Bearers table.
 Dark Crusaders: Non-vehicles have (Gasp) Crusader. This helps your melee units reach the enemy
quicker, or it helps Cultists space out to lock objectives faster. Units that already have fleet will
consistently be running 5-6" a turn.
 The Eight-Fold Path: Each turn one character gets a free Chaos Boon. However, you must choose a
different character each turn. Note that this applies to any Friendly Character in the detachment, and
not just those with Champions of Chaos, so you can risk your Warpack Alpha or Prince getting a roll if
you really wanted to. Note that unlike Path to Glory in the Black Crusade Detachment, this benefit does
NOT stack with Favored Scions, so be ready to accept some risk.

Black Crusade Detachment (Traitor's Hate)[edit]

Note: This Detachment is NOT included in Traitor Legions. If you want to run a Legion, its main benefit
(Free Veterans of the Long War) is superfluous due to said Legions getting VOTLW for free anyway. You
take this formation if you want to bring a Black Legion detachment but you want to maintain Objective
Secured. This allows Black Legion to be run either hyper-aggressively, or relatively defensively. If you
want to run Fabius or Huron, play hero-hammer with Path to Glory, run Special Characters from multiple
Legions in the same detachment, or give Hatred (Imperium) to a Crimson Slaughter army, play this. It
acts like a Basic Chaos Detachment with the following modifications:

 Lost and the Damned is a Core choice instead of an Auxiliary choice, and Maelstrom of Gore is a Core
Choice.
 Lords of the Legion is a 0-5 Command Choice, with Dark Apostles as an option. You can take any Special
Character in this Command Choice except Magnus, Cypher, or Bela'Kor.
 The Trinity of Blood is an Auxiliary choice, as is Veterans of the Legion: 1-4 units chosen from Khorne
Berserkers, Plague Marines, Noise Marines or Thousand Sons, but no bonuses since it's not actually a
formation.

The Black Crusade Detachment gains the following bonuses:

 Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling on the Chaos Space Marines table and this is your primary
detachment.
 All models in the detachment gain Hatred: Armies of the Imperium; anything from Space Marines to a
lone Inquisitor to that Adamantine Lance.
 One model with the Champions of Chaos Rule gets a free roll on the Chaos boon table each turn, and
unlike the similar ability the Word Bearers Grand Host gets, this works alongside Favored Scions.
o Note:Combined with a World eaters lord in a warband that rolls Slaughterborn as his WL trait, this could
make for VERY killy lord. Essentially you're getting +2A per turn, such that by turn 2 you have 8!? attacks
BEFORE modifiers with gift of mutation.
 Everyone who can take VotLW can do so for free, which means you get +1 LD for free on all your
marines. This is superfluous if you're running a Legion, and Crimson Slaughter can't benefit from this
except on Cult Marines, but everyone else benefits from this quite nicely.

Black Legion Speartip Detachment (Traitor Legions)[edit]

The Black Legion Speartip rewards alpha strikes, but does not grant objective secured to anything at all.
On the flip side, running a CAD will work wonders because both Chosen, Terminators and by extension
Land Raiders will have it! Keeping this in mind, there are tradeoffs to either army list, very much like the
Horus Heresy Rites of War. The veterans of your Legion are mostly Luna Wolves, after all, and that
carries over into their battle doctrine.

Special Rules

 The Tip of the Spear: Warlord may re-roll on Black Legion Warlord Trait table.
 Heralds of the Black Crusade: Non-vehicle units have Fear and Crusader. Fear is mostly pointless, but
Crusader can be useful for getting in position faster, and it synergizes with the Hounds of Abaddon's
main trick.
 Speartip Strike: Deep Strike Units can start rolling to arrive from reserves on Turn 1. Warlord and his
unit can auto-pass this roll in 1st turn if they are in DS reserve.

Command (0-5)[edit]
 The Bringers of Despair - One unit of Terminators plus Abaddon. The Terminators have WS and BS 5 and
can re-roll one "Look Out, Sir" roll for Abaddon each phase. This replaces the old ability to upgrade a
unit, and now the terminators get the stat upgrades for free, which is a welcome change.
o Note: Remember that Abbadon hands out a 12" bubble of Preferred Enemy (Space Marines.) If fighting
loyalist scum of any flavor, give your Bringers of Despair combi-plasmas. Hitting on rerollable 2s will cut
through those corpse-worshippers like a plasma knife through butter.
 The Chosen of Abaddon - 1-4 Chaos Lords or Sorcerers, plus a unit of Chosen or Terminators for each
one. Each Sorcerer or Chaos Lord has to join one of the corresponding units of Chosen/Terminators (and
can't leave). While the character remains attached to his unit, they get Fearless. Each Chaos
Lord/Sorcerer in the formation gets to roll on the Boon table prior to deployment, re-rolling Spawnhood
and Dark Apotheosis results. Not particularly useful, given that you give up flexibility for a crack at a bad
chart of upgrades. This is where you get your extra terminators when playing Black Legion, BTW.
 Cyclopia Cabal - THIS IS A GOOD ONE, and nasty with the new powers from Traitor's Hate. 3-5 Sorcerers.
At the start of each psychic phase, you can have one sorcerer in the formation use a special psychic
power called Shroud of Deceit. You get an additional warp charge die for each Sorcerer within 12" of the
main caster (you can still allocate warp charges to it as normal, though you do not have to) and it's a
 warp charge 3 power. Shroud of Deceit targets a non-vehicle enemy unit that isn't locked in combat
within 30". You can immediately make a shooting attack with that unit as though it were a part of your
army. It's a pretty neat power, and super-useful against the Tau and their Riptides (good luck trying to
get it off against Eldar though, lol). One recent tournament strategy is to add a Cabal to a Daemon army.
Five ML3 psykers, on top of Fateweaver and Pink Horrors, to generate 24 dice per turn. Nuts.
 Lord of the Legion - A Chaos Lord(can be Abaddon), Sorcerer, Daemon Prince or Dark Apostle. Take this
option if you just want the HQ with no added formation tax.

Core (1+)[edit]
 Black Legion Warband - One Chaos Lord, 0-1 Sorcerer, 2-5 units of Chosen or Chaos Space Marines in
any combination, 1-3 units of Terminators or Possessed in any combination, 1-3 units of Raptors, Bikes,
or Warp Talons in any combination, 1-3 units of Havocs or Helbrutes in any combination. This is the core
formation for the Speartip. Units in this formation roll twice when rolling for boons and can take either
one or both of the results. Additionally, any time an enemy unit is completely destroyed by a unit in this
formation in a phase, all of the other units in the formation can re-roll to hit and to wound rolls of 1 for
the rest of the phase (note that this just means when a unit is finally completely removed from the
table, per the rulebook definition of "completely destroyed"). The bonus roll on the boon table will
often be irrelevant, but the other bonus is kind of cool.
o NOTE: Unlike the other legions this uses the Black Legion Warband and not the "normal" one. That
means that a Black Legion Speartip doesn't have a single Objective Secured unit since it can't take a
Chaos Warband as an auxiliary either. This is a big disadvantage over other demi-company type
formations. However given that this is meant to be a speartip formation, ergo you want to be the
aggressor, losing objective secured isn't as big of a hindrance as you may think.
o Alternate Opinion: This formation is actually pretty good. The key is to activate units in the right order
to get the sweet Preferred Enemy for all the army; simply destroying a transport with some Autocannon
Havocs can make your Plasma Chosen so much better. Or your suicide terminators popping a tank
making your Chaos Lord on Steed outflanking with plasma Raptors ready to ruin the day. Or both! In
general if you like to play with special weapons, this formation can help you a lot. Also, remember that
without objective secured, Havocs are just CSM with more weapons. Use them if you feel the need for
ablative wounds and feel free to go heavy on special weapons.
 The Hounds of Abaddon - This is a pretty solid formation. You take 1 Chaos Lord, 1-3 units of Berzerkers,
1-3 units of Chaos Space Marines, and 1-3 units of Bikes/Raptors/Warp Talons. The entire formation gets
the Mark of Khorne for free; this means you can have 13-point Marines with Leadership 10,
Hatred(Everything), and Rage...not bad at all! Once per game, you can declare a massed assault with this
formation to run and charge in the same turn. As if that's not enough, any time you roll an 8 or more for
charge distance with a unit in this formation, that unit gets +1 Strength until the end of the Assault
phase, and this is where the formation can snow-ball into something truly frightening; the Icon of Wrath
is highly recommended for units in this formation, as not only would the re-rolls help you maximize the
chances of getting 8, but the Furious Charge would stack on top; a unit of 5 regular Marines from this
formation would cost 100 points in exchange for making 20 S5 attacks on the charge, with a good
chance of those attacks being S6 instead. Note that this can give a Lord with AoBF strength 8 on the
charge, allowing him to ID.
o Interesting obeservation: This formation has a few interesting quirks. Both lords and champions can
have S10 powerfists, and considering they have rage means that a champion with LC/PF has 5 attacks of
either strength 10 AP2 or S6 AP3, shred. And since they have hatred, they have the equivalent of WS5,
 meaning these champions are essentially budget chaos lords. A termielord with Lc/chainfist has 6 S10
AP2 armourbane attacks. So for only 2 points more you can give your lord a better Gorefather that
doesn't take up a relic slot.And technically, these csm can be better chosen. With the savings you could
buy them CCW weapons. What you get is 17 point chosen that trade 3 special weapons for +1-2 strength
and re-rollable charges. And run & charge once per game.

Auxiliary (1+)[edit]
 The Lost and the Damned, Helforged Warpack, Cult of Destruction, Fist of the Gods, Raptor Talon,
Terminator Annihilation Force, Chaos Sp-GRUGHGLGL!!!-: See their entries in the Basic Chaos
Detachment
 Daemon Engine Pack - One Warpsmith and 2 Forgefiends/Maulerfiends, in any combination. At the start
of each shooting and assault phase you can have one of the fiends within 12" of the Warpsmith use his
WS or BS for that phase instead of its own. In practice, this bonus works better for running dual
Forgefiends, since being able to get 5 BS is a much bigger deal than 4 WS; this makes the Hades
Autocannons that the Forgefiends can have much more useful, since now they'll hit with most of their
shots. You can either "cycle through" the Fiends, to combo Daemonforge with improved BS, or use it
alongside moving on separate flanks to force enemy Knights into a "no-win" situation regarding where
to use their Ion Shields. Also at the start of the game, you nominate a single enemy character and the
Forge/Maulerfiends get Preferred Enemy against that character, plus if they kill him, the the model that
did so regains a hull point.

Thousand Sons Grand Coven Detachment (Wrath of Magnus/Traitor Legions)[edit]

The Thousand Sons Grand Coven is is meant to buff Rubric units/Psykers to be more viable, though the
actual results are...questionable. The formation bonuses are:

 Lord of Fallen Prospero: ::Your Warlord gets to re-roll his Warlord Trait if he rolls on the Tzeentch
Warlord Table. This table is arguably a lot better than the vanilla Chaos one, so may be worth
considering.
 Masters of Arcane Knowledge: All Psykers in the detachment may cast an additional power beyond
their Mastery Level. The most immediate ways to use this are lucking out and getting the Warlord Trait
that lets you know an additional Psyker Power, or using Ahriman or Magnus, the former due to knowing
more powers than his Mastery Level and the latter due to the Black Staff. Worst comes to worst, this
also lets your Aspiring Sorcerers pop Force to improve their unit's invulnerable save while still being able
to cast their one Tzeentch power they rolled or the Primaris. Additionally, all Psykers in the detachment
may re-roll their result on Perils of the Warp. This one matters more, as extra insurance against
accidentally frying your expensive Sorcerers is always nice.
o Favoured of Tzeentch: If you take the maximum number of units allowed for a formation (usually a
commander + 9 units, because Tzeentch), every model in that formation may reroll all saving throws of
1. While for many formations this is excessively expensive, for others it allows for incredible durability.

