Warhammer 40k
Chaos Space Marines

The Chaos Space Marine army are warped and twisted versions of the Imperial Space Marines. Seduced by favors and powers that the Chaos powers promise. In this section we will have a look at the Chaos army and the Chaos tactics.

The New Codex is due for release tomorrow ( 6th October 2012 ) so these pages will be updated as soon as I get my hands on a copy. In the mean time here are the notes for the 2007 Codex.

General Chaos Space Marine Tactics

The Chaos Space Marine has a number of options and special rules. With an ary this complex it is a good idea to get some over all tactics.

Marks of Chaos

Across many of the Chaos Space Marine units you will see that you can take different Mark of Chaos upgrades. These upgrades are not prices of equipment, but skills bestowed from the Chaos god that the Chaos Marine unit follows. In many cases you do not have to take a Mark of Chaos. They are totally optional. However they do not come free. Each mark will have a points cost associated with it, and you can only have a maximum of one mark per unit. If you are new to Warhammer 40k then I would suggest that you leave the Mark of Chaos skills for now and revisit them after you have played a few games.

If you are looking to use these upgrades in your army list make sure that you know what benefits the Mark of Chaos give your units and choose a Mark that fits in with your aver all game tactics.

A suggestion that may help here is to write out the units details on a 4x3 index card, using one card per unit, so that you can refer to the units stats and skills quickly during the game. This will mean that you will be more likely to remember any special rules the units have and this in turn will mean that you will not be waiting points on upgrades that you do not use.

Chaos Marine HQ Tactics

All armies need a HQ to lead them. With the Chaos Marine arm this specially true. Also the leaders in the Chaos Marine army are some of the biggest and baddest characters in the game. However do not get too seduced by the Chaos HQ options, as it is still the rank and file troops that will win you the games.

Named HQ Choices

The Chaos Marine army has a number of special characters that you can choose from. Remember that you can only have one of each in your army, so be careful, and be careful of the points cost for these characters. One may alone will not win the game for you, specially when they can not claim objectives.

Abaddon The Despoiler

Abaddon is the most powerful of the Chaos Space Marine special characters, and has the highest points cost.
Abaddon is a one man army, but he costs more than the points you pay for a Chaos Land Raider. This means that for every turn that Abaddon is not doing something then you have a sizeable section of your army redundant. This in turn means that you will need to get Abaddon on to the gaming table as fast as possible. A popular way to do this is to use the Terminator teleport system that is built in to the Terminator armour. This will mean that Abaddon will start in reserves ( if reserves are allowed). However the delayed arrival is usually offset by the speed that Abaddon can get into fight.

Strength and Weapons

Abaddon has some fearsome weapons. For starters the two close combat weapons give Abaddon 4 + D6 attacks at S8,that allows you to re-roll any missed wound ( but not re-rolling missed hits), means that Abaddon will be wounding most characters and monstrous creatures on a 2+ ( with that re-roll). This will mean that he will be able to walk through most one on one close combats. Be careful that you are not out numbered. If there enough returned hits Abaddon will eventually succumb and fall.

Abaddon also has a twin linked bolter. This is not as good as the Storm Bolter of the Imperial Space Marine Terminator as it is still a single shot per turn rapid fire weapon, but it does allow Abaddon to re-roll missed hits.

Toughness and Special Rules

First off Abaddon is wearing the super tough Terminator armour. Even if he did not have any other special rules, this would make him a tough nut to crack. However as well as the Terminator armour he has the mark of Nurgle so this adds 1 point of toughness to his stats, and because he has the mark of Tzeench he has a 4+ invulnerable save instead of the usual Terminator save.
If Abaddon's armour and toughness does not save him Abaddon also has the ' immune to instant death' special rule. This will stop any S10 weapons and force weapons flattening him in one turn.
Note that Abaddon has the marks of Khorne and Slaanesh too however the bonuses that these marks give Abaddon have been added to his stats already so don't go thinking that you can add extra attacks and initiative to his skills! The good news is that you should find that what he has is plenty enough.

Fabius Bile

Huron Blackheart

Typhus

Kharn The Betrayer

Kharn is a popular Chaos Space Marine general because he is the most powerful of the Khorne special characters, and Khorne armies are popular because of their simple charge, assault, charge tactics.
As with most Chaos Lords, Kharn is most effective in close combat. This means that you will want to get him into the fighting as soon as possible. The popular way to do this is to place him in a Rhino with a unit of Khorne Bezerkers or Chosen and use the Rhino rush tactics to get Kharn in to the fight quickly.

Strength and Weapons

Kharn's weapons are a close combat special weapon and a plasma pistol. This highlights his close combat role

Toughness and Special Rules

Kharn is not particularly tough. He has basic Power Armour and basic Space Marine toughness. The only addition to this is a 5+ invulnerable save and immunity from psychic attacks. This means that you will want to place Kharn in a large unit of close combat specialist to sheild him from the brunt of any incoming fire.

Ahrima

Ahriman is the powerful Sorcerer of the Chaos army.

Strength and Weapons

As Ahriman is a sorcerer he relies on his psychic powers more than brute force strength or powerful weapons. He does have a force weapon, a bolt pistol and grenades.

Toughness and Special Rules

Ahriman come with a number of special rules including a number of psychic powers.

Lucius The Eternal

Daemon Prince

Chaos Lord

Chaos Sorcerer

Chaos Marine Elite Tactics

Chosen Chaos Space Marines

Chaos Terminators

Possessed Chaos Space Marines

Chaos Dreadnought

Chaos Marine Troop Tactics

The Chaos Space Marine units are the backbone of the Chaos army. Really you will be wanting to spend half of your points on Space Marine troop units.

Chaos Space Marines

Plague Marines

Noise Marines

Khorne Berzerkers

Thousand Sons

Chaos Marine Fast Attack Tactics

Chaos Bikers

Chaos Raptors

Chaos Spawn

Chaos Marine Heavy Support Tactics

The Chaos army us configured to work better as a close combat army. However this does not have to be true. And even if you are playing a close combat army, having some heavy fire power to clear the route in is always useful.

Chaos Havocs

Obliterator Cult

Chaos Predator

Chaos Vindicator

Chaos Defiler

Chaos Land Raider