Command (0-4)[edit]
 Rehati War Sect: Magnus the Red plus 3-9 units of either Tzeentch Daemon Princes or Exalted Sorcerers.
The models in this formation ignore Line of Sight for casting powers. In addition, all models within 18" of
Magnus manifest on a 3+. This formation tends to find more use in Chaos Daemon armies as a way to
get Magnus into their army without actually having to include Thousand Sons.
 Ahriman's Exiles: Ahriman plus 3-9 Exalted Sorcerers. All models within 18" of Ahriman manifest on 3+.
 Lord of the Legion: Magnus the Red, Ahriman, or a Sorcerer, Exalted Sorcerer, or Daemon Prince of
Tzeentch.

Core (1+)[edit]
 War Cabal: Ahriman, a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, a Sorcerer, or an Exalted Sorcerer with 1-3 more
Sorcerers/Exalted ones lead 1-3 units of Rubric Marines and 1-3 units of Scarab Occult Terminators.
Whenever a Psyker from this formation manifests a power, that Psyker (and the unit it's part of, should
it be from this Formation) may reroll all 1s to-hit for the remainder of the turn. This formation is the
"cheap" core of the two, and is probably what players will take just so they can run 3 units of
Terminators with rerollable 2+ armor saves...
o Summary: This formation is probably the best core T-sons could ask for. rerolling 1s to hit is extremely
useful for such a shooty army, and because literally every unit in this formation has a sorcerer leading it,
you can consistently get rerollable 1's to hit every turn just by activating the sorcerers force weapons.
Combine that with the bonus spell every sorcerer can cast from the detachment buffs, and you will be
unleashing a LOT of DAKKA in the psychic & shooting phases to cover any shortcomings that may occur
in close combat.
 Sekhmet Conclave: A sorcerer(can be exalted or Ahriman) or a Daemon Prince(can be Magnus), plus 3-9
units of SO Terminators. Any unit from this formation within 6" of 2+ of other units from this formation
gains +1 Toughness (Mortarion is Jealous). This is what you want if you like Terminators, like being
nearly impossible to kill, are sick of regular Rubrics being overcosted crap, or just don't want to paint
very many models. You won't get the rerollable 2+ armor saves with this unless you take nine units of 5
terminators each plus an HQ, though, which is not going to happen in games under 2500 points.
o Quick Note: While it's true that this formation is extremely expensive, especially when trying to get the
blessing of Tzeentch, it's not always needed, thanks to +1 toughness. Also, the toughness buff is applied
to Magnus when in range of the termie honor guard which makes him TOUGHNESS 8 meaning he is
COMPLETELY IMMUNE TO BOLTER FIRE AND strength 6 weapons only wound him on 6s, so suck it
space elfs. Splinter rifles still wound him on 4+.

Auxiliary (1+)[edit]
 War Coven: 1 Tzeentch Daemon Prince, ES, or Sorcerer leads 3-9 more Sorcerers/Exalted Sorcerers. Pick
one BRB Discipline at the start of the game, and all Sorcerers from this formation manifest Warp Charge
for that Discipline on a 3+. This is basically your Librarius Conclave formation.
o Are you a bad enough dude to run the Terminator Tzeentchstar? Take ten regular Sorcerers in
Terminator armor and enjoy your ten man invisible 4+ FNP rerollable 2+/3++ teleporting witchfire
spamming deathstar with two wounds apiece. Be sure to include the Seer's Bane and the Astral
Grimoire to go fast and dominate in melee too. Warning: you won't have any points left over for actual
units if you do this.
 Tzaangor Warherd: 1 Exalted Sorcerer/Sorcerer leads 3 units of Tzaangors plus an optional 6 more units
of Tzaangors or the unnameable beasts. The entire formation gains Fleet, the Tzaangors may run and
charge in the same turn, and should they roll a 9 or more for Charge distance, they gain +1 Strength and
Initiative. Not bad at all.
 Daemon Engines: Defiler, Forgefiend, Heldrake, Helbrute, Maulerfiend. Pick one. Not actually a
formation. this is the closest thing to a spawn formation that T Sons get so if you want to go all in on
your core choice, take a bare bones helbrute, maulerfiend or predator tank.
 Legion Armory: Grab either a Chaos Land Raider, or a unit of Predators, or Vindicators. Remember you
can squadron if you don't want to give up first blood, but a Land Raider may work to cart around the
expensive asses of the Scarab Occult Terminators.

Dataslates[edit]
 Wrathborn (Start Collecting! Chaos Space Marines) - 1 Terminator Chaos Lord, 1 unit of Chaos Space
Marines, and 1 Helbrute. The Lord and all units within 12" of him gain Hatred. That's it.
 Fallen Champions: Cypher grabs up to 3 Chosen Squads as Fallen goons. The Chosen aren't much more
useful than normal, as they lose a lot of stuff to use. However, their use shouldn't be to much more than
to guard Cypher himself as he fucks with people's shit.
o The Chosen cannot take Artefacts, Rewards, Marks, or Transports. He can take Icon of Vengeance
though. And apparently the chosen can take power fists for 5 points.
o Chosen within 12" of Cpyher uses his leadership. They also grab ATSKNF.
o Enemy Dark Angels with Deathwing get Zealot against your entire army.
 Mayhem Pack: This formation of 3 Helbrutes gives them all IWND (AWWWW YEAAAAA), Deep-Striking,
and a shared roll on the Crazed table, even if they've never been hit (Giving them a 2/3 chance of being
rather useful, though it's still a crapshoot). All-in-all, a rather decent way to boost their survivability but
not their usefulness. FUCK THAT NOISE! Getting a dreadnought in close out of nowhere is one of the
best uses of them in the loyalist army and this dataslate improves upon it tremendously by tripling the
amount of dreadnought and making them harder to kill in the process! Then there's the crazed rule
which makes shooting the brutes a dicey prospect. NOTE - although the brutes get to share a reserve roll
AND a crazed roll every round, they are NOT a single vehicle squadron. This means that they won't
deepstrike in the manner a terminator squad does, and you'll have to scatter each one of them
separately - and you don't have to move them as one squadron either.
o Note - With the Errata boosting Helbrutes' attacks up to 4, this makes them even more effective as
DISTRACTION CARNIFEXes. 4 attacks is enough to threaten most targets other than giant hordes (and in
those cases, you have heavy flamethrowers) while being able to pack a ranged weapon allow the
helbrutes to be effective 2/3rds of the time right after they drop and continue to threaten targets up
until it dies. In addition, something few people realize is that this formation is essentially the Chaos
Version of a Drop Pod Dread, but you do not need to pay the extra 35 points for a Drop Pod, which is a
great boon for it's role as a Distraction (cheap, moderately hard to kill, and killy).
 No deepstrike mitigation means they're still very unreliable. Add 1/3 chance of doing not what you want
them to do each turn on top of that. Then again, you could take the risk and take two Mayhem Packs
 Helcult: A Helbrute joins 2 squads of cultists. This gives the brute some walking meatshields, though
their use is...debatable. This formation is useless now because only Troops in Combined Arms and Allied
Detachments get Objective Secured - your units in Formations don't get it. Who cares if you have 20
(Two units of 35 means 70!) fearless T3, 6+ models when everything else is also scoring and it's too easy
make enough of a dent in the cultists to contest or outright take whatever objective they were sitting
on. But makes a great wall of tar-pitters and fire magnets regardless.
o The whole group gets Rage (When the Helbrute dies). However, any rolls of 1 from the brute get
transferred to anyone else within 6" of him.
o The cultists get the Fearless USR regardless of how far they're from giant hulk of Warp-machinery. The
moment he goes down, however, they exchange Fearless for Zealot.
o If the cultists block any incoming fire for the Helbrute, the giant thing gains a 3+ Cover save. Each
successful save kills one of the cultists, no saves allowed. So totally worth it since you have 35 of the
shlebs in front of him. Right?
o For added lulz, hide a warpsmith in with the cultists. There, you got yourself a reliable meat shield for
both the Helbrute and a unit in which the smith can hide so he can repair any of the hits that actually
make it to the Helbrute (assuming it doesn't kill it, that is).
o Give them the Mark of Nurgle for an extra slurpy tarpit. Also consider that Sonic Weapons ignore cover
so they are a great walking buffer for your Noise Marines.
 Helfist(er) Murderpack: Out of the 5 Helbrutes in this formation, one of them must be designated a
Champion, thus making them like a squad with a sergeant. The Champion becomes a Character and gets
the Aura of Dark Glory and the brutes within 6" can LOS! for the big guy. The Champion also makes the
entire squad choose what Crazed result they want instead of rolling it. However, once he dies, not only
does this Crazed selection end, but the others also get Rage. While this sounds nice on paper, the issue
is that they're still forced to footslog it all the way to the enemy, and a 5+ Invul and the ability to choose
Fleet and Rage when they get hit is not going to help them out much with that. Can't really use this for
insane helbrute dakka to double your shots every single turn, since only the 'brutes that have taken
damage will be able to make use of the Crazed table. Bare in mind that you can technically abandon any
Helbrutes affected by Fire Frenzy as they count as immobilized and according to the rules of the
formation you can still pick their crazed result even when they are no longer part of the squad. This is a
good way to bypass the sqaud having to all fire at the same unit.
 This formation is surprisingly good when you add in some protective wizardry. Or fly them across the
table on top of a magic ruin.
 Kranon's Helguard: Chaos Lord, Chosen squad , Pack of Termies, Two mobs of Cultists, a pack of
Raptors, a 'Brute, and a Land Raider. Just from the DV starter kit and Crimson Slaughter Expansion. It's
decent, as it forces all units within 12" of one unit here to take -1 Ld, while anyone within 12" of two or
more units take -1 BS, as well as giving Fear and Stubborn, but...just like the Unrelenting Hunt, it's
absolutely not worth forking over all that cash for both kits. Or even just the expansion.
 Kharn's Butcherhorde: Formation with Kharn (Shocking, right?), 4 CSM squads with the Mark of Khorne
and 4 Khorne Berseker squads. They all get Adamantium Will and for every 6 to hit they get another
attack (and yes, with another 6 you get another attack and so on). Then, if you get an 8 on the charge
(beign the number of Khorne and all) you double the attack value on your models. It looks nice, but
that's a lot of models. That's why it's called Butcherhorde and not Butchergroup.
 Cult of Destruction (Apocalypse) This packs in at least a 3-man pack of both Obliterators and Mutilators.
If you get more Obliterators, you can gain a combined fire bonus ability. Lascannons get 48", Strength D
and AP1, Flamers become Hellstorm templates with AP3, and the Artillery gets 48", Strength D AP 4
apocalyptic blast. Mutilators meanwhile get Furious Charge and get another attack per unsaved wound.
 Heldrake Fear Squadron (Apocalypse) 3-5 of the Drakes get grouped up, and they get effectively infinite
Daemonforge, though they have to take another roll per turn for damage. They can also make an extra
60" pre-deployment move. They can then make an out-of-sequence Vector Strike that can't force
morale tests if they cause casualties and forfeit the ability to Vector Strike for the first turn, though they
can still shoot. USeful? Well, it'll at least let them live a little longer.
 Legionnaire Warband (Apocalypse) - A Chaos Lord grabs a 3+ Troops, 2+ Elites, and any number of HQ,
Fast Attack, and Heavy Support choices. Everyone must take Veterans of the Long War and the same
 Mark of Chaos. They can also re-roll failed to-hit melee attacks against Space Marines and Fearless
within 12" of the Marines.
 Lords of the Black Crusade (Apocalypse) - Abaddon gets to lead Kharn, Lucius, Ahriman, and Typhus (or
their equally marked Chaos Lords). For this, they get to use all their Finest Hour/Sons of their Primarch
abilities at once. Also, Abaddon can make a Magma Storm Unnatural Disaster and become the Master of
Disaster.
 Lost and the Damned (Apocalypse) - 1+ Dark Apostles can use 3+ Cultists, giving them Infiltrate, FNP
and Furious Charge (for Cultists), and can resurrect a single cultist during each break for free.
 Thousand Sons War Coven (Apocalypse) - Ahriman (Or a ML3 Tzeentch Sorcerer) with 3+ additional
Sorcerers get to use a new Warp Charge power called Storm of Change. It's a 48" Witchfire with S:D and
AP1, Assault X, Blast, and Vortex. It also sacrifices Sorcerers for pieplates, making it very risky to use.
Alternatively, just activate all of their force weapons with one power, then throw a huge unit of them at
anything. That thing will die, no ifs, no buts. Or, it's a fucking Titan, in which case you're fucked anyway.
 Tide of Spawn (Apocalypse) - 5+ Chaos thingies get to swarm up. They can't be used as normal, instead
replacing an equal number of normal, unengaged infantry models. Other than that, they're no different
from any normal ones. If you have the money and time and are a massive troll, take a squad of 35
cultists.... replace with these and watch as a literal tide of flesh smashes into that greentide or tyranid
swarm of gaunts. Your opponents face will drop when they see that a measly cultist squad manages to
wipe their way through their entire formation.

Warzone Pandorax[edit]
 The Chosen of Abaddon (Apocalypse) - 3-5 Chaos Lords or Sorcerers all get to take permanent retinues
of Chosen or Termies, all without champions. The Lords all get a bonus boon by just forming up, and
when within 12" of Lord Topknot, they get Fearless, making them a bigger shield for big A. Combo with
Bringers of Despair, and get your Black Legion first company rolling.
 Daemon Engine Pack (Apocalypse) - 3-5 Forgefiends or Maulerfiends. They get Preferred Enemy against
one chosen enemy and when they kill it, they get a 1 VP. They can also choose a Warpsmith to be their
owner and any engines within 12" of the smith get to use his WS and BS(BS5 Forgefiends? Yes, please!),
making the Daemon Engine army more useful. They also get to charge after running, which is very
awesome.
 The Hounds of Huron (Apocalypse) - A Biker Lord gets to lead 5+ Biker packs. In a move that could make
Marine biker armies take note, the formation gets Acute Senses and Outflank, and bikers within 12" of
the Lord get to charge after Turbo-Boosting, which is definitely some good speed.
 Maelstrom of Gore (Apocalypse) - Kharn (or a Khornate Lord) has to take 8 8-man Berzerker packs for
blood and skulls. Anyone within 18" of the Lord/Kharn get Fleet, Move Through Cover, and +3" Charge
Range, making this a better way to deliver the forces of blood. However, they're still not gonna be able
to hit any better.
 Trinity of Blood (Apocalypse) - A squad made of 3 Lords of Skulls. The first kinda meh rule is the ability
to grant Rage to absolutely everything that is not a vehicle within 12" of a member here, which would
only be useful in certain situations (Orks, Nids, Guardsmen) and otherwise useless unless you took
Cultist Blobs, which then give you a problem. The other less problematic rule is the ability to force all
enemies within 24" of them to take Dangerous Terrain tests before moving unless they can fly.
 Crimson Slaughter[edit]
 Requirements: No Veterans of the Long War. Previously, this rule simply said that you could not buy the
VotLW upgrade -- anything that had it stick (like Kharn) got to keep it. Now it says that no unit in the CS
army can HAVE VotLW. The wording isn't clear; it can either mean that your units lose that rule if they
happen to have it, or, more likely, that you can't buy those units to begin with. This means no Special
Characters, no Rubricae, and, worst of all, no Daemon Princes - and no Vrosh Tattersoul. Anyway, Noise
Marines, Berzerkers, and Plague Marines are excluded from this rule.
o Alternate View: The Daemonheart still says it can't be taken on Daemon Princes, which would only be
possible if they could be taken as units in the first place. An FAQ is needed, but RAI would seem to
indicate that it was meant to use the old rules.
 Benefits:
o Harbingers of the Tormented: All models in the detachment have Fear. Yes, that includes vehicles. And
cultists.
o Slaves to the Voices: Possessed are troops instead of elites, and they roll on a different mutations table
from the one in the Codex, gaining either Shrouded (includes their vehicle if they're in one), Beasts, or a
3+ invul save and Rending. The new mutations table is flat out better than the old one, and having
Objective Secured makes them seriously worth considering. (This makes the Favoured of Chaos
formation very interesting; on the one hand, if Daemon Princes are allowed, it becomes akin to god
mode, while if not, it is a toy they never get to use

Warlord Traits[edit]
 1: Murderous Hate: Warlord and his unit have Hatred, and get to re-roll misses in CC against Dark
Angels units (because Dark Angels needed more help dying).
 2: Maelstrom of Torment: All enemy units within 12" of the Warlord suffer a -1 Ld penalty, and a -2 Ld
penalty to any Fear tests they take. Anything vulnerable to Fear left in this game is going to fail those
tests anyway, but whatever. MoS will destroy those cheesy Eldar.
 3: Maddened Rage: Rage and Furious Charge. If there's an enemy unit within 12" in the beginning of a
shooting phase, you don't get to shoot and must charge them the following Assault phase, if possible.
Unfortunate if your Warlord is shooty, pretty sweet otherwise.
 4: Merciless Slaughterer: Warlord and his unit have Crusader.
 5: Spectral Assailants: Enemy models in base contact take D6 S3 AP hits at Initiative step 10 of each
Assault phase. (note that EACH enemy model will take D6 hits, which can be quite a few additional dice.)
 6: Pall of Mists: Warlord gets Shrouded. Pretty good if you're not already getting it from a Mutation roll
(see below)

Relics[edit]
 Crozius of the Dark Covenant: A replacement power maul for the Dark Apostles. All friendly Crimson
Slaughter units within 6" of the bearer get the Zealot rule. Cute if you want your Zealot to hang in the
back and ensure your Havocs stay put, or you could use it for "Go to Ground/Get Back Into The Fight"
shenanigans.
 Blade of the Relentless: Basically a power sword that makes its bearer stronger as he kills shit. 1 kill
grants +1 Str, 3 kills grants AP2, 5 kills grants another +1 Str, and 10 kills grants Instant Death. Have a
Sergeant take the challenge for at turn so you can kill off some grunts then take over when he dies or
'glorious intervention' into his place with a AP2 +1 strength sword. The wording of the relic says that
models removed as a direct result of the bearer's close combat attacks. This means that attacks with
 other weapons or other sources belonging to the model that count as close combat will also count
towards charging the sword. Powerfist/claw combo, icy aura boon, Spectral Assailants warlord trait,
hammer of wrath, and combat familiars all count towards the total. And with the way wound allocation
works with challenges now in 7th, you no longer have to worry about only getting a single "kill charge"
from winning a challenge.
 The Slaughterer's Horns: Furious Charge, Rage and Hammer of Wrath for 15 points. Very good for non-
khorne HQs, but largely wasted on anything with MoK and icon of wrath. However, in a dual god
themed army this presents a great way to have multiple gods/marks represented on a single character.
 The Balestar of Mannon: Sorcerers only. Allows the bearer to roll on Divination and re-rolls on failed
Psych tests. However, he doesn't get any modifiers to Deny the Witch rolls for being a Psyker. in the
current edition this becomes a really interesting tool and effectively replaces the spell familiar since you
can only re-roll dice once.
o RAW: He does not get the modifier for being a psyker, but does he get the modifier for being at a higher
Mastery Level than the other Psyker?
 Daemonheart: 2+ Armor Save and It Will Not Die. Can't be taken by a Daemon Prince, which limits its
usefulness somewhat. Terminator armour comes with a 5++ invulnerable save, a power weapon and
combi bolter for only 10 more points, but remember it strips you from grenades and the ability to
perform Sweeping Advances. Take this with a Nurgle Lord on a Palanquin or bike and watch the fat fuck
soak up rounds like nobody's business, and then just regain a wound next turn.
o Final Consensus: Any self respecting chaos lord will have at least a 4++, and a Chaos Lord's one
advantage over a Space Marine captain is that you can load up on weapons and relics. Thus, the
Daemonheart IS BETTER THAN TERMINATOR ARMOUR in every way that matters, unless you really,
really want that relentless (get a bike) or a chainfist. Everything else can be replaced with equal or better
equivalents anyway. Just, TAKE IT!!!
 Prophet of the Voices: Makes your IC a Possessed, basically. He gets Daemon, Fearless and Fleet, plus
rolls on the new mutations table mentioned previously. Can only join units of Possessed of the Crimson
Slaughter. Allows for some really rapetastic combos, especially if you roll lucky on the Warlord Traits and
Mutations tables, though the choice between going solo and having a posse of Possessed is pretty
limiting.
o Note: Having the Daemon rule means you can benefit from Cursed Earth, giving your sorcerer/lord a 3++
with a sigil.

Crimson Slaughter Formations[edit]

 The Ravagers - One unit of Possessed plus one unit of Chosen makes the Ravagers, granting them Sight
of the Third Eye. So long as the Chosen Champion is alive, one of these units gets re-rolls to hit for the
duration of your turn. Sadly, this means no re-rolls in the enemy combat phase.
 Disciples of Mannon - One Sorcerer and a unit of Possessed that hope the Stars are Right! Roll a pair of
dice at the start of the game; they are your portents of DOOOOM. Anytime your opponent rolls EXACTLY
two dice (example: a Leadership check, for example) check to see if it matches your portents. If there's a
match, FUN happens! You roll a further d6, and on a 1-3 you get 10 Horrors, 4-5 3 Screamers or Flamers,
and a 6 gets you a Herald (BAD) or a Lord of Change (GOOD). They immediately pop up within 18 of the
Sorcerer. If he bites a bullet, no Tzeentchian fun for you.
 Brethren of the Dark Covenant - A Dark Apostle, a unit of Possessed (notice a theme here?) and 1-3
units of marines make up this mean bunch. The Dark Apostle can elect not to shoot in the shooting
 phase, and can instead RAEG. This inspires the formation within 12 of him, granting those within the
bubble Zealot and Feel no Pain. Add this to Nurgle Chaos marines and congratulations you have Plague
marines on the cheap.
 Cult of Slaughter - Another formation lead by a Dark Apostle. This time he drags along 2-8 mobs of
Cultists to be glorious meatshields. If the cultists are within 9 of the Apostle, they get leadership 10. The
real treat is that in your movement phase, d6 cultists are restored to each mob within 18 of the Apostle,
up to their original starting number. They bring back any marks or heavy weapons lost as well. Not too
shabby.
 Lords of Slaughter - A Chaos Lord, a unit of Termies, yet another unit of Possessed, and 1-3 Marine
squads make up this formation. A simple but powerful formation, the Lord becomes a Mastery 1 Psyker
with the Prescience divination power. Additionally, when targeting members of this formation, the
power has infinite range.
 Kranon's Helguard - Basically the Dark Vengeance and Expansion army. A Lord, 1 unit of Chosen, 1 unit
of Termies, 2 units of Cultists, 1 unit of Raptors, a Helbrute and a Land Raider. Everyone gets Stubborn,
and any enemy within 12 of a unit from the formation gets -1 Leadership. If they are within 12 of two or
more units, they suffer -1 Ballistic Skill as well!
 The Red Onslaught - A formation of formations. Bring all of the above! Each formation keeps its own
rules, but two universal rules come into play. The Maddening Horde gives a -1 Leadership to all enemies
on the battlefield, so long as 1 model is still standing. Easier said than done; remember all those
possessed? At the start of each of your turns, roll a d6. On a 4+, any and every unit of Possessed that
was destroyed from this formation Deep Strikes back onto the field. If they are destroyed again, they
can come back again, and again! The train has no brakes!

The Purge (Forgeworld)[edit]

An FOC from the IA:Vraks book, that also can be filled by Chaos Space Marines as well as the Vraksian
Renegades. This detachment requires 1 HQ and 2 Elites, with the option for an additional HQ up to 4
additional Elites, 8 Troops, 4 Heavy Support and a Fortification. You don't get any Fast Attacks, and the
formation cannot take any Marks other than Nurgle. In exchange, any Missile Launchers in the
detachment can take Chemical Rockets, and any flamer weapons can be swapped for Chemical Flamers
for free. Chemical Rockets are AP 5 Frag Missiles with Shred and Gets Hot, and Chemical Flamers are
regular Flamers with Shred & Gets Hot. Not bad! There's a second bonus that any Barrage weapons from
this Formation leave Dangerous terrain markers, but Chaos Marines don't get any barrage weapons
anyway outside of Forgeworld, and the FW options they do get are expensive!

 Although this is nominally a Nurgle formation, there is no requirement to actually take any models with
Marks in it. The big thing this formation allows you to do is bypass a Troop tax altogether and just cram
in Elites/Heavy Supports in a way normal Chaos armies can't do. Whether you want to run mass Chosen
without paying for Abaddon/the Veterans tax from Black Legion, whether you want to do solo
Obliterator/Mutilator MSU builds, or whether you just want to add a bunch of Walkers to another
army/play Chaos Mechwarrior, this formation allows surprising amount of flexibility.
 Though it probably was not intended and was probably a rules oversight, there is nothing preventing
you from taking Daemons or vehicle Dedications of another Chaos God. For example, you could use this
formation to run Blood Slaughterers if you were so inclined.
 The detachment is decent and fluffy, yes, but losing out on all those hard-hitting and cool Nurgle Fast
Attack options (Heldrakes, Spawn, Bikers, and Blight Drones, ironically) really does hurt - especially in
 maelstrom missions where zipping around the board to capture an objective helps a lot. Depending on
what you want to do with the list, you can either go "all in" with the army theme, or supplement it with
additional formations; the Heldrake Terror Pack from Traitor's Hate gives your Drakes back, while the
Daemonkin Gorepack gives durable speed to round you out nicely. You could always just use Termicide
for your mandatory Elites, and use the Heavy Support to spam Maulerfiends...
o You could still grab your cheaper, zippier Assault Vehicle DTs (Dreadclaws), maybe even a couple
Kharybdis, and just burninate your Chosen and Dreads into position. Or, if you have loads of cash and
don't mind being that guy, buy an Air Superiority Detachment full of Assault Pods and cackle as your
Wings of pods descend and burn in perfect formation right when you need them to (and now you have
some ObSec to boot, just remember that the hull should be no more than 3 inches off of the tabletop.).
o If you really do need some fast infantry and were using this detachment without marks consider making
your guys Night Lords. They can take Raptors as troops, giving you a (very) little something of your fast
attack back.
 The wording is such that you can take both renegades, AND Chaos Marines! Have fun with hoards of
zombies marching in front of your Plague Marines as artillery obliterates anything strong enough to
inconvenience those fat asses. Actually, the consensus on the matter is that mixing and matching units
from the two codices is not allowed. There seems to be no official errata on the matter, but a couple of
e-mail replies from FW state that it shouldn't be done - which means that you can probably get away
with it, if your opponent looks the other way, but don't count on doing so in a more strict setting. Take
Typhus - you get no uberzombies, but his regular ones are good enough. Or take a Helcult with MoN.

Allies[edit]
Battle Brothers[edit]
 Other Chaos Space Marines: With Traitor Legions finally getting their own rules, there will be many new
strategies arising involving allying different Chaos subfactions. Chaos warbands are battle brothers with
each other: if you want to benefit from another subfaction's rules, ally them in as an Allied Detachment
or a single formation. This way you can take armies consisting of multiple legions and warbands if you
want to combine their different strengths.
o Want Divination? Take a Thousand Sons War Cabal or Ahriman's Exiles. Exalted Sorcerers of
Tzeentch(including Ahriman) have access to Divination and can cast its powers on 3+ easily with either
of these formations. Divination and tack-on psyker spam formations are no longer just for loyalists and
Eldar. Thousand Sons are so eminently valuable as allies, as their relics are awesome for helping other
detachment forces (i.e. Jump Infantry Terminators)
 Oddly enough Black Legion can do this too. You loose access to TSons artefacts, but you aren't forced to
slap mark of tzeentch onto cultists/marines and as an allied detachment actually allow you to bring an
exalted sorc + ObSec termicide unit or chosen.
o Does your melee army need a powerful heavy weapons team, for fire support? Ally in Iron Warriors or
Death Guard for autocannon or lascannon havocs, with free Feel No Pain and either Tank Hunters or
Relentless. Loyalist Devastators may have the grav, but they have nothing like this.
o Want your Possessed to not suck as bad? Ally a Crimson Slaughter formation to get a squad of Possessed
that can roll Shrouded, 3++ and Beasts type among their mutations.
o Saw the loyalist veteran meltas in drop pods strategy, and want to try it out? You can do it for cheaper
by taking an Alpha Legion allied detachment and infiltrating Chosen!
 Renegade Knights allow for more specialized loadouts but do not have the formations of Imperial
Knights. And your Warpsmith has no servitors. Good support but not enough synergy to be the main
focus. FUN in small games.
 Chaos Daemons: Daemons provide fast-moving assault elements to supplement more assault-heavy
forces. Soulgrinders are awesome due to having an in-built 5+ Invulnerable Save, and can either be
viewed as a "better Defiler" in many ways, due to their AV 13! Fantastic mobile cover, and they pack a
punch, too! Troops are no longer obscene amounts of points in this codex, either, and heralds are
fuckcheap HQ units; the mandatory units in an allied detachment can cost as little as 135 points,
meaning you could take Soul Grinder support in lists as small as 1000 points and still be none the worse
for wear. Meanwhile, bloodthirsters follow the flying monstrous creature rules and have WS 10 (10!).
Lords of change are mastery level 2 psykers by default, level 3 with the upgrade (which you will always
take) and can take either Tzeenchy witchfire powers to give your enemy feel no pain or Divination
powers to be useful (Divination is probably better in a shooty CSM army because of Prescience).
Daemons are by far the best allies you can take simply because they bring Divination.
o Protip: Wanna make your Bloodletters or Daemonettes actually survive so they can reach combat? Run
them straight towards the enemy every turn, then park a rhino in front of them and block all incoming
fire! Then deliver your delicious, demonic payload right into those helpless loyalist corpse-fuckers'
sphincter!
o Icons Also, friendly 'daemons' can get more accurate deepstrikes off daemonic icons. This does still work
for warp talons ('blind' bursts near the enemy, you say?) and obliterators. You still scatter D6", but that's
not that bad.
 Khorne Daemonkin: - A combo of Daemons with things you can already do, the Space Marine aspects of
the detachment don't have the random mutation table, and the champions can get access to AP2
initiative weaponry through the Axe of Khorne. The Daemons are more stable, and can actually join your
squads and you can join theirs, though adding a Herald won't benefit you since it only applies the Locus
to "Daemonkin" units. Having BftBG also only applies its effects to Daemonkin, so if you only use a small
allied detachment you might as well save those Blood Tithe points for summoning more free units of
daemons, which can be done more reliably than having Sorcerers with Malefic Daemonology. They have
fantastic formations, so you can easily add them to your main force without being forced to pay a
HQ+Troops tax. But even if you use the "Combined Arms Allies" FOC at least you've got Berserkers as
the Troops choice, leaving your primary detachment free to build towards another god(s) of your choice.
 Renegades & Heretics (Forgeworld) - probably the most obvious one for both fluff and functionality.
You get to combine the Helldrake AND Hydra flak tanks and DOMINATE the skies. As battle brothers
your characters can join each others squads and/or benefit from each others abilities, so you can have
an impressive number of psykers buffing each other up. Dark Apostles can make your massively
combined renegade squads fearless & zealots and Warp Smiths can fix up your multitude of tanks that
you'll probably have. Your big platoons/troops choices don't need to take up several FOC slots so can
generate a considerable amount of cheap bodies.
o Now with that said, taking Renegade as allies causes a few problems. First you are "required" to take the
Arch-Demagogue w/ command squad as a compulsory HQ choice. But if he's not your warlord it's a
wasted slot, because you aren't allowed to buy a Demagogue Devotion (and therefore can't get any of
the interesting army upgrades) and you won't have the Master of Renegades rule either, so no unlocking
God-specific units using a Covenant to gain things like contagious Plague Zombies. You still get access to
 all of the generic list and all of their upgrade options however. So if all you wanted was access to cheap
bodies or Imperial Guard tanks then it's still a perfectly good option.
 Renegade Knights: Unlike Imperial Knights they have no relics or formations (yet), but as BB you can
repair them, pack them closer with your units (e.g. Nurgle bikers), and they can dual wield identical
weapons, allowing you to gear them up for specific roles.

Allies of Convenience[edit]
 Necrons: From a hobby/fluff perspective, Necrons can make for a fun "Chaos Androids" or Dark
Mechanicus project. Beyond that, Necrons provide you with a wide toolbox. Use to easily fill in the gaps
your army might be lacking in the anti-vehicle department. A Command Barge and two full squads of
warriors are durable and take down vehicles as well as Infantry. Use them as Living Metal shields. Can
also contribute a few fantastic fliers: a night scythe can put a squad of warriors and a volt-tek haha, no
lethally close to an important vehicle while simultaneously burning their fliers, though not as good as
before. The Doom Scythe is more of a mixed bag. While its death ray can blow holes the size of a Land
Raider into a Land Raider, your Heldrake outclasses it for anti-medium infantry work and arguably for
anti-flyer work (depending on if you're using Death From The Skies). Select a flyer based on your army's
needs. Notable Necron formations include the following:
o The Deathbringer Flight is a sidegrade to the old combo of taking Nightscythes carrying Warriors w/
Storm Harbingers. You trade the rapid hull-point stripping ability of multiple Voltaic Staves in exchange
for a pair of super-powered small blasts; if firing both blasts at the same target, the second one gets +2
BS for its Death Ray; this will give it a high enough BS to minimize concerns about a bad scatter.
Generally speaking, two fliers is enough to have an answer enemy aircraft, as well as for providing spot
elimination versus key hard targets, plus the formation is really easy to include in an army. With many
tournament formats moving towards "three detachments," it's easier to plug this formation in an army.
o The Triarch Judicator Battalion is on-and-off a mixed bag, but for the most part handles well with a
Chaos army. Praetorians got buffed to the point they make a solid assault unit, and they provide their
own movement to boot. Running them alongside fleshy-masses-that-were-once-human gives you a
wave of fast-moving hard targets your opponent has to deal with, that can move through cover with no
issue. If you're feeling sneaky, note that the Praetorians can also take Night Scythes as dedicated
transports too, though you're not using them as transports. Instead, you're using the Nightscythes either
as air defense, or as ground-attack craft; note that they would reroll to-penetrate vehicles marked by
the formation's Stalker, so if an otherwise tough-to-remove Knight is bearing down on you, some mass
Tesla just might be what the Warlord ordered.
 Orks: From a hobby/fluff perspective, there are numerous cases of Chaos Lords trying to hire Orks as
mooks, or they make an amusing "counts as" for 40k Beastmen. Orks can provide several things to an
aspiring Chaos Lord. Why take a few expensive Havocs or Forgefiend, while Lootas or Mek Guns are
available, or why swarm Zerkers when Slugga Boys will bury the enemy in attacks just as well? Either
with Lootas or Mek Gunz, they add an additional layer of fire support that is otherwise missing in a
Chaos army, and they provide extra weight of fire. With Warbuggies or Deffkoptas, they can provide a
cheapish substitute to having attack bikes, though both have their own share of dirty tricks they can do
in turn. Just remember that Ork armor is worthless, so don't be surprised when your Chaos boys are still
standing after your big green friends are shot up. Notable Ork formations include the following:
o Bullyboyz: Simply put, Bullyboyz turn Meganobz from a decent suicide missile into an unholy train of
destruction. With Fearless and improved Weapon Skill, they hit harder, and give a commander absolute
reliability that they will stand their ground. They still lack invulnerable saves and so cannot weather the
 attacks of mass Grav weapons, or enemies bringing their own Riptides/Fire Dragons/Thundershield
Terminators/etc, but both Orks and Chaos have access to cheap chaff units that provide an extra layer of
screening. Cultists are for most intents and purposes glorified Grots anyway. With Bullyboyz, you don't
particularly fear Knights as much, as you have the weight of Klaw attacks to simply out-attrition them in
a direct slugfest.

Desperate Allies[edit]
 Dark Eldar: This could be a good (or at least interesting) pairing, with Plague Marines and massive Cultist
blobs holding down the objectives while the Dark Eldar range ahead and blow things to pieces. As a rule
of thumb, CSM are the anvil and DE are the hammer. Don't worry too much about the whole Desperate
Allies thing; Chaos Marines don't have that many abilities that would benefit the DEldar, and the DEldar
are usually so much faster than the rest of CSM (with the exception of the Heldrake and maybe the
Maulerfiend) that you don't need to worry about the whole One Eye Open, "we won't work within 6" of
you" thing.
 Tau: NEW CODEX!!!!!! Pretty good choice. First take a Cadre Fireblade and a minimum squad of
Firewarriors. Followed by a MOTHERFUCKING RIPTIDE, THIS BABY WILL SHIT DOWN THE NECK OF ANY
IMPERIAL DOG!!! For extra brownie points align your MOTHERFUCKING RIPTIDE to your preferred Chaos
God. For extra, extra brownie points replace the giant burst cannon on your Slaanesh Riptide with a
huge dildo. If you want to be a dick, take sensor towers and make any three of your squad's weapon
twinlinked. Yes, it would work on any allies, not only battle brothers. Heck, you even can twinlink enemy
squad just for S&G. Worth mentioning, that Broadsides with velocity trackers are near the best anti-air
in the game, and one of the few capable of penetrating damn Caestus ram.

Come the Apocalypse[edit]

 The Imperium: Yes, that's right, you can now ally with any Imperial faction as long as they deploy 12
inches away and if they come 6 inches close to you, you need to test to see if they just stare at each
other for a turn. They come in many flavors:
o Space Marines: Since they have too many Chapter Tactics to cover, the best ones will be covered
instead. Iron Hands (The supplement too) gives you more durable flyers and tanks, tougher marines, and
an unkillable Chapter Master if you take the Supplement. Salamanders with their bonuses to Meltaguns
and Flamers, and Imperial Fists for Tank Hunting Devastator/Centurions with Bolter Drill as a bonus.
o Dark Angels: Pretty hilarious, but not particularly useful.
o Grey Knights: Extra warp charges and Force Weapon goodness. Would you like a Storm Raven and a
Baby Carriage with your order of lore-breaking?
o Blood Angels: Cheap Razorbacks and easy access to Stormravens. Death Company Dreadnoughts aren't
bad either.
o Space Wolves: Wolf here, wolf there, wolf everywhere. Nifty flyers and Marines right here.
o Astra Militarum: Run your meatshields as Renegades and Heretics instead.
o Adepta Sororitas: Infiltrating Meltaguns with Immolators and a Exorcist? Oh my.
o Legion of the Damned: Yet another army that can bring more Meltaguns in case you didn't have
enough, although some Multi-Meltas are useful in this case.
o Inquisition: Outside-the-box Xanthite fluff? Offers very little to Chaos due to most of their tricks being
designed for Battle Brothers.
o Militarum Tempestus: They're okay as well. Drop them in the backfield away from your advancing
troops.
o Imperial Knights: Renegade Knights offer exactly the same platform with more customization, and
Chaos Knights offer Daemon options and various neat tricks. Skip.
o Skitarii: Here comes the Dark Mechanicus! They provide you with just about everything you don't get:
AP2 at initiative, anti-MC, anti-infantry, anti-tank and cheap and very reliable and cheap anti air and a
long ranged mini Vindicator
 Tyranids: They help with anti-air and providing more warp charges (that they cannot share with you).
Hive Tyrants and Crones are a must, while Zoanthropes are nice to have.
 Eldar: Provide fast units in the form of skimmers and jet bikes or durable units in the form of wraiths.
They provide S6 en masse so that could plug the anti-tank gap as well as readily available strength D in
the Wraithguard (which can be made fast by slotting them in a serpent).

Building your Army[edit]

CSM have a very old codex and tend to be overpriced - the best way to compensate for this are Traitor
Legion special rules and formations/detachments. Building a basic Chaos Warband formation is a good
start, as they also work well as a regular CAD.

Notable Kits worth include:

 The Start Collecting CSM Box: This comes with a Chaos Lord in Terminator Armor, 10 regular Chaos
Space Marines, and a Helbrute, as well as a dataslate letting them all be run as a standalone formation.
Considering the Chaos Warband requires 10 Power Armored Marines minimum, this actually isn't that
bad of an investment.
 Dark Vengeance: Dark Vengeance is a "starter set" for people wanting to play Chaos Space Marines
and/or Dark Angels; if you have a friend to split this up with, you're potentially in business, or you can
try "filing off the Aquilas" on the Loyalists. Note that since they're snap-fit single-pose plastics,
conversion work will be easier said than done. The kit comes with a Chaos Lord (not a bad start, though
you want your Lord mounted up), 20 Cultists (good, because Cultists tend to be a valuable objective
camper), 6 Chosen which unfortunately are geared for melee though you can convert some Champions
from them, and a Helbrute. Overall, this is actually pretty decent for a starter set; the Dark Angels get a
Company Master (meh), a Librarian (hello Sorcerer) 10 Tactical Marines (aka closet traitors), 5
Terminators (which you want), and 3 Bikes (which you also want). If you opt to use the entire box in one
go, that's an entire Chaos Warband and a secondary CAD in one go.
o Unfortunately, the Crimson Slaughter Dark Vengeance Expansion isn't as focused, even though you get a
good discount price out of the whole thing. You get another 5 Cultists, a unit 5 Chaos Terminators, 5
Warp Talons and a Land Raider. The problem is Cultist units are generally best run as 10-man or 20-man
units, leaving 5 Cultists in an awkward position, Land Raiders are overcosted and generally not worth
fielding outside of certain fringe builds (Blood Angels have a sexy Land Raider formation, and you don't),
and Warp Talons are pretty terrible as a rule, especially as a "single unit". If you want Talons, you should
skip this box and go for the Raptor Talon (listed below). If you want Terminators, get the regular
Terminator box and some multi-part plastics.
 Maelstrom of Gore** - This is cute if you're running a World Eaters army. The problem is that Berserkers
themselves are overcosted, so you'll probably have them "counts as" regular Marines with the Mark of
Khorne.

Once you select one of these "core" kits, adding a good secondary bundle will help round off your army,
and help it fit into a Legion detachment more easily.
 Helforged Warpack: You get two dinobots, a brute and a warpsmith. Not great, but neat - and if that's
the way you want to go anyway, you might as well check it out. Ideally, this bundle would have been
better with a 3rd Dinobot, especially since you'll already have another Brute from either the Start
Collecting or Dark Vengeance kits.
 Terror Pack: two drakes. 'nuff said.
 Raptor Talon: This bundle gives you 10 Raptors, 5 Warp Talons and a Chaos Space Marines Lord with
Jump Pack, ready to deepstrike AND charge immediately after that. Night Lords can use this as a "core"
bundle if they desire, but this bundle is fun for Black Legion too thanks to their Speartip Strike. Although
unfluffy, the toughness bonuses afforded by Death Guard make them deadlier than normal.
 Favored of Chaos: This bundle comes with 15 Possessed and a Prince. GW has been pushing these so
hard ever since the revised Crimson Slaughter came out, but there's the thing - possessed suck. If you're
a diehard Word Bearers fan, this might be worth your time. Otherwise, don't bother.
 A note about Iron Warriors - Like IW? Well, starting an IW army has never been easier than now - get
your hands on the Betrayal at Calth box set. That one provides you with 30 plastic HERESY-era Marines
(whose sculpts suit the IW better than the new ones), a small squad of Cataphractii Terminators, a
Contemptor Dread, and two HQ choices. Said HQ choices are a Cataphractii Terminator Captain (which
you could choose to field as a Terminator Champion or as a Terminator Lord) and a Legion Chaplain
(which you can also convert into/field as your choice of power armored Sorcerer, Dark Apostle, or Chaos
Lord). The set is available for less than what Games Workshop usually sells it at, should you search eBay,
and lets you decide how much obvious/rampant mutation your Traitors display by adding green stuff or
painting evidence of corruption onto their armor - WITHOUT having to spend time filing off Imperial
icons like Aquilas. The only thing left, really, would be some Rhinos. Still not good enough for you? The
"Burning of Prospero" box has 30 plastic Mk.III Iron Armor Marines, in case those Mk.IV Maximus suits
from the Calth box weren't doing it for you, so you could always find someone willing to trade.

The NOW OUT OF STOCK Chaos Marine Battleforce Box is a good start, giving you a Rhino, Chaos Space
Marine Squad, 5 Possessed and 3 Bikes. The old Battleforce (even more elusive) had a Rhino, Khorne
Berserker Squad, enough bitz for 2 Chaos Marine Squads, and a 5-strong Possessed Squad which you can
easily use to make a Chaos lord with any of the new options, give Chaos Champions Lightning Claws, all
the stuff you only have one of in the Chaos accessory sprue. The four remaining Possessed you can use
to make the five man Chaos marine squad into a nine man one.

The Chaos Marine Attackforce box is a even better start IF YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON IT, FOR IT IS
ALSO A VERY OLD PRODUCT, AND OUT OF STOCK AS WELL. It gives you A Rhino, a Chaos Space Marine
Squad, 5 Raptors/Warp Talons, 1 Forge Fiend/Mauler Fiend, 1 Lord/Sorcerer in Terminator Armor and 5
Terminators. This allows you to field a complete army at about 800-900 points if you split the Marines in
two five man squads. If you want a quick start, get a second Marine box or a couple of Cultists from Ebay
and you will have a complete playable (Although not the most competitive) army. If you really like
Dinobots, Terminators and Raptors, get a second box and you will be able to fill 2/3 of the Force
Organization Chart and land at about 1800 points for only about £300 ($490).

From there, it takes a bit of planning and experimentation. Chaos Space Marines differ greatly from their
loyalist counterparts in that they are less forgiving of fuck ups. That is to say what works against one
opponent will not likely work against another. Units like Plague marines, havocs and obliterators are
 generally all around useful against any opponent, so you can almost never go wrong with buying a box.
Some players swear by some units while others think they are shit.

One thing to keep in mind is even your basic troops can start getting VERY expensive once the upgrades
start piling up. A basic Marine can go from 13 to 19 or higher per model once you start adding on a close
combat weapon, mark, Veterans of the Long war, icons, etc. As players of full cult lists already know, this
will lead to being outnumbered very frequently. Finding the balance between quantity and quality in a
army full of options and strong expensive units is key. Keep in mind that 7e is focused on shooting - not
exclusively, but predominantly. Many people get into CSMs for the marines. However, it is often a good
idea to just take a minimal squad of cultists for your mandatory troop choice and use the remaining
points on something that actually hits hard.

Consider using allies with cost effective troops to counter deficiencies in your lists. Chaos Daemons are
the best ally to start with.

Tactics[edit]
Psychic Primer[edit]
Having at least one Psyker adds an extra layer of depth to your army, and Chaos Space Marines can
bring the Psychic game. One of the main reason Psykers remain useful in 40k is they generate their
powers after army creation but pre-game, meaning you're paying for a "wildcard" gun you can tailor.

 Know what Powers To Take - Most of the "BRB Psyker" rules from the Psychic Tactica apply here. You
don't get Telekinesis but you don't care about that, and you don't get Divination without the Balestar or
Ahriman/Exalted Sorcerers. Of the Traitor's Hate disciplines, Ectomancy gives you a good grab-bag of
abilities, with the "mobility powers" being a notable force multiplier for an army that's traditionally
"slow" like Chaos; when you can "swap places" with your own units, or selectively give your units the
"Interceptor Shunt", an Ecto-sorcerer plugs a lot of the traditional CSM weaknesses. Heretech is for if
you're up against mass enemy vehicles (*cough*...Gladius...*cough*), while Sinistrum gives you some
Deathstar/anti-Deathstar tech. Geomortis has a few duds, but selective Ignore Cover/LOS can have its
uses, and you get a good "Healing" power which can be helpful if you want to run a Summon Sorcerer.
Remember you can "mix-and-match" disciplines. While this costs you your Psychic Focus, Psychic Shriek
is the "main" Primaris that gets attention anyway. If you've rolled your two powers on one Discipline
and got at least one of the powers you wanted, it's probably worth taking Psychic Shriek as your third
power rather than rolling for it.
 Summoner Psykers - Your Sorcerers are no better at avoiding Perils from attempting to Summon
Daemons than any others, but this is deceiving. Princes can summon if you spend the 50 points on
getting two Mastery Levels, but a more economical option may be to just spend 60 points to give your
Sorcerer a Mark of Nurgle and Palanquin; the extra two wounds can give you an extra turn or two of
tossing out summons. Finally, Crimson Slaughter gets Prophet of the Voices, which lets you turn one of
your Sorcerers into a Daemon.
 Mobility is Key - Most Psyker powers max out at 24" effective range, with 18" being the average for
Witchfires. Thus, unless you're running a Summoner Prophet (or the less efficient Summon-Prince), you
want your Psyker to bring mobility. Your Sorcerers can take Bikes (or Jump Packs for fringe uses) while
your Prince can use Wings. Remember that you can Turbo or Flat-Out after using Psychic powers.
 Protect your Psykers - You need to protect your Psykers from both your opponents and themselves.
Besides incoming fire, your Psykers can Perils, and the Champion of Chaos rule can trigger from
 Witchfires; the last thing you want is your Sorcerer to transform into that-which-must-not-be-named
because he fried a Sergeant with an errant Psychic Shriek! Protecting a Sorcerer is either a matter of
joining a good "bunker" unit (whether it's a blob of Cultists, or a unit of Spawn-
OHGODNOBLARGAHHHHH), or really good positioning ("Bike twelve, manifest a power, Turbo back to
safety"), while Perils is something you just learn to live with (or you buy a Mark of Nurgle & Palanquin
for an extra two Wounds). For protecting your Psykers against accidentally transforming themselves
from their own spells however, you'll want to avoid targeting small units with characters among other
similar targets that your army should otherwise be capable of taking on. That said, if you're running a
Sorcerer in a Chaos Warband, Favored Scions gives you some insurance (and you might get a buff or two
out of it).
 Include some "Batteries" for support - Your Spell Familiars give you some leeway in stretching your
Warp Charge out further, but you will stretch thin. A good rule of thumb is one Psyker is a "battery" for
every two casters. Thankfully, you're Battle Brothers with Daemons, and an allied Detachment of 11
Daemons and a Herald of Tzeentch will give 5 Warp Charges for less than 200 points, as well as a fearless
bubblewrap/objective-holders while the rest of your army gets to fight. While an overcosted unit and
generally not recommended for serious play, even the Thousand Sons Sorcerer can be thought of as a
"free Warp Charge" if you're insistent on running a unit of them as a glorified breacher-team.
 Have A Plan - Psychic Powers are a tool among many. Summons let you "build momentum", set up
traps, or deny/lock down the board, while other powers can make your army selectively tougher, your
enemy selectively weaker, or serve as fancy analogues to guns, but if you don't plan out your powers,
you will have a bad time. If you're up against an opponent that wants to do an assault alpha-strike,
Summons can protect you either through bubblewrap (Daemonettes!) or with counter-charging Tarpits
(Beasts of Nurgle!), while summoning "fast" move-through-cover Daemons can be used to prepare for a
"push." It's when you have an underlying army providing fire support (be it of the Meltagun,
Autocannon, or Termicide Combi-plasma variety) that Psykers truly shine, rather than relying on them to
carry you through single-handedly.

Handling Challenges[edit]
For many games, Challenges are more a curiosity than an active part of the game: When you fight an
army of Eldar Jetbikers or Tau Riptides, you'll find tough shooty units with nary a character a sight, and
some armies (Necrons and Tyranids) may not have any characters whatsover except a single Lord or
Flying Hive Tyrant! Even when up against an army with multiple sergeants, challenges are an annoyance
for many of your characters; a Cultist Champion is just as dead in assault whether or not in a Challenge,
while a Space Marine Sergeant and a vanilla Aspiring Champion fighting against each other is effectively
a coin-flip. It's when you're up against other melee armies or ones with special bonuses in challenges
(For example, Eldar, Space Marine Champions, etc) that you have to be extra-careful in combat. The first
thing is to remember that Challenges are issued at the start of the Fight Sub-phase, and Challenges can
only be issued or accepted by models that are Engaged. If you have a character you do not wish to
engage in a challenge, keep him more than 2" away from the closest base-to-base model; he won't be
Engaged at the start of the Fight Sub-Phase, so he won't have to issue a Challenge. You then wait for the
character's Initiative Step to happen, then have him make his 3" step so he's now Engaged and free to
beat stuff up. Alternately, if your opponent wants to issue a challenge, it pays to have several sacrificial
schlubs on-hand to "take one for the team".
 Builds[edit]
This section is divided into three main parts: There's the "fluffy" section for people that want to run
armies that adhere closely to how the nine Traitor Legions work, the "min-max" section that does a
more clinical analysis of what is/isn't competitive with Chaos, and the misc/FUN/shits & giggles section.
As usual, YMMV and caveat emptor and all that funky jazz.

Legion-Specific Guidelines[edit]
For the first time since the legendary 3.5 codex, making a fluffy yet powerful Legion army is now an
option thanks to the Traitor Legions Supplement! Just in case we failed to mention anything in previous
or later sections of the tactica, here are some suggestions/tips/observations for compiling a Traitor
Legion detachment.

Alpha Legion[edit]
Alpha Legion is about sneakiness, infiltration tactics, and highly-trained Cultist teams. Alliances of
Convenience with Orks are not unknown (as one may recall from Dawn of War). Fortunately for you, the
Alpha Legion tactics do just this, allowing cultists, Chosen, and Marines to infiltrate. In addition, they
allow any character to generate a warlord trait after your warlord dies. Who's the real Alpharius? Oh,
and they don't get Slay the Warlord unless they kill every character in your army.

 With so many infiltrating units, it is very easy to dominate the early game. Set up 5 plasma gun chosen
to assassinate the enemy warlord; melta chosen for armored targets. 20 Man CSM squads plopped onto
objectives or close to the enemy (circumventing the need for transports). Cultists infiltrated onto
back/midfield objectives. Flamers to crisp some nasty CC units before they can get into combat. THE
POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!

Black Legion[edit]
The Black Legion is kind of the Chaos Ultramarines in that they're fairly "generic Chaos." Pretty much
anything from the codex and Black Legion supplement fits. When they're placed alongside other legions,
the Black Legion is typically much more "elite." Rely on their unique troop choices and Warband to
reflect this, and stock up on Terminators.

Night Lords[edit]
The Raptor Talon was tailor-made for Night Lords players. Night Lord Raptor Talons inflict -4 LD on units
the turn they charge. Plus, now it's a core choice for the Night Lords Decurion! To make your horde of
Fear-inducing Marines even more absurdly successful, bring the Heldrake Terror Pack formation to force
more penalties on your opponents during fear tests.

Iron Warriors[edit]
Iron Warriors play differently from most Chaos armies in that they emphasize shooting rather than
herohammer. Their Warlord table has a lot of stinkers or depend on your army composition: you will
Rage when your Lord or Daemon Prince gets Fearless, gives all your nearby Daemon Engines It Will Not
Die when they already have it, or lets your Obliterators fire the same gun when you didn't take
Obliterators!

Thankfully, Obliterator troops mean you can take a minimum-sized CAD (or 2) and get Strategic. It's
because of this that the Cult of Destruction is ironically usually not worth taking for Iron Warriors!
If you take the Grand Company, you're doing it either because you love pieplates, or you want to re-
enact the Iron Cage and plop down lots of Fortifications. Or you can do both: You can take a pair of
Vengeance Weapon Batteries with Battle Cannons, or a Firestorm Redoubt which you can then garrison
with a unit of Objective Secured Tank Hunter Havocs! And the Battle Cannons reroll scatter! Fist of the
Gods becomes a fun formation if you want to throw down 3 Vindicators, and if you use Legacies of Ruin,
you can grant one of them Outflank to really keep your opponent guessing where the next attack will
come from!

That said, don't go overboard. You can do Fortification-spam, Vindicator-spam, or even (for more casual
games) taking an odd Defiler in support of Maulerfiends, but you won't be able to do it all at once;
taking more than 2 Warpsmiths will be an excessive tax for your army. If you're playing at lower points
or just want to field more bodies, the humble Munitorium Armored Crate is only 10 points more than a
Spawn Auxiliary and provides a good deal of support for your Warband, from additional cover, ammo
crates to help your Havocs shoot better, and even Fuel Tanks can let you turn a unit of Chaos Bikes or
two into a jury-rigged Torrent flamer team.

Word Bearers[edit]
While Word Bearers have access to all Marks of Chaos, unlike most legions, they have some of the
weakest legion rules, which revolve around a few particular HQ choices. Possessed as Troops in a CAD
with no other improvements to their rules are still a bad unit, while the Dark Apostle 6" range is small
and only gives Hatred and Fearless(which other legions can get for free). The harnessing of warp charges
for Conjurations on a 3+ is the strongest benefit from playing Word Bearers: combining this with a Spell
Familiar, and you summon daemons more efficiently than most daemons. You will have to keep this in
mind when building the list: free VotLW is the only thing your basic Chaos Space Marines gain from(not
counting formation and detachment rules), without the help of your supporting HQs.

Because Possessed themselves are bad, and Word Bearers do not get any other advantages to support
running Forgeworld-heavy lists, most Word Bearers lists should start with a Grand Host rather than a
CAD. Although Eight-Fold Path is mostly inferior to Path to Glory in the Black Crusade detachment (you
can use it on Daemon Princes or Warpack characters, but it doesn't benefit from Favored Scions and you
can't pile blessings), Crusader allows your grunts to get across the board faster while the Word Bearers
Warlord Table is rather nice. The question is whether you want to do a Cultist-heavy build, or a Marine-
focused build.

The Cultist build is pretty simple: Use a Lost and the Damned Core, but try to balance the ratio of Cultists
to actual killing power; the main reason for this formation is how expendable it is. The Warpack actually
makes sense as an Auxiliary for this army, as taking several Daemonology Psykers means you have
respectable odds of getting Cursed Earth, plus Warlord Psyker Defiler remains the most memetic Crab
Cathedral (Crabthedral) to emerge from rule interactions; take advantage of Crusader so your Cultists
can run forth, jam movement, etc.

The Marine-focused build will go for a Warband, and try to take advantage of the ability to mix-and-
match Marks. If you want some Cultists to support this build, one option is to use a Helbrute as your
mandatory "Heavy" requirement for the formation, then take an allied Helcult so you have a second
Brute and two units of super-unbreakable Cultists. If you're feeling cheeky, you can attach your
Lord/Sorcerer to each Cultist unit so they also get Crusader, and move faster towards objectives
(presumably the Grand Host characters are whipping them up into a religious frenzy). Bring Spawn or
 other..OHGODNOARRRGRMGH...as the other anon was saying, other fast-moving assault elements can
put additional pressure on your opponent, so that MSU Bikes are not your only trick!

No matter whether you go for a Marine or Cultist-focused build, a Palanquin Summoner is a good pick
for your army, as the blessings from Lore of Nurgle can buff your army to do nasty things, while the
extra wounds give you additional breathing room for casting powers despite Perils. Though you can run
Bike Sorcerers, you're not really taking advantage of the Word Bearers' main draw if you do this. On the
other hand, a Daemon detachment (be it Allied Detachment, CAD, or Heralds Anarchic) can provide you
a lot of extra Warp Charge to play with as well as Paradox. When you can reliably expect to get at least
two free units of Flesh Hounds per turn, while you're running lots of small threats, you can maintain a
momentum over your opponent that is more powerful than it appears at first glance!

World Eaters[edit]
The Butcherhorde is pretty amazing. (Fill in the rest here, World Eaters players!) Don't mind if I do!

 The Detachment is good for a noncompetitive setting because the 2d6 pre-movement will be negated
because you don't want your Berserkers from the Maelstorm of Gore to sit out in the open and get shot
to death. However, instead of bringing Kharn, bring a Juggerlord with the Talisman of Burning Blood and
put them in a bike or spawn unit and now they have a pre-movement of 2d6, base movement of 15" and
a charge of + 6" if the Lord is from the Maelstrom of Gore (note: the other model's in the unit he's in
won't get that extra 3 inches, so you'll have to put your Lord in front Mad Max style). You can easily get
first blood and if you bring the Raptor Talon which can charge when they come from reserves, you can
disrupt the front lines turn 1 with the Lord and spawn then charge the back lines with the Raptors/Warp
Talons turn 2. Then charge with the Bersekers turn 3. You can bring an additional JuggerLord with the
Dimensional Key so your Deep Striking units do not scatter.
 As most opponents will be smart enough to not deploy on the edge of their deployment zone (or they're
Tau), a Gorepack for scouting Flesh Hound escorts makes your turn two charges all the more
devastating. Mixing in more Khorne Deamonkin like a JuggerLord with Blood Forged Armour and Axe of
Khorne escorted by scouted Hounds can be great anti-charge/tarpit units as well. You wouldn't want
your Axe of Blind Fury or Gorefather JuggerLords bogged down by Wraiths now, would you? Pretty sure
those things don't even have skulls...
 Speaking of special weapon wielding warriors of wape: this army has a few very strong toys to play with.
Where Death Guard can MSU and Alpha Legion can Cultists spam, HQ spam seems to be the name of
the game with World Eaters. JuggerLords with AoBF or Gorefather are a must. A Deamon Prince with
Berzerkers Glaive will make your opponent scream in terror as they fire volley after volley into him
before the inevitable bladed insertion. Any Warpsmith (escorting Obliterators) or Dark Apostle
(escorting Cultists) can be tricked out with a Burning Brand of What-Do-You-Mean-It's-AP3-Torrent. The
trick to a good assault army is to give your opponent too many high priority targets to choose from. If
they're too busy taking out your Deamon Prince they'll leave your Spawn wrapped JuggerLords alone,
leaving them free to run wild in their deployment zone.
 One very important rule to remember is to not split your forces. World Eater units aren't tough, you will
get shot a whole bunch and you will be removing models by the handful at times, but if anything gets
close to your mass of swirling axes and flailing tentacles its going to get mulched. Nothing kills you faster
than your own hubris, however, and thinking you can split off one unit of Chaos Space Marines to deal
with something is a surefire way to get those Marines killed by shooting/PSYKIC NONSENSE. Be a red
tide of death crashing into the enemy on mass and you will have success.

“monuments are dust, tales merely words soon forgotten, but blood, blood is forever” Angron, Primarch
of the World Eaters

Death Guard[edit]
Another approach is a Death Guard Vectorium with a Chaos Warband with plenty of Havocs and a Cult
of Destruction for added versatility. Use Nurgle Bikers to intercept enemy melee specialists.

The Plague Colony Formation compensates your -1 Initiative by also inflicting it on the enemy, along
with -1 WS - putting enemy MEQs on the same level as your walkers. So give your Plague Colony some
Rhinos, combine with Maulerfiends from a Hellforged Warpack, don't forget the Dirge Casters and
maybe add a bunch of Nurgle Bikers. Cue Advancing Wall of Death. Very expensive but can really put a
dent in things (especially in Apocalypse games).

Emperor's Children[edit]
Turn up your sonic weapons to 11 with the Kakophoni formation. Noise Marines in the Decurion have S5
sonic blasters and S9 blastmasters with Shred. Judicious application of Slaanesh psychic powers allows
for potential S6+ and S10! Yeah good luck with that. You only get the +1S if you field 6 Noise Marine
units. That means with minimum Noise Marine units without Icons or Rhinos but with their weapons of
course + a Lord without any upgrades would cost you already 980p. Good thing we all play 3k point
games everytime, right? Things shall get loud now. A Helcult povides you with nice mobile cover, AP2
and is a good way to represent your pleasure slaves. Lost and Damned, while flakier, unlock -and take-
Combat Drugs. Alternately take a Chaos Warband for Anti-Air and AP2.

The Raptor Talon really benefits from the Slaaneshi Decurion, especially when you combine it with a
melee oriented Chaos Warband.

Thousand Sons[edit]
There are two ways to go about running Thousand Sons. The first way would be to run a Tzeentchian
Sorcerer, unlock Thousand Sons troops, and...that's about it really. Add anthing with a 5++ save to
benefit most from MoT and thus legion tactics, maybe a Skyshield Landing Pad as magical fortress for
your Havocs. Or start with a War Cabal and expand from there. Thankfully, Traitor's Hate gives you more
leeway in running a wizarding army, and without the need to lock your own Sorcerers into using the
Mark of Tzeentch. Run "The Lost and the Damned" as your main core, for the gaggle of
cultists/Spireguard that are kept as servants, and add at least two Thousand Sons units as your Auxiliary
of choice. Run several Sorcerers with your Command Choices, Add some Things Which Must Not Be
Named or Heldrakes as additional auxiliaries, and max out points on getting . Why not consider adding a
Daemon CAD for additional variety as well?

Ok so this has been playtested once and I will try it a few more times before my final verdict but after
the first game this is my opinion. The Ahriman's Exiles Formation. You cannot get any more elite than
this. Ahriman and 3-9 Exalted Sorcerers to get a 3+ warp charge. Now, this is a veeeery pricey formation
in points, I played a 1k game and it had only four models in it. All were on discs, familiared when
possible and level 3. I also threw in some artefacts like the Murder Sword which really paid off. Now I
lost on points (Crusade with three of five obj in the opponents board half made things tricky) but that
 was partly down to my only mistakes early on and some bad luck. The trick is that you rarely perils
thanks to 3+ rerollable Warp Charge rolls and if you pick your disciplines right you end up with a very
tough (Endurance and Warp Fate almost every turn) unit that can constantly keep out of combat until it
wants to get stuck in. At 1500 you add some more Sorcerers and maybe a Malefic one to expand your
presence and it could be quite nasty to handle.

Fun, fluffy and Semi-old builds[edit]

 STD squelch: (Nurgle oriented). Ever wanted to have a legit CSM army that numbers many models and is
fluffy? Then, my dirty friend, this one's for you. Take 9 units of cultists (minimum size) an Apostle to
make the Lost and the Damned formation, then add Typhus. The fun part is that Typhus makes these
meat puppets Fearless zombies with Slow and Purposeful and FnP, while the Apostle makes every wiped
unit come back on 4+ from ongoing reserves. With Outflank. Let that sink in. Then add 3 Vindicators and
a Warpsmith for some well-needed firepower. The grind is real when the enemy is guaranteed to be
tarpitted or blasted back into the age of pre-industrial Russia by the Vindicators (they can combine their
shots into 1 apoc-blast). All of this would be just under 1.300pts, with more than enough room for
whatever bile-infused mayhem you may need to complete a Black Crusade detachment!
 Love Parade (Nurgle+Slaanesh). Take the Kakophoni Formation at full size, sorcerer included, add a
Helcult at full size with MoN (representing drugs) and 6 flamers, and an unnamable beast as mascot to
get that sweet Combat Drugs detachment bonus. With the Kakophoni at minimum model count for 6
blastmasters, some 65 cultists and various upgrades it costs you 1500 pts, with the Kakophoni at
minimum model count for 12 blastmasters and 6 icons of excess it costs 2500 pts. Give the helbrute a
plasma cannon for some AP2, and all you miss is air defense.
 Poop Bucket Prince: Many times proven to work in practice. Upgrade your DP with MoN, Burning Brand
and lvl 3 Mastery Level. Fly around the map, dropping AP2 pie plates full of shit and AP3 torrents full of
morning breath, while being hit on 6'es and having 2+ jink save. If you jink and have to give up that
torrent, don't worry, as you still have those awesome Nurgle powers left to itch your opponent with.
Throw in a Hellturkey for free beverage during your game consisting of your opponent's salty tears.
 Choo-Choo Chosen: Chosen can take 5 special weapons. That's possibly 5 MELTA GUNS! Alternatively,
you can give up to 4 of those special weapons for fists/claws/power weaps. You can either cram squads
of 10 of them in Rhinos, or drop them in Dreadclaws and gear them how you want to function. There are
three ways to run "mass Chosen."
o Take Abaddon: The most immediate one, Abaddon makes Chosen Troops. This is fun if you face lots of
Marine players, since his Preferred Enemy Bubble will add up. However, if you're not facing Marines, his
bonus won't matter as much...however, he is still ultimately a giant beatstick capable of bringing the
pain. You have the option to Deep Strike him in, either with Terminator pals or in a Dreadclaw (since he
would presumably be your Infernal Warpsmith, he would be effectively immune to being "nommed" on
by his own transport), or run him in a Land Raider if you're bleeding points (how did you manage that?!)
o Run a Black Legion army: Black Legion get Chosen Troops, or the Black Legion Warband lets them take
additional units. However, they must take Veterans of the Long War, so paying an extra 10 points per 5
guys adds up fast! On the other hand, you don't have to pay for csm or cultists regardless of your HQ.
Use that to your advantage.
o (Forgeworld) Run The Purge: A Purge Detachment switches things around so rather than making
Chosen troops, you only need to run mandatory Elites instead. The only catch is you can't Mark your
 Chosen with anything besides the Mark of Nurgle, but if you weren't planning to Mark them anyway, it's
no big loss.
o Alpha Legion: Not only are Chosen Troops, they also get Infiltrate! Add a few infiltrating regular marines
and cultists for distraction and you are golden.

The Min-Max Section[edit]

 Cabalstar - The Cabalstar is one of the more common builds if you're trying to build Chaos with a degree
of competitive viability. Simply put, you're taking the Cyclopia Cabal for multiple Sorcerers, and you're
looking for a suitable unit to make a Deathstar out of; add supporting fire support and objective-
grabbing units to flavor, be they Bikers, Cultists, or whatnot. While you "could" experiment with making
a Cabalstar out of other units, deathstars work best when they bring their own mobility, and thus the
two notable units used for stars are:
o You-know-whats: You get 3 high-toughness wounds for a reasonable price, but lack any Invulnerable
Save, and lack raw damage. That said, if you're giving one Sorcerer the Black Mace, chances are that
Sorcerer is also rolling Biomancy in order to fish for Iron Arm; if you get Endurance, the things-that-
must-not-be-named become that much tougher against many things.
o Flesh Hounds: The more popular option for running a Cabalstar, though if you're using Chaos Marines as
your primary, this would effectively eat up three detachments, which would limit your options
depending on if you're playing in certain tournament formats. Because Daemonkin Flesh Hounds do
NOT have Daemonic Instability, there's nothing preventing you from joining Sorcerers to them. Ironically
enough, Sanctic Daemonology is a good discipline to use on these guys; Hammerhand makes them that
much deadlier and capable of grinding down more enemies due to weight of attacks, while Sanctuary
improves their armor save while being stackable with Cursed Earth. The best thing though is that
because the Flesh Hounds are Beasts, they're immune to the "Difficult and Dangerous Terrain" side
effects of Sanctuary. Gate of Infinity gives them a "get out of jail free" card against certain problem units
as well. Or you can just take an Alpha Legion Lord with the Mindveil and you will be able to move in and
out of combat better than the White Scars!
 Dark Mechanicus - Other than the Maulerfiend and certain Forgeworld units, most Chaos Walkers are
slow and don't have good alternate deployment options. They do provide unique fire support vectors
and the potential for a lot of long-term damage over the course of a game, so if you do want to give
them a go, you better go "All In." That said, there are several formations that cater to playing a Walker-
heavy army in different ways; all three Helbrute Dataslate formations have their use,
o Fast Builds: If you're looking for something more aggressive and "In Your Face", then you're probably
playing Daemonkin instead. That said, even for such an army it probably pays to have fire support or
"more maulerfiends" so it still helps to bring either Warpsmith formation (the Black Legion one or the
other one). If you're using Forgefiends as fire support, having extra turns of Daemonforge will generally
carry you farther than said Forgefiends getting Blood For The Blood God.
o Attrition Builds: A "simple" build for 1850 points is: One Helcult with two units of 35 Cultists and a
Helbrute, a Warpack with Warpsmith Tax, Helbrute, 3 Forgefiends and a Defiler (Alpha Beast), and a
Forgehost with 3 Soulgrinders of Slaanesh (two with Torrent, and one with Bombardment). The Helcult
gives you unconditionally fearless bodies to screen with or edge around for objectives with (it may help
to keep the second unit in reserve), the Forgefiends give you "solid-strength" shooting for blowing
through Knights/Void Shields/etc, and the rest of the Walkers provide a mix of fire support and speed to
play the objectives game.
o Experiment - The Mayhem Pack can be cute for certain "beta-strike" lists. Forgeworld gives more
options of course, with the Plague Hulk being a "discount Soulgrinder", and the Blood Slaughterer
allowing you some board control shenanigans with moving enemy units around. Malefic Daemonology
can help, as the difference between a 5++ and a 4++ adds up across multiple vehicles, while the Void
Shield can provide some protection. Remember that nothing is so tough that it cannot be killed by a D-
weapon, Haywire, or Assaults, and plan accordingly.
 Using Infiltration/Outflank - Both Ahriman and Huron have Master of Deception, so you're guaranteed
to have at least one unit of Infiltrators in your army. Unlike Marines, you don't get Scouts or Scout
Bikers, and the trait itself is strictly inferior to the Master Of Ambush Strategic Trait in the core rulebook,
but you can at least guarantee that you'll get this power. If you don't take marks you can go Alpha
Legion, making your Chosen troops and giving Chosen, CSM, and Cultists Infiltrate. And then there is
Cypher and his infiltrating Chosen. For best utility, take two detachments, one for Chosen and one for
infiltrating specialists. While Infiltration can be used both offensively (reposition your Havocs in a better
firing position, place Obliterators in Multimelta range, outflank Chosen Rhinos, etc) and defensively (lay
out a unit of Cultists to deny Scout Moves versus White Scars/Ravenwing Bikers, grant Outflank as
partial defense against Skyhammers or other Alpha-strikes), you don't have the redundancy or reliability
(since you could always end up only infiltrating one special unit anyway) to make a "pure" infiltration
army, and any army that includes an Inquisitor with two Servo-Skulls can shut down Infiltration hard.
Consider Infiltration more of a Bonus than something you build your army around.
 Mass Deep Strike - Technically, a build like this is possible, either with Purge, Formations or even
through a CAD. The problem of course is that you don't get equipment that allows you to reduce
Scatters, and the only reserve manipulations you have on-hand are through Fortifications. One thing you
"could" do if you were feeling cheeky would be to run mass solo-Obliterators/Mutilators (either through
Purge or the Cult of Destruction) with some optional form of aerial support, akin to a Chaos
Lictorshame. However, you don't get the ignore cover shenanigans of that army as a whole, or the
maneuverability needed for objectives play. The Terminator Annihilation Force and Raptor Talon both
offer you ways to help your Strike go off more effectively however; the former letting you "beat"
Interceptor, the latter letting you tie up trouble screening units from the first turn onward. Daemon
allies are the most obvious pairing, as Icons can help mitigate scatter for your Obliterators while Cursed
Earth prevents it entirely! However, Necrons also provide their own tools as well; a Necron CAD can
provide aerial support/obsec troops at a critical location with Nightscythe Immortals, can back up your
Obliterators by running solo Heavy Destroyers (in both Fast Attack **and** Heavy Support, mind you),
and three of their Elite choices also have Deep Strike. Flayed Ones are your cheap ones, Praetorians are
your "Special Weapon Team/melee anchor", but the real funky combo comes with Deathmarks. Since
you're Allies of Convenience with Necrons, your units are enemy units to your Necrons, so anytime you
manage to Deep Strike a Terminator or other unit in, you can use Ethereal Interception to have your
Deathmarks immediately follow suit. They won't be able to shoot at the end of that movement phase,
but they can still shoot in your Shooting phase, so if you really need that Wraithknight dead...
 Mechanized - The Loyalists have more and better mechanized formations; the Battle Company,
Ironwolves, Lucifer Armored Task Force, and many others provide significant buffs or discounts that
mean in a straight-up armored slugfest, you will be outnumbered and outgunned. The only "tank"
formation that Chaos gets on the other hand is the Fist of the Gods which gives...6+ Invulnerable Saves.
Moreso than the other ways to build a Chaos army, this one relies heavily on Formations, Forgeworld,
and/or allies to pull its weight across.
o Mass AV 11 - There are two ways to go about this. The non-Forgeworld way is to take a Chaos Warband,
and the minimum number of Marines needed; Chosen are your Elites and Havocs are your Heavy
Supports. Mount them up, and give each team either two Specials or a Special and matching Combi-
weapon. Universal Obsec helps in this regard. The Forgeworld way is to run a Purge detachment and use
Chosen as your mandatory Elites. You don't get Razorbacks but you can do Havoc Launchers in a pinch.
Add an alternate source of AV 11 to your mix: Ork CADs give you mass Looted Wagons (even with
reliability issues, 67 points for an AP 3 pieplate can add some crowd control), or Junkas if you're using
Forgeworld. If you prefer a more "melee-MSU" approach and prefer the Rhinos to be support-pieces,
the Seeker Calvacade lets you bring a lot of solo Seeker Chariots on the cheap.
o Heavy Armor - Fist of the Gods gives underwhelming bonuses and saddles you with a Warpsmith tax,
but is one way to take "more armor" without having to pay the requirements for a second CAD. Purge
does its thing of course. Another thing to note is that most Forgeworld vehicles of this class are just plain
better than the codex options available; sure, you can squadron Predators or Vindicators, but you're
putting too many points in single units when that happens, and make it easier to be focus-fired. The
Deimos Predator makes a scary support-piece provided you can protect it, the Sicaran is an all-around
brutal vehicle, and the Relic Predator Infernus can be a source of cheap Plasma blasts that don't Gets
Hot. Orks "can" up your overall resilience since Kustom Forcefields do work on enemy units, but another
option is running Necrons, either with CAD tax or even just taking the Annihilation Nexus (with
Doomsday Ark tax); two Sicarans and two Annihilation Barges are capable of a surprisingly respectable
amount of fast-moving twin-linked S7 firepower.
 Aerial Warfare - Other than the iconic Heldrake, Chaos does have other fliers. The Daemon Prince
sacrifices durability and raw killing power for the ability to engage in close combats or combo with
psychic utility (though remains very overcosted), and Forgeworld adds its share of fliers. The Hellblade is
a dirt-cheap fighter for the firepower it brings, while the Chaos Fire Raptor is one of a small number of
Forgeworld vehicles that is flat-out better than its Imperial equivalent.